The wake ended, and everyone went home. Some people stayed with Oak,
others stayed with Mrs. Ketchum, and others still stayed at the local
pokemon center. Misty and Brock stayed with Ash's mom, although both of
them slept in the living room, neither one could bear to sleep in their
dead friend's room. The memories were just too painful. Misty lay there
on the couch; she could hear Brock snoring softly. "Brock's trying to be a
rock for all of us, but I'm glad he finally getting some sleep. He really
does need it." Misty looked over at Pikachu in the corner. Misty felt so
sorry for the little yellow electric mouse. Pikachu just laid there curled
up. And that's basically all he'd done since the accident. Misty got up
off the couch and knelt down near Pikachu and started to pet him. "I know
how you feel Pikachu. I loved him too, and I miss him."
Pikachu looked up at her then put his head back down. "Come on Pikachu, you've been laying there all day, you need to eat." She started to pick him up, but Pikachu shot some sparks out from his cheeks. Misty was surprised, but not shocked. Pikachu was too weak to really shock. Misty picked him up into his arms, and Pikachu didn't even bother to shock again. "Come on, lets get you some poke' chow."
Misty took Pikachu into the kitchen, and was surprised to see Mrs. Ketchum sitting there, staring off into space, a cup of coffee sitting in front of her. "Oh, I'm sorry." Misty said, "I didn't realize you were up."
Ash's mom forced a smile, "No, its ok dear, please, sit down."
"Thank you, but I want to get Pikachu some food first." Misty then noticed that no steam was coming from the cup. She felt it and it was ice cold. "And why don't I make you some nice hot tea?"
Mrs. Ketchum smiled, but didn't say anything. Misty poured a bowl of pokemon pellets for Pikachu and laid it in front of him. Pikachu just stared at it. Misty knelt down besides him and stroked his back fur gently, "Come on Pikachu, Ash wouldn't want you to starve to death."
Pikachu looked up at Misty, said "pikaaa" softly and sadly, then took a small bite of food. Mrs. Ketchum watched this and said, "I know how he feels..."
Misty replied, "Me too."
The kettle started to whistle and Misty poured herself and Mrs. Ketchum a cup of tea. "Do you want cream, or anything?"
Mrs. Ketchum shook her head no. Misty put a scoop of sugar in her tea and took a sip. Mrs. Ketchum just kept the tea in front of her, and said, "Did you hear? Professor Oak's grandson Gary is on his way back here."
"He is?" Misty asked
"Yes... he felt awful that he couldn't get back in time for the wake. He was all the way in Olivine City. He's been traveling all day. He called his grandfather and told him he's taking the bullet train to Saffron City, and he'll get a ride from there. He hopes to be here by 8am today."
"Oh." Misty said, "They always fought, but I think they liked each other."
Mrs. Ketchum laughed gently, and sadly said, "Oh they were best friends growing up. They were just competitive."
"Oh yeah," Misty said, "Ash was definitely that."
Silence enveloped the two. Then Mrs. Ketchum reached in her pocket and pulled out some photos. "What's that?" Misty asked.
Mrs. Ketchum showed them to Misty, they were photos of Ash. "That nice boy Todd, he gave these to me, he thought I might appreciate them."
Misty looked through the photos; it was bittersweet for her. "I remember this one," she said showing Ash's mom a photo of Ash after tripping, "This was when we were chasing the legendary bird type Articuno." She chuckled, "Ash was never that coordinated"
Mrs. Ketchum smiled slightly. Misty continued, "You know, he did catch up with it too! Ash was amazing when it came to finding pokemon, or having pokemon find him. But what was even more amazing, anyone else in his position would have fallen over himself to catch it. But Ash didn't even think about catching it. It was just enough to meet the legendary pokemon, he didn't have to try and catch it. But Ash was like that, wasn't he?"
Mrs. Ketchum smiled sadly, "Yeah, he was special." Tears started to silently flow again. "Misty, I want to thank you, and Brock. I don't think I'd be able to handle it if it wasn't for you."
Misty took her hand. "You know we're here for you. We wouldn't be anywhere else."
Mrs. Ketchum's tears stopped flowing, and she, "Thank you Misty, I think you should go back to bed, dear. Its another long day tomorrow."
"Ok... you should too."
The older woman nodded, "I will in a little... I promise." And she went back to looking at pictures of her son.
Misty gave her a hug, and walked back into the living room. On the way, she noticed that Pikachu ate a little, that's good at least. She felt a little better about that. Misty laid back down on the couch. Pikachu leaped onto the couch with Misty and curled into her. Shortly after Misty drifted off into unpleasant dreamless sleep.
Ash lay on the concrete floor. "My whole body aches..." he thought, then he grinned despite himself, "body... not exactly the right choice of words."
Ash fought off the hopelessness. For the last day he had tried to reason with the pokemon, he tried to run through the wall, he even tried sneaking through the floor, every time he got blasted by some attack. He hated to admit it, but Gangar and Alakazam were trained really well. "As long as those two were here," Ash thought, "My chances of escape are practically zero. If only I could battle them."
Ash sat up and looked around. Alakazam immediately woke up and glared at Ash as if daring him to make a move. Gangar was still asleep. Ash looked out the window, the sun was rising. Geoff had left a newspaper on the floor. He purposely left it on the page about Ash's "Death", he thought Ash would like to read it. Ash learned from it that his funeral was going to be held at 9am. It had to be almost 5am now. He had four hours to come up with a brilliant idea to save his life and warn his friends about this lunatic. Ash groaned, he hurt too much to think. He lay back down, and put his face on the newspaper, not that it offered any softness; he just went through it.
"Well, at least now I know how my pokemon feel when I battle them." Ash thought. "But even when I battled them, they took blows like this all the time and they refused to give up or surrender. Well, I'll be damned if I won't try to learn from my pokemon in that aspect, I'm not going to give up either! Brave thoughts. If only I had a plan."
