Hey, everyone! I hope you enjoy Chapter 6 of the Final Journey!
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. If I owned Pokemon, do you think I'd still be here? I'd be in Japan, in my office, snacking on sushi, whacking Pearlshippers and Advanceshippers with a stick. Yeah...I'm very passionate about my shippings.
Ash POV
We had a rough night of sleeping on park benches on the outskirts of the city. As soon as the sun began to peek over the pink horizon, we were up-and very hungry.
"Must…have food…." I moaned as I moped around our makeshift campsite.
"Ash! The sooner we pack up and head out of here, the sooner we can eat! So help us!" Brock scolded sternly. I rolled up my sleeping bag and packed the rest of my things. I sat with Pikachu, Paul, and Brock as Dawn struggled to fold up her tent.
"Dawn, I don't think you're gonna be able to keep that tent if we're on the move so much," I said. Dawn rolled her eyes.
"There is no way I'm sleeping out in the wilderness with all these scary Pokemon. And besides, it usually doesn't take this long, but there's something stuck-"
Something snapped in the tent, and Dawn went careening backwards.
Paul huffed in exasperation and marched over to the fallen blunette. In one swift movement, he had the tent fixed and neatly packed in its sack. He shot her a disapproving glare and silently rejoined us.
Dawn's lips formed a small pout as she rose from the ground and began wiping dirt off her dress.
"Well, are we ready?" I said, having gotten bored of Dawn and Paul's nonstop fighting.
"Yeah," Dawn said, scowling at Paul.
We entered the city and immediately noticed something was up. The usually crowded streets were almost empty. The little shops that lined either side of the street were open, but few shoppers occupied them.
"It's mid-morning on a Saturday. This place should be a madhouse," Paul observed. I nodded in agreement. I managed to find a pedestrian who looked friendly enough.
"Excuse me, sir, do you know what's going on? Why are the streets empty?" I questioned. He looked at us with disbelief.
"Well don't you know? The Sensational Sisters are putting on their first water show in years."
"So?" Paul said boredly.
"This isn't just any show," the man continued. "There's a new lead. She supposedly had to fill in for the other girl, who had a major injury or something."
My heart skipped a beat as I realized who that must be. All I knew is: I had to get into that show.
We thanked the kind man and kept walking.
"Guys, we should go to the show," I said casually. Dawn looked interested, and Paul looked like he could care less. Luckily, Brock saved the day.
"YESSSS! We have to go, you guys. Daisy, Violet, and Lily will be performing," Brock begged.
"You still have that huge crush on those three?" Dawn teased. Brock grinned dreamily.
"They're the most gorgeous, talented girls I've ever seen," he sighed.
"Same as every other girl you meet," Paul muttered.
"Please?" I pleaded. Paul turned to stare at me.
"Why do you want to go?" he scoffed. Uh-oh.
"Uh….I just…haven't been there in a while…and…er…I..just want to check out their Pokemon," I lied. Paul gave me a suspicious look, but then just shrugged. I thought I'd gotten away with it, but then I saw Brock. I might have fooled Dawn and Paul, but Brock knew me. I gave him a look that told him to keep his smirking mouth shut, and then turned away, embarrassed.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Brock said enthusiastically. I smiled to myself as we made our way to the Cerulean Gym.
As we approached, we were faced with a line that nearly went the whole way down the street.
"How are we gonna get past this?" Dawn complained. I looked around frantically for anyone that could help us. Finally, I found a security guard.
"Hey, can you let us through? We're close friends of the performers," I said confidently.
"No can do, kid. Unless you have special passes or your name's on this list, I'm gonna have to send you back-" The guard stopped suddenly and gasped as though he'd just seen me for the first time.
"Hey, you're Ash Ketchum, that famous Pokemon trainer! My kids love you! Do you think I could get an autograph for them?" the officer said. Paul's jaw dropped to the floor. Even if we didn't get through, my day would be complete just seeing that.
"Uh, sure!" I agreed. Then I got an idea.
"But, only if you let me and my friends through," I added. He furrowed his brow as if deep in thought, then finally nodded slowly.
