Chapter 51 it is! I'm not going to lie; I wrote this last night at about two in the morning, so I hope it is at least coherant haha; and hopefully it is enjoyable as well!
Anyway, I actually have a few things to say today. One- the next chapter for this story will be on Friday, and that will be my last chapter before Christmas. Two- I am going to do a Ferriswheelshipping Christmas one-shot and it will hopefully be up on Friday as well. And Three- I finally created a DeviantART account. I have been contemplating whether or not to do that for a while, and I finally did. Anywho, it will be filled with my sad attempts at drawing pokemon, haha, and some original artwork and photography of mine as well. So if you have an account or just want to check it out go ahead! The link is near the top of my profile page.
Anyway, sorry for the super long A/N. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 51: A Larger Traveling Group
"Wow, this is amazing!" N exclaimed, his eyes open wide, carefully observing the bowl of soup in his hands.
I chuckled, "Yup, Brock is the best cook."
Brock blushed slightly and a sly smile stretched across his face, "And you know the saying about cooks…"
I cocked my head to the side, confused. Brock chuckled, "You know; kiss the cook."
I heard a loud smack and looked over to realize Misty had facepalmed at Brock's remark. I on the other hand thought it was cute and leaned over to give Brock a kiss. I pulled away after a moment and he frowned, mumbling to himself as he poured his own bowl of soup.
Brock, Misty, Ash, N, and I had been traveling through Johto for the past day together. N seemed to fit right in, and surprisingly enough the tension between Brock and N seemed to be lessening, though they both constantly shot snide remarks at each other, and had competitions over absolutely everything. A few hours ago they had had a contest to see who could run to a tree in the distance the fastest; and I was beginning to wonder if Ash's competitive drive was rubbing off on them.
I looked up at N and saw he had a pained look on his face, staring at Brock. Brock always just gagged or made a face when N and I shared gestures, but N always just looked sad and hurt when I had moments with Brock. It killed me inside to see him like that and I sighed, brining my hand up to his cheek.
He closed his eyes and leaned into my hand. I had started doing this whenever N seemed sad, and it usually put him back in high spirits quickly.
"So, how long should it be before we are back in Kanto?" Ash asked, completely oblivious to anything that was going on around him.
Brock chuckled, "It should be about three days."
I nodded to myself and smiled. I couldn't wait to get back to Kanto. All of my Pokémon were with Professor Oak in Pallet Town and I hadn't seen them in what seemed like an eternity.
"I say we stop in Cerulean City on the way. I would like to see how the gym is doing," Misty said, looking off into space.
"Okey doke, that can be worked into our schedule," Brock said with a smile.
"WHITE!" Ash suddenly yelled, causing us all to jump and N to spill some of his soup.
"What?" I asked in a panicked tone, figuring something had to be wrong to cause him to suddenly yell like that.
"Let's do some training!"
"GOOD ARCEUS ASH, YOU DIDN'T NEED TO YELL JUST FOR THAT!" I shouted back at him and he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Sorry."
I shook my head and smiled. Ash really needed to learn how to tone down his excitement when it came to Pokémon. It was beginning to not only cloud his judgment, but give him sudden mood swings.
"Go ahead Ash, I think I'm going to skip out on this one," I said with a smile.
He hunched forward in disappointment.
"I would love to take a look at your Pokémon, Ash" N said. My head snapped up to look at him and gave him a questioning look. A slight smile tugged at the side of N's mouth but he didn't turn to look at me.
"Oh boy!" Ash exclaimed, standing up and dashing over to his backpack.
"Come on out you guys!" Ash yelled, throwing five pokeballs into the air.
Totodile, Noctowl, Cyndaquil, Heracross, and Bayleef appeared and all looked to their trainer for th reason as to why they had been called out.
"I would like you to meet someone," Ash started, turning to N who was now standing up, brushing off his pants.
His Pokémon gave off confused noises and N clarified, telling them that he could understand Pokémon. Misty, Brock, and myself watched in awe as N slowly gained the trust and admiration of all Ash's Pokémon. Soon he was translating for Ash and letting him ask his Pokémon questions. I smiled to myself, remembering the first day N had translated a conversation between me and my Pokémon. That had been one of the best days of my life, and N knew it.
N's musical laugh brought me out of my thoughts.
"Yes, she does have quite the crush on you" N said, nodding towards Ash's Bayleef who was sitting faithfully at her master's side.
"Bay-Bayleef" she said sternly and N laughed again.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you."
