"When there is no more room in hell... the dead will walk the Earth.. Man, you think they would have run out of classic movie quotes by now, but they just keep adding even more!" Ash commented, as the group left the movie theater.
"I don't know, I think the whole "zombie apocalypse" is highly improbable," Brock replied, walking along side his life-long friend, still sipping on his drink from the theater, "I mean, think about it, what are the odds of some sort of disease reanimating the dead and allowing the dead to wreck through modern society?"
"Brock, it's not going to happen! It's just a science-fiction movie!" Misty commented from the other-side of Ash, holding onto a box of gummy candy.
"Yeah I know, but image if it actually did happen!"
"I don't want to imagine it.." Misty replied, drifting off towards the end. Ash glanced over at Misty, catching her reaction. Her face seemed to be wilted in expression, looking as if something was on her mind. Ash became worried, seeing his dearest friend like that. He placed his hand on her back, startling Misty at first.
"Hey, don't worry! It's not gonna happen any time soon!" Ash reassured Misty, stroking her back. She looked up at Ash and couldn't help but put on a bright smile. Ash looked towards the crowded streets to notice the bustling trainers and civilians, probably going out to dinner, coming back from work, or going out on the town. 6pm was always a busy time in the city.
Celadon City was always known as a fluorescing metropolis in the Pokemon universe, busy with incoming trainers looking to continue their journey by battling the local Gym leader, gamblers looking to make a profit from the rich casinos located down-town, and the tourists who are there to absorb the unique atmosphere of a moving city. In recent years, this city has been the center of musical and live entertainment, along with being host to various important scientific and technological conferences.
Ash, Misty, and Brock were staying in Celadon City for a few nights while their pokemon were staying at a local rehabilitation center. The recent battles had taken a toll on the Pokemon, so in their interests the gang decided to keep the pokemon at a local health and recovery center to restore and rest them back to fighting condition. Ash felt uncomfortable leaving pikachu by himself, but he knew that his companion would be in good company during their little vacation so Ash just let that worry slide by him. So, while the pokemon were resting, the gang thought it would be nice to spend some time in the city.
The three had decided to go to a movie in the entertainment district of town, deciding to go watch the classical hit "Dawn of the Dead", which was a movie focusing around a zombie outbreak that ravages across the whole world, and focuses on a group's story of their survival from the attack. Both Ash and Brock had been a fan of zombie films but Misty always hated them. When she was a little girl her sisters would force her to watch these scary movies, which gave her terrible nightmares. Even to this day, she still has trouble seeing zombie movies for the fact that they gave her these nightmares, but at least now she has Ash and Brock by her side to provide comfort.
It wasn't the zombies that didn't scare her (as much, anyway) but it was the psychological thought of going through that kind of scenario that made Misty cringe in her shoes. Growing up was hard as it is because her mother died when she was young and her father died in a car accident years later, so she never grew up with a regular mother or father. The only family she had was her three sisters and all they seemed to do was tease Misty all of the time... still, they were still family to her.. matter of fact the only closest she had had at the time.
But when she had met up with Ash and Brock and started to travel with them, she started to feel like she was part of a group of friends that were like her new family; like two brothers. No matter where their adventures had taken them, she had always had them by her side.. so then when she started having these zombie nightmares, these dreams were beginning to involve and target both of her "brothers", especially Ash.. and these nightmares started to torment Misty, tormenting about losing the closest family she had ever have... And she knew that these nightmares would flare up again after watching the movie..
"So, what do we want to do now?" Ash asked, looking at all of the restaurants and business flourishing with customers, "Wanna grab a bite to eat somewhere?"
"Sure! Sounds great!" Brock commented.
"Ech! How could you guys eat after a film like that?!" Misty replied, sticking her tongue out, still holding onto her box of gummy candies.
"What? Food is food!" Ash exclaimed, putting his hands on his stomach.
"You just had a big thing of popcorn! How could you still be hungry?"
"Because I'm growing man!" He replied, sticking his chest out and pointing to himself with his thumb, "I need the food to make me grow big and strong!"
