Author's Note: It was mentioned, and so I thought about it .. Gary is being a total dick right now, huh? No worries! It doesn't last. In fact the only reason his attitude goes on into the next chapter is because I split this one in two. We would have had an extremely long chapter, otherwise. Not a bad thing, but now I feel better about updating :)
Disclaimer: I would love to own Pokémon, but I don't. It's tragic ..
Intuition
Chapter Ten
"Ash?" The gym leader repeated, likely more for her own benefit than the trainer in question, who's eyes remained locked upon the confused pair of jade a few feet before him.
"Uh .. " Was all Ash seemed capable of saying in this moment, though realisation soon flashed through his features, and he rubbed the back of his head almost sheepishly. "Hey, Misty. Long time no see."
Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that this was neither the right thing to say, nor anything close to what the red haired trainer wanted to hear. In an instant, her entire demeanour shifted from bewilderment to fury, her infamous temper setting those jade eyes into a raging inferno.
"Long time no see?" Her voice was dangerously low, yet controlled. The volume soon shifted, though. "Long time no see? Ash Ketchum, do you have any idea how worried I've been? Arceus, only this morning Professor Oak called me to tell me that you and Gary - " she spat out the young Oak's name, " - had run off to who knows where, when you were both given the direct order to stay put!"
By the time Misty had finished her rant, the distance between her and Ash was considerably larger. Had he been able to move himself to do so, Ash would have been content to use his rival as a human shield, especially since Gary himself remained unfazed by the water pokémon trainer's rage.
"What were you thinking?!" She suddenly went on, her jade eyes blazing. "You ran away in the middle of the night without telling anyone where you were, or what you were up to .. please don't tell me you expected to get away with this without consequences? And when I found out what happened, jeez Ash, I thought you were going to get hurt! Did you even think about anyone else?"
Despite years of dealing with her explosive temper, it seemed as though Ash would never get used to being on the receiving end of it. Unsure of what else to say, he only dared himself to speak upon noticing the impatience radiating off of Misty.
"Uh, well .. y'know," he struggled to form words, idly noting how he'd rather take on Misty's Gyarados with his bare hands than risk facing the wrath of the trainer herself. The water pokémon in question was resting a few metres away from both the trainer and the researcher, it's purple eyes flickering back and forth as it examined the scene, only mildly interested.
"I .. didn't think you'd worry so much," he managed to finish, but immediately knew it was the wrong thing to say.
Having travelled with her for several years, Ash could truthfully say he knew Misty well enough to predict what would happen next. She would yell at him some more, her temper exploding full force with the enraged insistence that she didn't care for him, and was merely looking out for him as a good deed to the professor. At least she would have if she'd been twelve years old again. It went without saying that Ash very nearly had a heart attack when Misty's rage, instead of reaching boiling point, evaporated into nothing. If he'd considered it safe to move, he would have hit himself on the head just to make sure he was neither dreaming, or hallucinating.
"Ash," she half sighed, folding her arms across her chest, "what are you doing here?"
The trainer could do little more than stare at the sudden mood switch, blinking a few times, yet the scene remained unchanged. "What d'you mean?" He managed, once he found his voice.
A hint of a frown touched Misty's features. "Ash, you do realise that there's pretty much a region-wide search for you two?" She said, quite matter-of-factly.
"What?" Ash almost yelped. "Wh - uh, I mean .. do you know why?" He tried to keep as calm as he could, though when Misty shook her head in the negative, he wasn't sure if he should be relieved at the knowledge.
"No. Professor Oak told me that you were supposed to be in Sinnoh with Gary because the two of you would be safer there," she explained, looking a little uneasy. "He wouldn't tell me what was going on, only that this morning both of you were gone and he had to find you."
"You spoke with him?" Ash inquired, and she nodded.
"If you could call it that," she elaborated. "All he really did was ask me if I'd seen either of you, and that I had to tell him as soon as possible if I did. I've never seen him so worried about anything. You should have seen him, Ash, he's practically going out of his mind."
The information caused a knot of guilt to twist itself horribly in Ash's stomach. Even more so when he realised he hadn't given much thought as to how the professor would react. If he'd known it would be to that level, then he would have re-thought things a bit.
"What's going on?" Misty's voice brought him out of his budding thoughts. From the tone of her voice, she seemed genuinely concerned. "Did you get caught up in something? It Team Rocket? Seriously, what happened to make the professor so worried?"
Ash knew he would have told her the truth, but the fact that he didn't know much about it himself, he could only sum things up in two words. "It's .. complicated," he admitted.
Misty sighed, looking as though she'd been expecting that very answer. "That's exactly what Professor Oak said when I asked him," she said.
"Incidentally, it is pretty complicated," Gary spoke up for the first time since accidently arriving in the red head's presence. "And according to Gramps, it seems that the less people know, the better. Which, by all means, includes you." The tone of his voice, in addition to whom they were directed at, was enough to get the fiery haired trainer riled up again.
"Oh yeah?" She demanded, her jade eyes blazing as she glared at the researcher, who remained unaffected by her presence. "Well let me ask you this, did you ever think about your grandfather when you planned this little heist? Do you know how worried he is?"
In his typical arrogance, Gary raised an eyebrow. "Whether or not I did, I fail to see how any of my actions concern you. And since I haven't made a habit of lecturing you about any of your sisters, I'd appreciate it if you kept away from the subject of my family."
For a split second it looked as though Misty's patience had surpassed it's limit, but before she could give a verbal reply, Gary swiftly beat her to it. "Before you get on my case, you can at least give us a few moments to get out of this lake. In case you weren't aware, it's cold."
In the turn of events, the younger two had all but forgotten about the fact that the boys were submerged in water up to their chests, and Gary had been making a conscious effort to keep them both afloat. Misty looked like she was going to say something, but instead opted to exhale heavily. She gave a sideways glance to Gyarados, who had been watching the argument play out with a mild interest, and in the following moments, both boys were easily lifted out of the lake on the atrocious pokémon's tail, their feet soon landing on solid ground once again.
