Chapter 24

*In the airship's walkway*

"Pipppplup!" Piplup pushed through a door. Inside it was just a storage room, with boxes of pokeballs.

'Hmm, Ash or Pikachu can't be here…' Piplup walked out, not bothering to close the door. He turned around a corner but froze immediately; in front of him stood a red-haired guy and a team rocket grunt.

"Piplup, run!" Pikachu said, but Piplup was too late. The guy picked him up with another hand.

"Another one? Oh come on, how did you guys manage to sneak out?" the guy turned the corner and noticed the door to the storage room opened. The grunt quickly followed him.

"I see. I forgot to lock the door. Now go back in you two!" Pikachu and Piplup were thrown into the storage room, as the door clicked shut.

The guy turned towards the grunt, "Hmm, about the Pikachu, I don't think it's your boss's one. It must be from one of those that I stole."

"It clearly seem so too, but I will still go and check anyway." The grunt said.

"Piplup, you managed to get away!"

"Yup, but now we're stuck here…"

"It's okay, don't be discouraged. Hey, what are those?"

"Just some pokeballs."

"Hmm, there isn't a vent around here that we can sneak through." Pikachu said, checking around the whole room.

"Yeah, this door is locked too!" Piplup jumped onto the door handle, but it won't budge.

"Now what can we do…" Pikachu wondered out loud.

*Behind bars*

"Hey Dawn, no offence, but do you think Piplup can make it?" May asked in a whisper. Brock and Max sat near the bars and looked outside, hoping to find some other ways to get out. Meantime the girls sat behind at the far end of the room.

"To be honest, I don't know. Even though we have to be optimistic, but I'm still worried." Dawn replied.

May nodded in answer. She hugged her knees and sighed, "I know. I'm so worried for Ash."

Dawn looked towards May. 'It may be a bit inappropriate, but this is still a good chance to continue our conversation.'

"May," Dawn began, "sorry to mention this, but do you remember what we said earlier on, right before Hunter J captured Pikachu from us?"

"…You mean, about Ash?"

Dawn nodded. May thought back for a second about it.

*flashback*

"So, what is it Dawn?" May asked as they walked a distance away from the boys.

"I'm sorry…"

"Huh? You mean for Lyra? It's okay! It wasn't your fault! I shouldn't have argued with her anyway. It was pretty dumb, come to think about it…"

"Well, not exactly for Lyra. I mean… Erm… May, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah... sure, what is it?"

"Do you like Ash?"

May blushed at the question. It was way too direct; she never even thought that Dawn would ask her.

"Judging from your reaction, I guess you do…"

"Wait-"

"It's okay May, I'm not angry or anything. I mean, I like Ash too…"

"…But I thought you said it's just a small crush?"

Dawn smiled and shook her head, "I lied to you. I'm sorry. I didn't want things to turn bad."

"I know what you mean."

"…That's why, I'm sorry, for the fight between Lyra and Max."

"What do you mean? What did Max overheard?"

Dawn sighed, before replying, "It's because that night, Lyra and I were talking about-"

"Pikaaaa!" Pikachu yelled as it got caught in a mechanical hand.

"Oh no! Piplup, bubble beam!"

But before Piplup's bubble beam could reach the mechanical hand, it went back into an airship, which flew upwards and vanished into thin air.

"Oh no!"

*end of flashback*

"So…" May began, "What were you and Lyra talking about?"

Dawn looked towards the boys, and noticed Max watching them. He turned away as soon as she saw him.

"Just…about me liking Ash, and that she's supporting me and stuff."

"Oh…"

"To be honest, May, I don't want this."

"Erm, what do you mean?"

"…I don't want to have this rivalry thing going on between us. I mean we are good friends."

"…Yeah, I don't want to break this friendship between us either."

"So… we're still friends, no matter what?" Dawn asked hopefully.

May smiled, "Yup, friends, no matter what."

*In Ash's Room*

'What do I do now?' Ash thought weakly. Tiny beats of blood remained stained on his neck, from the Fury Swipes Ariados used on him.

'Wow, thank goodness I could use aura to communicate through my mind. If not, that Ariados would have continued hurting me really badly… Wait, aura…?'

"That's it!" Ash closed his eyes and concentrated. Though his hands were still tied, he thought there's got to be a way to summon his aura again.

'Come on, come on! Focus!'

Nothing.

'It worked earlier on! Please aura, help me!'

Beats of sweat ran down his neck, stinging his wound even more. But Ash paid no attention to it. He clutched his fists, trying to imagine the aura surging out.

'I have to get out of here.'

Ash felt something overwhelming within him. He squeezed his eyes tightly, trying to control it.

'I need to save Pikachu!'

The overwhelming feeling grew bigger and bigger. Ash could feel it all over him.

'I need to save my friends!'

He opened up one of his clutched fists, focusing, with all his power, only at his hand.

'May…'

Suddenly, something powerful shot out of his hand, and the string tying him up broke apart.

Ash dazed for a while, staring at his hand, and back at the strings on the floor.

'I… did it…'