Welcome to the fourth installation of Natural Disturbances!

Prominent Pairings of this Chapter:
DrewxMay
BrendanxMay
AshxGary
MistyxBrock
PaulxDawn

Newly Introduced Main to Side Human Characters in This Chapter (Order of Appearance):

Turquoise

Here it goes!

Chapter 4—Party Beginnings

Outskirts of Pallet Town, Kanto

Turquoise had never considered herself worthy.

Her Pokemon would most likely balk at that suggestion—it was her, after all, who fed them despite her own empty stomach, and her who swiped Potions for them when their health was low and they could not risk going to the Pokemon Center for fear of being caught.

She sagged against a tree trunk, hugging her bare knees. Her dirty, red skirt folded backwards, so that they were no longer at knee-length, but at mid-thigh, but personally, Turquoise did not give a damn. If only… if only that stupid... big... BIRD hadn't kidnapped her when she was four! Perhaps she would be elsewhere—perhaps, she would even be invited to that party she had just watched through the bushes now in front of herself.

The tree's leaves shaded the girl from most of the noon sunlight; Turquoise had no objection against this at all, for her skin was relatively pale and she had not shoplifted for well over a week. Musing, she decided that she could sneak into that kid's—'Ashy-boy', was it what that auburn-haired Trainer said?—house and pretend that she knew him.

Yeah, yeah, she could do that! This 'Ash' guy looked like a pushover in any case. Turquoise had certainly gone to more desperate measures before. Exactly how, though, she wasn't sure.

She recalled her past, but there was not much to recall. The odd, multi-colored bird had taken her to a cliff, where, fortunately, there were many berry bushes. After several weeks of torture on that desolate rock, Turquoise had escaped… and she remembered seeing her picture on a 'Lost' sign, but she could not read very well. She could only make out her first name—Turquoise—and her birth place, Pallet Town. But, where she had been taken, surely was not Kanto.

Then, she had tried to tell the pink-haired nurse in the Pokemon Center that she was the girl, the girl on the 'Lost' poster. However, Turquoise was so filthy then that she was merely shooed away by Pokemon she could now identify as Chancey.

Sighing, Turquoise readjusted her wide-brimmed white hat and pulled herself to her feet, her sharp mind already devising a plan as she stretched.

Pallet Town, Kanto

Ashton Red Ketchum breathed in great gasps after he had sprinted up the stairway, ran into his room, and shut the door securely behind himself. Close call, he thought to himself as he wiped a trickle of sweat from his forehead.

"Oh no," Ash whispered to himself as Gary banged on his door with something most likely his fist.

"Lemme in, Ash! I know you're in there!" Gary's muffled voice barked from the opposite side of the door. Ash took a deep breath, and slammed all of his weight against the door to prevent Gary from coming inside. In response, he received an equally heavy slam against his door. "C'mon Ash, what are you, afraid of little Gary?"

"Shut up!" Ash cried angrily, pressing even harder against the door. "I can't—I don't want to talk to you right now!"

"What?" Gary demanded. The pressure on Gary's side of the doorway immediately lifted.

"Not… right… now!" Ash choked, fumbling with his Pokeballs if he had to call out one of his larger Pokemon to take on Gary.

"Fine." Gary said, his voice indifferent and emotionless. Ash heard footsteps, and when he deemed that the coast was clear, sighed in relief.

Personally, Ash was not so sure exactly why he didn't want to see Gary. Perhaps it was something his mother referred to as 'confrontation', or at least whenever the subject drifted to hand. Ash had always changed the subject out of pure boredom and, to a certain extent, embarrassment. After their most recent discussion, 'girl'-related discussion, anyways, Ash didn't really want to talk to anyone. He needed a little time to come to terms with the confused feelings inside of himself.

Something Ash had never done before.

Shrugging, he walked over to his bed, shoulders sagging. His mother had demanded when he returned from his morning walk with Gary where he had been, and Ash merely shrugged and said, "Out walking with a friend." Delia had then eyed him oddly, but let the moment pass. Ash considered elaborating the details of his 'walk' with his mother, but decided against it. He couldn't risk making a fool of himself in front of Paul, anyways; Delia Ketchum's mouth could be quite large if she didn't watch it.

He considered the exact contents of their conversation. Ash still couldn't quite believe that Gary didn't have a girlfriend, or had a girlfriend, at least, but the black-haired Trainer was almost certain that Gary could get one whenever he wanted. Ash most likely couldn't.

Suddenly, an idea inside Ash clicked. That's right! He could talk to Misty! Misty probably wouldn't tease him if he asked her seriously not to… probably. It was certainly better than trying to handle it on his own, anyways; and maybe Brock could come along. Like the good ol' days. Of course, without Gary coming in and kicking Ash's butt. No, Paul did that now.

