On a plane hundreds of miles above the poke-world, our heroes wait anxiously 
untill they reach Cerulean City.

  "We sure were fortunate to get these seats," May said, trying to strike up 
conversation, " At the last minute too. Three in the morning infact."

  "Fortunate," Brock echoed. Now he too was in the haze that Ash had been 
lost in since the news had been broken on him. Max sat in sympathetic silence 
alongside Brock. By sheer luck they managed to get four tickets for Coach 
going from Hoenn to Indigo, Even more lucky, they got a plane going straight 
to Cerulean. As if that was not enough luck to last them a lifetime, they 
were able to get seats together. If they had been traveling on a frivolous 
trip they would have been overjoyed at such a find. Unfortunately there was 
no reason to be happy.

  "sooo..." May began, tapping her feet on the plane floor.

  "May," Max said quietly, " Let's just be silent." May looked at him 
irrately, then looked at her two companions. She could not understand their 
pain, since she did not travel with Misty herself. She slid down in her seat 
and closed her eyes to rest. She and her brother soon fell asleep. There was 
no light outside the plane window, and it was nearing four in the morning. 
Brock looked to Ash, who's hat was pulled over his eyes.

  "Ash, are you awake?" He whispered.

  "What if she dies, Brock." He mumbled in his recently aquired monotonous 
tone. His hat remained over his eyes.

  "..." Brock searched for the right words to say," She wont," He said 
quietly as to not disturb the others, " Misty isn't one to give up without a 
fight." Ash didnt reply, "She's gonna be ok, Ash." Again he did not reply. 
Such a reaction was not a shock in the situation they had found themselves 
in. Leaving Ash to his own thoughts, Brock crossed his arms over his chest 
and closed hi eyes for a rest.

  Questions were swirling in Ash's mind. They were circling so fast that he 
could not decipher all of them. How did Misty come in contact with the 
gyarados? Why did she not have her pokemon? What did she do to provoke the 
gyarados? Why was no one with her? Why did this have to happen? Would she 
live? What would he do if she didnt...? These thoughts and more clouded his 
mind, keeping him occupied. He hadnt spoken to her for a long time, probably 
since they parted a year ago.  He drifted between dreams and reality 
throughout the entire night. Upon the break of the new day the stewardess was 
already going up and down the aisle offering breakfast to the already awake 
passangers. Though he was not hungry, Brock urged him to eat. Obviously Brock 
was handling this roughly as well, seeing as he did not flirt with the 
attractive attendee. May and Max conversed between each other, not wanting to 
interrupt their worried friends. Nothing of much importance happened for the 
rest of the flight, other than a stewardess tripping over a fallen pack and a 
bad inflight  and a bad inflight movie.  The group landed in Cerulean Airport 
in several hours. By then it was 10:45, a bit over an hour before lunch. 
Since they always packed light, and their backpacks ere suited as carry-ons, 
they did not have to go through the lugage claim.  In the airport lobby they 
found Lily awaiting them.

  "I'm glad you guys could come as fast as you could," She greeted Brock and 
Ash directly, and offered a weak smile to the new faces.

  "Lily, this is May and Max," Brock explained, " We met them in the Hoenn 
region."

  "Nice to like, meet you," She said forlornly, " Ash, Brock, I want you guys 
to visit Misty. Maybe if she hears your voices she'll wake up."

  "Wake up?"  Max questioned, " You mean she's not already awake?"

  "No," Lily said quietly, nearly on the verge of tears, " She's been in a 
coma or like, something since she was like , found."

  "If you can," Brock broke in, " Tell us the details on the way to the 
hospital. The group went to the sidewalk and Lily hailed a cab. They all 
squeezed into the yellow van-like automobile and the driver was directed to 
take them to the Cerulean Hospital. After they had pulled into the street 
Lily began to fill them in on the details.

  "It was only, like,  two days ago," She said calmly and slowly as to not 
loose her cool, " Just a few hours before we called you, Ash. An old man 
like, found her on the beach... she was in real bad shape. She had her wet 
suit on and like, no pokemon. We found like the poke balls like on her 
dresser in her room. The doctors like took her to the like ER and they said 
that she's like in a coma and she like wont wake up. They like, said it was 
like...bad." She hung her head and rubbed her eyes, " I mean like, shes an 
annoying little squirt but shes like...still our sister."

  "You said it was a gyarados," Ash said, finally speaking since last night, 
" How could they tell?" Max, May, and Brock looked between each other in 
suprise.

  "Like, the marks on her skin," Lily's lower lip began to quiver, " Its 
like...pierced with the pattern of a gyarados' scales."

  "God," May murmered," That's terrible." Brock pat Lilly on the shoulder to 
comfort her. Soon they arrived at the hospital, and they were met by the 
other two sisters, Daisy and Violet, at the sidewalk. Daisy paid the cabby 
and they approached the elevator in silence.

  "She's in room E213" Violet said, " E means its the fifth floor." They left 
the elevator and walked down the pristine white halls. Doctors and nurses, 
residents and attendings, they all roamed the halls with clipboards in their 
hands and stethascopes around their necks. They hurried to where they had 
been called. The group stood outside the door. A long thin window opened in 
to the room where Misty slept. 

  "Ash I think you should go first," Brock nodded, opening the door. Ash 
stood in the doorway, looking in on his long time friend and companion. 
Pidgey bumps rose on his arms and legs again.  Many IV tubes were stuck in 
her frail white arms, and an oxygen mask was over her full and now discolored 
lips. Her eyes were shut and her face held an unusally white and placid hue. 
Her fiery red hair was the only part of her that had any color left. For the 
first time since he had recieved the news Ash felt something. A tear slid 
down his cheek slowly and his heart began to beat fast.

  "I cant go in there," He said with a tremor in his voice. He clenched his 
teeth, accidentaly biting his tongue. 

  "Ash?" May questioned, putting a hand on his shoulder, " Whats the-"

  "I cant!" He shouted, flecks of blood sputtering from his mouth. The tears 
finally began to flow freely as he ran down the hall.