The CD-Rom

It was a peaceful evening for Ash-tachi. They were relaxing by the fire in the Gringy City Pokemon center. The poor Nurse Joy there hadn’t even had time to read the newspaper yet-Gary Oak, the new Gringy City Gym Leader, had indirectly made sure of that. But the gym had closed for the day, and Nurse Joy finally had time to grab a cup of coffee and read the Indigo News. She took a sip of her Poke House coffee-and spat it all over the page.

“No darn WAY!!!!”

“What is it, Nurse Joy?” asked Ash, the Pokemon Master. He and his two friends, misty and Brock, had rushed over.

“Listen to this! ‘Is Pokemon Training Obsolete?’” Nurse Joy read.

“Holy shackamoly!!!” yelled Ash.

“ ‘Pokemon training, considered by some to be brutal and unnecessary, may soon die out completely. Richie Miller, a former Pokemon trainer, has invented a computer program that recreates all of the aspects of Pokemon training. “It’s about time someone did this,” says Joy Dagon, retired Pokemon nurse. “I’ve seen way too many Pokemon critically injured because they’ve been battled too hard.” This program will be widely available starting next week. Let us hope more children turn to it instead of the Pokemon League.’ I CAN NOT BELIEVE THIS!!!!!!”

“Me either,” said Ash. “Richie Miller? I hope that’s not the guy I know. For crying out loud!”

“Don’t worry, Ash,” said Misty, “It’ll be fine. Nobody would actually BUY that program.”

“Yeah, Ash,” said Brock.

But later that night, looking up at the moon, Ash had a feeling that it was the beginning of the end...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Two years later

“Mr. Ketchum?”

Ash sighed. Being the number one Pokemon Master wasn’t all it was cracked up to be sometimes.

“Please, Fauna, just call me Ash.”

“Yes, Mr. Ketchum.” Ignoring Ash’s prolonged sigh, she went on. “I have the enrollment rate for this year.”

Ash took the clipboard and closed his eyes. *Please let it go up, PLEASE let it go up...*

He looked at the paper.

“Oh crud, two new trainers?!”

“And five hundred old ones have left, sir. There are only ten trainers in the league. ...I’m afraid we’ll have to shut down, sir...”

Ash said nothing.

“Sir?”

Ash was quiet for another minute.

“...We have to move out today...”

“Why the heck are they in such a rush?!” yelled Ash.

“They’re using it for the Virtual Pokemon tournament. ARRGH!! Stupid computer game! This stinks!!” yelled Fauna.

“Yeah, well, I guess _life_ stinks!! Stupid, STUPID computer game!" yelled Ash.

“Yeah, the heck with computers!" said Fauna.

“Computers muyo!”

“Yeah!”

“Ah, who are we kidding? Pokemon training is dead...and there’s only one way to resurrect it...” There was a moment of quiet.

“Sir, let’s get our stuff,” said Fauna quietly.

“Yeah, let’s...”

And so they did...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Hi, Misty.”

Ash walked into the Ketchum residence.

“Hi, Ash! How...was...your...day...” Misty saw the expression on Ash’s face.

“They shut down the Pokemon League.”

“Oh my gosh...”

“The Pokemon League is gone forever...”

“Don’t say that, Ash.” But Misty knew it was probably true.

And two people sat on the swing on their porch, comforted by each other as their sky fell down...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(One year later)

Pokemon training had been banned first. With the wonderful CD-Rom, it was primitive and unnecessary. Then, _catching_ Pokemon had been banned. There was no plausible reason why. But nobody cared anymore.

Except...

There was a website. Its address was http://www.dagameisgreat.com. Nobody suspected it. But it was the message board of the CD-Rom resistance. The members worked in secrecy-but, then again, they couldn’t work. Still, it was dangerous. This is the top-secret member list:

Sabrina Setsuna

A.J. Steele

Fauna Flora

Hope Selena

Billy Anderson

Molly Mills

Misty Waterflower

Brock No-last-name-given

Ash Ketchum

And that was way too few.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Gary was an avid player of Virtual Pokemon. At first, he hated it, but then he thought, “If you can’t beat em...” Then he loved it. He could easily get high-level Pokemon on the net. He let all of his Pokemon go after that.

“Ooh, there’s a new site on the poke-pike!”

The top of the page said, “Get the Mew!" It advertised a level 600 Mew.

“Cool!” Gary right-clicked the prototype and went to ‘save as’.

“Dot ‘a-s-h’? I haven’t seen that one before.” He got off the internet and turned on his CD-Rom.

“HUH!!?” Gary yelled in utter disbelief.

“System failure. Program deleted.” was the message on the computer screen.

“Oh no! Who did this??!” yelled Gary. “WHO DID THIS!!!?”

He would get no answer...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ash read the announcement at http://www.dagameisgreat.com.

“An epidemic of ‘dot ash’s has hit the web. When downloaded, they destroy the Virtual Pokemon game. (Wahoo! ^_^) We do not know who started this thing, but we are eternally grateful. The police say they are extremely close to catching the perpetrator. We sure hope not. If they do catch him or her, I swear I will break him out of jail. We need to take a stand against this. As I always say,

Anime and Pokemon forever! Farewell,

Hotaru Molly”

Ash grinned. *It paid off.*

“Ash-Pikapi, what’re you doing-ka chu?” Pikachu had partially learned to talk.

