Touketsu Namida
part VI: None Unexpected
Narrated by Brock; Fanfic by Sami, aka Suicune3K

Pre-fic Notes: This is where the plot will finally really start to pick up. Think that this is just an angsty load of garbage? I hope not; but there is much more than just boring angstyness to come. Enjoy!

. . .

   The path to Mahogany seemed longer than what I remembered. A bitter chill continued to nip at us, even as the sun was still brightly shining through the canopy of the woods. Misty even removed her jacket from her backpack and wore it, which was very out of the ordinary concidering that it was late-Springtime.
   All of us were on constant guard of the vicious Pokémon. Ash took the liberty of letting his Bayleef out for an extra sense of security, even though it was highly unlikely that it would protect us from another silver Growlithe prowling for our blood. I also kept a close eye on Aisu, who seemed oddly comfortable in the cold, but starting to weaken as well. Usually we took a five minute breather for the sake of Aisu about every half-hour or so, but for the past few hours she insisted to keep going.
   “Aisu? Are you sure you don’t want to stop?” I kept asking her. “You’re starting to look pale.”
   All she did was shake her head; she just kept her timid silence.
   “Ah, well, I’m starting to think that it’s a good idea!” Misty smirked, stretching her arms in front of her. “Let’s have some lunch, shall we?”

   I unpacked a few apples that Ash and Pikachu hoarded back when we were probably back around Azalea a week earlier. Well, it was all we had now that we had exausted the supply of Râmen noodles, but at least they were still fresh. Strangely, Aisu’s appetite seemed elsewhere. While she tended to nibble on whatever the rest of us ate, she had just turned down any sort of food ever since we left Ecruteak. This was really starting to worry me, because she could have been becoming seriously ill. I knew about this sort of thing.
   “Brock,” Misty then turned to me, out of the blue. “Have you given any more thought on how we’re gonna get back your Pokémon?”
   I nearly choked; my mind was constantly elsewhere, and any logical thought of a plan still eluded me. “Gack...what..!?”
   “Do I have to spell it out for you?”
   Misty was quite concerned, but still nearly rolled her eyes at me. Aisu, on the other hand, went absolutely white in the face. Her eyes were opened wide with a strong sense of shock, her whole body trembling. Ash seemed to be the first to pick up on this, and gently gripped her by her shoulders. “H-Hey? What’s the matter?”
   It seemed that I would have been the first to notice. Aisu’s eccentric behavior was still as much a mystery to me as it was to Ash and Misty, even though I knew of her bizarre secret. All I knew was that I only saw her react in this way one other time, and it didn’t mean anything good.
   “She’s fine..” I lowered my gaze to the ground, my voice oddly deadpan. “Just let her lay down..”
   Ash backed off without saying a thing; he was seemingly very confused as to why I said that, as was Misty, of course. For a fleeting moment, I had thought that I caught a glimpse of something rustling in the brush. However, I quickly shrugged it off; none of the Pokémon were reacting, and it was probably my imagination anyway. I continued to munch on an apple, now rooted in thought as to how on earth we were supposed to find Team Rocket and get my Pokémon back. I never was good at thinking up elaborate schemes; when you’re with Ash and Misty, it all unfolds by itself, while we’re figuring out strategy on the fly. Maybe I really did need to go back to Pewter City and rest.


