A/N: Okay, I stayed up until 1:00 in the morning to finish it, but here it is: chapter 4 of the Master Plan. This one’s got a bit (or a lot) of violence in it, so be warned. It’s nothing really too bad, anyway. Well, now that I’ve posted it, no one will have to sic their level 71 Gyrados at me or tell me that I’m driving them insane, right? Sorry about all the cliffhangers, but I actually found it kinda fun to see everyone’s reaction to ‘em. As always, reviews are very much appreciated. ::Okay Growly, they wanna read the story. Will ya just shut up already?:: Ok then, without further delay, here’s the conclusion of: The Master Plan.

Ash plummeted down the cliff side, his body smashing into the rocky wall as he fell. Refusing to go down without a fight, Ash almost miraculously managed to flip his body so it was facing the wall. With a grunt, he dug his fingers into a ledge on the wall that was only a few inches wide. Tremendous pain was surging through his body, but he refused to let go. As he clung for dear life, Ash suddenly saw Pikachu fall past him. Horrified, he braced himself against the wall and grabbed a poke ball. “Noctowl, go! Catch Pikachu!” The owl pokemon materialized and immediately swooped down toward the falling Pikachu. Since it was a natural habit for Noctowl to dive for its prey, it easily caught Pikachu’s cage in its talons. The cage made Pikachu quite heavy, however, and Noctowl was having trouble holding it up. “Noctowl, I know it’ll be tough,” Ash said with great pain in his voice. “but I’m gonna need ya to fly Pikachu back up to the top of this cliff. You’re its only hope.” Noctowl nodded at its trainer. “Hooooooo!” It cried as it strained its wings to carry the caged Pikachu to safety. Despite his pain, Ash smiled. He knew that Noctowl wouldn’t let him down. Now that Pikachu was safe, he could concentrate on saving himself.

Brock returned to the camp triumphantly. He saw that Misty had just woken up. “Hey Brock, where did Ash go?” Misty asked in a groggy tone.

“He said he had some stuff to take care of in the woods.” Brock simply answered. “He’ll be back soon.” Brock secretly smiled to himself. He won’t come back as soon as you think, he thought to himself smugly. Soon we’ll have to look for him and we’ll come across his body at the bottom of the cliff. With Pikachu in a cage, we can blame the whole thing on Team Rocket. Misty may be upset, but I doubt it. Once I have total control over her she won’t care about anything. Soon after I can do away with her too, call her death a suicide....

“Brock, what are you smiling about?” Misty asked, noticing how strange the smile on Brock’s face looked.

“Hm? Oh nothing, Misty. Nothing at all.”

Ash struggled desperately to keep his hold on the ledge. His fingers were becoming numb with pain. Grrr... this ledge is too small for Bulbasaur to fit on... Wait! Chikorita will fit alright! Maybe she can help me out of this.... Ash carefully removed Chikorita’s poke ball from his belt, and released the small leaf pokemon onto the ledge. Chikorita looked down at Ash. “Chikori!” she cried, noticing the dangerous position her trainer was in. “Chikorita! I need your help. We gotta figure a way to get me back to the top of this cliff.” Both Ash and Chikorita thought for a few seconds. Then, Chikorita perked up. “Chika!” she cried. She then carefully climbed onto Ash’s back and latched herself onto him with her hooves. (if that’s what they are!) The little pokemon extended her two vines, one wrapping itself around Ash’s waist, the other stretched as far as it could go to the top of the cliff, where Noctowl helped direct it to the nearest tree. Chikorita wrapped her vine around the tree, and tried to pull Ash and herself to safety. Pulling both Ash’s and her own weight, however, was very difficult for Chikorita. She wouldn’t be able to do it on her own. Ash, seeing his pokemon’s difficulty, decided to help out. He started to climb the wall along with Chikorita’s support. It was a painful, difficult climb. But Ash was never the type to give in. I’ve gotta do this, I’ve gotta get back up there. I can’t leave Misty with Brock. I’ve have to save her.... I have to.... I can’t lose her.... I love her.....