“Reading the announcements. Look.”

Pikachu’s eyes widened. “Dot Ash, Ash-Pikapi? Is that what you’ve been doing, chu?”

“Well...” Ash grinned.

“Ash-Pikapi...”

“Yep!”

“Where'd you learn so much about computers, Ash-Pikapi?”

“I sorta picked it up.”

The phone rang.

“Hello?” Ash answered.

“Dot ash, Ash. Is that you?” asked Misty.

“Is our phone bugged?”

“How would I know?”

“Well, yes, it was me.”

“Ash, I’m coming to Pallet.”

“Why??!”

“The police are AFTER you, Ash.”
“They don’t know who I am.”

“They will.”

“Okay, then, come,” sighed Ash resignedly.

“Okay. See ya tomorrow, Ash!”

“Bye, Misty!”

They hung up.

“Ash-Pikapi...” said Pikachu teasingly.

“What?”
“You gave up rather fast, ka chu.”

Ash snorted. “It’s not like I could STOP her or anything. You know Misty. I could tell her that, I dunno, Gary had gone insane and would chop off her head if she came in, and she’d come in, Mallet-o-Megiddo at the ready.”

“Pi-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!” laughed Pikachu.

“What’s the matter?”

“_GARY_ had gone _insane_ and would chop off her _HEAD_???! Pi-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!”

“Aw, come on, I couldn’t think of anything!”

“And-hee hee- whadaya MEAN Mallet-o-Megiddo ka chu?!”

“It’s another name for Armageddon. Think, if you see that mallet, it IS doom-in-a-box.”

“DOOM--IN--A--BOX???!?!?!?!? OH HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO-”

“Pikachu! Calm down!”

“Sorry ka chu, couldn’t help it ka pi chu...”

“You’re lapsing...”

“Ka pikachu...”

“Pikachu! Careful!”

“Sorry, Ash-Pikapi...”

“It’s fine. Just don’t want you to be caught...”

“I guess you know how me and Misty feel, Ash-Pikapi.”

Ash had no answer.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“HEY ASH!!! OPEN THE DARNED DOOR!!!!!!!!”

“Yeesh, Misty! Ya don’t have to yell so loud!” said Ash as he complied.

“How’d you know it was me?” said Misty.

“Huh. Who the heck else would it be?”

“Well, maybe OFFICER JENNY, darn it Ash!!!”

“She doesn’t yell like that.”

“She might. You’ve probably got her ticked.”

“Maybe the Officer Jones's, but Jenny’d be happy. They all quit, didn’t you know?”

“Really? Geeze, I’m behind,” said Misty as she plopped onto Ash’s couch.

“Yeah. You know, _Pallet’s_ even bigger than _Cerulean_ right now.”

“Thought it looked crowded. What happened to the lab?”

“Dang, you ARE behind,” said Ash in awe. “Where the heck have you been, under a rock or something? Professor Oak had to shut it down. Kinda like all the gyms. Not like _yours_ was much of a loss...”

“Don’t make her use the ‘Mallet-o-Megiddo’, Ash-Pikapi!” teased Pikachu as he walked in.

“Pikachu! You’re okay! And you can talk!” She giggled. “What’s this ‘Mallet-o-Megiddo’ thing?”

“Hey, Ash-Pikapi came up with it, not me.”

“Ash? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha heh heh ha hah ha ah a ha ah -”

“Yeesh! What’s the big fat deal?!?!??!?!” yelled Ash.
“Hah hah... Come on, Ash, ‘Mallet-o-Megiddo’? oh ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho...”

“Aah, shut up,” said Ash. Then he started laughing too.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

There was a knocking on the door.

“Yeesh, who the blazing heck would wanna see me at three a.m.?” muttered Ash sleepily as he went to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Ash Satoshi Ketchum, you are under arrest for destruction of property,” said the orange-haired man at the door-Officer Jones.

Reciting the Miranda rights, Jones drug Ash off, closing the door behind them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

^Author’s Note: Now, what to do, what to do? I could keep going...or I could be cruel and make it a several-parter. *Indulges for a moment in the pathetic, futile, false fantasy of people begging her to continue and not prolong it, then sighs and gives in to the fact that ten to one, no one gives a crud* Wouldn’t be very suspenseful anyway. And now, for the next chapter, for better or worse.^

*Gee, isn’t this GREAT,* thought Ash sarcastically. *I always WANTED to visit Pallet Regional Prison. Yay.*

“Hey, you’re new,” said a prisoner with a deep voice. “What’s your name?”

“Er...” *God, I hope this doesn’t turn out like that “My Cellmate Thinks I’m Sexy” song...* “Ash.”

“Ash? Pokemon master Ash?”

“I...guess you could say that.” *At least, I was three years ago...*

“You’re my HERO!” he said, and threw his arms around Ash. “What the heck are you doing HERE?”

“Er...” *Can’t...breathe....* “Computer virus thing. What’re...you in for?”

“Promulgating.”

“Huh?”

“I put the ‘Laws of Killing _the_ CD-Rom’ on a big stone thingy-thing on the corner of Capital Circle and Meridian.”

^Note: That’s dedicated to Mr. Hatfield, who frequently told us that Hammurabi’s promulgation was like having them on a ‘big stone thingy-thing on the corner of Capital Circle and Meridian’.^

“Er...cool. Could you please... put me down?” squeaked Ash.

