The slide down the tunnel was quite disconcerting for Ash, not only because he 
had no control of his body as he slipped down the muddy slope, but also because 
he couldn't see where he was going. Pikachu, in a panic, had dug his claws into 
Ash's hair and was clinging to him for dear life, successfully filling Ash's 
vision with nothing but yellow fur. He suddenly landed hard on his rear with a 
jolt, Pikachu still attached to him.

Misty quickly followed, sliding from the steep tunnel directly into Ash's lap. 
They sat for a moment, dazed, until Misty realized her position and quickly 
scrambled to stand.

Ash pried the yellow pokemon from his face and began to pet him, calming the 
tense rodent. It was, Ash observed, fortunate that Pikachu had fallen with them, 
for he provided them with plenty of light to see their new surroundings.

They had fallen into another cavern, although this one was much smaller than any 
of the caverns they had yet visited. The other attribute that set this cavern 
apart was the fact that the floor was covered in a thick layer of mud. Ash and 
Misty almost didn't notice this until they realized the back of their clothes 
were wet and heavy from the mud that had clung to them after sliding down the 
tunnel.

"Ugh," Misty said, spreading her arms wide and twisting to see her mud covered 
back.

Ash just looked up at her before pushing his hand into the soggy earth for 
balance and standing.

"Pikachu pi!" Pikachu called as he quickly scrambled up Ash's pants and shirt to 
take his place on his shoulder.

"Pikachu!" Ash said, exasperated. Small muddy paw prints were now visible upon 
the front of his pants and shirt, which had been relatively clean compared to 
the rest of him.

"Where are we?" Misty asked, looking around the small cave.

"It looks like an underground cave," Ash answered as he tried in vain to remove 
some of the mud that remained plastered to his clothes.

"Brilliant," Misty said, rolling her eyes. "Not like I couldn't have figured 
that out on my own."

"Then why did you ask?" Ash said, a small smile on his lips.

"I wanted to know if you knew how to get out," she retorted. "I should have 
known you wouldn't. You were always getting us lost."

"Oh, let it go already," Ash said, rolling his eyes. "That was years ago."

"Yes, and I can see your sense of direction hasn't gotten any better!"

Pikachu settled himself on Ash's shoulder, ready for another long Ash and Misty 
fight.

"Hey!" Ash cried. "I didn't LEAD us in here! We just fell!"

Misty raised her eyebrows, the result giving her a maddeningly superior look. 
"If I recall, you were LEADING the group."

"I didn't... Oh, forget it!" Ash yelled.

Misty smiled. Then she began to laugh, her voice echoing off the close walls.

Ash stared at her in astonishment.

Seeing his expression she said, "That's the most we've talked since you showed 
up at the gym. It's a shame I had to get you in a fight before you would talk to 
me."

He eyed her wearily before heading over to the tunnel they had slid down. "It's 
kind of hard to talk to someone when they are ignoring you," he said, his back 
to her.

"What?" she nearly yelled the question, but restrained herself. She watched as 
Pikachu struggled to climb up the slick tunnel before sliding back into Ash's 
arms. "We didn't ignore you."

He shot a skeptical glance over his shoulder.

She sighed and began to play with her braid, at least until she realized it was 
caked with mud. She scrunched up her nose and threw the braid back over her 
shoulder. "Okay, maybe we did ignore you a bit."

Before Ash could say anything they heard Gary's voice calling down to them. Ash 
called back that they were okay but stuck.

"Hang on," Gary called. "We'll figure something out."

Pikachu climbed back onto Ash's shoulder as Ash turned to face Misty.

"Ash?" Misty said, wondering how to phrase the question she had in a way that 
wouldn't make him angry or cause him to shut himself off from her.

He looked at her expectantly.

"Why didn't you seem happy when Lorelei told you that you could have won the 
Pokemon League?"

His head jerked up in surprise and for a moment he only stared at her.

Misty thought he was not going to answer, or worse, he was going to yell at her, 
but instead he said softly, "Isn't it obvious? That was my dream." He lowered 
his eyes. "It represents all I ever wanted: to be the best and to share that 
success with my family and friends. Now it represents everything I've lost."

Misty didn't know what she had expected him to say, but that hadn't been it.

"Did you know Tracey had joined Team Rocket?" Ash asked suddenly.

Misty shook her head, completely shocked. Tracey? In Team Rocket?

