A Truly Icy Escapade
The boy fiercely stared down the measly pokemon as it quaked with fear,
lying precariously under a maple tree. It was a beautiful summer day, as
Rattata rolled in the grass around him, and all sorts of beautiful aquatic
pokemon swam through the rushing stream rapids of the forest. High above,
Fearow soared through the clear, crisp blue skies and Nidoran roamed from
bush to bush, searching for their favorite blends of nuts and berries.
Diglett were also few and far between, as they rarely poked their brown,
thumb-sized heads to the surface.
The Weedle that was cornered to the large tree whimpered and attempted to
run, knowing the stare of an "ample trainer who wished to capture you" all
too well. Its small, pink, suction-cupped feet were completely out of sticky
fluids to climb trees and other vertical objects with, as it had been
running from this one persistent... if not a little stupid, boy for a good
thirty minutes.
It was about ready to be captured, even if it meant to this young
black-haired dullard.
"All right, Weedle!" The boy said as he fingered his mini-sized pokeball. He
enlargened it to normal capturing size. "Go, Pokeball!" To the tiny pokemon,
the distance traveled between the end of the green-gloved hand of the kid,
through the air, and the hit on its head as it was captured inside was a
tormenting eternity. Every inch it wanted to run but could not. Suddenly, in
a flash of red beam, it had been captured.
Great, The Weedle thought as it tried to adjust to its cramp surroundings.
Red and white was surely not the d�cor it now wanted for its pint-sized
home. Not only was I defeated, but I was defeated by 'Village Idiot Boy'.
The boy placed his newly occupied pokeball inside the green knapsack on his
back, and headed off to the stream. Today would be an excellent day to
capture more new and rare pokemon... and a new water type to assist Squirtle
was just what he wanted.
"Ash! You actually captured a pokemon?!" Ash turned around to see Brock and
Misty running up to him. He smiled at the expression on both their faces.
"Well, I see no reason why you are so surprised." He braggingly began,
holding his jacket so that his badges could shimmer in the dimly lit forest
light. Even though it was midday, and the weather was perfectly gorgeous,
the foliage of leaves up high blocked off some majoring rays of sunshine.
"I've been capturing new types all morning! You should have been here!"
Brock changed his expression, and smirked, crossing his arms. "Why wouldn't
we be surprised? You haven't transported a new pokemon to Professor Oak for
at least three months now. You could be dead in a river for all he knows!"
Misty basically ignored the mindless babblings of Brock. "So, what kind of
pokemon, exactly, did you catch?"
"Exactly," Ash started sarcastically. "I caught ten pokemon!"
"Really?! TEN?!" Misty shouted in a shrieking, sort-of-surprised, tone of
voice. "What were they?"
Ash began dramatically. "They,"
"Yes.." Prompted an eager Misty.
"Were,"
"Yes?"
"A bunch of..."
"YES?!"
Ash sweat dropped, and hung his head lowly, so that his embarrassed face
could be shielded by his lowered cap. "They were all Kakuna..."
Brock fell over, as Misty whacked the wannabe Pokemon Master over the head.
"God, Ash, you are so pathetic, you have actually inspired me to open a soup
kitchen for legal transvestites..."
"I'm not that pathetic!"
"Then why didn't Pikachu come to your defense just now?" <>"Because the
Pikachu and Togepi are still at my mom's house! That's a valid excuse, err-
reason. Ehh, besides there was one Weedle..."
When no response came from his friends, who just sympathetically stared at
him, Ash grimaced. "Yeah, well, at any rate, 'The more the merrier', I
always say! You can never have to any pokemon."
Misty was completely uninterested in this conversation. "Only dorks continue
to collect pokemon they've already caught five-hundred times over!" To this,
almost half the children and teenagers of the world feel insulted, as they,
too, capture thousands upon thousands of dorky and useless Exeggcute in the
Safari Zone.
"Well, you wouldn't know, Psyduck Master! It is quite fun to have duplicates
of-"
"Shut up!"
"Cut it out you two! I have an important announcement to be made anyway."
Brock separated the two bickering trainers by spreading his arms out wide.
"Huh? Yeah, well, make it snappy, twerp!"
"What?" Inquired the two males to their companion. Misty shrugged.
"Sorry, the Jessie-instinct prevailed...what is it?"
After recovering from brain marring confusion, Brock continued. "Since we
all agree that it's way too boring in Viridian Forest to properly enjoy our
summer vacations as normal preteens do, I have made the wise decision for us
to take a short and sweet trip!"
Ash and Misty, as if on cue, raised their hands in the air, waving them back
and forth. Brock noticed this through his peripheral vision (He's been to
the optometrist, and believe me, it's done him absolute miracles...), but
simply ignored them as he thought of all the cool girls that would be there.
Once again, he was in la-la land dreaming of a girlfriend...
"HELLO?" Ash yelled in his friend's ear. This was immediately followed by a
frenzy of hand motions and ear pain. "Sorry to interrupt your epiphanies
about females, but I do have a question."
"What is it?"
"Brock, my question is about what makes this such a 'wise' decision?"
Brock stood up, matter-of-factly. "Simply put, Ash, I'm the oldest,
therefore the obviously more smart, more apprehensive, more-"
"We get the picture, man!" Ash exclaimed.
"To where?" Misty asked, looking at her watch and realizing that she had
already wasted ten minutes of the precious day talking about...talking about
crap.
"To the ice-cold, arctic regions of the Sandstone Slopes, located right off
of Sandstone City. It's covered in gregarious amounts of snow covered
mountains, hills, thousands upon thousands of ski slopes, um...." Brock
thumbed through the pages of a guidebook until he came upon his desired
information. "Ohh, yes, and there's resting lodges, wooden cabins to house
in for weeks in reservation of peace and tranquility and there is a
legend...of course."
"What's the legend, Brock?" Ash asked while adjusting his backpack. He
wanted to make sure he had everything for cold weather inside his bag.
Brock slammed the book shut loudly, startling a couple of nearby Pidgey who
had begun to eye Magikarp in a nearby lake. "I'll tell you later..."
Clothes flew out the window as summer re-re-redecorating had begun in Team
Rocket base, and, as usual, our favorite bumbling trio, Jessie, James and
Meowth, are going to a make an unnecessary production of it. Get the
film...Candid Camera could get me famous with a few memorable snapshots...
"Meowth!" James screeched as he dove after his Team Rocket suit that the
clumsy cat had accidentally thrown out the window. "I just had that tailored
yesterday!"
"Well that's your fault for being so assuming that you'd need it today! If
you had decided to get it fixed tomorrow yesterday, today you would not have
anything to lose because it wouldn't be fixed anyways!" Meowth took a
breath. "Crap, I've confused myself...again."
"Please, shut that yap trap of yours that you tend to call your 'mouth'." He
attempted to catch the sleeve, but terribly missed, and found himself more
than a little dangling in a precarious position outside the thirty- foot
story building of Team Rocket Base.
"JESSICAAAAA! HELP!"
Jessie ran out of her adjacent bedroom, hearing the shouts of her partner
coming in through two layers of paint-coated wall. "James?"
She came bursting in through the door, a spray can of blue paint held upside
down- blunt objects always do the trick. "What? What's wrong? Is someone
assaulting you...besides me?"
"DOWN HERE, OOOHHHH!" He yelled from the window pane, where the only thing
holding him up was a snag on the back of his pants. Jessie ran over and
pulled James up, not helping but to blush at such contact. Sure, one day
she'd hoped to do this, but helping him up by pulling in his bottom wasn't
precisely the way she pictured...
They both fell to the floor, panting in exhaustion...but mainly for James,
from mind-wrenching dilemma. He was confused. Horribly, horribly confused.
He felt his chest wheeze from lost breath, and he was sure his face looked
like he'd seen a ghost. His face was pale white, and his body racked with
after-shockwaves of fear.
"Jessie, I'm horribly, horribly confused. And tired, for that matter.
But...but thank you for saving me." He said, putting his hand behind his
head and chuckling lightly. "I guess I owe you one!"
"I think dat ya owe her forty!" Meowth chimed in, laughing at the expression
on both their faces. They were as pale as sheets. Except for James, who had
blush plastered on his cheeks.
"Don't mention, James. I just don't plan to make saving you a habit!"
"I don't plan to make getting stuck out of a window a habit!" they both
laughed sheepishly, each getting an interesting amount of red on their
cheeks.
"What is your home town, James?" Meowth questioned, peeping over his
shoulder as he pecked through the mailbox. "Blasted package still hasn't
arrived. 'Promptly on time' isn't a very accurate catch phrase for Slow-Dee
Express."
"What does my home town have to do with anything?" James inquired.
Meowth beamed. "I'm thrilled dat ya would ask dat question, James! It just
so happens dat da magazine I ordered from Slow-Dee Express is having a
contest! Anyone who can guess the hometown of Fiorello Cappuccino gets a
fantastic prize! I just wanted you to randomly guess by saying your
hometown, dat's all."
Jessie and James popped a pencil and pad from thin air, and began writing
down cities and towns in their region. "Just exactly what is the prize,
cat?" Jessie asked, desperately trying to remember her hometown.
"Da prize is an all expense paid trip ta-" Meowth trailed off as he saw a
stack of folded magazines get pushed through the letter slot. His eyes got
wide (-err. Wider. His eyes are already pretty big...), as he ran on all
fours over to the door. He thrust it open, hearing it swing on its slightly
rusty hinges.
"MEOWTTTTH! HERE IT IS! DA SUSCRIPTION I'VE BEEN WAITIN' FOR!" The cat
yelled as it clawed open the clear plastic that covered the delivery. Meowth
was just about to turn around when he heard a voice. A rather geeky,
desperate one, at that.
"Can I have a tip, sir?" Meowth turned around to see a young postman,
extending his hand down to Meowth's. "It's my first day and I-"
"Ya want a tip?" Meowth interrupted, feeling relieved his package had come.
But still, he was in the mood to humiliate.
"Yessir, sir!"
"Well fine, here's a tip." Meowth dug into his pockets (Since when do
pokemon have pockets attached to their literal body?) and pulled out a coin.
"One coin?" The delivery boy asked, a little insulted by the gesture.
"Well, Pay Day attacks nowadays aren't what they used to be."
The young man stood their, thinking. "Never mind, sir. My life, truthfully,
will not gain anything just because you gave me a quarter today."
"That's what I thought." Meowth shut the door in the person's face and
hopped on the table, spreading lent and beige hair on placemats and
silverware.
"Eew, Meowth, we have to eat on that tonight!" James exclaimed.
"Thought question- what does it mean to eat? For there are several types of
nourishment- spiritual, physical, mental-"
"Mental." Jessie simply interjected.
"For who?" James asked curiously.
"Meowth."
"Yeah, yeah, you're a regular comedian, Jess." Meowth said, flipping through
the pages of the magazine. He placed his paw under his chin, when he felt
his body go "Ker-plunk!" against the table. The magazine had been ripped
from under him and now his two bumbling teammates had it. They were
apparently fighting over who got to look at it first.
"I'm the one that should win the contest, Jessica!!"
"Don't call me that, Jimmy! Besides, I just saved your butt earlier and this
is how you repay me?!"
"Jessic-, err, Jessie, I should be the one to win the prize money for
guessing that movie star's birth date!"
"James, we were supposed to be guessing at his home town, which could only
be...what?" Jessie stopped to mockingly think. "Oh yes, only one out of
Twenty different cities and towns, that are just on THIS side of the
hemisphere!" She said sarcastically.