   “WAAAAAAUUUUGH!!”
   I fell backwards in a startled jolt; something burst from the bushes, along with a few high-pitched shrieks of which one I could tell came from Ash. Once I recovered from practically having a heart-attack, I realized that there were two guys standing there. One was much taller than the other, and obviously older, since he appeared to be in his late-teens. His pale-ivory hair fell to his back, which sharply contrasted the dark gray sweater that snugly zipped up to his neck like a turtleneck. He appeared quite strong, even though his build wasn’t really that large; and his deep ruby eyes were narrow, cold and foxlike. The younger one, on the other hand, seemed to be filled with much more energy. His messy blonde hair was tied into a thin braid, and had big, ocean-blue eyes teeming with a joyful personality. He also wore a thin brown coat, which was obviously too large for him, over a white shirt, and stood about Ash’s height.
   Misty pulled herself up, quite irritated. “W-What in the..!? You scared the crap outta us!”
   The younger boy clung to his companion’s arm in surprise. “Waaaah!? You scared us too!”
   “Atsu! Get OFF! It wasn’t that big of a surprise!” he growled, and then turned to Misty. “I could see Red here for a while, that hair’s like a beacon!”
   Not surprisingly, Misty began to fume; Ash stared on in his usual bewildered state of mind, which was probably what I was doing as well. Aisu had jumped up at the sight of the two strangers, yet rather than fear, she looked at them with a sense of nervousness. There was also a look in her eyes, which I suspected was a look of familiarity.
   “Eh heh..” the younger one stepped in front of his companion, abruptly interrupting a string of curses he was about to utter. “Sorry ‘bout that, he’s nice when he’s...oh, wait, when was the last time you were nice, Onsen?”
   Onsen glowered at his friend’s scolding tone, and sighed in frustration.
   “Exactly!” the boy snickered, and then turned to us. “Again, sorry about that. Name’s Den-Atsu, but just Atsu for short, and Mr. Sunshine here is Onsen.”
   “Ahh...haaaah.....guys!?” Aisu stammered nervously. “What are you doing...?!”
   Onsen temporarily broke his coldness and smiled a little. “Aisu? Is that you?”
   “Hey? Maybe before this little reunion gets underway, we should excuse these very nice people and go chat alone, ‘kay?” Atsu then broke in with a voice that crossed the line of sarcasm.


   “What an ass!” Misty snorted once Atsu, Onsen, and Aisu had wandered out of hearing-range. “How can anyone tolerate him!?”
   “You’re talking about Onsen, right?” asked Ash.
   “Who do you think I’m talking about?!”
   “I think that Atsu fella’s kinda nice. I wonder if he’s a trainer too?”
   “Hmm...yeah, you’re right, he is quite a spark of a kid!”
   Ignoring Ash and Misty’s usual talk about new acquaintances, I turned my attention to the faint mutterings in the bushes some meters away. Curiosity was something I tried my best to keep under, yet I wondered about exactly what Aisu had in common with Onsen and Atsu. Quietly I slipped from the debating duo, tuning in more and more to the distant chatter. I followed the voices, creeping as quietly as I could to avoid stepping on a twig or anything that could give me away. Now I could make out some of what they were saying; I knew I was getting very close.
   Once I could actually see the trio, I stood with my back to a tree that was nearly parallel to them. Aisu sounded strangely apologetic, while Onsen and Atsu had an odd scolding tone. I took my opportunity to sneak a peek at them, right as things really began to heat up.
   Aisu’s voice was meek and no louder than a mouse. “What is with you!? I didn’t do anything!”
   “You know very well what you’re to avoid!” Onsen roared. “Hanging around these strangers...these humans...that is an ignorant thing to do!”
   “What!? They’re not out to get us!”
   Atsu broke in, with a less-angered tone. “Onsen! Listen to her argument before you go all-out ballistic! Even if it was an irresponsable thing that she did!”
   “Well, then,” Onsen lowered his voice, but became even more cold. “Do they know who you are?”
   Aisu nearly hesistated. “Of course not!”
   “Hmph...I can smell your nervousness. They do know.”
   “They don’t! And even if they did, what are they to do!?”
   “They know?!” Atsu began fuming as well. “How in the hell did that happen?! Do you realize how dangerous this is to our cause?! I mean, look at us! Look at what we’re reduced to! It’s dangerous for all three of us to even be together in one place!”
   I shifted, shaking with an odd burst of adrenaline and nearly fell over. Aisu lowered her head meekly and nodded. “Yes, you’re right. I should have been a lot more careful..”
   “Damn right!” Onsen cooled a bit. “You could have given us away and ruined our plans, but then again, so could have Atsu or I given a certain situation, so I’ll forget it; but just this once.”
   “In the meantime,” Atsu nodded along. “I think we should keep an eye on you until things cool down.”

