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A Journey of Souls-Pokeshipping, PG-13

el_toro

Superfly
Yeah, it's here. Enough said.

Chapter 13-Barking up the Wrong Tree

He walked slowly through the open wooden door as the man with the shaved head held it open for him. The chilly air of the night smacked his face as a gentle cold wind caressed it, numbing his face. He looked around at his surroundings as soon as the man closed the door behind him. The match floor was lit brightly from the fluorescent lights of the lanterns that were hung up high in the trees. The tree branches loomed over the room as if they were spider webs as the bushes covered the wall like moss. Everything was still and quiet and Ash looked around the silent match floor searching for the reason he was in this room along with Pikachu and Misty who were both by his side. Finally a familiar pink and green haired girl stepped out from behind the tall bushes onto the match floor and smiled brightly at him. Misty’s stomach lurched at the sight of her and she rolled her eyes as Tamara blew Ash a kiss. He merely returned it with a weak smile and a wave of his hand.

“Well if you haven’t figured it out yet Ash, I’m the Gym leader for this town!” she yelled enthusiastically jutting her thumb onto her chest.

“Really?!” Ash blurted out, his eyes practically bulging out of his head. Misty lowered her head in shame and Pikachu slipped off of Ash’s shoulder as he held onto his stomach, attempting to control his laughter.

“Ummm… yeah, I am…” Tamara replied quietly, her eyes shifting from side to side in disbelief. “Anyway, let’s get this match started!” She then pulled a pokeball out from behind her belt and held it out in front of her as her hand rested on her waist. She then reared it back and threw it in front of her as Ash and Misty stared anxiously at the spinning ball. The pokemon from inside the ball escaped its capsule in a flash of bright white light and it revealed its identity
dermadrilfinalpk7.jpg
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“A BUG?!?!?!” Misty screamed as her skin crawled up and down her arm and she jumped behind Ash. The tan smooth skinned pokemon gazed at her curiously as he reared his head up at her.

“What’s your problem?” Tamara asked a bit offended at her attitude towards her pokemon. She looked towards Ash who was already checking the information of the pokemon on his Pokedex.

“Dermadril, the Mud Muncher Pokemon. 6’ 5” Bug/Ground: The skin on this pokemon can withstand the friction of rubbing vigorously against solid rock therefore its skin is very tough. The skin is also very elastic and can twist and turn at will making it able to dig through the ground easily. The fleshy part of this pokemon’s midsection is very sensitive to vibrations so it can sense whatever is walking on the surface of the ground. This pokemon also carries a very unique ability: it can switch between each head on the other end of its body so the pokemon can avoid taking as much damage as it would if it were struck on the head. Its main diet consists of dirt and rock and it can effectively spit out chunks of mud at high speed.”

He looked up at the pokemon as he stared right back at him. He had black beady eyes with thick tan skin and a soft brown segment that divided his body in half. Each side of his body was so strikingly similar that it would be impossible to recognize which side his head was on had he not been looking directly at Ash at that moment. Misty peered nervously from behind Ash to glance at the pokemon then hid behind Ash after Dermadril looked back at her.

“Seriously, what is your problem?” Tamara asked now very annoyed with Misty.

“I can’t STAND bug pokemon! They’re the most disgusting things in the world! Next to carrots, peppers, and Ash’s table manners!”

“Hey!”

“What are you talking about?! Bugs are the most precious, loveable things in the world! Isn’t that true my Dermy-wermy?” She wrapped her arms around her pokemon’s head, gently stroking it then giving it a kiss. Misty made a gagging noise and Tamara scowled back at her.

“I think it’s time we start this Gym battle before you two have another fight and I end up with another black eye!” Ash said half-jokingly passing his hand over his still bruised eye.

“Fine. But she has to go up to the balcony if we’re going to start this match. She’s too distracting down here,” Tamara said crossing her arms with a scowl on her face.

“That’s fine by me. The smell of your bug breath is making me sick,” Misty said pinching her nose as she turned around. Tamara clenched her fists in anger and she called for the man with the shaved head.

“Yes...?” the man said appearing out of nowhere from behind Misty. She jumped in fright as he walked slowly towards Tamara. She whispered into his ear as he simply nodded in response while Ash and Misty stood there waiting for her to finish. She leaned back after finishing what she had to say and stared him in the eye to see if he understood. He paused for a second then finally nodded. He disappeared into the bushes and Tamara waited for him, tapping her foot. Ash was strategizing with Pikachu on their battle plan and Misty stood over them listening in on their plan during the brief pause.

“Ash, are you crazy?! Why would you send-” He jumped up and covered her mouth with his hand as he shushed her.

“Shhhh! You’ll give away my pla-AHH!” They both jumped in fright as the shaved man had snuck from behind them and was looming over them with a solemn look in his eyes.

“If you would Miss…” He placed a cold hand onto Misty’s shoulder. She stared back at him with a bewildered look as he led her through the bushes on the side of the Gym. They disappeared into the foliage and Ash gave Tamara a suspicious look. She smiled back at him and he grew even more suspicious of her until he caught a glimpse of a familiar redhead moving over the green trees. She leaned over the balcony and looked down at Ash and Tamara as they took their positions.

“Looks like we’re all alone now Ash…” She winked at him and he shifted his feet uneasily. Misty was extremely tempted to just pull out a pokeball out of her pack and pelt it at her discolored head, but she sat down on the sole wooden chair on the dark balcony that the bald man had brought up for her and bit her tongue as a vein throbbed in her head. “Come on Ash tell me how you really feel about me… Now that that loudmouthed redhead isn’t here anymore…” she said with a sly grin on her face. She felt something whiz past her ear and she looked around curiously as to what it was. She looked up at a red-faced Misty who was now leaning over the edge of the balcony as her chest heaved up and down with a scowl on her face. What she didn’t know is that Misty was standing up because one of the legs on the wooden chair she was sitting on had “mysteriously” disappeared…

Ash was thinking over his strategy in his head. He knew he had a type disadvantage if he sent Pikachu out against a Ground Type, but there was something that was driving him, something he hadn’t felt in ages… He cocked his head up with a confident smile that ran from cheek to cheek, staring nonchalantly at Tamara who was waiting for his pokemon to join hers on the field.

“Alright then,” he smiled flicking his nose with his thumb as he grinned. “Let’s go Pikachu!” Pikachu jumped onto the field and the man with the shaved head took his place on the match floor as referee. Misty slapped her forehead in frustration.

Why did he send Pikachu out?

“The 2-on-2 match between the Gym leader of Conifer Town, Tamara, against Ash will begin as soon as the trainers are ready.” The referee glanced at them both then raised his arms into the air. “BEGIN!!!”

“Pikachu use Quick Attack!” The yellow mouse swiftly leapt towards Dermadril at breakneck speed as the worm pokemon awaited Tamara’s command.

“Substitute into Dig!” What was Dermadril’s head fell limply to the floor in a bight blue flash as the other end of his body burrowed into the ground as Pikachu missed his target by an inch. Dermadril disappeared into the ground and Pikachu stood still, searching for his adversary who was somewhere underneath him.

“Surface now!” He burst out of the ground in front of Pikachu and dived after him at full speed.

“Use Agility!” Ash yelled desperately. Pikachu disappeared as Dermadril crashed into the ground, digging into it once again. Pikachu appeared in front of Ash for a brief moment only to be launched upwards as Dermadril sprung suddenly out of the ground.

How did he find where Pikachu was so quickly?” Misty thought worriedly.

“Wrap your body around him now!” Tamara smiled confidently. Her pokemon leveled himself with Pikachu and wrapped his long body around him as he squeezed him mid-air. Pikachu struggled to be set free, but Dermadril squeezed even tighter as they begin to descend back to the ground.

“Pikachu you’ve got to free yourself!” Ash screamed with worry in his voice. Pikachu sent electricity through Dermadril’s body to try and get him to release his grip on him, but to no avail since Ground types are immune against Electric attacks.

“That’s not going to work Pikachu! Try biting him or something…” Ash said growing anxious as they neared closer to the ground. If Dermadril crashed into the ground while still holding onto Pikachu, his pokemon would be crushed and that would be the end of the match… Pikachu winced in pain as Dermadril squeezed even tighter and he sunk his teeth into the Mud Muncher Pokemon’s skin. The pokemon was unaffected and Pikachu released his bite on the worm’s skin as his teeth throbbed in pain. He then spotted the fleshy midsection of Dermadril’s body and he quickly bit into it. The pokemon screamed in pain and Pikachu was released from the grip as soon as they made contact with the ground. Pikachu landed safely onto the ground panting in exhaustion as Dermadril quickly recovered from the attack.

“We can’t give them a break! Use Iron Tail!” Pikachu leapt towards Dermadril’s head and flipped forward as his tail glowed a bright white.

“Substitute and Dig into the ground!” Tamara yelled as soon as Pikachu came close to her pokemon. His body turned a bright blue and he switched ends yet again as Pikachu slammed into Dermadril’s tail. He yelled, but he quickly retreated into the ground as Pikachu attempted to grab him by the tail before he could get away.

“Alright Dermy, let’s end this now! Substitute again quickly and surface out of the ground!” In a quick flash of blue, Dermadril had surfaced from the ground once again to crash into an unsuspecting Pikachu. “Now use Mud Shot!” As Pikachu was flying back towards Ash, Dermadril spit out chunks of mud at Pikachu at a high speed knocking Pikachu past Ash and slamming him into the wall. He slid down unconscious and the referee raised Tamara’s red flag into the air.

“Tamara is the winner of this round!” She jumped into the air in joy and hugged her pokemon around the neck while Ash picked Pikachu off the ground gently.

“Don’t worry you did just fine buddy…” he said smiling warmly as his battered and beaten Pikachu returned his smile. After leaving Pikachu on the sideline he took his pokeball off his belt and released his only pokemon left. Virgel stretched his wings as he called his battle cry, startling Tamara and Dermadril. She stood up and smirked at him.

“So Ash are you feeling nervous yet? You’ve only got one pokemon left and I still got two ready to go.” He smirked back at her, his cocky attitude returning.

“We’ll see how much pokemon you’ll have left once Virgel is through with you…”

“Don’t get too caught up with yourself Ash! You’ll always lose with that cocky attitude of yours if you don’t quit it!” Misty yelled from the balcony down at Ash. Tamara raised her hand to her ear.

“For a second I thought I heard someone speaking. It must be my imagination or something… I’ve never heard a voice so annoying in my life before…” This time the whole wooden chair came flying from the balcony towards Tamara’s head and she quickly ducked to avoid it. “WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO, KILL ME?!” she yelled, her face a bright red. Misty merely stuck her tongue out at her and hid behind the trees. Tamara growled in anger and she turned to the referee in the white robes. She nodded silently with her fist clenched and he calmly returned it and he quickly retreated into the bushes. After a few moments, he was back out and took his place on the sidelines as Misty sat back down on the replacement chair the referee had brought in. This chair was different than the other one she had thrown though; the wood was colored orange and had a strange scent to it… The referee raised both of their flags into the air and yelled,

“BEGIN!!!”

“Go Virgel, use Comet Punch!” Virgel shot off in a burst of speed with his fist aiming towards Dermadril as his opponent awaited orders from his trainer. Tamara was waiting for Virgel to get closer before she could pull off her counterattack. He was a couple of inches away from her pokemon when she yelled,

“Alright Dermy, duck and then use Wrap!” Dermadril fell flat on the floor in the shape of a ring as Virgel passed over him, missing his target. He then coiled around Virgel and squeezed his body tightly against Virgel’s, trapping the winged pokemon.

“Come on Virgel, you’ve got to get out of that grip!” Ash yelled encouragingly to his pokemon. Virgel tried opening his wings, but Dermadril’s wrap around him was too tight. He stretched his arms, legs, and wings as Dermadril struggled to keep the pokemon in his grasp. The coil around Virgel was slowly opening and he pushed himself harder until he finally had enough space to escape. He shot out of the constricting spiral and into the air where he looked down upon his target.

“Use Wing Attack!” Virgel dove after him with intense speed as Tamara screamed,

“Quickly, use Dig!” Dermadril dove into the ground as Virgel swooped just above him, missing him completely.

“Go in after him Virgel and pull him out,” Ash said with a confident smirk on his face.

“Ash, what are you thinking! Use your head for once, you dimwit!” Misty screamed from the balcony, but Virgel was already in the ground searching for Dermadril blindly in the tunnel the earthworm had just made.

“You make this too easy for me Ash…” Tamara replied with a quick shake of her head. “Substitute then Mud Shot!” A bright blue flash emanated from the tunnel then after a brief yell Virgel came spurting out of the ground completely covered in mud as he fell harshly onto the ground. He stood up unaffected from the Ground attack, but the amount of mud in the white feathers of his wings were weighing him down, preventing him from flying. Dermadril came out of the tunnel with a devilish smirk on his face with Tamara sharing a similar grin on her face.

“Alright Dermy, you can finish him off now!” Tamara yelled pointing towards a mud drenched Virgel. Dermadril came slithering towards Virgel ready to drag him underneath the ground when Ash yelled,

“We gotta fight him off Virgel, use Wing Attack!” With a quick swipe, Virgel aimed his heavy wing towards Dermadril and from the force of the attack the mud came off of his feathers and smack dab into Dermadril’s face, catching him by surprise. The Guardian Angel pokemon stretched his now weightless wing effortlessly since the mud was free from his feathers and Ash smiled enthusiastically and clenched his fist.

“Alright Virgel, now with the other wing!” Virgel looked with fierce intent at Dermadril and the worm pokemon gazed back at him fearfully. He threw his mud ridden wing towards Dermadril with mud instantly releasing from the feathers. The Mud Muncher pokemon quickly ducked and avoided the attack and the flying mud came into contact with Tamara’s face. Misty burst out laughing as Ash stifled his laughter. Even the referee cracked a smile which only made Tamara even angrier.

“Let’s go Dermy back into the ground!” she screamed at her pokemon wiping the mud off her face frantically. He quickly followed her orders and dove into the earth as Virgel took to the air.

“You’re pokemon will never be able to find mine!” Ash yelled across to her, smiling.

“Well I doubt your pokemon can see through dirt either…” Tamara yelled back at him. They stood still for a moment, realizing that they were at a stalemate… That is, until Tamara made a discovery that tipped the battle in her favor… She smiled coyly and she looked towards Ash.

“How about we make a bet Ash… If my pokemon is able to find yours, you have to promise me to a date…”

“DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT ASH KETCHUM…OR ELSE!!!” screamed a voice all the way from the balcony. Tamara glared towards the balcony and she could see that Ash wasn’t going to cave in after a threat like that.

“Fine then, Dermy, go get him!” As Virgel flew in a circle around the arena, the ground from underneath him exploded and a tan snake-like animal came flying upwards, yelling his battle cry. Virgel was taken by surprise as Dermadril wrapped himself tightly around his leg and he tried to shake him off. He wasn’t budging though and he continued to climb up Virgel’s leg.

“Come on Virgel, just swat him off!” With a quick swipe of his white wing, the worm-like pokemon came stumbling down to the floor in pain. He quickly burrowed into the ground again after shooting Virgel a dirty look and Ash was faced with this puzzling dilemma.

