What's up, everyone? I have returned with the next thrilling installment of the "Mt. Nakari Experience"! Now, to recap, Ash is still lost on the mountain but Brock, Misty, Pikachu and others are desperate and determined to find him. But will they find him in time? Did he even last through the night? Well, don't just sit there... GET TO READING! :) Enjoy!
Chapter 4: Endure
That morning, Ash made his way out of the cave, with a strong sense of pride of himself having lasted through the night. He started, aimlessly, walking across the snow in hopes of finding someone or finding a way back to the resort or even a nearby town. He walked for what seemed like hours but, of course, he had no way of telling. He looked around, confused as the landscape started to look exactly the same. The Pallet trainer groaned and just sat down on the snow. He looked back up at the sky and saw the sun was a good distance in the sky, leading him to guess that it was about eight or nine in the morning.
'Apparently, I haven't been walking as long as I thought.'
The next thing Ash heard scared him: a low grumbling sound.
The Pokémon trainer turned his head from this way to that but saw no one. The noise got louder. Ash kept looking but saw nothing.
He suddenly felt really hungry.
Ash hit himself in the forehead with his open palm. 'That's your stomach, genius.' He looked down at his abdomen and sure enough the growling noise echoed again. He shrugged, got up, and kept moving.
Ash walked down, trying to not fall down and roll down the mountain. He was doing surprisingly well, though he was moving so very slowly. His leg was still paining him intensely. Ash figured that it must be broken but he could still walk on it so it made him wonder what was going on. Maybe it was a sprain or a fracture, maybe even a dislocation of a joint. Still, he was in pain so he decided to take a break. He carefully eased himself down on the snow, keeping the same hope that he wouldn't sink in.
As he sat on the snow, the black haired traveler just wished at how much he would like a huge breakfast right now. He could almost smell it: eggs, bacon, waffles, pancakes, and orange juice.
'Man, that would taste good.'
Ash threw his head back, taking a sharp gasp.
He realized he had fallen asleep. Not a good idea.
He looked around in a daze, trying to get his bearings once again. He had to get up. He had to keep moving. It took a lot more will than Ash thought was going to be necessary but he eventually pushed himself up and began walking.
Above the mountain, the helicopter was high up above where Ash fell. Misty, Gary, Magnus, and the two paramedics they brought along all searched the ground frantically for Ash. Brock was on the back of Charizard along with Pikachu doing the same. There was no sign of any tracks. No one really expected there would be any but they hoped all of the same. After hanging in the sky in that area for a while, Brock motioned that he was going to check around the lower part of the mountain while the chopper stayed at the upper area.
Elsewhere, Ash was still trekking through the snow, getting more and more weary with each step. The pain in his right leg had become intense but he managed to push it out of his mind. A couple of hours had gone by since his first break and he was debating whether or not to take another but he held on to the belief that sooner or later he would find something: a building, another person, a random telephone, a house in the snow, something.
Unfortunately, his luck ran out with a random hole in the snow. He left leg sunk right into the snow, while his right got stretched out. Despite the pain, Ash caught himself from sinking to far as the drop only went as far as his knee. Still, more damage was done and more pain was put on the already tired and strained Pokémon trainer.
Ash pushed himself up and got to his hands and knee, breathing hard. "Can I… just get… ONE BREAK!" He didn't so much yell the last words out as he did breathe them out as hard he could.
He got back to his feet and his right leg felt even worse. Ash was absolutely sure it was broken now.
But he couldn't stop.
He knew that.
He kept walking.
He was in a lot more pain now.
And walking a lot slower.
Ash started to question what the point was to all of this. He knew he didn't know where he was going. At this rate, it would be night before he got to nowhere. He contemplated giving up; just stopping, falling asleep, and whatever happened would happen.
Almost as soon as those thoughts crept in, Ash sighed and shut them right back out. He couldn't quit. It just wasn't him. He'd been in tough spots before, granted nothing like this, but he never quit. He just couldn't do it now either. He couldn't… he wouldn't go down easy, not without a fight. If he had to see it end on this mountain, he'd go down swinging.
Still, it was freezing cold, he had a broken leg, his ribs were killing him, and his right arm still hurt like all heck. But at least he had some warm clothes and could still walk. He was walking like a zombie and the warmth of his clothes was mostly gone as the cold was seeping right through but he was still walking.
Ash just shrugged. 'At least, things can't get any worse.'
He then heard some more low rumbling and figured it was just his stomach again. He ignored the sound and kept moving. The sound didn't go away but in fact got louder.
Ash thought it was his stomach again. 'Man, I am soooo hungry.'
The noise then echoed all across the snow. It was so loud it told Ash one thing: there was no way that his stomach.
He turned around to see three Piloswines barreling toward him.
Ash yelled and then took off running, screaming the whole way. He ran as hard and fast as he could and, considering the pain he was in, the broken leg, and the lack of sleep he had, that was surprisingly fast. The Piloswines started firing Powder Snow at him but Ash was running in a zigzag when he could and an unintentional angle, making him hard to hit. He kept running and screaming, having no idea where to go. He was afraid to look back. He was hoping that he was out running the Piloswines. He wasn't sure if they had stopped using Powder Snow or whether he couldn't tell the difference between their attack and actual snow. Either way, he kept running until he saw a downed tree. The master hopeful ran and jumped behind it, very much out of breath.
