TEEN: Journey's End

[galacticarticuno]

This is a one-shot I did, based on Episode 3 of Diamond and Pearl When Pokemon Worlds Collide. I am not sure what disease Pikachu had, maybe Huntington’s Disease which kills slowly over time, affecting cognitive function and neurological status. Ash will not be returning back to life but I figure that his pokemon would have been released into the wild to either be caught by other trainers or live their lives in the wild as free pokemon, never taking another human master. I had to watch this episode a few times to get the dialogue & actions leading up to what follows the explosion and then my imagination went from there. It was written July 21, 2019 and posted to my writing blog and my fanfiction page under moonfeather58.

Editing because I was told to put warnings since it's a T rating in a PM.

Rated T for: Character Death, Moderate Violence ​

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“Pikachu! Hey Ash!” Hands cupped on either side of his mouth, smoke furled from the destroyed robot, no signs of Brock’s young friend or his Pikachu in the rubble. How could he survive that?! No, he’s Ash. He can beat this. The blue haired trainer stared in worried silence at the wreckage that had blown up when Ash had foolishly jumped on top of the robot’s arm to rescue Pikachu after Team Rocket had tried taking the Electric Mouse Pokémon again, as they had tried countless times before.

“Pikachu!”

“Piplup!” Beside the blue-haired girl stood a blue penguin with white undersides, calling out for his friend.

“Dawn come on! We have to get him out of there!”

“Right,” said the girl known as Dawn. “No need to worry,” she said as she rushed forward with Piplup at her side.

“Aipom!” The purple and beige colored Long Tail Pokémon that had been caught when Ash had been doing the Battle Frontier in Kanto and snuck aboard the boat Ash was taking to Sinnoh, rushed forward alongside the two humans and the Piplup, calling out for her master while Starly hung back and watched, not because he didn’t want to help, but because he was unable to be of any help like the others with having wings instead of arms and hands. “Aipoooommmm!” Aipom shouted in a long, drawn out cry, doing her best to help with removing the rubble with her weak arms, a trait of her species for they tended to rely more on their tails in both evolutionary stages.

Even with Brock and Dawn working together, the former gym leader was worried for his friend. He wasn’t sure how Ash had survived all the electrical attacks by Pikachu during their previous journeys together but feared this might be the end of his friend and his reckless behavior. Though Brock admired Ash’s love for Pikachu, sometimes it went beyond loving and went into obsessive, though the older boy never said much concerning his opinions on Ash’s constantly leaving his old Pokémon behind at Professor Oak’s lab. He knew the hot-headed teenager always seemed to find a way to get into trouble on their various journeys and wouldn’t listen to him. Often on such journeys, Brock felt like he had to be the voice of reason to Ash and his younger companions as well as being the one to look out for both his traveling companions and the Pokémon everyone had. Though he didn’t mind it too much, having experience raising his younger siblings after his parents disappeared, it was frustrating when he wanted to learn what he could to become a Pokémon Breeder.

“Starly, go find Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny…go find someone,” said Brock.

“Starly,” Starly cried and spread his wings, heading off for the closest settlement, which was Sandgem Town where they had just come from. Starly finally reached Sandgem Town after flying a short distance and looked for the Pokémon Center. “Starly! Star, Starly!” Starly dove down towards an auburn-haired individual with an Umbreon sitting outside Professor Rowan’s laboratory, not that the Starly knew it.

“Umbre?” Umbreon questioned, looking up at Starly as it came down towards them.

“Star! Starly, Star!”

“Umbreon,” said Umbreon before turning to its trainer. “Umbreon, Umbre, Eon,” said Umbreon.

“What’s up Umbreon?” questioned the strange figure as he looked up from his journal where he contained field notes of his time as a researcher. As he did, he spotted Starly on the ground. “Hey, you hurt little one?”

“Star,” said Starly as he shook his head. “Starly!” He pointed with his wing back the way he had come. Gary got to his feet and called into the lab for Professor Rowan.

“Professor Rowan, I think something is wrong somewhere. This Starly just showed up out of nowhere.” Gary picked up the Starly and held it to him.

