A/N: My sincerest apologies for the delay in releasing this chapter; there were many things going on. Exams are around the corner, job interviews, family in town for the holidays. Too many things piled up. It also didn't help that I was experiencing major computer issues and had to get that sorted out. I'll be taking a break from writing to concentrate on finals. I'll be back to writing in mid-December, so don't expect an update until near Christmas time. Also, I want to start getting my other large-scale fic for the Persona series rolling, so updates will now be every three weeks to a month.
I want to give a sincere thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorited this story so far. It means a lot since this is my first fic and I have really enjoyed putting it together.
Chapter 7: Night at the Museum
October 4th, 2007 – 6:00PM
Pewter City was certainly a lot bigger than where our heroes last were; it was almost twice the size of Viridian. The city was brighter, louder, and faster than its neighbor. As a matter of fact, the lights had almost blinded Ash and Leaf as they made their way into the city at sundown. Evening always came early in Pewter City; it was surrounded on three sides by the towering Silver Mountains. The city was virtually situated in a giant bowl. The entire populous was confined to this bowl, all 300,000 people. The freeway system here was small, the populous preferring street travel rather than highway travel. The buildings here were slightly taller and a bit more numerous. Perhaps the oddest thing that Ash and Leaf noticed was the stone grey motif that blanked the area. This was especially true on Pewter Street where we find Ash, Leaf, Jigglypuff, and Pikachu walking towards the Pewter City Pokemon Center.
Ash looked all around the street. Everything building and architecture is grey, almost like the city was made of stone. It immensely fascinated him to the point where he stopped every 50 feet to look around. There was little to no doubt that Leaf and the rest of the party were becoming more and more irritated as the stops frequently increased.
"Okay, Ash. We've stopped more than 6 times in a 1 mile stretch. You'd think that something would be different, but they are the SAME FRIGGIN COLOR! CAN WE HURRY UP ALREADY?! My feet are killing me." Pikachu and Jigglypuff nodded in affirmation as well. Ash, knowing how ridiculous he was going to sound, tried to reason with them anyways.
"But it's all grey! GREY BUILDINGS EVERYWHEREEE! DON'T YOU GET EXCITED ABOUT GREY BUILDINGS?!" Leaf slowly let out a sigh of exasperation. She decided they were going to get to the center by 6:30PM so they can check in, so she violently grabbed Ash by the right arm and literally dragged him to the cross street.
"I don't care if I'm dragging you all the way, but I will be damned if I don't find something to eat!" Leaf grunted as Ash's back dragged almost gracefully upon the concrete behind her. It was quite the sight, attracting many onlookers who began to whisper to each other.
"…dude, he's whipped…"
"…that girl is quite strong to have a guy that hot dragged behind her. Oh, he's so hot!"
"…I'm sure they're sleeping together and she wants him now, hehe…"
"…awww this is so cuteee! So coupleyyy…"
"…damn! I thought she was single! That's too bad…she could use a guy like me…"
"…that dress…"
"…that body…"
"…I need that body…"
Leaf just about had enough of the incessant whispering. She turned around, her face beyond boing point. "HEY! DON'T YOU ALL HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO?! MIND YOUR OWN DAMNED BUSINESS!"
"…I like 'em feisty, hehehe…" This comment was followed by a hard slap to the left from Leaf, followed up with a very hard punch to the right from Ash. He had formed a very deadly aura around him and looked down at the downed teen. Pikachu was attempting to hold back Jigglypuff, almost unsuccessfully.
"I don't care who you are but disrespecting women, especially my best friend, will land you in the hospital or worse," Ash slowly said. The teen looked up, and immediately cowered in fear. Having two insanely powerful teens giving you a deadly glare would strike fear into anyone. "And that goes for all of you." Ash added for effect, pointing towards the gathering crowd. "And no, we are not in a relationship." They all nodded and scurried away or went back to their business. Leaf looked up at Ash and suddenly hugged him.
"Thank you for that!" she said appreciatively, "I'm pretty sure I could have dealt with them myself, but having you there was a bigger plus." Ash looked at her perplexed.
"Wait…what happened to the 'I'm independent, so let me be' Leaf?"
"So you don't want to protect me?" Ash's eyes dilated in alarm.
"O-of course I do! It's just weird to see you flip 180 like that!" Leaf let out a slight chuckle. She grabbed his arm yet again, only this time softer and friendlier.
"C'mon! Let's get to the Pokemon Center and then explore the city. I've always wanted to explore a big city!"
"Wait…didn't you go to Celadon City before?"
"No…that was Gary who went."
"Oh…it's just thought you would've gone since there's a huge mall there. And I thought you go elsewhere for swim meets."
"Pssssh! I'm not a girly girl! And I only went to Cerulean twice and both were for the regional swim meet. We didn't get to explore the city at all!"
"Really? Your choice of dress says otherwise, hehe…" Ash snickered. Leaf gave him a sharp glare. Ash immediately regained his composure and steered the conversation back on topic.
"I guess I can't speak for myself; I've never left Pallet at all."
"Well you should get out more! NOW LET'S GO BEFORE I'M FORCED TO DRAG YOU ON THE STREET AGAIN!" Ash cowered, and then relented as he followed his pretty, aggressive, and temperamental best friend to the Pokemon Center with Pikachu and Jigglypuff in tow snickering.
