Disclaimer: I don't claim to own any part of the Pokèmon franchise and give full credit for Pokèmon characters named in my fanfiction to Nintendo, Inc. and (until recently) 4Kids Entertainment.

Note for my readers: sorry it took me over a year to start working on my fanfiction again! I just got so busy over the late spring/summer, and then college caused me to completely forget about it. I'll stay current now. Thank you to all of you who still read my fanfictions; it still means a lot to me! :)

On The Sea to Cerulean City

Melody woke up bright and early on the 11th, excited to know she'd be in Cerulean City in less than 48 hours. Dragging her luggage, she tore down the stairs, only to halt at the bottom from the sounds she heard coming from the kitchen.

"Dad, this is just stupid; how am I supposed to focus on my novel if you come visit and start throwing fits with Melody all the time about random guys she doesn't even know?"

"Now Carol, you know very well that I need to protect your sister! Or need I remind you of what happened in Saffron when she was younger?" Melody winced at this; she had never dreamed her dad would hold her actions over her head for 7 years, but here he was, still bringing it up to try and win arguments.

"Look, what happened to her wasn't her fault, and she was 10 Dad. TEN! She's seventeen now, and she can handle herself just fine without you making her life miserable."

"I'm sorry Carol, but either I go, or you two don't. Which will it be?"

Carol sighed. Melody knew this was a lose-lose option for her. No matter what choice Carol made, she would have to deal with family fighting all the time. Melody was about to head back upstairs when she heard Carol begin to speak again. "Hey Dad, how about I give you nightly updates on how we're doing and what Melody is up to. I promise I'll be completely honest, and you know you can trust me. I'll answer any questions you have, and this way I can be left in peace to write my novel. Besides, you're the island's mayor; you can't just LEAVE, even on vacation! Please tell me this is ok?"

For the next few minutes, all Melody heard was silence. Then her Dad began to speak. "...Fine, but I reserve the right to call you two back to Shamouti Island at any time I want, especially if Melody violates my trust again." Melody threw her arms into the air. Next thing she knew, there was a loud bang, and she was on the floor beneath 30 pounds of luggage. In her excitement, she had forgotten that she had been holding her luggage above her on the staircase, and it fell on top of her when she let go of it.

"Oh my god, Melody, are you ok?" Carol had already rushed over to help unload the luggage off of her sister.

Melody winced. "Yeah, but my ankle hurts really bad!" She looked down to see her right ankle heavily swollen and red. "Guess I don't have to steer the ship today, huh?"

Carol smiled with Melody. "Let's just hope it's not too bad. You don't want to miss out on being able to walk around Cerulean, do you?"

Melody was about to respond, but just then her Dad arrived with a first aid kit. He inspected the injury, and gave out a long sigh. "Well, it looks like you sprained it. You were lucky--it'll only take a day or two to heal, but take these with you in case you need them." And he handed Melody her old crutches as he turned to Carol. "See, this is why I'm worried about her going! You need to keep an eye on her; the last thing I need is to hear about her actually breaking something!"

"Anyways, lets just get your luggage to the boat; my stuff is already packed and loaded, and I want to get to Trovita Island as soon as possible to avoid the bad weather that's expected to hit this afternoon." Carol walked over and grabbed Melody's bags. "Jeez, what on earth did you pack??!! And how did you get these bags downstairs? Well, regardless, Dad, can you help me with them? We'll meet you at the dock in an hour, ok Melody?" Melody nodded. "Good, we'll see you then. Try not to hurt yourself any worse, ok?" And with that, Carol and their Dad left the house, leaving Melody to sit on the stairs nursing her ankle in silence. Why did things like this always happen to her? Was she just unlucky?

Regardless, she wanted to make sure she didn't leave anything behind before her big trip, but the stairs suddenly seemed daunting to her with her injury. "Well, I cant ask Dad to help if I want him to stay off my back about being in Cerulean alone, now can I?" So she started her ascent, only to fall on the second stair. She sighed and picked up her crutches, only to realize that one of the shoulders had popped off during the fall, and now she had to fix it. As she picked up the shoulder off the ground and started heading to the kitchen to fix it, she felt her fingers brush something. She looked down, saw a very thinly rolled up piece of paper, and immediately stopped. What could it possibly be? She'd had these crutches for ages and never noticed this before, but then again, the crutches had never broken before, hence why she kept them so long. So she sat down where she was, unrolled the paper, and began to read, re-read, and re-read again. 15 minutes later, she had read the note what felt like a thousand times, but she still couldn't believe it. And she laid back against the wall, and began to sob.

End of Chapter

P.S. This part was supposed to have chapter 6 in it as well, but it would've turned out much longer, and I like leaving my readers on a cliffhanger! ;) But again, thank you to my loyal readers! Please comment if you'd wish! :) ~ DK