A/N: Hey guys! Make sure to read the authors note at the end. It's kind of important!
A Trial of Will
The overwhelming feeling of panic hung densely in the air. Most were frozen, but Brock and Paul had moved to Ash's side and were doing their best to put pressure on the bullet wounds in order to slow the bleeding.
Misty, Dawn and Serena never found relief from the waterworks that kept pouring from their eyes, but they knew that if they wanted to save Ash, then they needed to be strong and help however they could.
Coming to a silent agreement with each other, they rushed to Ash's side, doing their best not to get in Brock and Paul's way. It wasn't until they reached the boy's downed body that they realized that there was no way they were going to be able to help at the moment; they had no idea what they could do. All they could do was rely on the others and hope that they knew how to handle this. They trusted Brock especially, but they doubted he'd ever been in a situation like this before.
Seeing Ash in the state he was in up close caused the sense of dread the three women were feeling to intensify tenfold. They felt their breathing deepen, choking back twice the amount of tears as before.
Dawn and Serena eventually succumbed to the overwhelming attack of emotions and dropped to their knees, convulsing in terror. Misty wasn't in a much better state, but she managed to hold her footing.
May stood, still frozen in place, not even so much as blinking. The only thing suggesting she was even alive and not just some kind of statue were the plethora of tears flowing down her face.
Her mind was a jumbled mess at the moment. She knew what'd just happened, but she couldn't seem to actually believe it. She just couldn't fathom what'd just happened. Along with this, another thought was ever present in her mind
That would be her on the ground, slowly losing her life, had Ash not protected her.
"Ash"
He'd saved her...and now he could potentially lose his life because of it. This thought served to cause May to cry even harder.
Pikachu held a slightly different emotion than the others at the moment. He was quite literally seething, a blinding rage overtaking any fear and sadness he may have felt. He stared down Team Rocket and sparked his cheeks aggressively. James looked up from his position on top of Jessie, only to be met with the sight of the snarling Pikachu.
"Pikachu listen to me, Meowth and I had no idea what Jessie was planning to do; we didn't know she had a gun. I...I am so sorry, Pikachu. I swear on my life I'm telling the truth, I am so sorry."
James and Meowth couldn't believe what Jessie had done. Shocked, appalled, terrified were just some of the feelings running through the minds of the two male members of the Team Rocket trio. Before this event, they could hardly even be considered thieves. But now, Jessie very well might have just become a murderer.
Pikachu's boiling indignation caused anything James had said to fall on deaf ears, his anger and hatred only continuing to grow the longer he looked at the trio.
Jessie turned her head, still under James and Meowth in order to look Pikachu in the eyes. Even despite all that was happening, she was smirking. "Looks like you're going to be needing a new trainer."
That was the last straw.
Pikachu gathered up all the electrical energy he could and released the most powerful thunder attack most anyone had ever seen.
"PIII KAAAA CHUUUUUUUUUUUU!"
The attack was blinding, seemingly brighter than the sun itself. If it wasn't for the fact that they'd seen the attack come from a Pikachu, they would have thought it'd came from a legendary pokemon such as Zapdos or Zekrom.
Team Rocket blasted through the air, scorched and completely unconscious. If they survived that ferocious attack, it would be a miracle.
Only a few members of the group even took notice of what happened to the Rocket trio; most couldn't tear their eyes off of Ash's downed body.
"Brock, the bleeding isn't stopping! What are we going to do?" Paul asked frantically.
Brock removed his hand and motioned for Paul to do the same. Brock quickly pulled Ash's shirt up, allowing himself a good look at Ash's wounds. They were both still pumping out blood at an alarming rate.
Brock mumbled some obscenities, all the while trying to work out a plan. "Okay... Paul, we have to get him to Professor Oak's lab. He should have some equipment that we can use to help stop the bleeding. We have to pick him up and carry him very gently. If the bullet is as close to his heart as I think it is, we have to be extremely careful."
Paul nodded and prepped himself to lift Ash. Before they did however, Brock turned to Misty. "I need you to run back to Ash's house and tell his mom what happened. Bring her up to the lab as soon as you can."
Misty barely managed to register the command, but when she did she nodded and took off running toward the house.
"Alright Paul on three, we lift. Ready? One. Two. Three!" Brock spoke, struggling as he lifted and did his best to support Ash's torso while Paul hefted his legs.
"We need to hurry before we're too late. Max, try and get your sister to move! We don't have time for this!" Paul exclaimed as they began toward Professor Oak's lab.
Apparently, Dawn and Serena had been coherent enough to notice everyone leaving as they followed the others toward the lab.
Pikachu was close behind. Now that he had let out his anger on the rocket trio, all he felt was anguish. Tears streamed down his red cheeks as he ran alongside Brock and Paul.
By now, Max had gathered himself to the best of his ability and focused on his mission; he had to be strong for Ash, just as he always was when one of them was in trouble.
He sprinted over to his sister, sighing sadly at seeing the state she was in, "Oh May..." He mumbled to himself.
"May, we have to get to the lab. We need to see if there's anything we can do to help Ash!"
May didn't respond, the blank stare on her face never once faltering. Tears sill continued to stream down her face.
Max realized it was going to take a lot to snap his sister out of this state of shock. He grabbed his sister by the shoulders and started shaking her. "May! We have to go! Come on!"
It was useless, May still wasn't budging. Max sighed, trying the last thing he could think of.
'SMACK'
Max resorted to slapping his sister in the face, hoping it would break her out of the state she was in. "May! Get a hold of yourself! Unless you want Ash to die, we need to get moving!"
The combination of the slap and the urgency in her brother's words made May's legs start to move. At first she was jogging, but soon, she was in a dead sprint toward Oak's lab.
Max kept up with his sister's pace, glad that she wasn't frozen anymore. He could tell that she wasn't completely free from the shock she was feeling, but she'd at least recognized the urgency to get to Oak's lab. He just hoped that she would be okay...