'Dude! The random guy was right…your master IS whipped!' Jigglypuff snickered.
'Heh, I know. I mean, I feel bad, but this is just too damn funny…hey, wanna see something funny?' Pikachu snickered back, holding a mischievous grin. He climbed onto Ash's leg and reached into his pocket. What he grabbed from said pocket was Ash's PokeGear. Ash felt something slip from his pocket. He felt through it and found his PokeGear missing.
"Hey…what the…my PokeGear is missing?" Leaf looked back and saw Ash fumbling with his pockets. "I'm sure I didn't take it out for the last 10 or so minutes.
"Let me call it," Leaf offered. She dialed and soon enough, they all heard it rang…from below. They both looked down and saw the culprits: two familiar pokemon with the yellow mouse holding the cell phone. As Leaf hung up, Pikachu's innocent smile morphed into a smirk. Holding the phone with both hands, he held it over his head and brought it down towards the ground. What surprised Ash and Leaf was the sound that followed: the sound of a loud, cracking whip. Ash stared blankly as the sound tried to register with recent events, conversations, observations, etc. Leaf had already picked this up at an instant and gave herself a facepalm. It took a few seconds for Ash to finally realize that the sound was directed towards him. His and Leaf's faces darkened and they scowled at the two pokemon; they were laughing away at their masters' reactions, his phone now in his hands. He started to speak slow and dark.
"I hope you guys can run fast enough, because you guys are in major trouble." Pikachu and Jigglypuff still smirked, glanced at each other, and bolted towards the Center. The two newly-enraged trainers gave chase, only to find out that their pokemon can indeed outrun them. They ran past buildings and cross streets until they reached a large plaza to the left with a five-story spherical structure at the center.
This Pokemon Hotel and Recovery Center was identical to the Viridian City Center, only dressed in a grey motif with a stone courtyard and driveway instead. Even the glass pokeball-shaped dome was in a grey tint. The complex also included shops that surround the main building; it was like a town center. Concession stands, trinket shops, restaurants, and boutiques litter the area. Ash, Leaf, Pikachu, and Jigglypuff were awed by the spectacle of the "Pokemon Town Centre", forgetting about their previous chase.
"Wow!" Leaf exclaimed, "I didn't know this would be a Pokemon Center! This is fancy!"
"LOOK AT ALL THE FOOD! IT'S EVERYWHEREEEEE!" Ash screamed throwing his hands in the air. They all rushed into the center to find the entire inside in, unsurprisingly, grey. It was shiny, with different kinds of stone and marble, but still grey. The basic layout remains the same on the inside: a lobby and reception area with a technology center to the left and a recovery center to the right, a cafeteria on the second floor (as an option to those who do not have the money to spend on the food outside…it is smaller than the typical cafeteria) with a lounging area, and rooms from the third to the fifth floor. Seeing no need to heal their party, Ash and Leaf rushed the reception desk.
"Good evening! How may I help you today?" the receptionist asked.
"We're just want to check out a room for our stay in Pewter City." The receptionist's eyes narrowed.
"…are you sure you don't want two rooms?"
"We're fine! Right Ash?" Leaf glanced at the poor trainer. He nodded quite furiously in response to get the message across, the receptionist still confused what the message was. She brushed it aside anyways.
"Very well then. Do you have your Trainer's Identification on you?" Ash and Leaf both took out their Pokedexes at the same time, starling the receptionist. She became even more confused.
"…I have never seen an ID issued this way before. Can you prove its validity?"
"Damn…we can't catch a break, can we…" Ash whispered while fishing his card out from his wallet.
"Nope…" Leaf agreed.
"Here you go. Two room keys. Your room is 305 which is up the left stairs and the corridor to the left. I hope you enjoy your stay here at the Pewter City Pokemon Hotel and Recovery Center!...and just so you know, we do implement a noise policy, heehee," but the two trainers where already out of hearing range. They hauled themselves up the stairs, past the cafeteria (much to Ash's disappointment), up another flight of stairs, and down the grey corridor until they reached the third door to the left. As they opened up the door, they stepped into an exact copy of the Viridan City Pokemon Center's boarding rooms. The walls, instead of clad grey, where white and the furniture a rather normal color.
"Well the rooms look normal…I was expecting to see a grey room with grey furniture, and a grey alarm clock," Ash mused. Leaf literally threw all of their bags to the center of the room and rushed back outside with Pikachu and Jigglypuff in tow.
"C'mon! I want to explore the city!" Leaf cried as she went back in and grabbed Ash by the arm.
"OKAY! OKAY! Wait…didn't our parents tell us to call them when we got to Viridian City?" Ash suddenly remembered. Leaf, upon realization, stared back him wide-eyed.
"SHIT! WHY DIDN'T YOU REMEMBER THAT EARLIER?!"
"HEY! YOU DIDN'T REMEMBER EITHER!"
"…yeah I guess you're right…let's call our parents before we go do anything…" They stepped back into the room and pulled out their cellphones, but hesitated to press the call button. The pokemon tilted their heads wondering what the holdup was. Leaf looked at Ash, expecting him to dial first.
