Hey Everybody! Almost two weeks ago I sent a PM to my reviewers saying that, "unless the earth swallows me up" I would have chapter seventeen up and ready by October 18 (last Sunday). Well, the earth didn't swallow me up, but the next to worst thing happened; I lost internet connectivity. That's right. For the last eleven days we've been without the magic of the world wide web (old school term, I know), so I am very sorry for this delay. The good news is that the internet got fixed this morning, and I'm hopeful we won't lose it again for a while. The other good news is that starting next Sunday, November 1, I will be back on my weekly schedule! I send in all college applications October 30 (hopefully), and with SAT's out of the way, it looks like smooth sailing for a while in my personal life. Anyway, as far as this chapter goes, let's just say I felt guilty. Originally it was quite a bit shorter than it is now (this is my longest chapter to date), but when the internet stopped working, I decided to add some more important plot details to the chapter to make up for the lost time. It has literally been four weeks since my last installment, so I took advantage of this chapter to mention a few things and introduce some minor characters that were originally going to be saved for the future. As per usual, I'm not going to talk too much about the chapter up here because I don't want to give anything away…although the title kind of already does that, doesn't it?
Also, I regretfully have to take this time to dedicate this chapter to my "good friend" licoricejellybean. Are you happy LJB? You've now had THREE chapters dedicated to you. I actually haven't gotten to read your full chapter yet, for obvious reasons, but I did see the dedication, so here! I hope lightning strikes your computer for this.
Anyway, on with the fic!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies including, but not limited to, 4Kids, The Pokemon Company, Game Freaks, or Cartoon Network. The characters written within this fic are soley based upon the fictional characters created by these companies, and the story is not meant to, nor will it, receive any monetary funding.
Characters' Ages:
Ash: 17
Brock: 21
Misty: 17
Dawn: 13
Delia: 40
Oak: 55
Gary: 16
"Misty, wake up!" Ash yelled at the young woman sleeping cozily in her tent.
"Wha-what is it???!!!" she asked, panicked by his tone. In a frenzy, she stood up, forgetting the tent above her head.
Seeing the tent collapse around Misty, Ash fell over on the ground laughing. As the teenage girl looked around with the pink tent blocking her vision, Ash began to grab his sides, unable to believe that his small joke brought such large comedic results.
"Ketchum?" Misty finally asked, getting the tent off her head, and pushing the sleeping bag off her body. "What did you do?" She asked this in such a threatening voice that Ash was actually quieted. Looking up at her, he could see she was not in a mood to be messed with.
"Uh, I just wanted to remind you that it's my birthday, heh," Ash replied meekly. Now that he saw Misty shooting daggers at him, he was beginning to regret the "wake-up call".
"That's right," Misty replied, in an overly-sweet tone. "That means you'll need your birthday punches!" With that, she ran to get him, but he was quicker. Rolling to his stomach, he got up and sprinted a small way down the forest clearing. He knew that without shoes, Misty could never catch him.
"Alright," Misty huffed under her breath. She reached for a pokeball. "Politoed, I choose you!" With that, she threw the pokeball, and the consequent creature within, at Ash, ordering him to "cool off" the champion with a Hydro Pump.
"Misty, call him off!" Ash ordered, barely dodging a blast of water. Politoed was jumping from tree to tree above the champion, getting closer with his powerful water attacks.
"Or what?" Misty asked.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash ordered, barely dodging another stream. However, he was surprised to not hear a cry emit from Pikachu's mouth, nor see any electric sparks flying towards the water type in the trees.
"Pikachu?" he asked, taking a quick glance in the direction of their campsite to find his "loyal" companion laughing at him in a similar fashion to how he reacted to Misty's waking minutes earlier.
"Now Politoed!" Misty ordered, seeing Ash thrown off by his own Pokémon's reaction.
"Poli!" screamed the Pokémon, unleashing another mouthful of water at the trainer, getting a direct hit.
"Ahhhhhh!" Ash cried, being completely drenched by the sudden downpour. As the attack came to an end, Ash stood there dripping, not daring to make a move and risk feeling any colder in the November air than he already was.
Now Misty mimicked Ash and Pikachu from earlier as she grabbed her sides while laughing at the soaked teen, half-frozen.
"I suppose you think this is funny?" Ash asked, sounding upset. "I'm out here in fifty degree weather with wet clothes, but it's all fun and games right?"
"Pretty much!" Misty yelled back as she continued laughing.
"I could catch hypothermia, you know!"
"Well you started it!" Misty shot back, the laughter fading from her voice. "If you hadn't woken me up like that, then none of this would've happened!"
"If you hadn't slept till eleven I wouldn't have had to wake you up," Ash rebutted, feeling brave enough to move slightly, and therefore start the long fifty foot trek back to the campground. "Becoming a Pokémon Master's not exactly easy."
"Well, out of the hundred Pokémon you've obtained, I've been responsible for like twenty of them," Misty reminded him. "Maybe I should consider becoming a Pokémon Master. It seems to come easy to me."
"You have not caught twenty!" Ash yelled back at the smirking Misty. "Maybe ten, but definitely not twenty!"
"Oh yeah?" Misty asked, preparing for a long argument. "Let's see, I caught Clefairy, Clefable, evolved Poliwhirl, gave you a water stone to evolve him to Poliwrath, a Doduo, a Nidorino and Nidorina, and I got those Moon Stones from Mount Moon, and-"
"Alright, alright!" Ash said, rolling his eyes. "I guess you've been helpful. That still doesn't give you the right to give me pneumonia!"
"Wake me up like that again, and you'll be praying for pneumonia," Misty warned sternly. She then went and got Ash's backpack, containing new clothes, and threw it to him. "Let's hurry up and get out of here."
