Chapter 22 – The shocking recruit returns II

Route 116, Hoenn Region…

Ash's body had finally had enough. He was a sweaty, panting mess with a stich in his chest and the muscles in his legs and thighs felt like they were on fire. He was thirsty, but didn't have anything to drink. Pikachu clinging to the back of his head wasn't helping.

The trees had given way to the steep rocky face of a small mountain – part of the mountains that made up the spine of the western half of the Hoenn region – sometimes referred to as Giratina's backbone.

The tallest of these mountains was, of course, mount chimney in which legend held Groudon was sleeping. Ash could just see the peak in the distance, a plume of smoke rising from it. Nearby was the entrance to a cave. A large sign outside read RUSTURF TUNNEL.

"Ash!" Ash looked up at the sound of his name and spotted a certain blue canine like Pokémon looking down at him from a ledge on the side of a mountain.

"Hunter! What are you doing here?"

"I-it was Ashachu," Hunter squeaked, too inaudible for Ash to hear. "H-he attacked…."

"Don' worry. I'm coming up," Ash called back to him.

The rock was face was steep with very little in the way of crevasses or things he could use as foot holds. But Ash was undeterred by this. He was, in fact, quite a good climber. He jumped and grabbed the closet ledge that he could. Then using all his energy he pulled himself up.

Ash was about halfway up, when he heard an angry voice from below… "Not him again! Huh. Riolu!"

Ash looked over his shoulder. A greasy haired kid in a green jacket was standing just outside the entrance to the tunnel, glaring right up at him.

"Oh great," he mumbled to himself. "What now."

Hunter let out a groan and slapped his forehead with his paw. "It's that crazy kid from earlier."

"Dream on kid. That Pokémon's mine."

There was the unmistakeable POP of a Pokéball bursting open. Ash glanced down again and saw that a Pokémon had appeared beside him. It was one he had never seen before. It had the body of a Ponyta. But where Ponyta had fire for their mains and tail, this creature had puffy blue and purple fur…almost like it had been covered in cotton candy.

"Use psychic."

Before Ash had any time to ponder what this creature was, he found his body lifting into the air. His hands and legs and left the side of the cliff and he was floating in mid-air. There was a glowing aura around him. "Huh…Whaaa."

And then he fell, dropping back to earth like a stone. He hit the ground with a dull thud, Pikachu landing in his chest. Luckily, he had not been very far up the side of the mountain.

"Ahahahaha. See ya kid!"

As Ash got back to his feet, he noticed the kid standing on a ledge further up the mountain, alongside the horse like Pokémon. "Hey! That wasn't nice," he protested.

"Big deal," the kid retorted. "That Riolu is mine. I got here first."

"But you can't have that Riolu, he's Cameron's!"

"Oh crap," groaned Hunter. "That kid just doesn't quit." He looked around for an escape route. There was only one…And it was a cave. A dark cave. He bit his lip.

"Don't just stand there Ponyta, go get the Riolu."

How was it that the horse like Pokémon was so adept at climbing, is what Hunter thought as he watched it make its way up the side of the mountain. He had only two choices. Battle it or hide in the cave. With a great sigh of resignation, he opted for the latter…

Meanwhile, Ash was on the side of the wall again, climbing after Hunter. "Can't let Hunter loose to a loser like that."

He reached the entrance to the cave…Just as the mecha Yungoose burst from out of the trees.

"There you are twerp," came Jessie's booming voice. "You're not going ."

The mecha came to a halt and raised onto its's hind legs. It was so tall the head and chest came up to the height of the ledge. Ash could see Geyser, trapped in the crystal structure in the heart of the machine. He gritted his teeth, unsure what to do.

"Pika," said Pikachu softly.

Deciding that, one, Hunter's needs were probably greater than Geyser's at this moment in time and, two, he probably couldn't fight the thing anyway…at least not yet… he opted to go after Hunter. Pointing angrily at the machine, he declared, "Look guys and Ashachu. I don't have time to play with a big bucket of bolts. I got things to do." He turned and sprinted into the cave.

