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Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 74: Give me Eagerness

Brock got off the bus and headed towards the Cerulean gym. His friends were supposed to be out shopping all day, but surely they would be back by then. It was already well into the evening. He thought he should meet them after all, he wouldn't get over his sadness for being unable to get a date if he spent all his time at Rock On. Besides, with the news of Tempest having been apprehended he was feeling better about leaving the breeding center. He had heard the detailed story about how they were captured from Ash.

Brock saw something unusual as he approached the gym. There was a man with yellow hair carrying Lily outside. He put her in the passenger seat of a blue car that had a broken window on the driver's side. He rushed over as he called, "what happened to Lily?" The man looked at Brock for a split second, before rushing to drive away. "Come back here!" Brock couldn't allow the apparent kidnapper to get away. "Go Steelix!" He jumped on the pokemon's back, "follow that car!" With a loud roar, the large pokemon began to chase the car as fast as he could.

Not too far from the Cerulean gym, Ash, Misty, her sisters and their dates, were at a fancy store. The store focused on men's formal attire. Ash came out of the change room wearing a tuxedo. As far as he could tell it was the same as the many others he tried on. Besides, that was the first store they visited early in the day. He had tried on that very same tuxedo before.

A collective gasp followed by fan girlish squeals escaped the Waterflower sisters. Their voices mixed into one with phrases such as, "you look great," "so handsome," "absolutely amazing," and such compliments.

Ash adjusted his tuxedo and grinned. His expression changed when he realized that the Waterflowers were rushing over to Pikachu, who was wearing a tuxedo top. Ash pouted and cleared his throat, "how do I look?"

Several seconds later, after some understanding looks from Lando and Kenobi, the Waterflowers finally stopped fussing over Pikachu. "You look very handsome," Misty complimented.

Daisy nodded, "I think this is the right one,"

"Yes, you should definitely wear that one," Violet agreed.

"I think this was the first one I tried on this morning," Ash reminded.

"We needed a point of comparison," Daisy calmly replied as if the day long ordeal had been nothing. "Oh, your bow-tie isn't on right. Misty, you'll keep an eye on him, won't you?"

Ash fiddled with the bow-tie, he could find nothing wrong with it. "Let me," Misty offered, fixing some unperceivable fault in the bow-tie. Daisy and Violet nodded their approval. Ash, nor Lando, nor Kenobi, noticed anything different about the bow-tie.

At that moment, everyone was facing towards Ash. Ash was facing in the opposite direction towards the glass windows of the shop. He saw a car drive by wildly, avoiding traffic. Brock rushed after it in pursuit riding on Steelix. The noise caught everyone's attention, but by the time they turned around, they were only on time to see a police car zoom by. "That was Brock!" Ash exclaimed. "He was chasing some car riding on Steelix and the police was chasing them."

"I thought Brock was in Pewter City," Misty mused. The possibility of Brock rushing through the street chasing a car sounded very unusual.

"You don't have to like make up such silly stories," Daisy laughed, "we're like finished shopping anyway."

"Yeah," Violet agreed, "someone like ran a red light or something, I'm sure that's all."

"I'm serious!" Ash insisted. The approaching noise was heard again. "Listen, they're coming back around!" The same blue car from before drove up the street again with a police car after it. Brock and Steelix were no where to be found. Ash rubbed his eyes in confusion. "I saw them!" He insisted.

Misty gently patted his back, "it's okay, you're just tired."

Ash thought about it for a moment. What he claimed to see was indeed unlikely. "I guess you're right. My imagination must have played a trick on me."

Ash changed back into his normal clothes and purchased his and Pikachu's tuxedos. The group exited the store to the sound of Ash's stomach growling in hunger. They got on Lando's limousine and were on their way to get something to eat.

xoxox xox xoxox

Caedus, known in the illegal world as Solo, drove up the street trying to lose the police. He cursed his luck; he had almost made a clean get away if not for that guy with the Steelix. Misty didn't know who he was, but Caedus had seen Misty in pictures Lily had shown him of her family. He knew she was one of the trainers that ruined things for Tempest and wanted revenge. He remembered just why it was best to work alone, getting involved with Tempest brought him nothing but trouble.