Due to their head start and the siblings' quick pace, the two parties reached the entrance to the lab at the same time. Serena flung the door open with urgency and allowed Brock and Paul, with Ash in their grasp, to enter first.
"Professor Oak! We need you! NOW!" Brock screamed at the top of his lungs. Tracy, Oak's assistant and Ash's old friend from the Orange Islands, heard the yell and came running to the entrance.
"Brock? Whats going-" Tracy tried to question Brock but when he saw Ash bleeding in his arms, he cut himself off, his eyes widening before he rushed to get the professor.
Near the back of the lab's first floor, Max cleared off a table that was normally used for the larger Pokemon's check-ups. Ash was set down on this table as Oak appeared through the door way.
"Why is everyone screaming? Tracy told me something was wrong?" Oak questioned. He didn't need an answer, however, as he saw Ash on one of his lab tables, a pool of blood quickly forming underneath him. The older man then laid his eyes on Brock, who's clothes were stained completely red.
Oak felt the panic rush through his system, but as quickly as he could, he pushed it aside, something he'd learned to do after working with pokemon for so long. His priority was helping Ash, the person he considered a grandson; he could panic later. As for now, he had work to do.
Oak quickly put on some rubber gloves and began to cut Ash's shirt and jacket off with a pair of medical scissors.
"Somebody tell me what happened." Oak appeared to be calm and collected. He had to be when he dealt with pokemon emergencies as much as he did. He assured himself that this situation was no different, but in the back of his mind, he knew it was.
It was very different.
Brock, who had kept his cool during almost the entirety of the experience, was finally starting to lose it. He spoke to Oak with tears falling from his eyes, "Professor... T-Team Rocket...and the gun... Ash..."
Brock couldn't string a sentence along, the panic he had been fending off finally beginning to overtake him.
Oak rushed over and placed his hands on the man's shoulders "Brock! I need you to stay with me! I can't save Ash without your help. You need to stay calm."
Brock wiped his tears and gathered himself, once again recognizing the urgency of the situation. "You're right professor... He has two bullet wounds. One in the shoulder and one near his heart. Both bullets entered from the back and I didn't see any exit wounds."
"How long since he was shot." Oak asked while inspecting the wounds.
"About 4 minutes." Max responded, looking at his watch.
Oak cursed to himself as he weighed his options. It was just a few moments later he came to a conclusion. "Brock...I know your just a pokemon doctor and I'm only a professor... but we're going to have to operate on him right now."
Everyone's eyes widened, Brock's especially as he was so incredibly shocked by the professor's words. "What! Professor Oak...I c-can't I-"
"Brock, if we don't do this... Ash will die, there are no if's and's or but's about it. The nearest hospital is in Viridian and by the time we got Ash there, he'd be long dead." Oak's words, although true, made everyone's fear intensify.
Brock wiped the nervous look off of his face and replaced it with one of determination. He was the only other person who could do this, "Okay...Just tell me what to do."
Oak asked everyone to leave the lab except for himself, Brock and Tracy. Complying hesitantly, everyone took their leave, allowing the men space to take out the shrapnel, stop the bleeding, and most importantly...
Save Ash's life.
Now that everything was out of their hands, the group allowed their emotions to overtake them completely. Even Paul was shedding tears at the possibility of losing the person whom he considered his best friend.
With everyone caught up in their own little worlds, no one noticed Misty and Delia running towards the lab at breakneck speeds. It wasn't until the last moment that Paul looked up, having to stop Delia from rushing into the lab.
She was crying hysterically and fighting against Paul's grip, trying to get inside the doors. "Where's my baby!? Let me see him! Let me go! I have to see him! He needs me!"
Paul, whom was struggling with controlling his own emotions, now had to do his best to calm Delia down. "Delia! Delia please try to relax. They're operating on him right now. I know they aren't surgeons, but you have to have faith in Brock and Professor Oak! You have to have faith!"
He wasn't sure what it was that he'd said, but something made her calm down, at least physically. Instead of fighting against Paul's grasp, she fell to her knees and continued crying hysterically. Seeing their best friend's mother like this just added to everyone's sorrow.
45 minutes passed without a single word being said. Every soul present took part in nothing but crying and praying that Ash would be okay. One by one, people slowly began to run out of tears. They tried to cry, but their bodies couldn't produce enough tears to keep up.
"Someone... please...tell me what happened. Tell me what happened to my Ashy." Delia muttered quietly. However, it was loud enough to be heard by the entirety of the group. Max decided to take the lead.
"Team Rocket showed up again and tried to steal Pikachu. One of them pulled out a... a gun and threatened to shoot May. The woman went to shoot her, but Ash shielded her, he protected her. Ash, he...he saved her life."
May dropped down to Delia's level and somehow found the tears to start crying again. "Delia, I'm so sorry! If it wasn't for me, Ash wouldn't be in there right now. It should have been me!"
May was hysterical, her overwhelming emotions pouring out of her.
May wasn't sure what she was expecting from the young mother after what she'd just said, but one thing was for sure, it certainly wasn't to have Delia pull her into a tight embrace.
"May, listen to me...don't you ever, ever blame yourself for what happened today. This is in no way your fault. Ash saw you in danger and he made the choice to put himself in harm's way. The choice that you are more important to him than his own safety, his own life. He was just being himself. Ash is always willing to put protecting someone he cares about before his own life and he's shown that again today. I promise you, May...this is not your fault." Delia spoke calmly, but firmly. She needed May to understand that she was speaking the truth.
May managed to find the strength to give a half smile and hug Delia again, this time for even longer. While in the hug, May whispered in Delia's ear. "He'll be okay...I know it."
The two silently broke the embrace and nodded to each other.
As they stood, they noticed everyone's eyes were red, especially Pikachu's. He had been trying to fight out of Dawn's grasp for nearly 30 minutes, obviously wanting to be with Ash during his surgery. Though after a while, he'd finally worn himself out and simply just cried with the rest of the group.
