Author's Note:
This is an exciting chapter (in my humble opinion)! It was certainly entertaining writing it… And, when you're done reading it, you're officially halfway through the story (yes, the final number of chapters has been increased to 22… I needed another one to tie up loose ends)! Yes... the story is finished now. Final word count: 69,400 words!
PikaMewGirl: Yes… But you have to check the "enable cookies" box or your computer will not allow me to give you one.
StarWriterWG: Hmm… well, I suppose no one told Cameron she was in danger because she'd probably do something stupid, like go looking for the clone pokemon by herself, if she knew. That's a lame excuse, but I guess I never really addressed that part ('^^).
By the way, if anyone is interested (which you're probably not) I made a playlist for "Human" with a song for each chapter. "Human" is NOT a song-fic… think of the music as "background", like in a movie. The playlist is on my profile if you want to take a look. I plan to do the same for "Monster" and "Hybrid", but those playlists are still in progress. Also, starting this coming Monday, I have decided to increase my updates to twice a week (Mondays and Fridays) and my posts will now be in the mornings (8 am US Pacific Time) instead of in the evenings.
Anyway… Read… Enjoy… REVIEW!
~TheFrogFromHell
Chapter 11
Misty clutched her steering wheel with white knuckles. I have never dreaded anything in my entire life more than I am dreading this meeting, she thought. She was going to be reunited with Ash, the man she'd threatened to file a restraining order against, and Giovanni, the criminal she'd kept out of jail, in the same day. How on Earth am I going to handle this?
Misty was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she nearly missed the exit for downtown Saffron. Glancing over her shoulder, she swerved into the rightmost lane, cutting off a man in a black pickup truck and causing him blare his horn at her. She held up her right hand apologetically as she drove onto the off ramp.
The man in the truck did the same, Misty noticed. She came to a stop at the red light at the end of the off ramp and studied what she could see of the man in her rearview mirror. He was wearing sunglasses, which made him harder to recognize, but there was something about his silhouette that looked so familiar…
No way… it can't be… Misty rolled down her driver's side window and leaned her head out, craning her neck so that the man could see her face.
"Brock?" she yelled. The man jumped in surprise, and then Misty saw a look of recognition cross his face. He fervently rolled his window down (his was manual, not electronic, so it took a little longer) and stuck his head out.
"Misty! I haven't seen you in years!" He looked ecstatic to see his old friend.
Suddenly, Misty heard a chorus of honks from the cars behind Brock's truck. Shit, she thought.
"You're here for the meeting, right? Meet me outside Silph!" she yelled, and Brock nodded. Misty then quickly rolled up her window and took off, barely making the green light.
Fifteen minutes later, Misty had parked her car, and she was standing at the front of the massive Silph Co skyscraper. Although the building's size was impressive, its appearance was run down, as if it had been in peak condition ten or twenty years earlier.
Misty waved as Brock approached. When he was a few yards away, she couldn't help herself, running to him and wrapping her arms around him in a warm embrace.
"Brock," she said, "I missed you so much!"
"I missed you too, Misty," Brock said, and he sounded sincere. "How have you been?"
Misty had to think about that question for a moment. It seemed that lately, everything had been so overwhelming… As much as she loved Mewtwo, being with him over the years had definitely complicated things.
"I've been… okay," Misty answered generically.
"Just okay?" Brock answered, frowning. She knew that he was not convinced.
"Well, things have been kind of weird lately. Cameron's been getting into some trouble on her pokemon journey, and Mewt— Michael— has been away a lot trying to help her." Wow, that was almost a really bad slip, Misty thought. I've gotta work on that…
Maybe she was imagining it, but Misty thought she saw Brock's friendly expression waver at the mention of "Michael". When Misty had split with Ash, Brock had tried to remain neutral, which, Misty imagined, had been difficult, especially since neither Ash nor Misty had told Brock the whole story, so he had been left to draw his own conclusions.
For instance, Misty was fairly certain that Brock thought she had cheated on Ash.
Part of that was her fault; she hadn't been able to bring herself to tell Brock about what had happened between her and Mewtwo on New Island, and that had left her no way to explain the sudden appearance of "Michael" after Misty and Ash's split.
She suspected that Brock holding this false belief was part of the reason he and Misty had become so distant over the years, but she still didn't know how she could repair their relationship without telling him everything.
Brock nodded. "Sorry to hear you guys are having trouble," he said. "Myself… well, it's kind of been the same old, same old for me. Still running Pewter City gym, still watching my brothers and sisters… and their kids."
