Hello, everyone! I know it's been a while, but I hope you'll still enjoy this chapter.
Previously...
I wasn't supposed to be happy about this. I was supposed to hate Paul, and he wasn't supposed to be so...friendly back there. But I couldn't help but notice how different he acted. It was like he was a whole different person to everyone else. I wondered if he had ever shown anyone else that side of him. Well he should, I thought with a smile.
Ash POV
After Dawn was gone, Brock and I began to plan how we'd get to Mew. We discussed everything: transportation, food, where we could stop and rest,-
"Guys! I found Paul!" Dawn's clear voice rang through the forest. Soon she came into view, Piplup on her shoulder, Paul trailing reluctantly behind. I noticed their flustered faces, and wondered what that was all about. Probably from running all this way.
"So, you're coming?" Brock said hopefully.
"I guess so," Paul answered.
"Well, the sooner the better," I said, "Let's go!"
"So, where are we going?" Dawn asked. I looked at Brock with a look of panic. Oh NO! I thought. We kinda forgot about that little detail. Well, I can't let Paul know that. It's bad enough he's coming with us….But from the look of amusement on Paul's face, I think we were out of luck.
"Lemme guess-you don't know," Paul laughed.
"Well how is it my fault? How am I supposed to know where she is?" I fired back. Paul arched an eyebrow.
"Do you know?" I questioned. Ha. I've got you cornered. See if you can answer tha-
"Mew lives in the Tree of Beginning, located in north-eastern Kanto. If we want to get there fast, we should take a boat to Goldenrod City in Johto, then take the Magnet Train to Saffron City in Kanto. From there we'll travel north to Cerulean, then head east to Pewter. The Tree of Beginning is between Mount Moon and Pewter City." Paul stated with a smirk. Okay, so he did know. But still, that doesn't mean he-
"Ash! How could you have forgotten! We were at the Tree of Beginning, remember?" Brock scolded, smacking the back of my head. Dawn giggled, as if I wasn't humiliated enough.
"Well, come on! It's almost morning, and we have to make the next ferry!" Paul said with actually a smidge of enthusiasm.
When we arrived at the docks, we quickly bought tickets and boarded. In a few hours, we were docked in Goldenrod City!
"Alright, let's head for the Magnet Train," Brock said as we left the shipyard. We were strolling the busy streets of Goldenrod when we were stopped by a loud voice.
"Ash! Hey Ash! Wait up!" I whirled around to see a young girl skipping merrily toward us. She had pink hair and a strong-looking Miltank following closely behind.
"Hey, Whitney!" I shouted. Dawn looked at me, puzzled.
"Who's that?" she questioned.
"The Goldenrod Gym Leader. I beat her a long time ago." I said smugly when I noticed Paul raise his eyebrows. Ha. Beat that, Paul. I'll bet you didn't travel-
"Oh, yeah. I battled her when I traveled through Johto," Paul said simply. I bowed my head in defeat. Was there anything he hadn't done?
"Look! Look! The Magnet Train!" Dawn yelled enthusiastically, pointing forward. We hurried towards the huge building and bought our tickets and boarded. About an hour later, we were in Kanto! I practically jumped off the train as soon as we stopped. I twirled in a circle and inhaled the fresh, sweet breeze of Kanto. Home sweet home. I left my little happy moment to find Paul gaping at me with an amused face.
"Dude, that was gay," Paul smirked, shaking his head in disbelief. I looked at them in confusion.
"What?" I demanded.
"You just spun around in a circle, then inhaled the frickin air!" he said with wide, laughing eyes.
"Seriously? I…uh….Brock?" I looked to Brock.
"Uh, Ash, that really was gay," he admitted, shrugging his shoulders. I looked hopelessly at Dawn, who was just being, well, Dawn. She was looking innocently up at the sky, a dazed smile on her bright face. I shook my head hopelessly. I'd have better luck with a cucumber.
"Let's just go," I huffed and pushed past them, mumbling incoherent things. Why did I agree to let Paul come with us again?
"Well, it's almost nighttime. We should start for Cerulean City, then find somewhere to sleep." Brock said. We agreed and headed north from Saffron.
We were about halfway through Route 5 when we heard a strange whizzing sound. We looked behind us to see a giant cat face of some sort emerging from the silhouetted treetops.
"Oh, no," Brock said, exasperated. I looked around frantically.
"What?" I said.
"Like we need another group of creepy stalkers threatening us," he muttered, still not answering my question.
"What? What?" Dawn shrieked, taking cover behind Brock.
"Hmph, scaredy cat!" Paul grumbled. Dawn's eyes were on fire as she stomped up to him.
"What did you call me?" she screamed.
"Hmmmm, troublesome has a bit of an attitude," Paul said calmly, his dark eyes glittering with amusement.
"You-" Dawn started.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"And make it double!"
"Ugggggghhhhhh!" I moaned as I finally realized what the face was. As the Meowth balloon came closer, I could clearly make out none other than our favorite bad guys in the basket: Jessie, James, and Meowth.
"To protect the world from devastation….."
"To unite all peoples within our nation..."
"Do they ever give up?" Brock complained.
"To denounce the evils of truth and love…."
"What does denounce even mean?" I asked to no one in particular.
"To extend our rea-"
-"Noooo! That is SO not true! I do not do that, right guys?" Dawn's voice drowned out Team Rocket and she looked at us expectantly, as if we were supposed to be paying attention to their useless banter.
"Dawn, I don't even want to know…" I started.
"Hey, listen, kid!" Jessie screamed in outrage. The balloon landed on the ground with a soft thump.
