The Deepest Blues Are Black

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

Chapter 3

Misty had been waiting for what seemed like forever. She looked at the clock on the wall: 12:03. She's only been here for a little over an hour. She sighed and sat back down on the padded bench outside the triage office in the emergency department. She'd been pacing up and down the entrance to the hospital the whole time, waiting on some word about Ash. She looked out the window and onto the road, a single tear rolling down each cheek. It was hard to divert her attention away from her miserable thoughts, and looking at the road was a lame attempt at best.

"Hey, Mist!" came a familiar voice. Misty spun her head around so fast she just about lost it. Ash was standing right behind her, looking like he'd never even had a scratch.

"Ash!" Misty cried, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him an almighty squeeze.

"Take it easy! I just came out of hospital, remember!" Ash said.

"Oh right, sorry." Misty blushed a little in embarrassment. She gave him a big kiss on the cheek and took his hand.

"Well," a doctor began. "Ash should be just fine. The cuts were deep, but they weren't infected or anything like that. We've stitched up the two deeper ones, but the rest will heal naturally. You should be good as new in a few weeks. Just get yourself into a clinic in 3 weeks time to get the stitches removed."

"Thanks, doctor." Misty said, tears of joy streaming down her face.

"No problem. You two have fun on your journey, and make sure Ash doesn't do anything too crazy until after he's healed up. And make sure he changes the dressing daily." The doctor finished up, gave them a smile and turned around and walked back into the emergency department.

Ash took Misty's other hand, and looked into her blue-green eyes.

"Thanks for waiting for me." He said.

"I wouldn't rather be anywhere else."

They just stared into each other's eyes for a few moments, before Ash broke the silence.

"We should get to the police station and see what Brock's up to."

When they arrived at the police station, Brock was waiting out the front for them with Pikachu, munching on a sandwich.

"Hey guys." He said. "So how'd it all turn out?"

"Should be back to normal in 3 weeks, they said." Ash replied happily.

"Really? 3 weeks? That's pretty cool. I guess you're tougher than you look after all." Brock said with a sarcastic smirk.

"Right." Ash smiled back at him. "So what's the story with that Weepinbell?"

Brock frowned at the mentioning of Weepinbell, going deadly serious all of a sudden. "You better come inside. Officer Jenny wants to tell you herself."

Ash and Misty looked at each other, a little confused, then followed Brock into the station.

Officer Jenny spotted them walking in, and hailed them straight away.

"Ash! How did it all turn out?" She asked him.

"Pretty well. Nothing major, and I should be fine in 3 weeks." He said, already getting a bit tired of repeating himself.

"That's good to hear. Unfortunately, you're not going to like what I have to tell you, though." She said, police seriousness spread all over her. "Come with me."

Jenny led them into one of the interrogation rooms, which was decked out with a sort of operating table and some gas bottles connected to a face mask. A woman in a lab coat was standing next to the table, patiently waiting, and the Weepinbell was out cold on top of it.

"As you can see, we've had to run the tests in here. We're not really equipped for researching this kind of thing, so this is really just thrown together." She said apologetically. Brock stood off to the side, arms folded; clearly, Officer Jenny had already told him the news she was about to break to Ash and Misty.

The woman turned around to face the group, revealing her to be Nurse Joy.

"After examining this Weepinbell's brain patterns, we've discovered that it is indeed a kind of Shadow Pokémon." She stated.

"Shadow Pokémon?" Ash and Misty queried simultaneously.

"A kind of shadow Pokémon. This is different to what everyone's used to, in that it's still capable of using all its old attacks, and of learning new ones. The only thing that's changed is its personality. Appearance-wise, it's exactly like any other Weepinbell." She continued. Ash and Misty looked at each other, then at Brock, who just nodded his head in the direction of Nurse Joy, urging them to keep listening.

"Lately, we've found another Pokémon roaming around Cerulean City. It appeared to be wild, but it seemed a little odd so the Nurse Joy from Cerulean examined it and found exactly what we found here. This indicates that these new Shadow Pokémon are probably being massed-converted somewhere nearby."

"Mass-converted? That sounds bad." Ash said, stating the obvious.

"Yes, it certainly does." Officer Jenny said. "Which is where I come into this. As a police force, we can't fight all the shadow Pokémon in the world, if there is indeed mass-conversion happening. There would be too many fronts to fight on, and we'd never be able to find where they're striking from. If we knew that, we could gather our forces and attack as one. But we just don't have the resources to be able to find that sort of information out, while still preventing any serious repercussions from the Shadow Pokémon being used everywhere else. So we'd-"

"Like us to act as spies and try to find out where they're striking from?" Ash finished.

