Broken Dreams and New Beginnings: Full Circle

Dreams, some would say, are man’s subconscious way of dealing and solving problems that they have in their real life. Freudian psychologists use this as the basis of their work, and they argue that dreams are chock full of symbolism about problems.

Others say dreams are just dreams, nothing more than your mind burping in the night. Or it would just be some old memory your going over, sometimes just a little over-exaggerated.

As it was the case with Misty Waterflower, she was too busy dreaming to give a damn what the cause was. She was too busy trying to wake up.

It was your standard nightmare, really. She was running down a long hallway, in complete darkness. The only thing that was visible was the light ahead of her. But the thing is, no matter how far or how fast, the light never seemed to be getting any closer. To make matters worse, she felt as if something was slowing her down, like a heavy weight on her shoulders, trying to make her stop.

After an eternity of this running, Misty stopped out of sheer exertion. She went to brush at her forehead, but then she realized something was there. With an experimental tug, it came off. “It” was the light that she was running too, nothing more than a dark screen with a light attached too it.

Her surroundings suddenly changed into gray everywhere. The sheer darkness didn’t scare her, but the gray did. It seemed to hold something menacing, something that she did feel fear towards.

As she started too move on, but two things had changed. There was no longer any light in any direction, so she just stumbled blindly. The second thing that changed was that the weight increased tenfold.

The weight was suffocating and crushing on her. She managed to turn her neck to see what exactly was holding her back. As soon as she saw, she wished immediately that she didn’t.

“Stay here, you ugly hag. Stay here or I’ll MAKE you stay,” the monster with Rudy’s face cheerfully said.

Misty screamed.

Misty’s screams reverberated throughout the house, sufficient enough to wake the living dead. Or one of the two friends who was staying with her.

Ash’s eyes flew open instantly, and he leapt off the couch he was sleeping on. Brandishing the bat he kept by his side tightly in his hand, he ran towards the stairs. Of course, it was pitch black, and he was doing nothing more that stumbling blindly through the darkness.

His anxiety caused him to just keep on going. By the time he reached the banister, it did not register that he was actually going up stairs. He tripped and fell heavily on the stair and banged most of his upper body on the hard wooden steps.

Ignoring the pain as best as he could, he cursed underneath his breath and continued his arduous journey. After what seemed an eternity, he finally limped as fast as he could to Misty’s room.

Not even checking too see if the door was locked, he kicked it full force. His kick, though, was in the doors center, not near the lock. All he managed too do was hurt his bare foot and make a loud bang.

Misty, now was wide-awake, and scared out of her wits, thinking the loud bang was a gunshot. She went over to the little nightstand near her bed, fumbled with the switch, turned on the light and reached into the drawer. In her panic, she ripped the entire drawer out and finally found the small pistol she had purchased a few days ago.

Ash cursed and crouched down low to rub his foot. He whipped his head back up, remembering why the hell he was up here in the first place.

“Misty! Are you there?” Ash asked anxiously. As if too answer, two bullets went through the door, missing Ash’s head by just a few inches. At first a little shocked, Ash made a fast roll out of the doorways path.

“MISTY!! SAY SOMETHING!!” Ash cried out, gripping the bat tightly, as he tried to plan his next move and keep in control of his bowel movements.

Three more shots rang through the door. “LEAVE ME ALONE!” was the reply from inside. Ash instinctively winced at the noise.

“Where the hell is Brock, “ he whispered underneath his breath. As if on cue, Brock came running up the stairs.

From the other side of the hallway.

“Ash!” Brock yelled. On the other side of the door, Misty was thinking the worst had happened. She assumed that Rudy was on the other side, and Ash had tried to stop him. Of course, Ash was hurt somehow, and Brock was trying to help him. In her panicked state of mind, she decided to make sure she got the bastard Rudy.

Ash motioned with his hands to go back as he screamed at Brock, “NO! DON’T GO IN FRONT OF THE DOOR!” By then it was too late. Brock was already in the door’s line of sight.

Without thinking, Ash tackled Brock to the ground, as Misty fired her last bullet. The projectile tore it’s way through the door and through the air Brock and Ash were a mere second ago.

