Pokemon: Next Generation

Chapter 11: Good to Know I'm Not Dreaming (And Yes, I'm Being Sarcastic)

Chapter 11: Good to Know I'm Not Dreaming (And Yes, I'm Being Sarcastic) 

"Hey, kid. Wake up," I heard from somewhere above me. It sounded familiar, but strangely different. A tone of impatience wove its way around the words. Someone was shaking my arm a little. 

I tugged it away. 

"Wake up!" the girl yelled in my ear. 

"I had this horrible dream," I moaned, my eyes still closed. "My parents were teenagers and my friend wanted to flirt with my mom." 

I heard some coughing and a guy say, "Wow, she must have hit her head pretty hard." 

Then a lower voice that I supposed was trying not to be overheard by me, "I don't know about that, but she does have a pretty hard head." 

"If you don't wake up, I'll have my Pokemon hose you down with some hefty Water Guns."  

I chuckled. I'd gotten that threat practically every day of my life. 

"Mom?" I mumbled, opening my eyes to find a pair of beautiful blue irises staring at me. 

"Mom?" The girl looked disgusted. "Nope. I'm not your mom." 

I heard a very distinct fit of coughing behind her again. I sat up to see Daniel coughing into the crook of his arm, looking extremely flustered compared to normal. 

"Oh," I said glumly. "Um, hi?" 

"Morning!" I heard my dad say cheerfully. He was still looking like he was fourteen-ish. For some reason I'd falsely built hope without knowing it that at least one person would be normal aged when I woke up. Or, at the least, not be a supposed Ash and Misty traveling around the world together looking for a missing Togepi and instead be a Sam and Claire who didn't look remotely like my parents. 

"What happened?" I asked groggily. 

"Your friend says you were running and tripped on a tree root. You fell down, hit your head, and have been knocked out ever since," the girl, my mom... whoever it was answered. Since I wasn't absolutely sure if she was actually my mother I had to ask. There are so many Misty's and Ash's wandering around together that it seemed like a logical thing to do, right? 

Taking a slow, deep breath, I just went right out with the question, "What's your favorite Pokemon?" 

"I don't really have a favorite. I just want to catch them all and be a Pokemon Master," Ash answered loudly. 

"She wasn't asking you, Ash," Misty said, annoyed. "And I don't really have a favorite Pokemon." 

I sighed in relief- at least one characteristic about this girl didn't fit my mom. 

But then Misty continued, "The thing is, I love all Water Pokemon. I want to be the greatest Water Pokemon trainer in the world. I don't have just one favorite Pokemon unless you mean type." 

I looked at her blankly as if just by willing for everything to go back to being sane and normal, they would.  

"You ok?" Her blue eyes looked concerned. 

"I've been better," I said weakly. "Daniel?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Um, we should probably go." I stood up, my head swimming. 

"One more question, just to test your ability to, you know, answer questions," Daniel said hastily to Ash. "What year is it?" 

"2000, of course," Ash said. "Even I know that. I told you I have a brain, Misty." 

"Well, if you do, you don't use it." Misty glared at him. 

Ash's mouth turned down as he mimicked her expression. "You know, Misty's right. You do look kind of Gastly." Ash's mouth opened a little as he analyzed my condition again. I'm guessing he was trying to prove himself as a thinking being to prove Misty wrong. 

I was still processing that it was 2000, twenty-five years in the past, to realize they were waiting for me to reply. 

"Thanks d-, Ash, but we need to get going. We're on a tight schedule." My mouth squirmed like a Caterpie. I always sucked at trying to keep things from my parents. It sucked that I couldn't even lie without making a face even when they had no idea I was their future kid. It was weird being OLDER than them, not to mention knowing I was mad at my dad's future self and I couldn't do anything to resolve the issue with this "dad" who was young enough to be my brother. 

I shivered, hating the thought that they were both younger than me. 

"Em, they invited us to lunch. I found Togepi for them and they wanted to repay us," Daniel announced. 

"They WHAT?" I gaped at him, then whispered in his ear, "We can't have lunch with them! They're my parents!" 

"So? You've had lunch with them plenty of times before, right? It's like good old times... kind of." He shrugged at the contradiction. "Plus I'm starving, remember?" 

"Anything wrong?" Ash was looking at us suspiciously. "I mean, if you're not coming to lunch that's ok. More food for me." 

"You don't have any manners, do you Ash?" Misty rolled her eyes, then said gently, "Daniel did find Togepi. We owe him and his girlfriend lunch." 

"I'm not his girlfriend!" I roared. 

"Oh. Sorry." Misty smiled. 

Ash grinned and began chanting, "Emma and Daniel sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N- OW!"  

Misty had hit the back of his head. "Stop it, Ash. You're embarrassing me." 

I looked at the two of them- Ash's eyes watering up from my mom hitting him and then him bursting out laughing as if he was the first person to ever sing that song. He still acted like he was five.  

"You know, I am feeling like some food might do me some good. Is it ok if we bring along two of our other friends?" I asked tiredly. 

"Sure. Go get them," Misty said. "We're right through these trees over there." She pointed to the left. 

"Sounds great, Misty." Daniel wrapped a hand around my waist and led me off to where we'd find Anthony and Amanda resting. It was a good thing he did support me- I still felt faint and had no idea where we were going. "Are you ok?" 

"Am I ok?" I repeated. "Daniel, we're what, twenty-five years in the past and talking to my parents who are younger than us? No! I'm not ok!" 

"Well, it seemed polite to ask..." Daniel sounded annoyed.  

"Let's just get back to camp." I sighed, still hoping this was all a nightmare that I'd wake up from.

Hey!

Wow this chapter is so much shorter than the First Light chapter I just uploaded. I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, make sure to comment, vote, and/or follow if you aren't already. All the support means so much!

Pokemon Question of the Day: What is your favorite Dog-like Pokemon and why? The Johto Legendary trio count if you ask me. I'm sure you guys can think up a lot more than I could. 

Have a great day!

-Flips