Officer Jenny moved her head back slightly in surprise. "Yes." She said.

"What happens if they find out it's me? I'm not exactly the most inconspicuous trainer going around." Ash asked.

"Well, Brock and I came to the agreement that because of who you are, people would be less likely to think you're a spy. It's a perfect cover. If anyone gets suspicious, you're just a highly skilled Pokémon trainer doing his civil duty to protect someone in trouble. There's nothing wrong with that."

"And because of his skill, he's not likely to be defeated or run into any trouble he can't get out of. He's got a wider variety of strong Pokémon than the police do." Misty surmised.

"That's right." Jenny said.

Ash thought for a moment, then looked to Misty.
"What do you think, Mist?" he asked her, needing some moral guidance.

"Well, it's your journey, so ultimately the decision is yours. But if I had to decide, I'd do it. If we can do something to help prevent whoever's doing this from turning Pokémon into monsters, I think we should. We owe it to all the people and Pokémon who've helped us over the years." She said, feeling proud and determined.

"Well if you think we should, then we'll do it." Ash said to Misty, then turned to Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy. "You've got yourself 3 spies." Ash said proudly.

"Great! I don't know how to thank you, Ash. You're doing this region a great service by agreeing to this." Jenny cried happily. "And you'll still be able to continue your journey as well. The only ones who'll even know we're collaborating will be all the Officer Jennies and Nurse Joys."

"And me." Came a voice from the door.

The group looked around at the source of the voice, and found themselves totally stunned.

"Gary!" Ash cried in amazement.

"In the flesh." Gary replied, putting on his best cocky attitude, a broad smile spread across his face. He stepped towards Ash and shook his hand firmly. "How ya been, Ashy boy? I missed you the other day at Gramps' place."

"Yeah, I was wondering where you were. How come you're all the way out here?" Ash asked, puzzled.

"Actually, I asked him to come." Nurse Joy said. "He has a pretty vast knowledge of Pokémon, and being the Grandson of Professor Samuel Oak, he's got a lot of resources too. I thought he'd be a great asset to our team."

"I can't come with you, Ash, but I'll be in touch. I'll be based at Gramps' place back in Pallet, but you can call me with information or whatever you want, and I'll help you out from a distance. I'm more useful this way."

"Gary will be doing research and following our progress during the investigation. He'll be monitoring any data we collect on the Shadow Pokémon and analysing it in the hopes of finding out weaknesses, or strategies that could help you and ourselves out when we're forced to battle." Officer Jenny said.

"Great! That's really gonna be a big help. Thanks, Gary." Misty said.

"No sweat, babe." Gary replied with a cheeky grin.

Misty grumbled a little, but knew better than to think he was being serious.

"So we just continue on like we were going to in the first place?" Ash asked.

"That's right. But you'll be taking one of these each." Jenny handed them each a PDA-looking device. "This device has direct phone numbers pre-programmed to anyone involved in this investigation. So all the Officer Jennies and Nurse Joys in Kanto will have their numbers listed. It's more subtle this way; using a public or cell phone would be too conspicuous, and can be tapped. This way, it's always a secure line, and you won't have to worry about a thing. Also, it can record videos or pictures, or even convert your voice into text. All of it can be sent to any of the numbers listed, which will come in handy in our investigation."

"Neat!" Brock said, impressed.

"So, does anyone have any questions?" Jenny asked to no one in particular. When she received silence in response, she continued. "You three can stay at the Pokémon Centre tonight if you wish."

Misty looked at Ash, shaking her head subtly.

"I think we'd prefer to get moving, but thanks for the offer." Ash said.

"Are you going to be ok? Your injuries aren't going to hold you back, are they? Maybe you should rest up a bit before we head out." Brock said.

"I'm fine, Brock. As long as I don't do anything ridiculous, I'll be just great. Plus, we're half a day late as it is. And I wanna start finding some of those Shadow Pokémon." Ash's face changed to a reckless grin, and suddenly he seemed 10 years old again.

"You'll never change." Misty sighed.

They group said their goodbyes and walked off. Brock fiddled with his new PDA as he walked, Misty and Ash held hands and walked side by side, taking comfort in finally being able to get going. As interesting as all the discussions and hospital visits were, it was still good to get moving.