"Fine," he whispered. "But if I get in trouble, just remember, I have a taser."
We agreed-despite Dawn's cries of terror-and followed the guard through a back alley and into the Gym. He led us right up to the front row.
"These were reserved for a family, but they had an emergency and had to cancel. If anyone asks, just say Joel let you sit here."
I couldn't believe our luck. Not only had we just jumped the line, but we'd snagged front row seats! I signed the autograph like I'd promised.
"Joel?" Another security guard approached us. "That little kid just puked all over the sound equipment."
"Again?" Joel whined. He turned to us. "Thanks again for the autograph, you guys enjoy the show."
He turned reluctantly to the other security guard.
"Man, these guys gotta stop bringing their kids to work," Joel complained as he followed the officer out.
We sat down and waited for the show to start. In a few minutes, the lights dimmed and a single spotlight shone on the diving board that was suspended over the pool. Suddenly, the whole audience gasped. I looked around, distraught, as I tried to figure out what everyone was looking at. Paul nudged me, an agitated look on his face. He motioned for me to turn around. I made a sneering face and obeyed.
And then I saw her.
(A/N: Cue the cheesy romantic background music.)
I nearly choked.
A young woman stood on the board with her arms extended out. She had long, gorgeous red hair that cascaded over her shoulders. She wore a pale pink seashell bikini top, and a long and tight sea green mermaid tail that elongated her figure and accentuated her every curve. But that didn't even come in comparison with her eyes. They were a clear aqua green, but also, turquoise, and…they were indescribable. She was grinning brightly, her oceanic eyes sparkling as she basked in the warm spotlight.
I couldn't believe it, but I knew without a doubt in my mind that she could only be one person: Misty. My closest friend in the entire universe who had never left my side or stopped encouraging me. I stared in astonishment at this new confident and athletic girl, who looked nothing like she had when I'd last seen her perform. Let's just say….she was definitely not scrawny anymore. But if you looked closely, you could tell she hadn't changed one bit. She was the same hot-tempered, caring, and honest redhead I remembered. My Misty.
She jumped, and woke me out of my daze. She did a complicated dive, and landed in the pool with barely a splash. She did a few spins and flips, and then Daisy, Violet, and Lily appeared. Brock watched with googly eyes, but I barely noticed them. I was too busy watching Misty. I never took my eyes off her graceful form, twirling and twisting through the water with spectacular skill. I was mesmerized. What the actual point of the show was, I couldn't tell you. All that mattered was Misty, her dazzling face and sparkling eyes.
The rest of the show passed in a blur, but with much clarity, since I had my eyeballs glued to Misty the whole time. At the end, the Sensational Sisters came up for their individual curtain calls, and then Misty- the best of all. The whole Gym rose to their feet as applause thundered through the whole place.
The crowd slowly began to leave after a couple more minutes, but I insisted on staying until Misty finally exited the room-much to the amusement of Paul.
"Ieeieeee!" a shrill scream pierced through the audience and brought me out of my peaceful daydreams.
Daisy approached us, a smile on her sunny features.
"OMG! I can't believe you're, like, here!" she shrieked.
"Hi, Brock," she greeted the dumbstruck teen cheerily. He waved, dazed.
"Hi, I'm Dawn!" Dawn introduced herself.
"Hey!" Daisy grinned. "Who's this?" she gestured to Paul.
"Oh, that's just Paul," Dawn said, like she was introducing a moldy loaf of bread.
"Ahhhh," Daisy said, raising her eyebrows flirtatiously. "So, is he your boyfriend?"
"No," Paul stated flatly, his voice a little unsturdy.
"Oh," Daisy shrugged. She turned away from Paul with disinterest.
"OMG, Dawn, I, like, love your hair clip!" Daisy squealed. A huge smile spread across Dawn's face, which meant a long, painful conversation about "adorable" hair accessories was in store. I eagerly darted my eyes around the stadium, looking for any sign of red hair-to no avail. Unfortunately, my inspection wasn't discreet enough to go unnoticed by Paul.
"Ah, what have we here?" he teased loudly. "Are you searching for your redheaded mermaid Juliet, Romeo?" he smirked.
