Obstruction

Chapter Fourteen: Living with the enemy

By: Marisa

Aloha, all my little readers:) How are you all today? Sorry for the long wait for this chapter once again! I'm trying to at least get chapters in within a month at a time though (that's still pretty long…), and I have been sticking true to that plan. But hopefully things will speed up more.

I actually had the majority of this chapter finished within the first week of writing the last chapter! But I couldn't figure out how I wanted to end off this chapter… hence the big delay between this one and the last one. Sorry about that.

So I got my old VHS player working a few weekends ago and I was all excited about it. I was looking forward to watching all those little Disney tapes I used to watch when I was young, but then I saw my copy of Pokemon 2000. I put it on immediately. Watching it was actually like going back to when I was young and would watch Pokemon all the time after school. It was incredible! But I still stand by what I said way back then; Pokemon the First Movie is way better than any other Pokemon movie.

I know that was completely random but I was really excited about it, so…yay!

Anyway, back to "Obstruction"….

And don't forget to…

Read & REVIEW!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, and do not own nothing affiliated with it..

Last time: Misty and May, now becoming close friends, were doing all their chores and such together. Walking down to a lake to do laundry, they talked casually of problems and being envious of each other. All of a sudden, a loud crash diverted their attention from each other. Turning to see what hapened, they saw their enemies Team Rocket. Jumping into battle, Misty and May sent out Corsola and Eevee. Unfortunately, Jessie had already commanded her Dustox to use sleep powder, and now the two heroines were knocked out cold.

"Misty." Echoes upon echoes repeating my name flowed in one ear and through the other. My eyesight shot into a deep darkness created only by my eyelids, and my consciousness was only halfway down the path to return. As my consciousness awakened, time started to exist once again. Gradually I was beginning to gain the feeling of once more being apart of the earth and realizing my physical state. "Misty." The ringing of sound bothering my ears brought me further from my deep slumber, before suddenly the weights on my eyes lifted. Opening them up, I could see May sitting beside me with a rather panicked expression. I laid motionless for a few moments, before sitting up cautiously and looking around.

It took me over several moments to even comprehend what was going on. In what seemed like a blink ago, I was standing in the midst of a field situated on the shores of the seaside. Looking around at my surroundings, I was definitely not still in that place.

The room May and I were in was poorly lighten, if barely at all. The plumbing pipes overhead were clearly visible, and also contained some leaks as well. The sound of the drops from overhead hitting onto the metal floor beneath our feet resonated loudly. The walls around us could not even be seen, as they stretched so far into the unlit depths of the area.

There was one thing I knew for sure however, and that was that around us were sturdy bars caging us in from all directions. Stricken with panic almost at once, as a reflex my hand flew down to my belt. As reassurance, I felt around for Corsola's Pokeball. It was gone.

"May-"

"Where are we? Misty, my Eevee is gone!" She said almost immediately after she'd seen I'd properly analyzed our situation.

Standing up quickly, I looked around in circles repeatedly. No answer to this situation was presenting itself. What was in store for us was as unseen as even what was beyond the bars that caged us in.

"This has something to do with Team Rocket of course." May said breathing heavily. "They must have kidnapped us!"

"And taken us where?" I asked uncertainly. "They stole our Pokemon, that's a given. It's what they do. But did they just abandon us somewhere to die? I don't want to die like this!" I cried out. Panic and fear were raging through me, and that was only making the situation worse.

"We need to calm down and think of something." May said quickly, standing up as well. Seeing as how I wasn't exactly proving to be the strong leader here, May stepped forward. "Maybe we can break the bars."

"We don't know what's out there." I whimpered in fear as I stared into the distance. Looking to my friend, I shook my head. "No, you're right. What am I thinking! We have to get out of here."

"That's the attitude." She commented with more worry than confidence.

"Do you have anything on you that's strong enough to break these bars?" I asked the girl to my side.

"I don't know, I don't think so. These are strong bars…" I sighed. I was extremely nervous. I had no solution to this predicament, and I had no way of weaselling my way out of it.

"This is Team Rocket." I said to myself. May studied me as though what I was about to say would in some way break us out of the little prison. "They're not smart, and we've beaten them at everything they do. There is a way out of this." She nodded along. "Why did they even kidnap us? I mean, what was the point?" May shrugged.

"It's what crazy people do." She forced out a nervous laugh, however I did not even break a smile. My worry was overcoming any other emotion I had. What if it was the end? What if we were just going to die in that prison? I hadn't said goodbye to anyone, I hadn't made things right with my sisters, my friends, Ash…

I clenched the bars in front of me. The bottle that I'd been filling with my emotions was filling up more and more, and I could feel myself wanting to break down. But I had to stay strong.

