@Scytherwolf; @Soups;

Episode 38: Ill Will Hunting


The sun shone down on Mt. Coronet a few days later. The light was enough to help the group protect a small reptilian Pokemon with a metallic head. "Tintri, use Thunderbolt!" Ash called. "Protect the Shieldon at all costs!"

[WAUUGH!!!] Tintri yelped as a Golbat whacked him with Wing Attack, sending him flying against a tree.

"Tesla, use Thunderpunch!" Ash heard a familiar voice call.

He gasped as a large black and yellow feline Pokemon he recognized as Electivire sent J's minions flying with a sparking fist. "Gary?"

"Love to reminisce on old times, Ash, but let's get this little guy to safety first." Gary smiled as the feline Pokemon picked up the Shieldon. "You remember Tesla, right?"

"How could I not forget after that friendly match we had after I got back from Houen?" Ash grinned.

"This is Gary--he is Prof. Oak's grandson and a budding scientist himself." Brock explained to Dawn as the group hurried down the road. "For a while, he and Ash were bitter rivals, but they've long since patched things up."

"That's sweet." Dawn smiled.

J grimaced as she watched the group disappear down the road. "Don't just stand there, after them!"

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"And here we are...Diamante Preserve." Gary smiled as the group arrived inside a wide, fenced off area that mimicked a desert. "Our Shieldon should be safe here."

"It's beautiful..." Dawn gasped as Tesla set the Shieldon on the ground.

"You like it now, wait until we finally open it up for the public to see." Gary smiled. "Before that though, lemme brief Gramps' colleague here on what's going on..."

After dialing a number on his PokeNav, he commanded "BlueOak calling Master Rowan, come in..."

"I read you, BlueOak--any news on the preserve?" Prof. Rowan's voice crackled back.

"We have a bit of a situation down here. Ash and pals are trying to stop a gang of Pokemon hunters, and I had to intervene before things got bad." Gary explained. "What should we do about our Shieldons here?"

"We must not let the Pokemon hunters get their hands on the Shieldons." Prof. Rowan warned. "Nor must they find out about the preserve."

A map with a starred point on the road appeared on the PokeNav screen. "We will rendezvous at this point." Prof. Rowan explained. "I will take the Shieldons to a secure location from there."

"What happens if the hunters catch up to us before then?" Ash asked.

"If the worst happens, do everything in your power to save the Shieldons." Prof. Rowan replied. "Since the two of you are trainers in arms, you are more than welcome to help out."

"I have no qualms with Ash and pals pitching in." Gary replied. "See ya at the meetup point."

"Master Rowan out." With that, Gary's PokeNav blipped off.

Gary pocketed his PokeNav. "Okay, Tesla...we can lose the hunters if we take the shortcut in the woods..."

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Dawn gasped as she saw the minion's vehicle approaching from the road some time later. "You were saying about losing J and her men?" she asked as the group emerged from the forest.

"I've got an idea..." Gary assured Dawn before heaving a Poke Ball skyward. "Neptune, spray that car's windshield with Water Gun!"

Ash watched as Gary's Blastoise heaved a spray of water onto the car's windshield. "Okay, Tintri! Stop the car with Thunderbolt!"

Gary swallowed hard as the thunderbolts overloaded the car's engine. This could be bad... he thought as the driver minion got out of the car and summoned a Golbat. "Hold back, Neptune." he instructed his Blastoise. "I'll let Vega take over from here."

Oh, so Gary decided to evolve his Eevee into Umbreon. Ash grinned.

He watched as a familiar black fox-like Pokemon materialized before the Golbat. It's also nice he took my suggestion of naming Pokemon to heart.

"Vega, use Sand-Attack!" Gary called.

The Golbat tried to file a volley of wind sickles at Vega, but Vega leaped away. This caused the Air Cutter to hit a tree, angering a swarm of Beedrill. "Good thinking, Vega." Gary smiled as he recalled his Umbreon and his Blastoise.

"Later, minions!" Ash taunted as the Beedrills attacked.

"That should keep them busy long enough for us to make a break for it!" Dawn agreed as the group raced off over a hill.

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"If we take the trail here, that would make for a faster route to the meetup point..." Brock explained as he showed the group a comparison of the two routes on MapNav.

Gary smiled. "Not just a rockstar, but a great navigator, too!"

He nudged Brock. "If you happen to write a little ditty about this mess, I wanna hear you play it."

Brock smiled back. "I'll get going on 'The Ballad of Ash and Hunter J', then--and make sure to give you a verse or three."

"Pity Blaze isn't here..." Gary sighed. "Then you could induce him and really make some noise. Seeing him Mega Evolve inspired me to become a researcher, remember?"

"I remember it like yesterday." Ash smiled. "I don't have any Mega Evolve-able Pokemon here yet. I do have another superpower that you haven't seen before!"

