Adult-FanFiction.org : Anime

Wayward	By : suomynonakun Category: Pokemon > General Views: 3388 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
- 5
Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000174 EndHTML:0000059001 StartFragment:0000003941 EndFragment:0000058965 SourceURL:file://localhost/Users/Shanno/Downloads/wayward4.docx.doc

“This one’s mine, Ketchum,” sixteen year old Gary Oak told his once rival as they waited to square off in the final battle of the Pokemon League.

“Like I’d lose to you,” Ash replied, looking up at him determinedly. Pikachu was sitting on his shoulder, and let out a worried sounding, “Chu.”

“Just let me take care of this, Ash,” Gary said, voice lowering so that their conversation stayed between the two of them.

“No,” he said, shaking his head and causing his bangs to fall in his eyes as he clenched his fists tightly. “When this is over, go back to Pallet and take care of your family.” Keep them safe, he wanted to say.

“Or you could do that,” Gary replied. “Gramps likes you better anyway.”

“That’s bull and you know it.”

Gary smiled slightly. He did. Though Professor Oak did have a soft spot for Ash, there was no denying that.

The PA system suddenly crackled to life and the cheerful voice of the announcer swept over the arena. “And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Our final battle to determine who will become the next Pokemon League Champion! Give it up for the final two contenders – Gary Oak and Ash Ketchum!”

They looked at each other, still standing in the tunnel that led to the arena, out of sight of the crowd that had suddenly burst into excited cheers.

“It doesn’t matter which one of us it is,” Gary said. “Just let me win this one.”

“I never throw a battle,” Ash replied with a grim shake of his head.

Gary sighed. “Then I guess I’ll just have to kick your ass.”

Ash held out his hand. “I won’t go down easy.”

“That I know.” Gary took his hand, shaking it with a firm grip.

For two years now they had traveled together. Ash’s companions had moved on to tend to other things in their lives, and he had gone home to Pallet for a while to visit his mother and decide his next destination. Gary had been at Professor Oak’s when Ash had stopped by to see some of his pokemon. The taller boy had ditched the cheerleaders, convertible, and attitude, and the two of them ended up actually talking civilly instead of sniping at each other. They’d been friends as kids and they had a lot in common. When they put their rivalry behind them it hadn’t been hard to pick up where they’d left off. When Ash was ready to continue his journey Gary decided to go with him. They were constantly battling as they traveled, each pushing the other to become a better trainer. They still had a rivalry, but it had turned friendly, not vicious like it had once been.

A month earlier, as they’d walked through the streets of Viridian city, they were surprised by a group of Team Rocket members. They were no Jessie and James, however, and Gary and Ash had easily been overpowered and tossed into the back of a black van. They were brought to the Viridian City gym, and escorted to the highest floor, where Giovanni was waiting for them in his office.

He had a proposition for them. One he thought they’d find hard to refuse. He wanted one of them to win the Pokemon League. He even had an incentive for them. He wouldn’t torture and kill their families. Wasn’t he just a stand up guy?

Giovanni wanted someone with influence under his thumb. Having the next Pokemon League Champion working for him would make his life so much less complicated. The sway that Champions had could bend powerful figures to their will, even change laws. And there were a lot of things, he told them, that he found that he would like to have adjusted.

He didn’t care which one of them won, so long as either would be compliant with some of his “miniscule” demands. To emphasize his point he’d shown them both photos of their families; Delia gardening, cooking dinner, doing laundry. Professor Oak working with a pokemon, going food shopping. Gary’s sister May walking somewhere. It would be so awful to see something terrible happen to them, Giovanni had said, almost sounding concerned.

"This is your dream, is it not?” he’d asked them in a silky voice. “Win the Pokemon League? Be recognized as the top trainer? You can. Just do it for me."

Never had either of them fought so hard for anything. Their battles in the tournament were fierce and swift, Gary and Ash both emerging as victors to everyone they fought. And when it finally came down to the last battle, even though either one could give up and Giovanni would still get what he wanted, neither was willing to lose.

Both had decided to protect the other from this fate.

