Wow, it's been a long time since I've last updated I know. I'm sorry but its exams and I must study so I could not work on this chapter as often as I would have.
To be honest; I only had about 650 words two days ago so I worked really hard these past two days.
Also I have been thinking about posting two chapters at a time, because I know how it feels to wait so long only to read one chapter and then wait another period. So you guys choose.
Enjoy!
I do not own any characters or events related to Pokemon, this story is solely fan made.
Chapter 9: To save a life:
Misty slowly opened her eyes, but everything was a blurry and out of focus. She saw Pikachu and Nurse Joy's figures in front of her with their backs towards her. Her eyes felt very heavy and it caused her to close them once more, darkness engulfing her…
She opened her eyes again, but this time her eyes were starting to gain focus of her surroundings. Her eyes grew wide when reality struck her: She couldn't breathe…
She shot up like a rocket and started gasping for air as she was busy coughing out water. Once she could breathe normally again, she stood on her hands and knees observing her surroundings. In front of her were Pikachu, Nurse Joy and Totodile, who still appeared to be looking at something in the pool. She glanced further ahead and noticed the Invincible Pokemon Brothers on the other side of the pool and appeared to be smirking down at the pool.
Misty crawled over to where Pikachu was standing. She looked at him and moved a bit away when she saw his expression. He looked absolutely shattered. Swallowing her fear; Misty gently rubbed Pikachu's back. "…Pikachu?" she squeaked out.
Pikachu turned in shock to Misty and his expression brightened up immediately. "Pikachupi…!" Pikachu exclaimed as he jumped into Misty's waiting arms and nuzzled his cheek affectionately against hers.
Misty smiled warmly at Pikachu as she gently stroked his fur. "Oh Pikachu I'm so glad you're alright!" she sighed in relief, but then it hit her. "Pikachu…where's Ash?" Misty regretted saying those words the second it left her mouth, because the instant Pikachu heard it, his ears drooped down and his gaze turned towards the pool.
"Pikachu…?" Misty was now starting to get paranoid about the situation. She turned to Nurse Joy with desperation written all over her face. "Where's Ash you guys? Talk to me!" Misty yelled in panic.
"Misty…" Nurse Joy began, "Ash saved you…he gave up hi…"
"WHERE IS HE!" Misty interrupted Nurse Joy as anger and panic started building up inside of her.
Pikachu and Nurse Joy both turned towards the pool with grim expressions on their faces and they looked absolutely shattered.
Misty slowly approached the side of the pool in between Pikachu and Nurse Joy. She looked over the edge and turned her face to Nurse Joy. "D-Down there…is he down there?" Misty managed to squeak out.
Nurse Joy slowly nodded and looked down. "I'm sorry Misty but there is nothing we can do, it's too dan…"
Misty peeked over the edge and noticed three Tentacruel swimming around something. She could see a silhouette in the depths below as her heart sank. 'Ash…' Tears started forming in Misty's eyes, but she quickly shook her head to hold them back. 'No, I must be strong…for Ash!' Misty stood back up with her fists clenched tightly. She looked down into the water and then looked over her shoulder at Pikachu and Nurse Joy.
"Pikachupi…pika pika… (Misty…I know what you're thinking…)" Pikachu protested as he shook his head in disapproval.
Misty looked down at the worried mouse and simply smiled. "Don't worry pal…I'll be 'kay." She then turned to Totodile. "So…you gonna help me?" she asked the little crocodile.
Totodile jumped up and danced around in the air to signal its approval and confirmation.
Misty nodded and smirked as she turned towards the water again. "Then let's go save Ash!" Misty yelled triumphantly as she started marching towards the water.
"Toto Totodile!" Totodile exclaimed as it followed Misty towards the pool.
Nurse Joy stepped in between the water and Misty with her arms spread out to her sides. "Misty I am not allowing you to go near that pool!" she ordered as she grabbed hold of Misty's shoulders.
Misty started wiggling around in Nurse Joy's grip as she tried to get away. "Let me go! I have to go help! Let go of me!" Misty argued as she trashed around.
