The Ultimate Test

Part 4

"So, Brock. You mentioned that you want to become a pokemon breeder?" Cassara asked. Brock swallowed the forkful of fish in his mouth, nearly choking on it.

"That's right. I've dedicated my life to the care of pokemon. How about you?"

"I've decided to become a pokemon nurse mastering in flying pokemon." As if that was a que, a large bird fell out of the sky and smashed the table Brock and Cassara were eating at. "Oh my god, a Pidgeotto!"

"You dumb bird, we're trying to eat here!" Brock yelled.

"Pidgeoo, pid pidge oo." the bird replied weakly. Cassara gasped and staggered back.

"What did it say?" Brck demanded

"It said 'Brock, Ash needs you.' " Brocks head snapped to the bird. In it's beak was Ash's cap. Brock lifted the bird gently and turned to leave.

"I'm sorry, Cassara. My friends need my help." he started running away.

"Hold it!" A man shouted. It was the store manager. Brock turned back. "You owe me money."

"I already paid for the food!"

"Not the food, the table! It's gonna cost you a hundred bucks to replace it."

"I don't have that much money!"

"Then you can wash dishes the rest of the day to pay off your debt." Brock thought about it. If he tried to leave, the man would call the cops. If he stayed, Ash and Misty could get hurt or even killed. He finally thought of a solution.

"Cassara will you please take this Pidgeotto to the pokemon center?"

"Sure." She cradled the bird in her arms and started running.

"Pikachu!" Brock yelled. The electric rodent ran out of a near by tree and looked up at Brock. "Pikachu Ash is in trouble. Will you please take Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Zubat and go help him?" There was no hesitation for the pokemon to nod. Brock dropped the three pokeballs to the ground and ran inside. 'Maybe if I work hard enough, he'll let me go earlier.' he thought.

Pikachu released the others from their pokeballs. They were confused that there were no humans around to guide them.

"What’s going on?" Bulbasaur asked.

"Ash and Misty are in trouble. We need to find them." Pikachu answered

"Where do we start looking?" Zubat asked quickly. Pikachu pointed at the woods and the group started running.

"What do we do if there hurt?" Squirtle shouted out. He was the slowest runner and was falling behind a bit. No one answered and Pikachu kicked into high gear.

After a while the two men, obvious members of team rocket, started arguing. apparantlly the short guy wanted to be alone with Misty in the camp this time and the tall guy didn't want it to happen. Eventually the tall guy agreed and stomped off into the woods. Without a word between them, Ash and Charmeleon knew this was the right moment. As the man started tying Misty's ankles together, Charmelon started to circle the camp site and Ash ran straight at the man, sword in hand. The guy saw Ash out of the corner of his eye and braced for the impact. The two crashed together and rolled away from Misty. Ash got up and backed away before the other man could grab him.

"You must be Ash," he said. "We've been looking all over for you. I needed to keep your girlfriend company since you were gone." he smiled the most disgusting smile Ash had ever seen. He turned suddenly and ran for a gun lying a few yards away. He never made it. Charmeleon leapt out of a tree and onto the man's shoulders. There was a quick struggle, a horrible snapping sound, then the man fell over and didn't move. Charmeleon got up and dusted himself off.

Ash sheathed his sword and ran to Misty. She looked dazed. He untied her hands and feet but couldn't get the chain off her neck.

"Charmeleon!" he called. The fire pokemon walked up and bit the lock off the chain. Ash removed his sword, his jacket and then took off his shirt and put it on Misty. She finally snapped out of it, looked up and recognized Ash. Tears welled in her eyes. Ash used a piece of rope as a belt to hold her pants closed, the button and zipper had been destroyed. He then helped he to her feet. No sooner was she standing that she threw her arms around his neck and cried on his shoulder. Ash held her for a long time. The two finally separated and Misty looked into Ash's eyes.

"Thank you so much Ash. If you hadn't saved me...."Tears again began forming.

"Don't cry Misty. It's over. The asshole that did this to you is dead." Misty looked at the still figure. No tears appeared.