With renewed vigor, Ash pushed open the door and headed downstairs, trying to find Misty, but a thought suddenly struck him. May had not yet arrived. Ash wondered where she could be, then decided she was probably still on the ship. Yeah, that was it.

On the S.S. Tidal, from Slateport, Hoenn, to Pallet Town, Kanto

"Is he gone?" May Sapphire Maple hissed through the bathroom door.

"Yeah, he went to eat the lunch he missed three hours ago." Brendan's voice hissed back at her.

May breathed loudly in relief. She carefully pushed open the bathroom door and timorously stepped into the Pokemon Center. Her blue gaze swept the healing center for any sign of Harley, and when they failed to find the lavender-haired man, she sighed, and, mirroring her friend Ash so many miles away, wiped a trickle of sweat from her brow.

"Brendan Birch never lies," Brendan said pompously, puffing up his chest. May turned around and saw her white-haired friend striking another pose, and could not help but emit a stray giggle.

"Wow, May, that was the longest time you've ever been in constipation—it beat your previous record by five minutes and seven seconds at a whopping thirty-three minutes and forty-nine seconds!" Max exclaimed, punching a button on his stopwatch. May glared daggers at him before scoffing loudly and averting her gaze.

"No, once she lasted forty minutes and twelve seconds when she lost a Contest against me in Johto," Drew said, slinking out of the shadows with amazing grace. May crossed her arms over her chest at this; Brendan blinked twice with indignation and Wally was nowhere to be seen.

"You—why did you time me, Max? And you, Drew?" May demanded angrily.

Drew let out a rare bark of laughter, and then said, "I was just kidding, May." Max looked sideways at May and murmured something along the lines of 'yeah, what he said'.

Wally suddenly rounded the corner, appearing out of the men's lavatory. He looked at May, politely confused, then opened his mouth and asked, "Were you in there all that time, May?"

Cringing at her golden-green-haired friend's blunt question, May nodded, and Wally's mouth dropped to form an 'o' shape. Drew sniggered loudly, drawing May's attention, and she rounded on him, planting her gloved hands on her waist and said sharply, "What are you smirking at, mister?"

"Your idiocy." Drew replied flippantly, flicking his hair. Brendan's cheeks reddened with suppressed rage; and had May looked in a mirror, she would find that the color of Brendan's face was nothing compared to her own.

"Excuse me?" May asked, blinking.

"You are excused." Drew answered dully.

Scoffing, May crossed her arms over her chest, and proceeded to reply with a curt "Hmph!"

"Hmph—that's all you have?" Drew asked disbelievingly. There was a long silence.

"No." May replied slowly.

There was another long silence. This one was longer and more awkward than the previous. Max seemed to have disappeared off to somewhere, else he surely would have made a smart remark.

"Fine! You win!" May relented. Drew smirked satisfactorily and flipped his hair. Brendan made a rude gesture with his right hand at Drew that the green-haired Coordinator fortunately missed, as his eyes were closed patronizingly.

Drew opened his mouth, undoubtedly about to make another rude comment, but he was both fortunately and yet very much unfortunately interrupted by Harley, whose cheeks were stuffed with food. May, with widened eyes, looked at Brendan, who seemed to quiver under her demanding glare as to why the lavender-haired Coordinator had 'finished' his lunch so quickly.

"May-ay! It's about time you stepped out of the bathroom! What did you eat for breakfast, anyways?" Harley chided, clasping his two hands together. Glancing at Brendan and Wally helplessly, May grudgingly opened her mouth to answer. She was predictably interrupted by Harley. "Ooh, let me take a guess! I bet I'll get it right on the first try!" Looking pointedly at Brendan and Wally, who both gulped quietly with apprehension, Harley said in his infamous grossly sweet voice, "You two won't believe the things I saw May eat! Why, once she even ate a—"

By now, May was on the verge of explosion, and she had already worked up the nerve to interrupt with, "Your disgusting cookies!"

Of course, May knew this wasn't true—in fact, she rather liked Harley's cookies, although they were a bit on the dry side, and she had told him that they were 'pretty good', and he had seemed to appreciate the sentiment (although, of course, May would later learn this was not true). She did seem to notice that Harley appeared to be very sensitive in areas regarding his cooking, and his somewhat matronly fatigue slipped to reveal such nasty a snarl that Wally recoiled.

A split second later, however, Harley had re-plastered on his fake, wide smile. "May, May, May," He began in a deceptively slow and kind voice. "How could you say that about my cookies? You even said that they'weren't half bad' yourself! Oh, how vividly I remember that historical day: there you were, nibbling on one of my famous peanut butter cookies, and then you said 'They're not half bad, Mr. Harley!' I remember those were your very words! Ahahah! Don't even try to deny it, May!"

