Crikey! The reviews are coming in faster and faster! Thank you all for taking the time to read this fic. Here's chapter 4 for you. There are more romantic moments in here, which I'm sure you'll enjoy. And now's the time for the Fawnhearts to escape from Team Rocket. Will they make it? Read on to find out...
Chapter 4
SO NEAR, YET SO FAR
"You're going to help us out?!" Misty exclaimed.
"That's right. If you want Pika power, you got Pika power," Ash grinned. Then, with his usual bravado, "Team Rocket ain't gonna have a chance against us!"
He dug a hearty fork into his spaghetti bolognese and pulled out a dangling Tangela-like ball of pasta that went high above his head, then landed more or less accurately into his mouth. He wasn't usually one to start a discussion when he was enjoying such a tasty meal, but he was just dying to tell Misty the good news. She knew from the very moment when she saw him and Cody enter the house with a look of smug complacence that he had a really exciting secret waiting to be told. And she wasn't disappointed.
Misty clasped her hands in joy. "Oh, that's wonderful! Thank a million, Ash! What made you change your mind?"
Ash slurped up a greasy string of spaghetti and smiled at her. "I guess you could say that Cody 'breathed new life' into the situation."
Ash and Cody laughed. It was wonderful to see such delight in a room that only last night was morose and sombre. And Cody was the one to whom the credit belonged. That boy could work miracles sometimes, and hopefully he'll have the same good fortune when they make their escape from the farm. That, as a matter of fact, was an issue Misty was eager to bring up.
"Well, if there aren't any further problems, we can start with getting you four out of here. Is that okay with everyone?"
Mrs Fawnheart turned to her husband with a sympathetic look, who returned it with a certain doubtfulness. But in the end, the band of hopeful faces won him over.
"Ach! All right, I guess you can give it a try," he said reluctantly. "But don't say I didn't warn you."
Simon agreed. "Aye, I think we should give it a shot."
"Then it's settled," Cody said with a smile of satisfaction. "We can start tomorrow morning. If we work all day getting everything in place, we can break out at night under the cover of darkness. That would be our best chance."
"Yeah!" Ash beamed. "We're gonna hit Team Rocket big time!" And he high-fived Cody over the table. Misty was amazed how much those two have changed so quickly. First they're locking horns in a heated pokémon battle, and the next thing you know they're practically best friends.
Misty leaned over and whispered to Cody, "Hey, what exactly did you two talk about down there?"
Cody smiled. "Oh, we weren't only talking. It was more than just words."
Misty's eyes widened. "You didn't kiss him, did you?"
Cody laughed and shook his head. Ash had tried to his friends what had happened in the lean, but he couldn't place the feelings into words. After dinner, Misty and Brock took the liberty of going down to the lean to investigate, but all they found was a pile of red stuff and a straggly calf sucking happily on its mother. Nothing special in their opinion.
When Misty returned to her room, she found that Cody wasn't there. Perhaps he was still finishing up a few things outside. She put Togepi down on her bed, then went to pick up her hairbrush on the desk. As she did, something in the corner of the desk caught her eye. It was partially buried under various documents, but when she brushed them aside, she discovered a piece of paper, on which the top half was covered with lots of numbers and specs about the sensors. But it was what was on the bottom half that drew her attention. It was a pencilled black and white drawing by Cody. By the looks of it, it started off as a bored doodle (probably when going over all those specs), but Cody decided to elaborate it into something that filled the entire half-page. It was a picture of a city park. There were trees and flowerbeds and grassy fields, and in the distance was the rough outline of a city skyline. There were people there too, playing football, strolling down paths, enjoying the sun; couples were sharing lunch, sitting on benches, kissing. And in all this, there was one small word written in the bottom-right corner of the page. Etched in a dark pencil, bordered by parentheses, it read: "OUTSIDE".
Suddenly Misty heard a voice calling her from somewhere around her. "Misty? Is that you?"
"Cody?" she answered into the empty room. She hurriedly hid the piece of paper back under the documents. "Where are you?"
"Up here. Look out the window."
Misty did so and found Cody sitting on the roof with Trixie. "Cody, what are you doing up there?"
