The Deepest Blues Are Black

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Satoshi Tajiri does. I'm just writing a story.

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who either gave a review of the last chapter, or added this story to their favourites. I was touch-and-go there for a moment as to whether or not I was keen on continuing this, but everyone's been quite cool about it so I'll keep going!

Chapter 2

Ash stepped off the plane and onto the runway, with Rose the crazy stewardess right behind him. Misty was on the runway waiting for him. She was dressed in an outfit very similar to the one she used to wear when they first met, complete with a little yellow shirt and ridiculously small shorts, but without the suspenders. Only this time it looked...totally unreal. Ash couldn't keep his eyes off her.

"See something you like?" she asked, a coy smile spread across her face.

"W-...Misty! You look fantastic!" he said, jaw dropped.

"Thankyou." She blushed. "I thought since we're going travelling again in this region, I'd wear something familiar."

"I never noticed it when we were kids." He admitted.

"Well, it's a good thing you noticed it now. I would have been a little upset otherwise. And you don't want that." She smiled.

"Yeah, got that right."

Misty noticed Pikachu as he jumped up onto Ash's shoulder and let out a gleeful squeal.

"Pikachu! It's so good to see you! You haven't aged a day!" She cried, embracing the little yellow Pokémon.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu squealed back.

It was then that Misty noticed Rose the stewardess, who had walked up next to Ash and slipped her arm through his.

"And who might you be?" she said angrily, hands on hips, face red as a tomato.

"I'm Ash's number one fan. Who are you?" Rose replied, getting defensive.

"I'm one of his oldest friends. So keep your filthy, slutty hands off of him!" Misty yelled, grabbing Ash by the other arm and dragging him away.

"Sorry Rose! She didn't mean it, honestly! I'm sure I'll see you again some time! Good luck with the stewardess thing!" Ash yelled back as he was being dragged away with surprising strength.

Misty let go of him after about 100 metres, and turned to face Ash.

"Oh, the nerve! Who does she think she is, grabbing your arm and dangling you in front of me like that?! Unbelievable!"

"Wow, is that jealousy I detect?" Ash smirked.

"No, not at all! I've got nothing to worry about. You said yourself, I look fantastic, right?"

Now Ash blushed. He wasn't ready to say anything risky to her yet, on the off chance that it might make travelling awkward right at the start of their journey. Misty smiled at him and took his arm, and they walked off, leaving the airport behind.

"So Ash, you wanna grab something to eat before we meet up with Brock? From what I heard, he's pretty busy these days with the gym and all. If it's anything like what I was doing, he'll be working pretty hard."

"I suppose, but he does have all his brothers and sisters around to help him. Most of them are trainers now, and good ones at that. Some of them have badges. Speaking of which, I'm gonna need to battle you guys again, huh. I'll need to get all the badges again if I'm gonna compete in the Pokémon League."

"You really are as dense as you used to be. I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet." Misty admonished him.

"What do you mean?" he asked, totally dumbfounded.

"You don't mean to tell me you left home without knowing the rules properly?"

"Well, excuse me for not being a gym leader, Miss Cerulean City." He decided to try getting into an argument, for old times' sake. Misty just laughed at him.

"It's not going to work. I know when you're deliberately trying to rile me up. I was just having some fun. Don't worry, it's not common knowledge. If you've already collected all the badges before, you don't need to do it again. Unless you haven't competed in a League tournament in more than 10 years, in which case you do. So you should be fine. I mean, you can if you want, I suppose." She explained.

"Oh, I see. That makes sense, actually." Ash thought about it for a moment before replying. "If I happen to run into one of the gym leaders, I'll have a battle with them. It'll be interesting to see how much they've changed over the years. But if I don't need to, there's no point slowing down my progress."

"You never answered my question." Misty said bluntly.

"Huh?" He looked at her with that dumb, blank expression he was renowned for. "Oh, right, the food. Yeah, sure let's eat!"

The three of them trundled off to a place they'd been before, just before they met Brock's father years and years ago. Where Misty had left Ash with the bill. They ate there, catching up and enjoying each other's company, and deciding where they'd be heading first. They decided not to decide until they'd met up with Brock. Maybe there was something he wanted to do, or a place he needed to visit.