“Ash has been gone quite a while, Brock.” Misty said, the worry in her voice was obvious. “I think we should go and look for him.” Brock looked annoyed.

“Really, Misty. We should stay here. Ash will be back soon.” He looked Misty directly in the eyes. “Trust me, everything will be fine.” He said slowly. Misty’s face became blank. The emotion drained out of her voice.

“Everything... will be....” she repeated. Just then, a blue blur leapt from behind Ash’s backpack and bolted towards Brock. “Toto!” it cried as it firmly clasped Brock’s hand and wrist in its jaws, biting down hard. Brock screamed in pain.

“AAAARRGGHH!” He cried. “Let go of me, you goddamn monster!” He swung his arm around violently, which only caused Totodile to strengthen its grip. Misty snapped out of her trance.

“Huh? Brock, what are you doing? Totodile? Totodile, let go of Brock! Are you crazy?” Totodile ignored Misty’s order and chomped harder on Brock’s arm, shaking his head vigorously and injuring Brock’s arm further. “Dile!” He cried angrily. There was no way he was going to let Ash down.

“You bastard!” Brock shouted. “Damn you, Ash! You can’t stop me!” In one final attempt, Brock gathered all of his strength and swung his arm outward. The power of the swing was too much even for Totodile, his grip was released, and the pokemon was sent flying into a tree. Totodile painfully collided with the tree, then slid down to the ground, unconscious. Misty noticed the violence Brock had just shown, and the cruel way he had treated Totodile. She understood that Brock was hurt, but seeing a pokemon -especially a water pokemon- treated in such a way pushed buttons for the young girl.

“Brock! How dare you do that to Totodile!” She shouted angrily. Brock was even angrier than before. Still holding his injured hand, he turned toward Misty.

“Totodile?!?” He cried angrily. “Did you see what that thing did to me? It could’ve ripped my hand off!” This still did not appease Misty.

“That’s still no excuse to treat a pokemon so violently!” She proclaimed. “You should be ashamed of yourself, Brock. Just look at the poor little thing!” She went over to go tend to the unconscious pokemon. Brock placed himself between them.

“Misty, I don’t think that I overreacted. Totodile will be fine. Right now, we need to worry about my own injuries.” Misty’s will once again began to get taken over. Togepi noticed the sudden change in its mommy’s facial expression as she agreed with the squinty one. And Daddy had been gone long, almost too long. It knew that something was wrong. It walked over to where Mommy and the squinty one were standing and placed itself protectively in front of Mommy. “Toge!” It said as if to warn Brock from coming any closer. Brock was only angered further by finding yet another obstacle standing in his way. Angrily, he kicked Togepi aside, sending it rolling quite a few feet. The baby pokemon began to cry. Seeing her adopted child treated in such a way brought out a rage in Misty. Her face filled with anger as she glared at Brock.

“BROCK!! JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!?” she screamed at him. Temper flaring, she kicked the older trainer in the stomach. He doubled over in pain. Misty immediately ran to Togepi, trying to comfort him. Once Brock got his breath back, he advanced toward Misty. Misty saw him, put Togepi down, and turned to face him. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you Brock, but I’m warning you, if you come any closer you’ll regret it.” She raised both of her fists, willing to fight as hard as she could to protect her pokemon. Brock didn’t seem very intimidated by this. He laughed in a sinister tone, which was very unfamiliar to Misty. It frightened her.

“No Misty, I’m afraid you’ll be the one who regrets it.” With this, he dove at the girl, and pinned her to the ground, holding her arms down. She struggled hard, but Brock’s strength was superior to her own, and Misty was overpowered.

“Let me go, you asshole! Where is Ash really? ASH!!!” Brock grinned.

“I’m afraid he can’t hear you, Misty,” he said menacingly. “and I’m afraid he never will.” Misty’s eyes widened.