"Good." she said.

"I was worried sick about you misty," Ash began.

"I love you, Ash" Misty said when he paused.

"I didn't know if you were dead or..... You what?"

"I said I love you." Ash stared at her a moment an odd look on his face. ' Time to know the truth.' she thought. Ash looked down at the ground and mumbled something.

"What did you say?" he straightened and looked her in the eye.

"I said I love you too, Misty." Misty smiled. Then Ash did to. Misty wrapped her arms around his shoulders and Ash put his arms around her waist. The two kissed. This time no one pulled away.

'Good for you. You guy's deserve each other' Charmeleon thought. He smiled at the two then turned away to give them some privacy. He heard a snap and turned back. The second man was their, and he had a gun!

"Char char!" (Look out!) The pokemon cried. Ash opened his eyes and saw the man. He pushed Misty away from him. Just then the man fired at Ash. Charmeleon ran at the human, flames pouring out of his jaws. The team rocket member turned to Charmeleon and fired three times. Charmeleon slammed into the human and tore his throat out. Blood shot out of the man's ruined throat a moment, then he fell limp. Then the pokemon himself collapsed.

Misty was terrified. Everything seemed to be getting better. She and Ash had admitted their love and the man that had hurt her was dead. But she had forgotten the second man, everyone had. After Charmeleon’s warning it all happened so fast. Ash pushed her to safety then there was a shot. Charmeleon snarled, their were three more shots then it went quiet. Misty got up and looked toward the gunman. He was lying in a pool of his own blood. Not two feet away Charmeleon was also lying still. Misty ran to the pokemon. There was a bullet wound in its shoulder and another in it's stomach. It was unconscious. A moment later Ash was standing at Misty's side.

"How is he?" he asked.

"Not good. Ash we need to..." she turned to look at him while she finished the sentence and noticed the trail of blood he had left. "You're bleeding!"

"I think that bullet caught me in the back, no big deal."

"No big deal?"

"I'll be okay, Misty! Now how do we help Charmeleon?"

"We can't. He needs surgery. I'll bandage him up, then we need to get out of here." Ash nodded and gathered his jacket, sword, and a few other provisions lying around the camp. He went back to Misty and found she had finished. She was holding Charmeleon, the pokemon was wrapped in a blanket. They started walking, following a trail they hoped would lead to New Haven.

"No sign of them!" Pikachu ranted.

"We had better rest." Squirtle said.

"Wimp! No rest till we find our friends!" Pikachu yelled.

"Squirlte is right. I'm the only one who can see in the dark, you guy's would just get lost. we should rest and start again at day break." Zubat said

"I agree. We're no good to Ash if we're lost, confused, and tired when we find him." Bulbasaur added.

"Huh...... fine. We sleep now and start again at dawn. But if Ash dies tonight, you'll all have to face me!" Pikachu said. He climbed a tree, pouted, and thought about Ash till he fell asleep.

"What an attitude!" Zubat whispered once he was sure Pikachu wasn't listening.

"Back off! It's not your master lost in the woods!" Bulbasaur growled

"My master would never do something this stupid!"

"He would if a girl asked him!"

"Shut up both of you!" Squirtle interupted. "Let's get some sleep while we can. If we're not ready to search by dawn, Pikachu is going to make us ready, understand!" The others nodded their agreement and the three settled down for the night.

Brock ran into the pokemon center at top speed. He grabbed his backpack and was heading for the door when Cassara called to him.

"What is it?" he asked

"I talked to your friends Pidgeotto. It says team rocket is the source of your friends trouble!"

"Team rocket! I have to get to Ash now!" He turned to leave and slammed into officer Jenny.

"Hey, watch it!" she yelled.

"Sorry, I'm in a hurry." He started going again but the officer held his arm.

"Hold on, you're not trying to go into the woods are you?"

"I am."

"I'm sorry but I can't let you do that."

"Why not?"

"We found two dead bodies in the woods." Brock's heart skipped a beat.

"How did they...."

