New Beginnings
By: Misty101803
Part: 15
Category: AAMRN

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Misty for without her, none of this would be possible. And, like Lonepichu did for me, I would also like to thank Lonepichu for reading my stories, no matter how long they get. Finally, I would like to thank Kane987321 for being my most loyal fan from the very start. Thank you all and on with the story. Oh, almost forgot, I don't own Pokémon and I don't own the story "Pichus in the Sky" because it is owned by Lonepichu, but I do mention it in this part, and I already got her permission to mention it, so it's okay. And I don't own The Pokémon Tower, but I do mention the name in this part. This story was written in April 2004.

"Are you guys ready or what?!" Natalie yelled from outside of Ash and Misty's room: 183.

"Yeah, yeah, just a second," Ash said as he went over to the door and opened it to see an excited Natalie on the other side of it.

"Well, are you ready to go down to the Pokémon Center?" Natalie asked.

"The Pokémon Center?" Ash asked confused.

"Remember yesterday we went down there because of my Cloyster. Well, today I can go down there and pick it up, and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?"

"Oh, sure, um, let me just see if Misty is..." Ash started.

"No!" Natalie said a little loudly. "I mean if she's not ready then we can just go without her," Natalie said.

"No, I think Misty is..." Ash started again but got cut off.

"Ready!" Misty yelled coming out of the bathroom. She had heard the whole conversation and she wasn't about to let Natalie be alone with Ash.

"Well okay then, lets go down to the Pokémon Center," Ash said to the two girls and then left the room with Misty and Pikachu close behind him. Of course before Ash left, he closed and locked the door to the cabin and then the whole gang headed for the elelvator so they could go down a few more decks to where the Pokémon Center was.

Within another few minutes, Ash, Pikachu, Misty and Natalie arrived at the Pokémon Center and as Ash stepped inside, Misty and Natalie quickly went over to the front desk where Nurse Joy was standing.

"Hello Nurse Joy," both Misty and Natalie said together. "Is my Psyduck ready?" Misty asked as Natalie asked, at the exact same time, "Is my Cloyster ready?"

"Please, please, one at a time," Nurse Joy said to them. Meanwhile Ash went over to the couch so he could finish the short story "Pichus in the Sky" by Lonepichu, that he started to read yesterday.

"Nurse Joy, is my Psyduck ready for me to pick up?" Misty asked.

"Yes it is, just let me go and..." Nurse Joy said but got rudly cut off by Natalie.

"And Nurse Joy is my Cloyster also ready to be picked up?"

"Uh, yes, just let me go and get your Psyduck and your Cloyster for you," Nurse Joy said and then went into the back to get the two Pokémon. Soon after she returned and handed Misty the Pokéball with Psyduck in it while she handed Natalie the Pokéball with Cloyster in it.

"Thanks Nurse Joy!" Both of them said together again.

"Oh, you too are very welcome," Nurse Joy said. "Oh and are either of you still in the Kojho?"

"Yes, I am, why?" Misty asked.

"Because you have to register what Pokémon you're going to use today," Nurse Joy said.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot." Without thinking much, Misty already knew what Pokémon she was going to use. "I'll use my Corsola." Then Nurse Joy typed some stuff on her keyboard and then she said,

"Okay, you're all set for today."

"Thanks Nurse Joy," Misty said and then Natalie and her put their Pokéballs in their pockets and went over to Ash, who was now done with the short story.

"Well Ash, it's not gonna be long until we have to battle," Misty said.

"Huh? What time is it?" Ash said looking at a clock hanging on the wall which was near him.

"It's already 10:51! We should get going guys," Ash said to them.

"Not yet Ash, you have to go and tell Nurse Joy what Pokémon you'll be using in your battle today," Misty said.

"Oh my gosh, I forgot, do you think that I still can?"

"She let me so yeah, you can too," Misty said.

