Chapter 4: The Fall

She rubbed her eyes.

She did not want to believe that what she had just seen was real.

She stretched and stuck her neck out over the edge of the cliff as the wind howled and the thunder monstrously growled. The rain lividly lisped a shrieking hiss at each soaking splash over her head.

She saw him.

She saw him falling.

A stunned stutter of movement as his limbs frantically flexed in a delirious frenzy. He strained to grip but the chalked wet cliff mercilessly denied his desperate grasp each and every time. She couldn't bare to watch, but she was frozen. Her body wouldn't move. She was seizing up. Further and further he plunged. The fog had swallowed him.

"ASH..!"

The loudest of yells could not reach him, flung like an empty corpse over the edge into the sharp teeth of the towering cliff. Each outstretched limp crashed into the stone cold wall, as he dived head first rapidly into the ominously approaching pit at the bottom.

It was a very long way down.

They had climbed so high, but the wind had taken Ash; picked him up and slammed him back down.

Into the darkness he disappeared.

Sound escaped the scene.

A thud; and then a crunch; and then silence once again.

She planted her nails through the soft limbering soil as she crouched over in a hollow stare. She didn't move. She couldn't move. The strains of tense muscles began to cramp, and spasms of sieving synapses sent waves of pain all the way from her fingers to her head. She shook with shock, and began to shiver. Tiny, small hints of disbelief, before the reality sunk. She felt the feeling sink further and further into her stomach, like an iron hot weight depressing into her. Her lungs refused the cold air. Adrenaline went into overdrive. Her senses delirious. He was gone. He had fallen off the cliff, and had come face to face with fate itself at the bottom.

She pulled herself off the edge, but couldn't stand. Her stomach was imploding on itself. She felt the dreaded thought of what could had just happened sink in so far that she was weighed down from ever getting back up. She lay there on all fours. Her arms and legs too sinking, but sinking into the mud. She didn't notice, as her conscience had completely slipped into her mind. Replaying that moment he abruptly vanished, constantly. Her mouth dropping open. Gasping for air yet rejecting the comfort deep breaths would bring. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't feel anything. She creaked her head back near to cliff's edge, hoping, praying for reassurance. She listened. She listened for the sound of his voice.

There was no "Serena I'm okay!". Not even in a whisper.

Each second felt like an hour. As time passed, the only sound she could hear was throbbing fear bellowing from her beating heart. It crashed against her chest. It sped up. Faster and faster. It pumped blood rapidly, surging around her body. It demanded more energy. Faster and faster it kept on beating. Raging, pushing. Striving for oxygen. It wouldn't stop. It couldn't stop. Her mind had seized. Her body frozen. More and more it kept on beating. Faster and faster. It was relentless. Her breathing tried to keep up. Before she knew it she was forced to gulp the air. Her heartbeat demanded more. She bit and chewed the oxygen in an attempt to calm down. Yet it kept beating. Faster and faster.

Once again, her body was going into shock, only this time, Ash's reassuring hands were not there to rescue her.

She crawled over to the middle of the path, keeping away from the edge, but feeling herself sink further into the earth. She wanted to hide away, and escape the reality she had suddenly been thrown into. Not a sound could be heard. Not a voice. She feared the worse. She feared that was it. In an instant, she feared he had been taken from her.

The rain kept pouring.

Sad, sorrowful rain.

It was rain now accompanied by a whimper.

She clung onto a nearby tree trunk, and and pressed her face against the wood, feeling sharp splinters of bark bite into her cheeks. She closed her eyes, and let her mind dye a blank black.

No matter how hard she tried, that black quickly turned raven.

Her eyes felt heavy; her throat weak.

She pictured him. His warm, glowing skin; his thick, dense black hair; his energetic, bright smile.

She saw him, that face she had seen every day for as long as she could remember. The face of the boy she had deep affections for. The face of the boy who had suddenly vanished from her.

She searched for comfort, feeling around the hopeless fatigued land, and eventually reaching to where she was always lead to. From the quickly cooling warmth of his jacket, close to her crying heart, positioned at the centre of her outfit. Her ribbon. Her blue, softly textured ribbon. The only blue in sight.

She shut her eyes again, this time feeling it. Stroking it, feeling the comfort knowing that it was a present from him to her.

Knowing that it was a ribbon that shared the touches of both of their hands, she gripped tight.

"Ash... Please tell me you're okay."

She whispered under her breath.

