A Question of Strength
(Revised)
By Kawaii_Cherry_Blossom
Disclaimer:
I do
not
own Pokémon or its related components.
Summary:
Ash
endures a terrible loss, one which he believes he doesn’t have the strength
to
pull through. But luckily, somebody is there to catch him when he falls, and
bring his spirit back to life.
Type:
Drama/Romance
Rating: PG
Other: AAMRN
Ages:
Ash –
16
Misty
–
16
Brock
–
18
Notes:
Hi
guys!
This is the revised version of a fanfic I wrote
way
back in 2001, when my pen name was BellaWaterFlower.
@_@ It seems so long ago now, hehe…
Well anyway, I hope you’ll like the new improved version! And if you haven’t
read the old version, don’t cheat and go read it now!
-
Chapter
1
Terminal Speed
It was a
cold, dreary day as Ash, Misty and Brock reached the Goldenrod City Pokémon
Centre. Excitement glazed over Ash’s eyes. He was, of course, thinking about
his next gym battle, and receiving his next badge – the Plain Badge.
However,
before anything else, they had to stop and heal their injured Pokémon.
Having
not seen anything but trees and bushes for days; they were more than glad to
be
walking through a city. They tiredly stumbled into the Pokémon Centre,
barely
able to stand from the exhaustion of walking all day. Brock, of course,
turned
red at the first sight of Nurse Joy. He didn’t even have time to act,
however,
as he felt a hand on his ear. He turned around to see Misty shaking her head
at
him, showing that she was too tired to be in the mood.
“Okay, I
promise I won’t do anything!” he
cried. Satisfied with the answer, Misty turned to Ash.
“Well, I
guess we’d better heal our Pokémon so we can get to the next gym, right
Ash?”
she said. Ash nodded.
“Yeah, I
can’t wait to have another battle. The only ones I’ve had recently are
battles
against Team Rocket.”
“And we
know they’re not much of a challenge,” Misty said, laughing.
The
three
handed their Pokémon over to Nurse Joy, who smiled sweetly at
them.
“Thank
you
very much. We’ll have your Pokémon ready in about an hour,” she explained.
Ash
nodded.
“Thanks,”
he turned to his friends. “What do you say we go and get some dinner while
our
Pokémon are being healed? I saw a really nice burger place when we were
walking
into town!”
“That’d
be
great,” Misty agreed, nodding.
“Yeah,
I’m
starving”, Brock added.
“Oh!”
Nurse
Joy said, as if suddenly remembering something. “Before you go, do any of
you
know a young man by the name of Ash Ketchum?” Ash looked at her strangely.
“Yeah…that’s
me…” he said slowly. Joy gasped.
“Oh
my gosh! Thank goodness I’ve found you!” she said as she
opened a drawer and rustled through it.
“Huh…?”
Ash
said, confused. Joy pulled out a piece of paper victoriously.
“I have
a
message for you from Professor Oak. He told me that it was extremely
important,
and he knew you’d be passing through here so he left it with me.”
Ash took
the note.
‘What could be so important that Professor Oak couldn’t wait until I
called him…?’ Ash wondered. Shaking his head of his
thoughts, he read the note to himself.
Ash,
I need you to come to
- Professor Oak
“Ash,
what’s wrong?” Misty asked worriedly. He hadn’t looked up from reading the
note; he was just staring at it. Ash finally looked up, his eyes completely
overpowered by worry.
“I have
to
go back,” he said, slinging his backpack over his
shoulders.
“Back
where?” Brock asked.
“To
Pallet,”
he said, turning to walk away.
“Ash!”
Misty called, grabbing his arm. “You’re not making any sense! What’s going
on?”
Ash turned, tears forming in his eyes.
“It’s my
mom, she’s in hospital and I have to go back!”
“What?
What
happened?” Brock asked.
“I…I
don’t
know… I have to go, now,” Ash said impatiently, turning on his heel once
again
and starting towards the door.
“Ash,
wait!”
Misty called. Ash paused.
“Let me
come with you. Brock can bring our Pokémon when they’re ready, and you don’t
really want to be by yourself, do you?” Misty
asked.
Ash looked unsure.
“You
don’t
have to, Misty…” Misty shook her head.
“I want
to.
At least you’ll have some company…” she replied kindly. Ash
nodded.
“Okay.
Thanks…” he said gratefully, blushing slightly.
“That
okay, Brock?” Misty asked him. Brock nodded and took out
his wallet.
“Here,”
he
said, handing them a wad of bills. “Go to the airport and catch the next
flight
to Pallet. I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.”
“But
Brock…that was the money you were saving to buy that new book series about
Pokémon Breeding… I can’t take that…” Ash said. Brock shook his
head.