"All right, I'll do it right now," Ash said and then walked up to Nurse Joy and said, "Nurse Joy, my name's Ash Ketchum and I'm gonna use my Corphish in my next battle of the Kojho."

"Okay, just let me type it into the computer and..." Nurse Joy said while typing on her keyboard. "There, you're all set for the battle, and you better get out there soon. It's just about to begin."

"Thanks Nurse Joy, I'll see ya later," Ash said and then went over to Misty and Natalie again, who were arguing about something again.

"Okay, I don't want to be late. Lets go Natalie, don't slow me down.

"What?! Slow you down! Misty, you're the one that's in my way, so stay out of it!" Natalie yelled at Misty as they left the center with Ash close behind.

"Don't you start Natalie! I'm warning you!" Misty yelled right back.

Ash hated when they did this. He couldn't take it any more so he stopped and yelled, "No guys, I'm warning you! If you guys don't stop fighting then I'll tell Pikachu to shock you two!"

"You wouldn't dare!" Misty and Natalie yelled together again.

"Oh yes I would! Now stop fighting and lets go or we'll be late for the beginning of the Kojho," Ash said as he passed Misty and Natalie. Fearfull that Ash was telling the truth, Misty and Natalie stayed quiet for the rest of the way until they finally got to where the captain was, about to name off who would be facing who in the battles today. It was now 11:00 and the captain was handed a megaphone and a piece of paper.

"Welcome trainers and first of all may I congradulate all of the trainers who made it this far to the second round of the Kojho," Captain Skyler said and then the whole crowd started to cheer. "Thank you, but without furthur a-do, let me name off the competitors in the first battle today. It will be none other than Ash Ketchum battling against Misty! Will the two trainers go to field one to begin the battle while I name off the other trainers."

"I'm fighting Ash?!" Misty exclaimed totally surprized.

"I guess so Misty. Lets go and let the best trainer win," Ash said as he headed for field one, with Pikachu on his left shoulder and with Misty and Natalie not far behind. Once they got to the field, they got in their respective boats and started to get lowered into the ocean. Meanwhile, Sean was coming up to Natalie so they could watch Ash and Misty's battle together.

Within another minute Ash and Misty were in their positions ready to begin the battle. Next, the selector on the megascreen above the field started to alternate from green to red. Ash was the green trainer and Misty was the red one. A few seconds later the selector started to slow down and then it landed on green.

"Let the battle begin!" the referee yelled while raising both flags in his hands.

"Get ready for this Misty. Corphish, I choose you!" Ash yelled as he threw a Pokéball out into the field. Corphish came out and then the Pokéball returned to Ash's hand.

"So you're starting with Corphish. Well it's not good enough to stop my Corsola. I choose you, Corsola!" Misty yelled as she threw her Lureball into the field. Corsola came out and it had a very determined look on its face while it stared at Corphish.

"Corphish, use Bubblebeam!"

"Corsola, use Spikecannon to counter the Bubblebeam!" The two attacks collided with a huge explosion over the water. When the smoke cleared, Ash saw that Corsola was no where to be seen.

"Corsola, use underwater Tackle!" A second later, Corphish was shot out of the water with Corsola right under him.

"Now use Spikecannon, again!" Misty yelled. Corsola's horns turned white and began to shoot out white spikes right at Corphish.

"Corphish, use Bubblebeam, again!" Ash yelled. Again, Corphish used Bubblebeam and shot it at Corsola's Spikecannon and again there was a huge explosion. Once the smoke cleared again, both Pokémon were sitting in the water waiting commands.

"Corphish, use Bubblebeam!" Right before the Bubblebeam hit, Misty yelled out,

"Corsola, use Mirror Coat!" When the Bubblebeam attack was inches away from Corsola, the Bubblebeam was shot back at Corphish with double the power!

"Corphish, use Crabhammer to stop that attack!" Corphish's right claw lit up a white glow and it hit the attack. There was an explosion that shot back not only Corphish, but Corsola as well.

