Seven Days of Terror

Author's Note: Okay... still no more reviews. D: Well, whatever. Here's the next chapter...

Seven Days of Terror

by Perfect Purity

Chapter Three: Death and a Proposal

It was a beautiful morning for the residents of Pallet Town. The skies were clear, and the sun shone brightly overhead. The townsfolk were out doing their daily chores; the children were playing with their Pokemon in the tall grasses (inside the town, of course) without a care in the world.

Yes, it was a beautiful morning indeed… and Ash Ketchum slept right through it.

The sun had already risen its highest for the day when Ash awoke. Still tired, he half-opened one eye to check the time on his clock. "2:32," he thought to himself. "I should probably get up… but then again…" he closed his eyes and became comfortable on his pillow. "it’s not like I have anything to do except hang out with Brock or Misty."

"Misty…" he thought. He remembered their antics from the previous day and their plans for the next day, and was content… for all of about two seconds. “Misty!” He sat up and rushed to find some clothes. “Oh, geez, I completely forgot!” he shouted at nothing in particular. "Please let her match be later this afternoon, please! Man, she’s gonna let me have it so bad…" After a quick spray of deodorant and a change of clothes, Ash jumped down stairs two at a time, grabbed his Pokemon belt, and ran out the door.

He continued to run towards Cerulean City. "Oh, man, I forgot about Pikachu! Ah… he’ll understand, I’m sure. No time to get a car… but I have to get there fast! And that means…" He reached for a Poke Ball, and threw it as far as he could straight in front of him. “Arcanine, go!”

Arcanine emerged from the ball and gave a howl, awaiting its master’s order.

“Arcanine, get down as low as you can!” The Legendary Pokemon obeyed his master, lying down in a sleeping position. Ash did a triple jump onto Arcanine’s back, grabbed hold of its mane, and gave another command to execute. “Arcanine, run as fast as you can! ExtremeSpeed, to Cerulean City!”

A quick nod, and they were off, jumping fences, avoiding people. Arcanine burned down the small trees that barred the alternate, quicker path, to Pewter City from around Viridian Forest. Arcanine continued to jump ledge after ledge en route to Cerulean, and then Ash saw it.

Mt. Moon.

It was a long, twisting cave that would be sure to waste time he was sure he could not afford to waste. He thought a moment, then reached for two Poke Balls on his belt, and threw one of them towards the cave’s entrance. “Skarmory, let’s go!” "This is going to hurt…" He braced himself, touched Arcanine with the other ball, and uttered the words: “Arcanine, return.”

Immediately Ash was sent tumbling to the ground, rolling repeatedly. "Okay, that didn’t work," Ash thought as he lie on the ground, too dizzy to stand up. "Gah, what am I doing? I can’t be lying here! Misty’s probably already finished with her battle by now…I’m a dead man." He shook his head a few times and stood up. He brushed off his clothes, walked over to Skarmory, and climbed onto its back. “Skarmory, I want you to fly me over this cave, okay?”

Skarmory shrieked out a cry as he began to lift his master slowly into the air. They moved at a slow pace at first, but after a couple minutes, began to gain a little speed. “Good job, Skarmory, just a little longer!” He removed Arcanine’s Poke Ball from his belt and released it at the cave’s exit. “Okay, Skarmory, I know you’re tired, so I want you to fly low over Arcanine so I can get back on him, okay? Then you can take a long rest inside your Poke Ball.”

Skarmory, grateful to relieve itself of its load, was more than happy to oblige. He touched Skarmory with its ball and sent it back to its home. He landed on Arcanine’s back with a plop. “Okay, Arcanine, ready for the rest of the way? Cerulean City’s right ahead! Jump those ledges and we’re there! ExtremeSpeed!” the boy commanded, and gripped Arcanine’s mane tight, ready for a sudden burst of speed, but there was none. In fact, there was no movement at all. Ash peered around to see what was wrong, and met with a heavily panting Arcanine, too tired out from the last ordeal. Ash hopped to the ground and petted his Pokemon’s face. “You tired, too, buddy? Okay, I’ll do it myself from here. Return!”

"No time to waste, gotta go, gotta go," Ash thought as he rushed towards Cerulean City, almost dropping Arcanine’s Poke Ball. He sprinted into the city, and made a beeline for the Gym. He threw open the doors and entered, hoping to at least see battle preparations. Instead, he saw nothing. "I knew it, she’s already had her match! There are ripples in the water, which means it was used recently. I don’t know what I’m going to say to her…" he thought, walking upstairs to Misty’s bedroom. Her door was closed. "She’s probably crying because I pretty much blew her off." He knocked. “Misty, you in there?”

“Who is it?” inquired a voice from within.

Ash gulped. It was now or never. “I-it’s me, Ash,” he said, prepared to take his lumps.

“Oh… Ash. Come on in,” the voice said. Ash opened the door to find Misty sitting on her bed, wrapped in a large blanket. She sniffled a little, and wiped her eyes. “How are you today?”

He sat down on the bed next to her. "I knew it, she’s completely disappointed in me. Crying and everything…" “I’m fine, Misty. How are you feeling?”

A sniffle. “I’m okay, I guess. Just a little sad, that’s all.”

“Look, Misty, I know I said I’d be here, but we were up for a while last night, and what you did made me think about things, and I ended up staying in bed awake for half the night trying to make heads or tails of it. I just want you to know that I’m really sorry and if you completely hate me, I’ll totally understand,” Ash said, clasping his hands together and bowing his head.

“Ash, what on earth are you talking about?”

Ash raised his head and looked rather blankly at Misty. “Your match. I missed your match! You know, the one you said you were going to do this afternoon?”

“Yeah, it starts in about 15 minutes.”

“I know, and I said that I’d be here, but— wait a minute, what? Did you say it starts in 15 minutes?”

“Uh-huh. Scheduled for 3 P.M. sharp.”

“But… what’s with the rippling water downstairs? What’s up with that, if not from your battle? No one’s here but you.”

“I went for a swim. The pool isn’t just for battling, you know.”

“Well… okay… but you were crying! Crying because I completely blew off our date.”

“No I wasn’t. I sniffled because I think I might be catching a cold. I think staying out in the cool air too long last night might have helped.” She sniffled again. “I wiped my eyes because water dripped down from my forehead and landed in my eye.” A pause. “And it wasn’t a date.”

Ash stared into nothingness, piecing this information together. Yes, it did all seem to make sense, except…

“What’s the deal with the blanket, if not to hide yourself and prevent me from bearing witness to your beauty?” Ash said with a smile, trying not to mess up any more than he realized he had.

“If I show you, do you promise not to laugh?”

“I promise.”

