Teddies
Kiss the Teddy!
By: Christina
The day seemed everlasting… The sky seemed to go on forever, completely empty, its powerful blue gleam glowering down on the earth with a sacred pride. It was hot. It was sweltering! A large, golden sun was sneering evilly at the baking of Earth's crust. A usual summer afternoon and Ash and co. had just reached the pokecenter.
"Oh…" Misty moaned as she dropped to her knees atop the dark green couch, "I am soooo hungry."
Her togepi whined along with her, "Togiiii!"
"No kidding." Brock agreed, sitting down near her.
"Nurse Joy, could you heal my pokemon, please?" Ash asked, energetically jogging up to the front counter.
"Sure Ash." She smiled and took the tray of pokeballs and his tired, dirty-looking pikachu.
"Thanks."
Ash slowly approached his friends as they sat exhausted as ever.
"What's wrong, guys?" He asked.
Misty glared up at him as if to say 'Duh'. Brock wiped the continuous sweat that dripped down his brow.
"I know. It is hot isn't it?" He sweatdropped and took off his jacket.
"I don't care about the heat! I need some food!" Misty said, rolling onto her back and resting her feet on Brock's lap.
"I think that there's a restaurant near the end of town." Brock said.
"Okay, then let's go right after Nurse Joy's done." Ash said, sitting down next to Misty, "Or you two could go without me and I'll catch up."
Misty looked over to Brock worriedly, but not too long until she jumped up excitedly and ran to the door.
"Okay! Let's go Brock!"
"All right." He said, standing up and running out.
Ash sighed and rested his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. His stomach growled.
"Okay, Ash. They're all as healthy as ever." Nurse Joy said cheerfully as she placed the tray of pokemon on the counter.
"Pika!" Pikachu squealed happily.
Ash smiled and jumped up, quickly walking to the counter as Joy walked away.
"Thanks Nurse Joy!" Ash said, gathering his pokemon.
"C'mon, Pikachu, let's go eat!" Ash said excitedly while offering his shoulder.
"Pikachu!" It chirped, jumping onto its master's shoulder.
Misty shuffled her feet impatiently on the tile floor as the waitress disappeared with their order. A dully spinning fan above their booth spun slowly, a few gusts hitting the back of her neck every few seconds and she winced as she tore her legs off of the seat sticky with sweat. The atmosphere was so thick and humid and she yawned. She tore a napkin out of its dispenser and wiped her forehead with it while watching her handprint of sweat left on the table slowly vanish into thin air.
"I wonder when Ash will get here…" Misty said quickly, taking a quick glance at the door.
"Hm, he's probably running down here with Pikachu at his feet." Brock said.
Misty shrugged. "I guess."
The brunette waitress returned to their table placing three dripping wet drinks on the table. Misty immediately ripped the paper off of her straw and sucked down half her drink as soon as it hit the table.
"Where's Ash?" The waitress asked.
"He'll be here in a minute." Misty said with a sigh as the cool liquid settled in her insides.
The waitress stood there a minute without moving and just stared at Misty.
"Misty? Don't you remember me?" She asked.
"What? I've never met you before in my life." Misty said, turning to the stranger.
"Um…" The waitress slowly looked over her shoulder before removing what looked like a wig and revealed light blue hair. "It's Duplica."
"Duplica?!" Brock said, sitting upright, "What are you doing here dressed as a waitress?!"
"SSSH! They think I'm eighteen!" Duplica said, replacing her wig.
"But it's illegal-"
"Why do you need the money anyway?" Misty inquired.
Duplica grinned, "For my birthday party."
"When's your birthday?" Misty gasped.
"Here. Oh…" She mumbled first searching through many of her pockets.
"Ah." She smiled, pulled out a small piece of paper, and handed it to Misty.
"That's an invitation-"She said and leaned over to whisper in Misty's ear, "Make sure Ash goes, too."
"Why?" Misty backed away from her.
"It's not going to be some girlie-girl sleepover." She said with a wink.
"But-"
"Excuse me, miss?" Asked a chubby man with a small mustache in the booth behind them, "Can I get some service over here?"
"Of course sir." She smiled cheerfully and walked away from her friends.
"What'd she say?" Brock asked.
"Nothing." Misty said taking a long gulp from her drink.
Suddenly the door to the restaurant burst open and Ash and Pikachu straggled inside almost completely out of air.
"Hey guys." Ash said walking up to their table, his pikachu at his heels.
"What happened?" Misty asked, scooting over to allow him seat space.
He sat down. "Me and Pikachu had a race."
Pikachu and Togepi each greeted each other with a friendly "Pika!" and a "Toge!"
"What'd you order me?" Ash asked, taking the one drink that nobody seemed to be drinking.
"The triple-cheese cheeseburger without onions and extra pickles." Misty smiled.
Ash chuckled. "Onion rings or fries?" He quizzed.
"Onion rings, of course." She laughed.
"Alright!"
They high-fived.
"I've always wondered why you get onion rings when you don't like onions on your burger." Brock asked, pulling the straw out of his mouth.
"Huh? I just think that onions with cheese are disgusting." Ash said.
"Oh. Makes sense, I guess." Brock shrugged.
The waitress (Duplica) approached their table with a tray of food.
"Here you go." She said, placing his triple-cheese cheeseburger without onions and extra pickles in front of Ash. (A/N: Sorry if this makes you hungry… ^^;;)
"Duplica?" He asked with narrowed eyes.