Ash then closed his eyes. Suddenly an idea struck Ash. Ash opened his eyes quickly and then sat up, and looked at the paper. "That might work!!!" he thought. His sudden movements startled Alakazam who quickly barked, "KAZAM!" at him and held out a spoon as a warning. Ash put his hands up in defense, waiting the attack to come. A powerful Psi Bolt caught Ash dead on, driving him backwards, and Ash slipped back into unconsciousness.
Morning had come, and everyone showered and dressed. Professor Oak, Todd, Duplica and Tracey came over for breakfast. Even though Brock cooked a wonderfully smelling meal, everyone just picked at it. No one seemed to have an appetite. Professor Oak and Mrs. Ketchum didn't eat a bite, just drank coffee, neither look like they got any sleep. Brock was a little worried for them, but he hoped that tonight after everything was over they'd sleep better. A knock came from the door. "Keep eating, everyone" Brock quickly said, "I'll get it." Brock went to the front door and opened it. Standing there at the doorway was Gary, looking as tired as his grandfather was. "Hi...." Brock said feeling kind of awkward to Ash's old rival, "Come on in... Would you like some breakfast?"
Gary shook his head no, "Some coffee maybe though, its been a rough night."
"You don't have to tell me that." Brock said, closing the door, "Last few nights have been rough. You can go on into the kitchen, everyone is in there."
Gary put his dufflebag on the floor and turned to Brock. "Before I go in there, I have to ask. Did they catch the guy who did this? "
Brock shook his head no. Gary's face darkened. "He'd better hope that the police catch him first. Because if I find him first" Gary pulled out a pokeball and looked at it.
Brock put a hand on his shoulder. "Gary. No."
"What do you mean no?" Gary asked angrily, "This bastard killed my friend, do you realize how long I've known Ash! Yeah, we were rivals and hard on each other, but that doesn't mean we weren't friends! Since we were children we planned to both become pokemon masters and finally face each other in battle to see who was best. And this guy comes along and steals Ash's life, steals his hopes and dreams." Gary hard face started to crack a little, he almost cried, but then it hardened again, "As soon as this funeral is over, I'm going off to find this guy, and I'm going to avenge my friend. This guy thinks his Gangar is tough, wait till he sees what my Umbrion can do!"
Brock shook his head no. "Gary... you can't do that."
"And why shouldn't I?"
"Because, Ash wouldn't want you to use your pokemon like that."
Gary looked like he'd been slapped. He opened his mouth and then closed it, not knowing what to say. Brock continued, "If it wasn't for Ash's beliefs, I myself would have found this son of a bitch, and let my Onix have him. But Ash never believed pokemon should be used for war or violence. And so I honor him by not."
Gary's face cracked again, and Brock thought he might have seen a tear, but Gary put up his brave front again. "Well... we'll see." Brock nodded and the two went off into the kitchen.
In the woods just outside the house a giant hot air balloon took roost. The balloon was in the shape of a giant Meowth's head. Jesse, James and Meowth of Team Rocket were all sitting in the balloon, and Jessie was holding a pair of binoculars. "I really can't see inside the house." Jessie said, "But from I saw yesterday, Pikachu is really depressed." Jessie put the binoculars away, and turned to her team members, "Which means THIS is a perfect time to grab him, he'll put up no resistance."
James and Meowth gave her a weird look. "What?" Jessie asked.
"Jessie, I know we're Team Rocket, and we're the bad guys and all..." James said, "but don't you think attacking a group of people who just lost their best friend and son, a little low, even for us?"
"Grrrr..." Jessie growled, "What's wrong with you James? This could be our LAST chance at Pikachu!"
"Yeah, but..." Meowth started.
"BUT WHAT???" Jessie hollered.
"It just don't seem right to steal a pokemon who just lost his master." Meowth said.
"You know..." James said thoughtfully, "I'm going to miss that twerp. I know he always beat us..."
"Yeah, I know Jimmy," Meowth said, "But ya attack someone over a hundred times, you just get used to seeing them!"
"Hey, you remember when we teamed up?" James said to Meowth, "When you were brainwashed by Butch and Cassidy? Butch and Cassidy didn't stand a chance!"
The two then broke down and started bawling waterfalls.
Jessie flipped, "What's wrong with you two? Why are you are getting all weepy over some twerp!!!"
James still waterfalling, "But he was our twerp! You can't say your not going to miss him!"
"Grr..." Jessie said turning her back on her team members. She stood there staring out at Ash's house. She couldn't help but think of Ash.
"Fine!" Jessie finally said, "No Pikachu stealing, but YOUR telling the boss that we failed. Now come on!"
Meowth scratched his head, "Come on where?"
"Well since your all so upset about the twerp's death, lets go to his funeral!"
"But Jessie," James said, "We didn't say anything about that."
Jessie flushed a little, "Well I did! Maybe I want to see him one last time. I may not have liked him, but he did earn my respect. You don't have a PROBLEM with that, do you?"
"We1l, ok then Jessie," James agreed taking the hint, Jessie never did like to show too much emotion, "He did earn our respect, and I'd like to pay ours! But how are we going to get in? I don't think the twerp's friends will be too pleased to see us."
"Hmm... Didn't think of that." Jessie said, "I guess we'll need a disguise."
Meowth spoke up, "Well, I got an idea, and it should work too, as long as we're in and out."
The funeral was to start at nine o' clock, but everyone was there by 8:30. It was decided everyone should get one last chance to say their respects to Ash before the mass actually started. The long line started and moved slowly as one by one people knelt down by the young boy and said their good-byes. Mrs. Ketchum was in the back of the line, and Professor Oak had an arm around her, but she wasn't consolable.
The young baseball fan, Casey, made her way to Ash. She knelt down and looked his friend. "Hey Ash. It's a shame we never got that match we promised each other. I wish you could have seen how that Beedrill you gave me is doing. I'm taking care of her like I know you would have. I only met you a few times, but you taught me so much. I'm really going to miss you, and I hope you'll watch over me from heaven from time to time."
