Chapter 7
They woke up and ate breakfast just as usual. It was a beautiful day outside, so Pikachu decided to go play in the lake. Ash saw this and smiled.
"So Pikachu, you want to play? Hmm, maybe we should let your friends out too! Come on out everyone!"
One by one his pokemon came out of their poke balls and they ran into the water to join Pikachu. Misty came to the edge of the lake and looked at the pokemon with excitement.
"Wow! What awesome pokemon you have Ash! They could be valuable…"
Ash gave her a confused look and she quickly took it back.
"I mean you know, valuable to you so that you can beat all of the gyms…"
"Yeah, but they're also my friends Misty."
"Yeah, friends."
She looked back at the lake and observed the pokemon for a while. Ash thought about it and he figured out just what to do to see if Misty really had changed or not. He backed away so that she wouldn't see him and then he sneaked up behind her. As she leaned closer to the water, he pushed her into the lake. Ash couldn't help but laugh; it was just too funny. The sound of Misty's fall into the lake made Brock and May come running.
"What happened? Is everyone okay?" asked May.
"Yeah we heard a big splash."
"Oh it's nothing Brock. Ash just pushed me into the water, that's all," said Misty with a smile on her face as she pulled herself out of the water.
She walked right by Ash and didn't even look at him. His laughter automatically stopped and he scratched his head with confusion written all over his face.
"Ash! That was so rude of you! How could you do that to Misty? Would you like it if I pushed you into the lake? Would you?"
Ash couldn't believe it. He was expecting that kind of reaction from Misty, not May. At that moment he gave up. Misty had changed, and he couldn't do anything about it. But the worst part about it was that May had turned into Misty. It was scary and Ash just walked away from her.
"Misty, I'm sorry I did that to you. I just, you know, thought it would be fun."
"That's okay Ash. I was planning on going into the lake for a swim anyway, so thanks!"
She walked away and went to go look through her things. Ash sighed and went to go find some apples for Pikachu and his other pokemon to eat.
Meanwhile, James, Jesse and Meowth were observing the campsite from a tree nearby.
"OOOOO! Look! It's a twerp reunion!" said James excitedly.
"Haha! The girl sure has changed! OOO! What if her pokemon became stronger?" asked Jesse even more excitedly than James.
"Well what about Pikachu? Aren't we going to go after it like always?"
"Meowth, what always happens when we go after Pikachu? We get blown away and we end up with nothing."
"Jesse is right. We'll end up getting shocked by Pikachu and I don't want that to happen."
"Okay, so Mr. Smarty Pants, what's the plan?"
"Don't look at me! Jesse is the one with the ideas!"
Jessie suddenly smiled and looked at James and Meowth through the corner of her eye.
"Jesse, uhh, what are you thinking?" asked James with a worried tone in his voice.
"Haha…don't you worry about a thing…I've got a plan!"
Back at the campsite, May was playing with her Skitty. By now it was noon and Ash was back with the apples. When the pokemon finished eating, they all went back inside their poke balls so that they could rest. Misty was starting to look irritated and annoyed at the fact that they were in the woods. Ash sensed this and went up to her.
"Misty are you feeling okay?"
"Oh no, I'm just fine! Why do you ask?"
"Well you seem a bit… uneasy, that's all."
"That's probably because I haven't been in the woods in a while."
"Oh right! Scared of the bug pokemon huh?" said Ash with a chuckle.
Misty just looked at him as if he were making no sense and when she saw the same expression on his face, she quickly responded.
"Oh yeah! The bug pokemon… I guess it's because of them…"
Ash shrugged his shoulders and as he turned away he rolled his eyes.
"Pikachu? Oh there you are!"
"Pika Pi!"
Pikachu perked up his ears, ran over to Ash and jumped up on his shoulders. Ash smiled and chuckled. It was still a nice day, but suddenly the wind picked up a bit. As if on cue, Team Rocket jumped up out of the bushes and introduced themselves like always.
