Hi! Here’s episode 4! Thank you so much for reviewing!

 

Disclaimer: Well, I think you know by now that pokemon isn’t mine. Neither is CCS. Got that? Good.

 

Episode 4: Time lapses drive me buggy!

 

            “Remind me, why did you have to come to school with me today?” Ash asked Pika-chan. He was ready to fall asleep. The math teacher was so boring! At least half of the class was already in dreamland, and Ash was sorely tempted to join them in slumber. The teacher wouldn’t care, anyways, so did it matter if he slept or not?

 

            “Because you told me that you sensed a pokemon card!” Pika-chan said. It had only been a few days since the Paras card incident, and that morning, Ash had woken up to find the Pidgeotto card sleeping outside his window. He had immediately taken the chance and sent Pidgeot out against it. He had captured the card, but his mom had given him a lecture for being so noisy.

 

            Ash groaned. “Well, I don’t sense anything now. Are you sure it wasn’t just my nerves? I did have a history test yesterday, so it’s not too unlikely.”

 

            “I’m sure.” Pika-chan said. Ash was busy doodling in his math notebook. He had already finished his homework, but tuning out the teacher’s droning was difficult. It was annoying and very persistent.

 

            Ash sighed. “Oh well. Maybe it left the school grounds?”

 

            “Maybe.” Pika-chan said. She sat quietly in his backpack. Ash didn’t discover why she was so quiet until they were let out of class at the lunch bell. Then, he quickly figured out why.

 

            “You ate my whole lunch?!” Ash asked in shock. “B-but!”

 

            Pika-chan patted him on the back. “Don’t worry! I saved a tuna sandwich for you, and the grape juice too. I only ate the cherries and the chocolate granola bar.” She tried her best to sound encouraging, but Ash only got more flustered.

 

            “You ate my chocolate granola bar? Pika-chan! I was saving that for dessert!”

 

            “Sorry. But I was bored!” Pika-chan retaliated in self-defense.

 

            Ash groaned. Sometimes, he thought, life wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Neither was pokemon card catching, for that matter. According to Pika-chan, there were one hundred and fifty of them and he only had eight so far! Ash sighed.

 

            “Don’t worry!” Pika-chan said reassuringly. Ash was about to head for the tree where he sat by himself when someone called his name.

 

            “Hey Ash!”

 

            “What is it, Gary?” Ash asked. He was on his guard, since Gary hadn’t been very nice to him in the past few months.

 

            Gary smirked as he pulled a poke ball out of his pocket. “Look! I got a starter pokemon from Gramps! Now I can start my journey!”

 

            Ash was hit by a wave of jealousy. “Lucky duck.”

 

            “Yep! You see, I’m going to the best trainer that ever left Pallet, just you wait!” Gary said in that insufferably smug voice of his. Ash restrained himself from punching Gary in the nose. Professor Oak still hadn’t forgiven him for the ‘Beedrill incident’ four years ago, so if Ash wanted to go on his journey at all, he had to be on his best behavior around Gary, which was irritating to no end.

 

            With a few more twirls, Gary was off. Once he was gone, Pika-chan floated out of Ash’s backpack.

 

            “Who was that? He was really annoying!”

 

            Ash gritted his teeth. “Gary Oak. His grandfather is the great pokemon professor Hiram Oak. He used to be my friend, until he suddenly grew an ego last year and then we drifted apart very quickly after that. He’s rich and probably got enough supplies to last his entire lifetime. I don’t like him very much.”

 

            “Ah.” Pika-chan said wisely.

 

            “Yep. Plus, if I want to go on my pokemon journey, I have to be nice to Gary. That’s the worst punishment this earth has to offer!” Ash had started to rant. Pika-chan looked amused, since her Chosen had never ranted before. It was very interesting.

 

            After a few minutes, Ash calmed down enough to eat his lunch (Or what was left of it, Hehehe) silently. Pika-chan patted him on the head.

 

            “Now, now, it can’t be that bad.”

 

            “Really?” Ash said. He sounded sarcastic. “Professor Oak still hasn’t forgiven me for the ‘Beedrill incident’.”

 

            “The Beedrill incident? What’s that?” Pika-chan asked.

 

            “Well, it happened like this. Four years ago, Gary and I were still friends. We were out on the pokemon reserve…”

 

           

***************Flashback – four years ago*********************************

 

            “Ash! I think we’re lost!” Gary called. Ash was sitting by a pond staring at all the water pokemon inside.

 

            “Wow…”

 

            “Ash! I think we’re lost!” Gary repeated in a louder voice, trying to snap Ash out of his trance. Finally, he pushed Ash into the pond.

 

            “Hey!” Ash said as he came up, spluttering. “What did you do that for?”

            “You were ignoring me! I called you twice already!” Gary said.

 

            “What’s so important?” Ash asked. He looked around. “Your grandfather said that we could stay until it was dark!”

 

            “But I don’t know where we are!” Gary said.

 

            “You have the map, though.” Gary looked sheepish. “Well, I sort of dropped it while we were looking at the grass pokemon, and one of the weepinbells dissolved it.”

