The Incredible Poke-Odyssey chapter 23

How Ash Survived

Our heroes looked awestruck at the new 16 year old Ash who was slowly 
approaching them, especially a drooling Misty.  Surviving five long 
years in Mewtwo's evil mind certainly had changed him.  He was very 
tall and had huge muscles.  His black hair was very shaggy and was done 
in a long ponytail in the back.  He had a very handsome face and he was 
wearing a black tank top and faded blue jeans along with his Pokebelt 
and he had a large leather wristband on his right wrist that had all 
eight gym badges sewn to it.

He finally approached the group looking really tough and fierce.  
Misty, Brock, and Stella stood there nervously for they remembered the 
last time they saw him, they put him in a Mr. Mime suit and got him 
captured by Team Rocket.  Ash reached out his arms and the three closed 
their eyes just waiting for the pain they knew they deserved.  But 
instead, Ash was hugging them happily.  Misty, Brock, and Stella became 
surprised, yet relieved.

"Misty, Brock, Stella!" cried Ash happily. "I thought I'd never see you 
guys again!  I'm so glad you're here!" They all noticed that Ash was no 
longer speaking in that Rudolph sounding 10 year old voice, but in a 
deep sexy teenage voice like Jason Priestly or Luke Perry. 

"Hey Brock", he said while shaking his hand tightly. "Have you been 
breeding any new Pokemon these past five years?"

"Uh, yes", said Brock confused but still smiling.

"And Stella", smiled Ash. "I hope that Team Rocket didn't completely 
ruin your show when they busted in and took me away."

"Uh, no.  We made out the best we could", said Stella who also smiling 
while trying to keep back her tears.

"And Misty!" gasped Ash as he looked at how tall and sexy she became 
over the years. "Misty, Misty, Misty."

"Yes, yes, yes?!" asked Misty nervously.

"Uh, well", stuttered Ash. "I haven't forgotten that I owe you a bike.  
I'll try to get you one as soon as I can.  Even if I have to make one 
by hand."

"Uh, thank you", said Misty secretly disappointed.  For she really 
didn't care about that bike anymore.  She was hoping that he'd say 
something else to her.

"And you must be the Pallet Jenny!" smiled Ash as he stared at the 
policewomen right behind the three.

"Why yes", said Jenny surprised. "How could you tell?  I thought all 
Jennies looked alike to everyone."

"It says so on your name tag", smiled Ash.

"Oh yes", said Jenny blushing.

"I bet you do a fine job protecting my hometown and all my friends and 
mother", smiled Ash.

"Yeah, heh heh", said Jenny twiddling her thumbs.

"And I remember you", smiled Ash looking at the scientist. "You're 
Seymour Scientist.  Are you still coming up with those neat poems?"

"I do my best, just put me to the test.  I will not rest till I'm out 
of zest." Said Seymour sputtering out any words he could think of even 
though he was trapped in a scary mind.

"And just who owns this neat little Rattata?" smiled Ash as he bent 
down and petted the Rattata that looked a little annoyed.

"How many times do I have to tell people that I'm nobody's Pokemon?!" 
shouted Bill causing Ash to get thrown back.

"That Rattata talks!" said Ash shocked. "I thought Meowth was the only 
talking Pokemon."

"Please forgive me Ash", said the Rattata humbly. "I don't know if you 
remember me, but I'm Bill.  You and your friends once visited me."

"I remember you Bill", said Ash. "You got stuck in that Kabuto costume.  
This new Rattata costume you're wearing is very realistic.  How are you 
able to squeeze into such a small thing?"

"I'll tell you soon", said Bill. "When I'm in a better mood.  Which'll 
be when I get my DNA chamber back"

Ash had no idea what Bill meant about that, but then he saw a new face 
with the group.  He approached the boy who was smiling excitedly at 
him. "Hi", said Ash. "I don't think I've ever seen you before.  But 
that hat you're wearing I recognize."

"Oh yes", said Cameron as he took off the hat and handed it back to 
Ash. "Here you go", he whispered. "Your mother asked me to return this 
to you."

A tear formed in Ash's eye as he took the hat and placed it back on his 
head.  "Good ol' Mom", he sighed. "Thanks kid."

"Your welcome", said Cameron excitedly. "My name is Cameron Fusterman 
and you're my hero."

"I'm someone's hero?" asked Ash surprised.

"Yes", whispered Cameron. "I want to become the world's greatest 
Pokemon master like you."

