Here's some more of the challenge fic seeing as how it was quite favourably received. _____________________________________ Soul Mates Fanfiction written by Ace Sanchez. Pokemon and its associated characters copyright by Nintendo / Game Freak. _____________________________________ Part 2 His mind feeling numb, Ash walked on uncaringly through the forest. He didn't even feel the sting of leaves and sharp twigs on his face and naked chest as he stepped through low branches and bushes, not bothering to walk around them. The early morning sun filtered through gaps in the upper-canopy lighting his way through the shadowy woodland, but as far as he was concerned it was all darkness. His first Pokemon. He had thought he had known everything about it. But apparently, as clueless he was about most things, he was even more clueless about his best friend. His best friend who was really a girl. But now, was she really still his best friend? It all seemed so different. Everyone had to have a best friend, and he wasn't so sure he even had one now. Misty and Brock were fine, but Pikachu was special. His first Pokemon. He had a bond with it that he didn't think he had with anything or anyone else in the world. And now, it - no she - she didn't feel like that she was his Pokemon anymore. How could you own a person after all? Maybe she'd be happier if he released her. Thinking about that, his heart almost stopped, and he stumbled and fell to leaning on the rough trunk of a tree. It felt even worse than last time he thought he had to give Pikachu up; this time it like he would be giving up his soul. As he pushed himself to his feet again and brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes, he looked down and noticed the leaves and underbrush he was standing on had turned crimson with red. His bare feet were bleeding. He must have stepped on a sharp rock or something. Funny, he didn't even feel it. A hostile buzz sounded from in front of him and he looked up, blinking. Standing on the branch of a tree in front of him was a huge Beedrill, it's yellow and black insect body preparing to dive. Scaly wings on its back flapped once, then blurred as it took off with a screeching of air and aimed the twin cone-shaped stingers that were its arms directly at him. Ash could only stand still, lethargic, as it flew toward him for the kill. He could almost see his reflection in its round red eyes. "Pika-pi!" he heard behind him just before something pushed him on the back, sending him down to land on the underbrush face-first with a thump. The diving Beedrill just missed his head as it descended and he could feel the powerful wind of its wings blow past his scalp. "Pika chuu!" Ash rolled over and saw that it was Pikachu who had pushed him down. She now stood in front of him on all fours with jagged tail in the air, facing the Beedrill as it looped horizontally in the air for another attack. Its rapidly moving wings buzzed and now all three of its stingers were aimed and ready as it swooped, dodging the upper-branches of the forest with exceptional agility. He could see splashes of clear venom leaking from its bottom stinger and trail behind in the wind as it grew closer and closer. But this time, it was aimed not at him, but at Pikachu. His thoughts seemed to skip like an old record and it was as if everything was slowing down like the air had turned as thick as water. Panic just seemed to explode in his mind. "Nooo!" He leapt to his feet and began to run at the diving Beedrill. "Pika!" Pikachu cried in shock. The swooping Beedrill buzzed in astonishment as Ash crazily punched at it. It couldn't dodge in the surprise of the attack and expelled a noise of pain as one of his hard fists scored a direct hit into its abdomen. In frightened confusion, it ripped itself away from him and flew away quickly, nursing its belly as it weaved drunkenly away in the air. Breathing hard, Ash came back to his senses as he stood bent over, leaning his hands against his knees. He opened his eyes and noticed red trails of crimson flowing from his left arm. One of the Beedrill's stingers had scored a bloody path through the skin. He felt himself growing weaker by the second. "P-Pikachu," he said softly as looked down at her. She stared up at him with watering brown eyes. Then darkness replaced his vision of her as he closed his eyes and began to collapse. "P-Pikapi!" then "A-Ash!" was the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness. <><><> He dreamed. "Professor Oak, where's my Pokemon? Please tell me there are Pokemon left!" "Why of course! You must be Ash. Just follow me, right this way." "..." "Here we are. Just pick a poke ball and that pokemon is yours!" "Thanks, Professor ... Gee ... I've thought about it a long time, but now I choose ... Squirtle!" "Squirtle squirtle!" "Ha! Ha! Alright! I got Squirtle!" "..." "But-but something doesn't feel right... it-it just feels all wrong!" Darkness swallowed the vision. But more and more visions replaced it. Visions where each time, his first Pokemon felt wrong - not just because of what they were, but who they were. Feverishly, he dreamed. <><><> "Pikachu!" He came awake with a start, feeling wet with exhaustion and fever. It was night time, and he could hear