I'm so glad that people reviewed for the first chappie, so i thought i'd put another one up! I know i'm not allowed to answer reviewers here(because i can just hit the reply button), but can i answer the anonymous ones here, right? Oh well, they need to be answered.
Thank you??? (nice name... lol)
advanceshipping fan - i can't tell you who dies. i'll get in trouble with myself...
And is it just me, or are the angst stories here are always dead? (maybe it's just me...) please, angst-writers! WRITE! (I have an imaginary shirt that says "I LOVE ANGST FAN FICTION")
more warnings that i just thought up. okay, so yes, be aware that i write some needless bloodshed. people run away many, many, many times, and I was in a different universe when i wrote this. What a wonderful universe it was though! (Maybe i'll continue the journey tonight)
I still don't own Pokemon.
By the way, when i wrote this, we were just leaving Lilycove. So in the story, May still uses Combusken, but we leave out that Kelly chick, and...oh, you'll see.
May awoke the next morning, finding Max still asleep in the sleeping bag a few feet away from her, and Brock also still asleep even farther away from her.
But the problem was, Ash wasn't in his sleeping bag. And May didn't remember him coming in the last night.
May stretched her arms out and went into the separate part of the tent to get changed privately. When she was done, she went outside and found Ash sitting right where he was the last night before he went into the woods.
"Hey, Ash," she said quietly, seating herself beside him.
Ash took a small glance at her, but then turned his gaze away. "Morning, May."
"So when did you get back last night?"
Ash was silent for a while before answering, "Late."
May pondered over this for a minute. "Um… Brock did say we might be able to set out for Lilycove City… Do you think…?" her question trailed off. She wasn't exactly sure how she was going to word it…
"Of course, May. We should keep going. I'm absolutely fine," Ash responded flatly.
"Okay…" May paused, but when Ash said nothing, she spoke up again. "Pikachu's going to get his memory back, you know."
Ash didn't answer that. But he did say something. "You know, Pikachu was my very first pokémon. I didn't even want a Pikachu. But I overslept on the day when I was supposed to go get my pokémon, and so when I finally got there, the pokémon I really wanted was already gone. So I was stuck with Pikachu… I'm glad I got there late…"
May didn't respond. Without Pikachu, Ash was acting like a completely different person… Not that person who he was the other day when he was talking about how psyched he was for his next gym battle… She wondered if he even wanted to go to his next gym battle anymore.
She looked to Ash again, who was gazing to the horizon, completely silent.
Whoa… 'Ash' and 'completely silent' do NOT belong in the same sentence! May thought.
Just then, Ash and May heard two huge yawns from behind them, and when May turned around, she saw a groggy looking Brock and a half asleep Max.
"Hey, guys," Max mumbled, plopping himself next to May and watching Brock begin breakfast.
"Morning, my sleepyhead brother," May responded, poking Max. "I was actually beginning to wonder if you were going to sleep all day long…"
Max yawned again. "I was just tired, 'kay? We all were. Right, Ash?" He looked to Ash, wanting some support.
Ash eyes almost drooped when he heard the word 'sleep', and reminded himself that he had barely gotten any sleep the last night… Not after that nightmare…
"…Ash?" Max asked again, waving a hand in front of Ash's face. "Hellooo? Anyone in there? Yah know, Ash, you look real tired. Did you get enough sleep last night?"
"Not by a long shot," Ash replied bluntly.
"Well, I didn't hear you come in the tent last night, so you must have been out for a pretty long time," Brock commented. "I stayed up real late to be there when you got back… But I guess I fell asleep, huh?"
"Uh, yeah…, I guess so…"
Brock changed the subject. "So, we can set out to Lilycove City today and be there by tonight… What do you think, Ash?"
Ash glanced at him. "Why are you asking me? If we're going, we're going."
"But Team Rocket—" Max began.
"If I know Team Rocket—and believe me, I do—they'll probably run into us sometime… I mean, they still steal pokémon…," Ash cut Max off. "Besides… Pikachu's going to get his memory back real soon, and then he's going to come back to us."
Brock turned away from the other quickly, trying to hide the worried expression on his face.
"What is it, Brock?" May asked, catching a glimpse of his face.
"Umm…nothing… It's just that Pikachu…" he trailed off, not wanting to say the wrong thing.
"What about Pikachu?" Ash asked coldly, not liking Brock's tone of voice.
"Um, Ash… You do know that Pikachu may…may never…"
"Never what!" Ash queried impatiently, now staring at Brock intently.
Brock took a deep breath and met Ash's gaze steadily. "There is a chance that Pikachu won't regain his memory… Especially if Team Rocket keeps filling his head with false memories…"
Ash quickly looked away. Pikachu losing his memory was one thing, but completely losing it for good was something else. "You really could've told me sooner," he mumbled.
"I didn't want to worry you," Brock responded.
