Chapter 2 – The Shooting Star

The sun lightly set along the horizon as dusk began to make its way towards the trivial world with a flicker of stars.

A girl leaned against the bars at the end of Route 25, watching the lapping waves as they swished about wildly. She gave a sigh, before allowing her head to droop onto her folded arms as she watched white and pink flippers slip in and out of the water like well trained dolphins. The wind that swayed the waves did likewise to her orange hair, and she blinked at the not-so-distant ocean.

"I could go fishing…" she murmured to herself, her viridian eyes lacking the spark of excitement she normally had. "It'd normally cheer me up, and the weather's looking great. But… I just don't seem to be in the mood."

A goldfish bearing a cherry and ashen palette shot out of the water, its horn glinting in the sunlight before it dived below the surface once more. This sight continued until it swished and flipped by the beach below, where a reminiscent memory got caught in the girl's gaze; she smiled.

According to a boastful story, Ash caught his Krabby here.

Placing her hands into her carroty-coloured jacket's pocket, the gym leader looked at the ground, closing her eyes as she did so. Her smile was short-lived, as it turned into an anxious frown.

"I wonder how Ash's doing…" She looked up, feeling the cold breeze brushing against her face as night approached. "It's certainly been a while since I've seen him."

True to belief, she hadn't seen him since that time she barely caught him during his return from a region called Sinnoh. Even then, he couldn't sit still at the thought of another region holding even more gyms to be conquered. And when he heard about it, he didn't stay that long. As soon as the poor female heard of how he was going to leave soon, that let her heart droop even more. She didn't need to complain, but she did quite a bit to a certain mouse Pokémon during the times when Ash left the two Pika-pals to have a catch-up chat, whatever that meant.

The moon glittered brightly as it came into view, and she shivered again as the sky turned dark.

She guessed he was out there, on his same, ol' journey to become a Pokémon Master. That always brought a little humor to her, because the boy's excitement went to the extent that he'd do everything possible to get the next gym badge, despite how reckless and dangerous the method was. Well, at least, the last time he traveled across Kanto with the girl.

Those times… Misty would never forget. Sometimes, she wished she could take them back, you know, relive them again. Maybe she could use her old bike again… but the chances of a newbie Pokémon trainer called Ash Ketchum coming out of Pallet Town with a newly acquired Pikachu were slim. Not to mention, it'd be bad for her bike.

She pouted, running over the matter in her head. "What does it take for scientists to invent a time machine, anyway? Seriously?"

A search-light shot by her, and she looked to the old lighthouse near the ocean, feeling old memories rushing back to her mind.

The girl turned around, shaking her head as a vein popped. "I've gotta' stop thinking about all of this! I can't stand here and sulk about like a moaning mini. I mean, I'm a gym leader for Pete's sake! Speaking of that…" She rubbed her forehead, feeling a drop of sweat fall down it. "I better get back. It's late as it is."

A plop of water fell from the sky, landing neatly on her nose. It dribbled to the end of it, and Misty watched the droplet fall onto the ground.

Rain.

She looked up, seeing the starless sky and a few, small clouds. She easily guessed it was going to drizzle, nothing major. She could stand that. After all, her specialty was WATER-type Pokémon.

She gave a challenging smirk. "Let's see what you got, Mr. Weatherman!"

Suddenly, as if someone wanted to punish her, more droplets fell, swifter than the first. They landed on the she-male's orange hair, causing it to drip and get wet, likewise for her clothes. Why, oh why, did she have to wear shorts today?

"That's either cocky water Pokémon doing Rain Dance, or the natural weather…" Her eyelids fell half-way, bored, and she gave a mutter, "Why did I even open my big mouth?"

Picking up the pace, Misty shook her head, and hurried down the long path back to Cerulean.

It was a quite a trek, but the water-type trainer finally made it to the front of the gym, and grabbed the bottom of her tank top, twisted it, and caused most of the water to come out. Most.

Judging by the sky's growing darkness, every little kid in the city was sound asleep.