"We were sent to stop the uprisings in the Orange Islands," Ash explained.

"I thought Tracey was still with Professor Oak," Misty said, confused.

"He moved back to the islands not long after Giovanni's takeover," Ash told her. 
"The islands were not under such strict rules back then." He paused, then began 
the story. "He saw me during one of the riots, after some Rockets had set fire 
to his town. His home was gone, so was his family. It's my fault he joined; he 
thought of me as his brother and wanted to be near what he considered the only 
family he had left." Ash shook his head. "The things they do in Team Rocket ... 
to pokemon ... to humans. It wasn't surprising he couldn't handle it."

Misty opened her mouth to speak but Ash continued.

"He deserted after a year and a half."

"What happened?" Misty asked.

"He was shot in the back as he boarded the ferry to go back to the islands."

Misty's hand flew to her mouth. It was then Misty realized that Ash had grown 
from a dense pokemon trainer to a young man who had seen far to much pain and 
death for having lived such a short time.

They stood in silence for a moment before Misty remembered when Ash had once 
called Gary a "crack shot."

"Did Gary..." she trailed off.

"No," Ash said, understanding what she was asking. "We weren't that well known 
in Team Rocket yet. Butch and Cassidy handled it."

"But when you were well known, did Gary ever..." again she didn't finish her 
sentence.

Ash averted his eyes and did not answer her.

"Did you?" she whispered. Again he said nothing.

Misty lowered her gaze and it was then she realized that her shoes weren't only 
wet because of the thick mud she was standing in. The small cavern was filling 
with water. This combined with the story Ash had just told her made her feel 
nauseous. "What's taking so long?" she yelled up the tunnel.

After a moment of silence Misty said, "I'm sorry, Ash."

He looked at her in astonishment. "For what?"

"I'm sorry you were forced to do that." She placed a hand on his arm. "It must 
be eating you up inside."

Ash smiled gratefully at her words, as if he had been searching for 
understanding and had finally been given it.

"What's going on up there?" Misty muttered, changing the subject and gazing up 
the dark tunnel for any sign of help.

The water had reached their knees in no time at all. "Gary hurry, the water is 
rising really fast," Ash called.

They listened; there was no response. They waited, and soon the water had 
climbed past their waists and there was still no indication that any help was on 
the way.

"Ash," Misty said suddenly, biting her lip nervously. "There's something I have 
been wanting to tell you and now seems like as good a time as any."

Ash quirked an eyebrow at this, for he could think of plenty of better times to 
tell him something.

Misty began to play with her braid before she took a deep breath and blurted 
out, "I have feelings for you."

"What?" Ash spluttered, clearly not expecting that. Misty hadn't seen him look 
so dumbfounded since he had seen Brock go girl crazy for the first time.

Ash closed his eyes, marveling at how much more complicated his life had just 
become.

~*~*~

She hadn't thought it would ever happen, but she found herself thanking God she 
was short.

"All right you three," Butch said, aiming his gun at them. "Let's go."

It had only taken Erika a moment to notice that he had said three instead of 
four. She realized that in standing behind the very tall Gary, Brock, and 
Lorelei she was effectively hidden from the Rocket's view. It also helped that 
the light emanating from the Arcanine was not strong enough to greatly 
illuminate her position.

"Drop the gun Shigeru," Cassidy ordered.

Sighing, Gary obeyed, tossing the gun a few feet from himself.

"No," Butch said, a sneer on his face. "Into the hole."

Gary glared at him, his steely gray eyes boring into Butch's, before sweeping 
the gun into the hole with his foot. They all listened until the clatter of the 
gun was inaudible.

All the while Erika had begun slowly slinking backward, silently praying she 
could make it around the corner behind her without being seen. When she was out 
of sight she leaned heavily against the wall, wishing the Rockets would hurry 
and exit the tunnel. She knew Ash and Misty didn't have much time before the 
cavern they were trapped in filled up with water. Erika also had a feeling that 
without Ash Gary didn't have much time either, at least judging by the almost 
crazed look in Butch's eyes every time he pointed his gun at Gary.

There was an exchange between Gary and Butch that resulted in some name calling, 
then she heard Cassidy order them out of the tunnel. Only when the tunnel had 
become silent did Erika dare to look around the corner.

She was alone, the tunnel having been left dark and empty. Breathing a sigh of 
relief Erika turned on her flashlight, then rushed to the hole where the length 
of rope still sat. Tossing it into the hole she waited until she felt a tug 
before securing it tightly to a nearby stalagmite.

