Okay guys, here's chapter 2 finally. This one's a little longer, originally I didn't even have this when I first wrote the story on paper, but I felt I had to write it for details. It's a little lengthy I think, so try to bear with it as the pacing changes a little much in this one.
Sorry for the delay, Please read and review, this is my first story after all. And thanks to all the reviewers on my first chapter, they encouraged me to keep going!
I do not own pokemon. Misty would still be in the show and the voice actors never would've changed. Again, it's a FAN fiction.
Chapter 2: The Trip
Misty left her gym at about 1:30 or so that day, pedaling as hard as she could. She figured that at the speed she was going, she'd be entering Pewter in a couple days, because of Mt. Moon being on the way there. When dusk started to fall, she decided to stop for the night beside the route she was on. She was exhausted from her pedaling, her water was almost gone, and she felt like a Grimer.
She found a nice grassy spot outside the cave's entrance and decided where to put her sleeping bag. "At this rate I should be in Pallet in a few days…" she thought. Her stomach suddenly made a rather loud sound, as if demanding her to feed it. She then realized that she completely forgot to pack even a few snacks after rushing that morning. She had a mini-heart attack, until she realized she actually brought money with her. "First thing after I get out of that cave, I'll get some food in Pewter." she said to herself, as she got out her sleeping bag and rolled it out, preparing for a night that would probably be sleepless.
Meanwhile, at the Indigo Plateau Pokemon Center that night…
At the same time Misty was hungering for munchies, a boy with long, scraggly black hair and an old, beat-up Pokemon Expo cap covering it was munching his hunger away with his three traveling companions at the Indigo Pokemon Center, one of the largest centers in the world. All centers and restaurants were offering free all-you-can-eat buffets for the tournament participants, making the boy feel like he was in heaven. His friends, however, weren't eating nearly as much, since they weren't competing.
His name was Ash Ketchum, an eighteen year old boy from Pallet Town, whose determination and perseverance you could see a mile away (along with his hunger…). His friends with him were Brock, a twenty-year-old Pokemon Breeder from Pewter City, who had been with Ash since he had gotten the very first badge of his journey. Alongside them were May and Max, from Littleroot Town, who, although the newest members of their group, quickly became close friends with Ash and Brock. May, now fourteen, strived to become the world's greatest coordinator, and Max, now eight years old, had the same dream as Ash. He got more and more excited about it every day too; he would soon be old enough to get a Pokemon License and his first starting Pokemon. (A/N: Sorry, no Dawn in the group, I'm not familiar enough with her to write about her… haven't seen the show since the voice actors changed.)
"Wha thime ith it Bwock?" Ash managed to intelligently get out as he tried to get down a huge helping of spaghetti, almost choking. Some sauce flew and landed next to Brock's plate, almost going into his glass of soda.
"Watch it Ash," Brock got out after swallowing some chicken. He looked at his Poketch. "About 9:00" he said. "After this I say we hit the hay. The opening ceremonies start tomorrow."
May and Max nodded. "Yeah Ash, no more staying up late. Remember, tomorrow you start training one last time before the ceremonies as well, so you'll be getting up early" May added. She then took a big bite of her burger.
"-Gulp- Yeah, that's true…" Ash got out after drinking some soda. The group had just arrived to the Plateau that day, and without any food all day, they were eating as much as they could, no matter how much sleep they needed to get.
After finishing their dinner at almost 10:00 (wow, they ate a LOT) they decided to leave their Pokemon with Nurse Joy before getting their rooms. But before any of this occurred, Brock approached her. "Oh no…" thought Max. Brock took her hands in his, like always.
"My goodness Nurse Joy, you look magnificently stunning this evening… Instead of healing the Pokemon, I'd be delighted of you could heal my tattered soul with your gracious presence…--OW!"
Max had him by the ear yet again, dragging him to his room and throwing him in. "There, and stay in." Max said as he closed the door.
"Goodnight to you too Max..." Brock replied. Ash just looked on at the whole incident, while giving Joy all of their Pokemon, as it reminded him of someone else who used to do that, and do it well too. Except, she also had a mallet, making her more threatening, and making him cringe a little just thinking about it.
Lately he's been thinking about her a lot, and especially now, before the tournament. How she looked lately, especially; her fiery red hair was sometimes down whenever they were on the videophone, slightly over her brow, which he enjoyed for some reason. Her eyes were the same Cerulean Blue they were two years ago, and he thought her attire changed for the better. She'd gotten a little taller, and more shapely as well.
Then he looked at himself… same blue and white shirt over a black one, same jeans and shoes, same tattered cap. He was hoping he'd changed a little lately, but his hope soon faded.
But he felt guilty. Sure, she could just watch him on TV easily, for free and without traveling anywhere, but for some reason he felt that he needed her there through it all, or at least through the end if he were to make it that far. He almost felt selfish sending her that letter, trying to get her to come, just to watch one of her friends battle and lose under pressure. The thought that he was really just interfering with the work of a gym leader, especially her work, was unwanted, although he felt like he was doing just that..