Ash paused for a long time. "You should've told me anyway…"
After that, it was pretty silent throughout breakfast. And when they were all done eating, Brock told them that they were going to hit the road again, but not before shooting Ash an 'are-you-sure?' look.
Ash just nodded and let Brock and Max lead the way.
They reached the edge of Lilycove City just in time to eat a late supper.
May sat herself on a bench near a telephone pole and helped herself to some of Brock's food. It had been a long day, and the trip had been pretty much uneventful. Ash, she and the others had noticed, stayed silent the whole trip, only leaving them to strike up a conversations among themselves.
May threw a glance at Ash, who was behind her on the grass, but before she could say something, her eyes caught onto the banner that was stuck to the telephone pole.
"It's…an ad for a contest!" she exclaimed excitedly. She looked to the others. "You guys don't mind if I enter, right? Right? Right?"
"I don't mind," Max and Brock answered in unison.
"How 'bout you, Ash?" May asked, looking over to Ash who was now absentmindedly pulling blades of grass out of the ground. When he didn't answer, May pressed. "Ash…hello?"
"Hm?" Ash looked up at her. "Were you talking to me?"
May put her hands on her hips, slightly annoyed. "Yes, I was. I was trying to ask you if you would mind if I entered myself in the Lilycove contest that's the day after tomorrow."
"Oh… Yeah, sure, May. Go for it…"
May nodded. "I better start practicing tomorrow!" She looked at Ash yet again. "And would you please stop abusing the grass!" She turned her attention from him and smiled. "I've got to win my third ribbon here!" And she hopped of to get to sleep so she could wake up early the next day.
But before she could go too far, Max called out, "Hey, what pokémon are you going to use?"
May stopped in her tracks. Well, when she won her first ribbon, she had used Beautifly… And when she won her second, she had used Skitty… The last contest she entered went horribly, and she had used Bulbasaur…
"I think I'll use Combusken this time!" she called back to him. "So I'll start practicing with him first thing tomorrow!"
From the bushes just twenty feet away, Jessie, James, Meowth, and Pikachu were watching carefully.
"Do I hear revenge?" Jessie whispered.
"What are you talking about, Jessie?" James asked.
"She's got an evil plan, I know it!" Meowth said.
Jessie pulled Meowth, James and Pikachu into a huddle. "This is the plan. When twerpina is training with her Combusken tomorrow… Well, if she ever leaves Combusken with twerpo—"
"Wait. Which twerpo? The tall one, the short one, or the one with the hat?" James asked. There were too many twerps these days, and since they called all four of them 'twerp', they made up a slightly new system. Twerpina or twerpette was the girl twerp. Twerpo meant one of the boys. They still called them 'twerp' in general, but this system was so they wouldn't get their twerps mixed up when they talked about their evil plans.
"The twerpo with the hat, duh!" Jessie hissed.
Pikachu's cheeks began to spark, and it took all of Team Rocket's self-control to prevent themselves from backing away. They would get used to Pikachu sparking but not frying them eventually.
"Anyway," Jessie continued. "If she leaves her Combusken with the twerpo… We can jump out and get some more revenge."
"How?" James asked.
"Well, this is what we'll do…" And Jessie explained her plan to the others.
Meowth looked up after she was done explaining. "Um, what if da other twoipos are dere too? Can we still pull it off?"
"Of course," Jessie replied. "It doesn't really matter who's there. It just matters that it happens. Right, Pikachu?"
"Pika!" Pikachu agreed, happy with the plan.
The next day, Ash sat in the grass, watching May practice with Combusken. He had to admit, they were pretty good, and Combusken's new moves were great. Back when Combusken was a Torchic, he couldn't learn cool moves like Fire Spin or Sky Uppercut.
Max and Brock had gone ahead to get some good food from a local restaurant, and May said that she would join them later. As for Ash, he wasn't too hungry at the moment, so he didn't say anything.
And yesterday, when they were traveling. Ash just felt so uncomfortable without the familiar weight of Pikachu on his shoulder… Without Pikachu to talk to… Just…empty. That the only word Ash could describe it with.
Or maybe I'm just feeling empty…, Ash thought.
He tried to concentrate on May, trying to get his mind off the subject that Pikachu just wasn't there anymore, and that he might never come back…
"Combusken, use Sky Uppercut!" May called out.
The claws on Combusken's hand began to glow, and he brought his claws up to present a powerful attack.
When Combusken was done, he looked pretty tired. Ash couldn't blame him—May had been practicing with him for almost an hour.
"Okay, Combusken, that should do for now. You're going to do great in that contest tomorrow! But right now…let's get you some breakfast." May looked around, but didn't find the pokémon food. She almost smacked her forehead. "Brock must have the pokémon food." She turned to Ash. "I'm going to get the pokémon food, and maybe pick some breakfast up for myself. Can you stay here with Combusken?"
"Sure…"
"Okay. Thanks, Ash!" And before Ash knew it, May was out of sight.
He looked to Combusken. "Well, I guess it's just you and me now, isn't it?"
