It was dark.
Misty awoke in a cold, dark room with what felt like metal all around her. As she came to, she finally remembered what happened.
She was captured by Team Rocket.
But not by Jessie and James—that's what made this situation far scarier than it should be. Unlike those two, Butch and Cassidy are actually pretty competent.
When they took her, they stripped her of all her Pokemon. Togepi somehow got away, but she has no idea where her precious little egg had run off to, or if it was safe. She was separated from Brock and Ash—she's unsure whether they got away or were taken too.
Being walked down a hallway to who knows where, Misty tried to find any chance to escape. She eventually ran off, but blacked out afterword. She's not sure what happened, but she ended up somewhere else in the building.
"I don't think they put me here..." she whispered to herself. "...huh?"
Something warm rested on her lap, breathing heavily.
"Pikachu?!"
He looked so worn and tired. His cheeks sparked up a bit as the little guy looked up at her, concerned and sad. "Pika..."
"Shh, shh... you rest. What are you doing here?"
"Pika... Pika, Pikachu!"
He waved his little arms around, trying to communicate as best he could to her. Misty hardly understood a good chunk of it, but what she could deduce was...
"You... went after me?"
"Pika." he nodded. He started to move his hands wildly again with a lot of various inflection of his own name.
"You saw me run away, then Butch and Cassidy came to get me."
"Chuu, chuu!"
"And you caused a really big blast which is why the power is out, correct?"
Pikachu nodded profusely.
"Haaa... guess I got knocked out in the blast then." Misty sighed, putting her hand on her forehead. "But why didn't you stay with Ash? Why come after me?"
"Pika...!" Misty was almost certain that was Pikachu going "Because...!"
Misty tiled her head. "Huh? Because what?"
"Pika... pi..."
"Because... he's more likely to find us since he'll be looking for you?"
This time Pikachu profusely shook his head. "Pi pi pi!"
"I'm sorry, Pikachu, I'm not sure what you're saying."
The electric mouse let out a sigh and tried again with playing charades.
"Ash... told you to follow me?"
"Misty! Misty!"
After they had gotten separated, Ash was desperately searching, calling her name. Brock got in front of him, however, covering his mouth. "Shhh... you'll give us away!"
"But Butch and Cassidy might do something terrible to her!"
"Same thing with us, Ash. If they find us, we can't help her."
"You're right... huh?"
He heard something, a familiar sound. Looking down, there was a familiar egg-shaped Pokemon tugging at the hem of his jeans. "Togepi?" he bent down to pick it up. "But where's Misty?"
The little egg looked sad and started to cry.
"C-Calm down, Togepi, we'll find Misty, I promise!" Ash assured, although there was a slightly anxiety to his voice. "Nnn... I know! Tell Pikachu all that you know, and Pikachu..." he shifted his gaze to his yellow pal on his shoulder. "...find Misty and keep her safe, okay?"
"Pika!"
"I'm counting on you."
"Chuuu..." Pikachu's face looked worried and sad as he did his best to communicate what happened.
"I see..." is all Misty could respond with.
Suddenly, there was a loud commotion going on. Misty held Pikachu tightly, both trying to remain quiet as possible.
The doorknob to this room started turning. Misty's heart began to thump hard in fear. Pikachu's electric sacks began to spark.
And then the door opened.
"Misty?"
It was Brock.
"Hey Ash! I found her!"
Ash slid into view, holding Togepi in his arms. "Misty?"
"Ash..." Misty felt so relieved. Grabbing ahold of something, Misty heaved herself up, still a little sore from her fall.
"Pika!" Pikachu immediately ran toward Ash, hopping on his shoulder.
"Good job, Pikachu! You found her!"
"Pikachu~"
Ash approached, suddenly looking concerned with how she was standing. "Hey... are you OK?"
"I'm alright, Ash. I just fell down, is all." she tried to smile. "Thank you for taking care of Togepi for me."
She grabbed her precious little egg, holding it close.
"I'm glad you're safe. I was afraid we wouldn't be able to find you."
"Well, thanks to Pikachu, I was actually able to escape."
"Mm..." he nodded. "Good."
"Ash, Misty, we better get out of here!" Brock interjected with urgency.
"Right..." Ash looked back at Misty. "Can you walk?"
"I, sort of..." she replied.
"Hurry up!" Brock urged.
"Come on!" Ash quickly grabbed her hand and the two started running.
It was a good thing. The building soon exploded.
"Are you guys alright?!" Officer Jenny called from the distance, finally arriving on her motorcycle.
"We're fine!" Brock called back.
They all had to stay a little extra to give Officer Jenny as much information to what happened and if they knew about what Team Rocket's operation was here.
"I think that's enough information." she said, closing her notepad. "We'll do our best to track them down and retrieve all the stolen Pokemon."
"Too bad they got away..." Ash said, feeling bad they couldn't catch them this time.
"Those two are dangerous criminals, it was best you guys didn't engage." Officer Jenny noticed Misty's limp leg. "Your girlfriend's ankle looks a little strained. There's a hospital just down the street."
"Huh?" the two were startled by the statement girlfriend and realized they were still holding each other's hand. "No way!"
The two broke each other's grip, looking opposite direction, but their faces both flushed.
Officer Jenny just laughed. "Oh, shy are you?"
"I'm not shy, Officer Jenny!" Brock grabbed both of her hands, practically drooling.
Normally this was Misty's cue to pull Brock away by the ear before he could embarrass himself further, but she and Ash were still feeling too flustered to move or look at each other.
In the end, however, when Brock was rejected, Ash almost didn't notice he was holding Misty's hand again when they headed toward the hospital.
A/N: This was for of Pokeshipping Week 2020, theme; Pikachu protecting Misty