"What's the matter Misty?" Ash asked teasingly as he took the backpack behind a tree and started to undress. "Don't you miss the old days when we'd be out in forests like this for weeks at a time?"
"Usually we'd only have to be in these forests a few days, but because we were lost so much, our little trips took longer," Misty reminded him as she saw his wet t-shirt flung from behind the tree. "And don't throw your clothes on the ground Ash. You'll get bugs all in them."
"Wow," Ash stated simply, still hidden from view.
"What?"
"Nothing," Ash said. "You just sounded like my mom then. It was kind of creepy."
"Just hurry," Misty said, turning around and picking up the pieces of her greatly dismantled tent. "I'm sick of nature. It's time for a bath."
"We've only been out here two days!" Ash said in shock as he came out from behind the tree in jeans and the old hoodie he'd worn in Hoenn. It was too small for him, but was the warmest piece of clothing he had, along with a long sleeve red t-shirt he wore beneath it.
"And?" Misty asked, waiting for him to expand upon his statement. "Cleanliness isn't supposed to be a weekly habit."
"I know, but I think it's weird that you're complaining at all in this situation."
"How's it weird?" Misty asked, throwing the wrapped up tent into a large duffel bag she was carrying with her.
"You used to love camping!" Ash reminded her, raising his voice in surprise. "We'd have so much fun in the great outdoors, remember?"
"I had some fun when we'd camp out, but I'm older now Ash," Misty explained. "Besides, I didn't have all that great a time even when I was younger. Remember all the bugs and other weird stuff we'd run into?"
"Well, if we could just buy a car, then this-"
"Don't bring that up again!" Misty warned Ash with a stern gaze and pointed finger. "We don't need a repeat of last week's little scuffle, do we?"
"Uh, no, of course not," Ash said, backing slowly away from Misty. Subconsciously he reached for his right triceps, still feeling the faint bruise left from when she punched him. "I was just saying that there were some perfectly nice cars in Viridian if we had wanted one. I mean, it's not like I don't have the money."
"I know you have the money," Misty said, agitated that he was leading the conversation down this tumultuous path once more. "And I know there were a lot of nice cars, but you have to understand that buying a vehicle is a big responsibility! You can't just rush into that kind of decision."
"Why not?" Ash asked, throwing his arms to his sides in frustration. "I mean, as long as it's got four wheels and a motor, we're good!"
"But you said you were buying me a car, remember?" Misty said, pointing to herself. "I don't want some crummy looking thing at a used car lot that could break down like my old one."
"Maybe I should just buy myself one," Ash said haughtily. "At least then we'd be getting around quicker, and we wouldn't be as far behind as we are!"
"Are you blaming me for you're laziness?" Misty asked, now pointing at him.
"My laziness?" Ash asked incredulously. "I've caught ten Pokémon in the last three days here. However, the only way I'm getting that Vulpix is by going to Cinnabar Island, and without a car to drive us to the ferry, we're in trouble. So really I'm not the one slowing us down…you are!"
"If you got a license, then this wouldn't be a problem," Misty retorted. "Somehow you're almost seventeen, and yet you've completely avoided that novel idea."
"I figured my friends would help me out and wouldn't take advantage of my offer to buy them a car!"
"An offer?" Misty asked, once again in an unbelieving tone. "You owe me that vehicle after destroying my bike and car!"
"Are we really going to bring that bike into this?" Ash asked, sounding equally unbelieving. "You got the stupid thing back from Nurse Joy, so I don't owe anything for that. Also, you decided to park your car near the mansion, not me!"
"I wouldn't have even gone to that mansion if I wasn't helping you!"
"Well," Ash began slowly. Suddenly the fire was gone from his voice as he realized she had a point. He had definitely needed her for support back in Lavender, and if he said otherwise she would just point this out to him. However, the fighter within him pressed him to say something. "At least I'm not stupid!"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Misty asked. A smile grew on her lips as her question stumped the boy in front of her.
"Uh, if you're stupid, then you're arguments don't count," he informed her matter-of-factly after a brief moment of thought. "Everyone knows that."
"Just give up Ketchum," Misty sighed. Both he and she knew that the argument had been won.
"Pika, pikachu!" Ash's Pokémon suddenly called out, catching both trainers off-guard, and saving Ash from an embarrassing concession.
Looking to his left, Ash saw Pikachu waving frantically over at the two, seemingly urging them to come see what he had found.
"Coming Pikachu!" Ash yelled back, dropping the wet clothes he was holding and running to see what the electric mouse had found. Misty followed close behind him.
"Pi, pika," Pikachu explained to its master as it pointed over near a small brook, which had several Oddish and Gloom drinking from it.
"Great work Pikachu!" Ash complimented, patting the mouse on his head. He had been looking for a Gloom several days now. While he possessed an Oddish, its evolved form had eluded him to date. Also, he had a leaf stone which he had bought in the Celadon Shopping Center, so he was eager to evolve a Gloom and complete the Kanto evolutionary set; something he had already achieved with the Bellsprout line.
"Go Rapidash!" Ash called out suddenly, throwing the pokeball near the group of grass Pokémon. In a flash, the large flame horse Pokémon with a horn protruding from its forehead appeared, immediately intimidating the supping creatures.
"Rapidash, Flamethrower on one of the Gloom, now!" Ash ordered.
Obeying its master with a whinny, Rapidash blazed a particular Gloom in the front of the group. A few seconds later, after the flames died down, Ash saw that the Pokémon was completely knocked unconscious by the attack.
"Go pokeball!" he yelled, throwing the spherical object at the unmoving opponent. Within seconds, the pokeball ceased its shaking and Ash pumped his fist in victory.
"Great job Rapidash," Ash complimented after his own personal celebration, returning her to the pokeball. "You were very helpful."