"But, maybe she is coming…" he thought to himself as he wandered down the hall to his room. He was hoping that she had taken it as a compliment, as a good gesture from an old friend, and not as an offensive smug request. Mostly, he was hoping the letter even made it. The past couple of weeks the phone lines had been out all over Western Kanto, and he had lost her e-mail address. Just his luck to hope on a letter to get there on time when all else already failed.
"Goodnight guys" Ash said to the group. They all replied back as he reached his room. He entered, then shut and locked the door. He made his way to the window; it had a rather large seat on the windowsill (A/N: I forget what those are called..) and he sat on it, gazing at the stars, wondering if she'll make it by the end of the week. "I have to win, to stay in it, all the way, for her…" He thought to himself. The last thing he wants is her arriving for the final round, at the last minute, and then losing right there. Or worse, losing before she even gets there.
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By Mt. Moon, Misty was gazing at the same sky, wondering the same thing. She couldn't bear to miss any of Ash's matches, but at this rate she might not see him until the Semifinals, maybe even the Final Round. "You'd better have trained your ass off Ash Ketchum…" she mumbled. "If you didn't I won't be able to see you."
After thinking for a while longer, she realized she would have to bike through Viridian Forest after going through Pewter. "Crap…" she said to herself. This would add a day and a half to her trip, and also would add some time to make good acquaintances with some of her favorite bug Pokemon. She cringed as a huge shiver went down her spine. Her body tightened as she tried to sleep, attempting to smash all the bugs in her head with her mallet. Along with the peppers and carrots she despised. She also made a mental note to pedal her legs off each day, to try to make it to Pallet sooner. Hopefully his mom would still be there when she arrived, or else she'd be screwed.
Her thoughts soon drifted to Ash. He's all she's been thinking about lately. Ever since they met he's always been there for her somehow, and he had shown her that determination and confidence alone can get you pretty far, even if your head would swell up like a sponge in the process. Many of his "off-the-top-of-the-head" battle techniques were used by Misty during gym battles, and most were successful, although one time resulted in a huge crack in the pool. And on some nights during their ventures, they would talk for hours in front of the fire, or by the nearby lake, about Pokemon, how the day was, or more personal things. She felt that that's what she missed most from traveling, opening up to him when she couldn't to anyone else. They fought a lot, but she felt that she trusted him with her life as well. These mixed up feelings had been getting to Misty for some time now, hoping they'd be resolved somehow once she sees him again.
The next day, Misty breezed through the mountain. Since she trained there so much lately, she was very familiar with the path, where not to go and which corners to turn. She was only in there for a couple hours before reaching the exit. She pedaled harder as she saw Pewter appear in the distance.
By the time she reached Pewter, it was almost 6 pm…. she was starving after not eating for almost two days, so she rushed to the Pokemon Center to heal her Pokemon, and to eat as well.
She sat in the cafeteria with her tray full of food, notcing that only a few other people were there. Nurse Joy turned on the TV sets, revealing the images of the Opening Ceremonies of the tournament, just in time to witness the hoards of trainers appear in the main Battle Arena. "Wow, there's a lot of trainers…" She said to herself before gouging into her BLT. She noticed a few already; Richie was there, who was an old friend of Ash and Misty from Ash's first attempt at the tournament. Harrison was also there, who Ash defeated in the Silver Conference to win that tournament. And of course Gary, who had that same smug look on his face, although he had gotten nicer lately. She also noticed a few other trainers that Ash had faced during his adventures and tournaments.
She finally saw him, standing near the front of the stairway that led to the platform which would soon hold the Moltres flame. But she didn't see Pikachu with him at all, which struck her as odd. She figured maybe it was at the Pokemon Center. Even from that far-off camera view, he looked like he had grown up a little. Misty smiled as she watched him on TV.
The announcer recognized the runner that held the Moltres flame torch as he made his way to the platform. He finally reached the top, and lit the huge dish, setting the entire thing ablaze. At this point, five jets flew through the air over the stadium, against a dusked, starlit sky. This was quickly followed by a huge fireworks display.
The TV cameras moved to various trainers; one soon moved to Ash, catching him take his hat off while staring up. The camera moved to behind him, but still watching him. He then made a pointing gesture to the sky with his free hand as several huge fireworks lit off, all at the same time. This made Misty melt a little; Ash looked like darkness against the brilliant light show. The flame alone made him look pitch black. The cameras then moved to other various trainers as Misty finished her food. Some waved at the cameras, some didn't even notice.
"I really wish I was there…" Misty thought to herself. When she traveled with Ash and Brock, she was always there at the Opening Ceremonies in person. Watching it on TV was completely different, although it was still spectacular. She stayed in the cafeteria to watch Mr. Goodshow's speech. After that she made her way to her room.
