Locked Away, Chapter 38
Dying her hair was worth it after all. When they left the gym, they walked within the crowd mostly unnoticed; a few people recognized Brock, but didn't associate Ash and Misty's presence with the great, stoic gym leader.
Being ignored was a new sensation for Misty. She had change her style of clothing, her hair; but for the first time in many years, she was completely overlooked. Her baggy shirt did nothing to please her figure, and while she wasn't going to complain—she didn't know how effective her plan would be. She was surprised at the results.
Neither did Ash. If someone asked him, he thought they looked related. The black of her hair contrasted all of her natural features. While he thought that she looked odd, most likely, other people viewed Misty was the cool, albino relative who rocked a pair of dark shades, and Ash was the tan, awkward cousin that followed behind. Pikachu was unfortunately stuffed in Ash's backpack since the pokemon refused to enter his pokeball, and togepi was tucked gently into Misty's. Since people were looking for a trainer with dark hair, red hat, and a pikachu—it was important not to have any redeeming qualities. Plus, Ash's bruised face was proving to be a distraction—people saw his bruises, and then looked away pathetically. Did they think he was scary? Or did they feel bad for him? The looks all bled together after awhile, so Ash decided to focus on reaching the train, rather than observing his surroundings.
To be safe, Brock stayed a few steps behind the both of them on his way to the train station—just in case they were recognized, Brock would not be immediately associated with them. Therefore, he could cause a distraction so that the duo could flee.
After their walk, consisting of several updates—listening to the television, radio and citizens of Pewter City gossip about Ash Ketchum, and the new Elite Four member, they finally entered through the metal station doors. Each member was quick to slip their tickets to Saffron City into the ticket booth, and found their way into the train with Brock following last.
After searching for a moderately secluded area of the train, Ash and Misty slipped open the door to a small seating area and then they removed their pokemon from their containment, then stuffed their bags into the overhead compartment, and took seats opposite of one another. To keep up the social front they were sporting, Brock asked if he could sit in with Ash and Misty, and then shut the door upon entry.
Once they were all seated, and the train pulled into a slow locomotion, they each exhaled in relief, one at a time.
"That was nerve wracking." Misty chided, "but it went well, didn't it?" She pulled the window blinds down for privacy.
Brock sunk in his chair and nodded his agreement and for a long time, they all sat in silence. Exhaustion from sleeping on the road the night prior, and the lack of actual rest since then worked through each of their bodies as they drifted into a peaceful sleep.
XOXs
The trainers woke ten minutes out of Celadon City, when the speakers in the train announced that they would be passing through. Misty groaned the loudest, using her arms as pillows while her legs were curled up on the seat. Brock and Ash were crammed, each hugging the opposite wall of the train compartment. Groggily, Ash was the first to adjust himself forward to sit for the remainder of the trip, followed shortly by Brock.
Misty wouldn't move though; togepi and pikachu had clearly decided she was more comfortable to sleep with than either Ash or Brock, and so both were curled at the bend of her hips.
"Misty, get up." Brock groaned, rubbing his eyes.
Ash felt his eyebrows twitch in uncertainty, sometimes the former redhead had a plethora of reactions upon first waking up, but this time, she merely stretched and grabbed her forehead when she sat forward, nearly knocking togepi and pikachu onto the floor.
"I'm exhausted." She muttered, and a silent agreement was passed between them while Ash was otherwise calm and collected. His eyes were fixed on Misty when she blinked open her tired eyes, the greens seemed brighter than normal because of her dark hair, and his breath escaped him.
Perhaps it was the sleep-deprivation speaking when he said, "You look strange."
"Is that a bad thing?" She snapped unhappily, "I'm supposed to look different, Ash. That's the point." She growled. In his defense, Ash put up his arms.
"It's not a bad thing, it's just different, you know?" Her face still darkened, and he swallowed hard, stammering: "I mean, it looks nice-it brings out your... eyes?"
Brock raised his eyebrows with pursed lips, then smacked Ash on the shoulder.
"I think what Ash is trying to say is the new color really compliments your features," Brock grinned devilishly, wiggling an eyebrow at Misty whose pale features took on an unearthly glow of red while he thumbed his growing beard. "And, well, at least now we know what your kids will look like."
WHAM.
Brock fell backwards in his seat, gripping his chest when Misty threw her folded sunglasses at him. They landed with a whip, and he gasped, rubbing his chest in return. Beside him, Ash withered into the seat, covering his beet red face with his hands and leaning his elbows onto his knees for support.
"Don't be disturbing, Brock." Misty hissed in a vile, embarrassed, tone before stumbling to her feet. "I need to use the washroom." She grunted, which was a nice way of saying she needed space to breath, before excusing herself and shutting the thin door behind her.
Chuckling, Brock nudged Ash with a grin. "I was only joking, man. Relax." He said while Ash groaned in response and looked begrudgingly up at Brock.
