DISCLAIMER: Pokémon is the property of Satoshi Tajiri and its owners. No copyright infringements intended.
Story Description: Not long after their son Ethan begun his Pokémon journey, Ash and Misty are heartbroken as they hear terrible news. The subsequent consequences will change Kanto and Johto forever. A dark fic.
Character Ages: Ash & Misty, Gary (30), Brock & Sabrina (35), Jessie & James (40), May & Drew (28), Dawn (26), Julia (33), Delia & Chris Ketchum (49), Professor Oak (70).
This is the fourth book of a total of six in this series.
The Chosen One
Book IV
Vengeance
(3rd-person narrative)
"Goodnight! Rest up, and I hope you have a wonderful journey!" Nurse Joy cheerfully said to Ethan from the doorway of the bedroom in the Viridian City Pokémon Center. Ethan lay on the bed, looking blankly at the ceiling as the moonlight shone through the nearby window.
"…thank you," Ethan gave a simple reply. Despite all of Ash and Misty's attempts to restore happiness in the life of their son, their efforts proved to be futile in the end. Their only hope was that he would discover real happiness for himself in a Pokémon journey of his own.
Nurse Joy simply smiled again, and then left to continue her own duties. She was, of course, unaware of Ethan's cold personality, only believing him to be exhausted from his journey. Along the way, Ethan had already caught a Rattata, Pidgey and Spearow; a feat that was beyond Gary, let alone his own father. All of his Pokémon were currently in their Pokéballs, being tended to by Nurse Joy in the treatment room.
In truth, Ethan secretly despised all of his Pokémon, deeming them to be pathetically weak in his own eyes. He longed for domination, for power. The power he once knew when he and his mother, Misty, were captives in Julius' lair, over eight years ago.
"But then, I was not a captive…I was a god in my own right…" he whispered to himself, looking out the window at the bright full moon. "…then father had to come and get me and mother out of there…"
Suddenly, he saw a strange light shining through the window. He sat up from his bed to have a better view, but then, without any warning, the light intensified tenfold, blinding him as he raised his hands to cover his eyes. Just when he thought it couldn't get any brighter, the light died down in an instant, replaced by a darkness which was blacker than night, with dark violet shrouds which gathered around the Center like fog.
Crawling with fear towards the window, Ethan kept his head down until he reached the windowsill. Cautiously peeping his head up to have a closer look at what was going on, he was shocked to see that the haze had disappeared altogether, and things were suspiciously back to normal. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes, turning to return to his pillow. But then, his eyes shot wide in horror as a strong hand came over his mouth. He was pulled violently out the window, losing consciousness as a shadowy figure loomed over him…
(In the morning)
(Ash's POV)
"Gaah…what time is it?" I yawned, stretching my arms up as I felt Misty stirring beside me. The weather was fine outside, with a few clouds dotting the sky. Rays of sunshine fell upon us, making Misty's hair shine beautifully like a jewel. Despite both of us now being 30, Misty didn't look a day older than on our wedding day, ten years ago.
"Pika?" Pikachu's ear jolted upwards from the foot of the bed. Marill also woke up and yawned beside him.
"Mmm…is it morning already?" Misty said softly with a smile, laying her cheek and hand on my chest as she kept her eyes closed.
"Come on, Mist. We should get up now," I kissed her on the cheek, to which she smiled and chuckled.
"But I'm still tired…" she jokingly complained.
"How old are you again, Mist?" I poked her gently on the cheek with a grin.
"Coming from you, Ash Ketchum," she answered back, pulling my hand towards her lips and kissing it.
"Hehehe," I chuckled, drawing her into a warm hug as we locked lips. "Let's go now, Mist!" I exclaimed, scooping her up in my arms. Misty let out a soft gasp of surprise, then giggled as I then lowered her down on her feet.
"Honey, can you go downstairs and take some food out of the fridge? I'll go wake Claire," Misty said.
