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Scorch Marks
"Let yourself move to the next chapter in life when the time comes. Don't remain stuck on the same page."
–Unknown
She couldn't believe that she hadn't noticed it before.
She had been in the pool the next day, crawling along the edge, working her way farther and farther, the water reaching higher and higher until it was nearly at her shoulders, when suddenly the thought struck her.
"Oh!" Her hands flew off the pool wall as they went up to her mouth. She splashed back into the water and found herself treading water with the floor of the pool far below her for the first time in weeks.
"Misty, are you okay?" Fleur asked, quickly rushing from her perch on the bleachers to the pool. Before she could do anything, though, Staryu swept underneath her and brought buoyancy to the both of them.
Misty sputtered a little bit and wiped her bangs from her eyes. "I'm okay."
She was surprised to find that that was true. She wasn't even scared. Of course, Staryu had saved her before she'd gotten the chance to panic, but she didn't think that she would have. That was an exciting thought. "Mommy," she asked hesitantly, "can I swim a little?"
Fleur raised her eyebrows. "You want to?"
Misty nodded. She could do it.
Fleur held Misty's underarms as Staryu floated out from under her, moving to her side. Tentatively, Fleur lowered Misty back down into the water, where she naturally began treading water again.
The beach had been good for her. Sure, the water had been cold but she was generally used to that. But she hadn't wanted to swim. The ocean had current, so it was way harder than swimming in a pool, even with Staryu, her sisters, and her mother there to save her.
But now it just felt so natural again. A wide grin spread on her face as she felt the softness of the smooth water flow over her limbs as they kept her afloat. This was where she belonged.
Her thoughts began to wander as the focus on her limbs faded easily to the background. Immediately they wrapped around the thought that had caused her to lose her balance in the water in the first place.
The boy. Yesterday. He had been glowing. Just like Noir.
She'd been thinking about him just because she remembered that she had forgotten to play with him after her sisters had started to play with her. It was just that they didn't do that a lot and so she had wanted to take advantage of the opportunity.
Maybe she was just so used to seeing it now that it hadn't struck her as strange. But it should have. People didn't glow. Only Noir glowed. So what did that mean? He couldn't have been a Pokémon, right?
She wished that she had spent more time with him. Maybe she could have learned something, or he could have told her something. If nothing else, he probably would have been fun to play with, and she'd never even gotten the chance to do that. Boys were always more fun to play with anyway; they had better games.
Well, at least now she knew better. She would keep a special eye out for glowing people.
"Misty, do you want to try swimming back over to the shallower section?"
Misty realized then that she had been treading water in the same place for several minutes. Her arms and legs were starting to hurt. She was out of practice, after all. So she doggy-paddled her way over to the part that was shallow enough for her to stand in if she stood on her tip-toes.
She walked and swam around for a while longer, reaching for Staryu for the occasional break when her limbs began to tire. She was really proud of herself to be doing this again. This was bringing her one step closer to being a Gym Leader, after all. That was important business and her number one objective.
"Mommy, I'm tired."
Well, one could only last so long.
Fleur reached down and scooped Misty out of the pool, urging Staryu to jump out as well. "Misty, I want to talk to you about something."
"Okay," Misty said as she took the towel her mother handed her and began drying herself off.
"Staryu has been your near constant companion for a couple of months now," Fleur began. "And you have learned to take very good care of it, I've noticed. You two work well together."
Misty felt her heartbeat speeding up. In the good way, which was exciting. "Yeah?" she urged, a broad smile splitting on her face.
"Yeah," Fleur echoed, her face perfectly matching Misty's. "It's time you had your first Pokémon."
"Yay!"
Misty began jumping up and down, her towel falling forgotten at her feet as she took off and began running in circles.
"No running near the pool, Misty," Fleur chastised, albeit with a lilt of laughter in her tone.
Misty circled back, returning to Fleur, and took her legs into a huge hug, squeezing her mother's kneecaps painfully together as she did so.
"Ow. Okay, sweetheart." Fleur bent over and with effort lifted Misty so she was standing on the bleachers and gave her a real hug. "Now, this comes with conditions, okay, Misty? Staryu will still sleep with all the other Gym Pokémon and either your sisters or I have to be with you when you're training, okay?"
