Locked Away, Chapter 47
Ash and his companions went at the first breath of dusk. The weather was considerably colder than it should have been on a midsummer morning in Sinnoh, so rather than light clothing to protect from heat exhaustion, they barreled up the mountain path wearing jackets that they borrowed from the trade store in the city below them. Their bodies moved slower through the winding rocks before them, but they stayed warm through adrenaline and exercise. The biting cold nipped at their faces, but their eyes were strained for the distant mountain top.
"You're sure you saw a light at the top of this mountain?" Jessie wheezed, coming up behind James who followed closely to Ash, with pikachu and meowth taking up the rear.
Togepi, who wasn't quite physically proportional to run up mountain slopes, clung to Ash in desperation from within the confinement of his large winter coat while Ash turned to reply.
"I'm sure! It was huge, like some kind of signal or something. Or, I don't know..." Ash stopped, looking ahead and clearing his throat. "Aliens..?" he finished, partially joking.
"Oh, wonderful, now we have aliens!" Jessie whined while James chuckled. Ash's brow crinkled.
Given the circumstances of the last few months, Ash wouldn't be surprised if there were aliens! They had legendaries and hostile take overs, what was one more. Besides, Ash was fairly certain this was a pokemon of great power, only, he wasn't sure which one, and he wasn't about to tell Jessie and James that. If Ash was supposed to be some kind of Legendary pokemon Guru, he wasn't going to let up that he couldn't remember everything exactly as it was in his dreams.
...Events and situations were foggy, sometimes—most of the time.
"Mmmeowth, mew!" The cat pokemon sprinted ahead, alerting them of his belief that this was indeed a pokemon, and Ash found the time to roll his eyes while they neared the peak of the hill.
The tip of the mountain, where Ash saw the blinding light was still easily miles away, days if they traveled by foot, weeks if the weather got too bad. With an uncertain amount of darkened trees through terrifying weather looming in the distance... Frankly, he wasn't exactly sure how they would get there without flying, and so Ash squealed into a complete stop, huffing and clinging to his knees.
"We can't." Ash uttered, pointing to the distant storm clouds, he wheezed while James and Jessie stopped as well, their boots kicking up more dust than Ash's athletic sneakers. The light was gone, meowth was still stumbling a head slowly before reeling to a stop and pikachu expressed his own concerns to Ash while crawling up his pants leg to reach his shoulder.
"It's too dangerous. There's miles to go and that storm looks like it could get bad, and I'm not sure about you guys, but hypothermia does exist here." Ash muttered, recalling his time in the cold ocean.
James posed by tucking his fist under his chin and crinkling his nose in thought. Had he been wearing something other than his bright red pajamas under his borrowed black coat, he might have looked serious.
"This is probably because of the legendaries being released so suddenly." James observed, flicking his sweaty hair back. "Nature is unbalanced so the weather is going crazy."
"Would explain why its so cold.." Jessie added sarcastically and hunched forward, holding her stomach.
Beneath their winter coats, the two of them still shivered—Ash didn't give them enough time to dress appropriately, but they had to hurry. Only, Ash didn't realize how far away the mountain top really was from their location. At the base of the mountain, a small town Ash faintly remembered from his first visit to Sinnoh, exhaled bitterly.
"Charizard might..." Ash cleared his throat, thinking of the pseudo dragon. "We won't get there by foot—at least not in the next week or so. And if it snows then..."
Jessie and James were oddly quiet while Ash elaborated. "You guys used to fly in a balloon or something, right? Do you think we could manufacture something like that?" careful to avoid the word steal, though Ash might have hinted at it.
"And where are we going to get parts for it?" Jessie snipped and Ash's face drew into a line.
"I don't know, you're team rocket, you always find something." Ash folded his arms thoughtfully. "I want to get up there today."
Behind Ash, Jessie and James looked at one another, while meowth approached Ash. The boy wasn't wrong, he had a good idea flying to the top of the mountain, and that's where they were heading anyways...
"How can we be sure you didn't just imagine the whole thing?" Jessie asked, apparently striking a nerve in the young man because he whipped around to face her, eyes narrowed angrily. Ash has not always been the most sane individual, but he knew what he saw this time.
"Listen, if the weather is getting bad...like with, well... You three wouldn't know what I'm talking about, but I've seen this before, and we need to find the solution now, today, not tomorrow. The situation is getting worse by the day, which means we have to work faster."
"Pikach-u!" The mouse echoed Ash's incentive.
"I want to go home and have a life outside of this coma-patient's nightmare at some point; I don't know, maybe enter a league or two." His tried to keep his chin up, to appear less cracked than he was as he spoke, but his gaze intensified. "So put your heads together, I know you two can make something, we're going into that town and we'll figure something out."
While speaking, Ash started back down the mountain hill, and James followed after quickly. Tugging on a pair of gloves, James, while he whined frequently about silly ideas, was never one to turn down orders, especially not ones he admired.
"And what are you going to do while Jessie and I commandeer—I mean build—something to get over there with?" James questioned and Ash looked up, over his shoulder to James and then back to pikachu.
"I'm going to get charizard back."
XOX
Maybe it was the connection Ash shared with his pokemon that ran deeper than dreams, and stronger than the pull of the universe, but the moment Ash needed charizard, the dragon awoke from beneath a tree behind Gary Oak's laboratory, the other pokemon—the healthy ones were positioned just outside the lab balcony.
Charizard wasn't familiar with most humans, outside of Ash and Misty—mostly Ash—he was barely fond of them. He did not like Gary, the man rubbed him the wrong way with his snide remarks and fascination with helping pokemon. Charizard didn't need help, his wing was damaged from the accident a few months ago, but he was...managing.
