Author's Note: First off, I am so so so so sorry for the slow update. I'm kicking myself, I really am. See, before I post a story, I create an outline for every chapter. That way, I know I won't get stuck. But I had this huge dilemma over this particular chapter because of all the 'realists' who have been reviewing. My original plan for this chapter was… not as realistic as you might have hoped. So I was having this huge debate on whether or not I should change it. In the end, I decided not to. What kind of author is so easily affected by outside criticism? I love you all dearly, but I had to keep this in. So, sorry if you don't like it, but I had so much fun writing it.
Next… ten reviews! Ten spankin' reviews! I was so happy, you wouldn't believe it. Thank you so much everyone! Anonymous Reviewers:
Ghost: Thank you so much for your kind review! Haha, you really go all out when you write them, eh? I'm glad you like the story. As for the thing with Giovanni, I'm still developing that a bit. There's some slight foreshadowing in this chapter. Hope you enjoy!
Ri2: Yes. The cookies were odd. So am I. It works.
Well, thank you all for reviewing. I appreciate it so much.
And for those people who seem skeptical about my story, realize, you don't have to read it. I won't be offended or hurt or even phased for that matter, if you don't. I hate it when people just review stories because you review there's and stuff like that. If you don't like the story: don't read it!
But, again, I'm babbling and you don't care! Onward with the story!
Chapter 3: Fights and Frights
--Ash--
It was late at night, but Ash couldn't sleep. He knew the others were all comfortably in their beds, where he should be, too… but Ash was too restless. He sat outside, under a tree, with his faithful Pikachu by his side.
"Some day, huh?" Ash said to his pokémon.
"Pika, Pika," it replied.
Ash laughed. "You'll never believe what Tracy said. He thought I liked Misty. Isn't that ridiculous?"
Pikachu shook its head.
"I don't like Misty…" said Ash.
Pikachu stared at him.
"Well, I like her," he said, "But I don't like like her."
Pikachu continued to stare at him.
Ash stood up. "Misty's my friend!" he snapped, "That's all!"
Pikachu shook his head.
"Stop yelling at me!" Ash screamed, "I do not like Misty!"
"Hey, Ash," came a voice from behind him, "Who are you talking to?"
Ash turned to see Brock stumbling towards him, still in his pajamas.
"Pikachu," Ash replied.
"Oh," said Brock, stifling a yawn, "And Pikachu yelled at you?"
"Uh… kinda."
"And he somehow implied that you like Misty?"
"Were you eavesdropping on us?" asked Ash, accusingly.
"Well, technically," said Brock, sitting down beside Pikachu, "I was just standing behind that tree over there, because, ya know, I always like to hang around trees at three o'clock in the morning. I just happened to hear every word you said."
"Brock!" Ash snapped, standing up, "You don't listen to a kid when he's talking to his Pikachu! That's private stuff!"
"Sorry…" said Brock, rolling his eyes, "But most people don't spill their heart out to their pokémon at three in the morning."
"Well," said Ash, "Most people don't act like me."
"And we're all grateful for it."
Ash nodded. "That's right…"
They sat in silence for a few moments.
"Hey!" Ash exclaimed, finally realizing he'd been insulted.
"We should get back to bed," Brock interrupted, checking his watch.
"It is late…" agreed Ash.
Pikachu hopped up on his shoulder and they all made their way inside.
The Next Morning…It was 7am in the world of pokémon, as a tired May stumbled around Cerulean Gym. Her stomach grumbled as she searched the house, looking for anything that would point her to the kitchen. Seeing a light on towards the end of the hallway, she made her way towards the room and opened the door. She entered the area, surprised that she had not only found the kitchen, but that there was already a girl inside.
"Misty?" May questioned.
Misty looked up from her bowl of 'Chocolate Coated Sugar Balls' to see May squinting at her.
"Morning!" Misty said cheerfully, waving the cereal box, "Hungry?"
"Oh, yeah…" said May, wondering why Misty was fully dressed so early in the morning. "I'm starved." She sat down at the table, grabbed a bowl, and poured herself some cereal. "So…" said May, casually, "What are you doing up so early?"
