Separated

by K.M.

10/19/2008

This story takes place shortly after the episode where Ash is turned into a Pikachu and diverges from there:

English Episode 241 - "Hocus Pokémon"

(Japanese Episode 243 - "A Great Change In Pokémon Magic"/"A Great Transformation in Pokémon Magic")

Italics - Translated Pokéspeak

Chapter 1:

It had been a little under a day since Lilly had turned Ash into a Pikachu, and Lily had already gone on her way.

Ash in the meantime was having the time of his life.

Knowing that the spell would wear off not only alleviated any fears that he had about being stuck as a Pikachu, but it also made him want to make the most of the time that he had left before he changed back.

He had even tried to get Pikachu to teach him some electric attacks. Unfortunately, he had to try several times before he could even manage to produce a few minor sparks.

He supposed it made sense. He hadn't even been a Pokémon for a full day, so he probably wasn't even at level 1 strength. It was still a bit discouraging though, but even so, his mood quickly picked up again.

Currently he and Pikachu were playing hide and seek with Togepi.

Ash smiled as he peeked out from the bush that he was hiding in as Togepi looked for him.

High up in the sky, a very hungry Fearow surveyed the ground below her. It had been poor hunting this morning, and given that last night's hunting was just as bad she was very hungry and getting a little desperate.

She was already a little closer to the trainer routes than she normally cared to be.

Speaking of which, she suddenly caught sight of some trainers up ahead. Fortunately, she was still far enough away that they probably hadn't seen her yet.

She then caught sight of something even more interesting. A small white Pokémon not too far away from the trainers.

It appeared to be alone, and just far enough away from the trainers that if she swooped down quickly enough she might be able to catch the Pokémon and fly off before the trainers could try to catch her.

Still, it was more of a risk than she was normally willing to take.

grumble

Her protesting stomach quickly ended the debate within herself.

Ash held in a laugh as Togepi began peeking into the the other bushes across from him.

Suddenly he felt a breeze shake the bush that he was in, causing him to look up.

Ash quickly caught sight of a huge Fearow that looked like it was coming in for a landing.

Looking again at Togepi, then back to the incoming Fearow, Ash gasped as he quickly realized that the Fearow was after Togepi.

Togepi happily peeked into a bush in an attempt to find Ash and Pikachu. Suddenly a gust of wind, and a looming shadow caused Togepi to turn around and then look up as a huge bird Pokémon was coming directly at it.

"Briiiiiiiiii!!" Togpei screamed in fear.

Togepi tried to turn and run as the Fearow's talons were now only mere inches away from capturing its prey.

"Togepi!" Ash yelled as he dashed out of his hiding place. He then quickly knocked Togepi out of the way at last second, only to be scooped up by the Fearow's talons in Togepi's place.

"Briiii!!" Togepi yelled as it watched Ash being carried off by the large bird Pokémon.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried as he arrived only a second after Ash.

The Fearow wasn't wasting any time and was quickly making it's escape from the area. Pikachu tried throwing a thunderbolt at it, but the Fearow managed to dodge it.

Having heard the commotion, Brock and Misty quickly arrived to see what was wrong. Pikachu anxiously pointed at the departing Fearow while repeatedly shouting "Pikapi" several times.

Brock and Misty gasped as they quickly realized what Pikachu was trying to tell them, and that the Fearow had caught Ash. Misty quickly grabbed Togepi, while Pikachu jumped onto Brock's shoulder as the four of them quickly chased after the departing Fearow.

"Go Corbat" shouted Brock as he released his Pokémon.

"Crobat, quick, try to catch that Fearow, it has Ash!" Brock anxiously instructed his Pokémon.

Crobat valiantly tried to catch up to the Fearow, but it had a huge lead on him and was only getting further away. After about 5 more minutes, the Fearow's pursuers had completely lost sight of it, though they continued on in the direction that it had been heading in.

Ash couldn't believe how much his sides hurt. He felt like he was in a vice. And a sharp vice at that, as the Fearow's talons painfully poked into him.

He tried desperately to pry the Fearow's talons open, but they wouldn't even budge. He even tried an electric attack, but again all that he could only manage were a few sparks that he seriously doubted that the Fearow was even aware of.

He had seen the others chasing after them, but he was being squeezed so hard that he could barely speak, let alone shout to them.

As his friends finally disappeared from view, his fear escalated even higher than before.

Twenty minutes later the Fearow was now standing beside a rock with its head down, seeming very preoccupied.

"Water gun!" a shout was heard as a huge blast of water knocked the Fearow away from the rock and onto its back.

Misty, having finally caught up to the Fearow, narrowed her eyes at the downed bird Pokémon as she stood beside her Staryu. She then took a step towards it in order to recover Ash.

She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks as she caught sight of Ash's hat dangling from the Fearow's beak, and covered in blood. She quickly looked back at the rock that the Fearow had been standing beside hoping to find Ash there, but instead she only found more blood on the rock's surface.

"No." Misty said quietly as her face went completely pale. She looked back at the Fearow, hoping that Ash was somewhere near it, and that she had just missed seeing him, but again, all that she could see was the Fearow and Ash's hat.

The Fearow managed to get up from the ground and back onto its feet. It spread its wings and screeched angrily at the girl, causing the hat to fall from its mouth, before taking flight and quickly vacating the area.

Misty slowly walked forward and picked up Ash's hat. She then turned back to the rock to find Pikachu and Brock already there.

Pikachu was sniffing at the rock as tears welled up in his eyes.

"Pikapi" Pikachu cried.

Misty lasted only a second longer as tears began flowing from her eyes as well, followed shortly thereafter by Togepi, whom she quickly picked up and hugged to her body.

Brock sadly put a hand on her shoulder in and attempt to comfort his friend.

Author's Notes:

The end? Hardly.

Is Ash really gone?

I guess you'll have to wait and see in the next chapter.

Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome, so please do review :)

Whoops, when I first posted this I kept saying Spearow, but the the Pokémon that I was thinking of was the larger Fearow. Sorry about that.

The problem that I always have with Pokémon fics is that I can never recall exactly which Pokémon the cast had at certain points in the series, so if Brock doesn't have Crobat at this point, and Misty doesn't have Staryu, then feel free to let me know.

Also, does anyone know if Togepi's gender was ever revealed in the anime?

I actually started this fic back in 2004, but I never got around to finishing the first chapter.

(I kept debating with myself where to place certain flashbacks within the story).

I already have the 2nd chapter started, so hopefully it won't be TOO long of a wait for it.

And yes, I'm still trying to find the time to work on my other fics too.