"Hey, twerp?" Less than twenty minutes later, Ash was in the middle of putting up his tent when he first heard James speaking to him, and he turned around without thinking. The pole he had been rising fell, but he hardly noticed, or cared.
"Yes?"
"You haven't… seen Jessie or Meowth have you?"
"You woke up just to ask me that?" Ash smiled skeptically.
James, on the other hand, pouted for a moment before regaining his composure and clearing his throat. "Yes."
"Well, I haven't seen them." Ash shrugged his shoulders casually. "Sorry."
"That's all right; I'm sure they're around here somewhere." James responded cheerily, looking around the campsite. He was feeling a lot better already – the short nap, it seemed, had done the trick. Sitting up slowly, he found that his head was no longer pounding, and though he could feel a bump when he rubbed it, it didn't hurt nearly as much.
"You look good." Ash commented, and James couldn't help the smile that came to his face.
"I feel good." He responded, feeling unusually comfortable in the other trainer's presence. "Thanks!"
"Oh, don't thank me," Ash turned away again, embarrassed, and made his way back to the tent pole that had fallen, "it was a team effort."
"Speaking of," James smoothed out his crumpled, dirty uniform as best as he could, "where are the other twer–I mean, your friends? Brock and Misty, was it?"
Ash waved a hand towards the trees, "Oh, they're just – wait. What did you just say?"
"I asked you where–"
"No, after that." Neglecting the tent pole once again, Ash was now facing James with a look of confusion on his face. "About Brock and Misty?"
"That's what I just said." James too was confused. "Where are they?"
"Chuuuuu." Suddenly, Pikachu was at James' side, and he instinctively pulled back from the electric mouse Pokémon while waiting to make sense of what Ash was saying to him.
"I agree, Pikachu." The boy said, taking slow steps towards them. "James, can you answer a question for me?"
"Uhh, sure?" Pulling the blankets off his lap, James crossed his legs and stared awkwardly up at Ash.
Ash sank to the ground beside him, holding out his hand and raising three fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"…three?"
"Good. Now, what's my name?"
"Ash." The twerp's flipped his lid!
"What team are you a part of?"
"Why are you–"
"Just answer me, James!"
"Team Rocket!" The adult was getting exasperated – Ash was treating him like a child!; and for a ten-year-old, that was saying something. "Now tell me why it matters!"
"One last question first." Ash glanced down at Pikachu, who was still sitting to James' right. "Pikakaa."
"…yes?" James scowled, and Ash stayed silent only a moment longer before bursting out:
"What region are we in?"
"Kanto," James answered like it was the most natural thing in the world – which it was, "why, are we lost?"
"No, no," Ash sank back onto the grass, casting one last, unlikeable look at his Pikachu, "we're not lost. Or… I'm not, anyway."
Instant suspicion caused James to straighten even more. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well," Ash took a deep breath before going on, "there's something I think you need to know… and it's not going to be pretty."
Having chosen the shelter of the trees over the vast nothingness opposite, Jessie made her way down the path, a feeling of dread growing with each step.
I am definitely being watched.
Whether or not it was true, her nerves were beginning to play tricks on her, and as every shadow became a lurking predator, she screwed her eyes shut and tried to block it all out. "Pull yourself together, Jessie!"
Though she would rather die than admit it out loud, she was missing James and Meowth bitterly. If they were around she would be sure of her safety – after all, nothing would come within ten miles of their rambunctious bickering. Smiling slightly at the thought, she opened her eyes again, only to be met with what was perhaps the most horrifying thing she had ever seen.
"Kyaaaaaaaaahh!" She shrieked, stumbling and falling backwards onto the ground. The dark spaces between the trees, which had formerly been empty and spooky, were now occupied with nothing but glowing sets of eyes – dozens of them.
Frightened beyond reason, Jessie yanked the pokéball from her belt, throwing it blindly ahead of her and shouting, "Arbok; SAVE MEEEEEE!"
However, when the ball burst open, and her Pokémon emerged from the bright light, it wasn't Arbok that came to the rescue, but a small, fluffy, winged Pokémon.
"Wuuuuuu!" It shrieked, and Jessie's eyes widened further.
That's not Arbok…
"Wuuuuu, batbatbat!" The small Pokémon glanced once at the cowering adult, before facing instead its opponents – the eyes in the trees. Without warning it began flapping its tiny wings incredibly fast, creating a large wind that Jessie quickly recognized as Gust.
"Baaaat!" It shrieked once more, covering the entire area with dust blown up by its move. Wasting no time, Jessie leapt to her feet and ran. She didn't have a clue what direction she was running in, and more than once tripped over a protruding root, or smashed into a tree trunk, but eventually she made it into a thinner area of wood. The canopy here allowed sunlight to penetrate it, and made for a much nicer stroll – nothing was hidden from sight.
I like it here a lot better, she thought as she stopped to catch her breath, there's a lot less-
"Wuuu!" Suddenly it was there again, and Jessie whirled around to face the small creature. She had never seen a Pokémon – she assumed it was a Pokémon – of its sort before, and she frowned at it. It wasn't scary at all; it looked fragile enough that she could take it down if it decided to attack, anyway. Not to mention that it had actually helped her back there… or had it?
"And what's your name?" She asked sweetly, a plan brewing even as she spoke. If I could capture this Pokémon, there's no telling what it would be worth!
"Wuuu, bat!" The flying Pokémon exclaimed, tilting its body to the side in apparent confusion. Jessie, not understanding, continued to smile.
"Woobat, is it?" She gushed. "How cute!" I'll bet it's worth a small fortune! "Thank you for helping me back there."
"Wuuu?" The Woobat shook its head quizzically, then swooped down towards her belt, pressing its pig-like nose into the pokéball that remained there.
"Hey!" Jessie tried to pull away from it, but it was too late. The strange Pokémon was inside her pokéball, and it was… already caught?
"But that's… Arbok's pokéball?" Jessie was confused to no end, and she leaned up against a thick tree, staring at the ball. She only had one pokéball, and it belonged to the Arbok she had gotten for her birthday years ago. She had never owned any other Pokémon. So what was this… err, Woobat doing inside of it?
I must be dreaming. Somebody wake me up already!
"I tink I passed that rock already…" Hardly realizing he was talking to himself, the cat Pokémon called Meowth came to a stop between two large trees. "I know I've been here!"
He leaned up against one of them, pouting. If he had been lost before, now he was… well, even more lost.
"I've got no idea where I am!" He told the rustling trees above him, almost wishing they would respond and give him directions. He had been wandering for what felt like hours now (though for all he knew it could've been minutes, or even days), and he was getting nowhere. Still unable to remember exactly where he was or how he got there, he was getting incredibly frustrated with the way things were going. At this point, he would give almost anything to be reunited with his friends… his family… his trainer.
"I wish I could just – hey!" A sudden rustling behind him caused him to nearly jump out of his skin, and he hurled himself away from the tree, falling onto his face before scrambling back. "Who's dat?"
When no response came, he rose warily to his feet and peeked around behind the tree, careful to keep his distance, just in case.
Footsteps rose and fell in the trees just in front of him, and in a sudden surge of confidence, he jumped forward with outreached claws. Coming out on the other side of the trees, he found himself stumbling onto a small dirt path, staring up into the faces of two bewildered travelers.
One of them, a tall man wearing a dark suit, instantly bent down and reached out a hand towards him. "Why hello there," he said in a gentle voice, a smile on his face, "are you lost?"