Ash was glad to be back in his own bed, in warm Pallet Town. It felt so nice to be
able to actually feel his toes again. Not that the top of Mount Moon had been
all that bad (after all, Misty had gone with him), but being cold reminded him of being
trapped in the ruins with May.
'Why did she go through all that trouble to try and steal me from Misty?' he thought. "Whatcha thinking about, Ash?" asked Brock. He was sitting on the sofa in Ash's bedroom, while Ash was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "Are you shivering, Ash? Let's go outside. It's nice out today," continued Brock. "Brock, did Misty tell you what happened on Mt. Moon?" Brock thought for a moment. "No, I don't think so...why, did you guys have another fight?"
"No, nothing like that. May, you know--Gary's sister, was there. She's Professor Oak's new chief assistant. Anyway, she trapped herself in an ice cave with me by sealing it with dynamite. She tried to seduce me and steal me from Misty. Misty showed up just before she..." Ash's voice trailed off. He couldn't help but think, what would have happened in that cave if Misty hadn't shown up? Would he have been able to fight her off? What if he had given in to her?
"Wow, I didn't know. Why don't you tell me these things?" asked Brock, "I'm here for you to talk to anytime. That's what friends do, Ash. They help each other out when they need it." Ash broke out of his contemplation. "Thanks, Brock. That means a lot. Well, nothing happened regardless. Misty dug us out just in time to grab May off of me and send her sailing a few miles with her mallet. She was upset for a while that someone was after me, but I calmed her down. I just hope...I hope May doesn't keep doing things like that." Ash looked a little apprehensive. Brock nodded in understanding.
"Okay, I'll see what I can do to help. How much do you want to bet that Gary would be a big help on this one?" asked Brock, grinning widely. "What? Gary help me? Never." "I wouldn't be too sure of that. It's either help you out or risk having his sister following you around. Which do you think he would prefer?" Ash thought about this. "You might have something there. He might help if somebody put it to him that way!"
"Leave that to me," said Brock. (Is it me, or does Brock sound like Darth Vader?)
Later that day, Ash was watching television. There was a semi-interesting show about pokemon makeovers on, and Ash was waiting for the segment on grooming Pikachus. He was quietly chuckling because of a Koffing that was wearing make-up and a wig, when his front door burst open.
Ash looked up...to find May charging at him! "WAHHH!" he screamed, trying to get away from her, but only succeeding in scrambling half way across the sofa before she pinned him down. "At last, you're mine!" she whispered in triumph.
"I don't think so, sis," said Gary as he walked through the door, pulling May off of Ash. "Eh-heh, what are you doing here little brother?" she asked. "Oh, just keeping you from shagging 'loser-boy' over there," he said, pointing at Ash and snearing. "He is not a loser! I love him!" she yelled. "Yeah right. You're just lusting after him. It's really pathetic, sis." he retorted. She fought to get out of Gary's grip as he drug her out the door, but couldn't get away.
"Thanks, Gary!" Ash yelled cheerfully after them. "GRRR! I'm not doing this to help you, loser! I'm doing this for my sister!" he yelled back at Ash. "Sure, sure," Ash said, turning his attention back to the television. 'Thank you Brock!' he thought.
*RING-RING-RING! PHONE CALL, PHONE CALL! RING-RING-RING!*
Ash sighed as he got up and answered the phone. "Hello?" he said wearily. "Ash!" said an excited female voice on the other end, "I'm glad I caught you at home!" He looked up at the videophone to find himself staring into a set of gorgeous green eyes. "Gaaa..." Ash could feel his jaw hanging slack and he knew he would start drooling any moment. He tried to snap himself out of it. 'What would Misty do if she saw me acting like this?' he thought. Misty's name finally brought him back in touch with reality. "Uhh...Hi, Erika," Ash said.
"Ash, I've been wanting to tell you something....but I can't tell you over the phone," she said. Her face was flushed with embarassment. "Would it be okay if I...came over to visit?" she asked shyly. 'What's the deal with Erika?' Ash thought. "Well...I guess that would be okay," Ash admitted. "Yeah! I'll drop by later this evening," she said happily.
"Wait, later this evening? Where are you?" he asked. It was too late, though. She had already hung up. "Hmm..." someone said behind Ash, making him jump. "WAHH! Don't do that Brock!" Ash yelled. "This could be a problem," said Brock. "Wh-why do you say that?" "I think she likes you," Brock teased. "You're crazy! There's no way that I have two psychopathic females after me!" (Oh really? We'll see about that!)
*Knock-knock-knock*
'Who knocks at our door?' thought Ash, 'Most people either use the doorbell or just walk right in.' "Coming!" Ash yelled. He was the only person at home right now, since Misty had gone shopping, Brock had gone girl-chasing, and Delia had gone...umm...shopping (yeah, that's it!).
