Locked Away, Chapter 52
((Trigger warning: a bit more violence than my usual chapters?))
The distant sound of classical music churned through the dark chambers of the last prison on the Sevii Islands—the tropical high islands were the perfect breeding ground for exceptional prison structure. To escape, one would have to fall hundreds of feet, into the drop of an ocean with sharp rocks, and violent, turning waves. Very few, if any, had ever survived a proper escape.
Why anyone would ever want to leave, however, was complete stupidity. At least, that was what the monster of a man who sat over a metal table, scribbling notes onto a paper would have said. There were three meals a day, no fear of work, a bed to sleep on, and constant protection provided by the league's guards and officers. Time in the prison allowed for growth, and development; time to enjoy the quiet, peaceful moments... and of course, time to start the all encompassing revolution he planned since he was a small child. Prison was the perfect guise, here, he could do no harm; could not be accused of any crimes that he had not already committed, and yet he pulled every string in motion.
No, the Sevii Island prisons were both impressive and monumental. He would never understand why anyone would want to leave. Not when the world was at his fingertips.
In the echoing silence of the darkened room, the man leaned back while swiping at his face with his hands, and when his hands dropped, the pensive tension passed, and a smile replaced his pursed lips, and he chuckled under his breath. Two guards were stationed around him, albeit, nervous for people who were in control of the prisoner.
"What's so funny?" one of them choked, glancing at their partner in concern.
"It's fine," the guardsman replied, rustling his collar. "You know he's already lost his mind since he instigated those stupid chips."
A hateful glare fell on the man sitting in the room; the guard spit quietly into the dark. "Isn't that right, Giovanni? Rotten to the very core."
"Rotten?" he answered, much to both of the mens surprise. Slowly, the man behind the bars rose, clapping his hands quietly. The gumption and nerve in the guard's eye seemed to dissipate instantly upon closer inspection. Giovanni wore no chains, they were left on the table beside his papers.
Giovanni could almost taste their fear, the look of betrayal and disgust over their faces while he rubbed his sore wrists and grinned violently to the men. They did not think to speak up until Giovanni was gesturing to a light that shined behind them—leaving them stone, and then they, like the music, faded into the darkness.
"Today is a day of reckoning." he said as the violin music faded. "A new day in history, known as the day I saved mankind."
"Well," he chuckled only to himself as footsteps, followed by shouts of anguish trickled up the staircase and into the cell he stepped out of seconds later. Music to his ears.
"...If saving mankind is a means to power."
With a deep inhalation of salty air, a twisted smirk and his shoulders rising in his professional cut, red suit and white tie. The shrewd Giovanni stepped into the first glimpse of moonlight, facing the ocean through metal bars.
Such beauty only belonged to the ocean. The way the tides gleamed at him in the distance, danced and reflected light of the moon, and hummed quietly was his lullaby and silent reminder that this day would come. Feeling the egregious joy in his stomach, coupled with years of pint up anger, Giovanni curled a small device from his pocket, pinched a red button, and held the receiver to his lips.
"Begin phase one."
And what was most important about the small islands, south of the Kanto Region—was their isolated space. In case of total chaos—it was the prisons that were the safest places to be. Of course, only if they owned them.
XOX
Three days, Ash had only really been out of the game for such a short time. How could everything turn out so badly? Ash felt it in his gut, only hours ago something was amiss and instead of following his instincts, he kept moving; like he was supposed to. He guessed that over the last year, he became a good little soldier; when did he stop insisting he was right? Stopped asking a million questions? When they offered to separate, he should have insisted not. But now, he thought he could finally get a leg up on Giovanni—finish this war, and get back to a normal life. Little did he know how wrong he was.
Letting his head swoop down against the violent wind of the oncoming storm, he clutched his arms tightly around charizard's neck, while pikachu and togepi clung to his pack. With pikachu's help, togepi remained strong, despite the whipping wind at his back, and threat of a falling from hundred feet, nearly flying too fast to hold on.
Charizard was equally as worried as Ash. Not only was it Misty, but Gary, too. The last charizard remembered of the laboratory was when they were under attack—but Ash had called, Gary was alive at least back then. He answered the phone but anything that happened after that was unknown.
Ash should have known something like this would happen. The day he discovered that his own mother and brother were possibly being blackmailed, he should have known it was only a matter of time before Team Rocket started pinning for the rest of his family—whether or not he was a huge piece of their final plan; he was still a nuisance in the endless power struggle.
Now that cost Gary and Misty their...
No! Ash couldn't think like that! Not yet! He had to stay focused, he had to stay positive. His friends were okay, after all, Ash survived a ten year coma; whatever happened, they could survive too!
With a mighty roar, charizard let him know that they were nearing Pallet Town, and Ash tugged on the dragon to steady the pokemon's descent. At a quarter past sun down, many of the lights were aglow—all but one, sitting on top of a hill. At the base of the laboratory, caution tape was stretched around the fence line, and Ash suspected it was because of Gary's prestige title, and cause of disappearance.
Good thing he wasn't planning on using the sidewalk.
Ash swooped down with his pokemon at the back door, stopping at the charred wooden patio. Charizard's head hit the ground the moment Ash was off his back, but Ash hadn't the time to sooth the dragon. The illness—or scales had motioned far past his nostrils now, everything below his jawline was sprinkled black, and Ash winced.
"Just rest, charizard." Ash warned the pokemon, brushing his hands over the horns on his head. "We'll... only be a second..."
But he wasn't sure that was true. He could stop in there and never leave. At this rate he...
"Pikapi, pikachu." The mouse pulled him back to his consciousness, and Ash nodded quietly to his oldest companion—who faintly reminded him to focus once again.
