Accepted and
Forgotten
Part 7
*****
Mrs. Ketchum was struck
with awe as she looked the miraculous resemblance the two had with one
another. If it weren’t for the
difference in skin tone and hair color, she would have sworn she had given
birth to twins and never knew about it.
But she was sure she only gave birth to one child; she was sure, she
wouldn’t ever make that kind of mistake.
Misty walked over as
Satoshi finally got a grip of his senses.
She walked him over to the couch and sat him down all the while holding
his hand as if he was just a child.
Afterwards, she offered Satoshi a drink of water and went into the
kitchen.
When Misty came back with
the cup of water in hand, Mrs. Ketchum was sat down besides Satoshi. Ash sat the opposite of the two and was
waiting for Misty to come back with Satoshi’s drink. Ash wanted to be sure that everyone was there
to tell the story.
“Ash…” Mrs. Ketchum said
starring one to the other and once more after, “…Ash… I mean Ashes. What’s going on here? Did you capture a Ditto?”
This was exactly what Ash
expected her reaction to be like. In
fact, the first reaction to seeing Satoshi, Ash could only think of a Ditto as
the answer to the other boy wearing his face.
But he could talk, there had to be another explanation. Or maybe, it was a Ditto that had learned how
to speak human language just like Meowth. The thought plagued Ash until Satoshi’s story
was revealed that night.
“No, mom, he isn’t a
Ditto,” answered Ash.
Satoshi took little offense
to the statement Mrs. Ketchum said about him.
It was like a mother missing, forgetting her son’s birthday or a mother
forgetting to tuck you in when you’re still very young. A moment ago, she was telling him that she
would be there whenever, wherever and be his mother, now he was just a
‘Ditto’. It hurt a bit, but just a bit.
Ash had told his mother
about Mewtwo before; how could he not tell her about
seeing the most powerful pokemon in the world? When he told her about his encounter with Mewtwo, Ash never really mentioned Team Rocket being
associated. He thought it was best and
not to worry his mother who was at ends with herself most of the times when Ash
was gone. To tell her of his encounters
with Team Rocket would just have her hair turn white.
Seeing that Satoshi wasn’t
quite up to telling his story, Ash began for him. Ash gave her all the details including that
part about Giovanni and his attempt at trying to capture all the pokemon on the
Of course he didn’t tell
her all the aspects of what happened.
Some of the things that happened could only be kept in the circle of
Ash, Misty and Satoshi. There was really
any point to tell that side. Besides,
Ash had gotten over it and knew why Misty had done what she had done. Ash had believed that she did what she did to
comfort whatever was bothering Satoshi and for that he was sort of glad she
cared so much. Also, he took what happened
at the airport to mind. It might have
been the same situation that happened to Misty that he’d done what he had done
with May.
As Ash began to end the
story, Delia had begun to make physical comparisons between the two. She’d notice their features look so
alike. There were just a few things that
separated them. The most obvious was the
ears Satoshi had and Ash didn’t. Then,
it was the hair that seemed to jump up from the picture. Ash had natural dark hair, while Satoshi had
a lighter blonde shade than the yellow furred ears. Also, it seemed that Satoshi’s skin tone was
much lighter.
Ash got to the part in the
story where Satoshi was taken captive.
Everyone else noticed it except for Satoshi who was looking down at the
ground, too afraid to stare into the eyes of someone he’d never known he’d care
so much for.
“…Giovanni used him as if
he were some sort of bait,” Ash said continuing his story. “He didn’t care what happened as long as he
got what he wanted.”
Satoshi tried to remember what
Giovanni did to him, but at the moment when all that happened, he was actually
half conscious.
Delia took in the story as
much as she could. From each passage of
what happened to another, a beat in her heart skipped again and again to know
that it was happening to the boy sitting just a foot from her. She didn’t know exactly what to think. It’s true, the boy wasn’t her real son, but
at the same time, she cared for what had happened to him as if it had happened
to Ash. To have her know that her son
was suffering just about killed her.
After Ash was finish
telling his story, Delia was at a lost for word. It had been the shock that had done it to
her. It was the shock of seeing two
Ashes sitting just apart from each other.
It was also the shock of how disgusting it was for that man to have used that boy for his own purposes.
At the moment, though the
features between Ash and the boy were quite noticeable, Delia didn’t see things
that way. All she saw when she looked at
the boy was her son. She saw her son as
if Ash had been tied up and shown for the entire world to see. Tied up to be used as bait
for a madman’s wild ambition.
There was no such distinction between them.
The room became silent when
Ash finally finished his story. Everyone
was quiet as they waited for Delia to respond.
Though, she didn’t respond at all.
She just sat there looking at the four of them in awe.
“Mrs. Ketchum,” said Marene finally ending the quiet. “I know you don’t know me. By the way, my name is Marene. I just wanted to tell you…” Marene paused as
she readied herself for something she didn’t want to do. It was as if she were keeping a secret the
way she was hesitant on trying to speak her mind. “…I wanted to tell you why we’re here. I also want to tell you about my friend
Satoshi.”
“…go…go ahead dear,” said
Mrs. Ketchum as she pondered to whom Satoshi was.
“I’ve known Satoshi,” Marene pointed to him, “ever since I left on my Pokemon Journey. He
was always a good friend who I could always count on.”
Satoshi lifted his head
just a bit to see Marene speak of him. He was beginning to become embarrassed.
“From that day on, I’ve
traveled with him sharing both good times and bad times. I’ve considered him, now, not just a friend
or a fellow traveler, but as family. I
consider him that because he’s a good person full of courage and respect. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be here
right now. Well, …the
thing I wanted to tell you is; despite the fact that Satoshi would never tell
me anything about himself, I could always tell there was something sad about
him. Even at happy occasions, I noticed
that he was feeling empty. It was only
the same time I met Ash that I found out that he was a clone.” Marene paused at
the idea that Satoshi was a clone of Ash.
