chapter2

The One

Chapter 2

   Upon entering the city of Mt. Silver Landing, just as the last rays of sunlight were tucked in for the night by a sheet of darkness, the group was struck with a familiarity. It was strange, this city, how much it felt like the cities back home. It was about the size of Vermillion, bigger than a town but small for a city, with the nonchalant atmosphere of Pewter. Yet at the same time, the night brought it alive like Saffron, and the tall buildings resembled some of the high rises of Viridian, although they couldn’t be deemed skyscrapers. In literally one step, the group went from a rural country road into a bright, bustling city. And even though it was a big place for not knowing one’s way around, it wasn’t very hard to find the pokemon center.
    Misty [complaining as usual]: “Now how are we supposed to find the pokemon center when we don’t even know our way around town?”
    Brock: “Chill Misty. We’ll just find a map of the town or something. Or I’m sure we can ask somebody. Wha?”
He looked over at Ash, who was feeling overly confident that night and took it upon himself to find out where the pokemon center was.
    Ash: “Go, Noctowl!”
In a beam of cherry light shooting forth from Ash’s pokeball, Noctowl appeared as glistening and graceful as ever.
    Ash: “Noctowl, fly high up into the sky and look around for the city’s pokemon center.”
    Brock: “Why didn’t I think of that?”
    A few minutes later, after flying around high above the buildings, Noctowl descended back down to Ash.
    Ash: “Well, did you find one Noctowl?”
    Noctowl: “Coooo!”
    The owl pokemon flew a little higher and farther to the street lying before them. He led the trio to a small square in the road with a Magikarp fountain in the center spitting a thin ribbon of pristine water into the air. Noctowl led them down the street to the right, and left at the next intersection. After walking down the street, they reached another intersection, but this time they met a traffic circle with a dense patch of trees on a minature, manicured lawn in the center. There were plenty of people walking about, but with low amounts of automotive traffic, they were able to cross the traffic circle with ease. Once around the small patch of trees, they saw it. The Mt. Silver Landing Pokemon Center, surrounded by some tall maple trees and perched high on a small hill with concrete steps and a walkway that led right up to the double, glass powered doors.
    Ash: “Thank you Noctowl. You can have a good rest now. Return!”
    Once again, Noctowl was enveloped in a cherry red light and was laser beamed back into his pokeball.
    Ash: [turning around to smile pridefully at his friends] “See you guys? That wasn’t that hard, was it? You all need to have more faith.”
    Brock: “Oh brother.”
    Misty: “Ash, you just have too much energy for traveling for three days on the road and getting next to no sleep.”
    Ash [laughing in an almost eccentric way]: “Hehe, it’s called sleep deprivation and Coca-Cola, Misty. Hehheh!”
    Pikachu: “Pika CHAaa.”
    Ash [abruptly stopping laughing]: “Pikachu, you ok buddy?”
    Brock: “Ash, he’s just exhausted. He could use a lot of rest here and maybe some vitamins from, hhhhhhhhhhhuuuuuhh [breathing in from surprise]!”
    Ash: “What is it Brock?”
    Brock [with streams of tears rolling down his face]: “I completely forgot that we were going to see Nurse Joy! I’m so happy!”
    Ash and Misty fell to the ground.
    Brock [running toward the door, yelling]: “I’m coming Nurse Joy!”
    * Boom!Boom!BOOM! *
    A huge explosion had just erupted from somewhere near by and was so powerful that it shook the ground and sent our heroes falling to the earth. A few minutes later they looked up, just in time to see the double doors of the pokemon center open with a very worried looking Nurse Joy running outside.
    Nurse Joy: “Are you all alright?”
    Brock [leaping up in front of her and grabbing her hands]: “I am now that you’re here. Just seeing your pretty smile is enough to heal my deepest wound. That explosion just now can not even match the power of the love I feel for you in my heart.”
    Misty [grabbing Brock’s ear and dragging him away]: “Ok Romeo, let Juliet have some breathing room so she can do her job.”