Ash started blushing uncontrollably. "Uh, thanks for the vote of 
confidence kid", he stuttered. "But I don't really think of myself as 
the world's greatest Pokemon master.  If I could only get out of this 
lame brain, I could work on that."

"We're sorry Ash", sighed Misty. "We tried to form a rescue party, but 
it sort of blew up in our faces."

"I'm just sorry that you all became Mewtwo's victims", said Ash. "Let's 
all go to a safer place before Mewtwo starts creating more mind 
minions.  Follow me everyone."

"Where are we going?" asked Brock.

"To New Pallet", smiled Ash.  Everyone became confused as they followed 
Ash to dead end.  He lifted up one of the brain cells and revealed a 
secret entrance. "Ladies first", he said to Misty.

"Uh, no thanks", said Misty nervously. "Stella, Jenny, you both are 
much more lady like than me.  You go first."

"Thanks a lot", grumbled Stella as she stepped through.

"A policewoman's work is never done", sighed Jenny as she stepped 
through also.

When all of our friends had stepped through the entrance.  They found 
themselves in what looked like a small village.  There were tiny little 
houses with people waving hello to them.  And a sign that said, WELCOME 
TO NEW PALLET.  POPULATION, 23. "Yep", said Ash proudly. "I named this 
place after my old hometown."

"Hi Ash", said a red headed teenage guy who approached the group.  "I 
see you found us some more citizens to add to our growing town.  
Welcome to New Pallet everyone."

"Guys, this is my friend Ryan", said Ash. "He was the third victim of 
Mewtwo's mindjail beam.  Now he's my second in command here."

"Yep", said Ryan. "Five years ago I heard about a mysterious powerful 
Pokemon that lived in a mansion on the now deserted Cinnabar Island.  
Being a Pokemon trainer like Ash, I wanted to try and capture it.  
Unfortunately, it captured me instead.  I would've been lost forever in 
this evil mind until Ash came and took me to this safe place."

"You mean Mewtwo doesn't know you're all here?" asked Cameron.

"That's right", smiled Ash. "You see, this part of the brain is where 
some of Mewtwo's lost memories wind up.  I stumbled onto it the first 
day I came here.  Mewtwo must've passed by a village one day and 
completely forgotten all about it.  Ever since then, I've been going 
out on patrol every day looking for more victims of the dreaded 
mindjail beam and bringing them back here in this safe haven from 
Mewtwo's minions."

"Wow!" gasped Misty. "You've truly become a rebel hero."

"Uh, thanks Misty", said Ash blushing.

"Where did you get those cool clothes?" asked Stella.

"We get them from Lulu over there", smiled Ash pointing to the woman 
sitting on her porch surrounded by 3 Weedles and 3 Beedrills. "Lulu and 
her Pokemon are talented tailors.  How about showing them Lulu?"

"You heard the man guys", smiled Lulu.  The Weedles nodded and started 
shooting out colored silk that the Beedrills gathered up with their 
needled front ends.  Our heroes became amazed as they watched the 
Beedrills knit something up quickly.  It was 3 T-shirts that had 
pictures of a Bulbasaur, Chamander, and Squirtle on them.

"How about that?!" said Brock amazed. "Beedrills that know how to knit."

"What do you all do for food?" asked Jenny.

"Luckily, Mewtwo thinks of food a lot", smiled Ash. "And he usually 
gets a craving right around 5:30." And he looked at his watch. "Get 
ready everybody!" he shouted out to all the villagers.  They all rushed 
into their houses, came back out with forks and pots and gathered 
around a huge X that was in the center of the village. 

"Counting down", said both Ash and Ryan. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" and suddenly 
something started to fall from the brain cell filled sky.  It was a 
huge clump of spaghetti and meatballs.  It landed splat right onto the 
X while sauce splattered on everyone while they all cheered.

"Dinner is served", smiled Ash. "And you're in luck on your first day 
here.  Mewtwo's thinking about spaghetti!"

"Amazing", said Seymour while polishing the sauce from his glasses.

"What a neat way to get a meal", smiled Cameron also polishing his 
glasses.

"You won't be saying that on Mondays", said Ryan. "Those days Mewtwo 
gets a craving for, YECCCHH!  Tuna Casserole!"

Bill took a huge bite of the spaghetti and said. "This is cold!  Does 
Mewtwo always like his food cold?"

"He just doesn't think about warming up his food thoughts", smiled Ash. 
"But I know how to fix that", and he released his Charizard right in 
front of the spaghetti. "Okay Charizard", he commanded. "How about 
warming up our dinner?"

