Author's Note: For anyone who hasn't seen the second Pokemon movie and plans to do so, beware, there are some spoilers in this chapter. Those of you in the abovementioned category might want to a) skip this chapter altogether, b) skim this chapter briefly, or c) go watch the movie first and then read this chapter. Those of you not in the abovementioned category, read on.
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Walking on Water
A Pokemon fanfiction by Kasumi Todoh
Chapter 2
"Retrieval of the target has been successful," the computer reported.
"Good." Lawrence stepped onto the elevator and descended down to the hallway which lead to the 'trophy room', the room which held all the artifacts he'd collected. As Lawrence entered the spacious room, he could see that Misty had already been contained between two large circular disks. Electricity coursed visibly between holes in the top and bottom of the disks, effectively creating the bars for the cage. The cage allowed room for standing and sitting, but little else.
Lawrence smiled as he approached her. "Good afternoon, young lady. I trust you're comfortable?"
"Which is more than I'll be able to say for you," Misty shouted, "if you don't let me outta here!"
"My, my. You're quite the feisty one." Lawrence looked smug. "As for letting you go, well, that would defeat the whole purpose of my revenge against your boyfriend, now wouldn't it?"
"If you're talking about Ash," Misty replied, "he's not my boyfriend!"
"Nevertheless," Lawrence grew serious, "I've observed you long enough to know that he cares enough about you that he'll do whatever I say to prevent you from coming to harm. And I have quite a few things to say about children who tamper with other people's property, as you may recall from our last encounter."
"Your sick scheme was going to destroy the whole world. Someone had to stop you."
"Attitudes like that can get you in a lot of trouble, as I know you've found out many times," Lawrence didn't seem to be perturbed in the slightest at her comment.
Misty turned her head away. "You don't know anything about me, or my friends."
"On the contrary, my dear," Lawrence replied. "You're Misty, youngest of the four Cerulean City gym leaders. You specialize in water Pokemon and one day hope to be the greatest water Pokemon trainer. Your 'boyfriend' is Ash Ketchum, winner of the Orange League trophy and an aspiring Pokemon master. He's from the town of Pallet, and has a Pikachu that follows him everywhere. I even know about that bicycle incident that brought you two together in the first place." This was enough to shut even Misty up. "So you see," Lawrence finished, "I know everything about you."
"Are you going to kill me?" Misty asked in a small voice. This caused Lawrence to smile that unnerving smile once again.
"You, my dear, are simply bait. And, as any good fisherman knows, live bait usually attract much bigger fish than dead ones."
With that, Lawrence turned and swept out of the room, leaving Misty alone. The redhead slowly sank down to the bottom of the cage, and shivered.
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"Well, I'll put out an A.P.B. and tell people to be on the lookout," the Cedarville's Officer Jenny informed Ash and Brock. "And otherwise I'll do everything I can to locate your missing friend. But unless she or Lawrence contacts you somehow, or someone happens to see this flying castle, I don't think there's much we can do at this point."
"Thanks a lot anyway, Officer Jenny," Brock replied, bowing to her as she mounted her motorcycle and rode away. Brock was so worried about Misty that he didn't notice how pretty she was, the way he normally did.
After the fortress had taken Misty away, the two boys, along with Pikachu and Togepi, had gone straight to Cedarville and informed the police of what had happened. Now they were in the lobby of the Pokemon Center, where they planned to spend what would surely be a long and sleepless night.
Ash hadn't said a word since the kidnapping, and Pikachu was clearly looking worried about its trainer's current mental state. Then again, Brock reflected, so am I. Brock was well aware of the animosity between Ash and Misty, but they had known each other longer than he had, so he supposed it was only natural that Ash would be taking this hard. Still...
Finally, Brock went over and sat down beside Ash. "So..." Exactly what could he say at a time like this? "We will find Misty, Ash. Somehow we'll get her back. I know we will."
"I couldn't save her,"Ash muttered suddenly, in a tone so low that Brock almost didn't hear it. "Lawrence kidnapped Misty to get back at me, I just know it. Yet with all my Pokemon knowledge and experience, I still couldn't save her. Some friend and master I'm turning out to be."
