I am a writing machine! I haven't been able to stop lately, which I guess is a good thing for you guys :P Then again, hockey season just started up again so that might get in my way a little.
This chapter is a little shorter than usual. And by a little, I really mean a little. It's still over 3,000 words long. But I thought it had enough drama to stand on its own, and for me to spread this conflict out over more than one chapter.
So, that's enough out of me. Go on, read!
Very early the next morning, Ash was woken up by a loud ring coming from his nightstand. He gasped and jumped up, hoping the sudden noise wouldn't disrupt Misty and Michelle's sleep. He grabbed his cell phone and answered the call, pressing the phone against his ear as he looked over his shoulder at his wife and daughter. Misty was stirring ever so slightly, but she didn't appear on the verge of waking up. Michelle, meanwhile, was still out like a light.
Thank goodness, Ash thought as he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hello?" He whispered, glancing over at the alarm clock. He grew wide eyed when he realized it was only seven in the morning. Who in the world would be calling at this time of day?
"MASTER KETCHUM!" The voice on the other end screamed.
"Ah!" Ash jumped, moving the phone away from his now sore ear. Wincing, he slowly moved the device back to its spot on the side of his head, and asked, "Who is this?"
"It's Mr. Goodshow," he had lowered his voice this time around, although it was still full of anger.
Oh crap, Ash cursed inwardly. He was really in for it.
"Oh, hello sir," Ash glanced back at Misty. She was now yawning and slowly moving her head. There was no way he could finish this conversation next to her. Slipping out of bed, Ash tip toed out of the room and rested himself against the wall in the hallway.
"I assume you know why I'm calling," Goodshow inquired.
"I have an idea," Ash gulped.
"I'm going to need to meet with you at the Pokémon League headquarters, I'm afraid."
"At…at the Indigo Plateau?"
"Well, that's where our Kanto headquarters are, correct?"
Ash licked his lips nervously. Goodshow had never sounded this angry before. "Yes, sir."
"Be here by eleven," Goodshow demanded. Before Ash could respond, the call ended. Groaning, Ash quietly marched back into the bedroom.
"Who was that screaming on the phone?"
Ash stopped in his tracks, a shock going up his spine. Slowly looking towards the bed, he found Misty sitting up, staring questioningly at him.
"Oh. It was just Mr. Goodshow," Ash shrugged, putting the phone down on his night stand.
"Well he sounded happy," Misty's voice was dripping with sarcasm. Ash rolled his eyes and stood up straight.
"I have to go have a meeting with him," Ash announced.
"About what? Did you do something?"
"Um…"
"Ash…" Misty's stare became somewhat judgmental, and Ash could feel the dread growing in his chest.
"We'll just see what he has to say to me," Ash rushed his words out as he darted off towards the bathroom.
"Ash Ketchum!" Misty snapped, her eyes narrowing. But he didn't bother to turn around and quickly shut the door. "Something's up with him," Misty grumbled, slumping down against the headboard.
"Mmm…Mama?"
Misty looked down and saw Michelle beginning to stir, her little hands rising to her eyes in order to rub the sleep from them.
"Oh, I'm sorry baby girl," Misty frowned, "did I wake you up?"
Michelle shook her head slowly as she moved closer to Misty once again, this time resting her head on her mother's thighs.
"Are you okay sweetheart?" Misty tilted her head.
"Yes," Michelle murmured. Misty furrowed her brow. She knew it was still early, but even then, Michelle would've been acting like her usual self, bouncing up and down on the bed and begging for breakfast. This was quite strange, actually.
"Are you sure?" Misty asked playfully.
"Yes," Michelle repeated, her tone unchanged from before. Misty sighed sadly and touched the young girl's head. After a few minutes, the familiar movements from her midsection began. They were soft at first, but quickly became stronger until they were little kicks.
"Michelle," Misty nudged her daughter. The child looked up at her mother with innocent eyes, waiting for whatever Misty had to say. "Your little sister is awake," Misty giggled, "do you want to feel?"
Michelle nodded quickly, a little smile finally appearing on her face. She absolutely adored feeling the baby kick. Once she pressed her palms against Misty's belly, she felt much better. Michelle knew her mother would always be able to protect her. At that moment, Ash walked out of the bathroom, and Michelle shivered ever so slightly. She wasn't so sure that her father could do the same at this point.
"I'm gonna have to go now," Ash mentioned mindlessly to Misty as he walked into his closet to get dressed, "Goodshow wants me there at eleven."
"You've got about three hours until then," Misty raised an eyebrow.
