Chapter 11: A Scare for Megaman
When he woke up, Megaman was bored. Something about the heat from the sand kept him from going back to sleep, but the sun was far from rising. He trotted in a circle, thinking about the past events.
1. He and many other navis were turned into 'pokemon.'
2. Their NetOps had no idea who or what they really were.
3. One of their number had suffered an unknown fate.
5. 'Team Aqua' was after Raika.
6. There were strange names like 'Netto' and 'Laika' cropping up.
7. What happened to number four?
8. Was he just going insane?
Megaman paused to contemplate the last one, allowing the sound of someone stirring to go unnoticed. The vaporeon jumped as Lan mumbled in his sleep.
"Password... I don't know..."
"Idiot," said Chaud. He had apparently been awake for a while, because he didn't sound tired at all. It looked like he was thinking hard, and his voice was bitter. Protoman watched him, stoic as ever.
Chaud stood up and headed up the stairs, Protoman at his heels. Megaman glanced at Lan, then followed. Protoman obviously spotted him, but made no attempt to stop him. They ended up in the middle of a hot springs. Chaud rested his elbows on the rim of one of the baths, leaning over the water to glare at his reflection.
"Who is that person?" he asked himself, sounding more frustrated than ever. Megaman peered over the edge of the pool. All he saw was Chaud's reflection. He glanced at Protoman, who'd done the same on the boy's other side.
"What's he talking about?" he asked.
"No idea. He'll start grumbling about it once in a while, say 'Blues,' and then forget the whole thing," said Protoman.
"Blues? That's another word to add to my Suspicious List," said Megaman. Chaud looked at both of them.
"You know, don't you? Who is Blues?" he asked. The navis had no answer to give, so stayed silent. Chaud went back to staring at the water.
Without warning, he went limp, causing his torso to be dunked into the water. Megaman and Protoman cried out in shock, and they heard something from the place the humans were sleeping. Protoman seized Chaud's vest in his teeth and pulled. Unfortunately, the body of a flareon wasn't strong enough to pull him out.
Megaman dived in on pure instinct. The PokeDex was right- he could breathe underwater. He tried to push Chaud out, but he'd jumped in too fast- the sudden heat was making him dizzy.
Two pairs of hands grabbed Chaud by the shoulders and wrenched him out. Megaman resurfaced and leaped onto dry land. The air felt much colder now that he'd left the water's warmth. All of the humans were gathered around Chaud, who was sopping wet.
"Was he trying to commit suicide?"
"Shut up! For all we know, he might have a serious illness!"
"Maybe narcolepsy?"
"He's not breathing!" The last sentence came from Protoman. Megaman felt like a big icy cold hand had grasped his heart. The idea of Chaud dying, now of all times, was terrifying. It meant that in this world, although the humans and navis could interact and even touch, they could not protect their NetOps.
There was a cough; a gagging sound, and ragged breathing. Warmth rushed back into Megaman, and he felt he might collapse, so great was his relief. Chaud was alive after all. Mentally he berated himself for thinking that Chaud of all people would die so easily.
"Blues! I've got it! I finally understand it! I've got the password!" Chaud cried.
"Password to what?" said Lan. A look of surprise flitted across Chaud's face.
"Excuse me?"
"What's the password for?" said Lan. Chaud was still for a minute. Megaman noticed with surprise that his eye color was changing from purple to blue, and back again.
"I... don't... know..." he forced out at last. The others looked like he'd told them he'd dug up the continent of Atlantis, only to accidentally drop it in the ocean again.
"What a let down," Lan growled. "And here I thought you found something interesting..." Chaud was looking at his feet in bewilderment.
"I'm positive Chaud had it, the way out of here. We'd all be back to normal if whoever it is would stop interfering," said Protoman. Chaud turned his gaze to them.
"You believe me, right?" Both of them nodded fervently. Chaud seemed satisfied with this.
Apart from the fact that the humans now thought Chaud to be semi-insane, things went smoothly. They all flew to the other side of the island Mt. Ember rested upon, and landed on the beach.
"This is Kindle Road," Raika announced, as the dragon pokemon returned to their pokeballs.
"That's Mt. Ember, right?" said Ash, pointing at the smoking colossus. His pikachu imitated this action cheerfully.