Everyone stood in silence once again, no one knowing exactly what to say. It was finally broken by Misty. "You know, Ash is going to be okay. He's risked his life in the past more times than I can count and he's always made it out each and every time. This is just another one of those situations."
"Yeah, like when he saved the Sea Temple!" Max said, a small smile on his face as he recalled Ash's heroics on that day.
It was an incredibly strange feeling; May's heart both sunk and fluttered at the mention of this. She recalled that today wasn't the first time that Ash had saved her life. He'd done it for her a number of times in the past as well and while it made her feel incredibly cared for and incredibly loved, the more overwhelming feeling was that of responsibility for putting him in these situations. However, as time passed, the feeling of Ash caring so greatly for her began to win over and a small smile spread across her face as she realized just how much he meant to Ash for him to be so willing to give up his life for her. This thought made her heart practically beat out of her chest, as well as causing a few more tears to stream down her face.
"He once saved me from falling to my death. I can never repay him for that. And I can't even list all the other times he's been there to save me." Dawn reminisced.
Now that this topic had been brought up, to pass the time, most everyone told past stories of how Ash had saved their lives, all the while risking his own. After a good amount of time, the conversation began to die down. Though as it did, Serena was thinking of something she should've realized sooner. Something she'd always known, but never really had said out loud
"Ash is a hero." Serena mumbled quietly, seemingly to herself.
"What was that Serena?" Max asked on behalf of everyone.
Serena raised her head and addressed the group, "I said that Ash is a hero. He's a true, 100 percent, real life superhero. He's literally saved every one of our lives at some point or another...he's even saved the world on more than one occasion! He's put his life on the line for all of us more times than I can even count! To be heroic is to be courageous enough to die for something...Ash is willing to die for each and every one of us. If that doesn't make him a hero, then I don't know what does."
As Serena looked around, she saw that everyone instantly agreed with what she'd said. Ash was a hero to them all. He was always brave in the face of fear. He was always strong when no one else could be.
But this time, they were the one's that had to be strong for him.
Just then, the doors to the lab opened, revealing a slightly bloody Professor Oak. Everyone felt sick to their stomach as they saw this; they knew very well who's blood that was. Despite the slight feeling of nausea, they all rushed to Oak with hopes of good news rushing through them.
"Professor, please tell me he's going to be alright." May pleaded, her voice breaking as she spoke; she couldn't remember a time when she'd been more desperate in her life. If Ash were to die from protecting her, she would never be able to live with herself.
"I apologize, but that's not why I came out here." Was Oak's only response. "Delia, I need to know Ash's blood type, and quickly. He's lost a lot of blood and he needs a transfusion. We removed the bullet fragments and stopped the bleeding, but he has lost about half of his blood, more than enough to cause his body to shut down."
Terrified looks overtook everyone once again as Delia responded frantically, "Ash is AB negative, same as me. Take as much blood as you need Professor, just save my baby."
"That's perfect Delia, go inside and go to Tracy, he'll be taking the blood." With that, Delia rushed inside the building. "Now, please tell me that someone else has AB negative or O type blood. We can't safely take as much blood as Ash needs from Delia. We're going to need one more person."
Everyone looked around, hoping to spot a raised hand or to see someone step forward. They soon realized however that it was a lost cause, the rest of the group either didn't know their blood type or weren't a match. It was beginning to look almost hopeless for Ash and everyone knew it. The tears quickly returned once again.
"Professor Oak?" The Professor heard Brock's voice from behind him. The older man turned around, only to be met with the sight of an incredibly determined Brock in front of him."I'm AB negative. You're going to have to handle Ash from here because I am not taking no for an answer. I want you to take as much blood as you need from me... just save my brother."
Oak nodded his head immediately and returned to the lab with Brock in tow. A collective sigh was let out amongst the group remaining outside.
Dawn had set Pikachu down a while ago and he was still looking as upset as can be. May noticed this and decided to try and cheer him up.
"Hey Pikachu, you know Ash is going to pull through, right? He would never leave you behind like this, he loves you to much." May said with a forced smile through her tear stained face. And while she was trying to cheer pikachu up, her voice was still almost completely broken.
"Pika Pika Pikachu..." Pikachu responded sadly. It was obvious May's talk wasn't helping; she had to try something else.
"Here Pikachu, I think there's someone that might be able to keep you company while we wait for Ash to get better."
With that said, May reached for a pokeball and released Glaceon. After being told the situation by May, her features went downcast as she approached Pikachu.
"Gla Glaceon." Glaceon said shyly to Pikachu.
Pikachu looked up in surprise. He didn't want to look so weak in front of Glaceon, but there was no way he could hide how he was feeling at the moment. Instead of responding, Pikachu walked up to Glaceon and hugged her for all she was worth. Glaceon licked Pikachu's cheek in return as the two sat down and cuddled close to each other as Pikachu cried.
May looked on and felt as glad as she could with the current situation that Glaceon was able to help Pikachu, if only just slightly. The group all sat down in silence and waited...it was the only thing left for them to do.
After another hour and a half of waiting in silence, both Professor Oak and Tracey walked out, garnering the undivided attention of everyone, who sprung to their feet as soon as they made themselves known.
Seeing everyone's expectant eyes, Oak sighed and addressed the group, "Ash is one hell of a fighter, I can tell you that much. He's still hanging in there, even after losing so much blood. We did the transfusion and it seemed to got well from what I could tell. The bullet in his shoulder was no cause for alarm, but the one near his heart managed to nick an artery, that's why he lost so much blood so quickly."
Everyone's eyes filled with terror upon hearing the news. Oak, seeing this, continued. "I managed to sew up the artery and remove the bullet shrapnel that luckily didn't hit his heart. Ash is alive... at least, for now."
"W-What do you mean by that professor?" Paul asked on behalf of the group, fear evident in his voice.
