Chapter 4- And then there were four It was the blackest night that Ash had ever seen. In a way it was a blessing. The five rebels easily snuck past the Rocket guards. They reached the same alley where Ash had spent the night and knelt down. “Here’s the plan.” Robyn said she appeared to be in charge of the mission. “What?” hissed Ash. “Well I’m about to tell you.” Ash smiled apologetically and Robyn smiled back. Ash would be lying if he said she wasn’t cute. She had crisp black hair and eyes so light blue they were almost white. Ash chastised himself for thinking about girls at a time like this. “Obviously, our goal is to get out of the city! Originally we were going to have Maggie and a few others start a riot in the middle of the day and we would sneak out. That is not going to work anymore. So, any ideas?” Robyn looked at Ash. Ash looked at Brock. Brock looked at Kiara. Kiara looked at Scott. They all looked at each other. “No” the chimed. “I was afraid of that” mumbled Robyn; she nervously pulled on the strap of her bag. “But we have to get out tonight. I bet anything by tomorrow night we will all be wanted. Except you Ash… “Hey, why not me?” “Cuz no one knows about you. This does make this easier.” “I know” shouted Scott suddenly. Everyone turned to look at him. “Well, the only people allowed in and out of the city are the Rockets. So all we have to do is become the Rockets! See?” No one saw, Scott continued with the explanation “we need to get Rocket uniforms!” Ash thought that was stupid, Robyn however seemed to like it. “I like it!” she exclaimed. “But how to get the uniforms? Oh I know.” She snapped her fingers. From the interior of the jacket she wore she pulled out something that Ash could not see. He soon realized what it was though. “Pokeball go!” she called. Out came a Butterfree. “Butterfree” she hissed “”put to sleep- she broke off to count how many they had “five Team Rockets and don’t let anyone see you!” The Butterfree nodded in agreement and flew off. They waited in fear hoping it wouldn’t be caught. Robyn seemed confident that it was okay though. She was right because a little bit later the Butterfree came back. They all followed it to were five Rockets were snoring happily. They quickly lugged the Rockets behind a dumpster and undressed them. Robyn’s face reddened at this because they were all men. No one could see in the dark though. They stuffed there old clothes in the dumpster and Laughed when they saw themselves. They were dressed in the signature black boots, black pants, and black shirts that all the grunts wore. Ash took a look at Robyn and was a little upset that the baggy outfit hid her feminine form. He shook those thoughts out of his head. Brock as the tallest and most menacing looking of the group took the lead. They all followed behind. The gate was leering in front of them, teasing them. “Now whadda we do?” murmured Robyn to Scott. “Act natural” he hissed back. They went to the gate. If Rockets were caught climbing the gate that would be very suspicious. There were a few trucks going in and out and they tried to blend in. that did not work as one Rocket said “who are you?” They all froze; Brock recovered the fastest “were Team Rocket of course.” He tried to sound intimidating. “Where you goin” asked the Rocket. “We have special business that Giovanni wants us to attend to” lied Robyn. The man looked at her and smiled. His teeth were yellow and crooked. “How bout you attend to me baby” he said. Ash was mad but Robyn stayed calm. “Get off of me” she managed to keep her composure. This plan might still succeed. The man merely leered at her. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him. Ash had had it! He was about to speak up but Brock beat him to it. “Get away from her you son of a bitch!” The man glared at him from beneath his greasy hair “whose gonna make me?” “I am” hissed Brock. His voice was deep and hard. He stared down the Rocket. Slowly he released Robyn’s wrist. “Lemme see your passes.” They all became immobile. They had no Rocket passes and Ash didn’t have a pass at all. “Is that necessary?” ventured Robyn. “No, but I need some sorta payment.” He stared at Robyn, she shivered and stepped away. “In that case” he grinned evilly and pulled out a gun. “You four” he motioned to them “will die. You” he motioned to Robyn “will be my prize.” He cocked his gun and pointed it at Brock. Ash and Robyn took care of the problem by releasing Pokeballs. “Pikachu/ Butterfree” they called “attack.” Pikachu knocked the gun out of the man’s hand and the Butterfree put him to sleep. When he was safely down the opened the gates themselves and rushed out of the city. “We need to run” yelled Brock. “Someone will find him and come after us. There is a very little city North of here called Lakeland. We can hide there.” Everyone seemed to agree but Ash. Wasn’t Red Bird Town