Misty wringed out her hair, and opened the door, weary from the hectic trip. Her usual walk and spot was starting to take a drag on her career, but, with new trainers coming to challenge her everyday, she needed to keep her stress levels down, since some people weren't very great at battling than herself. And some, well, not to brag, but they sometimes, RARELY, wiped the floor with Misty, and that angered her the most, depending on her day. She tended to be praising on a good day, but on a bad… Oh, you don't wanna' know.

"Where have you been, little sister?" called a familiar voice from down below, across the pool, resonating from a blonde-haired girl with a blue towel draped over her shoulder.

"Out," Misty simply answered, walking down the stand's stairs and along the bottom side-railings towards a door.

"Well, you didn't need to, like, bring the rain inside, but, then, you needed a little shower," the female replied with a little smile. She watched Misty walk through the door and descend down the flight of stairs behind the walls towards her.

"Right, Daisy," Misty answered, placing her hands on her hips, her expression annoyed. "I've had plenty of showers, but I didn't need another one… not from a wise-guy who's pretty suspicious for not mentioning a rain forecast for today."

"Mhm…" Daisy trailed, remembering that signal had been lacking with television set and the radio lately.

"I guess I'll have to trust my brilliant instincts on the weather next time!" The orange-haired girl grinned proudly.

"Your instincts?" her sister asked, tilting her head and catching her towel before it slipped off her shoulder. She solved this with ease by wrapping it around her neck.

Misty wrinkled her nose a little. "What? Are you saying I don't have any?"

"Not really," the other shook her head, still presenting that warm smile. "You do have a few…"

"Well, a few's better than none, ALRIGHT?" Misty narrowed her eyes.

…

"You were out for a while," Daisy observed, glancing at a nearby clock and noticing the depicted time of 10:30 PM. "So long that Lily ended up scoffing your supper."

"She did WHAT?" Misty yelled, clenching her fist and giving a fierce scowl.

"I had more for you…"

"Really?" the younger sister asked, giving her sibling a hopeful glance.

"…but those two, like, ate it all before you came home." She messed with the edge of her swimsuit a little bit, awkward; she felt she could've done something about that.

"Are you KIDDING me?!" The smaller one groaned, slapping her forehead. "Today was soup night!"

"Drink, then… I think," Daisy corrected, not noticing how Misty was talking about it being one of her favorite meals. "Why were you out so late?"

"I've… been busy," Misty trailed, not wanting to speak of a boy topic in front of any of the Sensational Sisters; if word got out, she'd never hear the end of it.

"With what…?" the blonde one inquired, brushing her hair back while lifting an eyebrow. The flower between her many strands of hair throttled a little, but then became still as the girl moved her hand away from styling.

They stood, a fair distance apart, and the hot-tempered one looked to the ground, holding a hesitant motion.

The girl gulped slightly. "Daisy?"

"Yes, Misty?"

"Daisy, do you ever have any trouble with…"

"About time you got back, runt!" called a humorous voice, as the said being glared at the entrance to the make-up studio.

"Quit callin' me a runt, Lily! Or, I swear, I'll grab a flying-type Pokémon and cut your root!"

The other female smirked at her little sister. She was the same height as Daisy, though held several differences. Bright, pink hair adorned her head, and bright blue eyes, unlike her sister, Daisy's mature green eyes.

"I thought you specialized in water-types, Misty. Maybe you're, like, losing it."

"Oh, please give over, Lily, it's late…"

"Not a chance, sis! Runt missed her little teasing session!"

Seeing the story seemed cartoon-y, Misty's head grew large, and she screamed at the top of her lungs, "I'M NOT A RUNT!"

"Sure, runt," Lily replied with a nasty-looking smile, which grew wider every few seconds. "You missed supper, you know. So, I, the fabulous Lily, Sensational Sister, decided to take care of the meal like a good Samaritan…"

"Through your STOMACH!" Misty snapped, interrupting her sister with a dark look of malice.

"Whatever," Lily waved an uncaring hand. "At least I was in time for it. I'm surprised we don't have curfew regulations in here…"

"We don't, like, need them, sister," Daisy jumped in, "Misty can take care of herself."

A smug grin formed on Misty's face, as she nodded with closed eyes… it didn't last long.

