Life Choice Part 3
Life Choices
By: Das Kernal
Part 3
A long time later...
“Jolteon, Thunder Shock Attack!”
Jolteon let out a lightning bolt that knocked out the Arcanine in a single shot.
“Growly, return. Go, Victreebel!”
“Victreebel, vine whip.” Victreebel used its vines to hit Jolteon.
“Jolteon, agility. Jolteon, Thunder Shock Attack.”
“Victreebel, wrap!”
Victreebel wrapped around Jolteon as it let out its thunder shock. It didn’t seem to affect Victreebel.
Jolteon’s trainer thought to himself, “I see, he must’ve pumped up its defenses.”
“Victreebel, sleep powder.”
Victreebel released some sleep powder and Jolteon was in dreamland.
“Jolteon, return. Electrabuzz, go!”
“Victreebel, Razor Leaf Attack!” Victreebel let out hundreds of leaves around Electrabuzz.
“Electrabuzz, thunder punch.” Electrabuzz threw a punch at Victreebel.
“Victreebel, Wrap.” Victreebel wrapped around Electrabuzz.
“Electrabuzz, Thunder!”
Electrabuzz’s Thunder was too much for Victreebel and it fainted.
“Victreebel, return. Here goes my last and best one. Go, Weezing!”
“Weezing, haze.”
A fog like substance formed through out the stadium.
“Electrabuzz, thunder shock.”
“Weezing, explosion.”
As the fog cleared, Electrabuzz was found on the ground, unconscious.
“I see. Electrabuzz, return. Well, Pikachu, It’s your turn. You don’t get to fight much anymore.”
A Pikachu left his trainer’s feet and ran to the middle of the stadium. “Pikachu!”
“Weezing, sludge attack.” Weezing sent some sludge at Pikachu, but missed.
“Pikachu, thunder shock attack!”
An immense amount of electricity left Pikachu’s body and hit every corner of the stadium, including Weezing and its trainer. Both fainted.
“Well, Pikachu. We win again.” The trainer walked out of the stadium.
“James! Wake up! Come on, wake up!” Jessie was crying as she tried to wake James up.
Slowly he regained consciousness. “W-what happened?”
“You lost. It’s a good thing you built up a resistance from the twerp’s Pikachu. The electricity didn’t hurt that much.”
“Jessie, it was him.”
“Huh?”
“That was Pikachu.”
“I know that was a Pikachu, remember I was watching,” Jessie didn’t understand.
“No, I mean it was THE Pikachu. It was the twerps Pikachu.”
“No way! How could you tell?”
“I still remember getting shocked dozens of times. I can tell it was the same.”
“Then was that the twerp?”
“I don’t know. It must’ve been. But he looks so different.”
“Let’s check it out.”
“First let’s get my pokemon to a center.”
“Right.”
Later that day…
The door was opened to reveal a couple standing there waiting anxiously.
“Can I help you?” The owner of the house inquired.
“Yes, are you the local Gym Leader?”
“Yes, my name is Chet Shumak.”
“Well, I just lost to you and I’d like to talk to you for awhile,” James was getting nervous.
“I don’t go easy on anyone.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I don’t seek any sort of charity. I just want to talk.”
“Okay. Please come in,” he said as he stepped back to make room.
He led them to a fairly good-sized living room. It looked like it wasn’t made to have guests. They sat on the couch while Chet sat in a chair opposite of them.
“What did you want to talk about?” Chet was getting right down to business.
“Your Pikachu.”
“Pikapi?” Pikachu ran in as it heard its name. It jumped into Chet’s lap.
“Yes, that’s the one.”
“What about him?”
“First let me ask you something. Do you recognize us?”
Chet looked at them for a moment and thought ‘What are they trying to pull? Do they think I’m stupid? Of course I know you’re Team Rocket. Do I have “stupid” printed on my head?’
“Except for today, I’ve never seen you before,” Chet said plainly.
“No, how about this,” Jessie said.
“Prepare for trouble.”
“Make it double.”
They glanced to see his face. It hadn’t changed in the slightest.
“To protect the world from devastation...”
“To unite all people within our nation…”
“To denounce the evils of truth and love...”
“To extend our reach to the stars above…”
“Jessie…”
“James…”
“Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light...”
