Hey Everybody! I know, it took another four weeks to get this one up, and I'm sorry about that, but the good news is that I was actually almost done with it last week, and so I used the extra time to start work on chapter 41. So even though school starts back in a couple of days for me, I should get next chapter out on time in two weeks.
While I have you, I want to mention that I haven't answered everyone's reviews yet, so if I haven't answered yours in particular, please don't hold it against me and please let me know what you think about this latest installment. I was so happy to see that just about everyone loved last chapter, and I really need to get some feedback on what you thought about this next part too to see if everyone likes the direction the story's taking.f
Well, I guess that's about all I've got to put up here this week. Oh! Except for please read and REVIEW!
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: 22
Misty: 18
Delia: 41
Oak: 56
"Do we really have to get up?"
"I dunno."
"I mean, what if I caught a later flight?"
"I dunno."
"Ash, are you even listening to me?"
"…I dunno."
"Wake up!" Misty turned over and lightly smacked her boyfriend to consciousness. Giving him an evil smirk, she showed him her cellphone, which was currently going off. "The clock says it's time to get up. Why do I have to leave so early again?"
Ash yawned and scratched his head. However, looking up at his girlfriend, all he could do was stifle a small laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"Your hair always looks weird when we first wake up. It's all over the place!" He began to chuckle and Misty responded with a quick blow to the arm. "Ow!"
"Don't make fun of my hair!" She rolled her eyes. "We've had this…sleeping arrangement, for two weeks now, and every morning you make some stupid comment about how I look. What about you?"
"What about me?"
She pointed to his hair. "You don't exactly look like Prince Charming yourself first thing in the morning, you know."
"Whatever," he mumbled, slowly righting his body. A shiver worked its way up his spine as the cold floor met his bare feet. The motel they'd stayed in for the evening was cheap, and the carpet appeared dingy and even cheaper than their fare. "I think we've been pampered too much. When we were kids, I would've thought this was an awesome place to spend the night, but now I can't imagine spending another night here. Camping's more comfortable than this place."
Misty laughed in agreement. "I know. I think this is the kinda place people go to when they wanna kill somebody."
"You know what those kinds of places look like?"
She smirked. "Of course." She wrapped her arms around his torso and leaned close to his ear. "Why do you think we came here?"
"I thought it was because this was the only hotel in town. I didn't know you killed your boyfriends."
She gave him a light peck on the cheek. "It's just a hobby, but I don't think I'll do it just yet."
"Why?" He turned as she released him and got off her side of the bed.
"I think there may still be a little fun we can have before that happens." She gave him a quick wink before telling him to turn around.
Moaning in frustration, he complied. It was almost torture to be so close to Misty, yet never get a good look at her.
"Why are you so upset?" she asked. The sound of a shirt being lifted over her head caused him to tighten his fists.
"Oh, it's nothing," he lied.
Misty gave the back of her boyfriend's head a soft smile. It was so nice of him to let her sleep with him. After the second night in a row of nightmares, the two had silently agreed to her just spending nights in bed with the champion. Oddly, the bad dreams never invaded her thoughts when he was near her, though she was beginning to sense some bad thoughts in her boyfriend's mind with the new arrangements.
"You know, if you wanted to we could…"
"No, no, we really can't." They'd already discussed this at some length.
"But I still don't get why. I mean, we've been dating for a while right?" She finished with the bra and pulled a fresh shirt from her bag and over her head. "You can look, by the way."
"I just can't do that yet…not unless we're married."
She gave him another smile. She pretended to be the perfect one, but the truth was he had her beat in this contest. Maybe it was because she'd grown up around her sisters, but for some reason she didn't see the harm in sex since they both clearly loved each other and, though he probably didn't yet know it, were going to be married someday anyway.
She decided to play with him a little. "Why? Do you not think I'm attractive?" She gave a small pout, and the worry etched clearly across his face.
"No! It's nothing because of you! I just-well, when I think about maybe doing…that, well, um…"
Now she was curious. "What? What happens when you think of that?"
"I-I can't really tell you. It's too embarrassing."
She couldn't let this go after hearing that. "No, Ash. What were you going to say?"
He took a deep breath before looking her dead in the eye. "When I think about us doing it, I hear my mom in my head."
For a quiet second, Misty looked stunned. She stood there, staring at him with wide eyes, and Ash wondered if what he just said was enough evidence for her to dump him then and there. However, relief and humiliation simultaneously flowed through his veins, replacing the dread, when she began to laugh hysterically.
