Chapter 6

(I am personally dedicating this chapter to those police officers throughout the United States who are being treated unfairly for doing their job. To those of you who have been turning against them, I just want to say that not every single officer is racist, and to stop harassing these men and women who are doing what most people won't. You'll see why I'm adding this as you read.)

White winced as Archy lurched forward as he plowed through the snow. She heard Fiona squeak as she sat behind her and gripped White tightly around the waist.

It had been two days since Mira and Leia came to visit, but White already needed sometime away from Viridian City. She didn't want her two friends to leave, but she got exhausted easily around them. So after Leia and Mira decided to go and explore Viridian City by themselves, White took the opportunity to risk going on Route 1. But it had also started to snow again, and it now reached halfway up Archy's legs. White had decided to let Fiona come with her, but she was second guessing her decision. She was scared of losing her among the snow or that she would get sick again.

"Sorry about that," Archy said to White as he melted the snow in front of him. "It's hard to move through this snow."

"It's fine," White replied quietly, making sure Fiona didn't hear her talking to the Arcanine.

White felt something tug on her coat sleeve. She turned to see that Fiona was staring at something in the snow. Fiona gave her a scared look that clearly said "What is that?"

She squinted at the object in the snow. Something was burrowing a hole under a tree. A small pile of nuts and acorns laid next to it.

White nudged Archy's sides as a sign for him to stop. He stopped abruptly and sniffed the ground. White jumped down from his back and helped Fiona down. The small girl clutched the side of her coat and continued to watch the thing in the snow.

"Come on, it's ok," White told Fiona reassuringly, holding her hand as they edged toward the creature.

When they were a few feet away from it, White knelt down and pointed at the thing in the snow. A small Rattata was burrowing under the roots of the tree, storing away the food it had found.

"That's a Rattata," White whispered, pulling Fiona closer to the Rattata but far enough so that it wouldn't smell them. "They'll eat just about anything they can find, and they have really good hearing. I'm kinda surprised it hasn't heard us yet."

Fiona giggled a little as the mouse pokemon's tail wiggled back and forth. Its ears twitched and it turned around. White felt Fiona move behind her slowly as the Rattata noticed them. It blinked curiously up at them, his whiskers quivering slightly.

White saw its eyes move to her as she reached into her pocket. She slowly took out an Oran Berry and gave it to Fiona. The Rattata had a hungry look on its face.

"Give that to the Rattata," she said to Fiona quietly.

Fiona glanced at White before edging toward the Rattata. The purple mouse looked up at her. It started giving the young girl puppy eyes and its tail wiggled some more. Fiona then knelt down and slowly held out the berry to the pokemon. It scurried over to her and sniffed her hand and the berry. After a moment, it squeaked happily and took the berry from Fiona.

The little girl squeaked a little in surprise and looked over at White. She gave Fiona an encouraging smile to tell her that she did good. Fiona smiled at the Rattata before running back over to White. She took Fiona's hand and lead her back over to Archy, who was sitting in the snow waiting for them. White heard the Rattata give a cry of farewell behind them as she got onto Archy's back and helped Fiona up.

The Rattata was the first of a few pokemon they saw. Though both White and Archy were both cautious about running into Kevin and his group of friends, they never saw them and only saw innocent forest-dwelling pokemon. Fiona would point out other pokemon, like Pidgeys, Sentrets, and even a Furret. White noticed that Fiona seemed to enjoy interacting with pokemon. She had considered catching Fiona a pokemon of her own, but she didn't know how Fiona's family would've felt about that.

After awhile, Archy's ears perked up and he sniffed the ground.

"What is it?" White asked him, looking around nervously.

"I can hear something," he growled, looking to his right. "I can also smell two human scents."

"Are they familiar?"

"One scent is. The other isn't."

"Follow the sound and the scent."

The Arcanine nodded and followed the noise. White was beginning to hear something as well. It sounded like a keyboard and a female voice singing. She started to hear the words the voice was singing.