“No!” Marene yelled out loud not accepting the
idea. “No, Satoshi isn’t a clone. Satoshi is an individual who has his own
soul. He has his own life. It makes be both mad and sad when people call
him that. Especially when Satoshi
considers him self that.”
Satoshi lifted his head
more to see how angry and upset Marene was. It looked as if she were almost in tears as
she claimed Satoshi’s existence. With
all the recent events that have happened in the last couple of days, Satoshi
forgot that Marene was the brood type. The way things just fell in the way of
Satoshi left Marene in the background for some
time. She wasn’t going to let her
stubbornness be forgotten.
“Did you hear what I said
Satoshi. You’re not fake! You are a real person who has real
friends. I’m your friend!”
Satoshi looked at her and
she was crying. She was also trying to
hide it, but Satoshi could tell she was crying.
He had spent enough time with her that he’d be able to tell what she was
doing. Marene, Satoshi whispered to himself.
“Satoshi was with me this
whole time,…but…but I know that he always wanted
more. He was alone in the world and all
he had to rely on was me. I know that
isn’t enough. That’s why… that’s why we
came here. I…I love him…like a brother,
but it’s not enough. It’s not enough
when he knows there is more in his life if he followed it. So…, I want to ask if…if you would…”
As Marene
spoke, Delia felt the emptiness the boy must have felt. To know that someone you love is out there in
the world and you’re afraid to say something because it’s not the right
place. Delia imagined the boy alone with
himself enough to keep his secret from the only person he had.
“Why…?” Delia spoke out
interrupting Marene finally unable to keep quiet from
hearing such a sad and cold story.
“Why…” Delia repeated herself with a crack in her voice.
Satoshi looked at her and
she looked right back into his eyes that were now fully concentrated on
her. Satoshi could tell that she had a
sparkle in her eyes and Delia could tell there was a hurt in his that’s been throbbing
for the longest time. Delia just
couldn’t shake the fact that she was being a bad mother, even though she never
knew of his existence. It’s a mother’s
responsibilities to know what her child doesn’t want her to know and Delia
believed she had failed in that responsibility.
“Why didn’t you ever tell
me about you?” Delia asked as she frantically grabbed on to the boy’s hand
squeezing them hard determined not to let go.
“You could have called and said that you were alive.” Delia sobbed a lot and had her words almost
mixed to the point where she was spitting.
There was nothing close to expressing how awful she felt for not being
there for the boy. She wanted to know
his whole story. She wanted to know
everything he’d gone through and afterwards tell her she was sorry for all the
things she had missed.
Satoshi couldn’t think or
react fast enough with all that was happening.
At the moment, he had felt accepted and the gap that was in his heart
was starting to finally fill. Another
part of him wanted to answer all her questions but he knew there wasn’t any
excuse for what he had not done to fill that hole earlier.
Satoshi grabbed on to her
hands even more determined not to let go.
Satoshi had found his mother. He
had found a missing piece of him he’d never believed he’d ever put
together. It was just too fantastic that
it might have been a dream. He
remembered when he first realized that he wasn’t who he thought he was. When he did, all he could think was that he
was alone, unwanted and not fit to be alive.
But now, it started to make sense that he was alive. He had his friends, his brother and a loving
mother.
Like instinct, Satoshi
called on her, “I’m sorry, mom. I’m
sorry.” It was all that came to mind as
he cried out mom to her for the very
first time.
Ash watched the two and
wiped a tear from his cheek. It was a
grand sight and Ash imagined the possibilities it meant. It meant he had a brother to talk to. It meant that he wasn’t the only child. There were millions of things they could do
with each other. There were also the
others that didn’t know about Satoshi. Ash
thought about Tracey. He thought about
Prof. Oak and Gary who had no clue whatsoever.
Max probably knew by now with May as his sister. It was a new life for the Ketchum
family. It was a new life for the one
they never knew they would care so much about.
Misty wasn’t as reserved as
Ash was. She watched the two interact
with one another and that just made her heart swell up with happiness. She was so touched by the moment she never
thought once against giving Ash a quick kiss on the lips and congratulating
him.
Ash was caught off guard
and didn’t take in what happened just a moment ago. He had registered that Misty had kissed him,
but as he touched his lips and tasted the tear that had dripped down to her
lips and was now on his, all he could say was; “salty…”
Delia was on her knees
holding on to Satoshi begging him for forgiveness for not being there. Satoshi was on the couch begging for the same
thing for not telling her about him.
“Ash, come here,” said
Delia hardly able to speak.
Ash did as he was told and
walked up to his mother. Delia grabbed
him and sat the two boys side to side.
Ash looked over to Satoshi and saw that he was still whimpering. He was never so happy to see another guy cry.
Delia looked at the both of
them sitting side by side and wrapped her arms around them in a big
embrace. “I love both of you so
much. Please, never be afraid to tell
your mother what’s happening in your lives.
I’ll always be here for you. For both of you.”
Marene was quietly crying as well. She was happy for her best friend, but at the
same time, she knew what this meant. She
would give her life for Satoshi, but she would never give away Satoshi’s heart
if she had it. This was her giving
Satoshi away.
*****
Location and Setting: An hour later, Delia decided there was no way
she’d be able to go shopping now with the new development. Instead, she had called Tracey and asked him
to go grocery shopping for her. This was
normal. Tracey had done things for her
all the time. When she had called, she
had finally stopped crying, but her body had developed the harmless shakes and
a spare amount of Goosebumps. Tracey
knew that something had happened and that she was crying before she had
called. He was frightened for her, but
when she told him it was okay and that he was invited for a feast along with
Gary and Prof. Oak later that night, he knew he could trust her.
Misy opened the door to let Tracey in. He was surprised that she was there and
became more curious as to what Mrs. Ketchum was so flustered over. He couldn’t quite develop some sort of guess.
“Hey, Misty,” greeted
Tracey, “what brings you here? Does that
mean Ash is also back from the trip?”