Suddenly, Steelix dashed out of another smaller road into the main one. They had taken a shortcut to head off the kidnapper. Caedus tried to go around Steelix, yanking the steering wheel to the right. It was too late so he stomped on the breaks. The tires screeched and pealed, leaving black lines imprinted on the road. A loud crash echoed as the car collided with the large pokemon. The car was a mess, but Steelix stood strong with nothing but minor scratches.

The airbag on the driver's seat didn't activate and Caedus was thrown forward against the windshield. Lily was trapped between the passenger seat and the airbag. The police car came to a screeching halt, with another track of burnt tires edged into the road. Brock jumped off Steelix and rushed to Lily's side. He threw the door open and pushed the airbag aside to get her out before she suffocated. "Lily! Lily! Answer me!"

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, Lando's limousine was moving quite slowly. The driver's voice came from the intercom, "it seems there's been an accident up ahead. We might be stuck in traffic for a while. I apologize for the inconvenience. I can't see exactly what happened from here, but it looks like it involved a Steelix."

Ash jumped in his seat, "I knew it! I knew it! I told you I saw Brock riding on Steelix! I have to go see what happened." Ash was quick to hop out of the limo and dash to the side of the road. He hurried up the street on the sidewalk.

"Wait for me!" Misty followed suit, rushing after Ash.

"Shall we?" Kenobi inquired.

Violet decided to go with the flow, "we might as well go too."

"That's right, let's be adventurous," Daisy followed as well.

"We'll be back later," Lando said to the driver, before rushing out after the group.

xoxox xox xoxox

Ash was the first to arrive at the site of the accident with Pikachu on his shoulders. He was followed by Misty. They found Brock with Lily in his arms, crying like a baby. "Lily, you have to hold on! This is all my fault," he blamed the accident for her unconscious state and thus he blamed himself. The fact that she was already unconscious when Caedus put her in the car eluded him in the rush of the moment.

"Lily!" Misty called out, her voice drowned out by the sound of the two approaching ambulances. The rest of the group arrived soon after.

Caedus was taken to an ambulance; he was badly injured but alive. The police network was informed about him, though only the Viridian public knew about his escape. The Jenny of Cerulean City immediately recognized the wanted man.

Lily was placed in the other ambulance. She wasn't injured beyond a few scratches and bruises. Because Caedus was trying to make a turn when he crashed, the driver's side received most of the damage. Lily was unconscious and that was what worried the paramedics. Even if the airbag had apparently worked, they didn't discard the possibility that she might have hit her head.

It was decided that only her sisters would ride in the ambulance with her, it would be too crowded if everyone did. The rest of the group returned to Lando's limousine and followed the ambulance to the Cerulean hospital. The entire way, Brock was a wreck. It took the combined efforts of Ash, Lando and Kenobi to calm him down.

While the group waited for the doctor's examinations and testing to finalize at the Cerulean Hospital, Jenny came by. Caedus had been safely locked up and she needed to file some reports. Brock received the most questions. He finished his replies just on time for when a nurse informed them that they could see Lily. Jenny followed after the crowd to hear Lily's side of the story.

"Don't worry, she's going to be fine," a doctor confirmed in Lily's room as the group of worried expressions entered. "She was just given a fast working sleeping chemical, it's nothing particularly harmful. Lily will be free to leave as soon as all the test results are in, it's just a precaution." Among looks of relief, the doctor left the crowded room.

Jenny wasted no time in stepping forward, "I know this is too soon," she apologized. "Could you tell me what happened?"

Lily was sitting up on the hospital bed. She was still light headed, but felt a little more awake when she wasn't laying down. "Caedus came back when I was at the gym," she began; the name was familiar to Daisy and Violet. Misty had heard it before, though she was away traveling with Ash often and wasn't well informed about who he was. She had never met him as Lily's boyfriend. Ash and Misty only recognized the man taken away in the ambulance from their battle with Tempest.

"Your ex?" Violet had arrived a few minutes after Ash and Misty, along with the others. Caedus was already in the ambulance and out of sight by then.