Everyone but Ash face-faulted.
"How'd you know?" Misty asked.
"How can you not?" Ash asked as he turned to her.
"But… even I couldn't tell." Brock said, taking a closer look at Duplica.
"Um…" She said, feeling very awkward. "Here is yours Misty."
After handing Brock his lunch, Duplica quickly walked away to the bathroom to make sure that her wig was on straight.
"How did you know that was Duplica, Ash?" Misty asked again.
"Um… Well, did you take a look at her name tag?" He asked with a smile.
Misty blushed at her stupidity. "Um… I guess not…"
"And her blue hair was hanging out over her shoulder so… I may not be a genius but I do have common sense." He closed his eyes proudly and sat back in his seat sipping at the straw.
"Well," Misty chuckled, "I'm not too sure about the common sense part but at least you got half of it right."
"Watch it." Ash frowned as he nearly spit out his soda.
Togepi and Pikachu somehow wandered over to Brock's seat and began playing with a bottle of ketchup.
"No, Togepi." Misty ordered, leaning over the table, "You'll get all messy."
Misty picked up her togepi and brought it to her lap, feeding it a pickle. Pikachu looked at Misty sadly as she took away its friend, but continued to lick at the ketchup. Ash's eyes wandered to her food, just out of curiosity.
"Hey, what'd you get?" He asked, noticing that her food looked a little familiar.
"The same thing you have." She smiled, "I wanted to see what's so great about the same thing you order all the time."
"It's just a cheeseburger." Ash mumbled.
"Well, I'm just interested." Misty said.
Togepi attempted at the entire burger but Misty caught it just in time.
"I don't think so." She laughed, placing her lunch back onto the plate, "Try one of these." She handed it an onion ring.
"Toge!" It squealed, gnawing at the fried ring.
"Besides, why do you care?" She asked, picking up the burger.
"…I don't."
"Oh yeah," She said, her mouth nearly full, she reached into her pocket to pull out a piece of paper and hand it to Ash.
"What's this?" He asked, accepting the paper.
"We have to go somewhere tonight. Wow, Ash, you're pretty good at judging good food."
Ash opened the folds of paper and stared blankly at the invitation scribbled in green ink.
"Today's Duplica's birthday?" He asked.
"Yep. Tonight's her party."
"Ha," Brock laughed, "You spending your night at a girl's sleepover, Ash?"
"I wouldn't be laughing if I was you, Brock. You're going too." Misty informed.
"What?" He screeched.
"We're all her friends here and it would be impolite for you not to go." Misty said.
Brock grunted and crossed his arms. "Well, I guess spending one night with a few girls won't be so bad…"
Misty shot him a look of incredulity. Brock blushed.
"Besides-"
"Don't even start." She warned, holding up a hand to silence him.
Ash reluctantly knocked on the doorway of the House of Imite'. A faint rumble and bounce of music could be heard from the outside. Someone answered; it wasn't Duplica.
"Hi!" said a cheery voice, "You Duplica's friends?"
"Yeah, I'm Ash and these are my friends: Misty and Brock."
"She gave us this invitation." Misty said, holding out the note.
"Oh, that's great, come on in!" Said an older blonde girl as she leaned over the one at the door and opened the door a bit wider.
They had expected to see a large room with a few people, some decorations, maybe a few pokemon here and there… But there were at least forty boys and girls, more girls of course.
"Pika!" exclaimed a pikachu as it ran up to Ash's.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu replied.
"Oh look," Ash observed, "did you find a friend, Pikachu?"
Suddenly, the little ball of yellow fur molded into a pink blob. Ash sweatdropped.
"I can't believe I was fooled twice."
A girl giggled as she approached him. Her hair was pulled back in a familiar style.
"I can." She said, reaching for his cap.
"Wah-?" He protested and ducked. "Misty, what are you doing?"
She grabbed at his jacket and giggled again as he backed away with the most confused look on his face.
"Misty, what's wrong with you?!"
Then another girl, in the exact same attire, excluding the sky-blue socks, also joined in and hugged him from behind. A third twin with green eyes tackled him headfirst in a giant bear hug. Another, and another, and another twin each joined in on the fun.
"Who are you crazy people?!" Ash shouted, trying to get away from the sudden crowd of Mistys.
Misty (the actual one) glanced up from the beverage table as she heard her friend shout. In a distance, she spotted a large group of girls who looked… well, like her!
"What in the name of-"She mumbled.
As she stopped at the group wondering what to do, a girl dressed exactly like her with brown eyes turned around, her smile fading.
"Hey, where's your tag?" She asked, grabbing Misty's hand and checking out the palm.
"What? What are you talking about?" She asked, jerking her hand out of the stranger's grasp.
She gasped at the sight of a bare palm.
"Yo, girls! C'mon we got a 705 here!" She shouted to the rest.
They all stopped and looked up at her.
"A 705?!"
"No way!"
"But… that wasn't supposed to happen…"
"Are you sure?"
"Has that ever happen to the Imite' Team before?!"
"Oh my God, really?"
"Um… hehehe..."
"So she's a real one?"
"Are you sure it isn't just a 706?"
Misty sighed, her frown deepening as she noticed that Ash wasn't even visible beneath the imposters.
"Well? Break it up!" She said, waving her hands in a "shoo, shoo" motion.
