Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. All those people in the end credits of the show do.
So there is no confusion, all the characters are the same age and appear as they do in the TV Series.
Summary: After a long day of exploring the hotel for the first time, Ash, Misty, and Brock decide to make a bet about the sleeping arrangements...who can last the longest alone?
Midnight! Pokéball Go!
by Spruceton Spook
Part 5:
The Sleeping Bet
After exploring the three spectacular floors of the Fireside's Warmth Hotel, Ash pointed them towards the eastern wing, where none of them had even thought of going yet. Brock had seen a large hallway leading that way, and was curious about where it lead.
"Why is it getting so warm in this hallway?" Ash complained as the air around them became dense and humid.
Misty grinned. "There's a pool nearby," she said simply.
"A pool?!" Ash cried, a smile lighting up his face immediately. "Awesome!"
"I always know when a pool's around," Misty continued proudly.
But Ash was not listening to her after that. He sprinted towards the end of the hallway with his Pikachu following closely at his heels. He crashed into the huge doors at the end. Misty and Brock by now had jogged swiftly after him to catch up.
The Fireside's Warmth pool was amazing. It was a crystal clear blue, a blue that drew Misty's attention at once. It was shaped like a kidney, one section shallow then gradually deepening towards the other end.
"It's gorgeous!" Misty practically screamed, her eyes brightened.
Brock and Ash were also excited. Neither of them could wait to try it out eventually, maybe even that night.
All of a sudden, Misty handed Brock Togepi, then bolted off back down the hallway. Ash and Brock looked stangely at each other.
"Where you goin'? What's wrong?" Brock called to her.
"Don't worry!" Misty called back, her voice distant from down the hallway. "I'll be right back!"
Sure enough, a few minutes later, she returned, her Pokéballs piled in her hands. She called out each of her Pokémon, and they all jumped into the pool instantly.
"Hey, who said you could use MY pool to house your stinking Pokémon?!" Ash yelled, as Misty watched them swimming around happily. Even Psyduck stumbled around the side of the pool before jumping in himself.
Misty turned back to him with an angry, threatening glare in her eyes. "I did!" she shot back at him so hard that it made Ash flinch. She smiled, and continued. "Besides, they haven't been in water for as long as I can remember."
Ash felt for her Pokémon deep down, so he stopped the argument before it even started. He watched the Pokémon floating around and sighed heavily.
"I need some fresh air," Brock announced, moving away from the pool. "Let's go check out the outside of this place."
"We already saw the outside, Brock," Ash replied. "It looks like a pig sty."
Misty laughed, and Brock smiled. "Well, that was the front. Let's go to the back."
Ash, Misty, and Brock left Misty's Pokémon to relax a while out of their Pokéballs, and headed towards the back doors of the hotel, located off the lounge near the dining room. Since it was the late fall, the ground was practically frozen and covered with decaying leaves. It suprisingly wasn't cold out, only a small, cold wind blew across the yard. A large box of some sort caught Ash's attention, and he asked the two what it could be. Approaching the box, they noticed that it was made of hard cement, with tall, metal wickets sticking up all over the place.
"Hey, cool! It's a croquet court!" Ash exclaimed, answering his own question. He recognized it because he had played it a couple times when he was young.
"Actually, it's a roque court," Brock corrected, stepping into the box.
"Roque?" Misty asked. She had heard of croquet naturally, but that was a new one to her.
"Yeah," Brock replied. "But you're right, Ash. It is sort of like croquet. In fact, croquet is a cousin of this game."
Ash nodded, and ran his eyes around the court. "Looks like croquet to me."
"But where are the mallets and balls?" Misty asked, searching around the area.
Brock noticed a small shed near the court, and he strode over to it. He began to pull at the door, but it didn't budge. Luckily, he saw that it could not be locked because the section that was supposed to hold a padlock did not contain one. The door is obviously frozen, he thought, and yanked hard at it. It finally opened, throwing Brock back on his butt.
"Smooth, Brock," Misty teased.
"Pika pika!" Pikachu laughed, also.
Brock made a small, crooked smile, and got up. "Ah, here we go! Here're the mallets and balls!"
At that, he grabbed into the shed. Ash and Misty leaned over to look in, but jumped back with a start when suddenly Brock whipped out a huge mallet, a size neither of the younger trainers had ever seen before.
"Ah, Brock! Watch where you're swinging that thing!" Misty shouted, clutching the terrified Togepi close to her chest.
"See you guys," Brock informed, holding the huge mallet in front of him. "The equipment is just like croquet, only it's twice as big!"
"I'd say!" Ash put in, eyeing the mallet up and down. He reached up and grabbed it out of Brock's hand, but the weight of it caused Ash to drop it soon afterward...right on Brock's foot.
"YEEEOOWWTCH!" he cried, grabbing his foot and jumping up and down. Misty sweatdropped and laughed quietly under her breath.
"Oh, Ash...." she muttered.