Soon it was Todd's turn. He gave a tearful goodbye, and right behind him was a very odd looking Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy. Joy leaned into Jenny and said, "Jessie, I feel ridiculous dressed up like this!"
Meowth spoke up from under James's nurse Joy dress, "You wanted to come here right? Well who knows who was going to show up to this thing? Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny are the only ones that have extras out there, so even if there were here, no one would look twice at an extra set of them!"
"Would you two pipe down?" Jessie said, "We're next!"
The trio looked down at their fallen enemy. Jessie spoke quietly, "You know twerp, if you only stuck around for a few more rounds, we would have bested you in battle eventually. But I guess we'll never find that out."
James started crying as did Meowth, which looked kind of obscene under that Joy costume. Jessie started getting some tears in her eyes. "Hey, I know we may have caused you a lot of trouble during your life, but even I think you deserved better then this. You can rest easy, because I promise you this, twerp, Team Rocket is going to find this guy who did this, and god help him."
James nodded, and Meowth still kept crying. Everyone was now staring at the nurse joy that had the jumping dress. "Is everything ok?" Professor Oak asked.
A panicked look came over Jessie's and James's face, and quickly said, "Oh, everything is fine, just fine, but we really have to be going, bye bye!" And the trio took off for the door.
Misty looked up at Brock and asked, "Was that who I think it was?"
Brock nodded, "Yeah it was, I saw them when they came in, but I figured if they weren't up to any trouble they had the right to say goodbye too."
Outside, Jessie, James and Team Rocket ran into the woods and got to their balloon. "Perfect" Meowth said, "They never suspected us for a second!"
"Of course not, stupid," Jessie said, "We are professional actors, and Team Rocket operatives, no one can see through our disguises."
"Jessie," James asked, "Were you serious about us going after the guy who whacked the twerp?"
"Of course!" Jessie replied, "We have to! Because of this guy, we've lost any chance of getting Pikachu, we can't just stand by and let him get away with that!"
"So that's the only reason why we're going to go after this guy?" James asked.
Jessie blushed slightly, "Of course! It's. its not like I actually CARE about that twerp!"
"Sure Jessie," Meowth said with a grin, "But how are we gonna find this guy? We don't know where he is, or what he looks like."
"Argh, Meowth, do you ALWAYS have to worry about such minor details?" Jessie yelled, and the three sat down talking amongst themselves for a while.
Meanwhile, back inside, it was Richie's turn. "Hey buddy, long time no see." Richie said awkwardly, "You know, I always thought we'd get another chance at battling each other. I bet you got much stronger then me. Ash, I really hope that where ever you are right now, you wont forget that we're friends forever."
Richie eyes started to water as he walked away. Duplica was next but she was too overcome with emotion to say anything. Gary stepped up next. "Ash, I'm going to miss you buddy. I can't believe that you're really gone. I really hope you knew that all those times I called you a loser, I really didn't mean it. I was just pushing you to be as great a master as I knew you could be." Gary's had face didn't change, he was fighting back the tears, although one or two started to leak through. "Ash, I want you to know that Brock talked some sense into me, I'm not going to go after the guy who did this to you, I know that's not what you'd want. But I am going to strive to be a true master, and when I make it, it'll be like we both made it. Goodbye my friend."
It was Tracy's turn next. He took out some sketches he drew of Pikachu, and laid it in the coffin with him. That way Ash would always have his friend with him, no matter where he was.
Brock came up next, he was trying to look composed, but he knew he wasn't pulling the look off. "Ash. you were my best friend, and you always will be. I have something for you." Brock reached into his vest and pulled out Ash's belt, complete with his pokeballs. Brock laid it in the coffin with him, and continued, truly believing his friend could somehow hear him. "Don't worry, about your pokemon, they're not in those balls, Misty, Professor Oak, and myself are going to take good care of them. You don't have to worry about them you can rest easy. I just thought you might need these wherever your new journey takes you. Ash, we'll never forget you."
Brock walked off, his face wet with tears. It was now Misty's turn. She walked to the coffin, holding Pikachu. "Oh Ash." She said softly, "I cant believed this happened, and I never got to tell you how I felt about you. I know I was always hard on you, and I know I always told you the reason I was following you was because of that bike. It wasn't true. I followed you because I cared about you. Because I liked you. Because I loved you. I'm so sorry I never got to tell you that. I'm going to miss you. We all are." Then she leaned over and gave her deceased lover a kiss on his cheek. She stood back up and looked startled. His skin. why was it so warm? She had prepared herself for it to be cold and clammy.
"Pikachu, am I crazy?" She lowered the pokemon to his master's cheek, and the yellow mouse rubbed its electric sacks against Ash's face, its way of showing affection. As Pikachu was rubbing, she asked him, "Pikachu, does Ash feel warm to you?" Pikachu chattered up a storm at Misty. Misty started to feel lightheaded, this wasn't right. Something was really wrong here.
Brock came up to her, and tried to comfort her, "Misty, are you ok? What's wrong?"
Misty looked into Brock's eyes, her own filling with tears, "Brock!" She said panicky, "Brock, I think something is very wrong here. I don't think Ash is dead!"
Brock's face fell, he knew Misty was taking this hard, but this wasn't healthy. "Misty." He said softly, "We all miss Ash."
Misty shoved Brock back hard, and yelled, "DON'T patronize me Brock! I'm not crazy!"
Everyone in the church started to stare at Misty and murmur. Misty didn't care. "Feel for yourself Brock!!!"
"Misty. I'm sorry, but Ash is dead." Brock tried again.
"FEEL HIM!" Misty shrieked.
