Hey y'all. Welcome back!
Part 9
As the sun begins to creep between the tree trunks and peek through the leaves in the forest, Ash and Misty finally slow their pace. After nearly two full nights of walking through the dark forests and caves of Kanto and restlessly sleeping in daylight, they arrive at the outskirts of Saffron City. They slow down at the edge of the trees to discuss their next steps.
"Do you think we should stop and make camp?" Misty asks, ending her question with a yawn.
Ash looks over at her quickly and realizes that she is exhausted and unkempt.
"You aren't used to traveling anymore." Ash observes dryly.
"No shit, Ketchum," Misty snaps, rolling her eyes and smacking his chest with the back of her hand.
"Just saying," he mumbles.
"Please, Ash?" Misty pleads with him.
Ash pauses to consider their status. They had been serious and focused over the last two days. It had not been like the days traveling together through Kanto, the Orange Islands, and Johto as children. They chatted casually, but no more progress had been made to smooth their relationship. It is possible, however, that their sleeping bags laid a little closer and their hands brushed a little more often than they had all those years ago.
"I think we should keep going," he suggests cautiously, "because then tonight we can stay at the Saffron Pokemon Center instead of trying to sleep during the day again."
Misty chews on her lip, knowing he is right, but feels the weight of two sleepless days pressing on her.
"C'mon, Mist," Ash encourages, grabbing onto her hand, "we'll have a comfy bed to sleep in tonight."
"Okay," she agrees, trying to shake herself awake.
Ash leads her forward, pulling her by her hand. They leave the cover of the forest and follow the trail.
"I remember how to get there," Ash assures her, "and it isn't far from her."
"Raichu!" Raichu interjects, jumping up on Ash's shoulder.
"I promise!" Ash laughs at Raichu's teasing.
Ash squeezes Misty's hand and smiles down at her. A blush forms on her cheeks.
"Oh, Raichu," Ash remembers, "you should squeeze into the backpack."
Raichu listens, unzipping the very large bag on Ash's back and squeezing into it between Ash's clothes.
"How long has it been since you found the egg?" Ash asks curiously.
Misty uses her fingers to count and then says, "about five weeks now."
"It has to be close to hatching then," Ash figures.
"I hope so," Misty sighs, "I want to go home."
"It might be a while," Ash says quietly, "eggs sometimes need a lot of care before they hatch."
Misty groans softly and rubs her head with her free hand.
"What are we going to do after this?"
"Depends if they have any information for us," Ash admits.
As they walk they continue their small talk. By mid morning, a large complex of white buildings appears around the bed in the road.
"That's it!" Ash tells her excitedly.
"Let's go!"
"Stop right there!" A voice interrupts them from the road.
"Huh?" Ash stops in surprise, pulling Misty back.
A young woman with braided brunette hair stands in their path with a fierce Vileplume at her side.
"This is my ranch and we don't take kindly to strangers - hey wait!" Her speech is cut off by a moment of recognition.
"Hi Nicolette," Ash says, waving cheerfully at her.
"Ash is that you?" she exclaims, "what are you doing here?"
"We have an egg I was hoping you would try to help me identify." Ash requests.
"Wait, Ash, I heard about the Cerulean City Gym," she says, "what is happening?"
"It's a long story," Ash says, rubbing the back of his neck, "but you have to know that I'm innocent."
"Well, of course, silly," she assures him, "when I saw the news I knew it was just media Tauros crap."
"It's actually because of this egg we have that the gym was attacked so we need help finding more information about it," Ash explains.
"Who's this?" Nicolette asks, turning her attention to Misty.
"I'm Misty," Misty introduces herself, "the Cerulean City Gym Leader."
"Oh, sorry, I didn't recognize you," Nicolette apologizes, staring at her blonde hair.
"That's the idea," Ash says seriously, "we don't want Team Rocket to find us and take the egg."
"An egg that desired?" she hums curiously. "Let's go in and take a look."
Nicolette leads them inside of the main building and to an incubation room. There are dozens of eggs of different colors with different patterns and shapes elaborately decorating their shells. Raichu climbs out of the backpack when the coast is clear and perches himself on Ash's left shoulder.
"Where are your parents, Nicolette?" Ash asks, looking around for them.