"Hey…why are you stalling?" Leaf asked with a hint of nervousness.
"Why are YOU stalling?" Ash replied in kind and with the same amount of nervousness.
"…ummm…because…ummm…I don't like it when they're angry."
"…me neither…my mom really scares me when she's angry…"
"But we still need to let them know where we are."
"…okay…wanna go first?"
"…"
"…fine, I'll go first…" Ash proceeded to slowly dial the home phone. His brow was already lined with sweat. His heart began to pick up speed as the dial tone started. His slow, easy breaths turn into a quick, panicked hyperventilation.
…one ring…
…two rings…
…three rings…
-The Ketchum Residence-
6:45PM
Delia was busy cooking a rather large dinner for…herself…when the phone suddenly rang. She has not heard from her son in a week after he left. Her eyes had formed bags below and her strength began to decrease. She was losing sleep over her son's whereabouts. She always reassured herself that he would be just fine and nothing bad would happen, but just assuming was never enough for her. Glanced over to the phone next to the breakfast room desk and looked at the number. Every time the phone rang, she would stare intently at the LCD screen, hoping it was that one number, but usually being either her husband, or Miranda, or at worst…telemarketers.
The LCD screen blinked three times as the phone sang a rather poor rendition of a popular tune. Delia glanced down at the screen and looked at the number, with her eyes dilating as she recognized the number. It was not her husband, or Miranda; it was the person she want to hear back from the most. She quickly picked up the phone and pushed the answer button.
"Hello?" She slowly started.
"…um…hi mom…"
"OH MY GOD! ARE YOU OKAY?! DID YOU MAKE IT TO VIRIDIAN CITY?! IS LEAF AND GARY WITH YOU?! HOW COME YOU DIDN'T CALL EARLIER?!"
"…um okay…to answer your questions on order, yes we're okay, no we've past Viridian City and made it to Pewter City, Leaf is with me and Gary left on his own, and a lot of stuff happened on the way up."
"Oh…what happened? And did you just say Gary isn't with you?"
"It's a long story, but long story short on the way up to Viridian, we found some birds that really hate us; Leaf now hates birds. That was followed by a raid that happened at the Viridian Pokemon Center which Leaf, Gary, and I successfully stopped. That was followed by Gary's second loss to me which caused him to leave and travel by himself. Then we got lost in the Viridian Forest. Then we're here."
"Okay…well I'm glad you and Leaf are having fun! I'm still not a grandmother, right?"
"…MOM! OF COURSE NOT!"
"Well okay! I'm sure you have things you want to do so I'll let you go, hon. Please stay safe and out of trouble if you can. I know you're like your father who love to do the righteous thing, but stay safe. I love and miss you!...AND DON'T FORGET TO CHANGE YOUR UNDERWEAR!"
"GAH WHAT THE HELL MOM! I'm always changing it"
"HEY! WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE, YOUNG MAN!"
"…oh sorry, Mom! Well I love and miss you as well! Say hi to Dad for me!"
"Okay hon. Bye!" Delia hung up the phone. She ran through the conversation one more time and found something peculiar: Ash, Leaf, and Gary stopped a raid in Viridian City. She saw the news report on that a couple days ago and remembered that there were three heroes, but were unnamed and the belligerents being Team Rocket. They were described as two male trainers and a female trainer. She put two and two together and came to a realization: that was Ash, Leaf, and Gary the news was talking about. She quickly dialed her husband's cellphone with urgency.
"Hey Will…"
"Hi, dearest! Miss me already?" Will happily answered.
"Well, yes I do, but I need you to tell you something…"
"…what do you need to tell me?" Will replied, nervously.
"You know how on the news two days ago there was a raid in Viridian City involving Team Rockets and three trainers."
"Oh yeah…Matt's looking into that…"
"Well…the three trainers were Ash, Leaf, and Gary…"
"…what…"
"Yeah, your son just called me and told me they stopped a raid on the Viridian Pokemon Center."
"…go on…"
-Back in Pewter City-
7:00PM
After Leaf called her parents (the conversation pretty much the same tone and route as Ash's conversation), the duo and their pokemon waited at the curb for a taxi to take them to the Pewter City Museum of Science and Natural History, or the Pewter City Museum for short. Leaf had read about it in the brochure Elise gave her back at the Viridian Forest. Supposedly, the museum was dedicated to the geological history of Kanto and fossils of prehistoric pokemon as well as the general sciences. Within five minutes of waiting at the curb, a grey taxi with yellow lights on the roof pulled up and the two trainers got into the car. The driver had a rather strange, thick accent from not around Kanto; in fact, his rather dark skin color and turban confirmed that.
"Good evening! Where are we headed to?"
"Pewter City Museum!" Leaf shouted. Ash had to cover his ears.
"Yes, mam! I'll get you there in no time!" They sped down Granite Avenue to Pewter Street, where they turned left towards the center of town. The buildings became taller and more crowded and the lights became brighter. There were massive amounts of people going about their nightlife from dinner, to clubs, shopping, and even going home. About a mile down the street, a grand building of classical stone architecture slowly took on its form, ever growing larger as the cab drew nearer. The pillars that made up the majestic façade stood at attention, supporting the mighty roof. The detailed artwork on the building can be seen from afar, etches of Kanto's history carved into a wide band that wraped the sides. The cab took another left at the corner and pulled up to the driveway.