The Sinnoh Professor walked out of his lab and looked at his young assistant, then at the Starly. “Hmmmm. We’ll take the jeep,” he said and went inside to get his keys as the auburn-haired man went to the vehicle and got in, Umbreon hopping in the backseat. Professor Rown came out a couple minutes with his keys and locked the lab up before heading to the jeep and getting in. “Starly, lead the way to the problem,” said Professor Rowan.

“Star!” Starly turned around and wheeled back the way he had come, Professor Rowan put the jeep into drive and followed the regional bird of Sinnoh.

Meanwhile, back at the downed robot, someone was watching from the trees, and making no move to help. A trainer with cold black eyes and purple hair stood within the trees, watching the entire situation before him play out, a scowl on his face. Hailing from Veilstone City, he had recently returned to Sinnoh after competing within the Kanto, Johto and Hoenn regions. “Ash!” Brock and Dawn continued to work fervently to get thee rubble off their traveling companion. It was a difficult and tedious process for they had to be careful not to shift the weight of the pieces onto the teen that acted like a little kid, but after making do with their hands, they managed to uncover both Ash and Pikachu. However, neither was moving.

“Ash! Pikachu!” Brock bent down to check Ash’s body, but it wasn’t moving. “Dawn, check Pikachu,” said Brock, “but be careful. He sometimes shocks people and could be internally injured. Don’t turn him over or you could make his injuries worse.”

“Okay,” said Dawn nervously as she knelt by Pikachu, hesitantly resting a hand on Pikachu’s body. There was no rising of the body which would signify life, no beating of the heart. She could see there were some burns and wounds on Pikachu from the explosion. “Brock…Pikachu’s not breathing,” she said. “I don’t feel a heartbeat either.”

Brock was looking over Ash, not wanting to turn the younger boy over in case there were any internal injuries, like he had advised Dawn not to do with Pikachu. He glanced over at Pikachu to see the Pokémon was in bad shape and then looked at Ash. “Ash! Ash can you hear me? It’s Brock,” Brock said, putting a hand near Ash’s nose to check for breath. His friend did not stir, and Brock did not feel any air coming from him. “Ash come on!” He turned his head and pressed his ear to Ash’s chest to try to find his heartbeat…only for it to be eerily still. “Ash…” said Brock, his normally stoic voice breaking as he lifted his head, knowing there was nothing he could do for his friend. He was…

A screech of tires and a cloud of dust. The opening and slamming of doors. These two things got the attention of both Brock and Dawn as they turned to see a jeep had pulled to a stop and two figures got out. “Hey Brock!”

“Gary! I didn’t know you were here.”

“Yeah, Professor Rowan is letting me study under him as his assistant,” said Gary. “Where’s Ashy Boy?”

“Professor Rowan! Some people claiming, they were from a bad group called Team Rocket tried stealing Pikachu!”

“Team Rocket was here?”

“Who are you?” Dawn questioned.

Gary waved his hand in dismissal and hurried over to Brock, stopping short when he saw Ash’s lifeless form. “Ash…you idiot,” he said, Umbreon having followed its master out and Starly having alighted on the roof of the jeep. “Come on Ash…quit fooling around,” said Gary. He raised a hand and smacked Ash across the face to wake him up, the teen finding it difficult to believe his old rival and childhood friend was dead over a stupid robot. Like Brock, Gary had a difficult time believing it. He looked up as Professor Rowan came to his side and removed Ash’s body from the rubble.

Laying the boy’s body on the ground, Professor Rowan examined Ash’s body. Wounds from the rubble that he must have gotten from the explosion and old scars caused the Professor to frown deeply. There were burn marks and he could see a skull fracture on the back of Ash’s head when he carefully turned the boy onto his side. Like Brock had assumed, there were no signs of life. Brock recalled Aipom to her pokeball. “We’ll take him to the hospital in Jubilife City,” said Professor Rowan as he headed back to his jeep. Brock, Dawn and Gary followed the professor and Ash’s body was set on the laps of Brock and Dawn after they got into the back while Gary got into the passenger seat while recalling Umbreon. Starly flew in through an open window and sat in Gary’s lap as the jeep started and Professor Rowan headed down Route 202 which connected the first city of Sinnoh with Sandgem Town.

