Locked Away Chapter 62
Water brushed against her skin like ice, sending bolts of lightning up through her legs and the rest of her body. Frozen, she struggled to take in air smelling of salt water as she turned over onto her back, trying to wrap her head around what was going on. She couldn't remember much, giant holes existed where memories of the last few hours should have existed, and her head ached. Oh did it hurt. thinking stung like a stab wound so all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball, and cry.
Her labored breathing didn't sound like her own as she willed her eyes open toward the sky, despite the immediate pain that followed. Blue and gray mixed in a haze, storm clouds and very early morning sun fought for power of the heavens. Even the dim light burned her eyes, but when she tried to raise her arm to cover them, invisible weights kept her body glued to the muddy rocks of the shoreline.
Where am I? She asked herself, clearly disoriented.
Misty's eyes shut again, her lids felt as heavy as her arms. When she tried to move, she realized that the rest of her body was as uncomfortable and sore as her mind currently was, and she gasped sharply for air. Her limbs were pushed to limits no humans should have had the ability to reach; like she was sifting through a barrier of thick mud but her body wasn't hers to control.
Daring the brightness, her lids slipped opened again, this time with more determination and focus, trying to piece together what had happened.
She remembered the explosion between her and Ash, caused by the breaking of the two pokeballs. Unlike Ash, who hit the ground, Misty landed upright, but collapsed. She remembered that the wound on her stomach opened up, and that the ache she was feeling now was probably reminiscence of the head injury that she already had…
Groaning, she forced herself to sit up, and glared out into the ocean. The shore was barren and gray. No trees. She wasn't in, or near Viridian Forest anymore. She blinked, remembering the fire.
In the distance, smoke floated from the horizon.
Then, she tried to look up, at the sound of screeching animals raging above her. Her body creaked and fought the motion as she faced the large, stone structure of the prison facility-what she could only assume was the Sevii islands. At least, what was left of it. She exhaled bitterly, and put her head down to rest again. How in the world did she get here?
She remembered being shocked. She couldn't remember why.
Misty, stop! Rang through her ears and sent her back to the ground, writhing in pain. She held her head, the weights lifted from her arms, but now she couldn't think. Flashes of memories burned in her mind. Events she witnessed but couldn't recall. They hurt like someone was shaking her violently, and then it stopped.
She was numb as tears streamed down her face and she choked on her own words.
Let me in. You can't win.
The last echo she heard, seconds before Misty's mental strength caved to fatigue, and was replaced by some evil creature. Somehow, she had managed to wrestle back control, but she wasn't sure how yet. Maybe he purposefully let her go… though she couldn't fathom why. Was this as far as her body carried her?
Despite her aching bones, she pushed herself up against the sharp rocks, to her knees first, and then finally to her feet. Her knuckles were bleeding, and she smelled like sea water. Bruises she didn't remember getting covered her arms and legs, and a strange tingling sensation gyrated through her bones. Then again, pain let her know she was alive.
Up ahead, was a small trail, and behind her was a boat wrecked into a rocky shore. The pain was probably from catapulting herself out of the boat, if she had to say so herself. Shame she couldn't recall any of it. However, there was no point in going back. This is where Giovanni was. Or… had to be. She could take him out without involving anyone else… after all, now it was personal. Using Mewtwo to control her-devious and hurtful.
Or at least... she thought that it had to be Mewtwo.
Slowly, she took her first step, then the next, and one by one, the steps came easier, and the adrenaline pushed pain out of her mind.
The prison was once upon a time in Kanto history, the most notorious prison in the world. They held everyone from serial killers to rapists. However in recent years, the structure of the prison-a massive stone building guarded by deathly shores-was considered inhumane, and prisoners were transferred out. Lucky for her, that meant whatever damage Giovanni intended to do, was long shriveled up in the sun.
As she walked, Misty covered her mouth with what was left of her sleeve as a horrible smell hung in the air. Nauseous, she faced the chain link fence, broken in several sections from natural wear and tear, and looked for the reason for the stench. As she found her way to the back-entrance, vomit formed at the back of her throat. The locks were open, and she wondered how long this place had been truly unmanned-as far as she knew, most of the prisoners were evacuated over the last few years, there shouldn't have been any real guards, but what she found behind the doors horrified her.