Hearing that saddened Misty a little. Brock had always been so crazy about girls when they were younger, but now, at the age of thirty-seven, he still hadn't found anyone.
"Well, I'm sure they're very grateful for your help," Misty said, since she couldn't think of a better response. "Kids can be a lot to handle… and I've only got one of them!" Yeah, one that has unbelievably strong psychic powers, Misty added in her mind, but, of course, didn't say aloud.
Brock nodded distractedly. "So, how's the Cerulean City Gym?" He asked, quickly changing the subject.
"Well, it's… same old same old, like you," Misty said. "Usually, the gym trainers and I do pretty well against challengers, unless they bring electric pokemon in. And even then, we still win a lot of the time." Misty grinned, and Brock smiled back.
"That's the Misty I know," he said, "always so competitive!"
"Oh, so you mean you don't care about winning battles, Mr. Pewter Gym Leader?" she teased, and Brock laughed.
"Actually, I'm a little worried I win too much. I get a lot of young, beginning trainers coming in that I just crush. When I was less experienced, I seemed to have a lot more even matches, but now… I don't know. I don't want to discourage people, y'know?"
Misty nodded in understanding. The same thing happened at the Cerulean Gym, though probably not as frequently as at the Pewter Gym, since trainers did have to be tough enough to either make it through Mount Moon or Rock Tunnel before they even reached Misty. The exceptions were the new trainers beginning their journey in Cerulean; Misty usually defeated these trainers effortlessly. Sometimes, if they were really young and Misty could see they had promise, she felt a little guilty for beating them so easily, but she couldn't go easy on them without compromising her reputation as Cerulean gym leader.
Brock looked at his watch. "Well, it's almost nine. We should probably head inside."
Misty's heart rate increased. Seeing Brock had calmed her nerves temporarily, but now that the meeting was about to start, they came back full force.
Together, she and Brock pushed open the glass door and stepped through into the Silph Co. building.
Misty looked around at the bare, pale yellow walls and hideous yellow-brown tiled floor of the building's base floor. In the center of the room was a large, irregularly shaped indoor pond. Had it appeared clean, it would have been beautiful, but the water inside it was murky and unappealing. This place is creepy, Misty thought to herself. It seems like there should be a receptionist at the desk or something, but it looks totally deserted!
Misty and Brock exchanged puzzled looks, and then Brock started walking toward the elevator on the right side of the foyer.
"Wait!" Misty said, and Brock turned around to face her. "Can we… not take the elevator? Sorry, I would just prefer the stairs." Ever since the elevator incident at Pokemon Tech nine years ago, Misty had been paranoid about the devices.
"Sure," Brock said, looking at her a little strangely.
Sabrina had told Misty the meeting was on the top floor of the building, so it was a long trek up the many flights of stairs. Misty and Brock were huffing and puffing when they reached the 11th floor.
On the wall, there was a plaque that read, "BOARDROOM" with an arrow underneath it pointing down a long corridor. Misty's heart beat faster with each step she took down the hall, and she was clenching her fists so tightly that her fingernails dug into her palms, leaving marks.
When she and Brock finally reached the door, Brock turned to Misty and said, "Ready?" She looked at him and noticed he was smiling warmly at her. Well, as bad as this is, I'm sure glad Brock's here with me, she thought.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Misty replied. She knew that Brock had likely guessed it would be awkward for her to see Ash again, but he probably had no idea about her history with Giovanni.
Brock turned the handle and the two stepped into the room.
It became clear to Misty that she and Brock were the last to arrive; the rest of the Kanto Gym Leaders and, to Misty's surprise, the members of the Elite Four— Lorelei, the senior member and head of the Elite; Bruno; Lance, the dragon trainer; and Gary, who, Misty figured, had filled Ash's position when he'd left— as well, all sat around a large table. Sabrina was at the head of the table with a small stack of papers in front of her. To her left was Ash, and, right next to him, Giovanni. He's in a wheelchair, Misty noticed, surprised until she remembered reading in the newspapers years ago that he'd been injured as a result of the Cinnabar Island experiment. Misty tried to keep calm as the man's dark eyes flashed and he greeted her with a subtle, sly grin. Ash smiled and nodded to Brock, but he completely ignored Misty, refusing to acknowledge her at all.
