Chapter 4: El Rascate de la Primera Hija
What in the world hit the rivals that knocked them on their stomachs? It was something Ash had to wonder as he came around inside the shack. Pikachu and Gary's Blastoise watching over them and Paul as they tried to recover from whatever caused them to keel over and faint. Groggy moans rippled the air as Ash rose to all fours. ("Ash, you good?") Pikachu asked. Ash's Pokémon was worried about him. He did spear a giant seaworthy lizard to death and it probably was too much of a sight for the young trainer to watch.
"I'm fine," he groaned. "I just... need to get moving to reach Ash-" His mouth stopped when a rumble of pain and agony began to rip inside Ash. He yelped and shouted, surprisingly not awakening the others. Ash's eyes shifted from the chocolate brown to crimson red. Something inside was altering his insides. Pikachu had an idea which would make Ash hate him but there didn't seem like any other option would work.
("Forgive me, but I don't have any choice.") Pikachu blasted Ash with his Thunderbolt. The massive voltage traversed all over Ash's body in order to stop his convulsing. Pikachu held onto the Thunderbolt for a good minute. During which, Ash's voice as he screamed in discomfort began to change, the pitch sounding lighter. Pikachu relaxed his attack to which a smoking raven-haired youngster fell onto his hands already on his knees. Ash now had two items to recover from: that convulsion which flattened him and his rivals and Pikachu's Thunderbolt. It was quick. Ash stopped his labored breathing and realized his was himself moving all extremities normally. It was as if anything that happened before the rivals fell into the Team Rocket trap never happened.
"I'm okay." Not quite, Ash. It didn't click yet but Ash's voice...wasn't Ash's voice. "Wow! Thanks a lot, Pikachu!" Pikachu scratched it's ears as if any guilt from shocking Ash was nullified.
("I can't believe it-") Only now did the Electric Mouse Pokémon noticed that Ash's voice had changed. ("Ash, your voice!") Blastoise barely noticed as it stayed huddled over Gary.
"My voice?" Ash tickled his throat with his thumb, wondering what Pikachu meant. "What's wrong with my-" Now he noticed. Ash gasped at what happened with his voice box. "When did this come back? I haven't had this since I returned from the Hoenn Region!" Pikachu's Thunderbolt did a lot more than stop Ash's convulsion. Ash grinned, feeling wonderful about the vocal difference. "Maybe this voice will work out a lot better than what I have. I don't know how long I'll have it but I'll make good use of it." One look out the window warned Ash that the trek to rescuing Ashley Graham, the US President's baby girl, was going to be one big trudge: a thunderstorm rolled in. "Blastoise, keep an eye on the two while I'm gone."
("I will,") the Shellfish Pokémon promised as Ash packed Pikachu in his vest. Ash traveled away from the lake when the familiar vibration called to him: Ingrid. Ducking under a rocky umbrella, Ash answered.
"Ingrid, what's up?" Ingrid briefly hesitated to reply to Ash with his new voice.
"Who...is this?" she wondered. Ash realized that his new speech confused the US contact.
"It's still me. I don't know how but my voice has been altered."
"So you're still the same Ash that I answer to?"
"Yeah." Ingrid sighed in relief that Ash was okay. Why would she?
"I do apologize, it's been at least four hours since our last call. I tried to contact you to see if maybe you're okay."
"Yeah, I'm not sure what happened to all of us. We started to feel disoriented and then passed out. I think I was able to wake up sooner than Gary and Paul since I had adrenaline from fighting some big lizard." Before Ingrid could reply, a villager groaned with a shovel. He wasn't going to bury Ash, was he? He was also soaked to the bone from all the rain. Ash prepared the shotgun when the villager's head suddenly burst apart. Before Ash could wonder if a stray lightning bolt blew the head up, something ugly reared what was the head: a dirt brown worm with a handful of tentacles splashed from the villager's shoulders. That spooked Ash and Pikachu and even more shocking was that even though it was headless, it still continued to walk as if it was alive. "You might wanna take a look at this." Ash pointed the phone at the oncoming headless villager with the new accessory and took a picture. He then placed the phone near his side and turned to Pikachu. "Hey, Pikachu. Let's use the rain to our advantage and Thunderbolt it." Pikachu liked the idea as Ingrid fumbled with the new photo of what the heck that was.
"The hell..." Pikachu fired another Thunderbolt and zapped...whatever protruded from the villager's neck. The thing exploded and the villager finally fell and dissolved.
"Perfect, Pikachu!" Pikachu squeaked in good notion as Ash was right back to Ingrid. "Anything?"
"Yeah, something. This is far worse than what happened in Raccoon City with the T-Virus."
