Chapter 17: The Disk

Misty jumped down off the platform and her friends rushed to congratulate her. "You were great up there, Misty," Ash stated enthusiastically; but even though Misty was used to this personality of his, she couldn't help but blush from the compliment, now wishing she was still wearing the helmet.

Her arms gently squeezed tighter around the bouquet of flowers she was presented. "You, really think I was great up there, Ash?"

Ash's cheeks couldn't help but turn a slight shade of pink from that comment. So he rubbed the back of his head with the back of his hand. "Yeah, with your hair like that you look more like a girl."

But just after he said that he knew he screwed up big time; especially since he was answered by having the bouquet smashed over his head, causing him to hit the ground. But before she could kick him, her roommate May was holding her back while Ash's roommates helped him back onto his feet.

"Hey, Misty!" the eerie shrill of the sirens called out.

She regretted doing this, but she turned around to face her sisters. "We want to talk to you for a second!" Lily called out.

Before she could insult them, her friends stood in front of her. "Sorry, but if you have something to say to her you have to do it with us here as well," May announced.

Misty was a bit shocked, seeing her friends protecting her just at the slightest sign of danger. "Sorry," Daisy replied smugly, "it's a family discussion."

Misty then walked past her friends, nodded to them that she would be fine. "I'll meet up with you guys right outside in a moment then we will head out to the ice-cream shop, my treat," she replied, her tone sounding uneasy to the group.

But none the less, they gave the sisters their private time. So as soon as they all left the room, Misty turned to face her sisters. "I won this Show fair and square," she yelled at the three, "so I don't want to hear accusations of me bribing the judges!"

"Who said we were going to say that, Misty?" Daisy replied in a calm tone, which confused the youngest.

"Y-You're not?" Misty asked.

"No way, little sis," Lily replied. "We all know you beat us, and you did great."

Misty was becoming more confused by the second as she remembered just earlier before the Show they were insulting her. "It looks like we can't call you a scrawny runt anymore, can we?"

These actions where starting to scare the young hot headed agent; all of a sudden her cruel older sisters acted just like she remembered when she was a little girl; she didn't know what to make of the situation. "Well, see you around little sis," Daisy said, walking out with her other two sisters.

Misty then stepped outside to be greeted by her friends who rushed up to her. The first thing that they noticed was small tears falling down her face. "What did they do to you this time?!" May asked furiously.

Misty then moved her head up, revealing to her friends that she is smiling; which started them. "Nothing, but I feel like I will keep my hair like this for a little longer," Misty replied, wiping the tears away from her cheeks. "Well come on you guys, what better way to burn my bonus then all you can eat ice-cream for my friends."

"Yeah!" they all cheered.

The next day came quickly as Misty was dreading her day off. "So I really have to do this?" she groaned.

May's eyes shinned. "Yes, since you have a date to the Ball now, we are going to take this day off of yours and have a nice relaxing time at the Spa: getting our nails done, massage, steam bath, the works. So are you ready for some serious pampering?"

Misty let out another groan, cursing ever making this deal. "Sure May; what ever you say. As long as they don't touch my feet," she replied, looking down at her bare toes through her white sandals. "By the way," she looked back up, "how did you get the day off too?"

May grinned at her roommate. "There are some benefits to being the daughter to a Lieutenant General," she then grabbed her friend by the arm, nearly pulling it out of its socket to pull her up," so let's get going!"

"Ouch! Alright alright I'm coming!"

Later in the afternoon, Mrs. Ketchum was tidying up the house; feeling a bit empty now that her son was all grown up and with Team Rocket. But that didn't slow her down as she stayed as her chipper self, knowing that he was coming by soon to look for a suit for the Ball. Not only is my son working for Team Rocket, but he already has a date for the ball, she thought with a smile, children these days grow up way too fast.

Just then, the video phone started to ring. "Oh, I wonder who that could be?" she asked herself, walking over to the TV and switching it on, just to have the light in her eyes go dark. "Hello Delia, it's been too long," Giovanni commented, revealing a sinister grin creeping along his face.

She started to shake just by the sight of him. "I thought I told you never to call here."

He chuckled. "But I thought I would tell you Ash's progress personally, funny how much he is like his father, or should I say, my..."

"I would rather not speak to you," she snapped back.

"But wouldn't you see it as destiny; no matter how much you protected the boy from my Organization, not telling him that his father was a proud agent, hiding all of those DVD's of his time with Norman's family, yet May and Ash meet up at the same time, at Team Rocket itself," yet the more he talked, the more she seemed to shake. "But Ash is doing great, I bet Akio would have been proud if not for that terrible 'accident,'" he chuckled.