But her words were weak. Her eyes were still heavy. Tears began to gather, but she kept her eyes shut. She wanted to cry, she wanted to wail and scream her sorrows as far as Route 16 stretched. Yet she tapped into the essence of the very DNA that graced that blue ribbon in the first place. She felt a sudden spark. A surge. That picture of Ash stayed firmly in her mind, and in that moment, she felt rekindled by the very same spark that lived in him each and every day. Never give up 'till it's over. Never give up until the end. The very words that had stuck with him, and that had become hers. They were the very words she kept so close to her. She could not give up now. The tears wanted to fall. But she had already let Ash fall from her, she wasn't going to let her sorrows fall too. No, crying would not help. She had to hang onto the slightest flicker of hope that sparked from her chest in the slightest of instants. She could not give up hope. She could not give up on Ash.

Her body synced with itself. Her heart stood steady. Her lungs let the oxygen flow. She picked herself up, and stood on the cliff amongst the angry clouds, in the storm and alone. She wasn't going to give up on Ash, she could never give up on Ash.

"Ash..!" She stood near the edge and yelled at the very top of her lungs. Falling didn't come into question. She would stand there and scream as loud as she possibly could, hoping that her voice would be heard.

Her screams were carried though the trees and bounced off the raindrops. The thunder had no response. Her voice had trampled over the top of the storm. Her roaring passions had taken over. She would not give up.

She continued to shout. She would not give up until he would respond. But the more she kept going, the more the doubts would grow. Was what she was doing all in vain? Was it a lost battle? She couldn't be thinking about such things now; but Ash had five Pokemon on hand including Pikachu who was as usual out of his PokeBall. Surely some spark of life was near him.

The silence's reign did not last. The scene was lit up. Her call was answered.

Soaring from the vivid void from down below came not a spark, but a flame. An ignition of hope, the very chariot of fire.

"... Talonflame!"

Suddenly the red flash of its glowing body lit up the atmosphere. It was a sign of hope, a reason to believe. It flapped its wings aggressively, harking at Serena. It had a strong sense of urgency rooted in its eyes.

"Talonflame, is Ash okay?!" She pressed for an answer, her heartbeat had sped up once again.

Talonflame did not react sympathetically. An angry flapping of its wings and then a call out in the thunder, there was tension in the air. Something was badly wrong. Wrong enough to warrant Talonflame fleeing from its PokeBall and taking to the skies to search for Serena. Its stare pierced straight through at her. A look of angst, a look of fear; fear that was covered in anger.

Serena ran to the cliff's edge, and stood with her toes slightly leaning over. She stared down. The black void. Further than the fog. It was a frighteningly long way down. How Ash could possibly have survived was not a question she wanted to ask herself. She looked down, and then back up at Talonflame. She knew she had to go down there. She knew she had to venture down into the deepest depths. She had to find Ash.

She put her hand on her heart and shrugged off the cold. She was not going to give up on him. She was adamant.

...

"Are we getting closer?" Bonnie tugged on Clemont's overalls.

The Lumiose siblings had been running through the conditions with Clemont reading the monitor on his device and Bonnie keeping an eye out on the road ahead.

The two had ran towards the two dots of heat on the map, knowing that Ash and Serena were together, and making progress. The two had been closing in on their travelling friends and were nearing a point where they could meet at the cliff's end. However events had taken a cruel turn, and for once this time Clemont was sure that his machine wasn't broken.

"Huh?!" He stopped abruptly in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" Bonnie quickly turned around.

He tentatively adjusted his glasses, and felt sweat begin to trickle down his face. He ran a hand firmly through his lemon coloured hair, and looked as if he had seen something that he wished he hadn't. He didn't respond.

"What's up?"

Bonnie ran over to Clemont's side to check the monitor.

Clemont began to shiver.

"The monitor has just shown one of the red dots to verge off quickly down into this direction here. The worst part is, if Ash and Serena are up on that cliff, then there is a huge elevation change of over 120m that one of them could have fallen from." His words had a sobering strike of angst in them.

"Look! That red dot down there is turning blue!" Bonnie's words bought an even more worrying picture to reality. The dot that they were focussing on had previously been brimming with body heat, but they watched it gradually fade to purple, and then dwell into a pale, lifeless blue.

Clemont took notice of the quickly fading heat registering on his device and cringed in a hurried sweat. The rapid loss of temperature was a huge concern; something had happened. It looked to be something serious.

