Poke-Odyssey 2001 chapter 22 Mountain Mayhem In our last chapter, Cameron and friends had rented some Stantlers from an old woman so they could climb up Mt. Mustard so Cameron could challenge the seventh Ryooku gym leader. And it looks like they were still on their way too. "How far is it to the top now Tracey?" moaned Misty. "I'm getting tired!" "We're almost half way there", said Tracey. "I can see that huge peak up there getting closer and closer." And they all saw it in the beautiful starry night sky. "Misty", said Ash. "How can you be tired? These Stantlers are doing all the work for us!" "I can feel my Stantler's tired energy flowing through me", whined Misty. "How can these deer take climbing up these steep mountains every day?!" "It is like the suction cup you stick on a mouth to keep someone from talking on and on", sighed Reiko wishing she had one of those things to stop Misty's complaining. "I think something's blocking our path", said Cameron as he pointed to what look like a huge green boulder blocking the narrow pathway. "I've never seen a green boulder before", said Ash. "Especially when it's on a yellow mountain", said Misty. "Even though the color may be pretty", said Reiko. "It is still an obstacle we must overcome." "Leave that to my buddy Sandy", smiled Cameron. "Can you rock smash that boulder out of our way?" "Shrew!" smiled Sandy as he jumped off the Stantler, approached the boulder, and started making a cute little fist. "How can a green boulder be seen on a yellow mountain?" wondered Tracey. "Unless! No Sandy, Don't!" "Shrew?" asked Sandy as he turned around with a sand-colored question mark over his head. Suddenly, a loud. "TAAAR!" was heard. Sandy turned around and looked in fear for the boulder looked like it was getting up. He jumped back into Cameron's arms shaking. Pretty soon, all the Stantlers were shaking their legs in fear as well as our heroes when they saw what this boulder had become. It was a huge six foot tall lizard with green rocky skin and spikes. "TAAAAR!" it growled while making a scary face. "It's Godzilla!" gasped Cameron. "It's something just as bad!" cried Tracey. "It's a Tyranitar!" "Tyrantiar?!" gasped Cameron as he took out his Dex with a shaking hand. "TYRANITAR: the armor Pokemon", replied Dextra. "Tyranitar's tough body can't be harmed by any kind of attack, so it is always eager to challenge enemies. And please stop shaking me around. You're giving me a migraine!" Cameron, who was used to Dextra's unusual speech, quickly put his Dex back into his pocket and saw Tyranitar slowly approaching our heroes waving its arms around like mad. "I don't think it wants to shake hands with us", said Ash nervously. "It's trying to use its thrash attack on us!" cried Tracey. "Quick!" cried Misty. "Somebody call out a Pokemon that can take on this monster!" And Golduck popped out of his ball wearing a knight's helmet and holding a sword and a shield. "Just who do you think you are, Sir Lumps-a-lot?!" sighed Misty. "Gol!" said Golduck gallantly as he was about to approach the huge lizard, but when he saw how big Tyranitar was, he made a tiny, "Duck!" and jumped back into his Pokeball. "My zero!" moaned Misty. "Scaleon! I choose you!" shouted Cameron as he released his newest Pokemon right in front of the surprised Tyranitar. "SCALE!" smiled the dragon Eevee sticking her tongue out for she had dreamt of the day she could take on a really huge opponent. "TAAAR!" growled Tyranitar getting ready to thrash its fellow reptile. "This looks like an actual battle of the titans!" gasped Reiko. "It might lead to massive destruction!" Just as Tyranitar was about to make its first attack, a mysterious loud yodeling was heard. "YODELADY, YODELADY, YODELADYHOO!" sang a loud female voice. Tyranitar suddenly stopped and heard the crazy singing. It then quickly walked away out of sight. "Like the Ekans eggs that get smashed before they can hatch and spread chaos. That certainly was a lucky break", said Reiko. "SCALE!" grumbled Scaleon as she snapped her claws feeling mad that her biggest opponent ran away before the battle even got started. "Don't worry Scaleon", said Cameron patting her tail. "You'll get lots of chances to battle even bigger opponents soon." "Just be thankful that that one's gone!" said Misty. "And I thank that mysterious heroic person who was doing all that yodeling." Sure enough, that voice was still continuing her yodeling. "I wonder who's doing that?" said Ash. "Whoever she is, I bet she's a survivor", said Cameron. "She certainly can scare away a Tyranitar with that voice." "Come on, let's follow that voice", said Tracey as he and his Stantler led the way to that mysterious yodeling. Everyone else followed while Scaleon followed behind just in case they'd run into that Tyranitar again. Pretty soon, they found the person who was doing the yodeling. It was a plump middle-aged woman with blonde hair done in pigtails. She was wearing some Alpine hiking clothes and was busy yodeling it all out with her huge mouth. "She's amazing!" said Ash. "I wonder who she is?" said