Bodies of people littered the ground—but not just anyone, they were members of Team Rocket, if the logos on their shoulders and black cloaks were any indication. Misty backed up until her back was flush against the heavy, metal door and she kept her mouth covered, and the scream contained in the back of her throat. There was no blood, but the smell... It's what originally started to make her gag in the first place. They were tossed, lifelessly into the back room, which Misty was now standing in.
Her knees buckled, and shook, and she charged through the next set of doors, slamming it one shut behind her. With a loud gasp, fresh air circled through her lungs, and she hacked out the scent and disgust as she veered around to face a very large, and open lobby.
The main entrance to the prison stared back at her, the massive metal door slightly ajar. The ceilings were thirty feet high, reaching a level of darkness that the lights couldn't reach, with hallways that connected the main entrance to the rest of the Victorian-era set up. Old tables were tossed aside, chairs were flipped over, and lights flashed above. The majority of the objects she found were thrown across the room, stuck inside of the stone walls, or broken into pieces at their bases. Upon first glance, Misty thought that the room mirrored the appearance of typical battling arena, and a part of her realized that maybe that's what it was intended for again.
Shuddering, a part of her thought to leave. There may be real boats waiting at the dock of the island, and she could easily escape, find Ash and the others, and come back, better prepared. If there weren't boats, she had enough water pokemon to make it back to Vermillion Bay... or...
Come to me.
The voice blew a gust of wind through the entire arena, and despite the pain, she arched her back, and looked seriously into the darkness down a set of stone hallways.
"No." She barked bitterly, knowing that she sounded a bit crazy. She moved towards the entrance again, then stopped.
….what if she left, and so did Giovanni? What if he was here now, but went back into hiding? What if he escaped because she was too scared to face him on her own?
Misty withdrew herself from the light that the entrance gathered, and backed up until she saw a half-decaying sign that read "Administration" on it. She honestly didn't think that anyone still used this prison, but since it was Kanto's corrupt justice system that sentenced Giovanni, the security here was probably very relaxed, it's no wonder he had no problem finding his success. This was hardly still a prison at all!
Shuddering, Misty marched forward into the darkness, and followed old signs through the layout of the prison. Honestly, she would have much rather his evil lair be located in the Orange Islands, at least then it wouldn't be so creepy. Inwardly, she wondered what was up with crazy men, and hiding in dingy, hideouts. Couldn't they pick a more festive location to take over the world?
Snickering to herself, she sighed deeply when she couldn't share the thoughts with her friends, but the lingering emotions kept her mind occupied as she shuffled to the main office. To be honest, the creepy, dungeon dwellings Giovanni chose to live in was completely unlike the man she met at pokemon league gatherings. Misty always found that Giovanni was more of a business tycoon, who enjoyed a lavish life style... then again, what did she really know about him? He betrayed everyone that knew him, including members of Team Rocket, whose bodies littered an entire room.
She wondered what could have possessed someone to become so evil.
A creak echoed through the hallways as she pushed open the administration doors, happiness flooding through her body as she realized that the lights in this room worked much better. For better or worse, she could see again. The majority of her clothes were dry by the time she turned to the old map of the building and found her location. Droplets of sweat dripped from her hairline, and onto the paper as she quickly memorized the way to the security room and backed away, then circled out of the room.
The stairs leading to the second floor were near the administration office, and she grumbled that there wasn't an elevator, though she probably wouldn't have trusted it anyways.
One by one, she scaled the seemingly endless flight of stairs, gaining her strength back with each step. Sweat poured out of her body, but the momentum energized her. Every hallway appeared the same, with no décor, and terrible lighting, but signs guided her where her memory could not. Focused entirely on finding Giovanni, she pushed until her feet could no longer carry her, then stopped at the security room, and regained her breath.
After all, who was to say he wasn't inside?
Who was to say he was here at all?
Fighting fear with rational thought, she pried open the next door, and immediately covered her mouth.
Another member of Team Rocket lay cold and lifeless over one of the desks, and Misty gagged at the smell. Even the security guard? What on god's earth happened here?