"You-you mean…" she kept laughing and had to hold her ribs, "that your mom yells at you in your mind when you think about that with me?"
"Well, uh, yeah. I just hear her say that I'm supposed to wait till I'm married since that's what Jesus wants."
After laughing a bit more, Misty finally calmed. "She'd probably be overjoyed to hear that, and I guess she's right. I just grew up in a house where the rules about sex were a little less, um, strict. We didn't have any parents by the time my older sisters were in their teens, so I kinda just didn't think much about it."
"Oh." He wasn't really sure what to say. Every time Misty brought up her orphaned childhood, he instantly felt uneasy. "Well, um, I'm sorry about that."
"Why? It's not your fault." She walked around the bed so she could face him. "I think it's good and sweet that you wanna wait, and the truth is I do too. I just didn't want to be the stick in the mud girlfriend who forced her boyfriend away because she didn't do anything with him."
"I'd never leave you Mist," he answered solemnly, standing up. "I don't care if you never even held my hand again."
She smiled even more broadly, and wondered how she was so lucky. "I actually wish your mom had been around to talk to my sisters." She frowned and stuck her tongue out a little. "When they were younger, they weren't exactly the best role models…though I guess they're a little better now."
"Well, if you ever want, I'm pretty sure she could still do it. She seems nice to everyone, but as her son I can say that she can be pretty scary if you want her to."
Misty giggled. "I'll have to keep that in mind."
Ash reached down and grabbed his jeans, quickly pulling them over his pajama shorts. He threw his shirt to the ground and grabbed one of his dozen black t-shirts from his bag and pulled it over his head, followed by the Indigo League logo hat. "So we probably need to get going, huh?"
The air suddenly became heavier with the reminder of the day that lay before them. Neither was excited at its prospects.
"Yeah. I'll brush my teeth and then we can grab the Pokémon from the Center before leaving. Canalave should only take a few hours more to get to."
"Great," Ash replied, the sarcasm leaving a bitter taste.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"All flights to Hoenn's Citadel will be delayed twenty minutes due to heavy rainfall on the platforms," announced a cool female voice above the frantic airport. The scenes of women dragging children, men concentrating on incomprehensible layout maps, and security agents frisking ticketholders helped Ash to remember why he preferred travel by ship or Pokémon if he could help it.
"Crowded, huh?" he asked, squeezing Misty's hand. The two were barely recognizable amongst the throng of bodies, and for the first time in a long time, he didn't fear someone interrupting their conversation with a request for an autograph.
She flashed him a weak smile. "Yeah. It sure is!"
"Is that your gate over there?" He pointed to gate number 24, the same number printed upon her ticket.
She nodded her head. "I guess I need to go. Do you wanna come with me?"
"I don't think I can. Look." He noted several security agents who were asking for tickets before allowing people into the line. "It looks like this is as far as I can go with you."
"Oh, okay," she replied. "Well…"
Despite the tumultuous atmosphere around them, the two managed an awkward silence that almost roared in their ears.
Giving her hand another squeeze, he brought her in for a hug, which she quickly reciprocated with all of her strength. "I'm gonna miss you while you're gone, Mist." His breath tickled her ear as he whispered the words.
"I'll miss you too. This is gonna be the first time we've been apart since we started going out."
They held on for another moment before the redhead suddenly released a low moan.
"What is it?" he asked, pulling away while keeping his arms around her.
"I just realized how corny this sounds. We're the exact couple that I said I couldn't stand!"
He smiled at the hint of incredulity in her voice. "How?"
"I said that I couldn't stand couples who hug and kiss in public and act all gushy, but we're here all upset in an airport because I'll be gone for a few days. Why are we so worried?"
He mustered his most confident look. "You're right. We shouldn't be sad at all! We've gone a lot longer without seeing each other, right?"
"Yeah!" She nodded eagerly. "And when I get back, I'll have a scholarship and the gym leaders of Sinnoh will finally be getting the respect they deserve!"
"Not to mention all the Pokémon me and Pikachu are gonna catch now that we're in Canalave, right buddy?"
"Pika!" cried the mouse in agreement. He'd remained mostly silent as his master and companion said their goodbyes, but was happy to finally get a chance to speak his mind. "Chu-chu!"
"So we're not sad then, right?"
Ash smiled. "I guess not."
"…Then why do I still feel like it?"
He gave a small laugh before allowing another frown to reappear. "I guess we just like each other too much." With a shrug, he hugged her tightly once more. "But that's not a bad thing."
