"Ash! Misty! Professor!"
"Pika! Pika-pi!"
Professor Oak wearily got to his feet and stuck his head outside the tent. Standing in the middle of the campsite was Brock and Pikachu atop a huge golden Rapidash with Crobat hovering overhead.
Brock quickly jumped off of the horse Pokémon's back. "Professor, how's Ash?"
"He…" The older man's lower lip began to tremble. "I'm so sorry, Brock. He passed away a couple of minutes ago."
Brock felt like Onix had just knocked the wind out of him. "Ash? He's…?"
"He went peacefully. Misty was with him." Professor Oak said, brushing away a tear.
Brock sank to his knees. "Ash? Oh, no…no…" The boy lowered his head, buried his face in his hands, and began to cry.
Pikachu leapt off of Rapidash's back and ran up to Professor Oak. "Pika…chu?" ["Ash…is dead?"]
"I'm sorry, Pikachu. I'm so sorry." Professor Oak knelt down and began stroking the little Pokémon's head. "I tried everything I could."
With a loud snort, the golden Rapidash pushed his way past the mourners and went inside the tent where
a red-haired girl lay sobbing atop the body of a dark-haired boy.
The horse Pokémon whickered softly and Misty jumped up in surprise.
"Who…?"
The Rapidash gently shoved Misty aside with its muzzle and then began to glow a dazzling gold.
"What on earth…?" exclaimed Professor Oak as he, Brock, and Pikachu entered the tent.
The horse lay its muzzle atop Ash's heart. "Rapidash." ["The spark of life hasn't completely vanished yet."]
Everyone watched in astonishment as Ash's body was enveloped in dazzling light so bright that everyone squinted and shielded their eyes.
"Rapidash," the Pokémon said as the tent grew dark once more. ["He will recover."] The horse Pokémon then turned to Pikachu. "Rapidash. Dash." ["Now you and your friends must keep your end of the bargain. You must leave Mangrove Island and disturb us no more."]
"Oh my God! Ash!" Misty exclaimed as the boy's chest started moving once more. "He's…"
"…alive." Brock finished as he laid a hand atop Ash's heart and felt a strong, steady beat underneath his palm.
"What happened?" Ash muttered as his eyes slowly opened.
"Pika!" The Pokémon cried happily as it leapt atop its trainer.
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it," said an astonished Professor Oak. "Ash, how do you feel, son?"
"Hungry," the boy replied, sitting up and yawning. "I could sure go for a cheeseburger right now."
Misty threw her arms around Ash's neck. "Oh, Ash!" Pikachu quickly jumped aside to avoid being crushed by Misty's embrace.
"Misty, what's with you today?" Ash choked as Misty hugged him tightly. "You're acting weirder than you normally do."
"Oh, I never thought I'd hear one of those insults of yours again!" Misty grinned broadly and kissed Ash hard on the lips.
Stunned, Ash gaped open-mouthed at Misty for a moment and then a goofy grin appeared on his face.
"Even though you're acting really weird today, Misty," Ash said once he recovered his voice, "I kind of like it."
"Yep, looks like Ash is feeling better," Brock grinned.
Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder and began chattering excitedly while Professor Oak knelt down and examined the boy's leg. "I don't believe it. There's no sign of the Tentacruel sting at all." He stood up and stared at the golden horse Pokémon that was observing the entire scene calmly. "How did you…?"
"He used Recover on me, Professor Oak," Ash replied, smiling. "Pikachu just told me."
"Recover?" Professor Oak stared at the Rapidash in disbelief. "But I've never heard of a Rapidash that could use Recover. Not to mention that Recover can only be used on the Pokémon itself – not another Pokémon." Mystified, he looked over at a now-healthy Ash. "Or human, for that matter."
Pikachu continued to chatter excitedly while Ash translated for the crowd. "Pikachu says that the golden Rapidash here can use Recover on other Pokémon. They use it to heal other injured Pokémon on the island. A long time ago, a sailor landed on Mangrove Island and was hurt real bad. One of the Rapidash used Recover on him. But when the sailor got back home, he told everyone about it and some men came and captured a bunch of the Rapidash. Those Rapidash refused to use Recover and eventually died of a broken heart from being in captivity. Ever since then, whenever a human comes to Mangrove Island, the Rapidash refuse to have anything to do with them. All they want is to be left alone."
"But why did this Rapidash help Ash?" Misty wondered.
"Because Pikachu told him that if he helped me and Brock that we would leave the island forever and never tell anyone their secret."
"Helped you and Brock…?" Professor Oak turned to the older boy. "Brock, what happened to you?"
"Pikachu says that he got hit by a falling branch and got hurt," Ash explained. "Rapidash used Recover on him, too."
"Brock, are you all right?" Misty asked, concerned.
Brock shrugged his shoulders. "To tell you the truth, Misty, I don't remember getting clobbered with a branch at all."
"It happened, Brock. Pikachu says that Crobat saw the whole thing and went for help," Ash continued.
"I know that a long time ago there were legends about the healing powers of the golden Rapidash," Professor Oak mused while he examined Brock's head and found no signs of injury. "But what I don't understand is how Pikachu knew that the Rapidash here could use Recover on other Pokémon."
Pikachu chattered to Ash once more. "Really, Pikachu? I didn't know that."
"Know what, Ash?" asked Brock.
"The reason that Pikachu knew about the golden Rapidash is because Pikachu was born here on Mangrove Island."
Surprised, Professor Oak turned to the Pokémon that was perched on Ash's shoulder. "Pikachu, when you came to my lab, you never told me that you were originally from Mangrove Island."
"The thing is that Pikachu didn't know it himself until we got here," Ash translated. "But when we were looking at the field where the Rapidash were, Pikachu remembered that he had been there before when he was still a Pichu. When he was little, he fell over the side of the cliff where the golden Rapidash were and got hurt real bad. One of the Rapidash used Recover on him, too."
"And Pikachu remembered that and thought that the golden Rapidash could help Ash recover too," finished Misty.
"You're a pretty amazing Pokémon, Pikachu," Brock said as he patted the little Pokémon's head affectionately.
"Yeah, I think so, too," Ash smiled, giving his faithful Pokémon a hug.
To be continued…