Sunlight in Your Universe

Chapter Two--Watashi-tachi ni Naritakute

Author's Note: The title comes from a Sailor Moon song, in case you're wondering. ^^; That's where I learned all my Japanese... Which isn't much... ^^;;; If it's even RIGHT...^^;;;

And by the way, I do not own Pokemon... ^^; But I do own Elissa and Crystal City! Sugoii!! ^^; But borrow 'em if you want. ^^ As if you'd want to...

~*~

Brock and Misty walked into the Pokemon Center.

"Hello!" Nurse Joy said brightly. "Welcome to the Crystal City Pokemon Center! You're new here, so you probably didn't even know we had a name! I'm sure you found that very annoying! Would you like to contribute to the 'Stupid Johto Council Won't Spring For A Sign So We Have To Buy It Ourselves' Fund?"

Misty sweatdropped. "Er...I only have five bucks that isn't in my bank account... Brock? How about you? Brock?" She looked around. "Brock?!"

Then she saw him, glued to the videophone. She sweatdropped. "I suppose since they're engaged I shouldn't smack him with my mallet..."

"Oh, that's Brock?" Joy asked.

"Yeah..."

"Oh, I have a cake for him!!"

Misty's eyes widened. "Huh?"

Joy was already running over. "Brock, Viridian sent you a cake!!"

Misty sweatdropped. "Ooookkkaaayyy..."

Joy continued to pull packages from nowhere. "And Cerulean sent you an apron, and Saffron sent you a Pokedoll, and Vermillion said they're sponsoring a Pichu in your name, and..."

"Are those nurses desperate or just happy?..." Misty murmured.

"And Cinnabar said Blaine wants to kill you so that's her gift, a warning that Blaine's gonna hire a hit man--apparently he's been coming on to her for years--Professor Oak sent you a copy of his latest paper through Pallet, New Bark sent you a pinecone, apparently she's really jealous..." Joy rattled on.

"It's so much more convenient naming them by town! Why didn't I think of that?" a voice said next to her.

Misty turned to see the man from the store. "Oh, THERE you are!! Who the heck are you, anyway?!"

"Er, my name's..."

*Ash searched in his mind for a name, any name. He knew it had been stupid coming here, knowing they already suspected him, but he couldn't resist. Here she was, still chasing after what's-his-name, and he was still chasing her. What a MORON... Not quite thinking these thoughts, he gave the first name that popped into his head.*

"Satoshi."

*Where on earth had he come up with a name like THAT? And why did it seem like he wasn't lying? Great, he was finally going insane... It figured.*

Misty paused as well, puzzled by the strange familiarity. Had she known someone named Satoshi when she was a kid? That must be it. She shook off the feeling.

"Well, I'm Misty," she said. "Why the heck did you run from me?"

"Er, you looked like someone I knew..."

She looked at him, puzzled, not noticing Joy in the background still handing Brock engagement gifts-- "Olivine says Jasmine's really happy, and they both chipped in to send you a Great Rod..."

"Why would you run away from someone you knew?" she asked.

"Mmm...Bad memories. You must know what I mean--though maybe not. You don't look like the type for unrequited love."

*He flinched inwardly. He was being way too honest here. Sooner or later, if this went on, everything might spill, and then where would he be?*

"Morty got his butt whipped in your name, says Ecruteak. She says that's good, he's a jerk..."

"You'd be surprised," Misty laughed. Nice guy, but too familiar. What if--no, there was no way this was Ash, unless you went in for Brock's Mew theory.

"Well, I'd better get going..." *Definitely, he'd risked enough as it was. Maybe--no, he shouldn't risk it, it was much too dangerous, but...* "I'd like you to have this."

He handed her something and ran.

"What the..." She whispered, and opened her hand. A necklace lay in her hand, a clear, many-pointed pendant on a silver chain--nothing too expensive, but awfully pretty.

Not letting herself think about why, she slipped the chain over her head.

"And Rainbow's giving you a Drowzee and a Pidgeotto, the Drowzee's from her and the Pidgeotto's from a couple of trainers she knows," Joy finished. "Oh yeah, and I got you a fern."

"Er...thank...you..." Brock said, before falling over under the weight of all of the presents. Crystal looked concerned, but Viridian laughed.

"Don't worry, Brock, you don't have to carry them all!" the Joy on the phone said.

Misty walked over. "Isn't it confusing, all of you being named Joy?"

"That's why we call each other by our middle names!" Joy said. "When we become the nurse of a town, we take its name as our middle name."

"Ah," Misty said.

"What...nice...relatives...you have, Joy..." Brock groaned.

Crystal leaned in front of the videophone and winked. "You be careful vith this one, Viri, he's a keeper!"