"Why would you say something like that?"
"You two have the best reactions—last time I had hot tea splashed on me." Brock murmured honestly, sharing an unimpressed look with Ash's twisted one.
"...I..don't understand?" Ash questioned, feigning possible innocence—though parts of him understood the chagrin and Misty's reaction. Had the compliment been directed at him, Ash might have panicked himself; however, as he was adapting to this world, his emotions, and thoughts; explosive bouts of emotion were becoming more trivial. Trying to keep a straight face, Ash forcefully looked away and crossed one leg over the other.
"We have other things to worry about, anyways!" Ash tried, but Brock shrugged, and looked at his imaginary watch.
"Not for...another hour, at least" He paused then struck a knowing pose. "You could allow me, Brock, the relationship guru to give you some advice." He raised a quizzical eyebrow, elbowing an uncomfortable Ash who wished for Misty to come back already. Brock wouldn't be so openly teasing him, otherwise.
"Someone has talked with you about this stuff after you woke up from your coma, right? I mean you're what, almost twenty one now? You should know stuff about women, don't you? I mean," Brock paused, keeping his snickers low. "It's totally normal to be attracted too-" his voice was mostly teasing, but the burn over Ash's cheeks in return was not. His cheeks, down to his neck was bright red when he bolted form his seat, dropping togepi who had barely crawled into his lap. Agile as togepi was, it bounced from Ash, hopped from the floor as if it was floating, and then back onto the seat where Misty start prior.
It huffed, glaring at his trainer and grumbling to pikachu about Ash's antics.
"I'm going to go use the washroom." Ash declared in interruption. He escaped the situation the only way he knew how: he ran. Brock snorted, then laughed loudly.
"Okay! Don't bump into Misty on your way over!" He sneered gleefully, watching Ash fell through the door in a nervous shamble.
The very moment the door slipped closed behind Ash and his foot steps carried down the hallway of the train, Brock slipped his hand into his pocket, and removed the quarter sized microchip and placed it into the palm of his hand. The craftsmanship was impeccable, each wire was neatly tucked into the circuitry board and blended to create a monstrous technological disease over the world. Flipping the small object over, he scanned the small numbers at the corner; Pd-457, then above that the small engraving of 'Silph Co." inscribed above the numbers.
He stared for a long time at the chip, into the small, gray mass; asking for answers. In respect to Misty and Ash, who had mixed feelings about the chip; he never examined it in their presence, Brock was an extraordinary pokemon breeder, and an even better pokemon trainer—but technology had never been his strong suit.
Footsteps fell in the corridor behind him, and swung open the door revealing an antsy dark-haired Misty as she veered back into her seat, holding three bottles of water, and a small bag of peanuts in one hand.
"Hey, what are you doing?" She asked suddenly, causing Brock to nearly drop the chip. He tucked it away quickly when Misty shuffled one knee over the other, watching him.
He didn't reply at first, having felt a bit silly for staring at the small microchip.
"I was trying to see if there was anything else on the chip that we needed to know... you know, maybe something we missed?" Brock expressed politely, keeping his hands on his lap. Misty extended a bottle forward for him to grab, shrugging gently.
"What more can it tell us? It's just a stupid chip."
"Yeah..." Brock hummed, cracking open his water. "but why? What purpose could it serve to use these again? And to leave just one? It seems kind of..." He trailed off, gathering his thoughts while Misty leaned her head back, pressing the top of her head against the rattling metal wall behind her seat.
"They slipped up." Misty deduced, closing her eyes once more. Brock sighed, that was the logical explanation, but he couldn't help but feel a little pessimistic about the whole ordeal. It seemed almost too easy—aside from the mishaps following them after the discovery, simply finding the chip was...
"Hey, where did Ash go?" Misty wondered aloud, sitting forward to glance at the door while pikachu climbed into the overhead compartment to dig in Ash's bag for some pokemon food. Brock shrugged gently, then with Misty's silent approval, returned to his observation of the chip.
XOXs
Fleeing might not have been Ash's best course of action, but he wasn't sure what else to do at the time—plus, he was really hungry. He spotted Misty on her way back from speaking with the stewardess, but veered away to the farthest part of the train's compartment until he reached the bathrooms at the end of the hall. Outside of the two separated bathrooms, was a small hatch, the emergency exit that Ash looked up and down carefully before rolling his shoulders, and stepping into the bathroom.
Once finished with his business, and killing enough time by shuffling his feet around the hallways, trying his best not to bother other passengers, he started the slow walk to the small store where Misty had been prior. Of course someone, namely Dr. Abby talked with him about his budding hormones, as she called it. More importantly, Ash understood that he had one some level an abnormal attraction to Misty; maybe a part of him wished that no one else noticed it as much as he?