"So," Misty snapped once that was done, "are you going to tell me anything?"
Running a hand through his auburn spikes, Gary gave some resemblance of a shrug. "If you're going to snap at me like that, then no," he said simply.
It went without saying that the red head was far from impressed, now glowering at the cocky researcher. "Then I could always get the answers out of you one way or another," she threatened, her hands clenching into fists.
"I'd like to see that happen," was the response she got.
In that instant, a Slowpoke would have enough common sense to run and hide, seeing as jade eyes were all but alight with a combination of annoyance and anger. Mentally praying to Arceus everyone would be able to walk away from the confrontation alive and in one piece, Ash spoke up;
"We need to get back to Pallet Town," he offered, hoping it would be enough to satisfy Misty's curiosity and distract her from the budding argument at hand.
From the expression on her face as she turned to him, it seemed that it had worked. "Pallet Town?" She inquired, tilting her head a little in thought. " .. actually, I'm more concerned about why you had to run away to get back here. Couldn't you have just spoken to somebody?"
"We already tried that," Gary interjected, half paying attention to the conversation while trying to dry out his hair, which seemed fully capable of staying in his signature spikes despite the increased weight of moisture. "And before you say anything, I'll tell you this: it was a waste of time, and I wasn't going to hang around for something to happen. Ash caught me while I was sneaking out," he concluded, nodding a little in the trainer's direction.
Misty raised an eyebrow. "Sneaking out, huh? If you woke Ash, then you must not have done a very good job. He sleeps deeper than a Snorlax," she jided, earning a protest from the raven.
"I was already awake!" Ash insisted truthfully, though clearly he would remain unheard.
Gary gave a heavy sigh. "Look, we're wasting time by standing around and talking about this. So if you're done, we need to go," he was already walking away before he'd finished his sentence.
"No way!" Misty protested, standing in front of Gary with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. "Do you really think I'm going to just let you go? Whether or not you intend to go back to Pallet Town, your grandfather is really worried about you. Aren't you going to at least call him?"
"If I did, he'd send me and Ash back to Sinnoh in a heart beat," Gary stated, unsuccessfully trying to edge around the red head, who effortlessly kept up with his movements, preventing him from proceeding. "I'm trying to get answers, and I clearly wasn't going to get them waiting around in another region. I need to talk to him in person, so will you move out of the way, for crying out loud?" His patience was wearing thin with her persistence.
Though it was obvious Misty wasn't going to be giving up anytime soon. "That's not fair, Gary," she argued. "He's your grandfather, and he's completely frantic in worrying about you. It wouldn't kill you to let him know you're okay!"
"Then why don't you call him if you're so worried?" Gary snapped back, having finally had enough of her stubborn attitude.
"Oh, no! I'm not getting chewed out for letting you go just because you wouldn't listen to me!" She countered swiftly, her lips pressed into a tight frown. "In fact, I should call Officer Jenny and have her bring you back to wherever you're supposed to be. I bet you won't even make past the city centre before she finds you anyway. The whole department is searching for you!"
"Wait, the whole department?" Ash spoke up, unable to keep his silence any longer. " .. what does that mean?"
Continuing to glare at Gary for another few seconds, Misty then redirected her gaze to Ash. "It means exactly that, Ash; the entire police department is out looking for you and Gary. I'm amazed you got this far with how many there patrolling the cape by itself!"
Absent-mindedly, Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah well, we almost got caught .. " He admitted quietly, recalling the events from just a few minutes ago, idly wondering if their argument had been over heard by anyone.
Misty tucked a long strand of hair behind her ear. "I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you're not getting any further, trust me," she said. "If you take one step in Cerulean, then Officer Jenny will be on you so fast, Brock would die of jealousy."
Despite the seriousness of their predicament, Ash couldn't suppress a snicker at the mental image. Thankfully, it was ignored by both others.
"What makes you so sure of that?" Gary asked, clearly sceptical.
Misty's gaze snapped back to him. "In case you didn't know, I live in Cerulean," she retorted. "I needed to pass a test to prove my identity, bring my trainer's license and list down what pokémon and possessions I have on me just to able to get into the cape. They're only allowing a few people up here so they can keep track of everything, and it doesn't include any random trainer. So believe me, they'll find you."
"Uh .. don't you think that's a bit of an overkill?" Ash questioned, unsure of how to follow up the statement.
Misty gave a slight shrug. "Maybe, but it doesn't seem to bother them. A lot of trainer's complained about the cape being out of bounds, but that's the extent of it," she explained.
"Well, that helps," Gary responded, sarcasm lacing each word. "But we can still get past them. We just need to wait for the right time."
"If you mean 'wait until it gets dark', then it's not going to work," Misty snapped back, tolerating nothing from the researcher. "It sounds like a good cover, but this is Officer Jenny we're talking about. She'll have thought about that."
With the limitations becoming ever more apparent, Gary clenched his fists in frustration, exhaling loudly and impatiently. "Then what would you suggest we do?" He asked the red head, who glared at him in response.
"You don't really think I'm going to help you, do you?" She scoffed. "Forget about it. If you want my help, then you're out of luck."
As those words tumbled out of Misty's mouth, Ash could have sworn he heard Gary growl at her. Shortly afterwards, the researcher turned to face Ash.
"Charming friends you have," he deadpanned. "You always seemed so close, but I'm beginning to see why you dumped her. Dawn's a lot nicer. Better to look at, too."
The effect was instant.
"Excuse me?" Misty yelped, outrage written all over her features. "I'm the one who left him! And for that matter," she turned to glare at Ash, "you still owe me a bike!"
"What?!" Ash exclaimed. "It got fixed!"
"That doesn't change the fact that you broke it," she snapped.
