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Alpha's Plight

Part Twelve

The darkness swallows Ash whole as he makes his way through the sewer system. It has only been half an hour since he parted with his friends. Their plan is in action. He would slip away from Lumiose and flee Team Rocket's thumb. He walks on; it is more cramped than he expected. He crouches as he trudges along. His fingers dance across the wall as he feels his way through. He considered sending out Charizard but realized he was too large. As he was about to send out Typhlosion instead; he thought twice and realized that fire and sewer gases might not create the desired effect. Instead, he blindly inches forward, using his hearing and touch rather than his sight. He hears dripping and slurping distantly inside the pipes. Water moves along the bottom and drenches his feet. Suddenly, he finds no support under his body and slips downward into a free fall. His panicky yell echos through the pipes as he lands in a pool inside a larger pipe below the original line he was following. The water is deep enough to soften his fall but it is shallow enough for him to stand up with his chest above the water. At this moment he is grateful he hasn't found himself in a waste sewer pipe.

As he continues to wade, he finds the water becoming shallower. It moves from his chest to his waist, then from his waist down to his knees. Soon, he is sloshing through ankle deep water. He guesses there must be other outlets draining from where he'd started, because soon there is almost no water, just a small stream trickles ahead of his path. He can feel the mostly dry path through his shoes as water squeezes out through the fabric relieving some of the weight that the water added. It happens so gradually that Ash doesn't realize right away that light begins to flitter into his sight. His surroundings start to brighten from black to shades of dark gray. The light at the end of the tunnel is visible.

Still unable to distinguish objects in the shadows, he trips and collapses on something that squirms beneath him and yelps. He feels fur against his forearms momentarily and then it's gone. A frightened yammering echoes through the pipes. As he pushes himself back up, he mentally apologizes to the creature and hopes it is alright. He curses when he realizes his hands are scraped up from catching his fall. He would need to purchase a first aid kit in the next town for these types of situations. He straightens back up and find his footing again. As he finally sees the exit in the distance, shadowy waist-high figures appear in front of him, grunting and barking. Yellow eyes shine in the dark. He squints trying to make out what type of Pokemon they are and finds himself facing a large pack of Mightyena and Poochyena.

Although they do not frighten him, he doesn't want to misstep. He knows that his three champion Pokemon together would be successful against wild, untrained Mightyenas, but he surely doesn't want it to come to that.

"Hold on," Ash starts calmly in hopes that the Pokemon would feel his intentions. "I didn't mean to trip over you. My eyesight is not as good as yours in the darkness. I don't even mean to be here. I am just passing through."

The Pokemon don't seem phased by his sincerity. "I am sorry. I don't want a fight."

They bark and yip at him more. "I am on a journey to defeat some very bad guys. I do not want to fight you."

The Mightyena at the forefront, the alpha, flattens his ears but motions for the others to stay back. He begins to snarl and bark at Ash. Sensing the Pokemon is trying to communicate with him, he slowly reaches to Raichu's Pokeball and a red light illuminates the area as Raichu appears. The Mightyena looks quizzically at the strange Pokemon. When Ash doesn't order Raichu to attack the Mightyena continues trying to communicate. Raichu quickly translates to Ash who pieces it together aloud slowly. "Mightyena is weary of strangers. Why should it trust me? Many strange humans in black and red came and took members of its pack. They caused chaos. They kidnapped their pups. They stole his young son; heir of the alpha, in line to lead the pack. How is this human any different?"