5 Tension
It was not long before fatigue began to take hold of everyone. As late as it was, Shigure offered his guests a room for the night. That night, Ash fell asleep with his thoughts still dwelling on what he had been told. When sunlight crept through the window the next morning, it fell on his face, waking him. He groggily sat up, stretched and yawned. It was then that he became aware of the fact that there was no one else in the room with him. Even Pikachu was gone.
He quickly got out of bed and dressed himself for the day and went out to search for his friends. He found them all downstairs in the dinning room, eating breakfast.
"How long have you all been up?" he asked.
"Not long," Brock replied. "Probably ten minutes."
Ash quickly sat down and helped himself to the eggs and juice. Shortly after he began to eat, he noticed that Shigure was wearing his work cloths again.
"Are you going to the farm?" he asked.
Shigure nodded. "I like to spend my time helping them. It gives me something to do."
"Could we join you?" Ash asked.
Shigure looked at him, confused. "I don't see why not if that is what you wish. You don't have anything else you need to do, do you?"
"We were planning on. . ." Brock began.
"Nothing important," Ash replied, cutting him off.
Brock and Misty were both shocked into silence, unable to believe what they had just heard.
"Very well then," Shigure said, "you may come along, but I warn you, it's hard work."
"If a sixty-seven-year-old man can handle it," Mewtwo commented as he entered the room, "then I'm sure they can too."
Shigure groaned and rolled his eyes. "That's really not fair," he grumbled. "I'm not going to be sixty-seven for another two weeks. But you're right. He's fit boy, he should be able to deal with it."
"You've never seen Ash work before," Misty cut in. She hesitated as she took a moment to think. "Now that I think about it, I've never seen Ash work before either."
The others laughed and Ash was left to shrug his shoulders.
"I'm pretty sure that I can manage," Ash said as the laughter died down. "Besides, I want to help."
Again, Brock and Misty were left completely without words. Misty recovered her knife-edged tongue first.
"Who are you?" she demanded sarcastically. "Where's the real Ash?"
Once again, the group had a good laugh at Ash's expense, though this time, Ash laughed with them.
After breakfast was finished, they left the house and started down the long trail to the town. The hike back down went much faster than the climb up. Ash refrained from complaining as they made the descent, which inspired another sarcastic remark from Misty. Ash didn't say anything out loud at the time, but he silently agreed with her. Although he had never been above helping others, if they needed it, it wasn't like him to want to help with labor like farm work, unless, of course, it was to compete with his rival, Gary. He wasn't sure why he did, he only knew that something told him it was something he needed to do.
Halfway down the trail, he began to wonder if Misty wasn't right. Perhaps Phoebe had somehow called the Clefairy spaceship and had the other Clefairies implant a mind-control device in his head. The idea was so absurd that from the moment he thought of it, he couldn't help but laugh out loud. The others found it just as funny after he explained it to them.
Around nine o'clock, they reached the bottom of the mountain. From there, Shigure led the group to the farm, where they found three of the townsmen crowded around a small tractor. They looked upset about something, but seemed to cheer up when Shigure arrived.
"I've brought some extra help today," Shigure informed. "What's the problem, Ben?"
One of the farmers sighed, scratching his red-haired head. "It's the tractor," he explained. "It's broke down again."
"Oh, no," Shigure groaned as he climbed up onto it to look at the engine. "Can you find the problem?"
"No," a stocky, blond farmer replied. "The engine just shut off this morning."
Shigure climbed off the tractor, shaking his head. "Not good," he concluded. "It will probably be in the shop for a few weeks."
The farmers were not pleased with the assessment. "We can't wait that long," the tall, dark-haired farmer complained. "We have to get the field plowed by tomorrow or we'll never get our crops planted in time. It will take too long by hand."
"I think I can help," Ash interrupted, causing everyone to look over to him. "If you unhook the plow from the tractor, Beyleaf can pull it."
The farmers took a moment to discuss the option. "That could work," the one named Ben agreed. "Do you think your pokemon can pull it?"
Ash reached for a pokeball hanging on his vest and opened it, releasing Beyleaf. The grass pokemon lazily stretched its long neck and then turned to Ash obediently.
"We're giving the farmers a hand today," Ash explained. "Do you think you can help them plow the field?"
"Bey!" Beyleaf affirmed.
Ash smiled. "Looks like you have your solution," he said.
Introductions were made before anything else was done. Benjamin was the owner of the farm, Trevor and Glendon were his partners. The three of were responsible for making sure that everything on the farm was working properly. When the tractor had broken down, they had been worried that they would fall behind on their work and they were grateful to have Ash's assistance.
After Beyleaf was harnessed to the plow, it was led to the first field, where Trevor explained how the field needed to be done. Ash guided Beyleaf at first, but after the first field was done, it was able to handle the job on its own, which left Ash free to help the farmers with the planting. As he moved down the rows, he would dig a small hole, place a seed into it and move on, then Pikachu would bury the seed.
By about noon, the sun was searing on the back of his neck. Beads of sweat rolled down out of his hair, into his eyes and mouth. He stopped to wipe it away, then removed his cap and wrung the sweat out of it. As he put it back on, he saw Mewtwo coming toward him. He straightened up, which made his back ache from its stiffness.
"You may want to use this," Mewtwo offered, holding out a bottle of sun block.
Ash thanked him as he quickly rubbed the cream on his arms, neck and face.
"It's hard work," Ash commented. "Do they do this every day?"
Mewtwo shook his head. "This is just the planting season work," he explained. "Once they get the fields sown, they have to constantly weed it, fertilize it and spray it. Then fall comes and they have to harvest all the crops and clean them. Not to mention the livestock that needs to be fed and taken care of, pruning the orchards and occasional repairs to the farm itself. It's a year long process that's pretty much all day, every day."
Ash took a deep breath. "That's a lot of hard work," he said.
"It is," Mewtwo replied. "You know, this farm supports the whole town."
"Really?"
"Yes. The crops are mostly used to feed the people and anything excess is sold in the next city to buy other necessities. Shigure also helps out when they have troubles, like the tractor."
