Chapter 3: First Sign of Danger
(Ash's POV)
"Hey... Ash... Can you hear me?" I heard a voice calling out to me.
I opened my eyes and my sight was blurry...I could only make out a blue sky...and a figure leaning over me.
"Ash?" the voice called out again. It seemed vaguely familiar.
"Huh?" my voice was weak and shaky.
"Ash, please don't leave me. This isn't how it's supposed to be." I was now fully convinced that I had heard this voice before. Only it seemed different...
I felt something wet fall onto my cheek and run down my face.
"ASH!" I felt someone shaking me as everything went black...
--
"Ash, wake up!" Misty pulled my pillow out from under my head and began beating me over the head with it ruthlessly.
"Okay, okay, enough!" I held up my hands to defend myself but it was no use. Nothing could protect me from Misty.
"Your hopeless, Ash Ketchum..." Misty slammed the pillow into my face then turned to walk away.
Then it hit me...Misty...she was the voice I heard in my dream. But it didn't make any sense. Why did she sound so sad and desperate? She hardly even sounded like Misty. Perhaps Brock could help clear this up. Nah, Brock would just tease me, asking how often I dreamed about Misty. Besides, I wasn't even completely sure it WAS Misty that I had heard.
I pulled myself up from bed and looked over to where Pikachu had fallen asleep the day before. It was empty.
"Hey, look who's awake." Brock poked his head in. "you got up late today. Even Pikachu woke up before you did."
Thanks Brock, you just HAD to rub it in.
"Ash is late for almost everything but meals and Pokemon matches." Misty's voice called out from the other room. "It makes me wonder how his mother can even live with him."
Great, Misty had to chime in too. I felt like I had endured enough of her abuse.
"Well, at least I'm not some scrawny brat who just follows me around for a stupid bike." I replied.
Brock looked at me as if I had a bunch of Krabby crawling out of my ears.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Misty burst through the door, carrying a tray of food.
Brock looked at the infuriated Misty then back to me.
"Pikapi..." Pikachu sighed and shook his head.
"ASH KETCHUM!" Misty hurled the tray at me and pulled out her mallet. "You ungrateful idiot...!"
The irony of the whole situation began to sink in. Misty was hurling food at me—food she had intended to give to me. Wait a sec...
"HOLD IT!" I protested but it was too little, too late.
Misty began to relentlessly pound me with her mallet.
I felt the blows falling onto me swiftly and aggressively. I closed my eyes and tried my best to protect the softer locations of my body.
Then the pounding stopped. I opened my eyes and saw Brock forcibly holding Misty back. Her face was red with anger but her eyes were streaming with tears running down along both of her cheeks. She huffed and starred at me, her eyes barely open. She didn't speak a word but her expression said it all. I had hurt her deeply.
"Misty, I'm..." I paused.
Misty tried to pull out of Brock's grasp but he held her tightly.
"Misty, I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't really mean it." I said honestly.
Misty didn't say a word. She just looked back at Brock, who released his grip on her. Misty dropped her mallet on the floor and looked down at her feet.
"Ash... I-" Misty turned and ran out of the room, crying bitterly.
Brock looked at me, sending me death rays right through his closed eyelids. Shaking his head, he let himself out of the room as well and closed the door behind him.
I sighed, picked the food up off the ground, and began eating the remnants which were still somewhat edible.
"Misty made this...for me?" I asked myself in particular.
Needless to say, I was completely and utterly confused by the events that had just occurred before me.
"Pikapi...pikachu pi pi chu pika." Pikachu, who remained in the room, walked over to my side.
"I'm sorry, Pikachu." I stroked his head while enjoying what was left of my breakfast.
Professor Oak opened the door, and tossed in a Parka.
"You will need this, Ash. Hurry up and get ready. We need to get going." He said briefly and closed the door.
--
I stepped out into the sea of white for that was what would best describe it. I saw nothing but white—white in front of me, behind me, above me, and below me. To my left was Brock, who still had not said a word to me since our little "incident." To my right walked Professor Oak, who likewise had a stern and determined look on his face. Behind me, and slightly to the right, walked Misty. Like me, she wore a large parka that covered most of her body. Her face looked sad…almost distant.
I sighed and glanced at Pikachu who stood on my shoulder as he often would. The cold temperatures of this sea of white required Pikachu to wear some sort of protection. He had a thick scarf wrapped around him, covering him entirely; save his face, legs, and tail.
The five of us walked over to the rest of the group. They were mostly men, well-built and strong. The only woman I could see looked vaguely familiar. I simply shrugged, ignoring her for now. They had a hardened look to them as if nothing in the world could scare them. Brock, on the other hand...
"Not HER!" Brock jumped behind me and shielded himself from the sight of the woman.
"What's wrong, Brock?" I grinned. "I thought you like women."
"Not... that one." Brock whispered.
Then, it came to me. The woman standing before us was none other than Professor Ivy. Now that I thought about it, Brock had never actually clarified what had happened between them.
Professor Oak, however, seemed oblivious to Brock's odd behavior.
"I assume the three of you have met Professor Ivy before." He said, breaking a smile for the first time that day.
"Yeah…" I spoke up. "We sure have."
"It's a pleasure to see you all again." Professor Ivy nodded. Even I could tell that she was avoiding speaking to Brock directly.
"Why did you decide to come along?" I asked, a bit curious.
"Oh, well, I find this habitat particularly fascinating. Wouldn't you agree?" She smiled and turned to pick up some gear. Apparently, she asked a rhetorical question...or something like that.