A sweat drop ran down the back of Misty's head, "Ash, you're 17 years old, I think you're at the end of 'growing'.." Ash paused, letting the silence soak in.
"How embarrassing!" Brock commented, starting to laugh. Misty soon joined in with the laughter, while Ash was still stuck in his heroic position. He then let his arm fall down to his head, dropping his head.
"I hate you all.." he spoke, only making Brock and Misty laugh even more! Misty put her arm around Ash, still chuckling.
"Awwh come on Ash! You know that we love you! Isn't that right, Brock?" she commented, turning to face him.
"Of course we do! We're just teasing you around, Ash. It's nothing personal."
Ash continued looking at the ground, still blushing from embarrassment. Misty rubbed her hand on Ash's shoulder, "Come on, you, let's go get some Ice Cream!" she spoke, smiling sweetly at Ash, making him smile back and cheer up a bit.
"Okay! Ice Cream sounds good! Let's go!" Ash spoke, soon taking off, leaving Misty and Brock in the dust.
"Oy vay.. and he's off again.." Brock commented, taking a deep sigh.
Misty started giggling to herself. "Come on, Brock, let's go catch up with him." she replied, keeping her smile on her face. They both took off after the running teenager, whose appetite was getting to the best of him.
*1 hour later*
The trio were walking back to their hotels, each of them with an ice cream cone in their hand. Ash had chocolate, Misty had mint, and Brock had coffee; each one of these their personal favorite flavors. Ash and Misty were bickering over why their particular flavor is the better of the other flavor, while Brock was quietly listening to the chirping birds before him. Listening to Ash and Misty was beginning to become somewhat of a past time for him; he had grown so used to it through out these years.
As they continued to walk through the city, passing by the city's canal river, located just outside of their hotel, the group started to notice something strange about the people around them.. how they were starting to act as the sun started to set over Celadon City.
"Hey guys," Misty commented, finishing up her cone, "Has any one noticed that everyone seems to be moving around like at a quicker pace? Like something has them spooked?" Both Ash and Brock started to look around at the civilians: Misty was right. Everyone seemed to be moving abnormally quickly, like they were all late for something.
"Yeah, now that you mention it, it does look like something is up," Ash replied, feeling a little bit uneasy to what he is seeing, "I've got a bad feeling about this.."
"Come on, let's get back to the hotel and find out what's going on." Brock remarked.
"Right." both Ash and Misty agreed. They began to pick up their pace and started running to the hotel plaza.
A few minutes later they arrived on the hotel grounds, noticing a massive group of people standing outside of the hotel, yelling at the staff standing just outside. It wasn't clear exactly what they were yelling at or about but it looked quite serious. It looked like a scene of some street riot trying to get into a building, something you would see on television.
"You can't do this to us!" "We demand a room!" "Give us sanctuary!" The yells and screams buzzed commotion around the hotel campus grounds. The whole group looked on the scene, trying to find someway to get in the building. Misty was both shocked and confused as to what was going on in front of their hotel.
"Come on, Misty!" Ash spoke, running towards one of the side doors with Brock. Misty ran behind the two, soon catching up to them. Some of the rioters noticed the trio and started running after them, believing that they stayed at the hotel and that they could let them in. Ash, Misty, and Brock reached the side door to the hotel, quickly swiping their hotel key-cards in the slot and bolted inside before any of the rioting civilians could get in behind them. The three slipped in the door and closed it before the people arrived, who started banging on the glass, continuing to shout and curse at the group. The trio stopped to look back at the rioters outside, just as a guard was walking past them.
"Shouldn't we let them in?" Ash asked the guard, who seemed otherwise occupied with what was going on outside.
"No, they are creating a disturbance to the workers and are beginning to wreck hotel property. I'm not going to allow these thugs get into the hotel and continue to cause a rampage in here."
"But they are people just looking for someplace to stay!" Misty protested. The guard sternly looked over at Misty.
"Look, if you understood what our current situation is and what is headed this way, you wouldn't exactly want this many people in a small space, now would you!?" the guard shouted back, catching Misty off surprise, "Now if you excuse me I have to shoo these people off. I would suggest going to your rooms and staying there!" The guard walked away from the group and headed towards the side door they were coming from.