"Oh, ever since I became old enough to take care of the ranch alone they have been spending a lot of time traveling." Nicolette explains. "I think they are in Azalea Town this weekend."
Nicolette pulls out an incubator and sets it on the middle table.
"You can use this to help keep it safe," she tells him.
"Here," Misty says, pulling her bag off her back and setting it gently on the table. Then she carefully pulls the purple egg out and places it into the incubator.
"Hey Misty," Ash says, knitting his eyebrows together, "did it get darker?"
"It's almost like a dark purple -almost blue now," she says in awe.
Nicolette leans closer to the egg and observes it.
"Fascinating," she breathes quietly.
"Strange, isn't it?"
"You said it has changed colors?" Nicolette asks without taking her eyes off the egg.
"Yeah," Misty confirms, "when I found it - it was almost completely white."
"I've only heard of eggs changing colors a few times," Nicolette confesses.
"What did they hatch into?" Ash asks curiously.
"Well," Nicolette hesitates, staring carefully at the egg, "nothing."
"What do you mean?" Misty asks.
"My mom was a consultant to scientists working on genetically modifying Pokemon a while back, and they tend to be unstable as eggs."
Ash gasps at the new information while Misty covers her mouth in surprise.
"Genetically modified Pokemon?" Misty asks, bewildered.
"Usually just small modifications - like modifying size and color," Nicolette explains, "but many of the experiments didn't work so the eggs would just turn black and sadly never hatch."
"You think there's something wrong with it?" Ash asks, looking closely at the egg again.
"It's hard to say." Nicolette says. "Has it moved at all lately?"
"Not really," Ash says.
"Well, wait," Misty interrupts, "during the attack four days ago something caused a strong psychic attack - I really think it was from the egg."
"An egg using a Pokemon move?" Nicolette asks in confusion.
"We don't know for sure, but something used a psychic attack to help us escape that night and it sure wasn't my Golduck." Misty explains, rolling her eyes at the thought of her most favorite and dopiest Pokemon.
"But what if it used all of its energy to save us and now it won't ever hatch?" Ash asks worriedly.
"I couldn't say, Ash," Nicolette confesses. "The best I can offer is to take a full scan of it. That should tell us if it is active or dormant."
"That sounds great," Ash says gratefully.
Ash and Misty observe Nicolette's process of setting up the scan machine and placing the egg on the pedestal. The machine whirs and buzzes as the arm rotates around the curvature of the egg. The light shines over the egg trying to penetrate the dark purple shell.
"It's a psychic type alright."
"How can you tell?"
"This machine can sense energy types." Nicolette explains. "And that's a good sign for the egg. Although it doesn't rule out there could be a problem."
"What would cause an egg not to hatch?" Misty wonders aloud.
"I would think it would have to be something in its genetic code that goes wrong in development." Nicolette guesses.
"I hope nothings wrong with it," Ash sighs, observing the ever darkening color.
"Just remember that caring for the egg and adventuring with it will be the best way to encourage it to hatch," Nicolette reminds them.
"We hope that Raboot and Tyler are doing well after their terrifying encounter in Couriway Town. Now stay with us as Caroline shares the latest update on the Cerulean City Catastrophe."
The camera switches to the reporters on scene at the Cerulean City Gym.
"Thanks, Trish," she says, nodding to her colleague, "There have been some interesting developments forming here in Cerulean City as we uncover more about the disaster that unfolded just days ago. After speaking with friends and family of Misty Waterflower, investigators have concluded that Ash Ketchum is no longer a person of interest in this case. It is more likely that this was a calculated offense against the Cerulean Gym leader which poses no threat to the citizens of Cerulean City. Ash Ketchum is a long time childhood friend of Misty Waterflower and a well known competitor in Pokemon tournaments far and wide including being the first champion of the Alolan League. He has not partaken in a Pokemon League tournament for over-"
"At least I'm no longer wanted by the police," Ash grunts, rolling his eyes at the newscasters.
The pair had finally made it to the Saffron City Pokemon League and checked into a room for the night. The room has a queen mattress and a small TV with local channels. Ash sprawls out in his pajama shorts on one side of the bed and watches the news. He hadn't worn shirts to sleep in all of his years alone and decided not to change now. However, large fresh bandages wrap around his chest to cover his wounds. Raichu is comfortably snoozing on the provided Pokemon bed.