Oak sighed again, "If I had to guess... I'd say Ash has a 50/50 shot, and even worse chances that he'll ever wake up again." Oak finished, his voice breaking toward the end. This was not something he wanted to be saying, but he knew that trying to sugarcoat this would only make things worse
Everyone's eyes welled up with tears for what seemed like the millionth time that day. The prospect of losing Ash was becoming much too real and it hit them all incredibly hard.
"C-Can we see him?" Serena asked, her voice pleading as she was trying to fight back the tears. At least, just long enough for her to ask this question.
"I don't see why not. Follow me." Oak said sadly as he, and a weeping Tracey led the way.
As everyone entered the lab, they saw various machines along with shelves full of books. However, the back of the lab seemed to have been turned into a makeshift hospital room. As they passed them by, everyone spotted both Brock and Delia, asleep on beds normally used for recovering Pokemon. Both of them looked extremely pale.
"Professor...they're going to be okay, right?" Max asked timidly, gesturing to Delia and Brock.
"Yes, of course, Max. We had to take quite a bit of blood from the both of them though, so they're very tired. They just need a lot of fluids and some rest in order to get their strength back." Tracey said, recovering from his weeping episode. Max sighed in relief; at least something was looking hopeful.
Eventually, Oak lead the gang to a bed which currently housed Ash. Despite the new blood coursing through his veins, he still appeared significantly paler than normal. The only movement he was making was the involuntary movement of his chest that rose and fell with each breath. Each shallow breath.
No one was used to seeing Ash in such a fragile state. It was more than enough to cause Serena, May and Dawn to begin to weep silently once again. Seeing the strongest person any of them had every known looking so weak broke their hearts and scared them to their cores.
Most everyone pulled up a seat to just sit with Ash and pray to Arceus that he would wake up and be okay. Serena claimed one hand into hers while May claimed the other. Dawn was perfectly content running her hand through his unruly black hair.
The only sound heard for a long time was the heartbeat monitor, doing its best to reassure everyone that Ash was still with them.
After about an hour, Oak told everyone they should go home and get some rest and that they could return in the morning. After some coaxing, everyone agreed to go. That being said, nobody was enthused to be leaving his side; the girls almost had to be dragged away but they eventually relented, not wanting to make things harder for anyone by being defiant. It seemed everyone walked out of the lab while looking over their shoulder; they had to keep an eye on Ash right up until the moment they left.
The group returned to the house at around eight o clock, late for dinner, though Paul still suggested it. However, no one was hungry, not in the slightest. Everyone just wanted to go to bed. It wasn't all that hard to convince anyone to simply skip dinner, especially since neither Brock nor Delia were there.
And so everyone went off to their separate rooms. Because of the stress of the day, it didn't take long at all for people to periodically start to fall asleep.
Paul, Max and Misty were out almost immediately, somehow pushing the terrifying thoughts out of their minds long enough to fall into slumber. The stress of the day had really taken a huge toll on them and they really needed rest.
However, May, Dawn and Serena all just laid in their respective beds, unable to fall asleep. Every time they closed their eyes, they saw Ash, pale and weak, bleeding... It was better to just keep their eyes open but even then, they still saw images of Ash in floating across their minds.
May lay gazing at her half of the Terracotta ribbon for what had to have been hours. Every few minutes, she would look to the couch across from her where Ash was supposed to be sleeping right this very moment, imagining that he was there, keeping her awake with his light snoring. Even though she was told not to, she still felt partially responsible for what'd happened.
May couldn't get over the fact that Ash had taken a bullet for her. Her mind couldn't seem to grasp the idea that someone could be so selfless, even after all the times that he'd risked his own life to save hers in the past. Even with having seen his selfless acts many times, it was still almost hard to believe that a personas incredible as Ash existed in real life. May then thought back to all the times that Ash had been there to protect her.
So many times... it was so many times that she'd lost count. May couldn't help but smile at this.
Ash was her guardian and he cared about her enough to die for her. To him, her life was even more important than his own. May recognized the incredibly deep level of care that this mindset took, and Ash had it.
He had it for her.
May was no longer confused about her feelings for the raven haired trainer, not in the slightest. At first, she'd thought that her crush that she'd had on him while they were traveling together had simply never gone away, but she realized now that this wasn't exactly the case. After taking all this time to think about Ash and what he'd done for her, she was sure now...
She was in love with him. She had been for a very long time.
May Maple was madly, deeply in love with Ash Ketchum
Now that she realized it, she felt stupid for ever doubting that her feelings were anything less than true love. It wasn't just how he would risk his life for her, it was all the little things as well. How he would always support her, how he would make her laugh, his smile. Everything that he was screamed perfection to her. Now that she knew, May couldn't understand how she hadn't realized this sooner. All those years of missing him...she now knew that she'd loved him all along.
Everything Ash had ever done for the three girls were constantly running through their minds on this night. They all knew Ash would always be there for them, constantly helping them out and simply being someone they could depend on for anything, but they never realized just how much he had done until they really took this time to think about it. It wasn't hard to believe that the girls came to the same conclusion about the raven haired boy...
He was by far the most important person in any of their lives.
That was the thought that Dawn especially was focusing on. Her Mom was right, and she knew that now. She had incredibly deep feelings for Ash, and she always had, ever since they'd first met. Like May, she'd originally thought that she simply still had a crush on him from back when they were traveling together.
But after thinking about everything, the word "crush" definitely did not accurately describe what Dawn felt for the raven haired man.
Not even close
Dawn knew that had she been in May's shoes earlier today, Ash would've done the same thing for her. It was that selflessness, among all of his other amazing qualities, that made Dawn realize that she too was deeply in love with him.
And like May, she was incredibly mad at herself for not recognizing her feelings sooner; her love for him had always been there, it seemed she was just too afraid to acknowledge it.
It was well past midnight at this point and Dawn was fairly confident that everyone would be asleep by now. With her newly realized love for the raven haired boy, she had the strongest desire to be by his side; to be honest, she couldn't think of anything she'd ever wanted more. With a plan in mind, she stood from her cot and prepared to leave the house to go to the lab.
