It's a great big world and you'll see
It could pass you by at light speed
You got one life, one life
Don't stop, live it up
One Life – Hedley
###
Melody was under the impression that Misty had given up. After finding the Pikachu and Meowth in Lavender Town, the red-haired teen seemed to lose her will to search for signs that the others had survived.
First, Melody had attributed Misty's reactions to shock. It had seemed like the natural way to respond to finding a friends' most-trusted Pokémon. But, after the initial shock wore off, Misty's spark just seemed to fizzle, as she had no destination in mind.
She had asked Misty countless times where they were going next, where they could look, but each time, Misty only shrugged, turning her attention to Pikachu. "I should return you to Mrs. Ketchum," was her only answer.
Answers like that only made Melody grit her teeth in annoyance – Misty was ignoring her. It was even more annoying when she mentioned they head to Pallet Town to see Mrs. Ketchum and Misty only shook her head, suddenly changing directions.
When Misty changed directions quickly like that, it made Melody wonder what Misty was subconsciously walking towards.
"You should take this as a sign," Melody interrupted Misty's thoughts, the sun beating down on them as they walked across the piers connecting Lavender Town to Fuchsia City. "It means your friends might still be –"
"No," Misty mumbled, eyes forward, her pace never slowing, Ash's Pikachu on her shoulder. "They can't be. I don't want to search for what I know is gone."
Melody shook her head, sighing in defeat as she threw her hands up. Why did Misty have to be so stubborn?
"Twerp, ya should be listenin' to –"
"I don't want to hear it," Misty had cut in, maneuvering Pikachu to her arms before running ahead, leaving both Melody and Meowth balancing on the rickety piers.
"Misty – wait!" Melody shouted, trying to regain her balance before running after the red head. "What about . . . Jessie?"
Misty didn't want to hear any of it anymore. She didn't want to hear about the Saint Anne and that Jessie was alive. She didn't want to think about that fact that both her and Pikachu survived – couldn't that mean that her friends might be alive?
She just couldn't . . .
"Wait ta minute; you's sayin' dat Jessie's alive?"
Melody glanced over her shoulder, nodding at the cat Pokémon. "She's famous on the Orange Islands; she's a morning talk show host."
Meowth nodded, eyeing the water surrounding them warily as the pier's motions subsided. "If Jessie's alive than dat could mean James is –"
"She washed up alone," Melody shook her head. "She mentioned him the first night in her sleep, but she never mentioned him again." Meowth nodded, falling into silence. "I have some pictures in my backpack, when we stop for the night you can see them . . ." she trailed off, another thought in her mind.
Her cell phone was in the bottom of her bag, would she even get service way out here? She could only imagine what the long distance call from Kanto would cost, and how Karol would berate her for phoning, after she finished yelling about stealing her boat in the middle of the night.
But . . . should she call Jessilina?
She glanced at Misty, her silhouette far ahead of them now, Pikachu back on her shoulders. Nodding to herself, she dropped her bag off her shoulders – wincing as it connected heavily with the pier – dropping to her knees moments later.
"It's got to be here . . ." she grumbled, pushing the photo album, her poke balls, and random stuff out of her way.
If she had left the cell phone at Bill's Lighthouse, she was going to kick something.
####
Forrester didn't know what to think.
It had been a month since he had found Brock living at the Old Mill.
The mill became his and Macey's secret, although he wasn't sure how they constantly managed to avoid their other sibling's questions and the few times they attempted to follow them through Pewter City.
Forrester wasn't sure how she did it, but Macey was able to lose her shadows easily and constantly made it to the mill before him.
"It's a secret," Macey would quip, sticking her tongue out.
Brock would shake his head, laughing at their squabbles.
But, after three weeks of his two siblings visiting, Brock had time to consider what he wanted to do next. "I want to see everyone again," he said, having seen countless family photos and a couple videos Macey had uploaded onto her laptop. "I want to come home."
Those simple words made Forrester pause, his mind racing.
Macey, on the other hand, let out a squeal before launching herself at Brock, talking a mile a minute.
And, just like that, Macey started making plans to surprise everyone.
Forrester had tried to talk to her about it, they had to go about this correctly, Brock couldn't just walk through the front door and everything would be the same. It had been a year and a half since Brock left Pewter City, and just over a year since the Saint Anne sunk.