"T-Virus? Was this something Leon was working on? His home was in Raccoon City." Ingrid wasn't sure but Ash seemed intrigued with this T-Virus.
"Several years ago, Leon Kennedy was just a new member of the Raccoon City Police Department when the outbreak of the T-Virus occurred. That T-Virus was once in possession of a pharmaceutical company, Umbrella Inc." The name made Ash scoff and want to joke.
"Umbrella, huh? 'Keeping you covered from the diseases of the world' must have been their marketing punchline."
"Actually, they went by a few but not quite what you thought up. I'm surprised you weren't hired as their spokesman. That was good. Anyway, the T-Virus outbreak killed thousands and Leon paired up with Claire Redfield who was searching for her brother, Chris, who was a member of STARS or Special Tactics and Rescue Squad. Anyway, after rescuing the remaining living, Raccoon City was destroyed, if only to minimize the damage from the outbreak. However, this is different."
"Yeah, I doubt it's a viral outbreak." It suddenly made Ash think. All three were injected. Could they have what that villager had shoot out of his body? "I don't think we were given a drug."
"I had a feeling you were getting that conclusion. I don't know what specifically that is but I think I know what to class it as. I believe you three were given a parasite." Ash shuttered. It wasn't a drug or a virus but a parasite that seemed to flow through the villagers and the rivals.
"Sounds like I should hurry and get Ashley." Without a comeback from Ingrid, Ash hung up and continued down the path. As the two raced through the muddy path by the rainwater, all Ash could be thinking about was reaching Ashley. They passed a couple of doors and nearly found themselves swimming in a river with the skies letting up. Wooden planks provided walkways and a waterfall captivated quite a scenery. That's when Ash spotted some construction equipment and claws holding crates. Some sort of cargo? Ash knew he needed to get across somehow...and knew the Pokémon to do it. "Buizel, I choose you!" A ball opened from Ash and out came an orange two-tailed weasel with a floatation ring around the neck. "Use Sonic Boom!" The weasel was startled with Ash's new voice. Pikachu stepped up to clarify what's wrong with their trainer.
("His voice was my fault,") it squeaked. ("It's still Ash.") Buizel got the message and focused its aim at the claws holding the crates. It swung its tails with such velocity, the whip created a ripple in the shape of a blade. That ripple hit and broke the claw, releasing the crate as it hit the water. There was a support beam downstream where the crate collided. Buizel did it again on an adjacent crate with similar results.
"Nice work, Buizel." Buizel pumped its tiny fist, knowing he could be relied on. Using the two floating crates, Ash and the Pokémon crossed over and in time too. The villagers came a chasing. Ash knew that they needed to use the crates to safely cross the river. Out came the shotgun but instead of the villagers, he aimed it at the near crate. One pull of the trigger with one booming sound and the crate was hole-y. Then he smirked at the villagers and rested the shotgun on his shoulder, taunting them to chase him. Something his Pokémon were not pleased to see.
("You know that can lead to bad things,") Buizel barked. Ash never wavered. He waited. One snarling villager hopped onto the undamaged crate safely. It still failed to deter Ash. Then, the male with an ax hopped on the shot box. The crate sank with him on top. The villager didn't react until he was neck-deep in the liquid. He tried to jump out but...that was a worse move than actually stepping on the harmed box in the first place. That villager had to have drowned about now. That would be why Ash acted so confidently with the situation. Could it be the voice he had? The villagers saw their sunken neighbor with puzzling thoughts as Ash strutted away from the infected crowd. That's when he saw a bent metal beam hanging by a crane.
"Here we go!" He hopped into the control panel and operated the crane to block the waterfall, revealing a cavern. "Wonder what's in there?" Hopping off, he and the Pokémon raced to the cave, only to be met with more villagers, some wielding torches. "Time we fight fire with fire." It wasn't a Pokémon but a fire grenade he tossed. BANG! WOOSH! The grenade engulfed the bridge and the villagers into a panicked frenzy in which they accidentally flamed their brethren. "Buizel, Aqua Jet, counter shield!" Buizel cocooned itself in a coat of water before the corkscrewing veil bashed into the villagers and sent them drinking. Not only were the villagers down the drain, the fires were snuffed as well. Ash and the Pokémon entered the cleared cave to find some sort of tablet. It had the same spirals as the door to the church. When Ash removed the tablet, the wall rose up and uncovered a tunnel.
("Where do you think this tunnel leads to?") Pikachu questioned. Ash smiled, believing the answer was promising.
"Only one way to find out." After recalling Buizel, the two raced ahead and into an underground dock with another idling boat, no spears in that one. Hopping on board, they found a door back outside...and into more pouring rain. "I thought it let up for good. Maybe we're the ones outrunning this storm?" Let's not get too puzzling. Pikachu in his coat again, Ash raced down the mountainous path and through a shallow creek. Finally, they ended up in a tiny area of huts fenced in. Why were there just a couple of houses? Better yet, why was this place closed in with fences?