She had made it into the hallway and was just about to head down the stairs when she heard a whisper from behind her.
"What are you doing, Dawn?" The bluenette jumped, having to hold in a squeal a to not wake anyone up, before recognizing the voice as Serena's.
Daw calmed herself down once she recognized her blonde haired friend in the darkness. After Dawn recovered, she addressed Serena.
"I could ask you the same thing." Dawn replied, noticing Serena also had her slippers on her feet.
"I-I just... really wanted to see Ash, okay? I'm really scared for him." Serena responded shyly.
Dawn sighed in response. She'd really wanted to go see Ash alone, but it was obvious that Serena was going to come whether she liked it or not.
"I was going to do the same thing... Let's just go together, and do your best not wake anyone else up." Dawn smiled at her friend as they made their way down the stairs and out the front door.
Neither girl had bothered to look to see if May was still awake, though they probably should have. That way, they would've seen that her couch was currently unoccupied...
It was a bit frightening for the two young women to be walking around at midnight, even in a place like Pallet Town; after what'd happened, who could blame them for being slightly afraid. Though, both of them had their pokemon and were confident that should anything happen, that they could handle it. And luckily, they ran into no trouble whilst on the walk.
They arrived at the lab and tried the doors. Surprisingly, the doors opened without a problem. They'd kind of expected the door to be locked, but didn't stop to question it as they entered the dark building quietly.
They made their way to where Ash was, noticing Brock and Delia sleeping peacefully on their way. It was slightly difficult to navigate, since they had to keep the lights off as to stay as hidden as possible. Luckily, having been in the dark for so long had forced their eyes to adjust, giving them at least some vision.
Finally, they could see Ash's bed just 10 feet ahead of them. Both Dawn and Serena paused however, when they realized that the boy wasn't alone, something they'd definitely not been expecting.
Both Dawn and Serena hid behind a nearby bookshelf, watching and listening to May talk to a still unconscious Ash.
She was standing near Ash's head, looking over his face as she spoke to the unconscious trainer.
"What is she doing here?" Serena asked quietly to her bluenette friend.
"She probably felt the same as we did." Dawn reasoned, knowing May well as they were good friends. "Now shhh, I'm trying to listen."
As they listened closer, they could hear May speaking to Ash in a hushed tone.
"...I'm so sorry this happened, Ash. I'll never be able to thank you enough for saving me. Again. I'll never be able to repay you for what you did. I know you've already done so much for me, but there's still one more thing I need you to do for me..." May choked on her words, forcing her to pause and compose herself before she could continue.
"...I need you to wake up. I realize now how important you are to me, and I know now that I won't be able to live without you. You have to wake up, Ash!" May sobbed, her eyes quickly producing tears. "I need you here with me. I need you more than anything! Now please keep fighting and wake up."
May finished by placing a kiss on his forehead. The brunette then pulled up a chair, this time to the side of the bed, and rested her head on the mattress. With the comfort that Ash's presence provided to her, sleep came almost instantly.
Behind the bookcase, both Dawn and Serena's mouths were hanging wide open.
"Di-Did she just..." Dawn mumbled, more than surprised that May had kissed Ash. She looked to Serena, hoping she understood what she was trying to say, but all Serena did was let a few tears fall, her mouth agape.
Dawn again gasped in surprise. Why would Serena be crying? Being exhausted and having too many things going on in her head to worry about it, she chalked the tears up to seeing Ash again.
Noticing that May was already asleep, both girls shook out whatever thoughts were in their heads and walked silently over to Ash. Turning off the lamp that illuminated Ash's bedside and, following May's lead, the two women pulled up chairs and rested their heads on the bed, falling into the depths of their dreams with Ash by their sides.
No matter what else was going on, being there for Ash was the most important thing at the moment. All that mattered right now was that Ash needed to wake up.
And soon.
Somewhere on the North Side of The Forest Near Pallet
Jessie, James and Meowth all lay spread out on the ground, singed from head to toe. Most of the hair on Jessie's head was singed and burned; obviously, she'd received the brunt of the attack.
All these hours later, the rocket members were just now coming to. Meowth was the first to awaken.
"Ugh...what happened?" Meowth asked himself while rubbing his head in pain. Almost immediately after he said this, memories of the day came flooding back into his mind.
He looked over toward Jessie, who was currently still unconscious. James on the other hand, was starting to awaken.
"James, Are you okay over there?" Meowth whispered to his friend and partner.
"I-I think so." James responded, obviously in pain. "But I can't remember anything..."
Meowth took the time to explain all that happened during the day and slowly but surely, everything came back to James. During Meowth's explanation, Jessie had awoken, furious about her hair, but relatively okay overall. She silently listened to Meowth talk about how she went 'crazy' and 'lost her mind'.
"Thank Arceus that we survived that Thunder attack. I've never seen anything that powerful, let alone felt it." Meowth finished, recapping everything as James nodded in agreement.
Jessie looked at her two partners in anger, remembering exactly what'd happened. How dare they try to stop her from finishing the job? She yelled to get their attention.
"Hey morons?! Why did you stop me from finishing off the rest of the twerps?" Jessie screamed, startling both James and Meowth.
James soon recovered and put on a brave face, "Because you shouldn't have been doing that in the first place! Have you lost your damn mind!? For all we know, Ash could be dead right now! We aren't murderers, Jessie!"
"Oh, so he's 'Ash' now, huh? You're all buddy buddy with the twerp? Is that why you stopped me?" Jessie responded, even angrier than before.
Meowth took control of the conversation this time, "No! But we don't want to kill him! What is wrong with you!? Why did you do it Jessie!? And where did you even get that gun!?"
"The boss gave me the gun! And do you want to know why he gave me a gun and not either of you? It's because you two are nothing more than a couple of IDIOTS who do nothing but drag me, and the rest of the organization, down." Jessie exclaimed, letting her true feelings be known.
Both James and Meowth's mouths dropped open upon hearing this, not being able to believe just how much Jessie had changed in seemingly no time at all.