The egg is resting inside of the incubator that Nicolette provided them with earlier that day. They spent the afternoon with Nicolette looking through her various books for any information that could help them understand their egg more, but their efforts were futile. After saying goodbye to Nicolette, they beelined for Saffron City to stay at the Pokemon Center. They checked in to their room and made a call to the Oak Laboratory to update Gary on what Nicolette told them.
Misty is now cleaning herself up in the bathroom after days of travel. The door is cracked so that she can hear Ash.
"That's a good thing, Ash," Misty says from inside of the bathroom.
"I should never have been 'wanted' in the first place!" He exclaims irritably.
"Don't even worry about the news then," Misty tells him, sticking her head out of the doorway.
"Easy for you to say. You haven't had anyone tearing down your reputation."
Misty steps out of the bathroom and places her hands on her hips taking a powerful stance before him. He gawks at the sight of her clad in her light blue silk pajamas. While they cover more of her body than she ever bothered to as a preteen, the material is thin and clings to her curves showing off her shapeliness. Her long, lean legs look as if they go on forever. Unfamiliar blonde hair falls gently over her shoulders, slightly damp from her recent shower.
"Don't you think that as a gym leader the news has said some rude stuff about me too?" she asks sharply. Her cerulean eyes bore into him.
Ash doesn't respond. He only stares at her in awe like a Magikarp out of water.
When she notices his eyes wander over her body, she squeaks and shuts herself inside the bathroom again.
"Turn the lights off, Ash!" she barks from inside.
"Okay okay," he mutters, quickly moving to the door where the switch is and turning them off.
"Thank you."
Ash can faintly see Misty flying towards the bed as quickly as she can and covering herself with the blankets.
"Why did this Pokemon Center only have a one bed room available?" Misty asks in annoyance.
"Maybe because it is Saffron City and it's a big travel hub?" Ashs chuckles at her timidness.
Misty groans in response. They shared a bed fully clothed briefly days prior at the Oak Laboratory for a nap, but sharing a single room in their pajamas at a Pokemon Center feels far too intimate.
"You know," Ash starts hesitantly, "we haven't really talked about the other day."
"The other day?" Misty asks, curiously.
"Mhm," Ash hums, reaching out to graze her fingers with his underneath the blanket.
How had he gone four years without touching her?
"Which day?" she questions quietly. She forces herself not to recoil from his static touch.
"After the invasion," Ash tries to explain, "about our fight."
"You remember that?" Misty asks shyly. "I thought maybe you said those things because you were injured and almost unconscious."
"I meant every word," he assures her, now gripping her hand in his.
"Ash, is this really the best time to figure this out?" she asks softly.
"We'll be alone together for who knows how long and I think we both agree on one thing."
"What's that?" Misty asks, skeptically.
"That fight never should have happened."
Misty remains in silent agreement with him.
"I should have stayed with you," he repeats exactly what he said last time they spoke of it.
"I should have gone with you," Misty admits, "I didn't think I could at the time, but I should have."
Ash wraps his fingers around her hand and squeezes gently.
He does not push her to say more, but she waits until his breathing is even and soft before she speaks.
"I'm sorry," she whispers.
The waves push and pull on the hull of the ship rocking it back and forth. It is a cloudy day and the wind is changing causing the waves to be rough and choppy.
Gary Oak stands on the deck holding tightly to the rail. A life jacket clings to his body over his lab coat - a precaution in these turbulent waters.
"We followed the directions of the Kanto coast guard and our radar says there is something just below here," the captain of the ship shouts from inside.
"Anchor the ship and prepare the divers!" Gary orders.
Gary enters the cabin and observes the beeping machines.
"This is the structure that we found," the captain points at the screen to the farthest left monitor.
"You think it's a ship?" Gary asks.
"No doubt," the captain confirms, "but we won't be sure it is what you're looking for until we get down there."
Gary nods in understanding
"What are you expecting to find here?" one of his research assistants asks.
"Answers," Gary states shortly.
I hope you enjoyed! I have the main events planned out now, but struggling to find time to write.
Love, Alert, Review