@Scytherwolf; @Soups;

Episode 84: The Big Balloon Blowup!

"That carnival was so much fun!" Misty smiled as the group walked through an open field some days later.

"I had fun too, and even though I didn't get my blue Lore Stripe, I also hope that McKenzie completes her rainbow." Brock replied before noticing a pattern in the grass that looked like a circle with an X in the middle of it. "What in Arceus' name IS that?"

"Maybe it's crop circle!" Ash suggested, scenes of sci fi movies and aliens dancing in his head.

Just then, a ball with a feathery bird-like tail dropped at Misty's feet. "Huh?" she wondered as she looked up into the afternoon sky.

As Ash shielded his eyes from the sun, he spotted a balloon in the distance, shaped like and guided by a Fearow. "Look! Out there!"

As the balloon gracefully landed in the target zone, an auburn haired boy climbed from the basket as his chase crew met him and a Fearow. "Oh, hi! Didn't know I was going to have spectators when we touched down."

"We saw the target area and wondered what it was." Misty explained to the boy.

"I see..." the boy smiled. "The name's Skyler--me and my crew are getting ready for a big balloon race in a few days, so I thought I'd take a test flight so my crew can learn the course route. This way, if something happens, they can reach me quickly."

"Coo!" Ash smiled before introducing himself and his companions. "I'm Ash, and my companions Misty..." Misty waved hello. "...and Brock." Brock waved hello.

"Nice to meet you guys." Skyler smiled. "Would you guys like to see our team base?"

"Sure!" Ash replied.

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"Here is the design room, where all the balloons are made." Skyler explained as the group arrived in a large and spacious workshop, when a man with darker brown hair and similar features to Skyler was in the process of sewing a sheet of orange fabric. "My dad's built a number of well known balloons, including all the ones we fly. If you remember the Kitsune balloon celebrating Worlds of Wonder's 50th anniversary, Dad built that."

About then, the man looked up from his work. "Oh, Skyler, you're back! How are the conditions out there?" he asked as he folded up the fabric and set it aside.

"Just perfect--I actually had a few visitors waiting when we touched down, so I'm giving them a tour of the base." Skyler explained, gesturing to the group.

"Hi, I'm Ash." Ash told the man. "I'm on a journey around the region to compete in the Johto League."

He gestured to Misty and Brock. "These are my companions Misty, our Water Pokemon expert and Pokethlete..."

"Hi!" Misty smiled.

"...and Brock, our navigator, storyteller, and balladeer." Ash continued.

"Nice to meet you." Brock replied.

"Nice to meet you three." the man smiled as he and Brock shook hands. "Name's Tenma--always have had a love for building and flying hot air balloons."

He gestured to the workshop walls, which were covered in balloon pictures and newspaper clippings. While the majority of the pictures featured Pokemon balloons, Ash noticed a few generic rainbow designs, and few shaped like characters and icons from other franchises. "As Skyler probably told you, I've built a few famous and iconic balloons, including the lady Kitsune for Worlds of Wonder..." He pointed out a picture on a wall of a Delphox shaped balloon. "...and a pair of Mario and Luigi balloons plus a Star balloon to celebrate the 30th anniversary of 'Super Mario Bros.'" He gestured to a picture showing a red balloon with the familiar "M" emblem and a dark green balloon with the familiar "L" emblem. "The Star balloon could glow in the dark--if you spotted it flying, and took a picture, you could mail the picture in and receive a copy of 'Super Mario Maker'." He gestured to a picture of him and Skyler riding in the Star balloon.

"I've always wanted to go on a balloon ride!" Misty was excited.

Then an idea occurred to Tenma. "Come to think of it, there's still time to enter in the big race, so if any of you have a flying type to guide the balloon, you guys can ride it!"

"REALLY???" Ash gasped as Tenma led the group into a storage room, where a Pikachu balloon was waiting...

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"Okay..." Skyler began as the Pikachu balloon floated over the field overlooking the team base. "I'm basically giving you a flyover of the course." he explained. "Since you guys don't have a license to fly on your own, I'll have one of our team pilots do the heavy lifting of piloting, while you guide your Flying type from the gondola."

"Works for me!" Ash smiled.

A guitar playing the introduction to a song he recognized got his attention. Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon? Brock sang as he played.
Would you like to glide in my beautiful balloon?
We could float among the stars together, you and I...

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"Interesting...a garage of some kind..." James mused as Team Rocket made their way through the brush.

"Some garage--there's no cars anywhere..." Jessie mused.

"Dis isn't da kind of garage for cars--it's for hot air balloons, like what we ride in." Meowth explained as he shoved the packet advertising the race into his human companions' faces. "Says here dat da winner of da race gets a powerful burner!"

"Are you sure?" James asked. "We've only flown for fun..."

"Cummon! We won't know how good of racers we are till we try!" Meowth grinned.

Jessie smirked it this. "All right, if you really believe we can win the race, Meowth--we'll give it a try."

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A few days later, huge crowds gathered around the field to watch hundreds of teams, their guide Pokemon, and the chase crews take off, the group and Team Rocket among them. "Everything's ready!" the group's pilot called as he finished the pre-flight checks.

Once he, Misty, and Brock were comfortable in the gondola, Ash heaved a Poke Ball into the sky. "Mina! Guide us on our little adventure!"

[We're taking the same course we've practiced on, right?] Mina asked. [Then I should be able to find the way.]

