Chapter 18: The Lake of Rage 

"I wonder if Gyarados is red because it's so angry," Ash thought out loud, the first one to get his voice back. 

"Actually the different colors of Pokemon, rare as they are, are because of the genetic mutations of-" Anthony was cut off by an outburst by Daniel. 

"It's Shiny! Whoa, this is so cool! I want to catch it!" Daniel took out a Poke Ball. 

"Shut up, Daniel. They're not supposed to know what Shiny Pokemon are yet and you can't catch it because it's not meant to be yours, remember?" I hissed. 

"Awe, I keep forgetting. Your parents get to have all the fun." Daniel's head dropped sadly. 

"No, my parents don't catch it," I said in confusion. "I wonder who-" 

My words were cut off as Gyarados fired a Hydro Pump right at us. We all jumped to the side, scrambling to get away from the blast of water. The red Gyarados had his eyes closed in pain and didn't seem to actually see us. 

"I think that Gyarados might be sick too." Brock stood back up. 

"Yeah, it's sure acting like it," Ash said darkly. 

"Sick or not, I think we better get out of here. Fast." Misty sounded worried. 

"I agree with you." Amanda was already backing up.  

"Hold on!" We all turned toward a stranger. It was a very muscular man who was standing in front of a large group of people. "I regret to inform you that since you've actually seen the red Gyarados, you can't leave." 

"Hey! That letter." Ash pointed to the red "R" displayed on their shirts. "It's Team Rocket!" 

"Not again," Anthony moaned. 

"Pull yourself together, Ant, they're a bunch of pushovers," Daniel said. 

"You said that last time and we ended up almost getting killed!" Anthony exclaimed. 

"But we didn't. Instead we traveled back in time, so hah. We sure made them look like idiots." Daniel beamed. 

"I don't know if the idiots were Team Rocket," Anthony muttered. 

During their whispered conversation, the leader of the Team Rocket group grinned. "So you're aware of us, are ya? Because of that, I wouldn't dream of having you leave. Go! Fearow!" 

He threw a Poke Ball, releasing a huge brown feathered Fearow which spread its wings menacingly, screeching at us with its rough, scratchy voice.  

"That's how you want it?" Ash said threateningly and I couldn't help but mentally cheer for how tough my dad was as a little kid. "Go, Totodile!" 

His Totodile popped out, looking super peppy as he jumped up and down. 

"Sweet! I didn't know he had a Totodile. Think he'll bite me like Crikey did if I go near him?" Daniel asked excitedly. 

"Now who should put a bonnet on a Pokemon and raise them like their own kid?" I muttered before saying louder, "Zuko, come on out! Use Flamethrower on these morons." 

Zuko came out, dropping to all fours and baring his teeth. 

"Water Gun!" my dad yelled. 

Totodile opened his mouth, but instead of water, he let out a huge groan and almost crumpled to the ground. Zuko used Flamethrower, but before the flames even grew five feet, they disappeared. Zuko shook his head and I noticed that his quill mane hadn't even lit. 

"Ash, they're sick too," I said worriedly. 

The Team Rocket man laughed. "Fearow, Drill Peck, let's go!" 

Fearow, instead of attacking our Pokemon, flew straight at us. We all cringed, knowing we wouldn't be able to run fast enough to get away. 

The Flying type Pokemon was only feet away when a blue light that looked like a Thunder Wave attack struck Fearow, who shrieked. 

We looked to the sky, searching for where the attack had come from. A large Dragonite soared above, descending towards the ground. As he neared, I noticed there was a figure on his back that had flaming red hair. 

The Dragonite landed and a man in a black outfit and cape jumped off and yelled, "Hurry, kids. Run back into the woods!" 

"But-" I started to argue, but knew it was no good. If all of our Pokemon were sick, we couldn't fight. "Zuko, return!" 

After Zuko and Totodile were returned back into their Poke Balls, we sprinted towards the trees while the man continued to drive Team Rocket away, Daniel keeping up a steady stream of conversation even though we were running for our lives. "Is anyone else wondering why that dude's Fearow wasn't sick? Because that totally doesn't make any sense. And then that Dragonite was fine too. Why is it that things never make sense?" 

"Just shut up, Daniel," I said as I tried to get enough oxygen. "Next you'll be questioning how Pokemon are real and how time travel is possible." 

"Oh, I'd never do that." Daniel came to a halt in shock, making me almost slam into him. 

"That was close," Amanda said between breaths, coming to a stop. 

"Why do we always get into trouble!?" Anthony screamed. "Why us!?" 

"Believe me, I've been asking that for years," Misty and Brock said at the same time. 

"You know who that was, right guys?" Anthony panted. "That was Lance, the current Champion of Kanto and Johto. I mean, I never thought I'd see him, especially in his prime." 

He had his voice lowered so only us time travelers could hear him. 

"Yeah, didn't your dad defeat him when he gets older and take his place for a while?" Amanda asked. 

"Yep. Not that you should tell him, though," I said quickly as Lance flew down on his Dragonite. 

"That was really nice what you did back there. Thanks for helping us out." Ash smiled. 

"Pikachu!" Pikachu perked up. 

"Pikachu, are you feeling a little better?" Ash said, relieved. Pikachu nodded. 

"Togepi, you're feeling better too." Misty sighed happily as Togepi began smiling and moving her arms. 

