RE: Matt's Pokemon Story (with new Chapter 6 action!)
Chapter Six: Team Building, Part Two
"Misty, come onnnnnn," Ash pleased. "Please?"
"Not doing it," the girl replied calmly, not looking up from the book she was reading. After arriving in Lavender Town, Ash found Misty sitting on a bench next to the street, with an urn sitting next to her. It was small, light blue in color, with dark blue swirls covering it. It didn't take long for Ash to guess its contents. At first, she had been happy to see him. He told his tale about the letter, and the trip, and how he'd really love it if she came along. And she was all for it... until he told her who else was going.
"He said he was sorry, didn't he? Come on. This isn't like you at all. Where's the "forgive and forget" Misty I know?"
She actually faced him after that remark. "You actually think I can forgive him so easily? I don't know if you're aware of this, Ash, but he
killed my Pokemon!" She went back to reading her book.
"Oh, come on, it's not like he did it on purpose! It was a freak accident. He feels really bad about it. I told him you'd be there. You have to come. For me?"
Misty's eyes remained glued to the page. "No."
Ash stood up and put his hands on his hips. Yes, his initial thoughts were right on the money. This girl wasn't giving in for anything. He looked down at his friend, who was still completely immersed in the book. What was he going to do? Well, when all else fails...
"Misty," he began, reducing himself to his knees. "I'm begging you. Please come with me."
"No."
He got to his feet. "Oh come on, Misty! What do I have to do or say to get you to come with me?"
Misty closed her book, slammed it on the bench, and got right in Ash's face. "Nothing. Not a thing. Got that? I don't want to see him. I don't want to think about him, although thanks to you I'm sure I'll be doing a lot of that. I'm
really not in the mood to talk to or see anyone right now,
especially him, so if you would
please leave me in peace, I would very much appreciate it." She turned to return to her reading, when...
"But Misty--"
She quickly silenced him. "
Go. Home. I'm staying here. And that's the end of it." She sat on her bench, picked up her book, and resumed reading. She took the urn next to her in one hand and moved it closer to her.
Ash sighed. He released his Dragonite and mounted it. "Come on, Dragonite. Let's go home."
He took one final look at his friend, and then the boy and his Pokemon were gone.
And it was only then, after making sure Ash was out of sight, that Misty broke down and cried.
* - * - * - *
Ash was en route to his house, immersed in thought.
"Well, that went well. Man... this sucks. I really thought she'd come... guess losing Vaporeon was harder on her than I thought. But at least Brock's agreed to come, and there's still May and Max. They should be more willing... let's just hope their parents say it's okay..." The boy and his Pokemon made their arrival in Pallet Town as the sun was beginning to set. After replacing Dragonite in storage, he went upstairs to tell Tracey about his day, but he was nowhere to be found. He returned downstairs and looked around, but there was no sign of Tracey. Pikachu was missing, too. His mother, watching TV, saw her son's confused look. "Looking for Tracey?"
"Yeah, Pikachu, too. You seen 'em?"
"Tracey's spent the entire day with Professor Oak. He's still over there. Pikachu's with him."
"Oh, all right. Thanks." Ash returned upstairs, deciding this would be as good a time as any to try to contact May. Turning on his computer, he looked over at the picture by his bed.
"I can't believe she's not coming. It's just not going to be the same without her..." He logged in, then sat on his bed and took the frame into his hands.
"There's gotta be some way I can convince her. There just has to... Maybe if I tell her Tracey's not coming? No, I don't want to lie to her... I still have five days to convince her. I'll think of something before then."
He returned to his computer and loaded up the chat program he used to talk to May.
"Man, I knew I should have got her number... I really do not want to fly all the way to Hoenn." He glanced down his friend list.
"Great. Everyone but May is online. Talk about --"
"Sweet." He quickly rushed to type his message.
PTrainerAK: May
may121789: hey ash whats up?
PTrainerAK: Ever been to Orre?
may121789: never heard of it, u?