Aloofly, Ash stuffed his hands into his pocket while he looked up and down the cart for snacks, and goodies—he was pretty hungry. Not just avoiding Misty, or his boiling emotions. A small part of him, as tiny as it might have been, understood that Brock was trying to make light of the situation in favor of the other conversations they could be having. Ash was a wanted felon, Misty was technically missing, and if Brock was ever caught with the two of them, he would be technically an accomplice—if teasing Ash relieved him, even for just a few moments, of those harrowing thoughts; Ash would take the abuse.
"Oh, hey—are you and that girl related?" The woman's high-pitched voice tore Ash from his thoughts when he looked over his shoulder at her.
"No. She's my friend." Ash explained with a dull tone while he grabbed what he wanted from the cart. The woman looked him over several times, eyebrows raised. Over time, her obvious gaze grind into Ash's nerves and he looked up at her.
"Can I help you?" He grunted through grit teeth.
A blush covered her cheeks, realizing that she had been caught staring. "Oh, no, I'm sorry. It's just you look really familiar!"
Ash cold sweat trickle down his neck. "Uhh.. yeah, I get that a lot." He said nervously, but when she tilted her head, he placed the snacks down and retreated quickly, silently, and most important—calmly. He couldn't have been sure but that 'ah-ha' moment seemed damning to him, it might have also been because a poster was hung on the bulletin board behind him that looked quite a bit like his face.
Unfortunately it was damning, as a few seconds passed before the sudden realization clicked in, and a panicked gasp followed behind him from the waitress. Yeah, it would be Ash's luck that food would be his downfall—what was he thinking walking around without a care in the world? He was wanted by the government, he shouldn't have been around anyone.
Ash rushed back to their compartment on the train as a speaker over the intercom announced to the passengers that they were requiring an emergency stop in Celadon City for repairs—but Ash knew better than 'emergency stop'. They were stopping because a wanted criminal was on the train. When he slipped open the door to their private compartment as calmly as humanly possible, he expressed a sigh simultaneously to Brock's exasperation that they had to stop in the city; though, his claims fell on deaf ears when Ash snatched his bag from the overhead compartment, then followed by dropping their bags onto the rest of them.
Before they could get a word in, Ash hustled them to their feet while trying to tuck the pokemon away into their bags.
"What are you doing?" Misty finally groaned, ripping her upper arm out of Ash's clutches. He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other with a panicked shrug.
"I blew our cover. The lady at the snack bar recognized my face."
Both Brock and Misty face-palmed at his claim.
"You blew our cover for snack cakes?" Misty groaned while pinching the bridge of her nose. Ash winced.
"I didn't think she would notice." Ash said. "I'm not used to being a wanted criminal, you know."
It was true, the chance to be recognized was fairly small—but given their recent track record, they shouldn't have been holding their breath for any good karma. They weren't careful enough.
"Well then, what are we doing? We need to get off this train." Brock ushered the two of them, tucking the chip away, ignoring the red bleep that surfaced on the wire between Silph Co and the identification tag when Ash was present.
"How are we going to get off of a moving train though? We can't exactly free fall into the forest, and we can't exit normally at the terminal—people will recognize three trainers obviously fleeing the scene; besides, police will probably be swarming the place by the time we stop!" Misty expressed in one breath, the pitch of her voice rising with each word.
"Do you always have to be so pessimistic?" Ash asked nervously, leaning forward to stare out the small window of their private compartment and inhaled. The trees below whipped backwards from the speed of the train, but as his eyes drifted from the window, to Misty who was carrying a confused togepi, Ash's lips curled into a daring smile.
"Besides, I have an idea."
XOXs
Naturally, anything involving Ash had to be dangerous. These were the thoughts Misty was slowly coming to terms with. There was never a simple solution to any of their problems anymore. What was worse, Ash was dragging them all down with him in a fiery blaze of glory.
When Misty pressed her nose against the window of the door labeled clearly 'emergency exit, proceed with caution' and a mixture of instructions she groaned at the view that faced her. The tracks leading into Celadon city were raised on a platform a little over ten feet, the train was easily slowing down from ninety-five miles per hour; even if the height wouldn't kill them the trajectory and velocity upon exit would.
"I'm not doing this." Misty complained, backing away from the door and steeling her gaze at Brock and Ash, who were already preparing for the inevitable jump.
"C'mon Misty." Ash cheered her on, nudging her shoulder. "It's safe. We have a plan—we'll be fine."
"Ash, your plan consists of jumping out of a moving train, into the thick of the route sixteen forest." She hissed, then gestured to Brock. "Brock, please tell me you think this is crazy!"
He gave a subtle shrug. "It beats the alternative. Like you said, if we wait to get off at the train station, the police will probably already be there, and they won't let anyone leave without ID'ing them first. A change in hair is nice, Misty, but if they ask for your license, your information, and Ash's information is already there."
