The Ketchum Curse ch.11- Bumps in the road

Brock did a quick sweep of the room. "Cilan's gone."

I groaned. "And he found a bathroom…"

Brock, having been here before, shook his head.

We all stood up in time to see Cilan bolting from the shower followed by three angry girls. They chased him around the pool as Misty, Iris, Dawn, and May came bolting in.

"GET OUT, INTRUDER!"

"Hey, he's not an intruder!"

Cilan spotted Misty and ran behind her.

"Hey! Get out of our practice pool!" Violet shouted.

"But, can I explain?"

"Who are you?" Lily asked rudely, glaring at the rest of us.

"Wait, wouldn't you be concerned about Misty?" Dawn asked. "Even if Cilan was an intruder, he's hiding behind your sister."

"So?" Violet scoffed.

"Misty, are these your friends?" Daisy asked.

"Yes." Misty sighed. "They came late last night and Max wants to challenge me to a battle."

"But we need our pool." Lily said. "And he was in the shower room." She glared at Cilan.

"I had to use the bathroom…" Cilan said.

"By the way, I'm leaving for a while." Misty said. She smiled at her sisters.

"What are you talking about, Misty?" Lily asked. "You're the gym leader here."

"We're not doing YOUR job." Violet said.

"Well you are now." Misty said firmly. "I'm going on a journey with Ash and my friends and you are going to accept this."

"We don't take orders from a runt." Violet said.

Misty growled. "You do now." Her hands were now fists. Cilan decided it was safer to hide behind Dawn.

"Guys, let's settle this over a nice meal." Brock said. "I'm cooking!"

"I'll join you!" Cilan said.

The two of them zipped out of the room. Iris, Max, Ritchie, and Dawn were sensing a fight and decided to join Brock and Cilan.

May and I were trying to get Misty to calm down, but she kept glaring at her sisters.

"I'm going to battle Max and then we're going to travel in the world tournament!" Misty said.

"No, you're staying to take care of the gym while the Sensational Sisters go on another tour!" Violet said.

"And when did you plan on telling me this?" Misty asked coldly.

"Well, today! We leave tomorrow."

Misty's jaw dropped.

"Can't you postpone your tour?" May asked.

"Of course not!" Lily said.

"Daisy, you haven't said anything yet." I said.

Daisy sighed. "I admit we should have said something before and I'm sorry." She said. "But this is really important to us and-"

"My friends are important to me!" Misty yelled. "You think I can just do whatever YOU want! I want to be a better trainer and join the world tournament. Did you ever think I wanted to do anything that wasn't in the gym? Did you ever think about me?!" She stormed off before anyone could reply.

"What's eating her?" Lily said.

May rolled her eyes. "Coming from someone who has a younger sibling, you don't give her enough freedom." She said. "I let Max make his own decisions. He might make mistakes, but that's only because he's trying his best and he knows how to ask for help. He also knows that I'm here for him when he wants to talk about anything. We may argue, but we always love each other. He tells me when he misses Mom and Dad, when he feels scared, and when he just wants to talk about Pokémon. By traveling with my brother, I learned that younger siblings and older siblings are annoying at times when they don't understand each other."

"You never really give Misty a chance to talk." I admitted. "When I first got here, you didn't even want to battle me. Misty feels like you don't pull your own weight and you don't listen to her when she corrects you."

The sisters looked at each other, not saying anything. May tugged at my arm and I followed her out.

"We just need to give them time." May said.

I was about to answer when we saw Max.

"Hey, Max!" May said.

"Did you really mean all that?" He asked.

"Of course I did, little bro."

Max smiled. "Thanks."

My stomach took the moment to rumble loudly. "I guess you came to tell us that Brock and Cilan were making breakfast, right?"

Max and May laughed. The three of us joined the others to eat.

We talked about the upcoming tournaments. May and Dawn were excitedly comparing contest strategies.

When Misty and her sisters joined us, the table was silenced. The only sound was Pikachu excitedly squirting ketchup over his food. Yes, he had Pokémon food and was currently smothering five remaining pieces in ketchup. I didn't feel like stopping him this time, afraid that we'd just cause more tension and awkwardness.

May made eye contact with Daisy, trying to get the older girl to be a big sister. Daisy looked over at Violet and Lily who had confused expressions. May rolled her eyes and turned to Max.

"You want to rescue the ketchup from Pikachu?" She asked.