"Misty I will not! It is very dangerous and we cannot lose you too…" Nurse Joy said as she held on firmly onto Misty.
Misty stopped and her shoulders drooped and all the struggling came to a halt. Misty looked down at the ground. "Lose him…we can't lose him…I can't lose him…he's my friend…my b-best friend…no…" Misty stuttered out.
"Misty please look at me…" Nurse Joy said as she lifted Misty's head so she could look at her. To her surprise, Misty's eyes were filled with tears. "Misty, I…" Nurse Joy began.
"NO! I will not stand and watch as my best friend gets killed! And no one will stand in my way! So…let me…go!" Misty yelled as she broke away from Nurse Joy's grip and started running. "Come on Totodile!" she yelled as she dived into the water.
Totodile followed her into the water and they swam deeper down, towards Ash.
"Misty! No…" Nurse Joy said barely above a whisper as she looked on.
"Pikachupi…" Pikachu muttered with his ears drooped as he stood next to Nurse Joy…
Misty and Totodile swam deeper down and she could see the silhouette getting more form and color. 'That must be Ash! ', Misty thought excitedly. But her excitement soon faded when she noticed the three Tentacruel hovering around Ash's limp body. 'Oh no…it's gonna be hard to get to Ash with those three Tentacruel around him…hmmmmm what to do…aha! I've got it!' Misty turned to Totodile and she started making weird signs and directions with her hands.
Sadly, Totodile did not understand and thought that Misty was dancing, so naturally it danced around with a big smile on its face.
Misty face palmed at Totodile's one track mindset and started explaining again, but slower so Totodile could understand.
Once Totodile received the message loud and clear, it happily nodded and swam towards the Tentacruel. Totodile reached the three Tentacruel and stopped in front of them. The Tentacruel all turned to it in confusion.
"Tenta…?" Kim's Tentacruel inquired as they looked on at Totodile, who was now dancing.
Totodile looked casually at the three menacing pokemon in front of it. Then Totodile used Scary Face on the three Tentacruel, which only resulted in a bunch of funny faces being made by Totodile.
"Tentacruel Tenta!" the three Tentacruel exclaimed out of annoyance because of being made fun at.
Totodile snickered at the Tentacruel and started swimming away when they started approaching him. Naturally they followed it, away from Ash.
'Yes it worked!' Misty pumped her fist into the air (water) and looked on as Totodile led the trio of Tentacruel further away from Ash. 'Now's my chance…' And with that thought; Misty began making her way over to where Ash was floating in mid-air.
Meanwhile Totodile had made its way over to the other side of the pool, completely away from Ash, just as Misty asked of it. The Tentacruel were chasing it at full steam. Totodile stopped and turned to them and started making faces at them, which in turn only angered the Tentacruel further as they started making threatening gestures with their tentacles.
Totodile snickered and then fired a Bubble attack at the Tentacruel and dived down deeper into the depths of the water.
The Tentacruel were getting increasingly irritated by the happy-go-lucky little pokemon and dived down after it…
Meanwhile Misty had swum over to where Ash was floating…
Ash didn't look to well in Misty's eyes…He was floating motionless in the middle of nothing, barely breathing and she could tell that he was barely holding on. Misty gently placed her hand on his shoulder and ever so slightly shook him. But there wasn't any response…
Misty placed her other hand on his other shoulder and gave Ash a firm pull, but the only reaction was air bubbles coming out of Ash's slightly open mouth…
'Come on Ash…wake up!' Misty's worry and frustration was growing by the second. She had to get Ash up to the surface…and fast! She swam around to behind Ash and folded her arms around Ash's body under his arms. But as she was about to start ascending up to the surface, a stream of white needles blocked her way. She narrowly managed to dodge the attack with Ash and herself intact. She turned towards the origin of the attack and to no one's surprise, the three Tentacruel were floating.
'Oh no…where's Totodile! Oh please be okay…' Misty thought as she floated in front of the Tentacruel, watching them with a careful eye. Misty unconsciously held on tighter to Ash as she slowly started paddling her feet as she moved upwards inch-by-inch. 'Nice Tentacruel…stay riggght there…' Misty thought as she made a little silent prayer.
