Hey Everybody!
Wow! Never thought you'd read those words again, did you? Well, I'm finally back…and this time it looks like I may actually update within four weeks! As I'm sure many of you students know, Christmas break is upon us, so I am thinking I might get another chapter out next Sunday, but like last chapter, I make no promises. I worked REALLY hard on this installment, and I hope that my struggle to break into the next segment of my fic isn't too apparent in my writing. I don't want to ruin the story for you (as usual), so I'll wait until the end to explain the pain I underwent to start Ash's new "Johto Journey". Alright, read, and when you're done, PLEASE REVIEW!
Also, before I start, I would like to mention that licoricejellybean definitely did NOT edit my fic for any grammatical or logical mistakes whatsoever. I definitely did NOT send her my fic to proofread before editing, and was in NO way tempted to do so. However, because I'm a nice guy, I DID edit the crud out of the new chapter in her "awesome" fic "All for One". Thanks to me, her next installment is pretty good, so give it a read.
Alright, maybe she proofread a little.
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: 14
Delia: 40
Oak: 55
Gary: 16
"Ash, are you sure you have to go already?" Delia asked her son for the third time that hour. She watched as her child stuffed his new blue hiking backpack with clothes and placed a rolled sleeping bag on top. "You could stay a few more days, couldn't you?"
"Ugh, no Ma," Ash replied, grunting as he tightly fastened the bag to his new backpack.
"But it's only January second," his mother reasoned, as he placed the bag on his back. He put out his hand and allowed his yellow travelling companion to scurry up his arm and perch on his left shoulder. "It's freezing cold outside and you don't have a car to travel in anymore!"
"Don't worry Mom," Ash reassured his mother. "I already told you, it's warmer in New Bark Town than it is here. Besides, if it gets too cold, I'll just hang out in a Pokémon Center like I used to." Ash had decided against staying in luxurious hotels now that Misty was no longer travelling with him. He realized spending large amounts of money was no fun without having someone to admire the luxuries with.
"Fine, but you'll call me once you get to New Bark Town, right?" Delia asked as she and her son walked down the stairs toward the front door. They both reached for their respective winter coats and began putting them on.
"Of course!" Ash said, having answered the question numerous times.
"I just don't like seeing you leave," Delia explained to her exasperated son. "Especially all by yourself."
"It's better this way," Ash mumbled as he stepped out into the freezing cold Pallet afternoon. The winter wind whipped his face and he saw a few flakes of snow drifting loftily towards the earth.
"I wish you would tell me what happened between you two," Delia said, hearing her son's muttered response. She had been astounded when Misty and Ash had returned from getting drinks in the kitchen looking flush and furious. However, she was even more shocked the next morning when she went to wake the redhead from her slumber in the guestroom, only to find a note explaining that something had come up and she had decided to go back to the Cerulean Gym indefinitely.
When he had heard the news, Ash simply snorted while heading downstairs to open presents with his mother. Above all else, this reaction surprised her.
"There's nothing to talk about," Ash replied calmly as he threw his backpack into the trunk. He walked to the front and ducked under the hood to seat himself on the passenger side of the old red car. "Trust me."
"Fine," Delia responded, giving up temporarily out of fear she may aggravate her son before he left again. The only assurance she had for his departure this time, in relation to past farewells, was that she knew he would be back permanently April of the next year. Though it was quite a short time for catching hundreds of Pokémon, she knew that her determined son would make his set deadline in order to battle Gary and the master before his first year of college.
As they drove through Pallet, towards the south, they spoke little and Delia focused on the drive for most of the time. After about fifteen minutes of quiet contemplation of nothing in particular, the docks came into view.
Though Pallet was far from a commercial center of the Kanto region it sustained a few docks in order to bring travelers, primarily trainers, from the Johto region to Kanto and vice-versa.
"Here we are," Delia said lightly, pulling the key from the ignition.
It's just fifteen more months, she repeated silently, as she watched her son and his first Pokémon get out of the car and open the trunk. Despite the reassurance, she couldn't help but get emotional as she saw her only child prepare for another goodbye; this time by himself.
Getting out of the car, Delia walked with Ash up to a large white ferry, slightly covered by the drifting snow, and prepared to make her final farewell.
"Mom," Ash began, startling Delia. She had been working so hard in her head to prepare a small "goodbye" speech that she was surprised to hear her son speak first.
"Yes honey?" Delia asked.
"Me and Mist aren't mad at each other," he assured her, crossing his fingers behind his back. He wasn't sure why, but it felt wrong to leave his mother with the notion that something had ruined his and Misty's relationship and he was not telling her about it. "She just had to leave early."
