I woke up a little later than usual. Brock and Misty looked like they’d already been awake for a while. Breakfast smelled good. Ash was just barely climbing out of his sleeping bag beside me.
“About time you two got up!” Brock teased us. “You were just about to miss breakfast!”
“Wha? Miss breakfast?” Ash yelped, struggling to tear himself free of his sleeping bag.
“Good morning.” I yawned, not in as much of a hurry as Ash. He acted like every meal would be his last. It was amazing he hadn’t eaten all of our supplies yet.
I noticed Misty studying the map as I walked over to some bushes. After I’d finished and washed up a little I came back to find her still sitting in the same spot, frowning at some point on the map.
“Misty, is something wrong?” I knelt down beside her. As far as I could tell we were on course for Cerulean city, the next stop on our journey. We’d probably get there around lunchtime if I was judging the distances right.
“Huh? Uh, no! No, nothing’s wrong!” Misty pasted a false smile, folding up the map and stuffing it away in her bag. “Is breakfast ready? We’d better grab something before Ash eats it all!”
“Uh, okay?” I blinked.
Okay, there was definitely something wrong. What it could be though, I had no idea. Maybe Misty had been here before? Lots of ocean, good for water pokemon. I’d bet anything the Cerulean gym is a water type gym.
“We’re going to reach Cerulean city today, I can feel it!” Ash proclaimed around a mouthful of food.
“Are you sure you wanna go there?” Misty nearly choked on her food. “I mean, there are better places.”
“Cerulean city is the nearest town with a gym, right?” Ash checked. Brock and I both nodded. “Then yep, I’m sure.”
“Urrhh.” She buried her face in her food. I wanted to ask if something was wrong but I’d already tried that and she’d refused. I doubted she’d be more open with other people around.
I wanted to cheer her up somehow. I thought about it the whole time we were breaking up camp. The easiest way to cheer Misty up was probably by using water pokemon. I didn’t have any and I hadn’t seen any in this area yet, so that left drawing her into a conversation about them.
Shouldn’t be that hard. Misty loves water pokemon.
“Uh, Misty?” I made my move as we started walking. Ash and Brock walked together ahead of us, leaving us girls to fall behind.
“Hm?” She still seemed a little distracted.
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” I gulped. “Uh, what kind of water pokemon do you have?”
“You want to know about my water pokemon?” Her eyes sparkled. It was a full one-eighty from her earlier attitude.
“Yes?” I answered, unsure what I’d gotten myself into.
“Well, first, there’s Starmie! It’s a beautiful violet color with a gold formation on the front with its core jewel. The jewel itself can glow seven different colors!” She began listing everything she knew about Starmie. Appearance, natural habitat, food sources, natural predators, myths and legends, it’s previous incarnation as Staryu, which she also had one of. They evolved using Water Stones.
Like the Moon Stone apparently but a little more mainstream, if you’ll pardon the pun.
She finished talking about Starmie and segued neatly into talking about Staryu. And then her Goldeen. All three she’d personally caught and raised. But of course there were so many water pokemon that she hoped to meet on her journey.
“Beauty, grace, elegance, is there anything that embodies these traits more than water pokemon?” She sighed dreamily.
“Yeah, peace and quiet.” Ash snorted over his shoulder. “You’ve been going on for over an hour, Misty! Give it a rest.”
“Hmph!” Misty turned her nose up at him. “I’ll have you know that Sarah asked me and not you because I know all about water pokemon.”
“Hey, if you ever need any studying snacks, you know who to call.” Brock chimed in.
“Huh, snacks?” If Ash had pokemon ears they would’ve perked up.
“Geez, are you ever not hungry?” Misty huffed.
It looked like I’d managed to distract her. I felt well and truly accomplished.
Ash was about to retort with something but he saw something up ahead and decided to jog towards it instead. We jogged after him and found him scowling at a road sign.
“This way to Cerulean city.” Brock read. There was something scribbled in the lower corner. Graffiti? It was what Ash was scowling at. I leaned in for a closer look.
