Phone Calls

Misty, May, and Drew walked together back to their hotel which coincidentally was the same one, although the ladies weren't fully sure that Drew having the same hotel was a coincidence. Drew suggested they all meet up in May's room, but she vehemently suggested otherwise. She screeched the entire walk about how they had just started dating and he shouldn't know where her room was located because of what he would do, and she wasn't ready. Drew joked about how he only would play some innocent midnight scrabble.

All of them weren't fully into the conversation though as everyone was contemplating what could have happened to Ash and biding their time until they got into Misty's room. As soon as Misty crossed the doorway, the anticipation fell, and she stonily said, "I can't believe Ash just forgot about us. I mean, Ash, didn't come to see me once, or for that matter even call me."

"Well, he sure never called me either." Her tone was angry, she was putting the blame on Ash himself because she had no one else to place the blame. "The next time I see him I'll-"

Drew cut may off, "May, calm down. We have to think through this rationally."

"Who said I wasn't calm!?" May yelled back, testily.

"May."

May then took a deep breath and realized how angry she had gotten, "Okay, okay. But seriously who would want to erase Ash's memory of everything dear to him Misty, me, Pikachu... I just can't think o-"

"Wait, wait, wait." This time Misty cut May off. "Pikachu." She said expecting the other two to understand from that single word. When she only received blank stares, she added, "Pikachu WASN'T with Ash. Could it be that Team Rocket is behind all of this?"

May and Drew both looked at each other and started to nod. Drew agreed, "I mean anything is possible at this point and Team Rocket is as stubborn as Ash." He added in a whisper to Misty, "And May."

"I heard that!" May was back to glaring at Drew.

Misty stayed on topic, "But how could they possibly... erase someone's MEMORY? A PERSON'S memory?"

"Well, I did hear something about that," Drew supplied. "It was from Gary. He's a professor now, you know. He said that some groups of people are using pokemon to attack innocent civilians, and the results are bad. Humans don't have any powers or immunities of their own, and in this day and age where everyone relies on their pokemon for strength, humans are weak, at the very least, in comparison to the stronger pokemon."

May suggested that we call Gary to tell him about Ash's loss of memory as he was probably forgotten also. "Gary and Ash had been enemies for a long time, but when Gary became a professor, they finally forged a friendship between themselves." Drew agreed, thinking Gary would probably be also able to help figure out what happened to Ash.

Misty offered to be the one to call. She put the call on speakerphone so all three of them could hear him. "Hello. Gary?"

"That's me. What's up, Misty? It's rare to receive a call from you."

"Well, Drew and May are here with me. We called to talk about Ash."

"What's happened? He wants to be rivals again? Ugh, tell him to give it a rest already. I outgrew such childish ways." Gary paused for a moment, and because there was no immediate reply, he guessed again, "Oh my. Misty, has he finally realized you like him? Am I being invited to the wedding ceremony?

"NO!" Misty knew he was joking, but still found herself yelling. On the topic of love, she had ot share the newest development with Gary, "But you do know that May and Drew are going out now, right?

"No way. How far have you both gone?" Gary taunted.

"Yeah. I had the same reaction." Gary and May both started denying going any length at all and then fighting with each other about whether or not the other even plan on getting any closer to each other. Misty ignored the couple's fight and got on with the message, walking a little away from the squabble, "Anyway, this phonecall is a little more serious. Ash... He has some kind of memory loss."

"Huh?"

Drew joined in again. "Yeah. He forgot completely about all three of us, but not only us. He also forgot about Tracy, Brock, and Max. We have reason to believe he forgot even you. Then Misty came up with the idea that Team Rocket was behind it all, which is why I told them about what your studying right now."

He was catching up on everything now, "And that's why you guys called me. I'm sorry but I haven't come across any case related to the symptoms Ash has gotten in my studies, but I will call as soon as I find anything." May thanked Gary. "No problem. I'll start researching immediately." With that, Gary ended the call.

There was a silence as the group wondered what their next move should be. "While Gary is looking into it, why don't we look for signs of Team Rocket?"

"Where would we look?" Drew had only very limited experience with running into the infamous

May who, unlike Drew, had dealt with the team nonstop for months nonchalantly stated,
"Around wherever we are and wherever we go. They usually come to us."

