"How's Ash doing?" Delia asked anxiously.
"He's still in surgery," Professor Oak reported. "But the nurse said that he's doing fine. His vital signs are excellent, and the surgery is almost over. Any news?"
Delia shook her head. "No, but the obstetrician is in there now with Violet and…" The door opened, and a smiling Daisy emerged.
"Okay everyone, time to come see my new niece and nephew," Daisy announced proudly.
The crowd in the waiting area hurried into the room where an exhausted but happy Violet lay in her bed with a pink-wrapped bundle in her arms. Sitting next to her, beaming contentedly at the blue-wrapped bundle he was cradling in his arms, was Brock.
"Everyone, we'd like you to meet Eric Ashton," Brock said, gently stroking his dark-haired son's cheek with his bandaged hand.
"And this is Cerulean Misty," Violet announced, nodding in the direction of her dark-haired daughter.
"Cerulean…?" asked Professor Oak.
"Like, what else would we name a girl with gorgeous blue eyes like this?" Violet said proudly as her daughter opened her eyes, revealing that they were indeed a deep cerulean blue.
"Eric Ashton and Cerulean Misty…Ash and Misty!" Delia exclaimed happily.
"Yeah, we figured it was the least we could do for them after we ruined their wedding," Brock explained. "Any news on Ash yet?"
"The appendectomy is almost over when I was up there," Professor Oak reported. "And they said that Ash is doing fine. How's your hand?"
"Three broken bones," Brock said, grinning at his son. "I hope Eric inherits his mother's grip."
"I'm going to go run upstairs and tell Misty about her new niece and nephew now," Delia said, heading for the door.
"Okay, everyone…smile!" Todd said, raising his camera to take a picture of the proud family.
Delia hurried upstairs to the waiting area outside surgery where Tracey, May, Gary, and Misty were waiting.
"Any news?" Delia asked.
Gary shook his head.
"Misty, dear," Delia said, placing her arms around the girl's shoulders. "I have some good news for you. You have a beautiful new niece and nephew."
"Oh, that's wonderful!" May exclaimed.
"How's everyone doing?" asked Tracey.
"The babies, Violet, and Brock are doing fine. Well, Brock has a broken hand, but I think he's too smitten with his new son and daughter to care," Delia reported. "And I have even more exciting news. Would you like to know what the babies' names are?"
Misty nodded.
"Eric Ashton and Cerulean Misty!" Delia said excitedly. "Violet and Brock decided to name the babies after you and Ash."
"That's great," Misty said, managing a tiny smile.
"Oh honey, I know you're worried about Ash," Delia said, giving her a comforting hug. "We all are. But the doctors and nurses are taking good care of him. Why don't you go visit your new niece and nephew while we stay up here?"
"Yeah. We'll come get you if we hear anything," Gary said.
Misty shook her head. "No. I'm not going to leave until I know that Ash is…"
The door to the surgical suite opened, and a man in surgical scrubs approached Misty. "Mrs. Ketchum?"
"How's Ash?" Misty asked worriedly.
"Your husband is in recovery and doing fine," the doctor smiled at her. "You can go see him if you want."
Misty gathered up the skirts of her wedding dress and headed down the hallway to the recovery room.
"While Misty's in there, I'm going to go tell everyone the good news," Delia said, heading for the elevator.
"Can we see Ash too?" Tracey asked, standing up.
"Right now, I'd prefer that only immediate family visit," the doctor replied. "Are you relatives?"
"Yeah. I'm Ash's step-nephew-in-law," Tracey said.
The doctor gave the young man a puzzled look.
"It's simple," Tracey explained. "My wife's grandfather is married to Ash's mother. That makes Ash my wife's step-uncle and me Ash's step-nephew-in-law."
The confused-looking doctor turned to Gary. "And are you related to Mr. Ketchum?"
"Yeah. Ashy-boy is technically my step-uncle, but I told him that I'd kiss Muk before I started calling him 'Uncle Ash'," Gary replied.
