Ta-da! Chapter 2! Enjoy!
IMPORTANT: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM! ... or do I? Nope, I checked.
Life is a long harsh journey, feasting on its victims like children at a candy shop. Every step it forces you to take is yours alone; however to become great, you must first slap life by the balls and say, "Fuck you! I'm gonna fucking fly!" Nobody understands this better than Ash Ketchum. Born and raised in Pallet Town, he has grown from a young naive kid into...well- an older naive kid. But older nonetheless. And even though he never realized it before, after stepping foot into the largest Pokemon Stadium known to man, he smiles and says, "This is where I belong." He hears a snicker.
"Don't kid yourself."
Delaying not even the slightest second, Ash turns around. There isn't any mistaking that voice. It's an awful voice, and it makes him sick thinking about it. "Gary," he snarls, "What are you doing here?"
He starts laughing the laugh that always makes Ash cringe, "Why do you think shit-for-brains? I'm here for the ceremony starting in thirty minutes," he smirks devilishly and folds his arms, "What are you doing here, Ashy-boy? Come to soak in the view before you're sent packin'?"
Glaring deep resentment into the eyes of his rival, Ash stiffens up and clenches his bony hands into rigid, white knuckled fists. One more word and that's it; Gary is a dead man.
Unfazed by the death-scowl Ash is giving him, Gary continues to poke fun, "I bet even your mom is surprised you made it this far. Man, she's gonna be disappointed... or maybe not. You aren't even worth being disappointed over, -you're that much of a loser."
By now, Ash is trembling under his irritation. He doesn't know whether to attack him or just let it go. What happens if a trainer beats the snot out of another trainer? Jail? Being kicked out of the Pokemon League forever? Whatever it is, Ash doesn't wanna find out. "You know, Gary," he says; coming up beside him, he stares blankly into his eyes, "I'm gonna win this, and then I'm gonna shove my trophy all in your ugly face," he knocks him aside, "Bitch," and scurries out like a frightened gazelle.
Standing stunned in the stadium, Gary flashes a few quick blinks before realizing what just happened, but under the perplexity of how it happened, that's all he does, blinks.
'I showed him.' Ash checks behind himself to make sure Gary isn't following, and seeing that he isn't, slows down. Damn Gary. He continues heading up towards the Pokemon Center at a fairly brisk pace. Hopefully by now, his Pokemon are well rested; he's really missing Pikachu. It's boring without the little rascal around. In fact, he misses all his Pokemon. They're like a family to him -a great, big, slightly strange family. And with Gary constantly breathing down his neck, they're also good backup. Speaking of backup, where on Earth are Brock and Misty?
=0=
Two words: Ice Cream. The delicious cream in the form of icy goodness. And according to Brock, "The best damn thing in the world," he says, sitting across from Misty in an ice cream parlor. He takes a few licks from the cone chilled between his hand, "Hmm... chocolate."
"Well, you better enjoy it cause when you get done, we gotta head back to the stadium, -the ceremony, remember?" Misty points out.
"Yeah yeah, ceremony; got it," he replies in-between licks.
Misty dazes out the window beside her, casually sighing, "I hope Ash does good," she comments, thinking about her crazy friend. She can't help but worry about him.
Brock brakes from his ice cream and looks at Misty. He can tell how upset she is, "Misty listen," he says while wiping his mouth; Misty looks at him, "Ash will do great. I know it, -trust me."
She weakly smiles, "Yea I know, but I can't help it. I don't wanna see him lose."
"So what if he loses?" he asks, "As long as he tries his hardest, what more could you want?" He leans down in his chair, and proceeds licking his cone (almost finished). He'll never know why Misty worries so much. Ash will be fine. He's sure of it.
Misty rolls her eyes and giggles, "Alright, alright," she finally caves, "You're right, Brock. I shouldn't worry." She watches him devour his cone with a final munch, and stands up when he's finished licking his fingers, "Ready?" she asks.
Brock burps and stands up beside her, "Yep, let's go; hopefully it hasn't started yet." They both exit the small parlor and coolly walk down the street to the stadium. It's around seven o'clock, and the sun has started to die down -almost like a sunset. It's been cool all day, but now with the sun going down, it's getting much more chilly.