The three of them ambled slowly to the Pewter City Gym, enjoying Pewter's sunset as they went.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Misty commented. "Let's sit up there and watch it for a while."

"Um, ok." Ash had never been a big fan of that romantic sort of thing. But once they climbed up the small hill Misty referred to, and sat down next to each other, he understood why girls tended to like it so much. Misty relaxed and let out a satisfied sigh, resting her head on Ash's shoulder. He smiled and put his arm around her, not really realising what he was doing. They'd done this sort of thing so many times before, albeit with at least one other person around, but he'd never thought much of it. Maybe it was because he was older now, or maybe it was because they were alone, but he'd never felt so relaxed before in his whole life. Pikachu sat on a rock nearby, seemingly oblivious to the whole scenario.

"I missed you, Ash. I never thought we'd be doing this. It's so romantic, I never knew you had it in you."

"What, the travelling?" Ash said, feigning ignorance. Misty punched him in the arm. "Sorry, Mist." He smirked. "I know what you mean though. I wasn't sure if I was being a bit forward."

"Not at all." She said, pulling him closer. "I've never felt more comfortable than I am right now. All those years when we were kids, you never realised, did you?"

Ash looked down at his shoes, shaking his head. "Not initially. I got a sense of it later, but by then it was too late. You'd already left for the gym. Ever since we started talking on the phone, it started crossing my mind more and more. But I never said anything. I didn't know how you felt."

Misty looked up at him. "You always knew." She smiled sweetly, and placed a hand behind Ash's head. "And I never want you to think twice about it ever again"

With that, she pulled him in closer and kissed him gently on the lips. When they pulled away, Ash's face was bright, bright red.

"I've wanted to do that for 13 years." Misty smiled, visibly relieved. She giggled and took his hand, standing up in the process.

"Come on, let's go see Brock." She said.

"Yeah...yeah YEAH!" Ash cried out. "WOOO!!" He punched the air triumphantly and looked very pleased with himself. Pikachu stood up on the rock he was sitting on, and nodded to himself.

"Pika Pikachu." He stated, as if to say "About bloody time."

Ash spun and looked at his first Pokémon.

"You saw all that? I thought you were looking the other way?" Ash said.

Pikachu just smiled and tapped his nose with a furry little finger.

"Don't worry Ash, I'll help you get used to people seeing us together!" Misty said, pulling him in for another kiss. She took his other hand and made this one last longer.

Ash just about fell over, and Misty giggled.

Wow. Ash thought.

As epic and romantic as it all was, they still had to go surprise Brock before it got too late. They headed towards the gym, hand in hand, both smiling the whole way.

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When they got to the gym, they found it shut and locked.

"He must have finished up for the day." Misty said.

"Yeah, let's try his house."

They walked off to Brock's large house and knocked on the door.

"Hello? Anyone home?" Ash called.

"Just a second." They heard Brock call back.

After about a minute, Brock answered the door, looking exhausted.

"Whoa, hey guys! Long time no see! What a surprise!" Brock immediately brightened up at the sight of his two oldest friends.

"What's happening, Brock-o?" Ash asked happily.

"Oh you know, running the gym takes up all my time. I've got Forrest to help me of course, but it's still a lot of work. Especially with those guys around." Brock pointed a thumb at all the kids eating at their humungous dinner table.

"But I only see 6. Where are the other 3?" Misty asked.

"Well, the three oldest ones left on their own journeys, and OH MY GOD!" Brock's eyes lit up like a flashlight and he pointed at Misty, jaw dropped and saliva dripping from his chin.

"You OK there, Brock?" Misty asked, knowing full well the reason why he was acting so weird. Brock cleared his throat and re-composed himself.

"You're looking rather lovely, Misty. I see you've changed quite a bit since I last saw you." He said, trying to be very dignified.

"Don't you usually go all gaga and announce your love right about now?" Ash enquired.

"Usually, but I've learned the hard way not to do that with a girl who has a ring, or who's hand is being held by another man. Speaking of which, you guys ARE aware that you're holding hands, right?"

"Yep." Ash replied nonchalantly.

