Chapter 8: On the Run

At this point in time, authorities all over Gallaway were on the lookout for Ash. He had been on the run all afternoon, and by now had completely lost himself in the forested areas. He was easily a few kilometers away from the nearest town. Additionally, he was quite fatigued, which meant that he would have to find some way to get out of Gallaway soon, or he would not be able to make it.

Ash had been running nonstop for quite a while, and had not seen anyone since he had left the city. He figured he could stop for a quick break. Sitting down on a nearby rock, Ash contemplated the situation he was currently in. He was now completely out in the open, clueless as to where he was. Ash had left most of his gear behind in the veterinary clinic, back where he had little time to prepare for an escape. If he had made an attempt to make off with his gear, he would have most likely been captured.

And now Pikachu was gone as well. With Pikachu by his side, he would have at least had a chance to stay fed, as they had developed a very useful hunting strategy that involved both of them making full use of their abilities. In his current situation, he had very few options left. Knowing that times were now incredibly desperate, Ash withdrew one specific gadget from the inside of his jacket.

Ash had not once had a chance to set up a remote connection to the RPR system (Remote Pokémon Retrieval). All along he had carried the device in case of emergency. The pokéreciever, a new technology only recently developed, was an advanced communications device that allowed the user to contact any compatible storage facility and instantly fill up or empty the six-member pokémon party, or even swap out members instantaneously. Ash had never planned on using this, but knew that there was always a risk of such an event happening where he would be attempting to run for his life from pursuing rangers or Gallawain law enforcement.

The receiver was no larger than an ordinary cell phone. The base was set up on top of a small tripod that extended from the underside of the device. In order to make a successful connection, Ash would have to make sure that the device was stable and secure for the entire time that the transfer was in progress. Placing the device on a nearby rock that served as a flat service, Ash typed in his login information and proceeded to connect to the system.

There was a slight wait before a connection to be established. This was to be expected, considering that he was deep into the forest, with tall trees surrounding him for distances unimaginable. Taking a deep breath, Ash proceeded to browse through the selection of pokémon available to him. He had to make his choice quickly, for he had a limited time before he was surely to be spotted. Ash repeatedly clicked the "next" button on the device to make sure he knew exactly what he had available to him.

Meanwhile:

"Boss, I've got something!"

"Let's hear it."

"I've picked up a wireless signal coming from inside the coordinate range you wanted me to scan. Do you think it's him?"

"Based on the location, I would have to say it is. Good work soldier!" A few seconds passed. "Send the fifth infantry battalion. They'll make short work of him."

Finishing his selection about five minutes into his session, five pokéballs appeared in front of Ash.

"Hopefully you guys can help me out," said Ash as he shut off the receiver. The battery was now completely drained, so he could not use it again to change his mind. Suddenly, there was a rumble behind him and a loud whirling sound above him. Peeking through the thick canopy formed by the trees, Ash made out a large helicopter passing overhead. Looking behind himself, he saw agents passing through the canopy, who had apparently made low altitude jumps from the helicopter. They landed a few hundred meters behind Ash's location. Picking up his pokéballs and attaching them to his belt, he shot up and made a mad dash in the opposite direction of the agents.

He heard shouts behind him, and he felt impact rounds rip the air past his face. Ash narrowly missed jumping over a root in the ground as he ran as fast as he could through the forest.

Ash had no idea where he was going, or how he would keep himself away from the agents long enough to get out of the Gallawain territory. He had no chance of finding his way back to Trance's house to pick up Pikachu, so he would have to wait until he could safely sneak back into the land after escaping before he could rescue him. First thing's first, however; he had to escape this situation with his life before he could conjure up further plans.

Knowing that this could very well be his final moments of life, Ash instinctively acted by grabbing one of the balls from his belt.

"Wheezing! I need a smokescreen for cover, get moving!" shouted Ash, throwing the pokéball from his grasp towards the pursing agents. To Ash's surprise, the agents held back nothing. They stopped pursuing, and held their position. One of them aimed some projectile weapon that, when fired, emitted a large amount of flak that easily covered Ash's throwing trajectory. The flak quickly struck the pokéball, causing it to explode in midair.

Nearly screaming in fright and panic, Ash whirled around and continued to dash in the direction he was heading before. Smiling, the agent with the flak rifle calmly shouldered the weapon and the team reformed and continued their pursuit.

These guys are merciless. They'll stop at nothing to exterminate me! Even if it means killing my pokémon! This is insane! Ash became incredibly regretful for summoning his pokémon. Although, considering the circumstances, he had least expected the immediate result. He had thrown away the life of one of his most trusted allies. This was something he never wanted to go through, especially now, when he could least afford the losses. He had already lost Pikachu through a series of unfortunate events, and had little chance at getting him back, and now he lost one of his more recent friends. Ash's morale began to sink.

