@Scytherwolf; @Soups;

Episode 6a: Different Strokes for Different Blokes! (part 1)


"Nachos are just about ready..." Brock reported as he tended to a mixture of beef, onions, and spices simmering over the campfire. "I've made a batch with Pokemon-safe spices for the Pokemon to enjoy."

"I'll go ahead and set up the topping bar." Dawn volunteered. With that, she went to work setting out bowls and tubs of various toppings on a line of rocks.

Kori looked up at Diddy swinging through the branches of an orange tree near the campsite. [I wanna have an orange too!]

[Okay then...catch!] Diddy replied. He then heaved an orange at Kori's direction.

Kori circled around the grass, and managed to catch the orange in her fins. [Thanks!]

"I'll peel that for you here in a minute." Dawn assured Kori as she finished setting out the toppings.

"That was very sweet of you, Diddy." Ash smiled as Diddy delivered the oranges to him. "Oranges would also make a nice dessert..."

"Ash!" a voice called in the distance, snapping Ash to attention.

"Paul?" Ash gasped as he saw Paul approaching the campsite. "What are you doing here?"

"I should ask the same for you, Wonder Boy." Paul smirked. "You were too easy to find with the smell of nachos cooking...are you gonna save me any?"

"I don't know if you deserve any after seeing how you treat your Pokemon!" Ash shot back. "And for the record, we're first gonna stop in Jubilife City before we head out to the first Gym!"

"That would be in Oreburgh City, tourist." Paul deadpanned. "I'm headed that way myself."

"Errgh...I am NOT a tourist!" Ash snapped. "I am here because I want to compete in the League, not sightsee! Let's duel, and I'll show you how strong I am!"

"You wanna duel? You got it." Paul replied before heaving a Poke Ball skyward. "Goku, let's go!"

"Diddy, I choose you!" Ash summoned his own Chimchar to face Ash's Chimchar.

"Are you sure you want to use Diddy?" Dawn asked as she sat down on an empty rock to watch. "Goku looks pretty tough..."

"I don't care about strength." Ash replied. "I'll prove Diddy can withstand a difference in power."

Brock transferred his meat mixture to a warming pot. "I hope Ash knows what he's doing..." he mused as he fished out his referee's whistle. "This Paul guy seems like he's even stronger than a Frontier Brain!"

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"You know, we don't even have to battle. We all know Goku will beat your wimpy Chimchar." Paul taunted.

[Come a little closer and say that!] Diddy shot back.

"I'm not backing down, and Diddy is not a wimp!" Ash agreed.

He turned his cap back as he heard Brock's whistle ring through the grove. "Diddy, try to Scratch Goku!"

"Goku, counter with your own Scratch!" Paul commanded.

Ash watched in horror as Goku leaped before Diddy. "Wow! He's fast!" he gasped as Goku scratched Diddy twice.

He called "Focus, Diddy! Use Ember!"

Dawn watched in awe as Goku somersaulted backwards over the small fireball. "Wow! I didn't know a Chimchar could do that!"

"Being a monkey Pokemon, they are quite agile." Brock replied as Goku fired an Ember of his own.

"Diddy, watch out!" Ash called to his Chimchar as the fireball came flying at him.

He watched as Diddy took the attack, sending him flying backwards against his feet. "What's wrong, Diddy? Why did you take that attack when I told you to dodge?"

Paul smirked as he watched Diddy get up. "Goku, use Flame Wheel!"

[HAAAAAAAHHH!!!] Goku cried as he leaped into the air. As he whizzed skyward, he used the flames in its mouth to surround its whole body in fire, creating a blazing wheel.

Ash watched in shock as Diddy made no effort to avoid the attack. "Diddy! Can you continue?" he asked his weakened Chimchar when the smoke cleared some moments later.

[I think so...] Diddy wheezed. [I took those attacks thinking I could withstand them, because I'm a Fire type too. But this Chimchar's way stronger than me!]

"I see..." Ash replied. "Try using Ember!"

The two combatants and the audience did not expect Diddy to overestimate the size of his Ember. The large unstable fireball eventually exploded, sending Ash, Paul, and Goku flying over the edge of a cliff!

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Okay...I need to find something to steady myself... Paul thought as he and Ash hurtled to the ground.

He reached out and grabbed onto one of the tree branches protruding from the cliff. Once he and Goku were stable, he carefully hopped down between the branches.

As he reached safe ground again, he smirked as he heard a splash in the distance. And Wonder Boy had a not so graceful splashdown. he smirked.

He shepherded Goku to his side. "Come on, Goku...let's find the way out."