By now, the lavender-haired man was looking delusional, and May fought hard to mask her disgust and contempt for her older rival/stalker. She started to say, "Uh, I guess we should—"

May was then interrupted for the who-knows-what time that day, although this time it was not by Harley. The sound of a horn filled the entire ferry, and the brown-haired Coordinator looked around in confusion—Wally and Brendan seemed equally disoriented, but Drew managed somehow to maintain a cool expression. Harley, too, looked as if he had already expected the horn-call.

"Oh wow, we're several hours early, aren't we?" Harley giggled before May or anyone else could say anything about the call. Then, suddenly, dreadful realization overcame May that was only enhanced when Harley said, "We're here at Pallet Town! Yay! I can finally tell Ash that you've been rendezvousing with one of your old boyfriends!" Brendan looked highly affronted; May did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Before she could do either, though, a stream of people exiting from both genders' lavatories began streaming out, and May was pushed outside of the lavatory entrance and onto the deck. Squinting as her eyes readjusted to the new sunlight, she brushed a stray lock of brown hair away from her eyes and turned to face her companions in the hope that Harley would suddenly implode, which he did not.

"Yay! Let's go!" Harley cried gleefully, grabbing May's hand. The brown-haired Coordinator fought valiantly to rid herself of Harley's grip, but as usual, did not succeed.

She nearly fell on her face as the lavender-haired man pulled her through the crowd and down the wooden plank leading off of the ship. Vaguely registering loamy soil beneath her feet, May had to lunge forwards to stop herself from toppling onto her side, and nearly gagged when Harley began giggling, although thankfully in this 'laugh-fest' he released his grip on her.

"May, are you all right?" Wally asked tentatively, helping May to her feet. She nodded and braced herself to sprint into the thick wilderness that blocked the way from the small port to Pallet Town. In fact, May was already creeping away as quietly as she could manage until Max burst off of the ferry.

"Oh, hey May! I thought the ferry was going a little slow so I got Sharpedo to give things a little… er… boost." Max said somewhat sheepishly. His sister turned around to face him, her blue eyes glazed over with pure anger, since him talking had re-attracted Harley's attention and thus ended his giggling.

"May, you weren't trying to escape me again, were you?" Harley asked coyly.

"Of… of… of course not," May squeaked, choking out the words with all her might and but meaning the exact opposite. She found difficulty in breathing, and perhaps her expression was a little funny, since she heard Drew cough quietly in the background. Luckily for the green-haired Coordinator, Harley did not notice this.

"Ah, May, I knew you'd say that!" Harley exclaimed, positively beaming. He darted forwards with his arms outstretched, undoubtedly intending to embrace May; but she sidestepped him in the nick of time. While her swift dodge was most fortunate for herself, it was very much unlucky for Drew, who was now on the receiving end of Harley's bear-hug, considering the fact, that it was very hard for one to veer away when one was almost parallel with the ground.

The look on Drew's face was filled with so much disgust that May felt a little bad for him, although she wouldn't give anything to replace him. Harley seemed to realize that he had missed his original target and quickly pulled away. May could've sworn she saw Drew breathe a sigh of relief, but before she could tease her green-haired rival about the unpleasant phenomenon he had just esc aped, Harley had thrust himself forwards, towards May again.

May dodged the hug nimbly, nearly crashing into her brother as she did so. Wally, who had been standing idly behind May before she had dodged Harley's second hug-attempt, ended up being embraced heartily by the lavender-haired Coordinator. The golden-green-haired Breeder's face grew aubergine, although whether it was due to lack or air or bottled-up rage, May did not know. Before Wally's frail lung condition could be truly activated by Harley's death embrace, though, Harley had pulled away again, looking miffed that his hug had been misplaced.

Consequentially, Harley burst forwards again. May dodged Harley once more, and this time Max became the one who was hugged by Harley. The young boy whimpered, with either embarrassment or pain—in any case, the lavender-haired Coordinator seemed to have tightened his embrace with every missed try, most likely out of frustration. Wheeling around, Harley threw himself towards May again.

With all the speed that May had managed to attain from dashing from Contest Hall to Contest Hall in Johto, she dodged Harley for the fourth time. As a result, Harley hurled towards Brendan. Surprisingly quickly, Brendan whipped off a Pokeball from the emerald belt strapped around his waist and sent out one of his Pokemon.

Brendan's Gallade exploded out of his Pokeball, looking rather muddled. He absorbed the impact of Harley's hug. Then, after Brendan nodded curtly to him, the Blade Pokemon carefully eased Harley off of himself with a—May felt—overly gentle 'Psychic' attack. The lavender-haired Coordinator flew through the air, landing a generous three meters away from May, Drew, Brendan, Max, and Wally.

