Midsummer Dreams
By Trish.
Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the storyline and any other characters that I made up.
A/N: This part is dedicated to Erina-chan. ^_^
Chapter 6: The Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune
Drake stared at the other occupant of the room who stared right back at him. The young woman looked very familiar as she pushed her long black hair out of her face. "Trish?" he finally ventured.
"Drake," she acknowledged.
He sat up in the bed, "Can I ask what you are doing in my room?"
"Your room?" she squeaked in surprise. "I think I should be asking you that very same question."
"It can't be your room."
"Well, it's got to be one or the other," she mused. "But then again, we could both be in the wrong room." Drake just looked at her. "Hey, it was just a thought!"
"Well," Trish said after a moment's silence, "there is only one way to settle this." She swung her legs out of the bed and smoothed down her night shirt which proclaimed 'I HATE MORNINGS'. Drake followed her as she walked over to the built in wardrobe. The doors slid open to reveal lots of women's clothes, then Trish dove in with a triumphant shout. She emerged with a grin. "This is definitely my room and Jenn's, and these prove it." She held out two large stuffed toy Pikachus.
"Okay, so you win," Drake conceded as he sat back down on the bed. "But how did this happen? I don't even know your room number! Plus where did Danny go to?"
"And where's Jenn?"
****************
Jenn couldn't believe this was happening. She had gone to bed at the same time as usual last night - only to wake up to find herself…in Gary Oak's room???? Not only that, but she had been sleeping in Richie's bed - who was Gary's missing room mate. Not that she really minded waking up in Gary's room, she had always thought he was rather cute. But she was anxious to find out the whereabouts of her best friend. "Uh…could I use your phone?" she asked the chestnut-haired Pokémon trainer.
"Sure, go ahead."
She sat beside the phone and dialled her room number. It was picked up on the first ring.
"Hello?"
Jenn was relieved to hear Trish's voice on the other end of the line. "Hey, Trish! Listen, I have a major problem here," she began.
"I know. Where are you?"
"Would you believe it - in Gary Oak's room. This is so unbelievable!"
"I know."
"Maybe I'm just dreaming the whole thing up, including this phone conversation. Maybe it's really supposed to be a nightmare."
"If it was a nightmare, then Rudy would be in my room and I would be out of here. You're not dreaming, Jenn. I've already pinched myself twice. You are really calling from Gary's room, and Drake is really sitting on your bed dressed in a white t-shirt and boxer shorts."
"Sounds like someone's checking a certain guy out," Jenn teased slyly.
"Oh, and you're not sitting there checking out Gary?" came the retort.
"Anyway, I was just ringing to see if you were still in the room, and if you could send some clothes over, please?"
"Sure. I'll send it over with Abra. What room number are you?"
"2422." Jenn then added, "Oh, and one more thing before you go."
"What's that?"
"You two better behave yourselves in there."
"Oh, Shut Up."
****************
Once Abra had been sent on it's way, Trish disappeared into the bathroom to change while Drake called up Danny. It turned out that Karin, the other girl they had met last night had somehow ended up in their room. Drake also arranged with Danny to send Gengar over with his clothes.
Trish emerged from the bathroom, dressed in a dark red shirt and tailored black pants, and hair neatly brushed. "So is everything okay now?"
"Yeah. What did Jenn say to you?"
"She's in Gary Oak's room," she stated as she sat down. "And she told me that we had to behave ourselves."
"I see." Drake understood what she meant by that. "So she expects us to just sit here."
"Yeah." The dark-haired girl then chuckled. "But since when have I been known to do exactly what Jenn wants? We can still have some fun."
"Cards?"
"No, I had something else in mind," she admitted as she sat next to him.
"Like what?" Drake noticed there was a mischievous twinkle in her dark brown eyes. Was she about to….? If she was he really should move away. Really he should. But he didn't want to. Because he had fallen for this lovely young woman next to him.
"Well, Jenn never said that we couldn't do this," Trish stated with a smile as she leant towards him.
"And that is…."
"PILLOW FIGHT!"
*************
Later that morning….
"So that's what happened," Richie finished.
He and Gary were sitting in Ash's office, filling their friend in on the extraordinary events that had occurred that morning at the Chateau Plateau. The entire guest population had been in an uproar for a few hours, with many confused people wandering the corridors in their night attire trying to find their proper rooms.