“Yeah, we just arrived this
morning,” answered Misty not giving a hint at what he was in for.
“You know, when Mrs.
Ketchum called me, I was worried that something might have happened. She sounded so flustered, but at the same
time she seemed cheerful on the phone.
What happened?”
“Well, you’ll know in a
minute. For now, thanks for getting the
groceries. Oh, by the way, can you go to
the living room and greet Ash? He hasn’t
seen you in a long time.”
Tracey found her suggestion
quite queer as it has only been just a few days since they had last seen each
other. Not just that, but he’d see Ash later, so what was the big hurry?
Tracey had done as she
asked and first caught eye on Marene who was just
sitting there. “Hello,” greeted Tracey
to Marene.
“Oh,” began Marene with a cheerful greeting, “you must be Tracey, one
of Ash’s friends.”
“Yes I am. I’m sorry, but I haven’t caught you’re name
yet.”
“My name is Marene. I guess you can say I’m one of Ash’s friends, too;
nice to meet you.”
Tracey had almost blurted
out something to the likes of, another
one, but Tracey thought it was distasteful and was afraid that he might
have run her away to find out that Ash had many girls following him at one
point or another. Though, Tracey wasn’t
at all surprised that Ash found another.
He began to think this girl might have been the reason why Mrs. Ketchum
was so flustered. Maybe Ash got married. No, Misty
wouldn’t be so carefree about it.
Just as Tracey had finished
his thought, Satoshi walked down from the upstairs. He’d seen pictures that Ash had shown of him
in his room and knew who he was; at least his name. “Tracey?” Satoshi called out.
Tracey had first seen his
blonde hair and had already begun to laugh giving Marene
the impression that she wasn’t going to like Tracey very much. Satoshi had his hat on and so he didn’t see
his ears.
“Ash, what’s up with the
blonde hair? You look so funny with
that. Is this why you’re mom was
sounding so strange on the phone?”
Satoshi knew full well that
Tracey had mistaken him for Ash and so it didn’t bother him much when he
laughed. “Well, that’s kind of the
reason why my mom sounded the way she did on the phone,” Satoshi answered. Satoshi’s first impression of Tracey was that
he was very bright; at least that was what he got when Ash told him he was a Pokemon Watcher.
“She must have been pretty
mad when you did that. But blonde, what
made you dye your hair.”
“I didn’t.”
Just then, Ash walked down
next to Satoshi. He was upstairs
speaking with Brock. Apparently, Brock
would be there in a few days to visit the two of them. He wanted to see the two together. To Brock, it just seemed great to have two Ashs.
Ash spotted Tracey with an
awestruck look to him. Ash wasn’t
surprised to see him that way. Ash
figured it would be like this for a while and he should be used to it. It perplexed him on how to introduce Satoshi
to the world. He had gone fifteen years
without a brother. To have one appear from
nowhere and explain to people you have an identical brother was going to be
difficult. He had taken what Mr. Goodshow had said to consideration, but he was still
skeptical. It meant that papers would
have to be forged.
“Hey, Tracey,” greeted Ash.
“I see that you’ve already met my
brother. He’s Satoshi. Satoshi, meet Tracey.”
“I have,” said Satoshi.
Tracey believed himself to
be dreaming or hallucinating; one or the other.
The way everyone had been acting that would have to be the most plausible
answer to the question. If Tracey
remembered correctly, Ash never had a brother.
Just then, Misty walked in
and laughed at Tracey whose jaw was hanging.
“Don’t worry,” said Misty, “I’ll explain everything.”
Misty did as she told and
explained almost every detail of what happened in the last couple of days. Sometime in the middle of the story, Mrs.
Ketchum made her appearance and thanked Tracey for getting the groceries. Tracey looked at her with a sort of
desperation in his face as if he were begging for her to realize what just
happened in that day. It just wasn’t
normal!
As Misty continued, Mrs.
Ketchum took to the habit of starring at both her children. All she could do was tell herself
that it was real and not a dream. She
inwardly smiled at the idea. Despite
only having Ash, Delia had wanted more children; it just didn’t work out that
way. Maybe it was her maternal instinct
to take care of Satoshi just as Ash, but she began to love Satoshi the moment
she hugged him for the first time.
Hearing the story again of
how her other son lived his life without anyone other than Marene
made Delia cringe as if she were getting a molar filled. The very idea that she wasn’t there for him
tortured her. She would never do such a
thing with Ash and so she felt the same backlash with Satoshi. She couldn’t take it anymore and so she went
to the kitchen and began preparations for the night.
Sometime later, the phone
rang. Ash who was closest to the
videophone answered it.
“Hello,” said Max with a smile
in his face and curiosity in his mind.
“Hey, Max. Have you heard?”
“Ash, is it true, is it
true?” Max asked frantically as if Ash had caught a legendary Zapdos or Moltres. He looked around his videophone just to get
the right angle to see if there was another person who looked exactly like Ash.
Ash blocked his view on
purpose and pretended as if he had no idea to what Max was frantically looking
for. Of course Ash had figured that May
would have told him by now.
“Max, settle down,” Ash
said as he waved his hand at him to try to get his attention. “Don’t worry, you’ll
meet him sooner or later. Right now he’s
with Tracey. He’s not really use to the
reality just of yet.”
“So it is true. So, you do have a clone of yourself.”
Clone, thought
Ash inwardly. It wasn’t Max’s fault he called Satoshi a
clone. In terms of generality he would
be dubbed a clone of him. It wasn’t
Max’s fault that he didn’t know Satoshi was a living being with wants and needs
just like any normal human. Yeah,
Satoshi does have power of a Pokemon with the
ambition and mannerisms of a human, but what determines whether a person is
living or not living? Do we follow the
five standards in the criteria that say something is living? Can we compare strives humans have made versus
the chemical use of yeast that helps our dough rise? Those that don’t agree that Satoshi is his
own being need only to meet him. They
need to punch and prick him to see if he bleeds out the same color as anyone
else. They need to take away what he cherish
most to see that he cries the same tears as anyone else. “No Max, he’s my brother.”