“Okay, I’m holding you to that…” Misty said as she stood up, removed the blanket, and dropped it to the floor. Underneath was a still very wet Misty, clad in a dark blue two-piece bikini. She spun around, showing it off to her guest. “Do you like it? I bought it in Celadon City last week… Ash?”

"Wow. Wow. She’s… wow. What’s that noise?" “Huh? Oh, sorry, Misty. I was sidetracked.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet you were! I forgot to bring a towel downstairs, so I had to run like this back here… I was freezing, and I grabbed the closest thing and wrapped it around me to keep me warm and help dry me off.” She looked herself over, seeing she was still fairly soaked. “I guess it didn’t really help to dry me… but then again, I’ve only been sitting here for a couple minutes.” She picked up the blanket, draped herself in it once again, and sat down next to Ash. “Anything else you’d like me to clear up, master?”

"Yeah, I definitely need to get Misty to come with me. She’s beautiful and one of my best friends… man, I’m lucky." “Huh? What?”

Misty shoved her weight into his side, causing him to lose balance and nearly fall. “Stop thinking about what I know you’re thinking about! Is there anything else you want to know?”

“Oh…yeah, why did you say you were sad?”

Misty looked down and hid herself in the blanket. “Well… I was sad because I thought we would spend the morning together… I’m happy you finally came, Ash, but I’m sad because we can only spend a little bit of time together before my fight.” She paused for a minute. “Speaking of which, I should probably get dried and dressed so I’m not late, so could you please go wait downstairs?”

“Sure thing. You’ll do great, I just know it.”

Ash left the room and began his journey down to the main floor. "Maybe she wouldn’t mind leaving with me… she seems to want to be with me pretty bad. Of course, I suppose that she would need one of her sisters to come and take over while she’s gone, but I might not come back. Would she stay with me if I told her I wouldn’t be coming back home? I wonder…" He took a seat in the bleachers, when he saw the door open. "Hm… must be Misty’s opponent," Ash thought. "Guess I’ll go wish them luck." He got up, descended from the bleachers, went over to the challenger, and extended a hand. “Hey there, I’m Ash Ketchum. What’s your name?”

“Ash, are you serious? I mean, yeah, it’s been a few years, but don’t tell me you don’t remember me! I tell ya, you haven’t changed a bit! I think I still have that picture of you buried somewhere.”

“Huh?” "How does he know me…? Who has a picture of me?"

The man crossed his arms. “You’re really serious, huh?” He walked over to Ash and looked him in the face. “It’s me, Tracey! Tracey Sketchit?”

Ash sat and thought for a minute. “Tracey… Tracey! Whoa! You don’t look anything like how I remembered you. Didn’t you… draw stuff? Yeah, I remember. What happened to that?”

Tracey smiled. “That passion hasn’t gone away. No, sir. The problem is I’ve run out of interesting things to draw. As an experimental cure, I’ve decided to dedicate an entire sketchbook to Kanto’s Gym Leaders.” He sat down, removed his backpack, and withdrew a video camera and foldable tripod. “I plan on using this so I can catch their expressions on tape, so I can draw them later. I figure the easiest way to meet the Gym Leaders would be to battle my way to the top, so I’ve been studying up on battling techniques and I’ve trained my Pokemon pretty well.” Tracey put the camera and tripod back and removed a book. “After I defeat someone, I always go somewhere to view the tape and study their facial expressions, then try to draw a replica. It’s been going pretty well! I’ve already done Brock’s sketches. Do you want to see them?”

“Sure, man,” Ash said, peering over Tracey’s shoulder. Tracey opened the book to the first page.

“This is just him before the battle… nothing special.” He turned the page. “This is him halfway through our battle.” He rapidly switched between the first and second pages. “See how his facial expression went from happy to serious? And check this out,” Tracey said, turning to the third page. “This is him after I served him a helping of agonizing defeat. He looks happy for me, but it’s more than clear that he’s sad and disappointed. See?”

“Um… no, not really.” Ash said, scratching his head.

“Well, that’s fine.” Tracey put the sketchbook back into the bag, and took out the camera. “I need to get this set up for my battle with Misty.”

“Right, no problem. Good luck, Tracey,” Ash said as he moved back towards where he was sitting. Just then, Misty emerged from the other side of the Gym. She wore light blue shorts and a matching T-shirt.

“Hi, Ash!” she called. She waved to him, and Ash waved back. She took her position at one side of the pool and looked towards her opponent. “Hi, I’m… Misty…” she said to the man, who was still fiddling with his equipment. She waited for a moment, but he still wouldn’t look away. “Hello?”

“Huh?” was the man’s reply, “Oh, sorry. Hey, Misty, I’m just going to set up this camera so I can capture our battle on tape, okay?” he said with a smile.

"He looks familiar? Why is that a question? No, he does look familiar." “Do I… know you?”

The man rolled his eyes. “Not you, too. It’s me, Tracey Sketchit. Remember?”

“I didn’t recognize him, either, Misty,” Ash chimed in.

“Y-yeah, but it’s been so long since I’ve last seen you… you look good,” Misty said with a smile.

“Aw, not really,” Tracey said, scratching the back of his head. “Anyway, Misty. You don’t care, do you? That I record our battle?”

“What for?” Misty inquired.

“I tape battles so I can better draw sketches of Trainers. I’m devoting a sketchbook to Kanto’s Gym Leaders, and you just so happen to be one of them.”

“Oh. Sure, go ahead, I don’t mind. Just let me know when you’re ready.” She turned to Ash. “Ash, would you mind acting as referee?”

“Sure,” Ash said, moving towards the center of the pool side. Ash had never been a referee for an official match before, but he was confident he could do it based on the hundreds of past battles he had.

“I’m all set,” Tracey said, moving to his platform on the southern end of the pool. Misty walked over to him and handed him a small device. “What’s this?”

“A microphone,” Misty explained. “You hook it over your ear and put the mouthpiece in front of your mouth, see how I have mine on? Yeah, just like that. Use it to instruct your Pokemon if they end up underwater. I have speakers wired down there, so they’ll be able to hear you. Look at the screen on your platform. There are also cameras underwater, so you can see your Pokemon battle.”

“Ah, I see,” Tracey said. “Okay, then. How shall we battle? I’m prepared to fight however the lady wishes.”

“How did you battle against Brock?”

“Standard Single Battle, 3-on-3,” Tracey replied.

“Let’s shake it up a little then, what do you say? Double Battle, 4-on-4?”

“Sounds good to me. Did you hear that, Ash?”

“I got it,” Ash said, standing up.

Misty went to the other end of the pool and took her place on her platform. “Ready when you are, Ash.”

“Okay!” Ash exclaimed, raising one hand towards each combatant. “This is a Double Battle for the Cascade Badge between challenger Tracey Sketchit and Leader Misty of the Cerulean City Gym! Each player will use four Pokemon! You may begin when ready!”