Cameron. "Whoever she is, I bet she can take on that Tyranitar without the use of that voice", said Misty checking out the huge muscles on this woman. She then turned around, stopped yodeling, and smiled a big smile. "Oh, hello there!" said the woman in a European accent. "I trust that you came all this way up here because you liked my singing, ya?" "You bet we did", said Ash. "Your yodeling just saved our lives." "Didn't you see an evil Tyranitar just pass you?" asked Misty. "Evil Tyranitar?" laughed the woman. "Oh no, young one. The Tyranitars I've known all my life are not evil. A little irked or macho sometimes, but not evil. I've grown up around Tyranitars since I was a little tot. And I've learned that those big blowhards turn into little lizards once you yodel at them. Take it from Hilda. The champion yodeler of Ryooku." "Well your yodeling sure is beautiful ma'am", said Cameron. "Why thank you young man", smiled Hilda as she pinched Cameron's cheeks even harder than the Officer Jennies do. "It's so nice to hear compliments from such a handsome young boy like yourself. I think I will give out my best yodeling for all of you." Cameron just smiled and rubbed his blushing sore cheek as Hilda started up her yodeling again. "YODELADY, YODELADY, YODELADY, AAAAAAAAH!" she screamed. "Are you sure that's your best yodel?" asked Ash confused. "What, what's that?!" gasped Hilda with a shocked face as she pointed behind them. Scaleon had just come out from behind the corner. "Oh, her?" asked Cameron. "Don't worry. This is just my Pokemon, Scaleon. She's really friendly." "Scale!" cooed Scaleon as she started slurping Cameron happily. "Amazing!" said Hilda as she studied this new kind of Pokemon. "Of all my years as a gym leader, I've never met a trainer that owned this kind of creature. It is magnificent!" "You're the Mt. Mustard gym leader?" asked Ash. "Ya, and I'll show you" smiled Hilda as she lifted up her shirt and showed them a Pokebelt loaded with six Pokeballs. Misty made a silent, "EEYEEW!" and squinted her eyes at the sight of Hilda's huge belly. "Well I'd like to challenge you for a badge if that's all right", said Cameron. "Well then", said Hilda in a now serious voice, "Your Scaleon may look big and strong, but can it survive the harshness of the mountains? The Pokemon I train were born, raised, and they even eat small mountains for dinner. So you can bet they can be a little, if you'll excuse the pun, ROCKY!" "That's okay", said Cameron in a serious voice also. "Sandy, Scaleon, and the rest of my team will do our best. Right guys?" "Shrew!" "Scale!" said both Pokemon. "Very well then", said Hilda as she took out a Pokeball. "Let the matches begin!" "Shouldn't we go to your gym first?" asked Cameron. "That's the first challenge", smiled Hilda as she pointed to the very top of the mountain. "My gym is located at the very tip-top of Mt. Mustard. And the one who climbs up to the top first wins the first round. We'll both ride one Pokemon up there and this one here is my best climber." She released a huge 30 foot long python made of steel right in front of everyone. "Is that an Onyx?" gasped Cameron as he saw the huge jaw of the snake that looked like a bear trap. "Actually, it's an Onyx's evolved form", said Hilda proudly. "Steelix!" Cameron was amazed and a little nervous. For he had a secret fear of Onyxes when he first saw one on his TV, but this scarier looking evolved form was a little too much. Cameron aimed his Dex at the steel python. "STEELIX: the steel snake Pokemon. The evolved form of Onyx", replied Dextra. "Steelix's body has been compressed under the ground. As a result, it is even harder than a diamond." "I wonder if Brock knows about this kind of Pokemon?" said Ash. "Shall we begin the race?" asked Hilda as she climbed on top of Steelix's head. "Oh yeah!" said Cameron as he put his Dex back into his pocket. "Scaleon, do you think you can give me a lift to the top of this mountain?" "Scale!" smiled Scaleon as she wrapped her neck around Cameron lifting him up and putting him on her back. "Shrew!" smiled Sandy as he crawled up Scaleon's leg and jumped into Cameron's backpack. "Make room for all of us too Came-chan", said Reiko as she and the others were about to climb on. "Sorry everyone else", called out Hilda. "But I cannot allow spectators to come with us. The final match is quite intense and anyone who hangs around to watch might get hurt really bad." Cameron made a silent gulp wondering what he might get himself and his Pokemon into. "That's okay", said Tracey. "We'll all just wait at this spot and watch over these Stantlers. "But I wanted to see my Came-chan in action", whined Reiko. "Maybe we can with my Corsola", smiled Misty. "It can show us the battle like we're watching pay-per-view. Only it'll be free." "You're brilliant as always my Misty", smiled Ash as he kissed her. "Good luck Came-chan", smiled Reiko as she blew Cameron a kiss. "Like the Bellsprout that takes root in heavenly fertile soil. I'll be rooting for you as well." "Thank you Moonray", smiled Cameron as