Max was silent for a
bit. “Hey Ash, I decided to come
over. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not,” answered
Ash. “It’s always both an honor and a
privilege to have you at my house. I’m
proud to say that I’ve had at least three Pokemon Gym
Leaders in my home.” The other two gym
leaders are Misty and Brock. “When are
you planning to be here?”
“Well, after May arrived
from your travels, I just couldn’t believe what she was telling me. She was so giddy it was hard just to get a
word out from her. That was when I
decided to take a vacation. I’m guessing
I’d be there in three days.”
“Oh, I see. I hope you don’t mind staying at Prof. Oak’s
laboratory because I think my place we’ll be filled for a while. I don’t know what’s going to happen with Marene and Satoshi.”
“That’s right; May told me
he’s been traveling with a friend like you were all this time. Also, when I mentioned that I was visiting
you, May followed suite and decided to come as well. It was as if she hadn’t seen you in years the
way she reacted. Honestly, I kind of
have the same sentiments about meeting him.”
“You know, I can call him
over right now if you want,” offered Ash.
“No, that’s fine. I have someone waiting for me to come back.
My dad will arrive this afternoon and he’ll be able to take over. I’ll meet him when we come over. May is really excited to see him again. She must have been really taken.”
“Okay, I’ll see you when
you get here.”
“Alright Ash, see ya.”
The videophone went blank
and Ash turned it off. He had wanted to
jump up in joy knowing all his friends were coming to see his brother. First Brock decides to come by, now Max and
May. Suddenly like hitting the back end
of a semi, it hit Ash.
May was coming over and he
still didn’t know whether or not to continue what he had done with May at the
airport. He remembered well what
happened and knew what would happen if anyone else catch drift of what happened
between the two. Did Ash regret what he
did? It wasn’t such a big deal at the
time because he never counted on the fact that he wouldn’t see her for a couple
of months more. That would have given
Ash enough time to get things straighten out.
Ash remembered the small
kiss Misty gave him on his lips earlier.
There had to be something to that that wasn’t just a friendly gesture. It was hard for Ash to remember what he saw
in May that day. Maybe it was seeing May
being treated badly by the other passengers.
Maybe it was because he saw himself as May looked at him with those eyes
of desire and passion. Maybe he saw the
girl who was taken by him as he was taken by someone else. Ash couldn’t quite decide.
As Ash got back to the
others, Misty asked who it was that called, though it was none of her
business.
Ash answered it was Max and
that he’d be coming in three days with May.
“Really, Ash,” asked Misty
with a melancholy undertone. “Ohh,” Misty pined, “and I’ll be going home in two days,
too.”
When Ash heard that, a
light of hope shimmered from the darkness that told him that all would be well as well can get for his situation. With Misty gone, he’d be able to explore
whatever he has with May to see if there is really anything there. Maybe he could even find that spark that
started things off in the first place; if there was anything real.
“Oh, that’s too bad,
Misty,” Ash said sounding really torn by the fact.
“Oh, you’re leaving now,
Misty,” asked Satoshi who was sitting opposite of her.
“I have to. If you can remember my sisters; over the years
I’ve become mostly responsible for almost ever aspect of defending the Cerulean
Gym.”
Satoshi hadn’t heard of
that yet and was amazed to know such a confident trainer such as Misty sitting
so close to him.
“Wow, really,” spouted
Satoshi really surprised. “The last
thing I can remember from you was that you were always the runt. I remember how they treated you, but now
you’re the lead trainer. I’m really
proud of you Misty.”
Misty took the compliment
really well. “Thanks Satoshi, but it’s
really not such a big deal.” Misty said
this with a face almost as red as a beet.
“Don’t be modest Misty,”
said Tracey trying to get into the conversation along with Satoshi. “Satoshi, don’t pay attention to what she
says. Let me tell you that she is
actually really proud to be the gym leader there and rightly so.”
“Yeah,” opted Satoshi, “I
agree. You should be proud of being the
gym leader there. I know you wanted to
be the top trainer of you sisters. I
remember how they made fun of you. Now,
you can say that you aren’t the runt sister they teased so much.”
Misty couldn’t help blush
even redder and Ash noticed as well. She
would have said something, but he wasn’t able to think of anything to say.
“Marene, isn’t that fantastic
that we know a real gym leader hanging out with us like this?” asked Satoshi.
Marene wasn’t too excited and was kind of skeptical of Misty’s talent as a pokemon gym
leader. Marene
remembered the way she battled during their stay at the
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s cool. I’ll have to battle Misty first to actually
give credit to any so-called accomplishments.”
“Hey, Marene
don’t be so harsh. Of course it’s an
honor to have been able to do what Misty is doing now.”
“Like I said,” said Marene stubbornly, “I haven’t battle Misty one on one yet
and I really can’t assess her skills without doing so. So, I guess I’ll have to say I’m not that
impressed.”
It was more than just
banter and talk, now. It was as if Marene had thrown the gauntlet. So some reason, Marene
was much colder to her than anyone else.
Marene had been friendly towards May, but for
some reason she didn’t like Misty too much.
“Well, Marene,
before I go home we can have a friendly pokemon
battle.”
Marene had noticed that her offer was friendlier than out
right a challenge. From the way Marene had been talking to her, she had though Misty was
going to be harsher with her words the way she was.
“No!” exclaimed Marene, “the only way I will battle you is if you offer me
a chance at your gym badge.”
“Hey, Marene,
don’t be so mean.”
“I’m not being mean
Satoshi. I’m being myself. You would know that if you paid more
attention.”
“More
attention? What are you talking about?”
“Never
mind. Like I said, those are my terms if you want
to battle me so much Misty.”
Tracey, just by looking at Marene was able to assess that she was angry, or at least
holding a grudge for some reason. Or
maybe Marene was right and she was just like that.
