Articuno

Ranger Mike led the gang and Swinub up the snowy mountain.

"Where are we going first?" Todd asked.

"Well first off, we are going to the Pokemon Center." Ranger Mike answered. "The Swinub can stay there until we figure out the fire type Pokemon problem."

"I wonder what fire type Pokemon it is." Misty said.

"I'm surprised a fire type Pokemon is even on this snowy mountain." Ash said. "I mean they normally stay in warm places, because they dislike the cold."

"It's true that they don't and I'm surprised one is here." Ranger Mike said. "Something's going on around this mountain, and I'd like to know what."

Ash and the others wanted to know what was happening too.

The Pokemon Center was located near the top of the snowy mountains. The Nurse Joy of that Pokemon Center was happy to see Ranger Mike and relieved to see the Swinub herd.

"I'm glad you found them Mike." She said.

"So am I." Mike replied. "These Swinub ended up far away from that snowy mountain."

Nurse Joy led the Swinub to a cave that was next to the Pokemon Center. Ranger Mike explained that the cave had a lot of space, so they built the Pokemon Center so that Nurse Joy could use the cave for extra space. The gang thought that was a clever idea, but they were surprised by what they saw in the cave. A lot of other Pokemon had taken shelter in the cave as well as the Swinub herd. There was Stantler, Spearow, Geodude, Graveler, Zubat and Golbat.

"Have all of these Pokemon have been driven from their homes?" Todd asked, taking pictures of them.

"Yes." Nurse Joy said. "And that mysterious fire type Pokemon is still causing trouble on the snowy mountain."

A angry expression formed on Ash's face.

"We should do something about this." He said. "I mean we can't let that fire type Pokemon get away with what it's doing."

"Ash is right." Todd nodded. "That Pokemon needs to be stopped, otherwise the Pokemon in the cave won't have a home anymore."

Misty, Tomo and Brock agreed with him as did Ranger Mike and Nurse Joy.

Ranger Mike discussed the whereabouts of the fire type Pokemon with Todd and the gang.

"Apparently the fire type Pokemon was first located at the bottom of the snowy mountain and kept making it's way up to the top." He said.

"Hmm, it seems strange that a Pokemon is doing that." Brock mused. "I mean, I know it's natural for wild Pokemon to roam around a area, but roaming like this doesn't seem right. Especially since it's kicking other Pokemon out of their homes."

"I agree with you Brock." Ranger Mike said. "Which is why something needs to be done about this situation."

"You don't suppose that the fire type Pokemon belong to someone, do you?" Misty guessed. "I mean if it does, what if someone ordered it to chase all the Pokemon around here out?"

"But who would do that?" Ash asked. "And why?"

"I might have the answer to that." A voice said.

The voice belonged to Officer Jenny.

"I'm glad you're here Officer Jenny." Ranger Mike said.

"Me too." Officer Jenny said. "I got your call Nurse Joy and I'm here to help."

"That's great." Nurse Joy said. "But why is a Pokemon chasing all the wild Pokemon around here out of their homes?"

"That would be because of Articuno." Officer Jenny informed the others. "Since Articuno is normally seen around here, I fear that someone may be here to capture it."

"But they can't do that." Ranger Mike said. "Especially considering Articuno is said to be the guardian of this mountain."

"Excuse me, but are you saying that a Articuno really lives here?" Todd asked.

Ranger Mike and Officer Jenny told the gang a story about Articuno. Centuries ago a group of travelers got lost on the snowy mountain. It was very, very cold and the travelers feared that they would die from exposure to the cold. They were just about to lose hope of living, but Articuno found them and led them to safety. The travelers were grateful to Articuno and they built a statue of it. Nurse Joy showed them the statue, which was outside the Pokemon Center.

"Oh wow." Todd said. "Now I am really eager to take a picture of Articuno."

He explained to Ranger Mike, Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny that his wish was to take a picture of Articuno.

"If you do take a picture of Articuno, I would love to see it and have it here in my Pokemon Center." Nurse Joy said.

"I'd like to see it too." Ranger Mike added. "But first we have to deal with this mysterious fire type Pokemon problem."

What the group didn't know was that they were being watched; Team Rocket had been listening to their story.

"So the stories about Articuno being here are true." Jessie said. "Good thing we decided to come here and inspect for rare Pokemon."

"I'll say." James replied. "And capturing that Articuno would be good for Team Rocket."

"Yeah." Meowth said. "But the funny thing is that the people there think that a fire type Pokemon is causing trouble here."

Jessie laughed.

"It's not a fire type Pokemon though." She chuckled. "It's just my cute new Granbull using Flamethrower and Fire Blast."

A Granbull was by her side and Jessie petted it.

"I must ask Jess, how did you get that Granbull?" Meowth asked.

"Well I caught her the day before we decided to inspect these mountains for Articuno." Jessie said.

(Flashback)

"I was rubbing my Cloyster's shell by a lake to keep it clean, when I heard a sort of whimpering noise coming from a bush. I went to see what the noise was about and I saw Granbull there. She was badly hurt; covered in horrible bruises and needed to go to a Pokemon Center. I changed out of my Team Rocket uniform and into something normal so I didn't reveal my identity, picked Granbull up and took her to a Pokemon Center. After being cared for and healed by Nurse Joy, I carried Granbull back into the woods to set her free, but Granbull didn't want to leave me so I decided to catch her for myself."

