Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Pseudo Shigeru ❯ The Resistance ( Chapter 5 )

Note: All members of the Resistance (except Sylvie) have appeared on the TV show.

Pseudo Shigeru

Chapter 5: The Resistance

"You should be in bed, Sylvie."

The little girl slowly opened her eyes, but remained silent.

Sabrina sighed and stepped over to the bed. "Sylvie."

The girl blinked and looked up. "Oh. Hi, Sabrina."

Sabrina's expression didn't change. "Go. To. Sleep."

Sylvie frowned. "But I-"

"Not tonight. You need to rest."

"But why can't I stay up with you?" Sylvie whined, tugging on Sabrina's hand.

"Because you need extra rest after you've used your powers. You know that." Sabrina smiled sadly and stroked her little sister's cheek. "I'm just worried about you, Sylvie. Go to bed, please. For me?"

Sylvie pouted once for good measure, then climbed into her bed.

Sabrina carefully tucked her in. "Thank you. I'll be downstairs if you need anything."

"Where's Abra?" Sylvia asked.

"Right here," Sabrina replied, pulling out a pokeball. "He's healed up now."

"Can you let them all out?"

Sabrina picked up five pokeballs on the dresser and opened them all. Soon, Abra, Venonat, and Drowzee had joined Sylvie in bed, while Wobbuffet, Girafig, and Haunter remained on the floor.

"Thanks, big sister," Sylvie said, smiling at her.

"Thank me by getting some rest," Sabrina replied, nodding at Drowzee.

Drowzee sat down next to Sylvie's pillow, placing its paws on either side of her head. Sylvie's eyes instantly closed, and she began to snore lightly.

Sabrina left the room and closed the door. "Sweet dreams, my little one."

"But I'm right here!" Sylvie said, coming up beside her.

Sabrina sighed and closed her eyes. "You're early, Duplica."

"Correction: we're late." The girl glared up at her. "How'd you know it was me?"

"Even Sylvie can only be so annoying. You take it to another level entirely. Besides, her Pokémon would know if it had been you in there."

"Well, like I said, we're late," the girl repeated, stamping her foot for emphasis.

"Then let's go."

"You're just going to leave the kid unguarded like that?"

"Of course not. She has her Pokémon." Sabrina closed her eyes for a moment, then nodded. "Come on."

Duplica started to follow Sabrina downstairs, until she felt a sudden chill go down her spine. She glanced back, only to gasp as a dark, gaseous shape appeared in front of Sylvie's door. Suddenly, two red, piercing eyes became visible among the gas, and they seemed to look right through her. Duplica swallowed and quickly ran after Sabrina, wondering just when the former gym leader had found the time to capture the most elusive ghost type.

* * * * *

Gary looked up as the door slid open. "So you are still up."

Kasumi blinked a few times. "What do you want, Shigeru?"

"I was wondering how Togetic was doing."

Kasumi stared at him for a long moment, then turned and walked back into her room.

Gary slowly entered the room. He was a little surprised to find it almost as bare as his own had been.

"Over here," Kasumi said.

Gary joined her at the balcony. "What am I looking at?"

The words had just left his mouth when Togetic dropped into Kasumi's waiting arms.

"He likes to go for midnight flights," she explained, cuddling the Pokémon the way a mother would her child. "Togetic, you remember Shigeru, don't you?"

Togetic chirped and extended one of his feet, which Gary eventually shook.

"As you can see, he's fine." Kasumi kissed Togetic's head. "Is that all you wanted?"

Before Gary could come up with a reply, Cleo sprang up on his shoulder. "Oh. This is Cleo."

Kasumi gasped softly. "She's beautiful, Shigeru."

"You sound surprised."

Kasumi blinked. "Well, I never knew you to be a collector of beautiful Pokémon. Frankly, between Nidoking and Marowak, I thought you only liked the rough ones."

"I'm a collector of powerful Pokémon. Cleo's beauty is just a sign of a talented trainer."

"Would that be you or Mistress Frieda?" Cleo asked. She wasn't surprised when Gary didn't reply.

"Anyway, do you think you could give her a massage? Since I wouldn't know anything about raising beautiful Pokémon, of course."

"Only if you do something for one of my Pokémon." She stepped aside to reveal a Jynx-the very same she'd battled with earlier. "You can do Jade's hair." She held out a brush.

Gary raised an eyebrow as he took it. "By 'do,' you mean a few strokes here and there. Right?"

Kasumi frowned. "Of course not. Exactly 45 strokes on each side. And trust me, if you get it wrong, she'll let you know. Haven't you ever brushed hair before?"

"Yeah, but it was usually mine, and I never needed 45 strokes, even if I added up all of them."

"Well…that's probably why your hair looks that way," Kasumi replied.