Once more, Ash walked up the stairs, feeling them creak and sway under his weight. The last time he was here, he was in rags, and charizard was injured. Gary made jokes, and Leaf fed him dinner...now it was dark, and ruined. The curtains were torn, cutlery, glassware, and miscellaneous items were strewn around the room as if someone had ransacked the living space of the laboratory, and of course, the apparent lack of noise.
He could hear charizard wheezing outside, and wished for a moment that Gary was here, to tell him what was happening. But the building was empty.
Ash pinched his nose and squeezed his eyes shut as togepi and pikachu broke away to investigate, taking difference sections of the house. Ash lobbied in the living space, recalling his last visit. It was a warm summer evening, Gary complained about the way he smelled; called him several names, but then still fed him dinner, gave him a roof over his head.
Without warning, tears swelled at the corners of his eyes, and Ash wiped at them with shaking hands, and reminded himself once again, that this wasn't really happening.
Where's Brock? Ash thought quietly, surely the gym leader wouldn't leave Misty's side. Ash struggled to find a reason that Misty was with Gary at all to begin with—or vice versa! Were they simply targeted by Team Rocket and executed like Professor Oak?
Nerves attacked his stomach again, but before he started hacking, togepi hopped from the floor, and clicked a switch at the front of the television. Blue swallowed them whole until a picture focused. As if called from the heavens above, the familiar faces of the news casters he remembered from the hospital shared glances at one another, while passing terrible jokes. Then suddenly, their moods were somber, and the jokes were gone.
"Following the devastating blow to the Kanto Region's Pokemon League that claimed the lives of Misty Waterflower and Gary Oak, new reports have linked former ally, Unova Region to the terrorist attacks. In a rare display of violence, the region took a violet turn by bombing one of the dedicated research facilities intent on returning the wondrous region back to its previous glory. Reports have also linked them to several devastating attacks on the leagues foundation, and Kanto's government is currently investigating matters." The pretty blonde on the screen paused to look at her co-worker briefly, before continuing to read the telecast prompter.
"The new light in this situation brings many questions to the people of Kanto; such as the late Elite Four member's televised display of hysteria suggesting that Team Rocket was behind the latest attack at the Indigo Plateau. These claims have not been confirmed, as anonymous researchers have linked international criminal Ash Ketchum at the scene of the crime, and suspect he may be working with the terrorists. No official statement has been made from the champion; but an interview with Elite Four member Lance has left many citizens concerned for their safety-"
The screen buzzed, the lighting changed as a man Ash recognized all too well as the red-haired dragon trainer that chased them out of their hotel room and into the Viridian Forest. Lance cleared his throat in front of a million cameras, preparing to deliver a written speech, with fake apologies, and terrible timing.
"We..." Lance cleared his throat. "This is a hard time for the Kanto region, losing new members of our company is never fortunate and we are all grieving the loss of Miss Waterflower and Professor Oak. These are trying times for the Region of Kanto, and we ask for your patience and support while we work through these trying times." He paused to look at the cameras, a trained maneuver of most spokespersons to appear more emotional, but Ash saw through him. He saw that glimmer in his eye, and the tug at his lips. He was probably trying his hardest not to smirk, victorious for all they knew.
"However, we cannot stand idly by as our region and our way of life is attacked by these unknown faces. You can rest assured that we are doing everything in our power to find the men behind these attacks, and will handle deal with them to the fullest extent of the law until a peaceful solution is confirmed."
Then the cameras sparked alive. "What do you have to say about the allegations that Team Rocket may be behind these attacks? Is it true that Mis-" Lance raised his hand to silence the reporter.
"There is no connection between the recent attacks and Team Rocket."
"So then that blast in Unova-!" And suddenly the chatter was so loud and overwhelming, Ash saw Lance break character from the supposed, emotional wreck he was displaying, the crass heartless man he truly was. Behind him, Bruno flinched, and Lorelai covered her mouth.
"It is a possibility, but we are looking into it! I will have no more questions, when we're ready to tell you, we will. Until then, lock your doors and hold your loved ones closer—because no one is safe!"
And the interview was then abruptly cut off, the image returning to the blonde who was speaking earlier. Her face read troubled, and yet her words: "Since the interview, the Elite Four have connected several of the attacks to the former coma-patient Ash Ketchum, who went missing over a month ago. Local authority suspects he many be working with the ousted region. Witnesses claimed to have seen him in the Sinnoh region as early as two weeks ago, and Ecruteak City less than a few days. If you see him, you are warned to call the authorities-"
Pikachu hopped off the ledge he was perched on, to turn off the program; deciding that for the group, hearing the news from some bias television station wasn't the best case scenario. Considering the idea that Ash was now shaking beside them, eyes unblinking and staring blankly into the formerly-glowing television, the two pokemon watched him quietly in the dark. His knees had grown weak, and his stomach twisted violently into knots until he felt the knee-jerking tug of his weight pull him down to his knees. Everything they did—had done, the trail he left behind in Sinnoh, blowing up the prison compound, stealing a plane, stopping in Ecruteak city—everything until this point; it truly painted him as the anti-hero.
Never in his life had Ash been the anti-hero.
But now, he was the anti-hero of his own story, bringing his friends with him. The media carefully removed any real indication behind the damage created recently—the legendary pokemon released from Unova and being held—how Team Rocket was completely written out of the playbook, and the blame was placed on two key figures that could not defend themselves. Himself, and Unova.