“This is
more important, Ash. Now hurry, go,” he said kindly. Ash nodded
thankfully.
“Thanks
a
lot, Brock”, he said, before rushing out of the Pokémon Centre, Misty
following
closely behind him.
-
Ash and
Misty arrived at the airport about twenty minutes later, and luckily there
was a
plane flying to Pallet right away.
It was
dark
as the plane flew swiftly through the air. It would take about four hours
for
them to fly to Pallet. Ash and Misty sat beside each other silently. Ash’s
thoughts were overpowered with worry for his mother. Misty glanced over to
him
every few seconds, wondering what she could do to
help.
“Are you
okay, Ash?” she asked, though she knew it was a stupid question.
“I
just…have a really bad feeling…” he said quietly. He was so serious, a stark
contrast to his usual manner.
“Just
remember Ash, Brock and I will be here for you no matter what happens,
okay?”
she said, a gentle, soothing tone to her voice. Ash nodded
slightly.
“I know.
Thanks,” he replied. She smiled at him slightly as they both fell silent
once
again.
‘He’s so worried… What can I do to take
his
mind off of the situation…?’ Misty pondered. ‘Oh, wait, I know!’
“Ash, do
you remember when we first met?” Ash turned his head to look at
her.
“Of
course
I do,” he replied as a small smile crossed his face. “How could I
forget?”
“You had
no
idea what you were doing and you were so immature!” she said, laughing
slightly. Ash got ready to fire back, but halted.
“Yeah, I
guess I was a little immature…” he admitted sheepishly. Misty rose an eyebrow, both at his reply and at the fact that
he
hadn’t fired back a sarcastic remark.
“A
little?”
“Okay,
maybe a lot!” he replied, a slight smile gracing his face.
“And
what
about when Sabrina turned us into dolls. THAT was the scariest moment of my
life,” Misty remembered, a slight look of dread crossing her face at the
memory.
“I don’t
WANT to remember,” he replied with a shudder.
“Giselle
at
Pokémon Tech, remember when you got really mad because everyone liked
her?”
“That’s
right! I can’t stand people who love themselves!”
“Me
too. That’s part of the reason why I can’t stand
“So…why
are
you and Gary on such bad terms? I would’ve thought that, coming from such a
small town, the two of you would be good friends…” she replied, leaning into
the subject, since she wasn’t sure if Ash wanted to talk about
it.
“We were
best friends, ever since we were born. We were like twins,” he explained.
Misty
nodded.
“What
changed?”
“
“That’s
awful…” she commented. “But Ash…”
“Yeah?”
he
asked, glancing up at her. Misty wished he hadn’t, since a slight blush was
creeping across her face.
“Well…Brock
and I… We’ll always be your friends…like…forever,” she said, nervously
stammering
over her words. Ash smiled.
“Thanks.”
-
Ash and
Misty reached
“Excuse
me,
but where can I find Deliah Ketchum?” he asked
hurriedly.
The
nurse
at the desk typed something into her computer, her bright blue eyes fixed on
the screen.
“She’s
on
floor 2, but I’m sorry, you can only go in if you’re immediate family,” she
explained, flicking her long, dark hair behind her back.
“I’m her
son,” Ash explained.
“And are
you related to Mrs. Ketchum as well?” she asked Misty. Panic invaded Misty’s eyes as she stammered.
“Well…I…uh…”
“She’s
uh…my girlfriend!” Ash blurted out.
Misty
glanced at Ash questioningly, but he ignored her.
“Oh!
What a
cute couple!” the nurse commented. “Your mother is in room 110, go on
through.”
A blush
crossed both Ash and Misty’s cheeks and they
looked
away, before Ash sped towards the elevators. Misty quickly followed behind
him.
The two waited in an uncomfortable silence for the elevator to reach them,
and
stepped inside when it did. Ash pressed the button that would take them to
floor 2, and they waited as the elevator lurched and moved
up.
“Hey
Misty…
I’m sorry about that,” Ash said quietly.
“About
what?”
“Calling
you my girlfriend. I just don’t want to be in
here
alone…” Misty hoped she wasn’t blushing as she shook her
head.
“It’s
okay
Ash. I would’ve done the same thing.” Ash smiled weakly at her, a blush
crossing his own face.
‘If only I was your girlfriend…’ Misty
thought to herself as she hid a sigh.
A ‘ding’
sounded, telling Ash and Misty that they had reached the second floor. They
stepped out of the elevator and walked down the corridor, a wave of
nervousness
and dread overcoming Ash.
“Are you
alright?” Misty asked him, her voice gentle and caring. Ash nodded
slightly.
“Yeah…”
-
As Ash
and
Misty arrived in the doorway of room 110, a doctor stood examining the
contents
of a folder. He was quite short, with dark hair and dark eyes. Deliah lay in a hospital bed, seemingly enveloped by
white.