Ash smiled as he continued planting. "He really does do everything, doesn't he?"
By two o'clock, all the fields had been plowed and half of them were planted. All of the men over the age of fifteen and some of the women from the town had come to help and the work was already ahead of schedule. Despite the pains he felt from the hard labor he wasn't used to, Ash felt good about what he was doing. The thought that he had kept the town from falling behind made him feel cheerful. He didn't even notice that he was hungry until he heard a loud bell that signaled lunch.
Lunch consisted of various kinds of sandwiches that the women had spent the previous half-hour making. While they ate, Shigure shared stories of his travels around the world and some of the pokemon he had seen and people he had met.
The break only lasted an hour, and it seemed to go by much faster than Ash and his friends needed. Not wanting to seem lazy, they prepared to go back to work with the rest of them. As they started back toward the fields, a dark shadow was cast over them. Everyone turned toward the source of the shadow and saw a hot air balloon. To the dismay of Ash and his friends, they saw the balloon was shaped like a Meowth. Ash gave a exasperated sigh as it began to descend toward the farm.
"I don't know why you stopped here," came Jessie's voice, "or what brought you to this town in the first place."
"But we're certainly glad you did," followed James' voice. "It gave us time to catch up."
"Prepare for trouble." Jessie leaned over the side of the basket.
"Make it double." James appeared beside her.
"To protect the world from devastation."
"To unite all peoples within our nation."
"To denounce the evils of truth and love."
"To extend our reach to the stars above.
Jessie leapt from the balloon, landing on the roof of the farmhouse. "Jessie."
James leapt down from the balloon, landing next to Jessie. "James."
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light."
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight."
Meowth landed in the middle of them. "That's right!"
At that point the three of them posed in ridiculous positions. From the ground below, everyone stared at them, some with annoyance, some with fear, but most just with confusion.
"What in the world was that about?" Shigure asked.
Ash groaned. "It's their motto," he explained. "They think it's cool or something."
"Do they always do that?" Ben asked in a baffled tone.
Ash and his friends all nodded in unison. "Every time."
"That's irritating," Trevor commented. "How do you deal with that?"
"It's like a head cold," Misty said. "You just gotta take some aspirin and wait it out."
From the roof, the Team Rocket Trio realized that no one was paying any attention to them at all. Jessie was infuriated. How dare they ignore them!? They were Team Rocket, the most evil organization in the world.
"Hey!" she shouted. "Don't just blow us off!"
The farmers turned toward them, irritated expressions on all of their faces. The trio was taken aback by the sight of all the angry glares.
"Excuse me," Ben yelled back, "we're trying to have a conversation here. It's very rude to interrupt."
Enraged, Jessie grabbed a pokeball from her pocket. "Rude?" she growled. "How's this for rude?"
She threw the ball to the ground, releasing Arbok. Hissing angrily, the cobra coiled up and inflated its crest. Everyone near it backed away. Jessie ordered her snake to attack. Arbok coiled, drew its head back and struck at Glendon, who was standing closest to it at the time. Grabbing the only thing at hand, he knocked it aside with a shovel.
"Poison sting!" Jessie ordered.
With an angry hiss, Arbok released a stream of venomous needles from its throat. Glendon held up his shovel, just barely stopping the attack from striking him. As Arbok prepared to strike, Sparky stepped in front of it. Sparky shook its head, then hit its own chest with its right paw. Arbok hissed as it reared back, coiling up for another strike. Its eyes narrowed as it focused on its target, its tongue slithering out of its mouth with a menacing hiss. Then, it struck with lightning speed, its fangs bared and dripping with venom.
Sparky smiled, then leapt up above Arbok as its mouth bit down where Sparky had been moments ago. In its surprise, Arbok had no time to react, and Sparky came down, bashing it on the head with its foot and driving its face into the ground. Landing beside Arbok, Sparky wrapped his tail around the cobra and unleashed a bolt of electricity. Arbok writhed in pain as it struggled to escape, then fell unconscious, still twitching from the shock.
"Don't think it's that easy," James yelled. "Go, Victreebell!"
As usual, James realized his mistake too late. With a piercing shriek, the flytrap pokemon leapt at him, wrapping its vines around James' body. Off balance from the sudden weight hanging from him, James fell back and rolled off of the roof, dropping his pokeball and landing hard on a bale of hay.
While her partner wrestled with his own pokemon, Jessie reached for the pokeball James had dropped. At the exact moment, Wobbufett popped up next to her, nearly knocking her from the roof as well. With a frustrated cry, Jessie pushed it aside and grabbed her other pokeball. She opened it and Weezing appeared.
"Sludge!" Jessie commanded.
Weezing began to spew out blobs of foul-smelling black ooze. The townspeople ran about in an effort to evade the corroding slime that killed the grass on impact.
"Beyleaf," Ash called as the chaos erupted.
Beyleaf dashed in to confront the filthy creature attacking them. When Weezing saw its opponent, it sucked in a deep breath and spewed out a thick cloud of green vapors. Ash covered his face with his vest to keep from breathing the fumes.
"Vine whip!" he commanded.
"Bey!"
Two vines sprouted out from Beyleaf's neck. Weezing tried to escape, but couldn't dodge the lashings of Beyleaf's attack and took several direct hits. In a daze, it began to slowly sink to the ground.
"Finish it off with razor leaf," Ash ordered.
With a flick of its neck, Beyleaf launched several leaves from the growth on its forehead. The first two struck it directly in the face and knocked it to the ground; however, two others missed and shot directly toward the Team Rocket Trio.
James, who had finally managed to force Victreebell back into its ball, was just barely climbing back on top of the house when one of the leaves whizzed past his head. Startled, he lost his balance and rolled down the roof again, catching himself just before he toppled over the side. The other leaf spiraled toward Wobbufett. With a surprised shout, it dropped flat on its stomach allowing the attack to fly harmlessly by.
As it flew through the air, a gust rose up and caught the attack. The razor leaf arced through the air and went directly through the balloon.
"Look!" Meowth cried, pointing.