"That's true. It'd probably be worse if we were happy to get away from each other."
Leaning away from him, she drew up quickly for a small peck on the lips before finally separating her entwined fingers from behind his back. "I really do need to go, though. They said it can sometimes take forever to get through the security checks they set up here."
He nodded. "Yeah, you better. Me and Pikachu have a meeting with Byron in just a couple of hours anyway."
"So…I'll see you in just a couple of days, right?"
He nodded. "Yep! And you'll call me tonight?"
"Sounds good."
Pecking him one last time on the cheek, she grabbed her small suitcase and headed towards the gate. She turned around again to say goodbye, but the thick crowds of people already blocked her view.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Mantyke, return," Ash said, bringing the water Pokémon back into his pokéball after a successful voyage between islands. He'd been contacted by Byron a week earlier after meeting with his son, Roark, in Oreburgh.
Walking up the beach, he was relieved to find it sparsely populated and thus freeing him from the clutter of fans which normally surrounded him. Though it had only been a couple of hours, he already missed Misty, and he didn't feel like dealing with a large number of screaming disciples at the moment.
Making his way further up the island, with Pikachu on his shoulder, he was glad when he eventually found the metallic and rock structure that was the gym building at the end of a long dirt road. It stood in stark contrast with the large forested area behind it, and Ash instantly recalled the large sums of money spent in its annual upkeep due to the various steel and rock Pokémon residing within it.
All of that studying with Misty must be paying off. He gave a small smile before striding up to the building and, upon finding the doors locked, knocked.
"I'm coming!" roared a low voice from inside. Ash fought the urge to roll his eyes. He'd forgotten that the gym leader was quite excitable as far as gym leaders were concerned. "Ash! You're finally here!" he screamed, opening the door and grabbing the champion's arm and dragging him inside before he knew what was happening.
"Uh, hey Byron."
"I have something to show you!" he exclaimed excitedly, now forcing Ash to play catch-up as he pulled his arm harder, moving towards the center of his gym where the battlefield was located. When he finally reached the field, he loosened his grip and pointed downward to the dirt and clay battle arena. "Look down there!"
Interested, and also a little sore, Ash peered below. Not much to his surprise, he could see that the entire floor was shredded to bits. Pieces of stone and clay and dirt were everywhere, and it didn't appear as if there was more than a square foot of solid ground left between the two trainers' boxes.
"What are you trying to show me?" The truth was it didn't look too different than after his battle with the gym leader.
"I heard that you're going to be giving some speech!"
"Uh, yeah, about the Pokémon League paying for gym repairs instead of gym leaders having to pay for them."
"That'd be awesome!" The leader clinched his fists in excitement at the prospect.
"I know, your son thought so too. I've been talking with all of the gym leaders that I can before I give my speech to make sure they know what I'm trying to get done for them. I wanna be the best Sinnoh Champion this region's ever had."
"If you can get them to pay to repair this mess of a gym, you'll be the best champion ever in my book! Though I already like you a lot after you helped me become closer with my son!"
Ash took a step back, and Pikachu's small claws dug into his shoulder a little. The booming voice of the older man was difficult to take in close range for too long a period of time. "Well, uh, thanks. So is this the only reason you wanted to have me over? Because I was actually hoping-"
"Of course not!" interrupted Byron. "How rude would that be? I have something I wanna give to ya! Follow me!" Grabbing his arm once again, the leader dragged Ash up a flight of stairs and through a plain wooden door. Inside was a small desk and papers scattered all over the place. However, Ash did notice something seemingly out of place.
"These two Pokémon are for you!" announced the middle-aged man, pointing to his desk upon which were two pokéballs. "They're a Shieldon and Cranidos if you were wondering!" He grabbed the two capsules and thrust them into Ash's arms.
"Ah!" He grabbed them tightly as their unexpected entry almost forced him to drop them. "Thanks a lot Byron! Um, but why are you giving me these?"
"I know about you wanting to become a Master, Ash!"
"You do?"
He nodded vigorously. "Of course! You don't have this job for this long without learning a thing or two about how stuff works. Because I'm a gym leader, though, I know how to keep it quiet!"
Ash had his serious doubts about that.
"Well thanks a lot. I was wondering if maybe while I'm here you could also show me how to get to Iron Island? I was wanting to check it out since you told me last time that there were rare Pokémon in its caves."
"Certainly! Just follow me! I'll show you some great fossils I just dug up while we're there!"
