Chapter 4
"I won't let you hurt it!"
"You can't stop me, what are you going to do? Have your little rat give me a jolt? Maybe
you want to take me down yourself. What are you, twelve?"
"I'm 14 and my Pikachu can give you more than just a jolt, I assure you. Now release
Ho-oh right now!"
"Make me!"
"Gladly, Pikachu, Thunderstorm now......"
"Pikachu stop!!!!!"
"Noooooooo!!!!!"
Ash ran to help the man who had just been hit by one of Pikachu's attacks.
"I-I'm so-sorry, I didn't....I mean, are you all right?" Ash asked in desperate worry.
The man lying on the floor, blood seeping out of his mouth, responded with an ironic
chuckle.
"I am dying. This is what they had in mind the whole time."
"What?! Who?! A-and you-you're not dying! It was just a thunderstorm attack! I get hit
by them all time." Ash stated frantically as he rested the injured man's head on his lap. It
was obvious that he was weak, too weak from just one attack.
"It doesn't matter to "them". It could have been a kick in the shin and I'd still be dying."
This person knew something, he sounded so wise, so different from before. He did not
sound evil.
"Who are "they"?"
"You will know who "they" are soon, my son."
Pikachu stared at the dying man horrified, it had never hurt a human this badly before.
Ash's face contained the same horrified expression, but for different reasons.
".......Son?"
"I guess they are done with me," the man choked out, along with some blood.
"Son?! Please what are you talking about, I don't understand. My father....y-you can't
be....he..." Ash was frantic, and his heart was racing. He didn't know what to think, or
feel.
"It continues down the line, an interesting choice indeed." He shook his head in disgust.
He looked into Ash's tear-filled eyes, as he gave him one of the most loving looks that
Ash has ever seen before.
"You can't be my fa..."
The man chuckled playfully. "But I am."
Ash tried to wipe away some of the blood, but more just kept appearing. Ash's thought
were clouded. Clouded, jumbled, hysterical. He couldn't believe what this man, this evil,
thief of a man was saying. The man pulled Ash's hand away from the blood.
"You can't stop this. No one can. If it is what they want, it will happen. But why? Why
did it have to be this way? With you doing it? It isn't right. Even for them it is beyond
despicable."
"Please." Tears were now flowing down Ash's face as he once again tried to make sense
out of all this. He had come here to save Ho-oh from this evil villain. This man who he
has learned to despise. This man who has done nothing but cause pain and suffering in
his life since Ash started his journey. But, he had never intended to go this far. It was just
one attack and here this man was, on the brink of death. So different from earlier that day.
The man that was laying in his lap was nothing like the man he had first encountered 4
years ago. Hell, he was nothing like the man he had seen 30 minutes ago. Ash could tell
that this man was pure of heart. Something was not right. And not only was he not evil,
but he was now claiming to be his father. Ash didn't want to believe it, but from what his
mother had told him, it was very possible that he is telling the truth. All the pieces were
coming together. Now the question was why. Why was this happening? What has
changed? Who were "they"?
"Ash?" the dying man's voice was a painful whisper.
"First you have to tell me where you put Ho-oh, , and then we can get you to a hospital."
Ash said somewhat calmly, but still quite shaken up.
"Ash, Ho-oh is free. It was never really captured..." the man stopped for a moment. He
was having severe trouble breathing. He could feel the blood building up in his throat.
"My son, it is a game and you and I are just their pawn. Where ever they see fit to move
us, we will go. Except for the fact that we are on opposite sides. I was played as the
villain, and you are played as the hero."
"Please stop calling me your..."
"You know that you are. I can see that you know. And as my son, I only have one wish
before I go."
"YOU AREN"T GOING ANYWHERE!!!!!" Ash had now reached his boiling point. He
let the man's head fall off of his legs as he bounded for the door. He ran as fast as his legs
could carry him. But he stopped suddenly, as he heard voices.
'More Rockets?!'
'The job is being done as we speak.'
Ash peered his head out the door to get a better look at who the voices belonged to.
'Really? That is rather cruel, don't you think?'
'Cruel for them, but interesting for us. Imagine his face when he learns of who he has just
sent to his deathbed.'
'He wouldn't tell him?'
'I bet he did. He has always been like that. Telling the truth no matter how much it hurts.'
'I'm really going to miss him. But he has become too hard to control lately. Especially
after that experiment of his.'
'Yes. Sacrificing him is in our best interests. Besides, the other one seems to be much
more valuable in the long run.'