How Iris would be flipping if she was here to see this. Blaming them for attacking Kanto—for blowing up the boat that Misty was on, for all the little things that Ash did. He missed the simplicity of his dreams, when his actions had consequences, but everyone was inherently good, so they won in the end. Right now, as he was overcome with grief, and guilt, and a plethora of other unknown emotions, he hunched over as togepi and pikachu cradled into his lap, and let the tears fall endlessly into a pool on the damaged ground.
XOX
Ash was tired of crying. Of sitting still in the middle of the crisis, of the gentle thump in his head as the night twisted into the late evening, and he laid motionless on the floor for an hour. What was he doing here, laying in the dirt of his old-friends laboratory? No solution he could think of sounded like a good idea—suddenly, the notion of scaring Giovanni out of his hiding hole seemed like a comic-book joke. Giovanni had never lost control of this situation, he never backed down, and Ash and his friends were always doing exactly what he wanted.
For a moment, Ash blamed Jessie, James, and Meowth. They lead them to Unova, attacked the pokemon league's party—they pushed this mouse trap into motion.
But then he remembered Misty's own determination, she wanted change, originally penned the idea of equality between battlers and coordinators as her reason to become an Elite Four member. It was Ash who suggested Team Rocket was behind the allegations and corrupt society long before he had any concrete evidence. To him, it had always been a feeling, and he was the one who lead them all down this godforsaken path.
Brock heed only because Ash sought him out. Now the man was god-knows where, and his two best friends were dead—buried at the bottom of the ocean, or fished out. Either way, they were lifeless, lying somewhere in a cold room, separated from the light of life and the glow of the morning—despite the horrible conundrum they were currently in, any fresh air was better than none at all.
His stomach clenched, and another tear slipped down his cheek. Ash didn't bother to wipe it since pikachu and togepi were holed into his arms, grieving silently. To think that Misty was currently laying, or sinking—or...gone was too much for his brain to handle. He hadn't even been gone a month. To add Gary and his laboratory, his pokemon, and the ones he didn't know about to that mix, Ash wasn't sure he could stand ever again. His breath had stilled, and he felt like he was floating—nonexistent in some hell he was trapped in.
Then, a part of him wondered if this was hell created by Ho-oh, if he died on that mountain and he was stuck in some hell-variation of a coma.
A part of him wished that was the case, and that he would wake up to the shining eyes of a worried Misty, and all of this nonsense was over and taken care of. They all lived happily every after and no one had to die.
Then he felt the cold of the ground, the sting of his injuries, and the pound in his head. He wasn't asleep—he might have locked himself into a cruel repeat of the same motions; battle, win, lose the title; but he had never been this cruel before. Besides, everything felt different here. Even the scent of dirt on the ground was more lively than he recalled in his dreams.
Yet, he blamed himself. If he had never woken up, Gary would still be sitting at his laboratory, and Misty would probably still be some gym leader. Ash had to believe that no matter what their fates were, anything was better than death—and he brought this to them. A nice package signed Ash Ketchum, holier than thou and disassociated from reality. He was the common denominator of their demise, and while the news did not out right say it—everyone was blaming him, and they were right.
Ash did this to his best friends.
Team Rocket might have taken over in some way down the road, turned the region into a dictatorship—but they would still be alive. For the first time since his uprising, Ash wondered what could have been so bad about Giovanni's plan, that it was worth dying over? Would Ash have died? Wasn't he already down that path, with his recklessness in Unova, in Sinnoh, and even today, when he scaled the highest mountain in the Johto region in the freezing cold based on a whim. He wasn't a superhero, and his reflection that his companions were unbeatable as well was his downfall.
And yet, he was so angry; a blind, white noise replaced any viable conscious thought. How could one organization be so cruel to take people, kill them, and lock away pokemon—he knew why they were fighting them, and yet only now did it affect him so. Before, he was blindly taking the next steps, another adventure, another task before endgame—before he could go back to the way things were before.
Before what, he asked himself now. Before his coma? He was ten back then, and the world was different. He was different. Before the league party? Ash was recovering and mentally and emotionally a walking disaster. He had constantly been working towards some ambiguous goal—focused on what happened next, and not what he needed to know for the current problem and task. Misty and Brock were better at thinking about how to fix the problem while Ash just rode on their coat tails. Saffron didn't work? No problem, he would just keep moving forward. Never stopping. At some point, he would get it right! Even if that meant that once he did, everyone else around him would already be dead!
Ash sat up at the sudden shout in his mind and dread in his chest. He felt ill and constricted and sick to his stomach. He had to calm down—and yet his hands wouldn't stop shaking. Thinking now of all the things he could have done better; he wanted to go back in time to fix everything.
That wasn't possible though, he only had to look forward, to think about the many different aspects he had left.
Revenge.
Anger.
It wasn't just about Ash anymore, or his friends—it was about everyone. Team Rocket wasn't just trying to ruin their lives, they were taking over; killing innocent people, controlling innocent pokemon. They grasped the once magical world of pokemon, and perverted it into a shell of its former glory—and for what? Power, money, control?
Ash looked long into his two companions eyes—pikachu, the living, breathing image of what the world could be—and togepi, the first innocent creature that Ash watched grow into a slow decent into contempt—what the world was becoming.
The time for playing was over, hoping for a peaceful resolution and outsmarting the opponent was gone! Peace and heroism was only going to get him, and everyone he cared about hurt in some way. Rather than facing Team Rocket head on, like they always should have—they tried to beat them at their own game. Get to the legendary pokemon first; snuff out Giovanni—when all along, they should have moved to the source.
Ash's lips quivered, and he tried to keep tears from spilling.
"I'm sorry guys." He breathed. "I'm so sorry." But Ash wasn't just speaking to his pokemon—he spoke of his friends, wherever they were. For not being strong enough. For not being there to help them. But no matter what, he had to see this through. Otherwise, their deaths meant nothing. For a little while, he would let his body and mind go numb, retract all the feelings of hope and optimism, for the ability to end Team Rocket—the ability to win.
