Pokemon: The Past Returns

[hourglass244]

Title: The Past Returns
Author: Serena-chan
Category: Games
Sub-category: Pokemon
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU - Alternate Universe, Romance, Adventure
Pairing: Ash Ketchum / Misty Waterflower

Part One:

In the beginning, when man evolved into its current state, certain humans developed a strange characteristic: magical powers. No one quite knows why or how. Science wasn't around back then, and by the time modern science came along, well, it was too late.

Few humans nowadays even believe the stories about humans with supernatural powers. They are regarded as myths, mere legends. Very few people even remember the stories except a few elderly people who remember hearing it from their grandparents, who heard it from their grandparents.

As the stories were passed down over the generations, many details became fuzzy or were changed altogether. However there is one aspect that every teller of the tale will agree on. It all started with a war...

No one can agree on the exact cause of the war, but the general opinion is that the people without magical powers became jealous or fearful of those who did have them. Soon, violence began occurring until a true war broke out.

In the end, the magical people were almost all destroyed. Most of the powers people possessed weren't meant for fighting, and many of those who could use their powers for fighting refused. They knew that if even one person attacked with their powers, then it would simply confirm everything in the minds of the non-magical people, and the killing would never stop.

Only seven of the magical people were to escape the slaughter with the aide of some caring non-magical families and live to pass on the magical gene: a young woman called Moondancer who was seven months pregnant with her first child (which later turned out to be twins), a husband and wife named Sylven and Elfa Ketche, an eight year old girl called Waterflower, and a man in his early twenties named Mentar.

To save themselves, they were forced into hiding, forced to live the lives of ordinary humans. And yet, even so, their magic quietly flourished on, passing down the magical gene from generation to generation. All of whom lived in fear that their secret would be discovered. That is, until recently...

Misty Kasumi Waterflower was not what you would call a normal child. She was the fourth and youngest girl in the family, and while her three older sisters had inherited their mother's breathtaking beauty, Misty was the only one of the Waterflower children to inherit their father's special gift.

Her talent wasn't discovered until she was nearly three years old. She had been standing a little too close to the pool that her parents and sisters used for training their water pokemon, when she slipped and fell in. Before her parents had even reached the edge of the water to dive in and save her, she had used the air in her lungs to form a bubble around herself and float out of the water onto dry land. Once there, she laughed and began playing with one of her dolls while her sisters exchanged wide eyed glances, and their mother sank to her knees in relief.

One of Misty's earliest memories was the day her father had sat her down on his knee to explain to her their family history. She was only seven years old at the time, but her father felt that she must gain the knowledge at an early age in order to fully understand why her secret was so important.

"Our only ancestor who survived the war came from a time when modern civilization had only just begun to form," her father had explained. "However many people still belonged to various primitive clans and tribes. There were six basic types of clans who each worshiped different things: sun, moon, earth, fire, water, and wind. Our ancestor came from the water clan. She was called Waterflower by the tribal elders, and she is the earliest know root of our magical gene. She was only eight years old when she and the other survivors escaped their pursuers. Because she did not like the idea of entering society, she stayed with Moondancer until her son was born. After that, she reluctantly went to live with Sylven and Elfa Ketche, who had already been members of the more modern society before the war. She lived with them and their children until she was old enough to venture out on her own. During the course of her life she became a great water and ice pokemon trainer. She eventually helped found Cerulean City, which is why our town is known for water pokemon."

"Daddy," Misty had interrupted, "I don't understand. If our magical gene came from her, and you got it from grandma, and I got it from you, why don't we all have the same powers?"

"That's because the gene only passes on the ability for magic, not the actual power itself," her father explained. "For example, I am telekinetic. That means I can move things with my mind. Your powers however, seemed to be geared toward nature with particular emphasis on water. Your grandmother had the ability to weave fibers of cotton and silk into intricate patterns and fancy clothing with her mind. Her mother before that could shape and touch hot metal with her bare hands. You see, magic comes in all shapes and sizes. No one knows where or how it will choose to reveal itself next. Our ancestor, Waterflower, had the gift of prolonged life. She was over three hundred years old when she finally chose to die."

"Why would anyone choose to die?"

"Because she had lived her life. In her last hundred years or so, she gave birth to her two children. Only one of her children carried the gene, and his power wasn't over life. So her children were already reaching old age by the time she decided to speed up her aging process rather than slowing it down. Her husband and friends had already passed away, and she didn't want to outlive her children." Misty still looked confused so her father quickly assured her, "Don't worry. You'll understand in time."

