"It was by chance that we met, by choice that we became friends."
A young boy with spiky black hair and brown eyes sat on a log admiring the view around him. Next to him sat a girl around the same age with fiery red hair and cerulean blue eyes. It was a quiet summer night in July as the warm wind blew around the two teens, strands of their hair dancing in front of their faces.
"Hey Misty?" the young boy asked the girl next to him.
"Yeah, Ash?" The girl turned to look at the boy acknowledging him.
"Do you believe in fate?" he asked her.
"No," she told him, looking out into the sky. She knew better than to believe in fate and true love. Those were things only found in fairy tales. You had to make your own decisions in life and whatever happened, happened. There was no rhyme or reason to it. That was just life. "Why? Do you?" She turned back to face the boy again.
"Yeah," he told her, confidence in his voice. To him, fate explained everything. He believed that things happened for a reason and that we have to figure out ourselves what that reason is.
"Well, why do you believe in fate?" Misty asked him. If he was so sure, he should have an answer to back it up.
"Because," he began, turning to look at her. "Everything about my journey has been based on fate."
"What do you mean?" the girl asked, confused. What about his journey had been considered fate?
"Well, I believe I was meant to sleep in late and miss out on the other Pokemon. If I hadn't, then I would have never met Pikachu. And then, if Pikachu had listened to me then I would have never ticked off those Spearows. And without those Spearows, I would have never have ran into you." He smiled at her when he said the last part. It appeared as if, to him, meeting her met more than anything else.
"Yeah, but you left to save Pikachu, remember?" she pointed out to him.
"I know," he told her. "But if Pikachu hadn't destroyed your bike and you hadn't chased me to Viridian and followed me then we wouldn't be sitting here today."
"But what about Brock? Did you meet him by fate?" she asked him, referring to their other friend.
"I don't know. I mean it was his choice to come with us. But, I still have yet to find how that's connected to my journey," he told her truthfully. "But I know there is a reason."
"So, why do you think all those things were meant to happen?" she asked him, getting to the part she wanted to know the most. He believed there was a reason behind why things happened. So what was the reason all those things had happened?
"I think I was meant to run into you that day. Maybe it was to show me that I wasn't meant to go on this journey by myself. Because honestly, if it hadn't been for you, I may not still be alive. You've saved my life so many times I lost count. Sure, maybe I was meant to be the Chosen One, but without your help I would have never made it. "
"How about Team Rocket?" she questioned him. "Do you believe it was fate that caused them to follow us around for so long."
"Of course," he told her, no doubt in his mind. "They're here to keep me alert and always on guard. Without them stealing Pikachu everyday, I would start to take things for granted. Plus, I always get in a good battle when they are around. Helps me train." Well that was an interesting way of looking at Team Rocket.
"Just because you meet someone doesn't mean you are meant to have found them. There're 6,775,235,741 people in the world, Ash. If that was the case, then we would go around worrying about how each person in the world is supposed to impact our life." To her that seemed a pointless waste of time.
"You're right," he agreed. "But we have to make the choice when we encounter people. We can either choose to see what fate has in store for us with this person, or we can decide to move on and find someone else. Fate puts us where we need to be. Kind of like a starting point. But it's up to us what direction we choose to go." She got it, but it didn't make sense in their condition. He hadn't decided to see what their fate was. He had taken the other path of moving on.
"But what about us, Ash?" she asked him, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. "Fate might have lead us to run into each other, but you didn't exactly decide to see what fate had in store for us."
"Not right away," he countered. "At first I figured that I would never see you again. But you found me and came back. It was then that I decided maybe I was meant to run into you. That you weren't just another person on the street I ran into. That fate was trying to tell me that you were going to be important. At first, I didn't believe it because you wanted nothing to do with me. I questioned myself asking why fate would lead me to this girl who wanted nothing but to get away from me. How was this teaching me anything? But I wasn't going to give up that easily."
"Did fate tell you to give me a bike?" she teased, playfully shoving him.
"Ha ha. No. Nice try, though. It was the exact opposite actually," he teased her back, sticking his tongue out at her.
"Okay. So fate told you not to pay me back for my bike?" Misty asked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice
"I guess you could say it like that," he laughed a bit. "But let me finish. What I was saying was that, here was this girl who wanted nothing to do with me, claiming all she wanted was for me to pay her back for the bike. Having trust in fate, I tested it to see how long she would stick around. If I was really meant to meet her than she would stick around. And as time went on, we grew closer. After a few months, I decided that there was a reason you were around. So I decided to be your friend and find out what was in store for us. And it's one of the best decisions I've ever made. And I promise you that from now until our journey's end, you will always be able to count on me because no matter what, you will always be my best friend."
The girl didn't know what to say that didn't sound like she was talking to a baby. She could tell him how sweet or cute that was, or oo and aww at his confession. Those kinds of reactions weren't meant in this heartfelt conversation and would only embarrass him. The only thing she could think of to do wasn't even a word or phrase at all. It was a simple action that could sum it all up. Sliding closer to the boy next to her, she wrapped her slender hands around his waist and pulled him in close for a hug.
"For once, I'm glad you decided to test fate." So maybe she threw in a few words.