"What juvenile delinquents..." Meowth shook his head in sympathy. He really
wondered about those two sometimes.
Jessie basically ignored James' eager attempts at grabbing the object from
her grip, and let him tackle right into the sofa he was trying to take down
her. She mocked as him, flipping through the magazine. After regaining
consciousness from his temporary loss of it, James dove at the young red
head, causing them both to hit the near wall. The magazine was soon, once
again, the object of attention as the pressure of their constant pulling
almost tore the lacquered pages apart. Meowth in began to get indulged their
cat-fight, when he realized the phone ringing. He promptly ran out.
************************************************************************
A little while later, after Jessie and James had stopped their fighting and
indulged in something else. The 'something else' is not worth mentioning...
(P.S.- just because it is not worth mentioning doesn't mean that a certain
two people decided to play 'Spin the Bottle'...)
"I got a call from Da Boss. He wants us ta go ta Sandstone Slopes!" Meowth
began, his arms folded behind his back. His usual smirky look was written
all over his face.
"Where?" James asked.
"Sandstone Slopes." Jessie eagerly repeated, her eyes getting glazed over
with tears from joy at the very mention of the name. "When I was a young
girl, I loved to go tobogganing with my parents there! The weather was
absolutely frigid, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Ahhh, it was one of my best
years as a kid."
"And what benefit came from this more than awkward confession on the
pathetic childhood we already knew you had?" Meowth inquired smugly,
crossing his arms over his chest.
"Shut up, fur ball!"
"Why are we going here, anyways, Meowth?" James asked.
"Da Boss wants us ta capture him an Articuno."
"ARTICUNO?!" They both gasped, clasping on to each other. James began to
whine, and Jessie wasn't too far behind.
"We can't even catch a Level 5 Pidgey without getting gusted away!" James
screeched, still tightly clutching his partner.
"How does he expect us to capture an Articuno? Those things are super rare.
Though I've heard people have seen them in Sandstone Slopes before, although
it's been thought of as a myth. I mean, think about it- the arctic weather,
the inclimate temperatures... it's positively perfect for an Articuno, or
any other ice-type for that matter!"
"Yeah, well, Jess, philosophize later. Let's just get going onto our
mission! Hop to it, cadets!" Meowth said as Jess and Jim immediately hopped
into their *separate* changing rooms.
Meowth fell over on the couch. He sighed, rubbing his temples and mumbling.
"I hate snow, I hate water, I hate ice...I hate snow, I hate water, I hate
ice..."
Ash couldn't help but fidget. This was too boring to be explained in human
tongue. Possibly even pokemon-tongue. He was sure that he'd checked every
crossword and jigsaw puzzle, read every tabloid, ate at least ten
complimentary donuts and drank at the most twenty-five cups of ginger ale
and root beer. Now he had to pee, seriously so.
"When will this thing take off, Brock?" Ash statement was apparently more so
of a complaining exclamation rather than an actual question. And, it was
true. If Ash was bored, Misty and Brock would be bored, too. Brock just
uttered something without opening his eyes (because, then again, if they
were open we still couldn't tell, now could we?), fluffed up the skinny
cotton airplane pillows and lowered his seat back.
"OW! Hey! Who did that?"
Ash at first thought it was the boredom playing tricks with his head, then
maybe it was sounds coming from second class behind him. After not finding a
source, Ash took Brock's indirect example, and withdrew his slim and frail
airplane pillow from the luggage compartment above his head.
"Sleep is definitely what a future Pokemon Master needs, eh Misty?" When Ash
heard no response, he again called her name. He looked over to see her
bobbing her head ever so lightly from side to side as the rhythm of her tape
recorder symphonized in her ear. Her eyes were tightly squenched together,
as if she were really concentrating.
Suddenly, a voice woke him from his thought pattern. Ash turned around to
see a steamed off looking pokemon trainer staring down at him. Ash couldn't
help but feel a little intimidated, despite his super-macho tendancies. The
trainer was at least two feet taller than him, and by his size, stature, and
obviously matured features it was apparent he was at least 20 years old. The
incriminating young man sported a dark gray and white sports-ski sweatshirt
that stuck firmly to his body, outlining the small muscular figure that was
forming. Skiing was obviously a muscle-forming sport. He wore dark blue
denim pants that were cuffed right before his ankles, overlapping the black,
white and light gray heavy-weather tennis gear he wore. His red backpack
hung off to one shoulder and his ruggedly trimmed dark purple hair hung
around his boyishly-cute face. His deep blue eyes had a tinge of violet to
them. Ash almost felt the instinctive urge to battle him, reaching for his
pokeball.
"Whaddaya want?" Ash asked, feeling one of his cocky modes coming on.
The young waved his hands in small warding motions. "Whoa!" he said sweat
dropping. "I didn't mean it like that! I was just wondering if you could
pull your seat up. When you sat back, you nearly crushed my snowboarding and
skiing equipment. That's all, dude."
Ash felt embarrassed now. He now appeared to be the biggest jack-ass of them
all. "Well, uh sure, I'll just ask my friend over there to move up."
"Thanks, pal." The young man began to walk away, until Ash asked him a
sudden question.
"What's your name?" He turned around and smiled at trainer, extending his
hand.
"It's Jack, Jack Cappuccino."
"Well, my name's Ash Ketchum. You're also headed to Sandstone Slopes?"
"Yeah, I sure am. This is my first year for the National Sandstone
Tournament, and I'm dying to get that platinum trophy. I've been dreaming of
becoming a ski expert ever since my dad used to take me on trips to
Sandstone Slopes."
Ash brightened. "You're going there , too?! My friends and I are headed
their ourselves, as a matter of fact! It's our vacation, and we pretty much
got tired of Viridian Forest. I also have a Pikachu that I know would have
loved to come with us, but it opted to stay with my mom and Professor Oak.
My friend's Togepi would also have loved to come."
"What's a Togepi?"
"It's like an edible-egg type of thing."
"When you said 'Professor Oak', you mean the professor of Pallet Town,
right?"
"Yeah. But why was that worth asking? There's only one Professor Oak,
right?" Jack shook his head.
"I think it's kind of like that Joy and Jenny thing..." Ash cocked his head
to left in confusion. He was trying to figure out why HE'D never seen any
other Professor Oak's.
"Anyway, Ash," Jack started up again, trying to provoke more conversation.
"What is a Togepi?"
"Oh, well...its kind of like an edible egg, except that my friend, Misty,
its owner, thinks of it as...well, inedible!" Ash began laughing until he
felt a sharp pain in his stomach, followed by the moan of Jack's stomach as
well.
At the same time they uttered the exact same words: "That made me hungry."
"Please Madam, this way." The young woman directed to the next middle-aged
woman who needed to be find her flight. This woman's plane coordinates were
in section A7 and somehow, here she was down at J5. Whatever...
She directed the woman down winding corridors until they reached the lobby
where a velvet rope blocked the entrance except for employees. Up above was
a metal detection scanner and beyond that was the small outlining off the
long-passageway that led to the plane.
"Are you sure this is the way, miss. This hallway beyond us seems blocked."
The young woman nodded, her bun half way shaking out. She had nodded to so
many people she was surprised it had not fallen yet. "I am positive, madam.
But, um, first, I am afraid it is skyway regulation to scan one's pokeballs
into the machinery. Nowadays, it is becoming quite common for bombs to be
faked as pokeballs. This is just a simple examination to test its
authenticity."
"I assure young lady, my pokemon and pokeballs are all authentic! I am no
cheap bidder, have you!"
"Well, we would not know that."
"And why is that, young lady?" The woman asked snottily. "And whatever you
do, be extra careful with my Ninetales and my Vileplume. I will skin the
manager's hide myself if a leaf comes off my precious plant! And make it
quick! My flight leaves in less than a fifteen minutes."
The young woman nodded, again, and trotted away into a backroom. The woman
watched the flight attendant go into what seemed to be the 'Pokeball
Checking Room.' She wondered why the room was labeled 'Closet'.
Inside the Clo- err, umm...Pokeball Checking Room....
"James? Are you in here?" A clear and soft feminine voice asked. A few thuds
were heard and a few curses and swears as well.
"Yeah, Jess, I'm here. I just can't see a damned foot in front of my face
since the light bulb went out." Jessie made a sound of acknowledgment and
dug into her blue flight-attendant skirt pocket. She pulled out a small
flashlight that illuminated the tiny space. Brooms and yellow buckets were
everywhere. Waxes, cleaners, polishers and all sorts of other nice,
household cleansing things were stored in small brown cupboards aligned on
the floor. Besides that, there were small water leakages from steel pipes
all around them, and something smelled like it had died there ages ago.
James just seemed to cough, and brush cobwebs out of his face as he came
closer to his partner. He looked down to see broken glass scattered around
the floor where the bulb had busted. He also noticed the pair of sleek legs
that they were placed by. He quirked an eyebrow.
"James," Jessie spoke up, checking out their damp and uncomfortable
surroundings. James immediately snapped out of his revelry, thinking Jessie
had caught him eyeing her. Luckily for him, she was looking the other way.
"Did you get the pokeballs?"
"Sure did! I got 45! How many did you get?"
"I got 27...the people on this wing of the airport apparently aren't as much
of suckers as those on your half." Jessie sighed, slightly disappointed with
herself. They both pulled out brown leather bags that were each almost
filled to the brim with the red and white orbs.
"Da Boss will be pleased!" Meowth said, jumping out from behind a dark green
trash bag. His business suit had been stained with...garbage crap... and his
fake mustache hung limp to one side.
"It looks like you got jumped, Meowth." James stated. Meowth just sneered
and began to count the pokeballs.
"It's not my fault that people don't bother to look down when they walked. I
got stepped on at least four times!"
*Please, ladies and gentlemen, the flight to Sandstone Slopes is now taking
off. If you are not on now...then you better haul some ass! Thank you* the
transmission voice came in through the door.
Jessie and James both looked at each other, nodded (for what, the ten
thousandth time?), and made a sudden dash for the boarding corridor of their
plane.
"Where are you guys goin'?" Meowth slurred in a hurry.
"Boss told us to get to Sandstone Slopes because we need to capture that
fantastic Articuno that haunts one of the mountains, remember? We don't want
to ruin our good streak!"
"Yeah, well, I'll stay here and keep in touch with The Boss, and make sure
these treasures make it safely to base." Meowth said, patting the sack of
pokeballs.
"All right Meowth," they yelled back once they were zipping past him and
making a sprint for the airplane-boarding hall. "See ya in a couple of
days!"
Please, please, ladies and gentlemen take your seats. We apologize for the
delay, but our captain has regained consciousness and the plane will be
taking off shortly. Please do not feel alarmed at the captain's sudden
passing out. This was just an isolated incident. We believe he was seen
eating a chocolate doughnut before this occurred. Hopefully it will not
happen again, or we will all be in for an unexpected, fiery trip to Hell as
we will inevitably plunge into the sea without a captain flying this hunk of
junk. Thank you!* The intercom buzzer went off, as everyone put away their
electronics and all the flight attendants went back into the cockpit. *Take
your seats, as the airplane begins its aerial ascension. Thank you!* Some
people made early attempts to jump out the small windows, rather having
themselves dead from suicide than being stuck in the same airplane with such
a terrible pilot and crew. They were permanently scarred. But just found
their butts getting horribly stuck in the windows.