"CHAR!" smiled Charizard as it breathed a small fire not burning the 
spaghetti, but making it warm and ready to eat.  All the villagers 
started scooping the spaghetti into their pots and taking it back to 
their homes.

"Nice work Charizard", smiled Ash as he fed him a meatball. "You 
earned it."

"Char!" smiled Charizard as it slurped Ash's face leaving a spaghetti 
stain on his face.

"Wow", said Misty. "In the old days, your Charizard never liked nor 
listened to you.  Now it seems like you're both friends again."

"Well, we all suffered traumatizing and painful experiences in this 
evil brain for the past five years." Said Ash. "So me and my Pokemon 
were forced to work together as a team and eventually, Charizard 
learned to respect me.  Right Charry?"

"Char!" smiled Charizard as it gave Ash a small hot foot.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" said Ash jumping up and down putting his foot out. 
"Tell me, how do you like this, eh?"  Then he grabbed Charizard by the 
horns and tossed him on the ground.  Our heroes became worried, but 
then saw Ash and Charizard laughing out loud while hugging each other.

"I guess boys will be boys", smiled Bill.

"CHOW TIME!!!" shouted a voice.  They all turned around and saw a crazy 
man running like mad to the spaghetti pile and sticking his face into 
it like a gopher.

"Must you always embarrass me like that in front of newcomers?" sighed 
Ash as he pulled the man's head out of the spaghetti.  Cameron suddenly 
recognized the man.

"Giovanni?!" asked Cameron.  Sure enough it was Giovanni with a sauce 
stained face.  He wasn't the same business suit wearing mob boss.  He 
was dressed only in a white undershirt with yellow and white striped 
boxer shorts.  He had let his hair grow long and was wearing his 
necktie like a headband.

"Hi babe!" he said looking crazy-eyed at Misty. "I'm Gio, New Pallet's 
hottest bachelor.  Wanna give me a welcome kiss?" and he grabbed 
Misty's arms and moved his garlic smelling lips to hers.

"No, don't!" pleaded Misty trying to push him away with her foot but 
couldn't.  Then Ash grabbed Gio by the shirt and threw him onto the 
ground.

"Do something like that again, and it's no bedtime stories for a week!" 
scolded Ash.

"No, I wanna find out if the 3 Snorlaxes find Goldilocks in Baby's bed!" 
cried Gio. "Okay, I'll be a good boy!" and he sat on the ground while 
folding his hands like an angel.

"Are you okay Misty?" asked Ash as he touched Misty's shoulders 
checking her out.

"Yeah, I'm fine", she whispered, "Thank you."  Then both Ash and Misty 
looked at each other secretly blushing.

"I can't believe that this was the same Giovanni who was the all 
mighty, intimidating boss of Team Rocket", said Cameron looking at Gio 
who was busy cutting his toenail with his teeth.

"I guess being trapped inside his own Pokemon really drove him mad", 
sighed Ash. "We've all been trying to snap him out of it but with no 
success.  At least he keeps things lively around here."

"Say, have any of you new guys seen a Persian?" asked Gio.  Stella took 
out a Pokeball and remembered that the Persian she now owned was 
actually Giovanni's.  She was about to reunite them until Gio spoke out. 
"I just love Persians.  Especially with ketchup."  Stella then put the 
ball back in her pocket realizing that it may not be a good idea to 
reunite them.

*      *      *      *      *      *

Ash had gathered up a large amount of spaghetti and invited our heroes 
back to his house for dinner.  His house was located around the edge 
of New Pallet and it looked almost like his Mom's old house.  He opened 
the door and let everyone inside.

"Where's all your furniture?" asked Misty.  Sure enough, the entire 
house was empty, except for a sleeping bag and pictures on the floor 
that consisted of Ash with his friends and Mom, and one with him and 
Pikachu.

"I guess Mewtwo didn't have any memories of the insides of these 
houses", said Ash. "So that means no furniture.  But that's okay.  That 
means there's more room for me and my Pokemon."  He smiled as he 
released Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur, and Pidgeot who were all ready 
for some dinner as well.

"PI!" called out a cute little voice from the sleeping bag. "Yes, it's 
dinner time little buddy", smiled Ash. "Come on out and dig in." And 
out crawled what looked like a purple Eevee with a jewel on its head.

"What a cutie!" smiled Misty as she picked up the new Pokemon while 
Cameron aimed his Pokedex at it.

"ESPEON, the psychic form of Eevee", replied Dexeena. "Nobody knows for 
sure how an Eevee becomes an Espeon.  