Misty wasted no time in starting the battle. “Starmie, Golduck, let’s go!” She threw her Poke Balls down into the water, and each Pokemon floated on the pool’s surface, awaiting their opponents.

“Wow, Misty, you finally got Psyduck to evolve, huh?” Tracey said, reaching behind him to get the Poke Balls that contained his Pokemon. “I bet that was a real chore.”

“It was,” Misty sighed, but quickly regained her confident look. “But now that he’s not a nearly useless, incompetent, annoying fool anymore, Golduck is one of my best Pokemon!”

“It will be a joy to battle against it, then,” Tracey said, tossing two of his own Poke Balls into the air. “Azumarill, go! Come on, Scyther!” Tracey’s Azumarill landed with a splash. Scyther stood on one of the platforms above the water designed to give non-Water-types a somewhat fair fight against Water-types that could use the pool to their advantage. “I’ll start things off. Scyther, use Swords Dance. Azumarill, get in front of Scyther and use Double Team!”

Scyther began to wave its arms around in a dance-like fashion, making it much stronger than before, and was now protected by several copies of Azumarill. Misty knew of this tactic, and also knew just what to do to stop it in its tracks. “Ugh, a bug. Starmie, Surf! Golduck, Calm Mind!”

Starmie went in front of Golduck, who turned completely still, and raised a wall of water from the pool. Starmie sent the water forward, and crashed it down onto Tracey’s Pokemon. The water hit all copies of Azumarill, dissipating them. Scyther took a direct hit, but was not knocked into the water. Azumarill, a Water-type, was not affected as badly from the attack. Golduck, with its Water-type and heightened defense against the special attack, took even less damage.

“Not bad, Misty,” Tracey said.

Misty ignored Tracey's compliment. “When you’ve been a Gym Leader as long as I have, you learn these things. You also learn how to pick on your opponents when they’re weak!” She pointed a finger at Golduck. “Golduck, Hydro Pump on Scyther!”

What Tracey said next surprised both Misty and Ash. “Scyther, jump underwater!” Misty’s Golduck fired the enormous beam of water from its beak, and nearly impaled Scyther with it. Scyther, however, was able to escape its wrath by diving into the water. Misty, finger still pointed, stared wide-eyed. “Hahaha!” Tracey laughed. “You didn’t expect that one, did you? Scyther can’t fight as well as your Water-types underwater, but with adequate support, he can still win!” He adjusted his mouthpiece to ensure it was in place. “Scyther, surface! Get back on the platform! Azumarill, Double-Edge attack on Golduck!”

Azumarill charged through the water at full power and threw his entire body into Golduck, sending them both crashing into the wall. As Scyther shook the water from its body after flying onto the platform, Misty decided not to waste any more time than she already did. “Starmie, Psychic attack! Target Scyther!” At this, Starmie began to spin its back around at a slow rate, and its core began to glow a rainbow of colors. Scyther began levitating in the air, surrounded by a purple aura. “Now, slam Scyther into Azumarill!”

Golduck was severely injured from Azumarill’s attack, but the attack left Azumarill damaged and winded. Starmie sent Scyther’s helpless body rushing towards the two downed combatants, and another direct hit was scored. This proved to be too much for Scyther, and he slumped on the pool’s edge, defeated. “Scyther is no longer able to battle!” Ash declared, pointing a hand at Starmie. “Starmie is the winner!”

"Well...that was unexpected,"Tracey thought. He extended a hand. “Scyther, return. … I must say, Misty, you’ve improved quite a bit since we traveled together. To be honest, Brock was… a joke. None of my Pokemon were defeated when we battled.”

“Cut the small talk, Tracey,” Misty said, arms crossed. “Let’s finish this!”

“Hmph. As you wish!” Tracey shouted, reaching to his belt for another of his Pokemon. “Venomoth, go! Signal Beam, target Starmie!”

The moth Pokemon emerged from its Poke Ball and began to form two beams, colored red and blue. Misty was quick to respond. “Golduck, jump in front of Starmie! Ice Beam on Venomoth!”

"Just as I expected," Tracey thought. “Azumarill, Double-Edge on Golduck! Knock it out of the way!”

“What? No!” Misty wailed, as Golduck and Venomoth simultaneously fired each of their attacks. Azumarill propelled itself from the pool side and charged into Golduck with all his might, causing Golduck to miss his target. Venomoth’s attack struck Starmie’s core directly with incredible force. Starmie was blasted underwater, and Azumarill soon followed suit. “Ha! You’ve caused Azumarill to faint from using those self-damaging attacks, Tracey. You’re down to two Pokemon!”

“Everything is going according to plan. I’m not worried one bit,” Tracey said as he recalled his Pokemon. “In fact, I’m quite glad, because now…” He reached for another ball from his belt, and held it out for all to see. “Now, you get to meet the newest Bug-type addition to my team, my pride and joy!” He tossed the ball into the air and exclaimed, “Come, Shedinja!”

The bug was released from the ball, and… did nothing. It remained immobile, hovering over the pool. Misty looked at the monitor built into her platform, and noticed that Starmie was still underwater. “Starmie, what the hell? Get back up! You couldn’t have been injured that badly from a single attack…” Starmie floated to the surface at Misty’s words, and she could see the damage that Venomoth had caused. Its core had been severely cracked, and its body was badly hurt. “Starmie, you can still battle, can’t you?”

A weak spin of its back was Starmie’s response, and Misty took that as an affirmative. “All right, that’s what I like to see! I know you can do this, Starmie! Now, Hydro Pump! Attack Shedinja! Golduck, Hydro Pump on Venomoth!”

As each Pokemon charged their attacks, Tracey was swift in giving his command. “Okay, then. Shedinja, move in front of Venomoth! Absorb the attack!” Shedinja did not reply to his master’s order, but simply hovered down in front of Venomoth’s body. Golduck and Starmie both shot their Hydro Pump attacks; Starmie’s attack directly struck Shedinja, and Golduck’s was intercepted by the small bug. With each Pokemon attacking Shedinja, Tracey gave another direction. “Now, Venomoth, Signal Beam again, target Starmie once more!” Venomoth flew from behind Shedinja, below Starmie’s surge of water, and again shot the two beams into Starmie from point-blank range. Starmie’s attack immediately ceased, and it soared from the pool and crashed into the wall with a very audible crunch. It plummeted to the ground and was completely still.