"Um, I didn't actually need you to go with me," Ash replied, a little concerned by the leader's statement. "I mean, aren't you busy right now with reparations?"
"I can't afford 'em! That's why the gym's closed in the first place! This gives me something to do until the next paycheck comes in anyway, so let's go!"
Sighing, Ash gave Pikachu a shrug before following.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Misty yawned loudly as she stepped out of the exit terminal. She couldn't believe she felt so tired after sitting on a plane for six hours. Her body seemed to think she'd just run a marathon as it ached from the effects of sitting in such cramped quarters.
I shoulda let Ash just pay me to fly first class. She was hoping to prove her independence by paying for her own airfare, but now she realized that if being slightly dependent meant flying with the luxurious comforts of first class, then she might be willing to mooch off the champion a little more.
"Like, there you are little sissy!" squealed a shrill voice from behind. Turning, she was immediately brought into an embrace with her older blond sister.
"Hey Daisy," she greeted in a muffled tone.
"Like, look at you! You've grown up so much!" She took a step back and admired her younger sister. "You really are a Sensational Sister now!"
Taken aback by the compliment, the redhead thanked her sister with a small blush. "So where's Violet and Lily?"
"Like, they're taking care of some challengers right now. They wanted to come pick you up, but I, like, won our game of rock, paper, scissors! Now let's get out of here!"
"Um, okay," Misty replied. Though they'd grown closer, she couldn't help but question why her sibling seemed so overjoyed at her return.
After they stuffed her bag into the pack of Daisy's old convertible, the blond started the car, and made her way onto the road. "So how's, like, being a celebrity?"
Misty laughed. "Not all it's cracked up to be, really. Me and Ash have a hard time going on dates without tons of people recognizing us, and we can't even travel in the woods looking for Pokémon without running into a few rookie trainers wanting tips or something."
"Yeah, but it's gotta be, like, the best to have all those cameras and attention focused on you all the time," Daisy replied, her voice dreamy. "I can't imagine how much fun it must be to get invited to all of those nice League parties and meet all of those important people."
"It is pretty nice, I guess. I just really enjoy being with Ash, though."
"Well, like, of course you do! But don't you enjoy the fame some too?"
"It's alright," the redhead relented. "I mean, I do get to meet some interesting people, and being on television and magazines is kinda cool. Also, people have stopped paying so much attention to me and Ash lately because of all the other stuff going on right now, so it's been calmer."
"I remember when me, Violet, and Lily were on that cruise. We went to all of these exotic places and, like, did nothing but get photographed and then sit on the beach all day…it was great."
Misty simply nodded. That sounded like the kind of thing her sisters would enjoy. However, despite the progress in their healing relationship, she still didn't enjoy hearing about the luxury her sisters enjoyed at her expense. While they went off to travel the world, she was forced to stay at home and leave her own life of adventure and friendship.
"But you really do look good yourself, little sis," repeated the blond, snapping Misty from her solemn recollection. She could see the gym in the distance and wondered how long they'd sat in silence. "I mean, if you wanted, you could, like, easily go into the modeling biz yourself!"
"Well, thanks for the offer, but I think I like travelling with Ash more."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"It's comin' your way, Ash!" yelled Byron from somewhere within the dark depths of Iron Island. Though Ash couldn't see the leader, he knew what to expect.
"Combusken, get ready!" he warned his fire type.
"Sken!" The fire and fighting type's fists glowed with intense heat as they awaited Byron to deliver.
"Wile!" The small steel type Pokémon suddenly tripped into the sunlight from within the cave. Byron and his Bastiodon followed close behind.
"See? I knew where they were living!"
The small Pokémon raised its arms to protect itself from the strong rays of the lingering sun. "Wile, Mawile!"
Combusken appeared ready to attack, flames now literally engulfing both of its arms, and Ash prepared for the offensive. However, a pang of guilt struck his heart as he watched the slightly pathetic scene before him. The steel type was struggling to stand up and gain balance due to the large weight of the extra mouth on the back of its head, and it continued to cry out from the pain being inflicted upon its eyes by the sudden intrusion of light.
"I don't think we should do this."
"Why not?" Byron appeared fully shocked. "Mawile aren't exactly common in Sinnoh!"
"I know, but look at it. Combusken, don't attack."
Nodding, and seemingly glad that his powers would not be wasted upon such a frail opponent, the fighting type quickly gave up the flames and reentered its pokéball.
Bending down on one knee, Ash looked the Pokémon in the eyes. "Are you alright?"