"It's just like how that Eevee in Lavender Town became an Umbreon", 
said Cameron.

"Exactly", said Dexeena.  Cameron looked puzzled at his Pokedex 
wondering if it was actually alive.

"I've heard about Espeons", said Bill. "I just never thought I'd 
actually see one."

"He was an Eevee when I first found him a couple of years ago while 
scouting around this brain", said Ash. "He must've crossed Mewtwo's 
path one day and got mindjailed.  I took him back with me and we became 
friends.  Then sometime later, he suddenly evolved into this new 
Pokemon."

"I believe Eevee was exposed to all this psychic energy in Mewtwo's 
mind forcing his molecules to evolve him into an Espeon", said Seymour 
as he took out his pad and pencil. "Very fascinating."

*      *      *      *      *      *

Our heroes had let out all their Pokemon so they could join Ash and his 
Pokemon for their first meal in Mewtwo's mind prison.  Cameron was 
plopping little bits of spaghetti and meatballs into Aero's Pokeball 
for he knew Aero was too big to fit into Ash's house and he also 
remembered that Ash had a frightening experience with an Aerodactyl in 
a certain episode.

While they were eating, Ash was looking through the Pokemon anime album 
that Cameron had given him. "I can't believe that I'm a cartoon hero 
in another world", Ash said as he was reading about the time he and 
Pikachu battled Lt. Surge. "That Lt. Surge was one tough gym leader."

"I'll say", said Cameron. "Right Sandy?"

"Shrew!" said Sandy with a sauce stained smile.

"You and your Sandshrew sure seem like a great team Cameron", said Ash. 
"Was he your very first Pokemon?"

"Yes he was", said Cameron remembering the day he first got transported 
into the Pokemon world, got captured by Team Rocket and how Sandy 
popped up and freed him. "Ever since that day, we've became quite a 
team along with my other team of great Pokemon.  Right guys?!"

"Vile, Slow, Phan, BUZZ EL BUZZ!" said all of Cameron's Pokemon while 
busy eating.

"They all look great", said Ash. "And by the looks of them, I'll bet 
they've won lots of tough battles."

"Yes", smiled Cameron. "So far they've earned me 7 gym badges.  All I 
need is the EarthBadge and I'll have them all."

"Congratulations, but I'm afraid you may not be able to get that last 
one", said Ash. "Old Gio was the EarthBadge gym leader and you saw the 
condition he's in now.  I don't think you'll be getting a battle out of 
him."

"But I see an EarthBadge sewn to your wristband", said Cameron. "So you 
must've gotten it back from him somehow."

"Gio became so depressed and grieved after being imprisoned here that 
he gave me back the EarthBadge", said Ash. "Yes, here I am.  Ash 
Ketchum.  Winner of all 8 gym badges, but with no way to compete in the 
Pokemon League games."

Cameron and the others became silent thinking about the life Ash had to 
live. "But don't worry", he smiled. "I've learned to make the best of 
it.  And helping other trainers who got caught by Mewtwo gives me a 
purpose in my life.  And I'm so happy to see you all again.  But I'm 
sorry that you might be spending the rest of your lives here though."

Brock stood up mumbling madly while tears poured out of his closed 
eyes. "Brock, what's wrong?" asked Stella.

"Please don't feel sad Brock", said Ash. "We'll all help you make the 
best of things here."

"It's not that!" shouted Brock. "Ash, I want you to hit me!"

"Hit you?!" gasped Ash while everyone gasped as well.

"HIT ME!!!" cried Brock as he pointed at his guilty face. "I was the 
one that put you in that Mr. Mime costume and got you kidnapped by Team 
Rocket in the first place!  It's my fault you're living this jailed 
life!  So don't pretend you're glad to see me!  Hit me and give me what 
I deserve!!!" and Brock closed his eyes, (If they weren't closed 
already!)  

Instead of a hit, Brock felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. 
"Brock", said Ash calmly. "I don't want to hit you.  You're one of my 
best friends and nothing'll ever change that."

"What?!" asked Brock. "You're not one bit mad at what I've done to you?"

"I admit, at first I blamed you the first few days I was trapped here", 
explained Ash. "But then I soon realized that blaming someone never 
solves anything.  So I decided to dedicate my life to taking care of 
Gio and all my other new friends here.  To tell you the truth, I was 
hoping that none of you would come and find me.  That way Mewtwo 
wouldn't be able to catch any of you as well."

"Well I'm sorry I let you down again Ash", whined Brock. "For now we've 
all been caught."