A beautiful flower by the gates sits for hours
And for day, she has a dream of being plucked to travel, far away
She's almost certain he won't come
She really wants to be the one, that he puts into the hands of his one and only love
But little does she know, it's almost time for her to go
Her dream will soon come true, she's about to belong to you

Flower, flower, don't you worry
Flower, flower, there's no hurry
Flower, flower don't you cry
Your day will come before you die

The sun was shining bright that day
Leaves were falling when she lay
She saw him coming and her heart stopped
She began to pray
He took his time and did it right,
One last flower caught his sight
He placed her in the center oh the bouquet was so bright

She didn't think she had a chance
Good thing he took one last glance
And the flower got her wish
It was all for just one kiss

Flower, flower, don't you worry
Flower, flower, there's no hurry
Flower, flower don't you cry
Your day will come before you die.

White felt Fiona shaking a little as the voice grew louder. She then saw where the voices were coming from.

Two people were in a small forest clearing. The snow had been melted away and was now brown grass. White recognized Margaret as the girl who was sitting on the grass, playing something that looked like a keyboard, but she was holding it like a guitar. A boy that looked just a few years older than Fiona was hanging on a tire swing with Sowny the Sewaddle.

"Do you think I did alright, John?" She heard Margaret ask the boy anxiously.

"Sis, for the last time, you did fine." the boy retorted. The boy, John, must be Margaret's younger brother.

"I know, but I haven't been able to do that very well," she told him. "That's why Danny let me borrow this in the first place!"

Archy lumbered into the clearing before White could stop him. Margaret's brother gasped a little and ran behind his older sister. Margaret looked around and smiled after seeing who it was.

"Oh, hi, White!" She greeted, setting the keyboard down and standing up.

"I'm sorry, if I interrupted something important," White muttered, noticing that John was glaring at her. "We'll leave if you want."

"We'll?" repeated Margaret, looking slightly perplexed. She then noticed Fiona hiding herself from view behind White, and Margaret gave the young girl a warm smile.

"This must be Fiona!" She said happily as White jumped off Archy and set Fiona down on the ground. Fiona blinked shyly up at Margaret and grasped White's arm tightly.

"Yeah, this is Fiona," White told her, nudging Fiona out from behind her. "She's been staying with us for a few days."

"We'll it's nice to meet you, Fiona!" Margaret told Fiona, bending down to look at her more easily. "Danny told me about you! I'm Margaret, and this is my little brother, John."

White was able to see John Kinsley a little better now. He had a sense of similarity like Danny did before she found out that he and Red were brothers. John had dark red hair like Margaret, and his eyes were blue. Unlike his sister, who was wearing her usual maroon cloak and jacket, he was wearing a thick black coat and boots.

Fiona looked up at John nervously, who nodded at her and gave her a small smile. He was at least three years older than the little girl.

"John, why don't you and Fiona play together for awhile?" Margaret suggested after a moment.

Her brother looked like he was going to protest, but he glanced at White and Fiona. He then grunted and nodded. John beckoned Fiona to follow him. Fiona looked up at White before trailing after him, followed by Archy, who didn't seem to trust John.

"He does know that Fiona can't talk, right?" White asked Margaret as John helped Fiona onto the tire swing next to Sowny.

"Yes, he does," replied Margaret, sitting back down. "Danny told us about her."

"Who else knows?"

"Just me, John, and Danny's family."

"So I take it that Danny's mother was told as well, right?" continued White, sitting on the ground across from Margaret.

"Yeah," she answered, the corner of her mouth twitching. "She wasn't happy at all. They had another fight too. Danny said it lasted for almost three hours. By the way, Danny said you knew about Red, is that right?"

White gave a small nod as an answer, and then asked, "Have you met Red before, Margaret?"

"Yes. He and Danny were my best friends when I moved here. But after awhile, he became one of the cool kids in school, so it became just me and Danny. Then when he came back from his journey, he didn't talk to either of us much. I sometimes wonder if he's mad at us, but I don't know why he would be mad."

"When you go on a journey, I know it can be very stressful." White told her. "The one he went on would put anyone under a lot of pressure."