Sometimes, the wing was not so numb, and occasionally, he could get a few feet off the ground. Late at night while the other pokemon were sleeping beneath the tall Pallet Town trees, the fire pokemon would take to the field to practice, build strength into his sore muscles. Lately, where the harpoon shredded the webbing and tore cartilage hurt less, and the webbing seemed to be slowly healing itself. Charizard didn't have the natural healing ability of a real dragon, but his body was strong.
Huffing quietly to himself, the disgruntled pokemon rested his large head over the folds of his wings, and exhaled a puff of smoke while the men inside the laboratory talked.
After Ash left, men in black coats frequently visited to talk with the new professor, hassle his new pupils, and though charizard did not understand all human-speech, he knew enough to know that somewhere, Gary was being threatened. Charizard assumed Ash as the cause.
"Bulbasaur." the grass pokemon approached charizard, bringing his head up to face the small creature. "...Bulba, saur saur." it added in reference to Ash and charizard huffed, looking away from the lab, healing took time, bulbasaur would tell charizard as one of the most rational of the young man's pokemon, but being abandoned here after being Ash's number two pokemon for a few months felt horrible.
With a groan, charizard was about to express his inadequacy to bulbasaur regarding his flightless life and need to get better now. Charizard wanted to help Ash regain everything that they lost—avenge the death of wartortle, and stop Team Rocket. He did not want to be here, sitting in the grass, enjoying the gentle breeze and scents of apples.
Before the thoughts could form on his snout, the conversation inside of the laboratory escalated into screams, and naturally, charizard's wings expanded to protect the smaller pokemon, and rush forward with terrifying speed.
Max stopped him at the entrance, flinging his arms around; Sceptile bolting from the glass doors, leaving shards of glass along the balcony.
"Leave!" Max screamed. "Run, all of you!" he added, and charizard halted, but didn't understand.
Run from what?
He only saw the glimmer of the black-coated men inside, holding pokeballs and holding Gary by the collar while the two females tried to peel him off with no affect, but when the other members started into the meadow with the intention of... They carried tazers, and poke-nets; items charizard was too familiar with.
From the bellows of his stomach, coursing through every blood stream and nerve vibrating in his body upon seeing the men holding weapons with the malicious intent to hurt Ash's pokemon—his friends—charizard roared, causing them to flinch before a burst of fire poured from his mouth, knocking Max back into the meadow below, and giving the pokemon time to scatter.
It was supposed to be safe here, but wherever Ash was, whatever trouble he was getting into, it was amassing a growth far beyond natural levels.
"Take it down!"
"Charizard, run! We'll find you again, get out of here!" they sounded the same to charizard, but when Gary ran out of the door to warn charizard to leave, face bleeding from where his lip split open, the dragon himself saw red, and the injury crippling his wing at the fracture point shifted, cracked, and finally burst into a terrifying flame when charizard jerked into the sky, and blasted the ground once again, creating cover.
Bullets whizzed by him, tazers tried to cut through his dragon scales, but they landed in heaps against the grass while the situation slowly spiraled.
"Bayleef!" The grass pokemon shouted, razor-edge leaves flying to cut one of the wires still attached to charizard while it circled back around. Noivern, a quiet, and typically peaceful pokemon rocketed from the forest, hearing the commotion and shrieked cosmically, forcing the black-wearing men to their knees, holding their ears.
Unfortunately, that meant Ash's friends were doing the same, but it gave the pokemon time to flee—and so they did, as one, massive group into the forest. Bulbasaur rode on bayleef's back, talonflame, and noivern circled around below charizard, watching over the dragon, and the situation below as donaphan and totodile ran after bayleef. Once they were out of view, talon flame and charizard twisted among themselves, their fire and wings blending together before they flapped with their wings, and released a heavy gust of wind to knock any remaining humans into the walls of the laboratory, and then retreated into the forest after their friends and did not stop until the sun set in the distance.
Running away seemed so feeble, so weak—but what were they supposed to do without guidance?
When they arrived at a small pond hidden in a deep grove of the forest, the pokemon, while licking their wounds, huddled quietly together, protected by talonflames wings while charizard at at the edge of a small pond, pouting and in pain over his wing.
What were they going to do now? Ash was no where to be seen, and they ran away when the people watching them needed the most help. Did they make the right call? Would Ash have ran?
Of course Ash wouldn't have run away! Charizard perked up, his wings spreading once more in determination to return to the laboratory when from the bushes sceptile—Ash's sceptile that stayed with Max emerged from the trees, with a stick between his clamped jaws and arms crossed angrily.
He watched charizard, glaring into his eyes then to each pokemon after that. He didn't speak because he didn't have to. The laboratory wasn't safe anymore, and it was time for the pokemon to take action themselves.
"Bay, bay leef." The pokemon spoke, looking at totodile who nodded his head in return to the lady pokemon, then noivern and talonflame looked to one another, then to charizard who seemed disgruntled by their comments.
Ash found a lot of his pokemon—but Ash was still human, they could find each other easier than he could, especially now that they knew everything was real—but more important than that, they needed someplace safe to come back to.
They needed Ash.
Charizard whimpered, unlike the large, aggressive pokemon he was. They wanted him to go find Ash even though talonflame and noivern were equally as capable.
"Saur, bulbasaur." The pokemon added, knowing the connection that charizard and Ash had was far deeper than they would ever know.
He knew this because he felt it, he felt Ash call to him.
Taking a few, heavy steps backwards, charizard huffed in agreement while the remaining pokemon gathered together, and sent their deepest regards with a bow of their heads. Even hundred of miles away, they could feel the whole world shifting in power, and now was the time to act.
