Looking Back Chapter Two "Now i know why you hate me... Cuz hate's the only thing the world has seen lately." - limp bizkit, mission impossible ii theme Saffron City stretched as far as the eye could see. Misty looked down at the splendor of the clean grass lawns that accompanied each of the dwellings- the grass that was accounted as the city's namesake. She checked her watch. Where was Sabrina? If the woman was such a powerful Psychic, why couldn't she be punctual as well? A faint swoosh from behind her alerted the water trainer that Sabrina had arrived. "Just you, Misty?" Misty turned around to face Sabrina's dark eyes. "Don't you think that, between us, we can handle whatever Ash chooses to throw against us?" "Good point," Sabrina agreed. "Let's find him." She threw out a Pokeball to send out a Kadabra. Misty released a Marril. "Marril, see if you can track down Ash," the red-head ordered. "Marril!" The little aquatic mouse waved its stubby paws and waddled off eagerly, happy to get some exercise. It lead Misty, Sabrina, and Kadabra to the very edge of the city, where the road would take them east to Lavender Town. "Marril!" the mouse concluded, jumping up and down to show that it was through tracking. It had taken them to a small stump at the side of the road; an area covered by tall grasses- the type that Pokemon lurk in. "There's no one here," Misty told Marril, commenting on the obvious. "Are you sure this is the right place?" "Marril, marril," the little Pokemon squeaked, clapping its paws together eagerly. "I don't get it." Misty turned to face Sabrina again. "There's nobody here, but Marril is never wrong. It's probably the best tracker on this side of the Pokemon world." "Marril isn't wrong," was all the Psychic stated. She pointed to a clump of particularly tall grass, eyes glowing a blue color, sending out a psychic command to Kadabra. The Psi Pokemon closed its eyes and directed an attack at the grass. A Bulbasaur leapt up from it, red eyes burning in rage. "Bulbasaur!" it cursed at them. Misty eyed it shrewdly. "That's Ash's Bulbasaur." Sabrina's eyes lit up again as she gave Kadabra another mental order. Kadabra's eyes flared, too, and it raised the spoon it was carrying to aim an attack at Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur was suspended up in the air, struggling helplessly against the force it was caught in. A voice said, "that's enough." Misty felt her heart sink; she knew for certain who it was. But she picked up her courage and faced the direction from where the voice had come from. "That's enough, Ash. If you surrender your Pokeballs to us and come out with you hands up, we won't hurt you." "I'm sorry about what happened in Pallet," the voice said again. "But..." it reconsidered. "I can't surrender. You wouldn't understand," the voice decided. "Just like how I didn't understand why you would destroy your own hometown!" Misty snapped. "Marril, Hydro-Pump those grasses!" "Marril!" the little blue mouse cried, shooting a spinning vortex of water from its mouth. The Hydro Pump knocked the grasses down flat and slick, but nothing emerged from them. Suddenly, a barrage of seeds shot from Bulbasaur's bulb, swabbing Sabrina's Kadabra in a tangle of vines. Kadabra lost concentration and dropped Bulbasaur, trying to pry off the vines with a spoon. Sabrina recalled it back to its Pokeball. "Bulbasaur," the seed Pokemon said primly, and stalked back to its berth in the grass. Misty and Sabrina followed it. The tall grass swished, blown back and forth by the wind. Surprisingly, the Bulbasaur made no indication that it was aware of them following it. It also made no noise as it picked its way through the grasses, and they almost lost it once or twice. After they had traveled about twenty yards into the grasses, the Bulbasaur disappeared. "Marril," Misty ordered. "Ash is definitely around here somewhere. Find him!" "Marril," the Pokemon agreed. Suddenly, twin vines whipped out of nowhere and wrapped around the mouse, taking it away. "Marril!" Misty cried out, but any signs of the kidnapper were gone. Ash's voice came to her again. "Don't interfere with what I'm doing, Misty. I hurt you once. I don't want to hurt you again." Marril came flying from the tall grasses, landing at Misty's feet with an indignant thump. Misty threw herself in a rage into the direction from which the voice came from, ignoring Sabrina and Marril's warning. Not even looking where she was going, just following the path her mind had carved out after hearing Ash's voice. Suddenly, Misty crashed into something hard that was not grass. It was Bulbasaur, but the little seed Pokemon was not alone. Looking down at her with a hard but somehow sad expression was Ash Ketchem, the boy she once loved, now the man that she hated with all that her heart could manage. Legal Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, Limp Bizkit, or Mission Impossible 2.