New Beginnings
By: Misty101803
Part: 12
Category: AAMRN

Disclaimer: So here's part 12. It's almost finally over; I'm a little more than haflway there, so I hope to get this done soon. Anyway I don't own Pokémon, but I do own my four created characters that appear in various places within this whole story. They are: Natalie, her brother Sean, their dad Captain Skyler and Sean's rival Scott. This story was written in March 2004.

Today is the second day of the Kojho and all of the trainers are ready and rarin' to go. All of them that it is except for Misty.

"Come on Misty, it's almost eleven o'clock!" Ash yelled out to Misty who was still in the bathroom. She had been in there for the past two hours getting ready for her battle today.

"Coming, just a few more minutes!" Misty yelled from inside the bathroom.

"You don't have a few more minutes, Misty," Ash said to her. He looked over at the clock by the bed again.

"It's already 10:57 Misty! I don't have to rush because only the other round one trainers who havn't battled yet are battling today, and that means you Misty! So come on, the captain is goin' to name which trainers are battling who soon!" Ash yelled again.

"Okay, okay!" Misty screamed. Then she came out of the bathroom and was ready to go up on deck to where all of the trainers were meeting to find out thier opponents.

"Finally, Misty. You're slower than a Slowpoke sometimes."

"Hey, what matters is that I'm ready now, so lets go. We don't have much time," Misty said and then headed for the door, but then she stopped and went back to get her backpack. Finally, she was ready.

"Today Misty!" Ash said trying to get her out of the room.

"Oh shut up," was all Misty said and left the room with Ash and Pikachu following close behind. Before Ash left, though, he locked the door and then met Misty already at the elevators waiting to get into one. When one opened up, they all went in and after the doors closed the elevator started to move up to the main deck.

When the doors opened again, Ash, Misty and Pikachu exited the elevator and headed to where they were yesterday. Unluckily, it was already after 11:00 AM, so the captain was already naming off names once they got there.

"And she'll be facing off against Misty in the first battle today on field one," the captain said to the crowd through his megaphone.

"Oh no, we missed it. Who am I gonna face off against?" Misty asked herself.

"I guess we'll find out in a minute. Lets head down to field one, Misty," Ash said.

"Okay," Misty said. Meanwhile the captain was naming off more names of trainers, but Ash and Misty weren't listening. As they were going to field one, a big crowd was going with them to watch the battle between Misty and her opponent.

Finally Misty got to where she had to be. Her opponent was just about to be lowered into the water when Misty came up and Misty couldn't believe who she was facing.

"Natalie!!" Misty yelled in surprize. "Your my opponent?!"

"I hope you give me a good battle Misty, because I'm gonna give you one you'll never forget," Natalie said.

"Oh don't worry Natalie, I will. I just hope you're ready for this because I know I am," Misty said as she got into her boat so she could get lowered into the ocean too. Finally both trainers got lowered into the water and were being rowed to where they had to be. Also, the referee was already in position ready for Misty and Natalie. The megascreen was in place and it was already to begin. Then the referee began to speak.

"The battle between Misty from Cerulean City and Natalie from Slateport City is about to begin. Start the selector on the megascreen!" When he said this the circle between Misty's and Natalie's pictures began to alternate from red to green. Misty was the red trainer and Natalie was the green. Almost as soon as it began, it began to slow down. Finally, it landed on red, which meant that Misty had to release her Pokémon first.

"Get ready for this Natalie! Misty calls Corsola!" Misty yelled but instead of Corsola coming out, Psyduck, of all Pokémon, popped out into the water. And then it started to splash around because it couldn't swim.

"Psyduck, you're not Corsola!" Misty yelled to it, but it was too late. Since Psyduck was already out, Misty couldn't recall it back. Meanwhile Psyduck "swam" to Misty's boat and climbed in to save its life.

