Hi! *waves*

Disclaimer: I don’t own pokemon, it belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics! This is non-profit fanwork, written by me so I own it, and no copyright infringement is intended. Don’t take my own creations/characters/ideas etcetera.

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks

Chapter 10: Of pain and problems

“Cat?”

Ash knocked on the door of the room where she was staying with his parents. The indigo plateau did have a small guest wing.

There was no reply.

Ash twiddled his fingers. He really shouldn’t go in a girl’s room, Karen had warned him severely about that, although he wasn’t quite sure why… was it because…

Ash suddenly blushed as various scenarios began to play through his head. * Well, I’m knocking! So there! *

The thoughts were promptly squashed as he focused on the image of a running Arcanine. That would be a good pokemon to have.

Now how to catch one?

His mind averted from any possible scandalous bearings, he waited a few minutes. There was still no sound.

Finally, as opened the door, getting ready to apologize in case anything, um, abnormal waited.

All he saw, really, as Catelyn fast asleep with her pokemon also snoozing on the bed. Nothing out of the ordinary…

She must still be tired.

Ash backed out quietly, and smiled. * I’ll save some breakfast for her. *

< She’s not up yet? >
< No, I wonder why? > Ash asked, before realizing that she must still be recuperating from whatever illness might have stricken. Even exhaustion could cause stress and other deplorable ailments.

Karen nodded, keeping quiet.

Lance wasn’t Dragon Master for nothing… but power demanded sacrifice, and with a mother’s intuition, she could see farther than Will.

Ash’s ‘death’ and ‘life’ were both abnormal.

Death brought by the wings of a new deadly disease was possible, but he could not have possibly turned a one-eighty and recovered on his own.

That was no magical medical phenomenon.

Lance could heal, and from what Umbreon hinted at kill…

What was her hand in this?

Ash finished his scrambled eggs and orange juice, took another slice of toast, and slathered it with butter.

He would work off all the calories off training anyway.

Food leads to exercise!

He chewed slowly, he had to work on table manners, mom said, now that he was traveling with a girl.

…Whatever that meant.

Catelyn was nice though, she wasn’t prissy and a shopaholic and she didn’t hit him with branches.

Sure, she had yelled a few times, but thinking back, he deserved it.

There was still the apple tree incident…

Bulbasaurs really love apples.

They had been passing by a wild tree, and so Ash had climbed up to get some for his pokemon.

Unfortunately, he had gotten stuck in the tree.

Then, he had noticed the line of ants climbing up the branches ever closer to him and panicked.

Well, in retrospect, he shouldn’t have climbed it in the first place, but that wasn’t the point. Panicking, he had completely forgotten his ability to teleport and tumbled out of the tree, earning a few scratches on the way down.

Lance had scolded him, while putting antiseptic on his scratched palms and knees, it served him right for wearing jean shorts.

Ash sighed. Well, he had definitely deserved it that time. He hadn’t even netted any apples.

He had attempted to improve his tree-climbing skills the next day, and she had scolded him again. He wasn’t even healed yet!

… Well, he hadn’t known Recover during that point in time, unluckily… but she had made him really tasty herbal tea (tea? Tasty? Well, it had been good) to help him heal faster, and it had been okay.

And she didn’t make him collect firewood or set up his own tent during that time, so it wasn’t too bad.

Ash snapped out of his thoughts as Catelyn walked into the room, rubbing her eyes. She was not fully awake yet.

“Morning, Cat!”

“Good morning.” Lance said, still somewhat fuzzy. * Well, its my own fault for summoning so early… but I can wait a few days before testing again, and my magic should be back up. *

“Toast?”

“Sure, hand me a slice.” Lance methodically spread crab-apple jam on it, and then ate quickly. She polished off a glass of milk and orange juice as well, plus a bunch of grapes, before leaving the table.

“Did you get her mad at you?” Will asked. < It’s not smart to do. >

“No!” Ash defended himself. “I didn’t do anything to make her mad!”

… At least not on purpose that I know of…

“Maybe she’s just sensitive now.” Karen decided. * Why not? *

Ash blinked.

< It’s a girl thing, don’t ask. >

<… Okay mom. >

< Trust me, it’s better not to know. >

Ash blinked. * Must be serious. Is it dangerous? Is Cat in trouble?! *

Lance glared at her reflection as she put on another layer of sweaters. * I hate this… *

It only lasted four days, but still! The pain every month… it was especially bad this time, due to the magic drain.

Lance gulped down two Motrin and gritted her teeth. * I won’t let this stupid thing defeat me… *

Still, blood ran red no matter what. You can’t fight the inevitable nature, and sometimes she felt like fate was laughing at her.

Was it any wonder sometimes it was more convenient being a boy?

End Chapter

Completed 5/5/04