Hi! I hope you enjoy the 7th chapter of Pokemon: The Final Journey!
Disclaimer: I (sadly) do not own Pokemon. However, I do own all my ideas and this plot. If it is plagiarized, I have all rights to repeatedly whack your head with Misty's mallet.
Previously...
Soon we were all hooting with laughter, even Paul, although I was pretty sure he was laughing at us more than with us. I forgot about our troubles, because at that moment, all that mattered was being back on the road with all my best friends. And Paul.
*Misty POV*
I looked up at the fading sunset as we rode our Pokemon towards the Power Plant in comfortable silence. Pink, purple, and orange melted together as the yellow glow of the dimming sun met the land. I smiled to myself. I couldn't help but feel giddy. I was on a daring, adventurous journey with all my best friends. Definitely dangerous, but it sure beat sitting in a Pokemon Gym all day. I'm the kind of person that has to be doing something, not just sitting on the sidelines and wishing to join the fun. I'd always thought that I was meant to do something. Not just beat countless numbers of newbie trainers at the Gym or even go on a Pokemon journey with Ash. I needed to contribute to something, to change something in the world for the better. I'd dreamed of making my mother proud. And here came Ash and his friends on a quest that they knew was life-threatening, but they took that risk because they knew it had to be done. It was meant to be. And what better way to help the world than by saving it from a tyrant Pokemon gone wrong?
The sun was almost gone now. The sky slowly twisted into a dark purple shade as the sun sank under the horizon.
"It's beautiful," I breathed.
"Yeah," Ash said. I jumped, startled. I turned around to see him riding my Corsola. I met his chocolate-brown gaze and grinned. I still couldn't believe that Ash, the love of my life, was just a few feet away from me. It was like a dream. I was so afraid I'd look back and he'd be gone, and I'd wake up with my sisters screaming at me that there was a challenger at the door. After all my years of longing and yearning, he'd finally come back. Sure, I'd been lonely, but….he was busy. All that mattered was that we were reunited again. Ash had really changed over the years. He'd developed muscles and he was finally taller than me, but his hair was still the same unruly mess it'd been before. He acted differently also, well, at least around me. He had always respected me, but now, it was like he was trying to make a good impression. And believe me, he certainly had made an impression on me.
I was happy to see Brock as well. Of course, he knew about my crush on Ash since the beginning, though I could never figure out how. But, apparently, I'm really easy to read.
I let my eyes wander over to Dawn and Paul. I chuckled to myself as I pondered the odds of ever finding two people who were more different. While Dawn was a bright and innocent goody-goody, Paul was….not. He wasn't a bad person, just not an innocent one. He'd seen and been through too much, and it was haunting him. I had no clue what made him so hateful, but I knew it went beyond just being born without a personality. Ash sure didn't like him. But there was something about the two of them; I just couldn't quite place it. They sort of…balanced each other out. And you know how the old saying goes: opposites attract.
"Ooh! Look! We're here!" Dawn cheered while pointing forward. I had no idea how all that excitement could fit into such a small body. I'd been afraid that we wouldn't really understand each other because we were so different, but we were getting along just perfectly. Maybe that sweet little blunette's optimism was really getting to me.
When the water became shallow enough for us to walk in, we hopped off our Pokemon and waded to the shore.
"Great job, Gyrados," I recalled my Water/Dragon Pokemon back into his Pokeball. Everyone recalled their Pokemon, and Ash returned Corsola to me.
"Woah…." I said as I leaned my head back so I could see the whole building. The Power Plant was a red-and-yellow skyscraper that seemed to touch the stars in the night sky.
"How're we going to find Zapdos in this?" Ash whined. I looked at him.
"Guess we'll find out," I said.
Dawn looked deep in thought.
"Well, he'll probably be in the top, right?" she said.
"Why?" Paul asked.
"Well, you know. Zapdos is a bird. Don't you think he'd want to be as close to the sky as possible, since he's a Flying/Electric type?" she explained.
Even I had to agree it was a good hunch.
"That doesn't mean anything," Paul snapped.