Gary was here! Ash is a loser!
It took me a moment to place the name. Gary was that arrogant boy with the cheerleading squad from the day I’d first met Ash.
“That…That…!” Ash fumed.
“Ah well, if you want to avoid that jerk we can always go this way instead.” Misty suggested, pointing down the other way. “This road leads to Vermillion city, ocean water with lots of cool water pokemon, lots of good stores, and there’s this park on top of a hill with the most gorgeous view of the sunset! Let’s go!”
“I’ll show him! I’m no loser!” Ash ignored her, already beginning the march down the road to Cerulean city.
My distraction hadn’t lasted very long.
Misty only got more and more anxious the closer we got. She began dragging her feet. I slowed my pace to match hers and pretty soon the guys had left us behind. Ash was so focused on catching up to Gary I doubt he noticed. Brock looked our way but I waved him ahead of us. Hopefully we could catch up at the Pokemon Center later.
“Misty, are you okay?” I placed my hand on her shoulder. She slumped beneath the gentle pressure.
“C’mon,” She groaned, leading me down a different road than the boys had taken. “I’ll show you why I didn’t want to come back here.”
We walked in silence. Misty knew her way around pretty well. We took side roads, short cuts, she even recognized a few people and waved to them. Before long we came to the Cerulean Gym. The building was much larger and more ornamental than the Pewter Gym had been. A huge seal pokemon acted as the Gym mascot.
I was expecting a stadium inside. Instead there was a giant indoor pool with high dives and a roaring crowd. Misty waved to the guy manning the ticket booth and we were both ushered in without paying. Misty led me up to a private box.
“Now introducing the Cerulean City’s Three Sensational Sisters!” The intercom blared. A spotlight illuminated one of the high dives where three young women waved to the crowd.
Synchronized swimming is…It was…
“Well, go ahead and say it.” Misty crossed her arms beside me.
“I’m…not sure what to say.” I admitted. “It…looks pretty, I guess? I can’t say I really see the appeal.”
She tensed up, shoulders nearly coming up to her ears in shock. She looked like I’d just declared Spearow as the world’s greatest swimmer. Did I say the wrong thing? Offend her?
“You don’t…You’re not going totally gaga over Daisy, Lily, and Violet?” Her jaw dropped.
“Um, is that their names?” I winced. Weren’t Daisy and Lily the names of two thirds of the flower trio?
“Is that their…? They’re my sisters!” She cried.
“Oooh, I’m sorry!” This was even worse than I’d imagined. “I just…I’m not really big on the whole swimming thing! I can tell it takes a lot of hard work and practice and dedication! It’s just—!” I was cut off as she wrapped her arms around me.
“Finally! Someone who doesn’t go insane when they see my sisters in swimsuits!” She was practically crying tears of joy. “Sarah, you have no idea how long I’ve waited for this day! To meet someone else who sees what a waste of time synchronized swimming is!”
“I’m glad you’re happy!” My voice was a little muffled with my head buried in her shoulder. It was a little hard to breathe too.
Misty explained that she was the youngest of the Waterflowers, the family that owned the gym. She and all her sisters were licensed Gym Trainers, but Misty had decided to leave on a pokemon journey to become a water pokemon master, rather than continue living in her sisters’ shadows. She’d sworn not to come back until she’d made that dream a reality.
“They’re supposed to be serious trainers, but just look at them down there!” She grunted. They were swimming in a circle, moving apart and together again in perfect harmony. “Ugh, and I hate to admit it but Ash could beat them with both hands tied behind his back!”
“Really?” I’m not afraid to admit I was a bit skeptical. Ash was uniquely talented, but he was still a very new trainer who made rookie mistakes. Considering he had Pikachu, who was already incredibly powerful for an electric type, I had no doubt he could win in a water style Gym, but so easily? And for Misty to be admitting that?
“Well, I’m not going to stand for it!” Misty said, standing. “I’ll battle him myself!”
“Uh, wha?” I had to scramble to follow after her. “Misty, wait up!”
