Disclaimer: Do not own Pokemon
Chapter 3
A young, blue-haired girl was, for what she thought was the thirtieth, standing with her hands on her knees panting for breath. She knew she was holding up the others but she hardly cared at this point. She was younger than the other two, and if she wanted to stop and rest she damn well would.
"Ash can we PLEASE take a short break!? My legs are going to fall off if I don't sit down!
One of her companions, a boy with raven black hair, turned to face her, a stern look in his eye.
"We cant stop now Dawn! Viridian City is only a few hours away!
The final human member of this party, a much older boy with spiked hair and little squints for eyes, spoke at this.
"She's right Ash. We all need a break, the pokemon included. Your mother will still be there when we arrive."
Ash Ketchum was about to retort, but he knew Brock was right. What was the point of getting to Viridian to see his mother if he was too tired to even climb up to her room?
"Allright, a five minute break but that's all! Then we're back on the road!"
Dawn smiled happily and collapsed onto the ground, her Pilpup soon following suit.
"Chu Pika Pikapi, Pikachu Chaa!" the little yellow mouse on Ash's shoulder said which translated into Don't worry Ash. Your mom will be fine."
Ash smiled and petted the little rodent on the head.
"Thanks buddy. I needed that."
Ash then settled against a tree for a long and well deserved rest.
Misty Waterflower was more tired now than she ever had been in her life. She had been walking for what seemed liked days and it didn't look like she was any closer to Viridian City than when she first left her gym.
Her little mouse Pokemon, Azurill, was starting to get hungry and was letting her "mother" know it.
"Azurill! Azurill!" the pokemon whined and rubbed it's stomach with her paws.
Misty smiled at the little mouse and said "Ok, ok sweetie don't worry. Mommy will find a place and we'll have a nice lunch."
Misty scanned the landscape to see if she could find some sort of clearing or a meadow that would be sufficient enough for her and Azurill to rest in.
Her eyes fell upon a clearing up ahead. She started to walk towards it, and the closer she got the sounds of a river could be heard.
Oh good, I found a river Misty thought now all my pokemon can come out for a break and I can get a drink.
She walked over to the bank of the river and sat down. Azurill leaped happily form her arms and dove into the river, cooling itself off and splashing Misty with water.
Misty giggled at her pokemons antics. She was glad for her Azurill it put her in such a good mood.
Misty was about to release her pokemon from her pokeballs when a overpowering feeling of déjà vu came over her.
I know I've seen this place before She thought But where? I don't think I've ever came out here with my pokemon before, and I certainly didn't come with my sisters.
She looked around some more when she saw, on the other side of the river, a man leaning against the tree fishing from the stream. The man was clearly asleep, as he had his sunglasses on and his hat pulled way low on his face. He had his pole resting against a stick and a bell tied around the string so as to, Misty assumed, alert him when he got a bite.
Misty looked at the man and thought about how peaceful he looked. Just leaning against a tree, perfectly relaxed, not a care in the world, Misty certainly envied that. She wished she could just come out her and fish without having to worry about her gym, what irresponsible things her sisters were doing, or about a certain black-haired trainer from Pallet Town.
With a gasp, Misty finally remembered where she knew this place from, and immediately wished she hadn't.
Oh god, this is the place. She said in her head. This is where I fished him out of the river. This is where I met Ash!
Before she could stop herself, Misty began to recall that day. She remembered pulling a dirty, singed little boy out of the river, asking him how his Pikachu was doing, him stealing (and later destroying) her bike, her demanding he compensate for it, and, of course, the next four or five years spent following (and falling in love) with that same boy her destroyed her precious bike.
Misty couldn't hold back the tears any longer. She collapsed on her knees and put her face in her hands and cried for what seemed like forever. She missed him so much. And she didn't understand why he could care less that she even existed.
She realized then that something was amiss. Usually, when she started to get like this her Azurill would come and snuggle up in her arms and try to make her feel better. But she hadn't even SEEN Azurill since she got here.
"Azurill?" She called through her tears. "Where are you sweetie?"
"Looking for this?" said a raspy voice behind her.
She turned around quickly and saw the two LAST people she wanted to see.
There were two of them. A boy and a girl. The boy had green hair parted down the middle and the girl had long brown hair tied into two pigtails. They both wore black uniforms with red R's on their chest. They were none other than Butch and Cassidy of Team Rocket. And what was woose they had her Azurill locked in a cage, her little eyes wide with fear.
It was a while before Misty covered her tears and found her voice.
"You!" she screamed "I thought I could smell your stench! Give me my Azurill back now!"
The girl, Cassidy, chuckled at this.
"No little missy I don't think so. We didn't follow all the way from Cerulean City just to be reprimanded by a scrawny little runt like yourself. Now just hand over your pokemon and we'll be on our way."