"Okay, dear," Delia responded, not believing her son. However, she understood he was doing this so she would not concern herself about the affair, and decided to go against the motherly instinct urging her to point out the fallaciousness of her child's comment. Instead, she smiled at him in a completely trusting, motherly fashion.
Seeing his mom's smile immediately made Ash feel better. He could not have left knowing that his mother was worrying about him.
"I guess her sisters needed her for the gym or something," he continued to explain. "You know, it's a pretty hard job keeping a gym operating well, and Misty's the expert on that."
"You're right," Delia agreed once more. "That makes a lot of sense."
"Well, I guess we better get going," Ash said, more to the Pikachu at his feet than his mother.
"Are you gonna eat your sandwiches on the ferry?" Delia asked, remembering the brown sack of bologna sandwiches she had made for her son in case he could not immediately find a good restaurant in New Bark Town.
"I'll probably save them till we get there," Ash explained. "It's only a three hour ride to New Bark, and I wanna be prepared if there's no food."
"I can't believe you're turning down food!" Delia responded, feigning shock.
"Well, I'm really not," Ash responded with a grin. "I'm just not eating it right away."
The two laughed for a second, and then grew quiet as the ferry sounded a loud whistle, piercing the quiet winter afternoon.
"I guess you should get on now," Delia said, feeling the distinct sting of tears in the corners of her eyes. However, she determined to keep them there until her son was safely onboard, and she was safely back in her empty house.
"Yeah," Ash said hesitantly. He hated this moment more than his mom did, if possible.
"I'll call you when I get to the Center," he assured, knowing she was going to ask again if he didn't say so.
"I know you will," Delia said, with a sad smile on her lips. She brought her son into a close embrace for a few more seconds before letting him go. "Be safe."
"I will," Ash said, smirking. Despite his outward appearance, inside he felt like crying too. He restrained himself however, knowing that his mom relied upon his strength for support.
"Bye honey!" Delia yelled as Ash slowly turned away and began the long ascent up the metal staircase to the main deck of the ferry.
"Bye Ma!" he reciprocated, half-turning so that she could not see the tears beginning to slowly roll down his cheeks. Not only leaving his mother, but leaving her with no one but Pikachu, made him feel especially sad as he reached the ship and flashed his ticket to the guard.
Though he had indeed started many adventures by himself, he suspected that the way which he ended his affairs with Misty were causing this particular solo departure to be especially difficult.
Delia turned around, having watched her son wave one last time enthusiastically from aboard the vessel. As she pulled the car door closed behind her, a tear fell from her chin onto her yellow blouse.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"He's already left for Johto???!!!" asked Ash's very surprised travelling partner. She had not expected him to leave for the region without at least calling first.
"He sure is," Delia confirmed through the cell phone's speaker. "He left about thirty minutes ago and should arrive in New Bark Town in a couple of hours."
"I can't believe it," the young woman mumbled under her breath. Ash was leaving Kanto, alone.
"So you see," Delia went on to explain, "I really called you to see if there was any way you could make arrangements to meet him in New Bark. Ash told me you had to leave him because you were very busy, but I would really appreciate it if you could just see him for a few days. As you can probably guess, he wasn't too happy when he left."
"Of course, Mrs. Ketchum," the girl replied. She was a little nervous about seeing the dark-haired boy again, but was given confidence by the fact that she had sorted her feelings out in their time apart. She now understood that she definitely liked, if not loved, Ash Ketchum.
"Thank you so much," Delia said gratefully.
"It's no problem," she replied gleefully. "I'm more than happy to do it."
"Oh!" Delia exclaimed suddenly. "I almost forgot! Please remind him to call me when you get there in case he forgets. I don't expect him to, but you know how excited he gets sometimes."
"Sure do," she responded, a small grin playing on her lips as she remembered that his charisma was one of the many things she loved about his personality. He was a very excitable person.
"Thank you again," Delia said. "I hope you can come back to the house soon for a visit!"
"Me too!" she agreed. "And again, it's no problem. I'll talk to you later!" With that, the line went dead.
As the teenage girl closed her phone, she heard her name called over the Cherrygrove City Pokémon Center's intercom.
"Will Dawn please come to the front desk?" requested the sweet voice of Nurse Joy overhead. "Your Pokémon are ready to be checked out."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Is she getting out of bed today?" Daisy asked irritably as her sisters prepared the breakfast table. She was making the coffee.
"I don't think so," Lily responded despondently. Her sister had asked the same question for the past seven days, and she had grown used to giving the same response.
"She's gotta come out for, like, air eventually," Violet chimed in as she set down a fourth plate, just in case her sister decided to emerge from her room.
"I would just be happy if she came out to tell us what, like, happened," Daisy said.
Misty had been quite silent when she arrived home unexpectedly the day after Christmas. She had simply muttered something about deciding to not go with Ash to Johto before shutting herself in her room.