"Sure thing, Mist," I nodded. We kissed each other on the cheek as Misty and Marill went into Claire's room, where our daughter was still peacefully asleep, and Pikachu and I went downstairs into the kitchen.
Misty came down the stairs with Claire, now eight years old, into the kitchen where I was cooking some eggs for breakfast. She took the box of cereal and milk that I took out and placed on the counter and poured three bowls. Pikachu and Marill, seeing the small packets of ketchup and sweet mustard I placed on the counter, gleefully leapt up and took them in hand, suckling on the contents.
"You really shouldn't give them that stuff in the morning, Ash," Misty chuckled. "It's not good breakfast food."
"You know I'm not that creative with cooking, Mist," I grinned, taking the eggs off the frying pan and putting them onto plates.
"Ash, there's a difference between unoriginality and stupidity," she poked her tongue out at me, and I returned the gesture.
"Geez! You two act like kids!" Claire sighed. As much as we were slightly annoyed at her statement and the fact that it was coming from our eight year-old child, Misty and I both knew it was true.
"Blame your father, sweetheart," Misty giggled.
"Sure, blame everything on me, Mist," I kidded, coming with the plates and sitting at the table. "Man, I'm bored. Let's see what's on TV. Maybe there's a match going on in a league somewhere," I said, handling the remote.
"Honey, when will you ever get tired of watching battles? Seriously, it's all you ever watch!" Misty exhaled.
"Hey, it's fun, ok?" I defended myself with a smile as I pressed the power button. "Hopefully something good will be…"
I dropped both the remote and my spoon at the same time, horrified and shocked by the sight on the TV. It couldn't be…
"Ash, what's wrong? What are you watch…ing," Misty trailed off as she turned her head from me towards the TV.
"We bring you breaking news from the Viridian City Pokémon Center," a female news reporter said as she stood in front of the camera, a smoking pile of debris behind her. "It appears that a fire has destroyed the entire building, down to its very frames. Authorities are still trying to figure out exactly when and how the fire was started. The local Nurse Joy is currently being treated for smoke inhalation in the local general hospital, and is in a stable condition. According to the working staff, all personnel employed in the center have been safely evacuated and accounted for. However, they say that a lone beginner trainer who was spending the night in the center has gone missing without a trace. Staff members say that the male trainer from Pallet Town disappeared from his room, at approximately the same time the fire started. Police are still trying to determine the identity of the trainer, and his current whereabouts. We will provide continuous coverage on the scene over the course of the day. I'm Jill Hayden, and you're watching PokéWorld News."
I shook my head weakly in disbelief, turning off the TV. Claire fearfully spun her head towards us, looking at us with eyes of desperation.
"My baby!" Misty cried, jolting out of her chair. "My baby! We have to go there right now!"
"How could this happen?" I panicked, following suit and running up the stairs after her, hardly having gotten through breakfast.
"Mom! Dad! I'm coming, too!" Claire called out to us as she quickly made her way to the stairs.
"No! You can't Claire! You have to stay here, with Pikachu and Marill!" Misty pleaded from the top of the staircase.
"Ethan's my brother, mom! I'm not going to stay around here doing nothing while he's missing! I'm old enough now! Trust me!" Claire shouted. A few seconds later, Misty reluctantly nodded with tears in her eyes, and we all went and changed clothes like lightning. Our Pokéballs in hand, we came down the stairs just as fast as we ascended them.
"Charizard! Pidgeot!" I released my two Pokémon after we left the house. They stretched out their wings and let out a bellow upon coming out of their Pokéballs. Misty held onto Claire as the two of them mounted Pidgeot, and I got on Charizard.
"Please, you two, fly as quickly as you can to the Viridian City Pokémon Center! Ethan's gone missing!" Misty cried to them. They immediately took off, soaring through the skies towards the scene of disaster.
"Stop! Don't come any closer, any of you!" an Officer Jenny shouted to the mob of media personnel who were crowding in front of the police barriers and lines that had been established around the Pokémon Center. We touched down several feet away from the crowd and ran towards the scene after I recalled Charizard and Pidgeot back into their Pokéballs.
