Outlaw

Chapter 8: Betrayal

Ash went over his newly found evidence one last time before heading directly to Maya's office to confront her. When James had written to Ash that he could find Emily in Indigo Plateau, he had expected her to be a secretary, or a cleaning lady at the least. He never imagined that Emily was no one other than the President of the Pokémon League. Before he absolutely believed James' claim, Ash had called on some favors and had made sure that Emily Dragon had in fact changed her name to Maya Amherst. Even after he had been confirmed several times that the name change had taken place four years ago, his fear of making a mistake had kept him from challenging her the day he found out this vital piece of information from the former member of Team Rocket.

However, so great was his luck that a final sign fell right on his path, and from the most unexpected source. As he was working late last night, and after waiting for a reply from Gary or Misty in the matter, Dawn woke up in the middle of the night and searched for her husband-to-be. She knew where to find him and she did not waste any time in making her way to his office. She did not even bother to knock on his door, and even though he had been upset when it happened, the results of not knocking had been crucial to finishing the puzzle. Dawn had had the last of piece of it all along.

Dawn walked in and before Ash could hide his evidence on the table she made her way to his work area. Being pregnant did not slow down Dawn's steps. Ash reacted two seconds too late, and he was not able to hide the picture of Emily Dragon, which the national database had faxed to him earlier that day. Dawn grabbed it and chuckled. "I didn't know you had a thing for Maya, honey."

Dawn's comment made Ash jump off his seat. He stared at Dawn, trying to cover the surprise in his eyes. He smiled at her and rolled his eyes, attempting to look nonchalant. "Don't be silly, this ain't a picture of Maya. Maya has blue hair."

Dawn rolled her eyes at him and pressed the picture of Emily on his face as she spoke. "Girls dye their hair, dork! This is what Maya looked like before she changed her name."

"She changed her name?"

"Yup. Her new name is cooler, even though her old last name sounded more Pokémon-Master like."

"How do you know?"

"We go way back. Her younger brother used to be my friend."

Ash held back a scoff when she mentioned the word friend, remembering the real connection Becca had mentioned that existed between Dawn and Jake. "Why did she changer her name?"

"I don't know. Probably because her brother is a jerk and gave her a lot of bad reputation. If I had a brother like Jake, I'd change my name too!"

"What was her old name?"

"Emily Dragon."

Ash chuckled, trying to hide his excitement that the information he had found was in fact entirely true. Dawn stared at him, wondering why he had laughed at what she had said. "What's so funny?"

"Her last name. Don't tell her I laughed at it, though."

"I wont, you aren't even supposed to know. She made me promise I wouldn't tell anyone. She wanted to start her life with a clean slate, you know?"

"I understand. My lips are sealed."

"So, why do you have a picture of her, anyway?"

Ash gulped. He had been so excited to learn that he was closer to the truth than he ever was to have worried to come up with a real excuse of why he was looking at her picture. He sat down and sighed, giving himself some time to think.

"Work. I've got to match pictures of trainers with their battle claims. New idea from Maya herself."

"Ugh, boring!" Dawn said, making a face of disgust. Ash was happy that she had bought his excuse.

"Tell me about it! It seems like Imma be here for a while. Go to bed, I'll join you in a couple of hours, ok?"

"Alright. Don't wake me up."

Ash chuckled as she left the room, locking the door behind her. Ash's heartbeat was very fast; he had all the evidence he needed. Tomorrow, or rather in a few hours, he was going to face Maya Amherst, and clear the mess she had placed Gary and Misty on.

Ash opened his eyes as he had not realized he had drifted off in to dream land for a few minutes. Lunch time was around the corner, and he knew this was the perfect time to get some privacy with Maya. Everyone in the building would leave for lunch, and if he timed it right, he knew that he and Maya would be the only ones left in the hall –or the building, for that matter.