"But how could she just leave her kids?" Misty was getting rather upset at the thought of a parent choosing to die.

"She didn't simply leave them. When she died, Waterflower instilled her remaining power in the baby pokemon she had been raising, an articuno. She did this so that her children and future generations would be looked after."

"Crysilin!" Misty cried, realization dawning on her. Hearing its name, the bird pokemon flew over to land on her father's shoulder.

"Yes, Misty, that pokemon was and is Crys. Someday when I am gone, she will be your pokemon and watch over you."

"Crys is an articuno? But I thought that articunos were supposed to be huge," said Misty. "Crys is smaller that a pidgey!"

"Yes, but thousands of times more powerful," her father explained. "She has the strength and ability of any full grown articuno, plus the hundreds of years of knowledge she has acquired. The only reason she is this small, is because she chooses for her body to remain at this stage in the aging process."

A year later, tragedy struck their family. Both of Misty's parents were killed in a nasty automobile accident involving a drunk driver. Misty and her sisters inherited the Cerulean City Gym, and that was when Misty’s life truly began to take an even stranger direction.

“Of course, I realize that these circumstances are very unusual,” the lawyer was saying. “Ordinarily, Misty wouldn’t be allowed to inherit her share of the gym until she reached ten years of age and could legally obtain her pokemon trainer’s license. However, the will clearly stipulates that no one is to have possession of your father’s rare articuno except Misty, but legally she cannot be allowed to inherit the pokemon until she has her trainer’s license.”

“Please,” said Violet anxiously. “There’s got to be, like, some way Misty can inherit the pokemon. Crys has, like, rather…unusual talents. Misty’s, like, the only one she’ll listen to.”

“I’ve written to the mayor of Cerulean City and who consulted with the members of the Indigo League, which is the ultimate pokemon authority in this region,” their lawyer explained. “Because articuno is such a rare and powerful bird, they feel that it would be dangerous not to let Misty train it. They’ve agreed to wave the age limitation clause in Misty’s case, which means that she can also legally inherit her portion of the gym and get her gym leader’s license as well. I’ve got all the paperwork here, as well as letters from the mayor and all the members of the Indigo League, should the trainer’s license branch try to give you any trouble about Misty’s age. Fill out these papers and take them to the office next door. They’ll get her all set up with her licenses.”

“You, like, hear that, Misty?” Daisy said kindly to her youngest sister, who was sorrowfully petting Crysilin. “You and Crys will, like, never have to be separated again.”

Misty gave her sisters a genuine smile, and they themselves smiled with relief that their younger sister was going to be okay. It was the first time Misty had shown any type of emotion other than sadness for a long time.

From that moment on, Misty was a changed girl. She threw herself body and soul into her pokemon training. It kept her busy, and she let it consume her because she knew that if she didn’t, she would sink further and further into depression about her parents’ death.

Crysilin became her best friend. They trained hard together, learning one another’s thoughts and minds. Looking back on those times, some of Misty’s favorite memories were when she and Crys captured their first pokemon together or when they one their first battle against a challenger in the gym.

Misty never viewed Crys like all her other pokemon (where she was the trainer, training the pokemon) because Crys was teaching her too. With Crys, she learned to hone and strengthen her magic powers. She could sense and feel water underground that fed into and gave life to all things that grew on the earth. She could also touch the surface of a pool of water and tell exactly what kinds of pokemon lay beneath the surface, a talent that came in quite handy when she was looking for water types to capture.

Misty also began to take on the responsibilities of a true gym leader. She met and battled with challengers, and began to attend meetings of the Indigo League’s gym leaders’ council. These were meetings held once every two months at a gym in the League that had volunteered to host the meeting.

True, the meetings were very boring. They consisted mainly discussing the rules of the League, and regulating the number and skill level of trainers permitted to challenge the Elite Four. However, this wasn’t the reason Misty attended the meetings. She attended because she loved to meet the people there.

Each gym in the League was required to send a representative to the meeting, and most gym leaders simply came themselves. It was at her first meeting that Misty met Sabrina of the Saffron City Gym and Henri Ketchum, a strong trainer who was petitioning to open a gym in Pallet Town, near Professor Oak’s lab.

After her first meeting, Misty was invited to lunch by Sabrina and Henri, and she learned that they too were descendents of the surviving seven. Henri could trace his magical roots back to Sylven and Elfa Ketche, while Sabrina was the direct descendant of Moondancer. They too had their own individual gifts.