"You haven't known him for long..." Viridian laughed. "This guy used to harass the nurses like you wouldn't believe!! 'Hello pretty lady, my name's Brock...'"

Crystal laughed. "Oh, he's _that_ guy? Jenny's told me stories about some squinty-eyed dude who--"

"It wasn't my fault!!" Brock said.

"Well, he hasn't hit on me, so that's a good sign," Crystal said.

"Nice to know, Chris..."

"Actually," Misty interjected, "He hasn't been bugging Jennies and Joys for a long time. He's a changed man...I think..."

Brock sweatdropped. "I was a juvenile delinquent, okay?!"

"But the records haven't been sealed, Brock," Misty said coyly.

He sighed. "All right, all right, let me just dump this stuff into my pack..."

He walked out into the middle of the Pokemon Center, putting everything onto a bench. The girl talk of Brock's past continued, until Brock called, "Hey, anybody want a fern?"

"HEY!!!" Crystal yelled.

"Just joking!!" he called, and heard Misty say, "Well, anyway, that wasn't the ONLY time. Did you hear about the time he told Jenny we were detectives?"

Brock sweatdropped and concentrated very hard on stuffing a large fern into his bag.

~*~

A brown-haired boy stood plastered to the side outside wall of the Pokemon Center, looking around the corner like a criminal.

A sigh came from behind the chain-link fence splitting the alley in half. <Don't tell me, you went in and talked to Misty, then ran like heck.>

Ash forced himself to relax, stepped away from the wall, and walked toward the fence. "You guessed it."

Pikachu leapt to the top of the fence. <Are you out of your mind, Ash? Either tell them who you are or leave! Personally, I'd prefer the former, but the one thing you CAN'T do is straddle two tracks like this.>

"Has it ever occurred to you that there might be a *reason* they say, you can't go home again?" Ash snapped.

"Really? By who?"

<That's not the point!!>

Ash sighed. "Yeah, yeah..."

Pikachu tried to calm himself. <Look, the point is, you can't run away from them forever. You have people who care about you...>

"So I go home and say, Hi Mom!! I'm back after almost three years!! Oh, the tail? It's nothing, just happened when Team Rocket used me in a genetic engineering project. Yeah, the wings too. So, how's Mimey been doing?" Ash asked, half-seriously.

<She'd get over it!>

"How would *you* like to be a freak?"

Ash sighed. "Oh yeah."

<All those crazy new TMs you make and you can't even remember you're using them,> Pikachu said. <I *still* can't figure out how you make those things. But that modified Transform? Sugoii!>

"Huh?"

<But that modified Transform? Terrific!> Pikachu repeated.

"Oh." Ash blinked.

<Look, I know it's hard, but I'll always be with you! Even if Misty marries Darien and they kick you out of the League!>

"What a wonderful thought."

<Hey, we could always go bug the Legendary Pokemon! I heard Moltres makes these great cookies, and he throws them at trainers or Pokemon to make them leave!>

"Freaky..." Ash said. "_Cookies_?"

<Apparently. I also heard that Articuno's quite friendly. She's really lonely in that island, and she makes these snow cones to die for...>

"So the legendary birds are cooks?" Ash said skeptically.

<Hey, I heard it from a very reliable source!>

"Like who?"

<Mimey!> Seeing Ash's face, he added, <And Mew! A Mew told me too!>

"A Mew?"

<Er, well, it was right after we saved the world once, and she was trying to cheer me up, because--er--they burned my first volume of the complete works of William Shakespeare!!> Pikachu hurriedly made up.

Ash looked at Pikachu strangely. "You know, sometimes I worry about you..."

"Not only do you hate the first volume, that is the most insane excuse I've ever heard..." Ash said.

"And also, there's nothing to cover up..." Ash said.

<Huh?>

"Think about it, when did *you* remember that?"

<When I evolved...> Pikachu said. <Not quite then, though... It was right after I accidentally learned Psychic...>

"Okay, now, think about that..."

<Oh yeah! I get it! You remember too!!> Pikachu laughed nervously. <How silly of me!>

Suddenly, Ash started laughing. "Man, you should've seen your face after you blasted that sapling!!"

<Hey, I'm supposed to be an electric-type!! I didn't expect that!!> Pikachu said, laughing anyway.

"Ha ha, you almost fainted!"

"Did too!"

"Did too!"

The Crystal City Jenny furrowed her eyebrows while doing her paperwork. "Is that someone in the alley...?"

She left the building and walked into the alley between the police office and the Pokemon Center. Seeing no-one there, she scratched her head and left.

About a mile from the town, Ash and Pikachu leaned against separate trees, with a sigh of relief.

"That was close!" Ash said after a minute.

<Yeah...> Pikachu said.

They were silent for a second.

"You did too!!"

~*~