Hey readers - At long last, we've made it. The end of another episode : ) I feel like until we get to Brock in a couple more episodes, the story is really just about establishing the core points, which of course is important, but honestly, I really wanna get things moving along now.
That being said, let's get down to business. Now sadly, I can't reveal the winner of the previous voting topic, but I'll talk more about that later. For now, I want to say a huge thank you to those of you that have supported the story by reviewing, favouriting and following it. I appreciate it a lot so thank you very much.
Lastly, please remember that Pokemon is not mine, just my OCs are.
I hope you enjoy this chapter : )
Pokemon Emergency - Part 7
Locating Nurse Joy's Chansey in the Pokemon Centre had turned out to be much more of a challenge than Ash had initially anticipated it would be. It appeared that when Team Rocket's attack had first started, the two nursing assistant Pokemon had chosen to hide themselves away from the source of the disturbance, forcing the raven haired boy to go on the hunt for them. Ash had been extremely reluctant to leave Pikachu unattended whilst there were thieves in the building, but knew that pushing the stretcher along would take far too much time. Time they were rapidly running out of. So taking solace in the fact that Jessie had earlier outright said they held no interest in his partner, Ash had left his unconscious friend in the reception as he set about tracking down the two missing Chansey.
And after what felt like an eternity, but in reality was just a couple of minutes, he finally found them.
Nurse Joy's two Chansey had taken up refuge in a cleaner's cupboard near the men's toilets, hiding away and keeping their heads down. Naturally the two pink Pokemon were both very nervous, and uneasy about trusting Ash at first - but they quickly agreed to follow him once he had explained that Nurse Joy had sent him to find them. Now the new Pokemon trainer was shepherding the two of them along, all the way back to the reception, just as things finally started coming to a head.
The first to arrive after Ash and the two Chansey were Nolan and Meadow, bursting in through the main double glass doors, gasping for breath and looking around anxiously. The blonde boy cried out in relief upon seeing his best friend unharmed.
"Ash, are you okay?" was the first thing on his mind.
"I'm just fine Nolan" Ash was quick to reassure his best friend, before getting down to more important business, "But what about you? Did you manage to get a call out to the police?"
Much to Ash's own relief, the golden haired boy nodded his head affirmatively.
"I did. Officer Jenny should be on her way right now" Nolan informed him, before he took notice for the first time of the two Chansey nearby, who had taken to fretting over the unconscious Pikachu whilst the boys were talking, "Hey, you found both the Chansey! That's great!"
Ash nodded, and was about to reply, but unfortunately he never had the chance too. For that was the moment of another arrival... Team Rocket's to be exact. Both of the boys immediately grimaced and tensed. They both knew that there was going to be no running away from them this time.
It was time for the final showdown.
"Well look at this, two little twerps with nowhere left to run" Jessie taunted as the five criminals all moved in the way of the exit, preventing any chance of escape, "How delightful!"
"You know, you two little boys have caused us quite a problem" James told them, sneering down at the two new trainers, "Transporting all the pokeballs away before we could take them for ourselves was a big mistake!"
"One dat your partners are gonna pay for right now!" Meowth snarled with dark glee.
Nolan's entire body tensed up angrily.
"You leave Meadow and Pikachu alone" the golden haired boy snapped, his fingers ghosting across the smooth surface of Welkin's pokeball, just in case he was needed, "You lay so much as a paw on either of them Meowth, and it'll be your teeth you're coughing up rather than furballs!"
Meowth opened his mouth to reply, no doubt with a sassy comeback right on the tip of his tongue, but before he had the chance to say anything, they were all interrupted again, this time by the arrival of Misty and Nurse Joy.
"Ash! Nolan!" Misty exclaimed as the two of them hurried over to join the group clustered around Pikachu's stretcher, Nurse Joy looking very relieved to see that her own Pokemon assistants were both okay, "Are you guys okay?"
There was no mistaking the worry that was obvious in the girl's tone.
"Misty! You're okay!" Ash said in a pleased tone, before fully processing exactly what it was that she had said, "Yeah, me and Nolan are both fine".
The two of them smiled at each other in relief.
"Not for long!" Jessie butted in, breaking the moment between the two new friends, "Ekans! Use Poison Sting!"
"Koffing! Teach them a lesson with your Sludge attack!" James echoed with.
