Escape the Hunter's Trap: Misty vs Iris

**"Escape the Hunter's Trap: Misty vs Iris"** is the fourteenth chapter of *Pokémon Reset Bloodlines.* While Ash continues to fight his way through to escape Hunter J's ship, Misty is forced to fight Iris due to each mistaking the other for an enemy. Ash succeeds in escaping with the Goomy he rescued, but unfortunately, Hunter J escapes taking Iris' dragon family with her.

## Plot

After getting blasted off by Ash and Misty, the Team Rocket trio land in a mansion north of Lavender Town. James freaks out at first (recognizing it as being his parents' house), but then upon realizing nobody's home, picks the lock and tells Jessie and Meowth they're free to ransack the place as they see fit and take whatever they want. They raid the fridge to fill their stomachs while Meowth watches a large TV, until he gets fed up and throws a table when it only shows the Weather Channel (and he doesn't like the Johto weather girl for some reason). James then comes back showing them he found his old Pokémon, whom his parents apparently hid away from him: along with Koffing, he now has his Growlithe, Yamask, Carnivine and Inkay. Jessie at first suggests they give them to Giovanni, but James refuses to part with his friends, recalling not having seen them in years after "that day", which he refuses to give details of when asked. Jessie finally complies on accord that she gets the loot and the Pokémon the next time. James then shows them a flyer promoting the upcoming Battle Dome Tournament, suggesting that they take part and wait for Ash there, since he's highly likely to compete as well.

Meanwhile, back where Ash was kidnapped, Misty and Psyduck are forced to fight the wild girl who attacked them when they found the Axew, despite being exhausted from running away from the Beedrill before. Having no other choices, she sends out Poliwrath to fight for her, who uses Dynamic Punch to counter the girl's Dragon Claw, knocking her against a tree and making her even angrier. Misty is confused that the punch didn't have its usual effect, to what Ash's Pokédex explains it's due to not making direct contact. The wild girl asks where the voice comes from, and the Pokédex pretends to be a "tree spirit". Ignoring it for now, the girl centers her attention on Poliwrath, and deducing it's a Water-type, sends out an Emolga to fight him. Emolga sends out a discharge that knocks Poliwrath out and leaves Misty paralyzed, unable to move to send another Pokémon. The wild girl is still convinced that Misty is responsible for hurting her "brother," Axew, and prepares to attack once more. When she sends her Emolga to charge, though, Psyduck intercepts her with Secret Power, knocking her away, and giving Misty enough time to reach for Staryu and Gyarados' Poké Balls, sending them out to join the fray.

Inside Hunter J's ship, Aipom accidentally triggers an alarm when she frees one of the Pokémon, the slug-like Dragon that calls itself Goomy, locking Iris' Dragonite from The Old Timeline and the rest of his kin behind metal walls and leaving Ash unable to rescue them. One of J's henchmen quickly shows up in the room with a Golbat, only to get knocked out by Charmeleon's Dragon Tail. Aipom tries to apologize for causing it, but Ash assures her they'd be found out sooner and later, and he decides to save Goomy and take him along while they escape. He quickly brings the rest of his Pokémon before getting out of the room.

In a Porta Vista juice bar, Paul has just defeated the local Gym Leader. He felt it an easy win, although at least deserved, unlike what he would have gotten from the Sensational Sisters, whom he considers a bunch of talentless bimbos. He briefly recalls his brother's Drapion being defeated by a Regirock, and he recalls that it made him decide that strength is the only thing that matters in battle, and he needs to find the strongest Pokémon for himself amongst those that are too weak and only serve as cannon fodder. He then looks at the nearby TV, currently broadcasting a re-run of the last Ever Grande Conference, showing a match between two trainers named John Archer and Tyson, though he's uninterested in them, deciding to focus on earning his own five more badges to gain access to the tournament himself.

Back with Ash, he and his Pokémon fight their way across the airship, defeating J's goons when they try to stop them. After a while, they reach a hangar full of flying machines, though unfortunately J herself is waiting there with her Salamence, Drapion and Ariados, the latter of which tries using a Spider Web to ensnare them, before Charmeleon burns it. J comments that a Pokémon that makes its own calls is a sign of bad training, which Ash quickly refutes that he doesn't need words to communicate with his Pokémon. J orders her Salamence to attack with Flamethrower, which easily overpowers Charmeleon's Ember. The rest of Ash's Pokémon quickly join with their own attacks to help, but Salamence easily overwhelms them all. Charmeleon then slams his claws against the ground, creating fiery pillars that block the Flamethrower, which Ash identifies as Fire Pledge. The attack holds out for a few seconds, but ultimately the Flamethrower wins out. Right before J orders her Pokémon to deal the finishing blow, Goomy jumps out of Ash's arms and takes them head on, before unleashing a Bide attack much to both J and Ash's shocks. The resulting explosion blasts a hole blasted through the ship and Ash and his Pokémon fall through it.

