The Young Master's Quest Ch. 18: Of Apologies, Huge Bills, and Beatings
A few minutes earlier…
'Why did this happen to me?' Izzy thought as he approached the Nurse Joy of the center.
"Nurse Joy! Please help my meowth."
"Oh my! Poor baby." Nurse Joy said. "I need a stretcher. Stat!" She said into a microphone. Two chanseys came in the room, wheeling a stretcher.
"Your meowth needs an operation." Joy said as she put Sadie on the stretcher. "You'll have to wait over there." She pointed to a row of chairs.
"Thank you. Please help her." Izzy said.
"I'll do everything I can." Joy replied & she took the stretcher to the operating room.
Izzy took a seat where Joy had directed him to sit earlier.
'I still don't get it.' He thought. 'How was Pikachu able to do that much damage to Sadie? Maybe it was because she was caught off guard. Even so, Sadie should've been able to withstand the attack. Maybe Pikachu got stronger. I don't think it got THAT strong. I gotta remember to check out Pikachu's stats with my pokédex. Well anyway, Sadie was breathing heavily after using Pay Day. Maybe she was sick.' His eyes widened.
'Oh no! What if Sadie IS sick? I'll never forgive myself for not being more careful.' He buried his face in his bucket hat & started to cry. 'If I just took Misty's advice & got the soda from the fridge, this wouldn't have happened. I mean, what's five bucks when you're the prince of Johto!?' Now Izzy really started to sob.
'It's my fault. It's my fault.' He kept repeating that to himself just as Ash, Brock, Misty, Pikachu, Togepi entered the pokémon center, soaking wet. They looked around & they couldn't see the Nurse Joy. Just Izzy sitting down by the operating room.
"There's Izzy." Ash said in a little more than a whisper.
"I hope he got Sadie here in time." Misty said in the same tone.
"Don't worry. I'm sure he got here in time." Brock whispered.
"Go apologize." Misty hissed, nudging Ash with her shoulder.
"Ok, ok." Ash replied. He went to a nearby soda machine & got 2 cans. With his peace offering, he walked towards Izzy.
'It's my fault. It's my fault. It's—' Izzy thought as he heard the clang of the soda machine. 'What was that? I guess somebody just arrived. Good thing I got here first with Sadie. Speaking of which, It's my fault. It's my fault.' Then he heard the second clang.
'Must be more than one person here.' Now he heard footsteps. 'I guess that person must be going to give the other soda to whoever her/she came here with.' But the footsteps got louder. 'Guess he/she got the sodas for him/herself. Kinda selfish if you ask me.' Then the footsteps got louder & louder & louder & then, stopped.
'Now I'm scared.' Izzy thought. 'I better take a look.' He lifted the hat so that he can only see the floor. He saw a pair of sneakers in front of his.
'Am I supposed to know this guy?' He then inspected the shoes. They were black & had red spots on the sides. 'It can't be!' He lifted the hat off his face, ringed out his tears, and put it on his head. He looked up and saw the object of his pain & sorrow—Ash.
"What do you want?" Izzy asked bitterly. His voice was dry & trembling.
"Dude, were you crying?" Ash asked, noticing Izzy's red, puffy eyes.
"No. I wasn't." Izzy replied, rubbing his eyes & sniffling.
"Right. Well anyway, I wanted to apologize for last night." Ash said as he handed Izzy a can of Vanilla Coke.
"Thanks." Izzy said as he accepted the soda. Ash was about to say something, but Izzy cut him off.
"Ash, I'm sorry for yelling at you today. It wasn't all your fault. I made Sadie use Pay Day so that I can get some soda & she was completely out of breath. I think she's sick. If I just took a soda from the hotel room's fridge instead of going to the vending machine downstairs, Sadie wouldn't be in this condition."
"No. Sadie wouldn't be like this if it wasn't for Pikachu & me." Ash said. "You see, I thought that Sadie was Team Rocket's meowth." Izzy's face brightened a little.
"So that's why you attacked Sadie." He breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you were ungrateful for me getting you the hotel room."
"Oh no, of course not. We are very grateful." Ash replied. "So, are we still friends?"
