Okay, has someone guessed what’s wrong with Misty? I’m sure you have. Well, I do not own any of these Pokémon or characters, so don’t sue me. Believe me, you won’t get much.
Ash: 13
Misty/Todd: 14
Kenji: 17
Brock: 19
Lily: 21
Violet: 22
Daisy: 23
Part
3: Misty’s Problem is Finally
Solved!
RP: A clueless Ash is trying to figure out why everyone is blaming him for Misty’s being sick. Will he ever figure it out?
Ash Title: Misty’s
Problem is Finally Solved!
"Misty, you wouldn't do something like that, would you?" Misty didn't get the chance to answer Kenji, as he continued on. "Neither of you have a main means of support." He then added as an afterthought, "Ash's mother might not take that kind of news well, either for all we know…"
":You shouldn't do stuff like that! You're too young!:"
":Too young for what, Uncle Pika?:"
":I'll tell you when you're older.:"
"What am I too young for?" He grew slightly annoyed over the way everyone was now treating him. "I am not too young! I just told you that I'm going to be 14 soon, and I can do anything as well as - and maybe even better than - Brock and Kenji!"
Misty’s sisters and Todd gave the two boys a look. Brock and Kenji got big sweat drops of embarrassment and weird looks on their faces wondering how much Ash really knew about their "personal" lives, when it came to girls.
"I can't believe you guys are thinking that!" Ash just blinked. "Ash and I would not do anything like that!"
"But Misty," Violet spoke up, trying to keep Misty from blowing her top, "you seem to have all of the symptoms: motion sickness, eating, certain foods making you sick. They even mentioned that you've been eating like a Rapidash lately, and who knows what other symptoms you have."
Ash turned to Violet, a quizzical look etched to his face. "Symptoms?"
"Well, I can assure you that it's not that!"
"But," Todd interjected fearfully, "the two of you always shared a room together and shared a bed too." He threw Ash an indignant, yet jealous look. "I was there, you know. I had the guest room, Kenji stayed with Professor Oak, and you had his room, with him in it!"
"Oh-ho!" Brock snorted, while crossing his arms, and giving Kenji a somewhat evil look. "So that's why he wasn’t around! He was sucking up to get reviewed by Professor Oak!"
"Hey, I didn't want to impose!" the boy argued defensively, which was true. He really didn't want to stay at Ash's home, as there wasn't that much room and Professor Oak had offered for him to stay on as his assistant for the time being. "Besides, I was doing work while at Professor Oak's to help further my career! I'm a research, not some damn babysitter!"
"Stop arguing, you two!" The last thing Todd wanted was for Brock and Kenji to get into some kind of a confrontation with him sitting right in the middle of them. "I should've known what was going on. I was staying with them."
"Um, I don't get what you guys are talking about." Everyone dropped at Ash's response in pure and utter disbelief. "Does this have something to do with Misty's being sick?"
"Um, Ash, do you know about the 'facts of life'?"
"Yeah, Todd, I guess so, but what does that have to do with Misty's being sick?"
Kenji gave out a sort of relieved sigh. "I don't think these two did anything, because either Ash is a really good actor, or either he is totally clueless on this particular subject, and I don't think he's an actor."
"I agree with you," Brock nodded, "unless there is a side to Ash that we didn't know about, which is why he's playing dumb with us. Besides, no one out does the Brock, and how dare he says he can do as well as me!"
Kenji shot Brock an annoyed look, as well as everyone else who knew what was being talked about.
"WHO CARES ABOUT ASH RIGHT NOW! I’M THE ONE YOU NEED TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT!"
Misty took out her mallet. Other people looked up from their meals at the scene she was now making, swinging the mallet around threateningly.
"DO NOT MAKE ME USE THIS! HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE US OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT! And for your information, WE’RE NOT DOING ANYTHING! EVEN IF WE WERE, WHAT BUSINESS IS IT OF YOURS ANYWAY! IT’S NOT LIKE WE EVER HAVE ANY PRIVACY TO BEGIN WITH!"
Misty blushed from what she had said. She was really embarrassed from the statement she had just made, even though it was somewhat true. She was also a little embarrassed because of all the people now staring at her.
"Well, you can't help but wonder," Daisy muttered dryly.
"Yeah, like, Ash said that some nights, the two of you don't sleep!" Lily reminded her. "What are we supposed to think!"
Violet shook her head vigorously, while looking over at Misty. "I am so not ready to become an aunt yet!"
Ash started to turn red from embarrassment, unsure of what to say. "Um, I er…"
x x x x
x x x
x x x
RP: He finally figured it out. (Throws out confetti) Now he wins one of those
lame safari caps!
Everyone gives the narrator a look.
