Chapter #6

	"We want to see mew! We want to see mew!" chanted a large group of people outside the hospital 
where Ash was in. He was in no condition to go anywhere yet but, he felt that it was time to leave. He had 
his normal clothes on now (hat included) and Pikachu in his backpack. He was tiptoeing out of his room in 
anime style and took a peek out into the hallway. They hadn't let Misty, Brock or anyone else in his room 
since his mother had visited last night. Ash winced at the memory.

	"Ash!" the doors to Ash's hospital room were swung open and revealed a young, frantic mother.

	"Mom! I'm O.K. You won't believe. Hey! Need some air here!"Ash was interupted by the hug his 
mother had him in. She began to sob and hugged him even tighter when he protested that he was fine.

	"You're going to be fine, alright. I'm not going to let you out of my sight again. This won't ever 
happen again! You're coming home with me this instant!" Ash was shocked by his mother's words. He was 
in the middle of a league! His mother couldn't pull him out in the middle of a league.

	"Mom! I'm all right! You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine. I don't want to.." Ash was 
interrupted by someone else.

	"I think it would be best if you went home Ash." said Brock from the doorway. Misty, Snap and 
Officer Jenny were standing in the doorway as well.

	"What!!? Brock!!" Ash managed to sputter out. He was interupted again by a female voice this 
time.
	
	"He's right! You should go home for a while. Ash, you nearly got killed yesterday! You need to 
take a break from pokemon training for a while." Misty nearly yelled at Ash. For a moment Ash could have 
sworn that he had seen tears in her eyes.

	"If I have it my way, he won't ever be pokemon trainning again!" said Mrs. Ketchum. With that 
said, the room went dead silent.

	"Mom, there's no way that I'm giving up on pokemon training." Ash stated flatly.

	"Oh, yes you will. I'm not losing my only son to a pokemon journey! You're comming home and 
you're staying at home and that's final." Ash tried to block out the memory. There was no way that he would 
give up his one true passion. Even if it meant that he lost his mother over it. It also meant that he would lose 
his best freinds over it too. Ash knew he wouldn't be able to travel with them anymore; they would just try 
to drag him back home. It hurt so much that Ash didn't want to think about it, so he put his mind to the task 
at hand.

	"How do we get out of here?" asked Ash to himself. He began to think. Out the window wasn't an 
option. He couldn't get past the crowd that way. He couldn't go out the door either. Too many Officer 
Jenny's that knew his face.

	"Pika!" Pikachu answered Ash's question for him. The pokemon had climbed out of his trainer's 
pack and was pointing at the air conductor. They could go through the circulation system! It led outside and 
there wasn't a chance of being seen by anyone.

	"Thanks Pikachu! Now how do we do this?" Ash began to search for something that would undo 
the screws. He found a butterknife on the table. With the knife in hand he jumped on a nearby chair and 
began to unscrew the gaurd on the air conductor. Once he had three unscrewed, Ash jumped into the 
circulation system and put the cover back into place.

	"Pika!" Pikachu didn't like it there. It was too scary and dark for the pokemon's preference. 
Pikachu then leapt out of Ash's backpack and began to sniff around.

	"Quiet Pikachu! If they hear us, we'll be going back to Pallet permanently." Ash began to crawl 
after his furry companion. They had crawled for what seemed like forever when Pikachu stopped over a 
vent.

	'Pika!' Pikachu whispered for Ash to come over and watch what was happening. Ash crept closer 
and found that in the room below was his Doctor. Normally that wouldn't have bothered Ash but, it was the 
people that were in the room with him that gave cause for alarm. It was team rocket.

	"The kid's in room 404. You're sure you know what to do? Giovonni said no mistakes." said 
Jeffery. The person who replied was Butch.

	"We don't make mistakes unlike some people here." growled Butch. Jeffery scowled.

	"I might have not found what effect the pond had on him but, you won't even get near him dressed 
like that." said the scientist bluntly.

	"We have our own plan on how to get rid of the brat. We don't need tips from old timers like you 
pops." gloated Cassidy. 

