Chapter 4

They had been travelling through the Viridian Forest for two hours now.

Brock and Dawn were up at the front chatting animatedly with Lucien. Pikachu, Pilpup, Azurill and Glaceon were all conversing to each other in their own languages, and occasionally springing into impromptu wrestling matches with each other.

Misty, however, was not part of any of these conversations. She was behind the rest of them watching Ash, who had not said a word since Lucien had joined their group. He had stayed towards the back of the company, not talking to anyone, which was VERY odd behavior for him. She looked up at the front to see Lucien telling Dawn and Brock a story that made both of them laugh.

What was it about Lucien that was making Ash act the way he was? First, he had almost refused to thank him, and now he was going to lengths pretending that he wasn't even there. It was all very strange indeed.

I'll go talk to him she thought After all, I'm his best friend, surely he'll tell me.

It was against Misty's wishes when her thoughts subconsciously uttered: At least, I THINK I'm his best friend.

She walked towards where the dark-haired pokemon trainer was walking until she was walking in the same pace as him.

"Hi." said Misty, with a smile.

A non-committal grunt was the only thing she got for a reply.

Misty's face hardened. "Ash, what is wrong with you? You have hardly spoken since we left with Lucien."

Ash replied without even glancing at her. "Well maybe I didn't have anything to say that can compare with the tales of the fabulous Lucien Halifax. Maybe, Pikachu and I felt it would be more prudent if we stayed back so as not inflict upon his greatness."

Misty glared at him. "I'm not saying I want you to plan a parade for him, Ash." She said "But considering he DID save our lives I think he deserves a little more friendliness than we're giving him."

"Yeah, well you know what? I could've saved us too if I hadn't been stupefied by Team Rocket! So why don't you leave me alone! It looks like Brock and Dawn are continuing the fan club meeting without you!"

After saying this, Ash returned his gaze to the ground.

Her original intention was to retaliate (as was her reaction to most things) but something about the look in his eye made her hesitate. Usually, when she got in fights like this with Ash his eyes were full with contempt, almost as if they were daring her to make another move.

But not this time. This time his eyes wouldn't even meet her own. They were fixed at a spot on the ground between his two sneakers. They remained there, unmoving. Also, whenever she caught a glimpse of his eyes they were not filled with contempt, it looked to her like they were pained somehow.

She looked at him trying her best to figure out what could be wrong with him, considering possibilities that ranged from manic-depression to colon cancer, when suddenly, like a Thundershock attack from Pikachu, it struck her. His quiet behavior, his bad attitude, his resentment toward Lucien, it all made sense.

"Ash" she began "You aren't jealous are you?"

He looked up. "Jealous? Of the pretty boy in the James Dean outfit? Of course not! You know me better than that!"

The look on his face told Misty that that was far from the truth.

"Well Ash, for what it's worth, I thought you were very brave today."

Her statement surprised her almost as much as it surprised Ash. She wasn't usually so bold about things like this, especially things that regarded Ash Ketchum. She felt her face redden.

"You…You really think so, Misty?" he asked, his face a shade of scarlet to match her own.

Now she was in for it. Like so many times in her life her mind had come to a fork in the road. She could now either take the route where she let her guard down and told Ash how brave us and risk her true feelings coming out, or she could take the route she usually took which involved taking back what she said and put him down and start a famous Ash and Misty fight. And like so many times before she was hovering on the edge, desperately trying to decide what path to take.

All at once, she decided. She took a deep breath, and spoke.

"Of course, Ash." She said, her face growing an even deeper shade of scarlet. "Once you saw me in trouble back there you put everything you had on the line just to make sure I was all right. You're the only person I know who would run into danger like that, just to help out a friend. And although, it probably wasn't the smartest choice you could've made….it was still very sweet of you to do all that for me. Thank you, Ash"

There. She had said it. Now she just had to wait and see how he would react to it.

After a few seconds, Ash looked up from the ground and smiled at her.

"Thanks, Mist."

"You're welcome, Ash."

They continued to walk together, side by side, for a little while longer not saying anything, until Misty finally broke the silence.