"If you really want to make it up to me, you can stop blaming yourself", 
said Ash. "I understand you did all of this just to impress a girl like 
Stella.  And it looks like it worked.  You sly dog you!" He said while 
winking and nudging Brock's arm.

"Thank you Ash", said Brock while hugging his friend. "I now can get 
on with my life knowing that you've forgiven me and we're friends 
again." Everyone smiled at the touching scene, except for Stella.

"It wasn't really Brock's fault Ash", said Stella sadly. "I started 
this whole mess by mistreating my Mr. Mime in the first place.  Then 
when you put on that Mr. Mime suit, I whipped you, yelled at you, and 
got you captured by Team Rocket when I stopped you from speaking out.  
I'm the one that deserves to get hit!"

"No, don't you say that either", said Ash. "Like I said, I no longer 
have any grudges.  Besides it was a good thing you trained me to be a 
Mr. Mime.  Those acrobat skills you put me through gave me the strength 
and agility to defend myself against Mewtwo's mind minions.  I just 
hoped you learned to treat your original Mr. Mime better after that."

"Oh, Mr. Mime!" cried Stella as she covered her face to hide her 
sadness.

"Did something happen to Mr. Mime?" asked Ash.

"He and her other circus Pokemon were stolen by Team Rocket the day 
you disappeared", said Brock.

"That's terrible", said Ash. "But didn't Pikachu try to shock those 
Rockets to death?  Come to think about it, where's Pikachu?  Why didn't 
you bring him along with you?  He's not...not....."

"Sit down Ash", said Misty. "There are a few things we want to fill you 
on." So Ash sat down while his friends told him the story on how Team 
Rocket took away Pikachu, imprisoned Pallet Town and enslaved all the 
people causing his friends and his own mother to hide out in the 
sewers.  As they slowly told Ash the story, they could see Ash's smile 
turn into a frown while his teeth were showing.  His eyebrows dropped 
down making his angry look, and veins started to form on his head.

"THEY DID ALL THAT?!!!" growled Ash he started bulking up with rage 
just like Goku does on Dragonball Z. "Oh, those @?#$!& Rockets!  It was 
bad enough when they chased us all over the world trying to nab my poor 
Pikachu and when they finally do, they capture my town and hurt all the 
people I love!  That does it!  I've gotta get out of this blasted brain 
NOW!!!" And he stormed out the door and started pounding on the brain 
cell ground. "Let me out of this brain you stupid Mewtwo!" he screamed. 
"You hear me!  I'm gonna kill you from the inside if you don't let me 
out!"  All the villagers rushed outside and watched their leader with 
question marks over their heads.

"Ash, what are you doing?!" cried Ryan. "Mewtwo's minions are sure to 
find us if you keep causing all this commotion."

"I don't care!" shouted Ash. "I just want out of this brain!"

"Cool", called out Gio. "Some of me is rubbing off of him!" and he 
started pounding on the ground as well while the villagers tried to 
hold him down while Brock and Jenny tried to restrain Ash.

"Ash, calm down!" said Jenny. 

"I want my Pikachu and my Mamma!" cried Ash as more of his friends 
tried to restrain him.  Cameron was watching the whole thing from the 
house feeling sorry for his hero.  He looked down at his Pokemon and 
spoke to Slowking. 

"Oh, Slowie", sighed Cameron. "If only your mindzero attack did work.  
I just don't understand what happened.  Have you learned so many new 
attacks that you've forgotten mindzero?  Or has evolving into a 
Slowking altered your memories making you forget mindzero?

"Slowking?" asked Slowie as the word mindzero started dancing around in 
his head.  Suddenly Slowie started to grow brightly.  Cameron stared 
with his mouth wide open as Slowie started to levitate right in front 
of him. "Slow!" said Slowie as it started to release a strange white 
energy that suddenly started to make the entire house disappear leaving 
him, Cameron, and the rest of his Pokemon standing in total whiteness.

"Say Ash", called out Lulu. "I think your house is disappearing!" Ash 
suddenly stopped pounding the ground as he and the others looked up and 
saw the white shadow that seemed to eat up the entire scenery.  
Suddenly, the entire village was getting erased leaving only the people 
and their Pokemon.  

"Cameron, what is that Pokemon of yours doing?!" shouted Ash.

"I think he's using mindzero", said Cameron.

"So that's what it does", said Seymour jotting everything down on his 
notepad.

"It's eating our sanctuary!" shouted Gio in a panic. "No, this can't 
happen!  I wanted to eat it!" The entire village gathered around and 
held each other tightly as they watched New Pallet vanish leaving them 
in total whiteness.