    Brock [whining as he’s led away]: “Hey, she’s a nurse. That explosion didn’t hurt anybody else, so she can take care of me!”
    Nurse Joy [sweat-dropping]: “Hehheh, um, well anyway, speaking of the explosion, that’s what I came out here for. And then after seeing you three, I wanted to know if you all were ok.”
    Brock: “Awww, she was concerned about me. See Misty, we’re meant for each other.”
    Ash and Misty: “Can it Brock! [looking at each other and blushing] Huh?”
    Joy: [watching them and smiling]: “Anyway, I guess you three must be tired. May I ask you your names?”
    Brock: “I’m Brock the Rock and I’m here to protect you against dangerous unknown explosions.”
    Misty [whacking Brock over the head and onto the ground]: “And I’m obviously here to protect womankind. [straightening up and smiling innocently toward Joy] Excuse my friend. He can’t control his caveman instincts. My name is Misty.”
    Ash: “And my name is Ash from the town of Pallet.”
    Nurse Joy: “Well, it’s very nice to meet you three. You seem like nice pokemon trainers. [looking down at Ash’s feet] And who is this little guy?”
    Ash looked down and picked up his little Pika-pal. “This is my buddy Pikachu. He needs a lot of rest. You see, we’ve been traveling for three days on the road from the Johto League Championship and…”
    Nurse Joy: “No way! You’re Ash Ketchum, the Johto League Champion?”
    Ash [hesitantly]: “Well, yes.”
    Nurse Joy: “Wow! I was watching the Championship on T.V. the whole time it was on and I thought you were so cool! Can I have your autograph? Wait a sec. Oh gosh, listen to me! I can’t believe I’m acting like that when you have tired pokemon. Here, come inside and I’ll find you some spare overnight rooms while I rejuvenate your pokemon.”
    Once inside, Nurse Joy ran behind the desk to fill out entry papers for the trainers and their pokemon.
    Nurse Joy: “Ok, all done. May I have your pokemon please.”
    The nurse placed Ash’s pokeballs on one tray, put Misty’s on another, and used another tray for Brock’s.
    Nurse Joy: “Pikachu. You have to come with me now.”
    Pikachu slowly opened his tired little eyes and groggily looked up at Ash from his place in Ash’s arms.
    Ash: [scratching behind Pikachu’s ears]: “You have a good night sleep now, ok?”
    Pikachu: “Chu.”
    Pikachu reluctantly hopped out of Ash’s comfortable embrace and onto the tray with Ash’s other pokemon.
    Nurse Joy [calling toward the door behind her front desk]: “Chansey.”
    Chansey [coming from the door]: “Chansey?”
    Joy: “Chansey, will you take these two trays for me to get revitalized?”
    Chansey: “Chansey, chance!”
    Joy [toward Ash, Misty, and Brock]: “Be back in just a moment.”
    She and Chansey took the pokemon through the back door into the revitalization room while Ash and Misty plopped down on a waiting room/front lobby sofa and Brock crashed on a cushiony Lazy Boy chair. Nurse Joy came out minutes later and scoured through her desk drawers to find room keys.
    Joy [mostly to herself]: “Oh gosh, I just know those keys are in one of these drawers. They just have to be here somewhere.”
    Brock [whispering to Ash and Misty]: “Hey guys, does this Joy seem a bit different to you all?”
    Misty [whispering a sarcastic reply]: “Well I don’t know Brock. She seems like the others to me, as none of them are romantically interested in you.”
    Brock: “Yeah but, hey, wait a minute! Ok, besides the obvious. Doesn’t she seem different though?”
    Ash put his forefinger under his chin and thought for a moment. “Yeah, now that you mention it, she does seem a little more ditzy.”
    Misty [with a devilish grin]: “What? You mean more like you?”
    Ash: “Hey! That was uncalled for.”
    Brock: “Can it you guys. Wait, what do you mean ditzy?!”
    Ash [grinning nervously at Brock’s reaction]: “Well, uh, I, I just meant that she’s not as composed or organized as the other Nurse Joys.”
    Nurse Joy: “Your right Ash, I’m not.”
    The three looked up in surprise to see a smiling Nurse Joy standing near them in the lobby. She had one key in her hand.
    Joy: “Well, I finally found one of the room keys, but I must agree with you. I’m not organized in the least bit. I just started to hang the entry and release sheets beside the back door so I wouldn’t loose them. And I definitely don’t have the composure that my older relatives do. Say, have you ever met the Joy in Vermillion City?”
