STOP! I posted 2 chapters this week! If the last thing you read was Brock announcing they're on their way to Cerulean city then GO BACK A CHAPTER!
Chapter 10: See how they run
– Lance's POV –
Looking at the huge pile of paper work he had to go through Lance sighed. The attack on the league was devastating. While there were no casualties, injuries were in abundance and the rescue team had just discovered that the kids bodies were nowhere to be found which meant that they were not in the building when the explosion occurred. This both relieved and worried him.
Mifune had immediately put out that the children were dangerous, part of the evil teams who attacked the Sinnoh league and now their own league and unfortunately he had gained some important supporters.
Lance was able to hold them off for now with a hasty explaination that the kids must've gotten out and were in hiding because they were scared, perhaps they were even captured and that they should send out a search and rescue party. That sort of thing always took time. Time and paperwork. He hoped it was enough for Ash and the others to finish whatever it was they were doing.
A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts. "Come in" he called out.
Cynthia entered the room with serious look on her face.
"Ahh Cynthia. Take a seat." He gestured to the chair in front of his desk, the seat that one of Ash's friends had occupied only the day before. It felt like weeks ago that they had that interview not simply one day.
"Thank you" she accepted his offer and sat down gracefully.
"So pray tell, what do you know about the kids location right about now?" Lance inquired.
Cynthia smiled "what's to tell?"
Lance sighed "c'mon Cynthia. We don't have time to play games. I know that it's dangerous for the kids to be with the league but do you really think they're safer out there alone?"
She pulled her lips into a thin line "one can't be sure of anything. But I trust those kids. They are true trainers and they have what it takes." She said confidently.
Lance groaned. Now really wasn't the time for the whole 'a trainer only needs to follow his heart' spiel.
"Cynthia, for whatever reason, Ash can use the power of Aura and that makes him dangerous to himself and to others. What's worse is that two of the world's largest criminal organisations are after him and the even the Pokémon league can't be trusted."
"Exactly! We can't be trusted. If we had kept Ash here how long do you think before they attacked again? At least on the run they're as clueless about his whereabouts as we are." The Sinnoh champion argued. "Besides I've sent someone to help." She added.
Lance raised his eyebrows in curiosity. "Who?"
She simply smiled mysteriously. "Someone who can help Ash become who he needs to be."
– Ash's POV –
"YOU BETTER EXPLAIN YOURSELF RIGHT NOW ASH KETCHUM!"
Ash simply stared at the fiery redhead his mouth gaping open like a fish.
"Uhhh Misty?" he uttered her name flabbergasted at the familiar sight of his angry best friend.
"Oh remembered me have you? Took you a while" she huffed and turned away crossing her arms.
"wha? Why are-? Where-?" Ash wasn't sure which question to ask first and helplessly turned to his other friends for help.
Gary, who looked to be quite enjoying the scene chuckled but said nothing while Dawn simply shrugged and looked just as confused as he felt. Desperately he turned to Brock, who would surely have the answers he sought.
Brock raised his eyebrows and gave him a look that Ash recognized as disapproval. "I hear it's been a while since you guys have talked" Brock hinted to which Ash gulped and turned nervously towards Misty once more.
"Heh heh well I'd been meaning to call…" he scratched the back of his head sheepishly and tried laughing it off but quickly silenced himself when Misty threw a glare at him that could scare off a Garyados.
"Oh you'd been meaning to have you? I suppose that makes it all fine and dandy then doesn't it?" Misty spat still fuming. "How long has it been? I think the last time I heard from you was just after you met up with Dawn here? " she gestured to the bluenette who tried to make herself look smaller as if balling herself up could keep her out of range of Misty's wrath.
Ash flinched and hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry Mist" he spoke softly using his nickname for her, she shoulders softened slightly and he secretly smirked knowing that it was a weakness of hers. One step closer to reconciliation. "Everything just got so busy and well…" he trailed off, hoping that a vague explanation would be good enough for her.
It wasn't.
"You didn't even call me to let me know you entered the Lily of the Valley conference" she said flatly.
"You watched it?" He said perking up, glad she was at least keeping up with his adventure albeit from media coverage rather than his own regaling.
