Chapter 7- Onward to Celadon Flecks of perspiration glistened off Ash’s neck. The back of his black shirt was so soaked with sweat he had stripped of it and it now was clasped in his hand. His well toned physique covered in sweat was being eyed eagerly by one of his female companions. The sun shone on his golden tan adding luster. But even Ash in his great condition was tiring. Annoyingly, it was Lee who surged ahead. The rays of sun frying the grass and plants around them seemed to have no affect on the girl. Like all of them sweat dripped off her hair and into her eyes but she merely wiped it away and continued on. It had been only a few hours since leaving Red Bird Town and they all seemed ready for a break. Brock addressed the issue by finding a relatively shady spot and collapsing. The rest followed suit. Lee also sat down, though she seemed less enthusiastic than the others. “Why we stopping” she wined. “Because” snapped Ash, much to hot to be pleasant “some of us out tired.” Lee returned the glare he was giving her “and some of us our eager to get to Celadon and help the cause. I suppose if you want to put your own comfort first…” “Let’s go” retorted Ash. Lee had an annoying habit of being able to get people to do her bidding. Some times when she was insulting Gary, Ash liked her. But most of the time he despised her and her bratty attitude. He was not alone in this as even Gary agreed that she was a little monster, and he and Gary did not agree often. Scott and Gary moaned and Robyn said in a haughty voice “go if you want but I’m staying.” Even Brock, who was the pacifist and peacekeeper of the group and who would break up fights and such, agreed with the majority. Ash and Lee had no choice except to sit. This Ash did gladly. Gary scooted away from Lee. Gary didn’t like her much. Though the feeling between the two was mutual. He tried to get close to Robyn but she scooted away. She had been mad ever since Gary hadn’t got anyone from Red Bird to help. Lee had defended him on this though saying that people in that town only cared about themselves. Robyn had refused to believe that. Ash sort of pitied Robyn, she had tried to be nice to Lee saying that maybe they could go shopping when they got to Celadon. Lee had told her off quite rudely. It was Lee who broke the silence now. “Shouldn’t we think of a plan?” So far all they had was get Ericka out and to join us. Lee hadn’t even known who Ericka was. Ash suddenly thought of something “uhhh Robyn…” “What?” “Can I let Pikachu out?” Robyn smiled at him and nodded. When he let Pikachu out he got what he expected a shock. He lay cringing from Pikachu’s mighty thunderbolt as everyone else laughed. “Pikachu I’m sorry.” Pikachu proceeded to ignore him and crawled behind Lee where it was shady. She was delighted “what did you call this? A Pika…” “A Pikachu” Ash explained. “It’s an electric type.” “Well, I could see that” but she laughed and went to pet it. Ash would have told her that Pikachu did not like to be petted but maybe a good shocking was what she needed. However, Pikachu did like to be scratched under its ears and that was what Lee did. “Pikachu” it said happily and fell asleep. She continued scratching it as she said “so what’s the plan?” Ash tackled the problem “I’m positive that Ericka will join us. What the big problem is if Team Rocket is going to take over Celadon soon the gym and Ericka’s house will be watched.” Brock agreed “that’s a problem. I guess I could send Crobat with a message to meet us somewhere.” “That’s as best as we can do for now” agreed Robyn. “We can also see if she knows any trainers that can join the rebellion. I wish we could stop Team Rocket from attacking or at least fight but we don’t have enough power.” “Why?” that was Lee’s question. “Well” Gary and Ash both started. They both liked to correct Lee whenever they could. “Well” Gary continued “we don’t have enough people obviously.” “Well, why not?” Gary and Ash looked at each other and shrugged. Lee continued to speak “it doesn’t seem to me like you’ve done a very good job of recruiting people. You should probably send a group to different cities and find people to help.” “We will get someone right on that” the sarcasm was apparent in Robyn’s voice. Lee ignored her and proceeded to roll up her pants legs. When she was done with that she leaned back and closed her eyes. “It’s too hot to think” she mumbled. Soon she had fallen asleep using a snoring Pikachu as a pillow. Gary jumped up “let’s go you guys. If we hurry we can put a few miles between us and her!” They all stared at him. ‘Wh-what? Don’t you want to get away from her?” “Yes” Brock said firmly “but we promised she could