"Fat chance" Misty said "The only your getting my pokemon is if you pry them from my cold, dead, fingers."
"That can be arranged." Said Butch, the male member of the team, "But the truth is we don't want to make this too messy so, would you kindly, give us that bag with your pokemon in it, and no one has to get hurt."
"Not a chance!" Misty growled "Theres no way I'm going down without a fight. Let's see how you two fair against my Gyrados."
Misty reached for her bag when a huge dog-like pokemon ran up and snatched the bag out of her hands. The dog did a 360 by the river and ran up and deposited the bag by Butch's feet.
"Good boy, Mightyena!" Butch said "And to think I thought all those games of fetch we played was a waste!"
"Give that back you creep!" Misty shrieked.
"Oh, I don't think so." said Cassidy. "In case you haven't noticed we have all your pokemon, which doesn't exactly put you in a position to tell us what to do."
Misty wanted to argue but she knew all too well they were right. Without her pokemon beside her she was powerless.
'Well, we got what we came for." Said Butch "I think it's time we made our exit."
He was about to walk out when Cassidy stopped him.
"Hold on" she said "I think I saw some other trainers in the forest somewhere. This might be our chance to nab even more Pokemon."
"Really? Well What are we waiting for? Let's go!"
He started to walk off again but Cassidy stopped him in his tracks a second time.
"No you idiot" She growled "We don't need to go to them we can make them come to us."
"Oh?" said Butch "and how do you propose we do that?"
Cassidy smiled an evil smile. "Simple" she said "Anyone responds to a damsel in distress."
Brock Slate was snoozing on the ground using a rock for a pillow. To someone who was used to a comfortable lifestyle this would be seen as extremely uncomfortable. But to an experienced traveler like Brock, this was just like a fluffy pillow, only much harder and made of granite.
Brock was a huge fan of sleeping primarily because he could just dream to his hearts content (Mostly about Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny) only in these dreams he was actually experiencing some success.
Take this dream for instance. He was at a fancy restaurant, in a tuxedo no less, and he was sitting right across from a beautiful lady with pink hair and a bright green dress.
"So Nurse Joy are you enjoying yourself?" said Dream Brock.
"Of course I am Brock. I always enjoy myself when I'm with you" said the dream Joy.
"Well, to be quite honest I can't blame you." Dream Brock said "it's not every day you can go out on a date with the worlds Best Pokemon Breeder/Professional Wrestler/Fireman/Astronaut/Kisser now is it?"
All this was too much for dream Joy "I can't stand it anymore! I love you Brock! I love everything about you from your muscular arms to your incredibly effective and flattering pick-up lines! Oh, kiss me you fool!"
Dream Brock stood up and swung dream Joy into his arms "Anything for you my sweet dandelion." he said "It's only fair to warn you, you may lose a lot of breath."
They both leaned into each other to prepare for the kiss. Their lips were centimeters apart. Nothing could stop them now. They were in it for the long haul. Just then dream Joy stopped in mid-kiss and let out a bloodcurdling scream.
Brock shot up from his sleeping position like a rocket.
He jumped up onto his feet (which since he was still 3/4ths asleep probably wasn't a good idea) and fell right back on the ground.
On his second try Brock got onto his feet and looked around dumbly trying to decide if he had, in fact, heard a scream.
What on Earth was that? Brock thought Certainly, there's no pokemon that makes that sound.
His first inkling was to wake up Ash, but he almost immediately thought better of it.
Am I even sure I heard anything? Brock thought again to himself I was dreaming after all and I guess I could've imagined it.
After standing completely still for a few moments with nothing but total silence coming to his ears Brock decided that he imagined the noise and decided to return to sleep.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
"I don't think there's anyone out there, Cassidy." Said Butch, impatience ringing in his voice. "I'm sure those losers would've come running by now."
Cassidy turned on her partner with contempt.
"I know they're out there, you dolt, I heard them!" she yelled. "Maybe they just need more motivation."
Cassidy looked at the machine she held in her hand. It was sort of like a taser, and it was used by Tauros trainers in the Safari Zone to get the big, bull-like, pokemon to focus on the training more. On a low setting it only delivered a small, slightly painful, shock. But turned up all the way it could generate a enough electricity to fry skin.
Cassidy turned the dial up even further than she had it, and stared at the girl before her.
Misty was kneeling on the ground with her hands tied behind her back with s black cord. She was forced on the ground by Butch, one of his hands firmly squezzing the back of her neck the other covering her mouth. She wore a look of pure hatred mixed with fear on her face.
Cassidy grinned at her evilly.
"Brace yourself" she said. "You may feel a slight pinch.
Misty closed her eyes and cringed as she waited for the machine to come in contact with her body. The seconds ticked on like hours until the point of the machine finally found its mark.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!"