"Bus…ken…," Combusken replied, looking to Ash warily. "Combusken?"
"What is it?" Ash asked curiously.
"Busken combusken ken busken combusken bus…"
Ash sighed, beginning to figure out what Combusken was trying to say. "Are you worried about Pikachu?"
Combusken nodded, but then pointed at Ash.
"And you're worried about me?"
Combusken nodded again.
"Well, you don't have to… At least, you don't have to worry about me. I'm fine. Absolutely fine. You should be worried about Team Rocket, because once I get my hands on them…they're going to be so sorry…," Ash said, anger ringing through each and every word he spoke.
"Oh, we're shaking in our boots!" came a feminine voice from the bushes.
I know that voice, Ash thought, his anger growing. "Okay, Team Rocket, get the hell out here!"
And out of the bushes jumped Jessie, James, Meowth, and Pikachu.
"Prepare for trouble, revenge is the plan!" Jessie sang out.
"Make it double, because you know that you can!" James continued, just as happy as Jessie.
And aren't they all just wonderful rays of sunshine, Ash thought sarcastically, tuning out most of the rest of their little motto—or whatever it was supposed to be.
"—Prepare to fight, fight, fight!" James finished.
"You got dat right!" Meowth said.
Pikachu jumped next to Meowth. "Pikachu!"
"Woooobbuffet!" The blue pokémon let himself out of Jessie's pokéball again.
"Chime chime chime!" said James's Chimecho, in that soothing voice.
But Ash wasn't comforted in the least. "What do you want!"
"Weren't you listening? Revenge, of course!" Jessie answered, acting bored. "Aren't you glad we begin to win for a change?"
Ash glared at them. "Yeah, that's right. Enjoy it while you can, 'cause it ain't gonna last that much longer! Pikachu is going to come to his senses soon enough. I know so."
"Whatever gets you to sleep at night, twerp," James responded with a yawn, and Pikachu jumped on his shoulder.
Ash flinched. When was the last time Pikachu jumped on his shoulder? "What are you guys going to do?" Ash asked them, hoping he could still kick their asses without hurting Pikachu.
"Easy," Jessie answered. "We're going to have Pikachu attack twerpette's Combusken. You do know that Combusken really can't defend himself against Pikachu…unless he attacks him…"
"KEN!" Combusken shouted.
"Never! I'm never going to attack Pikachu!" Ash added, just as angry as Combusken.
"Then are you just going to stand there while your twerpfriend's Combusken gets an electric attack? You're just going to stand there and watch her pokémon get tortured like that?" Jessie inquired, a smile on her face.
Ash didn't respond. No way was he going to let Combusken get hurt, and no way was he going to let Pikachu get hurt…
James mimicked Jessie's smile. "I'm gonna make Pikachu use one of his attacks in five seconds, so you better make up your mind."
"Combus," Combusken exclaimed, his eyes flashing. Ash knew he wasn't going to attack Pikachu, but it was like he was telling him that he could take it.
Ash shook his head at Combusken. "There's no way in hell I'm going to let you guys hurt Pikachu or Combusken!" he shouted.
"You've got to make up your mind, twerp. Who's going to get an attack? Combusken…or Pikachu?" James asked.
Ash bit his lip.
James smirked. "Okay, Pikachu! Use Thunder, now!"
Pikachu jumped off James's shoulder and began charging electricity. Since Pikachu looked like he was gaining a lot of power, Ash thought it may take a few seconds.
"So who's it gonna be?" Meowth asked.
I'm not going to let my pokémon hurt May's Combusken! Ash then made a split second decision. "Me!" he yelled, in answer to Meowth's question, jumping in front of Combusken just as Pikachu let out his Thunder attack.
His most powerful attack, Ash thought quietly, watching the huge beam of lightning arc towards him… He could just glimpse Pikahchu's smirking face…he liked to do this to him…
Just then, white hot pain swept across Ash's body. He heard a screaming in a distance and briefly wondered whose it was…
He barely felt himself getting blown back several feet. Ash still heard that same person screaming, but it stopped abruptly when he slammed into the ground. He realized it was him screaming all along.
His whole body screaming, Ash couldn't even make out the happy words Team Rocket were singing. He could taste blood in his mouth, and noticed that he was biting hard on his tongue.
"Pikachu, Iron Tail Attack! Let's do it!" someone's shout hit Ash's eardrums like a sledgehammer.
He then felt like someone dragged a tip of a torch along his leg, and it began to hurt like…like… Ash couldn't describe it. He had never felt this much pain…ever… I think…I think Pikachu's Iron Tail just…just grazed me…, Ash thought.
"Use Thunderbolt!" Another shout…another sledgehammer.
And more pain. Ash felt himself getting thrown in the air again, but this time his forehead connected with a rock, bringing instant darkness.
Whew. Okay, want the next one? I can get it out fast, because i already have the whole story finished. If you want it, there's a magic button that gets it here faster. Maybe you should try it...