"Pikachu broke it!" He protested. "And it was an accident, anyway. I had to get him to the pokémon centre."
"And why was he hurt in the first place? You were the one who made those Spearow angry, so in all fairness, it all comes down to you."
"How is that fair? I didn't know it would get so angry! If I did, I wouldn't have done anything. If Pikachu had listened to me, I wouldn't have gotten frustrated and threw the rock!"
"It's not his fault you were such an incompetent trainer!"
"Like you were any better!"
Her face flushed red. "You take that back!"
"Not until you apologise!"
"For what?!"
"Would you both shut up?!" Gary's shout cut through the other two's childish banter sharply.
At the sound, both teens paused, Ash just about to protest further, and Misty looking ready to wrap her hands around his throat. Years ago at the beginning of their journey, neither would admit they were at fault. Thankfully, their growth in maturity since then meant that they at least had the good grace to look embarassed once they'd quietened down.
"I don't have time for this," Gary sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb. "Ash, if you want to stay and argue, then that's fine, I won't stop you. But at least try not to get yourself caught, okay?"
With that, Gary went to walk away, only this time it was Ash who prevented him, grabbing hold of his arm.
"No way!" The trainer protested. "I'm still coming."
"Then shut up and get a move on," Gary reliated, pulling his arm from Ash's grip.
Behind them, they heard Misty huff in frustration. "I've already told you, there's no way you're getting past Officer Jenny," she reminded them.
Gary looked at her over his shoulder. "Yes, I'm aware of what you said," he confirmed. "But that doesn't mean I'll listen to you."
Once again, Misty frowned. "Then obviously you have no common sense," she replied. "Whatever you have planned, then no doubt someone suspected it. If you want to wait around until night, then I don't think you'll get that far. It's barely midday, and if you're not found soon, then Officer Jenny will just increase the search."
"Or they'll figure we've gotten past them and move on to somewhere else," Gary pointed out reasonably. "Even if they do find us, then we can battle if it comes down to it."
"Against the entire Cerulean police department?" Scepticism laced Misty's voice. "Good luck."
Though Gary glared at her with undisguised annoyance, his emerald eyes hard, his voice was surprisingly calm and controlled. "Then I'll repeat my earlier question: what would you suggest?"
"I already told you that I'm not helping you. Maybe if you were nicer, then I'd consider it. But you got yourself into this mess, so you'll have to get yourself out of it."
Again, Gary turned to Ash. "Do tell me, was she always this helpful, or is she just PMSing?"
Jade eyes practically sparking, for the first time emerging from the lake, Misty looked very much like she wanted to slap Gary. In any case, she was certainly being pushed to her limit if the twitching eyebrow was anything to go by.
"I said I would consider helping you if you were nicer!" She snapped. "But forget it. If this is how you treat people then no wonder Ash never liked you. Sometimes I thought you were nice, but you're just an arrogant jerk."
Her frown was then mirrored onto Gary's expression. "You don't say? In case you didn't notice, everyone, myself included, figured that out several years ago. I used to think you were clever for your age, but if you're realising that now, then I'd say you should be praised for making Ash look smart in comparison."
The red head's cry of "What?!" coupled with the raven's "Don't bring me into this!" sent the sound echoing through the clearing. Gary was rather astounded that they hadn't been found out with all the racket the other two were making.
"See it now?" He stated with a nonchalant shrug. "You're like a Shellder, and he's a Slowpoke. Put the two of you together and you evolve .. and trust me when I say a Slowbro is nothing to brag about."
"Real smooth there, Oak," Misty pouted. "I'm a Shellder? What does that mean you are?"
Gary paused for a brief moment, then shrugged again. "I guess that makes me the King's Rock," he said. "Slowking are a lot smarter than you think. I'm sure Ash has some hidden intelligence somewhere."
"That's not even a pokémon!" Came the protest. "Anyway, the King's Rock isn't what makes a Slowpoke evolve; it attracts the Sheller to bite it's head."
"It's still a lot more useful than a Shellder," Gary quipped. "Have you ever tried surfing with one of those? It's next to impossible. A King's Rock allows certain pokémon to evolve; in other words, it makes them stronger. Not to mention Shellder is one of the weakest water types. In a simple term, a King's Rock is a lot better, and much more useful."
"But it's an object, what does that imply when you need to battle? Are you just going to sit around and let other people do it for you?"
"I'm neither a gym leader, nor do I compete in Leagues anymore. Slowbro battle, and while they're pretty good, a Slowking is stronger in terms of base stats. A King's Rock boosts power, so even if I weren't to battle directly, it's concrete proof than my presence alone is enough to make someone stronger." He sent her a teasing smirk. "Does that satisfy your curiosity?"
"A King's Rock makes the opposing pokémon flinch! That neither makes the pokémon holding it stronger, nor pays you a compliment."
"But if the other pokémon is negatively affected, it gives the Slowpoke an advantage. Therefore, it actually makes the Slowpoke stronger."
"That's not the point!" Misty raged. "You said that it's concrete evidence, but how does that mean you - !"
"Misty!"
Screeching to a sudden halt, the water pokémon trainer seemed almost bewildered for a moment, before she turned her head in Ash's direction, his exclamation having shocked both her and Gary out of their argument.
With their attention on him, Ash gave a heavy sigh. "Do you guys even know what you're talking about anymore?" He questioned.
While the argument had been going on, he'd been trying to determine exactly how a conversation about sneaking past Officer Jenny had shifted into pokémon comparisons. And from the sudden flashes of realisation on the faces of the older two, they'd come to this conclusion as well.
"Well, whatever," Gary brushed off. "Let's go, Ash."
A few feet away from him, Misty huffed. "How many times do I have to tell you that you can't?"
Gary raised an eyebrow at her. "Real positive thinker, aren't you?"
