Hey it's Shigeru, removed my story and added to this account instead since I finally managed to log back on after so many years.
Disclaimer : don't own don't sue.
Incompatible
A small yawn, escaped the boy's lips as he buried his face in the fluffy pillow, to hide from the blinding rays of sunlight. A heat from the rays was suddenly blocked as weight shifted on the bed. A peaceful smile adorned his face as he cracked an emerald eye open to see a mewling Umbreon staring right at him.
"Morning Umbreon, are we there yet?" Gary asked in a sleepy voice as he attempted to push himself out of bed. Umbreon gave a positive hum to his question and jumped over to the door ready to go out for some fresh air on the ship's outer deck.
"Let me open for you, I better get dressed first that would be the smartest don't you think?" Gary chuckled as the impatient Pokemon lowered its ears for a moment. "There you go, I'll be out in a minute, don't wander off too far away."
Umbreon ran out full of excitement. Gary closed the door fast and decided to start off with a quick shower.
His mind was still fogged by the comfortable warmth of the cover. Though. The last traces of sleep's after-effects left him as cold droplets of water started to fall.
Memories became clearer as his eyes fell on the familiar suitcase where he'd packed what few belongings and he had from his house, and most of his research.
Fully dressed he left the cabin to watch the morning sun rise across the unknown land of Isshu spreading before him in the horizon, it seemed very close all of a sudden, yet still very far away.
Something familiar rubbed against his jeans.
"What's wrong Umbreon? Are you hungry?" Gary asked.
"Um-um.." Umbreon mumbled dejectedly shaking its head as it stared worriedly at the sky above where a plane was flying ahead of the ship.
As an answer to his question a scratching sound from the speaker was heard.
"Emergency! A powerful storm is approaching from east at high speed. All passengers must go to their cabins and wait for further instructions immediately! That is all for now."
Storm? What storm? The sky was obviously clear blue and there wasn't even a wind in the air. Umbreon backed away from the railing, biting his jeans in an attempt to drag him away.
"Don't worry! I'm sure it must be a mistake."
Umbreon shook its head violently trying to convince its human partner to go back to their cabin.
The plane from earlier had just landed at the dock safely. And with only a few miles left for the ship to reach the same destination, how could something like a storm make everyone panic?
"Um-um-bre!" Umbreon was hissing and begging for them to return, and upon seeing how desperate his Pokemon was, Gary sighed. "Alright lets go in-"
An explosion of light entered his sight and the air particles seemed to give off a gleam. He had stopped dead in his tracks, as if awaiting the sound of an explosion but…
…nothing came.
Why is it so silent?
The ship shook violently and the next thing he knew he found himself on the floor wondering how he'd gotten there, then the unavoidable pain from the hit shot in making him arch in pain. For a split second he had been unable to move a finger to break the fall.
"Um-bre!" He could hear Umbreon's sad cry next to him and wanted to show his partner that he was ok.
He rolled over to see what had happened. In the middle of a dark sky was the eye of a hurricane hovering over the dock, lightning pierced the sky and darkness overcame him.
"Pikachu! Pikachu, are you ok?" Ash held the unconscious little rodent close in his arms. Pikachu opened his eyes assuring his trainer that he was ok. Ash smiled in relief. "Pikachu!"
"Thank goodness" Ash cried out as he hugged his dearest friend close.
"Ash! Ash" Professor Oak and his mom came running towards them. "Are you ok?"
"Yes." Ash smiled not wanting to worry them.
"Are you sure nothing happened to you?" Prof. Oak asked again to make sure.
"Yes, right Pikachu?"
"Pika-! Vrsshhh!" Pikachu's cheek's let out a small amount of electricity, to their surprise but neither thought anything of it.
"Really though, that was an enormous thundercloud, wasn't it?" Delia wondered.
"Indeed" Prof. Oak agreed.
Ash sprang around "Where's that?"
"Where's 'that'?" Prof. Oak repeated enquiringly.
"Earlier, there was a shadow inside that cloud which looked like a Pokemon." Ask explained staring at the peaceful waters, where no traces were left of their strange encounter.
"Hm? From our point of view, only a cloud was visible…" Prof. Oak said.
"Yes." Delia joined in.
Ash turned around looking slightly disappointed. "I see… I wonder what it was."
"Oh my, Professor Oak!" A surprised voice was heard from behind them. Running towards them was Prof. Juniper.
"Oh, Professor Juniper!" Prof. Oak exclaimed happily surprised.
"Sorry for being so late to pick you up" Prof. Juniper said apologetically. "That was a terrible flash of lightning; are you all right?"