Macey half-listened to him, as when she got home she shouted out that she was bringing home a present the next day – something they wouldn't expect. Forrester shook his head at her choice of words. Naturally, their parents nodded, guessing what her present would be. Four months prior, she had found a Growlithe on the outskirts of Pewter somewhere and decided she was going to keep it as a pet.
They probably assumed it would be another Pokémon – maybe they thought Macey evolved Growlithe to an Arcanine. With Macey, it could be a possibility.
Forrester shook his head, glancing over his shoulder at his two siblings. Macey seemed oblivious to everything, a grin on her face as she swung her arms back and forth before twirling around, walking backwards.
"Have you thought through what you're going to say, Macey?"
"Course I have!" Macey chirped, twirling around on her heel again. "I can't wait to see their faces – I bet they think I have an Arcanine now!" Macey laughed, stretching her arms above her head.
She planned to have an Arcanine someday; she had left her Growlithe in the care of one of her friends at school whose grandparents ran the daycare center in Cerulean City. Her Growlithe was going to be the best – she would become the Champion.
"Oh wow, you look pale Brock," Macey said, momentarily glancing at her brother. "Come on; don't tell me you're getting nervous?"
"It's a while for them; it's going to be a shock for everyone."
It had been a shock when he found Forrester standing in the mill, waiting.
And again when he showed up with Macey the next day, the brunette bouncing into the mill as if no time had past she had last seen him.
"I can't wait to see their reactions," Macey said, clasping her hands behind her head. "Nothing was the same after you left – except that the news of your death made mom come home for good. She was pretty distraught, but she was gone for so long anyway," Macey shook her head. "It's all in the past though."
Brock nodded; his stride slowing as the Pewter Gym edged closer, the realization before him. He was going to be face-to-face with his parents, his other siblings . . . and he had no idea what he was going to say to them. His mind was a blank slate.
"Hey, you alright, Brock?" Forrester asked, hanging back as Macey ran ahead, oblivious to the expressions passing over Brock's face. "If you weren't ready for all this, you really shouldn't have let Macey run with all her ideas."
Brock shook his head, hands in his pockets. "It was only a matter of time, it's better to get it done and over with. Who wants to live it that rundown mill forever?"
Forrester nodded as Brock let out a small laugh. Ahead of them, Macey had already disappeared around the block, the creaking of the gate separating the front yard of the house from the Gym. "Hurry up – you guys are slow!" She shouted, laughing.
Forrester shook his head, glancing up at Brock. "You sure you're ready for this?"
Brock nodded, squaring his shoulders, as he followed after his siblings.
Macey smiled, waving them forward from the opening in the fence, hopping from foot to foot. Forrester shook his head at Macey's reactions while Brock grinned, his sister's excitement having a slight effect on him. Brock paused momentarily at the opening in the fence, Macey leaning expectantly on the fence, grinning as she waited. Tentatively, Brock reached a hand out for the fence as if it was a barrier separating him from his old life.
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes momentarily as his thoughts chased each other around in his mind. Shaking his head though, he put one foot in front of the other, breaching the barrier in his mind, his feet crunching on the stones underfoot.
Macey grinned up at Brock before turning on her heels, heading towards the front door of the house. Forrester shook his head at Macey's actions before glancing up at Brock. "You know everything's going to change now."
Brock nodded, glancing from Macey's – who was fishing through her bag for a key – to Forrester. "That's what I'm worried about."
Of course he was worried about how his parents would react; this wasn't something that ever happened outside of television shows and movies. He shook his head though, he couldn't think about that now.
Ahead of them, Macey finally succeeded in finding her key, throwing the front door open. "I'm home! Everyone – living room now! It's important!"
Forrester groaned, running a hand through his hair. Macey only thought that she had tact. "I guess we're not waiting for you to be ready," Forrester grumbled, rolling his eyes.
Brock looked past Forrester to the door that was still open in the nighttime breeze, the walls now a light green, obviously his mother's work, and he could see a small table in the foyer as well.
"Are you ready?"
Forrester's words jolted him out of his thoughts, making him realize that he had paused at the bottom of the porch, staring inside the house – his house. ". . . Yes."
Forrester nodded, moving aside to let Brock in, closing the door behind them moments later. Chatter could be heard to the left, Macey's voice overpowering everyone else's as she tried to talk over them.
