"What just happened?" Serena whispered. Brad licked his lips. "Ash almost drowned last time. He was knocked unconscious in that fall and Pikachu kept Ash's face above water. I guess Team Rocket are going to stop Pikachu from saving Ash," Brad murmured more to himself than to answer Serena. Pikachu waited at the water's edge for its trainer to come back, vividly remembering the terror it had felt as it held Ash's head above water calling for help in the freezing cold water hoping that its trainer was still breathing.
Ash swam furiously over to where the diver was treading water below the water surface. He could see the dark figure that was him and Pikachu struggling against the cold and currents. He didn't stop and barrelled right into the diver. Subconsciously he registered that the diver was female. She fought back as Ash clawed for her oxygen tank. He was fast running of air. He knew he couldn't surface because Pikachu would see him, there was a chance that Misty might as well, and he had a feeling that that would be bad. After all there weren't meant to be two Ashs. After a few seconds of struggling, the diver kicked Ash hard in the chest and swam up to his past self and pulled his face under. Ash exclaimed and released the little air he still had. He clamped his mouth shut and pushed the diver of his younger self and pulled the oxygen tank off of her viciously and shoved the mouth piece in his mouth and took a deep breath.
The diver retreated without her tank, knowing that she had lost, and surfaced back where she had entered. She trudged over the ice and pulled out a similar device to Brad and vanished. Ash took a few more breaths before calming down. He knew that he had been close to drowning. He then turned his attention to the surface, another figure was swimming towards his younger self. It was Misty. She called to him and Pikachu and grabbed a hold of Ash and pulled a rope and they started to be dragged to shore by Tracey. Ash gave a curt nod to himself and took one more deep breath and released the oxygen tank. He couldn't swim with it and the harness that held it to a diver had been damaged. He then swam back the way he came.
Serena, Brad, Brock and the younger Ash waited worriedly for the older Ash to return. Pikachu was so terrified for its trainer that it was pacing and considering diving in after Ash. Suddenly Ash's head exploded from the water and he gasped for air. Brad and Brock quickly grabbed Ash's arms and pulled him to shore. He was shivering uncontrollably in the cold. They had to warm him up but they didn't have anything with them to help. The younger Ash had his back pack with him somehow but he didn't have anything in it apart from some water and biscuits. They considered releasing their Pokémon but then they realised that that might draw attention to themselves. Then they heard a beautiful song echoing through the air. It was haunting and was coming from the shrine. Ash and Pikachu recognised the song as Lugia's song. "We… we have… have to… get… get to… land. The… the ice… is going to… to defrost," Ash stuttered with trembling lips. Brad remembered the end of the story and understood what Ash meant. Brad and Brock helped Ash to walk and they all hurried off to Shamouti Island and hid among the trees.
They watched as the shrine turned green and the water flowed into the ocean. Lugia exploded out of the water and the bay defrosted. The Pokémon surrounding the bay disbanded and the legendary bird Pokémon calmed down. The song echoed around the islands as an arch of water was lifted into the air and then lowered back down. A massive rainbow filled the sky as the music reached its climax and the group couldn't help but smile and marvel at the scene. The air heated up also and Ash's shivering lessened and gained enough control of his muscles for Brad and Brock not to have to support him.
Once the music stopped, the spell was broken. Brock turned to Brad. "You said that the device needed time to cool down after a time jump. How long? Because that diver couldn't have been here much before we got here and they were able to jump straight away," Brock remarked, slightly accusatory. Brad shifted awkwardly under the scrutiny. "Um… maybe ten to fifteen minutes for it to cool down," Brad muttered reluctantly. The younger Ash stared disbelievingly at Brad. "Then I could have gone home," he whispered clearly upset with this breach of faith. Brad nodded dejectedly. "I thought that we should stay together. I had to protect him," Brad explained pleadingly to Brock and Serena, both of whom looked outraged that Brad had lied to them. However the older Ash understood. Team Rocket wanted to get rid of him any way they could. He had seen that up close and personal when he was underwater. "Hey Brad, relax. You did what you thought was best. Why don't we take Ash back now? I doubt Team Rocket would try the same time more than once and if they do, this time they'll have to deal with more than one Ash," Ash reassured Brad. Ash hoped that his friends would be as understanding. Brad smiled gratefully and took out the device and tapped a few buttons and motioned for everyone to hold on to him and then they all vanished.
So, again a fair warning, the next few chapters may contain references to something that is discussed in the episode I mentioned in a previous chapter.
So anyway, until the next chapter.