"Yeah, we're all right" Prof. Oak said. "This is Professor Juniper. Even at her young age, she's a very important person in Pokemon research in the Isshu region."
"It's nice to meet you." She said briskly.
Gary Oak awoke with a shout, bolting upright, having forgotten his sore body for a moment till the pounding started kicking in again.
"Careful, we wouldn't want you to get hurt again." A female ships doctor said smiling. "We found you unconscious on the upper deck, with some help from your Pokemon. That was quite a hit you got there, luckily it was all it was. A small bruise."
"I see. Have we docked yet?" He asked, wanting nothing more to get off this ship for now.
"Well, erh, we took a detour to avoid that thundercloud from earlier." She tried to explain. "So we won't arrive till evening, unfortunately."
Oh great… just great, Gary sighed. And here he was hoping to arrive on time. He was sure Ash would be here also and if he wasn't mistaken, that plane earlier had been the one Ash was on. One thing was for sure. He was never picking longer trips by ship again if he could avoid it.
"Ash?"
"Yes?" Ash looked up from his hands.
"Geez, you're acting like an airhead again." She sighed as she plopped down next to the distracted trainer. "You've won your seventh badge, within 2 months and you look someone just died."
Ignoring her comment he focused on his lap where Pikachu was sleeping, clueless. "Hey, you have a dream don't you?"
"Of course." She agreed. "Who hasn't? Whether they act upon it or not is a different case but everyone dreams of something, and wants something in their life."
"Have you thought of… what you do after you accomplish your dream?" The raven-haired boy had a far-off look planted on his face again.
"Of course I'll find a new dream!" She said raising a brow to his question. Since when had Ash begun thinking like an old man?
"Do you think everything will be over if you become champion, is that it?" Ash looked surprised at her straightforwardness.
"Well the thing is, I'm not sure what I would do if I couldn't be a Pokemon trainer." Right now he actually dreaded every day that brought him closer to the league. He felt imcomplete.
"Maybe you just need a break, I mean there's still 3 months left before the league begins-whaa… Dent stop hiding!" Iris growled.
Dent chuckled as he walked over to the group. "I was simply watching your little 'moment' of mutual understanding. It's such a sweet thing. It seems even Ash thinks about life, at least once in a while. Its a healthy thing but don't let it drag you down." Iris grumbled while Ash looked dumbfounded, Dent had the habit of saying the strangest things sometimes, but it also helped lighten his mood.
"Iris. Dent." Ash looked determined. "I'm going to take a detour, it's up to you if you want to travel with me still, but I wanna get this chance to relax a little, maybe have some fun without thinking about the upcoming league. I could use some time to think things over and maybe find myself another dream, something to fall back on."
Professor Juniper had never had an assistant as hardworking as her newest assistant. He had a lot of experience with Pokemon from other regions and had been a great help in her research. Professor Rowen had recommended him and told of his experience with recreating extinct Pokemon, something that had caught her interest, greatly.
In fact what shook her more was that he was the grandson of Professor Oak and the Professor hadn't even mentioned him during his last visit. She had expected the Professor to brag about such a genius grandson. The only downside was the distracted female researchers. When talking about the sun. They're at it again.
"Gary, I've found the report you were looking for." One said as she rushed over to the auburn-haired teen to deliver it. Emerald eyes scanned a few pages before he gave a nod of approval.
"Thanks, this is great." He thanked, smiling brightly and leaving the girl frozen in the spot.
"Professor, there is a phonecall for you." "I'll be at my office in a moment, let it through."
"Gary." One of the other assistants called. "The professor asked for you." "I'll be right over." Gary responded mechanically, trying to keep a smile up, but it was getting harder to keep this façade.
In the past he would have loved the attention, but right now he couldn't care less. He bookmarked the page he was at, and headed for Juniper's office.
"You are going to Shippo city, first thing tomorrow, the Gym leader, Aloe are currently conducting research on some new fossils with recreation in mind, so I offered to send you, well seeing as you have experience in this field."
"Thank you for this opportunity Professor." Gary beamed, trying to keep his poorly hidden excitement in. "I'll go and prepare immediately."
"Oh, wait a moment, I should mention, I talked with the owner of the fossil, and he is to stay here with us for a while after the recreation. He might be interested in Pokémon research as a future goal so I've decided to let him experience how we do things." Professor Juniper continued.
Gary blinked, a new researcher?
"Yes, a new researcher and don't worry this one's a boy, perhaps you'll make great friends." Professor Juniper grinned.
And there she did it again; she was reading him like an open book. But at least this new person wouldn't be a new addition to the female horde.
Things were looking interesting, to pick research as a goal, this person must be smart.
Read and review appreciated very much, sorry for any spellies.