Mrs. Ketchum buried her head into Professor Oak's shoulder and started to weep. "Misty. your upsetting Ash's mom" Brock whispered to her softly, he took her hand, "Maybe we should step outside, get some fresh air." As he took a step Pikachu leaped in front of him.
"PIKA!!" It said angrily, and sent out a warning shock.
"Pikachu!" Brock said angrily, "Ok. Misty. for you. I'll feel him."
Brock walked over to the casket, and took Ash's hand into his. It did feel warm. Was it the lamps in church? Was he near a heating duct? Brock looked around.
"SEE!!!" Misty yelled, "I'm NOT crazy."
"No one said you were crazy Misty." Brock said, "You're right, he DOES feel warm. But Misty, there has to be a reason for it." He moved in on Misty and whispered as to not upset Ash's mother. "Misty. he does feel warm. but he also doesn't have a pulse. He didn't show any brainwave activity. He's not breathing at all. He's not alive. We all wish he was."
Misty wept harder then she ever had, and leaned onto Brock for support. Brock walked her back to her pew and sat her down. He sat next to her, and let Misty cry on his shoulder. He didn't want to say anything to Misty, because she was upset enough, but something was bothering Brock now.
Ash really DID feel too damned warm for a body that'd been dead for 2 days now. No embalming either, so Ash's skin should have felt drier too, but it was still moist. "Am I crazy?" Brock thought, "No, because Misty felt it too. Am I just too tired? That could be it. but I don't know. After the funeral I'll talk to Oak about, I'm not going to upset Mrs. Ketchum or Misty any more then they already are. There's got to be a rational explanation for it. But I'm not going to let them move his body one inch until I hear it."
There was a rational explanation for it. But unfortunately the only people that knew it were about a mile from the funeral, and they were certainly not going to share it with anyone. Ash lifted his head up and shook it to get the 'cobwebs' out. Then he panicked, "How long was I out for?" He looked to the window. It was later in the day, the funeral HAD to have started by now. He had to get out of here, and he had to get out of here NOW. Once they moved his body he'd never be able to find it in time. He'd have no clue where it was moved to, and only about 2 hours to find it before the autopsy started and. Ash stopped that train of thought, he really didn't want to think about it.
Before he was drilled with that last Psi Beam, Ash had started to formulate a plan. "These two Pokemon, they're tough, and they're loyal, and apparently they hate me as much as their owner does." They shared a lot of traits with their owner. Ash couldn't help but wonder is pride one of those traits they shared. "If so. I might just have a way out."
Ash looked around the room. Gangar and Alakazam were on full alert, but their master was no where in sight. "I bet he's at my funeral." Ash thought to himself, "That's good, this will be easier if he's not here." Ash floated over to the newspaper. Gangar and Alakazam watched his moved very closely. Ash smiled at them. "So, I guess you guys won huh? I'd imagine the funeral is almost over, and soon it'll all be over for me."
The two Pokemon guards stared at Ash. Ash just kept on talking, "Yep. you two really beat me good. Well one good thing, the paper is saying that I won my final match. A Disqualification. Although it also says that with such loser Pokemon my opponent had, there was no way I was going to lose anyway."
Gangar and Alakazam eyes narrowed at Ash. "KAZAM!" The psychic pokemon barked angrily at Ash. Ash grinned, "Oh come on, you can't complain about that. You two are decent pokemon, but let's face it, my Bulbasaur kicked your ass. And you Gangar, you were too chicken to take me on."
Much to Ash's pleasure this really pissed off the pokemon. Gangar was hopping up and down screaming at Ash, and Alakazam was stomping its feet. "And those attacks you've hit me with." Ash continued, "What second rate cheap shots. I've taken worse shots from my Pikachu. when it was sick."
That did it. Gangar leaped up and fired a powerful shot at Ash, who was expecting it this time, and managed to leap out of the way just in time. "Nice aim there Gangar, you couldn't even pitch for the Electabuzz baseball team!"
Gangar teleported away and appeared right near Ash, and fired off a Shadow Ball. Ash dodged to the right, but the attack grazed him. Ash spun a little but managed to regain his balance. "What was that suppose to be?" Ash goaded, "A test shot in case you ever have to fight a level 4 Ratatta? Well I gotta be honest with you, I think if you attacked like that you'd lose!"
Suddenly Ash caught a blue beam coming from behind. He quickly flew upwards, the Psi Beam fired by Alakazam just missing him. "Damn, you can't even hit me with a cheap shot. Maybe I should have told my Bulbasaur to take it easy on you. A weakling like you is probably still hurt from that battle."
Alakazam saw red, it fired off Psi waves left and right. Ash did his best trying to avoid them, while still avoiding Gangar's NightShade. "It's working!" Ash thought, "Now if I can just survive a few more seconds."
Ash floated down in between the two pokemon, and gave them both a very obscene gesture.
"ALAKAZAM!!!" The psychic pokemon bellowed loudly releasing its most powerful attack
"GANGAR!!!!!" Bellowed the other doing the same.
Ash said a silent prayer that this would work without killing him as he dove out of the way as fast and has hard as he could. Thanks to a little luck, Ash's plan couldn't have worked more perfectly. Alakazam's Psibeam slammed into Gangar while at the same time Gangar's Shadow Ball caught Alakazam dead to rights. Both pokemon were driven back to the floor. Ash got up and looked to see if it worked. He was shocked to see that Alakazam and Gangar were still standing! Ash felt a cold shiver of panic rise up his spine.
Suddenly, both pokemon groaned and collapsed to the floor out cold. Ash did a loop de loop in the air. "YES!!!" He cheered, "Thank god I remembered that Gangar and Alakazam are strong against each other." Ash remembered Brock teaching him which pokemon were strong against which kinds. "Thank you Brock! When I see you I swear I'm going to wrap my arms around you and give you a kiss!"