he tipped his hat then turned to Scaleon. "Ready to go?" he asked. "Scale!" said Scaleon gripping the first two slabs of rock with her sharp claws. "Begin!" shouted Hilda as she and her Steelix started slithering up the mountain while Cameron and Scaleon tried to catch up. It was quite an exciting race and both Pokemon were evenly good climbers. Steelix had sharp steel points that could poke through rock and Scaleon's sharp claws along with the horn on her head were very effective for mountain climbing as well. "That's it Scaleon!" called out Cameron as he patted her back. "You're doing fi... AAAYEEE!" cried Cameron as he accidentally slipped off. His friends watched in panic as he was about to fall, but luckily, Scaleon managed to reach out and grab Cameron with her tail. "Thank you my friend", said Cameron relieved. "Shrew!" said a thankful Sandy. "Scale!" smiled Scaleon as she wrapped her neck around Cameron's waist just to make sure he wouldn't fall off again and continued climbing. Scaleon started to give her 110 percent until she finally caught up with Hilda and Steelix until they were both neck and neck. "That dragon is quite amazing", said Hilda. Steelix roared in agreement as they were still neck and neck. Soon they were almost at the top of the mountain blanketed under a pretty starry sky. Then dark clouds started to surround it. Both Pokemon suddenly stopped as Cameron and Hilda looked in fear at what happened next. The peak of the mountain suddenly sprouted out some creepy wings along with a scary shadow of a demon. "Speak of the devil!" gasped Cameron. "Yes, you might say I'm a cute little devil! HA HA HA HA!" cackled the shadow in a familiar girl's voice. "What kind of sorcery is this?!" gasped Hilda. "Trust me. You don't want to know", sighed Cameron now relieved that it was only Jessie. Sure enough, it was Jessie dressed in a scary demon suit with red paper wings. "How dare you not be afraid of me twerp!" shouted Jessie. "But maybe my loyal minions will change your opinion!" And she threw some smoke bombs and James and Meowth suddenly appeared dressed in ballerina outfits and dancing around Jessie while they recited their motto. "What's this all about?" asked Hilda. "Don't worry. They always do stuff like this just to get some attention", sighed Cameron waiting for this to be over. Once Meowth said. "That's right", Jessie threw another smoke bomb and James and Meowth then appeared in demon costumes as well while waving their arms around. "I think that was our best entrance yet", smiled James while swinging his red forked tail around. "We should get an award for that." "Yeah", said Meowth who was painted green with fake horns attached to his head. "How did you come up with this neat idea Jess?" "Let's just say a little inner-demon told me", cackled Jessie while fire appeared in her eyes. James and Meowth started to shake a little for Jessie seemed a lot eviler than before. "I had inner-demons inside me for years", said James. "But they never gave me any advice. All they did was torment me." "I had too many demons inside me as well", said Meowth. "Maybe it's because of all my nine lives." "Stick with me boys, and you might end up mastering those demons", laughed Jessie. "And we'll start by rubbing out that twerp and his little dragon. Go Bython!" she shouted as she released her two-headed snake. "Go Hakking!" shouted James as he released his three headed gas Pokemon. "Quick Scaleon!" shouted Cameron. "Use your dragonbreath on them!" "Hakking, shut that dragon up with rapid sludge!" commanded James. "HAKKING!" coughed all three mouths as they launched non-stop sludge at Scaleon. Before Scaleon could breathe her dragonbreath, some sludge hit her mouth sealing it up so she couldn't launch any dragon attacks. Then the poison sunk in and Scaleon passed out causing her to let go of the slabs and fall. "NO SCALEON!" cried Cameron as he held on tight to his falling Scaleon. "SHREW!" cried Sandy holding onto Cameron. Then Scaleon hit a small pile of rocks while Cameron and Sandy were lying on top of her stomach unhurt, but dazed from the fall and the sinister laughing from the Rockets above. * * * * * * "OH NO!" cried Reiko as she and the others saw the tragic scene through Misty's Corsola. "We have to get up there and save my Came-chan!" "If only I can have Charizard fly up there and save them!" said an angry Ash. "But you can't", said Tracey. "Remember the air zone law!" "Like the corrupt Officer Jenny that'll write you tickets for anything, but will not help you when you're in trouble. The law is definitely not on Came- chan's side today!" cried Reiko. "GROWWWL!" howled Growlithe actually agreeing with Reiko. "Wait a minute, look!" said Misty. "I see Hilda and her Steelix approaching the Rockets." "Maybe there is hope", said Tracey. "I hope so", said Reiko while praying. * * * * * * "Hey you three hooligans!" shouted Hilda as she got off her Steelix. "You're interrupting an important gym match. As the leader of the Mt. Mustard gym, I insist that you leave my mountain at once!" "Aw, go sell your