The doctor, who was starting to get a headache from trying to decipher the Ketchum-Oak family tree, sighed wearily. "Okay…right now, let's just let Mr. Ketchum's wife visit. The rest of you can visit your step-uncle or nephew-in-law when he's back in his room."
"Ash? Ash, honey…can you hear me?" Misty said softly, taking Ash's hand in hers. Not getting a response, she glanced worriedly at the monitors keeping readout of her fiancé's vital signs. She then saw a trio in surgical scrubs, masks, and lab coats approaching.
"Excuse me," Misty asked them. "Can you tell me how Ash is doing?"
"Well, we can't tell you how he's doing, but we can tell you who we are," replied the blue-haired doctor.
Misty instantly recognized that voice, and her eyes widened in disbelief. "Oh no, not you again!"
"That's right, twerp," Jessie replied, removing her surgical mask. "Doctor Jessie!"
"And Doctor James," her partner said, removing his mask. "But we're not here to make trouble."
"Considering that you've already ruined my wedding, that's real considerate of you," Misty replied sarcastically. "How did you get in here?"
"Calm down, Red," said Meowth, removing his mask. "The reason why we're here is because we're going to fix everything."
"How?" Misty shot back. "You ate my ring!"
"Not to worry, twerp," Meowth replied confidently. "The ol' professor gave me a big dose of industrial-strength laxative before we came here and…" Meowth suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Uh-oh…excuse me!" He hurried off in the direction of the bathroom.
"Anyway, while Meowth is busy trying to get your ring back," said Jessie. "James and I figured out a way to fix everything."
"Since when have you been interested in helping us?" Misty replied angrily.
"Believe it or not, twerp," Jessie said, "we have gone straight since leaving Team Rocket."
"And since we don't get paid for our catering job until you two get married," explained James. "We decided that we need to get the two of you married fast so we can get our money."
"I knew there was a scheme behind all this," Misty said, eyes blazing. "I should've known that the two of you wouldn't do anything unless there was money involved!"
"Hey, we're trying to do you a favor, twerp! Do you want to get married or not?!" Jessie shouted.
"Keep it down, Jess," James warned. "They'll kick us out of here if they figure out that we're not really doctors."
"So how are you going to fix everything?" Misty replied skeptically.
"Simple," James said, pulling a piece of paper out of the pocket of his lab coat. "Ever since we left Team Rocket, we've worked a variety of jobs. Caterers, hair stylists, fashion consultants, florists, waiters, and…" He handed the paper to Misty.
"A minister?! You're a minister?" Misty said, shocked, as she read the writing on the certificate James had just handed her.
"Yeah, we thought it would be convenient," Jessie explained. "For a while, we even had our own wedding chapel. James would marry the happy couple while I did the flowers, food, and bride's makeup."
"And Meowth would play the organ," James said happily, smiling at the memory. "But we ran into a little trouble with one ceremony and had to give it up."
"Hey, how was I supposed to know that the entire wedding party was allergic to roses?" Jessie snapped.
"That was awful. Everyone was sneezing and itching and broken out in hives," James shuddered. "Then a swarm of Beedrill came after the roses and starting stinging everyone."
"How do I know this is real?" Misty said skeptically, reading the printing on the certificate for the fifth time. "I've never heard of the Church of the Holy Mackerel."
"It's one of those internet churches," James beamed. "Isn't technology wonderful? And I know it's authentic because they let Meowth get one of those, too."
"Meowth is a minister, too?" Misty's head was beginning to spin.
"We figured that James and Meowth could take turns performing wedding ceremonies," Jessie explained. "That way, we could hustle people in and out of the chapel faster and make more money. So hurry up and make up your mind -- do you and the twerp want to get married right now or not?"
"M…Misty?" Ash said groggily as his eyelids fluttered open.
"Ash, I'm here," Misty said, giving her fiancé a light kiss on the forehead. "How do you feel, honey?"
"Like an Onix ran over me," Ash smiled weakly at his fianceé. His smile faded at the sight of Jessie and James hovering over him. "What are they doing here?"
"You're not going to believe this, Ash, but they want to marry us," Misty explained.
