Sincerity
by Leto
Part 6 - Misty's view
It's nice to take a break from travelling; sleep in a normal bed, eat normal meals. Brock's cooking is nice and all, but it's so relaxing to be able to eat something without having to go hunting for vegetables or firewood first.
But, I couldn't stay like this all the time. I have to travel. I especially can't stay here! It's great to be home but my sisters are driving me crazy as usual. As soon as I walked in the door it was:
"Misty! Wow, you're back! You, like, look terrible! Your hair's, like, all messed up, and you're still wearing that awful outfit you like so much... I guess no Pokemon journey's gonna help you get a clue."
Uh sure, nice to see you too, Daisy.
Ash and Brock are staying at my house too, while we're in Cerulean. While we're waiting for Pokemon League to become open to competitors, we don't really have anything to do so we're just wandering from place to place. We were in Pewter City about two months ago, in Pallet a month before that, and now we're staying here for a while.
The two boys are totally overwhelmed by my sisters. Ash is getting annoyed by their constant "your hat head is terrible! Let us give you a haircut!" while Brock is just overwhelmed by any girls. You'd think he'd have taken the hint after being brushed off for the hundredth time but Brock never learns...
Right now I'm giving my sisters training tips and doing some gym battles. They should be able to run my gym properly; I don't want it to get a bad reputation.
My sisters have seen through my 'I'm only following Ash to get my bike back' story. But now Lily thinks I have a crush on him. As if! Okay, sure I'd keep travelling with Ash and Brock if I got my bike back, but it's because it's fun, and it's nice to have someone to travel with...
Although, Ash annoys me so much! He thinks he's Pokemon Master material but he doesn't take anything seriously and his strategy is terrible. I offered to help him once but he wouldn't listen. Pokemon Masters have to be serious and dedicated... he may be dedicated but an ambition is worth NOTHING if there's nothing to help you reach it.
At least with Brock along, I can ignore Ash if I want to. Better than if the two of us were alone. Although, if the two of us were alone, we'd have probably killed each other before reaching Vermillion. It's all his fault; he's so stubborn!
But yeah, I'm glad to have Brock along. But why is it he looks at every girl but not me?
What am I thinking? Brock's just a pal. But even at the start... it's not Brock that I mind, it's everyone.
The thing is, I acted like I never minded my sisters being so popular and gorgeous... but I was always the runt of the family. And it's really hard to get anyone's attention when you have three older sisters who are good at almost everything.
The three girls got to go to Pokemon Tech but my parents wouldn't pay for me because they thought I 'wouldn't fit in and I'd be unhappy there'. I dunno, maybe I would've been, but I didn't even get the chance...
The only thing I've got that my sisters don't have is ambition. And right now? Right now I can't even tell anyone what my ambition is. I'm sure Ash would get mad at me if he knew. Hey! Ash would get mad at me? I should go and tell him right away! ^_^
Seriously, he's not as bad as I make him out to be, but he sure can be annoying. I can never support him fully though.
Man, I wish there was someone to support me! I can't tell my friends my ambition, and my family thinks I'm wasting my time since I've already done well enough for myself being a Cerulean Gym leader.
Right now, since I don't have travelling to keep my mind off it, my thoughts can come out, but they jump all over the place... Maybe I should stop feeling sorry for myself, but in my head's the only place to do it.
*bang*
What was that?! Team Rocket?!
Oh, it's just Ash slamming the door. He doesn't need to be that loud. This isn't even his house.
Boy, I'm sure getting nervy.
"Misty, Brock, guess what!" he yells. "There's a really rare Pokemon nearby and *I'm* gonna capture it!"
I roll my eyes and go to find him. Brock comes out another doorway into the same room at the same time as me, and we both share a 'not again' glance. Ash runs in and starts babbling.
"Have you guys ever heard of Mewtwo? It's a super powerful Pokemon and the only one of its kind! That Gary thinks he's gonna capture it but we can get in there and do it first! Boy, with a Pokemon like Mewtwo on my team I'll have even more chance of becoming Pokemon Master!"
"Pika!"