"Oh too bad Misty. Maybe you should have trained it better. Cloyster I chose you!" Natalie yelled as she threw a Pokéball into the field. There was a bright flash of white light and then a Cloyster appeared in the water, ready for battle.

"Let the battle begin!" the referee yelled as he held up both of the green and red flags in his hands.

"This won't take long. Sorry your experiance in the Kojho was so short lived Misty. Cloyster, clamp onto Psyduck's head and bring it into the water!" Natalie yelled to it. It did what it was told and now both Cloyster and Psyduck were in the middle of the ocean field.

"Psy, psy, psy, psy ,psy, psy, psy!!!" Psyduck yelled as its headache was getting bigger.

"Ha, I guess you've never battled a Psyduck before or you would know that that was a mistake!" Misty yelled out to Natalie. Psyduck's headache was about at it's breaking point now.

"What are you talking about, Misty? I've got Psyduck right where I want it," Natalie said. Now Psyduck has been clamped by Cloyster for more than a minute.

'Oh you'll see Natalie,' Misty thought.

'Misty's bluffing. She has to be. I caught a Golduck a while back and it didn't matter if its head was being clamped of not,' Natalie thought.

"I don't believe you Misty. Soon my Cloyster will clamp so hard that your Psyduck will pass out from the pain!" Natalie yelled to Misty. "Cloyster, clamp harder onto Psyduck's head!"

"Just hang on Psyduck. Just a few more seconds," Misty said. Psyduck's headache was really bad now. It was just about to crack. Meanwhile Psyduck was screaming in pain from its headache.

"Ha this battle is over. Harder Cloyster, harder!" Natalie told her Cloyster who started to clamp even harder, if that was even possible. Finally Psyduck's headache cracked and its eyes started to glow a blue color.

"Finally," Misty said. "Psyduck use your disable attack to get yourself out of Cloyster's clamp!" When Misty said this both Psyduck and Cloyster started to rise out of the water and Cloyster was taken off of Psyduck's head.

"What's going on? I didn't know a Psyduck could use Psychic attacks. I thought that it only gained those abilities once it evolved into a Golduck," Natalie said to herself.

"Well you thought wrong," Misty said to Natalie. "Psyduck, use your Confusion attack!" Psyduck obeyed and Cloyster quickly was thrown into the side of the ship, where it got stuck in the metal.

"Oh no, Cloyster!" Natalie yelled to it.

"It's over Natalie! Psyduck pull it from the ship and use your Psychic attack to throw it into the water with all your might!" Misty yelled to Psyduck.

Cloyster was then plucked from the ship and it was thrown up into the air 100 feet when it was promptly pushed from the opposite direction until it slammed into the water. There was a huge splash of water that hit Psyduck while it was still floating in the air. This made Psyduck lose its concentration so it fell to the sea from about 20 feet in the air. When it resurfaced from the water it started to splash around again. Finally it padeled over to Misty's boat and climbed in.

"You did a great job Psyduck. Lets just hope that that was enough to put Cloyster away," Misty said.

Cloyster still hadn't resurfaced yet and it had already been about one minute. Everyone was begining to get worried that it might be dead.

"Cloyster, please be okay," Natalie said quietly. Time was passing by but still it didn't resurface.

"If Cloyster doesn't resurface in the next two minutes, the victory will go to Misty and her Psyduck," the referee yelled to the crowd.

"But it may already be seriosly hurt! I'm going in to see if it's okay. I'm coming Cloyster!" Natalie yelled and then dove into the water head first.

Everyone waited in anticipation while Natalie was down there, but she had already been down for 30 seconds and she hadn't come up yet. Now Misty was starting to get worred for both Cloyster and Natalie. Finally Natalie came back up and everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but she didn't have her Cloyster with her.

"I need some help with Cloyster. It's knocked out and I need some help carrying it up," Natalie said to Misty.

"Why can't you just use your Pokéball?" Misty asked her.