"Well it's about time!" Misty sighed as she packed her headphones into her
pack. She pulled out her clothes, which consisted of sweatpants and a
just-right sized sweater. She got up and paced to the vacant bathroom to
change, so when they arrived at their ice-cold destination, she wouldn't
freeze her hind parts off.
************************************************************************
Among the cockpit...
"Well, since this is you two's first day serving among an actual flight,
I'll let you sit in this once. But let me tell you," The co-pilot took a sip
of his mug of steaming hot coffee. "Take examples from our more experienced
other two..." The co-pilot trailed off as the 'waitresses' edged out of the
cockpit and into first class.
"Jess, we'll never get pokemon this way. We gotta do something to distract
all these people!" The young flight waiter said, smoothing a wrinkle in his
black pants. He became quite disgruntled as the wrinkle kept coming back,
until he noticed it only crunched up when he took another step walking.
Sighing, he noticed the look on his partner's face. It was the look she had
when she had a plan.
"I have an idea, James." She said, precariously watching to make sure no one
heard in on their conversation. She continued. "But this is too conspicuous,
we need something-"
"Inconspicuous!" James searched for a place where they would not be noticed,
somewhere that would be out of the way. His eye caught the sight of a
bathroom. Sure, it looked like more of a make-out spot when two people of
opposite sex went in there together, but it had potential. He nudged
Jessie's arm softly, whispering in her ear his plan. After a few seconds of
indecision, they both paced to the bathroom door, only to find...
"Occupied?" Jessie asked, looking a little peeved, but not anymore so than
would scare a Caterpie. James assumed it was either not that time of the
month yet, or that she was really in an unusually optimistic mood. James
expected her to usually try to kick that blasted door down. He, not feeling
it the time to ruin this good occasion, simply repeated his partner's words,
except in a more pissed-off tone of voice. Suddenly, the light-metal door
swung open, to reveal a bundled up girl dressed in sweatpants and a sweater.
Her orange hair hung shortly behind her head and her green eyes were much
lighter than James'. The girl gave a quick 'hello' to the two teenagers
standing outside her door and scampered away with a confused look on her
face. She seemed to be giggling, but at the same time panicking. Jess and
Jim shrugged it off, heading into the bathroom. Of course, they checked to
see if anyone saw them going in together.
************************************************************************
Misty went back to her seat, shuffling up her pillow and grabbing her tipped
over can of ginger ale that lay on the floor. She sighed when she picked it
up, watching as the stain dug into the beige fibers of the carpet. Scurrying
around to face Brock, she took a quick sip and began speaking.
"You know, Brock, I think I just saw Team Rocket back there."
Brock turned around, pulling the shade over the window covering as he did-
too much light hurts his eyes. "How do you know it was them?"
Misty slightly shrugged in her seat, looking up at the ceiling. "I dunno, I
guess I just kinda assumed it was them. I mean, they look so different in
their new disguises and everything, but the features of their faces were
just too...Rockety to be ignored."
"Hmm, I see what you mean."
Misty brightened, perking up almost immediately. "You do? I thought you'd
never believe me!"
Brock grimaced and sweat dropped. "Actually, Misty, I still think you
delusional. I was just trying to lively up our conversation." Brock sat
back, folding his arms under his head, and closing his eyes (no comment
needed...). Misty thought about laying him out flat by verbal abuse, but
decided that would get her nowhere.
She sighed. "Look, Brock, I don't care if you believe me or not, but-"
************************* *Switch Scenes* *****************************
"-I know I saw the brat! It's a certainty!" James laid back against the
toilet seat, groaning and feeling abnormally claustrophobic.
"Jess, okay, maybe you did see the twerp. But that's no reason to get all
frazzled-up. We have to focus on our plan."
Jessie looked confused, to say the least. "Exactly what is our plan?"
James seemed to have this comment hit him like a ton of bricks. "I thought
you knew..." He said nervously sweat dropping. Jessie seemed to laugh it
off, and paced back and forth, her boots clicking against the metal floor.
Of course, how can you pace in such a cramped spot?
James felt himself getting extremely hot, as the ventilator emitted heat for
the airplane. He grunted in frustration, feeling the stuffiness affect his
sensitive attitude.
"Forget the complicated schemes! Let's just go out there, kick some candy
butt, steal their pokemon, and get on with the show!"
************************************************************************
Ash knew his eyes were as big as a Rattata that had stumbled into a
mozzarella factory. He let his hand roam all over the smooth, cool metallic
covering that formed the base of Jack's snowboard. This was the first time
he'd ever seen a snowboard up-close--the only other times were at national
games from stands way above the actual action, and from miles away at his
home through the miracle of television. The snowboard was now the coolest
thing yet. With its dark gray base, its green and yellow emblazoned letters,
and the curved-up tip, Ash was more than anxious to ride it when they
arrived at their destination.
"Isn't it cool, Ash?" Jack asked, taking a bite of the complimentary donuts.
The chocolate frosting tasted hot, sticky and gooey. It almost tasted like
moist elephant crap!
Ash nodded enthusiastically, just imagining how jealous Misty and Brock were
going to be. "Way cool!" Ash blurted out, abruptly hearing the sound of
puking behind them. People were all of a sudden running for the direction of
their air-sick bags, stored up in the storage compartments above their
heads. Jack and Ash turned around to see almost all of first class,
including Brock, standing up and spilling out their lunches into the paper
bags.
"Hmm, I wonder what's bugging them out like that." Jack stated, feeling a
bit disgusted himself. Ash nodded, and ran toward Brock and Misty's seats.
As he saw earlier, Brock was also spewing the contents of his ill-digestion
into the paper bag.
Ash panted for a second, before grabbing Misty's arm and shaking her.
"Misty!"
The carrot-head turned around to see her black-haired companion. "Ash?
What's up?"
Ash couldn't believe Misty's cluelessness. "What do you mean 'what's up'?"
Ash took the time to regain his composure. "As a matter of fact, just by
looking around you, you can tell that food is the thing coming UP!"
Misty nodded, understanding Ash's hints. "Oh, riiight, that. Honestly, I
don't know what happened. By my understanding from the flight attendants,
all these people had a sample of the complimentary donuts." Misty stopped to
think. "But on second thought, I had a donut, too. But then again, the
flight attendant did specifically say these people all ate chocolate donuts.
"Then why aren't you getting sick?"
"I ate a powdered one!"
Ash suddenly felt his tummy, too, rumble and churn its contents about. His
face was soon filled with throw-up, as his cheeks expanded.
"Ash! Ash, what's wrong?!" Misty exclaimed, shaking his paling form. He was
able to murmur out a few words before collapsing and running for Jack- Lord
knows if he'll make it that far.
"Misty, I don't feel too good..."
"What, Ash? What do you mean?" Ash felt more fill up his mouth. He quaked
with indigestion and nausea, as mush filled his throat and up.
"I mean," he said, giving up and preparing to spew it out on the floor. "I
had a donut, too."
************************************************************************
"And, flight control, we are headed east, south east, passing over Cinnabar
Island at ninety-degrees, approximately."
"Your position, Pilot?"
"We are approximately," The Pilot halted mid-sentence as his stomach
churned. "Approximately...." He trailed off, before collapsing on the floor
and struggling for the air-sick packs that were positioned on the lower
wall.
"Pilot, come in. This is flight control." The pilot-assistant walked into
the room, whistling a tune when he sees his superior on the floor, embracing
himself by the stomach.
"My God, Sir!" he said, running over. "Are you okay, Sir?" The Pilot looked
up, his black eyes distorted with blurriness and pain, as he muttered his
last words.
"Assistant-pilot, my child..." he said, closing his eyes, never living to
have the vomit escape his bearded mouth. He breathed in his last pained
breath, and prepared for eternal peace. The assistant-pilot cradled the
body, crying.
"If only I'd come sooner! This would not be! You would still be-" he paused
in his speech, having something hit him like a ton of bricks. "Hey, I'm not
you child!"
"I'm dying, you idiot!" The Pilot yelled, in doing so letting loose his
contents into the bag that was over his face. He sighed, relieved, and made
a sound of embarrassment.
"Nevermind."
"NOOOOOOOOO! Pilot, I miss thee already!" The co-pilot yelled, at the top of
his lungs. His tear-streaked face was full of anguish and sorrow.
"Fool, I'm not dead, anymore!" The superior shouted, feeling like a headache
was coming on. A serious one.
"Fool? Me? You're the fool! You're the one that forgot- you never were
dead!"
A beeping noise came across the room through the transmitter. "Pilot, Pilot
are you there?"
He stood up, gathering his sense, and spoke back. "Yes, yes, I'm here."
"Why the hold-up, earlier?"
"Donuts- Chocolate ones, flight control. Chocolate ones..."
************************************************************************
After first class has recovered from the wrath of the Chocolate Donut...All
hail sacred being, Chocolate Donut....
"Lights!" The lights in first class suddenly dimmed out, as people started
shrieking about how loss of electricity meant their impending fate. Soon,
two yellow spotlight circles had appeared on the floor right before the
cockpit.
"Camera!" All eyes watched in fear, as dramatic music was turned on and all
their electrical appliances were mute and not functioning. Their attention
soon fell on the site unfolding before them, as a bathroom stall flung open,
the metal clanking, and startling almost everyone who were becoming used to
the silence.
"Action!" Two figures jumped out of the bathroom stall, dressed in flight
attendant uniform. They were positioned back to back, their certain style in
doing things apparent. They had attracted the attention of all the
passengers of first class, who had by now overcome Chocolate Donut...
"Prepare for trouble!" The woman began, in a clear voice loud enough to be
heard by everyone.
************************** *switch scenes* *******************************
Meanwhile, in the further back seats...
"Wow! That flight attendant is really cute!" Jack commented, followed by an
agreeing headshake by Brock. "I don't even remember seeing her!"
"Yeah, Jack, I think you're right about that one!" Ash conceded, feeling his
cheeks fill with blush, and his eyes turn into gigantic pink hearts. Brock
simply nodded again, a wide smile plastered on his face.
"She could serve me anytime!" Jack said aloud, although it was meant to be
privately thought. "Oops, I said that out loud, didn't I?" Misty nodded, her
eyes narrowing.
"I meant food! Serve me food!" Jack said, doing his best to recover. But
once he turned his head back around, his eyes got bubbly and big. "Delicious
food...Rreeeeooww!" he said, purring like a cat to emphasize his point.
Misty just ignored the boys. "She still looks familiar!"
************************** *switch scenes back!****************************
"And I firmly suggest you make that double!" The male added on, keeping his
eyes closed and his face down to the floor.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all people within our nation!"
The young woman struck a pose with her leg bent in the air and her arm
straight ahead of her. "To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
The young man did the same, except going in the opposite direction. "To
extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessica!" Jessie said, flinging out her bun of red hair, letting it
seductively stream down her back.
**************************** *switch scenes*******************************
"It's Jessie!" Misty exclaimed. "I knew it!"
"BUT SHE STILL LOOKS CUTE!!" Brock, Jack, and Ash announced, drooling at the
flowing magenta hair down her back, and the way her skirt accentuated her
waistline.
Misty grunted, smacking them upside their heads.
********************** *switch scenes back, again...*
***********************
"Oooh, sweet!" James said, admiring the same things the three other boys
were. Jessie glared playfully at her partner, nudging him in the side. "Oh,
I mean," he said pausing, regaining his composure and his masculinely deep
voice. "James!"