For a few moments, Misty looked ready to snap back at him, before throwing her arms in the air. "I give up! You're impossible!" Saying that, she turned on her heel, swiftly recalling Gyarados and dropping the poké ball in her back before slinging it over her shoulder. "Whatever you want to do, then fine, go do it. Just don't complain to me when it all falls through, okay?"
With that, she wasted no time in walking away from both boys. Though she got barely ten meters away from the lake before she felt someone grab her arm.
"Misty," the raven's voice sounded, making her look back to meet his gaze. "Can you help us?"
For once, Ash was asking for her help out of his own free will. The suddenness of it made Misty momentarily lose the feeling in both her legs, though thankfully she retained her balance.
"You want my help?" She asked, feeling the need to confirm such a fact, before she hastily shook her head. "Well, despite the pleasantries of him over there," she shot Gary a nasty look, "I'm sorry. I can't help you, Ash." She went to yank her arm out of his grip, but Ash kept hold of her.
"Misty," he repeated, only this time his tone of voice made the red head pause, as though she hadn't suspected Ash to be capable of producing such a sound. " .. please."
That one, final word was enough to make Misty's breath hitch in her throat. She would have doubted it's sincerity, but as her jade eyes met his sienna, the emotion contained within them told her that he was being nothing but genuine.
Hesitating for a full few seconds, Misty eventually sighed. "Ash, I don't know what I can do," she said apologetically. "I'm sorry, I would help you, but I can't."
"Misty, we need to get back to Pallet as soon as possible, and if what you said about Officer Jenny is true, then we can't do it on our own," he said. "We need your help."
For a long while, Misty looked torn between her loyalty to her best friend, and doing what seemed morally right. Her jade eyes shimmered with the emotion she felt, displaying her hesitance for Ash to see. "I .. I really don't know what I can do. I can't see a way past Cerulean, and even so it's not just that," she paused for a moment, inhaling deeply. "If it weren't so serious, then Professor Oak wouldn't have the entire police department swarming Kanto for the two of you -"
"Misty," there was an unhidden seriousness in Ash's voice that cut the red head's sentence off against her will. "I .. " He seemed to be physically struggling to put words together, but in a rarer show of patience, Misty waited. Eventually, Ash sighed. "Okay, I don't know what's really going on, but you're right - it's serious."
Though Ash paused, Misty stayed silent, both unknowing of what to say to that, and because she sensed he was not yet done.
"I don't know how much I can tell you, but .. "
Hesitation was radiating from Ash's very being, enough for Misty to touch his arm and give it an encouraging squeeze. "Tell me, Ash," she coaxed.
The trainer shifted a little, his gaze flickering over to Gary and pleading the silent question. The researcher didn't react for a moment, but then gave a single nod of his head.
"If you can trust her, then go ahead," came the verbal confirmation. "But make it quick."
It was all the motivation he needed. Once Gary had given him the confirmation, the words just spilled from Ash's mouth before he was fully aware of it. He knew -somewhere in his mind- that it probably wasn't a good idea, but it didn't seem like there were very many options left.
As he spoke, Misty remained silent. She nodded a few times in regard to her knowledge of several things, the news of Cinnabar Island being one of them, but as the story progressed towards the more recent events, that was when her curiosity and worry transformed into shock.
Ash was aware of her soft gasps every so often, and how her jade eyes were steadily becoming wider with each word he spoke, but it was like he was acting on auto-pilot. Yet somehow, he wasn't sure he'd be able to bring himself to stop even if he had the option.
Once he finished up, adding in the basic explanation as to how they got back to Kanto, Misty seemed almost frozen where she stood, as though encased by an invisible Ice Beam. She seemed only capable of blinking, but even then it was likely forced.
" .. so," she eventually spoke after a period of silence, "you're saying that a few days ago, you were attacked by something, then sent away to Sinnoh. But when you realised something much bigger was going on, you and Gary came back here to get answers you wouldn't get otherwise?"
The way Misty laid out the explanation, she was clearly disbelieving. Perhaps it was the shock, or maybe denial. Then again, she could have been silently wondering if Ash assumed she were naïve enough to truly believe something like that. Either way, she was shaken.
"Misty," Ash tried, inwardly beginning to panic, a feeling of dread creeping into his stomach and twisting it into a painful knot. He was silently praying she would at least refrain from freaking out, or yelling at him, but judging by how her lips had managed to press themselves into a nearly non existent line, that hope was quickly dashed. " .. Mist - "
Before he could get anywhere with his statement, Misty moved so quick and suddenly enough to make Ash flinch. But as she lifted her hands, it turned out she hadn't done so to slap Ash, but rather to bury her face into them.
"Ash, you .. how .. ? Ugh!" She groaned loudly in exasperation, dragging her fingers down her face. "Ash, how do you get yourself into these things?!"
While he was admittedly relieved she wasn't quite yelling -yet- Ash wasn't entirely sure what to say in regard to that. Though it didn't really matter, as before he had the chance to open his mouth to reply, Misty continued to speak.
"I mean .. really, Ash? When something happens, why does it always have to involve you? Why?" She sounded quite close to tears by the time she voiced the final word. "Every time! There's always something and you have go and make it right, but, I .. I just - "
"Misty."
At the sound of her name, Misty's voice caught in her throat, as though the two syllables had triggered an 'off' switch to any sound she could make. She blinked a few times, only just realising how she'd begun to rant, before hesitantly, and almost reluctantly meeting Ash's eyes, her own shimmering with a layer of tears.
" .. please .. "
In that moment, just that one word was all it took for every last scrap of willpower to drain itself completely from Misty's body, leaving her with a weakened sensation radiating through her veins. "O .. okay," she murmured, loud enough only for Ash to hear. "I'll help you. Whatever you need, I'll do my best."
Faster than willpower was drained from Misty, relief began to surge through Ash's body, making him feel strangely light-hearted. "You'll help us," he had to voice it, to confirm it, and make sure that he wasn't living out some inexplicable hallucination.