She began to remember her own journey and how terrible it was. Instead of receiving her Pokedex and starter pokemon, she had stolen one of Professor Juniper's Pokedexes and a Snivy. Around that same time, Team Plasma had come into the open and started stealing people's pokemon. White had been reported as a spy for Team Plasma, and even Sky Blue and Mira had thought she had joined them until White had told them the truth. It wasn't until she was arrested with a small group of Team Plasma members that the police realized that she wasn't a member, and Professor Juniper dropped charges against White. Even after the charges were dropped, White's journey worsened when her crush, Blake River, yelled at her after trying to steal the stone of Reshiram from him, and it got twice as bad when Sky Blue lost his eye while fighting Anthea and Concordia. But deep down, no matter how bad her journey was, she didn't regret going on it.

"Maybe you're right," Margaret sighed, picking up the keyboard and began adjusting the shoulder strap on it. "I just never thought he would...grow up so quickly..."

"What was Red like when you knew him?" White asked curiously. She had met Red before, and ever since she met him, Red became one of the few people she was intimidated by. He was quiet, but his presences was cold.

"Well, he was friendly and very nice. He wasn't as mature as his brother, but they were both fun to be around. When I was younger, people pushed me around a lot, and Red stood up for me. But the more popular he got, the less time he spent with us. Then he went on his journey and he hasn't been the same since."

Margaret seemed slightly depressed after saying this. White didn't know what to say. The experience of losing a friend slowly until he didn't talk to her must have been hard on her.

"So what is that?" White asked hurriedly, gesturing to Margaret's instrument. "Is that a keyboard or what?"

"It's a new kind of keyboard they made," Margaret answered gratefully. "It's doesn't have as many keys or as long as regular keyboards, but they are easy to hold and move around. They also don't need to be plugged in. Danny loaned it to me."

"Why don't you practice at home?"

"My great grandmother doesn't like the noise. She doesn't even know I have this. My grandmother doesn't mind it though."

"Who's side of your family are your grandmothers from?"

Margaret looked uncomfortable at being asked this. She brushed the hair out of her eyes and turned her head away slightly.

"They are from my dad's side." She finally replied quietly. "My grandmother is my dad's mother, and my great grandmother is my grandmother's mother and my dad's grandmother. They are my guardians."

White had a feeling Margaret wasn't telling her everything, but she didn't press the matter. She thought that Margaret was either an orphan or she never saw her parents that often. She then remembered something she had been meaning to ask.

"Margaret, can I ask you something about Danny?" said White nervously.

The younger trainer blinked at her, looking hesitant. White than added hurriedly, "You don't have to answer, I was just wondering about something, and I thought I could ask you!"

"Well it depends on the question, but I guess so." Margaret interrupted. "Danny trusts you, so I guess it's alright."

"He...trusts me?" She repeated, forgetting her question for a moment.

"Yes, he trusts you a lot. Is something wrong?"

White didn't reply. She was taken aback about being told that someone actually trusted her. After everything she had done, from being a pickpocket to a thief, barely anyone trusted her. Only those people whom she had known for awhile have ever trusted her. She didn't know Danny that well, yet he trusted her.

"What was your question?" Margaret persisted.

"Well," White started. "I've noticed that Pastor Jonathon has been more like Danny's father than his uncle. Does Danny have a dad?"

Margaret sighed sadly. "It's a long story."

"I've got time."

"It's a little sad too..."

"I can handle it." White insisted, feeling slightly annoyed. She had handled much more grief than most people knew.

"Well, I only know this because my grandmothers and Danny have told me," said Margaret uncomfortably. "Danny and Red's father was Pastor Jonathon's best friend, and then he got to know the pastor's sister, who is Danny's mom. Danny's parents then fell in love and got married."

"I don't really need their love story." interrupted White bluntly.

"Sorry, I just thought I should start there," Margaret replied apologetically. "Anyway, their father had a job as a police officer. I think I also have to explain something else."

"And what's that?"

"At that time, a lot of Kanto residents were taking sides about, well...certain things. So one thing was that some people supported Team Rocket, while quite a few people were against them. There were many things, but one of the main things was that many people accused officers of being racists."

"Racists?" White repeated blankly. She blushed slightly after saying this. It sounding stupid that a seventeen year old girl was admitting that she didn't know what a racist was.

"Racism is poor treatment against people from a different race or religion." Margaret explained to her, smiling slightly at the look of embarrassment on White's face. "It is also the belief that one race of people is better than another."