As he went to pick up his new Pokémon, he saw it disappear in a flash of light and remembered that he already had six Pokémon registered under his name. He silently prayed Misty hadn't seen him do that.
"You still can't remember the rule, huh?" Misty asked jokingly with her hands on her hips.
"I remembered!" Ash shot back defensively, his cheeks reddening slightly.
"Sure," Misty said, waving her hand and turning back towards camp.
"I did!"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Where are you going?" Ash asked Misty as he saw her heading out the Pokémon Center in a fast walk.
"Huh?" she asked, startled. She had hoped Ash was still in his room resting while their Pokémon were being healed by Nurse Joy. "Oh, I was just going out to catch some fresh air."
"Oh, well maybe I'll go with you," Ash said, slowly getting up and yawning. "I'm tired of waiting around here for the Pokémon."
"No!" Misty said in a tone more harsh than she had desired. She tried to make up for her sudden aggressiveness, which Ash appeared suddenly taken aback by. "I mean, uh, you've been training hard all week so you should stay here and enjoy this little break."
"Working hard?" Ash asked, still standing. "This morning you told me I had been lazy this whole time."
"Well I changed my mind," Misty said, desperately wanting to get out of the Fuchsia Pokémon Center and purchase her present.
"Why?" Ash asked teasingly. "Is it because you realized that I was right?"
"Uh, yes," Misty admitted quietly. She couldn't believe that she was hearing herself give into Ash, but she needed to leave if she was to make her appointment and believed this was the easiest, though most painful, way out of the current situation.
"Really???!!!" Ash screamed, his eyes large in surprise.
"Yeah," Misty said again, finding it easier to lie the second time. "I was thinking about it and you've been doing a lot lately, so I thought I'd go out and grab us a bite to eat while you relaxed."
"Um, thanks…I guess," Ash replied, stunned at the revelation. He was sure she was going to defend her statement, and the fact that she didn't completely caught him off guard.
"No problem," Misty said, smiling a little at Ash's shock. She thought that admitting he was right was going to be a tortuous experience, but it was actually a little fun to see Ash completely thrown off by her agreement with him. "What do you want to eat?"
"Oh, well you don't have to do that," Ash said, sounding much nicer than a minute earlier. He didn't know why exactly, but the portion of his brain dedicated to etiquette was telling him he shouldn't take advantage of his friend's offer to get some food after she had just been so unexpectedly cordial. "I'll go get it." As he told her this, he began to walk over to the Center's doors, where Misty was standing.
"Alright, I guess I'll just go for a little walk then," Misty said, relenting. She knew she couldn't get him to stay without arousing suspicion now, and thought maybe he would leave her alone if he had something else to preoccupy him.
"Well where are you walking to?" Ash asked as they both stepped outside into the crisp autumn afternoon. "Maybe there's a restaurant nearby."
"No, I don't think so," Misty said shaking her head. She couldn't believe how much work it was to get the champion to leave her alone for a few minutes.
Although I guess we have been spending a lot of time together, Misty thought in response to her disbelief at his obliviousness. He's just used to us hanging out together constantly.
"Oh, okay then," Ash said, looking a little dejected. "I understand." He turned around and began walking the other direction in order to insure he wouldn't cross paths with his friend. He didn't know why she was acting so peculiar around him.
First she admits that I'm right and she's wrong, and now she says we can't even walk together.
"Ash…" Misty began softly. She felt bad for leaving her friend to feel like he did, but she stopped herself from making her voice audible, realizing that she had better take advantage of the opportunity now given to make her appointment. Turning around as well, she briskly walked towards Scissor Street.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Yes Miss Waterflower, I see your appointment," a young lady at the reception desk in the front of the Pokémon boutique said. "If you will just sit one second, Suzy will be out to see you."
"Thank you very much," Misty said, sitting down and picking up a Pokémon fashion magazine. She flipped through it for several seconds before realizing that many of the Pokémon in the pictures had the label "Trainer: Susanne Applebaum" beneath them. Misty knew that was Suzy's real name, and as she flipped through dozens of pages seeing more of the breeder's impressive collection, the redhead felt nervous about the proposition she was about to make.
"Misty Waterflower?" a voice suddenly inquired from above Misty.
Looking up, the gym leader saw that it was indeed Suzy talking to her.
"Oh, um, yeah!" Misty said standing up and holding out her hand to shake with the breeder. "Nice to see you again Suzy!"
"Well it's nice to see you too!" The girl with dyed green hair replied. "You look absolutely stunning! I remember the last time we met in person was when you were just this tall." As she said this, she lowered her hand about a foot below her shoulder.
"Yeah, I've grown a little," Misty replied, laughing a little. She was now approximately the same height as the five foot, six inch tall woman, and thought it funny how a mere six years could change so much.
"I have to admit I was a little surprised when you called me," Suzy told Misty as she sat down next to the trainer in the waiting room. "I mean, like I was saying, it's been quite a while."
"I know," Misty said, smiling a little, but nervous. "I just have a kind of favor to ask of you, and so I thought I should do so in person."
"Really?" Suzy asked, looking intrigued. "What is it?"
"Well, you know Ash Ketchum, right?" Misty asked, hoping to glide into the proposition, rather than straight out asking.
"Of course!" Suzy replied with a smile. "You don't forget a ten year old who saves your store from Team Rocket and then appears on every magazine after becoming Champion!"
"I guess not," Misty replied, chuckling in a desperate attempt to appear calm and collected. "Anyway, he's been travelling around looking for rare Pokémon."
"Huh, that's cool," Suzy said. "Why's he doing that?"