"Just... looking at the stars, I guess. Want to join me?"
"Sure, okay, just a minute." Misty sat down on the side of her bed and put Togepi on her lap. "Now you be a good little egg while mommy's away, won't you Togepi?" she said playfully.
"Toge-frrrrriiiiiii!" was the usual, perky reply.
Misty patted it on the head and put it to bed. Once it was all tucked in, she hauled herself out the window and onto the roof with Cody's help. The tiles felt cold and coarse against her bare legs, but she was all right once she was sitting down on her shorts. Trixie walked round and took her place in between Cody and Misty's laps.
It was a beautiful starlit night outside. Bright specks of light dotted the sky and sparkled like jewels. Misty had often gazed at the stars at night during her camps in the woods, but she never had a chance to share them with someone like this. Brock would always nod off after the hard work of preparing and cleaning up after dinner, and Ash was too clueless to get the picture anyway. He was always impatient to hit the sack and be ready for tomorrow. If only he knew that when you're living a moment like this, you never want tomorrow to come.
"You know," Misty began softly, "I never thanked you for pulling me out of the storm the other day."
"Ah, you don't have to do that," Cody said. "Anyone would have done the same."
"No, really, what you did was very kind. I'm just sorry I don't have anything to offer in return."
"Hey, don't say that," he turned to face her. "You're already doing more for me than anyone possibly could. You're helping to set me and my family free from the people that have enslaved us for years. That means more to me than anything in the world. You have no idea how hard it is to find someone who's determined to go all the way like you are. You're willing to put yourself at risk for me, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to repay you for it. It is I who am in your debt."
Misty blushed at this. She was a little shy towards his thanks, as if she didn't deserve it. Cody was almost too kind towards her, but it made her feel special. He made her want to be a better person. And that's when she felt it - a sudden desire deep inside pulling her towards Cody. She never felt this way before, and in a way it scared her a little. But she was too far in to back off now, and Cody could see it in her eyes. Trixie could tell what was going on and generously made space for the two. As if lost in trance, their faces drew closer to each other. Their eyes fell closed and their lips pursed out a little, waiting for sweet, sweet contact. Then at the last moment, something called out to Misty from inside her and she broke away.
"What's wrong?" Cody asked. Trixie exchanged glances between both of them, wondering what was going on.
"I-I don't know," Misty replied. "I just... it doesn't feel right."
What was this strange feeling? Whatever pulled her towards Cody was suddenly overcome by something else, something that forced her to hold back. She had felt it before when she told Ash she wouldn't have to follow him around if he had paid her back for her bike, and again when she watched him battle with Cody. She didn't know what it was, but it made her feel uncomfortable just when she got close to Cody. What was wrong with her?
"I'm sorry, Cody," Misty said hopelessly. "I don't know... I just can't do this."
Cody looked at her disappointedly. "What's the matter? Too fast?"
"Yea-... no. I mean... oh, I don't know. I just don't know," she forcefully repeated, and she stood up to leave. "Maybe I'm just tired. I'd better go to bed now."
"Yeah... we do have a tough day tomorrow," he said unconvincingly. "Well, goodnight."
Misty gave one last sad, parting look, then climbed back in through the window. Trixie watched her leave and looked towards Cody for answers, but all she got was a depressed shrug of the shoulders.
Misty was still feeling weird about what happened when she settled into bed with Togepi, who was now asleep. She didn't really understand what had happened, herself. Why did she turn away from Cody? What was holding her back? Was she too nervous? No, she was fine until that feeling came. It almost felt like guilt, like she was betraying something. But what had she done wrong? It didn't make sense. There she was enjoying the most romantic moment of her life, and she had to go and blow her chance at her first kiss for some unknown reason. And she hated herself for it. She switched the light off and tried to get some rest, but sleep did not to come to her. Her problem bothered her all night.
