This is Chapter 14.
Finals are over! I have more time to work on writing (and this story) now. Yay!
Thank you to everyone who added this story/me to their favorites/alerts. And a special thanks for reviewing to prewy, silverfoxkurama, stars90, Mark, Nathan Brown, Gust, pokedawnheart, Adrienne Dark, thor94, gemava, Iceman99, Silverdragon84, KaliAnn, Klay, Lightdarkprincess, Arisu Wonder, and Black Silverclaw. (and a special thanks to those who reviewed twice, silverfoxkurama and Nathen Brown).
Oh. My. God. This chapter is HUGE! And I'm not sure exactly how much actually happens in it. *rubs back of neck sheepishly* But hey, there's a little fluff and humor, so we're not as down-in-the-dumps like last chapter.
Well, Ash, Brock, and Misty make a decision about where they're going, and we finally find out what the hell Brock was doing during this episode. Seriously, in the original he just sort of runs off and we don't see him until the end. Like, WTF? Lol.
Disclaimer: I-I don't own Pokemon *sniff* Are you happy now? *Runs away crying*
Anyway, enjoy!
Ash opened his eyes groggily. Sun shone down on him through the foliage. He was bent over his lap. Something was leaning on his shoulder, and a weight was at his back.
He tried to straighten, and groaned. Sleeping hunched over had knotted his muscles something awful.
He glanced around him. Pikachu was curled up in his lap, Misty was leaning against his shoulder, and Brock had fallen asleep with his legs next to Ash and his torso curved around the younger boy's back.
His movement jarred Misty, and she jolted into a sitting position before hissing in pain. "Ow."
She looked over at Ash and smiled. He smiled back, before wincing as he leaned toward her, stretching his muscles. She started to do the same, when a loud snore made her jump.
Misty looked behind Ash and snorted in laughter when she saw Brock.
"That's gotta hurt." She commented, before poking Brock in the head.
He snorted and opened his eyes. Seeing Misty and Ash looking down at him, he tried to sit up, and groaned, falling against Ash, which knocked Ash forward into Pikachu. Pikachu, not expecting the rude wake-up call, let loose an electric shock that momentarily stunned the three friends.
Ash shook it off first. "Pikachu!" He cried.
Pikachu looked abashed. "Sorry."
Misty and Brock blinked and glared down at Pikachu. "What was that for?" Misty demanded.
"Sorry Pikachu." Brock said sheepishly, realizing that his bumping into Ash and the small mouse Pokémon was the reason behind the shock.
Pikachu hopped out of Ash's lap and started going through Ash's backpack, looking for breakfast.
Ash laughed. "I think somebody's hungry."
"He's not the only one." Misty pulled her own back closer and opened it. Peering inside, she sighed. "We need to stock up on food."
"We can do that at the next town." Brock hesitated, then asked, "Where is that going to be?"
"Well, we could go to Vermilion City. It's right on the water, and it's got a beautiful park on a hill." Misty smiled shyly. "But I think I'd rather go to Cerulean City. I shouldn't let my sisters scare me away from my home."
"Good. Then we're decided." Ash stood up and leaned over Pikachu to pull out some dried fruit and three rolls of bread. He doled out the fruit and handed a roll each to Misty and Brock, breaking the last one between him and Pikachu.
"Ash…" Misty started, eyeing his breakfast.
Ash laughed. "We can eat whatever you have for lunch, Misty. We probably won't make it to Cerulean City sooner than that."
Misty reluctantly agreed. "Fine."
"I have some more of that Pokémon food. It's not specially blended for Pikachus, but it should tide him over." Brock suggested.
Ash shrugged. "You can try."
Brock fished the tin out of his bag and opened it. He offered a ball to Pikachu.
Pikachu sniffed the offered food. "Hold this." He ordered Ash, shoving his handful of dried fruit into Ash's hand to accept the brown ball.
Ash bit his lip as Pikachu nibbled on the ball. The Pokémon immediately began spitting into the grass. He chucked the lump of food at Brock's head.
"That was disgusting!" Pikachu groused. Ash chuckled and handed Pikachu back his fruit.
"Here. That'll get the taste out."
Pikachu bit savagely into the fruit, tearing off a hunk and chewing fiercely. Ash handed his water bottle to his angry friend.
"You could have warned me." Pikachu complained. Ash shrugged lightly.
"Is it the seasoning again?" Brock asked. "You said it was too strong earlier."
Pikachu nodded his head vigorously. "It burned my mouth."
"I'll try to tone it down in my next batch." Brock promised, snapping the lid onto the tin and putting it back into his bag.
They traveled onto the road to Cerulean City, stopping to eat lunch at around one. They arrived at the main road at three-thirty.
