=====Chapter 5: The Trap!=====

	"So, how was the Gym?" Misty asked.
	"Sort of easy.  But I saw Ben's name up on the victors list." Ash 
answered, reclining on his bed.
	"What's next?" Misty asked.
	"Probably the Cerulean City Gym.  Pikachu should be tough enough to 
take on water pokemon." Ash commented.
	Misty sighed.
	[Can't tell him yet.] Misty thought to herself.
	"Um, I hope you don't mind me sleeping in your bed." Misty said, 
sitting down on Ash's bed.
	"Why?" Ash asked.
	Misty pointed over at Shelly, who was already sleeping on the other bed 
with her pokemon taking up the rest of the room on the mattress.
	"Uh.... I guess it would be okay." Ash said, blushing as he turned over 
and tried to huddle up on as little of the bed as he could.  Misty had 
the same idea.
	Pikachu watched this exchanged from the floor.  She rolled her eyes and 
sighed a heavy "Piiiikaaaa..."
	"Pika?" came the call from Zappy.
	"Pika?" Pikachu asked.
	"Pikachu!"
	Zappy hopped off the bed to stand in front of Pikachu.  Pikachu was 
surprised to be caught in a hug.
	"Pika pika!"
	Zappy released Pikachu.
	"Chu?"
	"Pikaaachu!  Pi pika chu pika chu pika pika!"
	"Chu?!"
	"Piiiikaaaaaaa!"
	Zappy winked at Pikachu and hopping back up onto the bed with Shelly.  
Ash suddenly felt Pikachu cowering against him.
	"Pikachu?" Ash asked in a low tone.
	"Piiii...." Pikachu answered.
	"What's up?" Ash asked in the same low tone as before.
	Pikachu pointed at Zappy, then swirled a hand over one ear.
	"I feel the same way about her owner." Ash murmurred to Pikachu.
	"Piiii?" Pikachu asked.
	"Fine, fine.  Lay between us." Ash whispered to Pikachu.
	Pikachu climbed over Ash and laid down between Misty and Ash.  Ash 
found himself humming along to the snoring concert in the next bed.  The 
snores of the four sleeping pokemon and Shelly made for an interesting 
musical piece.  He grabbed his Pokedex out of his bag and set it to 
recording the snores.  He felt like snapping his fingers to the rhythm, 
but felt it might ruin the beat.

	In the forest outside of Pewter City, Ben, Jessie, Fox and company were 
all eating.  Hawk and Pen-Pen were busy eating a Magikarp they had 
caught together.  Shamrock was drinking the water from a nearby pond.  
Ben, Jessie, Fox, Mason, Jessy, Bambi and Flare (Jessie's new 
Charmander) were all eating soup.  HardRock and StoneMan, the Geodudes 
they had caught on the way up Mt. Moon, were snoozing.
	"So, how easy do you think defeating the next Gym will be?" Jessie 
asked.
	"Well, the Gyms that's going to be the toughest are at Fuschia and 
Celadon.  Any pokemon that can use poison is going to be trouble.  This 
next Gym'll be a cinch for my Pokemon.  Your pokemon, however, are going 
to be in a slight bit of trouble." Ben began.
	"Why my pokemon?" Jessie asked.
	"Shamrock has an advantage, being a Grass Pokemon, she'll go through 
Water Pokemon like they were made of cheap tissue paper.  None of your 
current Pokemon have that kind of advantage.  Maybe if Hawk evolved into 
a Fearow.... wait, we still have time to get you a Grass or an Electric 
Pokemon.  Once we get you one of those, the next gym'll be a cinch for 
you too." Ben commented.
	"Actually, aren't my pokemon going to be tougher?  After all, they've 
been working harder.  Your pokemon are going to get soft if you just 
keep using the advantages they have against the Gym." Jessie answered.
	"..................... Damn, you're right.  How stupid could I be?  
I've been getting too thick in the head to realize that I've been 
excercising Shamrock too much.  Bambi, Pen-Pen, HardRock, they've been 
sitting on the sidelines too long.  Man, thanks Jessie.  I don't know 
what I'd do if you hadn't been here." Ben said.
	"No problem.  What are friends for?" Jessie asked.
	"MEOWTH!  Dat's right!" Fox declared.
	"Say, how _do_ Pokemon talk to other Pokemon?" Ben asked.
	"Uh, uuuuuh, No speake Englishe! No sprechen sie deutsch! Ich bin ein 
Eggo Waffles! MEOWTH!" Fox yelped, leaping for cover as Ben gave Fox the 
"Look of Death" (tm).