	"Time to execute the kid." said Butch with a sigh. "I don't like it but, someone's going to have to do 
the dirty work." The pair then walked out of the room. Too bad their plan wasn't going to work. Ash was 
going to make sure of that.

	'Come on Pikachu, time to go.' Ash whispered to his pokemon. The trainer and pokemon silently 
crept away from the vent and began to go into another direction. They seemed lost for a while but, found 
themselves looking at sunlight once they had turned another corner.

	'Pikachu!' said Pikachu gleefully. It was finally time to get out of the hospital and out of the 
circulation system.

	'Quiet!' Ash ordered. They both crept closer to the cover and peeked outside. The only thing they 
saw was a one-story drop down and a brick wall.

	'Pika?' Pikachu asked. They weren't about to drop one story were they? Ash looked at his pokemon 
and sighed.

	'We may have to Pikachu.' Ash undid the cover and peeked his head out. There wasn't anyone 
there. They must've gone around to the back of the hospital. When the pair had dropped down to the 
ground, Ash winced in pain. He was still in terrible condition.

	"Pika!" Pikachu said in worry. Ash then promptly covered the pokemon's mouth expecting to be 
swarmed by his mother, Brock, Misty or anyone else. When no one came he let out a sigh of relief.

	"Let's go before team rocket discovers I'm gone Pikachu." Ash picked up his pack and slung it over 
his shoulders and proceeded to walk down the alley. When he was about five blocks down he heard a 
commotion come from the hospital.

	"Pika?" Pikachu wondered what was going on.

	"Looks like we got out of there just in time Pikachu." With that being said, Ash and his pokemon 
went and bought supplies for the trip ahead of them. He had never been so paranoid in his whole life. When 
the cashier at the food mart tried to start up a conversation, it made Ash very uneasy. The only topic on her 
and supposedly everyone else's mind was Ash.

	"Can you imagine? A kid gets kidnapped by team rocket and then captures a mew? Either that kid's 
made of steel or he's extremely lucky." said a girl behind a counter to her shopping friend.

	"I think it would be great! The rarest and most valuable pokemon on the planet at your disposal. It 
would be like finding the winning lottery ticket on the sidewalk." said the friend.

	"Hey, what do you think?" The girl had addressed Ash. He had caught the last snippet of 
information on his way to pay for his food.

	"Me? Uh...well. I think it would be cool to capture a mew." Ash said nervously. He didn't let on 
that he was the lucky kid they were talking about.

	"Yeah! I bet it would be da bomb! The stardom, the fame, the pokemon matches and not to 
mention the people." said the friend.

	"I bet that kid is going to have a hard time beating the girls off. The kid will probably be named 
Pokemon Champion of the year." said the cashier as she began to ring through Ash's parcels.

	"Not only will he be popular, but rich too. I can see it now: Mew the Movie. A story of how a 
young trainer conquered team rocket and bravely captures a mew. It would be an instant classic. I bet 
anyone could live on the royalties for the rest of their life." said the friend.

	"Thank you, come again." said the cashier. Ash put everything in his backpack outside the store and 
began to walk. He had emptied his savings account and transferred it to another one. There was no way that 
Ash was going to have his mother freeze his money on him to try and force him to come home; he couldn't 
have that. He also got out all of his pokemon from proffueser Oak. Ash had made this lame excuse that he 
wanted to reassure that everything was all right. Ash was in luck because Oak hadn't heard about the 
commotion at the hospital yet.

	"Well Pikachu, looks like we're on our own for the time being." Ash began to walk in the direction 
of the next town with a badge in it. Then in front of him was a fork in the road. He checked his pokedex and 
found his upgraded map system.

	"Pika?" Pikachu asked from his shoulder. His bag was too full to carry Pikachu in because of all the 
pokeballs and supplies.

	"Looks like we go this way Pikachu." Ash took the road to the right. He had traveled for about five 
hours when he had to take a break. Ash was so tired and he wasn't fully healed yet.

	'I bet everyone's having a cow over where I went to.' Ash then looked at his pack again. 'Or where 
mew went to.'

	"Pika?" Pikachu suddenly stood up and had it's ears back on it's head. Ash knew what that meant; 
danger.