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Tomorrow was a very busy day. Everyone worked overtime to make sure everything was ready for tonight. All the pokémon pitched in as well. After all, their masters couldn't get the job done without them. First they started damming up the stream at both ends of the spot where the granite plate was buried, then the humans began to drain the area while all the water pokémon pumped the water over the gap. Beside the work area, Ash was with Cody and Pikachu getting everything set up to re-route the sensors' power supply. Mrs Fawnheart had dug up every extension cable she could find around the house, and parts of the tractor had to be temporarily dismantled to fill in the missing pieces. That took a bit of persuasion towards Mr Fawnheart, who was almost as protective about his tractor as he was about his wheat field.
"Okay, here's how it's going to work," Cody explained, holding out a sketch diagram. "Now you can see here that ever since the earthquake hit, sensor 1 has slipped to about twenty-five feet underground. However it still managed to remain connected to the other sensors, so there still isn't a break in the system for us to slip through. So what we're going to do is use Pikachu as a decoy sensor 1.
"While we're still trying to reach sensor 1, we're going to use all these extension cables to connect Pikachu to sensor 1's two adjacent sensors: numbers 2 and 251," he pointed somewhere along the fence to his left and right. "Those ones aren't underneath the stream, so Onix shouldn't have any problem reaching them. Once everything's ready, you're going to have to disconnect sensor 1, and at the same time Pikachu will fill in for the power cut with its own electricity. There will be a break in the system since sensor 1 will be out of action, but the other sensors won't know that because Pikachu will be pretending to be sensor 1 by distributing power to the others. If sensor 1 is inoperative, there will be gap in the system for me and my family to escape through."
He reached for something in his pail and pulled out an old, beaten sensor. It was partially covered in rust and obviously far beyond any chance of repair. Ash supposed it was a damaged replica from long ago.
Cody continued, "This is what a sensor looks like. This panel here is where the power regulators are." He opened it up. "To turn it off, first you've got to turn this dial all the way counter-clockwise. Then when you're ready to cut the power, you flip this switch here, and then it's up to you and Pikachu to keep the power current flowing to avoid tripping the alarm. Got it?"
"Uh... yeah, I think so," Ash said dumbly. Hopefully this wasn't going to be as complicated as it sounded. "But... what are you going to do once you're outside?"
"Well, we have to lay low until we can sort out our issues with Team Rocket. Here, take a look at this." He grabbed his pail and produced another item from it, this time a map of the region. Unfolding it, the map displayed the entirety of Johto's southern cape.
"Look," Cody pointed at a shaded area, "we have an old birdwatching hideout in the forest about one mile east, south-east of here. It's pretty well hidden under an old oak tree, so I don't think anyone would have found it by now. Me and my family could stay there for the meantime, and there would be a much smaller chance of us being discovered than staying somewhere in town."
Ash took the map and inspected it more closely. He had a knack for reading maps, given that he had to travel all across Kanto and Johto. He would even fight with Misty over who gets to be the navigator, since he never trusted a woman with a map. Judging by the directions here, he was sure he could locate the hideout by himself.
Ash handed back the map, then he looked around and something occurred to him. "Hey, where's Brock and Simon?"
As if on cue, the missing two appeared coming round the wheat field with something very large behind them. It was the rock snake Onix, and it was carrying a heavy machine with its tail.
"The Milk Master?" Cody said, walking up to them. "Simon, why did you bring that here?"
"Hey, don't look at me. It was his idea," he answered, sticking his thumb out at Brock. "He thought we could use the Milk Master's pumps to help out the water pokémon. If it holds together, that is."
"Hey, great idea, Brock!" Cody exclaimed. "Huh! Seems that you're not just good for kitchen work." It was a joke, of course.
Soon lunchtime came around and everything was going according to schedule. Everyone agreed to take a good hour for a break. The only ones who couldn't relax were the water pokémon constantly keeping the water current running. But there were plenty of them to relay over long periods of time without tiring. One team had Goldeen, Poliwag (who had not yet evolved into Poliwhirl), Staryu, and Horsea; while team two had Trixie, Squirtle (no, Squirtle hasn't left yet), Totodile, and even the bumbling Psyduck. Fortunately they managed to keep Psyduck out of trouble most of the time. And of course, the Milk Master was pumping hard at work to provide some slack.