It was silent as the group headed to Jubilife City, nobody taking notice of the Pokémon frolicking about on either side of the road. They didn’t look at the Starly, Bidoof, Kricketot and Shinx that made the route their home. The winding and twisting road went through fields until it approached the largest city in Sinnoh, skyscrapers rising around them as Professor Rowan sped along the streets and came to a screeching halt in front of the hospital. Professor Rowan opened the driver door and got out, as Gary jumped from the other side and rushed into the hospital to tell the nurses there was an injured and lifeless boy in the Professor’s jeep.

Nurses and a doctor headed out to take Ash’s lifeless form from Professor Rowan as another nurse directed the Pikachu to be taken to the Jubilife City Pokémon Center. While Gary took Pikachu and rushed with Brock to the Pokémon Center, Dawn was left with Professor Rowan who turned to her and demanded to know what had happened. However, the novice trainer appeared to be in shock at the boy’s lifeless form that was set upon a gurney and whisked away. “Team Rocket had cornered Pikachu and I when were trying to get back to its trainer in a robot. Pikachu used a weird move where it became covered in electricity and ran at the robot…”

“Hmmm. I believe that move was called Volt Tackle,” said Professor Rowan.

“Oh. Well, Pikachu was getting tired, so I had Piplup use Bubble Beam, but those goons grabbed Pikachu. Pikachu tried using an attack on the robot as it was lifted into the air and Piplup used Bubble Beam again before getting smacked aside but rushed at them again to try to help Pikachu. Then there was a voice behind me and a command to use Swift on the robot. I heard the other boy say ‘Ash’ and he shouted at Team Rocket. When they tried attacking him, after they said their stupid moto, he dodged the first attack and climbed up a tree before leaping onto the robot’s arm. Team Rocket tried getting Ash off, but they punched a hole in the robot, and it exploded.”

“And this boy was buried beneath the rubble with his Pikachu?”

“Yes sir,” Dawn said. “Professor…people…people can’t die on their journey, can they?”

Professor Rowan looked at the girl before giving her an answer she didn’t want to hear, but it was the truth. “Yes, young lady. People and Pokémon can die when on a Pokémon journey or be injured. Pokémon can also die of old age, just like humans. Children, however, are innocent and want to believe they and Pokémon are invulnerable so none think to question the lifecycle of Pokémon or the dangers of going on such a journey, but it is a rite of passage for children all over the world. Everything has a season to be born and die, however most do not willingly go into trouble or are followed by idiots.”

The nurses and doctors rushed Ash into a room where they began cutting his clothes off, pulling skin back from the explosion and heat that melted his clothes to his body. Beneath his clothing, they could see fresh and old wounds as well as scars on his body that seemed evident of being struck by lightning. It appeared that the numerous times that Pikachu had electrocuted Ash had potentially done something to his nerves, but he had never been looked at. “This poor boy,” one nurse said as she peered down at the boy. “He’s small for a teenager and these injuries…it looks like he’s been through a war.”

“I’m more concerned about how he came to look like this,” said the head doctor. “I will go ask Professor Rowan how his happened as the boy was brought in by him.” He removed the six pokeballs from Ash’s belt and opened them one-by-one to reveal only a purple and beige monkey.

“Aipom?” Aipom questioned. Seeing Ash, she rushed over to her trainer’s still form, tears pricking her eyes and falling down her cheeks. “Aipom! Aipom!”

“Hmm….an Aipom,” said Doctor Hawthorn. He recalled the Aipom into its pokeball and then handed it to a nurse. “Nurse Abigail, please take this Pokémon and these other pokeballs with you and see if you can discover the other Pokémon this boy has on him. “Scan them. Perhaps that will give us an idea of where the boy comes from so we can contact his parents to let them know their son is in the hospital.”

“Yes sir,” said a red-haired nurse with scarlet hair as she took the pokeballs and shrank them, hurrying from the examination room. Doctor Hawthorn then grabbed a camera from the nearby table and began taking pictures of Ash’s injuries for evidence in the event of a criminal trial or abuse case. “Luxray,” he called to a Pokémon curled up within a corner. “Please give a light shock to this boy and see if you can get his vitals started.”