Sabrina’s psychic powers were far beyond anything any psychic pokemon trainer could ever hope to accomplish. She was also telekinetic and could make accurate predictions of the future and see and feel people’s auras.

Henri, on the other hand, had the ability to see into the past by touching objects with great historical significance. He could also use these objects to see what might become of them in the future; however, his predictions were never of the quality Sabrina’s were. They were often vague or unclear, and many never came true.

“Why is that?” Misty had asked him one day.

“Because I’m only seeing one possibility of the future,” Henri explained. “For example, say I touched a very old tree and got its entire life story, from the moment it sprouted from a seed to the present, I’d see many things, right? Storms, various pokemon, freezing winters, hot summers, people who might have carved their name into the trunk, everything the tree has been through. So when I look into the future, I’m doing through the tree’s ‘eyes.’ I’m producing an image in my mind of what may occur judging by the knowledge the tree has given me.”

Misty still didn’t understand, but then again, psychic powers were far beyond her.

After each council meeting, Sabrina and Henri would work with Misty and Crys to strengthen their magic. Misty learned about creating magical bonds and using certain aspects of her power to aid them in their magic.

They were also able to help Misty understand certain aspects of her own magic that Crys had been unable to teach her. Crys was only trained in the magic that the people in the Waterflower family had. She’d had no experience with seeing into the past or future or being able to feel people’s essences.

Of course, Misty couldn’t do these things directly because that’s not what her powers were made to do. However, they could teach her how to use her powers to obtain the same goals. Sabrina taught her that water was in every living thing, not just plants. Misty had never known just how much of the human body was made of water until she opened her mind and hesitantly reached out to Sabrina with that same piece of her soul that she used to detect water underground, and she discovered that she could find Sabrina no matter what direction she moved in.

Of course, this wouldn’t work from a great distance away, and even then she had to know the person she was searching for very well, so it wouldn’t work with just everyone. However, she was able to close her eyes and tell Henri and Sabrina where they were moving in the room and distinguish between them.

Henri taught her to look into the water ask it what it had been through. For example, she could look into a puddle, and the puddle might give her the images of the birds that had flown over it, or the pokemon that had stopped to drink from it. Henri warned her though to only look for things recently past. Water had been around since the dawn of time and looking too far back would overload Misty’s mind and could even cause brain damage.

These were happy times in Misty’s life. She finally felt that she was growing into her own person, rather than being thought of simply as ‘the youngest Waterflower girl.’

However, only a few months after she had begun her training with Sabrina and Henri, something happened that would once again alter the course of her life.

A dark sorcerer had come forth, Mentar. He had used his magic to stay alive for hundreds of years, steadily strengthening his powers and letting evil consume him. He was finally ready to take his revenge on the non-magic people that had destroyed his life.

He took his only pokemon, a gengar, and gave it dark magical powers. The evil consumed the poor pokemon until it was no longer a real pokemon. It grew to an enormous size, and its body was no longer solid; it was simply a dark evil fog that destroyed everything in its path. Mentar let his creation do his dirty work, while he continued to become even more powerful. The creature was named the Black Fog because of its appearance and the destruction it caused.

An emergency meeting was called at Indigo Plateau. Years later, Misty could still remember the fear that had hung in the air at the meeting. Even though she was frightened, however, she could still remember sitting in a chair near the back of the meeting hall with Crys perched on her shoulder, and looking around the room in awe at the presence of the most powerful trainers, breeders, and researchers in the League.

There was Professor Oak and Henri from Pallet Town, Brock of the Pewter City Gym, her three sisters, Lt. Surge from the Vermilion City Gym, Erika from the Celadon City Gym, Sabrina, Koga of the Fuchsia City Gym, Blaine of Cinnabar Island, Giovanni (the menacing looking gym leader of Viridian City), and Lorelei, Bruno, Agatha, and Lance of the Elite Four. Misty wasn’t sure why they had wanted her to be there. After all, she was only eight years old. How could she be of any help?

“Alright,” Lance had said at the beginning of the meeting, “our first concerns must be the people and pokemon of our individual cities and towns. We must protect them at all costs. However, that will be hard to do until we know more about what the Black Fog is. We must know where it came from and who this Mentar guy is that’s giving it all this power. Henri and Sabrina have told me that they have valuable information on who Mentar is and why he’s attacking us, so I’ll let them explain their information to us before we make any decisions about how to fight this thing.”

