First off, I'd like to say I'm sorry to all of my loyal fans and readers for the long-ish delay in chapter postings. I wanted to write my story The Tennis Racket, (As In Commotion, Not Equipment) for summer vacation and it's hard to concentrate on two stories at a time. By the way, if you love AAML, you might like that story. Anyway, this chapter is longer than the others, so I hope it makes up for the postponed posting. About Chapter Three's title, the line, "…hand in hand we walk as one…" is from The Game, from the Totally Pokémon CD. Congratulations to Sparklewolf (for the third time), Chibimatchmaker (for the second time), and Metal Mewtwo for getting the chapter title correct. Hopefully this next one is a challenge… One more thing I shall ask of you, great reviewer. I have been getting a lot of "spoilers" in my reviews, and I thought I might ask if you could please not send me any more. I'm kinda an anti-spoiler person myself. I obviously like to create my own future, as you can tell from this story. Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you could just review. (I know about Togepi anyway.) Thanks, and please tell me what you think afterwards! Enjoy!
CHAPTER 4: …The Days & Nights Are Nice & Icy Clear…
"…Uh, Misty?"
"Yes, Ash?"
"Uh, could you get off me? I can't breathe." Blushing madly, Misty crawled off of her gasping friend, a.k.a. landing pad, and into the frigid snow. He sat up, readjusting his hat. Ash glanced up at the stalactite-rimmed hole above them. "This place is getting weirder. Now we're really far underground."
"How are we going to get out now?"
"No idea." Misty fought her strong urge to yell at Ash, to argue with him, to blame him for what was happening. Such instincts die hard. I promised, I promised, I promised! I promised myself that I wouldn't lose my stupid temper with him anymore, and I won't! I won't, I won't! …This isn't like before, when it was just you, him, and Brock. You can't just… dawdle around anymore. Now you have competition! You have to fight May for him now! You can't keep trying to hide yourself from him. You'll just be giving May an easy victory… Come on, Misty, you're a fierce competitor, just like he is. Hitting someone over the head with a mallet is an out-of-style way to get attention. Just be his friend. Stop wanting to yell at him, for Ho-oh's sake!
Out of the corner of his eye, Ash saw Misty's face screw up in silent frustration. He became concerned. "Misty?"
Misty jerked her head up distractedly. "What?"
" 'You okay?"
"…Yeah." Ash, looking relieved, clambered out of the snow and stood up. Misty followed suit. Her bare legs and her hands were beginning to get a little bit numb from all of the crawling about in the snow. She rubbed her hands together, trying to generate some warmth for her frozen fingers.
"Gosh, this tunnel looks almost the same as the last one!" Ash cried out, gazing upon the snow piled ground, protruding stalactites and stalagmites, and shimmering hoary ramparts. It looked about the same to Misty, too. "Do you think that there could be more levels even farther underground than this?"
Misty shivered nervously. "I hope not. We could just keep falling down and down forever, and never get out."
Ash shivered, too, at the bleak notion. "What do you think the chances are of there being another way out now?"
"Uh… slim."
"Maybe… maybe further down the tunnel there's a place where we could climb up the walls and get onto a ledge… From the ledge we could get back up through that last hole," reasoned Ash.
"Ash, how many times in that plan is it likely that you, or me, or both of us, could fall?" Misty responded critically, crossing her arms. Ash stopped and seriously considered the answer for a moment. Misty sighed in annoyance and shook her head.
"A lot," he finally answered, and thinking about the first hole, added, "But we've fallen off and down things a lot higher before and not gotten hurt in the snow. It's the only idea I've got. Do you have an idea?" He knew that she wouldn't.
She didn't. "…Okay, then let's get looking for a ledge or something."
"Hmm." Ash nodded once, his face full of determination. Doggedly, he started out into the unknown grotto, trekking slowly through the thickly packed flurries. Misty followed him tenaciously, like an obedient Growlithe pup.
Time seemed to drag by as if a Slowpoke had latched onto it and refused to let go. Everything was quiet; there was no sound at all besides the muffled sound of the two's footsteps. There was no sight or sign of Pokémon down there, no tracks or anything, yet it was impossible that none lived there because it was covered in attack-made snow. Ash found it likely that the Snorunt and Delibird had informed the other Ice Pokémon of the lost trespassers, and so they kept away. Misty decided to herself that if they saw another Pokémon, she would try to ask it for help… unless it was the Sneasel again.
Ash concentrated on walking, only glancing up now and then to see if the cliffs were rising up any closer to the ground. There wasn't much else to do except think, so that's what Ash did. He glanced back at Misty, who was quite a few paces behind him, and was using his imprints to walk in. She didn't see him looking at her. Her arms were crossed tightly to her chest and her head was down, mouth opened slightly. Her marine eyes glistened almost sadly or desperately. Ash unconsciously cocked his head. She was in deep thought, obviously. She's been thinking about something a lot today. I wish she had told me what it was! I wonder if that's what she's thinking about right now. I bet it is! Maybe I should ask her again.
"Misty?" She glanced up. Ash took a deep breath and continued in a more forceful tone than before, "What are you so upset about?"
Misty's heart jumped to her throat in panic. She had hoped that Ash would give up on asking her that question, but he looked dead set on knowing the answer. Ash Ketchum never gave up on anything easily. Misty suddenly realized that Ash obviously hadn't believed the lie she had told him when they were in the woods. A strange jolt in her body begged her to tell Ash her worry, her fear, her hope. However, that feeling had always resided in her, as long as she could remember. It had now only intensified a little, but Misty was too used to fighting it back down to let it grow anymore than it had in the past hour or two.
Her silence had been too long. Ash stopped and looked straight into her face, his gloved hands stuck coldly into his vest pockets, his shoulders slightly hunched. "Mist?" Misty stopped a few yards away from him, and slowly looked up into his piercing eyes. "What has made you so upset? Please tell me. I want to know. I can help, whatever it is."
He looks so determined. "I-" For a split second, Misty decided to tell him everything, every secret she had about him, right there in the middle of the snow. But the split second passed, and Misty became, as she thought, reasonable again. She shoved the desire away. "I-" She didn't want to lie, but it seemed necessary. "I- It's nothing. Nothing to be worried about. I shouldn't even be worried about it myself." What a lie. "In fact… In fact, I'm not even worried about it anymore anyway." What another lie. She raised her head up a bit more and tired to smile reassuringly, but the smile looked rather forced, as it truly was.