For a long time, she stared at him in disbelief, followed by the flattening of her lips when she looked at Ash once more. "You're crazy." She accused, and Ash rolled his eyes.
"You're just realizing this?"
"This isn't a dream world, Ash."
"We get it, death approaches those who jump ten feet out of a moving train—but do you want to stay on the train and get caught by the police? We may have, for the first time in our lives, the perfect opportunity to stop the evil that's been happening in the world." Brock interrupted her, tying the makeshift rope they were sharing to stay together around her waist. "We have a better chance of surviving in a thick forest than we do jumping on the concrete closer to Celadon City; so, Misty, get ready." Brock demanded and Ash had to hold his applause.
Misty still didn't like the idea, but she didn't fight them on it, either.
"Togepi knows safeguard, when we get close enough to the ground; togepi can use that to break our fall at the tree line. We just need to get far enough out of the train as a single unit to avoid the pull back. Mist. Don't worry."
As they fell into line at the door, only inches apart with Ash leading, Misty in the center and Brock at the end, Misty inhaled very slowly while Brock and Ash both exhaled. The moment the emergency door flew open, it was suctioned clean off the hinges, falling quickly to the forest. Alarms bellowed loudly through the train, and Misty wanted to cover her ears, but instead she latched onto Ash's shoulders like a wet cat and forgot to breath. Behind her, Brock grabbed her shoulders. Technically, when the gust of the violent wind hit them, they had a few minutes to reconsider their options—but Ash, holding togepi like a football with one hand, brushed Misty's hand confidently, and leaped in perfect unison with Brock. They had to break the wind barrier, and to do so, they had to jump as one person, not three separate entities.
When the gust of wind didn't immediately whip them back into the metal train, and they were propelled forward, Misty screamed. Brock screamed. Ash grinned.
When the wind whipped at the sides of his face, he recalled the times he had been so daring in his dream world; this was no different, the consequences were higher, but the actions were the same. Carefully, Ash fought the dizziness in his head from the sudden pressure change, and prepared himself. Togepi knew the risk; the pokemon was as brave as Ash, sharing his kinder nature; but also his adventurous tendencies.
It wasn't the worst situation; they were only ten feet up, and once they had time to really slow down during the fall, the movement of the train wasn't going to matter—what mattered was everyone jumping at the same time to avoid the seconds delay that typically resulted in someone getting thrown back onto the train, or worse. Even if togepi messed up, the worst would be a few broken bones, right? They could break their fall on the trees, on each other, really, whatever hit first.
You won't mess up. Ash told the egg confidently before they jumped, and even now that his confidence was being tested, Ash felt his heart bolt alive as he released the pokemon from his grasp, and shouted for him to activate safeguard.
A mixture of blue lights blended with dark shades of green of the forest. The wind died with the rush of the moving train above them as a blue, spherical orb, solid as a shield spread around their screams and cut out the rest of the noise. Before the branches and limbs of trees came with a sudden crack; less the confrontation of the forest floor.
Regardless, while safeguard softened the blow, it did nothing to ease the crack of their bodies when they fell against the brush of the trees, and onto the damp forest floor before. The homemade rope they shared snapped with the first contact to a tree which caused safeguard to shatter, and they fell to the ground with individual shouts and heavy thuds.
As the train barreled past them at high speeds, soon the loud rattling left behind an eerie silence that small, beady eyes looked into.
"Toogeebrii?" The egg called to its trainers and to pikachu who was tucked carefully into Ash's back pack before jumping. Togepi knew that he successfully managed safe guard to break the majority of the damage, but that didn't prevent the trainers from the fall. Digging its small toes into the ground, it chirped for them once more, and started to shuffle forward when a pale hand shot upward behind a line of shrubs.
"Over here." Misty's hoarse voice wheezed while she moved to sit up. Her face was lined in dirt, and her shirt was torn lightly—but aside from mud, and leaves in her hair; she was okay. Green eyes poked across the forest floor as she pushed herself to her knees, then thudded her way to togepi and snatched the egg up.
"Good job, togepi." She gushed into the egg with a loud, accepting sigh and nuzzle.
"Ash, Brock!?" She called quickly after, trying to wipe some of the dirt from her face.
When no one bur the sound of distant crickets replied, she pressed togepi onto her shoulders to free her hands, and began her search. Above her, she could see where they broke the upper-lining off the trees with togepi's safeguard, followed by their bodies falling an easy five-feet the rest of the way down. Nothing that could kill any of them.
"Misty?" Ash's voice cracked left of Misty as she stopped to listen. Forests were like halls of mirrors at the circus, voices echoed from all sides, as reflections appeared from all angles.
"Is Brock with you?" Misty shouted, in return, she heard Ash grunt.
"Yeah."
"Is he hurt?" Misty asked calmly, trying to pinpoint his location with the help of togepi.
