Twenty-one
Ash staggered involuntarily, clutching his skull. It felt like there had been a dam in his brain, and it had suddenly collapsed. Memories and thoughts came flooding into his mind like a storm. Ash couldn't take it. There was so much color and flashing, so many things just running through his head. And it hurt.
And suddenly, it stopped.
Ash blinked as if the sunlight were too bright. He lost his balance again, but quickly regained it. Pikachu twisted around, out in the arena, looking curiously at his master. Byron was not watching his opponent, but rather, the stands.
"Pikachu!" Ash cried. "Volt Tail!"
Pikachu's eyes suddenly grew brighter. The mouse put on his battle scowl and leapt into the air, remembering all his training, everything he and Ash had done years ago. Pikachu somersaulted, sparking with electricity and glowing a soft pink color.
Pikachu's attack collided with the ground, sending a violent electric pulse throughout the stadium. Byron and his Pokemon stiffened with the shock, both of them falling to the ground and not getting up.
Ash and Pikachu were already sprinting out of the stadium. They bolted through the halls of the Company, out the doors, and were gone.
Drew dove into the announcer's box with a cry. Cynthia lowered her gun, her face one of fury as she stared at Paul's still form. Flint was coming to and nursing his bleeding nose, gaping between Cynthia and Paul.
"Get him out of here," Cynthia ordered, and she swept out of the box.
Drew knelt by Paul's side. With shaking hands, he placed a finger on Paul's neck.
There was no pulse.
Sobs were starting to rise in Drew's throat as he turned Paul over, searching for the telltale signs of breathing. He saw none.
Desperate, Drew pressed his ear to Paul's chest. He begged for a heartbeat, pleaded, prayed.
Nothing.
Someone placed their hand on Drew's shoulder. Drew knocked him away, turning to glare at him. Flint backed off, his eyes sad. With a shaking breath, Drew swallowed back his tears and scooped Paul's body up in his arms. He fixed his expression into a placid stare, making his vision unfocused so he could avoid the looks people were bound to give him. Drew carried Paul out of the stands, down the stairs, and to the only place he could think of.
Drew kicked open the door of the briefing room, Paul still in his arms, and entered the room bridal style. His arms were growing weak from Paul's weight. Drew threw a few papers off the table and laid Paul on it as gently as he could. He arranged Paul's arms so that they were folded over his stomach in a peaceful way.
Then Drew sat down in one of the chairs and let his tears fall.
It was awful, seeing Paul like this. It made Drew's stomach fill with lead and his nose itch with tears. He gazed at Paul's face, wondering what could have come over him in his last moments. Had he gone crazy? Was that why he had tried to kill Cynthia?
And what the hell did he say into the microphone?
Distressed, Drew pulled out his cell phone. He needed to talk to someone, just hear the voice of someone who was not involved with this.
"Hello?"
Drew almost hung up. It was a bad idea, calling her, but… "Hi May," he managed.
"Drew!" May said happily. "Thank God you called. I have some things I want to talk to you about—."
"What would you do," Drew interrupted, "if your best friend left you?"
May blinked at this question, earning curious stares from her friends. They were in Leaf's room, playing Monopoly like they always did at her house. "I… guess I'd be pretty pissed off," she answered. Misty mouthed something to her, and May waved her away.
Drew chuckled hollowly at her answer. "I suppose I'm mad," he went on.
"Okay, what are you talking about?" May said, demanding now.
"I mean," Drew continued, ignoring her, "why would he do that? Why the hell would he just go crazy like that?"
May frowned in confusion. "You're scaring me, Drew," she warned. Her face blanched. "Are you drunk?"
Drew did not acknowledge her. His tears were starting to take over now, affecting his voice. "I don't get it!" he stammered. "I just don't get it."
May's jaw slowly fell open, much to the concern of her friends. "Are… are you crying?" she accused. Misty, Dawn, and Leaf all looked at each other, their expressions rather giggly at the thought of a man crying.
"Of course I'm crying!" Drew nearly yelled. "Paul is dead!"
"Paul is dead?" repeated May with shock.
"What?" wailed Dawn.
Drew sniffed angrily. "Yeah," he confirmed. "And I hate him for it." On the word hate, Drew slammed his fist down on Paul's chest, as if trying to damage him more.
What happened was quite the opposite.
Paul flew into an upright position, gasping for breath with his eyes wide. He fell back against the table, shocked, and started moaning with pain.
Drew hung up the phone in an instant. "What the hell?" he cried.
Still gasping, Paul stared at him. "There is a bullet," he managed, "in my chest." He reached up, gripped onto Drew's shirt, and yanked him down. Paul stared at him with wild eyes, and took care to enunciate each letter of his next statement. "It fucking hurts."
"Oh," said Drew, blinking. He nodded. "Right."