The crowd watched as the balloon rapidly plummeted toward the ground, colliding with the grain silo halfway down. As it grated against the silo, one of the propane tanks struck against the tin wall of the structure, snapping its valve off. With a dull boom, the fuel tank burst into flames, consuming the basket. The force of the blast caused the other tanks to rupture and the gas combusted.
The magnitude of the explosion popped the rivets from the silo's base. A groan of twisting metal screeched from it as the silo tilted slightly. For a moment, it seemed to resist the fall, then, with a harsh crack, the support beams snapped like toothpicks under its immense weight and the entire structure toppled over.
Benjamin, who had been trying to escape Weezing's toxic sludge, was now standing directly beneath the silo as it came crashing down toward him. In fright, he tried to turn and run, but his foot got caught in a gopher hole and he tripped, twisting his ankle. He looked up and saw the heavy metal building coming down on him and screamed.
Moments before the silo crushed him beneath its immense weight, it stopped falling. It hung suspended in the air, held up by an unseen force.
Shigure looked toward the farmhouse and saw Mewtwo, his hand outstretched, the vein on his forehead bulging out as blood surged through it. He was using his psychic power to keep the silo from falling on Benjamin. Ash noticed, however, that Mewtwo seemed to be struggling to hold it up.
"NO!" Shigure cried in horror.
Jessie and James also saw Mewtwo fighting to save the farmer. It took them a moment to recognize it.
"That's the pokemon everyone's looking for," James noted. "Ivan's giving a fortune to anyone who finds it."
"Mewtwo," Meowth said. "I think that's what he called it. Let's go call the boss."
Without a word, the trio fled from the scene.
Their discretion was unnecessary, however. No one was taking any notice of them anymore. Most of the farmers had run to help Benjamin. Carefully, Trevor plucked his foot out of the hole and then he and three other farmers dragged him to safety. Within moments after, the silo came crashing down, expelling shards of metal into the air as it dashed against the ground.
"He's safe," Misty said with a sigh of relief. Turning to the others she shouted, "We're okay now."
She gasped when she saw Mewtwo and realized that she had spoken to soon. His body was glistening with moisture. Perspiration was pouring rapidly from his forehead, arms and legs. His chest was jerking from his irregular breathing. He took a staggering, labored step forward, then wailed in anguish, clutching his chest with both hands. Shigure and Ash rushed to him.
"What's wrong with him?" Ash asked urgently.
Shigure was too preoccupied to notice. He took a hold of Mewtwo by the shoulders and tried to hold him up.
"Breath!" he demanded. "Come on! Breath! Deep breath!"
Mewtwo struggled to take a solid breath of oxygen, then slowly exhaled. Shigure continued to encourage him for a few moments. Suddenly, he gasped sharply. Ash watched in horror as Mewtwo's pupils shrank and his gaze lost its focus. Then, his whole body jerked back and he fell to the ground. He thrashed violently about on the ground, saliva lathering around his mouth into disgusting foam.
"Oh, no!" Shigure cried. "He's having a seizure!"
"What should we do?" Ash asked.
"Hold him down," Shigure instructed.
As Ash and Brock grasped onto Mewtwo's arms and tried to keep him still, Shigure reached into his shirt pocket. He removed a pokeball and opened it, releasing the largest Pigeot Ash had ever seen, although he was too afraid to be impressed at that moment.
"Help me!" Shigure ordered. "If he doesn't get the medicine back at my home, he'll go into cardiac arrest."
Shigure, Ash and Brock carefully lifted Mewtwo up onto the Pigeot's back. Shigure and Ash climbed on after that. Ash held Mewtwo, kept him from struggling and falling off, while Shigure leaned next to the Pigeot's head.
"Home, Skie!" he ordered. "Fast!"
With a loud, crowing caw Pigeot stretched out its wings and began to flap, massive gusts of wind blowing from each flap. As it started to lift off the ground, Sparky leapt up and clutched onto the Skie's leg. Continuing to rise, Skie caught a thermal updraft beneath its wings and soared away, toward Shigure's home.
It took two minutes to fly to the house. Mewtwo had stopped thrashing so ferociously, but was still trembling and drooling and his breathing was still erratic. Ash and Shigure carried him into the house. Inside, Shigure called for Phoebe and instructed her to set up a bed in the infirmary and prepare the medical equipment. The Clefairy rushed on ahead of them while the others struggled to heave Mewtwo up the stairs.
When they finally got him into the infirmary, Shigure laid Mewtwo out on the bed and strapped him in. Ash stepped away and watched, terrified for his friend, as Phoebe hooked him up to the heart monitor, then placed an oxygen mask over his face and turned it on. Shigure opened up the medical cabinet and searched desperately through the numerous bottles of medicines.
He found the correct bottle, grabbed a syringe, filled it with the clear fluid, then pressed the end of it to clear out any air bubbles. Phoebe helped him hold Mewtwo's arm steady while he prepared to inject it. There was a slight hesitation as Shigure tried to find the vein in Mewtwo's wrist. With a quick jab, he sank the needle into Mewtwo's arm, injected the fluid and pulled it back out.
Almost immediately, Mewtwo stopped twitching. His body relaxed momentarily, then he suddenly gasped sharply. The steady beeping of the heart monitor became a dull, sustained tone.
At Shigure's command, Sparky came running into the room, laid its tail against Mewtwo's chest and ran a jolt of electricity through it. Ash turned his head away, painfully, as Mewtwo's body jerked, only the straps holding him on the bed. The monotonous beep continued and Sparky gave another shock. This time, the monitor returned to a near normal beeping. Mewtwo's body seemed to relax again. Shigure sighed with relief, then quickly ran to the storage room. A few moments later, he returned with an IV filled with clear fluid and injected the needle into Mewtwo's arm, allowing it to pump the fluid directly into his blood. With a dry cloth, Shigure wiped away the saliva from Mewtwo's mouth.
With the frightening moment passed, Ash felt his senses returning. As his shock abated, he approached the bed. Pikachu remained at the back of the room.
"What do we do now?" he asked weakly.