"You walked right into that one," Cleo chuckled.

Gary shot her a glare. "Pipe down and get your massage."

"She say something?" Kasumi asked.

"Nothing too important. As usual." He sighed and looked at Jade. "Okay. Um…"

"You're supposed to sit down first," Kasumi added helpfully.

Gary took a step toward the bed.

"Not there. That's where Cleo gets the massage. Use the chair by the wall."

Jade seemed to turn up her nose as Gary settled into the chair.

Gary smirked. "Hey, if you don't like it, you can just stand there. I could care less."

Jade stuck out her tongue, then swayed over and turned her back to him.

"Remember. 45 strokes on each side," Kasumi reminded him.

"Hard or soft strokes?" Gary asked, hoping it was the former.

"Firm but gentle."

Gary grinned and raised the brush. "Hold still, Jade. This just may sting a little…"

Jade placed a hand on Gary's knee. Instantly, a chill ran through his body as ice began to form there.

"Jade doesn't like to be threatened," Kasumi said.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that…"

* * * * *

"We've waited long enough." Morty frowned and nodded. "We strike tonight."

"What?!" Whitney cried. "But we can't!"

"The order came from Brock himself," Morty replied, glaring at her.

"I'll believe that when I hear it from him," Whitney snapped.

"What would you have me say, Whitney?"

All heads turned to the door as an older man appeared. His spiky, dark brown hair was just beginning to turn gray. His eyes seemed to be mere slits, and his face was hard as stone. He leaned heavily on the Ninetails at his side, though it didn't seem to mind.

"Brock," Sabrina said quietly. "You…shouldn't be out…"

"I'm old, Sabrina, not weak. Anyway, Morty was correct. We attack the Rocket League tonight."

"And what's our objective?" Duplica asked, not sounding pleased.

Brock's voice grew rough and cold. "Kasumi. We're going to kidnap her."

"You can't be serious!" Whitney said. "Satoshi would-"

"Do whatever it takes to get her back safely. Which is exactly what I'm planning on." Brock ran a hand through his hair. "He'd even leave the Rocket League for her."

"How can you be so sure?" Morty asked. It wasn't often that he doubted Brock, but kidnapping one of the Elite Four was a major step.

"I knew Ash. I walked alongside him for years. No amount of the Rocket League's brainwashing could erase his feelings for her."

"Yeah, well, I knew Ash, too, and he was a good friend. But this is Satoshi!" Whitney pointed out.

"Stop worrying. If everything goes according to plan, we won't even have to deal with him until after we have Kasumi. But I can only promise that if we attack tonight. Waiting any longer would be taking a huge risk."

"Well, this isn't what I'd call perfectly safe, Brock," Sabrina muttered. "But I'll go along with it, if you think it's doable."

"I do," Brock said quietly. "I'll understand if the rest of you won't cooperate. If I have to, I'll go on this mission myself."

"That…won't be necessary, Brock," Morty said after a long moment. "I'll go with her."

"Good," Brock replied. "Duplica?"

"I'm in."

"Thank you, all of you. The three of you should be able to execute the plan. The kids and I will accompany you."

"Not Sylvie," Sabrina said quickly. "She needs to rest."

Brock nodded. "Very well. We leave immediately, then."

* * * * *

"Nurse Joy?"

The older woman looked up from the magnet train's controls. "Yes, Casey?"

The young woman sat down beside her. "Are we…really doing this?"

"I'm afraid so, dear. Brock thinks we'll stand a better chance if we have one of the Elite Four."

"What do you think?"

"It think…it's a drastic step…but that he is correct. If this works, we'll only have the Elite Three to worry about."

Casey fingered the pokeball hanging from her neck. "And you really don't think we'll see…him?"

Nurse Joy glanced over at her. "From what I hear, Satoshi is the most reclusive of the Elite. Most of us haven't seen him since he was still Ash."

"Has anyone seen him since then?"

"A few, yes. Sabrina, Brock, and Duplica. They encountered him on the last mission like this one."

"And…what happened?" Casey asked slowly.

"He defeated them," Nurse Joy replied.

"With Pikachu?" Casey guessed.

"No. Actually, he didn't seem to have Pikachu with him. He used a very powerful Gengar. It did know electric attacks, though."

"Well…did he…say anything to them?"

"No. Nothing worth remembering, anyway." Nurse Joy glanced at Casey again. "You're still hoping there's part of him to save, aren't you?"

Casey blushed a bit and lowered her head. "I know it's silly, but…Ash was like a big brother to me. I can't just let him go as easily as everyone else has."

"It wasn't easy for anyone, I promise you. Nobody wanted to believe that Ash was gone at first. But Satoshi and Shigeru personally shut down the Orange League by force. We're just lucky that we don't have to deal with both of them anymore."

