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Ash felt like he was submerged under thousands of feet of clear, blue, cool water. He didn't need air, he just floated lazily in the endless expanse. It was a feeling of pure and unhindered tranquillity.
But something stirred him from that incredible sensation. He opened his eyes groggily, blinking to clear away the blurriness.
The moon hung directly overhead, so massive it seemed ready to drop out of the starry sky.
Ash's attention was immediately drawn to a faint light by his left hand. Squinting his eyes, he managed to make out the blue amulet Misty had received earlier that day. It was giving off the weakest gleam of blue light.
It didn't occur to Ash to wonder how Misty's amulet had gotten to his pillow. He just stared at the stone for a moment. Then, at some prompting he could feel from somewhere deep inside of him, he placed a tentative hand over the amulet.
A ripple of cool and calm shot up his arm and spread throughout his entire body.
Ash gazed in awe at the amulet, now afire with intense blue light.
'Ash Ketchum.'
The boy didn't even blink.
'Ash Ketchum, you have quite a road ahead of you now.'
Ash nodded slightly in understanding, as if in a trance.
'Will you give up your dream?'
"WHAT?!" the boy shouted suddenly, the mood broken. "No! I'm going to be a Pokémon Master, no matter what!"
The voice was nonplused. 'But why? Why? To be the best?'
Ash shook his head slowly.
'To be famous?'
"No..." the boy murmured.
'Why then? Because you respect Pokémon? Because you fear them? Because you love them, and want to devote your life to them?'
"Yes..."
'Then Ash, I have something to offer you that will far surpass your dream.'
Ash opened his eyes wide. "Tell me."
It was almost morning. The moon moved sluggishly towards the horizon, almost as if it was reluctant to leave the sky. Already the surrounding mountains were painted with a golden glow, as if the sun was protesting its confinement. But the moon hung on determinedly. Almost as if it was... waiting for something. Almost as if it was expecting something.
Ash, Misty, and Brock were all awakened from wonderful dreams by a frantic whimpering sound.
Ash lifted his head and blinked blurrily, feeling a little different and racking his brains for a reason why. As his eyes cleared, he could make out a yellow blur sitting by his sleeping bag, tugging at its neck...
"Pikachu?"
The Pokémon looked at its master, smiled weakly, then returned to worrying at the amulet around its neck.
Misty rubbed her eyes groggily and peered at the little mouse in the early, early dawn light. "What's the matter, Pikachu?"
Ash leaned in close to his Pokémon, the night's occurrences forgotten in his concern for his friend. "It's the amulet..." he breathed.
Pikachu uttered a miserable, 'Piiiii...', and tugged at the chain futiley.
Brock's hand went automatically to the green amulet that rested on his pillow. "What's the matter with it?" he asked, feeling a reassuring surge of green flow through his body.
Ash took a hold of the light purple stone and tugged it gently. Then he pulled harder. Then he pulled as hard as he could, as Pikachu strained against it at the other end.
"It... it won't come off," he gasped.
"Kachu!" Pikachu cried urgently.
"Ash, Pikachu, don't worry. It's all right," Misty cooed soothingly, surprising even herself with her sudden benevolence. "Here, let me. You just have to undo the clasp." She crawled over to her friend's sleeping bag and began to work gently at the hook of the chain.
"That's odd," she muttered after a moment's patient work, fingers fumbling on the clasp. "It must be stuck or something." She scrabbled at it a little more irritably.
Pikachu scrabbled at the chain itself. It was no use; the amulet stayed firmly attached around the Pokémon's neck.
"Don't worry, Pikachu," Ash said encouragingly, though his face couldn't hide the anxiety he felt. "It's not hurting you, is it? Tell you what, we'll go try to find that woman today. She'll know what to do."
"A fine plan. Of course, it's all hinged on your getting to that woman alive, now isn't it? And lately, I've been considering the possibility of that happening..."
Pikachu let out a startled yelp, and Ash scrambled out of his sleeping bag. "Team Rocket! I should have known! Go bug somebody else today."
"I, for one, don't feel quite up to beating you today," Misty said in a very non-Misty serene sort of way.
"Yeah, we don't have time to waste on you guys today," Brock added cheerfully. "Maybe later."