“Marene,
what’s your problem,” asked Satoshi quite roughly.
“Nothing!” answer Marene right back with the same tone.
“Hey,” said Misty trying to
settle the two down. “You know Marene, if you really want to battle me for a badge that
would be just fine. As a gym leader, I
have the responsibility to accept all challenges that come my way. It doesn’t matter whether we’re in a gym or
if were outside. A gym doesn’t assess
one’s ability, it’s the gym leader that awards the
badges.”
Marene disliked the way Misty stayed so calm even after
being so rude to her. Marene knew she was rude as well; she just didn’t really
care about anything but being the best.
“Fine then, I challenge you to a Pokemon Gym
Battle! Do you accept?”
“As a representative of the
Cerulean Gym, I Misty; accept your challenge!”
“Fine then, we’ll see which
one of us is the better.”
*****
Location and Setting: Misty and Marene
spared no time going outside to battle.
When Mrs. Ketchum asked to where they were going, Ash answered;
catfight.
Mrs. Ketchum walked out
along with them, eager to watch a match.
She was very curious as well to see how good Marene
was compared to Misty who was much more experienced than Marene.
Mrs. Ketchum had known
Misty for a long time now, but was never really able to watch a match she
competed. From the way Ash talked about
her, she was very much accomplished. Misty
had a gym; she must be very good at what she does to be able to say she’s an
official gym leader.
Misty and Marene walked a distance away from the house in respects to
the owner—Mrs. Ketchum. They were in a
grassy field that was almost at even grounds.
Misty thought it was strange that the grass wasn’t taller, but just dismissed
it. It might just be a local grounds
keeper cutting the grass.
“Marene,”
called out Satoshi who grabbed Marene on the shoulder
before she was able to through the pokeball. “Marene, what is
this all about? It’s suppose
to be a friendly match, but inside it was like a declaration of war. What is it all about?”
“About?” asked Marene as if Satoshi was seeing things no one else
saw. “This isn’t about anything. I just wanted to see how good she really
was. I mean, you complemented her as if
it was the greatest thing in the world.
If it’s so great, then shouldn’t she be able to defend her gym
competently?”
“Yes, that’s true, but you
don’t have to be a jerk about it. If you
asked politely, Misty would have offered you a chance at a badge. You didn’t have to dog her into it.”
“Did you just call me a
jerk?” Marene asked with a sort of disgust. “I really don’t know what you’re talking
about. I just went to beat her in a
battle.”
“See, there you go. You said you want to “beat” her in a battle. Marene, please, you can tell me what’s bothering you. I know something is.”
Marene was feeling angry for some reason, but she didn’t
want to address it. It was bothering
her, but she had no outlet; this was her outlet.
“You know what, Satoshi?” Marene asked as she turned to Satoshi quite abruptly.
“What is it Marene?”
“I bet you don’t even want
me to win this match. I think you might
want Misty to win this match.” Marene turned around abruptly again to face Misty. “Yeah, I think you want her to win more than
me.”
“Marene…” Satoshi couldn’t get a word in; rather, he
was hesitant to answer Marene’s question. Who did he want to win; Misty or Marene? From the
time she had met Marene, he always rooted for Marene to win. In
this match, he wasn’t sure who he wanted to win. It was either Marene
who he had been cheering on at the sideline ever since her first battle, or
Misty who was… Misty who was what? She had no hook on him except for the fact
that she as the only other person who befriended Ash on his very first
journey. Despite having met only a few
days again, Satoshi felt like he had known her longer.
“I see. You don’t want me to win. That’s why you won’t answer my question.”
“Marene,”
called out Misty from the opposite direction, “are you ready to battle?”
Without hesitation Marene answered by pulling out a Pokeball
and enlarged it. Marene
kissed it always and yelled, “Blaziken, I choose
you.” As soon as she released the ball,
a flash of light dispelled and out came red, humanoid, fighting type pokemon.
“Wow,” howled Misty at how
gorgeous Blaziken looked. “That Blaziken
looks like a really strong Pokemon Marene.”
Marene looked Misty in the eyes and shrugged as if she
were to good to even respond to her.
“Blaziken
may look strong, but I think I have a plan.
Corsola, I choose you.”
Before was even able to
utter a “Cor”, Marene had
already ordered Blaziken to pull off a low kick.
“Hey!” exclaimed Misty.
“What was that all about.”
Marene had jumped the gun and she knew it. Her face was red and everyone was
watching. It wasn’t the fact that
everyone was watching, it was because Satoshi was watching. When she looked at him, she was him shaking
his head in disappointment. Ash taught
her a lot of things about pokemon battling, but the
most important lesson she should have known was to always be fair. Marene had never
broken that rule; until now.
“I’m sorry,” Marene yelled out roughly to Misty on the other side.
Misty knew there was
something that was bothering Marene and she knew to
be punctual, but when she had sent her Blaziken to
attack prematurely, it had gotten her a little peeved.
“Okay, ladies,” said Tracey
acting official, “I’ll be the referee. I
want a clean match, two pokemon each with
substitutions any time of the match from the challenger. Who ever knocks out the other’s pokemon wins. This
is for a Cerulean Gym badge. Begin!”
Quickly, Marene began to see Misty for what kind of trainer she
really was. Marene
wasn’t sure whether it was Satoshi who had led her and himself to the finals in
t competition. From the way Mist was
battling back, it had seemed as if her potential was not at all in use back in
the
It’s not that Misty is ultimately a better trainer,
it’s because you’re so mad right now, Marene, thought Satoshi to himself. If this
girl just calm down and patiently watch Misty’s
attacks, she’d be able to put up a better fight.
Marene was too out of it to figure what was going on. Misty wasn’t dodging all the hits, but yet it
seemed that Corsola wasn’t hurt at all. Marene gave the
cause of this to Corsola’s Recover move, but in
reality, Misty had not used it once.