Shigure pressed his palms together and bowed his head reverently. "If you have any faith, then pray," he said.
Ash looked helplessly on Mewtwo. His breath was still coming through strained and ragged wheezes. His eyelids were opened just a slit, though his eyes had rolled back in his head and he was completely unaware of anything around him. According to the monitor, his heart was beating a little faster than it was supposed to be. Ash's vision began to blur as his eyes moistened.
'Please,' he begged silently, 'don't let Mewtwo die. Not like this.'
Dropping to his knees, he leaned against the bed. Two tears fell from his cheeks to the floor.
"Will he die?" he asked.
Shigure shrugged. "It's impossible to say as of yet. His heart had quite a shock and we won't know until his condition starts to change. I suppose it depends on his will to survive. He has to want to live."
Ash clenched his teeth and closed his eyes tightly. He couldn't handle his uselessness; not being able to do anything at all to help. Grief and frustration tore at his soul, ripping his heart apart. Pikachu climbed up onto his shoulder and attempted to console him, but Ash hardly noticed.
"Why is this happening?" he demanded in a harsh whisper.
"It's a side affect of the poison," Shigure explained brokenly. "When I first found him, he had lost consciousness. On the way to my home, he stopped breathing. It was four minutes before we got him to breath again and by that time, irreparable damage had already been done to his brain and heart.
"The brain works through a number of complex chemical reactions which transfer the electrical signals to the rest of our body, but some of Mewtwo's brain cells have been damaged and can't support the energy required to use the fullness of his mental powers. As he begins to overwork them, the signals get mixed up, which causes his body to suffer these violent seizures. The shock of it causes him to loose consciousness, and because of the damage to his heart, he's at risk to having a heart attack."
"That's not what I meant," Ash said, tears rolling down his face. "Why is this happening to him? He doesn't deserve this."
Shigure lowered his head. "To that," he admitted, "I have no answer. The gods put us through trials for reasons that we cannot always understand."
Ash reached out suddenly and took hold of Mewtwo by the hand. It was a desperate and childish action, but it was the only thing he could think to do. To his surprise, Mewtwo's fingers closed gently around his hand and he heard his labored gasps become more stable. Shigure's jaw dropped.
"His heart rate is normalizing," he said in awe. "And his breathing is getting stronger."
Ash looked at Mewtwo's face. It suddenly looked more peaceful than it had before and there seemed to be a sense of fortitude in it now. Ash smiled as he clasped his other hand around his first. 'You can make it,' he said silently, comforting himself more than anything.
Shigure sighed. "I think he'll be fine," he reported. "We can leave him now."
"No," Ash said firmly. "I don't want to. The way he holds my hand, it makes me think that it's me he's holding onto."
"Like you're the one keeping him alive?" Shigure asked.
Ash chuckled weakly, tears still coming from his eyes. "Do you think that's silly?"
Shigure shook his head. "It may be true. Your care for him may very well be what is giving him strength. He once told me that, because he was a clone, he was born without any family and it was something that he always felt a need for. He thinks of me as a friend and a teacher, but you love him as though he were a brother. I think, if he can feel that in you, it may give him a desire to live."
Ash nodded, but was unable to speak with the knot in his throat.
It was six o'clock and Ivan was preparing to go home for the night. He organized the reports he hadn't yet had time to read and put them into his black briefcase. Twisting the lock on it, he took another moment to look over his desk to make sure he hadn't missed anything. As he was about to leave, the phone on his desk rang.
He snarled softly. He didn't want to talk to anyone else at the moment. After his long meeting with the police chief, who had plagued him with annoying questions all day and setting him behind schedule several hours, he was in a foul mood.
He started for the door. The phone rang again.
"What?" he growled irritably as he placed the receiver to his ear.
The video screen turned on and Jessie's image appeared on the screen. For a moment, he considered hanging up on her, but decided against it and allowed her to speak.
"We have good news," she reported. "We were following the brat and he led us to this small place called Banzai Town."
"What!?" Ivan roared. "You were given instructions to discontinue your pursuit of the boy."
Jessie fearfully took a step back away from the monitor. She looked toward her companions. The three of them conversed amongst themselves for a moment. Jessie turned back to the monitor and shook her head.
"We never received any orders like that," she said confused.
Ivan's eyebrow raised up. "Wendy was supposed to tell you about it." He hesitated. 'Of course,' he realized, 'Wendy didn't tell them so that I would become angry with them. I wouldn't have expected this from her.' He chuckled. "We'll discuss that later. What is your news?"
"We found Mewtwo," she replied with a smile. "He's in Banzai Town, living with some old guy named Shigure."
Ivan smiled. Perhaps it hadn't been such a bad day after all. "Good work," he said.
"About the reward promised," Jessie began.
"Of course," Ivan agreed. "I'll deduct it from the money you already owe us and send you whatever is left. If there's anything left."
"But. . ."
The image disappeared as Ivan put replaced the receiver. Mewtwo had finally been located. Everything was going so perfectly that he couldn't believe it. He was all the more close to achieving his goal. He suddenly burst into hysterical laughter that went on for several minutes, unnerving the guards outside. When he at last calmed down, he picked up the phone and dialed another number.
"Team Rocket Headquarters, Wendy speaking." Then she saw who was on the line. "Boss! What is it?"
"You never gave the order for Jessie and James to stop chasing that boy," he hissed angrily. "I just had an interesting conversation with them and the subject came up. Did you believe I was so stupid as to be fooled by such a childish trick!? How dare you insult me!?"
"No, sir," she lied. "It isn't true."
"Shut up!" he growled. "Normally I would be very upset with you, but it seems that all has worked out for the better. While following the boy, he led them to Mewtwo."
He waited, enjoying Wendy's shocked reaction. Though she did her best to hide it, she was clearly angry that her attempt had backfired.
"I will excuse this for now, as I am in such good humor at the moment," he said. "But if you ever disobey my direct orders ever again, I'll see to it that you won't even be able to get a job as an elementary school secretary."
With that, he slammed the receiver without allowing her to say another word. With a delighted smile, he placed a cigarette mouth and lit it up. It was all so perfect.