Speaking through wavering words, I continued. "They've never shown interest in kidnapping us before. They only care about obtaining our Pokemon."

"Maybe they knew this way we could not retrieve them again and ruin their plans."

"That's true." I noted.

It was almost laughable. Not so long ago I was almost happy to see Team Rocket, but as I stood in that prison I only felt extreme anger towards them. They attacked us looking for Pikachu, and said….

Suddenly a light bulb flicked on in my head. Snapping my fingers together as to exclaim I'd thought up an idea, I grabbed May's attention. "Team Rocket said they'd have to lure the others here since we didn't tell them where they were! That must be why we're here." Hearing my words, May's worried expression turned into an excited one.

"That must be right! They kidnapped us, their friends, to lure them here! Like bait!"

A raspy laughter erupted from the darkness as May finished off her sentence. Sending a huge chill down my spine, the two of us turned in the direction we had heard the outburst.

"You're right about that, little girl." Emerging from the deep shadows, a silhouette presented itself in front of us. At that moment, I felt a great sense of fear. "You're bait."

"Who was that…" May whispered in fear.

As the man stepped into the faint lights hanging over our cage, I identified him immediately a member of Team Rocket. He looked as though he were from a low rank, but regardless of that fact, he had an advantage over us. We were without Pokemon, and also imprisoned.

"Have you been there the whole time?!" I asked, almost feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Pre' much." He snickered. "I'm th' one who has been sentenced to watch you all to make sure ya don't escape.

"Great." I spat.

"Well, where are we?" May demanded. The man before us merely shrugged.

"Your friends have been invi'ed." He answered. "Team Rocket's been informed of one of 'em possessing an extremely strong Pikachu. It'd be a great asset to the team, and therefore we've set up a trade. When yer' friends come, in order to retrieve the two of you, they will have to give up th' Pikachu and whatever other rare Pokemon they 'ave." The man smirked as he observed our faces.

"You can't do that!" May cried out. I remained quiet as the two bickered. This was fine. We always got into messes like this, and Ash always saved the day. There was no reason to stress about something so… typical. Team Rocket was full of incapable idiots, and Ash, Brock and Max would surely think of a way to rescue both May and I while keeping Pikachu.

"So, where are we?" I interrupted. It was funny how my complete fear had dulled down into just being irritated with the wait until our rescue.

"We're in Mt. Moon." The Team Rocket member clarified.

"What, why?" May and I said in unison. The man smirked once again.

"Mind yer' own business." He replied gruffly.

"Really, I think our friends are going to be a while." I stated. "Do you really have anything better to do? Just tell us."

"You all 'er a buncha nosy kids, you are."

"We're a bunch of bored kids," I corrected. My heart was still beating two times too fast, but I was feeling much less fear than I had been moments ago. May however still looked frightened. I couldn't see why. It wasn't as though the man in front of us was a threat. But then again being imprisoned in a mountain was a little weird….

"Alrigh' alrigh'. It won't make a difference if I tell ya anyway. We're clearin' outta here as soon as we get th' Pikachu." I nodded along, encouraging him to continue.

"Well, in th' past, Team Rocket used this place as a base. We were workin' around here, before our work got interrupted…

"While we were 'ere, some members worked on building a laboratory underground. This is where you are now. It never was fully completed. As you could probly tell, the lab project was abandoned, as was the rest of the mountain.

"There are some other Rocket members around down 'ere, but in this case… it was really jus' a matter of keepin' you somewhere where you all couldn't escape." The man said. I raised my eyebrows.

"Really, why would you, and all of Team Rocket go to all this trouble for one Pikachu…."

"Members Jessie and James 'ave told us repeatedly that this Pikachu is incredibly strong, that is has even beat legendary Pokemon! Something that strong for such a weak species… it's incre'ible."

"Honestly, I'm surprised Jessie and James could even pull the plan off this far." May interjected. I nodded in agreement. The Rocket member in front of us shrugged as if to show he was indifferent to the matter.

"How are our friends getting here to rescue us?" I inquired. The man grinned before responding.

"The team members standing around out there will deal with it." He said, gesturing effortlessly behind him. "They'll get th' Pikachu, and then give us the signal to let you go."

"This seems faulty." I commented. "They have no way of seeing us to know if we're actually here. You could take the Pikachu and flee without setting us free… you could even take us with you." The Rocket member grinned at me, showing off a gap in his teeth.