Marene was in a frenzy to which strategy would work on a pokemon like Corsola. Corsola might have the advantage in terms of weaknesses,
but with a Blaziken’s power and speed, it hardly even
mattered.
At a time like this,
Satoshi would always yell a word of encouragement to Marene
to keep her in the battle and focused, but he didn’t. Of all the battles Marene
had, gym battles were always the most important and that’s when Satoshi really
got involved in his student, but not here.
Why? Clearly of all the times Marene had any use of encouragement, it was now. Misty was getting the better of her; why not
now?
At moments, Marene had looked to Satoshi, who was looking at the battle
quite fixated, and half expected him to say something or offer a bit of moral
support, but nothing there. She felt
alone and uncared for. Marene began to conclude that Satoshi was trying to punish
her for something. Marene
began to think that he was angry at her or if he just didn’t care about her
anymore that he had his family and friends. Marene
had begun to think that he had like Misty better than her.
Blaziken’s movements began to look stale and crooked; not at
all like the firm and agile pokemon Blaziken could be.
Finally, Marene slipped. She
had ordered her pokemon to jump when Misty ordered Corsola to fire a Hydro Pump. The order had worked, but the jump was too
short and Blaziken was taken out by remnants of the
Hydro Pump.
When Marene
ran to Blaziken, she immediately looked at Satoshi
with a fierce and somber look to her face.
It was as if she were blaming the loss on Satoshi.
Satoshi looked back at her
and didn’t know what to do. He had
realized what he was doing and also what he wasn’t doing. What he wasn’t doing was encouraging his best
friend when he knew everyone else there was rooting for Misty to win. Satoshi knew full well that no one else was
in Marene’s corner; not even if he himself wanted Marene to win.
Marene turned her focus away from Satoshi quite harshly
and reached for another pokeball. Marene enlarged the
ball from her carrier and threw it; Satoshi noticed that she didn’t kiss
it. It was Marene’s
signature opening; rarely did she ever consider not kiss her pokeball. It wasn’t for luck or anything like that, but Marene had once told him it was to show he really cared
about her pokemon.
It was also because it was something Marene’s
mother did every time Marene is up for something.
When the ball hit the
ground a Ludicolo sprung out. Marene wasted no
time in ordering to attack with a Hydro Pump of his own. It didn’t work as Misty had ordered Corsola to fire a Hydro Pump as well. Not only did Misty’s
attack counter hers, but was just a bit stronger. Marene couldn’t
believe that it had beaten her attack when Marene had
fired first.
Ash looked at Marene who seemed desperate for help. Ash could tell that she looked for help in
Satoshi, but Satoshi wasn’t complying at all.
The way Marene and Satoshi teamed together in
the
Tracey, though as hard as
he could to be partial, couldn’t help draw to he
conclusion that Misty was going to win with all her pokemon
in tact. The way Marene
had used Ludicolo was just atrocious. Tracey had figured that it wasn’t only the
difference in trainers, but all the difference in pokemon. Misty’s pokemon are almost solely water, the meant that Misty had
to be a pro at using water pokemon moves. This was the reason why Misty’s
Hydro Pump hit faster and stronger compared to Marene’s.
It was too late and Misty
knew it. Marene
wasn’t thinking at all. Now, all her
moves were all basic and very much predictable.
Marene would use Tackle in all the wrong
ways. Ludicolo
looked half confused most of the time as Marene had
ordered both to attack and dodge at the same time.
Marene was able to put in a few good attacks, but things
just went worse for Marene when Misty had ordered Corsola to recover heath.
After that, Marene was all just anger. Misty sort of pitied Marene for being so head strong.
It seemed so short for
Misty when Tracey had finally announced that Ludicolo
could no longer battle. Misty was
gracious about winning but inside she was more than proud of herself. It was a darker side to her that had never surfaced
as she smiles inwardly to have beaten the girl that had questioned her
integrity as a gym leader. There are
many things that bothered Misty. One of
them is when someone questions her ability.
From a very young age, Misty had suffered from the same ridicule from
her older sisters. They’d say mean
things—though they never meant harm—like she was the runt and a dreamer. For someone like Marene
who relied on her passion and forwardness to act the mightier, it just didn’t
settle with Misty.
Misty walked up to Marene who was just nursing and putting away Ludicolo. Misty
offered her hand in a gesture of friendly competition; Marene
took offense and slapped her hand away without remorse.
“Hey…!” yelled Misty in
sure shock. Misty had never met a girl
like Marene.
“Marene!”
yelled Satoshi in agitation. “Marene, what do you think you’re doing?”
Marene got up without ever showing her face to Satoshi as
she kept her focus to the ground. She
walked up to him abruptly and stopped right next to him with a four inch amount
of space separating them. What did she
want; a hug?
Marene was about five inches shorter than Satoshi and her
head had only caught up to Satoshi’s nose; even less since her head was down.
“It’s all you’re fault,
Satoshi,” Marene said still with her head down. Marene hit Satoshi
in the arm as hard as she could, and then walked away leaving Satoshi to wonder
whether or not Marene was right about what she
said. He didn’t do anything to make her
lose, but he didn’t do anything to help her win.
Misty walked up to Satoshi
and asked,”…did that hurt? What was all
that about?”
Satoshi congratulated Misty
and told her it was just Marene acting out. Did he really believe that; no. Satoshi understood Marene
better than anyone. For the pass three
years, Satoshi had face the lonely world with her as his only companion—non-pokemon companion.
In those three years, he had known Marene well
enough to be like her bigger brother.
Satoshi was only kidding himself pretending like what he didn’t do
wasn’t wrong.
*****
Location and Setting: After the battle, everyone went back inside
for the remainder of the day until it was 5 in the afternoon. Tracey had gone back to Prof. Oak to make
sure that he and Gary would come for certain; Tracey would make sure. Also, Tracey was made promised not to tell or
give any hints as to the special occasion.
Satoshi and Ash got to spend time with their mother in the kitchen while
Mr. Mime took his duties in the garden.