"Look, I've kept my end of the bargain, so please never call here again," she demanded.

He chuckled once again; the grin on his face only grew larger. "Come on, is that the way to talk to someone you dated in high school?"

"Good bye!" she yelled, forcefully disconnecting the transmission.

The remote fell out of her hand as she fell back onto the couch. Softly she cried into her hands until she was interrupted by someone knocking on her door.

Quickly, she wiped away the tears and put on a mask of happiness to answer the door; just to see her happy-go-lucky son rubbing the back of his head. "I was halfway here when I realized I left my keys back in my dorm," he stated with a grin.

She shook her head at her son's forgetful nature. "You're as forgetful as your father. That reminds me of the time when he forgot the ring at our wedding."

"I don't think I'm that forgetful," Ash chuckled, walking into the house. "So mom, if dad did keep his formal outfits, where would he put them?"

She put her index finger to her cheek as she closed the door. "Well I already checked the closet in my bedroom, so look in the hallway closet. But it would be a miracle to find anything in there; I really should clean it out one of these days."

"Thanks mom, I'll see what I can find," he replied, running to the closet; unaware of his mother's cheery expression turn into that of concern.

(Author's notes: in the Poke'mon Live Action show, it was revealed that Delia, Ash's mom, dated Giovanni when she was a teenager.)

May and Misty relaxed alone in the sauna, white towels were the only things covering their bodies as May poured some water on the hot rocks, creating more steam to fill the room. "So Misty," May asked, relaxing her back against the warm wooded seats, "how has it been so far?"

Misty took a deep breathe and exhaled. "Not as bad as I thought. But I still don't understand why my sisters would do this every other day. This isn't a bad idea for special occasions."

May giggled. "See, I told you."

It was silent inside the sauna a few seconds after that, until Misty broke the silence. "I was wondering, May. Have you gotten any more memories back when you were childhood friends with, Ash?

Luckily for May, her red skin from the steam hid the blush that just came to her face. "Not really, they are still really fuzzy. Why did you want to know?"

"I was just remembering what Melody told us awhile ago; that we have to set our feelings straight so they don't distract us during a mission. So I was just wondering if you feel alright that I'm being taken to the Ball by Ash."

May's cheery personality became calm, looking down at her twiddling thumbs. "Well, I know now we can't deny that we both like him, so I can't help but feel a bit jealous. Yet you won fair and square, so I have no regrets."

"I see, but do you have anyone else in mind for the Ball?"

May shook her head. "Nope, I'm thinking of just going there by myself. No point in wasting that dress. But for now let's not think about it and have some fun."

About an hour later, Ash was up to his arms in boxes and his clothes now covered with a layer of dust. He coughed a few times as he was coming down to the last three boxes in the very back.

He wiped the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his arm, opening one of the boxes and breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally," he called out, examining the different formal suits folded in the box, "I almost gave up."

He sifted through the suits until he came across one around his size, still wrapped in a thin layer of plastic. "This should fit me."

He took off the plastic, but just as he did a button fell off the tux and rolled under the cabinet. "Darn it," he called out, reaching under it and felt around.

But he felt something odd, pulling it out to see it being a computer disk in a case marked Urgent. I wonder what this is, he thought, placing it in his pocket as he reached in and grabbed the button.

He walked up to his mother and her face brightened up. "I can't believe it, you actually found them."

"Yeah, but the button fell off of this one," he presented her with the button.

She took the suit and button from her son. "Oh this isn't a problem; I will have this fixed in no time."

His hand then glided across the disk case in his pocket. "Also mom..."

But then he hesitated, no knowing why for sure but a strong gut feeling came inside of him to not talk about it to her, he hated this feeling. "Yes sweetie?"

He shook his head and gave her a smile. "Never mind, but its getting late, I probably should be heading back to HQ," he then kissed his mother's cheek and waved as he ran out, "see you later mom."

She giggled as she looked back at the tux. "Oh that son of mine," she said; walking over to her sewing kit.

Ash got back to his room, the first thing he noticed was that no one else was in the room; which must have been luck.

There he sat down by the laptop. As he warmed it up he took the disk out of his pocket and looked at it, wondering what could be on it.

The computer screen came on and he pushed out the disk drive, but his hand stuttered with the disk; wondering if he wanted to know what was on it.

But after he thought it over, he placed the disk in it and pushed it back into the computer. The seconds felt like hours to him as he waited for it to load, but hit a wall as before he could access it, he needed a password.

To Be Continued

What could be the Password, what is on this Disk, and will it change the life of Ash and the course of this story? Read and review to find out.