How is her pokemon able to sense where Virgel is even though he’s flying in the air?” Ash thought as he looked closely at Virgel then at the ground where Dermadril lurked beneath. As Virgel flew close by Ash, dust began to scatter from the ground and it hit Ash in the face. He shielded his eyes until he came to a startling revelation. “Every time Virgel flaps his wings, the wind hits the ground, which is what allows Dermadril to see him, sort of like radar…” Ash grinned slyly having discovered Tamara’s plan and looked closely at the ground. The dust on the ground slowly scattered as Virgel was floating above it which confirmed Ash’s suspicions. He signaled for Virgel to come closer and then he whispered something in his ear as Tamara looked on with a confused expression. His pokemon smirked back at him and nodded as Ash returned his smile. He took to the air again and circled very close to the trees that surrounded the match floor.

“Enough! Let’s end this right now Dermy!” Tamara shouted as she pointed towards Virgel. Ash glanced over at his pokemon and saw that he was following the plan by floating underneath a tree branch. As expected Dermadril appeared right from underneath Virgel. He quickly dodged and smacked him into the tree with his wing. Dermadril slammed into the firm tree and fell onto the floor, fainting from the attack.

“Dermadril is unable to move. Ash and Virgel are the winners of this round!” Ash jumped into the air and cheered in joy as Virgel pumped his fist into the air. Tamara ran to her pokemon with despair in her eyes.

“Don’t worry Dermy, you did just fine…” she whispered gently to her pokemon as she returned him back to his pokeball. She stood back up and picked another pokeball from behind her belt.

“Go Neffy!” The pokemon escaped from his pokeball and revealed his fearsome identity
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“THAT’S NEFFY?!” Misty screamed as she backed away from the railing of the balcony in fear. Ash was also a bit intimidated by the pokemon too. His head which rested on a long neck was colored midnight black with two pairs of long pincers that ran from top to bottom and side to side. His armored body was colored a yellowish orange and he had three pairs of skinny legs that ran through his body, ending with a pair of sharp tiny prongs on his rear. He glared up at them and at first it wasn’t apparent, but his eyes were on the top of his head, tiny beady pitch black eyes that blended in perfectly with his head. Ash pulled out his Pokedex and pointed it towards the new pokemon. It opened up and the tiny black screen blinked on as the mechanized voice began to speak.

“Neferex, the Grapple Pokemon. 6’ 7” Bug/Dark: These pokemon find themselves most comfortable in thick forests where they live clinging upside down on trees. They attack their prey by latching their oversized claw onto its target while hanging upside down on a tree branch and then dragging their victim into its home. Because they live in dark forests and only come out at night, many humans and their pokemon have been attacked or gone missing due to this pokemon which has earned it the nickname ‘The Midnight Reaper.’ The mandibles of this pokemon are very powerful and can easily crush a solid rock while the six legs of this pokemon work together giving it enough power to pull a two ton truck.”

Ash glanced up at the pokemon as he opened his mouth and closed it all the while staring down Virgel who was now looking at him uneasily. Ash started to grow nervous, but he quickly snapped out of it as the referee took his position back on the sidelines.

“BEGIN!!!”

“Alright Neffy take to the trees!” Tamara yelled. Her pokemon scurried backwards quickly up a tree and rested upside down on a tree branch as he hid himself amongst the leaves. Misty had goose bumps all over her arm as she watched the bug pokemon crawl back into the tree.

“Disgusting…” she whispered to herself as she rubbed her arms. She then felt a faint breath of hot air on the back of her shoulder and she quickly turned around only to discover that there was nothing behind her. She glanced around nervously until she was certain there was nothing there. “I wonder what that was all about…” she muttered as she turned to look towards Ash’s match. He was already in trouble as Virgel attempted to free one of his wings from the grasp of the Grapple Pokemon because Neferex had managed to counter his Wing Attack. She shook her head once again as she said to herself, “Ash when are you going to start using your brain for once?”

Virgel flailed his legs frantically as Neferex continued to hold him in his powerful jaws, applying more force.

“Try hitting him in the face Virgel!” Ash yelled desperately as he watched his struggling pokemon. Virgel pulled himself up to Neferex’s level by using his wing and landed a quick punch on his face. He quickly let go of him and Virgel stumbled onto the ground in severe pain. His left wing was unnaturally bent inwards and the lightest touch would send him in excruciating pain. He retracted his wing behind his back carefully and punched the tree that Neferex was hiding in anger. The pokemon toppled out from within the depths of the green tree and fell harshly onto the ground, but he quickly recovered. They stared each other down until Tamara bellowed,

“Hit him with a Shadow Ball!” Neferex reared his head back and launched a sphere of dark energy towards Virgel who was in close range of the attack. He was carried off with the attack and was sent flying backwards. He fell onto his injured wing and he screamed in pain. Tamara smiled confidently.

This isn’t going to take long…” She then yelled, “Alright Neffy, back into the tree!” Her pokemon retreated back up the tree as Virgel picked himself up off the ground, his knees shaking.

“Come on Virgel, we can still beat her!” Ash called out to his pokemon. Virgel turned around and Ash nodded at him encouragingly while giving him a confident smile. His pokemon returned his smile and he turned around and charged towards the tree that Neferex was hiding in. His fist was reared behind him as it glowed a bright white as he was charging for a Mega Punch. As he approached the tree he thrust his fist forward and was about to make contact with the trunk of the tree when a jet black claw clamped onto his fist from above the tree.

“Use Crunch,” Tamara called grimly. The claw closed tighter and tighter as Virgel struggled to be set free as he was slowly being dragged up the tree. He screamed louder and louder in pain as Neferex’s jaw closed upon his hand even tighter.

“Try attacking him back!” Ash yelled in shock at seeing his pokemon in such severe pain. Virgel concentrated on his attacker and started striking him with quick jabs from his free hand and powerful blows from his large wing. After her pokemon endured a flurry of Comet Punches and a few Wing Attacks, Tamara yelled out,

“Alright Neffy, use Seismic Toss!” The claw hanging from the tree swung him forwards then backwards then forwards again like a swing until he finally let go tossing Virgel onto the match floor. Neferex then fell onto the floor and struggled to pick himself up. Virgel stood up slowly as his left arm fell limply to the side after having just been in the powerful jaws of the Grapple Pokemon. He was unable to attack with the whole left side of his body now since his wing and arm were severely damaged and now that Neferex was back to standing up straight, things were going to be a lot harder on his part.

“Your opponent’s weak Neffy so finish him off with a Shadow Ball!” He charged up yet another dark energy ball and released it at Virgel as it flew towards him at full speed. He dodged it in the nick of time, but the energy ball had caught onto his healthy wing and it exploded as it made contact. This time Virgel picked himself up quickly only to show that he wasn’t going to give up even though both of his wings were damaged, his left arm was crushed slightly, and he was very tired. Ash’s mind was running at a thousand miles per hour trying to come up with a solution to what seemed to be an impossible situation. He couldn’t come up with anything else and he felt like giving up, but his pokemon turned towards him and encouraged him with a fierce yell. Ash looked up at Virgel and saw that he was willing to go out fighting no matter the cost. Ash smiled at his pokemon’s bravery and nodded.

“Alright Virgel charge a Mega Punch and run towards Neferex!” Virgel took off with an amazing amount of speed as his good arm was reared behind him, ready to charge for another powerful attack.

“Oh no you don’t! Neffy use Shadow Ball!” Her pokemon once again aimed towards Virgel and shot another ball of energy towards his attacker. Virgel quickly dodged it, but had to regain his energy to charge up another attack as well as Neferex. They stood still looking at each other until Virgel shot off with a burst of unbelievable speed as his fist glowed a sky blue.

That’s definitely not a Mega Punch; it looks more like a Mach Punch!” Misty thought excitedly as Virgel darted towards Neferex in a beeline as his opponent charged up yet another Shadow Ball attack. As Neferex charged the Shadow Ball in his jaw, Virgel came close to him and he threw his fist forward in an explosion of speed. His fist collided with the Shadow Ball and the energy ball exploded sending both pokemon reeling backwards. As the dust cleared, both pokemon were lying still on the ground without any movement.

“Both pokemon have fainted at the same time; this match has been declared a DOUBLE KNOCKOUT!” Ash, Tamara, and Misty were all encased with utter shock and dismay as they stared at the referee.

“How are you so certain, the field was completely covered in dust!” Tamara screamed.

“Yeah and besides it’s obvious that Tamara’s pokemon was the first one down…” Misty yelled matter-of-factly from the balcony.

“How would you know Red? You’re obviously as blind as a bat since you can’t see how much Ash loves me,” Tamara stated as she held her nose high up in the air. Misty’s face turned red as she yelled back,

“You’re the one that’s taken too many blows on the head from practicing Kendo!” Tamara glared back at her until the referee ended the brief dispute by simply crossing his arms and solemnly declaring,

“That’s my final verdict.” They both stared at him and then lowered their heads in defeat once they saw that he stood firmly by his statement. Ash broke the silence by asking a simple question,

“So now what do we do?” Tamara quickly perked up and she responded by pulling out another pokeball from her belt.

“Easy; we settle the draw with another pokemon battle!”

“But I don’t have anymore left!” Ash exclaimed in exasperation. Tamara stared at him blankly and could see that he was quite serious.

“Well I’m sorry Ash, but according to the ‘Official Muntein League Rule Book,’ if in a Gym battle the ending pokemon designated from the beginning of the match result in a double knockout, each trainer must provide another pokemon to do battle for a tie-breaker and if a pokemon is not provided then the trainer must forfeit,” she said, reciting the rule book from memory.

“WHAT?!” Ash yelled in disbelief. He quickly took out his copy of the rule book from the back pocket of his green backpack and skipped to the page of the thick rule book that explained the rules of a Gym battle. He quickly read the part that explained double knockouts and found that what Tamara had stated was written in exactly the same words as it was in the rule book. He closed the book in disbelief and shock as his mouth hung open.

“…I should really start reading this book…”

“Well I don’t know what to tell you Ash, but… seeing as how you don’t have any other pokemon to do battle with…”

“Well he can always use one of mine, can’t he?” Misty interrupted from the balcony. Tamara glanced up at her and shot her a dirty look.

“No he can’t because that would be breaking another one of the rules in the book.”

“Yeah right…” Misty muttered sarcastically as her back faced Tamara and she looked at her from the sides of her eyes.

“Why don’t you take a look for yourself?!” Tamara retorted back as she threw the heavy rule book at Misty’s head. She quickly ducked and turned around to yell and threaten her with her mallet when she felt something unusual stroke her bare calf. She turned around sharply as she tried to catch what had touched her, but what was behind her was now gone. She shivered slightly as she only imagined what could have been touching her leg… “Maybe it was a tree branch or a rock… Yeah…probably a tree branch,” she thought with fear. She shuddered in fear again and leaned over the balcony again every once in a while glancing over her shoulder, still suspicious of what was lurking behind her.

The referee raised both of the flags into the air to declare the end of the match, but before he could say a word, a green blur came flying out from the trees behind Tamara and landed onto the match floor, skillfully landing its front flip. As the figure stood up straight, everyone could see that it was one of the Shogra from the dojo and upon closer inspection, that it was the leader of the class as he looked around at all of them. His eyes stopped as they passed over Tamara and he gave her the iciest glare that he could muster as she looked at him unemotionally. He then walked towards Ash and slapped him on the knee with the twig in his hand as he began to speak to him in his language. He pointed the stick towards himself then at Ash and finally swiped the stick in midair across Tamara, emphasizing every word he spoke with a brief grunt as he moved the twig about. Ash gave him a confused look as he attempted to decipher what the tiny grass imp was trying to say.

“Are you trying to say that you want to fight for me or you want to fight me?” Ash said faltering in confusion.

“He said that he’s willing to fight for you so he could help you win this match,” Tamara said, still unemotionally moved by the treachery of her pokemon, willing to fight against his master. The pokemon quickly nodded and turned towards Tamara. They both stared at each other with fire in their eyes as everything else seemed to fade away in their minds and the only thing that remained was them.

“So you think you can fight me now do you?” Tamara asked with a grimness in her voice that matched that of a gravedigger. He quickly nodded in response and began to speak in his native tongue that translated to this:

“I’m sick of the way you treat us. You make us train for long hours, scream and yell at us, then let us go at the end of the day so you can go to your precious bug pokemon as if you didn’t care about us.”

“I don’t,” she stated quickly. “The only reason I’m actually training you guys is just because my dad needs you guys for his business. Once you evolve, you guys are supreme cutting machines…”

“So that’s it? We’re just a bunch of machines for your benefit?” he asked with an underlying coldness. She simply nodded and he turned away from her with a fiery anger so hot that it could set the leaves that covered his body in flames. Everything else came back into focus as he walked slowly towards Ash. He turned to him once more and said something briefly before quickly turning around and facing the field.

“What did you say?” Ash asked in confusion.

“He said he’ll only fight for you for this one match and then that’ll be the end of it,” Tamara replied as she threw her pokeball into the air. It landed directly in front of Shogra and the pokemon that had come out of his pokeball quickly ate the twig in Shogra’s hand
thermaixz2.jpg
. She had red massive scissor-like jaws that extended wider than her head with a pair of similar black miniature pincers over her mouth that were quickly shredding the twig she had stolen from Shogra into tiny splinters as she ate the splinters coming from the twig. Shogra merely turned away and walked towards the bushes on the side of the wall and ripped out another twig to his own liking. As the tiny bits and pieces of the twig came into Thermai’s body, she glowed a bright orange until flames shot out from her mouth. Ash exclaimed in wonder and he immediately pulled out his thin Pokedex.

“Thermai, the Furnace Pokemon. 4’ 4” Bug/Fire: This pokemon is a living furnace, which lies in its belly. It relies solely on that said furnace, which is really a flame sac that acts as a second stomach, for self-defense against the bigger predators it faces on a day to day basis for living in volcanic forests. It eats any kind of wood, no matter how hard or old, by cutting the wood into manageable portions with its big pincers then cutting them into even smaller sizes with the smaller pincers that lie in front of its mouth. After ingesting the wood, its flame sac glows brightly as it burns the splinters of wood into a fierce fire that it spews out of its mouth. Because of this ability, its main diet consists of wood and the underside of this pokemon is charred a dark black from the ever-burning flames in its belly.”

At that moment, Misty let out a scream that pierced the air. Everyone looked towards the balcony until she came to the balcony, her hair in a mess with a despaired look on her face, as she leaned over and began to scream at Tamara,

“You think this is some kind of joke?!” as she held up what was the wooden chair that she was sitting on only to be snapped in two by a pair of Thermai that were leaping in the air to consume the delicious timber that she held in her hand.

“Didn’t you want the finest kind of lumber that I could supply so you could sit on?” Tamara said innocently though she couldn’t help, but grin as Misty attempted to get the bug pokemon as far away from her as possible. With a devilish grin, she whispered to Ash, “What she doesn’t know is that that specific kind of wood is the kind that Thermai enjoy the most!” He shook his head wearily with a sigh as Misty finally gave up and threw the chair as far away from her as possible as she rested her head on the palms of her hands while her elbows rested on the wooden railing of the balcony.

Ash is going to have a tough battle against Tamara if he’s going to use a grass type against a Bug and Fire type, two of its main weaknesses…” Misty thought to herself as she gathered herself together. They began to prepare themselves for battle then nodded towards the referee as he raised both of their flags into the air as he declared in his official voice,

“The tiebreaking match against Tamara and Ash will now…BEGIN!!!”

Shogra immediately took off without waiting for Ash’s orders, the stick sheathed by his side as he prepared to swipe it across Thermai’s head.

“Use Fury Cutter before he can get to you, Thermy!” She extended her pincers until they were completely open and waited for Shogra to get in a closer range.