Gathering herself, she tip-toed across the room, finding the smell worse as she ventured nearer the computer screens, but she refused to back away now. When she scanned the screens as quickly as her eyes possibly could, glaring back at her, in a bubbling tank appearing in black and white on the screen, was none other than Mewtwo. The smell invading her nostrils disappeared, her green eyes widened, and she immediately took note of the room he was located in, then darted out of the room without further thought.
Without Mewtwo, Giovanni was just another crazy bad guy. The only creature they were told to fear, at least, according to Jessie and James, was Mewtwo! If she could take out that pokemon, maybe even reason with it, maybe she could end this stupid war!
Rushing to the third floor, she took several turns. Jogging the entirety of the way, her body went numb as she focused on the objective. She swung open one door—nothing. Then she carried on, repeating the process several times until she finally bent over, huffing at the small, crudely built laboratory in an old sick-bay.
The room was dark, save for the illumination of the bubbling tank before her. Sickening purple fluid sizzled inside—and facing her was the long, and pale limp body of what appeared to be a diseased, and sickly pokemon.
"...Mewtwo..." She mumbled, half expecting its eyes to glow white, to jump out of the tank, to directly attack her. When he didn't move, she slunk quietly into the room, and finally tore her eyes away from his figure and to the multitude of important looking control panels.
Naturally, she would have tired to determine what each switch did—but that was before she was dragged half way across the world, nearly blown up, and brainwashed by the pokemon behind her. Instead, she started turning off every switch and lever that had an 'off', and worked her way around the room.
"Do you even know what half of those buttons do, my dear?"
The gagging sensation she was plagued with before t crept back to the back of her throat was pungent. She turned to look at the nasally, deep voiced man wearing an oddly crisp and clean suit for the setting.
"Don't know. Don't care." Misty sneered, flipping another one down, just to watch his brows twitch uncomfortably.
Giovanni. The man of nightmares, the bringer of all this unbelievable chaos—the face behind every malicious intent for the last five years stared back at her with beady, dark eyes. The unbridled rage that curled from every surface of Misty's bones to the tip of her fingers, to the corners of her eyes was indescribable. Unfortunately, he smirked, relishing in the contempt behind her eyes. Giovanni clapped his hands together quietly, unfazed by her determination or hatred.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Misty screamed violently, balling her hands.
"What would I have to say to a worthless person, such as yourself?"
"How about anything close to human guilt!" She yelled back.
"Look at what you did Giovanni! Did you want to watch the entire world burn!?"
When he didn't respond with more than a twitchy smile, she realized that talking to him would serve no purpose, and so she immediately reached around to her belt, and removed starmie's pokeball.
"Isn't it taboo to use a pokemon against a human?"
Misty didn't toss the ball, she wouldn't risk losing starmie in the close proximity. Instead she clicked the release button and watched as starmie formed from the red glow. "There's a lot of taboo laws you have disregarded, and this has to end here!"
For a split moment, starmie looked back at Misty, as if to double check her motives and sanity, then after deciding it was indeed his trainer, starmie glared at Giovanni. He didn't move right away, unsure of what to do without an opposing pokemon to battle.
"Do you really think you should battle here, you may break something."
"I'm planning to!" Misty pointed, but when she raised her finger, a sharp jolt of pain shot through her body, and she fell to her knees.
Hitting the ground hard, she choked on her words, and Giovanni approached once more, flipping back the switches she touched.
"It's a shame that you're such a useful bargaining chip."
Words stuck in her mouth, tongue feeling too swollen to speak properly as her body grew heavy once again. Giovanni walked around starmie without fear. With a shaking hand Misty steadied herself to her feet and gagged.
"St...starmie..." She exhaled, struggling as she felt the numbness grow from her mind to the rest of her body. Her limbs shook violently, but the sensation had all but disappeared. "...break...t...everything..."
Break, was the only command her scared pokemon needed to hear before it leaped into the air, and spun rapidly around the room, knocking Giovanni away, and shattering the controls with sparks of electricity. One by one, the lights turned out, until the only light in the room was the faint glow of the tank behind her. When starmie neared the tank, however, it was shot across the room, flying past Misty, and bringing her back to her knees.
Pressing her hands into the broken concrete below her, she willed the clawing nature of the pokemon out of her mind, but it gripped and pulled until she screamed, grabbing at the sides of her head.