Henri stood up, as did Sabrina. Neither of them looked as though they were happy about revealing the information that they had guarded and kept secret for so long. Misty sat rigidly still as they told their story, twinges of fear prickling through her. When Sabrina explained that Misty was also one of the descendents, all eyes turned toward her, and she felt her face heat up and clutched Crys tightly.

It was decided that there had to be a battle with the Fog. They must combine their most powerful pokemon and use them to attack the Fog at once. While individual attacks couldn’t phase it, perhaps attacks from a variety of powerful pokemon all at once might be enough to defeat it.

Sabrina and Lance had insisted that Misty be present and be allowed to use Crysilin to fight because she was such a strong pokemon. Her sisters were not happy about this and argued against it vehemently until Henri finally promised to personally keep an eye on her and protect her.

That evening, they had received reports that the Black Fog had attacked Pewter City and was headed for Viridian City. So the following day, Misty found herself on Route 2 with the other gym leaders, Henri, and the Elite Four.

She could see it coming, destroying everything in its path. It was the most terrifying moment of her young life. Just seeing the darkness on the horizon and knowing that people and pokemon were dying because of it was almost too much to bear. Crys sat on her shoulder and tried to send her calming thoughts, but that did little to banish the cold lump of fear settling in her throat.

Doubts of her ability were chasing themselves around in her head. How could she do anything to help? She’d never even won a gym badge! True, she’d won battles in her own gym, but she’d never actually had the experience of battling with or against any of the other gym leaders, let alone the Elite Four. She had never felt more helpless in her whole life.

“It’ll be here any minute now,” said Blain, “so have your pokeballs ready.”

Misty nervously nodded and tried to give Crys a reassuring pat. She only had one pokemon to fight with, and that was Crys. All her other pokemon were much too weak for her to even consider using them.

“Misty,” she felt Henri place a hand on her shoulder. “May I have a word with you before…before everything starts?”

“What’s wrong?” Misty saw the concern and…was that…fear on his face?

“I’m just worried about everyone at home, I suppose,” he said. “I don’t know what Delia and Ash will do if I don’t come back from this battle.”

“Henri!” Misty said in alarm, “Don’t talk like that!”

Henri took Misty’s arm and led her a few paces away from the others. “Listen, I don’t wish to alarm you. You know my predictions of the future very rarely come true, but…I tried to look into the future, my future, yesterday. I can’t tell you what I saw, but it scared me. I suppose I just wanted to know that if I…if I don’t come back, Ash will be looked after.”

“Henri-”

“Misty, just promise me this. If I don’t come out of this battle alive, promise that you’ll train Ash in using his magic? I know that he has inherited my magical gene. I’ve done extensive tests, and his magic is there, but it hasn’t surfaced yet.”

“That’s nothing to be alarmed about,” Misty said. “My magic didn’t surface until I was nearly three years old.”

“Yes, but Ash is six,” Henri informed her, “and I don’t know if you already knew this or not, but the longer magic waits to surface, the more powerful it is. My magic surfaced before I was even a year old. Yours waited until you were three, and your power is much stronger than mine, even though you haven’t fully developed it yet. Like I said, I’ve been watching and testing my son very closely, and I don’t think his powers will start to emerge until he’s ten years old, at least.”

“Ten years old,” Misty repeated.

“Right,” Henri was on the verge of tears now, “so if I don’t make it back, promise me that in four years time you’ll find him and train him in his magic.”

“I promise,” Misty said solemnly. Henri nodded gratefully at her, and they both rejoined the others.

The battle was like nothing Misty had ever experienced before. She was surrounded by some of the most powerful trainers and pokemon she had ever seen in her life, and yet, they still seemed to be losing. The Fog enveloped them, surrounding them in a thick black mist that made breathing and seeing difficult.

“Crysilin,” Misty screamed over the roar of the battle going on around her. “Hit it with your ice beam!”

Crys complied, and the attack seemed to be much more effective at weakening the Fog than the other pokemon’s attacks, but it still wasn’t enough.

A shrill cry of anguish distracted her from the battle in front of her. She watched in horror as Lily’s poliwrath was hit with a powerful attack and collapsed dead. Lily fell to her knees, screaming in pain at the loss of her pokemon.

Misty couldn’t do anything. She was frozen, trembling with fear and grief at what had just occurred before her very eyes.

Suddenly, Misty heard Crysilin cry out a shrill, high-pitched warning. She turned, but it was too late. Red, ugly light filled her eyes. She felt pain in her left side as though someone had punched her there.

