This is Chapter 21.
It's not as long as I'd like, but I'm going to try to do a bunch of different things from the episode next chapter, so we'll see what happens then, yeah? But until then, I thought you all deserved something, and this ends at a decent place, so…
Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. Your reviews simply blew me away. They really keep me going like you would not believe. They provide inspiration, and they make me get my ass in gear by reminding me that people actually do read this and want to know what's going to happen next. And I take all of your suggestions into account, so don't stop leaving them!
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So, we're meeting the Squirtle Squad now. Whoot! There are some fights, I suppose. Well, I'll leave it to you to decide if they're good enough.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. I DON'T OWN POKEMON! AHHHHH! *the nice men and women in white coats come in and sedate me*
Anyways, enjoy!
Ash and the others were walking down the path when Ash noticed a slight discoloration in the ground. After the numerous traps he'd come across in the past couple of weeks, he immediately stopped walking. Pikachu ran into his legs before he stopped as well.
"Ash? What's the matter?" Misty asked as she came up next to him, Brock bringing up the rear.
Ash picked up a stone from the side of the path and threw it at the ground in front of him, hard. There was a cracking sound, and the ground caved in.
Misty screamed in surprise and Brock took a step back. "Not another hole!" Misty cried in frustration.
"Well, at least we didn't fall in this time." Brock pointed out.
"That's really deep." Ash noted, peering in. "Who do you think did this?"
A yell of irritation had Ash looking beyond the hole. A group of Squirtle wearing sunglasses filed onto the path and stood facing the friends.
"Aw, they didn't fall in." One complained.
"That would have been great." Another agreed.
"How did they know?" this one was wearing different sunglasses than the rest: these pointed upwards at the ends. Ash figured he was the leader.
Pikachu stepped around Ash's legs to stand on his left. "You creep. We could have been hurt!" he shouted angrily.
The lead Squirtle waved a hand. "It would have served you right." He answered.
"What did we ever do to you?" Ash demanded.
The Squirtle ignored him.
The sound of sirens approaching had everyone looking back down the road. While they were distracted, the Squirtle all ran off into the trees, laughing.
The motorcycle skidded to a stop inches from Brock's feet. The rider removed her helmet, revealing that she was one of the Jennys. "Are you guys all right? Has anyone been hurt here?"
"No. But it was close." Misty answered, taking a quick peek into the hole before shuddering and moving away. Officer Jenny followed her gaze, and her face paled.
"Do you know what's going on here?" Brock asked, momentarily ignoring how beautiful she was in favor of getting his questions answered.
Officer Jenny sighed. "Follow me back to town. I'll explain everything there."
Ash picked Pikachu up and the group of friends walked behind Officer Jenny as she led them to her office in a small town nearby, although Officer Jenny had to keep slowing down so that they could keep up.
Once they were all in the office, Officer Jenny sat down at her desk and fired up her computer.
"That Pokémon gang calls itself the Squirtle Squad."
"Squirtle Squad?" Ash repeated.
"I've never heard of a Pokémon gang." Misty admitted.
"They're all Squirtles who were deserted by their Pokémon trainers." Officer Jenny continued.
"Why? Were they like Damian?" Ash asked.
Officer Jenny looked confused, but Brock nodded. "Yeah, they might have been."
"That's not right." Ash snapped. "No Pokémon should be abandoned like that."
Officer Jenny nodded in agreement. "They don't have a trainer so they just run wild and play tricks on the whole town." She went on. "It's really kind of sad 'cause if they had someone to care for them, they wouldn't have turned out to be as bad as they are. It's a real shame."
Ash's face fell, and he cuddled Pikachu to his cheek. "Never. I'd never do that." He vowed.
"Of course you wouldn't." Pikachu assured Ash, licking the tip of Ash's nose. Ash wrinkled up his nose in distaste while Misty and Brock laughed at his expression.
"Well," Misty said, changing the subject. "There's a river that runs next to this town. I want to see what new water Pokémon I can catch there!"
"Why not?" Brock agreed. Ash nodded.
They bid Officer Jenny goodbye, and then walked over to the river, where they settled down on the bank. Misty unwound a fishing line and set up her rod, and Brock set out a red-and-black checkered blanket for them to sit on.
Ash pulled out Bulbasaur's Pokéball and released the Pokémon.
Bulbasaur wasted no time and eyed Ash sternly. "Okay, what happened?"
Ash's mouth fell open. "Nothing!" he protested indignantly. Pikachu, in a ball in his lap, sniggered without looking up.
Brock was laying on the blanket to his left, apparently asleep, and Misty had stepped over to the water to unhook her line from where it had tangled around a rock, so Ash wasn't worried about them overhearing him.
"Uhuh." Bulbasaur muttered, unconvinced. "Do better than that, hatchling."
Ash grit his teeth. "Seriously. Okay, so there's this group of Squirtle around here called the Squirtle Squad, and they dug a hole in the path, but none of us fell in. I spotted it first. There wasn't even a fight or anything." Ash looked down. "They were all abandoned by their trainers."
