Just thought I'd throw this in, I don't think it was established.
Ages: Misty (19), Ash (19), Brock (22), May (18), Dawn (17), Max (15), Gary (19)
Chapter 6
Misty and Brock awoke to a loud roar from outside the Pokemon center.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Misty looked over to Ash's bed to see if he was up. But he wasn't there. Not taking her eyes off the empty bed she called out "Brock..."
"Mphhh tell that thing to be quiet, I'm tryin to sleep."
"Brock! Ash is gone."
"Hmphh he's probably just outside or something," Brock said slipping out of bed and dragging himself to the bathroom.
"You're probably right, I'm just surprised is all. He barely slept."
"If your worried why don't you go check on him then?" Brock suggested.
Misty didn't bother answering until she had gotten out of bed herself and pushed Brock out of the bathroom. "I will once I'm ready for the day."
"Hey!" Brock said as the door shut in his face.
Five minutes later Misty emerged and headed for the door. ""Bathroom's all yours," she called over her shoulder flashing a smirk.
As Misty walked out the door, she got a huge surprise, a flamethrower whizzed right over her head. The seen in front of her could only be described as bizarre. Ash was greeting his Charizard for the first time since it had decided to stay in the Charicific Valley to train back when Ash was ten. Charizard was so overjoyed at seeing his trainer that he was shooting flamethrowers in every direction, but what made this so comical was that Pikachu was perched gleefully on Charizards head, giving him a hug while accidentally covering the dragon's eyes. It made for quite the scene.
"Hey!" Misty yelled angrily after the close call with a stray flamethrower. "Watch it!"
Ash turned around sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry Mist, he's just realllly happy to see me!"
"No offence to Charizard," she said nodding in his direction, "but what's he doing here?"
"You didn't expect us to walk to the Seafoam Islands did you?" Ash asked inquisitively.
Misty paused, "No...I guess that never really crossed my mind...so if you and me are going to ride on Charizard..." she began before quickly adding "Or you and Brock, Brock could ride with you too!"
"No that would be too heavy for Charizard. He may be a Dragon but he can only carry so much," Ash said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Right..." Misty said shaking her head clear, "So what's Brock gonna do then? He has no flying types that can carry him."
"What about me?" Brock asked stretching as he walked through the Pokemon Center door out into the sunshine.
"Don't worry I called Professor Oak yesterday to call in a favor." Reaching down to his belt, Ash pulled out a pokeball and released another old friend. "Brock can ride Pidgeot, right buddy?"
"Pidgggeot!" He said nodding his head.
"Pika pika pikachu!" Pikachu chimed as he ran to greet one of his first friends.
"Well, no use waiting around here. We have an Articuno to protect!" Ash exclaimed swinging a leg over Charizard's back and motioning for Misty to join him. Carefully she climbed on behind him while Brock mounted Pidgeot. "Hold on tight!" Ash warned.
"Gladly," Misty sighed wrapping her arms around Ash's waist, lost in her own fantasy. But her words were lost in a torrent of wind as Charizard shot into the sky followed by Pidgeot.
The trio sped through the clouds heading straight for the Seafoam Islands. Talking was impossible due to the strong headwind that waited to push anybody's words right back where they came from. Pikachu had curled up in front of Ash where he was now sound asleep. Ash was deep inside his own head reflecting on the last encounter with team Rocket, analyzing the conversation looking for answers as to why they would be after the Legendary birds. Suddenly he felt a Misty shiver and her hands contract around his waist. Turning his head around he saw that she was fast asleep against his back. Carefully, he took off his coat without waking her and draped it over her back as best he could from his position, taking a moment to look at her face before turning forward and blushing. Looking down, he could just barely make out the outline of the Seafoam Islands in the distance.
"About 20 minutes..." Ash murmured to himself as he closed his eyes, relaxed by Misty's rhythmic breathing, and fell asleep.
A short time later, Charizard touched down and jolted Ash awake.
"Uhgggg" he moaned from his slouched over position while he rubbed his neck. Swinging his leg over his dragon's back, he began to dismount until he realized that Misty was still sleeping using his back as support. Carefully, he removed her arms from his waist and slid down Charizard's side.
"Misty," Ash said softly shaking her shoulder, "we're here. Wake up."
Groggily she opened her eyes and pulled her coat closer to block out the cold air. Wait this isn't my coat, she thought realizing happily that Ash must have put his own coat around her. "Thanks for waking me," she yawned out, "and thanks for the coat but you can have it back now that we're here."
"Your welcome! But, you keep it" Ash said sheepishly diverting his gaze at the mouth of the cave, "It'll probably be cold in there. Plus I don't get cold that easily so no worries," he finished.