"...Do you know how trivial this is?" Giovanni asked her, but his voice was hazy.
Hot tears streamed down her face. She hadn't realized she was crying, or that the shrill screams were her own. Giovanni's voice was muddled behind the terror in her voice as she desperately pressed her palms into her forehead.
"Give up, you should have never fought us to begin with..."
Suddenly, the memories she fought so hard to recall earlier raced back with such intensity, she felt like she was laying on the floor. She knew that she couldn't be, because she still felt the piercing, broken rocks under her knees, and starmie whining in the foggy background, concerned for his trainer. The ricochet of his rapid spin ripped up more of the control panels before everything went dark again... and so... so cold.
Drifting, the pain subsided into nothingness, and nothingness turned into comfort.
She blinked several times, staring up at the tank where Mewtwo finally looked at her, eyes white, and glowing. Perhaps it was the reflection, but she could have sworn she saw the same menace through Giovanni.
His lips moved, and she couldn't see starmie. Soon enough, she wouldn't be able to see at all. Nothing but the cold ground. Part of her still wanted to move, to release gyarados, like she should have at the start, but her arms lay together before her face, unwilling to move. Stubbornness, would always be her downfall.
Later, she told herself pointlessly. She could fix all of this la...
XOX
Ash didn't think this island was as far away as it was.
Hours since he and Brock parted ways, the flame fueling Ash's anger was slipping in the wake of every crash from Lugia and Ho-oh's battle. Thanks to their battle moving above seas, what should have been a straight shot to the Sevii Islands turned into a violent one.
In his own corner of the boat, occasionally looking angrily at the unconscious Sebastian, Ash mostly watched the battle between the legendary pokemon unfold. His heart hurt. On horizon, he saw clouds in the north that unnerved him, as well as the smoke from the Viridian Forest that made him lean further back against the hull's metallic seat.
At the front of the boat, Jessie and James were as calm as ever—Meowth even took a nap. Ash couldn't find the ability to rest, but had somehow managed to coax pikachu and togetic into an ill slumber.
Every time he closed his eyes, if he didn't see the dead body of his mother, he saw some twisted image of Misty suffering the same fate. Usually, he was full of optimism, but since the battle of legendary pokemon started behind him, he felt hollow. Ash couldn't explain it, but there was something seriously wrong about two alike pokemon fighting as violently as these two.
When Ash couldn't handle the growing pit in his stomach, he turned back to Sebastian, and thought about how much of this could have been avoided, if they got to him first. A weasel; a monster of a human being a...
"Jessie said I should sit back here with you before you die from exhaustion." James voice tore into Ash's train of thought, but he hardly moved to watch the man.
Extending a steaming cup of what Ash assumed was tea, the rocking ship nearly tilted the liquid out of James' fingers, resulting in a comical face, that barely amassed a chuckle from the trainer. Ash took the cup, careful not to disturb his pokemon, and then settled back to drink the fluid, in hopes it would relieve the tension.
"You know," James started, sitting beside Ash and clamping his hands together over his knees. Ash knew they must have been nearing the island if James was preparing one of his pep-talks. Ash was both too tired to encourage him elsewhere, and too exhausted to listen.
"We haven't always been fully honest with you."
"I never expected you guys to be."
"We... we aren't perfect, we have simply been at this for so long with no success, we couldn't chance screwing it up—and now, the world is literally on fire. Everything that we didn't want."
"Sometimes things don't go as you planned, James. I'm living proof of that." Ash nodded in attempt to reassure James, but it did nothing.
"You know... Jessie, Meowth and I, we feel it, too." James peered at Ash from the side, and sat back to glance over at the birds.
Ash sort of figured they would feel the same hole in their chest as he did. After all, they all shared the same gift. If Ash, for whatever reason, was more connected to pokemon, then he didn't expect any less from the former Rocket Trio.
"Do you remember when you started to understand pokemon?"
"...No. I mean, it was hit or miss when I was first out of my coma, but I spent so little time around them." reminiscing the 'good ol' days' he spent at Misty's gym only made his chest hurt worse, and he glanced back to land. Praying he would see it again.