This time, Brock was on his feet on his first try and he wasn't alone. Ash and Dawn had also awoken to the scream. The events that followed consisted of Ash, Brock, and Pikachu screaming in unison and equal confusion
"What in the world..?!"
"Hey, what was that?"
"Somebody's in trouble!"
"Pi Pikachu!"
"We're all gonna die!"
During all this commotion, Dawn walked over to a rock in the middle of a clearing. When she got to the rock she hoisted herself on top of it, turned to face her confused and aimless companions, cleared her throat, and bellowed "QUIET!!"
The running around and screaming stopped immediately.
"What are you guys doing!?" she said "While you guys are over there doing something out of a Benny Hill routine there's someone, somewhere who could be in legitimate trouble!"
Brock and Ash both stopped in their tracks.
"You're right." Ash said "Whoever just screamed needs our help, and we cant waste any time! You coming Pikachu?"
"Pi" The little pokemon replied enthusiastically.
"Then lets go!"
Ash then turned on his heel and ran in the direction the scream came from with Pikachu fast on his heels.
Brock and Dawn stood in place and sweatdropped as they watched Ash run off into the distance
"he certainly rushes into things, doesn't he?" dawn quipped.
"Tell me about it." Said Brock
They both stood there for a few moments longer before they realized they had been left behind.
"Hey, wait for us!!" They cried in unison, and ran after Ash into the forest.
Ash Ketchum ran into the direction of the scream until he could no longer feel his legs underneath him.
He finally slowed to a stop at the edge of a stream so he could catch his breath.
"Geez (pant) Pikachu (pant) you'd think we (pant) would've been there by now." He said.
"Pika" the small pokemon replied.
Then as quickly as it had left, Ash's determination flooded back into him.
"Aw, we cant wait around Pikachu, someone could be hurt!" he said "Come on lets go!"
Ash sped off again down the river. Pikachu was just about to follow when something caught it's eye. There, lying against a tree was a vague outline of a human. The figure was slumped against a tree.
"Pikapi, Pikachu!"
Ash turned around with a start.
"Huh? What is it Pikachu?"
"Pika!" The little pokemon and pointed to the motionless figure over by the tree.
Ash looked in the direction that Pikachu was pointing and, almost like a reflex, his hero sense kicked into full gear.
"It's a girl!" he exclaimed, already headed in the direction of the mysterious figure. "We've got to help her!" Pikachu was only to ready to jump into the chase himself.
Going full speed Ash hurtled toward the mystery girl ahead. In the distance he could hear Brock and Dawn calling out for him, but he knew there was no time for that now. This girl could be seriously injured and he knew he didn't have any time to waste.
As he got closer to girl, a sense of knowing crept into his consciousness. It was like the closer he got to this person, the more comfortable he felt approaching her, like she was an old friend or something….
As soon as this thought crossed Ash's mind he stopped in his tracks, fearful that his heart would give out. Ash DID know that girl that was sitting against the tree.
No.
Not sitting.
The girl was bound against the tree with thin wire, her hands wrung tightly behind her back in such a way that it was surely cutting off circulation. Her feet were also bound together in a similar fashion, tightly around the ankles and lying parallel to the girl's body. A red piece of cloth was stuffed painfully into her mouth, and her fiery red hair, usually tied in a ponytail, was now lying disheveled across her face. Her bright cerulean eyes that were usually filled with passion and determination were now brimming with tears to complement the look of pure terror on the young girls face.
Yes, Ash knew this girl. He knew her very well. He could remember the countless nights they had camped together in regions all over the world. He could remember all the times she cheered him on, along with the times she brought him down. He remembered this girl as though he had just seen her yesterday instead of however many months ago it was since they had last met.
The girl that lay tied up before him was Misty Waterflower.
All of Ash's instincts were screaming to go and help his best friend but his legs remained rooted to the spot. He had never so shocked in his whole life than he was at that moment. Misty had always so tough and strong, and to see her, now, pitiful and terrified bound against a tree was more than Ash Ketchum ever thought he was capable of witnessing.
Misty looked at him then, and her eyes widened in shock. She remained that way for a few moments before she started struggling like mad against her binds grunting furiously trying to get the piece of cloth off of her mouth.
This sudden burst of activity instantly woke Ash from his trance.
"Wahh Misty!" he shouted.
"Mmmph, gmmmph!" was the only sound the redhead could make in reply.
"Hang on Misty! I'll get you out of there!"
Ash ran towards the captive girl and knelt down in front of her.
"it's all right Misty, I'm here." He said "I'll get you out of here.
Gently he removed the gag from Misty's mouth, and immediately she choked out at him.
"Ash run!" She screamed "It's a trap!"
Before Ash could react to this warning he heard a loud sound like a jet plane taking off and felt an intense pain in his lower back.
"Aaaarghhh!" Ash screamed and tried to whirl around on the spot. The only problem was his whole body seemed to have seized up and he couldn't move a muscle. A shocked sounding "Pika!" beside him told him that whatever happened to him had also happened to Pikachu.
