Chapter 10

A Lonely Heart's Solitary Path

I stood on a patch of dry sand, lake water lapping at my feet, spray semi-soaking my shirt, sun beating down on me, sheens of sweat forming on my brow. I glanced up at the sky and notice the setting sun. I had a good two hours until dark. I'd already made it past the first two bodies of water that separated me from Mahogany Town. By this time, there was no turning back from here on out. I'd made up my mind and that was all I needed to keep me going. I wanted to get home. I needed to get home. Home was where my heart was. Home was security from the thugs that were tracking me down. Team Rocket wouldn't be able to touch me in my own dimension. I wouldn't have to worry about having to constantly watch my back. I was done with Johto.

Searra swam in front of me, signalling that she was ready to carry me across again. I made sure she got the rest she needed before she dragged me through the water. I sighed and inhaled the salty scent that the liquid emited. I never really got to go to the beach back on Earth. We live in the city. Whenever we did go, I took the opportunity to just sit on the edge of the sand and let the water clean my sandy feet. It felt like I was being purified of all of the crap that I had been dealing with. I would always feel relieved and calm. Hilary would always ruin this when she would force me to watch Barbie movies in the car home.

Now, I started to wade into the water and travel further towards my ultimate destination. It wouldn't be long now, just so long as I didn't get side-tracked. I knew that wasn't going to happen because my determination to get home was stronger than ever.

It didn't take more than an hour to get into Mahogany town limits. By now, it must be supper, meaning about six o' clock. I noticed the sun slowly starting to drop. The sun's a lot more colourful in Johto. Maybe that's because it's a game and not real. I decided to stop by a local shop to grab a bite to eat. I ordered ramen (why would Pokémon want to eat ramen, anyways?) and after I finished, I headed down to Lake of Rage.

As I walked, I began to feel nostalgic. Memories of my time in the Pokémon world flooded into my head, filling me with a multitude of different emotions. I was extremely happy I got to meet so many wonderful characters who seemed to like me and treated me kindly. I was sort of glad to meet Myla. Sure, she wasn't the friendliest person in the world, but that didn't stop her from being protective of me and making sure I didn't get into any more trouble. Same with Lance. He was really supportive and friendly, as well as super strong. I guess being a Champion, he had to be. But he was always so courteous around me.

But then I was brought to the things I didn't necessarily like about my travels in Johto. The fact that Team Rocket had it out for me and were the ones who brought me here didn't make me their bestest friends. I had thought that meeting and talking with them would be the best thing since sliced bread. But it didn't turn out that way; unfortunately, as they had immediately wanted to use my "dimension warping" to their advantage and take their twisted message of world domination across worlds. That wouldn't go so well, knowing the current state of society back on Earth, but that wouldn't stop them from using violence to achieve their goals.

I glanced up and saw the warehouse. At the edge of the water, it seemed like an abandoned fisher's hut. But I knew what sinister secrets that building held, and knew that it was my only ticket home. My feet knew the way and they led me to the entrance. I looked up and noticed faded letters. I squinted, trying to make out what they said. Years of rust and rain had deteriorated the paint, but some of the outlines still stood.

F S H P L N T T I N

Well that's real helpful, I thought as I tried to figure it out. Placing letters where I thought they should be, I put the two words together and said, "Fish plantation." That didn't make any sense to me at all. Maybe they were harvesting Magikarp? I had no idea.

That didn't stop me from proceeding in. Obviously, no one was there. So I took this opportunity to scope out the place I had landed in on my first day in Johto. There wasn't much there, besides the numerous crates that contained who-knew-what. Although when I looked up at the ceiling, there were dark patches that looked like a purple fog had collected there.

I stood in the centre of the building and took a deep breath. I had no clue as to how to get home, but I could try anything. "Should I try 'there's no place like home' and tap my heels? Gah, I don't know…"

All of a sudden, my PokeGear started to go off. I fumbled in my pocket to try and get it out. I must have forgotten to turn it off before I left. I had planned on severing any ties I had to this place so the sting of leaving wouldn't be so great. I looked at it and flipped it open.

"Hello?" I said a little worriedly.

"Ashley! Thank Arceus I got a hold of you!"

"Myla?"

"You have to get out of there this instant! It's not safe!"

"Why?" I asked. "I'm trying to go home and this is the only—"

"Team Rocket is there!"

I gasped. "What do you mean?" I found my eyes darting around the place, searching for any remnants of the villainous team from whom I was running from.

"They wanted you to go there; they knew you wanted to leave so they knew the only place you thought would allow you to do that would be the warehouse! Don't you get it? You've stumbled right into their trap!"

"Myla, I—"

Before I could finish my sentence, something darted out of the darkness of the building and snatched the PokeGear out of my hand. I whipped my head around to see a whip coil back into the darkness. Wicked laughter filled the room and a loud snapping noise echoed. There goes my only shot at communication with the outside, I thought grimly. Then a surprise attack from an unknown Pokemon knocked me off my feet. I flew in the air and landed on my stomach. I grimaced in pain as a figure poked its head out of the darkness.

"L-Lambda?" I say as I regain my footing.

The purple-haired man in question laughed maniacally as he leaned his head on his hand. "My my, what do we have here? A little girl who's lost her way? Didn't your parents ever tell you to stay away from strangers?"

"And didn't your parents ever tell you to stay away from little girls?" I sassed.

"Ooh, what a temper. I think you're due for a spanking."

"I never was one for rules, and this is no exception!" I released Yukimenoko and commanded her to use Ice Beam. Unfortunately, he was two steps ahead of me and released a giant Weezing, who in turn was ordered to use Sludge Bomb. I grimaced as Yuki was hit and fell helplessly to the floor. "Come on!" I yelled.

Suddenly, dozens of grunts descended from the banisters and released multiple Koffings. Each one released its own Smokescreen, making it impossible to see. The toxic smoke was collecting in my lungs and making my vision go blurry. I hastily returned Yuki, for fear of her breathing in the fumes as well. I fell to the ground and covered my mouth with my hand. I couldn't stop coughing!

"Now do you see why children should stay out of adult's games?" Lambda taunted. "They don't know how real the stakes are."

And the dream of getting home quickly disappeared.

Waaaaaaah! I'm back everyone! With the chappie everyone's been waiting for. I'm so so so so so sorry! I have been very busy and this is my first attempt at an update. So enjoy it! And here's a preview. And I will try and have chappie 11 up soon. Wow guys chapter 10! Double Digits! WOOOOO! :D

Hey, kiddies, Proton here. Finally, after dozens of failed attempts, we now have Ashley in our hands. Most of the others are happy solely because our grand plan of total domination will come to fruition. I, on the other hand, am happy for another reason; I finally have her alone. And if she doesn't comply with either of us, we always have a little trick up our sleeves to make her. She may not know it, but her potential is something that we could have never expected. And if her "friendship" gets in the way…well, let's just say I'm not called the scariest and cruellest guy in Team Rocket for nothing. And if I hear you squeal to her about what I've just said, then you'll be in for a world of pain. But you can keep a secret, right?