Heeeey all you wonderful readers!
I WAS WRONG: it looks like I did manage to update again before the year's end! It actually took a long time to write this one, for some reason. I started on it a while ago, but after I wrote the "Gum" chapter, I thought, maybe this one would be better as the seventieth chapter instead of the sixty-ninth one. Anyways, hope you enjoy!
Today's chapter budded from a combination of suggestions from a guest reviewer, Merro, and Pikachu123!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!
The Storm
(Summer before) Grade Four
May (9), Gary (9), Dawn (9), Misty (9), Leaf (9), Drew (9), Paul (9), Ash (9)
"So... why are we playing Simon Says again?" Drew asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Just go with it," Misty muttered.
"All right," Dawn said, placing her hands on her hips. "The next one is... Simon says do a cartwheel!"
She giggled as half the group – May, Drew, and Ash – failed to mimic her perfect cartwheel. Paul didn't even bother trying. But Misty's cartwheel, Dawn thought, was even better than hers, and Leaf's wasn't bad either. A part of her was also surprised at how perfectly Gary succeeded.
"Too easy," Gary said, dusting off his hands.
"It's too hot to focus properly," May complained as Ash helped her up. She brushed the dry grass from her clothes.
"Yeah," Drew agreed, looking at the sky. "It hasn't rained in so long."
Summer was nearing its end, but the heat wasn't letting up. Determined to make the most of the rest of their holidays, the eight friends had gotten together despite the high temperatures and decided to do something.
'Something' ended up being exploring the woods (a new episode of May's Expeditions) and discovering a flowery meadow just beyond a thick cluster of trees. Upon closer inspection, however, they found that the meadow was as dry and hot as the rest of the world – there were yellowing patches in the grass, and the flowers were wilting.
Regardless, Dawn proclaimed it the perfect area to hang out, and, in the midst of boredom, she suggested playing Simon Says. No one else was particularly enthusiastic, but they also happened to be too drained to argue.
Dawn looked up at the sky. "Maybe it'll rain soon," she said, shrugging. "I think I see a few clouds... Okay, next, Simon says spin ten times without stopping."
A groan rippled through the group, but they complied anyways. At least, most of them did.
"Paul, you're not even trying," Dawn whined.
"Never said I was playing to begin with," he said disinterestedly. Something in his tone made Dawn's eyebrows crease.
"I don't want to either, you know," Gary grumbled. "But at least it makes me forget the heat."
"Really?" Misty said, wiping sweat from her forehead. "All this moving around is just making me hotter."
"Do any of you have water?" Leaf asked, fanning herself with her hat. "My throat feels like it's gonna crack."
"We should head back," said Ash. "We can go to Leaf's and get popsicles or something."
"Sorry, no," said Leaf. "Our freezer's broken. Some technician guy's at our house trying to fix it."
May sighed, flopping down in the grass. "Why don't we go do something inside? I don't want to stay here in the sun."
"The closest houses right now are Leaf's, Ash's, Misty's, and mine," said Gary, flopping down beside her. "Can't go to Leaf's 'cause of the technician guy, and not to mine either 'cause Gramps has important guests over. And Misty's... her sisters are too annoying."
"And Ash's?"
"My mom's not home," Ash said. "That's why I was staying at Gary's."
"Come on, guys, let's keep playing Simon Says," Dawn said. "I thought of a good one!"
"How do you still want to play?" Paul muttered.
"Because it's fun," said Dawn. "Aren't you guys having fun?"
"No one's having fun playing your dumb game!"
"Be quiet! You're being a sour-Meowth."
"And you're being annoying."
Dawn's face reddened and she snatched up a fistful of dried grass and threw it at him. Paul scowled and blew a long dangling strand from his face.
"Guys, stop fighting," Leaf said, lying down in the grass, her hat on her face.
"But he start—"
"I actually don't want to play either, Dawn. Seriously, all I want at this point is some water."
Drew blinked as something tiny but cold fell on his face. He looked up. "Uh, guys?"
"Hey, is it just me, or has it gotten darker?" Ash said, frowning.
"Hey guys—" Drew tried again.
"It's just you, Ash," Leaf murmured. "Looks the same to me."
"That's because your hat is on your face," May pointed out.
"Guys!"
"What?" said Dawn, finally paying attention to the green-head.
Drew pointed to the sky. "I think it's raining."
Sure enough, mountains of clouds had somehow suddenly appeared, blocking out the sun, and small droplets had begun dripping from above.
And they were getting faster.
"Rain!" Leaf exclaimed, speeding to her feet, her arms in the air.
"Finally!" Misty grinned, letting the droplets shower all over her.
"At last!" Gary cheered.