"I missed the last match. Had a GYM battle at the same time." she said leaving an awkward tension in the air.
"Oh. Right."
There was an awkward silence as Ash tried to figure out how much Misty actually knew, he tried catching Brock's eye to see if he filled her in on the recent events but before he could Dawn suddenly interrupted with a realization of her own.
"Oh!" she suddenly exclaimed drawing peculiar looks from everyone within the room. She flushed with embarrassment. "sorry. But I just realized where I've seen you before Misty!" she said, eyes shining.
Misty immediately flushed bright red "that article was a onetime thing I'd never wear something like that normal-"
"Umm what are you talking about?" Dawn interrupted with a confused expression.
"Oh nothing!" Misty waved off a little too quickly.
"Well I haven't seen you in any articles, although I have seen your sisters many times, no actually it was Ash!" She said as if it explained everything.
"What?"Misty looked at Ash who had the same look of puzzlement on his face.
"Ash has this little thing he carries arou- mmph mmphh!" Ash had leapt off the couch and thrown his hand over the bluenette's mouth giving her the hardest glare he could muster.
"That's enough" he spoke gruffly.
"Ash!" Misty scolded "Let her go that is so rude!"
"But Mist you don't understand!" Ash pleaded, his hand still covering Dawn's mouth as she struggled behind it.
"Don't make me take out my mallet" she threatened lowly.
Ash gulped and reluctantly removed his hand in defeat.
"What I was trying to say was that Ash carries this little lure thingy around, you know for fishing? Anyway it looks just like you! I've only seen it a couple times but he won't let anyone else touch it" she finally managed quite smugly.
"Hahahahahaha! Well well Ashy boy, a bit sentimental are we? " Gary teased from his perch against the wall. "This is good stuff Dawn" he praised her lightly and ruffled her hair "what other secrets about Ashy boy do you know" he asked curiously.
"Shut up Gary!" Ash growled.
Misty on the other hand looked in a much better mood, although a light blush was evident on her cheeks. "So you kept the lure I gave you?" she said with a hint of a smile.
"Yeah but a fat load of use it was. Your face is so scary it scared away all the pokémon" Ash said nonchalantly closing his eyes and resting his arms behind his head in a very Gary-like fashion.
Of course this made him totally unaware of the impending danger he just put himself in.
"Scary huh?" Misty repeated, hiding her face behind her hair.
"Yeah I mean what pokémon wants to bite at a lure that has your face on it hahahaha right Brock? Uhhh Brock?" Ash waited for his friends to join in his laughter but all three of them had retreated to the back corner of the room. Even Pikachu had joined them and all of them look quite frightened.
"Guys what's with the faces?" Ash asked rather annoyed.
"Well they're probably just scared is all" Misty growled behind him. Ash gulped. Oh no.
WHACK!
Ash had stars in his eyes and Pidgey circling his head after Misty pulled out her infamous mallet and gave him a classic Misty Mash.
"Serves you right Ash Ketchum!" Misty huffed and stormed out the room.
Ash quickly recovered from his newly gained injury and rubbed his head. "Gee you think she'd have let me off a little after everything" he grumbled.
"Actually Ash I think she was quite worried about you" Brock added in a suspiciously pleased tone.
"We told her about what happened at the Sinnoh league, she hadn't heard that it was you that was injured. She doesn't seem to watch the news often unless they're showcasing one of your battles. Since she thought she missed yours and that the league had been temporarily put on hiatus she figured you were just training until it resumed again. " Dawn put in helpfully giving him a kind smile.
"Yeah yeah we get it Misty's not made of stone now does anyone know what article she was talking about?" Gary asked while furiously scrolling through his phone in a desperate attempt to find the potentially embarrassing blackmail he could use in the future.
Both Brock and Dawn sighed while Ash and Pikachu looked at each other in confusion.
– Misty's POV –
"Stupid Ash" Misty grumbled and she stormed through the aquarium-like hallways of the GYM. She walked to the main pool, the one she used for GYM battles and for training, and called for all her pokémon.
"Azu!" Azurill chirped and jumped out the pool, hopping toward her trainer obediently.