"That will be ¥600." Ash decided to be the gentleman and pay the cab fare with a ¥150 tip. "Thank you very much! I hope you two enjoy your tour!" the cab driver waved, signaling his leave. Ash and Leaf looked up at the grand entrance, their jaws slacked; they have never seen anything as majestic and cool as the building before them. They made their way through the double doors and straight to the ticketing center to the left of the entrance. The main hall of the museum was covered from ceiling to floor with either grey or white marble. Statues of pokemon lined the sides and there was a nice fountain in the center. Although the museum was partially funded by the city, it was owned and ran by the famous Harrison family. Ash and Leaf looked at the prices for each of the exhibits. They included the main exhibit, the science exhibit, the butterfly garden, the planetarium, an aquarium, and the featured exhibit of the Moon Stone.
"Hmmmm…" Ash pondered, "so for the regular exhibit, it's ¥1000. All of the add-on exhibits were another ¥1500 each, and the Moon Stone Exhibit is ¥2500?! Looks like we're going for the regular tour. Two tickets for the basic exhibit, please!"
"Hey! I can pay for my own!" Leaf yelled just as Ash gave the receptionist his debit card.
"Nah, it wouldn't be gentlemanly of me to let you do that," Ash calmly responded with a satisfactory smile, "everyone knows one of the manly things to do is pay for the girl."
"I want to be independent!"
"HAHA! Okay, you can get dinner then." Then, it dawned on Leaf that dinner was going to be rather…expensive.
'Ah shit! I'm usually the one pulling the money game…' The two grabbed their tickets and made their way to the exhibit entrance when Leaf ran into someone, specifically a tall, dark-skinned young man with what seems to be slits for eyes donned in a lab coat. It appears he had just walked up the stairs.
"Oh sorry!" Leaf said rather quickly, attempting to dust off any dirt that may have gotten on to the young man's coat. He looked at the two and just smiled.
"No, it's alright. No harm done. Say, are you going to tour the exhibit?"
"Yeah," Ash replied, "we're touring the city during our stay in Pewter. Our main reason for being here is for us to earn our first gym badges at the Pewter City Gym." The young man's eye brows twitched. This went unnoticed by the two.
"Ah…well I was just about to get off work. I'll give you both a tour of the exhibits. You don't mind, right?"
"Oh, of course not! By the way, what is your name?"
"Oh! My bad," the young man scratching his head, "my name is Brock Harrison. What are you two's names?"
"Ash Ketchum"
"And Lily Greenway, but most people call me Leaf"
"And we're from Pallet Town."
"Well okay then! Let's begin the tour!" And the tour went on for the next hour with Brock doing most of the talking. The exhibit itself was situated in three floors and over 200,000 square feet of space. In the center was a large to scale model of a dragonite, with an assortment of models of flying pokemon strung up to the ceiling. They covered everything from the beginnings of Kanto, to the evolution of pokemon, saw several skeletons and models of ancient pokemon, some theories of further evolution, some geological history, and capping it off with the three legendary birds of myth. Ash and Leaf were fed so much information that they had just about dropped to the ground by the time Brock had led them out of the exhibit back into the main hall.
"Well," Ash panted, "I think I have knowledge overflow; I can't take in any new information or my head will explode."
"Quit acting like a drama queen!" Leaf snapped. Ash just sighed in response. "Thank you so much for the guided tour, Brock! I guess Ash and I are going to find somewhere to eat in town. Where do you think is the best place to go?"
"Well," Brock mused, "the Museum District isn't known for its wide food selection. So I suggest looking in Downtown for that; they have a lot of interesting selections on 6th Street and Western Avenue."
"Thanks!" Ash and Leaf responded. Brock thought it through a little more and heard his stomach rumbling.
"Heh, what dah yah know; I guess I'm a bit hungry, too. Dad's off today so he knows I won't be coming home for a while. I'll go ahead and eat with you guys."
"Sounds great! Now you get to pick the restaurant since we don't know the area at all," Ash suggested thinking it was a good idea to have a person from the city pick the best place.
"Well if you put it that way, I believe we can eat at this ramen place exclusive to Pewter. It's at 7th and Pewter Street. C'mon, I'll take you guys there!" Brock said as they followed him to the parking structure to the right of the building. They walked through the first floor and found Brock waiting at his car: a 2007 Acura TL Type S in white. Ash stared wide-eyed at the shimmering car as it basks in the…garage light.
"DUDE! THAT IS MY TOTAL DREAM CAR!" Ash exclaimed as Leaf scoffed right next to him.
"She's a beauty, isn't she? Now who wants shotgun?" Ash waved his hand wildly.
"OOOO! Pick me!"
"Haha sure thing! Let's go! I'm getting hungry." They sped down the main drag to the center of town where they found a particularly modern street with shops and eateries below the apartments above. The five ended up in front of a small restaurant that had the name "Stone Bowl Den". Brock looked at the restaurant rather confused.
"Huh…I would've though there would be a line, but I guess not tonight. Today's our lucky day!"
"How come?" Leaf asked.
