Disclaimer: Don’t own Pokemon! A/N: I honestly think its been about a year since I have updated anything. Sorry about that guys, but I’ve been so enthralled with school and have found a new love in computer games, lol! Also, I have somewhat lost an interest in Pokemon, seeing as I don’t watch the series anymore. Anyway, I hope I still have some loyal fans, even if a just a few, I still appreciate the reviews and kind words. Enjoy! Chapter 7 Angry storm clouds filled the evening sky, causing the horizon to become a mere illusion. The rain above pounded the ground with the force of a thousand men, merciless to those below. The thunder and lightening blasted and flashed every few seconds, illuminating the surrounding areas for but a few moments before quickly dissipating into the night, waiting to strike yet again. No lights were lit on the dim street nor was anyone risking being out on a night such as this. And yet, one figure continued to trudge the streets, unaffected by the affects the sudden storm had to offer. The figure moved carefully yet swiftly through the road, the only protection from the rain being a hooded jacket that seemed to gain more and more water as time passed. Misty hadn’t stopped walking all night, the events of the past couple of hours still reverberating within her very being. She had gotten off of the train that made a brief stop closest to the tunnel the day before and had been walking nonstop ever since. She simply could not come to terms with what had transpired and felt it too unreal for anyone, save herself, to believe. This overload upon her brain is what made her ignore her fatigue and continue to travel the road to the rock tunnel…the tunnel where… Misty shook her head of such thoughts and continued to walk, focusing on one thing and one thing only; the end of her destination. She did not know how long she had been walking, a few hours maybe, probably even more than that, but none of that mattered to her. She only cared about reaching her final destination and finding the truth. Misty pulled her coat tightly around her body, trying desperately to block out the harsh winds that whipped at her already soaked frame. Her jacket did nothing to warm her, but she continued to hold tight to the fact that she could not stop, not for anything. She felt her life hanging in the balance, knowing that the information that she would receive sooner or later would be to her disliking, but she had to know the truth…she needed proof, evidence that Ash was really… Frustrated with herself and her weaknesses, Misty violently shook her head in a failed attempt to rid her mind of these thoughts, thoughts that had made her cry and long to see Ash just one last time. She envisioned Aki and Marissa laughing at her for her foolishness and ignorance, and it made her stomach turn in disgust, knowing that they had planned it from the beginning, only using her persuasive nature to lure Ash into their trap. Upon passing the last town before her destination, she came across a hill that overlooked the whole valley. In the distance, she saw artificial lights and many tiny figures running about in the dim light doing who knows what. She saw the lights of sirens and even heard a few go off into the distance before fading away, only to be masked by the sound of the rumbling thunder. Walking down the hill, each step brought her closer to knowing the truth. But did she really want to know the answer to her questions? Of course she did! What if Ash had been rescued only minutes after the broadcast that she had witnessed on T.V. and was waiting for her at the entrance to the rock tunnel? Maybe he was answering Officer Jenny’s questions as to what might have triggered the sudden rock slide and he just sustained minor injuries, however… Misty shivered, not from the cold, but from the alternative to her story. What if Ash hadn’t been found and was still trapped inside? No, she could not think like that…but, despite herself, she had felt the tears start to form out of the corners of her eyes and, because of this sudden fear, she clutched the locket Ash had given her only a couple of days ago. ‘Ash…why you, why did this have to happen to you…to us?’ she thought, nearing the site of the rock slide. Suddenly, she felt the need to just stop in her tracks. She stared at the ground, not wanting to continue for fear of what she would discover. However, she knew she could not stop, even for Ash’s sake, knowing that it would not have been fair to him to give up so easily. Taking in a sharp breath of air, Misty quickened her pace and reached the site within mere minutes, horrified at the image before her. Never before had she seen so many people in such a frenzied state. She slowly sifted her way through the crowd, looking for anyone who would be able to answer her questions. Off to the side, Misty noticed several worn looking men lifting body bags into the back of an ambulance and cringed at the thought of so many lost lives. Refusing to look down at the remaining bags, for fear of what she might find, she headed for the nearest officer. “Um…excuse me?” Misty interrupted nervously. The officer shot her head up, obviously drowned in the words on her clipboard, not realizing that Misty was standing in front of her. “I’m sorry miss, this area is off limits. If you want a full report, you’re going to have to come back in the morning. As you can see--” “No, I’m not a reporter Officer Jenny, I just need to talk to you,” interrupted Misty. Officer Jenny merely stared at her, making Misty feel extremely uncomfortable. After a few moments of silence, it seemed as if a light went off in the officer’s head and she perked up. “Misty! My god, what are you doing here? I almost didn’t recognize you in the dimness of the light,” exclaimed Jenny as she led Misty to a tented