"Of course." Misty said, tilting her head slightly and looking confused.

"Right. Well it's just a bit weird seeing you guys holding hands when I'm used to you tearing each other's hair out."

"Let's just say that we're...more comfortable with each other now." Misty smiled and blushed, looking at Ash as she spoke.

"I can see that." Brock said, stroking his chin thoughtfully, more than a little disappointed. "Well, congratulations, guys. I gotta say I saw this coming – about 10 years ago. How come it took you so long to work it out? Actually, don't answer that. Come in, we're just about to start eating."

He motioned them to come in and sit down, where Brock quickly placed plates down in front of his guests.

"We're having roast, so eat up!" Forrest said from across the table.

Misty and Ash sat next to each other, not eating much, as they'd just eaten not long before.

"So what brings you two out here on a whim?" Brock asked.

"Well, long story short, we were both getting a little tired of our lives, and decided to go travelling again. It wouldn't be the same without you, so we thought we'd come see you and ask if you wanted to come along." Ash explained.

"Hmm, well that does sound pretty good. It's been a long time since I went anywhere, and even longer since we went travelling around. Where are you thinking of going?"
"Well, Ash wants to enter the Kanto League again, and I'm just along for the ride. I wanna go on a cruise when we get to Vermillion, but other than that I don't have anywhere special I'd like to go." Misty said.

"Hmm...well I'd love to go to the Rock Tunnel, or Mt Moon or somewhere I can catch another Rock Pokémon. But it's so busy here, I don't know if I can just leave." Brock said, looking disappointed.

"Don't worry, bro. We can handle it here. I don't wanna keep you stuck here if you've got the opportunity to travel again," Forrest told him. "with such a beautiful girl." He winked at Misty.

"Wow, Brock. He's just like you." Misty said, rolling her eyes and looking a little disturbed.

"Yeah I know...I feel sorry for you guys, now I know what its like." Brock dropped his gaze and looked ashamed. "I can't help it though, and neither can he." He turned his attention to his oldest younger brother. "Well, if you think you can handle it, then I guess I should trust you." He turned back to Misty and Ash. "Alright, I'll go. But you have to agree to stay here tonight. Unfortunately, I only have one spare bed. But I'm guessing that probably won't be a problem." He smirked at Ash and Misty, who looked at each other and smiled.

The whole bunch of them chatted away for a while as they ate, catching up on old times and remembering all the funny things that had happened to them over the years. Brock and Ash told Misty about all the adventures they'd had while she'd been back in Cerulean City running the gym. She seemed to get a bit huffy when they told her about Dawn, but she seemed pleased when they told her that May was doing quite well on the Coordinator circuit.

After washing up the dishes and clearing the table, they sat down and spoke more about their coming journey, and Ash remembered about the news report he'd heard the other night. He wondered where Pikachu was, and noticed he was playing with Brock's sisters, and so didn't give it any more thought.

"Brock, I've been meaning to ask you something. Pikachu and I saw this report on the news last night, about a woman being attacked by a Pokémon. We were wondering if you knew anything about it." Ash asked.

"Yeah, I heard this screaming as I was coming back from getting some lunch yesterday, and I ran to check it out."
"But the gym's in the middle of town. The report said it happened on the outskirts" Misty stated, confused.

"That's true, but there's this great pastry shop out north."

Must be some damn good pies if Brock drives all the way out there to get one. Ash thought.

"Anyway, yeah I saw the woman running from this Weepinbell. But it looked wrong, somehow. Like it was evil. I've never seen anything like it. Not since the days of Cipher and the Shadow Pokémon. This big guy in a big trench coat was ordering the Weepinbell to use razor leaf and vine whip on her, and she was screaming pretty loud and getting pretty banged up. I was about to send out Forretress to help her when the Police arrived. The guy just ran off."

"So how come they didn't say anything about that on the news reports?" Ash asked.

"It's 'cause they're covering it up!" Forrest yelled. "Any bet, they're covering it up. Maybe the news stations have it in with some corporation using Shadow Pokémon!"

"Come on, Forrest. That's ridiculous. Who'd use Shadow Pokémon now?" Brock said.

