Broken Hearts
A Pokémon FanFic
By Destiny & Fate United
Disclaimer: I do not own and do not claim to own any of the characters or Pokémon that belong the Pokémon franchise.
Chapter VIII: Friend or Foe?
Time came to stand still for Ash. Around him he could feel the electricity in the air and smell the stench of death closing in. Like a warm hand it ran over his face, caressing and beckoning him to join in a lasting sleep of torment. Ahead he could make out the small figure of an electric mouse, caught in mid air and sparking from its rosy cheeks, pale yellow lightning streaming from its sides. Ash knew what was coming next; if Pikachu missed, it was all over. Nothing would stop the monstrosity glaring at him, its fangs aimed directly at him.
He wanted to shout out at the moment for Misty to run, but the look of fear on her face froze the words in his throat. Nothing here was going to stop them. Instead he gathered his words and turned to Pikachu, hoping and praying as time began to speed up he would hear.
"Pikachu, thunder!"
In that mid jump, Ash could see his friend nod and increase the power, the electricity now a tidal wave that crashed down onto the pups, burning them to the core before falling to one side. The larger dog froze, unable to move. Landing on his feet, Pikachu glared at the beast and dared it to move. Slowly the red eyes looked up, sending another shred of fear into Ash. He could not see the teeth, but he could quite easily see the smile that grimaced from the large dog.
Cocking itself, Arcanine leapt for the trainer, bypassing a shocked Pikachu. As the mouth opened, Ash could only stand stunned, unable to think of anything to say. This was it. It was all over. I'm sorry Misty…
D & F
Four battle sites lost in one week. This was an outrage, even in war. Erika gritted her teeth and threw the papers back onto her desk. She normally could overcome her frustration and annoyance, and forsake it to find the inner peace and balance that guided her life. But upon seeing the names of the people lost, Erika hit her desk again. This wasn't good enough. It wasn't good enough anymore for her people to die for no reason; it wasn't good enough for the rest of the Resistance to be fighting for the lives of Kanto only to have them undermined and destroyed at every turn.
"This has to end," she sighed, collapsing back into her chair. She couldn't keep doing this anymore. Her best agents and most talented trainers were gone without a trace, doing who knew what. What she wouldn't give to argue with Ketchum right now, have him throw back the problems and solve them with some lunatic plan that involved nearly killing himself. He had way too much luck for her liking at times.
The thud of the office next door broke her from the stupor she was in and brought a smile to her face as a loud boisterous voice filled the room. "If I wanted to wait to see her, I would have booked an appointment! I am here to see her now!" the voice shouted, causing her own door to be opened a crack and a timid young girl peer from behind it.
"He's requesting to see you now," she said softly, Erika's nod bringing a breath of relief as the small girl stood back. Opening it loudly and proudly, Lt Surge marched in grinning, the blonde streaked hair and army green clothes as dirty as the forearms of the man.
He took one look at Erika and smirked, turning around to bellow once more at the girl to close the door. She responded, the small click behind allowing Surge to sit down and finally relax for the first time in weeks. Erika eyed him, noting he wasn't here for pleasure; he was still for too worked up to be here for a simple chat.
"Damn girl can't even follow simple orders. Don't understand why you keep her," he mumbled, grabbing a hold of a pokéball from his belt and tossing it up and down.
"Alexis does a fine job Surge. You should be more considerate of her next time," she curtly responded.
Chuckling, he kept his eyes on the ball while thinking over his next move. "Do you want the good or bad first?"
Erika looked at the papers on her desk and groaned inside; if things were worse, she didn't know if she would be able to take it. "Give me the good news then."
"We spotted them."
Erika's ears perked up. "What?"
"Three days ago we spotted the group of agents that left in Cerulean city. Although our agent was told to leave, she gave a good description upon her return to the shop. I even have it here if you want to read over it," he said, pulling out the folder from his shirt and handing it over to Erika.
Erika quickly scanned the report and smiled. He just can't help himself. "No doubt you've figured out who it is," Erika smiled, placing it onto the desk.
Surge grinned softly, nodding his head while Erika finally relaxed into her chair. "That boy couldn't cause more havoc if he tried…although give him a week and he might even surpass himself."
Erika chuckled and looked at him carefully. "Is there any more good news?"
"Pewter is still in our holding, and is proving to be a stronghold now for us. Quite a few of the townspeople have joined up to the ranks. New blood still, but I've broken most of them in now," Surge smiled, rubbing his knuckles on his shirt.
"That's good to hear."
Surge's smile began to falter, eventually turning into a frown, his eyes fixed on something near her desk. "But it ends there."