She watched the rope anxiously until Misty appeared through the hole. "What the 
hell took you guys-" The redhead stopped when she saw that Erika was the only 
one there.

Ash was not far behind Misty. Both stood looking curiously around, water 
dripping off their muddy and drenched clothing.

Pikachu had emerged with Ash and his presence relit the tunnel.

"What happened?" Ash asked, frowning.

Erika quickly related all that had happened and Ash's scowl deepened.

"How do they keep finding us?" he said before breaking into a run towards the 
entrance, Pikachu on his heels.

When Ash stopped abruptly, Misty and Erika nearly plowed into him. From their 
position they could hear Cassidy's arrogant voice as she ordered Gary and the 
others onto the large ship that Team Rocket had used to get to Seafoam Isle.

"Erika," Ash said, turning to look at her. "I need you to distract them. Just 
coming out of the cave should do it, they won't know where you came from."

Erika nodded, nervously adjusting her red headband.

Turning to Misty, Ash said, "Do you have Gary's gun?"

She nodded, pulling it from the waist of her jeans.

"I want you to cover my back," Ash said, pulling his staff from it's holster and 
wiping dried mud from it. He looked back at the two women; Misty especially 
seemed apprehensive about her task.

Noting her expression of doubt he said, "Now covering my back does not mean 
shooting me in the back."

Pikachu, who sat at Ash's feet, snorted at this. Misty shot Ash a glare. Ash was 
only teasing, for he knew that Misty had greatly improved her shooting skills 
since her first feeble attempts.

Ignoring him, Misty opened the chamber of Gary's gun and was pleased to find it 
fully loaded. She closed it with a satisfying click.

Ash nodded. "Be careful," he told Erika. "Be sure to get them out of the way 
when all hell breaks loose."

Words failing her she gave a brisk nod and began to make her way out of the 
cavern.

Brock, Gary, and Lorelei all stood facing the Rocket's, jackets and hair being 
blown by the ocean wind.

"Guys?" Erika called loudly, purposely drawing attention to herself. "Where did 
you-" She stopped abruptly, pretending to just now see the Rockets.

As soon as she had spoken several guns and all eyes were on her. She quickly 
threw her arms in the air, surrendering. Cassidy ordered her to join the others 
and she obeyed.

"Erika are you insane?" Brock hissed.

She ignored the question. "When the shooting starts get to cover," she muttered.

Upon hearing this, Gary allowed the corner of his mouth to tilt in amusement but 
did not make any other obvious actions to signal something was going to happen.

While the Rockets had all been watching Erika, Ash and Misty had snuck around 
behind them, taking cover behind the boat that had been abused by the vicious 
gyrados.

"Okay Misty," Ash whispered when they were situated. "When I say to, take out 
the man near Gary, preferably in the arm. We need to get Gary a weapon."

Misty nodded, swallowing nervously.

He noticed the action and placed his hand on her arm. "You'll be fine," he told 
her sincerely. "Just stay out of sight.

She nodded again, forcing the sudden emotions in her out of her mind. Nothing 
could distract her, especially not what Ash had said in response to her 
confession. She smiled and shook her head. She would think about that later.

Neither Butch nor Cassidy knew quite what to do when a yellow blur came running 
onto the beach, kicking up sand as it moved. Coming right into their line of 
vision it stopped abruptly and they found themselves staring at a pikachu that 
now sat between them and the rebels. Clicking could be heard across the beach as 
a number of guns were aimed at the pokemon.

"Pi?" he asked sweetly, cocking his head and staring at the Rockets.

"You don't think Satoshi..." Butch began.

"No," Cassidy snapped. "The little rodent just found its way out. Satoshi, with 
any luck, is already dead."

"Pikapi?" the electric mouse asked, moving a few steps closer to the Rockets, 
his ears perked slightly, before sitting.

"Keep your gun on it," Cassidy told Butch. "If there is so much as a spark from 
it, shoot it."

"Pikachu pi?" Pikachu asked, before again moving closer a few steps and sitting 
once more, a curious expression upon its face. He now sat close to Cassidy's 
feet.

The Rocket's watched the little pokemon in fascination and slowly most the the 
guns began to lower, until Butch was the only one left, his finger still on the 
trigger.

