Ah! Finally I finished the fifth chapter!! It took me long enough! Anyway, this one's pretty long too so enjoy! ^^

Ties to Family

Ch 5- A Revealing Night

"Oh look at that ride!"

"Are you sure it's safe Ash?"

"Of course it is Misty!"

"...."

"Oh come on! Dad and I will go on it, right Dad? ...Dad?"

"What?" said Adam, finally remembering that his name was now 'Dad', "Oh yes, Dad, I'm still not used to being called that..."

Ash still looked hopefully at him, "Well, wanna go?"

"Of course..." said Adam, with a tired voice. 'This is getting very tiresome... I haven't yelled at anyone in over six hours! When I find Jessie and James... I won't be a pleasant person...'

Suddenly Adam realized he was being herded into a very small seat by a very excited looking Ash. 'I've never really been on a roller coaster before...' he thought to himself.

The ride began to move upward.

Ash felt something bonk the back of his head.

"Ouch! Misty?" said Ash, turning around to look.

"Yep, I decided that it was worth the risk to have a little fun," she said, winking at him, "Besides, Pikachu wanted to come too."

"Pika!"

"Pokemon can ride on this?" asked Ash, looking surprised.

"Well, yeah, otherwise Pikachu wouldn't be on here would he?" replied Misty.

"What about Togepi?" asked Ash.

"Brock's watching it..." she answered, "And Togepi can't come on a huge roller coaster anyway! It would be frightened to death!"

"Oh... well I hope you two don't get too scared!" said Ash, chuckling to himself.

Just as finished turning back around, the coaster went sailing down its first, and highest, hill.

"OOOOAAAAHHHHH!!!" yelled Ash, looking very much scared. His eyes were streaming from the air racing past him, and he tightened his hold to a death grip on the safety bar. He peered over at his father, who sat there very still with a shocked expression on his face.

'Good,' thought Ash, 'At least someone's as scared as I am!'

Just as the track leveled out, Ash heard Misty talking to Pikachu.

"Wow! That was great! I was sooo scared, and I got to hear Ash scream like a LITTLE GIRL!"

She said the last part extra loud so that Ash could hear.

"What?! I did not!" he said defensively.

Misty just giggled, and soon after Pikachu joined in too.

"Dad, are you okay?" asked Ash, still ignoring Misty and Pikachu's giggles.

"... I don't think I like roller coasters..." said Adam, looking as if he were trying to control his fright.

Ash, Pikachu and Misty all laughed.

Adam repressed the urge to throw them a nasty look. 'Little pests...'

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It was beginning to get late, so they all decided to go back to the Pokemon Center and enjoy some of Brock's cooking. This city's Pokemon Center was especially nice, because its rooms included small kitchens for cooking.

"Are you sure you want to cook for all of us?" asked Adam, as he watched Brock pour in ingredients.

"Sure! I love doing this stuff!" he replied, adding more bay leaves.

"Hey Dad!" said Ash, running up to him, "Can I show you my pokemon?"

Adam's eyes brightened, "Sure, by all means!" 'Excellent... now this is something I like... seeing the pokemon that will soon be a part of Team Rocket.'

Ash threw up all of his five full pokeballs. Pikachu's remained on his belt as usual. Five flashes of light issued from them, and soon after, five pokemon figures stood where the light had subsided.

"Bay!"

"Totototo!"

"Cyndaquil..."

"Coo coo!"

"Phanpy."

Ash spoke up, "This is Bayleef, Totodile, Cyndaquil, Noctowl, and my newest addition, Phanpy!"

"Very impressive..." said Adam in a business-like tone.

"I also have other pokemon like Snorlax, Kingler, Muk, Tauros, and my three buddies, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charizard!"

"Lucky you... how did you manage to obtain all three starters in the wild?" asked Adam.

"Just lucky I guess! But it was probably skill!" said Ash, rubbing the back of his head embarassedly.

"...Right to his head..." mumbled Misty under her breath as she stroked Togepi's head.

"So," said Ash, "What pokemon do you have?"

"I have many pokemon, but I can't show you most of them because they would barely fit in this room," replied Adam, "But I can tell you what kinds I have."

Ash looked as if Christmas had come early.

"Sure!" he said happily.

Adam cleared his throat. "I have Persian, whom you've met, and Nidoking, whom you have also met. The other pokemon with me are Gyarados, (Misty gave a shudder), Houndoom, and Charizard."

"Wow... you have a Charizard too?" said Ash happily.

Adam nodded. 'Heh,' he thought to himself, 'Wait 'till you see it.'

Brock leaned his head out from the small kitchen, "Dinnertime!"

"All right!" yelled Ash, as he jumped over to the kitchen, Pikachu at his heels. Adam and Misty followed him in.

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"Dinner was great Brock!" said Misty, rubbing her very full stomach.

"Yes, I wholeheartedly agree," said Adam, finising his last bite.

Brock blushed. "Heh, aww, you guys say too much!" he said, grinning.

Ash yawned. "That's the problem," he said, smiling at Pikachu, "Good food always makes me sleepy."

"Well then! How about we all get some nice, well-deserved rest," Adam suggested quickly.

His time was running out to catch Jessie and James before they get too close. He couldn't let anyone ruin this plan... it wasn't even just getting Pikachu anymore...

As they all laid down in their soft, warm beds, Ash called out. "Goodnight Dad! Brock! Misty! Yes, and you too Pikachu!"

"Goodnight!" Misty, Brock, and Adam called out in unison. Ash drifted off to sleep; his dreams full of pokemon adventures with Pikachu and his father...

