What? A story that isn't a romance? And it's not AAML?? What was I thinking *_* Ah well, you'll have to be content with the implied romantic connection between Ash and Misty. It's another two-shot too...all of my one-shots end up being way too long!
Dedication: This story is for ThePalletTownKid, who suggested this idea. Sorry it's not quite as epic as you probably imagined :)
Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon, just the characters I made up. Which I would trade in any day for the rights to Ash and Misty.
Chapter One
In all respects, the day appeared to be a perfectly ordinary one. The river was bubbling, the pidgey were chirping, and a lone girl by the water recast her fishing rod in hopes of catching something rather than a useless magikarp. The road was empty save for a small, red bike, which was most likely belonged to the girl by the water's edge. It was a very peaceful day, one in which the sun was shining brightly and the wind was calm. Alas, as in most situations of tranquility, something occurred which made this day far from ordinary. The peacefulness was disturbed when suddenly...
Two children randomly appeared on the path. One was boy, who looked too young to be a trainer, with chestnut brown hair. His mouth hung open, and his expression led one to believe that he was deep in shock. His arms were wrapped securely around a strange looking pokemon. The pokemon was multiple shades of green, equipped with two translucent wings, and had a head roughly the shape of an onion. It was struggling to get out of the child's death grip.
Behind the boy was another child, this one a girl. She was older than the boy, probably in her early teens. She had long black hair that curled slightly around her lithe figure. One of her hands was clenched around the boy's arm and the other lay limp at her side. Her face showed that she was as shocked as the boy.
A moment passed. A pidgey chirped. The girl who's fishing sighed irritatedly and recast again, hoping to get a bite. Then, as suddenly as the two appeared, the black haired girl reacted.
"You idiot!" She walloped the boy on the head. From the way he cried out pulled away, she must have hit him pretty hard. "What have mom and dad told you about playing with legendaries?"
The pokemon being held by the boy chirps at the girl's reference to itself. "Geez Pheebs! You don't have to hit so hard!"
The girl, Phoebe, growled and smacked him again, albeit a bit lighter this time. "Well I wouldn't have to hit so hard if you would stop doing stupid stuff! Really Leon, you should know better than to ask Celebii to take you to the past!"
Leon pouted at his sister. "I didn't ask it too! I was just going over to play with Uncle Brock when Celebii grabbed my hand. Then you grabbed my other arm, an' there was that big burst of light, an' now we're here! 'Sides," he started to looked around. "Dad hung out with legendaries all the time as a kid, and he turned out alright."
Phoebe snorted. "Dad didn't 'hang out' with legendary pokemon." She told her younger brother. "He was the Chosen One Leon, and he was bound to meet up with them at one time or another while out saving the world. Besides, mom was always there to pull him out of trouble."
"Well, you're here to pull me out of trouble" Leon argued. "And we're the Chosen One's kids, that must count for something."
"Hmpf." Phoebe let the argument drop. "You're going to strangle Celebii pretty soon. Then we won't be able to get back home."
"Oh, sorry Celebii." Leon loosened his hold and Celebii chirped gratefully. It slid out from under his arms and flew up to hover around their heads.
"We need to leave right now, Leon. Mom and dad said bad things usually happen around legendary pokemon, and it's wrong to mess with the past." Phoebe turned to Celebii, ignoring her brother's whining that he wanted to stay. "Celebii, would you mind returning us to the present?"
The pokemon's expression became grave, and it shook its head violently back and forth.
"What?" Phoebe frowned, anxiety working its way into her voice. "You mean we're stuck here?"
Again, Celebii shook its head back and forth vigorously. It started doing pantomimes in mid air, obviously trying to tell the children something important.
Leon watched the pokemon for a few seconds before asking his sister, his eyes never leaving the dancing pokemon, "You getting any of this?"
"Nope."
"Me neither."
Celebii, having guessed the humans were not understanding the meaning of its actions, started to make different hand motions. The children stared at the pokemon who looked like it was doing interpretive dance, their heads tilted slightly to the side as if a new angle would make the message of the movements clear.
"Uh, there's something we have to do before going home?" Phoebe guessed, thinking of the time traveling, sci-fi books she liked to read.