"Getting too fast," Paul said, his eyebrows creasing.
"Way too fast," Drew agreed, stepping back.
"Uh, guys?" Ash turned to the rest of them. But with the gathering darkness and rapidly increasing rain, it was getting harder to see. A flash of lightning revealed their positions for just a second.
And then a blast of thunder caused all of them to jolt and someone to shriek.
"Guys, we need to get indoors," someone yelled.
"But where are you?" called someone else.
"I can't see anybody!"
"Guys, which way do we go?"
They tried tracking one another with their limited vision, but the group couldn't rejoin. Their game of Simon Says had turned to chaos.
"Guys, where are you?" May screamed, trying to be heard over the pounding wind and rain.
She bumped into someone, who grabbed her arm and pulled her along.
"Gary," she gasped. "Where are you going?"
"Trying to find some place indoors."
The two of them could vaguely see surrounding trees – they'd ended up back in the woods, but it was impossible to see the path. They did, however, collide with a fence.
"A fence," May said. "That means there must be a house nearby."
"Come on."
Gary found an opening and the two went in, eventually coming face to face with the door of an old barn.
"Should we really go in without knocking?" May said nervously when Gary pushed the door open.
"There's no one inside," Gary said, looking around. "And if someone comes, we'll explain what happened."
There was a musty smell in the air, but no sign of anyone else, though the quietest creaking and scurrying along the corners suggested the presence of small wild Pokemon. Broken crates lay along the wall. A few stables with crumbling doors stood empty. Thunder blasted outside, as if knocking on the walls, trying to get them to open up and let the rain in.
May and Gary stood shivering in the dark, their teeth chattering, their clothes soaked, and the sound of thunder drumming outside.
Meanwhile, Dawn had also bumped into someone.
"Misty!"
"Dawn?"
"Misty, we need to get out of here!"
"Yeah, no kidding!"
The two were freezing, especially considering they had dressed in clothes suitable for a heatwave – definitely not a rainstorm.
"We need to get out of the rain first," Misty said. "Come on, I think I know how to get back to our neighbourhood."
They ran down a path – at least they thought there was a path there – but instead of reaching a clearing, they found themselves face to face with the woods.
"Did I go the wrong way?" Misty said, slapping her forehead.
"I don't think so," said Dawn. "We did get here through the woods in the first place. But we'll get totally lost if we try to find our way through them. It's too dark."
"Do we have a choice? Come on!"
They meandered through the trees, their sandals squelching in the mud. It looked like they were making progress, however, because, very slowly, they noticed the trees beginning to thin. Dawn was glad it was Misty she'd ended up with. She wasn't afraid of this situation – she was one of the bravest people she knew.
Then a swarm of Beedrill popped out of nowhere.
"Bugs!" Misty shrieked, running the opposite way.
"Wait, Misty!" Dawn raced after her. She could hardly see her in the dark, and was afraid she'd be left all alone in the woods in the storm. But finally, finally, she spotted a flash of Misty's bright orange hair.
Misty had stopped to catch her breath. Dawn stopped beside her, panting.
"Why are you so afraid of bugs!" Dawn said. "They were probably just going to their nest or something. You really think they were going to attack when it's raining so much?"
"You never know!"
Dawn looked around and groaned. "Great, now we're totally lost and we're gonna be stuck out here in the rain."
"Or not."
Misty pointed to a tall tree. Its trunk was hollowed and incredibly thick. The two of them slipped into the opening and sat down, shivering, rubbing their arms. Their little shelter seemed uninhabited, but Dawn wondered if a Pokemon had once used it as its home. Maybe a bug type.
She decided not to mention it to Misty.
They sat there, dripping wet, and stared out the opening, waiting.
Drew was lost, and absolutely alone in the darkness and rain.
He had no idea where the others had gone off to, and it felt like it had been ages since he'd last heard them yelling. And if he or they yelled now, the thunder and rainfall would probably drown out their voices.
He tried anyways.
"Hey, guys? Guys!"
No one. Absolutely no one. He shoved down the panic gurgling in his throat. He needed to remain calm, needed to collect his thoughts and think of a way out. At least Paul and Gary weren't around to accuse him of being scared. Although they might not bother teasing him when they were stuck in this kind of weather.
"Guys!"
"Drew?"
A voice he recognized.
"Leaf?"
"Stay where you are and keep yelling – I'm coming towards you!"
It wasn't long before his green-eyed friend had reached him. She was hugging herself, shivering, her hat useless in keeping her head dry. She looked terrible, but, Drew figured, he probably didn't look any better.
"Well, you wanted water," said Drew. "Here's water. Hope you're having fun."
"Oh, I'm having a marvelous time," Leaf said bitterly.
