"Ah" she groaned in pain as she shifted on the warm soft grass, hidden stones jabbing at the pale skin of her side.
"May?" A groggy voice asked from behind her, though it sounded muffled. As though it was pressed into something.
"Yeah, Ash, what happened?"
"I donno. I've got a killer headache though. My head's poundin'" the boy opened his eyes slowly, a wince running through him. Running his hand through the grass he pushed himself up slowly, his body aching and his mind lagging far behind.
Cracking his eye open he stared down at the woman who was curled up in a small ball.
"You ok May?" He asked shaking her shoulder softly. He knew she was conscious but he wanted to see her move first.
"I-I'm fine. My throat is as dry as anything though." She mumbled, pushing herself up onto her knees. She rubbed at her eyes. Trying to kick start her mind. She knew she was forgetting something but couldn't place it. There was a small voice in the back of her mind but it was too far to understand.
"Pikka?" A deep voice asked, far deeper than Pikachu.
And that brought them back. Both pair of eyes snapping open and staring around intently. An open grassy land stretched before them, trees surrounding the boarder and small bizarre creatures hanging from the branches and one stood before them.
It looked like a larger version of Pikachu, down the smallest detail it was the mouse like creature's mirror image.
"What the hell happened to Pikachu?" Ash asked, reaching out to touch the creature. The wide glassy eyes that held confusion narrowed, glaring intently at the boy. Ash ignored the look, not knowing what was wrong with him. As soon as his hand touched the pokemon's head a sharp shock of electricity shot through him, stunning him and making it impossible for him to move.
His muscles contracted, and Ash dropped backwards, the waves of electricity still running through him. May sat on the grass watching the display, taking in the small yellow wave of power running from the Pikachu into Ash.
She didn't know what was happening but that wasn't their Pikachu. Theirs couldn't do anything nearly as impressive.
"Ash, are you alright?"
"D-Do, I-I look, a-alright?" He asked with much difficulty, his voice shaking from the static.
"No, I guess not." She watched as the pokemon stopped its attack, the creature narrowing its eyes at the boy turning and kicking dirt onto him. Walking away seconds later as though nothing had happened.
"What the hell May? Why didn't you help me?"
"I wasn't about to get electrocuted." She objected, standing and dusting herself down from the long grass.
"Thanks, I can see how good a friend you are."
"For not being stupid? That makes sense. Come on Ash, we've got to find Pikachu. Our Pikachu."
"That wasn't Pikachu?" He groaned, trying to sit up, pain radiating through him.
"No, Pikachu was taken by those three people. Well, people and pokemon." May reminded, folding her arms over her chest. "Come on, get up Ash, I'm not waiting any longer."
He nodded, standing on shaky legs. His hair stuck out on its ends under his hat from the shock. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to flatten it down. May grabbed his arm, hauling him behind her.
"Come on Ash, we can do that later" she was beginning to tire of this. All she cared about was reclaiming Pikachu. Who knew what those band of freaks would do to him?
"I'm coming. I'm coming." He sighed, standing, taking her hand and pulling her away. Deeper into the strange land they'd been sent to. "Hey May?"
"Yeah."
"Where are we?"
She stayed quiet, unable to answer him. She knew they weren't on their earth anymore. But where they were, she couldn't answer that. All she could do was walk and hope they'd find Pikachu.
They walked through the trees surrounding the clearing. Jumping at everything that passed them. They'd seen strange oversized bugs that made inhuman noises. They looked like caterpillars, there were running Pikachu that gave them a wide birth but seemed mostly at ease.
Ash was on edge, smoothing his hair down and throwing May in front of him whenever a Pikachu got too close. The brunette sighed at her friend's paranoia, and though it annoyed her greatly allowed for the less than gentlemanly behaviour.
They were making good progress, and though it was faint May was sure she could see what appeared to be a town up ahead. Squinting she pulled Ash to make him pick up his pace. He did so though rather begrudgingly. Holding onto May to ensure they couldn't be separated. Ash dragged his feet, still straightening his hair. That Pikachu had one powerful electric pack inside it.
"Where are we going May? Do you even know what's happening?" He asked, staring around, trying to portray an air of boredom, when in reality he was quite scared. He didn't like to think what these harmless looking creatures could do to him.
"I know I can see something ahead, and unless you want to wander in a forest for the rest of your life I'm heading for it. Got it?"
He nodded, straining his eyes to try and see the town she mentioned. It was true, he could see small puffs of smoke rising from the chimneys. Brown tiled roofs shone in the sunlight. A smile crossed his face. A town! She wasn't lying. He picked up his pace, running quickly to try and escape the forest full of bugs.