“Wh-what do you mean? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ASH?!?” She shouted at the top of her lungs.

“It really doesn’t matter Misty. Soon, it won’t matter at all.” Brock looked directly into Misty’s eyes, paralyzing her. She could feel herself starting to lose control over her thoughts. “Now, you will be completely mine....”

After what felt like hours of painfully fighting his way up, Ash finally made it back to the top of the cliff. He felt like collapsing, but knew that he mustn’t. “Thank you Chikorita, thank you Noctowl.” Both pokemon happily answered. Ash then released Bulbasaur and Cyndaquil. Now, listen to me, everyone. I’m gonna leave Pikachu here with you. Cyndaquil, try to melt the bars of that cage and get him out of there.” Cyndaquil agreed with a “Cynda!”. Ash spoke to his pokemon again. “What I’m about to do is probably gonna be really dangerous, but no matter what happens, I want you all to stick together, and to protect Pikachu. Got it?” All of the pokemon responded with a nod. He smiled at them. “I’ll be back soon, you guys.” Chikorita walked up to him. “Chika.” She said, looking worried for her trainer. “Don’t worry, guys. I’ll be fine. Right now the best thing you can do for me is to stay here with Pikachu, okay?” Chikorita looked uncertain, but then returned to Pikachu’s side. “Chi.” Ash smiled at his loyal friends. “Thank you all. I’ll be back in no time, I promise!” And with that, Ash turned and ran back in the direction of camp, back to Misty.

Now that Misty was dealt with, Brock believed that it was time to deal with that blasted Totodile. He walked over to the little crocodile, picked it up, and smacked it across the face with his injured hand, splattering blood on the pokemon’s snout. He then threw Totodile to the ground. Brock lifted his foot over the brave little pokemon. It shot down hard, but never made contact. Instead, Brock was knocked to the ground with the force of another person tackling him. He turned to view his attacker, and was shocked to see... “Ash!” Ash stood over Brock furiously, ready to take him on. “That’s impossible!! How could you possibly have survived that?” Ash grinned.

“Brock, you should know that it takes more than gettin’ tossed of a cliff to get rid of me!” Ash’s expression then became serious. “Now, I’m ready to stop you!” Brock’s look of shock was replaced with one of confidence.

“Are you Ash? Well, we’ll just see how close you can come to me. Come on.” Ash simply frowned and charged toward Brock. Brock simply remained still. Then, he lifted his hand up, and snapped his fingers. As soon as the snap was heard, Ash’s path was immediately blocked by none other than Misty, the dull look having completely covered her face. Ash immediately stopped in his tracks.

“Misty?!?” He cried in shock. Brock laughed.

“Well, isn’t this an interesting twist. The one person you came here to save is the one person preventing you from saving her! Pretty ironic, don’t you think, Ash?” Brock sneered.

“What have you done to her?!?” Ash demanded, rage and fury overflowing inside of him.

“It’s simple, really.” Brock answered. “With you out of the way, it became very easy for me to gain total control of her. Now there’s nothing you can do stop me, that is, unless you want to hurt your beloved Misty.” Brock threw his head back and laughed. “What are you going to do now Ash, hm?” Ash started to look extremely frightened. He had to stop Brock.... but he couldn’t hurt Misty. “Hahahaha! Why don’t you just give up now, Ash? Just give up and let me kill you again!”

“Never!” Ash cried. “I’ll never let you do this to her! I’ll save Misty even if it kills me!” Brock smiled.

“Trust me Ash, it will.” Ash turned his attention to Misty.