Ash was somewhat dumbfounded, to tell the truth. She still didn't tell me. I can't believe it. She still didn't tell me. Ash didn't degrade her for lying. He just realized that the problem had to be something very, very personal to her. He decided to quit prying and let her be. If she decided to tell him on her own, great. If not… Maybe I could try to be more personal with her, make her feel more comfortable around me. Then, she might decide to tell me. Ash found hope for this in the fact that they were alone. It was a lot more comfortable for him to talk to her, and vice versa, without having Brock staring at Ash with his sly I-know-something-you-don't-know grin.
Misty saw Ash nod slightly, then start back to the walking. After a few paces, he paused, and glanced back around. He cocked his head and smiled warmly at her. " 'You coming?" he grinned. Misty suddenly smiled, for real this time. She wasn't entirely sure that he believed this lie either, but it seemed he wasn't going to pry further, which made her feel better. She giggled, and ran to catch up with him. She almost tripped in the snow but caught herself, making both herself and Ash laugh. In higher spirits, they trudged through the snow side by side. It seemed easier than it had been, now that Ash had, figuratively, 'broken the ice'.
"You know," Ash commented as they continued on, "it's so weird how huge this place is."
"I know," Misty agreed, "This big, totally white cavern, all underground."
Ash chuckled slightly. "I guess the Ice Pokémon down here don't like to decorate very much. Very plain place, this is."
Misty joked along with him. "Maybe they just like white a whole lot." They both giggled.
"That, or there's no paint store nearby," Ash added stupidly. Misty snickered, then both began to laugh at their absurdity. "Geesh," Ash tittered, "This cold air can sure make 'ya crazy!"
"Are you sure it's the cold air?" Misty teased him slyly. Ash gave her a scornful look. She laughed.
"Oh, ha, ha," Ash responded sarcastically, but he was smiling.
"I was thinking," Misty began, as she contemplated the whiteness of the cavern, "If we aren't careful, we could be lost in here a long time. There are no landmarks or anything to show us where we've been or where we came from."
"Well, there are our footprints."
"What if a Pokémon messes them up? Or adds more snow on top?"
Ash thought. He shrugged. "Your right. We could get lost easy."
"With all the luck we've ever had on navigation," Misty muttered, "It's easier to get lost in some woods or other than it is to be tracked by Team Rocket."
Ash snorted. "You're right about that… you know, we haven't seen those guys for a while now. Isn't it about time for another Team Rocket attack?"
"They're way overdue."
Ash suddenly gasped. "What if, while I'm gone, they try to steal Pikachu!? He's out there all by himself! And what if they try to steal all of our stuff!?"
"Don't worry," Misty reassured him, "They might think about stealing our stuff, but Pikachu's the only thing that matters to them. I'm sure Pikachu could hold them off, anyway. He's strong enough."
"Yeah," Ash said, still a bit worried, "Well, it's not like Jesse, James, and Meowth are just going to show up in this cavern all of a sudden." Suddenly, they both stopped. They glanced at each other, then around at the snow banks and jagged walls. It was silent. Nothing. Ash breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close."
"Yeah," Misty agreed in thankfulness, "That would have been a perfect cue."
Ash nodded. Suddenly, something high up on the silvery marble-patterned wall to his left caught his attention. "Hey, Mist! What's that?"
"What's what?"
"There!" Ash ran towards the wall, pointing at the 'something'. Misty followed. Right below it, they both stopped and gazed up, but it was so high up on the wall, that it was hard to focus their eyes on it. As best as they could tell, it looked like something had scratched the walls, except the scratches weren't random; they were neat and in rows.
"Words?" Misty wondered out loud, "Is that some kind of writing up there?"
"Looks like it," Ash responded, "Someone has definitely carved some words into the walls up there. A message, maybe?"
"It could be a song, possibly. Or how about a poem?" Misty added her suggestions. "But how on earth could someone get that high into the air to carve it on the wall?" Ash shrugged. He backed up a few paces, then all the way to the opposite wall, to get a better view of the words. "Anything?"
Ash shook his head. "Nothing. They're just too high up and too small to read."
"Errr!" Misty was frustrated. "Oh, forget that, then!" She stomped off through the billowing snow. Ash quickly scrambled to tread beside her. He didn't want to be left alone. "I mean, really! That is so stupid, writing something so no one can read it! What if it was a warning!? No one would ever know! Really! How dense can you get?"
Ash shrugged absentmindedly. He had already thought of something else. "…A warning…"
A warning?
A warning.
Someone should have warned me how boring this game can be after you're caught, Max thought irritably. Max struggled to get a firm grip around Poochyena's belly, so he could have one free hand to adjust his glasses with. He quickly replaced his arm around the whining wolf pup after pushing his spectacles back up the bridge of his nose. Poochyena whimpered sadly, begging his master to set him down so he could romp around, but the Sacred Laws of Brace Hide-And-Seek completely forbid this dreadful act. Max sighed. He was as jaded as his Pokémon.
"ASH! MISTY!" Brock called out, his free hand cupped to his mouth to amplify his voice. "WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?" He sighed wearily, and let his hand drop to his side. I never knew they were this good at hiding.
"YOU TWO CAN COME OUT NOW!" May shouted into the thin, tall trees around them. There was no answer. "YOU WON THE GAME, ALREADY! COME ON OUT!"
"This is boring," Max muttered darkly from his place in the back of the line the group was walking in. Poochyena gave a short howl of agreement.
"Well, Max," Brock replied over his shoulder, "It's not our fault that Ash and Misty won't figure out that the game is over, and that they won, so they can show themselves now."
"Yeah, well, who insisted on playing this game in the first place, huh?" May spouted to him roughly. He glared at her until she turned away from him, then stuck out his tongue at her. There was a pause, then, "I saw that, Max!"
Max was flabbergasted. "Huh! How did you? Your back was turned!"
May was chuckling. "I didn't see anything, but I guessed you would do something, and you did, because you just confessed to it!" Brock couldn't help a laugh at May's shrewdness. Pikachu, who was in the middle of the line with Togepi, giggled. Max scowled, and muttered darkly under his breath.
