My Coney Island Baby

My Coney Island Baby

Part 1

by Spruceton Spook

Ash smiled and moaned happily as he took a huge bite out of his hamburger, which was hot, juicy, and fresh off the grill. He chewed it vigorously with an open mouth, causing some of the burger's ketchup-filled grease to drip slowly out of his mouth.

"Eww! Ash, keep the food in your mouth!" Misty growled at him, giving him a revolted look.

"Ash, don't be disgusting," Mrs. Ketchum said, shaking her head at her son. She was standing over the grill, plopping hamburgers onto the buns which Brock was holding up to her one at a time.

Ash grinned and coughed a laugh as he pulled a napkin up to his mouth. He kept the napkin at his face until he swallowed his food, in which afterwards he burst out laughing loudly. Misty still didn't find it funny, and punched his shoulder in reaction.

It was a hot, muggy July afternoon in Pallet Town, perfect weather for a backyard barbecue. It had been rainy and a little chilly ever since Ash, Misty, and Brock had returned to Pallet, and that had been over a week ago. Ash had been highly anticipating a wonderful grilled meal such as this for a long time, and just the way his mother made delicious meals, she cooked great barbecued hamburgers, as well. As soon as he awoke that morning to see the shining sun, he immediately begged his mom for a barbecue.

Brock and Mrs. Ketchum joined them at the picnic table, each choosing a hamburger for themselves, while Misty bit off tiny pieces of her hot dog, which she found more tasty than burgers. Togepi was quietly drifting off to sleep in her lap, but then made the sudden decision to jump out of her arms and toddle towards the house.

"You wanna go to sleep on my bed, Togepi?" Misty asked gently.

Togepi nodded sleepily. Misty smiled and got up from the table, and opened the door for Togepi. Pikachu suddenly took it upon himself to escort Togepi into the house. A nap didn't sound that bad to him, either, and telling Ash simply that he was going in to sleep and look after Togepi, he leapt off the bench where he had seated himself beside Ash, and rushed to the baby Pokémon's side.

"Will they be all right?" Misty asked, looking at Ash.

"They'll be fine," Brock said assuringly. "Pikachu knows how to look after Togepi. Let's eat." Misty returned to the table, glancing around with a concerned look over her shoulder. They continued to eat their food silently, basking in the warm rays of the sun and looking out at the graceful sloping green mountains surrounding Pallet.

"I love summer days like this," said Mrs. Ketchum dreamingly, suddenly drawing the kids' attentions away from the food. "They always remind me of that trip I took to Coney Island."

"Oh! Here we go again!!" Ash groaned, burying his head in his hands. Mrs. Ketchum narrowed her eyes at Ash, annoyed at his sudden interruption.

"Coney Island?" Brock asked with an interested ring in his voice. "You mean the amusement park?"

Mrs. Ketchum nodded happily at the same time Ash's hand shot up to clasp on Brock's lips. "No, no, no! Please don't get her started about Coney Island! You'll never hear the end of it!"

"Ash, cut it out!" Misty shouted, shooing Ash's hand away from Brock. "I'd like to hear about Coney Island."

"Yeah, well I've heard about it a billion times!" Ash complained, sighing. "It gets old."

"Well, it's a new story to me!" said Misty. She turned to Mrs. Ketchum with a smile. "Tell us about it."

"Well, unfortunately Ash doesn't understand what a great place it was 'cause he was never there," Mrs. Ketchum continued, mixing her salad around with her fork. "I've only been there once in 1975 when I was 7, but I remember it like it was yesterday. Of course, it wasn't as glamorous as it had been, but it was still a great place. We visited there for one day, and it was a hot July day just like today."

Ash pulled his hat over his face. He had heard his mom talk about Coney Island so much in his life that he shivered at the sound of it. She had almost an obsession over it, and even though she had not been there in its hay-day, she knew of all the rides and all the parks that had ever been located there, half of which she had never seen or rode on. Ash glanced over at Brock and Misty, who listened to Mrs. Ketchum's words attentively, and he sighed again, deciding it was best to listen, also. After all, Coney Island didn't sound like a bad place. He loved theme parks, just not ones he hadn't heard about over and over.

Suddenly, Ash heard a rustling in the bushes. His eyelids rose and he tipped his hat up off his concealed face to notice a Pokémon stroll casually into his backyard. He leapt off his seat excitedly when he realized that it was an extremely rare Alakazam.

"Oh my God!" he shouted, startling the others around him. "I can't believe it! An Alakazam! I gotta capture it!"

He immediately felt for a Pokéball at his belt, and chose his trust-worthy Bulbasaur, who emerged determinedly.

"I can't believe it, either," Brock said, astonished. "You don't see them very often."

Misty, Brock, and Mrs. Ketchum watched as Ash ordered Bulbasaur to use razor-leaf, which the Alakazam destroyed immediately. On the other side of the yard, three others were watching Ash's quest for a new companion. Jessie, James, and Meowth had been crouching in the bushes for quite some time, watching their enemies engulf their food with their tongues hanging out.

Jessie's eyes were gleaming as she stared in a daze at the Alakazam. "Oh, the Boss could surely go for one of them!" she blurted out excitedly.