Misty shrugged. "I couldn't sleep," she said, happily, "So I came down here to have a snack!"
"Right…" said May, "And what did you eat?"
"These!" Misty exclaimed, grabbing the box. "They're really good. I tried to make a mountain out of them… but that didn't work. So I practiced spinning instead!"
May stared, a little confused at Misty's behavior. "You had quite a few bowls of these, didn't you?"
"A couple of boxes," said Misty, waving her hand casually.
"Is there… I dunno… alcohol in them?"
Misty paused, thoughtfully. "I don't think so," she said, shaking her head, "Just sugar. I like sugar."
"I see that," said May, taking a bite of her own cereal, "So, how come you couldn't sleep?"
"I had a lot on my mind…" Misty replied, as she poured herself a glass of milk.
"Ash?" May suggested.
"Kinda…" Misty said, pouring some cereal on the table, "I felt bad about flipping out on you guys yesterday…"
"Oh, don't!" said May, in between bites, "It was no big deal. It's just --- um…" she drifted off, distracted from her current rant. "Why are you making a smiley face out of cereal?" she asked Misty.
Misty stopped halfway through lining the bits of cereal into the shape of a mouth. "I dunno…" she said, thoughtfully, "I can't sit still. I think this cereal makes you high…"
"Oh," was the only response May could think of.
"Well, I'm sorry for last night. I have no idea what came over me…" Misty trailed off, taking a sip of her milk.
"Maybe…" suggested May, "You were a little bit jealous because you like Ash."
Misty spit the contents of her drink all over May. "What did you say?" she asked loudly.
"Ew," May said, reaching for a napkin. "Thanks for that," she added, drying herself.
"I do not like Ash!" Misty said, immediately.
"Oh," said May, "Okay."
"I said 'I don't like Ash!'" Misty repeated loudly.
"I know," said May, nodding, "And I said, 'Okay.'"
"What's that?" said Misty, loudly, "You want to fight me?"
Utterly confused and beginning to doubt Misty's sanity, May looked around the room, thinking Misty must be talking to somebody else.
"Listen, Misty," May began, reasonably, "I thought maybe there was something going on between you and Ash… Evidently, I was wrong. I'm sorry."
"What? I'm not good enough for Ash?" Misty yelled, standing up.
"No!" yelled May, standing up as well, "You're good enough! You just don't like Ash!"
"I can like Ash if I want to!" Misty shouted, defensively.
"I never said you couldn't!" May yelled, trying to find just an ounce of common sense in this argument, "You just said you didn't!"
Misty glared at her. "It's none of your business," she said, giving May a little shove on the shoulder.
May stared at the place Misty had just pushed her. "I never said it was," she said, forcing her voice to be calm. But she couldn't stop herself from giving Misty a little push as well.
"Don't push me!" Misty replied angrily, shoving May again.
"Don't push me!" May yelled, returning the shove.
"I'll push whoever I want!" Misty yelled. Determined to win the battle, she shoved May another time.
May responded by slapping her across the face.
As a sharp pain spread through Misty's cheek, she decided to retaliate in the best way she knew how. She grabbed May by the shoulders and threw her backwards into the table. Cereal and milk splattered the kitchen floor as the entire table was overturned. May landed hard on the underside of the upside down table, and she let out a small yelp.
"I don't know my own strength," Misty said, impressed at her own ability.
"You bitch!" May shouted, getting to her feet. (Gasp! On a Children's show? Shield your eyes, kids) She was a tad shaken, but overall, completely unharmed.
"Oh," Misty said, gazing at the mess they made, "I guess we should clean this up…"
"WE?" shrieked May. Without another word, she dived at Misty and tackled her to the ground.
Being a good deal stronger than her friend, Misty easily flipped May onto her back, climbed on top of her, and was about to punch her across the face when she heard footsteps. She looked up to see Brock entering the room, looking groggy.
Brock froze in the doorway, gazing at the scene in front of him. The kitchen table had been upturned, and its contents now lied scattered over the floor. Misty was on top of May, her fist raised, and both girls were staring intently at this new arrival.