	"I never noticed how incredibly dull Gray can look." Ash commented as 
he noticed that the entire room was gray.  The only thing that showed 
him what was what was the fact that somethings, such as the pillows and 
the blanket were different shades of gray.
	"You too?" Misty responded, surprising Ash as he hadn't expected her to 
be awake.
	Then, he looked to see where she was and nearly leaped out of bed.  She 
had been laying next to him and he hadn't even noticed.  Thankfully, 
they were laying on their backs and not in a more embarrassing position.  
Their hands were touching, causing Ash to blush intensely, despite the 
fact that in about six to ten years, the act would be only considered a 
romantic gesture.
	He had been around girls before, being around girls was no big deal, 
but all of the ones he knew had been a lot older than him.  Misty was 
his age.  If anyone were to see them now, they'd probably say something 
like, "Oh, what a cute couple."
	Pikachu heard the duo talking, made a disgruntled "Piiii." and rolled 
over, resettling on the blanket.  Ash noted that the yellow Pokemon was 
now on the other side of Misty.
	"Hey, have you ever noticed how the towns around here are named after 
colors?" Misty asked.
	Ash paused.  Viridian, Pewter, Cerulean, Vermilion, Fuschia, Lavender, 
Cinnabar, Saffron.  Indigo Plateau.  Even his home town was a bad pun.  
Pallet.
	"That's weird." Ash commented.

	"Jerks!  I'll see that they get theirs!" Greg snarled, marching through 
the forest and wishing he hadn't sent his butler home.
	He could've forced his butler to train the Charmander up into a 
Charmeleon, then try taking on the Pewter Gym, but he had already given 
up on the Charmander.  His uncle didn't care anyway.  It was just a 
reminder that he nearly flunked the test.  The only way he was going to 
start out on the right foot was to get a free pokemon from his uncle.  
He kept marching until he ran into something.  Or rather, someone.  
Greg, being the smaller and weaker of the two boys fell on his butt.
	"Hey, watch where you're going, dipwad!" Greg growled, getting back up.
	The larger boy didn't apologize or even show any sign that he gave a 
damn.
	"You want revenge on that brown-haired boy named Ben and that 
red-haired girl?" the larger boy asked.
	Greg's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
	"Maybe.  What's in it for me?" Greg replied.
	The larger boy laughed.
	"Revenge, an unlimited amount of pokemon and freedom from the law.  
Sound good?" the larger boy inquired.
	Greg smiled evilly.
	"Yeah." Greg answered.
	"Welcome to Team Rocket." the larger boy responded, shaking Greg's 
hand.

	"OOOORRT OOOORRT-OOOORRT OOOORRT-OOOORRT 
OOOORRT-OOOORRT-OOOOOOOORRRRRRRR!" Hawk cried as dawn broke.  It 
prepared to cry again, much like it's rooster ancestors.
	"OOOORRT-OOOORRT-AWWWK!" Hawk yelped as a stone struck it on the head.
	"Charrrrrmaaaaannnderrrr...." Flare growled, returning to it's slumber.
	"Good boy." Fox, Jessie and Ben murmurred in unison.

	"So, what do you wanna do today?" Misty asked.
	"Let's do something fun!" Shelly suggested.
	"What IS there to do in Pewter City?" Ash asked.
	"We could go visit the Pokemon Museum.  I heard there's a new exhibit 
that's been startling scientists." Misty commented.
	"'kay!" Shelly cheered.
	"They probably won't let Pokemon in unless they're in pokeballs, 
though." Misty commented.
	"Yeah.  Not many cities like to see pokemon running free." Ash said, 
frowning.
	"Well, we can't help it." Misty answered.