“Surrender now or prepare to fight...”
“Do you remember that?” James asked hopefully.
“Should I?”
“Okay, I’ll be frank. Are you Ash Ketchum?”
‘Well, duh!’ Chet said in his mind. ‘How did they find out? What do I do now?’
“No, I told you my name is Chet Shumak,” Chet tried to sound convincing.
“Then why do you have Ash’s Pikachu?”
“What? This is my Pikachu.”
“But it once belonged to Ash Ketchum.”
“No, I’ve had it my whole life. Who is this Ash person? Was he also a pokemon trainer?”
“Yes,” James said disappointed. “I’m sorry to have bothered you. I guess I was wrong.” James head hung low as he walked out the door. Jessie followed him.
Outside Jessie was trying to comfort James. “It’s okay, all electricity feels the same. We all make mistakes.”
“No! That was him. I know it.”
“How do you know?”
“One, the electricity. Two, I saw a painting behind him on the wall. It looked exactly like Misty after the cave-in. She had on his hat and jacket, even the bloodstains were in the right places,” James answered smiling.
“Then what was that back there?”
“I realized that we couldn’t get him to admit it so I left.”
“So what are you going to do now?”
“Go find Misty.”
“What? Why her?”
“She’s the reason he’s here. Only she can bring him back.”
“If she still cares,” Jessie said flatly. “It’s been over five years since she stopped looking. I’m not sure she wants him back.”
“She has to,” James said as he started walking to the Pokemon Center.
Inside Pikachu was having a talk with Chet.
“Pikachu pika (Why didn’t you tell them?)”
“I couldn’t. But it was good to see them again. James has become a good trainer.”
“Pikachu pi (Don’t change the subject. Why?)”
“…..”
“Pikapika? (Because of Misty?)”
Chet looked surprised at the mention of that name. “…”
“Pikachu pikapi (I know you still care about her.)”
“Why does it matter? She’s gone. She doesn’t care about me. Besides, this is my life now.”
“Pikapi? (Why does it have to be? You could still go back.)”
“No. Everyone has moved on and forgotten about me. Even mom doesn’t write me anymore. Ash Ketchum is truly dead.”
With that Chet got up and left the house.
“He’s wrong. This is all I have left. That life died with my old clothes. It’s gone. I have to keep remembering what I have now. I’m the leader of a gym. I have a responsibility. But I would still give it all up just to see her again. To see her smile would be the world to me. So what’s stopping me? She is. No matter how much I try to get past it, I’m still afraid of her. She could beat me up then and probably still could. Imagine if word got out that I was afraid of being pummeled by a girl. I’d become a laughing stock. But they don’t know what she was like. She had such a temper. But then so did I. I’ve tried my best to calm mine down. I wonder if she has tried. I wonder what she’s been doing all these years. I guess I haven’t done that much. I took me a couple years to start this Gym and have been doing this ever since. I doubt Misty joined the Cerulean Gym. She couldn’t stand her sisters. But that was when she was a child. Maybe she’s grown out of it. I wonder what she would be like now….”
Outside of Chet’s world, a girl was sitting on her bed. She had her arms around her legs to form a ball. She sat there looking at her most cherished possessions. On her wall hung the clothes of Ash Ketchum.
For a few minutes she started talking to herself in the voices of Ash, Brock and herself. Voice imitating was one of the talents she had learned over the years. She talked like they used to on the road. Even her fights with Ash. Then she realized that it wasn’t helping and stopped.
“Ash, where are you? Are you even alive? Why did you leave? I know. It was me. I drove you off. Someday I’ll find you. I remember those words. I promised myself that I would find you. And I failed. I searched for two years without success or even a clue where you might be. I checked every town within a hundred miles. I guess you just had to get further away than that. When I came back my sisters were nice about it. But after awhile they kept trying to get me to date. They actually convinced me that it was just a crush. So I started to date. But I never got past the first night. I just kept starting arguments over nothing. They couldn’t take it and left. Then, eventually I couldn’t take it either and left. I just traveled around training pokemon. After a few years I stopped and started a Pokemon Training School. Now I train new pokemon trainers the best way to raise pokemon. It’s all I know to do. I wonder what he’s been doing all this time. How has he changed? I wonder what he would be like now…”
Misty decided that it was time to stop dreaming and get up. Her class would start soon.
