A/N: Yeah. The last chapter sucked. A lot. Well, I've been procrastinating far too long! I'm sorry it took so long! I keep forgetting that I made Ash have a ponytail. I don't know why but two things I love are torturing my favorite characters and boys with ponytails and/or ling hair. I have changed this opening scene soooo many times. I think there were 6 alternative openings for chapter 11. But I chose this one because this would be more awesome! I'm babbling again! Please go on ahead to reading!
"Have there been any changes since the start of the operation?" a voiced asked Mika through a small communicator on the rocket grunt's watch. The purple haired woman nodded.
"Yes Kurenai-sama. It seems that our memory modification is wearing off," Mika informed her crimson eyed superior. Kurenai shrugged. The scientist had been expecting this.
"It is most likely caused by the familiar stimuli. He did grow up in this region after all. Although it might have been that meeting with those three ex-traveling companions of his," Kurenai explained, shaking her head. She let out a long sigh. "I do doubt though we have anything to worry about at the moment. As long as he continues to take his tablets, his memories should remain suppressed. However." Kurenai broke off and seemed to be thinking. Mika waited patiently to continue.
"Mika-san. Open you bag." Mika did as she was ordered. She had not opened the prearranged bag since they were only supposed to be used during an emergency. She lifted the top flap and stared inside. There were basic items in there, things one would expect: a gun, rope, pokeballs, medicine. A sharp object at the bottom was what caught her attention. A syringe filled with a honey like substance. Mika picked it up carefully between slender, gloved fingers.
"If his memories become too much of a problem, use this. It should stop them in their tracks," Kurenai instructed calmly. She was so close to having a perfect rocket soldier; he was obedient, strong, fast, heartless. The final obstacle was his memory and something like that would never stop her and her goal. Never. Mika nodded as Kurenai signed off and the small screen went blank. She place the syringe back into the bag and stood up to find Satoshi.
"Mika-san, where were you?" Satoshi asked harshly as his female suboridinate finally joined the rest of the group. Mika remained quiet as Satoshi shrugged, not really interested. Satoshi turned his attention back to the task at hand. Figuring out what the next move was to be based on their gathered information.
"Wataru is a powerful dragon trainer, so he would most likely jump at the chance to catch another," Satoshi explained, looking up at the sky. "Well it just so happens that a large group of Dragonair will be have been predicted to appear near a lake south of Cerulean City. That is our best bet."
"That looks so cute on you!" Kasumi said as she fawned over Hikari's adorable swimsuit. Hikari grinned, loved being complimented. Today was Haruka and Hikari's last day in the Kanto region, so the girls had decided to go swimming at the lake near Kasumi's home; It was bright and sunny, but not too hot. Hikari's Buneary was taking a nap with Haruka's Skitty and Glaceon and her Pipplup was playing in the water already with Wartortle and Starmie. Haruka was doing her best to get the barbecue going with the help of Hikari's cynaquil. The two other girls, already in their swimsuits were watching amused.
"You know you guys could help!" Haruka complained as she tried to find where she put the meat. The two just giggled. With a little clumsiness, she finally got the meat on the grill.
"Maybe we should have invited Takeshi. I'm sure he would know how to barbeque," Kasumi joked.
"Hey! I'm doing my best!"
"But that would ruin the whole girls only thing huh? And besides, Takeshi with us in bathing suits. I'd be scared!" Hikari laughed as she posed in her black and pink bathing suit. Haruka even looked up laughing, knowing how Takeshi would be. Unfortunately, this caused her to drop a piece of meat onto the dirt. The brunette sighed.
"C'mon Kasumi! Let's go in!" Hikari urged, pulling the red head by the arm closer to the water. Kasumi shrugged and raced the blunette down to the clear water. The two girls jumped and splashed in the lake, their pokemon joining in and hitting them with small water guns. Haruka felt left out and determined if they ever did something like this again, they would bring precooked food.