Misty, wide-eyed at what Tracey’s Venomoth had done, jumped from her platform and rushed to her Pokemon’s aid. “Starmie! Oh my gosh, are you all right? Do something! Get up!” There was no response. To say that Starmie had fainted from Venomoth’s attack would be a gross understatement. Starmie could not and would not move, despite Misty’s pleading. “Starmie, return…” she said quietly, not heard by anyone. The Gym Leader took her place back on the platform and stared down Tracey with cold eyes. “You’ll pay for that… huh?” She looked up to Shedinja and realized that, despite eating both Starmie and Golduck’s attacks, Shedinja was completely unscathed. “What the… Tracey, your Pokemon… they aren’t normal!”

“Well, they are quite exceptional,” Tracey said with a smirk. “But Shedinja is one-of-a-kind. It can’t be touched by normal attacks…”

"Normal attacks? Oh, no. Those filthy, revolting bugs aren’t weak against water! What can I do? The only thing I can think of is…" “Well, I’m not that worried,” Misty said, reaching for another of her Poke Balls. “If I can’t destroy Shedinja, I’ll have Shedinja destroy itself! Milotic, go! Confuse Ray! Target that infernal, disgusting Shedinja!” Milotic appeared from its Poke Ball and wasted no time in getting in Shedinja’s face. He cast an eerie glance at Shedinja, and thus was Shedinja confused. However, just as quickly, a small glow appeared from Shedinja’s back, and Shedinja was confused no more. “What gives? There's no way that could have missed! Or… hey, wait! Your Shedinja was holding a Persim Berry, wasn’t it?”

“A Lum Berry, actually. You see, while Shedinja is literally immune to everything it isn’t weak to, it will faint from even the slightest touch from its weaknesses. It can also be taken down by status alterations such as confusion. By letting Shedinja hold a Lum Berry, it gets a second chance at life, and my opponent has effectively wasted an attack,” Tracey declared. He looked to Venomoth and said, “Venomoth! You know the drill! Signal Beam, target Golduck!” He then turned towards Shedinja and barked another command. “Shedinja, your turn! Confuse Ray, target Milotic!”

“No… not again! I won’t let Golduck suffer the same way Starmie did! Golduck, dive underwater, hurry!”

If Misty had realized that Golduck, who had been in battle since the very beginning, was nearly worn out, or that Venomoth would have no trouble hitting a slow-moving, underwater target, she might have done something different. As such, Golduck was struck with the beam attack and fainted. “Golduck can battle no longer! Venomoth wins!” Ash proclaimed. “Gosh, Misty, you were right. Golduck was awesome!”

“He sure was. Great job, Golduck! Return!” Proud of her Pokemon’s performance, Misty had newfound confidence in her Pokemon’s skills. She reached for her last Poke Ball and tossed it into the water. “Vaporeon, go! You can do it!”

Meanwhile, Shedinja had succeeded in rendering Milotic confused. It swam rather aimlessly through the pool, somewhat waiting for instructions that Misty hastily gave. “Vaporeon, Toxic attack, target Milotic! Milotic, confuse Shedinja again!” Vaporeon swam over to Milotic and upchucked a poisonous liquid that covered part of Milotic’s body. Milotic absorbed this liquid, and thus became poisoned. As a result of the poisoning, Milotic’s scales became harder, which signaled the activation of its Marvel Scale ability. Milotic, still confused and now badly poisoned by Misty’s own hand, tried to focus on Shedinja long enough to launch the attack. Shedinja, ever unmoving, simply waited, emotionless. Milotic could not perform the attack, and hurt itself as a result.

Tracey used this opportunity to commence an attack of his own. “Okay, you two! Take out Vaporeon! Venomoth, Signal Beam! Shedinja, use Shadow Ball!”

“You won’t get rid of her that easily. Vaporeon, use Acid Armor!” With a small cry, Vaporeon’s body melted into the pool, and dodged Tracey’s Pokemon’s attacks. A few seconds later, it reformed on the side of the pool. “Now, Milotic, snap out of it! Forget Shedinja! Hydro Pump, target Venomoth!”

As if on cue, Milotic came to its senses and was rid of confusion. It charged the powerful attack and fired it directly at Venomoth. “You’d think you’d have learned by now, Misty,” Tracey said, shaking his head. “Shedinja, quickly now, absorb the attack!”

Shedinja moved as Milotic fired, and Venomoth was struck by the attack. Thanks to Shedinja’s assistance, Venomoth was able to survive the blow, but not without being fairly damaged, as Shedinja was not fast enough to block the entire attack. Misty continued her assault. “Vaporeon, take out Shedinja with Toxic!”

Vaporeon jumped into the water and swam towards Shedinja, ready to end the bug’s life, but Tracey was quick to respond. “You’ll have to do better than that! Shedinja, use Protect! Venomoth, Signal Beam, target Vaporeon!”

Vaporeon spit up toxic juices once more, but Shedinja was protected by the powerful aura. Protect was a mysterious attack; no matter what, a Pokemon that used Protect would be immune to any attack launched at it for a short duration. Studies of this skill showed that using it in succession would increase its failure rate, however, and because of these studies, Protect became one of Kanto’s fifty Technical Machines.

Venomoth charged its two beams as it flew in to attack Vaporeon. As Vaporeon’s attack finished, so was Venomoth’s. He launched the Signal Beam directly into Vaporeon, and like Starmie before it, was sent into the water. However, unlike Starmie, Vaporeon seemed relatively unhurt. “Well, well,” Tracey began. “So far I’ve been pretty impressed with the Choice Band’s capabilities, but I guess I underestimated the strength of Acid Armor. Had Vaporeon not used that, she surely would have been annihilated, just like Starmie.”

The sight of her Pokemon being beaten by a bug, of all things, as well as Tracey's cocky attitude, made Misty furious. “You! I’ll wring that Venomoth’s neck! Milotic!” Misty called to her Pokemon that had not received a command in some time, and was also on the verge of death from the poisoning. “Wrap yourself around Venomoth!

“Squeeze the life out of it!”

Milotic did as he was told, and lunged towards Venomoth. He succeeded in wrapping himself around the moth’s much smaller body. “Yes! That’s it!” Misty exclaimed. “Make him suffer… make him feel the pain of your comrades! Squeeze tighter!”

Venomoth’s cries of intense pain was Milotic’s response. Tracey looked on with an indifferent stare, as if he were oblivious to what was occurring. He did not take his eyes from Milotic’s death grip on Venomoth, but instead continued like nothing was happening. Very calmly, Tracey gave more orders. “Okay, if that’s how you want to play... I'll end this. Shedinja, use Swords Dance.”

Half-expecting Shedinja to mimic Scyther’s dance, Misty waited before commanding her Pokemon, and sat there while Shedinja did the same. “Doesn’t that thing ever move?”

“No,” Tracey said matter-of-factly. “It doesn’t. It doesn’t move. It doesn’t breathe. And if you get too close to its back, you will be sucked inside it, trapped in the darkness forever… at least, that’s how the story goes. And by the way, you might want to do something about Milotic.”

