Disclaimer: *kicks a rock* "Don't own them. Sorry." *brightens a little* "But I do own the characters for Lupusa, Michelle, and Casey. 'Who is Michelle?' you ask. You will find out! Oh, yeah. I don't own the poems later in this either. They are really songs from the Pokémon Johto CD (which I don't own, either!…well, I own the CD, just not the songs. ^_^;;)."
Author's Notes: Yadda, yadda, um, happy day? I don't have anything to say. (Hey, that rhymed! Oh, dear. I've lost it…)
Friends to the End
By Ark9
Chapter Eleven
The announcer excitedly replayed the battle for the many people who were listening on the radio, "This was a fierce fight, starting with a graveler versus Blastoise. The graveler seemed to have no chance until it self-destructed leaving Blastoise very weak and graveler fainted.
"The avenging Gloom had an easy time whipping Blastoise. That brought out Pikachu, who wore it out by using its agility to dodge Gloom's vines and sharp leaves, and shooting stars known as swift at Gloom at the same time. Then it delivered a devastating tackle to bring out the last pokémon, an onix. Pikachu ran back up to Ash and Bulbasaur quickly came out.
"It was a classic David versus Goliath match when Bulbasaur solarbeamed Onix's head without having been hit once. Onix fell over and hit the ground hard, swirls seeming to replace its eyes."
Ash had many matches like these that just seemed to fly by. He often used all three of those pokémon, since they were the most loyal, but, like Pikachu then, they weren't always fainted when he called them back. Now he was walking back with Brock and Casey, after the sixth match.
"Go ahead!" he smiled at Pikachu.
"Pika!" it shouted excited and ran around Ash, Brock, and Casey a few laps before it ran away like it had after the last few matches.
Casey frowned," How can you just let your beloved Pikachu just run off on its own like that? What if Team Rocket found it?"
"Then they would be in for the shock of their life," Ash replied with a laugh. Brock just rolled his eyes.
"Ash!" Brock shouted in an annoyed tone. Ash grinned and sat down on the bench with Brock and Casey.
"What?" he asked in a fake clueless tone.
"Never mind," Brock sighed. "Do you know who is still left, Ash?"
"No," Ash said, feeling stupid.
"Richie, A.J., Lupusa, and you," Brock replied proudly.
"Tough crowd," Ash said. "I've lost to all of them before."
"That's right!" Casey said, a grin reappearing on her face. "You'll have to give Pikachu a big hug if it wins!" she said in a taunting voice that made the other two sweat-drop really big.
"Right…" Ash said, raising an eyebrow. He was starting to wonder if she ever gave up on that. Pikachu was close to him, and that made it really hard to defend himself. He probably would hug whichever pokémon was left if he won…
*************
Pikachu wove through the sticks until he reached the clearing that was starting to grow familiar to him. It dashed across and then started its weave again until it reached a stream. There it saw what it was looking for.
A few yards down sat three girls in a circle. The navy-haired girl named Lupusa was facing Pikachu and her smiled turned into an excited yell.
"Hey, Pikachu!" she cried and spread her arms apart.
"Pika!" it said happily and jumped into her arms. It sat in her lap and turned around to face the other two girls.
Even Misty's face brightened a little when she saw Pikachu. The other girl's name was Michelle. She had forest green hair that fell just past her shoulders. She wore a white T-shirt and jeans.
Lupusa now wore a yellow and blue striped tank top with jean shorts. She rubbed Pikachu's head between his ears.
"Is Ash doing okay, Pikachu?" Misty asked it suddenly.
"Pi…" it struggled to answer. "Pika pikachu pi." Yeah, but he misses you.
"Is he still hanging around Brock and my sister?" Michelle asked.
Pikachu giggled, "Pikachu!" said and then jumped out of Lupusa's lap to do an impersonation of them.
In the end, Pikachu and all three of the girls were holding their bellies and rolling in laughter. Then they sat up and wiped away the tears of joy that had formed there.
Pikachu looked up at the sky.
"Pikachu." I have to go. it said sadly.
"Okay," Lupusa said.
"Bye, Pikachu!" Michelle yelled.
"Don't forget what to do when it's over, Pikachu! Just in case I don't see you again. Do you remember?" Misty asked hopefully.
"Pikachu!" it nodded and then ran away called over its shoulder as it ran, "Pi pika!" Goodbye!