join.” “So?” Gary asked “how do we know we can trust her? I bet she’s a spy for Team Rocket!” “Look, Gary, as much as she bugs me I highly doubt she is a spy.” Robyn said. “Why???” Ash answered that one “she trusts us” he said simply. “A Team Rocket member would never fall asleep with us awake. Nor would they toy with us like she has. She trusts us to let her go to the hideout no matter what she does. Besides even if she is exasperating she has proven herself to be pretty smart.” Even Gary agreed on that. Soon they had all followed in Lee’s example and fallen asleep. A bit later Ash woke up. He had no idea what time it was but assumed it bust be significantly later because it had cooled off. He looked around groggily and realized something. Lee was gone! Gary was right she was a spy and he had defended her! Their whole plan was ruined he- His train of thought ended when he heard a sound coming from the woods. They hadn’t traveled through the woods because they might get lost and there were so many Beedrill. But from the woods he heard a sound a sort of plunking sound. He followed it to where he found Lee. She appeared to be trying to skip rocks but they didn’t skip. They sort of plunked into the water and sunk. Her ratty old tennis shoes were off and her bare feet dangled in the water. He could see orange shapes swimming around her and deduced they were Magickarp. It was a very small creek with a few rocks to sit on but it would be a good place to wash. He walked slowly up to her and she didn’t seem to notice. “Hey,” he said. She merely nodded as a response and went back to plunking rocks. “Here” he said taking the rock from her little hands. “Let me show you how.” “I can do it myself” she snapped. Ash shrugged as she walked further down the creek and he began to wash his face. When he looked up she was gone. He shrugged and went back to washing his face. A few minutes later he heard footsteps behind him. He turned expecting Lee but it was Robyn instead. She smiled shyly at him and he smiled back. “Hey,” Ash said. “Hey,” she said back. They stood awkwardly for a few moments before Ash moved out of the way. “You probably want to clean up” he said. She smiled gratefully and climbed into the water and immediately started shivering. “It’s cold!” Ash untied his shoes and kicked them off. He climbed into the water too. “Yeah” he agreed. He risked sitting down on a slightly slippery rock and fell. Ash gasped as the water rushed over his head pushing him under. When he came up Robyn was in hysterics. “That’s not funny” Ash said pointedly “I could have drowned!” “The water’s only up to your waist.” This was true but instead of responding Ash splashed her. She screamed excitedly as a title wave of water hit her. “Ash Ketchum, I am freezing!” but she giggled and splashed him back. Soon they were engaged in a water fight to end all water fights. They were screaming and blissful and having a great time. Ash realized he hadn’t had this much fun in a long while. The horrors of Team Rocket seemed to leave him when he looked into Robyn’s light blue eyes. He grabbed a wad of wet leaves and smacked her dead on in the face. “You are in trouble now!” she screeched. She ran forward to tackle him but slipped on a rock. She ended up falling right into Ash’s arms. His face turned bright red and she blushed too. They didn’t say anything and it was a while before Ash remembered to let her go. She didn’t step back though. She sunk into his arms shivering and looked up at him. He glanced down at her. “Your lips are blue” Ash said gently. Robyn nodded “I’m very cold.” He rubbed his palm against her arm and felt the roughness of Goosebumps. He moved his hand up to her shoulder. Touching her soft white skin invigorated him. She leaned back still shivering. He took both his arms and embraced her. His body heat flowed, warming her up but he did not let go. His hair was in a mass of tangles but nevertheless she ran her hands through it. He stroked her delicate hand. Playing with her graceful fingers; clasping them into his own hand. They both looked into each other’s eyes. The contrast was startling her eyes a soft blue. His eyes a deep brown. Realizing what they were doing they looked away. Ash let go of Robyn’s hand. She stopped toying with his hair. The awkward silence was broken by Brock. “Ash” he called “Robyn.” They both stood up and tried to squeeze some water out of their clothes. “ASH! ROBYN!” this time his voice seemed frantic. They both raced towards the path out of the woods. Neither of them said anything but Ash could have sworn he saw Robyn give him a small shy smile. Which he would have gladly returned if she had not looked away.