"Well, well, well" said a voice from behind him "looks like we may caught something after all."
Ash didn't have to turn around to see who the voice belonged too. He could tell it came from Cassidy, a Team Rocket member, which could only mean that her partner, Butch, was somewhere near. Ash tried to turn around to retaliate but no part of his body was able to move, save for his eyes.
"My, my, my, you're awfully stiff" Cassidy said and cackled. "Like our new toys? They're that latest in Team Rocket technology."
"It's a special kind of ray gun that sends a shock wave through your nervous system. It paralyzes all of your nerve endings, so you, little boy, are stuck where you are until your little "shock" wears off.
"And by that time.." said another which could only belong to Cassidy's partner Butch, "…we'll have made with every single pokemon in your collection!"
"About time you got back here" Cassidy said to Butch "What kept you, anyway?"
"Sorry, but these two are heavy!" he objected "It was like carrying 300+ pounds of dead weight!"
Ash heard two thuds beside him which he knew to be the paralyzed forms of Brock and Dawn beside him.
"Well that takes care of that." said Butch dusting off his hands. "Let's round up there pokemon and be on our way. What should we do with the little rugrats here?"
"There's nothing we need to do" Said Cassidy. "By the time they can move again we'll be long gone!"
Butch grunted in agreement and walked over to the spot where Pikachu lay immobilized.
"All right you little rat" he said. "You're coming with uncle Butchy. Now get in the cage!"
Butch picked up the utterly helpless Pikachu and stuffed in a very small cage and closed the door. "It's about SOMEbody caught this thing" he quipped.
"You're disgusting!" said Misty who had remained quiet until now. "You can't catch any pokemon yourself, so you have to go around stealing it from other trainers! You're pathetic! You losers won't get away with taking our pokemon!"
Cassidy flushed. "Shut your mouth, you stupid little brat!" she screeched. "If you haven't noticed we aren't those losers Jesse and James that you're used to. We actually get the job done!"
"And how, exactly, do you expect to stop us?" asked Butch. "We're in the middle of a forest, and you and you're friends are a bit incapacitated. Face it, you little twerp, we've won! Now, say goodbye to your pokemon."
"Excuse me" said a voice from a little ways behind them. "Call me crazy, but is everything all right here?"
Everyone who was not completely paralyzed spun around to see who the person speaking was. Misty recognized the man standing before them as they man she had seen fishing in the stream, before she had been tied and gagged to a tree of course.
He was a tall, muscular, boy of about nineteen. He wore a plain white shirt and faded blue jeans with some simple hiking boots to top it all off. He had a thin stream of facial hair that spanned his entire jaw line and went up to meet the bottom of his lip. The color of his eyes couldn't be seen due the pair of sunglasses he was wearing.
"Maybe I'm just ignorant to the customs of this region" the stranger said running his hand through his snow-white hair. "But where I come, if I see two people in matching uniforms tie a young girl to a tree, shoot her friends in the back with some taser gun, and then forcibly stuff there immobilized pokemon into uncomfortable looking cages, that usually something may be amiss."
Cassidy, recovering from the shock of the sudden appearance of the stranger, rounded on him "This is none of your business!"
"Yeah!" Butch yelled "Now, why don't you get out of here before we have to hurt you!"
The stranger smirked. "Okay, now I'm nearly POSITIVE there is something rotten in Denmark." The stranger ran his fingers through his hair once more and made his way to where the two pokemon thieves were standing. He positioned himself about five yards away from and spoke: "Look" he said "normally I try to stay out of other trainers affairs and follow my own path, but this is a bit crossing the line. I'm afraid that I cannot, in good conscience, let you steal pokemon from these kids. So I am going to ask you, kindly, to untie that poor girl, fix whatever you did to these three, return there pokemon, and leave without so much as a hateful comment, and I won't to have to send you to the nearest pokemon center with several injuries and not a scrap of dignity." The stranger paused and smiled to show several white teeth, "So…how does that sound?"
There was silence for a moment, a silence that was soon broken by the laughter of Butch and Cassidy.
The stranger just raised an eyebrow at the laughing duo and stood there silently.
Misty stared in awe at this strange man who had seemingly come to their rescue. Even though he had virtually NO means of dealing with the two thieves he seemed insanely confident.
She looked down at Ash who, as were Brock and Dawn, utterly motionless and unable to talk, but she knew that if he were he would be yelling at the stranger to mind his own business, as his pride would never have allowed him to accept help from anyone. She starred longingly at his raven-colored hair wanting nothing more than to stroke it and tell him that it was going to be all right. She wanted to tell him that this man, whoever he was, was going to save them and Pikachu and send Team Rocket blasting off where they belonged.
At least, that is what she sincerely hoped.