	"What's there Pikachu?" Ash asked. The electric pokemon jumped up on the nearest tree branch 
and looked into the bushes over to Ash's right. It was a Rapidash. It was casually walking over to Ash.

	"Pika?" Pikachu was completely confused. A Rapidash usually ran, not walked casual. 

Translation

	"What are you doing?" asked Pikachu to the approaching pokemon.

	"Is your trainer with you?" asked the fire pokemon. Pikachu looked at the Rapidash incredulously. 
It couldn't figure out why he wanted Ash.

	"So what if he is?" asked Pikachu. The Rapidash kept right on walking in Ash's direction. Pikachu 
leapt out of the tree and onto the ground in front of Ash." That's far enough!" growled Pikachu.

	"Greetings Master." said the fire pokemon suddenly. Pikachu was confused. Why did this pokemon 
call Ash his master?

	"Master? You want to be one of Ash's pokemon?" asked Pikachu. Pikachu couldn't figure out what 
was going on.

	"You will address him as Master." said the Rapidash sternly. "He is, after all, the Ultimate Trainer." 
with that, Pikachu sat down with a thump.

	"Ash?" Pikachu looked up at his trainer and suddenly noticed something that Pikachu hadn't noticed 
before. Power. Ash had the power to control any pokemon; no matter wild or trained, angry or hurt. If Ash 
wanted something done by any pokemon, the pokemon would do it. It was like Pikachu's mother had 
described, he would be close to any pokemon he has contact with.

	"Didn't you realize it at his coronation? Every pokemon for miles felt it. Right now I've been sent to 
carry him on his journey. He has a long way to go if he is going to bring pokemon and people closer 
together." said the Rapidash.

	"I just realized now." Pikachu replied. "But I don't believe it."

	"Hey Pikachu. What's going on?" Ash asked his pokemon.

	"Why can't he understand me? If he is the Ultimate Trainer, why doesn't he understand my words." 
Pikachu demanded from the Rapidash.

	"He's not at full power and he's too new to his abilities yet. Climb on my back to show that it's OK. 
We have a ways to go tonight."

	"Alright. I'll do it." Pikachu muttered. Pikachu then jumped on the fire pokemon's back and began 
to Pika for Ash to join him on Rapidash's back.

End Translation.

	"You want me to get on the Rapidash?" Ash asked his pokemon. He almost had a heart attack 
when Pikachu jumped up without any warning. 

	"Pika!" Pikachu nodded his head and made a patting motion on Rapidash's back.

	"Ok, I'll trust you." Ash slowly approached the pokemon and got on it's back. Ash sighed with 
relief that he didn't get burned like the last time when he first approached a ponyta. Before Ash could do 
anything else, the fire pokemon began to tear through the trees at an alarming pace. "Whoa!" This was the 
only way to travel.

Meanwhile.

	"I can't believe that team rocket tried to kidnap Ash again." growled Misty. There had been an 
attempt on Ash's life around three in the afternoon. What was worse was the fact that Ash had somehow 
gotten wind of the news and made a jailbreak. Team rocket didn't even get close to Ash's room but when 
they entered to see if Ash had woken up by the racket they had created out in the hallway, they discovered 
him and Pikachu gone.

	"He probably had a good reason to run. Maybe he thought that if he stayed that mew would be in 
trouble." suggested Brock.

	"No, I know the reason why he left." interrupted Snap. Everyone looked at the young 
photographer.

	"Why?" asked Mrs. Ketchum

	"I'm afraid it was your fault Mrs.Ketchum. You threatened to keep Ash at home and never let him 
train again." Before Snap could continue, he was interrupted by Mrs.Ketchum.

	"Ash knows that I said those things because, I was worried about him. He knew not to take me 
seriously." she added as quickly as she could.

	"Ash was on drugs at the time. He could have not been thinking straight and thought that you 
meant those words." continued Snap. "Besides you were a bit hysterical last night."

	"What bothers me is the fact that he got out of this hospital without anyone knowing about it." 
interrupted Officer Jenny." We had the entire area guarded and there was no way he went out the window 
with that crowd out there. How did he do it? That's what I'd like to know."