“Ha! Me, do something about Milotic? Look at Venomoth! Look how it suffers from Milotic’s fury!”

“Well, that’s fine, but if you’re going to poison your own Pokemon, you might want to keep a better eye on it. It’s only going to be a matter of time before it faints.”

Misty gasped, realizing this, and quickly tried to heed Tracey’s advice. “Oh, no, Milotic! Use Rest, quick!”

But it was too late. The enormous snake-like beast had succumbed to the harsh poison inflicted by her own Pokemon, and fainted. Milotic dropped from Venomoth’s crushed body into the water, and Venomoth, equally unable to fight, fell on top of Milotic’s body, fainted.

As each Trainer recalled their Pokemon, Misty gave a small pout and crossed her arms. “…That was a cheap trick.”

“What did I do?” Tracey asked his opponent.

“You babbled on and on about your stupid bug so Milotic would faint from poisoning!”

“Don’t even go there, Misty! You’re the one who wanted to stop with the chitchat! Sometimes, if you want to win, you have to do whatever it takes. It's something every Trainer must learn. It's something I learned over the years and the countless battles I've had. You play to win. And so, without further ado, I will destroy Vaporeon as promised.” He commanded his one remaining Pokemon. “Shedinja! End this battle now! Get in Vaporeon’s face and use Shadow Ball!”

Shedinja did not move after being given this command, but just as Misty was about to give Vaporeon a command, a huge black mass of energy suddenly appeared in front of Shedinja. “Oh my god! Vaporeon! Dive underwater!” she cried, but it was too late. Shedinja lunged forward and fired. Because of the sheer magnitude of the ball and Shedinja’s original distance from Vaporeon, it was unable to get directly in front of Vaporeon like Tracey asked before the energy ball was deployed. It cut through the water, and struck Vaporeon dead-on. The ball made a small burst upon impact, and the bright light from this impact caused the three Trainers to shield their eyes, and two sounds were heard. One was of a large boom; the other, a sickening crunch. When the light faded, Shedinja was hovering above the pool as usual, but Vaporeon was in the pool no longer. Vaporeon had been rocketed from the pool by the super-powered burst of dark energy, and was there lying on the ground, motionless. A piece of the second-floor railing fell to the ground and landed near Vaporeon, and everyone looked up at the damage Shedinja had caused. Vaporeon’s body had hit the railing with such force that it had broken in some places and dented in several. One of these broken pieces was now on the ground next to Vaporeon’s mutilated body.

“Vaporeon is quite obviously no longer able to battle! The winner of this match is Tracey Sketchit!” Ash declared.

“Yes! All right!” Tracey cried out, removing his headpiece and setting it down on the platform. He rushed over to his camera and checked to make sure everything was in order, the seriousness in his voice from not two minutes ago all but gone. “Great! This battle, all of it’s on tape! Wow. Misty, what an epic battle! Gosh, I’m so excited!”

As Ash congratulated Tracey on his win, Misty went to tend to Vaporeon. "Stupid bugs," she thought as she moved towards Vaporeon’s body. "I can’t believe I lost this badly. Tracey’s Pokemon are like… not normal." She remembered Tracey’s quip about his Pokemon. "Ha. Exceptional… yeah, right. Freakish is more like it. And Venomoth, what was that all about? A Choice Band? More like "Mega Steroid Band... bah." When she got to her Pokemon’s beaten body, she noticed something. Something was definitely wrong here. Vaporeon’s head and legs were not facing the same direction. “Vaporeon…?”

She leaned her head into Vaporeon’s chest to listen to how she was breathing. There was no response. Misty rose to her feet at once and screamed. Loudly. Ash ran to her side with lightning speed, and Tracey followed suit, camera in hand.

“Vaporeon’s not breathing!” she cried, tears quickly forming in her eyes.

“Oh no!” Tracey yelled, putting his camera down. “We need to get her to a Pokemon Center immediately!”

“Right!” Misty blurted as she ran back to her platform to retrieve Vaporeon’s Poke Ball. She fumbled with it at first, but managed to hold it right. “Vaporeon, return!”

Nothing.

Ash put his hand to his mouth, hoping what he was thinking wasn’t happening. Misty instinctively smacked the Poke Ball a few times and moved closer to Vaporeon. “Vaporeon, return!”

Still nothing.

“What is going on here? Why won’t she go back in?” Misty questioned through her tears.

Ash walked over to his female friend and took Vaporeon’s Poke Ball from her hands. He set it down, then faced her once more, about to do something that would surely affect everyone in the room. He took Misty’s hands into his own, and he looked her directly in the eyes. “Misty… Vaporeon’s dead.”

“What? What are you talking about? No she isn’t! She’s unconscious! Come on, what are you guys waiting for…” she cried, and kneeled down to her fallen companion, not wanting to accept this truth.

Tracey Sketchit had killed her Vaporeon.

“Misty, I’m sorry,” Ash began, kneeling next to Misty. “Poke Balls are able to find a Trainer’s Pokemon because when we catch them, sensors in the ball respond to a Pokemon’s unique life energy. Even when badly hurt in battle, a Pokemon still has life energy. Even a small flicker of life energy is enough for the Poke Ball to do its work.”

“That isn’t true!” Misty screamed, scooping Vaporeon’s lifeless body into her arms. “The Poke Ball must have been damaged in the battle!”

“Poke Balls do not malfunction,” Ash said. “They can break, but only if they are not enlarged. Once enlarged, you’d have to drop it from the top of a skyscraper to have any hopes of busting it up. Misty, the only way a Poke Ball will fail to recall a Trainer’s Pokemon is if the Pokemon is too far out of range to be recalled, or… if the Pokemon is killed.”

Misty said nothing at this – she only sat there, holding her dead Pokemon. She cried softly into its body, hoping that this was all a horrible nightmare, and when she would wake up, everything would be okay.

And Vaporeon would be alive again.

She shortly realized that this was not going to be the case. This was reality. Vaporeon was dead and she wasn’t coming back. Her life would be forever changed by this inescapable fact. She heard a voice calling her name, but she did not want to answer. She had to mourn. “Leave me alone,” she said softly.

“What?” the voice asked again.

Misty turned around sharply. “I said leave me alone! Go!” she bawled, crying even harder into Vaporeon.

Ash stood up and started walking towards the Gym doors. “Come on, man. Let’s go.”

“Yeah, I’ll be right with you. I’m going to apologize to her,” Tracey whispered. Ash gave a thumbs up and walked out the door. "This is going to be great for my sketches!" he thought as he picked up his camera, resumed recording, and spoke up. “Misty… I’m sorry about what happened. I swear to you, I had no idea this was going to happen. I’m sorry about what happened to Starmie, too, but I guess it’ll be fine if you get it to a Pokemon Center soon.”