"Aahhh, it's Team Rocket!" Ash, Brock and Misty shrieked, which immediately
caused reaction from the passengers. They all jumped up, preparing to fight
the two criminals. All kinds of pokeballs were being thrown forward, and
almost all the species of pokemon were present, ready for battle.
Ash, Misty and Brock, however, were waiting for something else, until Ash
nudged him in the side. Jack awoke from his revelry, still bubbly and big
eyed, and a wide, goofy grin on his face.
"Jack, you missed your cue." Misty pointed out. Jack was puzzled for a
second, but then regained focus.
"Oh, right! Yes, well... Aahhh, it's Team Rocket!" he smiled to his newly
acquired companions. "Better?"
"Very much so!"
"Wheezing, go!" James threw forth his pokeball into the middle of the aisle.
The floating blob of gas cried its name several times before realizing that
its usual battle partner was missing.
"Don't worry, Jessie's solo this time! But anyway, Wheezing, Smog attack!"
The balloon of gas spewed toxic gas from its two heads, the fumes quickly
spreading throughout the airplane. Everyone, including pokemon, coughed as
the gas seeped into their lungs, either knocking them out, or making them
extremely dizzy. James, however, was used to this, being a Wheezing trainer,
after all, he had become immune to its lingering effect after awhile.
"Wheezing, Haze and Smokescreen attacks!" he yelled, his pokemon obediently
following orders, emitting powerful fumes of gas that enshrouded the whole
plane. Half the pokemon hit the floor, badly poisoned, fainted or exhausted
from lung pain. The Wheezing continued to pour its foul gas on the helpless
victims, as trainers now fell to the ground along with their pokemon.
Ash coughed fiercely, reaching for his pokeballs, but feeling to disoriented
to ever actually grab one. "Misty, Brock, Jack," he paused to cough,
stifling it a bit, using his pulled off jacket to cover his nose and mouth.
"How are you holding out?"
Brock wheezed, falling forward on the floor, clutching his chest tightly. "I
don't think I can take much more, Ash." He coughed, trying to pull off his
orange vest to use it for the same purposes Ash used his jacket.
"Misty, send out one of your pokemon!" Ash strained to yell, the poison
making him feel faint, and his thoughts disarrayed. He was too confused to
even attempt at a solution. When no answer came, Ash figured Misty had
already fainted. He would have liked to help her, but it was hard enough
trying to keep himself on track without him having to hunt for someone else.
"Go, Pikachu!" A voice yelled. The voice was terribly familiar to Ash, who
was steadily losing consciousness. His immune system was wearing thin, as he
doubled over on the floor in semi-consciousness. The voice sounded like
Jack's.
"Pikachu, Agility!" was the last thing Ash heard before all went black and
silent, as he joined the rest of his friends in being unconscious. James
felt pleased with himself, the only person left standing was a young man
about his age who had sent out a Pikachu. James was ready to battle, as he
spotted Jessie in the corner of the room, gathering up the last of the
pokeballs off the belts of fainted trainers who lay on the floor, either
semi-conscious, or completely wiped out.
"Wheezing, Smokescreen attack!" The Pikachu's enhancement of speed due to
the Agility attack that had come earlier, assisted it in making the first
move. It ran toward the balloon gas, stopping mid-way and gathering its
power within its red cheeks. It dug deep within itself, scraping together
all the power it could muster, as a thunderbolt of energy swept through the
plane, knocking out all remaining power, and bursting the windows one by
one. An explosion erupted, as the chemicals of gas and electricity tore at
the plane. Glass shattered everywhere, scarring and piercing the skin of
the. Jack was thrown against a near wall by the powerful explosion, as
Wheezing's gas harmlessly was sucked from the plane and out into the sky.
James ducked down to the floor, covering his arms with his head, until he
heard his partner's cry. He felt the air being forced from his lungs as the
height of the plane in the sky and the thin layer of oxygen made it harder
to breathe.
"Jessie!" He shouted, darting toward his fallen companion who lay helpless
on the floor, almost knocked-out, herself. He touched the side of her face,
which had a large red whelp on the side. "Oh, Jess,"
"James, what's happening?" She asked, fading out. James felt his eyes well
with tears. He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Jess was
unconscious, and lying limp in his arms. Perhaps this time, Team Rocket
succeeded, but in a way that was possibly too perfect. The plan was
mastered, but now, everyone's lives were in immense danger.
Suddenly, and hand was on his shoulder. He looked up to see Ash, still
visibly delirious, but holding out nonetheless. "I'll help you."
"I don't know if there's anything you can do, kid." James said bluntly.
Suddenly, the plane rocked with force, as it dove down through the sky and
the graying evening clouds. The aerial vessel dove through the heavens and
heightening speed, sucking the breathable air from the plane as the
atmosphere's layers and the exposed windows took their toll. Suddenly, all
went black, as Ash felt a hard force swoop up the floor below him, and James
experienced the hard hit of a wall against his back. Everything on the plane
was unconscious. But James was sure he saw something before he passed out.
Blue. Sparkling blue, and shimmering bright lights. He also swore he saw a
powerful, flapping wing. The last coherent thing that went through his mind
was a vision of the person that he loved.
************************************************************************
The young man felt a slight slap on his cheek, and the feeling of a hot
paper-towel against his aching forehead. He cracked open his eyes, to see
him being stared right back at. The first things he noticed were that there
was a young woman in front of him. She was extremely beautiful, and the
depths of those deep sapphire eyes reminded him of a name.
"Who- who are you?" He asked, putting a hand to his head, and slowly feeling
the strength to sit up. His stomach hurt, he knew that much. "I have a
feeling that I've known you...or at least seen you before."
"First, who are you?" She asked back, softly rubbing the side of his face.
The way she smiled seemed familiar, too. There was someone else he knew who
had that same movie-star smile. But as for knowing his name- the young man
felt as if he knew it, but he was unsure.
"I'll take a stab at it. Is it...Jay?" She chuckled, brushing a lavender
strand of hair from his face.
"Actually, it's James." James recovered his memory and proceeded to repeat
his name to himself, trying to remember anything else relevant. As hard as
he tried, he couldn't remember a thing.
"Blue eyes," he began uncomfortably, associating 'blue eyes' to the woman in
front of him. "I'm sorry, but even though my being 'James' checks out in my
memory, but I can't recall anything about my previous life." The young woman
giggled a bit, feeling his arms, his neck, his wrist, and later on the
middle of his shin and ankle. James certainly felt his soreness go away in
those particular spots, but he couldn't help but blush. While she was doing
this, he started remembering things that he had temporarily forgotten. He
took note of the young woman's beautiful magenta hair that flowed down her
back, and above all things, her curves.
"Jessica?" He hesitantly began, unconsciously twirling a strand of her hair
between his fingers. Jessica looked up, and smiled that beautiful smile
again.
"Well, James, I'm glad to see you remember something about your past life."
She said, edging close to his form. "I'm really especially glad you remember
who I am, though."
"How could I forget who you are?" James asked admiringly. Jessica blush and
got closer to James' face. As she came closer and closer, he could feel more
retrospect epiphanies coming on. A young woman who meant all the world to
him... a red headed angel, with deep blue eyes...a girl who often hid her
timid nature under a brash and arrogant exterior.
"Jessie..." He trailed off before closing his eyes. Jessie nodded and closed
her eyelids. James felt his heart slow down to a comfortable, rhythmic beat.
He wasn't nervous, as he remembered how for the longest time he'd been
waiting for this moment. For what seemed like an eternity, the two's lips
came ever closer...
Their intimate moment was cut short by the clearing of a throat. The two
embarrassed teenagers looked up to see another young man standing in front
of them. James felt uncomfortable in this situation, and gently motioned to
Jessie for them to separate. They both came to their feet. The young man
smirked haughtily and only extended his hand to Jessie, who after a few
moments of blushing, accepted it herself.
"I'm Jack Cappuccino." He said, flashing Jessie a smile (People sure do
smile a lot nowadays, ne?) and a sexy wink. She knew that her face was the
same color as her hair by now. "And you are?" Jack added on a bit later.
"Jessica Kenjiro. Pleased to meet you." She replied, regaining her
composure. "I assume you are related to Fiorello Cappuccino, the big movie
star?"
"Oh no! My older brother's job is nice, but I make my living as a
snowboarder." Jack added on quickly, waving his hands in warding motions.
"In fact, I'd love to take you on a personalized tour of this premises."
"Well, excuse my being rude, Jack, but what exactly is the 'premises'? I
haven't the slightest clue where we are." Jessie asked, feeling more than a
little confused.
"We're at Sandstone Slopes, remember? Me, Ash, Misty and Brock are here,
too." Jack answered. He understood everything we he noticed the conspicuous
red 'R' on both the trainers shirts.
"Well, I'm sorry to butt in, but my name is James Gregory." Jack seemed to
stare daggers at the man who'd interrupted his moment with such a beautiful
young lady. "I'm from Team Ro-"
"Team Rocket, I know." He said, glaring at James. "It was your
organization's fault that we almost got killed the plane explosion!"
"Hey, I don't go around trying to make trouble! It was an accident. My
Wheezing's toxic smoke just got side-affected by your Pikachu's thunderbolt.
It's nobody's fault, really." Jack just sneered and turned his focus back to
Jessie.
"Your room is on the third floor, Jessica" He started romantically. "- Yours
and James' room." He emphasized with a hint of mock disgust. It was only
then as Jack began to walk away, that Jess and Jim realized that they were
in a large wooden cabin. It was obviously a hotel, as outside they could
both here the wind roughly howling over the roof. The floors were polished
and lacquered, and there were lobby burgundy sofas and matching loveseats
that were around each corner of the room. Small wooden tables about 5 x 5
were squared off of each chair/sofa piece, and little decorations of ski
boards and paintings of pokemon hung on the walls. The front desk was to the
left of an elevator and to the far left of two pairs of staircases that
spiraled upwards to the next floor. Plants were in every free, convenient
space and the large windows that were on the wide wall of the cabin hotel
gave a good view of the mountain range below. Judging by the way the weather
looked, it seemed to be about midday, even though it looked like the evening
as the sun wasn't shining its brightest. James ran over to a paining of a
particular pokemon that hung on the farthest wall to him. Granted, he had
recovered everything from that temporary case of amnesia, but still
something was there that he could not exactly remember.
The painting had a white, pastel-like background, and a brass frame bordered
the outskirts. In the center was the picture of a pokemon- a pokemon James
was sure he'd seen before. James had gotten so wrapped up in his intense
thinking that he literally jumped into the ceiling when someone tapped in on
the shoulder.
"Ahh!" He shrieked, turning around to see an old woman behind him. Well,
maybe an old woman below him. The woman was only about a little more than a
quarter of James' height, no more taller than Meowth. "Can I yell, miss?"
"My name is Lorelei, young man, and for your information I was once the
Ice-Trainer of the Elite Four."
"The same Elite Four that dwells atop Indigo Plateau, Lorelei?" James
inquired, seeing Jessie take the elevator in the corner of his eye. She must
have been going up to their room. Lorelei sweat dropped.
"Well, kiddo, do you know any other Elite Fours? Anyway, it seems that you
have a particular interest in my painting, eh?"
James was sure he could have doubled-over and laughed! "Your painting?!" He
stifled a hysterical outburst. "You- you drew this painting?!" Lorelei took
immediate offense at the gesture. James quickly recovered his sensibility
about him, and decided to stay on the cool side would probably be best. "I
mean, Lorelei, it's a regular chef-d'ouevre. A masterpiece!"