Misty fired the gun two more times before she realized she was out of bullets.

“Shit!” she cursed. She opened up the cylinder and dropped out the empty casings of the bullets. As she dropped out of her bed to find the spare ammunition, Ash and Brock broke through her door, ready to get whoever was attacking them.

Misty looked up at them in surprise. “Guys! You’re ok! Where’s Rudy?”

“Isn’t he in here?” Ash asked, before he saw the still smoking gun in Misty’s hands.

Brock stepped forward, incredulously. “You mean, you were the one shooting at us?”

Misty looked down at the gun in her trembling hands, and then looked at her two best friends. The two best friends she almost killed in panic.

“Oh crap,” she whispered, the realization hitting her full force. She dropped the gun in disgust and fright and turned to them.

“Are you guys…. Are you guys hurt?” she asked them, looking them over for holes or blood. They nodded simultaneously.

“Yeah we’re ok,” Brock said as Ash sat down, as the adrenaline ran it’s course. Brock turned around to look at the shattered and bullet ridden door.

With a smirk, he quipped, “But you’re door on the other hand….”

“And that’s all that happened?” Officer Junsa Packard asked once again to the three occupants of the house. They all nodded their heads in unison. Giving them all a hard stare, she pursed her lips and put away the pad she was writing in.

After the call about gunshots was reported, she just so happened to be one of the few officers on duty. The young policewoman was also one of the newest rookies, so they automatically assigned it too her.

She scratched her blue haired head and flipped her hair over her shoulder, trying to think of anything else to ask them. She was given an important message to give to the occupant of the house, but in her mad dash to the place, she forgot it. As it was, she decided to drop it for now.

“Fine. But, please be careful with that thing, ok?” she reprimanded them. “You might not be so lucky next time.”

“You’re telling me,” Ash said under his breath. Brock stepped on his foot, making the pokemon master yelp in pain and glare at his friend. Misty rolled her eyes at the exchange and offered to walk Junsa to the door.

As

“Thank you very much. Have a pleasant morning,” Misty said pleasantly, as she closed the door.

“You too, ma’am,” she replied and made her way to her waiting motorcycle. Misty closed the door and locked it tight. Soon, the roar of the motorcycle started up and faded away as the policewoman made her way back to Police HQ. Or so Misty thought until she heard the doorbell ring.

Misty frowned, and took a look at her watch. It was barely 6:30 in the morning. Thinking it was the officer again, she opened the door without checking through the peephole. Swinging the door open to the length of the security chain, she immediately regretted leaving the door closed and going back to bed.

“Rudy?” she gasped in surprise. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Her husband stood right outside the door, looking the worse for wear. His brown hair was a mess, and his face sported more than a few days worth of stubble. His clothes were dirty and torn in some places. All in all, he looked like something the cat dragged in.

His eyes lit up as he saw his wife. “Misty!” he gleefully exclaimed. “Oh, thank God you’re awake!”

Misty backed up warily, the old fear already filling her. “No.” she said quietly.

Rudy’s face mirrored his surprise. “No? No, what?”

“I know what you were about to ask me. You were about to ask me to let you in,” Misty hissed angrily. She steeled herself with resolve and as much anger as she could muster at the man who had ruined her life for so many years.

“Girl, have you gone mad? This IS my home!” Rudy shot back, waging an accusing finger at her. “To top it off, you had me locked up in jail for so many days, you should be BEGGING for forgiveness instead of coming with this bullshit about not letting me in!”

“Bullshit?” Misty asked him incredulously. Rudy folded his arms, and looked at her in a condescending manner.

“Bullshit,” he said in agreement.

Misty laughed at that.

“You think this is bullshit? I’ll tell YOU what’s BULLSHIT!!” she screamed at him. “BULLSHIT is the crap I had to put up with since the beginning of your marriage! BULLSHIT is the fact I let you touch me, much less touch me. BULLSHIT is the fact that I believed the lines you told me! BULLSHIT is the fact that I did everything you told me without question! And BULLSHIT, YOU ASSHOLE, is the fact that you can come back here and think you can order me around!! NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE AND NEVER COME BACK!”