She took a shower right when she got to her room, since she felt disgusting. About a half hour later she brushed her teeth and crawled into a real bed, immediately falling asleep after a hard day.
Ash, Brock, May and Max all went to their rooms after the Ceremonies. They had ran into Gary beforehand, so he was with them as well until he reached his own room in the same center. He had told Ash that, although he was following his Grandfather as a Pokemon Professor, he felt that he needed to enter one last tournament in his home region before retiring. He had victored in many smaller leagues, as well as a couple big ones, so he was putting those winnings toward his future career as a Professor, by helping his Grandfather in the lab at Pallet pay for new, state-of-the-art research equipment.
They all talked for a while longer before reaching their rooms, leaving Ash to ponder the same thoughts as the night before. "I hope I'm not like this every night, I need to focus for the tournament…" he thought to himself. More and more each day he pined for Misty's presence. He hoped she was at least going to be able to catch some of his battles on TV. The thought that she still watched the battles while not there calmed his head down a little, making sleep come a little easier that night.
The next day, right after breakfast, he registered his team of three for his first match of the tournament, on a rock field. Him and Brock researched the opponent, making Ash's choice for a team much easier to make. The matched commenced at noon, and Ash breezed through this opponent a little easily. The trainer from Fuschia City had all Pokemon of one type, and, although they all had varied move types, Ash still took advantage of the trainer's disadvantage. The final blow from Ash's Kingler to the trainer's Dugtrio ended the match.
Misty watched the entire match at the Pewter Pokemon Center, amazed at how much his training had paid off. Afterwards, Misty found out on the TV that the tournament would last another five days before heading into the Final Round three days after that. After doing the math in her head, she quickly headed out of the town and reached the forest by nightfall. She decided to camp by the entrance to the area; she wasn't ready for bugs today. Hopefully she'd make it a day before the final, it'd be earlier without that stupid forest in the way though.
"Good match today Ash!" Brock congratulated Ash for his efforts that day, while they were in the center healing Ash's Pokemon.
"Thanks Brock, once I saw his weak point I kept hitting it… I just have to keep battling like this, and I'll be in the Finals before I know it!" Ash exclaimed, his determination burning with adrenaline yet again.
"Yeah you were great today Ash," May added, "but don't let this get to your head, that match seemed a little easy for you. That was only the first round, out of about eight rounds or so, not counting the Final Round. You have to stay focused, there's harder trainers here you know."
"Yeah I know, but I have a diverse team of Pokemon I've rotated myself… I've trained all of my Pokemon for this tournament… I must've drove Professor Oak nuts these last few months with all of the transfers of Pokemon I made him do."
Brock popped out a soda from the vending machine and opened it. "Yeah, I think that's the best way to train, to train all of your Pokemon you've ever caught, so that you'll be ready for any situation. I mean, Gary has trained like that throughout his training career, and look at how successful he's been. I'm glad you did that before the tournament Ash, your actions will prove crucial in your next matches."
"They have to…" Ash replied to Brock. "Especially for her… I really hope she makes it…" he thought. A fixed expression on his face turned his energy to worry.
They all started to stare at him, wondering why his mood changed so suddenly. A minute ago he was brimming with energy, now he's dazed off. Although May and Max were clueless to it all, Brock has noticed this in Ash the past month or so. He figured the reason why, but didn't yet bring it up to Ash, fearing he figured wrong.
They soon went to bed after the conversation. Ash had two matches the next day, so he needed all the sleep he could get. Once he touched the bed he zonked.
Misty was zooming through the forest as fast as she could, trying to escape all the bugs she felt were going to eat her. At one point she could've sworn a Beedrill was chasing her, so she sped up even more.
After a horrifying torture-chamber trip through the forest she soon arrived in Viridian by noon the next day, immediately going to the Center to heal her Pokemon from defending her from the terrors of the forest. Ash's first match started at 12:30 on a grass field, then two hours later on a water field, and had arrived just in time for his first match of the day.
She saw that both matches were difficult for Ash; both opponents were pretty unpredictable with their strategies. Ash had got through the first opponent of the day with only Muk and Tauros, although his opponent's Marshtomp proved difficult. But his next match on the water field forced him to use all three, his shiny Noctowl, Squirtle and Heracross. The announcer congratulated Ash on his third victory, with his Heracross defeating his opponent's Furrett, and Misty then left towards Pallet, relieved that Ash wasn't eliminated.
It had took Misty another three days to reach Pallet, without knowing if Ash had even made it. She finally arrived in Pallet after a long, tiring, suspenseful trip, exhausted, sweaty and hot, praying that his mom was still there to help her get to the Indigo Plateau.
She slowly approached the red-and-white two-story house, fenced all around, with a beautiful garden that covered the front yards, and with a shaking hand, rang the doorbell.
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Cliffhanger! I'm so evil lol. Please read and review, no reason to flame since I'm new to writing. Hopefully the third chapter will be up faster than this one.
Thanks all, and keep your eye out for the update!
--MoltresFeather--