Casey nodded absently and closed her eyes, allowing her mind to wander.

* * * * *

"Casey!" Professor Elm called. "There's a call for you!"

A much younger Casey looked up, brushing some violet hair from her face. "For me? But who knows that I'm here?"

"I think you'll be pleasantly surprised," was Elm's response.

Casey hurried over to the vid-phone and grinned as she caught sight of the familiar face. "Hi, Ash!"

Ash returned the smile. "Hey, Casey! How's it going?"

"Just great!"

"And how's Bayleef?"

"BAY!" shouted the plant Pokémon as it popped up behind Casey.

Casey giggled. "She's fine, too. How's Pikachu?"

"Pika!" Pikachu waved from Ash's head.

Ash's face suddenly turned serious as he leaned forward. "Listen, Casey. I need to tell you something."

"What…is it, Ash?" She'd never seen him look so grave before.

He closed his eyes. "I'm on my way to meet my father."

"Really? That's great! Isn't it?"

"I honestly don't know." Ash opened his eyes. "But I've got a feeling that something's really wrong."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. But I'm…kinda scared. For myself, and my Pokémon."

Casey nodded. She'd feel simply awful if anything happened to Bayleef. She knew Ash was the same about Pikachu.

"So…I was hoping you could do me a favor and look after one of my Pokémon."

"Which?" Casey asked.

"Cyndaquil. I know he's not exactly striped or anything, but-"

"Of course I'll take him, Ash," Casey interrupted. "Which of my Pokémon do you want?"

Ash frowned. "Actually, I was hoping that Professor Elm might have some spare Pokémon. I wouldn't feel right taking one of yours, Casey. I've…just got this bad feeling, and I want mine to be safe in case anything happens to me."

Casey bit her lip. "Hmm…I know he's got a Houndour around here. How's that?"

Ash smiled a bit. "That'd be great."

Within moments, the switch was made.

"Thanks a lot, Casey," Ash said. "I knew I could count on you." He started to hang up.

"Ash, wait!" Casey cried.

He paused. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Just…promise me you'll be careful. I wanna be able to give Cyndaquil back to you one day."

"I promise, Casey. Don't worry."

"Yeah, I've heard that one before. You watch out for him, Pikachu."

"Pika!" Pikachu saluted just before the screen went blank.

Casey stared at the screen for a long moment before turning away.

* * * * *

Gary was almost done brushing Jade's hair when he happened to glance toward the balcony. Kasumi stood there with Togetic, having long since finished Cleo's massage. Cleo now rested at Gary's feet.

For some reason, Jade began to fidget as Gary reached the forty-first stroke.

"Hey, cut it out! I'm almost done."

Jade calmed down a little, but still bumped his leg every few seconds.

By the time he was done, Gary noticed something strange. Kasumi had been standing very still for the last few minutes. So had Togetic, for that matter. It was possible they'd both fallen asleep, but they were both standing up.

"Kasumi?" Gary whispered, beginning to worry.

There was no reply.

Gary reached down and stroked Cleo's head. "Cleo, do you sense anything?" Then he looked down to see that Cleo was asleep, and even his fingers hadn't disturbed her. Strangely enough, soon he felt the weight of Jade's head against his knee as she, too, drifted off.

Slowly reaching inside his cloak, Gary opened Leon's pokeball as quietly as possible.

Leon frowned as soon as he emerged. "There's a very strong psychic force here. It's…coming from the balcony." He gave Gary a questioning look.

Gary stared at Leon, then nodded as he drew out another pokeball.

Leon dashed to the balcony and took a flying leap into the air. He touched down on Kasumi's shoulder for a second, then slammed into what appeared to be an invisible wall. The air around Kasumi shimmered as a large Hypno crashed to the ground in front of her. Kasumi groaned and collapsed.

Gary ran forward to check on her when something crashed into his chest. The air left him as he fell to his knees.

"Sudo!" a strange voice shouted, and he could hear heavy footfalls coming toward him.

"Eve!" Gary grunted, throwing the pokeball in his hand. "Water Gun!" He didn't need to look up to know she'd obeyed. The Sudowoodo's wail of pain was more than enough confirmation.

Then Eve was at his side, her tail swishing back and forth as she prepared to defend her trainer.

Gary was still trying to clear the stars from his head when he heard it. A sound so horrible, so painful to his ears that he only remained conscious by sheer strength of will. Even then, every one of his senses went haywire, and for a few endless seconds, he was aware of nothing but the dull roar of pain thudding in his bleeding ears.

Then, without warning, the world came back into focus. Gary looked up to see a huge, misshapen figure towering over him. He knew without question that it had caused the unearthly noise. He also knew that Kasumi was entrapped within its monstrous jaws.