"Well usually, the place is so packed that the line would wrap around the corner. The wait would be at least 30 minutes to an hour, all for some ramen. I guess not many people wanted to eat ramen today. It should only be a five to ten minute wait." Brock wrote his name down (with the number 5 in parenthesis) and sat down on the bench next to the door. Ash glanced at the paper and saw their name three groups down from the last group crossed out. People slowly filtered out of the shop as the party ahead of them moved in. As the door opened, aromas of soup and noodles with various spices and flavor filled the night air. This tsunami of smell hit Ash like a magnitude 9 earthquake off the coast of Kanto; he was overtaken by the deliciousness and savory of the scent. He began to act a little more…cranky...as a result.
"Oh c'mon…let us in already! I WANT SOME RAMEN!" Leaf slapped him upside the head. "YOW!"
"Calm down! We're the next to go in!" Sure enough, a middle-aged lady with jet-black hair dressed came out to cross out the name above Brock's. She looked at him in a rather motherly manner.
"Ah Brock! How nice of you to eat here! How is the research going?"
"Hey, Nancy! It's going…well…" he responded with hesitation and with a hint of resentment, "how's the ramen today?"
"It's cooking like always. Are these your friends?"
"I actually showed them around the museum this evening on my way out. They were looking for something to eat Pewter specific."
"Well you guys came to the right place. Follow me!" The party followed the lady inside.
-Pewter City Museum-
As the last guests left, the lone researcher closed up the main doors, locked up everything, and shut the lights off. He did not bother to check the skylight since no one has opened it in forever. What he did not notice was two guests hiding out in one of the exhibits. They were armed with walkie-talkies and various gadgets. Once they heard the doors lock, they communicated with the other party.
"CatOne…are we ago for Operation Ancient Power, over?" a male voice stated.
"CatOne's got the rope all prepared with the escape route cleared. Mission is ago, over," a higher voice responded, with a strange Unovian accent.
"CatOne, begin the decent to the lab and stealth procedures. This place is crawling with trip lasers, over," a female voice came through.
"10-4, over and out."
-Downtown Pewter City-
While the restaurant looked very plain-Jane on the outside, the inside was a different story. The atmosphere was very modern, with geometric-style furniture. The ornaments and lamps that hung from the ceiling took shape of various crystals and diamonds. In other words, it was totally different from the outside. The area was a tad bit small with booths lining the sides and a long center table to seat guests. An open kitchen can be seen at the back with steam pouring over the glass barriers. The clientele was generally seen as young adults with friends, couples, and just having a good time, sake everywhere. The lady sat them in a booth to the left at the center of the room.
"Here you all are. A waitress will be with you in just a moment."
"Thank you," they all said, taking a glance at their menus in the process. They glanced down the menu to find an assortment of ramen with the backside filled with skewers and other small appetizers. Ash's eyes scrolled up and down the page at what seemed to be faster than light; so fast to the point where his pupils all but disappeared. Leaf already found her bowl: the Spicy Miso, while Brock when a little more experimental and wanted Tonkotsu Ramen. Ash still looked rather indecisive on what to choose, so Leaf decided to intervene before his eyes pop out of their sockets.
"Here, go with the Garlic Ramen."
"Okay! SOLD! Now let's get me a teriyaki beef skewer!" Just as Ash said that, person beside them was clearing their throat, clearly asking for attention. Brock looked over to find a young woman in all black attire, a kerchief, a slender figure, rather well developed assets, and aqua blue hair in a bob cut. Brock's eyes transformed into…massively shaped hearts.
"Hi! Sorry for the wait. My name is Susan and I'll be your waitress. What you like to dri-" Brock suddenly gushed at the waitress.
"Oh don't worry, my lady…your tardiness is always welcome. No one can attain the state of anger and resentment at such a beauty like yourself…" he trailed off as he got lost in his own world. The waitress just stared in wide-eyed confusion and turned to the two trainers. The three stared at each other for a minute. Leaf was the first to break the silence at the table.
"…we don't know him…"
"…we actually just met him today…" Ash followed up. The waitress laughed at them.
"Haha! Well what would you all like to drink?"
"We'll all take waters. Thanks," Leaf requested, "we're also ready to order."
"Okay! What will we be having?" the waitress asks. Brock was still in his love-blind stupor, gazing at the waitress in front of him. Leaf reached over and slapped him…hard.
"HEY, CASANOVA! WAITRESS WANTS YOU TO ORDER SOMETHING!" As quickly as he went into his stupor, he snapped out of it. She took out a PokeSlate to take their orders.
"Oh…um what are we doing?" he asked looking at the waitress.
"What would you like to order?"
"I'll take the Tonkotsu Ramen and an order of the Pandan Doughnuts," Brock requested.
"I'll have this garlic one right here and a Teriyaki Skewer," Ash also requested.
"And I'll just have the Spicy Miso," Leaf finished out.
"Okay! I'll have your orders right out." She proceeded to the orders of other tables. Ash and Leaf stared at Brock for a moment to take in what had transpired while the kind waitress was taking their orders.
"Okay, dude," Ash started, "what the hell was that?"
"What the hell was what?" Brock answered genuinely confused.
"The whole Casanova shit you pulled with our waitress. It's weird, dude."