east of here? He had no time to mention it however because everyone pulled ahead in the run. Kicking his legs with more power that he knew he had he caught up. They had been running for quite sometime when Kiara collapsed. They all stopped. She was much to tired to continue so Ash carried her. A bit later she woke up. They all stopped and decided they need a break. They had been resting for about 5 minutes when Robyn demanded they had to go! They all stood up, except Kiara. “Leave me” she whispered. “This isn’t working. I can’t do this. Keeping me would only endanger everything.” The thing was she was right. Kiara was only twelve and she had small lungs. Both Brock and Scott looked defiant. There faces seemed to say “this is my sister. She’s staying!” It was Robyn’s face however, that said “she’s right. We need to get rid of her.” Kiara looked up and this was the face that she saw. She let out a strangled sort of cry and ran towards the woods. Ash was about to go after her but Brock stopped him “let me go.” Ash complied and Brock ran after her. Only about two minutes had gone by when Robyn started tapping her watch and mumbling how they had to get going. Ash frowned at her. Brock came back without Kiara but Robyn didn’t seem too notice. “Okay, let’s go.” Brock looked sadly at Ash “I couldn’t get her to come. She wouldn’t even talk to me.” The hurt look on his face killed Ash. “Robyn, wait. Gimme five minutes and I’ll talk to her.” Robyn stared at Ash. Obviously little kids were not the first thing on her mind. Or the second or the third or even the last. She sat down though and glanced at her watch as if to say “fine, but hurry!” Ash hurried, he went down the path Brock had come by and soon found the little girl. She had dirt on her knees and tears dried on her face. He sat down next to her and for a while neither one said anything. Kiara broke the ice “I’m not going.” “Why?” “You know why.” Ash sighed “I guess so. But I’m not going until your coming. And neither is Scott and Brock so…” Kiara looked at him and looked back at her feet “just go, please. Robyn doesn’t want me. I know that.” “Screw Robyn!” they both laughed. Ash continued “so what? Me and Brock and Scott want you. Who are you going to listen too? Robyn or… me?” Kiara gave him a small smile. “Can I ask you a question?” “Yup.” “Why do you care?” Ash thought about it “okay, let’s see if this makes sense” Ash began. I want to stop Team Rocket more than anything, but right now there not here, you are. And I could never sacrifice a little girl no matter what!” “Really?” she looked up at him in awe. “Really! Remember what I said too you. I will not let you get hurt.” She stood up and said “okay I’m ready.” Yes! Ash congratulated himself mentally. He got up and walked back to the others with Kiara by his side. They reached the others. “Finally” said Robyn “it took you long enough let’s go.” Apparently they were going to walk the remaining miles. Ash walked up to where Brock was “so, how did I do?” Brock looked at him “you do have a way with kids. I mean I couldn’t even get her to look at me and she is my sister.” Was Ash reading Brock’s voice wrong? There seemed to be an edge of jealousy in it. Ash cleared his head of those thoughts and began to focus on the long walk ahead of them. The sun was coming up and light spread over the forest. They began to see there surroundings quite clearly. Ash was pleased to see the wild Pokemon crawling up and down trees and flying about. Robyn stopped “we need to find a place to say until night.” “Why?” asked Scott. “We can’t travel in the daylight, we might be seen.” “Ohhh.” They managed to find a small cave with bushes blocking the entrance. Almost immediately Brock, Scott, and Kiara fell asleep. Robyn and Ash however, remained wide awake. “Can’t sleep” asked Ash. Robyn shook her head. “Too nervous I don’t feel safe in here.” They both kept quiet and Ash assumed that Robyn had fallen asleep. Ash fingered the ball Pikachu was in. He hated that he had to keep Pikachu in his ball. Robyn had told him not to let him out. Ash was jolted out of these thoughts by a sound outside. He assumed it was a Pokemon. Robyn (who was not asleep after all) thought other wise. “Go check that out!” she whispered. Ash was tempted to tell her to go do it but the look on her face was a serious one. He walked outside of the cave and looked around. Nothing. He was about to go back inside when he heard a crack and something went whizzing above his head. A bullet! “Were being shot at” he screamed before a bullet went whizzing through his leg. It tore the flesh and Ash felt the worst pain he had ever felt in his life. Ash heard screams and gasps and Robyn shouting “stay calm!” Brock, Scott, and Robyn raced out of the cave. They all had guns. Robyn had obviously brought them in her bag. Ash struggled to get a Pokeball but Robyn stopped