Jailed Body, Freed Heart

Chapter 3

Ash had the worst headache he had ever had in his life.

He opened his eyes groggily, blinking them to clear away the blurriness. He reached up to rub some of the bleariness away --

-- and discovered that he couldn’t move his arms.

"Hey!" he cried, looking down at the manacles binding his wrists together.

"Ha ha!"

He looked back up.

At first he couldn’t see. It was too dark, Wherever he was, there were no windows. The only light shone weak and yellow form a cheap fluorescent fixture, out in a hallway. Ash blinked his eyes several times to adjust them to the darkness. When they were sufficiently calibrated, they widened in surprise.

He was in a dark cell. Somewhere, a pipe dripped relentlessly, and the result was several puddles of murky water pooling on the floor of the cell. The walls were slick with mold and mildew.

He was chained to one of these walls. Despite the poor condition of the cell itself, the chains that ran from the wall and bolted around one of his ankles and his wrists were rust-free and good quality.

He was chained to the back wall. In front of him, long, thick bars separated his cell from the hallway. The bars as well were in good shape, shining as if they were new. Ash was filled with a sense of despair. There would be no escaping from this predicament.

Behind the bars, waiting patiently for him to wake up, was a tall, imposing figure. James seemed ten times as confident with Ash in the state of helplessness that he was. When Ash finally noticed him, the Team Rocketeer smiled hatefully.

"Well, if it isn’t the great Pokémon Master!" James pulled his eyelid down and stuck out his tongue. "Nyaa nyaa!"

Ash growled and thrashed against his chains. "What have you done with Pikachu?" His eyes narrowed to hatefilled slits. "What have you done with my friends?" he asked, voice taut with ire.

James, heartened by his enemy’s powerlessness, ignored the obvious threat. "Oh, Pikachu’s where it should have been a long time ago: in the hands of Giovanni," he answered casually. "As for your friends, well, I wouldn’t worry about Brock. He’s only in the same predicament as you. But, Misty, I’m not too sure about." He smiled slightly. "Jess said, and I quote directly, ‘I’ve got a score to settle with that little twerp.’"

"NO!!!" Ash leapt toward the smirking young man, disregarding the chains and the heavy bars keeping him away from his enemy. His chains, however, pulled him back. He fell back down, and stayed there, glaring at James through tear-filled eyes.

"Don’t hurt Misty," he pleaded, his voice quavering.

James hesitated for a moment before he laughed it off. "You can’t possibly expect Team Rocket to go so easy on their prisoners!"

Ash gritted his teeth, tears welling in his eyes as he realized just how helpless he was at the moment. "Please don’t hurt her," he repeated.

Once again, James felt an instinctive pull to go along with the boy’s wishes. But he had finally, after all this time, successfully carried out the boss’ orders. He couldn’t go soft now.

"Someone will probably be down with your dinner later." He purposefully accentuated the word. "That is, if we remember." He turned on his heel and strode out of Ash’s view. Ash listened to his footsteps as he walked farther and farther away from his cell. Finally, it grew silent.

Ash was completely and utterly alone.