One firm nod of Misty's head was all it took for him to separate a possible dream from reality.
"Yes," she confirmed, "yes. I don't care if I get in trouble for it, I'll help you with whatever you guys need." Her jade eyes flickered to the side, and she frowned a little as her gaze fell upon Gary. "But only if he quits berating me like I'm you."
Ash felt a muscle beneath his eye twitch, but supressed a protest by biting down on the inside of his cheeks. Now wasn't the time.
"Deal," came the researcher's reply, and for a split second, Ash could have sworn he saw Gary's lips curl up into his trademark smirk.
"And," the red head apparently wasn't finished, "you need to do exactly as I say."
Had Gary truly been smirking, any trace of it was now gone. "Is there any particular reason for that?" He inquired, apparently keeping to his promise of not poking fun at her.
Though not in annoyance, Misty folded her arms across her chest. "Yes, there is," she said simply. "Because if you have any hope of making it through Cerulean City unnoticed, you're gonna need my help."
Gary raised a questioning eyebrow. "Please explain," he requested, but as Misty went to do just that, she quickly thought otherwise and shook her head.
"Not here," she said. "I wasn't kidding when I said there were a lot of people out looking for you. The only reason they're not here is because not many of them want to encounter a Gyarados, trained or not." Even so, she quickly scanned the open area, but seemed to sense no one nearby. "The first thing we need to do is get back to the gym. Then we can talk."
"The gym?" Ash repeated, vaguely recalling the general layout of Cerulean; the gym being a main attraction and built fairly close to the main town. "Uh, how're we supposed to get in without being seen?"
Instead of an explanation, Misty waved her hand, brushing the comment aside. "You don't need to worry about being seen. Trust me," she said.
Ash would have normally pressed for details of the plan, but for whatever reason, his trust was in Misty on this. For him, it was enough. "Okay then," was all he said on the matter.
"Okay, but one thing's first; do either of you have any water pokémon on you?" Misty inquired, earning a questioning look from both boys, so she elaborated, "If you don't, then you're gonna have a bit of a hard time getting in."
"How, exactly?" Gary spoke up.
"Let's put it this way," she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "there's no way you'll be able to get in through the front entrance, so you'll need to take the alternate route."
"Which would be?"
"About a year ago, there was an incident a few miles out in the ocean," she explained. "I won't go into detail right now, but a lot of water pokémon got sick because of it, and many of them got treated at the Cerulean Gym. But because we couldn't manage to keep bringing them in or releasing them at regular intervals, an underwater tunnel was built which leads from the ocean to the gym, so when the pokémon are well enough, they can go ahead and leave. If they ever feel sick again, they can come back."
A little past the mid-point of Misty's explanation was when a look of understanding touched Gary's eyes, but Ash was the one to voice the question they both wanted to ask;
"Wait .. are you saying that we need to get into the gym by going underwater?"
Misty have him a short nod. "That's exactly what I'm saying," she confirmed.
"Right," Gary mused, "so what happens afterwards?" At the twin looks of confusion he recieved, he elaborated, "We get to the gym, and then what? Unless you have some secret underground passage way that lead straight to Pallet somewhere beneath Cerulean, I don't see how your plan helps us out in anyway."
The way annoyance remained non-existent in Misty's features, Ash guessed she'd expected such a question. "Like you said, you two should wait until dark, and then keep going to Pallet. With the cover of night, you'll have a better chance of remaining undetected," she explained. "But even if someone notices you and puts up a chase, it's much easier to hide in the dark, so I doubt you'll have an awful lot of trouble in avoiding them."
Still a short distance away, Gary let out a breath of air. "Seems like a plan," he admitted. "That is, unless we get caught on our way in." He gave Misty a look. "Are you sure no one's monitoring the tunnel to the gym? It seems like an obvious thing to do."
But Misty shook her head. "You don't need to worry about that. Many of the water pokémon in the gym are getting strong enough to leave, and any interference could damage their confidence in making their decision to return to the wild. The construction of the tunnel was kept a secret, so it's unlikely it'll be found. Not to mention there's heavy security at the gym, so there's no way they'd be able to cause any trouble," she reassured. "Trust me on this; your only trouble is getting to the entrance of the tunnel unnoticed."
Gary raised an eyebrow, clearly sceptical. "You're sure about that?"
Again, she nodded. "You can trust me," she repeated. "Though you never answered my question: do you have any water pokémon on you?"
"One," Gary replied, "a Blastoise."
At that, Misty's brow tightened in thought. "I'm not sure if a Blastoise will fit," she said. "The tunnel was designed for smaller pokémon, since the facility in the gym isn't large enough for bigger pokémon, like the Gyarados .. but it doesn't matter. You just wait by the entrance, and I'll send some through for you, alright?"
Ash nodded in unison with Gary, then asked, "Exactly how big is the tunnel?"
"If you're worried about getting stuck, then there's no point," Misty said, picking up on the implication. "It was made large enough for several people to get through, just in case there was an incident one of us needed to attend to. All for safety reasons."
Gary gave a slow nod. "Yeah .. of course."
Intuition
"Uh, Gary, are you sure this is a good idea?" Ash questioned, gingerly leaning over the cliff's edge whilst holding onto a nearby tree branch. The waves below seemed calm enough, but when looking down from a twenty foot drop, it suddenly threw everything out of it's proper perspective.
Beside him, Gary sighed. "Positive," he said. "As long as you don't freak out and cause Officer Jenny to come running over, everything will be fine."
Though Ash frowned at the comment, he refused to take the bait. "Yeah, because that's what I do," he muttered under his breath.
Certain that the comment hadn't intended to be loud enough for him to hear, Gary chose not to reply, instead rolling his eyes. "Hurry up," he said, reaching a hand out to Ash to help the other back onto Skarmory. The steel-type was already tired, but since Fearow had taken over the responsibility of flying halfway through the journey, he'd had several hours to recover. Besides, Gary wasn't planning on making him fly a great distance.