Without a second glance, charizard took off into the sky, a bit slower than usual, tilting side to side from his still injured wing, and glanced down only once he could see the lab in the distance. The fires he started were patted out, and the pokemon at the center of the forest prepared to move forward. They would hold down the fort. In the meantime, charizard was on his way to help Ash save the world.
XOX
Upon reaching the town at the foot of the mountain, Ash felt the temperature dropping rapidly. Shops were closing up early, and young trainers were being whisked into the local pokemon center. Jessie and James were against Ash going anywhere near a pokemon center, they had been for the entire week they traveled together, but their concerns didn't stop him from marching from the mountain pass, down the emptying streets, to the center.
After all, people were more concerned for the changing weather, than they were about some guy from Kanto walking around. Pikachu and togepi were concealed to make him look ten pounds heavier, regardless, so he was safe.
Skeptical themselves, Jessie, James and meowth hung back, outside of the center while relaxing innocently near a bench, and Ash took care of his business.
There had to be someway to transfer charizard's pokeball to where Ash was now, without getting caught by authorities. Gary could change the ball's tracers, or something. Ash wasn't entirely sure how it would work, but it never hurt to ask, and if anyone could get at least Ash to that damn mountain top tonight, it was charizard. By now, he should have healed, after all.
Ash was cautious when he entered the building, overly aware to blend in, he stayed out of view of the nurse, and nearest to trainers who were more concerned about the weather than they were about Ash. As he suspected, no one saw him enter, and no one saw him slide into a phone booth where he clicked several buttons, and dialed Gary's familiar number.
It rang once, then twice, and finally, Gary answered. No screen, just a voice.
"H-hello?" Barked Gary he sounded strained, drunk, maybe—choking?
"Hey, Gary. It's Ash, listen, I need to talk to you?"
"Who is this?" his reply came quickly, reigning confusion.
"...It's Ash?"
"I don't know any Ash. You have the wrong number." And with that, Gary ended the call by slamming the phone down on the receiver, and leaving Ash gawking at the hunk of metal in his had.
Confused, Ash tried again; Gary answered, heard it was Ash—accused him of being a 'creep' and hung up quickly. Awestruck, Ash blinked a few times. Was Gary avoiding him now, too? Did something happen to Gary?!
Filled with panic, Ash dialed the Cerulean City phone number, but then realized no one was there. It was empty. Misty moved out over a month ago now, the new gym leader, if they even had one, would have no idea where to place Ash's call except to the police. Calling her would only have adverse effects; no, Ash was just going to have to sort this out on his own. Ash let the phone down easy on the receiver and sighed. If only garchomp or goodra were here...
"...pika?" pikachu asked for him and togepi while Ash slumped in his chair, the two pokemon were quiet as a church mouse, but Ash looked down.
"Looks like we're on our own..."
Slipping from the booth, Ash glanced around the pokemon center, then maneuvered through the doors, and back outside again. He had no time to be depressed. Whatever shot off that bright light needed help. Jessie and James had taken to sitting together to read the local news paper, from far away, they looked like an old couple.
Jessie was leaned against James' arm naturally, with meowth seated on the back of the bench, around, but not invading while James held the span of the newspaper out wide enough for both him and Jessie to see. The two of them would probably never admit it, but they wore the same facial expressions while concentrated. Lips pursed, eyebrows raised, nose crinkled, and eyes narrowed. Even still, Ash felt like a failure, approaching them.
"...something must have happened in Kanto, screening Gary's calls or something—I don't know." Ash muttered, having heard the word in a movie once. "It's just us. Have you two had any ideas?"
When they peered up at him from behind the paper, the glimmering grins were his first answer.
"Take a look for yourself." James folded the paper to the place he was watching with keen eyes, and extended it out for Ash to look at with a tilted head. He could see his breath brush against the paper when his mouth fell open.
"We are not stealing a balloon." Ash hissed, glaring up at the two of them where they were now standing and dusting off their hands with shrugs.
"We're borrowing."
"With the intention of never returning it." said Ash in a whisper while Jessie and James both hooked their arms around his, and started to drag him forward with mewoth snickering behind them, walking up on two legs temporarily, then falling back down.
"Well, we could do this one insignificant evil to save Kanto, or, we could spend the next few weeks climbing the mountain, you pick?" When Jessie spoke, she knew that she had already won when Ash slumped against them, and let the two thieves drag him along with them against his will.
After all, they didn't really have a choice. People weren't offering jobs to fugitives these days.
XOX
Ash hadn't even adjusted to the time with Jessie and James when he was whisked into the direction of a warehouse left empty from the cold weather. A balloon fiesta was supposed to float through town, but when the storm clouds rolled in from the distance, plans changed, and balloons were stashed away.
Had the group stopped there, Ash might have had an clear conscious; but Jessie and James were ruthless. They robbed a convenience store while Ash stood at the corner as a look out. They grabbed supplies for the road, filled up two bags, and did so without leaving a trace. Their next hit was the bargain shop—a place where clothes were sold cheap enough that they could have afforded it if they really needed to.
The group took a set of black clothing for the road, with leg warmers to wear under their jeans, and snow boots. They looked like criminals after they were dressed—all in black. With Ash's hair, he could have been passed off as a ninja, con artist, hit man. His dark skin tone matched the all-black attire, and he wondered about dying his own hair a different color—though, it was a step up from lime green shorts.
Standing at the outside of the warehouse, he played watchdog once again, arms folded while he paced back and forth to watch the front door and the back door. Plus, to keep the adrenaline pumping. If he stopped, he could start thinking again, and convince himself to leave. He was stealing now, helping criminals. Ash was now a criminal, or at least in affiliation. If he was ever found out, he might not ever get his name cleared in Kanto!