RP: (Laughs goofily) Um, never mind. This isn’t that cheap Nickelodeon prize
give away game show, Figure it Out? Oh, yeah, my fic. (Laughs goofily again.)
x x x x x x x x x x
"Um, Misty," Ash spoke up, more timidly than what he had earlier,
"how about you go to a doctor to see what is wrong with you? I really
don't like you sick."
"I’M FINE! BUT I AM MAD AT YOU GUYS FOR THINKING WHAT YOU WERE
THINKING! LET’S GO SOMEPLACE AND GET SOME SLEEP SO THAT WE CAN LEAVE TOMORROW
MORNING AND GET TO THAT
Misty picked up Togepi, and stormed out of the restaurant in a huff. Others started to murmur amongst themselves wondering what all the commotion was about.
"Ano…"
x x x x
x x x
x x x
RP: Ano simply means, well, "Umm..."
x x x x
x x x
x x x
"Don’t say anything
Ash," everyone shouted, causing the boy to jump.
"Okay?" the boy answered back, still a bit out of it, and his face still partially red. "Um, Mewtwo, we're leaving? I guess we're all going back to the gym?"
Mewtwo, during Misty's
outbursts, had sneaked back over to the dessert bar to get some more Pokéberry Pie. He
was now stuffing his face with another slice.
"Yes, capbearer." He looked down at the freshly baked pie,
wanting to take it with him, which he did.
"This is quite tasty and appetizing. I must get the recipe for this pie, and
prepare it myself."
x x x x
x x x
x x x
RP: Is it just me or did I write Mewtwo totally out
of character?
x x x x
x x x
x x x
The group left the restaurant, all quiet and on their
way back to the Cerulean Gym. Misty was
so peeved, she refused to ride back in the carriage with her sisters. She decided to walk back on the clear night,
holding Togepi.
Ash, along with Pikachu, decided to walk back
with her. During the quiet walk, both
Ash and Pikachu noticed that Misty was shedding a few
tears.
"What's wrong?"
"I can't believe my sisters would think something like that!" Togepi grew a bit fidgety in Misty's arms, so she set him down so that Togepi could walk beside Pikachu.
"Me either," Ash said in a bit of a daze.
"Don't they know I have morals and better judgment than that?!"
":I don't think those two did anything.:"
":Am I old enough to know what they're talking about yet, Uncle Pika?:"
":No you're not. That was just a short while ago when you asked before.:"
":But I am older, Uncle Pika! I'm exactly 10 minutes older.:" Togepi smiled innocently while Pikachu face-faulted in utter stupidity.
":I should have never given you that watch or taught you how to use it,:" Pikachu said, picking himself up, ":now if only Ash would learn how to use one…:"
"No offense, Ash, but you didn't help much."
"What do you mean?"
"Everything you said really made them think all of that stuff."
"Ahh, gomen, gomen," he apologized bashfully, a slight tinge of
red in his cheeks once again.
x x x x
x x x
x x x
RP: You're going to see this quite a bit.
"Gomen" means "sorry",
pretty much. Gomen
nasai is a bit more polite.
x x x x
x x x
x x x
"That's okay." Misty smiled
vaguely. "Oh well, those are my
sisters for you, and they were only acting concerned about me."
"That's a good thing."
"Yeah, it is, but what made them truly suspicious was when you said, 'Some nights, we don't sleep'."
"But it's true!"
"Yeah, but they wouldn't know
that. How would they know that we stay
up and look up at the stars, daydreaming…"
x x x x
x x x
x x x
RP: Definitely a Misty thing right there.
x x x x
x x x
x x x
"…or play your Pokémon Stadium game for your Nintendo 64 or your Gameboy Color with that cool, new game, Pokémon
Yellow? I really hate when they jump to
conclusions."
"I guess you're right. I guess it did sound a bit wrong with the things I said."
About 15 minutes later, Ash and Misty arrived at the gym.
"Wow, we've been walking for a while, and there's the gym."
"Cool," he gulped nervously, "and everyone is waiting for us."
"Don't worry about it, Ash. Let's go."
The two ran up to the gym, with Togepi and Pikachu behind them to be first greeted by the Pokémon artist.
"How are you feeling, Misty?"
"I feel a bit better. The fresh air cooled me off."
"That's good," Brock sighed out in relief, as if his life had been spared. "So, I guess that means you're not going to take out that mallet, eh?" He waggled his eyebrows and sounded hopeful.
At those words, Misty took out her mallet, and slammed Brock with it. "Don't press your luck."
Streaked tears running down his face, and in extreme pain, Brock cried out, "What was that for!"
"For hitting on my sister! I just didn't feel like doing it earlier!"
"This is pretty weird right here," Todd grumbled, looking from Misty to Brock.
She put the mallet away. "I'm tired; can I get some sleep now?"
"Sure, but you're going to see the doctor right now!"