"And what does racism have to do with police officers?"

"Well, you see, police officers have a tough job, right? They may not like arresting people or handing out tickets, but that's their job. Unfortunately, some people think they do enjoy it or they think that the officers don't care about killing. A lot more people started to believe that theory after a few incidents. I would never say that all the officers were innocent of this, but I believe most of the officers accused of racism were innocent."

"What does this have to do with Danny's dad then?"

Margaret frowned sadly, and looked around to make sure Fiona and John weren't listening. When she saw that the two children were still playing on the swing, she whispered to White, "This is kinda where it gets sad. Shortly before Red was born, a man who believed that all officers were racists attacked Danny's father while he was on duty. The man stabbed him in the back from behind with a work tool."

White's jaw dropped. "His father was stabbed in the back?" She said, horrified.

Her friend nodded. "He was in the hospital for quite awhile. The doctors told him that he would never be able to walk again. He was in a wheelchair when Red was born. Pastor Jonathon actually moved in with them because Danny's father couldn't help with raising and watching Red.

"But then a miracle happened, and his father actually started walking again. He couldn't go back to being an actual officer because he needed a cane for support, but he got a desk job at the police station instead. The only problem was that the injury caused him to have some kind of seizure that would happen occasionally.

"Then a year after the incident, Danny was born, and he was named after his father. Danny's dad was Daniel Ketchum Senior, and Danny's full name is Daniel Ketchum Junior.

"Things were really looking up until a year after Danny was born. One day, his father had a really bad seizure and the family had to take him to the hospital. The doctors tried to help him, but it was pretty much helpless. Daniel Ketchum Senior died after a week in the hospital. His last wish was that Pastor Jonathon helped Danny's mother raise the two sons he was leaving behind. Red was two years old, and Danny was only one."

White stared at her. Though she had personally found police officers annoying when she was a criminal, but she did have some respect for them. They were protecting people's rights and lives. There probably were still people who disliked them, but backstabbing one and taking away the man's entire future was just horrible. Not to mention taking away two young boys' father.

"That's just..." White started, but Margaret interrupted and said quietly, "I know. What happened to that family was cruel."

The younger trainer stopped talking as Sowny crawled over to her and climbed into her lap. The Sewaddle purred as Margaret scratched its chin. White saw it turn its head and stick its tongue out at Archy, who was glaring at the Bug type from near the tire swing.

"I actually think that's one reason why Danny's mom is so overprotective," Margaret continued, making White turn her attention back to her. "Danny apparently looks exactly like his father, so I think his mom doesn't want to lose him like his dad. He won't even go on a journey now because of her and Red."

This reminded White of when Mira and Leia offered her to come on a journey with them. She still hadn't given them an answer about if she would go or not. Then an idea suddenly popped into her mind.

"Margaret," White started hesitantly. "If you and Danny were offered to go on a journey in another region, would you both go?"

"A journey?" repeated Margaret, sounding surprised. "With a starter pokemon and everything?"

"Yes."

The younger trainer looked thoughtful for a moment before replying, "I would go, and I wouldn't be surprised if Danny would go too, but it would depend on my grandmothers and Mrs. Ketchum's opinion."

White felt slightly annoyed that all of Danny and Margaret's big choices had to be decided for them. She was about to tell Margaret her idea, but John ran over to his older sister and tapped her shoulder.

"Sis, look at the time!" He said desperately, shoving his watch in Margaret's face. She took one look at it and yelped.

"We have to go!" She said desperately, jumping up and grabbing her keyboard and bag. "Great Grandma will be wondering where we've been! We told her we'd be back by now! She worries about us a lot!"

Fiona ran over next to White, looking disappointed that her new friend was leaving. Archy stood next to White as Margaret scooped up Sowny and placed him on her shoulder.

"It was nice seeing you guys!" Margaret told White and Fiona hurriedly. "We should talk again sometime!"

"Of course we should." White said back, feeling a little rushed herself.

She saw John wave to Fiona as the brother and sister ran back through the trees in the direction of Viridian City. White sighed and set Fiona in her lap. She was glad that she had understood Margaret a little more, but she also wished that she had given the younger trainer the chance of knowing a little more about herself.