The next thing she knew, she was lying on the ground. Henri was next to her, unconscious.

“Henri!” Misty screamed, “What happened?”

Sabrina and Brock who had both witnessed the horrible event rushed to her side. Sabrina bent down to examine Henri while Brock took the trembling Misty into his arms.

“The Fog tried to hit you directly instead of attacking your pokemon,” Brock explained. “Henri pushed you out of the way before the beam hit you, and it hit him instead.”

“No,” Misty whispered softly, parts of her earlier conversation with Henri flooding back to her.

“…I tried to look into the future…I can’t tell you what I saw, but it scared me. Misty, promise me that if I don’t come out of this alive…”

Misty and Brock turned to Sabrina who had let out a choked sob. “He’s dead,” she whispered.

“What!” Brock screamed. “He can’t be dead! He just can’t!”

“He was hit with one of the Fog’s death rays,” Sabrina informed them. “He was probably dead before he even hit the ground.”

Misty sobbed uncontrollably in Brock’s arms. “Oh, it’s all my fault! It’s all my fault! If I hadn’t been standing there…He was trying to save me!” Misty lost control at that point and could do nothing but sob as Brock held her tightly.

“Misty,” Sabrina said, taking the child in her arms. “I need you to do this one thing for me, for all of us, and then you can go home.”

Somehow through her grief-stricken state, Misty understood. She nodded, her eyes still squeezed tightly shut and tears continuing to run down her face.

“Feel for water directly under us, and find how far down it goes.”

Misty obeyed. She placed a hand on the grass before her and sent down tentative feelers of magic into the earth until she could feel the comforting movement of water. It was quite deep down to begin with, but Misty continued to follow it down until she could feel it no more.

“Now,” Sabrina instructed her, “use that water to create a hollowed out place, like an underground cave.”

Misty tried until beads of sweat rolled down her body. It was the hardest thing she had ever been asked to do. She pushed the water down with all her might, causing it all to flow together, to move the hard rock, clay, and dirt around it. By the time she had made a big enough place for a man to stand up in, Sabrina stopped her.

“That’s enough, Misty,” she said. “Now, I’m going to have to borrow some of your energy. I won’t be able to do this alone.”

Misty nodded even though she already felt like she was weak enough to pass out. Sabrina took her hand, and Misty felt more energy leave her body. She could feel Sabrina’s energy pouring from her, also, and she could feel Crysilin’s energy too before she passed out, exhausted.

Misty could remember vague parts of the conversation going on around her, but she was too tired to even move. She could feel Brock lifting her off the cold ground and cradling her small frame in his lap so she wouldn’t be cold.

“Sabrina, what have you done!” Lt. Surge was shouting.

“I did what I had to do to save our lives,” Sabrina was yelling back at him. “Henri’s dead and so are many of our pokemon. There was no way we could have won. Misty and I used our powers to seal the Fog deep inside the earth. Don’t worry; he can’t escape.

“But what about Mentar?” Koga asked.

“Mentar’s gone!” They heard Erika cry. “He’s escaped!”

“He was weak; very weak,” Sabrina said, “from feeding all his energy into the Fog. It’ll take years for him to get that back. By then, perhaps, we can be ready.”

It was a beautiful funeral. Everyone was there. Flowers were everywhere.

Misty walked in trying very hard not to cry. She laid a bouquet of water lilies down beside the casket and felt a fresh pang of guilt. That should be me.

She saw Brock motioning for her to sit next to him in an empty chair in the front row. She sat down and heard someone crying to her left. She looked over and saw a small boy with unruly black hair. Misty knew in an instant that it must be Ash, Henry’s son. He was clinging to his mother and sobbing.

The preacher began with a prayer; then asked Mrs. Ketchum to come up and say a few words to honor her husband. As Delia gently removed her son from her and made her way up to the casket, Ash seemed to sink in on himself, shaking with grief.

An overwhelming sense of guilt enveloped Misty until she was sobbing almost as hard as he was. Why, oh why, oh why couldn’t it have been me? She thought bitterly.

Out loud, all she could manage was to whisper, “Oh Ash, I’m so sorry.”

Ash looked up at the girl sitting next to him, but couldn’t make her out through the tears in his eyes. He just flung his arms around her and buried his head in her shoulder, needing to be close to someone, anyone. Misty wasn’t sure what to do so she just patted his back awkwardly and murmured soothing words to him.