"Wile!" The large jaw behind her head started snapping at Ash, and the champion instinctively jumped back.
"Pika!" Pikachu jumped in front, electric sparks threatening to strike from its cheek pouches.
Calming itself down, Mawile seemed almost sorry as it repeated its name in a sorrowful tone.
"It must have just been confused. Where did you find it?
"It was in a nest! I woke it up and started to chase it out of the cave so you could find it!"
Again, he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It wasn't in good sport to just sneak up on a sleeping Pokémon. He'd made that mistake as a rookie, but as he'd grown older, he'd come to realize how juvenile and dangerous that tactic could be. Wild Pokémon deserved a fair chance before being captured.
Bending down again, he slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out an Oran berry. "I read somewhere that Mawile like Orans a lot." He held the small fruits out to the creature.
"Wile?" For a moment, it appeared both pensive and apprehensive, but after a moment of thought decided to approach the trainer's open palm. With its two small paws, it reached over and grabbed the food. It instantly began nibbling, and Ash smiled.
"Looks like I remembered the right one!"
"So what are you gonna do? Just leave it here?" Byron's normally loud voice sounded even more robust with the disbelief added to its tone.
"Well, it all depends. I don't catch Pokémon that don't wanna have me as their trainer. I try to become friends with all of the Pokémon I catch, and you can never be friends with someone if they don't want to be with you." He leaned a little closer to Mawile. "So what do you say, Mawile? You wanna be my newest Pokémon? You'll meet lots of my other Pokémon and make a ton of friends if you do!"
The Pokémon turned its head to the side slightly, appearing to consider the offer.
"Pikachu, explain that Mawile has a choice."
Pikachu mumbled a few syllables of its name repeatedly until a look of understanding finally crossed the steel type's face.
"Mawile!" It nuzzled up to Ash's knee.
"I guess we can take that as a yes then." He pulled out an empty pokéball and enlarged it. "Jump on in!"
Dropping the pokéball on the small creature's head, the capsule hit the ground, rolled for a few seconds, and then became silent.
"Well that's interesting! I've never had a Pokémon that joined my team without a fight!"
"Really? A lot of my Pokémon have joined like that." He picked the pokéball up and clipped it to his belt. "But I guess all trainers have their own strategy and approach to catching Pokémon. Thanks a lot for helping me to catch her, though."
"It was no problem! Just get us the help we need here! For some reason, the PLB never takes us gym leaders seriously, and I'm getting tired of it!"
"I'll do my best. Will you be at the speech?"
"Of course! Maybe I'll even make some signs to cheer you on with!"
Laughing nervously, Ash explained that such an act of gusto would not be necessary. "Just being there is plenty of support."
"Well, at least I'll bring my son along! I'll ask as many other gym leader friends as I can to go too! This'll be a big day for Sinnoh if you get the suits in the PLB to actually care about what happens to us for a change!"
"See if you can get a lot of leaders to come. That would be great!"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"I don't know about this Daisy."
"Like, yeah, I don't think she'll be too happy with this."
"It's our only shot you guys. If we don't ask her, then we're, like, sunk!"
"If you don't ask me what?" Misty stood at the threshold of the kitchen doorway, glancing with curiosity at her three sisters. They'd been suspiciously kind to her the entire evening, and she knew something had to give.
"Sit down for a second sis." Daisy pushed open a chair from beneath the table.
Taking the seat, the redhead slowly examined her siblings. "So what's the problem?"
"Like, okay, here goes." Daisy closed her eyes, seemingly gathering courage. "We, like, haven't exactly been winning many battles."
"I noticed. That's the reason I have to go to this stupid competition, remember?"
"Yeah, but, like, it's a little more serious than just having to go to this thing. A few days ago, we, like, got some message from the Pokémon League saying like 'we're mad at you and if you don't stop givingso many badges, then we're shutting you down'."
"What?"
"That's what, like, I said. I couldn't believe that they would shut us down for just not winning enough!"
Misty covered her eyes and muttered into her palms. "Daisy, that's exactly why they shut everyone down."
"Like, I knew things were getting a bit out of hand. I mean, we had to cut the janitors and other cleaning services a few months ago because we couldn't afford them."
"How are you paying for electricity?"
"Like, most of it comes from our paychecks. I win, like, every once in a while, so that money helps a lot too."
Misty's mind raced as she tried to recollect the various revenue the gym was bringing in before her departure. "What about the shows? They brought in several thousand dollars a year. That should at least have paid to keep the cleaning staff!"