"All right, you heard the woman, break it up!" Said the Misty with brown eyes.
Many "Aw…"s came from the Mistys as they reluctantly backed away from the trembling Ash and retreated into a room in the back, possibly a dressing room.
"Ash?" Misty asked a freaked out Ash that sat wide-eyed on the floor. "Have fun?" She smiled.
"…what kind of… sick prank…?" Ash asked dumbfounded.
Misty blushed at the many kiss marks left by the copies of herself that were located basically all over Ash's face.
"Looks like they had to mark their territory as well." Misty said with a reassuring smile as she pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket.
She sat down next to him on the floor and helped him sit up. Once he sat up, feeling as awkward as possible, Misty licked the handkerchief and began to wipe away the blue, pink, and red lipstick.
"Well, that's a relief..., "Misty said as she examined his confused face, "At least they didn't get your lips."
"M-my lips?" Ash asked, snapping back to reality.
"Yeah, I believe that your first kiss shouldn't ever be forced." Misty said, wiping off his forehead.
"Why me?" He asked.
"Well," She licked the handkerchief again, "Not just you, but everyone."
"Oh."
Misty thought that she was finished cleaning his face until she noticed that there were marks on his neck as well.
"Mm… How many places-"
"Have you ever kissed anyone before, Misty?"
The question caught her completely off guard and she paused.
"Why?" She asked, looking into his eyes, a slow blush rising to her cheeks.
"Um…" Ash returned the blushing favor, "No reason."
"…Have you?" She asked; her cheeks still red as she continued to wipe the pink smear on his ear.
"Um… not on the lips…" He said.
"So, you've basically never had your first kiss yet, right?" Misty asked.
"I guess not." He replied.
"All right, guys!" Called a girl up on the stage, "Hey look up here, all!" She shouted, trying to get everyone's attention.
Ash and Misty stood up.
"Thank you… Thanks… Welcome all to the House Of Imite'!"
Most people applauded, some people whistled. Duplica walked out onto stage and EVERYONE applauded.
"All right everyone, 1. 2. 3- Happy Birthday to you, Happy Bir-"
Everyone began to sing as Duplica blushed but laughed at the same time. A few of her friends stood on a table and sang as if they were drunk, wreathing their hands upon each other's shoulders.
"Please stop, I am begging you guys." She said, holding up a hand.
Many people laughed. Suddenly, confetti began to fall unexpectantly upon the crowd.
"Hey, not yet!" Shouted Duplica at the guy in the control tower who shot a quick thumbs-up and grinned mischievously.
"Now that next week's act is ruined… All right, after we're all done drinking and eating I'd like a few circles of girls and boys; no more than 10 people each circle! Make sure that you sit in boy-girl-boy-girl fashion!"
Everyone murmured and set down their belongings before walking to the middle of the room.
"What's going on, Mist?" Ash asked.
"Come on, let's go!" She said excitedly and grabbed Ash's arm and pulled him to the middle of the room.
Some people stood off to the side, but, unfortunately enough, there were ten people left and they figured 'what the heck…'
Soon, there were three circles of ten and an extra set of six girls who stood by the wall wondering what to do.
"Hey, you all can help." Duplica said, pointing to the six by the wall, "Two of you each go to a circle."
They nodded and obeyed, but before they entered the human circles, Duplica handed them a glow stick each pair, so that each circle had one glow stick. At the signal of Duplica's hand, the man in the control room shut off all of the lights. Many people gasped and a few people screamed.
"What's going on?" Misty asked Ash, who was sitting next to her.
"I have no idea." He replied.
"Oh no, not this game again…" whispered a giggling female voice from across them.
"All right, everyone! Here are the rules: you must pass the glow stick from partner to partner. The group or circle that passes it around the entire circle first wins! Sound simple enough?" Said Duplica into a microphone.
Misty shrugged. "What's so bad about that?"
"Except, the one main rule is, you have to use your teeth!" She said.
"What?!" Came the reply of many people.
Duplica laughed.
"All right everybody! The timer has started! Go!"
Ash sat back and stretched out his legs. "Augh, my legs are getting numb…"
Through the sheer darkness, the glow sticks from around the room lit up in an eerie green glow, barely touching the faces of the people passing it around, even though it was practically touching their faces. It seemed simple enough, both Ash and Misty were undeniably cautious when passing the stick, not to touch anything but the stick. There was the tension in the air- where beads of sweat dripped down their foreheads in concentration and maybe a bit of fear. Once or twice, people gasped or screamed followed by an "Eew-ew-ew-ew-ew-EEW! I can't believe he kissed me!!" And they would sweatdrop. Some people would laugh… These sudden outbursts only made people even more overly cautious. After about the third time that Ash and Misty had passed the glow stick to one another, Misty had been kissed at least four times (notice how she was kissed four times in a round of three… (A/N -_-;;;)) in various places of her neck and face by someone whom she didn't even know. She whispered to Ash, "Some guy sitting next to me keeps kissing me! He's already kissed my neck twice, and my cheeks twice. I'm afraid he'll kiss my lips next!" Ash took all this in and the glow stick was passed to him by a girl who sat at least three feet from both of the guys next to her, nearly dropping the stick because she was such a germ freak. A small battle raged through his mind and he conquered the chance and opportunity after remembering the way his friend had made such a deal about her first kiss earlier, and how it should never be forced. The problem was: Would she want to kiss somebody like him? And if so, would that be… forced…? The split second before Misty took the glowing cane, it fell to the ground and a pair steadfast, yet familiar lips matched hers. They lasted longer than intended, but, as plotted, he pulled away with a short "S-sorry…" She could practically feel the heated blush playing off of his face. Without a word, she lifted up game stick and handed it to the guy next to her. With a grunt, he picked it up with his teeth and the game continued. Ash and Misty resumed to stare at each other… although they weren't aware of it…
It… seemed intentional… That k-kiss…
"Ash?" She whispered, not even sure of what she wanted to say next.