hot cocoa you Swiss misfit!" laughed Meowth. "Don't you realize you're dealing with ultimate evil here you fat foolish mortal?!" cackled Jessie pretending to poke Hilda with her pitchfork like she was a roast turkey. "FAT?!" growled Hilda in an angry voice. "My Steelix will give you all fat lips! Steelix, tackle attack!" "Bython, poison sting!" commanded Jessie. "Hakking, poison gas!" commanded James. The two dark Pokmeon launched their poison attacks at the charging steel snake, but it didn't get poisoned one bit. Steelix then launched its metal head at Hakking knocking it off the mountain. "NO HAKKING!" cried James as he watched the three heads roll down the mountain. "How can that snake be immune to my Hakking's poison gas?!" gasped James. "You demon people are not very smart in the heads", laughed Hilda. "Steel types are immune to poison attacks." "Well, let's see if your aluminum asp can rock and roll!" shouted Jessie. "Bython, rock slide now!" "BYYY!" hissed Bython as it pushed a bunch of nearby boulders causing them to tumble down. "Time to use your iron tail Steelix", said Hilda calmly. Steelix roared as it slammed its sharp iron tail at the boulders turning them into harmless pebbles. Then was planning to do the same thing to the Rockets. "I think we'd better split", said James nervously. "I agree with you Jimmy-boy!" said Meowth as he was about to run away too until Jessie grabbed their pointed tails. "Demons do not run!" growled Jessie. "There's no way this hag and her metal worm's gonna make us run!" Then Steelix's iron tail swatted all the villains off the mountain and into the night sky. "How about if it makes us fly instead?" cried James. "Quick Jess! Flap those wings!" cried Meowth as he clutched onto Jessie's leg. "These aren't real wings you furbrain!" shouted Jessie as she kicked Meowth off of her. "They're worthless paper just like the both of you!" "I bet they'll have a special suite just for her down there when her time comes!" thought James as the three so-called demons blasted off out of sight again. Hilda then ordered Steelix to carry her down to where Cameron and his Scaleon had fallen. "Cameron, are you all right?" she asked as she picked up the dazed boy and dusted him off. "I think I'll be okay", said Cameron coming back to his senses. "Thank you. How about you Sandy?" "Shrew!" said Sandy showing that he was okay as well, but then sadly pointed to his teammate. Cameron turned around and found poor Scaleon lying on her back with sludge marks all over her body. "Scaleon, please speak to me!" cried Cameron. "Scale!" said Scaleon weakly through her sludge covered mouth about to pass out. "She's gonna need some full restore potion!" cried Cameron as he searched through his backpack. All he found was a half-full bottle of the stuff. "This won't be enough to heal poor Scaleon!" cried Cameron. "What'll I do?!" "Not to worry child", said Hilda as she took a deep breath and let out a loud, "YODELADY YODELADYHOO!" Then some loud barking was heard and a huge Arcanine appeared. It had a huge barrel around its neck. "Is that...?" asked Cameron. "Ya, it's full restore potion", smiled Hilda as she took the barrel from Arcanine and approached Scaleon's head. "Enough to cure this noble, one-of-a- kind Pokemon." She turned a valve on the barrel and potion poured into Scaleon's mouth. "She should be fine in just a minute", said Hilda as she put the barrel back around Arcanine's neck and thanked it. "Woof!" said Arcanine as it ran off to wherever rescue Arcanines go to. "Scale!" said Scaleon as she got up all healthy again and used her fire to melt away all the sludge marks on her scales. "Scaleon, are you feeling better?" asked Cameron. Scaleon replied by slurping Cameron with that long tongue again. "HA HA HA!" laughed Cameron. "I'm so glad you're okay again. But you should really be thanking Hilda over here." And that's what Scaleon did. She started slurping Hilda non-stop causing her to laugh as well. Then Scaleon plopped down on the ground all tired. "You deserve a nice rest Scaleon", smiled Cameron as he pulled her back into her ball. "Thank you Hilda", said Cameron. "Who knows what those Rockets would've done to us if you and your Steelix hadn't gotten rid of them." "My pleasure my child", smiled Hilda. "And it was my Steelix's pleasure too." Steelix roared in agreement. "And you were awesome too Steelix", smiled Cameron. "And it looks like you won since you got to the top of the mountain first." "Ya, that is true", said Hilda. "But there are still two more events you could win. Follow me into that cave over there please." And Hilda and Steelix went into a cave while Cameron and Sandy followed them. * * * * * * "Thank God that Came-chan is safe", sighed Reiko as she saw everything through Misty's Corsola. "It's good to know that there are still some decent gym leaders out there", smiled Ash after meeting the likes of Mr. Stench and Captain Cranston. "I guess that's why Hilda wanted us all to stay down here", said Misty imagining the pain she would've experienced if she went up with