Here in the Moonlight

*Brock*

“We’ve managed to stop the internal bleeding, and we have plenty of his blood type. When did it happen? he was shot 71 times, judging by the bullets we recovered, with the majority in the chest back and stomach, and a few in the limbs. It’s a miracle that his heart, neck, spine, and head were all missed.” Said the doctor.

“I don’t know when it happened exactly, doctor. It must have been last night, because I arrived just this morning, in fact… 20 minutes ago, and Pikachu here was there the night before, and was sleeping soundly when I found him.” I replied.

“ Well that’s amazing. Most people, fully grown adults, would have died within 30 minutes, and judging by the bullet placements, he was conscious for at least an hour. Your friend is very strong not to have given in to death.” He said, “All that pain for a 15 year old,” he muttered. “Death may be a blessing.”

“Wait a sec, how did you know his age? I never told you.” I asked, surprised.

“Well you see, he had a high fever earlier when he was passing through here, He was eight then, so we have all his records.”

“Will he live?” I asked.

“Just as I told your friend here, I don’t know. Painkiller would kill him with the pain, and we’ve done all we can. I’m afraid we’ll just have to wait and se..”

“Pi, Pika?”

“I’m afraid that they’re very slim, I’d say about .2%, and that’s being optimistic. I suggest you stay here to rest after you phone his friends and relative.”

“Wait.. oh no!”

“What? Oh you don’t have to worry about the cost, It’s so serious a case that we’ll do it free of charge.”

“It’s not that, but thank you. My friend Misty was traveling with them, I had arranged to meet them where I ended up finding him, but I didn’t see her anywhere.”

I rush outside and see Jenny talking to some reporters. She finishes up, and I walk up to her.

“I’m going back to the site to look for my other friend Misty.” I say, and she hands me a set of keys.

“Here, take my bike.” She says.

“Thank you very much.” I am both shocked and gratified. When I arrive at the campsite, I search around and manage to recover Misty’s backpack, and Ash’s too, but Misty is nowhere. Then, I spot a letter tied to Ash’s backpack. It reads…

Brock,

We know you’re coming. If you want the girl back… We want you to join us, get some pokémon and give them to us, and top it off with a sum of 9 million. If not, she will die in 60 days. Tick tock! Hope to see you soon.

Team Rocket