It was not long before fatigue began to take hold of everyone. As late as it was, Shigure offered his guests a room for the night. That night, Ash fell asleep with his thoughts still dwelling on what he had been told. When sunlight crept through the window the next morning, it fell on his face, waking him. He groggily sat up, stretched and yawned. It was then that he became aware of the fact that there was no one else in the room with him. Even Pikachu was gone.
He quickly got out of bed and dressed himself for the day and went out to search for his friends. He found them all downstairs in the dinning room, eating breakfast.
"How long have you all been up?" he asked.
"Not long," Brock replied. "Probably ten minutes."
Ash quickly sat down and helped himself to the eggs and juice. Shortly after he began to eat, he noticed that Shigure was wearing his work cloths again.
"Are you going to the farm?" he asked.
Shigure nodded. "I like to spend my time helping them. It gives me something to do."
"Could we join you?" Ash asked.
Shigure looked at him, confused. "I don't see why not if that is what you wish. You don't have anything else you need to do, do you?"
"We were planning on. . ." Brock began.
"Nothing important," Ash replied, cutting him off.
Brock and Misty were both shocked into silence, unable to believe what they had just heard.
"Very well then," Shigure said, "you may come along, but I warn you, it's hard work."
"If a sixty-seven-year-old man can handle it," Mewtwo commented as he entered the room, "then I'm sure they can too."
Shigure groaned and rolled his eyes. "That's really not fair," he grumbled. "I'm not going to be sixty-seven for another two weeks. But you're right. He's fit boy, he should be able to deal with it."
"You've never seen Ash work before," Misty cut in. She hesitated as she took a moment to think. "Now that I think about it, I've never seen Ash work before either."
The others laughed and Ash was left to shrug his shoulders.
"I'm pretty sure that I can manage," Ash said as the laughter died down. "Besides, I want to help."
Again, Brock and Misty were left completely without words. Misty recovered her knife-edged tongue first.
"Who are you?" she demanded sarcastically. "Where's the real Ash?"
Once again, the group had a good laugh at Ash's expense, though this time, Ash laughed with them.
After breakfast was finished, they left the house and started down the long trail to the town. The hike back down went much faster than the climb up. Ash refrained from complaining as they made the descent, which inspired another sarcastic remark from Misty. Ash didn't say anything out loud at the time, but he silently agreed with her. Although he had never been above helping others, if they needed it, it wasn't like him to want to help with labor like farm work, unless, of course, it was to compete with his rival, Gary. He wasn't sure why he did, he only knew that something told him it was something he needed to do.
Halfway down the trail, he began to wonder if Misty wasn't right. Perhaps Phoebe had somehow called the Clefairy spaceship and had the other Clefairies implant a mind-control device in his head. The idea was so absurd that from the moment he thought of it, he couldn't help but laugh out loud. The others found it just as funny after he explained it to them.
Around nine o'clock, they reached the bottom of the mountain. From there, Shigure led the group to the farm, where they found three of the townsmen crowded around a small tractor. They looked upset about something, but seemed to cheer up when Shigure arrived.
"I've brought some extra help today," Shigure informed. "What's the problem, Ben?"
One of the farmers sighed, scratching his red-haired head. "It's the tractor," he explained. "It's broke down again."
"Oh, no," Shigure groaned as he climbed up onto it to look at the engine. "Can you find the problem?"
"No," a stocky, blond farmer replied. "The engine just shut off this morning."
Shigure climbed off the tractor, shaking his head. "Not good," he concluded. "It will probably be in the shop for a few weeks."
The farmers were not pleased with the assessment. "We can't wait that long," the tall, dark-haired farmer complained. "We have to get the field plowed by tomorrow or we'll never get our crops planted in time. It will take too long by hand."
"I think I can help," Ash interrupted, causing everyone to look over to him. "If you unhook the plow from the tractor, Beyleaf can pull it."
The farmers took a moment to discuss the option. "That could work," the one named Ben agreed. "Do you think your pokemon can pull it?"
Ash reached for a pokeball hanging on his vest and opened it, releasing Beyleaf. The grass pokemon lazily stretched its long neck and then turned to Ash obediently.
"We're giving the farmers a hand today," Ash explained. "Do you think you can help them plow the field?"
"Bey!" Beyleaf affirmed.
Ash smiled. "Looks like you have your solution," he said.
Introductions were made before anything else was done. Benjamin was the owner of the farm, Trevor and Glendon were his partners. The three of were responsible for making sure that everything on the farm was working properly. When the tractor had broken down, they had been worried that they would fall behind on their work and they were grateful to have Ash's assistance.
After Beyleaf was harnessed to the plow, it was led to the first field, where Trevor explained how the field needed to be done. Ash guided Beyleaf at first, but after the first field was done, it was able to handle the job on its own, which left Ash free to help the farmers with the planting. As he moved down the rows, he would dig a small hole, place a seed into it and move on, then Pikachu would bury the seed.
By about noon, the sun was searing on the back of his neck. Beads of sweat rolled down out of his hair, into his eyes and mouth. He stopped to wipe it away, then removed his cap and wrung the sweat out of it. As he put it back on, he saw Mewtwo coming toward him. He straightened up, which made his back ache from its stiffness.
"You may want to use this," Mewtwo offered, holding out a bottle of sun block.
Ash thanked him as he quickly rubbed the cream on his arms, neck and face.
"It's hard work," Ash commented. "Do they do this every day?"
Mewtwo shook his head. "This is just the planting season work," he explained. "Once they get the fields sown, they have to constantly weed it, fertilize it and spray it. Then fall comes and they have to harvest all the crops and clean them. Not to mention the livestock that needs to be fed and taken care of, pruning the orchards and occasional repairs to the farm itself. It's a year long process that's pretty much all day, every day."
Ash took a deep breath. "That's a lot of hard work," he said.
"It is," Mewtwo replied. "You know, this farm supports the whole town."
"Really?"
"Yes. The crops are mostly used to feed the people and anything excess is sold in the next city to buy other necessities. Shigure also helps out when they have troubles, like the tractor."
