Author Note: Hope you enjoy this chapter. If any grammar error occur I will fix them later.
Chapter 2
It was already half past five in the afternoon, Dawn was sitting on a bench by the feet of Prism Tower waiting for May who was late for their meeting. Dawn should have seen that coming since it was May who we're talking about, since they know each other May had always been the "late kind" person.
While Dawn was waiting for May, she thought about what she said yesterday… about Serena
"Well… about Serena… there's something I have to say…" May said looking down
"What?" Dawn asked
"This is not the best place to talk about her"
"What could have possibly happened with Serena that May couldn't tell me? Dawn asked herself "I can imagine how horrible it must be to see your beloved one disappear out of the blue… I just hope she's okay"
"She's not okay" said a voice near Dawn
Dawn looked up and saw May standing right in front of her, she was so lost into her thoughts that she didn't notice her arrival
"May… You're here" said Dawn
"Sorry I'm late… but you know me right"
"I certainly do" Dawn answered "But what do you mean with Serena is not okay?" asked Dawn
May looked around as if confirming that the place was safe
"Are you expecting someone else?" asked Dawn curiously
"Not really" she answered "Let's talk inside"
"Inside?" asked Dawn "Inside of what?"
"Prism Tower, where else?"
"But that's the Gym… we can only enter if we are challenging it" Dawn said
"Actually… we are being expected" May said
"By whom?"
"By me" said a third voice from behind Dawn
Dawn turned into the voice direction and found her eyes looking to a blond man, they were about the same height and probably the same age as well. He was wearing a blue overalls and glasses
"I do know you" said Dawn "You are the Gym leader"
"Clemont at your service" said Clemont taking Dawn's hand and gently kissing it
"What a charming man" said Dawn a little uncomfortable "So… how do you and May know each other?"
"May and I have a common friend… the same friend I have in common with you miss Dawn" said Clemont
"Ash" Dawn said
"Exactly" Clemont answered "Ash and I travelled through Kalos together along with my little sister Bonnie and Serena"
"Right… I remember Ash talking about you" said Dawn "But May… why are we here? I thought you were going to tell me about Serena"
"This is only one of the things we are going to discuss Dawn" said May
"Precisely. Now please… let's go inside Prism Tower to talk more privately… also, I have cake and tea" said Clemont offering his hand to Dawn
"Well… I never say no to cake and tea" said Dawn taking Clemont's hand
"Gosh... I miss the time when I used to be the sexy one" said May following them into Prism Tower
CERULEAN CITY
Gary walked all the way from Pallet Town to Cerulean City to talk with Misty as his grandfather asked him to do, it's been a long time since he last talked or saw her so he wasn't sure she'd talk with him openly, if she talks to him at all
"Welcome to Cerulean Gym" said a pink hair girl at the reception "I'm Lily, one of the sensational sister and I must say that unfortunately we are not performing tonight but I'll be happy to…"
"I know who you are Lily" said Gary "I challenged you for the Cascade badge many years ago"
"And you think I'd remember that?" said Lily "Anyway… what do you want?"
"I'm here to see Misty"
"Well... In normal occasions I'd ask if you are her new boyfriend… but she rarely leaves the Gym now so…" said Lily
"Can I see her? Please? I'm kind of an old friend of hers" Gary said
"Are you the one she calls every night in her dreams? Ash something?" asked Lilly
"No. You… you don't know who Ash is?" asked Gary surprised
"I'm not good with names, or faces" said Lilly "But if you're here to help her… you are more than welcome. Please come with me"
Gary followed Lily throughout the Gym, on their way they passed by the pool where the sensational sisters normally perform, then they passed by the battle arena where the challengers used to fight Misty for the badge
"Let me ask you something Lily..." said Gary "Is Misty accepting challengers?"