Glaring insolently at the Blade Pokemon, who was looking politely bemused, Harley stood up. May thought she saw Harley's right hand twitch in the direction of one of the Pokeballs on his jeans-belt, but then the moment passed and May was left wondering if she had seen what she had seen.

Then, all the anger wiped from his face, Harley turned towards May, wearing a hideous smile that was surely an ominous indication of the events to follow. That, May was almost certain of, and just before Harley opened his mouth to say something, the brown-haired Coordinator was struck by the thought of how Ash would look when Harley would begin jabbering about May's 'boyfriends'.

Outside of the Ketchum Residence, Pallet Town, Kanto

"You're kidding me." Misty Waterflower said, her face utterly deadpan. Her mind, though, was struggling to digest the large amount of information it was forced to process over the hour-and-a-half Ash had spent talking to her about his morning. Misty was surprised that he could even recall such fine details of his dawn walk with Gary Oak; things such as how many times Gary could breathe in a minute and how many steps it took Gary to walk a meter.

"I'm not! Those were his exact words!" Ash insisted; his face was remarkably straight. Misty doubted the whole thing, though.

"You're trying to tell me that Gary Oak doesn't have and never had a girlfriend." Misty said skeptically.

"Yeah…" Ash began slowly. "So… what do you think of that? I mean, do you think he was telling the truth or not?"

"You want my honest opinion?"

"Yes!" Ash cried impatiently, flinging his arms exasperatingly into the air.

"I think that either A) Gary was lying; B) you heard him wrong; C) his hotness, or so you put it, worked against him, or D) he's gay." Misty answered, counting off the four possibilities on her fingers. Looking up, the water-typed Gym Leader discovered to her surprise that Ash's facial expression was a blend of mild shock and confusion… and… could that be a glimmer of hope in Ash's melanic eyes?

Misty blinked. Did… did Ash Ketchum's eyes light up at the mention of possibility D? No, no, that couldn't be, Misty told herself, No… that couldn't be it… it just… couldn't… Ash… he—Ash… Ash… can't possibly be—?

Her train of thought was abruptly interrupted when Ash pressed on, "Well… which one do you think it is?"

The hope in his voice was unquestionable, unmistakable now. Misty felt a small portion of herself—the part which had been harboring hope that maybe, just maybe, Ash Ketchum like-liked her—be quickly demolished by what she had just learnt… then again… no, Ash couldn't, well… could he? No, he couldn't… Misty desperately wanted to believe.

"Oh, hey, look, isn't that Brock?" Ash's voice said, wafting over to Misty from what seemed to be from a long distance away. Then, Misty suddenly realized the contents of Ash's words and raised her head to see a tall figure in the distance wave to them.

Misty waved back, but Ash was already running forwards to greet their friend. Raising an eyebrow in amusement, Misty proceeded forwards, only to notice that there was something suspiciously secretive about Brock's smile. Normally, she would choose to bat around the bush for the reason (and more often then not the reasons would be mundane), but today she decided to be painfully direct.

"Why are you smiling?" Misty demanded, raising her eyebrows at Brock while eying his soil-covered brown jacket apprehensively, wondering how long it took him to get here from Pewter City. Surely it couldn't have taken too long, could it? Too late, she realized that perhaps she should have been kinder with greeting him… it had been three years since they last met, after all.

"Who are you? One of Misty's sisters?" Brock asked confusedly. Misty's eyebrows rose higher, disappearing into her flaming orange hair, but before she could correct him, Brock had continued. "Well, whatever! You're hot! I'd ask you out but I already landed a hot date! Maybe some other day!"

The ex-Gym Leader already had one knee on the ground and was rummaging around in his jacket's pockets for something. Her throat feeling inexplicably dry, Misty said, "I'm Misty."

"Wha?" Brock asked, nearly landing on his back in bewilderment. His permanently squinted eyes raked Misty's body, and she felt very much self-conscious. "You can't be Misty. You've actually got… er… you know." He indicated the area directly below Misty's neck.

"What?!" Misty shrieked, whipping out her mallet. Before Brock could say something—anything—in his defense, though, the redhead was already slamming her hammer on his back with undeniable force. She indistinctly noticed Ash sigh out of the corner of her eyes, but right now she was focused on causing Brock as much pain as possible.

After another minute, Misty leapt back, breathing heavily as Brock straightened up. The dark-skinned Breeder was covered in black-and-blue bruises—Misty began feeling a little bit sympathetic for him, but then she reminded herself what he had said and felt fully vindicated.

"Wow Misty, I think you hurt him." Ash said, helping Brock to his feet. Misty simply scoffed and turned her head to her right.

"I was just kidding, Misty," Brock groaned, rubbing a particularly large bruise on his neck. Misty turned her gaze back to her friend, trying to decide whether he was kidding or not. Deciding then to give Brock the benefit of the doubt, Misty nodded stingily.