"Why I'm certainly glad you think so, young man." Lorelei said
sarcastically. "The painting portrayed the pokemon I once thought I saw."
She said, her voice softening. James began to pay close attention. Besides,
here was a person who had claimed to have had the same experience he
had-seeing a pokemon that could have very well been a fake. It could have
been possible that someone else had seen the creature he thought he'd seen,
too. "It all started when I came here about twenty years ago, in search of a
pokemon that many locals had reported seeing. They said it had large,
sparkling, blue wings and soft, red pupils that had crystal-clear
reflection. Most reported it to be peaceful, and just fly into the clouds,
before it would disappear in a string of mist. It was surely the mystery of
the decade. Every tabloid that wanted to earn the right to be called
'tabloid' printed a story of the mythical creature." Lorelei took a pause,
and shook her head in pity. "So much was made of the sightings, that by
using the information that supposed eye-witnesses had gathered together, the
Pokemon League had finally authorized the pokemon in this painting to be of
legal existence. They called it Articuno, pokemon number 144. That means, in
the eyes of the highest pokemon-relevant power, this...creature was the real
deal. So, in my late forties, full of life and semi-youthful exuberance, I
set off to capture the pokemon."
"Why would you want to do that-"
"-Because I was an Ice-Trainer, and this pokemon, according to eye-witness
accounts, was the ultimate ice type that there was, or ever would be. So, as
you can imagine, I failed my quest, and stayed here to live out the rest of
my life in dormancy and solitude, not having the strength to face my
superiors with the appearance of an absolute failure. I had wanted to make
something of myself, but not succeeding opened my eyes." Lorelei took a
breath to keep in a quiet sob. "So to make you believe me, yes, I am the
illustrator of this work of art. It is a picture of the pokemon that I never
captured."
"A picture of the pokemon you never captured..."
"And of course all the media back at home thinks I'm long dead. And they
have plenty of reason. It's not often that a person who's part of the Elite
Four doesn't report to work. You make a friggin' ten thousand a day! I mean
there was no other explanation for a person not to come to the job every day
if you were part of the renowned Elite Four!" James lost all interest in
Lorelei's gazes into the past, not that he wasn't he interested. It was just
that now he had his own mystery to solve. He began dazing off, into a state
off semi-awareness (You know, that place where you dream but your eyes are
still open and you wake up to find you were mindlessly staring at things
^_^;; Not quite the Twilight Zone, but hey!). James awoke from his revelry,
to find himself slumped against the cold oak of the front desk, above his
head on the wall the picture of the mysterious pokemon Lorelei had told him
of. Nothing on that blasted thing looked familiar except for the wings-
those sparkling, sapphire, shimmering wings. He remembered that he had seen
those wings before the plane went down. The plane...the plane explosion, for
that matter. That must explain why he'd had that temporary case of
forgetfulness. James suddenly felt an overwhelming feeling of unease as he
drifted off with the realization that he could have perished in the flames.
It was then that the young and handsome bishounen monumentally decided he
would find this mysterious pokemon. He would at least have to some way thank
it, for now James was sure, by putting two and two together, that this
mysterious pokemon, was the thing that had saved his and Jessie's lives.
"What a life I lead..." James trailed off, before standing up and walking
over to the corner closest to him. He plopped down in the comfy sofas in the
lobby, turning off the lights, and grabbing a pillow from the loveseat
across from him. "Something must relate..." He said, before snuggling his
head into the soft textiles of the cotton pillow. This was the only night in
a long time that he had fallen asleep without the comfort of knowing that
Jessie was right beside him.
In Team Twerp's room...
"All right, Ash, you owe me 400 yen. You landed on my land. I'm so glad I
bought Japanese Market Square from Brock!" Misty squealed with glee, as Ash
unhappily withdrew two blue 200 dollar bills from his depleting wad of cash.
Brock snorted from the couch where he lay sprawled out over a pillow,
intensely watching the game. "You didn't buy a single thing from me! You
just threatened to sick your Starmie on my Onix if I didn't give you the
Japanese Market Square!"
"Either way, neither of you are the ones giving up money here!" Ash
announced, glaring at his friends.
"Oh, Ash, it's not Misty's fault you suck at Monopoly." Brock said, yawning.
"Just roll the dice." Ash let the two game pieces fall from his palm and saw
the number land on '6'. He counted as he moved his car six spaces from the
Japanese Market Square. He winced in horrible agony as he landed on another
piece of Misty's property.
"Aauuugh! Not again!" He grained, falling back on the carpet. Misty and
Brock laughed at him, and Ash sighed, defeated. "How much money do I owe you
now, Misty?" He asked, picturing his bank account crumbling.
"Actually, Ash, from now on, I am not Misty. You will call me 'Her Majesty',
since you have just landed in the Dutch Garden's Estate. Cough up 2,000
bucks."
"But Misty, if I'm in Sweden, or somewhere where they speak Dutch, then
don't I owe you less money? I' sure American dollars are worth a lot more
there than over here!"
"Not really, Ash. The Swedish economy is not much different from our own, if
not by increasing by 2%." Brock explained, admiring the board. More than 3/4
the property on it was Misty's. Ash moaned, throwing his pieces over the
board. He fell on the floor, letting his back rest from the constant
crouching over the board game he'd done that night.
"I give, I give! Fine!" He yelled disgruntled. Just then, the door to their
hotel room opened. In stepped Jack, clad in pajamas.
Misty got wide-eyed. "Those are your pajamas???" She outlined the white
T-shirt and the black boxers. His purple hair was slicked and combed back,
and the tattoo on his arm of a pokeball was showing.
"Wicked tattoo, man!" Brock announced from the couch, now looking at a good
movie or two (Good movie for Brock usually means lots of orgies...). Ash
just groaned from the floor, his hands over his face.
"What's wrong with Ash?" Jack questioned, sitting on the sofa next to Brock,
quickly snatching the remote, and changing the channel. Misty just beamed
with pride from the opposite side of the board game.
"He's feeling a loss of his masculinity."
"Why? Did he get a sex change?" Jack inquired, confused by what was
happening. Brock and Misty sweat dropped, but continued to explain.
"No, I mean he lost to a girl in a board game. He lost to me." Misty
clarified matter-of-factly. Jack looked down at the floor to keep from
laughing out loud. He knew if he looked at Ash, all control would be lost.
"Well, no, actually I can sympathize with Ash." Jack said softly. Brock
looked over his shoulder, patting his friend on the back.
"It happened to you before, Jack?"
"NOPE! It never did! Ha!" Jack spurted out, rolling on the floor, laughing
in hysterics. His hands were folded over abdomen and his legs were kicking
about, knocking over game pieces. "You- ha! YOU-ha! You LOST to a girl!!
Man, what...what a world we live in today!"
Brock, ignoring his friend who was having a critical case of the "giggles
(you actually expect me to call those rantings giggles?)", looked over to an
embarrassed Ash and Misty.
"Well," began Brock uneasily. "I have a confession to make." Misty, Ash and
Jack, yes, even laughing out loud Jack, sat up and stared at him. Ash spoke
up.
"If you're gonna say you like Jessie...we kinda-sorta knew that...no
offense."
"D'OH! WHAT!?!?! No way you could know!!!!! I mean, uhh, not like there's
anything to know about...he he..."
"Personally, I think she's pretty cute myself." Jack said suavely, blushing
ever so lightly. "I had a run in with Jessica and James back in the lobby.
James is so blaze, trying to steal my girl."
Ash smirked. "Since when did she become your girl?" Brock, Ash, and Jack all
stared at each other for a second before they all yelled:
"Man talk! Man talk!"
Misty covered her ears before whacking them all upside the head. "Didn't we
already talk about this subject back on that fiery inferno we nearly died
on?"
"It's called 'a plane'."
"Exactly! A plane! I have no interest in talking about you all's love lives
and your mysterious crushes on another red-head besides me."
"You're just saying that because you want to talk about James!" Ash
interjected.
"Do not!"
"Do to!"
"Do not!"
"Do to!"
"Please, please, Ash, Misty! If you want to evenly settle a score, I know
what you can do." Jack said, separating the two trainers with a little help
from Brock.
"HOW?!" They both shouted in Jack's ear. Jack winced in pain and sprawled
out on the floor.
"My ear..." he trailed off, before coming back. "You can always hold a
snowboard tournament off of one of Sandstone Slopes many hills, and the
first person to the bottom wins."
"Sure!" exclaimed Misty. "That is the perfect way!"
"And I'll show you that boys make the rules, and girls always lose! Hahaha!"
Ash rhymed, laughing menacingly.
"And I'll be in it, since I could always use the extra snowboarding
practice. But the main match is still between Ash and Misty. So even is I
got in first place, Misty got in second and Ash got in third, Misty'd win,
since she's came closest to first. Got it?" Jack announced snuggling under
the blankets for the night.
"I'm going to win this tournament..." Ash said, before staggering over to
the light switch and flicking it off, buckling down into his red sleeping
bag. "If...if it's the last thing I do." He said before trailing off, and
creating a soft cacophony of snores.
The cold, brisk air swept against Ash's face as he closed his eyes and let
the snowflakes tickle at his skin. He opened his mouth and felt the small
flurries trickle down on his tongue, almost immediately melting into water
as they did. Ash brushed his gloves together anxiously and looked over to
Brock and Misty. "You guys okay?"
Misty's teeth shuddered together. "I'm okay, if you don't count the
hypothermia."
"Brock? How are you holding up, buddy?"
"Actually, Ash, I'm wondering why we even have to go through with this
race."
"C'mon, Brock! It's all in pure fun!" Ash exclaimed, waving his hands in the
air and doing quick stretches. "I for one am enjoying this cool weather...it
sure beats Viridian Forest any day!"
"I don't think this race has any meaning at all, except for your own
stubbornly selfish, personal gain, Ash Ketchum, you never-will-be Pokemon
Master!" Misty shrieked, coming face to face with Ash and preparing to spew
more verbal trash at him. Ash was ready to do just the same.
"Oh, so now you are calling this race arbitrary?" He asked mockingly,
pulling down his left lower eyelid, and sticking out his tongue. Misty felt
her face become red with anger. "If I recall correctly, it was you who said
to do this race in the first place!"
"I never said that!"
"She's right." Jack said from esied Brock. He was currently contemplating on
what tricks to use while snowboarding. "Actually, I said it."
"I don't care who said it, regardless! I'm gonna win this thing, and show
that boys are better than girls! Brock, Jack, James, are you with me?!"
Misty her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest. Jack looked up puzzled
from his theories. "What were you talking about?"
Brock simply stared at Ash, who still had his fist high in the air. "You are
a sad little trainer."
James, who habitually stood by Jessie, hesitantly broke their temporary kiss
and looked to Ash. "I could say something, but it would make you think that
you are actually doing something to influence me, and I wouldn't want you to
think that for a second." He said, before going back to his business. Misty
blushed, looking toward the lip-locked Team Rocket. They had now fallen in
the snow, their hands and lips uncontrollable.
"Umm, Jess, Jim, could you get a room for this?" She questioned.
"Mmm, James, I'm so glad we're out of denial."
"Ohh, Jess, I'm so glad I've got a beautiful girl like you..."
"Pikachu, GO!" Jack yelled, throwing forth his pokeball onto the snow. The
Pikachu hopped out, saying its name repeatedly before letting loose a string
of thunderbolts onto the making-out couple. Jessie and James sprung to the
feet, bodies completely separated, charred and blackened beyond human
recognition.