When it arrived at the Pokémon center, Ash and Nurse Joy were both there waiting for it at the counter.
"Were you playing with Sparky, Pikachu?" Ash asked, curious as to why his Pikachu was always running off after battles and having a good time.
"Pi- kachu!" he shook his head "no" and then tried to charade Misty but Ash couldn't figure it out.
"Aw, whatever Pikachu," Ash said, "You aren't making any sense."
"Alright! Time for your relaxation therapy!" Nurse Joy called to Pikachu.
"Cha!" it said happily and jumped on the counter. "Pika!" See ya! it waved with a smile at Ash.
"Have fun!" he called back and then went to the computer to learn whatever he could about the other trainers. He noticed that, oddly enough, Lupusa had almost nothing known about her strategy, as none of the previous trainers had been able to get past her first pokémon, Umbreon.
Richie, once again, had Sparky, a pikachu. He remembered that Richie had told him once that Sparky hadn't made its mind up about whether or not it wanted to evolve, but that it would have to see an actual stone to make up its mind. Zippo was now a charizard, and Happy was of course, still a beautiful butterfree.
A.J. used to have almost every kind of pokémon, so Ash was particularly interested in what pokémon he had used. He had his loyal sandshrew, evolved into a sandslash, a big victorybell, and a vulpix, unevolved.
Ash grinned. None of them had given away more than half of their pokémon. This was going to be fun.
*************
Meanwhile, Misty was still at the creek. She had gone back for her stuff that morning after she first slept there. Now, she wasn't sure how long she would stay there. If Pikachu is able to get Ash to do what it wanted, then it shouldn't be more than a couple of days.
If not, then she was going to be there…she didn't know. She didn't want to think about it. It hurt her heart. She told herself that she should just forget about Ash; that he probably was happy to not have her tagging along after him, nagging at everything that he did. She was a shadow. A dark shadow. Many people complained about things like that. She guessed that was wrong with over half of the people who visited the psychologist for a "calming" session. No wonder he hated her so much.
She pulled out a notebook from her bag. It was a blue one that she had gotten from the pokémon league when she registered. She had always wanted to be a poet someday, and really liked French things. Too bad she couldn't go there. But she thought that this notebook just might be the way that she could practice and learn. She looked over the poems that she had already written.
The first one, she had written and almost given to Ash after he refused her help to fight against Brock. …but then he had won, so she couldn't say anything. She still read it over and smiled.
Do Ya Really Want to Play?
Just look in my eyes, tell me
You've got all that it takes, and much more,
All you've go to do is say
Stop telling me lies, show me
With every move that you make, you can score,
Just tell me that you want to play
You can feel it,
But can't steal it
'Cause boy I've got the magic touch!
Can you be the best
With the power you possess
Will you step up to the fight?
Can you pass the test
Are you frightened to confess
That you just can get it right?
You can win or loose
But you've gotta pay your dues
Step up or step away
Do you really wanna play?
The challenge is yours, take it
You met them before, now prove to me
You control your destiny
Keep it steady
Get ready
Show me that you've got the stuff
Can you be the best
With the power you possess
Will you step up to the fight?
Can you pass the test
Are you frightened to confess
That you just can get it right?
You can win or loose
But you've gotta pay your dues
Step up or step away
Do you really wanna play?
Let yourself know
This is my show
Watch me when I play
Keep your mind set
You'll get
Better every day
Can you be the best
With the power you possess
Will you step up to the fight?
Can you pass the test
Are you frightened to confess
That you just can get it right?
You can win or loose
But you've gotta pay your dues
Step up or step away
Do you really wanna play?
The next one she started at the first pokémon league. She didn't know how he would do, then. He took it pretty hard when he lost and so she had added another verse while waiting for him to come out of his room. She had abandoned it after that, until he ran away. Then she had added a third verse from the Cerulean Gym in her frustration. Now, she didn't think she would add any more. It was a poem she had written when she was annoyed with Ash. He was gone now.
He Drives Me Crazy
He wanders off
He's just lost without me
Doesn't matter what I say
I try to give advice
I tell him twice
He won't listen, gotta do it his own way
He drives me crazy—all of the time
He drives me crazy—he drives me out of my mind
So why do I worry 'bout him,
Why do I care?
