Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way

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Okay, chapter two! What’s going to happen? Even I don’t know. I forgot to put the disclaimer on Chapter one so here it is for chapters 1 and 2. I do not own any of the characters or anything belonging to Game Freak, Creatures Inc., etc. The only things that belong to me are the plot, story, and any made up characters. I’m not trying to make money off of this fic, though I wish I was. Skipping all that other stuff that everyone knows, let’s get on with the story! Oh, by the way, for all you Brock-fans out there, he’s not going to be in this very much. Only in the very beginning and very end. Gomen nasai!

"I was just about to ask you the same. The trouble is, is that I haven’t the slightest idea what is wrong with her. Her temperature continues to rise and drop dramatically within a matter of minutes. I’ve never seen anything like this. She hasn’t relaxed since she got here. Her body is too tense for me to take a blood sample."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" asked Brock as he grabbed Joy’s hands with a lovesick look on his face.

"That’s very kind of you, but there is nothing that even I can do. At first it looked like she only had a heat stroke, or it was possibly from lack of food. When I looked at her symtoms more carefully it was much more serious than that." Joy looked down at the floor very sadly then changed her glance to the door of the ER.

Just then a person that had been watching their conversation stood up and walked over to them. He was wearing a long coat, black pants and shoes, and a hat that hid his face.

"Excuse me. I have been overhearing your conversation and I believe I can help you," said the mysterious man as he approached.

"What’s with Ash? I’ve never seen him this worried or concerned since, well, I don’t know when," commented Brock to the small electric mouse.

"Pika pika (I know)," stated Pikachu as it nodded it’s head with its arms crossed.

"Please sir, how can we help her?" Ash demanded to know as he grabbed hold of the man’s coat.

"First let me introduce myself. My name is Robert Franchey. I work as a scientist for the Emerald-sky City hospital. I am the one who finds new diseases or illnesses and try to find cures to them. As for your friend, there is only one cure for this rare and mysterious illness. The only way to help her is to--"

"To capture the legendary bird pokemon Houou." Joy, Brock, Ash, Pikachu, and Robert all looked up from where they stood to who the last comment belonged to. As if she appeared out of nowhere, there stood Misty. She had managed to sneak out of the room and silently walk to where they stood. Her hair was down, not up as it usually was. She wasn’t as pale as she was before, and had some color back in her body. She still had the bandage around her head, but her face was almost expressionless, except for a slight hint of sadness that was almost barely noticeable.

"Misty, how’d you get out here?" Ash frantically asked her. Though he was glad that she seemed to be feeling a bit better. At least she was awake.

"I had a dream. The Pokemon Houou is located on and around Cephiral Island, which would take about a day-and-a-half to walk to." When Misty talked she just looked straight ahead, at no one in particular. She had no expression in her voice, somewhat like Sabrina the gym trainer.

"Hey Misty, are you feeling okay? I think you should get some more sleep..." Ash advised her as he grabbed hold of her hand and began to pull her back to the room. He stopped and looked into her eyes. They looked tearful and sad, and were not bright and happy as they usually were. Misty lightly frowned at him as he began to pull her towards the room.

"No. You must leave at once," ordered the scientist. Almost shocked with his words, everyone looked at him.

"Because if you do not find that bird pokemon and bring it back here within five days, your friend will be lost." Everyone’s stares immediately switched to Misty. She hung her head down avoiding all the glances. Her grip on Ash’s hand tightened and her eyes became full of even more tears until they eventually overflowed and streamed down her face.

"But how will we be able to find Houou? It could be anywhere!" Ash stressfully told Robert.

"Your friend Misty will be able to sense its presense. So in order to find it she will have to come with, though it is putting her more at risk," was Robert’s reply to Ash’s question. "Another thing to know is that the person with the illness is not able to catch the bird. Someone without it has to catch it, but don’t ask me why." A few moments of silence followed as everyone exchanged glances.

"We should get going. We will only have two days to search, while the other three we will be walking, since it takes a day and a half to get to and from the island," Misty informed them quietly. Ash and Brock nodded their heads in agreement.