	Jessie yawned and stretched.  Ben yawned as well.
	"How much further?" Jessie asked.
	"Should be about another hour or so." Fox answered as they continued 
walking.
	"Talk about a tiring night." Ben grumbled.
	Suddenly, two figures appeared in front of them.
	"Prepare for trouble."
	"And make it double."
	"No way." Jessie said, her eyes widening.
	"Greg..." Ben growled, seeing Greg in a Team Rocket outfit similiar to 
James'.
	"To protect the world from devastation."
	"To unite all peoples within our nation."
	"GREG!"
	"JAMES!"
	"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"
	"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
	"SCYTHER!  That'sss right." a Scyther declared landed between the two 
boys and adjusting it's sharp claws to increase how menacing it looked.
	"MEOWTH!  Oh no!  I don't like da looks of dose claws..." Fox yelped.
	"Hello, Jessie." James said, sneering.
	"James." Jessie answered.
	"What's the matter?  You seem UNHAPPY to see your old partner." James 
commented, sneering more.
	"Yes.  It's because you're still using that loser spiel.  We've got a 
better one." Jessie answered.
	"Prepare to lose."
	"And suck down some cheap booze."
	"To crush fools beneath our feet."
	"To sound the bell of Team Rocket's defeat."
	"JESSIE!"
	"BEN!"
	"Team Lightning beating out Team Rocket's pace."
	"Surrender now or lose your parking space."
	"MEOWTH! This is stupid." Meowth finished.
	"Time to show those fools what Team Rocket does to those who interfere 
in it's plans." James said, drawing a pokeball from his belt.
	"Time to have donuts with sprinkles on 'em.... mmmmm, donuts.... uh, I 
mean time to show these losers that the good guys always win." Ben said, 
drawing a pokeball from his belt.
	Greg and Jessie pulled out their own pokeballs.
	"MASON!" Jessie called.
	"BAMBI!" Ben yelled.
	"ELECTRODE!" Greg and James declared.
	Ben and Jessie quickly withdrew their pokemon and began backing off at 
the sight of the two large sphere pokemon.  The sphere pokemon began 
rolling towards the trio.  Meowth, Ben and Jessie turned and ran into 
the grass, out of the way.  The Electrodes rolled past and down the 
slope that Jessie, Ben and Meowth had just finished walking up before 
Team Rocket appeared.  The Scyther growled in frustration.
	"Idiotsss.  Never put sssphere pokemon at the top of a ssslope! 
SCYTHER!" Scyther growled.
	"Well, maybe if you had WARNED us that Electrodes were useless on 
uneven ground..." Greg began.
	The newest combination team from Team Rocket began arguing.
	"Time to show these schmucks who's in charge." Ben commented.
	"Yeah." Jessie said, smiling.
	*BOOM* *BOOM*
	"NOW look what they did!  They got mad and ssself-dessstructed!" 
Scyther snarled.
	"Pen-Pen, Whirlwind attack!" Ben commanded, letting Pen-Pen loose.
	The Pidgeotto obeyed, sending a huge gust of wind at the arguing team.  
The group was sucked up in the whirlwind and sent flying off into the 
distance.
	"What morons." Meowth commented.

	"Wooooow!" Shelly said, staring up at the huge fossil.
	"Piiiiikaaaaaaa....." Zappy and Pikachu commented in unison.
	All the Pokemon made a similiar comment.
	"THAT used to be a POKEMON?" Ash asked, staring at the large carcass of 
a First Generation Pokemon.
	"Yes, this one in particular was responsible for destroying all the 
cities in the eight states." the tour guide told them.
	"What about these pokemon?" Misty asked, staring at the exoskeleton of 
a pokemon which the sign called a Kabutops.
	"And who comes up with the names?" Ash asked.
	"These are the fossiled remains of ancient pokemon, believed to have 
existed at the end of the Dinosaur Era over nineteen thousand years ago.  
It's believed that it was, until the latest Pokemon Era, the largest bug 
in history.  As for the name, I really don't know.  I just guide people 
around." the tour guide answered.
	"What do you mean by the Pokemon Era?" Misty inquired.
	"The Dinosaur Era, the Human Era, and the Pokemon Eras.  Whenever an 
animal becomes more dominant over any other, we refer to it as an Era.  
It's believed that monsters, gods and such were actually Pokemon and 
since Pokemon can be more powerful than humans, we believe that those 
times in Human History were actually short Pokemon Eras." the tour guide 
answered.
	"I guess we probably never really noticed them before." Ash commented.
	"Um, can we go?" Shelly asked.
	"I thought you liked this place?" Misty asked.
	"Yeah, but I've been here before and I've seen all the new stuff." 
Shelly commented.
	"Well, thanks for the tour." Misty said, bowing.
	"Yeah, thanks." Ash said, bowing as well.
	"No problem." the tour guide said, walking over to a desk, grabbing a 
lab coat and entering the back room where she resumed her identity as 
the #1 Genius Scientist in the Universe.
	"So, where to next?" Ash asked as they left the museum and began 
walking down the street.
	"Well, we could take a bus to Cerulean City..." Misty said.
	"Let's do that.  My feet are tired." Shelly said.
	"I guess we take the bus.  But you guys'll have to be your pokeballs.  
Buses absolutely do NOT allow Pokemon to be run around like little kids.  
THAT I'm sure of." Misty said.

===============================================================================================

	Well, that's the fanfic so far.

	What's up next time?
	Team Rocket regroups for a new plan.
	Ben fights for his life as Jessie fights a mysterious Pokemon.
	Zappy makes a startling declaration!
	And someone hurls!

	All this and more in the next episode of Pokemon HAHAHAHAHA! 6

	Ben McCrillis <aka. A-kun>
	reply at akun15@hotmail.com

	Find previous chapter at 
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Island/3968/pokemon.html
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