I chuckled and continued watching the exchange. About an hour later Ash returned his Pokémon to their balls and sighed.
"Listen, that was really cool. Thanks."
N nodded, "No problem. Though I do have a question."
Ash's eyes widened but he nodded for N to go on.
"Do you always keep Pikachu out of his ball?"
Ash puffed out his chest in pride, "Sure do. Pikachu and I are best buddies!"
"Pika-Pi" Pikachu chirped as Ash petted his head.
N nodded, "Yes, I have noticed that. From what Pikachu has said, he really does like you; and considers you his ultimate partner."
Ash nodded, "I consider him my ultimate partner as well!"
N smiled lightly, "That is a bond not found very often, though I do know one other trainer who has a bond like that with her starter Pokémon."
N looked back over his shoulder slightly and grinned at me. I couldn't help but blush and look at the ground. Indeed Talace and I had an amazing bond, but I never would've thought it would hold a candle to Ash and Pikachu's, but according to N they were one in the same.
A couple of hours later I once again found myself trekking through the forest with my traveling companions. Having N with us almost seemed to feel normal now and I had to admit I was elated that Brock and N were getting along so well. I sighed and looked to my right hand, and then my left. Brock and N both insisted they hold my hand and so I had my left one in Brock's and my right in N's. It was a bit awkward, but I had to admit I sort of liked it.
A sound quickly pulled me out of my thoughts, "AH!" I heard Ash yell and looked beside me to see he was gone. There was a large hole in the ground, and he was sitting at the bottom of it, rubbing the back of his head.
"Jeez, who put his hole here?"
Misty rolled her eyes, "Who do you think?"
Sure enough, less than a second later we heard the motto we all knew oh so well by now.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"And make it double!
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all people within our nation!"
N gave me a confused look and I sighed, "Just wait for it, they'll tell you who they are."
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
I looked up lazily to once again see the familiar sight of the one and only Meowth balloon.
"Jesse!"
"James!"
Pretty soon we could see inside the balloon and the three figures became visible.
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!" Jesse said, throwing her hair behind her and winking.
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" James said seductively, pulling out a rose once again.
"Meowth-"
"WAIT, HE GOT OUT!" both Jesse and James shouted, cutting Meowth off mid-sentence and pointing to the ground where Ash was now climbing out of the hole, Pikachu perched on his shoulder.
"Yeah, if you guys wouldn't say your stupid motto, we would gain about five minutes of our lives back, and you would have a better chance at actually catching Pikachu!" Misty yelled, rolling her eyes.
"Misty, are you actually giving them tips?" Brock asked, looking shocked.
She shrugged, "Eh, even with 'em they won't catch any Pokémon."
"We'll see about that!" Meowth shouted, pressing a large red button.
"W-WAIT, WHAT?" N said loudly, his knees buckling slightly. I quickly grabbed onto his arm and helped him back into a fully standing position.
"What's wrong N?" I questioned.
"Th-there's a Pokémon that can talk human!"
My eyes widened when I realized what this must mean to N. Meowth and him were one in the same; the only ones of their species who could talk to the other with ease.
"You're darn right I can talk human! And I'm pretty proud of it too!" Meowth said, putting his hands on his hips.
Just as the words had left Meowth's big mouth a large red hand shot out from the bottom of the balloon, snatching Pikachu off of Ash's shoulder.
"It-It can't be!" N said in shock, his eyes still focused on Meowth.
"Bayleef, Razor Leaf!" Ash called, throwing a pokeball up into the air. The minute Bayleef had materialized she was already firing her attack, the leaves smashing through the arm and sending Pikachu back down to Ash.
"Not so fast, Arbok!" Jesse called.
"Wheezing, go!" James called as well and the two poison Pokémon were soon on the ground before us.
I saw N's gaze lower from Meowth and he frowned.
"That sounds awfully painful, have you had her take you to a Pokémon Center lately?" he asked, directing his comment at Arbok.
The snake looked taken aback.
"Ch-charbok?" it said hesitantly.
N nodded, "Jesse, at least I presume that is your name, since you said it in the motto. Anyway, you need to take Arbok here to a Pokémon Center very soon; it's still burned from a past battle."
"Wait, you can speak Pokémon?" Meowth asked, sounding shocked.
N nodded and I glanced back up at Meowth who now had his eyes widened.
"I never tought that anyone would be like me!"
With that statement he promptly threw himself off of the balloon and onto N, now hugging him.