Maybe he's not as dense as I thought he was... she thought as she slipped off Charizard's back and to the ground, closing the space between her and Ash so that their midsections were touching. They both blushed, but neither one tried to move. Misty's eyes began to widen as Ash began to do the unthinkable, smiling he began to lean in -
"Sorry to interrupt," Brock said smiling, "here's your Pidgeot," he said handing Ash the pokeball.
"You're not interrupting!" Ash hastily said backing away as he took the pokeball, then returning Charizard he thanked both for carrying them to the Seafoam Islands.
"Ok, ok, let's get moving then," Brock said taking point.
So close! she sighed still flushed from the thought of Ash being so close.
Upon entering the cave, the first thing Misty noticed was that it was very cold, making her extra grateful for Ash's coat. "What exactly are we looking for?" Misty asked.
"The legend says that Articuno slumbers in a cavern in the middle of the cave system," Brock said, "I'm not sure how we're supposed to get to it though," he finished trailing off looking back at Ash who hadn't moved since arriving in the cave.
"This way," he confidently said pointing to the trail on the right.
"I will never get used to this," Misty said shaking her head as Ash led them down the path.
"What? Ash's aura using? I don't know, I'm pretty used to it by now," Brock conceded.
"No, not that, Ash leading us in the right direction..." She said shaking her head in mock disbelief.
The trio made their way through the icy cave turning left and then right and then veering to the right and then turning left again; if it weren't for Ash, they would be seriously lost. They walked for an hour until they came to an opening into a huge cavern that was lit by a bunch of holes to the outside world. It was like walking into a freezer; it was surely a surreal scene that made each trainer hold their breath in wonder. The room was covered in mist which made the streams of light seem like a natural laser security system throughout the cavern. The lights bounced off of ice crystals causing it to refract in every direction, making the mist wink and glimmer. But perhaps the most impressive part of the scene was Articuno. It slept on a platform of ice raised just above the mist, its tail wrapping around the pedestal. The bird itself appeared to be the source of the mist as it rolled down its feathers and into the pool of mist that covered the rest of the cavern. No one said anything while they drank in every detail of the majestic bird's home.
"How could anyone try to contain such a creature?" Brock asked in wonder. "This Pokemon shouldn't be in a ball or owned by anyone."
"Pika" Pikachu said nodding his head slowly in agreement. But suddenly Pikachu's ears twitched and the electric mouse stood up.
"What is it buddy?" Ash asked.
That's when the first tremor shook the whole cavern. Articuno's eyes snapped open and the pupils dilated, adjusting to the lighting. Cocking its head, it looked around the room for the source of the disturbance.
Another tremor and a few icicles fell from the ceiling.
"Guys..." Misty warned looking around the cavern warily.
One final tremor shook the cavern and Articuno spread its icy blue wings dropping the temperature of the room by 10 whole degrees, and took to the air as the ceiling over where it had been perched collapsed in a heap.
"We have to move!" Ash yelled over the deafening sound of the crumbling rock ceiling. The others nodded and ran into the mist where the ceiling had already fallen.
An enraged Articuno scanned the air looking for the culprit who destroyed its beautiful home, then locking onto a moving target, shot out a well aimed Ice Beam attack that made the target drop a couple hundred feet.
"Domino..." Ash said, eyes narrowing as her and her Salamence dropped into view.
"Ash where are you going?!" Misty called after the running Ash and Pikachu.
"We have to protect Articuno!" He yelled back over his shoulder. Then, releasing his Charizard he took to the sky.
Misty watched as he ascended, admiring his bravery until Brock brought her back to reality. "Misty! We need to go protect Articuno from the ground! Go Steelix!"
"Go Starmie!" Misty cried as she followed Brock into battle. "Starmie, I want you to use Protect on Articuno if you see an enemy attack coming ok?"
The Pokemon's center gem flashed in acknowledgement.
"Steelix use Dragon Breath on that Salamence-"
"No Brock! You could hit Ash!" Misty called out worriedly.
"Alright then, Steelix, help out Starmie!"
Meanwhile, due to its skills training in the Charicific Valley, Charizard was flying circles around Salamence, blasting Flamethrower after Flamethrower at its foe.
"Ergh," Domino coughed as a Flamethrower came dangerously close to her face then pulling up on Salamence she maneuvered around Charizard and dove straight for Articuno, loading a pokeball into a cannon strapped to her wrist. "Salamence, Dragon Breath."
The massive dragon took in a deep breath before letting out an enormous jet of off-color flame at Articuno when out of nowhere, Protect deflected the attack. Sneering at the failed attack she turned her attention to the two trainers on the ground. She smiled. "Salamence, Hyper Beam the ceiling straight ahead."