"So" she said "Why don't you tell me a little of what's been going on since I last saw you."

Ash smiled and launched himself into stories about all of his pokemon battles, with Misty listening intently. Both of the considerably happier than they had been five minutes ago.

The rest of the trip to Viridian City went on without any trouble (this is of course excluding an incident involving Pikachu and a pinecone) and by the time everyone reached the Viridian City border after a whole night of travelling everyone was in high spirits. Dawn, Brock, and Lucien were the first to arrive.

Dawn drew in a deep breath. "Ah, you smell that? I love the smell of civilization in the morning!"

"Yes, there's nothing like the smell of exhaust fumes and body odor to start out your day." Said Lucien. "Where was it the rest of you were headed?"

"The hospital" said Brock. "To visit Ash's mom."

"She sick?"

"No. Concussion. From what we could make out from the call Ash received she was attacked."

"Attacked? By whom?"

"No idea. By the time the authorities arrived all the found was Delia unconscious, the house torn apart, and a hysterical Mr. Mime in the closet."

Lucien raised an eyebrow. "Really? Is his family rich or something?"

"No, that's just it" Brock said. "No one has any idea WHY someone would try to rob Delia Ketchum. It doesn't make any sense."

Lucien whirled around "WHO did you say!?"

"D-Delia Ketchum?" said Brock, surprised by Lucien's sudden outburst.

Lucien's skin turned a shade of white to match his hair. He began to sweat profusely.

"Lucien what's WRONG with you?" asked Dawn. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Lucien looked at her. "No…no I haven't…..at least not yet."

Brock and Dawn stared at their new friend with a kind of worried amazement. In the few hours they had known him Lucien had seemed to be a very cool individual who looked as though he could go through seven hurricanes and not lose it. But now he was sweaty and white as a sheet and, as far as anyone could tell, for no reason.

"What are you talking about?" asked Brock. "Are you feeling all right?"

Lucien looked up and put on what looked like a very forced smile. "Of course! Never better. However, I think I might need to tag along with youguys a little longer…..it seems as if though I have newfound business at the hospital."

"Well of course you can come with us" said Dawn. 'But what exactly do you mean by bus…."

"Oh look!" Lucien interrupted loudly "It's Misty, the pokemon, and that kid who appears to hate my guts! What a welcome distraction!"

Dawn and Brock looked up and saw the heads of Ash, Misty, Pikachu, Pulpip, and Glaceon all coming out of the edge of the forest. As soon they spotted the others they hurried over. Glaceon, Pulpip, and Azurill rushed to their trainers sides while Pikachu remained on Ash's shoulder.

"Sorry it took us so long." Misty said, as soon as they got there. "Ash, tried to capture a pile of rocks."

"Hey, we agreed that anyone could have mistaken that pile of rocks for a Rhyhorn!" yelled Ash in defense.

"Of course they would, Ash." Said Misty, winking at the rest of them.

"Well now that we're here, I suggest we get moving" Said Brock "Are you ready to see your mom, Ash?"

Ash's face fell. After all the excitement that had happened today he had almost forgot the entire reason they had made this visit. His mom was just a few blocks away, lying in a hospital. Pikachu gently nuzzled the side of his trainers face as a hope to cheer him up.

It seemed to work because Ash's determined gaze alit upon his face once again.

"Yeah, Brock" he said "let's get a move on."

And so our heroes made tracks in the direction of the Viridian City hospital.

The Viridian City hospital was, for lack of a better word, immense.

It was a tan limestone giant towering three stories above the city. The front doors were roughly the size of Buick's and the entryway was adorned with a fountain depicting an angel with water flowing out of his mouth. There was aplaque on the front of the fountain depicting the Hippocratic Oath.

Once you entered through those behemoth doorways you enter a massive waiting room. This room looks like the foyer of a very bland castle with its ornate furniture, crystal chandeliers, and walls the color of vomit. They are five waiting areas scattered around the room each with the same assortment of three armchairs and a sofa, all a deep shade of maroon and made of obviously fake leather.

The floor is checkered tile and colored blue and yellow. If you were looking from above it looks like a giant off-color chessboard with pawns in bishops dressed white lab-coats moving around it in no particular order.