"How rude!" Misty commented, giving a huff at the guard.
"Come on Misty, let's just get back to our rooms," Ash spoke, not exactly feeling like he had wanted to stay at that spot with a grumpy guard around. Misty nodded and they ran down the hallway.
They made their way towards the grand staircase that lead up to their rooms. For some strange reason, the hotel only had staircases and they didn't contain any elevators. As they started to climb up the stairs, they were hearing the rioting citizens from the front door. All three stopped and turned around to look at the pandemonium developing outside. There were large glass doors and window panes that made for the entrance, making it visible to see everything that was going on. Outside of the glass doors, there was a line of guards linked in arms, pushing the civilians back from the door, but many of them though continued to bash their way towards the doors, only to forced back into the crowd. The shouts continued from outside, from both the guards and the civilians.
"Let us in! We need protection!" "Get away from the door! Get back!" "Help us! Please help us!" "Damn it all! Get away from the door! There is no more room for visitors to stay! GET BACK!" "YOU CAN'T DO THIS! LET US IN!" Ash, Misty, and Brock were standing there, stunned by what they were hearing and seeing.
One of the hotel concierge scuttled down the staircase, passing by the group. Ash called him out. "Hey!" The man stopped suddenly and turned around. "What the heck is going on out there?" Ash asked the dressed up man.
He looked at him with a puzzling look. "You haven't heard what's been going on?" the man asked the three, to which they all shook their head. "Well, I... if I were you, I would head to your rooms and stay there for the night.." He continued to head down the stairs, but he suddenly stopped and turned around again. "And I would suggest staying there until it's safe..." The man continued scuttling down the stairs.
"What's that suppose to mean!?" Misty called out to him, but the man was already out of sight. They looked out towards the crowds, which seemed to have been escalating outside. Misty almost whimpered at the sight of the threatening crowds. She was spooked from what she was seeing outside, reminding her of the massive crowd scenes from the movie that they just saw that evening.
"Hey, Misty, I think it might be wise for you to stay with us for the night, since Brock and I have a suite room. We'll be able to stay together if something does happened outside, when we wake up tomorrow," Ash calmly spoke.
"It seems like a wise idea... I mean I'm not really afraid of what's going on!.. B-But it would be important to stay together," Misty replied, looking back outside.
"We better get going then, come on!" Brock noted, starting his way up the stairs. Ash and Misty followed up behind him.
As they ran by each door of the maroon colored hallway, the echoes of the riot outside were becoming more and more dim, almost becoming non-existent. But as the voices went away, another noise soon took place in the hallway: silence. All three had noticed that within each of the rooms they passed by, there were no televisions blaring or people talking in their rooms.. there was nothing.. just the sound of the air conditioning units wheezing through the grates, like a ghost of what had been there before... It was a silence that could drive any person towards insanity.. or more or less the feeling of discomfort of the lack of something there.. something that one couldn't easily put their finger on... Something was going on.
The three arrived at their doors. Misty headed into her room, which was next door to the boy's suite room, while Ash and Brock headed into their room. Misty quickly gathered her things together in her room, which was a suitcase and her backpack, along with a couple of the room's complementary items. She grabbed the main blanket off of her bed, and left the room, closing the door behind her.
Misty entered Ash's room, which was left ajar, to find him moving his things around the room, more or less cleaning them up a little bit. He turned around to face Misty. "Ah you've got your things. Do you have everything you need?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, I do," she spoke, a bit quieter than normal. The people outside still had her spooked. She continued to swivel her eyes around, from Ash to the window, to the suite door to her stuff, and his stuff as well. Misty didn't know how to control herself, as her emotions of fear and uncertainty were starting to rise up to the surface.
"Misty.." he softly spoke, stepping closer to Misty, making her focus her attention on his hazelnut eyes, which were looking into her cerulean blue eyes. "Are you okay? What's wrong?" he whispered. Misty continued to look at his eyes, trying to gain control over her thoughts and emotions.