"Yeah, please. She's lucky to have been okay with that Ash kid."

"LUCKY?" the gym leader asked, her grudge gaining size by the moment due to what the topic had been brought to: her face was red. "I constantly helped out that little brat! And what does he do? He goes and…"

Daisy gave a hint of sympathy, whilst Lily just shook it off.

"Yeah, yeah. We didn't, like, need your life story about you and your boyfriend."

"For your information, we…!"

Misty couldn't finish that sentence anymore. Something was stopping her from finishing it. Something in her stomach.

Her stomach growled.

Sweat dropped down the side of her forehead.

No, it was something else. Not hunger itself.

She gave an annoyed grunt, and shook her head, steadily walking to their house's entrance. "Never mind."

Once she left, Daisy's worried look intensified slightly. "She's, like, pretty upset…"

"Eh. She'll be fine. Our Misty always is in the end," Lily finally gave a kind-hearted smile to the slammed door.

The stars twinkled in the sky, their bright lights capturing hearts of all the observers, Misty being one of them.

She wore a orange medium-sized sleeved shirt, and her old shorts, possibly because, in the summer, it was too hot for her. Her hair was down, a little longer than it would be if put up, but less so than her usual ponytail's length.

She sat by her window, knees up, on her bed, a recently bought Pokédoll resembling Pikachu in her hands as she stared a star that outmatched any other.

Somehow, she found a little comfort at night, and she could watch the lustrous lights of Vermillion, which was about a few miles away; their lights were always bright and beautiful, but nothing compared to the stars themselves.

She found some relation in that comparison between her and her sisters.

They would likely be the stars, and Misty would be the lamp light underneath them. She didn't care for looks, but she knew battling was her talent, not grooming and fashion. Her life was much more functional than that of her siblings, who merely liked being stars in their own shows as the Sensational Sisters. She considered herself the last of the group, but Lily had thought otherwise; she was apparently the runt.

She sighed, and then looked down at the doll in her hands, staring into the Pikachu's beady, black eyes, unblinking.

She closed her eyes.

"Pika, pi?"

"Okay, guys! I'm heading out!"

"Already?" a young girl asked, sipping her drink on the couch and tilting her head as a boy with a Pokéball cap stood by the door.

The small, yellow mouse looked at him, question present in its eyes. "Pika, pi?"

"Yeah… Professor Oak's saying he wants to talk to me about something. Didn't say what, though," the young man quirked an eyebrow. "Maybe he's got s'more info on new Pokémon, or something," he exclaimed, brown eyes glinting with a shimmer of determination.

"Pi-Pikachu!" Pikachu chimed in happily.

"Well, Ash, knowing you, you're always there first thing, aren't you? Unlike that first start with the pyjamas…"

He sweatdropped. "Sometimes, I wonder why I even told ya' about that, Misty."

"Old habits die hard, blabbermouth."

"Pi, pika, pikachu-pi!"

The self-proclaimed future Pokémon Master shook a fist. "Hey! I'm no blabbermouth!"

"Whatever you say," the gym leader said with a smile, then folded it a little. "Anyway, I was at Oak's this morning. I think he was talking to his scientist buddies, or something… reading…"

"What?" the Pokémon trainer asked, feigning interest for a second.

"…Poetry."

Ash slapped his forehead. "Aw, jeez… Don't tell me he started a worldwide poetry club!"

"I don't know about that, but he was reading for quite a while."

"Ugh… Arceus, help me if he's planning to read his latest works to me."

"You know Professor Oak, Ash," Misty shook her head. "It's probably just a hobby. Or a lifestyle," she slipped out, smirking at the, 'seriously?' reply.

Ash turned heel, his hand on the door knob as he turned it.

"Oh, and good luck~," Misty added, before turning to her Pika-pal.

Ash shut the door behind him, mumbling, "Yeah, good luck, me."

Misty sat beside Pikachu on the sofa, who tilted his head with a happy smile. The human did likewise.

"Pikachu-pi? Pika, pika, pi!"

The water-type trainer knew this sentence structure and nodded.