(End flashback)

"I know I'm a member of Team Rocket, but even I can't stand seeing a badly injured Pokemon."

"Yeah I can't either." James said. "I've seen badly injured Pokemon in the past and it always moves me to tears."

"Same with me, since I'm a Pokemon myself." Meowth said.

"Okay, that's enough now." Jessie brought them back to reality. "It's time to search for Articuno."

She, James and Meowth kept themselves warm with big coats and set off into the mountain to look for Articuno.

Meanwhile Ranger Mike, Todd and the gang left the Pokemon Center to search for Articuno. They were all dressed in warm clothing that they had borrowed from the Pokemon Center and had their eyes open. Tomo had returned Growlithe to his Poke Ball to keep him warm and Misty had Togepi tucked inside her coat. So far the weather was alright to walk in, but then it changed quickly; a blizzard had picked up.

"Oh man." Brock said. "This blizzard certainly came from out of nowhere."

"Well this is a snowy mountain Brock, so a blizzard appearing this quickly is no surprise." Ash reminded him.

"Be careful kids." Ranger Mike advised. "We could end up getting into trouble in something like this."

Tomo held onto Ash, so he wouldn't be separated from him.

Suddenly something blue was seen in front of them.

"Articuno." Ash stated.

He was right. Articuno was flying in front of them and calming the blizzard down. The humans couldn't take their eyes off Articuno.

"I never thought I would ever see Articuno up close in person." Ranger Mike said.

"It's beautiful." Misty was stunned.

Brock was happy that he finally got to see an Articuno since he never encountered one before.

Todd was about to take a picture when a stream of fire headed towards Articuno. It came from Granbull; Team Rocket had followed the gang the whole time.

"Thank you for leading us to Articuno." Jessie said.

"Now we shall have the pleasure of taking it." James added.

"It's Team Rocket!" Tomo shouted.

"I get the feeling you're responsible for driving the wild Pokemon around here from their homes in the snowy mountain due to the fact your Granbull knows Flamethrower." Ash said.

"Those wild Pokemon got in the way." Jessie replied. "So we scared them a little with Granbull's Flamethrower."

"If you think you're going to take Articuno, you're wrong!" Todd shouted.

Jessie and James sent Arbok and Weezing out to battle. Ash sent out his Mareep and Houndour to battle.

"Poison Sting." Jessie ordered.

"Sludge Bomb." James ordered.

Ash had Mareep stop Poison Sting with Thunderbolt and Houndour counter Sludge Bomb with Flamethrower. Arbok and Weezing's attacks were overpowered. Jessie and James ordered their Pokemon to attack again with Tackle and Headbutt. Mareep and Houndour dodged the attacks. Mareep slammed into Weezing with Tackle and Houndour bit onto Arbok's tail.

"All right Granbull deal with that Houndour using Tackle." Jessie said.

Granbull charged at Houndour to tackle him, but Houndour let go of Arbok's tail and jumped away to dodge Granbull's attack. Granbull ended up tackling Arbok by mistake.

Ash was just about to issue another command to Mareep and Houndour, but Articuno interrupted him.

"It seems that Articuno is going to join the fight now." Ranger Mike said. "It notices that Team Rocket are bad people."

Articuno fired a Ice Beam at Team Rocket and their Pokemon, which froze them in blocks of ice. Then Articuno started to flap it's wings.

"It's using Gust." Ash said.

"This Gust has more power than one released by Pidgey, Pidgeotto and Pidgeot combined." Brock said.

The gust blew Team Rocket away.

"Thank goodness they're gone now." Ranger Mike said. "Articuno is stronger than I thought it was."

Todd quicky got his camera out and took Articuno's picture.

"This is the best shot that I've ever taken." He said.

Just then Articuno flew away into the sky.

"It's a magnificent sight to see." Ranger Mike smiled and the others agreed with him.

Back at the Pokemon Center, Ranger Mike informed Officer Jenny about Team Rocket and Articuno.

"I'm not surprised that those crooks would have something to do with it." She said. "But at least they're gone now."

Nurse Joy was leading the wild Pokemon out of the cave and told them they could all go back to their homes now.

"I'm glad that's over with." She sighed.

Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy thanked Ranger Mike, Todd and the gang for resolving the problem.

"I'm glad we could help." Brock smiled.

Todd's picture of Articuno was printed out big and placed on a wall inside the Pokemon Center and it looked magnificent. Now the snowy mountain had two things to honor Articuno, a photo and a statue.

The sun had begun to set and the gang was ready to leave the snowy mountain and continue their journey. Todd decided that he was going to stay at the snowy mountain for a while because he wanted to take more pictures of the Pokemon in the area. So it was time for the gang to separate from Todd again. Todd wished Ash luck in the Johto League and Ash wished Todd luck with his pictures. The gang said farewell to Ranger Mike, Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy and Todd then headed down the snowy mountain to continue their journey.