Brock was about to say something to this, when Pikachu responded first, with a sudden Thunder Shock that caught both boys by surprise. Brock barely managed to jump out of the way in time, but Ash took the full hit. He landed on the floor but quickly got up again, his clothes singed and smoking.
"Pikachu, what was that for?" Ash demanded angrily.
"Pikapi, pikachupipipikachu, pipipika, chupika, pikapika, chu!" the small creature answered.
Ash listened intently, before asking, "So you're saying that Misty wouldn't want me to be sitting around sulking and feeling sorry for myself, and that instead I should be focussing on how to find her?"
Pikachu nodded. Ash looked from it to Brock to Togepi, and finally smiled.
"You're right, Pikachu. Thanks."
"So just who is this Lawrence guy anyway?" Brock asked, "and why does he seem to have it in for you so much?"
"Well," Ash began, "do you remember a couple of years ago, when the weather started getting crazier and crazier?"
"Sure, I remember it," Brock replied. "I was working for Professor Ivy at the time, and all the Pokemon in her lab started going crazy too. Then she went to the Shamuti Islands with Professor Oak to investigate, and when she came back she told me stuff about a near-cataclysm and a strange new Pokemon that had stopped it. But that was about all she said."
"The reason the weather went all crazy," Ash explained, "was because Lawrence had captured the great birds Moltres and Zapdos as part of some weird Pokemon collection."
"That's awful!" Brock exclaimed.
"Because the Moltres and Zapdos were no longer around, the balance of nature was disrupted," Ash went on. "That why things with close ties to nature, like the weather and the Pokemon, got out of control.
"Misty, Tracey and I were travelling through the area at the time, and along with a new friend named Melody, we accidentally stumbled onto Lawrence's plan. We managed to free Zapdos and Moltres, and then we helped the legendary Pokemon guardian Lugia-the strange new Pokemon Professor Ivy talked about-to restore things to the way they should be. But in the process, we crashed Lawrence's original flying fortress, and then it got blown up, along with all his stuff, I suppose. Plus thanks to us, he lost Moltres and Zapdos, as well as Articuno and Lugia, who he was also trying to capture for his collection."
"And so he's holding you responsible for all that," Brock finished the story, "and I guess now he wants more than an apology or repayment of the damages."
Ash nodded. "I guess it was too much to hope that he'd gone down with his ship. Now the question remains, how are we gonna deal with him?"
"The first thing we gotta do is find out where he's keeping Misty," Brock replied. "Then we'll figure out a way to deal with Lawrence."
As if on cue, a Spearow suddenly flew in an open window and landed right beside them. Both boys and Pokemon moved cautiously away, but the bird didn't attack. It just stood there, as if waiting patiently for something. It was Pikachu that first noticed a rolled-up piece of paper that was tied to the Spearow's leg, and quickly pointed it out to Ash.
Trying to attract as little attention as possible, Ash cautiously approached the Spearow, although it made no move whatsoever, untied the string, and unrolled the paper. With Brock and Pikachu looking over his shoulder, Ash read what was written on it.
Attention Ash Ketchum,
As you are certainly well aware, I have your girlfriend safely tucked away on board my ship. Unless you want my ship to become her permanent home, meet me at midnight tonight in the field where we met earlier. Come alone and tell no one, especially the police. We wouldn't want any innocent hostages to get caught up in the crossfire, now would we?
Until then,
Lawrence.
"Well, that sounds like a trap if I ever heard one," Brock replied.
"It sure does." Ash stood up, a look of grim determination on his face. "And that's why I'm gonna face Lawrence alone."
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I know, that's kind of a sudden place to end the chapter, but I was tired and hadn't really planned for a proper ending, so when I got to the last sentence I decided that was as good as any. I think it adds to the suspense, anyhow.
Looking back at the spoiler warning which I posted at the beginning, I realized it probably would've been better to put it back at the beginning of the prologue with all the other stuff I wrote, since there were spoilers there too. Oh well, too late now. Then again, maybe there are those of you who like spoilers. Personally, they make me want to writhe in pain and perhaps kill anyone who happens to mention them, but that's just me.
I was planning to go on hiatus for a while to work on the book I'm writing, and to plan for future chapters of this 'fic. But now I'm seriously considering putting out one more chapter between now and then. So keep checking in, and reviews are also welcome.
Until then.
Kasumi