them. "And it looks like it might get even more intense", said Tracey as he continued watching the images through Corsola. * * * * * * This time Cameron and Hilda were in a huge cave filled with rocks of every size. Hilda reached into her backpack and took out two hardhats. She put one on and placed the other on Cameron's head. "Are we going to do some construction work?" asked Cameron. "You might say that", smiled Hilda. "The second event will be a wall building contest. The first team who can build a stone wall that's six feet high and ten feet wide will be the winner. You can use four of your Pokemon to help you. These are my building buddies", And she released a Geodude, a Nidoqueen, and a Stantler right next to Steelix. "Okay, then I'll use these guys", said Cameron as he released his Vileplume, Slowking, and Elekid right next to Sandy. "Then the let the construction begin!" said Hilda. Both teams were scattering all over the cave pushing and picking up any rock and boulder they could find. So far, they had evenly matched four-foot high walls. "Time to use some stone strategy Geodude", whispered Hilda. "Use your magnitude power. Level 10!" "GEODUDE!" said the rock as it concentrated and suddenly a huge pile of rocks dropped down from the stone ceiling making the wall much bigger. "Uh, oh!" said Cameron seeing the power this little Geodude had. "Quick Slowie, use psychic power to finish up this wall!" "Slow!" said Slowie as it concentrated and used his psychic power to call on every rock that was nearby. Except for the ones Hilda's team were using. "That's it's Slowie", smiled Cameron. "You're the foreman on this team. "Slow!" smiled Slowie as he happily used his psychic powers to stack up the rocks finishing up a nice strong six-foot wall just before the last rock could be placed on Hilda's wall. "Congratulations Cameron", said Hilda as she walked from behind her wall. "You've shown great ingenuity in building your wall, ya?" "Thank you", said Cameron as he and his Pokemon stepped out from behind their wall and admired it. "I wouldn't get too attached to that wall", said Hilda in a serious voice. "For the final event will be a wall-knocking-down battle." "You mean it's gonna be like an all out war?!" asked Cameron nervously. "Ya, afraid so", said Hilda. "That's another reason why we're wearing these helmets. You'll be starting with four Pokemon, and if any of them get defeated, you can call out the rest of your Pokemon to help. And whoever has one Pokemon left standing will be the winner." And she went behind her wall again to get her Pokemon ready for battle. Cameron nervously went behind his wall while his other Pokemon followed him. "Well guys, this is it", said Cameron. "We'll all need to be battling as a team for this match." "Shrew!" "Slow" "Vile" "Bri", said all four Pokemon while saluting their master. "We should build up a strategy before we..." But Cameron couldn't finish for their wall started shaking like mad. Cameron peeked through a tiny hole through his wall and saw Steelix, Geodude, and Nidoqueen standing over their wall launching their rock slide attacks. "It looks like they've started", said Cameron as he grabbed Elekid so the little kid Pokemon wouldn't get hurt. "Slowie, can you blow away those attacks with your water gun?" asked Cameron. "Slow!" said Slowie as he climbed up over the wall and started squirting water knocking away some of the rock attacks while a few of them bounced off his protective Shellder crown. "That's good Slowie, keep it up!" smiled Cameron then he turned to Sandy. "Okay Sandy, now I need you to blow them all away with a sandstorm." "Shrew", said Sandy while saluting as he joined Slowie on top of the wall. Then Sandy let out a deep breath and blasted his sandstorm at Hilda's team. However, since Steelix, Geodude, and Nidoqueen were all ground-types, the sandstorm didn't hurt them one bit and Stantler just created a reflect dome protecting itself and Hilda from the storm. "Okay Steelix", called out Hilda. "You know what to do!" Steelix nodded its steel head and grabbed all the rocks and pebbles from the sandstorm and hurled them right back at Cameron's wall. Sandy and Slowie quickly jumped off the wall and back with Cameron just as the rocks got fired back. "Fire in the hole!" shouted Cameron as he gathered all his Pokemon near him just as all those rocks and pebbles went over the wall just bearly missing them while the pebbles bounced off Cameron's helmet. * * * * * * "So that's why Hilda said no spectators", said Ash as he and his friends were watching the intense battle through Corsola. "I've seen many Pokemon battles, but never a Pokemon war!" said Tracey. "War is always ugly", said Misty. "Please come back victorious Came-chan", prayed Reiko. "Or at least alive." * * * * * * Cameron started whispering something to Sandy and he smiled and saluted his master. Sandy started to dig a tunnel underground while Cameron watched hoping his plan would work. Then more rocks were getting thrown over his wall. "Anybody got any ideas?" he asked his team. "VILE!" smiled