"I did what?" Leaf also looked confused as Brock continued to question his supposed actions.
"Wait…you don't remember acting like a total dweeb?"
"…no I don't…damn, that's probably the 20th time people have told me that."
"I mean that was strange, but the fact that you don't remember doing that is even stranger…" Ash thought. Leaf decided it was time to change the subject as Brock started to look rather uncomfortable.
"Anyways…what do you do at the museum?" Brock's ears piqued right back up.
"Well, since you asked, I'm one of the part-time researchers of pokemon fossils. I specialize in the kabuto and kabutops family of pokemon. There are two others which are being studied right now. It's not what I really wanted to do though. Sadly, I'm expected to become a researcher like Mom and Dad. Mom is usually out doing field work on ancient water pokemon while Dad likes to do ancient rock pokemon. I usually help Dad out around the house when Mom's not around. She comes home from time to time, but most of the time, she's out there studying and finding new discoveries. What I really wanted to become was a Pokemon Breeder. I mean I don't mind studying ancient pokemon, I just really want to care for all pokemon in general.
"Dad's always lit up when he finds me researching. He thinks I'll be the next greatest thing in Pokemon Archeology and even wants me to work with another archaeologist who lives in Johto. I don't know if I want to take that up. Well that's my story."
"Wow," was all that Leaf could say, "so wait…if you only work part-time, then what is your other job?"
"That, Leaf, is what I don't tell people as not to draw too much attention."
"So are you, like, a secret agent or somethin'?" Ash asked out of curiosity.
"No."
"A secret member of the Mafia?"
"No."
"How about a corporate mercenary who goes into people's minds and extract crucial information to bring that corporation down?" Leaf facepalmed herself.
"What the hell? Definitely no…but a good movie, though. I'm one of Pewter City's two gym leaders." Ash and Leaf gasped. They stared at him for the longest time as if he head of a unicorn. The waitress walked up to the table with a tray of plates and bowls, bearing witness to the ensuing staring contest.
"Ahem," she announced. The party regained composure and looked at the food on the tray. She sat each of the bowls and skewers in front of their respective customer (Pikachu and Jigglypuff getting smaller bowls of the same thing as their masters; no skewers), as well as a tab, crossing every item out that was brought out. Everyone, including Pikachu and Jigglypuff, looked into the bowls taking a whiff of the savory aroma. Ash could not hold back anymore; he and Pikachu dove right into their bowls. Leaf and Brock slowly attacked their bowls in a more civilized manner. In no time at all, everyone had cleaned their bowls.
"Ahhh…that was a good bowl," Brock said happily, "don't worry about the bill, guys; I got this one."
"Okay, more power to yah," Ash stated. He then looked at Leaf. "You're still getting the next dinner."
"I know, I know," Leaf pouted. The waitress came back again to collect the check and promptly returned.
"Thank you for eating with us, please come back again!" she waved as Ash, Leaf, and Brock got up to leave. Just as they opened the door to go back to Brock's car, Ash and Leaf walked into someone, someone very familiar.
"ACK! Watch where you're going, pu- oh, 'sup you two?" the victim spoke.
"Oh! Hey cousin," greeted Leaf in her usual cheery mood, "what brings you to Pewter. And how did you like the Viridian Forest?"
"The same reason why you two are probably here. And got through it with a cinch; I bet you two didn't have flying pokemon, did yah?!" Gary sneered. Ash grunted in response.
"Oh and by the way, I'm challenging the Pewter Gym tomorrow and I know I can beat him. You'll probably lose, right?" Ash let out an even louder grunt. Leaf just about had enough.
"Okay, you two. Can't we get along for once?"
"Not until I know I can beat him! Until then, he is my undisputed rival." Brock was still wondering what was going on with this interaction. He did not have time to complete the thought, however, as his phone started to blare.
"What the…the museum's alarms went off. C'MON, YOU TWO! WE HAVE TO HURRY!"
"Hey!" Gary yelled, "I'm coming along, too."
"Fine by me; we need as many people who can stop the intruders. Let's move it!" The all rushed to Brock's parked car. Gary had one thought in mind though, 'Heh, Acuras…shame you didn't get an Infiniti.'
Brock floored it down Pewter Street and back to the museum's driveway. When they got into the building, they noticed all of the alarms blaring and a rope that led up to the open skylight. Gary took out Pidgey, hovering in mid-air.
"Pidgey, go up to the roof and see what you can find." Pidgey nodded and flew up to the hole and looked around. He flew back down and reported its finding. Gary, understanding Pidgey's flight patterns of a drawing of a Meowth balloon, concluded one thing… "Team Rocket is here." Ash and Leaf cursed under their breath.
"Damn it!" Ash said. Also from Pidgey's flight sketch, they were able to determine that they were already in the basement and someone knew the insides of the building very well.
"Let's head to the basement…we'll see what's happening. They'll have to go through 5 barricades before they get to the lab."