	"Stop focusing on how he did it and find him!" yelled Misty.

	"Calm down Misty. Yelling won't solve a thing. We'll just have to go out and look for him." said 
Brock. He was worried about Ash. This time there wasn't only team rocket after him but an entire world 
after him now because of mew.

	"I hope he's alright" muttered Misty to herself.

Midnight

	Ash was not all right. He was uncomfortable and tired. Pikachu and him had been riding most of 
the night and he was most certainly uncomfortable. He didn't get any sleep because of the speed that they 
were traveling at and yesterday's activities had worn him out.

	"Pikachu. Ask Rapidash when we stop. I'm tired and we both need some sleep." Ash yelled to the 
Pikachu that was riding on the fire pokemon's head.

	"Pikachu Pika-pi?" Pikachu asked the Rapidash. The reply that Pikachu relayed to Ash was soon. 
Ash sighed and kept hanging on for dear life. The Rapidash was still going at the same pace that it had been 
when the journey first started.

	'Oh well. Beats walking anyway.' Ash thought. A little while later the Rapidash came to a complete 
halt in front of a huge flock of butterfree. Rapidash was easily captured and wasn't sent to Oak to Ash's 
surprise. He now had seven pokemon with him and he naturally thought that it was odd but ignored it. Ash 
went over to the nearest tree and sat under it.

	"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked. Ash had taken out some of the food from the pack and began to shovel 
it down.

	"Here you go Pikachu. I didn't forget about you." Ash had unwrapped a parcel of dried pokefood 
and gave it to Pikachu.

	"CHU!" Pikachu said and began to devour it's food. Ash picked up his pack and looked at Mew's 
pokeball.

	'I'm beginning to wonder if your worth all this trouble' Ash thought to himself.

	"Pika?" Pikachu asked. Ash sighed and put the pokeball away in his pack. Ash put his arms around 
his head, pulled down his hat and fell fast asleep. For some mysterious reason, the butterfee began to move 
closer and closer to the tree Ash was sleeping under. A flash of light and a moan escaped from Ash; his hair 
had become blonde again. Unknown to Ash there was a visitor on his way to meet him. Not only had Ash 
met this pokemon before but it also had let Ash ride him before. The pokemon had known from the very 
start who and what Ash was; after all there can only be one chosen one.

Elsewhere at point B

	"How could you fail?! You're the best field agents out there!" demanded Giovonni. The two very 
uncomfortable team rocket members in front of him were trembling.

	"It wasn't our fault boss." sobbed Cassidy.

	"Yeah, the kid disappeared on us. He left without anyone seeing anything." interrupted Butch. With 
that, Giovonni slammed his fist down on the desk.

	"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR EXCUSES! This is too important to botch up. You, find that 
kid and bring him to me. DEAD OR ALIVE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" roared Giovonni. The 
frightened pair winced and replied.

	"Yes Sir!" Then the two team rockets turned to dash out the door only to be stopped at the sound 
of the boss's voice.

	"One more thing, the rockets that originally kidnapped the boy will be working with you from now 
on. They are to be your superiors. Understood?" Cassidy froze and turned pale. Butch did the same.

	"Ye-yes Sir!" Cassidy managed to croak out and the pair left the building.

	"I don't believe this!" roared Butch.

	"I know! Failing at one job was bad enough but Jessie, James and Meowth as our superiors!? This 
is an official disaster." growled Cassidy. She looked back at her feet and began to kick the rocks that were at 
her feet; wishing that it were Jessie or James. Then, Cassidy had an idea. "Butch!"

	"What?" he snapped.

	"We could work on our own to capture the kid! We don't have to tell those idiots that we have to 
work together. We could just tell them to find the kid then phone us to take over." said Cassidy. Butch 
visibly brightened up.

	"That's a great idea. One problem, where's Jessie, James and Meowth?" wondered Butch out loud.

	"Right here!" came a voice from behind them. It was Jessie. "Prepare for trouble,"

	"And make that double,"ect ect...You know the motto.

	"You listened in?" growled Cassidy.