"Alright, we're in!" James chirped quietly while he threw open the window for Ash to climb through. He extended his hand for Ash to grab, and together they climbed through the pencil sized warehouse window, and crashed onto the floor below. Beside them, Jessie and meowth already started on airing the balloon up, while James pulled Ash to the shutter release.
"Its pretty exciting, isn't it?"
"What is?"
"This." James gestured with his hand around the room.
"Stealing? Running for our lives? My name being smeared in the mud and the thought that if we mess up, that's it? Yeah. Fun." Ash mocked him, partially sarcastic, but James could hear the enjoyment in his voice. Ash was heroic, but there would always be a mischievous side of him. He lived and thrived in chaos.
"Yeah, that's all of it. But you can't forget the chance to freeze to death, or be eaten alive by some massive, huge legendary."
Ash snorted. "Right, can't forget those." Ash looked up at James, having a normal conversation for the first time was awkward, but oddly familiar. He found talking with James a lot easier than he did with Jessie. The woman was so high strung, he thought that she might break one of these days.
James had subsequently followed Ash's gaze to where Jessie and meowth were.
"Do you miss her?" James asked while the pulled on the manual locking chains. The roof cracked slowly while the metal squealed and clanked.
"Who?" Ash muttered, "Misty?" He asked quickly after, mind shifting to her relentlessly. His heart skipped a beat. Not thinking about Misty was the easiest, because thinking about her was dangerous grounds for never ending thoughts—like she said—after everything was done, then they could sort themselves out.
It didn't stop Ash from imagining situations, though.
"Yeah, little 'red." James snickered and Ash quirked an eyebrow at James.
"Always." Ash admit happily, "But I miss Brock, and my mom, too. And my little brother."
"Cole?" James asked. "He seems to be a good kid."
"You know him?"
"Well, Jessie and I did follow you around. You had ice cream with him right before this all started..." Ash looked up to see James eyes shift to the ground.
"I remember when our lives were that easy..." Mirth filled James' emerald eyes and appeared so distant that Ash wanted to latch onto James and tell him it would be okay.
He was never given the chance, because James pointed.
"Looks like they're ready for us, let's get this show on the road if we're going." James rushed to the slow rising balloon, and Ash followed him.
James never talked about himself, really, Team Rocket didn't talk about much other than the task at hand. He wondered if they were okay, but with everything blowing up around them, Ash hadn't the time to ask James. In private moments, James typically tried to help Ash with self-defense, and sneaking around without actually declaring it as that.
"I cant believe we're doing this again." Jessie quipped once Ash was in the basket.
"It has been awhile, hasn't it?" James grinned, the quiet moment they shared lost on his poker face.
Meowth chirped in, snickering at his companions while Ash look side to side, breaking the top of the warehouse. Pikahu and togepi both stuck out their heads.
"Have you guys done something like this before?"
"Don't you remember?" James asked, then realized his slip and laughed it off. "I just mean that this used to be our primary mode of transportation. It's not very practical though."
"We need a gust of wind." Jessie inquired after Meowth's complaint. Ash touched his hands to his belt, but he did not have any flying type pokemon with him, and James muttered to himself—none of them did, and now this didn't seem like such a good idea...
"You two have other pokemon, right? We can use them to-" Turning, he met with their glum faces shaking at him and Ash winced. They would move at a snails pace in this weather!
Then, a roar in the distance brought Ash's attention veering from the mountain that seemed to grow further away from them as darkness enveloped the area, and he could see a fire burning in the distance.
"Charizard!" Ash yelped, throwing out his hand to wave at the pokemon. "You're okay!"
"Tell him to stop." Jessie muttered, seeing the pokemon flying at high speeds directly at them.
Ash didn't listen, he merely clung to the edge of the balloon. "Pika pi!"
"Togee!" The two pokemon chanted in surprise and eagerness to see their long time, lost companion. Flying, above all else. Ash knew he would heal! He just needed time!
Charizard roared again, growing more confused as it grew nearer to them, until finally halting, and flying directly up to avoid tearing the balloon, it circled around once, then carried itself to face Ash and huffed steam at Team Rocket, who leaned into one corner of the basket.
"meeowth!" He muttered, reminding Ash to remember his introductions, before one of them end up like a roast duck.
"Oh, right." Ash pointed to team rocket. "They're good right now." clarified Ash.
"They're going to help me find the other legendaries, then stop Giovanni."
This answer didn't seem to sit well with charizard, who glared profusely at the three of them. Believing in Ash's words, the dragon put his head down fro Ash to stroke his horns with a gleaming smile.
"Charizard, it's great to see you again." Ash muttered. "I tried to reach Gary to get you back...but..."
Ash hesitated, brows knitting together. "Actually... how did you get here? Why are you here?"
Hesitation flashed through charizard while he thought of what to say. A part of the dragon didn't trust Team Rocket, Ash knew that, but his devotion to his trainer outweighed his concerns, and he opened his mouth to speak, all the while, Ash's face grew more and more pale. Jessie, James and meowth appeared mortified.
"They're trying to stop you from getting help." Jessie elaborated. "Since you're wanted, that means the league has and should have control of your pokemon. Fugitives aren't allowed to have pokemon, that's why..." She hesitated, eyes looking off into the distance for a moment before refocusing.
"Was Gary okay, buddy? What about Leaf, and May, and Max?" He asked, brushing Charizard's neck. It was at that point Ash could see that the wing handled set properly, and compared to charizard's original glory, he was limp and uneven while flapping in the air beside them.