“Shogra, jump in the air to avoid her attack!” Ash yelled. However, he kept charging straight towards his opponent until she clamped her jaws shut across his chest, knocking him back to the middle of the match floor. He got up as he winced in pain, grasping onto his green chest as Ash yelled from behind him, “Come on Shogra, we’ve got to work together as a team! You’ll never beat Tamara that way!” He lowered his head knowing he was right so he gave up his actions and waited for Ash’s next order attentively. Ash smiled and raised his hand as he said,

“Alright Shogra, go in for an airborne Cut attack!” He jumped up into the air and had the twig reared above his head as he began to descend upon Thermai. Tamara shook her head and said,

“You’ll never beat me that way Ash! Go Thermai, use Flamethrower!” Her pokemon aimed towards Shogra and aimed at Shogra and fired her attack.

“Quick, dodge it!” Ash yelled. Shogra tilted to the side, barely missing the attack, but his landing onto the ground was shaky. He rolled over and he quickly recovered as Ash yelled out,

“Use Tackle!” He quickly slammed into Thermai by using his shoulder, sending her flying back. She slammed into the tree as Tamara yelled words of encouragement to her. She shook her head and was back onto the ground as Ash tried to make a plan in his head.

How am I going to be able to defeat Thermai? She’s resistant to Grass attacks and could easily knock out Shogra with another Flamethrower… Think, Ash, think!” he thought to himself as he slammed his fist against his head. He finally looked at where Thermai was standing and realized that she was underneath a tree. “That’s it!”

“Shogra use Razor Leaf-”

“Have you lost your mind Ash? Thermai use Flamethrower!”

“-on that tree branch over Thermai!” Ash yelled pointing towards the branch that was hanging over Thermai, exactly as he had planned.

“What?” Tamara exclaimed in confusion. Before she knew what was happening, Shogra had sent a flurry of razor sharp leaves towards the tree branch, quickly removing it from the trunk of the tree causing it to fall on top of Thermai as she let her fire attack loose. Shogra quickly jumped to the side, narrowly missing the flame attack once more as Thermai lit the tree branch sitting atop of her body on fire. She quickly yelled as she ran from side to side in panic as she tried to put out the fire raging on top of her.

“Let’s go Shogra, add more fuel to the fire!” Ash said with a wide smile. Shogra sent another flurry of leaves from his body towards Thermai, setting the fire ablaze even more. She ran faster from side to side as Tamara attempted to calm her down until she rolled over on her side, completely burnt from the flames, lying still.

“Thermai is unable to battle! The winner of this tiebreaker and of the Bark Badge is Ash Ketchum!”

“Alright!” Ash yelled as he jumped into the air pumping his fist up. Shogra smiled happily having finally given Tamara a taste of her own medicine and he sat down cross legged onto the floor in exhaustion. Ash walked up to him and patted him on the back.

“You fought really well today,” Ash said smiling as he looked him straight in his eyes. He smiled back before hitting him again on the knee with the twig as he began to speak in his pokemon language.

“Now what is he saying?” Ash replied scratching his head as Shogra began to point the twig from him to Ash repeatedly.

“He’s saying you’re a great trainer and even though he fought for you in this match, he won’t be a part of your team unless you do it the right way by facing him in a battle,” Tamara said as she walked up to him slowly.

“How did he even know I was thinking about that?” Ash said scratching his head surprised by how Shogra was able to read his mind. The Shrub pokemon grinned and tapped his head as he looked at Ash.

“YEAH!!!!!” Misty yelled after coming down from the balcony startling everyone. She got close to Tamara’s face as she jutted her on the chest with her finger. “I think its time that you gave Ash his badge now that you’ve lost!” she said with a smirk on her face. Tamara turned away as she huffed angrily.

“Well first, Ash is going to have a battle against Shogra then I’ll give him his badge and you guys can leave,” she said crossing her arms with a hint of jealousy in her voice.

“That’s fine by me!” Misty exclaimed happily. “So…where’s the battle?” She turned to Ash and he lowered his head as he suddenly realized he had no pokemon left… until Pikachu came limping from the sidelines. He pulled on Ash’s pant leg, volunteering himself to battle against Shogra even though he was very tired.

“There’s no way you can battle, buddy…” Ash replied gently, but his pokemon didn’t waver. He stood in front of Shogra and waited for Ash’s orders. He gave up trying to persuade Pikachu and took his place behind him as Shogra prepared himself for battle.

“You know you’re just as stubborn as me Pikachu…” Ash said smiling as Misty stood in the middle of them, taking her place as referee.

“The match between Shogra and Pikachu will start…NOW!”

“Use Quick Attack now!” Ash yelled. Pikachu took off at a blinding speed tackling into Shogra. He fell back, but quickly attacked back with a quick swipe of his twig. Pikachu took the blow to the face, but he quickly got up as Ash yelled,

“Iron Tail into Volt Tackle!” Pikachu front flipped as his tail emitted a bright light until he struck Shogra on his head, knocking him down. Pikachu then jumped backwards and charged towards Shogra as electricity began to run through his body. He tackled him head on and then collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion as Shogra flew back ten feet from the powerful attack.

“Pikachu!” Ash yelled, but Misty nudged him on the shoulder and pointed towards an unmoving Shogra who was lying on the ground. Ash quickly took an empty pokeball from his belt and threw it at Shogra. The ball opened up and it withdrew Shogra into it in a flash of red light. It fell onto the ground and began to move from side to side as Ash, Misty, and Tamara watched it anxiously. After a few moments of dead silence, the ball finally stopped moving and Ash walked towards it as he picked it up. He yelled in excitement as held the pokeball high into the air, having acquired another pokemon for his party. He then walked towards Pikachu and picked him up.

“You fought really well today Pikachu, better than I had expected. You deserve a nice long rest…” Ash said gently as Pikachu looked back at him and smiled appreciatively before falling into a deep slumber. Tamara then walked towards Ash with her left hand clenched tightly.

“Well Ash, you battled like a professional today. I’m sad to see you go, but I know maybe one day you’ll return back to me.” She winked at him and he laughed uneasily as Misty glared at her from behind Ash. “I proudly to present you this badge as a token of fighting so well today.” She opened up her hand and revealed a small brown badge that was in the shape of a piece of a tree that seemed as if it was ripped from the trunk of the tree with jagged edges on the top and bottom. Ash gladly took the badge and was about to do his pose when Tamara leaned towards him and whispered something in his ear.

“I also carved something special on the back of the badge so you can remember me by.” She smiled as he flipped the small brown badge over. Carefully carved on the back of the badge were the initials TT + AK carved inside of a heart. Ash laughed nervously before quickly hiding it into his pocket as Misty approached closer to them. If she would’ve seen what was written on the back of the badge, he was certain that there wouldn’t be much left of him and Tamara to speak of once she was done with them…


I had to cut up the post so...
 
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el_toro

Superfly
After quickly stopping by the Pokemon Center and bidding their farewells to the lonely Nurse Joy of the Center, Ash and Misty were back on the road that led to the Evergreen forest not bothering to rest for the night since Misty was extremely eager to leave the town as fast as they could. Once they were finally out of Conifer Town, Misty broke the silence that they were walking in since they left from the Center.

“So I saw what Tamara had scribbled on the back of your badge…” Misty said knowingly without turning to face him, her face illuminated by the white rays of the half moon.

“Y-you did?” Ash replied nervously as he turned to face her. She simply nodded and he began to panic as he thought of what Misty would do to him. Something in the back of his mind told him that he would be receiving a fair share of lumps on the head tonight…

“Yes I did see it… But don’t worry, I’m not going to punish you,” Misty replied with a smirk and a wink of her eye.

“Wha-what?” Ash said completely confused. She smiled even more as her hands were resting in the back pockets of her shorts.

“I don’t need to. I’ve already exacted my revenge on Tamara!” She winked at him mischievously before turning around to look at Conifer Town one last time. Smoke began to arise from Tamara’s cabin and then suddenly flames erupted through the roof of the dojo. Ash looked on in shock and he turned to her.

“Misty what did you do?!” She was still smiling as she flashed back to the image of her plan in her mind.

“Well you remember the two Thermai that ate up my chair?” she asked.

“Yeah…”

“Well after they had finished eating my chair, they were still hungry and looking for more wood to eat.”

“So…”

“So I told them that there was a big house made out of wood just outside of the cabin…” Misty said smiling mischievously.

“…Oh no…”
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She had just returned from finishing all of her Gym battles and was completely exhausted. She was ready to take a hot shower, already dressed in her light green bath robe, when she could smell the scent of something burning in the air. Tamara rushed down the long hallway in complete disregard for the paper thin walls that she smashed through as she covered her face with her arms. She quickly opened the door that held the class for the Shogra and gasped in horror at what she saw. Her precious bug pokemon were tearing away at the walls with their giant pincers as flames erupted from their mouths lighting the wood on fire.

“AHHH!!!!”
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“Did you hear that?” Ash asked as he quickly turned around. He looked all around him, but saw nothing but the road that led to Conifer Town.

“No I didn’t hear anything…” Misty said curiously as she looked at Ash. He merely shrugged it off and they continued walking down the road deeper into the forest.

As they continued down the road, they reached a junction in the road that separated into three paths. Misty took out the map from her backpack and she checked the map to see which road to take as Ash watched her closely.

“Ash I need some light, I can’t see anything in the dark…”

A bright light illuminated the area briefly allowing Misty to check the map before it quickly went out.

“Ash I still need that light! Keep it on, won’t you?” Misty said turning towards him.

“…but it wasn’t me,” Ash said as he looked around in confusion. Misty turned around and glanced at him skeptically before she joined him in his search. They split up and searched through the dark bushes, behind trees, rocks, anything that could serve as a hiding place. Misty scratched her head in confusion before she heard a brief scream. She quickly ran to where she heard the root of the yell before she came crashing into Ash. He was on top of her and his face was completely flustered with a wide eyed expression.

“Ash what’s the matter?” she said, wide-eyed herself at the awkward position they were in. He didn’t speak, but instead pointed towards an area behind a group of bushes once he got off of her. She stood up slowly and she began to walk silently towards the area, her hand resting on the pokeball that held her Gyarados in case if she needed it. She pushed the bushes aside and jumped forward. She came crashing into a spring of hot water and she quickly picked herself up as she gasped for air, spluttering as she forced the water she had accidentally swallowed out of her body.

What’s a hot spring doing in the middle of a forest?” Misty wondered to herself as she wiped her face. She walked back towards Ash to see what his problem was when she saw that he wasn’t there. She paused for a moment to wonder where he could’ve been when one person came to mind immediately,

“Tamara!”
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She came bursting down the road in full speed as she focused on one thing and one thing only: how she was going to beat Ash over the head once she caught up with him. She stopped momentarily only to catch her breath when she had the sensation that there was something following her. She looked up and glanced about, her heart beating rapidly. Everything was silent and unmoving and she grew even more nervous with each passing moment. She began to walk towards the forest when she felt something tickle the back of her neck. She grabbed at it and turned around quickly only to find that there was nothing there. She began to turn around in circles fretfully looking for something, anything. As she turned her head, she felt something tickle her neck again. She turned around and yet again there was nothing there. She became more cautious with her arm behind her as she crouched looking around quietly. Whatever was following her crept up behind her and was about to tickle her again when she grabbed a hold of her stalker and turned around to face it.

“AHA!” Misty yelled triumphantly. Her eyes met a pair of yellow pupils that looked back at her innocently. Misty looked back in surprise at the tiny rabbit that was in her hand and was about to let it go when the tiny red rabbit shot flames at her from her mouth. Her face was completely burnt as she let go of the Insubit and she collapsed backwards onto the ground. She quickly stood up with a pokeball ready in her hand when she noticed that the tiny rabbit was hiding behind a light peach colored leg with a pair of black jeans running up to the knee. Misty looked up at who the leg belonged to. A girl with green hair about Misty’s age looked back at her with her deep sea blue eyes. Her hair was tied up in a bun with a black bandana tied carefully around her neck.

“Who are you?” Misty asked as she recalled her face, but didn’t seem to remember from where she had seen her. The girl instead of answering her merely made a quick fanning motion over the top of her head as she looked at Misty frantically. She was completely confused as to what she was trying to say when she smelt something burning. She looked around curiously as to where the source of the smell was when she noticed the green haired girl pointing frantically towards Misty’s hair. Misty passed her hand over her hair when she realized that her ponytail was on fire! Her eyes widened and she screamed as she dived headfirst into the pond. She sighed in relief as the flame was put out from her hair with the sound of giggles sounding through the night. Misty got up quickly from the ground and rushed to the girl, getting right in her face.

“What are you laughing about? You should be sorry since it was your little rabbit there that did this to me!” she said pointing to the singed pieces of hair of her ponytail. The green haired girl backed up a bit.

“So-rry! I’m sure she was just fooling around, right Insubit?” she said smiling as she tickled the chin of her pokemon with her finger. Misty crossed her arms and looked at her pokemon skeptically.

“Whatever, I’ve got someone to look for so if you’ll excuse me…” She began to storm past the girl when she spoke out.

“Are you looking for a boy about this high,” She raised her hand and put it slightly above her head, “with black hair, red and white cap, and a Pikachu?” Misty turned around surprised at her accurate description of Ash.

“Yeah, why?”

“Well I think I might have found him…” She pushed aside a group of bushes and before them a familiar black haired boy with brown eyes was on the ground face down, his hands and feet tied together in a knot while a Pikachu squirmed above his trainer trying to release himself from the white rope.

“Ash?!”
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The three teenagers were sitting around a bonfire, sipping hot tea and talking quietly amongst themselves now that the midnight hour was upon them.

“So Ash, I see how it is… You run off once my back is turned only to be dragged back by a girl, tied up no less!” Misty said sipping her tea nonchalantly though it was apparent she was very annoyed with him.

“Aw come on Misty, it’s not what you think!” Ash replied seeing how much trouble he really was in. She stayed quiet for a brief moment only to reply silently,

“And how do I know that you weren’t off to see Tamara?”

“What?! No way Misty, it’s not like that!” Ash said getting up from his seat.

“I can testify to that too!” the green haired girl replied, rising up as well.

“Yeah you see!” Ash replied happily, relieved that the girl had tagged onto them for a while even though she still hadn’t introduced herself.

“I caught him spying on me as I was taking a hot bath!” she replied in a more aggressive tone as she stared him down. He lowered down onto his seat with his head bowed down knowing he was in for it now…

“WHAT?!” Yep, he was right…

“Ash what were you doing spying on her?!” she screamed, her face contorted in anger.

“Well remember when we were looking for what was following us? Well I had accidentally fallen through the bushes and caught a very brief glance at her as she was in the spring…” Ash said guiltily, avoiding Misty’s death glare.

“Uh huh, and what color towel was I wearing on my head when you saw me in the hot spring?” the green haired girl questioned suspiciously.

“Light green…why?” Ash said confused at the random question.

“A ‘very brief’ glance huh Ash?” Misty replied sarcastically. He realized his mistake and he lowered his head down in shame once again as Misty remained quiet, determining whether or not she would whack him over the head with her mallet in front of a stranger or not… Instead she turned towards the green haired girl who was regaining her composure as she sat down back onto the cold earth.

“Who are you anyway?” Misty asked, still not recalling from where she had seen her.

“She’s the girl from the Conifer Town Gym…” Ash replied after recovering from his slump. Misty looked with great surprise at her.

“That’s right! You were the one that beat Tamara in five minutes!” Misty exclaimed.