"I don't think so."
"Is he conscious?"
A pause, "...no." Ash managed calmly, and Misty's body sprang to life with adrenaline. She rocketed from her droopy composure, and stomped her way to where she believed Ash was. He was past a small set of broken tree branches, and smashed shrub from when their bodies went over the hedge.
Misty crawled through the damaged greens to fall on her knees in front of Ash, who was sitting up with his knees to his chest, pikachu at his side, and hand against his forehead.
"Are you alright?" She gasped, glancing over Brock, who appeared to have no damage either, but was unconscious. "What happened?" She asked nervously, checking for an injury when Ash grabbed her hand and pointed at his forehead, which was bright red. The bruise over his eye had busted and was leaking a small line of blood when Ash snorted.
"We landed fine. It was after that hurt." Ash rubbed his scalp. "I think I knocked him out with my forehead."
Misty pressed her palm against her face sourly, and breathed a loud, heavy sigh. "Are you joking?"
"No, unfortunately." Ash laughed while she exhaled carefully.
"How did you manage that?"
"Well, your rope broke, Brock landed first, and I fell on top of him. Our heads sort of just...smacked. Like one of those hammer toys at the arcade."
"Oh, Ash." Misty huffed, shaking her head. "You're the only person I know whose head is hard enough to knock someone else out." She grunted as togepi sprung from her arms, and into Ash's.
He grinned down at the pokemon, "See, I told you that you could do it." He managed confidently while Misty stood, trying to remove some of the mud from her knees and clothes.
"We should get going."
"Brock is out cold." Ash groaned. "And my head is killing me."
"Well, it should be." Misty huffed, "But after that, they're going to be looking for us. The underground pass isn't far from here, we can carry Brock until he wakes up, and then we'll try to take it easy from there." She nudged Ash on the thigh with the toe of her shoes before swooping down to collect one of Brock's arms over her shoulder.
"You probably gave him a concussion." She scolded aloud while Ash watched her.
"I did not." Ash argued, but complied to her demands. For many reasons, he admired her determination and justifiable actions; however, he was not in favor of carrying Brock—but, since she asked so nicely, he would comply.
At least they had a few hours of a normal train ride.
XOXs
"The best thing about escaping in such a way, is that we can likely shake off their trail if they were following us." Misty managed once Brock and Ash were groggily lagging behind her. Just at the crown of Brock's head, a bump rose from where Ash hit him previously, and Ash's forehead had started to bruise beneath his matted, dark hair. Only Misty seemed unscathed from the fall. With togepi beaming at her heels, they moved sluggishly through the forest, with their heads held high.
"Man, Ash, I think I have a concussion." Brock groaned, watching the ground around Misty and Ash's feet sink with each step.
"You don't have a concussion." Ash argued quietly, feeling guilt.
"See, I told you jumping from a moving train was a terrible idea." Misty managed while pursing her lips knowingly at the men behind her. When she turned away once more, Ash childishly stuck his tongue out at her.
"We survived, didn't we?" he said in a sing-song tone of voice while jogging beside her.
"And now, we get to spend time in the forest, away from the craziness of civilization!" He added happily though Misty could only snort, with a carefully placed eye roll.
"Yeah, the deep, dark forest of route sixteen is where I love to spend my evenings, don't you Brock? With all the poisonous and dangerous pokemon." Sarcasm lathered heavily over her words, earning a sharp chuckle from Brock.
"Oh yes, my favorite part of traveling is never knowing what horrible fate may be around the next corner." Brock added in a mock tone.
Ash felt his shoulders fall, grumbling under his breath that they never complained so much in his dreams. Eyes darting away from the duo, pikachu pawed his head, and whispered into his ear. Snapping his fingers, Ash reached around the back of himself, and grabbed chimchar's pokeball, before summoning the pokemon once more.
"Hey, buddy! Looks like we're going to need your light once more!" Ash said cheerfully, earning a clap from Misty.
"Yay, now we can see the deadly pokemon when they attack us." She cheered in a mock tone that earned her a playful shrug by Ash who moved ahead while she totted behind with Brock, snickering.
XOXs
The decision to take the underground passage to Saffron City was made hours ago when they decided the shorter-route was safer. That way, they could beat the Elite Four, or the news reporters to Saffron City; if they traveled all night, against the ache in their body, they would arrive sometime after 1:00am, which would give them just enough time to sleep off their exhaustion, and then wake up early to examine Silph Co.
Over the tree branches, Ash could see the looming Saffron City tower. The cities were so close, that a bike route was created years ago for trainers in a hurry, but the route was rarely used since the introduction of the train system. However, since Ash was last spotted on the train, they would likely spend at least a few hours checking passengers, which gave them some time to breath. They could have taken the bike route, but that would likely be the next place they would search, so instead; they decided the dark, scary tunnel was safer.