Ash wasn’t built for this, Gary felt. He was too pure hearted to walk the path of anything but the hero. But Gary could be the villain. And he would do it for Ash, and for his grandfather and sister.

But Ash wouldn’t let Gary put himself in that position any more than Gary would let Ash. He would deal with this. It would be his burden to bear, and no one else’s.

The battle was long and each trainer was relentless. Years later, long after the Pokemon League had been disbanded by Giovanni after the siege of Indigo, people would still talk about it as the most intense pokemon battle anyone had ever seen.

In the end it was Pikachu, standing, exhausted, as Umbreon teetered and fainted, unable to continue.

“And Ketchum wins it! Ketchum wins!” the announcer yelled.

While the crowd began to cheer in amazement and excitement, Gary and Ash made eye contact, gazing somberly at one another. The happiness one might have expected to accompany a win like that was nowhere to be seen in Ash’s expression.

~*~*~

When they’d finally stopped to rest, the sun had risen and was high over the forest. They had started east, away from Viridian. It was safer to stay off the roads, so they decided they would stick to the forest as much as possible, though Ash knew they were probably going the same general direction as Route Three.

This was going to be a long trip. Avoiding cities and roads meant trudging through thick foliage on foot, and taking routes that would be somewhat out of the way as they gave populous areas a wide berth.

No one argued when Brock spoke up after hours of walking - trying to put plenty of distance between them and the escape tunnel - saying that it was probably safe to set up a small camp and sleep for a while. They were all sweaty and exhausted from being up all night, and Ash had been doing his best to ignore the pain in his ribs, which was just getting worse the longer they walked. There wasn’t time to stop and tend to them, though, and he doubted the rebels would be too keen on the idea anyway.

They were still, essentially, captives. Since Ash and Gary decided it wasn’t a terrible idea to go to the Safari Zone, the rebels didn’t have to try and decide what to do with them yet. So the decision from the former gym leaders was that Ash and Gary would continue as they had been. Disarmed and with their pokemon kept away from them. Surge, however, still hadn’t put his gun away.

Ash grimaced as he took a seat on a nearby log while the rebels worked to set up camp. The rebels all had had their emergency packs in the safe room, so they were prepared with sleeping bags and other supplies. Ash and Gary quickly realized they were expected to get comfortable on the ground. Pikachu had hopped off Brock’s shoulder and looked like he was going to scamper over to him, but Ash shook his head. The pokemon stayed where he was, though the expression on his little face indicated he wasn’t pleased about it. Ash didn’t like it either, but it was better if they didn’t give the rebels any reason to mistrust them further, and the fact that Pikachu wasn’t in a pokeball already had them on edge.

Gary took a seat next to Ash. “All right, let’s see it,” he said.

Ash knew what he wanted – they had both had to play medic to each other enough times by now. He gingerly pulled his shirt up and Gary winced at the sight of a giant purple bruise on his upper torso, right over his ribs.

“Broken, you think?” Gary asked.

“At least one I’d guess,” Ash replied.

“I should have tried to grab our bags,” Gary said, shaking his head. “They had all of our first aid shit.”

“What are you two doing?” Surge asked, as if he thought they were conspiring something.

“I’m using Ash’s injury to communicate with Giovanni,” Gary replied sarcastically. He leaned down as if to speak into the bruise. “Hello? Hello, are you there?”

Ash couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped him, despite the fact it sent a sharp pain along his torso.

“Just keep it up,” Surge replied. “We’ll see who’s the last one laughing.” He moved further off, but didn’t take his eyes off of them.

“I don’t think he likes us,” Gary commented dryly.

“I can’t imagine why,” Ash replied, pulling his shirt down. “Just try not to push his buttons too much. I’m pretty sure he’ll shoot you if you piss him off enough.”

“Yeah he’s all tough while we’re unarmed, but come on, I doubt he’d be much of a challenge to drop,” Gary said.

“We’re not dropping any of them, remember?” Ash reminded him.

“Can I at least drop something on him?” Gary said with a grin. “I’d even be happy with a rock on his foot.”

Ash shook his head with a smile, knowing Gary was just joking around. It was his defense mechanism, as well as something he did when Ash was feeling down.