"Okay!" Misty eagerly nodded her head along.
"And no using any Attacks outside of training for any reason whatsoever, okay?"
"Okay!"
Then Fleur smiled, her eyes softening. "And make sure to have fun. This is a big deal, okay?"
Oh, it was a big deal, alright. Never had there ever been a bigger deal in the history of the whole world.
"Okay!"
It was a good day. It was a good week. No, life was just good in general. It was a wonderful time to be alive!
These thoughts circled Misty's head as she lay blissfully on her bed, limbs strewn to the side so she was taking up the whole bed. As if she was making a statement that the whole world was hers.
And right now it was. Because she was sitting on top of it—on top of the world—as happy as a princess atop her throne.
She had her first real Pokémon. She had held the PokéBall—it was that real.
They lay in silence. Staryu was particularly hard to communicate with, given that it had no certain face and it didn't say any actual words. Not even its name, like most Pokémon. She could read its energy level approximately via the jewel in its center, but that was about all. Her mother had assured her that someday she'd be able to get a good sense of its actual emotions, but that it would take time.
Usually that kind of statement would cause Misty to have a fit, not wanting to wait for something. But right now she didn't feel like she was waiting as much as just enjoying what she had. Nothing could bring a damper on her joy right now. Things could only get better. And Misty had a distinct idea of what could make things better right in that moment. Her favorite thing of the past few days…
"Staryu, wanna go to the pool?"
Maybe Staryu couldn't talk, but the way it hopped up made the message pretty clear. Misty followed suit, practically leaping out of bed. She ran into her mother's room, where her mother was resting, and began banging on the mattress like her life depended on it.
"What?" Fleur mumbled as she was roused.
"Staryu and I wanna swim!" Misty blurted gleefully.
"Again?"
"Mom!" Misty insisted, somehow adding multiple syllables to the word.
"Okay, okay," Fleur said as she crawled out of bed, extraordinarily sluggish in comparison to Misty's boundless energy. "Let's go."
The three of them were halfway down the stairs and Fleur was halfway through a yawn when she said, "Misty, aren't you going to get a suit on?"
"Oh!" Misty laughed at her silliness. She'd gotten ahead of herself! "I'll do that right now!" she said, turning around and dashing back up the stairs to her room.
"We'll meet you down there!" Fleur called back.
As soon as Misty stepped foot back in her room something was off. Mostly the smell. It was acrid, bitter. Like…
Smoke.
A split second later her eyes went to the source. The photo of Misty's sisters that hung on the wall. Or used to.
Misty only saw the picture for a second. A corner of the wooden frame had begun to burn slowly, but it had quickly caught the corner of the picture. It curled and blackened and the whole frame clattered to the floor, sending the glass plate flying in pieces.
Misty screamed. She didn't know if the sound scared her, or the glass flying, or the burning object; she just knew that she was scared and she screamed. She had reflexively turned her head to the side, away from the commotion. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes, and caught a glimpse of Noir, eyes red, zippered mouth frowning.
"N-Noir?"
Noir's eyes faded to their usual softer fuchsia. As the color softened, the expression did. Anger faded to sadness. For a moment. Then Noir faded from Misty's vision altogether.
"Noir?" Misty asked again, this time more desperate.
"Misty, what's wrong?" Fleur asked, panting heavily as she ran into the room. She didn't have to wait for an answer, however, as the smoke tickled her nose immediately, and the flame licking the wall drew her eyes. "Staryu, use Water Gun!"
Staryu had been floating in the air just behind Fleur, but it quickly maneuvered in front of her and Misty, letting out a thin spray of water, aimed at the burning frame. The Attack didn't quite land, though.
"A little to the right," Misty and Fleur said in unison.
With great concentration, Staryu shifted the Attack, landing right on the flame with a satisfying hiss as the fire was doused.
"That's enough, Staryu," Fleur said with a little cough as she waved the smoke from her nose and eyes. "Misty, you go downstairs with Staryu while I take care of this."
And there was a lot to take care of. First, Fleur opened the window on Misty's side of the room, to let the smoke disperse. Then there was the matter of the broken glass, the water, the picture, and scorch marks on the wall and floor. One where the picture had been hung, and two where the frame had fallen.
