Author's Notes: Well, I honestly got fewer review for this past chapter than I expected. Oh well, no one ever gets everything they want. Anyway, I would like to extend special thanks to Thunder mouse Pikachu for answering my question in the last chapter. Although I could easily write this chapter without that information, it would make it much more dull, as I wouldn't be able to put in quite as much in it. Anyway, here's chapter 14.

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When Gary was gone Ash was wondering why Gary had acted the way he did. Ash had expected Gary to do it without asking for anything in return. I guess that you can't take that part away from him without Gary being Gary, Ash thought to himself. Although Ash wanted to dismiss the matter that easily, he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that Gary was up to something that he didn't want to tell anyone. Ash wanted to accept that Gary wanted to help them out, but he couldn't help but think that Gary was up to something that possibly could involve his daughter, but Ash wasn't certain. Later that night Ash asked Misty what he had trouble answering himself.

"Didn't it seem odd to you that Gary wanted something for that errand?" Ash asked.

"Not really. You know he's wanted that egg ever since Professor Oak found it in the Articuno's nest," Misty replied.

"Still, he could have asked for it easily for other things than just that," Ash countered.

"You got a point there," Misty admited. "Knowing Gary, he's probably more upset that he wasn't able to go where he wanted and had to come back when he didn't want to."

"I guess. I just can't help thinking that there's something that he doesn't want us to know about," Ash said, bluntly.

Misty blinked. What Ash said seemed to make more sense than what she had thought for some reason. "What would that be?" Misty asked.

"I don't know. I only have a feeling that it involves Misty." Ash replied, almost in a whisper.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Misty was getting ready for bed. She had done plenty of training for today and was content on continuing at this pace. Although her pokemon could have battled longer, Misty didn't want to push them too hard. Especially her Marill. Misty was concerned about her Marill because it was different from other Marills. Misty didn't know what to do. She was afraid to take it to the Pokecenter because of what she might find out about her Marill. Misty cared so much for all her Pokemon and didn't want anything to happen to any of them. Although Misty liked Fire types better than Water types, she really did care for her Marill.

All Misty knew was that her Marill seemed to become real slow at times, but other times was just as quick as any other Marill. Misty fell asleep to thoughts of what could be wrong with her Marill. That night Misty had a very restless night with all the nightmares of what could happen to her Marill. In the morning, Misty felt like she hadn't slept at all. Misty decided to take her Marill to a Pokecenter to find out what was wrong with her Marill, no matter what the outcome was. Misty wanted to know. When Misty had gotten dressed, she let her mother know that she was going to be gone for a little bit, but would be back to finish her chores.

Misty then raced to Cherrygrove city. When she arrived there, she was pleased to find that there wasn't anyone waiting either for pokemon to come out or to send their pokemon in. She moved over to the counter and when Nurse Joy asked what was wrong, Misty told her what her concerns about her Marill was. Nurse Joy then took in her Marill and Misty then waited. About ten minutes later, Nurse Joy came back out with Misty's Marill. "Is there anything wrong with Marill?" Misty asked, worried.

"Well, I can't say for sure, but it seems that Marill isn't up to battling," Nurse Joy replied.

"What do you mean?" Misty asked, even more worried now.

"It seems that your Marill just isn't ever going to be ready for any kind of battle training. She just doesn't have the stamina to last very long," Nurse Joy answered.

"Oh," Misty replied, relieved that nothing serious was wrong with her Marill, but disappointed that she wouldn't be able to bring her Marill with her. She would need to eventually catch a new water type. Misty knew that she could easily fill the vacancy in her party with another type, especially fire, but she felt that she should honor her Marill's position as it wasn't going to be able to come, but she also wanted to keep her Marill in mind while she was battling. She also didn't want to use another Marill as she would feel that she was being unfaithful to her Marill that couldn't come, so she wanted another, but couldn't think of what water type she wanted really. Though, she knew that she had plenty of time.

Misty thanked Nurse Joy and began to return home. When she arrived, she noticed that there was someone standing a little bit away from the house. Misty decided that he was a visitor, as she really didn't recognize him. She made certain that her pokeballs were within reach just in case he turned out to be someone looking for easily caught pokemon that wouldn't be difficult to find.

"May I help you?" Misty asked.

He turned and answered, "Yes, I'm looking for a Misty Crystal."

Misty wondered why he was looking for her. "That's me. What do you want?"

He pulled out a small package. "I have a delivery from Professor Oak for you," he replied, handing her the package.

Misty held the package while looking at it. She hadn't ordered it. What could it be? she wondered. She looked back at the man. "I'm sorry, but there must be a mistake, I didn't order this and I don't even know this Professor Oak."

Misty heard the man gasp in surprise. Before she could ask what was wrong, the man asked, "You mean you haven't heard his radio show?"

"What radio show?" Misty asked, confused.

"The radio show that he does with Mary?" the man replied.

"Oh! He's that Professor Oak?" Misty asked, understanding who he was now.

"Yeah."

"But I still can't accept this. I can't even pay for it."

Misty was really surprised to hear the man chuckling. "Don't worry about it. He asked me to bring it here. It was a request by someone that he knows quite well."

Misty was really surprised to hear that. Did she really have friends who could help her out this way? "Who-" Misty began.

