Chapter 16
"Hey Michael,"
I snapped out of my thoughts. "Yeah?" I asked, looking at Ash.
"You look like you have something on your mind,"
I sighed. My instincts told me to just say I was fine. But I wasn't. "Yeah, kinda,"
Ash looked at me with concern. "Would you mind telling me? You seem kind of bothered."
That surprised me slightly. Ash was very perceptive for a 10-year-old. I thought about it briefly, wondering how to put it into words. I thought about saying I was fine, but that would just be a lie. "I was just thinking about my family," I said, "It's been a while since I've seen them,"
Ash nodded. "I don't see my mom that much either, my dad left when I was very little so I never really saw him,"
That surprised me. Ash seemed very carefree and energetic despite not even remembering one of his parents.
"So what are your parents like?" asked Ash, "I'd love to meet another Latios and Latias,"
"Well," I said, not sure how to explain it, "my parents are actually human,"
"They are?" asked Ash, "But then why are you a Latios?"
I sighed at that. "Well, it's a long story,"
Ash gestured to the ship that was still flying in an odd circle pattern. "We have time,"
I didn't exactly feel like telling Ash, after all, he was only about 10 or 11 and I was 15. There was something different about him though, something... beyond his age. It was as if he knew exactly what to say to make me feel comfortable telling him. He had some kind of presence that could put anyone at ease, but only when he wanted to. I hadn't noticed it much until now, but I thought that this might be the 'Chosen One' thing Latios and Latias were talking about.
"Michael?" Ash's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Sorry," I said, "I just zoned off for a bit." A moment of silence passed between us.
"Look," said Ash, "If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. You don't have to."
I shook my head, "It's alright. I need to tell someone anyway." I took a deep breath, "First of all, I live in a world where Pokemon don't exist..."
Inside the Ship (3rd Person P.O.V.)
"Still no sign of them ma'am,"
"Well, I suggest you keep looking then," said Hunter J, no emotion in her voice.
"I-I do-don't think we can f-find them again," stuttered the man.
J rolled her eyes her henchmen were useful, but they could be annoying at times. "Use the Psychic Sensor then, do whatever you have to to find them!"
"Right away ma'am!" the man quickly dashed to the side of the ship "Attention! Activate Psychic Sensors immediately!"
Almost immediately, several men went to work deploying a large radar. This large machine could detect almost any psychic-type Pokemon in existence. A hatch creaked as it opened to reveal the machine. One of the men pressed a button and a pulse of energy shot out of the radar. All the men watched as the radar loaded a picture of their surroundings. There were several tiny dots, signifying a few wild psychic Pokemon and a cluster of them in the nearby town. One dot, however, stood out from the rest. It was much larger than any of the other dots and was moving at a rapid pace.
"Ma'am we found something!"
'Finally,' Thought Hunter J as she got up from her chair. "You located the Latios and the Latias?"
"Just one ma'am,"
"What do you mean just one?" asked the Pokemon hunter suspiciously.
In response, one of her men zoomed in on the large dot on the screen. The dot grew in size until it showed the shape of a Latios. "We only found this Latios ma'am. It seems to be giving off an unusual psychic power."
Hunter J stared intently at the screen. 'Such power,' she thought, 'that must be what Cryus wants,' "Alright, set a course directly for it, be ready for capture maneuvers."
"Aye ma'am!"
~~~
"And that's when I ran into you," I said as I finished my story.
"That must have been hard to go through," said Ash. He paused for a moment, "But don't worry, me, Pikachu, Latios, and Latias will always be your friends!"
I smiled at that. "Thanks, Ash,"
Ash smiled back. "No problem, and thanks for telling me your story."
"Why would you thank me for that?" I asked, slightly confused.
"Because I try to understand all of my Pokemon as much as I can," said Ash, "I know a lot of trainers who just abuse their Pokemon and don't treat them very well. That's why I want to show everyone that Pokemon aren't just tools for battle, they're our friends too. I try to treat all my Pokemon like a family so everyone is happy."
As I was about to reply, Pikachu's head suddenly jerked up. "Uh, I hate to interrupt, but I think that ship is coming towards us."
I turned my attention back to the ship which I had been following at a steady pace for the past hour. Pikachu was right, for some reason, the ship had changed direction and was heading right for us. Suddenly, one of the ship's hatches opened and that woman from before shot out on her Slamance. All of a sudden, the dragon shot a pulse of blue energy at me, forcing me to jerk to the left and lose my invisibility.
"I think they found us," said Pikachu.
"But how?" asked Ash, "I thought-" His sentence was cut off as I swerved to the right to dodge another one of those pulses. Ash's expression instantly changed. His eyes were more focused and he had a slight frown on his face. "Alright, if a battle's what you want, then a battle's what you'll get! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
"Pikaaaachuuuu!" Pikachu shot a powerful bolt of lightning at the Salamance. It moved out of the way just before the attack would have hit it before retaliating by shooting a stream of fire out of its mouth. I cringed as I barely dodged the flame which probably would have burned me pretty badly. Just then, however, the Salamance stopped attacking and flew up to us.
"Who are you and what do you want?" asked Ash. Taking a closer look at her, I noticed that she had grey hair and a purplish outfit. She wore a vizor over her eyes and had a strange device on her arm.
"They call me Hunter J," replied the woman, no emotion apparent in her. "As for what I want, you would be wise to hand over that Latios. If you do not resist, you and the rest of your Pokemon may leave without further harm being done,"
"And why would I do that?" asked Ash. Pikachu's cheeks cracked as he switched to a defensive posture. I didn't know what to do. Why did this woman want me? Was it because I was a legendary? I remembered Lugia saying something about that, but I didn't really pay attention to that until now. "You don't have the right to take Pokemon that aren't yours!"
"I could care less whether or not I have the right to do it, hand the Latios over, or face the consequences. Now tell me your answer."
"Alright," said Ash, "my answer is this: Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Pikachu shot a lightning bolt at Hunter J and her Salamance was forced to duck down to avoid the attack.
"So then you've made your choice." She pulled out a radio and pressed a few buttons on it. In response, a swarm of bat-like Pokemon flew out of the ship and headed straight for us.
Ash patted my neck. "You ready Michael?" I nodded, preparing to attack. "Alright, use Luster Purge!"
I concentrated and formed a ball of energy in my mouth. This time though, I felt much more in control of it. I opened my mouth and shot a huge beam of psychic energy. Almost immediately, all of the Pokemon (which I later learned were Golbat) fell out of the sky with swirls in their eyes.
"Watch out!" I heard Ash's voice just in time to notice several large meteors heading straight for us. I panicked and dodged randomly, trying to get out of their range. My eyes widened as one appeared directly in front of me. Hitting it was unavoidable. Just before it hit, Pikachu jumped up and smashed the meteor with Iron Tail. I sighed in relief as the attack ended.
I nodded my thanks to Pikachu before turning my attention back to the battle. Suddenly, Hunter J raised the divide on her arm and fired something at us. I quickly dodged, not wanting to be on the receiving end of whatever that was but I was met with a sharp pain in one of my wings. I turned to see 3 larger bat Pokemon. They were biring my wings and it didn't take me long to figure out I had been poisoned. I smacked them to the ground with one of my claws, but the damage had already been done. I could feel my energy being slowly drained from my body as I struggled to stay up.
~~~
And that's it!
I hope you enjoyed it, especially the building bond between Ash and Michael. It wasn't easy to write that scene.
Anyway, if you liked this chapter please leave a review! If you didn't, leave a review saying how I can improve!
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