Disclaimer: No ownership of Pokémon or Aladdin

Pokérabian Nights

Chapter 1: Quicksand and Trapinch

Once upon a time, a group of kids walked through a rocky mountainside. "This sucks…" mulled a raven-haired boy in glasses. He wore a green polo and shorts and held a yellow device. "The PokéNav isn't getting a signal." A tanned brunette in a brown traveling jacket studied a blue booklet through squinted eyes.

"And there's no specific landmark about Izabe Island," he warned. It made a brunette girl worried. She wore a red bandanna and tight red shirt with biker shorts. "I think we're lost here."

"You don't have to be negative about it, Brock!" she snapped.

"Sorry, May…" Leading the group was a raven-haired young man in a blue sweat-tee over a black t-shirt and jeans with a yellow mouse with black tips on its ears and a lightning bolt on its tail. The young man had a red baseball cap on his head.

"Guys, sometimes…" he started. "You don't need a PokéNav or a map to get from one place to another."

""Sure, coming from someone who constantly been getting lost."

"Brock, Ash hasn't gotten us lost at all since he came to Hoenn," the boy argued. "You got us lost a few times, May's gotten us lost at least twice… I… did once."

"Hey, be nice to May," Ash snapped back. "She's still learning…" That's when the group stumbled across a desert… but there was an oddity: many holes were among the sands. The kids gasped. "Look at that!" The bunker holes astounded the kids.

"It looks like someone made Swiss cheese out of here!" believed Brock.

"No kidding," the other raven-haired agreed. "I wonder if a Pokémon did this?"

"That or Team Rocket, Max," Ash thought as he kicked a rock into the hole. As the rock fell, an orange head with a jagged jaw popped out and ate it in one gulp. The kids were surprised.

"It's a Trapinch!" alerted Brock. The other three gawked to the name.

"A Trapinch?" repeated May as she brought out a red hand-held device and pointed it to the head. An image of an orange ant with the same head appeared. It had a body smaller than said head with a white underbelly.

"TRAPINCH, THE ANT PIT POKÉMON," it computed with a young woman's voice. "TRAPINCH ARE EXPERTS IN DIGGING SAND PITS IN EFFORTS TO SNARE PREY. THEY CAN SURVIVE WITHOUT WATER FOR A WHOLE WEEK."

The kids began to piece together the puzzle with Trapinch and the desert's condition. "That could mean there's a nest of Trapinch on Izabe Island," Brock believed.

"And that could mean more than one Trapinch to catch," Ash sneered as he grabbed a red/white ball from his waist.

"Stop!" shouted a woman. The kids turned around to find a blue-haired woman in an orange safari suit while driving up in a jeep. She stepped out to find the kids. "This place is a Pokémon Preservation Area and you're all trespassing!" Brock dashed up to the woman and held her clamped under his.

"We may have accidentally trespassed into this place," he started. "But then again, you, my diamond in the rough, have trespassed into my heart! Maybe a nice walk on the beach in order to understand each other is necessary-" He yelped when Max yanked on his earlobe.

"I think the desert heat's got to your head," he grumbled as he dragged Brock away. Ash and May took his place.

"We're sorry but we didn't know it was off-limits," she pleaded.

"Yeah, we didn't see any sign that said so," Ash added. The woman sighed.

"Well, I tried to keep signs up for that purpose, but someone keeps ripping them down," she explained. Ash looked over to the desert with no sense of a problem.

"Besides, it looks safe to walk on," he believed before stepping on sand. However, it gave way and Ash began falling over with the mouse cleared on the ground.

("Ash!") it squeaked in fear. Ash began to slide down the cone-shape hole. The woman grabbed a rope and threw a line down to Ash.

"Grab on!" she urged. Ash snatched the line where everyone pulled hum up.

"Thanks!" he gasped. Ash was back on solid ground where he sighed in relief. "How many Trapinch are in there?"

"It's hard to determine, though there's that mischievous one that keeps messing around the desert. Anyway, what are you three doing trespassing in the Trapinch Desert?"

"We're on our way to the next city so I can get my eighth badge. I'm Ash, from Pallet Town… and this is Pikachu." The mouse squeaked to greet the woman. Brock, May and Max introduced themselves.