The line walked in silence for a while, their eyes peeled for a sign of the last two hiders. There was only the forest around them. They marched on. At first, they had heard the calling of Taillow, and Pidgey, and Swablu, and occasionally a Spearow or two, in the tops of the trees, out of sight. Now, Brock was beginning to hear the rough sound of a Noctowl call. It's getting darker, Brock thought worriedly, and there's no sign of either Ash or Misty. Where could they possibly be? Brock bit his lip in concern. He always felt responsible for the safety and well-being of everyone in the group, as he was the oldest of them all. He especially felt accountable for Ash and Misty's security, after living with them for such a long time and seeing all of the things that could happen to them (and himself). Great, now what do I do!?
"At this rate," Max was ranting to himself out loud, "We'll not have time for another round of Hide-And-Seek!"
"Who'd want to play another round now!?" May answered, just as Brock replied, "We won't have time anyway."
"Why not?" Max questioned Brock's answer and ignored his sister.
"Because it's dark!" May snapped before Brock could begin. Max purposefully stared at Brock so that he could answer for himself.
"Because… it's dark," Brock agreed. Max sighed. May smirked. Brock sweatdropped and shook his head. Just like Ash and Misty. Always fighting because you care, because you love. Humph. Where are you two? Ash? Misty? …It's not like you all to run off or something… wait. Run off? …No, surely not. You couldn't have told him already, Misty, could 'ya? …No, Ash wouldn't have left Pikachu, and you wouldn't have left Togepi. …Are you all in trouble? Is it… Team Rocket or something? Are you following us for fun, or something? Are you back at camp? Are you lost?…lost? … LOST! Brock glanced around. Where were they? All the trees, by now, looked just exactly alike.
"Ooo, I don't like the dark so much," May muttered, glancing around. Her gloved fingers were cutting into Brock's hand painfully. Brock winced. "I mean, not just the dark itself, but the woods at night… brrr!"
"Um, do you think," Brock began, with an edge of pain to his voice, "that we could drop hands because the game is over now?"
"Okay," May said simply, and let go of his hand. Brock immediately began to massage his sore palm with his other hand. Poochyena wiggled out of Max's grasp and ran around in circles a few times. Instead of walking away, Togepi trilled and motioned for Pikachu to give her a piggyback ride. Pikachu sighed and leaned down so she could get on.
Brock was about to ask if anyone knew where they were, when Max reached for his belt and pulled off his PokéNav. He turned it on and began to do something with it, pushing buttons here and there. Brock stopped walking and went over to Max's side. As if Max had read his mind, he showed Brock a digital map of Hoenn on the screen and began to zoom in over Route 119. "See, Brock, I was just thinking that we outta check where we are, so we don't get lost or too far away from our camp. See?" He pointed to a dot in the middle of the screen. "That's us." He pointed to another dot a bit farther off. "That's our camp." He punched a few buttons, and a circle appeared around the two dots. "See, we're still within a two hundred foot radius of our camp."
May was looking at the map over Max's shoulder. It made no sense to her, but if Max could read it, that was fine. "Hey, Max! How does it know where we are?"
"Well, it can track itself, obviously!" Max explained, as if this should be obvious to even the most unintelligent person.
"Well, how does it know where our camp is, Mr. I-Know-Everything?" May asked, a bit annoyed.
"Because," Max said, as if explaining to a two-year-old, "I typed in our latitude and longitude when we were back at camp, so it would know."
"Wow," Brock exclaimed, impressed, as May tried to work this information out, "That sure beats every map I've ever tried to read!" Max smiled proudly.
"Latitude, longitude," May muttered irritably, "What's the difference? It's just like stalagmites and stalactites!"
"What do they have to do with anything, hmm?" Max wanted to know.
May looked flustered. "Well, nothing, it's just, how are you supposed to tell them apart?"
"By their name," Max drawled.
Brock sighed and said, "Cut it out, you two," before they could get started. May turned away in a huff. Max continued to do some kind of something with his PokéNav. Brock glanced around at the whole group. Pikachu, with Togepi on his back, and Poochyena were in a kind of huddle, whispering in Poke-speech. May had stalked off and was leaning against a tree, her back to them. Brock gazed off into the forest. Whispering sadly, he said, "Ash. Misty. Where are you?"
"I wish I knew where we are."
"Well, yeah," Misty replied to Ash's bleak statement, "So do I, but there's no pointing in wishing something like that without Jirachi or an Unown around."
"Yeah." They had left the carving in the wall behind and continued up the cavern corridor. Now, Ash and Misty were standing still, trying to figure out what to do. They hadn't seen any more Pokémon, or landmarks, or anything except snow. The snow came up way past Ash's shoes, soaking his jeans a third of the way up to his knees. Ash glanced over at Misty's legs. The snow was rubbing numbingly against her bare skin. Her legs were shaking a little bit. Ash glanced up. Her arms were crossed in what seemed a stern appearance, but this was only to cover up the fact that she was trying to warm herself. Her mouth was closed determinedly, but from the way her jaw was moving, he could tell that her teeth were chattering. Between her shorts and sleeveless shirt, she was dressed for anything except snow. "Hey, Misty?"
"Hmm?" Misty twitched as the snow began to sting her legs.
"You look awful cold," Ash muttered sympathetically. Misty looked up sharply. She had been trying her best to cover up any signs that she was freezing to death. She didn't want to look weak in front of anyone, especially Ash.
"Uh… just a little bit, I guess." Ash, smiling an exasperated smile, gave her the most critical look he could muster when he felt anything but critical. Misty looked away. No fooling him on anything today. "Okay, maybe a lot. …Okay, I'm freezing, but I'll be okay. We've traveled through temperatures a lot colder than these before."
"Well, yes, but you've always had your blanket or jacket with you!"
Misty waved the exclamation away with one hand. "I'll be okay. Hopefully we can get out of this place soon, and then it won't matter if I was cold or not."
"You could get sick from the cold," Ash retorted, trying to get a step ahead of her each time she replied, so he would be able to prove his point.
Misty didn't really have an answer to this one. She shrugged, and crossed her arms a little tighter. "Nothing we can do about that, huh?"
Ash felt helpless. Just like Ash wanted to know what was worrying her so he could help, he wanted to do something to help her stay warm. If he had stopped to think about it, he wouldn't be able to say why he was so adamant about helping her; he just was. However, Ash was too busy thinking about ways to help to think of why, anyway. He hated to see her as uncomfortable as she looked. Unlike her, Ash wasn't uncomfortable in the cold cavern, as he had on long jeans, gloves, a hat, his vest…
My vest! Ash thought suddenly. Duh, Ketchum! She's right, you ARE pretty dense. Ash immediately began to slip off his white-collared blue vest, the only thing Ash had that might help. He realized that his vest wouldn't help too awful much, it being short-sleeved and rather thin, and it certainly wouldn't help keep her neck or legs warm, but it was the best he could do. Ash figured that it would be the right thing to do, too, after making his pledge to make her more comfortable around himself.