"Cierre las puertas!" a villager called out. Gates on the way from and to were closed off. Metal doors creaked open where several villagers were pulling ropes, trying to yank something out. That something was a behemoth of a beast. The villagers yanked and yanked to extract the towering monster. Breaking loose from its grip, the giant went berserk.
"Ejecutar!" another villager screeched as he bolted, completely forgetting that the way out was sealed to prevent Ash from escaping. "El Gigante está ejecutanto sueltos!" Trapped in, the villagers panicked while they were being kicked, stomped and swatted to oblivion. Soon enough, it was the behemoth and Ash...or so he thought. A howl alerted those alive to a mountain peak where...the wolf that Gary freed and treated.
"Isn't that the same wolf Gary took care of?" Ash asked. Just look at the leg. It was the same wolf. The wolf pounced off the hut and reached Ash's side. It's now three-on-one but still the advantage had to go with the giant. Yet for some reason, Ash continued to grin. What did he know that failed to say that he's up that creek and where was his paddle? Even a villager had to warn him about the oncoming doom.
"Usted está atrapado!" he advised. "El Gigante te aplastará como un insecto!" Regardless of the warning, Ash never flinched.
"Then tell me why I'm not afraid of it?" The villager was dumbstruck. Did this boy accept death? The deafening roar from the behemoth didn't budge Ash. Stone cold... The behemoth rose a foot to start running, a moment Ash needed with a Pokémon. "Torterra, I choose you!" Out of the ball came a giant green tortoise with spikes on one side of the body and a tree on the other. "Rock Climb!" Torterra double stomped the ground and caused a stone pillar to rise from the planted foot of the giant which flipped it over. Talk about an underhanded technique. The behemoth growled from the sudden floor manipulation. Ash was going to need a little more than a single Rock Climb. Enter help. A giant spinning shell bulldozed into the behemoth as it got on one knee. Returning to earth, the shell opened up and out came Gary's Blastoise. "Thanks, Blastoise." Blastoise winked, telling Ash everything was normal...in health at least.
"Ash!" Gary voiced as he and Paul leaped down from the pointy fence. The rivals reached Ash's side, though Ash decided to poke a little fun into the ordeal.
"You're late!" They were rivals so hardships came with the territory. "Had to use the wolf as my backup partner." The tease got Gary laughing a bit. Paul? Not even a lift of his lip.
"How did you avoid suffering a seizure like the rest of us?" Was that what they went through? Ash snickered, holding a secret.
"Adrenaline from that giant lizard?" Liar! The behemoth was on its feet again. Citing the clearance from reaching here, Paul opted to excuse Ash to go after Ashley.
"Go on ahead," the purple-haired, chip-on-the-shoulder teen told Ash. "We'll take care of Mr. Big." Since when did Paul decide on helping Gary out? Ever since their first meeting, he's criticized the brunette for allowing Ash to beat him in the Silver Conference. Ash realized that he couldn't get out with the gates blocked off...until he chose to measure the behemoth's foot out. Apparently, you can't accuse Ash for not having a strategy.
"You got it." He raced after the giant man, trying to divert his attention. "Hey, Giant!" The behemoth began to turn his attention to Ash. "Is that the biggest you can get? I've seen starter Pokémon bigger than you!" The taunting got the attention of the behemoth and stomped over to Ash. Advantage, trainer. Ash made sure he lined himself to the wall that led back to the church. The behemoth tried to squish Ash but the smaller, nimbler raven-haired rolled onto the other foot as Pikachu raced up the pointy wall. The behemoth flung it's foot forward, trying to remove Ash from the limb. Ash leaped up off the foot and gained enough momentum to fly over the fence. He's over! "See ya!" Imitating a baseball hit by a powerful slugger, Ash was going, going, gone over the wall. This was more of a lead-off than walk-off but that's beside the point. With one rival long gone, the behemoth's issue was now on the other rivals.
"You think he's gotten a bit bolder with that new voice of his?" Gary blinked. New voice? Didn't he noticed? And why didn't Paul mention it before when they first arrived?
"He's got a new voice?" he gulped in confusion. Ash and Pikachu hoped that Gary and Paul could defeat the behemoth as they made it back to the church. After 15 minutes of wandering, Ash and Pikachu reached the church and inserted the tablet into the marker. The insertion jostled something within the doors. Was it the doors unlocking? Ash pushed to clarify and the doors were open. They entered a unique place of worship, practically empty. The large cathedral, decorated with candles and some mantle in the front had a several pews facing the stage. The two searched around to see if there's something valuable in here. Otherwise, why else would it be locked?