Misty’s sisters really didn’t take their Gym duties seriously. We caught them just as they were trying to give Ash an unearned badge. Unlike Misty, who vaulted the stands in a dramatic fashion, I chose to use the stairs and reached the bottom just as Misty delivered her challenge.
Ash’s first pick, obviously, was Pikachu.
An electric type, especially one as strong as Pikachu, could sweep through most water pokemon with ease.
Unfortunately for Ash, Pikachu had bonded with Misty. Enough so that he didn’t want to fight her. It was…
Well, Pikachu was a rookie too, when you stopped to think about it.
I wasn’t expecting him to choose Butterfree next. I didn’t expect Butterfree to be so effective either. Too bad the powder was so easily washed off.
I was cheering Ash on. I’d spent the whole day trying to cheer Misty up and here I was rooting for Ash. Maybe I could’ve excused it as knowing Ash longer but I’d met them barely an hour apart.
Butterfree was knocked into the water. Bug types didn’t swim well so it was a good thing Ash returned him so quickly. But that left him with just one more pokemon. One more loss and it was all over.
For today at least.
“Pidgeotto, I choose you! Use Whirlwind!” Ash looked fierce, confident. Like losing wasn’t even conceivable.
Pidgeotto beat Staryu and Starmie. That left Ash and Misty even again with one pokemon each. Misty looked grim as she called out her Goldeen.
How the battle could’ve ended, what might’ve happened next, I’m afraid I can’t say. They didn’t even have time to call out any moves before a large machine burst through the walls.
“Prepare for trouble.” Oh no.
“And make it double!” Not them!
“To protect the world from devastation!” Not them again!
“To unite all peoples within our nation,”
“To denounce the evils of truth and love!”
“To extend our reach to the stars above!”
“Jessie!”
“James!”
“Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!”
“Surrender now or prepare to fight!”
“Meowth, that’s right!”
“What’s with the hair?” One of Misty’s sisters, the one with blue hair, asked.
“Yeah, like, who let these losers in here?” The one with pink hair frowned.
“They’re Pokemon Thieves!” I warned them. Unbidden, my hand came down to run over the pokeballs at my belt.
“Indeed we are, and we’re about to catch the motherlode!” Jessie laughed, high and grating.
“The water goes in,” Meowth cheekily flipped a switch. A giant hose extended from the back of the tank and dipped into the pool, sucking up every last drop.
“And the water goes out!” He turned the hose on us. I barely had time to gasp before a torrent of water hit me dead on. I lost my footing instantly and got swept away. My leg hit the edge of the pool but I couldn’t make sense of anything. I couldn’t even tell up from down and water burned my lungs.
And then air. Sweet air. I hacked up half a lung in the brief moment my head was above water. My limbs felt like lead. How did Misty’s sisters manage to make this look graceful?
Oh Celestia, don’t tell me Discord forgot to make sure this body knew how to swim.
My head went under. I hadn’t had time to catch my breath and my chest burned. I tried to find the surface again but I had no idea which way was up. I couldn’t see, I could barely move!
My groping hand broke the surface. I forced my head above water and tried to get my bearings.
“Sarah!” I heard Ash yell.
“Help!” I coughed. It wasn’t nearly as loud as I needed it to be.
“Oh my gosh, she can’t swim!” Was that Misty? My eyes were burning almost as much as my lungs.
Under again. My heart was scraping against my ribs with every beat. Up, I had to get up, I needed air!
Something hit me under the water. Something big and blubbery.
A pokemon. There was a pokemon in the water with me.
Air. I needed help. I needed my friends. Which one? My hand drifted over my pokeballs.
“Sarah! Stop struggling!” Someone yelled. There was the shore, no, the pool edge! The current was pulling us away.
The pokemon in the water with me was the seal pokemon.
Over my shoulder I saw the hose. It was sucking the water back in and us with it.
“Sarah, deep breath!” Misty screamed.
I inhaled.