Shocked beyond belief, Rudy was speechless. He started to stutter some response, but by then, Misty slammed the door as hard as she could in his face. The door came rushing towards him with such force, that he actually fell down on his rear.

Misty turned around with a huff, and wiped her hands as if she was cleaning them of dust. By then Rudy had recovered enough and had gotten back on his feet. With his body filled with self-righteous fury, he began to bang on the door like a madman.

“OPEN THIS DOOR, RIGHT NOW! OPEN IT UP RIGHT NOW!” he screamed. By that time, it had caught Ash and Brock’s attention.

“Who the hell is that?” Brock asked, as Ash stood in front of Misty protectively.

“Rudy,” she whispered disdainfully.

“But how the hell did he get out of lockup? You didn’t pay his bail did for him?” Ash asked, eyeing the door with greater concern as the knocks and screams began tot get louder. Shooting Ash a poisonous look, she shook her head no.

“He probably used one of the credit cards or something. We had a bit of a nest-egg saved up.” Ash nodded his head as he turned to Brock.

“Hey, call the cops. We’ll get him back in jail in no time. If not for domestic, at least for disturbing the peace and trespassing,” Ash muttered. As Brock turned to go, Misty smacked her head in disbelief.

“No, no! That won’t work. The house is under co-ownership between us! It’s his property as much as mine!” she wailed. Suddenly, before anyone could say anything more, the banging stopped as well as the screams. A muffled, but still triumphant cry was heard. Then, the sound of a key entering the lock was heard, and the click of it turning the tumblers accompanied it. Soon enough, the door was open. Too stunned to do anything, the three friends stood in silence, still as stone.

With a little bit of fiddling around, Rudy took of the security lock and stepped in the threshold of the door. Stunned expressions were his only greeting. With a victorious smirk, he held up the single key in his hand.

“Always good to keep a spare where you could find it, eh, Misty?” he said, smiling. Then his smile evaporated form his face as the old scowl took its place. He raised his arm, his index finger pointing at Ash and then Brock.

“Get the hell out of MY house. I have some… words…. To be had with my wife,” he hissed, his voice low and dangerous. Getting over the initial shock, Ash and Brock took a step towards him, and stood side to side, while folding their arms, both of them possessing mean expressions.

“Make us, you bastard,” Ash whispered. Rudy and Ash’s eyes met, both glaring daggers at each other. It was the moment of truth, the time to see who would win this battle over Misty.

Rudy stepped back to gain a little distance from the duo and then stood his ground. Reaching behind his back, he produced a pokeball.

“Well, Mr. Pokemon Master, I propose this. We battle, one on one, to see if I get to stay in my house and be with my wife. If I win, you get the hell out of here in ten minutes, along with your friend and we never see or hear from your ass again.”

“And if I win?’ Ash asked, the prospect of battle already making his adrenaline pump. Rudy shrugged nonchalantly.

“Whatever the hell Misty wants,” he replied, looking at his wife. She in turn looked away.

Brock turned to his friend. “Ash, are you sure about this? I mean we could just…”

“Just what?” Ash asked a little impatiently. “We can’t call the cops on him, and we can’t just beat the living crap out of him. “

Brock raised his eyebrow at his friend. “Why the hell not?”

“He could call the cops and get us for assault.”

Brock smacked his forehead, almost disbelieving he didn’t see that. “Of course!” With that taken care of, Ash turned his attention back to his enemy.

“It’s a deal then. But, to sweeten the pot, let’s also throw in your marriage and her house. I lose, you keep your marriage and get the home along with whatever else your heart desires,” Ash finished. By that time, Misty had to speak up.

“Ash! What the hell are you doing?” she yelled at him angrily. “You can’t just make such snap and final decisions about my life without at least consulting me!” Ash turned around and looked her deep in her eye.