"I don't get it. How did it start so quickly?"
"Probably some Pokemon using Rain Dance or something." She frowned. "A very extreme form of rain dance…"
"Well I don't want to stay standing out here. Which way do we go?"
They stumbled blindly through the mud and grass until they reached the thick of the woods.
"Should we go in?" Drew mused. "Try to find our way back?"
"In this weather? We'd get lost." Leaf looked around. "Think, Leaf, think," she muttered to herself. "What would Paul do?"
Drew gave her a peculiar look. "Why Paul?"
"Because he'd probably be getting incredibly annoyed in this kind of situation." She smirked. "Imagining him like that always cheers me up!"
Drew stared at her, bemused, while she tapped her chin in thought.
"Hey, Drew? You know how sometimes, Pokemon make their homes in trees, and the trees get hollowed out with enough space to go in?"
"Yeah?"
"Let's find one of those."
"Leaf," Drew said skeptically as he followed her. "How in the world are we going to find something as specific as that in this kind of weather when we can barely even—"
"Found one!" Leaf grinned at him, gesturing to a huge, hollowed out tree. "Come on."
"Should we really?" he said as he slipped in after her. "There might be a wild Pokemon living in here."
Leaf shrugged as she sat down and wrung out her hair. "It'll understand."
"What if it doesn't?"
"Then too bad." She squeezed the water out of her hat and placed it on Drew's lap. "Hold this for me."
Drew sighed, running his hand through his hair to get as much water out as he could. "So what do we do now?"
"Isn't it obvious? We wait."
"For what?"
"For the Pokemon's Rain Dance to be over. It doesn't last too long, so we probably won't be in here all day."
"What if this isn't Rain Dance?"
"Well..." She shrugged. "Then we're stuck here anyways."
Of all the people he could have gotten stuck with, Paul thought resentfully, it just had to be Ash.
And, of course, Ash just had to insist on talking.
"When do you think the rain will stop?" he said, shivering as he followed Paul as if Paul had any idea where he was going. "It feels like it's been going on forever."
"Ash, can you be quiet?" Paul snapped. "I'm trying to find somewhere where I don't have to get soaked."
Ash looked him up and down. "Too late," he muttered.
Paul huffed, and continued trying to see through the darkness.
"Do you think we'll really find somewhere to stay?" said Ash. "I mean, we're in the middle of the woods right now. There can't be a house in the middle of the— Oof!"
Paul turned around to see Ash massaging his shoulder. Ash gave him a grin and a thumbs up. "No worries, I'm okay!"
Paul rolled his eyes. "What did you bump into? That can't have been a rock, or it would've hit your leg."
Ash shrugged. "Don't know." He reached to his side and his eyes lit up in surprise. "I think there's a fence here."
"A fence? In the middle of the woods?" Paul reached out too, and sure enough, there was a fence.
"There must be a house around here," Ash said.
"No," Paul said. "It could be to mark property. This part of the woods must belong to someone – we might be trespassing."
"Oh." Ash scratched the back of his head. "That's not good."
Paul squinted to get a better look at the wooden structure. The probability of there being a house or shelter around wasn't at a hundred percent, but it was there. Maybe if they could climb the fence and see what was on the other side...
But the fence was too high, and it didn't seem safe when it was so slick with rain, and lightning was flashing so frequently.
"We'll follow it," Paul decided. "We might get somewhere. For all we know, it might lead us out of the forest."
"All right." Ash wiped water from his face. "Hope we get out of here soon. I don't know if I can stand being out here much longer."
May ran her fingers through the damp hay littering the barn floor. Lightning flashed in through the cracks and openings of the walls, followed by the lash of thunder that nearly made May jolt out of her skin. She looked over at Gary, who was peering outside through the spaces between two planks boarding up the windows.
"Doesn't look like the rain's letting up," he said frowning. "I was thinking it's a Pokemon using Rain Dance or something, but it doesn't look like any Rain Dance I've seen before."
He looked serious in that moment. May was so used to seeing his rambunctious, egotistical self when they were around their friends, she sometimes forgot how sincere and solemn he could be when the time called for it. And no matter how arrogant he was, and how many dumb pranks and shenanigans he got wrapped up in, there was no denying that he was smart.
"You sure know a lot about Pokemon moves," said May.
"Of course I do." There was his arrogant smirk. "I need to know my stuff if I'm gonna be the best Pokemon trainer."
"Hm." She fell back onto the ground, her hair mingling with the hay. "You guys sure like Pokemon."