Ash smiled as he continued planting. "He really does do everything, doesn't he?"
By two o'clock, all the fields had been plowed and half of them were planted. All of the men over the age of fifteen and some of the women from the town had come to help and the work was already ahead of schedule. Despite the pains he felt from the hard labor he wasn't used to, Ash felt good about what he was doing. The thought that he had kept the town from falling behind made him feel cheerful. He didn't even notice that he was hungry until he heard a loud bell that signaled lunch.
Lunch consisted of various kinds of sandwiches that the women had spent the previous half-hour making. While they ate, Shigure shared stories of his travels around the world and some of the pokemon he had seen and people he had met.
The break only lasted an hour, and it seemed to go by much faster than Ash and his friends needed. Not wanting to seem lazy, they prepared to go back to work with the rest of them. As they started back toward the fields, a dark shadow was cast over them. Everyone turned toward the source of the shadow and saw a hot air balloon. To the dismay of Ash and his friends, they saw the balloon was shaped like a Meowth. Ash gave a exasperated sigh as it began to descend toward the farm.
"I don't know why you stopped here," came Jessie's voice, "or what brought you to this town in the first place."
"But we're certainly glad you did," followed James' voice. "It gave us time to catch up."
"Prepare for trouble." Jessie leaned over the side of the basket.
"Make it double." James appeared beside her.
"To protect the world from devastation."
"To unite all peoples within our nation."
"To denounce the evils of truth and love."
"To extend our reach to the stars above.
Jessie leapt from the balloon, landing on the roof of the farmhouse. "Jessie."
James leapt down from the balloon, landing next to Jessie. "James."
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light."
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight."
Meowth landed in the middle of them. "That's right!"
At that point the three of them posed in ridiculous positions. From the ground below, everyone stared at them, some with annoyance, some with fear, but most just with confusion.
"What in the world was that about?" Shigure asked.
Ash groaned. "It's their motto," he explained. "They think it's cool or something."
"Do they always do that?" Ben asked in a baffled tone.
Ash and his friends all nodded in unison. "Every time."
"That's irritating," Trevor commented. "How do you deal with that?"
"It's like a head cold," Misty said. "You just gotta take some aspirin and wait it out."
From the roof, the Team Rocket Trio realized that no one was paying any attention to them at all. Jessie was infuriated. How dare they ignore them!? They were Team Rocket, the most evil organization in the world.
"Hey!" she shouted. "Don't just blow us off!"
The farmers turned toward them, irritated expressions on all of their faces. The trio was taken aback by the sight of all the angry glares.
"Excuse me," Ben yelled back, "we're trying to have a conversation here. It's very rude to interrupt."
Enraged, Jessie grabbed a pokeball from her pocket. "Rude?" she growled. "How's this for rude?"
She threw the ball to the ground, releasing Arbok. Hissing angrily, the cobra coiled up and inflated its crest. Everyone near it backed away. Jessie ordered her snake to attack. Arbok coiled, drew its head back and struck at Glendon, who was standing closest to it at the time. Grabbing the only thing at hand, he knocked it aside with a shovel.
"Poison sting!" Jessie ordered.
With an angry hiss, Arbok released a stream of venomous needles from its throat. Glendon held up his shovel, just barely stopping the attack from striking him. As Arbok prepared to strike, Sparky stepped in front of it. Sparky shook its head, then hit its own chest with its right paw. Arbok hissed as it reared back, coiling up for another strike. Its eyes narrowed as it focused on its target, its tongue slithering out of its mouth with a menacing hiss. Then, it struck with lightning speed, its fangs bared and dripping with venom.
Sparky smiled, then leapt up above Arbok as its mouth bit down where Sparky had been moments ago. In its surprise, Arbok had no time to react, and Sparky came down, bashing it on the head with its foot and driving its face into the ground. Landing beside Arbok, Sparky wrapped his tail around the cobra and unleashed a bolt of electricity. Arbok writhed in pain as it struggled to escape, then fell unconscious, still twitching from the shock.
"Don't think it's that easy," James yelled. "Go, Victreebell!"
As usual, James realized his mistake too late. With a piercing shriek, the flytrap pokemon leapt at him, wrapping its vines around James' body. Off balance from the sudden weight hanging from him, James fell back and rolled off of the roof, dropping his pokeball and landing hard on a bale of hay.
While her partner wrestled with his own pokemon, Jessie reached for the pokeball James had dropped. At the exact moment, Wobbufett popped up next to her, nearly knocking her from the roof as well. With a frustrated cry, Jessie pushed it aside and grabbed her other pokeball. She opened it and Weezing appeared.
"Sludge!" Jessie commanded.
Weezing began to spew out blobs of foul-smelling black ooze. The townspeople ran about in an effort to evade the corroding slime that killed the grass on impact.
"Beyleaf," Ash called as the chaos erupted.
Beyleaf dashed in to confront the filthy creature attacking them. When Weezing saw its opponent, it sucked in a deep breath and spewed out a thick cloud of green vapors. Ash covered his face with his vest to keep from breathing the fumes.
"Vine whip!" he commanded.
"Bey!"
Two vines sprouted out from Beyleaf's neck. Weezing tried to escape, but couldn't dodge the lashings of Beyleaf's attack and took several direct hits. In a daze, it began to slowly sink to the ground.
"Finish it off with razor leaf," Ash ordered.
With a flick of its neck, Beyleaf launched several leaves from the growth on its forehead. The first two struck it directly in the face and knocked it to the ground; however, two others missed and shot directly toward the Team Rocket Trio.
James, who had finally managed to force Victreebell back into its ball, was just barely climbing back on top of the house when one of the leaves whizzed past his head. Startled, he lost his balance and rolled down the roof again, catching himself just before he toppled over the side. The other leaf spiraled toward Wobbufett. With a surprised shout, it dropped flat on its stomach allowing the attack to fly harmlessly by.
As it flew through the air, a gust rose up and caught the attack. The razor leaf arced through the air and went directly through the balloon.
"Look!" Meowth cried, pointing.
