Chapter 10 up, hope you enjoy. Please leave a review and stay safe!
Chapter 10
It took a few more moments of wandering before the group of young travellers emerged from the exit of the cave. Taking into account their usual habit of getting lost twice they made pretty good time.
"Ow, the sun really hurts your eyes coming out of the cave." Serena moaned while rubbing her eyes.
"So, where about are we now?" Cameron asked.
"At the edge of Cerulean City," Misty spoke proudly. "The home of the greatest Pokémon Gym in the Kanto region, wait no, in the world."
Everyone stared deadpanned at Misty as she struck a proud pose. She was interrupted from her smugness by the Max who was failing to mask his laugh.
"Something funny?" She demanded of the Petalburg trainer.
"No not really, just that everyone knows that the Petalburg City Gym ran by my Dad is the best Gym in the entire world." He answered, pushing his glasses further up his nose.
"Max, I know you're proud of our Dad and he's your hero, but I don't think this is the time for family pride." May warned him, panicking due to her knowledge of Misty's temper.
"WHAT? THIS GYM IS BY FAR IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD AND I WILL BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE!" Misty screamed at the young teen with her massive mallet in her hand despite how no one saw where or how she got it.
"I tried to warn him." May sighed as her brother furiously apologised whilst tears ran down his face from fear.
"That was a bit uncalled for." Gaz whispered to Gary who was stood beside him.
The young Professor darted out of the way in anticipation of what was coming next.
Gaz turned to see Misty in front of him now.
"WHAT ARE YOU WHISPERING ABOUT BACK HERE? I KNOW YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT ME! DO YOU WANT SOME OF THIS?"
It did not take long for Gaz to follow in Max's footprints to grovel in front of Misty.
"I think it's best if we just keep moving." Brock sighed.
The group moved forward once again until they walked over the brow of a nearby hill. Once they passed it, they could see the crystal shimmer of the river that surrounded the metropolitan city of Cerulean.
"There it is." Misty proclaimed happily.
"I think it's safe to say that you're happy to be home Misty." Ash assumed.
"You're right for once Ash." Misty joked.
"Hey, that was uncalled for." Ash replied, annoyed at the joke at his expense. "Why is everyone picking on me, I'm not some kind of loser."
He was interrupted by the sound of May and Dawn giggling loudly standing beside a signpost just on the side of the road by the hill.
"What's so funny you two?" Ash asked as he made his way over to the pair of co-ordinators.
"See for yourself." Dawn told him as she and May stepped aside, still laughing.
Ash approached the sign puzzled. It was very simple really. An arrow pointing to the right with the words "Cerulean City" written over it. He didn't realise what was so funny until he saw the black writing in the bottom right corner.
It simply read: 'Gary was here, Ash is a loser'
"Damn it!" Ash exclaimed.
Soon enough everyone came up to see what it was and of course they all found it hilarious. Even Pikachu had fallen off Ash's head in sheer laughter.
"Hope that hurt." Ash muttered to his first Pokémon.
Gary meanwhile was looking smug as he approached Ash.
"Look at that Ashy-boy, all these years and this is still accurate. The best jokes are timeless like this one." He laughed.
"I remember you used to do this all the time back when we were kids." Leaf smile. "Aw the memories, didn't you write the same thing in Professor Oak's lab wall one day."
"Yeah he was pretty mad about that." Gary answered grimacing at the memory.
"Was that after the time you beat me in that race to the Pallet Harbour?" Ash asked.
"One of the times I beat you, yes." Gary smirked.
"I bet that I could beat you in a race to Cerulean City right now." Ash challenged.
"Ash, please. We've grown up now, I've left those childish contests in the past." Gary told him.
There was a moment of silence then Gary took off sprinting catching Ash by surprise.
"Hey that's not fair!" Ash shouted as he started sprinting after his rival.
"Some things never change." Leaf mused with a smile; she then began to sprint after her neighbours in an attempt to beat them.
"I wonder if everyone from Pallet Town is like this." Dawn said shaking her head.
"I remember Ash was like this with Morrison back in Hoenn, but I would've thought Gary was above this stuff." Max told thoughtfully.
"Well you have to remember that this is the first time all three of them have been together since before they started their journey's. That'd make anyone feel nostalgic." Brock explained.
"I'm surprised they all get along so well with each other." May admitted. "When Ash used to talk about Gary, he always complained about him and I never even heard him talk about Leaf."
"Well, there's definitely still some competition between Ash and Gary, as you can see." Brock smiled. "As long as I've known them though, you could always tell they were friends under the rivalry."
"Then why wouldn't he mention Leaf?" Serena asked.
"You know Ash, he probably just forgot to tell us he had another childhood friend." Brock shook his head.