 

            Ash stared at Gary in shock at his admission. “WHAT?!”

 

            “I’m serious! Now I don’t know how to get back home!” Gary said.

 

            “Well, I think we go through that forest, and then we’ll be back at the lab.” Ash said confidently, pointing to a grove of trees.

 

            “Maybe you’re right! Let’s go!” Gary called. He grabbed Ash’s treasured league cap off his head and took off.

 

            “Hey! No fair!” Ash shouted, running after him. They shouted at each other while they ran through the forest. However, it was not until they were pretty far inside that they spotted the tree festooned with Kakunas.

 

            “Cool…” Gary said. He poked one. “Hey! They aren’t moving!”

 

            “Let me see!” Ash called. He poked another one. “You’re right!”

 

            “See? I’m smarter than you are!” Gary said.

 

            “Are not!”

 

            “Am too!”

            “Are not!”

 

            “Am too!”

 

            “Are not!”

 

            “Am too!” Gary said, sticking his tongue out at Ash. The two of them had been so occupied with their name-calling that they hadn’t noticed when the shells of the Kakunas began to split open and glow.

 

            “Are not!” Ash stuck his tongue out at Gary. Suddenly, they both became aware of a buzzing sound.

 

            Ash turned around. “Oh no! Beedrills! Run!”

 

            The two of them shrieked and ran as fast as they could. Finally, they spotted a large mud puddle. With no other choice, Ash shoved Gary into the mud and then jumped in himself. The Beedrills buzzed over them. After a few minutes, they emerged, totally covered with mud. They had slowly trekked back to the lab, and incidentally, all over the floor Professor Oak had just waxed. Needless to say, he had gotten all the blame.

 

**********************End Flashback**************************************

 

            “You can probably guess why the professor wasn’t too pleased.” Ash said.

 

            Pika-chan was rolling around on the ground, laughing her head off. “Hahahaha! It’s so funny!”

 

            “Pika-chan!” Ash said, mock scolding her.

 

            “Well, it is funny!” Pika-chan retaliated in self-defense. “Besides, it sounded crazy.”

 

            Ash sighed. Suddenly, he rubbed his ears. “Is it just me, or do you hear a buzzing sound?”

 

            “Eh?” Pika-chan looked around. “I don’t see anything…” Suddenly, she felt a tingle along her spine.

 

            “Does that mean there’s a pokemon card out there?” Ash asked.

 

            “Yes! Be on alert!” Pika-chan said. Ash nodded as he looked around. Everyone else was either already gone on their journey or having lunch in the cafeteria. Satisfied that he was alone, he reached under his T-shirt and removed the key.

 

            “Key that hides the power of the elements, reveal your true form before me! Your master under the seal of contract Ashura commands you, Release!”

 

            The magic circle appeared under his feet as usual, as Ash plucked the wand out of midair. “Okay. Now lets see. Where is this feeling coming from?”

 

            Both Ash and Pika-chan closed their eyes to sense where the magic was coming from. Unfortunately, this was a mistake, as something heavy crashed into them and sent them flying.

 

            Pika-chan yelped as she opened her eyes, managing to bank and land before crashing into a tree. She turned and found herself face-to-face with a very angry Beedrill. Ash wasn’t so lucky, as a convenient tree broke his flight. He rubbed his sore butt and scowled. Propping himself up with his wand, which had enlarged again, he faced the Beedrill.

 

            “Pidgeotto!” The bird formed out of blue energy, cawing as it did so. When it saw the Beedrill, it grinned wickedly and began attacking the bug with vigor. However, Ash was shocked when the Beedrill took Pidgeotto down with a well-aimed twin needle attack.

 

            Pidgeotto, beaten, resumed card form and dropped to the ground. Ash picked up the card, and brought his wand up just in time as the Beedrill dove at him. The wand impacted against the Beedrill’s midsection, making it spin around dizzily in the air for a few seconds.

 

            “Pidgeot!” Ash called. That was his most-used pokemon card, and consequently, the most loyal. The bird materialized instantly and within seconds, the Beedrill was twitching on the ground, its pincers shattered.

 

            “Return to your true form, pokemon card!” Ash cried. The Beedrill didn’t even bother to struggle as it was turned into energy, which finally landed on his hand in card form. Ash breathed a sigh of relief.

 

            “Great job!” Pika-chan called.

 

            Ash threw her a ‘V’ for victory sign. “Lucky I had Pidgeot.”

 

            “Yep!” Pika-chan said. She was about to say something else, but the lunch bell rang. Ash jumped to his feet, shrinking his wand back into a key. He immediately ran towards the science wing. He still had biology and Mr. Lincoln was a very strict teacher.

 

            “Yikes!” Ash shouted as he ran as fast as he could. Pika-chan shrunk back to miniature size.

 

            “Well, that’s that!” Pika-chan said, as Ash grabbed her and they barely managed to get inside before the bell rang.

 

            Card capturing was important, but Ash wished it didn’t happen at school. He sighed as Mr. Lincoln began the lesson. He began to daydream as the teacher droned on.

 

 

End Episode 4!