In addition to her ambiguous solitude, her sisters were also concerned about her diet. Each of the women suspected their youngest sibling was snacking in the kitchen after they went to bed at night, but they were not positive, and never saw her leave the confine of her bedroom during the day.
"Well, we could, like, bang on her door again if you really wanna know," Lily offered, sitting down to her meal of scrambled eggs and a slice of bacon. Normally she only had a bagel, but the gym was reopening after the Christmas holiday and she had to battle the first three trainers who had reserved matches, which entailed cleaning the pool after each fight. She would require the energy provided by a breakfast of bacon and eggs if she was to get through the morning without passing out from exhaustion.
"That hasn't worked the last six days," Violet reminded her sister, jealously eyeing her sibling's plate. She had decided to stick to a new all-cream cheese diet she had read about, and looked down disappointedly at her bowl of the white, creamy substance.
"Well, we have to do, like, something," Lily replied, biting into the slice of bacon.
"That's true," Violet said. "Give me some eggs." As she said this, she nabbed a forkful of scrambled eggs on her utensil and ate it happily, though her sister appeared less than pleased.
"Twenty bucks says it has something to, like, do with that Ash kid," Daisy pointed out, sitting down with only a cup of coffee. She was not as concerned about dieting as Lily, but did not feel hungry as she worried about her sister.
"I've already figured that out," Violet said knowingly, stealing more eggs from Lily. "I just wonder what, like, happened."
"Dunno," Daisy said, sighing.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Misty sighed as she sat in her bed mindlessly watching the television screen. While it was true she had not been out of her room much over the last week, she had maintained her hygiene habits, and was currently completely dressed in jeans and a purple sleeveless shirt with sandals.
Everyday she had resolved to go out into the world, and had gone through seven changes of clothing in order to further the resolution, but a second before she exited, she would stop herself. She knew her sisters would want the details of why she was acting so peculiar, and truthfully she was not sure herself. So instead of leaving, she ultimately decided everyday to stay in her room watching television until nighttime, when she would sneak out after her sisters were asleep and grab a large meal to satisfy her hunger.
"Like, Misty, are you alright?" came a soft voice from her bedroom door.
"Yeah," Misty replied quietly, having grown accustomed to the routine of her sisters checking on her daily before starting their day.
"Do you, like, wanna come out?" the voice asked. Misty recognized the voice as belonging to her oldest sister, Daisy.
"No, I think I'll stay in for a little while," Misty replied. This was the same reply she had given everyday the last week, and it was clear she planned to stay in for longer than a "little while".
"No, Misty," came Daisy's voice through the door, its tone of quiet condolence having all but disappeared. "You are gonna come out right now and talk to us!"
Misty was slightly taken aback by her sister's change of attitude, but held firm to her resolution of not leaving the safety and relative peace of her bedroom.
"No!" she almost shouted back. "I don't feel like coming out!"
Suddenly, her door slid to the side, exposing Misty to the light of the hallway, and her sister's presence. She had not known her sisters had an extra key for her bedroom, but her shock was quickly replaced by anger.
"Get outta here!" she cried, throwing a pillow that fell short of hitting her older sibling.
"No Misty," replied Daisy calmly. "We need to talk about why you're here, and not in Johto."
"I knew you guys didn't want me to come back," Misty replied sadly, surprising her sister.
What's her deal? Daisy asked inwardly. Normally, when Misty was upset, she let everyone know why in no uncertain terms. The depressing and isolated way she was acting now completely bewildered the blonde girl.
"We do want you to be here with us," Daisy said, cautiously approaching her sister's unmade bed, sitting down next to the redhead. "You're just acting very strange, and we want to know what the problem is."
"I don't wanna talk about it!" Misty yelled, apparently flying from one emotion to the other.
Misty knew she probably appeared insane to her sister, but did not care. She was so distraught and confused at the moment that she couldn't explain her feelings and knew that her sister wouldn't be able to understand the mix of emotion she was experiencing.
"Okay, okay," Daisy said, slowly rubbing her sister's back. "I understand."
Daisy was even surer, having seen Misty's confused and depressed state, that the young woman's grief had been caused by her former travelling companion. Only a few things could make a teenage girl act like Misty was now, and love was one of those things.
"But, like, you can't stay in this room another day," Daisy continued, making her voice a little sterner in tone. She wanted to be understanding, but knew that a person, no matter how depressed, should not stay indoors for a week straight.
"I don't feel like going out," Misty replied, apparently returning to her quiet, reclusive personality. Daisy preferred that one.
"Okay then, but you at least have to come out of your room," Daisy said. "Why don't you go to the battlefield with me? Lily's battling three trainers this morning. If anything can cheer you up, that will."