Celebii nodded enthusiastically and did a small flip backwards, overjoyed she had understood.
"Really?" Phoebe smiled, pleasantly surprised. "Cool! Alright, so what do we have to do Celebii?"
The legendary pokemon launched into a whole new set of motions, and this time the dancing came with high pitch chirps and trills. Phoebe concentrated hard, excited she had understood the pokemon and eager to do it again.
Leon had long since given up on trying to figure out what Celebii was trying to say knowing his sister would get it sooner or later. Instead he looked around them, trying to puzzle out just where Celebii had sent them. It looked vaguely familiar. They were on what seemed to be the main road. A couple of trees and shrubs dotted the country side, and to his left and down a hill was a river. He stared at the water longingly, it's sparkling blue surface calling out to him. His green t-shirt didn't allow much air through, and wherever they were it was summer time. Leon could feel the sweat slowly inch down through his short, spiky hair.
A flash of orange caught his attention. He shifted his gaze to the river side and saw that he and his sister were not alone. A girl was sitting on the bank, a rod in her hand and a bright red bag next to her. The girl was dressed in a bright yellow tank top and denim shorts complete with red suspenders. Leon stared at her for a moment, the gears in his young mind turning slowly...
"Phoebe!" A tug at the older girl's navy blue sundress made her look down. Leon was there, and on his face was an expression of a kid who's just been told that christmas would come early. "Phoebe!" He tugged repeatedly at her clothing. "Phoebe, guess what, there's-"
"Leon, shut up" his sister growled, shutting him off. "I had almost gotten what Celebii was trying to say when you made me lose my train of thought!"
"Sorry," Leon said automatically, not sounding sorry at all, "But there's a girl down there and guess who it is?" He didn't wait for Phoebe to reply but plowed right on, his eyes shining. "It's mom!"
"What?" Phoebe's eyes widened and she whipped her head around. She shifted her gaze to see the girl by the river, confirming that her brother's words were true. She could only see the back of the redhead, but...
"Oh Mew, that is mom!" she whispered. "Ho-oh she looks young! She looks younger than I am! Which means," Phoebe turned to her brother. "We must be somewhere in Kanto like thirty years or so in the past!" She tore her eyes from the younger version of her mother and studied the scenery around them. "Wait, there's her bike!"
Phoebe pointed out the bicycle, not twenty feet away from where the two were standing. "If she still has her bike, dad must not have met her yet!" Phoebe scratched her head, confused. "I wonder why mom would leave her bike all the way up here while she's fishing. That's not too smart."
Celebii made a little noise of joy and flew past the children to hover near the bike. It started gesturing wildly at the contraption while glancing over its shoulder now and then as if expecting something to come down the road.
"Hey, Leon." Phoebe nudged her brother. "I think Celebii wants us to do something with mom's bike."
"But I wanna say hi to mom" Leon answered distractedly. "Hey mom!" He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled down the hill. "Hey- Mom! Hey! Look up here! Mis-"
"No, you idiot!" his sister hissed and clapped a hand over his mouth. "Shut up!"
Phoebe's words came too late. The redhead gave a slight jerk to the rod and started to turn around, wondering what the noise was.
"Crap!" Phoebe kept her hand secure over her brother's mouth and dragged him back into some bushes along the opposite side of the road. She looked around wildly and was reassured to see Celebii hovering at her side, hidden from view.
Phoebe waited for a few tense minutes before cautiously poking her head over the top of the bush. An empty road and lone bike were the only things that met her gaze. There was no commotion coming from the river area, only the sound of the water lapping lightly against the banks. Phoebe heaved a sigh of relief, grateful that the water pokemon trainer had not seen them. She turned her body away from the road and sat back on her heels, only to gasp and tense up again when something slimly and wet pressed against her hand.
"Gross!" She immediately removed her hand from Leon's mouth, his spit dripping from her palm. "You little freak," Phoebe fought to keep her voice contained to a whisper. "What did you do that for?"
"You were stuffocating me!" Leon grumbled, unconsciously following his sister's lead and keeping his voice low. "Why'd you drag us over here?"
"Because," Phoebe whispered hotly, pushing her brother out of licking range. "We can't let mom see us! And it's suffocating you loser, not stuffocating."