The pokemon didn't hesitate, firing a powerful beam at the remainder of the roof. Seeing its protectors in danger, Articuno swooped down and released a beam of ice stopping the roof from crushing Brock and Misty and their pokemon, but sealing them off from the battle with a 5 foot thick wall of ice.
"Hey! Leave them alone!" Ash yelled at the rocket agent.
"You shouldn't care so much about others in battle, it's quite a weakness," Domino laughed out before jumping off her Salamence to the ground. "Salamence, keep our aura using friend busy."
Salamence ascended quickly headed strait for Charizard. But Charizard was faster, flying to the side just before a powerful Giga Impact made contact. Flipping behind Salamence, Charizard let a Dragon Breath out connecting with Salamence right in the back, then barrel rolling, sped under the stunned dragon, unleashing a devestating Dragon Claw. Salamence began to drop before righting itself and charging back into battle.
Domino saw that her Salamence was clearly outmatched, scowling as he was hit from underneath with a Dragon Claw, Where the hell did that Charizard come from!... Whatever I'm just going to have to do this fast. Then releasing one of her pokeballs, she commanded "Gengar, Hypnosis."
Articuno's eyes began to droop, but before it fell asleep, it unleashed an Ice Beam that knocked out Gengar and threatened to hit Domino, but before it could, the bird dropped. "Goddamn bird," Domino muttered as she aimed her wrist cannon at the legend. With a pop, the pokeball fired at Articuno, rippling with dark aura.
"Pikachu," Ash screamed, "When Charizard flies overtop Salamence, I want you to drop onto its back and release a Thunder attack."
"Pika pikapi!" Pikachu said in acknowledgement.
Charizard swooped underneath Salamence, confusing the beast, and then speedily shifted its wings causing him to gain altitude so that he was right above it. Pikachu Dove onto its back and unleashed a colossal Thunder.
Salamence began to fall uncontrollably. Pikachu ran the length of the monster and jumped into the sky; an orange blur dove under him and Ash reached out and caught his friend.
"Good job buddy!" Ash enthused. "Alright Charizard, let's land." As they landed, a small item fell from Ash's backpack.
Charizard landed in front of Domino, blocking her path.
"Give up Domino. You can't win."
"Oh...But I already have," she said holding up a pokeball and returning her defeated Salamence. Then throwing the new one, Articuno appeared.
Ash was stunned, "What have you done to my friends!" he asked menacingly.
"Nothing. Articuno was so kind as to lock them out of the battle," she said pointing to the ice wall. "Iw ould have killed them, but it wasn't my choice...Anyway, I can't say the same for those other idiots who tried to stop us at the power-plant, who knows what Giovanni is going to do to them..." she smiled knowing that she would hit a nerve.
"Wha-what are you talking about..."
"We captured the resistance at the power-plant. And now that I have captured Articuno, we have all three birds. That book is ours." Then walking towards Articuno, Domino began to mount the bird.
That's when a nerve snapped in Ash. "Charizard, Flamethrower on that ice." Charizard let fly a powerful Flamethrower that melted a hole in the ice. Misty and Brock saw Domino get on the bird and begin to take off while Ash stood there in a deadly calm.
"Ash?" Misty asked tentatively.
"They have them Misty, they have May, Dawn, and Max!"
Misty covered her mouth.
"Call Gary and meet me at Mount Silver," Ash said getting back on Charizard followed by Pikachu.
"Ash where are you going?!" Brock asked.
"To save them." He said simply and then took off in a rage in pursuit of Domino and Articuno.
"It's not your fault Ash!" Misty cried out, but he was gone. "Brock we have to follow him! He's gonna get himself killed!" Misty said frantically grabbing Brock's arm and trying to pull him towards the exit.
"No, Misty. We have to trust him. We need to get Gary. He could be the difference if this turns into a giant battle."
Misty slumped down knowing he was right. "Ok." was all she could say.
That's when they heard a buzzing sound. Seeing a lit up screen, they went to see what it was.
"That IDIOT!" Misty said facepalming. "He dropped his Pokegear! How are we supposed to contact him now!"
"It's even that more important that we do as he says then," Brock said picking up the Pokegear. "Speak of the devil," he said shaking his head in disbelief before answering the call.
"Hey Ash," a voice spoke through the phone.
"It's Brock" Brock responded.
"Oh, well Ash called me a couple days ago, left a message saying it was urgent. What's the deal?"
"Well Gary, we need your help. Can you meet us at Mount Silver as soon as possible?"
"Sure."
"We will fill you in when we see you." And Brock hung up the phone.
That's that. Good update right there. I was gonna add on the next segment, but it woulda been wayyyy too long. hahaha hope you all liked it! Please please take the time to review! It means alot to me when I hear your opinions!
Thanks for reading,
theriot010