Chapter Two

"You'll do great!," Said a female voice coming from nowhere. I hope so. What if I fail?

"You won't fail. You're the best," A different, male voice calls out.

I'm in some sort of space. I can't tell what makes up this space, because everything looks blurry and faint. A dark blue hue saturates the area. I float in the ether.

"If you fail, then what was your dream for?" I won't lose. I'm the best, I respond without realizing.

"If you're the best, then you will win." This voice sounds like my own. As if I were talking to myself, and then I responded, but separately.

If I'm the best I win.

If I win I'm the best.

If I don't win

I woke up with a start.

"Pika!" Pikachu snapped as I awoke him by surprise. I rubbed my head and blinked a few times.

"Ugh," I groaned, "Are we there yet?" I looked to the right out the window, and I see a few hills parting, showing a city in the distance, drenched in dark hues of purple.

The buildings leapt up from the ground but stopped short of anything magnificient. That was, except for the Silph Co. building. That monstrosity stood dead center in the city and dominated from any view. The train pulled into the station and screeched to a halt.

Pikachu and I exited the train and were greeted by swarms of people and Pokemon, pushing past eachother. The hustle and bustle was much like Goldenrod, though Kanto wasn't as ethnically mixed as Johto. Also, the Pokemon were basic, as in within the confines of the first 150 discovered. No Mews or Dragonites obviously, but you get my drift. The place was packed nonetheless.

The first thing I wanted to do was check out Misty's press conference. I assumed it was to be held at the Silph Co. building, seeing as it was the main business building in the city. I would ask around about that. I then hear my stomach rumble.

"Pika Pikachu." Pikachu said, I nodded.

"I'm could go for some pizza too, buddy." We reached the stairs of the station and made for the exit. Just then, I was stopped by the sight of a familiar face.

"Brock?" I called out. Brock was standing by the exit, sipping a coffee and leaning against the wall. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses, a red dress shirt with a black coat slung over his shoulder.

"Long time no see," He started out, after a mighty glug of his beverage. "Just on time, too." We shook hands and smiled at each other. It had been almost a year since I saw Brock. We still kept in touch online though.

"You were waiting for me?" I asked with a cocked brow.

"Misty told me you'd be coming back to Kanto for a while, thought you'd like to see a familiar face." We exited the station together.

Brock had become a successful Pokemon Doctor over the years. His clothes showed it. Brock was never a flashy kid back in the day, but ever since he realized money could cause attraction in women, he's used that particular skill to his advantage. Not saying that he was an asshole, he was just still the womanizing dude he's always been. Just turned up to eleven. We walked outside and I spotted a red Bentley continental GT. I whistled.

"Damn, Brocko, that's some shiny wheels." I held my hands in my coat pockets as I inspected the front and back. The license plates said "BRK100" and the rims were black and thick. The headlights were LED's that shone blue luminescent and the spoiler in the back completed its drag race look. "This is some Tokyo drift shit." I said as we got into the beauty.

"Cost me a good 180 thousand, tricking it out was another project." As we pulled out of the parking lot and out into the street, Brock had started telling me about his work and how rewarding it is. In more ways than one it seemed. "Sure is a shame about the Sensational sisters," he began, finally ending the topic on his work, "They were so…"

"Young?" I asked. They weren't much older than me after all.

"And sexy, dude. Lilly was my favorite." I rolled my eyes. Same old Brock.

"I liked Lilly too." I responded. He chuckled back, but his face sunk quickly after.

"It must be hard on Misty, losing two out of three sisters." I nodded.

"Makes you think, right?" Brock stayed quiet. " 'Bout life, you know? How short it is." He nodded and kept his eyes on the road.

"Pain and death are apart of life, to reject them is to reject life itself." Brock quoted. Ever the romantic.

"What is that, Shakespere or somethin'?" I asked. I didn't have that much of a grasp on poetry, never was the artsy type.

"Ellis Havelock."

"Ah." I nodded. "Well, that quote is stupid. What good is pain?" I asked, crossing my arms, "Life would be way better without it." Brock was quiet for a minute and things grew awkward.

"Do you still think about back in the day?" He asked.

"What?"

"You know what." He responded with a smirk.

"I don't know what." I shot back.

"You left Kanto out of the blue and then a year later we hear you've registered for the Police Academy in Goldenrod. You weren't even a blip on the radar before that." Brock sounded like he'd meant to get this out for a while now. "And then you make no effort to contact us for years after."

"I do too make efforts to contact you. Just works busy, you know how it is doc." Brock sighed and removed his sunglasses. He placed them in the collar of his shirt.

"Misty says you haven't spoken to her in six years. That's a little fucked up." He had me there, I didn't have much of an excuse for that.

"You know things were different after Johto. That was way before I left Kanto." I finally spoke.

"Then you move to Johto a few years later, coincidentally." Brock said as we made a turn on Nutley Road.

"There aren't any coincidences. Johto was the last place we travelled that felt like home." I said as I stroked Pikachu's fur. "After you stopped travelling with me, everything was so foreign. Nobody could replace you guys. Everything was too different." This time Brock stayed quiet. "So I stay in Johto. It reminds me of Kanto, but without any distractions."

