*Breathes huge sigh of relief* Phew! Finally, I manage to finish the chapter! I oughtta kick myself for leaving you all to wait so long, but--like I said---it's been that kind of time. Anyway, I hope you won't chastise me before reading this; but any suggestions to grammer, spelling, and all that other stuff is more than welcome. Enjoy...I hope 
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CHAPTER 23
“I can’t believe we actually let that kid slip away again,” Jessie growled as she and her two comrades steered their sub farther and farther west.
James let out a dull sigh, “I can; it’s always been the same since he and his friends first came into the picture: we see each other, we demand his Pikachu, they fight back, and it’s us who end up getting blasted off.”
“Only dis time, it’s da twoip who’s gone and blasted himself off,” Meowth reminded them, “And, since we promised the Bo…err…his old man that we’d find da kid, we’ve got even more chasin’ to do dan before.”
“Not for long we don’t,” Jessie said, “as soon as we pull into port, we’re calling the police…and the ‘old man’. Where’s the next town, James?”
“Hang on, let me check,” James mumbled as he spread out the large map of Hoenn he’d recently bought and skimmed over it. “According to this, the nearest location is Pacifidlog Town---a small fishing town that’s a favorite among the ama community.”
“Da who?” Meowth asked
Jessie frowned, “They’re women who dive for fish instead of using fishing poles. How far is it?”
Looking at the map again, James made a face, “Well…that’s the bad news: at this speed, it will take us nearly a couple of days to get there.”
“Then let’s not waste any more time, and pedal faster.”
With low groans, the two males followed Jessie’s command and began pedaling the sub harder, but it would still be a while before they reached their next destination.
It wasn’t until a little later in the day when Blissey led Pikachu and the others back into the waiting room. There were still no people coming in yet that day, so it was a little more relaxing than usual.
“There are still some things I need to take care of here,” Blissey said, “Why don’t you go keep your friend company?”
All five Pokémon agreed and walked over to the couch near the front door. They discovered Ash lying asleep upon the soft upholstery and guessed that there’d still been no news about Mewtwo. They looked over at the ER door; sure enough, the red light was still burning brightly, indicating that Nurse Joy and Chansey were definitely still working on their sick comrade.
Croconaw gave a loud yawn; “Hooooo-huum, no wonder the poor guy conked out; how much longer is this gonna take?”
“Give Nurse Joy a break,” Quilava said softly, “she’s never seen any Pokémon like Mewtwo before. Maybe she’s examining him to find out more about him.”
“He’s a large cat with Psychic powers; what else is there to know?”
Meganium suddenly stepped in, “Funny, I hear people call you a fat, flabby lizard who’s part fire extinguisher. What’s your point?”
“Knock if off, you guys,” Pikachu interrupted, “Let’s not wake up Ash; he’s been sleeping badly since we left the island.”
Everyone instantly grew quiet upon hearing this. They all knew that riding a raft over choppy water at night wasn’t exactly like sleeping on a cloud---in fact, Eevee had woken up one night while they were sailing due to seasickness. The combination of the voyage, being taken from his family, all of his troubles during the past summer and worrying about Mewtwo had completely driven the poor boy to exhaustion.
As they continued to gaze upon their sleeping trainer, the front doors suddenly slid open, causing the Pokémon to nearly jump out of their skins. However, they were quite surprised to see little Kikyo walk into the building, leading two older women inside by the hands.
“He’s in here, Mommy,” she told the woman on her left, “I heard him say he was coming here.”
“Are you sure, dear?” the younger woman asked, “I don’t see anyone.”
The elderly woman on Kikyo’s right spotted the small herd surrounding Ash and smiled.
“I believe I do, Migumi,” she said gently, gesturing with her head in the direction of the sofa, “However, I think it best to let him sleep undisturbed. Let us wait a little until he awakens.”
