To catch a Sailor Senshi...
Chapter 5
**The next morning..perhaps a few hours later, I should say**
Hotaru sat bolt upright in bed. Her sudden movement woke Brock up, and he rubbed his eyes sleepily.
"Hotaru, what is it?" he asked.
"My.. My Togepy! I have to find it." she said.
Brock groaned. He understood the need to find the poor pokemon, but he would've been happier if it had taken maybe another hour to register on Hotaru that she had work to do.
"Ok. I'll pack up and you get dressed. I'll pull something to eat out of my pack, and we can go..." Brock ended with a huge yawn and stood up.
"Sure!" said Hotaru, digging through her pack for clean clothes.
**Leaving them to get ready, we now join Jessie and James.**
Jessie rolled over in her sleeping bag with a beautiful smile on her face. If you listened closely, you could here her mumbling faintly.
"This dress...is nice. I'll take one in every color you've got. Oh, you want to give it to me free because I'm so lovely? Thank you. Maybe you could pitch in some matching shoes, a purse, jewelry, and lunch... you'd be honored? Tee hee!"
A cold nose on her nose woke her up. She opened her eyes and screamed as she saw the huge creature in front of her, purple scales gleaming...
"Arbok! And I was having such a nice dream, you rude pokemon. You're beginning to act like James!"
Arbok lowered it's head and hissed apologetically. Then it looked at Jessie again, eyes brightening. "Ar-bok?"
"What? Go to HOTARU? Wait, you're her pokemon. Figures. Well, go wake up James and we'll see what we can do. That explosion did blast us pretty far away." Jessie stretched and stood up. Arbok slithered away to find James. Jessie fished around in her pack until she found her bottle of water and took a long drink. As she finished, she heard a shriek and grinned.
"G'haaaaa~! Heeeeeeeeeeelp!" James whimpered, running up to Jessie. Arbok was seconds behind, slithering after him with a wicked grin on it's face. Jessie cracked up.
"I see you've got my kind of sense of humor! Good job."
Soon they were packed up and ready to leave. They began back tracking, moving along the way they were pretty sure they had been blasted. Arbok had decided to remain in a pokeball until they reached the camp and Hotaru, so only Jessie, James and Meowth noticed the glint of purple in the distance. Scratch that, only Jessie and Meowth did...
"ARBOK!!!" Jessie cried, and ran ahead. The Arbok sped up until it had caught up, and Jessie gave it a hug. "I missed you."
"Toge..." whimpered a small voice. Jessie looked down, and her eyes lit up.
"You caught Togepy! I'm so proud of you!"
"TOGE! Py py py!" Meowth heard the noise, and walked over to the reptilian pokemon. His eyes fastened on the small egg wrapped in it's tail.
"A togepy! Arbok, you're my hero!" Meowth crowed, dancing around. He reached down and grabbed the pokemon, unwrapping it from Arbok.
"Pwwweeeeeeee!" wailed the Togepy, it's eyes filling with tears.
"Don't be afraid," Meowth cooed, "I won't hurt you. I love you!"
The Togepy looked unconvinced. It wanted only it's Hotaru, and this creature was preventing it from leaving. Togepy made a quick decision, and with more strength then a pokemon of it's tender years should have, it bit Meowth.
"MEOWTH!" cried the wounded cat, and dropped Togepy. The little egg pokemon hit the ground running and it's little legs became a blur. It sprinted into the underbrush, then found a relatively clear and concealed path to run on.
"It's getting away! After it!" shouted Meowth. He blundered into the bushes where Togepy had last been seen with Jessie and James following close behind.
Togepy ran until it couldn't lift it's little leg another step, then sat down on the ground with a hard plop. It looked around curiously and took in it's surroundings. It had come to rest in a large clearing with only a small oak tree in the middle. Next to the tree was a single red tulip. Togepy calmly crawled over to a tulip and picked it, hugging it close.
A crashing noise from the area where it had just fled from made it's eyes widen in fear. It scrunched against the back of the tree and closed it's eyes, waiting for the worst to happen.
"There it is!" cried James, pointing to the center of the field. He and the rest of Team Rocket walked over to the frightened pokemon at a leisurely pace. As he was bending down to pick it up, a noise made him freeze.
"Stop." whispered a soft voice. "I will not let you hurt a child, pokemon or not. For terrorizing one so young and unable to help itself, I will punish you! Appearing gracefully, I am..." Hotaru paused briefly, and then continued with more strength, "I am Tomoe Hotaru, pokemon trainer! Prepare to fight, Team Rocket."
Brock stepped out from the trees behind her. "You're going to lose as always, Rocket."
"Never!" shouted Jessie.
"Arbok!"
"Wheezing!"
"GO!"
Hotaru pulled a pokeball out of her backpack and threw it forward just as Brock launched his. They landed next to each other on the ground and the red vapors released from the balls flew up hit the ground. A Vulpix and a Golem stood side by side.
Togepy got up while Jessie and James were distracted and ran over to Hotaru. It danced around her, then gave her the tulip it had picked. Hotaru smiled and accepted it, then turned back to the fight.
Arbok and Wheezing moved out into view. Venom was trickling off of Arbok's fangs, and where it landed bits of grass withered and died. Wheezing gave a menacing growl and sent a tiny puff of gas in the direction of the other two trainers.
"I'm not going to sit this one out!" said Meowth. "They took my Togepy!" He walked out and stood next to Team Rocket's favorites and unsheathed his claws.