"Yes," Lily nodded sadly, "he said he broke up with me because Tempest was like after him and he didn't want to get me into trouble. He apologized and like told me about that, since Tempest has been arrested. He said he got on their bad side because he like saved a girl they were trying to kidnap. I think he was lying. He gave me roses and chocolates. When I ate some of the chocolate I felt really tired. I was like falling asleep and I couldn't help it. That's all I remember."

"I see," Jenny took in the information. She would fill up the report herself. There was no need to burden these people any longer. "Caedus Calrissian is a wanted man, though many people are unaware of that. He'll be going to jail as soon as he's out of the hospital. I'd like to speak to you again tomorrow when you're feeling more awake. If you don't mind, I'll drop by the Cerulean gym."

Lily nodded slowly, "yes," she could barely find her voice after learning the truth about Caedus.

"Well then, I'll be on my way, may you recover soon," Jenny referred more so to the shock then to any physical injuries. The officer left the room where everyone offered their words of encouragement to Lily.

Caedus Calrissian, alias Solo, turned to a life of crime after his father's cargo company was taken over by the Antilles family, under the guidance of Team Rocket. It all began when Caedus was a small child. His father was forced to sign an unfavorable contract. From that point on, the takeover slowly commenced until Calrissian Cargo became Antilles Oceanus. The Calrissian family was left in ruin.

xoxox xox xoxox

At the Viridian City gym, Delia was flipping through a catalogue looking at dresses. "Explain to me again why I'm doing this?" She sighed.

"Because all the gym leaders are socially required to go to Daisy's wedding," Giovanni explained as he typed something into his computer. They were in his secondary office above ground. He made himself available for gym battles. He had defeated a few trainers that day. "Since everyone thinks we're dating and you're going to be there too, then it's reasonable we go together."

"Yes, I already said I would go," Delia replied, "what I don't understand is why I can't wear what I intended to wear. I already have a dress. How do you know it's not proper if you haven't even seen it?"

"You told me," Giovanni reminded.

Delia raised an eyebrow, "when did I say that?"

"When I gave you some jewelry to wear," Giovanni recalled, "you said it was too much to go with your dress."

"So instead of just wearing less jewelry I'm supposed to get a new dress?" Delia found the approach to be rather inconvenient. "Forgive me your majesty. This peasant has forgotten that she needs to look like a queen if she's going to be the king's date in a formal event."

Giovanni's reply to Delia's sarcasm was a simple and slightly amused, "you're forgiven."

Throwing the fancy designer's catalogue at him was quite tempting for Delia, but she refrained from doing so. She continued looking at the dresses.

Giovanni interrupted with an annoyed, "what is the meaning of this?"

At first Delia assumed he was annoyed at some report or something he was reading on the computer. She couldn't see the screen from her angle sitting across from his desk.

"Delia!" Giovanni insisted, turning the screen around so she could see it.

Delia found herself looking at a picture of a sleeping Giovanni with red ink all over his face. The design was reminiscent of a Persian. "So you were spying on my cell phone." Thankfully she had a backup copy of that picture in her computer at home, and several printed copies hidden in the bottom of some drawers.

Giovanni had been too busy to keep up with such details. Delia couldn't be making suspicious calls if she was with him most of the time and they had an agreement. It took him too long to realize that she had taken such a picture. He quickly sent the wireless signal to delete it from Delia's Rocket cell phone. "If you have any more copies of that," he looked threatening.

Delia was amused, she smiled sweetly, "just the one on my cell phone," she grinned mischievously, purposely hinting that she was lying.

Giovanni leaned back in his chair, and massaged his temples, "you're such a handful to deal with sometimes."

"So are you," she kept the same sweet smile. Giovanni returned to his work and for a moment only the sound of his typing was heard in the office. Then Delia suddenly asked, "do you want to hear a story?"

"A story?" He questioned. "Is this completely random?"

"Not at all," she paused. She was looking at elegant dresses to go to a wedding. The thought of a wedding reminded her that she never had one, though she almost became officially engaged. Those memories made her think of when she left Team Rocket to raise Ash peacefully. That reminded her of when Ash was born. Maybe the links were too long and many to be easily followed, "actually yes, let's say it is random. I realized I never told you about when Ash was born."

"Was there something unusual about it?" Giovanni wondered with curiosity. Why else would Delia offer to tell the story? If it was just a normal childbirth, he didn't think there was much to tell. Go to the hospital, give birth, wait a few days, go home, end of story.

