Disclaimer: My plan was to send in my Dugtrio to bury under the lawyers' house and get my certificate… but he failed… why I am doomed!

"…": Characters talking

'…': Characters thinking to themselves

"…": Pokédex speaking or recounting information to trainers

(…): Extra facts about the story

((…)): My opinions

Chapter 14: Paparazzi and Departure

8:30 AM, May 16, 2005; Viridian City Hospital, Viridian City, Kanto Region

The sunrise was just beginning when Misty had consciously decided to leave the hospital and go home with Gary to Pallet Town where she had been told that she would hopefully recover her memories. She had asked Margaret to get her some new clothes and some shampoo and make-up so she could make herself look decent; after all, she really didn't think she should venture out in public with blood-soaked hair and an extremely pale face without causing rumors to fly.

These were Misty's thoughts as she washed her hair in the small bathroom located in her private hospital room, the shampoo Margaret had brought her next to her and the new clothes behind her on a small vanity. As she reached for the shampoo she paused; her mind began to work furiously as she caught a whiff of the shampoo; it was strawberry-banana. 'Why does that smell get to me? It's not like it means something to me; right?'

Misty shook her head, water droplets flying everywhere, and said, "It's just shampoo; there obviously isn't anything special about it so why was I panicking?" She shook her head again, water flying everywhere, then continued washing her hair, this time not pausing when she reached for the shampoo.

After she'd finished washing her hair Misty let it hang loose, as there was no hair dryer she could use. She then took off her hospital clothes and changed into the clothes Margaret had brought her. When she had finished she looked at herself in the mirror. She was now clothed in dark blue jeans, a black belt, white tennis sneakers, a white tank top, and a dark blue jean jacket. Misty surveyed herself in the mirror and found that she liked what she saw.

"I'll have to thank Margaret for these clothes; they fit me perfectly," Misty said, her green-blue eyes enhanced by the small amount of make-up she'd applied minutes ago. "Time to go home," she said, her eyes clouding over a bit.

Misty exited the bathroom after taking time to clean up the water that had flown off her hair earlier, taking her hospital clothes, shampoo, and dirty towels with her. After she had looked once more at the room she had stayed in for her hospital stay she exited the room cautiously, looking for Margaret, Dr. Collins, or Gary.

Misty's eyes roamed the hall and just when she thought that no one was there she saw Margaret coming towards her with a wheelchair.

"Margaret, thank you so much for everything you've done for me," Misty said, her eyes beginning to tear.

Margaret regarded the young woman she'd become so fond of and replied, "Not a problem at all, dear. Now, you just sit here and we'll take you down to the lobby where your cousin will take you home." Misty nodded and moved to give Margaret the dirty clothes and towels and the shampoo but was surprised when Margaret took everything but the shampoo.

"No, Misty, you keep the shampoo; we always give our patients something free and I suppose that the shampoo counts; something to remember me by." Margaret smiled and Misty felt at ease; at peace.

"Thanks," Misty said as she made herself comfortable in the wheelchair and relaxed as Margaret made a small stop at a waste container and deposited the dirty clothes and towels inside. Margaret then took Misty to the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor of the hospital.

A few minutes later the elevator dinged open and Margaret and Misty exited the elevator only to see a flock of reporters waiting impatiently.

"What's going on?" Misty asked, fear present in her voice.

"I don't know but I sure as hell am going to find out!" Margaret rolled up the sleeves on her nurse's uniform and marched over to the reporters, yelling angrily and demanding that they leave immediately.

"But we can't! We got a tip that the missing Cerulean Gym Leader was in the hospital and was going to get released and we just had to see if it was true!" one of the reporters, obviously the leader of the group, protested, her camera swinging wildly around her neck as her arms moved to mimic her words.

"I don't care what you were told you are not welcome here! Now get out before I call security to escort you out!" Margaret screamed, her voice rising in decibels to emphasize her point. The reporters, obviously having gotten the "red-carpet treatment" before got scared and panicked looks on their faces and ran out of the hospital, papers waving wildly in their wake.

Margaret calmed down and unrolled her sleeves, ignoring the shocked faces staring at her from the numerous potential patients, hospital workers, nurses, and doctors along with one face that looked surprisingly angry; like said person had wanted Misty to get bombarded with reporters…

"Are you all right, Misty?" Margaret gently asked as she moved back to continue wheeling her patient to the lobby doors.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. What did they mean by 'missing Cerulean Gym Leader?' I know I'm from Cerulean City but what's a gym leader?" Misty asked, curiosity and a burning desire to know the truth present in her voice.