Jessie scoffed at their expressions and continued, "Giovanni gaveme the order to kill the twerp and anyone else who might get in the way. He knew he couldn't trust you two with even just the information of what he wanted me to do."
James and Meowth were even more surprised at this, with the former speaking once again in bewilderment. "But why Jessie? Why would he call for such a thing? And why would you accept this kind of mission?"
"Because, not only have we been defeated countless times by the twerp, he has also managed to stop many other Team Rocket plans in the past. Giovanni sees him as a threat to the organization and wants him eliminated before he can thwart any more of Team Rocket's plans. As I said before, this is a new Team Rocket, willing to do anything to get what they want...and if the situation calls for it, that includes killing." Jessie finished with a cold smirk.
James and Meowth were shocked and terrified by how their partner was acting and what she was saying. Jessie had definitely changed over the years, but more so recently than anytime in the past. At first, they were all in it for each other, coming together after each of them faced their own personal hardships in their lives but as time progressed, Jessie became more and more cold and controlling while James and Meowth were starting to question why they were even in the evil organization anymore.
They often found themselves disagreeing with what the organization was doing. And now, with the new 'killing' policy, both James and Meowth knew they couldn't take it anymore.
"Well then Jessie, if that's how Team Rocket is going to work from now on, then I quit. I can't do this anymore, I can't be a part of something so...evil." James said, slightly afraid of the reaction he would get from Jessie. That being said, he knew that he needed to say this to who was now his former partner.
"I'm with James. Giovanni is a psychopath and so is anybody that associates themselves with whatever this...this new Team Rocket is!" Meowth agreed vehemently.
With them expecting Jessie to get mad and maybe even physical, they were incredibly surprised when they heard Jessie begin laughing.
"HAHAHA! You think I need you two clowns?! Good riddance! If it wasn't for you, I could have made sure I finished the job." Jessie shouted.
James and Meowth shot Jessie a look of disbelief and disgust. In his last act as a member of the criminal organization, James took off his Team Rocket shirt and threw it on the ground, spatting on it before him and Meowth began walking toward Viridian City.
Jessie payed no attention to the two leaving as she was busy typing a number on a new device being manufactured in the pokemon world. It allowed people to call each other from wherever they were by using a satellite in space. She thought she remembered them calling it a 'cellular phone', or something like that; she just felt lucky that team Rocket had managed to threaten the manufacturers of this device so that they could get them without them being released to the public.
Jessie dialed the number for Giovanni's office and soon, his picture appeared on the phone's small screen.
"Giovanni, Sir!" Jessie saluted.
"Ahh, Jessie. So how did our little plan go?" Giovanni asked with a maniacal grin.
Jessie's face paled as she realized that she wasn't actually certain if she had succeeded or not. "S-Sir, I'm actually not sure if he is dead or not. His Pikachu sent us flying before I could tell... I definitely shot him though! And from what I could tell, I hit him pretty close to his heart."
Giovanni seemed to think for a moment before sighing, "Very well. I suppose you did your best. If he wasn't killed, I don't think we'll be able to go to him to try again like we did here... We're going to have to get him to come to us. You, James and Meowth need to get back to HQ asap."
"Umm, about that...after James and Meowth found out about the plan, they kind of...quit." Jessie said nervously, not knowing ow Giovanni was going to respond to the news.
Giovanni sighed once again. Event though he hated the two, the leader of Team Rocket still disliked members quitting the organization. "I had a feeling that might happen, that's why I didn't tell them of the plan in the first place. No matter, they were expendable agents anyways. Now return to HQ, we have much planning to do if we are going to lure Ketchum to us. Since we don't know if he's dead, we have to be ready for that case."
"Do have any ideas?" Jessie asked, intrigued. As much as she despised him, Jessie knew that Ash Ketchum was as tough as they come, so she knew they definitely had to be ready for if he managed to survive.
"I'm sure me and Ghetsis can come up with something." Giovanni said with a malicious smirk. With that, he hung up the phone, leaving Jessie totally alone in the darkness of night.
ProfessorOak'sLab
It was early in the morning, about seven a.m, and Samuel Oak was already prepared for the day. He was currently drinking his coffee in the living quarters section of the lab. The only thing on his to do list for today was to monitor Ash. He was praying that he would pull through, and he was ready to do anything he could to make that happen.
Professor Oak had considered having Ash moved to Viridian City Hospital, but dismissed the idea quickly. Moving Ash in the state he was in was much too risky. The surgery was performed well, especially considering that himself and Brock weren't actual surgeons, but he still didn't want to risk anything. He decided it would be best to wait to see if he improved before moving him anywhere; he had all necessary devices here after all.
As he transitioned from the living quarters to the lab, he spotted Delia and Brock, still resting peacefully. He smiled to himself, knowing that they would both be feeling good as new as soon as they woke up. His eyes then drifted to where Ash was.
Oak's eyes widened in surprise when he saw that Ash was not alone. A knowing smirk then made its way to his face as he took in the scene completely. There, sleeping with their heads resting on his bed, were Dawn, Serena and May.
Thinking about it now, he should have known that they wouldn't be able to stay away from Ash for long, especially not when he was in the state he was in. He wastheir best friend after all.
Oak was planning on letting the party sleep for a while longer, but as he was walking to check Ash's vitals, he tripped and knocked over a pan that was holding the sterilized surgical equipment he had used the day before.
This loud clang woke not only the three girls nearest Ash, but Delia and Brock as well. As they rubbed the sleepiness from their eyes, they all looked toward the professor, who was laughing nervously at his misstep.
"Hehe, sorry about that." The professor apologized.
May's eyes widened in shock as she took in her surroundings, noticing that Serena and Dawn were also here, obviously having slept like she did with their heads on Ash's bed.
She couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed that the other girls had joined her during the night. However, she had more important things to worry about at the moment...Delia and Brock were waking up.
