Brad turned to Brock and Serena and saw them watching him closely. Brock remembered how Brad had understood Pikachu in a way only Ash could. Now it made sense, Brad had grown up being around Pikachu. He remembered how Brad had rubbed the back of his neck, similar to how Ash does. Serena could see the resemblance. She remembered how wary he had been of angering Ash when they first met. He didn't care too much about Brock or Serena, but he had been almost afraid of Ash. Now it made sense. It made so much sense that they were angrier at themselves for not realising it before than at Brad for not telling them.
Brad saw that Ash was still gasping for breath but now he was unconscious. Things were getting bad quickly. He needed help but there wasn't any. Brad turned to Brock. "Brock, please. I don't know… I don't have a plan. Please," Brad whispered to Brock, pleadingly. Brock snapped out of his thoughts and saw that Ash was getting worse. He didn't know what to suggest, he was studying to be a Pokémon doctor not a human one. His supplies were gone and they didn't really have the time to forage for medical plants.
Suddenly a shriek caught their attention. It was Ho-oh. It circled the camp and then landed close to Ash and Serena and Pikachu. Pikachu immediately started to chatter to Ho-oh, clearly begging it to help its trainer. Ho-oh tilted its head at Ash and listened to his breathing and nodded to Pikachu. Ho-oh glowed softly and a golden light appeared briefly beside it and then disappeared. Brock and Serena recognised the warmth of the light. It felt like life itself. It could only mean that Ho-oh had called Arceus. Then a golden ring appeared beside Ho-oh. Out of the ring came another Pokémon, Hoopa. "Ashkan…" it gasped when it spotted Ash. It turned to Pikachu. "Pikan, what happened?" Hoopa asked fearfully. "Pika pi chu pika chu Pikachu pi chu pi Pikapi. Pika ka chu pika Pikachu chu chu ka," Pikachu explained quickly and pointed to the tied up and gagged woman. Hoopa scowled furiously at the woman. She merely stared in shock at the sudden arrival. "Hoopa will help Ashkan as Ashkan helped Hoopa and Shadow," Hoopa reassured Pikachu and looked to Ho-oh. Ho-oh seemed to be talking telepathically to Hoopa and Hoopa alone. Hoopa nodded. It allowed its ring to float away from itself and form a portal.
A Shaymin crawled through and stopped and surveyed the camp. It saw Brock and smiled. "Hello again. Do you have any of those pancakes?" it asked telepathically and Brock immediately realised that this Shaman was the one Ash had saved from Giratina. Pikachu rushed over to the Shaymin and pointed to Ash. "Pika pi chu ka ka Pikapi chu Pikachu," Pikachu explained hastily. Shaymin's eyes widened when it saw Ash laying by the fire, struggling to breath, beside Serena. "Ash!" it exclaimed. It scurried over to Ash's side. It nudged him with its nose but Ash didn't respond. He was struggling to breathe, occasionally even stopping for a moment. Shaymin clambered onto Ash's side and called on its healing power. Ash stopped breathing just as the healing green pulsing light washed over him. Everyone waited to see if Shaymin wasn't too late to save him.
Sorry, I love cliff-hangers and I couldn't resist this one.
Until the next chapter.