Leon frowned. "I'm telling mom you called me a loser when we get back!" He whined. "Or I'll just tell her right now!" The boy got up and was immediately yanked back down by his sister.
"No! You can't do that!" Phoebe explained. "If we interact with her at all, or anyone else for that matter, then it will mess with the whole future!"
"Why?" Leon asked curiously.
"Well, how would you react if some kid suddenly ran up to you, telling you he was your son from the future?" Phoebe rolled her eyes.
Her kid brother took a moment to think this over, one hand coming under his chin and eyes narrowing in concentration. When the answer hit him, Leon turned to his sister with sparkling eyes.
"Dude! That would be so wicked!" He pumped a fist in the air, mouth running with ideas about what he and his future son would do.
Phoebe shut him up with a flick to the head. "You missed my point little brother. Here it is, plain and simple. No interacting with the past. Screwing the with the past screws up the future," Phoebe spelled out slowly, making sure Leon was following what she said. "Usually when you tell people you're from the future, they lock you up in a crazy house. Besides, if you went and talked to mom right now, she might not catch dad on her fishing rod. Then they would never meet."
"Oh," Leon stated, mouth left open. "That would be bad."
"Yes, that would be bad," Phoebe agreed. "If mom and dad never meet, then that means they don't get married and have us. Either that or dad drowns because no one was there to fish him out. Both ways spell trouble for us and the future. No dad means no Chosen One to save the world" Phoebe reminded him. "So, do you get the gravity of the situation now?"
Leon gave her a funny look. "The what of the what?" he questioned.
Phoebe sighed. "Nine-year-olds," she muttered. "Do you get why we can't let ourselves be seen or heard?" She clarified.
Leon nodded his head vigorously. "Yeah! We should just leave right now so we don't mess somethin up! Celebii!
He turned to the pokemon who had been watching their quiet bantering with interest.
"Cele?" It smiled and nodded.
"Take us home. Please," the child remembered to add.
"We can't leave yet," Phoebe reminded him as Celebii shook its head side to side. "Celebii says we have to do something here first, and I'm pretty sure it has to do with mom's bike. But what do we have to do with it..." She shifted her stance so she could see over the bushes. The only thing that met her gaze was her mother's red bike.
"What's going to happen?" she murmured to herself, eyes scanning the road. "Celebii should know that we can't interact with anyone, at the very least not with people who will recognize us. Whatever we do, we'll have to do it secretly..."
Silence descended upon the trio. Phoebe kept her eyes glued to the road while possible scenarios ran through her head. Leon sat on the ground next to her, absentmindedly pulling up grass. Celebii hovered next to the elder child, it's face becoming more and more worried as time passed. There was no sound except that of the river and the almost silent hum of Celebii's wings.
"I'm bored!" Leon complained not long after the vigil had started. "Why isn't something happening?"
"Is it possible for you to keep quiet for like two seconds?" Phoebe snapped, but there was a note of uncertainty in her tone. "I know something is going to happen...soon."
Leon sighed and returned to yanking out blades of grass. "I'm getting hungry," he groused. "Why did Celebii have to drag us from the party just when they were putting out the food? Do you think anyone'll notice we're not at the party anymore?" Leon asked his sister.
Phoebe thought for a moment. "I'm-- not sure. I think when we go back it'll be like we've never left. Hopefully," she added fervently. "If we mess up here and go back it could all be different. Or if we go back and people have noticed we've been gone, mom and dad are going to kill us."
"Yeah, but it wasn't our fault. We didn't ask Celebii to take us here!" Leon said quickly, trying to think of an excuse.
"True," Phoebe mused. "They might believe that... Hey wait! Did you hear that?"
"Prob'ly was my stomach." Leon placed a hand over the offending body part and wrinkled his nose. "I'm starving! And don't tell me to keep it quiet 'cause I can't!"
"No, not that." Phoebe flapped her hand at him to be quiet. "It's something else. I don't think it's a car or anything; it's too soft." She stretched out her neck to look further down the road. "What's that huge shadow doing there?"
"Where?" Leon crouched next to his sister and looked toward the road. Far down the beaten path was a dark spot; one that was traveling closer and closer to where the two children were hidden.