"I've been good; I bet you and Ash had tons of fun in Sinnoh," Misty said, almost reluctantly, then joked with a grin, "I'm pretty jealous of that, to be honest…"

"Pika!" Pikachu raised his arms, certainly peppy about something. "Pi! Pika, pi! Pi, pika-ka pi pi-kachu!"

Even she couldn't decipher that sentence, but she pretended to be happy for him.

"Sounds… nice. So, how've you been, Pikachu?"

"Pika."

"And Ash? Was he messing up again?"

Pikachu waved his fingers, half-wise, to demonstrate a so-so motion.

"You know, I think he's done a bit of maturing…" Misty trailed, switching her gaze to out of the window to see Ash tripping over a rock, grumbling as he tried to remember where Oak's lab was. "Well, guess not. But then… He's not that bad at it." She chuckled a bit, looking back to Pikachu. "Remember when you two first started?"

"Pika!" A grin formed on the mouse's muzzle.

"Heh, I never thought I'd fish out a little kid… but I did."

Pikachu kept up his lively act throughout the conversation.

"Yeah. Y'know, I DID lose a bike, that day…"

He sulked a bit at that, seeming guilty.

She tapped his nose, and he shut his eyes cheerfully in return as she moved down to stroke underneath his chin. "…But I gained a best buddy, didn't I?"

"Pi!"

"But then… I got that darn bike back… There went my excuse. I didn't make a buddy with just you, Pikachu. So, I should say buddies," Misty corrected, no longer rubbing under his chin but leaning back on the couch. "But I get the odd feeling that Ash isn't my buddy anymore…"

Pikachu perked an ear, silently watching her worried features.

"Maybe more than that... But he's still that wild, oblivious kid I met a long time ago… I imagine he understands my feelings, though not all of them... but..." She shook her head. "Delia isn't the only one who misses him…"

"Pika…"

That gaze lingered a few moments, before the girl decided something.

She set the doll aside, knowing it would only make her thoughts worse.

Looking to the window, the girl watched the many stars shot across the sky, and she blinked when the star she saw earlier sparked brightly, and flickered a little.

And, before she knew it, it surged towards the ground, near the edge of Cerulean City, with devastating force. Despite her eagerness to see it, the trove of trees around it were blocking her view.

"Huh?"

Now that she thought about it, the object wasn't white and bright like a star normally was; she assumed it was a meteorite, with the charcoal colour and all, (though, she barely saw its detail at all,) but the figure held more of an animal structure than that.

Misty opened the window, and peeked about the neighborhood, finding it empty before peering at a nearby corner of the city, where smoke swiftly rose into the sky.

Narrowing her eyes, Gym Leader Misty climbed off her bed, tied up her hair, pulled on her jacket, put on her sneaker-like shoes, and stood up, before looking back to the site of the crash.

By the looks of it, nobody had yet noticed the meteorite, otherwise there would be quite a crowd around it.

"Everybody must be asleep…"

Misty took off out HER door, as quietly as she could.

She tripped over her own feet.

"OW!"

The creature groaned as it weakly lifted its head to look at its surroundings; it couldn't see much, since everything was a blur, but it knew somehow that danger might come close soon. Its eyelids flickered a little, shielding vivid, green eyes, and it heard a noise with pricked ears. Within a blurry eyeshot, the being carefully made out a taller figure in the brambles and groaned lightly to make its presence known.

The other jumped at this, but then watched with curiosity as red and white feet, (or rather, shoes upon feet,) twitched with a sense of unbearable agony.

With an almost dying breath, the creature uttered a name,

"Amy…"

And then, everything went dark…

Hai, again, guys~!

This IS my first time having a go at presenting stuff in the Anime in a fic, thus, please forgive me if characterizations/personalities are a bit off. I hope I got them right. If I didn't… well, I gotta' work 'em all~! I have PLENTY of Anime Eps left to watch! :D

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chappie.

Hoping to write another as quick as possible… but motivation is lacking right now; I'd love a review, or two... not to complain. (:

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog, or its characters. All rights go to SEGA. I do not own Pokémon, (Though, I own several video games…). It belongs to GAME FREAK, Nintendo.