Misty wasn't expecting what happened next; she had been silently gazing around at the snowy grotto and wondering how much longer it could possibly go on. Suddenly, she felt something soft being laid gently over her shoulders. Automatically, her fingers reached up and grabbed the white collar, bringing it to her eyes to observe the mysterious object. In question, she turned her head to see where the object had come from. Ash's fingers were just letting go of the vest when Misty's eyes found him. His vest. She looked back down at the garment draped carefully over her shoulders. She realized why Ash was so fond of the vest, then. It seemed to fit her just right, almost tailor-made, a part of her body, like her hair. Holding onto the collar edges so that it wouldn't slide off her shoulders, Misty glanced back at Ash, who was still standing behind her.
It was simply the most gentlemanly thing Ash could ever do.
Ash was blushing after realizing how meager his offering to her was. Misty, however, blushed at the sight of Ash blushing at her. Oh, gosh, what is he thinking? Ash Ketchum, you are the most uncomplicated yet confusing person I've ever known. Why did you just do that? Are you… flirting with me? Or… gosh, why would you even do that anyway? Unless… Oh! Now I know why he did it! He wants me to stay warm, and that's all he has to give me! Oh my gosh, that is about the sweetest thing I've ever seen! Oh, but Ash! Do you even now how sweet that is? Oh gosh… "Ash," Misty said slowly, trying to find words to say while blocking her thoughts, "You don't have-"
"But I want to!" Ash exclaimed quickly, not wanting her to reject his help for the sake of being tough against the cold. It was silent in the cavern, and Ash realized how loud and forcefully he had spoken. However, Misty was totally unaffected by his tone, and continued to gaze at him in wonder.
"…Okay." Misty gradually smiled at him happily. "Thanks!" Ash beamed at her with pleasure, having been able to successfully help her out at least a little bit. When Misty couldn't possibly stand to look him in his russet eyes any more, she looked back down at the vest and carefully slipped her arms through the sleeves. The vest actually did warm her up, as it was still warm from where Ash had been wearing it. The thought of how much Ash actually wore the same vest she was now wearing warmed her up considerably, too. "Thanks, Ash," Misty whispered again.
"I know that it won't help your legs or neck any," Ash apologized, "but-"
"It'll help a lot, Ash," Misty smiled, "so don't worry. As for my legs, well, as long as we keep moving, it's not too cold. And my neck, well, there's nothing much to do for that."
"You know," Ash said slowly, coming up with an idea as he spoke, "if you take your hair down, it might cover your neck and keep it warm." After he finished his suggestion, Ash felt somewhat stupid. Misty never just left her hair down. The only time it was not in that sideways ponytail of hers was when she was about to go to sleep, and only just before. She usually took it down when she was already in her sleeping bag. The last time he had seen her hair down, when she wasn't sleeping, was the day that they had woken up in the Pokémon Center after the bicycle crash. Sitting up, somewhat dazed, with her short hair framing her face, she had looked strikingly elegant.
Ash was just about to reject his own statement, when Misty replied, "That's a good idea, Ash." To Ash's surprise, she began to take her ponytail down. What is the point of having my kind of hair, no matter how short it is, Misty thought logically, if I don't use it when it can serve a purpose? Concentrating hard on pulling the hair band out with both hands, so it didn't pull any hair out with it, Misty didn't see Ash's look of anticipation. Suddenly, the band came out, and Misty's short, soft, orange hair cascaded down around her face. Misty shook her head to get the hair settled into its place. She loved the feeling of it when it whooshed down from its ponytail.
'Pretty' was the only thing Ash could think of to describe Misty at the moment. What a difference a hair band can make. Ash didn't think Misty was ugly or anything with her hair up, even though he had joked and called her 'scrawny' before; he just thought her hair down made her look even better than normal. Once again, Ash was reminded that she was definitely a girl, no matter how she acted. Misty looked up to see Ash gawking at her with a peculiar look on his face. She felt a bit nervous, not knowing what he was thinking. She hoped it was something good.
"…We should keep going, Ash." Misty said, unsure. Ash snapped out of his stupor. "Standing here isn't going to get us anywhere."
"Yeah," Ash responded quickly. He pulled his gaze away from Misty and stared out at the long passageway ahead, with its snow, huge silver walls, stalactites and stalagmites, and cathedral-arched ceiling high above. "I don't think going on is going to get us much anywhere either, but it's at least something to do."
Misty nodded, slipping her hair band onto her left wrist for safekeeping. There was no point in walking any farther into the second, further-under-the-ground cavern, as they were probably just going farther away from the only exit. However, there was no way to get out the exit, so why sit around and do nothing? It was better to be exploring the strange, almost mythical-like grotto than to stay still and be cold. Though it seemed like they had been doing this forever, they began to shuffle on through the endless snow, side by side, in a comfortable silence.
As the sound of snow crunching under their shoes filled Ash's ears again, he glanced over at Misty once more. Perhaps she felt his gaze on her, because a moment later Misty, hands in the vest's pockets, looked over at Ash. Ash smiled genially at her, and received a happy smile right back. Flushed slightly but still smiling, Misty looked back down at the snow she was walking on and giggled nervously. Ash was bemused, and vaguely wondered why she would giggle when he looked at her, but didn't think too much about that. Well, I guess I'm doing a better job at being personal and comfortable with her than I did before. Oh, come on, Misty! Open up and tell me what you're so worried about! …Well, you don't look very worried right now, but I know you still are.
Suddenly, there was another sound that filled the cavern besides the crunching of snow. It was a cracking sound. Ash and Misty stopped walking. Ash anxiously shot a look at the cavern tunnel walls. He saw nothing that could make that sound. Misty glanced around at the ceiling and walls, too, until she felt an all-too-familiar sensation under her feet.
"ASH!" Ash whirled around in time to see Misty's horrified face as the snow and ground under her feet began to cave in. His eyes widened.