“Yup, that’s right!” the girl said puffing her chest out proudly. “My name is Mia and I’m originally from a small farm town in the Rock Region!” she said winking at them.

“So that’s how you managed to lasso me even though I was already ten feet from you once you saw me!” Ash said massaging his wrists as the rope lines were still marked on them.

“Uh huh, and I’ve gotta say, you’re boyfriend is quite the peeping tom! I’d say he was staring at me for a good five minutes once I finally caught him!” Mia replied happily. Her remark had an instant effect on them. Misty looked elsewhere while Ash lowered his head once again, focusing on his muddy sneakers, trying to look occupied with himself.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Misty replied a bit flustered with her cheeks tinted a faint red. Mia looked at her then at Ash who was still concentrating on his sneakers.

“Really… And you’re not related?”

“Of course not!” Misty replied sharply.

“Yet you’re traveling with him alone all this time…” Mia asked curiously. Misty nodded, but quickly looked away once Mia began eying her suspiciously.

Okay, I think it’s time we got moving, Ash,” Misty said quickly as she stood up. She picked Pikachu up who was taking a nap right beside the fire, next to Insubit who was staring up at the starry sky, and then she nudged Ash on the shoulder, snapping him out of his sneaker-fascination spell.

“Why are you leaving so soon?” Mia asked curiously with a hint of suspicion in her voice. “You’re not off to do something… private are you?” she said slyly.

“What?! Of course not!” Misty replied, her face completely red from her comment. “We just have to get ready for tomorrow, we have a long day ahead of us!” Misty looked back at Mia who seemed very doubtful of her as she looked at her carefully.

“OK… Wish you two the best of luck then with your… business…” Mia replied slyly, biting her lip as she tried to stifle a smile. Misty walked away quickly with Pikachu in her arms as Ash followed closely behind, leaving Mia behind as she gazed back at them, wondering what their whole story was…



Author's Notes:

Well hopefully that was worth your time! :D A good healthy read I would say. Anyway, anything noteworthy about this chapter I would say would be the fact that I had two separate endings: one which was a lot shorter and less entertaining and the other a lot longer, but funnier :) (at least in my opinion). The things that probably gave the most trouble was surprisingly the battles. I'm usually quick when coming up with the battles and the things that give me a hard time are the other details, but for some reason, the battle was giving me a hard time. :/ The reason I took a long time though is because I had a fair share of trouble writing Chapter 14. To be honest, Ch.13 was written a long time ago. I just didn't want to overwhelm myself with pressure. :/ Sorry.


Title Explanation:
You know what's pretty sad? I actually had to look at a previous chapter to figure out what I called this section of my Author's Notes. :(

The title Barking up the Wrong Tree is a pretty popular saying, but also reflects Tamara and Misty's constant bickering in this chapter :D

Dermadril: A word taken from megadrile (scientific word for a 'big worm' taken off of Wikipedia :D) and epidermis (another word for skin). Also, the dril can be interpreted as a "drill" which would match up with his description.

Neferex (the one that gave me the most time to draw): Nefarious + hex: Nefarious is a word for evil and the hex part relates to his six legs, not like a 'spell' hex. The reason why the hex is in his name is because he is based off of a centipede which I think are absolutely disgusting.

Thermai: Termite + Thermal: I was originally planning to call him Thermite but decided against it since it sounded too similar.


Well that's it. I've got to take a rest for a moment because I'm tired. I'll try to get to work on Chapter 15 as soon as I can, but I first have to plan it out. I don't want to go through this whole fiasco all over again.

I guess it's true when they say 'lucky' number Thirteen...
 
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shadow_shipper

...indeed...
You can't be serious :eek:

this chapter is long enough to be a one-shot !
It's even longer than most one-shots I've read !!!! o_O

uh boy...oh well...*prepares something to drink*

“For a second I thought I heard someone speaking. It must be my imagination or something… I’ve never heard a voice so annoying in my life before…” This time the whole wooden chair came flying from the balcony towards Tamara’s head and she quickly ducked to avoid it. “WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO, KILL ME?!” she yelled, her face a bright red. Misty merely stuck her tongue out at her and hid behind the trees.

murderous intent :p so Tamara's another name to be added on Misty's list with the crossbones we saw at the party xD

“How about we make a bet Ash… If my pokemon is able to find yours, you have to promise me to a date…”

“DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT ASH KETCHUM…OR ELSE!!!”

THis could have been sweet...you know Ash would have accepted yause his too confident with his pokemon :p

“I also carved something special on the back of the badge so you can remember me by.” She smiled as he flipped the small brown badge over. Carefully carved on the back of the badge were the initials TT + AK carved inside of a heart. Ash laughed nervously before quickly hiding it into his pocket as Misty approached closer to them. If she would’ve seen what was written on the back of the badge, he was certain that there wouldn’t be much left of him and Tamara to speak of once she was done with them…

indeed :D plus, seeing as Misty had already taken out her mallet once in this chapter xD
but nevertheless, that was very sweet ^_^
Ash needs to realise that girls are falling for him :rolleyes:

“Did you hear that?” Ash asked as he quickly turned around. He looked all around him, but saw nothing but the road that led to Conifer Town.

“No I didn’t hear anything…” Misty said curiously as she looked at Ash. He merely shrugged it off and they continued walking down the road deeper into the forest.

lol...just lol :rolleyes:
You do not want to be Misty's opponent in love affairs...

Misty passed her hand over her hair when she realized that her ponytail was on fire! Her eyes widened and she screamed as she dived headfirst into the pond. She sighed in relief as the flame was put out from her hair with the sound of giggles sounding through the night.

I bet that's going to leave a mark ^_^'

“I caught him spying on me as I was taking a hot bath!” she replied in a more aggressive tone as she stared him down. He lowered down onto his seat with his head bowed down knowing he was in for it now…

“WHAT?!” Yep, he was right…

oh...Ash in his more perverted self :p

“Uh huh, and what color towel was I wearing on my head when you saw me in the hot spring?” the green haired girl questioned suspiciously.

“Light green…why?” Ash said confused at the random question.

“A ‘very brief’ glance huh Ash?” Misty replied sarcastically.

you're not helping your case here Ash :rolleyes:
oh yes...you're a guy after all Ash, are the hormones finally coming into action ?! :D

“Why are you leaving so soon?” Mia asked curiously with a hint of suspicion in her voice. “You’re not off to do something… *private are you?” she said slyly.

“What?! Of course not!” Misty replied, her face completely red from her comment. “We just have to get ready for tomorrow, we have a long day ahead of us!” Misty looked back at Mia who seemed very doubtful of her as she looked at her carefully.

“OK… Wish you two the best of luck then with your… *business…” Mia replied slyly, biting her lip as she tried to stifle a smile. Misty walked away quickly with Pikachu in her arms as Ash followed closely behind, leaving Mia behind as she gazed back at them, wondering what their whole story was…

I love the Mia charcater :D
If only there were more people like her, PokéShipping would be canon a long time ago...we need to push them to admit it :)


Don't worry my friend, this is still as captivating as always, but I must confess, that I'm not fond of battle scenes...I was waiting to finish reading that part, really prefer other parts in a fic. But you managed to make it more interesting, with bits of Misty jealousy and everything else she has done :)

the ending was absolutely genius, we needed an opend-minded character like Mia to push them a bit ;)

well...it's been a long time...but I'll still be waiting on the next update.

Just want to ask you : do you know how manyy more chapters are going to be in this fic ? (approximately)

later...
 

silverdragoon X

Hit 'em hard
Hey el_toro, this chapter was quite amazing and i enjoyed it quite a bit. I saw very few mistakes which i congragulate you on, and i'm looking forward to your next chapter. Again, amazing chapter,

silverdragoon X out
 

Esperon

An old PS luva!
*bounces* look, look, I finished! I caught up with everything I've missed and provided you with a review >< Now probably time to get some work done...or not...
Here's my 2 cent on teh fic,

“Never mind, Ash; you’ll find out some day…” Natalie said grinning at Misty who gave her an icy cold glare. Apparently Ash wasn’t aware of the little talk that Natalie and Misty had together as Ash and Virgel flew about the forest… Ash and Misty waved back at her as they exited through the doors and Ash asked Misty in a whisper,

Err you might want to have a look at this paragraph, just you said "Ash and" a LOT of times there.

“Why does everyone keep telling me that? Do you know what they mean when they say that?” Misty’s heart leaped up into her throat as she avoided his gaze and she nervously replied,

“N-no, I’m just as confused as you are Ash…” He simply shrugged and he turned to his pokemon sitting on his shoulder.
she said with a wink of her eye. Misty grinned back at her as Ash looked at both of them completely baffled at their secret looks. Misty turned around and nudged Ash on the arm

So cute those moments!

Chapter 11

Nice opening! Bit of terror, action and pain. me likey!

He pointed to the glider that lay next to the neon yellow hang glider: its wings were shaped as a giant pink heart with white flowers along the edge of the wings with cursive letters written on the back that read: Flying High with Love. Ash and Misty both gave the young man a repulsed look as they both were repelled from the sickeningly cute design of the glider.

that is revolting. But you just know what's going to happen...

That brown haired idiot...*snort* so funny! Would have been so much better if it had been Ash doing the punching rather than Misty. He could just say he was defending his friend and that there was nothing more (yet we so know there's PLENTY more!).
By the way, where was Pikachu when they were gliding? And all their stuff?

Pikachu slapped his forehead as he shook his head in embarrassment at his trainer’s stupidity.

*chuckle*

Wow...you have one CRAZY gym leader...are they all like this?

Ok...now he's disturbed and crazy...great mix...*backs away*

Flingmo...that cracks me up! Please can Ash/Misty get one just so we see that word more often! =P

Fraid Gym leader was a little puke-ful...rather cheesy but if that's what you're after...just i'll shut up actually...

Chapter 12

Awww very shippy that bit where Misty stole the map! So cute! Cept, he didn't need to get so grumpy about it...meh...

“Well we’re going straight to the Gym, right now mister!” She pulled him by his ear as he yelled back at her as they walked past the wooden house.

I so want to see that. Seriously, that would be classic!

So what happened to Ashy-boy then...did he hit puperty or something cos he wants to see a girl that is supposedly good looking...I think Brock has rubbed off on him just a little bit... :/

Ok, now Misty wants to see the girl...what is going on! Me liking all the guys hitting on her and stuff, but she seems to be going through the mallets rather quickly... I wonder where she buys those things..."Mallets-that-can-be stores-in space-defying-spaces 'R' us"?

*cough* the girl did what?

AHAHAHAHAHAHAH Go Misty! =P Save poor Ashy-boy! ^_^

No the pain wasn’t the thing that kept him glued to the ground. The pain was nothing; it was the humiliation of being defeated so easily, in front of a group of guys… by a girl!

*snort* *laughs*

The fight between Tamara and Misty was great except you really need to work on those paragraphs. Seeing such a big chunck of text doesn't make it the easies to read in the world...

began to resume following the leader of the class who was watching them out of the corner of his eye as they walked outside of the room, his eyes centered only on Ash…

Hmmm...intersting...

The room was artificially lighted with white lanterns

Lit is the word, not lighted.

“Wow you’re dense.” Everyone snickered and giggled, even Misty who couldn’t help and laugh at Ash’s increasing stupidity.

Awww, poor guy! *chuckle*

Chapter 13 - Hey, look! I'm catching up!

“I can’t STAND bug pokemon! They’re the most disgusting things in the world! Next to carrots, peppers, and Ash’s table manners!”

"Hey!"

Ahahaha, loved this lil bit ^^

I like the strategy for Virgel against Dermy, very Ash-esk!

Great battle and tie break

“How did he even know I was thinking about that?” Ash said scratching his head surprised by how Shogra was able to read his mind. The Shrub pokemon grinned and tapped his head as he looked at Ash.

Shogra: Cos you're so dense I can read the cogs turning in your mind!

He tackled him head on and then collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion as Shogra flew back ten feet from the powerful attack.

Finally, VT doing what it should, exhausting Pikachu!

Ouch to the carving on the back of the badge. That was out of line!

“So I told them that there was a big house made out of wood just outside of the cabin…” Misty said smiling mischievously.

“…Oh no…”

Oh yes! Go Misty!!!!!

“I caught him spying on me as I was taking a hot bath!” she replied in a more aggressive tone as she stared him down. He lowered down onto his seat with his head bowed down knowing he was in for it now…

“WHAT?!” Yep, he was right…

“Ash what were you doing spying on her?!” she screamed, her face contorted in anger.

“Well remember when we were looking for what was following us? Well I had accidentally fallen through the bushes and caught a very brief glance at her as she was in the spring…” Ash said guiltily, avoiding Misty’s death glare.

“Uh huh, and what color towel was I wearing on my head when you saw me in the hot spring?” the green haired girl questioned suspiciously.

“Light green…why?” Ash said confused at the random question.

Ya know, I'm starting to like the "new" Ash...

And I made it to the end! Ok, for everyone in this region other than Tamara and the guys who want Misty, everyone is sure set on the PS hints...me likey! Wonder if we can get the anime writers to send them off to Muntein! (sp? gah!)
 
Very good chapter, IMO. I really liked the battle scenes and your Pokemon are very creative! Neferex was by far one of my favorite Pokemon you drew, and it looks awesome too! And since you have Angel Pokemon, will you include Devil Pokemon? Because, it would be cool if there was some kind of battle between them...Hmm...it would make sense with the title of the story. Well, that's what I have to say. And have you ever tried publishing a story?

P.S: Have you heard from Artemis Ignitan?!
 

el_toro

Superfly
Alright, it's nice to see that everyone haven't forgotten about this fic! :) Time to answer some questions:

To shadow_shipper: YeaH I know the chapter was pretty long. It didn't seem like it at first, but as I kept writing it, it just kept getting longer and longer. But yeah, there's actually going to a be a lot more battle scenes in the future considering this is a Pokemon journey. :/

To qwerqwer: Glad you liked it; To be honest though, I didn't plan on taking that long on writing this chapter. Things just piled onto each other, add in the fact that I had writer's block, which is mainly the reason why I took so long. :(

To silverdragoonX: Thanks a lot! I pride myself in having good grammar so it's good to see a comment like that! I appreciate it! :)

To Esperon: Ahh! You finally caught up! :D I'm glad you took time out to read this fic! Hope it was worth it. ;) I agree that Alexander was one twisted guy, but I thought the way he reformed was interesting (though admittedly, cheesy). Yeah I also wish we'd have more PS oriented characters in the anime, the writers should start picking up on this stuff! I have to disagree with you on the Tamara not being a PSer. She knew they had some sort of connection. She was just in denial/jealous of Misty because she wanted Ash to herself.

To MistyLover: Glad you liked Neferex, I put a lot of thought (And time unfortunately) into making him. Hmm, I might consider making a Devil pokemon, but it seems highly unlikely. I already have Ash's rival's teams planned out which is why the chances of a Devil pokemon are slim. No I haven't tried publishing a story, sorry. To be honest, I'm more focused on starting a musical career rather than one in writing.

Yeah I haven't from Aretmis in a long while either. :(

A brief update: Chapter 15 has been going by pretty smoothly. I've already got the chapter planned out extensively and I've already written 6 pages worth of it! I've got some free time tomorrow so I'll see if I'm going to dedicate a bunch of time to it.

An overview of Ch. 14 would be: suspenseful and dramatic.

An overview of Ch. 15 would be: very mysterious, full of plot twists.

Hope that gets you excited! :)

(Where are my other reviewers?!)
 