"Unfortunately not anymore" Lily answered "Misty doesn't talk often with me or our sisters, she just said that she would stop being gym leader for a while, so my sisters and I are taking turns to accept the challengers"
"When was the last time she battled as gym leader?" asked Gary
"Coincidentally… two years ago"
"Aren't you worried with your sister?" asked Gary
"Of course I am… but she is a grow up girl. She knows how to take care of herself, so if she thinks being alone is the best for her… I will not discuss"
They walked until an orange door with the sign "GYM LEADER" on it
"This is very suggestive" said Gary
"Misty… are you there?" asked Lily while knocking on the door
Nobody answered
"Misty… you have a visitor" Lily said again
"I don't want to talk to anyone" a voice inside answered
"Well… at least we know she's alive" said Gary
"Come on Misty, it's been six days since we last saw you… it's not healthy even for you" said Lily
"What happened with that talk about "She knows how to take care of herself?"" asked Gary
"I'm her old sister, it's my job to at least give it a try" said Lily
"Well... It's not working. Would you let me try?" asked Gary
"Be my guest" said Lily "If you need me I will be at the pool"
Gary waited until Lily got completely out of sight and then knocked the door
"Misty… It's Gary. Please open the door I want to talk with you"
"I know why you're here. Forget it Gary. It took me two years to erase from my memory what happened that day" Misty said
"It doesn't seem to be working" Gary answered
"What makes you think that?"
"You're locked in your room for the past six days, for the past two years you are locked into this Gym and for the past ten years you've been locked out of Ash's heart… not being able to go in" said Gary
"Don't be ridiculous" said Misty "I never liked Ash"
"You're not fooling anyone but yourself saying that Misty"
"What makes you think I ever liked Ash?"
"Because I could see in your eyes. You have the same eyes of me… the eyes of those who are not matched in love. Just like… me. I know how you feel"
Gary then heard a noise coming from the door lock, like it was getting unlocked. As the noise stopped, the door opened revealing a red hair girl, she was looking horrible, far from the Misty Gary remembered… thin and with a tired face
"Gosh… you look… great" said Gary
"Yeah right" said Misty "So you think you know how I feel?"
"Of course I do Misty" Gary answered
"You know nothing Gary… I loved that man, I did everything for him, I taught him how to battle, how to take care of his Pokémon, I took care of him, travelled with him through Kanto, Johto and the Orange Islands, I celebrated every victory he had and cried at every lost… all the time pretending, I wanted my stupid bike back"
Gary didn't answer, it was obvious her love for Ash
"And do you know what he did?" Misty asked crying "He replaced me for the first girl he met in Hoenn"
"You're talking about May?" Gary asked "He didn't replace you… you could have kept travelling with him"
"And for what? To keep being considered as his old sister? His best friend?" said Misty crying "It hurts Gary… to love someone and not being loved back"
"I know"
"You don't know. How could you…"
"Life is not fair. What we see in movies and television about happy endings… it doesn't happen with everyone. Some people unfortunately have to suffer so others can smile… and we can't choose which one we are living Dawn" said Gary
"What did you just call me?" asked Misty
"What?" asked Gary blushing "I called you Misty"
"No. You called me Dawn"
"No I didn't"
"Yes you did" Misty said "Why did you call me Dawn?"
Gary turned his face away, but Misty could see he was sad
"Oh God" said Misty "You are in love with Dawn"
Gary hesitated, but turned back to Misty and smiled
"A love that will never be realized because she loves someone else" said Gary
"How did it happen?" Misty asked
"When I met her in Sinnoh… It was love at first sight. I tried to make this feeling go away but it was too strong. Her blue eyes, her soft skin, her angel voice, her beautiful hair… how could I not fall for her?
"Gary… I…" Misty started saying
"So don't you dare say I don't know how you feel. I know how it's like to want to be into someone's arms but at the same time this person wants to be in someone else's"
Misty just looked at him and couldn't help but feeling guilty, Gary had hidden this from everyone and now because of her stubbornness it was discovered
"Gary I'm sorry" said Misty "I think I worried so much with my problems that I never stopped to think that other people have problems too. And when I say other people I mean my friends"
Gary took a deep breath and smiled at Misty, making her blush a little
"I'm a little colder than you if you can say that… I learned to live with this feeling. As I said, life makes some people suffer so others can smile" said Gary
"How can you live with that?" asked Misty "What holds you from going to her and say how much you love her?"
"What holds me?" Gary smiled again "Tomorrow"
"Simple as that?"
"Simple as that" Gary answered
Misty looked down and thought about everything that she lost since that day two years ago. How many things she could have done, how many goals she could have accomplished, how many people she could have met. All that because of one guy
"I love Ash Gary" said Misty "Although I always knew he would never be mine… I was okay because I knew he was around… but when he disappeared right in front of my eyes… my world fell apart… I felt alone, unprotected and sad... until today"
"What?"
