Chapter 8: The Riolu "Do you see them yet guys?" Misty was starting to worry. Staraptor had gone back for Ash and the others, but they still haven't come. Dawn was worried as well, even Brock could tell that something was wrong. It was already morning, so Brock decided to start making something quick for breakfast, much to the annoyance of Misty. "How can you be cooking food when your best friend could be in TROUBLE!" "Trust me, Ash is going to thank me later." "I still can't believe that Team Rocket didn't take our stuff" said Dawn while looking at her bag. She tried to change the subject, because she knew what Misty was capable of when angered (even if she only knew her for less than an hour). "I can't believe that Ash and everyone else hasn't come back yet" said Misty. "I can't believe there's no more butter" said Brock, who was trying to make pancakes. After a pounding from Misty's mallet, they heard a familiar cry. "Star!" They all turned around to see Staraptor, but were shocked that Tajiri and Pikachu were riding Cresselia. When they got down, Cresselia started to glow purple-pinkish, and turned back into Selia the human. "So she was telling the truth..." thought Brock sadly. However, then he noticed that Ash wasn't with them. "Hey, where's Ash?" he asked. Tajiri's face became gloomy, "Well, you see..." Somewhere else in the forest, a group of Pokémon were crowding over a limp, unconcious figure. The figure was bleeding badly, but it was still breathing, albeit heavily. Some of the Pokemon (such as Chansey) were trying to stop his bleeding, but they had no luck yet. Then, they all felt a powerful presence around them. They all fled, leaving the figure all alone and unknown to the powerful aura surrounding him. Then, a mysterious voice came from nowhere. "You whose power exceeds all others, know this. The balance of aura must be protected, at whatever cost." Suddenly, the figure was covered in a blue aura and started to shrink... "I can't believe you lost Ash!" "Well excuse me, it wasn't like I planned it!" The red head and the tramp were fighting back forth. "Man, I can't believe she might be my futre daughter-in-law! Ash sure needs to pick his girlfriends better" thought Tajiri while pouting. While they were fighting, Selia tried to use her psychic powers to try to locate Ash in the forest. Brock had put away the breakfast supplies, since he wouldn't be using them now. Dawn let out her Pokémon to try and see if they could find Ash, but so far nothing. Finally, Selia stopped and turned to the others. "I'm sorry guys, I couldn't find him anywhere." Everyone sighed, now even more worried than before. Tajiri spoke up first, "Well guys, we'll have to split up and search. Brock, Dawn, you guys go together to the left. Me and Selia will go together to the right. If anyone finds something, you come straight back here. Above all, keep it low. There may be some Team Rocket grunts in the area." "Wait a minute, what about me?" Tajiri turned, and realized that he left out Misty. "Uhh, maybe you should stay here with Pikachu and Staraptor." "What! I can't just stay here while Ash is out there injured or something!" "Misty, right now we don't know where Ash is or what happened to him. But if we all run after him, we might get caught and be in even more trouble, and then who's going to save Ash? You have to stay here in case Ash comes. I know it sounds impossible right now, but sometimes the most impossible things are often the ones that most often come true. So can you stay here and wait, no scratch that, hope for him to come?" Misty was silent, but she decided that this would be the best for now. "Yes, I'll wait for him here." Tajiri smiled, "Good, now everyone leave your stuff here and start searching. Try to get some of your Pokémon to help as well", he then bended down to Pikachu, "Don't worry Pikachu, we'll find him." "Pi ka..." (I hope so...) Meanwhile, in Team Rocket's half demolished headquaters, the group of scientists from before were busy taking care of the clone. He had been stable, but there was always the possibility of losing him, and Giovanni would certainly not respond kindly to that. But for now, Giovanni was still thinking over the events that had happened earlier in the day. He was still amazed at how much power Ash had. "Perhaps too much power..." he thought. "Well then nephew, I hope you're all right for now. After all, you are still vital to my plan..." Even though she was worried to the bone about Ash, she was starting to get a liitle bored. "Oh Ash, hurry up and be found already" she thought. "Hey Pikachu, Staraptor, let's go search and see if Ash is around here." The other Pokémon nodded and went with Misty as they headed towards the forest. "Hey Ash, are you there?" "Pikapiiii!" "Starrr!" There was no answer. "I just hope Ash isn't..." Misty stopped herself. "I shouldn't think that way. Ash will be alright!" Then, she heard a small faint sound somewhere. "Wah..." It sounded like it was hurt, and was very weak. "Hey Pikachu, Staraptor, did you guys hear that?" Without hesitation, Pikachu and Staraptor immediatly went over to the noise. "Hey, wait up guys!" The both of them went through the bushes and trees. Misty thought she had lost them, but a few minutes later she quickly found them under some trees. "Guys, why'd you do tha-" She stopped, and saw something else lying down next to the Pokémon. It was small, but at least