"Brr... it's cold," chats Misty, "I hate winter." She feels a chill-streak run down her spine and groans.
Brock laughs, "Well, next time get a jacket," he says, smirking. Rolling her eyes again, Misty playfully shoves him aside, "Hey what was that for?" he asks, returning beside her.
"Dunno, just felt like it," she tells him -smile the size of Texas. Brock opens his mouth to speak, but is cut off when a loud, BOOM! BAM! BOOM!, is heard coming from a nearby tree. They both stop and look to their lefts and see a kid sprawled out under a thick oak tree. He looks badly hurt.
"Oh shit!" shouts Misty, and runs over to aid the boy. Brock follows. Arriving at the crash site, Misty squats down beside him, "Are you okay?" she asks, placing her hand gently on his back. She hears a timid groan. "Brock, help me get em' up!" she demands, and Brock obeys. He gets a hold of the boy's right arm -Misty the left- and they gradually start to lift him up. They notice dozens of scrapes and bruises all over his face and arms.
"Ow..." the boy whines, "This hurts... really bad." The two teens tuck his arms around their necks, and start to walk with him.
"What was you doing in a tree?" Brock questions. The boy doesn't answer.
"Brock! We have bigger issues right now. He's in dire need of a doctor," Misty addresses, "Poor thing, he looks terrible."
Brock grunts in agreement, "Any ideas?"
Her eye's widen, "Ugh... I think our best bet would be the Pokemon Center. I don't think there's a hospital around here."
Brock nods, "Okay, how far is it?"
"Shit... I think it's down the block," they come to the sidewalk, "This way," she says, and they head south.
=0=
Laughing, two teenagers are seen walking up the sidewalk, and after closer inspection it's Brendan and May. "So, you ready for this?" Brendan asks her.
"Hell yeah," sings May. The sun continues to set behind them in a yellowish tint, "God, where is everyone?" she asks, "It's like a ghost town." It's true; the entire sidewalk, along with every building, is empty.
"Probably at the stadium," he looks at his watch, "We got fifteen minutes 'till the ceremony starts, -seven fifteen right now."
May nods, "Yea, we got plenty of time," she says. They carry on with their path, but stop when they see three shadowy figures advance from the distance.
Brendan stops to look at May, "I think one of them's hurt." He points at the figures coming their way.
May squints her eyes, observing; she notices that the figure in the middle has its arms wrapped around the other two, "I think you're right," she says.
"Should we help them?" he asks her. Without hesitating, he already starts walking. She grabs his shoulder.
"I think they got it," she tells him.
He shakes off her grip, "I'm gonna help anyways. Go ahead and go to the stadium," he says, "It's fine."
"Whatever, Brendan," she coughs out annoyed. She leaves her friend behind and walks to the other side of the street, sidestepping the figures. Sometimes his better nature is too much for her to handle, 'Dumb Brendan, -always to the rescue.' she thinks.
"Hey!" calls out Brendan, cupping his mouth, "You guys need some help!"
"Yeah!" one of them shouts back -clearly a female. He runs full speed and manages to arrive in short time.
"What happened?" he asks, a little out of breath.
"Not sure, -think he fell from a tree," Misty informs, "Do you know where the nearest Pokemon Center is?"
Amazed of how someone could fall from a tree in such a way, Brendan replies, "Yeah, just came from it."
"Show us!" both Misty and Brock commandingly holler, scaring Brendan senseless.
"Okay okay, follow me," Brendan says, and starts to lead them onward. The boy groans in pain, and Misty stops.
"Don't worry; you'll be fine," she whispers soothingly into his ear, seeming to calm him down. She clenches her teeth, 'I hope,' and follows attentively behind Brendan. She's depending that the Pokemon Center will do something, but it's highly unlikely. She shutters thinking about, 'Please be able to help.'
=0=
"Afternoon, Mr. Ketchum." says Nurse Joy. Ash approaches the counter with a gleeful smile.
"Afternoon," he says back, "Are my Pokemon ready?"
"Hmm... let me see," she turns to the computer, "Ah yes, your Pokemon are feeling great," she says, and lends him a pass-card, "Use this to enter the room to your right. Your Pokemon will be in their Poke-balls waiting for you."
Ash accepts the card, "Thank you," he says. He at once spots the room she was talking about and walks over to its door. About to slide the card through its slot, he is stopped by a sudden barrage through the front doors.