“Oh! Sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Ash said.

*They _need_ capital punishment? You’d think _this_ would kill people...*

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Misty yawned. *Darn, I slept well last night!* she thought.

“Pikachu? Ash?” she yelled. Then she glanced at the wall clock.

*Ten-fifty-darn-NINE???! Dang, I slept in!*

She rummaged around in Ash’s pantry until she found a box of generic, going-out-of-business Pokeballs cereal. Hey, nobody liked Pokeballs or Great balls or any of them anymore.

*Shouldn’t they be down by now?*

Misty began to worry.

*Oh, that’s it! If Ash sleeps in the buff, then Ash sleeps in the buff! I’m GOING in!* she thought commando-style.

“Ash! How darn late do you SLEEP??!” she yelled as she stormed up the stairs. “I mean, for crying out loud, this is-”

She opened the door...and her sentence was never to be finished.

Only Pikachu was on the bed.

*Stay calm, Mist, he’s probably just in the bathroom!*

But the door was open, and the bathroom was empty.

“PIKACHU!!!” she yelled, and shook the mouse Pokemon awake.

“Huh-ka pi?” it said.

“Where’s Ash?!!”

“He’s not here-ka pika pikachu??!?!”

“NO!!!”

“Aw ka chu...”

“If ‘ka chu’ means about the word I think it means, darn straight!” said Misty.

Pikachu groaned. “He went to answer the door in the middle of the night, chu. I should’ve stayed awake!”

“It’s not your fault, Pikachu.”

“But where IS he, ka chu??!”

“It might be in the paper,” said Misty quietly.

“Oh no, ka chu,” said Pikachu fearfully.

Misty picked up the newspaper.

*Aw crud!!!!!!!!!!!*

The headline was: Villain Behind CD-Rom Wrecking Found.

“‘Ash Ketchum, the man behind the malevolent CD-Rom deletion, was arrested last night’... oh, no....”

Pikachu was silent for a moment, his eyes filling with tears.

Then finally, he screamed, “ASH-PIKAPI!!!!!!!”

He started crying.

*Ash, I told you to be careful! Where are you?.......*

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Come on, Ash!” yelled Alan, Ash’s cellmate. “It’s lunchtime!”

Ash brightened up considerably. *Yay! Food!*

But when he got there, he found he was mistaken about that.

“Yeesh, what IS this stuff?” he asked.

“That’s green crud, that’s yellow crud, that’s orange crud, and that’s creamed chipped beef,” replied the old, sour-looking lunch lady.

“Er... what should I get?” Ash asked Alan.

“Anything but the creamed chipped beef.”

“Why shouldn’t we get the creamed chipped beef?” asked Ash.

“It’s fifteen years old.”

“Yellow crud, please!” Ash said hurriedly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Misty sat on Ash’s front porch.

*Mom said, that if I ever needed you, truly needed you, you would come.*

She clutched the pendant on her necklace.

*Well, I need you now. Please, Articuno. COME!!!!!!!*

She yelled the last word into the twilight air.

A few seconds passed. She sat, tense, on the steps.

A voice came, rarely heard even in the days when Pokemon were trained.

“Cuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnoooooooooooo...”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ash stared out of the bars of the window at the moon.

“Mom...I miss you...” Alan said in his sleep.

Ash looked at him.

“You didn’t do anything...so why did they take you too...”

*I swear, Alan, someway or another, if I get out, you will too.*

Ash looked back out at the moon.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Articuno,” Misty whispered.

~Your mom was a very kind person,~ said Articuno telepathically. ~When she found me, she didn’t even think about capturing me.~

Misty was stunned. “You can talk telepathically? You knew Mom?”

~Yes,~ Articuno said. ~Only some people can understand me. Your mom just saw that I was hurt, and rushed me to the Pokemon Center. She told me that one of her old friends was there, and that she’d take good care of me. And she did. That nurse was just as nice as your mom. She’d just gotten married, as did your mom. It was ten minutes after her shift ended on her last day. She could’ve left, but she stayed, because the night nurse hadn’t come yet. She didn’t think of putting me in any Pokeballs after I was healed, either. She just said, “You’re lucky to have seen Articuno,” and handed me to your mom. She was great. Her name was...um...oh yeah! Joy Ketchum.~

Misty gasped. “_Ketchum_??!” she squeaked. “_Ash’s_ Mom?!!”

~I guess... is he okay? How’s he doing?~

“He’s in jail,” Misty said.

~WHAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT????~

“He didn’t really do anything wrong. There’s this CD-Rom, and it’s why nobody is capturing Pokemon anymore, and he made something that destroys it.”

~Good for him! I believe it’s time for a jailbreak.~

Misty smiled. “Darn straight!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ash was still looking out at the moon.

*Pikachu, where are you?.....What in the name of Houou?!*

A winged shape was silhouetted by the moon.

“ASH!!!”

“Misty? MISTY!!! How the heck did you find Articuno?”

~Joy’s son, all right,~ said Articuno.

“Hey, how’d you know my mom’s name?” asked Ash.

“No time now, we gotta get you out of here!” said Misty.

~Stand back...~

Ash obeyed.

~Ice beam!~

The bars shattered.

“Come on, Ash!” whispered Misty.