It gave a soft, uncertain shrug, admitting with great shame that it ran by Gary's orders; he, and the rest of Ash's pokemon. For awhile, Ash could not speak. Pikachu stared watery-eyed at charizard, and togepi remained quiet. The howl of the growing wind was nothing compared to the look of solace on his face when he spoke next.
"You did what you had to do. But you're here now." Ash smiled weakling, brushing his hands together. "Will you help us get to the top of the mountain?"
Moments passed, then eventually charizard nodded and Ash pumped one fist in the air before throwing a rope over the pokemon's shoulders. It clung to the rope in his small claws, then with a twist and a flap of his wings, they were on their way up the mountain. With any luck, they would be there by night fall again.
"Thank you." James spoke in turn for he and his companions, only to hear charizard roar back.
XOX
Life returning to exactly as it was before all of this started wasn't as easy as Misty might have hoped. Once she arrived in Kanto with Drew and Brock via airplane to Saffron City, life was about as chaotic as she imagined it would be. She didn't get to see her sisters, she wasn't able to phone them, and outside of being the media—they probably didn't know until now how she was. If she was alive or dead...If they suspected anything like Dawn did, it was the latter.
She would have loved to see one of her sisters at the airport on chance.
From necessity, Brock stayed out of the limelight, in case the media and league had a melt down. If for some reason this all blew up in their faces, they needed someone who could still work outside the league's eye, and so far Brock was the only one not mentioned in any news reports. Misty did not question why, only thanked the heavens for their inconsistent paperwork. She didn't have the nerve to tell Brock, but she had a gut feeling his absence in the media had to do with Flint Harrison's death. She wasn't sure how it was connected, but she also knew it wasn't a coincidence. Flint Harrison was murdered by Team Rocket and the same way people were digging into Misty's not-so-spotless past, she was sure they would do the same for the Harrisons.
Drew stood at her side during most of her public meetings where she explained in hushed lies that she was panicked from the attacks, and confused after working so hard to become an Elite Four member, she needed some time away, but was ready to help wherever she could now.
Apparently, her threats that Team Rocket were back were far from over. At least once in every press conference, she would be asked about the delinquents, and it took every nerve in her body not to shout the truth to all who would listen. Open their eyes to what was really happening, though, she had no idea what the immediate consequences would be.
Everyone seemed to buy the story that Ash was some nobody that she helped in a hospital for a while, and brought along with her to save face. She wasn't kidnapped, just in Sinnoh under the radar. Drew verified this with a carefully placed lie, and outside of buzzing around her for normal reasons, Misty's position was essentially concreted into the league's mainframe, and her excuse was plausible and just. Unfortunately, she didn't clear Ash's name with such revelation—people were still blaming hi for nearly everything else.
After the first week was spent primarily cleaning up her nasty exit, she now was staring down the large, oak doors where she would separate from Drew and Brock and bridge into her own adventures with the remaining Elite Four at the top of Saffron Tower. She felt her stomach curl in more ways than one. This could go very, very wrong, so easily. This wasn't like walking into interviews, or the public eye, this was a private, intimate reunion with people that knew she was lying to the media about what happened. People that were working with the enemy, one way or another.
"Remember, Misty, if things get hairy in there, Drew and I will be in the cafe across the street.. You have gyarados, and run really fast." Brock urged her, but she silenced him be squeezing his arm. He had already gone off about how to protect herself a million times since they left the hotel that morning.
Misty cracked her best, confident smile; putting on a charade for her worried friend.
"Don't worry, I think I'll be fine. You two just work on a way to get us into Celadon City's Silph Co. I'll look for some information while I'm up there but..." Her green-eyed gaze drifted back up the thirty story building and she swallowed against the lump in her throat. She had no idea of they even had information, let alone if she wanted to alert them of their plans by trying to find some. Her intention was to survive this meeting, get out, go to Celadon City, find the source of the chips, and flee to help Ash with the legendary pokemon hunt before anyone was any wiser.
"Wish me luck." She said, flicking on her glasses before entering the building, thus leaving Drew and Brock to gawk at her.
"Good luck." Brock called after her, swearing to himself that he wished they renewed their phones. Since returning a week ago, they were too busy to activate the devices before the announcement and invitation was given to Misty. For now all they had was hope, and luck.
"I think she'll be okay." Drew hummed. "I don't know her very well, but if what we in Sinnoh, and what Dawn has said about her is true, then I think this is in the right hands. We should focus on Silph Co for now." Drew nudged in the direction of the cafe and with one more sigh, Brock looked up at the large tower, willing Misty to return safely.
XOX
Big was an understatement. The inside of the Saffron Tower was ginormous. The whole square footage was probably larger than anything Misty had ever seen before, with a large glowing fountain in the middle, hundreds of little busy worker-bees, and countless, UV-protected windows. She could hardly believe her eyes. Had she been arriving here under an other circumstances, she might have even been happy.
Misty always imagined seeing the inside of Saffron Tower when she was a small child: what the expanding windows and high, vaulted ceilings looked like, but now that she was really here, she could hardly believe her own eyes. The place was massive, with its own personal escalators, elevators and small trains to get from one destination to another.
She, however, was going directly up. To the last floor. Since the Indigo League was attacked the headquarters were temporarily transferred to Saffron City; and the tower had little trouble making room for the Elite Four. It was no wonder.
"Ms. Waterflower." She was addressed by a woman wearing a black skirt and white blouse, the receptionist at the front of the building.
Misty nodded to the woman while she gestured to a large, glass elevator.
