Seven months…that is just license for me to be shot in the fanfiction face. Wow, I literally haven't done any updating since I got to college, but it's true when they tell you if you are an NCAA athlete, that is ALL you are. But season is over and I now have nothing better to do with my life. There is no excuse for that, but hopefully this will be able to make up for it at least a little bit…so without any more waiting…
Chapter 5: The truth
May was just finishing setting the table when the rest of the group arrived at it, rubbing their eyes.
"Good morning!" she chirped, laying down the last plate.
"May, what are you doing up so early?" the older Misty asked, looking around and seeing Brock and Drew still around the fire.
"Oh, well Drew and I just were up early, and Brock asked us to help out." She said smiling. The moment was interrupted by Ash's stomach and its trademark grumble.
"Guess that's our cue to dig in." Dawn said, making for a seat quickly, followed by Ash. Older Misty took the seat on Ash's other side, leaving her younger counterpart to make her way to the other side of the table, and a seat between Dawn and Brock.
"May where did that come from?" The meal had been going amicably, with the group talking when Dawn's observation brought the conversation to a halt.
"What?" May said, trying to sound innocent, but her red face giving her away.
"That rose? Where did you find a Rose around here?" Dawn looked sincerely confused, having not been around as long as everyone else.
"Oh we all know where May get's her Roses." Max said, pushing his glasses up on his nose.
"Yeah, Drew has been giving her Beautifly those for awhile now." Brock said, making it perfectly clear that he knew the real reason for the random tokens. Both May and Drew turned a shade that would rival the flower in question.
"So, I think that's enough breakfast!" Older Misty chirped, getting up and gathering plates. "May, Ash, why don't you help me clean these up?" She started to walk off toward the stream near their camp, and the two followed.
"Drew, can't you just tell her you want her already?!" Misty hissed as they helped Brock, Dawn and Max clear the camp.
"No, can't you just tell yourself to knock it off?!" He hissed back. Misty looked up at him.
Duh why didn't I think of that?
Misty made her way down to the stream to find her older self thankfully alone.
Well, but this means those two are off on their own.
She shook the thought. After all, she was on a mission.
"Hey, we need to talk." Misty said, plopping down huffily.
"Sure what about?" her older self asked innocently.
"Ash." Misty said plainly. The older one's eyes seemed to fill instantly with tears. Misty could never remember it being that easy for her to cry.
"I can't-" the older one began.
"I know you loved him, I do obviously, and if you're me then how could you have forgotten how you, I, we, uh…felt about him?" Misty was confusing herself, but the older one seemed to be getting the gist.
"I could never forget how much I care about Ash." She said sadly.
"Then why are you pushing him away from me? Why are you throwing him at her!?" Misty burst out.
"Don't you see? It's because I love him that I'm doing this. I won't let him die all over again." Older Misty whispered, tears now running freely down her face.
"Well I guess I don't see, maybe you should explain it to me." Older Misty paused, thinking.
"Maybe it's best you do know." She said. She took a deep breath. "Ash and I were engaged, and our wedding was in two days. He had just beaten Cynthia and taken over the champion league. But that was before, the war broke out. We were all involved in a resistance against Nyander, a psychopath who had been systematically taking over every organization in the regions. He was just beginning to rear his ugly head, but of course Ash was the first to stand in his way. He wanted to control the world, enslave Pokémon, and the world was a far darker place with him in control. We had formed a resistance, and Ash had a plan to end it all."
Flashback:
"Ash, this is crazy. You can't seriously be planning on doing this." May stared at him, blue eyes wide, on the verge of tears.
"May, he knows what he's doing. This is Ash we're talking about. It just wouldn't be a worldwide catastrophe if Ash was at the center of it as the only one who can stop it." Misty patted the girl on the shoulder.
"Misty, how can you be so calm about this?! You're the one who is marrying him in two days, how can you not be freaking out?!" May shook her friends hand off. "Please Ash, don't do this. If they want to help they'll come, you don't have to go looking for them. The entire resistance revolves around you; you can't go looking for danger!"
"Look, Misty is right May, don't worry. I'll be back tomorrow night. I'm sorry Misty I know it's horrible timing, but we can't control the schedule of insane people bent on destroying the world." He smiled a small smile and gave her a quick kiss.