Misty approached them after a few moments, two things in her hand. “That looked pretty painful,” she said, nodding toward Ash’s injury.

“It’ll heal,” Ash said with a shrug.

Misty regarded them both for a moment, and then held out some pills and a bottle of water. “Here,” she said. “At least it’ll help with the pain.”

Ash’s expression turned surprised. Misty hadn’t said much to him since they’d started this trek, but he was pretty sure she was confused and angry. He couldn’t really blame her. At least she hadn’t been one of the rebels calling for his death. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

She nodded, turning to leave.

“You know what else would help?” Gary said to her. “If we could have our pokemon back.”

“Sorry,” Misty said with a shake of her head. “We can’t take any chances.” Ash watched as she walked away, going over to Brock as he worked on making food for them all.

They slept until it was dark again, though the rebels always had someone on watch. Ash had a feeling they were watching him and Gary as much as they were looking out for any external threats. He and Gary worked out their own watches, because they didn’t trust a lot of the rebels any more than the rebels trusted them.

When they packed up and started moving again Ash felt a bit better. He’d had some food, some sleep (despite the hard ground, he’d managed to catch some shuteye), and some pain killers. Now if only he could have his weapons and pokemon back, the uneasy feeling that had settled over him would probably be gone.

“How are we planning to get to the Safari Zone?” Gary asked, when, on day three of their trek, they had yet to turn south.

“We’re going to go around Cerulean,” Brock informed him.

“You shouldn’t give them any more information than they need,” Blaine advised.

“Around Cerulean?” Gary asked, sounding none too pleased with the plan. “Why don’t we just keep going till we hit the coast and swim there while we’re at it?”

“We have to avoid the cities,” Erika said. “We can’t risk the chance of getting spotted on camera. It’s a bit out of the way but it’ll be safer in the long run.”

“The longer we’re out here on foot the longer Team Rocket has to track us,” Gary said, and Ash knew who he was thinking about. “We should get there as quick as we can.”

That concern was shot down by the rebel leaders, however, and it was determined that they would continue the way they originally planned. Gary was going to keep arguing, but Ash put a hand on his arm and gave a small shake of his head and he fell silent.

When they camped for the night, Ash quietly said to him, “You know where that route will take us, right?”

“Way out of the fucking way?” Gary snapped at him. Ash raised his eyebrows and he sighed. “Sorry. I need a cigarette.”

Ash smiled a little. “Withdrawal, huh?”

“That’s an understatement.”

“It’ll take us right past Rock Tunnel,” Ash said.

Gary paused, realizing Ash was right. “Do you actually want to help these jerks?” he asked, knowing what Rock Tunnel meant. “After all this shit?”

“What else can we do?” Ash pointed out. “We’re already on the Team Rocket shit list. If we make enemies with the rebels too, where does that leave us? It’ll be the two of us against the world. We’re good, but I don’t like those odds.”

“I hate your logic,” Gary muttered.

“Besides,” Ash added quietly. “I helped make this mess that the world is in, I think it’s only right that I help fix it.”

Gary was quiet a moment. “Well, since I helped you make it, I guess I should help you fix it too. And obviously Gramps wants things to change, if he was funding these assholes. So that’s double the reason.”

Ash gave a small smile.

The next day as they started moving again, Ash fell into step with Brock and Misty.

“We know where Bruno is,” he said to them, when he was sure the other rebels were far enough behind or in front of them not to hear. He was hoping to talk to the people who used to be his best friends without the peanut gallery chiming in.

“What?” Misty said, as Gary came up and started to walk next to her.

“Isn’t that part of your plan?” Ash said. “To find the Elite Four and ask them to fight with you? We know where Bruno is, and he might have an idea where the other three are.”

“How do you know where he is?” Brock asked, and Ash wasn’t sure why he was surprised or bothered that he sounded slightly suspicious. He had every right to be.

“We found where he was hiding a few years ago,” he replied.

“And Team Rocket doesn’t know?” Misty asked.

“You think he’d still be there if they did?” Gary chimed in.

