Jailed Body, Freed Heart

Chapter 7

The guard prodded Ash to signify that he should slow down. "Here we are," he said, almost apprehensively, nodding towards the lone door at the end of the hallway. "Now, don’t make the boss mad," he advised in a sudden gesture of consideration. "Trust me, you don't want to do that."

Ash, despite himself, shivered uneasily.

The guard stopped there, leaving Ash to approach the door of Giovanni. The boy walked forward slowly, terrified.

He was about three feet from the door when he heard a cry from behind him. Turning almost gratefully for the interruption, he found himself, for once, relieved to see the familiar silhouette of Jessie.

The young woman hurried down the hallway. "What are you doing?" she asked the guard. "What’s Giovanni want with him?"

The guard sneered at the girl. "What do you care?" he snickered. "It’s not like you can change anything. Giovanni refuses to look at you failures, let alone listen to you."

Jessie growled and clenched a hand into a fist. "Watch your mouth," she muttered, even though she knew all too well that the guard was probably right.

The guard, bored with listening to her, turned back to Ash. "Well, what’re you waiting there for? Get in there!"

Ash, without a word, continued toward the door.

"Ash!"

The three already in the hallway turned as one to see Brock running towards his friend.

"I’ve been looking all over for -- hey!" Brock went flying as the guard nonchalantly withdrew his incidentally stuck out foot.

"Brock!" Ash started for his friend, lying moaning on the ground

"Get back to the door!" the guard barked, stepping towards him menacingly. The result was that he bumped into Jessie and stumbled over Brock. The narrow hallway was suddenly getting crowded.

Before Ash could even turn back around, however, the door flew open. A small, yellow creature bounded out the door, eyes squeezed tight in terror, gasping in fear and running as fast as it could.

"Damn Pikachu!" a muffled voice filtered out the open door.

"Pikachu. . ." Ash murmured as the Pokémon ran towards him.

"Pika?" Pikachu looked up at him, confused to hear so familiar a voice in this hellhole. Its face, before contorted in an expression of utter fear, brightened with uncontrollable joy. "Pika!" it cried, launching itself onto Ash’s shoulder.

"Pikachu!" Ash sobbed happily, struggling vainly at the handcuffs, desperate to break free.

Giovanni stepped out into the hall, frowning darkly. A crisply fried Persian staggered out alongside him, mewing pitifully. "You’re going to pay for that dearly, little rodent," the man intoned angrily, rubbing his Quick Attack scratched hands furiously. He didn’t seem to notice the four other people in the hall.

"PIKA!!!" Pikachu spat, encouraged by the mere presence of its trainer.

Giovanni narrowed his eyes dangerously. The Persian, busy licking its wounds, looked up at him and whimpered.

"I’ll never let you take my Pikachu!" Ash cried, furious, to the terrifying man. He scowled despite his terror.

"You tell him, Ash!" Brock called encouragingly from the floor.

"You keep quiet." The Rocket guard kicked Brock cruelly in the side.

Giovanni frowned. "You can’t stop me, boy." He stepped forward. "There’s nothing you can do."

Ash stepped backward. ‘What can I do, what can I do?’ he thought frantically. A phrase popped into his mind and it was out his mouth before he could think.

"A Pokémon battle!"

Giovanni stopped. "What’s that?"

Ash chewed his lip anxiously, but yelled back louder, "A Pokémon battle! We’ll have a Pokémon battle! If you win, you get Pikachu. If I win, me and my friends go free."

Giovanni smiled mirthlessly. "Ha! As if I would ever battle you."

"Aw, come on, Giovanni."

The voice surprised all five of the males in the room. All eyes shifted to Jessie, smirking slightly, hands on her hips.

"Don’t tell me you’re scared of battling him!" She looked very amused.

Giovanni’s face darkened. "I would watch myself if I were you," he growled.

Jessie shrugged it aside. "Afraid you might lose? Afraid that, after all these months of calling me and James pathetic, you might turn out to be a hypocrite?" She chuckled. "Don’t blame you. This kid is pretty good." She cocked her head, as if reconsidering. "Well, maybe not," she added in a mocking thoughtfulness. "Maybe the entire Team Rocket is just really bad."

"SHUT UP!!!" The man whirled furiously on Ash. "All right, child, I’ll fight you. But let this be known, if I win, you’re going to regret ever having heard the name of Giovanni."

Ash swallowed hard, a sick feeling welling up in his stomach. He didn’t doubt that Giovanni could do that, and more. The boy breathed harder, desperate not to be sick, despair setting in his mind. If he backed down now, Giovanni might just lock him up again. If he backed down now, Giovanni might just not kill him. Ash opened his mouth to speak, though his words seemed stuck in his throat.

"Pika!"

The sound jerked Ash from his desperation. Pikachu looked from its perch on its trainer’s shoulder into the boy’s eyes. Its big, brown eyes seemed to look deeply into Ash’s soul, and conveyed a message of complete and utter trust. The Pokémon smiled hearteningly. "Pikachu."

Ash gazed back at Pikachu, eyes filling with tears. He couldn’t let Giovanni take Pikachu. Even if failure meant death for him and his friends, he couldn’t let Team Rocket win. Blinking his eyes in a vain attempt to clear them, he turned back to the man.

"You’re on, Giovanni." Ash glared at the man through hate-filled eyes. Hot tears spilled over his cheeks. Ignoring them, he continued to stare at the man. "And I’m gonna win."

Brock, still prostrate on the floor, smiled proudly.

At Ash’s words, just for a split second, shock and indignation and maybe even a smidgen of fear registered on Giovanni’s face. Jessie smirked inwardly. That instant of an expression was worth all the pain and trouble she had put herself, her friends, and even her enemies through.

"It’s settled then," she declared in a clear, loud voice. She turned to her boss. "Good luck, Giovanni." Her eyes flicked to Ash, he and the Pokémon on his shoulder both glaring daggers at the lord of Team Rocket. "You’re going to need it," she murmured. Twirling around on her heel, she skipped happily down the hallway.