It was a mess.
"How did this happen?" Fleur muttered to herself.
Misty looked at the floor, but she didn't say anything. Before the guilt became overwhelming, she turned and made a break for downstairs, pulling Staryu's top arm.
Misty hadn't seen Noir for a few days. And she'd hardly left her room, save for that first day, so it's not like she could have missed her.
That first day Misty and her sisters hadn't been allowed back in their room until everything was aired and washed. Something about the smoke. Misty didn't really understand what the problem was, but she didn't like the smell, so she didn't argue too much about having to sleep someplace else. Besides, she had instead been allowed to sleep with her mother in her bed. That was exciting, so all was well.
Well, sort of.
Because Misty missed Noir. She was her best friend and she had just disappeared. And Misty had a sinking feeling that she would never come back.
Especially because of what was happening today.
It began with a knock on the door.
"Misty, can you get that?" Daisy called.
But Misty knew that she wasn't allowed to answer the door without her mother. She called back this to Daisy but, as usual, what Misty said didn't change her sister's plans at all.
"Mom isn't here, but she was expecting someone to come now, so get the door!"
In no position to argue, Misty went to the door, twisted the doorknob, and found herself face to face with exactly the kind of figure that she knew that she wasn't supposed to answer the door to.
"Hello, little miss. Is your mother here?"
"Uh…"
The man was very tall, wearing a black jacket and a black hat low down on his face. The only thing that gave her ease was that he was holding a PokéBall in his hand.
"Oh, Mr. Blaakman. Come in. Our mom's not here right now, but she said that she still wanted you to come. Here's your check." Daisy whipped a check out of the pocket of her short-shorts. "And we'll show you to the room."
Daisy led the man—Mr. Blaakman—upstairs. Misty trotted behind, confused and not wanting to be left that way. They stopped in front of the girls' bedroom. Daisy stated as much and opened the door.
The room looked much better than it had right after the disaster that had been the other day. The picture was gone, soon to be replaced, and the only remaining evidence was the scorch marks. They were lighter, as Fleur had scrubbed them as best she could, but now the wall needed fresh paint and the floor needed to be redone. But it was no longer the large eyesore that it had been.
"Okay, time to get to work," Mr. Blaakman said as he pressed the center button on his PokéBall. Out came a fuzzy off-white Pokémon with a squished snout. Definitely not a Water Pokémon, so Misty didn't recognize it. Although, she would bet that it would look pretty funny in the water. All that fur all matted down would be hilarious. She laughed at the thought.
Neither the man nor Daisy paid her any mind, though.
"Use Night Daze." A red energy began to slowly form out of the fuzzy Pokémon. "Now stand back, ladies. This is a wide range Attack, so if there's a Ghost Type anywhere nearby we can hopefully knock it out."
The word "ghost" instantly sent Misty's head spinning. Were they trying to attack Noir? But Noir wasn't here, so she couldn't get hurt, right? Misty hoped so. But none of this sounded good to her, not at all.
"Wide range?" Daisy asked concernedly.
"Yes. Low levels of the Attack will splash onto you, if you will, but it's never had any effect on a nearby human. Only if they get the brunt of the Attack."
"Okay." Daisy folded her arms, looking nervous. "So you think that this is, like, a ghost for sure, Mr. Blaakman?"
"Well, things don't just randomly burst into flames," he began, eyeing the scorch mark pointedly. "And Fire Pokémon shoot fire from their bodies. Ghosts that know Will-O-Wisp are the only Pokémon that can create a spontaneous fire from a distance, with rare exception."
"Sure," Daisy said absently.
The energy was reaching a wider range, spreading its jarring color around the room, brightest at the center, and fading as it went out. The color never reached them, but Misty could feel the presence of the Attack in the room. As it expanded the feeling got stronger, making her body tingle. The tingling intensified until it became like a scratch from her insides out. Misty collapsed to her knees as the pain suddenly sharpened.
It hurt. It hurt a lot. She needed help. She was screaming for help inside her head.
Then, as if hearing her silent plea, Noir appeared out of nowhere, floating in the middle of the room.
Misty was flooded with relief at the sight of her friend. Relief that was short-lived, though, because Noir quickly fell to the ground, writhing in pain similar to Misty.