Erika felt the pit of her stomach drop. "What has happened Surge?"
He had known her for years, since she had started running her gym. He had never felt close to any of the other gyms, but with Erika it was different. She was like the sister he never had, someone who helped to balance him out and keep him in line when he got hot headed. But now, watching the fear in her eyes start up again, he hated being the one to bring her bad news.
"One of the agents, May, has gone missing. She was meant to report in a day ago, but there has been no word. Teams have been sent out, but nothing has been found or is likely to be found. And we suspect a Rocket was involved."
Erika frowned. "You don't care to use their new name now?"
Surge shivered and glared back at her. "I wouldn't say their name if you force fed me melted Slowbro droppings. That name is a disgrace and not worthy of being said."
Erika sighed. "Is that all?"
"How well do you know the defences?"
Erika looked at him quizzically. "I designed most of them myself."
Leaning in, Surge shook his head and looked at her closely. "Erika, we are in danger. No one on this base is safe now. I have strong reason to suspect we are infiltrated and it will only be a matter of weeks before the building and this," he said, gesturing to the room around them, "Resistance will fall apart. They are too strong, and we don't have the resources to do this. We hold one town now, only one, while others slip away from our hold. Team Rocket has us wrapped tightly around the west of Kanto, but they are eroding us away."
"What are you suggesting? We just give up without a fight?"
"I'm saying we will need to be able to run when the time is right. I will never back away, but even I know when defeat is staring me in the face."
Erika felt the pit drop even faster. She had suspected for a while this could be the case, but she didn't want to have to admit it to herself yet. Time; she was sure she had more time left to try and mount an assault, prepare for the worst and celebrate the best. "Where do you stand?"
"I don't like the heads that control this. I'm with you," he responded grimly, "until the end."
Erika smiled sadly and looked down at the notes. "At least I can count on you. Find the ones we can really trust and keep them close. Your gut is always good with this."
Surge grinned. "At least it's good for something."
"And there are two other things I want you to do," she continued, seemingly disregarding his attempted joke. "Keep an eye out for Ash. If anyone can get us out of this alive it is him. Never tell him I said that though. And secondly get a hold of as much of Team Rocket's research in the last five years as you can and keep it on you."
Puzzled, Surge looked at her carefully. "Why do you want all that research? It's nothing but conjecture and nonsense."
"There is something larger going on Surge, something beyond this war. I can't explain it now, but I know there is a greater threat to us than this battle."
Paling slightly, Surge nodded and walked out of the room. "I'll report back in twelve hours."
Closing the door, Erika breathed deeply and lay back, clasping the pokéball that sat on her belt at all times. She knew that those above her would have questions and want to know why she hadn't contacted them sooner, but if what Surge had said was true, she did not know if anyone could be trusted now. For a moment her mind wandered back to the days of being a simple gym leader, and taking care of her flowers. It now all felt miles away as she sat here in the cold blue metal room, exhausted after reading through all the latest reports. "I hope I don't have to use you," she whispered sadly to the pokéball, returning her attention to the work in front of her.
D & F
She didn't know how it would stop, but Misty hoped the beast would. Unable to move, her feet stuck to the spot like tree roots, she hoped and wished desperately it would miss him. But as it glided through the air, mouth wide and teeth focused on Ash, Misty cried out his name, the effort draining her for breath as she closed her eyes.
Misty shut them tightly, waiting to be thrown back or pushed aside. Preparing herself for it, she waited for what felt like an eternity, the breath caught in her lungs. But nothing happened. Maybe they had died quickly; maybe she was already dead and didn't remember it. Daring to open her eyes, Misty looked around fearfully, unable to comprehend what had happened. Lying off to the side was the large beast, Ash kneeling down and looking at it closely while around them the wind and rain continued to howl against their bodies.
All she wanted to do was cry out, but all that came out was a startled gasp of breath. They had been so close to death, so near to the end that she couldn't think clearly. And what was he doing over that body? The desire to call out and ask him to walk away from it was outweighed by the pensive look Ash seemed to be giving to one particular area of the body. Gathering herself, Misty staggered over to Ash and knelt next to him, trying to make out the area he was looking at.
"What did you do to it?" she finally asked, annoyed she couldn't see what he was seeing.
Ash grimaced. "I didn't do anything. And neither did Pikachu."
"What do you mean nothing? It's dead Ash, you must have done something to it," Misty shouted over the gust of wind.
"It was not by my hand. Pikachu zapped him, but it didn't cause him to die. Have a look where my finger is," he said.