"Claire, honey, make sure to keep hold of mommy's hand, okay?" Misty looked down at her as she took hold of her hand. Claire nodded, and we weaved through the crowd of reporters until we were face to face with Officer Jenny.
"Please, don't make me repeat myself again! Stay back, away from the lines!" Jenny yelled, initially mistaking us for more reporters until she saw our faces. "Mis…Mister Ketchum? What are you doing here?"
"Jenny! You have to listen to us!" Misty cried. "Our son was in the Pokémon Center before the fire started! He's gone, and he hasn't contacted us at home! Please, you have to help us!"
"Are you sure? How do you know it was your son who's gone missing? How do you know that it wasn't another trainer, and your son simply spent the night in another location?" Jenny asked.
"Please…you have to listen to us…" Misty started to shed tears. "We know. Somehow, we know. It's our son, Ethan…"
"Alright," Jenny nodded after a brief moment of thought, lifting the police line upwards so that we could get through. "Come in."
She led us into the debris, stopping at what appeared to be the burnt frames of a bed. Upon seeing what remained of it, Misty murmured in shock. "Is this…"
"I'm afraid so," Jenny sighed. "We were told that he was in this room when the fire started. However, we weren't able to find any trace of human remains. We're still hopeful that he escaped alive, maybe through climbing out a window."
"Are there search teams looking for him right now?" I asked.
"Yes," Jenny confirmed. "We've sent out three search squads to locate him. Unfortunately, we've been unsuccessful so far."
"…thank you, Jenny…" I sighed downwards. "…you did your best."
"Mr. Ketchum…" she replied softly, placing her hand over her mouth as she didn't know what to say, tears of sympathy forming in her eyes.
"We've gotta start looking for him, Ash!" Misty panicked, gripping me on the arm. "Come on! Call out Charizard and Pidgeot again!"
Although I knew in my heart that we would be unsuccessful, I silently agreed to her request. Exchanging sullen looks with Jenny, we exited through the lines on the left side, away from the media who were still causing a raucous noise at the front. I called out Charizard and Pidgeot again, and we were just about to mount on them before…
"Ash! Misty!" Mom's voice suddenly came from up in the air. Dad's Salamence swooped down and landed in front of us, as we looked on in surprise.
"Mom? Dad? What are you…" I trailed off.
"We came here as soon as we heard the news, an hour ago," Dad explained. "But when we arrived, we were told that he was nowhere in sight, and that search teams had been sent out a short time after the fire was finally extinguished. We flew around for about two hours looking for him, but we just couldn't see him anywhere."
"You don't believe he's been killed in the fire, either?" Misty asked them.
"No," Mom shook her head, then spoke softly with as much grief as Misty. "I know he's alive, somewhere. We just couldn't find him. And…" she sighed, reaching down to her waist, from which she took out a belt which held four Pokéballs, "…these were Ethan's. I thought you would…want to keep them."
Misty took the pokeballs from Mom's hands, her body trembling with overwhelming worry as she spoke again. "We'll go together! We'll definitely find him if we all cover more space!" she insisted with a hope in her eyes that refused to die.
"I'm afraid that won't work, Misty, dear," Dad said. "Delia and I have already flown for miles, covering just about every area where Ethan could be, in a wide radius. None of us will find him in this way."
"But…but you can't just give up like this! You can't!" Misty screamed. "My baby's in danger! He's your grandson! How could you ever possibly just abandon him like this?"
"Mist, dad is right," I tried to comfort her, holding her cheeks gently with my hands and drawing her face up so that we were looking at each other's eyes. "He and mom have already done as much as they could. Searching right now won't allow us to find him. As much as I'd like to find him myself, I know that we won't. Let the search teams do their job, Mist. They'll find him, eventually. I know they will."
Misty looked solely at me with tearful eyes, the two cerulean orbs being drowned in a sea of sorrow. Then, squinting and looking away, she jerked her head out of my hands and did something she had never done since the day we first met.