Ash wasn't entirely convinced, though. It sounded plausible. As ridiculous as Forrest made it sound with his youthful enthusiasm, Ash felt like there was definitely something wrong. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it felt wrong.

After more chatting away and waiting for the kids to all go to sleep, the three decided to call it a night and get some decent rest. Tomorrow was the day they started another journey, and they were all older now and found it much harder to get up early. Especially Brock. He was 28 now, and by the looks of him, hadn't woken up before 10am since they'd last seen him.

Misty and Ash settled onto the little mattress Brock had arranged for them, and they gazed at each other from beneath the sheets.

"It's cosy, that's for sure." Ash commented.

"Mmm." Misty said, smiling, reaching for his hand. "I still can't believe this is happening."

"Neither." There were so many things about Misty that he'd never realised before. So much beneath the surface that she tried not to show anyone. He just kept looking into her beautiful blue-green eyes, happy not to say anything, just keep staring into them.

"What is it?" Misty asked softly.

"Nothing." Ash smiled back. "It's just, I never realised how beautiful your eyes are."

"You've never been this close to them before." She smirked. Ash was about to say something when Misty put a finger to his lips. "Shh." She kissed him, and then rolled over, taking Ash's hand with her. They fell asleep in a kind of embrace, the kind that both of them had only ever dreamed about in the past.

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Ash woke to the sound of Brock hammering away in the kitchen, preparing what smelt like ridiculously good pancakes. He didn't quite understand how you could make pancakes 'ridiculously good', but that's how it smelt.

"Ooo!" A couple of Brock's sisters started teasing. "Ash and Misty sitting in a tree."

"That's enough, you two. Get over here and give me a hand, will ya?" Brock commanded.

The two youngsters went to give Brock some help with his preparations. Ash looked at his Pokédex, and the time read 08:15. He rolled over and put the Pokédex under his pillow.

"Come on, you two. Time to get up and get moving! Time's wasting." Brock called.

"Give me a break, Brock. As if you still get up this early." Misty whined.

"Sure do. Who's gonna take care of this lot if I don't?"

Misty frowned, but gave in to the sweet smell of maple syrup. She ambled away to the table and plopped herself down on a chair. Her hair was a bit of a mess, but she still looked cute. Ash just smiled from his place on the mattress.

"Come on, loverboy. Time to eat." Misty said, smiling back at him.

Ash, too, gave in, and made his sleepy way to the table to join the others. They ate their pancakes and helped Brock to clean up, and each had showers before helping him organise his gear for the journey.

"Sorry to put you guys up to all this packing, it was kinda short notice." Brock apologised.

"It's no big deal, the sooner you're packed, the sooner we can get on our way." Ash replied.

"Thanks Ash, Misty." He said, acknowledging them both. "Oh Ash, could you pass me that pot over there? And don't forget the lid. I get the feeling I might need that."

Ash passed him the pot, and the lid, while Brock collected the last of his reading material (all books on Pokémon breeding) and his Pokémon.

"Now, Forrest. I'm gonna take Forretress, Marshtomp, Ludicolo and Crobat with me. None of them are rock types anyway, so you won't be needing them. That still leaves you with Geodude and Steelix, among others. So you should be fine. You might want to go and catch some more at some stage though, give yourself a little more to work with." Brock advised his little brother.

"Sure, thanks Brock. Don't worry about a thing, I can take care of it all." Forrest replied.

"I'm sure you can. Take care."

He shook hands with his little brother, and after some lengthy goodbyes they all set off towards Mt Moon, the gang's first stop on the way.

They got about 5 kilometres down the road out of Pewter City when Pikachu noticed something. His ears pricked up and he let out a startled cry.

"What's the matter, Pikachu?" Ash queried.

"Pika!" Pikachu said quickly, electricity sparking from his cheeks.

"I think I heard something too, Ash. Get ready." Misty said, expression serious.

Pikachu jumped down from Ash's shoulder and stood fiercely in the middle of the road, staring into the long grass. He was a picture of toughness, even in his little Pikachu frame. Battle had hardened Pikachu into a brilliant battling machine over the years, and none of those years had slowed him down even slightly. Pokémon were known to live very long lives sometimes, and Pikachu was still considered a bit of a youngster. He concentrated as much as he could, trying to detect anything hiding in the grass. Just as Brock was about to give up and walk off, Pikachu blasted into action, letting out a massive thunderbolt almost as fast as the eye could see.