"MISTY!" He made a grab for her stretched out hand as she began to fall. Ash managed to catch her right hand with his, and was pulled to the snowy ground on his stomach as Misty vanished through the newly created opening. He pulled his head out of the smothering flurries, and looked down into the hole through which his right arm was dangling, from which Misty was dangling. Ash knew he wasn't going to be able to hold on to the ground long, and he wasn't. Gravity pulled on Misty, which pulled on Ash in turn, and finally was able to drag him down the hole until he ceased to be in the second underground cavern. With a cry, Ash and Misty landed a second later, their backs to the ground… in more snow.
As they landed, flurries whooshed out from underneath them and swirled around them like a shaken snow globe. Ash was in shock from the fall, and stared in remorse at the hole above them. I hate holes, Ash thought simply. If I never see another hole in my life, it'll be too soon. Ash figured that with Team Rocket around, he would be bound to see more holes with all of the ones that they dug, so he wondered, as the snowflakes settled, if there was a way to block holes from a person's vision. He couldn't think of anything immediately, so he gave up.
He heard Misty exhale sadly beside him. He didn't even bother sitting up from where he had landed in the snow to see Misty laying nearby the way he was. He was about to ask Misty what she thought about holes, then changed his mind. He cast about his brain for another topic.
"Who do you think won?"
"Won what?"
"That Brace Hide-And-Seek game."
"Oh, that." Misty thought for a moment, then replied sardonically, "…I guess us, unless they're still playing. Yeah, you and me must have won, Ash. We hid so well that even WE don't know where we are."
Ash chuckled sadly. "You're right about that." Staring up at the stalactites staring down at him, he began to wonder what Brock, May, Max, and the Pokémon were doing. "I wonder if they're back at camp."
I wonder if they're back at camp. It was Brock's self-appointed job to think positively, but this was hard to do. Brock was now worried out of his mind, wondering about the whereabouts of Ash and Misty. He glanced backwards at the group following him, as the leader, as Ash was not present. May looked rather disheveled, trailing her unraveled bandana loosely from her left hand, and lowering her eyelids slowly, then snapping them open quickly. Poochyena had decided to get back into Max's arms of his own choice, and was leaning over Max's left shoulder, drifting off quickly. Pikachu was still carrying Togepi, who was sound asleep, piggyback style. They were all worn out, and for good reason. The sun had completely set, and night had fully come upon them.
The whole group would have been stuck in the complete darkness of the woods all night, had it not been for Max's PokéNav. The little golden-colored device had, of all things, a built-in flashlight, which Brock was using right now to lead the way. Brock glanced back at the map on the glowing screen. Any second, they were about to come upon the campsite, according to the two red dots.
Brock looked up, and as an afterthought, stared back down at the screen. He pushed a button, which Max had indicated when he let Brock borrow the PokéNav, was the clock button. The time flashed up on the screen. 10:30 PM, the screen read, in a digital clock manner. Ten thirty! No wonder it's totally black and everyone's half asleep! Ten thirty! We should have been in bed about nine thirty, or ten at the most! Good grief! How long have we been out here searching for Ash and Misty? I think we started this game about seven thirty, because it was seven or so at dinner. So… about three hours, then? It seems more like three days, or three weeks, or three years. …This is bad. If they're not back at camp, something's definitely wrong. Misty wouldn't stay away this long on purpose. Even Ash has enough sense to come back after three hours of hiding. Come on, you guys. Please be there!
He saw the bushes that surrounded the campsite in the flashlight beam. Brock broke into a run, and it took a second for the others to respond to the change of pace. Max and Pikachu rushed on with their sleeping partners. May continued walking slowly. She hadn't even seen the others go past her, as her eyes were completely closed. She looked as if she was sleepwalking, which she might have been.
Brock burst into the campsite. A quick glance around confirmed Brock's worst fear. Their sleeping bags, backpacks, and supper dishes were all there, but there was no Ash and no Misty. Brock groaned and collapsed wearily on a log bench, turning the light from the PokéNav off. The embers from the campfire were still lit enough that it cast a dim glow over everything. Pikachu entered the camp, looking around as he walked. When he saw that his master and his friend were not there, Pikachu's ears drooped and he dejectedly muttered, "Pika…", soft and low, so as not to wake Togepi. Max stumbled into the camp, and immediately sat down on the log beside Brock, cradling a slumbering Poochyena in his arms. He was too tired to even look up, but he knew, from the lack of sound, that Ash and Misty weren't here.
"What'da we do now, Brock?" Max asked tonelessly, stroking Poochyena's fur. "Are we gonna go search some more?"
Brock stared up at the stars shining high above them. The moon was almost full. "… No… we can't search anymore tonight… everyone's too sleepy, and it's too dark. We'd get lost too easy, even with your PokéNav." Brock handed the device back to its owner.
"What about Ash and Misty?"
Brock sighed. He was quiet. Then, "Go on to bed, Max. Don't worry about it. Just get some sleep, okay?" Max didn't argue because Brock's tone was too serious to quarrel with. Instead, he scooped his wolf Pokémon up and carried him over to his sleeping bag.
From out in the forest, there was a thudding sound, followed by a sleepy, "ow!" Shaking his head, Max set his Pokémon down on his bed, then ambled off into the trees from whence they came. Brock watched Pikachu carry a curled up Togepi over to Ash's empty sleeping bag and set him down on the pillow. A moment later, Max reappeared, guiding his tousled sister by one hand, and carrying her bandana in the other. Brock morosely watched him lead May over to her own sleeping bag. He heard Max mutter, "Guess I'm not the only one who runs into trees all the time, huh, May?" She only grunted in answer.
Brock stared up into the night sky again, looking for answers. He just didn't know what to do. He wished that there was someone else in charge right now, someone older, an adult, anyone, just not himself. Brock knew in his heart, though, that no one was coming to help and it was up to himself to decide what to do about the missing trainers. They're lost or in trouble. Maybe both. Ash and Misty just have to be unable to come back for some reason. …They could be in danger right now. Brock didn't want to think about the worst things that could happen to them. It was too much to worry about.
"Brock?" came a soft voice. Brock looked up. "Come here a second." It was May. Brock got up from the log and walked over to where May was sitting on top of her sleeping bag. She pointed to her side pouch that was laying next to her. "Someone's been here, Brock. See?" She showed Brock where her two Pokéballs were sitting on the ground a foot away. "I never got out Torchic's and Beautifly's Pokéballs before we left camp. When I came over here, they were sitting right where they are now. My bag was open, too, Brock, and I never leave it open, never."