"Well you just wait and see," Dawn pouted.
"Guys, whenever you're done, we'd like to get started," Brock urged. I nodded. Even though I'd just been informed, this whole Arceus thing was serious. We had no time to be sitting around arguing.
"Fine," the two grumbled.
The Power Plant was, well, exactly what it was called. A power plant. Huge machines covered the majority of the place, buzzing and whirring and connected by volts of electric power. The whole place was just a huge maze. I saw an elevator on the far side of this room. I looked up. The ceiling was glass, so I could clearly see the next floor, and the floors above it.
"We have to get through this maze, to that elevator," Ash said.
"Wait," Paul stopped us. "Look above us. We can clearly see the next maze. If we remember which way to go, it'll be easier when we get there."
He was right. The floor above us was exactly like a top-view maze, or in this case, a bottom-view. I could totally see the right path to take.
"Well, Brock, memorize the correct path," Ash said. I could tell he was annoyed he hadn't come up with the idea. Brock scoffed but agreed to do it. We walked through the maze, and after a few twists, turns, and a whole lot of dead ends, we had made it to the first elevator.
"Well, that wasn't hard at all," Dawn commented as we piled into the elevator.
"It'll get worse," Ash assured her. "After all, this is the lair of a legendary."
When the doors opened, we were faced with a similar picture.
"Ooh," Dawn said shakily as she looked down to the previous floor. Apparently she was not a fan of heights.
"Just don't look down and keep moving," Paul snapped.
"Hey," Brock joked. "At least there's nothing to fall off of this time, so Paul won't have to save you again!"
The looks on Paul and Dawn's faces were quite amusing. They both had reached the color of my hair, and to make it worse Ash and Brock were snickering loudly. I looked at the laughing boys, baffled.
"What happened?" I questioned.
"Oh, we'll explain later," Brock said.
"No you won't," Paul ordered forcefully. Unfortunately, that just made the two laugh more, and make Paul and Dawn even more embarrassed. Ash grinned at me, and gave me a wink that told me he had all intentions of telling me later.
"Well Brock, lead the way," I said, mostly for poor Dawn's sake. We made it through the next four floors with the same routine: Brock would memorize the next path to take and we would follow the previous one the elevator. No hassle.
However, when we reached the sixth floor, there was a new challenge. In different specific spots, plastic tiles were placed on the glass floor. They all had a number between one and five on them.
"What do you think they are?" Dawn said, gesturing to a blue one with a '4' on it.
"They could be traps," I suggested. "We'd better stay away from them."
"Look," Paul gestured to the glass ceiling. "This is the last floor. That has to be where Zapdos is."
He was right. I could see a long and narrow yellow carpet in the center of the room, leading up to some steps.
"We're almost there! Let's keep going!" Ash encouraged.
Brock continued to lead us through the maze as we dodged the tiles.
"Guys, look! I can see the elevator!" Dawn shrieked. We began to run, and were almost there when we heard a loud cracking sound. I froze in my tracks and slowly turned around, as the others did too.
"Oops," Ash said softly. He was standing on a trap!
"ASH!" we all screamed in despair.
"I'm sorry! I just got so excited and I didn't see-" The trap snapped, and he fell through the floor and disappeared. The trap reappeared in the floor, and right in the middle was a big white number '1'.
"Ughhhhh…." We moaned, because we finally understood what the traps did.
"Uh, guys, I think I know what the tile does-" Dawn started uneasily.
"We know."
The traps sent you back to a certain previous floor, depending on what number was on the tile. So, Ash was now back at square one.
"Well, now what?" Brock said nervously.
"Well, I'm certainly not going back down there to get him," I said firmly.
"Agreed," Paul grumbled. "I don't care if he dies!"
"PAUL!" Dawn scolded loudly. He turned to her, his face full of disdain.
"What?" he said, irritated.
"Ash may be dense, but he's also loyal, courageous, and determined. He'd probably even save you if you were in trouble," she said to Paul. I blinked in surprise. Dawn seemed like just a little ditz, but she was really smart. She really understood people.