The splash alerted Dawn and Brock to where Ash had gone. "Ash? You okay?" Dawn called down to the large pond far below their camp.

"Can you hear us?" Brock called, hoping that Ash had survived the fall.

Ash surfaced from the water some moments later. After blowing a stream of water out of his mouth, he waved at Brock and Dawn. "I'm okay! Nothing hurts!"

"As soon as you get back up here, I'll check you over just to be sure." Brock called back

"Goku, return." Ash heard Paul saying in the distance as he climbed from the water and dripped dry.

He spotted Paul walking into a forest near the pond, and hurried to catch up. "Paul, wait! I want to know why you treat your Pokemon like you do. Maybe we can learn to respect our differences, and work together to get out of here."

"For your information, I have intention of being nice to, or cooperating with you, Wonder Boy." Paul snapped. "If you wanna get out of here, you're on your own."

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"Okay, here we are...Green Mist Forest, popularly called the Forest of Illusion." Brock mused as he arrived on the guidebook page detailing the area.

"I've heard many a campfire story about how the Forest of Illusion is more than a video game area..." Dawn shuddered. "It is the name shared by many forests across the world that many say are haunted."

"I know one exists in Johto as well--and you need a Pokemon that knows Foresight to get through." Brock explained. "I'll see what I can find about this one."

After reading a little farther down the page, Brock found something intriguing in one paragraph. "In this particular Forest of Illusion, the Stantlers are the ones that create the illusions. It is commonly believed this phenomenon keeps intruders away..."

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"Hm...now which way is the way out?" Ash asked as he can Diddy walked through the forest. "I wish Goldie was here, or Aina..."

A Stantler popped its head out of some nearby bushes some moments later. "Well! A Stantler!" Ash smiled. "Reminds me of the time Brock rescued a fawn from Kamon."

He did not expect the orbs in the Stantler's horns to glow, sending him and Diddy into a deep sleep...

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"Where are we..." Ash wondered as he woke up to find himself in a large plain that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see.

He nudged Diddy awake. "Come on, Diddy."

After walking for a while, Ash balked when he arrived back at a familiar pond....

"WHAT???" Ash gasped. "How come I'm back where I started?"

He motioned for Diddy to follow him. "Let's see if we can find some other way through the forest."

No sooner had he and Diddy arrive did they find the same Stantler with glowing orbs...

"Water..." Ash gasped as he can Diddy trudged through what seemed like a hot and vast desert.

An idea occurred to him as he and Diddy trudged through the sand. "Wait a second...the desert is a Hypnosis induced dream. If I keep on walking, we'll end up right back where we started."

He looked over at Diddy. "Somebody pinch me..."

Diddy was more than happy to comply. "OW!"

Ash's cry of pain snapped him back to reality. "Thanks, Diddy..." Ash replied before noticing a herd of Stantler had surrounded him. "Uh oh..."

Paul giggled from a bush as the Statlers hypnotized Ash into believing he was flying. "For such a hot shot, he has a weak will to be fooled by all those illusions."

He heaved a Poke Ball into the grass. "Goku, use Ember on the Stantler!"

The rain of fire and the running Stantler snapped Ash back to reality. "Huh?"

He smiled when he spotted Paul in the distance. "I can't believe it...Paul snapped me out of it!"

He watched as one of the Stantlers tried to hypnotize Paul. Paul seemed unfazed by the hypnotic light. "Goku, use Flame Wheel!"

Ash watched in awe as Goku rolled into a flaming ball, knocking the Stantler backwards. As the deer Pokémon howled in pain, Paul heaved a Poké Ball. "Poke Ball, go!"

"Uh..thanks for saving me?" Ash stammered as he approached Paul.

But when the Poke Ball broke open and the Statler ran off, Ash was puzzled. "Why did you just let it go?"

"It was too weak for my tastes." was all Paul said before disappearing into the forest.

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"...In all the Forest of Illusion campfire stories I've heard; whoever or whatever goes into a Forest of Illusion often doesn't come out." Dawn shuddered. "I'm scared Ash is gone forever..."

"He's not--you've got Kori, I have my team, and I have my bow to protect us." Brock assured Dawn. "Illusion or no illusion, we should go in and look for Ash."

He smiled. "Besides, it wouldn't be the first Forest of Illusion I've been through."

A smile formed on Dawn's face. "You're right--we can't run and hide like scared Bunearies. If we're going to find Ash, we have to work together."

"That's the spirit!" Brock grinned. "Come on!"

"Come on Tintri--let's go find your master." Dawn motioned for Tintri and Kori to follow her as she hurried after Brock into the forest...

To Be Continued...