For whatever reasons – Ashachu certainly couldn't fathom one – this seemed to incense Jessie. He slammed her fist on the console and yelled, "bucket of bolts." She then demanded of James, "Can't you do something to stop him."

"Roger."

[Pokémon]

In the Rusturf Tunnel…

'Of all the times not to know flash,' Hunter thought to himself.

It was far darker in here that he had thought. Even his strong Riolu night vision was struggling to see ahead. The walls around him were disappearing into blackness.

'Fuck, why did I come in here. I should have just taken my chances with candy floss horse back there.'

The air was starting to become cold. Every shadow could be hiding a trap. The lair of a mean Pokémon. A Riolu eating creature.

He like the walls were closing in around him. There was a tightness in his chest, and it was becoming difficult to breath. He clenched his jaw and willed himself not to have a panic attack.

'I can do this,' he tried telling himself. 'I'm a strong fighting type. I don't need to be scared of the dark.'

And then…disaster. His foot hit a rock or a branch or something unseen on the ground, and he tripped. He hit the rocky floor with a hard thud. And that was it…His brain broke. A wave of panic overcame him.

"Ahhhhh….I don't want to be here….I want my parents…I want to home…" He curled up into a ball. "Oh, Arcues I'm going to die here…" He took a deep breath, and tried to regain control. "No, I'm not. All I need to do…Is go to my happy place."

Flashback

"There's nothing to be ashamed of Hunter. Everybody has fears, so if it will help you sleep your more than welcome to sleep with me" Pichu said happily as he laid down.

"Thank you Ashachu" said Hunter who lay down next to him, gently wrapped his arms around him, and held him close kinda like a stuffed animal. I mean sure Ashachu wasn't his strong lucario father, but Hunter felt safe none the less.

"Goodnight Hunter," yawned Ashachu closing his eyes.

"Night lightning butt."

End of flashback

He wished Ashachu was here for him right now…Wait. No, he didn't…

Ashachu was the reason he was in this mess. If it weren't for Ashachu's rage, possessiveness, jealous and all round toxicity, none of this would have happened. The happy scenes of cuddling that night transformed in his mind to memories of Ashachu pointing at him angrily in the woods. To discharging that enormous thunderbolt at him and Geyser.

"Ashachu," he squeaked. "I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. I'll be happy if I never see you again!"

Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop…

Hunter froze as he heard the sounds of hooves on the rocky floor, echoing through the cave. And a voice rang out, "There you are…."

Hunter looked up and felt a sense of dread in the pit of the stomach. It was the greasy haired kit and his strange Ponyta.

"It's all over, I've got him cornered."

And then something within Hunter snapped, and he decided that he wasn't going down without a fight. His instincts had taken over and he wasn't afraid. In fact, he no longer felt anything. He sprang to his feet, extending his arms in a battle-ready position.

[Pokémon]

Back outside on Route 116…

"Twerp seeking aura sphere missile engaged," declared James, striking those strange poses with his arms again. "Engine light, IGNITE! On your mark! Get Set!"

This went on for about a minute, until Jessie hit him over the head with a mallet.

Goooaaaahhhhhh!"

"Just fire the damn thing!"

Ashachu shook his head and was once again left wondering what he had got himself into.

Below him, the jaws of the Mechanised Automated Geyser Acquirer opened revealing a second much larger cannon…

[Pokémon]

"Ponyta, use Psybeam."

Candy floss Ponyta reared, bowed its head, and shot a beam of rain bowed colored light from the horn on the top of its head, aiming at Hunter's chest. Hunter jumped up into the air, spreading his legs apart. The attack sailed under him.

His paws touched back down on the ground and he prepared to launch at attack of his own. He raised his paws in preparation to use focus blast. But has the attack was building, somebody else shouted from behind, "Charizard, use flamethrower."

Light and warmth suddenly filled the tunnel. Hunter instinctively ducked as a jet of flame streaked over his head. He felt the heat on the back of his neck and he winced. Ponyta was not so fortunate. The flames engulfed the poor horse like creature, and for a second it disappeared in a fire ball.

When the flames disappeared it was still on it's hooves, but its fur was covered in shoot.