Helpless in the air as they plummet to the ground, Ash's Pokémon begin to react accordingly to the situation: Pikachu clings to Ash's leg, Pidgeotto and Butterfree desperately try not to get blown away, Aipom flails around her arms in a panic, Charmeleon furiously tries to force an evolution and Squirtle just dons his glasses and crosses his arms, unfazed. Ash notices that Goomy is out cold as a result of the explosion and doubts he can survive the fall. Suddenly, a Poké Ball, or more specifically, a Heal Ball, falls out of Ash's pocket. He desperately uses it to catch Goomy, teleporting him to Oak's lab, and then tries to focus on getting himself and his Pokémon to survive the fall. Returning Aipom, Charmeleon and Squirtle, he has Pidgeotto and Butterfree hold on to him while he focuses on the power in his eyes.

Back on the ground, the fight between Misty and the wild girl continues. Psyduck managed to get Emolga out of the picture (by falling on top of her), and while Misty and Staryu continue to engage the girl, her Gyarados is dealing with another Pokémon, which the Pokédex identified as an Excadrill. The battle however is interrupted by another explosion going off, shortly after followed by Ash descending with his Pokémon in the middle of their fight. Misty notices the glow on Ash's eyes before he touches ground and collapses in exhaustion, along with Pidgeotto and Butterfree, while Pikachu kisses the ground in relief. The wild girl suddenly stops the fighting and approaches Ash to ask him if he escaped the ship and if he saw her family. Upon grabbing him, however, the partial memory restoration does its effect on her, and the hostility ceases, which Misty takes notice of, just like it happened to her before.

In an unknown location, the Emissary reports to the Bloodliner King, informing him that Ash has proven his worth by escaping Hunter J and finding himself additional companions in a Goomy and a Dragon Heart Bloodliner. The King sees no importance in the Pokémon, but he admits the boy has an amazing luck to have crossed paths with two Heart Bloodliners. He then orders the Emissary to bring him Misty's sisters, as they can be useful to him, while keeping an eye on the boy.

Off the coast of Cerulean Cape, Hunter J finds a note from the Emissary informing her that her pay has been transferred, and she promptly reaches for her liquor cabinet, deciding to fly far from Kanto as quick as possible.

## Continuity

* First mention of John Archer and Tyson.
* First appearance of the Bloodliner King, although his identity remains unrevealed.
* It is revealed that in this timeline, Porta Vista has a Gym of its own.

## Characters

### Humans

* Jessie
* James
* Iris
* Misty Waterflower
* Ash Ketchum
* Hunter J's Goons
* Paul
* Hunter J
* Bloodline Emissary
* The Bloodline King

### Pokémon

* Meowth (Team Rocket)
* Koffing (James')
* Growlithe (James')
* Carnivine (James')
* Yamask (James')
* Inkay (James')
* Psyduck (Misty's)
* Poliwrath (Misty's)
* Emolga (Iris')
* Staryu (Misty's)
* Gyarados (Misty's)
* Dragonite (Wild)
* Goomy (Ash's)
* Pikachu (Ash's)
* Charmeleon (Ash's)
* Aipom (Ash's)
* Golbat (Hunter J's Goon's)
* Drapion (Reggie's; memory)
* Regirock (Brandon's; memory)
* Hoppip (Picture)
* Sceptile (Tyson's; video)
* Gardevoir (John Archer's; video)
* Ninjask (John Archer's; picture)
* Shedinja (John Archer's; picture)
* Probopass (John Archer's; picture)
* Altaria (John Archer's; picture)
* Flygon (John Archer's; picture)
* Hariyama (Tyson's; picture)
* Donphan (Tyson's; picture)
* Shiftry (Tyson's; picture)
* Metagross (Tyson's; picture)
* Butterfree (Ash's)
* Squirtle (Ash's)
* Pidgeotto (Ash's)
* Salamence (Hunter J's)
* Drapion (Hunter J's)
* Ariados (Hunter J's)
* Excadrill (Iris')
* Axew (Iris')

## Trivia

* This chapter has been released under two slightly different titles on different platforms.
	+ "Escape the Hunter, Misty vs Iris" on FanFiction.net.
	+ "Escape the Hunter's Trap: Misty vs Iris" on archiveofourown.org and royalroad.com.