Ash opened the door. "Hi, Ashy," said the stunning beauty that was standing on his front porch. Ash stood frozen in place. 'Wh-wh-who is this?' "Hello? Ash? Are you okay?" Ash finally recognized her. "Oh...hehe...hi Erika!" he said finally, scratching the back of his head nervously. "Hehe, you're cute," she said. She blushed as soon as she had said this, but Ash didn't really notice.
"So ummm...can I come in?" she asked. "Oh, yeah. Sure. Come in," he stuttered. He was having problems even stringing words together. 'She's so hot...FOCUS ASH!' "So, what have you been up to lately?" he asked as he sat down in an easy chair. She looked a little disappointed as she sat on the sofa, but quickly covered it. 'I know he's noticed the way I look...but will that be enough?' she thought.
"Oh, I quit as the Celadon City gym leader. I got bored with the job, so I decided to travel around and try different styles of battling," she said. "Wow, that's cool. I always thought that it was a good idea to have a balanced style of fighting," Ash said with almost no pauses. Talking about pokemon always calmed him down. "Yes, that's exactly what I've been trying to come up with, but its harder than it sounds. I've tried training some ground, water, and bug pokemon, but I can't seem to get into fire pokemon training," she said. 'I've got him talking about pokemon now! I've gotta find a way to change the subject!'
"Well, if you can't train one element very well you have to make up for it with other elements," said Ash wisely, "So, I would suggest that since you don't like fire pokemon, train your grass and water pokemon well so that you have strong enough grass types to stand up to a fire pokemon and strong enough water types to knock them out with no problems." 'Wow, he's really become a great trainer...he's so dreamy...'
"I'm grateful for these tips, Ash, but..." she blushed. "Oh, right. You said you had something to tell me," said Ash. "Yeah...well...'how can I put this...oh, just say it!'...Ash?" she finally looked into his eyes. "Hmm?" "I...I didn't just quit my job as gym trainer because I was bored with the work. I also did it because I fell in love," she said. 'I don't think I like where this is headed...' thought Ash. "I fell in love with you, Ash. I want to be near you always. Please, tell me I can stay with you," Her eyes shined with hope.
'Oh, boy. This is not good. I can't just say "no" because that would be too cruel. I also can't say "yes" because that would be a lie. What am I going to do?!!' Ash thought for a few moments before taking a deep breath. "Erika, I'm very flattered. I had no idea you felt this way about me," he began. Erika sensed where this was going and tears began filling her eyes. 'Oh, great!' he thought. "Please, don't cry. I mean it when I say I'm flattered. It means a lot to think that a girl like you would want to be with me, but I already have a special someone. Erika, you'll make somebody really happy. You're smart, you're a great trainer, and you're beautiful, but I'm already in love," Ash said sadly. He knew this was probably breaking her heart.
Erika's eyes were shining with unshed tears, but she managed to hold them at bay. "Who?" she asked quietly. "Misty." "I understand, Ash. She beat me to you...but all's fair and love and war...and this is a war for love," she said quietly. Ash almost didn't recognize the words she was saying as a threat. Her tone was calm and her demeanor was cool and collected. He didn't quite understand what was going on until she pulled out a pokeball.
"Time for Plan B. I choose you...Gloom." The plant pokemon appeared right in front of Ash. "WAHH!" he yelled as he realized what she was doing. Ash panicked as he reached for a pokeball of his own... and remembered he wasn't wearing his pokebelt! "Gloom, sleep powder." Ash felt dizzy as he slumped back in his chair. The room seemed to be spinning and he couldn't seem to muster the strength to sit up or move his arms or legs. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was Erika standing in front of him, petting her Gloom and smiling.
"Hello there, sleepy-head," she said sexily, "I wondered when you would wake up." She leaned over onto his bed and slowly crawled toward him until she was right on top of him, her face barely an inch from his own. "Now we can have some fun." 'I've gotta get out of here...but I can't move!' Ash was struggling with every ounce of his willpower, but couldn't even twitch one finger. "Oh, don't try to struggle," she scolded, "Just relax and try to enjoy this. She began unbuttoning his shirt. Then, she took off his belt. She was unfastening his pants when he managed to get a small response from his body. "Erika...don't..." was all he managed to say.
She froze in place, stopping what she was doing. She looked up into his eyes, which were pleading for her to stop. She looked sad for a moment, but then her face got more determined. "You'll change your mind," she said confidently. When she finished offing his pants, she noticed that he wasn't "excited" enough for what she had in mind. 'Damn, looks like I'll have to put on a show for him.' She started to do a sexy striptease-style dance. All Ash could do was stare at her. He knew he shouldn't look, but he was too mezmerized to look away. 'This can't be happening...' he thought, 'I don't want Erika to be my first time...'