area, off limits to the rest of the public. Jenny handed Misty a steaming hot cup of coffee, warm blanket, and a seat by the heater with which they had installed. “Thank you Jenny,” Misty smiled graciously, taking a long sip of the hot liquid, letting it warm her whole body. Jenny sat in quiet patience as she waited for Misty to become comfortable before asking her why she had come. “Misty, why are you here?” Jenny repeated, crossing her arms in front of her to block out the cold air that had found its way into the tent. Upon hearing Jenny’s question, Misty focused her vision opposite the tent where some tools had been laid. She saw as papers were scattered about, papers that probably held the victim’s names. “Misty?” Jenny repeated, not sure whether or not Misty had heard. “Jenny…” she could not continue without breaking down in silent tears, “Jenny, Ash was in that tunnel…and I haven’t heard anything from him since the cave in.” Jenny put her hand over her mouth as if to conceal her shock. She did not know what to say. So many bodies had been retrieved from the cave, but none that even resembled Ash, not that she had been looking for someone she recognized. “Come with me,” she urged, suddenly getting up out of her seat and leading Misty outside once more. Jenny grabbed her clipboard before exiting the tent and into the harsh winds. She began speaking to another one of the officers on duty before turning back to Misty once more, a solemn look on her face. “Misty, I’m sorry, but he hasn’t been found yet,” sighed Jenny. Misty’s face fell, still clinging to the tiny bit of hope that Ash was okay, that he was still alive. “Oh…I see, well thank you Officer Jen--” “Officer Jenny!” a voice interrupted, causing both women to turn, “We have a live one here!” Both Jenny and Misty rushed in the direction of the second officer, Misty hoping upon hope that it was Ash. “Get a medic here over here ASAP!” screamed Jenny as she surveyed the scene, “Hurry! Get this kid out of the rain!” Several medics rushed to the scene and laid the patient inside one of the tents, followed by Officer Jenny. “How did you find him?” asked Jenny, grabbing several bottles from off of the countertop. “That Charizard over there rescued him,” answered the second officer. ‘Charizard!’ thought Misty, turning towards the cave in which she saw a large retreating figure dash out of site. “Charizard!” Misty yelled into the tunnel, but it was no use. Her voice had been drowned out by the rains and the noise of all the workers running about. The large pokemon had retreated yet again into the tunnel, the flame on its tail becoming dimmer and dimmer the deeper it went. Misty was sure that it was Ash’s charizard, everything about it seemed to give off a confident aura, an attribute that Misty had come to recognize in all of Ash’s pokemon. ‘Charizard, is Ash okay?’ Misty silently asked, watching the flame on its tail quickly disappear into the tunnel. “Get a stretcher over here stat!” Upon hearing Jenny’s booming voice, Misty shook her head and rushed to where Jenny was and peeked over her shoulder at the patient. It was a young boy, about 10 years old, who was bleeding profusely from an open wound in his abdomen. Misty gasped at the site, surprised that the boy had made it out alive. “He-He saved me…save him…please,” the boy kept mumbling, “He-He’s g-going to die if you don’t do something.” Jenny just nodded helping the medics tend to his wounds, “It’ll be okay, you’re going to be just fine.” Jenny sighed and removed the jacket that had been keeping the blood from spilling out. She threw it to the side, a few blood drops spilling over the side of the table next to Misty’s legs. Suddenly, Misty’s heart stopped as she stared at the jacket in front of her. It just couldn’t be…there had to be some kind of a coincidence. “Get him out of here and to the nearest hospital!” yelled Jenny. The medics nodded and had begun to wheel him out of the tent when the young boy held his hand out to Misty. “W-Wait…” he said weakly, “Y-You…you’re the Cerulean City gym leader.” It was more of a statement than it was a question, but Misty, scared, nodded nonetheless. This boy knew something of Ash, she could feel it…he knew something she didn’t. “I met him…I met Ash…he was the one that saved me…told me to get out with his pokemon while he stayed behind…” Misty brought a hand up to her mouth, feeling the tears starting to trickle down her face. The reality of the situation was finally starting to hit Misty, as if someone had come up to her and slapped her across the face. She couldn’t process what was going on, but she knew the news wouldn’t be good and the little hope that she had been clinging onto was slowly dissipating as the minutes drew on. “Is…Is Ash okay?” cried Misty, walking closer to the young boy. The boy just shook his head and solemnly looked to the ground, “I turned back to look and saw…something falling on him…and then I couldn’t hear him anymore and everything went dark.” Misty swallowed down the lump that had formed in her throat and no longer wished to fight back the tears. Falling to her knees, she finally broke down, letting all her emotions over the past couple of hours come out. Never in her life had she felt so alone in the world. She felt as if time had stopped for her and that she would never be happy again. Ash was still alive…he just had to be. He had promised her that he would come out of this okay…and ready to greet her with open arms when he arrived back at Pallet. He just couldn’t be…no! She just would not accept that as a plausible answer nor would she subject herself to believing Ash was gone. “Okay, get him out of here! Let’s move people!” sighed Jenny, urging the medics and other officers to move quickly realizing that the situation had just taken a turn for the