Part Two:

“Ash, you dense moron, you just got us lost again!” screamed Misty.

The group was on their way to Pallet Town to visit Ash’s mom, however, as usual, Ash had taken them on one of his “shortcuts.” As a result, they were lost.

“It’s not my fault,” Ash was screaming back at her. “You should have been paying attention to where I was leading you!”

“Why you little-”

“Listen you guys,” Brock said, trying to prevent an all-out war from ensuing. “Arguing isn’t going to get us anywhere. I think there’s a Pokemon center near here. We can get directions there.”

Misty sighed as they began walking again. They had been on the road almost all day, and her feet were aching for a rest.

She looked over at Ash. It had been over four years since their last meeting although Ash didn’t seem to remember seeing either of them at the funeral. He seemed happy now, Misty noted, but she knew deep down that he still had to be hurting.

She smiled to herself as she remembered the circumstances that had brought them together…

Misty sat by the river and sighed contentedly. It felt so nice to be able to sit down and relax.

She knew that soon she’d have to journey to Pallet Town to seek out Henri’s son Ash. It had been about four years ago that Henri had died…

Misty shook her head, clearing it of the unpleasant thoughts of that tragic day. Instead, she looked over at her gleaming new red bike. It had taken her quite some time to save up for it, but she knew it would be worth it when she finally journeyed to Pallet.

Reaching down to touch the surface of the water, Misty scanned the river for any new pokemon swimming upstream. She sighed as magikarp and goldeen swam beneath the surface, definitely nothing new.

Suddenly, she felt a tingling sensation of excitement as she felt a gyarados swimming upstream toward her. She was definitely going to catch it!

Misty cast out the line of her fishing rod and fingered her pokeball that contained starmie because she knew that if caught, the gyarados would be quick to attack.

There was a sudden, violent jerk on the end of her line. “Alright! I think I’ve really got it!” She said in excitement. She dug her heels into the dirt and pulled with all her might.

To her utmost surprise, instead of the expected gyarados emerging from the water, a boy caught up in the line sailed out and landed next to her on the bank. Misty felt disappointment and irritation well up inside her. She really thought she was finally going to capture a gyarados!

“Awww, it’s just a kid,” Misty said before her eyes fell on the pikachu in the boy’s arms. “Oh, and a pokemon. Are you alright?”

The boy looked up at her with deep brown eyes that reminded Misty strongly of someone she knew, but who? “I’m alright,” the boy said.

“Not you!” Misty screamed in irritation. The pikachu was obviously hurt badly. Honestly, she didn’t know how any trainer could ever let their pokemon get into such a state! “Is it breathing?” When she saw that it was, she didn’t wait for him to speak but yelled at him angrily. “You’ve got to get him to a doctor right away! There’s a pokemon hospital not far from here.”

“Which way is it?” he asked.

“That way,” Misty said pointing. She was just thinking about accompanying the boy to make sure the pikachu really got the medical attention it deserved, but before she could say anything, a strange sight caught her eyes. An entire flock of spearow was heading their way.

The boy seemed to panic when he saw them and raced toward Misty’s bicycle saying, “I’m borrowing this.”

“Hey, that’s my bike!” Misty shrieked indignantly.

“I’ll bring it back someday,” the boy called over his shoulder as he began peddling away.

Misty groaned in frustration. She needed to leave for Pallet within the next week! She didn’t know when Ash’s birthday was, but surely he must be turning ten soon. She just had to get her bike back!

Glancing down at the ground, she spotted an identification tag that had fallen off the boy’s backpack. At least I’ll know who he is and where to find him, Misty thought, picking up the tag.

It read:

NAME: Ash Ketchum

Pallet Town

Misty gasped. That boy was Henri’s son! That’s why he had looked familiar. She thought back and remembered the messy black hair and those tear-filled brown eyes. Yes, it was definitely him.

Gathering her things, she hurried down the path towards the Pokemon Center. Nurse Joy was always fairly quick when healing pokemon, but perhaps if she hurried, she could get there before he left.

Walking down the road now with Ash and Brock, Misty tried to suppress a giggle when she thought of Ash’s face when she came storming in, yelling about her ruined bike. Of course, she was really upset about it, but she knew that it wasn’t really Ash’s fault. Those spearow had been attacking him after all. Still, the bike was the perfect excuse to follow Ash around, no questions asked.

“What are you laughing about?” Ash said suspiciously.

“Nothing,” Misty said hurriedly.