"Pokemon are really interesting, though. I mean, think about it! How can the weakest Pokemon, Magikarp, evolve into something crazy-strong like a Gyarados? When you're a trainer, you get to travel all over, and see all sorts of amazing Pokemon." It was hard to see him in the dark, but his eyes glinted in the flash of lightning. "And when you're the best trainer, you know a whole lot more than others. You're strong enough and experienced enough to explore everything!"
May smiled to herself. "I'd like to travel," she said. "I love seeing new things! My dad expects me to be a trainer and all, but I really can't see myself as one. I mean, me and Pokemon?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," said Gary. "Trust me, we all know how much you hate Pokemon at this point."
"No, no!" She sat up. "It's not that I hate them – really! I just... I just don't think Pokemon and I go together. But if having a Pokemon is how I get to travel the world..." Her eyes shone. "I'll take one any time!"
"Travelling. Huh." He looked thoughtful. "You know, that's probably the best way to find out what you really like, what you want to put your all into. All the best people were trainers first. Even Gramps. He used to see all these Pokemon and draw them, and then, he became the scientist who invented the Pokedex. How cool is that? I wonder..." He trailed off, his eyes wandering back to the window.
"Are you planning to be a scientist too, Gary?"
"No clue!" He grinned at her. "First thing's first, I wanna be the best trainer, strong enough to beat Paul and Leaf and Misty!"
"And Ash," May added. "And Drew."
Gary laughed. "Ashy-boy? Oh, come on! He doesn't stand a chance against me. And I'm not even sure Drew's cut out to be a strong trainer."
"Don't say that! They might both be really strong."
"Meh. Doesn't matter." He shrugged, smirking. "I'm gonna get so strong, they're not gonna stand a chance against me!"
"Do you think..." She hesitated. "Do you think... you have to be a Pokemon trainer to be strong at all?"
Gary looked a bit taken aback by her question. May looked away from him. At least it was dark, so he wouldn't see her turning pink.
"I mean, I don't think I'm cut out to be a trainer. And I'm not really that strong either, so..." She paused. Gary was silent, and the quietude was getting awkward. "Or maybe... maybe I'm just being dumb," she babbled. "Of course I should be a Pokemon trainer. I'll probably travel a lot, start liking Pokemon a bit more, get strong enough to do the things I want. Of course. I'm just being silly! Everyone ends up liking Pokemon eventually. I just need..."
"No," Gary cut in. "I mean, no, I don't think you have to be a trainer to be strong." He leaned against the wall, looking up towards the ceiling. "To be honest, I think being a trainer's great. I think it's the best way to do the things I want – it's the best way for me." He shrugged. "But for other people… well, I don't know. People are strong in their own ways. Like Pokemon. Remember what I said about Magikarp? It has its own way of growing and getting stronger – through evolving. But some Pokemon don't evolve at all. Point is, they all have their own ways of getting strong. And so do people. That's what I think."
He looked back outside. "If you don't end up being a trainer, I won't judge, May. I'm sure you'll find something you're way better at than me."
Everyone who thought they knew Gary knew him as arrogant, egotistical, mischievous, a troublemaker. But May knew him as her friend. And it was times like these when she was glad she ever decided to sit at his table way back in kindergarten.
Gary must have thought he was being too nice, however, because when he spoke again, she could practically hear the smirk on his face.
"Oh, and by the way, I was wondering if I should tell you: I think you've been sitting on a pile of Pokemon... waste this whole time."
May stared at him. Then what he'd said started to register in her head.
"Gah! Gross!" She shot off the ground, brushing off her clothes the best she could. "Gary!"
Gary's silhouette turned to the window, shaking with silent laughter.
"You just had to get scared of the Beedrill, didn't you?" Dawn grumbled, hugging herself as she shivered.
"Cut it out. Never know what a Beedrill would do."
"We were going the right way. We were nearly out..."
"Quit complaining already. It's bad enough that we're soaked and sitting in a tree in the middle of the rain. I don't want to hear you yapping the whole time too!"
The rain wasn't letting up, and Dawn's mood was worsening. Why was she stuck in this situation? She'd just wanted to have a nice summer day with her friends. She hadn't asked for this! If she'd been stuck with someone like Leaf instead, maybe she would have been out of here by now. But of course, she was stuck with the one person who was afraid of bugs.
"I don't know why you're so cranky," Dawn muttered. "Don't you like the water or something?"
Misty glared at her. "Um, yeah. When I'm in a swimming pool. Or with water Pokemon. Not when I'm in the middle of the woods during a thunderstorm!"
"I just don't get how you're so okay with water Pokemon, but not at all with bugs."
Misty shuddered. "Bugs are one of the three most disgusting things in the world. I'm not sure why, but whenever I see bugs, my skin just crawls! Maybe it's from watching all those horror movies when I was little. They always had some gross bugs in them."