Misty was sitting down at the pond where she and Cody had fallen in yesterday. Things weren't terribly quiet there with everyone moving in and out of the house. But it brought back some fond memories, and she decided that would be where she would have her sandwich. Fifteen minutes was all she needed to eat it up, but no one had bothered to join her outside. She had hoped she would have someone to talk to for the remaining break time. After all, Togepi wasn't a terribly great conversationalist.
Suddenly Misty heard footsteps drawing up behind her, and she had a feeling she knew who it was.
"Cody, listen I want to apoli-" she turned round and stopped. It wasn't Cody. "Brock? Oh, sorry. I thought you were someone else."
"Nope, sorry. If you're looking for Cody, he had to head back down to the wheat field early to finish a few things. But he told me to tell you that you can still take the rest of the hour to relax."
"Oh," was all she could say. She was hoping she could get some time alone with Cody to apologise for last night. She still felt really bad about it.
"Are you all right?" Brock asked, noticing her troubled look.
"Yeah, sure, I'm fine," she lied. "Why don't you sit down?"
Brock did so and stretched his arms as he let himself fall back on the soft grass. "Man, I'm pooped already. I'm glad we've got an hour's break. We've had a tough morning."
"Uh-huh..." she answered, a bit distracted. She batted the idea around for a while in the silence. Finally she managed to ask, "Hey, Brock - uh - you're pretty... um... 'in it' with women, right? I mean, you've met plenty of girls you like. Well, I'm sure you must have met a few who you got to know more personally, right?"
Brock sat up and grinned, "When you're not around to pull me back, yeah, there are a lot who like spending time with me."
Misty smiled slightly at this. "Well... have you ever felt really weird during one of those special moments when you wanted to... to get close to them?" She hated the way that sounded.
Brock's face was puzzled. "How do you mean?"
"Well, I... I..." This took a lot of effort to say. "I kinda had one of those 'special moments' with Cody last night. And I just couldn't... you know... get close to him." That sounded even worse.
Misty was afraid of how Brock would react to that. He could have laughed out loud, or sit there gaping at her in shock, or look even more confused, or any number of things that would make her feel awkward. But Brock, always a loyal friend, remained calm and nodded his head.
"Yeah, I think I understand. Maybe you were just nervous," he offered calmly.
"Yeah, that's what I first thought," she sighed. "But it felt different. Like something was holding me back. I can't put my finger on it."
"Well, if you don't mind me saying so, I always thought that you and... um..."
"What?" Misty asked hopefully, believing he had found the answer.
"I just thought..... Ah, never mind. I think you and Cody would make a great couple," he smiled at her. "I think you just need to give it some time. Listen, we all get a little uncomfortable when we try something new. Swimming, riding a bike, first day at school - it can easily scare you. But once you make it through the first time, it's all downhill from there. Whatever was keeping you away from Cody will be broken someday and you'll never feel uncomfortable towards him again. All it takes is time."
It seemed a little early for Brock to begin lecturing. Misty took it in kindness. He may not be the biggest smoothie in the world with the opposite sex, but he sure was the best counsellor she had ever met. And she was grateful to him.
"Thanks, Brock. You always know what to say."
"Don't mention it, Misty. Well, I'm off to find Ash. Don't worry, I'll keep this between you and me."
He stepped up onto the porch of the house and disappeared through the door. Misty looked up at the sky for a moment, pondering questions. She shook her head, the answers not coming. Togepi yawned in her arms and curled up in a ball. Misty could feel sleep beckoning to her as well. She yawned and lied down on her back, enjoying the sun's warm rays falling gently on her. Soon she was asleep. Every now and then she heard voices.
"Simon, you know that's not how it's done."
"Hey, you try and find another way to push that hunk'a scrap past fifty."
"Well, Trixie, a few more hours and we'll finally be free."
"Pi-Pika, Pikachupi!"
"Let her sleep, Pikachu. She's been working hard."
"George, Cody needs your help down in the pen with the newborn."
"Misty dear, wake up..."
Misty felt a slight shaking waken her up, and she opened her eyes to see Mrs Fawnheart kneeling over her. Togepi was sitting on her stomach, staring at its mother's face. She felt the cool grass under her as the sky above began to cloud up.
"Grace. What time is it?" she asked, feeling a little disorientated.
