The gang was placed into separate cages.
“What are we gonna do?” asked Jay.
“I’m trying to get a hold of Giovanni on my PokéGear,” said Max, “But it’s not going to well.”
“Wait,” said Shadow, “Max, don’t you have Haunter with you?”
“Yeah, why?”
“It’s a Ghost-type, it can go through walls, and probably force-fields.”
A few seconds later, Haunter was phasing Lugia and about one thousand Unowns into the air ship. They destroyed the large rod by tackling it over and over, then, freed the gang.
“That’s it!” yelled Lawrence, “Go, my Deoxys!”
The two Deoxys with mind control devices came out, and went after Lugia.
“Max,” said Lugia as it fought off the Deoxys, “Get the trio.”
“Okay,” said Max, “Haunter, Charizard, Go! Guys, hop onto Charizard.”
The gang got onto Charizard, then Haunter held onto Charizard’s neck, and they phased out.
Once outside, Shadow got on her Dragonair and Jay on his Pidgeot. Max said, “Shadow, go to Ice Island and find Articuno; Jay, go to Fire Island and get Moltres; I’ll go to Thunder Island and get Zapdos.”
They went off in their separate directions toward the different islands. A few minutes later, they were riding back with the Legendary Trio: Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres.
“All right!” said Max as they approached the airship, “Articuno, Blizzard, Zapdos, Thunder, Moltres, Fire Blast!”
It was like a legendary version of Max’s Ultimate Tri-Attack. The force field got a huge hole in it, and they crashed through the side. Once in, they saw Lugia covered in “ghosts” of the Deoxys, and the Unown were trying to tackle them away.
“Articuno,” said Shadow, “Use Mind Reader to figure out which are the real Deoxys!”
Articuno’s eyes began to glow, and then, it let out a cry, telling its counterparts who they were.
“Now,” said Max, “Aim at the devices on their heads!”
They shot out fire, ice and lightning, and the devices fell off the Deoxys, and the “ghosts” disappeared.
Now, picture yourself as Lawrence. You're in an airship over nothing but water, and you have the Legendary Trio, the Guardian of the Sea, a thousand Unown, and two very ticked off space Pokémon, all looking at you. What happened next was very graphic, and the gang couldn’t watch. Let’s just say, Lawrence did live, but his plan was set back for a few months do to frostbite, paralysis, several psychic damages, and fourth degree burns (don’t ask…)
The gang and all the legendaries landed on Shamouti Island, where people who had gathered on the beach were cheering.
The gang turned to Lugia, and it said to them, “It is time we go. If you ever need our help again, we will be more than willing to assist you.”
“Thanks,” said Max.
The Deoxys flew off into space, the Unown over the horizon toward Johto, Lugia dove into the sea, and the birds set off toward their islands.
The gang rested at a Pokémon Center for the night.
Shadow woke up first, and then woke up her friends.
“Good morning,” said Max.
“Not really,” said Shadow.
“What’s wrong?” asked Jay.
“My vision last night. It was that Neo Team Rocket.”
“What happened?” asked Max.
“It was a vision that I saw as it happened…they have Latios and Latias.”
Her eyes started to water, and her Pokémon came out on their own to comfort her.
“It’ll be okay,” said Max.
“Yeah,” said Jay, “You know MPM wouldn’t let them win, this is just put in for creating more interest in the story.”
“Not helping.”
“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! MPM!!!!!WHO ARE YOU?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?”
“Thanks,” said Shadow, “I think…”
“Look,” said Max, “What happened is tragic, no doubt, but we know that in order to find them, we need to stay focused. The next gym is on Trovita Island, and the spiked Shell Badge is waiting for us.”
“You're right. Let’s go.”
The gang headed out to the docks, and then, they heard a voice yelling, “Jay! Max! Shadow!”
Jay was the first to turn around. It was Erika!
He ran up and hugged her, and said, “What are you doing here?”
“I heard what happened, so I left the gym to my second in command. I’m gonna come with you guys.”
“That’s great!”
“It’ll be nice to have you with us,” said Shadow.
“C’mon,” said Max, “The ship is about to leave!”
They got some rooms on the ship, and went their own ways about the ship. Erika and Jay caught up at dinner, and Shadow stared out at the ocean on the observation deck. A girl came up to her, and said, “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Who are you?” asked Shadow.
“I’m Lindsey, Max’s friend. I overheard my father talking with someone about them, and Max had told me before about how those Pokémon had raised you.”
“Do you know where they are?”
“Sorry, I don’t…can I ask you a favor?”
“Anything.”
“I really miss being able to talk to Max in person…just tell him to meet me on the top floor tonight in my room. I have my own room, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
“No problem. As long as you keep me as updated as possible, okay?”
“Deal.”
Around ten o'clock, Max used Haunter to phase through the floors to Lindsey’s room. He returned his Pokémon, and Lindsey came up to him and hugged him. He said, “How are you holding up?”
“Good,” she said, “I just missed you.”
“It’s only been a few days.”
“I know…still, it’s hard to be here, not being able to go anywhere…not seeing you.”
“I know. It won’t last long. We’re half-way through the Islands, and then we’ll head out to Johto. We should be able to bring you to where you belong within a month or two.”
They hugged again, for what seemed like a lifetime…….
I no, short chapter. It was more of an interlude…anyway, comment away, orange battle three coming up soon. And andyman, the upcoming chapter will be a battle, and not a contest, so I think you will enjoy it.
The next morning, they arrived on the docks of Trovita Island, home of the third Orange League Badge: The Spiked Shell Badge.
“So this is Trovita?” asked Erika.
“Yep,” said Shadow, “I can’t remember why, but I really wanted to leave here the last time I was here.”
Then, some guy came up to them, and said, “Max! Long time.”
“Rudy,” said Max, “You already know Shadow, and this is Jay and Erika, the Celadon Gym Leader.”
He walked up to Erika, took her hand, and said, “I’ve always heard how beautiful you are, but I never expected people to be so underestimating of your beauty.”
Jay pushed him away, and said, “Watch it, pal. She’s with me.”
“Now I remember,” said Shadow.
“No offence Rudy,” said Max, “But since you do require actual battling, we’re gonna need some training time.”
“No prob!” said Rudy, “Just come by the gym when you're all ready. By the way, each of you get one Pokémon, and I’ll match each type. All singles matches, and best two-out-of-three wins, okay?”
“Alright.”
They went to an open field, where the gang sent out their Pokémon that they would use in battle.
“Go,” said Max, “Furret!”
“I choose you,” said Shadow, “Jolteon!”
“Let’s go,” said Jay, “Starmie!”
“All right!” said Max, “Normal, Water, and Electric. What kind of moves do your Pokémon have?”
“Let’s see,” said Shadow, “Jolteon knows some moves like: Thunderbolt, Thunder, Shadow Ball, and Pin Missile.”
Then, Jay said, “Starmie knows a ton of Water and Electric moves, and has a very accurate Zap Cannon. Other than that, it knows some Psychic moves, like, well, Psychic.”
“And my Furret knows more moves than I can think of.”
“I wonder what kind of Pokémon he’ll use,” said Erika.
“Hope there’s no Pokémon like Exploud or Snorlax; they can learn tons of moves that are deadly against Furret.”
“Yeah,” said Jay, “But I think your Furret should do great, as always. Not to mention, we all hold championship titles, this guy is just another gym leader to pummel. I mean, if he was all that good, wouldn’t he be a reigning champ?”
“I think you just don’t like him,” said Shadow.
“What makes you say that?”
“When he talked to Erika.”
“Yeah…well…..that’s because….”
He was cut off by three nets that nabbed the gang’s Pokémon!
“WHAT THE?!?!?!?” they said in unison.
Over a loud speaker coming from a blimp in the air, they heard, “See you later, suckers!”
“Stay here,” Jay said to Erika, “Pidgeot, go!”
“Dragonair,” said Shadow, “C’mon out!”
Max didn’t even have to order it. Charizard came out on his own, furious that Furret was captured.
They mounted their Pokémon, and flew off toward the blimp.
They chased it for a few miles over the open sea, and then, they saw the sign of Neo Team Rocket on it!
“This is it,” said Shadow, “My vision. I knew something terrible was going to happen.”
“Charizard!” yelled Max, “Supersonic Flight!”
Charizard sped up so fast, Shadow and Jay couldn’t keep up, and Charizard broke the sound barrier, or faster than Mach 4.
He was catching up, fast. But then, the blimp shot out electromagnetic shock waves that knocked Charizard and Max extremely hard. They went plummeting toward the water, unconscious.
The last thing Max saw was Dragonair catching them in mid air, then nothing.
When Max woke up, he was lying on a couch in the Pokémon Center. Erika was there next to him.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Where’s Charizard?” he replied, disregarding the question.
“He’s still knocked out; they're taking good care of him.”
Max walked into the room where Charizard was hooked up to a respirator, unconscious.
Jay and Shadow were there along with Max’s Nidoking, Haunter, Poliwhirl, and Kabutops, and they didn’t need to say anything to know that Max wanted to be alone with him. Jay, Shadow, and Max’s Pokémon all walked out. Max sat down in a chair next to the bed Charizard was on.
Charizard’s eyes opened, with a look of sorrow in them.
“You did your best,” said Max.
Charizard looked away.
“It’ll be okay. Furret can take care of herself.”
Charizard’s eyes watered, as did Max’s.
Out in the lobby…
“What happened?” asked Erika.
“They got them,” said Shadow.
“Max almost had them,” said Jay, “But they knocked him down first.”
Shadow sat down, crying at another loss. Erika hugged Jay, and Max’s Pokémon all walked outside. They were trying to console Nidoking. Nidoking and Furret were best friends, and being that this was Max’s original team from his first adventure in Kanto, they all felt the pain, but Nidoking the most.
Back in the room…
Rudy walked in.
“Max?” he said, softly.
“Not now,” said Max, “The battle will have to wait until tomorrow.”
“Alright.”
He walked out.
The next morning, the gang got on the phone with Oak.
Shadow took her Tyranitar, Jay his shiny Dratini, and Max, reluctantly, took his Totodile.
They went to the gym.
The battle took place on a plateau in the sea. Shadow was first up.
“What Pokémon type?” asked Rudy.
“Fire,” she said.
“Alright…go Magmar!”
“Arcanine, let’s go!”
“Begin!” yelled the ref.
“Arcanine, Extremespeed!” yelled Shadow.
“Magmar, Counter!” yelled Rudy.
Arcanine went in for the attack, and Magmar grabbed its front legs, and swung it off the plateau!
As it was about to fall off, Shadow yelled, “Fire Blast!”
Arcanine aimed the blast at the water, sending it flying back up to solid ground.
“Now Arcanine!” she said, “Use Overheat!”
Arcanine’s body began radiating an extremely hot heat, then, it blasted white-hot flames at Magmar.
“Magmar!” yelled Rudy, “Use Overheat!”
Magmar did the same. The attacks collided, causing a huge explosion.
The smoke took almost two minutes to clear, and when it did, both Pokémon were KOed.
“Double knock-out!” yelled the ref.
Jay was up next.
“Name your type!” said Rudy.
“Grass,” said Jay. He knew that if could beat grass-on-grass, he could prove a thing or two to Rudy, and impress Erika at the same time.
“Exeggutor, go!” yelled Rudy.
“Sceptile! C’mon out!” yelled Jay.
“Psybeam!”
“Double Team!”
Exeggutor shot a Psybeam at Sceptile, but Sceptile multiplied itself into four, and the attack hit the wrong one.
“Quick Attack,” yelled Jay. Sceptile dodges and slammed into Exeggutor, then Jay said, “Follow up with Fury Cutter!”
Sceptile slashed Exeggutor with its blades on its arms. The Bug-type move was double the effectiveness.
“Now!” said Jay, “Power up a Solarbeam!”
The yellow bulbs on Sceptile’s back began to glow a bright white. But, there were some clouds, so it was taking a while, Rudy took advantage.
“Exeggutor!” he said, “Use Sleep Powder!”
Exeggutor sent out a spore that made Sceptile fall asleep.
“Now,” said Rudy, “Finish it off with Egg Bomb!”
Exeggutor began shooting little energy bombs at Sceptile, when suddenly, Sceptile’s eyes shot open, and he released the Solarbeam!
It nailed Exeggutor right in the gut, and knocked him out!
“But how?” asked Rudy in shock.
“Well,” said Jay, “My Sceptile can hold its breath for quite some time. So, it played dead while gathering energy for the Solarbeam. Then, at the right time, BAM!” Rudy jumped, “It hits the target when it least expects it. Max, you're up!”
Jay walked past Max on his way onto the field. He could tell Max’s mind was elsewhere. He stopped him, and said, “Max, I know its really hard right now, it is for all of us. Go out there, and turn all that anger into that strategy that has made you one of the most decorated trainers since your real father.”
“I intend to,” said Max.
Max walked to his place, and Rudy said, “Name your type.”
“Poison,” said Max.
“Very well…hmm…I’ve got it! Go Arbok!”
“Sap, go Nidoking!”
“Brilliant,” said Shadow to Jay.
“Yeah, Nidoking is a dual type,” said Jay, “Poison and Ground.”
“So, by calling out Poison, Rudy chose a pure Poison type, which gives Nidoking a Ground type advantage.”
“Clever,” said Rudy, “But it’ll take more than type advantage to beat me, Max, and you know it.”
“Oh,” said Max, “I know. You see, Nidoking isn’t in the best of moods.”
Rudy took a look at Nidoking, who had a fire in his eyes that Rudy had never seen.
“Right now,” said Max, “Anyone he isn’t normally around is considered an enemy, in this case, you are part of Neo Team Rocket to him, and your Arbok is one of their Pokémon. Start things off with Thrash!”
Nidoking charged Arbok, shaking the ground with each step.
“Dig!” yelled Rudy.
Arbok burrowed into the ground.
“Attack from every possible angle!” yelled Rudy.
Arbok created tons of holes and tunnels in the ground, nailing Nidoking hard every time he came up.
“Stay under!” yelled Rudy.
Nidoking was breathing heavy, and Max said, “Ready?”
Nidoking nodded.
“Good,” said Max, “Rattle it up with Earthquake!”
Nidoking jumped high in the air using its tail for maximum height, then crashed into the ground with a force none could reckon with.
“Arbok!” yelled Rudy.
“Now Nidoking!” yelled Max, “Into the hole!”
Nidoking dove into a hole that Arbok had made.
“Fire Blast!” yelled Max.
Out of every hole in the ground shot out intensely hot flames. When they stopped, Nidoking came out, charred, dragging a knocked out Arbok with it.
“The challengers win!” yelled the ref.
On the docks…
“Here,” said Rudy to the gang, “The Spiked Shell badge.”
“Thanks,” said Shadow.
“I hope you guys find your friends.”
“So do I,” said Max, “We’ve gotta go, the ship is about to set off.”
And so, The gang has reached the near end of the Orange Islands, but at a terrible price. Max, Shadow, and Jay all knew that they would never battle the same way with their Pokémon until Starmie, Jolteon, and Furret were safely back with them. Stay tuned for the final chapter of the Orange League! PLZ COMMENT!!!!!!!!