"Um, why were you watching horror movies when you were little?"
"I wasn't really. One of my sisters loves horror movies – Violet."
Dawn's eyebrows rose all the way to her hairline. "What, really? Violet?" She hadn't really hung out with Violet or anything, but Violet had always given her the impression she was the girliest of the Sensational Sisters.
"Oh, yeah." Misty rolled her eyes. "She calls it her 'guilty pleasure'. At night, she goes and watches all sorts of late night horror. Back when I was little, she'd be the only one awake so late, so whenever I couldn't sleep, I'd end up watching stuff with her. And then I wouldn't be able to sleep at all. And she'd go and say little things to remind me of whatever we watched last and make me too scared to even get out of bed. I was even scared of the dark for a while, but that didn't last long, at least." Misty sighed. "All three of my sisters bug me about being pretty and dumb stuff I don't care about, but when it's Violet alone, she uses completely different tactics."
"Well..." Dawn wasn't sure what to say. A part of her liked the idea of having older sisters. But the way Misty always complained about hers sometimes made her have second thoughts. "But having older sisters can't be all that bad, right? You must like some of the stuff they do for you, at least."
Misty snorted. "Yeah. No. Can't think of anything nice they've ever done for me. They're always all girly and pretty-pretty—"
"There's nothing wrong with that!" Dawn interrupted with a glare, crossing her arms. "There's nothing wrong with liking girly stuff!"
Misty glanced at her, as if realizing that Dawn, too, was what she would classify as "girly and pretty-pretty". She shrugged.
"Yeah, there isn't. I guess it isn't that that's annoying. Just the way my sisters are always rubbing it in my face and making fun of me."
"Fair enough." Dawn propped her legs up and leaned her chin on her knees. "But what about water Pokemon? You hate bugs because of Violet, but you love water Pokemon as much as you hate bug Pokemon."
"Even more," said Misty, grinning. "My family's owned a Pokemon gym – a water type gym – for a long time. Being around water Pokemon all the time made me love them. My sisters and I learned how to swim, but while they like putting on water shows and stuff, I like swimming to be with water Pokemon. It's why I want to be a water type master!"
Dawn grinned. "Well, that's one thing you like about your family – water Pokemon!"
Misty chuckled. "I guess you're right."
Dawn leaned her head back thoughtfully. "Family can really affect what you wanna be and what you wanna do, huh? I've always wanted to be a Pokemon coordinator, but it's because my mom's one. She's really good at it too. But I wonder... do I really want to do something else? Am I just being a coordinator because of my mom?"
"I don't think that's it," said Misty. "Sometimes, even when your family's doing something, you don't want to do it. Like May. Her dad's a gym leader, but, judging from how much she doesn't like Pokemon, I doubt she's going to take his place." She and Dawn laughed lightly. "But she still really likes her dad. For me, I don't get along with my sisters, but they're best with water Pokemon, and I wanna be too. If you're doing something your family is, it doesn't always mean you are because they are. I think you really do want to be a coordinator, Dawn."
Dawn smiled. "Yeah, you're right. There's no need to worry about something like that."
Misty grinned. "Yeah! You'll be great, whatever you end up doing."
"Thanks! I know you will too. Knock 'em dead, Misty!"
Dawn vaguely remembered how just a while ago, she'd been blaming Misty for their failed attempt at escaping the forest because of her fear of bugs. She brushed the thought aside. Whatever shortcomings her friend had, she had more than enough strengths to make up for them.
They had been sitting in silence for a while now. Drew was so used to seeing Leaf all bouncy and energetic, he wasn't sure of what to make of this new side of her – quiet, contemplative, so still as she stared out into the rain. It wasn't that Drew disliked the quietude; the only reason he knew of that made Leaf quiet was if she were plotting, and it unnerved him that she didn't look like that right now at all.
"So," he said, hoping to break the silence.
Leaf turned to him and grinned in her usual manner. "So!"
Drew shrugged. "What are you thinking about?"
"I was thinking about how this might not be Rain Dance after all, just some really weird weather."
"Why'd you say that?"
"Rain Dance would have stopped by now."
Drew frowned. She was right. They'd been waiting for a long time. And the fact that they were cold and wet wasn't making the wait any easier. What had caused the storm to start up like this? It was like they were in a story or something, and the author wanted to make them miserable with no plausible explanation.
"I hope the others are all right," Drew said. "They might not have been as lucky as us. Maybe they're still stuck in the rain."
"Don't worry about it," said Leaf. "It's not like we can go find them and bring them here; I can hardly see anything out there. Besides, I'm pretty sure they're tough enough to handle it."
"Even Dawn?" said Drew, raising an eyebrow.