“Misty, it’s me. Dont’cha recognize me? Mr. Pokemon Master?” Misty’s face remained emotionless, she did not respond. Brock laughed to himself. What a fool. He’ll never be able to reach her now. This should be entertaining. “Please, Misty. This isn’t you. He’s controlling you. I wanted to tell you from the moment I found out, but I was afraid.... that you wouldn’t believe me. Come on. The Misty I know would never stand for this.” He smiled. “She’d be goin’ nuts, swingin’ her mallet around everywhere, makin’ anyone scared to come within 10 feet of her.” Misty’s expression softened. “Misty..... I want you back.... please, fight it.... for me.” Misty blinked a couple of times. Ash stepped toward her.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. She’ll attack if you get too close, you know.” Brock called out arrogantly. “Don’t you know it’s futile?” Ash still didn’t stop moving closer to Misty. He looked at her with loving eyes as he moved, and Misty’s face started to regain some feeling. Ash didn’t stop until he was directly in front of her. He touched her face.

“Misty....” he whispered. “Come back to me...” Emotion had fully flooded Misty’s face now, and she fell to the ground, passed out. Ash immediately dove down to the ground and held her, deeply concerned. Brock fumed.

“You BASTARD!!” he shouted at the young trainer. “You’ve ruined my plan, completely counteracted my hypnotic waves, survived an almost impossible situation, and ruined the perfect control I had over my test subject. How?!? How could you, of all people, manage to do all of that?!?” Ash grinned at Brock.

“It’s quite simple, really.” Ash said, quoting Brock. He gently laid Misty back down and stood protectively in front of her. “I have something you don’t, something you’ll never understand the true meaning of, and never ever have for yourself.”

“And what would that be?”

“Love.” Enraged, Brock rushed at Ash. Ash ran at Brock as well, and the two met, tackling each other to the ground. Ash swung a punch at Brock, hitting him in the cheek. Brock punched Ash right back, sending him flying. Brock then leapt at Ash in his vulnerable position, but Ash quickly rolled out of the way and slammed Brock in the back. The fight continued on, Ash knew that Brock was stronger and he had little hope of winning, but refused to stop fighting. He would defend Misty to the death. After a while, Ash’s injuries from his fall were starting to take effect. He slowed down considerably. Soon Brock gained the upper hand. Ash made a lunge for his face, but Brock pulled back, kneed Ash in the gut, then slammed him in the back, leaving the boy on the ground, writhing in pain. Brock stood over his victim.

“Now it ends, Ash. For real this time.” Brock pulled his fist back, ready to deliver a final blow, when he felt another powerful fist connect with his jaw. Brock fell to the ground, stunned. He looked up and was shocked to see.... “MISTY?!?”

“You know Brock, for being such a ‘rock-hard trainer‘, you sure have a glass jaw.” Misty said, standing over him. He glared at her, a wild, frightening look on his face.

“YOU CAN’T DEFEAT ME!” Brock cried defiantly. He lunged at Misty. This time, however, she wouldn’t let him take her by surprise. She quickly dodged Brock, and the second he turned around to face her again, she landed a hard kick right where it hurts. Brock fell over, moaning in pain. Misty ran to Ash.

“Ash, are you alright?” She asked. Ash managed to pull himself up.

“Yeah, I think I am. Come on, we’ve got to get out of here.” He grabbed Misty’s hand. Misty scooped up Togepi and Totodile, and the two dashed into the forest. They ran as fast as their legs would carry them, knowing that Brock would soon regain his senses and come after them. Branches whipped at their faces and tore at their clothes, but they continued on. Ash led Misty to the spot where he had left his pokemon. They stopped as soon as they spotted the group of five, finally letting out a breath of relief. Ash’s pokemon, including the now conscious, un-caged Pikachu ran over to greet him. They were all concerned when they saw their trainer’s beaten state.

“Ash, you’re really hurt.” Misty said, gently placing her hand on his cheek. She wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled his chest. “Thank you for saving me.” Ash blushed and returned her embrace.