But sadly, her prayer was not answered; because sure enough Kim's Tentacruel let out a large 'cruel' as they came charging towards Misty at full speed.
'Oh boy…' was what went through Misty's head as she hurriedly quickened her pace, but to be honest, Ash's dead weight was slowing her down dramatically, to such a degree that they weren't going to outswim the incoming Tentacruel.
Misty looked at the oncoming attack and then looked hesitantly at Ash. Knowing that he is a lot more vulnerable than her at the moment; Misty turned so Ash was facing away from the Tentacruel and her back to them. Ready to protect Ash; Misty closed her eyes, tightened her grip around Ash and braced herself for a whole lot of hurt.
But strangely not any immense pain or suffering followed. What did follow was a loud thud coming from behind Misty. Opening one eye and cautiously peeking over her shoulder, she found out precisely why nothing happened…
There floated Totodile between them and the Tentacruel. The leader of the three had what looked like a huge red bump on its forehead, which Misty could only have guessed was caused by a Headbutt from Totodile which intervened with their attack in the nick of time.
Seeing her chance for escape; Misty slowly started swimming up towards the surface again, which unfortunately did not go unnoticed by the Tentacruel because Kim's Tentacruel started making his way to them. But Totodile intervened once again with a powerful Headbutt that sent the Jellyfish pokemon flying backwards.
Misty inwardly thanked Totodile for the save as she picked up the pace towards the surface with Ash in toll.
The three Tentacruel had decided in the meantime that they had had enough of the pestering little Big Jaw pokemon and attacked it simultaneously from different angles. Poor Totodile really had it rough this time, but it had to protect its master at all costs. Totodile used a Slash attack on the Tentacruel coming from the left, but this caused it to become easy prey for the other two Tentacruel. Totodile retaliated by firing a Water Gun at nothing in particular that acted as a jet and allowed Totodile to get away unscathed out between the two Tentacruel.
But although this tactic worked, it also left Totodile completely open and defenseless against the third Tentacruel, who has recovered from the earlier Headbutt. It hit the unsuspecting Totodile with one of its tentacles from behind which resulted in Totodile being temporarily paralyzed. That was more than enough time for the other two Tentacruel to get their three cents in. They both fired Poison Sting attacks at the defenseless Totodile, causing serious damage. As if that wasn't enough; the third Tentacruel hit the visibly injured Totodile with a vicious Hydro Pump at close range, effectively sending Totodile spiraling up towards the surface, fainted.
Totodile splashed out of the water and landed with a thud on the floor…behind Pikachu and Nurse Joy.
"Pipika…!" Pikachu exclaimed as he ran towards his fallen friend. He held Totodile's upper body up in his paws, only to see Totodile completely knocked out and seriously hurt. Static started sparkling from Pikachu's cheeks. He has had enough. First these jerks took his master and best friend away from him, then his master's best friend, and now a fellow companion and partner. They were going to get it now.
Pikachu started making his way over to the edge of the pool and he jumped up into the air and dived down towards the water, until Nurse Joy caught him in mid-air.
"No Pikachu…you can't go in there!" Nurse Joy yelled as she held on to the squirming mouse. "I'm sorry to say it, but you'll only do more damage than be of any help down there!"
Pikachu stopped and turned to face Nurse Joy, waiting for an elaboration.
"One shock down there and you will seriously hurt everything and everyone, including Misty and Ash." Nurse Joy explained.
Pikachu listened intently and then his ears drooped. "Pikapi…Pikachupi…" he stated sadly as he turned back to the water…
[MEANWHILE…]
Misty had made good ground in her swim to the surface. 'Yes…we might make it out of this at all.' She smiled inwardly at the thought of this, but that smile was soon replaced by horror as a wave of white poisonous needles narrowly missed them. She looked over her shoulder and sure enough the three Tentacruel were on their trail once more.
'Ugh…I spoke too soon…' Misty thought as she hurriedly tried to pick up some pace, but it wasn't enough because the Tentacruel was soon all around them. They needed to get to the surface because her air was running up rapidly.