"No reason," Misty quickly assured. "He just thinks that since he's Champion now that he should spend more time looking for rare and cool Pokémon." She was lying, of course. However, she remembered Ash telling her only his close family and friends could know of the rules, and she didn't consider a woman they had not seen in more than five years a "close" friend.
"Oh, well that makes sense I suppose," Suzy rationalized. "I mean, he must have quite a bit of free time on his hands. I hear Champions don't get many challengers."
"He hasn't gotten one yet," Misty replied, happy to see that the breeder accepted her explanation. "Anyway, he's now looking for a Vulpix, and I remember Brock took care of yours for a while before giving it back to you in Johto."
"Yes?" Suzy replied, raising an eyebrow at where the question was headed.
"So I was wondering if you'd be willing to trade for it?" Misty inquired in one breath, hoping Suzy wouldn't consider her to be a complete idiot for asking her to give up such a rare and famous Pokémon.
"No," Suzy said, shaking her head. "No way."
"W-what?" Misty asked, heartbroken. She had counted on this Vulpix to be her gift for Ash since she was a little low on spending money.
"Sorry, but ever since Brock returned Vulpix to me in Johto, we've become like best friends," Suzy explained apologetically. "I can't imagine leaving her with another trainer again."
"Oh, I understand," Misty replied. Despite her best efforts, she knew she sounded as miserable as she felt.
"However," Suzy suddenly said, breaking Misty from her daze of frustration, "you might wanna take a look in the back real quick." With this, she promptly stood up, walked behind the reception counter, and went through a door separating the waiting room from the rest of the facility.
Curiously, Misty quickly followed the breeder while wondering what she could have that would improve the current situation. As she walked through the door, she stopped herself immediately to comprehend what was at that moment the most beautiful scene she had yet to behold. Lying before her on the ground were two Ninetales with a litter of Vulpix pups running around them.
"You see, I couldn't give you Vulpix if I wanted to," Suzy explained to a still-dazed Misty over the howls of the young creatures. "She evolved a while ago."
"That's right," said a young man, no older than twenty-six, walking into the hallway and stepping beside Suzy. Misty immediately recognized the man as Zane, the breeder whom Suzy had shown affection towards several years earlier. "We evolved both of our little Vulpixes, and like us, they decided to spend the rest of their lives with each other." As he explained, a blush appeared on Suzy's cheeks.
"Y-yeah," she agreed, obviously happy, but at the same time a little embarrassed at her husband's sudden appearance and explanation.
"Oh, they're adorable!" Misty finally said, falling to her knees and allowing the young fire creatures to climb on her lap and lick her cheeks. All five of the pups felt very warm in her arms, and Misty simply adored the feeling of their thick, luscious red fur in her fingers.
"So do you want a couple?" Suzy asked suddenly, catching Misty off-guard.
"A couple?" Misty asked. She had obviously assumed she would get one of the fire Pokémon since Suzy took time to show them to her, but she hadn't expected more than one.
"Sure!" Suzy said, affirming her previous question with a nod. "I wouldn't give anything less for the people who saved my business and helped my Pokémon learn to love me."
"Oh, well I don't wanna just take them," Misty explained, slowly pulling the pups off of her and standing up. "I'm fully prepared to make a trade. I brought several of my rarer water types and-"
"No way!" Suzy said, shaking her head. "I'm not trading for your Pokémon! This is just the latest litter, so it's not like we won't have a few dozen more Vulpix pups pretty soon. I insist that you take a couple!"
"Are you positive?" Misty asked. She didn't want to seem too eager to withdraw her offer of a trade, but the truth was she hated the idea of separating with any of her Pokémon. The only reason she even considered it was because she knew a Vulpix would make Ash extremely happy.
"Of course!" Zane answered for his wife. "This is nothing!"
"Well, alright!" Misty said with a smile. She reached for two of Ash's pokeballs, which she had brought mainly because she could not afford to buy any of her own, and gently placed them down in front of the small pack of Vulpix.
"Vul," squeaked one of the pups, cautiously approaching the foreign object. Although he was weary, it was obvious he wanted to know more about it.
"Pix!" cried the Pokémon as he gently nudged the ball, which in turn opened and sucked in the Vulpix in a flash of red light. The ball did not even shake before the center button faded from red to its normal white color.
"That was easy enough," Misty said, as she, Suzy, and Zane watched the other four Pokémon siblings stare at where their brother had just been.
"Vulpix, vul," exclaimed another Pokémon of the small pack as she slowly stepped ahead of her brothers and sister to examine the pokeball next to where her sibling now slept. Sniffing the pokeball thoroughly for at least a full minute and deciding it to be safe, she gently placed a paw on the capsule, which reacted in the same way as its counterpart.
"I wish it was always this easy," Misty sighed, gladly picking up the two new Pokémon. Over the past few months of her and Ash travelling together, she had come to find that catching dozens of wild Pokémon within a short amount of time was even harder than it sounded.
"Well, I'm glad that we could at least help you with the Vulpix," Suzy said kindly as she pet Ninetales behind her ear. "Those are some rare Pokémon to find in the wild since their so famous."
"That's the truth," Misty agreed, thinking of how she and Ash just avoided a two day trip to Cinnabar Island, which was the only place in Kanto known to have wild Pokémon of the Vulpix species. Even there the fire Pokémon were considered to be extremely hard to find, according to Ash's pokedex.
"So do you wanna go grab a bite to eat?" Zane asked Misty, getting back into the conversation. "We were just about to go down to a burger joint we really like and we'd love to have you!"
"Yeah Misty, that'd be great!" Suzy agreed enthusiastically. "I'd love to hear how it is dating a Pokémon Champion!"
"Dating???!!!" Misty practically shrieked, causing the Vulpix and their owners to leap a little in surprise. "Uh, I mean, we're not dating." Misty felt embarrassed by her unnecessarily boisterous reaction to the statement.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Suzy said, still looking a little scared. "We just assumed because of all the news that you two were travelling together again.