Orenji-chan

magmajewel is love.
I really enjoyed this chapter el_toro, it was very well-written. Your drawings of the new pokemon are just wonderful to look at, I love to look at them for each chapter and I love how you can describe them so well.

The battle was a nice touch, a bit of humor and action!

I'm giving this one a 10/10, and I can't wait for chapter 14!

~Orenji-chan​
 

trickedoutmetagross

NIXON'S BAAAACK!!!
This last chapter BLEW ME AWAY. The Mia part was probably my favorite, I gave that one part 10/10, 'cause it was funny. Overall this chapter was in my top five of favorite chapters (of course that's assuming 14 isn't better) Good job: 10/10 you're getting better kid.
 

el_toro

Superfly
I could've sworn I had posted an update! @_@ Good thing I copied the post:

Alright well seeing as how I haven't given an update in a while, I'll do one right now, but first...some replies. :D

trickedoutmetagross said:
This last chapter BLEW ME AWAY. The Mia part was probably my favorite, I gave that one part 10/10, 'cause it was funny. Overall this chapter was in my top five of favorite chapters (of course that's assuming 14 isn't better) Good job: 10/10 you're getting better kid.
Everyone seems to be a big fan of Mia as of now! I say as of now because her perspective is definitely going to change later on so you guys be the judge if you still like her or not. (sorry if I'm not making sense, I'm just so fricking tired! @_@) Also, not to sound cocky or anything, but I do feel like my writing has been improving since last chapter and definitely from the beginning. (though my artistic abilities could definitly use some work! :p)Thanks for that acknowledgement though! ;)

@Rubn Alq: Neferex is also a favorite of mine which is why I took so long trying to draw him. I was just trying to plan him out perfectly.

@Orenji-chan: Aw thanks Orenji! Glad you liked the chapter! :)


As for an update: Chapter 15 is already nine pages strong though I'm nowhere near to finishing it. Yeah. So that should give you some idea on how long it's going to be.

Chapter 14 is most definitely coming up before June 20 though since I'm going to be on vacation for two weeks and I don't leave any work hanging. :/ Though for you guys, I'm sure (hopefully), it's good news.

Another FYI, I'm also working on another fic Till Death Do Us Part. It's going to a be a significantly mature-r? (not even a word...) take on Pokeshipping and definitely won't be a fic for the kids at home. ;) It's inspired by one of my favorite authors aalitichi since she does this kind of adult theme stuff and I thought it would be cool. There's a brief snippet of it in the PSA club which is located in my sig if you're curious on what to expect. I probably won't start working on it though until after I return from my vacation. (though I have made significant progress with it)

Anyway, I'm going to be signing off since I'm incredibly sleepy. I'll try focusing on my fic tomorrow since I know I'm on a tight schedule, and thank you all very much for leaving reviews for me! As my way to repay you, appearances in my fic are open to anyone who wishes to be in it. Just give me a PM (don't post it on this thread please or I will report it) and we'll talk details. ;)
 

Sableye King

The Ghost Guru
I'm Back!
Right now, Neferex is my #2 favorite, with Virgel at #1.

“I caught him spying on me as I was taking a hot bath!” she replied in a more aggressive tone as she stared him down. He lowered down onto his seat with his head bowed down knowing he was in for it now…

“WHAT?!” Yep, he was right…

“Uh huh, and what color towel was I wearing on my head when you saw me in the hot spring?” the green haired girl questioned suspiciously.

“Light green…why?” Ash said confused at the random question.
When did Ash get so pervy?

“Why are you leaving so soon?” Mia asked curiously with a hint of suspicion in her voice. “You’re not off to do something… private are you?” she said slyly.

“What?! Of course not!” Misty replied, her face completely red from her comment. “We just have to get ready for tomorrow, we have a long day ahead of us!” Misty looked back at Mia who seemed very doubtful of her as she looked at her carefully.

“OK… Wish you two the best of luck then with your… business…” Mia replied slyly, biting her lip as she tried to stifle a smile. Misty walked away quickly with Pikachu in her arms as Ash followed closely behind, leaving Mia behind as she gazed back at them, wondering what their whole story was…

Looks like some of Ash's pervyness rubbed off on Mia!

I liked it a lot and I can't wait for the next chapter!
 

el_toro

Superfly
Part 1

Glad to see you enjoyed the chapter and Neferex Sableye King! I put a lot of though and work into making him so it's great to see my hard work pay off! ;) (Also on another note, you finally got your rank! Congrats! :D)

Well as I said in my previous announcement I'm going to go on vacation for two weeks (to Colombia if anyone is interested) so I'm going to post the next chapter sooner than planned since I don't want to leave you guys waiting for so long knowing I'm not doing any actual work on this fic. So here the next chapter! Keep in mind I haven't finished Chapter 15 yet and I'm also not going to be here to reply to your posts, but please review! I'll try and check before I leave tomorrow at noon.



Chapter 14-Reasonable Doubt​

The sun was out and shining high above in the sky down on the earth below it, blue skies surrounding the glowing orb. Misty and Ash were back on the road after having just awakened from a night of deep slumber, only to awaken to the middle of the day. Misty stretched lazily after having finished her breakfast, or rather lunch, as they packed up all their things and walked down the dirt road that they had been following the night before. Pikachu was wide awake as he walked besides Ash who looked worse for wear after a whole night of walking.

“Don’t you think you exaggerated a bit on Mia? I mean, she didn’t do anything to you…” Ash said, his eyelids drooping as they felt heavier by the second.

“Well she shouldn’t have been asking so many questions!” Misty replied in agitation, blushing slightly as she remembered Mia’s questions about her business with Ash…

“I still don’t see why we had to walk THREE HOURS STRAIGHT AFTER MIDNIGHT just so you could make sure that Mia wasn’t following us!” Ash yelled grumpily. Misty kept quiet, not willing to let Ash in on that one secret she had reserved deep within herself like a precious diamond looked away tightly in a safe. It would only come out once the time was right, with the right key words, and the right combination of events…

“So where are we going now?” Ash said, disrupting Misty from her thoughts. She quickly pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from her backpack and opened it up for him to see.

“It says that the closest Gym is right here in this town, Venox Village,” Misty said pointing to a town that lay 25 miles to the north of the road they were traveling on. Ash took a closer look at the map before Misty pulled it away quickly.

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! The closest Gym from Conifer Town would’ve been the one in Florish Town which was only 10 miles south of Conifer Town!” Ash yelled, now wide awake.

“Well I was in a big rush to leave Conifer Town that I made… a little mistake,” Misty whispered quietly, slightly embarrassed at her self. Ash stood still with a blank expression on his face as he stared back at her.

“What?!”

“Give me the map,” Ash said seriously as he stepped forward with his hand outstretched towards Misty.

“No way!” Misty said pulling the map back on her chest, but he kept following her as she kept yelling at him to back off. Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew from the north knocking Ash off his feet as Misty stood her ground. The wind disappeared as suddenly as it came and Ash looked around in fright as he had picked himself off the ground.

“What was that?” he exclaimed as Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder after having been blown off his feet, joining Ash in his search. They searched the blue skies for any kind of remote object. Ash looked down for a moment when the sudden gust came again and Misty exclaimed out loud. Ash shielded his eyes as the dust from the ground scattered in the air.

“What just happened?” he yelled out loud as the wind passed yet again.

“I thought I saw something red pass…” Misty said looking straight at Ash. He paused for a moment to think what she could’ve been describing when over the horizon of the green trees he saw a red winged dragon with a lit flame on its tail pass by very quickly. Ash stared at what he had just seen for moment and rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

“For a moment, that looked like a Charizard passing by…”
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The night was now upon them and from the last time she glanced at the map, Misty could see that they still had quite a walk on them. They decided to stay for the night even though they had no food on them.

“Ohhhhh… so hunnnngry…” Ash moaned as his stomach growled loudly as he lay down on the floor.

“I know Ash, but we haven’t gone food shopping for a while now…” Misty replied extremely hungry herself as she gripped her stomach. Pikachu agreed sadly with Ash, groaning loudly as he felt how empty his stomach was. A loud growl coming from Pikachu’s side interrupted the brief silence that followed and Ash and Misty both looked at him in despair. After Pikachu’s stomach finished growling he collapsed onto the floor in fatigue. Ash lay back down on the floor and gazed at the sky forlornly.

“Misty…” he said quietly as he looked up at the starry sky.

“Yes Ash…” she replied back as she also lay down on the ground looking up at the sky.

“Are we going to die?” Misty quickly sat up and looked at him angrily. He lifted his head up just a bit and could see that he wasn’t going to get a response so he went back to gazing at the stars.
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He didn’t know if he was hallucinating or what as he rubbed his eyes wearily. His vision was blurring and he couldn’t fall asleep, he was so hungry. But halfway through the night as he was lying there, he could’ve sworn he saw and heard a Charizard passing by overheard. Even stranger was the fact that he could’ve sworn that he saw a cloaked figure riding on top of it… Ash rolled onto his side as his stomach growled even louder and he sighed in despair. Directly across from him was Misty who could hear everything, especially Ash’s stomach growling. She felt extremely guilty for the fact that they hadn’t been food shopping in a while; it was out of her selfish needs to leave town quickly that she completely forgot the fact that they were running slim on food supplies. She slowly stood up once she was sure that Ash was asleep and tiptoed out into the dark forest.
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Misty’s eyes opened slowly as her vision came back into focus. She was looking up at a blue sky as the wind gently blew across the trees, rustling them. It was bright outside and everything was awake as some birds chirped happily in the distance. It was daytime. She rubbed her head slightly as she attempted to sit up. She didn’t remember falling asleep, all she remembered was running through the forest until everything went black… She fell back down onto the floor in exhaustion. She never remembered ever feeling this tired before in her life. She looked around her surroundings in a dull state of mind until she saw a cloaked figure huddled in the corner of the clearing in which she was laying down in. She stood up quickly.

“Who are you?!” she screamed as her hand passed over her pokeball situated on her belt. The cloaked figure turned around to reveal a young man with dark brown eyes with hair that fell down to his shoulders. His face was chiseled with tough experiences yet his eyes held a softer quality in him. Hidden underneath his cloak was a dark grey long sleeve shirt with arching tribal designs that ran from the bottom of his shirt to the collar and to the ends of his sleeves. He wore a pair of extremely weathered dark blue jeans and a pair of black sneakers that seemed to be as old as the young adult. They were torn and the soles seemed to be nonexistent. His cloak was in the same shape, frayed at the end with threads hanging off of the edge of the thin fabric. He walked towards her and was about to explain where she was when she pulled out her pokeball.

“Don’t come any closer to me!” she yelled. The young man briefly stopped, but proceeded to walk towards her. “I’m warning you!” He still approached her and she stepped back and threw her pokeball in front of him. A large blue snake-like monster came roaring out of his pokeball and glared down at the young man.

“Gyarados, use Hyper Beam!” Misty yelled. Her ferocious pokemon began to charge up his attack as he aimed it straight at the cloaked man. He stepped back and pulled out a pokeball from beneath his cloak and threw it forward. A fierce roar snapped through the air and Misty looked fearfully at the pokemon that had come out of his ball. A powerful looking Charizard that seemed just as weathered down as his trainer came out with his wings extended and a look of fierce determination as Gyarados shot his Hyper Beam.

“Block the attack with Steel Wing!” the young man yelled as the orange beam came approaching towards him. Charizard’s wings glowed a bright white and he slammed them against the Hyper Beam, the force of his attack deflecting the beam into the forest where it exploded with powerful force. Misty gasped at his Charizard’s power, but suddenly she began to feel dizzy. Her world spun around her as her vision blurred until she blacked out again, collapsing onto the floor.
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The delicious scent of fresh soup rose through the air and awoke Misty from her daze. She sat up abruptly and looked around like a madman for the source of the arousing smell. She spotted the cloaked man once again, but her hunger was much greater than her suspicions so she jumped forward and began to eat out of the pot from where the aroma came from which was sitting directly in front of him.

“What are you doing?!” the man screamed as Misty began to eat the soup hungrily. “Isn’t that kind of hot?!” the young man said pointing out the fact that the fire underneath the pot was still lit. She finished the soup in twenty seconds and sat back, completely satisfied with herself until she remembered the whole reason why she was out in the forest all alone. She sprung to her feet as she rushed into the forest screaming his name as the young man followed closely behind her.
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The green scenery of the forest rushed past them as they sprinted through the forest, Misty leading them as the young man straggled behind.

“Why are you running?” the young man yelled ahead to Misty as he panted.

“I’m looking for someone,” Misty yelled back as she searched the scenery fretfully, looking for a specific black haired boy.

“Who are you looking for?” the man yelled up to her, his cloak blowing back in the wind.

“Well if you must know, I’m looking for a friend of mine…” Misty said a bit irritated at this man and his persistence. A white flash erupted and the man rocketed in front of her riding on the back of his Charizard with his hand extended. She hesitated for a bit, but once she realized she had no idea where she was heading, she took his hand and she jumped onto the back of his Charizard. They flew high into the air and stopped for a moment as they looked around the forest.

“There! I see him there!” Misty yelled excitedly, pointing frantically to a clearing in the middle of the forest.

“You heard the lady, let’s go!” the man said tapping his Charizard on the neck. He nodded back at his trainer and dived down to the spot where Misty was pointing to. They landed onto the earth and Misty rushed to where Ash was laying down. His arms and legs were sprawled out as he gazed subconsciously towards the sky, his eyes half-open and half of their usual vitality. She feared the worst, but the young man crouched beside him and he put his hand close to Ash’s nose. He awoke suddenly and covered his nose with his hand after immediately sitting up.

“Ugh, what is that smell?!” he yelled looking at the man’s outstretched hand. Misty was overjoyed at seeing Ash back to normal, but she quickly hit the man in the arm.

“OW! What was that for?!” the man yelled at her.

“What did you make him smell?!” Misty demanded of him.

“It’s just Smelling Salt!” The man opened up his hand revealing a white crystal-like substance.

“Ohhhh…” Misty felt embarrassed with her self as the man rubbed his arm.

“Here, give this to your Pikachu so we can wake him up and give him something to eat too…” he said as he handed Ash the smelling salt. Ash nodded and crawled to his pokemon who was also lying on the ground on his back as he gazed at the sky emptily. Ash passed his hand underneath his pokemon’s nose. Pikachu’s eyes quickly snapped open and he sprang to his feet, squealing in disgust as he covered his tiny nose.

“Pikachu! You’re all better!” Ash said with great relief in his voice as he hugged his angry and grumpy Pikachu. Suddenly, Ash yelled as electricity was sent through his body. He fell backwards, smoldering a little as he stared at the sky with a wide-eyed expression, the skin of his body crackling slightly. Pikachu glared back at Ash until he fainted again from exhaustion. They were back in the same condition they were in when Misty and the man had found them as if they had never arrived.
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After a few minutes of smelling salt and electric shocks from Pikachu’s part, the man and Misty had managed to get Ash and Pikachu some food. The night was upon them and they were all gathered around a bonfire, eating canned beans.

“So Mark, what’re you doing around these parts since you’re such a wanderer?” Misty asked addressing the man sitting next to her. He had removed his black cloak to reveal his faded clothing: a grey long sleeve shirt and blue jeans.

“Well it all starts way back to my childhood in Kanto…” he said reminiscing on a distant memory. Ash and Misty looked at him curiously waiting to what he had to say as Pikachu nibbled on a piece of PokeChow he had supplied him with.