Misty looked towards his finger placed next to the front leg of Arcanine. Although she struggled to pick it up in the light, she could see the deep purple ooze leaking down the side of the body and onto the ground. A wound, no bigger than a twenty-cent piece, continued the steady flow of dark ooze onto the ground. Feeling sick at the site of the blood, her chest finally let out the tightness that she had been holding in. Chills began to run along her spine as she tried to find something that could have caused the wound, only to find nothing.
"What caused this then?" Misty asked as Ash stood up, adjusting his gear and fixing up his hair.
"I don't know, maybe we have a guardian angel. But we have to get out of here. There could still be more of these creatures out here searching. Come on," he mumbled, grabbing a hold of Misty and helping her up. Before she could ask if he had a theory or idea, he was already heading towards the edge forest and beyond that the cliff side. She knew they had a long way to go, but she didn't want to admit that the thought of someone else being out there scared her.
D & F
"Come on Oak, let's get going," she shouted across the room, throwing another of the bed's pillows to get him moving.
"Nobody calls me that," Gary shouted back, rolling over and embracing the pillow closely. "And besides I want five more minutes…"
"Get up Oak or I'm coming over there," Daisy shouted, stuffing the remainder of her belongings into a small bag. She didn't want to go either, but they needed to.
Mumbling about what she should go do instead, Gary continued hugging the pillow, blissfully enjoying the slumber. Until he felt water on his face, causing him to flail around as gracefully as a Magikarp before looking up at Daisy who glared daggers into his chest. "Move it now or I'm leaving you behind," she spat, heading back to her bag and finishing up.
Fuming, Gary stood up and walked over to her and turned her around. "Don't you ever do that again Daisy!"
"Or what, I'm going to get the dangerous Gary Oak fire?" Daisy laughed.
"It's no wonder we could never get along. Did you ever stop to ask yourself why we didn't work? Why we finished up?"
"Your damn ego got in the way Gary!"
"My ego? Your ego made it impossible to do anything without being shoved up against a wall. It's no wonder boys run from you Daisy," Gary shot darkly before turning around.
"At least I don't pretend to hide it Gary…you're nothing but a small boy trying to play professor."
Gary froze; Daisy clasped a hand to her mouth, shocked at what she had said. Even after all this time, she scolded herself mentally for knowing better. "Gary I didn't mean to-"
"I get it Daisy. I'm egotistical and a moron to you. Maybe you were better off without me, but you can never say I didn't give it my all. Be ready in five," he grumbled as he stormed off, slamming the bathroom door behind him with all his might.
How can she still be like this after all this time? And to bring up grandpa…I just wish she would go away, Gary cried bitterly. Grabbing some water, Gary quickly cleaned up his face and walked back out. Stuffing the clothes into the bag, Gary and Daisy walked in silence out the door and down the hall. Moving past a few other guests, they entered the elevator at the end and waited for it to open. Daisy slumped against it with her back to the wall, sighing deeply as Gary kept his grim attention on the metal doors in front of him. He just had to get to the hideout and then he could be done with her. They only had one day to get there now, so they could not waste anymore time.
"Gary, about earlier…I want to say…"
Daisy was caught mid sentence as a clink echoed to the right of Gary. Glancing next to the wall, a small black star entrenched itself firmly. Spinning around, Gary reached for the pokéball on his belt and released his friend. Glaceon's slender coat shone brightly as it sped down the hallway. Half way down and shooting wildly at the now approaching Pokémon, a man in his thirties cried out as he landed with a thud against the wall. Glaceon paused to look over its prey before dashing back to Gary's side.
The cling of the doors allowed Gary to push Daisy in as another man ran down the hall, this time dressed in black. With another shot, he narrowly missed Gary as he hit the elevator button and jumped in, the doors shutting as the man tried to shoot him again. Heart pounding, Gary tried thinking of the Pokémon to use while Daisy eyed him carefully.
"We can't have been found that quickly; someone must have talked," Daisy said, trying to pick the right one.
"I don't think it was one of the others, but I do want to know who let slip who we were," Gary sighed, thinking back to the fight and the shouting.
"They wouldn't have known until ten minutes ago. No one can move that quickly," Daisy mentioned, seemingly reading his mind as she watched the numbers count down.
Gary finally fixed his choice on Glaceon again and prepared himself to fight his way out. Whispering to her pokéball, a bright light erupted from the ball to reveal a masculine and strong Pokémon, not much taller than Glaceon. Poliwrath flexed its muscles before fixing the door with its own steely gaze.