VP as he ran right out in front of the wall. "Wait VP!" cried Cameron. "Don't run out there in the middle of the battlefield! You'll become a squashed flower!" "VILE!" said VP as he concentrated and started releasing some strange energy waves from his body. The approaching rocks suddenly started to crumble into harmless dust landing right at VP's cute feet. "What kind of attack did you just do?!" gasped Cameron as he activated his Dex. "GIGA DRAIN: A grass attack that is more advanced than mega drain", replied Dextra. "Giga drain has the power to absorb entire lakes of water, not to mention minerals from huge oncoming rocks." Sure enough, every rock Hilda's Pokemon launched were being drained of its minerals by VP's giga drain attack. Then VP started to suck the minerals from Hilda's wall causing some of the above rocks to crumble. "Way to go VP!" smiled Cameron while Slowie and Elekid cheered him on. "Nidoqueen, use ice beam on that pretty little vampire", smiled Hilda. Nidoqueen complied by firing an ice beam from her horn hitting poor VP freezing him like a frozen vegetarian dinner. "OH NO!" cried Cameron as he peeked through the side of his wall and sucked the frozen Vileplume back into his ball then ducked away just as another rock missed him. "It's all up to you Sandy", sighed Cameron as he held VP's ball while patting it. Sandy had emerged from the ground and found himself standing at the foot of Hilda's wall. Sandy smiled while using his rock smash power on the bottom rocks happily, but quietly. Cameron's plan was to have Sandy smash the bottom of Hilda's wall so it would fall down leaving Hilda's team unprotected. But unfortunately, Sandy had dug a little too far and ended up on the opposite side of the wall, right in front of the eyes of his opponents. Sandy then felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. "Shrew?" asked Sandy as he stopped his smashing and turned around. He was looking at the sinisterly smiling face of Stantler. Stantler then fired hypnosis beams from its horns making Sandy sleepy. "Shrew!" yawned Sandy trying his best to stay awake. "And you thought you were the original Sandman, ya?" laughed Hilda. "Stantler, send this Sandshrew back to our friend so he can put him to bed." Stantler nodded and scooped up the sleepy Sandshrew with its horns and tossed him over both walls sending him back to Cameron. "Shrew!" moaned Sandy as he went right to sleep in Cameron's arms. "Don't worry Sandy", said Cameron. "You rest up while I think up another strategy. Soon rocks stopped hitting the wall while the three ground types Hilda owned were trying to explain something to their mistress. "Hey, I guess this means they've run out of rock slide power", smiled Cameron. But suddenly, the top part of Cameron's wall started to get hit with ice smashing it to bits. Cameron peeked through the hole and found Nidoqueen firing non-stop ice beams. "Slowie!" said Cameron getting an idea. "Can you launch both a water gun and a psychic attack at the same time?" "Sure", said Slowie who had just learned another word. Slowie quickly ran in front of Cameron's wall and released a water gun mixed with some psychic energy right at Nidoqueen. Since Nidoqueens were weak to both water and psychic attacks, the big blue beast roared and fainted. "That's it Slowie!" smiled Cameron. "My darling queen!" cried Hilda as she called the defeated Nidoqueen back into her ball. "So, you've finally managed to defeat my first team member", said Hilda. "Well it won't be my last. Steelix, crunch attack now!" "Hurry Slowie!" cried Cameron. "Get back behind here!" But it was too late. Steelix had launched its extremely long body over its wall and took a huge bite out of Slowie's skin causing him to blurt out a quiet, "That smarts", then faint. "Poor Slowie!" cried Cameron as he sucked his third defeated Pokemon back into his ball. "Bri!" cried Elekid wanting to be sent out to battle next. "Sorry Kid", said Cameron picking him up. "Though gutsy you may be, I'm afraid that Steelix might have you for an after dinner mint. But hopefully, Batty might come through for us", and he released his Crobat flying right in front of the huge scary face of Steelix. "Steelix, crunch that bat as well!" commanded Hilda. "Batty, fly out of its reach!" called out Cameron. Just as Steelix was about to snap, Batty zoomed high up into the air. Steelix extended its long body while snapping its jaws hoping to catch the Crobat, but Batty was now perched on a stalactite too high up for Steelix to reach. "That's good Batty", called out Cameron. "They won't be able to attack you now that you're way up there! Now give 'em a confuse ray!" "BAT!" said Batty as she launched a flashing ray at Steelix. Since Batty was so high up and the confuse ray was pretty slow, Steelix managed to duck down causing the ray to miss it. But however, the ray did hit both Geodude and Stantler. The two Pokemon got confused and started attacking each other. "No, no my children! You're not supposed to battle each other!" pleaded Hilda as she pulled both her confused