"Corphish, swim up to Corsola and use Crabhammer!" Corphish swam up to Corsola with it's claw lit white again, but Misty was ready for him.

"Corsola, use Spikecannon!" Corsola did as it was told, but Ash was more than ready for this.

'That's exactly what I wanted you to do, Misty,' Ash thought.

"Corphish dodge the attack and use Bubblebeam!" Corphish quickly dove underwater to dodge the attack, then it resurfaced and shot another Bubblebeam attack at Corsola. It hit this time and Corsola was shot backwards towards the ship. It couldn't stop in time and it hit the side of the ship with a big thud.

"Corsola, use recover!" Misty yelled. Corsola started to glow white and a few seconds later it was ready for battle again.

"I was afraid of this," Ash said quietly to himself.

"Corphish, use Crabhammer!"

"Corsola, dive underwater and use Spikecannon!" Corsola dove underwater and a few seconds later Corphish shot out of the water with spikes all around it.

'I gotta end this quickly, or Corphish is gonna be out of this,' Ash thought.

"Corphish, dive underwater!" When Corphish landed, it qucikly dove in the water and awaited a command.

"Corphish use Guillotine!" Ash yelled out to it. Misty knew that if it hit, this would all be over, so she had to think fast.

"Corsola, swim away, quick!" Corsola started to swin in the direction of the ship as fast as it could. A second later Corphish resurfaced where Corsola had been, so it missed.

"Great, now use Bubblebeam, again!" Ash yelled. Corphish shot the attack right at Corsola and then Corsola got pushed right into the ship for a second time. Before Misty could call out to use Recover, Ash yelled,

"Corphish, use Crabhammer before it has a chance to recover!" Corphish then swam as fast as it could towards Corsola, but just then Misty called out,

"Corsola, Recover!" Corsola once again started to glow white, but Corphish was too close. The Crabhammer attack hit, and Corsola got smashed even farther into the side of the ship, making a huge dent.

"Corsola, no!" Misty yelled out. Since Corsola got hit while it was recovering, its defense was lowered so the Crabhammer had double the effect! Corsola wasn't moving anymore, and it had swirls in its eyes, so then the referee called out,

"Corsola is unable to battle! The victory goes to Ash Ketchum and his Corphish!" As expected, the crowd cheered for Ash's win, but no one cheered louder than Natalie.

"Corsola, return," Misty said disappointed that she lost. She was sure with Corsola's Recover that she would win. Once back on deck, and all back together again, Misty said,

"Good battle, Ash. You earned it!"

"Thanks Misty. For a second there I thought that you were gonna win because of that Recover attack," Ash said.

"Yeah, me too," Misty said.

"Good win, Ash. I knew you were gonna win!" Natalie said.

"And what is that suppossed to mean? I beat you didn't I?" Misty asked.

"Well yeah, but Ash is just the better trainer," Natalie said.

"And just how would you know, Natalie? You've only known us for a few days now. And I've known Ash for the past few years of my life!" Misty said getting angry.

"Guys, guys! Stop your fighting already. Can't you stop fighting for more than one minute?" Ash asked them getting mad.

"Sorry Ash, I just don't like her," Misty said.

"And that goes double for me!" Natalie yelled.

Grrrrr Misty growled between her teeth. "I don't need this! I have to go to the Pokémon Center to check if my Corsola is okay!" Misty yelled at her. "Come on Ash, lets go!" Misty screamed storming off towards the direction of the Pokémon Center.

"Well, Natalie, I should probably check if my Corphish is alright. It did almost lose that battle. Not to mention that I have to tell Nurse Joy about the next Pokémon I'm gonna use in the Kojho," Ash said about to catch up to Misty, but was stopped by Natalie.

"Wait, I'm coming too, Ash," Natalie said grabbing onto Ash's left arm. "Even if I don't like Misty, that doesn't mean that I can't still hang out with you," Natalie said coming closer to Ash as she kissed his right cheek with a little peck. All Ash did was bring his right hand up to where Natalie had kissed him and touched it for a second before Misty yelled,

"Aren't you coming, Ash!" She said this a little far away and Ash decided that she didn't see the kiss.

