Chapter 23

*Another part of airship*

"PIKACHUUUU!"

"PIKA!"

"PIKACHUUUUUUU!"

Pikachu tried and tried to break free from the container he was in, but to no avail.

"Pikapi…" Pikachu sighed sadly. He kept having a bad feeling, that something terrible will happen to Ash, but there's no way he could get to him to ensure his safety.

'If it's Ash, he'll do anything to save me, even if it is a crazy idea. Crazy idea… Can't I just think of one?! Come on… There's got to be a way to break free from this thing! I can't give up!'

Pikachu was about to use another attack, when the container opened up. 'What? It can't be… I must be dreaming! No wait…'

"Hurry up, you two! I can't want to get caught!"

"Trust me Jessie, I don't want to get caught as much as you do!"

"Stop arguing Meowth, hurry figure out how to crack into this thing!"

'What…are these three doing? Hmm, they must be trying to steal pokémon, and accidentally set me free. Oh who cares, time to save Ash!' Pikachu quickly sneaked towards the door which was left open.

"I can't figure it out!" James wailed.

Jessie pushed him aside and started clicking away, "Oh please! I've seen him watch people through different camera angles before. There's got to be a way to hack into it!"

Meowth sighed and rested his paws on the screen, "Oh jeez, technology these days… Hey-"

Meowth was cut off as James snatched his paws away, "Watch where you're clicking, Meowth! Wait, huh?"

The screens went black for a while, including the big one on the wall. Soon, boxes appeared on the screens, and different images from inside the airship could be seen.

"Oh yippee! We did it!" Jessie cheered as she jumped up and down.

Meowth merely sighed, "Well excuse me, but I was the one who did it. And by the way, I was about to ask, where did Pikachu go?"

The other two looked behind them, and indeed, the container that Pikachu was in, is empty.

Jessie shrugged, "Well, he must have somehow broke free, though that's quite impossible."

"Or maybe we accidentally set him free without knowing." James commented, "So what do we do now?"

"Hmmm, let's see…"

*Behind bars*

"WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS SAYING THAT?!"

"Excuse me, Dawn, but you weren't very encouraging either!" May snapped.

Dawn stared at her as she clenched her fists, "Then what do you want me to say? Oh no need to worry~ OH PLEASE! I know when to say what, and I certainly don't need your advice!"

"That's not what I mean! I just don't understand why you don't get it! At least I know when to shut up, unlike some other people." May said, eyeing Dawn from head to toe.

"EXCUSE ME, WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

"SEE WHAT I MEAN! YOU GET WORKED UP SO EASILY BUT FOR NOTHING!"

"GRRRRR! SHUT UP!"

"Girls! Stop fighting, please!"

"DON'T GET INVOLVE IN THIS, BROCK!" the two girls shouted towards Brock, who just shrugged and sat back with Max to watch the show.

"ENOUGH!" a henchman bellowed. "This isn't some playground so shut your mouth up!"

May took in a deep breath before snapping back, "Excuse me! You should be the one shutting up! This is none of your business!"

"What? How dare you talk back!" another henchman said. But the leader, who was standing right in front of the other henchmen, waved him off. He approached the trio in a calmer attitude, "Even if you're not in this situation, you've got no right to talk like that to someone much older than you. And besides, you're now pretty much prisoners. So you better watch your mouth, or else…"

"Or else what?" May dared.

The henchmen glared hard at May, surprised that she would have the nerve to talk back. But then, a smirk crept up the leader's face, "Or else… your boyfriend will die." With that, he signaled the others, and all of them walked back to their position.

A moment of silence doomed upon the trio, as they heard the word 'die'.

Max looked at the other nervously, "He's referring to Ash, right?"

May simply nodded.

Dawn looked towards Brock, "He isn't going to die, right?"

Brock sighed, "I don't know. I mean, all I know is that they want his aura…"

"But there's Hunter J! We all know that she have tried to kill him before!"

"Calm down Dawn, at least Piplup made it through between the bars as we argued." May said.

"Guess you're right." Dawn smiled back.

The trio looked towards the henchmen, who were busy with their work. A guy, standing beside the machine Giovanni talked about, is still adjusting it. Dawn gulped and looked away.

'Piplup…Please be safe, and quickly find a way to Ash and Pikachu!'

"Hmm, on a side note, you and May are rather good at acting!"

The others sweatdropped at Max's randomness, but they smiled at the thought of it nonetheless.

"Yeah, I would have thought you girls were really arguing!" Brock commented.

"Nahh, of course not! We're good friends, right?" Dawn said, putting an arm over May's shoulder. May was stunned for a second, but chuckled along with her.

*In the airship's walkway*

Pikachu sneaked around, avoiding henchmen and grunts along the way. He tried to figure out where Ash is, when a red-haired man dressed in a black coat came in front of him.

'Oh no! Better use thunder- wait…'

"Hmm, what are you doing here? OH! You must be one of the pokémon that I've stolen! You must have sneaked out, you naughty little creature!" the man said, proceeding to pick Pikachu up.

Pikachu hesitated to use thunderbolt. 'This red-haired guy… He was the one who stole pokeballs from the pokemon center at Opelucid City! And he was also the one who told Tropius to use solar beam on Ash!'

From afar, a team rocket grunt noticed the two of them, "Hey, isn't that the Pikachu Boss wanted, what is it doing out here?"

"Your boss wanted a Pikachu? Hey, I've stolen this Pikachu from all those pokémon centers, how come your Boss didn't check?"

"No, if I'm not wrong, our boss ordered some of us to catch a specific Pikachu. Is this Pikachu yours?"

"Not exactly, like I said, I stole it with other pokémons to sell them to your boss. It must have gotten out."

"Hmm, are you sure? I'm sorry, but I just want to double check, in case this Pikachu might be the one our boss wanted. I won't want it to get away."

"Oh, guess you're right."

'Oh no! And I thought I could make use of this man to get away. They are going to check after all! What am I going to do now?'