"Sometimes, that mountain you've been climbing, is just a grain of sand. What you've been out there, searching for forever, is in your hands. When you figure out love is all that matters after all, it sure makes everything else, seem so small" - Carrie Underwood "So Small"

19 Cat Fight

Jessie blinked awake, shivering in the cold. Clouds hid the sun from her, and a single fat raindrop hit her in the face. She tried to breathe deeply, but pain in her chest prevented her from doing so. She began taking shallow breaths to ease the pain. "James?" she whispered.

Over to her right, James was lying in the dirt, face down. His body was blackened and burned, and only the slight rise of his back told her he was still alive.

"Meowth?" she called, searching for their cat companion.

"Jessie!" he cried, scampering over to her. "Oh, tank goodness you're alright! I was so scared dat I'd killed ya for sure!" He held up his paws, and Jessie blinked in confusion when she saw the claws were gone. "I rubbed my claws down so I couldn't hurt ya any more, I promise!"

Jessie looked around at the destruction around her. Their prize balloon was in tatters, spread around the mountain. Clouds seemed to surround them on all sides. "You did this, Meowth?" she asked.

Sadly, the cat nodded. "I didn't mean to, Jessie! I swear it! I… I tink I was being controlled."

This was too much. Jessie sighed, and winced painfully. Evidently she had some broken ribs. "Where are we?" she continued.

"Dat mountain da twoips were headed for. We crashed."

She glanced over at James. "Is he okay?" she said, worry clouding her eyes.

Meowth shrugged. "I don't know, Jessie. I just don't know."

********************************************Went to the Carrie Underwood concert the other night***********************************************

Suicune jumped lithely over the rocks, flying up the mountain with agility and speed. The wind that blew behind him helped to carry him up the ragged peak, to where his mother waited.

He gave a final leap and landed at the mouth of the cave, dark and yawning. Suicune glanced up. The clouds swirled around the moon, like the eye of the storm. The moon glowed, soft and bright, over Yacaeli's mountain.

Yacaeli herself emerged from the cave. She looked sadly at her precious moon, forever apart. "Yes, Suicune?" she asked. Pain sounded in her voice, and it was with great effort that she looked away from the sky.

Suicune took a daring step forward. "Mother, I can't do this anymore," he whispered. "I'm sick inside. The water I touch turns murky and gray. If I pass through a town, a horrid winter ensues. Something is wrong with me. I must stop betraying my father for you."

His mother blinked, her expression bewildered. Another moment and it had melted into a compassionate smile. "Of course, my child. I understand."

The great Pokemon stared at her, utterly confused. "You do?" he asked.

Yacaeli twirled around him affectionately, rubbing her face against his in a motherly fashion. "Absolutely. I thought this might happen sooner or later."

Suicune let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "Thank you, Mother Yacaeli. I knew you would understand."

"However," she continued as if he hadn't spoken, "I can't let you go back to Arceus knowing you could tell him every secret we've shared."

Suicune stiffened. "Mother—."

Her tail flicked across his mouth, silencing him. "And then, if I can't let that happen, then I can't even afford to let you leave this mountain!" She spoke as if it were a humorous anecdote instead of her son's death sentence. "Funny, isn't it?"

Suicune was trembling now. "No, Mother, please, don't. I… I take back what I said. Please forgive me; I'll never cross you again."

Yacaeli gave him a sad smile. "I'm terribly sorry, Suicune, but once a traitor, always a traitor." Her eyes glittered villainously as she curled her tail around her son. "I'm not going to kill you," she whispered.

Suicune visibly relaxed. Suddenly his muscles felt tired. His eyes drooped slightly, wanting to succumb into blissful sleep.

Suddenly, Suicune jumped. "No," he said in a strangled voice. He fought the exhaustion, but it was a losing battle.

"Yes," Yacaeli hissed.

The water Pokemon's legs buckled beneath him, his weight suddenly more than he could bear. Suicune fought off a yawn, his limbs shaking from fatigue. He couldn't battle the need for sleep, and finally was dragged into its sweet embrace.

Yacaeli smirked at his sleeping form, gently swiping her tail across his muzzle. His dreams would not be peaceful. She would make sure of that.

*************************************************She's amazing live. Seriously, go see her.***************************************************

Drew had wound up walking next to May, and the two had struck up an argument about his poem. I guess this was a good sign, because it meant May was talking to him again.

A few drops of rain fell from the sky, but not enough to send us running for shelter. Just one drop over here, two over there. Extremely sparse rain. It was really weird, now that I think about it. Should have seen it coming way before it did.

Brock, Max, and Paul were behind us, having a conversation (meaning Brock and Max talked while Paul walked next to them in a stony silence). May and Drew bickered in front of us, and Dawn fell into step next to us. "Hey!" she said cheerily.

We looked up at her, unable to fathom why she was so happy. "Hey," Misty replied, not nearly as enthusiastic.