"Toge brrrii!" The egg whined, hopping up onto Ash's shoulder—a technique that used to take hours to practice when the egg was newborn. In a simpler time.
Life was never supposed to be this complicated. He was Ash Ketchum—tamer of legendary pokemon and infiltrator of Team Rocket bases. He didn't need a plan, or rules—he needed action. Right. Now.
Ash was tired of doing this diplomatically; like Misty and Brock. Their vision was clouded by the idea that Team Rocket would play with integrity. A damn shame they had none.
Ash was sick of running away, and trying to out-wit the opponent. While Jessie and James had the right idea—weasel Giovanni out of his hole—they had the wrong approach. They were so scared of what Team Rocket would do to them, they never realized that the attack on Unova's base was their smartest plan. Rather than trying to fish out legendary beasts, beat the masters at their games—they should have found the other compounds, taken and removed any Team Rocket affiliations.
Between their plans—Ash lost Misty: a person who beyond words meant nearly everything to him; or at least, was a huge part of his life in every way. She guided him when he was lost, and then eagerly stood at his side when he was ready to walk his own path. She was his best friend more than she was his companion—and she was...gone.
Ash stumbled to his feet, swallowing the lump in his throat, and setting both pikachu and togepi down onto the couch ledge with a shaky exhale.
He lost Gary; his childhood best friend, and confidant when he needed help. Gary was also innocent. Unlike Misty, Gary didn't seek to destroy anyone. He was happy existing, and Ash brought him into this by simply existing. Everything Gary ever worked for, taken away because Ash couldn't face the consequences.
Figure out who was behind the corruption and correct them honestly and in public—failed.
Find the rat and snuff him out using his own plans against him—failed.
Ash had Ho-oh on his belt, two friends down, and still no clue where Giovanni is; he could however, see that the world was unraveling. As were their plans, and his sanity.
No more. Ash thought inhaling and then exhaling. He wouldn't do this by anyone else books—not in the shadows, not in the open. The simplest approach—to fight him toe-to-toe, was Ash's only option now. He didn't have time to play games anymore.
He couldn't play games anymore.
And he couldn't think of his friends—of Misty...or Gary—wouldn't. Not yet. He would grieve after exacting his revenge. After all, a part of him still didn't understand death. He knew what it was, he wasn't stupid after all, but the idea—of someone he cared so much about simply not existing was...
Shaking his head free of thoughts, of the stillness of breath, and cold rising up his chest, Ash launched forward from his position on the ground, and moved to pull together a bag of equipment—the necessities he learned from Misty; ace bandages, ointments, scissors; a full first aid kid and medications. After, he rummaged through the kitchen cupboards with the help of pikachu and togepi—he took the essentials; food, water; anything that could be contained in a can. No perishables. Then finally; and perhaps the most important, Ash approached the lone desk at the corner of the room, and stared down a dusty safe; undisturbed by the mess in the room.
He still heard Samuel Oak's voice in his head.
Damn thing, what was it, 4-1-9-7? Ash remembered Oak cursing in the back of his mind, a long forgotten memory from his time spent at the lab in the summer when his mother was working part time at a restaurant. Oak always had it wrong, because it was eight, not seven. Gary and Ash used to make fun of the old man behind his back and leave the safe ajar to make his hairs stand on end—but they never took what was inside.
Ash slipped beside the safe, and entered the code using the old-fashioned dial the former professor never upgraded—and like a charm, the latch clicked open and Ash breathed quietly. Driven by anger and the burning sensation in his gut, Ash marched from the metallic safe after clipping something into his back pocket and letting his jacket fall over it, and then stared back at his pokemon.
The small, metallic item that rested on top of all of the old notes and journals of the late professor was only a safety precaution; because they all knew at this point one very vital piece of information.
Team Rocket was going to pay, and no one else was going to die.
XOX
Ash didn't bother cleaning up—his first stop was going to be Saffron Tower to beat whomever senseless until they spit out the information that he wanted. He wasn't sure that was the right move, but Saffron Tower was the last place he knew that Misty and Brock were going for sure. After a time, they had turned on the television, just to get an update on the news. A funeral was going to be held publicly for the regions fallen heroes. People were invited to pay their respects, but Ash put it out of his mind. He had no reason to believe that the media held any truth, not after discovering that it, as well as their very own police, were proprietors of Team Rocket themselves. All the news he heard over the last year, he wondered now how much of it was true.
"Did you guys get everything?" Ash asked as he watched pikachu and togepi scamper around, holding individual items. Pikachu held onto a personal identification card for Gary Oak—and also, a key card to most notable businesses in the region.
"Nice going, pikachu." Ash complimented while taking the badge, togepi held up another item. A small, red pokeball. Ash recognized it instantly.
"Charizard's ball, huh?" Ash smiled, then pat the egg on the head. "That will be helpful in case of emergency, and allow him to rest every so often."
Standing up, he allowed both pokemon to climb his shoulder, and then approached the exit with a harness in his hands. If he was going to be bringing the war to team rocket, he was going to need a little more mobility—that included a riding harness for charizard. When the dragon saw it, he didn't flinch like he would have months ago. They trusted one another completely now. If pikachu was Ash's right arm, then charizard was his rib cage, and togepi was his heart. Not to mention, if Ash really got into trouble, he had an inevitable trump card: a legendary beast himself, Ho-oh.
"You ready to go, bud?"