Max looked at the remainder of his eggs and slipped the bottle from Pikachu's grasp. Pikachu grumbled sadly, watching Max use his precious tomato goodness.

"See, little sister, this is exactly what you should do." Lily stated. "Listen to your siblings."

"I wanted the ketchup." Max said.

"You probably shouldn't give it back." May said.

Max shrugged and promptly handed the bottle to Pikachu who squealed in delight.

"And how exactly should we feel when our little sibling disobeys us?" Violet asked coldly.

Misty was about to answer angrily when Max stood up abruptly.

"You let them because it gives them freedom." May said, beating the others to the punch. "And technically they're not little kids, they're teenagers. They're both on their own journeys and you have to respect that. She's not your pet; she doesn't have to obey you. When you hold her back and make fun of her, you push her away."

"I-"

"May's right." Brock said, cutting across Lily. "Coming from the person who practically raised his own family from the age of four, having only one brother at the time, you need to know when enough is enough. You push too hard it makes her and everyone around her question if you really do love her."

"I'm a triplet with Cress being the oldest." Cilan added. "Chili is younger by two minutes, but none of us treat each other better or worse because of our age. We didn't determine Cress was in charge of finances because he's the oldest. It was because he was the one who could calculate the fastest. Chili never got stuck with cleaning because he was the youngest; it was usually because he made the mess in the first place. Cress and I took turns doing dish duty and it was mainly Chili and I cooking. Cress could make a great looking dish; Chili can make you the best spicy wrap in Unova. All of us had our strengths and weaknesses. We always covered each other's weak spots while boosting our strengths."

"And what you're doing is neither." I said. "All the times I heard you speak to her it was mostly to insult her. Misty, would you like to say something?"

"Yeah, did you even care when Mom died?" Misty asked. Her gaze was at her plate. "You didn't even talk to me, you just went ahead and continued your lives and treated me as if I was the cause of her death. Dad was too busy to deal with it until he disappeared. Then you didn't even want to talk to me after that. I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER WHAT MOM LOOKS LIKE!" Tears shone in her eyes, threatening to come out. "YOU NEVER LET ME LOOK AT ANY PICTURES OR TALK ABOUT HER! DAD TOO! YOU NEVER TALKED ABOUT HIM!"

She jumped and ran. I followed after her. I didn't say anything, just followed her out the doors and across the bridge. I caught myself before I fell into the river. I knew where she was going; it was a favorite place of hers.

…

Cerulean Cape looked beautiful this morning with the sun shining off it.

"Coming from someone who has never met one of my parents, I know how you feel." I said. I had been sitting in silence with her for five minutes until she was finished crying. "I know it's not the same, but my mother never really said too much about my father. You know my mom would be happy to take you in if you needed. She'd pick you up in a heartbeat; she'd help any of us. How old were you?"

"Two." Misty said hoarsely. "Mom had several health problems and her lungs failed during surgery. They couldn't bring her back."

"What about your dad?"

"Six. He said he was going on a simple expedition in Cerulean Cave for an injured Pokémon…The team was stopped by an avalanche before they entered and when they were able to clear the dust, he was gone. They moved the boulders, but there was nothing there. I wish I had something for closure…I keep hoping he's alive."

"Did anyone search inside the cave?"

"A whole team went in with tons of Pokémon the next day. The wild ones were able to relay the message that no humans had been inside for months. Where do you think your dad is?"

"Sinnoh." I said instinctively.

"How do you know?"

I hesitated. How exactly did I know that?

"I guess he's heard about the tournament and I have a gut feeling he'll be there for the final in Sinnoh." I said. The explanation seemed reasonable enough, but why did I feel like it was the wrong answer?

"What about Team Rocket?" Misty asked. She had been told about the conversation by me and Dawn. "They might be after you and your dad."

"I just want answers from Jessie, James, and Meowth." I said.

Misty nodded. We stayed out here for another hour, talking about Pokémon and the battles ahead.

When we returned, we found the house empty. We checked the gym to see Max on one side of the pool and Daisy on the other.

"What's going on?"

"Max has challenged the gym." Iris said.

"This is going to be so cool!" Ritchie said.

This time, Max started out with Treecko. The grass Pokémon was able to easily take Horsea down, but struggled against Seel. Seel knew Ice Beam which ended up freezing Treecko out.

Shroomish was called out next and barely managed to beat Seel. Both were extremely exhausted.

Daisy called out Dewgong.