Both of the guys had been afraid that Ash would scoff at their story - but they shouldn't have worried. The dark-haired Pokémon Master had barely raised an eyebrow during their narration. "So, do you believe us?" Gary pleaded.
Ash smiled. "Of course, I do. In fact, I have no choice but to believe you."
"What do you mean?"
He leaned forward in his chair and tapped a small pile of paper on his desk. "Before you guys came in, I was given this by Officer Jenny. It is an account of the whole incident that you've just told me about." He sat back and thumbed through the sheets. "There's a long list in here with all the major people who were staying at the hotel and who they woke up with."
Gary mentally kicked himself. He should have known that Ash would have already been informed about it. As the Grand Master and Head Trainer of the Pokémon League, his job was to be kept informed of anything that happened to the top trainers and Gym Leaders in the various competitions. Since many of the Gym Leaders were staying at the Chateau Plateau, it was only natural that Ash would have heard about what had happened.
"You really thought that I wouldn't believe you?" Ash asked in a tone of mild disbelief. When he got an answering nod, he continued. "Guys, you should know better than that. You are looking at the one guy in the world, to whom strange occurrences are almost a normal part of life."
Gary and Richie couldn't argue with that. Ash had a unique talent for landing himself in situations which often defied explanation. If something strange happened, it was usually a safe bet to say that Ash would be involved somehow.
Ash looked down at the report. "It says here, that you woke up with some young girl by the name of Rachel, Richie."
"That's right," Richie sweatdropped at the recollection. The young blonde had screamed when she first saw him and fainted. When he finally revived her, she had promptly latched on to him and refused to let go. She kept on babbling how this was a dream come true, and how she just knew that if she kept on wishing on a star, that he would appear. It had taken him about half an hour just to get out of the room.
"It also says," Ash continued as he read on further, "that Rudy needed some medical treatment after an altercation with a girl named Erina."
"I saw that!" Gary exclaimed. "I stuck my head out the door to see Rudy come tearing past. Hot on his heels was this young girl wielding this huge mallet and screaming out that he was a pervert and to not mess with Riny."
Ash closed the file and was about to comment when James entered the room. "Hey, Ash are you busy?"
"No. Why?"
"Violet and Lily are here to see you."
"What for?"
"They didn't say. They only said that it was important."
Ash raised his eyebrows. "Send them in."
"Well," Richie yawned out as he rose from his chair, "I gotta split."
"See ya later."
After Richie had left, Gary spoke up. "I'd leave too, only I don't think I can at the moment." The reason being that the two baby Phanpys, known as Eddie and Ellie, had fallen asleep on him - Ellie on his lap and Eddie on his feet.
His old childhood friend grinned wickedly. "Aw, how sweet! A real Kodak moment if you ask me. The babies asleep with their dear Uncle Gary."
"Aw, shut up," Gary growled good-naturedly.
"Stop trying to deny that you're just a big softie at heart - I know it and you know it."
Gary's mock scowl disappeared as he looked down on the sleeping Pokémon with a fond smile. "Yeah," he agreed softly. "But I'm not as big a sap as you!"
"True."
Gary chuckled. "We can't hide much from each other can we? We know each other too well."
"Well, we have known each other since we were babies."
The office door opened to admit the two Cerulean City Gym Leaders.
"Like, hi Ash! Hi Gary!," Violet greeted cheerfully.
"Hi," Lily echoed.
Ash stood up to greet his guests, "Hi Violet, Lily. Welcome to my humble office." Once they were seated, he began. "So what brings you two ladies here?"
"It's about Misty," Lily replied. "She's acting really weird."
"Yeah," Violet added. "And she's like, totally scaring us."
At this Ash muttered something quietly under his breath, which only Gary, being the closest, managed to hear. He suppressed a chuckle, for what he had heard was, "So what? She scares me nearly every day."
"She's being, totally unlike herself," Lily continued.
"She called a kid's Caterpie cute, this morning - and even gave it a hug!" Violet chimed in.
"Not only that, she brought out Psyduck, and she, like, called it the best Water Pokémon ever."
"Then there's Daisy. And she's being, like, far too smart."
"Well," Ash decided. "Let's go and take a look."