“The only thing we have to go on indicating that he is still wherever you found him and wasn’t murdered by Rockets years ago is your word,” Brock said. “And that’s assuming you’re not lying about knowing where he is in the first place. You have to admit you’re asking us to take a lot on faith here.”

And their faith in him had clearly been broken, Ash realized.

Misty was quiet a moment before saying, “Where is he? We can share the information with the rest of the group and determine what, if anything, we want to do with it.”

“Rock Tunnel,” Ash replied, but shook his head. “But I don’t know if there’s much of a point. If you don’t believe me, they certainly won’t.” With that he picked up his pace a little, figuring there wasn’t much of a point to keep up the conversation.

On Brock’s shoulder, Pikachu chattered something that sounded a lot like he was scolding Misty and Brock, even though the two of him couldn’t understand him.

“He wants to help,” Gary said to them. “If I were you? I’d let him. Giovanni’s kept him close because he’s scared of him – of what could happen if he turned on him. You’ll only benefit by having him on your side.” He then increased his pace as well, catching up to Ash.

~*~*~

“That’s ridiculous, they’re obviously lying.”

The group had stopped when evening fell. They had passed near Mt. Moon earlier that day, and Ash figured they were probably a few miles north of the outskirts of Cerulean by now.

Misty and Brock gathered all the rebel leaders around the fire and told them what Ash had said earlier, and Blaine had been the first to respond. Ash and Gary were slightly further off, not too close to the fire, but close enough that the rebels could still keep an eye on them. Also close enough to hear the conversation, but it appeared they didn’t really care if the former Rockets knew what they thought of them.

Surge rumbled an agreement, but Erika, to their surprise, was the one who spoke up in their defense. “What good would it do them to lie about it? It’s in their interest to help us now that Giovanni wants them dead.”

“That’s what they say,” Blaine said. “This could all be an elaborate plan to get us to trust them – everything from the attack on the gym.”

“We did trust them,” Erika said. “Why go through all that trouble when we’d already told them most of our plans anyway?”

Gary leaned over and whispered, “Whoa, did one of them just say something logical?”

Ash hid a smile.

“That doesn’t mean this isn’t a trap,” Koga pointed out. “Rockets are fond of that. Remember the man selling the pokemon?”

“You’re welcome, by the way,” Gary said suddenly; voice loud enough to carry over to the group.

“Gary,” Ash muttered, not really wanting him to get into this right now.

They all turned to look at the two of them.

“For the pokemon,” Gary elaborated, ignoring Ash’s quiet protest. “Oh come on, you remember. The ones that you got from the Rocket who was going to kill Ms. Waterflower, there? Until Ash and I intervened? The pokeballs you each have on your belts right now? You’re welcome.”

They all stared at them in a stunned silence. Misty was the first to speak, her eyes fixed on Ash. “That—that was you?”

Ash merely shrugged as Gary said, “Sure was.”

After a moment Blaine said, “That could also have been part of their plan.”

Gary gave an exasperated sigh and threw up his hands in defeat.

~*~*~

“This is it,” Ash said finding a small little opening in a boulder. It looked just barely big enough for an average sized person to fit through.

“Really?” Brock asked, sounding skeptical.

It had been decided that if there was even the slightest chance that Ash and Gary were telling the truth, it was worth it to investigate. But it was also deemed necessary that the rebel leaders get to the Safari Zone as quickly as possible to get status updates. So after a lot of deliberation that Gary had fallen asleep during, the group chose to split up. Surge, Koga, and Blaine would continue to the Safari Zone, while Brock, Misty and Erika would have Ash and Gary lead them to Bruno.

Surge had briefly considered coming with them to “keep the traitors in line” but Brock had told him they could handle it. Once they made it clear of the outskirts of Cerulean City, Blaine and Koga had handed over Ash and Gary’s weapons to the other three, and headed south with Surge, while the rest of the group continued east.

Ash knew Gary would have liked to have gone to the Safari Zone as soon as possible, but he clearly didn’t want to make the journey with those three.

“Yes, really,” Ash said. “It opens up after about fifteen meters.” To avoid going to the road and using Rock Tunnel’s main entrance, Ash and Gary had brought them to a relatively unknown entrance around the back of the mountain.