The crowd watched as the balloon rapidly plummeted toward the ground, colliding with the grain silo halfway down. As it grated against the silo, one of the propane tanks struck against the tin wall of the structure, snapping its valve off. With a dull boom, the fuel tank burst into flames, consuming the basket. The force of the blast caused the other tanks to rupture and the gas combusted.
The magnitude of the explosion popped the rivets from the silo's base. A groan of twisting metal screeched from it as the silo tilted slightly. For a moment, it seemed to resist the fall, then, with a harsh crack, the support beams snapped like toothpicks under its immense weight and the entire structure toppled over.
Benjamin, who had been trying to escape Weezing's toxic sludge, was now standing directly beneath the silo as it came crashing down toward him. In fright, he tried to turn and run, but his foot got caught in a gopher hole and he tripped, twisting his ankle. He looked up and saw the heavy metal building coming down on him and screamed.
Moments before the silo crushed him beneath its immense weight, it stopped falling. It hung suspended in the air, held up by an unseen force.
Shigure looked toward the farmhouse and saw Mewtwo, his hand outstretched, the vein on his forehead bulging out as blood surged through it. He was using his psychic power to keep the silo from falling on Benjamin. Ash noticed, however, that Mewtwo seemed to be struggling to hold it up.
"NO!" Shigure cried in horror.
Jessie and James also saw Mewtwo fighting to save the farmer. It took them a moment to recognize it.
"That's the pokemon everyone's looking for," James noted. "Ivan's giving a fortune to anyone who finds it."
"Mewtwo," Meowth said. "I think that's what he called it. Let's go call the boss."
Without a word, the trio fled from the scene.
Their discretion was unnecessary, however. No one was taking any notice of them anymore. Most of the farmers had run to help Benjamin. Carefully, Trevor plucked his foot out of the hole and then he and three other farmers dragged him to safety. Within moments after, the silo came crashing down, expelling shards of metal into the air as it dashed against the ground.
"He's safe," Misty said with a sigh of relief. Turning to the others she shouted, "We're okay now."
She gasped when she saw Mewtwo and realized that she had spoken to soon. His body was glistening with moisture. Perspiration was pouring rapidly from his forehead, arms and legs. His chest was jerking from his irregular breathing. He took a staggering, labored step forward, then wailed in anguish, clutching his chest with both hands. Shigure and Ash rushed to him.
"What's wrong with him?" Ash asked urgently.
Shigure was too preoccupied to notice. He took a hold of Mewtwo by the shoulders and tried to hold him up.
"Breath!" he demanded. "Come on! Breath! Deep breath!"
Mewtwo struggled to take a solid breath of oxygen, then slowly exhaled. Shigure continued to encourage him for a few moments. Suddenly, he gasped sharply. Ash watched in horror as Mewtwo's pupils shrank and his gaze lost its focus. Then, his whole body jerked back and he fell to the ground. He thrashed violently about on the ground, saliva lathering around his mouth into disgusting foam.
"Oh, no!" Shigure cried. "He's having a seizure!"
"What should we do?" Ash asked.
"Hold him down," Shigure instructed.
As Ash and Brock grasped onto Mewtwo's arms and tried to keep him still, Shigure reached into his shirt pocket. He removed a pokeball and opened it, releasing the largest Pigeot Ash had ever seen, although he was too afraid to be impressed at that moment.
"Help me!" Shigure ordered. "If he doesn't get the medicine back at my home, he'll go into cardiac arrest."
Shigure, Ash and Brock carefully lifted Mewtwo up onto the Pigeot's back. Shigure and Ash climbed on after that. Ash held Mewtwo, kept him from struggling and falling off, while Shigure leaned next to the Pigeot's head.
"Home, Skie!" he ordered. "Fast!"
With a loud, crowing caw Pigeot stretched out its wings and began to flap, massive gusts of wind blowing from each flap. As it started to lift off the ground, Sparky leapt up and clutched onto the Skie's leg. Continuing to rise, Skie caught a thermal updraft beneath its wings and soared away, toward Shigure's home.
It took two minutes to fly to the house. Mewtwo had stopped thrashing so ferociously, but was still trembling and drooling and his breathing was still erratic. Ash and Shigure carried him into the house. Inside, Shigure called for Phoebe and instructed her to set up a bed in the infirmary and prepare the medical equipment. The Clefairy rushed on ahead of them while the others struggled to heave Mewtwo up the stairs.
When they finally got him into the infirmary, Shigure laid Mewtwo out on the bed and strapped him in. Ash stepped away and watched, terrified for his friend, as Phoebe hooked him up to the heart monitor, then placed an oxygen mask over his face and turned it on. Shigure opened up the medical cabinet and searched desperately through the numerous bottles of medicines.
He found the correct bottle, grabbed a syringe, filled it with the clear fluid, then pressed the end of it to clear out any air bubbles. Phoebe helped him hold Mewtwo's arm steady while he prepared to inject it. There was a slight hesitation as Shigure tried to find the vein in Mewtwo's wrist. With a quick jab, he sank the needle into Mewtwo's arm, injected the fluid and pulled it back out.
Almost immediately, Mewtwo stopped twitching. His body relaxed momentarily, then he suddenly gasped sharply. The steady beeping of the heart monitor became a dull, sustained tone.
At Shigure's command, Sparky came running into the room, laid its tail against Mewtwo's chest and ran a jolt of electricity through it. Ash turned his head away, painfully, as Mewtwo's body jerked, only the straps holding him on the bed. The monotonous beep continued and Sparky gave another shock. This time, the monitor returned to a near normal beeping. Mewtwo's body seemed to relax again. Shigure sighed with relief, then quickly ran to the storage room. A few moments later, he returned with an IV filled with clear fluid and injected the needle into Mewtwo's arm, allowing it to pump the fluid directly into his blood. With a dry cloth, Shigure wiped away the saliva from Mewtwo's mouth.
With the frightening moment passed, Ash felt his senses returning. As his shock abated, he approached the bed. Pikachu remained at the back of the room.
"What do we do now?" he asked weakly.
Shigure pressed his palms together and bowed his head reverently. "If you have any faith, then pray," he said.
