Sunlight in Your Universe

Chapter Six--Calling in Bets

AN: Slightly shorter than the average SiYU, I know, but I reached a lovely 
ending place. I'm not sure how many chapters this will end up with--ten would be 
great, but I'm not sure. I meant to have next chapter in this chapter, but this 
turned out too long, so...Que sierra.

I still don't own Pokémon. A lot of great stuff happens in the next chapter, so 
stay tuned! ^_^
~
Mewtwo walked by the doorway. He stopped, blinked, and went back.

"Mew? What are you doing?"

<Floating upside-down eating a cupcake in my sleep...>

"Oh..." Mewtwo said. "Okay... You still dreaming about...?"

<Hey, I can think of worse things to dream of. _Much_ worse things.>

"Well, yeah... So what's happening now?"

Mew burst into a fit of giggles.

"Um... Mew? You all right?"

She just kept giggling.

"Oh, forget it..."

~

Gary sighed, checking his watch. "What is _taking_ her so long?" he griped.

"Don't look at me," Ash and Serena replied.

"I wasn't."

"Eh..."

<So I _flew_ up there and went _right through_ their stupid balloon!> Pidgeot 
cried.

<Why are you boasting? It was a _hot-air balloon_. Only slightly less tough, 
hard to pop, and full of hot air than you.>

<Oh, that was _cruel_, Diana!> Arti-chan giggled.

<Okay, okay, I'll stop,> Pidgeot sighed. <Why does _Butterfree_ have to be the 
lucky one?>

<Butterfree?>

<You know their customs. Ash, he let Butterfree go. He still hasn't come 
back...>

<He just let him go? Without a peep?>

<Yeah. Ash... Ash is Ash. In all his Ashiness.>

Diana blinked. <Uh, _what_?!>

<Ash... Ash is _good_.>

<How do you mean?>

<It's like his job or something. It's simply what he does.>

<My...>

<Neat!> Arti-chan chirped.

"Ready!" Mrs. Ketchum sang, skipping down the stairs.

"Okay," Ash said. "How'll we get there?"

"Mimey can teleport us."

Gary looked skeptically at Mr. Mime, who at the moment was attempting to vaccum 
Pikachu. "Really?"

"Yes! Mimey is perfectly competent!"

At that moment, Pikachu was delivering a large Thunder attack to get Mimey to 
leave it alone.

"Oh, you shouldn't worry," Serena broke in. "Ditzy Pokémon have the _scariest_ 
amount of luck. We'll get there."

"How would _you_ know?"

"Job experience. Silly Pokémon survive _everything."

"Well, that explains Umbreon."

"Naive?"

"Just a little."

"Where _is_ this Umbreon, anyway? You obviously have one."

"With Joy in Viridian...Had to stay for a while..."

"What'd you do to it?"

"I didn't do anything to it! 'Sides, it's probably safer than a trip with Mimey 
here!"

"Hey!"

"Yeah, sure, you didn't do _anything_..."

"I'll have you know--"

Pikachu raised an ear. "Chupikachu?" <You or me?>

"Good idea," Ash sighed, as he listened to the busy arguement. "Doubt if they'll 
notice..."

<Five bucks says they will.>

<Are you _crazy_?!> Diana cried. <They won't notice!>

<Bets?>

<Fine, I'll bet you.>

"We're betting over whether they'd notice a teleport?" Ash murmured.

<Yeah, could it get any stranger?> replied Pidgeot.

"Ten bucks says it will."

<You're on.>

~

"Calm down, Crystal!" Joy cried. "Now tell it to me again, maybe at just warp 
2."

"Okay, okay..." she said, breathing a trifle more slowly. "Brock--and Misty--and 
some other people are coming."

"And what's the bad part?"

"They don't know Ash has reappeared."

"Oh, wow. Well, I can tell them."

"Yes, but Cerulean said she told Mrs. Ketchum to get into town as early as 
possible. As in _today_."

"Oh my, that is a problem. But hopefully they won't get here at the same time. I 
think we might have a little luck saved up. It'll be okay, Crys."

"I'm not sure..."

"Trust me--"

A scream tore through the air. "Ohmigod! Crystal, I'll call you back!"

"But--" was all she could say before her screen went black.

"Chansey!" Joy screamed, running toward the sound.

<Scyther's gone crazy!!> Chansey yelled back.

She ran into the room. Chansey was doubleslapping a Scyther as hard as she 
could, standing protectively in front of a dark shape on the floor.

"Scyther, return!!" Joy screamed. It did, but the ball shook dangerously. 
Chansey, in tune with Joy, threw her a roll of duct tape. Joy ran the tape 
around the ball at a furious speed. "Chansey, what happened?!"

<It just snapped! It must have been allergic to the medicine we used!> Chansey 
cried. <But Joy, we have something more important to worry about...>

Joy gasped, dropping to the floor in front of the bloody Umbreon. "Oh no," she 
breathed, checking for a pulse. "Oh God, oh God... Chansey, this is _bad_. 
Really bad. As in severe trauma they only spend an hour on in school because 
we'll never need it bad."