"So… hello Brock." Ash said lamely, forcing a smile.

"Hey, Ash." Brock said, mockingly waving a hand. Turning towards Misty, he said, "Misty."

Misty simply nodded in greeting, then decided that she might as well try to be polite in an attempt to cover up her random burst of barbarianism (not that she wasn't justified, oh no, that she was.) "So, I guess we should do some catching up, then?" She asked, gesturing towards both boys.

"Why not?" Ash asked, eyes glazing over with anticipation. Suddenly Misty began wondering if this was a good idea after all, but before she could veer the conversation in another direction, Ash had already begun. "Well, I caught a Turtwig, who's a Torterra now," Ash indicated a Pokeball strapped on his topaz Poke-belt, "And I also got me a Starly, who's a Staraptor now. Aipom evolved into Ambipom, Pikachu's, well, Pikachu, speaking of which, where the heck did he go? Anyways, I put Corphish back into my team"—at the mention of a water-typed Pokemon, Misty's nodded in approval—"and then I found a Water Stone and evolved Corphish into Crawdaunt—a decision I'm somewhat regretting… but… anyways, I caught a Snover when we were near Snowpoint City… well, I guess she should be evolving pretty soon. Anyways, I collected all the badges and challenged the League! I nearly won, too, but Paul nabbed first place… Well, that's me! Brock, I guess it's your turn!"

Brock began, slightly hesitantly as if he were unsure of his own abilities after Ash's long speech. "Well… er… I caught a Bonsly and a Croagunk and I hatched a Happiny from an egg I received… they all evolved, though Happiny's only a Chancey." He then paused, as if he weren't sure what to say next. "Oh, and when I got back to the Gym, I put Steelix, Crobat, and Forretress back on my Team. Oh, and maybe I should tell you about my d—"

"I'm sure there will be plenty of time later on for you to describe her," Misty cut in, although for some unknown reason Misty felt deeply distrustful of Brock's date, whoever this was, and the familiar vibe of intense jealousy she experienced whenever Brock would 'propose' to a 'hot' girl that would cause her to tug on Brock's ear and pull him away coursed through her.

She then became aware of Ash and Brock looking expectantly at her, and decided that she should begin talking. "Er… I didn't catch many Pokemon since we last met. All I've basically been doing was staying in Cerulean Gym, really. Right now though, my Team's made up of: Azurill, who I think is bouncing around in Professor Oak's lab as of now, Starmie, Gyarados, Horsea, Goldeen, and Psyduck."

"Huh." Ash remarked. Brock didn't quite know what to say, seeing that apparently, apart from her looks, Misty had remained pretty much the same.

Misty was about to ask Ash about his new female traveling companion. May, Misty felt, was okay in terms of flirtatiousness (had the brown-haired Coordinator displayed even the smallest sign of affection that exceeded the boundaries of friendship, Misty didn't know whether or not she'd be able to suppress her anger—the whole Melody incident was enough to make Misty want to scream in any case). However, that Dawn girl… well… any girl who's skirt was that short was trouble, Misty felt. But she was interrupted by Ash.

"Hey, look, isn't that May?" Ash asked, pointing towards the wilderness to the south of Pallet Town. Misty and Brock simultaneously turned towards where Ash was pointing, and sure enough, six figures were making their way towards the small town. "But… I thought that she'd only bring Drew or Max?"

Disregarding May's group's questionable amount of people, Ash began sprinting towards his ex-traveling companion, Brock walking at a considerably slower pace towards May and her five friends. Misty grimaced, bracing herself for Ash giving another speech about his adventures in Sinnoh, but walked towards May and the others nevertheless.

Perhaps the first person Misty noticed in May's group was the man in the Cacturne costume. If there was a word Misty would have given to describe the lavender-haired man, Misty would have chosen 'queer.' She wondered how May came to know the cosplaying man (it was a man, right?) in any case, but her gaze had drifted to the other members of May's small group.

There was Max—Misty recalled being the one to comfort him after he was separated from May briefly, Team Rocket's handiwork, of course. Her feelings towards the dark-blue-haired boy were pretty neutral in any case, and so Misty soon felt her attention drifting away.

She spotted May next, who had matured from the twelve year old girl that Misty had known for a few days two years ago. But Misty didn't really know May much, and besides, there were still three people she had not examined yet, so Misty looked at them.

A thin boy with golden-green hair caught her attention. He seemed somewhat frail, and the shy way he carried himself seemed to accentuate this to a certain degree, although his step was bouncy, perhaps reflecting a usually energetic personality. Misty had never sight eyes on him before in any case, and she looked elsewhere.