"Like, we had to cut them out because of all the extra water they used. We, like, have completely dried the practice pool out too, and the aquariums are almost empty. Mostly just fish stay in those, and we keep the water Pokémon in the battle arena now."
For a quiet moment, Misty just allowed the sudden flurry of information to rest on her brain. It was a lot to take at once, and she honestly couldn't believe that all of her hard work, all of the effort she'd made in assuring that Cerulean was once again the most feared of all gyms in Kanto, had been completely destroyed by her sisters in a matter of months.
Wait, a matter of months?
"I was just here with you guys in February and you never mentioned any problems."
Daisy looked a little sheepish at this comment. "Well, like, we were losing money pretty fast when you came home after that fight with Ash, but as you started winning again, we were able to pay off everything we owed in just a couple of months! You saved us…until you left again."
"I can't believe this!" She pounded her fist on the table, and the three siblings all jumped back a little in their seats at the sudden reaction. It was obvious her temper was going to blow, but that knowledge did little to quench the fear in their hearts of the youngest Waterflower. "I leave you alone, and every time we talk, you say that everything's fine, but the second I come home, just for a night, you dump all of this bad news on me! The Pokémon are all having to live together, we can't afford the practice pool, there's no more janitors, and I suppose you three expect me to fix everything again, right?"
Daisy shook her head. "I know it's not right. That's why we, like, never told you on the phone, you know? We knew how much you love being with Ash, and we knew that we were the reason you had to give up travelling the first time back when we were a little…less close."
"So why even tell me now?"
"Because that message scared us, Mist. This gym is our home, and if we lose it, we don't just lose a place to fight trainers. We kept, like, thinking that if we ignored it, then it would all just go away, but now they sound serious."
The anger continued boiling through Misty's veins. "This is pathetic. You know that, right? You're the big sisters here! I'm supposed to be able to count on you, but it's always been the opposite. You remember why I left home in the first place, right? It's because you three were so obnoxious and acted like you were too pretty to train or care about keeping up with this place. So I left, found some friends, and saw the world, and then found out you wanted to abandon all of your duties."
"Like, Misty, don't forget that you abandoned yours first!" Lily mentioned, suddenly leaning forward in her chair and effectively startling her other sisters. She'd remained silent, but was sick of hearing the redhead complain. "Quit, like, acting as if we never did anything for you. While you were out travelling, we, like, took care of this place by ourselves for two whole years!"
Misty's eyes narrowed. "Then how can you not take care of it for six months after I leave? Have you really just lost the little talent you had when you were younger?"
Blushing, Lily shook her head. "You know that's not the point. You left first, and you need to come back again to help us out."
"The only reason I left in the first place-"
"You left because you didn't wanna work anymore."
Tears began to threaten an overflow as Misty vigorously shook her head. "You really don't remember the night before I left? You really can't remember why I couldn't stand living here anymore?" The fact that the night was embossed, with so much emotion, on her own heart, and yet appeared unmemorable to her sisters heightened her frustration.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"We need to fix the pool. There's a huge hole in the bottom of it, and the water doesn't stay in for more than a few minutes." A much younger Misty pointed to the center of the pool where a decent gape made itself known.
Daisy, however, did not heed the younger child's voice. She instead continued filing away at her index finger nail, a look of pure disinterest etched across her face.
"Daisy, are you even listening to what I'm saying?"
She perked her head up for a moment. "Uh, yeah, sure little sis. Whatever you say."
"This is serious, Daisy! The pool needs to be fixed or else we won't be able to have battles here! No battles, no gym!"
"I get it," the blond replied, rolling her eyes. "Like, don't take everything so seriously."
"Maybe you should take things a little more seriously," Misty muttered, suddenly gaining her older sibling's attention.
"What does that mean?"
"I mean that you should stop looking at yourself in a mirror for a second to see that this place is falling apart! Am I the only one that cares?"
Daisy took a step forward. "Like, listen to me Misty. I'm the adult here, and I will not, like, tolerate you talking to me like that. Show some respect!"
"Earn some!" Misty stamped her foot on the ground. Over seven years of living under the dictatorship of her sisters had recently begun to wear her nerves thin. Some of her friends from school had just left on their Pokémon journeys, yet here she was, still obeying her snotty older sisters like some slave girl.
"Don't talk to me like that, I said!"
"Why shouldn't I? You say you're a grown-up, but you've already spent all of Mom and Dad's money on yourself along with Lily and Violet, and now we have to start winning battles if we wanna keep the gym."