He shook his head and rubbed his face with both of his hands. He was so very tired, and so very confused. He could not believe he had been working for the enemy all these months. He had let Maya play him and he had been used to hurt Misty. He wanted to believe that it was all a misunderstanding, and that he was making a huge mistake. He had grown fond of Maya, and if he did not have all of the evidence in his own hands he would have never believed she would be capable of sending Team Rocket to kill Misty.

"What if I'm making a huge mistake?"

He sighed again. If he was making a mistake, Maya would clear it up by firing him for slander and libel. If he was not making a mistake, he would place Gary and Misty one step closer to freedom. Either way he could not just stay where he was and do nothing. Gary and Misty were counting on him. It was now or never.

Ash grabbed all of the documents he had in front of him as he stood up and headed for the door. He looked at his office one last time, knowing that he would probably not return to it anymore. He knew he was throwing his Pokémon Master title away, but it did not matter. Now that he had it, he had realized that he had not wanted it that much to begin with.

"Here goes nothing," he said as he closed the door behind him and walked down three doors to Maya's office. He stood outside for a few seconds and knocked on the door three times. Maya immediately asked him to go inside. He took a deep breath and went inside.

"Hey, Ash," Maya began speaking without looking at him but once when he entered just to acknowledge who it was. She had a pile of paperwork in front of her about the same size as the one Ash had on his own desk. She held a pen on her left hand as she read through the papers and made marks on the pages. "I was about to contact you, did you finish those battle claims from the gyms? We should really finish those before Gyms start battling again."

Ash slowly walked to the seat in front of Maya's desk. He sat down and placed the papers on his lap. He cleared his throat before answering Maya's question. "As a matter of fact, I was working on them. But I found a situation I hadn't encountered before, and I don't know how to go about it."

"What is it?" Maya asked, without looking up again.

"There is this trainer who changed her name. I have a hard time deciding which picture to use for the battle claim." Maya did not look up at him when he mentioned the name change, but she did stop marking the papers. She pretended not to be taken aback and continued to dangle the pen in her hand as if she was reading something she did not understood. "Some of these Gym Leaders have become too comfortable with their jobs." She said as she frowned at the form in front of her. "I have been thinking of replacing some of them. What do you think?"

"I don't know. Some of these people live for their job. If you do, you should have a very clear and justifiable criterion for kicking them out of their homes."

"You know, that's the problem with these leaders. They think they own the Gym. They do not. It is just a workplace like in here. Maybe we should have the trainers live somewhere else instead of the Gym. Have them check-in and check-out."

Silence engulfed the office for a few seconds. Ash allowed Maya to check some more forms. He knew she was trying to deviate from his question, but he was not going to give in.

"So, what do I do with the name changer? She is kinda special. We can't have our records without her."

"Just use whatever picture you have from the past?"

"What about the name?"

"What about the name?"

"Do you want us to call you by Maya Amherst, or by Emily Dragon?"

Maya dropped the pen on the stack of papers. She leaned back on her chair and rubbed her eyes with her hands. "What are you talking about?"

"I know you changed your name. May I ask why?"

Maya remained calmed, her face unchanged, as she tried to read Ash's face. He offered no readable looks either. "I didn't change my name."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I did not. I would appreciate it if you did not accuse of something I did not do."

"But you did." Ash said as he placed a copy of the name change forms in front of her. Maya did not pick them up but she did look at them. She looked up and stared intently at Ash. "Where did you find this?"

"I'm the Pokémon Master. The lives of the trainers are my job. Why did you change your name?"

Maya stood up and began walking around the office. Ash remained sitting down but he followed Maya by turning around on the chair. "I had a goal in mind, just like you did. I couldn't allow a bad relationship to taint my credibility. You, out of all people, should know that, Ash."

Ash flinched. He knew what she was talking about. He had not changed his name, but he had ended all communication with Brock and Misty, believing it was the best option for him as he wanted to achieve his goal. Maya knew she had hit a soft spot. She gave her back to Ash to smile to herself for her small victory. She composed herself and reached for her cabinets on the back of the room. She took out a bottle of wine and a small glass. She filled the glass, turned around and offered it to Ash. When he declined the drink, she shrugged and began taking small sips from the glass.