Pokemon back in their balls then looked up at the smiling Crobat who was just too high up to attack. Steelix let out a roar of despair. "Do not worry my darling", smiled Hilda. "Skarmory will batter around that bat for you!" and she released a huge metal stork with a beak like a knife and wings like cutlery. "SKAR!" it cawed. "I don't like the look of that bird", gasped Cameron as he took out his Dex. "SKARMORY: the armor bird Pokemon", replied Dextra. "Skarmory's sturdy wings look heavy, but they are actually hollow and light, allowing it to fly freely in the sky. "Now Skarmory", said Hilda, "Fly up there and give that bat your drill peck!" "SKAR!" cawed Skarmory as it flew up into the air at full speed while its beak was spinning around like an electric drill. "Quick Batty!" cried Cameron. "Use your hyper bea..." But it was too late. Skarmory had struck poor Batty causing her to screech in pain and plummet to the ground on Cameron's side of the wall. "Nice work Skarmory", called out Hilda. "Now let's bring down their wall with your steel wing attack!" Skarmory then swooped down, extended its long sharp wings and started slicing up part of Cameron's wall like potatoes. "Now use your fury attack on them!" commanded Hilda. "SKAR!" cried Skarmory as it kept swooping down trying to peck at anything that was behind that half- wrecked wall. Cameron grabbed his still sleeping Sandshrew and ducked down. "Get by me Kid", called out Cameron. "I'll protect you! Kid? Elekid?! Where are you?!" "Bri!" called out Elekid's cute voice. Cameron looked up and was shocked at what he found. Elekid had jumped onto Skarmory's back the minute it tried to swoop down on him. "SKAR!" cried Skarmory angrily as it tried to shake off the tight clutching electric baby. "Elekid! Get down from there this minute!" shouted Cameron. "Shake that little one off of you!" shouted Hilda. "It's very undignified!" Skarmory started to swoop around the cave trying to knock off Elekid while Cameron watched in fear. Then Elekid smiled, waited for Skarmory to fly lower, then climbed onto Skarmory's beak, used his flash attack, then jumped off running back to Cameron. "SKAR?!" gasped Skarmory who became blinded by that flash attack. Then it flew into Hilda's wall completely destroying it. Hilda looked sad at her dented Skarmory. "Don't worry", said Hilda as she sucked it back into its ball. "A little trip to the blacksmith shop will make you all better." Then she looked at Cameron and his half-a-wall with angry eyes. "Since you completely ruined my wall, I'll ruin yours now!" she scowled. "It's a fair trade, ya? Steelix, iron tail now!" Steelix roared and started slamming its iron tail at Cameron's wall completely destroying that as well while Cameron got Sandy and Elekid out of the way. "I hope you're rested up girl", said Cameron as he took his final Pokeball and released the mighty Scaleon once again. "Scale!" roared Scaleon while winking at Cameron showing that she was all better. "Look Steelix", called out Hilda. "You get to challenge that Pokemon once again! This should be fun! Use your iron tail again!" "Quick Scaleon!" called out Cameron. "Use your strength power!" Just as Steelix was about to slam its tail at Scaleon, she managed to grab that tail with her front claws then started spinning the huge snake around and tossed up in the air. "Now use dragonrage!" called out Cameron. Scaleon roared trapping Steelix in a powerful typhoon sending it up into the stalactites causing the poor steel snake to get tangled up like a bunch of Christmas tree lights. Steelix then made a weak roar then hung its head down. Hilda looked shocked at her fifth defeated Pokemon. "You're more skilled than I ever predicted young Cameron", said Hilda now smiling. "Now you've forced me to call out my number six!" and she released her final Pokemon that brought surprised faces to Cameron, Scaleon, and everyone who was watching the match through Corsola. "It's that same Tyranitar!" gasped Cameron. "Shrew?" gasped Sandy who had just woken up and saw that same huge lizard he met today. "I told you I grew up around Tyranitars", laughed Hilda. "So that's why that Tyranitar ran away when it heard yodeling", said Cameron. "You were just calling it!" "Correct", smiled Hilda. "I also told you that Tyranitars act like little lizards once you yodel at them. But unfortunately for you, I'm ordering it to be a big fighting lizard. Care to back out now?" Before Cameron could answer, Scaleon jumped right in front of Tyranitar anxiously waiting for the match she never got to have once she met this huge reptile. "Okay Scaleon", said Cameron. "We'll battle. Use your dragonbreath!" "SCALE!" shouted Scaleon as she blew her blue flames at Tyranitar. "Tyranitar! Call on your protect power!" commanded Hilda. Tyranitar concentrated and created an invisible shield causing the flames to bounce off. "Okay Tyranitar, now let's try your earthquake!" said Hilda. "TAAAR!" shouted Tyranitar as it started stomping the ground non-stop causing Scaleon to fall down. "Now give it your thrash attack!" smiled