By the time they had managed to steer the battered boat ashore, the day was half 
gone. The sun was high above them, beating onto their backs as they worked to 
get the boat to dock, which took a good deal of time since none of them were 
used to sailing. In the end it took Misty, who was by far the most experienced 
when it came to water and boats, calling out directions before they were able to 
dock on the single dock on the island. 

Gary and Ash were the first to alight onto the shore, their boots sinking into 
the loose sand as they walked. The rebel leaders followed them, having a similar 
problem as they trudged through the sand. 

Ash was happy to be on dry land, his recent nearly fatal experience made him 
slightly wary of the water. 

They stood in silence for a moment, staring at the cave of Seafoam Island, which 
was the only landmark on the desolate island. 

Once again they found themselves in a dark cave. This one was much like Rock 
Tunnel, with a main cavern that had many tunnels around it's perimeter. It was 
deserted, most likely because of the vicious gyrados they had encountered. 

Ash's voice broke the silence, commanding Pikachu to use his flash technique to 
provide them with some illumination. Instantly the cavern was lit enough to make 
out the dark tunnels that led deeper into the ground, where the underground 
river was. 

Bruno had told them that he believed Lorelei would be there, considering her 
affiliation for ice and water type pokemon. 

"Come on," Ash said, waving his hand, indicating that they should follow him.

"Do you know where you're going?" Gary asked, looking uncertainly at the many 
tunnels that surrounded them.

"Sure, it's the same as last time," Ash said, his voice echoing off the walls.

"Last time?" Misty questioned. "You two were here before too?"

Gary shook his head. "I was never here."

All eyes turned to Ash.

"I was looking for Articuno," he said, shrugging. He looked at Misty and Brock. 
"It was after we split up." He turned his gaze to Gary. "And before we started 
traveling together."

"You came looking for Articuno?" Erika repeated, as if saying it again would 
make it less true. "Articuno is a myth, no one has ever seen him."

Ash smiled, and Brock immediately recognized the look he wore. It was a look 
that said he knew something they didn't. He had worn it often when he had 
battled, when he would come up with some farfetched idea that would never work 
for anyone but him, because his pokemon loved him so much that they would do 
anything for him. He had seen that look many times when he had battled Ash, 
right before Ash would crush his pokemon with some crazy strategy that Brock 
hadn't even noticed him preparing. "Did you find Articuno?" he asked, knowing it 
was very likely he had. 

There was a pause as Ash considered him. "He was bathing next to the underground 
river," Ash told him.

They all looked at him in disbelief.

Then Gary voiced the question they all had. "Did you capture him?" he said, 
amazed he had never heard this story before. 

Ash frowned. "Of course not. I only wanted to see it. I wouldn't want to keep 
such a magnificent pokemon trapped in a pokeball."

All four of his companions stared at him in astonishment. They were so amazed by 
Ash's statement that none of them could think of anything to say. 

Ash broke the silence. "Come on then," he said, heading towards the far tunnel 
on the left.

The tunnel headed deep into the earth. Ash and Gary walked side by side, and 
although Ash had never been known for a keen sense of observation (in fact many 
claimed that he blatantly ignored the obvious) he did notice as Gary kept 
throwing short glances over his shoulder.

Ash turned his head and saw that Gary's glances were directed at Misty, who was 
currently in deep conversation with Erika. She flipped her long braid over her 
shoulder before whispering something to Erika, who began to giggle after 
stealing a glance at Gary. When Gary saw them looking at him he quickly turned 
and faced forward. 

Ash raised and eyebrow, intrigued, yet baffled by the sudden odd behavior. Brock 
too seemed bewildered at the two women breaking into fits of giggles. He was 
walking at the back of the group and he and Ash, apparently the only two in the 
group who didn't understand what was going on, shared a look of confusion. Ash 
then glanced at Pikachu, curious if he knew what had taken place, but the yellow 
rodent riding on his shoulder seemed as perplexed as he and Brock. 

Ash turned his gaze on Gary. "Is there something you want to tell me?" he asked. 
For a moment he thought Gary's face had flushed a pink color, but he dismissed 
it as a trick of the dim light coming from Pikachu. 

"No," Gary said, shaking his head fervently so his auburn hair rippled. "Why?"