It was still dusk, and the three Rockets had been hiding in the shadows. Suddenly, there was a faint rustle, and a figure slinked into view. It was Jessie, but she looked almost alien. She moved with a fluid grace that suggested something sinister, and, Ash thought with growing dismay, almost feline. She looked travel-worn; her clothes were torn and dirty, and her hair hung in twisting strands that whirled about her face whenever she moved her head. Her face was expressionless, all except for her eyes; they burned with a fire more intense than any the three friends had ever seen.
Ash, Brock, Misty, and Pikachu all, one by one, locked their eyes on the violently glowing ivory amulet hanging from the girl's neck.
She smiled then, showing a hinting of gleaming fangs. "Prepare for trouble," she murmured.
Misty stepped forward, the red stone she wore around her neck flaring in response. "Just what do you want, Jessie?" she asked, feeling an unfamiliar courage back her up.
"What I've always wanted, girl," the female Rocket answered, blinking solemnly. "That thing." She pointed a gloved finger at the trembling Pikachu, her upper lip curled in disgust. "I've worked too long to abandon that cause."
Ash gathered up Pikachu in his arms protectively. "Oh, yeah? You just try it!" He did a double-take. "Hey, where's your flunky? He skip out on your so-called cause?"
Jessie raised an eyebrow. "Who?"
Misty rolled her eyes. "You know! James? The purple-haired guy?"
"Oh, him. I'd forgotten." She turned back to the shadows where she'd emerged. "James! Meowth!" she snapped angrily. "Get out here!"
There was a pause, and then the two shuffled into the clearing.
If Jessie's appearance had been surprising, then the sight of James and Meowth were enough to put the three friends in shock. Meowth was walking on all fours, a very uncommon occurrence for him. His eyes were slitted, his fangs were bared, and his tail lashed furiously. But what seemed the most foreign was that he seemed almost unbearably tired. His legs trembled, as if he were on the verge of collapsion, and his eyes were dark with fatigue.
'And he looks sad,' Misty realized with surprise.
James was almost unrecognizable. His eyes were almost hidden behind his messy hair. His uniform was indistinguishable, being shredded and stained. He walked with his head down, his shoulders sagging, his back hunched over. Pitifulness radiated out from him. He looked up and caught Ash's eye. The young boy gasped at what he found. The Rocket's gaze was completely empty, conveying only a sense of utter loneliness and loss.
"Oh," Misty breathed.
Jessie stepped forward. "Now is where the hell I've lived in for so long ends." She smiled cruelly, her eyes glittering with triumph.
"I'll never let you take Pikachu," Ash muttered through clenched teeth. He was faintly aware of a blue aura beginning to surround him, but he focused on the girl in front of him. "You were never good enough to take Pikachu from me before, and you aren't now." The blue light flared to an incredible brightness. "I'm prepared to fight you, Jessie. And I'm prepared to win."
The girl begin to glow herself, a creamy-white light that almost blinded the three friends. "That's where you're wrong, Ash Ketchum. But just for insurance's sake..." She whirled to her partner, who stood silently and motionlessly next to her. "James, quick, grab Pikachu!"
The young man lunged forward obligingly, grasping for the creature. Pikachu darted away, but not before James could catch a hold of the dull amulet around its neck.
"PIIII!" Pikachu cried, and strained against the chain, knowing that it would do no good.
The chain popped free.
Pikachu stumbled away from the Rocket.
Ash's jaw dropped, his aura vanishing in the blink of an eye. "How'd you do that?" he cried, surprised.
James didn't answer. Eyes wide, he raised the suddenly glowing amulet up to his face. The soft, purple light bathed his face, creating an almost supernatural look.
His eyes unfocused, as if he was staring into the amulet. James stood like that for a long time, searching the depths of the glowing stone silently. Tension was thick in the air. All five sets of eyes were on the boy, watching him, waiting, awed.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he blinked, and when his eyes reopened, they were focused.
He murmured something. The word was almost inaudible, but Ash could hear. The young boy gasped.
"Mew."
"James... James, snap out of it!" Jessie growled, though she stood a good distance away, as if she was almost frightened of her partner. Her aura had faded away as well, and without the power of the amulet to back her up, she looked like kind of like a lost little girl. She tightened her hand around the ivory amulet she wore, and suddenly felt braver. "James, snap out of it," she repeated louder, and stepped towards her friend.
He looked up. "Let's go, Jessie," he said softly, holding the amulet protectively in both hands.
She nodded silently. They both bounded into the darkness, Meowth at their heels, vanishing swiftly, leaving only a fading threat behind.
"We'll be back..."