*      *      *      *      *      *

Mewtwo was laid back in his chair letting his delicious spaghetti 
dinner digest when he suddenly felt a strange headache. "Whoah!  Ice 
cream headache coming on", he said while clutching his head. "Wait a 
minute", he said. "I don't like ice cream.  What's going on?!"  
Suddenly, his headache started to get worse like something was eating 
away at every thought and memory.

"Whatever it is you're all doing in there, STOP IT!" shouted Mewtwo. 
"I MEAN IT!" Then Mewtwo started running around the room clutching his 
head while screaming in pain. 

"I can't take it!" he shouted. "Get out of my head this instant!" And 
he released a psychic beam and all of his captives were released onto 
the floor.  Then Mewtwo fainted.

"I can't believe it", Ash said while slowly smiling. "We're all out!  
We're free!"

"It finally happened!" cheered Ryan and Lulu while they were dancing 
around. "WE"RE FREE!" All the villagers cheered as well for the miracle 
they thought would never happened just happened.

"Way to go Slowie!" shouted Cameron as he hugged his happy Slowking who 
was still clueless at what he did but was happy anyway.

"Wow, Sabrina's mindzero attack did work after all", said Misty. "I'm 
sorry I insulted her."

"It appears that mindzero could only work from the inside of Mewtwo's 
brain", said Seymour. 

"So Slowie couldn't use it when we were outside", said Brock.

"Which means we all had to get ourselves captured to defeat Mewtwo", 
said Bill.  

"Who cares", shouted Stella. "We're all free!  And that awful Mewtwo is 
no more!"

"I wouldn't count on that!" said an angry voice.  Everyone turned 
around and saw an enraged Mewtwo levitating with glowing red eyes.

"Everyone run for it!" shouted Jenny as they all headed for the door 
until Mewtwo psychically shut it. 

"Oh, please don't leave now!" shouted Mewtwo. "I would so love to get 
revenge on all of you!"

"There's no way you're gonna pull us back into your fat head!" shouted 
Ash.

"And have you do that same painful thing to me again?" asked Mewtwo. 
"I don't think so!  I'm just gonna destroy all of you right here and 
now!" and he started shooting psychic energy out of his eyes getting 
ready to hit everyone.  Espeon suddenly jumped in front of Mewtwo and 
formed a reflect dome protecting everyone from the attacks.

"My little Espeon", said Ash. "You musn't do this!  You'll waste all 
your energy trying to protect us all from that monster!"

"No, let your little bunny keep protecting you", said Mewtwo. "It'll be 
a fun challenge for me to destroy this pathetic shield to show that 
there's no protection from me!" And he started firing his psychic 
blasts once again trying to break the dome.

"PSYDUCK!" quacked out a voice from behind Mewtwo causing him to stop 
his attacks.  There was Psyduck putting up his claws ready to defend 
his beloved Misty and friends.

"Psyduck, how did you get over there?!" shouted Misty from inside the 
dome. "And how did you get out of your Pokeball for that matter?"

"So this silly little quack is your last minute savior, eh?" laughed 
Mewtwo. "All right Psyduck, give me your best shot."

"Psy?" thought Psyduck trying to think of an attack and then thought 
of one.  He turned around and used tail whip.  But it didn't do 
anything except make Mewtwo laugh.

"That's not gonna defeat the world's dangerous Pokemon Psyduck!" 
shouted Misty. "Use something like hydro pump!"

"Psy", said Psyduck as he squirted a tiny bit of water onto Mewtwo's 
toe. "Thank you my dear duck", he smiled. "That certainly cooled down 
the hangnail I had pulled out this morning.  Let me give you a reward." 
And he shot a tiny blast of psychic energy at Psyduck knocking him into 
the wall.

"Oh no, Psyduck!" cried Misty who tried to run to him but crashed into 
Espeon's reflect dome.

"And now for some duck soup", laughed Mewtwo as he slowly approached 
Psyduck.  But all the psychic energy that hit Psyduck started to effect 
him wildly.  An angry Psyduck stood up and started to change.

"I don't believe it", gasped Brock. "Your Psyduck is evolving!"

"You mean finally?!" gasped Misty.  And sure enough, Psyduck was now 
a brand new duck.  He was as tall as Misty, had blue skin, a crown 
shaped head with a jewel on it and he had long arms with sharp webbed 
hands.  He let out a loud, "GOL!"  Both Ash and Cameron aimed their 
Pokedexes at the new duck.