As he stepped into the burned meadow to tie the binding around the dragon, he searched for injury and damage. Aside from the dark scales, he was as good as new—growing larger every day. When he originally caught charizard, the pseudo-dragon was easily eight feet; now, the pokemon was averaging nine, maybe ten, and was bulkier than ever. Focused on his rage, and the task of tying up charizard, he hardly noticed the appearance of two, dark figures in the night.
"Kid." One of them called to him, his voice cutting through the relative silence. "Looks like he saved us a trip."
Ash didn't jump at the words, or spin at his voice. Instead, he turned quietly to the man and his partner who stood opposite of him. Easily two low-ranked thugs from Team Rocket, but the smirk Ash gave them indicated that it was him who just had the lucky day.
"Great," Ash mocked them, "Looks like you two saved me a trip."
They frowned. "I wouldn't talk so big if I were in your shoes."
"Really?" Ash asked, trying to numb the cold sword in his chest. He didn't wince when he saw the guns on their hips; he was ready for this, after all, and so were his pokemon. Searing hot, blue flames already parted charizard's jaws as he faced the men and Ash titled his head.
To think, even in this world, Team Rocket would try to win a leg up while facing down a ten foot dragon, a sparking pikachu, and frustrated togepi was beyond his belief. However, he was grateful to know that in every world, they were still imbeciles, at best. Which was harsh, especially coming from Ash.
"You picked a bad day."
The fight was over before it started, before they were able to finagle their weapons into position, pikachu had them stunned, and charizard had them pinned. One claw for one throat. Ash didn't move, though togepi winced at what he witnessed.
"I think we can talk now, don't you?" asked Ash, and the thugs both whimpered against charizards growing flame, and weight of his body crushing their bones.
Ash didn't let himself think. This was something that he had to do. He has to do. They answer to someone, and someone answers to Giovanni—someone at some point will point him into the right direction. He watched the fire from charizard's mouth—who waited for the command.
Ash just had to...
"...Ash?" A timid, woman's voice called to him from the bushes behind the house, and Ash took a second to turn. He wasn't sure he was hearing right, and he didn't want to break eye contact when he knew it wouldn't take more than a twist to get the men to scream like pigs. Staring back at him were deep blue eyes, a bandaged head, and great concern.
"...May?" Ash blinked, the darkness leaving his eyes instantly, though she looked mortified by what she had stumbled into. She stammered, but then stopped herself.
"What are you doing?" in her accusing voice, May neared them. He barely noticed her limp.
The men were clearly out of their comfort zone, charizard's grasp lightened, but then Ash shook his head, full of questions.
"Let them go, charizard."
The dragon complied slowly, sitting up to let them whine; that wasn't the end, however.
"Pikachu.." Ash said, and with a small bolt of lightning, the two were out cold—breathing, but barely.
Ash didn't need to look at May to see the horror in her eyes. He wouldn't explain how pikachu knew what the proper voltage between death and unconscious were, but he didn't need to. These men were bad people, and if Ash wasn't so damn noble himself, he would have really let them have it. However, he would have never let pikachu be the one to pull the trigger, the same way he would never let charizard.
May was worried over nothing, and yet...
His whole face changed without a second, without any warning, and he looked so hurt and confused—so damaged and broken.
"What happened to them?" If May was still here, she had to know something!
May flinched, blinking wide eyes at his question and then shaking her head slowly, lips pursed in confusion as Ash neared her, grabbing her shoulders to assure himself he wasn't seeing things in his desperate state of mind.
"Misty and Gary.." he sniffled, looking like the young boy he once claimed he was, mixed into the face of an older man. Nothing like the hostile man he was seconds ago. "Where are they?"
XOX
Seeing Ash cry was a horrible sight, almost as horrible as seeing him angry. May could only name a few times in her life she saw someone look so enraged—once, almost seven years ago after her accident, and her father was handling the press with the destructive Team Rocket. A look she never would have imagined crossing the sweet, and innocent face of Ash Ketchum, who walked into her life sporting stories of peaceful times and laughing at bad jokes, and comparing who could eat more. Yet, as quickly as the light left his eyes, it returned, and it burned for answers she didn't have.
"They're um..." She started, shaking her head, trying to rid her mind of what she stumbled into. She brushed her hand over her bandanna. It was bandaged, as was her upper arm and she had a few cuts on her face. Ash pointed them out.
"Are you okay? What happened?" She put up her hands to settle him, to ease the flow of conversation while her head, which ached, mind him, tried to piece everything together. Somewhere during her stumble from the forest, she must have fell unconscious.
"There was an accident, but they're okay."
Relief washed over Ash's face, and he grabbed her into a hug so tight and warm, she thought there was no way that this man could ever hurt anyone, let alone hold two people down for information. She wriggled away from his grasp and shook her head. Ash watched the motion, saw the way she flinched, and knew that something other than his personality was affecting the way she managed.
"May, are you okay?" he asked again.
At that, she chuckled. "I'm.. okay." She said, offering her best attempt at a smile. "We got roughed up pretty bad. I think I fell asleep in the forest on my way here..."
Finally, Ash noticed the bruises and the stagger, and he motioned for charizard to help her stand, which the pokemon did effortlessly, and kindly.
"Then why are you out here? You shouldn't be walking around." he watched her eyes for certain movement, then touched her shoulder again. She wobbled.
"Do you have a concussion?"
"Probably." May snorted, then exhaled. "I just... I snuck away to grab some medical supplies. I was the only one available."
"Medical..." Ash tried not to let the hope of those words get to him, at least, not while May was here. He couldn't fathom how she managed the forest in such condition. Instead, he looked around. "Where?"
"There's an old laboratory that was used for field research toward route seventeen. After the accident, Gary lead us there."