From this same vantage point (if you were still looking) you would now see a company of five people and three pokemon thunder across the chessboard up to the front desk.

Brock got to the front desk first.

"Hello we're here to see Delia Ketchum, it's an emergency." He said.

The receptionist was a stout middle aged woman with black hair and mole on her right cheek. The name of her nametag read "IRENE".

"Are you immediate family?" she croaked in a voice that sounded a lot a cross between a frog and that slug lady from Monsters Inc.

"Yes!" said Ash skidding to a halt in front of the desk "I'm her son! I need to see her now."

The receptionist shuffled the papers on a desk to one and hit a button on her intercom and squawked into it: "Paging Dr. Rathbone to the front desk, please. Dr. Rathbone to the front desk." She turned back to Ash and his friends. "The doctor will be with you shortly, and please keep in mind that any damage your pokemon may cause will be your responsibility. Please have a seat in the designated area" she said motioning to an uncomfortable looking sofa.

"Yeah, all right, thanks" Said Ash taking a seat. The rest of his friends soon followed suit.

"Ouch" said Dawn as she sat down. "I think it might be comfier if I were sitting on a Cacturn."

"Yes, well, hospitals don't really understand the concept of comfort." Said Lucien, taking a seat himself in one of the armchairs. "Why else do you think their hands and stethoscopes are so cold?"

Misty took a seat by Ash and Ash leaned over to her. "Why is he coming with us?" he asked her. "Doesn't he have some place to be?"

"Oh will you give it a rest, Ash" she said. "He's not hurting anyone, and besides he DID save our lives if you recall."

Ash was about to retaliate when suddenly a voice interrupted them.

"Are you the visitors for Delia Ketchum?" it asked. "My name is Dr. Vincent Rathbone and I'm the on-floor physician at Viridian City General."

When you first saw Dr. Vincent Rathbone, the very first thing that you would notice was his staggering height. Indeed, he seemed to tower at least a foot over everyone else in the hospital and no doubt all of his clothes, from his blinding white lab coat to his shiny, black shoes were specially made for his side. His face had a rather stony quality about it and he had solid black hair, parted on the side perfectly his neatly trimmed goatee on his chin.

Ash was on his feet in a second. "Yes! That's us! Is my mom all right?"

Dr. Rathbone chuckled. "Yes son, your mother is fine, save for a nasty headache. She's been awake now for a few hours. In fact, she has to visitors up there already. A lab professor and his assistant I believe."

"That must be Professor Oak and Tracy!" said Brock.

"What room is she in?" Ash asked, a little louder than was probably needed. "Can we see her now?"

Yes, of course." said Dr. Rathbone. " I can take you to her now…however your pokemon will need to be kept under control. Can you do that?"

Ash and Dawn nodded in unison along with their holding there pokemon close to them. Lucien allowed a smirk to cross his face, but other than that he made no notion that he had heard Dr. Rathbone at all.

'Well, if all of that is settled then you can follow me. Your mother is dying to see you."

"Um…could we please not use that terminology?" asked Ash, starting to look a little sick himself.

Dr. Rathbone chuckled again. "Sorry about that, son. What I meant was your mother is very, very, excited to see you. Now if you will follow me, please." Dr. Rathbone turned around and started walking down a very long hallway with all of the others standing up to follow him. All except, Lucien who stayed behind.

"I'll catch up with the rest of you in a minute." He said "I have to make a phone call. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes."

"Take your time!" Ash called to him which got him a hard nudge in the ribs from Misty.

"Be nice." She said. However, something was bothering her.

Why IS he here with us? She wondered to herself And who is he calling in Viridian City at six o clock in the morning?

She started to expound on these thoughts but Ash's voice rang through her ears and interrupted her.

"Hurry up, Mist! I want to see if my moms ok!"

"Huh? Oh….coming!" she said, hurrying after them, leaving all her thoughts about Lucien Halifax behind them.

The hallway Dr. Rathbone was leading them down was exactly like waiting room they just left, constricted down to a narrower area. Everything was identical down to the nauseating color of the walls.