Hilda in a sinister voice. Tyranitar then grabbed Scaleon by the neck, tied it around a huge stalagmite, and started beating up the helpless dragon. "Oh no, Scaleon!" cried Cameron as he watched in horror as the knotted Scaleon was getting her poor butt kicked by this sadistic looking lizard. "SCALE!" cried Scaleon as water started dripping out from her scales. "It's beating the fluids out of her body!" cried Cameron. Just as he was about to forfeit the match, something happened. Scaleon started to unleash large amounts of water from her scales creating a huge river pushing Tyranitar back. "TAAAR!" it roared out in wet pain. "What the...?" gasped Hilda as she jumped onto a high rock as she watched the river pour out of the cave taking Tyranitar with it. * * * * * * "I didn't know that much pain could make you wet yourself that bad", said Ash as he and the others were watching the water pour out from the cave along with Tyranitar. "Is Scaleon using a surf attack?" asked Misty. "I don't think so", said Tracey. "That looks more like a waterfall attack to me." "Whatever it is, it's coming our way!" cried Reiko as she pointed up. "Duck in cover my friends!" Everyone quickly got under a table shaped rock and watched the waterfall pour down along with a huge green rock. Then the waterfall stopped. Everyone looked down and found a damp and unconscious Tyranitar lying on the rocks. "Talk about hitting rock bottom", said Ash. * * * * * * Scaleon had finished her waterfall attack and started breathing very hard from exhaustion. Actually, she had a hard time breathing for her neck was still tied around that stalagmite. Cameron rushed over to her and undid her knot. "You did it Scaleon!" smiled a dirt covered Cameron. "You've defeated Hilda's final Pokemon!" "Scale!" said Scaleon in a happy, but battered voice as she slurped Cameron, but then coughed for he was covered with dirt. Hilda peeked out of the cave and stared concerned at her defeated Tyranitar. Then approached Cameron. "I hope your Tyranitar isn't hurt", said Cameron humbly. "Don't worry about it my boy", said Hilda now with a smile. "I'll just yodel for the rescue Arcanine to come back and heal it along with your Scaleon and your other defeated Pokemon. "Thank you ma'am", said Cameron looking at his thrashed Scaleon and his sleepy Sandshrew. "That's so nice of you." "Wait, I'm about to be even nicer to you!" smiled Hilda as she handed Cameron a badge that was in the shape of a gray mountain with white snow on the top. "For climbing hard and engaging in one tough war. I present you with the Peak Badge. Congratulations Cameron Fusterman." "Thank you", said Cameron bowing then taking the badge. Then he raised it where somebody could see it. "Hey guys", he said, "If you're seeing this through Corsola, I just won a Peak Badge!" * * * * * * "Why don't I ever get a chance to do that on a Corsola?" sighed Ash. "Or at least live TV!" "But you do Ashy", winked Misty. "Remember, we're a TV show in Cameron's world. I forgot! Millions of viewers might be watching me right now! I need makeup!" and she put Corsola down on the ground, pulled out a makeup kit and started powdering her face. "I won't ask", said Tracey confused. "Congratulations my Came-chan", sighed Reiko as she picked up Corsola and watched her tough and victorious boyfriend. * * * * * * Elsewhere, we see Team Rocket sprawled out around a pile of rocks still in their demon costumes. "Let's not be demons again Jess", moaned James. "They're famous for experiencing eternal pain!" "But they wear such neat costumes", moaned Jessie as she adjusted her fake wings. "This Pokemon is in need of some healing!" cried Meowth. Just then some barking was heard. "YEOOWWW!" cried Meowth as he looked up and saw a huge Arcanine with a barrel around its neck. Meowth just stood there in fear with his mouth wide open. Arcanine just tapped the valve of the barrel with its nose and started pouring a refreshment into Meowth's mouth. "Ah, there's nothing like a Meowth full of nourishment", said Meowth as he got up all 100 percent healed. "You're not such a bad mutt after all!" "Woof!" said Arcanine proudly. "I want some of that stuff", said Jessie. "Me too!" cried James as they both ripped the barrel off from Arcanine's neck and started gulping down the stuff. "BLEECHH!" they both said as they started spitting. "This stuff is Pokemon full restore potion!" gagged James. "Not made for human tastebuds!" "It's made for mine though", sighed Meowth enjoying the taste he still had in his Meowth. "Hey you dumb dog!" growled Jessie. "Don't you have anything decent like cocoa or at least something that's hot?! It's freezing up here! You'd better get us something hot or we're gonna fix you good!" Arcanine, who did not like ingratitude at all, complied to Jessie's order and breathed fire on the Rockets causing them to run away and roll down the mountain screaming. "It looks like Arcanine's the one that fixed us!" cried James. "Team Rockets tumbling down again!" they all shouted as they landed in a cloud of dust on the ground. TO BE CONTINUED!