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*~*~*~*
Part II
*~*~*~*
'I'm tired of flying, Mew,' complained Ash silently.
"Of course you are. If you want, I can always teleport you to the cold, frozen beach full of evil hungry Kinglers and Dewgongs to wait the quarter hour until I get there . . . ."
Ash clung to Mew's long tail. "No thanks! Flying is pretty fun, after all!"
Mew laughed, for the first time ever in public. Ash thought it sounded like a music box playing the song of the Jigglypuff.
Jigglypuffs reminded him of Misty. She had tried to catch one . . . . The poor Pokemon hadn't wanted to fight because it couldn't sing. A Jigglypuff without a voice was a tragedy. Then, when Brock had given it something to eat that boosted its song, everyone fell asleep . . . .
Ash laughed at the memory. Jigglypuff had drawn all over their faces while they were asleep. Misty woke up with a moustache.
Mew suppressed a giggle. It was hysterical to listen to what humans thought of.
Thinking of Misty made Ash sad, so he decided to think about Pikachu instead. This made him sadder. Pikachu wasn't there. He was alone, flying on a Mew's tail across the ocean to save Brock's life. If only Pikachu and Misty were there to help . . .
Mew rolled her eyes. "Don't be so sad Ash. I'll cry and everybody knows what happens when a Mew cries."
'Everybody but me,' Ash thought.
"When a Mew cries, the person nearest her suddenly turns into his worst enemy."
Ash gasped. "Don't cry! Please don't cry! Don't turn me into Gary!!"
Mew giggled.
*~*~*
"Now where is dat Togepi?" Meowth asked himself.
"Brrriiiiiiii!"
"Togepi?"
"Togebriii!"
Meowth gave a flying leap and dashed around a corner. There was Togepi, soaked to the bone, sitting in Misty's equally wet backpack.
"Have no fear, Meowth is here!" cried Meowth, sitting next to Togepi and drying it off with a piece of Jesse's old uniform. "Are you all right, little Togepi?"
"Brii . . ." Togepi started to cry. "Toge toge togebriii."
Meowth hugged it. "Don't cry, little Togepi. Meowth will take care of you."
Togepi blinked.
*~*~*
Brock couldn't remember what happened. He couldn't remember how it happened, when, where, or why it happened. But it happened, and he was frozen solid.
Articuno's ice beam shut off his memory.
*~*~*
Misty was shocked to see Jesse looking helpless, but without Meowth or James she almost was. She couldn't battle with the wounded Arbok, and she knew nothing whatsoever about Lickitung. Meowth had made a yarn ball out of the rubber rope she planned to tie Pikachu up with. James had taken the rubber gloves. There was absolutely no rubber around, and Misty had the decided advantage as Pikachu was loyal to any of Ash's friends.
"Do you feel okay, Pikachu?" she asked.
Pikachu nodded. "Piiika." It looked sad, though. Probably missing Ash.
'I miss him too, Pikachu. If I knew how to find him I'd bring you to him,' she thought.
Mew read her mind.
*~*~*
Mew might have seemed to Ash a solemn, serious, emotionless Pokemon without a sense of humor, but every once and a while she is the most annoying Pokemon there can be, as a fact.
"You know," she said mysteriously, "you and Misty are both thinking of each other."
"What?!" shouted Ash in surprise. "You can read her mind from here?"
Mew nodded. "Never underestimate the powers of Mew."
He was stunned, then curiosity grabbed him. "What's Misty thinking?"
Mew smiled evilly. "Nothing."
"Be nice, Mew."
"Fine. She misses you, and she's worrying if you're okay, and she's thinking of how to get Pikachu to you safely. Then she wants to know where you are."
"Can you use thought-speak?"
"What kind of question is that!"
"Well, can you tell her I'm okay and not to worry, that I'll come for Pikachu?"
"Very well." Mew glanced ahead. "We are here."
*~*~*
'Ash is fine,' Misty thought suddenly, without warning. 'Don't worry. He'll come for Pikachu as soon as he can, so don't worry about where he is.'
"Strange," she said aloud. She never thought in the second person! She would usually think "I," or "me," or "myself," and she had never told herself not to worry.
"Pika?"
"Pikachu, Ash will be here soon."
"Pika Pika!"
Jesse scowled and kept them at bay with her Lickitung. James had better hurry up with that rubber!
*~*~*
James sighed. No Pokeballs. The Dratini was unconscious, so he picked it up and trudged off the beach, toward the woods. Through the woods. Past the woods. Onto a swamped, soggy road.
He thought he heard Jesse's voice. "Jesse?" he called.
Jesse perked up. "James? Prepare for trouble!"
"Make it double!" he shouted, following her voice.
"To protect the world from desvastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
Misty and Pikachu were on the verge of laughter. They couldn't believe they were hearing this.
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
James's voice was much closer now. "To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"JESSE!" she yelled.
He stepped into the clearing holding the Dratini over his head. "JAMES!"
*~*~*
Mew hovered in the doorway of the Seafoam Island cavern. "You must go on from here, Ash. I cannot be seen by Brock. I chose not to show myself to him, or Misty."
Ash shivered. This place was freezing, and it wasn't pleasant to the eyes either. Cold mist enshrouded the main room. He could barely make out the path in the dim light. In the darkest corners lurked the silent shapes of Pokemon he had never seen. It didn't help that Mew was leaving him now.
Facing Articuno alone to save Brock. It sounded heroic, but sometimes being a hero wasn't all it was cracked up to be . . . .