    Ash, Misty, and Brock: “Yeah.”
    Joy: “Really? She’s my older sister! I just took over here for my cousin who moved away, so I have a lot to learn from my sis. But like, isn’t it funny how she and I are sisters and we work in sister cities? Hehehe!”
    Ash, Misty, and Brock [sweat-dropping]: “uhhhhh…”
    Ash: “Anyway, Nurse Joy? Can you tell us more about that explosion? What’s going on here? Where it came from?”
    Nurse Joy got a more serious expression and looked him straight in the eyes. “I don’t know Ash.”
    Ash: “Wha?”
    Misty: “But, wouldn’t an explosion that big come from a big city project or something that would have to be authorized and everyone would know about it?”
    Nurse Joy: “I don’t know Misty. No body knows about them.”
    Brock: “Them?”
    Joy: “Yes. They’ve been going on for several weeks now. Before, it was just one big one a day, but now there might be four or five. No one has a clue what it is, but there’s something else strange about it all.”
    Misty: “What’s that?”
    Joy: “Well, it seems that in the past week, there have been many Rockets lurking around the city.”
    Ash [scowling]: “I just knew it had to be them! Who else would go and terrorize a city like that?”
    Brock: “But, can’t the police just take the Rockets to jail or something?”
    Joy: “No, because the ones you see around the city aren’t visibly doing anything wrong. The police can’t take them in for doing nothing. But the whole situation really worries me though.”
    Ash: “Where are the explosions coming from?”
    Joy: “That’s the scary part. They’re coming from the mountains behind the city. I don’t know exactly where, but many of the city dwellers are afraid that they are dynamiting Mt. Silver, the mountain this city is named after.”
    Brock: “I’ve heard of it before. There are supposed to be dangerously strong pokemon that live there. It’s said that only the strongest trainers or pokemon masters can survive it, but nobody’s tried in decades, or maybe longer.”
    Joy: “That’s right, and if they are dynamiting that cave, then those pokemon will get really angry. If they capture them, it will destroy the balance those pokemon bring to nature, and if they don’t capture them…”
    Misty: “They could take their anger out on the city…”
    Ash [bolting out of his seat and looking angry]: “Well, I’m not gonna let that happen! As Johto League Champion, I’m going to right wrongs and triumph over evil. No wait, that didn’t come out right. Well anyway, I’m going to go up to that mountain and teach Team Rocket a thing or two.”
    Misty [jumping up to meet Ash]: “Ash! You’re so cocky! You can’t possibly think that you can defeat all of Team Rocket AND those super almighty powerful pokemon. You’ll get yourself killed!” ~Uh oh, I think I’ve said too much.~
    Ash knew it too. “So Misty, you’re actually worried about me?”
    Misty had to recover from her slip. “Of course I’m worried Ash! You’re going to let your ego kill not only you but me, Brock, and all of our pokemon.”
    Joy [laughing and smiling]: “Awww, you two are so cute together.”
    Ash and Misty [looking at each other, then looking at Joy]: “What! Me with him/her? Never!”
    Brock [jumping up to meet Joy and grabbing her hands again]: “You know, I think we look really cute together too!”
    Misty [grabbing Brock’s ear again and dragging him away]: “She has enough to deal with without being harassed by you, Brock the Rock.”
    Joy laughed nervously. “Ok you guys, time for bed. Let me show you to your room. Sorry there’s only one bedroom that’s available, or that I can open rather. Hehheh. But there’s two bunk beds in there, I think.”
    After walking down the hallway and passing two doors on the right, Joy stopped at the third. “Here we are. Ash, I’ll give you the key. Just drop it by the desk in the morning and I’ll have your pokemon ready.”
    Ash: “Thanks Nurse Joy.”
    Misty: “Yes, thank you very much.”
    Brock: “Sweet dreams Nurse Joy. Try not to pine over me too much.”
    Misty [shoving Brock in the room]: “Ok Brock! Get in there.”
    Nurse Joy just laughed and walked back down the hallway to the front as Ash walked into the room behind Brock and Misty.

Chapter 3

Back to Your Heart