Misty ran a class to teach pokemon trainers more about pokemon.
An hour later Misty was sitting in the center of a ring of chairs with children all around her. They ranged from age 10 to 15. She used a question and answer format most of the time. Today was no different. After a couple hours of answering and explaining, Misty was asked a very different question.
“Is it true that the same attack from different pokemon can feel different?”
Misty turned to see who asked the question. It wasn’t one of the children. She looked to see two people standing by the door. One had on dark blue jeans and a light blue shirt. He also had blue shoulder length hair. The other person was wearing red jeans and a dark red shirt. She has long red hair that stuck way out in the back.
“Jessie! James!” Misty got up to give her old friends hugs.
“Class, we’re going to stop for today. See you all tomorrow.”
The class left while Jessie and James sat down.
“It’s so good to see you two. How have you been?” Misty was so happy to see them.
“Well, lately I’ve been traveling with James so he could get his badges and get into the league.”
“I’m doing pretty well. I already have seven,” James said proudly.
“So where are you going for your eighth badge?”
“First I would like you to answer my question.”
“What question?”
“The one I just asked. Is it true that the same attack from different pokemon can feel different?”
“I don’t understand,” Misty answered puzzled.
“Okay, how’s this. Let’s say a Pikachu thunder shocks you. Then later on another Pikachu thunder shocks you. Do the two thunder shocks feel different?”
“I don’t see why they would.”
“Ha-ha. I guess the teacher gets to be taught. They do. Two thunder shocks from two different Pikachus feel very different.”
“James, have you been going around getting thunder shocked on purpose?”
“NO! It was an accident.”
“A very fortunate accident,” Jessie added.
“Please explain what you mean,” Misty was getting more curious.
“I was up in Meradon City to get my eighth gym badge.”
“Meradon, isn’t that the mystery gym?”
“Yes it is. The mystery is the theme of that gym. You never know what pokemon the leader will use to battle. Sometimes fire, sometimes rock. It varies each time. That is why it’s so hard, you can’t predict him. When I went in I had my Arcanine, Victreebel and Weezing. For me he chose to use electricity. I thought I was doing okay for the first couple rounds. He used a Jolteon and an Electrabuzz. I got to the last one and almost laughed. He called out a Pikachu. But this Pikachu was powerful. It sent electricity throughout the entire stadium.”
Misty’s eyes went wide. “Just like…” her gaze fell to the floor, “Ash’s.”
“Misty, that’s why it’s important. Not only did Weezing get shocked but I did too. It seemed so familiar. It was a feeling I hadn’t felt in years. That’s when I realized that I knew that feeling. I got it so often I’ll never forget it,” James grabbed Misty’s hand.
Misty looked up, tears forming in her eyes.
“Yes, it was Pikachu. Ash’s Pikachu.”
“No, it can’t be. Ash is gone, he left.”
“But you never found where he went. But we have,” Jessie pointed out.
“What? You saw him?” Misty’s tears wear coming down her face.
“He looked a bit different, but we’re sure it was him. But he won’t tell us.”
“I don’t get it.”
“He is going under the name Chet Shumak. Either he’s a good actor or has lost his mind. Because he wouldn’t admit to being Ash Ketchum. He didn’t even seem to recognize us when we did our old motto.”
“What happened to him?” Misty asked in fear.
“We don’t know,” Jessie answered. “All we know is that it’s him. We think you are the only one to help him.”
“Why me?” She asked looking back down. “Because I was the one who ran him off.”
“We know you can do it. But the question is, will you?” James inquired.
“I have to. I can’t keep living like this. I’m miserable here. Let’s go.”
Misty went home to pack. She grabbed some clothes for her, some food for her and her pokemon, and she also packed Ash’s clothes. “They think he needs a blast from his past. Well, I’ll sure give him one.”
Misty got on her bike and headed north to Meradon City.
Chet was sitting in the Mystery Gym waiting for the next challenger. In the meantime, he was talking to Pikachu.
“Pikachu (I don’t understand.)”
“Well it’s very simple. The stores don’t allow pokemon to buy stuff. So it wouldn’t matter if you had a credit card.”
“Pikapika (How about over the Internet?)”