Another boy with a shock of white hair contained by a green headband stood next to the frail-looking boy. Misty thought he looked familiar but did not recognize him—perhaps he had appeared in a newspaper or magazine somewhere and she had forgotten him… yeah, that was it, probably. He was pretty tall for his age, which Misty guessed was fifteen or sixteen or somewhere around there, and lean, as well.

Looking away from the albino, Misty turned her gaze towards the last member of the group. Her heart skipped a beat—it was Andrew Rosalind! The Andrew Rosalind! The Gym Leader had to fight very hard to stop herself from shrieking fan-girlishly, having never envisioned herself meeting such a famous Coordinator such as him. As of now, Drew was looking bored and harassed, and for some reason Misty began hoping that this was because of May. Misty wondered if she would actually get to see Drew flip his hair in person.

Drew seemed to have noticed Misty gawking at him, because he shifted uncomfortably and muttered something to May, who turned towards him and hissed something back. Misty didn't really care if they were talking behind her back (although technically they were right in front of her) because she was bubbling with happiness at the thought that she, Misty, was going to a party which Andrew Rosalind was also attending.

Unexpectedly, Ash also noticed Misty swooning at the sight of Drew and, raising a black eyebrow in puzzlement, carefully pulled the redhead away and drew a deep breath, as if preparing to make a long speech. Before he could, however, the lavender-haired man had already started, and Misty thought she saw the brown-haired Coordinator sigh.

"Hi Ash!" The Cacturne-dressed man said in a dangerously high, feminine voice. Misty frowned; something was clearly amiss. "You remember me, right? I'm Harley! Oh, hey, Brock! You remember me too, right?"

"Only too well." Brock muttered dryly.

Harley continued without flinching at Brock's comment, "I guess I should introduce everyone to you three, huh? Oh, wait, who's this?" The man's aubergine eyes turned towards Misty, and she began feeling very uncomfortable.

Nobody said anything. Misty half-expected Harley to say something, but he didn't.

Finally, deciding to break the monotony, Misty supplied, "I'm Misty, the current Gym Leader of Cerulean City."

A spark appeared in Harley's eyes. "Are you really? And what is your relationship to dear ol' Ash?"

"We're—" Misty began. However, she caught May's glare and was surprised to discover that it was antagonist and immediately quieted; she then began regretting the decision to turn silent as Harley took advantage of the calm only too well.

"Oh, I know, I know! You're Ash's other girlfriend, right?" Harley asked, positively jumping up and down with joy. Misty didn't quite know what to say—she glanced towards Ash, whose face was a startling shade of puce, and then at Brock, who, surprisingly, was also purple-faced. "Ah, I guess May's not the only player around here, then!"

"Wait, what?" Misty's eyes widened. May flushed crimson, and the white-haired boy did as well.

"Didn't you know, dear Misty?" Harley asked in a mockingly incredulous voice. He looked as if he were about to say something else, too, but a figure running towards them caught the attention of Dawn, who burst through the Ketchums' house's door, sprinting towards the approaching figure. They all, including Harley, looked towards that direction.

"Like oh my god! Zoey!" The azure-haired Coordinator cried, flinging her arms around the figure, who Misty noticed with some satisfaction was a redhead, although her hair was considerably spikier and much more tomboyish than Misty's own. Curiosity aroused, Misty decided to listen in on their conversation.

"Sorry I'm a little late." Zoey replied in a somewhat embarrassed voice, as if ashamed of her tardiness. Dawn simply beamed at her and tightened the embrace. Zoey then looked towards Misty's group's direction and nodded at them. "I see most people have arrived."

"Yeah, you are kind of late…" Dawn said in a sarcastic voice. "Where were you, anyways?"

"Fetching him." Zoey said with a slight grin, jabbing a thumb over her back. Misty noticed Dawn raise her eyebrows in disorientation, but soon enough, a figure of medium height had stepped through a thicket of bushes. A few leaves were stuck in attire of green T-shirt and long khaki pants. His ginger hair had been styled so that a bang swept horizontally right atop his taupe eyes. Misty almost instantly recognized him as one of the top eight placements in the Sinnoh Grand Festival Cup, (photo courtesy of Coordinator Spotlight!, a magazine Misty subscribed to) although his name she had forgotten.

"Kenny!" Dawn beamed again, releasing her hug on Zoey and throwing herself at the ginger-haired boy. He murmured something that Misty could not hear, but in response the orange-haired girl could clearly see Dawn's cheeks glow fuchsia, and the azure-haired girl proceeded to quickly pull away.

Harley seemed to have forgotten May's love life in the midst of the reunion, and was watching Dawn, Zoey, and Kenny with an expression filled to the brim with contempt and revulsion. When she seemed to notice, May heaved a huge sigh of relief and leaned on the white-haired boy, who blushed furiously. Misty thought she saw the corner of Drew's mouth spasm—but then the moment passed and Misty was left wondering if she had seen it at all or not.