"Like, I know what I'm doing Misty. You just keep battling the trainers, and let the adults worry about the gym." The condescension in her tone made Misty want to strangle her.
Tightening her fists, Misty fought back. "How can I battle trainers if we don't have a pool anymore?"
"Like, we'll fix it after the next paycheck comes."
"The next check doesn't come for two more weeks, and you said we already spent the money for this month!"
"Well, like, money's a little tight right now."
"Not tight enough for you, Lil, and Vi to stop going to the beauty salon every week though, right?"
"What are you saying now?"
Misty huffed. "For my birthday, I got a small cake and a Caterpie pillow! I don't even like bugs! But every day I see you guys come home with all kinds of nice stuff and new outfits for yourselves." She looked down, the need to cry forcing her direct eye contact to break. "It's like I'm not important."
"Well, when you're a grown-up, then you can start buying nice stuff too. We can get these things because we've earned them."
Her cheeks tinted a dark red, Misty looked back up. "How? By using the money the League sends? We only get that money as long as we keep winning, and we only win because I'm the only one battling! I've been doing it since I was five years old, and you guys have barely helped since!"
"That's not true! We have the shows."
"Like, what's going on in here?" Lily and Violet walked through the doors into the arena. "I heard Misty's little voice out in the hallway."
"She's, like, saying that we don't pull our own weight around here."
"What?" Lily and Violet stared down angrily at their youngest sister. "What about all of the shows we do?"
"Those shows cost more money to make than we usually get from selling tickets! You just wanna be models and are using them to get noticed."
"Like, don't be angry that you're too young to have a great body like we do," Violet said, striking a pose. "Maybe when you're older, you'll understand."
"If I'm like you when I'm older, then we won't have a home anymore. You're all the same! No one cares that there's a giant hole in the pool, and that means we're not gonna be able to take trainers unless we get it fixed quickly."
Daisy rolled her eyes. "A little overdramatic, don't ya think Mist? We can just use some of the insurance money to pay for it."
"We don't have any more, remember?"
"We, like, don't?" Daisy looked to her sisters, who shook their heads.
"Like, remember? The lawyer guy came and told us about that last month."
Rolling her eyes back for a moment, Daisy snapped her fingers. "Ooooh, right. I forgot about him."
"So what are we gonna do?" Misty asked. "I mean, look!" The pool was already halfway empty again.
"This wouldn't be so hard if we didn't have some little mouth yelling at us right now." Violet mentioned, glaring at her younger sister. "Why don't you go play with some of the Pokémon or something?"
"This 'little mouth' is the only reason you guys even noticed the pool problem in the first place! I'm not going anywhere!" She stamped her foot again, and leered at Violet, threatening the girl to retaliate.
However, Lily intervened on her sister's behalf. "Well, maybe if you didn't spend so much of our money, we wouldn't have this problem. We could probably pay it off if you didn't go and buy that new bike for yourself yesterday."
"My bike? The only reason I got that thing was so I could get around town easier when I'm doing chores…besides, it's not like I've gotten anything nice lately anyway, unlike you three who always get whatever you want every time you go to the mall."
"Didn't we already, like, talk about this? We're the adults, so we can get whatever we want with our money."
"It's my money too, Daisy."
"Like, I don't see your name on the paycheck every month."
Misty's jaw tightened. "Only because I'm not old enough yet, but you know I'm the only reason we get to stay open."
"Like, don't think so highly of yourself."
The redhead raised her eyebrow in surprise. "You really think you could run this gym without me?"
"Like, we'd probably be better off. One less mouth to feed. Right girls?" The blond looked behind her to find her sisters nodding in solemn approval.
"Fine then!" Turning before the tears began to cascade down her cheeks, she ran up to her room, which, through tinted windows, overlooked the pool. Slamming the door behind her, she reached under her bed for her small red backpack.
"I won't need these anymore," she noted, emptying the sack of various school papers and pencils. She opened her drawers and quickly stuffed it full with clothing before tightening the top off. "I don't need them anyway. After all I've done to keep this gym alive, if they don't think I'm important…" Her words died off momentarily as she sniffled a little. "If they don't love me anymore, then I don't need them. Let the whole gym just get torn down for all I care."
Grabbing her backpack and slinging it behind her, she marched out of her room, but not before grabbing the rod and reel she left laying against the wall next to her door. Her dad had told her long ago that this was his lucky fishing rod from back when he started his journey.
Let's hope it really is lucky, she noted while slamming the door shut behind her.