Bringing himself out of his thoughts, Ash took the offered hand, easily managing to climb up Skarmory's outstretched wing to sit behind Gary once again.
"Hold on," the researcher said, prompting Ash to wrap his arms around Gary's waist, "if you fall, then it's your own fault."
Ash shifted slightly behind him. "Noted," came the verbal response. His grip automatically tightened as Skarmory outstretched both wings, moving closer to the edge of the cliff.
Before long, Skarmory was air borne, smoothly gliding through the air and circling round as he neared the surface of the water below. He came to a rather abrupt halt just before his metal claws touched the very tips of the waves, hovering above the surface as Gary unclipped a poké ball from his belt. In a flash of red tinted light, his Blastoise materialised, floating easily in the water.
"Blaaast," came the giant turtle's growl, manoeuvring his body so that the back of his shell was above the waves, acting as a makeshift raft.
"You first, Ash," the researcher spoke, resizing Blastoise's poké ball and clipping it back onto his belt.
"'Kay," the trainer responded, withdrawing his arms a little so that he was instead holding onto Gary's jacket. He shifted back as far as he could, carefully swinging both legs over to one side.
His head still above the water, Blastoise swam closer to Skarmory, enough so that Ash could rest the sole of his foot against the turtle's shell. With a half hearted jump, Ash pushed himself off the metal bird and onto Blastoise's back, landing in a crouch, and resting both hands on the turtle to steady himself.
"I'm okay," Ash confirmed once he'd managed to sit down and remain steady. "Your turn."
It wasn't long before Gary joined him, his arm around Ash to steady them both. He quickly recalled Skarmory, clipping the poké ball back onto his belt.
Having previously gone through the procedure, Blastoise swam closer to the cliff's edge while keeping his head underwater, taking them as close to the underwater tunnel as he could.
"So," Ash spoke up as this was going on, "I guess now we wait, huh?"
Gary gave a half hearted shrug. "It would seem so," he said, retaining his hold on the younger.
For several minutes, they did just that, in utter silence. Blastoise kept in his position during the whole while, his head continuously under the water and keeping a watch out for whatever pokémon Misty sent through.
"Hey, Gary?" The raven eventually asked, breaking the double-sided silence that had settled in. He saw Gary raise an eyebrow, inviting him to go on, and continued, "What are you expecting when we get back?"
The question seemed to throw Gary off guard for a few moments, but he quickly regained his composure. "As in, what answers do I think we'll get? If we get any?"
Ash tilted his head a little. "It's just that I've been thinking," he shifted again, his expression one of discomfort, "we've both been wanting to find out what's going on, but I've never actually thought about .. well, what could actually be going on, y'know?"
Though Gary had a fairly good idea of what the younger meant, he requested for Ash to elaborate.
"For the past few days, it's been all I can think about. But I've never really put thought into what's going on," he admitted, looking hesitant for a while before continuing, "I keep replaying that night in my mind, but .. I haven't really thought about what that thing could be. Or why it did that." He blinked a few times, sienna eyes then looking up into emerald. "Professor Rowan said we're both involved in this. But how? What did we do? I don't get it."
For what had to be at least a full minute, neither teenager spoke, or even moved.
Ash felt frozen in place by Gary's stare, though emerald eyes were clouded over in thought. Gary seemed completely unfocused, possibly oblivious to his surroundings, maybe even Ash himself, but however glazed his eyes were, they still pierced Ash's, holding the younger still.
Gary's lips parted at some point, but no sound came out before they closed once again. He seemed almost incapable of speaking for a long while, before he cleared his throat. " .. really," he eventually managed to say, "I don't know what to expect."
When those emerald eyes flickered away from his own, Ash felt all sense of movement gradually return to his body. "What do you think we should do?" He asked quietly. "I mean .. for all we know Professor Oak won't tell us anything. There's no guarantee, right?"
In a mild jolt of surprise, Gary actually seemed to agree with what Ash said. "Yeah, I know," he responded. "But I'm not waiting around for answers. Even if this whole trip turns out to be a bust, at least I won't be beating myself up for not trying."
Despite his words and air of determination, Ash could see the flicker of conflict dancing through those clouded emerald eyes. He offered a small smile of encouragement. "Whatever happens, I'm in this with you," he offered.
There was hesitance, then Gary slowly turned to face his former rival. No words were spoken for a long while, but Gary's eyes were questioning, calculating; searching for answers he couldn't find hidden deep within sienna eyes.
From the edge of his vision, Ash could see Gary's lips part, the researcher's expression suggesting he had something to say, when;
"'Solaa ~ "
In unison, both Ash and Gary turned automatically towards the source of the sound, their gazes simultaneously falling upon the pink corral pokémon beaming up at them from a few feet away. A second pokémon, blur of gold moving around swiftly beneath the surface, soon emerged next to Corsola with a short cry of;
"Hyaah!"
"Looks like this is our ride," Gary noted, as the two water pokémon splashed about playfully. "You ready?"
Ash nodded. "Yeah," he said, being the first to lower himself into the water, holding onto Corsola, who thankfully stayed still for his benefit.
Gary quickly followed Ash, the cool water soaking him completely as he partially submerged himself. He recalled Blastoise, while holding onto Staryu with his free hand.
"Can we both fit?" Ash asked off-handedly. When Gary gave him a questioning look, he elaborated, "Misty said the tunnel was big enough for us to fit through, but do you think we can both go together, or is it single file?"
Gary quirked an eyebrow, then shrugged. "There's one way to find out," he said. "You stay here, I'll be right back."
Before Ash could answer, Gary was gone.
With Staryu leading him through the water, Gary observed the rough wall of rock before him. He scanned the area for a short while, locating a generously sized opening, so discreetly carved it was easily missable. It was definitely large enough for them to freely swim through, but maybe not side by side. Though it wasn't like the latter fact was a drawback. It was definitely made for fairly small water pokémon, perhaps as wide as a Wartortle was tall.