	"Of course we didn't. We get orders from the boss too you know!" snapped Jessie.

	"We're not thrilled at the prospect of working together either so we thought we would cut the 
deal." said James.

	"Yours guys stay out of our way and we'll catch the kid like last time. We don't wants yous guys to 
get in da way of our progress." said Meowth.

	"The only progress you dimwits get, is the progress through a bag of donuts. Furball!" growled 
Butch.

	"Why you! Come ere and I'll show you a furball with fangs." snarled Meowth.

	"Enough! It's settled then? You stay out of our way and we stay out of yours?" said Jessie. Cassidy 
and Butch did the huddle and discussed the matter. When they got out of it it was Cassidy that spoke.

	"Yes. The first one to the Ketchum kid wins. Good luck incompetents. You'll need it!" With a 
laugh, Cassidy and Butch went down the street while two rockets tried to restrain their female partner from 
charging down the road.

	"We'll capture Mew first and then the boss won't care about the Ketchum kid." snarled Jessie. That 
was their plan; steal the Mew to make the boss happy so he'll forget all about Ash.

	"First, we got to make sure that they don't capture Ash before we can get Mew though." said James 
holding onto one arm.

	"And that means we have to go look for them now!" added Meowth. Jessie calmed down and 
jumped into the team rocket balloon. This was going to be a long trip but, it shouldn't be a problem. Ash was 
always easy to find; they were always tripping over him when you least expected it.

Meanwhile at a very expensive hotel..

	"RING, RING, RING!" demanded a telephone.

	"Alright one minute!" growled a very sleepy voice. The telephone had buzzed for the last five 
minutes straight.

	"RING, RING, RING!" was the machines reply.

	'Who would be calling me at this time of night?' wondered the red-haired boy.

	"Hello?" he said sleepily into the telephone.

	"Gary! Where have you been?" It was gramps! Why would he be calling at this time of night?

	"What's up?" he asked sleepily.

	"What do you mean What's up? Haven't you been watching the news?" Gary hadn't been watching 
the news. He had been in a very difficult battle at the gym in that town and he lost. He had went straight to 
sleep from the sheer difficulty of that match.
	
	"No, why? Should I have been watching?" Gary asked sleepily.

	"If you were watching five minutes ago, you would have learned the identity of the person who 
caught that Mew not too far from where you are and you would have also learned that he is missing." said 
Oak.

	"NO WAY!" shouted Gary into the receiver. The whole reason that Gary was here was that he had 
heard about the amazing capture yesterday. He wanted to meet the person who caught the Mew and have a 
battle with him; just to see how he measured up.

	"Yes and I want you to find him. Gary? Gary?" Gary had put on his cloths and rushed out the door. 
The only way he was moving on is if he beat that gym leader and got the badge. Gary had to do that as 
quickly as possible so he could be free to search for the Mew capturer. You only needed four badges in this 
league to compete. Gary already had three. Three hours later, Gary had returned to the hotel in triumph. 
After which he realized what he had done to the professor and phoned back his grandfather.

	"Sorry to run out on you like that, so WHAT'S THE KIDS NAME?!!" Gary couldn't contain his 
excitement. The name he heard was one he was NOT expecting. Gary fell silent.

	"Gary are you still there? Gary?................... Kids today!" with that the professeur hung up.

	"Ash?" Gary whispered.

Back in the forest

	"Pika?" Pikachu was awakened by a pokemon coming out of it's ball. It was Mew!

Translation

	"Something wrong Mew?" asked Pikachu. Mew stared up at the sky and didn't reply. "Mew?" 
asked Pikachu again.

	"Tell me something, what is Ash like? As a person I mean. I don't know any humans and it's 
difficult to think that I have a master now." asked Mew suddenly. Pikachu didn't hold back his smile and 
grinned.

	"Ash is a very brave and noble person. Right now he's going through a tough time so you should 
see it in him soon." Mew gave Pikachu a concerned look.

	"Why would I see his qualities soon?" asked Mew. Pikachu laughed.