To May's surprise, Misty disagreed. "That's not entirely true." Out of the three of them, Misty and May had dealt with Team Rocket the most. May looked over at Misty confused, so she continued, "They cam to us when they were looking for Pikachu!"

"Well," Drew grabbed the girls' attention. "Why don't you girls schedule a day out with Ash tomorrow to, let's say, 'help Ash remember.' But actually, we all would be looking for signs for Team Rocket."

"How would you be looking out if you're not with us?" Misty asked.

Drew smiled and answered immediately. "I'll follow behind you guys and keep an eye out for suspicious signs that you guys might overlook." He was clearly proud of his superb idea.

Misty agreed to his surprisingly well-thought through plan. She looked over at May and shouted, childishly, "Your turn to call!"

May called Ash on her own phone and scheduled to meet up tomorrow at 11 in the morning. They decided that they would eat lunch at the and figure it out from there. Drew decided that he should leave separately from the girls, in the off chance that Ash would be early and catch them all together.

It was only 6 after that but May ordered for everyone to return to their rooms so they could sleep well for the next day. She shooed the reluctant Drew out of Misty's room. Misty changed into her Goldeen pajamas and laid on her bed in the dark. She couldn't help but think that May was nonsensical. How can any of us get some sleep after such a day? There was too much to think about.

As soon as the thought that, there was a knock on the door. Misty was scared. She wasn't expecting anyone. Who could it be? Her friends just left. Could it be some kind of stalker who was WAITING for her friends to leave? What if it was one of those people who have been using Pokemon to attack people? She creeped up to the door, careful not to make a single creak on the old wooden flooring of the hotel. She looked through the peephole...

It was only May. Misty opened the door and exclaimed, "What the Weepingbell, May? You scared me! I thought you went to bed?"

May smirked at her close friend, "Oh come on. Who could go to sleep tonight after everything that happened? It seems that you forgot that I'm a brunette not a blonde."

Misty had to let out a laugh, "I'm sorry for ever doubting you."

"I simply pretended to go to bed to make sure I saw Drew to his room. As much as we disagree, if I ask him earnestly to do something he does. Let's go turn in your room key before they charge you for another night. We're going to crash in my room tonight."

Misty was amazed by the actions of her only girlfriend, but extremely pleased as well. She had started to think that maybe it would be a nice thing to have more female friends to hang out with. There are only so many sex jokes she could take from her immature male friends.

Soon, the two were playing cards on top of the queen-sized bed in May's hotel room. They shared jokes and chatted incessantly about Drew. May was describing her feelings for him for the hundredth time that night when Misty said, "I get it. I really like Ash the same way."

Then there was a pause and May gaped at Misty, and Misty covered her mouth. The two had been avoiding the daunting topic of Ash all night. Neither were sure that it was alright to bring him up. May took a leap and admitted, "I understand. I liked Ash the entire time that I traveled with him."

"What?" Misty probed for more. "Really?" The awkwardness passed and the girls reminisced over their fondest memories of Ash. From their late campfire chats to their training sessions and everything in between, the girls shared their own moments. The longer they talked, the more they remembered and had to tell.

The things Misty had learned from May almost made her forget the day's events. All of the days of the Ash who was their friend outnumbered the single day where Ash wasn't. They stayed up talking late into the night as if they were having a normal slumber party, catching up after the few months of not seeing each other.

Both girls were smiling and laughing when suddenly tears started to stream down Misty's cheeks. Misty saw that May's smile faded and she stared at her with a look full of concern and felt the need to apologize, "I'm sorry..." Misty attempted to rub the tears off of her face, but since her eyes kept pouring, she soon gave up, and started to cry out uncontrollably.

May practically jumped over to Misty's side and pulled her in close, scattering all of the cards of their game in the process. Upon seeing Misty cry, May started bawling too. They sat there in the low light of the lamp clinging to each other as the truth sunk in.

Both of them had lost someone important to them today.

Neither of them knew whether or not Ash was ever going to return to them,

and neither of them could deal with the unexpected loss.

I changed the original script quite a bit in this chapter. Don't expect as fast of updates from this chapter on because I plan on scrapping a lot of the original ideas. Also, with as many ways that I could possibly go with this group who use pokemon to attack people, I do plan on staying away from heavily dark and graphic scenes. With that said, if you're still interested, please go ahead and follow this story.