Nodding to the starfish pokémon, Gary was swiftly pulled to the surface, emerging beside Ash.
"So, is it?" The trainer questioned, as Gary drew in several deep breaths.
"We'll have to go single file," the researcher responded. "I'll go first," he added to the pokémon by extension, who both gave their own variation of a nod. "Just make sure you can hold your breath for as long as you can. I have no idea how far it goes."
"Alright, then," Ash said, adjusting his grip on two of Corsola's pink horns. "Are you ready to go now?"
Once he was certain his breath was back to normal, Gary nodded. "Take several deep breaths, okay? It helps," he advised. Then, after doing just that he ducked his head underwater.
Staryu easily navigated through the water, despite the extra weight it was pulling. A quick glance behind him, and Gary could see Ash not too far behind him, moving at a similar speed thanks to the corral pokémon.
Despite being underwater, and potentially out of any direct source of light, the tunnel was quite well lit. As Staryu lead him carefully through, Gary brushed his palm against the rocky edges. His vision was blurred and his eyes stung a little from the salty water, but if he were to squint, he could make out the white, crystal casings spread out, jutting through the rocks. He'd seen it many times before in the past; crystallised minerals. If placed near a steady source of light, they would reflect it. That solved the mystery of why it was dimly lit when it should be almost pitch black.
But that wasn't Gary's main concern. The last time he'd been to Cerulean, he'd noticed that the gym was close to the shore line, but he'd never attempted to work out the time and distance when travelling underwater. His point being, it had been nearly half a minute, and the need for air was becoming a conscious battle.
If Staryu knew this, it hadn't yet reacted. But when it felt Gary subconsciously grip onto it tighter, the message came loud and clear. The exit point wasn't much further ahead, but Staryu was aware that humans could not hold their breath for longer than a minute, and Gary was beginning to struggle to reach that feet. Not to mention, Staryu wasn't willing to have the guilt of accidently letting a human lingering on it's conscience.
Swimming faster, Staryu could see the light becoming stronger as the tunnel went on, and before much longer, the dark water became clear and bright.
From what Gary could make out through his vision, he could vaguely tell that wherever he was, it seemed to be a large, glass tank. Not too different from an aquarium.
"You guys made it through okay, then," he heard Misty speak as he broke through the surface of the water. He opted against giving an immediate reply in favour of breathing in deeply, the need for oxygen having become all the more notable.
Beside him, he heard a similar sound, only Ash seemed to be coughing. He'd probably inhaled a few moments too early.
"Yeah, thanks for that," Gary replied, his breathing heavy, but at a steady pace. He wiped the salt water from his eyes, blinking a few times to clear his vision.
"No problem," Misty responded. He felt her take hold of his arm, pulling him towards the edge of the tank, then pressing a towel into his hand. "I'm sorry there wasn't a more convenient option, but best to take what you can get."
"Could be worse," Gary replied, drying his face, then allowing himself to look up at the red head, whose gaze wad directed to the middle of the tank. Looking round, he saw Ash, temporarily blinded by the salt water, but managing to swim his way towards the sound of their voices.
Once he'd reached his destination, Misty handed him a second towel. "Are you okay, Ash?" She inquired, to which he nodded.
"I'm fine," he said, his own vision soon restored. He pulled the towel away, blinking several times, but he was able to focus on Misty, who smiled. "But where are we?" He added, looking around the room they were in. There were several more tanks, each leading to a separate pool of water. The rest of the décor strongly suggested it was a place to treat pokémon, bearing similarities to a place Ash recalled visiting with Misty whilst in Johto.
"This is where it all happens," Misty said, gazing around the room, which was devoid of humans other than the three of them. "The doctors are helping a group of baby Horsea in learning to swim. Because of what's affecting the other water pokémon, it seems to have impaired their natural ability to survive in large bodies of water. We need to teach them right from the start." She explained all of this in a relatively casual tone, but there was a glint in her jade eyes that betrayed the grief she was feeling.
"That's terrible," Ash commented, feeling bad about the whole thing. Especially when seeing how it was taking it's toll on one of his best friends.
But true to nature, Misty put on a brave, and convincing smile. "It will work out. It doesn't seem to be fatal, and the team of doctors are making progress in finding the source and creating a cure," she said, though in a tone that suggested she was trying to assure herself rather than Ash.
"There's positivity," Gary spoke up. "But before anything else happens, would it be too much to ask to get out of here?" He indicated to the pool of water he and Ash were still mostly submerged in.
Whether or not it was meant as a distraction, it seemed to work for Misty. Her jade eyes lit up a little, breaking out of her momentary show of depression. She then got to work, helping them out one at a time, and passing them both a change of clothes.
"Nothing special," she commented, "I would have been better prepared, but since I didn't know you were going to be here - "
"It's fine, Misty," Gary assured. "Like you said, we'll take the options we have."
The red head smiled. "I can have your clothes dried for when you leave, if that helps," she offered.
"Wouldn't want to leave any evidence," he said, but his tone hinting that he was joking.
Misty must have caught it, if her smile was anything to go by.
Intuition
Mid afternoon rolled by several hours later, which was around the time aspiring young trainers stormed through Cerulean City with high hopes of gaining their next badge. Misty was occupied with the seemingly unending battles, each one ending in defeat for the younger trainers, while the more experienced ones had more luck. By the tenth battle that day, she'd handed out only one badge.
How Ash knew this was because he'd found one way to counter his boredom; he'd ended up in the room showing all of the security footage, several showing the main arena for gym battles. If he could get past the fact that it was Misty on one side of the pool, he'd have easily allowed himself to believe that he was watching an official league match at the Indigo Plateau. Then again, even against one of the Elite Four, the opposing trainers would be more talented than the young ones vying for their next badge to qualify for said league.