Ash and Nolan both yelped in surprise as the two Rocket Pokemon began firing blobs of toxic sludge and venomous needles at them. The two boys both leapt aside, thankfully managing to avoid the attacks, but that meant that the stretcher carrying Pikachu was now totally exposed. Slamming into it, the twin attacks sent the stretcher rolling backwards, and moments later it collided with something with a sharp bump.
Looking down, Nolan saw that the object that it had hit was none other than the charred remains of Misty's bicycle. In all the chaos, Nolan had actually forgot that it had been a bicycle of all things that had prompted the meeting between them and their new friend. But now wasn't the time for such thoughts, because the stretcher hitting the bicycle had had another, most unexpected effect.
Namely... it had been enough to finally rouse Pikachu.
Blinking his little bleary eyes open, Pikachu finally regained consciousness, and looked very bewildered about where they all were, what was going on, and why on Earth there was a strange contraption strapped to his head. From what Pikachu could tell; Ash, Nolan and Meadow were all there with him, as well as that nice girl from the river, and a human that was dressed like a nurse. And on the other side of the room, there were a bunch of weirdos that all looked incredibly angry about something. With a jolt of horror, Pikachu realised that they seemed intent on attacking his partner and Nolan! He didn't know what was going on here, but Pikachu knew right then that those guys were his enemies.
"Pika... pika" he breathed softly.
And almost as if by divine intervention, it was like some higher power answered Pikachu's words. From under the ruins of what had once been the front help desk, dozens of Pikachu came dashing out of a small vent, all cheering their name over and over again.
Nolan slapped a hand to his forehead in disbelief. With all the confusion and chaos that had been going on, he had forgotten all about the small army of Pikachu that the centre had on standby to act as its backup generator. He allowed a small smile to play across his face.
It seemed that they were the ones with the edge in this battle now.
Watching on in awed astonishment, Nolan saw all the Pikachu band together, jumping up so that they were all on the stretcher along with Ash's own Pikachu. Together, they combined their Thunder Shock attacks into one electrified blast.
"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!"
Jessie, James, Ekans and Koffing all screamed and flailed about as thousands of volts tore through their bodies, causing them unimaginable agony. Only Meowth had managed to dodge their attack in time, and he was helpless to do anything to help his teammates.
Back on the dog-pile of Pikachu, Ash's partner clambered up until he was standing on the top. The little guy had a huge smile on his face, and seemed to be in much better condition than he had been in just moments prior. Nolan wondered if he had somehow absorbed some of the electrical energy from the other Pikachu, and used it to restore his own exhausted power supplies.
"Pikachu!" the small yellow Pokemon cheered.
"Pikachu!" Ash cheered as well, delighted to see his partner back on his feet, and so, so relieved that he seemed to be okay now.
Meanwhile, the attack on Team Rocket had ended, leaving four out of five of the criminal gang jolting and twitching uncontrollably as the last of the electricity left their bodies. Meowth just shook his head at the four of them in annoyance.
"Do I have to do everything?" the Scratch Cat Pokemon sneered, advancing on Nolan and the others with his claws raised menacingly, "That mouse is cat food, Meowth! Just wait... Pikachu, you're mine!"
Ash growled and clenched his fists tightly, sick to the back teeth of that overgrown furball by now. His partner threw him a reassuring smile however, reminding Ash that he wasn't alone in this.
"Pika, pika chu chu, Pikachu!" Pikachu chattered to him, drawing Ash's attention, "Pika pika!"
"Pika pika?" Ash repeated blankly, not fully getting whatever it was that Pikachu was trying to convey to him.
"Pika!" Pikachu nodded his head slowly.
"Pika pika power?" Ash asked.
"Pika!" Pikachu cheered happily, nodding much more vigorously this time.
"So you want..." Ash trailed off, before he quickly put the pieces together, "You want more power!"
"Pikachu!" Pikachu beamed at him.
Wasting no time at all, Ash knew exactly what needed to be done. Grabbing up the relatively intact remains of Misty's bicycle, Ash set it upside down, before turning to the device still strapped on to Pikachu's head. Ripping the wires out, the raven haired boy then jammed them into the headlight of the bicycle. As if by a miracle, a connection was forged, and when Ash awkwardly got on the bicycle and began pedalling, it had the desired effect. Pikachu felt himself getting charged up because of it, and couldn't help but grin happily, feeling much better now.
"What's this?" Meowth faltered, his confidence wavering, when he noticed what they were doing .