After about twenty minutes of hearing Haruka's cries of despair and smelling burning food, they were finally able to eat. Served on paper plates, the food looked edible, sort of. Digging in, the three girls found that after multiple times, she had actually got it to the point where it tasted good. Haruka was for once especially glad she had her Munchlax, for it devoured all of the excess meat. The three sat on the grass, looking out at the lake. Haruka was practically inhaling her found, wanting to have fun in the water too.
Hikari was nibbling away last non burnt piece of her steak when she noticed something across the lake. The figure was quite a long distance away, but she could make some features out. It was very pale and thin, and it seemed to wear a lot of black. The figure confused Hikari but she was curious to who or what it was.
"Hey, guys? Do you see that? Across the lake!" the blunette asked, pointing to where the figure was. She gasped when she saw that it had vanished. Haruka and Kasumi looked confused.
"See what Hikari?" Kasumi asked, looking. Hikari knew she had seen something there. She was sure of it. It was definitely not a pokemon, given its height and appearance. It seemed like a person. Curiosity got the better of the Sinnoh girl.
"I think it was a pokemon!" Hikari lied to the two. "I'm going to go check it out! I'll be back in about ten minutes," Hikari said eagerly as she stood up. Before her friends could make a comment, she was running deep into the forest.
"Those girls again?" Satoshi looked out across the lake from the safety of the forest. He was becoming very irritated by them, even though this was only their second meeting. He saw that the blue haired girl had spotted him, but he was sure that he was far enough away that she could not determine his identity. The moment her focus turned to her friends, he walked away from the small opening and stood in front of his subordinates.
"Kentaro-san, Takumi-san, Takuto-san, you three will be posted at the south end of the lake. Report if you find anything or if you spot Wataru. And make sure you are not found," Satoshi instructed to three grunts. They nodded and ran off to assume their posts. Her turned his attention to the other three male grunts. "You will be assigned to the north area of the lake. Alert us if you find anything at all, especially a trace of our man." The grunts bowed and went to their station. That left Mika and Satoshi to the rest. No matter what happens, Satoshi would kill that man. And enjoy it.
"Ung. I think I should have put on some clothes first," Hikari shivered. She was still in her swimsuit and wet, and the cold breeze was anything but pleasant. She examined her surroundings; this was about where she had seen the figure. She hoped she wasn't too late to find them. She continued to run through the forest, making sure she could still see the water, occasionally wincing when a branch or a rock poked her in the foot. Suddenly, something caught her eye. It was faint even in the soft dirt, but it they were footprints. They were hardly visible, so either the person she had seen had either left hours ago or they were very light. She figured it was the second. The footprints seemed to be heading east.
"Okay, five more minutes then I head back!" Hikari told herself, keeping a eye out. She continued to walk until a small gasp escaped her lips. Somewhat ahead of her were two people; one was tall and pale with raven black hair while the other was thin with bright purple hair. Even from the back, she recognized the boy. The same Satoshi they had met at Celedon Mall. What was he doing here? Hikari held her breath as she hid behind a tree trunk. When they were farther away, she moved to the next tree, following after the two.
Satoshi and Mika walked in silence; there was no need for Mika to talk to her superior unless it was necessary. So far, there had been no sign of Wataru or any Dragonair for that matter, and Mika was getting worried. If this plan didn't work, she knew Satoshi would not be in a good mood. And with his strength, she would take Wataru's place as corpse of the day. She was trained by the toughest members of team rocket, escaped near death experiences during field assignments, but she never felt fear so extreme than when she was close to the young man.
Satoshi looked down at his shaking partner and smirked. He didn't even have to dive into her thoughts to see that she was frightened by him. It was plainly written on her face. He chuckled silently. His momentary joy was quickly broken by an the sound of footsteps. The sound would have been inaudible to the human ear, however he was something far more than that. It sounded not too far off an for a second he thought Wataru had found them first and was waiting to strike. However, the steps were too soft and too light to be that of a man's. Whatever or whoever was stupid enough to follow them would have to be taken care of.
