Chapter 13

Hold it!!!

Kurt's loft was small, but it had enough floor space for Ash, Gold, and I to sleep comfortably. Despite the hard wooden floor and the scratchy hay we were sleeping on top of, we slept soundly all through the night.

We were jolted awake at 7 am by Kurt banging on the ceiling of the lower floor with a broom. "Up! Up! Wake up! No time to lose!"

"Ahhh, I don't wanna get up!" Gold moaned, turning over.

"I was having such sweet dreams too," Ash sighed, sitting up on his elbows. "It was about Misty."

"And that's all you'll tell us," I cut in, leaving Ash dumbfounded.

"Nice, Cricklin," Gold said with a laugh. "Tough break, Ash," he said, patting Ash's shoulder. "Come on, we should head downstairs."

"Ah! The sleepyheads live!" Kurt exclaimed, putting his hands together. "Fantastic. Today you will head back to Olivine City to board the S. S. Aqua. But! Breakfast comes first! Sit! Sit!"

We obediently sat at the small table in the corner of Kurt's house, and he placed before us bowls of oat-cluster cereal that tasted as dry and unappetizing as they looked. When Kurt had sternly seen every last disgusting oat cluster swallowed, he said, "Now then! It is time you are headed back to Olivine City."

"Great..." I grumbled. "Walking all the way back will take us at least another two days... that's just what I need."

"Walking? I wouldn't hear of it!" Kurt said. "Let us step outside." When we were all outside, Kurt removed a Poke Ball from his robe. "This is my Noctowl, Kayla. She will fly you back to Olivine City immediately."

"Oh. Well, we appreciate, Mr. Kurt, sir!" Ash said, smiling.

"Not a problem," Kurt said with a nod. "After all, any friends of Gold are friends of mine! Now, off you go. Hurry!"

Gold opened the Poke Ball and with a flash of red light, Kayla the Noctowl emerged, stretching her long wings and hooting.

"Take them to Olivine, my pet," Kurt whispered to her, stroking her head. "To Olivine..."

We climbed on Noctowl's back, and with a jolt, we were zooming up into the sky.

"Seek the Pokemaniac!" Kurt called after us. "He will know what to do!"

"Woo hoo!" Ash cried as we zoomed through the clouds. "Nothing can dampen our spirits now!"

Gold pointed at some dark clouds up ahead. "Those rainclouds might."

The rain beat down in sheets against the window of Jessie and James's tiny apartment. They stood looking out at the outskirts of Sunshine City, which no longer seemed bright and glowing, but rather dull and drab, and overall uninviting.

"I guess we can't regroup with our squad today." James said, to break the silence.

"Obviously," Jessie agreed, rolling her eyes.

"Do you think they'll get too far ahead of us for us to track 'em down?" Meowth asked from the bed.

"Don't worry," Jessie said. "I have a satellite phone. Once the weather clears up we should be able to contact them. But for now, it looks like we're stuck here."

"Great," said James, flipping on the TV and flopping down at the foot of the bed. Jessie sat next to him. For the next hour or so, they just sat there, flipping through the channels while the rain pounded and pounded against the window, and Meowth snoozed and snoozed on the bed.

A chill went through James. It must be getting cold out, he said with a shiver. He instinctively put his arm around Jessie.

"Um, James?" Jessie said after a moment.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Your arm is around me. Why is that?"

James faltered. "Um.. it's getting cold. I'm staying close to you for warmth."

Jessie rolled her eyes. "Whatever." But she did not remove James's arm. But then, James rested his head on her shoulder. "Just what do you think you're doing?" she cried, standing up.

"What?" he exclaimed, also standing up. "The neck generates alot of heat, and I'm freezing, so I thought..."

"You thought nothing!" Jessie snarled, sticking her finger in James' face. "I think I know what you were doing!"

"Oh yeah? Then why don't you just tell me?" James replied, sticking his finger in Jessie's face.

"Get your finger out of my face!" Jessie warned.

"You get your finger out of my face!" James shot back.

"But I was here first! Now get it out!" She shoved James's arm away, and they began a shoving match.

"HEY HEY HEY!" Meowth cried, awoken by the noise. He jumped on their shoulders and separated them. "Look at you two! Can't you two see that you're in love with each other?"

"In love?" Jessie said, smirking.

"Yeah... in love?" James said with an equal smirk.

"I can see it in your eyes," Meowth said, smiling. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've gotta go find a decent pile of sand." And he left the room.