Underwater again, I hit the side of the hose. My body was pulled in before I could even think of grabbing it. The seal went with me, and now that I wasn’t panicking I could feel the way it twisted so it took the brunt of any impact. But we were underwater again and I couldn’t breathe and if we were being put in a tank there’d be no air!
The seal let go. The seal let go and it was all I could do to keep my last few bubbles of air. It was pitch black and the water stung my eyes. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I was helpless!
There were vibrations through the water, like something breaking. The current carried me and I felt when Seel wrapped itself around me again.
And then we were in the air and falling!
“Ooouuucchhh!” I whined. The landing had been softer than I could have hoped for, but I’d gotten banged up all the same.
“Seel. Seel?” Seel poked me hard enough to make me roll onto my side.
“OOOoowww!” I whined slightly louder. My lungs were on fire. My vision was all blurry.
“Seel!”
A feathery-soft touch filled my mind.
Are you okay?
“Huh?” I craned my neck up.
Whatever it was was a blur of white and green and bits of red.
I blinked again and it was gone, along with its (her?) feathery-soft touch in my mind.
“AAAAAAHHHHH!” I jumped half a mile as Team Rocket came shooting out of the hose. They blasted off into the sky, out of sight before I could even start to understand what was going on.
“…Ow.” I sniffed.
I laid my head down and waited for somebody to find me.
I hadn’t inhaled a lot of water, thankfully. The doctor cleared me quickly. I had some bruises but nothing to be too concerned about. He warned me to watch out for pneumonia and allowed me to sign out.
“Sarah! You’re okay!” Ash wrapped himself in a hug around me. I was in a spare set of Misty’s clothes, given all of mine had been thoroughly soaked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry to worry you.” I smiled, trying to shake the thoughts of my past out of my head.
“Are you sure you’re well enough to be leaving already?” Brock asked with concern.
“The doctor said I’m fine, just bruised up a bit.” I nodded shakily.
“Come on, you’re staying at my family’s place for the night.” Misty pulled Ash off of me and slung an arm over my shoulder. “I asked Daisy to put your clothes through the wash, and here!” She handed me my belt and pokemon. “I figured you’d want this back.”
“Yeah, thanks!” My voice cracked a little. Chlorine had done me no favors. It was a relief to know Bulbasaur, Eevee, Spearow, and Cleffairy were alright.
“We don’t want you catching a chill so let’s hurry back.” Brock decided. “When we get there I’ll whip you up a batch of my famous Brock Stew, guaranteed to prevent any and all sniffles!”
“Sounds good.” We’d missed lunch during all this, as my stomach helpfully reminded everyone.
Pop
“Vee!” Eevee immediately jumped onto my shoulder and made himself comfortable by wrapping his tail around my neck. It did help with the chill a little.
“Pika, pikapi!”
“Vee, Eevee!”
“Pikachu and Eevee were worried too!” Ash laughed.
“We all were.” Misty nodded seriously, giving me a little more space. “And as soon as you’re fully recovered I am going to teach you how to swim. No excuses!”
“None here, promise.” I shook my head. Yeah, I really didn’t want to run the risk of drowning again. That was…
If I’d swallowed more water. If I’d hit my head against the metal edges of the hose. If Seel hadn’t cushioned my fall.
And what or who was that back there?
We went to Misty’s house and had a wonderful dinner. My clothes were washed and returned, which was relieving. Misty and I were the same size but I wasn’t used to having so much exposed skin. I got chilly easily.
Now I’m in her bedroom. We’re sharing the bed since neither of us could convince the other to take it instead. It’s warm and sorta comforting to sleep right beside someone. I have to keep the light of my pokedex dim to avoid waking her though.
After scrolling through 177 entries I was certain I found out what the white/green blur was.
Xatu, the Mystic Pokemon. It has the enigmatic power of foreseeing the future. Some people in different lands have long believed that Xatu are emissaries from another world.
Emissary from another world huh? Sounds like the kind of pokemon a chaos spirit from another world would send. I guess Discord sent her to keep an eye on me. Good thing too otherwise…