"Because you've been looking over your shoulder at Misty all day and those two," 
he said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder without looking back, "have been 
acting like love struck teenagers for the past hour."

"Oh?" said Gary, trying but not succeeding to look surprised at this news.

"Gary," Ash said in a low warning tone. "Don't make me beat it out of you. 
Especially not in front of the women." Although he grinned playfully, Gary had a 
feeling he was at least half serious. 

Gary considered his options. True, in the shooting department Gary had the upper 
hand over Ash, but when it come to hand to hand combat Ash would have him flat 
on his back before he could even throw a punch. 

"Well," Gary began, deciding to tell, rather than be beaten to a pulp. "I 
couldn't sleep last night."

"I know," Ash said. "You didn't come back to the cabin until after four."

Gary nodded. "Well, Misty couldn't sleep either. So we talked for a while 
then..." He paused, unsure of how Ash would react to the next bit of 
information. He wasn't completely sure whether Ash had feelings for Misty or 
not. "Then we kissed," he mumbled. 

He risked a glance at Ash, who's expression was unreadable. Then slowly a smile 
began to form on his face. "You and Misty?" he asked grinning. "That's great." 
Then he became serious. "You're not talking about another one night stand, 
right?" he said, frowning. He knew about Gary's policy of love 'em and leave 'em 
and he would not let him do that to Misty.

Gary shook his head. "No," he said earnestly. "We talked for hours last night." 
He paused, considering his words. "I really like her, Ash," he blurted out, 
rather embarrassed. Of the two, Ash was always the emotional, sentimental one. 
Gary preferred to be the insensitive jerk of the pair. 

Ash grinned widely at Gary's show of his sentimental side, which he normally 
tried to keep hidden at all costs. Gary sighed and ran a hand through his 
already disheveled hair, frustrated at his uncharacteristic display of anything 
that resembled feelings. The sound of rushing water pulled him from his 
thoughts, and he realized they had to be close to Lorelei.

They turned a bend and stopped at the entrance to a large cavern, lit by fires 
around the perimeter. A large river ran through the cavern and a few water 
pokemon splashed playfully in it.

They almost didn't notice Lorelei, who was lying on her back with her eyes 
closed, her auburn hair splayed across the ground. Her jeans were rolled up and 
her bare feet were dangling carelessly in the clear water of the river. 

"Lapras!" warned one of the water pokemon when he spotted the group standing at 
the cavern's entrance. 

Lorelei quickly sat up and looked over her shoulder at them. When she saw the 
group of strangers she leapt to her feet and turned to face them, standing ankle 
deep in the river. 

"I'm not going without a fight," she told them, her eyes lingering on Pikachu, 
who sat calmly on Ash's shoulder. The possession of a pokemon was a sign of a 
Team Rocket agent.

"We don't-" Ash began, but was interrupted as Lorelei hollered for Lapras to go, 
her voice echoing loudly off the rock walls.

The lapras advanced, making his way to the edge of the river, his face 
determined as he bobbed along with the current.

Gary looked at Ash. "This is all yours," he said, gesturing with an arm. "I left 
all my pokemon at H.Q."

Ash took in the situation, rubbing the back of his neck. He could easily take 
out the lapras with a well placed electric attack, unfortunately Lapras was in 
the water and so was Lorelei. In fact, if Ash had still been with Team Rocket he 
would have taken advantage of her compromising situation and hit Lapras with a 
thunder, allowing the electricity to transfer to Lorelei, most likely rendering 
her unconscious. Unfortunately knocking her unconscious would probably not make 
her too keen to help them, so he had to think of another way to put Lapras out 
of commission.

Pikachu leapt from Ash's shoulder, standing ready at his feet.

"Lapras, ice beam!" Lorelei cried, pointing at Pikachu.

Lapras acknowledged her with a nod and sent a powerful ice beam at Pikachu. 

"Use agility, Pikachu," Ash said.

The others had backed away, giving Ash and Pikachu more room to maneuver. 
Pikachu used agility and was out of the way of the attack with lightening speed. 
The ice beam remained on the same course and Ash had to leap out of the way to 
avoid being frozen solid.

"Pikachu, tackle attack," Ash said when he was out of danger. 