“Pikachu, please. I told you that we would never run out of ketchup. Don’t you trust me?”
“Pikapi? (What if you’re out on a date?)”
“Hahahahaha. Please, what are the chan…”
Just then the doors to the gym slammed open. Chet looked up to see the new challenger. His eyes went wide and his jaw hit the floor. Pikachu stood there like it was seeing a ghost. Because it was. Chet watched as Ash Ketchum walked to his side of the stadium.
“I want a match!” Ash declared.
Ash looked at Chet to see a man who was about five and a half feet tall with blond hair to his shoulders. He was wearing a blue shirt with green pants, a dark purple sweatshirt and black tennis shoes.
Chet was looking at an Ash identical to the one that died seven years ago. He wore a Pokemon League Hat with a bloodstain on the front, a blue and white jacket with a bloodstain on the back, green and yellow finger-less gloves, a black shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and white shoes. He also had dirt covering his face. He was an exact copy. He even sounded just like Ash.
It took a minute for Chet to regain his composure. Then he stood up and walked to his side of the stadium.
“Who are you?” Chet demanded, trying not to sound too uncomfortable.
“I’m Ash Ketchum, a trainer from Pallet. I’m gonna be a Pokemon Master!” Ash declared with enthusiasm.
“Just like Ash,” thought Chet.
“Very well. But when I win you’ll remove that mask you’re wearing.”
“What mask?”
“I know you’re not Ash Ketchum. That boy died seven years ago!”
“It’s a deal. But when I win, you’ll remove your mask.”
“Ha! You speak without any understanding. Just like the true Ash. 3 on 3.”
“Let’s go, Butterfree!” Ash called out as he threw a pokeball and turned around his hat. Out came a Butterfree.
“Go, Pidgeot!”
“Butterfree, sleep powder!” Butterfree sprinkled powder on Pidgeot.
“Pidgeot, whirlwind attack!” Pidgeot blew it away.
“Butterfree, tackle attack!” Butterfree charged at Pidgeot.
“Pidgeot, agility!” Pidgeot dodged the attack.
“Butterfree, psybeam attack!” Butterfree sent a psybeam at Pidgeot.
“Pidgeot, mirror move!” Pidgeot reflected it back to Butterfree. Butterfree was hit and fainted.
“Butterfree, return. Bulbasaur, I choose you!” Ash announced.
“Bulbasaur, vine whip!” Bulbasaur hit Pidgeot with its vines. Pidgeot stayed in the air.
“Pidgeot, wing attack!” Pidgeot flew down to Bulbasaur and hit Bulbasaur with its wing. Bulbasaur was sent flying back but got back up.
“Bulbasaur, razor leaf attack!” Bulbasaur let loose hundreds of leaves at Pidgeot.
“Pidgeot, quick attack!” Pidgeot went flying through the leaves, getting injured by many of them, and collided with Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur slowly stood up.
“Bulbasaur, solar beam!” As Pidgeot flew back up, Bulbasaur charged its solar beam.
“Pidgeot, Mirror Move!” Pidgeot put up a barrier around it as Bulbasaur’s solar beam came. The beam hit the barrier and kept going. Pidgeot was hit and hit hard. It was knocked out.
“Pidgeot, return. Go Lapras!” Lapras appeared from a pokeball.
“Bulbasaur, leech seed!” Bulbasaur shot a seed from its bulb and it hit Lapras. It slowly began to suck the energy out of Lapras.
“Lapras, mist!” Lapras breathed out a mist that made it difficult to see. It also dropped the temperature quite a bit.
“Bulbasaur, tackle attack!” Bulbasaur started running to Lapras. It went slowly because of the temp drop.
“Lapras, Ice Beam!” Before Bulbasaur could get there, Lapras shot its ice beam and knocked out Bulbasaur.
“Bulbasaur, return!”
“Only one left. Let’s see who you choose,” Chet said smiling.
Ash took off his backpack, pulled something out and threw it into the stadium. “Go, Togepi!”
Chet’s heart dropped. “No, it can’t be,” he whispered.
“Lapras, Confuse Ray.” Lapras sent a dark beam at Togepi.
“Togepi, teleport!” Togepi disappeared and reappeared to the right of Lapras.
“Lapras, ice beam!” Lapras breathed in as a white light formed in its mouth. It then breathed out at Togepi and a white beam came out.