"You two are impossible! How are you joking about this? Ash, what if you don't come back. What if they find you?" May wrung her hands.
"Look, May, I'm going, that's all there is to it. Go find Dawn and Misty's sisters. Help them finish up; it will give you something to keep your mind off it."
Ash walked out the door, Pikachu on his shoulder. May looked between his retreating figure and Misty. She threw her hands up in exasperation and stomped out the other direction.
"Hey Ash!" Ash turned to see Misty running up to him.
"Mist, what are you-?"
"I'm coming with you." She announced. "Don't you give me that look. You know as well as I do twice the Pokémon is twice the safety, and I have to make sure you get back in time. You're notorious for getting lost. But you should know that if anything happens to this ring, my sisters will kill you."
"Pi Pikachu!" the little mouse sounded its agreement with Misty's words.
"Well I'm not going to try and stop you, it would be a hopeless task. And I know all about the death waiting for me if 'like any harm should come to the original Sapphire Cascade Badge.'" He laughed and they continued to walk toward Mt. Moon.
"How do you even know you'll be able to find any of the legendaries up here?" Misty finally asked as they scaled the mountain side later that night.
"I just have a feeling Misty." He said, pulling her up onto a ledge.
"And how do you know they'll even want to help? What if they want us all to kill each other off so they can have the world back to themselves?" She looked at him, true concern showing on her face for the first time since he had announced this plan.
"I don't think that could be true Misty. We're all meant to be here together, and that is why I think we'll get the help we need. This Nyander guy is a threat to them just as much as us." He smiled reassuringly. She returned it, until she spotted something over his shoulder, and it turned to a look of horror.
"Ash DUCK!" she threw the two of them to the ground as a gigantic…something, dive bombed them."
"You don't think you can escape me up here with your little girlfriend do you?!" A cold, shrill voice called from on top of the thing that had attacked.
"No one is escaping from anything!" Ash yelled up.
"But of course not, Garchomp, Dragon Rage!" the Pokémon dove back at the couple standing there on the mountain.
"Misty, move!" Ash threw Misty away from him and dove the opposite direction in the process. "Hurry, get away!" he yelled at her.
"No way Ash, not without you. We're fighting him together!"
"Well isn't this precious. You know I think at the moment this is a bit of an unfair fight. I'll just even the odds shall I?" Nyander threw something small towards Misty, but it didn't stay small for long. The device expanded, encasing Misty in an intricate metal frame. She screamed as the bars released an electric charge. She then fell to the ground, panting heavily.
"Misty! You let her go!" Ash cried, running over toward her and shouting up toward Nyander.
"Oh, but where is the fun in that? And I think just to make this more interesting…" Another toss, another cage, and this time a startled Pikachu found itself being deprived of energy twenty feet away.
"You let them go you freak! This is insane, why are you doing all of this!?"
"Oh my boy, insane is in the eye of the beholder. You see I have a plan, a vision for this world. No more of these silly battles, no more kids gallivanting around all their lives with their pathetic little dreams. People will finally harness Pokémon for their economic power; we will reshape this world with their power and our brains. A new era is upon us, and we no longer are in need of a "chosen one". You now have a choice Ash Ketchum, save the girl, or the Pokémon. If you pick correctly, you may even be allowed to live yourself."
"Ash, no! Don't you even think about giving in to this! Fight him Ash!"
"Pi! Pika Pi Pikachu. Chuuuu!"
"Tick tock my boy…come now it can't be that hard. The girl you love or the pathetic little rat?" Nyander pushed a button on his remote, and both cages began to quake with energy. Ash looked frantically toward the two most important parts of his life, each in pain.
"Well fine then, the countdown shall begin. I do hate when explosions are necessary. So messy, well, here is your key, set one of them free. They are of course too far apart for you to try to save them both in the ten seconds I'll be giving you. Of course chances are that they'll both die anyway, and you will too. Explosions have a tendency to do that." Nyander rose into the air.
"Pikachupi! Pikachupi!" Pikachu shouted, pointing at Misty. His meaning was clear to Ash…save her.
"Goodbye buddy." He mumbled, and began to sprit toward Misty. As soon as he reached the cage however as soon as he grabbed a piece of the metal work, the surge of energy sent him flying back, his limp form thrown over the cliff tumbling into the abyss below.
"ASH!"
