"So, now do you believe me?" Miyu asks, putting her hands on her hips. Ash could only nod in reply, unable to deny that she was indeed Miyu Momose.
Miyu grinned in reply, "Well, I'm glad you've come to your senses Ash."
"Yeah, I remember that day! That's when Gary started calling you Ne-"Miyu quickly cut him off before he could even finish.
"Don't even think about it." She growled. "It's already bad enough I've got him calling me that."
"Oh, sorry," Ash laughed sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head.
Miyu returned her Poliwag back to his pokeball before putting it back on her belt. "So, think I can trust you to keep your mouth shut long enough until I'm ready to tell everyone?"
Ash quickly nodded his head and grinned. "You can count on me! I swear I won't tell a soul!" he swore with a nod of his head. "I'll carry your secret to the grave!"
This only caused Miyu to raise an eyebrow, as if questioning his sanity. "Um, alright then." Miyu still couldn't help but have second thoughts about this. Was it really a good idea to tell Ash all of this? 'Well, it's too late to turn back now. I'll just have to trust that he can…'
Suddenly, the front door of the Pokémon Center slid open as Nurse Joy followed by a girl with red hair tied up in a high ponytail. Her outfit consisted of a yellow t-shirt with red straps on the front attached to some blue shorts. "There you are, we've been looking all over for you Ash." The red headed girl frowned, putting her hands on her hips.
Ash looked over at the girl and smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry Misty." She rolled her eyes and sighed, not surprised in the least at Ash's behavior. She turned her attention to the boy next to her, well a somewhat girly looking boy nonetheless and looked at him in question. "Who's this?"
Ash looked at Miyu for a moment before turning looking at Misty. "Oh, this is my friend from my old school, Mi-OW!" Ash yelped, holding onto his foot. He shot a dirty look in her direction which she gladly returned before looking at Misty.
"My name's Ichirou." Miyu quickly lied while smiling. Misty and Nurse Joy exchanged glances for a brief moment. "Well, we both came looking for you to come and let you see your Pokémon."Nurse Joy added.
"Really, that's great!" Ash exclaimed happily. Nurse Joy nodded her head and smiled before she turned to Miyu. "By the way, a friend of yours was looking for you too Ichirou."
Miyu nods, knowing Nurse Joy was referring to her friend Atsuo. "Tell her I'll be there in a second. I need a word with Ash."
"Alright," Nurse Joy went back inside and Misty stood there, staring at them for a moment before she followed after Nurse Joy.
"Idiot, what was that about?" Miyu scolded. "Whatever happened to carrying my secret to the grave?"
Ash frowned, "Sorry, it just sort of slipped out. Besides, it's not like you told me to call you by anything else."
"Well that slip-up could mean the end of my plan!" she warned. "I go by the name of Ichirou from now on, not Miyu got it?"
Ash sighed in reply, but he nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I got it."
Miyu smiled at him. "Good, now let's go see how our Pokémon are doing."
"Your Pokémon should be just fine. A little exhausted still, but they'll be back to normal by tomorrow with some proper rest. So there's no need to worry." Nurse Joy reassured the two trainers.
Ash and Miyu both sighed in relief. "Thanks Nurse Joy," they said in unison.
She nodded in reply. "Just, try not to over-do it alright?" she chuckled a bit before walking off.
"Well, it's good to hear that the Pokémon are okay." Atsuo chirped with a small smile. Misty nodded her head in agreement. "I just hope you guys will take Nurse Joy's advice seriously."
"Yeah," Ash and Miyu both replied, smiling in a sheepish manner. Ash suddenly blushed when he heard his stomach let out a low grumble. "Guess I was so worried about my Pikachu, I wasn't thinking about how hungry I was."
"That's a first," Misty giggled, causing Ash to scowl.
"How bout we go stop by the cafeteria for something to eat then? They should still be serving dinner since it's only seven." Atsuo suggested.
"Sounds good," Miyu agreed.
"So, how do you three know each other?" Misty questions.
"The three of us all went to the same school together back in Viridian City." Miyu explained, taking another bite from her plate full of food.
Misty tapped her chin in thought, her eyes suddenly lighting up in realization. "Oh, you mean the Viridian City Academy?"
"Yup, the very one," Miyu nodded her head.
"So, you three are all looking to be Pokémon trainers?" Misty assumed.
"Well, Ash and I are the only ones looking to be Pokémon trainers. Atsuo here told me she wants to be a breeder." She replied, nudging Atsuo in the arm playfully.
Misty looked over at Atsuo who smiled in a sheepish manner. Ash pushed his dinner plate aside, a new-found determination in his eyes.
"Well, actually Misty, I'm looking to be a Pokémon Master, not just a Pokémon Trainer. I'm going all the way to the top!" Ash shouted, punching his fist in the air in enthusiasm.
"Not unless I beat you there first of course." Miyu grinned, causing Ash to scowl again.