"Let's go, hurry hurry hurry!" Max hissed, shoving his sister off of the albino, much to the white-haired Trainer's displeasure (at least to how Misty interpreted his reluctant grumble). They all listened to the Max, however, and crept quietly towards Ash's quarters. Incredibly, Harley did not follow them, and Ash quickly bolted the door as soon as the golden-green-haired boy entered the house.

"Close call," Drew muttered, almost inaudibly. Misty nodded fervently, wanting to appear cool in front of the famous Coordinator. May did not seem to appreciate Misty's fervency and resumed an uncharacteristic scowl that caught the attention of Drew. "What are you frowning at, May?"

"Frowning? I'm not frowning. Do I look like I'm frowning to you?" May asked, frowning. The white-haired Trainer coughed quietly and rolled his eyes towards the ceiling before Drew could retort; May looked towards him. After a while, the brown-haired girl's face lit up, as if realizing that she had forgotten to do something.

"Oh, right! Er, Ash, Misty, Brock, this is Brendan and Wally, and Misty, this is Drew," May said hurriedly, gesturing towards the white-haired, golden-green-haired, and green-haired boys, who indicated with blinks when their names were mentioned, although Drew smirked when May said his name. Evidently May had already explained to Brendan and Wally who Ash, Brock, and Misty were, since she did not offer an introduction for them. "Brendan and Wally're both my good friends, and I thought I'd invite them. I hope it's okay…" Trailing off, May raised her eyebrows suggestively towards Ash. When he returned her stare, dumbfounded, May looked towards Brock.

"I'm sure it's all right." Brock said helpfully, extending a hand in greeting towards Brendan, which Brendan shook; after the white-haired Trainer released his grip, Brock shook Wally's offered hand.

Realizing then that it was only polite, Misty offered her hand towards Wally; and thus, a lot of handshakes were made.

"What are we going to do now, then?" May asked bluntly after she finished shaking Misty's hand. They all turned towards Ash, who, after five seconds, took in the fact that they were all staring at him.

"I guess we should go eat dinner—outside," Ash said, gesturing towards the window where Delia Ketchum was placing dinner plates on a clothed table and a Mr. Mime was throwing knifes onto the counter using his psychic powers with great gusto.

"That sounds great! Boy, am I hungry," May said cheerily. As if on cue, her stomach grumbled. Max indicated disgust by imitating gagging, and earned a smart slap across the back of his head.

"I don't think you're the only one," Brock said wryly as Misty's stomach gave a traitorous growl. The redhead was busy contemplating whether or not to use her mallet on the Breeder for the second time that day, but as Ash brushed past her in a sprint for the dining table outside, Misty's stomach growled again and she decided that she may as well acknowledge Brock's truthfulness and headed outside.

Outside of the Oak Residence, Pallet Town, Kanto

Paul Samuels eyed everyone seated around the table condescendingly, fingering his silverware with apprehension, his gaze lingering briefly on Dawn's short skirt—the azure-haired girl in question was conveniently seated to his left. To his irrepressible annoyance, however, Ash had chosen to sit on his right. It was all Paul could do to stop himself from making a snide comment about Ash's Pikachu, who had leapt onto the black-haired Trainer's shoulder smoldered in dirt after the dinner had formally begun and Professor Oak had declared optimistically, "Tuck in!"

He began wondering why he had come in the first place. Perhaps it was for the mere satisfaction of defeating Ash for the—by Paul's count—forty-ninth time. Paul didn't truly think Ash to be a completely horrible Pokemon Trainer, compared to some of the most pathetic losers he had come by in his Pokemon Journey, in any case, although the maroon-haired Trainer could name off of the top of his head several dozen others who could easily defeat Ash in battle. (Ash was still pretty bad.) And to think that merely 'trust' in one's Pokemon could lead to a victory in battle—why, Paul thought, whoever thought that must seriously lack brains.

In fact, Paul could have simply said 'no'. The disappointed look that would surface on Ash's face would be fulfillment enough for Paul's narcissistic desires anyways. Paul was almost certain that he had an alternative motive for wanting to come, although he wasn't sure exactly what it was—in any case, it was surely not the party itself; no, Paul didn't like parties, much. Too many pathetic idiots (like Ash) running around the place.

His gaze absentmindedly floated back towards Dawn's presumably blissfully bare legs, only to notice that the girl had covered her lap with a napkin. With discontent and some self-scorn, Paul looked to his dinner plate and then at the large servings of food on the table. He wasn't especially hungry, but, looking at Ash, if Paul didn't help himself to food now there might not be any for him in the near future.

Sighing, the maroon-haired Trainer reached forwards with his spoon in his left hand—yes, he was ambidextrous—towards a mountain of mashed potatoes. Out of the blue, a hand smacked Paul's and he turned, wide-eyed, towards his left, where the hand had smacked his own came from. Perplexed, he found himself staring at an offended-looking Dawn.