Using a burst of speed from his agility, Pikachu sped at the lapras and aimed a 
tackle right for his head. The attack hit, but Lorelei's pokemon were too well 
trained to be taken out by a single tackle attack.

Pikachu landed back on dry land, crouching on all fours to prepare for the next 
attack.

"Hydropump!" Lorelei commanded, waiting for her pokemon to use its strongest 
attack.

Ash sighed as Pikachu dodged the torrents of water that came barreling at him. 
The only way to end this would be with an electric attack. "Pikachu," he called. 
"Use thunderbolt."

As Pikachu powered up, his cheeks sparking, Ash said, "Miss Lorelei, I would get 
out of the water if I were you."

She looked down at her feet, which were emerged in water, then back at him 
before quickly splashing out of the water. When Pikachu was sure she was out of 
harms way the yellow rodent released a powerful thunderbolt at Lapras, who 
fainted on contact. 

Lorelei stared in disbelief at the fainted pokemon. She quickly recalled her 
lapras and pulled out another pokeball, maximizing it in her hand. She didn't 
throw it though, she simply held it tightly, ready to use it if necessary.

"Who are you?" she asked, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Ash turned to Misty, who seemed to be the spokesperson of the rebellion. Misty, 
catching the glance, stepped forward, launching into an explanation. By the time 
she was done, Lorelei had put her pokeball away and was listening intently.

"You already have Bruno and Agatha training troops?" Lorelei asked. They nodded 
and she appeared to become lost in thought. Finally: "Okay, I'm in."

Misty, Brock, and Erika exchanged a grin. If Lorelei agreed then they knew Lance 
would too.

"I have one question," Lorelei said, looking curiously at them. "How did you get 
past Gyrados?"

"That thing belongs to you?" Gary snapped. "It almost took his head off. 
Literally," he said, gesturing at Ash.

"He's not mine," Lorelei told him. "He's Lance's. He left him here to protect 
me. No one has ever gotten past him," she said. "How did you?"

Everyone pointed at Pikachu, who was once again perched comfortably on Ash's 
shoulder. 

Lorelei looked at the pokemon in question in surprise. "A single Pikachu took 
out Lance's gyrados?"

Pikachu looked slightly miffed that she didn't think it was possible. He was as 
strong as any pokemon out there, why shouldn't he be able to beat Lance's 
gyrados?

Brock grinned. "Not only did he beat Lance's gyrados, he only used one attack."

Lorelei's jaw dropped and she turned her gaze to Ash, who remained rather 
apathetic to the entire concept. 

"Your pikachu took out Lance's gyrados and my lapras using only one electric 
attack?" She paused, staring at him in stark disbelief. "It's a shame the 
Pokemon League is disbanded. The Elite Four would have had difficulty stopping 
you."

Misty, Brock, and even Gary expected some kind of reaction to that. They had all 
known Ash in his younger days and they knew how quickly a compliment could go to 
his head. This was why they were surprised when Ash's face remained impassive, 
except for an unreadable emotion that flashed through his eyes. He averted his 
face, blocking his expression from view. 

"Are you coming then?" he asked Lorelei, apparently ignoring her statement.

She nodded and they began to make their way from the cavern, Ash and Misty in 
the lead. Misty cast a quick glance at him. When he thought no one was looking 
she could see an incredible amount of sadness in his countenance, his expression 
was depressed and weary. 

Gary stopped abruptly when Ash and Misty disappeared from view. The tunnel 
suddenly became much darker when Pikachu vanished with them, taking his light 
source with him. 

"Where did they go?" Brock said, pulling a flashlight from his bag.

Lorelei pushed her way to the front of the group and joined Gary as he examined 
a large hole, which had suddenly appeared in the path in front of them. 

"Uh oh," she said.

"What's wrong?" Erika asked, unable to see the hole or anything for that matter, 
since Brock, Gary and Lorelei were surrounding it and all three of them were at 
least a head taller than she. 

"That leads to an underground cavern," Lorelei explained.

"So?" Brock asked.

"Well, normally it wouldn't be a problem," Lorelei began. "But the tide's 
rising." True to her word, they could hear the sound of rushing water growing 
louder, even though they were a good distance from the underground river. "That 
cavern fills with water during high tide. If we don't get them out of there 
they'll drown."