Leaf shrugged. "Dawn's a lot tougher than you think."
"You don't think she's even a little scared?"
"Maybe over her ruined hair, but not with getting lost and stuff." She gave him a skeptical smile. "Come on, Drew, you've known her for about a year now, and I see her even less than you. You can't still think she's the damsel-in-distress type."
He shrugged. "I don't."
Leaf frowned a little as she looked at him closely. "You're still worried?"
"Look, even if everyone's tough, something bad could have still happened. It's hard to see out there, and we're surrounded by a forest. They could get lost."
Leaf tilted her head curiously. "You're a bigger worrier than you look. I've noticed that about you. You try to act all calm and cool when we're all together, but I always get the feeling you're the first to freak out, even if it's in your head."
Drew smirked. "Nope. May is."
"I think she freaks out less than you." Leaf smiled slyly. "The only difference is Gary and Paul don't bug her about it. That's it, isn't it? You're trying to act like tough in front of them."
"I'm not acting, Leaf. They just don't notice."
"But I feel like you hold back. Like, there are some things you'd like to do, but you sometimes don't, because Gary and Paul will make fun of you or something."
"Don't know what you mean. I can stand up to them when I want."
"Then why don't you? I mean, you haven't even told them you want to be a coordinator yet."
"What's wrong with wanting to be a coordinator?" Drew said, trying not to sound too defensive.
"Nothing. But you think they'll say being a coordinator isn't as strong as a trainer. I'm right, aren't I?"
Drew smiled lightly. "If there's nothing wrong with being a coordinator, there shouldn't be any problem with telling them. But I don't feel like it. I'll tell them when I want to. Just not now."
Leaf grinned. "I'm totally right!"
Drew rolled his eyes, but he knew he couldn't change her mind now. Especially when she was right. Coordinating had always stuck with him a lot more than becoming a Pokemon master, ever since he was first introduced to it in grade one. And, since then, he'd found himself glued to the TV when a contest was on, even having his butler sometimes book tickets so they could watch contests in person. Except there was a little voice in the back of his head telling him his friends will think he's weak if he admitted his goal wasn't to become the strongest trainer like them.
So, instead of trying to refute Leaf's claims, he changed topics. "What about you?"
"What about me?"
"What do you want to be?"
"Trainer," she said without missing a beat. "Then I can beat Gary."
Drew raised an eyebrow, and she giggled.
"Okay, okay," she said. "Beating Gary isn't the only reason. I've always been interested in going on a journey, and catching Pokemon and winning gym badges. Maybe even becoming a master. But I might try stuff like contests too. That's the fun with travelling. You can try out a bunch of new stuff."
"Mm-hm." Leaf was so confident in her plans. And it was something she could admit to anyone, unlike him...
"You should tell everyone," said Leaf suddenly.
"Tell everyone what?" said Drew cautiously.
"That you're planning to be a coordinator. I don't think it's a bad thing. You're just scared of what everyone will think."
"I'm not."
"But I don't think you should care," continued Leaf, as if she hadn't heard him. "Let's say Gary and Paul make fun of you – so what? Are they still gonna make fun after you become Top Coordinator?" She winked.
"Maybe one day," he said nonchalantly. "When I feel like it."
Leaf looked at him contemplatively. "Can I tell you a secret?"
Drew was a little taken aback. Usually a secret from Leaf was about something mischievous she did, but this time, from her expression, she wasn't about to say something trivial.
"I actually don't care if I don't become a Pokemon master."
"Oh." That didn't seem like a big deal.
She tilted her head, watching his expression. "I know you don't think it's a big deal, but if I don't end up becoming the master, that's fine. And I don't care if I lose to Gary either. It doesn't matter, 'cause, in the end, it's my life. If he wants his life to be about beating me, or making fun of me for not being as strong as him, that's his choice. Mine is to be the kind of trainer I want. Not how Gary wants." She shrugged casually. "I think you should be the same too."
Drew thought for a bit. Maybe she was right. Why should he care about what the others thought? It was his path, his choice. Even if they made fun of him, he knew, he still wouldn't change his mind.
"Anyways," said Leaf, her eyes falling back to the outside world. "I wonder when this rain will stop?"
Ash was starting to think he was getting on Paul's nerves, because, at this point, Paul was completely ignoring him.
Or maybe, thought Ash, he needed to speak louder. They could hardly hear each other through the thundering rainfall.
"So Paul," said Ash. "How much longer do you think until we find the fence gate?"
"Ash," Paul said finally. "I. Don't. Know. So be quiet already!"
At least he'd answered. Though maybe Ash was right about getting on his nerves after all.
"Man, I'm freezing," said Ash. "If we had Pokemon, we could've had them break down the fence and go inside already."