"Oh that's right!" the man exclaimed. "The one who requested that you get this was Misty Ketchum. I believe that you know her as she had been by here about seven months ago.

Misty was surprised did that woman really have those kind of connections? She opened the package and was even more surprised to find that she held a pokedex. She flipped it open and pressed a button. It spouted off that she was the owner of the pokedex as well as a little bit more information. She was really surprised. Did she really have people that knew her this well? "Um, Thank you," Misty said, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Don't worry about it," the man said. "I was planning on coming by here anyway. Even if my grandfather hadn't put me on that errand I still would have come by here. I wanted to do some training around here. I figured that maybe I could stay here as well as help out a little."

Misty was surprised. Very few actually asked this. And then only after the person had known about the place for a while. On top of that, this man was Professor Oak's grandson. He had admitted it in a roundabout way, but he had. Misty knew, however, that she wouldn't be able to decide if he could stay, but that she'd have to let her mother know. She asked the man to wait while she ran in, deposited her Marill in her room, and told her mother that she had a visitor. While Marin went to talk with the visitor, Misty went to complete her chores and did them really quickly and even spent a little time with her favorite water pokemon, Octillery. Misty didn't want to use this Octillery to replace her Marill, as she never really got close to the Octillery. She thought of the Octillery as being cute. If she did get one in her party, she wanted to first get a Remoraid if she did use an Octillery in her party.

When Misty came out, her mother called out to her. When Misty came over, she was introduced to the man that had brought her the Pokedex. "This is Gary Oak. He wants to help out the orphanage and I feel that it would be nice for some help."

Misty stared at her mother. This was not like her mother at all. For all the other times that someone else had offered to help out, she had refused them. What happened while I was doing my chores? Misty asked herself. She decided to keep an eye on Gary Oak. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, she just wanted to find out what there was about him that made her mother allow him to help. Misty decided to think about this while she went training. She quickly got her pokemon and new pokedex and ran out to where trainers usually were. Although, her battles weren't for any prizes as she wasn't an official trainer yet, she at least was able to get her pokemon experience.

* * * * * * * * * * *

"Do you think that she suspects something?" Gary asked.

"Of course. You're the first that's been allowed to help with the orphanage that hasn't been in the family," Marin replied.

"I'm that rare?" Gary asked.

Marin nodded. "So how's Ash?" Marin asked.

"He's fine. Though, he is still working on getting his memory back," Gary answered.

"Does he remember me?" Marin asked.

Gary shook his head. The last time he had been here, Gary hadn't seen Misty. Marin had been one of the people he had asked if they had seen Ash as he was making the false trail for his friends. Marin had realized what he was up to and began talking with him. It was really how Gary had met Marin first and they found out that they had basically lost the same person. Although, neither had talked with anyone else about knowing each other, they still kept in touch so that they could know what was going on in the other's lives. Gary was interested in knowing about Misty, while Marin was interested in learning about any updates of Ash's condition.

Marin had known that Gary had made his mind on helping out when he had told her about Ash becoming the Pokemon Master again. Although Marin wasn't too keen on the idea of Gary being so far away from her Ash, Gary convinced her that he could still keep in touch with him. Marin was at least glad to know someone who knew her husband's past. Although Ash had been married before she met him, she still thought of him as her husband, even though, he couldn't have legally married him, which made their marriage null and void.

"He's trying, but he only remembers bits and pieces," Gary replied. "When he was here last, did you tell him your last name?"

"No. That piece didn't come up while he was here, though his wife, Misty, found out when she had come back and asked about any other pokemon orphanages that were around. However, I don't think that she told him. She seemed pretty occupied by the fact that she was pregnant and hadn't told him," Marin answered.

"How did you know that she hadn't told him?" Gary asked.

Marin laughed. "She told me that she was worried of what his reaction would be."

"Okay. So, you don't think that he would know your last name?" Gary inquired.

"No. Why? Did he say something about it?" Marin asked.

"He told me your last name, but I needed to make certain if he had remembered that or not. I asked his friend Brock, but he said that Ash didn't mention it to him. So, I couldn't be certain," Gary replied.

Marin sighed. If he remembered more, then he might know how much she had meant to him. He also must have remembered what his wife meant to him, when he remembered her, a darker side of Marin countered.

Marin wanted to be with Ash again, but couldn't do anything to push him towards her, as she could just as easily push him away inadvertently. Marin wanted to hold him in her arms again, but she knew that she might not be able to.

*

Author's notes: Well how was that? I'm planning on putting in another two- year time lapse so this way I don't have to go through two boring years of detail that really doesn't matter to the storyline. This will also save you time on reading this. Anyway, the vote is still 8 ½ to 1 ½. I had initially intended on putting the time lapse in this chapter, but the details of other stuff on getting to where the story is now took up more space than I had thought that it would. Anyway, please review or flame. Either one is good enough for me. Although, if the flames really don't have anything that matters such as 'this sucks' or anything, I won't pay attention to it, but will make a note of that this was read and if it was a signed review, then I'll look into possibly reading the fics of the flamer. Not that I will flame that person, I'd just read what they had, because I don't like to flame others no matter what, I just let them know what I think about their fics. Good or bad. Yet, I still want reviews no matter what, so I like the saying in this instance, bring on the flames.