"You're right. I don't believe it," Ash said, shaking his head. "That pain medication the doctor gave me must be giving me some kind of crazy hallucination."
"Hey, we're trying to do you twerps a favor! Give us some credit!" Jessie exclaimed.
"Look, even though you might not believe us, we do feel responsible for ruining your wedding with Meowth and all. So let us make it up to you," James said. "What do you say?"
"What do you think, Ash?" Misty asked her fiancé. "Even though I'm not sure that I entirely trust these guys, they do seem like they want to help. Even if it's just for the money."
"If we don't get married now, the doctor says it'll be a couple of weeks before I've recovered enough to have another ceremony," Ash said, giving Misty's hand a weak squeeze. "Maybe we should do it, Misty. I mean, you're still in your wedding dress and you've got your bouquet."
"But I still don't have my ring," Misty frowned. "And Daisy still has your ring."
"Never mind, we can use something else," James suggested.
"How about this?" Jessie said, digging a small, circular piece of metal out of her pocket.
"Oh, look!" James exclaimed happily. "It's one of the pieces of Super-Mecha-Robo-Wobbuffet! That'll do for his ring."
"But what about my ring?" Misty whined.
"Hey, do youse want your ring back?" came Meowth's voice from the bathroom.
Misty made a face. "As much as I want my ring back, I think I'll wait until it's been cleaned and sterilized….numerous times."
"Here, twerp. Use this," James said, handing her a blue plastic ring in the shape of a Wobbuffet. "I got it out of the gumball machine downstairs."
Misty picked up the toy ring. "This has got to be the craziest wedding ever."
"Okay, twerps, join hands," James instructed. "Hopefully, I can remember all the words. Ahem…dearly beloved, we're gathered here today to join these two twerps…"
"For once, can't you use our names?" Ash groaned.
"Um…okay. We're here to join Ash and Misty in holy matrimony." James turned to the semiconscious young man lying in the hospital bed. "Twer…Ash, do you take Misty to be your awful wedded wife?"
"That's lawful wedded wife!" Misty fumed.
"I do," Ash grinned playfully at his fianceé.
James turned to the redhead scowling at him. "Okay, Misty. Do you take this twer…Ash to be your husband?"
"I do," Misty grumbled.
"Okay, time for the rings," James told Jessie. She tossed the metal gear to Misty.
"Now put the ring on his finger and repeat after me," James instructed. "'With this piece of Super-Mecha-Robo-Wobbuffet, I thee wed.'"
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Misty muttered, shaking her head in disbelief before slipping the metal gear (which was way too big) on her fiancé's finger. "With this piece of Super-Mecha-Robo-Wobbuffet, I thee wed."
"Now you take the Wobbuffet ring and put it on her finger," James instructed Ash as Misty handed him the toy ring.
The ring, which was obviously meant for a child, didn't make it past Misty's knuckle.
"Never mind, that's good enough," said James. "Now say, 'with this ring, I thee wed.'"
Ash tried forcing the ring further down on Misty's finger before giving up. "With this ring, I thee wed."
"By the power vested in me by the Church of the Holy Mackerel, I now pronounce you husband and wife," James smiled. "You may kiss the bride."
"I love you, Mrs. Ketchum," Ash smiled, kissing his new bride on the lips.
"I love you too, Ash," Misty smiled back.
"Dat's so beautiful," a drained-looking Meowth sniffed, dabbing away a tear. "And youse didn't even need da ring." He handed Jessie something in his paw.
"Ewwww!" Jessie shrieked, realizing what the object in Meowth had just handed her was. As she began throttling the unfortunate Pokémon, James held out his palm to the kissing couple.
"Ahem…I believe our catering contract says that we get our payment as soon as you two are married," James said. "It's time to pay up."
A nurse approached the group sitting at Ash's bedside. "I noticed that Mr. Ketchum's heart rate was elevated so I…who are you?"
"Uh…looks like Team Rocket will be going now," Jessie gulped nervously, making her way towards the door.
"We'll send you our bill!" James called back as he, Jessie, and Meowth dashed down the hallway.
To be continued…