Here's the next chapter. I hope you all have been having as much fun as I've had in the past couple of days. I'll let you all have the chapter before I let myself become long winded.
Brock stepped into the Cerulean Gym and heard a battle raging. He quietly walked into the pool and saw only that Misty was the only human in the Gym. Her Gyarados and Politoed battled each other, each trading attacks.
"Gyarados, Hyper Beam!" Misty called out, "Politoed, Water Gun!"
As each of the Pokémon launched their attacks at each other, Brock walked up behind the Gym Leader who stood at the side of the pool.
"Hey," was all that Brock said when he placed his hand on her shoulder.
Misty jumped and turned to see her old friend. "Oh, Brock," Misty was overjoyed, "I'm so glad to see you."
"It's nice to see you, too, Misty. How about two Kanto Gym Leaders catch up with each other?" Brock calmly suggested.
"I would," Misty shot his a mischievous glance before returning to watching the battle, "but isn't your little brother Forrest the Gym Leader in Pewter, now?"
"Well, how about for a friend, then?" Brock smiled.
"Anytime," Misty smiled back. She told Gyarados and Politoed that the battle was over, and the two Water-Types ended their battle and began to swim quietly.
Misty led Brock to a small, teal room. Brock took a moment to absorb the teal green on the walls. Sitting on the carpet, in the middle, was a coffee table. On which stood a framed picture. "Do you remember this, Brock?" Misty asked him.
He sure did. The picture showed Ash, Misty, and Brock standing outside Ash's house. The sun had just risen that day, tinting the image orange. Brock and Misty both had one hand on Ash's shoulder, and smiled at the camera as Delia had taken the picture. It seemed like such a long time ago, right before they left for the Johto Region.
"Now how did you get here so early, Brock?" Misty asked, "Ash said that you wouldn't be here until tomorrow."
"Well, this time we took a shortcut that worked," Brock joked with his former traveling companion. "And I actually wanted to talk to you about Ash."
"You've seen the posters?" Misty asked.
"How can I not have?" Brock tossed a folded up copy on to the table in front of her friend. "What's the deal, Misty?"
"I heard from a reliable source that May has been doing bad things to Ash," Misty told him, hoping to win him over to the story she believed.
Brock had already been told the story by Ash and May, but he decided that he would let Misty talk. "Oh? Like what?"
"His shoulders are cut up pretty bad," Misty said, sadness in her voice, "and they used to be so strong. I can't even imagine what she's probably doing to him right now…"
Ah, the Swellow thing, Brock thought. "Can you tell me this reliable source?" Brock asked her. He knew he had to show Harley's true colors if he wanted Misty to believe him.
"It was May's first boyfriend, and he told me all of the things May used to do to him," Misty explained. "I could tell that I shouldn't have trusted her. She's been playing you and May's brother for fools."
Brock was still silently snickering at the thought of May and Harley as a couple. "What do you mean, playing us for fools?"
"She always appears like she's not doing anything wrong, but when you two are busy with something, she's always beating him and belittling him, ever since you all came back to Kanto. She even attacks him with her Pokémon!" Misty told the story to Brock.
"Max is one of the most observant people I know," Brock told her, "he'd know if something was up. And what proof do you have that May attacked Ash with her Pokémon?"
"My source had a picture."
"Can I meet him?"
"Sure." Misty stood and walked to the door. She reached her head out and called for Harley. The green-clad coordinator stepped into the room.
"You're here! Harley's very surprised." Harley said, eyeing Brock.
"It's nice to see you again, too, Harley," Brock smiled, mocking him.
"Huh?" Misty was confused. "You two have met?"
"Harley's a Pokémon Coordinator from Hoenn. He's lost to May four times and beaten her once. He's got a grudge against her." Brock explained.
"And?" Harley asked. "That's something anyone with enough time can find out on the internet."
"I already know Harley, Brock" Misty told him. "Why are you telling me about him?"
"Harley would do anything to get back at May for humiliating him in the contest battles," Brock told her.
"That's a lie!" Harley shouted. "I want to bring her to justice!"
Brock turned to Misty. "Having Ash and May tell all of the secret details of their relationship is a pretty bizarre form of justice."
"How did you know about that? That's not on the posters…" Misty was puzzled.
Harley knew he needed to act fast. "He's trying to confuse you. He's probably doing this for Ash and May. He wants to protect their dirty secret. He's just worried about how all the girls will react to knowing he's been hanging out with some psycho."
Brock ignored Harley's allegations. "Why did you choose that way to punish them for losing?" he asked Misty.
"When May tells everyone about the horrible things she's done, it'll put her face with abuse," Misty explained. "No one else can be her victim for as long as she lives."