Ash heart fluttered. "So he's okay?"
She didn't look convinced, "...yeah."
Unable to ask the harder questions, Ash bit down on his lip. "Why don't we go back there, instead?"
"I came this far, I have to get what I came for."
"Great. What did you need?"
"Antibiotics...pain killers," She winced, trying to remember her list she clearly forgot on the way here, "gauze?"
"Then you're in luck, because I've already got all of that."
"That sounds good." said May, moments before practically collapsing onto the ground. Ash caught her, and let her down gently to rest.
"We really shouldn't be out in the open like this, they could be watching." May warned him as Ash looked around, recalling the members of Team Rocket. Upon seeing them once again, he felt a pang of guilt surge through his body, but brushed it off as he grabbed May, and hoisted the woman onto his back.
"Alright, then lead the way." He would have wanted to fly—but he wasn't sure how concussions worked, and flying was probably worse than walking, right? Besides, charizard was too noticeable.
"You're not carrying me." She argued, but didn't put up much of a fight.
"You can barely walk, and we'll get there faster this way." She wasn't pleased with the idea, but she accepted on accordance that he wasn't wrong. Ash smiled at charizard, watching the pokemon bow his head respectfully, but then returned to his ball to keep them under the cover of the trees.
"I left ribbon to find my way back..." She breathed on his neck, and he felt worse for her. How did she ever think she would make it back in this condition to begin with? Let alone fend of Team Rocket.
Ash figured that she held on long enough to find help, and if she hadn't, she might not have crumpled the way that she did. With Ash's help, however, the young woman was probably better off.
XOX
Ash made a mental note that he hated the Pallet Forest after night fall, the place was already hard enough to maneuver through in the daylight, mixed with carrying a female, and treacherous ground, he wasn't so sure he would make it there in one piece. Togepi and pikachu kept at his side, watching for ribbons that May spoke of—but May had long since passed out on his back. He wanted her to rest, but Ash also wouldn't have objected her help in finding their way back. Sometimes, he felt like he was going in a circle.
"Pikachuuu..." The mouse whined, wishing they had a light. Ash snapped his finger.
"We do have one." He said with an earnest smile, and then he leaned back slightly so he was able to reach between himself and May, and grabbed a pokeball; the second to his last: monferno.
Ash did not bother to toss the ball, instead, he clicked the button at the top to release the fire ape, and then stashed the pokeball away again.
The ape yawned when he saw Ash, then looked up at the sky, then back at Ash and then shook his head proudly with a grim. Since their last meeting, monferno had healed slightly, and was looking peppy, and bright. Especially bright. He was a grateful, small candle in the night.
"'ey buddy." Ash smiled. "Care to lead the way?"
"Togebriii~" the egg chirped happily, taking a step right behind the ape as it turned to make his way in the direction Ash pointed to as pikachu and togepi filled him in. While charizard was also capable of lighting the way, he was too big. Monferno was the perfect size for this task.
As they trekked more easily through the forest, May's blue eyes slowly peeled open, and she breathed heavily once again on Ash's back, indicating her alertness.
"Feeling better?"
"M'head hurts." She commented, trying to keep her eyes away from the bright light. "Sorry for passing out." said May, but made no attempt to move. He assumed she was too sore to do so, and far past the ranks for arguing with him.
"...we're almost there." She added, wincing into the night, and recognizing a few familiar trees, though Ash would never know how. Gary briefly mentioned May's expertise prior, but Ash would have never believed it. He remembered May always being as lost as he was—but, he supposed—things changed. The thought that they were close to their hideout made his stomach flip for answers, and burn with excitement. Ash thought—no, he knew, if Gary was okay, then Misty had to at least be that, but he couldn't bring himself the heartache of asking. He tried to hide the elation in his voice, seeing as May was still worse for wear.
"No problem. You must be tired..." Ash let his eyes drift to the pieces of her hair he could see. "...care to say why?"
"There was an explosion..." She breathed, trying to burn the imagine out of her mind. "Was pretty bad, too... they took Leaf, and we followed—bad idea..."
Ash's stomach fell. They took Leaf, that explained why Gary was involved and avoiding Ash's phone calls.
"We chased them but...big boom." He couldn't help but chuckle at her description, despite the circumstances. Lightly, he tacked on.
"...and Misty?"
"She's-"
Above them, a shot rang out of the sky, at the horizon line, they both saw something akin to a shooting star pass over the forest, wailing as it reached the stars, and then disappeared. Followed by absolute silence.
"What was that?" Ash asked, and May finally wriggled from his grasp, and placed her booted feet into the uneven ground of the forest.
"That almost looked like a flare." As a ranger, she would have more experience with that than Ash would. He frowned.
"For...?"
Suddenly in the distance, he heard echoes of terror—screams in the night that reached the corners of the forest and erupted in a slow, disturbing hum. May was on her feet, unsteady, yet focused. "That came from the south though—what's to the south of here?"
"Uhh..the Cinabar islands?" Ash muttered, looking up at the fading light above them. Before long, it was dark again, besides monfernos gentle flame.
"Pikapi-" The mouse started, but Ash waved him off, looking into the forest. He heard crying, and shouts in the distance, in the same direction of Pallet Town.
"Did-"
"Pika!" The mouse hissed, forcing Ash to look, and listen. He pawed at his trainers head, turning him to the ape on the ground, who was convulsing and twisting.
"Whoa, monferno!" Ash gasped, falling to his knees to grab him—but was slapped away. May gripped his shoulders to pull Ash up to his feet.
"Is he having a seizure?"