"We got wounded!" comes a scream. Ash's eyes flare open; he knows that voice, and it's not Gary either. It's... it's...
"Misty!" he ships around, but notices Brock too, "Guys! What's wrong?" He is shocked to see a barely stabled teen in their arms.
"Not now, Ash," Misty orders, and comes up to Nurse Joy's desk, "Please, can you help us?"
Nurse Joy immediately notices the boy hanging by a thread around their necks, "Dear Lord," she gasps, "What happened?" She sees another person enter through the door.
"He fell from a tree or so I'm told," recalls Brendan, entering the facility. Brock and Misty nod.
"Goodness!" Nurse Joy almost jumps out of her skin, "We gotta call the ambulance!" She rushes to the phone and dials 911. All of their hearts start throbbing, and a dark cloud of fear spreads across them like wild fires, dark, gloomy fires.
Ash walks over to his best friends, "How'd you find him?" He looks at the boy and sees deep cuts and bruises impinging his shattered body. His brown hair is scuffled into an absolute mess, his blue jeans are with holes -along with his official Pokemon League shirt-, and his shoes are sweating mud; it's a lot for Ash to take in. He didn't even get the chance to get his Pokemon back either, bummer.
Misty tries her best to look at Ash, but can't with the boy keeping her occupied, "He just fell outta nowhere," she explains, "Brock and I was going to the stadium when boom! He falls from a tree. I did what anyone would do and helped em' out." They can hear Nurse Joy muttering on the phone in the background.
"Yeah," Brock adds, "And then we ran into that guy over there." He uses his free hand to point to Brendan, "He lead us here." Ash follows Brock's point and sees a guy standing in the corner next to the entrance. Brendan waves to him, but doesn't say anything.
"I see..." implies Ash, waving back, "But what about this guy," he returns his attention back to the matter at hand, "Is he gonna be alright?"
Misty sighs, "I don't know; I hope."
"Yes, I understand. Thank you." Nurse Joy hangs up the phone, and sighs heavily without budging, "They said they'll be here soon," she informs the five teens.
"What!" Misty shouts impatiently, "Why not now!"
Nurse Joy spins around on her heels, "Calm down!" she responds, "Bring him to the Pokemon ER, and I'll see what I can do."
"Right," Misty says, "Let's go, Brock." They begin to follow Nurse Joy into the back room, leaving both Ash and Brendan alone.
"This is not how I saw my night going," says Brendan, finding a lounge chair to sit in, "What about you, kid? You know those guys?" He is referring to Brock and Misty.
Ash moves to the chair next to Brendan and sits, "Yeah, they're my friends."
"Did you come to see the tournament?" Brendan asks, reaching down to the glass table in front of them. He picks up the current issue of, PokePalooza; Issue 9, and strums through its pages.
"Actually," Ash adjusts his hat, "I'm in it."
Brendan tosses the magazine back onto the table and gives Ash a glint of surprise, "Then why are you here? The ceremony is in-," he looks at his watch, "Five minutes!"
Ash simply wavers him off and chuckles, "Don't get so worked up; I'll be there in time for the tournament, -that's all I care about."
Brendan shakes his head, "Yeah, but the ceremony is crucial. It's tradition, man."
Ash slouches into his chair, locking his hands behind his head, "Oh well, -not much into tradition."
Brendan can't help but to laugh, "Alright whatever, -doesn't matter to me." A few minutes pass.
After awhile, Ash finally feels obligated to ask something, "What about you?" he shifts back up in his chair, "You a trainer?"
Brendan shrugs, "I guess... I mean, I gotta few Pokemon," he motions to his bag, "Their Poke-balls are in here," he says.
"Sweet," Ash replies. It's always cool to meet a new trainer. Especially one who isn't a fighting lunatic -only cares about fighting. Just a cool guy and his Pokemon having adventures together. Nuff' said.
"Anyways," Brendan stands up, "I need to get going," he looks outside the window, "It's getting dark, and the ceremony's probably started by now." He offers his hand to Ash, "It was nice to meet you-"
"Ash Ketchum," Ash answers, shaking his hand.
"Right, -Brendan." The two then depart, and Brendan exits the building.