"What if I can prove that Ash's shoulder injury was caused by someone else?" Brock asked her.
"Who else could have?" Misty asked.
"Well, for one, I could have, and reasonably Max, too," he explained.
"Y-you wouldn't have hurt Ash, would you?" Misty asked, almost terrified of the answer.
"Of course not!" Brock shot down her concerns. "I'd never hurt Ash, and neither would May or Max."
"I don't know May as well as you do, Brock," Misty looked back at the picture of her with her friends. "I'm not sure I can trust her."
"Then trust me, Misty," Brock looked into her cerulean eyes. "I've been with May and Max for almost as long as Ash has been. They wouldn't knowingly harm each other."
"He's trying to deceive you!" Harley declared. "I bet he's already talked to Ash and May about it, and they fed him a story about how you're the bad one, Misty."
"Is it true?" Misty looked into Brock's eyes.
"I did already speak with Ash and May," Brock confirmed their suspicion, dropping his arms back to his side. "They told me their side of the story. Now I want to hear yours."
"I told you," Misty became defensive, "I don't trust May. I haven't known her long enough to know what she'd do to my friends.
Brock stood up. "Oh, come off it, Misty!" he shouted. "You know as well as I do that you've trusted lots of different people that you've never met before as we went on our journeys together. And even if your personal experience with May is what makes you not trust her, then my saying that she can be trusted is usually enough. What makes May so different that you can't trust her?"
"It's just…" Misty felt her face begin to turn red.
"You're jealous of her, aren't you?" Brock asked calmly.
"What?" Misty jumped up. "Me, jealous of May?"
"You're jealous that you weren't around when Ash started to become interested in girls, and now you want to ruin May so she can't stay with him. Is that it?" Brock asked the Gym leader.
"Maybe I am jealous!" Misty snorted. "I followed him around Kanto, the Orange Islands, and Johto, pining for him, and he never returned anything!" Misty began to break down into tears. "It's just so frustrating. I mean, I should be happy for him, but I just can't be."
"It's okay, Misty," Brock comforted her. He took her hand in his and rubbed the back of it. "I'm sure you'll feel better about this later, after we sit down and talk to Ash and May."
"Misty, are you going to let him manipulate you into calling off the battle?" Harley whispered into her ear. "Are you gonna let May get away and continue to hurt Ash?"
"No I won't!" Misty yanked her hand away from Brock. "May will be brought to justice! She won't be able to hurt Ash or anyone else ever again!"
"So you really are taking Harley's word above mine?" Brock asked her. "Do you think that getting May out of the picture would make Ash come back to you?"
"M-maybe…" Misty was at a loss for words.
"I can't believe you, Misty!" Brock spoke roughly. "Are you really going to drag the name of the Cerulean Gym in the mud, just so you can have your choice in a guy?"
"Get out," Misty spoke meekly.
"That's just petty." Brock finished, disdain in his voice.
"Get out!" Misty roared. "I'll have no one speak badly about my Gym, especially someone who can't even keep their Gym with a single type! If you want to side with May, then fine! I am jealous! I don't care anymore! If I can't have Ash…" she quieted down and spoke under her breath, "…then maybe no one should…"
Brock turned to the door. He opened it and turned back to Misty. "I guarantee you, after all of this is over, even with the smear campaign, and regardless of how the battle goes, if Ash and May want to be together, they will be. And they will both still want to be your friend, regardless of the mean things you may do right now. They'll forgive you, even of this. That's the kind of people Ash and May are." With that, he left the room, with a perplexed Misty flopping back on the couch, crying into the picture she held of her friends. Harley stood over her and placed his hands on her shoulders.
"C'mon, hon," Harley talked with his friend, "let's go do something to cheer you up."
Ash sat quietly eating his ice cream bar. He sat beside May in the large booth. Beside the coordinator was her brother, who sat next to Raine, with her daughter sitting across form Ash. Pikachu sat on the table, eating the ice cream sandwich that he had earned. The Pokémon seemed content. Ash thought about the current situation. He had never had his friends turn against him before. Part of him felt like it would be tough to get Misty to see things his way. Misty was one of his best friends. He knew he couldn't let her stay angry at him forever.