Pikachu sniffed the air, his ears twitching. He then took everyone by surprise 
by jumping into Cassidy's arms with a loud, "Cha!" He moved around, making 
himself comfortable before saying, "Pi chu pikachu pi."

Cassidy appeared absolutely horrified at having Pikachu snuggle in her arms. 
"What the hell is it saying?" she asked Gary.

"How should I know?" Gary replied with a shrug. "I'm not his trainer."

Pikachu climbed onto Cassidy's shoulder, then onto her head, pushing her blonde 
hair into her eyes. She remained utterly still as one might be when they had 
something particularly nasty crawling on them. The yellow pokemon looked at 
Butch then said, "Pikachu pi pikachu kachu pi."

"Oh, I know what he said!" Gary called.

"What?" Butch asked, looking at him.

Gary grinned as he translated. "You wont see any sparks because I powered up in 
the cave."

Butch spun around to look at the electric rodent but it was too late. Pikachu 
had leapt from Cassidy's head and while in the air released a powerful 
thunderbolt, knocking a third of the Rockets immediately unconscious.

Before Butch or Cassidy could react, a gunshot rang out and the man closest to 
Gary fell to his knees, clutching his wounded arm. Gary lunged for the dropped 
rifle and ran for the cave, which provided sufficient cover and a good position 
for shots.

The rest of the group headed for the boat, where Ash had just come sprinting 
from bravely (or stupidly) heading into the mayhem that had just been created.

Shouts rang out from confused Rockets as more in their ranks fell from Misty's 
bullets. In a rage Cassidy had ripped Butch's pistol from his grasp and had 
begun to unload the gun at Pikachu, who's agility allowed the pokemon to easily 
dodge the bullets.

Fortunately an unarmed Butch did nothing to help the Rocket's cause and made 
Ash's job easier. It was difficult enough fighting the other Team Rocket members 
who occasionally took a shot at him without having to dodge bullets from Butch's 
expert shots.

The fact that Ash was vastly outnumbered did not seem to phase him. He thrived 
on this sort of thing. The more dangerous the odds and the less likely he was to 
make it out alive, the more he liked it. The Rockets rounded on Ash like a swarm 
of bees on a man who disturbed its nest.

Gary and Misty slowly picked off the Rockets on the outside of the group, paying 
particular attention to those who were taking aim at Ash.

Butch had finally taken his gun from Cassidy and, using a nearby rock for cover, 
he began taking shots at Gary who removed his attention from Ash and focused it 
on Butch.

Pikachu, now free from Cassidy's barrage of bullets, began helping by shocking 
as many Rockets as he could, until through everyone's combined eforrts the swarm 
of Rockets had diminished to little more than ten men. These men backed warily 
away from Ash, who was spinning his bow menacingly, but not to far back, for 
Pikachu stood not far behind them, crouched on all fours sparks emitting from 
his cheeks.

Through the chaos a gunshot could be heard. It wasn't that unusual since gunfire 
had been erupting ever since Misty had taken the first shot. What made this shot 
different is that the shooter aimed with every intention to kill.

No one had realized what had happened until Pikachu cried out in despair. The 
sound of the cry turned Gary's stomach to lead and he watched in horror as Ash 
fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. Looking around wildly his eyes came to 
rest on Cassidy, who stood with a fallen teammate's gun in her hand, smiling 
triumphantly. Making her way through the remaining standing Rockets, who had 
gathered around the fallen form of Ash, she knelt, rolling him onto his back.

"Pity," she called, loud enough for at least Gary to hear. "He's still alive." 
The wind from the ocean blew her disheveled hair from her face as she stood, 
pressing her heel into Ash's stomach, causing him to emit a low moan.

Removing the safety of her gun with a click, she aimed it at Ash's head. "Put 
down your weapons and come out, or this time I'll make sure he's dead."



A/N: And again with the horrible cliffhangers. What is the matter with me? Oh, 
and did anyone notice my lie about the pairings coming out in this chapter? It 
wasn't meant to be a lie, but I think I'll leave the actual content of Misty and 
Ash's conversation out of the picture until I can devote more time and energy to 
it. Sorry kids, you still have to wait on the couplings. Please forgive the long 
waits between chapters, life stinks and finds all sorts of ways to suck up all 
your free time. I have a few email addresses that don't work when I try to mail 
you a notice about the updates. If you didn't get an email telling you I updated 
please let me know. I hope to post the next chapter soon but you know how that 
is. Please review!