Ash levelled him with a malicious grin of his own.
"Well, let's just say that Pikachu and I are gonna generate a little excitement for you Meowth!" the raven haired boy taunted.
Nolan, Misty and Nurse Joy all just looked on in amazement as Ash's crazy scheme actually appeared to be working. Pikachu was building a stronger and stronger charge in his body, and it wasn't long until he simply just couldn't contain it anymore.
"PIKACHU!" the electric type Pokemon screamed as he let loose his strongest Thunder Shock attack to date.
"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!"
Once again Team Rocket were struck by the electrified blast, and this time even Meowth wasn't able to dodge it in time. All five members of the criminal gang screamed and thrashed about in pain as they were electrocuted, but out of all of them, Koffing seemed to be handling it the worst. The spherical Pokemon's face was twisted in agony as his internal pressure levels skyrocketed off the charts.
Nurse Joy, realising what was about to happen, gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.
"Uh oh!" she exclaimed, before quickly turning to the three children with a serious expression on her face, "Children, come over here now!"
The three of them looked up at her in confusion.
"What's the matter Nurse Joy?" Misty asked the older female, confusion colouring her tone, "Pikachu's winning!"
"Just do as I say!" Nurse Joy ordered, a hint of a snap in her tone, as she reached out and pulled Ash and Nolan closer to her as well, "And brace yourselves!"
"For what?" Ash was the one to ask.
The answer quickly made itself apparent to them.
Koffing simply just couldn't contain the building pressure within his body any more, and with one final anguished shriek, the violet coloured Pokemon let out a piercing whistle that was eerily similar to the noise that a steam engine might produce. He began pumping out plumes of jet black smoke against his will.
"KOFFFFFFFFFIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGG!"
Koffing screamed as he began to involuntarily explode as the electricity from Pikachu's attack began to ignite the highly flammable gases pouring out of him. Nolan gasped as he came to the same dreadful conclusion that Nurse Joy so obviously had, realising what was about to happen just moments before it did. The boy might have panicked, had the pink haired nurse not been so quick to act.
"Chansey! Quick! Shield all of us!" she urgently commanded to the two pink Pokemon, both of whom were giving her their undivided attention, "Use Protect!"
"Chansey!" the two Egg Pokemon nodded, and in perfect synchronisation, the eggs in their pouches began to glow with a soft and calming pale blue light. The light then expanded outwards, first covering the two Chansey, before extending into a bubble that engulfed Nurse Joy, Ash, Misty, Nolan and Meadow, before finally the horde of Pikachu, creating a protective barrier around all of them.
It wasn't a moment too soon, for just a few seconds later, Koffing simply couldn't contain the immense pressure any longer.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
It was almost as though the world had been set ablaze, the blast was so hot. The explosion all but decimated the front of the Pokemon Centre, ripping it apart as the whole building almost imploded in on itself. Every window shattered, and rubble rained down on them. Nolan cried out in alarm and threw up his arms to shield his face on instinct, but it turned out to be a needless exercise. Almost by divine intervention, the two Chansey's joint Protect was holding, the aura bubble shielding them from the flying debris and keeping them from being incinerated alive. Nolan couldn't help but marvel at the power of the seemingly unassuming Pokemon. It really did drive home that old saying; 'You can't judge a book by its cover'. After what felt like an eternity but in reality wasn't even a minute, the building finally stopped rattling, and the curtain of fire parted. At least enough for them to take in their devastated surroundings.
The whole room had been utterly decimated.
There really was no other way of describing it. As the two Chansey finally felt comfortable enough to lower their joint Protect, the small group all looked around at their surroundings in horror. Nothing seemed to have been spared from the intense blast, save for the spot where they had been standing just moments before. The walls had been thoroughly scorched, their previous clinical white now charred black. Flecks of paint were chipping away, all smouldering with glowing orange embers. The ceiling had pretty much been blown apart, with polystyrene tiles cracked and broken, and dozens of damaged wires hung down, sparking erratically, like lethal jungle vines. The smooth tiles of the floor had been cracked into a million pieces, and the once proud reception help desk had been reduced to ashes.
The scene was nothing short of carnage.