"Wait here a second," Forrester said as he past Brock and ventured into the living room. "Alright, quiet down everyone," – here, Macey shot a look at her siblings who quieted down as Forrester appeared – "Now, Macey and I have a surprise, although we're not sure how you'll react –"
"Forrester," their mother cut in. "Please tell me that it isn't an Arcanine or . . ."
"No, it's not a Pokémon," he glanced at Macey, who grinned, trying to hide her laughter behind her hands. "But, it might be a similar shock . . ."
Forrester held his hand up as his mother moved to say something once again as their siblings leaned forward eagerly. Macey hopped back and forth on her feet, glancing from the doorframe to her family on the couch and back again. "Hurry it up . . ." Macey said, unable to hold her excitement.
"Right, so we want you to welcome home," Forrester waved his hand, motioning something forward. "Our brother . . . Brock's back."
The living room was silent – they had tried not to speak about Brock often.
The pain inflicted from the name froze on their parents as Brock came around the corner, his hair a bit shaggier then it was when they last saw him.
Brock took in the faces before him – some of his siblings had been babies when he left, so the confusion or disappointment of a surprise didn't hurt too much.
His older siblings and parent's faces were another story. Surprise seemed to be etched on his other sibling's faces as they looked at each other. On the other hand, both Flint and _'s faces were a myriad of emotions, conflicting with each other.
"Isn't it great news?" Macey said, breaking the tension. "This is what Forrester and I have been busy doing all week –"
"B-Brock," _ cut off Macey as she picked herself up off the chair. She purposely made her way towards Brock, wrapping her arms around him in a hug – after all these years, she had to make sure he was real. "You're really –" she trailed off, her emotions getting the better of her as she broke down in sobs.
Brock, unsure what to do, wrapped his arms around his mother's frame. "I'm glad . . . to be back."
"Good to have you back, son," Flint said, approaching the two as he attempted to keep his emotions in check.
Brock only nodded, his words lost.
He hadn't expected to get his family back; he wasn't going to contact them.
He didn't expect Forrester and Macey to track him down, intent on bringing him home.
He didn't believe he could return to the Slate family, he believed he would always remain dead.
###
May sighed, scrunching her nose up as she looked over her shoulder.
Why didn't anything go the way she wanted it to?
All she wanted was a Torchic, and yet . . .
Her parents thought traveling around Hoenn with Cole was a good idea, and after explaining to May that going on a journey was the right path, sent the two trainers on their way the following morning.
Much to her dismay though, Max decided to travel with them too.
How he managed to get out of the house without their parents noticing and out of Petalburg unseen – everyone in Petalburg knew them – was a mystery to her. But, thanks to the PokeNav he got for his last birthday, he had managed to somehow get ahead of them, meeting them at the other edge of the forest.
She grumbled about her brother's sudden appearance, taking him all the way back to Petalburg would take at least three hours there and back. Cole, on the other hand, just shrugged it off, shoving his hands in his pockets. "You said that Rustboro City is just ahead, why not call your parents from the Pokémon Center?"
Half an hour later, and a phone call home, May had gained another companion.
"I didn't even want to go on an adventure!" May exclaimed, as the three of them sat on a bench, ice cream in hand. "I think they're doing this to torture me . . ."
Max sighed, glancing over his navigator screen at May. "At least with the PokeNav you won't get lost."
"Quiet Max!" May grumbled, glaring at him. "I would have been fine, I know Hoenn just as well as you do."
"Really? What's to the North then, over Meteor Falls?" Max rolled his eyes as May fell silent. "See what I mean, you'd be lost without me – it's Fallarbor Town, by the way."
May glared over at him. "You know I can still take you home when we head towards Dewford Town."
Max shrugged, returning his attention to the PokeNav. "You'll miss me, you won't last a day," Max paused for a second. "What Pokemon are you going to use against Roxanne then?"
May shrugged, licking her ice cream. "I have no idea; Torchic and Wurmple isn't a good match up."
"What's her Pokémon specialty?" Cole interjected, having tuned out their sibling bickering.
Max jumped slightly, Cole having remained silent since he had joined up with them on Route 104. "Roxanne is known for her Rock Types and if you manage to defeat her in a battle she'll give you a Stone Badge. Since you have a Treecko, you would stand a better chance against her then May would, but your Taillow would be at a slight disadvantage."