He paused his thinking. Misty's not mad at me, he thought, she's mad at May. He looked over at the coordinator sitting next to him. She was licking her bowl clean, trying to get the last bit of fudge from her sundae. Ash smiled at her and chuckled. May noticed and looked at him, a dap of fudge on her nose. She smiled, and scribbled something on a piece of paper, then slid it to the waiting waiter. May smiled at Pikachu, who was enjoying his reward, and returned to cleaning the bowl with her tongue. May's such a nice person, Ash thought to himself. Why would Misty believe Harley over May? Just because Harley's feeding her jealousy, I bet. He felt a tug at his sleeve. Pikachu wanted to know what was on his trainer's mind. Ash ate the rest of the ice cream off of the stick, and placed it flat on the table. He looked at Pikachu's eyes. You know, don't you, buddy? he silently asked his Pokémon. Pikachu nodded, and nuzzled against Ash's arm, trying to cheer him up.
"Is something up, Ash?" May asked him, still not having realized that she had a dab of fudge on her nose.
Ash looked up and broke out laughing. This confused Pikachu further and made May self conscious.
"What is it?" May asked, worried. "There's something on my face, isn't there?"
"There's a drop of fudge right on the tip of your nose," Ash chuckled, cheering up from his deep thoughts.
"Well, since you noticed it, you can be the one to get it off my face!" May taunted the trainer.
"I bet Ash's gonna kiss May's nose!" Cyndi whispered to Max. Max snickered, but was also awaiting the outcome of this situation between his friend and his sister.
"I...uh…" Ash stuttered, not sure how to get the fudge of May's face.
"C'mon!" Cyndi called from across the table. "Just lick it off!"
Ash turned red as the other patrons in the restaurant began to stare. He prayed silently for any way out of the situation.
Thankfully, his most loyal partner had just the solution.
Pikachu leapt onto May's face and began to lick the fudge off of the end of her nose.
May's reaction was one of surprise. She let out a shriek, then followed it up with "Ash, get your crazy Pokémon off of me!"
Ash's reaction, however, was one more of anger over Pikachu's disobedience. The trainer pulled Pikachu off of May's face, and held him up in the air in front of his face, so that only the Pokémon could see his expression. "Pikachu, why'd you do something crazy like that?" Ash said angrily. As Pikachu saw on his face, Ash was smiling and happy that the Electric-Type had pulled him out of such a questionable situation.
May yanked Pikachu out of Ash's hands. "You've been a bad boy, Pikachu!" she chastised him. Pikachu put an embarrassed look on his face. She put the Pokémon's sensitive ear close to her mouth. "I was trying to get Ash to do something," she whispered as quietly as she could, "and you had to interrupt." She knew Pikachu could hear her. The mouse Pokémon looked at her, confused. May looked at him in the eyes. I know you saw Drew kiss me, she thought as loudly as she could, not sure if Pikachu could read her thoughts. I wanted to give Ash the chance to get as close as Drew did.
Pikachu nodded, understanding the unsaid message the coordinator sent him. "Pika, pika Pikachu pika pi pika Pikapi, Pi Pikachu pikapi pika," he said. May understood, somehow, that there would be no further interruption from him. But she wasn't sure how she understood.
"A-hem," the waiter drew attention to himself. The group, realizing that most of them were standing, sat down and faced the Pokémon that had addressed them.
"I'm glad youse guys are having a good time," Meowth smiled, looking at Pikachu, something hidden in his eyes.
"We are, thanks a lot," Ash said to Meowth, missing anything not verbally said between the rival Pokémon.
"And here's the bill," Meowth announced, placing the bill and a small, folded sheet of paper on the table in front of Ash. Ash pulled out his wallet and tipped the Pokémon. He silently passes the folded paper to May, who opened it and read it. Ash and his friends had been communicating with Team Rocket using this method of passing paper around while they ate. Meowth took it to Jessie, who would scribble some words back, and then Meowth would give it to May, who would read it, and reply.
The twerps offered a simple proposition: Team Rocket would be their sparring partners for practice battles in return for the twerps keeping silent about their status as Rocket Agents. No Pikachu-Catching would be permitted. Jessie and James would show up at Cyndi's house, ready to battle at eleven o'clock tonight. May whispered the plan she and Jessie had formulated via correspondence to the rest of the table. Ash nodded, and walked to the counter, bill in hand.
Jessie was working the register right now, as James was on his break. He placed the money in Jessie's hand roughly, clasping it. "Thank you," he said, squeezing her hand.
"The pleasure is all ours," the red-haired woman said, a knowing smile on her face.
May led the group back outdoors with Pikachu on her shoulder. "C'mon, let's go find some more fun stuff to do!" she cheered.
"But May-" Ash tried to dissuade her.
"C'mon Ash…" May again attempted to use her feminine charm to get the better of the boy.
"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to step in on this one," Raine told May. "It's getting close to Cyndi's bed time."
"Aww, mom!" Cyndi whined. "I wanted to watch the practice battle!"
"You can, but right now we need to get back home," Cyndi told her daughter.