"What?" He replied quickly, his reaction nearly glued to her query.
After a few seconds of a breathless moment, a squeal sounded through the air and a large thud was heard as a girl jumped up.
"Oh, God! Kissing was a little overdoing it but you don't have to lick my face you perv!!!"
"Okay, okay, it looks like enough of this game." Said Duplica over the microphone and she sweatdropped.
The lights flicked on. Some people laughed. Nearly half of the people in the room were blushing crazily- including Misty and Ash. (They had now been facing Duplica, if you hadn't guessed. Sorry Fluffs! No 'gazing intently into each others eyes…'…yet!)
"How about a new game?" She asked. "Spin the bottle?"
A few girls stuck out their tongues in refusal. Guys passed each other looks of carelessness and shrugged while some where grinning like idiots (kinda matching the girls sitting next to them).
"Okay. Let's play Teddies!" Duplica grinned.
"Teddies?" Everyone seemed to ask.
"Yes. It's a game where you have to kiss-"
"Kiss?! I don't wanna kiss-"People started to murmur and whisper.
"No, no, no! It's a game where you have to kiss STUFFED ANIMALS!" Duplica begged people to listen. All the sounds in the room settled into a blanket of silence.
"Thank you." She sighed and continued, "The rules are: Everyone sits in a circle, alternating boy/girl/boy/girl. We start with one person in the circle, and give them the stuffed animal. Each person in the circle has to kiss some part of the animal, and then pass it to the next person. No part can be repeated. Sound simple enough?"
People began to murmur. A few girls, the ones who knew the trick of the game, giggled and laughed out loud.
"What's the point?" Asked one boy.
"The point? Well… you'll just have to figure it out for yourselves," some people suddenly began to back away from the circles to gather near the walls and Duplica spoke up, "All who oppose will be left out of cake!" That was when the circles again became whole.
"A teddy bear will be passed around each circle. I want four circles, please!"
The game began as soon as everyone was ready. The people who had recently passed out the glow sticks where now ushering teddy bears.
"I'm not too sure if I want to play this game. It sounds a little too…" Misty thought to herself, 'Aw, what the heck…'
Each circle got a fluffy brown teddy bear. The first person kissed the tummy, and then passed it to the guy on her right. Then he kissed the hand and so on… No one seemed to be kissing the mouth. How could you not?! It is sooo cute!
"No one seems to be kissing the mouth." Ash said.
"Maybe that's because everyone's so darn suspicious." Misty replied.
"Well," Ash crossed his arms, "I'm not suspicious or afraid."
Suddenly, the thought occurred to her. Why would they be kissing a teddy bear if-…
"Okay, Ash, let's see how brave you are. Kiss the bears lips."
"I will." He said proudly.
The teddy then stopped at Ash's lap and he did as he said and gave it to Misty. She kissed to arm and passed it to the strange guy beside her, who decided to be funny and kiss the teddy's rear. Some people laughed, a few girls giggled, but Misty merely rolled her eyes. The watcher standing in the middle of the circle signaled to Duplica that everyone was done kissing the stupid (but cute!) bear.
"Okay everyone! All kissed? Good. Now here's the other half of the rules."
Many people gasped. Other half?! What other half?!
"Please put my oh-so-sweet teddies aside, ladies. We have much more serious things to discuss. Now, you must now kiss the person sitting to your right in the EXACT SAME place you kissed the animal."
A lot of people laughed. Some people sighed, grateful for taking to the role of kissing a bear hand. Can you even begin to imagine how embarrassed Ash must feel???
"A-Ash…" Misty began, "…you don't have to if you don't want to."
"That's not the idea, Mist. I knew how this game worked before." He swallowed hard.
Misty's breath caught in her throat. He knew?!
"You… knew that…-"
He nodded. "I knew. That's why I made… the pr-promise…"
"The promise?" Misty echoed.
He smiled and faced her. "I knew. But," He began, innocently placed his hand on top of hers, "I can't do it here, you know what I mean?"
It was like a spell. How else could you explain it? How can somebody change all of the sudden? Was it the---?
"I understand." She said, gripping his hand.
The red-hot blush in her cheeks seemed to disappear, like magic. There just didn't seem to be anything embarrassed about anymore… The sweaty nervousness was replaced by the excited shivers up her arms and down her spine. They turned to watch the boy sitting next to Misty kiss the reluctant girl's butt and laughed along with everyone else. Laughs. That's something to break tension… if there was any. The girl standing in the middle of the circle- the one who had to make sure that everyone had done their role in the game- watched as their hands connected and blush wash away. She smiled and ignored the rules of Teddies. Sometimes, breaking the rules is the right thing to do.
Review and tell me if I should add the sappy ending (y'know… with the stars and the moon and the 'promise' and all that). It'll just be a second chapter. ^_^;
Your goddess and master,
Christina
Kiss the Teddy!