"Weeeeeep!" came the cry as a 2 foot shadow came leaping out of the grass, it's body totally electrified and paralysed. Pikachu didn't relax, he kept his stance up, ready to run at a moment's notice.

"Whoa! It's that same Weepinbell! I don't believe it!" Brock cried out in surprise.

"What? You're sure it's the same one?" Misty asked.

"Damn sure. Look at its eyes. Even paralysed and totally unable to move, much less battle, it still looks like it wants to kill all of us." Brock's face was dead serious, and his body language suggested extreme caution. He was scared.

"There's something wrong with it. Look how on edge Pikachu is. I've never seen him look this highly strung." Ash said, full of worry. "I've never seen a Pokémon look like that before. It looks just like a regular Weepinbell, only not. I can't explain it."

Just as Ash was finishing his sentence, the Weepinbell broke free of the paralysis just long enough to launch a small razor leaf attack directly at Misty.

"Misty!" Ash cried and launched himself into the path of the leaves. He cried out in pain as the leaves whipped through the air, piercing his shirt and sticking into his chest.

"No, Ash! Oh my god, are you ok?" Misty cried out, sitting Ash down on the path and examining his wounds.

"I'm fine, Mist. There's no time to waste, help me get these out." He began ripping the leaves out, each time with a grunt of pain, with Misty helping. There were 6 leaves stuck in his body, but it felt like 60. Each time on came out, a fresh spray of blood accompanied it.

"That wasn't very nice. Now you're gonna pay." Ash said to the Weepinbell, a ferocious look on his face.

"Ash, make sure you hit it hard enough to knock it out completely, this is one hell of a tough Weepinbell and it means business. Something that can survive a point blank thunderbolt from Pikachu isn't something that's just playing around."

Ash nodded, noting that the Weepinbell was glaring back at him, almost as if it was daring him to attack. And Ash wasn't the type to leave anyone or anything disappointed.

"I don't know what your problem is, but we're gonna solve it right now. Pikachu, Thunder attack!"

"Pika...CHU!!!" Pikachu let loose an enormous stream of electricity that shot almost straight up into the air before descending down straight into the Weepinbell, knocking it back some 50 metres down the road. Pikachu raced after it, shocking it again upon reaching it. Ash and the others ran to catch up, Misty the first to get there. She inspected the Weepinbell, nodding as she noted that there was no way it was getting up before being treated at a Pokémon centre. Pikachu had hit it pretty hard, not hard enough to kill it, but there wasn't any point taking a risk. Pikachu's thunderbolt had basically reached legend status, and anything that could survive a surprise attack was definitely not something to be taken lightly.

"I've never seen Pikachu act so brutally before." Misty said, almost as if she pitied the Weepinbell.

"Don't forget, Mist. This Weepinbell attacked you, without provocation or warning. No Pokémon does that. This isn't an ordinary Pokémon, it may as well be a criminal." Brock said sternly.

"Yeah, I don't like this, something...crazy's going on. Pokémon don't...just become like this, someone or...some thing made that...Weepinbell go crazy." Ash said, holding his chest and dripping blood on the ground in front of him. He was doubled over, leaning on his left knee, trying desperately to compose himself. But the pain was great – the razor leaves had sunk quite a way into his flesh – and he was struggling.

"Ash, hold on, I'll call for help." Misty said, panicking and unsure of what to say or do, tears streaming down her face.

"Hold...that thought...Mist. I hear...sirens." Ash said with a pained smile.

"Oh, I hear it too!" Misty said, looking for the source of the most welcome sound she'd ever heard.

Brock tore Ash's shirt off, ripping it into strips and pressing them into Ash's wounds. Ash cried out in pain as he did this, but at least the bleeding was somewhat being controlled.

"Just hold those where they are. I think that's Officer Jenny, I'll get her to call an ambulance." Brock told him.

"Maybe I better do that, Brock." Misty said, fearing in the back of her mind that his lust for beautiful women might overtake his duty to his friend.