worst. “He loves you,” whispered the boy before being wheeled out of the area, continuing to reach out his hand to Misty in an attempt to touch her and maybe even console her. Misty shot her head up as she heard those words and watched as the boy was swiftly exited out of the tent, holding his hand out to her. Officer Jenny helped Misty to her feet and sat her down on a chair, holding her head in her hands. “Misty, I don’t know what to say,” said Jenny, who had looked over at the blank stare in Misty’s eyes. Her eyes, Jenny noted, seemed to have lost all their sparkle and their lust for life. She shook her head as she took hold of Ash’s jacket and walked over to the sink in an attempt to wash it. All of a sudden, both Misty and Jenny heard a light clank and stopped to look at the ground. A shiny silver object had fallen out of the pocket of Ash’s jacket and lay before Misty. Jenny picked up the object and examined it before smiling sadly to herself. Misty stood from where she had been sitting, silent tears still trailing down her face. She took hold of the object, causing even more tears to fall as she realized what it was. “Ash…” she whispered to no one but herself. It was the bracelet she had given him only a couple of days ago…the precious bracelet that he had been wearing upon their departure, but what had it been doing in his pocket? Whatever the case, it just made Misty cry even harder to think that Ash may have… ‘All I want to hear is that you’ll love me until however long we’re together…until fate separates us.’ Misty remembered Ash saying those very words to her the day before his departure. Fate had separated them and Misty, still crying her heart out, understood that it was not in the cards. Perhaps she was not meant to be happy, maybe she simply was not special enough to have a life filled with true happiness…because the happiness that she had once possessed, had disappeared as quickly as fate had intervened. She had been dealt the losing hand, and her punishment was losing Ash forever. ‘If anything was to happen to me, and I mean anything, I want you to continue living.’ Damn you Ash! At the time she did not know what he had meant, but, thinking back, it seemed as if he had predicted something would happen to tear them apart. “Damn it Ash!” sobbed Misty, pounding her fist on the metal table to her side, causing Jenny to jump at her sudden outburst, “Why did you always have to tempt fate the way you did? Why couldn’t you just let things go…just let things be?” she paused, bringing a slight smile to her face, “Because, you care about others more than you do yourself…and because you loved me.” Misty stared at the bracelet in her hands, wet from the rain. She squeezed it in the palm of her hand, letting her emotions run their course throughout her body. She could almost feel the warmth emanating from his precious gift, and that gave her the incentive to walk out into the rain towards the tunnel. “Misty wait!” called Jenny, running after her, but stopped when she noticed Misty staring into the depths of the cave. “There’s still a chance, isn’t there Jenny? There’s still some hope that Ash is alive right? Please tell me there’s still hope…” she whispered hoarsely, never breaking her gaze away from the entrance to the tunnel. Officer Jenny sighed, knowing in her mind that survival was very unlikely, even for Ash, who seemed to dodge even the greatest of dangers in the past. This time things were different. Any number of things could have happened to him while inside the rock tunnel. He could have been crushed to death, like the young boy had claimed, or he could have been fatally wounded and bled to death. Even if he had survived after the coming of the collapse, there was still the possibility that he could suffocate within the cave because of a lack of air circulation. Jenny looked towards Misty out of the corner of her eye and then drew her eyes toward the ground. Sensing Officer Jenny’s uncertainty, Misty felt her legs give way as she stared into the depths of the tunnel, silent tears streaming down her delicate face. ‘You’ve won Aki…you’ve taken Ash away from me…and I was useless to stop it!’ thought Misty as she pounded her fists into the soggy ground. Her love was gone, evil had prevailed, and she knew that they would be back to take her life as well. But this time around, Misty could care less about the outcome…even if it meant subjecting herself to unknown dangers that she knew would soon come… Several miles ahead, on the other side of the rock tunnel… “Honey, he needs medical help!” announced a middle aged man. “Yes, of course. Quick, bring the boy inside and I’ll see what I can do,” replied a second voice, apparently the man’s wife, “It doesn’t look good, but we’ll see what I can do…poor thing.” “Pi…ka…” The woman whipped her head around and saw a critically injured Pikachu a few meters away from the boy’s body. She picked up its small body and proceeded to take it into the house with her husband. The middle aged man rushed the critically injured individual into the house and placed his fragile frame upon one of the beds in the guest room. Pulling a medic bag from the closet, the man’s wife began to stitch up his wounds, stop the bleeding, and apply the required amounts of medicine to reduce the risk of infection. Though she had tried her best to treat his wounds, she was doubtful he’d make it through the night. Stirring slightly from his state of unconsciousness, the young trainer reached his hand out weakly to an invisible figure in his mind, trying desperately to reach her “Misty…” A/N: Well that concludes this story! Look out for the sequel later on. I hope ya liked it! I actually just finished this chapter, even though I started it like last year. I kind of want to get back into writing again. Please review thanks!