"GOLDUCK, the evolved form of Psyduck", said both Dexter and Dexeena. 
"Often seen swimming elegantly in lake shores, it is often mistaken for 
the Japanese monster, Kappa."

"Amazing", said an awestruck Ash. "Your Pokedex is a female while 
mine's a male!"

"You're still clueless as ever Ash", sighed Misty as she gazed at her 
new Golduck.

"Ha!" scoffed Mewtwo. "Do you actually think this new blue you can 
defeat me?!  We'll just see." And he started to launch another psychic 
blast at Golduck.  But Golduck just smiled and released a powerful 
confusion attack sending the psychic blast back at Mewtwo hurling him 
into the fireplace.

"HOT, HOT, HOT, HOT!" shouted Mewtwo as he ran around trying to put out 
the fire on his butt. "Why you foolish little bird!" he shouted angrily. 
"Now feel the extent of my full power!" And he was about to charge 
himself up until he curiously saw the jewel on Golduck's forehead 
glowing brightly.

"But first, I think I'll relieve you of that pretty jewel", said Mewtwo 
as he was about to rip it off Golduck's head.  Suddenly, a powerful 
beam shot out from the jewel hitting Mewtwo in the face and knocking 
him into a bookshelf causing it to smash and knocking Mewtwo out 
completely.

"That's a full hyper beam attack!" shouted Seymour. "I never knew that 
duck had it in him."

"But of course", smiled Misty. "After all, I am his trainer."

"Well why did it take so many years to get him to evolve then?" smiled 
Ash.  Misty just slyly bopped him on the head. "Oh how I missed doing 
that to him", she sighed.

Espeon saw that the danger was over and undid his reflect power. "Nice 
work Espeon", smiled Ash as he picked up the tired Pokemon and patted 
his head.

"And you too Golduck!" shouted Misty as she ran up to her new duck.  
"GOL!" cried Golduck happily then tripped, fell on his head, and 
started holding it in pain. "PSY-YAI-YAI!" he cried in his old Psyduck 
voice.

"You may look strong and pretty on the outside, but on the inside 
you're still my favorite headache", sighed Misty as she kissed the top 
of Golduck's bill. "Gol!" he said while blushing.

"Is Mewtwo out for the count?" asked Cameron pointing to the book 
buried Mewtwo.  Ash cautiously approached the unconscious monster and 
checked him over.

"It looks like he broke his neck when he hit that bookshelf", said Ash. 
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the nightmare know as Mewtwo is no more."

"HOORAY!" shouted the entire group while they all cheered again.  
Normally, most of the trainers would never cheer when someone dies, but 
in Mewtwo's case, they made a happy exception.

*      *      *      *      *      *

Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres suddenly woke up and wondered where they 
were.  Now that Mewtwo was dead, his power over the birds had 
disappeared.  All 3 of them quickly flew out of the mansion and flew 
off to their secretly hidden homes.

*      *      *      *      *      *

Everyone had stepped outside of the mansion gazing at the blue sky, the 
blue sea, and smelling the fresh air. "I'd never thought I'd see the 
blue sky and sea again", said Ash. "They remind me of the color of your 
eyes Misty."

"Oh, that's so sweet Ash", cried Misty as she gave him a kiss.

"You, you kissed me!" said Ash surprised. "I thought that would be the 
last thing you'd ever do to me in our entire lives."

"Hey, it's a day for miracles", smiled Misty. "But don't forget, you 
still owe me a bike though!"

"Hmmm, the day of miracles isn't over yet", smiled Ash.  They looked 
into each other's eyes and were about to kiss again, until Brock draped 
his arms over both of them. 

"It's so great to have this old trio reunited!" he said happily.

"Yeah, sure it is", said both Ash and Misty smiling and blushing.

"How about us?!" called out Bill who was with Cameron, Stella, Seymour, 
and Jenny. "Can your trio become an eightsome?" and they all rushed 
over to the three friends and gave each other a group hug.

"This is the happiest day of my life!" said Ash with tears in his eyes. 
"Except for hearing about Team Rocket and learning about what they did 
to all the people I love!  How I want to get even with them!"

"Well then why don't we all go back to Pallet and defeat them once and 
for all?" asked Cameron.

"We can do that?!" smiled Ash. "Then let's get going!"

"We can't", said Jenny. "We still haven't found a cavalry yet."

"Ash", called out Ryan who was with Lulu and all the other freed 
trainers. "You've helped us all survive these past five years and now 
we want to help you.  We'll all be your cavalry and help you defeat 
this Team Rocket that's caused you all this pain."