Delia yawned and looked toward her son along with Brock, hoping that just maybe, he'd be awake and all better somehow. They were both disappointed when the saw that this wasn't the case, but that feeling was quickly replaced with surprise as they saw him surrounded by his three beautiful traveling companions.
The three women, who were wide awake by this point, looked toward Delia and Brock with massive blushes adorning their faces, feelings of embarrassment filling their chests.
Delia's shocked face quickly turned to one of joy and delight as she continued to watch the scene. She was incredibly happy that Ash had such good friends that always wanted to be near him.
Sure, using her mother's intuition she knew that the three girls had more than likely recognized their feelings for her son, but she was simply happy that he had great people looking out for him, people that would always care for him.
Brock looked to be extremely jealous. Why couldn't he have three attractive women by his bedside waiting for him to wake up? Brock ended up crying anime tears.
"Well, good morning girls." Delia spoke happily with just a hint of a teasing tone present in her voice.
The girls all responded at once, albeit with embarrassment still evident in their voices. Delia couldn't help but chuckle at their responses.
"I'm sorry again for waking you, but there is some things I must check. If you girls could excuse me, I need to check Ash's vitals." Oak asked politely. A
ll the girls were hesitant to move, but complied in the end; it was obviously for the best that Ash was checked up on. They could last for a while without the comfort that being near him provided them.
Professor Oak checked everything, only to sigh at the results of his findings, "Well...the good news is nothing seems to be worse... but nothing is better either. At this rate, I'm not sure when he'll wake up...if he'll wake up"
Professor Oak didn't want to talk about the idea of Ash never waking up, but it was a very real possibility. As hard as it was to think about, it was something everyone had to be ready for...
The three girls were especially devastated by the news. The only one who still held a smile, a look of positivity on their face was Delia. This seemed more than odd to those around her. Very confused, Dawn spoke up.
"No offense Delia, but how could you be smiling right now? I mean, your son...Ash, he's... he's in a coma."
Although Dawn's tone was slightly rude, while also being filled with sadness, Delia didn't blame her; she could understand why. Though she did want to clear this up.
"The reason I'm smiling Dawn is because I know that Ash is going to pull through. I have total faith that he will wake up and when he does, I want the first thing he sees to be a smiling face." Delia explained the reason behind her smile.
Sure, it was hard for Delia to keep it up with all that was going on, but she knew she had to for her son. Plus, she truly did have complete confidence that Ash would get through this.
Delia's outlook on this whole situation was extremely refreshing. May, Dawn and Serena realized that they were going about this all wrong. They had to have faith in Ash, just as he did in all of them. That and a bit of luck was all that they needed for Ash to wake up. Now, even Professor Oak, the realist, believed that regardless of the odds, Ash would wake up.
"Hey professor Oak, do you think we should tell all of Ash's pokemon what happened? I think they deserve to know." Serena suggested. Ash's pokemon were a part of his family after all.
"I already took care of that after you all left yesterday. I gathered everybody up and told them everything. There was a lot of crying and heartache, but I reminded them that Ash was strong and told them to believe that he would pull through. They have total faith in him, just as you do."
Dawn checked Ash's belt, where he normally kept his pokeballs to see if Oak had included his current party in the explanation. Seeing no pokeballs on his belt, she assumed he did.
"Well, after giving all of that blood yesterday, I could go for a big breakfast. I say we head over to the house and make a feast fit for royalty!" Brock spoke in a fake regal voice, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
The three girls were noticeably hesitant to leave Ash's side. Even though they were hungry, they wanted nothing more than to be with Ash; it was the only place that they'd felt any kind of comfort in the last 24 hours.
Noticing their reluctance, Delia spoke up, "Come on girls, Ash will be fine. You have to eat, and it won't take more than an hour. You can come right back here afterward."
"Yeah, Ash seems to be doing okay. I don't think we have anything to worry about for the time being. And Tracey will be here to make sure everything is okay" Oak helped assure everyone that everything would be fine, even during their momentary absence.
Serena sighed and spoke on behalf of the group, "Okay. Let's go eat."
May couldn't help but smile at the prospect of food, "Yeah! Hey Ash, I wonder which one of us will fini-"
May cut herself off as she realized that she was basically talking to herself, that Ash wouldn't be there with her this morning. She couldn't believe that she'd momentarily forgotten the situation.
Even the little things, such as the food races they shared, were some of the best times she had. This slip of the tongue reminded her just how badly she wanted him to wake up. How much she needed him to wake up.
Instead of continuing where she left of, May could only try to hold back her tears and smile sadly. Without another word, the group left for the Ketchum residence
They quickly made it to the house for the big breakfast hey had planned. Brock and Delia did the cooking while Mr. Mime set the table. During breakfast, everyone did their best to keep their minds off of Ash's situation for the time being. But no matter how hard they tried, he was still filling their heads completely. No one knew how much longer they could deal with this.
"Please, Ash... you have to wake up soon..." Dawn thought to herself, extremely downtrodden.
Conversations were being attempted by some at the table, but they would fade away quickly, never gaining any legs; no one really felt the desire to talk. This only served to make things worse as the silence allowed everyone time to think, which was definitely not what they needed right now.
Despite the faith they all had in Ash, just the possibility of Ash not making it this time around was enough to terrify them into silence. They ended up eating in near almost silence, just wanting to be back by Ash's side.
Finally, after what felt like forever, everyone had finished breakfast and quickly left to return to the lab. Oak had left Tracey in charge of watching over Ash while he was gone, but he knew that he had to be back soon to check on Ash again. His condition was incredibly serious, so he had to check his vitals frequently to make sure that nothing was awry.
The walk back to the lab was just like breakfast, completely silent. Misty, Paul, Max and Pikachu had opted to visit Ash this time as well. Had they known about the little 'meeting' earlier, then they surely would have shown up to that as well. After all, they were just as worried as everyone else.
They soon arrived at the lab and entered, only to find a frantic Tracey rushing around.
"Tracey? What's wrong?" Oak asked his assistant immediately, knowing that something must've happened.