I partially expected Misty to speak up and make a stab at me, saying something along the lines of: "Of course he finds it interesting. He would find a twig interesting if you told him it had something to do with Pokemon."
Instead, Misty said nothing at all. She was acting very strangely that day.
--
We soon began our journey, in very much the same fashion as before. Professor Oak took the lead and tried to help pass the time with one of his lectures. This time the lecture just HAPPENED to be about Mamoswine. I listened more out of boredom than anything else.
"...and that's what we call a semiannual migration...you know what that means, right?" Professor Oak said at one point.
I sighed and looked back at Misty. Well, at least she was actually looking around. Her eyes widened and she looked away, avoiding making eye-contact with me. She wrapped her arms around herself and looked back toward the ground. I have never seen her act this way before.
Professor Oak elbowed me gently.
"Ash, are you listening?" He asked in an annoyed tone.
"Uh, yeah…" I replied, unsure of how much of the lecture I missed.
"I suspect he's just enjoying the scenery." Brock said sourly, referring to the blandness of the scene that surrounded us.
All seemed quiet. The bitter wind that whipped up was the only exception. In fact, I realized just then that the Professor had abruptly stopped his lecture. Everyone had stopped walking and we were staring in the same direction.
"Huh?" I asked; looking in the same direction as everyone else.
I couldn't see a thing.
But...I could hear something. It sounded like...snoring.
"Walrein…" Professor Oak whispered. "A whole pod of Walrein is just over that hill."
It sure didn't look like much of a hill but something must have been hiding them from view since all I could see was white.
"What's the big deal?" I asked, perhaps a bit too loudly. "It's not like they are going to wake up and attack us."
I felt daggers glaring at me from everyone's eyes.
I shrunk back.
"Wal…?" I heard from over the small hill. "Walrein…! Rein…!"
"Great…" Misty groaned and pulled out a Pokeball.
Brock, however, beat her to the punch. Just as the first Walrein appeared over the lump, Brock had already thrown his first Pokeball.
"Steelix, use Iron Tail!" Brock ordered.
Steelix slammed the Walrein right back over the hill...but more came…much more...
"RUN!" Professor Oak yelled.
"Gyarados…!" Misty released her giant water Pokemon. "Go help Steelix."
I turned and saw a heard of Piloswine rush up behind us, blocking our escape.
"What's going on here?" Brock shouted.
"It seems the Piloswine are coming to the Walrein's aid." Professor Ivy mused while Steelix and Gyarados continued to smack Walrein back over the hill as they came up.
I looked over at Pikachu and nodded.
"Pikachu, Use Thunder on those Walrein!" I ordered.
"Ash, that might not be-" Professor Oak began but never finished his sentence as Pikachu unleashed a mighty electric attack at the pod of Walrein. It shocked many of them, particularly the bolder members who rushed up to take the brunt of the attack.
With a roar, they turned and began a full retreat.
"Good job, Pikachu." I smiled at my friend.
Our celebration, however, was short-lived.
The Piloswine were still heading right for us!
Professor Oak stood between us and the Piloswine. He bravely reached under his parka and drew out a Pokeball.
"Dragonite, use Hyper Beam!" Professor Oak ordered.
His Dragonite, a formidable Pokemon, looked slightly intimidated by the herd of charging Piloswine. It charged up for a Hyper Beam and unleashed it with full force. The attack ripped across the herd, scattering them like Mareep. One particularly strong Piloswine, however, managed to make it through. It charged right for Professor Oak, ignoring Dragonite entirely.
"Watch out!" Brock yelled but it was too late.
The Piloswine slammed into Professor Oak, sending him tumbling back towards us.
I knew something had to be done before it killed him.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt…!" I ordered.
"Pikachuuuuu!" Pikachu knocked it out cold, landing on the ice with a loud thump.
"Are you alright, Oak?" Professor Ivy rushed over to his side.
"...yes." He groaned. "But I think it would be best if I return to base and make sure I didn't take any serious damage."
Brock nodded. "You take Professor Oak back. I will continue the search."
Professor Oak noted Brock's determined face and nodded.
"Very well, but remember everything I have told you... and be on the lookout. Those wooly Pokemon will be back."
Professor Ivy helped Professor Oak stand up and walk back in the direction we came. A few of the men went with them while the rest simply turned and continued walking. With one last glance back at Professor Oak's disappearing form, I couldn't help but remember the strange dream I had the night before...
--
Ambezua: Yeah, Professor Oak has a way of skipping out on most (if not all) of the adventure. I thought it would be appropriate to continue the trend.
Misty: Speaking of trends, why on Earth would Ash have such a ridiculous dream? He doesn't think I care about him.
Ash: I think you have a pretty good idea.
Misty (acting nervous): What? What do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about!
Ash: So, you DO dream about me!
Misty: (mallet slam) In your dreams, Ketchum!
Ambezua: Anyway, this chapter introduces some new plot details: Misty and Ash are each changing in their approach to each other. Brock is trying his best to work things out for them, but will it be enough?
Ash: The drama is getting to me. Please hurry up and get on with it!
Brock: Ash, are you sure you are using that word correctly?
Ash: Who asked you, Squinty?
--
Summary: Ash has a strange dream. He also manages to alienate Misty over a misunderstanding. Professor Oak leads them at the beginning of the expedition. After a time, however, they are attacked by a group of ice-type Pokemon. Ash, Misty, and Brock's Pokemon manage to fight them off, but Professor Oak was wounded. He and a handful of escorts decide to go back while Ash, Misty, Brock, and the rest of the men to continue the search without him.