He had left a year ago; yet his things remained. Untouched by even his mother; not entered since the day he left it. The handle was never touched until today.
A women, around her early 20s, knocked on the door of the Ketchum residence. Mrs. Ketchum, wearing her hair in a bun, a pink apron, and a weak smile, answered. Her eyes were puffy and red and her voice quavered when she said, "Misty. I'm so glad to see you, come in dear."
The woman nodded and stepped inside. The familiar scent of cinnamon wafted through the house as they made their way to the dining table. Misty settled into a chair while Delia walked to a steaming pot.
"Would you like some tea?"
After a few minutes of catching up over the hot strawberry tea, Mrs. Ketchum set her cup down and looked directly in the younger woman's eyes. She noted that Delia had become very weary and even developed wrinkles in this past year.
"So." She paused. "How are you doing."
She gave a faint smile, "I told you I'm doing fine."
"No, I mean, how are you doing with what happened last year."
Her heart plummeted, she didn't want to talk about that. Even with a year gone by time had done nothing to heal what had occurred.
"Alright Misty, I'm leaving." he chimed shrugging on his backpack.
"Alright Pokemon Master, goodbye" she chimed back from the kitchen.
"Stepping outside the door now." Pikachu settled on the couch knowing full well that they weren't leaving yet.
"See yah."
Ash's grin turn to a frown filled with annoyance. He marched his way to the kitchen to see the lovely redhead take out a jar of mayo from the fridge. "I'm going to Sinnoh for 6 whole months and you'd rather kiss a sandwich than me?"
"If I was making this for you, you wouldn't be complaining." She set down the mayo next to the sandwich.
"Well it's not and I'm complaining."
"You're such a baby." she grinned and laid a hand on his cheek, pressing her lips to his.
"Now that's more like it." He grinned back, one of his goofy ear to ear grin.
She gave a soft giggle before straightening out his collar. "Promise me you'll come back safe and alive this time." she joked.
"I'll try my best. It's hard though, you know? Being the 'chosen one' and all." Another victorious grin.
She rolled her eyes, "Don't let that get in your head. Your ego is your biggest weakness and I'm not there to knock it out of you."
"Literally." he grumbled.
"What was that?" she narrowed her eyes, her trusty mallet resting on the table beside her.
"Nothing" he chimed again sliding past her, scooping up the sandwich, giving her a peck on the cheek before racing to the door. "Come on pikachu!"
"Pika!" he stated in alarm, rushing to his feet and following Ash.
"Hey! Ash!"
"I'll call you when we get to the Poke Center, postcards, emails yada yada yada. Bye!" He yelled as he ran out.
She ripped her gaze from Delia's comforting eyes to the wooden table. Tears threaten to fall. She suddenly founded it was very hard to talk as a lump formed in her throat. She swallowed hard and forced a small smile before answering. "I'm getting better." Lie. "Getting out of the house for fresh air helps." Another lie, she rarely left the house. "Pikachu's doing well. It was too much for him to come here though so I dropped him off at Professor Oak's. He seems to like it there more than Cerulean, I'm thinking of maybe leaving him-"
"He wouldn't have wanted that." Delia interrupted sternly.
Misty stayed silent.
"I'm sorry sweetie, I didn't mean to sound aggressive."
Misty shook her head. "I understand."
She reached her hands and placed them on top of Misty's "Pikachu loves you and needs you."
Ring. Ring Ring. Click.
"Oh, Three days. Getting better at this Ash."
A boy with lightening birthmarks on his cheeks and a pikachu perched on his shoulder appeared on the green box. The pikachu placed his paws on the screen it's smile filled with delight. "Pikachupi!" it greeted.
"I would like to say it was all me, but pikachu's practically dragging me to each Poke Center. I was only able to catch two pokemon along the way!"
"Don't blame pikachu for your lack of catching skills" She retorted petting the screen.
"I like to befriend the pokemon I catch, thank you."
"Give pikachu a belly rub for me. Oh and make sure to buy an escape rope and bring potions!"
"Alright and pfft, Misty. You underestimate an Orange League Champion. I don't need any items to get past some crummy cave."
"Whatever you say Ash. I'm not going to be the one with a broken arm."