Some of the trainers in the room appeared oblivious regarding the purpose of the meeting; they conversed casually with one another and greeted Misty and Brock politely as they entered the room. However, some of the trainers— namely Gary, Lance, and Erika— appeared troubled, sitting in silence. An atmosphere of confusion and trepidation encompassed the room, and Misty could tell that even the trainers who were socializing sensed it; they kept their voices low and surveyed the room cautiously.
Misty took her seat at the end of the table, next to Brock and across from Koga, who addressed her with a slight nod. He had aged quite a bit since Misty had last seen him; his black hair had faded to mostly gray, and deep lines creased his face. Misty imagined the Fuschia gym leader was now approaching seventy years old.
Misty was thankful that she was seated as far away as possible from Ash and Giovanni; perhaps she could just keep quiet, only speaking when she absolutely had to, and staying out of the conflict.
Sabrina cleared her throat, and all of the members of the group turned their heads to look at her. Misty noticed that she looked a bit pale and nervous herself; all the quiet confidence characteristic of the Saffron gym leader seemed to have evaporated. Sabrina picked up her small stack of papers and announced evenly, "Welcome to this official meeting of the Kanto Gym Leaders Council and the Elite Four. I want to personally thank all of you for taking the time to meet today."
The room was eerily silent, and the way Sabrina kept staring at her papers without making eye contact with anyone made Misty even more anxious than she already had been. I wonder what's going on, Misty thought. Maybe something really bad has happened… Sabrina had only told Misty on the phone that there would be a meeting with Giovanni; she hadn't disclosed any specific details.
"We are here today," Sabrina continued, "to discuss some very important matters that have come up in the past few weeks. I'm sure all of you have noticed that Giovanni is here today, and I'll let him have the floor for a while to explain the situation."
"Thank you, Sabrina," Giovanni said smoothly, "but I am not nearly as gifted with words as my friend, Mr. Ketchum." He turned to face Ash, who looked a little embarrassed, but not surprised.
Misty's blood boiled as she came to a crushing realization. They planned this, she thought, they're working together!
"Ash, why don't you begin the conversation?" Giovanni questioned, and Misty almost threw up at his syrupy tone of voice.
"Umm… okay," Ash began, and the gym leaders and Elite Four members appeared to be listening attentively. "Well, Giovanni and I had a talk the other day, and, uh, we think that the League's been having some… problems, y'know?"
Misty rolled her eyes and looked away, still fuming. This is who Giovanni calls "gifted with words"? Yeah, right. It's all part of whatever scheme he's hatching at the moment.
As unhappy as Misty was with Giovanni and Ash's arrangement, whatever it was, she did know one thing— Ash couldn't have any idea how evil the former Viridian Gym leader was; he was simply being used as a pawn in Giovanni's game.
"For instance, everything's gotten all messed up with the challenging trainers," Ash said. When a couple of people chuckled at his choice of words, Ash interjected, "no, it's the truth— I know you guys have noticed it, too! All of us gym leaders are really strong, and hardly anybody's winning against us. I've looked up all of your win and loss records for this year, and they're really, really good! It means we're tough to beat, which is a good thing."
Ash stopped there, and Misty thought about what he had said. Actually, that's true, now that I think about it, Misty admitted reluctantly, Cerulean's record is way better than it was when I first started there, and Brock just told me outside that the same is true for Pewter.
Ash's demeanor became more serious as he continued speaking. "But, unfortunately, Indigo Plateau's record doesn't match it."
Misty thought she heard Gary scoff at that remark, and, when she looked over at him, she noticed the sour expression on his face.
"So, since all the gym leaders are really strong, we have super strong challengers moving on to the Elite Four. And then, for whatever reason…" Misty caught him glance disapprovingly at Gary, just for a fleeting moment, "they're not being challenged at Indigo Plateau. It's too easy for them to win."
A harsh, disdainful voice from across the table interrupted Ash's monologue. "I don't agree with you at all," argued Gary. "I think Indigo Plateau is as strong as ever, and that this whole meeting is just so that certain people can try to get their old jobs back."
Misty saw Lance, who sat next to Gary, shoot him a stern look and whisper something to him.
"No, Gary, Ash has a point," interjected Lorelei, turning to Ash. "You're absolutely right. The numbers have been slipping lately. There is an imbalance in the way things are running, and I'd like to fix it too."
"Do you have any suggestions about how to improve things, Lorelei?" inquired Sabrina.
The Elite Four leader frowned and shook her head. "Unfortunately I do not," she answered. "I have already tried a few things myself— implementing new policies designed to enforce a consistent and rigorous training regime and altering the order in which the challengers fight the Elite Four trainers are two examples— but it seems we will have to take more drastic steps to bring about any change."