Lance began climbing off of his Dragonite. "Why were you guys wandering by the lake?" 

"We just came up here to train our Pokemon," Ash admitted. 

"Hold on, you look kind of familiar to me. Is your name Lance?" My mom asked. 

"That's right! You're the undefeated Champion of the Elite Four!" Brock exclaimed. 

"Till Ash beats him," Daniel muttered. 

"Awesome!" My dad's eyes got as big as Pokemon eggs. "You're that totally unbeatable Dragonite trainer!" 

"Well, I don't know about 'totally', but yes, my name is Lance." Lance laughed. 

"Wow, I can't believe my luck!" My dad almost started hopping up and down. "My name's Ash." 

"Luck?" Anthony repeated the word, not understanding how running for our lives could possibly be considered "lucky" in any way, shape, or form. 

"And I'm Misty." 

"My name's Brock, nice to meet you." 

Lance looked at us for names and I said, "Oh, I'm Emma. That's Daniel, Anthony, and Amanda." 

He nodded to each one in turn. 

"So, what is someone like you doing all the way out here?" Misty asked. 

"I'm investigating." Lance's face turned serious. "As one of the G Men, it's my duty to discover what sort of foul play is going on at the Lake of Rage." 

"G Men?" we all repeated at the same time. 

"That's right. Our main reason as a detective unit is to travel the countryside and investigate anyone who mistreats Pokemon." Lance turned around and stared in the direction of the lake. "It appears to me that Team Rocket is up to no good, as usual, with some kind of experiment going on at the Lake of Rage. That man who attacked you is named Tyson and he's the Squadron Leader." 

"Not another experiment." Anthony sighed. 

"Yeah. I'm kind of sick of them myself," Daniel said quietly. I forced myself not to give him a hard poke in the side. 

"You know what kind of experiment they're doing?" Ash asked curiously. 

"No idea, but I can tell you what they're doing in this area in twenty five years," Daniel whispered into my ear, enjoying his smart comments. I gave him an irritated look. 

"I have a hunch that it has something to do with that red Gyarados you guys just saw," Lance answered. 

"We'll help you out." Ash smiled. "That'd be so awesome." 

"Yeah, you're taking on a big job," Amanda said solemnly. "They really can be a handful." 

Lance shook his head after sizing us all up. "No way. These guys don't care what they do to kids." Daniel was about to retort, but Lance held up a hand to stop him as he finished talking, "And I can't take responsibility for what happens to you guys out there." 

Ash's head dropped. "But we really want to help." 

"Sorry, but you can't come," Lance confirmed. 

Ash didn't say anything else. 

Daniel and I gave each other surprised looks. I'd never seen my dad not take action like this before. All the stories he ever told me of them saving the day and defeating the bad guys didn't fit with what he'd just done. 

"Follow the river. It'll take you back to Mahogany Town," Lance ordered, then climbed onto the back of his Dragonite and flew back towards the lake. 

We started walking in the direction Lance had indicated. The river ran smoothly through the trees, making the only sound for quite a few minutes. 

"Ash, you're seriously going to listen to Lance?" Daniel asked. 

Ash shook his head. "I gotta go back."  

He'd stopped walking. Brock and Misty almost ran into him. 

"Back?" Brock questioned. 

"I have to go back to the Lake of Rage," my dad almost yelled. 

"You can't, Ash. Lance said it was too dangerous," Misty reminded him. 

"Don't you see? I can't just leave that Gyarados there." Ash looked down at the ground, "Remember? That poor red Gyarados was upset and in a lot of pain. We just have to do something and if Team Rocket's involved there's no telling what they're up to." 

I smiled, glad to know my dad really wasn't going to give up on a hurt Pokemon just because someone told him he couldn't help. 

"Here, here!" Daniel cheered. 

Misty sighed. "You're right." 

"Yeah, that Gyarados problem might just be the tip of the iceberg if Team Rocket is involved." Brock rubbed his chin with his fingers. "It can't just be the Gyarados Team Rocket wants. If we don't stop them, they could hurt other Pokemon as well, including ours." 

Misty and Ash looked at him in horror as if he'd turned into a gigantic Pokemon that could kill us all. 

"Ash, you're right. We have to go to the Lake Rage." Misty clutched Togepi tighter. 

"That's the spirit!" I yelled. "Let's go kick some Rocket butt!" 

"I'm still not all for this plan. It didn't work out well the last time," Anthony said tiredly. 

"Anthony, we have to try something. They're right, you know," Amanda chided. 

"I bet Lance will be happy to see us." Daniel smiled. 

"Arceus, why do you hate me?" Anthony looked up to the sky.

Hello Readers!

It's been awhile, I know. Well, as I read this over I kept rolling my eyes at how cheesy Pokemon dialogue is since I literally watched the episodes this happens in and basically put word for word what characters say, but add in my own characters. Because that's how time traveling works. The fun thing is you get people like Daniel commenting on how things don't make sense. Which he's right. And the whole time I'm watching that episode I'm like "Wait, why is Fearow ok? He can battle, but other Pokemon can't? TAUROS MANURE!" Yep. 

I hope you enjoyed the update. If you liked it, make sure you follow, comment, vote, all that wonderful stuff. It means a lot ^_^

Pokemon Question of the Day: What's the least logical thing in Pokemon? Good luck with that question. Nothing in Pokemon is logical :P

Have an amazing day! God bless!

-Flips