"There's a new hotel outside this side of Mt Moon. We can stay there tonight, if we move fast enough. It should only take us a few hours to reach it." Brock said.
"That sounds good, I can't wait to get something to eat and relax a bit." Ash said, stretching his arms.

"Yeah, it's been a long day. I can't wait for some quiet time." Misty smiled, snaking her arm around Ash's waist.

"Spare me..." Brock mumbled.

----------------------------------------------------

They'd walked for about an hour when they spotted someone on the horizon walking towards them. As they got closer, Brock noticed that it was a very pretty girl of about twenty years, dressed in a short, pale green plunging neck top and tight light-blue jeans.

"WOW! I have to talk to her!" He started sprinting, leaving Ash and Misty shaking their heads behind him. They jogged to catch up, but by then it was too late.

"Hi, I'm Brock. Soon-to-be-world-famous Pokémon Breeder. And what lovely name should I call you to match your lovely face?" Brock said, taking the girl's hand.

"I'm Sarah. And you need to be less forward." She said, pulling her hand away.

Ash and Misty stepped up beside Brock, who was looking a little forlorn.

"Sorry about Brock, he's a bit of a Casanova." Misty apologised.

"It's ok." Sarah said with a smile. "I'm Sarah, it's nice to meet you."

"I'm Misty, and this is my boyfriend Ash." Misty introduced.

"Boyfriend?" Brock whispered to Ash. Misty reached around behind Ash's head and gave Brock a firm whack.

"Ow! Dammit!" he cried, rubbing his head.

"So what brings you out here, Sarah?" Ash asked politely.

"Well, I just stayed in that new hotel outside Mt Moon, and now I'm heading back home to Viridian." She explained. "Can I ask if you're Ash Ketchum? The same Ash Ketchum who finished in the top eight of the Indigo League twelve years ago? The same Ash Ketchum who runs the battling classes in the Pallet Pokémon Academy?" Sarah's face suddenly changed from a look of polite interest to a look of excited hopefulness.

"Yeah, that's me. What can I do for you?" Ash replied, feeling a little overwhelmed by Sarah's eagerness.

"You can battle me!" Sarah exclaimed, panting heavily and somehow producing a pokéball from nowhere.

"A battle? You're on!" Ash quickly got excited when he realised this wasn't just an ordinary fan-girl who wanted an autograph or a photo.

Sarah threw the pokéball, and it produced a brilliant red light, which formed into Slowbro.

"Slowbro, huh." Ash look at Pikachu, who was sitting on Misty's shoulder. "You're up, buddy."

"Pi-KA-chu!" Pikachu dived off of Misty and landed silently on the path. It'd been a while since Pikachu had been in a real battle against a real trainer.

"So how should we do this?" Ash asked.

"3 on 3 sounds fine from where I'm standing." Sarah answered.

Brock moved into place on the side of the path, resuming his long-standing post as officiator for Ash's, Misty's, May's, and later Dawn's battles.

"Let this 3 on 3 battle begin!" He yelled, feeling a little excited himself. It'd been a long time since he'd seen Ash battle, and he wondered how much better he'd gotten over time.

"Slowbro, water gun! Now!" Sarah commanded. The Slowbro leaned back on its hind legs, preparing to let loose.

"Pikachu, quick attack!" Pikachu bolted towards the Slowbro at a tremendous speed, dropping his shoulder at the last moment and hitting the Slowbro full force in the belly. The Slowbro was still preparing its water gun attack, and promptly had the wind knocked out of it. Slowbro didn't register the blow, but the force of Pikachu's attack made Slowbro spit all the water out everywhere.

"Nice work, buddy. Now thunderbolt 'em!" Ash yelled.

Pikachu took a step backwards, away from the Slowbro, realising it had a little time before Slowbro would even react to the last attack. So he took his time and gathered electricity.

"Pika...CHUUU!!!"

Pikachu let a huge bolt of electricity loose from his cheeks, and it struck the Slowbro right in the middle of the face. The force of it blew the Slowbro back twenty metres, narrowly missing Sarah in the process. When it landed, its eyes were still open, but it was history. A few seconds later, it started yelling and waving it's arms around, finally registering the attack.

"Slowbro is unable to battle. Pikachu wins!" Brock yelled.

"Slowbro, return." Sarah said, looking dejected. She pulled two more pokéballs out from her belt, and looked at them both before putting one back and throwing the other out. A Sandshrew popped out, and the ball returned to Sarah's hand.