Misty stopped at the edge and sucked in her breath. Then she threw back her shoulders and marched into the city, Ash and Brock following her down the road.
On their way through the streets, they saw a large group of people crowded around a store entrance. Sirens came from flashing police cars parked outside the store.
"I wonder what's going on." Ash commented.
Misty frowned. "Let's go see what happened." She strode confidently to the crowd and waded through, Brock and Ash following close behind.
"Move." Pikachu ordered, sounding irritated.
Ash glanced down at his friend. The humans weren't moving, and Pikachu was having a hard time getting through.
Ash picked Pikachu up. "Be—ahm. Better?" he asked, correcting himself halfway through the word.
Pikachu climbed around his neck and sat on his backpack. He gripped Ash's head, peering over it. "Yep. Much better."
Misty was already questioning a man next to her. "Do you know what happened here?"
"Yeah. Some burglars broke in that store last night." The man answered her.
"Burglars?" Ash repeated.
"What do you know about burglars?" a female voice demanded.
Ash looked up to see Officer Jenny standing in front of him. She rubbed her chin with her hand, fixing him with a hard glare.
"You look very suspicious to me." She announced.
Ash blinked in surprise. "We do?"
Brock tried to intercede. "We're new in town, and we saw the crowd, so we came over to see what was going on." He explained.
"The criminal always returns to the scene of the crime." Officer Jenny grinned viciously.
"We're not criminals." Misty argued hotly. She remembered Officer Jenny. That woman was over-the-top with everything she did.
Officer Jenny stared at Misty. "Do I know you? You look really familiar." Her face brightened. "Hey I know. I've arrested you, haven't I?"
Ash frantically tried to intervene as he saw Misty scowl and open her mouth to refute the claim. He remembered the Officer Jenny in Viridian City and pulled out his Pokédex.
"Um, maybe this'll clear things up." He offered, holding it out and popping open the cover.
"I'm Dexter. A Pokédex programed by Professor Oak for Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum."
"Yeah. And I was the leader of the Pewter City Gym." Brock added, holding up one of his Boulder Badges.
Officer Jenny looked at Misty suspiciously, and Ash cut in. "She's with us."
"Well. That's evidence enough for me." She jumped back away from them, her voice turning sweet as she said, "I'm sorry I was suspicious."
"Um, miss? I was wondering, since I'm new in town, maybe we could get together tonight and you could show me around." Brock smiled winningly at the cop.
Ash looked at Brock incredulously while Misty just shook her head in despair.
"Well I'm not off-duty until past your bedtime. And I might even have to work around the clock to catch these criminals." Officer Jenny answered.
"What exactly did they steal?" Misty asked.
"That's the strange thing about it. They didn't take any money, just a massive vacuum and a giant hose."
"But why would anyone want that stuff for?" Ash questioned.
"I'm sure I don't know young man but I do know I don't have time to play guessing games with you because I've got a job to do and it's time for you all to move along come on let's go." She shoved Ash, who was still reeling over the fact that she'd said all that in one breath. Ash stumbled back into Misty, who caught him instinctively.
Ash righted himself with a thanks that was muffled, do to Pikachu wrapping his arms around Ash's head, and consequently his mouth, to keep from being thrown off.
"Well then, let's go." Misty said as she watched Officer Jenny leap around the crowd like a lunatic, trying to get the group to disperse.
Brock didn't move. He was too transfixed by Officer Jenny.
"Brock?" Ash asked.
"Hmm." Brock grunted noncommittally.
Misty made an aggrieved sound and grabbed Brock by the ear. He yelped as she began tugging him away. "Owowow Misty that hurts! Let go."
Ash blushed at the looks everyone was giving them and shrugged, following after his friends.
"Brock is weird." Pikachu commented.
"Mhm." Ash agreed.
Misty let go of Brock's ear when they reached a park. She sat down on a swing in the swing set. "This used to be one of my favorite places to go when I was little." She sighed in contentment.
Brock was rubbing his ear, grumbling under his breath, so Ash sat in the swing next to her. "It's nice here. I never went to many parks."
Misty gazed sideways at him. "You didn't?"
"Naw. My Mama took me to Pokémon sanctuaries instead."
Brock stopped his complaining and sat down in the last seat, the one next to Ash. It left Ash in the middle, not that he minded.
"We need to figure out what we're doing next." Brock said. "We need more supplies. I can grab those, if you tell me what we need besides food and water."
"We need some more matches." Misty added. "For fires."
Ash was nodding thoughtfully. "We need somewhere to do our laundry. I've got some soap that doesn't hurt the environment, but we should save that until we're on the road."