"Put a sock in it, Shakespeare," I retorted, and resorted back to Daisy and Dawn's conversation, which was almost worse than my previous one with Paul.
-"Like, I love bows, too! They're really cute with…" Daisy trailed off when she saw me and stopped dead in her tracks. What? Why is she staring at me like that? Confused, I whipped my head around to check behind me. There was no one.
"O. M. G." she grinned devilishly. "You've, like, grown up, Ash! You've become really handsome," she eyed me up and down, which made me kind of uncomfortable. I made the mistake of looking to Brock for help, because he was glowering at me with a jealous expression.
"Misty will be soooo excited you're here! Did you know she still talks about you all the time?" Daisy questioned. She clasped her hands over her heart and sighed dreamily. "Ahhh….young love…so beautiful!" I tried to get rid of the blush that I could feel creeping up my neck.
"We're not….." I choked the words out- "in love."
Daisy raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "Okay, well just keep telling yourself that. Ooh! Like this one time, Misty-"
"DAISY!" a warm familiar voice rang through the room and made my heart leap. A flash of red appeared and I did a double take. Running towards us was Misty, who had gotten rid of her flashy mermaid outfit and instead settled for light blue short shorts, her famous red suspenders, a faded aqua tee, and her same, old, beat-up red Converse with the lightning bolt up the side. Her bright hair hung loosely around her arms, and I realized she'd let it grow out. This was obviously her everyday outfit, and the fact that she was dressed so naturally and still managed to knock every guy in the room off his feet made her all the more better. She was positively beautiful. And she was mad.
"Daisy…" Misty warned. The eldest Waterflower sister looked around innocently, but as she met her sister's eyes she gasped in realization and squealed, her sky blue eyes twinkling.
"Sorry, lil sis, I was just trying to help! You know,"- Misty cut the blonde off and shoved her in the opposite direction. Daisy tripped on her stiletto heel and skipped away, still talking as she went. Misty rolled her aqua green eyes. She faced us for the first time.
"Hi, guys!" she said happily.
"Hey, Misty," Brock said, pulling her into a brotherly hug.
"Wow, you look good," Misty complimented as she pulled away. "So, you find a girlfriend yet?"
Brock looked at his feet and shook his head morbidly.
"Yeah….didn't think so," Misty patted him arm comfortingly.
"Misty, it's so nice to finally meet you in person," Dawn said. Misty turned away from the grieving Brock.
"Likewise," Misty smiled warmly. Misty noticed Paul.
"Oh, is he your boyfriend?" she asked.
"NO!" said 'couple' shouted in unison.
Misty blinked, and turned back to Dawn.
"Well, I've seen your contests on TV, and I'm just intrigued by your Piplup. For such a cute little thing, he sure is powerful."
"Oh, thanks! And I've heard so much about you," Dawn gushed. "Like, Ash has this cute little lure that you gave him, and he won't let anyone touch it. This one time-"
"Okay, Dawn," I interrupted. I hadn't meant to be rude, but that lure was special to me. Misty looked at me. Her eyes lit up.
"Hey, Ash," she said. My heart leapt in my chest as she hugged me. I wrapped my arms around her warm body and was immediately overcome with the fresh scent of the ocean and sea flowers. I inhaled deeply before I could stop myself.
"Hey, Mist," I said into her silky hair.
"I've missed you," she said barely above a whisper. I felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes. Misty finally pulled away somewhat reluctantly, so I blinked the tears out of my eyes and tried to ignore the sudden coldness of my body.
"So, what are you guys doing here?" Misty questioned, her voice shaky.
"Well, it's a long story, but we're going to find Zapdos," I explained.
"And Brock wanted to see hot girls dancing around in tiny bikinis, so here we are," Paul summed it up.
"Well, if you guys aren't in a hurry, maybe we could go out and catch up," Misty said, her voice full of hope.
"I….I don't think we can. We're really in a rush," Dawn said. Misty's face fell immediately. I looked to Brock pleadingly. I had just found my best friend who I hadn't seen in years. There was no way we were splitting up now.
And then I got the most brilliant idea ever.