"That's th' way we work. Has Team Rocket ever been fair?"

"That's not right!" May whined immediately. The man before us shrugged.

I drew in a deep breath before pressing my back against the bars that surrounded us. Allowing myself to slide down them, I found comfort in sitting quietly on the floor. May consistently threw cries of disagreement to the Team Rocket member, and he merely shrugged them off. It was tiring and boring to listen to the two.

As they carried on their little argument, I sat trying to imagine our friends' reactions to the news that we'd been kidnapped. Was Ash flipping out at the fact that I had been taken out of his life again? Or did he not care at all? Was he going to come to rescue me, or was he coming to rescue his dear friend May, while I was just an addition to that reward? Or perhaps he wouldn't even want to come. Pikachu was his most important friend, and he would never consider throwing that friendship away….

How long had we been in there anyway?

I sighed. Brock and Max would think of something. Max was May's brother; he would do anything to save his sister, even if it meant giving up a Pokemon. Brock and I were good friends, but how good of friends were we?

But was it selfish of me to just assume that any of them would even consider tossing their Pokemon away just for us?

"May," I interjected quietly into their little battle of rebuttals. "Do we really want to make Ash and them suffer and give up their Pokemon just because of our mistakes?" May's face went blank.

"What do you mean?" She said, asking for clarification.

"It's our fault that we're in this mess… Actually, it's mine." I said pausing. "If I hadn't have gotten all buddy-buddy with Team Rocket, I doubt we could have even been captured. I was too stuck in the past to realize…."

"Misty, don't think like that! It isn't your fault!" She denied quickly. "And we'll get out of here in no time, and everything will be alright."

"No it won't." I answered simply. "Because I've led us into this trap, now Ash and perhaps even Max and Brock will have to give up their Pokemon… their friends. And it's not fair." I stated. "It's not fair to them."

"Misty…" The girl began at a lack of words. "It isn't your fault… why are you always so pessimistic! We get out of these kinds of jams all the time." May nodded with confidence.

The Rocket member was eyeing us sharply, as if we were about to release some information on an escape plan. I guess it was rather stupid to say our friends would find a way around giving up their Pokemon… Team Rocket would take that to mean they'd have to pull the fast one first. I shook my head.

"They'll just give up the Pokemon and we'll be out of here." I repeated the original plan, trying to erase my tracks and move forward. The only thing I could do to be safe was to convince this Team Rocket member that our friends would do things fairly. Perhaps then Team Rocket wouldn't make any 'special preparations.'

"Rather pessimistic there." The man before us commented. I looked up at him, and at the time our eyes met, I felt extreme discomfort. I averted my gaze before answering.

"I'm not pessimistic. I just see things how they really are." The man nodded.

"You must be a sad little girl. Did your boyfriend break up with you?" He mocked, his laughter afterwards sending chills down my spine. I shot him an evil stare.

"Mind yer' own business." I repeated smugly in a mocking tone. The man laughed.

"Look at this girl tryin' to act all tough and cold like she been so wronged." The man cackled, the sound of his laughter carrying on repeatedly through the cave.

I felt an extreme amount of anger burst into flames in me, but I ignored it. Now wasn't the time to freak out. May and I had to remain calm until our pending rescue. "Yeah, I'm the one trying to act tough. Do you feel good about making fun of kids?" The man's maniacal smile wiped right off his face. He may have felt powerful, but he sure didn't have the intelligence to even supply a proper come-back.

"'Ow many gym badges 'ave you won?" He asked. My eyes widened. That was unexpected and totally irrelevant.

"I am a gym leader." I stated cooly, but wanted to kick myself for afterwards. Was that the kind of information I wanted to be giving my enemy? The man grinned.

"'Ow would you like to join Team Rocket?" He proposed. My jaw dropped at those words. "You 'ave got the experience as a Pokemon trainer, you seem to 'ave some pain drivin' you, and you're cold." The man stated.

What was this man thinking? Why was I even getting this offer? Did I seem like that bad of a person? Why was he asking me to join Team Rocket? That was a thought that had never occurred to me… ever. I always saw them as my mortal enemy; everything they did was evil and morally wrong. Plus, I've never been invited. And how could this man think I was cold? Would a cold person befriend the girl who stole her best friend from her? No!

"Join… Team Rocket…" I pondered. What would that be like? I could easily get revenge on everyone who had wronged me… but I couldn't do that. How could I even consider that for a moment?

"Misty…!" May whimpered as if I was actually considering such a ridiculous thought. But was it really so ridiculous?