Cole nodded, taking in Max's words. "I want to challenge her – do you care if I go first May? I haven't had a real battle in a long time."
"Go for it," May said, waving off Cole's request. "Battling isn't my style."
In truth, she was only half listening to Cole's words.
There was something about the way he spoke, there was something more to Cole then met the eye. He had spent his entire journey training at the Pokemon Academy, and yet he had told her in the Petalburg Woods that the journey from place-to-place was part of the adventure.
And just now, he said that it was a long time since he'd had a real battle . . . but hadn't he just left the Academy a few days before meeting up with her?
She wished he would call Ericka soon – just so she could hit redial afterwards. During their stay in Petalburg City she had jotted down some things about him.
And just like she had expected – it didn't add up.
"The Gym's up the street, it's next door to the Devon Corporation," May said, pointing to the left. "I want to see what you've got!"
Cole grinned, pumping his fist into the air, his ice cream forgotten. "Let's go now, I can't wait much longer! I've been itching for a Gym battle!"
May blinked, surprised as Cole jumped up from the bench, eagerly heading in the direction she had pointed in. Max shook his head as he stood up, mumbling that Cole seemed eager at least, before starting out after him.
"Yeah . . ." May said, dropping the forgotten ice creams in the nearby trash, glancing down at her Torchic. "Don't you think it's odd how Cole has no Kanto Pokemon?"
Aipom ran along behind Cole, its tail swaying with each step; Max followed along behind the two, his PokeNav out as he was probably shouting battle tips at Cole.
At the very least, it looked like her journey wasn't going to be dull . . .
####
Jessilina laid on her bed, thoughts racing around her mind.
She had managed to push off answering Danny as their agent appeared around the corner, ushering them back onto the show's stage once again.
But, it was only Monday . . . she still had four more days of shooting to go.
And in six hours she would be back on that stage with him . . . waiting for an answer.
Groaning, she added the pillow over her head.
Why did everything have to become so complicated? All she really wanted to do was film her show and unwind at home with a novel or a made-for-television movie.
Why did it seem that everything she did came with a consequence?
Jessilina let out a sigh from beneath the pillow; she wished that Karol was around to talk to. She would know what to do in this situation, but she was too busy trying to track down Melody and charting a way to Kanto.
Idly, she wondered why she returned to Shamoutti for the night, she should have stayed at the hotel in Naval Island. She shook her head though; there was a chance she would run into Danny . . . she needed to have her answer first.
She just wished she knew what it was that was stopping her though. . .
Hadn't she told Karol she thought he was good looking when vacationing in Naval Island?
That was why she had signed up for those acting classes, she wanted to stand out – and the next thing she knew, she was auditioning for a talk show and co-hosting with him. Jessilina couldn't even count how many girls were jealous of her, wondering how a no-name won the spot of co-hosting.
And all along, she had reveled in that – she had accomplished everything that she wanted.
But, at the same time, now that she could have it all, she was holding herself back.
Sometimes, life didn't seem all that fair.
Ring, ring, ring, phone call, phone call!
Jessilina paused, hearing her cell phone ring off in her purse.
It had to be Danny; she had left the set as soon as the audience dispersed.
Ring, ring, ring, phone call, phone call!
He could leave her a message, Jessilina decided, rolling over.
The pillow fell off her head at the movement, the ring louder.
She wasn't going to answer it.
Ring, ring, ring, phone call, phone call!
Jessilina sighed, he was persistent – usually he hung up after two rings.
She glanced over at the beige handbag, the top of her cell phone visible.
Ring, ring, ring, phone call, phone call!
Grumbling under her breath, Jessilina moved to sit up, her feet touching the linoleum underfoot. As the phone continued to vibrate in her purse, Jessilina rolled her eyes as she heard the ringtone again, she was going to have to change that, it was rather annoying.
Ring, ring, ring, phone ca–
Her hand outstretched for the phone, Jessilina blinked as it stopped ringing.
"Just perfect, I go to answer the phone and they hang up," she mumbled to herself as she reached for her phone, typing her password into the main screen.
At the very least, she wanted to confirm that it was Danny who called her.
However, the number that looked back at her wasn't what she expected – it was Melody's.
