Vanish

Chapter 11

"He-he hung up on us!" May exclaimed, almost shaking with anger.

Brock folded his arms across his chest. "There's something wrong here."

"What are we going to do about it?" Max asked. "He was right, we're not there, so we can't really-"

"It's time to bring in the heavy guns. I know who can get through to him." And Brock began to dial again.

May raised an eyebrow. "Who? His mother?"

"Nope. It's not that serious yet."

There was a burst of static over the phone before the three friends saw someone's picture come up on the screen. "Brock! It's good to hear from you!"

"Hey! As much as I'd love to say that I'm calling just to catch up on some old times... But we need your help."

"Okay..."

"Help with Ash...," Brock added.

"What! Oh, great, what has he gotten himself into this time? I swear he's always getting into trouble. Some things just never change..."

"Well, I'll let him tell you the whole story-even though he may not want to-and then you'll see what I need help with."

"Wait. What do you mean, 'he may not want to'?"

Brock sighed. "He may not want to because it's pretty bad. He's not here now, as you've probably already noticed. The reason for that is because he set out on his own."

"...So he just left you? Just like that? It must be real important to him."

"Believe me, it is. He left three days ago, and we had no idea as to where he was. We did manage to contact him just a few minutes ago, but he hung up on us when we began to ask him about what happened to him... Because you can tell something happened..."

"Okay, I think I understand this so far. Now, on a scale from one to ten, what would you rate the situation? Ten being a terrible hell-born situation."

Brock looked from May to Max and back to the phone screen. "About a nine point five if you ask me."

"Hmmm... And on a scale from one to ten, what would you rate Ash's emotional state? Ten being okay and one being totally depressed."

Brock threw the person a dubious look. "What? That's a dumb question. You'll figure that out soon enough."

"Well, I'd say a zero," May muttered. "But it depends on when you catch him."

The person frowned deeply. "Okay, give me his number, right now."
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Bring! ...Bring! ...Bring!
Oh, no, I am not going to talk to Brock and the others again. I'm tired... My head..., Ash thought, burying himself under the blankets and putting his pillow over his head.

Bring! ...Bring! ...Bring! ...Bring! ...Bring!

Go the hell away!

BRING! ...BRING! ...BRING! ...BRING!

JUST BE QUIET, DAMN IT! Ash yelled in his mind. Suddenly, the phone stopped. Oh, crap, this phone has an automatic answering thing...

"Leave me alone, Brock! God, I swear this is the last time I spend the night at the pokémon center," Ash grumbled, not looking at the phone and still covered with blankets. "Can't a guy get some sleep around here? Not one wink for over twenty-four hours, Brock!"

"Hmph. Sure moody today, aren't we, Ash?"

Ash's mouth dropped open from under his blankets. "Misty!"