“I was getting fed up with the problems in my home so I took my one and only pokemon, a Charmander, with me and hit the road as soon as I could, vowing never to return home. Many years later, I somehow managed to make it into this region and I grew pretty accustomed to it; the different climates in each section of this region struck me interesting. Anyway, I had come across a small town not far from here and was staying in a very kind family’s home when we heard a loud knocking at the front door…” Mark’s tone changed and he spoke fiercer, “A construction worker knocked the door down and demanded everyone to exit immediately, no questions asked. He forced every single one of us out of the house and he waited outside of the house, signaling his buddies that it was all clear. In less than two seconds, the house shattered into tiny pieces of wood with a loud bang. I immediately ran towards the construction worker to defend these people, but a stray plank had knocked me unconscious. The next day, I awoke in yet another house with a bandage on my forehead and several townsfolk around me with worried expressions on their face. I sprang to my feet immediately and looked outside of the window. What used to be a whole neighborhood of houses was now a barren wasteland of dirt…”

He ended his story and looked at both of them as they continued to stare at him.

Sooooo, what are you doing here?” Ash asked, apparently not following him.

“Well, after I saw that, I felt that I needed to get involved and I decided to leave town for a while just to see what was going to happen next… I still haven’t found out yet either so I’m still waiting…” he said as Ash and Misty nodded in understanding. “Say…what are you two doing out here?” They both looked at him strangely.

“What do you mean?” Misty said, though she had a faint feeling of what he meant.

“Well I mean it seems kind of strange to see a guy and a girl wandering in the middle of a forest…alone. You know what I mean?” Misty’s eyes widened and she looked elsewhere as she fidgeted around nervously.

“No… I don’t know what you’re talking about… Well anyway, I’m curious about this town so I think we should go now…” With that, she began to force Mark back into the forest as he began to protest.

“We can’t go now; it’s the middle of the night! You’re not even going the right way!” he shouted back at her as she pushed him further into the dark forest.

“Oh Mark, you and your silly comments!” Misty laughed, waving her hand dismissively. “Now you want to go help those people right? Sure you do. Well here you go!” She pushed him forward and he was thrown forward through the bushes as he yelled. Pnce his yells become fainter, Misty came back and Ash looked at her curiously.

“Where did Mark go?”

“Oh I think we won’t see him until tomorrow morning,” she said dismissing it. “It’s better if we get some rest for the big day tomorrow anyway.” Misty tried to look as convincing as possible, but Ash was still a bit suspicious.

“Alright…” He pulled out his sleeping bag and climbed in with Pikachu right behind him as Misty got her things ready. Everything was still and quiet as Ash gazed up at the starry night sky. Stars were scattered about and shone through the darkness of the night from the absence of the moon since it was a new moon. Misty had just crept into her sleeping bag and had made her self comfortable when Ash broke the silence of the still night.

“You awake Misty?”

“…I am now,” she grumbled to herself, though Ash couldn’t hear her.

“You know, ever since we entered this new region, I’m still amazed at how many new pokemon there are out in the world that we haven’t seen! Sometimes I wonder if each star in the sky represents for one pokemon on this planet, as if we could count the number of pokemon there were in this world simply by looking at the stars…” Ash whispered excitedly. There was a brief pause before Misty responded promptly,

“Go to sleep Ash…” She turned in her sleeping bag and made herself comfortable by resting her head on her hands. Ash ignored her comment and began to gaze up at the stars with a faint smile on his face.

As his eyes felt heavier and heavier by the second, he began to count each and every star he could see in the sky in his head.

“One…Two…Three…”
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Mark slowly woke up and he began to feel a throbbing sensation on the back of his head. He grimaced as he placed his hand over the hurting area. He felt like he had been hit by a ton of bricks…or maybe it was the fact that he had broken his fall by landing on his head last night… Whatever the reason, from the looks of his dark surroundings, he could see that he was stuck in a deep hole. For what reason, he couldn’t seem to remember, though a girl with bright red hair stuck out vividly in his memory…

“Go Dragonite!” Before long, Mark had sprung out of the pitfall and he was searching the forest after regaining his memory as he looked down from high above in the sky, riding on the back of his yellow-orange dragon. He scoured the land as he used his hand to shield his eyes from the bright sun until he found what he was looking for; two figures still on the ground, wrapped snugly in their sleeping bags. “Down there Dragonite, let’s go!”

His pokemon nodded calmly and dive-bombed towards the clearing as Mark clung on tightly to his back. They landed safely on the ground and the force of the wind Dragonite pulled in as he landed startled Ash and Misty awake. Mark climbed off of his pokemon’s back and quickly approached them both.

“Well are you two ready?! We’ve got a big day ahead of us and there’s no time to lose!” Mark yelled, focusing especially on Misty who had crawled back into her sleeping bag.

“Oh, wake me up in two hours; I need my beauty sleep…” Misty said as she snuggled against her own body.

“Better make it two years then!” Ash replied with a mischievous smirk before being knocked down by a red mallet.

“Well if a certain someone hadn’t chased another certain someone into a conveniently placed hole, maybe I wouldn’t be so grumpy, but I’ve got a raging headache and I need some aspirin, which they have in the village, so LET’S GO!” He pulled Misty’s sleeping bag open, but she remained where she was lying down.

“I have NO idea what you’re talking about…” Misty said as she turned herself over though she knew what Mark was hinting at.

“I’m sure you don’t Misty…” Mark replied, rolling his eyes. “Now come on, we’ve got to go!” Ash stood by Mark’s side with his sleeping bag packed securely in his green backpack as Pikachu sat on Ash’s shoulder. “See your cousin’s up already!” Mark said signaling towards Ash. Misty sprang up from her lying position as soon as she heard Mark’s comment.

“What are you talking about, Ash isn’t my cousin!” Misty replied, apparently extremely appalled.

“So if you guys aren’t relatives, then why are you traveling all alone with each other?” Mark asked innocently, but with a sly smile. Misty stayed quiet as her cheeks were tinted pink and she began to busy herself by fixing her sleeping bag up. As soon as everything was packed away, she marched up to Mark and dryly said,

“Happy?!” Mark smiled back and replied equally dryly,

“Yes, very. Now let’s go!” He removed two pokeballs from his belt and released two of his pokemon from their respective balls. Mark climbed onto the back of his loyal friend Charizard while Ash and Misty both sat on top of Dragonite. They each took to the air and Dragonite followed Mark as he guided his Charizard to the small village he was talking about. After a few seconds of traveling up the steep green mountainside, Charizard dived towards the earth quickly and Dragonite followed suit as Ash held onto his hat and Misty held onto his Pikachu. In a matter of seconds, they were back on the ground and each one of them climbed off of their pokemon.

“Return,” Mark said as he took out two pokeballs and recalled his pokemon back to them in a flash of red light. “Well here we are, Cerebrall Village!” Mark exclaimed as he gazed around the village with a look of warm welcoming.

“That’s a pretty weird name, sounds a lot like ‘Cerebral’,” Misty said as she looked around at the village.

“Well if you look at the location of the village on the map, you’ll see that it’s essentially the head of the forest. It overlooks all of the major towns of the Evergreen region and, it may not look like it, but this town actually thrives as a marketplace. People from all around the region come here and exchange with each other, and if you’re really smart, you’ll earn a really good living. At least, that’s what the residents told me,” Mark added smiling embarrassedly. Misty rolled her eyes and began to observe her surroundings. The center of the village was a busy marketplace, with wooden carriages carrying supplies rushing hurriedly out of the circle and to the edges of the Evergreen forest. People yelled, bargained, heckled, joked, argued (among other assortments of things) their way into the new day. The marketplace was thriving and was busy as ever with traffic slowly building up at the trade center. Misty looked on in wonder until she drew her attention to the other side of the town.

The atmosphere was quiet and still, in deep contrast to the busy marketplace of the center of town. Everything was very plain and typical of a small village; the houses were very small and consisted of only one floor, there was no Pokemon Center, and there were no big buildings that would hint of containing a Pokemon Gym which made Ash pretty sad. Trees towered over the village and, from the place where they were standing, they could see the peak of Evergreen Mountain with green trees dotting the landscape covering the mountain as if it were a carpet.

Then as they looked even farther to the right, they could see the piece of construction work that was being done to the village that Mark had told them about. Just a few feet away from a group of houses, was a riotous dump of metal and stone. The materials were gathered into a discordant pile with various orange colored construction machines resting at the side of the small hill. Workers yelled left and right at each other, arguing over the simplest of things such as the location of a tool. The loud machinery chugged and boomed over the village as it lifted silver metal beams and placed them vertically in preplanned spots.

Misty could see that Mark was becoming angered at the site of the construction so she decided to divert his attention away.

“Well we need to get some supplies for our stay and, knowing Ash and his bottomless belly, we might need to bring a couple of bags along. Want to come along Mark? Maybe you can bring some of your friends along to help us out,” Misty suggested kindly. He remained focused on the construction site and didn’t turn to face Misty as he responded to her in a calm yet firm voice,

“No, you guys go ahead. I need to find out what’s going on… I’ve only been gone for a couple of days and already so much has changed. It’s pretty scary…”

Misty looked at him skeptically, but could see that he wasn’t going anywhere so she decided to leave.

“Come on Ash, let’s go…” She took Ash by the arm, and before he knew what was happening, they were already on their way to the marketplace, leaving Mark alone as he looked sullenly at the construction site as if he was deep in thought…
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The day had passed quickly and Ash and Misty were back from their food shopping, with gigantic bags piled to the top with all kinds of canned foods and instant meals. They had just left the marketplace and were walking back to where they had left Mark when Misty noticed that he wasn’t there anymore. She looked around curiously, but the tall bags were blocking her view.

“Ash you mind holding onto these for a while?” Misty said while placing her very heavy bags onto Ash’s already substantial pile. He groaned and protested as his knees quivered from the weight, but she was already looking for Mark at the foot of the construction site fence. She looked around vigilantly for a sign of him over the rubble and debris of the pile of stone, but she couldn’t find him. She went to the edge of the wired fence and turned the corner. Very faintly, she could hear people arguing in the distance and as she peered through the fence, she saw a cloaked man arguing fiercely with a short lady in a purple dress.

“Ash, come here! I think I found him!” she yelled waving her arm at him, but he was stuck where he was. His knees quivered and he slowly wavered from side to side until Misty rushed towards him and took some bags off of him. She rolled her eyes as he panted in exhaustion as they ran to the edge of the fence.

They both set down their bags and looked across the stripped field. In front of a yellow house, beyond all the machinery and workers, were two people: a man dressed in a tattered black cloak, the other a slim woman in a purple dress. They kept quiet and, very faintly, they could make out what they were arguing about.

“What do you mean I can’t talk to the president of this company?! I have a right to know what’s been happening here and I demand to speak to the president!” the figure in black shouted.

“And I keep telling you, the President is a very busy man and because of this, he is not here. In fact, he is not even in charge of this project,” the woman replied calmly, but with a hint of aggravation as she fixed her thin glasses that rested just on the bridge of her nose. Her brown hair was tied up in a tight bun and she clutched a clipboard in her arm. They stood directly in front of a metal door and Mark was beginning to lose patience with this lady.

“Then can I please speak with the person in charge of this project? Or is he too busy as well?” he added dryly. The door suddenly opened and a middle aged portly man wearing a business suit walked out of it as he straightened his jacket.

“What’s this yelling I hear, Mimi?” And as he turned to look at who was in front of him, “Who is this young man here?” She turned to him and removed the pen that was resting behind her ear.

“This young man has a problem with the construction that has been taking place in this town. He said he would like to speak with the person in charge of the project.” He turned to look at him and saw Mark’s face boiling in anger.

“How are you doing? My name is Troy and I’m the Vice-President of CS Inc. Here’s my card.” After shaking his hand briskly, he handed him a small white card which Mark received in confusion. “I always like to introduce myself to everyone, regardless if they are friend or stranger, customer or complainant,” he flashed a fake smile, exposing his long white teeth as sweat trickled from his bald head. The sweat drop was trapped in the thin hair on the side of his head until it traveled down the hairs and fell onto the ground. From his appearance, it was apparent that he was well into his years. After recovering from his moment of confusion, Mark was back to himself and he regained his composure.

“Well, Troy, may I ask WHY the houses of these villagers were knocked down?! And why didn’t they receive any notice?” he yelled, his anger coming back to him. Troy opened his eyes in a moment of surprise, but he quickly thought of an answer in his head and began to explain as calmly as he could.

“Look…what was your name? Oh Mark, okay… Mark, these villagers received a notice a long time ago. They didn’t want to move because they were being stubborn even though we’ve already paid them for their houses. It’s not our fault that they remained in their house and did not decide to move out. So…I’m terribly sorry about your house-”

“But I don’t live here,” Mark interrupted quickly. Troy was once again caught by surprise and he looked at him with confusion as Mimi shook her head and walked away.

“So then, why are you complaining if none of this pertains to you?” Mark opened his mouth to speak, but Troy quickly interrupted him as he turned to Mimi who was about to enter into the building. “Next time Mimi, if you’re going to interrupt me from my busy work, make sure there are some valid complainants!” With that he rushed through the door, pushing Mimi to the side. She growled in anger and turned to Mark.

“Great, see what you got me into?! If I ever see you again, I’ll see it that you are personally handled!” She also walked into the house with a huff and slammed the door in Mark’s face. He paused for a moment before turning around slowly and walking back to where he had come from, deep in thought.

“Mark!” A yell sounded through the air and he turned to look at who it was. Misty waved her hand frantically in the air as Ash stood next to her, wearing a worried expression. He continued to walk towards them as Ash picked up their bags again.

“What’s the matter, Mark?” Misty asked as he passed them quickly.

“I need to go to talk to the villagers…” he muttered quietly as he quickly walked away, his black cloak blowing behind him. Misty looked after him questioningly, wondering what he was so worried about. She followed after him neglecting the fact that Ash was already red in the face as his knees quivered as he attempted to hold up the heavy bags; until he collapsed backwards.
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“Bah, what a bunch of lies!” a young skinny man responded bitterly. He wore round glasses and had shiny jet black hair that parted in a wave. The rest of the villagers were crowded around him as they looked back at Mark and his traveling companions. They all sat down on logs huddled around a bonfire that rose high above their heads as they ate sandwiches in the black night. Ash and Misty looked on quietly as Mark continued his conversation with the villagers.

“He said he’s paid you enough money though… I don’t see why you won’t leave? Your lives are at risk here if you stay!” he said passionately, but the skinny man was unaffected. The skinny man shook his head as he began speak.

“No Mark, you’ve got it all wrong. It’s not a matter of money. Sure we have enough to go anywhere we want. The problem is: we don’t want to leave. They’re forcing us to leave a town when we don’t want to. Not only that, but this company is going to destroy this village! If it doesn’t knock down all of our houses then its pollution will!” Mark looked back at him curiously and the young man continued.

“You know the town close by here, Venox Village? This company also has another building there. Completely changed the village forever. Venox used to look just like this village before that company moved in. After that, restaurants, stores, Gyms, so much flooded into the city that it’s never been the same since. Not to mention the swamp! Rumor has it that the company has been dumping their chemicals into the swamp, a swamp in where families enjoy picnics together with their children and their pokemon. This is why, we have to stop that company before it can spread into here.” Mark stayed silent for a while until he slowly nodded his head in understanding.

“So what are you going to do to stop them?” Mark asked seriously as he looked at them all in the eyes. The skinny man stood up from his chair and looked directly at Mark as he clenched his fist passionately.