“I should be saying the same thing to you.” He responded. They smiled at each other. Ash’s expression then grew serious. “Come on, right now we’ve got to get out of here before-”

“Before what, Ash?” Everyone turned to see Brock emerging from the woods, a hateful look upon his face. “I’m afraid that now, you’ve got no where left to run, kiddies.” Ash’s pokemon all prepared to attack Brock, but Brock held up a poke ball of his own. “No-no... make one move toward me and I’ll sic some of my friends here on your beloved Ash.” The pokemon all backed down, glaring and growling at their former friend. Brock started running toward Ash, who braced himself for attack. But Brock caught everyone by surprise when he suddenly turned and went for Misty, his fist raised. Misty was taken totally off guard. But before Brock could strike her, Ash, moving faster than he ever had in his life, threw himself in front of her, taking the full force of the blow. Misty gasped. Brock became enraged. He grabbed Ash’s collar, trying to choke him. Ash fought back, pounding Brock as hard as he could with his fists. “FOOL!” Brock shouted. “YOU WILL NEVER STOP MY MASTER PLAN FROM BEING COMPLETED!! YOU HEAR ME? NEVER!!!” As they continued to struggle, Ash noticed that Brock was moving toward the edge of the cliff, his back facing it. With a determined look, Ash lifted his foot and gave Brock a final kick, causing him to lose his balance. Brock started to fall, but kept his grip on Ash’s collar firm. “Very well then, Ash, it shall end for BOTH OF US!” But before they could go off the edge, Ash felt a pair of arms wrap around him, pulling him back up. Misty had grabbed on to him, and refused to let go. She pulled with all her might, trying desperately to save the boy she loved. The deadly game of tug-of-war felt as if it would never end for the trainers, Ash felt as if he were going to be ripped in half. None of them could take it anymore, and none of them could find a way to break the tie. Then, at the last moment, Pikachu jumped onto Brock’s clinging hands. A look of horror appeared on Brock’s face as Pikachu flashed and evil grin at him, then bit down hard on his already severed hand. Unable to bear the pain, Brock released Ash’s shirt, and fell down the rocky cliff below. As he bounced off one of the boulders on the cliff’s wall, it came loose. It was followed by dozens of others, forming a rockslide, and burying Brock beneath it all before he could even cry out.

Ash and Misty both fell backwards, Ash landing in a sitting position with his back against a rock, exhausted. Misty and Pikachu peered over the edge of the cliff. All they saw was a gigantic pile of boulders at the bottom of the cliff, which Brock was underneath. They stared for a while, both knowing that he never could’ve survived. Their trance was broken when Ash groaned in pain. Misty immediately rushed to his side.

“Ash, are you alright?” She asked, extremely worried. Ash winced, but smiled at her.

“Not at the moment, but I think I’m gonna be fine.” Misty wrapped her arms around him once again.

“Ash, you went through all of this just to save me. I don’t know how I can ever thank you.” She buried her face in his chest.

“Misty, you don’t have to thank me. I would never think twice about saving you. I..... I’d die for you if I had to....I...” Oh great, now I’m starting to stutter. he thought. Well, it’s now or never. I may not get another chance... “...I could never let anything that bad happen to you, Misty. You’re way too important to me, cause I.....I um...::gulp::..” Misty realized what Ash was about to say before he could actually get it out. Oh my god. He loves me. He really loves me. I can tell that’s what he’s feeling, I just know it is. Oh Ash, you don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear you say this.... So she continued to wait while Ash continued to stutter. He just couldn’t seem to get it out. It was understandable, after all, these feelings had just been realized. However, Misty was getting impatient. ::sigh:: I wish he’d hurry up. Come on, Ash. I know what you’re trying to say, just say it already. “Um.... ya see... I...I...” Misty couldn’t take the wait any longer. She had to shut him up. Quite unexpectedly, Misty drew back her hand, and promptly smacked Ash across the face. It wasn’t too hard, seeing that he was already injured. Ash gave Misty a confused look. Misty just smiled at him, gently took his face in her hands and said......

“Ash, shut up.”

She then moved in closer and pressed her lips to his. Ash was a little surprised by Misty’s actions, but soon after shut his eyes, put his arms around her, and kissed back. Misty made the kiss deeper, and the two of them sat together for quite a few minutes, kissing passionately the entire time. They only stopped when a mock growl from Pikachu made them realize they had an audience. Both blushed and smiled sheepishly at the group of smiling pokemon, who then applauded in any way that they could.