Hotaru's eyes narrowed. "Golem... Tackle attack!"
The huge rock pokemon lumbered forward towards Arbok. When it was in Arbok's range, the snake-like pokemon reared and lunged forward, attempting to bite the Golem. It's teeth hit the solid mass of rock and the tips broke off. Arbok hit the ground dazed with a throbbing pain in it's mouth. Golem took the opportunity and picked up speed. He slammed into the Arbok and sent it flying back into the forest unconscious.
"How dare you!" shouted Jessie. She leaned over to James and whispered "I've got to go get Arbok! We can't leave him helpless in the forest! Try and beat them."
James nodded, then turned his attention back to the fight. Wheezing looked prepared to use his trade mark poison gas attack on Vulpix, but something finally connected in James' mind.
"Wheezing! Stop! It'll only make you explode agai..." but he was too late. Vulpix reared and opened it's mouth, sending flames shooting at the now helpless Wheezing. The explosion sent James and Wheezing flying in the direction of Arbok and Jessie.
"They're gone." said Brock, sounding smug. "That was simple."
"Not quite!" shrieked Meowth. "I will have my Togepy!"
With a speed and determination unlike any he had shown before, Meowth raced forward and raked his claws along the side of the unwary Vulpix. The strong claws dug deeply into Vulpix, making the little creature shriek with agony. It turned it's eyes to Meowth and glared at him with rage. Vulpix's eyes began to glow red, and the glow surrounded him.
"It's evolving!" said Hotaru in amazement.
That was, in fact, exactly what the Vulpix was doing. The glowing form grew larger and was soon replaced by a sleek and beautiful Ninetails. The wounds on it's side had been healed by the transformation and it growled menacingly at the stunned Meowth. It stalked forward, then looked to Brock.
Brock had his Pokedex out in front of him and was scanning the attack list.
"Vul- I mean, Ninetails, tail whip then ember attack!"
Ninetails nodded and lashed out at Meowth with it's strong tails, confusing and injuring the feline pokemon. It launched straight into ember, surrounding Meowth with a wall of fire that shrunk closer and closer towards the frantic pokemon. It converged upon Meowth, sending him flying into the forrest almost completely blackened by the flames.
Brock hesitantly knelt down and held out his hand to Ninetails. The pokemon ran over to him and nuzzled his cheek. Brock gave the Ninetails a hug and whispered, "Ninetails, that was amazing. Great job!"
Hotaru watched from the side and gave a small smile. Brock really does care about his pokemon. she thought.
After reassuring himself that Ninetails was fine, he put the fire pokemon back into it's pokeball. He walked over to Hotaru and smiled at her. "You were wonderful, Hotaru. You've learned to handle your pokemon very well!"
"Thank you, Brock, I learned from the best." she said, returning the smile. She gave him a hug and laid her head on his chest. "I don't know what I'd have done without you." She looked up and into his eyes and saw something there that she couldn't quite put into words. She leaned up, never taking her eyes off his. He had almost lost himself completely in the depth of her violet eyes when her lips hesitantly brushed his.
He stiffened in shock and thought to himself, Do you love this girl? Stop it now if you don't! So he thought for the space of a few seconds and came to the conclusion that yes, he did love her. More than anything, he loved Tomoe Hotaru.
He eagerly returned the kiss, bring his lips more solidly in contact with hers. His arms slid around to rest in the small of her back and her's wrapped around his neck. The kiss deepened as Hotaru pressed herself against Brock.
When they finally broke apart, Brock was gasping for air. His eyes had slightly glazed over, and he had a strange smile on his face. He shook his head to clear it, then looked at the woman he knew he loved. "Hota-chan?" he asked hesitantly.
Hotaru smiled sweetly at the nickname. "Yes, Brock-chan?"
"I think..." he began, but was cut off when Hotaru shrieked and put her hands on the sides of her head. She swayed slightly, then tumbled to the ground.
"Hota-chan?!?!" he cried out, then ran to her side. He picked her up and cradled her in his arms, rocking her back and forth as if she was a small child.
"My friends... I have to go back *now* or it'll be too late!" she said, her voice a pained whisper. "Set me down, Brock. Please."
He set her down, not completely understanding what was going on. She took a few steps away from him and called her Silence Glaive from it's pocket, then stood tall. Hotaru looked at Brock and began to cry.
"Brock-chan, please don't forget me. I...I love you." She turned away, and in a voice tight with tears, said "Please step back. I don't want to hurt you."
Brock realized what she was going to do, and sunk slowly to his knees. "Hota-chan? Please, wait..."
"No!" she cried, tears falling freely. "I've got to go!"
"But... Hotaru..." he said, his voice no more than a whisper.
"SILENCE SMASH ABSOLUTE!" she shouted, twirling her glaive. She turned and looked at Brock one last time as the familiar charge of purple energy surrounded her and carried her away.
Brock stared in shock where she had been seconds ago, and broke down sobbing. "I love you, too, Hota-chan." He saw the red tulip she had dropped and picked it up, holding it close. It was the only thing left from her on his world. All her pokemon and gear had reverted to her natural power on her world.
He was alone now.
The tears came freely. He curled up against a tree and felt his heart break into a million pieces.
What do you think? Questions? Comments? Death threats for ending the chapter here? (email em!) Well, at least you know it isn't The Complete End! So, tune in soon for the ending (or almost ending) of To Catch a Sailor Senshi (ie. continue)