“Easy; we’re going to stand in front of the construction fence preventing the construction workers from entering! That way they’ll get our message across without the need for violence. Are you in with us Mark?” He looked at Mark intently as he sat on top of the log in deep thought. Mark gazed up at him and then nodded his head slowly in agreement.

“OK then. We set off tomorrow early in the morning. We’ll wake you up when it’s time to go.” The young man placed his hand on Mark’s shoulder then walked past him and disappeared into one of the huts. Everyone then scattered and the only ones left were Ash, Misty, and Mark as they sat briefly in silence.

“Mark, are you sure you want to go through with this?” He looked back at Misty who just stood up from the log and was looking at him worriedly. “I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling about this…”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure nothing will go wrong tomorrow.” He smiled back at her then added slyly,

“Besides, you’ve got your boyfriend there to keep you safe!” He quickly ducked behind one of the huts as she chased after him while Ash looked back at them smiling to himself with Pikachu by his side. He stood up from the log and then began to prepare his sleeping bag.

He knew he would have to get some rest for the day tomorrow if he was going to be fully prepared…
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The next day, from the dark depths of his sleep, the faint voice of the skinny man echoed in Ash’s head hurriedly until he began to briskly shake his body. Ash grabbed his head and sat up as he groaned, looking up at the sky groggily. The sun had just risen and the air was cool and damp. He sat up from his sleeping bag and looked next to him, still half asleep. Misty was still sleeping as she lay next to him, holding her pillow with her hand with a look of comfort on her face. Ash gently shook her shoulder and she began to stir from her slumber.

“Come on Misty! It’s time to go!” Ash stood up as his energy began returning to him slowly. He began to pack up his things as Misty started to pick herself up from the ground, yawning loudly as she stretched lazily. Ash quickly glanced around for any sign of Mark, but he couldn’t find him anywhere.

He’s probably already at the construction site…” Ash thought to him self as Misty joined him by his side. With Pikachu on his shoulder and the skinny man and Misty right beside him, he knew it was time they would put their plan in effect. What he wasn’t sure of was the results of their labor…
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They reached the fence and waiting in front of it solemnly was none other than Mark. He gazed forlornly at the barren wasteland before him until they caught up with him. He turned around at the sound of their arrival and he looked at both Ash and Misty sternly. He silently nodded his head and they both nodded back in acknowledgement. Slowly he turned around again and gazed once more at the construction site. What used to be a whole colony of village huts was now bare ground; all the memories that was carried in those huts, all gone, only to be replaced by big business. He shook his head in disapproval before turning around and walking back to the group as they all looked back at him.
 
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el_toro

Superfly
Sorry about the huge gap between updates if anyone has already read this; the website stopped working for some apparent reason at 2:00 at night! :rolleyes: What can you do?

The sun was now high in the sky and in any moment, the construction workers would be arriving. All of the protestors were lined up against the fence, covering any and all openings into the construction site. Their arms were all extended in a human chain as soon as they heard the rumbling and chugging of the machines in the distance. Each one of them looked on nervously as the first of the machines made its way up the hill, only to stop abruptly once it noticed the crowd of people blocking it from entering its site. One by one, all of the machines stopped behind that one and soon, they began to pile up on one another.

A black limousine flew past them and skidded to a stop directly in front of the protestors. The doors opened and a partially bald man stepped out of the limo, wiping his head with a handkerchief followed closely by a small woman in a lavender suit. He looked on in dismay and he scanned the line of people quickly before focusing directly on one of them. He whispered something into the ear of his secretary and she responded quickly into his ear. He nodded and took a step towards them.

“So…erm, what did you say his name was again?” he asked quickly of his secretary.

“Mark.” He snapped to attention as the rest of the group arched their necks to look at him.

“That’s right…Mark. So Mark, what business do you have with us today? You know I don’t appreciate the fact that you are cutting into the work schedule of my men. That’s going to cost us a lot of money…”

“Oh please, what are you complaining about money for? You’ve robbed us all for our houses so I would say you should have a fair share of money to throw around, right?” the skinny man replied sarcastically. Troy simply smirked back at him and looked back at Mark.

“Well? Aren’t you going to tell me what you are doing here?” Mark simply shrugged which infuriated Troy.

“Now listen you, I have every right in my mind to call the police right now if you don’t leave this construction site! What you are doing right know is considered trespassing and I can make sure that the authorities will throw you in jail for it!” he yelled threateningly. Still the group did not waver though Misty began to grow nervous. Her breaths came in quick short gasps of air until she felt a pressure on her shoulder. She looked to her left side and saw that Ash had his hand clasped onto her shoulder. He turned to her and smiled back as soon as their eyes met. She smiled back before her attention was quickly diverted by the raging woman in front of them.

Mimi was screaming at the top of her voice, the veins in her neck popping out as her eyes widened in anger. Her body shook with anger as she yelled at the young cloaked man in front of her, stressing every word with all the fury she felt in her soul.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING YOU IDIOT?! DO YOU THINK YOU’RE SOMEONE SPECIAL NOW, HUH?! HUH?! IF YOU DON’T MOVE IMMEDIATELY, I WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU MYSELF!” She was now yelling uncontrollably and Mark couldn’t help, but fidget uneasily in place since when people get in that state of mind, their actions become unpredictable. The skinny leader of the protest stepped forward in an attempt to calm her down, but it only made her angrier. She bellowed at the top of her lungs while Troy looked on helplessly.

“Aw that’s it!” The construction car at the front of the pack went into first gear and began to rev its motor as it began to charge full speed towards the fence…and the protesters, instantly silencing the tension between the protestors and Mimi.

“Yo Manny, what’re you doin’?!” one of the coworkers yelled at the car that was charging towards the fence. But the driver was just as irrational and uncontrollable as Mimi and he stayed his course, his eyes staring intently at the fence, his mind strong willed and simple. The protesters looked on in fear and their eyes widened in horror as the car continued to approach with no signs of stopping. Nobody was going to do anything about it…

Misty looked on nervously as the car began to near closer. She fidgeted nervously in her place causing Ash to become just as worried as she. Her blue eyes passed over the group of protesters facing the charging car then at Ash as she looked back at him. He looked at her with a look of uncertainty as if he didn’t know what she was going to do even though he could sense that she was planning something. She let go of her link with Ash and pulled a pokeball off of her belt.

“Go Quagsire!” A bluish simple looking creature popped out of the pokeball and cheered happily as Misty yelled her orders, “Quick, use Mudshot on those tires!” In a stream of mud pellets, the belt tires of the construction machine were bombarded and the machine began to swerve from side to side; until it finally gave way to gravity and collapsed on its side, continuing its path to the fence before skidding to a complete halt. The protesters let a loud sigh of relief and gave Misty the most sincere and grateful look they could all muster.

Manny slowly crawled out of the driver’s seat of the car and staggered up, his senses dulled as his world spun around him. Mimi turned to Mark once more and her face was livid.

“…leave this construction site now! I don’t ever want to see your face again!” she snarled in restrained anger. Troy stepped forward and put his hand on her shoulder, but she nudged it off as she continued to glare at Mark in the eyes. “Well?! What are you waiting for?!” He stared back at her icily and replied,

“We’re not going to move until you’ve fixed what you’ve started!” The group of protesters nodded slowly and she looked all around at them as she bared her teeth.

“Well then, we’ll see how the police take to this!” She quickly pulled out her red and silver cell phone and dialed the local police. Now the unwavering protesters shifted uneasily in place as she spoke quickly into her phone.

“Yes, Evergreen police? I’d like to report a disturbance in front of the CS building in Cerebrall Village…involving a cloaked man as well as a couple of his followers. You’ll be here right a way? OK then, see you later.” She closed her cell phone and smiled sinisterly at the group. Mark was outraged at the fact that she had singled him out of all of the other protesters, but amidst it all, he kept quiet and constrained his anger.

The atmosphere was tense and the group of protesters began to grow worried with each passing minute. They glanced at each other unsurely for an answer even though they remained in place. Ash nudged Misty in the shoulder and he stepped closer to her as he began to whisper in her ear,

“Misty, I think it’s time we should leave.” She turned around at him quickly with a shocked look and he began to explain himself. “If we get caught once the cops get here…I don’t know how long it’ll take us to get out of prison. Plus, we’ll get separated and I’m sure neither one of us wants that.” He looked at her with a determined look and she could see that he had a point. She quickly turned around to look at Mark then at the devastation behind them.

“But Ash, what about these villagers? If we leave now, who knows what else this horrible company will do?”

“I know Misty, but I can’t afford to be separated from you.” She was caught by surprise at how passionate Ash’s answer was. He hesitated for a moment then he looked at her again. “You’re all I’ve got on this trip Misty. If we get separated now, who knows where we’ll end up…in a strange region thousands of miles away from home…” He stopped as he avoided her gaze and she looked back at him sympathetically. She laid her hand gently on his shoulder which caused him to look back up at her. She smiled warmly and her eyes shone with care and concern.

“Ash…I promise that we’ll never get separated. No matter what,” she added with assurance. He smiled back at her and he nodded his head as he clenched his fist.

“Alright Misty; just remember to keep your end of the bargain, alright?” He winked back her with a wide smirk on his face and she winked back in agreeance. At that moment, a group of cars blasted through the machines quickly and squealed to a stop in front of the protesters as a dust cloud shot up in front of the cars. The group clamored as a voice boomed from a loudspeaker atop the black and white car,

“STOP WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW. YOU ARE ALL UNDER ARREST FOR DISTURBING THE PEACE, TRESPASSING, AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE. MOVE SLOWLY TOWARDS THE CARS WITH YOUR HANDS UP.”

The group paused in despair. No one made a move or looked elsewhere. Unbeknownst to everyone, Mark had already securely placed his hand over one of the pokeballs on his belt and was waiting for the right moment to release it. Mimi grew anxious with every passing moment until she could bear no more.

“THAT’S IT!” She lunged after Mark as Troy stepped forward to stop her, but he didn’t react quickly enough. Mark quickly pulled the ball off his belt and released his faithful friend.

“Quickly, use Sandstorm!” Before the image of his Flygon could be revealed, a thick dust storm was whipped up in front of Mimi and she was knocked off her feet as Mark quickly jumped onto his Flygon. He quickly released his other pokemon and tried to retrieve the other protesters as a circle of dust hid his location, but in the confusion, the group had split up and the majority of them had already been captured by the police. He glanced around quickly until his eyes fell over a pair of teenagers and a small yellow rodent holding onto each other amidst the storm. He ordered his Charizard to retrieve them and once he saw that they were safely in the arms of his pokemon, he took to the sky quickly as the police fired off rounds of stun bullets at his pokemon. They flew off into the afternoon leaving behind the group and their cause…
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Ash and Misty ate quietly around a bonfire in a forest a short ways away from the town as Mark gazed off the side of the cliff towards the town in deep thought. His brow was furrowed as he began to reflect on the situation at hand.

Every single one of the villagers has been captured and taken into custody. Now I’m a wanted man since Mimi probably labeled me as the leader of the bunch… What am I going to do? This village is going to be leveled if I don’t do something about it…” He passed his hand slowly over his black hair as he sighed deeply.

“So Mark what are you thinking about?” He turned around quickly only to see that it was Misty who had snuck up on him.

“Whew, you scared me there for a second Misty!” He smiled as he shook his head slowly. “I guess I was just thinking about the others…” Misty frowned slightly and placed her hand on his shoulder as he looked back at her.

“None of it was your fault Mark… There was nothing any of us could’ve done…”

“Yeah I know…but I still think that we should be back there, helping them in their cause. Now that there is no one in the way of the company, ‘s going to stop them from completely wiping out the village?” Misty stayed quiet as she nodded in agreement.

Ash looked from afar as he finished the rest of his bean soup with a content sigh. Pikachu hopped onto Ash’s shoulder and Ash smiled as he began to play with his pokemon’s chin. Pikachu looked up at Ash questioningly since he could sense something was disturbing his trainer. Ash looked down at his pokemon and could see that he was waiting for a response from him.

“Pikachu, there’s nothing wrong with me I swear.” Pikachu looked at Ash skeptically and when he saw that his trainer wasn’t caving in, he merely shook his head and sighed. Ash continued to look at Misty from afar as she continued her talk with Mark in the distance. He was starting to get suspicious as to why Misty was getting so worried about Mark and the others. He continued to look at them from the campsite as Mark and Misty began to talk in a hushed voice.

“What worries me more is how the protestors must feel in that prison…” Misty said worriedly. Mark was silent for a moment until he murmured something under his breath.

“And I could’ve done something to save them…” He paused for a moment then it hit him. “Maybe I can still do something for them… Maybe it’s not over!” he said a little louder than he intended. Misty turned to look at him.

“What’s not over?” Misty asked curiously. Mark looked over at her and chuckled.

“Sorry, I guess I got a bit too excited. I just meant that I came up with a plan on how to help the protestors in prison.” Misty instantly brightened up at the idea.

“You did? What’s your plan then?” she said excitedly.

“I’m going to turn myself in,” he stated with a smile. She looked at him with utmost shock.

“What do you think that will do?!”

“Well I’m only going to turn myself in only if they let the prisoners free. That way they can continue protesting against the company and maybe attract more followers.” She remained quiet; she saw he had a point, she just felt it was too extreme. She bit her lip and then looked up in hesitation at him. He then burst into a smile at the look on her face.

“Oh you don’t have to worry about me Misty, I’ll be fine! The sentence won’t be that long and I’ll probably be released sooner than they intended. Man I can’t wait to see the look on Mimi’s face on the day that happens!” She chuckled and she felt a little better though she was still sad to see her friend putting himself through this. She was still a bit sad, but she forced a smile on her face which Mark could see through. He rolled his eyes and then spoke to her,

“Alright well we have to let Ash in on the plan too so why don’t you call him over so I can explain it to him alright?” She nodded quickly and ran back to Ash who had quickly looked away before she could catch him staring at her. Once she left, Mark turned around and began to gaze at the calm scenery once again. He didn’t know why, but he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that something might go wrong, was going to go wrong. He continued to reflect on this as Misty explained to Ash all of the details back at the campsite.

After a few hours had passed and the night was upon them, Mark began to ready himself for bed and for a restless night because he knew that he wasn’t getting any sleep tonight, not with such a huge obstacle hanging over his head like it was now.
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The day awoke with a chilly greeting and a dull sunrise. The sky was clear and was beginning to brighten as the sun continued its slow ascent into the sky. Misty opened her eyes as her mind subconsciously reminded her of the important task they had to carry out today. She slowly sat up and looked to her side where Ash should’ve been. In his place was a sleeping yellow rodent that was curled up in it self for warmth. Misty sprang up to her feet quickly and she began to search fretfully for Ash through the woods. Once she reached the edge of the cliff, she saw him standing there gazing at the village below them.

She walked slowly to his side and spoke softly,

“So it looks like Mark has already left.” He looked at her, at first surprised to see her up, but then after a few seconds he turned around once more to look at the town again.

“Yeah…he probably must be pretty worried by now...”

“Like some people we know.” She nudged him playfully in the side as she grinned back at him. He smiled back and sighed deeply. He didn’t know if he was going to be prepared for what they had to carry out. Regardless though, he knew he was doing this as a favor to a friend who wanted nothing more, but to support a good cause. He began to walk back towards the camp, leaving Misty to herself and to her thoughts. She stood there silently looking at the village below. She rubbed her eyes as she felt them sting.