Max's jaw dropped. He had barely beat Seel!

"Shroomish, Absorb!"

Dewgong dove into the pool to avoid the attack.

"Hit it with everything you got!" Max said.

As soon as Dewgong popped up, Shroomish dove after it with a well aimed Absorb.

"Dewgong, Bite!" Daisy called.

"Dodge it!"

Shroomish didn't hear Max and couldn't get out in time. The grass Pokémon was trapped between Dewgong's teeth.

"Razor Leaf!"

"Ice Beam."

A giant bubble of water burst into the air, taking Shroomish with it.

The grass Pokémon was as frozen as Treecko had been.

The shooting pain came out just as Max reached for another Pokeball. I groaned to myself, gripping the bench as hard as I could. No one noticed, they had just noticed the position of Max's Pokeballs. He had chosen his Kanto Starter.

"Please, not now…" I muttered under my breath.

Dawn looked over at me, but I was trying to focus on the match.

"Don't fail me now, I choose you!"

Black spots were creeping around my eyes as the pain surged again. Was this stupid curse determined to keep me from seeing battles? Would I make it through my own battles?

I heard the others gasp; I could barely make out the color.

Blue.

He had chosen Squirtle.

Squirtle moved, he must have received an order I could not hear. Blood was rushing in my ears.

I was familiar with a pain in my hands. I was still holding the bench. I lifted a shaking hand to see red. Too tight…

I felt arms catch me as the world tilted and faded into darkness.

…

Please…please tell me…what can I do? If this is not a curse to you, then what is it? If this is an object of your anger, how can I apologize? Let me fix this…Please…You must know I respect Pokémon and fight for their justice. What can I do?

Prove yourself. I shall relent if you show me what you can do. And then you and your father must find me. I promise I will appear.

May I please keep seeing matches?

Fine, but I shall still remind you of our deal and my anger. You are an unusual one…so unlike your great grandfather…</b>

…

I woke to find myself on a bed. My hands were wrapped in gauze. Dawn was smiling at me.

"Wh-where?" I rasped.

"You are in Misty's room. She's talking to her sisters with May, Max, and Iris. Brock and Cilan are making dinner and Ritchie's right here." She pointed to the other side.

Ritchie smiled at me. "Don't worry; Brock and Cilan are making extra helpings for you." He said. "I wish you could have seen the match!"

"Max won by getting lucky. He had a Freeze Heal and used it on Treecko. After Squirtle weakened Dewgong, Treecko kept fighting. Treecko officially fainted and Shroomish was still too weak from the battle. He won by a second. The win was just announced when Squirtle fell. Max won the badge and now they're all trying to get Misty and her sisters to be friendly." Dawn explained, hardly drawing breath until the end.

"I reached an agreement with the voice." I groaned. "I'll be getting lighter pain flashes, but still be able to watch matches. Tell Max that I promise I'll not miss his next one."

"Alright. Are you going to be okay?" Ritchie asked.

"Yes." I said.

"You really tried to hang in there. I couldn't pry your hand off the bench." Dawn said. "You tried and we're proud of you."

"Thanks."

…

The next day, we decided to get a start on our journey. We were going to take the shortcut to Vermilion to drop Ritchie off first. He had received a call from his dad that his grandmother wasn't doing too well.

Misty told us that her sisters promised to be nicer and responsible trainers. She also took some Pokémon with her. She had Goldeen, Politoed, Starmie, Corsola, Azurill, and Psyduck.

Brock and I questioned her choice of Psyduck, but she said she was hoping to train him. She had been improving on patience with the yellow Pokémon and was able to finally teach him to swim with a life vest.

We entered Vermilion as it was getting dark, noticing trainers peering out at us. Max wanted to battle, but we were in a hurry. We did let him go into a double battle with Ritchie against a pair of kids who were hanging out near the entrance to the city. They won pretty easily. The two kids looked unprepared for a battle against Ritchie's higher leveled Pokémon.

Dawn had decided to bring Jigglypuff for the journey to Vermilion. Mamoswine was happy to rest for a while. The pink Pokémon was incredibly shy and did not want to come out of the ball. If he was out, he hid behind Dawn's legs or buried his face in her shirt.

"Hey, let's see if Lt. Surge will battle tomorrow!" Brock suggested. "The last I heard, he's still being challenged by trainers. It would be a good opportunity to get a gym badge."