"We remember," Licking his lips, James paused for a time, like the memory was painful. "We were on Route One, about to make a bad pass at the Viridian City pokemon center when a flash of lightning popped a hole in our balloon. We crash landed, and the last thing any of us could remember, we were looking up at a stream of rainbows, and listening to someone screaming."
Ash's ears perked. Vaguely, he remembered that moment himself. Misty had told him several times that he was out. Jessie and James were one of the first people he had ever encountered when he first went comatose; it wouldn't surprise him if they were both so close to the original accident.
"Why are you telling me this now, James?"
"Because, up until that point, we were laughing stocks—and we turned it around because for whatever reason, we could hear them." James chuckled. "At first, Jessie and I thought we were losing our minds, that we hurt ourselves pretty bad when we fell, but it lead to one of the greatest advantages that we ever had... and the greatest burden. We feel the pain like you do..."
"And then you became evil and created weapons that could contain the legendary pokemon, despite that connection. Yeah, I know this bit, James."
His expression soured. "It never felt good."
"You still did it." Ash replied, believing he understood Misty and Brock's stance for the first time. "If it hadn't been for you two, Giovanni wouldn't have half the power he has now."
Stunned, James sat back, sucking in his lips stubbornly, and looked up to the sky. Ash sat forward, grabbing the older man's shoulder in reassurance. Surprised, James looked back down to Ash's expression, which was warped with kindness.
"You, Jessie and Meowth really screwed up back then. You made a lot of wrong choices—and if you're looking for forgiveness... I forgive you. I already forgave you the day you saved us from Saffron City. You three may not have been perfect, you made many mistakes—but you're trying to fix them, and that's far more important than any bad you've ever done."
Maybe it was the reflection of the early sun on the ocean, but Ash swore he saw a tear in James' eye.
"We...we should have never exploited the connection Meowth shared with you to help this along..."
"But you did, and now we're trying to fix it. C'mon James don't get all sappy on me now, we're almost at the end of this."
"...I guess, I just wanted you to know that you weren't the only one affected that day."
"Yeah, but one of us took a nap for ten years, and the other started the gears to world domination."
James chuckled, and shook his head in his hands. It wasn't funny, the situation was sad, and horrific, but in that moment, the macabre situation was nothing but funny. One by one, Ash and James started to crack up, their laughter filling the end of the boat, and echoing into the sea.
"Is it funny that you're going to lose?" Sebastian's voice was a surprise to the both of them, and Ash's pokemon snapped awake and were on defense in a second. Staring at them were lifeless, blank eyes. As dull and emotionless as Misty's were hours ago.
"You're under that monster's control." James muttered, unable to even say his name.
"Monster?" The voice possessing Sebastian chuckled, moving against his restraints. "This man was already a monster...not nearly as fun as controlling that feisty red-head."
Ash snapped, and was up with fists balled and swinging, James barely had time to grab him and pull him back.
"What do you want?!"
"To tie up lose ends. To ensure you that you will fail." and then with a single crack, without moving the rest of his body, Sebastian's head spun in one direction, with a fatal snap that left him sagging.
"Oh my god!" Ash and James screamed in unison, earning Jessie and Meowth's attention, who only witnessed the last part.
"What was that!?" Ash screamed at James who backed away from the body. "James... What. Was. That!?"
"Mewtwo." Jessie muttered, inhaling. "He and Giovanni must be getting anxious."
"I don't care about that, he just snapped Sebastian's neck like a twig" Ash was practically hyperventilating, the lack of sleep seeping into his bones, adding to his own pokemon's anxiety. "—He—he didn't do that to Misty did he? He can't do that to Misty?"
"Hey, don't think like that." James tried to calm Ash down, extending his hands to try to grab the man, but Ash backed up, nearly falling off the boat. The islands were only a skip away now, if Ash wanted to, he could swim to them—he had been so caught up talking with James, he didn't realize.
Still frantic; scared, Ash screamed: "How powerful is Mewtwo!?"
"Not powerful enough to control anyone on this boat so calm down!" Jessie screamed, which finally forced Ash to sit and take in deep breaths.
"You knew what was happening!"
Stunned, Ash rubbed his face as his pokemon hovered around him, to ensure his sanity. "I don't remember him being so...so...evil..."