"Ohhahhh! It's Team Rocket!"
"Prepare for trouble like you always do"
"And make we'll make it double just for you,"
"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!"
"Yeah yeah yeah…we know who you are," said Misty with a sigh.
"Hey Missy! Don't interrupt us!"
"The name is Misty, not Missy, maybe you should learn how to talk before you open your mouth."
Jesse growled heatedly but Misty just smirked. Jesse calmed down and smirked back.
"It doesn't matter, because I am not here to argue with you. I came here for the pokemon!"
"Oh no you don't! Pikachu go-…" Ash said but what cut off by May.
"It's okay Ash," she looked at Misty and grinned, "I can handle this one."
"Haha! The little twerp wants to challenge you Jess," said James gleefully.
"Fine. I'll teach her a thing or two."
"But Jesse, what about the plan?" asked James quietly.
"WELL THERE'S A CHANGE IN PLANS!" screeched Jesse angrily.
James and Meowth backed away as they didn't want to be near an angry Jesse. May got ready to battle but Misty just yawned, and sat down on the grass to watch.
"You are not going to take any pokemon!"
"We'll just see about that little girl. Go Seviper!"
"I am not a little girl! Go Torchic!"
"Seviper, use Poison Tail!"
"Quick Torchic! Dodge it!"
"Torchic Tor! Torrchicc!"
Torchic couldn't dodge the attack and got hit by the poison tail attack. May looked worried while Jesse laughed in her face.
"Hahaha! That was too easy! But of course, me being the excellent trainer that I am!"
While everyone was busy watching the battle, James and Meowth snuck up behind Pikachu and grabbed him.
"PIKACHU!"
"Ohhahh! Pikachu! Give him back!"
Misty got annoyed and stood up. This was so sudden that everyone stopped in their tracks. She put her hand on her chest and said, "I am sick and tired of this. After all of this time, you are still trying to capture Pikachu, and has it worked yet? No, it hasn't."
"What do you know?" asked Jesse with a snotty tone.
"Don't interrupt me!" Jesse tried to respond, but she couldn't open her mouth.
"Now, listen up. You are going to give Pikachu back, and you aren't going to try to steal any pokemon ever again."
Misty smiled then, and sat down. Just like that, James gave Pikachu back to Ash and the three of them left without a word. Ash couldn't believe it. Just with a few words, and Misty had gotten rid of Team Rocket.
"Wow Misty! Thanks!"
"Pika Pi!"
"Yeah Misty! I don't know what you said, but it sure got to Team Rocket!" said Brock.
May just looked at her with hatred building up in her heart. What did she do to Team Rocket? They never just gave in like that. And now she was getting all of the attention. Her Torchic was in pretty bad shape and then she remembered.
"Hey Ash!"
"Yeah?" He turned around and walked over to her. "What's up?"
"My Torchic is poisoned. Can I use some of the medicine you bought?"
"OH! THE MEDICINE! Umm…" Ash looked around nervously.
"Well? Didn't you say you bought some?"
"Umm…I think I forgot it…at the Pokemon Center!"
Brock walked over and heard Ash and May talking.
"Don't worry May! I've got just the thing!"
He walked over to his backpack and pulled out a spray bottle. He sprayed the medicine on Torchic and in a couple of seconds he was back to his old self.
"Tor! Torchic Tor!"
"Thanks Brock!" She smiled and stood up. "Torchic! Return."
She put her poke ball away and went over to sit by the lake. Misty came over to her and sat down as well. She didn't look at May, but May became angry. She had humiliated herself and her pokemon in front of Ash and Misty. She decided that this would be a good time to try and be nice to Misty because she figured that she would have to deal with her for a while.
"Um…Misty?"
"Yeah?"
"Well I was just thinking…that we got off on the wrong foot."
Misty just looked at her with not the slightest expression on her face.
"And that we should you know… maybe start over?"