"Then what are we waitin' for?" Meowth replied. "Let's get it before the twerp does!"

"No, let's wait till he tires it out first," James said, gripping tightly onto Jessie, who was ready to jump out and claim it for her own any second. "We'll get it then!"

All of the attacks that Bulbasaur was inflicting on the Alakazam didn't seem to be working. It only seemed to make the Pokémon more ticked off every minute, but Ash wasn't ready to give up. In all the excitement, the others had gotten up from the table to watch the battle.

"Bulbasaur, vine whip now!" Ash shouted, pointing strenuously at Alakazam.

"Bulba!" replied Bulbasaur, releasing his vines swiftly at his opponent. Suddenly, the Alakazam's eyes began to glow a bright yellow, and it crossed its arms. Ash was caught by surprise, as was Bulbasaur, when a bright, almost blinding light illuminated from Alakazam. The gleam stretched out to all corners of the yard, and Ash swallowed heavily in fear. Suddenly, Ash, Misty, Brock, Mrs. Ketchum, or Team Rocket couldn't see a thing except for white. The ground, the trees, the sky--everything disappeared.

"What's going on?!" Ash cried loudly, looking over to his mom and friends. As he made a sudden run towards them, time seemed to freeze. Slowly but surely, scenes and colors began to appear again, though they were utterly blurry.

Ash finally reached the others, and together they squinted their eyes to try to desperately make out anything.

"I don't like this!" Misty moaned nervously. He clutched onto Brock's arm, who seemed just as scared as she was. His eyes darted about worriedly.

"What happened?" Ash asked again, fear rising in his voice. He immediately recalled Bulbasaur.

"I don't know, but stay close," Mrs. Ketchum replied, grabbing a hold of Ash's arm and pulling him close to her. The environment around them was still considerably hazy, but it was starting to come into view. The hard ground that they had been standing on suddenly became soft, and they looked down at their feet to reveal that they were on sand. Ash looked up in shock at Misty, who extended the same look to Brock. Ash felt his mom clench tighter on his arm, and it made him worried.

Colors appeared one by one, and movement of people was visible. Not a word was spoken between the group, they were too frightened. As the scene unfolded before them, they were shocked to see that they were on a beach. Facing the ocean, all they could see were swarms of people wading, splashing, and jumping around. There seemed to hundreds of them, and as they slowly took in the sights around them, they realized that they were amidst a huge beach-going crowd.

"How did we get here?" Brock asked, alarmed. "And where is here?"

Nobody answered. With their eyes wide open, they looked around at the people. Only small patches of sand could be seen, that was how many people were there. Only there was something strange about this scene, and Ash was the first person to say a thing about it.

"What are they wearing?" he asked in a high-pitched tone, one caused by complete surprise. Sure enough, every man, woman, and child at the beach were dressed in old-fashioned garb. Not a normal bathing suit was in sight, they were replaced by women in dresses and men in long bathing suits.

All of sudden, Mrs. Ketchum gasped so loudly that it scared Ash, Misty, and Brock. She had turned the opposite way, and her eyes were sparkled and filled with amazement. They instantly turned around and gasped themselves, as they noticed the skyline of a massive amusement park in the distance. As their eyes flashed from left to right and back to left again, they could make out the towering peaks of roller coasters, Ferris wheels, and other rides. A long boardwalk ran alongside of it, and seemed to disappear into the distance. More hordes of people occupied the boardwalk.

"I can't believe it! It can't be!" Mrs. Ketchum muttered.

Ash, Misty, and Brock looked up worriedly at her. "What it it?" they asked simultaneously.

She looked down at them, a small smile spreading across her face. "I-- I think we're at Coney Island," she answered, her voice cracking.

"Are you sure?" Ash asked. He wasn't ready to accept the fact that they were standing right in front of the place he had heard about all his life.

"Believe me, Ash, I know what Coney Island looks like!" Mrs. Ketchum replied, giving Ash a shocked look.

"I won't doubt that," Ash said, realizing that it was stupid in the first place to even ask.

"But . . .why is everyone dressed like that?" Misty asked, her eyes carefully examining a small family they were standing beside. In return, one of the children, a small boy of about 3, stared weirdly back at her. He began to tuck at his father's shirt, his eyes never leaving Misty.

"If you ask me, I would say these people are from a long time ago . . ." Suddenly Brock's voice faded out. His heart had taken an impulsive leap as he realized what he had just said. Looking up at Mrs. Ketchum, his eyes widened in shock and fear. "You don't suppose . . . ?"

Mrs. Ketchum looked back at the park, and nodded unemotionally as her pointed finger extended towards a distant section. Following it, Ash, Misty, and Brock could see a large, pointed contraption in the distance, where, one at a time, large, white fluttering parachutes fell after ascending to the top.

"That--that's the parachute jump," Mrs. Ketchum said, muffling her words. She was still holding on tightly to Ash's arm. "Unless I'm mistaken, that ride stopped working in the late 1960's."

Ash, Misty, and Brock's breathing suddenly froze. What did that mean? Certainly, that Alakazam couldn't have. . .