Despite herself, Misty laughed at Daisy's joke. Since her sisters returned to the gym, Misty had grown closer to all of them, but especially to Daisy.
"Alright," she replied, smiling a little. Maybe she just needed to stop thinking about the teenage boy who confused her so much.
So the two women left Misty's room and quietly strolled to the pool arena, where the battle would take place.
"Like, Misty?" Lily asked in astonishment, seeing her two sisters sitting down in the front row bleachers to watch the first battle. "What are you doing out here?"
"Misty decided to see if you've gotten any better since she left," Daisy informed Lily for Misty. "I told her that you, like, haven't, but she doesn't believe me."
"Oh yeah?" Lily asked playfully, glad to find her sister out of her room. "Watch this Misty!"
Suddenly, the door on the opposite side of the battlefield slid open, and a young trainer of about eleven or twelve years approached his side of the field.
"What's your name?" Lily asked the young man, as he stood awkwardly in the rectangular trainer's box. It was evident to Misty that this was his first gym battle.
"C-Corey Goynes, f-from Lakeview Town" the kid replied, taking off his blue baseball cap and wiping perspiration from his forehead. Despite the freezing temperatures outside, he appeared to be sweating heavily under the glare of the arena's lights.
"Well Corey, are you ready for this battle?" Lily questioned, in her most authoritative voice.
"Yes ma'am," the kid replied, trying to look determined.
"How about a two-on-two battle then?"
"Uh, actually I only have one Pokémon," Corey replied sheepishly.
This is definitely his first battle, Misty noted silently.
"Fine then," Lily said. "We'll have a one-on-one battle for the Cascade Badge."
"A-alright," stuttered Corey, nervously reaching to his left for his only Pokémon. However, it was evident in his face that there was nothing there, and when he looked down, he yelped in surprise.
"Where's my Pokémon???!!!" he cried out in fear. He frantically frisked his body, searching for the red and white orb, but with no apparent success.
"Uh, is that it there?" Lily asked, pointing to the young trainer's right side.
"Huh?" Corey asked, halting his self-inspection. He slowly looked at his right side and saw his beloved Pokémon's pokeball hanging from his belt. "Oh, yeah." Embarrassed that the gym leader had seen his pokeball from the opposite side of the battlefield before he found it, Corey silently grabbed the object and threw it toward the water.
"Squirtle!" squealed a young turtle Pokémon as it sprang from captivity and into the water. The Pokémon appeared overjoyed to be in the pool, and temporarily played by itself before realizing that its trainer was giving it an order.
"Squirtle, get ready for the battle!" Corey commanded his Pokémon who, after noticing the voice, jumped onto the small plastic island in the middle of the pool and faced Lily.
At least his Pokémon knows what to do, Misty thought as she watched on.
"Seaking, I choose you!" cried Lily as she threw the pokeball towards the water and released the horned fish into the depths of the saltwater pool.
"Uh, can we start now?" Corey asked the leader as his Pokémon waited tensely on the island, watching for his opponent in the pool.
"Yep," Lily replied smiling. "Seaking, Water Gun now!"
At her command, the fish Pokémon shot out of the pool, shot a large burst of water at the Squirtle, and plunged back into the safety of the battlefield within a second.
"Squirt!" shouted the Squirtle as he was thrown off-balance and fell backwards into the pool.
"Squirtle! Are you okay?" asked the trainer as his Pokémon flipped around onto his stomach.
"Squirtle-squirt!" replied his Pokémon without looking back. Misty noticed that the blue Pokémon appeared determined. However, it was not moving.
"Seaking, use Take Down!" Lily ordered.
For seemingly no reason, Squirtle suddenly shot out of the water and flew ten feet in the air before hitting the water on its back again. Apparently Lily's Pokémon used the Take Down attack beneath its opponent, thus propelling him.
"Don't just stand there!" Misty cried suddenly, surprising both Lily and Daisy. "You have to give your Pokémon a command!"
"Huh?" Corey asked a second later, realizing the statement was directed to him. "Oh, right!" He had either been too nervous or too incompetent to order his Squirtle before, but following Misty's advice, a determined look appeared on his face that closely resembled his turtle Pokémon's.
"Squirtle, get on the platform again!" he quickly ordered, afraid of another Seaking attack.
Squirtle hopped aboard the floating platform, awaiting his master's next command.
"Just wait there a second Squirtle, just like we practiced," the trainer commanded.
At least he practiced, Misty realized. She remembered that when Ash challenged the Cerulean Gym, he didn't even know who the gym leaders were.
"Seaking, he's wide open! Use Horn Attack!" Lily yelled to her submerged Pokémon.