“I’m sorry, Misty, but you are my friend. If this is the only way to get rid of this scumbag, then so be it. Don’t worry, I will not fail you,” he said calmly and coolly, exuding nothing but confidence. Something inside the both of them was felt, some connection that was always there was finally touched upon. That maybe, they were meant for each other, as cheesy as it sounds. Ash began to lean forward and kiss her, and Misty closed her eyes in readiness….

“Hey!” Rudy called, breaking the moment. “That’s not enough. Throw in three of your highest level pokemon too!” Ash closed his eyes in pain for just a second, his confidence faltering. But only for a second. He turned back around.

“Fine,” he said, not even hesitating. “Name the time and place and let’s get this over with,” he growled.

The abandoned warehouse a few blocks out of the little suburbia Misty and Rudy lived was the perfect place. Formerly a meat packing plant, it had closed down due to the shortage of the fish that had been the staple of the Cerulean economy. Stripped bare, the only thing that had remained was the faint stench of fish.

After jury-rigging a few lights to illuminate the place, both combatants took their places at the opposite ends of the crudely drawn out battleground. Both stood alone, Brock and misty standing about a hundred feet away, the anxious and only spectators of the spectacular battle about to take place.

Ash stood, his hands by his sides, his eyes closed. Muttering a silent and hurried prayer, he opened them back up. His teeth were gritted and his eyes narrowed in a determined stare.

Rudy had with him his trusty boom box, an arrogant smirk planted on his face. He planned to end this quick and easy, remembering that the only way that Ash had won the other time was only because of his Squirtle had learned hydro pump at the last moment.

He set down the boom box, and popped in a tape. Then he turned back to Ash.

“Are you ready to lose again, boy?” he called out disdainfully. Ash ignored his remark and reached behind him, ready to call out a pokemon. Brock stepped forward and took out a coin. Silently he flipped it in the air.

“Heads,” Ash called. The coin fell on the ground. Brock looked down and swore.

“Tails,” he muttered. Then, he retrieved his coin and went back to where Misty sat. With that, Rudy smiled widely, and pressed play. Immediately, the high paced dance music came on, the floors starting to rumble along with the powerful bass.

“God, this gay-ass music again?” Ash muttered under his breath. He reached for a pokeball. As he started to go through the familiar motions of selecting his pokemon, things began to start to fall into place for Ash. It had been so long since he battled, much less for such high stakes.

But then, the weirdest sense of dejavous hit him. All of a sudden, he was back on Travoita Island, and barely 11. Here he stood, prepared to do battle against this trainer, the stakes a vital badge. And of course the implied gamble of Misty’s continuing role in his life.

Now, it was more than just her friendship. It was her life, both literally and figuratively.

It was almost suffocating in its importance, but the challenge awoke something deep within him, something that had been pushed down since that awful accident in his last battle.

The adrenaline began to pump in him as he grabbed the bill of his league cap and turned it around to see his foe better. He leaned forward, Pokeball already selected, and then he assumed a pitcher stance. He wound up, and pitched it forward as he cried,

“Charizard! I choose YOU!”

The red and metallic sphere flew into the air in a descending arch, and hit the cement ground, splitting open in an explosion of pinkish-white. The large fire lizard erupted in a flash of bright red and an earth-shattering roar that drowned out the sound of the music, much to Ash’s relief.

The pokemon looked around in disdain at it’s opponent, sizing it up with its orange red eyes, fierce daggers that was starting to unnerve Rudy. Trying not to show any fear, Rudy picked one of his pokemon, not even bothering to do the dance move that usually accompanied the action.

“Go, Poliwhirl!” Rudy shouted as the pokeball went towards the ring. In midair, it opened, and all that was seen was a blue blur going towards the fiery lizard.

“Flying tackle!” Rudy ordered, even though the pokemon was in the motions of it. Automatically, Charizard evaded easily. Ash took out his Pokedex and aimed it at the water type when it had landed.

The tiny but powerful sensor located at the middle of the top part of the red device made a quick reading of the pokemon. The Poliwhirl, like most of it’s kind was like a giant blue frog with no mouth, but expressive eyes set on the top of its head. It also possessed deceptively strong arms and legs, ready to do it’s fair share of butt kicking the old fashioned way. What took up the center of its body was a whirl going in a counter clockwise direction. That was where it focused it’s powerful water and ice attacks. Overall, it was a pretty good choice for fighting most pokemon.