By the next morning, Ash and Misty had already packed all of their stuff and ran as fast as they could for the closest pokemon center. The pokemon were all healed. Pikachu and Totodile were both going to be fine, though they did have to be bandaged a bit. Misty and Ash decided to tell the police the whole story. They even had Brock’s journal and Professor Ivy’s word to back them up. That night, they slept in the pokemon center. Nurse Joy believed that they had been through enough, and deserved a nice comfortable room to sleep in. The two of them lied down on the comfy bed, snuggled in each others’ arms. Since the room had two beds, they let Pikachu and Togepi have the other. Most of the events of the past day were still weighing heavily on their minds. “I still can’t believe it Ash. I mean, who would have thought that Brock had that planned the entire time?” Misty asked Ash.

“Nobody.” He answered. “Still, I feel like such an idiot for trusting him.” He smiled and playfully nuzzled her cheek. “He was makin’ me so jealous too!” She giggled.

“Jealous? How?” Ash pouted.

“The way you were always giving him all the attention. Smackin’ him and yankin’ him around instead of me.” Misty gave Ash a mischievous grin.

“Ash, I never knew you felt that way. If you want me to smack you around more often, all you had to do was ask.” Ash sweatdropped.

Me and my big mouth.... “Well, it sure is gonna be different without him around.” Ash noted. Trying to change the subject of him getting smacked.

“Yeah.” Misty agreed. Then she smiled. “Different, but better. I never liked him all that much anyway.” Ash hugged her tighter.

“Well, we’d better get to sleep. Say, how about we head back to Rosethorn tomorrow. I know it’s out of the way, but...” He lifted her chin so that she was looking right at him. “I think it’s worth it.” She smiled lovingly at him, then placed a sweet kiss on his lips. He gladly returned it. “I love you.” He whispered into her ear. She blushed.

“I love you too. Now shut up and lets get some sleep.” Ash grinned.

“Yes, master.” She smacked him with a pillow. Ash retaliated and soon a pillowfight was in full force. Pikachu sighed. They’ll never get to sleep.....

Meanwhile, back at the bottom of the cliff..... a few rocks began to shift.... moving ever so slightly... crumbling and falling away from the top of the pile..... until a chewed-up looking hand burst through the rubble.....

Epilogue: Brock’s body was never found. Police officials are still baffled as to where it may be... the only evidence remaining was the poke ball containing Vulpix, who was returned to her original trainer, Suzie. Ash and Misty continued their journey together... alone together. (unless you count the pokies!) They made sure that they stayed away from the spot where all that had happened forever... and they vowed never to let another “third wheel” join them. Their journeys continued to bring them closer together.... guess ya could say they lived happily ever after! Hey, with Brock being gone and Ash and Misty together, how could you not have a happy ending? ^_^

The End (?)

Yay! I’m finally done! Actually, I feel kinda sad... oh well, I’m sure you people are all really happy. About that ending- I’m really not planning on writing a sequel, I just wanted to creep you out a little. ^-^ Why don’tcha all use your imaginations? I’m really glad that I got so much positive feedback from peeps, thanks to all of you who reviewed (and who will review, just incase I get more ^-^). I’d also like to thank my sister Elise, for helping me when I was stumped, my beloved cat Tiger, for keeping me company during all those lonely hours I spent typing, and of course, the entire cast of pokemon who appeared in this fic! (except for Brock, b/c I hate him.) If any of you are artists out there, I’d really think it would be cool if someone could make an illustration or two for this story. Ya don’t hafta, just thought I’d suggest. Just one more thing to anyone who’s still reading.... Just remember, the next time you see Misty go over to tug on Brock’s ear, or the next time you notice she’s not acting herself, or too meek..... remember the Master Plan. Mwuahahahahahaa!!! (I know I suck at the evil laugh.) Bye now!!