May stumbled, but quickly regained her footing, running to keep up with him. The sudden change of speed startling her.
"Ash! Slow down!" She yelled, but the smile on his face was huge. He'd get away from this monster infested forest.
The town grew rapidly, people becoming visible, smiles on their faces as they chatted to everyone around him.
"Hey!" Ash yelled, waving his arm over his head, gaining a lot of attention in the quaint looking town. "Hey! You guys got room?" He swung his arm quickly, it flapping in the air as though it was boneless.
The town dwellers approached the border of the town, a white picket fence caging them off from the forest.
Ash skidded to a stop just before they both crashed into the fence, May gasping for breath at the sprint.
"Can we help you?" An old man asked, a lab coat draped around him and his slightly wrinkled face holding a smile.
"I guess, I'm Ash, this is May." He pointed to the girl who gave a cautious wave to the strange man.
"I'm Professor Oak, it's a pleasure to meet you. What are you two doing out there with no pokemon?"
May's mouth hung open? All these creatures were pokemon? This professor wanted them to have pokemon?
"Ours was stolen." Ash blurted out, his fingers clenching around May's hand and stunning her all the more. Though she quickly covered it.
"Stolen?" The professor asked, not sounding at all surprised. "By Team Rocket no doubt."
The name wasn't familiar but it did ring a bell. Their shirts, the ones they'd been wearing the first time they met had a large 'R' emblazoned on it.
"Yeah, yeah I think so." May confirmed, staring at the still cheerily smiling professor. It was an almost inhuman smile, one that was never faltering yet it failed to be creepy in an way. It seemed to fit him.
"I thought so, my grandson, Garry can take you to their base if you want to try and retrieve him. But, if you're smart we can call Officer Jenny." Ash answered instantly, declaring they'd be led to Team Rocket's base.
Where ever they were it was an odd world, the adults seemed to believe the children could do anything. He wasn't even trying to stop him, just persuade.
"Alright, I'll go find him, he's probably training with Squirtle." The old man mumbled, turning his hands tucked into his pocket.
They shared a quick glanced between one another, training? What training? And who was Squirtle? Whatever it was it didn't sound very human.
"Ash, I'm a little freaked out."
"Yeah, me too. Come on, let's get out of here."
"We can't." She objected. "We have to get Pikachu back. That Team Rocket, if it is them have him and we need to make him safe."
"I'm sure we could let them handle it themselves. Not our world after all." She slapped him on the side of the head, scowling at him for losing his nerve.
He grinned sheepish, folding his arms over his chest and spinning slowly on the spot to survey the surroundings.
The houses were small, far too small to be more than bungalows, small bushes lined the border to each house, carefully kept and perfectly green. Almost like something from a film, too precise to be reality. But it was theirs.
"Do you want me to take you to Professor Oak's lab? You can wait for him there." A young man offered, smiling brightly. "I'm Tracey, I'm helping the professor out for a little while."
They nodded shaking hands with the boy. Was everyone always happy?
"So, how long have you two been travelling together?" He asked as they walked towards what they could only presume was a road.
"What?"
"You only look about ten so it can't have been long. And if you only have one pokemon you must be really new. But you don't look unfamiliar with each other. It's a little puzzling." He explained.
They stared at each other as the boy talked, confusing them all the more.
"How many do you have?" Ash asked.
"Just a couple, I'm more of a watcher. I like to watch and sketch pokemon. Wild ones especially, they're so beautiful. Don't you think?"
"I guess, but they try and attack you."
"Only because you've got no pokemon. They see you as weak and attack." He moved his finger the way a teacher may when giving a lecture.
"Why do they attack?"
"Because you're in their territory. This is ours which is why wild pokemon stay away. That's theirs. You two really don't know anything about pokemon do you?"
"No, we're kinda new to this whole thing." He admitted, scratching the back of his head.
"I guessed. So, who's your pokemon's owner?"
"We both are." May answered.
"Really? Never knew there were trainers out there like that, usually married couples but not kids like yourself. Who threw the poke ball on it?"
"Poke ball?" They couldn't hide their naivety at that, brows furrowing in confusion.
"Pikachu's still wild?" Tracey shook his head smirking to himself. "Whatever, I'll have to explain more when we're at the lab. Just follow quietly ok? I've never met people as naive as you two."
Sorry if there're a lot of mistakes. Something happened to my computer and it wasn't letting me save my files. So I couldn't put up the edited one. Please read review.