Most didn’t describe Ash’s Charizard however.

“Poliwhirl, Level 76,” the polite, computerized voice said. Ash smirked. This was going to be an easy battle, he thought. His Charizard was at much higher levels at 94.

“Charizard! Use flamethrower!” Ash ordered. Charizard nodded its head and turned its attention back to the water type. With a mighty roar, he belched out a stream of concentrated fire out of its mouth, almost too fast for the human eye to perceive. Definitely too fast for the Poliwhirl that couldn’t get out of it’s way.

With a flick of his hair, Rudy closed his eyes, and shot back, “Poliwhirl! Counter with your Hydro Pump!”

From the center of its spiral, a great stream of pressurized water came forth, focused by the Poliwhirl’s hands. The two attacks met in the middle of the ring. As they did, steam and a horrible hissing sound blinded both trainers and the two spectators from seeing anything on the ring, except for Charizard’s flame on his tail.

Not even worried, Ash folded his arms. “Good. Now use ember to clear away this crap!”

The fire from the tail began to seem to spin around. As it did, it began to get larger and more voluminous. Soon enough, a whirlwind was created and the steam began to clear.

“Now’s your chance, Poliwhirl! Use Ice-Beam!” Rudy cried out, intent on taking advantage of the situation. The Poliwhirl nodded its head. It cupped its hands near the center-spiral and concentrated for only a second, but then energy began to collect in it’s hands. Then with one final grunt, it thrust its hands, palms forward, towards the still spinning Charizard.

A beam of shimmering energy shot forward at horrendous speed towards the now spinning column of flame that which Charizard was in the middle.

It hit dead on.

It didn’t make any difference.

The flame died a little, but burst back, stronger than ever. Ash chuckled softly.

“Charizard! You can stop now!” he called. Immediately, The flame died down, and Charizard stood at attention, it’s large leathery wings outstretched.

“Seismic Toss,” Ash said. Rudy, by now was panicking. Then he remembered his music. Turning the volume up to the max, he screamed out to Poliwhirl, “Feel the music! Let the music move you!”

Immediately, the Poliwhirl began to sway side to side in tune to the music. Grimacing, Ahs had the impulse to go and put on some earmuffs.

“Charizard!” Ash cried. “Forget seismic toss! Destroy the boom box!” Grunting as if to say “With pleasure” A small stream of fire burst from his mouth and landed on the boom box. Screaming in terror, Rudy jumped away in time in order to avoid getting hit by any flaming shrapnel.

“NOW!” Ash finished. The fire-type flew into the air and swooped down and caught the Poliwhirl firmly in its talons. Then it took back up to the air, Poliwhirl firmly in tow, and crashed through the ceiling. It flew up a couple thousand feet into the air, spun around at speeds approaching the sound barrier, then came back down in a dead dive, his nose pointed right towards the ground.

Both Pokemon came down so fast, it was just a blue and red spiraling blur. Then both of them came down to the ground, creating a large crater in the middle of the ring. Smoke and rock flew everywhere, once again preventing anyone from seeing the ring.

The smoke cleared in a few seconds to see Charizard standing victorious over the fallen and the obviously knocked out Poliwhirl.

Some say history repeats itself. Despite different pokemon, setting and time, and not to forget, higher stakes, the outcome was the same.

Ash had won.

Ash looked towards the shocked figure of Rudy, his expression going from joy over his victory, to a look of barely contained anger.

“Get your things and get the hell out of my friend’s life,” he said simply before he called back Charizard and walked over to Brock and Misty.

Well, now it’s almost done, I swear! Next chapter is definitely the last chapter! I promise! And I’m sorry about how late it is and everything, but it wasn’t coming out to

my liking…. And I wouldn’t give you guys a crappy story (at least in my opinion)! Anyhoo, send comments and suggestions Shagti2@aol.com! Happy New Year everyone!

G’night Gracie!