"Daisy, I told you that I'm not---"
"Something is wrong with you! You're going to the doctor whether you want to or not!"
"But Violet---"
"Yeah, we totally care about you Misty. We're your sisters."
"Lily…" the girl groaned in exasperation.
"Please go with them, Misty. I hate seeing you sick. You take your mallet out more when you're sick."
"OH I DO, DO I?" She slammed Ash hard with the mallet. "I DO NOT!!"
"I…rest…my…case…" Ash managed to get out, falling over in the process from the big headache he now had.
"We're the lucky ones in this group," Todd whispered to Kenji. "Misty never hits us."
He nodded, also glad of this. "Thank goodness."
"Okay, I'll go just to prove that you three," she pointed to her older sibs, "aren't about to become aunts!"
"How is she going to see a doctor this late in the evening?" Kenji queried, looking down at his watch. "Aren't they all closed now?"
"She could just go to a Pharmacy and get one of those test thingees you can do right at home to see if she's…"
Misty cut Todd off by giving him the most evil anime look in the history of all anime. Todd backed off and everyone else pretty much ignored what he had just said.
"We have one here at the gym now," Lily told them.
"Those little home test thingees that they show on TV? You’re talking about Misty making you three aunts, looks like one of you are about to make Misty an aunt. Guess your water shows were boring you and because of that, you found something else more fun to do in order to keep you occupied, huh?"
All four sisters gave Todd an annoyed look, which meant, say one more thing, and you’ll get creamed! Todd sweat dropped and shut up.
Brock and Kenji equally had weird looks on their faces because of what Todd had just said about Misty’s sisters. Ash was just there dazed as he was earlier. He was still a little out of it from what everyone was thinking about him and Misty earlier.
"We have a doctor right here in the gym, Toru-kun," Lily corrected.
Surprised at this news, Misty asked, "Since when?"
"Since, Dewgong and Violet’s accident," Daisy explained. "She, like, totally scared us!
"What accident?"
"Violet slipped and bumped her head really hard during one of our shows, and the CPR wasn’t helping. She wasn't even breathing! We had to get someone here right away. Luckily, Dewgong saved her, when she fell in, though, but Daisy and I just thought she was trying out something new. We didn’t know that she had fallen and bumped her head. She was bleeding pretty badly."
"That’s terrible!"
"After that, Lily and I decided that we should have a doctor here, and after Violet got better, we hired a doctor to stay here, just in case something totally bad happens, or if one of us gets sick or something. He moved his practice here too. It's in the basement."
"That was a total bummer, but thank goodness Dewgong saved me."
"If I would've been here, that would've never happened!" Brock spoke up heroically. "I would've protected you, Violet!"
Everyone sweat dropped, Misty's annoyance-level a bit higher than usual.
"You know, Brock, you’re absolutely right. It wouldn’t have happened if you were there." She then yelled, "SHE PROBABLY WOULD’VE DROWNED FROM YOUR DROOLING OVER HER! NOW STOP HITTING ON MY SISTERS!" she finished up, swinging her mallet at Brock.
"Here I come to save the day, Violet!" Brock said in a daze, a big lump forming on his head.
"Come on, Misty, I'll take you to see the doctor now. Daisy and Lily can show your friends to some rooms."
"I'll take whatever room Daisy is in, or Lily, or Violet, or better yet, let's all share one!"
"Excuse me, Violet."
"No, wait Misty."
"Yeah," Daisy and Lily joined in.
x x x x
x x x
x x x
RP: What do you think happened to Brock?
x x x x x x x x x x
"Is that a yes?" Once again,
Brock fell over into temporary unconsciousness.
Misty and her three sisters, all hit Brock with a mallet to calm him down.
"Boy, how many blows to the head can he take?"
"I think he's worse off, Todd," Kenji shuddered at the pain Brock had to have been in currently, "than the last time we saw him."
"Pika!" Pikachu nodded.
":Uncle Brock is funny!:" Togepi gleed happily.
Mewtwo shook his head, while staring down at Brock. "I will never understand the ways of humans."
":You said it, Mewtwo.:"
"Pitiful, Brock," Ash said while staring down at his friend.
They took Misty to the Gym’s doctor, Sugiyama Hiroko, who checked her over. About 20 minutes later, the doctor and Misty, who had a Band-Aid on her right arm, exited his office. The doctor was a young, handsome man who looked to be in his mid to late 20s. His hair was jet black and shoulder-lengthened, wore thin-rimmed glasses, and he had a smile that most women would die for. Even the Cerulean Sisters had to keep themselves from blushing around him, as all three found him to be quite handsome.
"So, Sugiyama-sensei," Daisy started anxiously, "what's the matter?"
The man looked down at his chart, and then cleared his throat. "First of all, please, don't be so formal. Call me Hiroko."
"Yes, Hiroko-san."