"Allow me to lead the way." She said, bowing cautiously, and Misty inhaled, remembering a time when she wasn't so easily known. Only a year ago, she was a regular face in a large crowd, now, she could see her face on every news channel. Found, Misty Waterflower in Sinnoh. Too weak to run Kanto?Misty Waterflower flees after attack on league. Is she crazy or a manipulator: the latest information on Misty Waterflower.
The news found no lack of content to write about with her, but they missed the real point. How and why she was acting this way, as always, they catered to click bait, and young readers who would only be interested in short comings—not to mention, no one wanted to worry about another war.
"The champion will be with us today." The receptionist spoke in such a hushed voice, Misty thought to hit her on the back several times to spit out her voice.
"Okay..?"
"Try not to be rude."
Misty scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Whatever." She muttered, crossing her arms stubbornly.
"Please, Ms. Waterflower. I insist you play nice." She said quietly, looking up at Misty with large, gray eyes that made her heart stop. This woman wasn't trying to be friendly, she was warning Misty.
Don't screw up. She begged with her eyes.
"Don't worry about it." Misty hummed, patting the woman on the shoulder as they arrived to the top floor. Misty hummed quietly to herself as she exited the elevator.
"I can find my way from here." Misty announced, waving over her shoulder at the woman.
Once the elevator closed, and Misty was left alone in the hallway, she inhaled quietly. Here she was, in the hallway where all the magic happened. Where the Elite Four made some of their most outrageous, and generous calls. Down the dim-blue carpets, and brown walls, she felt the presence of years passed through here, when being a pokemon trainer meant more than being a leader, when being an Elite Four was something of great responsibility and commitment; not politics and power. However, more than amazement, Misty felt a fine coat of anxiety while she hobbled down the unfamiliar hallway in search of clues to Silph Co, or maybe an escape route. If things got hairy, she didn't imagine flying down an elevator.
The more she walked, the less likely it seemed she could escape if not through the elevator; assuming she even needed to. A fire exit was at the far end of the hall, but the dimmed windows were a large reminder that she thirty stories high. Running down so many steps wasn't a favorable idea, either. Misty was never really scared of heights, but she felt the intense fear now. She heard the voices of her companions long before she saw the doors.
Lorelei was a soft spoken woman, with shrewd business tactics and impervious battle strategy, Bruno was loud, usually trying to edge on Lance and talking about his newest routine in training, and Lance was quiet; commenting only on what he felt was important at the time, and what was important, was Misty.
"She's late." Lance announced tiredly when the door cracked, revealing a very stubborn, strong-willed woman with fiery red hair. Three pairs of eyes turned to her, and her heart stopped all at once.
"I'm here." Misty announced, not allowed the nervousness to crack her voice; the message was delivered flawlessly as she strode to her seat beside Lance, folded her hands on the long table and pursed her lips. Silence enveloped the entirety of the room, then, Lorelei cleared her throat.
"We thought you were too busy being kidnapped to visit."
"You were the ones that said I was kidnapped, you know, after assaulting me—or at least attempting to after the party." Misty didn't back down from the challenge, which only upset Lorelei further as she reeled away to cross her knees and stare evilly at Misty.
"We meant you no harm." Bruno offered, a strange sincerity in his voice.
"Right." Misty said, brushing off his tone. "Listen, I came here for whatever nonsense it was you needed me for, but if it's not important, I can just go."
Lance grumbled tiredly from the back of his throat, his eyes snaking to the empty chair where the champion was supposed to sit, and Lance inched backwards to get a better look at Misty. Her shoulders were broad an athletic, she wore the grace of her sisters, and the scars of a true battler easily and on normal circumstances, Lance imagined she would earn a great deal of respect.
"Well, we needed to talk about the battle taxes, and once again the situation with coordinators, was it?" Lance began, flipping open a notebook and earning a strange look from Misty.
"Right, the coordinators haven't been up to much since that false announcement made by the newest member. They're still a pain, I think we should monitor their contests a bit closer." Misty's eyes followed over to Lorelei, who had a notebook open herself.
"We still have missing trainers to look for." Bruno offered, both Lance and Lorelei deflected from the observation, and Misty thought she saw a hint of disappointment in his eyes.
"After the latest attack, we've seen a rise in theft in major cities..."
"We also have to find a suitable gym leader to replace the former Cerulean City gym."
"The league season doesn't start for another three months." Misty quickly observed, slightly insulted that they spoke of her as if she wasn't here, then she eyed Bruno, eyes narrowing.
"I think our focus should also be on the missing trainer—and equalizing the situation with coordinators, not making it worse with a higher bracket."
"What would you know? You ran away from your responsibilities." Lance muttered quickly, tossing a hand up at Misty. "We have new challengers; Lorelei, you have six, Bruno, you have four, and I have eight scheduled. We've held off on scheduling appointments for you," Lance stopped and had Misty had the nerve, she would have put his face through the solid oak table. "Since you might not be around after today."
"Which brings up my next case of business. We need to remove the accusations from the media..." while he continued, speaking of removing people from their positions, tightening restrictions and battles until this 'blew over' Misty swallowed hard, her glare intense.
It was all business for him; nothing how Ash described the man from his dreams. Lorelei was practically ice sitting in her chair, and while Misty dug her nails into the table, she cracked.
"I know they're slipping you guys a pay check." Misty hissed, creating a deadly silence. "And so long as I have limbs that work and people who will listen I will find a way to bring your disgusting attempt at leadership into the dirt."
It wasn't a heroic spiel, if anything, it sounded hopeless and threatening. Misty wasn't like Ash, she wasn't going to turn the bad guys into good people, and she had no intention of working happily along side them. Not like this. They weren't just bad people anymore, they were criminals running two of the most-well known pokemon regions in the world.