Atsuo couldn't help but chuckle a bit. 'Just like old times…' she thought.
"Well if you're looking to be the best, you'll have to beat all eight gym leaders first before you can even think about challenging the Pokémon League." Misty added.
"No problem," Ash smiled confidently. "We may have both lost to Brock, but we're definitely gonna beat him for sure the next time we face him." Ash clenches his gloved fists in determination and Miyu nods her head in agreement.
"Excuse me," a voice interrupted. The three trainers looked up to see a man with a spiky brown beard with a red hat to cover his eyes and hair, standing in front of their table. Needless to say, he looked like a pretty shady character. "You're Ash Ketchum correct?" he asks in a deep monotone voice.
Ash and Miyu exchanged looks before he nodded. "Y-Yeah, that's me."
"Follow me, I've got something I want to show you." He said before he began walking off. Ash sat there for a moment, considering whether or not he should follow him or not. Taking his chances Ash stood up from the table and quickly followed after him.
"Wonder what that was all about…" Misty murmured, watching the two walk from the window.
"Don't know about you, but I'm not gonna just sit here and wait for him to come back. I'm gonna go see what's up." Miyu pushed her plate aside before she stood up from her chair. "You coming Atsuo?" she asks.
Atsuo waved her hands in front of her face in a defensive manner. "No thanks, I think I'll just stay here for a little while and finish my—"Atsuo yelped a loud 'Hey!' when Miyu suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her along.
Misty sweat-dropped, watching the others run off in a hurry. 'Well, if you can't beat them, join them.' She quickly puts some money on the table before following after them.
"Wonder what they're talking about in there?" Miyu whispered, pressing her ear up against the window in an attempt to listen to the conversation.
"Quiet, we won't be able to hear anything if you keep talking." Misty whispered back.
Atsuo stood behind the two female trainers and sighed, wanting no part in this. She was dragged into following Ash and the mysterious man all the way to his house by Miyu after all. "Hey guys, maybe we should just—"Atsuo was cut off when the front door to the house was suddenly opened.
"Crap, hide!" Miyu exclaimed in a hurried tone.
Misty and Atsuo quickly exchanged looks before running off in different directions. "I didn't mean without me!" she suddenly shouted.
"Hey, who's out there?" a deep male voice shouted.
She quickly covered her mouth, inwardly berating herself for being so loud. Now she knew they probably overheard her for sure. 'Oops…'
"So you followed us out here did ya?" the man said, folding his arms across his chest in a scolding manner.
Miyu looked away from his gaze, "Well, it wasn't just me." she mumbled, forcing her eyes on the ground.
"T-Technically, I was dragged here." Atsuo pointed out with a sheepish smile.
"Traitor," Miyu grumbled under her breath. "I thought you'd be on my side."
Atsuo smiled in an apologetic manner, but Miyu paid no heed to this. Misty merely rolled her eyes, staring at Ash for a moment. "So, what did you want Ash for?" Misty asks.
Ash finally decided to take his turn to speak up. "Flint wanted to show me something that might help me win my battle against Brock." He said with a grin.
The three girls looked up at said Flint who simply nodded. "There's a chance I might be able to help out his Pikachu with my power plant." He explained.
Miyu stared at him a bit baffled. 'A power plant, huh?' she thought.
As if Flint had read her thoughts he quickly added, "I've got a hydro electric plant that could give his pokémon a quick power boost to help him out. Unfortunately, the river is dry which leaves the plant underpowered."
"So, how do we get it to work?" Ash asks.
"We'll have to find a way to get the wheel moving. The wheel itself is what powers the whole plant." Flint replied.
The four trainers stayed quiet, as if thinking of a way on what could get the power plant moving again. Ash suddenly spoke up, clenching both his fists at his side. "Alright, if that's the case, I'll power the wheel myself." Ash suddenly insisted.
Misty stared at him as if he were crazy. "Ash, what are you talking about? How are you going to power it yourself?"
Ash ignored this statement before he continued. "I'll do whatever it takes to get this power plant moving if it means helping Pikachu. Even if it means I'll have to power the whole power plant myself."
Flint stared at him a bit surprised, but he eventually smiled at him and nodded, admiring the young boy's determination and perseverance. "Then it's settled. We'll get started first thing tomorrow morning with your Pokémon's training."
Evafan24: Ah, another update of my Gary series. Hope you all enjoyed the update, I decided to post up another chapter after reading the reviews I received which I really enjoy recieving.
Review Responses
Alphinia: Thank you, I try to make sure to have good detail in my story even though it could always be better. And the Japanese names, its true that it's a personal preference. But I think next time I write a Pokemon story, I'll stick with a more...'americanized' name since I'm not using the Japanese names. Thanks for bringing that up. ^^
Fairy5706green: Hehe, I agree Ash is awesome...in a goofy energetic sort of way, but awesome nonetheless. X3