Bulbasaur rubbed up against Ash's leg, and Pikachu grabbed Ash's hand and curled back up around it.
"Well," Bulbasaur commented after a moment, "at least you didn't fall in. Good work, hatchling."
Ash grumbled good-naturedly at the title, but there was no heat in his voice, and Bulbasaur could tell he didn't really mean it.
Pikachu snuggled closer to Ash, tightening around his hand. "Quiet." He whined. "Sleeping."
Ash laughed and began petting Pikachu's fur, causing a soft purring to start.
Brock had been drowsing on the blanket, but was roused by Bulbasaur's growling, "Bulba, bulbasaur."
He slit an eye open in time to catch Ash protest, "Bulbasaur!"
Ash shot a quick glance at him, so Brock closed his eyes again and stayed still.
The soft rumble of Bulbasaur was next. Brock listened to the– conversation, until he heard a, "Pikapiiii."
Ash laughed, and the discussion, whatever it had been about, seemed over.
Misty, having finally untangled her line, came back over and sat down on the blanket next to Ash. She cast her line and smiled at Ash. "This is nice."
"Yeah." Ash smiled back at her. "We should do this more often."
Misty's line suddenly pulled taut. "Oh!" she gasped. "I got something!"
Ash looked over, interested to see what Pokémon would surface.
The water rippled, and then a blue head popped out. Ash barely had enough time to realize that it was a Squirtle before said Squirtle doused them all with a jet of water.
Brock sat up, sputtering, as the Squirtle laughed in delight. "Your faces!" she chortled.
"I'm soaked." Misty stated unnecessarily. Ash grunted in agreement as he brushed his wet bangs out of his eyes.
Pikachu jumped up from his place in Ash's lap. "Why you little—"
"And what are you gonna do about it?" The Squirtle taunted.
Pikachu let loose a thundershock.
Ash let out a cry of pain, and Pikachu immediately stopped. "Ash?" he asked, turning to his best friend, who was sprawled out on the grass next to Brock and Misty.
"Water conducts electricity." Brock stuttered out.
"Oh. Sorry." Pikachu's ears flattened to his head, before a movement to his left caught his attention. The Squirtle had jumped out of the water. "Ha! Now I've got you." He readied an attack, but Squirtle had taken advantage of Pikachu making sure Ash was all right to launch her own attack.
She leapt at Pikachu, pulling her limbs into her shell and bashing into Pikachu, knocking the electric mouse into the river.
Bulbasaur had had enough of this upstart's behavior. He started forward, but a second Squirtle slammed into his side, using his Skull Bash. Bulbasaur fell to the side, dazed.
"Oh! It's a Goldeen! Watch out for it's horn!" Misty cried out, hands at her mouth.
Ash took off down the grassy slope. "Pikachu!" he cried.
A rope looped itself around his torso and tightened, forcing him to jolt to a stop. Ash could only watch in horror as the Goldeen used her horn attack on the electric Pokémon. The attack sent Pikachu flying out of the water to slam into the grass a few feet away from Ash.
Ash barely noticed Misty, Brock, and Bulbasaur trussed up in ropes on the ground near him. His eyes were fixed on Pikachu's limp form. He let out a whine.
"Well, well, well, look what we've got here." The lead Squirtle mocked.
"You're not gonna Squirtle outta this one." A familiar voice said. Ash glanced over to see Meowth emerge from the woods.
"You!" he snarled furiously.
"It's Meowth." Misty gasped.
"Come on, humans." The lead Squirtle said, beckoning to them.
The Squirtle holding the end of Ash's rope tugged at it, trying to lead him away. Ash whirled around and bared his teeth at the Pokémon before hissing in warning. The Squirtle jumped back, nearly shocked into letting go of the rope. Another came to help him.
"Ash." Brock called in warning.
"I'm not leaving Pikachu." Ash bit out.
"Oh, we're bringing Pikachu with us, don't you worry." Meowth snickered. Ash glared at the cat Pokémon.
"If you touch him…" he snarled. The words were garbled, a mixture of both human and Pokémon. He was trying to remember to speak in the human language, but his mind was hardly on his language of choice at the moment.
The lead Squirtle sighed and came over. He threw Pikachu onto his shell. "Happy? Now let's go." He ordered.
"He says to follow us." Meowth translated for the stupid humans.
Ash followed, never taking his eyes off Pikachu. "If you hurt him…" he muttered to the Squirtle. The Squirtle looked back, and then dismissed the sentence.
"He won't be hurt if you cooperate." He said dismissively. "Meowth, get the Bulbasaur."
"Yeah, yeah." Meowth grumbled, dragging Bulbasaur after the group.
They reached a series of caves, and Ash, Brock, and Misty were quickly tied to a large boulder. Bulbasaur was tied to Ash's legs, and Pikachu, in no condition to fight back, was laid on a ledge next to Ash.
They were going to put Pikachu into a cage, but Ash reacted so violently that they just left the electric mouse alone.
"I'm the Pokémon in charge here." Meowth declared.
"I thought he was." Ash said, breaking his staring contest with Pikachu's beat-up form to frown at Meowth.