"N-Nothing, what are you taking about?" she replied, quickly turning around to avoid his glance, slightly blushing. "I'm just f-fine!" Ash put his hand on her shoulder, making her jump slightly.
"Misty... don't lie to me.." Ash spoke. He could feel that something was going on.. but what exactly he couldn't tell. Misty's stubbornness was masking what she was truly hiding inside.. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to help direct her intuition, and turned around, opening her eyes. She hesitated for a second but then continued..
"Ash.. I'm s-scared.." she spoke with a slight quiver in her voice. "I don't know what's going on outside... and I just want to sleep without these.. illusionary images flashing through my mind of what might happen.. oh Ash please help me..." She started to cling to the sides of her light blue hoodie, holding back the scary images dancing around in her mind.. holding back her emotions and her fears from being exposed.. it was starting to make her shake.
"Misty, don't cry.." Ash spoke, pulling Misty in his arms, holding her in tightly. She wrapped her arms tightly around Ash's torso.
"Please, help me Ash.." she continued to whimper, nuzzling her head into his shoulder.
"Shh, Misty, you're okay.. you're okay." Ash cooed, moving his hand through her orange hair, stroking her head calmly. She continued to shiver in his arms, but she felt a comforting tingle go through her body with every stroke of his hand.. "I'm right here for you.." he continue to murmur softly. But as he was trying to calm down Misty, a storm of questions were beginning to buzz around in his head... normally she would never show this kind of emotion of fear so openly... normally Misty would keep these kind of emotions locked up in some unknown vault deep inside.. but this side of Misty was different..
"Ash.." she whispered to him, still holding him tightly, "C-Can you.."
"Yes, Misty?"
"Can you... sleep by my side? I-I mean, not for any funny business!" Misty blurted out, developing a blush on her face. "B-But for comfort.. I mean.. what's been going outside and seeing that movie has kicked in something in my mind that's making me feel uncomfortable... it reminds me about when my sisters would show me these gruesome films and I would always have terrible nightmares about it..." she replied, fading towards the end of the sentence. Ash's face lit up with a bright blush, from hearing such a request like this. He hesitated for a moment, but smiled with his conclusion.
"Of course I will, Misty. I'll sleep by you tonight" he spoke softly, continuing to move his hand through her hair. Ash knew that this.. request wasn't made out of some sort of passion that she had for him, but more or less she needed someone to comfort her and provide her with safety.. so that she may sleep peacefully. He was doing this request as Misty's dearest friend.
Misty looked up at Ash, beaming with a glowing smile. "Thank you so much, Ash," she paused, widening her eyes and looking over at the door, "B-But what about Brock? Won't he come back in here? I mean, if he saw us together in the same b-bed he would freak out!"
"Nah, I wouldn't worry about him. As soon as you went into your room Brock told me that he was just going to go to bed. I told him that I would stay up to make sure that you were okay." the black-haired teenager confessed, slightly scratching the back of his head. His one hand was still around Misty.
"Well, I'm glad you're here for me," she spoke, returning back into a tight hug. Misty felt that her worries and concerns were being lifted from her shoulders, making her feel so much more relaxed than earlier.. though she could still detect that something was there.. haunting her imagination and her mind..
"It's no trouble at all, Misty." Ash spoke, smiling and returning the hug. He stood there for about a minute, feeling the warmth of Misty and smelling the sweet fragrance of her hair, a scent that seemed so beautiful and attractive to him. Ash shook his head from this thought. "Well, we better get to bed, okay?" he spoke.
"Okay." she replied, pulling away from the hug. As soon as she left the hug, Ash felt a cold breeze into his arms, making him shiver. He wanted Misty to still be in his embrace.. her warmth with his... But he snapped out of his gaze, grabbing his pajamas and heading towards the bathroom, leaving Misty to change in the bedroom.
Ash was constructing his thoughts, as he was changing in the bathroom. "This is so weird.." he thought to himself, "Misty has never acted like this for as long as we have known each other... She might be right though.. maybe it's just a reaction to what has happened today.. kicking something up in her imagination, whatever that might be..." Ash continued thinking about what was going on, as he slipped into his blue and black checkered sweatpants, then pulling on his black shirt. Normally, he slept with his shirt off but he didn't want to spook Misty out even more.. Plus if Brock walked in to the room, and Ash didn't have his shirt on, and with Misty in the same bed as him, it would call for a lot of explaining!
