The Past Returns
By Serena-chan
DISCLAIMER: GUESS WHAT!...Still don't own 'em.
A/N: Okay, now the first chapter was set four years before Ash's pokemon adventure began. Ash was only six years old, and Misty was eight.
This chapter, however, takes place in the present. Misty and Brock are travelling with Ash and pikachu on their pokemon adventure. This should take place about sometime after Ash receives his badge from the Cerulean Gym.
PART TWO:
"Ash, you dense moron, you just got us lost again!" screamed Misty.
The group was on their way to Pallet Town to visit Ash's mom, however, as usual, Ash had taken them on one of his "shortcuts." As a result, they were lost.
"It's not my fault," Ash was screaming back at her. "You should have been paying attention to where I was leading you!"
"Why you little-"
"Listen you guys," Brock said, trying to prevent an all-out war from ensuing. "Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere. I think there's a Pokemon center near here. We can get directions there."
Misty sighed as they began walking again. They had been on the road almost all day, and her feet were aching for a rest.
She looked over at Ash. It had been over four years since their last meeting although Ash didn't seem to remember seeing either of them at the funeral. He seemed happy now, Misty noted, but she knew deep down that he still had to be hurting.
She smiled to herself as she remembered the circumstances that had brought them together…
Misty sat by the river and sighed contentedly. It felt so nice to be able to sit down and relax.
She knew that soon she'd have to journey to Pallet Town to seek out Henri's son Ash. It had been about four years ago that Henri had died…
Misty shook her head, clearing it of the unpleasant thoughts of that tragic day. Instead, she looked over at her gleaming new red bike. It had taken her quite some time to save up for it, but she knew it would be worth it when she finally journeyed to Pallet.
Reaching down to touch the surface of the water, Misty scanned the river for any new pokemon swimming upstream. She sighed as magikarp and goldeen swam beneath the surface, definitely nothing new.
Suddenly, she felt a tingling sensation of excitement as she felt a gyarados swimming upstream toward her. She was definitely going to catch it!
Misty cast out the line of her fishing rod and fingered her pokeball that contained starmie because she knew that if caught, the gyarados would be quick to attack.
There was a sudden, violent jerk on the end of her line. "Alright! I think I've really got it!" She said in excitement. She dug her heels into the dirt and pulled with all her might.
To her utmost surprise, instead of the expected gyarados emerging from the water, a boy caught up in the line sailed out and landed next to her on the bank. Misty felt disappointment and irritation well up inside her. She really thought she was finally going to capture a gyarados!
"Awww, it's just a kid," Misty said before her eyes fell on the pikachu in the boy's arms. "Oh, and a pokemon. Are you alright?"
The boy looked up at her with deep brown eyes that reminded Misty strongly of someone she knew, but who? "I'm alright," the boy said.
"Not you!" Misty screamed in irritation. The pikachu was obviously hurt badly. Honestly, she didn't know how any trainer could ever let their pokemon get into such a state! "Is it breathing?" When she saw that it was, she didn't wait for him to speak but yelled at him angrily. "You've got to get him to a doctor right away! There's a pokemon hospital not far from here."
"Which way is it?" he asked.
"That way," Misty said pointing. She was just thinking about accompanying the boy to make sure the pikachu really got the medical attention it deserved, but before she could say anything, a strange sight caught her eyes. An entire flock of spearow was heading their way.
The boy seemed to panic when he saw them and raced toward Misty's bicycle saying, "I'm borrowing this."
"Hey, that's my bike!" Misty shrieked indignantly.
"I'll bring it back someday," the boy called over his shoulder as he began peddling away.
Misty groaned in frustration. She needed to leave for Pallet within the next week! She didn't know when Ash's birthday was, but surely he must be turning ten soon. She just had to get her bike back!
Glancing down at the ground, she spotted an identification tag that had fallen off the boy's backpack. At least I'll know who he is and where to find him, Misty thought, picking up the tag.