"Well I can't blame you for thinking that," Misty responded with a slight bitterness in her tone. However, the hostility wasn't directed at the breeder, but rather the press, which had been building up her and Ash's relationship ever since the two were seen together in Pewter without Brock. Up until then, "we're just catching up as old friends" worked as a fine explanation of their travelling together, but with the two teens going solo now, the paparazzi had become obsessed over their "hidden affair".
"Anyway, you wanna grab a bite to eat?"
"Uh, no, that's alright," Misty said as politely as she could. After that brief outburst, she wasn't sure how comfortable she felt around the couple. Not to mention that she had to get back to the Center and give Ash his presents.
"Are you sure?" Suzy asked as they stepped out of the hallway and back into the main lobby area of the building. "Like I said, we'd love to have you."
"Oh, I'd love to go, but I have some other stuff I have to take care of now," Misty explained as they headed out the door.
"Alright," Suzy said in a sulky tone. She the brightened up a little. "But hey, tell Ash we said 'hi', and maybe you guys could come see us in a couple of weeks or something?"
"That sounds like a great idea!" Misty agreed hastily. She wanted to hurry and show Ash her surprise, but at the same time did not want to appear rude or unappreciative to the people who'd provided her the gift free of charge.
"Talk to you later!" Zane suddenly interjected, leading his wife away from Misty and presumably in the direction of the restaurant they were planning on eating at. He appeared very hungry to Misty.
"See ya!" Misty replied, equally anxious. She walked back to the Center at double the speed she had arrived.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
As Misty arrived at the Pokémon Center, she took a brief moment before entering to allow herself time to recompose and check herself in her small make-up mirror. She wasn't sure why she was concerned of her appearance, especially since Ash had just seen her covered in dirt and sweat and in her pajamas this morning. However, the moment of her surprise just seemed to call for her looking nice.
Unfortunately, right before she went through the glass doors, she heard a sound that made her heart skip a beat.
"Fearow!" crowed a large bird Pokémon overhead.
"Oh, no," Misty uttered to herself as she looked above the Center and, to her dismay, saw Mallory flying down towards the hospital.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"So what do you think Pikachu?" Ash asked as he summed up his and Misty's last interaction. He was still wondering why she had been so abrupt with hum, especially considering it was his birthday.
"Pi, pika, pi, pikachu," Pikachu replied in a grave, sagely voice.
"Wish I spoke Pokémon," Ash muttered, seeing the top of the Pokémon Center in the distance. He had found a small taco restaurant a mile away and had ordered Misty and himself a lot of food. He hoped that through the large quantities of greasy food, he could make up for whatever he'd done wrong and start to celebrate his birthday. It was already four o'clock, and he didn't want to waste any more time.
"Pikachu!" his Pokémon suddenly cried out from his feet.
"What is it buddy?" Ash asked, jumping slightly from surprise. He looked down to see Pikachu pointing back towards the Pokémon Center. Following his Pokémon's pointed paw, Ash saw what made Pikachu cry out; a Fearow was now perched on top of the Center.
"Please be a wild Fearow," Ash murmured quietly, running towards the Center.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"I'm not wasting my time with you!" Mallory snarled as she saw Misty throw her hands in front of the Pokémon Center. "I'm here to discuss business with Mr. Ketchum."
"Discuss business?" Misty asked in shock. She was amazed the criminal could even say that without smirking. "The last time you two 'discussed business', he ended up in a coma. We don't need that kind of business."
"That wasn't me. That was the police, idiot!" Mallory barked back at Misty, causing the redhead to flinch slightly. Normally Misty wasn't intimidated by Team Rocket, but this new woman certainly was not Jessie or James.
"That doesn't change the fact you're with Team Rocket!" Misty cried out again, dismissing her fears. She wished there were more people around the Pokémon Center. She knew a fight was about to break out, and was afraid this wicked woman had an electric type Pokémon in her possession.
"Fine," Mallory said, in a tired voice. "We'll do this the hard way, then." She threw a pokeball out from her side, and unleashed a large Nidoking in front of Misty.
"Nidoking, don't kill her, but get her out of the way," Mallory ordered, sounding almost bored.
"King!" the purple reptilian creature responded, approaching Misty quickly.
"Go Politoed!" Misty cried out. She was healing most of her Pokémon inside the Center, but she had remembered to keep one strong battling partner with her just in case. "Use Bubblebeam now!"
"Poli!" cried the green frog Pokémon, opening its large mouth and unleashing a large stream of bubbles at the oncoming ground Pokémon. Responding to the sudden attack poorly, the Nidoking fell on its back.
"It's never easy, is it?" Mallory cried out, returning her Nidoking. "Well then, try these!" With that statement, she threw nine pokeballs in front of her, and unleashed an array of powerful Pokémon in front of Misty. Before the Cerulean native stood a Nidoqueen, Blastoise, Electivire, Magmortar, Golem, Venasaur, Ursaring, Slaking, and Aggron.
"I understand the old agents that followed you and Ash were stupid enough to battle with you guys," Mallory said, behind her line of fighting creatures. "I, on the other hand, don't care about Pokémon battles. I simply want yourPokémon. Attack the girl everyone!" With her command the various Pokémon began to charge at Misty.
"Surf!" Misty ordered Politoed quickly, hoping that the Pokémon could hold off the onslaught of opponents.
"Politoed!" Her Pokémon yelled, unleashing a large burst of water from its wide mouth. The water covered the entire line of Pokémon and pushed them back several feet. However, even the Pokémon weak to water did not appear fazed by the attack, but rather picked up their charge once more.
"Do it again!" Misty ordered.
