1.1.1 Chapter Eight

1.1.2 The Nursery

1.1.2.1 Fuchsia Coastline

Jessie and James were scanning the coast with their eyes. The energy scanner that the Boss had given them had not picked up any vibrations.

"The Boss said that there was powerful energy emitting from here, but so far, not a single spark has shown on the scanner," said Jessie.

"Hmm. Perhaps it was those little kids. Maybe they were the power source!"

"Good idea, James! But where did they go?"

"Let's go the Pallet Town. I heard something about "visiting Prof. Oak back in Pallet." C'mon! We're going to Pallet Town!"

1.2 Pallet Town

Ketchum Residence

Ash stood in a dark stone room shrouded in fog. This was not his room! It was very cold, but Ash didn't really notice the goose bumps that had formed on his arms. He was trying to get out. The fog seemed to thin out. A bright purplish light was shimmering in the mist. He went towards it. When he reached it, Ash saw that the purple light was coming from a beautiful girl. She had dark purple hair, deep violet eyes, and pale skin. Could it be? Was it Hotaru? Yes, it was! Ash tried to go towards her, but the fog came back and blurred his vision.

"Hotaru! Come back!" he called. Instead, there was an image is Misty. She looked almost like a princess, with her hair down and in a long white dress. She was crying! Why was she?

"Misty! Hey, Misty! Why are you crying?"

Ash woke up. He was bathed in a cold sweat and his breathing was hard. Where was he? Now he remembered. He was in Pallet Town, in his room. He wasn't in the foggy room anymore.

"Do, dri, o!" The dodrio called. It was morning. Ash sighed. He put on his training clothes and went downstairs for breakfast.

When Ash reached the living room, he discovered that only Luna, Artemis, and Diana were awake. They didn't see him. Were they talking? Ash was sure that the 3 cats were not even Pokemon, so how could they talk?

"Well, Luna. How do you think this vacation's coming?" asked Artemis. Artemis spoke in a male voice. Luna nodded.

"Fine. So glad there's no bad guys here. Well besides those weirdoes, Team Rocket. I've heard too much about them in the news. What do you think, Diana? Did you sleep well last night, dear?" Luna asked in a female voice.

"I slept all right, Mommy. I think that's because Small Lady's Moon puff kept singing for her!" giggled Diana in a child's voice. She sounded like a young girl. Who was Small Lady? She must be Rini!

Ash stepped out of the shadows. "Hi, you guys!"

"Nyao. Meow! Mew?"

"It's O.K. I know you can talk."

"How did you know?" gasped Luna. Ash grinned.

"I heard you 3 talking. But don't worry. I won't tell Serena and everybody."

"No, it's all right. Serena and her friends already know that we can talk," replied Artemis. Ash gasped. They already knew.

"Breakfast is ready! All young people, cats, and Pokemon are welcome!" called Mrs. Ketchum from the kitchen. Serena was the first to race down the stairs. "She sure eats a lot for a really skinny girl," observed Ash. 'Gotta eat a lot to keep that motor mouth running!" He heard Luna, Artemis, and Diana's groan together. Rini came next, riding on Darien's back. "Wow! I am starving, Darien!" Rini said. "Right Teeny Rini! Just don't overdo it. You don't want to be too much like your mom." Her mom? Who was it? Serena? Who was the father? Darien?

Brock and Mina walked arm in arm down the stairs to the kitchen. They seemed oblivious to all else except each other. The cousins, Amara and Michelle calmly hiked down. (Sorry, I follow the dub version!) Next came Amy and Misty, talking a mile a minute. This wasn't usual Amy or Misty behavior!

"Hi, Ash!"

"Morning, Misty," came the blunt answer. Misty looked slightly hurt, but she erased the expression quickly.

Raye passed by while reading some Manga (comic book) called Sailor V. Ash had heard something about pretty sailor soldiers fighting evil in Tokyo, but he was looking at the cover. The heroine, Sailor V, had a close resemblance to Mina! Lita and Trista were discussing new recipes of some sort. Tofu? Last of all, Hotaru descended slowly to the kitchen. She was yawning and perked up when she saw Ash waiting for her.

"Good-morning, Hotaru! Sleep well?"

"Good-morning, Ash. Yes, thank you, I did sleep well... Oh, gee! I am famished!"

"Well, that's good. My mom made us a special breakfast! And we are going to Prof. Oak's lab for your Pokemon!"

"Great!" Ash offered Hotaru his arm and they went into the kitchen.

After a delicious breakfast of homemade waffles with eggs, (and no milk for Hotaru) Ash led the large group to the lab. When he came to the front door, Ash knocked and rang the bell. A tall, gray haired man (with a buzz cut) wearing a white lab coat answered the door.

"Why, hello, Ash! My, I wasn't expecting a visit from you. Oh, my! You sure have made a lot of friends! Please come in!" Professor Oak greeted. All 14 kids crammed through the door and into the Oak mansion. Oak glanced up and saw Trista. "Oh! Trista! You're here too! It's been a while! I kept your Pokemon in tiptop shape!" Trista smiled. "Thank you, Professor Oak. I hope it wasn't any trouble."

"Oh, no trouble at all!"

"You two know each other?" Ash and Hotaru asked.

"Yes. But that's another story," Oak laughed.

"Wow! It's beautiful here!" commented Lita. She was in awe of the carved Pokemon statues standing here and there.

"Why thank you, miss, um. um."

"Lita Malone. My friends and I were hoping if we could get our Pokemon training licenses. Oh! And we were also hoping to look at your Pokemon nursery. We already know what we want, too!" Lita said.

"Of, course! Please follow me." The Prof. led the group into a hallway that opened to a large room filled with machinery. It was Amy's turn to be in awe.

"Did you create all of this, Professor?" she asked, wide eyed.

"Yes, I did, Amy. It took me several years, but I managed it! Heheh! Ahem. Now! Let's give you each a Poke'dex. Here you go!" The Prof. handed over 11 Dexters. But he stopped when he came to Rini.

"Excuse me, but how old are you, Rini?"

"I'm going to be 9 on June 30th."

"I'm sorry, but you can't have your license until you're 10."

"But, I already caught a Pokemon!"

"Oh, really? What is it?"

"A jigglypuff."

"In that case, you don't really need a license. Jigglypuff can only protect you, but no trainer or gym battles, O.K?"

"O.K!"

"Good. Now that you all have your things, let's go to the nursery. I'm sure that you can find what you want." Oak opened a door and let them all out. The group spilt up and came back with the Pokemon of their choice. Trista opened up a poke ball that Oak gave her. Out came a female Haunter named Destiny.

Prof. Oak grinned. "What a fine bunch of Poke wonders you all have caught!"

"Thanks, Professor!" Hotaru bowed politely.

"Anytime, kids! Now I must go and do some work! Good-bye! Take good care of those Pokemon! Oh, and Trista? Destiny is about to evolve. You'd better keep her healthy!" Trista nodded. She looked at the pokeball in her hand and smiled softly.

"That sure was nice of the Prof. to let you have these Pokemon!" exclaimed Misty. Amy nodded in agreement. What a vacation! Amy had already made a new friend, explored an unknown dimension, and had caught her first Pokemon! What was going to happen next?

Ash got an idea. "Hey, you guys! Let's have a Pokemon battle to try out your new Pokemon! Who wants to challenge the future Pokemon Master first?"