"Sea!" cried the Pokémon as it leapt from the water once more and sped, head down, towards its opponent; the horn on its head spinning rapidly.
"Squirtle, Withdraw!" Corey cried, fearing he had waited too long.
However, it was clear he had not been too late in his command, because a split-second later Seaking was lying on the platform, desperately grinding its horn against the Squirtle's hard shell with no success.
"Now use Rapid Spin!" ordered Corey, realizing that the Withdraw attack would not hold Seaking off for long, considering his Pokémon's inexperience and lack of strength.
"Squirtle!" cried the Pokémon in response from within the shell. The mahogany-colored outer layer suddenly span at an incredible pace, knocking Seaking off of the platform in a daze.
"Now follow after it and use, uh, Bite!" Corey yelled, obviously trying to remember his premade strategy.
Despite his mistakes, Misty found herself quite impressed with the young man's preparation for the battle. When she had been running the gym just eight months earlier, she rarely found trainers who were ready for their first or second gym battle at Cerulean, and those like Corey never ceased to amaze her. They were, in her opinion, the trainers who would become something one day.
Of course, she thought as she watched the Squirtle dive into the pool, mouth agape, Ash never prepared like that, and look where he is. She shook her head, reminding herself that she did not need to think of her moronic former-friend. She instead focused back on the battle where, as best she could tell, Squirtle had successfully clamped onto Seaking's tail and was now being dragged around the pool at a breakneck speed.
"Like, Seaking, get him off!" squealed Lily, realizing that her Pokémon was going to grow too tired for battle soon if it continued swimming at its current pace and taking damage from the Bite attack.
In response, Seaking swiftly breached the surface of the pool water once again and landed atop the platform, flailing desperately against the surface to rid itself of the small Pokémon. However, Squirtle appeared determined, and after another minute of struggle, Seaking finally quit struggling.
"King," wheezed the exhausted Pokémon faintly as it lay on its side.
"Okay, okay," Lily conceded, pulling out her Pokémon's pokeball. "You win. Seaking return."
As the fish Pokémon returned to captivity, Squirtle leapt back into the water and swam to his master, who waited with open arms as his Pokémon came out of the pool and hugged him.
"We did it Squirtle!" cried the young boy happily. "We finally got our first gym badge!"
This was another scene that Misty rarely witnessed, but always enjoyed. Though her sisters would often lose to rookie trainers, she never did, and so she seldom got to watch a trainer bask in the glory of winning their first gym badge. As she looked at Corey congratulating his Pokémon, she couldn't help but smile for the first time in a week.
He looks a little like Ash, she thought. At least when he was younger. Once again, she lightly shook her head, trying to forget the pest of a trainer.
"Like, thanks a lot," Lily said, coming over to the bleachers after she had awarded the trainer with a Cascade Badge. "You totally ruined my chances out there."
"It was your own fault!" Misty replied, having expected the accusation. "He was a rookie, but you still couldn't beat him!"
"Well, since you're apparently feeling good enough now to instruct trainers how to beat me, why don't you take the next challenger yourself?"
"With pleasure!" Misty responded. She smiled at her sister as she hopped over the banister and landed on the battlefield. "Why don't you watch with Daisy? Maybe you could learn a thing or two."
"Oh, you're so funny," Lily replied, sticking out her tongue. Inside though, she smiled at seeing her sister acting normal once again. As she walked up the stairs to the bleachers, she saw Misty run toward the rack in the corner which held all of the gym's Pokémon.
"She seems to be doing better," Lily said, once she reached Daisy.
"Yeah, she's definitely her old self," Daisy replied, looking curiously at Misty as she saw the girl walk away from the rack without having taken a Pokémon.
"Why didn't you take a Pokémon Misty?" Daisy called down to Misty in curiosity.
"I want to use one of my new Pokémon instead," Misty replied enthusiastically. "I almost forgot I brought 'im with me!"
"What is it?" Lily asked.
"Just wait and see!" Misty called back happily, as she stepped on the button within the leader's box which automatically opened the door for the awaiting trainer. She was glad to find that the next challenger was waiting expectantly.
"What's your name?" Misty asked as a young girl of about twelve years entered the trainer's box. Like the last trainer, she had a baseball cap, but this one had a large "M" on the front, appearing similar to the "M" on Master pokeballs. It was also violet like Master pokeballs. In addition, she wore a light yellow jacket with a white shirt beneath, and blue jeans.
"My name's Yasmin from Pallet, and I'm here to challenge you for a Cascade Badge!" the young girl responded, almost yelling.
She seems very familiar, Misty noted as she took in the young girl's appearance and confident demeanor.
"You sure you're ready?" Misty asked as she tried to see if her suspicions were correct.
"Of course I'm ready!" Yasmin responded. "I already have two gym badges, and I've only been on the road for three weeks!"