Gary wasn't quite sure what had happened next. He'd planned on reaching for Marie's pokeball. But for some reason, he found himself leaping at the monster with little or no regard for his own life. His mouth opened in shock as his jump carried him over the monster's huge head and straight into the person who was standing atop it.

He was certain that she was a woman before his fist crashed into her chin.

The monster whipped its head beneath his feet, and Gary made a wild leap for the balcony. He just barely made it, his left ankle crashing into the stone railing. To his relief, he found Kasumi there as well. He didn't question how she'd escaped the monster's mouth, mainly because he didn't care.

Kasumi's eyes suddenly snapped open. "Shigeru?"

There was a warning squeal from Eve, and Gary yanked Kasumi back into her room before the entire balcony gave way under a single blow from the giant monster.

"What's going on?!" Kasumi cried.

"Someone's after you." Gary threw off his violet cloak. "Give me yours. Hurry!"

"What? But why?"

"No one knows I'm back, so they have to be after you!" Tired of waiting, he yanked the black cloak away from her and draped it over his shoulders, tugging the hood over his head so that it hid his face from view.

"What are you doing, Shigeru?!"

"Saving your pretty butt," Gary replied before turning his back on her. He recalled Eve, Leon, and Cleo.

"Shigeru, this is no time…for…" Kasumi trailed off as the monster's head crashed through the gaping hole in the wall. Long, green vines shout out of its mouth and wrapped tightly around Gary, yanking him inside. A sweet-smelling gas spilled into the room as the monster withdrew and vanished.

Before Kasumi could think to do anything, she collapsed again, already asleep by the time she hit the floor.

* * * * *

Giovanni was not a man that liked to repeat himself. But when he insisted that the security video be replayed ten times, everyone realized just how grave the situation was.

"Assuming," Lance said slowly, "that Shigeru was correct in his theory, Kasumi was the intended target of the kidnapping. We can't afford to ignore the rebels anymore. They have to be dealt with immediately."

"They seem to think so, too," Clair added. "They've demanded a Pokémon battle."

"With who?" Kasumi asked.

Clair smirked. "Who else? Satoshi."

"It's clearly a trap," Cassidy said.

"Obviously," Lance agreed.

Satoshi stood up and headed for the door.

"Get back here, Satoshi," Clair ordered. "We haven't finished."

"I've heard enough. I'm going."

"I don't recall anyone here giving you permission to leave."

"That's strange. I don't remember asking for it, either."

"Are you challenging my authority, Satoshi?" Clair asked, her eyes narrowing.

"No, because you have none. I take orders from Lance, not you."

"Enough," Giovanni muttered, steepling his fingers. "Satoshi, sit. We'll be done soon enough."

Satoshi slowly returned to his seat next to Kasumi.

"Clair, Satoshi is correct. Lance handles all League matters. They have challenged one of our Elite."

"And taken another," Kasumi added quietly.

Giovanni sighed. "Yes. It was my fault for underestimating the rebels. Clearly, Sabrina has managed to gather some talented trainers to assist her. However, I will not send anyone into such an obvious trap."

"I won't let them keep Shigeru, father." Satoshi fingered the tiny pokeball hanging from his neck. "I won't go alone."

Giovanni closed his eyes. "Very well. But Sentry goes with you." He drew a violet and white pokeball from his vest and placed it in Satoshi's hand. "If they won't return Shigeru, take him by force."

Satoshi nodded and walked out of the room. He wasn't surprised when Kasumi joined him.

"Promise me you'll be careful, Satoshi."

"I was going to tell you the same thing, love." He pressed the customized pokeball into her hand. "Take him back to the lab. His place is guarding the legendaries."

Kasumi's eyes widened in shock. "You're going without Sentry?"

"If the rebels could defeat me, they would have the last time."

"Of course they can't beat you. That's why they tried to take me. They wanted to cripple you." Kasumi took his face in her hands. "And they still have, haven't they?"

"Shigeru is my brother. I won't abandon him."

"Even though he did the same to you."

Satoshi closed his eyes. "He's changed, Kasumi. For the better."

"I know. So promise me you'll both come back."

He nodded. "We will, Kasumi. But don't think because they have him that they won't try for you again." Satoshi pressed her palm to his lips. "Be careful."

Kasumi sighed as he walked away from her. "I'd feel better if you were with him, Sentry," she whispered to the pokeball.

"So would I, Mistress Kasumi. So would I…"

* * * * *

Continued in Chapter 6: Pains of the Past

In the hands of the rebels, Gary learns the truth behind the Rocket League. But when Satoshi comes to his rescue, who will he side with? Can Satoshi face the ghosts of his lost past?