Team Rocket wasn't exactly evil… were they? Jessie and James… well, James didn't seem evil. He seemed like a regular nice guy. But how could I say Team Rocket wasn't evil? They stole Pokemon. They stole friends. They tore people apart…

I felt a pang of great sadness even thinking about all the Pokemon that had been stolen. I had always wanted to rescue all of them, but had I ever considered how hard it must have been for them, the Pokemon? How could Team Rocket break apart friends and families of Pokemon and humans apart? It was like my sisters… stealing me from my friends.

"If you let us out of here I'll join." I offered, the words themselves seeming disgusting touching even my own tongue. The man laughed.

"Please, like we want you on th' team that bad enough as to risk this procedure. I'm not that stupid." I rolled my eyes.

"You sure fooled me." I responded. "Why would you even offer it then? How else was I supposed to join if not by leaving this cage." I spat venomously. The Rocket member didn't respond. "Exactly. Not like I had any intention of joining anyway." I revealed. I looked to May. "Well it was worth a shot in a chance at getting out." I reassured her that those were my intentions.

"You're missin' out. You could be a great asset." The Team Rocket member pressed on.

"Is this how you get all your members?" I asked. "You just assure them how good they could be on Team Rocket? Because you don't know me, or my skill with Pokemon at all. So how would you even know!" I spat through frustration. The man laughed.

"This is the exact attitude we need!" I rolled my eyes.

"And when I said I'd join, you wouldn't let me. So I don't get what you're trying to do. You can keep saying…" I paused. The floor beneath us was rumbling. I gripped onto the cool metal bars beside me out of safety, regardless of being unable to fall over as I was already sitting. The three of us simultaneously looked to the ground. Was an earthquake happening?

"What was…" May began.

"Was that an earthquake?" I inquired quietly before standing up. The man amongst us whirled around quickly before laughing. Both May and I looked to each other sporting very confused expressions. Was this man crazy?

"Your friends must have actually come for you!" He laughed. "Battling the Rockets upstairs? And… losing?" The man grinned. "I guess they wouldn't give up the Pikachu for you lot." May shook her head.

"They're not going to lose!" She cried out. I merely sat there.

So really, Ash wouldn't even give up his Pikachu even if my life was on the line… or May's. He would allow us to possibly be killed just so he could have his Pikachu. No, no. That wasn't right. This was just me being selfish. How could I expect him to give up his Pikachu just for me? Why was I being so selfish? Besides, he was fighting Team Rocket. I was sure he didn't really expect the two of us to be hurt down here. Maybe that's why he didn't give up Pikachu.

Why was I even thinking so hard about it?

Mumbles of voices were heard overhead. The great amount of rock upstairs even muffled the loudest of sounds. How could we really tell if it was Ash, Brock and Max? Maybe it was a trick.

I clenched the metal poles in front of me, bracing me for what I was going to do. If Ash was going to find us, I had to do something to let him know where we were. Inhaling a deep breath of air, I screamed out as loud as I could.

"ASH!"

May jumped at my huge interruption, before joining me in yelling. "ASH!"

"BROCK!"

"MAX!"

"ASH!"

"SHUT UP!" The man before us exclaimed, his hands jumping to his ears.

"ASH!" I continued. The man flashed a furious expression; his face frightened me and stopped me downright from making another noise. It was the expression of a crazy man… but that was expected. You would have to be crazy to even join Team Rocket.

"ASH-" The man lunged forward, reaching his hand through the bars and clamping it down on my mouth as if to silence me. Panic lurched in me in me as soon as the contact between us happened. I reached my hands through the bars and shoved his body as far as I could from the prison.

"Don't touch me!" I cried out hysterically as I staggered backwards.

The man eyed me down as if I'd committed a great wrong in shoving him. My fear I'd felt previously had been reborn and multiplied by four. I looked to May for aid, and she looked as frightened as I did.

"ASH!" I dared to scream again, my scream trembling due to fear.

"Misty!" The echo of my name traveled through the darkness and to my ears. It was faint, but I heard it. My heart began to race even more, my fear split into excitement, and my eyes released newly born tears.

"ASH! We're here!"

Ta-daaaa! Chapter 14 is finally complete! I would like to thank you all so much for being patient with my chapter updates. And I'm really sorry about them taking forever... and I'm sorry if this chapter was a little badly written.. because it kind of was lmao. I'd like to thank all my reviewers for continuing to read my story despite slow updates and rushed chapters! I love you all:) And dont forget to REVIEW!