The three newcomers made their way to the opposite end of the room, where four chairs stood around a small table covered in magazines. Migumi picked one up after sitting down and flipped through the pages. Right across the table, her mother took a small white shirt out of a straw basket she was carrying and began to sew. While the two women were occupied, they occasionally looked up to check on Kikyo, who was happily playing on the floor with Pikachu and the other Pokémon.
Nearly half an hour later, Ash slowly sat up on the couch. After stretching out his arms and giving a big yawn, he started searching the room for his friends.
“Hey, Kikyo,” Ash greeted sleepily when he saw the little girl, “What are you doing here?”
Kikyo jumped up onto the couch, giggling happily. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a squeeze.
“Ash, you’re here!”
“I’m glad to see you, too, kiddo,” Ash choked, “but…I can’t breathe!” The minute he was released, Ash rubbed his aching throat, “Gee, she’s got a good grip for such a little kid,” he thought silently.
Still smiling, Kikyo suddenly grabbed Ash’s hand, and pulled him to his feet.
“C’mon,” she urged him, “I brought Mommy and Grammy here to meet you, but you were sleeping. They’re right over there,” pointing over to where the two women sat watching them, she ran over to them with Ash in tow.
A short while ago, Ash had guessed that Kikyo’s family held a firm belief in Japanese customs. Upon reaching the two women, he gave a low bow to them. Migumi and her mother smiled; they stood up, and bowed in response.
Kikyo darted in between her two family members, and immediately began introducing them;
“This is my mommy, Migumi Yamamoto; and this is my grammy---we call her Kiki.”
“Hello,” Ash said, “My name’s Ash.”
Migumi walked up and took both of Ash’s hands into hers.
“I want to thank you,” she said, tears forming in her eyes, “for bringing my daughter and her Pokémon home safely. I don’t know what I would have done if I lost her.”
Ash blushed slightly, “Actually, Mrs. Yamamoto, it wasn’t just me who helped her; my Pokémon all helped.” He then looked over to the small herd; each creature chirped proudly in response.
Later, Blissey brought the four humans a snack of tea and sweet cakes, and gave the Pokémon some PokéChow. While they ate and drank, Ash (unwilling to tell his new friends the real story) explained that he had just started traveling around the Hoenn region with his brother, David, and his girlfriend, Aurora, until he’d recently gotten separated from them. Kikyo and the two women shook their heads when Ash showed them pictures of his comrades, which he’d taken during the voyage to Lilycove City.
“I’m sorry you have gotten separated from your friends,” Migumi said sorrowfully, “but I’m afraid we haven’t seen anyone like them in our village.”
Ash couldn’t help but feel disappointed; he’d really hoped to find David and Aurora in this small town. “Talk about getting your hopes up,” he mumbled under his breath.
“That is not entirely the whole story, is it, young man?” Kiki asked solemnly.
Ash jumped; did Kiki know that he wasn’t telling the truth about why he was in Hoenn? Was she some sort of psychic? Or did she just have a way of knowing these things?
The young Trainer tried not to look scared, but the old woman was staring hard at him, as if she were trying to look deep into his mind. Finally, Kiki put her sewing away, stood up slowly, and began to walk towards him.
“Perhaps it would be better if we talked privately,” she said, before turning to her family, “Why don’t the rest of you remain here and get acquainted while I have a word with our young friend?”
The old woman put a hand on Ash's shoulder after he stood up, and the two started walking toward the far end of the room. Pikachu and the others could only stare after them with both confused and worried faces, until Kikyo suddenly sat down among them. The small girl wore an excited grin as she scattered a variety of beautiful seashells on the floor. The Pokémon were instantly distracted by the shining, multi-colored treasures; mussels, oysters, quahogs, spiraled snail shells, and scallops. Migumi also watched as her daughter pointed out the different shells for the inquisitive creatures.
Kiki ushered the nervous boy to a corner and looked at him with kind, yet serious eyes. Ash tried hard to appear as if nothing was wrong, but it was plain to see that this woman could not be fooled so easily.
"You have been in terrible pain; the past trials of your journies must have seemed like nothing to most recent events, have they not, my boy?"