After Butch and Cassidy had recomposed themselves they had returned to their signature, intimidating, pose.
"Well, you were good for a laugh kid, but I think it's time you were taught a lesson in staying out of others affairs." said Cassidy as she reached for her belt. She withdrew a pokeball and yelled "Go Sabeleye!" releasing a small, black, goblin-like pokemon.
"You too, Mightyena!" growled her cohort releasing the big dog-like pokemon "Let's show this punk what happens when you mess with Team Rocket!"
Mightyena and Sabeleye were now stading, facing the stranger. They stood there in that standoff for what seemed like forever when finally the stranger spoke.
"Dear me," he quipped "You're sending TWO pokemon after little old me? Tsk, tsk, I really wish it didn't have to be this way."
Cassidy chuckled evilly. "What's the matter, Mr. Tough Guy afraid of getting pulverized?"
"Oh no, it's not that. I wish I didn't have to trash both you two AND your pokemon."
"That's it!" Butch roared. "I've had enough with this guy's attitude. Let's shut him up, Mightyena. TACKLE ATTACK!"
Immediately the great dog pokemon lunged at the white-haired boy with his teeth bared. But instead of trying to run or move out of the way he simply stood there, as if though everything was going according to plan and he WASN'T about to be torn apart.
Just then, in the arc of Mightyena's jump there was a sickening thud of two bodies colliding. The next thing everyone knew Mightyena was skidding along the ground towards Butch and laid there, clearly unconscious. And now there was a new blue-white, fox-like pokemon standing next to the stranger.
"Oh look" the stranger said. "Help has arrived!"
He cleared his throat, "It is my esteemed pleasure to introduce, all the way from the Hoenn region, the thrilling…the chilling…the absolutely filling…icy wonder of the world, the one, the only, Glaceon!"
The strangers Glaceon stood sharp at attention and answered with a resounding "Glace!"
The looks on Butch and Cassidy's face went from looks of shock to greedy-like sneers.
"So" said Cassidy "looks like you have some Pokemon after all."
"Huh" the stranger said "Well would you look at that…..and here I thought it was just one of those run-of-the-mill, super-powered squirrels that are so abundant in this forest."
Butch glared. Clearly he didn't approve of the strangers sense of humor.
"Yeah, you're a real riot kid." He growled as he returned Mightyena to its pokeball. "But we'll see how hard you laugh when snatch all your pokemon and leave you here frozen like the rest of these losers!"
The stranger raised an eyebrow. "You know, it really isn't polite to threaten someone you've just met with thievery and the prospect of having his neurons be micro waved."
Cassidy took a huge step forward. "THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD WITH YOUR ATTITUDE KID!" she screamed. "SABELEYE! TEAR THIS GUY APART WITH SHADOW CLAW!!!!!"
Sabeleye leaped toward the stranger and his Glaceon in full attack position ready to unleash his move.
"Oh look, Glaceon" the stranger quipped. "That ugly little elf thing appears to be attacking us. Let's take care of it shall we?"
"Glaceon!" the pokemon said as it got into its battle position.
"Good boy!" the stranger said "All right Glaceon dodge that thing and counter with some Tail Whip!"
The Glaceon jumped up just as Sabeleye's attack reached where it was standing. The instant it had dodged the attack the ice pokemon whipped around its tail with the speed of a bullet at hit Sabeleye right square in the chest knocking it back several yards until ultimately crashing into a tree.
Cassidy was not pleased. "GET UP SABELEYE AND GET BACK IN THERE!" She bellowed. "HIT HIM WITH YOUR SHADOW BALL ATTACK!!!"
Sabeleye jumped back to its feet and started conjuring a dark energy ball in its hands. When it had completed the balls construction he flung it at Glaceon with all its might.
This, however, didn't seem to faze the stranger at all.
"Glaceon, use Quick Attack!"
Again, Glaceon narrowly avoided Sabeleye's attack and this time started to run around Sabeleye like a blue-white tornado. Sabeleye tried to keep up with Glaceon's movements, but was no match for the much more agile pokemon and was starting to become very disoriented.
"Now Glaceon, Tackle it!" The stranger cried.
Suddenly, Glaceon came out of its spinning motion and slammed into Sabeleye with the force of a cannonball. The impact sent Sabeleye soaring into the sky.
"Time to bring it on home, buddy!" the stranger said "Finish it off with Ice Shard!"
Glaceon looked at its airborne target, took aim, and fired several ice projectiles at Sabeleye, and made a direct hit. After it seemed to have been frozen in the air for a split second, Sabeleye fell to the Earth with a thud. When the dust had cleared there was no mistaken that it had been knocked out.
Cassidy stared in odd disbelief before saying in a very hollow voice: "Sabeleye return" and called it back into its pokeball.