Now he had only a little amount of time left before he was captured, as the agents were gaining on him quickly. He would be overcome in a matter of minutes if he did not do something fast. As luck would have it, he soon came upon a rock formation in the middle of the forest that looked nearly impassable. This formation was a wall that stretched in either direction for too long of a distance for Ash to run around if her were to escape. Fortunately, it was only a few meters tall, which meant that it would be an obstacle for the agents with all of that gear if he were able to climb over it. Ash made a jump to grab the top of the wall. He was able to grasp the top of part of the wall and pull himself up. Ash spied the agents coming up to his location. They were close enough at this point to easily pick him off with a handgun. To Ash's surprise, yet again, they did not seem intent on doing this.

Ash quickly ran in the other direction, and shortly came to the edge of the rock formation. It was an equal distance to jump down and continue. Hopefully he could find some means of escape as the agents made efforts to cross the wall. Ash jumped to the ground, tucked, and rolled to keep from breaking anything. Springing up, he dashed to the left, looking for a place to hide. Any medium-sized crevice would have done nicely. After a few more seconds of running, he spotted a narrow opening in the rocks. If he could make it there before the agents saw what he was up to, he could possibly evade them long enough to get another summon started.

Ash dashed for the crevice. He squeezed himself through the opening in the rocks as he saw the same agent jump down from the formation. The opening allowed him to move several meters into the rock formation. He was well hidden and did not expect that the agents would see his hiding place until they surveyed the area completely.

Soon, there was a thud on the ground further down the path, and then another one back in the direction from whence Ash came. In effect, he was surrounded, but hopefully not to any degree in which the ones surrounding him actually knew they were doing so. Ash could easily observe the rest of the agents form up and begin scouting the area. The leader began instructing the rest of the agents. "He's probably hiding somewhere around here. Check around the trees, and check for cracks in the rocks. We'll get him soon enough." The leader then muttered something into his radio, and the agents immediately spread out. One of the agents began heading in the direction of Ash's hiding place.

There was hardly anything he could do at this moment. Pretty much anything he did would surely result in his immediate death. There's got to be something! Ash frantically searched for something he could do, either as a distraction, or as an immediate means of escape. There was not much available, only cover from the rocks guaranteed his immediate survival, but it would not last for long, as the agent was fast approaching. Ash continued to stay as quiet as possible, but despite his uncomfortable position, he shuffled to shift his weight. Suddenly, the pursuing agent halted.

Great, I'll bet he spotted me.

The agent took two more steps forward.

No, he is just meticulously observing his surroundings… nothing to be afraid of…

He took a couple more steps.

He's not stopping! He's going to spot me!

Another step…

What the hell! I can't tell what he's doing!

One more step…

He's spotted me for sure by now! What am I doing sitting around!

It was as if Ash was too petrified to move. He wanted to, but he knew that he couldn't. Soon the agent was right outside the crevice. If he just turned his head to the left, he would be looking right at Ash. "Hmm," said the agent.

Wow, screw this. I have nothing left to lose. I'm flying out of here! Ash reached for a second pokéball on his belt. I have once chance at getting this right… Ash rolled the ball out of the crack. It rolled out towards where the agent was standing. It stopped right in front of his feet.

"What?" the agent jumped back in surprise as the ball burst open.

Right then, a gigantic bird emerged from the ball, throwing the nearby guard about ten meters back into a jumble. The bird was easily as tall as the rock formation itself. As the bird emerged, it seemed to immediately understand the situation, so it let out a magnificent scream unheard by any common bird. The effect that the sight and sound that this glorious bird had on the agents was as if Ash had thrown a flash grenade in place of one of his most trusted pokémon. The agents were taken aback, caught off guard; they were thrown to the ground because of the massive disruption that had occurred when Pidgeot had emerged from captivity.

"Go!" Ash immediately left his hiding place and jumped onto the back of Pidgeot.

"There he is! Don't let him get the best of you! Pursue him!"

By the time the agents got to their feet and attempted to stop Ash's escape, Ash had already taken off with Pidgeot. One of the agents fired stray bullets, but they were all futile shots, as they either missed, or failed to penetrate the resilient feathers of Pidgeot's wings.

Ash soared through the thick canopy on the back of Pidgeot. He left the agents in his wake.

"Awesome job, Pidgeot!" Ash cheered with relief that he may be able to get back home in one piece after all. "Oh, I'm sorry I haven't been around to let you out, I got a little caught up." Pidgeot let out a squawk that sounded as if it was accepting Ash's apology.

On top of this massive bird, Ash felt like he owned the world. Though it may seem obsessive, he had a good reason to feel this way. The wind was ripping past his face at tremendous speed, and after a few moments, he could see the farthest horizons. If he were to ride this bird and let it travel naturally, he could arrive home in a matter of minutes. The bird on which he rode typically could travel at speeds faster than sound, however, because of the stress that this would have on his body, he would be torn apart instantly. Ash was sure to have Pidgeot travel at a safe enough speed.