"You and I are one of the same, pal. We're both different, misfits if you will." Meowth sniffed, tears forming in his eyes.
N looked shocked and his arms stayed out to the side, not embracing Meowth, but not pushing him away either.
"Um-uh" N stuttered, his eyes flicking around.
"MEOWTH! What are you doing?" James asked in a raised voice.
"YEAH, whose side are you on anyway?" Jesse asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"You guys, I have been waiting for this moment my entire life" Meowth said, beginning to purr and rub his head back and forth on N's chest. N still stuttered and I could tell he truly didn't know what to do.
"Arbok, poison sting!"
"Wheezing, sludge attack!"
Ash's head whipped back to the two opposing Pokémon and he quickly called counter attacks.
"Bayleef, Vine Whip. Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
Bayleef easily averted both of the attacks and sent the two Pokémon flying back into the balloon's basket with their trainers.
"Chuuuu" Pikachu grunted, sending a large jolt of electricity towards the balloon.
"You aren't missing out on this blastoff you furball!" Jesse growled as another hand flew out from the balloon and pried Meowth off of N just in time to have Pikachu's attack hit on its mark and electrocute the three Rocket members. There was a slight pause and the crackling of electricity could be heard before a huge explosion occurred sending them flying into the air.
"We're blasting off again!" they shouted as they flew out of sight once again.
"I still can't believe a Pokémon could speak human" N muttered to himself that night as Brock and I were cleaning dishes.
I smiled and nodded, giving him a peck on the cheek. Misty and Ash pulled out their sleeping bags and crawled in. Brock did the same and lifted up his arm like he always did when I was about to crawl in.
I paused, turning to look at N, and then back to Brock. I wasn't going to choose between them yet, even if it was only a temporary sleeping arrangement.
"I-I'll just sleep on the ground tonight Brock," I said with a slight smile.
"What?" Brock asked, looking hurt.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not going to sleep with one of you and not the other" I said as N sat down next to me.
"I'll be sleeping on the ground as well since I don't have a sleeping bag of my own," N said sweetly.
"I have an extra one" Ash said groggily, chucking another sleeping bag at N. He skillfully caught it and smiled.
"So are you sleeping with me tonight, love?"
"No" Brock answered before I could.
"So is your name 'love' now?" N asked with a frown and I couldn't help but giggle.
"No, no one's name is love. That pet name is really old-fashioned."
N looked offended and his gaze snapped to me, "Do you not like it when I call you love?"
I smiled, "I love it when you call me that" I admitted, slightly blushing.
A wide grin broke across N's face and he jolted forward quickly, crushing his lips against mine.
"Ugh, get a room!" Brock said, sounding exasperated.
I pulled back reluctantly.
"So, are you sleeping with me then…. love?" Brock asked with a grin.
"NO!" N shouted, causing everyone to jump.
"Only I can call her that" N hissed, his eyes narrowed.
Brock chuckled, "Suit yourself."
N and Brock bickered on for about a half an hour about the sleeping arrangement. Finally they had devised a plan and I had to admit I was not opposed to it. Somehow they had zipped the two sleeping bags together, and since Brock could easily accommodate two people, it made room for three.
Brock and N both motioned for me to get in between them and I giggled as I shimmied into the now oversized sleeping bag.
It was the Cheren and N in the tent situation all over again as they both tried to pull me closer to them. I flopped onto my stomach.
"Goodnight you two" I said softly, letting them know I would be staying in the middle for the duration of the night.
"So no kiss?" Brock asked sadly and I couldn't help but smile. I rolled over slightly and gently pressed my lips to his. He quickly pushed his lips harder against mine and I smiled slightly. I heard N clear his throat a few seconds later and I pulled back, a blush on my face. I quickly laid back down and sighed.
"Hey, I feel a bit left out here" N said, genuine hurt in his voice. I again couldn't help but smile and rolled over in the other direction this time. I gently pushed my lips to N and I felt him relax. He wrapped one hand around my face, tenderly and passionately kissing back. This time Brock cleared his throat and I pulled back, happily flopping back down in the middle, a smile on my face.
"I love you sweetheart" Brock cooed.
"I love you too Brock."
I love you darling" I heard N said softly and I smiled.
"I love you too N."
I then quickly felt myself falling asleep; but not before I could realize exactly how perfectly those last four lines had summed up the current relationship I had with the two boys.
A/N: So there it is! I love all of the reviews you guys send my way, and they always make me smile and do a little happy dance!
Anyway, have a great Wednesday! :)
