Chapter 2: Physical and Mental Defeats
With a sneer, the young boy assumed a martial arts pose. The confused bird hovering in front of him just stared.
"I will defeat you!" cried Ash, punching the air with his torn gloves. Was he drunk? No. He was possessed.
The Pidgey spread its wings and screeched at Ash. Our hero ran at the infernal bird, extending his leg to kick at it.
With a swift swing of his leg, Ash attempted to kick. The bird was much more clever then Ash (sadly). It saw the opportunity to dig its talons into the poor boy's leg.
"Damn it," muttered Earl, the spirit who possessed Ash. "This boy still has some free will left in him. And he's like…ten! His mind is foolish!"
Brock rubbed his bruised cheek (…you know what I meant). He had made peace with the Electabuzz. In exchange for Brock's human pants, the electric Pokemon agreed to spare his life.
Misty was staring at the map leading to the voting booths. Brock stared up into the sky, wondering about the results.
"Do you honestly expect anyone to vote for Sush?" he asked. "I mean, the man's mentally unbalanced. We don't need to vote for the other guy in order for him not to win this election."
"True," said Misty, "but the public might not be as smart as you believe they are."
"Are you sure you can read the map well?"
"Yes Brock. I'm not like Ash…Uh-oh. Ash?"
Ash drifted down a river, unconscious. Earl, being the intelligent ghost that he was, ejected himself from Ash before the Pidgey finished him off.
The cold, moving water finally woke Ash up. He blinked and looked around him. The chance to defeat the Pidgey and snatch the egg had eluded him.
Feeling defeated, the Pokemon trainer stared into the horizon. The peek of a mountain caught his attention. It was Mt. Moon.
"I'll never be able to gather eggs and beat small birds if I'm not well trained!" he told himself. "If climbing the mountain is the only way to train me, I'll do that!"
No, he was never very bright. But Ash was determined to reach the peak of Mt. Moon. Were his friends going to return to see Ash splattered on the ground?
"I can't believe we left Ash alone!" exclaimed Misty. "He could have easily angered a more competent Rocket! And if he did…"
The duo continued running until they tripped. A huge cloud of dust that was thrown up when they feel blinded them. When it cleared, a figure was in front of them. It was a…box?
No, it was the voting booth! They had finally reached their goal! But they didn't realize that printed on the side was, "Manufactured by Sush Incorporated".
"Finally!" said Misty. "We can vote, leave, then save Ash from himself."
She entered the voting booth and looked at three levers. There were labels above each of them. The first read: "Sush". Misty knew to ignore that one. The second read: "Sush"! The third, yet again, read: "Sush".
"It's rigged!"
Shink! The floor of the voting booth collapsed under Misty. She screamed, but when Brock got there she had vanished.
"Wow, Misty's so heavy that she made it collapse under her!" Brock immediately had the feeling that Misty telepathically slapped him. "I'm coming!"
He jumped down the hole and into the abyss of the voting booth. His hand accidentally flicked one of the three Sush switches. Did that simple mistake turn the election around?
It didn't matter at the time. Brock needed to save his friend. But as the bottom grew closer, he became more and more curious. What was down there at the bottom?
The wind blew like a tornado as Ash gripped the rocky surface of the mountain. He saw the egg he had come all this way for at the summit. It could have been an illusion. It could have been real. Either way, Ash knew that the truth awaited him at the top.
Several Stantlers looked up at the climbing boy from the ground. They were puzzled. Why did this Pokemon trainer want to climb that, one thought.
Despite what the Pokemon thought, Ash was determined. It was inspiring… somewhat. However, it was also foolish. But Ash's attitude kept him alive for several seasons on the TV show. We can only hope that it will help him climb.
The trio had all lost that day. Ash got his ass kicked by a small bird. Misty couldn't cast a vote. And Brock lost his pants and had to look everywhere for Ash in that half-naked state. But the group wouldn't give up. That was not the end. Why? Because there's a Chapter 3 coming soon! shot