"Did you really think your brother Jake would give you a bad reputation? I mean, he did try to kill Misty but I don't think anyone would've blamed you for it."

"Jake didn't try to kill anyone. He's just a stupid little jerk."

"That's not what he told me."

Maya stopped drinking. She walked back to her chair and placed the bottle of wine next to her. "I wouldn't believe a word he says. He likes to lie."

"He said you tried to kill Misty. Is that why you changed your name?"

"I –we, are like celebrities, Ash. Even if we have no guilt of something our relatives do, fingers are pointed at us. I bet that if your mother did something stupid, people would think less of you."

"They wouldn't think as less of me as if I did something myself."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I spoke to James. He told me everything."

Maya frowned as she took another sip of her drink, this time directly from the bottle. "What is everything?"

"You know what I'm talking about. I know what you're doing to Misty, Emily Dragon."

Maya took another –and this time bigger, mouthful of the wine. She slowly swallowed as she placed the bottle on top of the stack of papers. "What do you want? A raise? A new house for your mother?"

Ash shook his head. "I want to know what the fuck Misty did to you to deserve to die."

Maya chuckled as she made herself comfortable on her leather chair. She cleared her throat and combed her long blue hair with her fingers. "You have no proof I ever did anything to her. She brought this on herself."

It was Ash's time to laugh. "Don't play innocent with me. I know you're the new boss of Team Rocket."

"Nonsense."

Ash slammed the stack of papers on her desk. Though he did not let them go, he went over one by one as proof everything he had to say to her. "Nonsense, really? I'm sure the real police, not your Pokémon police filled with Team Rocket members, would love to know that you sent Jake to kill Misty, and that you gave him that underwater breather for him to use. That everything you have done so far was to push Misty to an inch of her sanity. You blackmailed Gary, you sent Team Rocket to the Cerulean Gym to kill her, killed those Pokémon, it was you all along!"

Maya smiled. Ash grabbed his papers and placed them back on his lap as he stared at her. Her face had changed; she was not Maya Amherst anymore. This was what James was talking about. It was Emily Dragon who was talking now.

"You forgot two more things, dear."

"What would that be?"

"I also killed Misty's parents…and your beloved Pikachu too."

Ash's eyes opened wide. His fists began shaking and his jaw clenched. Emily was amused. "You see…I used to be a trainer like you; full of hopes and dreams. But I wasn't as lucky as you. I had to work for what I have. I earned everything. You, you and your little kids club got everything given to you. You don't know what I had to go through because of brats like you."

Ash remained as calmed as he could. He placed his hands in his pockets and tried to mimic Emily's nonchalant look.

"You don't know what you're talking about. We had to earn it too."

Emily laughed out loud as she hit the desk with her closed fist. Ash slid a few inches away from her desk. He could see she was about to lose control of herself.

"Don't give me that bullshit. You, at least you had it rough, by nature. Your father left you and your mom. It doesn't get any worse than that. Gary, well, his parents died, but he was still rich and with connections. Misty, on the other hand, she had everything. She had everything that should have belonged to me."

"Are you saying she stole it form you?"

"Now you're listening. That little bitch. Her family ruined me."

"They got the Gym fair and square. She didn't steal anything from you!"

"SHUT UP!" Emily screamed. "She…all of them…they mocked me…they mocked us. We should have been the leaders of that Gym. I should be the Gym Leader of Cerulean now! If it wasn't for them, we would have never gone broke, struggling for every meal. Not knowing if we would have a place to stay for the night. They ruined my family. My parents, they would have never died if they had not gotten what belonged to us."

"They won that Gym! I don't see how it's Misty's fault that your parents died."

"But, it is. If we had gotten that Gym, my parents would have never had to fly to the Orange Islands for that job. They would be alive. I wouldn't have had to raise that dumbass Jake."

"You're crazy. You're obviously unstable."

