Chapter 4: May's disappearence
Early the next morning, Ash awoke to the sound of Pikachu calling to him. He forced his tired eyes open and looked around. Pikachu stood in front of him, jumping up and down and waving its arms around wildly. It seemed to be pointing next to Ash. Ash turned and looked beside him, where May had went to sleep the previous night. She was gone.
"What? Where'd she go?" Ash asked, jumping up and looking at Pikachu.
"Pika pika pika pi pikachu!" Pikachu cried, pointing toward the thicker part of the forest.
"You mean she just got up and walked off?" Ash asked. Pikachu shook its head.
"Pika pikachu pika pi!" it cried.
"Kidnapped?!" Ash exclaimed. Piakchu nodded its head vigorously. Ash gritted his teeth. "We've gotta go find her!" he cried. He rolled up his sleeping bag and stuffed it in his backpack. After putting his hat on his head, he ran into the forest. Pikachu spotted his jacket lying on the ground. It grabbed it and ran after its master.
Leaping up onto his shoulder, it unzipped his backpack and put the jacket in it. It zipped it back up and turned back toward the direction Ash was running.
"Don't worry. I promise I won't let her hurt you." Ash's words from the night before echoed in his mind. I promised her that I'd protect her and keep her from harm. And now, she's been kidnapped, all because I failed to stay awake last night and watch over her. What kind of person am I? He thought to himself. Pikachu sensed Ash's guilt. It patted his shoulder sympathetically.
"Ash! What are you doing out here by yourself? Where's May?" Ash stopped and turned around, panting heavily.
"Dani?" he asked inbetween gasps for breath. "Where've you been all night?"
"I ran off last night to see if I could find a way out of the forest," Dani replied.
"It was Dani, Ash. She set the trees on fire so they would fall and trap me." May's words went through Ash's mind.
"Really? 'Cause I was told that you set two trees on fire and trappd May last night," he said, his temper rising.
"What? Why would I do that?" Dani asked innocently, putting on her cute act.
"Because she's in love with you and wants me out of the picture so she can be with you." Another one of May's sentences entered Ash's mind.
"Ok, let's just forget about that. Let's go and find her," Ash said, shaking off his urge to start a Q&A session with Dani. Dani shrugged.
"Why don't we split up?" she suggested. "We could cover a lot more ground that way." Ash thought this over.
Actually, I could cover a lot more ground without you bothering me, he thought to himself.
"Sounds good."
"Alright. I'll go this way, you go that way," Dani said.
"But, I just came from that way," Ash protested.
"Just go," Dani answered. Ash mumbled something under his breath and ran back in the direction he had come from. Dani smiled evily, then ran in the opposite direction.
A few minutes later, Ash stopped and leaned against a tree, breathing heavily. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest from running for so long.
"Pikachu...can you...hear anything?" he asked between breaths. Pikachu sat still, listening for any signs of life. It sadly shook its head. Ash sighed. "C'mon. Let's get going again." Pikachu nodded and ran after its trainer.
Suddenly, a green mantis-like Pokemon jumped down in front of Ash and Pikachu.
"Scyther!" it cried, its blade-like arms gleaming from the beams of sun that shined down on them. It leapt at them.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash yelled, acting completely out of instinct.
"Pikachuuuu!" Pikachu cried, releasing a huge bolt of electricity. The Scyther flew into the air, out of the attack's range. A Mightyena then appeared and growled menacingly.
"Where are all of these Pokemon coming from?" Ash asked himself. Out of nowhere, he felt something hit him on both shoulders, and he was on the ground in seconds. The Mightyena stood on top of him, baring its teeth. Pikachu was busy fighting the Scyther.
All of a sudden, the Mightyena lunged for Ash's shoulder. Ash put his hands on its stomach and used all of his strength to push it off of him.
"Pikachu!" he called to the Pokemon. It turned to him. "Run!" Ash called to it. The Pokemon nodded and ran over to Ash, leaping onto his shoulder. Ash then ran to a tree and climbed up to one of its middle branches. "We should be safe up here," he muttered, leaning against the trunk. The Scyther then appeared in front of him. "Or not," Ash said.
Before he could move, the Scyther lifted its blade of an arm into the air. Without any hesitation or delay, it brought it down.
Dani walked through the forest until she came to another clearing. A struggling girl hung from a tree, captivated by a strong silk substance.
"Comfy?" Dani asked smugly.
"No! How do you think this feels?" the girl snapped at her. This girl was none other than May. Dani had taken her in the middle of the night and gotten one of her Pokemon to use its String Shot and tie her up. She was then strung to the branch of one of the many oak trees surrounding the clearing.
"That's too bad," Dani said, ignoring May's question at the end of her sentence. "I ran into Ash in the forest back there. He was looking for you. I told him to go back the other way. Otherwise he would've found you."
"You ran into Ash?" May asked. Dani nodded.
"As a matter of fact, I think I'll backtrack and find him myself. You, there's nothing much for you to do, so you can just hang there, kay?" she replied. Then, with a smirk, she walked off.
May kicked violently in an attempt to get free.
I can't believe Ash almost found me. Dani just had to get him to go the other way. I just hope wherever he's at, he's ok, she thought to herself.