"Coming, Misty!" Ash yelled to her. "Lets go, Natalie." Then Ash and Natalie soon caught up to Misty. Not much was said between them until they arrived at the Pokémon Center. Once through the doors, Ash and Misty headed for the front desk with Natalie not far behind from Ash.

"Nurse Joy, can you please take a look at my Corsola and see if it's okay?" Misty asked Joy. Before Joy had a chance to respond, Ash said,

"Oh, and mine too, Nurse Joy. My Corphish got really banged up."

"I would be pleased to take care of your Pokémon," Nurse Joy said taking their Pokéballs, turing around and putting them each in a hole which was on an otherwise smooth surface if it hadn't been for six small holes, which could hold Pokéballs. Then she typed on a keybaord which was near this device. There was also a large screen over the Pokéballs which had some charts and bars on it. After another few seconds, Joy turned back around and said,

"Your Corphish and Corsola are just fine, they just need a nice good rest. You two should probably pick them up tomorrow moring just to be safe."

"Thanks Nurse Joy," Ash said. "And one more thing. I won my battle with Misty so don't I have to tell you which Pokémon I'm going to use tomorrow in my next battle?"

"Oh, yes, you do," Joy said typing some more stuff on her computer, then she asked,

"And which Pokémon will you be using, Ash?"

"This is a no brainer. I'm gonna use my Kingler since it's my most powerful and fully evolved water Pokémon."

"That's a good choice, Ash. You're sure to win tomorrow," Misty said while Joy typed more on her keyboard.

"Yeah, I know," Ash said in a friendly tone. Misty just smiled at him.

"Well there you go, Ash. Your Kingler is all set for the Kojho. Good luck tomorrow," Joy said.

"Thanks Nurse Joy, I guess we'll see you later," Ash said and then headed for the phones, with Pikachu, Misty and Natalie close behind. Once on the phone, he called up Professor Oak and got him to switch his Torkoal, that he caught when he was in Hoenn, with his Kingler. After the switch, Ash said goodbye to Prof. Oak and then all of them left the Pokémon Center, heading back up to the main deck.

Currently it was noon and all of the battles for the day are already over. This is because there were only eight trainers battling today and that means only four battles. Since all of the battles started at 11:00 AM, all of the battles are already over. So Ash didn't know what to do now that all of the battles were over.

"What should we do?" Ash asked. "All of the battles are over."

"There's more to do on this boat than watch battles," Natalie said. "How do you think that I keep myself ocuppied on this ship?"

"Uh, I don't know," Ash replied.

"Well, for starters, we could go down and visit Andrew and Venessa in the Pokémon Daycare and visit the baby Pokémon there," Natalie said.

"Who are Andrew and Venessa?" Misty asked.

"They're two people that run a daycare on board that only cares for baby Pokémon and Pokémon eggs. There are other daycares on board, but I know Andrew and Venessa well. It's a cool place and we can go there to play with the baby Pokémon. And Pikachu could have some fun, too," Natalie said.

"That could be fun," Ash said. "What do ya say, Misty?"

Misty thought about this for a few seconds and said, "Well, okay. It could be fun." So Ash, Misty and Pikachu all followed Natalie a few decks down until they were at the Pokémon Daycare. Right above the double-doors of the daycare was the name: P.A.T.C.H. in big block letters with alternating colors of yellow, blue and red. Before they went in, Misty asked,

"What does PATCH stand for?"

"Pokemon Are The Cutest Hatchlings. I think it's kind of a cute name for a daycare," Natalie said while she opened the right door into the daycare. As they walked in, Ash and Misty were amazed at the size of the place. It was a huge room with baby Pokémon and people all around. At the far back of the room was the front desk that was built into the wall. Behind the desk was a man standing there playing with a Pichu on the counter. The gang walked up to him and Natalie asked,

"Hey Andrew. How's it goin'?" Andrew looked up from the Pichu and said with a smile on his face,

"Hey Natalie. Haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been?" Andrew asked.