"Try zapping this one, Ash!" She said. "Sandshrew, dig!"

"Dig? Please...don't waste my time. Pikachu, follow it in there and give it a thunderbolt!" Ash said confidently.

Pikachu charged down the hole that Sandshrew had just made, and a flash of intense light followed him. Moments later, the Sandshrew came blasting out of the ground a dozen feet from where it had entered, followed by a smug-looking Pikachu. The Sandshrew just lay on the ground, steam rising from its chest.

"Sandshrew is unable to battle. Pikachu wins!" Brock yelled out.

Misty looked on at the battle, marvelling at how powerful Pikachu had become. Not only did his thunderbolt actually hurt the Sandshrew, it blasted it out of the ground and knocked it out in one hit! He had certainly become a very impressive trainer. This Sarah didn't exactly seem like a pushover either, but Ash was making it look easy. Very easy.

Sarah looked like she was about to cry. She reached around her back and pulled out one last pokéball. She returned Sandshrew, and threw out the next ball into the battlefield and it opened, letting out a Victreebel. The pokéball flew back into her hand.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt again!" Ash said, his grin broadening.

Pikachu let out a little yell, and zapped the Victreebel. Again, it flew about twenty metres back and landed hard, not moving.

"Oh, Victreebel, are you alright?!" Sarah yelled, running after it, and checking to see if it was OK. The Victreebel was totally knocked out, but otherwise fine.

"Victreebel is unable to battle. The victory goes to Ash!" Brock announced, Misty and Ash and Pikachu dancing around in a little circle. Ash started to say thankyou to Sarah for a great battle, and noticed she was crying, holding her Victreebel.

"Sorry, Sarah. Pikachu doesn't use any more force than he needs to, so your Pokémon should be fine. If it helps, I'll give them all a spray of super potion." He reached into his backpack and took out the little spray bottle. Sarah let out her fainted Pokémon, and Ash sprayed them all lightly. They all stood up and shook themselves off, still weak and dazed from having the crap beat out of them by a little Pikachu.

"Thanks Ash." Sarah said, wiping the tears from her face. "You're the only trainer I've ever battled who actually took the time to heal his opponent's Pokémon afterwards. That's so sweet!" She said, literally jumping on Ash, not realising he'd been wounded, and wrapping herself around him. She gave him a big kiss on the forehead before getting off him. Misty quietly seethed in the background, her face growing redder than her hair.

"Wow! Strong AND sweet!" She said, totally enamoured.

Misty cleared her throat loudly, hands on hips and fuming.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Misty! I totally forgot he's your boyfriend." Sarah apologised and took several steps back, looking at her shoes and going a bright shade of embarrassed red. Brock sniggered.

"Look who's forward now?" he teased. Sarah continued to look at her shoes, feeling more stupid by the minute. Misty had introduced Ash as her boyfriend. And she'd wrapped her entire body around him like a true slut. What a fool. She turned to leave.

"I should go. I'm really sorry." She said, not looking up.

"Wait, Sarah! It's ok." Misty said, putting her hand on Sarah's shoulder and giving it a friendly squeeze. "You apologised, it's fine. But something else is bothering you, isn't it. You were more upset than I've seen most trainers after a loss." Misty looked genuinely concerned, and Ash couldn't figure the percentage in Misty wanting to help someone who'd just jumped on her boyfriend. She used to get jealous even before they both knew they liked each other. Melody came to mind, and Ash inwardly giggled at his lack of foresight.

Sarah looked up at Misty slowly, still embarrassed. Misty smiled sweetly at her.
"You can tell me. Maybe we can help?" She pleaded with the poor girl.

"Well, this isn't the first time I've been thrashed lately. Yesterday I was beaten by a guy who tried to take off with my Victreebel. He didn't manage to steal anything, obviously. But he did manage to annihilate all of my Pokémon. Then he took off as quickly as he came." She explained.

"What kind of Pokémon was he using?" Ash asked, quickly getting excited again.

"It was a Shellder. I should have been able to beat it easily. But there was something wrong with it...it almost looked evil. It took down my poor Victreebel with one water gun. My other Pokémon didn't do much better. They'd just gotten better this morning, and then you come along and destroy me." She said, looking at Ash. "Not that it's your fault or anything, it's just a bit crappy to be beaten that badly twice in a row. I finished in the top 16 in the Indigo League last year, so I'm not all that bad."

"And this guy beat you with one Shellder?" Brock enquired.