"Two o' clock. Everyone's been waiting for you at the stream for half an hour."
Misty jerked upright. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I should have been more careful. I didn't mean -"
"Never mind, never mind," she said reassuringly, "it was an accident. Come on, dear, you can help us lay down all the cables."
She offered her hand to Misty who took it rather gingerly. She felt ashamed of having fallen asleep at a time like this. Now the Fawnhearts needed her more than ever. Tonight was going to be the night that they would reach their freedom after ten long years. And Misty was determined to lead them to it.
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Darkness was beginning to settle over the isolated little farm, and a breeze was starting to pick up. The sky had vanished too, covered in a thick layer of ever-darkening clouds. If the weather continued at this rate, it looked like the Motherwell farm was in for quite a night. But these foreshadowing signs didn't stop the activities from continuing throughout the evening.
Five more hours saw the completion of the rest of the preparations. By seven o' clock that evening, the group of humans and pokémon had broken through the granite slate to sensor 1 without suffering any accidents, dug a hole to sensors 2 and 251, laid down all the cables and hooked them up, cut open a section in the fence, and readied themselves for the critical step in their operation.
There was a long line of extension cables coming out of the ground where sensor 251 was buried, running along the ground by the fence, reaching Pikachu beside the spot where sensor 1 was buried, continuing along the fenceline, and disappearing in the ground to sensor 2. Pikachu had the bare ends of the cables cellotaped to its cheeks. It was standing on some wooden planks with Cody, which were placed over the gaping hole in the stream that was now fully excavated. Down at the bottom, Ash was busy juggling the torch, shovels and tools that Cody had given him to try and find sensor 1.
Cody peered down into the murky darkness and called, "Do you see the sensor?"
"Just a second." Ash gripped his spade and stabbed at the hard, wet mud with audible grunts.
"Be careful," Cody reminded him, "if you damage it, then we're all screwed."
Somewhere behind Cody, Misty left the team of water pokémon that she was supervising and crouched down beside him. She stared into the hole with a worried expression, wondering if everything was all right. Ash had been down there for an awfully long time now.
"How's he doing?" she asked Cody.
"Still nothing," he sighed. "The sensor should be right there."
Just then, Ash scratched away a piece of earth and uncovered a strange marble-shaped object. It was a blinking red light shining in his face.
"Hey, guys!" he yelled excitedly. "I think I found it!"
The words caught the attention of the rest of the Fawnhearts waiting over by the fenceline, and they gathered round the hole while Ash carefully peeled away the rest of the mud with his hands. Soon he found that the red light belonged to a small metallic device with two thick cables and a big power line protruding from its exterior. The shell was engraved with all sorts of ID numbers and details, but what caught Ash's eye was the big "#1" engraved on the side.
"Yeah! I found it!" Ash exclaimed. "I found sensor 1!"
"That's great!" Cody cried. Everyone else's eyes lit up. "Now you remember how to cut the power?"
"Yeah, don't worry," Ash said, opening up the panel. He found the dial and turned it all the way counter-clockwise like he was told. He was just about to flip the switch to cut the power when Cody stopped him.
"Wait! Before you do that, you have to remember that you can only cut the power during the two-second electric discharge intervals. You and Pikachu's timing have to be perfect. Immediately after you see the light flash, hit the switch, and Pikachu will take over for the next discharges." He took off his wristwatch and laid it down in front of Pikachu. "See this, Pikachu? When Ash cuts the power, use this to tell when you need to release 3000V. You're only allowed a fifth of a second margin of error, so be careful. We'll try and be as fast as we can."
Everyone was growing tense as the crucial moment came round. Cody went to relieve Trixie of pumping duty so she could rejoin the family for the escape. When she came over, she turned to Pikachu and gently wished it good luck for its task. She had a lot of faith in Pikachu. Once everyone was in place, Cody signalled to Ash that he could begin anytime.
Mr Fawnheart folded his arms impatiently. "This is never going to work."
"Hush, George," Mrs Fawnheart hissed, "give them a minute."
Ash inspected the sensor for a moment, then looked up through the mouth of the hole. "Are you ready Pikachu?" he called.
