A/N: *hiding behind a pillow* I know it's been a while, but I'm back. I just finished this chapter, and I'm so sorry to make everyone wait! I've had class all summer, and church, and practice, and... Well, you get the picture. Please don't kill me! I do hope this chapter makes up for it somehow!:P Enjoy!^.^
Chapter 1: The Fall
Three years ago…
"Well, what do you expect me to do, Misty?! Sit around while Team Rocket wreaks havoc across the entire Pokémon World?!" the raven-haired hero demanded, letting out an exasperated sigh.
"Ash, I thought we agreed you wouldn't do this anymore! We were supposed to settle down, to finally start our lives together!" Misty retorted, tears defiantly springing to her eyes. Stupid mood swings, she thought wryly, blaming her hormones for the way she was acting. "What about Ansly, Ash? And what about our baby?" she asked, clutching a hand to the little miracle growing inside her.
"They'll be fine, Mist. I'll be back before you know I'm gone," he replied, somewhat calmer than before. "I promise, as soon as I come back, we'll start moving into that little house we found just down the road from Mom." He quickly closed the distance between them and took her in his arms, holding her as close as he could and taking in her sweet ocean scent. He stood there as her tears soaked through his dark gray t-shirt, and lightly kissed her on the forehead.
"I love you, Mist. I love you so much," he told her, letting his chocolate gaze rest on her face one last time. Her sea foam green eyes were filled with worry, and the fear of losing him again further provoked her anxiety. He caressed her cheek and tucked a stray strand of fiery red hair behind her ear before pulling away. "I promise I'll be back."
"You better, Ash Ketchum!" she exclaimed, somewhat more forcefully than she'd intended. "You better."
"Eh, Brock, take care of her and Ansie-bug while I'm gone, okay? I'm counting on you," Ash said, smirking over at his best friend, whom Misty would be staying with while Ash was away.
"Of course! You don't need to worry about a thing, Ash," his wife Suzy replied, beaming a bright smile in his direction. Brock had started dating Suzy not long after he and Cecilia broke up, and they'd just gotten married less than a month ago. Somehow, Misty and Ash always kind of figured he'd end up with the cerulean-haired breeder, even when he swore up and down that this girl or that girl was definitely the One.
"Now, Ansie-bug, I want you to be good for Mommy, okay? Daddy will be back quicker than a speeding Rapidash!" he exclaimed, hugging the little two-year-old that looked so much like her mother. She had her mother's sea foam green eyes, and her curly auburn hair was pulled into Misty's signature side ponytail with a cerulean-colored Goldeen Scrunchie.
Ansly giggled, enjoying Ash's continuous use of Pokémon analogies. "Okay, Daddy!" Despite not being the toddler's biological father, Ash couldn't help but love her all the same, even if it did leave an aching in his heart that he hadn't been Misty's first and only.
"Take good care of Mommy and your little brother or sister, okay, Ansie?" Ash asked, patting the jubilant little girl on the head. Ansly nodded, smiling up at her daddy like he was the only person in the entire front yard.
"Bye bye Daddy!" she exclaimed, waving at him as he turned to depart from Brock's house, located just outside Pewter City and right across the street from his own parents, Clint and Lola, along with what remained of his younger siblings that still lived with them.
It wasn't a very large home, Misty noted, and had a much more contemporary look to it than the houses she was used to seeing back in Pallet. It was a two-bedroom house built out of red brick, with a roof of black shingles and cobblestone steps that led up to a forest green door with the number fifty-four painted in loopy gold lettering. "Misty, feel free to make yourselves at home," Suzy said as Brock held open the door for her and Ansly to walk inside.
Suzy didn't have to tell Ansly twice. As soon as she walked through Uncle Brock's door, she slipped her shoes off and hopped onto the burgundy couch to watch some much desired Pokémon cartoons.
Misty decided to take a seat beside her, glancing around at the nicely decorated living room, undoubtedly due to Suzy's good taste. The couch had a matching recliner across from it, and directly in front of her was a redwood coffee table, with matching end tables on either side of the medium-sized sofa. The room itself was Vulpix-themed, from curtains to figurines to book ends, most likely symbolizing the Pokémon Suzy had given Brock years ago when they first met. There was also a bookcase full of breeder's guides, berry catalogs, and Pokémon magazines, and a videophone beside the entrance to the hallway.
Misty sighed. How long had it been since she'd last visited him? She couldn't recall a single time in the last six months that she'd stopped by with Ash and Ansly. Then again, she'd also been pretty consumed in her newlywed life with Ash, the Kanto Champion, her somewhat oblivious husband, and the love of her life.