“Togepi, mirror move!” Togepi formed a barrier around it and the ice beam was reflected back at Lapras. Lapras was knocked over from the hit.
“Lapras, return!” Chet called out. Then he whispered to Pikachu,”I need you, buddy.”
“Pikapi (No, I refuse)”
“I thought you might,” he whispered back. “Go, Charizard!”
“Charizard, flame thrower!” Charizard sent flames at the little egg.
“Togepi, teleport!” Togepi disappeared and reappeared behind Charizard.
“Charizard, scratch!” Charizard turned around and scratched Togepi.
“Togepi, psychic!” Togepi waved its hands and Charizard started to ripples then fell back.
“Charizard, fire spin!” Charizard got back up and sent a fire spin at Togepi. It gets burned but continued to fight.
“Togepi, confusion!” Togepi sent a dark beam at Charizard.
“Charizard, flame thrower!” Charizard looked around and sent some flames at Chet. He ducked to avoid getting toasted.
“Togepi, Mega Punch!” Togepi ran over to Charizard, jumped up and hit it in the stomach. The blow sent Charizard to the ground unconscious.
“Charizard, return. Good job, Ash,” Chet said as he started walking out of the Gym.
“Hey! What about my badge? I won!” Ash yelled as he ran after Chet.
Ash caught up with Chet at his Pokemon Laboratory. He watched as Chet took out his injured Pokemon and sent them to the Pokemon Center. Then he reached in his pocket and pulled out a badge and tossed it to Ash. Ash looked down at the black stone with a question mark engraved in it.
Ash twirled around and held up the badge, “I got the Mystery Badge!”
Chet looked on with interest; “You’re very good. But not quite there.”
Ash smiled, “I’m good enough.”
“You got the badge, why are you still here?”
“I didn’t come for the badge. I came for you.”
Chet raised an eyebrow, “Really? Is that so? Why, may I ask?”
“I felt this was the best way to get your attention. I won the match. As per our agreement you must take off that mask.”
“What mask is that?”
“You’re the REAL Ash Ketchum. I know it. You know it. You also know who I am. So you can stop pretending.”
“There’s a restroom over there if you wouldn’t mind getting out of my clothes,” Chet said as he pointed to a nearby door.
“Of course,” Ash said as he went into the restroom.
A few minutes later Misty emerged from the restroom in her normal clothes. These included blue jeans type shorts, a red shirt and a purple windbreaker. She still wore the Pokemon League Hat with the bloodstain. She also now wore a clean face. She walked over and dropped Ash’s clothes on a table near the computer Chet was working at. He seemed to be concentrating on entering some data.
“Well, here are Ash’s clothes back,” Misty said in her own voice.
“Aren’t you going to look at me?” Misty asked in a weak voice.
“Do I need to?” Chet responded coldly.
“No, not really. I guess I don’t want Chet seeing me. But I want Ash to look at me.”
“Ash died seven years ago.”
“How did he die?”
“Heartbreak. His two best friends had turned on him. He just couldn’t take it.”
Misty could hold back any more. She started crying and hugged Chet from the back.
“Please come back. I want Ash. I need Ash back.”
“I guess I get to die once again,” Chet said as he put his head down and closed his eyes.
Then Ash opened his eyes, turned around and returned Misty’s hug.
As Ash looked at Misty, he noticed that she was almost as tall as he was. Her hair now went down to her midback. ‘She’s still thin,’ Ash thought.
“I’m sorry. I never could stand to see you cry,” Ash whispered to her.
“No Ash, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I hit you. I’m sorry I didn’t listen. I’m sorry I stopped looking for you.”
“It’s okay Misty. Please stop crying. It’s okay,” he told her as he lifted her head. “Friends?”
Misty looked at him through her tears. “No.”
“What?” Ash asked in disbelief.
“I don’t want to be friends. I can’t do that again. It was hard enough the first time.”
“But, then why did you come all the way out here?”
“I want to be more than just friends. I want….you,” Misty was hugging him even tighter.
They looked into each other’s eyes, like they had wanted to since they met. Their faces got closer.
“Awww, isn’t that cute?” A voice asked. Ash and Misty turned their heads to see who was talking.
“Prepare for trouble.”