"Got it!" they all replied. They quickly made their way down the flight of stairs and to the first metal barrier: a large door with a keypad on it. Brock typed in a series of numbers and the locks opened. He shoved the metal door aside and stormed his way down the hallway. They plowed through the next four doors within 2 minutes until they got to a dark corridor at the end. Brock stopped for a minute and turned around to the others
"So here's what's at stake: there is a very rare fossil in there called the Amber Stone. If that gets resurrected, we're all fucking screwed. We need to move NOW!" Brock set off and quickened the pace to a full sprint. They all got to the end of the hallway where it opened up to a very large, white room. Ash, Leaf, and Gary found massive robots and machines, each with various stones and fossils…well supposed to be containing various fossils. They found a rope to an air duct that was open from the bottom. Brock cursed himself again.
"Damn it! I should've known they would do that! They're probably at the roof by now. Let's hurry!" They all made their way back up the long, winding corridor and back up the stairs to the entrance where they see the rope moving. Their eyes trailed upwards as they see three figures climbing up the rope: a male with violet air, a meowth, and a female with magenta hair. All were wearing dark jumpsuits with a dark red "R" and a beanie.
"HEY!" Brock yelled, "what the fuck do you think you're doing with those fossils?! You can't take them!" The trio stopped their ascent and looked downwards. The female gave a rather evil, haughty laugh.
"What do you mean 'what are we doing'? It's obvious we're taking your fossils. These would be so delightful for the boss that he'll have to forgive us. Oh and yes we can take them because we don't give a shit," Jessie smoothly said as the other two moved the sack of fossils upwards. No one noticed a member of their group was missing. Ash continued to stare at them with Pikachu getting charged up and Bulbasaur and Weedle taking attack positions. Jigglypuff, Squirtle, and Caterpie all stared down the trio. But where was Gary?
Gary stood outside the museum and had Pidgey armed with a pokeball. "Okay, listen up. I need you, Pidgey, to go up to the roof where the balloon is. Drop Charmander down and he'll burn the rope when I say so. Got it?" Pidgey and Charmander (from inside the ball) nodded. Pidgey grabbed onto the ball and made his way up the building to the room where the balloon was. There, he saw an open skylight and a rope attached to one of the railings, with a net sack full of fossils next to the skylight. He dropped the ball onto the pavement and waited for Charmander to finish prepping. Using his newly learned Ember, he looked over the hole to see Team Rocket staring down at the others. He let out a call.
James looked up where he thought he heard a charmander, his head busy spinning back and forth trying to find him. A ways up at the hole, he saw a small figure with a round head. Glancing at it, he could only think one thing, "Ummmm…if I'm not mistaken…that's a charmander…and it doesn't look happy." Meowth looked up as well.
"Hey, yah little twerp! Get outta here so we can finish our business!" Charmander only replied with a sinister grin, scaring James and Meowth.
"Oh crap…I think he's gonna do it…" Charmander opened its mouth and gathered some flames.
"H-He's really gonna do it," Meowth quivered.
"Why are you guys stalling? Wha- oh my…" Jessie slowly said as Charmander released a flame ball at the rope. It slowly burned away the twine that held it together, slacking the rope bit by bit. James and Meowth slowly began to panic as the rope sagged even lower.
"Oh crap! Oh Crap! We're gonna fall!" they both started to scream as Jessie held an indifferent face.
"No shit…we're about 25 feet in the air. The fall's not going to kill us. The first bag's up on the roof anyways, right?"
"Oh yeah…" Just then, the rope snapped in two sending the three careening to their…well they landed on their two feet, Meowth holding onto the sack. Just then, Gary ran back inside with Pidgey and Charmander, with new arrival Eevee bringing up the rear.
"WHOAA. WHAT POKEMON IS THAT?!" Ash exclaimed at the puppy-like creature. He quickly pulled out Dexter whom already had the information. "Eevee, the evolution pokemon. Its genetic code is irregular. It may mutate if it is exposed to radiation from element stones. Its known attacks are Tackle, Tail Whip, Helping Hand, and Sand-Attack."
"Whoaa cool!" Ash exclaimed again. Leaf punched him on the shoulders to pop him out of dreamland.
"Okay, Ash. I understand your fascination with new pokemon, but I think we need to concentrate on the three douche bags running up the stairs over there," Leaf pointed out as the heard frantic shuffling from the stairway at the back of the main hall. Brock turned around and saw Team Rocket flying up the stairs and into one of the exhibits.
"Shit! They just went into the Planetarium! We gotta hurry," Brock yelled. He and the trainers bolted towards the staircase with their pokemon following suit. They ran through scaled models of planets, astronauts, the moon, space vehicles, and anything else space-related until they got to another stairwell and more space stuff on the third floor. Team Rocket knew where the emergency exit was, so they threw the metal door open and dashed up the steep flight of stairs. By this time, they began to run low on energy and slowed down a bit. Unfortunately for the good guys, this was also the same issue. Soon, the flight of stairs ended at another door which led to the night sky above. They set their sights on their balloon in hopes of starting it by the time the good guys could reach them.
"Quickly! Get the sacks in the basket!" Jessie yelled as she picked up the sack near the skylight. By the time they got to the basket, they heard a slash and a tear. Fearing the worst, they looked up at their balloon to find a large gash in the canvas. On other side, Charmander was evilly grinning. He charged up an ember, ready to fire until James did some quick thinking.