"Yep. With ease. I don't think he was quite as good as you, Ash. But that was one strong Shellder."

Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu were lost in thought, leaving Sarah wondering what they were hiding.

"What's wrong? Is it something I said?"

"Well, lately there's been sightings of Shadow Pokémon around this area. But they're different to the ones that have been around in the past. These ones are stronger, and can use their own attacks." Brock explained.

"Really? That would explain a lot." Sarah said, thinking to herself. "You know, I saw the guy run off towards Mt Moon. Maybe there's something there?" She played with her fingers, clearly getting nervous about the topic.

"We'll have to check it out, then. Thanks for the information." Ash said.

"Wait! You're not actually going looking for them, are you? That's so dangerous!" Sarah said, totally shocked.

"We can't really say much about that, but yeah. That's what we're doing." Misty replied.

"Well, I think you're going to need all the luck you can get. You're strong, Ash. But there might be hundreds of those things in there. I'm heading back to Viridian, double-time. If there really is Shadow Pokémon around, I'm not safe in these parts." She turned to leave, suddenly stopping and turning back around.

"Before I go, can I ask a huge favour?" she asked Ash.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Can I get a photo with you guys? And an autograph? Please!!"

Ash just smiled. "Sure!"

The 4 of them and Pikachu all posed for the camera, and Ash signed an empty pokéball for her.

"Thanks, Ash. And you too, Misty. And Brock." She winked at Brock, and walked off down the road.

"Bye Sarah!" Ash yelled. "I'll see you at the Pokémon League!"

Sarah turned around and waved back, before disappearing over the horizon.

Brock was sitting on the path, looking miserable.

"What's up with you, man?" Ash asked.

Brock paused before looking up at Ash.

"So what was it like, when she jumped on you like that? Hmm?! She's a very cute girl, you're a lucky guy, Ash. And what a body! Must have felt pretty good, huh? I wish I had pretty girls jumping all over me!" He rambled.

"Uh, Brock...I think you should stop talking now..." Ash suggested, watching Misty's shoulders heave up and down with heavy, angry breaths; her face returning to the angry red that meant 'get out of here fast'.

"No way! I wanna know, Ash. You gotta tell me, man to man. She was just about the prettiest girl I ever saw!"

"Brock..." Ash warned, stepping sideways to clear the way for Misty.

Misty took three heavy steps towards Brock, hands outstretched towards Brock's neck.

"Yaaa!! She might have been pretty, but she's got nothing on Misty, that's for sure!" Brock was scared out of his mind, stepping backwards and holding his hands up in a defensive position.

"Yep, you're a lucky guy Ash. Misty's a hell of a girl, sure wish I was you! How stupid was that Sarah girl anyway, thinking she can jump on you like that! You're so Misty's it's ridiculous!"

"On the edge, Brock. You're on the edge." Misty's face was bright red, but at least she'd stopped advancing on Brock. "I do NOT need you REMINDING me about silly girls with their hands all over Ash. I've waited far too long for this."

"O-o-of course you have." Brock stammered. "And you deserve better than me mentioning silly girls like that. I'm so very sorry, Misty. Please forgive me." Brock was on his knees now, praying to whoever or whatever would listen to please make Misty not hurt me too badly.

Ash came up behind her and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, his hands on the opposite sides of her hips. He leaned in and kissed her neck gently, and suddenly Misty transformed back into the sweet, loving Misty he'd just gotten used to over the past day.

That was WAY too close. Brock thought to himself, and took off down the road at a very brisk walk, not worried about whether the others were far behind or not. He was just happy to be safe.

They walked for two more hours, until the sun began to set. The finally saw the new hotel in front of the mountain, and made a mad dash for it. Misty couldn't wait to have a nice hot shower after watching the sunset from a balcony, sipping an iced tea.

And I can't wait to be alone with Ash. She thought, smiling to herself as she approached the front door to the hotel.

Ash wasn't thinking along quite the same lines.

I can't believe how easy it was to stop Misty. If I'd known that, I would have tried it years ago.

He'd always been terrified of Misty, just like Brock, whenever she got angry. He just instinctively grabbed her around the waist, not really knowing why, and she stopped being angry like it had never happened in the first place.
And it felt pretty good, too. Ash grinned at the thought of perhaps doing that again later in the evening.

Pikachu is going to sleep in Brock's room tonight.

Author's Note: I hope that wasn't too much, heh. I really just couldn't help myself. Gotta justify the M Rating somehow, though.