bigger than Pikachu. It looked like a Pokémon, but it was one that Misty had never seen before. It had two black legs, but it was blue from the torso up. She couldn't see the head very well, but she could see some sort of black round things connected to its head. "Huh, I wonder what kind of Pokémon are you?" The figure made no movement. "I hope it's not dead..." She reached out to the Pokémon, and could feel its head. It was furry and warm, but she also felt a liquid. She took back her hand, and was shocked to see it red. "Blood!" She stood up quickly. "You guys stay here and try to taka care of it. I'll be right back with a first aid kit!" As Misty was leaving, Pikachu and Staraptor turned their attention to the Pokémon. "Star, star staraptor?" (Hey, why's a Riolu here?) "Pika..." (Beats me...) "Staraptor star Raptor!" (Well, don't trouble yourself over it!) "Pi ka pika, Chu Pikapi..." ( I'm sorry, but I'm still worried about Ash..) "Oi, Selia! I found something!" Selia hurried over to where Tajiri was. "What, what happened?" Tajiri went to her, and in his arms were some clothes, a Pokébelt, and a backpack. "Wait, those belong to Ash..." She stopped, and saw that the clothes were stained with blood on the back. Tajiri's face was unreadable. "Tajiri..." "No, we can't give up now! Ash is out there somewhere, and he needs my help!" "Alright, but we better call back Brock and Dawn." "Well, would you like to see your best friend naked?" "Hmm, good point." "Just a few more, and there!" Misty had just finished wrapping the bandages around the Riolu's head. She was proud of herself, mostly because she hadn't wrapped it too tight or too low. The bandages covered almost all of Riolu's head, save for his black things (Misty still didn't know what they were called), eyes, nose, and mouth. "I hope you recover soon, little cutie" Misty thought. She gave him a small kiss on the top of its head, and for a second she thought that the small Pokémon blushed a little. "Hey, Misty are you there?" Suddenly, Brock and Dawn came through the trees to where Misty was. "What are you guys doing here?" "Well, me and Dawn are done searching for Ash on our side, so we went back here to find you. Oh, and hi by the way." "Hey Misty, is that a Riolu?" "Huh, oh yeah! I found the little guy out here all alone with a head injury. Brock, could you treat it later?" "Hmm, if it's a head injury I think we should wait for Selia and Tajiri. Let's go see if they came back." "Right!" As Selia and Tajiri were heading back, they suddenly saw Misty and the others running through the forest. "Huh, Misty, Brock, Dawn!" Selia called out and waved to them. They all turned and were relieved that it was Selia and Tajiri. "Phew, that saved us a load of walking!" Dawn exclaimed. The two groups went to each other but it was Tajiri who first caught sight of the Riolu. Likewise, it was Misty who first caught sight of the bloody clothes. "Misty, what is that?" "Tajiri, what is that?" Tajiri spoke first. "Well you see, they're Ash's clothes..." The group felt an immense pang in their hearts. What had happened to their friend? However, Dawn made a smart-ass comment by saying, "Wait, you mean that Ash is...naked?" For some strange reason, a feeling of lust came to Misty, but then it quickly left. "Huh, that was wierd..." she thought. Trying to take his mind off of Ash, Tajiri questioned the Riolu. "Oh, I found the little guy all alone in the forest with a head injury. He's still breathing though, but it looks like he still won't wake up anytime soon..." "Hmm, let's see what I can do..." Selia went over to the Riolu and placed her hands on the side of his head. Then both her hands started to glow purplish-pinkish. "What I still don't get is how a Riolu got here in the first place. They're normally only native to Sinnoh, and being rare baby Pokémon they have to be with either a parent or a trainer" said Brock. However, the only one paying attention to him was Misty, because both Dawn and Tajiri were watching over the Riolu. Even Pikachu and Staraptor were busy paying attention to Riolu. "Oh phooey..." thought Brock. Then, the Riolu started to moan. "Hey it's waking up now!" said Dawn. Tajiri immediatly took Riolu and put him down on the floor. "Hey, wake up!" He started to shake the Riolu a bit harshly. "Tajiri! That's no way to treat a baby!" Misty exclaimed. She took Riolu and started to craddle it near her chest. "Oi oi, does she ever not yell at me?" thought Tajiri. With all the commotion, the Riolu started to wake up slowly. It opened its eyes, and the first thing it saw was Misty smiling at it. "Hello there sleepy head! My, you have such beautiful eyes. They're so big and brown!" She brought him closer to her chest. "Brown, that's wierd, a Riolu normally has red eyes..." thought Brock. "I wish you could talk, but you're just baby after all" said Misty happily. It seems that she was in full motherly mode now. "...All right who are you and what have you done to Misty?" The entire group jumped in shock. That sounded like Ash's voice, but he was nowhere near them. "And could you stop suffocating me with your chest Mist? I mean, it's not exactly big and all, but still..." In horror, Misty (and the others) knew exactly where Ash was. "Ash is that you?" She took Riolu off of her, and to her shock the Riolu gave her a confused look. "Well duh, who did you think I was, a Pokémon or something?" spoke the Riolu.