PTrainerAK: I've been invited to take a vacation there. I'm allowed to bring five people. Want to come?
may121789: omg are you kidding i would luv 2 but im not sure my parents would go for it, i mean i dont think theyve ever
heard of orre either but they know you so it should be okay, ill go ask
PTrainerAK: All right.
A door was heard open and close downstairs.
"Tracey and Pikachu must be back," Ash reasoned. A sound was heard from the computer.
may121789: Ash, you there?
PTrainerAK: Yeah. What did your mom say?
may121789: This is Max.
PTrainerAK: Oh, hey man, how's it going? Where's May?
may121789: I can hear her arguing with my mom in the kitchen about something. I figured I'd say hi.
Just then, Pikachu burst into the room. It jumped onto the table where Ash was seated and erupted in a fit of happy "pika" noises. It tackled Ash in a hug.
Ash returned the favor. "Hey, buddy, how you been? I heard you were hanging out with Tracey and Professor Oak while I was gone. Did you have fun?" Pikachu jumped back onto the table, and with full "pika" support, attempted to act out everything he and Tracey had done over the course of the day, and Ash went back to the computer.
PTrainerAK: Heh. You know she'll kill you if she comes back and finds you on the computer, right?
may121789: I'm not scared of her. She might talk a lot, but that's all she is. Just talk.
PTrainerAK: I see. So what have you been up to?
may121789: I just got done watching SuperSpaceDude.
PTrainerAK: Oh, yeah, I've heard of that. I didn't know it was on DVD yet. I haven't seen it. It any good?
may121789: It's not bad. The special effects are pretty low quality, though.
PTrainerAK: That sucks.
may121789: Yeah, but it has a good story.
PTrainerAK: I see. What else has Max been up to?
may121789: I've been pretty busy lately. Training Pokemon is so much fun. I spend most of my free time with them. When I'm not training, I'm studying. It's been kinda hectic.
PTrainerAK: Funny you should mention thta.
PTrainerAK: that*
may121789: Why, what's up?
PTrainerAK: I told May about this just now. I've been invited to spend a week at this one place in Orre. May's asking for permission right now from your mom. You wanna come?
may121789: Really? You mean it?
PTrainerAK: Of course I mean it. We're friends, right?
may121789: Yeah, for sure. I guess I'll go help May convince my mom to let us go.
PTrainerAK: Sounds good.
Tracey Sketchit came into the room with two hot plates of food. He set one next to Pikachu. "Here, Ash. Your mom asked me to bring this to you."
"Awesome. Thanks, Tracey," Ash said, taking the plate and wasting no time in devouring its contents.
"So how'd it go?"
"Brock is on board. I talked to him and he's going for sure."
"That's not who I was talking about and you know it."
"Ugh..." Ash sighed. "She's not coming."
"I knew it. I knew it. I shouldn't have agreed to go. I'm really sorry, Ash. You should call her and tell her that I'm not--"
"Would you just shut up with the not going business? You're both going. I just don't know how I'm going to convince Misty."
"I don't know, either. What are you going to do if she won't be convinced?"
"Be miserable for a week." And then a sound from the computer.
"Who you talking to?"
"May and her brother Max. Well, from the looks of it, I'd say I'm talking to May again. I told them about the trip and they're both interested in going, so they went to get permission."
may121789: my mom wants u to explain it 2 her so she knows wats going on
PTrainerAK: Really? I don't mind explaining things, but I don't have your phone number and I really don't think I have any Pokemon that would be willing to fly me from here to Hoenn just to talk. How should I get ahold of you?
may121789: the number is 53-668-867-5309, call as soon as you can
PTrainerAK: Will do.
After writing down the number, Ash closed the chat program and turned to the video phone next to his computer. He carefully dialed the digits, making sure not to mess it up. He held the receiver to his ear and waited.
"Hey, move over, I wanna get a look at this girl," Tracey said, getting behind Ash's shoulder.
The connection went through. On the other end was a girl with shoulder-length brown hair. She was wearing a blue shirt.
"Hi, Ash!" she said.