“Make it double.”
“To lead the world to devastation…”
“To enslave all people within our nation…”
“To announce the evils of truth and love…”
“To control even the stars above…”
“Mary”
“Richie”
“Team Rocket zooms off at the speed of light….”
“Surrender now or run in fright…”
“Meowth, that’s right!”
“That wasn’t quite right. What are you doing Richie?”
“Isn’t it obvious? We’re here for your money. I know you have lots.”
“Yeah, so hand it over!” Meowth demanded.
“Meowth?” Misty looked surprised.
“What? Give us da money!”
“No, no, no. All wrong.” “Let us show you how it’s done,” voice said above them.
Suddenly all the lights went out. Then two spotlights lit an area where both groups could see.
“Prepare for trouble...”
“Make it double…”
“To protect the world from devastation…”
“No, it can’t be,” Meowth whispered. “Dey quit. Dey’re gone.”
“I don’t have any spotlights in here,” Ash thought.
“To unite all people within our nation…”
“To denounce the evils of truth and love...”
“To extend our reach to the stars above…”
“Jessie…” Jessie jumped into one spotlight.
“James…” James jumped into the other spotlight.
“Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light…”
“Surrender now or prepare to fight…”
Richie and Mary looked shocked. They obviously didn’t know these two.
Meowth, on the other hand, was unfazed. “What do you guys want?”
“We’re here to help our friends and teach these two the real meaning of Team Rocket!” Jessie said.
“Huh? What to you mean the ‘real meaning of Team Rocket’?” Richie asked.
“I’ll tell you, boy,” James replied angrily. “Team Rocket isn’t about stealing money!”
“Since when?”
“Since always,” James retorted.
“That’s right,” Jessie explained. “Team Rocket is about stealing pokemon!”
“Who would want to steal pokemon?” Richie asked.
“We stole them so we could sell them!” Jessie shouted.
“Get out of our way!” Demanded Mary.
“Looks like we have to settle this with a match,” James said smiling. Then he started laughing. “Oh, sorry, I forgot you lost all your pokemon. I guess we’ll have to do this the old fashioned way….”
Richie’s eyes went wide as he, his partner and Meowth turned and ran. “We’ll get you!”
“Thanks, guys,” Ash nodded in respect.
“He remembers us!” James shouted as he jumped for joy.
“Of course. Ash Ketchum never forgets his enemies,” Ash responded smiling.
They looked at him for a minute, and then started laughing.
“Hey, James. What happened to Richie’s pokemon?” Ash inquired.
Misty answered, “He was stripped of his pokemon and license after he let one of his pokemon die so he could win a match.”
“What! But he seemed to care so much about pokemon.”
“Well, after losing three years in a row to Gary, he focused more on winning than on pokemon,” Jessie explained.
“That’s too bad. He had potential.”
“Well, we had best be going. You two have some, uh… business to take care of,” James said as he walked out the door.
“We’ll be seeing you later,” Jessie followed him.
“Pikapika (I’ll be at home).” Pikachu left.
That left Ash and Misty alone. They looked at each other and smiled. Once again, their faces began to close in together. Soon the gulf was gone as their lips met. It was a rather short kiss. Then the chasm opened again only to close as they hugged each other. Neither really knew how long they had stood there like that but to both it seemed too short.
“So, where do we go from here?” Misty broke the silence.
“How about to a movie?”
Misty giggled, “You know what I mean.”
“Yeah. Let’s just take it slow. Seven years is a long time. We’ve both changed.”
“I know. We still need to find out how much. But I’m ready. I’ve been ready for so long.”
“Let’s go for a walk,” Ash suggested.
“Okay. Where to?”
“Does it matter?”
“Not at all.”
Ash and Misty were walking away from the laboratory. If they had looked behind them, they would have seen Jessie and James.
“It’s about time,” Jessie commented smiling.
James was also smiling, “Finally, my debt is repaid.”
“Both have changed so much. But I know that their love hasn’t. That’s all they really need,” Jessie said.
“They’re each making a new beginning, but there will be only one life. Jessie, let’s go and start our own life.”
“Yeah, we’ll check on them later.”
Jessie and James walked away from the laboratory in the opposite direction. Both couples had trials ahead. But each had love, the binding force.
The End