"I highly doubt that," Paul disagreed.
"I don't," Dawn pushed. "I mean, Misty, you should hear how much Ash talks about you. He really cares about you. And he sure did miss you! He would go on and on about how great you were, how brave, and friendly, and how good of a trainer you were."
"Really?" I breathed. All Ash would ever say to my face was how annoying and violent I was. I'd never known he thought of me that way.
"Totally," she said. "I think it's really good for him that you're back. You seem to keep him in line."
She smirked brightly.
"And you should have seen his face when he saw you at the water show!"
"Oh, yeah!" Paul joined in on the conversation. "His eyes never left your body, the whole entire time."
"He was practically drooling!" Brock called from a few yards away, where he was feeding some of our Pokemon. I blushed.
"He sure does admire you," Dawn smiled. "No wonder you love him so much."
I started to nod, and then realized what she'd just said.
"E-Excuse me?" I choked. Dawn flicked her hand dismissively.
"Oh, don't pretend to deny it! I knew from the second I saw you two together that you've been crushing over him for years!" she said. "I'm an expert on relationships, Misty. I know what I'm talking about."
I blushed harder. The way she said it, it sounded like it was just a silly little crush. And, as much as I tried to deny it, this was not just a childhood crush.
"She has! I knew that since we were kids!" Brock yelled.
"Thanks so much, Brock-o," I growled. Brock made a mock salute.
"Anytime!" he said cheerfully.
"But don't worry, we won't tell Ash," Dawn assured me.
"Yeah, taking advantage of his cluelessness is just too much fun," Paul agreed.
"And, as an expert on relationships, I also know this: He's got quite a big crush on you as well." Dawn said simply.
"And how would you know that?" I challenged. Dawn shrugged.
"Like I said, I know people. I see it, Brock sees it, and even Paul here, who's probably never going to get a date, sees it!" I just had to smile. Dawn sure was one interesting girl. And if she didn't watch it, she'd become the target of Paul's fury.
"You just wait, Misty. That thick skull of Ash's will have to crack sooner or later."
Hopefully sooner, I thought.
"Whatever you say, Dawn," I said. But I really did wonder: did Ash really think of me in the way Dawn had described? Had he seriously "drooled" over me, as Brock had said? I had thousands of confusing thoughts running through my head, but they never had a chance to be answered, because at that moment the elevator door opened.
Out came none other than a very ragged Ash, his hair crackling and his clothes and skin scorched.
"What happened?" I asked, worried.
"I landed on a 200 volt generator," Ash croaked.
"Will you be okay?" Dawn questioned.
"Yeah," Ash said. "Pikachu fries me all the time, so I'm used to it. It just kinda-"
His hair began to spark, and a quick volt of electricity shot through his body and made him quiver uncontrollably for a few seconds. He shook his head, as if shaking it off.
"Yeah," he repeated. "It's all good."
"Well, then let's go!" Paul urged.
"Relax, Paul, could you be any more impatient?" Dawn chastised. As the two continued to bicker, I snuck a look at Ash. He rolled his eyes at the two and winked. I winked back.
"Aww, would you look at that?" Brock, who was suddenly right next to us, taunted. I had no doubt that he'd seen us, and after the conversation we'd just had, I didn't really need any more humiliation. Ignoring his amused snickers, I whipped my mallet out of my bag and whacked him right over the head.
That caused him to be quiet, besides the painful grunts he was uttering. Dawn and Paul had also abruptly stopped their quarreling and were now looking at me with quizzical looks.
"Just forget it," I said, and put my mallet back in my red knapsack.
"Yeah," Brock said sarcastically. "Don't mind me. Laying on the floor is just one of my favorite pastimes." Dawn kicked him in the side.
"This is no time to be lazy! Come on!" she hollered. He slowly rose to his feet and lead us through the remaining part of the maze. As we traveled to the final floor in the elevator, it really dawned on us that we had no idea what we were doing.
"How are we going to get a powerful legendary like Zapdos to listen to us?" Dawn said.
"We'll just have to be firm and convincing," Paul said. That didn't really help, but that was all we had time for, because we had arrived at the top floor.