A stressed Brock didn't know if he could handle something else going wrong. "Is anything missing?" She shook her head. "Good. Okay, then. Um… just… go on and go to bed, then, May. …I'll check the camp to see if anything else has been disturbed. Don't worry about it."
"Who do you think was here, Brock?"
"I don't know. A wild Pokémon? Team Rocket, maybe? I just don't know." For a second, Brock wondered if Ash and Misty had been back at camp, until he realized that they had no reason to disturb May's things.
"Why didn't they take anything, then?"
Brock was at a loss. "I don't know, May."
"What about A-"
"I just don't know!" Brock's voice rose in volume and tension. May looked frightened. He was almost sobbing with the stress he felt he was under. "I just don't know! Don't worry about it! I'll handle it, okay? Just go on to bed! It's late!"
"Brock-"
"Please!" May saw she had pushed too far, and she felt bad about it. The only thing she could do to make up for it was to do as Brock requested: go to bed. She nodded slowly, not looking at him, and gathering her pajamas from her bag, went off somewhere to put them on. Brock walked slowly back to the bench and sat. He wiped away a tear that was threatening to fall. Keep a hold of yourself, Brock. You scared her, and you don't want to worry about more things than you already are. …Can I handle this myself? …I have to. You're in charge, Brock. You're responsible. …Yeah, I'm sure responsible. Responsible for letting Ash and Misty get lost and our camp to be invaded by someone. Why, why, why, why, why…
Brock sat there a long time, brooding and worrying, until he heard a noise and sensed someone sit down beside him. Brock looked up, not at the person, but around at the camp. Over at Ash's sleeping bag, Pikachu had tucked Togepi in for the night on the pillow and had curled up himself beside her, pulling the bed's sheet around them. They were fast asleep. Brock knew that Pikachu was as worried about Ash and Misty as he was, but Pikachu had managed to take care of what he was in charge of, Togepi. If he can do it, why can't I? May was just now snuggling into her sleeping bag, her Pokéballs repacked in her pouch. She rolled over to get comfortable, her back now to him, as if truly "turning her back on him". He wondered if she did it on purpose. In Max's sleeping bag, Poochyena was curled up under the blanket, fast asleep. Brock's and Misty's sleeping bags remained empty.
Max finally spoke. "I heard what May told you, and most everything else hasn't been moved. My stuff and Misty's things were okay, but all five of your Pokéballs were dropped outside of your bag." Brock looked at the boy sitting beside him. Max was in his pajamas and held two items in his lap. "Ash's Pokéball belt was laying a bit away from his bag. I found this over near it, too." Max held out one of the items, an empty soup bowl with a spoon sticking out of it. When he saw Brock wasn't going to take it, he set the bowl and spoon on the ground. "Everything else is okay. I looked hard. Nothing's missing either."
"…I thought I told you to go on to bed."
"I put Ash's belt in his bag, and I put your Pokéballs back up."
Brock didn't speak.
"You're welcome." Max evenly stared back at Brock's stare. "You can stop worrying about the camp now. …You'll give yourself a heart attack if you stress yourself too much. That's a proven fact. I read about how stress gives people heart attacks once. Or maybe twice, I don't know. I can't keep up with how much I read things. Anyway, you can only be concerned about Ash and Misty now."
"I think I'm going to have a heart attack right now."
"Please don't. You're in charge of us. You're responsible."
Brock chuckled dryly a bit. "You don't have to remind me so much, you know?"
"What would we ever do without you?"
"…Worry about things yourself?"
Max chuckled himself. "Brock, we're worried about Ash and Misty, too. Just 'cause we've gotta get some sleep doesn't mean we're not. It also doesn't mean that you're the only one that has to figure out what to do. We can make suggestions."
"…Are you psychic?"
"Nope. Did I read your mind?" Brock nodded. Max smiled. "May says I do that sometimes."
"Let me ask you a question, then, if you want to help me figure out what to do. Should we get up and keep searching some more? I just remembered, Ash's Pokéballs are here, so that means that Noctowl is here. We can use him to help us look in the dark. So should we pack the camp and go on?"
"No. We shouldn't. You said yourself we could get lost in the dark, and that everyone's too sleepy to go on. We're the only one's left awake now, anyway." They could hear May breathing softly in slumber. "Besides, what if Ash and Misty come back here in the dark? If we pack up and leave, they'll not be able to find us."
"You're right, Max. You're exactly right. That's what we should do."
"Hey, I'm just retelling you what you told me." Max shrugged. "Brock, don't stress yourself. Yeah, you're kinda in charge of us, 'cause you're the oldest, but it's not like you were with them and something happened to them. They're around here somewhere. They'll turn up. Just get some sleep yourself, 'kay? If they're not here in the morning, we'll keep looking."
"…Are you sure you're not related to a Kadabra?"
Max grinned. "Positive."
Here was the answer, Brock thought, taking a glance at the stars he wished would help him out. I thought I needed someone older, an adult, to help me, but here I am, being assured of my competence by an eight-year-old. He looked back down at Max. And I feel better now, too. I made the right decision.
"You're smart for someone so young."
"I know."
Brock couldn't help a small smile. "That's not exactly what I meant. I mean… you're very wise for someone you're age. A lot more than me. You know how to handle these situations. Yeah, Max, you're very wise."
There was a moment of thoughtful silence before the younger boy replied, in a whisper, "No one's ever told me that before." He looked up at Brock. His glasses glinted in the dim embers of the campfire. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. Are you going to go get some sleep, now? Poochyena's probably waiting for you."
"Are you?"
"In a minute." Max gave him a stern look. "Like you said, Ash and Misty might come back in the night, so I'm just going to stay up a few more minutes to wait and see."
"Well, get to bed soon. Here," Max handed Brock the remaining item he held in his lap. The PokéNav. "Use the clock and don't be awake too long, because if they don't come back, we'll have to be really awake tomorrow to search some more." Brock took the PokéNav and held the object carefully in his hands. Max got up, tiptoed over to another bench, picked up the textbook he had left there, and went to his sleeping bag. "Good night, Brock."
"Good night, Max." Brock watched him get settled before turning on the PokéNav. He touched the clock button. 10:45 PM. I'll wait until curfew.