"Do you still have your master ball?" Izzy asked as he stood up.
"Yeah." Ash replied.
"Then we'll still be friends as long as you have it." Izzy said extending his hand. "I'll get over this mishap & Sadie will be as good as new."
"Yeah. Thanks." Ash replied. He took Izzy's hand & shook it.
As they shook hands, the doors to the operating room opened. Out came Nurse Joy, who was followed by the same chanseys from earlier pushing a stretcher that had Sadie on it. Izzy & the others went to the nurse.
"The operation was a complete success." Joy said. "Your meowth has Pokérus."
"No! Not Pokérus! Anything but Pokérus! What's Pokérus?" Izzy replied.
"Don't worry. It's actually beneficial." Nurse Joy said. "You see these spots on Meowth?" There were green spots on Sadie. Some big, some small.
"These are spores. It is beneficial because they are supposed to make her stronger, but not noticeably so." She explained, then turned to the chanseys. "Please take this meowth to the recovery room."
"Chansey." They both said cheerfully as they started to wheel the stretcher.
"You may follow them to the recovery room." Joy said to Izzy.
"Yes. Thank you for helping her." Izzy said & he followed the two nurse pokémon, leaving the rest of the group with Joy.
"So, what can I do for you kids?" Joy asked.
"Heal our pokémon, please." Ash & Misty said. Joy sweatdropped.
"Ok."
"Forget about the pokémon. Please heal my heart." Brock said, holding Joy's hands. Misty promptly pulled on Brock's ear.
"Come on lover boy before she gives you a shot."
"Awwww! Come on! I was gonna score!" Brock whined.
"No, you weren't." Misty replied. Joy sweatdropped even more.
After she took their pokémon, except for Pikachu & Togepi, the group went to the recovery room.
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"Poor Sadie. Get better soon." Izzy said. He was sitting by Sadie's bedside. "When we get to the castle, you're staying there. I don't want you to get hurt anymore." Sadie didn't respond. She was still out cold.
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in." The door opened and Ash & co. walked in.
"How is she?" Misty asked as the group gathered around the bed.
"Better, I guess." Izzy replied.
"Meow." Sadie was waking up. She looked around & saw Izzy. She licked his face & he petted her. Sadie then looked to her left & saw Brock, Misty, and Togepi. She gave a content "Meowth." And finally, she saw Ash & Pikachu.
"Reeeeoooooowwww." She hissed and extended the claws on her left paw. To everyone's surprise, she inched towards Pikachu with her paw aimed at the yellow mouse.
Just as she was about to lunge at Pikachu, she gave a weak "meow" & collapsed on the bed.
"Oh Sadie." Izzy said, shaking his head.
"That was close." Ash said.
"Pika." Sighed Pikachu.
A few hours later, Sadie was released & everyone left the pokémon center with a clean slate. It was now 8:00PM & everyone decided to retire to the hotel.
At the hotel…
"We'll leave for Platinum City tomorrow." Ash said.
"Ok. I'll check out before we leave." Izzy said. Ash & Brock gave a nervous chuckle. Izzy & Misty raised an eyebrow.
Everybody exchanged their good nights & went to their respective rooms. In room two hundred fifty, Izzy got out his journal to write in. Unlike last night, he was on his bed overlooking Sadie, who was playing with Togepi.
"Isr—err Izzy?" Misty said.
"Yes?" Izzy asked, looking up from his journal. Misty was about to tell Izzy that she knew everything, but decided against it.
"Never mind." She said finally and she took out her diary. It was hard covered & pink.
"Ummm… Ok." Izzy said, giving Misty strange looks.
The next day…
There was a knock on room two hundred fifty's door as Izzy & Misty were getting ready to go.
"Yes?" Izzy asked while opening the door. It was a bell hop.
"Your room service bill, sir." The bell hop said & handed Izzy an envelope. He had his hand out. Izzy took a look at the bell hop's hand & back at his face.
"Thanks." He said & he closed the door. The bell hop walked away, muttering "cheap skate" under his breath.
"Let's take a look." Izzy said as he opened the envelope to look at the bill. When he finished reading it, his eyes flared up in rage.