He turned to the rest of the group. "That goes for you all too. None of this Sugiyama-sama or Sugiyama-sensei. I prefer being casual." Everyone nodded, surprised by this young man's ways. He was very laidback for a doctor. "Now," he looked back down at his chart, "for the diagnosis. Your friend, here, just has a very bad stomach virus, which is why she's been getting as sick as she has lately. Though, with those symptoms, I probably would've assumed the same as you, until she answered all of my questions, and was given an examination, just not a full one, as it wasn't necessary.
"There was one main symptom that was overlooked, and after I found that out, I then figured that she wasn't. She could be worse off, but she isn't, fortunately."
"Fortunately?"
"Yes, Ash is it?" The boy nodded. "Well, this is a strange virus."
"How so?" The doctor looked at him. "My name is Kenji."
"Yes, Kenji." He cleared his throat. "Now, as I was saying, is that this virus is strange, as it hits people at random and sometimes it causes one's appetite to increase, and sometimes it may cause it to decrease, and in her case, it was an increase. We are still researching how a person catches this and we do know how to control it. In other reported cases, the patient would be running very high fevers, and suffering from things such as dehydration, but Misty here isn't suffering from either, which means, her body has a somewhat high immunity to it, and is building an immunity to it."
Brock eyed the doctor suspiciously. "I've never heard of any virus like that!"
"Like I said, it's still a bit new and is even still nameless since we have yet to discover how a person contracts it, or where it comes from. I find it strange how it popped up so suddenly. It's a bit similar to the flu virus, but a bit more extreme. I've given Misty a powerful vaccine to help fight off this virus, but I don't think you'll have to worry about that for too much longer, as she's fought off most of it herself."
"Glad to see that you're better." Todd looked over at the doctor. "How long did you say before that medicine starts working?"
"It should be working right now. Due to how healthy she is, I say she should be well by morning, but if she isn't, just come and see me." He yawned, and stretched. "Well, I think I'll call it a day. See you all later."
"Arigatou,
Hiroko-san."
x x x x
x x x
x x x
RP: That just says, "Thank you, Hiroko."
x x x x x x x x x x
After he stalked back to his office, Kenji spoke
up. "Glad that you're getting
better, Mist, but I wonder what type of a virus this is. Can we catch it?"
"I don't think so, Kenji. The doctor did tell me that those who have been in close contact with me may have a risk, and you haven't had any physical contact with me since I have been sick, like hugging and stuff."
Everyone looked over at Ash who was fiddling around with his Pokédex. He noticed everyone was staring at him. "What?"
"Maybe you should let the doctor check you over, Ash," Todd told him briskly.
"Why?"
Brock began to massage his temples. "Didn't you hear what she said? Misty always has physical contact with you, because you're her boyfriend! You two are always acting mushy and stuff."
"We don't act mushy! I refuse to!"
"They actually don't," the photographer vouched, "but Ash is most likely to catch whatever that virus is, more than us."
"Togepi too," Kenji noted. "Misty never lets him out of her sight and keeps Togepi close to her."
"Oh, okay. I'll go in the morning, it's late now. If we want to get a good head start to that island, we ought to start out early. Okido-hakase said that Shigeru left five days before I did! I want to beat him!"
Not saying a word to Ash's outburst, everyone headed off to bed.
x x x x
x x x
x x x
Everyone awoke bright and early the next morning. Of course, the early bird wasn't Ash, who had
slept til about 10.
After he did wake up, he met up with the doctor, along with Togepi, to see if he was showing any signs of catching Misty's virus. As
for Togepi, there was no need, as this virus didn't
affect Pokémon. As for Ash, he didn't
show any signs of having it at all, not even early ones. As Dr. Sugiyama had said before, the virus
hit people at random; sometimes a person may get it, and other times, not. In Ash's case, definitely not, but to be on
the safe side, the doctor gave him a more mild-medication than Misty's, to prevent him from catching it, since he was
around Misty a lot.
"I feel wonderful!" Misty said while at the breakfast table, after Ash's diagnosis. She gave Togepi a piece of toast, who gladly accepted it.
"Glad to hear it, Misty," Kenji answered, sipping on a cup of hot tea.
Todd smiled to her. "You look much prettier too, not like yesterday," he awkwardly complimented.
Lily, who was spreading marmalade on a slice of toast, rounded on Misty. "Hey, how come you guys have to leave so soon?"
"Yeah, the league games for the entire Kanto area are at least another couple of weeks from now," Daisy said, disappointment in her voice. She, as well as Lily and Violet, didn't want Misty to leave so soon.
"Because Professor Oak told me that I need to catch some rare Pokémon in order to battle the gym leader at this weird island place. The extra week will give me enough time to train them."
"Why'd you wait so late to leave?"