"Misty, would you like a cup of tea?" Suzy called from the kitchen, where Brock was currently making lunch.
"That'd be great, Suzy!" Misty replied, standing up and walking toward the dining room. Ansly was too engrossed in the latest episode of My Little Ponyta to notice her mother's exit.
The dining room was decorated just as nicely, Misty noted, with a round glass table and four matching silver chairs just off-center of the room, and a large birdcage for their pet Chatot placed in the back corner beside the front door. Luckily, the Chatterbox Pokémon was asleep at the moment, or it would've been squawking away incessantly at its visitors. The dining room was directly connected to the kitchen, separated by a counter with two oak barstools in front of it.
The kitchen was probably the brightest of the rooms, with a silver stove, a fridge, a sink, and a plethora of oak cabinets dotting the painted yellow walls. A lone window was placed in front of the sink, curtained by Pikachu-themed drapes and decorated with various flowers on the sill and a set of yellow chimes hung from above. The countertops were made of blue granite, and the floor was tiled in white.
"Suzy, I love what you've done with the place!" Misty commented, taking a seat on one of the barstools as Suzy slid a cerulean glass of sweet iced tea in her direction. "No offense, Brock, but you had the worst taste in décor."
"I know, I know," Brock responded, chuckling lightly. "But I can still cook a mean lazy-boy 'no-chew' stew!"
Misty sighed, breathing in the scent of sage and rosemary as Brock continued to prepare the dish. She couldn't wait to taste Brock's cooking once again.
"Thank you, Misty; it's nice to know someone appreciates the hard work I put into this place," Suzy replied, giving her husband a playful nudge in the arm.
"Hurtful," Brock remarked, "of course I appreciate it, Suze!"
"I was being sarcastic, dear," Suzy explained, earning a laugh from Misty and a snort of amusement from Brock.
"Mommy, Mommy, come look!" Ansly screamed from the living room. "Daddy's on TV!" Misty rose from her seat and ambled back into the living room, where a headshot of her husband was brandished on the sleek flatscreen television. It was a rerun of the Silver Conference, where he'd finally defeated his archrival Gary, which to Misty's dismay was Ansly's biological father. "And Pikachu!"
"That's right, honey," Misty replied, smiling down at her little Ledyba. As much as she loathed Bug Pokémon, and as well as Ash knew that, he'd decided to give Ansly that nickname, and despite Misty's efforts to change it, the nickname got stuck. But even she could admit that Ledyba were much cuter than most Bug Pokémon she'd come across over the years. At least he didn't nickname her his little Caterpie. Misty would've killed him before he did that. "Daddy and Pikachu when he was just ten years old!"
Suzy and Brock had also been watching from the dining room entrance, Suzy with a plate and drying towel in her hand, and Brock with a mixing spoon from his stew. Suzy smiled as she watched Misty sit beside her daughter, who promptly hopped onto her mother's lap as they continued watching the prerecorded battle. After many comments of awe from the little toddler, the battle ended, with Ash as its victor.
"Daddy won!" Ansly exclaimed, clapping her hands in excitement.
"Yeah, he did, didn't he?" Misty remarked, staring at the screen longingly. She'd give anything to go back to when they were ten, when life was simple, journeys were real, and boys were icky. Well, not all boys, she thought, correcting herself. She'd never thought Ash was, nor Brock or Rudy or Danny, at any rate. She kissed her daughter's forehead and embraced her once more before standing and making her way back to the kitchen, where Suzy and Brock were back to preparing lunch for the day.
She climbed onto a barstool and slumped against the countertop, with one arm supporting her head as she watched her friends finish cooking the food and setting the table. She yawned, already sleepy as a Snorlax, even if she'd pretty much been a Slakoth the entire day.
"Well, the food's ready, Misty, if you wanna call Ansly into the dining room," Suzy told her, moving the table's centerpiece full of fresh berries onto the countertop and replacing it with a pot of Brock's lazy-boy 'no-chew' stew. She used a ladle to fill four bowlfuls, taking extra care to give Ansly just a bit less than the others before putting the pot back on the stove and taking a seat beside her husband, who was already seated at the table.
"Ansly, lunchtime!" Misty called from the barstool, slowly getting to her feet and taking the seat across from Suzy, putting Ansly right across from her Uncle Brock.
At the sound of her mother's voice, Ansly jumped from the couch and rushed into the dining room, readier than ever to eat her uncle's wonderful cooking. He cooked way better than her mommy and daddy, in her opinion.
