Vanish

Chapter 12

"We will be arriving in Mossdeep City in five minutes," announced a perky ferry worker girl.

Misty had her eyes closed, her eyebrows creased in distress. Beside her she had her backpack. She had gotten a first class flight to Slateport City in the Hoenn Region, and that's where she caught the ferry to Mossdeep.

She still felt a little guilty for leaving Jessica in charge of the Cerulean City gym, since the girl was clearly nervous as hell. But it was either that or close the gym. The trainers wouldn't like that at all.

But since she had a friend in apparent need...

Misty had decided to meet up with Brock, May, and Max in Mossdeep before setting out after Ash. Getting off the ferry, Misty made her way through the crowd, trying to find where the pokémon center was... Because if she knew Brock, he'd make the rest of them stay there while they stayed in Mossdeep.

She finally spotted the building and trotted inside, smiling at Nurse Joy. "Is there a young man named Brock staying here?"

Nurse Joy's face instantly turned red. "Why...yes...he is... He's in room six if you want to speak with him..."

Misty nodded her thanks and went back to room six. Raising her hand, she knocked on the door lightly.

"Nurse Joy!" Brock asked excitedly from behind the door.

Misty smirked. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. "No, Brock. Sorry to disappoint you, but it's Misty."

The door flung open. "Misty! What are you doing here? Come on in!"

She did as she was told and saw May and Max sitting on a small couch, and next to May was...this green-haired boy that Misty didn't know. Misty took a seat on a small chair, and May and Max greeted her.

"And this is Drew...," Brock introduced. "He just joined up with us..."

"I see," Misty said evenly. "But the reason why I'm here is because yesterday I called Ash... And he told me the whole story-or, at least, most of the story. He still won't tell me how he got that little red line on his neck, or about one of the times that he ran into Team Rocket... I just found out that he's not doing too well..." She frowned.

"Yeah, but what made you come here?" May asked.

"Well, I know Ash pretty well, and in all the years I've known him, he's never acted this upset. He completely blew up at me, and..." Misty sighed. "I'm just going to meet up with him after this."

"Well, you should be able to reach Youter Town by tomorrow, right? It's right near Lilycove, and if I give you directions, you should be able to find it." Brock smiled wryly. "As long as you don't get lost."

"Yeah... I'm going to find him, help him, and maybe knock some sense into him while I'm at it." Misty punched her fist into her hand. "Quite literally if I need to. No one hangs up on me."

Brock sighed himself and began to write directions down on a piece of paper.

"So... What is it with Cinders?" Drew asked blandly. "I mean, I know he ran away, but still, I can tell from what you say that he's been acting stupider than usual."

Misty shot a glare at this new person. "Did you just call him Cinders!"

Drew gave her an innocent look. "Yeah."

"And did you just say that he was acting stupider than usual!"

"Yeah," Drew said again.

Misty glared at him, but Drew just smirked.