The girl said nothing. "Sorry won’t bring my Vaporeon back…"

“If it makes you feel any better, your Milotic made my Venomoth look like a crumpled up piece of paper. I’m pretty sure both his wings are badly broken. He won’t be battling for a long time.”

“How can you be so insensitive?” Misty shouted, not looking at Tracey. “Vaporeon won’t be battling ever! And it’s all because of you and that fucking invincible bug! You think that apologizing is going to make everything all right again? Do you?” She turned around, her face stained with a seemingly endless stream of tears, and was furious to see that she was being recorded. “Can… I see your sketches of Brock?” she asked, placing Vaporeon’s body on the ground.

“Sure. They’re in my bag. Hold this for a second,” Tracey said, handing Misty his camera. He went over to his bag, removed the book, and brought it to her. “Here. Take as long as you like.”

“Thank you,” Misty said softly, and she took the book in her other hand. She flipped through the pages and looked at the various sketches Tracey had drawn. “They’re very good,” she commented.

“Thanks! I really worked hard on them.”

“Oh really? That’s just great!” Misty yelled as she hurled Tracey’s camera across the room. It flew over the pool and crashed into the bleachers.

“Oh my god! Misty, what did you do that for?” Tracey shouted, rushing around the pool and hoping his camera was not too badly damaged. Misty took this opportunity to quickly rip out a number of Tracey’s drawings, crumple them up, and dunk each and every one of them underwater before submerging the entire book. “Okay… it doesn’t look too beat up. I paid a lot of money for this thing, it had better –” he paused when he turned around and saw what Misty had done. He calmly walked over to the pool and removed what remained of his sketchbook. He saw small balls of paper floating in the water. “My sketches…” he trailed off. “Misty, why?”

She could hold it in no longer. She exploded. “How dare you ask me why! Where do you get off even thinking you can feel what I’m feeling right now? Huh?! Answer me! No, don’t. I don’t even want to hear your voice. You… will never understand…” she cried, new tears forming. “So don’t… ever… fucking compare that bunch of paper with my Pokemon’s life! Do you hear me? Never! Now get out! I don’t ever want to see you again!” She picked Vaporeon’s Poke Ball up, put it into her shirt, and then once more picked her Pokemon up and slowly walked upstairs.

Tracey did not say anything, but gathered the rest of his belongings and left the Gym, where Ash was waiting. “Tracey! What happened in there? I was thinking about going back in there, but I remembered that Misty is not pretty when she gets angry, and if she had killed you or something, I’d have been the one to tell the tale. Sorry, man,” he said.

“She ruined my sketches. She tore them up and threw them into the water. She also threw my camera across the room into the bleachers.”

“So that’s what that loud bang was,” Ash reasoned. “But she threw your sketchbook into the water? Wow. Why’d she do a thing like that?”

“Revenge, I guess. It could possibly be because I was recording her. I really wanted to get her expression on paper. My intentions were good, but I guess I picked a bad time to do it.”

“The worst,” Ash said, removing his hat and running his hand through his hair. He replaced his cap and said, “Hey, I’ve got to be getting back home. Do you have any other plans?”

“Not anymore, I don’t. This camera is more busted than I thought it was. A couple buttons are missing, too. I have to send it in to get fixed. Misty ruined everything I’ve been working on, so I’m back to square one as far as that goes.”

“Why don’t you come with me back to Pallet Town? You can have dinner with us, and then you can decide what you’re going to do from there.”

“Sounds good. I accept. Thanks,” Tracey said. “I want to heal my Pokemon first, if that’s okay with you.”

“Yeah, no problem. Arcanine and Skarmory need a refresh, too. They’re the ones that brought me here.”

After healing their Pokemon, the two guys stood at the entrance to Cerulean City. Ash removed Arcanine’s Poke Ball from his belt and released his pet and friend. “Arcanine,” Ash said, petting Arcanine’s mane. “Will you take Tracey and me to Pallet Town? We aren’t in any rush, so there’s no need to overexert yourself. Just go at your own pace, okay?”

A nod from Arcanine, and he lowered himself so the humans could mount him. Once both Trainers were in place, Arcanine rose, and started a slow run. “So, Tracey, tell me about your Venomoth,” Ash said, trying to make conversation. “The thing’s a beast!”

“Ah, no, not really. It’s all thanks to the Choice Band.”

“A what? Choice Band? I haven’t really heard much about them.”

“Yep. I picked one up from this one place I was visiting a while back. The guy who sold it to me said the attack I told my Pokemon to do would have its strength increased drastically, but he said I had to be careful because once my Pokemon did an attack, they wouldn’t do anything else. That was my first battle using the Choice Band, and… wow. Unbelievable. And Starmie’s weak to Bug-type attacks. It’s probably in really bad shape. I feel really bad for Misty.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Ash comforted. “I’m sure she’ll come around sooner or later.”

“I sure hope so. We got along so well when we were traveling together all those years ago. I mean, you guys were like my best friends.”

“Yeah. Hey, so wait. What about Shedinja? You said Shedinja had a Lum Berry attached to it, right? So then… why did Shadow Ball end up killing Vaporeon?”

“I was wondering about that, too. At first I thought it was because of Shedinja using Swords Dance. I mean, Shedinja isn’t ultra strong or anything. As a matter of fact, I received Shedinja in a trade, and strangely enough, it was from the same guy who sold me the Choice Band.”

“Really? That is weird. Did you get his name?”

“Nah, I didn’t ask. He demonstrated the Choice Band’s power, so I was sold on the idea, especially since I was going to take on Kanto’s Gym Leaders. He told me about Shedinja and its Wonder Guard ability which makes it immune to everything but its five weaknesses. He demonstrated that to me, too, and I just had to have it.”

“What did you trade him for it?”

“That’s the strangest part. He asked for a Rattata in return.”

“A Rattata? Are you serious? Rattata’s like the most common Pokemon in Kanto!”

“I know. The man said you could only find Shedinja in… oh, what was the name of that place? Ah, I can’t remember. It’s some continent way far away from here. Wherever it is, the Pokemon there must be horribly strong if they’re capable of actually killing Pokemon from other regions with a single attack!”

“You’re talking about Hoenn, probably,” Ash said. “That’s where I got Misty’s Milotic from. And I wouldn’t be surprised if you were right. Remember how Venomoth was nearly crushed to death from Milotic’s Wrap attack?”

“Ooh, yeah, you’re right. But it doesn’t matter now. What’s done is done, and unfortunately, there’s no way to change it.”