"Mika-chan, could you do me a favor?" Satoshi asked his subordinate sweetly, eyes closed as he smiled. Satoshi felt sick speaking so kindly to the trash he was walking next to. Mika looked up at the red eyed boy in pure surprise. What just happened? He just called her by chan! And he sounded sweet! The girl was confused by the surprising act.
"Y-yes?" she stuttered out, nervous. Satoshi put on a giant fake smile for whoever was watching them. He placed his hand on her shoulder, causing her to flinch.
"I think I left one of my pokeballs back at camp. Could you go get it?" Satoshi asked her nicely, bringing more confusion to the purple haired girl. Last time she checked, Satoshi didn't have any pokemon. Annoyed that she hadn't responded by leaving, he opened one eye a sliver and stared at her with a red eye. It sent shivers down the grunt's back as the murderous craving was strong in them.
'Leave now! Or else, later, your head will roll!' Satoshi hissed into her mind. She had forgotten that he was able to do that. Her hand subconsciously went for her neck and she nodded. It took her a moment, but then she understood. If he wanted her to leave, then there must be someone close by.
"O-of course, Satoshi-sam-kun," Mika said shakily, correcting the honorific to go along with the odd ruse. She stayed still for a moment trying to recover before she ran off deeper into the forest. No longer worried about the grunt and the possibility that she might ruin the hunt, Satoshi turned his attention to the girl that was still watching him. It was obvious she was clueless about who he was and what he was doing. So in short, she was just an innocent person.
God, did he love the expression on their faces when he killed them.
'Aw! Those two must be a couple,' Hikari thought to herself as she heard the words of endearment from the two. She watched as the female ran off to go and get the pokeball for her friend. She shivered slightly as a breeze passed, chilling her damp skin. Well, at least she knew that this wasthe same Satoshi that the girls had seen at the mall. But she was surprised at him being so sweet now when he had acted so cold the other day towards them.
She continued to watch the boy from a safe distance. She was hoping he would do something that would prove once and for all whether or not he was or wasn't their Satoshi; Pikachu waiting in a tree for him and jumping on his shoulder. Him pulling out some lunch and eating like there was no tomorrow, or perhaps him bursting into random laughter because he thought the joke he was thinking was funny. She was peering out from the side of the tree when she noticed the boy had suddenly stopped in his tracks. He began to turn his head to where she was hidden, so Hikari quickly withdrew her head from sight. She held her breath; she had almost been caught. She peered out from the other side of the tree to see whether or not he had turned around and begun to walk again, but she gasped when she found him gone.
"Where did he? He was just there?" Hikari was baffled by the sudden disappearance. She was completely confused as she rubbed her eyes. Nope. Her eyes were working fine. She stood up slowly from when she had been hiding, but something didn't feel right. Her body trembled and she couldn't breath. Something came close to her ear, causing her to whimper. She could feel hot breath on her cheek.
"I do have a tendency to lie quite a lot, but believe me when I that this will hurt a lot," a voice whispered into her ear. She was completely frozen, tears welling up in her blue eyes. Everything happened so fast, she wasn't even able to figure out what was happening.
A firm hand slammed over her mouth and a searing pain exploded in her right shoulder. It felt like it had been smashed and ground to bits. She let out a muffled scream and tears rolled down her cheeks. Everything was going fuzzy and she was feeling dizzy. The only thing keeping her awake was the excruciating pain. The figure's hand jerked slightly before it was able to remove itself from the blunettes bloodied flesh. He removed his hand from her face, seeing as her voice had died down and he let her body fall to the ground, where she began to bathe in her own blood.
Satoshi looked down at the semiconscious girl and smiled. She was still alive and the pain and agony was etched into her face. He was going to give her a slow and excruciating death. At the thought, he began to laugh. His scarlet eyes were wide with insanity and he was brought to his knees; he was laughing too hard.
Hikari's body was wracked with pain, but she found one last bit of strength to turn her head and looked up towards the crazed boy. She was going to die at the hands at her once best friend. A tear of sadness shone through a sea of pain and fear. He lightly kicked her in the stomach, although even lightly caused her to start coughing up blood.