	"No matter what Ash does, he always seems to get himself in trouble. The very first time I met him, 
I wouldn't listen to him. Just the same as all the other pokemon, he earned my trust and friendship twice 
over." Mew looked back at the stars again and sighed. "Hey, you ok?"

	"I-I'm finding it difficult to not be able to fly around as I used to and having fun. That's what I used 
to do.," said Mew sadly.

	"Hah! You can be as free as you want to be with Ash. He gives the pokemon a choice on whether 
they stay in their pokeball or not. I think he might make an exception in your case though." said Pikachu 
bluntly.

	"Why?" asked Mew.

	"Oh, it's just your so rare and all. Ash might want you out of your pokeball more often so it won't 
be as easy for people to steal you." said Pikachu.

	"Explain." Mew asked Pikachu.

	"The chance of someone stealing your pokeball and escaping Ash's notice is less than the chance of 
him noticing that you're not in front of him anymore." Pikachu said then yawned.

	"I see. Very clever." said Mew. Then Mew turned to the stars again and sighed. It was the last stars 
of the night. Dawn was coming soon.

	"Best we get some sleep. Ash will want to travel some more tomorrow and that means potential 
danger." That got Mew's attention.

	"Danger? Do you not realize who he is? Ash is the Ultimate Trainer. The only danger he'll be in 
now is the potential danger of being swarmed by girls." said Mew.

	"Wrong!" Pikachu had suddenly turned around and said. Mew was taken aback and jumped a few 
feet in the air and hovered." Ash is in more danger now than ever. Team rocket is after us, his mom 
threatened to keep him under lock and key and every lowlife in the world will be after you."

	"You still do not understand the length of Ash's power's do you? He is the Ultimate Trainer! Every 
pokemon in the world wouldn't let anyone touch him if he doesn't want to be touched. He commands all 
pokemon; not just us." said Mew.

	"He may command all pokemon, but he doesn't command people and people are more dangerous 
than pokemon." retorted Pikachu. To that, Mew had no reply. "We should get some sleep. Ash will want to 
move on in the morning."

	"I'm not going back in my pokeball if I don't have to." said Mew. Pikachu climbed onto Ash's 
sleeping form against the tree.

	"Then help me keep him warm." Pikachu then made room for Mew on Ash's lap. Mew hesitantly 
jumped onto Ash's lap and fell fast asleep.

	'That's not a bad idea Pikachu. I will keep Mew out of her pokeball.' Ash thought before he fell 
back asleep. The pokemon had not noticed the their young master's hair had returned to a blonde color and 
he growing blonder. The butterfree had found their way over to Ash and were now nestled in a group at 
Ash's feet.

	'That's right. Get some sleep young Master. You will have a long and difficult day ahead of you 
tomorrow.' The other pokemon had arrived. It looked at the sleeping trainer and pokemon and decided to let 
them rest. Instead of waking them up as soon as it got there as it had originally planned; the pokemon went 
to the nearest lake and dove in for a sleep. It would sense his presence as soon as he woke up.

Morning

	"Yawn! Good morning Pikachu." said Ash has he had woken up to the sunlight. He had actually 
woken up to when Mew decided to go back into his pokeball so nothing would look suspicious. That was an 
hour ago.

	"Pika!" said the yellow mouse by a very small built fire. Ash stopped for a minute and tried to make 
sense of what he was seeing. The butterfree that they had seen the night before were in a circle around Ash.  
It was as if they had waited for Ash to wake up. Pikachu was over by a small fire that Ash didn't build. 
Something was out of the ordinary as Ash looked on to this scene.

	"What's going on Pikachu?" asked Ash. It wasn't everyday that you woke up to a flock of 
butterfree at your feet. Pikachu didn't reply right away but did something instead. Pikachu marched over to 
Ash and took off his hat.

	"Pi-Pikachu pika." was Pikachu's reply as it ran over to a lake with Ash's hat in mouth. Ash was 
really confused until he remembered the last day's events. 

	"Hey! Give me back my hat." said Ash as he pursued his pokemon. Ash laughed as Pikachu 
stopped at the waters edge to wait for his trainer. Pikachu was making faces at Ash. Ultimate Trainer or not, 
this was still Ash and he needed cheering up.