"Pi, Pikapi!" was the response.
"Right, I'll switch the sensor off on the count of three. Ready? One...."
He pinched the switch.
"... Two..."
Everyone crossed their fingers.
"... Three!"
Ash flipped the switch.
That was it. The sensor flashed its last flash, then the bright red light slowly died down. Pikachu counted two seconds on Cody's wristwatch, and on two it released 3000V from its electrified cheeks.
For a moment there was only silence. Everyone listened intensely for any signs of alarm, any indication that their cover had been blown... and heard nothing. There were no sirens, no flashing lights, and the Fawnhearts weren't put into a state of shutdown as feared. All that could be heard was the rhythmic crackling of Pikachu's voltage being distributed to the security system. The sensors were operating as if nothing had happened.
"It worked!" Cody exclaimed. "Hurry! Everyone outside!"
One by one the Fawnhearts and Trixie dashed through the hole in the fence, stepping past the boundaries of their farm, and took their first steps into the outside world in a long time. It had finally happened. After ten long years, the Fawnhearts had broken through the invisible walls of their own private prison and set foot in the awaiting arms of freedom.
"Yes, we're outside! Quick, Ash, switch the sensor back on!" Cody cried.
Ash flipped the switch again, and at the same time Pikachu stopped releasing electricity from its cheeks. Sensor one came back online and restarted distributing power, resuming its place in the system. Still no alarms. The sensors didn't detect any tampering of any sort. The operation was successful. The combined efforts of humans and pokémon had managed to free the Fawnhearts without Team Rocket knowing.
Cody was overjoyed. He couldn't believe they were free at last of their shackles of slavery. Before anything else, he threw his arms around his mother and brother and hugged them tightly, laughing almost on the verge of tears. Soon Ash, Misty, Brock, and even Pikachu and Trixie joined in for a big group hug. And yet a short distance away, Mr Fawnheart had his back turned to the group, his eyes fixed on something in the darkness. Mrs Fawnheart was the first to notice his absence, and she went over to find out what was the matter.
"George, what's wrong?"
Mr Fawnheart shook his head and replied grimly, "I told you this wouldn't work."
Mrs Fawnheart's expression became confused. "What do you mean? We're outside, aren't we? We made it."
"Aye, but look over there." He pointed towards the darkened edges of the forest a short distance away, and Mrs Fawnheart gasped in horror when she noticed what was there. Camouflaged in their coal black uniforms was a band of shadowy figures who had been hiding in waiting and were now closing in towards the escapees. They moved swiftly through the night, quickly surrounding their target and moving in for confrontation. Mrs Fawnheart nearly screamed with fright when she recognized the large, red 'R' emblazoned on their jackets.
"Oh my Lord! Cody! Simon! Team's Rocket's here!"
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The cry immediately alerted the others nearby. Heads spun in all directions, and everyone came to realise what was going on. Team Rocket had somehow caught on to the Fawnhearts' plan and had taken measures to prevent their escape. There was nothing less than a small army approaching them from all around. They were completely surrounded.
Cody was the first to react. "Make a break for cover now!" he shouted.
Ash and Brock quickly pulled out their pokémon, and Misty fetched her water pokémon from the stream to help fend off Team Rocket long enough for the Fawnhearts to escape into the forest. The three trainers sent out every pokémon in their pokéballs, and both Pikachu and Trixie stood side by side, ready to face the oncoming fight.
Team Rocket didn't wait any longer. They saw all the commotion and charged headlong into battle. They tossed dozens of pokéballs ahead of them, sending out the materialising white light inside, and suddenly the trainers found themselves confronted with an army of poison pokémon.
The trainers' pokémon darted into combat and clashed with their enemies. Flamethrowers, Hydro Pumps, Thunderbolts, Razor Leaves, Wing Attacks and Poison Gas flew everywhere as the titanic battle raged on. Cody fought his way through the chaos to try and clear a path for the rest of his family. Trixie's powerful water jets managed to knock back Team Rocket and their pokémon, but their numbers were increasing and Cody didn't know how much longer they could hold out. They barged their way through one final resistance, and for a second Cody thought that they had made it. But all hope of that was quickly erased when he came face-to-face with one last man watching the battle from the back. He stood there confidently, resplendent in his vermilion suit and jade tie, and wore an evil smile under his icy stare.