On the plus side however, Nolan also couldn't help but take notice of the fact that Team Rocket was gone, seemingly carried off skywards by the force of the explosion. Either that or they had been completely vaporised by the explosion with no trace of their existence left behind. Nolan really hoped that wasn't the case. No matter what the criminals had done, Nolan wouldn't wish that fate on anyone. Not even Gary Oak. Shaking those particularly morbid thoughts away, the golden haired boy instead let out a deep sigh of relief, as the realisation of what Team Rocket's absent meant eventually sunk in.
The battle was over.
They had won.
Due to the lateness of the hour, not many citizens were awake in Viridian City at the current moment. If any were however, and they had chanced to look up at the full moon hanging in the darkened sky, then they may have spotted a hot-air balloon fashioned into the likeness of a Meowth drift across the face of it. A rope was dangling down from the balloon's basket, and the five members of Team Rocket were clinging on to it for dear life. Well... technically four of them were holding on. Koffing had been rendered unconscious from the explosion, and his body had deflated like a punctured beach ball, so Ekans was supporting them both as the balloon slowly drifted over the city. All of them looked thoroughly beaten up, which was of course no more than they deserved.
"Well that's just great!" Jessie snarled out of pure frustration, "A Meowth losing to a Pikachu!"
Meowth huffed indignantly, not liking the insinuation behind her words.
"That Pikachu was no ordinary Pikachu!" the Scratch Cat Pokemon exclaimed defensively. It was true after all - that little twerp's partner had powers that were far beyond its species' evolutionary level. Meowth wasn't exactly sure how such a thing was possible, but he was confident that was the reason why things had gone so horribly wrong for them.
"It's certainly very rare" James was forced to agree with the Normal type Pokemon's assessment of the events that had just taken place, "A perfect prize".
"Then let's catch it!" Jessie suggested with a wicked grin on her face.
"Perhaps we will..." Meowth purred maliciously.
And so as their balloon continued drifting off into the night, a burning desire for vengeance was born, as well as a new and terrible goal for the criminals that were Team Rocket.
Dawn had eventually broken over Viridian City by the time that Nolan was finally able to leave the police station with Ash and Misty in tow. After being rescued from the ruins of the Pokemon Centre, it hadn't come as any great surprise to the three youngsters that Officer Jenny had wanted a full account of last night's attack. The sheer number of questions that the woman had for each of them had been a little overwhelming though. She may have been too late to arrive on the scene after receiving Nolan's warning, but that didn't mean she was about to just let the incident go. Nevertheless, the policewoman had been very kind and gentle in her interview methods, but had still insisted on a blow-by-blow account from them all as they all filled in their witness statements. That had taken the best part of the remainder of the night, and that was before the medical check-ups that she had insisted upon. Nolan supposed it made sense to have one - they had after all just survived a colossal explosion. He still didn't enjoy it very much though, but he had enjoyed the stern telling-off from Officer Jenny even less. She hadn't appreciated her orders about remaining outside of the Pokemon Centre where it was safe being ignored, and had no qualms about telling him so. But now, at last, they were free to leave.
Freedom had never felt so good.
Before he could get too carried away in his relief however, Nolan knew that he still had one more task to complete first before he could finally put this matter to bed for good - call his father. Nolan wasn't a fool after all. Half of Viridian City had heard and felt last night's explosion. The story of an attack led by Team Rocket was guaranteed to make the morning news, which meant that in a couple of hours, literally everyone in Kanto would be talking about the events. Nolan knew that if his father found out before he could tell him himself, there'd be all hell to pay. The blonde haired boy shivered just thinking about his dad's reaction in that scenario. No, it would be much better all round if Nolan got in there first. So with that thought in mind, the golden haired Pokemon trainer excused himself from his friends, explaining that he needed to make a phone call before doing anything else.
Once his friends had nodded their understanding and promised that they would wait for him, Nolan crossed the street with Meadow trailing after him, and headed towards a nearby phone box. It wasn't the same one from the previous evening, and it wasn't exactly what Nolan wanted. He'd much rather use a video phone to call home so that his dad could see for himself that he was okay, but the only ones he knew of in the city were the ones at the Pokemon Centre, and that obviously wasn't an option right now. Not since the fire department had it on lock down until they ensured that the building was structurally safe. So a phone box would have to do. Not much looking forward to the conversation he was about to have, Nolan sighed, but quickly inserted some money and dialled his home phone number, before he could talk himself out of it.
He wasn't kept waiting for long.
The phone was only on its third ring when the call was picked up, and Nolan couldn't help but feel some of the crushing weight lift off his shoulders when he heard the voice that just hours before, he'd feared he'd never get to hear again.
