The Misdreavus Menace

Chapter Twelve — Hijack Failed

Moments after both he and the shadow before him screamed, Ash was surrounded by perhaps a dozen or more of the creatures. Suddenly he felt his mind bombarded with questions.

Where you come from?

How you get here?

What you do here?

"Hold on, hold on!" he shouted, trying to remain calm. "One question at a time."

One of the creatures advanced and floated inches in front of his face.

What you do here?

Ash sensed a very menacing tone in the thoughts conveyed to him. No wonder the name the Clefairy gave to them. "I...I...," he stammered, "I got lost."

Lie! You spy!

Hypnotize him!

Extract truth!

"Wait! Don't do anything drastic. I'll tell you what you want if you tell me what's going on about my own planet."

You spy us. This our place. We ask questions, not you.

"OK, OK," replied Ash. He raised his hands in a human gesture, at which the creature in front of him warily drew back. Ash gently lowered his hands, at which the creature appeared to relax.

"I came to this planet by accident after I boarded Clefairy's ship."

What!? Clefairy can travel on water?

"No, I mean their...teleporting machine," explained Ash.

Continue.

"They sent me here to...find out what I can to help end the conflict."

What you know now?

"Nothing that will help the Clefairy. But I know that the Earth's involved somehow. Please won't you tell me what's going on?"

The phantom creatures then seemed to deliberate amongst themselves. Ash could pick up plenty of unpleasant thoughts, all to do with him: should they ignore him, hypnotize him or kill him. Ash could see no easy way out of his predicament. He couldn't fight his way out with only two Pokémon against a potential army. He could only try to convince them somehow to let him go.

Then another of the creatures approached him.

What you know about Clefairy?

"They lived peacefully with you until you started asking for more land."

They not tell everything. You know what treat Nidoran?

"Nidoran? They haven't said much about the Nidoran."

Clefairy cruel. When go get metamorphosis mineral, kill Nidoran in their way.

"What!?" exclaimed Ash, "They kill them?" Ash couldn't believe that such apparently peaceful, pleasant creatures could be that cruel. He wondered if the shadowy monster in front of him was lying, but then he remembered how Kadabra explained that lying was not possible in telepathic communication.

The creature continued.

Clefairy give us worst land. We born here, like they. They go Pokémon planet, bring here fight us. Clefairy put in danger your planet. We try stop them.

Ash was now confused. The ghouls before him, menacing as they seemed, put the blame for the risk to the Earth squarely on the Clefairy.

Please, you help us, maybe save Pokémon planet danger.

Ash looked at the two shadowy forms in front of him. In the dim starlight he could not make them out distinctly, only patches of darkness with beady eyes that sparkled whenever they caught the glow of the Milky Way. What was he to do? Remain loyal to the Clefairy of whom he really knew little more and risk his own life, or change allegiance and at least have a chance to save the Earth? He was reluctant to change his views, but was that only because of prejudice based on external appearances, the cute Clefairy versus these freakish forms?

Ash made a quick decision. "I'll help you," he said. But then he added, "On the condition that you save the Earth."

We try stop danger to your world if danger stop to us.

Ash thought for a moment. "The Clefairy are the only ones who can get me back to Earth. Come to think of it, how have you been able to communicate with people on Earth?"

Sneak on Clefairy transporter. But you cannot. You cannot invisible.

"So what do I do to get back home?"

Steal transporter.

"What!?" Ash did not like the idea of that. For one, he did not like the idea of stealing in itself. For another, he didn't know for sure to what lengths the Clefairy would go to defend themselves. They were friendly towards him, yet was that only to win his support? If they really killed Nidoran for selfish gain... "I suppose that's the only way," he said finally. "There's one going to pick me at dawn."

Good news! We make plan...

Ash sat on a conveniently sized boulder, moping apprehensively, while waiting for the transporter. The sun was up at least an hour ago. Something must be wrong. Did they somehow figure out the planned hijack? There was no sign of the weird ghost things either. He did not see them since he left their territory on the other side of the bay, so he presumed they followed him in invisible form. They would not be able to communicate without revealing themselves.

Eventually Ash heard the now familiar hum of the transporter. He looked up and saw the vehicle. It quickly descended to the ground, the hatch opened, and Kadabra popped out.

Hurry Ash, there's been an emergency at the war zone, and we're too close to enemy territory for comfort.

Ash paused, wondering what to do, then approached the ramp leading to the hatch. Suddenly, Kadabra pointed his spooned hand towards Ash, and Ash immediately felt himslef hurled backwards. He landed with his back flat on the ground, stunned and winded.

Why did you betray us?

Without wasting any time, a score of ghostly shapes materialized out of nowhere. They struck Kadabra with their own psybeam attacks, sending him reeling back into the vehicle.

The ghosts floated quickly towards the transporter's entrance, but were met with a fierce bolt of lightning that forced them to retreat. Pikachu emerged, its bright red cheeks still sparking angrily. One of the ghosts hardest hit faced Pikachu, screeched and appeared to recover some of its strength. Simultaneously Pikachu screamed and doubled over in pain.

"What kind of attack is that!?" Ash muttered, getting to his feet. "Pikachu, are you all right?" he shouted.

While Pikachu was composing itself, Kadabra stepped out again. Wasting no time, he psybeamed half the ghosts away. By then Pikachu was ready for another attack.

Ash couldn't bear this. Pikachu, he believed, was on the wrong side. He had to stop it attacking. He ran out in front of his powerful friend, but he was too late. The electric mouse was already glowing and couldn't stop itself from discharging a fearful blast of power at the remaining ghosts. Caught in the middle of it, Ash's thoughts jumbled into a mass of confusion. A moment later, he blacked out.