Since he had a chance to breathe, Ash mentally slapped himself. 'Things can't get any worse. How stupid can you get, Ash?' He, of all people, should've known better. It was ironic because had anyone else said that around Ash about to say that phrase, he would've stopped them mid-sentence. Saying that is just begging for trouble.
He peered over the tree, slowly, and saw that he had really put quite a bit of distance between him and the Piloswines to the point of where they lost sight of him but were close enough that if Ash made too much noise they'd be on him in no time. Ash quickly ducked back behind the tree and waited until he heard the Piloswines move on.
After they were gone, Ash breathed a sigh of relief. He stood up.
At least, he thought about it.
He knew that he should. He wanted to. He had to. He needed to. He tried to.
But he couldn't.
The Pallet native had literally run out of the strength. He was very the definition of the spirit being willing but the flesh being weak. The difference was the flesh was absolutely unable to continue on. He was close to panicking but the only panic happening was in his mind. His body couldn't even respond to that.
He was leaning against the tree, breathing hard, trying to find any bit strength to get up. Praying for any strength to stand. He could keep going from there if he could just get up. Any energy to do so would do the trick. The smallest amount would do. He simply couldn't.
He couldn't feel any pain his right leg. He couldn't feel his legs at all. He could barely feel any extremities. The adrenaline rush had run out and all the energy that he had left was taken up in the run.
What was worse was that Ash's eye lids were getting heavier. He couldn't focus on the horizon or anything else. He was getting more and more exhausted by the second. Soon, he couldn't stay conscious. As dangerous as it was, Ash couldn't help it. He was just so tired. So exhausted.
He fell asleep.
The helicopter was circling around the mountain and still had seen no sign of Ash. Misty had been close to hyperventilating several times but had will herself calm so she wouldn't worry everybody else. The look in her eyes was giving Gary plenty of cause for worry, though. Still, he had his own mindset to worry about.
For Gary, Ash was always the rival he wanted. Always to give him the best competition for the same reason that Ash was even in this situation in the first place: there was no quit in Ash. Even when both dreamed of being Pokémon masters, Ash seemed to have something in him that told Gary Ash would never stop until he achieved his dream. Gary respected that, admired that. Heck, there were days he even thought Ash was better than him. Gary just never said any of that to Ash.
Magnus was by far the most calm one on the chopper, even including the paramedic and the chopper. His head was just on a constant swivel, trying to find any sign of anything that look like footprints or tracks or the outline of a human body. His eyes only left the snow when he checking on the panicked Misty and Gary then he would go right back to the search. He was vigilant just not overly excited. Simply put, he wasn't worried. He had faith in Ash. He knew the young trainer would pull through.
Brock, Charizard, and Pikachu were still carefully searching down close to the base of the mountain. They hadn't even seen any tracks of Ash. Pikachu was still silently in great fear that they would never find his master and Brock was freaking out, too. Charizard, on the other hand, didn't have the same problem most everyone else was having. Maybe it was because Ash never gave up on him when he refused to listen to his master after he evolved from Charmander and Charmeleon. Maybe it was because Charizard had seen Ash in tough scrapes before and not give up. Maybe it was because Ash was his master and friend. It didn't matter what the reason was; Charizard wasn't going to leave Ash out here in the snow alone, not if he could help it. He was so greatly determined that he refused to give up. He knew Ash was alive. And, no matter what, he was going to find him.
Regardless of the Dragon Pokémon's feelings, the helicopter came back around having seen no sign of Ash and starting to run low on fuel. Everyone was shaking her heads, giving an indication of no sign of their friend. Charizard saw the signs of surrender on all of them, which made him angry and more determined.
Both teams were just about to give up when Charizard saw something that made him roar with glee. He didn't give any warning to Brock or Pikachu when he suddenly performed a nose dive for the ground. Misty took notice and figured that there was only one reason that Charizard would have done that. She told the chopper pilot to lower down. He did so.
As Charizard got closer to the ground, everyone saw why he was landing and they all breathed a huge sigh of relief. There, leaning against a fallen tree, was the raven haired Pokémon trainer. Charizard landed and ran up to the unconscious Ash and nuzzled him in an attempt wake him up.
"Ash?" Brock hopped off of Charizard's back. "ASH!"
"PIKA!" Pikachu yelled.
They both ran up to him and Brock started shaking him, "Ash! Ash!" When Ash didn't react, Brock feared the worse.
The paramedics ran up, followed closely by Misty then Magnus and Gary. They paramedics quickly checked his pulse.
Gary put his hands on his head, almost panicking as the medics worked. It was one of the few times he found himself praying. After all, Ash was as close to a best friend as he had.
Misty dashed to Ash, pretty much sliding in the show. She knelt next to him and started to moving his hair, staring at his face. She pressed her hand to his cheek and closed her eyes. "Ash? Please… please, be okay."
"We still have a pulse," one of the medics said.
Everyone's eyes brightened with hope. No one's more than Misty's.
"We gotta get him out of here, ASAP," the other replied.
They both picked him but quickly Gary and Brock helped lift him up. They carried him to the copter and secured him inside before the chopper and Charizard flew off for the hospital in Nakari Town.
YEAH! THEY FOUND ASH! But, wait... he's unconscious. Were they too late? Is this the end for everyone's favorite trainer from Pallet Town? What's gonna happen next? Oh, trust me! I'm not done yet. ;) Just keep reading, true believers. Just keep reading! And commenting! Let me know what's on your minds! Until next time!