Ash shuddered, watching as Misty walked head-first into the darkness, save for chimchar's light, and kept one hand to the wall. The woman complained about jumping from trains, and was terrified of bugs, but she didn't think twice about entering a small, dark cave. Perhaps Ash was the one most afraid of what awaited them in the tunnel. Since the nature of his waking up consisted mostly of wandering in darkness, he felt a chill take hold of his heart, long before his mind caught up. He choked on his words when he pressed closer to chimchar for the light the pokemon emitted, then nervously started to ramble on about the adventures they used to have; just to pass the time. Pikachu and chimchar made commentary that only Ash could understand time to time, but the majority of his mindless stories occupied the fear, and replaced it with excitement,
Before long, they reached the half-way point. Their feet were sore, their minds were tired, and now, a few hours after jumping from the train, they could each clearly indicate that the initial pain was masked by adrenaline. While Brock complained mostly that his head hurt at first, he had taken to talking about his tailbone and shoulders for the remainder of the time. Misty tossed a comment every once in awhile that she 'felt Brock's pain', but Ash kept mostly to himself.
Sure, he was in pain—but it was far from the worst pain he had ever been in before.
When Brock wasn't mentioning the aches in his bone, he fondly told stories of the old days when the underground passage was littered with trainers trying to catch rock pokemon—but over time, the tunnel became like most things in Kanto, unused and empty. Old paths that were created by previous trainers were long untraveled and most likely unsafe, so they kept to the main path, in hopes to avoid a cave in. Ash and pikachu told tales as well; they spoke of his travels, the differences he found; how odd it was to discover for the first time that the world didn't run on pokemon power, and actually had electricity powered through engines and solar energy.
More importantly, he talked about the legendary pokemon. About each event with them—how he was somehow always 'chosen' to be the hero of this epic story—how he at one point dreamed of having 'aura powers' to help him connect with pokemon and the world. Saying it out loud, he knew how crazy he sounded, but Brock and Misty didn't tease him.
Well, they did.
A little.
"The chosen one, huh?" Misty snorted, trying to contain her laughter. Ash shot her a nasty glare and returned his focus on chimchar.
"Yeah, the chosen one! Maybe I had a little bit of an inferiority complex. I wanted to feel special. I don't know." Ash barked back, folding his arms. Brock was a bit gentler with his response.
"How's it feel to be in the real world as a normal person? Seems like you've lost a lot of the magic that came with your dreams."
Mentally, Ash stumbled at the comment, thinking of his time in his dream; the bright wonderland of beauty and magic and then shrugged in minor defeat.
"I don't think about it too much, at least, not anymore." He clarified. "After being awake for so long, they definitely feel more like a dream now." Sadly, Ash laughed in spite of himself. "Even I cringe at some of the things that I thought were normal." he added, kicking his foot into the dirt to create a small dust cloud. Misty grimaced at his sad tone and nudged him gently.
"For a normal person, you're still pretty special." She hummed quietly, settling the discomfort in his stomach until he wedged an eyebrow at her.
"I was waiting for the punchline when you insult me." Ash joked, much to her chagrin.
"Oh, c'mon." She groaned and rolled her eyes. "I mean it. You're not the chosen one" her voice mocked his in a low tone before she continued, "but you're still making a difference, so maybe that's all that matters."
Brock smack his lips, and smiled happily at the two of them. "Aww, she is nice sometimes."
Ash held up his hands for emphasis. "It's behind layers."
"Shut up!" Misty shrieked in her defense, shoving them both playfully. Her voice echoed down the tunnel, which was replaced quickly by their laughter. The best part of traveling as a group, is they didn't have to focus only on the terrible thoughts in their mind—how bad this would get before it got better, instead they were able to talk, pretend, joke: laugh.
It was a wonderful thing.
By the time they could see the exit of the cave at the end of the long tunnel, the sounds of the occasional water drip, the shuffle of their feet against cold dirt, and the occasional pokemon chatter became normal. Even the sleeping pokemon that were left undisturbed by their presence remained solely on their perch, leaving the trainers alone. After a long silence, focused primarily on pushing one foot forward, Brock finally spoke, cutting through the tense night air.
"I think I've figured out why they're so desperate to catch us." Brock said, thumbing the chip in his pocket to remind him of their predicament. "They know we have this thing, and if we can connect it to the league, we've won half the battle. They're pulling out all the tricks to stop us."
Misty nodded her agreement, though she and Ash had already made the mental observation hours ago, neither felt brave enough to voice it. "I think so, as well. There's no way the league could cover up for it, either. I wonder if the Elite Four knows, though?"
"They must." Ash grunted. "Otherwise, why would they be so determined to make false accusations?" Given his exhaustion, his real feelings of the subject rose from his voice; absolute frustration.