"Giovanni!" Cody exclaimed. "You're here!"
"Ah, so you must be Cody. If I had known you would be this much trouble, I wouldn't have allowed myself the pleasure of waiting to see whether or not you really could get past my sensors," Giovanni sneered in his venomous sarcasm. "No matter. The sensors will be refined after witnessing the methods of your illustrious escape, and your friends will soon be captured and under my control. Oh by the way, I have a friend here I would like you to meet."
Giovanni stepped aside to reveal a pokémon standing behind him. Its golden fur and snowy white mane stood out sharply against the darkness of the forest. But it was its mesmerising gaze flashing briefly in its spinning pendulum that concealed its real stand-out power.
To Cody's horror, he realised that it was a dreaded Hypno pokémon, and he knew exactly what Giovanni was going to use it for. He made a desperate attempt to tackle it on his own and render it unconscious, but it was too late. The yellow light on his Hypnodrone flicked on, signifying that the Hypno had established a psychic link with it. Cody stopped immediately mid-dive and found himself standing dumbly alongside Trixie in front of Giovanni. The Hypnodrone had taken over, and neither he nor Trixie were in control of their actions any longer. Further behind, Simon and Mr and Mrs Fawnheart had also frozen. Giovanni was now in complete control.
Giovanni cackled, then said to the Hypno, "All right, now have the Fawnhearts round up those three rogue trainers. This should be fun to watch."
Bulbasaur and Chikorita joined side by side, reared up, then unleashed a double Razor Leaf attack that cut five more Team Rocket members down to size. A few of their companions had had enough and decided to finish it off by simultaneously rushing Ash and his pokémon. But just as they were about to make their grab, they were suddenly sent flying by Brock and his mighty Onix charging through to the rescue.
"Phew! Thanks, Brock!" Ash shouted.
Brock gave him a thumbs-up in response from the top of his mount, but his inattention to the rest of the battle meant a sudden jet of water catching his champion rock snake from behind. Onix reared back from the pain, letting out a load roar, and tossing its master off its back. Brock flew quite a distance and took a heavy fall onto the ground near Misty. Fortunately nothing was broken. His companion, alarmed, momentarily fled the duel she was in to tend to the dazed Brock. Helping him to his feet, they all turned in the direction of whoever had fired on Brock. And to their immense surprise, they saw Cody standing side-by-side with Trixie moving up towards the stunned Onix.
"Cody!" Misty cried.
Ash yelled, "Cody! W-What are you doing?"
"Guys!" Cody shouted desperately with the only part of his body he could still control. "Team Rocket's using the Hypnodrones! Get the hell out of here now!"
Until now, the trainers never understood the frightening power these notorious Hypnodrones concealed. But standing there seeing Cody and Trixie attack Onix like they were truly a part of Team Rocket made them realise how terrifyingly powerful they were.
Suddenly the sound of running footsteps coming from behind caught their attention. They turned around, and to their horror, it was Simon and his parents who were launching an attack at their friends - their hands reaching out for them like mindless zombies. Mrs Fawnheart came in quickly, unbelievably nimble for her age, and took a chance at Misty. Unable to fight back because she was still holding Togepi, Misty managed to doge the attack and catch the old lady wrongfooted. Her husband and Simon went after Ash and Brock respectively, and the four of them began to wrestle it out. Ash didn't want to use his pokémon against the Fawnhearts, but now it looked like he had no choice. He wasn't going to let himself get captured.
"Pikachu, Thundershock 'em!" he called.
Pikachu hesitated for a fraction of a second when it heard the order, but then understood the necessity and unleashed an electrick shock on the three attackers. It was just enough to knock them to the ground away from Ash, Misty and Brock without hurting them too much. The trainers had to be very careful here. They were forced to fight the ones they wanted to rescue, but they had to try and do it without injuring them.