"What do you want from me, friend-of-loser's?" Paul asked, rubbing his wrist where Dawn had hit him, making sure to shoot her one of his infamous glares. She wilted a little under the maroon-haired Trainer's intimidating look, but did not avert her gaze. It then struck Paul how well her amethyst eyes complemented her azure hair.

"Don't call me, or Ash, that." Dawn said indignantly, placing her pair of chopsticks besides her plate and folding her arms over her chest and glaring back at Paul, which he returned with even greater menace.

"I'm merely pointing out the obvious," Paul said coldly. Dawn's face grew a light pink, and she opened her mouth to say something, but Paul cut across her. "Why did you hit me, anyways?"

"There's a public spoon, thank you very much." Dawn replied, indicating a wooden ladle hidden behind the mashed potatoes that Paul had not seen before.

"Who are you, my mother? I can do as I please," Paul said in an indifferent voice, although he longed to be able to argue heatedly—but alas, he knew that he would flatten Dawn in two seconds blindfolded. However, Paul complied to Dawn's wishes and used the wooden ladle to spoon mashed potatoes into his own plate, although the reason as to why he did so even Paul was unsure of.

"Strange girl." Paul said to himself as he began eating. Strange indeed… The hairs on the back of his neck prickled, and the maroon-haired Trainer looked behind himself without attracting the attention of others, feeling that he had been watched and he thought he caught a glimmer of turquoise from behind a bush.

Viridian City Gym, Viridian City, Kanto

They were late, and they were going to feel the wrath of Giovanni's power.

The leader of Team Rocket, garbed in his usual dark tuxedo, paced the room, his hands folded impatiently behind his back. The Sky High Pokemon hovered a few inches off the ground behind him, looking misplaced in the barren and dingy marble room. Crackling with electricity, Zapdos roosted on a nearby table, and Moltres, crimson gaze fixed determinedly at the door, perched elegantly atop the golden chandelier, flames weakened so as to not scorch his surroundings.

Mewtwo floated serenely to Giovanni's left, three-fingered hands facing each other and legs crossed in a meditative position; ready to strike when Giovanni gave the word to.

Three men, wearing tuxedos similar to Giovanni's own, burst through the door. Moltres gave a startled caw, and Rayquaza hissed menacingly at the new arrivals. Zapdos flexed his wings, but Mewtwo was still floating peacefully. Giovanni glared fiercely at the three men—they cowered under his gaze but did not turn their backs and flee.

With much apprehension, the three Team Rocket Administrators seated themselves at a table opposite Zapdos's. Giovanni looked impatiently but expectantly at them.

"We're sorry, Mr. Giovanni!" The man in the middle cried. The other two nodded quickly. "A couple of stupid Trainers blocked our way, insisting that they wanted to challenge the gym."
Giovanni nodded quietly, careful to not display any explicit anger. He decided that he did not have time to punish them. "Very well. You are forgiven this time.." Then, turning his back on them, he proceeded in a slower, grander voice, "As you know, Mewtwo has managed to escape me more than once."—Mewtwo did not give any indication he heard his name—"But, I managed to recapture him after several years of tracking. It was a difficult task, but I achieved it.

"Rayquaza, who I trust you are all familiar with, proved to be much harder to capture had he been at full health. Luckily, I managed to locate the Dragon within hours after his famous battle with the two Deoxys's in La Rousse City, when he was severely weakened, and I then caught him using—ah—several electricity devices my scientists created previously.

"But try as I might, I could not bend their wills to mine. Yes, I tried torture, and that only succeeded in sapping their power and paralyzing them to a state that they could not openly retaliate. They still would not obey me; I risked forcing them to the brink of death, and several times I nearly crossed the line.

"Then, after the clash of Groudon and Kyogre in Hoenn, I flew to the scene and gathered the remains of the Red and Blue Orb. My scientists were able to craft…. Ah… controlling devises from these orbs." Indicating the separate bands attached to each of the legendary Pokemon, Giovanni continued, "And now I plan to finish my collection before executing my final plan."

Author's Notes:

Upon completion of this chapter, I officially decide that I like it the least of all the chapters I've already completed. I don't know exactly why, though… strange. I've repeated words too much, and there's probably a lot more wrong with this chapter. I think the characters were also a little OOC, but I'll try to do much better next time.

Well anyways, I'll try to complete chapter five as soon as possible to get it off of my head and to work on the second chapter of Johto Adventures. —smacks self for procrastinating—

UPDATE as of 10/14/2007: I corrected a typo pointed out by Daydreamer Gal as well as changed a really small but very important detail in the first POV (Turquoise's.)

Uh. Review please. (: