Misty couldn't believe it. Ash had been telling the truth. He had been trying to 
help her and she had pushed him even further away then he had been. 

She looked around the room they were keeping her in. It was small, and was 
furnished with an old cot and a single chair. A light bulb hung from the 
ceiling, illuminating the room enough that she could make out the ugly shade of 
yellow that the walls were painted. 

Misty had learned the truth about Chris after she had refused to accompany him 
to a "business meeting" in Pewter City. She hadn't wanted to go because she knew 
that was where Ash was heading. Instead of respecting her wishes like he 
normally did, Chris had tied her up and brought her to Pewter against her will. 

Chris walked into the room, smiling smugly. His brown eyes twinkled. She looked 
at him in disgust. If looks could kill, Chris would not only have been dead on 
the floor, he would also have certain parts of his anatomy detached.

When Misty thought about that she shuddered. She had slept with this man. She 
felt violated and betrayed. "I thought you loved me," she said bitterly to 
Chris.

"Did you?" Chris said, raising his eyebrows in mock surprise. 

"Why?" she asked.

"Why?" he said, repeating the question. "Why? Because three years ago Team 
Rocket successfully managed to capture the greatest Pokemon Master ever." 

Misty felt guilt creeping into her stomach. 

Chris continued. "We tortured him to find out everything he knew, but he refused 
to talk. Then two moronic thieves decided to become noble and helped him 
escape." His eyes narrowed at that. "For the past three years, Ashton Ketchum 
has been going from city to city, destroying everything Team Rocket has worked 
for."

Misty was surprised when she felt pride well up inside of her.

"We knew eventually Ashton would become a real problem, so the boss had me get 
close to you, so we would have someone to use as bait. You see, my dear Mistara, 
there is a leak in Team Rocket and I'm sure Ashton already knows we have you. 
He'll be riding in on his white horse, right into a death trap."

Misty's crystal blue eyes widened. "You asshole."

He grinned wickedly. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

~*~*~

Because Brock didn't have the ability to climb electric fences, he and Ash 
entered Pewter City during the day, before the gate was closed.

Ash received many odd looks as they walked to the Pewter City Gym. He assumed 
the stares were directed at his attire, a trench coat hardly seemed necessary in 
May. Even so, the attention was making him uneasy. Word about him being alive 
would travel fast, and he didn't want Team Rocket to know he was in town yet. 
Pikachu was in Ash's bag. If he was on his shoulder Ash was certain he would be 
recognized. When he had been Master, he was rarely seen without his favorite 
pokemon perched on his shoulder. 

Ash shook his head, bringing him back to the present. They were walking at a 
quick pace when a young boy stepped in front of them, blocking their way. They 
stopped short, trying to avoid a collision. 

"I know you!" the boy said excitedly. His green eyes sparkled as he ran a hand 
through his wavy black hair. 

Ash felt his stomach drop. Brock looked at him, then back to the boy. Passersby 
had stopped to see what the child was up to. 

The boy continued, "You're Brock, the gym leader!"

Relief flooded through Ash like water through a broken dam. He silently willed 
his heart to return to it's normal rate.

*That was scary,* Pikachu thought.

Brock too, appeared to be relieved as he said, "Yeah kid, I am."

The boy began to tell Brock how much he looked up to him and wanted to be just 
like him. "I'm going to be a pokemon master when I grow up. I read somewhere 
that you traveled with the great Master Ash Ketchum. I bet you taught him a 
whole bunch of stuff!" he said enthusiastically. 

At the mention of his name Ash, who had his hands shoved into his pockets, 
glanced up, but he kept his expression impassive. Ash returned to looking at the 
pavement, smiling  a little, recalling how much Brock <had> taught him.

The boy continued to ramble and Brock smiled as he thought, 'If only he realized 
who was standing next to me.' Brock glanced at Ash, who appeared extremely 
uneasy. He had his head down and was nervously shifting from foot to foot. 

"Brian!" a female voice called, interrupting the boy. "Brian, you leave that man 
alone!" 

Brock looked up as a blonde woman walked quickly over to them. She took hold of 
the boy's shoulders and began to steer him away. She looked at Brock 
apologetically. "I'm sorry about that."

As they walked away Brock heard the boy say, "Mom do you know who that was?"

The rest of the walk to the gym had been uneventful. Ash now stood alone, 
looking out the window at the setting sun. Pikachu, who had been eating, entered 
the room and jumped on Ash's shoulder. 

*Aren't you going to eat anything?* Pikachu asked him.

Ash continued to stare out the window with a weary expression on his face. He 
looked at the pokemon, his eyes somber. "I'm tired Pikachu." He returned to 
staring out the window. Ash's tone was disconcerting to Pikachu, but before he 
could say anything Ash continued, "I'm tired of running. I'm tired of waiting 
for the Rocket agent that will finally get me." He was still looking out the 
window, the sun was just barely visible over the horizon. "Tonight is it 
Pikachu. Either way I'll be free." 

Pikachu ears flattened to his head and he sighed, knowing full well the night 
could end in disaster.

"Ash are you ready?" Brock asked softly.

Ash turned to see Brock, dressed in black, a look of determination upon his 
face. It had taken a lot of persuasion before Ash had agreed to let Brock come, 
and even then the only reason Ash had relented was because, as Brock had pointed 
out, he could rescue Misty while Ash saved Mewtwo. 

Ash nodded and they walked out of the gym, into the cover of darkness.

"So if Persian didn't tell you which building it is, how are you planning on 
finding it?" Brock asked Ash as they walked.

Ash stopped and pointed to a tall brick building that sat across the street. 
"There."

"Are you sure?" Brock questioned.

Ash shot him a sideways glance. "Positive."

Brock looked at him in awe. "How do you know."