“Hey, Alan, wake up!” hissed Ash.

“Huh?” Alan said groggily.

“We’re leaving!”

Alan looked at Articuno. “Oh. Okay.”

*Dang, he’s taking this well,* thought Ash.

They clambered on to Articuno.

“Let’s go!” whispered Misty.

Articuno flew off.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Pikachu had seen Misty leave on Articuno. He had a pretty good guess as to where she was going.

*If anyone can rescue Ash-Pikapi, Misty can,* Pikachu thought. *Of course, having Articuno as an ally will probably help too...*

“ASH-PIKA PI!!!” yelled Pikachu as he saw the familiar figure on Articuno.

“PIKACHU!!!!” yelled Ash.

Pikachu jumped into Ash's arms. Ash hugged him for all he was worth.

~Yes, definitely Joy’s son,~ said Articuno to Misty.

“Yeah...that’s why I think I like him...” murmured Misty.

Articuno was surprised for a minute, but then smiled (as much as a bird can).

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(An hour later)

“We have to make a strike, once and for all,” said Ash. He had called an impromptu conference in the dining room.

“Against the CD-Rom? Why now, of all times?” asked Misty.

“Why don’t you tell them what you told me, Alan?”

Alan, who looked thrilled to be in an illegal conference against the Virtual Pokemon CD-Rom, said, “Oh, sure! I’d be glad to!

“See, I heard this guard talking one time. He was asking what he should know on account of his promotion. The guy on his cell phone (I could hear it cause the guard was almost deaf and had the volume real loud) said that he should know ‘the truth about Virtual Pokemon’. I listened really close to that, I can tell you. Apparently, there’s a hypnotizing thingy that’s activated when you turn on the program. That’s why everyone likes it so much. And tomorrow, Team Rocket’s gonna take over the world with their Pokemon.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Oh, _that’s_ why now,” said Misty.

“He also said that if eight people type in the password ‘poke out cat’ at the same time in the Rocket computer, the hypnotic power would be broken.”

“Eight...That’s exactly the number of computers we have access to,” said Misty.

“Yeah, so let’s get going!” said Ash.

They all dispersed.

“Ash,” Misty said in a little aside, “Are you sure we can trust Alan?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I just am.”

“Well...”

“Aw, come on, Misty!”

“Well...I trust you, Ash.”

They looked into each other’s eyes.

“Thanks,” said Ash. “That means a lot to me.”

Suddenly, possessed by something they hadn’t gotten around to examining yet, they kissed...

When they parted, they had no clue what to say.

“Er...that made very little rational sense,” said Misty.

“I...guess it isn’t rational,” said Ash.

“...What do we do now?”

“...Stop the CD-Rom first, figure this out later.”

“Right,” Misty said gratefully.

They walked towards the computer room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ash: Are you all here?

Hotaru_Molly: I am.

The_new_steel: So am I.

animally: I am, _Mr._ Ketchum.

Ash: Oh shut up.

Hope’struelight: Present! ;-)

Saffron_psychic: Wouldn’t miss it for the world.

TheROCKissingle: Hey, I traveled around with you for all those years-I wouldn’t let you down now.

billydakid: Here.

Ash: That’s all, then.

animally: What about Misty?

Ash: I’m here!

Hotaru_Molly: Uh, she said MISTY, Ash.

Ash: Misty’s at my house. She took over.

Ash: Darn straight I did! So don’t say ANYTHING about me-except compliments. ^_@

TheROCKissingle: I hope you two haven’t been DOING anything.

Ash: BROCK!!! (m)

Ash: Watch out for the Mallet-o-Megiddo!

Ash: HECK no! (m)

Ash: Oh, do you mean breaking out of jail, Brock?

TheROCKissingle: ???!?!!!!!?!?!??!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saffron_psychic: I _thought_ something was going on. Not...you know...but something else.

The_new_steel: funny, Sabrina. but breaking out of jail? the only reason I can think for you to have to do that is be the creator of those dot ash files. and the wimp whose but I kicked with Sandshrew wouldn’t do that. so, what were you in for?

animally: Mr. Ketchum, you make me ashamed!

billydakid: I never get these inside jokes. sigh.

Hotaru_Molly: Well, neither do I, stop whining!

Hope’struelight: Seconded. ;-)

TheROCKissingle: what the crud!!!?? TELL ME NOW!!!

Ash: No one reads the papers, huh?

Ash: QUIT JOKING ABOUT IT!! (m)

Ash: Geeze, mist!

Ash: WHAT DO YOU MEAN???!?! (m)

Saffron_psychic: _I’LL_ tell them, as you never will. Ash made the dot ashes. Shoulda been obvious, shouldn’t it? *smiles*

Hope’struelight: Ha ha, AJ! Wimp my butt! BTW, it’s spelled w two t’s. ;-)

Ash: I _MEAN_, what’s the big deal?

Ash: WHAT”S THE BIG DEAL?!?!??!?!??! ) @#@%#(#_#)$, Ash, you coulda got killed! (m)

Ash: Quote Un-quote, “So. Finally worried about me, huh Misty?”

Ash: WHO THE BLAZES SAID _THAT_???! (m)

The_new_steel: I am getting sick of that darned smiley thing, Hope. Yeesh! it’s always “;-)”!