Misty saw an opening between two of the Tentacruel and went for it without hesitation, but she did not count on one of their tentacles grabbing on to her ankle…Misty started resisting and that was all the Tentacruel needed to jerk on Misty's ankle and they were soon finding themselves being dragged down back to the bottom by the Tentacruel. This caused Misty to yell and this drained the most of her remaining breath.
The Tentacruel swam to the bottom where Gyarados was still being kept in the cage and the one that was dragging Misty viciously slammed her into the wall of the cage.
Misty let out a painful, ear-piercing scream, which caught Gyarados' attention. It stared wide-eyed at the scene unfolding in front of it.
Misty was now floating groggily, but never-the-less she still held on to Ash. She looked over to the Tentacruel and her eyes widened at what she saw…: The Tentacruel launched a triple Poison Sting attack…right at them.
Misty turned hesitantly towards Ash in her arms and then to Gyarados and then she realized…that they were defenseless!
She did the one thing she could think of to protect both Ash and Gyarados…she turned her back to the attack and spread her arms out defensively in front of them, thus taking the attack head-on.
Misty let out a weak cry as she started drifting in and out of consciousness. Gyarados looked and then everything went quiet around it. Misty was the one that took care of it when it was still a Magikarp. They always did underwater shows together and played and laughed whenever they had the chance and now, now she was hurt, in danger. Memories started going through its head and it now knew only one thing: It had to help; it had to save her…now!
Gyarados let out a mighty roar which caused the three Tentacruel to immediately halt their attack and turn their attention towards it. It fired a mighty Flamethrower directed at one of the steel pipe walls of the cage, which because of this happening underwater resulted in the fire and water mixing into red-hot steam which broke the pipes into thousands of tiny pieces, allowing Gyarados to escape from the cage.
The Tentacruel were taken back by the rage of this new enemy and slowly backed away.
Gyarados directed its attention at Misty and Ash. She was still holding on to Ash, but both of them were unconscious. Seeing this only angered Gyarados further and it then turned its attention to the three cowering Tentacruel. Anger evident in its eyes; Gyarados formed a powerful Hyper Beam from its mouth and fired it straight at the Tentacruel.
Pikachu and Nurse Joy noticed that the water began bubbling and suddenly a loud explosion caused the water to spew up and three figures flew out and landed on the opposite side of the pool, right onto the Invincible Pokemon Brothers.
Next Gyarados surface out of the water, with both Ash and Misty laying ontop of its head.
"Pikapi…Pikachupi!" Pikachu exclaimed as Gyarados laid them down gently on the floor as Nurse Joy and Pikachu ran up to them.
"Oh my goodness…" Nurse Joy said as she crouched down next to the unconscious children. "Ash…Misty?" Nurse Joy asked as she gently shook Misty's shoulders.
"Pikapi…?" Pikachu squeaked as he sat on Ash's stomach and poked Ash's cheek with his paw. Sadly he didn't recuperate any gestures whatsoever.
Misty on the other hand slowly started twitching her eyes and pretty soon opened them. "Uhhh…Nurse Joy…is that you?" Misty groggily asked as she slowly sat up.
Gyarados approached Misty and gently nudged her with the crest on its head, which caused Misty to giggle.
"So you are not angry anymore Gyarados?" She asked carefully.
Gyarados shook its head, which resulted in Misty throwing her arms around its head and laughing happily. After a while she let go of Gyarados and turned to Nurse Joy, who had a grim expression on her face.
"What's wrong Nurse Joy?" Misty asked hesitantly as got up onto her knees.
Nurse Joy sighed depressively and pointed to behind Misty. Misty frowned at her and then turned around. Her eyes grew substantially wide and her mouth fell open.
'Ash…'
Misty practically jumped over to Ash and started shaking him by the shoulders. "Wake up Ash…wake up!" Misty yelled.
"Pikapi…" Pikachu looked on as he also kept on poking Ash in order to get him to wake up.
Misty kept shaking him for a while and then turned to Nurse Joy with a desperate look on her face. "Nurse Joy what's wrong with him…why won't he wake up!" she yelled as she started shaking him again.