"Poli!" Politoed replied, unleashing another torrent of water.
The only good thing about her using all of these Pokémon at once, Misty noted, is that they seem too confused to attack as a group.
Indeed, all of the Pokémon were immediately set back once more by the Surf attack, and although they were soon charging again, it was obvious they were having trouble understanding what attack they should use without direction from their master. There were too many Pokémon for Mallory to order at once.
"Flamethrower!" a voice suddenly directed from somewhere behind Mallory. Misty was not quite sure who had said it, but she was glad to receive some support as Politoed prepared another attack.
Suddenly, a burst of flames protruded from behind the assaulting group of creatures, to their surprise. In an uproar, all of Mallory's Pokémon began to cry out in pain, and Misty could make out the surprise etched on Mallory's face as she turned around.
"There you are Mr. Ketchum!" she yelled above the cries from her Pokémon. "I've been looking for you!"
"What do you want?" Misty heard Ash ask as she lost interest in her battle with the cluster of powerful Pokémon in front of her. With their master no longer paying attention, the Pokémon appeared to have quit on the battle, and Slaking had even begun to doze off after the initial shock of the burn wore away.
"Why, I simply wanted to give you a birthday gift," Mallory said sweetly.
"Then return your Pokémon!" Ash ordered, though he was still out of Misty's point of view.
"With pleasure," Mallory replied, pulling out her pokeballs and returning five or four Pokémon at a time.
With the battlefield clear, Misty could easily see Ash standing next to his Rapidash, whose fiery mane was blazing brightly in anger. Pikachu stood next to him as well, ready to protect his master at all cost.
"Now what do you have to say before I call the cops?" Ash asked in a voice of such anger that it even startled Misty. She knew he had every right to be angry, but she had simply never heard him so furious before.
"That won't be necessary," Mallory replied again sweetly, holding up a pokeball and a card. "I just have orders to give you these." She took a step towards Ash.
"Stay back!" Ash ordered, not trusting the woman at all.
"Fine, fine," Mallory replied, stepping away. She slowly put the pokeball and the card on the ground in front of her. "Fearow, here now!" Under that order, the bird Pokémon swooped down from its perch on the top of the Pokémon Center. With amazing grace and skill, the Team Rocket member managed to jump on top of it without its slowing down.
"Read the letter Ketchum!" she called out as she flew away quickly. Ash figured she was afraid of the cops coming soon.
"Are you alright Misty?" Ash asked running over to the girl as he turned his attention away from the point in the sky where Mallory had just been.
"I'm fine," Misty assured the boy as he came over to her and gave her a hug. She was slightly surprised by his reaction. "Are you okay?"
"Oh…yeah," Ash replied, pulling out of the hug as he realized what he was doing. "It's just that I saw that stupid bird on the Center, and I was afraid she may have hurt ya." As he explained, he felt his cheeks flush a little.
"Did you think she'd be a problem for me?" Misty asked humorously. "I'm the greatest water trainer of all time! Me and Politoed had no trouble holding our own against her!"
"Yeah, sure," Ash replied, grinning. He wasn't sure how she managed it, but even after an event as disturbing as what had just happened, a few simple words from his best friend managed to salvage his good birthday mood.
"So whaddya wanna do with that?" Misty asked, suddenly reminding Ash of the pokeball and card left behind by Mallory.
"I dunno," Ash said. "I guess I better open the card."
"Are you nuts?" Misty suddenly yelled, startling Ash. "What if there's like a bomb, or poison, or something?"
"I'm not afraid of that!" Ash cried out proudly. He began to march towards the "gift" left by the mysterious Team Rocket member.
"Ash, this is no time to show off your testosterone level!" Misty warned as she heard the pride seeping through the young champion's voice. "Those could really be dangerous. We should call a bomb squad or something."
"I don't wanna have the police around for my birthday!" Ash complained, turning around to face Misty as he came within reaching distance of the two items on the ground. "Besides, why would she poison me if she could've just blown me up right here with her Pokémon?"
Although he didn't trust Mallory, he did have a feeling that if she wanted to simply kill him, she would have done it already.
Nope, thought Ash. There's definitely something bigger going on here.
"Well, at least be careful!" Misty instructed Ash as he picked up the card.
"How can I be careful opening a card?" Ash asked, rolling his eyes. Misty obviously was over-worrying.
However, to assure Misty, he slowly opened the envelope and took out a plain piece of printer paper that was folded in thirds within the container.
"What's it say?" Misty asked Ash as she approached him; now sure the object was not a bomb.
"I dunno," Ash said, still unfolding the paper to reveal its contents. After he unfolded it, he felt more confused than before.
The inside of the parchment had nothing, but four words typed in plain courier font.
"'We want to help'," Misty read in a whisper, standing next to Ash. "What does that mean?"
"I'm not sure," Ash said, reexamining the letter. He had seen some shows on television where there were invisible messages written on papers, but as far as he could tell there was nothing more written on the sheet. "Help with what?"
"Maybe the pokeball will give some answers," Misty offered, bending down and retrieving the plain red and white sphere. Handing it to Ash, she excitedly waited to see what creature would emerge from within.
"I choose you, uh, whoever you are!" Ash called out while throwing the pokeball ahead of him. As a precaution, he prepared to order another Flamethrower from Rapidash as he realized the Pokémon within may not be friendly to him or his friend.
"Tini!" squealed a young serpent Pokémon, as it slithered over to Ash and nestled its head against his leg.
"Whoa!" Misty yelled in surprise. "It's a Dratini!"
"It really is!" Ash replied in wonderment. "These little guys are so rare!" He got on his knees and began to pet the young dragon Pokémon. He couldn't believe that Team Rocket would give him a Dratini for his birthday.