"Hi Azurill" Misty smiled and picked up the tiny blue pokémon. Azurill was quickly followed by her other pokémon, although Goldeen, Horsea, and Garyados resigned to staying in the pool.
"Hey guys! Guess what, Ash is back." She said softly rubbing Azurill's head.
"Cor Corsola!" Corsola twittered happily in recognition of the name. Staryu, Starmie, Horse, Goldeen and Politoed echoed Colsola's happy tweets.
"Azu?" Azurill twitched its ears, and gave Misty a questioning look.
"Oh right you've only met Ash a couple times haven't you Azurill?" Misty remembered. "Ash is my friend, we used to travel together. I told you stories about our adventures remember?" She explained much like a mother would to her child.
"Azu azurill!" Azurill nodded in confirmation.
"See you remember!" Misty said happily and praised her pokémon with a scratch behind its large ears. "Well he's back now, he got hurt. Brock, Dawn, and Gary told me some very strange things that happened but I guess I shouldn't be surprised when it comes to Ash. He attracts trouble like metal to a Magnemite. Aura huh…" she trailed off with a faraway look in her eyes.
"zurill?" Azurill nudged her hand as she'd stopped petting it's head.
"Sorry Azurill" she cooed and slowly placed her on the ground. She stood up and clenched her hand into a fist in a sign of her determination. "Okay guys we're not letting this opportunity pass us up! Ash needs our help. And we're going to give it. So I'm going to travel again. I can't take all of you with me, and I'm sure Daisy will want to keep a few of you here for GYM battles while I'm gone. You guys make sure she doesn't shirk her GYM leader responsibilities while I'm gone ok? Now let's see who should I take…"
Misty was pondering her potential roster when Daisy called to her from another room. "Misty! Like you better come here!"
Misty frowned at the tone of her voice. 'This can't be good' she thought to herself.
She walked in the direction of her sister's voice, where she was standing with her arms crossed in the lobby facing a man and a woman whom Misty did not recognise.
"What's this about?" She asked, her defences going up, she suddenly wished she hadn't left her pokémon in the other room.
"Are you Misty Waterflower, the GYM leader here?" the man asked.
"Yes I'm Misty, one of the GYM leaders" she emphasized the one and indicated to her older sister, annoyed that they'd ignored her. Although Misty was now the main GYM leader, Daisy and (although less so) even Violet and Lily did their part as Cerulean's GYM leaders.
"We need to speak to you about your previous traveling companions by the names of Ash Ketchum and Brock Harrison, we also have questions regarding Gary Oak, Dawn Berlitz, and Paul Shinji." The man spoke again giving no indication he'd even heard her quip about not being the only GYM leader.
"Why do you want to ask questions about them?" Misty asked, giving a quick glace to Daisy with hoping she'd get her message and warn the others before they were discovered.
"They are impertinent in an investigation regarding the bombing at the Indigo Plateau yesterday evening. What exactly is your relationship to the aforementioned trainers?"
Misty narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Who exactly are you guys?"
"We're representatives of the League. Answer the question miss" the man barked.
"No I don't think I will. Get out of my GYM." Misty demanded angrily. Who did these people think they were barging in here and demanding answers to questions?
"Do you know where Ash Ketchum and the other aforementioned trainers are currently?" the man ignored her and continued interrogating her.
"Didn't you hear me? I said get out!" Misty all but shouted. Hearing her distress, some of her pokémon had rushed into the lobby, prepared to battle to defend their trainer.
The man exchanged looks with the woman who nodded her head. "We will return with further questions and a warrant" the man warned then turned to follow the woman who'd already left.
Misty sighed in relief. "Thanks guys" she said gratefully to her pokémon.
Her pokémon each cried out their name in response which she took as a chorus of 'you're welcome!' in Poké-language.
"Misty!" Misty looked up to see Brock running down the hallway toward her with a worried expression on his face, he was quickly followed by Daisy.
"What's going on? Daisy said there were people looking for us?"
"Yeah a man and a woman. They said they were from the league but I don't trust that. They could be from Team Galactic or Team Rocket" Misty mulled over the scene in her head.