"And get in trouble for breaking into someone's property. Seriously, Ash, sometimes you come up with the most pathetic ideas. I'm almost afraid of how much you'll mess stuff up once you're allowed to carry a Pokemon around."
"I won't mess stuff up! I wanna be a Pokemon master, after all – I gotta be responsible with what I do."
Paul made a skeptical noise. "Like you'll ever be a Pokemon master."
"Of course I will!"
"You? Yeah right."
"And why not? You wanna be a Pokemon master too, right? If you can do it, so can I."
"Not with an attitude like that you won't."
"What do you mean?"
"You're always fooling around, talking about making Pokemon your friends. Pokemon aren't your playmates, Ketchum. You'll never get strong with the way you do things."
Ash frowned. "Then how would you do things?"
"By training. Not playing around like you do."
"That doesn't sound like fun. How're you going to make your Pokemon your friends?"
Paul didn't answer, but he glanced at Ash with a smirk on his face. Ash's eyebrows creased.
"What's so funny, Paul?"
"You sound like my brother."
"So?" Ash thought Paul's brother was cool. Why was Paul saying it as if it were a bad thing?
"It's pathetic, talking about friends and all that. If you're just going to make friends with your Pokemon instead of actually training them and getting strong, you're not going to get very far."
"You know what I think?" Ash's voice had suddenly become serious. It made Paul stop and look at him. "I think being friends with your Pokemon is really important if you wanna get strong. It makes you trust each other, and wanna do great for each other."
"And you know what I think? I think making friends with them is useless and a waste of time. Sometimes, people think if they train their Pokemon, they'll get strong, but really, they just don't want to face the fact that their favourite Pokemon is weak. So they waste all their time on it because they think it's their friend, but in the end it never gets strong. Better to move on and work with Pokemon you know will actually win."
"That's not true."
"Yes it is."
"How do you know?"
Paul shrugged. "That's how it's always looked to me."
"Well, you're wrong." Ash glared at him, his eyes determined. "And I'll prove it. Once we're both trainers, I'll be the very best, like no one ever was, and I'll prove it!"
"Do whatever you want; I'm not stopping you. I just think if you took my advice, it'd save you a bunch of grief in the long run."
Ash seethed, and he stomped past Paul, muttering "You're wrong, you're wrong" through gritted teeth. He'd almost forgotten about what they'd been looking for, but then, he slipped in the mud, which sent him tumbling into the fence. Or, at least, where the fence was supposed to be.
"Hey Paul?" said Ash. "I think I found the gate."
May jolted up when she heard something push against the barn door.
"Gary?" she said, looking towards him.
"It's probably the wind or something," he said. "Or maybe it blew something against the doors."
"Or maybe it's the barn owners," said May.
"Good. Because then they might be able to help us."
"What if they're not good people?"
Gary shrugged, smirking. "Then I'll beat them up."
May rolled her eyes, but jolted again when something pushed against the doors once more. "I don't think it's the wind," she said nervously.
There were voices outside too. She and Gary listened quietly, straining their ears against the thundering rain. And then, Gary grinned.
"Wait a minute," he said, walking to the door. He pulled it open, and in stumbled two very wet boys: Ash and Paul.
"Move it," said Paul through gritted teeth, shoving Gary aside to get out of the rain's way.
"Gary?" Ash looked from him to May. He grinned, despite his shivering. "You guys are okay!"
Gary's eyes travelled from him to Paul, both soaked straight through, and he burst out laughing. "How long have you two been out there?"
"As long as you're going to be if you don't be quiet," spat Paul.
"Were you really out there all this time?" said May, her eyes wide. "That must have been terrible!"
"Not as terrible as being stuck with Ash," Paul muttered.
"Nah, we're fine," said Ash, giving her a thumbs up. "Just really wet. Are the others here too?" He scanned the dark corners of the barn. May shook her head.
"No, just us."
"You think the others are stuck out there too?"
Gary shrugged. "Probably."
"We gotta go find them!"
"No, we don't," Paul cut in. "First of all, I'm not going back out there until it stops raining. Second, we'll probably get lost. Third, they're old enough to take care of themselves, so—"
"Hey, the rain stopped," said Gary, looking outside through the open slit of the doorway.
"What?" Ash frowned. "Are you messing with us? It was pouring a second ago."
"I'm serious!" Gary pulled the doors open again, and, sure enough, while the clouds hadn't all disappeared yet, the rain had come to a complete halt.
"Are you kidding me?" Paul said in disbelief. "We were out there all that time, and now, when we're indoors, it stops?"
"Look at the bright side," said May. "At least we can go back now."
"That was weird," said Dawn, stepping out of the tree.