Zapdos' lair was incredible. The walls and floor were totally see-through glass. The floor and walls were adorned with yellow-and-black stained glass lightning bolts in random spots. Starting at the elevator was a yellow carpeted walkway with a thin black border. It went all the way to a couple steps that lead up to a stage-like platform. On the stage there were various statues of Zapdos: Zapdos summoning a massive lightning bolt, Zapdos taking a nap, Zapdos eating a cupcake…..
But the most amazing, and interesting part of Zapdos' lair was what was behind the statues. A gray column of clouds swirled angrily and cracked with power. As I tilted my head back to see the rest of it, I realized there was no roof. It touched the sky, literally. The fortress went directly into the inky night air. Strong gusts of wind flew in and out of holes in the clouds, whistling and sparking with electricity. It was any Electric Pokemon's paradise.
"Look!" Ash whispered, pointing up to a spot in the clouds.
"Ash!" I whisper-yelled. "It's rude to point!" I slapped his arm away.
He rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. I looked up at the dark fortress. At first I couldn't see anything, but if I squinted I could faintly see a flash of black and yellow, darting in and out of different holes.
"I'll bet that's Zapdos," I inferred.
"Well, how are we going to get his attention? And I am not climbing up there!" Dawn said.
"We yell," said Paul.
"Zapdos!"
"ZAPDOS!"
"ZAPDOS!"
"ZAPPY!"
"….Zappy?"
"…..What? So I gave him a nickname!"
"….."
"…You're so stupid…"
"Could you guys please cut it out? This is kind of important, if you hadn't noticed."
"Yeah, can you finish your little love session later?"
"Oh, I wouldn't even be talking if I were you. Do think it's enjoyable for us to have to sit here all day and listen to you and-OW! What the hell was that for?"
"Stop being such a baby, I didn't even hit you that hard…"
After what seemed like minutes, it seemed that we'd finally caught Zapdos's attention. A large bird flew out of the clouds and sped towards us with unbelievable speed. As he neared us, I could start to make out a few of Zapdos' features: razor-sharp wings, beady black eyes, and an aura of electricity surrounding his agile figure.
"Humans," he boomed in a deep voice. His mouth wasn't moving, so he must have been using telepathy. Ash cleared his throat.
"Ahem, er, greetings, thy great master of the sky," he said. We all looked at him with incredulous looks.
"WHAT?"
Ash looked at us, disappointed.
"I actually thought it was pretty good….."
"ASH!" Paul hissed. "Situation here!"
Ash looked around frantically.
"The Situation? Where? I've been wanting to get his autograph for ever!"
Paul face-palmed in frustration.
"Not the Situation from the Jersey Shore, the situation right now!"
Ash was perplexed.
"Zapdos!" Paul whisper-screamed.
"Ohhh…" Ash suddenly remembered. "I was just zoning out, thinking about the Jersey Shore. Oh, by the way, did you happen to see that new episode last week? I would've, but the last Pokémon Center we stayed at didn't have cable-OWW!" Ash yowled in pain as Paul gave him a good smack across the head.
"FOCUS!" he growled with such fierceness that I was surprised Ash didn't self-destruct on the spot.
"Right," he muttered. He turned to Zapdos, who was quite amused.
"What brings you humans here?" he questioned with sincere interest.
"We need your help," Paul stated flatly. I scowled at him. Could he be any less enthusiastic?
"Arceus is travelling all around the world, plotting to destroy the world with the legendaries he recruits," I explained. Zapdos was pretty shocked. (A/N: Haha….do you get it? 'Shocked?' …*borrows Misty's mallet and repeatedly whacks her head with it*….You people are no fun.)
"We need to get to the remaining legendaries before he does, and convince them not to join him," Dawn added. Zapdos nodded his spiky head slowly, as if absorbing all the information.
"So what exactly are you asking me?" he said. Ash bravely stepped forward.
"We want you to go to the Tree of Beginning and join the others we've found. Mew's keeping an eye on things back there."
Zapdos' eyebrows shot up.