White curtains, white walls, white sheets…
“Ash!”
Deliah called out as she saw
him.
Ash ran
to
her bedside, his eyes full of concern. She threw her arms around him
lovingly,
and they embraced in a scene that nearly brought Misty to tears.
“Mom…
What
happened? What’s wrong?” Ash asked anxiously. Now that he was closer to her,
he
noticed how sick she really did look. Her complexion was unhealthily white,
her
eyes vacant of most of their life. The dark circles under her eyes showed
her
tiredness and her hands were shaking as she reached up to ruffle Ash’s hair
affectionately.
“I’ll be
fine, sweetie. The doctor just had to run a few tests. He’s going to tell me
the results right now,” she said, pouring optimism into her tone to reassure
her worried son. It seemed to work, somewhat, as he sat on the chair next to
her bed, taking hold of his mother’s hand. As Dr. Filan
looked over the notes in his folder once more, Ash signalled to Misty to
come
into the room. He found himself needing her support now more than ever.
“Hi,
Mrs.
Ketchum,” she said politely.
“Oh,
hello Misty. How are you dear?”
“I’m
fine
thank you,” Misty replied, a worried look in her eyes. “How are you
feeling?”
“I’m
feeling fine, thank you Misty.”
Misty
nodded unsurely and sat next to Ash. He smiled at her thankfully and she
nodded
back. Deliah glanced at them, a knowing look
crossing
her face.
“Your
tests
have confirmed the reason why you have been feeling unwell lately. I wish I
could tell you that it’s good news, but I’m afraid it isn’t…” he explained,
his
eyes and voice sad.
Deliah
nodded sadly. Tears sprung to Ash’s eyes as he squeezed his mother’s hand
tightly.
“You
have a
tumour on your brain… It has been lying dormant for quite some time now, but
has recently begun to spread. Unfortunately it is at quite a late stage,
having
already invaded your tissues and blood vessels, and entered your
bloodstream.
That is what caused you to black out, and feel tired and light-headed all
the
time.”
“Oh my
God…” Deliah murmured.
“Well
isn’t
there some kind of treatment?” Ash asked pleadingly, wanting desperately for
the answer to be yes.
“I’m
sorry…” Dr. Filan replied sadly. “But the tumour
is
in such a late stage of its development, that there is nothing we can do…
I’m
very sorry…”
“What
are
you saying?” Ash asked angrily.
“The
tumour
is malignant. It has been for some time now…”
“No! You
can’t tell me my mom is going to die!” Ash rose from his seat, angry tears
forming
in his eyes.
“I’m so
sorry…” Dr. Filan said once
more.
“Ash,
sweetie…” Deliah said soothingly. He stood back, a
wave of helplessness washing over him. His tears began to fall, dropping
down
his cheeks, just as the hope in his heart was falling from its grace.
“How
long
do I have, doctor?” Deliah asked, remaining
calm.
“It’s
hard
to say… It’s most probably weeks…” he replied forlornly.
“Thank
you,
doctor,” she said, and Dr. Filan nodded, before
leaving the room.
All was
silent. Deliah bowed her head as tears began to
fall
out of her eyes. Ash stood in the centre of the room, seemingly frozen. He
stared ahead at the white wall, hoping with all his heart that this was one
long, painful nightmare.
‘I’ll wake up soon, I’ll wake up soon…’ he told
himself over and over as he closed his eyes and balled up his fists. But as
his
nails dug into his skin, he realised that he wouldn’t be able to feel pain
if
this was a nightmare.
“Mom…”
he
stammered through tears as he turned and walked back to her bedside. She
pulled
him into an embrace as he was overcome by tears.
“It’ll
be
okay, sweetie… It’ll be okay…” she said soothingly through her tears as she
rubbed his back gently.
Misty
closed her eyes as her tears slipped down her cheeks.
‘Why…?’ she asked herself, knowing that there was
no
answer capable of fulfilling the question. No answer capable of justifying
the
means.
To be continued…
Thank
you
for reading! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, even though it’s quite
awfully written because I have writer’s block. :S
I’ll
have the next chapter out as soon as I can. Oh, and I’m sorry if the
technical
doctor stuff didn’t make sense! I’m not sure if it’s accurate, I’m no
doctor.
^^ Thankfully, says everyone. ^^;;
Love and
light,
Sarah.
"Love is always patient and
kind. It is never jealous.
Love is never boastful or conceited. It is never rude or selfish.
It does not take offence, and is not resentful.
Love takes no pleasure in other people's sins, but delights in the truth.
It is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope,
And to endure whatever comes."
1 Corinthians: 13, 14 4-8