Misty nodded silently, but didn't know how to respond. After years of seeing the Elite Four look down on people, she sincerely doubted it was because they were concerned about her. They knew that the three of them were onto something big, and they wanted to stop them from talking without using violence, though, Misty wondered how long it would be until violence was the only answer.
In the past, they never had an issue with making people disappear before—like they did to Brock's dad. Misty felt a cold chill run down her spine and calmly reminded herself that they only had to get to Saffron City before the news reports or the Elite Four knew they were going there, and they would be safe. However, Ash knew that it wasn't going to be so easy—he almost wanted to bet that Silph Co. was already under heavy watch, and they were walking into a trap. Still, he tried to stay optimistic. After all, they had to try something.
As they neared the exit of the passage, staring into the darkness of the opposite forest that was aglow with the reflection of city lights on trees, a distant rumble hummed behind them. Slowly, each trainer stopped, turned, then stared; against their better judgment.
"What was that...?" Brock questioned as a louder, more aggressive rumble formed at his ears.
"That almost sounds like...someone is digging? Maybe tunneling?" Misty muttered aloud, though Ash was the optimist, Misty was the pessimist.
"Maybe it's a pokemon?" Ash offered, but Misty scowled.
"Or maybe they finally caught on." She offered, and like clock work, men cloaked in dark robes, with small, red insignia on the shoulder funneled inside from the exit of the cave, as well as from the darkness behind them. Clutched between their gloved hands were a weapon of some sort—a gun, maybe. Misty couldn't tell with only the faint light of chimchar's tail.
"What do you want?" Ash asked blindly as their weapons rose, then seconds later, nets expanded in all direction.
Ash threw up his arm quickly. "Chimchar use flame thrower!" the pokemon reacted with the innate training it had processed over the last few months by blowing towards the exit a righteous fire that burned the nets in a fraction of a second. However, that was only one of many that sprang forward.
One of which, wrapped deathly around chimchar, followed by nabbing Misty who was reaching for her own pokeball—then Brock, until Ash was standing with pikachu and togepi and they both tumbled forward
"Pikachu use thunderbolt, togepi, use safe guard!"
Both pokemon rose, but only pikachu successfully delivered the attack, togepi, who hadn't much rest since earlier, sputtered out, and fell to the ground with an unaccomplished thud. Ash chose to ignore the problem once pikachu's lightning brightened the entire tunnel; revealing at least twenty men, against the three of them.
"Ash-!" Brock and Misty yelped as the net that wrapped around them sprung to life in a full pull; chimchar was rushed quickly to the exit, thrashing against the net, while his friends were dragged back into the darkness, where light disappeared.
For Ash, another fate awaited him when he saw the lining of what he thought might have been a rifle, and his heart skipped.
Not today.
"Pikachu use thunder on them." He commanded, the very first time he ordered his pokemon to attack a living, breathing person—the thunder cracked quickly, since pikachu was already charged from his last attack, and it was released long before the bullet left the chamber.
Luckily, for him, a net didn't put Brock and Misty out of the came either, and moments following the deafening scream of electrocution, poliwrath, and ryhorn blew holes in the other defenses.
"Chimchar, get out of that net with scratch! Or ember!" Ash shouted, jumping backwards to grope for Brock and Misty on the floor, to remove the net that had wrapped around them; naturally, and thanks to Brock's insistence, Ash helped Misty first, who took front and center by grabbing togepi while Ash wrangled Brock from the net.
Seconds later, While Ash had successfully crippled the team at the entrance via electric shock—Misty took on the back with blind fury.
"Poliwrath, use hydro pump on the walls of the cave."
"Misty that'll-!" Brock started, but the pokemon already released the turret of water, that was followed quickly by the sound of crumbling rock—a cave in.
Misty was at Ash's side a moment later, grabbing him by his upper arm, followed by pulling Brock to his feet, who recalled ryhorn a moment too soon.
A bullet whizzed by Ash's head, followed by the quick release of two tyranitar whose shock waves kept the cave in line from falling. Ash exhaled when he turned back to see that while many of the grunts were fried—most of them had gotten back up again.
"Pikachu, again!" Ash yelled, and while the pokemon charged the attack, Misty focused on the two large pokemon with determination, and now they had to worry about being shot. Not incapacitated, shot. The lever clicked backwards, deafening to Ash who could hear nothing but the sound of the deadly rifle, and inhaled as he realized where the gun was aimed—not at him, but at his friendly, electric companion who was in the midst of charging an attack, and would never move in time.
Ash kicked to his feet, rushed forward against the unrest in his body, and landed with a loud bang following his tackle onto pikachu. The pokemon squealed, and while Ash waited for a long time to feel a sudden, sharp pain on his body—indication that the bullet fired went through him somewhere, when he opened his eyes; it was to the blinding light at the exit of the cave, which was followed by a fire so intense, Ash had to cover his eyes.