Wow, this is great, Ash thought happily, examining the Pokémon. This will save me so much-
Ash interrupted his own thoughts as he realized what was happening.
"We want to help."
Suddenly, the words made sense to him. Team Rocket had found out the rules for Master status.
"I can't keep this," he finally said aloud as his mind clicked together the meaning of the letter and the rare Pokémon.
"What do you mean?" Misty asked, completely confused. It seemed to her that Ash would want to hold on to a rare Pokémon like this, even if it was from a despicable organization like Team Rocket. "Don't you still need a Dratini?"
"Of course," Ash said, standing up. "But I can't hold onto 'im because it's from Team Rocket. Remember that I told you Professor Oak told me that one reason the PLB kept its rules secret was to keep organizations from controlling who became Pokémon Master?"
"Yeah," Misty said, recalling Ash's explanation to her a few months earlier.
"That's what this is all about!" Ash said, hoping to put the picture together for his friend. "Team Rocket's trying to buy me out!" He couldn't believe he'd figured this out before Misty.
"Oh yeah," Misty said, suddenly putting the pieces together herself. "So you think they know the rules?"
"Yeah," Ash said. "I guess they've got someone working on the inside for them."
"So what're we gonna do with the Dratini?" Misty asked, looking at the beautiful dragon Pokémon. They were so rare that she couldn't help, but stare at it longingly. The last time she had seen a Dratini was at the Safari Zone when she was twelve, and ever since she had wanted one.
"I guess I have to release it," Ash said, opening the Pokémon's pokeball. He knew that by breaking the object in half, Dratini would be free to go, and would leave the two trainers alone. However, before he could do it, he looked over at Misty and noticed the sadness in her eyes.
"What's the matter Mist?" he asked, curiously. He figured she'd be proud of him for making the right decision.
"Nothing," Misty replied waving her hand.
"Wait a minute," Ash said, picking up on what was happening. He was fairly dense, but as he'd grown older, he'd become better at understanding people. "Mist, do you want this Dratini?"
Of course I want it moron! Misty yelled in her head. Who would turn down such an awesome Pokémon? Instead of saying this though, she simply shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, why don't you have it?" Ash asked, suddenly smiling.
"What?" Misty asked, again perplexed. "You just said we can't accept bribes from Team Rocket."
"No, I said I can't accept bribes," Ash replied with a smirk. "You on the other hand, certainly can. You're not trying to become the Pokémon Master, so it doesn't matter where the Dratini came from."
Misty's eyes flashed open as she realized that what Ash was saying was the truth. However, she still felt uneasy.
"I don't think I want a present from them," she explained guiltily, fighting her own inner desires to take the pokeball from Ash's hand.
"What about a present from me?" Ash asked after a moment of pensive thought.
"Of course I would," Misty replied, smiling slightly while wondering what the boy had in mind.
"Okay then," Ash said, breaking the pokeball in half. "Happy early birthday!"
As the pokeball cracked in half, Dratini became shrouded in a blue light for a moment, and then returned to normal. For a second, the Pokémon simply stared at the champion and gym leader before it turned around and began to quickly slither away.
"What'd you do that for, Ash???!!!" Misty asked, bewildered as she watched the Dratini cross the street and hurry down the sidewalk.
"This is your gift," Ash explained. "Go catch 'im!"
Immediately understanding what was happening, she ran to catch up with the five foot long snake-like creature.
I'll have to remember to yell at him later for not warning me before he did that, Misty thought as she hurried to catch up with the blue and white Pokémon.
Unfortunately for her, the sidewalks were now becoming littered with people walking in different directions as the afternoon began to wane, so Misty had to work twice as hard as she ran to avoid tripping and knocking over several passerby.
Unbeknownst to her, Ash was following from behind.
"Oh no," Misty cried as she completely lost sight of the Dratini. It looked as if it had slithered off towards the Fuschia Beach, which was an expansive one if Misty remembered correctly.
She haphazardly crossed the street, barely dodging a couple of cars, and forcing one to halt completely to avoid a collision, and ran onto the beach, quickly examining the landscape before her. Because it was November, there were only a few couples on the beach, thus making her search easier. However, to her dismay she could not find the rare Pokémon she was looking for.
"You see him?" Ash asked, placing a hand on Misty's right shoulder.
"Nope," Misty sighed. "I guess he got away." She wondered inwardly how he had managed to find her so quickly.
"Oh my gosh!" they both heard a woman scream near the shoreline. Looking in her direction, Misty saw that the woman was jumping into her husband's or boyfriend's arms. "It's a sea serpent!"
"You think that's him?" Ash asked with a grin breaking out on his face.
"Let's find out!" Misty said excitedly, running over to the couple. She felt lucky that it was November because the sand had been hardened and made a solid base of ground for her to run on. As she approached the couple, she saw that indeed the woman had been fretting over the Dratini, who was now trying to make its escape into the ocean.
"No you don't!" Misty cried out, throwing Politoed's pokeball once more. "Politoed use Ice Beam!"
Obeying his master, Politoed quickly leapt from its capsule and emitted a large amount of ice from its open jaw.
"Drat!" squealed the opponent as it was slowly covered in ice.
Misty smiled as she heard the Dratini scream out.
Dragon types are weak against ice, she thought. She was definitely lucky Politoed knew such a strong attack.
A few seconds later, despite its struggling, Dratini was almost completely encased in a frozen block of ice. Misty knew that this was her chance, but as she reached for a pokeball, she suddenly remembered a major problem.
"Capture it quick!" Ash yelled, not wanting the Dratini to have a chance of escaping.
"I can't do it," Misty said, aggravated at herself.
"What? Why not?" Ash asked, throwing his arms out in frustration. "We already discussed this. It's not taking a bribe from Team Rocket!"
