Chapter 21
"Quick, Protect!" said Ash.
Latios set up a hasty barrier as Houndoom blew up, creating a huge crater and launching dust across the battlefield.
"Latios! Are you ok?"
"I'm fine, I was able to block most of the explosion."
The dust cleared, and Nigel withdrew his knocked-out Pokémon. He tossed another black Pokeball. "Go, Kangaskhan!"
"Turn invisible and use Dragon Pulse!"
"Use Foresight."
Latios' Dragon Pulse hit Kangaskhan square in the chest, but not before he was forced out of invisibility by Foresight.
"There goes that. What's the plan now?" asked Latios
"Just trust me,"
"When have I not?" Latios shot Ash a mental grin. He had gotten used to Ash's strange strategies. Most of the time, they seemed silly or downright crazy, but they always worked out.
"Use Dark Pulse," said Nigel, snapping the pair from their conversation.
"Dodge it and grab Kangaskhan with Psychic!"
Latios darted to the left to avoid the beam of dark energy and concentrated his mental energy on Kangaskhan. But as Latios attempted to use Psychic to fling Kangaskhan across the room, a backwash of energy suddenly hit him, nullifying his attack. The same energy he felt when he tried to attack a dark-type.
"What's wrong?" asked Ash.
"Psychic attacks don't work on it." Latios shuddered. "I can't attack it mentally… there's nothing to attack,"
"Got it," Ash took a deep breath. "Use Dragon Breath on the ground, then Dragon Claw right in front of you!"
Latios fired the reddish flames at the ground, the impact stirring a layer of dust. The dust prevented him from seeing Kangaskan, but, gathering energy in his claw, he slashed at the dust cloud in front of him. True to Ash's word, he felt his claw strike something, knocking it further into the dust.
"Use Counter."
Latios tensed, but held his ground, waiting for Ash's command.
"Fly backward!"
Kangaskhan charged at Latios, power surging through its arms. Instinct told Latios to duck to the side, but trusting Ash's orders, he continued to fly backward. An instant before Kangaskhan hit him, the normal-type suddenly disappeared.
"Dragon Pulse right below you!"
Latios smiled to himself as he realized Ash's plan. He fired the Dragon Pulse just as the dust cleared, revealing a dazed Kangaskhan sitting in Houndoom's explosion crater.
~~~
Meowth knocked another nail in place. "Da twerp's really good at this thing."
"Maybe he doesn't need our help after all," James fiddled with the net in his hand. "What do you think, Jess?"
Jessie rolled her eyes. "Do you really think that guy's going to give up if the twerp beats him?"
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it, James, the twerp's probably going to win this battle, but when he does, he'll be almost out of Pokémon. As soon as the battle's over, that Nigel guy is going to send for the rest of his team, and the twerp will stand no chance," Jessie held up one of the cannons. "That's when we come in and trap them in these nets!"
Meowth stuffed a net in another cannon. "Imagine what da Boss will say when he finds out we flattened his competition!"
"We won't have to live on canned beans anymore!" James' eyes sparkled. "And I can finally expand my bottle cap collection!"
Jessie rolled her eyes, ignoring James' comment. "Just keep working. We need every net ready to fire!"
~~~
Brock ducked to avoid hitting his head on a stalagtite. "Do you know what we're supposed to be looking for?"
"Not exactly," Birch scanned one of the many carvings that lined the walls. As usual, it was unreadable. "But I think we'll know it when we see it."
"Is that it?" Misty pointed to a wooden bridge several yards ahead of them.
Oak examined a few of the ropes that held the bridge to the sides of a large cavern. "I wonder what that's doing in the middle of a cave. From its condition, I'd say it was built no more than twenty years ago."
Birch shook his head. "That's impossible, no one's been in this cave for thousands of years!"
"Look at this, there's more writing," Brock knelt by one of the bridge's wooden posts.
As the group walked toward Brock, the words shone a faint white, almost as if they sensed their presence.
Dear brave travelers, if you wish to cross,
Solve this riddle with wit, or simply take a toss.
Your goal: cross the bridge, that's all you need do,
And you must cross it two by two.
Below me is a lantern, that will guide and light your way,
Without it, you will fall into the stream of decay.
The bridge will only support two travelers at a time,
So only two may go at once, the others wait in line.
Beware! Once this lantern is taken you must make haste,
Of minutes you have but seventeen, there is no time to waste.
All of you by then must cross to the other side,
Or else meet certain death and forever here reside.
Now here is where your challenge falls,
Here your puzzle lies,
Each of you must take one ball,
Of a different size.
The first ball will allow you to in one minute to walk.
The second will take two minutes off the clock.
The third will slow you down to a sluggish five,
The final will take ten minutes, so make haste and decide.
~~~
Kangaskhan struggled out of the crater, panting, and pulled itself up.
"Steel Wing!" Ash wanted to end the battle quickly.
"Shadow Ball,"
"Use Swift and dodge!"
The volley of stars went straight through the Shadow Ball, temporarily blinding Kangaskhan. The attack didn't do much damage, but it did give Latios enough time to circle around with a super-sonic Steel Wing.
That was too much for Kanhaskhan. With a roar, it swayed once, twice, and toppled to the ground in defeat.
Nigel said nothing as he returned Kanhaskhan to its Pokeball, but simply pulled out another and tossed it onto the battlefield.
"Pinsir, crush them."
~~~
Misty, Brock, and the Professors have a riddle to solve. Can you solve it before going to the next chapter? Congrats to Edmonton58 for 'solving' the riddle (figuring out where I got it from) when it was first published.
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