She slapped me.
"Misty! Wait!" Mom cried out after her as she rushed to Pidgeot. Not heeding a word Mom said, Misty took off with Pidgeot, who look down at us from the sky in confusion. Marill cried out after her trainer, but Misty didn't look back for a second.
Too shocked to do anything, I looked blankly forward at the shambling rubble of the Pokémon Center. Misty had never hit me before with such anger. For the first time in my life, I felt utterly helpless to do anything.
"Dad? Why is mom going all by herself?" Claire asked, tugging at my sleeve. I gave no reply. "…Dad?"
"She's…" Mom crouched down after seeing that I was in no emotional condition to answer Claire's question, gently rubbing the sides of her arms. "She's gone to find your brother, sweetheart. She'll be back soon."
"Why aren't you going after her, dad? Mom could get lost out there!" Claire said to me with slight frustration in her voice.
"…your mom's the toughest person I know, Claire. She can take care of herself. She needs to be alone right now," I replied.
"Then…what are we gonna do, dad? Are we just going to wait here until she comes back?"
"…yes, Claire. We'll wait until she comes back," I sighed, recalling Charizard back into his Pokéball and sitting on the ground, sinking my head onto my knees. A few very tedious hours later, Misty finally returned broken hearted. Mom embraced her in a warm hug, whispering into her ear that everything was going to be fine. But in our hearts, we all knew that it wasn't true.
Far from it.
Feeling as if our life had been shattered, Misty, Claire and I returned to our house in the Seafoam Islands after Misty refused to go to Pallet Town to talk about what had just happened with Mom and Dad. None of us spoke a word during the flight, nor after we entered the house. We all collapsed onto the sofa, Misty and Claire hugging onto one another while Pikachu and Marill were tugging at me in an unsuccessful bid to cheer me up. The silence was only broken when a message tone sounded from our video phone, grabbing our attention.
Walking over to it without muttering a word, I saw that there were two messages, one from Brock and Sabrina, and the other from Jessie and James. Too disheartened, and also due to the fact that I knew what the contents would be, I closed my eyes and began to move away. Another message tone sounded as I turned my back: more came in, this time from May and Dawn. And yet, I declined to look at them, instead lethargically returning to the sofa.
Seeing that Misty's tears still hadn't ceased, I gently placed my hand on her shoulder and whispered to her. "Misty…I…"
She shrugged my hand away with her arm, never letting go of Claire for one second. She glumly stared at Ethan's Pokébelt which lay on the table, the expression on her face more than showing that her heart felt like it was being pierced by a thousand knives. Not being able to take it anymore, she put Claire by herself on the sofa and rushed upstairs, the sound of the slamming of our bedroom door so loud that it could have been mistaken as that of the kitchen door which was barely a few feet away.
I fell onto my knees on the carpet, tears falling down my face as I clenched my fist against the floor. Pikachu and Marill remained on the sofa, looking down in dejection.
"Dad…it wasn't your fault…" Claire murmured to me, putting her hand on my arm as she crouched down next to me.
"Why…? Why couldn't I have just put off his journey for just a little longer? Not even one day?" I cried.
"There was no way you could've seen it coming, dad. Or prevent it, for that matter."
"I could have," I bit my lip. "I could have, and I should have. He's my son, and I failed him. None of this was your mother's fault…if only I could've done something about it…" I said as my thoughts went back to the tragic accident out at sea barely a week after Ethan was born, ten years ago.
"Trust me, dad, there isn't anything you could've done," Claire squeezed my arm. "But please, promise me you'll talk to mom? She's more upset than I've ever seen. I'm worried about her…"
Finally, her words having broken through to me, I smiled and hugged Claire warmly, then got up and went up the stairs. Claire, Pikachu and Marill followed behind me, then stayed outside me and Misty's bedroom as I entered, taking a deep breath beforehand.
As I gazed upon Misty weeping face-down into her pillow in her most dejected state, I was lost for words, feeling shivering sensation rippling through my entire body. I had never seen her so sad before in all the years I had known and loved her for.