"S-sorry, Brock," apologized Ash, and Brock immediately seized the mallet back off the ground.
"Ash, these are heavy! Be careful with them!" Brock scolded.
Ash and Misty found their own ways into the shed, and pulled out their own mallets. Misty held the heavy club in her hand with no problem, and now that Ash had a better grip on the mallet, he held it better too.
"Hey, let's play some croquet!" suggested Ash excitedly, as he grabbed what appeared to be a mammoth croquet ball. All the mallets and balls were the same except for a single strip of color circling them. They were all made of old, weathered wood, but they were still in terrific condition.
"You're on!" Misty said, setting Togepi down on the ground. "Come on, Brock!"
Brock shook his head. "Nah, think I'll pass for now. I'll teach you guys how to play roque later, okay?"
Ash and Misty were disappointed, but Brock told them that he wanted to check out the hotel more. Ash shrugged and told him to have fun, and Brock smiled as he walked off.
"Wait!" Misty called back to him. "Here, take Togepi inside for me. Let him sleep."
"Sure," Brock said, taking the Pokémon into his arms.
"Togi! Togi!" Togepi cried out to Misty.
"Aw, don't worry, Togepi! I'll be inside soon!" Misty promised and waved softly to him.
As Brock strolled back towards the hotel with Togepi snuggled warmly in his arms, Ash and Misty began to hit the oversized balls around, clunking them into the sides of the court, through the wickets a few times, and even over Ash's foot once. They never really played a real game, but they laughed and enjoyed themselves for over a half an hour. Even Pikachu was in his glory chasing the balls around.
A few hundred feet away, Team Rocket watched the three play their disorganized game through their high-tech binoculars.
"Ohhh, croquet!" James cried delightedly. "I remember when I used to play that game. It was always on those late, summer afternoons on my parents' sweeping green lawn!"
"Meowth, and look at those huge balls!" Meowth said, marveling over the tempting round objects rolling around the court.
Jessie was confused with the sight going on before her. For as long as they had seen the twerps go into the hotel till now, they did not see anyone else present there. It was almost too weird to figure out. Jessie didn't know if in fact they were alone in the hotel. Her head was spinning from spending too much time in the cold, as well, and she wasn't quite sure if she was disorientated enough to realize if other people were in the hotel.
"So, should we attack?" James asked, breaking Jessie's train of thought.
"Huh?" Jessie asked, but shook her head. "Uh, no--no, not yet," she answered, lifting the binoculars to her face again.
"I would think now's the perfect time," Meowth observed. "They don't have that big twerp with them, and I don't think they'd be suspectful of us dropping by!"
James nodded his head in agreement. But Jessie looked at the kids, and then at the hotel.
"Well, you do have a point," Jessie replied. "But I want to find something out first before we try out the plan."
James' face lit up. "You mean you have one?!"
Jessie couldn't help but smile. "I might," she said slyly. "But first I need you to do something for me."
James and Meowth looked at Jessie weirdly. "What, Jess?" asked James.
"As soon as those twerps head back to the hotel," she began, getting up out of her squatting position, "I want you to go over there and see if you can see anybody else with them inside."
"You mean you think they're alone in there?" Meowth asked.
Jessie shook her head. "I don't know."
The three looked on as Ash and Misty threw the mallets and the balls back into the shed. Misty bundled her coat up more around her, and both were chatting away though Team Rocket couldn't hear what it was. They had huge smiles on their faces, so they were obviously happy.
James volunteered to sneak up to the ground floor windows of the hotel. There were many of them, and he wished that Jessie and Meowth could have helped out. But they refused, saying that they needed to make a fire or something like that. So James went out on his own, and he had to admit that he was a little frightened. The huge hotel loomed before him, and its appearance was not exactly pleasing to James' eyes. He felt at times that it was watching him, or worse yet, someone inside was doing the watching. The last thing he wanted to do was get caught, and ruin their plans...for now. He wanted to impress his teammates, and screwing up was always a tremendous fear to him.
It did not take long however to spot the twerps. They were seated in the lounge. Ash had his feet up on the coffee table, and Misty was curled up in a chair. James observed them attentively as Brock brought in their dinner, which they set on the coffee table. They ate like animals, taking the food in with huge gulps. James licked his lips. He could have gone for some food at that time.
But no one was with them. James nodded to himself, and stayed a few minutes longer to make sure nobody joined them. When no one did, James hopped off the log pile that had been supporting him, and rushed back to their hideout.
Jessie and Meowth stood as he approached. He smiled and threw his arms up. "I don't know what the story is," he told them, "but they're sure as hell alone in there."
Jessie smiled. She knew it.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Later that night, after Brock's delicious fried chicken and rice had been devoured, the three sat lazily in front of the same fireplace they had done the night before. Pikachu was nestled on Ash's lap as Ash scratched the Pokémon's head. Misty had her eyes closed. Togepi had been on her bed asleep for most of the evening. Brock sat closest to the fire, occasionally poking at it.