“It may sound heartless, but you shouldn’t dwell too much longer on it. Pretty soon you’ll end up all depressed and then you’ll need medication for your depression and then one day you’ll get sick of it all and end up killing yourself.”

“I doubt it’ll come to that,” Tracey said. “I’m not that kind of person to let my feelings run me.”

“I’m just saying be careful, that’s all.”

“What about you? Don’t you feel bad for Misty?”

“Of course I do. A guy I met at a competition once had an Espeon that was going to have an egg. He didn’t want it, so I took the Eevee egg when she had it and gave it to Misty when I came back home. She hatched it and raised it from a baby, Tracey. I mean, within ten minutes of it coming out of the egg, there she was with the Water Stone.”

“Wow… I didn’t know,” Tracey said. “She must have been really attached to it.”

“Yeah she was… hey, I see Pallet Town,” Ash noted. “Okay, Arcanine, we’ll walk from here. Thanks, buddy!”

The two dismounted Arcanine, and Ash sent him back into his Poke Ball. Upon arriving, he was greeted by various people of the town. He walked into his home and found his mother sitting with Professor Oak at the dining room table. Pikachu was sitting atop the table, affectionately stroking a packet of ketchup. “Oh, Ash! Good to see you’re back,” Delia said, getting up to hug her son. “Tracey, hi! Nice to see you!”

At the same time, Pikachu, ecstatic to see his best friend, dropped the ketchup and leaped into his master’s arms, spouting out a number of happy-sounding pika’s and chu’s. “Hey, buddy! Sorry I left you earlier. I was in a big rush!” Ash said, giving his friend a quick hug before placing the mouse upon his shoulder in order to receive the hug from his mother.

“Nice to see you too, Mrs. Ketchum,” Tracey said. “Professor Oak, I’m glad to see you’re doing well.”

“As well as can be expected from an old coot like me, Tracey,” the professor said. “What brings you here?”

“Mom, you remember how I told you about Misty’s battle today?” Ash interrupted. “It turns out that Tracey was her opponent!”

“Oh?” Delia inquired. “I didn’t know you were trying to defeat Gym Leaders, Tracey.”

“Yes, I am – er, well, I was, but – um…”

“He’s taking a break right now. Right, pal?” Ash chimed in.

"Thanks for the save." “Right. I mean, Ash, you know more than anyone, beating Gym Leaders takes a lot of work, doesn’t it?”

“It certainly does,” Professor Oak said, scratching his chin. “But you still didn’t answer my question.”

“Oh! Sorry, sir. Ash here invited me for dinner.”

“Ah, is that a fact? Well, you’re always welcome in this house, Tracey. I’m just getting started with dinner right now, actually, so you’re more than welcome to stay if you like,” Delia said with a smile.

“Thank you, I will,” Tracey said with a small bow.

“Good, good. Well, I’ll be in the kitchen if anyone needs me!”

“So tell me, Tracey,” Prof. Oak began. “How did your battle go? Were you victorious?”

“You might say that…” Tracey said.

“Hm? You don’t sound too happy about it.”

Tracey looked to Ash for a second save, but Ash said nothing. “Uh, well,” he stammered. “I did win. I’m happy, but I don’t want to… seem… overconfident.”

“I see. Well, that’s always good. You know, Tracey, death awaits the overconfident. Remember that.”

Tracey went wide-eyed. “Death!”

“Well, you know. Death in battle. Losing.”

There was no response from either young man.

“Come on, I’m trying to be witty here. Or am I too old to be witty?” Professor Oak said. The young boys looked at each other, then at the professor. “Oh, never mind. Say, anyone want to play Go Fish?”

Ash spoke up. “Professor Oak, where have you been? Go Fish is the lamest card game there is. Everyone plays No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em now.”

“Really? It’s got a big name, so that means it’s important, right?”

“No, not really, but…” Ash was interrupted by the phone ringing. Ash moved to answer it, but his mother got it first. Ash sat back down and tried explaining to Professor Oak how to play the game, when Delia emerged from the kitchen with two messages.

“Ash, that was Misty on the phone. She wanted me to tell you that she’s going to go to Lavender Town.”

“Lavender Town? How come?” Ash inquired.

“I asked her the same thing,” Delia said. “She said there was a death in the family, and that she was going to go ask Mr. Fuji to cremate ‘her loved one.’”

“Someone in Misty’s family died? Oh, that’s a shame. She’s quite a nice young girl. And uh, Ash, she’s ripe for the picking, if you get my drift,” Professor Oak said, nudging Ash as little.

“Samuel Oak, what are you saying?” Delia scolded.

“Now, now, all I mean is that she’s single! Ash is a fine young man; Misty is a fine young lady! It would be a crime for those two not to get together. You two have been friends for so long, don’t you think it’s time to take it a step further?”

“I guess, but I don’t know if she wants to go there, professor,” Ash said.

“Oh, honey, one more thing,” Mrs. Ketchum said, handing her son an envelope. “I forgot to tell you earlier, but a man came by with a letter for you.”

“A letter for me? I wonder who sent it,” Ash said as he flipped over the envelope – and immediately recognized the insignia found on the flap. “What the – Team Rocket! Why is Team Rocket sending me mail?”

“Open it and find out,” Tracey said. “It couldn’t hurt to at least read it.”

“Well, okay. Here goes,” Ash said, tearing the envelope open and removing the letter inside.

To Ash Ketchum:

You and up to five people of your choice are cordially invited to spend seven days and seven nights at my private island mansion in Orre. You may question my motives. I admit that such kindness is very out of character for me, but as you may or may not know, I have taken quite an interest in you. Team Rocket has suffered countless defeats at your hand; Jessie and James are not the only ones who have lost to you in the five long years we have learned of you and your talents as a Trainer. I feel that not to recognize your tremendous skill and prowess would be a crime. Such talent deserves a vacation fit for a champion. However, my island home is designed strictly for human comfort; it has no Pokemon amenities. Therefore, for the health and well being of everyone’s Pokemon, I must ask that you leave all Pokemon behind; if nothing else, to prevent my mansion from being destroyed by any battles you and your friends would have. Should you agree to visit my home, the courier who will pick you up will make sure no Pokemon are being taken along.

After your visit, I would like to work with you on a large project that will change Kanto for the better. We can discuss it in greater detail after you return if you are interested. For too long has Team Rocket gotten a reputation based solely on the activity of Jessie and James. I am confident you would agree that the two of them are nothing more than bumbling idiots, and they are being punished for their actions as we speak. The Team Rocket I desire is not one that must resort to petty thievery to achieve their goals, but one where everyone – as a team – works together for a common goal, whatever it may be. I believe that with your help, Mr. Ketchum, we of Team Rocket could do great things for the world.