I don't know why I let it faze me,
But he drives me crazy
He's here and there,
everywhere,
just looking
Always finding something new
I know he's kinda strange
He'll never change
What's a girl supposed to do?
He drives me crazy—all of the time
He drives me crazy—he drives me out of my mind
So why do I worry 'bout him,
Why do I care?
I don't know why I let it faze me,
But he drives me crazy
Just go off in your own direction
And see if anybody cares
Just don't coming running back to me
Ash Ketchum
He'll be wishin' he had listened then
'Cause I told him time and time again
He drives me crazy—all of the time
He drives me crazy—he drives me out of my mind
So why do I worry 'bout him,
Why do I care?
I don't know why I let it faze me,
But he drives me crazy
She sniffed back tears. She wished that he was back now, even if he did drive her crazy doing things his own way, even when it was the wrong way. At least she had friends who played with her during the day today, but Lupusa's eyes had grown really big right after Pikachu left. She mumbled something along the lines of "he's back" before quickly saying goodbye and teleporting Michelle and herself away.
Now she was alone. Desperately alone. She almost wished that she could kill herself now. Her mind joked with her. She wanted to write to one of her friends to see if they had a gun. But then her mind replayed it, and she realized how stupid she was being. She couldn't have done it anyway. Her stubbornness was not a cover-up like many of her other reactions. Besides, there was still that slight glimmer of hope…small…but if Pikachu followed through…it could work…
*************
Ash retreated from the computer screen. He had learned what he had wanted to know. Now, he just had until Pikachu and his other pokémon where ready. He slouched down in a couch facing the counter. He hated the time when Pikachu wasn't there.
Pikachu had a way of cheering him up. Even if it was jeering, sometimes it knocked some sense into him, and he realized exactly what he was doing and why it wasn't such a good idea. Of course, that wasn't always the case. Now was one of those times. He felt sick with himself.
If only he had not walked away from Misty then.
But it was too late. The damage was done…right?
He didn't know what to do anymore. His pokémon was against him on his decision, Misty wasn't there anymore because she was who he had wronged, and who did that leave for him to turn to? His other pokémon would agree with Pikachu, and Brock was probably having a good time with Casey. The only other people who he knew would always be there for him were the former Team Rocket.
But he had a mental block against them. They had been fairly nice to him recently, but he didn't know how trustworthy they were. Plus, they had so many squabbles themselves, that it was a miracle that they didn't split up years ago. He remembered all of the times that Pikachu had shocked them just to shut them up from arguing and scratching each other.
Well, that wasn't exactly accurate. He had Richie…somewhere. A.J. and Lupusa had been friendly as well, but they had really only seen him when he was in battle. Actually, none of them had seen him for twenty-four hours. At least not consecutive twenty-four-hours.
Ash sighed. He would solve that after the league, but first he had to concentrate on his matches. He smiled, thinking about the match tomorrow. This was still going to be fun…and surprises guaranteed since he didn't know all of anyone's pokémon. His faced was covered with a ridiculously happy grin as he leaned back and fell asleep.
*************
Neither knew just how surprising that next day would be…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Next is the final battle of the league! If you don't like the action…sorry. It's the Pokémon League, what do you expect? I think that I will be happy to stop writing so many battles myself, actually…
I have a few things to say to the people who have reviewed. First off…THANK YOU!!! I love reviews! People just keep coming back! Love you all! (Hey, stop looking at me that way, Casey!)
Also, this is no BAML story! (Didn't I already say it was AAML?) Brock's comment was meant to embarrass Ash because he thinks that Ash likes Misty. He was teasing, not wanting to find Misty for himself. He's already got a girlfriend! Heh, heh, heh…
I guess it is about time that I state my opinion about the whole Ash and Pikachu thing, huh? Alright, if you must know…I think that Ash and Pikachu love each other, but not in a romantic way! ^_^
Did you think that Gary was going to be in there? Sorry if you like Gary, but I think that he is just in it when he thinks that he will definitely (or most likely) win. He must care about his pokémon a little bit. Heck, he kisses their pokéballs! No, he is skipping this one, and may or may not come back since I don't like him much, and don't know how far I am going to (or you'd want me to) take this, yet.
All opinions appreciated!! Even if it is bad, if you tell me why, then I can make improvements. Of course, I like good reviews better, but review! Please?