Smirking, Misty recognized the cockiness in the young woman's voice. This trainer was the female replica of Ash Ketchum.
"What was your starter Pokémon?" Misty questioned, still not releasing her Pokémon, and apparently aggravating her opponent with the inquiries.
"I don't know what that has to do with anything, but I started with an Eevee that Professor Oak gave me," Yasmin replied, rolling her eyes. "Now are we gonna stand here, or are we gonna battle?"
"We can battle," Misty responded happily. "Dratini, come out now!"
With a flash of light, the blue dragon Pokémon emerged from its capsule and swam freely on top of the water.
"Whoa, what's that?" Yasmin asked to no one in particular as she pulled from her pocket a red pokedex. Though Misty could not hear the automated voice of the small computer, she was confident that, like Ash, the young girl was thrilled at the information she was receiving about an unknown Pokémon.
"Wow, a dragon Pokémon!" she cried happily as she closed the red encyclopedia and placed it back in her jacket. "That is so cool!"
"Where'd you get a Dratini?" Lily questioned from above.
"I found it on the beach," Misty replied, not wanting to elaborate on her answer. "I battled and captured it."
"Well, that Dratini may be rare, but it'll be no match for my Pokémon!" Yasmin warned from across the pool. "Jolteon, c'mon out!" As the trainer yelled this, she threw the pokeball towards the platform, where her yellow-dog Pokémon landed.
"Jolt!" the Pokémon cried as she found herself surrounded by water.
"Hope your Pokémon knows how to swim!" Misty yelled mockingly. "Otherwise, this is gonna be a hard battle!"
"Don't worry about Jolteon," the girl replied confidently.
"Okay, before we start, is a one-Pokémon battle good?" Misty asked, realizing that she had forgotten to state the rules for the battle.
"Sure," Yasmin said, appearing ready for the fight. "Can we start now?"
"Yeah," Misty replied with a smile on her lips. Crushing this Ash lookalike would certainly make her feel better. "I'll let you have the first move."
"Okay then," the girl said, rolling her eyes backward as she tried to think of a strong opening attack. "Thundershock, Jolteon!"
"Jolt!" the dog Pokémon replied, expulsing voltage from its body towards Dratini, who awaited its master's command in the pool.
"Protect, Dratini!" Misty ordered.
The dragon Pokémon instantly created a blue sphere around its body, which seemed to absorb the electrical attack.
"Stop!" Yasmin cried to her Pokémon. She feared she would tire her out too soon. "Just wait for her attack.
"Dratini, use Slam!" Misty commanded.
"Tini!" the small Pokémon cried as it suddenly sprung from the water's surface and began spinning rapidly downward toward its opponent.
"Watch out Jolteon!" Yasmin cried. Unfortunately, her cries did not help, because Jolteon had no where to hide from the oncoming attack.
"Jolt!" her Pokémon yelped as Dratini's tail slammed her into the ground.
"Now use Wrap!" Misty ordered once more, seeing that her Pokémon was in perfect position for the attack since it was already on top of the Jolteon.
Instantly, the Dratini wrapped his six foot body around Jolteon's torso and began squeezing.
"Jolteon, Thundershock again!" Yasmin commanded, realizing the need for quick action.
"Teon!" roared the Pokémon as more electricity left her body. However, unlike her previous attack, this one was very successful.
"Dratini!" shrieked Misty's battling partner as he was electrocuted.
"Let go Dratini!" cried Misty. However, she was too late. She could see that her Pokémon was unable to move due to the power of the electrical attack.
At least Dragon types are resistant to electricity, she thought as she waited for the attack to end. Despite her Pokémon's resistance to the Electric type, she still feared the worst for her battling partner since Dratini were notoriously weak until they evolve.
"Drat," cried her Pokémon again as the Thundershock finally ended, allowing him to release his opponent. Unfortunately, though he was still conscious, Dratini did not appear very viable.
"Get back in the water!" Misty ordered.
Immediately recognizing the command, Dratini slithered off the platform and back into the watery depths as Jolteon recovered from her assault.
She's got skill, but her Pokémon are still new, Misty noted, as she watched Jolteon gasping for air after sustaining damage from the Wrap attack. It was clear that, while Dratini had certainly taken damage, Jolteon had been harmed by Dratini's attack as well.
"Jolteon, use Thundershock on the water!" Yasmin yelled to her Pokémon.
"Jolt!" screeched her battling partner as she unleashed another torrent of electricity from her body. However, it was clear that Dratini was too far below the surface to be affected by the attack, and Misty simply waited for her opponent to tire out.
"Now Dratini," she cried as Jolteon stopped her assault to regain her breath. "Use Aqua Tail!"