Like I wrote earlier, we may discuss this in greater detail after you return from your trip. Enclosed is an ultra priority mail envelope. Please write back with your response and use that envelope to mail it to me within one week so that I may prepare the mansion for you. Thank you for your time.

Giovanni, TR :)

“He even drew a smiley face at the end of it,” Ash said. “Man, how dumb does he think I am?”

“A vacation at Giovanni’s private island!” Tracey exclaimed. “Wow… Giovanni has his own private island! That’s gotta be sweet, Ash.”

“Uh, hello? This is the leader of Team Rocket we’re talking about here! This has ‘trap’ written all over it,” Ash said, tossing the letter and envelope on the table.

“Well,” Professor Oak added. “It does say you are able to bring up to five additional people. Even if it were a trap, don’t you think that six of you would be able to handle it?”

“He’s right, you know,” Mrs. Ketchum replied. “And besides, you deserve it! You’ve done so much for Pallet Town. I’d start to worry about you if you didn’t take it easy once in a while.”

“Yeah, but Mom, you don’t get it,” Ash complained. “I have no problem with taking a vacation, but Giovanni. Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket, is telling me to go to his house.” He turned towards the two other men. “You guys mean to tell me that neither of you have a problem with that?” Both guys shook their heads. “And neither of you think there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it?”

“His reasons seem genuine enough,” Tracey said, picking up the letter. “What I’m more curious about is the part where he says he wants to work with you on some project. What do you think he wants?”

“I don’t care,” Ash said, crossing his arms. “He probably wants to invite me out to his private island that’s more than likely in the middle of nowhere so he can kill me or otherwise put me out of commission so he can get away with his evil deeds.”

“I don’t think that’s very likely,” Tracey retorted. “I mean, yeah, you’ve foiled how many of his plans? Way too many for anyone to count, that’s for sure. But to actually kill you would be financially suicidal.”

“What do you mean?” Ash questioned.

“Well, think of it like this. The four of us here know that Giovanni of Team Rocket sent you a letter. The letter doesn’t say where, but we know that the mansion he wants you to visit is in Orre. If you don’t come back after a week, we know something’s up. This piece of paper is irrefutable proof that Giovanni would have to be responsible for anything that would happen while you were at his mansion. He gets busted by the police and will no doubt spend the rest of his life in prison. Even if he were to somehow walk free, I imagine recruitment for Team Rocket would go down the pipes. I mean, who wants to join an organization that has to resort to killing teenage boys in order to fulfill their needs?”

“I suppose you’ve got a point there,” Ash noted. “But what about the part where it says I can’t bring my Pokemon along? I don’t want to leave Pikachu alone for an entire week.”

“He said why you can’t take your Pokemon. He doesn’t want his house ruined. I can relate,” Tracey went on. “I was sitting at home one day when this one lady came to my door and offered to sell me an alternate colored Donphan. She wanted to compare its ‘superior strength’ to a normal-colored Donphan, so she had each of them perform various attacks. Everything went well until she told them to do Earthquake…”

“Your house was destroyed by a couple of Donphan?” Ash asked intently.

“What? No, of course not. The outside was fine, but the inside was a total mess. It took me forever to clean up… but the point of the story is that it’s understandable that Giovanni wouldn’t want Pokemon in his house.”

“He’s right,” Professor Oak said. “I can’t think of any other reasons to be suspicious of Giovanni’s actions. What about you, Delia?”

“Huh? Oh. Nope! Not a one. I really must be finishing up dinner, though. Please excuse me,” Delia said, leaving the room.

“The three of us are in agreement. The only one who thinks otherwise is you, Ash,” Professor Oak said.

Ash uncrossed his arms and put his hands in his pockets. “Maybe you guys are right. The man’s been my enemy for so long, I’ve blocked out the possibility that he may be capable of doing some good from my mind. All right, I’ve decided. I’ll go. I don’t know who I’ll invite with me, but I can cross that bridge when I come to it. For now, I’ll just write back and confirm that I’ll be visiting.” He sat down at the table, took a nearby pen and piece of paper, and wrote.

To Giovanni:

I got your letter. I won’t lie; I don’t trust you. However, my friends and family are confident that your intentions are good and true, and I do trust them. I accept your invitation. I will be bringing five people along, as per your limit, but I’m still not sure who those five will be. Regardless, everyone will be here seven days from this date. You can pick us up then.

Ash Ketchum :)

“There, how’s that?” Ash said, sealing his reply in the envelope Giovanni provided. “I even added that stupid smiley face.”

“Dinner will be ready in just a few minutes!” a voice shouted from the kitchen.

“Right, well, I must be going,” Professor Oak said, standing up. “Ash, when you see Misty, please give her my regards.”

“Will do, Professor,” Ash said. “See you later.”

As Professor Oak left, Tracey looked at Pikachu and said, “Hey, Pikachu. Will you go into the kitchen and help Mrs. Ketchum finish making dinner?”

A nod, and the Pokemon jumped to the floor and scurried into the kitchen. Tracey pulled Ash close to him and whispered, “Are you going to take Misty along?”

“I want her to come,” Ash whispered back. “And why are we whispering?”

“So your mom doesn’t hear us. I don’t want her to hear us talking about Misty and the death in her family. I don’t want her or Pikachu to know that I’m responsible!”

“Oh. Well, okay. But yeah, I definitely want Misty to go with me. You should come, too.”

“I don’t think Misty would like that very much.”

“I told you, man, she’ll be over it in a week’s time. And even if she isn’t, I’m sure she’d be willing to put on a happy face for my sake and at least act civil towards you.”

“I’m not so sure… she seemed pretty upset with me today.”

“Look. Don’t worry about it. I’ll fly to Lavender Town and talk to Misty about it directly. If she doesn’t want to go, then you’re in the clear. But if she says yes—”

“Dinner’s ready,” Delia said, poking her head into the dining room. “Where’s Samuel?”

“He left,” Ash said. “We’ll be right there.”

“Okay, but hurry up or it’ll get cold,” Delia said as she went back into the kitchen.

After making sure the coast was clear, Ash resumed his whispering. “But if Misty says she wants to go, I’m going to tell her I want you to come, too. I’ll get her to understand.”

“All right,” Tracey said. “Now how about we get some of your mom’s food? I’m famished!”

“Yeah, you bet!” Ash exclaimed. “Come on!”

- End of Chapter 3 -

Author's Note: The real Pokemon fans will notice some inconsistencies with this chapter, namely Choice Band Signal Beam and Swords Dance Shadow Ball. The reason for this is because Misty's and Tracey's Pokemon come from a place that isn't Sinnoh; only Sinnoh Pokemon are subject to the physical/special split. Hope that clears things up.

If that's not a good enough reason, here's another: creative license, I can do whatever I want, ahahahaha.