"But it's all the way at the Indigo Plateau, and you heard how angry he was. I definitely don't want to be late for this."
"Are you ever going to tell me what happened?" Misty sighed impatiently. Michelle looked up at her mother with saddened eyes.
"Well…I've gotta see what he says first," Ash hopped out of the closet, fully dressed, "we can go from there."
"Fine," Misty rolled her eyes. Smiling down at her daughter, Misty patted the child's head and asked, "Are you going to go with your Daddy?" Michelle shook her head feverously, greatly confusing Misty.
"It's probably not a good idea Mist," Ash piped up, "I think he's pretty ticked."
"Let me stay with you Mommy," Michelle hugged Misty tightly, "I'll be good, really. I promise."
"Okay," Misty hushed, kissing the girl's forehead, "it's alright. I'll watch you and your brother."
"Wait!" Ash cried, holding his hand out, "that's not really a great idea either! I don't want anything bad happening to you, Mist!"
"It's not a big deal," Misty raised an eyebrow, "if they need something to eat, I can get up for a few minutes. It's not like I'm going to go cook a full course meal or anything."
"No, it'll be fine," Ash smiled at Michelle, "you want to come with me, sweetie?" Again, Michelle shook her head quickly. Ash furrowed his brow and tried to ignore the guilt plaguing his heart.
"It'll be fine, Ash," Misty smiled sweetly at him, "quit worrying."
Ash breathed out deeply but finally agreed. He didn't need any other conflicts right now: the meeting with Goodshow was not going to be a pleasant one.
XXX
Ash watched with a pained look on his face as Mr. Goodshow deeply rubbed his temples. He was sitting at his desk, and had hardly looked up at Ash the entire time. In fact, the two had just been sitting there for about five minutes now.
"Uh…if it helps, sir, I know why I'm here," Ash spoke up quietly. Goodshow finally raised his eyes to the master, who in turn felt extremely awkward.
"As you should," Goodshow sighed, leaning back in his chair, "do you have any idea how much damage you caused to that room?"
"Well, not anything exact," Ash looked away sheepishly, "but it looked pretty severe."
"Ash," Goodshow clasped his hands together and leaned forward on his desk, "it's practically damaged beyond repair." Ash cringed visibly at those words. "Would you care explaining to me just why you went ahead and did this? I mean, you're our master for goodness sake! I'd never expect anything like this out of you."
"It's not like I just decided to trash it," Ash shook his head slowly, "I really didn't mean to! Sir, if you saw what was going on, you would understand."
"Well, go on," Goodshow replied tiredly.
"I had Aiden and Michelle with me. Misty was put on bed rest, and I had no one else to watch them. We went inside for a little break, and I went to get the twins something to drink. Aiden was playing with a ball and it ended up bouncing down the hall. For whatever reason, Michelle offered to go get it for him, and she ended up in the normal type training area. When she got in there, there was some strange guy standing in the room. It was almost like he was waiting for her."
Goodshow looked rather skeptical, but Ash had no reason to stop. He knew he was telling the truth. So he continued, "Anyway, the guy tried to kidnap my daughter. He whipped out a Venusaur and tried to get away with her. And he might have gotten away with it too if I hadn't gone looking for Michelle! I had to battle him to get her back, sir. I sure as hell wasn't about to let some psycho take my daughter."
"Ash…"
"I would never make this up sir," Ash was practically pleading at this point, "someone tried to take my little girl. I would do anything for her. Aiden too. You know how protective I am of them!"
"Indeed, I do," Goodshow frowned, "and I'm not saying I don't believe you. It does sound a bit…strange, but I don't believe you'd ever make up something like that about your daughter." Ash nodded feverously. "Unfortunately, I can't just let you get away with this."
"I understand," Ash answered calmly. Inside, however, he was going crazy. What was Goodshow going to do to him?
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to suspend you," Goodshow looked extremely remorseful, "without pay."
"WHAT?" Ash cried, his eyes practically shooting out of his head. He had been so close to keeping the incident a secret from Misty, but such a serious punishment would not go unnoticed.
"I'm sorry, Ash. Truly I am. But seeing as you're the one who caused all of the damage, you're the one who's going to have to fix it."
"Sir, I understand that this isn't a good situation," Ash leaned forward, "but me not making a paycheck is bad. Misty can't run the gym for another two weeks, and she's depending on me to keep things running!" Ash groaned and buried his head in his hands. "How long are we talking here?"
"Well, we've calculated how much it'll cost to repair the room," Goodshow glanced over at a piece of paper on his desk, "and going by that, you'll have to be deferred for about three to four weeks. Probably four."