She took the seat beside her mommy, propping her elbows up on the circular glass table and taking a bite of the stew. She drained the bowl within a few minutes, and quickly demanded more from Misty. Tugging on the redhead's cerulean blue sleeve, Ansly cried, "More, Mommy!"
Her mommy sighed and picked up her bowl, walking over to the stove and ladling more stew into it. As the auburn-haired toddler waited on Misty to bring the food back, her mind wandered to the whereabouts of her father, Ash.
Where did Daddy go? Ansly wondered, glancing at the back door, where she'd last seen her father.
Frowning, she put a thumb in her mouth and started sucking on it, something she did whenever she got nervous or worried about something. When her mother brought back the stew, she just stared at it, suddenly not having much of an appetite anymore. Ansly pushed the bowl away and crossed her arms, a sour look on her face. She stood up and walked over to the painted green door, tears welling up in her eyes. Pointing at it, she shouted, "Daddy!"
She didn't know why, but she had a very sick feeling in her belly, and she thought it had something to do with her daddy.
But what was happening to her daddy to make her feel that way? "Daddy!" she screamed again, this time a little louder as she covered her eyes with her fists.
Misty immediately came to her side and embraced the little toddler as she started to sob.
"There, there, now. Mommy's got you. Daddy's gonna be fine, Ansie-bug. He always is," her mom whispered, her calm, soothing voice slowly consoling the distressed two-year-old.
Ansly shook her head. "No, Mommy! No!" she exclaimed, pointing at her heart, which was aching just as badly as her belly now.
Misty gasped, struck speechless as she cradled the little girl in her arms. Ansly felt the back of her shirt getting wet, and just knew it was her mother's tears. But why was Mommy crying too?
Daddy, come home! Please come home!
Ash had a bad feeling about this. Ever since he'd heard from Jessie and James what Team Rocket was up to, something didn't quite feel right. The two former Rockets had informed him that the latest scheme involved burning the Pokémon Cathedral located in Hearthome City, but as far as he knew, Team Rocket had never been stationed in Sinnoh. That was Team Galactic's territory.
He'd released his Charizard and decided to fly there, not bothering to waste any time. He brought along all his water Pokémon, since he knew he would need them, as well as his best friend Pikachu, who was perched on his shoulder, alert and ready to battle. They'd been flying for nearly thirty minutes when Hearthome came into view, and sure enough, the cathedral was up in flames. Splashes of red, orange, and yellow danced across the building, uncontrollably charring the once beautiful place. Firetrucks, ambulances, and police cars were strewn around the entrance, all working together to put the fire out and save the people inside, as well as arresting the Rockets responsible.
They looked like they had it under control, but Ash knew Giovanni had something up his sleeve. He always did. To get a closer look, Ash commanded Charizard to descend and told Pikachu to stay alert.
"What are they planning?" he wondered aloud as Charizard came to a halt. "Any ideas, Pikachu?"
The Electric Mouse Pokémon shook his head. "Pi pi pi."
Ash sighed. "Charizard, let's land and help put the fire out," he ordered, but right as he'd said that, something struck Charizard from below, paralyzing his wings and sending the trio spiraling toward the forest floor. "Charizard, no!"
What's happening? What hit us?!
With these thoughts swirling frantically through Ash's head, he wrapped his arms around Charizard's neck and screamed, "Pikachu, hold on tight!" The yellow mouse obeyed, squeezing himself between Charizard and Ash, and clinging onto his Trainer for dear life.
Is this it? Is this how I'm gonna die? Ash wondered, squeezing his eyes shut as the world closed in around them. What's going to happen to Misty and Ansly? And what about the baby?!
Ash could feel the blood start to rush to his head. His heart was hammering as the adrenaline coursed through his body. He could tell time was not on their side as he plummeted further and further to his demise.
"Charizard, try to straighten your wings out!" Ash called, but to no avail. Charizard's wings refused to budge, like chains had been wrapped around them and he couldn't break free.
The fire Pokémon groaned, unable to heed his Trainer's commands.
"Come on, Charizard! I believe in you!" Ash shouted, but even as he said it, he realized they were too late. They'd reached the tops of the trees and started hurtling into the branches and briars in their way.
"Pikachu, it's—ngh—gonna—ngh—be okay!" he called out to his little buddy one last time, trying to reassure the electric Pokémon. At least I hope.
"Ahhhhhh!" With a loud crash, Ash and his two Pokémon struck the ground, and almost immediately, the raven-haired hero blacked out.
A/N: Okay, so it's shorter than I'd intended, but I hope you like it Oooh, Ash was just sent plummeting to the ground.;D Thoughts? Opinions on what might happen next? I'd love to hear any comments you may have, so don't forget to review before you go!:D