<What do we do?!>

"We'll have to take it to the hospital!"

<They only take Pokémon if we threaten their lives! And Joy--it's fifteen 
minutes away!>

"We have to try!!" Joy yelled. "We stay here.. And Chansey, it's hopeless."

<You'll have to stand one end of the stretcher on my head, so you'd better let 
me be the back.>

"Right."

~

"--NEVER do anything to a Pokémon!!" Gary yelled as they appeared in Viridian.

"Yeah, sure!"

<I win!> Diana crowed.

Pikachu sighed. <Next time I want to bet on their sanity, remind me they have 
none.>

<And lose all that money?>

"Well," Ash said, "We're here. Why don't we go see Nurse J--"

"Out of the way!!" Joy screamed, bursting through the door.

Serena took one look at the Pokémon and ran to Nurse Joy...Blocking Gary's view 
of the stretcher at the same time. "Whaddaya got?!"

"A Scyther lost it, I can't treat it here, I don't have the experience!"

"I do!"

Joy stared. "You have experience with severe trauma in Pokémon?!"

"Yeah, years' worth! Let me help, there's no way you're getting it anywhere in 
time!"

"I know, but-- You really have experience? How?"

"I'll tell you later--besides, can I do any harm?"

Joy bit her lip. "All right. Come on. Tell me what you'll need..."

Gary craned his neck, trying to see what was happening.

"Oh look!" Ash cried. "A Pidgeotto!"

"What?!" Gary looked reluctantly to where Ash was pointing. "I don't see 
_anything_, Ash."

"She really has experience?" Mrs. Ketchum asked.

"Yeah," Ash said. "She was the--"

"Oh, there it is!" Gary said. "God, Ash, you have the worst aim--"

"There is one?" He looked into the sky. "Oh, there is. Wait a sec... Someone's 
riding it."

Gary squinted. "Look at the HAIR on that woman! It must be four feet long!"

~

"Are we _there_ yet?" Brock asked.

"I don't know, I can't see anything except red..." Misty griped.

"Hey, you're lucky I've changed to a braid," Jessie snapped. "Otherwise you'd be 
knocked off this bird before you could say--"

"Oh look, there's the Pokémon Center!" James cried.

"Thank God," Misty muttered. "I almost suffocated..."

"I almost fell off, but no hard feelings!" Brock said.

"Hmm...I wonder who those people are in front of the building..." James mused.

Jessie pulled out a pair of binoculars. "Hey, it's the twerp!"

"WHAT?!!!!" Misty screeched.

"It's the twerp, I said! And some brown-haired kid, and I think that's his 
mom..."

"Oh my God," Brock whispered.

~

Gary cocked his head. "Did you hear something?"

"Yes," Ash squeaked, sounding slightly muffled. Perhaps it was becuase he was 
huddled up on the ground in atomic-bomb-drill position.

"ASH KETCHUM!!!! IS THAT YOU DOWN THERE?!!"

Gary sweatdropped. "Yeah, I guess you did hear something. You're smarter than I 
thought."

With a loud cry, the Pidgeotto swooped down in front of them. As soon as Jessie, 
James, Meowth, Brock, and Misty had jumped off, it sighed in relief and shrank 
back to normal size.

"ASH!" Misty and Brock yelled, running up to him.

"Where the--"

Diana plugged Arti-chan's ears.

"Have you been for two--"

<La dee da-->

"Years?! You could've--"

<Hum dee hummmm...>

"Called! We've been scared to DEATH, Ash! We thought you were DEAD!"

"I didn't."

"Well you're crazy, Brock."

"We didn't."

"You're Team Rocket, you don't count."

"HEY!"

"I _couldn't_ call, I was trapped in the Team Rocket base!" Ash cried, in an 
attempt to defend himself.

"Yeah, he was," James said. "There's no way he could've called the first year."

"And if I know the ex-boss, he's still looking for him," Jessie agreed. "I don't 
know why he's come back at all."

"Pikachu made me," Ash sighed.

Meowth looked at Pikachu. "Meowth owth owwwwth?" <What's happened since we 
called you?>

<He wasn't just a Dratini, he had Mew in him too,> Pikachu explained.

<Ah, he _was_ project 151!> Meowth said.

"What?" James asked.

"151."

"Oh," Jessie and James breathed in comprehension.

<You're actually the first ones to not faint,> Pikachu said with a laugh.

<We pretty much knew,> Meowth explained.

"Why would Team Rocket try to recapture you?" Misty asked. "Wouldn't it be a bit 
obvious and high-profile?"

"Yeah, but he'd be worth it," Gary said, rolling his eyes.

"Why?" Misty asked.

"I told you, Misty," Brock said.

"I don't believe it," she sniffed, tossing her head.

"Believe what you like," Ash sighed, getting up. "Don't you have a _date_?"

"H-how did you know?"