A terrifying roar, mixed with the yowl of an injured animal echoed from every corner of the cave that followed the sudden movement of a very agile, and very aggressive monferno ripping through the men at the exit. In the midst of the chaos, Chimchar evolved—shed its old skin, and cracked a fire blast into the gunners face without a moment of hesitation. With reflexes of steel, it removed the several rifles from the incapacitated, as well as the functioning members, and essentially beat the owner with the weapon when Ash got to his feet.
"Monferno!" He gasped, though the pokemon never turned to him. "Pikachu, help monferno clear the exit." Ash tossed pikachu forward, whipped around to grab at Misty and Brock who were in the middle of their own issues, and lunged them both backwards.
"We need to get out of here!" Ash yelped, indicating to the sound of the crumbling rocks that surrounded them once more. Brock followed Ash who made his way to the exit, but Misty staggered behind for a split second, and then whipped around aggressively, throwing another pokeball as she did.
"Gyarados, use hyper beam! Poliwrath, hydro pump!"
"Misty, stop!" Ash tried, but her mind was already made up; she wasn't going to leave them because if she did they would only follow them again. Whoever they were, they weren't friendly, and they had no intention of playing nice anymore. Neither would she.
When the combination of attacks landed against the opposing team, as well as their pokemon, the cave in was inevitable; luckily, Misty was quick on her feet, returning the two pokemon before rocks separated them, and they were out of the underground passage, sprinting to town. Even in the breaking of rocks and the loud shuffle of their feet, in the distance, they heard the sound of even more footfalls, and aggressive soldiers grunting into the night. Ash thought for the second time that day that the underground passage was a horrible idea after all.
"We need to get out of sight!" Ash yelped, slightly upset that he didn't have time to thank, or congratulation monferno before he returned the tired pokemon so the group could run effeciently.
"We need to get into town; they just tried to kill us!" Brock finally gasped, the moment catching up with him. "I'm not sure about you two, but dealing with the justice system sounds a lot more appealing now!"
"You think they will be any better!?" Misty gasped, hearing a warning shot go off over their heads as they broke into the thick of the forest rather than remaining on the path, less than a mile out of town.
"They're following us somehow! There's no way they could have known we took the underground passage! Someone knew" Ash muttered, though the matter of how they knew seemed rather unimportant as they rushed through branches in a sheer panic.
They were being chased, the clear indication of storming foot falls, occasional high-pitched screams, and the dark of the night were only small reminders; the most prominent reminder was how close Saffron City was, and yet so far. They would have to return to the path at some point to get into the city safely. Only, that didn't seem like such a bright idea anymore. Obviously, if they knew they were in the passage, there was no doubt in any of their minds that the rest of whatever was following them would be in the city as well.
The looming, dark reminder they chose to ignore dug deep into their hearts when they ran directly into the empty streets of the south west entrance to the city: No place was safe, and they knew the group was coming.
They huffed, and Ash cracked his neck, looking behind them.
"Where do we go from here?" Misty grunted, grasping Ash's shoulder for support as she glanced at Brock who scanned the area. Shops were clearly closed down, and while Ash distinctly remembered all of Saffron City booming with traffic at all times of the night, he understood clearly that this was a set up.
What were they going to do? Was an excellent question that optimism wasn't going to answer them for once. With worried eyes, he glanced at Misty, who's dark hair hid none of her emotions the way that her red hair did, then at Brock, who even when faced with terrible odds, was still looking for another way out.
Misty was mentally preparing herself to fight her way through when a familiar chuckle, the shrill, faint muffle of a long-lost memory erupted around them; followed by the earth shifting around them, and being dragged under, one at a time.
The sewer system.
None of them took the ladder down, instead, they landed with a crack against the dirty surroundings and a loud, breathy gasp as two figures manhandled the exhausted trio. At first, Ash feared the worst—they had finally been captured; their good deeds were lost now. The world would suffer, and they would have been nothing more than a small dot on an endless plan.
"Stop!" Misty screamed when Ash was thrashed by the larger figure up against the wall, with his large fist curled into Ash's shirt; his rattling head was met with sharp green eyes, and a blend of lavender hair. Standing behind his attacker was ruby red lips, and curled maroon hair; a female that had effectively tied Brock and Misty back to back, and handcuffed their arms as such.
First panic, then joy, and finally, when the man released Ash and dropped him beside Brock and Misty, fear crept in. Jessie and James, the image of Team Rocket in his mind since he was a child stared back at them with cold eyes.
Author's Note:
I re-wrote this chapter a few times, plus researched the accuracy of the jump from the train that may or may not have been heavily inspired by the jump from the movie Anastasia.
thank you all for your abundance of patience, support, and feedback. I hope that you will all continue to enjoy the story, and keep moving forward with me as we reach the end of this long journey, even if it takes a bit longer than I anticipated originally.
NINT