"Gotcha." Hunter felt a strong set of arms pick hoisted him of the ground. He tilted his head up and his eyes met those of Ash and Pikachu. He also noticed Charizard standing beside them. "You're safe now."

"Ash…Oh thank Arceus." Hunter put his arms around Ash's neck and buried his muzzle into his shoulder. Finally he felt safe.

But the nightmare was far from over. Ash opened his mouth to say something to the kid. Before he could uttered a word though, he caught sight of something behind him, that made his eyes widen and shout, "Look out!"

"Zaarrr." Whatever it was even Charizard seemed intimidated by it. He and Ash both turned tail and ran back in the direction they had come.

Hunter looked over Ash's shoulder and the kid turned around. Both saw it at the same time. An enormous blue orb of energy was hurtling through the tunnel towards them.

"Wahahah!"

Thanks to Charizard's tail flame, they were able to see where they were going. The tunnel twisted this way and that, with many different folks and branching passageways.

"Are you sure we're going the right way," Pikachu cried.

"No," said Ash. "But this looks like the way we came." He was painfully aware that, were they to take the wrong passageway and reach a dead end. The aura sphere that was chasing them would surely find its target. All they could do was keep running and pray…

There must have been some benevolent legendary watching out for the four of them that day, because no sooner had Ash said that that they saw it. A pin-prick of light at the end ahead.

"There!"

"Pika…"

"Char…"

Unfortunately, that legendaries benevolence seemed to have its limits. Almost the second the light had appeared did he feel the aura sphere drawing in. He could feel the pulsing energy on his back. He ran as fast as he could…would it be enough.

They were only a few feet away from the entrance when the aura sphere exploded. Charizard, thinking quickly, took a hold of Ash, Pikachu and Hunter then leapt forward. He stretched out his wings as far as he could in the confined space and tried to glide the remaining distance to the exit. Borne by the shockwave.

The four of them landed in a heap just beyond the tunnel entrance. "Is everybody okay," he asked tentatively, looking at the Pokémon in his arms. They looked shaken, but otherwise seemed fine.

"Well. Look what the cat dragged out!"

Ash groaned as Jessie's voice boomed through the air. He glanced upwards to find the mecha Yungoos standing over him.

"Got you right where we want you now twerp!" Said James.

The mecha's raised onto its hind legs and pointed cannon arm at Ash and the other three Pokémon again.

"Zarrr." Charizard pushed Ash, Pikachu and Hunter off him and stood protectively in front of them, his arms outstretched and his teeth bared. He stared up at the machine and growled. The threat was very clear.

Not that Team Rocket took it serious. "Looks like da twerp's usin' Charizard. We'll just see 'bout dat!"

The machine fired it's aura weapon. Charizard fired his dragon pulse attack back at it to counter. There was a massive explosion that filled the air with dust and smoke Ash covered his eyes. This gave Team Rocket cover to make their next sneaky move.

Because what Charizard hadn't considered was the mecha's free left arm – it descended from the side and fastened its claws around his middle, striking with enough force to knock the wing from him. He gave a whimper of pain.

"Garrharha."

"Charizard." The dust slowly cleared, just in time for Ash to see Charizard being held aloft in the air by the machine's claw. "NO!"

There wasn't anything he could do – At least not right now. What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion. The mechanic fed Charizard into it's mechanical maw. First his head, then his wings, finally his feet until just the flame tip tail was poking out of the metal jaws.

As he watched, horrified, Charizard's dropped into the crystal like prison in the middle of the mecha's chest along with Geyser. He landed on his neck, his eyes squeezed tight. The crystal was clearly too small to contain both Pokémon and Charizard was force to lie there, upside down. His body curved at an unusual angle.

"Alright. That's enough!" Hunter suddenly let out a growl, and wriggled himself free from Ash's grip. He stood before the mecha with his arms outstretched, the way Charizard had done. "You want me Ashachu! Then take me! There's no reason anyone else has to get hurt for our lover's tiff."

"Hunter," cried Ash. "No, don't!"

"Take me! Let Ash and Pikachu go and TAKE MEEE!"

For a moment there was silence. Then a simpering Jessie said, "Alright, if you insist!" The claw descended towards Hunter, as he stared stoically up at the machine.