Misty and Marene took no part with each other
as everyone could see when the two had not spoken since. Misty took to the videophone as she spoke to
her sisters firmly about something or other.
All Ash could tell from their conversation was that it was loud and
included sisterly banter from each side.
Marene was more lacks with her time. After the battle, she hadn’t spoken to anyone
including Satoshi. For the rest of the
day, Marene took Ash’s bed and went to sleep, or
pretended to.
Taking Marene into consideration. She was an
only child who as pretty much raised alone by her
mother. That formula doesn’t create a
spoiled girl, but with Marene being spoiled just seem
natural. Marene
wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but she could have fooled
you. What Marene
was born into was a world her mother gave special attention to. It was the over confidence an undying self
esteem Marene had that brought her up to be the way
she was. She was not at all a bad child;
she was always sweet and kind—for the most part. It’s the combination of her free soul and
ambitions that led to things the way they are for Marene. Satoshi knew this perfectly.
Marene lay on Ash’s bed and realized that it was the first
time she had been in a boy’s bed before.
It wasn’t different at all. She
began to feel the cover and blanket that Ash must have used every night. It was surprisingly more comfy than she had
thought. It shouldn’t be different at
all. She wondered if the smell was the
same. It was the same but somewhere in Marene’s imagination it smelled a little rougher than she
was used to.
After a while she didn’t
care about what the bed smelled like.
There was something bothering her but she didn’t want to acknowledge it;
her loss.
No one’s record was perfect
and same goes for Marene. From the beginning of her and Satoshi’s
travels, she had many good runs at and very few losses. If the trainer she faced was as good as they
were, there was no shame in losing. If somehow someone with lesser experience had
beaten her, she would be pretty upset; maybe some fluke of the day that caused
the loss.
What got Marene the wrong way was the fact that she had put up a
better battle when she was facing Misty and Ash along side Satoshi. During their battle against them, Marene could hear Satoshi supporting her from the minute
they entered the battle till it was over.
Satoshi would yell things like “…let’s do it, Marene…”
or “…Marene, we can beat them… “. During Marene’s
battle with Misty, Satoshi was silent.
Before hand, he’d have supported her in every endeavor. What happened? Marene thought
about it and banged her fist at Ash’s bed.
A few minutes later,
Satoshi came over to get Marene for dinner. Prof. Oak called and said they’d be there in
about 25 minutes along with
Satoshi, like with his mother,
was anxious and sort of worried about what they would think of him. He thought about how his mother had welcomed
him with opened arms and that made him feel a little better about the
circumstances.
Satoshi looked at Marene who was pretending that he wasn’t standing by the
door. She had covered herself with Ash’s
blanket and felt a little dirty when she imagined smelling his odor; an odor
that reminded her of Satoshi’s.
“Marene,”
Satoshi finally said quite soothingly, “Marene, don’t
be too upset. Misty is
a gym leader and I don’t think you were really in the mood for battling
her. You were too eager and too
ambitious to have won. Next time, you
should calm down, slow your pace, anticipate her
movements and also…”
Before Satoshi was able to
finish his sentence Marene abruptly uncovered herself
from Ash’s blanket with an “…ewww,
that stinks!” Did it really stink?
Satoshi looked at her again
with a sly smirk on his face. Marene looked at him smiling and made a sour face; though
she really thought it was also funny.
“Come on, Marene. It’s not the
end of the world just because you loss.
You’ve lost a lot to a lot of trainers before. Be proud that you lost to such an experience
trainer like Misty.”
That didn’t really didn’t
help Marene at all.
It didn’t seem like a pick-me-up, but rather more praise for Misty.
“I still think it’s your
entire fault…” said Marene still with the sour face.
Satoshi sat on Ash’s bed
besides her. Marene
didn’t feel comfortable at first until she moved over to the other edge of
Ash’s bed.
“Marene,
why do you think it’s my fault,” asked Satoshi brotherly.
“It just is,” was Marene’s answer.
Afterwards, she turned around to the other side to look at Ash’s blank
wall.
Satoshi knew it was always
hard for him to get to Marene when she had turned her
back to him. At times, he would run
around until Marene was tired enough to stop changing
her point of view. This was only
possible because Satoshi was so fast; it wouldn’t have worked with a normal
human.
Satoshi slowly reached and
grabbed Marene’s right hand. Marene had not
suspected Satoshi to do that at all.
When he did, Marene almost squirmed as if a
bug had crawled up her dress. At first, Marene had tried to pull her hand away in disgust, but then
Satoshi took his other hand and started petting Marene’s
hand as if they had been lovers.
Marene had wanted to pull her and away and scream for
help, but something inside Marene let him. It was like a pulse that told her that
Satoshi had all the best intentions when he did so. He caressed her hand and noticed it was soft.
She’d been in Ash’s bed for hours now and the softness might have smoothed her
hand over.
“Marene,”
said Satoshi, “…I’m sorry to do this. Pika!” A surged of electricity flowed down Satoshi’s
hand and shot Marene’s hands.
Marene quickly sat up from the bed shocked and surprised;
afterwards angry.
“Satoshi!!!” Marene yelled so loud
that she could be heard downstairs from Misty, Delia and Ash. Marene was so angry
she growled at Satoshi.
Before Marene
could do anything, Satoshi put his hands on Marene’s
shoulders and started rubbing them to try to cool her down.
“Marene,
please, you have to listen. I’m
sorry. I’m so sorry. I knew I shouldn’t have done that, but I
didn’t want to run around and get sweaty.
I know you the most, Marene. We’ve been friends… no we’ve been more than
just friends. You’re my best friend and
nothing and no one will ever change that.
Please, you have to understand.
Prof. Oak and Gary are coming any minute now and I want you to meet them
both. You might not think it anything,
but you see I kind of miss them.” For a
bit, Satoshi was silent. “Marene,
today is the most happiest day of my existence.
I found something that no one else can give me.”
“Satoshi,” whispered Marene.