By: Christina
The day seemed everlasting… The sky seemed to go on forever, completely empty, its powerful blue gleam glowering down on the earth with a sacred pride. It was hot. It was sweltering! A large, golden sun was sneering evilly at the baking of Earth's crust. A usual summer afternoon and Ash and co. had just reached the pokecenter.
"Oh…" Misty moaned as she dropped to her knees atop the dark green couch, "I am soooo hungry."
Her togepi whined along with her, "Togiiii!"
"No kidding." Brock agreed, sitting down near her.
"Nurse Joy, could you heal my pokemon, please?" Ash asked, energetically jogging up to the front counter.
"Sure Ash." She smiled and took the tray of pokeballs and his tired, dirty-looking pikachu.
"Thanks."
Ash slowly approached his friends as they sat exhausted as ever.
"What's wrong, guys?" He asked.
Misty glared up at him as if to say 'Duh'. Brock wiped the continuous sweat that dripped down his brow.
"I know. It is hot isn't it?" He sweatdropped and took off his jacket.
"I don't care about the heat! I need some food!" Misty said, rolling onto her back and resting her feet on Brock's lap.
"I think that there's a restaurant near the end of town." Brock said.
"Okay, then let's go right after Nurse Joy's done." Ash said, sitting down next to Misty, "Or you two could go without me and I'll catch up."
Misty looked over to Brock worriedly, but not too long until she jumped up excitedly and ran to the door.
"Okay! Let's go Brock!"
"All right." He said, standing up and running out.
Ash sighed and rested his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. His stomach growled.
"Okay, Ash. They're all as healthy as ever." Nurse Joy said cheerfully as she placed the tray of pokemon on the counter.
"Pika!" Pikachu squealed happily.
Ash smiled and jumped up, quickly walking to the counter as Joy walked away.
"Thanks Nurse Joy!" Ash said, gathering his pokemon.
"C'mon, Pikachu, let's go eat!" Ash said excitedly while offering his shoulder.
"Pikachu!" It chirped, jumping onto its master's shoulder.
Misty shuffled her feet impatiently on the tile floor as the waitress disappeared with their order. A dully spinning fan above their booth spun slowly, a few gusts hitting the back of her neck every few seconds and she winced as she tore her legs off of the seat sticky with sweat. The atmosphere was so thick and humid and she yawned. She tore a napkin out of its dispenser and wiped her forehead with it while watching her handprint of sweat left on the table slowly vanish into thin air.
"I wonder when Ash will get here…" Misty said quickly, taking a quick glance at the door.
"Hm, he's probably running down here with Pikachu at his feet." Brock said.
Misty shrugged. "I guess."
The brunette waitress returned to their table placing three dripping wet drinks on the table. Misty immediately ripped the paper off of her straw and sucked down half her drink as soon as it hit the table.
"Where's Ash?" The waitress asked.
"He'll be here in a minute." Misty said with a sigh as the cool liquid settled in her insides.
The waitress stood there a minute without moving and just stared at Misty.
"Misty? Don't you remember me?" She asked.
"What? I've never met you before in my life." Misty said, turning to the stranger.
"Um…" The waitress slowly looked over her shoulder before removing what looked like a wig and revealed light blue hair. "It's Duplica."
"Duplica?!" Brock said, sitting upright, "What are you doing here dressed as a waitress?!"
"SSSH! They think I'm eighteen!" Duplica said, replacing her wig.
"But it's illegal-"
"Why do you need the money anyway?" Misty inquired.
Duplica grinned, "For my birthday party."
"When's your birthday?" Misty gasped.
"Here. Oh…" She mumbled first searching through many of her pockets.
"Ah." She smiled, pulled out a small piece of paper, and handed it to Misty.
"That's an invitation-"She said and leaned over to whisper in Misty's ear, "Make sure Ash goes, too."
"Why?" Misty backed away from her.
"It's not going to be some girlie-girl sleepover." She said with a wink.
"But-"
"Excuse me, miss?" Asked a chubby man with a small mustache in the booth behind them, "Can I get some service over here?"
"Of course sir." She smiled cheerfully and walked away from her friends.
"What'd she say?" Brock asked.
"Nothing." Misty said taking a long gulp from her drink.
Suddenly the door to the restaurant burst open and Ash and Pikachu straggled inside almost completely out of air.
"Hey guys." Ash said walking up to their table, his pikachu at his heels.
"What happened?" Misty asked, scooting over to allow him seat space.
He sat down. "Me and Pikachu had a race."
Pikachu and Togepi each greeted each other with a friendly "Pika!" and a "Toge!"
"What'd you order me?" Ash asked, taking the one drink that nobody seemed to be drinking.
"The triple-cheese cheeseburger without onions and extra pickles." Misty smiled.
Ash chuckled. "Onion rings or fries?" He quizzed.
"Onion rings, of course." She laughed.
"Alright!"
They high-fived.
"I've always wondered why you get onion rings when you don't like onions on your burger." Brock asked, pulling the straw out of his mouth.
"Huh? I just think that onions with cheese are disgusting." Ash said.
"Oh. Makes sense, I guess." Brock shrugged.
The waitress (Duplica) approached their table with a tray of food.
"Here you go." She said, placing his triple-cheese cheeseburger without onions and extra pickles in front of Ash. (A/N: Sorry if this makes you hungry… ^^;;)
"Duplica?" He asked with narrowed eyes.