"Pokemon can have those?" asked Ash in a worried tone, eyebrows knitting together. The hairs on the back of his neck rose alongside pikachu's as monferno threw up from his mouth, and clawed his way to his feet, at the same time as trying to claw a hole in his head.
"Monferno-" Ash tried, but when he got near, the pokemon would send out a blast from his tail. Keeping Ash at an arms distance—then the infernal screaming as the ape hacked and gagged on a white foam.
"Oh my god-" May swore, covering her ears and looking to Ash for answers. He didn't have any. He glanced back up at the sky, then back to his pokemon and gave a heartfelt shrug of desperation.
"Toge!" The egg suggested, gesturing to his pokeball and Ash snapped.
"Right!" Ash reached for the pokeball on his belt, and aimed it toward monferno. He looked awful, gasping for air and scratching at his skin so suddenly. Monferno was covered in mud while trying to get control of himself—but when Ash aimed the ball at him, nothing happening.
"He's your pokemon, isn't he?" May squawked, wondering why nothing was happening, monferno wouldn't return otherwise.
"Yeah, of course." Ash said, then tried again—but nothing. Now the screaming was making his head hurt worse, and he could only imagine what was happening to May. She already had a concussion. Ash wasn't a brain, he had no idea what mechanics made a pokeball work—but this one wasn't. Instead, Ash lunged forward to try to sooth the ape the old fashioned way.
He was a step or so into it when monferno shot from the ground screaming, and leaped at Ash, swinging his fists. Lucky for him, before fists made contact, both togepi and pikachu were already on the defensive, and May prepared to draw her own pokemon.
Into the forest monferno crashed, landing hard against a tree.
"Don't hurt him, guys—we don't know what's happening!" Ash commanded, standing straight to peer into the darkness around them now that the flame was submerged. He heard the pokemon, limping in the dark, hacking and crawling beneath the tower of trees. A predator stalking its prey.
"Ash..." May started, her eyes narrowing slowly. "has...has he ever done this before?"
"No, of course not!" Ash shouted in monferno's defense! "I don't know what's happening—it's...it's just everything. Maybe he's upset." But they heard him in the trees now gurgling and strangled.
"This isn't an upset pokemon." May suggested, eyes bright. She's enlarged a pokeball in preparation for a battle. "I've seen this before? I...I think."
"Seen what?" Ash asked defensively.
"You found monferno in a pound, didn't you? Or some medical treatment facility—maybe even a nursery?"
"Well-" He didn't understand why that would matter; he rescued monferno, after all. Then May added:
"Did you check to see if he was tagged?"
Ash didn't answer immediately, and suddenly he knew what this was about. Without words, he looked to May, and then she looked everywhere else to ensure their safety while Ash wrapped his head around the situation.
"...I..I never checked." Ash admitted quietly, shifting his gaze to the forest floors. Both togepi and pikachu whined quietly, concerned for the safety of their friend.
"Well, if he's never done this before—I'd say it has to do with that flare that was shot up, it must have activated something."
"But...that can't be—I mean, monferno, he's-" Fire erupted from the top of a tree, and an all encompassing white light enveloped the forest; swallowing their gaze as both trainer and pokemon shielded their eyes.
This couldn't be happening—he already dealt with one pokemon going crazy, and that was charizard who was of right mind, but cautious—what could he say about an ape being essentially mind controlled? When the light cleared, a giant fire-enveloped ape shot down from the top of the trees, racing to face Ash who in his shock found his legs wouldn't move. Perhaps it was the stress of the last couple of days, or the strain of walking, or the lack of sleep. But his body was petrified as he watched the evolved monferno, infernape's glowing red eyes barreling for him at top speed.
"Blaziken use mega kick!" She shouted as red light submerged, then porpotionally shot the angered pokemon out of Ash's line of sight, and into the tree line.
No long the novice, innocent man he was six months ago, he didn't think he would be running into the arms of infernape to try to control the rapid monkey—save himself the heart ache of broken bones again.
"Is he okay?" he asked, pikachu and togepi rooted to the ground, both waiting for orders from Ash to fight back. This was monferno—chimchar, their monkey companion who spent long nights in forests together, making jokes and fun.
"That's the last thing I think we should worry about right now, we need to neutralize him."
"neutralize him?" Ash echoed worriedly as May shook on her feet as the large blaziken circled the area, watching the frothing at the mouth creature regain his footing.
"Knock him out!" May shouted at Ash, not meaning too—immediately wilting when she saw the fear cross into his eyes.
Ash already thought that he lost two friends today, he couldn't handle another, so May added: "We're not gonna kill him—we just need to prevent him from attacking us!" as she shouted, blaziken propelled the angry ape back into the forest once again, who took the punches like a champion—Ash would have been proud, if he wasn't he the one causing the damage.
Putting his thoughts back on track, Ash inhaled then nodded. "Alright, but what do we do after that?"
May didn't answer, because neither had any clue what to do in this situation. Without proper command, Ash threw greninja's pokeball, and hoped for the best.
XOX
Not ten minutes into the battle, the realized that not only did the microchip sending mixed signals into his head prevent him from hearing Ash call out to him—but it also preventing him from feeling pain. Ash recalled the comment made previously from Misty—about pokemon's heads exploding like a dropped watermelon, and as the battle continued, Ash felt it in his gut that infernape wouldn't last much longer.
His ribs and body were already broken, he was hanging together by sheer determination and anger alone. May's blaziken was the efficient fighter he always imagined it to be, and greninja was holding up his end of the battle as the effective water pokemon. Even still, infernape did not stay down. He was wounded in several places, with an apparent limp and injured arm, but he wouldn't stop. They would push, and he would push back twice as hard—three times the embers ignited the forest, only to be put out by greninja, while pikachu substituted. Infernape worked like their own personal army. It took three of them just to make the pokemon flinch.