"That's a good idea." I said. "I wonder if battling Cilan would help contribute towards the badges required."

"But Unova's not participating." Iris said.

"Actually, I think he can do that." Cilan said. "What I got from Nurse Joy's explanation was that we can enter the tournament if we have eight badges from certified gym leaders, regardless of which region is participating. You don't need all eight from each region. They just want to make sure you can reach eight. I'd do all for experience, but that's just me. How many do you have?"

"I battled Roxanne and Brawly." Max said. "I won against Roxanne, but lost to Brawly twice." He sighed. "So far, I have three badges."

"I assume you'd need the final badge from one of the regions to get the maximum, otherwise you need five more to make eight. I can battle you." Cilan said. "But I want to wait for that, just to see how much you grow as a trainer."

"Since you already have the badges from Pewter and Cerulean, Misty and I can't give you badges, but we can still battle for experience." Brock said.

"That's cool!" Max said. "Alright, so we should challenge Lt. Surge tomorrow?"

"Sounds like a plan, when does Ritchie's ship leave though?" Dawn asked.

Ritchie jumped, startled. "I forgot to get my pass!" He said, rushing towards the dock. Iris decided to follow him in case he needed help.

Max decided to talk to the trainers from earlier about strategies.

"I'm going to ask around about the contests." May said. "Want to come with me, Dawn?"

"Sure." Dawn said. "Hey, Cilan, maybe you can give us tips as a connoisseur."

"Alright, let's go."

That left me, Misty, and Brock.

Brock smiled as he looked at the ocean. "Remember when we got those passes for a free cruise?"

Misty shuddered. "That island…"

"At least we didn't see a giant Spinarak." I said.

"ASH! Don't even JOKE about that!" She said, horrified.

"Sorry, Misty, but we could have seen one." I said.

"I don't know, it seemed based on Pokémon from the Kanto region." Brock said. "Remember that Gyarados storm?"

"I remember thinking that Team Rocket died…twice!" I said.

"Those guys must be invincible or something." Misty said.

"Speaking of those guys, where are they? They should have bugged us by now." I looked around, but no one was looking fishy or out of place.

"Kaa" Pikachu yawned.

"I guess we should head inside, it's getting darker and-" My stomach finished my sentence.

"Was that Ash's stomach?" Iris asked, approaching us. "I heard that from all the way near the Poke-Mart."

"Hey, what was that rumbling noise?" Max asked, jogging over.

"Ash's stomach." Misty said.

"It wasn't that loud!" I said. My stomach decided to prove me wrong and let out the loudest rumble I've ever heard.

The others laughed. We found May, Dawn, and Cilan in a restaurant. Once Ritchie explained what happened, they were laughing as much as the others did.

"I haven't eaten since lunch!" I said defensively. "In case you forgot, we had lunch halfway out of Cerulean."

"You're the one who had to use the bathroom three times." Iris said.

"Or stop to look at a Pokémon you wanted to catch." Misty said.

The two of them high-fived. I groaned and rolled my eyes.

"You two are impossible." I said.

"You're impossible, Ash!" Misty said.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Want to prove that?"

"All the proof is in front of me!"

"I- Oh, food!"

Misty shook her head. I stuck my tongue out at her.

…

The next day, we bid farewell to Ritchie because his ship was leaving at eleven in the morning. I woke up ten minutes to eleven.

"WAIT!" I yelled, running to the dock. People gave me weird looks because I was still in my pajamas. Misty was holding Pikachu when she saw me.

"We tried to wake you up! Pikachu even shocked you."

"Pi!" Pikachu confirmed.

"Sorry!" I said.

"You're lucky the ship was delayed. It just got here, like you." Misty said.

Ritchie laughed. "Hey, I'll be seeing you around." He said. "I'm going to watch the tournaments on TV, so do your best, alright?"

"Alright!" The rest of us said.

"I wish you could come, though." Max said. "It was awesome doing a double battle with you."

"Maybe one day, I'll come back, but I have a duty to my family too." Ritchie said. "No worries, I'm sure you'll be great! Good luck with the tournaments. I have your PokeNav numbers. If I see anything odd on TV or something about the tournament, I'll call you to see if you know."

"Sounds like a plan." Brock said.

The ship's horn blared.

"It was nice meeting you guys, and seeing you three again." Ritchie said. "Don't forget to do your best!" He said.