Ash sighed, watching as the latest trainer's Tangela got all but fried by a Flamethrower from Misty's Gyarados. There was a thought; he never did get an answer as to how she managed to capture it. He recalled asking her once a few years back, but given the situation, it wasn't much of a surprise than he'd been left without an answer.
Back to the battle, Gyarados was now up against a male Nidoran, who couldn't have been at a very high level, even with his young trainer out of the equation. However, Ash was impressed at how it refused to be intimidated by the enormous water pokémon, and even more so when he witnessed it's attack; biting down on Gyarados' tail, then emitting an electric shock.
That was news to him; he wasn't aware that Nidoran could use electric attack, though really it was because he hadn't put much thought into the matter. He'd never caught a Nidoran, nor become particularly close with anyone who did, so it wasn't often that such a pokémon would cross his mind.
Gyarados was struggling now. However low powered the attack may have been, having been dealt underwater, and with the exhaustion of dominating several battles before that one, clearly the water pokémon was feeling the weight of it taking its toll. Even so, it stayed firm, and with a well aimed Hydro Pump, the feisty young Nidoran was out of the game, giving Misty the win.
"How can you stand just sitting there and watching tv all day?" Came a voice by the door. Ash diverted his eyes in the correct direction, seeing Gary standing there. "It would help to do more productive things, surely?"
Ash sighed again, falling back into his chair, which wasn't all that comfortable. There hadn't been much of a choice on the matter. "I'm bored," he said simply. To him, it summed things up perfectly. But instead of the usual jibe he had expected from his former rival, Ash was puzzled when Gary just rolled his eyes in response.
"Whatever you say, Ashy," he said, turning to leave. He paused when he heard Ash speak up.
"So what have you been doing?"
Gary gazed over his shoulder at the raven haired trainer, who sat with his almost trademark expression; a mixture of curiosity with a hint of determination. The look Ash got when his mind was set in gaining an answer. Turns out he really was bored. No surprises there.
"Watching the news," he replied.
Ash tilted his head slightly, his curiosity fuelled. "Why?"
Normally Gary would have full on explained, but since he knew his own boredom would not be sated in doing so, he opted for the easy way out. "See for yourself," he said, indicating to down the hall. As he left, he heard Ash stand up and follow him, coming to a stop in the living room of Misty's apartment, built as an extension to the gym.
The television was on, the sound low. The images were of various, everyday media; traffic reports, the migration of the band of Corsola - nothing particularly special.
"Notice anything out of the ordinary?" Gary questioned, sensing the younger trainer's unspoken question.
"Not really," Ash responded, shrugging a little. "Is there something I should be seeing?"
Gary sighed, his eyes still fixated on the screen. "Gramps isn't exactly being subtle," he noted. "There's a Jenny in each report."
With the news in mind, Ash turned back to watch. This time, he saw it. Though disguised, he could easily spot the turquoise hair and stern posture of each hidden Jenny now he knew what to look for. "He's really worried, isn't he?" Ash mused. The feeling of guilt from earlier began to swell in his chest again; he just hoped they would be able to get back before anything drastic happened.
"He worries way too much," was all Gary said, picking up the discarded remote to switch the television off.
"I feel kinda bad, though," Ash admitted, his eyes downcast. The urge to call home and assure the professor that they were alive and healthy was beginning to nag at him. But even he could see how much that would complicate things on their end.
Beside him, Gary scoffed lightly. "I'm sure he'll get over it," he said, then turned away to walk out of the room and down the hall.
"Are you mad at him?"
The bluntness of the question made Gary freeze in mid-step. He stared at the far wall ahead of him for a moment, the implication sinking in. "What makes you think that?" He asked, deciding not to look back.
"You seem mad," was Ash's simple response.
This time, Gary really did turn around. "You don't think I have a reason to be?"
Sienna eyes blinked a few times. "I think you have a reason," his voice was sincere, "but you're forgetting that he wants to protect you." The horrid memory began to resurface in his mind; fear, pain and malice mixing into one torturous blur. Clearly Professor Oak knew exactly what was going on, and no doubt the possibility of such a thing happening to his only grandson sparked fear within him.
There was silence for a long minute, during which emerald green stared into burnt sienna.
"I know," Gary eventually spoke, his voice uncharacteristically quiet, "I just try not to think about it."
"But .. why?" Confusion laced Ash's tone.
Gary sighed, running a hand through his spiked hair. "Because I know I'll feel guilty for it," he replied, "and that means I'll want to call him and let him know we're here. But if I actually did, he'd ship us both to the opposite side of the world before we had the time to blink. All while denying us anything."
Again, Ash found himself staring, his voice refusing to function.
Realising this, Gary shrugged. "That's why," he finished. But when he turned to leave once again, the trainer's voice reached him.
" .. yeah, I feel bad, too."
A handful of seconds drifted by, the ticking of the clock on the wall being the only source of sound during that while, echoing ominously in the otherwise silence of the room.
"Right," was the last thing Gary said, before he promptly left the room.
Intuition
Author's Note: Wanna know what guaranteed the update for today? T'was NightLightNeon! I was so happy you updated, and after reading the latest chapter, I suddenly felt motivated to finish my own. Eternal thanks to you! And let me soothe your worries; however unlikely it seems now, this shall be Palletshipping. And a healthy relationship at that. Trust me ~
Also, quick question - by raise of hands, who likes Preciousmetalshipping? I'm replaying Soul Silver, and it's renewed my obsession! It's also gonna be the main pairing for my next overly ambitious fic. Which won't be for a while .. I draw the line at writing two at the same time.
On a final note, it was fun writing Misty and Gary arguing! Though admittedly I felt SO mean making Ash the focus of it all. Just seems like the kinda thing they'd do, y'know? That, and halfway through it hit me that there was literally no point to their little 'discussion' anymore xD