Curfew was officially eleven o'clock for the group. Actually, that was the curfew for all Pokémon Centers. If a trainer wanted to sleep in a bed at the Center, and not outside in a sleeping bag, they had to be there by eleven, or they couldn't get in. The Nurse Joys wouldn't let anyone out of the center after eleven, either. Some even barred the doors. Ash, Misty, and Brock had always had their own curfew: always back at camp by eleven, or else. All three had, at sometime, accidentally or purposefully run late, and gotten back to camp at twelve or one or some ungodly hour of the night, so they adopted the Pokémon Center's curfew. May and Max had never even gotten into anything that could make them late, so they didn't even know about the curfew. Brock found it interesting how the three of them, Ash, Misty, and himself, attracted more trouble than the others. He wondered if this magnetism was what was keeping Ash and Misty from returning.
While he waited, Brock slipped on his pajamas and sat down on his sleeping bag. He checked the clock. 10:50 PM. Brock glanced around. The woods were quiet, except for their own night-forest sounds, the whirling wings of Volbeat, the call of a lone HootHoot, the rustling of Ratatta in the trees. An event came to mind, from Brock's memory. Brock held the PokéNav in his left hand lightly as he recalled the first time he had been late for curfew. Way back, towards the beginning of the first journey through their home of Kanto, Ash, Misty, and himself had planned to stay for the night at a Center near a monument called Maiden's Peak. He had been attracted by something at the monument, and had completely forgotten about curfew. Ash and Misty were waiting for him at eleven in the Pokémon Center, but when he never showed up, Ash tried to leave to find him. The Nurse Joy, however, barred the door and refused to allow Ash to leave, even to look for a friend. Curfew was not something to be taken lightly.
Brock remembered Ash and Misty telling him later how worried sick they had been about him. He wondered if they had felt the same way he felt now. Brock also began to wonder, if perhaps, they were prevented like he was by something and lost track of time. Nah, not like me. With Misty being female, and Ash being who he is, they definitely aren't being delayed by a beautiful girl. Maybe something else, though.
Thoughts simply kept drifting through Brock's worried mind so much that he didn't realize that he was drifting off. He didn't know that suddenly, he was laying down on his sleeping bag, and that he was fast asleep like everyone else. The PokéNav, still on, slid out of his limp hand. The red-lit time shot through the darkness of the night.
11:01 PM.
This cavern was different from the others.
There was still snow, rising and falling in swells across the ground, filling the bottom of the cavern like water in a bathtub. The walls were still high and jagged, marble-patterned silver and white. The stalactites still dribbled a drop or two of water every now and then, and the stalagmites still pointed themselves sharply out of the snow, as mountains do out of fog. This cavern was different from the two caves above, that Ash and Misty had traveled in, but only because of its size.
This, the third grotto, was huge. It was perhaps not as high to the ceiling as in the other caverns, but it was wide, very wide. When Ash and Misty stood up, they found that they had landed on a thirteen-foot wide cliff that rimmed part of the outside wall of the almost-circular cavern and overlooked most of it. At the precipice of the cliff, there was a sharp, steep drop to the main floor. It was magnificent to study. They were speechless in awe.
"…Wow." Ash was finally able to speak. He glanced over at Misty. Their wide eyes connected, then gazed back out at the breathtaking scene.
"I… I've never seen anything like it… never!" Misty stammered, crossing her arms.
"Me neither." They both paused. "…Do you think there's a way down there?"
Misty eyed the cliff edge warily. "You could jump," she joked sarcastically.
Ash grinned. "Okay!" He actually had no intentions of doing such a thing, but it was fun to tease Misty. He was a bit surprised that Misty gave him a shocked and worried look. He thought she would know he was joking.
"Oh no you don't, Ash Ketchum!" she sputtered, her voice very anxious. "Don't you even think about it!"
Ash laughed at her appalled face. "I was just kidding, Mist!"
Misty shot a stern look at him. "It's not funny. You could get killed if you did that." Ash stopped laughing when he saw how serious she was. He saw her aquatic eyes glisten fearfully, full of concern, full of concern for himself.
"I'm sorry," Ash apologized, and he meant it. Don't know why she'd be worried about me, though. Misty sighed and shook her head, causing her hair to whisk back and forth gently. "Really, do you think there's a way down there?"
"Maybe." Misty looked up. "Hey, Ash, what's that behind you? Over there." She pointed and Ash turned around. Was that the edge of the cliff, or something else? Ash walked cautiously over to investigate. Carefully, and oh so slowly, Ash peeked over the "edge" and saw that it was not a precipice, but a slope. Like a slide, it was thin, steep, and perfectly smooth. It ran around the rim of the cavern a little ways before touching down on the ground. It was snow-covered, but it was still the perfect, if not only, way to get down, besides jumping to your doom.
"How cool is that!" Ash exclaimed. "Look, Misty! It's a slide!" Misty carefully crept over behind Ash and peeked over his shoulder.
"That's a long way down, Ash."
"Yeah, but doesn't it look fun?"
"…I don't know if I'd exactly say 'fun', but-"
"Come on, Mist! Where's your sense of adventure?"
"I left it back in that last cavern," she replied dolefully.
"It's a whole lot better than jumping, don't 'ya think? Come on, I want to see what's down there!"
"…Oh, fine then," Misty muttered, but she was still anxious.
Ash immediately sat down on the top of the slope, feet out in front, ready to slide. He patted the snow behind him. "Come here, Mist. Sit down so we can slide down to the ground!" Misty looked chary. Ash patted the ground a few more times impatiently. "Come on, or I'll leave without you!"
"You'll do no such thing," Misty chided quietly. Carefully she lowered herself into the snow behind Ash, her legs crossed. Ash snorted and beat the snow beside his legs with his hands, exactly like a child on a playground who wants their best friend to slide with them. Misty slowly stretched her legs out, one on each side of Ash. She was blushing redder than she had in quite awhile, but Ash didn't see, and if he had, he wouldn't have known what to think anyway. Ash scooted off the edge and he slowly began to slip down the slope, spraying snow off the edge of the slide as he went. Misty quickly grabbed him around the waist, much to her own embarrassment, before Ash could slide too far. She slid off the edge behind him, and suddenly, they were sliding.
The ride down the slope was actually a lot quicker than Misty had thought it would be. It was a lot shorter compared to the time that it had taken Ash to convince Misty to go on the slide in the first place. They began to go faster as their momentum grew and the wind they created blew Misty's let-down hair back behind her. Ash gave a great whoop of excitement as they drew closer to the ground. Misty had just begun to enjoy the ride when, suddenly, they slid to a stop.