"Pikachu," he said simply.

"Oh...Of course... No, but he'll be here at the wedding... Don't act like a 
moron in front of him, okay?"

"If I'm capable of that..." he sighed. "By the way, I found Serena. She's 
helping Nurse Joy. They'll be a while."

"Darn, I guess that means it'll be a while before I can get Umbreon back..."

"...Yeah..." Ash said.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Jessie said. "Blissey, we're on the ground now!"

A red beam of light shot through her backpack, forming Blissey on the other 
side.

"Blissey hates walking, and flying," Jessie explained. "So I keep her in her 
Pokéball whenever we aren't in a town or at camp."

"Sey!" Blissey cried, walking over to Diana and Arti-chan. <I'm Blissey! Who're 
you?>

<Diana. This is Arti-chan.>

<Yay!>

Diana grinned. <Here, Arti-chan, you talk to Blissey for a while...>

<Okay!> The tiny Articuno flapped over to Blissey, perching on her head.

"We should go in," Brock said.

"So, Brock, you finally got one!" Ash said, as they walked in.

Pikachu slapped his head. <Call-in time!> He pulled out a notebook. <Most recent 
to last... Pidgeot, I believe you owe Ash five bucks, it _has_ gotten 
stranger... Misty, you bet me five that Team Rocket would never do anything 
significant... Brock, you owe me fifteen, Mewtwo _has_ gotten back in contact 
with us... And Ash, Misty owes you and me fifty, Brock's getting married...>

"Hey!" Brock yelled.

Ash shrugged. "Yell at her, we bet for you."

<Hey, where'd that Gary guy go?> Diana asked.

"He went looking for his Umbreon when we got in..." James said.

"Oh no," Ash breathed, and ran after him.

"What?" Misty asked.

<Gary's Umbreon is being operated on by Joy and Serena...> Pikachu said.

"Gary!" Ash yelled. Gary was looking through a wall of Pokéballs, not noticing 
the windowed door behind him.

"Oh, hi, Ash," Gary said. "Can you help me find Umbreon? He should be here 
somewhere."

Ash tried not to look at the door. "Why don't we just wait for Joy to finish?"

"Ash, you of all people should understand, I _have_ to see Umbreon," Gary said.

"Er, we'll find him! Maybe he's over here!"

"Ash, what are you trying to pull?"

Serena chose that moment to walk though the door. "Oh, hi, Ash, Gary..."

Ash stared at her--*Well?*

"Oh, the Pokémon's gonna do fine," Serena said, smiling. "In fact, thanks to 
Chansey's Softboiled, he'll be up in two hours."

Ash sighed in relief.

"Now can you help me find Umbreon?" Gary said impatiently.

Joy came into the room. "Oh, hi, Gary, I suppose you're wondering about 
Umbreon."

"Darn right!" he yelled.

"Well, it was pretty rough there for a while. That Scyther dealt him a pretty 
bad blow--worse than I've ever seen, to tell the truth."

Serena moaned, putting her head in her hand. Gary stared.

"You mean...That was...Umbreon?"

Joy nodded. "He should be up again in two hours. By tomorrow, he'll be walking 
about again a bit, and by the day after, he'll probably be just about good as 
new. Just no battles for a week or two, okay?"

"Y--yes, of course!" Gary said.

"You're lucky Serena came when she did. She has a disturbingly vast knowledge of 
emergency cases like this. I still want to know where you were taught," she 
said, turning to Serena.

"Well... You know your... Mother's cousin's daughter's Chansey?"

"Yes, she disappeared a long time ago. Why?"

"She joined Team Rocket as a nurse. And that...That's where I learned all I 
know. Team Rocket. My father signed me up when I was four."

"Oh my," Joy breathed.

"Oh, Joy, Brock and everyone are here," Ash said.

"Oh! Wonderful!" Joy left. Ash followed her. Serena started to leave as well, 
but Gary caught her wrist.

"Ketchum...Serena...Thanks."

"You're welcome," she said quietly. "You can see him in an hour. For now, let's 
go."

They returned to the lobby.

~

"SHOPPING TIME!!"

"Aaaaggghh!!" everyone screamed, covering their ears.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry!" Mrs. Ketchum said. "I didn't mean to be so loud!"

"Yeah...Mom..." Ash said, and fell over.

"Why do we need to shop?" Serena asked.

"Clothes for the _wedding_! For all of you! Except maybe Brock and Joy. And--" 
She sunk her voice to a whisper. "There's always presents."

"OH!" Ash yelled, and slapped his head.

"Y're bringing us along?" Meowth asked.

"Of course," Mrs. Ketchum said. "Why not? It's not like you're in Team Rocket or 
anything."

They sweatdropped. "No... No we aren't..."

"Then let's _go_!" Mrs. Ketchum cried, and literally dragged them out.

"...Bye!" Joy said.

Brock shrugged. "My family's crazier."

"BROCK!!"

"Agh!" they yelped as a sea of children crashed in.

~