"Hey, May. Where's your mom at?" Ash spoke back.
"Oh! Right! Just a second!" May replied. She put the phone down and left, allowing Ash to view the plain white wall that had been behind her.
Ash turned to his friend. "There, you saw her."
"She's kinda cute. If she was a couple years older, I'd date her."
"I'm sure you would."
Just then, another figure came to the screen. She also had brown hair, although hers was a bit curly. It was tied in a ponytail. "Hello?"
"Hey, Caroline, long time no see."
"Hi, Ash. How have you been?"
"Not bad. Just living life, y'know?"
"Right, of course. So, the kids have told me that you've invited them on a trip of some kind?"
"Yes, ma'am. I've actually been invited myself, and the person who's hosting my trip said I was allowed to bring five of my friends with me. It's in some place called Orre. I've never been there, so I think it'll be pretty exciting. I leave in six days."
"How are you getting there? Where are you staying?"
"We'll be taking a plane there, and we'll be staying at my host's private island retreat."
"All this talk about my host, my host. Who is your host?"
Ash hesitated.
"Ash?"
"His name's Giovanni. He's... the CEO of his own company based here in Kanto." Tracey went wide-eyed.
"Really? What's his company do?"
"They... they steal people's Pokemon." Tracey breathed an audible sigh of relief.
Now it was Caroline's turn to go wide-eyed. "They
what?"
"You remember a long time ago, when May got her Torchic kidnapped? Those guys?"
"Ah. I don't remember their faces, but I do remember that incident."
"They work for Team Rocket. That's the company that Giovanni runs. They steal other people's Pokemon."
"That's terrible! And why would I want to put my children's Pokemon in that kind of danger?"
"Oh, that's not going to be a problem. No Pokemon whatsoever are allowed to come. They'll be safe at home."
"I see. And you're being invited to this Giovanni person's secret lair?"
"Um, well, it's not a lair... he didn't say anything about that. He wrote me a letter saying that Jessie and James - those guys I mentioned - are losers and aren't representative of his vision of Team Rocket. It's also only for a week, and I'll have other people with me - not just me. Big, strong men like me who are more than capable of keeping your children safe," Ash said with a grin.
"I don't know, Ash, it sounds awfully suspicious to me."
"That's what I said!"
"Then why are you even going?"
"My friends and family think his intentions are good. Now that I think of it, we really haven't heard much of Team Rocket lately. We did meet up with Jessie and James a couple days ago, but before that it had been at least a month. They've been showing less and less of themselves lately."
"Hmm... well, listen, Ash. I don't trust that Giovanni person, or his letter. I find it hard to believe that he really means well and he's not out to harm you. Who knows what could happen? I don't want my children in that kind of danger."
Ash was heartbroken. This
sucked. "I understand, Caroline. It's okay."
"But I trust you, Ash."
The boy perked up. This was different. This was good. Now we're getting somewhere! He said nothing while Caroline spoke.
"I trust your judgment. I know you're a very capable young man. I know you wouldn't let anything happen to my babies."
"We are not babies!" May dissented from off-screen.
Caroline ignored them and continued. "I'll give them both permission to come with you on your trip."
"Really? Thanks a lot, Caroline! I promise, I'll do everything in my power to bring your kids home safely."
He struggled to hear over the screams heard in the background. "No problem, Ash. What would you have me do with them?"
"Have them be here in five days. May knows where I live."
"Understood. Take it easy, Ash."
"You too! And say hi to Norman for me!"
"Will do. Bye."
Ash hung up the phone and cheered. "Yes! All right!"
Tracey, who had been laying on Ash's bed, looked up. "What are you so happy about?"
"May and Max are both coming. This is great. That makes four." He quickly came off of his happy high as he realized just what that meant. "That's nearly everyone..."
Tracey understood what the look on Ash's face meant. "Come on, don't worry about it. It's not the end of the world. And you still have five days... who knows? You might think of something."
"Tracey, it just won't be the same without her. But she is dead set on not going. I'll call her again in a few days, once she gets back home."