Hope’struelight: SO WHAT??!! I like it ;-)

The_new_steel: ARRRRGH! you did it again!

Hope’struelight: “Oops, I did it again; I played with your heart; Got lost in the game...” ;-)

The_new_steel: @&##@^&%#^$*^#%$&% it! stop with the smiley! what do I have to do?!

Ash: HEY, we are HAVING a CONVERSATION here! (m)

Ash: No, no, don’t worry, go on.

Ash: NO THEY WILL NOT!!! WHERE did you HEAR that from??!?!? (m)

Ash: Er... what?

Ash: YOU KNOW WHAT!!! (m)

Ash: Oh, the sorcerer's stone?

Ash: Huh? (m)

Ash: The - Er - Bobby Harrison books.

Ash: Huh? (m)

Ash: Haven’t you ever heard of “Bobby Harrison and the Sorcerer's Stone”?

Ash: Er... whatever. NOW TELL ME!!!! (m)

Ash: *hangs head down* _I_ said it.

Ash: WHEN?!??!?!?? (m)

Ash: Pokemon (Lavender) Tower.

Ash: I THOUGHT I heard you! (m)

Ash: Well, you did. ^_^

Ash: DID YOU LIFT ME UP IN THE AIR?!?????! (m)

Ash: Er... would you believe me if I said no?

Ash: No. (m)

Ash: ok, I did. *cowers*

Ash: DARN IT ASH!!!!! (m)

Ash: Enough, enough, let’s get to business!

Hotaru_Molly: _What_ business? All _I’ve_ noticed is us cutting up.

Ash: Well, there is business.

animally: Is it important, Mr. Ketchum? I’ll write it down if it is.

Ash: Would you _please_ stop acting like my secretary?

animally: It’s too hard.

Hope’struelight: ;-)

The_new_steel: NOT THE DARNED SMILEY AGAIN!!!!!!!!

Hope’struelight: Yep, get used to it. ;-)

The_new_steel: fine! @_@*

Hope’struelight: Ha! What’s that, dizzy boy? ;-)

The_new_steel: I’m putting it at the end of everything I say just to annoy you! so there! @_@*

Hope’struelight: Mine at least _looks_ decent. Yours looks like the art at an asylum. ;-)

Hotaru_Molly: Hello! Business!

The_new_steel: oh yeah. @_@*

Hope’struelight: Sorry. ;-)

Ash: Thanks, Molly. Everyone needs to hack into the Rocket database and type poke out cat as the password.

Hotaru_Molly: Why?

Ash: Because! Okay, we’ll all do it at... five a.m. have in typed in, and press the enter key AT FIVE. Got that?

billydakid: Yeah. first thing I typed in a while.

Hope’struelight: Yeah, I noticed. ;-)

The_new_steel: stop teasing him! @_@*

Hope’struelight: I’m not! Don’t jump to conclusions, dizzy boy! ;-)

Hope’struelight: I like that! “Dizzy boy”, cool! ;-)

The_new_steel: oh shut up. @_@*

Hope’struelight: You shut up. ;-)

The_new_steel: you. @_@*

Hope’struelight: You. ;-)

Saffron_psychic: BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope’struelight: ...... ;-)

The_new_steel: ...... @_@*

Hotaru_Molly: ...............

billydakid: .............................................

TheROCKissingle: .......................................................................

Ash: ...................................................................................(m)

Ash: .......................................................................................

animally: .................................................................

Hotaru_Molly: ...........You GO, Sabrina! ^_^

Hope’struelight: Yeah! ;-)

billydakid: Kick some!

animally: I was gonna say that, Billy!

billydakid: ^_^*;;;;;;;!

animally: It’s ok. ^_^ (;)

Ash: Way to go Sab! (collaboration)

TheROCKissingle: Look at the screen name. -_- (that’s happy)

The_new_steel: ditto everyone! @_@*

Ash: I’m gonna catch it!

Ash: It’s Mallet-o-Megiddo time... (m)

Ash: :-0

Ash: Ok, I’ll have mercy this time. (m)

Ash: <) “^)

Ash: Huh? (m)

Ash: Look at it sideways.

Ash:...... OH!!!!! (m)

Hotaru_Molly: Ok, let’s get going!

Ash: Yeah, let’s destroy the CD-Rom’s hypnotic powers!

Hotaru_Molly: Oh, THAT’S what it does! Let’s get MOVING! Bye!

(Hotaru_Molly has left the chat room)

Ash: Let’s go!

(Ash has left the chat room)

billydakid: See ya, Fauna! (I sure hope...)

animally: Me too, Billy.

(billydakid has left the chat room)

(animally has left the chat room)

TheROCKissingle: How bout it, Sab?

Saffron_psychic: Well, there IS a party in Saffron next week...Oh, all right.

(Saffron_psychic has left the chat room)

TheROCKissingle: WAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

(TheROCKissingle has left the chat room)

The_new_steel: Wanna go out to Chez Pierre’s tomorrow at eight? @_@*

Hope’struelight: Sure! ;-)

(The_new_steel has left the chat room)

(Hope’struelight has left the chat room)

(This chat room is closed)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Okay,” said Ash. “Let’s get going.”

“Ash, are you sure we all know _how_ to hack into the Team Rocket database?” asked Misty.