"So Mew is the one behind all of this," he said thoughtfully. Ash nodded. He thought for a moment, then spoke.
"Our two creators, on opposite sides. It should be interesting to see how this pans out."
"So…do you agree to help us?" Paul questioned.
"Do you know what this means?" Zapdos said, completely ignoring Paul's question. He didn't wait for an answer.
"This means war. Countless lives will be lost. The earth as we know it will turn into an all-out battlefield. All of us legendaries will be put at each other's necks, fighting to the death against our own brothers and sisters." Zapdos said gravely. The room was silent except for the whirring of the clouds.
"We know, Zapdos," I said. All eyes in the room were on me. "We understand how dangerous this is. But it's the only way. Arceus is going to go through with this plan whether we do something about it or not. Don't you think we should at least try to stop him? Think of all the innocent people out there. Everyone, even us, will be destroyed."
Zapdos was quiet for a minute, hopefully thinking over what I'd said.
"What made him so angry in the first place?" Zapdos asked.
"Apparently Arceus had been slowly awakening for a long time. We were just training in a park and our Pokemon got separated from us. We ran into this old garden, and then he just, like, appeared," Dawn explained. "He freaked out on us because the world isn't the way he left it millions of years ago. He's taking it out on us humans, and even more so Mew."
Zapdos scoffed.
"Arceus was always so dramatic," he said. "Just like that time when he refused to let me build an International Cupcake Warehouse….." he muttered.
"So….what do you say?" I said. Zapdos looked around for a minute, before fixing his dark eyes back on me.
"Well, alright."
"YES!" we cheered.
"On one condition," Zapdos stopped us.
Paul groaned in exasperation.
"There had better be cupcakes."
We all let out a sigh of relief.
"We'll make sure to let Mew know," I assured him.
"Well, I'll get in touch with my brothers, Articuno and Moltres, and tell them to meet me there. I'll never go against them in any battle again," he said firmly.
"Oh, Articuno is already taken care of," Brock said, probably with high hopes that for once Team Rocket would do something right. Then he seemed to realize that this was Team Rocket we were talking about. "Well, on second thought, I guess it couldn't hurt to call him, just to make sure," he changed his mind. Zapdos nodded in agreement.
"We'll see you soon, Zapdos," Ash said. "As soon as we get all the legendaries we can, we'll join you back at the Tree so we can begin training."
"I'll see you kids later," Zapdos said. "Good luck." He flicked his beak in a good-bye gesture, and then sped away towards the sky in a yellow blur.
We stood quietly for a few seconds, not knowing what to do next.
"Well, we should inform Mew," Brock broke the silence and pulled out his Mew-Phone. We all crowded around the tiny screen as he dialed.
"Hello? Hello?" Mew's surprised face immediately came up.
"Mew?" I said. The screen began to flicker.
"Hello? Is anyone there? I swear, Raquaza, if you're prank calling me again, I'm going to incinerate you at the next family reunion!"
"MEW?" we screamed. The screen refocused, and Mew's enraged face reappeared.
"Oh. It's just you guys," Mew said. "Sorry, I don't get real good reception in this part of the Tree. So did you find Zapdos?"
"Yes we did!" Dawn said excitedly. Mew clapped her paws with joy.
"Oh, perfect! And I just got a call from a couple, er, Jessie and James, I think they were. They managed to recruit Articuno."
I looked at the others, surprised. Maybe we didn't give them as much credit as we should.
"So Zapdos is on his way, along with Moltres," Brock informed her.
"Oh, and he is demanding that there be cupcakes," Ash added.
Mew rolled her bright blue eyes.
"Zapdos and that stupid cupcake fad," she grumbled. "Oh, very well."
"So, where should we go next?" Ash questioned. Mew thought for a second.
"Well, why don't you try going to Ecruteak? I know for a fact that Celebi is there, and she was always more of a Mommy's girl than a Daddy's. She should be pretty easy to persuade," Mew suggested.
"But doesn't Celebi live in some kind of forest?" Ash said.