"I can't believe that Team Rocket is actually entering this tournament with
us." Misty announced, desperately trying to rid her innocent mind of the
perverted thoughts that now ran through it, thanks to what she's just seen
Jessie and James doing. In the snow. Misty just couldn't believe Team Rocket
would do that! In the snow... "We should all be careful."
Jack shook his head in calm disagreement, returning his Pikachu. "Even
though protagonists and antagonists are never supposed to get along, I
thought since both groups are on winter vacation, a temporary truce could be
called." He said. Ash nodded.
"Yeah, I see no harm in that, as long as there is a promise to no pokemon
battles, no pokemon swiping and no pokemon- whatever bad thing a criminal
might do!"
"And when Ash said 'swiping pokemon', he meant any other terms you guys may
use for 'swiping'." Brock added in, cautiously. "'Permanently borrowing,
embezzling our poke-bank accounts, robbing our assets, making off with our
'pokies', and taking our critters' are all included."
"Well," started Jack. "Is everyone ready for the race?" Everyone nodded,
picking up their snowboards and pushing themselves close to the edge.
Ash looked over at Misty. "If I die on this course, Misty, I'll be sure
never to forget what a unsupportive friend you were."
"And if I die on this course, Ash, I'll never forget what a JERK you always
were and always will be."
"Jessica,"
"Yes, James?"
"If we don't pull through this bizarre twist of horrible, horrible fate, I
just want you to know that I...I...IIIIIIIIIIIIII LOOOOOVE
YOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU..." James screamed as he slipped backwards off his
snowboard and went gliding down the slope, his last words to Jessie getting
fainter and fainter as his quickening form sped down the snow covered slope.
His shouts turned into sounds of glee and words of excitement as he
skillfully dodged the small twigs, rocks and pink barricades that were
located all over the slope.
"Hey, James is going before us!" Ash yelled to his friends, only to find
that when he looked to his sides, his friends were already gone, where they
were standing just moments ago, trails of upturned snow and the tracks of
their boards. Below the slopes, in the forms of tiny, quickly moving dots
followed by paths of more upturned snow as they surfed the thick sheet of
white fluff, were the five pokemon trainers. Everyone seemed to be in a
four-way tie, except for Jack, who was solely in the lead by a few feet in
front of Brock.
Ash decided that he'd just have to have another opportunity to show off and
beat Misty, since starting off now he would surely lose the race. He was
already a mile behind them all anyway. Ash plopped down in the snow, really
wishing he had his electric buddy with him right about now.
Flustered and frustrated, Ash yelled to the top of his lungs. "Snowboarding
bites wind!" he felt extremely satisfied with himself, knowing that they all
heard it. He hoped it had at least messed up someone's concentration enough
to make them trip and fall behind- especially Misty. As Ash stood up, he
felt a rumbling from beneath his feet, as he heard his voice make its last
rounds off the side of every mountain- top for miles around.
Suddenly, Ash violently fell to the ground and began rolling down the hill,
not knowing what had knocked him down. As he was tumbling his clothes ripped
on several sharp rocks and pine needles, causing him to wince in pain. He
continued to roll down the hill, feeling himself get disoriented and realize
the quaking getting larger and larger and LARGER by the second, until his
fall came to a stop on even terrain of snowboarding path.
Ash looked up, his cap on backwards now and his thin black sweater ripped
around the shoulders. In front of him was the most massive pile of snow he'd
ever seen. It must have been six hundred tons or more of snow that came
crashing and rolling down the side of the slope, bowling over trees and the
pink barricades. Its sound was almost deafening, and it shook the ground so
vehemently that Ash could hardly stand up. To his side, he saw the other
five of his friends sprawled out on the snow, some more badly wounded than
others.
Ash noticed they were at least 7 yards away from him, and the avalanche was
approaching with rapid speed, still crushing whatsoever got in its way. Ash
decided there was nothing left but to risk it all for his friends. He ran as
fast as he could after quickly un-strapping his feet from the snowboard
under him. As Ash began to run for them, he realized that his sides ached
with pain. When he had come crashing down to a stop after his hard fall, his
hard snowboard had been under him, and it had knocked the wind right out of
his lungs when it dug into his body from the impact. The avalanche continued
to boulder down the slope of the mountain, now only a couple of hundred of
feet away from Ash.
He panted as he finally reached all of his friends. They were battered and
torn, looking as far as he could tell they would have been dead, if he had
not seen them moving. Misty, Jessie, and Jack were, however, blacked out.
"James, Brock! Get up, and quick!" he yelled to them, forcing them up by
yanking at their arms and legs almost pulling the sockets apart from the
bone. James stood to his feet, staggering and already knowing what was
happening.
"Ash, look!" He had to shout three times before Ash heard him. The avalanche
was approaching top speed now, only five hundred feet away. James was
pointing to a cave that was off to their near right. They would have to
climb up the slope just a few feet to get inside. Brock stumbled up after
much struggle, feeling a serious pain in his knee. He, too, already knew
what was happening. Brock grabbed Jack and pulled Jack's arms around his
neck, trudging up the side of the slope toward the cave. Going upward meant
walking face forward in the direction of the incoming thousands of tons of
bone-crushing snow. Ash swung Misty over his back and walked as fast as he
could under her weight. He thought it to be quite ironic that he was doing
all this for her, even though they had gone through so many short- comings.
James gently picked up Jessie's fragile, pale and limp form, having no
trouble at all carrying her in his arms- literally. The avalanche had now
approached within one hundred feet of the trainers, and James, Ash and Brock
were almost to the cave- only a few more feet.
Ash let out a scream as he thought they wouldn't make it, closing his eyes
and clutching them as tight as he could, still walking. The sound was so
loud his eardrums could have burst right then and there. His body was in so
much unbelievable pain. Brock stumbled inside the cave first, tripping
immediately from exhaustion onto the ground, letting Jack's still form
tumble in front of him. Ash finally came in, following suit.
James groaned as he tripped inside the cave, feeling a cold chill go down
his spine. As soon as his leg went inside the cave, the masses of snow came
crushing down the side of the mountain, almost as in slow motion. The two
boys and the young man waited for the sound to subside, feeling grateful
that they had made it just in time, a moment later would have been all they
needed to be still stuck out there.
As James fell to the floor, he made sure he held Jessie in his arms the
whole while, not wanting to let her fall from him. He crouched down on the
ground of the cave, placing her still form softly in front of him. She
looked so peaceful and dormant. This thought of looking 'peaceful' made him
want to check her pulse. James wanted to make sure it wasn't a 'deathly'
king of peaceful. It was okay, and that was news he wanted to hear.
"Good," he said softly, stroking some of her tangled magenta from in front
of her eye. Using the back of his hand, he slowly rubbed the side of her
soft face. "Everything will be okay. I promise." He talked to her, knowing
she would wake up soon when he saw the sign of her eyebrows twitching.
Jessie's eyes suddenly opened, and this time when James saw them, they
looked even more gorgeous than before. He contently smiled, bending down and
kissing her nose gently. She let the corners of her mouth lift in a small,
warm smile. She hugged his form. Stretching her arms behind his back and
bringing him down to her. They engaged in a deeply passionate kiss. James
let his fingers intertwine with hers, letting them overlap as one. She broke
the kiss with a small message to say.
"I love you." She whispered, kissing his cheek. James knew she was all he
needed, but right now, they had to get out of here.
"I love you, too, Jess. But we have to get up now, even though I'd love to
stay this way forever." He smiled, helping her to her feet. When they turned
around, they saw Brock and Ash staring at them. Jessie blushed and James
muttered something under his breath, walking over to the young boys.
"What is it?" He asked.
"We have to figure out how to get out of here." Said Brock, pointing to the
entrance where they'd just come in. "That way is blocked. The snow is too
thick and compacted to move or dig through. We tried it."
Jessie walked over, noticing how dark and undefined this place was. "I think
we need some light." She yelled over to the males. James, whose eyes by now
had adjusted to the darkness, but still was not good enough to fully see
where he was going or what he was doing, nudged Ash in the arm.
"Don't you have a Charmander, Ash?"
"Yeah, it's a Charizard now. Should we use it for light?" Ash replied,
fingering Charizard's pokeball with unease.
"Yes, we should use it." Misty said from the corner. The others all gasped.
"Misty? You okay?" Brock asked her, not really knowing in which direction to
point his voice. "And you, Jack?" A grunt was heard as Jack stood up and
felt for the wall.
"We're both okay." Jack said. "Hurry up and use the Charizard, Ash."
Hesitantly, Ash enlargened the spherical object and threw it in front of
him, hoping it didn't it a wall. It popped open, and as soon as the red beam
of light was gone, the Charizard materialized, instantly lighting up the
room. His large stature of flame lit the whole cave, top to bottom. Suddenly
everyone immediately noticed the cave's magnificent features. From the
ground and from the ceiling appropriately were stalagmites and stalactites
made of pure crystal, and the walls were ice blue, with encrusted diamonds
pointing out as candle holders. Charizard had already inadvertently lit all
the wicks with its tail flame, defining every crack and detail of the cave.
The floors were made of thin, white and light blue ice and on the walls were
glass carvings of a particular pokemon. James walked over to the carvings,
running his finger over the curves, lines and shapes.
"I remember this pokemon." He said out loud, not directly intended for
anyone. But of course, Jessie heard him. Using small steps, she lightly
skated over the ice to her partner putting a hand on his bent arm and
leaning close in to see what he was talking about.
"It doesn't look to familiar to me. Was it a pokemon of The Boss'?-"
"-No, this is Articuno- pokemon number 144. A person name Lorelei told me
about this pokemon." James started. He looked to Jessie to see her staring
at him. James shook his head as a 'never mind', but Jessie urged him to
continue.
"I'm listening." She said, blinking her eyes curiously. James sighed.
"Lorelei, you know the one from Elite Four, is now about, like, 67 years old
and living in that hotel we were in at the top of the slope. She said she
went out in search of this creature but never found it. But she said so many
people said they saw this pokemon before, that it was too much evidence to
be a charlatan. I even think I saw this pokemon." James again outlined the
large, wings on the glass engravement. "These large, shimmering blue wings
are the wings I saw before the plane went down." James turned to Jessie
grabbing her wrists. "I think it was an Articuno that saved us that day the
plane crashed. Right before I passed out, those were the exact same wings I
saw. It is possible that this pokemon might have been so large it could have
carried the plane to down to the ground for a safe landing."
"James, you're not making any sense at all." Jessie said, puzzled. "But, if
you think so..."
"Look everyone!!" Ash shouted, capturing Jessie and James attention from the
other side of the room. They ran back over to the rest of the group where
they saw where Ash pointing toward something. "Those pokemon! What are
they?"
There in front of six pokemon trainers were humongous pokemon, the size of
houses. There were two of them, and they were each identical. They had long,
sheik bodies of light blue feathers, and dark blue feathers were perfectly
placed under their beaks. The first thing James noticed was their long,
shimmering sapphire wings. Its eye pupil was red, and reflected all six of
them perfectly, like a crystalline mirror. The mythical creatures sat there
for moments on end, still perching in there nests and staring down at the
perfectly still humans.