"YOU DON'T KNOW!" Emily screamed again as she threw the bottle of wine to the door, breaking on impact. Ash covered his face from the flying pieces of glass. Emily stood up and began walking around the room. Her eyes were filled with tears but she did not sob. "Do you know how old I was when I started battling?"

"Ten?"

Emily scoffed. "Sure. I was nineteen. Nineteen! I was so much older than all the other trainers. I had to wait because I had a baby to take care off. He was a handful. I was terrible. I didn't get to Cerulean's Gym until I was twenty-two! Twenty-two! Misty is twenty-two right now. She has a Gym, and she has a reputation."

"Reputation that you ruined by tricking her."

"She had it coming, her and her ditzy sisters."

"Why are you blaming Misty for what her parents did?"

"Oh, but it didn't stop there. Her sisters…Daisy…she fucked with me too."

"What did Daisy ever do to you?"

"I remember it very well…I had gotten stuck in Cerulean. I kept losing to those airheads. I was so frustrated. How could they defeat me? Every time I battled, I battled for my parents. I couldn't let the children of the people who ruined my parents beat me. I was defeated by them so many times. One day, I waited for hours in the lobby for them to finish other battles. Everybody that day had gotten a badge from them. I felt it was my lucky day; I was going to move on to the next Gym. It was just me and this other kid. He was wearing a long purple shirt, and had spiked hair."

"Gary?"

Emily nodded. "He was scheduled to go after me. The little runt, he was full of himself. Everyone knows he just got better treatment because he is Professor Oak's grandkid."

"That's not true. Gary's very good at what he does."

"You mean sleeping with Misty? I'm sure he is."

Ash glared at Emily. She enjoyed hitting his soft spot.

"Anyway, Daisy defeated me again. I was so mad. I left the Gym and was heading to the Pokémon Center, but I wanted to watch that brat lose, so I went back inside and I hid behind the bleachers. I saw Gary Oak stand before Daisy Waterflower. I saw when Daisy gave him the Cascade Badge without any battle.

"What?" Ash said, pretending he did not know.

"Daisy said she had a date that night and that she was tired. So she gave Gary the badge for free. Do you think that's fair?"

"Not really."

"Not really? NOT AT ALL!"

"You could've just reported them, you know? You didn't have to go do everything you did!"

"Sure, who would have done anything against Gary Oak? He is such a spoiled brat!"

"He wasn't that famous back then, he was just starting. It was probably his second Gym."

Emily scoffed. "It doesn't matter. His reputation went down the drain, and so did Misty's. Serves them right."

"So, how did you kill her parents?"

"That was easy. They were going to this stupid convention in Indigo Plateau, and the show-offs took a helicopter. They should have checked it before they left, don't you think?"

"And…how did you kill Pikachu?"

Emily laughed. "Killing that rodent was also easy. All I had to do was poison the little guy. I bet you still think that he died because of his old age. It was a struck of luck he decided to help that Pokémon Center. I couldn't believe how lucky I was."

Ash wanted nothing more than to jump over the desk and beat the living shit out of the woman. He could not believe that she had been poisoning his starter Pokémon all this time and he had never noticed. "So, all those times that you sent Pikachu to that Pokémon spa…"

"Exactly! Did you really think I could care about that weak Pokémon? He was so pathetic."

Ash could not contain himself anymore. He stood up and threw whatever he could find to Emily. Unfortunately for her, the first he had found was her telephone that hit her right on her forehead. Emily took both of her hands to her head and moaned in pain. She cursed under her breath and opened a drawer to take out a small mirror. She looked at her forehead and saw blood coming out from her.

"You're an idiot. I was going to let you go free, offer you to be my partner in crime, but look what you just did. Do you really think you're getting out of here with all that information?"

Ash took a few steps away from her, alternating staring at her and the door. He had to get out of there and find a police officer, a real police officer. Emily stared at him and smiled. "You just attacked the Pokémon League President. Do you really think anyone is going to help you now?"