"Do you really think that I'll be able to say 'Cloyster return' underwater without drowning, Misty?" Natalie asked.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Okay, I'll help you carry Cloyster up. I mean how heavy can it be?" Misty asked.

"Out of the water it's nearly 300 pounds, but inside water it's less than 100, and that's why I need your help. It's still too heavy for me alone to carry it up," Natalie said.

"Well then, what are we waiting for," Misty said and then dove into the water head first soon followed by Natalie who followed her. Once underwater, Natalie led Misty to where Cloyster was. It was floating about 15 feet down in the water. Natalie and Misty swam under it and started to push it up to the surface. A few seconds later, they had pushed Cloyster up to the surface of the water and they started to push it towards Natalie's boat. They tried to lift it up, but since most of it was out of the water, it was usless. Then Misty sugessted,

"Natalie, use your Pokéball now."

"Oh yeah," Natalie said and then reached into her pocket and got out her Pokéball. "Cloyster return," Natalie said and then Cloyster returned to its Pokéball.

"Cloyster is unable to battle, Misty and her Psyduck win!" the referee yelled and the crowd started to cheer. Then Misty and Natalie climbed into Natalie's boat and the rower started to row it back to the ship.

"We should get Cloyster to the Pokémon Center now," Natalie said.

"Yeah, just let me get my Psyduck." Finally the boats were raised up to the deck again and Natalie and Misty got out of the boat. Then Misty went over to her boat and got her backpack.

"Great job, Psyduck. I can't believe how powerful your Psychic attacks have gotton," Misty told her Psyduck.

"Psy.....duck?"

"Well come on Psyduck," Misty told her Psyduck. Then Misty started to follow Natalie down to the Pokémon Center.

"Hold up Misty!" Ash yelled trying to catch up. There was a crowd of people infront of him so it was hard for Ash to get through. Finally Ash and Pikachu caught up to Misty, who had already caught up to Natalie, who was headed straight for the Pokémon Center.

"That was a great battle your guys. Although I'm sorry that your Cloyster is really hurt," Ash said to Natalie.

"Yeah me too. I didn't know that Psyduck would have enough power to do this to a Cloyster," Misty said to Natalie.

"Oh, it's okay. That's what battles are all about, taking risks. I'm sure Cloyster will be fine physicaly but its ego will be hurt because this was the first time it got beat down so hard by another Pokémon," Natalie said.

"Really? Well I guess not too many Pokémon get beat up this badley too often. That was a battle that I'll never forget," Misty said.

"Me neither," Natalie said. It didn't take long for all of them to get to the Pokémon Center so they arrived within another two minutes.

Once through the front doors of the Center, Natalie quickly walked up to the main desk where Nurse Joy was standing.

"Nurse Joy, my Cloyster is badly hurt from the last battle I had in the Kojho, can you please see if it's okay?" Natalie asked.

"Oh good heavens, you're soaking wet!" Nurse Joy said concerned about Natalie. "Just wait a second while I go get some blankets." Then Nurse Joy left to go to the back and she returned a few seconds later with four blankets. She didn't know how many it would take to dry Natalie off.

"Here you go," Joy said as she wrapped the first blanket around Natalie. Then Ash, Misty and Pikachu came over to see if Natalie was okay.

"Oh dear me, you're soaked as well," Nurse Joy said to Misty and then she wrapped another one of the blankets around Misty.

"Thanks Nurse Joy," Natalie said.

"Yeah, thank you for the blankets. We had to dive into the ocean to save Natalie's Cloyster," Misty said.

"Oh, yes of course, the Cloyster, just give me the the Pokéball that your Cloyster is in," Nurse Joy said holding out a hand so as to recieve the Pokéball. Natalie quickly handed Nurse Joy the ball. Then Misty said,

"And could you look at my Psyduck too? It was in that battle against her Cloyster, and I'm afraid something might be wrong with it." Psyduck was standing right by Misty holding its head as usual.