Ash was stunned; eventhough she didn't say it directly, he was sure that the old lady had guessed what he'd been through word-by-word. "But, this village is so far from the mainland," he thought silently, "how could these people know about me that fast?"
Kiki, as if reading Ash's mind, gave a light-hearted chuckle, "I do have a slight skill in fortune-telling, dear boy," she said, "but my knowledge is far from that of witchcraft." She dipped her hand into the sewing basket and held up a slip of paper. Upon closer inspection, Ash realized that it was a newspaper clipping, dated two days back. The headline read:
TERRORIZED TRAINER TURNS TAIL?
The story went on to describe the attack on the S.S.Coral, and the investigation surrounding Ash's own "kidnapping." The police were sure that Team Aqua had snuck into the hospital last week and abducted him in the middle of the night. The more Ash read, the more shocked he became; apparently, no one knew the truth as to why he'd gone missing: how he'd been taken to an island by a bunch of abandoned Pokémon for their lonely friend. The real kicker was a paragraph that announced David and Aurora's "vanishing act" from the CoveLily Hotel that same night. The two had disappeared without a trace, and the rest of his family and friends were devastated.
Ash leaned back against the wall and laid a hand on his forehead, completely overwhelmed by this kind of knowledge. Kiki watched him solemnly as the newspaper clipping was placed back into her basket.
"We may be far from the mainland," she said softly, "but communications here are hardly limited. Our little village still has all these new-fangled electronics: television, telephones, and all these other ridiculous things. Many of us, however, still thrive on the ways of life that our ancestors have lived on for years."
"Like the amas," Ash spoke up.
Kiki smiled and nodded, "Exactly, dear boy; my family has had a long-standing tradition of living off the sea, and we have always lived happily under the care of our Guardian."
Ash looked quizzically at the old woman, "Guardian? Who's that?"
Instead of answering, Kiki led Ash to the nearest window (one that looked right out onto the open ocean) and pointed slightly to the left.
The sun was slowly getting lower in the sky, and its color was growing a little bit darker. The two humans each had to place a hand over their eyes to block out the setting orb, but Ash was just able to make out a tall vertical black structure near the horizon. At first glance, Ash got the impression that it was some kind of radio tower, but something just didn't seem quite right about it. There were no lights, no docks for boats (and none of those, either), and---apparently---no cables. The building (if it was a building) was far taller than any tower he'd seen before. A large cluster of thick clouds concealed the very top, making the exact height unclear.
"The Pillar," Kiki whispered mysteriously. Ash gave a startled jump and quickly glanced in her direction.
"It is the resting place of the Great Sky Spirit himself...our Guardian."
Ash was stupified by the woman's strange behavior; and her latest remark of a guardian living somewhere close by made even less sense.
"Resting place...?" he asked nervously.
Kiki appeared to be lost in thought as she spoke; "For countless eons, the wise and noble Guardian sleeps upon his roost, at the peak of the Pillar---yet he watches all that happens within our world throughout his slumber. Legend has it that, for one day every one-hundred years, he will awaken, and fullfill the desires of the first mortal to stand before him.
This bit of information made Ash's heart skip a beat, but his hopeful thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of the ER doors sliding open. Nurse Joy surveyed the room with weary eyes until she finally found the person she was seeking. Everyone who saw her clearly got the impression that whatever news she had wasn't exactly good.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," she said, walking up to the twosome at the window. "We need to talk privately...in the ER," she said to Ash.
With a lump in his throat and his heart pounding like a thousand drums, Ash excused himself from the old lady and slowly followed the exhausted nurse into the room. Pikachu and the other Pokémon quickly started to follow.
"No," Ash said, stopping them in their tracks, "You guys stay here until I get back."
All anyone could do now was watch as their friend disappeared behind the automatic door; the lock clicked behind him, and the light once more flashed on. The five four-legged creatures tried hard not to get their hopes up, but prayed that everything would come out alright.
To The Rainbow's End
Originally Posted by ZeldaFan20
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