Emerging from the water and into the air almost in sync with Misty's command, Dratini twisted his body and whipped the surface of the pool water with his long tail; thus creating a large wave.
"Watch out Jolteon!" Yasmin cried fearfully as the wave neared the platform where her exhausted Pokémon stood.
Unfortunately for the electric type there was no where for her to run, and as the wave swept over the small floating island, Jolteon was carried away by it.
"Jolteon???!!!" Yasmin called as the attack died out, leaving the pool in quite a tumult of smaller, choppy waves. "Where are you?"
"Jolteon!" cried the Pokémon as she suddenly surfaced near Misty's side of the battlefield.
"You're okay!" Yasmin cried, jumping with excitement as she watched her Pokémon swim back towards the platform in the center.
"Impressive," Misty admitted under her breath.
"Jolteon, use Thundershock one more time!" Yasmin ordered before her Pokémon made it back to the island.
Uh, oh, Misty thought, realizing instantly what the young trainer planned to do.
"Dratini, get out of the water now!" Mist commanded, eyeing Jolteon. She appeared to struggle with creating enough energy for a final offensive.
"Ti!" replied Misty's Pokémon as he slithered from Yasmin's side of the battlefield towards the island; mimicking the franticness of its opponent just moments earlier.
"Jolt-e-on!" screeched the electric Pokémon as it suddenly lit with energy and unleashed a final assault upon the surrounding pool liquid. The entire battlefield lit up as the electrical power of the attack spread across the swimming area.
Although she did not hear her Pokémon's squeal of pain over the noise of static in the arena, Misty knew she had lost the battle.
"Dratini?" Misty called to her Pokémon through the newly-formed steam. She could barely see thanks to the mixture of electricity and water, but hoped to maybe hear some assurance that her almost-inevitable defeat had been averted. In spite of her optimism, Dratini's voice did not reach her ear.
As the steam continued to lift, Misty could clearly see Jolteon's silhouette atop the platform, tiredly heaving and scanning the entire surrounding area to insure her opponent had been defeated. A minute later Misty saw her Pokémon's tired body rise to the surface, confirming her as the loser.
"We won!" Yasmin shouted excitedly. Her clothes now appeared drenched, as did Misty's, from the steam, but the humidity of the battle area did not dampen her spirits.
"Jolteon, return!" she cried to her Pokémon as her pokeball released a red beam, retrieving the tired battler from the middle of the pool.
"You did such a good job Jolteon!" Yasmin cooed to the pokeball in her hand. "I'm very, very proud of you!"
Though Misty had originally looked forward to defeating the Ash Ketchum lookalike, she now almost felt glad that she lost. Watching Yasmin's joy at winning her third badge reminded her so much of Ash when he was younger.
"Here you are," Misty said to Yasmin as she neared the girl's side of the battlefield. "You have officially earned the Cerulean Gym Cascade Badge!"
"That's awesome!" Yasmin cried happily as she snatched the small raindrop-shaped object from Misty's fingers. "We did it!"
"You sure did," Misty replied, equally happy in tone.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Wow Misty," Daisy said. "I never thought I'd see you handle losing, like, this well!"
It was approximately noon, and the sisters had finished the morning's battles. It was going to be a couple of hours until the next scheduled challenger was to arrive. However, as was always the case, there would probably be a few impromptu trainers, so the sisters were sitting by the pool as they talked.
"Yeah, well, I know I could have beaten her with one of my more experienced Pokémon," Misty explained. "I haven't really trained Dratini that much yet, so I don't feel too down."
"So you just, like randomly found a Dratini on the beach?" Lily asked her redheaded sister as she kicked the water lightly with her bare foot.
"Well, pretty much," Misty answered, hoping the answer would suffice.
"Pretty much?" Violet chimed in. "What does that mean?"
"Uh, well, Ash originally found it, but he didn't want it," Misty explained. "So he released it and I battled and captured it on the beach."
"Ohhhh," Daisy said knowingly, causing Misty to blush slightly. "So that's why you're using it."
"N-no, of course not!" Misty denied. "I used it because I want to train him and eventually get a Dragonite! Wouldn't that be cool?"
"Yeah, it would," Violet agreed.
Daisy remained silent, but noticed Misty's blush and began to think about what could have happened between her and the brown-eyed boy.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Pikachu, wake up!" Ash told his travelling partner as the ship began to unload passengers. "We're in New Bark Town!"
"Pi-pika," Pikachu mumbled sleepily as he awoke and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He hopped upon his masters awaiting shoulder, and the two slowly descended the staircase that led to the docks.
"Hi Ash!" called a familiar voice the moment he set foot off the stairs.
Turning, Ash was surprised to find Dawn waving to him. He was even more surprised to find her wearing a long pink dress that she had designed, and usually only wore, for contests.