Sabrina nodded.
"So," Ash said again, continuing his speech, "keeping all of that in mind, Giovanni…" he eyed the man on his right, "had a couple of suggestions."
"Thank you, Ash," the man said. Misty watched him warily. "In light of all that was just said, Ash and I have a proposal for all of you."
The room was utterly silent as the trainers waited to hear what Giovanni would say next.
"Ash Ketchum's skills as a Pokemon trainer far exceed my own," Giovanni said, and, once again, Ash appeared self-conscious. "Despite any difficulties he may have had in the past, he belongs at Indigo Plateau. Myself, I led the Viridian City gym for almost twenty years with no problems, and now, in my weakened state, for the few years I have left before I retire, I would like nothing more than to return to the position that made me who I am today."
Misty rolled her eyes. Giovanni was so full of crap. Leading the gym didn't make him who he is, she thought, but exploiting and torturing people and pokemon did!
"And why should the Council— and the Elite Four— comply with your wishes?" Sabrina inquired skeptically. "Surely you realize that restoring your position as gym leader will complicate things for everyone here. We can only have eight trainers on the Council and four at Indigo Plateau. Reinstating your position means that someone else here has to step down."
"You may have loved leading the Viridian gym," added Erika in her soft, pleasant voice, and Misty turned to look at her pretty face, "but we all enjoy leading our own respective gyms as well. I do not find it likely that one of us here would be willing to relinquish our position so easily."
"Especially given the circumstances," came Lance's powerful tenor. He gazed at Giovanni distrustfully. "It would be one thing if you had chosen to step down, but you didn't. Sabrina, and the council, revoked your gym leader license years ago. I happen to trust Sabrina, and I think she must have had good reasons to take such drastic measures, even if I don't completely understand them." Lance then turned to Ash. "I'm sorry, buddy," he said, "I loved working with you, and I'd be honored to do it again, but this just isn't the right way for you to go about this."
Ash nodded, but he didn't appear very happy.
"I'm sorry you feel that way," Giovanni said to Lance, and Misty could tell he was trying hard to keep the irritation out of his voice. "Honestly, the unfortunate situation a few years ago confounds me. I was involved in dangerous circumstances against my will and rendered paralyzed from the waist down. Then, I was accused of a crime and proven innocent, yet my license was still taken away. Although, over the years, I have let go of my anger over that, I can't help but feeling that some…" he looked at Sabrina darkly, and then down at his wheelchair, "discrimination may have been part of the decision."
Misty scoffed and shook her head. She didn't know Sabrina very well, but there was no way she would have denied Giovanni his job just because he was disabled. There had to be more to it than that, but, although this was obvious to Misty, she saw concerned looks come over some of the other trainers' faces.
"Is that true, Sabrina?" inquired Blaine, who sat across from Erika. Blaine had always weirded Misty out a little; his wild white mustache was unkempt, and he liked to wear his favorite pair of round, dark sunglasses at all times, even indoors.
"Of course not," Sabrina responded, defending herself. "I would never make a decision based on something so irrelevant."
"But you have to admit, the timing was a little suspicious," added Lieutenant Surge in his gruff voice.
Before she could stop herself, Misty yelled, "You guys, don't be so dense! Can't you see? There's more to the story!"
Everyone was silent for a moment. Sabrina appeared to be very interested in what Misty had said; she gazed at her intently with her deep red eyes. Ash looked totally confused; Misty guessed it was because he'd had no idea Misty had ever encountered Giovanni before. Then, Misty saw the wolfish expression on Giovanni's face, and thought, oh, no… what have I done?
"Hmmm... more to the story?" Giovanni said to Misty playfully, like a predator toying with its prey. "I don't think so. I don't have anything to hide. Do you, Mrs. Ketchum?"
His gaze seemed to penetrate Misty. If I say anything against him, she realized, he'll reveal everything about Mewtwo and me to the entire council.
"No," Misty answered meekly.
"Enough of this," Brock said firmly, surprising Misty. That's the first thing he's said this whole time, she realized. "This is getting way too complicated. Let's just take a vote."
Sabrina nodded. "I agree. Those in favor of Ash returning to Indigo Plateau and Giovanni taking over his gym leader position raise their hands now."
Misty looked around the room as Ash, Lt. Surge, Bruno, Koga, and Lorelei extended their arms high in the air. Eyeing Giovanni, who was looking at her expectantly, and feeling sick inside, Misty reluctantly raised her right hand.