Mew pushed him gently into the cave. "Go ahead Ash. I'll read Articuno's thoughts and convince it not to hurt you."
"Thanks, Mew," said Ash quietly. He took a deep breath, glanced at Mew, and walked in. Haze and fog blocked Mew's vision and she lost track of him shortly. Psychic power became her eyes.
*~*~*
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
Jesse and James asked in unison, "Meowth?"
Misty spotted something. "A Dratini!"
James proudly held up the Dratini. "That's right! And it belongs to Team Rocket!"
"Blast off, James," Misty snapped. "Can't you see it's dying?!"
Jesse was about to say something when Pikachu walked calmly over, jumped onto James's shoulder, dropped a Pokeball on the Dratini, and watched.
Team Rocket stared in astonishment as Dratini disappeared inside the Pokeball and it wiggled, wiggled, wiggled, and lay still. Pikachu took it, jumped off James, and carried it to Misty.
Misty picked up the Pokeball and winked at Pikachu, having no clue where the idea came from . . .
*~*~*
Mew smiled. She had just given Pikachu an excellent idea. When Ash got back to them, there would probably be a fight over who got to keep Dratini, but she was pretty sure Misty would win, having water to her advantage.
She had told Ash to keep thinking about where he was. She would read his mind and therefore be able to tell Articuno in time.
'I'm heading around a bend. There's a slight dip in the ground, and a little bluish light,' thought Ash, hoping Mew would know where he was.
Mew mentally shouted, 'Stop! Don't move another step until you're sure I tell you!'
Ash stopped and waited for what seemed like years for instructions from Mew. He was terribly cold, and mentally kicked himself for not remembering that to go so near an ice Pokemon like Articuno, most people would wear a sweater or at least a long sleeved jacket. But though he was cold, he was also sweating from a controlled sort of panic. What would happen to Pikachu if he was frozen solid like Brock? Would Mew bring Misty here? What if Misty was frozen too? Then would Mew forget her choice and risk her identity to save them? Of course Mew was much stronger than Articuno . . . .
*~*~*
'Articuno,' Mew put into its brain. 'This is Mew.'
Articuno stared into space. 'What shall I do with this human?'
'I am sending another human to take it away. He will not hurt you.'
'You trust him?' Articuno scoffed.
Mew was getting impatient. 'Yes, Articuno. I trust him because I have met his Pikachu. Pikachu is his friend, not his toy. I have listened to his mind. He is to be trusted.'
'And you are to be trusted?'
'Would I betray a fellow Pokemon?'
'The Mew I know wouldn't, but the Mew I know also would not send a human to me.'
'I am not sending a human to you. I am sending him to take away his friend. They will both leave you alone.'
'He will do exactly as you say?'
'Yes,' said Mew confidently.
'Very well.'
*~*~*
"Togebriii," said Togepi brightly to Meowth as he carried it along the soggy road.
"We're almost dere, little Togepi," he said in a very un-Meowth-like voice.
"Brii!" cried Togepi joyfully, and glowed white.
Meowth set Togepi down and looked at it. "Togepi?"
"Briiiiiin!"
"Brin?"
"Togebriiiin!"
"Togepin?"
Togepi - I mean Togepin - bounced excitedly. How strange. The first person to discover this Pokemon was a Pokemon himself. Meowth grinned as he was the first thing Togepin saw in its newly evolved form . . . .
*~*~*
'Ash,' said Mew in her psychic thought-speak. 'Articuno has agreed to let you go in, on one condition. You must not stare at him. Try not to look at him. Never let catching him cross your mind. Go in, get Brock, and get out. And definitely no taking out your Pokemon to thaw him up until you've left the Seafoam Islands. Understood?'
'Yes, ma'am,' thought Ash.
'Good, now hurry before Articuno decides not to trust me.'
*~*~*
"That little twerp got our Dratini!" screamed Jesse.
Misty ignored the comment and hugged Pikachu tightly. "You're the greatest, Pikachu."
There was a raspy, cat-like voice singing. The sound came closer through the trees and Meowth stepped into the clearing carrying Togepin.
Jesse and James were stricken dumb.
"Togepi!" Misty cried out.
Togepin looked at her in confusion. "Togepin?"
The trainer blinked. "Togepin? TOGEPIN?! Meowth, you pathetic little!"
Meowth defended himself. "I didn't do anything! Togepi evolved itself!"
"What do you mean, 'evolved itself'?!"
"I found it in yer backpack and da Togepi was so happy ta see me it evolved."
"Togepin?"
Togepin grinned and winked up at Meowth. "Toge toge!"
Misty was shocked. "Togepin? Don't you like me anymore?"
If Togepin had any shoulders, it would have shrugged. In fact, though, it looked exactly like a Togepi, and eggs don't usually have shoulders, do they?
Misty sighed. "Pikachu, what's wrong with it?"
Pikachu did have shoulders, so it shrugged. "Pika Piiiikachu."
"Da Pikachu said, yer Togepi evolved and became attached to Meowth 'cause he was da first thing it saw," translated Meowth proudly.
Misty and Pikachu thought in unison, as Mew noticed, 'If only Ash were here.'
*~*~*
Ash stepped around the corner and was temporarily blinding by flashing, cold light that illuminated Articuno's lair. White, blue, nothing warm. Stretching out his arms carefully, he crept along the wall towards something icy and familiar.
It was Brock.