"I've got proof, proof that you are a fraud. I'm turning you in."

"Like anyone will believe a kid like you! I'm the Pokémon League President."

"And I'm the Pokémon Master."

"Yes, the Pokémon Master who threw a telephone at the Pokémon League President."

"The Pokémon League President who is the new boss of Team Rocket."

"Good luck trying to prove that, kid."

"James is all the proof I need."

"The same James that tried to burn down the Cerulean Gym?"

"Under your orders."

"I'm sure the police will believe an ex-Pokémon robber, a kid who got a badge for free, a girl who helped two outlaws escape from a hospital, a girl who has documented mental issues, and the kid who tried to kill the Maya Amherst."

"They believed you were sane, didn't you?"

Emily threw the mirror back inside the drawer, and exchanged it for a small gun. Ash took a deep breath. "Have you heard of self-defense?" He asked.

"No, but I've heard of temporary insanity." She replied.

Emily cocked the gun and aimed it at him. He was standing halfway between the chair and the door. He knew that he would not make it to the door. All he could do for now was stand there.

"Nowhere to run, Pokémon Master?"

"I don't run away from my problems."

"So, leaving Pallet Town without Misty was not running away from your problems?"

"Misty was not a problem."

"Then why did you get rid of her?"

Ash growled. "I made a mistake, that's all. Misty was never a problem for me. She was my friend. She was the woman I loved."

Emily scoffed. "Puh-lease. Love? You kids don't know about love. You don't know what it's to love and to lose. To watch the one you love die."

"I would have if your plan to burn down the Gym with Misty inside it would have worked."

Emily's eyes filled with tears. She began sobbing as she continued to point to the gun at Ash. "But you didn't. I did…I had to watch him die."

"Who?"

"Giovanni. Giovanni was the only one who understood me. He was the only one who ever loved me for me."

"Giovanni? The Gym Leader from Viridian City?"

Maya growled and stomped on the floor with her left foot.

"Stupid kid! I should've known you didn't know about Giovanni's real agenda."

"What are you talking about?"

Emily laughed as she lowered the hand that held the gun. She was no longer pointing it at Ash, but she did not let it go from her hand. "Giovanni was my husband. He was the leader of Team Rocket."

"Giovanni? He would never…he was a Gym Leader!"

Emily giggled. "Did you think I was the one who brought corruption to the League? The League was already corrupted! Giovanni, the Waterflower sisters, Brock Slate…"

Ash took a deep breath, trying to absorb what Emily was saying. Everything he had lived for, everything he had always believed on, it was all a lie. He had devoted half of his life to an association that was lead by traitors, criminals. He had become part of a group of people who worked for a lie.

"All these years…how come no one knew about Giovanni?"

"Because the Rockets don't even know who he is…was…they never saw his face."

"What kind of people work for someone they don't even know?"

"People like me, like Jessie, like James, Cassidy or Butch. People who have nothing in the world. People, who don't have anyone to care for them, people who are not understood by anyone in the world. People who don't have everything given to them like you and your friends."

"We didn't have…."

"SHUT UP!" Emily shouted again, lifting the hand with the gun and pointing it at Ash. "Where is she?"

"What?"

"Where is she? Where are they hiding?"

"I don't know."

"DON'T LIE TO ME!"

"I DON'T know!"

"You could've never figured this out on your own! They gave you the information, didn't they? Where are they?"

"I told you, I don't k—"

Ash was not able to finish his sentence. He felt a sharp pain go through his right shoulder. At first it felt like something had stung him and had gone right through his body. He then felt an uncomfortable warmth take over him. His muscles were shutting down and before he knew it he was down on his knees. The papers he held fell on the floor. He stared at them as he realized that blood was dripping from him, and staining his evidence.

Emily had shot him.

Ash took quick breaths to try and exhale the pain. He gritted his teeth to stop him from screaming. He never imagined that getting shot would hurt this much.

"I won't ask you again," Emily began, "where…are…they?"