"ARRRRTIIIIIICUUUUUUNO!" They both snapped before flapping their wings so
hard that they knocked everyone into the ice walls and sent Charizard flying
to the ground. The Articunos flew up to the very top of the cave, and sent
down waves of ice beams, freezing everything in its path. Large chunks of
ice and diamond fell from the cracking ceiling, and glass shattered
everywhere in sight, only minorly cutting the six of them. Jack, Misty and
James ducked to the east side of the cave, and Brock, Ash and Jessie were
forced to run deeper into the cave, where there was no light. Brock, who was
in the lead, suddenly lost his balance and fell forward, closing his eyes.
He was so afraid that he didn't want to see when he hit the ground. But he
opened them as he realized this was no ordinary trip over a small stone or
twig. He was literally falling...falling off of something like a 100- foot
cliff. He screamed, opening his eyes but still only seeing nothing but
darkness. Until to the end of the fall, he saw the bright, white light of
outside. Brock suddenly hit the hard snow that caught his fall, saving his
life for sure. He'd landed in a pile of it, not even feeling any pain.
Suddenly, Ash and Jessie ended up beside him, their confusion obviously
written all over their faces.
"The end of the that cave must drop down to the outside world." Jessie
stated, brushing snowflakes from her hair.
"Yes, where lucky to get out of here alive, but I wonder what's happening to
James, Jack and Misty back in there." Ash said, hanging his head low. "If it
wasn't for me yelling so loud that 'Snowboarding bites wind', that avalanche
wouldn't have started and we wouldn't be in this mess."
"You can say that again." A voice said from behind them. Jessie realized it
immediately. She ran over, hugging James and kissing him wildly on the
cheeks like there was no tomorrow.
"How'd you get out?" She asked. From the corner of her eye she saw Misty and
Jack fall into the snow like the rest of the group.
"No time to explain, Jess! We have to run!"
"Why?" Suddenly, the Articunos tore through the top of the cave, zooming out
and flapping their wings, emitted thousands of hard ice beams at the group.
The reason for James saying that soon became clear.
"They're still after us!" Misty said, running rapidly through the snow and
down the continuation of the slope. Everyone followed her example, and was
forced to run the remainder of the snowboarding mountain-side course,
dodging barricades and pitfalls, trying to avoid the icy wrath of the
Articunos that were high in the sun-lit sky, but still very much angry at
them. The vengeful creatures flung pile after pile of crushing ice at the
six trainers, trying to hit every last one of them.
"OH NO!" Jack said wheezing from exhaustion as they ran. "Look up ahead!"
Everyone did as he said, and they all saw the problem. They had run the rest
of the whole course, and once they got to the very end, which was only a few
feet away, there was nowhere else to run but
"Down! We have to jump down!" Misty said, looking over the nearing edge. Up
in the sky, the Articunos were preparing for their nosedive right on top of
them.
"There's no way we can do that! This is the side of a mountain! We'll all
die if we jump down!" James thought for a moment, before having a strong
epiphany come to him and give him the inspiration he needed to think up a
valid plan.
"HURRY! HERE THEY COME!" Ash yelled, squinting up at the sun and seeing the
massive flying figures start their descending dive down. Everyone screamed
until James grabbed Ash's shoulder, shaking him wildly in desperation. Their
seconds were numbered.
"Ash, you have ten Kakuna! We can use their slick, smooth bodies to glide
down the side of this mountain!" Ash nodded, and hurriedly took the six
pokeballs from his backpack, throwing them onto the snow. The Kakuna
materialized, one laying at the feet of each trainer.
"Everyone, we'll use their bodies as our snowboards and surf down the
mountain side!" Ash yelled, grabbing his Kakuna and pushing off down the
side. "Come on, guys!" he yelled to his friends who were still at the top.
Everyone got on top of their own Kakuna and pushed off, the diving Articuno
missing by a single hair their targets. As the pace of the gliding Kakuna
quickened, so did the wing flapping of the Articuno.
"They're gaining on us!" Jack yelled, thrusting his Kakuna faster down the
cliff side. What the six pokemon trainers did not notice was they were not
gliding on snow anymore, they were gliding down thin ice of the mountain
side. The ice was the only thing holding them up from the bottomless chasm
that was dangerously positioned below them. Jessie looked down at her
reflection on the ice, seeing that her face was full of black and gray
shadow. As her Kakuna raced on, she realized that this was because-
"Guys! There is an abyss below us!" she yelled, causing everyone to look
down and shriek in fear when they grasped the fact that she was telling the
horrible, horrible truth. The Kakuna stopped in fear, not knowing the
screams that were so annoyingly loud were coming from the humans on their
brown backs. "No! Don't stop!"
"If you stop then we'll fall from the weight!" Ash exclaimed, noticing the
small cracks under his Kakuna getting larger and larger until...
"Ahhhh!" They screamed, falling into the pit below them. Suddenly, in a
flash of red flame and blue ice, Charizard and Articuno spun past them,
circling them as they fell closer and closer to the ever-present bottom of
the mountain. Ash recalled all his Kakuna in a beam of light, as he closed
his eyes and awaited his early death. Suddenly, below his body, he felt
something pick him up. Ash thought he was at first imagining things,
thinking that his mind wanted to think about anything but his nearing,
impending doom. But, when Ash felt his hair moving against his cheeks as if
something was blowing against them, and the wind blow into his freshened
face, he thought otherwise. Ash opened his eyes, to see Charizard was below
him, flying him back to the top. Ash shouted and hooted as his massive
fire-dragon flew him back to the edge of the top of the slope, where the
race had begun in the first place. He was exhilarated that Charizard was
finally listening to him, and the feeling of seeing Charizard's large shadow
stream across the shining compacted snow below him was overwhelming
ecstatic.
Suddenly, Ash came to the realization about the rest of his friends. Where
were they? "Oh no, Charizard turn back around! Misty??!! Brock??!!" Ash
yelled frantically, cupping his hands around his mouth. Unexpectedly,
someone tapped Ash on the shoulder. Ash jumped and turned around, to see
Misty, Brock and Jack behind him.
"You guys! You're alive!" He shouted hugging Jack, who just happened to be
closest to him. He patted Brock on the back, and just smiled at Misty, who
blushed in return.
"Thanks to your Charizard, Ash." She said, patting on of its wings lightly.
Ash laughed, putting his hand behind his head of disheveled black hair, that
now had snowflakes peppered everywhere in it.
"I told you I'd train it someday!" He said laughing again. Suddenly, he
realized something was missing. "Where's Jessie and James?"
"WHHOOO-HOOO! We're right here!" James shouted to the top of his lungs. He
put his hands in the air, letting the Articuno that was flying him flap its
wings wildly. The Articuno and the Charizard raced together to impending
top.
"This is so much fun!" Jessie squealed in delight, the other Articuno flying
her as well. She grabbed onto its neck feathers, rustling them a bit as she
did. "Faster, Articuno! Faster!"
They all laughed and played with their pokemon the whole way to the top.
************************************************************************
"I've gotten word that there was an avalanche here." Officer Jenny began,
pacing the floor of lobby, her high heels clicking against the wood. "Is
this true ma'am?"
The short, old woman nodded, coming out from behind the counter and walking
over to the three children and three teenagers who sat playing a game of
Monopoly. "It's Lorelei, and everything's true, Officer Jenny." She started.
"Just ask them." The police officer nodded, pacing over to the six people.
"Hello?" Jenny asked, sitting down next to Ash. Ash scooted over as Brock
soon managed to get between the two, staring wide-eyed at the policewoman.
"Is it true that there was an avalanche here?" Everyone looked at each
other, debating whether to tell the truth.
"Yes, there was." Jessie began, putting her green car in the parking lot,
and handing James 300 dollars as payment. He smiled, stuffing it into his
pile. "But I don't think we know anything about it."
"I have heard rumors that some six people got caught in the avalanche, but I
don't know for sure." Jack backed up Jessie's statement, rolling the two
dice. "Some even said that the people who got caught in it captured some
Articuno."
"Like I have said thousands of times, there is no such thing, Jack." Misty
played along, winking at him through her wad of money. She turned to Officer
Jenny. "It is really all superstition." The officer stood, smoothing out her
skirt and brushing off small pieces of lint.
"Well, if anyone ever has any information on that Articuno, contact the
police headquarters in Saffron City. We're open 24/7, and here's the
station's number." She said handing a business card to James, winking. "If
you want, cutie, you can have my number, as well." James just sweat dropped,
hugging Jessie to his shoulder, and emphasizing his obvious point by quickly
pecking her on the cheek.
"I want your number!" Brock announced eagerly, offering a pencil and yellow
pad to the policewoman. "I want your number!!" He repeated, this time with
more enthusiasm. Officer Jenny sighed, and went over to the automatic doors
that led outside, turning around on her heels. "It's been nice talking to
you all." She said, waving her hand. She motioned for the Growlithe that was
sniffing the plants over in the corners to come with her. Once she left,
everyone laughed. Lorelei walked over, laughing as well.
"You kids today, always lying about something or another." She giggled,
adjusting her bifocals. Ash chuckled, doubling-over on the couch.
"And to think, she believed us!" James laughed one last time before rolling
the dice, and moving his red car three spaces to the right. He grimaced.
"No, I am not paying you anymore of my money! You already took all my
hundred dollar bills! No more!"
"So! I'll give you a 50% discount if you give me my money, no hassle!"
Jessie giggled, happily extended her hand in preparation for the money.
James snorted.
"That doesn't help at all. I still have to pay 400 hundred dollars for the
Jynx Love Tunnel!" James shook his head stubbornly. "Since when do love
tunnels cost more than twenty bucks?"
"Since now." Jessie said, motioning for him to pay up. James sighed,
defeated. He fell back on the couch.
"Sorry about your bankruptcy." Ash snickered, only then letting his head
hang low as a certain realization came to mind. "How come girls always beat
guys in Monopoly?"
"Because females always manage income and finances in the home." Brock
added, pointing to Jessie, who beamed with pride. James just continued his
sulking.
"But on a different topic, children," Lorelei began, taking a seat across
from Misty. "Why didn't you tell Jenny the truth?" They all looked
thoughtful for a second, before Jessie spoke up.
"Because when we went into that cave and found those Articuno, there were
two of them. The way I figure, and this is just me, there must have been a
whole flock of Articuno down in those icy caverns below us at this very
second. If we had told the police force any credible information about the
avalanche, they would have come and started one big investigation for the
cause. Eventually they would have found those Articuno, and I don't think it
would be right for those poor creatures to live out their lives running from
trainers and pokemon poachers who would just want to capture them." Everyone
looked at Jessie with amazement. No one really knew she could be that
caring- no one except for James. The others contemplated about Jessie's
idea. It really did make since for her to not tell the truth when Jenny
asked her the first question.
"Very well said, Jessie." Misty warmly commented.
"It was quite beautiful." Lorelei remarked, smiling. James, Jack, Brock and
Ash all got bubbly-heart eyed, staring at Jessie. This was a little annoying
to her, and Jessie began to get really fidgety. She liked attention, but not
this much...except if it was coming from James.
"Yeah," The boys sighed. "It was beautiful, wasn't it?"
************************************************************************
Ash tied the last of his shoestrings and observed himself in the mirror. He
liked the way he looked- it was almost macho-cool. He was wearing a
snowboarder's outfit of Jack's when he was very young. It was a simply sweat
suit, but Ash liked in nonetheless, especially if it was Jack's. Jack had
recently become his idol.
"There, that's the last of everything." Misty said, zipping up her suitcase
and tying her hairpiece in. Jack and Brock came in from the kitchen.