"Well, that was a quite a workout, huh Glaceon?" said the stranger "I think that may have been under a minute…that's a new record, buddy!"
The Ice Pokemon beamed at its trainer and said "Glaceon!"
"I couldn't agree more" the stranger answered "Well, lady and gentleman, if there are no more disagreements, I think it's high time you let these kids go and go on your merry……didn't your mother ever tell you it's rude to point?" the stranger said, for both Butch and Cassidy were both pointing the guns they had used to paralyze Brock and Dawn with right at the strangers head.
"I would quit talking if I were you." Butch snarled. "Your little fox there may have done a number on OUR pokemon but it won't be of any use to you if it can't move, now can it?"
"No, I suppose it can't"
"Then it looks like you're up a creek without a poke-paddle!" said Cassidy. "There's not a thing you or your little freezer rat can do to us."
"You make a solid point" said the stranger "but then again, I don't think we'll have to."
"Hey, what do you mean by that!?" demanded Cassidy.
"Well, unless I'm mistaken" the stranger began "there is a VERY agitated Pikachu behind the pair of you, and it doesn't look like it's in a very welcoming move.
Butch and Cassidy whirled around at the same second to see the tiny, yellow mouse pokemon glaring at them, and charging up a thunderbolt.
The pair of pokemon thieves stood there in a complete state of fear.
"C-Cassidy?"
"Y - Yes, Butch?"
"Do you think there's any possible way that this could still come out in our favor?"
Cassidy looked him hopelessly.
"Does it ever?"
"I didn't think so." Butch said with a grimace.
The two thieves turned around to the see the smirking face of the stranger who was once again running his fingers through his hair.
"Arriva Derci!" the stranger said with a smile.
The duo looked back at Pikachu, hugged each other, and prepared for the inevitable.
"PI-KA-CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" the little pokemon bellowed as it released a thunderstorm of electric energy on the pokemon thieves sending them skyrocketing into the air.
"Why is it that when we do everything right…..?" Cassidy began, in midair.
"…..Something still goes wrong?" finished Butch as he soared even higher in the sky.
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaaaaain!!!" They both screamed as they disappeared into the horizon with a PING of light.
Meanwhile, back on solid ground the stranger looked up at the disappearing figures that were Team Rocket.
"Well….I'll say this for those guys" he said "They sure know how to make an exit. They had a catchphrase and everything!"
The stranger turned his gaze over to Misty who was still bound to the tree.
"Well that doesn't look too comfortable." He said, and made his way over to the tree and began untying her from it.
"I take it those people weren't close friends of yours?" He said as the ropes fell off the redhead, "Who were they anyway?"
Misty got up from the tree and began to massage the areas where the ropes had bruised her skin.
"Team Rocket. They're a disgusting organization that specializes in stealing pokemon from other trainers." She said.
The stranger looked back up to the point where Team Rocket had disappeared.
"Not very good at it, are they?"
Misty smiled at this. "I've met up with those goons before, they've tried to steal my pokemon dozens of times, but they've never gotten THIS close before."
Misty turned towards the stranger "Thank you so much for saving our lives, mister." She said, "There's no telling what they would've done to us if you and your Glaceon hadn't shown up."
The stranger waved his hand. "Don't mention it," he said, "We were just in the neighborhood, it's the least we could do." The paused to flash his smile of very white teeth before adding: "And there's no need to call me 'mister'. Lucien Halifax at your service, along with his trusted poke-companion, Glaceon." He ended this sentence by giving a very over dramatic, bow with much flourishing of his hands, and his pokemon following in his suit.
Misty sweatdropped at this but decided against saying anything.
"It's very nice to meet you Mr. Halifax…."
"Call me, Lucien."
"Sorry…Lucien. My names Misty Waterflower, I'm the gym leader in Cerulean City."
Lucien looked at her questioningly for a few seconds before saying: "The pleasures all mine, Misty." He said, smiling again. "So tell me….who are these lively bunch of fellows next to you?"
Misty gasped. "Oh my god, Ash! I almost forgot!" she ran over to the black-haired pokemon trainers side, which was already occupied by Pikachu.
"Pikachu Pikapi!" the little pokemon said in very worried sounding voice.
"Don't worry, Pikachu" Misty said in a soothing voice. "Ash will be all right."
Though the truth was Misty didn't have the first idea about how she was going to revive her best friend, not to mention Dawn and Brock as well.
Misty turned up to look at Lucien. "Team Rocket froze them with some kind of ray gun." She said. "I don't know how to bring them out of it"
Lucien kneeled down to look at the utterly stupefied trio. His eyes darted from the small, black haired boy, to the much older boy with spiky hair, to the girl with blue hair, taking each of their appearances in and trying to draw a solution.
After several minutes of this, Lucien stood and cleared his throat. Misty looked up hopefully.
"It is my professional opinion" Lucien began, speaking with his voice full of authority, "that these three trainers aren't moving in the slightest."
