Chapter 52 - Ash to the Rescue!

Back at the battle, Rico was still in desperate while Red Eye smiled in evil style. Starly and Prinplup are still frozen, but Litleo was now close to melting down the ice that covered them, leaving Lucario as the available Pokémon for battle.

"This is so hard!" Rico thought in serious thinking. "How I supposed to beat them? No matter what, I can do this. Remember, take thy risk." Then, with full confidence, Rico seriously commanded Lucario, "Alright, Lucario, use Force Palm!" Lucario then used Force Palm, running up to Cranidos and put its palm on it. It then fires a huge light green blast from its paw, striking Cranidos very effectively.

"Vanilluxe, use Ice Beam!" the male grunt commanded Vanilluxe. Vanilluxe then used Ice Beam, striking Lucario with an icy beam of energy. But Lucario dodged it quickly with alerted speed, causing Vanilluxe to freeze a tree and the ground instead. In time, Litleo had managed to melt the ice, freeing Starly and Prinplup from the icy trap. This strategy angers Red Eye a lot, commenting while yelling in anger, "How can you outsmart me? My plan worked!"

"I think what I command coincides with Litleo's melting of the ice," Rico retorted with full confidence and style, "and I think that it's not a coincidence, but a good strategy." This angers Red Eye all the more.

"WHY YOU LITTLE KID!!!" Red Eye shouted with extreme anger. Then to his grunts, "Attack them!" And as Rico and his team getting ready to retaliate, a Water Shuriken suddenly bursted into the scene, striking Cranidos and Geodude with great power. This surprises both sides highly, with Red Eye thinking in shock, "Wait, it can't be...." Then, as the smoke clears, Ash, Serena, and their Pokémon appeared on a big rock. Upon turning around to see who gave him and his team aid, Rico said to Ash in surprise, "A-Ash! You're here!" His team then responded with surprise.

"There you are," replied Ash back while smiling in coolness, "we have been looking for you." Scratching his head in embarrassment, Rico responded, "Yeah, sorry about that. I just had my Starly back."

"You had a Starly too?" asked Ash back in confusion.

"Don't you remember I said that I had four Pokémon?" Rico asked back in response. Remembering it, Ash replied in knowing, "Oh, I remember now." His Pikachu then responded in knowing as well. But this attitude disappears when they turned back into seriousness to the battle against Red Eye.

"Why you always intervene into my plans, Ash?" Red Eye demanded an explanation.

"I don't want to let my student lost his Pokémon," Ash replied back seriously.

"S-Student?" Rico thought in mind. "What is he talking about?"

"That's it!" Red Eye retorted back in anger. "You will pay for this!" Then to his Cranidos, "Cranidos, use Zen Headbutt!" Cranidos then used Zen Headbutt, focusing its willpower to its head and rams towards them.

"Quickly, Greninja, use Water Shuriken!" Ash commanded Greninja in serious coolness. Greninja then used Water Shuriken, jumping high and forming a shuriken of water in its hand. It then tosses the shuriken at Cranidos, intercepting Cranidos' attack with great effect. Greninja then landed back in action. Because of this, Cranidos got blasted back with pain, upsetting Red Eye a lot.

"Geodude, use Rock Throw!" the female grunt commanded Geodude. Geodude then used Rock Throw, throwing Delphox and Rico's team with lots of small rocks. But Rico and Serena commanded Lucario and Delphox to use Focus Blast and Flamethrower. Together, Lucario and Delphox used Focus Blast and Flamethrower, intercepting the Rock Throw with immediate effect and strike, destroying the attack in midair.

"Ugh! You kids are so smart!" Red Eye rudely exclaimed at them.

"Heh, you think so?" replied Rico back in style. "That's because we Pokémon Trainers had the mindsets to figure out and coincide with the previous responses." Lucario and Starly then seriously responded in agreement with their beloved Trainer. In this case, Rico was a bit stylish in saying the facts, but wasn't prideful to himself nor to his enemies, another unique feature of his personality.

"Wow, that was a good one," Serena commented on Rico's sayings. Her Delphox then responded with agreement. This causes Red Eye to twitch his left eye a few times, and then got irritated, responding, "Oh, yeah, that's it! I got really enough of you!" Then to his Cranidos and grunts, "Attack them!" And when Red Eye's team is about to attack, Ash seriously said to his group, "Guys, are you ready?" Rico and others then nodded seriously in agreement.

"Now then! Greninja, use Water Shuriken!" Ash commanded his Pokémon. "And Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Lucario, use Focus Blast! Prinplup, use Hydro Pump!" Rico commanded his Pokémon. "Litleo, use Flamethrower! And Starly, use Air Cutter!"

"Delphox, use Flamethrower!" Serena commanded Delphox. Then, together as a bigger team, their Pokémon then used Water Shuriken, Thunderbolt, Focus Blast, Hydro Pump, Air Cutter, and Flamethrower together as multiple beams and ball of power, striking Red Eye's Pokémon team with great power and effect and all of these defeats them severely; even so, it created an explosion that can be heard and seen in Viridian City, and the rest of their friends had noticed this quickly.

Back at the forest, as the smoke clears fast, Red Eye's Pokémon team had fainted in defeat.

"Now, you're saying?" Ash asked him in style. Clenching his fists in anger and failure, Red Eye called his Cranidos back, so as his grunts to their Pokémon.

"I'll get you next time, Ash," Red Eye vowed in determination. "YOU'LL SEE!" He then put his Poké Ball back in his pocket, ascend up above the trees, and retreated, along with his team. It was insane, but worth it in the end. Afterwards, Rico commented, "Wow, that was amazing and combo-style battle." Lucario and Starly then responded with commentary.

"Yeah, but at least, your Pokémon is now safe and sound," Ash added brightly. His Pikachu then responded with happiness.

"Anyway, how did you get that Starly?" Ash wondered to Rico.

"And why it's not with you the whole time?" Serena added.

"Alright, I'll tell you how and why," Rico agreed to tell them about his encounter with Starly. They then all went back to Viridian City and straight to the Pokémon Center, with Rico promising to tell them his story with Starly.