"H-hello?" the sleepy voice of his father said through a yawn, clearly having just been awoken from his slumber by the phone ringing, "This is... this is Nathaniel Locke speaking".
"Hey Dad" Nolan's voice was barely more than a whisper as he spoke.
The effect on his dad was instantaneous.
"Nolan!" Nathaniel's voice was suddenly wide awake and completely alert as he cheered his son's name happily, "Morning kiddo! I wasn't expecting to hear from you again so soon! Much less at... six thirty in the morning!"
Nolan couldn't help but wince at that declaration, and the reminder that he had been awake all night. By all rights he should be bone tired, but true be told he was far too wired to even think about sleeping right now.
"I know it's really early Dad" Nolan said apologetically, "I can call back in a bit if you want".
"Don't be silly! You can phone me day or night Son, any time you want" his dad's voice assured him warmly, "So how's everything going today? Are you and Ash still at the Pokemon Centre in Viridian City? How's Ash's Pikachu doing?"
Nolan winced again, knowing that this next part was going to be difficult to get through.
"Pikachu's doing much better now and is out of Nurse Joy's care" Nolan informed him, deciding to get the easy part over with first, "But Dad... I didn't exactly call you just to talk to you... I mean I did but not with small talk. Not this time at least".
Nolan cringed. This wasn't going the way he wanted it to go at all, and he was getting flustered as a result.
"Oh" his father sounded surprised, and Nolan hoped that he hadn't hurt his father's feelings by saying that, "Why did you call then Son? Is there something wrong?"
The new Pokemon trainer hesitated. What is this was the last straw for his dad? What if he made him go home? He had promised last night that he wouldn't, but that was before Nolan got himself caught up in a terrorist attack. What if this was the one to push the man that had raised him over the edge?
"You know you can tell me anything Kiddo" Nathaniel's voice gently reminded his son.
Nolan sighed, but decided to take the plunge. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he began to explain everything.
"The reason I called you so early Dad is because I wanted you to know that I'm alright" Nolan began to explain, a hint of nervousness in his tone, "I needed you to know that before you turned on the TV today and started watching the news".
There was a moment of silence from the other end of the phone call.
"I don't understand" his dad's voice was laced with confusion. Nolan sighed deeply once again.
"Okay... there's no great way of putting this, so here goes..." Nolan said slowly, choosing his words with great care, "Last night, after we spoke on the phone, there was... an incident at the Pokemon Centre".
"What kind of incident?" Nathaniel's voice was starting to get suspicious. Nolan decided it was time to stop beating around the bush and just tell him already.
"A gang of criminals attacked the Pokemon Centre and attempted to steal all of the Pokemon being treated there" Nolan admitted, tense as he waited for the fallout.
"What?! Oh my god!" Nathaniel's voice exclaimed urgently, sounding panicked, "Are you alright?! Did they hurt you?!"
Nolan was quick to reassure him that he was just fine.
"Dad, I'm fine!" he told his father, hoping to calm the man's worries, "They didn't lay a finger on me or Ash".
"Thank god" he heard his dad breathe in relief, before he suddenly sounded stricken again as something terrible occurred to him, "Oh Nolan... please tell me that they didn't take Meadow away from you. Oh Kiddo... I'm so sorry".
Nolan gasped, realising that his dad had totally misinterpreted the reason behind this early morning call home.
"Oh, no, no, no Dad" he hastened to put his dad straight on the matter, "Meadow's fine too. I've still got her, they didn't take her. They didn't take any of the Pokemon there actually".
"Oh thank goodness for that" Nathaniel's voice sighed in relief once more, "I know how much you've wanted a Pokemon partner of your own for so long now. It would have broken my heart if you'd have had that bond ripped away from you after just one day".
Nolan shuddered at that awful notion as well, and once again was overwhelmingly relieved that such a terrible scenario had not come to pass.
"She's totally fine Dad" Nolan reassured his dad once again, "Welkin too".
"Welkin?" His father's voice was confused again.
"That's the name we settled on for my Pidgey" Nolan clarified, "Nurse Joy suggested it and he loved it".
"Good, good" his dad said distractedly, "But you're sure you and Ash and your Pokemon are all okay?"
"Yes Dad" Nolan said firmly, trying to drive the point home, "I just wanted to call you to let you know that before you saw it on the news".