He stopped in front of a marble-white door marked 411. He turned to face the group.

"This is Mrs. Ketchum's room, but before I let such a large group inside all at once, I need to lay down some ground rules, the first being to keep the noise level at a bare minimum. Mrs. Ketchum is still recovering from a concussion and the last thing she needs is a circus stampeding through her hospital door. Another thing is to not overexcite her. The overexcitement may cause her brain to go in a sort of frenzy and could be very hazardous to her health."

Dr. Rathbone paused for a moment to clear his throat.

"I believe that's all I have for you. Does anyone hear not understand the rules?"

Everyone shook their head no.

"Very good" The doctor said "Then by all means step inside. Mrs. Ketchum will be delighted to see you all."

Dr. Rathbone opened the door.

The door was only opened a fraction of the way before a bellowing cry of "MOM!" from Ash's throat, filled the room. He immediately charged in the door (knocking Dr. Rathbone over) and everyone else thundered in after him, leaving a trampled and battered Dr. Rathbone on the floor behind them.

Ash was the first one to his mom's bedside.

"Mom, I'm so glad to see you! Are you ok?"

She looked up at him and smiled. To Ash she seemed exactly like she had been the last time he had left her to go on his pokemon journey. She still had the same kind expression on her face and the same tenderness in her eyes. The only things different was she was wearing a hospital gown (instead of her usual pink button up blouse and skirt number) and had a turban of bandages wrapped around the crown of her skull.

"I'm fine, sweetie. Dr. Rathbone has been taking very good care of me, and so have Professor Oak and Tracy."

Ash looked up and for the first time saw the wizened old professor and his assistant sitting (rather uncomfortably) on a couch that could have the clone of one of the ones in the waiting room.

"Hello, Ash" the professor said, giving him a firm nod. "We're all very glad to see you made it here safely."

"Yeah, we were getting worried." Said Tracy, looking up at all of them.

"Well we would have been here sooner" Misty said, answering him. "But we had a little trouble with Team Rocket."

"My goodness!" exclaimed Delia, sitting up. "Not them again. What happened?"

And so Misty, Brock, and Dawn all launched into the entire story about Misty's abduction, the paralysis rays, and how Lucien had saved them (Dawn had told this part of the story with much exaggeration) and finally how they had escaped, while they were telling the story ash had kept his eyes focused on his mother, not saying a single word.

"My word" said Professor Oak, standing up from the sofa. "Paralysis Rays. You kids have been paralyzed or life if something had gone wrong. It makes you shiver wondering just how low Team Rocket will sink."

Everyone nodded their head in agreement.

"Well it seems to me" said Delia. "That I owe this Lucien a tremendous thank you for saving my son and his friends." She turned to Dawn. "Dawn, dear, didn't you say he was with you?"

"Well, yeah" began Dawn, looking puzzled. "He WAS with us but I have no idea where….."

"He went to make a phone call" interrupted Ash gruffly and rather rudely. It was clear that he wasn't too thrilled with his own mother joining the Lucien Halifax fan club.

Before anything else could be said about Lucien, thereby sending Ash way over the deep end, Misty changed the subject.

"Mrs. Ketchum" she asked "What on earth happened to you?"

Ash was instantly up on his feet. "Yeah" he said. "Tell me the name of the clown that hit you so I know who's face to rearrange."

Delia giggled at that. "That's sweet, honey, but I honestly don't know who it was. I was just in the kitchen making dinner for Mimey and I, when I heard this knock on the doorway. I figured it must have been Professor Oak wanting some of my recipes so I went to answer it. Only when I opened the door, it wasn't Professor Oak, it was some guy in a hood. I started to ask him who he was and what he wanted but before I could get a word out I felt a sharp pain on the top of my head and everything went black."

She shook her for a moment, as if though trying to shake off unpleasant thoughts.

"The next thing I remember is waking up with Professor Oak holding upright with one hand and calling an ambulance with another. I am so thankful for him being there. If he hadn't stopped by to say hello and found me in there with the door wide open and my house burgled, I might never have woken up." She turned to Professor Oak with a smile and an odd look in her eye (that Ash noticed, but didn't quite understand). "And I can't thank him enough for that."