Marching down the stairs, she called out for her sisters, but didn't hear a reply. Going into the dingy kitchen, she found a note scrawled out on top of the dining table.
Misty,
We've gone to the mall. We'll figure this whole pool hole problem out when we get back.
Later!
Huffing again, she turned the paper over and grabbed the pen her sisters had left by it.
I'm leaving to start my own Pokémon journey like my friends. If you guys are so smart, then good luck running the gym without me!
An involuntary tear dripped from the tip of her nose onto the sheet, but now she didn't care if they found out they made her cry. By the time they got back from another spree they couldn't afford, she'd almost be out of Cerulean.
"Uh-oh." As she prepared to take her first step of freedom out of the house, she realized something.
"I need Pokémon!"
Running back inside, she quickly sprinted to the rack where the pokéballs were held. At first, she was tempted to simply take all of them, but she knew, despite how much she loathed them, she couldn't do that to Violet, Daisy, and Lily. Instead she grabbed the first three on the rack, and made sure to avoid the Gyarados' capsule.
"That's better," she noted, dropping the balls into her bag and closing it back up. She was certainly at an advantage in terms of training. Most kids had little experience in battling before their journeys, save for the classes they had to attend before leaving home where they would use "practice" Pokémon. She'd been battling for five years now, and she quickly decided to not waste her time with the local Pokémon League branch to try and get a starter.
Stepping out of the pool room, she realized that, in addition to the Pokémon, she would also need money to buy a sleeping bag and a tent like her friends. Going into Daisy's room, she opened the safe and, once again unable to bring herself to take everything, withdrew the minimal amount to keep herself going for a while without having to write home and ask for money.
Now, with money, clothes, a fishing rod, and Pokémon in her bag, she took a deep breath and walked out of the entrance, grabbed her new bike, and pedaled as quickly as she could from the gym and home that harbored so much of her past. She didn't dare to look back…she couldn't risk falling for its memorial charms until it was too late.
"Bye guys," she muttered, head down, as she sped down the street and toward a new adventure.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The three siblings sat, their mouths agape, as Misty reminded them of why she left.
"Like, I totally forgot about that fight we had."
"Me too."
"Like, so did I!"
She gave them a sad smile. "Now that I look back at it, I realize it wasn't that big of a fight or anything, but when you're almost eleven years old, feeling like no one needs you is a pretty big reason to want to run away from home."
"I'm so sorry for what I said earlier," Lily whispered, her eyes misty after listening to the recant. "I had no idea how you felt when you left. You had, like, every reason to leave when you were younger."
"Like, I think we're all sorry for how we acted back then," Daisy mentioned, grabbing Misty's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I don't know why we acted like we did back then. I guess we just thought we were important because we were 'adults' or whatever. I wish I could, like, go back and fix everything."
"It's okay you guys. We were all confused. You were younger than I am now when Mom and Dad died, and that's a lot of pressure to put on a bunch of teenage girls."
"So…like, where does that leave us?" Violet questioned suddenly, pulling the girls' mind back onto track. "Are you gonna help us?"
Misty sighed and looked up at the ceiling. She didn't know what to do. When she was younger, out of anger she didn't care what happened to the gym, but now she was older and supposedly more mature. Also, she really did care about her sisters and her old home.
But what about Ash?
Author's Notes: I know this didn't have near the same level of excitement as last chapter, but you know that more action is in store in the near future, and I really needed this chapter in order to shed a little more light on Misty's background, as well as prepare Ash for his upcoming speech to the Sinnoh PLB. So yeah, I'll admit that this probably isn't going on anyone's "favorite chapter" list like last chapter, but I would really like some feedback on if you think I handled the characterization well for each of the players in this chapter. As the story continues to get darker, and we handle a few more mature subjects near the end of this fic, I'm going to have to take more liberty with their personalities because they've never really faced anything like this in the show before. Therefore any opinions on how the characters reacted or what they said during this chapter that you thought was OOC or IC would be much appreciated.
…Of course, just a "Great chapter!" would be nice to hear too. Ha,ha.
Thank all of y'all for your patience. I'm always amazed that writer's block can hurt me for such a long period of time between chapters (like the last two), and yet I can still count on so many of my loyal fans to instantly flock back and both praise and critique my writing style. Y'all are truly the inspiration for my continuing to work on this story, and I promise to respond to all of your reviews this time, and to continue giving my best effort to provide y'all with a good Pokéshipping fanfic.
I'll see you in two weeks!