"That has a slim to no chance of happening to this guy" he smirked, pointing at himself. Then he grew serious and gave a gentle smile. "Besides I made a promise right?"
Misty returned the smile. "Yeah." She turned her gaze to Pikachu "You promise too."
"Pi!" he stated with a firm nod then licked the screen and hopped on Ash's lap.
"I need him too." she whispered. "I guess I'll just have to make room for a yard for pikachu to relax in, eh?"
Delia smiled and nodded.
After an hour of talking Delia excused herself to take a nap and so Misty could do what she came here for by herself.
She sat at the table alone at first, not moving just listening. The pidgey clock ticked, and besides the wind chimes that rang from time to time, there was no noise. It was the silence that was a constant reminder of what had been taken away. There was no childish laughter to be heard or sly comment to be infuriated by. Just silence and the dreary atmosphere it brought.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
"Misty! The phones ringing!" Daisy called from the kitchen.
"Coming!" She called back walking down the stairs.
Ring. Ring. Click.
"Hello?"
"Hello, may I speak with Misty Waterflower?"
"This is her. Who is this?" "This is Doctor Joseph at St. Mesprit Hospital in Sinnoh. I have you as Ash Ketchum's emergency contact." he paused but received no answer so continued. "Ash Ketchum has gotten into an accident at Wayward Cave on route 206 and has some major head injuries. He will need to go through brain surgery..."
The voice drowned out as the phone dangled by the phone wire.
She stopped thumbing her cup. There was no point in sitting any longer. She has been preparing to do this for a year and there would be no more time to spare. She needed to do it now. She needed the closure or she'd never make it out of the hole that was so deeply dug. She stood and walked towards the creaky stairs; dreading each step. Finally reaching the last step she took a deep breath and turned towards his door. She stared at the faded golden door knob with sadness. Reaching with a shaky hand, she gripped the doorknob, not twisting it. She was unsure of ruining the room that was last stepped by him. She feared the emotions that would enwrap her if she entered. No, that's not it. Even with the silence she didn't want to accept that he was gone. She wanted to believe that one day he would come through the door grinning wildly that he got third place in the Sinnoh Tournament. Lifting the right side of his jacket to show her all the colourful badges he earned. To kiss her forehead and tell her that she was a worry wart and he had told her that nothing was going to happen.
Her eyes stung. "I can't." she whispered. "I don't want to."
A soft wind pushed her hair over her ear, her eyes widened in response. With the wind she heard a whisper urging her to go in. It didn't matter whether she wanted to or not. This was inevitable and her subconscious would be the one taking action.
Twisting the door open she bit her lip and shut her eyes. She took a few steps in before letting her eyes open again.
Disregarding the fact that his items were now coated with dust; the room seemed as if he had just stepped out. His bed looked tidied but with haste. Near the closet laid two crumpled shirts and a pair of shorts, but the one thing her eyes locked onto was his pokemon league hat. The one he wore on their first travel was now resting on his desk. Her muscles tightened and she let out a deep breathe. Misty walked towards the hat and gently lifted it by the tips of her fingers. She stared at it until a quick image of Ash flashed in her mind and tears started to stream down her face. She held the hat close to her chest in an attempt to cease the ache that was so intense within her. Her knees weakened making her fall to her knees.
Slamming the taxi door and running up to the Oak mansion she burst through the door and scanned the room for the Professor.
"Misty what are you-"
"Where's the Professor?"
"He's in the backyard feeding the-" Tracy was cut off seeing that Misty was already out of sight. "You're welcome" he grumbled.
Panting Misty stopped to a halt in front of the Professor who was cheerfully feeding some pidgeys.
"Oh hello Misty. How are you doing?"
"I'm fine. Professor I-"
"You know it's tough feeding these bird types. I always have to be very careful to get the bucket with the right amount of-"
"Professor-"
"carbonated water. I guess you could say they are very pidgey eaters." He gave a laugh that quickly died down when he noticed that Misty wasn't even giving those courtesy fake laughs.
"Professor. I need to borrow Ash's swellow."
She bit down on her lip so hard that it had started to bleed. The emotions flooding her wouldn't stop no matter how hard she tried to restrain them. "Why did you have to go! Why did you have to leave!" she cried through gritted teeth.