Professor Oak returned the smile (and that same weird look that was deeply puzzling Ash) and said: "Think nothing of it, Delia. I'm only thankful that you are all right."

They continued looking at each other in that weird for a few seconds longer before Delia finally turned her gaze back to Ash.

"But other than that, honey, I have no memory of what happened that day. The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital with Professor Oak and Tracy waiting here for me. Dr. Rathbone said Professor Oak didn't leave the room once since he brought me." She turned to Professor Oak and smiled that same smile but before she could look at him in that odd way again Ash intervened.

"But mom, I don't understand" he said. "Why would someone want to rob our house, we don't have anything valuable."

However, once he said this a guilty expression crossed Delia Ketchum's face.

'Well, honey, that's not entirely true."

The entire group recoiled at her words in astonishment.

"What are you talking about, mom?" he asked. "Do we have a fortune of gold bars buried in the back yard or something?"

Delia giggled again. "No, Ash, it's nothing like that….your grandmother left me something just before she died, and if I wasn't wearing it when that man knocked me out, I have no doubt he would've taken it. Here, let me show you…." She reached down under her gown and pulled out the most beautiful looking necklace any one of them had ever seen.

It was in the shape of a heart and was a brilliant sapphire blue and hung loosely from a gleaming silver chain. Delia lifted it up so that it would hit the light form the morning sun coming through the window and when it did it was as if he whole room was filled with dancing rays of light the color of the most brilliant blue.

"Oh Mrs. Ketchum!" exclaimed Misty, holding her hand to her heart. "It's BEAUTIFUL!"

"It's the prettiest thing I've ever seen!" Dawn agreed, a look of shcok and wonder on her face."

"PikaCHU!" said Pikachu, it's little black eyes glistening.

After everyone had got a good look Delia put back under her hospital gown.

"It's called the Spring Day Heartstone" she said returning her gaze to everyone in the room. "It's an ancient family heirloom that has been passed down to the women in family for generations. By now, considering it's age and beauty Professor Oak is certain that its value is priceless."

In the corner of the room, Professor Oak gave another firm nod as if he was agreeing with himself.

"Well one thing is for sure" said Brock, after the excitement of the gem had settled down. "If whoever broke into your house was looking for something…that thing HAS to be it."

Delia nodded. "My thoughts exactly" she said.

"But mom" said Ash, now looking confused. "I didn't even know that gem existed, and I'm your son. How could someone else have known you had it."

Delia frowned. "Yes, that's what stumps me" she said "I never told anyone else about the gem, except for Professor Oak, until now. I have no idea how anyone could have known I even had it."

"Yes" said Professor Oak, stroking his chin. "This whole incident is very peculiar and I must say it has me baffled."

Before anyone could expound on the subject further, however, all train of thought was halted by an abrupt knock at the door, After knocking for only a short bit the door opened slightly and the head of Dr. Rathbone peered into the room.

"I'm sorry to disturb you folks" he said. "But there is another gentleman out here who claims to be a member of your party, a fellow with white hair and sunglasses. Calls himself Loo-shin or something like that."

"That's Lucien!" said Dawn, getting up excitedly.

"Oh yes!" said Delia, sitting up. "Let him in, please, doctor. I want to meet the man that saved my sons life."

Everyone ignored the groan that escaped from Ash's throat.

"Very well, then" He said and opened the door.

Lucien entered the room with Glaceon at his heels and took off his sunglasses.

"Sorry that took so long" he said. "I had to make a long distance call and those video phones have horrid reception. I tell you, if I had a nickel for every time…."

Lucien stopped suddenly because Delia Ketchum was looking at him like he was some kind of disgusting fish monster. She reached to the side of her bed and yanked the cordless clock that was sitting there outside the wall.

"YOU!" she screamed at him with more malice than Ash or anyone else had ever heard her speak in their lives. "HOW DARE YOU COME ANYWHERE NEAR MY SON!"

And with that she cocked her hand back and threw the clock at Luciens face with all of her might.