"What did they want?" Brock asked.
"They wanted to know what my relationship with each of you was and if I knew where you were. They also asked about a guy named Paul?"
"Paul is Ash's rival in Sinnoh and was the one he was battling when they attacked the league. He knows as much as we do about the whole situation" Brock explained.
Ahh. So he knew about Ash as well.
"Right. Well I suppose it's no longer safe to stay here then. League or not we can't let Ash be found yet. Cynthia told you guys to run so that's what we'll do" Misty said determinedly.
"You're leaving?" Daisy asked worriedly.
"Don't worry Daisy" Misty gave her a quick hug. "Take care of the GYM while I'm gone ok? Don't let Lily and Violet slack off either. If anyone asks where I've gone tell them I'm off training. Everyone knows it's my goal to be a water pokémon master so it shouldn't surprise anyone that I'd be training for that. In fact people had been expecting me to leave Cerulean and pursue my goal earlier anyway."
Misty felt her explanation for her absence was good. No one had told her to stay at the GYM, and with this excuse her sister's lack of knowledge of her whereabouts would be excusable.
"What will we tell Ash?" Brock asked, glancing down the hallway as if worried Ash would hear their conversation.
"We'll tell him the same thing. We'll say I want to train and travel around from place to place until they decide to restart the Lily of the Valley conference. He won't question that. You know how he is; he loves any excuse to be travelling and training."
Brock nodded "That should work. At least for now anyway. We better leave while we can, who knows when they'll be back. You get ready and meet us in the waiting room. I'll explain everything to Ash and we'll tell the other two the plan when he's out of earshot."
Misty nodded in agreement. She quickly selected a few of her pokémon to take with her and returned them to their pokéballs , although she picked up Azurill to carry in her arms since she was so used to carrying around a pokémon even after Togepi, 'Togetic' she mentally corrected herself, left. She rushed into her room to grab her old knapsack and threw a few essentials into it. Then she ran back to the waiting room where the others were.
When she entered Brock was giving an explanation about Misty's 'plans' to travel with them which received an enthusiastic response from Ash and confused ones from Dawn and Gary who, luckily, had the sense to just go along with it.
"Let's leave right now!" Ash jumped up grabbing his backpack and motioning for Pikachu to jump onto his shoulder.
The electric mouse leapt onto his shoulder with an excited "pika!' but turned toward Misty when his trainer wasn't looking and gave a serious look which gave Misty a feeling that it knew exactly what they were doing. She wouldn't put it past Pikachu to have heard every word with its long and highly functioning ears.
Brock was quietly whispering to the other two in the corner so Misty took it upon herself to distract Ash.
"C'mon Ash I'll race you outside!" she challenged.
"You're on Mist!" he laughed and they raced out the door.
Misty smiled to herself. Ash was acting like his old self. You wouldn't know what kind of battle he was fighting inside if you didn't really know him. It saddened her that the carefree boy she once knew was being pushed into growing up like this. She silently swore that she'd do anything and everything to protect him.
As they exited the GYM Ash jumped around with his hands in the air "I won! That's another victory for Ash Ketchum; Pokémon Master!" he hollered and whooped.
Misty shook her head, typical Ash. He hadn't grown up after all.
"Hey isn't that Gary's car?" Ash asked out of the blue, pointing towards the red convertible.
"Yeah well they didn't wanna carry you did they?"
Ash decided to take this as an insult and stuck out his tongue. "I can't believe he still has this thing. You really can't beat travelling the open road on foot! He would've missed so much cuz he drove everywhere!"
"Is that why he managed to get 10 badges compared to your 8 in the indigo league way back when?" Misty arched an eyebrow.
Ash scowled "that was totally unnecessary he was just showing off!"
Misty laughed. Classic Ash.
"Well I think we'll be using this thing for a while yet, I wanna go somewhere far." Misty said, a light bulb going off in her head.
"Really where?" Ash perked up at the thought of a new adventure.
"Fancy taking a return trip to Johto?" Misty suggested.
Sorry for taking so long to update! I currently have no internet access. Have not given up. Never will. Please be patient! Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites! Your support keeps me going!