“Yeah. Yeesh, where HAVE you been, anyway? Fauna and Billy had a class on that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Now tell me Misty-” he looked her straight in the eyes- “where have you been?”

She sighed. “Locked in my room.”

“WHAAAATT???” Ash yelled.

“It was my sisters.”

“Why the crud did they do that?”

“They went insane when the gym was closed. It really hit them hard.”

“I’m sorry, Misty.”

“Yeah, I know, if you could’ve done something, you would.”

“Darn straight!” said Ash.

“Yeah........Well, get going, Mr. hacker! We have to get in before five!”

Ash smiled. “Yes SIR!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Misty was leaning against the wall, bored out of her skull.

“Aren’t you DONE yet?” she griped.

“Almost...done...” Ash said, furiously typing. “There! I’m in!”

“Ooooohhhh, let me see!” squealed Misty.

It was a website. It had a dark red background and a large “R” logo. Below that was an animated gif of a Persian. Then, it said: “Enter password to continue.”

Ash typed in “poke out cat”.

“Now,” he said, “we wait.”

“Darn, only 4:45!” said Misty. “This is going to be _so_ boring...”

“Hold it right there!” said a mass of voices in the hallway, as if on cue.

“Oh no, they figured out I was gone!” hissed Ash.

“It’s guards _and_ Pokemon?” asked Misty.

“Yes! Now why, why, WHY did you have to say it was boring?!”

“Sorry...”

“Well, we can’t just stand around!” said Ash. “Pikachu! Articuno, if I may! Hold them off!”

“Yeah! Pika...CHUUUU!” yelled Pikachu as he started frying guards.

~Yes, you may, Ash. Blizzard!~ said Articuno.

“How many are there, Articuno?” yelled Misty.

~Too many...way, WAY too many...~

“Oh no,” whispered Ash.

“Well, you can’t do this alone, twerp,” said a voice, still slightly arrogant, but quieter-as if its owner had seen a lot of things that she’d rather not have.

“Lessee...one two, three four, five- SIX heads are better than one,” said another voice; one that was still innocent, but there was no way of knowing how it had stayed that way.

“SEVEN, ya numbskull,” said another voice, that had lost some of its harshness.

“Arbok, Lickitung, go!” yelled Jessie.

“Wheezing, Victreebell, go!” yelled James.

“Meowth is joinin da party!” yelled Meowth.

“Jessie? James? Meowth?” said Misty, in shock.

“Where have _you_ guys been?” asked Ash.

“Oh, here and there- Arbok, pin needle!” said Jessie.

“Just keeping away from our old team-don’t let it ignite your gas, Wheezing!” said James.

“Yep - FURY SWIPES!!!” yelled Meowth.

“Well, thanks,” said Ash.

“It’s nothing, twerp-LICKITUNG!!!!!!!!”

Lickitung had been hit by a stun spore, and a razor leaf was headed straight for it.

“Pikachu, light screen for Lickitung!” yelled Ash.

“Okay!” said Pikachu. “Pika...chu!”

He shielded Lickitung and managed to K.O. a Raticade with tail whip at the same time.

Jessie shot Ash a grateful look and threw a bottle of Potion to Lickitung. “Thanks...Ash.”

Ash smiled. “It’s nothing.”

“I didn’t know Pikachu could learn light screen,” said James.

“Well, they can if they’re at a really high level, they’re really smart, they don’t know it, and their trainers don’t know it.”

“Ah.”

The battle raged on.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Misty, is it time yet?” whispered Ash.

“4:58 - you’d better get to the computer,” she replied.

‘What’re you doing?” asked Jessie.

“It’s complicated-but it’ll end all this,” he answered.

“Good,” said Jessie. “Oh no!”

Some Rocket guard with a Drowzee had put Pikachu, Articuno, Arbok, Lickitung, Wheezing, Victreebell, and Meowth to sleep.

“Freeze!” one yelled as he and five companions entered the room.

Ash put his hands up and looked at the clock.

*4:59:36... come on...*

“Well,” said one, apparently the leader, “you thought you could escape, eh?”

*4:59:43...*

“Well, it was rather stupid to hide in YOUR OWN HOME.”

He burst out laughing. His officers still had their fingers on the triggers of their rather large guns.

*4:59:49...*

“But you will never win,” the person said crushingly. “Team Rocket will win, and there is nothing...NOTHING AT ALL... that you can do about it.”

*57, 58, 59...”

Ash had been slowly lowering his arm.

*NOW!!*

He pushed enter. And so did seven other people. A signal was sent to every Virtual Pokemon CD-Rom in existence.

A guard fired his gun, having seen Ash do something with his arm.

“Ow! Hey, what’d you do that for?!” yelled Ash, holding his shoulder.

“I said, FREEZE!” said the commander.

A semi-visible wave spread throughout the whole world.

Most of the guards, inside and out, suddenly shook or scratched their heads. The one who shot Ash looked puzzled.

“Huh? What am I doing here? Why am I holding a gun?” Then, he saw Ash. “Oh! Mr. Ketchum! Can I have your autograph? My daughter Willow really wants to be a Pokemon Master. She’s a _huge_ fan of yours!”

Slowly, Ash smiled.

“Do you have a pen?”

“Here’s a piece of paper, too!”

Ash took the pen in his right hand- the bullet had hit the other arm. He wrote the following: “To Willow, from Ash Ketchum- I hope I see you soon!”