"That's…a whole month," Ash stammered, the color draining from his face.
"I feel very badly that it has to come down to this, but I see no other choice," Goodshow's frown deepened, "really Ash."
"Yeah," Ash slumped down in his chair, "me too."
XXX
At the same time, back in their Cerulean City home, Misty was busy preparing an early lunch for her and the twins. Both young children stood behind her, eyeing their mother with complete concern. Sensing their eyes on her, Misty giggled lightly and looked over her shoulder at her son and daughter.
"You two are very sweet," she trilled, "but I'm going to be just fine! I'm not doing anything that's too stressful."
"We don't trust you Mommy," Aiden narrowed his eyes.
"I promise you guys I'll be fine!" Misty smiled reassuringly. As she turned back to the sandwiches she was making, the doorbell rang, slightly alarming the twins. "Who could that be?" Misty mused, "This is a bit of a strange hour for anyone to be visiting…"
"I'll check!" Aiden offered, racing off in the direction of the door.
"Vaporeon," Misty glanced under the kitchen table, where she found her loyal water type resting in a strip of sunlight, "would you go with Aiden? I don't want him answering the door by himself."
"Vay," Vaporeon nodded, getting up on her paws and scurrying gracefully after Aiden. Misty listened intently as the door opened, trying to catch a hint of the visitor's voice. Michelle, meanwhile, moved closer to her mother. The little girl didn't want to risk anymore chances of being kidnapped.
"Mommy!" Aiden called, running back into the kitchen, "it's Sam's Dad."
"Gary?" Misty raised a confused eyebrow.
"Should I let him in?"
"Uh, yes," Misty nodded slowly. Aiden hurried back to his previous position, and returned in a matter of moments with a tall, russet haired man who was similar in build to Ash.
"Hello Gary," Misty flashed him an innocent smile, "are you looking for Ash? Because he's not here at the moment. He had a…"
"Meeting with the head honcho of the Pokémon league?" Gary interrupted, "yeah, I know. Sorry about that."
Misty suddenly looked even more confused than before. "Sorry about what?"
"You know, him being temporarily stripped of his title."
"WHAT?" Misty's emerald eyes flashed like fire. Aiden and Michelle looked up at their mother with wide eyes, and when they realized she had no idea what was going on, they turned their attention to Gary. "What do you mean they took away his title?"
"They didn't take it away," Gary waved his hands in front of himself, "they just suspended him! But…I thought you already knew that."
"No!" Misty was infuriated, "Why in the world would they suspend him?"
"I'm not really sure why," Gary tapped his chin, "the news casters didn't say. All I know is he's been suspended for a month as a direct result of something he did."
"What did he do?" Misty seethed, mostly to herself. She knew Gary wasn't lying when he said he didn't know what Ash had gotten suspended for. Rather, it was Ash who had lied to her. He knew what he'd done all along.
"Well…this is awkward…" Gary rubbed the back of his head. Looking over Misty, he made an attempt at small talk, "so, you're getting big, huh?"
"Shut up," Misty rolled her eyes as she went back to preparing the food.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Gary continued, "It means the baby is healthy, right?"
"Gary," Misty sighed without looking up, "if you have nothing better to do than to comment on my weight, then get out of my house before I unleash Gyrados on you."
"Sorry," Gary actually sounded sincere, "I just thought you might need some support. What, with Ash being a delinquent and all."
"You're certainly not helping."
"Well I admire you," Gary added haphazardly as he leaned on the counter. Misty rolled her eyes and folded her arms, glaring towards Gary and expecting him to continue with his explanation. "At least you're willing to do this for another kid. Kayla won't; no way."
Misty just kept on ignoring Gary and handed her children their lunch, the young and confused children scurrying off happily to eat their meals.
"Come on Misty," Gary frowned, suddenly sounding rather sympathetic. "Believe it or not, I don't like to see you moping around. Seems as if Ashy-Boy has actually rubbed off in me in that respect."
Misty's lips finally bent into a tiny smile, although she was quick to pull it down again. "I have a reason to mope, don't you think?"
"Yes, you do. But you have to know it's not your fault; all of this that's going on."
"And when did I ever say I thought everything was my fault?" Misty blushed slightly at the accusation.
"You never did, you didn't have to," Gary smirked. "I can see it in your eyes."
"You know," Misty narrowed her eyes, "if we weren't both married, I would definitely look upon this as you flirting with me."
"No, never," Gary waved a hand to dismiss the thought, "Ashy-Boy would kill me. I've just known you for so long that it's pretty easy to read you."