Luckily, she was interrupted from having to explain further by Brock exclaiming, “There it is!”

The group entered the center. Misty and Ash set down for a rest on one of the comfortable couches in the waiting room while Brock ran off in search of Nurse Joy.

“I just hope he remembers to ask her for those directions,” Misty muttered, thinking of how her love-struck friend was probably proposing to the poor nurse right then.

Ash didn’t reply, but petted pikachu on the head and began to fiddle with his pokedex. Seeing Ash’s familiarity and tenderness with his pokemon made Misty feel very empty.

When she left with Ash on his pokemon journey, she had been forced to leave Crysilin with her sisters to protect the gym. Misty knew that if Mentar was ever to come back, he would probably try to hunt down and defeat the other descendents first to prevent them from sealing away his creature again. If he ever came to the Cerulean Gym looking for her, Misty wanted Crys there to protect her sisters.

Still, she missed her pokemon terribly, but she knew it couldn’t be helped. She had to stay with Ash. Henri’s last words came back to her once more, (“Just promise me Misty that you’ll protect Ash…”), and Misty had to stop herself from moving closer to Ash and putting her arms around him. That had been Henri’s final request, for Misty to protect Ash in case Mentar returned and to train Ash in his magic when it finally surfaced.

She had seen no sign of it yet, but she knew it was there, every bit as strong as Henri said it would be. She could feel the magic growing inside him with each passing day, waiting for his body to mature enough to handle the amazing power he was possible of wielding.

Truthfully, Misty was not looking forward to Ash’s power surfacing. Shortly after joining Ash on his journey, Misty had tentatively questioned him about his father and was surprised to discover that Ash believed his father died in a car crash.

She’d called Ash’s mother on the phone that very evening, embarrassed, but determined to find out why Ash didn’t know how Henri had died. Mrs. Ketchum had explained to her that Ash was only six years old at the time. He was so young that he didn’t even realize that his father had had any magical powers, especially because Henri’s powers had so little visual evidence.

Ash had been so devastated by his father’s death that Mrs. Ketchum couldn’t bear breaking his heart even more with terrifying tales of evil sorcerers and giant pokemon. She begged Misty to keep silent about it until Ash’s magic surfaced. By then, he would surely be old enough to handle the truth.

Misty agreed with her. Ash was quite immature for his age, and he seemed happy at the moment. Why bring back those sad memories any sooner than need be?

Privately, Misty knew that there was one more reason that she followed Ash around. It wasn’t merely as a favor to Henri any longer. This reason was much bigger, one that she’d hidden in her heart for quite some time...one that she wasn’t about to let anyone learn…

“But Nurse Joy, not a day goes by that I don’t think of thee.” Brock was scurrying after a very distraught Nurse Joy.

“Is this your friend?” She asked, “I think perhaps he may be sick.”

“No, unfortunately this is him normally,” Misty said, angrily dragging Brock away from by his ear, and giving the poor nurse a chance to escape back behind her counter.

“Why can’t I ever get a date?” Brock asked dejectedly.

“Never mind that now,” Misty said in irritation. “Did you get the directions?” Brock nodded and showed her the map that Nurse Joy had drawn directions on. “This time, I’m leading,” Misty said, snatching the map away from Brock.

“All right!” Yelled Ash, “Pallet Town, here we come!”

Part Three:

“Hey, Mom,” Ash said, “pass the potatoes, please.”

The group had finally arrived in Pallet Town and were sitting down to a nice meal that Ash’s mother had prepared for them.

“Well, I don’t think I can eat another bite,” Brock sighed, contentedly.

“That was a really great meal, Mrs. Ketchum,” Misty commented.

Ash yawned loudly. “Well, I’m exhausted.”

“Yes, you all need your rest,” Mrs. Ketchum said, beginning to clear the dishes from the table. “Brock, why don’t you sleep in the spare bedroom down the hall. Misty, you and Ash can sleep in his room. I’ll set up a futon in there for one of you to sleep on.”

They agreed and went upstairs. When they got there, Misty insisted on having the bed because she was the guest. Ash was too tired to care. He just flopped on the futon with pikachu beside him and shut his eyes.

Ash awoke a few hours later. He checked his clock, 12:00am. He sighed and rolled over to go back to sleep, but as he did, he looked over at his bed and saw Misty. She was laying there, dreaming peacefully, with her hair down framing her face. The moonlight was shining on her in such a way that she seemed to be glowing. She looked like an angel. Ash’s heart pounded as he reached up and gently brushed a strand of hair from her face.