She slowly turned her head to face me, a dread-inspiring glare firing at me from her eyes. She gripped her pillow with such force that her nail marks were clearly visible on its surface as she threw it at me, hitting me on the chest. "Get out!"
"Mist…please…What happened to Ethan was tragic and unbearable for me as much as it clearly is for you, and I'm not asking you to forgive me for letting him begin his journey too soon," I pleaded after she had spun her head back forward and was now crying into her hands. "I just…I don't know what to say…I'm sorry, Mist. Sorry for putting you through all this. I'm sorry for not listening to you when you kept on asking me whether Ethan could begin his journey in another few months. I'm sorry for…for everything…"
After hearing my words, Misty slowly raised her face from her hands, looking dully at the headboard of the bed. She took several deep breaths in and out, then slowly turned her tear-stained face in my direction. She looked at me with eyes that were full of sorrow, yet told me that in her heart, she forgave me. She moved her hand weakly towards me with a weak whisper.
"Ash…"
"…Misty…" I whispered back, approaching and sitting on the bed beside her.
"…hold me…"
Immediately, I embraced her tightly with both arms as she buried her face in my chest. I laid gentle kisses on her head, stroking her hair and rubbing her back to comfort her.
"Forgive me, Ash," she murmured after a while.
"There's nothing you should be sorry to me about, Mist. It's me who should be apologizing to you," I told her.
"No. You did absolutely nothing wrong, Ash. The things that happened were out of your control. I accept that, now. I guess the reason why I was so mad at you is…" she went silent for a moment, pondering in thought. "…is because I needed to blame someone. Something. Anything, for what happened to Ethan. But I can't stay mad at you, Ash, and I could never come to hate you. You've always been there for me when I needed you, yet I thought I could vent my frustration by doing what I did. Will you forgive me, Ash?"
"Like I said," I smiled, stroking her cheek as we looked into each other's eyes. "There's nothing you should be sorry to me about."
"I love you…" Misty breathed against my shoulder.
"I love you too, Mist. And I promise you; we'll get him back together. I promise," I held her in my arms.
(Meanwhile, in an unknown location, somewhere in Kanto…)
(3rd-person narrative)
"What…? Where…am I?" Ethan groaned as he rubbed his sore temple, shaking his head to regain his senses. Looking around, he saw that he was in some kind of chamber made of steel, with absolutely no lights inside it except for the one which shone directly upon him from above, forming a circle of light around him.
"So, you have finally awoken…" a reverberating and menacing voice chuckled evilly from the dark, causing Ethan to look around him nervously.
"That voice…so familiar, and yet…I've forgotten," Ethan remarked after a moment of searching, his once-frantic heartbeat now settling down very slowly as memories slowly crept back into his mind.
"Naïve, foolish boy…have you forgotten your master so easily?" the voice spoke again, and a dark figure approached Ethan with footsteps which were almost inaudible, yet sounded deep and terrible with every step taken. The man – or being, more like – stopped in front of Ethan, his face concealed underneath a black hood. But Ethan could see his eyes: two orbs of evil which looked down upon him with a cold fire.
The fear somehow escaping from him, Ethan slowly stood upright, walking slowly towards the man who stood over him. All at once, through the dark powers which remained dormant within him ever since he and his mother were rescued by his father eight years ago, he immediately recognized the one who was standing before him.
"…Master?"
The figure stepped forward one step, coming under the light which revealed a devilish smile. "Yes…it is I…Apothes."
(End of Chapter 1)
A/N:It's good to have finally reached this Book, as I had been waiting to get to it ever since starting this series. Like Book III, I haven't written up a full plot outline for me to follow like I did for Books I and II, but I'm confident I'll be able to keep things together and make the story run smoothly.
I'm going to write up the next chapter of my Yugioh Abridged fic, as many people have been waiting on it. You can stay updated on how both stories are coming along, by looking at the very bottom of my profile where I post updates on story progress.
Please leave your reviews. : )