"Hey Dawn!" Ash replied, after realizing that it was indeed his friend.
They ran to meet each other, and slightly to Ash's shock, Dawn lunged at the champion and tightly hugged him for several seconds.
She must be really glad to see me, Ash thought humorously as he realized the unnecessary duration of the embrace.
Dawn pulled back suddenly, her face flushed, but her smile was as bright and confident as ever as she looked her old travelling partner up and down.
"I'm so glad you made it here okay!" she said as she examined her crush's appearance. She enjoyed the nicer clothing he now wore.
"How did you know I was gonna be here?" Ash asked, surprised by his friend's odd remark.
"Your mom called me today and told me what happened between you and Misty," Dawn explained as people brushed by the two teenagers. A few stopped shortly to take a picture of the young champion, but most were too busy to notice the celebrity in their midst.
"What?" Ash asked, both upset and nervous.
She knew I was lying?
"It's okay," Dawn assured her friend, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm on your side. I'm not exactly sure why she left, but I do know that she shouldn't have just abandoned you like she did."
"That's true," Ash admitted. It was nice to have someone sympathetic to his plight, and not just greedy for information.
"I don't know what happened over there," Dawn continued, "but I certainly won't just leave you suddenly for no reason."
"What do you mean 'won't'?" Ash asked.
"Oh yeah," Dawn said, realizing she had forgotten the most important reason for her coming to meet Ash at the ship. "I want to travel with you again…if that'd be okay with you, that is."
Ash was a little surprised by the proposal. Of course, Dawn was a very good friend and travelling partner, but he had been expecting to make this leg of his journey by himself. However, as he briefly thought it over he realized that company, especially company which resented Misty as much as he did, might make the trip a little easier and a little more fun.
"Sure Dawn!" Ash replied, a smile breaking his solemn face. "We'd love to have you with us."
"Pikachu-pi!" Pikachu agreed.
"Really?" Dawn asked excitedly.
"Of course!" Ash replied. "It'll be just like back in Sinnoh!"
Not exactly, she thought to herself.
Author's Notes: Okay, what did you think? What's that? I can't hear you! Oh wait, maybe instead of yelling at your computer screen like a psycho, you could drop me a review! Ha, ha. I'm kidding. Seriously though, I know you're all busy, but if you have just a sec, I would love any input. My philosophy for fanfiction continues to be that it's not worth writing if no one cares to share their opinion. And, as always, I'll be sure to reply to your feedback to express my appreciation for your interest.
Like I said, this chapter was hard to write because Ash is starting a whole new leg of his journey. I was told by my nemesis, licoricejellybean, that I probably should have conveyed more emotion on the part of Ash and Misty in this chapter concerning their little "spat" in chapter nineteen. However, this chapter was more of a segway into the new adventures in Johto, so I plan on delving more into Ash's and Misty's thoughts the next few chapters. The purpose of this chapter was more or less to simply bring the reading public up to date on where Ash and Misty (and Dawn) were, and what they would be doing.
Okay, in keeping with the ancient ritual of my people…here are this week's recommendations:
"Friednship, Love and Rivalry" by Princess Tiger – I know I recommended this before, but that was like twenty weeks ago, so I'm doing it again. This fic is really good, and I'm definitely going to read and review more of it in the near future.
"GREEN Act 1" by Greenmaybeaguy – This fic is weird, but awesome. It has NO shipping in it (as far as I've read), but it's a slightly-dramatic/slightly-comedic fic about a guy who ends up living in his Pokémon LeafGreen version. He has to defeat the game in order to escape, but as he goes along a lot of stuff happens to him. I know, it's a vague description, but I don't think I could summarize this story because it's such a large concept. Just read it if you want some laughs, and a pretty well-written story.
"Kiss in the Snow!" by PokeshippersShadow1 – This is a very fluffy fic, so I didn't enjoy it a whole lot. However, I know from their reviews that many of my readers are into fluff, so if you are, read this story. Not only is it a nice and light one-shot, but it's perfect because it's about Christmas.
Also, I would just like to mention that today's character of the day (Yasmin) was actually based off of one of my reviewers who privately PM'ed me and asked me to put her in the fic (she also told me she loved Eevee; thus the Jolteon). If anyone else would like to have themselves or their favorite Pokémon (or both) included in the fic, just let me know and I'll do my best to include you! By the way, a while ago I had a person who said they'd be willing to draw some pics for this story, but I haven't heard from them recently. If any of my readers does draw, or would like to start, just let me know. I'd love a couple of pics to go along with this fanfic if possible, and you don't have to be any good (since I'm certainly not).
Alright, I'll let you go now. Have a Merry Christmas…and PLEASE REVIEW!