"I’d better call back my pokemon. Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Pidgeotto, Charizard--return!" with a quick flash of light the pokemon returned to their accustomed pokeballs. With a deep sigh Ash began, "So, are we ready to go?"

"As ready as we’ll ever be. We have exactly half a day left, so if we leave now we can get in a full day of walking tomorrow," stated Brock.

"Before you leave you will need some proper equipment," advised Nurse Joy who had kept quiet throughout most of the conversation. She went into another room and came back with a few things. "Here’s a first-aid kit, some rope, cups for water, some pillows..." she went on naming other various things they would need. "...and I take it that you have at least one available pokeball, correct?"

"Yep. We’d better get on our way. Let’s go," said Ash anything less than enthusiastically. As they were about to leave the video-phone rang.

"Hello, this is the Emerald-sky City pokemon center, Nurse Joy speaking, how can I help you?"

"Yes he is right here. Just a moment," she put down the reciever. "Brock there is a call for you." He looked surprised that someone would call him as he went over and picked it up.

"Brock? This is your father. I need you down here at home! The kids are getting out of control and I can’t keep them under the roof! I’m sorry to call you in the middle of your journey, but I really need your help. And the kids aren’t the only problem..."

"Uh, how am I supposed to get all the way down to Pewter city?" asked Brock partially shocked.

"We have a teleportation device that will allow you to transport from one pokemon center to another. It is mainly used for pokemon, but if there are emergencies people use them too. I’ll be glad to let you use it," offered Nurse Joy.

"Just a minute Dad, I’ll be right down there. Try to keep things under control until I get there." And with that Brock hung up the phone and turned to Ash and Misty. Pikachu had wandered off somewhere, playing one of the video games there, threatening to shock the machine every time it lost. "Sorry guys, I won’t be able to help you out. My dad needs me to save him from the clutches of my evil siblings. If everything works out, I’ll see you back here at the pokemon center. Good luck, I wish you the best." Brock waved to them and followed Joy to a room in the back as she also bowed to them, wishing them the best of luck.

"So do you have a map we could use to get there, to the island that is?" Ash asked Robert hopefully.

"You’re right. We’ll need all the time we can get. Good bye, Robert. Hope to see you soon," called Ash as he started towards the door.

"Farewell. May good luck be on your side always!" said Robert as he waved good-bye.

"Thanks! Come along Pikachu, you can play that game later. Let’s go Misty," she stared blankly at him, as if she didn’t understand what he just said. "Misty? Misty come on!" He waved his hand in front of her face trying to call her back to Earth. She blinked a few times but kept the same expression. "This’ll be harder than I thought, but it does have a good side to it though..." Ash thought to himself. He grabbed her hand once again and easily pulled her along with him, without having any objections from her surprisingly.

"Bye! Don’t worry, we’ll be back before you know it. Trust me on that one!" waved Ash. ‘We will be back with Houou. I promise.’ Ash assured himself as the trio left out the door of the pokemon center onto the dirt road. This was it. Misty was totally dependant upon Ash, since he was the only one between them able to capture Houou. If he failed...no, he didn’t want to think of that. He wouldn’t know what he’d do if Misty left. He just had to hope for the best, and pray that Misty would live through the long trip. Her fragile life was practically in his hands, and if he dropped it, it would shatter. At the thought of that his grip tightened around Misty’s small hand as he looked back he her. She gave him a small smile and lightly blushed.

"You ready to go?" Ash asked his companion. She slowly nodded her head. "Not in the mood for talking?" he joked.

"Nothing worth saying anything about. But I’m glad you’re going to help me with this. I really appreciate it. Thank you," Misty said to Ash as she bowed to him with tears building up in her eyes.

"No problem! I’m glad to be of service. It’s the least I can do to help you get better." He started down the steps with Misty in tow. "All right then, let’s do this!" he cheered as he pulled her down the stairs, trying to enlighten the mood and not make it sound like it was a life or death situation. But he knew it was.

**I hope you still like the story! Chapter two was rather explanatory, sorry if it seemed boring. But I assure you, the next few chapters will be better! I promise! E-mail me at marciaa@nninc.com got it? Hope to hear from you soon! Stay tuned for the next chapter to, "Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way"!! Ja ne!