"Because, Violet," Todd spoke up, slightly annoyed over the situation, "Professor Oak forgot to tell Ash." He rolled his eyes, and shook his head. "I still say he doesn't have it all upstairs."
"I never thought so," Misty muttered under her breath.
"Let's not worry about that," Ash stood up, his fist bawled in determination, "let's just get ready to go!"
"I still hate the fact you guys are leaving so soon," Lily frowned. She then looked towards the tall Pokémon shoveling down pie, which the girls had specially ordered from the restaurant (by Mewtwo's request) they had gone to the previous night. "If you need rare Pokémon, why don't you use that Mewtwo of yours?"
"Yeah Ash!" Brock concurred, eating some fruit. "Mewtwo is the ultimate Pokémon."
"It would be a disadvantage," the boy muttered darkly.
"How?"
Mewtwo looked up from his delicious Pokéberry pie, almost regrettably, looking towards
Brock. "I can answer that,
squinty-eyed one."
x x x x
x x x
x x x
Brock: "Squinty-eyed
one!!" Narrator,
you made him say that!
RP: So what if I did! (Does that eye thing and sticks out her tongue) Biida, bii!
x x x x x x x x x x
Before continuing, Mewtwo
took another quick bite of his pie.
"It is a disadvantage because I am
the strongest Pokémon ever created, and the only one of my kind in existence. The only one, who has ever come close to
defeating me, is that Togepi, and the Articuno the redheaded one has, but that is because I let
them."
Brock looked perplexed. "How is that? Togepi can't be all that powerful."
"When he was being controlled, by Giovanni, his mind really wasn't in it," Ash explained. "A part of him wanted to get rid of us, and another part didn't. The part that didn't want to fight us is the part that Togepi kind of defeated. Remember we told you that Togepi got upset, and somehow managed to get Articuno out of Mewtwo's Psybeam?" Brock and Kenji nodded. "He didn't really want to battle then."
"The cap-bearer speaks the truth. I pleaded with my master that I didn't want to harm the humans, but he kept ordering me to anyway. He almost had total control of my mind, but I fought back, and refused to allow him to." He looked towards Misty. "I missed the redheaded one on purpose. I read that Togepi was going to teleport, so I let him. I didn't counterattack."
"Really?"
"That’s surprising," Brock said, quite impressed.
Growing tired of the chitchat, Ash took notice of the time. "Hey, look at what time it is! You all slept in late!"
Everyone hovered around Ash, their heads ten times its normal size. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'YOU ALL'!!"
"Oh yeah," he sheepishly laughed, "I was the one who overslept."
Kenji pulled out his map, realizing that they should hurry up and go. "Hmm, you guys, Ash is right, we should leave as soon as possible. This place isn't all that close, and Cerulean
is a big city of
Ash looked over Kenji's shoulder, down at the map. "Yeah, we have to go to the Eastern side of Cerulean to get to the shipping docks to get to this island place."
Violet stood up to look over the map as well. "There aren't any shipping docks on the
Everyone shrugged.
"If it's okay with you guys," Misty started, a bit absent-minded, "I think I'd like to take a short walk before leaving."
Without waiting for a protest or even an "okay", the girl rose from her seat sullenly, and made her way towards the exit of the building.
"I wonder what's with her."
"Yeah," Daisy sipped on her orange juice, "she looks a little gloomy."
"Hey, I'll go see what's up with her. I'll be right back."
"Okay, Ash." With that, the boy rushed off to catch up to Misty.
Daisy set down her juice glass, and clapped enthusiastically. "Hey, like, since it's so late, and we're, like, closing off the gym today anyway, whey don't we give you guys a ride to where you have to go?"
"Like, totally!" Violet exclaimed. "It'll be fun! Have you guys seen all of Cerulean?"
"I don't think I have. With my work, I rarely have to come here to get photographs of anything." Brock and Kenji shook their heads.
"Well, I'm not from these parts, and have lived on islands my entire life to do my research and art."
"I grew up in Pewter and didn't have much of an opportunity to travel places, until I met up with Ash and Misty."
"Well, how about a carriage ride around Cerulean?" Violet
suggested. "It should take no
longer than an hour or two at the most.
We can show you everything
here." She smirked. "We'll just wait for the two lovebirds
to return."
x x x x
x x x
x x x
Misty had walked on a small path behind the gym. Ash was just a little ways
behind her. Misty didn’t notice that Ash was following her. He was curious as
to where the girl was headed, but decided to just keep quiet and continue to
follow from a distance.
Misty finally stopped at a secluded spot, where there was a small pond filled with Goldeen and Magikarp. It also had beautiful flowers, such as, Roses, Daisies, Lilies, and Violets that decorated the area. She then turned her attention towards two tombstones located right in front of the exquisite pond.