Misty quickly scooted away from Ash as soon as she could, trying to get her blushing face under control, but Ash sat where he had stopped and looked up at the cliff they had come from. It didn't look as high from down there as it had up there. Misty sat blinking her eyes, thinking that the breeze coming down had made them weary, until she realized how tired she really was. "Ash, I-" Ash looked around in time to see Misty covering her yawning mouth. Suddenly, a yawn sparked from Ash's mouth, too. He tried to repress it, but it didn't work. Misty finished her sentence. "I'm really sleepy, Ash. Aren't you?"
A yawn threatened to keep Ash from replying. "Yeah, me too. What time do you think it is?"
"Well, how long do you think we've been in here?"
"Maybe five hours, or six."
"Kinda feels like two or three to me."
Ash shrugged. "Then it could be anywhere from about… nine o'clock to two in the morning."
Misty's eyes grew wide. "Ash…" Ash looked up. "…Curfew…"
"Shoot… you know, Mist, it kinda feels like eleven right now."
"How can it FEEL like eleven, if you don't have a watch and you can't see outside?"
"Because this is usually how sleepy I feel if I'm still up at eleven. …We're not getting out of here tonight, are we?"
"Doesn't look like it, no. Do you think Brock and May and Max are worried about us?"
"Yeah. Especially Brock. Poor Brock. He's probably all upset, especially if it's after curfew already."
"Ash, do you… do you think they'll find us down here? I mean, the hole we fell through was in the middle of the meadow, and that's not usually a place where you look for missing people." Ash shrugged. "So what are we going to do now?"
"Sleep. We have to get some rest."
"In the middle of the snow?"
"Nah," Ash looked around, "Up next to the cliff. Hey, look there. What's that?" He pointed to what appeared to be a slight indention in the wall under the cliff. Ash struggled up out of the snow, a challenge for someone getting sleepier by the minute. He trudged off towards it, Misty scrambling to follow, pulling Ash's vest tighter to her body. When they neared it, Ash and Misty saw that it was, in fact, a slight crater in the wall. To his delight, Ash saw that the ground was slightly higher here, and the snow would be easy to scrape away. Ash did just that. "Look, Misty. Rock." Ash had found, not the ground, but a large, smooth rock that was right against the wall, inside the crater. It was perfect for resting on, at least, the best to be found in a wild cavern. "Here," Ash proclaimed, "Here is where we shall rest." He climbed onto it, and turned back to Misty. "Are you coming?" He scooted back against the wall, where it felt very secure, and patted the rock to his right.
Misty didn't know what to do. She was still getting over her embarrassment from sliding down the slope behind him. Now he was asking her to sit right next to him. Come on, Misty girl, you can do it. You know you want to, anyway. He's asking you to sit that close to him, and you're unsure? What's gotten into you? …I don't know. He's been acting so nice to me, almost too nice, yet it's so sincere. …Oh, come off it, Misty, didn't you say you weren't going to hide yourself from him any longer? Didn't you pledge you were going to fight May for his love? Now's the time to start. He WANTS you to sit next to him. He ASKED you! Do it. You want to so bad anyway. Misty had only allowed herself a few moments in the past to get this close to him, and now, taking a big chance as she saw it, she allowed herself one more.
Ash was glad when Misty began to crawl up onto the rock. He was trying his hardest to get her more comfortable around himself, as he had pledged. Misty, I'm doing the best I can to be personal with you, and close to you, so you will tell me what's wrong, but you're so unsure. Why? It's almost like you're scared of me. Misty finally got up onto the rock, but then she wasn't sure what to do once more. Ash patted the rock to his right again and smiled. Misty smiled back, as best as she could manage without blushing, and crawled over to where Ash had indicated. She sat down and scooted up against the cliff, copying Ash by bringing her knees up to her chest.
Misty glanced over at Ash. He was smiling at her. Suddenly, she realized that she was looking him right in the eyes, something she hadn't done very often until this day. So… so very beautiful… I never saw… I never knew… how beautiful his eyes are. Misty felt mesmerized by Ash's bright gleaming russet eyes gazing right back at her. She could have melted, right then and there, sitting beside him so close that if they moved even a centimeter, their legs would brush.
If Ash had thought that Misty's hair was pretty, it was nothing compared to what he now thought of her own eyes. I know that I've looked her in her eyes before, so I could know what she was really feeling, but I don't think I ever really noticed how… p-pretty they are. Ash felt her eyes suited her absolutely perfect. Blue and green merged as one, they reminded Ash strongly of the ocean Misty loved and felt at home in. Ash felt a strange jolt in his stomach, something almost foreign, yet so familiarly unnamable that Ash was frightened.
Misty simply could not stand it. She had to look away, or she knew her lips would begin to spill forth secrets that she had forbidden herself to say aloud… yet. She gazed out at the snowy depths of the cavern, and found that she was no longer satisfied seeing the whiteness of it. The silvery beauty was lost in comparison with Ash. She closed her eyes, so she wouldn't be able to see either the boy or the landscape. This was a mistake. The time was so late, though the cavern seemed to be in a time dimension of its own, and Misty was so sleepy, that as soon as her eyelids shut, she was unable to open them again.
Ash, who had been gazing out at the grotto, glanced at Misty and saw that she was fast asleep, leaning up against the wall. Her head was slumped onto her chest, and she looked like she was about to fall forward if Ash didn't do something to help her. He quickly put his right arm around her shoulder and jerked her back to the wall. Instead of leaning her head against the wall, however, a sleeping Misty leaned over onto Ash and, in her sleep, snuggled her face into his neck. Ash's face grew red, but he didn't want to disturb her, as she looked rather peaceful. He tried to pull his arm out from around her shoulders, but it was impossible. He gave up and resigned himself to sleep the way they were sitting. Carefully, Ash leaned his head onto the top of hers as a pillow. Ash found, to his surprise, that he couldn't truthfully say that this arrangement wasn't comfortable.
Within a minute, both Ash and Misty were only awake in their dreams.
TO BE CONTINUED...
I hope you enjoyed this novel so far and please review! Also, if you have any questions that you would really like for me to answer about anything, then e-mail me. I enjoy answering questions so feel free to ask anything. Also, if you like Misty a lot, I encourage you to read my story called Misty's Schedule. It was my first fanfic, but it's pretty cute. Review and thanks for reading so far!
NOTE: Every chapter title is a line from a song, and all of the songs are songs from one of the many Pokémon CD's. If you have identified the song that Chapter 4's title is from, review and let me know, and I'll post your name with the correct title on my next chapter.