"Do you remember him at all?" James asked, brows raised. A strange calm washed over them again, and Ash shook.
"Not really." Ash's brows furrowed, recalling the voice in his head in the Viridian Forest that nearly left him broken. "Are we immune to his control?"
"Not entirely, maybe it's the connection we have to pokemon, but Jessie and I have never been successfully controlled... meowth, on the other hand..."
Pokemon are easier to control, especially if they're already weak. Meowth's tail wagged side to side as he explained. Don't let it control you, and get ready. We're almost there.
While Jessie and James turned to the islands, Ash looked back at Sebastian carefully. A sinking feeling filled his chest, that more bad was happening, especially now that it was so quiet on the waters, despite the fragmented cries of Lugia's and Ho-oh's battle. Ash wondered when it would end... but knew the ending would probably not be one that he wanted. In that moment, it seemed almost suiting that Ho-oh rocketed into the water, spraying a tidal wave of water in their direction, and ripples that shook the boat. Lugia pranced in the sky above them as the sky darkened even at day break, and Ash tried to think positive thoughts.
"What should we do with the body?" slipped from his lips, the man before him shifting lifelessly as they broke the shore of the first island where the tiresome, looming prison was built into the side of the island.
"We will have to leave him here for now." Jessie groaned, clasping onto Ash's shoulder, and pushing him forward.
James was the first out, so he tied the boat to the small, wooden dock. Then he assisted Ash with his exit while meowth, pikachu and togetic pranced effortlessly to the rocks. Jessie hobbled to the rocky shore as Ash moved to explore, and to get away from the boat before he lost his lunch. More than ever, he wanted to find proof that Misty was here. When he reached the top of a few rocks, he was overwhelmed with relief upon seeing a similar boat, which quickly faded when he saw that it was broken into many pieces.
"That must be Misty's!" Ash announced, walking towards it before anyone could tell him not to. Pikachu and togetic where at his side, chanting words of optimism as the sound of crushed rocks and crashing waves filled their ears.
She's not there. Togetic mewed beside Ash, but he didn't stop. He trudged forward even though Jessie and James called after him, only stopping once he was on top of a rock, overlooking the ruined boat. There wasn't much of a show, but he saw the indent of what looked like a person sunk into the sand.
She's here somewhere, he could feel it. Hopefully unharmed.
For a single moment, Ash allowed the slightest ping of hope to fill the void in his chest, and he turned to Jessie and James eagerly, eyes begging them for answers, for the strength to move forward. He was going to save Misty. He was going to stop Giovanni. He was going to put an end to Mewtwo and all of this senseless fighting.
Then, all in one breath, Ash felt peace wash over him—an expression he shared with both Jessie and James who looked out to sea, where the legendary pokemon were still battling. Lugia, who up until a few seconds ago, was swirling aimlessly in the sky, shrieking madly, came to a complete stop. Frozen in the air, his eyes faintly returned to their normal sea-blue, and hostile wings lowered slowly, bringing the ocean itself to a calm. It was as if someone flipped a switch and the fight was over.
A crack in the clouds above opened sunlight onto the dark island, as well as the battle, and in the distance Ash saw the storm clouds lift. Somewhere out there, Gary, May, Drew and Brock—they succeeded. They stopped the chaos, they stopped the pain... they ended the nightmares that made Ash's stomach twist and turn since the moment it started and for once, Ash's shoulders relaxed.
They won. If only a little.
Before relief swallowed him whole, Ash looked up at Lugia, who spun carefully, testing the waters of his own movement. Ho-oh was still submerged somewhere under water, but the great beast of the sea seemed mildly unaware as he hummed, healing the wicked tension. As if the beast knew that Ash was watching him from a spot on the island, he turned, and flew forward.
Since he awoke, Ash never had the chance to meet any of the legendary pokemon that made up the majority of his dreams, but Lugia, he shared a deep and special bond with. The pokemon was the first he could remember that changed his perspective on life—the pokemon he thought was gone from the beginning when he heard that the Orange Islands were have underwater.
His emotions could best be summed up as joy as he raised his hand in a wave. Where he was, what he was about to do meant nothing because for a few moments, they were at peace again. If his friends could successfully quell the beasts, stop the towers—then maybe there was a peaceful resolution after all.