. . .

   Even as we began closing in on the outskirts of Mahogany Town, I somehow still remained distant from the others. Aisu had described Onsen and Atsu as her brothers. I believed it, but I still wondered exactly why they decided to stick around and keep close tabs on her. Ash and Atsu seemed to find a good deal of entertainment in chatting endlessly about Pokémon species, as Onsen just stayed his cold and silent self. Silence on his part was great; at least he wasn’t ticking Misty off more. We had almost forgotten why we were heading to Mahogany...until we saw for ourselves just how bad what had been going on really was.
   We stopped cold at the sight of the town. It seemed eerily empty and strangely quiet, save for some distant patters of footsteps from the few people who were around and a few chirps of nearby wild Pokémon.
   “This is too strange...” Misty said beneath her breath as she let out a shiver.
   “Those trainers said that the hospital was overcrowded here..” Ash peered curiously at the surrounding buildings, which seemed to have some scuffle marks. “...Then is everyone in the hospital?”
   Atsu clung tightly to Onsen’s arm, which while he seemed annoyed, he also appeared to be used to it. “Onsen, this...this just feels too wierd...”
   “Hunh. I can feel it too,” Onsen replied in a low growl of a voice.
   It really seemed strange, but I thought that I felt what Onsen and Atsu were experiencing. There was a deep chill, that froze me from the inside out. Almost like when I came in contact with the Suicune, which baffled me.
   We made our way to the Pokémon Center, which turned out to be even more congested than I imagined. Many wounded Pokémon and trainers were crowded in the waiting area, the most seriously hurt being helped by hired interns and Chansey. Nurse Joy, above it all, was the busiest as she kept things as under control as she possibly could. It was nuts; I never realized that Mahogany had such a population.
   “Hey! Nurse Joy!” impulsive Ash shouted over the commotion, pushing his way through the crowd to the front desk. We simply sighed and followed, Misty and I stewing in the fact that Ash wouldn’t always get heard in situations like this, and not know. I noticed that Aisu became quite anxious when she too became engulfed in the crowd; Atsu and Onsen also were, but to a much lesser degree.
   “Nurse Joy!” Ash finally reached the front, a little out of breath from plowing through the swarm. “We need some help!”
   Nurse Joy astonishly heard Ash over the chaos, and staggered to face him.
“Ash? What is it?”
   The rest of us managed to reach his position, which was fairly difficult. Aisu even looked as though she was about to pass out!
   “What’s been happening around here?” asked Ash. “Why are there so many people here?”
   “Most of them came from the surrounding areas, and the Lake of Rage,” Nurse Joy began, using a hankerchief to dab a bit of sweat from her temple. “The hospital here is so small, and it’s filled! Are any of you hurt?”
   “Not seriously,” I broke in. “Do you have any idea where these attacks are coming from?”
   “I’m not sure, but I’ve heard time and again that the Lake of Rage is swarming with those odd ‘silver Pokémon’ the patients speak of that attack trainers, and I think that is where most everyone is coming from. Oh, dear, and the Pokémon Center can’t handle many more patients..I hate to think what the last resort may be...”
   Aisu, Onsen, and Atsu again quivered at the mention of the silver Pokémon, as I sank into a deep shock. Ash and Misty became pretty out of it themselves, as we stumbled out of the chaotic Pokémon Center. What I initially thought of the strange Pokémon shattered, as I thought they were only a species infected with rabies. Only seems to be a big word, but not compared to that harsh reality of dozens of trainers and Pokémon terribly, and even mortally hurt, and that it seemed to be our destiny that will eventually lead us to venture to the Lake of Rage. Perhaps then we can understand better just how much of a magnitude these silver Pokémon will turn out to be.