"Of course, even without Mewtwo, I'd win 'cos of Pikachu here, but wouldn't it be really great to have such a powerful Pokemon, and -"
Brock looks surprised and interrupts. "I've never heard of this Mewtwo before. Are you sure it's not just a myth?"
"It's not a myth," I say.
Of course it's not a myth. When I was younger, I heard horror stories about it. My sisters always told me scary stories about it to keep me quiet; you know, that's what sisters do. I've grown out of being scared of the "fearsome invincible Pokemon that attacks girls who are rude to their sisters in their sleep" but even if it's not as bad as they said, I know the truth. I've seen the survivors.
"You've seen it?!" Ash asks, sounding shocked.
"Well, not in person... er, Pokemon. But, every self respecting citizen of Cerulean City has heard about it! The newspaper often prints stories about new hospitalised people and Pokemon that are put out of action for months..."
"What?"
"Well, if it's so rare and powerful, of course lots of people try to catch it, but none of them ever have... there's no way you can do it Ash, so you may as well not even bother."
"What?! Pikachu and I'll do great! That Mewtwo has obviously never encountered a Pokemon trainer like ME before!"
"Actually, lots of Pokemon Masters have tried to capture it but none of them succeeded either. One of them who won the championship title three times running, he came back with his Pokemon all torn up. He went on the news and warned people not to go after Mewtwo. He had terrible bruises all over his face and second degree burns all over his body. He had to get a skin graft."
"Woah..."
"Anyway, this is just another ploy to try to catch up with Gary Oak, isn't it Ash?"
He looks guilty, then annoyed. "Catch up? Whaddya mean, catch up? I'm not behind!"
I roll my eyes. "Sure, Ash. But it seems pretty shallow to want a Pokemon just to keep up with your rival."
He sighs, then actually concedes "Maybe you're right."
Now it's my turn to sigh, but in relief. He may be annoying but I don't want him - err, that is, Pikachu and his other Pokemon - to get hurt.
"But it can't hurt to try."
I smack my forehead with one hand. Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn! Seeing that I'm starting to see red, Brock steps in, ever the voice of reason.
"Can't hurt to try? Were you listening to Misty just then?"
"Yeah, but she's just trying to talk me out of going! I'm sure it's not as bad as what she says... she's just trying to scare me. Well, it won't work! I, Ash Ketchum, hereby declare that I *will* capture Mewtwo! I will BE a POKEMON MASTER!"
Ash marches out the room. Brock and I groan. Then he pokes his head back in the room and adds sheepishly "You guys'll help me, right?"
"Ugh," we both moan, and fall backwards in frustration.
There's no reasoning with him, but I suppose we'll have to come. I don't even want him to catch Mewtwo really, but if we go he *might* avoid killing himself. I gotta try to talk him out of it, futile though it'll probably be.
"Ash," I say, "don't do this! Mewtwo might not even be there any more! I haven't been in Cerulean for a while..."
"Let's ask," he says eagerly. "Mrs Hanaseaaaaa!"
I groan as my mother appears. She looks slightly frazzled; I would too if I had two boys suddenly appear in my house, one of whom acted as if he OWNED the place.
"Excuse me, Mrs Hanasea," Ash says politely, "would you be able to tell me if Mewtwo lives in a cave near here still?"
"Oh goodness, I don't know," Mom replies, "maybe you should ask the three girls. They're trainers so they'd have more idea about Pokemon than I would. Why do you ask, Ash?"
"I'm gonna capture it!"
She looks horrified. Mom's a nurse, you see, and she's also seen firsthand the harm people have encountered who face Mewtwo.
"You can't do that," she warns, "a trainer as young as you... you're unlikely to make it back alive."
"Why does nobody believe in me?!" says Ash, sounding sad. He's really got his heart set on this, but it's a stupid idea. Before I can say anything else, he runs off again.
"I hope he hasn't gone off to challenge Mewtwo by himself," says Brock, and with an unspoken agreement, we both take off after him.
"Wait! Misty!" calls Mom, "don't go! That Mewtwo's too dangerous! You might get hurt!"
I can't listen to her, and as I'm nearly out of hearing range, I coulda SWORN I heard her say "there's no reasoning with her".