"Pikachu!" both of the trapped screamed in horror as they watched, unable to do a thing. Nyander lowered himself.
"My, I do have a flair for the dramatic. Well it would've have mattered of course, who he chose, he simply had a better chance of not falling if he chose the rodent. Further away from the cliff you see. Well, that's that out of my way. No chosen one, on organized resistance, no problems. Sorry about your boyfriend dear." And with that he was rising. "Though I suppose I'll let you go see for yourself." There was a click and as he was gone, Pikachu and Misty were released.
They both clambered as quickly as possible down toward where they had seen Ash fall. Misty came skidding to a stop as she caught up with Pikachu who had found him. She clapped her hand to her mouth, tears pouring out of her cerulean eyes.
"Pi, Pika, Pi-ka-chuuuuu!" Just like when Ash had been turned to stone, Pikachu shocked him repeatedly, trying in vain to wake his fallen master, but he didn't show any signs of life. When Pikachu finally gave up Misty rushed forward. She grabbed his hand, and lied down across his mangled body, releasing his Pokémon. They all cried up into the sky, a sad lament for the tragically cut down.
"The resistance was informed of what had happened. We all swore that we would keep up our resistance, even with Ash gone, but it was impossible. May nearly lost herself completely."
Misty sat in stunned silence, and tears rolled out of both sets of identical eyes.
"So, he died because he chose you over Pikachu?" she asked, voice shaking. "Because he loved you more than his first Pokémon and best friend?"
"So now you see why I'm doing this. There is no way May would ever let him do any of that dangerous stuff. I told you how hard she was trying to stop him and he it wasn't even her wedding he was putting in jeopardy. He won't die if he never falls for us, and even better if he falls for her. Sure it'll hurt, but nothing can hurt as badly as him being dead." Misty nodded; she knew what she had to do now. And so the two Misty's headed back to the camp.
When the group reached Arborville they stopped.
"Can't you just tell me if I at least become a great Pokémon master, or at least win the Sinnoh league, you know before I die if this didn't work?"Ash asked older Misty.
"I hope you win the Sinnoh league Ash." Old Misty said with a wink. "But I'll need to go back to my own time now."
"You mean you're not coming too?" Dawn asked. Older Misty shook her head.
"I already have two badges in the Orange Islands Ash, and if she's leaving don't you think it would be safe for me to head back? I mean, I'm not really doing anything here." Max said.
"Well geez, is anyone else leaving?" Ash asked, a bit sarcastically.
"I am." Misty said quietly.
"What? But why Mist?!" Ash asked, looking surprised and hurt.
"I, I have to run the gym. If I don't go back my sisters will just turn it back into a theater." She stared at the ground as she spoke.
"But, I thought you were coming back for good." Ash said softly, almost unlike himself. Misty sniffed, trying to hide her tears.
"I'm sorry, but I can't stay. You've got May and Dawn with you, and you've got along fine without me this long." She ran off. "Goodbye Ash!" she called.
"I'll miss you." She whispered to herself.
"What's going on?" Ash snapped, turning around to confront Misty's older self, but she was already gone.
"Misty." Ash said sadly
"C'mon Ash, the blimp leaves soon. We've gotta go." Brock said kindly, putting a hand on Ash's shoulder. Ash looked down, covering his eyes with his hat.
"Yeah." He sniffed, and then began walking.
"Poor Ash." May said. Drew couldn't help but smirk.
"Yeah, too bad." He said.
'So he really felt for the water trainer. Good, then I have nothing to worry about.' Drew smirked again and flipped his hair as he began walking next to May. Ash stopped abruptly.
"No, you know what; I don't want to disrupt all of your lives. I'm going back to Sinnoh, alone. May, Drew, you go back to Johto." May began to protest, but Ash stopped her. "No, it's ok. She wouldn't have gone back if it wasn't safe, just like Max said."
"Sound logical to me." Drew said. May looked unconvinced, but nodded.
"But what about Brock and I? We were already in Sinnoh!" Dawn said.
"Well yeah, but I just think I need to go alone for once." Ash still hadn't looked at any of them, but they all just stared at his retreating back as he headed for the blimp.
Wow, well once again, I'm sorry this took way tooooo long! I truly hope it won't happen ever again. I haven't updated since I got here, but swimming is over…for good so expect much more frequent updates out of me!
STL