**************
Brock whistled to himself as he waited for the three finalists in the Best Pokémon competition to line up on stage. Brock was one of the judges, as was the very well-endowed Prima. The contestants and their Pokémon were introduced one by one.
"Our first finalist here is Russell," the compere boomed. A tall young man in his early twenties stepped forward. "He is accompanied by his Umbreon, Merlin."
Prima studied the Umbreon. The Pokémon looked very well cared for. But she was more interested in the trainer - with his short dark brown hair and warm dark brown eyes, he was very cute. I wonder if he's single, she mused.
"The second finalist in our competition is Leo," the compere continued. "And here he is with his Feraligator, Godzilla." A tall young Hispanic man dressed in a Dallas Cowboys t-shirt and blue denim shorts came forward with his Pokémon partner.
This one's not half bad either, Prima thought.
"Last but not least, our final contestant in this Best Pokémon competition is Mariah with her Pikachu, Athena." A young brunette stepped forward with a cute little electric rodent by her side.
The judges made their way onto the stage for the final examination that would determine the winner. Brock made sure to carefully examine each Pokémon. Prima made a show of examining the creatures but she was really checking out the two male human finalists. Their vibes told her that they were good people, and that she'd really enjoy getting to know them. But which one do I go after?
Once they were back at the judges' table, Brock turned to her. "So, Prima which one do you think?"
"Well Russell is great, but Leo is just as attractive," she answered.
Brock stared at her. "Um, Prima. I meant the Pokémon - not the trainers."
The Mistress of Ice blushed. "Oh, sorry. What must I be thinking?" she giggled.
A few minutes later, the decision had been made. Merlin the Umbreon had been declared the winner along with his proud trainer, Russell.
Prima was still wrestling with her little problem. Russell or Leo? They were both just as attractive. She made her decision - she couldn't decide between them, so she'd go after both. She didn't see anything wrong with that, she had always been rather bohemian in both her thought and lifestyle. She pushed her chest out and looked at the two men with a sly smile on her face. Watch out, boys. Prima is coming to get you.
Brock stepped off the podium after the contest finished. He was due to meet Luana for lunch, the two Gym Leaders had become firm friends and having lunch together had become a regular habit. He spotted the Kumquat Island Gym Leader making her way towards him and waved. Just then, his cell phone rang.
Luana was a few metres away when she saw Brock answer his phone. As she drew near, she could hear a few snatches here and there of his conversation. Something about, "Meeting…..Luana……really….great…..rings…..propose..date."
Luana stopped dead in her tracks. Were her ears deceiving her? No, they couldn't be - she had always been told that she had excellent hearing. He said something about me, rings, proposing and a date, she thought. Could it mean what she thought it did? "Oh, Brock," she whispered as tears came to her eyes. Luana had been on her own for so many years now, and loneliness had been her constant companion ever since her husband died. It wasn't so bad when Travis was around, but the young man had left to be a Pokémon Master, and only came home once every few years. But now….
She looked up to see Brock put away the phone. She charged towards him, with her arms open wide and yelling, "BROCKY BABY! COME TO LUANA, HONEY!"
****************
Ash, Lily, Violet, Gary and James stared at Misty who was happily cuddling a Caterpie. Ash had borrowed one of Bugsy's Pokémon in order to see just how strange she was acting. Instead of shrieking like he expected her to, she hugged the Bug type Pokémon close to her chest.
"Um, Misty," Ash began hesitantly, "that's a Bug Pokémon you're hugging."
"So?"
"So - you hate Bug Pokémon with a passion."
Misty held out the Caterpie at arm's length. "Did I really? Well, something must have been wrong with me then. How could anyone hate such a cute widdle Pokémon, like Caterpie?" she cooed as she once more embraced the small bug.
Her friends and family had large sweatdrops coming off their heads. This was not like Misty at all.
"Misty, what do you think of carrots?" Violet questioned.
"Oh, I just ADORE carrots!"
"Peppers?"
"And peppers!"
Ash stepped forward. "Misty, what would you do if I said that I think you're ugly?"
She smiled at him. "Why nothing, because I know that you don't really mean it."
"But I do mean it!" Ash protested in an attempt to get her mad at him. This was not the Misty he was used to - the Misty he knew and loved would have driven him into the ground with one hit of her mallet.
"He's telling the truth you know," Gary added, trying to help his friend. "In fact he told me that you were scrawny and that a year long beauty sleep would not do anything to improve your looks."