“Mr. Ketchum? I found these in my bag. I think they’re yours. I’ve gotta go home now. Bye, sir!” said the commander.

“Thanks, sir!” yelled Ash. “YES!!! My Pokemon!”

All of the guards had dispersed by then.

“Which one to open first...” He felt an extra twinge in his arm. “That answers it. Chansey, go! Could you use softboiled, please?”

“Sey! Chansey Chan,” she said as she did. <Sure! I haven’t seen you in a while.>

“I know, there’s a good reason. Hey Misty!”

“What is it?” she asked.

“These aren’t _all_ mine.”

“Really?” she said excitedly. She looked at some. “Yep, these are mine, all right! Seadra, Poliwhirl, Seaking, Staryu, Starmie, Togehen, GO!!!”

They came out from their long stays in their Pokeballs.

Jessie used her Max Revive to wake up the others.

“Ash-Pikapi!” yelled Pikachu. He ran into his friend’s arms. “What happened?”

“...I think we WON!!! Wahoo! Celebrate good times, come on!” yelled Ash.

And they did.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ch.9- Excerpt from For the Love of Pokemon: The Magnificent Eleven

It must have been an odd sight that morning- five people and a darn lot of Pokemon essentially partying on the lawn of the Ketchum household. But there sure was cause for it.

It was January eleventh. That day has now been officially recognized as ‘Pokemon Day’. Once people figured out exactly what had happened- the world had been hypnotized for three years- the media jumped all _over_ it. You couldn’t watch T.V. without hearing the story of who the reporters had dubbed “The Magnificent Nine”.

And for once, that was a good thing.

Of course, it was slightly embarrassing- especially for Ash, who hated being even called “Mr. Ketchum”. But, it did eventually die down...

...a little...

Which brings us to what you might _not_ know- what happened afterwards. I will try to do it systematically.

Jessie and James eventually got married. They announced it at the press conference. When asked “Did you ever see this marriage coming?”, Ash rolled his eyes and said, “Heck yeah, a mile away.” Then Misty muttered, “If _Ash_ is saying that, it was _painfully_ obvious.” Then the technicians had to turn their mikes off in case any language slipped out in their argument. Jessie and James are currently married. When asked about the mysterious robbery of a rich (cough snob cough) girl named Jessiebelle, Jessie said, “Oh, we think it’s terrible! Right, James?” James then said, “Not really...” and Jessie is reported to have whacked him with a mallet, and then kissed him. Meowth, when asked to comment on this, said, “I’m a Meowth, not a psychologist.”

On that subject, Meowth is currently living with Jessie and James, where he is happy, although he has often said that “It’s really hard to live with dose two lovebirds.” He also vehemently denies the rumor that he has been sneaking around with Ash Ketchum’s Pikachu, and says that it was created by “some sick freak who better hope he’s a masochist if I find him.”

Fauna and Billy are also married. They are often overlooked because, frankly, they didn’t do much. Fauna said in an interview, “I know we aren’t very famous, but fame isn’t what we want. Sure, Mr. Ketchum is pretty happy, but I don’t think it’s because he’s famous.” Billy concurs.

Hope Selena and A.J. Steele are currently going steady. When asked if they had seen _this_ coming, Ash and Misty both raised their eyebrows and said, “Heck no!” Then Misty muttered, “Of course, with ASH that’s understandable,” and Ash and Misty’s mikes were again turned off.

Sabrina Setsuna has been restored to her status as Saffron City Gym Leader. There was one competitor for her position, but he stepped down after Sabrina made him do the Macarena in his underwear. “Well, I didn’t know he had a _thong_ on!” Sabrina said to a reporter.

Brock _was_ chasing after Sabrina. Sabrina, when asked about Brock, groaned and said, “He is SO darned persistent! I shouldn’t have gone out with him.” When asked why she hated him, Sabrina said, “Hey, I don’t hate him!” When asked if she would consider marrying him, Sabrina paused, and said: “Well, I dunno. He’s kinda romantic. Also, I kinda like men who aren’t macho and work around the house. He’s actually kind of sweet. Also, he hasn’t been so...GIRL-CRAZY after I used confusion on him. Hey, he was hitting on Officer Jenny!... Oh my god, I was jealous, wasn’t I? Maybe... Well, I dunno if I could ever MARRY someone........................... well, maybe him... Oh my god, I love him! I DO!!! Oh my GOD!!!!!” After that, as one reporter said, “She ran off, almost scared of love and loving someone.”

When Brock found out about this from a reporter, he said, “WWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” When asked by that reporter if and why he loved Sabrina, he said, “Yes, I think I do love her. Why? Hard to say. Once, I just went for girls who looked good. Sure, Sabrina’s GOREGOUS, but...that’s not all. She’s smart and witty and kind when she wants to be.... I don’t think I knew true love before; I just had a whole lot of crushes. At first, I admit it was a crush...but now, it’s so much more.”