As the group's balloon and Skyler's Fearow balloon lifted off, Ash kept hearing sputtering fans and hissing burners. I KNEW Team Rocket would enter just to cheat... he silently grumbled as the crews on the ground hurried to resuscitate the helpless balloons.

"You guys! When ya said you'd give racin' a try, I EXPECTED you to play fair ta some degree!" Meowth snapped. "We may be crooks, but even a crook has ta have standards too!"

"Weezing, choke up the competition with Smog." James smiled, grinning gleefully as many of the pilots coughed and sputtered as they rushed to clear the smog, allowing Team Rocket to drift ahead of the field.

"Are ya tryin' to tip off da judges dat you're cheatin'?" Meowth gasped. "If ya are gonna cheat, you coulda been a bit more incognito about it."

Jessie just shrugged, bemused in Meowth ranting. "Arbok, pop the other balloons with Pin Missiles."

Meowth gasped as a team of chaser Pidgeots arrived to rescue a falling pilot. "Now you're tryin' ta KILL people? I'm not gonna sit back and watch if ya do dat!"

He brought out his claws. "Seems ta me ya need ta be taught a little lesson!"

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"There...Meowth won't bother us for a while." Jessie reported as she finished binding Meowth in a rope, wincing from the scratches on her arms all the while.

"That takes care of one problem, but what about the weather?" James asked, pointing out some approaching storm clouds in the distance.

"Silly, you were the one that put the jet engine on the balloon last night!" Jessie reminded her partner.

"Oh yes, that..." James smirked as he pressed a button on the burner, transforming it into a jet engine and allowing the Rockets to easily power past the rest of the field as rain started falling, making it harder for the balloons to fly.

"What?" Misty gasped as the Rockets blew past them and Skyler. "That's cheating!"

"Keep an eye on the burner!" Skyler cautioned as he and his Fearow caught up to the balloon. "If that goes out, you're in trouble!"

A pop and some sparking noises made Brock wince. "Speak of Darkrai...."

Ash heaved a Poke Ball as the Pikachu balloon careened towards a cliff. "Cyndy, help keep us aloft!"

"And fast!" Misty braced herself for the inevitable as the cliff inched closer and closer. Cyndy's Flamethrower attack was beginning to help the balloon rise, but she wondered if Cyndy could get the balloon heated in time.

"Pull up, Mina!" Ash called as Cyndy unleashed another Flamethrower.

Much to everyone's relief, the balloon pulled up and effortlessly floated above the clouds. "That was close..." Brock smiled.

"Humidity caused the burner to short..." the pilot reported. "Luckily, that's an easy fix."

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"How are the twerps still following us?" Jessie gasped when she saw the group and Skyler catching up to them.

"You forget I built a self defense mechanism into the jet engine." James assured Jessie as he pressed a button, transforming the engine into a missile launcher.

Brock growled as some missiles went flying at them with hisses and whistles. "Now they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel.."

[AUGH!!!] Cyndy screamed as the impact of a missile knocked her back.

"I gotcha!" Ash leaped to catch Cyndy in his arms. However, he did not expect another missile to explode nearby, knocking him backwards and slamming his shoulder into the gondola.

[Ash!] Cyndy gasped. [You okay?] she asked as she hopped back up to the burner.

Brock examined Ash's shoulder. "Thankfully, nothing feels broken, just a little bit of burn and some bruises." he assured Ash. "But we'll get it examined when we touch down."

Tintri, meanwhile, screeched at the Rockets [Are you punks lookin' for a fight? I'm more than ready to defend my master, so come at me!]

"They're getting away!" Misty reported the Meowth balloon speeding away, thanks to the jet engine.

Wincing from his injured shoulder, Ash angrily sang Jao wiisha nes chiel com yutuul... as he stood up, holding his right hand skyward as his Mega Ring glowed, surrounding Mina in a burst of flames and red light.

When Mina emerged from the cocoon of light some moments later, she had a majestic yellow and orange crest on her head, blue tips on her wings, and flowing tail feathers. [Ready for action!] she cried.

"Okay, now help Tintri get to Team Rocket!" Ash called.

[Hang on tight, Tintri...we may be in for a wild ride.] Mina cautioned as Tintri climbed on her back, aware that James was preparing to fire again.

Skyler panicked as another volley of missiles went flying, forcing the Mega Pidgeot to weave around them. "Kenya, distract those thugs with Drill Peck!" he commanded as he heaved a Poke Ball skyward, revealing his Fearow.

[Now's our chance!] Mina cried as she circled in close to the Meowth balloon, where Kenya was mercilessly battering the Rockets with a flurry of pecks.

[HAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!] Tintri leaped from Mina's back and fired a Thunderbolt at Team Rocket, destroying the balloon and sending them flying into the distance with a ping.

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As two feathery balls fluttered towards the target, Ash and Skyler touched down to discover they ha both gotten a bull-eye, making them both the winners of the race. "So now what do we do? There's only one balloon burner as a prize..." Skyler mused as their chase crews arrived.

"You should take the prize, since we'd very much prefer to walk." Ash smiled as Kenya landed on Skyler's shoulder. "But I'd gladly go flying with you again any time!"

"I'll tell Dad to have the Pikachu balloon ready for you if you ever want to go flying with us." Skyler replied as the new friends shared one last embrace...

To Be Continued...