"Oh?" Gary asked, interested

"But I can't use it just anywhere--it has the side effect of making you tired for a while afterwards." Ash cautioned. "So I'm saving it for an emergency!"

"Gotcha." Gary replied.

Dawn smiled when she saw a police car approaching on the dusty road. "Officer Jenny!"

"Need a ride?" Officer Jenny smiled as she met the group. "Come on inside and I'll take you up the trail to your meetup point. Prof. Rowan asked me to escort you guys."

"Thanks." Ash replied. "We've run into J and her goons again..."

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As the police car rounded a corner to the top of a hill, Dawn gaped when she saw J waiting for them aboard her Salamence. "No way! J followed us here?"

"You forget I have wings in Ridley, girlie." J smirked as she landed before the group. "And now your Shieldons will be mine!"

[Oh yeah?] Tintri challenged as he whacked away J's grapple-gun with an Iron Tail.

She heaved a Poke Ball skyward. " Mathayus, use Cross Poison on the electric rat!"

Gary gasped in horror at the shining acidic X heading for Tintri. "Neptune, protect Tintri!" he called as he summoned his Blastoise.

"Run for it!" Brock motioned for Dawn to follow him down the hill to safety. Dawn watched in horror as Ridley fired a familiar orange beam. The Hyper Beam clashed with the waves Neptune created, creating a watery orange glow over the road.

Ash watched in horror as J located her grapple gun and fired it, grabbing one of the Shieldon. "Oh no!"

He called "Tintri, use Thunderbolt!"

[Not today, wonder-rat!] Mathayus grinned as he blocked Tintri's attack with his claws.

J arrived a few moments later as Gary joined Ash. "Mathayus, use Pin Missile. Ridley, use Hyper Beam."

Ash swallowed hard as he can Gary braced themselves for the attacks. I have a bad feeling about this...

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"...and the last thing I remember was J's Pokemon about to use Pin Missile and Hyper Beam on Tintri and Neptune." Dawn explained to Prof. Rowan. "I'm scared they took those attacks."

Officer Jenny showed Gary leading Ash onto the undercarriage of a vehicle. "They appear to be doing well. I'm sure they have a plan for taking down the hunter base."

Dawn watched as the convoy started down the road, making sure to follow a helicopter leading the way. I hope they know what they're doing...but if Ash took down J once, he can do it again!

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"We made it." Gary smiled as their vehicle arrived at the base. "If you've got a flyer Pokemon, send it back to the others to tell them we are safe inside the base."

After climbing out from the vehicle, Ash summoned Estrella. "Go back and tell the others Gary and I are okay." he instructed. "We'll take down the base from here."

[Right!] Estrella replied as she flew off, unseen by J's men or the security cameras...

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Inside the base, Ash and Gary gathered their Pokemon around them. "Okay, gang...let's make as big of a mess as possible in here." Gary instructed as he pulled up a map of the base. "Tintri, Tesla, short out the security system."

"Diddy, Tails, mess up as many weapons as you can." Ash instructed. "Once you've made a big enough mess, let me know and I'll use my secret power."

"If there's any innocent Pokemon in here, save them as well as our Shieldon." Gary instructed his team.

[YEAH!!!] the Pokemon cheered as they hurried off to carry out their instructions.

Tintri and Tesla wasted no time in shorting out the security system. Diddy and Tails went to work freezing and melting firearms, and Gaia went to work picking locks.

Tesla arrived with the Shieldon some moments later. [Here's our Shieldon.] he reported over all the pops, crashes, snaps, and explosions.

Ash watched as an air blast popped a door open on the third floor of the base, allowing him to see J and her minions. "Now?"

Gary nodded. "Now."

Ash smiled, and made a flying leap from the door, to J's shock. Gatrandis favel, secret, edena...
Emusto rozen fine el balaziis...
Katoradis favel siicletu edena.... At this line, rainbow thunderbolts began forming in Ash's hands. The ethereal attack gave the base and the crowd down on the ground an otherworldly glow.
Emusto koron zen fine, si...

A wave of rainbow thunderbolts went flying on Ash's last Bb, causing the crowd of minions to scatter. "Fall back!" J called. "Retreat, now! We don't have a chance against this boy!"

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"That WAS an amazing power!" Gary smiled as the two friends reunited with the others some time later. "Who would've thunk the power of the Swanna Song is real?"

"At least you kept your promise from before." Dawn smiled. "I can imagine what J's face looked like when you unleashed the rainbow thunderbolts!"

"Mortal words couldn't describe it, but I'll do my best when I perform the ballad." Brock smiled.

"I still wanna hear you play it when it's done!" Gary smiled.

He looked over at Ash. "Thanks for everything, Ash. You've inspired me to look deeper into the power of the Swanna Song. I'm sure all the myth and legend around it has some truth to it."

He offered his hand to Ash. "Friends to the end, no matter what."

"That's a promise!" Ash agreed as he and Gary shook hands.

To Be Continued...