"We need to get there quickly!" Clemont cried, but he did not want to go into great detail. In his mind were dozens of scenarios that all screamed "accident". Someone could be injured, wounded, lost, or worse still... the word was not comprehensible to Clemont at this point. For Bonnie's sake too, any cause for deep concern could potentially be catastrophic for her behaviour. She was too young to be exposed to potentially serious situations like this, whatever the situation was. It was times like this in the midst of doubt in the thick of the fog that Clemont wished his invention was broken; for the sense of unease around knowing that Ash and Serena were both out there, but only one was being registered on his device. Something had happened to one of them. There was a lingering sense in the two Lumiose twins that this time, something bad had truly occurred.

They began to run, further and further into the fog, wherever the monitor instructed them to go. Wherever that purple dot was located. On the monitor it appeared, idle, not moving at all, while all the way above it was the other red dot, and it took was getting closer. It seemed that the group were homing in on the incident, frantically trying to battle through the storm and get to the scene which the elements so stubbornly refused them to find. Each step in the mud was greeted by a scornful gust of icy wind, and sharp soggy leaves blowing all around their faces. The moisture of a drenched route, and the sinking feeling of the unknown worry; the group were being drowned into the cruel conditions.

Clemont was never gifted with the physique of an athlete. He could not run, nor sprint into any situation. His lungs simply did not have the capacity to stress themselves into powering him around at pace. He never had a problem with it either; he was more of a relaxed type, who preferred the humble surroundings of innovation through inventions in his toolbox, or his workshop back in Lumiose. Times like this were different. Damning dire moments called for drastic endeavours. Clemont ordered his legs to move quicker, he demanded his lungs to work harder, he dictated the oxygen to surge into his blood and around his body. Adrenaline had reached new levels in him, for now was not the time to be stopping in exhaustion. He would not stop until he found his friends. He would never give up on his friends.

Bonnie too kept running. Running like she knew no better. Clemont's anxiety in the storm was purely from what he was seeing on his device. She didn't exactly know where she was running to, she didn't exactly understand the whole concept of his older brother's device nor what problems it was showing either. She wasn't to know, but the hurried, almost desperate pace of Clemont beside her was something new, something unnerving. He had always allowed himself to trail and catch up at his own pace, but this time he was sprinting, stamping away at the ground beneath him in an attempt to reach the cooling dot. Something bad happening to Ash and Serena? The group had encountered problems that have led to temporary separation before, but what was so bad this time? Sure, there's a storm on, but Ash and Serena are older, right? Surely they know what they're doing. Thoughts swarmed Bonnie, as she was overcome by more confusion than worry. In fact her worries stemmed directly from her big brother himself, his concerns were something out of the ordinary, and so was this 'incident' which he was focussing on. She kept running, not knowing what would stop them

Back at the top of the cliff, Serena stood there at the edge, with Talonflame harking close beside her. It was urging her to go down, to get there quickly. At this very moment Serena felt the chill of her fears tap her on the shoulder once more. The wind blew ominously gently around the back of her neck, raising hairs, giving her goosebumps, reminding her that it was a long way down.

But she had to go.

She closed her eyes and felt her heartbeat begin to pound once again. It jumped back and forth from her chest to her back, yet no matter how many times she would close her eyes and shut the cruel world around her out, the image of Ash would once again appear. She would see and notice everything once again. She would feel everything that it she had ever felt around Ash once again. She was facing her greatest fear, but it was for Ash. She would not give up until it's over. She would go down. She would believe that he would be there. Maybe he was just lost, after all it was a very long way below. He could be trying to get an idea of his surroundings, maybe that was the reason Talonflame was sent to search. Maybe she was overthinking again. Maybe she wouldn't need to dread the drop so much. She tried to bury herself in comforting thoughts that Ash was okay. He had survived each and every edgy moment that they had been through together. In fact he was the one who always took control. He was always the helping hand that everyone needed, he was always the person that she needed, whenever danger beckoned. When she was lost and scared in the woods back at the summer camp in Kanto, he was there to comfort her and her injured knee. He offered her a hand, and pulled her into an embrace that she could eternally feel safe in. At last year's summer camp too, when she slipped down the cliff there, he grabbed her hand, and fell down with her. Although he hurt himself in the process, he was there for her. Just like he always was. In all conditions, he would be there. Even in the snow, when the wind blew them off balance on the Mamoswine they were riding, he held her close, he made her feel safe. Moments ago when she slipped and felt herself faint, he held on tight, he kept her strong, he cared for her, and made her believe, making her realise that they had nothing to fear, for together they would overcome everything.