Ash then flew straight up through the door, and right out of the house. From the outside Ash could see the place was really a shack, and it wasn't that far from Pallet Town! If he flew quickly he could be there in 10 minutes. Ash took off like a bolt, "Gee, I hope I'm not late to my own funeral!" he thought.
To be concluded...
Will Ash be late for his own funeral? And Brock and Misty are starting to suspect that something's up! Will they be able to do anything about it? Whats in store for our disembodied hero? Please review! Good news, the final chapter 4 is up! So press on dear readers... press on...
Pikachu looked up at her then put his head back down. "Come on Pikachu, you've been laying there all day, you need to eat." She started to pick him up, but Pikachu shot some sparks out from his cheeks. Misty was surprised, but not shocked. Pikachu was too weak to really shock. Misty picked him up into his arms, and Pikachu didn't even bother to shock again. "Come on, lets get you some poke' chow."
Misty took Pikachu into the kitchen, and was surprised to see Mrs. Ketchum sitting there, staring off into space, a cup of coffee sitting in front of her. "Oh, I'm sorry." Misty said, "I didn't realize you were up."
Ash's mom forced a smile, "No, its ok dear, please, sit down."
"Thank you, but I want to get Pikachu some food first." Misty then noticed that no steam was coming from the cup. She felt it and it was ice cold. "And why don't I make you some nice hot tea?"
Mrs. Ketchum smiled, but didn't say anything. Misty poured a bowl of pokemon pellets for Pikachu and laid it in front of him. Pikachu just stared at it. Misty knelt down besides him and stroked his back fur gently, "Come on Pikachu, Ash wouldn't want you to starve to death."
Pikachu looked up at Misty, said "pikaaa" softly and sadly, then took a small bite of food. Mrs. Ketchum watched this and said, "I know how he feels..."
Misty replied, "Me too."
The kettle started to whistle and Misty poured herself and Mrs. Ketchum a cup of tea. "Do you want cream, or anything?"
Mrs. Ketchum shook her head no. Misty put a scoop of sugar in her tea and took a sip. Mrs. Ketchum just kept the tea in front of her, and said, "Did you hear? Professor Oak's grandson Gary is on his way back here."
"He is?" Misty asked
"Yes... he felt awful that he couldn't get back in time for the wake. He was all the way in Olivine City. He's been traveling all day. He called his grandfather and told him he's taking the bullet train to Saffron City, and he'll get a ride from there. He hopes to be here by 8am today."
"Oh." Misty said, "They always fought, but I think they liked each other."
Mrs. Ketchum laughed gently, and sadly said, "Oh they were best friends growing up. They were just competitive."
"Oh yeah," Misty said, "Ash was definitely that."
Silence enveloped the two. Then Mrs. Ketchum reached in her pocket and pulled out some photos. "What's that?" Misty asked.
Mrs. Ketchum showed them to Misty, they were photos of Ash. "That nice boy Todd, he gave these to me, he thought I might appreciate them."
Misty looked through the photos; it was bittersweet for her. "I remember this one," she said showing Ash's mom a photo of Ash after tripping, "This was when we were chasing the legendary bird type Articuno." She chuckled, "Ash was never that coordinated"
Mrs. Ketchum smiled slightly. Misty continued, "You know, he did catch up with it too! Ash was amazing when it came to finding pokemon, or having pokemon find him. But what was even more amazing, anyone else in his position would have fallen over himself to catch it. But Ash didn't even think about catching it. It was just enough to meet the legendary pokemon, he didn't have to try and catch it. But Ash was like that, wasn't he?"
Mrs. Ketchum smiled sadly, "Yeah, he was special." Tears started to silently flow again. "Misty, I want to thank you, and Brock. I don't think I'd be able to handle it if it wasn't for you."
Misty took her hand. "You know we're here for you. We wouldn't be anywhere else."
Mrs. Ketchum's tears stopped flowing, and she, "Thank you Misty, I think you should go back to bed, dear. Its another long day tomorrow."
"Ok... you should too."
The older woman nodded, "I will in a little... I promise." And she went back to looking at pictures of her son.
Misty gave her a hug, and walked back into the living room. On the way, she noticed that Pikachu ate a little, that's good at least. She felt a little better about that. Misty laid back down on the couch. Pikachu leaped onto the couch with Misty and curled into her. Shortly after Misty drifted off into unpleasant dreamless sleep.
Ash lay on the concrete floor. "My whole body aches..." he thought, then he grinned despite himself, "body... not exactly the right choice of words."
Ash fought off the hopelessness. For the last day he had tried to reason with the pokemon, he tried to run through the wall, he even tried sneaking through the floor, every time he got blasted by some attack. He hated to admit it, but Gangar and Alakazam were trained really well. "As long as those two were here," Ash thought, "My chances of escape are practically zero. If only I could battle them."
Ash sat up and looked around. Alakazam immediately woke up and glared at Ash as if daring him to make a move. Gangar was still asleep. Ash looked out the window, the sun was rising. Geoff had left a newspaper on the floor. He purposely left it on the page about Ash's "Death", he thought Ash would like to read it. Ash learned from it that his funeral was going to be held at 9am. It had to be almost 5am now. He had four hours to come up with a brilliant idea to save his life and warn his friends about this lunatic. Ash groaned, he hurt too much to think. He lay back down, and put his face on the newspaper, not that it offered any softness; he just went through it.
"Well, at least now I know how my pokemon feel when I battle them." Ash thought. "But even when I battled them, they took blows like this all the time and they refused to give up or surrender. Well, I'll be damned if I won't try to learn from my pokemon in that aspect, I'm not going to give up either! Brave thoughts. If only I had a plan."
Ash then closed his eyes. Suddenly an idea struck Ash. Ash opened his eyes quickly and then sat up, and looked at the paper. "That might work!!!" he thought. His sudden movements startled Alakazam who quickly barked, "KAZAM!" at him and held out a spoon as a warning. Ash put his hands up in defense, waiting the attack to come. A powerful Psi Bolt caught Ash dead on, driving him backwards, and Ash slipped back into unconsciousness.