"Because the guards are wearing Team Rocket uniforms," Ash told him, matter-of-
factly. 

Brock, who had been expecting something a little more impressive, rolled his 
eyes.

"Come on," Ash said, starting across the street.

"Do you have a plan?" Brock asked, as he hurried to catch up.

Ash didn't answer, instead he said, "Pikachu, stealth now." Pikachu did the 
attack from inside of Ash's bag.

Brock stopped dead in his tracks. "Ash, where did you go? I can't see you," he 
hissed.

A disembodied voice came from his right, startling him. "Take a look at 
yourself."

Brock looked down, only to see the pavement he was standing on. He was starting 
to panic when Ash said, "Relax, it's one of Pikachu's attacks, it makes you 
invisible. People can still hear you though, so stay quiet. Just head straight 
to the door."

When they were safely inside, Pikachu allowed them to become visible.

"That was incredible," Brock whispered excitedly, as Ash looked around the 
darkened lobby. 

"That was too easy," he said. "You go find Misty, I'll go find Mewtwo."

Brock and Ash looked at each other for a moment. "Be careful, Ash," Brock said 
before turning and beginning his search for Misty. He heard Ash jog off in the 
opposite direction. Brock had a sinking feeling that that was the last time he 
would see Ash. 

Walking aimlessly through the bottom floor was getting Brock nowhere. He had no 
idea where Misty was, and had to quickly leap behind a corner as two guards made 
their rounds. As luck would have it, they were talking about "the redheaded 
bitch" on floor twelve. Brock smiled to himself, wondering what Misty had done 
to gain that reputation.

When the elevator doors opened at floor twelve, Brock's head perked up at the 
sound of someone pounding on a door. He walked quickly down the darkened 
hallway, and as he neared the door he heard a female voice yelling, "Let me out 
of here you bastard!"

"Misty?" he called through the door.

The pounding stopped. "Ash?" he heard her say.

Brock was about to tell her he wasn't Ash when she began talking again. "Ash, 
get out of here, it's a trap," her muffled voice said through the door. 

No sooner had she finished speaking then someone slammed Brock into the door, 
twisting his left arm behind his back.

"Well, Ashton," his attacker whispered in hie ear. "We finally meet. I've heard 
a lot about you."

Brock didn't bother telling him that he wasn't Ash. He used his free arm and 
pushed off of the wall sending them both flying backwards. Brock pried his arm 
loose and turned to face his attacker. In the dim light he could make out the 
man's face. "Lindham," he said. It was more of a statement than a question.

Lindham flicked the lights on, illuminating the hallway. Brock shaded his eyes 
from the sudden brightness. Lindham's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Brock? I was 
expecting Ashton." He shrugged. "I guess I'll have to settle for killing you."

He pulled a long sword from a sheath that hung from his belt. Brock barely had 
time to register what he was holding before Lindham lunged at him. Brock leapt 
to the side, narrowly missing the attack.

"I prefer to use a sword for my murders," Lindham said, straightening and 
preparing to attack again. "It makes for a much more painful death than simply 
shooting someone."

Brock regained his balance and glared at Lindham, who was now brandishing the 
sword with both hands. Lindham wildly swung the sword at him and Brock jumped 
backwards to avoid being sliced in half. He began to back down the hallway, with 
Lindham advancing on him. Brock had no way of defending himself so he decided to 
attack while Lindham was off guard. 

Brock sent a kick up at the sword, which, amazingly, flew out of Lindham's hands 
and behind him. Lindham threw a glance over his shoulder and apparently decided 
against retrieving the sword, because he assumed a fighting position. 

Lindham was a strong fighter and Brock soon found himself taking a beating. 
Lindham kicked Brock's legs out from under him, and he fell on his back. Before 
Brock even had a chance to get back to his feet, Lindham appeared above him, 
holding his sword, a triumphant look upon his face. He raised his sword above 
his head and swung it hard at Brock. 

Brock reached quickly into his coat and released one of his pokemon. The sword 
bounced harmlessly off of Golem's rock body, who now stood protectively in front 
of Brock.

Lindham cried out in pain as the sword impacted with Golem. The sword hit the 
ground with a clatter as he cradled his throbbing hands. 

Brock stood up. "Golem, rock throw!" he commanded. It only took one rock to 
knock Lindham out cold. He fell to the ground with a thud,

Brock congratulated Golem then returned him to his pokeball. He found the key to 
the room Misty was locked in, in Lindham's pocket. He unlocked the door and 
Misty rushed out, her expression a mixture of worry and relief.

"Ash..." she trailed off upon seeing Brock. "Brock?" she asked, obviously 
confused.

Brock rolled his eyes.

Misty got over the shock of seeing Brock and, noting his bleeding lip and 
swelling left eye, said, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said absently. 

At that moment the lights went out, throwing them into darkness. Brock and Misty 
looked around, puzzled at the sudden lack of illumination. 

"Come on, Misty, we have to go help Ash," Brock said, pulling her toward the 
elevator by her arm.

"Where is he?" she asked, confused. 

Although she could barely see him, she could tell Brock was looking at her 
gravely. "Team Rocket captured Mewtwo," he explained. "They are attempting to 
control him. If they have him under their power, Ash is going to have to fight 
him."

"What? The last time Ash fought Mewtwo-" 

"I know." Brock pressed the elevator button and nothing happened. "The power 
must be out in the entire building. We need to hurry." Misty didn't say anything 
as Brock pulled her to the stairs. "I have a feeling the sudden loss of 
electricity has something to do with Ash."



A/N: This chapter took a little longer than the others but here it is. I bet you 
are all dying to know what is going on with Ash. Well you're going to have to 
wait. Thanks for your reviews. I will try to have chapter 8 out ASAP. 

Disclaimer: It's 1:32 in the morning and I have run out of comical things to 
say.