(Saffron Train Station, Saffron City)
Grumly stepped nimbly
through the mass of people at in the train station, pulling his brown coat
tighter around his scaly body. His red eyes narrowed in on Giovanni's daughter
and her partner as they stood against a wall, looking at a map and arguing
over something.
"James, the quickest
way to Viridian is to fly through Fuchsia and over the islands!"
"No, it'll be faster
to just fly through Celadon!"
"Can't you listen to
reason for once?"
"And since have your
ideas been reasonable?"
Grumly calm to a halt and watched as the girl
pulled a rather large mallet seemingly out of nowhere, and proceeded to
wham him in the face with it.
"Ow!"
The man placed a hand to his nose, which
had started to bleed. The girl paused and looked at her mallet thoughtfully.
"Funny…that never happened
before."
The man shot her a nasty look. She scowled back
at him.
"Stop standing there
glaring at me and go clean yourself up!"
A thin smile spread across Grumly's face. If
he followed the man, he could simply be rid of him so he could carry off
the little lady with no problem at all.
Grumly walked into the
men's restroom without being noticed. He stepped inside a stall and watched
through the slit between the door and the wall of the stall as James stopped
the bleeding and washed his hands. He slipped out of his coat and quietly
unlatched the door. Silently, he went to stand behind James.
"Hello there, stranger…"
James jumped a little and turned around, his
green eyes following the new voice.
"What the--?!"
Grumly let out a battle cry as he jumped into
the air and delivered a rough hi-kick to James' chest. He fell backwards,
knocking his head on the hard wall. Grumly smirked as he slid to the floor,
moaning.
"It's naptime!" He announced,
stepping closer.
He opened his mouth wide and leaned in, breathing
out a large portion of strong demon breath. James' eyes rolled into the
back of his head, as he was knocked unconscious. Grumly laughed maliciously
to himself and reached forward to grab him…but he was stopped when he felt
a tap on his head.
"Who's there?" Grumly
snarled as he whirled around to come face to face with an Alakazam.
"Huh? Who are you?"
"Ala…alakazam!"
Grumly gasped as Alakazam's eyes glowed and he
was lifted into the air by a Confusion attack. The alakazam dropped him
roughly to the floor and shot a Psybeam at him. Grumly's red eyes dimmed
as hi blacked out and Alakazam picked him, teleporting out of the restroom.
(Saffron Train Station Parking Lot, Saffron City)
Sabrina watched the Cerulean
sisters pile their bags into the back of her van. A small sweatdrop appeared
at her temple at the sight.
"Do you really need
so much stuff for a conference?" She asked in her low, melodious voice.
Lily turned to face her, flipping her hair.
"Like, we're going to
an island, which means beaches!"
Violet nodded.
"Yeah! And like, beaches
means hot boys!"
Daisy smiled.
"And hot boys means
that we have to like, look GOOD!"
Sabrina shook her head and turned around, sensing
her Alakazam appear behind.
"Alakazam," he muttered,
letting Grumly drop to the floor at his master's feet.
The sisters shrieked and stepped away.
"Oh my gosh! Like, what
is that thing?!"
Sabrina stared in silence at the creature before
her. Never in her life had she seen anything like it, not even in her wildest
imaginations. She closed her deep eyes and concentrated her mind on it,
but even her psychic powers felt nothing from it.
"Strange…"
"You mean like, gross!"
Sabrina opened her eyes again and nodded to her
Alakazam. Alakazam picked up Grumly and got into the passenger seat of
her van.
"Why are you like, taking
that thing?" Daisy asked, grimacing.
Sabrina did not answer.
"Are you finished loading?"
The girls nodded. Sabrina walked around to get
in the van.
"Then let's go. Koga
will be waiting for us."
The sisters offered no protests as they climbed
inside. There was something about Sabrina's tone of voice that made any
thoughts of arguing disappear. Besides she was their transportation, and
they were NOT walking all the way to Fuchsia in their good shoes.
(Ketchum Residence, Pallet Town)
The sun was slowly setting
behind Indigo Mountain. There was a slight breeze in the air that stirred
up a few clutters of leaves. Ash's hair was ruffled in the wind as he stared
out at Professor Oak's laboratory. He could see the professor climbing
into the helicopter that had landed on his rooftop minutes before.
What are you hiding from me, Professor? Haven't
I proven myself to you already?
He glanced to his side as he felt May come to
stand beside him.
"Is he leaving already?"
Ash nodded a little.
"Yeah, I guess so."
May looked over at Indigo Mountain and chuckled.
"It's funny…"
Ash raised an eyebrow and looked at her.
"What is?"
"Well, when it gets
dark like this and you look at the mountain, you can barely see the smoke.
It's like nothing really happened."
Ash stared at her, then at the mountain, not
quite understanding what was funny about that. He shivered and put his
arms around himself.
"Don't be afraid, Ash."
"I'm not. I've faced
worse before."
May looked at him.
"How can you say that
you've faced worse when you don't know what you're facing?"
Ash was trying to think of a reply, when an almost
distant voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Ash! Hey, Ash!!"
"Huh?"
Ash looked up.
"Hey…that sounds like…"
He stepped down from his mother's porch and turned
towards the road. He felt his heart skip a beat at what he saw. It had
been a long time since he saw her…and with the atmosphere of twilight,
he wasn't sure what to make of it. May looked from Ash to the approaching
person.
"Ash? Are you okay?"
Brock stepped out onto the porch, wiping his
hands on his apron.
"Ash, May, come on inside!
Dinner's…"
His voice trailed off as his gaze followed May's.
He hesitated for a moment, then grinned.
"Hey! Misty!!"
Ash smiled too.
"Misty…"
Misty ran up to Ash and stopped in front of him,
out of breath.
"Hi Ash, it's been awhile,
huh?"
Ash nodded.
"Yeah, it has. What
are you doing here?"
Misty's smile faded.
"I saw what was going
on here on the news. The barrier. I came as soon as I heard…"
Her trademark smile brightened her face again.
"Besides, don't think
I've forgotten about my bike, Ash Ketchum!"
Ash returned the smile as she hugged him lightly.
"Oh, I didn't you had,
Misty! Somehow, I didn't think you had!"
End of Chapter Four