But Misty just laughed and kissed her boyfriend on the lips. "Nice try, but I don't believe you." And with that she walked back to the stand.
"She's scary," Ash muttered.
"I agree," Gary and James chorused.
"See, like, we told you so!" Lily said smugly.
"I know, I know," Ash agreed as he stared at the red head. "But there's nothing I can do about it."
"Why not? You are the Pokémon Master."
"Yes, but this has nothing to do with Pokémon. I may be able to control almost any Pokémon in the world, but I can't do the same with people. I don't have any magical powers to use on humans."
"We also told you, because you're like, family," Violet added. "We think of you already, as like, our brother-in-law."
At this statement, Gary and James raised their eyebrows and looked at Ash pointedly - as if to say 'Is there something you haven't told us?'.
Ash glared back at them and shook his head. "Well, I thank you two for taking the time to tell me about this," he told the two Gym Leaders. "But we really must be on our way. We promised to listen to Professor Oak as he speaks to the media."
******************
Professor Oak was just beginning his speech when the three young men arrived. They spotted Delia and Steven standing to the side and moved to join them.
"How does it feel to have your grandson Gary, as the second most powerful trainer in the world?" a reporter wanted to know.
"It feels great. I'm really proud of him," the Professor answered. "And let me tell you, he was certainly quite a handful when he was a little boy."
Uh oh. Gary was getting a bad feeling about this.
"Are there any stories that you'd like to share with us?"
"Certainly," the aging Professor chuckled. "Where should I start? Well, when he was little - he had trouble pronouncing the 'r' in his name. So he used to introduce himself as 'Gawwy'."
Gary turned red as the assembled media chuckled at this. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Ash and James were trying their hardest not to smile. He glared at them.
"Then there was the time he broke one of his sister's favourite dolls. So as punishment, she made him dress up in her clothes for two whole days."
At that moment, Gary wished that the earth would swallow him up. He had never been so embarrassed in his life - here was his grandfather telling total strangers all the silly things that he did as a kid. Everyone, including Ash and James, laughing at him! He felt like he could shrivel up and die.
"Hey, Professor," Delia called out. "Do you remember the time Gary ran away?"
"Why, yes I do. But I'll let you tell the story." The camera then swung to focus on Delia.
Oh no, Gary moaned inwardly. Not you too, Mrs. K!
"Gary grew up with my son, Ash," she explained. "They were born just a week apart, and his mother is my best friend - so they've known each other for their whole lives. Gary was just the cutest little thing you ever saw!"
"One day, Gary got into trouble with his parents for being naughty. So he decided to run away - to our house. He announced in a serious voice that he was going to live with us. He started calling Ash his 'bwother' and even went so far as to dye his hair black. Only thing was, he used a can of black paint."
I cannot WAIT for this thing to be over! Gary groaned.
***************
The afternoon sun shone nice and warm on Tracey's back as he arrived at the designated meeting place that was specified in the note left by the anonymous visitor. The small wooden cabin was in a forest clearing, just like the note said. There was no one outside that he could see, so he decided to look if they were inside.
The door creaked slightly as he pushed it open. He stepped inside, only to hear a triumphal shout and a handcuff slapped on his left wrist. Tracey stared at the handcuff and looked to discover that the other one was around the wrist of a young girl with brown hair and glasses who looked vaguely familiar.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
To be continued…..
Author's Note: No prizes for guessing who it is at the end. This part was dedicated to Riny, for threatening me to hurry up with the next chapter! ^_^
But I really want to say that this chapter, indeed the whole story, is dedicated to my friends, the majority of whom are fellow FF.Net authors - Vickie211, Pikajenn, Arrow, Erina-chan, Chuchino, pf14, Mystery Squeezit, Russell, Karin, FusionBlaster, and Seabeast. Without them - there wouldn't have been a "Midsummer Dreams". And I have to mention this one other person - because he has been the whole inspiration behind this Pokémon story. William Shakespeare - aka Bill Speare in this fic. Perhaps the world's greatest author and playwright. His work has stood the test of time. I only wish that I could write like him.
I'm really enjoying writing this. ^_^
If you like this type of cameo fic - please go and read "Interruptions" by Arrow, and "Disbound" by Erina-chan. They are really good and really funny.
Until next time…..
Trish