Morning had come, and everyone showered and dressed. Professor Oak, Todd, Duplica and Tracey came over for breakfast. Even though Brock cooked a wonderfully smelling meal, everyone just picked at it. No one seemed to have an appetite. Professor Oak and Mrs. Ketchum didn't eat a bite, just drank coffee, neither look like they got any sleep. Brock was a little worried for them, but he hoped that tonight after everything was over they'd sleep better. A knock came from the door. "Keep eating, everyone" Brock quickly said, "I'll get it." Brock went to the front door and opened it. Standing there at the doorway was Gary, looking as tired as his grandfather was. "Hi...." Brock said feeling kind of awkward to Ash's old rival, "Come on in... Would you like some breakfast?"
Gary shook his head no, "Some coffee maybe though, its been a rough night."
"You don't have to tell me that." Brock said, closing the door, "Last few nights have been rough. You can go on into the kitchen, everyone is in there."
Gary put his dufflebag on the floor and turned to Brock. "Before I go in there, I have to ask. Did they catch the guy who did this? "
Brock shook his head no. Gary's face darkened. "He'd better hope that the police catch him first. Because if I find him first" Gary pulled out a pokeball and looked at it.
Brock put a hand on his shoulder. "Gary. No."
"What do you mean no?" Gary asked angrily, "This bastard killed my friend, do you realize how long I've known Ash! Yeah, we were rivals and hard on each other, but that doesn't mean we weren't friends! Since we were children we planned to both become pokemon masters and finally face each other in battle to see who was best. And this guy comes along and steals Ash's life, steals his hopes and dreams." Gary hard face started to crack a little, he almost cried, but then it hardened again, "As soon as this funeral is over, I'm going off to find this guy, and I'm going to avenge my friend. This guy thinks his Gangar is tough, wait till he sees what my Umbrion can do!"
Brock shook his head no. "Gary... you can't do that."
"And why shouldn't I?"
"Because, Ash wouldn't want you to use your pokemon like that."
Gary looked like he'd been slapped. He opened his mouth and then closed it, not knowing what to say. Brock continued, "If it wasn't for Ash's beliefs, I myself would have found this son of a bitch, and let my Onix have him. But Ash never believed pokemon should be used for war or violence. And so I honor him by not."
Gary's face cracked again, and Brock thought he might have seen a tear, but Gary put up his brave front again. "Well... we'll see." Brock nodded and the two went off into the kitchen.
In the woods just outside the house a giant hot air balloon took roost. The balloon was in the shape of a giant Meowth's head. Jesse, James and Meowth of Team Rocket were all sitting in the balloon, and Jessie was holding a pair of binoculars. "I really can't see inside the house." Jessie said, "But from I saw yesterday, Pikachu is really depressed." Jessie put the binoculars away, and turned to her team members, "Which means THIS is a perfect time to grab him, he'll put up no resistance."
James and Meowth gave her a weird look. "What?" Jessie asked.
"Jessie, I know we're Team Rocket, and we're the bad guys and all..." James said, "but don't you think attacking a group of people who just lost their best friend and son, a little low, even for us?"
"Grrrr..." Jessie growled, "What's wrong with you James? This could be our LAST chance at Pikachu!"
"Yeah, but..." Meowth started.
"BUT WHAT???" Jessie hollered.
"It just don't seem right to steal a pokemon who just lost his master." Meowth said.
"You know..." James said thoughtfully, "I'm going to miss that twerp. I know he always beat us..."
"Yeah, I know Jimmy," Meowth said, "But ya attack someone over a hundred times, you just get used to seeing them!"
"Hey, you remember when we teamed up?" James said to Meowth, "When you were brainwashed by Butch and Cassidy? Butch and Cassidy didn't stand a chance!"
The two then broke down and started bawling waterfalls.
Jessie flipped, "What's wrong with you two? Why are you are getting all weepy over some twerp!!!"
James still waterfalling, "But he was our twerp! You can't say your not going to miss him!"
"Grr..." Jessie said turning her back on her team members. She stood there staring out at Ash's house. She couldn't help but think of Ash.
"Fine!" Jessie finally said, "No Pikachu stealing, but YOUR telling the boss that we failed. Now come on!"
Meowth scratched his head, "Come on where?"
"Well since your all so upset about the twerp's death, lets go to his funeral!"
"But Jessie," James said, "We didn't say anything about that."
Jessie flushed a little, "Well I did! Maybe I want to see him one last time. I may not have liked him, but he did earn my respect. You don't have a PROBLEM with that, do you?"
"We1l, ok then Jessie," James agreed taking the hint, Jessie never did like to show too much emotion, "He did earn our respect, and I'd like to pay ours! But how are we going to get in? I don't think the twerp's friends will be too pleased to see us."
"Hmm... Didn't think of that." Jessie said, "I guess we'll need a disguise."
Meowth spoke up, "Well, I got an idea, and it should work too, as long as we're in and out."
The funeral was to start at nine o' clock, but everyone was there by 8:30. It was decided everyone should get one last chance to say their respects to Ash before the mass actually started. The long line started and moved slowly as one by one people knelt down by the young boy and said their good-byes. Mrs. Ketchum was in the back of the line, and Professor Oak had an arm around her, but she wasn't consolable.
The young baseball fan, Casey, made her way to Ash. She knelt down and looked his friend. "Hey Ash. It's a shame we never got that match we promised each other. I wish you could have seen how that Beedrill you gave me is doing. I'm taking care of her like I know you would have. I only met you a few times, but you taught me so much. I'm really going to miss you, and I hope you'll watch over me from heaven from time to time."
Soon it was Todd's turn. He gave a tearful goodbye, and right behind him was a very odd looking Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy. Joy leaned into Jenny and said, "Jessie, I feel ridiculous dressed up like this!"