“Ray,” said Luxray as she padded forward and jumped onto the bed, placing her tail on the boy’s chest over his heart and blue lightning appeared around its body before traveling into the boy’s heart. Despite the move Spark being used, there was no rhythm of the chest to indicate the attack had worked. Hooked up to a monitor for breathing and another monitor for his heart, they brought a machine in to check for brain waves and intubated the boy to try to get him to breathe while they ran testing and a nurse stayed at the boy’s side in hope that he would wake up or show some form of activity.

“Luxray, come with me,” said Doctor Hawthorn and they headed out to the waiting room to find Professor Rowan and a young trainer sitting there with a Piplup in her arms. “Professor Rowan. My name is Doctor Hawthorn and I am treating the young man you brought in. Can you tell me what happened or who the boy is? We may need to contact his parents.”

“He’s going to be okay isn’t he?” Dawn questioned as she looked up at the doctor.

Doctor Hawthorn turned to the young girl, who looked a couple years older than his own daughter. “I’m afraid that cannot be discussed with people who are not his family young lady,” said Doctor Hawthorn, which caused the young girl’s face to fall. “Perhaps we should discuss this somewhere private. Please, come to my office,” said the doctor, leading the professor away.

“Oh Arceus…please let Ash be okay,” said Dawn.

Meanwhile, the purple-haired stranger, who had been watching the scene and the near kidnapping of the electric mouse Pokémon from Kanto, walked towards the robot and examined the pieces of rubble that were lying haphazardly but close together with them being moved to get that stupid trainer out. His eyes were still cold, despite watching the explosion and frantic rescue of a fellow trainer, the rocks and earth underneath the general explosion being splattered with crimson. “How pathetic,” he said before turning and continuing his journey, his destination being Oreburgh City to compete for the Coal Badge.

While Ash was being monitored, Pikachu had been rushed to a Pokemon Center where Brock and Gary had called for Nurse Joy, giving her the injured and still form of Pikachu though the grim look on Nurse Joy’s face was a telling factor that not all was well. Nevertheless, the nurse hurried into the back with Pikachu in her arms to try to help it. The pair headed towards a couple of seats in the waiting room. For once, Brock did not try to flirt with Nurse Joy, understanding this was a serious situation. “So, never thought we would meet like this again,” said Gary.

“Yeah,” said Brock.

“So, what have you been up to since we last saw each other in Johto?” questioned Gary.

“I’ve been taking care of the Pewter Gym, though my brother Forrest is striving to become a gym leader like I was,” said Brock. “When I’m not traveling with Ash that is, but I still want to be a top Pokémon breeder. That’s why I go on these journeys, to learn more about Pokémon in different regions and techniques for taking care of them.”

“Mmmmhmmm,” said Gary. “I think you’ll be a great breeder Brock. You care about Pokemon and know a lot about them.”

“Thanks Gary,” said Brock, smiling at his friend’s former rival. His smile faded soon after though as he voiced a concern that had been on his mind for some time. “You know…I haven’t said anything…but there’s something wrong with Ash.”

“Oh?” questioned Gary.

“Yeah,” said Brock. “When I first met Ash, I was fifteen and taking care of my siblings and the Pewter Gym in my dad’s absence after he abandoned us along with my mom,” said Brock. “Misty was twelve when I met her but even though are all growing up, Ash still thinks he’s ten-years-old.”

“I see,” said Gary, closing his eyes and pondering what he heard. “That’s a problem. I wonder if Mrs. Ketchum knows how her son is acting when he’s on the road?”

“I doubt it,” said Brock. “Can you imagine Ash telling his mom anything but good stuff? Besides, he never seems to stay than a few days at most before going off on another journey.”

“True,” said Gary. “I think Mrs. Ketchum acts more like a big sister to Ash than a mother really. I heard she had him kind of young and her husband abandoned them both, leaving her to raise her son on her own. He hasn’t been back to Pallet Town for all these years and Mrs. Ketchum doesn’t talk about him. I only know this from Gramps.”

