Part 6! Shadow does a happy little dance of joy.

 

Disclaimer: Shadow DOES NOT OWN POKEMON! I do own Thaddeus Ketchum the Second, and the random Team Rocket agents, but that’s it in this fic.

 

Notes: <> indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, and italics indicates translated poke speech. Just in case you couldn’t figure it out from the fic, of course.

Timeline: A couple of days after part 5

 

Ranma – yes, I know, trying to figure out a fic that can use that. Um, Danny’s not even in this fic, he’s just mentioned… and yes, I know I tend to be cruel to characters *Cowers*

Tmp – Yes, Ash wants to stay with Lance, but… yes, they have to fall in love w/each other… but the road is rocky and the epilogue is unclear

Pikacar/Marle – thank you for reviewing this time!

Pokemon Reader – writing as fast as I can!

aZn*pRyD  - I read it in Chinese too, but I know all the English names and stuff… Yes, it is in English (Pokemon Adventure) and Japanese (not sure what the name is, but I’ve seen them). I thougth xiao lan was usually paired with xiao zhi, not ziao mao, but… sure, I can do blue/green pairing fic as a spin-off of this. They’ll have to grow a bit first, though. Yellow kind of irks me…

 

Part 6: In which Thaddeus searches for Ash

 

            Thaddeus Ketchum the Second stood on the balcony of his enormous white and blue marble mansion. “Those police are incompetents! I want my nephew! He belongs to me, after all, since I’m his nearest relative. When I find out who kidnapped him…”

            His super-ultra- insanely powerful Alakazam, named Kita, nodded in agreement. < Do not worry, Master, I can help you locate him. >

            “Really? Kita, I know you are an amazing pokemon, but how would you achieve this task?”

            < All living beings, whether pokemon or humans, have a unique lifeforce signature. If I can hone in on his, I can easily detect his presence, even if he were fifty miles away. >

            “Well, considering the fact that the police have no leads, offering a reward hasn’t helped, and I’m getting seriously impatient, I’m telling you to go for it!”

            < As you wish. > Kita said. < But I would require something that had belonged to him. >

            “Let’s go to Pallet town and see if we can find anything.”

            < Teleport. > Kita said, as she teleported herself and her master to Pallet Town.

 

            “My sister Delia was so arrogant.” Thaddeus said conversationally as they teleported along. “I offered her a place at my mansion when her son was born, but she refused. Said that she didn’t want charity. Charity!”

            < Why did she refuse? > Kita asked, as they landed on the ashes of what had once been Ash Ketchum’s house.

            “I’ll be damned if I know. She preferred to take care of him by herself. Said she didn’t want her son to grow up corrupt! Can you believe it?”

            Kita shrugged. Humans had a strange concept of things. It was too hard to decipher, even for a very high-IQ pokémon like her.

           

            “Well, let’s start looking.” Thaddeus said. He pulled a shovel out of hyperspace and began digging through the ruins with it. Kita began probing for fragments that might possibly be useful. After a while, they finally found the residue of what had once been a plastic pencil sharpener.

            “Will this do, Kita?”

            Alakazam nodded. < This will do very well. Here, let me take a look. > She probed for a while, before finally locating Ash’s energy signature. His aura was a pale blue color, probably because he was still in mourning.

            < Well, I know what his energy signature is now. > Kita said. < Now all that we have to do is to locate it. >

            “How long is that going to take?”

            < Only a few hours. I’ll search all the cities first. >

 

            Lance shivered as he felt something brush against him. It was intangible, but it certainly felt nasty.

            “Lance, are you cold?” Ash asked.

            “No, I think it was just a temporary chill. I’ll be fine, Ash.” Lance reassured him. Ash was up in the same cherry tree Lance had been in, picking cherries and putting them in a plastic propylene bucket.

            “Okay…” Ash picked more cherries. They were going to have them as an after-dinner snack today.

            < Dragonair, was that what I think it was? >

            < I believe so. A soul probe by an Alakazam, and I think it may be looking for Ash. >

            < So how do I block it? >

            < Well, you can either block Ash’s aura with your own, which shouldn’t be too hard, or you can change his, or you can blend/mesh yours together, which would require some actions. >

            Lance turned bright red. < Dragonair! He’s just a kid! >

            < Then just use yours to subdue his, or change his to something else. >
            After Ash finished picking the cherries, he climbed down. But he accidentally scraped his knee.

            “Ow!”

            Lance smiled. * The perfect opportunity! I can change his aura now and heal him at the same time. *

            “Here Ash, let me take a look at that.” Lance said. Ash sat down on the grass. Lance placed his fingers against the wound and chanted a few lines under his breath. A pale blue stream of energy flowed from his fingers into Ash’s wound.

            Ash smiled. “Thanks, Lance.” He said. “But you don’t have to do this. Don’t you have a first-aid kit in the cave?”

            “Well, considering that you still have some chores to do, this is quicker.”

            “Right!” Ash said. * Hmm… I still have to empty out the trash and check the toxicity level on the monitor outside the cave. I think that’s it, but I have to climb some rocks to get there. Oh, I get it. *
            “I’ll go do them now, before the sun sets.” Ash said.

            Lance nodded and headed back towards the cave.

 

            Kita frowned. < I had him for an instant, but than his chi suddenly disappeared. Like it vanished out of existence. >
            “How is that possible?” Thaddeus asked, genuinely confounded.

             < Well, the first is that he died, the second is that he combined his chi with another’s, which requires a complicated procedure so I don’t think its that one, and the third is that someone else applied their own power to block me out. >
            “Does that mean we’re up against a psychic?”

            < Possibly. I’ll keep trying. >

            Ash buried the trash in the compost heap located in a crevice of the mountain. Then, he climbed up to look at the toxicity monitor. Satisfied that the arrow was still on blue, which meant no pollutants, Ash climbed back down and headed into the cave to have dinner.

 

            “Are hamburgers okay?” Lance asked.

            “I love hamburgers!” Ash said, with starry eyes.

            Lance sweatdropped. He was toasting the patties over his Charmander’s tail. It only took a few seconds for each to become fully cooked.

            “How many do you want?”

            “Six?” Ash asked hopefully.

            “That’s too many, Ash. How about four?”

            “Okay!”

            Ash and Lance finished eating. Then, they had the cherries that Ash had picked earlier. They were very good.

 

            “Lance, is my uncle going to come find me?” Ash asked as Lance tucked him into bed.

            “I’m not sure. I’m afraid he probably will try to find you. And he does have a variety of powerful pokemon at his fingertips…” Lance stated.

            “I’m scared.” Ash said. “He’s mean! I remember we went to his house once. After he sent me to my room, I hard mom screaming and crying…”
            “Shh…” Lance said. He wrapped his arms around Ash until he quieted down. “I’ll protect you.”
            Ash fell asleep with a little smile on his face.

 

End part 6! Review please!