Ash's eyes were wide in shock. This couldn't be happening. He can't be understanding
them so clearly. The things they were saying.....Control? So heartless. They sounded
heartless. Like a bunch of intellectuals discussing a chess game. A game.
"No."
Ash let out a silent, painful cry as he continued to stare at the group of legendary
Pokemon. Moltres, Raikou, Entei, Lugia, and Ho-oh. Were they the only ones who were
doing this, or were they all involved?
'This can't be happening!' Ash thought.
'What about the replacement?' Ho-oh questioned.
'He is being given the talk right now.' A figure floated into sight.
"Mew!" Ash immediately covered his mouth with his hands as all eyes turned towards
him. Ash backed into the room slowly.
Ash couldn't read the expressions on their faces. They all looked pretty indifferent.
Except for Mew who looked a little annoyed, as it moved it's arm, slamming the door
shut in Ash's face.
'He was listening.' Lugia stated.
'How long do you think-' Moltres was cut off by Ho-oh.
'My guess is long enough.'
'He couldn't have understood us, could he?' Entei asked worriedly.
'We know he is different, so by the look on his face he probably did.' Mew stated
bluntly.
'Well now what? What fun is it if he knows?' Raikou voiced dejectedly.
'Oh, it could be tons of fun.' Ho-oh said almost evilly.
'Do tell.' The group was intrigued.
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'I can't here them anymore.' Ash thought as he lay against the door.
Pikachu was by his side at the moment, but it still kept checking on the injured man every
minute , and then quickly returning to Ash.
"How many times have you saved the world, Ash?' the man questioned from the middle
of the room. He was still lying on the floor. He looked dead, but he was obviously not.
The question was, why wasn't he dead? There seemed to be little to no life in his body as
he looked over to Ash for a response.
This was driving Ash insane. Here this man was, the man that he could no longer deny to
be his father. The man who looks practically dead. The man who looks practically dead
because of him. He killed his own father, because of a ....
"SHUT UP!!!!!!"
"I think it is around 7 times now, right? Yeah, that's sounds correct. Not everyone can
achieve something like that. You should be very proud of yourself. I know that I'm proud
of you. I probably couldn't save the world, no matter how hard I try. That must be why
they made you the hero huh?" He spoke in struggled gasps of breath.
Ash didn't respond this time. In fact, it looked like he was beginning to tremble.
The man started to wheeze. "I use to be just like you, you know. I wanted to be a
Pokemon Master. I loved Pokemon. I wanted to catch as many as I could. I guess they
helped me accomplish that, in a twisted kind of way."
"You are obviously insane. I am nothing like you," Ash stated dangerously as the
trembling became more apparent.
"You are what they want you to be."
"SHUT UP!!! NOBODY CONTROLS ME! I DO WHAT I WANT TO DO! NOBODY
HAS EVER MADE ME DO SOMETHING THAT I DIDN'T WANT TO DO!" Ash
screamed out in anger.
"They have ways of making you do things. Things that just conveniently happen.
Situations that call for your help...Like saving the world. Don't you think that would be
exciting to watch?"
"Please shut up. Please," Ash was now begging desperately as his sobs of hurt began to
be heard.
"Ash, you are a pawn. And it is not just you, everyone can be controlled. Their powers
are magnificent. Sometimes all they have to do is will it to happen, and it does. And if
they really want to get the whole experience they'll join in the "fun" themselves. I know
it's hard for you to admit that you might be controlled. I know you are very strong willed,
but...
"NO! Just stop! I..."
"We can talk about something else." The man pulled himself a little closer to Ash.
"Do you know about your grandfather, my father?
"......"
"Your grandfather was a wanderer. He never had a particular side that he was on. It was
whatever suited them at the time. It eventually drove him insane so they let him "not
survive" one of their plans."
Ash noticed that the dying man was inching closer to him. He was now only a few feet
away.
"You remind me a lot of your grandfather. It's a shame you never got to meet him. But
that's hardly his fault. Come to think of it, I never really knew my father that well either.
I'm sorry that that had to be the same case with us. I'm sorry I couldn't have been
stronger, that I couldn't have resisted-"
"Why can't you stop talking?!!!!!"
"Your eyes are just like your grandfathers'. I really wish we could have spent more time
together."
Ash realized that the man was right next to him, as his eyes became wide in rage.
"Please, if I can just touch you my son." The man reached out to touch Ash's face.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!!!" Ash kicked him away hard while hugging the door and
burying his face into it."