Brock, Misty and Erika exchanged glances. Of the three leaders, they seemed to be the ones who wanted to believe that Ash and Gary were on their side, but he could still tell they were all pretty wary about their intentions. It wasn’t surprising, he kept telling himself. They’d all changed and under the circumstances it would be stupid of them not to be cautious.

It still hurt.

“I can go first,” he offered. But then, he could tell, they were wondering if they should leave him alone in a place that they could easily lose him.

“I’ll go with you,” Misty said finally, tossing her red braid over her shoulder. “Brock, you and Erika can follow with Gary.”

Brock looked a little unsure about the plan, but nodded. Misty pulled a flashlight from her bag, since Pikachu was still staying with Brock, despite the fact that the little pokemon seemed to be getting irritated by being kept separated from his trainer.

Ash went in first, squeezing sideways through the hole, and Misty followed a moment later, sliding off her pack and carrying it down at her side. They had to remain sideways; the rock walls on either side of them were so tight that if they didn’t press their backs to the one behind them, their chests would hit the wall in front of them. The made slow progress; sliding their way through the tiny opening, having only the small beam of light from Misty’s flashlight to keep them from being in pitch darkness.

“How did you find this entrance?” Misty breathed, like she was afraid if she spoke too loud the walls would cave in on them.

“A mission a few years back,” Ash replied, his voice also quiet. “Gary and I were tasked with mapping out this whole place. Took us about four months.”

“You were in here for four months?” Misty said, and in the dim light of her flashlight Ash was pretty sure he saw her shiver.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Ash said. “It was kind of a nice break, actually.”

“What could being in a claustrophobic’s worst nightmare possibly be a good break from?” Misty asked.

Ash didn’t answer the question. It was probably better not to. Instead he said. “It’s not all like this. Some of it’s actually—” he realized they’d hit the end of the tunnel as his words began to echo. He stepped out and gestured at the huge cavern they were now standing in. “Quite beautiful.”

Misty followed him, lifting her flashlight up to look at the place, jaw dropping slightly. Huge stalactites hung from the high ceiling, and below many of them were stalagmites jutting upwards. Several had actually combined to form columns, and the coloring of the whole cavern, even in the dim light, was fiery reds and golds.

“Wow,” she murmured, looking around in awe.

It was a few more minutes before Gary appeared, followed by Brock, then Erika. Pikachu was using flash, and when he scampered in after Brock the whole cavern seemed to light up.

“Whoa,” Brock said as Erika stared.

“Shall we?” Ash asked, gesturing at one of several tunnels that connected to the cavern.

“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Erika asked.

Ash nodded and Gary said, “Trust me, nobody knows Rock Tunnel better than we do.” He paused. “Except probably Bruno.”

Ash started down the tunnel and Pikachu followed him, so the rest moved quickly to stay with the biggest light source.

This tunnel was much larger than the one they had entered through. They were able to walk normally in pairs and still had some room to spare. They were heading downwards, and every now and then Gary and Ash would turn down different connected tunnels, making the rebels more and more nervous as they struggled to remember which way they had come from.

Finally, after nearly an hour of walking, they came to a dead end.

“Uh, Ash?” Misty said, staring at the thick wall of boulders that blocked the way. “This doesn’t seem right.”

“This wasn’t here before,” Ash said, examining the pile of rocks.

“Cave in?” Gary asked.

“I don’t think so,” Ash said. “It looks too… deliberate.” He turned to the three rebels behind them, knowing this was a long shot. “Brock, I need my pokemon.”

Brock frowned and shook his head. “I can’t do that, Ash.”

“Look,” Gary said. “If Ash was going to attack you with a pokemon, Pikachu’s already here and ready to go.”

“Chu!” Pikachu agreed with nod.

None of the rebel leaders looked too comfortable at that.

Ash sighed. “It’s just to get us through the path. If any of you have a pokemon with Rock Smash, go ahead.” It was possible they did, Ash honestly had no idea which pokemon he’d given Misty when he’d thrown her that Rocket’s pokebelt. He’d only seen that agent in passing maybe once or twice.