"I'm Elisa, Pokémon Ranger in charge of Izeba Island and the Trapinch. Come, I'll get you to safety." The kids accepted before stepping in the jeep. Brock sat with May and Max while Ash and Pikachu got in the front with Elisa. "Honestly, It's been awhile since I had trainers come by so I didn't think of replacing the signs!"

"I see!" yelped Max. Suddenly, Pikachu heard something from afar.

("Over there!") he yelped. Coming through the sands was a gray elephant with a black tire-like band above its head and back charging at the jeep.

"Donphan!" alerted Ash.

"Hang on!" warned Elisa. She threw a red/white ball to the far back of the jeep. "Help me, Meganium!" The ball opened and out popped a green dinosaur with a large pink flower around its neck. "Meganium, use Sweet Scent!" Meganium shook the flower which released a pheromone that reached the Donphan. The elephant scented the pheromone and slowed down. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as another hole started to form underneath the jeep.

"That was a close call," coughed May.

"Luckily, Sweet Scent has that ability to calm raging Pokémon," realized Brock.

"But why did Donphan come right at us?" wondered Ash. Just then, the jeep's tires gave to the sudden sand pit forming below, jerking it so suddenly as Pikachu was moving to see what was forming. The impact knocked Pikachu from the seat, sending him flying.

("Oh no!") he shrieked. Ash saw the Pokémon flying off and undid his seatbelt.

"Pikachu!" he shouted as he jumped after Pikachu. Brock and Elisa saw Ash's quick escape for his Pokémon.

"Ash, no!" they called out. As Ash grabbed Pikachu from midair, they hit the dirt which gave way to another cone-shape crater. Meganium threw a vine to reach but Ash and Pikachu entered the hole in one swoop. Everyone screeched.

"ASH!" they cried out. Elisa undid her seatbelt but saw the raging Donphan and had to calm it down.

"Is that Donphan… Hal's?" she pondered. No one could understand why the Donphan was out of control or what happened to Ash and Pikachu. Somewhere else in a desert, a couple of young people flew on a purple carpet. The carpet had numerous designs all over with tassels at each corner. On it was a teenage woman in a sky-blue midriff blouse with the straps down her arms a little, baggy pants and a tiara with an oval gem. Her hair was tied in a ponytail with two bands. The other wore a purple vest, white baggy pants tied with a belt and a crimson fez hat.

"I didn't think we'd make an agreement with the king," he sighed.

"Hey, don't be like that, Aladdin," she chuckled. "I knew your ways in street smarts would find a deal with the mountainous kingdom."

"Jasmine, it takes more than being a street rat for most of your life to understand trade deals. Your father and Genie helped out as well."

"I wouldn't question how much you learned from Father, let alone what else you did in Agrabah to keep yourself and Abu alive. Speaking of which, are you sure that Abu's alright back in the palace, especially with Iago there?"

"I made a promise to bring back something if he behaved. Besides, after all the running around against Damoola and Abis Mal trying to break into the Palace, he's tuckered out."

"I heard about those." Suddenly, Carpet twisted itself around, alerting Aladdin and Jasmine.

"Carpet?" Turning a tassel into a hand, Carpet pointed down and turned itself back.

"Did Carpet see something?"

"Let's go and see it." Carpet flew down to where Ash was partially buried and his cap a foot from reach. Pikachu's nowhere to be found. Seeing the boy, Aladdin and Jasmine got worried. "Kid!" They leaped off and see his crisis.

"Aladdin, let's pull him out!"

"Right!" Each grabbed a wrist below the black fingerless gloves and pulled Ash out while still unconscious. As they freed Ash, Pikachu tumbled out as well. Jasmine saw Pikachu and picked him up.

"What's this? A sand rabbit?" Seeing the clothes, Aladdin sensed something was off.

"I don't know… The clothes he's wearing are definitely not from here." Ash didn't move, but somehow, Aladdin didn't believe it was too late. "Jasmine, let's bring them to the Palace to get some aid."

"Alright!" Carpet reached Aladdin who loaded Ash onto him while Jasmine carried Pikachu on him as well. Carpet ascended before taking off. What mystery has sent Ash and Pikachu to a desert and to a Palace with gold ornament-like towers?

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TO BE CONTINUED…