####
Melody tapped her foot impatiently as the phone rang multiple times before connecting with Jessilina's voicemail. Rolling her eyes, Melody disconnected, roughly shoving the phone back into her backpack. What she wanted to say, she didn't want to leave it in a voicemail message.
"I'm guessin' ya didn't get through ta Jessie," Meowth said, watching the brunette's actions.
"Of course not," Melody muttered, shouldering her backpack. "Jessilina doesn't like to make anything easy. If I know her, she's probably hosting an expensive dinner party with her guests from the show and Danny. Answering the phone wouldn't be something she would do, god forbid she did something someone else asked . . ."
Meowth let out a laugh, hands behind its head. "Sounds like Jessie ta me, ya get used to it kid."
Melody nodded, she still couldn't believe she was talking to a Pokemon, one that could talk none-the-less. It was something she saw in movies, creatures didn't just up and start talking all of the sudden.
But, still Meowth was more company then Misty was.
They had lost Misty on Route 12, the red-head running ahead of them, leaving them balancing on the piers. At a slower pace, Melody and Meowth continued through Route's 12 and 15, winding up in Fuchsia half an hour later.
"You're not that bad in a battle," Melody commented, the city before them. "With enough training, you'd be able to evolve into a Persian."
Meowth shook its head, holding back a laugh. "If you say so, kid."
He highly doubted that, he couldn't evolve into a Persian; he had used all his skills to learn to walk on two legs and talk.
Melody shook her head, unaware of his thoughts. "I'll train you, it can't be that difficult."
Meowth remained silent; it was easier to let the brunette believe what she wanted to. Shaking his head, Meowth glanced around them, Fuchsia City stretching out before them.
The cobbled streets stretched out before them, a small subdivision to their left, and looming trees placed evenly to the right, lining their path. The looming trees eventually broke away to give way to an old log building, which looked out of place in the modern buildings that littered the smaller city.
"The Safari Zone . . ." Melody mumbled, pausing outside the building to read the wooden sign on the yard.
"You's can catch lotsa different Pokemon dere," Meowth commented, stopping behind her. "It's similar to a reserve, but ya can only catch 'em with dere special park balls."
Melody nodded, shoving her hands into her pockets. "If it's like a reserve, why would they allow Pokemon battles in there? It seems rather counter productive, if you ask me."
Meowth shook his head, stopping beside her. "Pretty sure ya can't take yer Pokemon in dere, you got to use yer natural ability with the Pokemon."
Melody sighed, turning on her heel. "I'd probably get myself killed then; god only knows that I'm not that in sync with Pokemon . . ." The last year that Karol had been the Festival Maiden, the trainer's Pokemon hadn't taken to her at all. "Wait, I think I heard about the Safari Zone in the news last year. I'm pretty sure it was about these two explorers who had lost their son; from what I understood, he was actually living with the Kangaskhan here."
"A kid living with the Kangaskhan?" Meowth repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Sounds odd ta me."
Inwardly, Melody let out a laugh. If Meowth thought that was strange, she wondered idly what her family would say if she had an in depth conversation with a talking cat. No doubt Karol would think something had happened on her journey to Kanto and that she had hit her head, or some other nonsense.
"Do ya think the twerpy girl went in there?"
Melody jumped as Meowth's words cut through her thoughts. She paused for a second, and then shrugged, shaking her head. "I don't think Misty would, she seems to be drawn to one specific type," Minus her Cubone, she added silently. "After she found you and Pikachu, she seemed to change, as if she's trying to distance herself, rebuild the walls between what was and is real now. If I know her, she probably went to the Pokemon Center."
That seemed to be her safe haven, every time they stopped in a new city Misty tended to drift towards the Pokemon Center. It would surprise her more if when she asked Nurse Joy, if she said she hadn't seen Misty – or Willow, in that case.
"Come on, we might as well check the Center out first," Melody said, turning on her heel. She had seen the Pokemon Center's bright roof down the street, the Center apparently close to the surf. "If she's got us a roof, I definitely want to drop my bag off."
Hands shoved in her pockets, Meowth walking beside her, Melody started down the cobbled street, fences from the houses lining the sidewalks, her mind miles away from the small city.