"You three might have been up here for so damn long you can't remember what it's like in the real world, but I do. I've seen how your stupid games and regulations have affected normal people and trainers, and the chance they're given any other option, they're going to jump at it so bite your tongue Lance."
She hadn't realized she was standing by the end of her speech, maliciously standing over him while his arms crossed tentatively, and his brows quirked. Lorelei had a greater reaction, standing to the point of placing a hand on her pokeball.
"You think you can scare me? I'm a dragon pokemon master; what's the worst that you could do with your little water guns?"
"Enough." Bruno hissed, rising from his chair. He was large enough that his voice cut through the glare that the two of them shared, but Misty refused to be the first one to break eye contact—no, Lance did with a pfft and roll of his eyes.
"Since we need to replace the Cerulean Gym Leader, now would be a good time to review the current leaders skills." Lance recovered quickly from the moment, but Misty remained standing, shaking in anger to her very core. Why in the world was she so angry?
Because she was scared? Was her natural instinct so easily to forget all her practice and blow a gasket at their first meeting.
"Sit down, Waterflower." Lance commanded, and Misty felt another shiver run down her spine and she kicked away from the table, the first move that caused surprise in his eyes.
"I think I've seen enough for the day."
"Stick around, you haven't met the champion yet." As if he had something to lord over her, he waved a small file at her. "And you haven't heard about the string of recent break ins, kidnappings, theft and fires. These are the things you're interested in, right?"
Misty would not look at him, those yellow spiteful eyes made her skin boil and her joints lock up. However, she knew he was smirking broadly, and Lorelei had a sinister glint in her eye. He was throwing jabs at her, baiting her and Misty so easily walked into each punch like a worker ant.
"Fu..." She started, but the side door where the champion's private office was burst open to reveal a small woman with glasses on and a scowl on her face—she looked as done with her job as Misty was with this whole ordeal.
"The champion will see you now, Ms Waterflower." She smiled, bowing nicely and waving to the remaining Elite Four members, then shifting a very rude gesture into her pocket that only Misty's wide eyes seemed to catch because no one else paid the woman any mind.
That made two receptionist that wanted Misty to succeed.
A strange calm washed into Misty's body and she cracked her first knowing. "That's great, and while you're here; could I have a request?"
XOX
The request in question alienated Lance, and ruined his empty threats. Misty had all the important documents scanned then transferred to her email. Including information about the Elite Four, as well as important updates, and business policy. She could learn everything that she needed to know without dealing with the rest of the Elite Four.
It was fun, because Misty had the power to do that now; and Lance and Lorelei hated it.
When the doors closed, she was left with a sense of confidence she didn't hold before. They couldn't hold her here like she thought that they could. It was already well-spread news that the kidnapping was a hoax, so she didn't need police protection, and unless Team Rocket wanted people to know more about them, they couldn't blame the attack on them. Misty was left with a large window of opportunity, and she was going to abuse her power until the rest of the corrupted bastards snapped.
Inside the room, all the lights were turned off, aside from the crack in the window blind that left for a small sliver of light. She couldn't see the man's face, just that he was darkly pale, and she thought that he had a shimmer of red in his eyes.
"Please, sit." he asked kindly, gesturing to the chair before his desk. Misty chose to stand against her better judgment. It was best not to get comfortable, especially not in front of the champion—a man that had literally been missing in action for ten years.
...Now here he was, sitting in the tallest tower in Saffron City, in the dark, like some kind of cave animal.
"I'm okay." Misty answered. "But I wouldn't mind shedding some light on the situation." She laughed awkwardly, pointing to the light shift to discover the moment she flipped it, nothing happened. She heard the large man sigh from across the desk and fold his chin under one hand.
"I have a gift for you." He announced and while Misty looked back at him, she realized the crack in the window wasn't to see out, it was to keep her vision unfocused so she couldn't see his face. It was no wonder Kanto and Johto were in hell, their champion lived in darkness.
"It's on the table beside the door."
"What's the occasion?" Misty asked in a snark tone while grabbing the gift only a few inches from her at the door.
"All new members are given a gift. Yours is very special." a somber voice spoke the words, but an edge existed in them that made her eyes turn skeptically to the man once more. He sounded hopeless; maybe even a little sad.
"Thanks...?"
"Open it." he clasped his hands over his stomach, and had Misty felt watched in the meeting room with the other Elite Four, she felt ten times the pressure now, and still didn't crack. Her slender fingers slipped open the small care-package, to reveal sitting on a white foam at the bottom, a Master ball encased by a glass case.
"What do I need this for?" while removing the ball, and opening the case, she clicked the button much to his immediate alarm, he almost bolted form his chair until he realized the ball didn't grow when she clicked it.
And she did, several more times curiously before realizing it wouldn't enlarge.
"It's broken." She said, reaching forward to give it back to him. He put up his hands, and practically scoot away from the desk, fearful of the object Misty neared him with.
"It's a gift. Keep it."
"What do I need a broken Master Ball for? These things are ancient, anyways." Misty grimaced, throwing it up carelessly like a baseball.
Having recuperated from his almost-run in with the redhead, the man pulled himself together, and turned away from her in his spinning, black leather chair.
"You'll know." He sighed, "Now leave."
Had Misty been in a better standing with the league, she would have objected to leave; isntead, as she turned back to the closed doors and gripped the silver handles, her eyes narrowed.
"You know... you disappeared when Kanto needed you, and now you sit up here, watching everything unfold and do what, exactly?" Misty asked, hearing the man stiffen. "You don't accept challengers, and you don't go out into the public." She didn't need to say what she was thinking as her eyes glinted and fell half closed.