"They were attack by a very vicious wild pokemon. They injured it, and the blood sample says it was a Charmeleon." Brock's heart sank lower. ' I knew that pokemon was trouble, but to kill Ash and Misty?'

"Ash, Misty, gone?" he whispered.

"Ash and Misty? The men's identification said their names were Max and Bernard." officer Jenny said. Brocks head snapped up.

"You mean it wasn't two kids that were killed?"

"No. The victims were men, 28 and 30 years of age. Their outfits were team rocket uniforms. That’s why you can't go their. There's a major investigation going on up there." Brock sighed in relief.

"All right, I'll stay here. Officer Jenny, if your men find a couple of eleven year old kids could you have them brought here? They’re my friends and I'm worried about them."

"Of course."

Brock settled down on a couch and Cassara sat next to him. She didn't need to ask how he felt, it was obvious. She rested her head on his shoulder and they went to sleep. It had been a hard day.

Ash wished he could rest. He was so tired, he could barely move. Misty made him go on. If he didn't care for her as much as he did, he probably would have killed her just so he could rest.

Then there was Charmeleon.

The fire pokemon was still loosing blood. It had regained consciousness around dawn but slipped back under shortly. Ash was afraid it would die. The two were starting to be friends and now it might end. Ash had stopped watching the road so he snagged his foot on a vine, he slipped and fell on his face. He tried to get up but couldn't for some reason. His eyes started to close, he wanted to rest. He could hear Misty vaguely in the background calling him, but he ignored her. It was time to rest.

Just when sleep was going to overtake him a large amount of water splashed his face. He sputtered and coughed and sat up.

"What just happened?" he asked. Misty had a worried frown on her face.

"I jammed your head in the river to wake you up. You were slipping away."

"Sorry. I'm just so tired."

"I know. I'm tired too, but we can't stop okay?"

"Yeah. How's Charmeleon?"

"He's getting worse. His color is wrong." Ash looked over to where the pokemon was lying. Misty was right, its normally dark red skin was a reddish-pink. He must be going into shock. The flame on it's tail was only one fourth its usual size, and shrinking.

"Let's get going," he said. With great effort he got to his feet. Misty lifted Charmeleon and the trio started off again.

A man in a team rocket uniform watched as a boy and a girl caring a fire pokemon walked past him. He was hidden in the bushes, waiting for just this moment. When the kids were out of earshot, he lifted his radio to his mouth.

"This is unit 13 reporting. I have them."

"Excellent. Units 14 and 19 are coming to assist you. Attack now." A man answered over the radio.

"Roger." The man put the radio away and ran after the kids.

Charmeleon lifted his head.

"Char mel." he whispered. Ash drew the sword.

"What did he say?"

"He said 'behind you'." Ash pushed Misty aside as a man charged up the trail. Ash swung the sword low and spilled his intestines. Charmeleon shot some fire at him for good measure. Ash was really worried now. The pokemons flame was a very light yellow, not the usual dark red. Even his powers were failing. Of course, they were still more than enough to finish off the dying man.

Two more men burst out of the woods. One grabbed Ash's arm and the other tried to grab his feet. Ash kicked the second guy in the face. Suddenly the man holding Ash's arms let go. Ash stabbed out with the sword, scalping the man before him. Ash turned around to see Misty standing over the dead man. She had put Charmeleon down and used a big stick to club the guy to death.

"You're not the only one who can fight." she said with a smile. Ash smiled back and received a shot to the head for his trouble. Another rocket member had shown up and had used a blackjack on Ash. He lifted it to use on Misty, but screamed and grasped his crotch instead.

Misty looked down and saw that Charmeleon had crawled up and was using the man's nuts for a chew toy. Misty swung her club and knocked the guy out. She hit him again, and a third time, until she heard his skull crack. She waited a minute...... five minutes....... ten. When it appeared no one else was coming she checked on Ash. He was out like a light, and had a massive head injury. She dragged him to a small area under a rocky over hang. She ran back to the road and carried the fire pokemon.

' Now what do I do? ' She wondered.

END PART 4