When Brendan shuts the door out, Ash sighs and stands up, "Better go check on Misty and them," he says, and follows their trail. He enters the emergency room and sees them all huddled around the injured boy, who's unmoving in the hospital bed.
"Quick!" shouts Nurse Joy, referring to Brock, "Hand me that wet sponge," she points over to the tray next to the bed. Brock doesn't hesitate.
"Here," he says, handing the dripping sponge over to her. She immediately starts dabbing it against her patient's wounds, cleaning them.
"Is he going to be okay?" asks Misty with a shaky voice.
"I don't know," responds Nurse Joy still cleaning his wounds, "If the ambulance will hurry up and get here."
"How long did they say?" interrupts Ash, coming up beside Misty.
"Soon," answers Nurse Joy, "That's all they told me." More time passes and nothing else is said -what was supposed to be a great night has turned into a nightmare. Nurse Joy continues to endure cleaning his wounds with the wet sponge, but begins to turn red in the face, "Where is the ambulance! I'm a Pokemon nurse not a human one, -I don't have the tools for this." Just as she says that, they hear loud sirens buzzing from outside.
Misty rushes out the door of the emergency room, chanting, "They're here! They're here!" Brock and Ash follow quickly behind. They burst through the front doors and see blinding lights of blue and red searing the darkness. They see a pair of paramedics exit the ambulance, rush to the back, and roll out a stretcher.
Misty waves to them, "Over here! Come quick!" she shouts over the loud siren. They respond instantly, bringing the stretcher up to the entrance.
"Show us," one demands. He didn't have to tell her twice. Misty urgently pushes open the door, and helps them through with the stretcher.
Once everyone is inside, Misty motions them forward, "This way!" she says. They all follow her. "Nurse Joy they're here!" Misty shouts, whamming open the emergency room's door. It startles Nurse Joy for a second, but then she realizes who's behind Misty, and moves out of the way so they can do their job.
"Rack em' and stack em'," says one paramedic to the other, and they stroll the stretcher beside the boy, breaking off -one carefully supports the boy's upper half and the other takes control of the legs-, "One, two, lift!" they say together, switching the boy onto the stretcher, strapping him in. And without a moment to spare, they rush out of the emergency room with Misty, Ash, Brock, and Nurse Joy all following in a jumbled line.
They arrive outside, and all anyone can see are the blue and red lights shining from the ambulance. It's dark, cold, and everything Misty hates about winter. The three friends -and Nurse Joy- watch as one of the paramedics swings open the ambulance's back door. He runs back to the stretcher, "Ready?" he asks, looking at his partner. His partner nods. "One, two, lift!" Both men lift with all their might, and eventually manage to heave the stretcher back into the ambulance. One hops into the back and shuts the door, while the other pulls to the front, opening its door.
"Please, take care of him!" Misty shouts. The man nods and enters the ambulance. He drives off within seconds. They watch until the lights eventually fade; all is quite. Not exactly the way Ash was wanting to start his Pokemon League Championship, but at least he has a story to tell.
They all walk back inside. Nurse Joy goes back to her duties behind the counter, Misty stumbles into a lounge chair to recollect herself, and Brock dives into a nearby vending machine for a snack (or three). Leaving Ash with one thing: To get his Pokemon. He checks his pocket -the card is still there- and walks back over to the door, and slides the card between its slot. The light clicks green, and he opens the door.
Stepping in, he sees dozens of large containers consisting of Poke-balls, each one having a name above it. He then looks through every isle, but can't find his. Getting annoyed, Ash checks all of them one more time, but still sees nothing. He walks out of the room and starts at Nurse Joy, "Um... I looked, but mine isn't there." He looks at the clock hanging on the wall behind the counter, it reads: 7:42 p.m. "And I gotta get to the stadium for the first round," he tells her.
She gives off an outlandish look, "That's weird," she says, "I remember putting yours in there."
Ash shakes his head, "Well, they're not."
Nurse Joy sighs and walks from behind the counter, "This could be trouble," she says.
Psssh!Boom!Brimm! The two freeze as they hear loud clashes coming from the kitchen area. It spooks Misty and she jumps from her chair, "What was that?" she asks.
Brock walks over to her, dumping a few bags of chips onto the glass table, "I heard it too," he says.