"Misty!" I suddenly outbursted. She looked at me questioningly. "Come with us!" I shouted.
"Yeah, why didn't I think of that before?" Brock agreed. "This is perfect!"
"Wait, what are we doing?" Misty said, confused.
"We'll fill you in on the details on the way. We're going on an adventure," Dawn said excitedly. Misty's turquoise eyes filled with a determined look, and I knew she was hooked. Misty was always up for an adventure.
"I'm in," she decided.
"Yessssss!" Dawn screamed. "Finally, another girl in the group!" she said. Her face lit up with an idea.
"I could do your hair! And we could paint our nails, and read magazines, and-"
"Uh, Dawn?" I interjected. "Misty's more of a tomboy, so, maybe that's not the best idea. Last time someone went near her hair with a styling tool, well, let's just say we're never gonna be allowed in that hair salon again."
"It's true!" Brock agreed. "They even took our pictures and fingerprints!"
Dawn gasped, her face crestfallen.
"Really?" she said. Misty smirked.
"Well, we'll see," she gave in. Dawn grinned happily.
I smiled to myself. Those two were going to be great friends.
"Well, sorry to break up your little family reunion, but we gotta get going," Paul snapped. I hated to admit it, but he was right.
"Yeah, we should go. Where are your sisters?" I said. Misty led us out of the Gym section of the building and into their living quarters. We walked through the living room, which had white couches, blue walls, a wooden floor, and lots of windows. We entered the kitchen- which was basically the same-very blue and light from all the windows. Daisy, Violet, and Lily lounged in bar stools at the counter.
"Hey guys!" Violet greeted us. "Ya want some orange juice?"
Of course, I quickly obliged and stepped forward, but not before Misty reached her hand out and stopped me.
"Uh, trust me, you don't want some," she muttered under her breath. I shook my head in confusion but decided to take her word for it.
"So, what's up?" Lily questioned. I looked to the others in a panic. We hadn't thought of what we'd tell them. I doubted they'd let Misty come with us if we were like, "Oh, by the way, Misty's gonna come on a dangerous trip with us that'll probably get us killed in the process! Bye!"
Luckily, Paul had an excuse.
"We're going to the annual carrot festival in Hoenn," he stated so forcefully there was no way the triplets would question him.
"Okay, then," Daisy said. We quickly said our goodbyes and hurried for the door before they could change their minds.
"Wait!" we froze. Busted!
"Bring me back some carrot cake!" Daisy yelled cheerily. I glanced at Misty with disbelief. How can you and your sisters be from the same species? My eyes questioned. She shrugged, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
"Okay, sis," Misty assured her. We immediately left the Gym and roamed the streets.
"So, will someone explain to me where we're going?" Misty said impatiently.
"I'll tell her!" Dawn volunteered enthusiastically. While the girls talked, Brock, Paul, and I talked about the fastest way to get to the Power Plant.
"Well, we'll travel north past the bridge, then go west, past Bill's house to the river, and then our Pokemon can take us south to the Power Plant."
We started across the bridge.
"Oohhhhhh," Brock ogled over a group of girls chatting by the railing.
"Brock, you haven't changed one bit," Misty observed with a laugh. But Brock didn't even hear her. He was already rushing over to talk to the girls, gushing about how gorgeous they were.
"….You're eyes are like two beautiful, perfectly cut diamonds, your face, is like two freshly picked roses glowing in the morning sunlight. This flower….doesn't even come close to your beauty," he swooned, reaching into his pocket to pull out a flower. However, all he produced was a little pink cell phone. He gaped in horror as the girls burst into fits of giggles. He looked back at us as if Paul or I were responsible for the abomination.
"H-How did it…." Brock stammered.
He looked at me suspiciously.
"Okay, Ash, just 'cause I accidentally fed your burger to that flock of Starly that one time doesn't mean you can do this! He gestured to the cellular device wildly. I threw my hands up.
"Dude, I'm telling you, I didn't do it!" I said. He huffed and looked at the girls, who were still laughing, in defeat.
"Let's go," he said and stomped away.