"But why are you so adamant that the story will make the news?" Nathaniel wanted to know, "Terrible as it is, attempted Pokemon thefts aren't exactly unusual Kiddo".
Nolan sighed once more, knowing that the next piece of information he was about to reveal was just going to make his father worry all over again.
"It'll be on the news because those thieves weren't just ordinary thieves..." Nolan mentally braced himself, "They were Team Rocket".
There was a moment of stunned silence... then...
"WHAT?!"
Nolan cringed, receiving exactly the reaction that he'd been expecting.
"Oh my god Nolan!" his dad's voice was getting more and more frantic with each word he spoke, "Why didn't you mention that before?! Team Rocket?! I can't believe those... monsters were so close to my son and I wasn't even there to protect him!"
The anguish in the man's voice hurt Nolan's heart.
"Dad, please calm down" Nolan pleaded desperately, "Besides, I haven't even finished yet".
"You mean there's more?!" Nathaniel's voice was utterly appalled to hear that.
"Unfortunately, yes" Nolan took another steadying breath as he resumed recounting last night's horrible events to his father, "You see, the reason why Team Rocket didn't get away with any of the Pokemon was because me, Ash and Misty - that's the girl I mentioned last night, the one Ash took the bicycle from - fought them off. The end result was an explosion that demolished half of the Pokemon Centre, but like I said before, we're all fine. We all got out unharmed".
Those reassurances did little to stem the worried parent's response.
"Nolan! What on Earth were you thinking of?!" his dad cried, utterly aghast, "They could have seriously hurt you, or worse! And an explosion?! I thought we agreed that you were going to be more careful from now on!"
Nolan couldn't help but resent that particular remark.
"This wasn't my fault Dad!" the blonde haired boy protested indignantly, "I didn't know that the Pokemon Centre was going to get attacked! I was terrified! It's not like I wanted to fight Team Rocket. I just did what I had to do to get me and my friends out of there in one piece! The only reason I'm even telling you all this is because I didn't want you to see it on the news and freak out! I didn't want you to worry!"
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone call.
"Nolan... I'm always going to worry about you" his dad finally said in a much softer and calmer voice, "I'm your dad, and you're my baby boy. No matter how old you get or how capable you are, you'll always be my baby boy. And the idea that you were in such danger terrifies me".
Nolan swallowed hard as he let those heavy words sink in.
"That being said... I'm proud of you for protecting yourself and your friends the way you did" Nathaniel pressed on, and Nolan felt his heart swell, "I'm also glad to know that you're mature enough to have the presence of mind to tell me about this before I heard about it second hand".
"I knew if you saw it on the news and then couldn't get hold of me, you'd panic" Nolan admitted in a small voice.
"Definitely" his father agreed, knowing that he would have been a thousand times more worried if his son hadn't told him all this beforehand, "Now I know we've already discussed this, but I want you to be more careful in the future. I know last night wasn't your fault, but stay away from Team Rocket! They're dangerous. I can't have you getting hurt Nolan. You mean too much to me".
Nolan's eyes widened at the words, an air of hope overtaking him.
"Wait... you mean, you're not going try and drag me home kicking and screaming?" he exclaimed, pleasantly surprised, and feeling another swell of love for the man.
"I already promised you that I wouldn't, despite it going against my better judgement" Nathaniel assured his son, "Just remember what I told you Son - be careful".
"I will, I promise" Nolan quickly reassured his father, "I'm not sure when I'll be able to call you again though, but I'll try and make sure it isn't too long. Which reminds me, can you please tell Mrs Ketchum that Ash is okay? He should really tell her himself but I doubt the thought's even occurred to him".
Nathaniel chuckled slightly before replying.
"Will do Kiddo" he promised, knowing how scatter-brained his child's best friend could be at times. He wouldn't let Delia worry herself sick over this incident just because Ash forgot to call her. No way in hell.
"Thanks" Nolan said gratefully, "I love you Dad".
"I love you too Kiddo" his dad's voice said warmly, "Now take care, and stay safe. Bye Nolan".
"Bye" Nolan said before he hung up the phone.
Smiling to himself, and feeling much better after getting all that off his chest to his father, Nolan exited the phone box and joined up with Meadow, who had opted to wait outside so that Nolan could talk to his dad in private. Walking side by side, the human and Pokemon partners walked back down the street to where Ash and Misty were still both patiently waiting for them with Pikachu. They all smiled at each other as the group reconvened, but it was a couple of moments before anyone said anything.