He didn't register pain, or emotion—just a rapid amount of strikes that landed Ash and May stuck between a rock and a hard place.
"If we can just get him to stop..."
"I don't think that we can." Ash said instantly, eyebrows lowered. "I mean, look at him—he's barely standing as it, he should already be out for the count."
May glanced to Ash, then over her shoulder—the facility was only a few minutes away—maybe someone heard them and would be in for back up...but assuming they heard everything else, and assumed it was Team Rocket, they could even be preparing to run away. It wasn't like she gave them proper notice of her leaving. If Brock—or Gary- was here, if they could get infernape immobalized for a few minutes, they could maybe remove the chip—but no doubt infernape would die from the injury.
May, as a ranger wasn't particularly stuck on any pokemon—but she refused to watch one die because of some technical garbage it had no control over.
"...Pikapi!" The mouse said from Ash's feet. Togepi was resting on Ash's shoulder, throwing up a shield whenever it was necessary, and greninja and blaziken held the front lines.
"We're not doing that, pikachu! No way!" Ash shouted back, watching as greninja deflected another fiery fist.
"What does he want to do?" May inquired.
"He.. It's nothing, we're not doing it."
"Well, we're running out of choices, unless you want to have your brains mashed against the ground—our pokemon still feel pain!"
Ash glanced briefly at May, then returned his gaze to greninja who gazed at Ash for a split second before landing, and dashing for another attack. Ash breathed.
"Regardless of what it is, if we don't do something now, he's going to die anyways!" May added, and the notion moved Ash to action. He wasn't thinking as clearly as he could, so when he raised his arm to send pikachu forward, he held his breath.
"Pikachu, use thunder!"
Above them, lightning cracked the sky temporarily, ignited by the heat and water residue from the battle, the small rodent sprung from Ash's shoulder blue electricity sparking from his cheeks. Flying past greninja in lightning speed Ash never thought he would see from the mouse again, the pokmeon dove, then latched onto infernape's back, and the loud eruption of the lightning above rained down on the fire ape; crippling it.
The fur, typically untouched by his own flames started to cinder when Ash and May had to look away to protect their eyes. Pikachu was a glowing ball of intense electricity, rivaling the power of an entire power plant, and growing stronger from his own pint-up rage. Beneath his small claws, infernape roared of pain, of anger, and then sadness as the lightning surged from every corner of his body, until he was twitching and smoke rose from he and pikachu's body.
"Pikachu, stop!" Ash shouted aggresively, when the thunder cracked again, he shouted louder. "Stop!"
Then nothing.
As quickly as the damage was started, it ended,without a crack or a drizzle. Pikachu hopped from infernape's back, and the pokemon fell lifeless to the forest floor, his flames all burned out. The mouse squeaked remorsefully, parading around the body as his nostrils flared from the bountiful electircty he produced. He paced back and forth when Ash raced forward, regardless of the fear in his stomach. Nothing could replace the turning in his stomach at what had just happened.
Pikachu warned him once not to get near infernape, but Ash didn't listen when he landed on his knees, sliding in the mud to be next to the pokemon.
Then suddenly, the ape's arm shot forward, latching onto Ash's shirt, and while the rest of the party leaped forward to save him—Ash relaxed into the familiar touch of the pokemon's voice in his head, and calmly grabbed infernape's hand and pat it.
Above the ground, tears soaked into the ground from infernape's eyes as he peered up behind blood and mud, unable to move to see his family. He looked so lost, and destroyed. Beneath his left ear, a buzzing scratch echoed from a small hole created by pikachu's blast, but Ash didn't stroke the injury—whatever he did would only make things worse.
"Is...is he okay?"
"No." Ash groaned, his face hidden by shadows. "But you're okay, buddy. We'll take care of you."
"Pikachu, pikachu pi!" pikachu squeaked at his friend, justifiying his actions. Tears pulled at his brown eyes, knowing that he didn't want to hurt infernape gave Ash hope, but he wasn't sure that the monkey was as receptive to the apology until he wobbled his hand down from the knot in Ash's shirt, and gently placed a heavy, brown palm on top of pikachu's head.
"Aaa." the ape whined, and behind them as May watched the scene unfold shook her head.
"Ash, return him to his pokeball—we can get him taken care of after that."
Ash glanced over his shoulder momentarily at May, then back to infernape who's kind heart never seized to amaze him—and then the forest was brightened with red light as the ape disappeared.
Pinching his eyes shut, Ash leaned forward to grab pikachu as the mouse sobbed into his stomach. The scene was hard to watch from May's perspective, having no attachment to the pokemon, she struggled to see anything more than an angry animal when she returned blaziken to his ball with a thank you. Once the adrenaline faded, she slumped her shoulders.
She waited until Ash's face came into view from his stringy black hair once again, until he was sitting upright and thanking greninja for helping him out of a tight situation again, before speaking.
"We should go...the fire and the noise—it's like a neon sign."
"Right." Ash said, though the same somber tone she saw at the laboratory returned to his features, and she swallowed down her concern as quickly as possible, then forced her legs to move.
Author's Note:
I wanted to showcase some of May's ability, which has been placed on the back burner through most of this story as she has not played a huge part—but if I had to argue with someone in a situation where multiple are 'injured'it would be May who would go first. She and Ash share a lot of the same qualities in that regard. If something needs help/they need a hero, she would be the first person to step up—injured or not. SURPRISE SHE CAME OUT OF NOWHERE?
I, for some reason, was pretty nervous about updating this chapter. It touches on some darker themes that I haven't been into since the beginning of the story
See you soon,
NINT