Dawn didn't seem to notice. She skipped alongside us, bubbly as ever. "So the other day, I was with my mom, and we were shopping in Veilstone, right? And I saw the cutest dress in the world in their department store. It had little diamonds stitched into the skirt and these polka dots on the chest and it was just so adorable. I'm thinking that when I get back, I'll buy it for my next Contest and make one to match Piplup, too. Wouldn't that be cute?"

I shrugged. "I suppose."

Misty, on the other hand, wasn't nice about it at all. "I don't care, Dawn," she snapped. "I don't do Contests. And how can you even think of your Coordinating when we could be in mortal danger, hm? I can't believe how hollow your head is!"

I stared at Misty, mortified. Did she really just tell off Dawn? Dawn, who was more innocent than Max and always walked around with a smile. "Um, Misty, that was a little harsh," I said softly.

She spun around, scowling. "And who asked your opinion about that?" she growled.

I looked over at Dawn. Her eyes were fixed on the ground, but I didn't see any tears falling. Just a few fat raindrops here and there. "Sorry," she said in a hoarse voice. "I'm just so stupid and hollow-headed that I just forget important things like that. I can't believe that I'm dim enough to go around happy and saying nice things about people when they really don't deserve it."

Uh oh. I had seen Dawn blow up a few times, like when Paul couldn't remember who she was, but this was looking like a whole new level of rage. "Hey, guys, why don't we just—?"

Misty yanked on my shirt to shut me up. "No," she said levelly. "Let's hear what our preppy young friend has to say."

Had this fight been a long time coming? When could they have possibly been around each other long enough to grow such hatred towards each other? I backed away slowly, falling into rank with Paul, Brock, and Max. They had fallen silent to watch the fight. The heat in the bracelet was slowly growing.

"What's the matter?" Misty taunted. "Cat got your tongue, cheerleader?"

Dawn let out a low hiss. My jaw dropped. What the hell were they doing?

Our group had stopped walking. May and Drew up ahead had turned around to see what was going on. Misty and Dawn began to circle each other, like cats before a fight.

Dawn lashed out, her words harsher than any attack. "You know what, runt? I figured out why you put down everyone you ever meet."

Misty was on the defense. "Oh? And why's that, slut?"

I could practically see the fur flying. "You're a scared little girl inside that ugly, tough exterior," she growled. "If you hurt them first, they won't hurt you, right?" Dawn let out a cackling laugh. "Shame, because for the longest time, it was working, wasn't it? That's why you became a Trainer, so you could show the whole world just how tough you are."

Misty narrowed her eyes at the blunette. "You think so?" she said venomously. "You're too weak and fragile to even consider Training. You're Pokemon have so much potential, but because you're such a self-obsessed bitch who's afraid even lifting a fingernail will mess up her hair, they'll never unlock their true selves. You're slowing creating an army of Dawns, preppy cheerleaders that would kill for a cute bra."

This just made Dawn smile evilly. "That's the best you could do? Misty, queen of comebacks, can't do any better?"

"You have cotton for brains," Misty snarled. "Training was too much, school wasn't even fathomable, so you had to rely on appearances to get you through life."

Dawn gave a careless flip of her hair. "Look how far it's got me," she said.

"Five measly Contest ribbons and madly in love with a guy who's even more selfish than you," Misty laughed. "Yeah, I should've gone your route."

"At least he has some intelligence," snapped Dawn. "Yours could turn into a vegetable and no one would know the difference."

I winced. "Ow," I said.

"I agree, that was cruel," said Paul. He had a weird expression on his face, like he could either kill Misty for insulting him or kiss Dawn for defending him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Max tug on Brock's sleeve. Silently, he pointed up the face of the mountain. Brock followed his gaze, but evidently saw nothing.

Max scowled, confused. He pulled off his glasses and wiped them thoroughly with the hem of his shirt before placing them back on his face. Again, he narrowed his eyes in puzzlement.

A memory suddenly flashed through my mind: Max broke his glasses. We bought him new ones. On the mountain he claimed to have seen Yacaeli. Was he seeing things the rest of us couldn't?

I stepped over next to him and knelt down to his level. "Are you seeing things?" I asked.

"Yes, and I'm not imagining them," he retorted. He pointed a tiny finger at the same place he had shown Brock. "I swear to Arceus there's a lion with wings sitting on that ledge, and I'm certain it's Yacaeli." He then held out his hand, palm up. A fat rain drop splattered in his open palm. "This rain isn't natural," he murmured. "She's done something to it. I don't know what but it can't be good."

I was glad we had Max to interpret all the little things for us. With a glance over at Misty and Dawn, I saw that he was right. The majority of the raindrops seemed to land on or around them, splattering heavily. Every time one fell, the two girls exchanged another vicious set of words. Their muscles were quivering, ready to fight.

