Chapter 19 – Part 4 It started as a low rumble, Koga’s laughter, rising louder and deeper as Ash’s defeat appeared sealed and his undefeated steak had continued for yet another match. “You see boy, no one can defeat me. Why did you even think you could try?” “Because,” Ash began, a small smile on his face, “you never lose til you’ve lost.” A frown creased Koga’s face as he took another look at the two pokemon the battle field. On four small, trembling legs stood Phanpy taking in shuddering breaths that racked her entire body. Gritting her teeth through the pain, she lifted her trunk into the air, squinting through one eye through the barrier of pain that tried to stop her every move and summoned the strength to create many golden spheres that moved in an intricate pattern before her. Unable to do anything other than perch precariously in an upright position, Venomoth took the full brunt of the attack to be shot backwards to the wall of the room. Slowly, Phanpy lowered her trunk and with a deep breath in and out she ceased her trembling to stand, proud and victorious before her beaten opponent and its trainer. Koga shot Ash a look full of fury and rage before his entire surroundings vanished in a haze of dark black, swirling smoke. At once the black became a blinding white and Ash could sense no more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Mee..mee..” a confusing, seemingly unfamiliar, yet still oddly familiar noise tried to invade upon Ash’s unconscious state of mind while a soft nudging and tapping occurred on his face by a small paw. Swatting the nuisance away lazily with his hand, Ash's mind tried to go back to the state of unconsciousness it had previously been habituating. The sound continued to probe at his mind, becoming louder and more insistent, “Mee, pmee…pieekaa…pikaa..oouu..piiikaachuu” Through his befuddled mind, one word came through that sent a spark of recognition to set of a chain of reactions that lead to one ending. Pikachu. His eyes snapped open and he shot bolt upright to stare wide eyed at the beautiful, healthy, glossy coated, shining yellow electric rodent that stood before him known as Pikachu. Euphoria exploded within him as he opened his arms wide and hugged his most precious pokemon close to him, tears forming in both his and Pikachu’s eyes at the sheer joy of being reunited and together again for ever. Opening his eyes and releasing his pokemon who hopped up onto his shoulder to remain as close as possible to him he automatically let his hand fly behind him to his belt where he felt the familiar feel of five pokeballs, safely strapped to him. Beside him lay his bag, completely and fully intact, strange considering how the straps had been torn while under water. His attention was suddenly caught by a small, bright pink object, the in the shape of a heart lying next to where he had woken up. Picking it up for a closer inspection, his eyes widened in shock when he realised it was a Soul Badge, one received after defeating the Fuchsia Gym leader. A small smile crossed his lips when he carefully placed it next to his other three badges in his badge case and taking a moment to admire it with Pikachu. But something was till missing. Whipping around sharply, he focused intensely on the figure behind him, the red hair standing out painfully obvious. Murmuring her name in a rush of air that escaped his lips he dropped his badge case and spun round to lift her by her shoulders onto his lap. “Misty…Misty!” he said, each time more insistent before beginning to shake her shoulder a little. Her head flopped still onto his shoulder and he stared at her face the whole time as his spirits began to sink lower and lower. He closed his eyes and hung his head over her as moisture began to form in his eyes yet again. She moved. Stretching as she began to become fully conscious and her eyes fluttered open to gaze straight into Ash’s grief stricken face above her. Before she could fully wake up, he pulled her up into a tight hug, burying his face in her hair that had fallen down at the loss of it’s restraint. Gently at first and increasing with every passing moment, Misty returned to hug as the last thing she could remember of falling down and down away from him surfaced to her memory again as she relived seeing his terrified face. “You’re alright…” he whispered, still clutching her close. “So are you…” she quietly replied. Pikachu frowned at the two teens from the floor next to him. Where had he seen this bit before? Giving a shrug of “they’re hopeless” he looked left and right about their surroundings. They were on the path again, outside the gym except this time there was no fake wall in the road and the doors were sealed tightly shut. Turning back again to his human companions, he noted that their relief to see each other again and been taken over by embarrassment as they each busied themselves with their belongings, checking their pokemon were in order before taking to the road again. “Oh, I got my gym badge by the way.” Said Ash with a wry smile as he held his new badge aloft for Misty’s inspection. “That’s excellent! I’m glad you did because we would NOT be going back in there again if you wanted to re-challenge him.” She stated. “Why would I want to go back in there, just for a gym badge?” he asked her as if she was crazy while pointing at the doors of the closed gym. “Because you’re you, stupid!” She replied lightly with a giggle and took off down the path at a light jog, glancing over her shoulders at him. “Hey!” he protested, taking off after her once his badge and case were back in his bag while Pikachu wearily followed them with a tired expression to leap again upon his trainer’s shoulder and settle down for a brief nap. So far, it had been a tiring day and it wasn’t even lunch time yet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~