Ash looked helplessly on Mewtwo. His breath was still coming through strained and ragged wheezes. His eyelids were opened just a slit, though his eyes had rolled back in his head and he was completely unaware of anything around him. According to the monitor, his heart was beating a little faster than it was supposed to be. Ash's vision began to blur as his eyes moistened.
'Please,' he begged silently, 'don't let Mewtwo die. Not like this.'
Dropping to his knees, he leaned against the bed. Two tears fell from his cheeks to the floor.
"Will he die?" he asked.
Shigure shrugged. "It's impossible to say as of yet. His heart had quite a shock and we won't know until his condition starts to change. I suppose it depends on his will to survive. He has to want to live."
Ash clenched his teeth and closed his eyes tightly. He couldn't handle his uselessness; not being able to do anything at all to help. Grief and frustration tore at his soul, ripping his heart apart. Pikachu climbed up onto his shoulder and attempted to console him, but Ash hardly noticed.
"Why is this happening?" he demanded in a harsh whisper.
"It's a side affect of the poison," Shigure explained brokenly. "When I first found him, he had lost consciousness. On the way to my home, he stopped breathing. It was four minutes before we got him to breath again and by that time, irreparable damage had already been done to his brain and heart.
"The brain works through a number of complex chemical reactions which transfer the electrical signals to the rest of our body, but some of Mewtwo's brain cells have been damaged and can't support the energy required to use the fullness of his mental powers. As he begins to overwork them, the signals get mixed up, which causes his body to suffer these violent seizures. The shock of it causes him to loose consciousness, and because of the damage to his heart, he's at risk to having a heart attack."
"That's not what I meant," Ash said, tears rolling down his face. "Why is this happening to him? He doesn't deserve this."
Shigure lowered his head. "To that," he admitted, "I have no answer. The gods put us through trials for reasons that we cannot always understand."
Ash reached out suddenly and took hold of Mewtwo by the hand. It was a desperate and childish action, but it was the only thing he could think to do. To his surprise, Mewtwo's fingers closed gently around his hand and he heard his labored gasps become more stable. Shigure's jaw dropped.
"His heart rate is normalizing," he said in awe. "And his breathing is getting stronger."
Ash looked at Mewtwo's face. It suddenly looked more peaceful than it had before and there seemed to be a sense of fortitude in it now. Ash smiled as he clasped his other hand around his first. 'You can make it,' he said silently, comforting himself more than anything.
Shigure sighed. "I think he'll be fine," he reported. "We can leave him now."
"No," Ash said firmly. "I don't want to. The way he holds my hand, it makes me think that it's me he's holding onto."
"Like you're the one keeping him alive?" Shigure asked.
Ash chuckled weakly, tears still coming from his eyes. "Do you think that's silly?"
Shigure shook his head. "It may be true. Your care for him may very well be what is giving him strength. He once told me that, because he was a clone, he was born without any family and it was something that he always felt a need for. He thinks of me as a friend and a teacher, but you love him as though he were a brother. I think, if he can feel that in you, it may give him a desire to live."
Ash nodded, but was unable to speak with the knot in his throat.
It was six o'clock and Ivan was preparing to go home for the night. He organized the reports he hadn't yet had time to read and put them into his black briefcase. Twisting the lock on it, he took another moment to look over his desk to make sure he hadn't missed anything. As he was about to leave, the phone on his desk rang.
He snarled softly. He didn't want to talk to anyone else at the moment. After his long meeting with the police chief, who had plagued him with annoying questions all day and setting him behind schedule several hours, he was in a foul mood.
He started for the door. The phone rang again.
"What?" he growled irritably as he placed the receiver to his ear.
The video screen turned on and Jessie's image appeared on the screen. For a moment, he considered hanging up on her, but decided against it and allowed her to speak.
"We have good news," she reported. "We were following the brat and he led us to this small place called Banzai Town."
"What!?" Ivan roared. "You were given instructions to discontinue your pursuit of the boy."
Jessie fearfully took a step back away from the monitor. She looked toward her companions. The three of them conversed amongst themselves for a moment. Jessie turned back to the monitor and shook her head.
"We never received any orders like that," she said confused.
Ivan's eyebrow raised up. "Wendy was supposed to tell you about it." He hesitated. 'Of course,' he realized, 'Wendy didn't tell them so that I would become angry with them. I wouldn't have expected this from her.' He chuckled. "We'll discuss that later. What is your news?"
"We found Mewtwo," she replied with a smile. "He's in Banzai Town, living with some old guy named Shigure."
Ivan smiled. Perhaps it hadn't been such a bad day after all. "Good work," he said.
"About the reward promised," Jessie began.
"Of course," Ivan agreed. "I'll deduct it from the money you already owe us and send you whatever is left. If there's anything left."
"But. . ."
The image disappeared as Ivan put replaced the receiver. Mewtwo had finally been located. Everything was going so perfectly that he couldn't believe it. He was all the more close to achieving his goal. He suddenly burst into hysterical laughter that went on for several minutes, unnerving the guards outside. When he at last calmed down, he picked up the phone and dialed another number.
"Team Rocket Headquarters, Wendy speaking." Then she saw who was on the line. "Boss! What is it?"
"You never gave the order for Jessie and James to stop chasing that boy," he hissed angrily. "I just had an interesting conversation with them and the subject came up. Did you believe I was so stupid as to be fooled by such a childish trick!? How dare you insult me!?"
"No, sir," she lied. "It isn't true."
"Shut up!" he growled. "Normally I would be very upset with you, but it seems that all has worked out for the better. While following the boy, he led them to Mewtwo."
He waited, enjoying Wendy's shocked reaction. Though she did her best to hide it, she was clearly angry that her attempt had backfired.
"I will excuse this for now, as I am in such good humor at the moment," he said. "But if you ever disobey my direct orders ever again, I'll see to it that you won't even be able to get a job as an elementary school secretary."
With that, he slammed the receiver without allowing her to say another word. With a delighted smile, he placed a cigarette mouth and lit it up. It was all so perfect.