Well, I've finally finished the next chapter! And, to let you know, I'm going to be very cheap and start using teasers for upcoming chapters... but there'll be something else, too! You can see it at the end of this chapter! Okay, here we go!


What Dreams Are Made Of


Chapter 7


After about a week at sea, the ship reached a port on the way to Africa. “We are now docking in Madagascar. If you are leaving the ship, please bring your room’s Card Key with you so that we can identify you when you re-board. Also, be wary of wild Pokémon! Unless you are an experienced trainer, avoid them! They may look harmless, but they can be extremely dangerous! Have a nice stay in Madagascar, and please remember to be back on board by 2:30 this afternoon! Re-boarding will end at that time, and we will not be able to let you back on after that! Remember, be back by 2:30!”

“Well, I am not leaving this room until we leave. I don’t want to have another fiasco like we had when the ship was leaving Pallet!” Ash was serious. He’d never had to run that hard before in his life! And if he got stuck in Madagascar, he didn’t know what he’d do! There wasn’t even a Pokémon Gym on that island country!

“Okay, Ash, but you’ll be missing a chance to catch lots of Pokémon that we’ve never even seen before! …Ash?” The rising star of the Pokémon world was out the door and flying down the halls to catch even more!

When Ash got to the exiting ramp, very few people had made it down there. Most of the passengers were just tourists who were leisurely taking their time. However…

“Okay, Mr. Oak! Be sure to be back on by 2:30!”

“I’ll be back! Don’t you worry! I’ll catch all the Pokémon here before lunch!”

“Okay, sir!” the attendant giggled. She’d never seen anyone with so much enthusiasm, not even a Pokémon trainer! “Have a nice day!” However, she was about to meet someone even more “enthusiastic” than Gary Oak!

A streak of white rushed toward the gate, swiped a Card Key, and dashed off the ship. “Uh… h-have a nice day, Mr. Ketchum…”

“Okay, Pikachu, you can come with me, but NO BATTLING.” Pikachu still felt horrible (and perplexed) about his trainer’s punishment. But at least he’d get to see Africa. Come to think of it, he’d be the first of Ash’s Pokémon to have that privilege! That perked him up a bit.

“Pikachu, look over there!” Off in the distance, smoke was coming from the center of the island. “It could be a Pokémon! Come on, let’s go!” He ran off in the direction of the smoke. Pikachu followed, silently wondering what could create such heavy black smoke! He got his answer over the ship loudspeakers.

“Many centuries ago, Madagascar was created by the lava from a volcano eruption. Now, if you’ll look over towards the center of the island---” Pikachu heard a gasp, followed by pure silence.

Within an hour they had made it to the fire. Well, it wasn’t just a fire. Lava was pouring out of the ground at an increasingly quick rate, and the unstoppable force was consuming all the trees around it. Ash had only made it to the lava when he had to turn around and race away for fear of his life. The lava was pouring out faster and faster, and it was catching up to him. His shoes were beginning to melt, and Pikachu was feeling the heat just ahead of him. Just before Ash would have stepped in the unstoppable heat energy, he jumped into a tree along with Pikachu. But the tree didn’t hold out long against the lava, and it cracked and started to fall into the pure heat energy. Ash and Pikachu looked down, knowing their demise was at hand. And then they saw something that blew their minds. A white light emanated from the liquid heat, and just as they plunged into it, they landed with a very hard crash – onto cooled lava.

“How… how in the heck… lava can’t cool that fast… Pikachu, did you do something?”

“Pika pi pikachu, pika pi chu!” (No, I didn’t do anything, but I think that might’ve!) Ash whirled around to see something he knew he had seen before. Twice, in fact, although the first time it wasn’t really real.

When Ash was first starting in the Johto League, his mom seemed to be kidnapped by a legendary Pokémon known as Entei. But Ash later found out that Unown, an ancient Pokémon, actually created a fake Entei to capture his mother. Ash was finally able to free his mother, but only after Entei nearly killed him and his Pokémon in a battle.

The second time Ash witnessed Entei’s appearance was also in Johto, but that time it was the real thing. He saw Entei in an area of hot springs, being defended by some of the protectors of it and the springs.

It appeared Entei was back, and had caused the volcano to re-erupt. But why would it cool the lava it had released?

“You… you had mercy on me because you’ve seen me before, right? And because you know I’m not evil, right?”

Entei gave a growl of recognition. However, it seemed to want something else, too. Ash stood back for a moment, trying to comprehend its cryptic movements.

“It wants ta battle ya, twerp.”

Ash spun around. He couldn’t have been more surprised at what he saw. Jessie, James, and Meowth, out of uniform and not about to try to capture Pikachu!

“I thought everyone in Team Rocket had been captured! …Well, except for Giovanni.”

James smiled. “You know, there are some benefits to being thrown out of Team Rocket, wouldn’t ya say, Jess?”

“Yes, it is a true blessing that we were thrown out right before the police tracked them down. They thought we wouldn’t be able to do anything, in or out of Team Rocket, and now we’re standing face to face with a legendary Pokémon!”

“So go get ‘im, twerp!”

Ash sighed. He’d never get used to Team Rocket actually being on his side, or Meowth continually calling him “twerp”. But there were more important issues at hand now.

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Next time on What Dreams Are Made Of:


The battle begins, and Entei is brutal!

Entei shot a Fire Blast right back at Feraligatr, severely burning his entire body. Entei may have had mercy by saving Ash’s life, but it wasn’t just going to let him catch it.

Ash tries a desperate gamble...

“WHAAAT?!” The trio of villains was dumbfounded. If Noctowl wasn’t attacking, it’d be a sitting duck!

And what's up with Team Rocket?

They were in too much pain to say anything, so they just whimpered, lying there on the ground.

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Not in our next issue:


Misty's water Pokémon save the day!

Staryu enveloped Entei in a torrent of water, bringing it into the ground.

Brock turns to the dark side!

Brock slowly punched the buttons on the phone, knowing full well who was going to answer.

And Ash learns not to piss off Misty!

The bite had taken out a piece of his arm, sending blood gushing everywhere. Ash looked in shock at his attacker, who simply glared back.

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Well, I hope you liked it! I'm surprised that nobody realized that Madagascar really was created from a volcano eruption, which would have instantly given them the answer as to the "big change" that was coming! This will be more of a transition than it will initially seem! And I got the idea of "Not in our next issue" from a magazine I get that has that very same thing. I hope you enjoyed it, and I'm sorry for keeping you waiting for so long! Comments are appreciated! Thanks for reading!