There were four soldiers below them. Ash thought he and Timmy could take them on, but he didn't want to risk losing any body parts. He dreaded using the only other means at his disposal, but could see no way out.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
The lightning bolt struck three of the four soldiers. Teir bodies contoted into unnatural positions. They fell to the floor. The fourth soldier fled in panic.
They rushed down the steps. Ash caught the horrific look on one of the fallen men's faces. He felt sick. He started to vomit. Misty grabbed him by the arm and rushed him out of the palace. The other soldiers were still on their tail.
They bounded out the door and through the courtyard. It was late, they were tired, and the stresses of the night had taken their toll. Ash and the others were starting to puff.
"Oh no!" Ash heard more footsteps. A group of soldiers ran in through the courtyard entrance. They stopped. The soldiers behind them caught up. They surrounded them again, this time in a circle.
"Surrender! That monster of yours can't take all of us out!"
He was right. If Pikachu attacked in one direction, the other soldiers would attack from every other angle and mince them all.
"Sorry princess," said Brock. "We tried."
Before they could even drop their swords, burst of flame descended and struck several of the soldiers. There were shouts, screams and confusion. Men with their uniforms on fire jumped into the pools. The others scrambled to the palace for cover.
Ash and the others looked up.
"Charizard!" said Misty, pointing.
The monster Ash had freed came swooping down in an arc. It let forth another burst of fire at soldiers who were running for the palace door.
The charizard alighted next to Ash and presented the side of its face to him. Gary and Timmy drew back in fear.
"I think it wants a pat," said Ash. He reached up and stroked the side of its face. Thanks... Charizard? Is that your name."
It grunted and nodded.
"Look!" said Brock. "Blastoise!"
Through the main doors, blastoise were coming out. One, two, three of them!
"What do we do now?" asked Timmy.
"Blastoise aren't very fast," said Misty, "so we run!"
"Brock, you and Gary take Misty to safety," said Ash. "Timmy and I will hold them off."
"OK," said Brock. "Be careful. Meet you at Rose's tomorrow at ten."
They ran off into the darkness of the night.
"Ash, are you crazy? We can't hold off three blastoise!"
Before Ash could respond, he was struck by a burst of water. He fell roughly to the ground. Timmy was struck next, then Pikachu. Those blastoise knew how to aim!
Charizard rose into the air and swung around. It caught the blastoise's attention.
"Let's go," said Ash, helping Timmy up. Pikachu shook the water off its fur and they made to dart off.
A roar in the air made them stop. Charizard had been struck. It was falling. It righted itself inches above the ground and glided into one of the balstoise. It withdrew into its shell just in time before Charizard hit it.
"Let's go, Ash. It's given us a break," said Timmy.
"No, I can't leave. It's in trouble."
The other two blastoise pelted Charizard with water. It roared in agony. It fell to the ground, writhing as its opponents took every advantage of its elemental weakness.
"Piiikaaa!" said Pikachu angrily.
"Hey, didn't Rose say something about Pikachu?" Ash asked.
"Probably. Please Ash, we better go."
Ash ignored Timmy. "Pikachu, thunderbolt the blastoise."
Pikachu obeyed the command gladly.
"Chuuu!"
This time, it was the blastoise's turn to writhe. Charizard rolled out of the way. It flew over to Ash.
By the time Pikachu was finished, the blastoise were motionless.
"Charizard," said Ash, "it's important you don't follow us. We have to hide. If you follow us, the soldiers will find us."
Charizard nodded with a grunt and flew off. Ash, Pikachu and Timmy ran off along their planned route to Rose's house. They did not appear to be followed.