If he wanted to disappear so badly, why wouldn't he step down?
Once she was outside of the office, looking at the remaining three Elite Four member who looked curious to know what happened, Misty threw the defective Master Ball up once again, caught it, and tucked it away into her belt.
"I think that wraps it up, kids, we'll keep in touch though." Misty's smile widened, and she saw the inevitable anger crawl into Lance and Lorelei's eyes, but a playful sense of amusement curl into Bruno's eyes at her tactics. Misty waved to the receptionist at the door and pointed with her thumb to the doors.
"I want his record, too." Misty said, then curtsied to the men before striding out of the large meeting room, just as Lance threw something across the room in frustration.
It felt nice to win every once in awhile.
XOX
Knowing that the enemy was as nasty as she imagined them made her next few decisions much easier. In time, she would bring them down one at a time. She even stopped to think that Ash might have been proud of her antics in the high room above while she rode down the extravagant elevator, the stalled on thoughts of Ash.
Was he making any lead way in Sinnoh after a week? Had he tried to call her yet, and she had no way for him to reach her? Of course she had her issues to take care of, but worrying over Ash was becoming akin to breathing.
At the last floor, the first receptionist nearly bounced out of her chair.
"That was quick!" She said next to her co-workers, stuffing the ends of a salad into her mouth. Misty didn't pass her a glance while she waved, and from the depths of her purse, clicked on a pair of sun glasses.
"Don't worry about it, have a nice lunch." Her tone was cool and collected, to a level she couldn't wait to brag about with Drew and Brock as she exited the Saffron Tower; feeling quite a bit larger than she did when she walked in. Unlike how she expected, meeting them didn't hinder her spirits—it gave her a million more reasons to be successful. She crossed the street without alarming any vehicles, then passed through a short miniature park between the small downtown area, and Saffron City, and made her way to the cafe where they agreed to meet.
At one corner of the cafe, where they could see the entrance of Saffron Tower, and almost the top, Brock and Drew were curled up, talking quietly about their plans on a napkin when Misty approached, beaming with confidence.
"Yeah, you guys really kept an eye out." She chided, looking at the two of them while their backs straightened.
"That was fast!" Brock announced while Misty budged into the seat beside him and dusted off her hands and removed her glasses.
"Yeah, it turns out I have the authority to have everything we go over in those meetings emailed to me. I think I also scared Lance."
"No way." Drew discarded her comment and Misty grimaced.
"Okay, but I definitely made him mad."
"What?" Brock contained his shriek. "What happened to going in and leaving without making a scene?"
Misty's face scrunched up an she twisted the napkin they were writing on to herself to read. "I guess Ash rubbed off on me quite a bit after all." She muttered, clearing her throat. "I couldn't sit there and listen to them want to make changes to Kanto, when they're so clearly what's wrong with Kanto."
Brock could understand at least that, and sighed. "Well, no one came through a window, so we're good there."
Misty grinned at his words, and looked to Drew who sat back with his arms folded.
"I was also thinking, while I'm riding this emotional high, and you know, before I get scared, we should walk into Saffron City's Silph Co instead of going to Celadon City."
"What? Why?" Brock questioned eyebrows raised while Misty pursed her lips and sat back.
"I was just thinking, what we need from Silph Co can probably be found at any of their branches; we just need information, and between the three of us, I'm sure we can find some way to hack into a crappy computer once I get us inside."
Drew looked horrified, his eyebrows twitched and he licked his lips and glared at Misty.
"Actually, that's not a bad idea. If we're riding off your emotional high, maybe we could even ask for the information to be sent to you under the guise that you want to provide them with more funding?"
"Or" Misty gestured with her hands. "We have Drew here, who speaks on behalf of Dawn; maybe we could say that Sinnoh is looking to build another Silph Co, and we need layout codes and information for the coordinator champion?" Misty grinned at Drew who flinched, then relaxed into a sigh.
"That actually might work."
"That's great." Misty chirped, "But if we don't hurry, they might start painting me as a crazy person." She said, rising from her seat and gesturing for Brock and Drew to follow her.
"We're going now?" the young men asked in unison.
"Why wait?" Misty retorted and Brock scampered after her, grinning from ear-to-ear, and Drew who wasn't used to the antics of the former trio followed slowly behind.
"Now we're talking. Are we going to break stuff like last time?" Brock questioned and Misty looked over her shoulder at him.
"Where were you last time?" She joked, rolling her eyes with a clear scoff. "You sat on a boat."
"So does that mean no to explosions?" Brock looked offended, "Man, if Ash was here he would-"
"Are you two serious?" Drew gawked, glaring at them while they stepped into the city streets. "Do you really think now is the time to make jokes?"
Both Brock and Misty looked back at Drew, the newcomer in this mess they called life, and then looked at each other for some semblance of retaliation. Misty didn't have words—before meeting Ash, she probably would have never been so relaxed to make jokes about the situation they were in; but now...
"What's a better time than now to make jokes?" Brock's voice was sincere when Misty gazed up at him. "We might not get another chance to, after all."
Drew hesitated, partially appalled by their words, a little scared, and finally after a few blinks and a flick of his green hair; acceptance.
"Alright, but could you two not be so loud about explosions? People will stare."
"You'll get used to it. Brock and I did." Misty urged while wrapping her arms around his and dragging the two of them along the road to Silph Co.
Author's Note:
(That's right, I did a mini POV from Charizard's perspective. I don't regret it)
As always, thank you for the reviews; also, holy cow, 300plus favs and follows? I am totally honored to have that be a thing. :o Thank you all so much for reading, and I really hope you're still enjoying the ride!
NINT