Meowth spoke up from under James's nurse Joy dress, "You wanted to come here right? Well who knows who was going to show up to this thing? Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny are the only ones that have extras out there, so even if there were here, no one would look twice at an extra set of them!"
"Would you two pipe down?" Jessie said, "We're next!"
The trio looked down at their fallen enemy. Jessie spoke quietly, "You know twerp, if you only stuck around for a few more rounds, we would have bested you in battle eventually. But I guess we'll never find that out."
James started crying as did Meowth, which looked kind of obscene under that Joy costume. Jessie started getting some tears in her eyes. "Hey, I know we may have caused you a lot of trouble during your life, but even I think you deserved better then this. You can rest easy, because I promise you this, twerp, Team Rocket is going to find this guy who did this, and god help him."
James nodded, and Meowth still kept crying. Everyone was now staring at the nurse joy that had the jumping dress. "Is everything ok?" Professor Oak asked.
A panicked look came over Jessie's and James's face, and quickly said, "Oh, everything is fine, just fine, but we really have to be going, bye bye!" And the trio took off for the door.
Misty looked up at Brock and asked, "Was that who I think it was?"
Brock nodded, "Yeah it was, I saw them when they came in, but I figured if they weren't up to any trouble they had the right to say goodbye too."
Outside, Jessie, James and Team Rocket ran into the woods and got to their balloon. "Perfect" Meowth said, "They never suspected us for a second!"
"Of course not, stupid," Jessie said, "We are professional actors, and Team Rocket operatives, no one can see through our disguises."
"Jessie," James asked, "Were you serious about us going after the guy who whacked the twerp?"
"Of course!" Jessie replied, "We have to! Because of this guy, we've lost any chance of getting Pikachu, we can't just stand by and let him get away with that!"
"So that's the only reason why we're going to go after this guy?" James asked.
Jessie blushed slightly, "Of course! It's. its not like I actually CARE about that twerp!"
"Sure Jessie," Meowth said with a grin, "But how are we gonna find this guy? We don't know where he is, or what he looks like."
"Argh, Meowth, do you ALWAYS have to worry about such minor details?" Jessie yelled, and the three sat down talking amongst themselves for a while.
Meanwhile, back inside, it was Richie's turn. "Hey buddy, long time no see." Richie said awkwardly, "You know, I always thought we'd get another chance at battling each other. I bet you got much stronger then me. Ash, I really hope that where ever you are right now, you wont forget that we're friends forever."
Richie eyes started to water as he walked away. Duplica was next but she was too overcome with emotion to say anything. Gary stepped up next. "Ash, I'm going to miss you buddy. I can't believe that you're really gone. I really hope you knew that all those times I called you a loser, I really didn't mean it. I was just pushing you to be as great a master as I knew you could be." Gary's had face didn't change, he was fighting back the tears, although one or two started to leak through. "Ash, I want you to know that Brock talked some sense into me, I'm not going to go after the guy who did this to you, I know that's not what you'd want. But I am going to strive to be a true master, and when I make it, it'll be like we both made it. Goodbye my friend."
It was Tracy's turn next. He took out some sketches he drew of Pikachu, and laid it in the coffin with him. That way Ash would always have his friend with him, no matter where he was.
Brock came up next, he was trying to look composed, but he knew he wasn't pulling the look off. "Ash. you were my best friend, and you always will be. I have something for you." Brock reached into his vest and pulled out Ash's belt, complete with his pokeballs. Brock laid it in the coffin with him, and continued, truly believing his friend could somehow hear him. "Don't worry, about your pokemon, they're not in those balls, Misty, Professor Oak, and myself are going to take good care of them. You don't have to worry about them you can rest easy. I just thought you might need these wherever your new journey takes you. Ash, we'll never forget you."
Brock walked off, his face wet with tears. It was now Misty's turn. She walked to the coffin, holding Pikachu. "Oh Ash." She said softly, "I cant believed this happened, and I never got to tell you how I felt about you. I know I was always hard on you, and I know I always told you the reason I was following you was because of that bike. It wasn't true. I followed you because I cared about you. Because I liked you. Because I loved you. I'm so sorry I never got to tell you that. I'm going to miss you. We all are." Then she leaned over and gave her deceased lover a kiss on his cheek. She stood back up and looked startled. His skin. why was it so warm? She had prepared herself for it to be cold and clammy.
"Pikachu, am I crazy?" She lowered the pokemon to his master's cheek, and the yellow mouse rubbed its electric sacks against Ash's face, its way of showing affection. As Pikachu was rubbing, she asked him, "Pikachu, does Ash feel warm to you?" Pikachu chattered up a storm at Misty. Misty started to feel lightheaded, this wasn't right. Something was really wrong here.
Brock came up to her, and tried to comfort her, "Misty, are you ok? What's wrong?"
Misty looked into Brock's eyes, her own filling with tears, "Brock!" She said panicky, "Brock, I think something is very wrong here. I don't think Ash is dead!"
Brock's face fell, he knew Misty was taking this hard, but this wasn't healthy. "Misty." He said softly, "We all miss Ash."
Misty shoved Brock back hard, and yelled, "DON'T patronize me Brock! I'm not crazy!"
Everyone in the church started to stare at Misty and murmur. Misty didn't care. "Feel for yourself Brock!!!"
"Misty. I'm sorry, but Ash is dead." Brock tried again.
"FEEL HIM!" Misty shrieked.
Mrs. Ketchum buried her head into Professor Oak's shoulder and started to weep. "Misty. your upsetting Ash's mom" Brock whispered to her softly, he took her hand, "Maybe we should step outside, get some fresh air." As he took a step Pikachu leaped in front of him.
"PIKA!!" It said angrily, and sent out a warning shock.
"Pikachu!" Brock said angrily, "Ok. Misty. for you. I'll feel him."
Brock walked over to the casket, and took Ash's hand into his. It did feel warm. Was it the lamps in church? Was he near a heating duct? Brock looked around.