"We distract and run for the doors; Glaceon will give us time while I get Charizard out," Gary stated calmly, catching Daisy's nod before the elevator stopped. As the doors opened, Gary and Daisy charged out into the middle and stopped. Surrounding them on all sides, men and women dressed in black aimed their guns and Pokémon at the two. Gary looked to his left, catching the fear on Daisy's face before raising his hands. This was not going to help his mood.
D & F
Grabbing onto the top of the ledge, Misty coughed and splattered while Ash helped to pull her up. It was colder than anything she had experienced, but being up on the hill made it easier to bear. Walking towards the lighthouse with Ash in tow, Misty gazed sadly at the remains of the once proud structure. Where a light should have been shining from the top now no longer existed, the bottom half of the lighthouse the only remaining feature of Bill's once reclusive home. The ground surrounding the lighthouse was bare, to the point of decadent, as if nothing would ever be able to grow there again.
Striding up to the door leaving Misty behind, Ash knocked. Waiting for a moment and hearing nothing, Ash pulled out a key from his pocket and opened the door. Misty followed him in carefully, taking care to stay close to him as he closed the door. Surrounded in darkness, Misty heard a small tick. Immediately light filled the room, blinding her momentarily until she adjusted. Circular in shape, the large expansive living room complete with faded maroon couches and a rug underneath them boasted a small kitchen to the left, a bathroom to the right of the entrance and three doors across the room that Misty could only assume were bedrooms.
It had been years since they had been here as a trio and now appeared to be nothing like she remembered. Misty couldn't believe how much work Ash and Brock had put into converting the place. Without a word Ash made his way to one of the couches and collapsed onto it, smiling and breathing deeply. Misty quickly joined him, allowing Togepi to come out and join Pikachu who had found himself a nice spot on the rug.
"When did you two get the time to do this?" Misty asked, amazed at how solid it looked from inside.
"We had some time here and there. We converted and changed the size of the area. We can't access upstairs anymore because of the new roof, but the entire structure here is designed to withhold anything nature can throw at us."
Misty smiled, and returned to embracing the softness of the couch. "What do you think killed Arcanine?"
Glancing over, Ash returned to staring up at the ceiling. "I think there was another Pokémon out there tonight."
Frowning, Misty tried to think of what might have caused a Pokémon to help them. Ash looked over again and chuckled to himself. "I know exactly what you are thinking Misty. It's the same thought I've had for the last hour. If it were a Pokémon, why didn't we see it?"
"It doesn't make sense," Misty mumbled looking at the ground.
"It does make sense, but only because there is no other way to explain it. But that wound…I've seen something like that before. There are a few Pokémon who can make a hold like that so perfectly…but very few people have that kind of Pokémon."
Hating the fact he was mostly talking to himself, Misty threw one of the cushions at him, causing him to look back over at her. "Care to explain to the rest of us what you are thinking Ash?" she remarked, realising how stale the air felt in the room.
"There are a few Pokémon I know of that can make that wound with a specialist attack. But to perform it so accurately would require training and years of practice to hone it. Pikachu can hit anything that moves," he grinned, looking at the smiling face of his long time buddy, "But that took years to perfect. I think we may be looking for an above average Pokémon, or a…"
"Trainer," Misty finished. Ash nodded and resumed his thinking, leaving Misty to look around the room. Puzzled, Misty scanned the room more closely but still could not find them. "Ash, where are the windows?"
Ash sat up and walked over to the bedrooms and opened up a curtain to reveal a small window. "We made sure we could get air, but we curved it around to make it appear like it was a hole in the wall. I'll just open this one," he smiled, letting some of the cool air in, "and this one…" he said but stopped as he glanced at the curtain on the other side of the room.
It had moved ever so slightly, only a fraction but it caught his attention immediately. Someone else was here. His face contorting, Ash called over Pikachu and looked around the room. Unsure of what had made him edgy, Misty immediately wandered over and picked Togepi up, now looking around the room too. After a while she could see the anger build up in Ash, and hoped he wasn't being paranoid.
"Show yourself!" Ash finally cried out.
Nothing moved in the room. Silence was only interrupted now and then by Togepi's cry. Slowly out of the corner of her eye Misty saw something move. Looking towards the kitchen, a figure carefully made their way out into the living room, each step laboured but made with precision. Ash's face softened while Misty looked on in shock.
"I never thought I would see you two for a long time," the man said, grinning despite his ragged clothing and unkempt dirty hair.
Ash continued to look on in shock as Misty joined him. There standing before them with a toothy grin and sparkling eyes was the mad man himself. Bill.
D & F
A/N: Please leave a review if you can. I know people have busy lives so I really to appreciate people taking their time to let me know what they think. Hope you enjoyed this chapter of Broken Hearts. Thanks for reading. Until next time!