"It's biodegradable?" Brock asked, intrigued.
Ash made a face. "I don't know. Mama says so, but I can't pronounce it. Anyway, I make it myself, and I've got plenty left. Also, I want to look around the city."
"All right. But if we all split up, we need an obvious place to meet up." Brock pointed out.
Misty, who had been quiet until now, suggested, "Well, we could meet at the Cerulean City Gym."
Brock fidgeted. "Are you sure?"
Misty nodded. "It's easy to find."
Ash stood up. "Good. Let's go find the laundry place and then we can split up." He looked at Misty. "Well? This is your city."
Brock took over, gesturing broadly with a smirk on his face. "Yeah, lead the way, tour guide."
On Ash's backpack, Pikachu snickered.
When they popped their clothes in to be washed, Brock split off to gather their supplies, and Misty led Ash through the parts of the city she thought he'd like. She took him through some parks, to see a few fountains, and to visit a few small shops.
Ash was intrigued by the trinkets, but admitted to Misty that he didn't see much use in something fancy and touristy when he didn't need it.
"I mean, I already have a good cutting knife. Why would I need this one just because it says Cerulean City and it's blue? And this necklace. It's pretty, but it doesn't mean anything and it isn't useful."
"So you would wear a necklace if it meant something?" Misty teased.
She was unprepared for him to turn serious eyes on her and say, "Well yeah, if it was important to me. When I was a kid, Mama always made me wear a lanyard that said my name, phone number, and address before she let me out of the house."
"Why did she do that? You could've just told them your name and where you lived, right?" Misty asked curiously.
Ash squirmed. The truth was, he couldn't have told them. His name, yes, but an address? He didn't even know what a house was, let alone rattle off some – to him – useless information. He didn't understand why it was important. He memorized it, and was taught to say it when a few words came in, like live, home, and address, but that did more harm them good because he started saying it when it wasn't appropriate. It took a long time for him to grasp the meaning behind the words, and why they should even be spoken.
"I, um, I wasn't too good with stuff like that when I was a kid." He admitted. Misty saw how uncomfortable the question made him, so she quickly changed the subject, tucking his reaction into the back of her mind for later.
"Well, it's almost time to meet Brock at Cerulean City Gym." Misty smiled at Ash. "Let's head over."
Ash nodded, smiling back. "Yeah."
They'd been standing outside the pink, orange, and purple gym for a while, just under the giant statue of a Seel that was attached to the front of the gym. Misty had turned up her nose what she'd seen the Pokémon statue.
Misty sighed. "What is taking him so long?"
"Maybe he's waiting inside the gym for us." Ash suggested, shifting from one foot to the other.
"Well he'd better get here soon. My feet are hurting." Pikachu complained.
"Is there any place to sit around here? Pikachu's getting tired." Ash's eyes swept around the empty road and green lawns surrounding the gym. "I guess we could sit on the grass."
Misty sighed again. "Let's just go sit in the gym while we wait."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. There will be benches and air conditioning." She fanned herself with her hand.
Ash knelt and Pikachu jumped into his arms. He gestured to the double doors. "Lead the way."
Misty took a deep breath and shoved the familiar blue doors open, marching inside.
She stopped at the top of an aqua staircase. Ash stepped up next to her and looked down. There were bleachers leading down to a swimming pool.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the stars of our show. The Sensational Cerulean City Synchronized Swimming Sisters!" a voice announced over the loudspeakers.
Three woman in bathing suits jumped off of a high dive into the water. There, they went under and raised their legs.
"What are they doing?" Ash whispered.
"Pretty!" Pikachu's eyes sparkled.
"It's Synchronized Swimming." Misty answered. "It's their signature act."
The three popped up from the water and spun around in circles, waving their arms around, before coming to a stop suddenly.
The audience cheered, making Ash jump. "What was that?" He turned to Misty for an explanation. "It didn't make any sense."
"It's supposed to look pretty. Come on, I'll show you some of the aquariums." Misty muttered, leading Ash away. They walked down another set of stairs until they reached a hallway. Parts of the walls had been replaced with glass, so that the fish swimming inside were visible.
"Wow." Ash rushed up to the glass, watching the brightly-colored fish with wide, delighted eyes. Misty followed him with a faint smile on her face. He was so adorable sometimes.
She stiffened as she heard her sisters' voices coming closer.
"That dive you did was super!" Lily gushed.
"Practice really paid off!" Daisy answered.
"Totally!" Violet squealed. They all laughed a high-pitched laugh together that hurt Ash's ears. Pikachu whimpered and covered his ears with his paws.
Ash turned as the laughter stopped, catching the trio's attention.
"I'm sorry but if you want an interview you have to, like, call our manager." Violet informed him.