She wished Misty would consider going to Pallet Town, it would do her a world of good. Misty had mentioned that's where Pikachu's owner lived, and that his mother still lived there. Numerous times, Melody had wondered how that mother was, Misty had made it seem like the trainer – was it Ash? – and his mother were close. It was a fifty-fifty chance, but perhaps this could help them come to terms with everything and slowly move on – if Ash's mom was still acting like Misty currently was.
In any case, Misty needed something to snap her back into how she was in Vermillion City.
If she wouldn't go home, maybe Pallet Town was the next best thing.
Ring, ring, ring, phone call, phone call!
Melody jumped, the shrill ring sounding from her bag.
She hadn't given anyone in Kanto her number . . .
Ring, ring, ring, phone call, phone call!
Realization dawned on her then, dropping the bag quickly to the ground.
Kneeling beside it, she quickly unzipped it, shoving her hands in and routing through her things.
Ring, ring, ring, phone call, phone call!
Melody grinned widely as she triumphantly pulled the phone from her bag.
Flipping the small phone open, she jabbed the talk button.
"Hello?" she asked, breathlessly.
She hoped that it wasn't Karol calling – she should have checked the Caller ID.
"Melody? Is that you, what the hell are you doing in Kanto? You're in so much trouble when Karol –"
"Jessilina!" Melody yelled, stopping the other girl mid-rant. She noticed the look on Meowth's face freeze, his eyes widening slightly at the name. "Calm down for a minute, I need to . . . wait a second, how do you know that I'm in Kanto?"
"Officer Jenny called, from Vermillion City," Jessilina clarified; her voice to-the-point. "She was calling about a boat that was docked without a permit, a boat that was registered to a Karol Lino. She was so angry, you're lucky she wasn't home when you called!"
"Wait, aren't you supposed to be on Naval Island? What're you doing home – oh! Wait, don't tell me! Did you get fired?" She couldn't resist it, the words slipping from her mouth.
"I certainly did not," came her indignant reply. "It was, oh, it wouldn't matter to you. Now, where the hell are you in Kanto – Karol's been trying to figure out where you are, she's borrowing the neighbor's boat, she's planning to head out this weekend – she's going to kill you, you know that, right?"
Melody rolled her eyes, how many times had her sister told her that? "Well, whatever, she can try. Are you coming to Kanto with her?"
"Hardly," Jessilina replied after a moment of silence. "I do have a television show to record; I can't very well take off on a journey to track you down. No doubt, you'll probably run away to Johto since you know Karol's coming."
Melody rolled her eyes, the Pokemon Center before them now. "And yet, you're sitting in Shamoutti Islands on a Monday night . . ." Lets see Jessilina try to talk her way out of that, she thought as the silence stretched on. "Seriously, why not just tell your agent, your boss, whatever, that some family emergency came up and you need to go to Kanto. Tell them that you can do a live feed with the satellites, didn't Danny do that when the Johto Grand Festival for those Contests were going on? I'm sure there's something interesting going on in Kanto that you could convince them that being there live would be beneficial," Melody said, the Pokemon Center doors opening for her with a ding. "You're a reporter, I'm sure that you can think of something."
She could hear Jessilina mumbling to herself, running over what Melody had just said to her. Melody smiled down at Meowth, flashing him a thumbs-up as she approached the Center's main desk. Placing her hand over the cell phone's receiver, she asked Nurse Joy about a Willow Montgomery checking in, and after checking her computer screen, handed Melody a room card.
"Room 14," Nurse Joy said, handing her the card. "Her Pokemon's check up are done as well, she can come down and get them anytime."
Melody nodded in thanks, bringing the phone back to her ear. She rolled her eyes, holding back a laugh as she heard Jessilina trying to weigh the options of coming. "Okay, just listen to me, I really need you to come to Kanto – but you have to ditch Karol when you get here," she said quickly, opening the door that connected the Center to the small hotel in the back. "Meet me in Cinnabar Islands in two weeks –"
"Melody, just stop for a second, you're not making any sense. Are you in any sort of trouble?"
"No, I'm in no trouble; I just found something . . . something . . . just trust me, okay? Seriously, this is all I'm asking of you, Jessilina. Please come to Kanto with Karol, in two weeks meet me in Cinnabar Island alone. I promise it will be worth your time." Melody slowed her pace down, having just passed Room 8.
"But Cinnabar is so far from Vermillion, isn't it? Karol is intent to start where you did, follow where she thought you would go."