"How about we let your cousin explain it to you? I'm sure he will do a much better job than I would be able to," Margaret replied, not letting Misty see the nervous look that took over her features.

When the door opened Misty had to shield her eyes from the sunlight that penetrated her vision, and it was only after a few minutes that she felt it sufficient to remove her hands and let her eyes scan the immediate area. She recognized Dr. Collins and moved to get up out of the wheelchair but was firmly pushed back by Margaret.

"No, Misty, you don't get up yet; not until Dr. Collins and I know where your cousin is and how you'll be getting back to Pallet Town," Margaret firmly said, her voice leaving no room for reasoning. She then pushed Misty towards Dr. Collins, who turned around and smiled when he saw a much healthier looking Misty Waterflower being pushed towards him.

"Ah. Ms. Waterflower. I'm glad to see you looking better. I hope that you are feeling better?" Dr. Collins said, his smile making Misty smile back at him in return.

"Yes I am, and Gary told me yesterday that it's all thanks to you that I got better so quickly," Misty replied, a brilliant smile taking over her features. Dr. Collins looked a bit taken aback; even on television Misty had never smiled like that but now… her smile lit up all her features, causing them to glow with an unseen radiance. If he didn't know better he'd say that she looked happier now that she remembered nothing about the Pokémon world then when she had been fully immersed in it.

"Dr. Collins, where is Ms. Waterflower's cousin?" Margaret asked, her hazel eyes scanning the road leading up to the hospital for any sign of the young researcher.

"Oh don't worry Margaret; I spoke to Mr. Oak a few minutes ago just before all those reporters came running out of the hospital," Dr. Collins replied, his black eyes alighting on a form seen running toward the three people standing in front of the hospital.

"That's Gary, right?" Misty asked excitedly, her eyes lighting up with hope and the desire to be right. She turned her head to repeat the question but before she spoke her request again Dr. Collins nodded yes and Misty's eyes returned to the approaching figure, which was now made out to indeed be Gary Oak.

After a few minutes Gary came into view and beside him flew Togetic, whose eyes shone with happiness when he saw his trainer looking so well but then dimmed with sadness when he remembered what had happened the day before. Also by Gary's side ran Umbreon and Zap, both of whom had refused to stay inside their Pokéballs and Gary had just given up on trying to get them to go back inside and stay inside after an hour of fighting.

Gary slid to a stop, causing dust to rise up and obscure him for a moment and consequently giving himself a coughing fit.

"Mr. Oak; punctual as usual, I see," Dr. Collins remarked amusedly, his eyes twinkling in remembrance of what had previously occurred when Gary was late.

"Yeah, my clock didn't go off and then I had to spend an hour trying to convince Umbreon and Zap," Gary motioned with his head to the two Eevee evolutions sitting at his feet, both of whom didn't appear abashed in the least, "to get into their Pokéballs and then I finally had to give up." Gary was dressed in dark green khakis, a black tank top, his dark green coat, brown boots, his yin-yang necklace, Pokégear slung around his neck, Pokébelt circling his waist, two backpacks on his back, and a sheepish smile on his face.

"Mr. Oak," Gary's head swiveled in Margaret's direction since she was speaking, "how are you going to get your cousin home?" Margaret eyes narrowed when Gary paused to answer; she still didn't trust this young man with the patient she had come to be very fond of.

Gary sweat-dropped on hearing Margaret's question and paused, gathering his thoughts before he answered. He looked to Togetic, who wasn't paying attention to him at the moment, his mind plotting what to do in the future. Gary then turned his attention to Umbreon and Zap, both of whom were looking back and forth from Gary to Misty to each other and trying their best to not burst out laughing at what was going on. They both could sense that Gary was totally and completely infatuated with the young woman whom he claimed to be his "cousin" but who wasn't really and therefore had no clue what to do next.

Gary gave up trying to get encouragement and help from his Pokémon and looked back to Dr. Collins and Margaret, both of whom weren't looking too pleased at Gary's lack of preparation. He sighed then reached onto his belt and pulled out a Pokéball and threw it in the air. His trusty Arcanine appeared in a burst of white light, looking around warily for his enemy. When he spotted the woman whom he had carried to safety just days before looking like nothing was ever wrong with her he began to walk over towards her but was stopped when Umbreon and Zap ran in front of him.