"So you just hit him and he woke up?" Joy asked as she started pulling medical tools from her bag.
Drew flipped Paul on his stomach so the nurse could work better. "Pretty much," he confirmed. Drew wiped his cheeks, wondering if they were still streaked with tears. He hoped not.
A squeaking noise was heard out in the hall, and Gary came rushing in. "Is he dead?" he asked, his voice higher than normal. "Oh God, please tell me he's not dead."
"He's not dead," Drew snapped.
Gary paused for a moment, taking in the sight of Joy cutting the bullet out of Paul's back and Drew standing over them. Gary wiped at his eyes and sniffed. "Good," he stated.
"So he didn't have any pulse earlier?" Joy wondered. She removed her bloody tweezers from Paul's back, a small metal bullet clutched between them. After staring at it curiously, Joy set it on a white cloth she had laid out and picked up her needle.
Drew shook his head. "No heartbeat, nothing."
The nurse proceeded to stitch Paul up. "That's very odd."
"How is that odd?" said Drew incredulously. "He got shot!"
Gary leaned over Paul, examining Joy's work. "It… didn't hit anything vital?" Gary wondered.
"Nope," answered the nurse. "It hardly made it to his lungs. At such close range, I would have expected the bullet to go right through him." Joy bit the thread off and wiped the wound with something that stank like disinfectant. "You're very lucky, Paul," she told him.
"Yeah, yeah," Paul grunted as he pushed himself up. He yanked his blue shirt back on. "Whatever."
Nurse Joy smirked. "You must have died of fright," she noted.
Paul scowled at her, while Drew actually bit back a laugh. "Thanks," said Paul sarcastically.
The nurse waved as she left the room. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone you lived."
As soon as she was gone, Drew gave Paul a playful shove. "Died of fright," he snickered.
"And yet you still cried," Paul retorted.
"Don't tease the guy who brought you back to life," said Drew.
Paul took a deep breath and massaged his chest painfully. "And broke my ribs in the process." He paused, suddenly remembering. "What happened to Ash?"
"Pikachu did this crazy-ass lightning attack, and they fled the premises," Gary informed him. "At least, that was Roark's version of it."
Paul nodded. "So it worked," he said.
"What worked?" Drew asked.
"Ash had a memory blank," Gary informed him. "And Paul triggered it."
Dawn was, to put it delicately, freaking out.
"Paul is dead!" she was shrieking. "No! No no no! He can't be dead!"
"Call him back!" Misty ordered May.
May was frantically dialing, again and again. "He won't pick up!"
"I don't get it," Leaf said slowly. "How could he just… be dead?"
"I knew something was weird about their job!" cried Misty.
"You think it was work that killed him?" Dawn exclaimed.
Misty sneered. "I'll bet it was Cynthia."
"God, why won't he answer?" yelled May. She tossed her phone across the room, where it thudded on the carpet and miraculously did not break.
"Are you girls alright?" Leaf's mom entered the room, her face concerned.
"We're fine," all except Dawn replied automatically. Instead, Dawn buried her face in her arms, crying silently.
Leaf's mom gave them all a skeptical look before she closed the door again.
Immediately, the girls huddled up, their expressions serious. "Okay, what we need to do is come up with a plan," Misty instructed.
"Wow, genius," Leaf agreed sarcastically. Misty glared, and Leaf rolled her eyes.
"A plan for what?" asked May.
"I don't know, just… a plan!" snapped Misty.
"This isn't helping," moaned Dawn. She sat up and sniffled. "I think I'm going to go home." Without waiting for their reactions, she stood, flattened her skirt, and left.
Leaf gazed angrily at Misty. "Nice job, you upset her even more."
"Screw you, Leaf, I'm leaving too," snapped Misty. She got to her feet and stormed out of the room, rolling up her sleeves as if she'd like to punch something.
May cocked her head curiously as she looked at Leaf. "What's the matter with you?" she asked. "That wasn't like you at all."
Sighing, Leaf ran a hand through her hair. "I don't know," she said honestly.
May blinked and looked away. "I guess I'll go home too, then," she mumbled. With that, May retrieved her phone and left Leaf alone with her thoughts.
Misty kicked her way into the gym, mumbling incoherent things about Leaf. She slammed the door behind her and stormed past her sisters in the kitchen.
"Hey Misty!" Daisy called. "We're, like, making cupcakes, so do you like, wanna help us?"
"No!" Misty shouted. She made her way up the stairs, kicked her bedroom door open, and locked it behind her. Snorting with frustration, Misty turned around and prepared to jump on her bed.
Instead, she let out a small scream.
"How the hell did you get in here?" cried Misty.
Ash pointed to the window from where he sat on her bed. "It was open."