Nurse Joy only stood there and watched with a worried expression.
"Ash…Ash…ASH..." Misty's yelling continued and echoed through the gym…
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Ash was lying on his back on the ground when he slowly started opening his eye, which felt very heavy. Ash sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Uhh…where am I…" he wondered out loud as he looked at his surroundings.
He noticed that everything was black around him. "Hello?" Ash said and it echoed all around him. "Guess no-one's here…oh well…I might as well do some exploring."
And with that said, Ash started walking…
"Hmmm I wonder how I even got here…the last thing I remember is the Cerulean Gym…and water and…wait a second! Am I dead?" Ash started panicking. "No I can't be dead already! I still have to win the Pokemon League…and become a Master! I haven't even kissed a girl yet! How will I survive without food, and Mom's cooking! Whoaaaa what am I gonna do!"
"Relax Ash…you're not dead." A voice called out somewhere in this dark void.
"Whaaa…who the heck is there…show yourself right now!" Ash yelled as he held his fist out defensively in front of him.
A familiar looking silhouette started forming in front of Ash, which caused him to take a few steps towards it.
"Wait a second…Professor Oak?" Ash said flabbergasted as he stepped closer.
Indeed it was Professor Oak as the silhouette finished forming. "Why hello Ash…and as I said before…you're not dead, you're just sleeping…" the Professor stated as he started disappearing into the darkness.
"Sleeping? Wait Professor! What do ya mean by sleeping?" Ash yelled as he ran after the image of the Professor which was disappearing in the distance. "No…I'm all alone again…"
"No way Ash…you're never alone…we're always here for you." Another voice called out from the darkness, with yet another silhouette forming in front of Ash.
"Ritchie…is that you?" Ash called out as the silhouette finished taking form and sure enough, it was Ritchie that stood in front of Ash.
"That's right Ash…you were never alone and chances are good that we will never let u fend everything off by yourself…" Ritchie stated as he gave a peace sign as he too disappeared in the distance.
"Ritchie wait! Who is this "we" you're talking about? Ritchie please wait up!" Ash yelled as he chased in vain after Ritchie's disappearing form. "Will someone please tell me what the heck is going on here!" Ash yelled as he sunk onto his knees and hit the ground with his fist in frustration.
"Ash Ketchum don't you dare use that kind of language!" A female voice exclaimed this time.
"MOM…is that you?" Ash asked in shock as he looked on as the silhouette took the form of his mother.
"Why yes it is sweety… don't sleep too long now, I don't want you to oversleep again." She told Ash as she too began to fade away in the darkness.
"Momma no wait don't go!" Ash yelled as he chased after his mother's fading figure. Ash slumped down onto his knees once more. "Great…alone again…"
"I see you're still as dense as ever Ash…you haven't even been without for a full day and already you're suffering." A male voice called out again.
"Brock…" Ash looked up and sure enough, Brock, his long-time friend, stood in front of him. "It is you!" Ash yelled and immediately stood up again.
"Well yeah! Who did you expect big guy?" Brock laughed and crossed his arms. "Now listen Ash you can't give up just because of one little obstacle. You still have to live." Brock stated as he also started fading away back into the darkness.
"Brock…how do I get out of this place? Brock…Brock!" Ash yelled as he tried to get to his friend, but it was in vain, Brock was gone.
Ash fell to his knees and this time hit the ground repeatedly in anger.
"Whoa Ash…dude you've got to calm down bro." another familiar voice called out of the darkness.
"Wait a second…Harrison? What are you doing here?" Ash looked up at the trainer that narrowly defeated him in the Silver Conference.
"Well I'm here to help everyone get you back up!" The image of the Hoenn-native laughed. "You didn't just think you could sleep forever, did you? Come on Ash, get up. Besides, you owe me a rematch because I know that there's no way you're ready to just give up after a match like that…" Harrison expressed confidently as he too faded away in darkness.
"Oh no you don't, you're not getting away from me too!" Ash yelled as he gave chase, but suddenly another figure appeared before him which made him fall backwards.