"And that burger was fantastic!" I yelled before hurrying to catch up with the rest of them.
"What was all that about?" Misty questioned.
"We'll explain later. We'd better call Mew and tell her you've joined the team," Paul said. "Brock, give me your phone." Brock rolled his eyes.
"Gladly." Brock handed it to Paul, who dialed Mew.
"Hello?" Mew's voice came up right away.
"Mew? It's us," Paul said. "We've picked up Misty."
"Misty?" Mew questioned. Paul glanced at me with a devious smirk on his face, which couldn't be good.
"The redhead. Ash's girlfriend."
"Aiii-What?" Was all I could muster. I looked at Misty, who was blushing furiously and already had her hands on her mallet, ready to pull out. I almost felt bad for Paul as I imagined his prude little face being rearranged by Misty's beloved mallet. Ahhhh, lovely mental images.
"Oh, yes, I remember her! Well, tell her I said hi!"
"Alright, Mew," Paul agreed. He turned to Misty, his smile sickeningly sweet.
"Mew says hi."
The blushing redhead narrowed her eyes until they were barely open.
"Yeah, I got that," she snapped.
"So Paul, did you guys have to spend your emergency cash yet?" Mew asked.
"No, I still got mine," Paul said. He narrowed his eyebrows and, just to make sure, reached into his pocket.
"Yep. Still there," He muttered. His eyes widened, his hands still in his pockets as he pulled out a Mew-Phone!
"Impossible!" he muttered. I also reached into my jeans pocket, and sure enough, out came a Mew-Phone!
"How did this happen?" I screamed. "I thought we got rid of these things!"
"Oh, are you guys talking about the Mew-Phones?" Mew questioned. "I forgot to tell you guys. The phones are charmed so that if they get misplaced, they'll eventually reappear in your pocket so you'll never lose them! Isn't it clever?" she said cheerfully.
"Swell," Paul growled before snapping the phone shut. "Just swell."
"Swell?" Dawn teased.
"Yes. Swell. It's a word," Paul defended.
"Which hasn't been used since the '20's," I joined in. Paul rounded on me.
"Oh, I wouldn't even be talking, Ketchum, unless you want Ginger here to hear all the details on what you looked like at her show," he spit dangerously. I was blushing madly now.
"What? What did he look like?" Misty demanded.
"Hmm, I think it was something like this….." Paul barely had time to muster up a face before Brock came back.
"Okay, Paul, Dawn, Misty, Ash, could you stop flirting and hurry it up here?" Brock hissed. Obviously he was still upset over the Mew-Phone fiasco.
"FLIRTING!" all four of us yelled at different pitches.
"He's insane."
"Totally."
"Like I would flirt with you."
"Yeah…..wait, HEY!"
We continued to walk through the forest, still keeping our respective distances.
"Stupid…phone..." Brock grumbled. We passed a little park area where several people relaxed with their Pokemon by the water. He looked up and immediately seemed to be entranced by something. I followed his gaze and saw a hazel-eyed brunette with a strong-looking Leafeon.
"Seriously?" I said with disbelief as Brock rushed over to her. After just getting totally stood up by those girls at the bridge, Brock still had to flirt with every girl he saw.
"Ah, my beauty. The stars don't even compare to your-AGHH!" Brock screamed in pain as Misty yanked his ear and began to yank him away with it.
"You're coming with me, womanizer," Misty muttered. I burst out laughing. Paul and Dawn stared at me incredulously, but I couldn't help it. This was just like old times, with Misty. Misty must've gotten why I was laughing, because she joined in. Soon we were all hooting with laughter, even Paul, although I was pretty sure he was laughing at us more than with us. As we walked towards the sunset, the melodious sounds of laughter ringing through the woods, I forgot all about our troubles. All that mattered was being back on the road with my best friends.
And Paul.
A/N: Yay! I actually quite like this chapter, and I hope you did, too! Writing about Misty was fun, especially the water show scene. Hehe...Ash's got it bad, even if he doesn't realize it yet! Also, I wrote a little Pokeshipping oneshot/songfic for the holidays, so if you want you can check it out. Please R&R and Happy New Year,
~Aqua