"SEE!!!" Misty yelled, "I'm NOT crazy."
"No one said you were crazy Misty." Brock said, "You're right, he DOES feel warm. But Misty, there has to be a reason for it." He moved in on Misty and whispered as to not upset Ash's mother. "Misty. he does feel warm. but he also doesn't have a pulse. He didn't show any brainwave activity. He's not breathing at all. He's not alive. We all wish he was."
Misty wept harder then she ever had, and leaned onto Brock for support. Brock walked her back to her pew and sat her down. He sat next to her, and let Misty cry on his shoulder. He didn't want to say anything to Misty, because she was upset enough, but something was bothering Brock now.
Ash really DID feel too damned warm for a body that'd been dead for 2 days now. No embalming either, so Ash's skin should have felt drier too, but it was still moist. "Am I crazy?" Brock thought, "No, because Misty felt it too. Am I just too tired? That could be it. but I don't know. After the funeral I'll talk to Oak about, I'm not going to upset Mrs. Ketchum or Misty any more then they already are. There's got to be a rational explanation for it. But I'm not going to let them move his body one inch until I hear it."
There was a rational explanation for it. But unfortunately the only people that knew it were about a mile from the funeral, and they were certainly not going to share it with anyone. Ash lifted his head up and shook it to get the 'cobwebs' out. Then he panicked, "How long was I out for?" He looked to the window. It was later in the day, the funeral HAD to have started by now. He had to get out of here, and he had to get out of here NOW. Once they moved his body he'd never be able to find it in time. He'd have no clue where it was moved to, and only about 2 hours to find it before the autopsy started and. Ash stopped that train of thought, he really didn't want to think about it.
Before he was drilled with that last Psi Beam, Ash had started to formulate a plan. "These two Pokemon, they're tough, and they're loyal, and apparently they hate me as much as their owner does." They shared a lot of traits with their owner. Ash couldn't help but wonder is pride one of those traits they shared. "If so. I might just have a way out."
Ash looked around the room. Gangar and Alakazam were on full alert, but their master was no where in sight. "I bet he's at my funeral." Ash thought to himself, "That's good, this will be easier if he's not here." Ash floated over to the newspaper. Gangar and Alakazam watched his moved very closely. Ash smiled at them. "So, I guess you guys won huh? I'd imagine the funeral is almost over, and soon it'll all be over for me."
The two Pokemon guards stared at Ash. Ash just kept on talking, "Yep. you two really beat me good. Well one good thing, the paper is saying that I won my final match. A Disqualification. Although it also says that with such loser Pokemon my opponent had, there was no way I was going to lose anyway."
Gangar and Alakazam eyes narrowed at Ash. "KAZAM!" The psychic pokemon barked angrily at Ash. Ash grinned, "Oh come on, you can't complain about that. You two are decent pokemon, but let's face it, my Bulbasaur kicked your ass. And you Gangar, you were too chicken to take me on."
Much to Ash's pleasure this really pissed off the pokemon. Gangar was hopping up and down screaming at Ash, and Alakazam was stomping its feet. "And those attacks you've hit me with." Ash continued, "What second rate cheap shots. I've taken worse shots from my Pikachu. when it was sick."
That did it. Gangar leaped up and fired a powerful shot at Ash, who was expecting it this time, and managed to leap out of the way just in time. "Nice aim there Gangar, you couldn't even pitch for the Electabuzz baseball team!"
Gangar teleported away and appeared right near Ash, and fired off a Shadow Ball. Ash dodged to the right, but the attack grazed him. Ash spun a little but managed to regain his balance. "What was that suppose to be?" Ash goaded, "A test shot in case you ever have to fight a level 4 Ratatta? Well I gotta be honest with you, I think if you attacked like that you'd lose!"
Suddenly Ash caught a blue beam coming from behind. He quickly flew upwards, the Psi Beam fired by Alakazam just missing him. "Damn, you can't even hit me with a cheap shot. Maybe I should have told my Bulbasaur to take it easy on you. A weakling like you is probably still hurt from that battle."
Alakazam saw red, it fired off Psi waves left and right. Ash did his best trying to avoid them, while still avoiding Gangar's NightShade. "It's working!" Ash thought, "Now if I can just survive a few more seconds."
Ash floated down in between the two pokemon, and gave them both a very obscene gesture.
"ALAKAZAM!!!" The psychic pokemon bellowed loudly releasing its most powerful attack
"GANGAR!!!!!" Bellowed the other doing the same.
Ash said a silent prayer that this would work without killing him as he dove out of the way as fast and has hard as he could. Thanks to a little luck, Ash's plan couldn't have worked more perfectly. Alakazam's Psibeam slammed into Gangar while at the same time Gangar's Shadow Ball caught Alakazam dead to rights. Both pokemon were driven back to the floor. Ash got up and looked to see if it worked. He was shocked to see that Alakazam and Gangar were still standing! Ash felt a cold shiver of panic rise up his spine.
Suddenly, both pokemon groaned and collapsed to the floor out cold. Ash did a loop de loop in the air. "YES!!!" He cheered, "Thank god I remembered that Gangar and Alakazam are strong against each other." Ash remembered Brock teaching him which pokemon were strong against which kinds. "Thank you Brock! When I see you I swear I'm going to wrap my arms around you and give you a kiss!"
Ash then flew straight up through the door, and right out of the house. From the outside Ash could see the place was really a shack, and it wasn't that far from Pallet Town! If he flew quickly he could be there in 10 minutes. Ash took off like a bolt, "Gee, I hope I'm not late to my own funeral!" he thought.
To be concluded...
Will Ash be late for his own funeral? And Brock and Misty are starting to suspect that something's up! Will they be able to do anything about it? Whats in store for our disembodied hero? Please review! Good news, the final chapter 4 is up! So press on dear readers... press on...