"So, what do you think, should I call her?" Ash pondered for the fifth time in the last hour.
"Pika piiii" Pikachu moaned, lying on his belly next to his trainer.
"Look, I know I'm taking a while to decide Pikachu but this is a BIG deal!" Ash said, waving his arms.
" Pikaaaaaa." Pikachu said, his eyes shuddering from fatigue.
Ash checked his watch. Ten, huh? Maybe it would be rude to call her this late. Ash thought. He retracted his hand from the phone and decided to call it a night.
Pikachu caught sight of this, and was not too pleased to say the least. Ash had kept him up an hour past his usual bed time just so he could have someone to ask whether he should call an old acquaintance of his. He wasn't going to let this slide.
"PIKA PI!" Pikachu screeched, instantly jumping up from his lax position. He grabbed the phone off its hook and held it in front of Ash's face.
"Ok, ok I'll call her. Geez, lighten up, will ya?"
"Cha!" Pikachu huffed, crossing his arms and turning away from Ash.
Ash carefully dialed the numbers which he found in his bag, long forgotten until now. He was sure not to dial a wrong number to save himself any embarrassment.
Please pick up, Misty. Please pick up, Misty. What if she doesn't remember me? What if she thinks I'm some kind of creeper?
"Hello?" A feminine voice asked over the phone.
"Uh, Misty, Hello?"
"I'm sorry, who is this?"
Dang it! I knew I should've seen this coming.
"Uh…it's me, Ash. Remember me, from Pallet town? We traveled together for the longest time and…"
"Oh my goodness! Ash, is that really you!" She blurted out.
"Yea, it sure is! I knew you wouldn't forget me!" He said, rubbing the back of his head.
"It's so good to hear from you again, Ash. But would you mind if I asked why you're calling?"
"Oh, yeah. Well, I was traveling with this girl named Dawn, but she needed to go back home for some reason. I asked her why and she said it was deeply personal, and refused to explain it to me. I went to bed that night and when I woke up in the morning, she was gone." He explained, his voice dropping towards the end.
"Wow, I'm sorry to hear that Ash. It actually seems pretty rude of her to just up and leave like that." Misty said sympathetically.
"It's nothing really, she probably had her reasons. After all, doesn't everyone?"
"Yea, I guess so. Anyways, why are you calling me about this?"
"Uhhh, well, ya see, I didn't want to go it alone, and Brock was to busy to come along, so I was wondering if you could."
"I'd love to Ash, I really would. The problem is that I'm still leading the gym here and I don't know what would happen if I left." She reluctantly admitted.
"I'm sorry to hear that Misty. Maybe May or someone would like to come along."
Misty felt an inexplicable surge of jealousy flow through her after hearing that name. She didn't know why though, May was definitely a sweet girl, and definitely didn't deserve any unjust resentment from Misty.
"Wait! Umm…maybe I can just get my sisters to run it again!"
"That would be nice but from what you told me they weren't exactly the best battlers, at least not as good as I remember you being." Ash reasoned.
Misty felt her cheeks grow hot at his compliment. She knew that her sisters weren't the greatest battlers, but she was confident that they could at least handle themselves against the average challenger.
"I appreciate the compliment, Ash. But they've definitely learned a thing or two from yours truly and I think they wouldn't mind having another go at being the Cerulean City Gym leaders again."
"Well, if you're sure. I wouldn't want you to do something unless you were absolutely positive you wanted to."
"Don't worry about that, Ash. My sisters aren't really too hard to convince." Misty assured.
"If you say so, I just hope everything goes well."
"It'll be fine…by the way, where are you calling from, Ash?" Misty inquired.
"Some random payphone I found out here in Sinnoh. I set up camp for the night but it's pretty lonely with just me and Pikachu.
"Wow, Sinnoh? That's pretty far. I don't know how soon I can be there but I'll do my best."
"Oh there's no rush, believe me. Come whenever you can. Except I'd better go, Pikachu's getting tired."
"Ok, tell Pikachu I said high and that I'll see him soon!"
"I will. Bye!"
"Bye!"
Ash hung up the phone and looked down at Pikachu.
"Hey buddy, I got Misty to come with us on our journey! Isn't that great!"
"Pika pika!" The furry yellow Pokémon squealed in excitement.
"I know, I'm excited too! Pikachu, would you mind if I just made one more little call? I swear, it'll only take a minute."
"Pikaaaaaa…" Pikachu hesitantly gave permission to Ash
"Thanks, Pikachu!" Ash said as he dropped more coins into the payphone.
I wonder if Misty's changed at all since we last met. It's been almost 6 years.
"Hey, mom!"