"Yup." Misty followed out after her.
The rain had suddenly and inexplicably stopped. Dawn and Misty looked around. They weren't sure what to make of the situation. For all they knew, it could start raining again. But what if there was enough time to get home?
"Should we stay here, or...?"
"Hey, I think I hear something."
Dawn and Misty turned around. Walking towards them were none other than Leaf and Drew. Leaf grinned and waved. "Hey! There you guys are."
Dawn blinked. "Where did you come from?"
"We were here the whole time." Leaf pointed to the tree beside the one Dawn and Misty had been using. It had a sheltering hole too.
Misty raised her eyebrows. "Wait, so we were right next to each other the whole time?"
"Looks like it," said Drew.
"What are the chances?"
"Doesn't look like the others are here," said Dawn, scanning their surroundings.
"Should we go look for them?" said Drew. "It doesn't look like the rain's going to be a problem now."
"Yeah, let's go," said Leaf. "Plus, we should try not to freak out and run everywhere if it starts raining again."
"It was so weird though," Drew murmured. "How did it start raining in the first place?"
The four set off with squelching steps and muddy shoes and dripping clothes, hoping to run into the last four of their friends.
It wasn't long until before the eight of them reunited. Everyone was wet and cold (Ash and Paul were the worst off) and no one even thought of resuming their game of Simon Says. Before long, all four had returned to the neighbourhood, the girls heading over to Leaf's and Misty's houses to dry up and get a change of clothes, the boys going over to Gary's and Ash's (Ash's mom had come back home by then). Afterwards, they gathered at Ash's house to drink hot chocolate and watch television and hope their sneezing weren't signs of oncoming colds.
"Man, I really don't wanna get sick for the rest of summer," said Ash, blowing his nose.
Drew, who had borrowed Ash's clothes while his dried, shrugged. "Not much we can do about it."
"There's nothing good on," said Gary, flipping through the channels.
"I know what we can watch," said Leaf. "Pass me the remote." She caught it when Gary tossed it to her and began flipping through the channels.
"What're we gonna watch?" asked May. She was borrowing Misty's clothes, though they were a little long and a bit too tight.
"This," said Leaf. She'd stopped at...
"The weather channel?" Misty said raising an eyebrow.
"Yes! I want to know what was going on with the weather today."
"To be honest, so do I," said Dawn. She was wearing Leaf's clothes, which, while shorter than Misty's, were still too long, so she had to fold the pant legs and sleeves. "It was really weird."
Misty shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I do too."
"They better have a good explanation," muttered Paul. He was borrowing Gary's clothes. "Reggie told me the weatherman said it'd be sunny all day."
"Well, he were wrong," said Drew.
The weatherman came on, but he didn't mention anything about the weather. He kept saying that the heatwave was getting worse, but they were expecting rain tomorrow.
"Is this channel seven?" said Paul. "Go to channel thirteen. The channel thirteen weatherman is better."
"If you say so." Leaf switched the channel, but even that weatherman said nothing about rain.
"What if it was Rain Dance?" said Gary. "Seriously, the way it just started and stopped, and it didn't seem to have happened in anywhere else, it could be."
"If it was, that was one intense Rain Dance," said Ash. "Isn't Rain Dance usually shorter? And calmer?"
None of them could think of an explanation, so they kept browsing through channels.
"Wait," Drew said when Leaf was about to switch to another one. It was a live show following a group of people looking for legendary Pokemon.
"And so," the narrator was saying, "the Legendary Search Squad couldn't find the Forces of Nature trio. However, the bizarre storms popping up throughout the region suggest that they might not be as far from finding them as it may seem. Tune in next time to see what these adventurers will come across next!"
"The Forces of Nature trio?" said May, tilting her head. "What's that?"
"Thundurus, Tornadus and Landorus," said Gary. "I think they make storms and stuff."
The eight looked at one another.
"Do you think," said Dawn, "that those three made the storm earlier today?"
"It's unlikely," said Misty. "After all, they're legendary Pokemon. Do you really think they were hanging out that close to us?"
"I guess we'll never know..."
But there was one thing the eight of them did know: they never wanted to be stuck in a storm like that again.
And done! Whew, definitely one of the longer chapters.
Okay, now this is going to be When We Were Young's final chapter for 2018. I doubt I'll be able to update again until 2019. Also, this is the 70th chapter for this story. 70th! I want to go up to 100, so thirty more chapters to go. You think I can finish in 2019? (Haha, I doubt it, but it's worth a shot!)
Reviews are appreciated, and I hope you enjoyed!
Bye bye for now! Have a great day, and smile all the way! And (for when it's January 1st) happy New Year's day! :)