Chapter 2: The Flight

When they arrived at Viridian City airport, Tracey parked the car in a hurry and he and Carla grabbed the two bags out of the trunk and ran into the airport. By the time that they had checked through security and reached their gate, the plane had just started boarding. Once they were on the plane and had located their seats, Tracey sat down and put his head in his hands.

"Honey, are you okay?" Carla asked.

"No. I just hope that we get there in time. One of my mother's last wishes is to see me. I can't be too late." Tracey sighed.

"We'll make it. You have to believe that. Are you sure that there's nothing else bothering you?"

"I haven't seen my mother in over seven years. I didn't even know that she had cancer. It breaks my heart to think that I'm going to lose her when I haven't spent as much time with her as I should." For the second time that day, Tracey was on the verge of crying.

"Shh. It'll be okay. You'll get to see your mom one more time. We'll be there in the morning." Carla soothed.

"I'm going to try to have faith and hope that you're right. What scares me is that when I called Dad back he told me that she's getting weaker by the hour."

"If you don't mind my asking, why did you leave home anyway?" Carla asked curiously.

"Well, to make a long story short, I felt like my parents were harder on me than my brother and sister and that they didn't understand my dream of becoming a Pokemon watcher. So one day I decided I couldn't take it anymore so I took off. A month later I met Ash and Misty and started traveling with them. Not that I regret my adventures but now I wish I had given Mom and Dad another chance before I ran out on them." Tracey sighed heavily as the plane took to the air.

"I know this has to be hard for you. I also know that I am going to stay right beside you and I am going to do everything I can to help you through this. Just never forget that I love you."

"I love you too, Carla. You'll never know just how much I love you." Tracey whispered as he took Carla in his arms and held her close, allowing her presence to comfort him.

For the longest time, Tracey sat staring out the window at the sky. He tried to keep his mind off of his current situation but no matter how hard he did try his thoughts kept returning to his mother. It was just entirely too overwhelming to think that in a couple of more days, she wasn't going to be there anymore. Tracey realized that even though he had run out on his parents, he had taken for granted that they would still be there if he ever needed them. Suddenly he felt soft breathing and it brought him out of his thoughts. To Tracey's mild surprise it was dark outside and he had been lost in thought for hours. What had distracted him was that Carla had fallen asleep in his embrace and had her head resting on his shoulder. He just held her closer and kissed the top of her head.

"I wish I could sleep like that. Just be able to close my eyes and drift on the clouds. I can't believe how tired I am. I never knew that bad news could take so much out of a guy. I'm almost afraid to try and sleep though because of everything that's happened. What time is it? Only 2:30 in the morning. We'll be in the air for another four hours." Tracey thought and yawned as his eyes began to droop with exhaustion. "Maybe I could try to sleep for a few minutes. I'm just too exhausted." Tracey said to himself. A short time later his eyes fluttered closed and he leaned his head against the window as he dozed off into a troubled sleep.

* * * * *

In his dreams, Tracey went back in time to a time that he had been trying for the past several hours to avoid. A time in his life that he had kept so secret that not even Ash and Misty, his two closest friends, knew what he kept hidden. Tracey went back to the point in his past when he ran out on his parents. The time he ran out on his family.

It was a beautiful, sunny day on Pinkin Island and it seemed much like any other day with the sound of the waves in the distance but this day something was much different.

"Hey guys. I'm going to go down to the beach to sketch some of the Pokemon. I'll be back later." Tracey said to his brother and sister as he walked out of the living room and through the kitchen to the back door.

"Wait a minute. Where do you think you're going?" Ray Sketchit called as Tracey picked up his favorite sketchpad and headed for the door.

"I was going outside to do some sketches of the water Pokemon that are down in the ocean." Tracey explained.

"Not right now you're not. You need to study your books. You'll never get to be a doctor if you go down to the beach every day."

"That's it, I've had it! I am sick of you always caring more about what you want than what my dreams are. I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"You are going to be a doctor! Now get in there and study!"

"What about this don't you get! I am not going to be a doctor. I am going to be a Pokemon watcher and an artist. That is the life I want." Tracey shouted.

"There isn't any money in being a Pokemon watcher. I am not going to allow my son to grow up poor!" By this time all of the shouting had attracted the attention of Tracey's mother and she came in from her garden.

"What are you two shouting about?" Aurora Sketchit asked with concern.

"Dad just doesn't understand my dreams. He wants me to go into something that will make me miserable. I don't know if I can take it anymore." Tracey reasoned.

"Our son wants to be a Pokemon watcher and there is no money to be made in that. I will not let him grow up to be poor after the life that we have given him."

"Tracey. Honey, you're father is right. Maybe if you try being a doctor the field will grow on you after a while." Aurora tried to reason with her oldest son.

"I can't believe this! I thought that my mother was the one person I could count on to back me up and you betrayed that. I can't take this anymore. I'm out of here. I'm leaving!" Tracey was extremely hurt that his mother hadn't sided with him.

With those words, Tracey bolted to his bedroom and packed as many of his belongings as he could carry. Then he hurried out the door and down to the beach where he had his boat. As he was running down the path he turned and took one last look at the house where he had grown up. When he did he noticed his mother watching him out the window and saw the tears in her eyes as she watched him leave.

"Goodbye." Tracey whispered as he climbed into his boat and let his tears come freely as he sped away.

* * * * *

Tracey's eyes snapped open as he awoke from his nightmare and he noticed that Carla was keeping watch over him.

"Huh? What happened?" Tracey asked sleepily.

"You were having a nightmare." Carla explained.

"Oh man. I can't believe I dozed off."

"I guess you were pretty tired. We both worked really hard this morning."

"Yeah. I guess." Tracey whispered as he put his head in his hands. "What time is it?"

"It's 6:15. We land in about fifteen minutes."

Tracey didn't respond to Carla's soft answer. Instead he just continued to sit with his head in his hands until Carla wrapped her arms around Tracey and pulled him close to her. In the momentary comfort of his girlfriend's arms, Tracey allowed himself to shed a few silent tears as the plane slowly began to descend into the airport on the main island.