"We better go check it out," concludes Ash, and starts heading towards- whatever it is. They all follow behind him.
They enter a small cooking area -a few stoves, microwaves, some pots and utensils, and a counter- but there isn't any sign of what happened. Until, they hear a shriek from within the lobby, "Meowth, shut up! Do you want the brats to hear you!" Naturally, all four run out to see what's going on, and not to their surprise, it's Team Rocket trying to pull a fast one.
Ash notices that James is carrying a large sack on his back, and it doesn't take a genius to know what's in it: Poke-balls. Or more specifically, his Poke-balls. "Stop right there ya crooks!" Ash calls out. The not-so-sly Team Rocket stops in their tracks.
"Oh great..." Jessie moans, "It's the brats," she looks evilly at Meowth, "This is all your fault, -I told you to shut up."
Meowth waves his hands innocently, "Hey don't blame me; you're the one whose gotten's us into trouble, and-" Jessie pummels him into the ground before he says any more.
"I said shut up!" she barks, holding a fist threateningly at Meowth. He meows in pain.
"Ugh... Jessie?" James taps on her shoulder.
She glares at him, "What is it!" she screams. He points warily at the brats, "Oh right, sorry about that," she apologizes.
"It's quite alright, Jessie," says James, giving her a signal, "Ready?"
"Quite," she replies. They take their stances, "Prepare for trouble," Jessie says.
"And make it double," James adds.
Jessie jumps onto the counter, "To protect the world from devastation."
James jumps up beside her, crossing his arms, "To unite all peoples within our nation."
Panning back to Jessie, she says, "To denounce the evils of truth and love."
Now James, "To extend our reach to the stars above."
"Jessie."
"Hmm James."
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!" she says.
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!" Silence. "Meowth?" asks James; no response. They look around and see the fuzzball laying flat on the floor. If this was a cartoon, they might actually see birds chirping over his kitty head. James looks over to Jessie, "Why did you have to hit him so hard?" he asks.
She shrugs, "It felt good," she replies, jumping down from the counter. James does too. When they're down, they notice that the brats are missing, and so is the bag! "James, what did you do with the bag?" she asks.
"I- uh... placed it down while we was doing our motto," he confesses, regretting it instantly.
"You idiot!" she slams her fist hard against his noggin, "They took it!"
Rubbing his pulsating head, James stumbles with his balance, "Why did you have to hit me so hard?" He falls over unconscious, landing on Meowth.
"Meowth!"
Jessie grovels in her annoyance, "Idiots," she spits out. She then picks up the two dunderheads and walks out before the police arrive.
=0=
It wasn't too challenging to retrieve the bag. In fact, it was too easy. Ash, Misty, and Brock wave goodbye to Nurse Joy as they walk down the darkened street -their only light source are the light poles- "Are you sure you don't wanna us to take care of Team Rocket?" Ash asks, turning around.
"Pika Pi!" adds Pikachu with fire burning in its small, raisin eyes. It's wanting some action after being in a Poke-ball for so long.
Nurse Joy shakes her head, "It's fine!" she responds, "You guys need to go to the tournament, and I doubt they're still there!" They can't argue with that logic. It's not like Team Rocket to stay in one place for too long. Also, the tournament starts in ten minutes, leaving just enough time for Ash to get there. It doesn't take long for him to decide.
"Alright!" Ash shouts, "Thanks for the help and everything!" Now accompanied with Pikachu on his shoulder, Ash, Misty, and Brock carry on to the stadium.
=0=
Loud sirens are heard throughout several homes as an ambulance passes by. Its flashing lights glow, alerting cars to move out of its way. Taking sudden turns and shortcuts, the ambulance is carrying a very injured teen, and there isn't any room for slacking.
Bump after bump, a paramedic stays sitting beside the teenager, keeping him under control. "You're gonna be fine," he assures him, "We're almost there."
The boy tries his best to smile, but it hurts too much. Instead, he forces a blink, "Thank you," he gasps out. His breaths are slow and shallow -anything more and it stings like a pack of needles.
The paramedic warmly smiles when the boy can't, "If it's not too much, -what's your name?"
Chokingly, the boy takes a small breath to answer, "C...Cyan..." The last thing he remembers before blacking out: the man's smile, but besides that, everything else is lost in darkness. Lonely darkness...