The next night, Brock took Sabrina to Caterpie’s Cafe. They had both read the articles with the other, so “the night contained a lot of blushing,” as Pikachu, who was spying on them, reports. Then, over dessert (as Pikachu reports), “Brock said, ‘Sabrina, you read the article, I think you know I love you.’ Sabrina said, ‘Yes.’ I swear I heard her say, ‘and I’m a psychic, get on with it.’ If she did, no one else heard her. So, Brock took out a little box. It had a ring inside it. Brock said, ‘Sabrina, will you marry me?’ I liked her response. She said, ’Aah, what the heck’, and kissed him. And boy, do I mean KISSED. It was mostly her, although he kissed too. I’ll bet you twenty bucks she’s gonna be the head of the household.” When asked about that, Ash said, “I think he really loves her. He’s barely looked at any Jennies or Joys lately. He only talks about Sabrina and how incredible she is. I think it’ll work.” Misty, Brock’s other close friend, smiled and said, “Ash is right. I have nothing else to say.” In _one_ opinion, it’s sweet the way Ash smiled at her after she said that. Sabrina and Brock are now happily married, and Sabrina is expecting.

Ash and Misty are the two names I’ll bet twenty bucks you know. What’s cute is that each of them thought they weren't good enough for the other. Kind of like, “You’re a god, and I am not, and I just thought that you would know; you’re a god, and I am not, and I just thought I'd let you go”.

Ash and Misty were walking through the forest when “The Demon birds of Viridian Forest” attacked them. Pikachu thundered them, but they bounced right back. So Pikachu used an attack which is still being researched, Eternal Lightning. This completely paralyzed the Spearow- forever. But Pikachu cannot control this attack. It should have killed Ash and Misty, but it didn’t, for reasons that are ‘still being researched’. Ash and Misty swear it was love, and Ash swears he saw Houou again, flying over the rainbow. I believe them. If you don’t, the heck with you.

Ash and Misty went out for a while. Then, as the nosy Pikachu reports, “They went to the Staryu Parlor. They ate-blah blah blah-and then, it got juicy.

Ash said, ‘I think I figured out what it is now.’ Misty understood, and said, ‘What is it?’ Ash (never being one to beat around the bush) said, ‘It’s love. I love you Misty, will you marry me?’ Of course he had a ring! And he kneeled, too. _I_ would’ve married him if I was a girl! Then Misty said, ‘Heck yes!’ and they kissed even better than Brock and Sabrina.” Misty is reported (not by Pikachu) to have said, “Well, he was so darn romantic. What else could I do? It threw me too much MORE head-over-heels for him to do anything else.” They have made no bones over kissing in public (“And once in front of a horde of his girl fans!” laughs Pikachu) and Misty says she’s “considering trying to expect”.

Pikachu is now a reporter for the Indigo News. His friends often are tempted to throttle him for giving out personal information about them. Pikachu’s official fan club is even bigger than Ash’s unofficial one. On the rumor about Meowth and him, he says, “That’s just gross! I’ll bet it was created by some sick freak who better hope he’s a masochist if I find him.” He also says there’s a Pikachu in Viridian Forest that he’s “VERY interested in, thank you very much.”

So, that’s all...right? No, there’s one more. Molly Mills is a single writer.

She’s also writing this book.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Author’s Notes

I am severely tempted to say, “Thank god it’s over!” (And so may you be...) This is THE longest thing I’ve written to date- twenty-five gosh-darn pages!!! Maybe it’s not that long, but it sure as heck seems like it. If you like, I can write a sequel. (AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!) No, my first name is not Molly and my last name in not Mills and if it was, I sure as heck wouldn’t tell you. This just spun out of control. Do you know what time it is? Let me see... 11:04. I’m sleepy. But I’m also a writer, so I’m seeing this through to the end.

I realize I’ll probably get a lot of flames for the shipping, but that’s the way it is. Yes, I like Sabrina. And I think a less girl-crazy Brock is the best thing I can do for her. (Replace Sabrina with Hotaru and Brock with Ash, and you have a hint of a fic to come. Yes, Ash and Hotaru. So sue me, darn it.) This makes it 26 pages. Then I’m gonna spell-check it and re-read in. Well, maybe not spell-check-- it picks up a lot of imaginary grammar flaws and if I spell a word wrong, there’s a red line under it. (I have Microsoft Works. I can handle it and I never have too much trouble with it. If for some strange reason you feel you have to disparage it, then find Bill Gates’ e-mail address or something.) If you want to disparage my fic, review someone who cares. I don’t care if you hate my fic. If you like it, that’s good. I worked darn hard on this fic.

“Amazed” will hopefully be done soon. I can’t remember where I’m at in it. (BTW, a lot of the stuff past this line may be about future fanfics. If you don’t care, don’t read it.) I have six (or so) parts of a fanfic written called “The Freedoms”. I may figure out how to change the title. The first part is darkish, and then it varies. That’s all I can think of-so sue me, it’s past eleven. (The semi-plugging is over now.)

I have time... There’s this fanfic that really kicks butt. I’m not sure of the address. You can find it on the Anipike. http://www.anipike.com/pokemon.html . Go to Fan Fiction and Insane Musings: Pokemon. Please try it. It’s great. And VERY funny. Rated about PG-13, unfortunately. Maybe PG.

~Hobbes: They say idle hands are the devil’s workshop. Calvin: I resent that! (prepares to drop a water balloon on Susie Derkins) We work darn hard at this.~

*Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson*

~If we shadows have offended/Think but this and all is mended/That you have but slumbered here/while these visions did appear.~

*Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night‘s Dream*

~We are the stuff that dreams are made of...~

*Shakespeare, The Tempest*

~Farewell,

Meredith