"So…Ashy-boy is giving up already hey? Typical." The figure's voice blurted out.
"Gary…Gary!" Ash yelled in anger of his long-time rival's remark. "Just what do you mean by that! I never give up!" He retorted back.
"Oh yeah…then why don't you wake up?" Gary folded his arms and smirked at a visibly angry Ash.
"But I don't kno-"Ash started.
"Save it…if you're too scared and pathetic I understand. But don't think anyone will feel sorry for you…come on Ash…prove me wrong." Gary interrupted as he started to fade away in the darkness of the unknown void.
"BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!" Ash yelled as he threw his cap on the ground, hitting the ground with his fists as tears start dripping on the ground below him.
While Ash was doing this; an unknown figure appeared in the meanwhile and picked Ash's hat up and made its way over to him. It crouched in front of Ash and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
This caused Ash to jerk his tear-ridden face up and there, in front of him, was his best friend, Misty. "M-M-Misty…" Ash stuttered out.
"Hey Ash…" Misty greeted Ash sweetly.
"H-Hey…" Ash stuttered out once more as he looked up wide-eyed at her.
"Come on Ash…you've got to get up and stop this crying." Misty said as Ash slowly got to his feet, still staring wide-eyed at her. She slowly and gently wiped the back of her hand over Ash's wet cheeks, wiping it away. "There you go…now Ash it's time to wake up."
"But Misty how? I don't even know where to begin…" Ash stated as he looked down.
"Oh please…don't tell me Ash Ketchum, the future Pokemon Master, is about to give up so easily just because he doesn't know what to do." Misty stated as she smirked at him.
Ash looked up at her with a dumbfounded look on his face. "You're right…I can do this!" Ash yelled determinedly while swinging his fist in the air.
"That's the Ash I know!" Misty said as she slowly approached Ash and gently placed his cap back on his head. "There…now come on…pull through for us!" Misty encouraged him.
Ash looked at her and he pulled his hat backwards determinedly and pumped the air with his fist. "Yeah…I'll do it!" Ash yelled passionately. "But…what do you mean by "us"?" Ash questioned.
Misty face-palmed and shook her head in irritation and turned and walked a bit away from Ash. "I'm talking about us, Ash." And as she finished that sentence, all the people who randomly appeared before Ash earlier, all reappeared next to Misty.
Ash stared dumbfounded once again at the sight in front of him.
"See Ash; I told you that you are never alone…we're all right here." Ritchie stated as he smirked at Ash.
"You guys…" Ash started as he hid his eyes under the brim of his hat. "Thank you…" was all he said as he looked up with tearful eyes and his trademark smile at his friends.
This caused everyone to cheer and pump the air with their fists.
Ash's smile once again faltered away. "Uhm…but how DO I get out of here…" Ash wondered out loud.
Misty stood forward. "Just open your eyes…Ash." She said.
"Ash" Professor Oak said.
"Ash" Ritchie said.
"Ash" Delia said.
"Ash" Brock said.
"Ash" Gary said.
"Ash" Harrison said.
"Ash…" Misty said as she smiled at Ash…
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"Ash…Ash…ASH!" Misty yelled as she kept shaking Ash by his shoulders.
Ash's eyes slowly started opening because of all the commotion. "Uhhhh…" Ash mumbled.
Misty eyes grew wide in excitement. "A-Ash…Ash!" she yelled as she literally picked Ash's upper body off the ground and into a hug.
Ash, still groggy, managed to get his arms around Misty and weakly hug back. "Misty…"
"Pikapi" Pikachu exclaimed as he jumped on Ash's shoulder and wrapped his tiny paws around Ash's neck.
"Thank goodness!" Nurse Joy sighed in relief.
"Hey what's the big idea attacking our Tentacruel like that!" Kim angrily yelled at the group.
Misty glared over her shoulder at the trio of brothers and let go of Ash and turned towards them. "And what were you three thinking! You could have killed us!" Misty spat back.
Ash also turned his attention to the three troublesome brothers with a glare. "You despicable three jerks!"
Gyarados roared in anger at the sight of the three boys with the Tentacruel.