“I’m happy. I can honestly say that for the first time in
my existence, I’m content with this world.
You miss your mother, right? Of
course you do. But, imagine you never
met your mother. Imagine you have never
met her and you really want to. Imagine
that you knew could see her anytime, but if you did she wouldn’t respond to you
as if you were anyone. That’s what it
was like for this long. Now, it’s
finally over. I have waited for this for
such a long time. And now that I have
it, I want to share it with my best friend.
…Do you understand… Marene?”
Marene thought of her mother. She imagined just like Satoshi asked her to
and she knew a quarter of what Satoshi might have been feeling since he was
born. It seemed like a lonely existence.
“Satoshi, of course I
understand. I… I… I just felt as if I
weren’t a part of you anymore.”
“Marene,
don’t be that way. You’re my best friend
and I love you. You’ll always be a part
of my life.”
Marene blushed hearing of his sentiments. “…Alright, Satoshi. I’ll follow along.”
“Thank you, Marene.”
*****
Location and Setting: Tracey finally came through minutes later
when the food was all cooked and the table set for eight people. Tracey told Prof. Oak and Gary to stay
outside and for his word. There was
going to be a big surprise. Tracey made
sure that everyone was ready. Mrs.
Ketchum took the head seat with Satoshi to left and an empty seat to her
right. Next to the empty seat was Misty
and next to her was another empty seat.
Next to Satoshi to Mrs. Ketchum’s left was Marene
and after Marene was another empty seat. At the opposite end of the table was going to
be Prof. Oak’s seat.
When Tracey was told that
everything was set, Tracey went outside to inform Prof. Oak and Gary.
Misty, Mrs. Ketchum and the
rest were trying their hardest to keep a straight face. It wasn’t easy not to laugh or have some sort
of distinguishing expression when you know of something as miraculous as
that. It was as if they were carrying
jugs that were filled to the brim. Any
certain movement would have spilt a droplet.
Tracey had it the
hardest. It was very difficult for him
from the time he had mentioned the get-together till now. All he wanted to do that afternoon was inform
them of rest news. Though he had wanted
to, he was successful at giving away no information and also to keep such a
cool demeanor.
Marene remembered what Satoshi told her and knew to
behave. It was something her mother
would say when she knew it was going to be important. That was how Marene
had treated the moment. For Satoshi; anything.
She would cross the ocean for him if needed be. This was a small price for all the things
he’d done for her. Her only consolation
for her obedience was Satoshi’s happiness and the fantastic looking food that
was before her. She didn’t care what
they thought about her when she gobbles down.
Prof. Oak came in
afterwards and was also quite surprised by the hair Satoshi was sporting and
the ears as well. Prof. Oak knew Ash
from a very young age. He was like the
uncle Ash always visited. Prof. Oak
never knew Ash to be and exhibitionist and found it a little funny to see him
as so. This must have been the surprise.
“That’s quite funny, Ash,”
said Prof. as he laughed. Afterwards he
noticed Marene.
“Hello, young lady,” said Prof. Oak as he extended his hand for hers.
Marene acknowledged by reaching out and shaking his
hand. “Nice to meet
you, Prof. Oak. My name is Marene, I have heard about you in the news papers and on
TV. You’re very famous in the pokemon world.”
Prof. Oak laughed. “Well, I don’t know about famous, but it
surely is nice to meet such a nice young lady as you.”
“I’m
“
“Oh.”
“Misty,” said Prof. Oak,
“it’s always nice to see you again. I
hear you’re the gym leader of the Cerulean Gym, now. That’s just fantastic to hear.”
“Thank you, Prof. Oak,”
said Misty with a smile to be acknowledge by such a figure as Prof. Oak.
“Everything here looks so
good, Mrs. Ketchum,” complemented
“Thank you,
“My, my, you really outdid
yourself again, Delia,” complemented Prof. Oak.
“Oh, it’s nothing
complicated. I just thought of my boys
when I was cooking.”
Boys? Thought Prof.
Oak.
“Yo,
Ash,” called out
Satoshi didn’t answer him
at all.
Misty blushed and so did Marene. But, Marene hadn’t really realized that Ash was really quite the
ladies man. She considered whether or
not Satoshi was the same way.
“And also, what’s up with
the hair and the ears? Mrs. Ketchum,
were you pretty angry with Ash?”
“Of course, not, Ash can make his own decisions.
Well, maybe if he were to change his hair to pink.”
“What in the world could
have possibly make you change your hair blonde-gold?”
asked
Suddenly, out of the corner
of the doorway Ash opened the door and took his seat next to Misty and his
mom. He did so as if nothing had
happened leaving Prof. Oak and Gary speechless.
The two were dumbfounded to have seen this sight.
Tracey, looking at the
expression on their faces, he relived his own experience and considered the way
he must have looked when Ash had pulled the same thing on him. They looked so flustered by the event that he
could hardly keep from laughing. It was
lucky he hadn’t started eating or else he would have splattered food all over
Gary and Marene.
Prof. Oak starred at
The silence kept at it for
quite a while. They tried to stomach it
at first, but the fact that it was just so off the wall caused them to draw
blanks. They waited for someone to
explain, but no one would take the wheel.
Ash waited for them to say
something, but it seemed as if they were transfixed to the happenings.
“What… what’s going on,”
was all
“I’d like to be in on the
joke as well,” said Prof. Oak.
Finally, Mrs. Ketchum
couldn’t take the silence anymore. “What
do you think?”
“I think it’s strange,” was
“Delia, what’s this all
about,” asked Prof. Oak.
Everyone else who was on in
the ‘joke’ laughed as if it were a joke; except for Satoshi and Marene who were kind of hesitant in joining in on the
festivities.
“I get it,” started
“Nope,” answered Ash, “he’s
real as you and I.”
Prof. Oak was stumped. “Then, what’s the answer here?”
*****
There Wii are. Hope you like. Review? First of the New Year. Submitted 02/07/07