There was silence as the two women looked at Brock. After a moment he said, “Which one do you need?”

“Third from the left,” Ash said, pointing at Graveler’s pokeball.

Brock reluctantly took it from the belt and maximized it, then handed it to Ash. Ash released the pokemon, who took one look around the rocky tunnel and gave a pleased sounding, “Grav!”

“Need your help, pal,” Ash said, smiling at the pokemon and for a moment both Misty and Brock were strongly reminded of the ten year old trainer they’d befriended. Not a practical stranger who had been sent to kill them. “Can you clear the way for us?”

Graveler rumbled in agreement. Ash took a step back and the pokemon lifted all four of his rocky arms and smashed through the rock pile. Several “Dude!”s could be heard, and they watched as at least five Geodudes crawled out of the debris and climbed up the walls, disappearing into cracks too small for any human to fit through.

Once the way was clear, Ash thanked Graveler and recalled him, handing the pokeball back over to Brock.

They continued their trek in silence, Gary and Ash led the way, Misty and Erika behind them, with Brock bringing up the rear with Pikachu. It was maybe ten more minutes before the sounds of rumbling reached their ears. Turning, Ash looked around, frowning in concern as floor beneath them also started to shake.

“Cave in?” Gary tried again.

“No,” Ash said with a shake of his head. “This is—”

“Earthquake.” Brock recognized the move.

The wall next to Brock began to crack, a small little crevice slowly working into a big line. There was a sudden roar, and Ash cried, “Get down!” He made a run for Brock and practically tackled him backwards. They both fell hard, just as the wall burst outward and what looked like a giant boulder slowly became visible as the dust and debris settled. Ash ignored the sharp pain of his protesting ribs as he quickly got to his feet, pulling Brock with him. Pikachu, who had leapt nimbly from Brock’s shoulder when they had gone down, now scampered up to stand on Ash’s, looking ready for a fight.

“OOOON,” the boulder roared, opening its eyes. Both Ash and Brock swore at the same time.

They couldn’t see Misty, Erika, or Gary around the head of the Onix, but Ash could hear his partner as he called, “What is with the giant pokemon in tight spaces theme recently!”

The onix’s head swiveled to the group of three at the sound of his voice, so Ash, in an attempt to keep it from attacking them yelled back, “I think we’ve finally just run out of luck, Gary!” The onix’s beady eyes quickly snapped over to him and Brock. “How’s your running?” Ash asked the other man.

“Uh. I’m in shape,” Brock said.

“Good,” Ash replied. “You might want to get started.”

“What are you—”

“Pikachu,” Ash said, and, realizing he was probably about to do something reckless, Brock decided to take his advice, turning and sprinting back up the tunnel the way they had come. “Thunderbolt. Aim for his eyes.” His pokemon gave a determined nod, happy to be back to helping his trainer. He leapt off of Ash’s shoulder, and in midair released a powerful thunder, right at the onix’s eyes. He landed back on Ash’s shoulder as the giant pokemon gave a deafening roar of pain, shook his head a few times and immediately started sliding out of its self-made tunnel toward Ash and Pikachu.

Ash had started running after Brock before the onix had even moved, catching up with the man fairly quickly.

“Was that really a good idea?” Brock asked as they ran.

“Trust me,” Ash said. “I’ve got a plan.”

“What is it?”

“…I’m still developing it.”

“Ash!”

“Oh, no, wait, I’ve got it,” Ash replied, reaching out and grabbing Brock, pulling him into a tunnel they were passing. The onix, though, was built for fast movement through rock tunnels and he took the turn far more easily than something of his size should, still barreling up behind them.

“This still looks like the same plan,” Brock panted.

“Different direction though,” Ash replied wryly.

Brock didn’t have a chance to respond; the tunnel suddenly opened up into a cavern that was taller than the one they had entered originally. As they hit the cavern, Ash, still running, shoved Brock hard, pushing him out of the trajectory of the onix. The older man let out a cry of surprise, lost his balance and fell to the ground.