	"Pi pi kachuuuu." said Pikachu in a you can't catch me voice. Ash laughed and forgot all about his 
problems as he tackled his mischievous pokemon. Just then Ash's hair turned blonde again. Pikachu stopped 
wrestling and stared at Ash.

	"What's wrong Pikachu?" Pikachu didn't answer but pointed to the waters edge. Ash thought that 
there was something in the water so he raced to see what Pikachu was pointing at. What he saw was his 
reflection with a twist. "MY HAIR!!!!!!!!" Ash wailed as he looked into a blonde reflection of himself. 
Pikachu started to laugh so hard it was rolling on the ground with tears coming down it's red cheeks. "This 
isn't funny Pikachu!" Ash growled.

	"T-T-That'swhatyout-t-think!"Said an unfamiliar voice. Ash turned to see Pikachu pointing at Ash 
holding one arm on it's stomach and one in the air mocking him.

	"What?" Ash said in shock. Did he just hear what Pikachu was saying or was it his imagination 
playing tricks on him? Then it hit him!

	"Y-Y-Youlookrediculious!" said the unfamilar voice again and Ash watched as Pikachu went down 
hard on the ground again. This wasn't funny anymore, Ash was hearing Pikachu talk and not in the normal 
poke-language. What made it worse was that his own pokemon was teasing him about how he looked!

	"Hey!" Ash said irritated. "I don't look funny! I-um-well, just look different that's all!" said Ash to 
his now shocked Pikachu.

	"You understood me?" asked Pikachu in a very surprised voice. Ash rubbed his head and groaned.

	"I've got a headache." Ash than sat on the ground and rubbed his temples. He had hoped that the 
last few days were nothing but a bad dream but, he knew that it was very real. There was no Brock, Misty or 
team rocket so it confirmed what happened. He was on his own. "I can see that this is going to be a very 
trying day."
	
	"No kidding! How am I going to get away with all my comments about you now to all the other 
pokemon? This is really going to be a drag!" That got Ash's attention.

	"What to you mean 'comments'?" Pikachu then whistled a tune and began to walk in another 
direction. "Come'ere you!" Ash laughed as he proceeded to swoop Pikachu up from his little I-didn't-say-a-
word-walk and began to tickle him. "What have you been saying huh? huh?"

	"SSTOP. OK! OK! I GIVE!" said Pikachu after a few seconds of tickle torture. Ash released 
Pikachu and grinned.

	'Maybe this won't be such a bad thing after all.' Ash thought. Then he realized something; he had to 
get to the next town for the next badge! If he didn't get there and soon, he wouldn't be able to battle! His 
mom probably has the entire population out looking for him in a few days and he needed some space.

	"We best get going Pikachu. On to the next badge!" Ash's stomach then growled."...and maybe to 
the next breakfast joint as well." Pikachu began to laugh anew at Ash.

	"Same old Ash!" was Pikachu's comment. Then Ash remembered that he still had very yellow hair 
and looked at what Pikachu was holding.

	"Gimme back my hat! There's no way that I'm going into town like this!" Ash said as he reached 
out to take his hat back. Pikachu had a nasty thought and began to run.

	"Catch me if you can Ketchum! Then we'll see if you can have your hat back." said Pikachu over it's 
shoulder at Ash. Ash then remembered something else; Mew.

	'That can wait until later.' thought Ash as he trailed after a Pikachu that was calling him some very 
naughty names.

	"Slowpoke! A slowbro can move faster than you!" said Pikachu.

	"Oh yeah! We'll just see about that!" retorted Ash as he began to run after his pokemon. The 
butterfree that had watched over the young trainer took to the sky to escort him out of the forest without his 
knowledge. Also unknown to Ash, he was being watched every step of the way by the mysterious pokemon 
from last night.

	'Keep him safe Mew for the time being. I will return when he needs me.' With that, the pokemon 
disappeared into the sky.

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or anything related to pokemon. Pokemon and its associated characters 
are copyrighted by Nintendo/Game Freak. This is a pokemon fanfic created by my mind only.