Pikachu jumped into Ash's lap, pointed to himself, and let out a couple of the usual "pika pikas."
Ash chuckled and put his friend back onto the table. "Sorry, pal, but I can't bring you with me. I gotta leave all my Pokemon behind, not just you. So don't feel bad."
Pikachu turned away from his master for a second and rubbed his face. A few seconds later, he turned back, his face now looking strikingly similar to Misty's.
"You want me to dress you up like Misty?"
Pikachu looked a bit uneasy. That wasn't quite what he had in mind, but Ash was half right.
Tracey spoke up. "I think he wants you to disguise him, but not necessarily as Misty."
"Oh ho," Ash caught on. "Yeah, I really don't think that's going to work. You're a little too short to pass as a human, and there's no way anyone would fall for such an obvious trick."
"And how many times have you been duped by that same trick?" Tracey asked, raising an eyebrow.
Ash cringed. Tracey was right, Ash had been fooled a ridiculous amount of times by Jessie and James over the years. The incident involving two travelling salesmen and their pint-sized boss that happened a few days prior was still fresh in his mind, and sometimes Ash wondered why to this day he still hasn't been able to see through their disguises. Lucky for him and his pride, everyone else Ash had traveled with had been tricked, too. "...shut up," Ash said. "It's not like you weren't tricked either."
"Maybe so, but I'm not the one making claims that the idea of a foot-tall human is never going to fool anyone."
"Well, whatever. The point is, I'm not going to resort to trying to fool anyone. And besides, I'm still going to get Misty to come."
"And what's your plan for that?" Tracey asked.
"Well, I figure that the reason my last try failed so bad was because she was still mad at you. If she isn't home already, she should be back tomorrow or the day after at the latest. I'll ask her again then. And then she'll say yes."
"Well, I hope she does. We were such good friends. I'd hate for things to end this way."
"So would I." After that, everything was quiet for a moment, each boy immersed in thought. "Well, I think I'm going to hit the old sackaroonie. Sooner I go to bed, the sooner I wake up, and the sooner I can work on getting Misty to agree to come on this trip."
Tracey got up. "All right. Good luck, Ash," he said, leaving to retire to his own room. Ash wasted no time in going to sleep.
The next three days seemed like centuries to Ash. He knew Misty wasn't one to change her mind once she made it up. If he wanted any shot at completing his group the way he wanted, he had to be careful not to make her too angry.
"But it's been three days, right?" Ash thought to himself, staring down his phone.
"She can't still be mad, can she?" He picked up the receiver and began dialing.
"Should I even call her? She's probably not awake yet." He hung up the phone has he looked out the window and sighed. The sun was still rising over Pallet Town.
"I can't take it anymore. I have to go see her personally," the boy decided, once again fetching his trusty Dragonite from its spot with the hundreds of other Pokemon the young man owned.
As he opened the door to leave his house, Ash was greeted by a large black man.
"Whoa, Brock, what's up? What are you doing here so early?"
Brock looked a bit puzzled. "Today's the day, right? You said four days... didn't you?"
"Yeah, I didn't think you'd be here this early though. We still have all day... I think. Anyway, I have to go to Cerulean City and talk to Misty, so I'll catch you later."
"What? How come?"
"Ah, well, I asked her to come with me, and she said no... I'm going to try and change her mind."
"Really, she said no? That's weird. I thought for sure she'd agree in two seconds."
"Yeah, imagine that... anyway, make yourself at home, cook some breakfast or something, everyone's still sleeping... I'll be back later, see ya!" Ash released his Dragonite and at breakneck speed the two were headed towards Cerulean City.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
Misty was up early, cleaning the Gym in her usual tank top and shorts. She had been having trouble sleeping since the accident. She figured it had merely been homesickness, but even after arriving back at the Gym, she still could not rest easy. All she could think about was Vaporeon.
Broom in hand, she began idly sweeping the area surrounding the pool where it all happened. She found herself gazing into it, memories of the battle still fresh in her mind. She sat at the pool's edge and cried quietly. How horrible, she thought, having to live her life without her best friend. For a brief moment, Misty entertained the idea of simply diving to the bottom and taking a deep breath, but...