Melody shook her head; she had hardly gone where she wanted to go . . .
"Vermillion City is a port city," Melody said, struggling to remember Kanto's layout. "Ask around; see if it has a ferry going to Fuchsia City. If not, go to Saffron or Celadon City, they're both pretty big, it would be easy to loose Karol there. Fuchsia City has a water route that leads to Cinnabar Island, apparently it even stops at the Seafoam Islands for a day – everyone's heard of that tourist spot. Just please, trust me."
Jessilina sighed; Melody could picture her rubbing her forehead in frustration. "And everything you're saying will make sense?"
"Everything, I promise. I have to go, I'll see you soon."
"Is Jessie goin' ta come, she ain't one fer doin' stuff without an explanation," Meowth said as Melody brought the phone away from her ear, disconnecting.
"I think so," Melody said, stowing the phone in her jean pocket. She only hopped that Jessilina didn't tell Karol she had phoned or that she would be at Cinnabar Island in two weeks times. "We can only hope, but she's never been one to pass up a story, god knows that girl likes to gossip."
Shaking her head, Melody swiped the room card, the door unlocking moments later. Grinning, Melody pushed the door open, her grin pausing in place a moment later. "What's wrong?"
Every light had been turned on in the room, the news playing loudly on the television. Pikachu sat on Misty's bunk, its black eyes moving from the television to Misty and back again, briefly looking at Melody as the door opened. Misty was standing beside the bed, her things half out of her bag.
Melody's words seemed to snap Misty out of her stupor. "We're going to Pewter City," she said, turning her attention back to her backpack, shoving everything back into it.
"I hope you mean tomorrow," Melody said, dropping her bag. "I mean, seriously, we've just walked here from Lavender Town, and now you want to turn around?"
"There's a Diglett Cave on Route 11 outside of Vermillion City," Misty said, paying Melody's protest no heed. "It comes out just outside of Pewter City –"
"Seriously, Vermillion City, we're going back there already? Ugh, it's no wonder all of you Pokemon trainers are so thin – you spend so much time going back and forth!" Melody flopped down on the bed, walking all the way back to Vermillion and then an underground path to Pewter City . . . "That's going to take us all night, Vermillion and Pewter City aren't necessarily close to each other. Alright," Melody said as silence engulfed the room as she flopped down on the bed. "Why are you so gung-ho on Pewter City all the sudden? I thought you didn't want to go there."
In response, Misty only pointed to the television. Melody sighed, propping herself up on one arm to look at the television, an unimpressed look on her face.
"It was all my idea," a preteen girl said, her hair drawn into pigtails. "I saw him once, just staring at the Gym; I thought he was there to challenge my father for a badge."
"He was living on the outskirts of town, he said he hadn't planned to make contact with us, he just wanted to see how we were all doing." A teenage boy said, awkward in front of the camera.
"But, we couldn't let that happen," the girl said again, appearing on screen again. "We spent the next day looking for him when he didn't reappear at the Gym. When we found him though," she shook her head. "What are you supposed to say in that type of situation, it was like something from a movie."
"We broached the subject slowly; we spent the first couple weeks just getting used to knowing that he was alive again and getting reacquainted with him before even breaching the subject of retuning home." The boy elaborated further.
"When they told us they had a surprise for us, we naturally assumed that they had either broken something, had been keeping a Pokemon secret from us, but we never assumed to see our eldest son again." A man said, obviously the other two children's father.
"It was much like a dream, the next morning I remember having to go down to the living room to make sure he was still there, sleeping on the couch. It was surreal." A woman said, her hand intertwined with the man's.
Melody raised an eyebrow at the people being interviewed, taking in their similar looks before the screen flipped back to the news anchor, who spoke about it being a touching reunion, and the questions and inquiries that this discovery would lead to.
"What is . . ."
"And that was Lana Reilly coming to you live from Pewter City. Continuing with this breaking story, we have Daniel Canson on location in Vermillion City with Officer Jenny and Mayor –"
Misty flicked the television off. Melody blinked, glancing from the black screen of the television to Misty; who had donned a light pink coat, her backpack was already hanging off her shoulders, Pikachu resting on the top of the bag and her shoulder. "I'm heading to Pewter City with or without you – that news cast . . . Brock's alive."
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