"Pikachu…finish them off with Thun-"Ash began, but he was interrupted by Misty.
"Hold on Ash; let me and Gyarados handle this?" Misty looked at Ash and smiled confidently.
Ash smiled back and nodded at her. "They are all yours."
"Alright Gyarados; use your Hyper Beam attack on those three bozos!" Misty ordered her newly-adopted pokemon.
Gyarados roared in recognition and began charging the powerful attack.
"Oh boy…" Kim muttered out as they all looked on as the blast approached, flying towards them.
A loud explosion followed and six figures went crashing through the roof of the Gym and flew away into the distance.
"Hmm…I might need to fix that hole before the PIA gets here…oh no! The inspection…I completely forgot!" Misty panicked.
Nurse Joy stepped up. "Oh I wouldn't worry too much about that Misty."
Misty turned towards her. "But-"She began.
"You pass the inspection, congratulations!" Nurse Joy smiled as she showed her PIA badge that is pinned to the inside of her jacket.
"Wait…YOU were the inspector all along?" Ash asked in disbelief.
"But all the trouble…" Misty stated.
"Yes I do agree that a lot has happened today, but the way you handled everything proves to me that this Gym is in fine hands." Nurse Joy explained.
"Wow…thanks a lot Nurse Joy!" Misty yelled as she fist pumped the air.
Ash followed her lead and also celebrated with a fist pump, until he noticed Totodile lying a few feet to his right. "Totodile…" Ash whispered as he ran to his fallen pokemon. He crouched down and scooped Totodile up. "Totodile…Totodile are you okay?" Ash asked as Totodile slightly opened its eyes.
"Toto-dile" It exclaimed as it flashed a weak smile.
"Totodile…no…please be okay." Ash mumbled as he stood up from the floor.
Pikachu ran to Ash followed by Nurse Joy and Misty.
"Ash…is it gonna be okay?" Misty asked worriedly.
"Ash…allow me to take Totodile back with me to the Pokemon Center…I'll take good care of it and I'll call to report any news okay?" Nurse Joy volunteered.
"Okay but I'm coming too!" Ash announced as he started walking towards the door.
"Ash no…you've had a long day and need the rest. So stay here and drop by tomorrow." Nurse Joy intervened.
"No wa-"Ash began his argument, but was soon interrupted.
"Ash…Nurse Joy is right. You need some rest…and she said she would call if anything happened." Misty assured Ash and gently squeezed his shoulder.
Ash sighed and nodded. "Well okay…but please call as soon as there is news!" Ash said as he took Totodile's pokeball from his belt and returned the little pokemon.
Nurse Joy took the pokeball from Ash and nodded in recognition. "Well I better get going…so long you two and make sure you both get enough rest."
The two children and Pikachu nodded.
Misty then turned to Gyarados. "So…you ready to get some rest in your pokeball Gyarados?" Misty asked the giant serpent-like pokemon.
Gyarados nodded in approval and was soon returned to its pokeball and placed on the pokeball shelf.
Misty, Ash and Pikachu accompanied Nurse Joy to the front door to see her off to the Pokemon Center.
"Take care you three…see you tomorrow." Nurse Joy bid farewell and started walking down the path heading to the Pokemon Center as the sun started to set over Mt. Moon.
"Bye Nurse Joy, remember to take good care of my Totodile!" Ash shouted after her as he waved.
"Goodbye Nurse Joy thanks for everything!" Misty yelled as she waved.
"Pika Pikaaaa" Pikachu yelled as he waved with both paws.
"Well you two," Misty turned to Ash and Pikachu. "Let's go get something to eat!"
"Alright I'm starving!" Ash yelled as he ran into the Gym.
"Pika-Pika" Pikachu exclaimed as he ran after Ash.
Misty sighed. "Well I hope they realize that they're eating sandwiches tonight…" she said as she made her way into the Gym…
Right now I need your guys' help. I want you to choose a team for Ash consisting of any six pokemon that Ash owned until the end of Johto. Please do not post your teams as reviews. PM your teams please I beg of you. But don't forget to review as well!