Just then, another sound came from behind Ash while his back was turned, and without warning, a whooshing noise followed by an intense pain on his shoulder caught him by surprise. Trixie had leapt onto Ash's back and was digging her sharp teeth deep into his left shoulder. Ash screamed in pain and twisted his torso around violently, tossing Trixie right off. She slammed head-first into a rock, then slumped down onto the grass. Trixie was out cold.
Ash buckled under the pain down to one knee. He reached for his shoulder underneath his jacket and winced when he felt that a damp patch of blood had appeared there. Pikachu was immediately distressed.
"Pikapi! Chu-Pi-Chu, Pikapi!"
"I-I'm okay, Pikachu," Ash groaned weakly.
Suddenly Misty screamed, "Look out!"
Cody was coming up fast for his attack. At first Misty thought he was heading for the weakened Ash, but she was gripped by panic when she realised that Cody was purposely going for her. She shielded Togepi as he readied to pounce on her, but at the last moment Brock valiantly charged in and tackled Cody to the ground.
Pinning Cody down, Brock cried, "How can we beat this?!"
"You can't!" Cody cried back. "Just get away while you still can! You mustn't let yourself be captured! You don't know what will -"
Before Cody could finish, Brock felt himself lifted up by his arms, and two Team Rocket members armlocked him to the ground on his stomach. Everything happened so fast after that. One by one the trainers' pokémon fell captive to Team Rocket with little to no guidance from their masters; and the unexpected turn of events leading to the Fawnheart's unwilling defection meant a successful seizure of all three pokémon trainers by Team Rocket. Ash, Misty and Brock were quickly encircled by three dozen black-clad brigands with caps that overshadowed their eyes. Their pokémon had all been captured in nets or tied down with restraints. Only Pikachu remained loyally by its injured master's side, glaring vehemently at the band of thugs. It wondered why no one was making a move to capture it with the rest of the pokémon. But if they did try to grab it, Pikachu was determined to make their victory a coarsely one.
For a moment there was only silence. Brock was pinned to the ground, and Ash and Misty were surrounded by a ring of fierce-looking ruffians. The Fawnhearts were at the head of the ring too, but they were unable to do anything under the control of the Hypnodrones. A short distance away, Onix, who was just recovering from its powerful water attack, was the only pokémon who had not been constrained by nets or ropes, as it was big and strong enough to break free. But it was clearly indicated by two Team Rocket members that its master would be severely harmed if it tried anything funny.
"Guys, I'm so sorry," Cody whispered to the trainers sadly. "I never meant for any of this to happen."
"It's not your fault, Cody," Misty whispered back, holding tightly on to Togepi (whom Team Rocket had refrained from stealing away from her). "Don't blame yourself."
There was some commotion among the members, then a few of them made room as their boss stepped into the ring. Giovanni himself had approached to face the trainers, along with his loyal Hypno still emitting its psychic waves to keep the Fawnhearts under control.
"You!" Ash snarled, still clutching at his bleeding shoulder. "What are you doing here? What do you want from us?"
The sinister man laughed, "My, my! Aren't we impatient for answers, little boy? I would have thought you'd at least grant me the courtesy of introducing my two guests."
"Guests?" Ash said, puzzled.
Then, another group of Team Rocket members stepped aside, and two figures from the back strode up front. One of them was a long-haired woman, and the other a man with an oddly-coloured haircut. Both of them were donned in Team Rocket uniforms.
"Prepare for trouble!" said the first.
"And make it double!" added her companion.
READ CHAPTER FIVE TOMORROW!!
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Uh oh, are you thinking what I'm thinking? Yes, it's cliffhanger time again! What ill fate has begotten our heroes now? You'll find out soon enough. ^_^
Well, a lot of things happened in this chapter. First Misty's on the verge of kissing Cody, and the next thing you know they're unwillingly battling each other under Giovanni's control. I'd like to point out near the top that I included Cody's drawing because I like art. Yeah, I even like doodling on scrap bits of paper, so I wanted to add a bit of me in Cody. Some of you may be wondering what was holding Misty back during that romantic night with him. Well, I won't tell you what is was, but I think any pokéshipper can guess it. ^_^
Tomorrow's the final chapter, so stay tuned to finally find out the ending in this exciting fic! Dum dum dum DUM!