The pair sat in silence until a nurse ran into the Pokémon Center with some pokeballs in her arms, rushing towards the counter. “Nurse Joy! I need you…”

Brock stood up and turned towards the woman who seemed frantic, noting that she was pretty, even in her current state of panic. “Miss? Nurse Joy is in the back, tending to my friend’s injured Pikachu, but I would be happy to help. I’m studying to be a Pokémon Breeder.”

“Can you look over these Pokémon?” questioned the woman. “I’m Abigail Hope, a nurse at Jubilife General and we just got a patient in who is in bad shape. I was asked to bring these Pokémon into the Pokémon Center and see if they could be healed or see if anyone knew the region the boy belonged to.”

Brock stared at the pokeballs, spotting the lightning marking on Pikachu’s pokeball. “Ash…” he whispered.

“What?” Abigail questioned, a quizzical look appearing on her face.

“Miss, was the patient a boy in his teens with black hair and dressed in a blue t-shirt and blue jeans?”

“Yes…”

“That’s my friend, Ash Ketchum. He’s from Pallet Town in the Kanto region,” said Brock. “My name is Brock Harrison and I’m the former gym leader of the Pewter City Gym, also of Kanto. Ash was attacked by a gang called Team Rocket and got injured in the attack. How is he?”

“I’m afraid I can’t…”

Gary stood; hearing Brock speak to the nurse. “Please miss. We’re Ash’s friends and need to know so we can tell Mrs. Ketchum.”

Nurse Abigail hesitated but she was relieved that she could report to Doctor Hawthorn that she had found the name of the teenager lying on death’s doorstep, if he wasn’t there already. “He is in pretty bad shape. We’re running tests on him but the doctor’s Luxray was unable to start his heart up. What happened?”

“He was trapped under a robot that exploded when people from our native region tried stealing his Pikachu,” said Brock.

“Oh my,” said Nurse Abigail. She handed the pokeballs to Brock, the young man watching as she disappeared back out of the Pokémon Center, presumably to go back to this Doctor Hawthorn to tell him what she had found out.

“He’s coding…”

“Doctor the EEG reports no signs of brain activity…”

“Doctor Hawthorn! The boy’s name is Ash Ketchum and he comes from Kanto! I spoke with someone wh…”

“I know Abigail. Luxray use Spark full power.”

“Luxraaaaaay!” Blue electricity hit the boy’s body, causing it to seize up from the bed, but the monitors remained flatlined.

“Still nothing doctor.”

Back at the Pokémon Center, the emergency room light over the ER went off and Nurse Joy came out of the back. Pikachu was not with her. Brock and Gary turned to the nurse as she came over to them. “I’m sorry but Pikachu…I was unable to save it. It’s gone.”

Silence met her words as Gary turned and walked off, the doors opening and closing as he left. “How?” Brock questioned.

“I’m afraid that the explosion caused blunt trauma to Pikachu when it hit the ground,” said Nurse Joy, “but it seems it was suffering from a rare genetic disease that only affects the Pichu line. I’m afraid there was nothing I could do, even if I had spotted it in an earlier examination. The trauma to Pikachu’s body suffered from the explosion and slamming into the ground didn’t help matters and only ended its life faster. I can’t say if it felt any pain when it died or not. Would…would you like to view the body?”

“No,” said Brock. He turned and headed towards the hospital to check on Ash. He met Dawn and told her about Pikachu’s death, the blue-haired girl’s eyes filling with tears that fell furiously to her lap as Piplup looked down at the floor. Professor Rowan came back from the cafeteria with a tea for Dawn, his other hand holding a coffee. Around them was a flurry of activity as he asked about Ash and Dawn said there had been no word. That all changed five minutes later when Doctor Hawthorn came out looking grim.

“We…”

Gary was the one to tell Mrs. Ketchum, the young man making his way back to the Pokémon Center to call the cheerful woman after he heard about Ash’s death through telephone. He found her at his grandfather’s lab and helping some Pokémon so asked for both adults. “Gary! What a pleasant surprise! I wasn’t expecting you to call until you had some news on…”

“Gramps! I didn’t call for a pleasant chat. This concerns you as well Mrs. Ketchum.”

“Oh?”

“Mrs. Ketchum…Ash…Ash is dead.”