Disclaimer: I own Pokemon. I own Pokemon. I own Pokemon. I own Pokemon. I own Pokemon. Hehe, I figure if I say it enough maybe everyone will believe me. Okay, maybe not. It was worth a try.
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Lost Dreams
By: Pixi Powder
Pixi_powder@yahoo.com
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Tears crawled down Misty's cheeks as the memories flooded into her mind. I was so damn mean. The last time I saw him, and I was such a bitch. It wasn't his fault that he had to go to a meeting. Nearly half an hour had passed and the sun had since set.
Not wanting to try to keep herself stable on a branch 60 feet up, Misty slowly climbed back down to the branch she had slept on last night. Every once in a while she heard a Hoothoot, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. Misty almost thought everything had gone back to normal. Of course then she remembered the figure with the rifle and the little boy who had been running and she realized that things were far from normal.
Closing her eyes, Misty tried to fall asleep, but with no avail. Each minute seemed to drag on. Every time she was on the brink of sleep, a noise would jolt her awake, faster then Pikachu's thundershock. Her mind wandered. She thought of Ash and what had happened.
The League had been put on high alert and search teams were sent out looking everywhere. After a few months, nothing had been found. And then, one team in a forest near Lavender Town came across his backpack. It had been emptied of everything and all the footprints were long gone. The searching increased in the area, but it didn't do any good. Shock hit everyone, especially Misty. She couldn't understand what he was doing all the way over there. It was in the opposite direction of the Plateau.
Then, the League gave up. They had looked everywhere. They had only found his backpack after months of searching. They had no other options. A new Master had to be initiated. All affairs had been handled by Lance during the search because of his vast knowledge from his years of being Master. But he wasn't the next Master, Gary was.
Years ago, both Ash and Gary had beaten the Elite four. The two battled for the position of Master. After a raging battle, Ash was the victor. Gary had challenged Ash twice after that, but never managed to beat him. With the disappearance of Ash, Gary easily became Master. It had remained that way for over a year now.
A rustle in the bushes made Misty open her eyes. A few of Ratata had passed beneath her and a couple of Hoothoot had landed above her. Everything seemed to be quieting down. But nothing emerged from the rustling bush. It just stayed still. Misty hadn't heard anything in hours, beside the calls of Pokemon.
Well, now's as good a time as any. Slowly, she climbed down the branches, making her way to the forest floor. It was dismal and hard to see. The moon had disappeared behind some clouds and only a few stars could be seen. Misty inched her way towards the bush, trying to see what was hiding. She had no luck.
Misty gathered all her strength. She took a deep breath, trying to convince herself that she was brave. She closed her eyes for a second and then managed to squeak out a single word. "Hello?"
The bush seemed to shake for a second. But nothing replied. Misty gathered her strength and called out again, this time a little stronger. "Hello?"
"Please don't hurt me." A tiny voice managed to say. Unhurriedly, a small boy emerged from the bush. His arms up, protecting his face, his vibrant green eyes peering towards Misty, unsure of whether to run or stay.
Immediately Misty recognized him. He was the same boy who had run beneath her before. The one who was getting shot at. His blue jeans and shirt were covered in mud and ripped in a zillion places. His hair was now stuck to his face, plastered down by the mud. He looked at Misty with pure terror in his eyes.
"It's all right. I promise I won't hurt you." Misty gave a quick smile to try and reassure both of them. "There's a town about a mile from here. We should go now while it's dark." With that she turned towards the town and started walking. After a few feet she glanced back and saw the boy still standing there, gazing at her with a confused look on his face.
Misty walked back to him. Looking him right in the eyes, she managed to stay calm. "I don't know what's going on here, but I'd bet you do. And as much as I want to know everything, we need to get out of here while we still can. If we start walking now, we can be to the town in under an hour." Seeing the unsure look in his eyes, Misty added, "I promise it'll be okay if we can get to the town."
The small boy nodded and quickly took his place next to Misty. Neither talked as they made their way silently through the thick trees. They avoided staying directly on the trail, for fear of running into the man with the rifle. It was slower going, but it kept the two out of harms way.
Eventually, the silence got to Misty. "So what's your name?" She wanted to keep the conversation as light as possible.
"Jason." He kept his eyes focused on the trees ahead.
Misty nodded. "Nice to meet you Jason. I'm Misty."
The boy stopped and looked up at her. "Misty?"
Misty smiled, happy that he was able to talk. "Yep. Misty Waterflower of the Cerulean City Gym."
The boy bit his lip. He was holding something back. Misty chose to ignore it. "So Jason, how old are you?"
"I'm 12." He focused his vision back on the trees in front of them.
"Ah. What were you doing out in the forest with weather the way it was?" Misty glimpsed ahead. The trees looked like they were thinning out. The town was near. She smiled and looked down at the boy.
Jason's eyes wavered, his lip quivering. He was trying to stay calm, but it wasn't working. After a minute, Misty looked at him again. A couple tears stained his cheeks.
"What's wrong?" Misty stopped and stared at him.
Finally he broke down. He fell to his knees and began to cry. He started to choke out a few words. "I...I...I was just trying to make it to the next town...before the rain started." he sniffled and tried to talk again. "I was walking and it started raining really hard. I didn't have a rain coat or anything and I was too far to turn around and go back. So I kept walking." All the words that came out of his mouth seemed to flow together in one long sentence now. "And I saw the house and I just wanted to get out of the rain and I didn't know that I shouldn't go in cause the door was open and it was raining so hard and I didn't mean to see him and I'm really sorry!" He started crying again.
Misty looked at him awe struck. What had happened? She knelt down next to him, trying to comfort him. "It's alright. Your okay. Everything will be okay. Now just go a little slower. What house? You didn't mean to see who?"
Jason sniffled. "The house. I was walking through the forest and I lost the trail and I found a house. And the door was open so I went in." He stopped to cough. "And when I went in, I saw him. And then the guy with the gun came in the room and saw me staring and grabbed his gun and chased me out. And I didn't mean to do anything wrong. And he shot it at me. And I just kept running and then I hid in the bush and you found me." His breathing became labored.
Misty shook her head. She was confused. "Calm down. It's alright. Just breathe for a minute. Now tell me, who did you see?"
"The Master. The Pokemon Master" Jason quickly replied.
Misty's mind whirled. "Gary? You saw Gary out..."
"No." Jason interrupted her. "Not the new Master, the old one. Ash."
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A/N: Okay, now I know I said that the next chapter wouldn't be posted till August, but I got some inspiration and had to write (thanks Angie!). Anyway, I think I answered more questions then I made this chapter... I guess there's a first time for everything. This time I mean it though, the next chapter won't be up until August. Unless I stay online tonight and write more, but that's not the point. Well, please review and leave me some ideas. And visit my site (Angie's stories are on there... hehehe).