"Arc, Canine! (What are you two doing!)" Arcanine growled, his ears going flat against his head.

"Umbre, Eon, Umbreon! (This woman is scared to death of Pokémon and her name is Misty Waterflower!)" Umbreon replied, her normally smooth black fur appearing to bristle a bit.

"Canine, Canine, Arc? (Afraid? How is that possible?)" Arcanine asked warily, his ears returning to their normal position, his dark purple eyes scanning the people around him and alighting on Misty, who was staring at the large fire dog with fear and a small hint of curiosity.

"Jolt, Jolt, Eon, Jolteon! (How should I know? Just be careful around her and listen to everything Gary tells you to do!)" Zap yelled back, his body crackling with electricity.

Before Arcanine could respond all three Pokémon covered their ears when they heard Margaret begin to yell at their trainer. "Mr. Oak! How dare you think that I will let my patient ride that Pokémon back to Pallet Town when she is obviously scared to death of them!" Margaret's hazel eyes burned with ferocity and utter disbelief.

"Um…" Gary tried to respond to her outburst when an orange blur sped past him to where the three Pokémon were gathered, trying to get their ears back to normal, and enveloped Arcanine in a bear hug.

"He is so cute!" Misty exclaimed, not noticing how the four Pokémon (Togetic included), Gary, Margaret, and Dr. Collins were staring at the scene before them, jaws hanging wide open.

"Canine… (Help me…)" Arcanine whimpered, his purple eyes turning to plead with Gary, who snapped out of his daze and moved forward to intercept Misty.

"Uh, Misty?" When Misty didn't reply Gary put a hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him, their eyes meeting and the Pokémon, who were watching the goings-on were shocked to see what appeared to be sparks flying between the two people but no one else noticed. "Are you okay?" Gary asked, his eyes probing Misty's.

"Yeah… why?" Misty asked, her eyes asking the same thing.

"It's just that yesterday when you saw Togetic on your shoulder you screamed so loudly that you broke glass. Just now, however, you ran over to Arcanine," Gary motioned with his head to the fire dog, who had slowly backed away from the woman, "and he looks just as strange as Togetic does. Why?"

"Maybe it's because your… Arcanine?… looks like a dog and that other creature from yesterday doesn't look like anything I've ever seen before." Misty replied, her eyes averted away from Gary's mesmerizing ones.

Margaret and Dr. Collins stepped forward then and interrupted the conversation. "Gary," Dr. Collins spoke, causing Gary to let go of Misty, who instantly ran over to Margaret who enveloped her in a hug, "I think taking Misty home on Arcanine might be a good idea because she seems to like him and since any Pokémon she likes is a good sign it might jumpstart some of her memories." Gary nodded but before he replied Margaret interrupted with a high pitched screech.

"You can't possibly be serious, Doctor!" she screeched, Misty protected inside her embrace.

Collins turned to face his nurse and evenly replied, "I am dead serious, Margaret. I am her doctor and whatever I believe is best for Ms. Waterflower will and shall happen." Margaret, after hearing the tone of Collins' voice reluctantly nodded in acquiescence and pushed Misty out of her embrace towards Gary. Gary, meanwhile, had convinced both Umbreon and Jolteon to go back into their Pokéballs (bribing was always a winning tactic…) and had motioned a still reluctant Arcanine over to him.

"Ready to go, Misty?" Gary asked, his voice sounding warm and rich; reassuring Misty that she could trust him. She nodded yes and, taking Gary's hand was helped up onto Arcanine, who stood completely still to let her get adjusted to the feel of having him underneath her. Gary then shook Collins' hand, followed by Margaret's, who warned him sternly that she had given Misty her number and if he hurt her in any way he would get a personal visit from Margaret herself and took Misty's shampoo and put it into her backpack. Gary nodded and promised to take care of Misty as if his life depended on it then leapt up on Arcanine in front of Misty, Togetic landing on Arcanine's head and making himself comfortable.

Gary and Misty then said good-bye to Dr. Collins and Margaret then Gary told Arcanine to set a course for Pallet Town. Arcanine took off running and Misty, scared as she was by the sudden increase in speed wrapped her arms around Gary's waist tightly, hanging on for dear life. As Arcanine and company set off a pair of eyes watched from a third floor window, planning for events yet to come…