He walked back into the room, noticing that Misty had finished changing into her pajamas. She was wearing blue and silver pajamas, both a long-sleeved top and bottom. Misty had her shoulder-length orange hair down from her usual ponytail and was combing it when Ash walked in the room. She continued to look out of the window as he walked into the room, trying to glance a view on the rioting civilians.
"I still want to know what is causing everyone to riot like this.. and at our hotel in particular.." she quietly spoke, still combing out the knots in her hair. Misty felt that her fear, from what she saw in the movie, was almost being portrayed as some sort of sick realistic fantasy... she hated the feeling of fear, entering and exiting through her mind, like it was flirting with her sanity.. Misty cringed, thinking about what was going on. Ash walked over to where Misty was standing and pulled her away from the window.
"Come on, Misty, it's time for you to go to bed." he spoke reassuringly, giving his usual grin. Misty smiled back at Ash, feeling the impression of comfort fighting back against the fear growing in her body. She walked away from the window and walked towards the bed. Surprisingly, it was big enough to fit two people in it, even if it was a tiny bit snug for the two of them. Misty climbed into the bed, pushing the sheets forward, and lied down on the right side of the bed.
"You do know that you snore when you sleep, right Ash?" Misty told him.
"I do not!" Ash retorted back, as he was climbing into the bed.
"You do too! You sound like a typhoon when you sleep!"
"Oh come off it! You snore too!"
"I do not, Ash Ketchum! How dare you accuse me of snoring while I sleep!" she retorted back.
"I'm not accusing you of snoring.. I'm just stating a fact.." Ash spoke, lying down and turning his body towards the window. Misty huffed at him and turned to face the other wall, lying down in the bed. They both slightly shifted around in the bed, trying to get comfortable, but it was still a bit difficult for the two of them to get cozy.
For Ash this was a weird experience from him, sharing a bed with one of his friends.. one of closest lady friends to that. He felt a little bit uncomfortable, as he laid with his hands facing outwards, but he didn't want to freak Misty out.
Misty felt very similar to Ash. Even though she had slept with people in the same bed before they had been boys at all.. just her sisters. It felt strange to be sleeping this close to her best guy friend but as she continued to lay in the bed his presence became more inviting to her. Misty felt sorry to yelling at him..
"Hey Ash?"
"Yeah, what's up Misty?" Ash responded, still sounding like he was wide awake.
"I'm sorry that I yelled at you.. and I'm sorry that you have to put up with me for the night. You'll just have to get used to my snoring," Misty joked, making Ash chuckle as well.
"Oh don't worry about it, I've grown used to the snoring," he replied back, making Misty laugh. "And Misty?"
"Yes?"
"You don't have to apologize about anything.. I understand how you feel.. fear of the unknown, of what is going on outside.. I've been there before, plenty of times in my life in fact. Heck, I had that same fear when I started my adventure.."
"But when I met you, you were just full of energy and passion! I never sensed any thing with fear inside of you.." Misty replied, thinking back on the day when they first met up.
"I guess I was just good at hiding my fears.." Ash confessed, gazing out the window. It was a wonderfully clear night out, a night without a single cloud in the sky.. Something remarkable to see all of their stars and their glory.. "Is that what you do too?" Ash asked Misty. She was startled hearing this question.. because she knew that it was true. She slightly shifted in the bed, moving herself a tad bit closer to Ash.
"I..I-I guess I do, from time to time.. I kinda do lock away my emotions from everyone... I guess I do that so that I don't show you guys my.. other side of emotions.." she confessed.
"What do you mean by your other side of emotions?"
"Well... I know that I'm confident and act a lot like a tomboy.. but there are times were I actually am quite scared.. even if I don't show it.."
"Really?"
"Yeah... though I've never wanted to tell anyone before because I thought that they would judge me for who I really was..."