"You guys would really do that for me?!" asked Ash.

"But of course", smiled Lulu. "After battling Mewtwo's mind minions for 
years, our Pokemon have gotten pretty strong.  Strong enough to take 
down a few Rockets, right Beeswax?"

"BZZZZZ!" said a Beedrill who was hovering next to Lulu.

"Thank you my friends", smiled Ash. "I'll never forget any of you."

"Now how about leading the way Ash?" said Ryan as he saluted him.

"You got it", said Ash proudly as he released his Pidgeot.  Ryan also 
took out a Pokeball and released a Lapras into the water.  Then Ryan 
helped Lulu onto Lapras's armored back and got on as well.  Everyone 
also released their flying and water Pokemon and got on their backs 
ready to follow their leader Ash.  And finally Cameron released Aero 
while his friends got on her back.

"That's, that's an Aerodactyl, isn't it?!" said Ash nervously.

"Oh, I'm sorry Ash", said Cameron. "I know about the scary experience 
you had with an Aerodactyl once.  But this is a different one.  She was 
once a friendly Zubat who suddenly mutated into the same friendly 
Aerodactyl.  Show him you're friendly Aero."

"AERO!" cawed Aero as she slurped Ash with her huge tongue. "Ha, Ha, 
Okay I believe you!" he laughed. "You are a friendly Aerodactyl", and 
he petted Aero's snout.

"You wanna ride with us Ash?" asked Misty. "There's plenty of room."

"No thanks", said Ash. "I'd prefer riding my Pidgeot.  But you're 
welcome to ride with me Misty.  How about it Pidgeot?" Pidgeot smiled 
and cooed at Misty wanting her to get on.

"I hope you don't mind Cameron", said Misty as she got off of Aero's 
back.

"No, not at all", smiled Cameron. "How about you Aero?"

"Aero!" smiled Aero for she and Cameron knew why Misty wanted to ride 
on Pidgeot.  Ash helped Misty on to Pidgeot's back and got on behind 
her circling his muscular arms around her waist.  Misty blushed as Ash 
commanded Pidgeot to fly them north to Pallet Town.  Cameron and the 
others followed after them on Aero while all the other trainers and 
their Pokemon flew and swam after them on their way to free their 
leader's home town.

*      *      *      *      *      *

Back at the mansion, Gio secretly crawled out from under a chair and 
saw the dead body of Mewtwo on the floor.  He said nothing.  He just 
took out a Pokeball and sucked Mewtwo's body into it.  Then Gio ran out 
of the mansion, released his Kangaskhan into the water and jumped into 
her pouch. "Use your surf power K.K." commanded Gio happily.

"KHAN!" said Kangaskhan as she twirled her long tail like a boat motor 
and surfed off using her big feet like water skis.

"Wait for your beloved village idiot!" called out Gio as he tried to 
catch up with the group.

*      *      *      *      *      *

Back at Rocketville, Meowth was having a fun time interrogating poor 
Reiko.  He had corks in his ears while scratching his nails on a 
chalkboard.  Reiko, who was tied tight to a chair, flinched in pain at 
the horrible screeching noises. "Are you now gonna tell us where those 
rebels went to or am I gonna have to hurt this poor chalkboard some 
more?" shouted Meowth.

"NO!" shouted Reiko with tears in her eyes. "Like the PLEASE STAND BY 
logo that cuts off the sound from your favorite TV show.  You will 
never get me to talk!"

"I couldn't hear what you just said, but it sounded like a no to me!" 
laughed Meowth as he started scratching some more.

"I must be strong!" thought Reiko through the sadistic torture. "And 
you must be strong too Cameron-san.  Wherever you are!" Little did she 
know was that her favorite guy would be coming back to her.

*      *      *      *      *      *

Meanwhile in a control room, Jessie and James were back in their royal 
clothes and were monitoring the sewers.  Jessie kept turning the dial 
and discovered something interesting in the southern section.  It was a 
group of people who looked like hidden rebels to her. "I think we've 
hit the jackpot my dear James", smiled Jessie evily.

"I did too", smiled James. "I found a magical sewer filled with 
brownies floating in a sea of lemonade.  Can we go there and collect 
some?!"

Jessie just groaned and walked over to her collection of mallets.

TO BE CONTINUED

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well, Ash is finally free and is reunited with our heroes.  But can he 
and his new friends free Pallet Town and defeat the Rockets before they 
do anything even worse?  Stay tuned. ;)