"Distractions?" He asked, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know," I responded, "Just forget it. I hear Misty is actually giving a speech or something today. Press release and all that."

"Yeah, it's at the Silph Co. building." He said, "That's actually where I'm headed now. She's coming with us after words and we're driving back to the hotel in Cerulean."

"Oh, really?" I asked. That's kind of awkward. I didn't realize I'd be seeing her so soon.

"She's already settled with everything for you room. She's very influential these days. Enjoy you're free mini-bar."

"You don't say? Wow." I was impressed. Who knew Misty's name would have pull. I always knew she'd do well, but it seems like she's gotten to be quite the celebrity.

"Yeah, so don't bitch out, she really wants to see you. So does everyone else." This was starting to feel less like the loss of loved ones and more like a welcome back party for myself. I felt awkward.

We pulled into the parking lot of Silph Co. and exited the car. Brock gave the keys to the valet and told him not to scratch it.

The Silph Co. building was surprisingly bland on the inside. The floors were a standard checkerboard pattern, complimented by drab grey walls and a white ceiling. The entrance was decorated with a nice little fountain though, with a a little statue of Articuno spouting water from its beak, wings outstretched. The fountain was right in between two flights of brown stairs that led to the many upper levels of the skyscraper. We walked up to the main help desk.

"We're here for the Waterflower conference. Brock Harrison and Ash Ketchum." The man fiddled with his keyboard and an audible ding came from his computer.

"Ah, yes." He handed us two red lanyards and we put them around our necks. "The conference room is up the stairs on the third floor, room 304. Starts in about 15 minutes."

"Thanks." Brock said. We then made our way up the stairs.

The conference room was the epitome of 'blah'. The walls and ceiling were boring hues of brown and yellow. Rows and columns of chairs lined the room, headed by a wooden stage with a podium and small table on it. Other than that, there was a window and a table with finger sandwiches. This is another reason I'm glad I never became commissioner. You have to go to these places all the time. We found our seats and Pikachu hopped in my lap once again. I stroked his fur and absentmindedly made conversation while we waited for everyone else to take their seats.

"So what's Misty doing these days? Still a gym leader?" Brock groaned, obviously disgusted that I knew nothing of my former best friend.

"She's in business now." Brock said bluntly. I sputtered.

"Misty? In business? Yeah right. What kind of business? Perfume?" I chortled. Brock shook his head.

"After getting bored of being a gym leader, she applied for a position in the Elite Four when it opened up." My eyes widened. What? The Elite Four? No way. "After a couple of years of that, she realized that the real money was in the desk jobs that run the Elite Four. She's now high up in League Management." Brock finished and reviewed my facial expression. "A lot can happen in six years, Ash."

"I guess so." When everybody took their seats, people started to appear on the stage and take seats at the little table next to the podium.

There were two women and a man. One of the women I recognized as Daisy Waterflower, Misty's older sister and the only surviving member of the Sensational Sisters. She was wearing a formal red dress with her hair done up in a fancy bun. She had her long legs crossed, and at the end of them were red stilettos. The other woman I recognized as Misty's friend Sakura. She was wearing more formal attire: grey business jacket with a white blouse under it, and a matching skirt that ran down to her knees. Her magenta hair had grown even longer, and she had it in a French braid. The man I didn't recognize. He was wearing a blue suit and a white shirt under it with matching navy blue tie. He had slicked back dark brown hair, and a young face that contrasted the serious older faces of the other men in the room.

Then, without much buildup, out came Misty from the left side of the room. The room was abuzz with chatter and camera flashes from every direction.

She looked the same, but different. Her hair wasn't in that childish ponytail anymore, instead, her strawberry blonde hair had been curled and hung down to her shoulder blades. I haven't seen her hair that long since we were kids and she filled in for her Gym's Sensational Sister's show as a mermaid. She wore a light purple business coat and skirt like Sakura's. But she did look ravishing in it. She walked up to the podium and tapped it lightly, causing the speakers to squeal for a split second.

"Ahem," she began, clearing her throat. It was gentle and dainty, but commanded the attention of the room, "I'd like to thank you all for coming. There are a few things I'd like to talk about today. As you may have heard, the rumors are true. Lily and Violet of the Sensational Sisters were murdered sometime during the weekend and found in a dumpster behind the Magnet Station on Sunday night." The crowd erupted with questions and flashes. "I'll answer questions soon enough." I sat in my seat, rapt in attention. She really commanded a room.

"She looks great." I said quietly to Brock. "Who'd have thought Misty could rock business attire." I quieted when she continued speaking.

"First thing is first." She said as she looked at a stack of papers. She was visibly shaking, though her voice showed no signs of distress and she remained collected. "The Cerulean Gym is closed indefinitely."

"Woah, what?" I said as she laid that bomb on the room at the beginning of the conference. I wasn't the only one surprised. Everyone in the room exploded with surprise. This was going to be a very loud conference.

The Waterflower continued to speak, and the room once again fell to her voice.

END OF CHAPTER TWO