Meowth ignored that. "Just wait 'til my human pets get back." He began batting at Ash's face with his tail. "Na na na-na-na."
Ash had had just about enough of Meowth's skewed view of reality and the next time Meowth's tail came near his mouth he bit down hard.
"YEOW!" Meowth howled, clutching his tail to his chest. Ash spit out fur.
"Good one hatchling." Came Bulbasaur's groggy voice from his feet.
"Bulbasaur's awake!" Brock relaxed slightly, although he alternated worried looks between Ash and Pikachu.
The lead Squirtle scoffed. "That human is no hatchling, stupid. Has belonging to him made you dumb?"
"You're the stupid one. Thinking you're right all the time." Bulbasaur shook his head. "You're barely more than a hatchling yourself; how would you know anything of younglings?"
"Squirtles, Meowth is lying." Misty cried out. "He and Team Rocket are just trying to use you to do their dirty work."
"Like we'd trust you." One of the females stated. "You're just a human, and a trainer at that."
"Hey!" Brock cut off the words he couldn't understand anyway. "Leave her alone. She's telling the truth."
"Pikachu." Ash whispered. Pikachu's breathing was shallower than he liked, and he could see blood beginning to mat the Pokémon's yellow fur, along with dirt and bruises.
Ash released a whistling inquiry. It had no real translation, it was just a sound to ask about the health of sick or injured kin. There were dozens of sounds like it, that couldn't be translated properly.
Pikachu didn't respond, and Brock, hearing Ash, craned his head to see around Misty and Ash. "Ash, Pikachu doesn't look so good."
Ash grit his teeth. "He needs medicine. That shop in town sells some." Misty offered. She'd seen it and thought about stopping in before they left, to stock up. Although Ash seemed to prefer making medicines from plants he found in the woods any by streams, Misty preferred the store-bought kind. It was more reliable, in her opinion.
Ash didn't argue, which was worrying in and of itself. Pikachu was making a worrying huffing noise as he breathed.
Bulbasaur tried to jerk away from Ash, to break the ropes, but the only thing it did was yank on Ash and cause the boy to cry out. Bulbasaur stopped instantly, concerned.
"Hatchling?"
"I need to get the medicine." Ash begged, ignoring both the slight pain and Bulbasaur's worried question. He wasn't sure of which language he was speaking in, but it didn't matter. "I promise I'll come right back."
"And a promise from a Pokémon trainer is worth so much." One of the Squirtle snorted.
"I'm not like Damian." Ash yelled. Why couldn't he get that through their thick skulls?
Meowth was staring at Ash, open-mouthed. "Did you just—" he started.
"Of course you're not like Damian." Misty snapped. "He was a despicable trainer."
She understood him, Meowth thought. It's just my imagination.
But he really wasn't sure anymore.
Pikachu's breathing hitched for a brief second, and terror surged in Ash. His chest tightened painfully. He could hardly breathe himself.
"Please. Trust me." Ash begged, staring into the lead Squirtle's eyes. Tears welled up in Ash's own brown orbs and slid down his face to hit the dirt below him.
Some hit Bulbasaur as well, and the Pokemon's anger at the whole situation grew. "How dare you do this! Keep a Pokémon in pain and make a hatchling cry. You're all as bad as that one!" he gestured with his head to Meowth, who preened.
The lead Squirtle considered this. "Fine, but I'm coming with."
"He says okay, but he's gonna come with, to make sure you come back." Meowth told Ash. "And recall Bulbasaur into it's Pokéball."
"His." Ash corrected angrily. "And no he—"
"It's a good idea. Do it." Squirtle said. Meowth felt no need to interpret something he'd just said.
Bulbasaur sighed. "Go ahead, hatchling. Pikachu needs you to do it."
"Fool, he can't understand you." the female who'd attacked them in the river scoffed at Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur shook his head at the Squirtle's stubbornness. And idiocy.
Ash was quickly untied. He recalled Bulbasaur to his Pokéball and hooked it back onto his belt.
"The Suqirtle says if you're not back by noon tomorrow, the red-head gets her hair dyed purple." Meowth told them.
Ash didn't bother calling him out on the lie. Instead, he interrupted Misty's rant of what she was going to do to Meowth once she got free. "I'll be back in time, okay?" He took off at a run, the lead Squirtle sprinting after him.
"Good luck." Misty whispered softly as Ash and Squirtle disappeared beyond the cave entrance.
So, this is the end of the chapter. I hope you all liked it.
Geeze, Meowth, can you be any more in denial. XD
I was actually going to have Ash let slip, but then I thought, nah. Let's wait. And so we are. For a little while, anyway.
Like I said, your reviews blew me away. They gave me ideas and reminded me that not only do people read this, but they actually care what happens in it. *gasp* It's actually hard for me to believe, honestly. But I get a warm, glowy feeling all the same. *blushes*
Suggestions and ideas are great, reviews are amazing. Even one-word reviews are appreciated. Constructive criticism is good. Flames will be used to heat up the cave most of our main characters are in. Yikes.
Thanks for reading. See you next chapter!