Disclaimer: Pokemon and co. doesn't belong to me . . . . blah blah blah . . . Author's Notes: Well, what can I say? There isn't much to tell. At first I wrote Guardian Angel as a one shot, but after a few days of thinking about it I decided to take the next step and write this as a series. My fic Forever is currently on hold, suggestions for that one would be Greatly appreciated! Enjoy! Ketchum: The Journey Continues Race To The Finish! Chapter 15 ~~~~~~Musashi's POV~~~~~~ This has to be a record or something. We've been lost for three weeks now and there are practically no trainers to fight! The only pokemon we've seen so far are mainly Spearows and Bugs. "You got us into this mess Satoshi, and I expect you to get us out of it!" I snapped to him. Inferno looked at me with disapproval on his face but didn't do anything. I've learned now that the occasional snapping remark is okay, but he'll take action if I pull out my paper fan or mallet. Satoshi closed his eyes and sighed before looking at the map. "Ok . . . according to this there should be a small town just over that ridge." "We'll never make it before night fall you know." I told him flatly. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He seemed to be dealing with some sort of inner demon. I realize that if Inferno's not around he doesn't sleep well at all . . . there's so much more to Satoshi than meets the eye. We continued walking to the village in silence. When we got there we saw a poster for the Annual Pokemon Challenge Race, the winner would be an honorary member of the infamous Big P Ranch! "Oh! I'm definitely entering!" I squealed happily. I'd ride Nidorina! To my left Satoshi sighed again. "Wish I could but none of my pokemon could carry my weight. And you're not allowed to ride a Flying type." Oh man, he was right! Poor Satoshi . . . ~~~~~~Inferno's POV~~~~~~ Poor guy, he really wanted to race and we both knew I wouldn't stand a chance. He wouldn't risk Dragonair in such a public view, our Rocket problem was bad enough as it was. I followed them to the Pokemon Centre, Meowth was telling Musashi the story of when Satoshi's father rode in the race. Clefairy was singing some silly little song in Satoshi's arms. Well well, perhaps Clefairy knows her Sing attack and possibly Pound. Satoshi gave everyone to Nurse Joy along with Musashi's pokemon. While they were all being rejuvenated he began making dinner for everyone. I smiled, Satoshi's just too good to us. Once Nurse Joy handed them over he released everyone and they all stampeded toward their bowls, including me I must admit. "Okay everyone, I'm gonna take a shower. Stay out of trouble!" *We will.* Came our reply around full mouths. I thought about Satoshi's problem, he really wanted to race. Not for the prize but for the challenge and the fun. I wish there was something I could do . . . Hold it, maybe not me but perhaps Rattata could do something about it . . . *Hey Rattata, there's this really big race tomorrow and Satoshi want's to enter but he can't ride any of us. Flying types aren't allowed. If you evolved he could ride you.* He paused in his eating. *I'm not really that fast, even if I evolved I wouldn't stand a chance of winning.* *Oh please! You should know how he is by now! He doesn't care if he wins or not, he just likes the challenge!* Pidgeotto said as he cleaned out his bowl. *I like the way I am though . . .* I realized the pressure we were putting on him. *Look, it's your choice. Don't feel you have to do it.* He smiled gratefully at me as he finished his food. He laid down and closed his eyes. Rattata was definitely thinking about it. I closed my eyes and smiled, imagining the look on Satoshi's face if Rattata did decide to do this. I understood that he wanted to remain as he was though, I'm sure he's thinking that if he evolved he wouldn't be polite anymore and he didn't want to be rude to Satoshi. Thinking of which, Satoshi came in still towelling his hair dry. I choked back a laugh when he removed the towel and I saw his hair sticking up everywhere. Of course everyone else had no such restraint and began laughing, hard. Satoshi watched them for a minute before he began chuckling too. Weepinbell did something that was beginning to get predictable but no less funny, he made a leap for Satoshi's head. "Not this time buddy!" He said as he caught Weepinbell. *But I really like you!* "There's other ways of showing someone you like them pal." He laughed as he gave Weepinbell a hug. *Excuse me, Satoshi?* Rattata said as he gently tugged Satoshi's pants. Has he made his decision already? Satoshi put Weepinbell down and picked Rattata up in his hands. "What is it?" For an answer, Rattata began to evolve. ~~~~~~Satoshi's POV~~~~~~ Whoa! Rattata was evolving! Wait a minute, I was holding Rattata and that means . . . I buckled under Raticate's weight, gah he was heavy! Inferno and Raticate chuckled. (Now you can enter the Race tomorrow! You can ride me!) He said happily. A huge smile spawned all over my face. "Oh thank you Raticate! This'll be a blast!" "Welcome all to the Annual Pokemon Challenge Race sponsored by the Big P Ranch owned by the Laramie Clan! The winner of this race will become an honorary member of the Laramie Clan!" "Ugh, annoying announcer . . . You ready for this Raticate?" (You bet!) The people at the sign up desk had been quite surprised when they saw Raticate. I admit I was shocked when he had evolved. He was about a foot larger than normal Raticates and not so . . . chubby. He was all muscle. I haven't figured out why yet. After all the regulation testing they told me the rules for the Race. I watched the lights. Red . . . yellow . . . "GO RATICATE!" We were off! "Pace yourself!" I shouted to him. He twitched his ears in acknowledgement and settled