Ash looked up at her. She was standing a few feet away from him, showing no remorse or fear. She cocked her gun again as she stared down at him. Ash coughed up blood and watched as his papers got ruined. He slowly lifted his body and stood up as straight as he could. He did not say anything at all but knew that he could be very well staring at the end of the road for him.

"Is your life worth theirs?"

"Was their mistake worth their lives?"

"Wrong answer." Emily said. She aimed directly at Ash head and fired. Ash closed his eyes and waited for his fate.

Misty Waterflower sat on the front porch of Ash Ketchum's home, staring at the stars. Stars like this could not be seen in Cerulean. Pallet Town was such a small place that there were only a few homes, and the rest of the area belonged to the Pokémon. She was excited about the events of the day, and how Ash had been so sweet to her for quite some time now. She had seen a side of Ash she never knew existed, and the thought of Ash falling for her after all these years made her heart jump.

Ash and company had arrived to Pallet Town to visit Ash's mom before they departed to Indigo Plateau again. Ash had a gut feeling that he would win the Pokémon League's Tournament this year. His heart was beating a thousand miles per hour, and his adrenaline was getting the best of him. The trio would be departing to Indigo Plateau tomorrow morning, but Ash kept tossing and turning unable to go to bed.

After the millionth attempt to fall asleep he decided he needed some warm milk to do the trick. He stood up and headed to the kitchen. He placed a pot on the stove and poured cold milk on it. He raised the heat to a medium level and decided to step outside.

He was surprised to see his best friend sitting on the porch, staring at the skies. He walked toward her and remained standing behind her. The glow of the moon fell on her face, making it shine like a rare diamond. He smiled as his heart began racing even faster than before. Tomorrow, the most important season of the year for him would begin. Tonight was the perfect time to let his feelings known to her.

He took small steps as he approached her left side and sat next to her. She turned to face him and gave him that smile he was so familiar with. He smiled back before looking up to the sky. "It's an amazing night, isn't?"

"Yes, it is. These are foreign skies to Cerulean."

"Pallet Town has the best skies…and the best trainers."

"Yeah, I heard Gary is making it big."

"Gary is a researcher, not a trainer."

Misty giggled. "I know exactly what you meant. I was trying to make a joke."

"I didn't find it funny."

"Where's Brock?"

"Passed out in the couch."

Misty nodded. "Why aren't you passed out?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Just thinking."

"'Bout what?"

Misty could not help to blush as she looked the other way to avoid Ash's stare. She knew it was not a good thing if he found out what was crossing her mind in such a romantic night.

"Silly things? What's your story?"

It was Ash's turn to blush, though he did not look away. "Ash, is everything ok?"

Ash shook his head as he grabbed Misty's hands. "I've been meaning to ask you something."

Misty was shaking but tried to look as calm as possible. Ash was never this forward and it worried her, scared her, but excited her at the same time. "What is it?"

"I…"

A Fearrow had flown above them, interrupting his overly rehearsed speech. He sighed and cursed the animal under his breath. Misty did not even bother to stare at the Pokémon. "You were saying?"

"Look, Misty. I…I've been wondering…well…y'know…we've been friends…forever…and, uhm…well…I've been thinking, lately…I mean…if you don't want to, that's fine…ok? So…this is it…but if you're not sure I'll be fine…I guess… right?"

Misty stared at Ash, hoping a coherent sentence would come out from him but when he did not speak for several seconds she cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, Ash. I didn't quite get that."

Ash scratched his head. He growled and shook his fist in the air with determination. He closed his eyes as he spoke in a trembling voice. "Will you…would you want to…do you want…to be…my…girl…girlf…girlfriend?"

Misty blushed as he saw him blush deeply. "Milk…inside…hot…stove…must…check." Ash stood up and walked inside his home in a robotic manner. Misty was left there amazed and confused. She stood up and decided to give Ash a few minutes to calm himself. She began walking and headed for Pallet Town's favorite hill.