"There it is! A ghost!" Daisy exclaimed, pointing at Noir.
"A Banette," Mr. Blaakman clarified. "Okay, Zorua, you can let up on the Attack, but don't let that Banette out of your sight!"
The Pokémon seemingly transformed from a white, fuzzy Pokémon to a black and red Pokémon.
"Misty, stand back," Daisy said before turning back to look at her sister. "Oh my God! Misty, are you okay?"
The pain was dissipating. Or at least it wasn't getting worse anymore. But she didn't feel the strength to get up. "The red," was all she said.
"The Night Daze Attack?" Daisy asked, pressing for clarification. "But that should have, like, barely even touched you." She looked desperately at Mr. Blaakman for answers.
"This has never happened before," Mr. Blaakman said immediately. However, he still looked grim. "We should take her to the hospital just to make sure. Zorua, keep an eye on that ghost until we get back."
Daisy gulped. "The hospital…"
Back in the hospital. It was like a nightmare. It was getting to be right up there with bugs.
She had been delivered quickly into the emergency room and now she was lying in the growing familiarity of a hospital bed. The searing pain from before had gone away. Now her body was more in the realm of having been hit by a truck.
Some tests had been done on her, ones like the last time she was here. No noisy tube this time, though. It seemed like nothing was wrong with her except for the remaining body trauma of the Attack. But why had the Attack hurt her when it hadn't hurt Daisy and Mr. Blaakman in the least?
"Are you the patient's father?" the doctor asked, turning to Mr. Blaakman.
"No," Mr. Blaakman said, taking a step back. "I just drove the girls here."
"I'm her sister," Daisy said, stepping up.
The doctor turned to her. "Can you contact a parent or guardian for us?"
Daisy shifted, looking down at the ground. "Uh, yeah."
The doctor looked at her expectantly but Daisy didn't move. "Are you going to…"
"She's on the fourth floor."
"I beg your pardon?"
Daisy took a breath, her eyes looking glassy. "She's on the fourth floor, cancer unit. Room 428." A pause. "As a patient."
"Oh," the doctor said. "I'll send the paperwork right up."
"Uh, Daisy," Misty said, her voice weak, "what are you talking about?"
Daisy threw a look to Mr. Blaakman, who nodded, stepping out of the room, leaving the two sisters alone.
"Um," Daisy started, her voice wavering. "Mom's, like, really sick, Misty. That's why she's been so tired. She's been going back and forth to the hospital for a short while now, but," Daisy swallowed, "it's not looking good."
"So, is mom dying?" Misty asked, the idea sounding foreign.
No words. Just a nod and a shudder of tears. Misty's eyes filled and the pain in her chest suddenly felt a lot heavier. Daisy leaned over and hugged her as best she could while Misty was stuck to the bed.
"Am I dying too?" Misty asked, the fear suddenly far more acute.
"No," Daisy said quickly with a shake of her head. "You'll be just fine. You'll be, like, great. It'll all be alright."
Misty nodded. "Okay."
"Uh, Mom talked to the Slate's a little while ago," Daisy continued. "It looks like you'll be staying with them for a little while. Probably once all this," Daisy gestured to the hospital equipment, "is over."
Usually going to Brock's was fun. He was one of her only friends and so she liked to see him. And Forrest and the little kids weren't so bad either. Pretty cute, usually. But this didn't sound like it was just for fun.
"I'm gonna live there?"
"Just for a little while," Daisy clarified. "You'll probably, like, go back and forth, depending on what's happening."
"Okay."
Daisy picked herself up, wiping her eyes. "Lily and Vi are upstairs. As soon as the doctors are sure that you're okay and can leave we'll go up and see her."
"And see her dying?" Misty asked hesitantly.
Daisy gave a half-shrug. "Not yet, but eventually...yeah."
"Okay."
But she wasn't sure that she could do that.
She didn't think she was ready to see death.
End of Part I: The Folly of Youth
A/N: Special thanks to C'sMelody for taking the time out of her super busy schedule to handle this guy. Let it be known, as it says just above, that this is the end of part I! Hope you enjoyed the end of child!Misty, because next time we see her, she'll be sixteen! And what a life she's been leading in those eleven years...
Thanks so much for reading!