Hi people! I'm glad to see this story has perked up the interest of a few of you; hopefully this story will continue to keep your interest. I apologize for not updating in 2 weeks, but I had finals which really made my scheduale hectic... Anways-! Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter and please enjoy this one!

Disclaimer: Pokemon has never been, will never be, and does not belong to me.

Note: For those of you who are curious/wonder where the heck Silver is in my stories (except in the Thin Line Between Love and Hate), he isn't in them... The reason why is 'cause I find it hard to write his character. I dunno, maybe later I'll make a story where Silver is part of the main plot, but he's not in this story...or he might come later, I haven't decided. Now read on!


Crystal's P.O.V.

"Mom?!?"

There standing there in all her rather childish attire was my mom. She still had her blond hair bunched up in two loose pigtails near the top of her head and still had her faithful Wobbuffet next to her feet.

"Crystal!" she yelled again happily, bouncing over and pulling me into a tight embrace.

"Mom…I…can't…breathe…" I managed to gasp out.

"Whoops!" she said, freeing me from her clutches. I breathed in deeply as I massaged my neck. My mom looked around and noticed Gold who had been standing there in shock the whole time.

"Gold!" She immediately pounced on him, grabbing him into a hug.

Gold patted her back awkwardly. Even though they had gotten along quite well when we were younger, I didn't really blame Gold for being surprised. My mother had a weird habit of popping up unexpectedly and doing random things.

"Um…So why are you here Mom?"

She looked at me with the expression of a kicked Growlithe puppy. "What? Can't a mother come and visit her own daughter?"

"No Mom, I'm glad you're here! I was just wondering why you didn't call ahead or something…"

She laughed. "I was just kidding. Crystal, you are too serious sometimes! Anyways, I wanted to surprise you! Surprise!"

"Ok mom, I'm surprised," I said, playing along with her.

Suddenly, she clapped twice. "Oh! I almost forgot the other surprise! Wait here," she ordered as she dashed out the door.

"Your mom never changes, does she?"

I looked over at Gold and shook my head. "Nope…" My voice trailed off as I remembered what we were talking about before my mom had interrupted us.

Gold's face also had a serious expression (I preferred his usual grin though. Frowning didn't suit him.) "Listen, about what I said earlier…"

Once again, we were interrupted.

"Look who I've brought!" trilled my mother.

Both of us turned to see my father standing next to my mother. He nodded at us.

I got up and gave him a half-hearted hug. "Hi dad."

"Crystal. I see you've been managing well."

I nodded, unsure of what else I could say. I had never been close to my father. He was constantly on business trips when I was younger while my mom taught me to be an experienced Pokémon catcher. I saw him once or twice at most every few years. After I was old enough to watch the house, my mother had gone off to "discover" herself, occasionally meeting up with my father.

"I'm going to go make some tea…" I said, after an awkward pause.

"I'll help!" Gold went eagerly into the kitchen and I quickly followed.

-in the kitchen-

I set a pot of water on the stove to boil then turned to Gold. "Why are they here?" I hissed, glancing towards the doorway that led to the living room.

He shrugged. "Beats me. They're your parents."

"Ugh! Why the heck would they just show up like this so unexpectedly?!?" I pounded the sides of my head, trying to think of a good reason why my parents would come here, together, when it wasn't a holiday or my birthday.

"I can't think of a reason…" I sighed, slumping to the ground.

Gold grabbed my wrists and pulled my hands away from my head. "Don't worry about it. They're probably here 'cause they haven't seen you for so long."

I stared at him. "Gold, you know my dad. Would he really come for no reason at all?"

"No…" he paused, "But what's the use of worrying? Lighten up!"

He smiled at me and I gave him a small smile. "I guess you're right…we'll find out why they came sooner or later."

Gold grinned cheerfully at me and kissed me gently on my forehead. "That's better. Now come on, your parents are waiting and the tea is done."

As I got out the teacups and put them and the pot of tea on a tray, Gold asked, "Are you going to tell your parents about us dating?"

"Heck no! I'd rather fall in a pit filled with rabid Ursarings, then tell my dad I'm actually dating! I'll tell my mom when my dad is gone," I replied.

Gold nodded. He knew how my dad felt about relationships. Any and all relationships to him were strictly for business. I'm surprised he actually got married to mom and that they had me.

"Ready to go back in there?" I smiled grimly and walked through the door as an answer to Gold's question and he followed.

-back in the living room-

We walked into the living room and saw that my parents had seated themselves on one of the sofas. My mother was knitting something (another new habit I guess) and my father was impatiently tapping the armrest.

"Thank you dear!" my mother said, taking a cup for her and another for my father. He nodded to me and took a sip of tea before speaking.

"So Crystal, it has come to my attention that you have recently turned 18." I nodded, inwardly rolling my eyes. Actually, my birthday had been 3 months before; it was now July.

I turned my attention back to my father as I heard him say, "…so I think you are old enough to start learning how to take over the business."

"What?" I gasped. He raised an eyebrow at me and I quickly backtracked. "I mean, excuse me, what did you just say?"

"You are now legally an adult. That means you will be able to start handling and managing the family business. But since you are a girl," (I fumed at this. My father had always wanted a boy, always making it quite obvious that he'd rather have a son then a daughter. He thought the female species was much more inferior to the male species.), "you will have to marry and your husband will take over the business in your place."

This time, I wasn't the only one who said, "What." Gold jumped up as we simultaneously yelled, "WHAT?!?"

My father continued on, unfazed, "Luckily for you, I have taken the time to search for a suitable partner for you. We have looked for months and have finally found the perfect match. He should be coming here shortly."

At that moment, the doorbell rang. My mother jumped up, yelling, "I'll get it!" She ran off towards the door.

My father looked at me and I stared back, not letting my emotions show. Inwardly, I was both angry and afraid. Angry, because my father had put me in an arranged marriage. An ARRANGED marriage? I mean seriously, what century do we live in? And I was afraid because I would be forced to break up with Gold.

I glanced over at Gold. He stood rigid, eyes filled with anger as he glared at my father. I noticed how my father didn't even acknowledge Gold. He always thought Gold was inferior to my family, so whenever Gold came over, my father would not speak or even look at Gold.

The sound of footsteps approached. My mother along with the suitor came into the living room.

I felt a cold shot of fear as an eerily familiar voice said, "Hello everyone…"


A/N: I wonder who the mysterious person could be... Feel free to guess (you'll probably get it right), but no prizes for guessing. I hope you liked this ch., the story is just getting started and will have more action later on, just wait a bit! And as always...please review!

Note: As you've read, Crys is 18 (but I'm also making Gold 18, even though his b-day is in July). So they're pretty young to be getting married, but I'm considering yet another sequel after finishing this story and I don't want them to be old bags by the time I get around to that... Besides in the Pokemon world, everyone does everything when they're way to young; heck, they leave home at the age of 10! Uh, yeah...I'm done ranting now...