It read:
NAME: Ash Ketchum
Pallet Town
Misty gasped. That boy was Henri's son! That's why he had looked familiar. She thought back and remembered the messy black hair and those tear-filled brown eyes. Yes, it was definitely him.
Gathering her things, she hurried down the path towards the Pokemon Center. Nurse Joy was always fairly quick when healing pokemon, but perhaps if she hurried, she could get there before he left.
Walking down the road now with Ash and Brock, Misty tried to suppress a giggle when she thought of Ash's face when she came storming in, yelling about her ruined bike. Of course, she was really upset about it, but she knew that it wasn't really Ash's fault. Those spearow had been attacking him after all. Still, the bike was the perfect excuse to follow Ash around, no questions asked.
"What are you laughing about?" Ash said suspiciously.
"Nothing," Misty said hurriedly.
Luckily, she was interrupted from having to explain further by Brock exclaiming, "There it is!"
The group entered the center. Misty and Ash set down for a rest on one of the comfortable couches in the waiting room while Brock ran off in search of Nurse Joy.
"I just hope he remembers to ask her for those directions," Misty muttered, thinking of how her love-struck friend was probably proposing to the poor nurse right then.
Ash didn't reply, but petted pikachu on the head and began to fiddle with his pokedex. Seeing Ash's familiarity and tenderness with his pokemon made Misty feel very empty.
When she left with Ash on his pokemon journey, she had been forced to leave Crysilin with her sisters to protect the gym. Misty knew that if Mentar was ever to come back, he would probably try to hunt down and defeat the other descendents first to prevent them from sealing away his creature again. If he ever came to the Cerulean Gym looking for her, Misty wanted Crys there to protect her sisters.
Still, she missed her pokemon terribly, but she knew it couldn't be helped. She had to stay with Ash. Henri's last words came back to her once more, ("Just promise me Misty that you'll protect Ash…"), and Misty had to stop herself from moving closer to Ash and putting her arms around him. That had been Henri's final request, for Misty to protect Ash in case Mentar returned and to train Ash in his magic when it finally surfaced.
She had seen no sign of it yet, but she knew it was there, every bit as strong as Henri said it would be. She could feel the magic growing inside him with each passing day, waiting for his body to mature enough to handle the amazing power he was possible of wielding.
Truthfully, Misty was not looking forward to Ash's power surfacing. Shortly after joining Ash on his journey, Misty had tentatively questioned him about his father and was surprised to discover that Ash believed his father died in a car crash.
She'd called Ash's mother on the phone that very evening, embarrassed, but determined to find out why Ash didn't know how Henri had died. Mrs. Ketchum had explained to her that Ash was only six years old at the time. He was so young that he didn't even realize that his father had had any magical powers, especially because Henri's powers had so little visual evidence.
Ash had been so devastated by his father's death that Mrs. Ketchum couldn't bear breaking his heart even more with terrifying tales of evil sorcerers and giant pokemon. She begged Misty to keep silent about it until Ash's magic surfaced. By then, he would surely be old enough to handle the truth.
Misty agreed with her. Ash was quite immature for his age, and he seemed happy at the moment. Why bring back those sad memories any sooner than need be?
Privately, Misty knew that there was one more reason that she followed Ash around. It wasn't merely as a favor to Henri any longer. This reason was much bigger, one that she'd hidden in her heart for quite some time...one that she wasn't about to let anyone learn…
"But Nurse Joy, not a day goes by that I don't think of thee." Brock was scurrying after a very distraught Nurse Joy.
"Is this your friend?" She asked, "I think perhaps he may be sick."
"No, unfortunately this is him normally," Misty said, angrily dragging Brock away from by his ear, and giving the poor nurse a chance to escape back behind her counter.
"Why can't I ever get a date?" Brock asked dejectedly.
"Never mind that now," Misty said in irritation. "Did you get the directions?" Brock nodded and showed her the map that Nurse Joy had drawn directions on. "This time, I'm leading," Misty said, snatching the map away from Brock.
"All right!" Yelled Ash, "Pallet Town, here we come!"