"Come on, pull yourself together!" she argued with herself.
"What kind of talk is that coming from a Gym Leader?
"I can't take it anymore..." Misty argued back. "I can't stop thinking about her..."
"It was an accident and you know it," her inner voice snapped.
"You have to forgive Tracey. You have to."
"No!" she screamed, new tears falling freely. "I will never forgive him!"
"He feels terrible. He apologized for it. You can forgive him."
"No," Misty said, voice firm. "He... cannot... be forgiven," she reassured herself, shutting the voice out of her mind. Not bothering to remove her clothes, Misty slipped soundlessly into the water, lying on her back and closing her eyes. The water was a familiar, peaceful feeling to her, and she was at ease. She swam to the bottom and looked to the top and once again felt a desire to take a deep breath. One breath, and she would be reunited with her Pokemon. Misty was pleased with how simple it all was. To once again be with her beloved Pokemon... she closed her eyes, smiled for amoment, and inhaled.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
When Ash arrived at the Cerulean Gym, he found the door ajar. Curious, he let himself in. The inside of the Gym was deathly quiet; the only sounds to be heard was of the water in the pool washing onto the floor, and Ash's own wet footsteps.
"She must have been swimming again," Ash reasoned, and he went upstairs to investigate.
The door to Misty's room was ajar. Ash almost barged in, but he was interrupted by a voice.
"What if she's not decent? Wouldn't want to be walking in on that, now would you?"
"Whoa, she might be changing. I better knock. Man, am I glad I thought of that," Ash said to himself, breathing a sigh of relief as he lightly tapped on the door, not wanting to force it open. There was no response. Ash knocked a little harder, being extra careful not to look into the room. But there was still no answer.
"All right, maybe she's sleeping," the voice surmised. Ash decided to go with the voice's suggestion and pushed the door open and found no sleeping teenager.
"Where is she?Ash thought as he went back downstairs to the arena. He looked around, wondering where she could be, and noticed something floating on the surface of the pool.
"What's she doing?" he wondered for a moment, before he went white with shock. He silently thanked his mom for forcing him to take those aquatic rescue classes last summer and released his Dragonite in a flash. "Dragonite, get help!" he commanded as he jumped into the pool. Dragonite was gone in the blink of an eye as Ash gently towed his unconscious friend to safety.
Pulling Misty out of the pool, he immediately went to work on her, going through the motions of CPR. After a few minutes, the girl finally came to, coughing up a mess of water. Being careful not to move her too much, he gently wrapped his arms around her. "Misty..." he cried. "Who did this to you?" Misty mumbled something, but he could not hear her. He pulled himself closer.
"I..." was all she managed to say before slipping back into unconsciousness.
"What? You what?" Ash asked, looking at her for an answer he wasn't going to get. Relieved she was at least alive, Ash simply sat there, holding his friend. At that moment, Dragonite returned, with an ambulance and a group of EMTs. Ash gently set his companion back on the ground and stepped away, letting the professionals do their work. They loaded the young girl on a stretcher and wheeled her to the ambulance waiting outside. Ash began to follow, but he was stopped in his tracks.
"Sorry, family only," he said as Misty was loaded into the back of the ambulance.
"Do you have any idea who I am?!" Ash fumed. "Let me in at once!"
"Mr. Ketchum, you know I can't let you ride with us," the worker said as he turned to leave. "You're welcome to follow us."
"Wait!" Ash stammered. "How is she? Will she be okay?"
"She's alive. That's all I can tell you. You can ask the doctors at the hospital yourself," the EMT said, shutting the doors to the ambulance. As they drove off, Ash turned to his Dragonite.
"Thank you," Ash said. "She's alive because of you."
Dragonite merely nodded its head.
"Please, take me to the hospital. I need to see her."
Dragonite nodded its head again and let himself be mounted. With a roar and a flap of Dragonite's wings, the two were off.