Ash... It was almost like a song in his head that nearly brought tears of joy to his eyes, nothing like the horrible screech from Ho-oh that brought him to his knees. Lugia was the protector, the guardian of the ocean, and the first to ever believe Ash was chosen. A friend.
The world fell away when Lugia swooped gracefully, shaking away the control that the league held over him, urging the world to forgive his actions these last few hours. Even togetic and pikachu shouted eagerly at the legendary pokemon; and while Ash spent ten years discovering new ones, stood toe-to-toe with Ho-oh, he never realized how powerful and truly majestic they were until now, when Lugia's voice pulled a healing glow out of the very ocean, and brought a sense of validation and relief over himself, and his pokemon.
Ash closed his eyes. He wondered if Misty could feel it, wherever she was. If Giovanni could feel it, and know that he had lost. Even Jessie and James, who were eager to have this over with stopped and leaned against one another in the almighty glow before them.
This was the power they needed at their side to win. Giovanni could never face the might of a true god. Ash's eyes slowly opened, a soft glow before him—especially not the power of two. With both Lugia and Ho-oh at their side, Giovanni would fall and-
"Wait stop!" James scream snapped Ash out of his illusion of grand-revelation as the glow Ash saw before them was fire and burning laava on top of the ocean waves. Ho-oh ripped out of the water like a demonic presence, and struck like a torpedo at Lugia, knocking the newly awakened bird out of his trance, and back into the fight.
Ho-oh emerged from the water changed, his dainty feather-like appearance that kept him smooth like scales were flared up, releasing fire from every orifice as flames decorated the colorful winged bird, and his large talons finally ripped lethally into the calmed guardian of the ocean, and with a swoop so violent and clean, ripped into the flesh of the white-beasts neck, and with one snap...
...it was over.
"No!" Ash screamed, shattering the lie of peace and relaxation in a single moment, that Ho-oh could hear, realizing his mistake the second Lugia fell from his claws, and began his decent lifelessly to a watery grave.
Author's Note:
So, here's a tip. TECHNICALLY, you could take out the last six chapters, and still be on track with the story as it pertains solely to Ash's POV. I went into detail of how May, Gary, Dawn, and Brock defended the rest of the world because I wanted to demonstrate that while Ash is the hero of this story, the rest of the world is more than capable of functioning without him. Also I wanted to build the world a bit more and give insight to the side characters.
Furthermore, if you took a drink every time someone passed out in this story, you would die from alcohol poisoning. I don't recommend it. Please drink safely.
IF YOU DON'T LIKE CHEEZY THANK YOUS, LEAVE NOW, AND WAIT FOR THE NEXT UPDATE.
That being said; I wanted to say thank you, to a few people that have still reviewed up until this point. I typically find that this clutters too much of the story, but I'm feeling really sentimental, and don't always have time to reply to reviews; and damn it, you guys. You read so much of my up and down writing, lived through so much of my wonderful, then horrible updating schedule so... I feel like I have to include a bit of thank yous.
This is in no specific order, and I originally wrote a specific thank you to each person, but this got so long, I've just added your names; but just know. I so very much have appreciated every review, every word of encouragement, EVERY word of criticism and just everything. Thank you so much for reading, I hope I'll see you all again in the future.
AshPli, Cake0108, Bigb360, Super Kamehameha, reppad98, MjrGenMatt,, Drahjan, Alphadelta-23, Tobias Morrow, Selias, Ranger Station Charlie, goldengladia, lewovo, Unsinn, Mrs. Nose, QUEENSPELLER67, Julie Togepi, PokeshipHeart, FozyPaws3, Miss Starfire,
And that was only the people from the last few pages ( If you're name isn't included, it's because I didn't go older than June of 2017, sorry!) of reviews. I read them, I do, and I love them so much.
So many of you reviewed EVERY chapter as they came out, or went back and reviewed every chapter until the end of the story and I find that is so AMAZING. As much HELL as this story was to write because of technical issues and life simply happening, I've enjoyed it, and I enjoyed it even more, if you all enjoyed it as well.
Thank you. Keep being awesome.