"Not really," Delia mused, "well it was a little early, but it turned out fine. I just thought you might want to hear the story," she clearly wanted to tell it.

Giovanni didn't understand Delia's sudden eagerness to share that tale. He decided to listen. She would tell the story anyway, he was sure. "Alright, tell me the story."

He was discreetly reading something from the screen, but Delia decided not to mention it. Instead she began her story.

xoxox xox xoxox

Ash had been born just a few days after Gary. He came early, thus Delia was a little unprepared. Mrs. Oak had given birth in the Viridian City hospital. Pallet Town didn't have its own big hospital; the closest one was at Viridian. There was a small clinic in town to take care of check ups and minor injuries. Gary's mother and Delia had been going there for check ups.

Mrs. Oak was very talkative. She would go on for hours about how glad she was they would give birth at close dates. She was convinced that the children would become best friends. She even hoped that they would end up dating when they were older if they were a boy and a girl. If the children were of the same gender then they would become sibling-like best friends. Mrs. Oak never would have guessed that the boys would develop such a rivalry, though they did become friends later on.

When Mrs. Oak went to give birth at Viridian City, she took the local Pallet Town doctor with her. The doctor had been keeping up with her check ups all that time and she wanted a familiar doctor with her. She also wanted to have the resources of a large hospital available. Professor Oak had gone to Viridian City with his son and daughter-in-law. For the next few days, Delia would be without her closest people in Pallet Town.

She assured them she would be fine. They would return before her due date. Then later she would journey to Cerulean City with Professor Oak. She didn't want to give birth in Viridian, it felt too close to Team Rocket. She wasn't really hidden in Pallet Town, but she wouldn't purposely do anything that might make her presence stand out. She knew Giovanni had many connections in Viridian City. Pewter City was also too close.

It was a sunny morning in Pallet Town. Delia was beginning the preparations to serve breakfast at the Pallet House. People sometimes told her that she should take a break since she was so close to her due date, but she refused. She didn't want anyone thinking they had to feel sorry for her. After a wave of unusually strong morning sickness, Delia went to the kitchen and started to get things ready. She was running a little late that morning.

She dropped the bag of coffee beans she was holding, when the baby made an unusually strong movement, "what's gotten into you today, Ash?" She patted her large belly as is trying to soothe her child. The pain ceased and she carefully picked up the bag of beans from the floor, keeping her back straight. She lifted herself upright with her legs, thankful that the coffee beans had not spilled out of the bag.

She left the bag on the counter and reached for the little radio she kept in the kitchen. She was in the mood for some soothing music. As she tried to find a good station, the sudden sharp ache came again. Her face contracted in pain and her hands went to her stomach. "Ow, Ash, no..."

Her breathing turned labored as she carefully reached for a chair and sat down. She took long deep breaths. It had to be a false alarm, she couldn't be giving birth. It was not her due date yet. She looked at the calendar in the kitchen wall. It was May twenty-two. Her baby was supposed to be born at the start of June. The Oak family was still in Viridian City. Little Gary was only a few days old. More nausea came and she pushed herself to her feet, rushing to the bathroom. Minutes later her water broke. Another sharp pain came; there was no denying the truth.

"Delia!" A voice called from outside. It was Mrs. Alderaan, she often went to drink coffee at the Pallet House in the mornings. "Are you there?"

Delia took a deep breath and willed her child to stay still. She reached for the bathroom sink and splashed cold water in her face. She composed herself and went over to the kitchen door that led to the area with tables and chairs outside. "Good morning Mrs. Alderaan, I'm running a little late this morning."

"Oh, don't worry dear; I just came to say hi, you really should take a break." Mrs. Alderaan began her endless story about her Bellsprout, which she carried in her arms. "When Belle is exhausted, she gets asthma."

Did pokemon even get asthma? Delia smiled sweetly and interrupted, "I heard that the local doctor left the keys to the clinic with someone in case anyone needed some first aid supplies. Just out of curiosity, who was it?"