One of them read:
Hanada
Yamato
Born: 1950.03.23
Died: 1989.04.08
Loved by all due to his love for all Pokémon everywhere.
May his soul rest in peace.
The other one read:
Here lies
Hanada Kasumi
(Umi)
Born: 1952.05.11
Died: 1989.04.08
One known for her special skills in the water field.
May her soul rest in peace.
Misty stared down at the tombstones, sniffling slightly. She looked to be fighting some kind of inner turmoil, as if it took her a lot of courage to come this far. "Hello mother, father. I know I've never really come here in the past, but I always felt such pain and sorrow whenever I did because I felt responsible for your deaths.
"I didn't do anything!" Her eyes started to water more, not from sorrow, but more so from spite, as she kneeled. "I shouldn't have come back, and left to get Officer Jenny while I had the chance, but no! I didn't, and I'm sorry. I really am! It's all my fault!" She stared, never tearing her eyes away from the graves. "I don't even know what to say," she said quietly. "I never got the chance to say good bye to the two of you. I didn't go to the funeral because of what happened. They wouldn't let me out of the hospital to go because, in my eyes, the both of you were still alive.
"I would give anything to know that you two are okay, wherever you may be." She looked up at the clear blue sky, a flock of Pidgey flying by. "I hope that you're enjoying the Hanada gym up there." She looked back down, wiping her now, somewhat red eyes. "I miss you. Why did this have to happen? Why didn't I go get help?
"Well, I promise to fulfill your dreams of my becoming a Water Pokémon Master! I always talked about it before the…incident…" she trailed off, sniffling louder. "I can't even bring myself to say 'murder'. Father was so proud when I told him I wanted to become a water Pokémon trainer at such a young age. I will make you proud of me! I promise that I will, and may your souls now rest peacefully, knowing that the evil man who did this, is now serving his time behind bars."
Misty took out an old piece of paper from the pocket of her short jean shorts, and started to read it. Her hands trembled as she did, but her emotions got the better of her, and she cried into the piece of paper. At this, Ash walked up to her, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. This startled Misty, as she turned to see whom this hand on her shoulder belonged to.
"Ash?"
He nodded somberly, as he looked over at the tombstones. Ash had heard the entire thing. "Those are your parents?" She didn't answer. "I-I see you were named after your mother."
Misty nodded, not taking her eyes off of her parents’ tombstones.
"It wasn't your fault, Misty! You were only a kid."
The girl remained quiet as she stood, staring at the ground, and her back still to Ash, the small piece of paper she was holding, falling out of her somewhat limp hand. Ash picked it up for her. It was the highlight of the person, which was usually used for the deceased at a funeral. This particular one was of her mother, and all of her accomplishments. She didn't have one of her father's.
Misty turned to face the slightly taller boy, her eyes puffy and red. "I don't even remember what they look like!" Misty sobbed hysterically in disgust with herself. "If they were to walk up to me on the street, I wouldn't know them! I know we have old photos of them, but it's not the same!"
"You were only four when it happened," Ash told her earnestly, the girl kneeling once more before the two graves. "You ought to be happy you remembered as much as you did to help get Giovanni put away."
She knew that he was right, but still couldn't help crying over the situation.
Ash sat down next to Misty and consoled her. Misty was grateful that she had Ash. Even if the two weren’t going out, he still would’ve tried comforting her, but she was glad that the two were an official couple now. Ash was her best friend and she loved having him around. He acted silly sometimes, but knew when and how to cheer her up, which was a good thing for her, especially at this particular moment. She dried her tears and stopped crying finally.
"Don't worry, Misty. I'll help you get through this. For I am," he flexed his muscles, "Ash, Pokémon Master extraordinaire!"
Misty laughed a bit, and gave the boy a slight smile. "Thanks, you always know how to cheer me up." She looked back at the graves. "This is my first time ever visiting them. I've always regretted coming here."
Ash stopped flexing his muscles and stared at Misty, not really sure what to say. "Well, at least you know who your father is or what he's like," he blankly replied. "My father is a jerk who can't accept responsibility."
Misty looked over at Ash, wanting him to finish his story. Ash picked up on this and continued.
"Well," he resumed quietly, "my father left my mother when he found out she was pregnant with me, and to make it worse, the two were married."
"Your mother told you that?!"
"No, obaasan
did. She told me because I always
asked about him, but she didn't really like my father much. She felt that it was time I know the truth
about the man I admired and how he wasn't just on a Pokémon journey. I found out about that before I first left
for mine. My father didn't want any
children, and when he found out, he left my mother. He did offer her a choice, though."
x x x x
x x x
x x x
RP: Think you can figure out what, "obaasan"
means by reading...if not, scroll down and find out.
x x x x x x x x x x
Misty looked a bit anxious. "What kind of a choice?"