him. “Don’t use any Pokemon! They could get shot.” Ash realized she was right and hated it. All he could do was sit there and bleed. There were about five Rockets and they appeared to be taken by surprise. It soon became apparent that only Robyn could use a gun though. She managed to shoot down two of the five before they started shooting back. Scott got one in his lower stomach and he collapsed. The two Rockets started shooting and the three ran behind trees to take cover. When the Rockets were focused on Robyn, Kiara raced out. “No” croaked Ash “take cover.” Kiara shook her head “I need to help you back into the cave.” She grabbed his arm and struggled to help him up. He began limping towards the cave. One of the Rockets noticed what was going on and aimed his gun. Robyn noticed and shot him in the chest. He collapsed the ground but not before he took one last shoot. And his aim was deadly. The shot connected with Kiara in the back of her neck. The bullet shred her skin and blood spurted out. The last thing Ash saw of her was her surprised eyes. “And then there were four” sneered the last Rocket. He was really in no place to sneer because he was the last one left. Ash went crazy. He took the Rockets gun that was lying on the ground and shot. He shot again. He hit his mark the second time. The Rockets scream echoed through the forest. And he died. Ash had just killed a man. It was one on three. That man would have just surrendered, he should have left him. He stood taking deep breaths as Robyn and Scott stared at him. However Brock dropped his gun and ran to Kiara. He picked her up and held her before whispering “she’s gone.” “NO!” Ash screamed “NO! She can’t be.” “She is Ash. She’s dead.” Ash began to choke on his sobs “I promised she wouldn’t get hurt. I promised.” “It wasn’t your fault” Brock said quickly. “It c- “Yes” interrupted Ash “I was dumb enough to get shot and then I was dumb enough to let her help me. I deserve to be shot. Not her!” With those words he grabbed the gun and aimed it at his head. He slowly began to pull the trigger when Brock grabbed him. “Have you gone insane?” he growled. Ash looked at Brock surprised. Brock continued speaking “she was my sister. I wish so much I could have taken that bullet. I wish she could have lived. But what will killing yourself do?” Ash stared at his feet. “The only way to avenge her is to make sure Giovanni kills no more!” Ash shook his head “okay, okay” he said “but I promise you this, I will kill Giovanni. If it’s the last thing I do!” Robyn and Scott supported Ash while Brock navigated. Robyn had tended to his wound and he had been quite lucky. The bullet had not fully hit him and it was not stuck inside him. She had bandaged him up and now he was leaning on her for support. “You can make it Ash” Brock encouraged “we only have about a mile to go.” “Why” asked Ash “are we going to Red Bird town exactly?” They all glanced at each other and this was not lost on Ash. “What? Tell me.” Robyn spoke up “we have to meet someone who will travel with us to Celadon City” Ash had an inkling that they were lying but he let it go. “Won’t my gunshot wound look suspicious?” “Actually in Red Bird town you’ll fit right in.” Everyone laughed at what Robyn had said. “Why?” Scott took the liberty of explaining “Red Bird town is not a very good town. Even before Team Rocket. It’s dirty, grungy, and dangerous. There are children living on the streets and all sorts of crime. It’s not a good place to grow up in. There are rapes and child prostitution.” “Sadly” added in Robyn “there are more homeless children there than anywhere else.” “Why don’t they go to orphanages?” asked Ash. “Some do. It’s just that often times those are more vile then the street, so the kids run away. “Oh” Ash winced “harsh.” Brock nodded. “So” continued Ash “who exactly are we meeting?” They all kept quiet. Ash rolled his eyes, I guess I’ll see when I get there he thought. They walked in silence for some time. When finally “this is it” exclaimed Brock. There were no gates, just a small sigh that said ed Bird Town. The R was missing. They walked through the town and Ash realized what Scott had said was true. There were puddles of dirty water because the gutters were broken he saw a group of kids under 10 all with knives. A child was trying to pick pocket people. And a Growlithe roamed the streets, getting kicked by various people. Even Robyn and Brock looked nervous. They arrived at a diner and prepared to open the door but Ash blocked them. “Why won’t you let me know who were meeting?” “Well” Brock stated “you might not like who were meeting, exactly…” “Why? Who are we meeting?” Ash pushed open the door and heard “hey, Ashy boy.” And that voice was all too familiar. Disclaimer- Sadly, I do not own Pokemon. So???? Love it? Hate it? Please review. I bet you can guess who the person there meeting is.