"Of course I'll take a look at your Psyduck," Joy said and then she picked it up and went into the back of the Center to examine both of them.

"I wish there was something that I could do to help," Natalie said to Ash and Misty.

"The only thing that you can do now is wait and see if your Cloyster is okay, but I'm sure that it is," Misty said.

"Yeah, your probably right, but I can't help it. I'm still worried about it. I mean I caught it when it was just a little Shellder and just recently I evolved it with a Water Stone.

"Well if you don't mind, Natalie, I'm gonna go back up on deck and watch some more battles," Ash said.

"Why would I mind? Go, watch some more battles. What do I care!" Natlaie said in an angry tone.

"Why are you so grouchy?" Ash asked her.

"I'm not grouchy, just leave me alone!" Natalie said and started to run towards the bathroom while crying on the way.

"Wait, Natalie!" Ash called out to her. "Did I say something wrong?" Ash asked Misty.

"I don't know. You go ahead up on deck, I'll stay here and find out what's wrong with Natalie," Misty sugessted to Ash.

"Well okay, I guess I'll see ya later. Oh, and congrats on your win today, Misty," Ash said to her as he left through the doors of the center.

Misty quickly headed to the girl's restroom and opened the door. There was only one person in there other than Misty, Natalie. She was inside the nearest stall crying her eyes out with her hands on over her eyes. Misty approached Natalie slowly so not to disturb her.

"Hey Natalie, what's the matter? This isn't about your Cloyster is it?" Misty asked her in a comforting tone.

While still crying Natalie said, "N....n....no. It's not my Cloyster, it's Ash."

"Why are you crying about him?" Misty asked dumbfounded why anyone, except herself, would cry for Ash.

"Because I....l...lo....love...him...Mis..ty." Misty was totally shocked at what Natalie said.

"But you can't love Ash, I love Ash, I even told you two days ago," Misty said to her.

"I know, but...I can't...help it, Misty."

"Okay, all that aside for the moment, why did you start crying?"

Gradually Natalie stopped crying and then she said,

"I can't tell you Misty. You'll just get mad at me."

"Oh it can't be that bad Natalie. Go on tell me."

"Well okay, but you have to promise not to get mad, okay?"

"I promise that I won't get mad at you, Natalie."

"Well, yesterday, uh, do you remember when I told you that Ash and I got stuck in an elevator right before the Kojho began?"

"Yeah, but was there more to the story?"

Natalie sighed and began again, "Well we were in the elevator going up to the deck when the elevator stopped and then we started talking about stuff..." Natalie stopped.

"Go on," Misty said.

"Well one thing led to another and before Ash knows it, I'm kissing him right on the lips. You should have seen his face. He was so shocked that he was frozen for five minutes! And that's when I told him that I loved him. But after that he said that he would think about it. Can you believe him? And just a few minutes out there, in the lobby, Ash didn't even care about me at all. All he cared about was watching battles. So the reason that I'm crying is that I know that Ash doesn't love me, but I'm not gonna give up on him."

"You kissed him? Why would you do something like that? Natalie, Ash is mine, and I'm not gonna stand around and watch you take my true love away from me!" Misty yelled to her.

"You promised that you wouldn't get mad, Misty!"

"Well I wasn't ready for this, Natalie. I thought that you were my friend! Friends don't go around stealing other friends' love interests. Ash is mine, why don't you go out and find your own boyfriend?" Misty said close to tears.

"I'm sorry, but I can't just forget about him. He's the greatest guy that I've ever met, and I'm gonna try my hardest to make him my boyfriend."

"Not if I have anything to do about it! I'm leaving, see you later!" Misty yelled to Natalie and then started to head outside the door, but then Misty stopped when Natalie said,

"And where are you going in such a hurry?"

"Anywhere but with you is okay with me!" Misty screamed and then left the room extremely mad at Natalie for doing what she did. Once in the lobby she took off her blanket and went to the desk to hand it back to Nurse Joy.