"Thank you Swellow." Misty hopped off the blue and red bird zapping it back in it's pokeball.
Snapping the pokeball back on her belt she began a sprint to the hospital.
"Ash Ketchum's room number?"
"Room 306"
Without another word she made her way to the third floor scanning the room numbers. 303, 304, 305. There, standing in front of his door stood a blue haired girl, holding her arms and weeping, and Brock, holding his head in his hands. Misty's face fell. All the hope she had quickly vanished. "Brock." she said almost inaudible.
He lifted his head in surprise hearing his old friend. His pained expression told her what she feared the most. "Misty." his voice trembled.
"How is he."
No response.
She shook her head. Tears formed in her eyes, she wanted to scream. This couldn't be true. There was no way that this was true. She quickly made her way inside the room, Brock calling behind her "Misty stop- you don't-"
She stopped, her hand still on the door knob. Her tears released.
"Why did I have to be so slow."
The doctor steps echoed through the corridor till he stopped behind the three. He let out the words that no person in a hospital wants to hear. "There was nothing we could do."
She couldn't breathe. With unsteady steps she walked to his bedside and crouch down. She took hold of his hand and laid her eyes on his shut ones. His skin was cold and pale with bruises.
"You didn't wait for me." She lifted his hand up to her cheek giving a faltering smile. "I couldn't say goodbye." she shakily moved his hand to her lips and kissed it. "I'm sorry."
The pounding in her head was unsustainable. The room was spinning and it seemed like someone was pushing her down. "Why did you break your promise!" she yelled.
With that yell a fierce wind came through the windows, bursting them open. Misty's eyes quickly fluttered open and her eyes locked onto the window as a quick gasp left her.
The wind started to glow a very bright light blue and seemed to be spinning in circles. A figure seemed to be forming within it.
Misty closed her eyes once more seeing as the light was too strong for her to handle.
"Misty." a soft voice spoke.
Misty's eyes opened in surprise, tears still staining them as she did.
"I've been waiting." the figure smiled; now only inches away from her.
She shook her head. It couldn't have been. "No. No." she paused. "It can't. It can't be you."
"Misty."
"No! You're air! You can't be him! You're in my head!"
"I've been waiting for this long just so you can yell at me?" his smile only grew and his eyes became more comforting.
Misty stopped breathing. Her heart decided to be pierced once more. This figure was him.
"I couldn't leave without saying goodbye."
She didn't respond.
"I'm sorry that I couldn't-"
"No. Please stop." She laid her hands on her ears.
"I couldn't wait-"
"It was my fault! I was slow! If I didn't stop to-" She was hushed by his hand softly touching her cheek.
"Shh" he hummed
"I didn't make it on time, I couldn't-"
"Shhhhh. It's okay. There was nothing you could do." he reassured gently
"I'm sorry Ash. I'm so sorry." she cried holding on to his hand that was brushing her cheek.
"It's okay. You tried and that's all that matters."
"I could've-"
"Nothing. There was no way to change what happened." Ash noticed her lip was bleeding and brushed his thumb to it. "Misty."
"Hm? That doesn't matter."
He stayed silent before sighing and giving her a warm smile. "Thank you Misty. For making my life wonderful. For being my best friend." He laid his forehead to hers "For showing me love that others may never find." Pause. "Thank you for being apart of my life."
He lifted his head so she could see how serious he was."I know I couldn't follow through with my last promise, but I want you to make up for that by keeping this one. It's my last request." She noticed that his touch was starting to fade. "Promise me that you'll move on. That you'll live a full and happy life with someone new. That instead of remembering the bad things that happened to me, you'll remember all the good parts that happened with us." His figure was becoming transparent "Lastly, promise me that you'll keep on smiling."
"Please don't say goodbye."
"Promise me."
"Not if it'll make you leave!" She firmly grasped his hand.
"Misty. Please."
She gave his hand another firm squeeze before lowering it down. Letting her arms dangle for a few seconds to gather her strength she then looked up giving him a tired smile. "I promise."
He returned the smile before completely fading. The wind still glowed and the hand that she was holding glowed with it. His glowing soul, she guessed, lifted up above her head before the glow as well started to dim out. She held that smile until she had thought it was all gone. Until he was gone.