Misty fell over on her back as soon as he uttered this, and immediately jumped on her feet in fiery anger.
"I KNOW THAT THEY AREN'T MOVING, YOU DUNDERHEAD!! I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO TO FIX THEM!!!" She bellowed
Surprisingly, Lucien seemed completely unaffected by this very sudden and very loud outburst. He raised an eyebrow at the fuming redhead. "No need to shout" he said. "I've got the situation completely under control."
Misty flared up again. "UNDER CONTROL!!? ALL YOU DID WAS TELL ME WHAT I ALREADY KNEW! HOW ON EARTH IS THAT UNDER CONTROL!?"
Lucien smirked. "Not exactly, the most even tempered girl are you? I have the situation under control because it is MY pokemon that appears to have found the device that caused all this trouble in the first place."
Both Misty and Pikachu turned around on the spot to see Glaceon edging one of the paralysis rays up to the company with its nose.
Lucien walked over to his pokemon and retrieved the gun.
"It looks as if though Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Moron dropped their little trinket" he said.
Misty and Pikachu ran over to get a closer look.
"Pi Pikachu!" the little pokemon said happily
"That's the gun they used, all right." Misty said examining it, "But does anyone know how to work it?"
Misty looked around everyone that was conscious and gathered by the looks on their faces that no one had any more clue how to work it than she did.
"In my experience" said Lucien, walking over to a nearby rock the size of a small human. "The best way to find out how something works…." He began, and then, without warning, he raised the gun high over his head and brought it down hard on the side of the rock smashing it into hundreds of pieces.
"…..is to break it." He finished with a large grin on his face.
Misty stared at Lucien in total and utter shock. He had just destroyed the one thing that would have been able to revive her friends. As soon as the shock had settled in, her temper once again skyrocketed upward.
"YOU IDIOT, LOOK WHAT YOU DID!!!!!" She screeched. "THAT WAS THE ONLY THING THAT WE HAD TO HELP MY FRIENDS AND YOU JUST DESTROYED IT!!! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU I'LL…….
Misty stopped shouting for a moment because Lucien, instead of cowering with fear, was laughing at her. This made Misty's already sky high temper soar even higher.
"WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY!?"
"You are, Little Miss Psycho."
"OH, YEAH!? WELL IF YOU THINK I'M SO FUNNY HOW ABOUT I COME OVER THERE AND GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO LAUGH ABOUT….."
"Will you calm down for a second, and look behind you?" Lucien said pointing behind her. "After that, by all means, continue shrieking horribly, you haven't quite made my ears bleed yet."
Misty and Pikachu turned around and looked at their petrified friends, except now they didn't look so stiff anymore. In, fact they appeared to be moving.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Ash Ketchum woke up with the worst headache he had ever experienced in his life.
Good lord, what happened? He thought to himself. Did I just get stampeded by a herd of Rhyhorn? Where am I, anyway?
Ash raised himself into a sitting position and began to massage the back of his neck. I know I should be doing something important, he thought. But I can't figure out what.
Then, all of a sudden, with a force of a freight train, it all came running back to him. The River. Team Rocket. Misty.
"MISTY!!" Ash screamed suddenly as he leapt to his feet.
"Don't worry Mist, I'll save you! Pikachu, Thunderbolt!
There was a cry of "PIKACHUUUUU" and the sound of a two people yelping in pain after being shocked.
"Aha, take that, Team Rocket!" Ash yelled. "That's what you get for messing with Ash Ketchum!"
"Um….Ash?"
"Come on out and fight, Butch! Me and Pikachu will tear you apart!"
"Ash?"
"What's the matter Cassidy? Afraid of getting your butt handed to you by a kid?"
"ASH!!!"
Ash whirled around at the sound of his name, to see a no longer tied up Misty, and a guy Ash had never seen before. Ash started to grow very hot.
"Uh….Hey Mist." Ash said stupidly. "I'm here to save you."
Misty giggled. "I appreciate your coming to my rescue, Ash but you're a little late" she said. "Team Rocket blasted off a long time ago."
"Oh, uh, did they?" Ash said turning a violent shade of red. "Whoops. Sorry about that."
"Oh don't apologize to us" the person Ash had never seen before said. "We're completely fine. However, your friends that you just told your pokemon to electrocute don't seem too pleased with you."
Ash turned to find Brock and Dawn, completely singed and with their hair standing up, and a very apologetic looking Pikachu at their side. Neither of them looked at all happy.
"Heh heh" Ash said becoming even more embarrassed. "Sorry you guys."
Before either Brock or Dawn had the chance to berate him at all, Ash turned to Misty and the stranger.
"So, uh, does anyone know exactly what happened?" Ash asked.
"Yeah" said Dawn "The last thing I remember having an extreme pain in my back and I woke up here."