“Mark, what were you thinking?”
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The atmosphere was quiet and serene. Everything was still and not a soul was to be found. Only one person could be seen from the flat stripped land; one person dressed in a black cloak, as his long hair covered his face. Mark was deep in thought, thinking over his plan and if he had forgotten anything to do anything up to now. He had sent the letter already to the police so they should be arriving soon. Ash and Misty would be hidden close by to cause a distraction just in case if things didn’t go as planned as they should. It all seemed to fit for him…yet the sinking feeling in his gut remained and it continued to frustrate him, constantly reminding him of its presence, making him grow anxious by the second.

What worried him the most is if the police would not negotiate and instead, try to take him by force. He would need to have a back-up plan in case if Ash and Misty didn’t show up in time. Maybe they wouldn’t even show up… His heart raced faster and he clenched his teeth nervously. Very faintly…he could hear the sounds of sirens in the distance. All of his questions would be answered in only a matter of seconds.

The tires of the police car squealed as it came to a screeching halt. Doors flew open as officers ducked behind them, pistols withdrawn, asking for permission to shoot from the head officer. From the car, an impending man stood up slowly. He strolled towards the fence where Mark was standing then stopped and extended his arm so that the palm of his hand faced the officers.

“Easy men; we came to negotiate so that is what we are going to do.” Each one of them lowered their guns, some of them grumbling as they reluctantly placed it in their holder. The captain then looked directly into Mark. His shades hid his eyes which allowed him to survey his surroundings without giving the criminal a chance to escape in case if they ever saw him take his eyes off of them. He was an average sized man, black hair hidden underneath his navy blue suit with an oversized badge on his chest that shone in the now risen sun. Mark stared back at the man unemotionally as he tried to read him. Seeing as how Mark wasn’t going to say anything, the captain, Mike, decided to start off the negotiations.

“Alright well, I’m going to cut to the chase. You have the whole police force in the Evergreen region here in front of you. What makes you think I’m in the mood to negotiate?!” Mike asked with a hint of agitation in his voice. Mark looked back at him and loosened up a bit.

“Simple. At this moment, I have a group of people surrounding this building,” he waved his hand in front of the building that was undergoing construction. The walls were already up, but they were still quite fragile, susceptible to any kind of blow. The captain knew this so he was listening intently as Mark continued on explaining. “At my signal, they could easily demolish this building while providing me with a getaway in only a matter of seconds. I’m sure not even you could keep up with me,” Mark added dryly. Mike bit his lip and sneered at Mark’s statement. He wasn’t sure if he was bluffing or if he was telling the truth. What he did know was that he didn’t like the situation he was under. After a brief pause the captain spoke up,

“Fine then, what kind of negotiations are you considering?”
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The police officer and the cloaked man continued talking as they looked from afar. Hidden behind a group of bushes, Ash and Misty had to stay hidden since, not only were they Mark’s upper hand in the situation, but they were wanted as well since they were fleeting criminals. Misty looked on worriedly as Ash took a seat back with Pikachu sitting on his lap, allowing Misty to get a full view.

“Can you hear what they’re saying?” Ash asked after a brief moment of silence.

“Shhh! That’s what I’m trying to do!” she responded with a quick hush. Ash raised his hands and backed off slightly with an expression that seemed to say, “Jeez, sorry!” She turned around once more to the scene and she focused her hearing so she could try and make out what they were saying.

“So you’re telling me that in exchange for yourself, we should let all the protestors free?” she heard faintly from Mike’s voice.

“Yes those are the terms in my letter,” Mark replied calmly.

“What kind of bargain is that?! You expect me to let all your lackeys free while you shut yourself in prison as they continue to wreak havoc in this town with no leadership of any kind with a taste for vengeance?” Mark was appalled at what he was hearing.

“How can you assume any of that would happen? These people are good people, fighting for a good cause because the town is not supporting them! If no one is going to help us then who will?” Mike stayed quiet, unsure of what to decide. He decided that he had grown tired of the situation. If he was going to shut down this rebellion, he had his chance right now. He took a giant step forward towards Mark which made him retreat backwards, his hand already over the pokeball on his belt.

“Don’t come any closer, I’m warning you!” Mark yelled as Mike stood still in place. He saw that Mark had his hand over his pokeball so he merely smiled. In a quick movement, he quickly took out a pokeball from underneath his shirt and threw it forward directly in front of Mark who had just thrown the ball in the air. A Swampert manifested itself from Mike’s pokeball, only to be met by Mark’s Charizard who began to stare down Mike’s Swampert. Each one of these pokemon were well seasoned fighters underneath their trainer’s guidance and each of them would provide a good fight, neither of them backing down until the bitter end. Mike smiled until he ordered his Swampert to attack Charizard with a Focus Punch which Charizard caught in the palms of his hands. With Charizard locked in a stalemate against Swampert, Mike saw his opportunity to catch Mark. He jumped past the fighting pokemon and leapt towards Mark, only to be stopped dead in his tracks once he saw what had just happened.

With a raise of his hand, a huge orange explosion detonated from outside the building, destroying the walls as the building stubbornly stayed intact. Mike gaped at the sight then he looked at Mark. An expression of livid anger was on his face and he glared up at Mike.

“Now we are doing this my way. Let the prisoners go or else the building falls!” Mike couldn’t believe this type of negotiation. He was about to reject his proposal when he heard his pokemon scream out. A tiny green pokemon stood to Swampert’s side and had just launched a Razor Leaf attack. In the moment of distraction, Charizard overpowered Swampert and sent the pokemon flying into a police car, completely demolishing it. Ash stood proudly by his pokemon’s side, a tiny grass imp, and he congratulated it for the attack as Misty looked at the scene before her, the four pokeballs on her belt drawing the most attention from Mike. He was now up against the wall. He had nowhere to go to except to cave into Mark’s demands. He had only one chance though, and he needed to do it now.

“Go Metagross!” With a quick flash of light, the pokemon was already in front of Mark and it knocked him to the ground, pinning Mark down with its razor sharp claws. Mark struggled to be set free as he moved from side to side.

“Charizard, use Flamethrower!” A blazing hot stream of fire hit Metagross in the back and he winced in pain from the effective hit. In a brief moment of desperation, Metagross threw Mark towards the building causing Charizard to stop his attack and rush forward to aid his trainer. He looked over at his trainer until Mark stood up. He panted in pain as he looked at Mike and his pokemon by his side.

“You left me no choice…” Mark nodded towards his Charizard who understood him instantly. He began to charge up a Hyper Beam in his mouth, causing Mark’s pokemon, the ones that had hid behindthe building awaiting Mark’s signal so they could strike the building with a Hyper Beam, to follow suit, preparing to bombard the building once more as they had done just a few seconds ago.

“Oh no you don’t!” Mike yelled. “Metagross, Psychic attack!” His pokemon began to emit a purple energy around its body and focused its energy on Mark until it managed to gain control of his body. It threw him forward and into the building, the target of his pokemon’s attacks. Charizard briefly stopped its attack in order to capture his trainer once he saw what had happened. The other pokemon had already launched their attack though…

Misty leapt forward from her location as she went to save Mark from the approaching beams. Everything moved around slowly: the beams approached the building ominously, as precious seconds were being shaved off. Quick to react, Mark pushed Misty before she could even manage to get inside the building. The walls exploded in a bright flash of light, and the explosion covered Mark as Charizard rushed into the building to save him along with his other pokemon, Dragonite and Flygon who had realized their folly. The building shook from the blast and crumbled on top of everyone inside the building. Misty was just in front of the building before the explosion and as a result, a piece of the concrete wall came flying towards her and struck her in the leg once the beams hit the building, making her immobile. She lay on the ground in pain then in shock as she saw the building collapse before her eyes. A cloud of dust flew in front of her and she was covered in the cloud, unable to see until her world slowly faded away. As her world dimmed around her, she could make out Ash’s yells and calls for her name yet she couldn’t do anything to return them. Slowly, everything went silent and black.
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A day had just passed, yet in those twenty four hours, so much had been altered. Ash and Misty were back on the road, dressed completely in black as the sun began to set on them. They were just returning from the funeral held for Mark and Misty was leaning heavily on Ash with Pikachu on his other shoulder.

“Man, Muntein hasn’t been good to you has it Misty?” Ash jokingly, but softly blurted out in order to lighten the mood. He was pointing out the condition Misty’s leg was in, wrapped in white gauze in order to protect the stitching that she had received the night before. It was temporary, but it still irritated her a lot so she twisted his cap playfully as he laughed. She smiled back at him and simply shook her head. He was glad that he was able to make her laugh; ever since yesterday she hadn’t been the same and the cremation in the morning of Mark’s supposed body didn’t help one bit. He especially remembered when they had released Mark’s ashes into the wind which the skinny protestor from the group quoted as “the true burial of a wanderer, free to forever roam the land.” It was a beautiful statement marked by a beautiful, but sorrowful occasion which only saddened Misty even more. Before the funeral, the police had actually allowed the group to be reunited once more momentarily out of respect for their fallen comrade and they had chosen the cliff which Ash, Misty, and Mark had stayed at the night before that day as the site of the release. Everyone was awash in tears, even Ash who didn’t really feel extremely attached to Mark like the others were with him. Misty was another case; her tears had completely soaked the front of Ash’s white shirt once the funeral was over with.

But now it was all behind them and, as with everything in life, the only way to keep living is to look forward. Which is exactly where Ash and Misty were at right now. Ash had his mind on what could lay ahead of them on their journey while Misty had a different future planned in her head. In the light of the setting sun, Ash’s hair shone brilliantly and the light matched nicely with his deep dark brown eyes. She smiled at him and she felt herself leaning a little harder on Ash in order to support her unstable gait, maybe more than she really needed to.

As he looked over the horizon though, Ash suddenly saw something catch the corner of his eye. He turned around abruptly as his heart leapt inside of him. There was nothing there…

He could’ve sworn though that he had just seen a blue winged red dragon fly by quickly with something indistinguishable riding on its back. Ash smiled with hope and he gripped onto Misty’s waist in order to support her, much to her delight.

With new hopes on the horizon of their journey, the winds of change were slowly blowing in a new direction.





Author's Notes​
Alright well I hope you enjoyed the long read! I forgot to mention this at the top, but we also have some member cameo's in this chapter as well. Mike is trickedoutmetagross's character and Mark is shadowshipper's character. Hope you guys enjoyed your characters! :) Also this was the chapter that took me ages to write! I guess you can see why since the story keeps going back and forth from the construction site to some remote place in the forest. But anyway...

Title Explanation: Resonable Doubt is basically something I came up with after a whole fiasco involving my good friend Mark. After the whole thing happened to him, I was inspired to write a story about him...so I did! The title just reflects the whole situation basically.

And there were no new pokemon for this story so no title explanations for those! :D


Alright well I hope you guys enjoy it a lot, I put a lot of work into making this chapter. Sadly (for you at least), I won't be here since I'm going to be on vacation so I won't be replying to reviews anytime soon. But please, just leave them so once I get back I can check 'em out for ya! ;)

Closing comments, I'll see you guys in two weeks! :D
 

trickedoutmetagross

NIXON'S BAAAACK!!!
pretty good 10/10. On my characters use, he just seems so evil. There were some spelling mistakes but I can't remember where exactly. Have fun on vacation!
 

Sableye King

The Ghost Guru
“Misty…” he said quietly as he looked up at the starry sky.

“Yes Ash…” she replied back as she also lay down on the ground looking up at the sky.

“Are we going to die?” Misty quickly sat up and looked at him angrily. He lifted his head up just a bit and could see that he wasn’t going to get a response so he went back to gazing at the stars.

Very funny! LOL!


Misty leapt forward from her location as she went to save Mark from the approaching beams. Everything moved around slowly: the beams approached the building ominously, as precious seconds were being shaved off. Quick to react, Mark pushed Misty before she could even manage to get inside the building. The walls exploded in a bright flash of light, and the explosion covered Mark as Charizard rushed into the building to save him along with his other pokemon, Dragonite and Flygon who had realized their folly. The building shook from the blast and crumbled on top of everyone inside the building. Misty was just in front of the building before the explosion and as a result, a piece of the concrete wall came flying towards her and struck her in the leg once the beams hit the building, making her immobile. She lay on the ground in pain then in shock as she saw the building collapse before her eyes. A cloud of dust flew in front of her and she was covered in the cloud, unable to see until her world slowly faded away. As her world dimmed around her, she could make out Ash’s yells and calls for her name yet she couldn’t do anything to return them. Slowly, everything went silent and black.
<- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ->
A day had just passed, yet in those twenty four hours, so much had been altered. Ash and Misty were back on the road, dressed completely in black as the sun began to set on them. They were just returning from the funeral held for Mark and Misty was leaning heavily on Ash with Pikachu on his other shoulder.

Very sad and very dramatic. I was very surprised that you would kill Mark. I was really starting to like him. *Sniff* Very sad part. The first paragraph was also very dramatic, which made it my favorite part in the chapter, and it was also the sadest part too.


He especially remembered when they had released Mark’s ashes into the wind which the skinny protestor from the group quoted as “the true burial of a wanderer, free to forever roam the land.”

This was another very good part, the quote was very moving and powerful to me.

He could’ve sworn though that he had just seen a blue winged red dragon fly by quickly with something indistinguishable riding on its back. Ash smiled with hope and he gripped onto Misty’s waist in order to support her, much to her delight.

This was a very good ending to a long and well written chapter, and a sad one at that. I was very entertained by the little side adventure with Mark, and I liked Mark. 10/10! Have fun in Colombia!
 

shadow_shipper

...indeed...
well, I must review this before I leave as well :D You going back to Colombia, me going back to Croatia huh :p

well, seeing how I've had some problems with my internet as well as the forums not loading on several occasions, I'll keep this short :(

Wow...My character turned out more like me than I expected xD mostly on several parts of doubting what to do ^_^'

Still, if I managed to push forward PokéShipping a bit, I'm glad.

and this :
el_toro said:
He was starting to get suspicious as to why Misty was getting so worried about Mark and the others. He continued to look at them from the campsite as Mark and Misty began to talk in a hushed voice.

Ash being jealous ? :rolleyes: so sweet ^_^
on that note, I especially liked this chapter because (yes, I'm in it...and because) this time Ash has made some "moves" towards her :) *is happy*

But you really made me happy with this, thank you again Danny :)

...and you pretty much wrote it accordingly to what we've discussed, I noticed some details of the thing and I was grinning all along :D well done again ;)

enjoy your holidays, and until we both get back, see ya :)
 

Orenji-chan

magmajewel is love.
Good job with this chapter, el_toro! Very well-written, I can tell that you spent a lot of your time to produce such a wonderful chapter! :D

Giving this chapter a 12/10, and I can't wait for the next one to arrive!

Hope you have a good time on you're vacation~

--Orenji-chan​
 

Artemis Ignitan

*~*Northwind Gale*~*
I haven't seen you in a long time! Hope I didn't worry anybody too much...

Chapter 13 kept bringing up tears of laughter to my eyes, but Chapter 14 brought tears of sadness...personally 14 was my favorite of the two. It just reminds me of how things go in real life.

The length was a bit overwhelming, but the description was amazing, very vivid, and the scenes seemed to fit together just perfectly.

As always, congrats on two great chappies! :) Ja ne!
 

XxM!styxX

shooting the moon ☆
Ash smiled with hope and he gripped onto Misty’s waist in order to support her, much to her delight.
Aww how cute!! You know why I love your fic? Because of your original Pokemon and drawings. I think that's really cool!! :) keep going, sorry I haven't been able to post!!
 
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