Gary kneeled, then laid flat on his stomach, looking into the hole, although he 
was unable to see anything. "Ash?" he called. They listened for a moment before 
an answer echoed through the dark tunnel. 

"We're okay," Ash's voice called. "But we're stuck down here. The tunnel is full 
of mud. It's too slick for even Pikachu to climb up."

"Hang on, we'll figure something out," Gary called. He stood, brushing the dirt 
from his front.

"So what do we do?" Erika asked. She had taken Gary's position between Brock and 
Lorelei. 

"Here," Brock said, pulling his backpack from his shoulders and unzipping it. 
"We packed rope with our supplies." He extracted a length of rope and handed it 
to Gary, who immediately began uncoiling it.

He was about to throw one end of the rope down the hole when Misty called to 
them. "What's taking so long?" she demanded.

"Come on, Gary," Ash yelled up at them. "This place is filling up with water 
fast, it's up to our ankles."

"That wouldn't happen to be Satoshi down there now would it?" a familiar but 
unwelcome voice called out. 

Gary looked up to see a blonde woman standing smugly with her hands upon her 
hips, her aquamarine haired partner next to her. Over fifty Team Rocket agents 
stood behind them, blocking the only exit. They were easily seen because of the 
growlithe at their feet who was using flash to light the tunnel. The pokemon sat 
obediently at their heels, growling softly at Gary and the others.

"Cassidy," Gary growled. "How many times do we have to beat you before you'll 
crawl into a hole and die?"

"See, Shigeru," Cassidy said with a smirk. "Right there is your problem. Looks 
to me like there is no 'we' right now. Satoshi isn't up here to protect you."

Gary's stormy gray eyes flashed angrily.

"Admit it, Shigeru," Butch chimed in. "You're nothing without Satoshi."

Gary surpressed the growl that was rising in his throat. Butch was trying to 
bait him and he knew it. "I do recall being ranked number one sharpshooter, 
Butch. What were you again?" Gary asked in a light tone. "That's right, only 
second best."

Where Butch had failed Gary had succeeded, for Butch snarled at Gary, looking 
remarkably like the growlithe at his feet. His anger had gotten the better of 
him.

"What good will that do you now?" Cassidy quickly asked Gary, sensing her 
partner's sudden anger. "You can only shoot so many of us before one of us gets 
you. Not to mention Growlithe here," she said gesturing at the fire pokemon. "He 
will bite you before you could get a shot off. It's a shame you don't have 
Satoshi and his damn rodent here with you."

Their conversation was interrupted by Ash, who once again was calling up to 
them. "Gary, hurry. The water is rising really fast."

They all turned their attention to the hole at Gary's feet. They had nearly 
forgotten about Ash and Misty. Gary went to throw the rope when he heard Butch 
say, "Don't even think about it."

He looked up to see Butch's pistol trained on him, his finger itching to pull 
the trigger.

"They'll drown," Gary protested.

"I know," Butch said, a malicious smile forming upon his face. 





A/N: Ooops... a cliffhanger. *Runs from all the rotten vegatables being thrown 
at her* Well, at least I updated right? Even if it is a cliffhanger... Well I'm 
so sorry it took so long to update, but I was taking two acting classes, and a 
writing class, and my birthday was last week, and I had to go check out some 
colleges, not to mention my summer homework... basically I haven't had any time. 
Please don't be mad. *Looks pleading* Ok now onto something relevant... Just 
because Ash is ok with Misty and Gary being together does NOT mean that's what 
the coupling is going to be. I mean think about it, I just put Ash and Misty 
into a dark tunnel together, and they may die... I'm thinking some sort of 
confessions will be happening. BUT that doesn't mean that Ash and Erika are out 
either. To make a long author's note even longer, I would like to say that the 
pairings may come out in the next chapter. But I already know who I'm pairing 
people with, so no matter how much you scream, whine, cry, yell, or plead, it 
will make no difference for I know who's gonna end up with who. But I'm not 
telling. :P

On a completly different tangent, if any of you read Buffy the Vampire Slayer go 
read "Retribution of angels" by AcUpOfJaVy. It's a really good story and the 
poor kid isn't getting the reviews he deserves. 

Anyway now that I've talked until your brains have turned to water and run out 
your ears, please review!!