"You came to save me from myself… from my regrets and my ghosts. Thank you"
"You're welcome Misty" said Gary
"What do you need me for?" Misty asked
"Come back to Pallet Town with me. My grandfather may have found some answers but he needs you, your memories. Maybe together… we could finally find an answer about Ash's missing" said Gary
"Okay… I'll go with you" Misty answered "Please just wait outside until I get ready"
"Of course" said Gary leaving her bedroom
As Gary closed the door he sat on the ground and felt a tear rolling down his face
"Now I understand what grandpa said about my ways of conducting people… I'm a very good liar" said Gary "Misty… would you have agreed to come with me if you knew the girl I really love is you and not Dawn? That you are the one I really want to be with? Well… I don't think so"
LUMIOSE CITY
"So… if everything is going as we planned, Gary will be taking Misty to Professor Oak's Lab. And with my new invention we'll be able to see what happened that day through Misty's eyes and along with Professor Oak's research, maybe find an answer about Ash's whereabouts" said Clemont
"Quite an interesting story Clemont" said Dawn "Of course I will help, but for what exactly do you need me?"
"If we do find answers about Ash… maybe we'll have to go look for him. And we are going to need as much help as we can get" said May
"I understand" said Dawn "Now… I want you to tell me about Serena. What happened with her?"
May and Clemont look at each other but both agreed that the time had come to reveal everything about Serena
"Dawn…" said May "Serena got really bad when Ash disappeared. Really, really bad"
"Okay. I think it's a completely normal reaction. They were a couple" said Dawn with a pain in her heart
"Serena tried to find Ash as much as we did" said Clemont "But when Officer Jenny said he was probably dead and closed the investigations down, Serena didn't agree and kept looking for him on her own"
"Right..."
"She remained 18 months away from us" May said "She completely disappeared at that time, nobody knew where she was, not even her mother"
"What? She is also missing?" asked Dawn
"No. As I said she remained 18 months missing… we ran into her two weeks ago" said Clemont
"We who?" asked Dawn
"Clemont and his little sister" said May
"Two weeks ago she came here in the middle of the nigh. Bonnie and I were sleeping and we heard a noise coming from my lab. When we went down, we saw someone in a black coat using my computer…"
FLASHBACK
"Who's there?" asked Clemont while turning on the lights
"Who are you?" asked Bonnie
"Go back to sleep Clemont and Bonnie… I just want some files but I will not hesitate to take you both down"
"This voice" said Clemont
"It can't be" said Bonnie "Serena?"
The woman turned into the siblings and removed her coat revealing their old travel companion Serena
"I can't believe you're here" said Clemont walking into Serena
"Stay away" said Serena "Delphox, use fire blast"
Suddenly a huge fox appeared on the lab and used one of the most powerful fire attacks on Clemont and Bonnie
"Gardevoir use Protect" said Bonnie revealing one of her Pokémon
"Thank you Bonnie, thank you Gardevoir" said Clemont
"Serena… why are you doing this?" asked Bonnie
"I told you to stay away" said Serena "Delphox use Shadow ball"
Delphox used a super effective attack on Gardevoir who immediately got knocked out
"Gardevoir" shouted Bonnie
"Delphox use glare" said Serena as she watched her Pokémon paralyze the siblings
"Serena… please let me help you" said Clemont "I know you miss Ash but May and I are…"
"I know what you are doing, and I have just one thing to say to you and May" said Serena "Stay away from this… forget about Ash and forget about me. If you continue with your investigations… I myself will get rid of you all"
"Serena?" asked Clemont
"You've been warned" said Serena "Now… sleep. Delphox, use hypnosis"
And they all fell asleep into the floor
END OF FLASHBACK
Dawn were perplexed as she listened to Clemont's story
"It can't be Serena" said Dawn "She was being controlled…"
"She was not" said Clemont "We could see on her eyes her sanity"
"I can't believe it" Dawn said
They remained a couple of minutes in silence until May's phone rang
"Hello" said May "Really? Wonderful. Thank you"
"What happened?" asked Clemont
"Gary is taking Misty to Pallet Town" said May
"Marvelous" said Clemont "So we have no time to lose. Let's go"
"May" said Dawn "We know Serena… She would never do such a thing… something must be happening, maybe she is helping us, trying to avoid something bad to happen"
"I know. I believe you and this is the same feeling I got. But we can't let her threats stop our investigations. Ash's been missing for long enough. We must find him" said May "Can I count on you to help us? To be on our side?"
"Of course you can May" said Dawn
"So let's go find our man" said May smiling to her best friend who smiled back. They wouldn't give up until the very end