"Why would I want an—"
"And we don't do autographs." Violet continued.
"I don't want that either." Ash frowned. "Why? Are you guys famous?"
The three sisters stared at him, jaws dropped.
Misty chuckled, and the sisters turned to her.
Daisy collected herself first. "So little sister, it's a surprise to see you back so soon."
"That little girl with the big mouth who said she wouldn't come back 'til she was a great Pokémon trainer? Wasn't that you?" Lily taunted.
Misty averted her eyes. "I guess I did say that." She answered.
Ash looked at Misty, and then stepped forward. "What are you talking about? Misty is a great trainer." He defended his friend.
Violet snorted. "She hasn't been gone that long. Do you even have any more Pokémon than you left with?" she asked Misty.
"None of that matters." Ash protested. Misty lifted her head, looking down at Ash.
Pikachu jumped down to the floor. "Yeah."
Ash continued. "You don't need a lot of Pokémon to be a great trainer. And you guys didn't even let her say anything. That's really mean. How can you judge her if you don't know what she's done?"
"It doesn't matter what they think, Ash." Misty said firmly, meeting Daisy's eyes. "Let's go outside and wait for Brock."
"Well, why don't you have a Pokémon battle to prove it?" Lily spoke up.
"What? Against you?" Misty asked.
"Why? Are you scared?"
"No. Bring it on." Misty challenged.
Daisy, Violet, and Lily started walking to the pool area. "We, like, can't." Daisy admitted.
"What do you mean?" Ash asked. To offer a challenge, and then withdraw it… that didn't make any sense.
"We just got beaten three times in a row by kids from this nowhere place called Pallet Town." Lily told them, waving her hand vaguely in the direction of the stands. "It was just one defeat after another. My eyes were spinning from all the losses."
"We had to, like, practically rush all our Pokémon to the Pokémon Center." Daisy added.
"Oh no. Are they all right?" Ash gasped. The three sister looked confused by his question. Misty just rolled her eyes in exasperated affection.
"Um, yeah. Like, they'll be fine." Lily said awkwardly.
"This is the only one left." Violet continued, pulling out a Pokéball, resizing it, and tossing it onto the ground.
A Goldeen emerged in red light and flopped helplessly on the floor.
"Hey! What was that for?" Ash snapped.
Violet blinked, startled. "What was what for?"
"Goldeen is helpless on land. We're next to a water pool. Why didn't you call her out there?" he demanded, waving an arm at the swimming pool next to them.
Misty snickered at her sisters, who were gaping at Ash.
Ash knelt down next to the Goldeen and ran his hand over her scales. "Help! Help!" Goldeen cried out, flailing around the smooth tiles.
Ash lifted the panicking Goldeen into his arms and, struggling a little with her slippery body, he carried her over to the pool and dropped her in. She vanished to the other side in a flash of red and white.
Ignoring his slightly-damp shirt, he turned back to the four girls and Pikachu.
"Um… if it would evolve into Seaking, we could use it. But all it can do now is it's horn attack." Lily tried to move on. Violet grabbed the Pokéball.
"Her."
"What?"
"She could do her horn attack." Ash corrected. "Not it."
"Well anyway, there's no point in battling." Daisy brushed the little boy off.
"Now, instead of matches, we have time to make ourselves look more beautiful than ever." Violet cheered.
Misty scowled. "Then why did you challenge me to a match if none of you can actually battle?"
"We, like, meant the two of you battle." Daisy clarified.
Ash frowned and Misty's eyebrows went up. "Us?"
"Yeah. Unless you, like, think you can't beat him." Lily scoffed.
Misty bit her lip. She had no idea if she could beat Ash or not. And anyway, he was her friend. She didn't want to battle a friend.
But Ash's eyes were gentle when they met hers. He smiled encouragingly and nodded. "If you want." He told her. He wouldn't hold it against her either way.
"Let's battle." Misty finally said.
No! Don't kill me! I wasn't originally going to end it there. But then I wrote the last line, and I was like, "Oh hey, this could be a good stopping point. Nah." And then I checked the page count and it was over twenty pages, and I was like O.O
But still, twenty pages. Yeesh.
I hope nobody was bored. But next time we get to see a battle, and maybe Team Rocket. And…what's Meowth thinking?
Guess you'll find out next time. *cheeky grin*
*Fans come at author with chainsaws and flamethrowers (because pickforks and torches are so cliché)* Ahh! *runs away to hide and work on next chapter*
Suggestions and ideas are good, reviews are amazing. Even one-word reviews are appreciated. Constructive criticism is good. Flames will be used to help me learn how to use a fire extinguisher. Foam!
Well, see you next time!