Brock, Cilan, Max, and I shook Ritchie's hand. Misty, Dawn, May, and Iris gave him hugs. He hurried onto the boat and waved to us. The horn blared again as the ship begun pulling out.

"Bye guys!" He called.

"Bye!" Max and I said.

"Be safe!" Dawn and Cilan said.

"We'll miss you!" Brock, Iris, and May shouted.

"Don't forget to call!" Misty said.

We waved until the boat was gone from view. We sighed and continued our day; it was a bit harder that I thought. It felt as if we had badly lost a Pokémon battle, one that tore at you until you could win a rematch or at least lose with grace. But there was no rematch; Ritchie was most likely not coming back.

…

Our spirits were slightly lifted when Max reminded us that Lt. Surge might be available for a battle.

We entered the gym to see sparks of electricity flying everywhere as two trainers practiced with a Magnemite and Voltorb. They caught sight of the eight of us and paused the match.

"Who are you?" The trainer with the Magnemite asked.

"My name is Max of Petalburg City; I've come to challenge Lt. Surge for the badge." Max said.

The man looked over at his sparring partner. "Uhh…"

The Voltorb's trainer sighed. "Lt. Surge isn't here; he's away on official Pokémon League business." He said. "We're not in charge, so we can't give you an official badge."

"Is there anyone who can give us an official badge for this gym?" Brock asked.

"Well, the Head Trainer can, but he's not a pleasant person."

"I'll take that." Max said.

"Alright, he should be here in a few days. We'll notify the Pokémon Center when he arrives."

"That works for us." I said.

…

Over the next few days, we all drilled Max on strategies. May let him borrow Blaziken just in case he needed firepower. We had tried to search for a Growlithe, but couldn't find one. We did battle other trainers and each other.

May called her dad to ask if she could challenge Max as an official gym battle if time was running out. Norman was alright with this, but only if Max didn't have eight badges by the time the signups for the tournament started. Cilan and his brothers reached the same agreement when he called them.

…

It was nearly a week later when we finally got a notice from the Gym. The Head Trainer had been delayed, but just arrived.

We excitedly ran in, announcing our arrival with loud voices.

"SHUT UP!" A voice roared.

I looked around to see if it was just me, but it wasn't. The others looked around, their grins sliding off their faces.

"Sorry to bother you like that, but we came because my broth-"

"Did I ask for your life story?" The voice sneered, interrupting May.

"I want to battle the Gym!" Max shouted.

"Impudent fool." The man growled. He stepped out from the shadows. "I've been told of your arrival. Which one of you is Wax from Pungent City?"

"It's MAX from PETALBURG City!" Max said angrily.

"What's your problem?" Misty and I asked at the same time, equally furious. The others looked offended too.

"Who might the rest of you urchins be?" The man asked.

"May. I'm his sister." May huffed.

"Brock of Pewt- why are you laughing?" Brock became offended.

"Pewter, eh? Weak gym. You must be the redhead from Cerulean…also a weak gym…and you're from Hoenn. Such a stupid region. And what about you three?"

"We're from Unova." Cilan said. "I'm one of the leaders of Striaton City-"

"HAHAHA!" The man shook his head. "Unova…weak… and I remember you." He looked at me. "Ash of Pallet. Kid with the weak Pikachu. Too sensitive to evolve it."

"I let Pikachu make the choice." I said, anger boiling even more inside me.

"Your Pokémon walk all over you, kid. I saw the Indigo Plateau-"

"YOU SHUT UP!" I shouted. "Charizard and I didn't understand each other at the time, we-"

"Understand? You speak as if they have feelings. They are tools to be used for battle."

"PIKA?!" Pikachu gasped. "Pika pi pi Pikachu pika chu chupi PikaPi ka pi pika pi chu ka pi pikapik chu Pikachu pik pika!" I could feel the flow of electricity from the yellow Pokémon on my shoulder.

"We came for a battle, not an argument." Iris snapped. "Just battle him and we'll get out of your hair."

"Fine. I need some ID first."

"ID?" Dawn asked. "Since when do you need ID to battle?"

The trainer didn't answer; he just held his hand out.

Max reluctantly handed over the Pokedex.

The man looked at it, scoffed, and tossed it away. Dawn barely managed to catch it.

"What was that for?" Misty growled.

"Why won't you battle my brother?" May demanded.

"Didn't you get the memo? Geez, you kids are slow. No one under the age of sixteen is allowed to participate in official League battles anymore. Go home."

"WHAT?!"