"Uh… morning," Brock managed to say.
"Morning!" they said in unison.
Misty laughed a little. "We just…"
"Tripped?" Brock suggested.
"Uh… okay," was Misty's only response.
Misty quickly got off of May and stood up. She helped pull May to her feet.
Brock looked around the room again. "What a mess…" he said aloud.
"Yep," said May, nodding in agreement.
"Someone's gonna have to clean this up," he said, thoughtfully, still gazing at the floor. He looked up and saw both girls staring at him. "It's gonna be me, isn't it?"
Misty nodded.
"I'll get my apron," Brock sighed, exiting the room.
"Listen, May," said Misty, turning to her, "I'm sorry. I just---"
"You were high on sugar," May said, interrupting her, "I understand."
"No hard feelings?"
"Nah."
Misty let out a sigh of relief. She shook her head. No more Chocolate Coated Sugar Balls for me… she thought.
Somewhere in Cerulean City…Jessie, James, and Meowth were on an important mission. As Giovanni had made painfully clear, the success of their journey could mean one of two things for them: life or death. And although our antagonists are a tad unhinged, they never appeared suicidal, so, they had every intention of assuming option 1.
(flashback - yay!)
"The key needed to develop our new pokémon is a power source," the boss explained. "And I know of only one place that has this it…" He leaned back in his chair for effect. "Cerulean Gym…" he finished menacingly.
"We've been there before!" James squawked, "We'll be able to get it, no problem!"
The boss peered at him doubtfully. "See that you do," he said, bitterly. "No screw ups this time! You got that?"
The three nodded enthusiastically.
"Cuz if you do…" Giovanni paused, opened the desk drawer and pulled out three small figurines, each one exactly portraying one of the three shaken Team Rocket members in front of him. With one movement of his hand, he brought his fist down on the figures, and they shattered instantly. Hundreds of pieces spread across the table. Jessie gulped. "I'll flatten you," Giovanni finished.
The trio stared up at him in shock.
"You may go," the boss added, pleasantly.
(end flashback)
"I wonder where he got those figurines made up…" James wondered aloud.
"That's the least of our worries," Jessie snapped.
"That was kinda cool how he smashed them with his fist…" James said, thinking back, "Good dramatic effect…"
"Yeah, buddy," Meowth said in agreement.
"We'll congratulate him later!" Jessie yelled. "Can we get to work?"
"I wonder if he hurt his hand when he did it…" James said, thoughtfully.
Jessie slapped him. "Are you through?" she asked.
James rubbed his face. "Yeah," he said with a sigh.
"Good," Jessie replied. She took a map out of her pocket (yes, she has pockets) and opened it. "Help me find the gym on here…"
"Shouldn't we know where it is?" questioned Meowth. "We were there in episode 7…"
"That was a long time ago!" Jessie replied angrily.
"Here it is!" James exclaimed, pointing to the top of the map.
"Cerulean gym…" Jessie thought aloud. "Isn't that where the twerpette lives?"
James nodded.
Jessie smiled. "The twerps are in Hoenn, and a little red-haired bitch is the only thing that stands in our way of being the most famous members of Team Rocket…" Without another word, she tucked the map back inside her pocket and headed in the direction where the gym should be.
"Was she talking about herself?" James asked Meowth when she was out of ear shot.
"I don't think so," said Meowth, shaking his head, "But I do think this is going to be harder then we thought…"
To Be Continued…Author's Note: Well… what'cha think? Great? Horrible? Absolutely appalling? Don't say it, write it! In a review. Questions, comments, insults, suggestions, praises, threats, anything that'll boost my review number, I'm okay with it. (Kinda kidding. I don't need the threats.)
But as for the story, again, I apologize to the realists, but a Misty/May fight was WAY over do. I go to all these pokémon forums, and they're all 'Yeah, Misty and May should fight. That would be awesome!' Well, it's never gonna happen in our 'Children's' show, so I made it happen here. You can hate me, I don't mind. I try not to disappoint, but that's not always possible. Please forgive me!
And thanks for reading!