"S-satoshi..." the bleeding girl choked, looking up at him with desperate eyes. Satoshi stopped his laughter, surprised she was able to speak. He bent down close to her so that they're faces were incredible close. He smiled.
"What? Are you going to beg for your life? You stupid-" Satoshi was laughing until his scarlet met tearful blue orbs. They were filled with not fear, but sadness. Those eyes, for some reason, he felt like he had seen them before.
As if from nowhere, he felt like he was just hit in the head with a brick. He gripped it tight as images flashed into his mind.
The blue haired girl running the boy from his dreams with a Pikachu in her arms. The two running down a dirt path, both laughing as a taller, darker man just watched. A high five shared between the two. The blue haired girl sending out a Piplup to perform while the boy sat in the stands cheering. The girl, Hikari rooting for Satoshi as he fought hard for the next gym badge. Hikari and Satoshi arguing over her taking to long to get dressed. Satoshi trying to cheer up the girl up after another lost contest. The two running up the Time Space Towers to save Alamose Town. The two playing with a Shaymin. Hikari and Satoshi laughing together.
Was he going insane? Was he asleep and this was all a dream? Or were these... memories. Memories of a time this boy went to Sinnoh with this girl? A time when he had went to Sinnoh and met with Hikari after she had found his best friend. Pikachu. And they traveled together, Hikari, planning on becoming a great coordinator, Takeshi, Pikachu, and himself. His head was spinning in confusion? Why was his friend on the ground, bleeding? Where was he? What was going on? Why did he feel so strange? He felt tears well up in what he thought were amber eyes as he stared down at his obviously suffering friend. He extended a hand and lightly touched his palm, to make sure she was real. He then noticed the blood on his hand.
"Hi-Hikari? What happened?" Satsohi whispered, his other hand gripping his head for the pain was still wracking his head. Hikari looked up at the now crying boy. He remembered now? She gave a slight smile, happy it was really him, that he was alive. The smile faded as more blood leaked into her mouth.
"D-Don't worry Hikari!" Satoshi yelled to her, lightly squeezing her hand. He was shaking just as bad as her, and he gently tried to get the blunette to sit up. He would need to take her to a hospital. He only wished he knew where one was, or where he was in fact. Hikari gasped as the movement didn't help her pain issue. "Don't worry Hikari! I'll make sure you're ok!" Satoshi sobbed as he tried to figure a way to lift her up. A twig snapping from behind caused him to stop.
"I'm sorry Satoshi-sama, but you will not being doing anything for some while," came a female voice from behind. Satoshi spun around quick, but not fast enough to avoid a syringe puncturing his neck, digging in deep into his muscels and nearly severing his carotid. It felt like molten liquid was flowing throughout his entire being and he collapsed on to the ground, screaming in pain. His vision began to fade into black and the last thing he heard was the soft cries of his friend Hikari and his last sight was of Mika ripping the syringe from his neck. He felt himself slip into unconsciousness and everything went dark.
A/N: These are the moments I go 'CRAP'! I have only seen like, 5 episodes of Diamond and Pearl and the movies I think the first three episodes, an episode with something about a Tamato berry ice cream bars, and the episode (or just the part) with Ash dressed as a maid. I want to watch more, although the voices make me want to bash my head in. Ung! Well, again I apologize for taking so long on this chapter! I've been working on other stories and been distracted. I suck. So, Ash (Why do I call them by the English names in the author notes but not the story?) finally remembered who he is, sort of. Sorry for those who like her, but I'm not too much of a fan of Dawn, and I needed someone to get hurt. I also forgot about right when I wrote it that Ash could read minds and speak into minds, so I put it in here just because I remembered it. Well, it may be a while for me to post up the next chapter, but I promise it won't be as long of a wait! Dammit! Why do I always finish these things at like 2 am? Anyways, thanks again and please review! It is appreciated!