"Did you have fun?" White asked Fiona quietly, pulling a tree needle out of the small girl's red hair. Fiona nodded and gave her a sheepish smile.

Archy stretched and yawned, and laid down behind the two girls. Fiona crawled out of White's lap and climbed onto the Arcanine's back. Though Archy looked tired, he stood up and let Fiona ride him around.

White smiled a little and pulled out her Xtransceiver. She kept glancing up to watch Fiona and Archy as she scrolled through her contact list. She finally found the person she was looking for. She pressed Mira's name on her contact list and heard the Xtransceiver buzz.

When the buzzing stopped, a voice on the other end asked, "Hello?"

"Hey, Mira," White answered, holding the Xtransceiver up to her mouth. "What have you and Leia been up to?"

"Hi, White! We're just shopping for clothes! Do you want us to get you anything?"

"No, thanks though," she replied awkwardly. She had never really cared for fashion. "I was just wondering, are you and Leia still going to travel around Kalos?"

"Yeah, we actually planned on leaving in a week or so. Why do you ask?"

"I've been thinking about it, and I've decided that I would like to come."

She pulled the Xtransceiver away from her ear as Mira gave a high pitched squeal.

"That's great, White!" She said excitedly. "I'll call Sky Blue and Amos too!"

"Mira, wait," interrupted White. "I have a really big favor to ask you, and you and Leia can say no to this."

"What is it?"

"You see," she started, taking a deep breath. "I have two friends that I want to bring along. They are both around your age, and they've never been on a journey. They might not come, but I just wanted to ask just in case. I also might want to bring Fiona as well."

"That sounds great to me, just give me a sec to ask Leia," Mira replied.

White waited a minute before Mira came back.

"She says it's great too!" Her friend told her. "I can't wait to meet your friends!"

"I'll find a time for you guys to meet them." White reassured her. "Listen, I got to make three other calls, I'll see you two later, alright?"

"Ok, bye!"

"Bye..."

White hung up and put her head in her hands. The next two to three calls were going to be uncomfortable if not nerve-wrecking. The first two would be to Pastor Jonathon and Margaret's grandmothers. The third would be to the professor himself.

~~~

......ok, when I said I would update quickly, I never thought I would update THIS quickly. Since my summer vacation started, I've had a lot of time to write. Let's see how long the next chapter will take. I actually thought this chapter was made too quickly, and I tried not writing, but that didn't work -_-

Ok, I'm sorry if the story of Daniel Ketchum Senior was dark or too sad. But seriously, that's what's happening in America, people! It's happening all over the world! Seriously people, these men and women are standing up for your rights! They are trying to protect your property, family, friends, and lives! Not every police officer is racist! Some of them are probably racists, but the ones people are accusing seem to be innocent! I'm sorry if this frustrates you guys, but I get really ticked off when I see these reports on TV or online about people accusing and beating up police officers just for doing their job! Ok, I'm done ranting. I just needed to say all that ;-; I'm sorry if I'm upsetting you guys by talking about this. I just want people to be aware of this...

Also, I promise you, I tried my hardest to find out if Red had a last name, but I don't think he does, and Danny needs a last name. So Danny and Red now have the last name of Red's anime counterpart, Ash Ketchum. Until Red gets a last name, Ketchum is their last name.

Thank you guys for almost 2K reads! :3 I've noticed that I've been losing readers, but thank you for those of you who are still reading this! :) You guys mean a lot to me!

Just one more thing about Danny's dad: His past is kinda based off some true stories. It was based off both the police officers being hurt and a man who actually faced the injury Daniel Ketchum Senior did, but he wasn't a police officer. The link is below if you want to see what happened, but it isn't much. I can put it in the comments if you want. To that man who faced that terrible injury (who will never read this), I just want to say that nobody deserves that injury you got.

I think that's all for now. Thanks for reading! I'm sorry if this is a depressing chapter, please forgive me! T_T Bye!

(Lyrics and Video: Flower Flower by The Vespers
Link: http://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/108619733186/it-happened-when-i-was-fifteen-i-got-stabbed-in )