"Celebii," the legendary pokemon growled.
"Celebii?" Leon asked the pokemon warily. Its antennae were sticking straight up, and its whole body was trembling. "What's wrong? It's just a cloud."
"Leon, I don't think that's a cloud" Phoebe said slowly. The boy turned to his sister and saw that she was staring at the sky.
"Huh?" Leon looked up as well. Instead of a cloud, he saw a huge green and tan blob that was blocking out the sun. Slightly blinded by the glare, he couldn't tell exactly what it was. "What is that?"
"That," Phoebe began weakly. "Is what we've been waiting for. Right, Celebii?"
"Bii!" The pokemon nodded its head. "Bii, celebii, cele, celebii."
"What do we do?" Leon whispered anxiously.
"I don't know!" Phoebe whispered back, a bit of fear in her voice. "But," her tone hardened and her hands curled into fists. "We can't let it mess with mom and dad's past."
"Um, we might be too late." Leon pointed to the great blob. "Look!"
A mechanical arm was descending from what looked like the bottom of the flying craft. It snaked quickly and silently down to the ground. There, it seemed to pause for a moment of indecision before grasping the red bike that sat by the road side.
"No!" Leon tried to yell. Phoebe had clapped her hand back over his moth and wrapped her other arm around his torso to keep him from moving.
"Shut up," his sister growled. "We can't let mom know anything is happening, remember? If she hasn't noticed anything by now, then we need to keep it like that!"
She twisted her head back to the road in time to see the hand lift its prey into the sky and the belly of the aircraft. "Dammit," the teen murmured. "What the hell are we going to do now?"
She released Leon who immediately sprang away from her and wiped his mouth on his arm. "I'm telling mom you said a bad word" he threatened. "Two bad words."
"Shut up Leon!" Phoebe snarled. "Can't you understand?" she asked desperately. "Now mom doesn't have a bike. That means dad can't use it to get to the pokemon center and save Pikachu!"
Celebii flew around the siblings in an agitated manner. It began to tug on their hair and clothes, trying to pull them towards the road.
"Celebii, stop it! So now what are we gonna do?" Leon said dejectedly.
"We're going to get that bike back!" Phoebe whispered fiercely. Celebii ceased its antics as soon as the words left her mouth and pumped a fist in the air, giving a little victory cry.
"How? Won't mom notice us?" Leon asked in a small voice. "An' that thing moves fast!"
"We'll just have to go faster!" His sister smiled confidently. "We'll be going so fast no one will be able to see us!"
"Uh, in case you hadn't noticed, we don't have bikes or anything!" Leon exclaimed, gesturing at their bare surroundings.
Phoebe rolled her eyes. "No duh little brother. I doubt you could pedal fast enough anyway. That's why we have pokemon." She raised her right arm to show him the bracelet she was wearing. It was a wide silver band studded with real pokeballs. She detached one of the pokeballs and enlarged it. "Don't tell me you forgot who I have on my Kanto team." She grinned, tossing the pokeball up and down. "Pokeball, go!"
In a mini explosion of light, a rapidash appeared beside her trainer. It blinked sleepily as if awaking from a long nap.
"Rapidash," Phoebe immediately went to her pokemon and stroked its nose comfortingly. "We're kind of in an emergency. We need speed and silence; can you do that?"
The fire pokemon huffed once and nodded its horned head. The girl smiled. "Excellent. Leon, get on rapidash. I'll give you a boost."
"You're so lucky you have pokemon" he muttered as Phoebe helped him scramble on top of the tall horse's back.
As soon as her brother was on, Phoebe leaped up behind him. "One more year and then you can go on your own journey" she reminded him. "Alright, just grip the mane with both hands and squeeze lightly with your knees. I'll be controlling where we go."
"I've ridden before," Leon told her shortly.
"Sorry bro, riding one of dad's tauroses is not the same as riding a rapidash. Now let's go." Phoebe nudged her pokemon with her foot and clucked. Rapidash turned and surged forward, galloping after the people who held the children's future in their hands.
Review and I'll give you cookies! And by cookies I mean the second part, which is currently all done in my head (I know, not quite the chocolate chip delights you were thinking of). I just have to get it onto paper... Reviews make the process go faster!