into a steady pace. The woman on the Rapidash kept urging it to go faster. The leader, a Dodrio was trying to keep his lead. I shook my head, they'd be out of energy by the time they got to the finish line. The Race was two and a half miles long this year. We came up to the first obstacle, a really wide river with stones. I clutched his fur tighter as he jumped from stone to stone. The guys on a Golem and an Arcanine stopped at the edge, neither wanting to risk getting wet. We saw Musashi on Nidorina up ahead and matched their pace.At the base of a steep hill was a five pokemon pile-up! We swerved around it, losing valuable speed. Raticate dropped on all fours and used Quick Attack to get up the hill. On the peak I saw several Rockets with Tranquillizer guns! As Raticate slid down the hill I saw a Tauros go down with a tranq dart in it's flank. We stopped on a small ledge and Raticate gobbled down the food with a disgusted look on his face before going down on all fours for balance and speeding down the rest of the hill at speeds I didn't know a Raticate could manage! We reached a narrow canyon passage with various sized 'speed bumps' in it. Raticate managed to barely avoid them as he tried to catch up to a tiring Nidorina. "Satoshi! Nidorina's too tired to run anymore! Keep going!" She shouted. "You sure?" I called back. "We'll be fine! Don't worry!" I nodded and urged Raticate on, reminding him to pace himself. We hit the two mile mark, I saw only two sets of prints. A Rapidash and a Dodrio. "Last half mile! Time to kick up some dust!" (Got ya!) Raticate sped up, pouring everything he had into this last burst of speed. On the sideline I saw the Rapidash down, a tranq in it's flank. Soon I saw the finish line and the Dodrio casually cruising to it, sure of victory. That meant we could surprise them! Raticate seemed to think the same thing and actually went faster! I just hung on for dear life. He was gasping for air but he still had enough to yell 'Sucker!' at Dodrio and it's rider as we crossed the finish a mere foot ahead of them. Raticate dropped in exhaustion as soon as we stopped. "You did it Raticate! We won!" I shouted as I hugged him, he could only manage a small smile before dropping off to sleep. I picked him up and staggered over to the Winner's Circle. I didn't quite make it though, my arms were already tired from hanging onto Raticate and couldn't hold his weight. So I simply sat down cross-legged and settled him in my lap. He curled up into a ball and leaned into my stomach. Absently I stroked his fur. The woman with the Rapidash walked up to the judge that had been approaching me leading her still groggy pokemon. "Who won tha race?" She asked in a western accent. "The winner's right behind you Lara." She whirled and faced me, taking note of Raticate sleeping soundly in my lap. "Lara . . .? You're Lara Laramie?! I'd love to shake your hand but I really don't want to wake up Raticate." "You're Raticate ran a mighty fine race. I'd love to welcome you to the Laramie Clan! As an honorary member you're welcome to any pokemon on mah ranch!" (SATOSHI!!!) I whipped my head around just in time to see Inferno pick me up and hug me. "GAHHH! Inferno . . . can't . . . breathe . . ." I managed to wheeze out. He eased up on his death grip and put me down. Later, in the Pokemon Centre, I was reading to Inferno and Clefairy while Musashi was admiring her new Nidorino. We'd both agreed to take one pokemon each. I'd chosen, believe it or not, a Magikarp that was only a level or two away from evolving into Gyarados. "Prepare for trouble!" "And make it double!" "To protect the world from devastation!" "To ignite all people within our nation!" "To renounce the goodness of truth and love!" "To expand our reach to the stars above!" "Natsume!" "Kunzite!" "Team Rocket circling the solar system day and night!" "Surrender now or be beaten in the fight!" "Flare!" "Go Golem! Go Dewgong! Go Raichu!" Kunzite yelled. "Go Kadabra! Go Beedrill! Go Scyther!" Natsume screeched. Oh great, this was the last thing we needed. "I choose you, Graveller, Jigglypuff, Inferno, Pikachu, Fearow and Cubone!" "Go Ivysaur, Beedrill, Ekans, Vaporeon, Zubat and Clefairy!" "Cubone take Flareon, Jiggypuff and Graveller take Kadabra, Fearow take Beedrill and Inferno take Scyther!" I shouted. Although I hadn't anticipated Magikarp trying to help Fearow. "Magikarp Return!" "Karp." "Ivysaur, Clefairy take Dewgong! Beedrill and Vaporeon take Golem! Zubat and Ekans take Raichu!" "Heh, stupid fish!" Kunzite punted Magikarp away, I dove and caught her. "You okay Magikarp? Oh man that looks painful, let me take care of that . . ." I reached into my bag and pulled out a Super Potion along with some bandages. Only when I began putting them around her did she begin to thrash wildly. "Calm down Magikarp! Easy!" "Karp karp karpkarpkarpkarpkarpkarpkarpkarpkarpkarpkarpkarp . . . MAGI . . .KARP!" I held onto her tightly, trying to stop her from getting hurt further. A glow caught my eye, the kind of glow I'd witnessed last night . . . "GYARRRRRR!" She roared as she finished evolving. My jaw dropped. Would she be loyal? Everything stopped in mid action and looked at the most feared of Water pokemon. I held my breath and watched, barely noticing the ripped bandage laying beneath her. My eyes widened when she lowered her head to mine. I could see my reflection in her eyes. I raised my shaking hand slowly to her face and gently stroked her. Gyarados's eyes softened at my touch before she turned toward the Rockets and roared angrily. "Looks like Team Rocket's running off again!" They yelled as they recalled their pokemon and ran. "Gyarrrr . . ." She murmured softly as she gave me a little lick. "Welcome to the team Gyarados." I said as I patted her and recalled her.