Everyone but Ash face-faulted.
"How'd you know?" Misty asked.
"How can you not?" Ash asked as he turned to her.
"But… even I couldn't tell." Brock said, taking a closer look at Duplica.
"Um…" She said, feeling very awkward. "Here is yours Misty."
After handing Brock his lunch, Duplica quickly walked away to the bathroom to make sure that her wig was on straight.
"How did you know that was Duplica, Ash?" Misty asked again.
"Um… Well, did you take a look at her name tag?" He asked with a smile.
Misty blushed at her stupidity. "Um… I guess not…"
"And her blue hair was hanging out over her shoulder so… I may not be a genius but I do have common sense." He closed his eyes proudly and sat back in his seat sipping at the straw.
"Well," Misty chuckled, "I'm not too sure about the common sense part but at least you got half of it right."
"Watch it." Ash frowned as he nearly spit out his soda.
Togepi and Pikachu somehow wandered over to Brock's seat and began playing with a bottle of ketchup.
"No, Togepi." Misty ordered, leaning over the table, "You'll get all messy."
Misty picked up her togepi and brought it to her lap, feeding it a pickle. Pikachu looked at Misty sadly as she took away its friend, but continued to lick at the ketchup. Ash's eyes wandered to her food, just out of curiosity.
"Hey, what'd you get?" He asked, noticing that her food looked a little familiar.
"The same thing you have." She smiled, "I wanted to see what's so great about the same thing you order all the time."
"It's just a cheeseburger." Ash mumbled.
"Well, I'm just interested." Misty said.
Togepi attempted at the entire burger but Misty caught it just in time.
"I don't think so." She laughed, placing her lunch back onto the plate, "Try one of these." She handed it an onion ring.
"Toge!" It squealed, gnawing at the fried ring.
"Besides, why do you care?" She asked, picking up the burger.
"…I don't."
"Oh yeah," She said, her mouth nearly full, she reached into her pocket to pull out a piece of paper and hand it to Ash.
"What's this?" He asked, accepting the paper.
"We have to go somewhere tonight. Wow, Ash, you're pretty good at judging good food."
Ash opened the folds of paper and stared blankly at the invitation scribbled in green ink.
"Today's Duplica's birthday?" He asked.
"Yep. Tonight's her party."
"Ha," Brock laughed, "You spending your night at a girl's sleepover, Ash?"
"I wouldn't be laughing if I was you, Brock. You're going too." Misty informed.
"What?" He screeched.
"We're all her friends here and it would be impolite for you not to go." Misty said.
Brock grunted and crossed his arms. "Well, I guess spending one night with a few girls won't be so bad…"
Misty shot him a look of incredulity. Brock blushed.
"Besides-"
"Don't even start." She warned, holding up a hand to silence him.
Ash reluctantly knocked on the doorway of the House of Imite'. A faint rumble and bounce of music could be heard from the outside. Someone answered; it wasn't Duplica.
"Hi!" said a cheery voice, "You Duplica's friends?"
"Yeah, I'm Ash and these are my friends: Misty and Brock."
"She gave us this invitation." Misty said, holding out the note.
"Oh, that's great, come on in!" Said an older blonde girl as she leaned over the one at the door and opened the door a bit wider.
They had expected to see a large room with a few people, some decorations, maybe a few pokemon here and there… But there were at least forty boys and girls, more girls of course.
"Pika!" exclaimed a pikachu as it ran up to Ash's.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu replied.
"Oh look," Ash observed, "did you find a friend, Pikachu?"
Suddenly, the little ball of yellow fur molded into a pink blob. Ash sweatdropped.
"I can't believe I was fooled twice."
A girl giggled as she approached him. Her hair was pulled back in a familiar style.
"I can." She said, reaching for his cap.
"Wah-?" He protested and ducked. "Misty, what are you doing?"
She grabbed at his jacket and giggled again as he backed away with the most confused look on his face.
"Misty, what's wrong with you?!"
Then another girl, in the exact same attire, excluding the sky-blue socks, also joined in and hugged him from behind. A third twin with green eyes tackled him headfirst in a giant bear hug. Another, and another, and another twin each joined in on the fun.
"Who are you crazy people?!" Ash shouted, trying to get away from the sudden crowd of Mistys.
Misty (the actual one) glanced up from the beverage table as she heard her friend shout. In a distance, she spotted a large group of girls who looked… well, like her!
"What in the name of-"She mumbled.
As she stopped at the group wondering what to do, a girl dressed exactly like her with brown eyes turned around, her smile fading.
"Hey, where's your tag?" She asked, grabbing Misty's hand and checking out the palm.
"What? What are you talking about?" She asked, jerking her hand out of the stranger's grasp.
She gasped at the sight of a bare palm.
"Yo, girls! C'mon we got a 705 here!" She shouted to the rest.
They all stopped and looked up at her.
"A 705?!"
"No way!"
"But… that wasn't supposed to happen…"
"Are you sure?"
"Has that ever happen to the Imite' Team before?!"
"Oh my God, really?"
"Um… hehehe..."
"So she's a real one?"
"Are you sure it isn't just a 706?"
Misty sighed, her frown deepening as she noticed that Ash wasn't even visible beneath the imposters.
"Well? Break it up!" She said, waving her hands in a "shoo, shoo" motion.