"We cleaned up everything in there." Jack said, wiping frosting off the side
of his face.
"And ate up everything, too!" Brock exclaimed, only to get a bang upside the
head delivered by the strong fist of Jack.
"You weren't supposed to tell them that!" He said through gritted teeth.
Brock sweat dropped, and muttered some quick and easy apologies. Misty
closed the cabinets to the bedroom closet and Ash turned off all the lights.
They all gathered their things and headed out the door, Ash observing the
time as he went. Misty locked the door, and hung the keys on the stoke that
was positioned right outside the door. She sighed, hoping they had cleaned
everything just right before they left.
"I hope we got everything back in there..." She trailed off, thinking about
how rude it would be to leave a place where the caretaker had been so nice
to them, dirty and filthy.
"Who cares?! It's 8:15! Our plane leaves in half an hour! Let's get going!"
Ash announced, quickening his pace and dragging a day-dreaming Misty behind
him.
Brock whimpered. "I don't want to leave here so soon. Our vacation barely
started, and even the little bit of fun we had was soon thereafter ruined by
calamity and then more calamities, and one life-threatening situation after
the next! D'oh!" Jack banged him in the head again.
"Don't be a wuss. You sound like my baby brother." Jack continued walking
down the lobby corridor, thinking over what he'd just said. "That is, when
he wants some milk." Brock just turned red and tried not to feel too
embarrassed.
Ash walked up to the counter, giving Lorelei the identification tag to the
room he and his group were in. Lorelei punched a hole through it, and threw
it in a trash bin behind her.
"Did Jessica Kenjiro and James Gregory come out yet?" Ash asked, stepping up
on the stool to see over the desk. Lorelei shook her head. "They haven't?"
"Nope. Sorry, Ash." She said, typing a few words in on the computer.
"According to this, there 'get-out' time is Nine in the Morning. It is only
8:20."
"8:20?!" He screeched. He then noticed Jessie and James walking down the
hallway, also clad in snowboarding suits, as were Jack, Brock and Misty. So
everyone is now clad in snowboarding suits!!
"What took you guys so long?" Ash asked James, as Jessie did all the legal
things with Lorelei at the front desk.
"Unfortunately, this morning just happened to be 'that time of the month'
for Jessie." James said, blushing. "There was an awful mess in the bathroom
we had to get up." Ash sweat dropped.
"Did you handle it like a man?"
"Does saying 'gross', 'disgusting', and 'buy some protection against those
leaks' over an over again count as being masculine?"
"Not really..." Brock trailed off, looking down at the floor and kicking his
foot and nothing in particular. Jessie came back over into the group and
noticed everyone was staring at her, except for James who made it absolutely
necessary to look the other way.
"What's happening?"
"Did you really have a...punctuation mark...in the bathroom this morning?"
Misty inquired through closed teeth. Jessie just shrugged her shoulders in
confusion.
"I'm trying not to say PERIOD!" She shouted, everyone else in the lobby
looking at her. "Oops." The other five members of the group sweat dropped.
Jessie blushed, and glared daggers at James.
"James!! If you don't tell me how this got into the open I'm going to start
glaring daggers at you!" She screamed.
"You already did!" James said mockingly.
"I don't care! This time I'll use the daggers to stab the hell out of you!"
"It just sorta...slipped." James explained, backing off. Jack came between
the two.
"This isn't really necessary is it?" he questioned. Both Jess and Jim calmed
down, and Jessie escorted James to his feet.
"Just remind to kick your ass when we get on the plane." She whispered in
his ear, her words causing him to squeal in delight.
"Ooooh!"
"I meant 'kick you ass' in a non-Rocketshippy way."
"Darn."
"Can we forget this abusively sickening love-talk and get to the airport?!
How freaking airplane leaves in five freaking minutes!" Ash yelled, running
out the door, his last message to Lorelei trailing away as he did. "Nice
being here, Loreleiiiii,"
************************************************************************
*Calling flight passengers of sector A2, your plane is ready for departure.
Calling flight passengers A2, your plane is ready for departure* the
intercom beeped once before receiving static and cutting off. James stood up
and stretched, starting to help Jessie to her feet, but deciding against it.
"I'm not helping anyone who verbally threatens me." He stated
matter-of-factly, sticking his nose in the air. Jessie just sneered right
back at him, getting herself up with no trouble at all.
"James, I was only playing with your mind."
"He probably wishes she were playing with something else of his..." Ash
trailed off, pouting and crossing his arms in front of his chest. "It's not
fair! Nothing's fair in love and war!"
"How do I know you're telling the truth?" He asked, walking toward the
attendant at the front of the hall that led to the plane. Jessie just
chuckled.
"You know I'm telling the truth because you know that if I beat you up, it's
usually for something very, very naughty."
"There she goes again! He's 'being naughty'! Stop talking perverted!" Ash
said to one in particular, causing his three friends to scoot away from him
in fear for his sanity.
"So if I were to beat you up, I'd do more than kick you butt." Jessie said,
handing the flight attendant her and James' passport. The flight attendant
just stuck her tongue out at Jessie, thinking that the red head's comments
were directed to her. "I'd bring your butt in on a platter."
"Hmm, Jess, I think you have a point." James said, thinking over her words,
then immediately decided to apologize. "I'm sorry for blaming you, Jessica!"
"I'm sorry for threatening you, James!" They said dropping their bags to the
floor. They violently and wildly began to make-out against the wall, their
moans causing mothers to cover their innocent children's eyes, and other
male teenagers to hoot at James' score.
************************************************************************
In the plane...
Ash sat in his chair, looking through magazines and every five seconds
peeking behind him and peeping in front of him. Jack, who sat next to him,
bobbing his head to the music in his earphones, glanced at Ash strangely.
"Why so nervous, chum?" Ash looked up at Jack.
"I have a reason for my madness! One- I'm afraid that James' got the goods
and the girl. Two- I' afraid the cockpit will be serving chocolate
doughnuts. Three- I'm afraid this plane will blow up again. I'm making sure
no Team Rocket agents come anywhere near this plane."
"That doesn't make any sense, Ash. If a Team Rocket member were near this
plane, they'd have to be in it! We're 30,000 feet in the air! So frankly,
there's nothing you can do anymore to stop them if they wanted to come in.
Just sit back and relax."
"How do I relax?"
"You have really gotten weirded-out about this whole thing haven't you?" Ash
nodded. "Good of you to be honest." Jack commented, patting him on the back.
"Acceptance is the first step to the regaining of your mind."
************************************************************************
Jessie sighed, reaching into her pants pockets and pulling out more change.
"These damn telephones only give you 15 seconds of talking for one dollar!
That's a rip-off!"
"Now you know how I feel when you charge me 200 hundred dollars extra in
Monopoly, just because I'm being a pain in the-"
"-But I think there's a way I can win!" Jessie cut him off (or did she
finish his sentence?). James asked her how, and of course there was a
dreadful answer: "I'll use your money."
James' eyes widened. "No way!"
"C'mon, James! I'll buy you six boxes of pizza tonight!"
"No you won't! You're just saying that!"
"Ack, fine. Can I at least have ten bucks?"
James sighed, defeated. He sighed once again as he realized that for some
reason, he seemed to be defeated a lot. Especially by Jessie. He pushed the
ten bucks into the slot.
"There. You'll at least have, like, two minutes and a half or something."
James muttered before taking a sip of his orange juice. Jessie nodded at him
and dialed a number. Suddenly, an image appeared on the screen.
"Hello, Boss?" Jessie began, causing James to sit up when he heard that
name. He spat his orange juice out immediately and appeared on the screen
behind Jessie, to show that they both were present.
"Yes, Jessica, James? I assume you are calling me to report on the result of
your latest mission?" His voice began, full of static, and viciously
mechanically distorted. His face was again conveniently shadowed by
darkness, which sent shivers up both Rocket's spines.
"Yes sir. It was a complete success." Jessie replied, smiling. "But
unfortunately, the pokemon we captured escaped." She said, lowering her tone
drastically. She laughed out loud in side, because it seemed like in The
Boss was falling for it.
"What pokemon was it?" He asked curiously. His interest in the subject
matter giving Jessie and James hopes of a conversation with him that
actually might not involve their degrading and humiliating.
"Articuno, sir." James started confidently. The Boss gave a small grunt, and
paused the conversation, whispering to himself what decision to make.
"Well, normally I'd degrade and humiliate you," Jessie and James glanced at
each other knowingly. "But this time is different. Since Meowth brought so
many pokeballs back that you two scammed at the airport, this singular
pokemon loss will not hurt our organization. You're both promoted."
"Wow," Jessie whispered to James. "In a matter of days we've worked our way
up from 'non-existent' to 'mediocre'." She said sarcastically. James nodded.
"Imagine my joy." He rolled his eyes. The Boss cleared his throat for more
briefing. The Rockets quickly paid more attention.
"You all have done such a fine job, when you arrive back to headquarters,
you will receive a big sack of cash. Good day." The Boss said, before
hanging up his connection to the phone. Just as Jessie and James were about
to say something to each other, the radio above their heads clicked on. It
was the radio that the whole First Class had to share, as it was so loud for
all the people to hear it.
"Heeeelloooo! This is Don Radericks (!) for Breakfast, and we're here to
bring you the latest news. In this weeks edition of Pokemon Magazine Volume
III, we asked you people out there 'Where was Fiorello Cappuccino born?" The
announcer paused, straightening his papers, apparently. "And only one person
got it right! Ash Ketchum, who submitted his vote just this morning!"
Everyone in First Class gasped, looking back to him. Ash just waved
sheepishly to all of them, and talking in a timid voice. "Good luck to you
all."
"When could you have possibly submitted that entry form?" Brock asked.
Jessie and James turned around from their seats in front of them.
Ash opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He slumped in
his chair, shrugging his shoulders, staring into space, and looking
confused. "I don't know. I think this last part of the plot is having a bit
of trouble." Misty and Jack nodded.
"And the answer was Celadon City!" Don announced with great enthusiasm. "So
since Ash won this contest, he is allowed by the rules to take five extra
people with him on his all expenses paid trip to..." Ash, Misty, Brock,
Jessie, James and Jack all stared expectantly at the radio above their
heads. "Beautiful Sandstone Slopes! How super lucky they are!" All six of
them grimaced.
"I feel air sick." Misty lurched.
"I feel tired." Brock said.
"I don't wanna go again!" Ash yelled out loud, shaking his fists. Jessie and
James began to slowly scoot back into their seat, hoping Ash didn't see
them. Ash popped open an eye. "Oh no you don't!" he screeched. "I choose all
five of you to come with me! If I go through that crap again, I'm dragging
all five of you down with me!" Ash laughed maniacally.
"Oh, well, at least we're on vacation." James stated. Jessie nodded
sorrowfully, but then suddenly perking up.
"Folks, you know something is missing in this terribly ironic twist of fate
of an ending." The trainers all blinked at each other before jumping up and
joining hands, exclaiming:
"Looks like Team Rocket and Team Twerp are off to an icy escapade again!"
Jack simply blinked his eyes, confused. "What in the world was that for?"
The End, the sweet, merciful end! Thank you! This story had some plot holes,
but I don't care! I'm too lazy to do any more to this story! I might get the
strength to catch up by other series about Jessie being a pokemon trainer,
but right now...rest! Thank you all for reading this fic that I took so long
to write. Hope ya enjoyed it Flames, comments, etc... TeamRocket251@aol.com