The only problem here was that there were now fighter aircraft on Pidgeot's tail that could easily travel faster than the speed of sound with no trouble. Aware of the aircraft that was now pursuing them, Ash instructed Pidgeot to act on its own instinct and attempt to outmaneuver the aircraft as best it could.

Fighting it would be useless! They would be sure to find some way to interrupt Pidgeot's attack before Pidgeot could prepare something while attempting to keep me on! I'm not risking his life too!

In a matter of seconds, there were three jet fighters and one helicopter in hot pursuit. Pidgeot, anticipating the missiles that were suddenly heading straight for them, rolled to the side and made a hard right, flying perpendicular to the original flight path. Unexpectedly, the missiles mocked Pidgeot's maneuver and adapted. They were back on track.

"Pidgeot, can you dive into the canopy?" shouted Ash in panic. The missiles were flying at least twice as fast as Ash and Pidgeot, so they had little time to react. Pidgeot responded affirmatively, and made a valiant dive. Soon they were flying under the cover of the trees. Ash could see a massive explosion emanate far behind them. They're not going to try that again! They'll have more than a forest fire to deal with if they do! Feeling it was safe to emerge from the forest, Pidgeot made a sharp maneuver, and they were back above the trees once more. The pursuers had not lost sight of Ash and Pidgeot.

Suddenly, two of the jets accelerated at such a speed that they passed Ash and Pidgeot in no time at all. When the two jet fighters were about three kilometers ahead of Ash and Pidgeot, the jets made a quick loop around and headed straight for them. Both fighters emitted some kind of laser beam that narrowly missed them had Pidgeot not avoided them. The jet fighters zoomed past Ash and Pidgeot, who were now flying at such a speed that Ash thought his face would rip off.

"You can't hit this!" Ash taunted. He reminded Pidgeot that he could not handle the speed at which they were flying, and it immediately slowed down to a safer speed. The pilots of the jets seemed to hear what Ash had said and then seen what he had done. They immediately formed up and surrounded Ash from three sides. Catching a glance of one of the cockpits, Ash saw the pilot flick him off. The pilot then flew ahead of him and kept a steady lead. The other two fighters formed a triangular shape around Ash and Pidgeot. Pidgeot let out a cry of frustration.

Immediately following the formation, two more fighters came out of nowhere and surrounded Ash on the left and right.

"What are they doing?" shouted Ash. Pidgeot squawked something back at him. Pidgeot was about to make a maneuver where it would reverse direction by flipping backward, but as it was about to do this, all five jet fighters focused a unified beam, similar to what he had seen before, in Ash and Pidgeot's general direction. The beam, coming from five different directions, had not missed its target. It interrupted Pidgeot's maneuver, and before Ash knew it, the gigantic bird on which he rode had completely vaporized in a flurry of colorful, explosive light.

In extreme panic, Ash began to fall back towards the ground. He hit the canopy hard. It broke his fall, but he still fell at incredible speed. It was not long before Ash hit the ground. Ash made every attempt to make the fall as harmless as possible, but was not successful. He hit the ground and bounced once, twice, three times before his entire body slid into a large tree.

The impact had not killed Ash, but he was badly scraped, bruised, and cut all over his body. His clothes were torn to shreds, and he lost half of what he was carrying from the fall. Whatever electronic devices that he had left, including his remaining pokéballs, were completely destroyed. He could not move from the pain, and could barely open his eyes. He felt he was going to go blind from the damage done to his face.

It wasn't ten minutes before five or six infantry units surrounded Ash and had their assault rifles pointed at his head.

"Don't move! Whatever you do! Do not move!" said one of the infantry.

"You dipshit! He couldn't move if he had a choice!" said another.

"Daaaamn! Kid, you pulled some impressive stuff back there! But just keep in mind, you were owned by Gallaway's fifth infantry battalion!" said the first one.

"Man, shut up Joe! I think he's well aware!"

"Cut the chatter, men!" said a further off voice. Ash could hear rough footsteps approach his position. Struggling to open his eyes, he could see a rugged man who was apparently higher rank than the rest of them. He was tall, bald, and incredibly bold looking. He pushed one of the infantry aside and stepped over Ash, who looked extremely pathetic, lying on the ground as he was. The officer, who had a cigarette in his mouth, took it and flicked it aside as if incredibly irritated.

"Another kid? What the hell is this?" He leaned over and took a closer look at Ash. "You certainly look like one of them. You're the third one this month. I'm beginning to think the boss was right, we are being spied on… pathetic… is this the best that the UNG can send in? I almost feel insulted."

Ash struggled to respond. "You… bastard… you killed…"

The officer just looked at him in disgust. He stood back up and turned his back to Ash. "Take him in. We'll get him to tell us what the government is up to…" He withdrew a radio from his belt clip. "He's alive, boss, and I'm sending him in."

One of the infantry lifted Ash off the ground by what remained of his shirt. Ash felt something hit him hard on the back of his head. All was dark.