Misty did not look like someone I wanted to say I had a relationship with at the moment. Her face was livid with rage, beet red in the cheeks and screwed up into a sneer. Dawn, on the other hand, came over with a bad-ass secret-agent-woman look. This observation only made me feel worse, and I immediately went back to thinking about the rain.

The bracelet wouldn't be any good. The rain would put it out. Damn it, Yacaeli was clever. There had to be a way around it. Yacaeli could control dreams, which would make her a psychic Type, right? And psychic was weak against…?

I silently cursed myself and my suddenly forgetful brain. I never had this problem, remembering everything from the Pokemon I had stored with Oak to the day of the week I got Pikachu. And yet, here I was, incapable of recalling the weakness of psychic Types. I couldn't believe it.

Muttering angrily, I whipped out my handy dandy Pokedex and pressed the power button. Nothing happened. The screen remained black. I pushed it again, and then multiple times in rapid succession, and it still didn't turn on.

I had a feeling that Yacaeli was laughing her head off at me.

A loud crack made me look up from my Pokedex.

Dawn let out a scream of fury and pain as she sank to the ground. Misty stood over her, victorious. She wiped a small stream of blood away from her nose as she looked down at Dawn. "What did you just call me?" she shrieked.

Tears of pain and rage ran down Dawn's cheeks. She clutched her arm, trying hard not to whimper. My eyes widened in horror as I gazed at her. Her left arm was bent out at an awkward angle, and her elbow appeared to be on backwards.

"Holy Mew," Brock swore. "Misty just broke Dawn's arm."

Time to intervene.

I sprinted forward and hooked my arms under Misty's, digging my feet into the ground. "Calm down," I growled.

She was fighting me. I couldn't hold her alone. Brock appeared at my side. He stepped in front of Misty, blocking her. Together we were able to hold her down (even Misty wasn't stronger than a full grown and a half grown man).

Dawn, however, wasn't done. She lunged, attempting to yank Brock off of Misty so they could continue to fight. Drew and May swooped in, grabbing her around the waist and—after she screamed in pain when May touched her arm—neck.

The rain was still falling, but in larger drops. I looked up and one landed on my face, and it felt like someone had dumped a bucket of water on my head.

Wait… water.

Water Types were weak to electric Types. Yacaeli was part water.

There wasn't any time to delay. "Pikachu!" I yelled. I sacrificed an arm to point at the ledge above us. "Thunderbolt!"

*********************************************She is so good live. I didn't love Carrie Underwood until that night*************************************

Yacaeli laughed at the pathetic humans. After the betrayal of her loyal son, she needed something to entertain her. The humans listened incredibly well. Their impulse to fight was far greater than it was in any Pokemon. Perhaps that was why they caught the creatures to do their bidding for them.

The black haired boy, the one with the bracelet, pulled an electronic device from his pocket. This made the Sky Cat laugh harder. What an idiot this boy was! The ridiculous inventions of theirs that ran on power never worked on her precious mountain.

The boy soon discovered this, but before he could do anything else, Yacaeli nudged the redhead a little bit more with her mind.

There was a satisfying snap as the blue haired girl crumpled to the ground, screaming in misery. Yacaeli smiled, watching the rest of the humans rush to restrain their friends. She wanted to hear exactly what was going on, but any closer would be unwise. The great cat wanted to save her unveiling for when they were higher up.

But the little boy, the one with circles around his eyes, seemed to be looking right at her. She couldn't understand why. Perhaps this boy needed to be taught a lesson.

Yacaeli fixed the boy with a hard stare, focusing her energy as she prepared to send him into the deepest sleep a human would ever experience.

Suddenly a pulse went through her body. Her muscles convulsed in pain, tensing up and quaking. Every nerve in her body was sparking with static. She forced her eyes open, and all she saw were flashes.

After an eternity of agony, it stopped. Yacaeli twitched involuntarily. What had just happened?

She blinked away spots from her vision and looked down at the scene before her. The two girls had stopped fighting. Their friends no longer needed to hold them. The boy with circles around his eyes was now watching her with his head cocked to one side, confused.

And then her moonlike eyes fell on the Pikachu.

The tiny yellow rodent was staring at her viciously, fully aware of her presence and certain that his attack hit the target. Another spark flashed on his cheeks, and Yacaeli flinched.

Yacaeli hadn't foreseen this. The mouse was always under her control, whether he knew it or not. Too many things had compiled together, causing her to lose focus of that one little task. And now it had cost her.

She couldn't fight now. The Sky Cat was hurt and she knew it. Warily, she stood and proceeded to scale the mountain.

Before she could toy with the humans again, she would need to be rid of the Pikachu. That was now her next task.

And it was in that moment that she remembered: none of the others ever had an electric Type. This boy—Ash, his name was Ash—had what the others didn't. The Pikachu needed to die, and it needed to happen as soon as possible.

*AN: Sexual harassment. Ha ha ha aha HA! Now I'm laughing about it. This probably makes no sense to anyone but me. HA!*