“Pikachu, to Brock,” he said, and his pokemon immediately obeyed, leaping from his shoulder and running over to the fallen rebel.

It occurred to Ash that this plan would have been better if he hadn’t forgotten that he didn’t have all of his pokemon. He kept running full tilt as the onix burst angrily from the tunnel. He was fast approaching the edge of a cliff, which, if Ash remembered correctly, dropped off quite suddenly into a thirty meter fall with a bunch of rocky spikes at the bottom.

Unfortunately, Ash waited a little too long to try and stop, and his momentum carried him right off the side, the onix following a moment later, it’s roar echoing through the cavern as it fell.

~*~*~

Gary, Misty and Erika pursued the onix, which was hell bent on chasing Ash and Brock. Gary hadn’t been too happy when Ash had had Pikachu attack – not that he was really surprised by it, but for the love of Mew, did the man always have to be so damn reckless with his own life? With Pikachu with the others, they were relying on Misty and Erika’s flashlights to illuminate their way.

It took Gary a minute to realize which way Ash had turned. It was both stupid and smart, at least the cavern would give them room to fight, but that massive drop off the cliff wasn’t the ideal setting when facing a giant onix.

“Erika,” he said as they ran. “Give me my pokemon.”

“I can’t—”

“Look,” he snapped, interrupting her. “I’ve played nice because Ash asked me to, but now things are serious.” The tail of the onix disappeared from their view as it left the tunnel. “Give them to me.”

“Pikapi!”

“Ash!” It was Brock’s voice and something was clearly wrong.

“Erika, give them to him,” Misty said, sounding like she was trying very hard not to panic.

The dark haired woman handed over his pokebelt, and Gary fastened it just as they hit the cavern. He pulled to a sudden stop, boots sliding a bit on the gravel before he stilled. The cavern was lit up by Pikachu, and there was no sign of the onix. That could be good. But where was Ash?

Brock and Pikachu had rushed over to the side of the cliff and were looking over, and Gary, sinking feeling in his stomach, quickly made his way to them.

“That was fucking stupid,” Brock was saying, on his stomach and reaching an arm down to Ash, who was dangling dangerously by one arm from a jutted out rock, grimacing in pain. That could not be good for his broken ribs.

“It worked didn’t it?” Ash said.

From here they could hear the angry roars of the onix far below them.

“Barely,” Brock said, as Ash lifted his free hand and grabbed onto Brock’s.

In the light of Pikachu’s flash Ash finally seemed to notice Gary. “Problem solved,” he told his partner.

“Brock’s right, you’re an idiot,” Gary said, reaching down to help the other man pull up his friend.

“Come on, gimmie a—” he trailed off, clearly focused on not crying out in pain as the pulling made his injuries practically unbearable. Once he was back up next to Brock on flat ground he took a breath and finished the sentence. “Break.”

“Pikachu, pika!” Pikachu chimed in, clearly not pleased with his trainer either.

“All right, all right, I get it, no more cliff diving,” Ash said to them all. “To be fair, my original plan included Charizard and some flying ability, but I forgot I didn’t have him.”

Brock looked down at the pokebelt he was wearing, then back at Ash, who had just saved his ass twice, putting himself in danger to do it. With a sigh he unbuckled the belt and held it out to the younger man. “Here.”

Ash looked at him in surprise and took the belt. “Thanks,” he said as he fastened it.

“Do you think we’ll run into another one of those?” Erika said, peering over the cliff into the darkness.

“Anything’s possible, but I don’t expect to,” Ash said.

“Why not?” Misty asked.

“I’m pretty sure that’s Bruno’s onix,” Ash replied. “I think that rock pile was a security system. Those geodudes probably ran off to warn him.”

“We’d better hurry,” Gary said. “He might pack up and move, and then it could be weeks before we find him.”

Pikachu climbed back onto Ash’s shoulder and the group quickly returned to the path they’d been on before the onix interruption, heading for the cavern where Ash and Gary had met Bruno three years prior.

~*~*~

A/N: This is quite possibly my quickest update in the history of ever. I don’t know what’s going on.
- 3
- 4
- 5
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Wayward