A voice suddenly rang through the darkness causing Ash to jump and Misty to awake. “Prepare for trouble!”

“And make it double.”

Ash groaned.

“To protect the world from devastation!”

“To unite all people within our nation!”

“To denounce the evils of truth and love!”

“To extend our reach to the stars above!”

“Jessie!” Cried Jessie, jumping out of the shadows.

“James!” Cried James, following suit.

“Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!”

“Surrender now, or prepare to fight!”

“Meowth! ‘Dat’s right!” Meowth said as he joined them.

“What do you three want at this hour!” Misty yelled.

Jessie laughed. “We’re here for your pikachu.”

“Can’t you at least wait till morning?” Ash asked groggily.

“Pika,” pikachu agreed, rubbing its eyes with its paws.

“Allow me,” Misty said, noting how tired pikachu was and pulling a pokeball out of her backpack. “Go staryu! Tackle attack!”

Staryu lunged at them and sent them sailing through the open window crying, “Team Rocket’s blasting off again!”

“You know,” Ash observed while Misty called back her pokemon, “I think that was the shortest battle we’ve had with them yet.”

“I really don’t know why they bother trying anymore,” Misty said.

Brock burst through the door of Ash’s room. “I thought I heard Team Rocket in here.”

Ash’s mother was close behind him. “Ash, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, Team Rocket was here,” Ash said, “but we took care of them.”

“You mean I took care of them,” Misty said, annoyed.

“Well, anyway, now I’m wide awake. I don’t think I’ll be able to get back to sleep tonight.”

“Me too,” agreed Misty.

“Why don’t we go downstairs and have a snack?” Brock suggested.

They all agreed and were soon seated comfortably in the living room. Brock brought in a tray of toasted rice balls and green tea, while Ash flipped on the TV. There was some early morning soap opera on, and they watched it in silence, munching their rice balls and listening to the wind howl outside.

“It sounds like we’re going to have quite a storm tonight,” Mrs. Ketchum remarked. As if on cue, rain began pouring down from the heavy, dark clouds above, drumming against the window panes in a steady rhythm.

Suddenly, an emergency news bulletin appeared on the screen. A business-like news anchor began to speak. “The Black Fog scare a few years ago is back. It seems that the destructive creature has returned and has been sighted near Cinnabar Island. Although no destruction has yet been caused, authorities feel that everyone must be extremely careful when leaving their homes. We recommend that everyone remain calm, stay indoors, and leave the fighting to the professionals.”

The storm outside had picked up by now, and the TV screen went black as the power went out. They sat there in the darkness, each taking the news in their own way. Misty let out a small scream and dropped her rice ball, Brock just sat there in shock, staring at the blank TV screen, and Mrs. Ketchum clutched her cup so tightly that it shattered, spraying glass and tea everywhere. Ash just sat there, staring at his friends and mother, confused.

“Mom, what’s the Black Fog?” He asked.

“Later Ash,” Mrs. Ketchum answered as if in a daze.

“But-”

“I said later!” Mrs. Ketchum snapped.

The cell phone Brock carried with him in his backpack began to ring, and he ran upstairs to answer it. He came down looking more worried than before.

“That was Blain,” he said. “Mentar has returned and released the Fog, but there haven’t been any attacks…yet. All gym leaders need to report immediately to Indigo Plateau. We’ll have to leave first thing in the morning, Misty.”

“Why does Misty have to go?” Ash asked, and Misty shot him a look. “Oh, right.” Misty was so much younger than the older, more mature Brock. Sometimes he forgot that she held just as prestigious a position as he did…

“What about Ash?” Misty asked, “Mentar may come looking for the other descendents.”

“I suppose he will be safer with you two than with me,” Mrs. Ketchum sighed, reluctant to let Ash out of her sight.

“We’ll have to tell him,” Brock said. “He can’t go to Indigo Plateau without knowing.”

“Tell me what?” Ash was getting very frustrated. “What’s going on!”

“Ash come here,” Mrs. Ketchum said. “I have something very important to discuss with you.”

Brock dragged Misty, who was still in shock, upstairs so that Ash and his mother could have a little privacy. Misty’s mind felt numb, and her limbs seemed to have become jelly.

How would Ash take the news? Would he know that it was because of her that his father was dead? He would probably never speak to her again.

Misty sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall, blinking back tears. Oh Ash, I’m so sorry!