"Then that means--" Misty began apprehensively.

"I think we've just been teleported back in time," Brock finished, swallowing hard.

There seemed to be no doubt about that any more. Putting all the obvious things together, it was clear that in protection, Alakazam had used its most powerful attack, teleportation. Usually, it only teleported its victims to other positions or other places, but it was never known to actually cause something to travel back in time. Ash, Misty, and Brock knew that very well, and thinking about it made them slightly nauseous.

Ash began to tremble. "How are we gonna get back?" he asked, looking to his mom for the answer.

She looked down at him, and Ash shuttered when he saw the oblivious look in her eyes. "I don't know," she answered softly.

Misty sighed. The impossible heat of the beach was making her start to sweat, and she wiped her forehead every few seconds. Her eyes were squinted from the bright sun. "We need to find another Alakazam," she said.

Ash smiled. "That's right! If one could get us here, one could certainly get us back!"

Brock smiled, also, but he still had this horrible feeling in his gut that perhaps, just maybe, they were stuck there. He shook his head violently at the thought. They would have to get back home.

Almost as if it were planned, they began to make their way toward the boardwalk. They didn't say much to each other, they were too busy taking in the sights. Ash glanced up occasionally at his mother, wondering if she was as thrilled about being at Coney Island as he assumed she would be. She seemed to be smiling, but her eyes were filled with such amazement that Ash really couldn't tell. He walked over to Brock and Misty, and centered himself between them.

Relieved to be off the sand, they climbed happily onto the boardwalk. There was a much more distinct view now of the amusements and the various food courts running along it. The place was utterly noisy. The large herds of people pushed and shoved and maneuvered around each other, either trying to get where they wanted to go or get a place on line for some food.

Brock suddenly caught sight of a newspaper stand among the food stands. He raced to it, with Ash, Misty, and Mrs. Ketchum hot on his heels. As soon as he reached the stand, he grabbed a newspaper from the rack and look in horror at the cover. Gulping in shock, he held the newspaper up to the others' faces.

"July 16th, 1949?!" Misty asked in disturbance, a chill running up her spine.

Mrs. Ketchum seized the paper from Brock's hands. She scrutinized it with widened eyes, then looked down at the kids. Smiling slightly, she placed the paper back on the rack. "This is unbelievable," she uttered softly. "We are at Coney Island in 1949!" She breathed heavily and excitedly.

"So?" Ash asked.

Mrs. Ketchum ruffled Ash's hair playfully. "Let's hit the rides!"

With that, Ash, Misty, and Brock's faces lit up with thrill, and they took off into the park.

Back on the beach, three other individuals rose to their feet, their eyes widening and scanning the packed beach. Sand coated their legs and arms, and the searing heat beat down on their backs.

"Where are we?" screeched Jessie, brushing some sand off of her skirt.

"I don't know, but I'm scared!" James replied, and in an instant he and Jessie braced into one of their famous fear-hugs.

Meowth scowled. "Oh, break it up, will yas? It's obvious here. Dat Alakazam just transported us with teleportation."

"We know that, Meowth!" Jessie shouted at the cat. "But where are we?!"

Her sudden outburst caught the attention of a passerby. He froze before Team Rocket, and giving them the once-over, his eyes met theirs. He was dressed in the "normal" bathing outfit, long, black, and striped. Jessie, James, and Meowth returned the surprised look.

"Did you just ask where you were?" he asked, annoyance and shock present in his interrogation.

"Uh, yeah, could you help us?" James asked politely, still gripping onto Jessie.

"You mean you really don't know?" the man asked, his eyes darted up and down at the weird Team Rocket uniforms. He seemed a bit amused at the same time. "You're at Coney Island! What are you, some sort of weirdoes?"

Jessie became enraged. "Weirdoes?! Who are you calling a weirdo?!"

James held onto her tightly, otherwise she would have lunged at the man. The guy just seemed to look strangely at them again, and hurried away from them. Jessie's face was bright red, and she heaved in frustration.

"At least I'm not dressed so hideously!" she roared at the man, who did not turn around.

"Coney Island, eh?" Meowth said, looking around. "Looks like some sorta amusement park." He stared at the huge rides in the background.

"Oooh! I want to ride the Ferris wheel!" James exclaimed suddenly, his purple hair blowing in the soft ocean breezes. "Let's go!" He took off towards the rides, and Jessie and Meowth followed, calling for him to slow down. James continued to run, and when Jessie and Meowth finally caught up to him, each had an excited smile on their face. No matter how confused, frightened, or hot they were, none of them could pass up the opportunity.

TO BE CONTINUED. . .

So, how do ya like it so far? I usually don't write messages at the end of my fics, but I had to tell you just why I decided to write this little story. Don't worry, it won't be as long as my last! Believe me, a lot shorter! Anyway, I am a huge Coney Island freak, and I needed to put it to Pokémon. Of course, today's Coney Island is not as spectacular as it was back in the early years, so this needed to take place at that time. And this will be a romance, so don't get confused!! I didn't hit the wrong category! Who's it gonna be? That's for me to know and you to find out! Please review and tell me how you like it! Thanks!