"WHAT!?" He exclaimed, which caused the entire hotel to shake & rattle to his thunderous roar.
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"I guess he found out." Ash said in room two hundred fifty-one.
"Yep. We're caught." Brock said.
"Chu." Pikachu sighed.
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Back in room two hundred fifty, Misty came in from the bathroom when she heard Izzy.
"What happened?" She asked.
"Here! Take a look." Izzy replied and handed Misty the bill.
When she finished reading it, Misty handed it back to Izzy.
"I owe the hotel $300! You didn't order anything, did ya!?" He yelled in a panicky tone.
"No. The only thing I got was a can of soda from the fridge." Misty replied.
"If you got a soda & I got nothing, then that means…" Izzy started.
"It was Ash & Brock." Misty finished.
"I'd like to know who's bright idea was it to run up the bill like that." Izzy said.
"Ash is too dumb to do something like that. I bet Brock put him up to it." Misty replied (if only she knew who the dumb one really is).
"Let's go." Izzy said, getting his backpack. Sadie hopped on his left shoulder. Misty got her bag & Togepi.
"Ash, Brock, can I have a word with you?" Izzy asked while knocking calmly on room two hundred fifty-one's door. A few minutes later, Ash, Brock, and Pikachu came out. They looked around & saw nothing.
"Hee yah!!!" Izzy pounced on top of Ash & Brock. A cartoon-like cloud of dust appeared as Izzy started to pummel Ash & Brock.
"Run up my bill, will ya!?" Izzy yelled, fists a flying.
"Please stop! We didn't know!" Brock pleaded.
"Oh I'll let you know alright!" Izzy replied.
Misty appeared next to the dust cloud with an innocent smirk on her face. A hand, apparently belonging to Izzy, came out of the cloud, reaching out for something. Misty, still having that goofy expression, handed him her mallet.
"Baka!" Yelled Izzy as the sound of wood hitting numbskull was heard, not once, but twice. Ash & Brock's pleas of mercy were heard.
"Mercy!? You want mercy after running up my bill!? Baka again!!!!" And once again, the sounds of wood hitting numbskull were heard. Izzy held out his hand again & Misty gave him a paper fan. Random cursing was heard as well as two whacks. Izzy's hand was held out one last time & a rope was given to him. The cloud disappeared & Izzy was standing on top of the two tied up, bruised, and battered bodies. They had lumps on their heads & both eyes were black.
"All your base are belong to us!!!" Izzy yelled in triumph as he did his victory pose.
"Amazing performance, Izzy!" Misty said as she, Togepi, Sadie, and Pikachu clapped. Izzy took a bow and started to drag Ash & Brock.
"Well let's get outta here." He said. "You guys are lucky I got the money to pay the bill. I would have been a little more rough if I didn't have enough." Ash & Brock just moaned in pain.
They paid the bill and left the hotel, at last, for Platinum City.
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A/N:
Me: That's it for this chapter. I'm sorry if you didn't like Izzy's angsty mood at the beginning of the chapter. Hey! It worked for Digimon, right?
Random Digimon hating type person: Boo that author!
Other Digimon hating type people: Booooooooooooooooo!!!
Me: o O What'd I say!?
Random Digimon hating type person: You mentioned the D word!
Me: What? You mean Digimon?
Random Digimon hating type person: Yeah! And in a Pokémon fic, too!
Me: Your point? I mentioned other stuff not related to Pokémon in this fic & I didn't see anyone complaining.
Random Digimon hating type person: Umm… Boo that author & throw stuff at him!
Other Digimon hating type people: Booooooooooooo!!! ::starts throwing random things at me::
Me: O O;;; Ahhhhh!!!! Why me!? ::Dodges a kitchen sink:: What will happen on the way to Platinum City? Woah! ::Dodges a frying pan:: Will Misty actually confront Izzy about his secret? Yipe! ::Dodges a bob-Omb:: Tune in next time for the next chapter of The Young Master's Quest!
::BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!::
Note: Baka means stupid or some insult like that in Japanese & the phrase "All your base are belong to us!!!" comes from an old Sega game called Zero Wing.