"Yes, but she's throwing a huge ball this Saturday night, and it's in Ecruteak. If you hurry, I'll bet you could make it."
"A BALL?" Dawn squealed. We all groaned in protest.
"Dawn, focus," Paul growled. "It's Wednesday. I think we could make the trip in three days."
"But we'll have to have time to go shopping, and pick out outfits!" Dawn argued.
"Dawn, there's no guarantee that we'll have enough time to do all of that. And plus, we don't have enough money to buy all that stuff." Brock said.
"Oh, well you can't go to a ball without an outfit!" Mew said. "I'll send you guys some money." She snapped her fingers, and a 100 dollar bill immediately appeared in each of our palms. We all looked at Mew with murderous looks. Now we would eventually have to endure a long, painful day of shopping with Dawn. And none of us, not even me, wanted that.
"But be careful, you guys. I've been keeping a steady eye on Arceus, and it seems that he's planning to crash the party as well."
"Okay," Paul agreed.
"No pressure," Mew continued, "But Arceus already has the upper hand. He's got Raikou, Suicune, Entei, Uxie, Mesprit, Azelf, and Palkia. We only have Regice, Registeel, Regirock, Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres."
"No need to worry," Dawn said confidently.
"Yeah, you can count on us!" I said. Mew squinted into the screen.
"Is that Misty there?" she questioned. Ash muttered a "here we go", and Brock, Dawn, and Paul burst out laughing as if they knew what was coming.
"Uh, yeah, it's Misty."
Mew's face lit up, and she let out such a high-pitched squeal it put Dawn's to shame.
"No way! Isn't that so cute? Ash's girlfriend came back! See, I knew it! But you guys wouldn't believe me! Ah, don't you just love love? It's just so adorable-"
"Okay, bye Mew!" Ash screamed urgently, his face an embarrassing shade of red, as mine probably was as well. He slammed shut the phone and looked around, to see the knowing glances of the rest of the group, except for mine, which was too busy studying my feet.
"What?" he screamed.
"Oh, you know what we're getting at," Paul snapped.
"Can we just go?" I asked impatiently.
The others started to snicker, but luckily I was saved when Dawn's Mew-Phone started to buzz. She flipped it open.
"Hello? Twoips?" the unmistakable voice of Meowth echoed through the sudden emptiness of the room.
"Meowth? Where are you guys?" Dawn said.
"We just landed the balloon in Cerulean City. We would've gotten here sooner, if James wouldn't have had to stop and get some hand lotion!"
"Well, my hands were dry, and I'd just ran out of my Cucumber Melon Lotion for Sensitive Skin!" another voice yelled back at him.
"Where are you?" Meowth questioned.
"Well, we're about to leave the Power Plant," she informed him. "Should we meet you at the Cerulean Park?"
"Sure thing. See you in a few hours."
Dawn hung up.
"Well, we should get going. Now….how do we get out of here?" I said, looking up at the ceiling where the fortress met the sky.
"Well, I don't think going out the top is the best approach," Paul said with a wary glance at Dawn, who got a bit paler just thinking about it.
"Hey, I got an idea!" Ash yelled.
We all let out a simultaneous groan.
"What?" Ash said, offended.
"No offense, but most of your ideas suck," Paul stated.
"And usually end up getting us arrested, stuck in a hole, scorched, electrocuted, or stuck on a random snowy island in the middle of the Sinnoh Ocean," Dawn added with a shudder. Ash had a guilty smile on his face, probably remembering all kinds of trouble he'd gotten them into.
"Well, I know my ideas always aren't the most reliable, but just trust me on this one," Ash said, looking at us with a hoping expression. "And that whole island accident was not my fault!"
Brock gave him a disbelieving look.
"You spilled your grape juice on the map-"
"Don't tell the story," Ash interrupted. Brock went on anyways.
"We had rented a boat, thinking we could get to our next town faster if we took the sea route." Brock began. "Ash was convinced that this little juice smudge was an island." Ash stared at his feet sheepishly as Paul and I cackled with laughter.