"For him to stay with my mom, she would have to get rid of me. Either she doesn't have me, or either she get rid of me after I was born.
"My grandmother told me that my mother didn't believe in that kind of thing, and always felt that having a child would be a wonderful experience and becoming a mother. She also told me that that was one of her main goals in life, to have a child to raise and love so that one day, that child would grow up to make her proud."
"I'm glad she didn't make that choice." She gave him a small hug. "If she had, you wouldn't be here with me now."
"I’m glad too."
"Does your mother know that you know?"
"Obaasan made me promise not to mention it to her. Until she feels that she can tell me herself, I 'shouldn't make any reference to it'. I just hate the fact that she keeps telling me about how great a guy he was and how she keeps making up excuses for him not being at home with her."
"What kind of reasons?"
He scratched his head, thinking back.
"Like, 'your father is on
Ash and Misty stood up. They were about to walk back to the gym, until Misty stopped abruptly, looking back.
"What’s wrong, Misty?"
"Momma, poppa, this is Satoshi, my best friend in this entire world. He’s a wonderful boy and I know you would’ve liked him. He’s helped me out a lot and I like him a lot!"
Growing a bit nervous, and hoping he wouldn't unintentionally offend Misty in some way, put his hand behind his head, giving off a bashful, uneasy laugh. "Erm, hello there. I, um, really like your daughter, and I promise to always be a great friend to her, and to never let anything happen to her."
Misty thought she felt something and shivered a bit. Like someone was trying to talk to her. After the introductions, the couple walked back towards the gym hand in hand.
"Thank you, Ash."
"I would do anything to see you happy, Mist. I hate seeing you upset."
A petite woman with long, bright red hair wearing a Vaporeon shaped hair clip, and a majestic, aqua blue dress sat in front of the grave that belonged to Hanada Kasumi, whom of which was watching the two teens walk off. "She's turning out wonderfully, don't you think, Yamo-chan?"
A semi-tall man, with short, spiky dark brown hair sat in front of the grave of Hanada Yamato. His voice was gruff, yet soothing at the same time. He was wearing a pair of black pants, and a t-shirt, with what looked to be the Cascade Badge pinned to it. "Of course she is. She's a Hanada!" The man continued to stare after his youngest daughter somberly. "I only wish that she could've heard us tell her that we love her, and that we don't blame her for what happened. That aside, I am proud that she's sticking to her dream of becoming a Water Pokémon Master. She was only three when she first told us that. She would sit and watch all of our matches with such great interest and even talked strategy. She was a very gifted child."
"I just know she'll take over the gym someday." Her husband nodded in agreement. "That boy she's with, is practically perfect for her, and were definitely meant for each other. I really wish them the best. It is in the stars that the two are destined to be together." The woman's voice quivered. "They will have one beautiful child when married, " the woman began to cry, "a beautiful baby girl; our granddaughter! Our baby is going to have a baby girl in the future and then another." The woman's voice was now strained from her sobs, but ignored that as she called out, "Your father and I care about you very much!"
"Yes, we love you! You will become a very skilled Water Pokémon Master, my little Waterflower!"
Misty stopped walking abruptly, and stared back at the grave sight.
"What's wrong now, Misty?" He looked back as she had. "Did you hear something?"
"I thought I heard someone call me by my other name…"
"Your other name?"
"It was a nickname, one that only my father called me. He used to call me his little Waterflower. That's one of the few things I remember about him."
Ash shrugged. "I didn't hear anything."
Ignoring her partner, she obliviously muttered, "I love you too, mom, dad."
Mrs. Hanada's tears were streaming, wishing she could hug her youngest daughter and never let go. "Yamato, Yamato! She must've heard you! I just want to give her a giant hug. Our youngest has been through so much, and will be going through another obstacle in her life really soon. We'll have to keep a watch over her."
"Goodbye my little Waterflower and never forget us."
'I won't forget either one of you. You will always be in my heart, and I promise to keep you there for all eternity.'
Ash was happy when he saw that Misty was cheering up, even though he didn’t hear the things Misty had.
The two returned and decided not to mention going to Misty’s parents’ grave sight. Everyone had assumed that Misty was just hinting Ash to follow her so they could have some time to themselves for a while. Daisy then asked if they wanted to go on a carriage ride with them. They agreed and went along with Daisy, Lily, and Violet around town.
Most of the places they went, Misty was embarrassed in some way or form. Her sisters brought up stuff Misty didn’t want to remember.
"Hey, remember when Misty was, like, eight," Daisy snorted in laughter, "and she was trying to get with our neighbor's twelve-year-old son? That was so totally funny!" She pointed to the park they were now passing by. "That spot there, under that huge tree, where couples usually go, is where she fell in the mud wearing Violet's dress. It was way too big for her."
"Yeah, like in one main area," Lily giggled.