"All right, you heard the woman, break it up!" Said the Misty with brown eyes.
Many "Aw…"s came from the Mistys as they reluctantly backed away from the trembling Ash and retreated into a room in the back, possibly a dressing room.
"Ash?" Misty asked a freaked out Ash that sat wide-eyed on the floor. "Have fun?" She smiled.
"…what kind of… sick prank…?" Ash asked dumbfounded.
Misty blushed at the many kiss marks left by the copies of herself that were located basically all over Ash's face.
"Looks like they had to mark their territory as well." Misty said with a reassuring smile as she pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket.
She sat down next to him on the floor and helped him sit up. Once he sat up, feeling as awkward as possible, Misty licked the handkerchief and began to wipe away the blue, pink, and red lipstick.
"Well, that's a relief..., "Misty said as she examined his confused face, "At least they didn't get your lips."
"M-my lips?" Ash asked, snapping back to reality.
"Yeah, I believe that your first kiss shouldn't ever be forced." Misty said, wiping off his forehead.
"Why me?" He asked.
"Well," She licked the handkerchief again, "Not just you, but everyone."
"Oh."
Misty thought that she was finished cleaning his face until she noticed that there were marks on his neck as well.
"Mm… How many places-"
"Have you ever kissed anyone before, Misty?"
The question caught her completely off guard and she paused.
"Why?" She asked, looking into his eyes, a slow blush rising to her cheeks.
"Um…" Ash returned the blushing favor, "No reason."
"…Have you?" She asked; her cheeks still red as she continued to wipe the pink smear on his ear.
"Um… not on the lips…" He said.
"So, you've basically never had your first kiss yet, right?" Misty asked.
"I guess not." He replied.
"All right, guys!" Called a girl up on the stage, "Hey look up here, all!" She shouted, trying to get everyone's attention.
Ash and Misty stood up.
"Thank you… Thanks… Welcome all to the House Of Imite'!"
Most people applauded, some people whistled. Duplica walked out onto stage and EVERYONE applauded.
"All right everyone, 1. 2. 3- Happy Birthday to you, Happy Bir-"
Everyone began to sing as Duplica blushed but laughed at the same time. A few of her friends stood on a table and sang as if they were drunk, wreathing their hands upon each other's shoulders.
"Please stop, I am begging you guys." She said, holding up a hand.
Many people laughed. Suddenly, confetti began to fall unexpectantly upon the crowd.
"Hey, not yet!" Shouted Duplica at the guy in the control tower who shot a quick thumbs-up and grinned mischievously.
"Now that next week's act is ruined… All right, after we're all done drinking and eating I'd like a few circles of girls and boys; no more than 10 people each circle! Make sure that you sit in boy-girl-boy-girl fashion!"
Everyone murmured and set down their belongings before walking to the middle of the room.
"What's going on, Mist?" Ash asked.
"Come on, let's go!" She said excitedly and grabbed Ash's arm and pulled him to the middle of the room.
Some people stood off to the side, but, unfortunately enough, there were ten people left and they figured 'what the heck…'
Soon, there were three circles of ten and an extra set of six girls who stood by the wall wondering what to do.
"Hey, you all can help." Duplica said, pointing to the six by the wall, "Two of you each go to a circle."
They nodded and obeyed, but before they entered the human circles, Duplica handed them a glow stick each pair, so that each circle had one glow stick. At the signal of Duplica's hand, the man in the control room shut off all of the lights. Many people gasped and a few people screamed.
"What's going on?" Misty asked Ash, who was sitting next to her.
"I have no idea." He replied.
"Oh no, not this game again…" whispered a giggling female voice from across them.
"All right, everyone! Here are the rules: you must pass the glow stick from partner to partner. The group or circle that passes it around the entire circle first wins! Sound simple enough?" Said Duplica into a microphone.
Misty shrugged. "What's so bad about that?"
"Except, the one main rule is, you have to use your teeth!" She said.
"What?!" Came the reply of many people.
Duplica laughed.
"All right everybody! The timer has started! Go!"
Ash sat back and stretched out his legs. "Augh, my legs are getting numb…"
Through the sheer darkness, the glow sticks from around the room lit up in an eerie green glow, barely touching the faces of the people passing it around, even though it was practically touching their faces. It seemed simple enough, both Ash and Misty were undeniably cautious when passing the stick, not to touch anything but the stick. There was the tension in the air- where beads of sweat dripped down their foreheads in concentration and maybe a bit of fear. Once or twice, people gasped or screamed followed by an "Eew-ew-ew-ew-ew-EEW! I can't believe he kissed me!!" And they would sweatdrop. Some people would laugh… These sudden outbursts only made people even more overly cautious. After about the third time that Ash and Misty had passed the glow stick to one another, Misty had been kissed at least four times (notice how she was kissed four times in a round of three… (A/N -_-;;;)) in various places of her neck and face by someone whom she didn't even know. She whispered to Ash, "Some guy sitting next to me keeps kissing me! He's already kissed my neck twice, and my cheeks twice. I'm afraid he'll kiss my lips next!" Ash took all this in and the glow stick was passed to him by a girl who sat at least three feet from both of the guys next to her, nearly dropping the stick because she was such a germ freak. A small battle raged through his mind and he conquered the chance and opportunity after remembering the way his friend had made such a deal about her first kiss earlier, and how it should never be forced. The problem was: Would she want to kiss somebody like him? And if so, would that be… forced…? The split second before Misty took the glowing cane, it fell to the ground and a pair steadfast, yet familiar lips matched hers. They lasted longer than intended, but, as plotted, he pulled away with a short "S-sorry…" She could practically feel the heated blush playing off of his face. Without a word, she lifted up game stick and handed it to the guy next to her. With a grunt, he picked it up with his teeth and the game continued. Ash and Misty resumed to stare at each other… although they weren't aware of it…
It… seemed intentional… That k-kiss…
"Ash?" She whispered, not even sure of what she wanted to say next.