Without another word, Jessie and James sat down next to each other in front of the TV. Presently, Jessie turned and said, "James... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get so upset. Do you forgive me?"

"I forgive you, Jess," James said, smiling. After a bit he said, "Just why did it bother you so much, anyway?"

"Who said it bothered me?" Jessie asked, resting her head on James's shoulder.

"Jessie?" James asked, raising his eyebrows.

"The neck generates alot of heat, as you say," Jessie said, her voice growing softer. "And I need it," she raised her eyes to his, "Because whenever I look into your eyes, I get chills."

James could hardly believe what he was hearing. "Jessie, I..."

"Shh," she whispered, running her hand across his cheek, and she kissed him, very softly, on the lips. James was stunned when they parted, and when Jessie kissed him again, he put his arms around her and held her close to him. This was truly the best moment of his life.

Meowth whistled to himself as he walked back into the room, and he froze when he saw Jessie and James kissing. Then he smiled to himself. "It's about time," he said with a purr. "It's about time." And he turned and left, closing the door quietly.

"What do you mean, the port is closed?" Gold demanded. We were talking to the guard at the entrance to Olivine Harbor.

"I said the port is closed," the guard repeated. "That nasty little storm churned up the seas a good deal, there's no way the ship can sail. You'll just have to wait till tomorrow."

"Aww man!" Ash moaned as we walked away from the harbor, "Now what do we do?"

I thought a moment and said, "Well hell, we've all got water Pokemon, right? The sun is shining now, and a few waves aren't anything our Pokemon can't handle. Let's surf to Cianwood!"

Ash and Gold looked at each other, and then Ash said, "That's a good idea. If we leave now we can probably make it there by nightfall."

"Well what are we waiting for then?" Gold said cheerily. "The beach is that way."

We walked west of Olivine towards the sandy beach.

"Rough seas, bah!" Gold scoffed. "Look, the water is calm as could be! I don't see how..."

Suddenly, Gold was cut off by an icy voice. "Hold it!!!"

We looked around. "I know that voice..." Gold said. Before any of us could say anything, a figure jumped down from the ridge overlooking the shore and stood before us. He was about Gold's height, with long red hair and a black sweatshirt-jacket with a mysterious emblem on the front pocket, and a wallet chain hanging from his pocket.

"Silver!" Gold exclaimed, his face darkening.

"That's right," Silver said, smirking. Silver was, of course, the rival character from the video game. "I saw you guys walking down here and I thought you'd be up to no good."

"Us, up to no good?" Gold laughed sarcastically. "I thought it's usually YOU doing that."

"Not anymore, pal," Silver said, brushing his hair back. "Let's just say that I am a changed man."

"Define changed," I said.

Silver glared at me. "Who are you?"

"He's with us," Gold said. "He's a friend of ours."

"Is that right?" Silver said icily. "Well anyway, as I was saying, after you beat me in Mt. Moon, by pure chance if you remember, I've decided that I can't become strong if I don't show a little goodness every now and then. So let's just say you've caught me during one of my 'good' phases."

"Yeah, right." Ash said, rolling his eyes.

"For real, man!" Silver said, spreading his arms. "Is this a face that would lie?"

"I don't know," Gold muttered. "Every time I see it, I want to punch it in."

"Such malice," Silver said with a smirk. "Then I guess you won't be needing my help. Ta!" he turned and started walking away.

"Wait!" I called after him, and he turned. "You said you would help us?"

"Well, considering that I've got nothing better to do... sure, why not?"

Ash, Gold, and I got into a quick huddle. "What do you think? Should we trust him?" I asked.

"I don't think we should," Ash said. "He means nothing but trouble. He reminds me of Gary."

"I don't know," Gold said. "On my journey, he did seem to grow a lot from losing to me constantly. I have a feeling that he has changed, at least enough for him not to steal all our Pokemon in our sleep."

"Let's let him tag along for the time being," I said. "And if he betrays us, we can take him up to Rock Tunnel and tell the Machops that he's a big dumbbell."

"Agreed," Gold said, and then we de-huddled and Gold approached Silver. "All right, here's the deal. You can tag along with us if you want, but I warn you now: any funny business, and you'll be in a lot of pain, do you understand?"

Silver gave a jaunty salute. "On my honor, loser!"

"Right then," I said, taking a quick deep breath. "The ocean is around the bend. What say we get moving?"

"Right," everyone agreed, and so, with a new ally, we walked towards the sea.