"So we were almost at our next town, and we could've easily docked and have been done with it. But Ash just had to check out this new island that was a few hundred miles off the coast. So we ventured out and were pretty close to this 'island', when a storm struck. Coincidently, we crash-landed on an island, but it wasn't the island we'd hoped to find."
"So we were stranded on this freezing island in the middle of NOWHERE!" Dawn quipped. "And I had NO hair dryer!"
"Tragedy," Paul muttered under his breath.
"We were stuck in a makeshift igloo composed of what survived of our sleeping bags, and snow. We had little food, and it was so windy our fire kept dying out. We could have died," Brock said indignantly.
"But…..we didn't," Ash said with a weak smile. I rolled my eyes.
"Ash, did my several years of travelling with you teach you anything?" I scolded him. He looked away shamefully and cleared his throat.
"So….my plan! Why don't we just step on a 'Number 1' tile. That'll take us directly to the first floor," he said, glancing around to see our opinions. I shrugged. It actually wasn't that bad of an idea.
"Okay. We'll try it," Brock decided. We followed Ash to a red '1' trap. We looked at him expectantly.
"Well?" Paul snapped. "You go first."
Ash reluctantly obliged. He stepped on the plastic square, and he was swallowed into the floor within seconds. I watched with fear. I knew he did this stuff all the time, but I still worried about him. He sure had been through his fair share of dangerous experiences. Without me.
One by one Dawn, Paul, and Brock dropped down the hole until it was just me left in the big room. I took one last look at my surroundings, before taking a deep breath. Before I could talk myself out of it, I plunged through the opening. My stomach filled with the thrilling sensation of free-fall, and I wondered vaguely how Dawn could be afraid of heights but have no problem dropping through a couple floors all at once.
My thoughts were clouded by a sudden jerk-I'd hit the ground without even noticing. I looked around, my vision unfocused. I saw a lump of with blue hair-Dawn, and near her a flash of purple stuck out. Probably Paul. I frantically searched for Ash, but was distracted by a strong pain in my ankle. I looked down in surprise. I hadn't noticed it before, but now it was throbbing and quickly turning a blackish-blue color. I gritted my teeth.
I swear, Ash, if I broke my ankle because of this, you are carrying be all the way back to Cerulean, I thought.
You would love that, another part of my mind told me.
"…..Misty? You okay?" a faint, concerned voice broke through my thoughts. I looked up. Blurry images seemed to swim together. I blinked.
"Ash?" I said. He nodded.
"I was kinda worried. Is there something wrong with your ankle?" he gestured to my ankle. I looked down. I hadn't realized I'd been clutching it.
"Oh…yeah. I think I just landed on it funny," I said while rubbing it. He smiled in relief.
"Good. It looks like everyone landed fine. I'll help you up." Ash offered me an extended hand. I took it and he pulled me up swiftly. I looked around. Brock was nursing a minor gash on his arm. I walked up to him, Ash following closely behind.
"Brock, is your arm going to be alright?" I said. He looked at me and nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, it's fine. With some antibiotic and a bandage it'll heal up pretty quickly," he said. He picked up his backpack and stood next to us.
"Hey, we should go check out Dawn and Paul. They've got to be around here somewhere," Ash wondered aloud.
"I saw them when I landed," I said. I led them around a few generators until we were right next to the door leading outside.
"There they are," Brock pointed. In a narrow space directly between two generators, Paul laid on the floor, along with Dawn. Who was laying right on top of him. Brock and Ash burst into gales of laughter, while I worked on getting them out. Dawn was out cold, and under her, Paul was slightly more conscious.
I had to laugh a bit with them. I was almost positive they'd die if they ever saw what they looked like. Apparently, Ash had the same idea running through his head.
I heard a little click, like a picture being taken. I looked behind me to see Ash aiming his Mew-Phone at the unconscious pair. He noticed me watching him and showed me the screen.
"This thing is a piece of junk," he said. "But it sure does take a good picture."
I grinned, and turned the phone back to him.
"Hello, FaceBook," he murmured.
"Come on, Ash. Let's just wake them up and get out of here. You too, Brock. If we ever want to get to Ecruteak on time, we're going to have to leave, like, now," I urged him.