Misty gaped at him. "Well you'd better get back out of it before I throw you out of it," she said.
"Look," Ash began. He stood up for emphasis. "We need to leave. Right now."
The redhead let out a loud, obnoxious laugh. "I'm not going anywhere with you."
Ash grabbed her arm sternly, making her wince. "Yes, you are," he informed her. "Even if I have to carry you in a bag, you're coming with me."
Misty continued chuckling. Ash's face became confused, until Misty abruptly punched him in the stomach. "Get off me!" she shrieked, wrenching herself out of his grasp. She ran for the door, but Ash had recovered. He grabbed her again and pinned her against the door.
"Listen," he said in a low voice. "The people I work for are going to come kill me. Do you understand?" Misty attempted to escape, but Ash just forced her back against the door. "Misty!" he exclaimed. "Come on, listen. We need to leave right now."
"Why do I have to go?" Misty whined. "I didn't do anything!"
Ash's eyes grew soft. "I'm sorry," he whispered, and he released his grip on her. "But they know I like you. Which means they'll come after you."
Misty stared at him. "What kind of people do you work for?"
"Bad people," Ash replied. "And they will kill you. They'll use you as bait for me and then they'll kill you. So I'm begging you, please come with me."
Hesitant, Misty glanced at the bed. "Did you already pack my things?" she questioned.
Ash rolled his eyes, grabbed the bag he had full with Misty's stuff, and threw it at her. "Yes, I did. Make sure I got everything."
"I didn't say I'd come yet, Ash," Misty reminded him viciously. She peered in the bag and pulled out a box. "Tampons?" she said incredulously.
Ash nodded. "Yeah. Girls need those things, right?"
Misty sighed and threw them back in the bag. She mumbled something inaudible and zipped the bag closed. "Do you have cash?" she asked tiredly.
"I have three thousand dollars," Ash replied. "We'll be fine."
"Where the hell did you get three thousand dollars?" cried Misty.
Ash shrugged. "I remembered I had a stash inside my pillow."
Misty nodded dumbly. "Okay. Great." She hitched the backpack onto her shoulder and clapped her hands. "Now what?"
"You need to leave your phone," Ash instructed. Warily, Misty pulled the device from her pocket and set it on the desk. "They can track it."
"Ah," said Misty understandingly. "Wouldn't want that now, would we?"
Ash stared at her seriously. "This isn't a joke."
"I know," Misty retorted indignantly. Ash headed for the window, and she followed like a puppy. "Why are we going this way?" she wondered.
"No reason, really," Ash replied, "except that it's fun to jump out of windows." He lowered himself off the ledge and dropped into the night. "I'll catch you," he called out of the darkness.
"Can you see?" Misty demanded.
"Of course I can see, now jump!"
Like a terrified kitten, Misty clambered onto the windowsill and dangled her legs off it. "This is so stupid," she whispered, and with a scream she let herself fall.
Misty landed hard in Ash's arms, causing him to stumble slightly. "God, you're fat," he teased.
"God, you're a dick," Misty bit back.
Ash grinned at her. "This is going to be fun," he said, and he grabbed her hand and started running.
"So did you say you had to get me because you like me?" Misty asked playfully.
"You need to get the water out of your ears," Ash teased, "because I don't like you at all."
Misty smirked, gripping Ash's warm hand a little tighter. This would be fun.
"Mr. Giovanni," Brock greeted, bowing slightly. "I know who the Company has been calling their secret weapon."
Giovanni sat down, wincing with pain from his wounded shoulder. "Really," he said silkily. "And who is it?"
Brock smiled. "It's Ash Ketchum, sir."
Next to Giovanni, another man hissed furiously and slammed his fist down on the table. "Of course they would use him," he growled.
"Your son is no obstacle in our mission, Alex," Giovanni told the man. "Especially since he seems to have been blanked."
Alexander Regis Ketchum gaped at Giovanni's words. "They blanked my son?" he breathed.
Giovanni nodded grimly. "Yes. I could send any one of my agents to kill him, whenever you like."
Alex shook his head. "No, no, if Ash has to die, I will be the one to kill him."
"Fine with me," said Giovanni. He glanced back at Brock. "You're dismissed." Brock left, and Giovanni returned his attention to Alex. "You're sure we can get this portal?"
"Absolutely positive," Alex replied. "And with an army of those creatures, no one will stop us taking over the world."
*AN: And here we come to the realization that this is in fact a Pokemon story, with Team Rocket looking for world domination and everything. Isn't Alex a great dad? I personally don't like that last bit right there. Maybe I'll change it. Dunno.
I apologize for the lame part about Paul coming back from the dead up there. I WILL explain it, I swear! Just... later.
I've been meaning to ask, should I change the story's summary? Please let me know, and if you have suggestions, feel free to tell me.*