Misty let out a sad breath and shrugged her shoulders forward, trying her hardest not to let her hormones get the better of her. "I can't help but to feel that way, Gary. I'm the one who's pregnant and messing everything up."
"See, that's wrong," Gary replied smartly. "It isn't your fault, Misty. Especially this! It's all Ash's fault, this one. I wouldn't blame you for lashing out at him like you never have before."
Misty raised an eyebrow and shot Gary a bookish glance. He did make a good point…for once.
The sound of a car pulling up to the house could be heard, which caused Gary to sigh tiredly.
"Well, I'd better head on over to the Pokémon Center. Whatever needs to be worked out between you and Ash should be done while I'm not here."
"Why are you making so much sense today Gary?" Misty allowed herself to giggle sadly.
"I don't know really," Gary shrugged as he walked towards the back door. "I'm getting wiser with age, I suppose. Better too. Like a fine wine."
"Alright, get out," Misty felt one of her eyes twitch, "before you drive me crazy."
As soon as Gary left, Ash walked into the house, his brown eyes darting nervously around the room. He was silently hoping that Misty was upstairs sleeping. Maybe then he wouldn't have to face her undoubtedly harsh censure. Or perhaps he'd get lucky and Misty would never even know about his punishment! She could just think he had taken a vacation…
"ASH!"
Or not.
"Uh…hey Mist," Ash greeted as sweetly as possible, his lopsided smile appearing hesitantly.
"Don't you hey Mist me," Misty growled lowly. "How in the world could you not tell me what this meeting with Goodshow was about? You obviously knew it was bad because you got suspended!"
"Where'd you hear that? On the TV?"
"No from…" Misty stopped herself and backtracked with a remarkable scowl. "Yeah, from TV."
"Knew I should've unplugged those before I left," Ash murmured playfully.
"This isn't a joke, Ash!" Misty cried, her hands balling into fists as her nails dug into her palms. "What the hell did you do?"
"You have to let me explain Misty…"
"Explain, explain, explain!" Misty threw her head back. "That's all you ever do, Ash! Every time you do something wrong you have to explain it to me!"
"But this wasn't my fault!" Ash retorted.
"Fine!" Misty threw her hands up, tired of fighting back. "Tell me Ash. Tell me all about it!"
"Some guy was trying to kidnap Michelle!" Ash yelled, his eyes clouding over with tears at the memory. Misty let out a small gasp and backed down slightly. "She ran off, he was standing in one of the training rooms waiting for her…I had to save her. I destroyed the room. That's why I got suspended. They need my paycheck to repair the damaged room."
"Ash, how the hell could you not tell me our daughter was almost kidnapped?" Misty breathed, her anger beginning to rise again.
"Because I knew it would work you up," Ash frowned, "and that was the last thing I wanted. I have to protect you and the baby, Mist."
"That's not something you keep from me Ash," Misty choked, a tear slipping out of her eye.
"Mist," Ash sighed softly, "don't cry. Please." He reached out to sweep away the drop, and was shocked when Misty reached her hand out to smack his own away. "Misty!"
"Don't touch me," Misty growled lowly, her eyes blazing with anger.
"Misty," Ash gasped quietly, "but…but…you're acting like I just hit you. And I would never…"
"You might as well have with what you just told me," Misty shook her head, tears still free falling. "So that's what Michelle's been having nightmares about. That's why she's been so skittish all day, and refuses to go near you! Ash, how could you?"
"I'm really sorry!" Ash tried, his shoulders sagging in guilt and frustration. "I just didn't want to scare you Mist. I didn't mean for any of this to happen, really."
"I hardly know who you are anymore," Misty blurted out, her cheeks reddening as she spoke. "The real Ash would never lie to me. And you've been doing it constantly."
"Misty…" Ash whined. The gym leader began backing away from him, slowly shaking her head as she retreated.
"You're being a terrible husband," Misty bit acidly. Those words cut Ash like a knife, and he couldn't even find the words to respond. And if he thought that remark was cruel, then he was truly unprepared for Misty's finishing blow. "And an even worse father."
And with that, Misty turned and stormed away, leaving behind a shocked and broken Ash.
Ouch. See, Misty's still got her mean streak! Although this time it might have been justified. I don't know; what do you guys think? That's what reviews are for (hint hint :P)
So what will happen next? Is Ash gonna run away, like Misty in the first story? Will Misty ever be able to forigve Ash for all of his lies? And will Michelle ever be able to trust her father again?
All of these answers...next time!