Chapter 20: Into The Fire
We ran down the hall, careful that no one would see us, until KiKi found what we were looking for. The prisoners' Pokémon who weren't with them were kept in this room. KiKi took out her key and unlocked the door. We went in, locking the door behind us and looked around.
Stacks of cages, some big, some small, lined the walls and made corridors in the large room stretching out before us. The Pokémon took one look at us and hastily backed into the far corners of their cages. KiKi and I nodded at each other and began unlocking the cages. We help the injured Pokémon down and led them out back to the prisoners' room.
Once all the people were out of their cells and reunited with their Pokémon, we led the party to Ash and Misty's cell room.
"What the hell is this?" Came a voice from around the corner. I stepped out of the protection of the corner dividing us and pinned the man to the wall.
He quickly brought out a knife and held it to my neck.
"You will lay on the ground and let me tie your hands behind you if you want to live."
I backed away, my hands in the air, just enough so that my Pokémon could see me. I nodded to them and the man dropped the knife and fell to the ground, most likely slipping into hypothermia, as Glaceon blasted a Blizzard at him. I took his three knives, coil of rope, and gun, and we continued on, running down hallways, making wrong turns, and turning back.
We rounded a corner and at the end of it was a room labeled "Food." I figured that these people and Pokémon hadn't had a good meal in forever, so I told everyone excluding KiKi and myself, to go inside and have a substantial meal. After all, we had a war to win and we needed all our strength.
My parents came out sooner than the rest, and they said that they wanted to talk to me in private. I turned to KiKi to say something but she nodded right away and went inside the room.
"I wanted to give you Togekiss for your tenth birthday, but, you know." My dad said.
"Togekiss is alive?" I squealed.
"Yes." He replied. "She is."
"So, Togekiss is yours." Togekiss nodded and flew into my arms, happily. She indicated for me to get on her back and I did. We flew around the small corridor, then I hopped off, stroking Togekiss on her head.
"She knows Hyper Beam, Solar Beam, Fly, and Aura Sphere." My dad told me.
I opened the door and got back on to Togekiss. We flew into the food storage room and told everyone that it was time to find Ash and Misty. I told all the other prisoners to meet my parents, KiKi, and I in the courtyard outside the building, and we headed for Ash and Misty's cell.
We opened another door by Togekiss using Hyper Beam and all of us burst into a sight that surely couldn't be real.
Ash and Misty were huddled in a corner, not even in a cell while Mr. Forret beat the shit out of them with a whip. He turned around abruptly, pulled out a knife, and knelt next to Misty. He held the knife to her neck while she slipped into unconsciousness. She fell foreward, Ash catching her before her neck touched the blade.
"Stop it!" He cried as Mr. Forret beat her with the whip again. As a result, he got a deep cut on his forehead.
"What could they have done to deserve this?" I asked myself.
"Nothing." A little voice said inside my head. "No one could deserve such a fate."
I took out one of my knives and flung it at the Leader of Team Stellar, but it only grazed his head. Still, it left a wound that would keep him busy for a while, so I ran to Ash. I took some cloth from my bag that had still not been confiscated and bound Misty's arms and left leg with it. I helped Ash up, and wrapped his forehead with a long strip of cloth.
"Ash," I asked, tentatively, "Do you remember me?"
"Yes, as I recall, Aaron died to save you."
"I'm so sorry..." I began, but Ash cut me off. "It's okay. I know that it was his choice. I'm not mad at you."
I ended an awkward silence by saying. "We have to go meet the others."
"The others?" Ash asked, puzzled.
"The other former prisoners." I said, smiling.
We went out into the courtyard, Togekiss carrying a recovering Misty on her back, my parents and Ash following, KiKi and I in front.