"Koffing! Smoke this place up!" In an instant, the purple gas ball appeared and released a dark gas, filling the entire roof with smoke. Charmander was now blind and fired away, hoping to not hit any of his allies. Luckily, a scream was heard from Meowth. Ash and Leaf took this as a cue to fire in that direction. Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Pikachu let out Bubbles, Leech Seeds, and a massive Thundershock towards the balloon. They all managed to hit roughly at the same time dowsing Jessie, James, and Meowth while also electrocuting them and wrapping them in vines.
"CRAP!" they all said in unison, while Gary released Pidgey to clear the smoke. What they saw was the Team Rocket Trio in vines, soaked, and burned inside their balloon (Koffing was down due to the blast), the sacks of fossils still outside of the basket. Brock took this chance to retrieve the sacks and ran back down the stairs.
"DAMN IT!" Jessie screamed, "WE WERE SO FUCKING CLOSE AND YOU ALL HAD TO RUIN EVERYTHING! Ekans! Go!" The snake appeared and slithered towards Pikachu. He let out a cynical laugh and let out a Thunderwave, stopping the snake dead in its tracks. Jigglypuff then punched the snake back into the basket where the others were. Caterpie and Weedle tag-teamed a double String Shot to further immobilize Team Rocket. They were done for and they were waiting what was coming for them. Pikachu, Charmander, and Squirtle lined up. Ash looked at Leaf and Gary.
"Yall two ready for this?"
"Hell yeah!" Leaf cried.
"Some ass kicking is in order for these dick-wads," Gary muttered.
"Thundershock"
"Bubble!"
"Ember!" All three attacks were released simultaneously and hit the balloon, sending it flying into the night sky over the looming Silver Mountains.
"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" they cried as they spun out of control, reduced to a single white spec in the night sky. Where they landed, no one knows…
After the attempted robbery was dealt with, the three trainers and their pokemon met up with Brock in the lobby, who was carrying three fossils.
"I just want to thank all of you for helping stop those assholes. I think our entire collection would be in trouble if it weren't for you guys. As a sincere token of thanks, please accept these three fossils. There is an Amber Stone, a Helix Fossil, and a Dome Fossil. Ladies first." Leaf reach out to choose.
'Hmmm…the spiral one looks really pretty. I'll take that one.' She grabbed the spiral-shaped fossil.
"You can go next since I went the first time," Gary uncharacteristically offered. Ash looked at him puzzled.
"Wait, so you're not gonna be a dick and go ahead and snatch the one that I want?"
"Dude…I'm too tired for this. I don't even know what you want; they're just rocks, right?" Brock's eye twitched.
"By the way," Brock suddenly said, "if you take these 'rocks' to Cinnabar Island, you can resurrect these rocks into ancient pokemon. Just in case if you forgot my rant earlier before the chase."
"…ohhhh…" Ash and Gary said at the same time. Ash went up to grab his fossil. For some reason, he knew which one he wanted to pick, but could not figure out for the life of him why. He grabbed the Amber Stone. Gary was left with the Domed Fossil, he sighs in response.
"Figures."
"Well, I'm assuming you all are staying at the Pokemon Center. I'll drive you all back so you can get some rest. I mean, you all have gym battles tomorrow, right?" They all nodded.
"Well let's get you three back to the Pokemon Center and call it a night." They all hopped into Brock's car and drove back to the Pokemon Center. The streets were nearly empty at this hour and the moon's light broke through the clouds. It was a cool night and the city's lights started to dim to just the street lights. As the car pulled up to the Pokemon Center driveway, the teens stepped out of the car and into the entrance. Brock waved them good night.
"Well, I guess good luck with your gym battles tomorrow; you'll need it. I know you'll definitely need it," Brock said as he winked. Gary looked at him suspiciously. The car then pulled back out on to the street and into the night, leaving the teens standing idly outside the building.
"I guess this is the part where we go to bed; we've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow," Ash yawned as he headed straight for the hotel. Leaf and Gary followed suit with Gary taking the right escalator and Ash and Leaf taking the left one. They both got to their room and jumped onto the bed face first.
"Geez, what an evening," Ash said through his pillow. Pikachu muttered in agreement.
"You said it," Leaf agreed, "it seems we run into trouble everywhere we go. Well let's get some sleep; we've got gym battles to win tomorrow."
"Yeah, if you wake up in time," Ash snickered.
"Well, I now have a personal alarm clock for that," she glared at Jigglypuff, who was snickering.
"Well…good night! Don't let the bed bugs bite!" Ash said as he got up to turn off the lights. Caterpie and Weedle snickered at that joke from inside their balls. He crashed face-first into the bed again. Leaf turned over looked at him for a minute in the dark, watching his sleeping form.
"Yeah…good night and sweet dreams, best friend," Leaf whispered, mostly to herself. At the end of the day, no one bothered to get ready for bed; they were just too exhausted and too busy worrying about their first test as a Pokemon Trainers. Tomorrow will be the day that will make it, or break it, for the three heroes of Pallet Town.
A/N: This chapter and the next chapter was supposed to be a single chapter, but then that would've put too many events in a single chapter and the word count would be near the 20,000 word range. As a result, sorry if this chapter was a bit stale without much action. The next chapter will be full of badassery.
Please don't for get to review...and follow and favorite if you want. I will see you all back in mid-December! :D