"It's been a long day," Misty said with a long sigh.
"Yeah, but fun," Ash added.
Suddenly the grandfather clock in the far corner began to chime, announcing nine o'clock. Ash could feel himself starting to fall asleep, but he didn't know if he wanted to turn in for the night.
Brock thought differently. "I think I'm going to go to bed," he said as he started to stretch.
"Yeah, me too," Misty said.
Ash didn't say anything, but rested his head back on the couch.
"You know what?" Misty asked, looking at Ash and Brock with an exhausted face on.
"What?" Brock asked back.
"I think I want this evening to myself," Misty continued.
Ash shrugged. "Fine," he said, starting to get up himself.
"No, no, no," Misty smiled, shaking her head. "I mean in a separate room. I haven't had much privacy for the past, well, couple years. So, tonight, I'm gonna be all by myself!"
Ash's eyes were lowered. "And exactly where were you planning on spending this night by yourself?"
Misty pointed her finger up to the ceiling. Her eyes lit up suddenly. "In the honeymoon suite, of course!" she answered dreamingly. "I've always wanted to sleep in a beautiful hotel suite!"
"I don't see anything wrong with the caretaker's quarters," said Ash, trying his best to break her "disgustingly romantic" moment.
Misty turned red with anger. "Yeah, well I do! And I'm gonna spend the night in that hotel suite whether you like it or not, Mr. Hotel Owner!"
Brock came between the two of them, grinning nervously and sweatdropping. "Guys, come on. It's a nice evening. You know, Ash, I think Misty's right. We don't have to be cooped up in the caretaker's quarters."
"Huh?" Ash asked.
Brock was relieved. He had prevented Ash and Misty from killing each other once again. "We own this hotel! We can go wherever we want!"
Ash smiled. "Hey, you're right! I want to spend the night in a fancy suite also!"
Misty smirked. "Well, you ain't getting MY honeymoon suite!"
"Grrr...I don't want your stupid room!" Ash shot back.
Brock saved the situation once again. "I got an idea! Why don't we all spend the night in different rooms? Ooh, ooh, better yet! Different floors! It'll be fun. We can see who can last the night alone!"
"Hah," Ash laughed. "Piece of cake. I'm not afraid of anything!"
Misty sweatdropped. This was going to be an interesting night.
"Sleeping in a huge hotel like this alone isn't easy," Brock explained, hoping Ash and Misty agreed with that. "Well, not for me, but..."
"Yeah, right," Misty murmured.
"Well, it sounds like fun," Ash proclaimed. "What d'ya say Pikachu? Thing we can make it all alone tonight?"
"Pi pikachu!" Pikachu cried, giving Ash the victory sign.
"Me and Pikachu are in!" Ash announced. He turned to Misty. "You too?"
"Of course," Misty said a little annoyed. "If it weren't for me, we wouldn't be doing this, nimrod."
Ash scratched his head. "Oh, right."
As soon as the bet was made between the three, Misty immediately bolted behind the front desk, and carefully lifted the honeymoon suite's key off its hook.
"Where you guys sleeping?" she asked, twirling the key ring around her finger.
Ash and Brock looked at each other. They weren't very familiar with the rooms the hotel had to offer. Misty was quite apathetic. She sighed, and turned to Ash.
"You do know there's an owner's apartment here, don't you?" she asked.
"There is?" Ash asked surprised.
Misty groaned, and threw him the key to the room. "Well, I got second floor and Ash has first floor, so that means third floor for you, Brock."
"Yes!" Brock cried, nearly making Ash jump out of his skin. "I claim Presidential Suite! I just remembered seeing the doorway to that room earlier today!"
Misty searched around for the key, and when she finally found it, she tossed to Brock.
"All right," Brock said. "See you guys tomorrow, if you can make it through the night!" At that, he broke out into evil sounding laughter.
"Very funny, Brock," Misty said sarcastically.
After grabbing their bags from the caretaker's quarters, the three made their way to their respective rooms. The rooms were just as beautiful and spectacular as they had imagined, each containing a gorgeous bathroom. Ash's room had its own kitchen-type room as well, and he discovered some food in it left by Mr. Vrenden. None of it looked appealing though, so he left it alone. He was still full from Brock's dinner. Misty was in her glory in the honeymoon suite. It was by far the most beautiful room she had seen yet, and she and Togepi settled in comfortably for the night. As soon as Brock entered the Presidential Suite, he was totally astonished by how impressive it was. Since it was designed for the rich and famous, all the creature comforts were there...whirlpool bathtub, fancy king-sized bed, and an honor bar. With a look a sheer happiness displayed across his face, he let himself fall onto the bed, and soon he drifted off into sleep.
For the first time that day, the Fireside's Warmth Hotel was silent. And although not everyone was asleep just yet, tranquillity dominated the air. Everything was still, and Ash, Misty, and Brock relaxed deeply, feeling secure and warm. Nothing was going to bother their nights, or at least so they thought.
TO BE CONTINUED. . .