"No one interrupts Team Rocket!" she screamed in outrage. She hopped out of the balloon and landed gracefully on the ground, a devious smirk planted on her fair face.
"Uh, no offense Jessie, but there's just no point. The Team Rocket motto has just lost its ring," James, obviously the calmer one said blandly, flicking an imaginary piece of dirt off his uniform.
"And besides, they probably know it better than we do by now." Jessie looked about ready to rip out the man's insides and cook them for dinner, but then stopped, as if she'd just remembered something.
"I guess," she shrugged. "But we're still going to capture Pikachu!"
"Oh, will you lay off already?" I shouted, exasperated.
"No." James said simply.
"Oh, and why did you just up and leave Sinnoh all of a sudden? Do you know how long it took us to figure out where you were?" Jessie questioned madly.
"Well, maybe if you weren't such mindless idiots that followed us around even after failing countless times, you wouldn't have that problem!" Paul shot back coldly. James fell to the ground and began to sob loudly. I looked at the others with incredulity.
"Now look at what you did," Jessie scolded Paul. She bent down and tried to console the crying man.
"He's been…..overemotional for a while now. I think all our failures are just really getting to him," Jessie said, her royal blue eyes filled with worry.
"I am beautiful…...*sob*…no matter what they say….." James whimpered, tears streaming down his face.
"N..no James. You're fine. It's ok-" Jessie tried to calm him down.
"WORDS CAN'T BRING ME DOWWWWNNNNNNN!" he wailed in despair.
"Oh could you stop it with the Christina Aguilera?" Jessie said firmly. He looked up at her with big, heartbroken eyes.
"Ughhhhhhh…I didn't mean it. It's okay…." I tuned them out as Paul approached me.
"Another Christina fan? I think I've found you your gay soul mate, Ash," Paul joked. I huffed angrily, knowing he was never gonna let me live it down. I knew I shouldn't have shown Paul my iPod playlist on the train. Okay, it was ONE SONG!
"You still haven't answered my question," Jessie turned away from James and demanded, as though we were the ones invading their personal lives.
"We're going to see Mew," Brock said.
"Why?" James, who had apparently recovered from his anxiety attack, prodded. "She would never join one of your teams."
"We just want to talk to her," Dawn spoke up.
"Yeah," Paul agreed. Jessie looked at him skeptically.
"What are you doing here?" she said with disgust.
"Is he your boyfriend?" James smiled, his celadon green eyes twinkling.
"NO! NO!" Dawn screamed, her pale cheeks turning to a dark maroon. I glanced at Paul, who looked about ready to faint from embarrassment, his face an alarming shade of red. Hmmmm….I've finally found something that makes him squirm. This could be useful in the future…I though triumphantly.
"N-no," Paul managed to choke out. "I'm just traveling with them for a while." Jessie shrugged.
"Well, enough small talk. It's time to capture Pikachu," she smirked. The redhead whipped out a remote control with a big red button.
"A net?" I guessed. "Really?"
"Maybe," Jessie confessed.
"Won't do anything. Pikachu can just fry it," I said.
"Nope! This net is insulated, right James?" Jessie turned to James, laughing giddily. James froze, his eyes wide with fear. He slouched to the ground and began another round of sobs and wails. Jessie rolled her eyes and began to condole him again.
"Please don't electrocute us, we'll do anything," Jessie pleaded as she rubbed James' arm comfortingly. I glanced at the group. Dawn had her hands on her heart and a sympathetic look on her face, Paul was overlooking the scene with disgust, and Brock was eyeing me with a look that told me we were thinking the same thing. I nodded in agreement.
"Take us with you." Their mouths dropped open, James emotional fit long gone.
"B-but," James stuttered.
"Pikachu…." I warned. They immediately turned around and began to discuss.
*whisper…whisperwhisper….-*
-"MEOWTH THAT'S RIGHT!" an exuberant Meowth hopped out of the balloon and landed on Jessie and James' shoulders.
"Meowth, uh, you're a little late!" Jessie hissed angrily. Meowth folded his arms across his chest.
"Ten bucks a day, one lousy piece o' bread, an' I don't even get to finish da stinkin' motto!" he sighed dramatically.
"That is one sorry excuse for a Brooklyn accent," Paul accused.
"Now listen here, you lousy oild piece of-" Meowth lunged towards Paul, his claws unsheathed.
-"Meowth!" Jessie quickly grabbed and pulled him back, the cream-colored cat still cursing under his breath.
"What? Why din't you let me ruin that poifect lil' face of his? And why aren't we capturing Pikachu?" Meowth demanded, fighting against Jessie's death grip.
"We've had," Jessie glanced warily at us, "er….a change of plans." Meowth was baffled.
"What's dis cha-" James quickly pulled him away and they began another secret conference.
*whisperwhisper…"YOU WHAT?" Meowth screamed in outrage. *slashslash*
"OWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEE!" Jessie and James' pain-filled screams echoed through the forest. They turned around, fake smiles plastered on their faces, which were now covered with vibrant red scratch marks. Meowth slowly approached us, a grimace on his cat-like features.
"Welcome aboard."
Oooooh I just loved this chapter. Hopefully it'll make up for my slow update... Yes, I hereby give you permission to borrow Misty's mallet and pound me on the head with it. Speaking of Misty, she'll be appearing soon! Also, are there any iCarly fans out there? You'd better be excited for iStart a Fan War on November 19th! I saw on someone's fanfiction page that Seddie fans are going to wear purple on the premiere day, so do it! Wear purple on November 19, so that Seddie will rule the world! DO IT. You know you want to. Okay, that is all. Please R&R, just a simple review or alert makes my day!
~Aqua