It was now that she had to be there for him.

Talonflame approached, and a offered thin but strong yellow leg that she gripped tight, as it rapidly flapped its wings to defy the wind, and begin the long swoop down into the darkness. She kept her eyes opened, she braced for the descent. She was going to find him.

With each metre that they dropped the light faded. The roaring sky became more obedient, with only the rain reaching her. She found herself enveloped in the thick dense fog. Visibility was decreasing, but the glow of Talonflame's Flame Body illuminated their path. Further and further they descended, where the splashing of water began to become louder. It became a crashing sound, an overflow from the storm that unsettled the faint image of a lake tainted with angered ripples from plunging raindrops. They were approaching a lake, to the side of them was an old drenched brown bridge, looking over at the water. It seemed a familiar spot from what she had read on her guide, but the realities of the storm had blurred all comparisons with the calm world that Route 16 once felt like. The growl of thunder had stopped, and the end of the drop was coming ever close into sight.

"Look a bridge!" Bonnie exclaimed as she stretched out an arm and pointed. Clemont was fixed in a trance of rapid breathing, as he legs functioned on an almost automatic level. He was sprinting, and pulling his body purely on the adrenaline of angst. He took once quick glance back at his monitor before pushing his glasses firmly into his face. He felt the discomfort of the metal frame try to puncture his skin, but he couldn't stop. He knew Ash and Serena were up ahead, the red dot too was nearing.

"Then let's go, it's straight up ahead!" He yelled with the tension flaring in his voice.

Two dots of yellow continued to run, to meet the dashing red, and the worry of the blue.

They escaped from the mud, and felt the ground harden as they stepped over the wooden planks of the bridge. It was old, and had been washed at the foundations by the lake for many years, but it held strong in the storm. The sky had stopped its growl, but only the shield of fog below was visible to anyone on the ground.

They kept going, clonking on the bridge with each step, until they turned to find a small section of land covered in overgrown grass. The rain had drenched it to the point where it looked like a swamp. Water gushed from the cliff, almost forming a second waterfall adjacent to the one brimmed to the full opposite from them on the bridge. Clemont had another quick glance at his monitor. They were all in the same location, all dots had become one.

Bonnie scanned around, until the piercing shriek of a strident ear-splitting scream soared across the entire land.

Clemont looked up.

"Ash..!" It was none other than Serena.

She leapt from Talonflame and sprinted into the tall grass. She was covered in mud, but had a face white with horror. She sprinted, clawing through the grass's sharp blades.

She had found him.

"Ash..?"

Clemont and Bonnie came to a standstill, watching from the bridge in sheer shock.

Serena had found Ash, but not as she would like to find him. He was lying on his left side, facing the staring cliff. An arm was trapped under his ribs and his other arm stretched out, as if it was still trying to grip and break the fall. His hat was gone, she couldn't find it anywhere around him, only his raven hair exposed to the elements. His eyes were welded shut, no shades of amber, no spark of energy. His jaw was slightly open, with his mouth only leaving a small gap for air to venture in and out. To add to the mortifying sight, his black and white shirt which he had only been wearing after lending Serena his jacket had been ripped down the middle. He must have repeatedly collided with the cliff during his fall, ripping through his shirt and into his skin. It looked like a very heavy crash to the ground.

He looked lifeless.

The sight of him froze her.

She tore off his jacket from her body and propped it under him, trying to add warmth to where he was feeling so cold. That bursting aura had gone, the Ash Ketchum she knew was lying there in front of her, motionless.

This couldn't be happening.

Not to Ash.

She rolled him over onto his back and slammed two hands over his shoulders. She shook him violently, bringing his body close to her, trying to bring him warmth, trying to rekindle something.

"Ash come on, wake up!" She shook and shook. His neck limply swaying his head back and forth in her actions.

"Listen to me Ash, wake up!" She moved her hands up to his face, and pressed against his cheeks. She felt his chapped skin, made rough by the waves of wind that continued to howl at them. She ran her fingers across the two 'Z' marks either side of his nose. Eventually she moved up further to his eyes, gently lifting them to search for any signs of that inner flame still burning. She stared into his amber eyes; but this time there was nothing there. Not even her own reflection. Through a veil of amber lay a void of nothing. Ash wasn't there.