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It was about 2:00 in the morning when Giovanni woke up. He peered around the small room they had all been sleeping in, making sure that the three sleeping kids were still asleep. "Good..." he whispered in the dim lit room, "All asleep..."

Togepi stirred a little, but Giovanni failed to notice.

He carefully opened the door, and slipped out as quietly as possible.

"Tog..." said a groggy Togepi. It had been dreaming of battling other pokemon; Team Rocket's to be exact. But it had lost... and that's what had startled it awake.

"Togi!" squeaked Togepi, nudging Misty awake.

"H... Huh?" groaned Misty, looking puzzled.

"Oh, a bad dream? Don't worry Togepi, dreams are just dreams, they can't hurt you," whispered Misty, softly petting Togepi on the head.

"Togi.. pi!" squealed Togepi, feeling much better.

Misty smiled, and peered over to Ash's bed. 'At least Ash knows who his parents are... I don't even know my parents' names...' Misty thought bitterly. Then she stopped herself. She remembered back to the other day...

"They left like you did. When I was about two. I don't remember them at all, but my sisters do. They tell me that my parents had some crazy idea about catching, or using, I don't remember which, a legendary water pokemon in some far-off land... That's about it."

"Hmm..." said Adam, "Seeing me come back to Ash probably makes you a bit jealous, right?"

Misty looked a bit flustered, "No, of course not! I'm very happy for Ash!"

... Misty sighed. She was being jealous. How could she be anything but happy for Ash? Fighting with her emotions, she got up and looked out the window. That's when she saw him.

"Mr. Ketchum?" she whispered, not believing she was seeing him outside the Pokemon Center.

She looked over to his bed, and saw that his belongings were all still there.

"Well then... what is he doing?" she whispered to herself.

She stood there for a few moments, watching his figure sillhouetted against the moonlight; then walked to the door. 'I'm gonna see what he's up to,' she thought to herself, grabbing the doorknob.

She hesitated, glancing at Ash. 'No,' she thought, 'I shouldn't wake him... what if it's just nothing... he'll just think I'm jealous or something...'

Togepi walked up to her. "Togi?" it said curiolusly, wondering what she was doing.

"Alright..." Misty mumbled, picking up Togepi. "I could use some company... but you'd better be quiet..."

The night was a bit chilly, and a small breeze was blowing. Giovanni walked quickly to the edge of the forest, which was a good mile or two from the Pokemon Center. Misty followed a ways away from him, hiding behind trees once in a while when she would get too close. Soon enough, she began to hear voices ahead... familiar ones.

"So what are we gonna do to catch Pikachu?!" said an angry Meowth.

"Oh Meowth, calm down, James and I have it all under control," said Jessie, seemingly calm.

"Yes that's right. We're going to dig a really big hole..."

"And impress the Boss with our Motto..."

"And then--"

"That will be quite enough!!" yelled a voice.

Jessie and James both turned to see their Boss standing no more than a few feet away.

"B...Boss!!" said the two of them in a nervous unison.

Misty slipped behind another tree, listening closely to their conversation. She was very confused, and the more she heard, the more she wanted to know what all of this meant.

The three Rocket members all burst into a frenzy of half-baked explanations, and ideas they were planning to do.

"What, may I ask, are you three idiots doing here?!" yelled Giovanni, silencing them yet again.

They all stared, open-mouthed at each other.

Misty gasped as she finally comprehended what was happening. Ash's father... he couldn't be...

"Well?!" Giovanni spat impatiently.

They continued to stare.

"I seem to remember giving you three explicit, and I mean explicit, instructions to stay far far away from here!" Giovanni yelled, watching their expressions closely.

James gave Jessie a scared look.

Jessie kept staring at the ground. It had been her idea to come back and attempt at impressing the Boss. It had taken all of her energy persuading James and Meowth that it would work...

She pointed at Meowth, "It was all Meowth's idea!"

"What?! What did you just say?!" Meowth snapped.

Giovanni frowned. "Just leave this place. Otherwise, you will ruin my disguise, and that brat of a boy will find out who I really am," he said, putting his hand to his forehead.

Misty gasped again. Why would the leader of Team Rocket want to pose as Ash's father? Unless he wanted... Pikachu...

"Just leave; will you?!" yelled Giovanni, pointing in the direction Jessie and James came.

The three of them exchanged nervous glances, and then turned to leave. Before they could get more than five feet away though, a blinding flash of light issued from Jessie's side, and a large, blue pokemon appeared.

"Woobbaa!"

"Wobbuffet!!" screamed Jessie, grabbing her pokeball, "Get back in!!"

Wobbuffet jumped away from the red light that had lept from Jessie's pokeball and into a bush next to the tree Misty had been hiding behind.

Misty held her breath, but Togepi didn't realize the danger they were in.

"Togi togi!" it giggled, seeing Wobbuffet almost falling over.

Misty slapped her hand over Togepi's mouth as fast as she could... but...

"Wait!" called Giovanni pausing to listen, "I could've sworn I heard a... Togepi..."

Misty closed her eyes tightly, hoping that they would just think that maybe it were a wild pokemon or something. Giovanni walked briskly over to the tree Misty was behind, and then went to the other side.

Misty looked up at the face she had thought was Ash's loving father, only to find a cold, sinister looking man staring back at her.

"I..." she began, but found that she had no idea what to say...

"Grab her," said Giovanni, motioning to Jessie and James. They did as they were told.

A/N: Heh, okay, I decided to leave this chapter as a bit of a cliffhanger, but the next chapter shouldn't take so long, considering I'm almost done with it, so sit tight! Please read and review. ^-^