"Quite obviously," said Raika. He led the way into the tall grass. They went two by two, trying not to lose sight of their teal-haired leader. Lan and Maylu had been forced to walk together. Both were looking in the opposite direction and seemed determined to convince the other that they were ignoring them. Megaman and Roll had their hands full trying to keep them on the trail.
"So," said Lan, glancing back at Chaud. "Did you remember what the password is for yet?"
"Shut up, Hikari," was the response.
"Sourpuss..." Lan grumbled. Megaman nudged him back in the right direction. Elecman glanced up.
"Hey Ring."
"Yeah?"
"I know you like Protoman, but does Mary have a crush on Chaud?"
"...Why do you ask?"
"She looks like a tomato." This earned Elecman yet another beating. Chaud eyed the two doubtingly.
"It seems that your Jolteon doesn't get along very well with other pokemon," he observed.
"He still thinks he's in charge of the flock back home, so he's trying to push them around. The difference between the mareep and pokemon like Ring is that other pokemon don't appreciate it," said Mary. The line halted. Ash, who stood next to Raika, asked, "What's wrong?"
"Wait until they pass," said Raika. A rapidash and an infant pointy came into view. They stared at the humans for a moment, then vanished again. The group pressed on. Raika took great care to avoid the area around Mt. Ember. They scoured the rest of the island and ended up empty handed.
"Seriously, where could he be?" said Misty.
"We don't know. That's why we're looking," said Raika. Megaman noticed that Lan was looking at Mt. Ember. There was a strange look on his face, the kind that was only seen when he was scheming.
"What are you plotting?" said Chaud, noticing this. Lan grinned and leaned closer, lowering his voice.
"I say we dump mister crazy nose and go up Mt. Ember. Look- from here you can see a cave entrance."
"How will you pull that off?" said Chaud.
"I can take care of that," whispered Maylu. Lan hesitated, then smiled.
"Yeah, let's do this!"
"What? Didn't catch that," Raika said dryly.
"Er... Let's keep looking! He's bound to turn up somewhere!" said Lan. Raika turned away. Maylu took out a pokeball. Whatever pokemon had been inside now vanished into the bushes. They walked a little farther, and then it happened. A giant flaming bird swooped down out of nowhere.
"Molters!" Brock cried. They hurried out of the way as it breathed fire.
"Now!" said Maylu. Chaud seized Mary's wrist and dragged her along with them as they ran towards Mt. Ember.
"Capture on!" came a shout. Lan swore and sped up. Megaman and the others (especially Protoman) were having a hard time with the pace. The ground beneath them shifted, and exploded. With a yelp, the humans fell.
Megaman skidded to a halt right at the edge. Elecman and Roll crashed into him, but he managed to stay up. Ring almost toppled in, but scurried back up. Protoman was the last to arrive.
"Why couldn't this thing..." (pant pant) "...have longer legs?" The four who'd fallen were recovering.
"Odd. I feel as if this has happened before..." said Chaud.
"What the heck was that?" said Maylu.
"That," said Raika, peering down at them, "Is what happens when you try to disobey a Ranger's orders." Ash and the others gaped at the hole. Lan, Maylu, Chaud, and Mary climbed out. "Nice try, by the way. Your ditto was impressive," said Raika, tossing what looked like a large amount of pink clay. Maylu caught it.
"Thanks a lot, Ditto. Return," she said. Chaud's attention was on something else.
"Geodude," he said, indicating a rather large rock with eyes and arms.
"Hey, where's Megaman?" said Lan. Everyone looked around. The vaporeon was nowhere to be seen; nor were the other pokemon whose trainers had fallen into the hole.
"Megaman? Megaman, this isn't funny!" said Lan.
"Over there!" said Mary, pointing. Megaman and the others were headed at full tilt towards Mt. Ember. Everyone glanced at Raika, who thought for a moment.
"Well, I am responsible for all of you..." he sighed. Searchman flew after the pokemon, while the humans followed on foot. As he grew level with Megaman, he asked, "Where are you going in such a hurry?"
"There's no mistaking it, I heard him!" said Megaman. They ran all the way to the cave Lan had pointed out. Megaman was the first one in. There was a loud crack and he saw stars. Gradually, those stars were swallowed up by the night.