"No, no, it's not that," Misty explained. "I forgot I don't have anymore pokeballs!"
"What???!!!" Ash asked again. He couldn't believe that after all that work, Misty had forgotten such an important tidbit of information.
"I don't have any more pokeballs," Misty repeated. "I've used them all over these past few weeks."
"Wait a sec," Ash said, suddenly perking up. "Take this!" With that, he handed the redhead a pokeball from his left side.
"I haven't registered it yet," he explained as she enlarged the capsule.
"Go pokeball!" Misty yelled out while throwing the object, more from habit than necessity. Upon contact with the dragon Pokémon's head, the pokeball opened up and captured the creature easily.
"Yeah, we did it Politoed!" Misty rejoiced, dancing around in a circle happily with her green pokemon.
"You're welcome!" Ash told Misty teasingly after several seconds of celebration. He knew she was thankful for the help.
"Oh yeah, thanks a lot Ash," Misty told the trainer, letting go of Politoed's hands. The water Pokémon went over to Pikachu and continued dancing with him.
"I really appreciate it," Misty said, smiling at the Champion.
"So does this mean you're not mad anymore?" Ash asked, hoping to salvage the rest of his birthday.
"Mad?" Misty asked, having forgotten her appointment from earlier.
"Yeah, remember when you blew me off and refused to go look for something to eat with me?" Ash asked, surprised that she'd forgotten.
When Misty's upset, he thought, she doesn't usually just let it go.
"Oh!" Misty exclaimed, putting a hand to her mouth. "I wasn't mad with you Ash! I just had something I had to get."
"You mean a present?" Ash asked excitedly. Despite his age, he couldn't help but grow anxious to see what Misty had bought him. "What'd you get me?"
"Real mature," Misty said with a smile on her lips. "Yes, I got you a present, but how about we wait until we get to the Center before I show it to you? It's really cold out here by the ocean." In fact, it was very cold for the teenage girl because she was still wearing skirts and had forgotten to bring extra jeans with her from home when she had left with Ash and Brock.
"No!" Ash cried out, purposely trying to sound immature. "I want my present now!"
"Oh, alright, you big baby!" Misty said, repressing a giggle at the outlandishly childish behavior. "You can have your present now. Here, take it." Misty handed him the two pokeballs she had stolen from him earlier that morning.
"Two new pokeballs?" Ash asked, confused.
"Yeah, Einstein, two new pokeballs," Misty replied sarcastically. "It's what's inside the pokeballs that's important."
"I gotcha!" Ash said happily, enlarging the two pokeballs and throwing them in the air. Within a few seconds, the two Vulpix from Suzy were standing in front of him, looking up at their new master curiously.
"You got me two Vulpix???!!!" Ash asked excitedly.
"Yep," Misty replied proudly. "I met up with that Suzy girl from a few years ago and she let me have them."
"I can't believe she gave you two," Ash said, admiration evident in his voice. "This is so awesome!"
"Well, I remembered what you said about trading rare Pokémon, so I thought that you could probably train one of them and trade the other," Misty explained as Ash bent down and pet his two new Pokémon. Pikachu and Politoed also came over and examined the newest members to their travelling group.
"Thank you so much!" Ash said, standing up and hugging her for the second time that day. However, it was much shorter, and when it was over, both trainers cursed themselves for their reddening cheeks. Things between the two had still not returned to normal, even months after their "close encounter".
"No problem," Misty said, regaining her composure. "Besides, now you don't have any reason to complain about us not getting a car yet. We don't even have to go to Cinnabar Island!"
"I knew there was a reason you went through all this trouble!" Ash accused playfully. "You just want more time to pick out a car!"
"No, duh," Misty joked back. "So what do you wanna do now?"
"Well, how about we all get something to eat?" Ash asked, his eyes growing wide as he realized that he hadn't gotten to eat the lunch he had bought for them earlier. He grabbed his stomach and moaned slightly.
"Sounds good to me, but aren't you a little worried about this whole Team Rocket thing?" Misty asked. She was glad he liked her present and that his birthday had not been completely ruined by the unexpected intrusion, but she expected him to be a little more curious as to why Team Rocket wanted to help him.
"Nah," Ash said nonchalantly. "There's plenty of time to worry later, but my birthday only comes once a year!"
With that, he ran off the beach, with Pikachu, Misty, Politoed, and his two new Pokémon following close behind.
Author's Notes: There you have it ladies and gentlemen! Chapter eighteen! I know it probably wasn't of the same caliber as last chapter (which I personally enjoyed writing a lot), but I believe that it was a very necessary one in terms of bringing Mallory back into the plot, and helping to get Ash some rarer Pokémon (have you ever tried catching a Vulpix in the games?). Like I always say though, whether you liked it or not, REVIEW PLEASE!
In keeping with tradition/prophesy, here are my recommendations for the week:
All for One by licoricejellybean – I hate to do this, but I have to recommend this fic for the week, mainly because I haven't gotten to read any new fics. I am definitely (though not willingly) impressed by LJB's writing, and they have just written a new chapter, which I know I will be reading and reviewing later today. I want everyone to read and review this story when they get the chance too, and to encourage the author as best they can. I know how it feels to work hard on a story only to get a few reviews (that was me five chapters ago). Writing a fanfic is a group effort on behalf of the author and their readers. Neither can be happy without the other.
Anyways, I also want to take time out to thank SachikoMichi. This unbelieveable person has agreed to draw up fanart for this fic whenever they get the chance, and I wanted to take this time to publicly apologize for not writing you back before now; at least now you know it wasn't intentional.
Well, I think that's about it for this week. Let's hope this time next week you're reading a new chapter! (Trust me, you will)
Read and REVIEW PLEASE!