"Well if it isn't my little Ashy! How's everything going sweetie?"
"Everything's fine mom, but that's not why I called! Misty's coming to travel with me again!"
"She is? Well that's great new, Ash. Speaking of Misty I saw her just a few days ago!"
"You did?"
"Yes, she's definitely become quite the young woman. She's really filled out as well."
"Filled out? Whaddaya mean? Did she get fat or something?" Ash asked, his fifteen year old brain still not quite yet ready to understand matters of the opposite sex.
"Um no honey, that's not exactly what I meant, she's definitely not fat, uhhh…maybe I shouldn't say anymore."
"Ok, I have to go now, me 'n Pikachu are getting tired" He said, feigning a yawn.
"Alright, dear. I hope I see you soon! Make sure you change your underwear everyday!"
"Yea mom, I will. Bye."
"So you're leaving, but your like, our best battler!" Daisy yelped.
"Hey, don't worry about that Daisy. I've been watching you and you've really blossomed into a fine trainer, you're almost as good as me!"
"You really think that? You really think I could like, battle all of these challengers and stuff?"
"I know you can. But remember, you won't win 'em all. I didn't, no one can. There's no perfect Pokémon team, so victory is never assured." Misty reminded her.
"Yea, I'll remember that. Thanks Misty. But where are you going anyways?"
"I'm going to travel with Ash again, like we did way long ago." Misty reminisced about all the fights she and him had together, but how many good times they had besides that.
"Wow, didn't you have like, a major crush on him?" Daisy noted.
"That was NOT a crush! I just thought he was kinda cute is all and I liked him a little." Misty retorted.
"Sounds like a crush to me, sis."
"FINE I LIKED HIM BUT I'M OVER IT! HAPPY!"
"Geez, Misty. No need to get all like, angry about it. I was just saying in case you forgot, so you wouldn't be all surprised when you saw him."
"Well I appreciate the thought but I can assure you that's NOT going to happen!" She yelled, folding her arms.
"Whatever you say, little sis."
"By the way, be sure to tell Violet and Lilly that I'm going."
"Yea, sure. So, like, when are you going?"
"Well, I'm staying here for tonight but I'm leaving pretty early tomorrow morning, around 7:30, so you might wanna tell Violet and Lilly beforehand."
"I will, g'night sis."
"'Night, Daisy."
As Misty fell asleep, she remembered all of the good times and bad times she had with Ash. He had a heart of gold, but you wouldn't really know it by talking to him, or being next to him, or watching him battle, or being friends with him, or traveling with him. To her, Ash was a boy who didn't know what he was capable of offering, but would give it only to someone patient enough to unlock the treasures deep inside his heart.
It had been over 5 years since she saw him. He was probably almost 16 by now. As she felt sleep's tender, strong embrace, she wondered how much he had changed over the last half decade. He'd probably be taller, more handsome; maybe he'd be slightly more muscular. Maybe, just maybe, he would have matured a little.
But she wasn't counting on it.
What she may have missed just as much as Ash was her little baby Pokémon, Togepi. Togepi was the sweetest and cutest Pokémon who'd ever walked the face of the earth. It was always there for her, never judged her, and it could put a smile on anyone's face. It was almost always happy and could always cheer her up. She was heart broken when it evolved into Togetic and went off to protect the other Togepi.
Both Ash and Togepi had one thing in common among the obvious differences. They both made her feel happy and warm inside. The little egg Pokémon would be happy even when falling off of a steep cliff and Ash would always be there to make something unexpected out of an ordinary day. They both held a special place in her heart.
In a few days, she would see him again. She might be able to repair part of the great big hole made in her heart when they both grew absent from her life.
"Can't sleep either, Pikachu?" Ash called to his furry yellow friend.
"Pikachu…"
"Yea, I'm excited about Misty too, buddy. I wonder what mom meant when she said she 'filled out'." Ash pondered.
Ash, despite five years passing by since he first met his long-time friend, still had a lot to learn and had a long way to grow in regards to maturity. He didn't understand relationships with the opposite sex, and he was reduced to basically becoming a big container of walking hormones. He could not yet understand why he became suddenly…..activated, when he saw attractive girls. He found that the girls that did this were often the ones Brock fell for, and he was beginning to understand why. His eyes would often wander towards their chests and their…nether areas. He hoped the case with Misty would be different.
"No, I doubt Misty's changed a whole lot. What do you think?" Ash nodded to his old friend.
It was no use. His Pokémon was already asleep, at the mercy of whatever dreams were presented to him by his slumber.
Ash followed suit, resting his head on his pillow at staring at the ceiling of his tent.
I can't wait to see her.