I knelt down on the floor and began to shake Dawn lightly.
"Dawn, wake up," I whispered. Under her, Paul began to stir. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around.
"D-Did I pass out?" he asked.
"Yeah, but you seem okay now. Here, help me wake up Dawn," I ordered. He squinted. I didn't think he noticed that Dawn was on top of him, because he didn't even make an attempt to move.
I sighed. Paul was too tired to move, so I'd have to do it by myself, since Ash and Brock were absolutely no help. I nudged Dawn again. She slowly shook her head.
"Guys, she's coming around!" I yelled, indicating for them to get ready to leave.
Dawn's midnight blue eyes slowly began to open. She wearily looked up at me.
"Misty? What's going on?" she said slowly.
"It's okay, Dawn. You just kinda blacked out after you fell through the floors," I said. Her eyes widened.
"Wow, I really did that?" she asked in awe.
Paul picked up his head.
"Hey, guys, that's a pretty compromising position you got there," Brock chuckled. Dawn and Paul finally seemed to notice where they were at that moment. Their faces were identical expressions of horror as they quickly scrambled to get to their feet, and as far away from the other as possible.
"Alright, everyone, are we ready to go?" I said. They all nodded, Paul and Dawn still visibly blushing. We started for the door, but were stopped by Dawn.
"Hey, guys, what's this?" she asked. She was standing next to another door a couple feet from the exit.
"I don't know. I hadn't noticed it before," Ash said. I walked closer to it to see it.
"What's this?" Paul said, looking at a little piece of paper taped to the wall next to the door.
"Warning: This door is the exit from the elevator from the top floor directly to the bottom. It is strictly an exit and not an entrance. If you are foolish enough to open this door and enter, you will immediately plunge into a tunnel that leads to the depths of the sewer system and your certain death. Thank you." I read out loud. One by one we all turned to look at Ash with maddened expressions.
"There was an elevator?" Paul growled fiercely at Ash.
"Wait, so does this mean that we could've just gone down an elevator and already have been down here, without all the trouble of falling
?" Dawn questioned.
"Yep." My eyes shot daggers at Ash.
Ash cowered under the steely gaze of all of us.
"It was an honest mistake…."
The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon when we arrived back at Cerulean City. Exhausted and ragged, we approached Team Rocket's balloon, which was resting calmly in between a few trees in the park. Team Rocket had set up a picnic table and were eating breakfast. They noticed us as soon as we walked up to their makeshift campsite.
"Hey, twoips," Meowth came up to meet us.
"Man, you guys look tired. You should hop in the balloon and get some rest. We'll be ready to fly in a second," Jessie said as she began to pick up the remnants of their breakfast.
*Ash POV*
I eagerly walked into the balloon and was about to crash on the floor, but Paul stopped me. He dragged me over to the corner of the basket.
"What?" I said, baffled. Paul just stared at me with an amused look on his stony face.
"You like Misty," he said simply. I was taken aback.
"N-No I don't!" I said uneasily. I was probably blushing.
He smirked.
"I'm pretty sure you do," he argued.
I looked at him.
"So now you're making fun of me for being straight, when just yesterday you were sure I was gay?" I said accusingly. Paul narrowed his eyes for a moment, as if comprehending the thought.
"Well….when you put it that way...I guess so!" he said cheerily- well, at least for him. I threw up my hands in exasperation.
"You're never going to get off my case, no matter what I do, or who I like," I realized. His dark purple eyes gazed around and he shrugged.
"I guess you're right," he decided.
I scoffed. "Nice chatting with you, Paul. Good talk."
A/N: Yay! I finally got this chapter done! I apologize for the long wait, I've been so busy with all my school activities and I barely had any time during the week to do any work on this chapter. If this chapter was a bore to you, don't worry, because I have a lot of great stuff planned for next. Like...some Ikarishipping, and also May and Drew finally join the group! I'm excited! Please review and thanks to all who reviewed last time, you make me so happy! 'Till next time (which will hopefully be soon),
~Aqua