"Oh I've been with my new friend Ash Ketchum and his friend Misty," Natalie said introducing them.

Andrew was a young man, in his mid-twenties. He had dark, green, sloppy, hair that was a lot like Ash's except Andrew didn't wear a hat. Despite having green hair, he had very dark black eyes.

"Hello, Andrew, nice to meet you," Ash said holding out his hand. Andrew quickly shook it and said,

"Nice to meet you, too." Andrew then turned to Misty and held out his own hand. Misty shook his hand and said,

"You have a nice daycare here, Andrew."

"Thanks, Misty. It gets a little hectic around here sometimes with all of the baby Pokémon, but I manage with my wife helping me."

"Where is Venessa?" Natalie asked him.

"I'm right here, Natalie," Venessa said behind Ash, Misty and Natalie. They all turned around to see a young women also in her mid-twenties. She had long bright red hair that came down to a little past her shoulders. Her hair color was nothing like Misty's because Misty's hair is more orange than red. In her arms was a crying Azurill that was really upset for some reason.

"Hello Venessa," Natalie said. "What's the matter with that Azurill?"

"It just hatched and I don't know what's wrong with it, so I was gonna go and see if it was hungry," Venessa said.

"Hold on while I go get some Pokémon food," Andrew said and then he went to the back of the daycare, towards the kitchen. Once he was gone, Venessa still tried to quiet the Azurill down.

"Shhhhhhh, shhhhhhh," Venessa said while rocking it back and forth in her arms, but it wasn't helping. If anything, it was making it worse.

"Would you mind if I helped?" Misty asked Venessa. "I used to have a Togepi and it was the same way."

"Be my guest," Venessa said and then handed Misty the Azurill. It was still crying so she qucikly started rocking it in her arms and she began to sing a lullaby in a gentle voice to the Azurill. After a few seconds of Misty doing this, the Azurill started to quiet down a bit until it had stopped crying completely.

"Well I'll be..." Venessa said with a smile on her face.

"There, you're okay now," Misty said still rocking it back and forth.

"Well it looks like we won't need this Pokémon food after all," Andrew said walking up to all of them with a jar of Pokémon food in his right hand.

"Still, Venessa, you said that this Azurill just hatched. I bet that it's hungry. Is there some place to sit down?" Misty asked.

"Oh, yes, right over there," Venessa said pointing out a couch over behind Misty that had its back to the wall. Misty and the rest of the gang then started to walk over to the couch and then Misty sat down, still cradiling the Azurill. Ash sat down next to Misty on her right side.

"Can I have a piece of Pokémon food, please," Misty said holding out her hand. Andrew unscrewed the cap on the jar and handed Misty one piece of Pokémon food. She then started to feed the Azurill which was more than happy to be fed by Misty.

"Wow Misty. You're good with baby Pokémon," Andrew said surprized at how well Misty handeled the Pokémon.

"Yeah, well it's not without a ton of experiance. I used to have a Togepi about a year ago before it evolved into a Togetic and then I never saw it again. Sometimes I miss it, but I know that I did the right thing by letting it go. Could you hand me that jar, please," Misty said holding her hand out.

"Oh, sure," Andrew said and then handed Misty the jar of Pokémon food. She sat there and fed the Azurill in her arms until it was satified and then Misty handed it back to Venessa who said,

"Thank you, Misty. You have a real knack for this sort of thing. Have you ever considered a career as a daycare owner?"

"Why, no, I haven't. What I really want to do is to become the world's best water Pokémon master."

"Oh, well, after you do, because I'm sure you will, you could become a great daycare owner," Venessa said.

"Well, thanks, Venessa," Misty said.