"Oh thank Arceus you're here! About a 30 seconds ago, Ash's vitals started to drop. I've been doing everything you told me to do if this happened, but nothing is working!" Tracey explained, exasperated.
Everyone's faces paled upon hearing Tracey's words. Ash was in a very bad spot right now and they all knew it. Tears began welling up in everyone's eyes as they watched professor Oak rush over to Ash in order to begin working on him.
The only sound for a while was the low beeping of Ash's heartbeat monitor. They all noticed the beats were slowly but surely becoming farther and farther apart.
Oak had been working on him for almost ten minutes at this point. He tried everything he could think to do and yet, nothing was working. On the outside, Oak appeared calm and collected but inside, he was panicking. Things were not looking good...
After another few minutes, he stopped working and threw his equipment on the ground in anger and frustration, letting out a yell as he did so. No matter what he tried, Ash's health was still deteriorating...
Oak stepped back, an empty, depressed look appearing in his eyes.
"Professor! What are you doing?! Help him! Save him!" Dawn screamed, her eyes overflowing with tears, her heart beating like mad as she panicked.
Oak couldn't bring himself to look at anyone, not directly, "That's it...there's nothing else I can do. I-I'm so sorry. I've tried everything I can think of, but nothing is working. If Ash keeps fading at the rate he is now...h-he doesn't have much longer. A few minutes at best..."
Once he finished speaking, for the first time since this'd all began, Oak broke down.
Seeing the Professor lose it just made everyone else feel that much worse. Everyone in the lab went hysteric and began sobbing upon hearing the news, all of their hope and faith shattered. Serena ran up to Professor Oak and began punching him in his chest.
"You bastard! You said you would fix him!" Serena sobbed as she hit the professor repeatedly in the chest. Rather than responding in verbally, the crying professor pulled Serena into a hug, to which she accepted as she slowly stopped hitting him. Eventually, she just allowed herself to cry in his arms, not knowing what else to do.
May was sobbing, unable to believe what was happening. It felt like her heart was going to explode. She'd never felt sadness like she was feeling now, nothing even came close. Her heart was pounding and she was desperately pleading in her mind for something to save Ash. If he was gone, she didn't know how she was going to be able to keep going herself...
Her best friend, the man she loved was going to die...all because of her. For May, this was more than enough to push her over the edge. Her mind went into overdrive, forcing her to think about everything they had been through. How they'd met. Him cheering her on in her contests. When she realized she was in love with him, and had been for a long time even though she only just realized it a day earlier. How she would never get to tell him how she felt about him...
As everyone stood helplessly, just watching their friend slowly drift away, a thought popped into Brock's head. Somehow, he managed to regain his composure enough to speak. "P-Professor. Go get Ash's Lucario. There is something we have to try."
Oak's eyes widened as he immediately realized what Brock was planning on doing. He released Serena from the hug and spoke frantically. "Brock, you know that has never worked on a human. If we do that, then there's an incredibly high chance that... that this will kill him."
Brock was becoming frustrated, they had to act now "So what!? If we don't do anything then Ash will die anyway! Now go and get his Lucario!"
Brock's reasoning was impossible to beat, so Oak ran out to the pokemon ranch. He returned not 15 seconds later with a sobbing Lucario by his side. It was clear that Oak had told her what was happening and what he needed her to do.
Everyone except for Brock and Professor Oak appeared clueless as to what was going on, but didn't question it. This seemed to indicate that there might be some chance that Ash could be saved, and that was all that mattered. They all watched on, everyone's composure still completely lost, with bated breath
Lucario walked until she was standing over Ash by the side of the bed. She wiped away her tears with her paw and force herself to focus. She had to be completely calm for this to even have a prayer of working
"Okay, Lucario...Use heal pulse." Brock Commanded. Lucario wasted no time in doing as he was told, immediately transferring her healing powers into her master and friend.
Using pokemon moves to heal humans was extremely controversial in the world of medicine. In every trial of using Heal Pulse on a human, the patient has died. It seemed as though the move's power and humans were not meant to mix. That's what made this so risky.
Despite this, there had been just the slightest bit of science suggesting that it could possibly work, but only under perfect conditions which had not been discovered yet. But no matter what kind of chance there was, what the statistics were, this was their only hope.
Their only chance to save Ash's life.
Everyone looked on with hopeful eyes, still crying all the while, as Lucario continued to pour his power into Ash. After about three minutes of constant healing, Lucario collapsed, too exhausted to continue.
Now, it was all up to fate.
Despite Lucario's efforts, Ash's pulse continued to grow less frequent, his heart beats coming further and further apart until finally...
...it stopped all together.
A silence captured the room. No sobbing, no words, just the dull hum of the flat line on the heartbeat monitor. The sudden quietness gave the occupants time to realized what'd happened. What this meant.
Too shocked to move, no one was able to fully register what'd happened yet.
Ash was really gone.
Dead.
Forever.
…
…
…
Just as everyone was beginning to truly lose it...something happened
the beeping began to return.
...and faster than ever. Soon, it even returned to normal, something that hadn't happened since Ash had been hurt.
Not long after his pulse returned to normal, Ash's eyelids began to flutter until they finally opened completely. He groaned as he took in his surrounding, noticing his friends and family all standing around him in what appeared to be...the lab? He was exhausted and in a decent amount of pain, but he noticed the looks of shock, fear and sadness on his friends' faces more than anything else
Ash was more than a little stunned at the reaction he was getting and seeing as he realized no one else was going to speak, he decided to, "Uhh...hey guys. Anyone care to tell me what just happened?"
A/N: And there you have it! Chapter 3...Done! I know it's a lot shorter than last chapter but this way, I'll be able to get chapters out faster. Anyways, I need all of you guys to head to my profile and vote in the poll I have up there, it is very important to the story. Also make sure to leave a review or a PM. Those really inspire me to keep writing; feedback is a writers best friend. Look out for chapter 4 probably by the weekend. See ya!