"You said you were dying, so die already. DIE! Please, just die, and leave me alone.
Please leave me alone." Ash was whimpering as Pikachu went over to examine the man.
He was now lying a few feet away from Ash. His body was perfectly still.
Pikachu realized that the man was no longer breathing.
Giovanni was dead.
Pikachu was panicked. He had to wake him up. Some way he had to make him wake up.
Pikachu began to Thundershock the body. Ash realized what was going on. Tears flowed
down his face. He had never seen a dead person before. It was driving him crazy. He
didn't want to be in there anymore. He wanted to leave. He wanted to get out. He wanted
it more than anything else that he has ever wanted in his entire life. He wanted to be out
of this hell. He began to try and open the door. It was locked.
Pikachu continued to Thundershock the body, but it was clear that he was not going to
wake up ever again. Ash tried to ignore the attempts by his desperate Pokemon to revive
the body. He looked on as the figure became further charred and Pikachu began to cry out
in agony.
"PIKACHU! STOP IT! STOP YOU DUMB POKEMON!"
"Pi...." Pikachu stopped Thundershocking as he looked at his master, who was clinging to
the doorknob.
"He's dead. He's dead. I told him to die, and that's what he did." Ash's voice was barely
above a whisper as he silently cried. He tugged at the door knob. He continued to tug, a
little harder each time until he was banging violently at the door.
"LET ME OUT!!!! PLEASE. I can't take this anymore. I want to go." Ash cried out
ominously as he slid down the door.
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5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour. The time continued to pass, and Ash
continued to cry. Pikachu had eventually given up on the body and was now sitting in
Ash's lap, trying it's best to comfort him, even though it was shaken up itself.
Ash couldn't look at the body.....
'The dead body of my father.' He thought.
'And his last minutes of life were spent with his son...How could I have done that?' Ash
couldn't stop the crying. No matter how hard he tried to hold back his tears, they just kept
coming. And the more he thought about it, the harder he cried.
'He was insane, he had to be. I'm not controlled. I always do what my heart tells me to
do. Save the world and the Pokemon from danger. It's the only decent thing to do.'
Ash really didn't look like he was all there. His eyes were looking around wildly as he
tried to sort out his thoughts.
'I mean, they couldn't have set up all that. They are still Pokemon after all, and no
Pokemon are evil. It's the people that are evil. Yes. Team Rocket, they are evil. The
legendaries are the victims. He was lying,....but he wasn't. Why did this have to happen
to me?!' Ash looked at his father once again. Lifeless, vulnerable, innocent. Innocent. He
looked innocent.
Ash couldn't deny what he heard the legendary Pokemon say. Even though he didn't
really get what they were talking about, some of it seemed to make sense with what his
father was saying. Sacrificing one, his father, for the other one, him.
"Why would they do this?" Suddenly Ash heard a clicking sound. Like a door unlocking.
He quickly checked the doorknob. It was unlocked. Ash hurriedly got up to leave when
he remembered that his father was still lying there.
"I can't leave him here!" Ash said as he looked at the body, and then quickly looked
away.
"But I can't stay here any longer either. There is no way I can carry him. And I'm sure
none of the Pokemon that I have with me will be able to carry him. If I stay here any
longer I might get locked in again! I can't! I can't!" and with that said, Ash ran out the
door with Pikachu following closely behind. He stopped at the entrance of the ruins and
looked back around. At the corner of his eye his swore he saw Mew grinning at him, but
he shook it off and continued to run.
He had a lot of thinking to do.
Ash jolted awake. He felt something on his face. Tears. He had been crying in his sleep.
It was the middle of the night and the Pokemon center was dark except for a small light
radiating from the room where "it" was being kept.
Ash got up and looked at himself in the mirror. He didn't like what he saw. He looked
defeated. As he stared at himself he heard giggling coming from the awful creature's
room.
Something inside of Ash stirred.
"I won't do this anymore. Not even they will be able to stop me this time." Ash's voice
held no emotion as he reached into his backpack and pulled out a small knife. He stared
at the lit room while gripping the blade hard in his hand, causing blood to trickle down
from his palm.
"Nothing will stop me."
A/N: Well, that's another chapter done. I'm not done with his dream yet so the next
chapter will continue the dream, and answer a few more questions. And you'll find out
what exactly Ash is going to do with that knife. So, please review if you like this story. Thanks ^_^.