"I remember that, coming home finding my dress missing. Oh, and wasn't she wearing makeup too?"
"Yeah, she was!" Lily's laughter grew louder. "She looked as goofy as a Mr. Mime wearing Daisy's makeup, and the fact that Violet's dress was too big for her, made it even more hilarious! That was so totally cute, our baby sister trying to impress a boy."
Brock, Kenji, Todd, and Ash imagined Misty dressed the way her sisters described her. They all almost busted out laughing, except for Brock. Ash, Kenji, and Todd kept their laughter silently to themselves, although, for Ash, it was extremely difficult, faking coughs to cover up his laughter. They didn’t want to get hit by Misty, whose face was extremely red.
'Why me?' the girl sighed. "That's it!" She punched Brock, who had laughed. "Take that! Don't laugh at me!"
"This…just…isn't…my…day…"
After they rode around town, they all finally arrived at their destination,
the shipping docks, according to their map, that Kenji was reading.
x x x x
x x x
x x x
RP: That neither Ash nor Brock was
reading, for obvious reasons…
Ash/Brock: HEY!
Misty: You guys do get us lost you know.
Ash/Brock: WE DO NOT!
Brock: Ash does, but I never do!
Ash: What do you mean me!
RP: Don’t start the arguing you two, let’s just finish.
Ash/Brock: (In agreement) Okay, okay.
x x x x
x x x
x x x
"Thanks for the lift," Kenji said, hopping out of the carriage,
"but we still have to walk about 800 meters (about a half mile)," he
pointed ahead while staring down at his map, "that way."
The place they stopped at was a woodsy area. There wasn't even a path for them to walk on, nor was there a path big enough for the Rapidash-drawn carriage to follow. The group would really have to rely on their skills to make sure they actually remain going east.
"Sorry we couldn't get closer," the oldest of the sisters apologized, "but this is as close as we can get since it's pretty much abandoned here and I don't know anyone who actually goes here. There isn't even a bicycle path."
"Yeah, we know this city inside and out, we've never been past here." Lily arched an eyebrow and stared over at Kenji. "Are you sure this map is, like, accurate?"
"Yeah, we got this from Professor Oak, I just figured out the routing to the coordinates he gave me."
Violet folded her arms over her chest, looking a bit apprehensive. "I hope that you guys will be okay, and I hope that Professor Oak actually knows what he's talking about."
"Don't worry," Misty smiled to them, "we'll be fine."
"We'll be seeing you, Misty," Lily said as she hugged the younger girl. "Call us time you get there!"
"Yeah, and be really careful," Daisy warned.
"You four better take care of our baby sister for us," Violet threatened. "If anything happens to her, we will come after you!"
"We'll take good care of her, we promise!" Ash told the three sisters assuredly. Misty, on the other hand, felt otherwise.
"Hey, I can take care of myself!" she protested heatedly.
"Misty, y-you know what we mean," Daisy told her nervously. "We don't want anything to happen to the youngest of the four Sensational Sisters."
Misty stared at them, and for the first time in her life, felt incredibly grateful for having them as sisters. Sure, they could be a bit shallow, but they did really love her, and they had finally officially accepted her.
"Arigatou, minna." She shed a few tears, hugging all three of
her sisters. "You really mean
it? The fourth
Sensational Sister?!"
x x x x
x x x
x x x
RP: "Arigatou minna,"
simly means "Thank you everyone (all)".
x x x
x x x
x x x
x
"But of course. You're
totally awesome," Violet complimented brightly, "and you're one
excellent Water Pokémon trainer."
Daisy's look grew quite serene, as she stared up at the clear pinkish, orange-ish sky, shedding some tears of her own. 'Father would've been proud of her…'
"Well guys," Ash fiddled with his cap due to the anxiety of his
wanting to get there and the apprehension of not wanting to go through the
woods to get there, "I guess it's off to
After the goodbyes, they waved to the three older girls, and took off for
the woods, which blocked the vast body of water on the other side of it, where
the shipping docks were. It was quite
dark, but luckily, Kenji had a flashlight in his knapsack, who was leading
them, Togepi crying slightly from Misty's
arms...
x x x
x x x
x x x
x
RP: Well, it looks like Ash’s group is off to
Okay, there goes the end of this part. I decided to do a little thing dealing with Misty and her parents. I mean, this is her first time back home since the trial and it would make sense to see how she exactly feels. I’ve also given another why Ash doesn’t have a father scenario. Well, as always, tell me what you think of it. Feedback is always appreciated, good or bad. For those of you who don’t know it, my address is pikato8270 at aol. com or SSJupiter at aol .com (minus the spaces of course and using the at symbol). Please let me know what you think.
Japanese words/phrases
Okido-hakase - Professor Oak
Shigeru -
obaasan - grandmother