"I could believe that." Iris added. "He's such a little kid."
"Plus, I doubt that Ash wanted to mention a long-time female friend to some people in fear they might get the wrong idea." Dawn trilled as she shot a not-so subtle look towards May.
"We should hurry up and follow them before they get too carried away and do something stupid." May suggested as her face turned red, trying to change the subject.
"You're evil you know that?" Gaz asked Dawn while laughing.
"Just a part of my master plan." She answered while pointing at her temple and sticking out her tongue.
Gaz lost himself for a minute staring at her until he realised that he was trailing behind the rest of the group.
"So, you both got a head start and you still lost?" Leaf laughed while out of breath.
"Okay, I have no idea how you did that?" Gary said bemused, bent over with his hands on his knees.
"What's the score now when it comes to our races?" Ash asked, trying to get air back in his lungs.
"It's 19-18-18 to Leaf." Gary answered.
"Wow Gary, we all haven't had a race since we were 10 years old. You remembered the score after all these years." Leaf was shocked that Gary treated it so sentimental.
"You know me I'm competitive." Gary replied. "Plus, they were all good times, I couldn't really forget them."
"Looks like the great Gary Oak is getting soft on us." Ash teased.
"Yeah right Ashy-Boy, I'm still 10 times the trainer you are."
The two continued to bicker as Leaf looked on. For a moment she felt a flashback to her childhood, and she used to witness this same thing every day. One of the two boys would lose and they'd both manage to get annoyed at each other somehow as she looked on. All these years of traveling alone had made her miss being with her friends.
"What are you staring at Leaf?" Ash demanded. Usually when she was nearby and two rivals were annoyed, they'd try drag her into it, and she enjoyed winding them up.
"What am I staring at?" She feigned wondering. "I think what I'm looking at is two losers."
By the time the rest of the group had caught up to them they were still bickering away. It didn't last much longer though as Misty quickly shut them up with a couple swings of her mallet.
"So, anyone want to do anything while we're here or will we just continue on?" Gary asked while rubbing the sore spot of his head where the mallet hit.
"I'd like to check in on my sisters and the Gym if no one minds." Misty spoke up.
"And what if someone does?" Max suggested.
His question was answered by a threatening glance from Misty.
"Oh, that's what, never mind then."
The group made their way across the town before coming to a stop in front of the Cerulean Gym. Misty gazed upon it in fondness, no matter if she's been gone for a day or a year, she always misses the feeling of home brought out from this building.
"Let's go everyone." She spoke she swung the door open expecting to see the pristine pools of water and eloquent aesthetic of the-
"This place is a dump." Iris exclaimed.
The pools in the Gym were tinged green and has some gradient of dirt floating in it, the floors looked as if they haven't been cleaned in weeks and there was trash strewn throughout the entire Gym.
"What happened here?" May asked in shock. "Did someone come in and trash the place?"
Misty sighed deeply.
"No, this is what happens when I leave my sisters in charge of the Gym for too long."
"You've only been gone around a week though." Brock noticed.
"Exactly, look at all they managed to do in a week." She shook her head.
"Where are they now? You should make them clean this up." Serena suggested.
"That's a good idea." Misty spoke angrily as she made her way through the back of the gym where the Gym Leaders room is. She walked towards the table where she often ate lunch on her breaks. Lying on the surface was a written note with Misty's name on the top of it.
"Dear Misty," She read aloud. "We had to leave the Gym for a week due to a very importing beauty conference taking place in Fuchsia City, don't worry about the Badges, we left a bag of them by the door for challengers to take on their way."
Everyone took a collective step back; they could literally feel the rage emanating off Misty as she finished reading the note.
"Everyone grab a mop or broom or something we are cleaning this place up." She spat every word with pure venom.
Everyone darted off in different directions in order to find something to do so they weren't yelled at.
"Well, you all seem to have your hands full so I'm going to go get something to eat." Dawn spoke trying to sneak out doing any cleaning.
"You're not going anywhere!" Misty yelled as she grabbed her arm and started dragging her towards the heart of the cleaning as she wept.
For the next couple hours, the group of trainers vigorously cleaned the Gym until it was at the stage where Misty found it acceptable.
In a case of extremely ironic timing, it wasn't until the building was completely spotless that Misty's sisters walked through the doors, back from their week-long trip.
"Oh, Mist you're here." They spoke in surprised unison before their faces lost all colour at the sight of their enraged sister.
After a solid 15-minute lecture from Misty delivered to her sisters, only interrupted by Brock's constant declaration of love for each sister, the group were finally on their way again.
"That was a longer visit than expected." Misty admitted, slightly embarrassed.
"You think?" Ash spoke sarcastically. "We lost almost a whole day; the sun has even gone down."