Misty continued to look at her, but then suddenly she laughed. It wasn't a nice one though. It was as mean as you could get. She leaned in close to May and whispered.
"Listen up, and listen up good. No, we didn't start off on the wrong foot. I just don't like you; can't you tell that? Oh wait, that's right, you wouldn't be able to because you're not old enough to understand. And don't even think about talking back. You don't deserve to."
May looked at her in shock. Who was this awful person? How could Ash and Brock possibly be friends with her?
"I'm only here for one purpose and one purpose only. You better not get into my business, and I mean it! Or you'll regret it…"
Misty suddenly smiled at her and stood up. She walked away and May watched her sit down with Brock and Ash. The three of them looked as if they were catching up on old times and having a ton of fun. May couldn't stand to watch and so she just went into the woods to get away from them.
The rest of the day passed by uneventfully. The group mostly just sat around or played with their pokemon occasionally. It was getting dark, and so Ash, Misty, May and Brock sat down by the edge of the lake to watch the sunset. Pikachu yawned and walked to Ash's sleeping bag. Ash followed and soon everyone was falling asleep; everyone but May, that is. She lay awake again, thinking about what a cruel person Misty was. Her thoughts occupied her, until finally, it seemed like she was falling asleep. But suddenly she heard a noise from the other side of the campsite. May tried to figure out who it was, while trying to hide the fact that she was awake. Suddenly, her eyes widened as she figured out who it was. It was Misty, and she was taking Brock's poke balls! She couldn't believe it!
May saw Misty turn around and head toward the forest. Since Misty couldn't see her, May sat up and woke up Ash.
"Ash…Ash!" She whispered quietly.
"Waaaa…"
"Ash, it's Misty."
He sat up with a jolt and he said loudly, "Is she okay?"
Misty turned around abruptly and looked at May with the most horrid expression on her face. Misty quickly ran back to Brock's backpack, and put the poke balls away. Then, she slipped into her sleeping bag and pretended to be sleeping.
"Ash, she took Brock's poke balls!"
Ash looked at Brock, then at Misty, and finally looked at May with an annoyed expression on his face.
"May, why in the world did you wake me up? And why would you lie to me?"
"Ash! I'm not lying! I swear I saw her! Pikachu? Didn't you see her?"
May looked at Pikachu pleadingly, but he was fast asleep. She looked down at the ground and Ash laid down again.
"May, I'm going to sleep. Please don't bother me with what you think you saw…"
And with that he was asleep again. May wanted to cry, but just as she was going to go to sleep, Misty sat up and gave her one last glare, to warn her. May nodded, and Misty went back to sleep. May gave up and finally fell asleep.
After about an hour, Misty woke up again. She went over to Brock's back pack, and took his poke balls and put them in her bag. Next, she quietly tip toed over to May, and took her poke balls as well. Finally, she went over to Ash, and did the same. She had a bag full of pokemon, but she wasn't satisfied. She looked at Pikachu and nodded. She knew what she had to do. Misty picked up Ash's last poke ball, and aimed it toward Pikachu. Ash was stirring and with a quiet struggle, Pikachu went into the poke ball. Misty quickly put the bag over her shoulder and ran into the forest.
Ash woke up with a start and caught his breath.
"Pikachu, you wouldn't believe the nightmare I just had!" Ash whispered, but then he saw that Pikachu wasn't there.
"Ohhahh! Pikachu! My pokemon!"
He looked at the forest and caught a glimpse of Misty walking into it. He couldn't believe it! May hadn't been lying! Misty really did steal the pokemon! He started to run after her, but saw that up ahead, there was a poke ball on the ground. It was moving back and forth, until finally a pokemon came out.
"Pikachu! Are you okay?"
"Pika!"
Pikachu ran up into Ash's arms and the two friends smiled, but then realized what they had to do. They ran into the forest, with the night all around them. Misty had stolen their pokemon, and they were going to get them back.