At these words Misty spoke: "Well after you three got shot in the back by that paralyzer gun, none of you could move" she explained. "After that it looked like Team Rocket was going to get away until Lucien and his Glaceon showed up and saved us!"
"Ah shucks, tweren't nothin." said the guy called Lucien.
Looking him over Ash decided he couldn't find anything apparent that was wrong with him, and he should be very grateful to him for saving him, Misty, and the rest of his friends, but something was making him resent this new guy. He couldn't explain it, but he knew that he had wanted HIM to be the one to save Misty, not this stranger. He couldn't understand it, but the more he thought about it the less he liked this new guy.
"Well it looks like we owe you a great deal of thanks" Said Brock extending his hand. Lucien shook it and smiled.
Dawn skipped handshaking and talking and just gave Lucien a tremendous hug.
"You're, uh, welcome" said Lucien, patting her awkwardly on the back.
Even Pikachu and Pilpup extended their thanks by first hugging Lucien's leg and then hugging his Glaceon.
After everyone else had said their thank you's an awkward silence fell over the group. Ash looked up after noticing this and realized everyone was staring at him. Brock and Dawn were both looking at him sternly and Misty was positively glaring at him. Ash knew what they were waiting for, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
"Well, uh, if everything is in order here" Lucien began, "I think I will be on my way. Nice meeting all of you. Cheery-O!"
Lucien turned to leave but was halted by Misty holding on to his arm.
"Hold on a second, Lucien." she said. "Ash, isn't there something you'd like to say to Lucien before he leaves?"
Ash looked from Misty to Lucien for a few seconds. He went from Misty's powerful glare to the look of total on Lucien's face. Ash waited a few more seconds before finally saying: "Have a nice trip."
Misty exploded.
"ASH KETCHUM! THIS MAN JUST SAVED OUR LIVES AND OUR POKEMON AND YOU CAN'T EVEN BUCK UP THE COMMON COURTOUSEY TO THANK HIM! HONESTLY, SOMETIMES I WONDER HOW YOU MAKE IT IN THE WORLD WITH SUCH TERRIBLE MANNERS!! YOU THANK LUCIEN RIGHT NOW FOR SAVING US, OR SO HELP ME I WILL POUND INTO WEDNESDAY!!!!
At this point Misty was angrily towering over a terrified Ash Ketchum, while Dawn, Brock, Lucien, and Pikachu stared in awe.
"I'd listen to her kid." Lucien said finally breaking the silence. "If she blows up like that one more time, we'll all be standing in Viridian Crater."
Ash knew he had no choice but to thank Lucien now, but for some reason, it was still such a hard thing to do. Still, ANYthing was better than a pummeling form Misty so Ash took a deep and said "thank-you-very-much-for-saving-us-sir-mister-Lucien" all in one very short breath.
Ash looked over at Misty. It looked like she was about to explode again, but before she could start yelling Lucien interrupted.
"Well, it was fantastic meeting the group of you, but Glaceon and I have to get going. We want to make it to Viridian City before nightfall."
Ash couldn't believe it. Of all the cities in the Kanto Region why did this guy have to be travelling to the same place they were? Still, maybe he would luck out and no one would tell him they were going to the same place….
"Viridian City!?" piped in Dawn. "Hey, that's where we're going! You could travel and stay with us!"
"Hey yeah!" said Brock. "It's the least we could do after what you did for us."
"Well, that DOES sound tempting……" Lucien said.
"Oh but you wouldn't want to travel with us." Ash interrupted. "I mean, why would a guy like you want to travel with us kids for? I mean, that would just be ridiculous!" Ash started pushing Lucien in the opposite direction. "Well ta ta then, don't forget to write you'll be in our thoughts……"
For the second time that day, Misty had stopped Lucien from leaving. Also for the second time that day, she was glaring daggers at Ash.
"Don't mind Ash, Lucien" said Misty in a cold voice. "He's just being a bit of a prick at the moment. Of course, you should travel with us! The more the merrier! And like Brock said we DO all owe you one…….ALL of us do." She shot a very nasty look at Ash after saying these words.
"Well…." said Lucien in a thoughtful tone. " I suppose Glaceon and I could use a little company, it's just been me and him for what seems like forever. Ok, you guys can count me your little travelling circle. Just don't expect me to pay a membership fee."
Everyone but Ash laughed.
"Oh my god, is that really what time it is?" Dawn said, looking at her Pokenav. "If we don't get a move on it'll be January before we get to Viridian City!"
"Dawn's right." said Brock. "We really should get moving."
"Pikachu." Agreed the little pokemon.
"Well then what're we waiting for?" said Misty. "Let's go to Viridian City!"
And with that group, with its new members, headed off towards Viridian, a sulking Ash bringing up the rear.
Here is chapter three, everyone. Let me know how you feel about it.
Everhere Everthere