"It was me. At least I can count on having first aid supplies on hand if Belle ever got hurt. Oh but I will make sure she doesn't," Mrs. Alderaan continued. "Sometimes I call Professor Oak to look at Belle when she gets sick. My poor sweet Belle often chokes on air and gets the most violent hiccup attacks. Sometimes I call Dr. Quigon too. A human doctor should at least know the basics of pokemon medicine. It's just so unfortunate that they're both away at the same time. What if something happened to Belle? Don't you think it's just nerve wrecking to be without the doctor and the professor in town at the same time?"

Delia felt another wave of pain wash over her. She kept her legs firm and straight. If she bent her knees even a little, she was sure she would crumble to the floor. She clenched her teeth in a forced smile. "Yes, terribly nerve wrecking. Can I borrow the keys?"

"Of course, let me get them for you," Mrs. Alderaan didn't move, "speaking of keys, Belle was playing with the keys earlier, it was so cute!"

"Thank you so much, I'll come get the keys, just as soon as I get back from running a little errand," Delia walked past Mrs. Alderaan. Walking very stiff and pained, she headed up the street. If she let people take pity on her, they might treat Ash differently. She would prove she didn't need any pity.

"Such impatience!" Mrs. Alderaan raised one arm dramatically, palm up. In her other arm the Bellsprout seemed to be more aware of the situation than her trainer.

Delia hurried up the street to Professor Oak's place. She didn't bother with the stairs, instead calling at the top of her lungs, "Marty!"

She waited a few seconds and the young man came out, breathing heavily from all the running. He spotted Delia at the base of the stairs and hurried to her. "Is there an emergency?" Professor Oak had left one of his Pallet Town neighbors taking care of things while he was away. He only really needed to feed the pokemon.

Delia smiled sweetly; it felt relieving to be able to scream as loud as she could at least once. "There's no emergency, I just want to borrow Chansey. I feel like having the company of a Chansey, that's all."

"Oh..." Marty assumed it was all due to some kind of odd mood swing. "Okay, I'll go find Chansey for you, I'll be right back." The seconds ticked away painfully until Marty returned and gave Delia a pokeball, "here you go, is there something else you need? Is everything okay?"

Delia forced herself to keep smiling, "everything is fine, thanks for asking. See you later," she went on her way, pained and stiff down the street.

After making it to Mrs. Alderaan's house, Delia found the old lady in the front yard playing with Belle. Thankfully she had remembered to get the keys and promptly handed them over. "Isn't it a lovely day?" Mrs. Alderaan continued with her usual chatter. "That's why I brought Belle out to play in the yard, I'm sure she enjoys nice days like this."

"Oh yes, lovely day, thanks for the keys, see you later!" Delia rushed away as quickly as she could.

Mrs. Alderaan watched her leave. "Such impatience!" She threw her hands in the air. "I bet that patience will not be that baby's strong point." Standing on the ground beside her, Belle continued being more aware of the situation than her trainer.

Delia let herself into the clinic and hurried with difficulty to lay in bed. "Go Chansey!" She released the pokemon from her pokeball. The Chansey immediately realized what was going on. Her caring nature made her want to help the human. "Chansey, I'll be counting on you!"

Delia wasn't sure how much time passed, but it wasn't more than a few hours. The birth happened relatively quickly. Chansey was at a loss of what to do with something that wasn't an egg. "Chansey!"

"It's okay," Delia gasped for air, "I' know what to do." She did her best to guide the pokemon through the process of human birth. Delia had read up on it to feel more prepared. Chansey was nervous, but did as she was told and everything worked out in the end.

xoxox xox xoxox

By the time Delia finished her story Giovanni had stopped reading from the computer screen and was staring at her. "You were always good at blurring the line between brave and crazy," he finally spoke, impressed that Delia was able to handle the birth practically on her own.

"That's funny," Delia smiled as she remembered, "Professor Oak said something like that when he came back to town the next day and found out what happened. You should have seen his face. The Chansey that helped me was his pokemon. He allowed Dr. Quigon to keep her in the clinic. She's a Blissey now. She's still helping out at the Pallet Town clinic."

To be Continued

Disclaimer, I don't own Pokemon. About Calrissian Cargo and Antilles Oceanus, their story was explained in Diamond 58. The event of Caedus' father signing the contract happened in Diamond 19. The birth story is not exactly realistic, but neither are magical encapsulated monsters.