Someone screamed in the hallway. "AHHHH! A BUG!!" It was Misty. Ash panicked. Would she come in and find him helplessly being seduced by Erika? Would she save him? Would she kill him? Was she going to faint in the hallway? "Misty...I'm coming..." Ash said quietly, fighting the paralysis harder than ever. He started to move his fingers and toes, then his hands. He slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, then crawled toward the door.
"Oh, no you don't!" yelled Erika, grabbing Gloom's pokeball. Gloom was called out and paralyzed Ash again. Erika then returned it and looked nervously at the door. 'I hope my bug will do the trick...' "PIKACHU!" Ash heard his pokemon in the hallway. 'Thank goodness Pikachu heard Misty scream. The poor guy's been sleeping downstairs almost all day. "Babysitting Togepi"...yeah right.' Ash then recalled the seriousness of his situation. 'I've gotta get out of here!'
*Knock-knock-knock* "Ash, are you in there?" Misty was knocking on the door to Ash's room. Erika looked around frantically. Ash's door didn't have a lock. She rushed around to find something to block the door with, making plenty of noise in the process. "Ash?" the voice sounded concerned. "Misty..." Ash managed to say. "Ash, there was a weedle in the..." The door opened a crack, then slammed open fully when Misty saw Erika rushing around, scantilly clad as she was. "Ash? WHO'S THAT?!" Misty finished with a scream of rage. (This could get ugly....hehehehe) "Pikapi! (Pikapi!)" "Hey Pikachu..." Ash said. He was still having trouble moving and talking. "Pika-pika...PIKACHU! (Are you okay...WOAH!)" Pikachu had spotted what Misty had just screamed about: Erika, standing in the middle of Ash's room, wearing only a lacy bra and a frilly pair of panties. "Eh-heh...hi..." said Erika.
Pikachu and Misty both looked at Ash, confused (in Pikachu's case) and furious (Misty). "WHAT IS GOING ON? ASH KETCHUM, I WANT AN EXPLANATION NOW!" she screamed. She turned to glare at Ash. He didn't seem to be moving. In fact, he hadn't moved since she had first spotted him. "Ash?" she asked, walking over to him, temporarily forgetting about Erika. As she looked at him, laying there, she could clearly see relief in his eyes, but his facial expression was blank. "Erika, you bitch! You paralyzed him!" Misty screamed as she came to the relization. "I can't believe you're trying to seduce him, too!" "You mean...I'm not the only one trying to seduce Ash?" Erika asked. Ash, Misty, and Pikachu all sweatdropped.
"Heh-heh...I'll just be leaving now..." she said, edging towards the door. (Kenshin cringes, knowing what's coming) *WHOMP!* Erika went sailing across the room, struck the wall, and fell to the floor, unconscious. "Now, let's find you a paralyze heal," said Misty, turning her attention back to Ash. She blushed when she saw he had on only his boxers, but tried to hide it. "Pika..."
When Erika woke up, she found herself lying on the couch in Ash's living room. Her head hurt and she remembered the mallet smashing her against the wall. She remembered most of what happened earlier. She had come to understand several important facts: Ash was in love with Misty and, judging by Misty's actions, the feeling was mutual. 'Do I really love him?' she thought for the first time ever. 'I never questioned it before, but now that I think about it, would I have done that if I really loved him?' She sat up, holding her aching head in her hands. 'Maybe...maybe I don't! Oh, this is too confusing...I don't think I love him. I feel so stupid!' She decided she would apologize to Misty and Ash and try to make it up to them.
"Do you think saying 'I'm sorry' makes up for what you did?! You tried to rape Ash!" Misty yelled. Erika flinched. She hadn't thought of what she was trying to do as rape, but she knew now that that was exactly what it had been. Tears welled up in her eyes. "I know that doesn't make up for it...but I can't think of what else to say. I was wrong. I was very wrong. I'm confused and I'm scared now. I thought I was in love with Ash, but I'm not sure now. I just wanted to apologize to you both. I thought...I thought maybe I could stay for a while and maybe find some way to make it up to you?" she finished hopefully.
Misty looked at Ash, whose expression had softened quite a bit during the dialogue with Erika. "Well? Shall we give her a chance?" she asked him. "Well...okay, but if you ever do that again I can't be responsible for what Misty does." He grinned as Erika cringed at the thought of Misty's mallet. "Point taken," she said. So, it was settled. Ash and Co. had a new friend and partner on their pokemon journey.
*Kenshin stops shuffling through his notes and looks at the screen*....WAH! It's over! Umm....let's see....Review please! I know this chapter wasn't as good
as the last one, but maybe it'll get better...or maybe it's hopeless! *sigh* But if you want to hear
something interesting...I wrote two versions of the "seduction" scene and couldn't decide which to use
soooo I combined them! I must say, that turned out better than I thought it would! Anyway, please please
please please please review!
Sayonara,
Kenshin