The older children agreed with Raine, and the five of them walked back to Cyndi's house. The LCD on the VCR displayed 10:32PM, meaning that they still had a bit before Jessie and James would arrive for the practice battle. Ash and May decided that they would take this opportunity to watch the news, while Cyndi took Max to her room to show him her Ash memorabilia. Both of the traveling trainers sat on opposite ends of the couch as Ash flipped on the set with the remote.
"…tried to interview Petalburg Gym Leader, Norman, earlier today for his reaction to the events in Cerulean concerning his daughter," the news anchor on the television explained.
The scene cut to outside the Petalburg Gym earlier that day, with the camera man and the reporter sneaking behind to find a man with a brown shirt and black jeans sitting on a bench, a cool, wet towel lying atop his neck.
"Norman, sir!" The reporter leapt to him, pushing his microphone to the Gym Leader. "What is your comment on the situation in Cerulean concerning your daughter?"
Norman put a scowl across his face and took the microphone into his hand. "My wife and I are going to Kanto to get the story from my daughter herself," He explained. "As for this," he noted the microphone. Norman flexed his powerful arm and crushed the microphone in his hand, causing the audio to disappear from the clip. Norman took the same hand and smashed the television camera with it, ending the scene.
Ash gulped. If Norman finds as much fault in me as there are in those reporters, I might not live to get my last Frontier Symbol.
"Dad's always been like that," May sighed. "He's never really liked the publicity that comes with being a Gym Leader, so he tries to stay out of the spot light as much as he can. Reporters know not to creep around our back door." She laughed at her last sentence, and Ash chuckled slightly as well.
The scene on the television had changed again. This time, Ash knew the location all to well. The reporters knocked on the front door to Professor Oak's Laboratory in Pallet. The door opened, and a man in his sixties stepped out. The lab coat he wore over his red shirt and khaki pants held various pens and notes. Even though he was old, the man still had energy inside of him. However, his normally jovial expression was replaced with a grim disposition.
"I think you all should run along," the professor told them. "Mrs. Ketchum isn't going to do any interviews until she speaks with her son."
"Professor Oak!" A male reporter spoke up. "What is your comment on the situation?"
"I don't know the situation well enough either, so we're taking my assistant with us and we're going to Cerulean," Oak explained. "As you know, I've never really been camera shy in the past. However, this event hits much closer to home, so to speak. I'd appreciate it from the journalistic community that they'd leave Mrs. Ketchum, my assistant and I alone as we traveled. Thank you for your time." Oak bowed slightly, and began to return indoors. "And tell your colleagues in Hoenn that attempting to talk with Norman is a bad idea." With that, the professor returned in doors and the swarm of reporters left.
"Norman, Mom, Professor, Tracey? They're all coming here?" Ash asked no one in particular.
May fidgeted in her seat, thinking. Dad's coming? Is he gonna be mad at me for trying to get a boyfriend while I was supposed to be on a Pokémon journey? She glanced over at Ash, who was dwelling on the thoughts of his mother coming to town and what she, the professor, and his watcher assistant would do when he told them about how he got hurt. I hope dad doesn't flip out and hurt Ash… she thought to herself.
Upstairs, the two youngest occupants of the house looked around Cyndi's room.
"Wow, this is so cool!" Max smiled. "You've got all this Ash stuff, and even plush dolls of all of his Pokémon!" He looked over the dolls again. "Well, almost all of them," he sighed.
"What do you mean, 'almost all'?" Cyndi got stern. "What other Pokémon does he have?"
"Well, for one, his Grovyle evolved into a Sceptile," Max told her, in a voice that let her know he was right. "And he also caught an Aipom at the Kanto Grand Festival."
"Aipom?" Cyndi raised an eyebrow. "That's a rather weird Pokémon…"
"It was so cool when Ash battled her!" Max told her. "Aipom was doing well against Pikachu, until Pikachu let her have it with a Thunderbolt!"
Cyndi moved to the small television that sat in the corner of her room, close to the door, while Max continued on about Aipom's battle with Pikachu. She blew the dust off an old VCR and stuck in a tape. The television screen came to life, and displayed a logo. 'Orange Islands Championship Match,' it said.
"This is an official recording of Ash's battle against the leader of the Orange Crew!" Cyndi squealed as she plopped herself in front of the television screen. Max sat down next to her, eager to see how the battle unfolded.
Jessie and James are gonna help Ash and May train for the battle. Can they keep their Pikachu-snagging plans at home, and honestly return a favor? Join us next time to find out!
I was planning on having a long message about leaving bad reviews for people based on hating their ship, but it got really long, so I placed it at the end of my profile, if anyone's interested.
Until then, everyone, get Pokémon!