the faint sounds of insects chirping somewhere in the darkness of the forest. The evening air felt cool and refreshing against his damp skin and a faint scent of wood-smoke pervaded the air from a small orange campfire which flickered gently a few paces in front of him. He was laying on top of his sleeping bag, the back of his head resting on something soft. Something soft, but something that seemed to comfort him like a bright light does to a traveller lost in the darkness. Then he noticed slender arms wrapped around his neck and upper-chest from someone behind him. Startled, he sat up quickly and turned around. He had been laying on ... Pikachu's ... chest as she sat back on the thick trunk of a tree for support. This time she was dressed in a pair of his boxers besides his black shirt. Her eyes blinked open at his sudden movement and the flames of the campfire were reflected in them. For a moment she looked panicked, but then as she came to her senses, she smiled in abject relief at seeing him. "A-Ash, you're okay!" "Uh ... yeah," he said, his throat feeling dry. But at seeing her, gladness welled up within him, so much so, he felt he would burst. But strangely, instead of laughing, tears began to flow out of his eyes and all his emotions flowed out from him as a river opens up to the ocean. He fell forward on his hands and knees, black hair of his bangs falling into his face. "I-I'm so sorry Pikachu! F-For what I did to you! You're still me best friend!" Then his voice grew fierce. "And nothing can ever change that!" He heard her crawl forward and then he felt her arms begin to hug him again. He felt soft smooth hair on his cheek as she leaned in close. "I-It's okay, Ash... I understand." She began crying also, he could feel the wetness roll from her cheek down on to his shoulder. "I-I'm so happy!" For a while, they just sat there, holding one another. Time just seemed to stand still. Leaves in the trees up above swished comfortably in timing with the soft breeze and the blinking of the stars. Ash didn't know if he had ever felt this content before. It felt like that he was a puzzle and finally he had found the piece to complete him. But then he began to feel a bit weird. He broke the hug and leaned away with a hot blush on his cheeks. She looked at him with a puzzled look in her eyes and blew a strand of blonde hair from her mouth with a slight breath. He laughed and scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry ... it just feels a bit weird. I mean, like you're a girl and uh ..." He gestured with his arms. "I'm not sure we should be getting ... so close now." The corner of her pink-tinged lips lifted in a lop-sided grin. Her cuteness as a girl was about equal to her cuteness as a Pikachu - except now it was a pretty-girl-type-cute. "It's okay for friends to hug isn't it? We've always been close." Embarrassed, he continued to scratch the back of his head and looked away from her bright eyes. "But now it's different. I mean, like now I know you're a girl too ... well, it's just different." "So, I'll change back, then I can hug you," she said firmly. He waved his hands. "No, no, no. Just stay as you are. I suppose we like gotta talk and stuff." "Uh, okay. So what do you wanna talk about?" She tilted her head to the side and then crossed her legs in front of her. He looked around the camp, searching for something to talk about. He noitced a thick white bandage around his upper left arm. "So ... I guess I was out pretty long, huh?" She looked worriedly at the bandage. "Well, you were poisoned pretty badly by that Beedrill. I was lucky that I could find some antidote back at camp. But even then you were unconscious for the whole day and only woke up now." She looked down at her lap and fiddled with the boxer shorts of his that she was wearing. "I was so worried." "You saved me," Ash interjected. "And after I was so mean too!" He started to crawl over and hug her, before he realised what he was doing and stopped, blushing. She looked up and smiled at him. "Well, that's what friends are for. We stick up for each other!" Then her eyes grew serious. "But what was all that about jumping in front of me to take on that Beedrill? You know I can easily defeat a Pokemon like that!" Ash's face grew hotter. "Yeah ... I know. It's just that ... well-" His voice trailed off. She folded her arms and her expression grew as stormy as one of her electric shocks. "So now that you know I'm also a girl, you think I'm defenceless now? Well I'm not! I'm Pikachu, you know! Your strongest Pokemon!" "Ah heh heh heh," Ash said weakly. Her light-brown eyes sparkled. "But that doesn't mean I didn't appreciate the thought!" she abruptly said as she hopped over quickly and hugged him again tightly. "Oh, Ash!" As she squeezed him in her tight embrace, Ash thought that maybe it would have been better if she had stayed mad at him... *** End Part 2 Still to come: How will Ash react when he must fight a battle with Pikachu knowing what he knows? How will they deal with their friends back at Pallet? And what of the Pokemon League that they were training for in the first place? Thanx for reading. Feel free to offer comments and critiques! Ace Sanchez Email: jsa@fl.net.au WWW: http://jsa.users.fl.net.au