She shut his eyelids and held tightly to his head as she ran her fingers through his thick forest of raven hair. There was no response. No movement at all. The thunder gave up its calls, but a sound even louder than the thunder itself had already struck. Silence had fallen around her. To her, nothing felt alive. She leaned her forehead onto his, a slight whisper of warmth, but not enough for her to feel that he was there.

She was struck with that sinking feeling once again.

Never before had she been this close to Ash, but never before had she ever felt so far away from him.

She wanted to believe that none of this was real. She wanted to open her eyes, and see the Ash she knew and loved in front of her. She wanted him back.

Each passing moment became more painful. Tears swelled up her eyes. Heavy eyelids eventually gave up her remorse, and she began to cry. Tears of pure sorrow, anger, and regret all fell in unison over the face of her raven haired crush.

She always had the incentive deep down to stay strong, to never give up, and to always go for broke. Although this time, she felt like a large part of her was missing. Ash had been taken away from her, and now she felt those very emotions come rushing out.

Tears fell alongside the rain. Her emotions bled over him. His face and clothes were dirtied with the treacherous conditions that they had braved during the storm. She felt like they had both just fought a battle, where she had suffered the greatest loss.

Thinking logically now was out of the question. She shivered in shock, and wailed each whimper with Ash held close to her chest. She buried her face in his thick hair, holding him tight.

Watching from the bridge, still slightly shocked, the Lumiose siblings could not bare to watch Serena hold Ash in pain like that any longer. Standing there was no good, they had to go and do something. Serena's heart may have felt broken, but hope still wasn't. Hope never breaks.

"Serena! Is he okay?" Clemont and Bonnie rushed over.

Serena looked up, her eyes were a raw red from the deluge of tears. Her face was beyond pale, and ill with shock. She was shaking, her teeth clattered against each other. Her body tensed as she held Ash in her arms.

"He's... he's n-not moving..." She choked on her words, stuttering with each heavy breath.

Clemont quickly removed his backpack and grabbed one of Ash's wrists.

He clenched his teeth.

"I-I can't feel a pulse!" He shrieked.

Serena reacted by tensing up, and burying her head in her hands, wanting to drown herself from the realities she and the group had been so cruelly thrown in.

In times like this, Ash would be the source of inspiration. But Ash wasn't there.

Wherever he was, they wanted him back. They needed him back.

Bonnie had frozen in her tracks. Her pupils dilated as her eyes widened. They instantly filled with tears. It was a sight too sad; she had seen the tragic view of Ash's Pokemon all huddled under a large leaf. They were cold, they were frightened. Their trainer lay there motionless in front of them.

Talonflame joined Frogadier's side where it kept the blue frog warm. Pikachu stood there, a lifeless look in his eyes, trembling as it held Ash's hat in his tiny little hands. Pikachu did not move, but felt comfort from his trainer's hat. That wasn't the worst of it though. Next to them, under the thick green leaf that reflected the raindrops was Hawlucha, cradling a terrified Noibat in his arms. Those big yellow eyes that only a few hours ago were brimmed with joy looked frightened, they were dripping with tears. Hawlucha swayed side to side, hoping to calm the baby bat down. But they were all in shock, they stood there, huddled together in fear. Bonnie ran over to pull in them close, keeping them warm.

"We really need to find somewhere out of this storm." Bonnie solemnly said as she choked under her tears.

"We should take him somewhere where he can rest." Clemont tried to calmly suggest.

Serena only pulled him in tighter.

"Ash just wake up, please!" She cried out once more.

"Serena, please calm down, we are going to get help." Clemont tried to take control of the situation, like Ash had done so many times before, like Ash had taught him to.

She released her arms from him, taking a moment to pause as she looked around at him, and at the situation. She saw Bonnie try to comfort the Pokemon and baby Noibat. She saw Clemont hurry as he tried to locate a place where they could get help.

She couldn't give up yet. She had to keep believing. She placed her hands flat on Ash's stomach, and moved her head in close.

She placed an ear to his chest.

She heard it.

She felt it.

His heartbeat.

There was hope.

His heart was still beating.

Slowly, but surely, signs of Ash were still there. He hadn't given up. Neither could Serena, or anyone.

Clemont struggled as he began to try and load Ash's weak body onto his back. She kept her head close, listening to his heartbeat for reassurance, knowing her hope solely stood in that sound, and in those vibrations.

She pressed her lips close to his heart, and began to whisper. In the slightest of instants, she felt his heartbeat begin to speed up.

"Ash... If you can hear me,

I'm here.

… Don't give up until it's over."