"Misty, showing people who you really are doesn't make them judge you at all... not in the slightest.. you are truly be honest for who you are and not masking a false persona.."
"Do.. Do you think so?"
"I definitely think so.. I mean, that's how I feel sometimes.. that I make this big persona.. but inside I'm just another trainer from a small town.."
"No you're not.." Misty replied quickly, sounding like she had strong disagreed with him. "You are Ash Ketchum! There is no other trainer that I know of who is as good as you are! You're not just some normal trainer, Ash, you are someone special!" She blurted out. Misty covered her mouth, feeling a deep blush fall on her face. "Did I just say that!?" she thought to herself. Ash was shocked by her words, feeling her heart slightly melt from her sweet words. He turned in the bed to face her.
"Do you.. do you think so?" Ash asked her. Misty thought through her feelings, taking a second to respond, also turning around to face Ash. She smiled at him.
"Yes, I know so, Ash" she responded, looking into his eyes. She moved her hand from her side and placed it on his check, making him blush. "You are the most noble and bravest trainer that I have ever know, Ash, and I want to let you know that where-ever you go on your journey... that you don't ever have to be alone. You'll always have me by your side."
"Misty.. I.." Ash stammered, almost lost for words. "Thank you.. you have no idea what that means to me." He smiled, feeling Misty's soft hand move across his face and seeing her just beaming back to him. Misty moved her hand back to her side.
"You're welcome, Ash" she replied. "We should probably get to sleep. Don't want to have the night slip away on us!"
"Y-Yeah, you're probably right" Ash replied, turning to face the window. As he lay there, looking at the stars in the dark night sky, Ash was thinking about Misty's words.. how personal they were for him and... how mean those words were for him. He.. had been waiting a long time for Misty to say those words to him.. Suddenly, he felt a nudge at his back.
"You know Ash," Misty spoke with a slight giggle, "we are both close friends anyway, so there's.." Misty drifted off for a second, making Ash turn to face Misty. Even though it was dark in the room he could tell that she was blushing at her words. "..there's no reason why we can't c-cuddle together.." she spoke, slipping on the last of her words. Ash felt a mad blush fall upon his face and he could also tell that Misty was blushing even more than he was.
"Well, I g-guess we could cuddle together.. only if you wanted to.." Ash replied, feeling a bit confident in his decision. Misty smiled at his answer and shifted closer to Ash. A bit slow at first but gaining more confidence, Misty rolled her body over, placing her left arm underneath his pillow and her right arm around his neck, and her body was laying on the right side of Ash body. He was laying down with his back to the bed. Ash placed his right arm around her neck and shoulders, placing his hand near her right forearm. It took a little bit of adjusting but they were finally able to get comfortable.
Misty nuzzled her head into Ash's chest, feeling the warmth of his body take over. He was like a guardian, watching and protecting Misty from any danger. She smiled before letting out a sigh. "This is actually quite comfortable.." she quietly laughed, feeling her usual blush arise over her face again.
"It actually is really delightful." Ash sighed, smiling and looking at Misty's orange hair. He couldn't help but smelling the sweet aroma that seemed that to be emitting, like a Pokemon drawn in to Sweet Scent. Ash tingled at smelling the pure and ambrosial incense from her hair.
"M-Maybe, we should do this more often." Misty whispered, slightly giggling, which made Ash fall into a deep crimson across his face. Ash smiled, looking over at Misty, into her blue eyes.
"That could easily be arranged." Ash replied, chuckling out-loud, to which Misty fell into a similar shade of crimson. Ash pulled Misty closer in, feeling her heart beating against his chest, and leaned in to Misty's ear. "Goodnight, Misty. Sweet dreams." he whispered. Misty felt a wave of happiness flowing through her body: she had waited a long time to hear him say this.
"Goodnight, Ash. Sweet dreams to you too." Misty whispered back, placing her head back down on Ash's chest and taking in the warmth of the teenager. Ash simply smiled, moving his head closer to Misty's head. Soon, the warm blanket of slumber took over both Ash and Misty, and they fell fast asleep on that warm, October night.