"So ..." Misty was the one to break the silence, "What are you boys gonna do now that Meadow and Pikachu have regained their strength?"
It was true. Both of their partners, after all the drama was over and done with, had got a nice long rest through the night whilst the humans had been giving Officer Jenny their witness statements, and were now both fighting-fit again. Never before had the two best friends ever felt such an overwhelming sense of relief as they had in that moment.
Ash was the one to reply to her question, shrugging his shoulders.
"I'm not really sure" he admitted sheepishly, "All I know is that if me and Nolan want to get into the Indigo League then we need to start earning our gym badges".
"Well... there is a gym here in Viridian City, but I heard that you can only challenge it once you have seven other gym badges" Nolan said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin, "So I suggest we start by going to Pewter City, Ash. The gym there is supposed to be a good challenge for new trainers like you and me".
"Pewter City?" Ash repeated, testing the name on his tongue, before smiling widely at his best friend, "Sounds good to me Nolan".
Nolan returned the smile, before turning back to Misty.
"What about you Misty?" he asked her kindly, "What are your plans now?"
It was Misty's turn to look thoughtful as she contemplated her answer.
"I'm not really sure... I mean, I do want to keep travelling through the Kanto Region, and catch as many Water type Pokemon as I can since they're my specialty" the orange haired girl informed her two new friends, before a slightly disheartened expression flashed across her face, "I'm not sure I want to travel all that way on foot on my own though, but I'm not sure how far I'll get now that my bike is toast".
A fresh wave of guilt immediately washed over Ash at those words.
"I'm really sorry about your bike Misty" Ash apologised to her in a tone that couldn't be mistaken for anything but perfectly sincere, "If I could I'd replace it for you right here and now. I just don't have the money for it though, but I promise, one day I'll make it up to you".
If such a declaration came from anyone else, Misty may have been angry about the whole situation. But it turned out that there were just some things you couldn't share with another person without ending up liking each other, and apparently stopping a gang of Pokemon thieves was one of them. A warm smile came to her face as a result.
"I know you will Ash" she told him kindly, "I'm just not sure what I should do in the meantime".
Silence met her words for a few moments... before...
"Come with us".
Ash, Misty, Pikachu and Meadow all whipped around and stared at Nolan, the one to utter those three simple little words, yet put so much meaning behind them. Upon seeing all of their surprised expressions, the blonde haired boy grinned at each of them in turn.
"You want to travel around Kanto to catch more Water Pokemon, me and Ash want to travel around Kanto to collect eight gym badges each" he reasoned, and the others were all able to see his logic, "Besides, we're friends now, so why not? At least this way you won't have to travel alone, and it'll give Ash a chance to pay back the debt he owes you".
Misty just stared at him, as if trying to work out if he really meant it or was just being nice. It was a good solution, but it almost seemed too good to be true. Seeing in his eyes however that boy really did seem to enjoy her company, Misty felt a smile start to emerge, but quickly stamped it down, turning to Ash for his verdict first. She didn't want to get her hopes up only for them to be dashed after all.
Sensing the obvious question on her mind, Ash was quick to beam at her.
"Oh I'd love it if you came along" he assured her kindly, and Misty's entire face lit up with a gigantic smile, "I think the three of us would have such a fun journey together, well, the three of us and our Pokemon!"
"Pika!" Pikachu cheered happily.
"Saur!" Meadow seemed on board with the idea as well.
"Then sure!" Misty nodded her head eagerly, and both Ash and Nolan smiled widely at her, "I'd be glad to travel with you guys!"
And so with the foundations of another beautiful friendship now firmly set in place; Nolan and Ash, along with their newest friend Misty, all set out from Viridian City to continue on their journey, each of them wondering what was waiting for them next as they continued down the path to becoming the world's greatest Pokemon Masters.
And that's the end of another episode : )
I gotta say, I'm glad to be done with this one now. For me, it's one of the most iconic Indigo League episodes, like the next one is, but I really want to move on with the story now, and get Ash and Nolan out in the wild encountering Pokemon : )
Speaking of which, unfortunately the last voting topic ended in a tie again, only this time it was between all three Pokemon. I haven't had that happen before, so please review this chapter and help break the tie for me : ) The choices are Oddish, Spearow and Jigglypuff, and their details can be seen in the footer note of the previous chapter.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter : )
Until the next time, keep on reading : )