"No way. I know this Jenny pretty well. She'll get Ash the help he needs in no time."

"OK, just make sure she hurries, Brock." Misty said softly, fresh tears falling down her cheeks.

Misty broke down and collapsed next to Ash, crying uncontrollably while attempting to help Ash hold the torn up bits of shirt in place.

"It's...OK Misty. I'm...gonna be...just fine." Ash said with laboured breaths.

"It's so unfair! Why you? And why now?! We just got together and-"

"Don't worry! I'm not...gonna die...or anything like...that. Just...stop crying...please. I hate...seeing you...upset." He smiled at her, and she kissed him on the cheek.

"And I hate seeing you hurt. Ash, I l-" Misty got cut off.

"Oh my gosh, what went on here?" Officer Jenny unwittingly interrupted. "Oh god, he's hurt. Hang on, I'll call an ambulance!"

Jenny raced off to her motorbike and quickly called an ambulance and a Police van. Then she raced back over to Ash, Misty and Brock.

"Just you hang on, young man. It won't be long now, I've made some calls and everyone's on their way, and...wait a sec, you're Ash Ketchum, right?" Jenny asked, totally surprised.

"Yes...ma'am. That's...me." Ash said with his best goofy smile, given the circumstances.

"I remember you from...wow it was over a decade now. When you first passed through this town. I cheered for you when you were entered in the Pokémon League." She paused and studied him, realising that this probably wasn't the best time for small talk. "Don't you worry about a thing. I can hear the ambulance now. Brock and..." She gestured at Misty, not knowing her name. Misty was too upset to even look at anyone but Ash.

"Misty." Brock said.

"Brock and Misty can fill me in on the details. You just have a rest, and we'll take care of everything."

"Actually, officer, I'm going to the hospital with Ash. You understand." Misty said, eyes pleading to Jenny.

"Um," She pitied the poor girl. She didn't know what their relationship was, but she obviously cared a lot about him and didn't want to be separated. "Sure. That'll be fine. Brock and I can go over the details while Ash recovers."

"Thanks, officer." Misty said, still teary. She turned to Pikachu. "You go with Brock, ok? We'll call if anything happens."

"Chu..." Pikachu said solemnly, nodding to Misty and grabbing Ash's thumb in a kind of Pikachu handshake, before jumping up on Brock's shoulder.

Just then the ambulance rolled up, the Police van in tow. The paramedics quickly stretchered Ash into the back of the ambulance, and Misty jumped in with them.

"So what's the deal, Brock? What's the story with this Weepinbell?" Officer Jenny asked.

Brock explained what had happened, noting that he thought the Weepinbell to be the same one that was involved in the attack two days before.

"Hmm. It does look sort of...angry. Even unconscious. We'll have to do some research, run some tests, that sort of thing. If you wanna come down to the station, we could use your help. With the statements as well as the tests. We won't ask Misty and Ash to give statements, they've been through enough by the looks of it." Jenny said.

"Yeah, they've been friends a long time. Misty's the Cerulean Gym leader, in case you're wondering why she looks so familiar." Brock told her.

"Oh, that's where I've seen her before! She used to travel with you both as well, right? So is she Ash's girlfriend now? That would explain why she was so devastated."

"Well, I'm not exactly sure. Misty always had a thing for Ash, and I think Ash had a thing for her as well. But that was years ago. I didn't even know they still spoke to each other, and then they rocked up at my place yesterday holding hands."

"Well, you can fill me in on the chit chat later. Right now we need to load this Weepinbell into the van and get back to the station."

2 more officers (neither of them a Jenny) loaded the Weepinbell on board the van and secured it in place, before taking off back down the road with Brock, Pikachu and Jenny in tow on the motorbike.

Author's Note: Well, there you have it. Some romance, and some action. If there's one thing that always pissed me off slightly about Pokémon, it's how unnecessarily "kiddy" they make it. So one of my main aims with this fanfic is to bring it a bit more into the adult world. We'll see how "adult" I end up making it . Hope you're all enjoying reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it. I'm a huge Misty fan, if you haven't already noticed. Anyway there's at least one big plot bender up ahead, which I'll reveal in chapter 3.