"There's no point in moving on now we won't get very far by the time we'll have to sleep." Gary pointed out. "We might as well book rooms in the Pokémon Centre for tonight and spend the night in comfort."
Everyone agreed with the plan, even Misty decided to stay with them rather than at home where she'd be further annoyed by her sisters.
The group managed to settle in for the night in the comfy surroundings of the Cerulean City Pokémon Centre. They all managed to fall asleep relatively quickly. As they lay there in their beds, soundly sleeping, they were unaware of the creature that was floating above the very building they were staying in.
The specimen stood tall as it stayed levitating above the surface of the roof. It was a mixed colour of grey and light pink. Its eyes glared with a purple glow as it scanned the landscape. It was forced to always be on the move, so he never got the chance to call any one place home. However, everywhere was becoming more familiar to him as he was forced to revisit several places. There was no where he could settle for the fear of being found. Not since his last settlement had been discovered.
Despite all of that though, he felt happy at this moment. He had finally encountered the trainer from all those years ago. One of the few humans who helped him, the only human he called his friend.
"Ash Ketchum, destiny has brought us together once again in my time of need." He spoke aloud.
He thought deeply, he had to find a way to talk to Ash without the other humans knowing. He couldn't help it, after all the humans did to him, he just couldn't trust a lot of them. The only two others he could consider slightly trustworthy were the orange haired girl and the tall man with the spiky hair, Misty and Brock he believed their names were.
He closed his eyes and concentrated, there was another way he could communicate.
Ash awoke in his bed feeling oddly awake considering it was still dark out. He looked at the digital clock and saw on the green glow that it was 2:00 am. Knowing he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep anytime soon he decided to go for a short walk.
He crept from his bottom bunk in the dorm outside the room into the hallway. He was now glad he found himself in the bottom bunk instead of the top he originally wanted, that would have made this exit slightly more awkward.
He made his way down the stairs and through the reception area, waving at the Nurse Joy on shift as he passed. He made his way out the front door and felt the cold, night air sting his face as he emerged out the front of the building.
He began to walk towards the back of the Pokémon Centre absentmindedly, his mind blank for the first time since he left Pallet Town. He made his way into an alleyway adjacent to the Centre's wall.
Just as he turned the corner, someone or something crashed down from the roof and landed in front of him. Ash jumped backwards in shock and instinctively reached for his Pokéballs, only to remember he left them in the care of Nurse Joy for the night.
He cursed loudly as the figure in front of him began to rise to its feet. In fact, it rose further and began to float in the air in front of the young trainer.
Ash was scared at the prospect of what the unknown entity was going to do, still despite his apprehension something about this seemed familiar.
'Ash Ketchum.' A deep voice rang out, but it was not said aloud. It felt like the voice was coming from inside his head. Ash recognised it straight away.
"Mewtwo!" Ash exclaimed, shocked but happy to see the Pokémon again.
'You are correct,' Mewtwo spoke again, the clouds parted away from the moon and Ash could now see the human created Pokémon in the eerie grey light given off from the sky. 'I am happy to see you again too.'
"What are you doing here? Is it not dangerous for you to be in a city?" Ash asked.
'I'm afraid it has become dangerous for me no matter where I am.' Mewtwo spoke sadly. 'It appears that my existence has once again been discovered by some disgusting people.'
"What happened in Tohjo Falls? I thought that it was safe for you and the cloned Pokémon to stay there?" Ash spoke worriedly.
'I'm afraid that's no longer possible.' Mewtwo answered, Ash could hear the pain in his voice. 'They found us again, they captured my friends, including Mew.'
Ash was taken aback; he felt his heart sink at the sound of those words.
"Who took them?" He asked.
'Team Rocket, those despicable bastards.' Mewtwo's voice in Ash's head dripped with pure venom.
"It can't be…" Ash said shaking his head in denial. Why is all this happening?
'This is why I called you out here.' Mewtwo explained. 'I need you to go to Tohjo Falls and help me and my friends. I know Team Rocket's Base is near there. You're the only human I trust to ask for help.'
Ash just stood lost for words. All those Pokémon captured for selfish use.
'I know this is sudden, but I need your help and any help from your friends would be greatly appreciated. I know you can help; you are a special human. I have to go there either way, but I would appreciate your help'
Ash thought for a moment.
"Okay, I'll go, I'll help you."
'Thank you, Ash.' Mewtwo spoke. 'There is a boat that leaves from Vermillion daily, you can go from there. See you soon my friend.'
With that, Mewtwo disappeared in a flash of pink light and left Ash alone in the cold, dark night with his thoughts.
Hope you all enjoyed that chapter, please leave a review and stay safe out there!