"What?" He replied quickly, his reaction nearly glued to her query.
After a few seconds of a breathless moment, a squeal sounded through the air and a large thud was heard as a girl jumped up.
"Oh, God! Kissing was a little overdoing it but you don't have to lick my face you perv!!!"
"Okay, okay, it looks like enough of this game." Said Duplica over the microphone and she sweatdropped.
The lights flicked on. Some people laughed. Nearly half of the people in the room were blushing crazily- including Misty and Ash. (They had now been facing Duplica, if you hadn't guessed. Sorry Fluffs! No 'gazing intently into each others eyes…'…yet!)
"How about a new game?" She asked. "Spin the bottle?"
A few girls stuck out their tongues in refusal. Guys passed each other looks of carelessness and shrugged while some where grinning like idiots (kinda matching the girls sitting next to them).
"Okay. Let's play Teddies!" Duplica grinned.
"Teddies?" Everyone seemed to ask.
"Yes. It's a game where you have to kiss-"
"Kiss?! I don't wanna kiss-"People started to murmur and whisper.
"No, no, no! It's a game where you have to kiss STUFFED ANIMALS!" Duplica begged people to listen. All the sounds in the room settled into a blanket of silence.
"Thank you." She sighed and continued, "The rules are: Everyone sits in a circle, alternating boy/girl/boy/girl. We start with one person in the circle, and give them the stuffed animal. Each person in the circle has to kiss some part of the animal, and then pass it to the next person. No part can be repeated. Sound simple enough?"
People began to murmur. A few girls, the ones who knew the trick of the game, giggled and laughed out loud.
"What's the point?" Asked one boy.
"The point? Well… you'll just have to figure it out for yourselves," some people suddenly began to back away from the circles to gather near the walls and Duplica spoke up, "All who oppose will be left out of cake!" That was when the circles again became whole.
"A teddy bear will be passed around each circle. I want four circles, please!"
The game began as soon as everyone was ready. The people who had recently passed out the glow sticks where now ushering teddy bears.
"I'm not too sure if I want to play this game. It sounds a little too…" Misty thought to herself, 'Aw, what the heck…'
Each circle got a fluffy brown teddy bear. The first person kissed the tummy, and then passed it to the guy on her right. Then he kissed the hand and so on… No one seemed to be kissing the mouth. How could you not?! It is sooo cute!
"No one seems to be kissing the mouth." Ash said.
"Maybe that's because everyone's so darn suspicious." Misty replied.
"Well," Ash crossed his arms, "I'm not suspicious or afraid."
Suddenly, the thought occurred to her. Why would they be kissing a teddy bear if-…
"Okay, Ash, let's see how brave you are. Kiss the bears lips."
"I will." He said proudly.
The teddy then stopped at Ash's lap and he did as he said and gave it to Misty. She kissed to arm and passed it to the strange guy beside her, who decided to be funny and kiss the teddy's rear. Some people laughed, a few girls giggled, but Misty merely rolled her eyes. The watcher standing in the middle of the circle signaled to Duplica that everyone was done kissing the stupid (but cute!) bear.
"Okay everyone! All kissed? Good. Now here's the other half of the rules."
Many people gasped. Other half?! What other half?!
"Please put my oh-so-sweet teddies aside, ladies. We have much more serious things to discuss. Now, you must now kiss the person sitting to your right in the EXACT SAME place you kissed the animal."
A lot of people laughed. Some people sighed, grateful for taking to the role of kissing a bear hand. Can you even begin to imagine how embarrassed Ash must feel???
"A-Ash…" Misty began, "…you don't have to if you don't want to."
"That's not the idea, Mist. I knew how this game worked before." He swallowed hard.
Misty's breath caught in her throat. He knew?!
"You… knew that…-"
He nodded. "I knew. That's why I made… the pr-promise…"
"The promise?" Misty echoed.
He smiled and faced her. "I knew. But," He began, innocently placed his hand on top of hers, "I can't do it here, you know what I mean?"
It was like a spell. How else could you explain it? How can somebody change all of the sudden? Was it the---?
"I understand." She said, gripping his hand.
The red-hot blush in her cheeks seemed to disappear, like magic. There just didn't seem to be anything embarrassed about anymore… The sweaty nervousness was replaced by the excited shivers up her arms and down her spine. They turned to watch the boy sitting next to Misty kiss the reluctant girl's butt and laughed along with everyone else. Laughs. That's something to break tension… if there was any. The girl standing in the middle of the circle- the one who had to make sure that everyone had done their role in the game- watched as their hands connected and blush wash away. She smiled and ignored the rules of Teddies. Sometimes, breaking the rules is the right thing to do.
Review and tell me if I should add the sappy ending (y'know… with the stars and the moon and the 'promise' and all that). It'll just be a second chapter. ^_^;
Your goddess and master,
Christina