"Your welcome. Now if you'll excuse me, I should go and put this little one to bed," Venessa said and then exited the main room, where they were, through a door on the other side of the room. Right before Venessa closed it, Misty could see that there were many beds in there were the Pokémon slept.

For about the next six hours, Ash, Misty, Natalie and Pikachu all played and helped with the baby Pokémon in the daycare. At around 7:00 PM, the daycare had to close because all of the Pokémon had to go to bed. After everyone else was gone, the only people and Pokémon left in the main room of the daycare were Ash, Misty, Natalie, Venessa, Andrew and of course Pikachu.

"Well, it's been funs guys. Lets do this again sometime," Natalie said.

"Yeah, sure, you guys are welcome to come here anytime. And we could always use the help," Andrew said.

"Okay, maybe we'll come back tomorrow," Misty said.

"That would be great, Misty. You were great today first with that Azurill and with all of the others that you helped us with today," Venessa said.

"Well, thanks, Venessa. I guess I'm just a natural born mother," Misty said.

"You know I'm kinda hungry," Ash said. He then turned to Andrew and Venessa and asked, "How about you two come and join us for some dinner?"

"Oh, thanks, but we have to make sure everything is okay here before we leave," Andrew said.

"Well we can wait for you guys," Misty said.

"No, that's okay. Go on ahead. We don't want to keep you guys. We'll see you later," Venessa said.

"Well, fine, it's your loss," Ash said. "Lets go guys."

"Okay, bye," Misty said while heading out the door.

"Bye, see ya later," Venessa said. Within another few seconds, Ash, Misty, Natalie and Pikachu were outside the darcare in the hall. Then they started to head down to the elevators so they could go back up on deck to eat at The Pokémon Tower. Once they were all done eating, and with all that happened today at the battle this morning, and the daycare, they were all pretty tired. So, Ash, Misty, Natalie and Pikachu all walked down to room 183 where Natalie said goodbye to Ash.

"Goodbye Ash. I'm sad to see you go," Natalie said sweetly to Ash.

"Oh, puh...leez, you're gonna see him tomorrow like always, Natalie. Don't be such a drama queen," Misty said.

"What was that Misty, because I don't think I heard you," Natalie said turning towards Misty and getting mad.

"You heard me, Natalie. What 'cha gonna do about it?!" Misty yelled.

"Girls! Stop it! This is crazy talk. If you two have to fight, then don't fight around me!" Ash yelled to them pleading for them to stop.

"Okay, Ash, if that's what you want," Natalie said.

"Good. Now, goodnight Natalie. I'll see you tomorrow at the Kojho," Ash said.

"Yeah, goodbye Natalie!" Misty yelled.

"See you tomorrow, Misty!" Natalie yelled and then turned on her right heel of her foot and left going down the hallway towards the elevators.

"Finally, now we can be alone," Misty said sweetly half aware of what she just said and how she said it. She was more tired than she thought. "I mean, now that she's gone we can, uh, have some peace and quiet."

"Yeah, right, with her gone, you two can't fight," Ash said and then used his keycard to open the door to their cabin. Ash, Misty and Pikachu went in and all got ready for bed. While Ash and Misty were climbing in their seperate beds, Ash glanced over to the clock on the nightstand between thier beds and it read 8:31.

"Goodnight, Misty. Goodnight, Pikachu. See ya tomorrow," Ash said as he turned off the light on the night stand that was lighting the room.

"Goodnight, Ash. And goodluck in the Kojho tomorrow."

"Thanks, Misty," was the last thing that Ash, and either of them said the rest of the night. Soon enough, they were all sleeping, dreaming of new beginnings.

Sorry about that new beginnings thing at the end of this part, but I couldn't think of anything else to say. I'm just glad this part is finally over. Now all I gotta do is write up the rest of the story, which should be done probably sometime this, or next month, I hope. Please review this story, or you can wait to review it after it's all done. Gotta Catch Ya Later! Misty101803 signing off.