Huh, you'd think I was like Ash, the way she talks... but we have NOTHING in common.
Fortunately, Ash hasn't left. He's talking to my sisters. Brock and I run up and overhear the end of Rose saying:
"Like, totally! Just last week I heard, like, that Team Rocket staged its biggest attack on it, but they all, like, came back totally injured, or not at all!"
"TEAM ROCKET?!" I screech. "What are those three doing?"
"Those three?" Daisy looks confused. "Sis, where have you *been*? Team Rocket is, like, a whole organisation! It has hundreds of known members!"
"Hundreds," I gasp.
"Daisy," says Brock, in a familiar tone of voice which makes me groan inwardly, "such a lovely girl shouldn't have to know about such terrible things. Allow me to -"
"Piss off, Brock," she snaps, before he can finish.
Well said.
Lily tells Ash "Mewtwo is, like, totally real, but we used to scare Misty with stories about it. It was really funny, she'd, like, be totally believing us and thought it was gonna come and attack her in her sleep!"
Brock and Ash snigger and I yell "Shut up, Lily! You don't have to tell them that!"
"Ah ha, so that's why you didn't want me to catch Mewtwo," says Ash triumphantly, "you were scared!"
Daisy squeaks "Catch MEWTWO?!"
"Yup!"
All three yell "ARE YOU OUTTA YOUR MIND?!"
Ash backs away nervously, but I'm just relieved that other people share my thinking.
"We have to go right away," he says. "Gary will be going very soon so we have to go now if we wanna get in first."
"We DON'T wanna 'get in first'!" Brock and I both snap.
But we can't let him go alone. So Brock and I agree to go with him in the end. First though, I have to see about something.
"Togepi, you stay here," I tell the little Pokemon. "I'm going away now and I might not come back, but you'll be happy here with -"
I can't even get to finish, because Togepi starts crying really hard. There's nothing that can be done, though, so I put Togepi gently in Lily's arms and turn away with Brock and Ash.
"Don't go," says Rose. "You're crazy."
Daisy says "You've really got guts, I'm impressed."
Lily says "Please come back safely."
They do care, even if they don't often show it.
Mom comes out, gives me a hug, then lets me go. I'm glad, but I don't want to leave the safety of my home. At least she's giving me my freedom. She gave my sisters the opportunities but she's giving me the freedom to make my own, so that's worth something.
We walk until my family's out of sight. I sure hope I get to see them again. A sick feeling has knotted up in my stomach, the feeling of fear... I'm leaving my family to go and face the creature of my nightmares just because of this arrogant, whining, stuck up pig called ASH KETCHUM.
Why?
Why am I doing this?
By the look on Brock's face, he's asking himself a similar question, but he can't feel as bad as I do. He doesn't know about Mewtwo. Neither does Ash. We are walking to our grave. We are walking to our grave. There's no way to put it more lightly.
I'm shaking really badly and I realise to my surprise that Ash is too. He's really scared, and Pikachu doesn't look much better, but he's braver than me, I think. Or more stubborn.
"We can do it, guys," he whispers. I don't know why he's whispering.
As we walk, I remember Ash taming Ponyta and managing to ride it. I remember him winning the race against all odds. I remember him leading everyone in a battle against Team Rocket agents on the Saint Anne. I remember him hugging Caterpie and telling Pikachu he'd let him stay in the forest and running to protect Bulbasaur from the Venusaur's vines.
I remember us - Ash, Brock and I - taking care of Togepi. I remember us saving a town from Tentacruel. I remember us taking hands while Gyarados used Dragon Rage and staying together. I remember us cheering Jigglypuff up and teaching it to sing, us waking up Snorlax, us in Lavender Town successfully getting Haunter and returning to Saffron together even though it scared us...
Friendship and teamwork is important. Maybe we can do this after all.
Ash smiles shakily at me and to my surprise, takes my hand. Usually I'd smack him over the head but we need each other if we're going to get out of this alive. I know there's no way we're going to turn back now, even if none of us actually thinks we can do it, but we've made the decision so we won't back out.
"We'll make it," says Ash, and that is what we're going to have to do.