Ash felt the same pressure he had felt before hit his chest. The pressure was followed by warmth and a feeling of despair he had never experienced before. "So this is what it feels like to die?"

He wanted to ignore the pain and continue remembering the night he asked Misty to start dating but his mind was so confused that it would not let him focus on that memory. He wanted to place a happy memory in his head to die happily, but there were too many voices in the room to concentrate. The pain had made him close his eyes, and he refused to open them to see his wound. He wanted to remember his body like it had been before Emily had made two holes on it. He wanted to remember Misty with a smile, not a frown. He wanted to die in peace.

"Dawn, what have you done?"

"Dawn?"

Ash heard a soft moan of pain followed by a whimper. He recognized those sounds and forced his eyes to open. He saw Emily stare down at him, the gun no longer in her hand. He saw she was staring at the floor, but not at him. He followed her eyes and realized who Emily was staring at. Dawn was on the floor and blood was coming out from her. Dawn had taken the shoot for him. "Oh, God no!"

Ash crawled to where Dawn was and turned her over. Her face noted her fear and tears would not stop coming out. He began shaking and hyperventilating once he saw where the bullet had hit her. Blood was coming from the right side of her belly, where her elbow hit her waist when resting.

"Ash…the baby…"

Ash took out his cell phone and began dialing the emergency number. He could already hear footsteps running up the stairs. As he was on hold for someone to answer, he heard another gunshot being fired very close to him. He turned around and saw Emily shooting herself in the leg. She fell to the floor and began moaning in pain.

"What the fuck did she do that for?"

He ignored the now injured Emily as someone answered his call. The Pokémon Police arrived at the scene as he was giving out his location for an ambulance. Indigo Plateau was a small town compared to the rest. An ambulance would arrive in no time.

"Ash…I'm sorry…I couldn't let her kill you…"

"Sshhh…don't say a thing, Dawn. Save your energy, I need you to be ok. Calm down."

Dawn nodded but continued to sob. The Pokémon Police began calling their own emergency crew when they saw Emily on the floor. "What the hell happened here?"

"Ash…Ash Ketchum tried to kill me!"

Ash turned around and gave Emily his most distasteful look. "Shut the fuck up, liar! It's your gun!"

"Yes, it is. I was trying to defend myself from him. He threw a phone to me…I'm still bleeding."

The officers stared at Ash and then at Dawn. They walked towards Ash and asked him to stand up. "I'm afraid you'll have to go with us to the Pokémon League police station."

Dawn tried to open her mouth to speak on Ash's behalf but he placed a hand on her lips, shaking his head. "You can better help me if you are not in jail."

"But…Ash…"

"I'll be fine."

Ash slowly stood up and was relieved to see the paramedics had arrived. He turned around to the officers and lifted his hands when he saw a gun pointed at him. "Could I at least get some medical attention? Maya tried to kill me; she shot me in the shoulder."

An officer walked close to him and saw that he was telling the truth. He called more paramedics to examine him and they told the officers they had to take him to the hospital. The officers were hesitant to let him go, but they had no option. "Fine, we'll just go back to the station and keep and eye on the outlaws."

Ash looked up and stared at the officer. He was being strapped to a gurney and getting ready to be taken downstairs. "What outlaws?"

"You'll see outside."

Ash looked around himself as he was carried down the hall and the stairs to the main lobby. His eyes wandered everywhere trying to see what he thought the officer had meant when he said the word outlaws. The paramedics took him outside and he was surprised to see several police cars and at least three ambulances. Trainers and members of the League were standing right behind the Do Not Cross yellow strips that surrounded the area.

He could feel the pain on his arm become numb as the serum the paramedics had injected him was taking effect. His eyelids began feeling heavy as he stared at his own feet. His body became completely relaxed and his eyes finally gave in to the anesthesia. Had he remained awake for one more second, he would have been able to see a handcuffed Misty Waterflower and Gary Oak getting into two different police cars. The former residents of Cerulean had turned themselves in at the break of dawn.