"Thanks for the blanket Nurse Joy, and I'll pick up my Psyduck later, but I have to leave now, so bye," Misty said and then headed for the center's exit door.

But Misty didn't even make it to the door before Natalie came out of the bathroom heading straight for Misty, but Misty didn't want to be around Natalie right now so Misty quickly left the center, heading for where Ash would be, watching the battles up on deck.

Then Natalie went over to Nurse Joy, handed her the blanket and said,

"Thank you for the blanket, but I really must be going." Natalie then quickly ran for the door and left the center quickly so she could catch up to Misty before she got to Ash.

Once Natalie was outside the center, she could see Misty running for the stairs. Natalie knew that she was heading for Ash but Natalie wasn't about to let Misty get to Ash first. So she ran to catch up with Misty, who wasn't that far ahead of her.

Meanwhile, up on deck, Ash was enjoying an intense battle against a girl's Poliwrath and a boy's Feraligator. Currently, the Poliwrath was winning the battle, but it wasn't over yet.

Misty, who went up one staircase, was already up on deck and Natalie, who went up another staircase, was up on deck too. They were both frantically looking for Ash. Both of them wanted to beat the other in getting to Ash first.

Misty was near the middle of the ship when she saw him. Ash was standing by the railing on the ship watching the battle. Misty started to run towards Ash hoping that Natalie didn't beat her to him.

But what Misty didn't know was that Natalie was running from the other direction straight to Ash. Both Misty and Natalie were neck and neck and they both got to the crowd of people surrounding Ash at the same time. Finally they both somehow got through the crowd and both of them arrived at Ash at the exact same time.

"Hi Ash!" Misty yelled all out of breath on Ash's left.

"Hey Ash!" Natalie yelled to him equally out of breath on Ash's right side.

"Oh hey Misty, Natalie. Uh, why are both of you out of breath? Did you both run here?"

"Yeah, I, uh, didn't want to miss the battle, Ash," Misty said.

"Ditto," Natalie said. She was too out of breath to say anything more.

"Well you're too late girls, because the battle is already over," Ash said and then they all heard the referee say,

"Poliwrath is unable to battle! The victory goes to Paul and his Feraligator!" and then the whole crowd naturely started to cheer because of the win.

"Well now that it's over, how about you and me go on a little walk, Ash," Natalie said pulling on his right arm.

"No! Ash, how about you come along with me," Misty said pulling on Ash's left arm.

"He's coming with me, Misty!" Natalie yelled while pulling harder.

"You're wrong, he's coming with me!" Misty yelled while pulling Ash even harder in her direction.

"Me!" Natalie yelled and pulled Ash so hard that he would have lost his footing if it hadn't been for Misty on the other side of him pulling in the other direction while she said,

"Me!" Ash had enough of this.

"Enough! Ladies, ladies, stop pulling me! I'll go with both of you!" Ash sugessted.

"Well okay, if you want to Ash, but..." Misty started.

"But I don't see why you would want to go with her!" Natalie finished with.

"Were all going together: you, me, Natalie and Pikachu. So come on lets go!" Ash said loudly because he was really getting tired of this fast.

Ash started to walk down the deck and if you would have seen it, you would have stopped and laughed out loud. Here was Ash, with Pikachu on his left shoulder, Misty holding his left arm with both of her arms and Natalie doing the exact same thing Misty was doing, except she was on Ash's right.

"So where to first girls?" Ash asked them.

"How about we go back to the Pokémon Center to see if my Cloyster..."

"And my Psyduck are okay?" Misty said, finishing Natalie's sentence.

"Okay, lets got there first," Ash said and then he started to head in the direction of the Pokémon Center which was a few decks down from where they were now.

Well I don't have to tell you that the next part is gonna be really interesting. It seems like every few more parts I write, I seem to add more parts to this story. But anyway please review. Gotta Catch Ya Later! Misty101803 signing off.