"You see anything, buddy?" Ash questioned. Pikachu searched but squeaked nothing...that was until it spotted a ladder to upstairs.
("Hey, Ash!") Pikachu called as he pointed to the ladder. Ash spotted it and climbed it quick. There was a door as Pikachu rode his shoulder to the top. Reaching the upper floor, Ash stood as Pikachu loped to a door. Ash spotted a control panel with a lever. He pulled it and activated a set of lights: red, blue and green. There was also a white light in the middle in the emblem of the Los Illuminados.
"A puzzle?" Hitting dials, each color rotated. He hit a button in which all three aligned to the emblem...but it didn't appear to fit. The colors returned. It dawned on Ash: these three would combine to shape the emblem. Fooling around with the dials, Ash twisted each color until he saw proper alignments. Hitting the button, the lights made the shape of the emblem. The door made a sound of a lock. Pathway open. Ash reached the door and cautiously entered. The first sight was a figure running to the other side. Ash could reach for his shotgun but he didn't go for it. There, a blond female in the sleeveless orange sweater and green plaid skirt with heavy brown boots. Ashley?
"Don't come!" she yelled as she snagged a 2x4 and chucked it as Ash. He ducked.
"Hey, hey! Calm down!" She was fired up as she retreated to a corner. That's when she saw the yellow mouse and eased up, becoming more curious than feared.
"Okay, what's up with that rat? They're never that big in Washington." She came over and stuck an arm to Pikachu who sniffed it.
"You wouldn't be Ashley Graham, would you?" The blond looked up to acknowledge the male Ash.
"Yeah, I'm Ashley! I'm the daughter of the president of the United States of America." Ash found Ashley. Way to go.
"Call me Ash. I'm part of a three-cell team to bail you outta here. By the way, that's my 'sidearm,' Pikachu." Sidearm? He was willing to call his prime Pokémon his sidearm.
("If you're gonna call me a sidearm, I might as well do this,") he warned before climbing Ashley's shoulder. Ashley wondered about the other two of his three-cell team.
"You say you're part of a three-cell team but where's the rest?" she asked.
"We'll meet up with them," he promised before he mentally prayed. 'At least I hope. Gary, Paul, please be all right.' Ash must have a lot of patience for Paul. The group got out and hit the ladder.
"Uh, Ash? I'm not too comfortable with climbing down ladders." This was about to be a pain.
"Alright. I'll try to catch you when I get down." Ash slid down and waived Ashley on. She jumped and Ash cradled the catch, almost losing his footing. Once on her feet and Pikachu back with them, they bolted for the door but they would be stopped.
"I'll take the girl," an old male voice echoed. The three turned to a man in a purple cloak and carrying a staff. The face was discolored and flaky.
"Who says?" The man scoffed a little.
"The leader of this religious cult. My name is Osmund Saddler." The face on Saddler churned bad vibes in the three. "I'm demonstrating my...astounding power to the whole world. Those United States 'big men' no longer think they can police the world. In doing so, we promptly...escorted the president's daughter to offer our donation then return her." Ashley's eyes lit up in dismay. She had to go through the same thing Ash, Gary and Paul had to endure.
"Ash, I think they shot something in my neck," she confessed. Ash seethed a little. He and his rivals had the same thing.
"So, you're throwing donations everywhere," he realized. "Even us, huh?" Saddler snickered.
"You've noticed," he cackled. "Though, I'm hoping the president will give us some money in exchange for his dear daughter. Running a church like this is getting costly so I'm hoping to bargain with him." Information Ash had to groan at.
"Faith and money? Some pair you've got on your hand."
"You'd be happy to know that when the eggs hatch, you'll become my puppets. You'll be unable to...resist this passion of power." That better not happen. "You're now part of a new generation where power becomes absolute." The notion had Ash yawning.
"Yeah...you and everyone I've met. Trust me, it never works." The door burst open and two cloaks with crossbows eyed the hero and damsel. The bolts were on fire. Ash saw it, knowing what to do. The two fired the burning bolts which Ash spun around Ash and caught both bolts single handed. Another twist and it was feeling like fighting that lizard. This time, however, Ash's backhand fling destroyed the crossbows, disarming the cloaks. "Let's go!" Ash grabbed Ashley and both dove out the window back outside. A couple rolls and the two were free from Saddler's sight. Saddler was rather impressed with Ash's reaction to the crisis at hand.
"That boy...he may be a problem if he's able to live. Perhaps the Plagas is under his command." Saddler was aiming for Ash. This could be trouble and if those four need to survive, teamwork has to be established. Clearly, this was going to be a long trip for the rivals.
CONTINUARÁ...