Episode 17: To the Rescue! (part 1)
Episode 17 in my Fan Fiction series about the Pokémon journey of Ash and Angie. Involves some MorpheusShipping (Ash and Angie liking each other) so if you don't like that idea, stop reading here. The rest, I hope you enjoy this fan-fiction.
Ash had slept very well this night. The trip at the lake, all the Pokémon they saw there, and that special "thing" that had suddenly happened, had lifted his spirit way up again. Ash and Angie hadn't talked about that accidental kiss the rest of that day. Ash was in one way glad they didn't, but on the other hand he didn't want to leave the subject just like that. He felt a bit shook up by this event. Sure, he had already confessed to Angie he loved her, although at that time it was more an "I like you very, very much" at that time.
It had already been a giant step for Ash to realize Angie had such strong feelings for him that the thought of him leaving after winning the Sinnoh League, had been tearing her up inside. And it had been a much greater step for Ash to find out he also felt she was very special, more than just another person to travel along with on his Pokémon journeys to become a genuine Pokémon Master. He knew he cared for her from the moment he first saved her life, with that creepy spirit. Ash really wanted to give everything he had to save her. Although back then he thought it was just like helping a close friend, it had felt different somehow. Especially Angie's reaction when he said he wouldn't let go, "even if that meant forever" had been puzzling Ash. She had looked at him with those big eyes and said "Huh, forever?" like she heard something in his words he didn't notice back then. Even when they said goodbye at Summer Camp, the last night, he said they were friends. Angie had sounded a bit sad then but Ash figured it was just because of them saying goodbye.
Now he knew better, she loved him and he also had experienced that he loved her back. But these things that came with loving someone, he still had trouble with that. A kiss on the cheek was not so scary anymore, and holding hands wasn't either, he actually felt rather comfy with it. But yesterday had been a surprise. Even though it was by accident that their lips had touched, not immediately pulling back afterwards hadn't been an accident. It had felt like Pikachu's Thunder hit him, but in a much more pleasant way. Ash wondered how Angie had felt about this. "Maybe I should go see her, and check if she's okay," he thought, and quickly got dressed. He walked to her room, that was a little further down the hallway of the hotel they were staying at.
"Angie...?" Ash whispered as he padded softly on the door.
"Pikapika?" Pikachu tried as well.
No response. He knocked a little harder, and again, a bit harder. Then the door next to him opened and Tracey appeared.
"If you want to wake up the rest of the guests, please go on at what you are doing..." he remarked.
"Oh... sorry," Ash said, as he stopped making so much noise.
"If you are looking for Angie, she went to the Pokémon Center," Tracey said, "I met her earlier in the hallway as I was getting some fresh towels."
"I see..." Ash said, wondering why Angie left so early.
"I guess I'll meet you two there then?" Tracey asked, "I am going to the shore of the lake to make a few quick sketches. Somehow I didn't get to that when we were pedaling on the lake."
"Sure, see you there," Ash said, before he raced off to the Pokémon Center.
As he entered through the door, he saw Angie making a phone call. "Is she arranging yet another surprise for me?" Ash though at first.
"Hi Angie, did you sleep well?" Ash informed.
"Hey, hello Ash, good morning," she answered with a smile on her face.
Ash didn't have to ask if everything was okay with her, even he could see Angie was in a good mood. Pikachu and Shinx greeted each other as well.
"Hello Ash, nice to see you again," he suddenly heard Angie's mother say, since Angie was busy calling her.
"Oh hello, mum," Ash said, a bit confused to be talking to Angie's mother all of a sudden, and forgot to say "of Angie" after the "mum" part.
"Is there something you want to tell us dear?" Angie's mother said to her, "if you two have plans together, you know your dad and me are fully behind this."
"Huh?" was Angie's first reaction, but then she realized what her mother was hinting at.
"What is it Angie?" Ash said, still unaware of the uneasy situation he had put Angie in, "why are you turning so red, is it getting too hot for you in here?"
"Errm...I must go now, mum," she quickly cut off the conversation, "I'll call you later, okay?"
"Okay, bye dear!" Angie's mother said, and to Ash, "take good care of my daughter, and goodbye....son." she added with a strange smile.
"I will... bye!" Ash answered, and then he asked Angie, "why did your mother act so strange all of a sudden and what did she call me 'son' for?"
"I think it's because it's usually very warm this time of the year in Solaceon Town, so it must be the heat," Angie tried to come up with an explanation, that did not involve the "m-word" since she knew that was what her mother had been thinking about.
Angie really liked Ash, and she never wanted to leave him again, but "marriage" was still a bit too scary, especially when parents started talking about her like she had no say in the matter.
"Eh... Angie?" Ash started.
"Yes Ash, what is it?" Angie asked.
"I think we should talk....about yesterday I mean..." he continued.
Angie started looking more serious now. She had also thought a lot about "that moment" when their lips had met, after that Spheal caused their pedalo to rock. Angie intended to bring it up, but there had been no really right moment for it yesterday, and today she had promised to call her parents first, since they had sent her a message earlier. They had been very worried when they heard about a Pokémon hunter that had been arrested, right in the area where their daughter and Ash were. So Angie was glad Ash now took the first step to talk, although she was also somewhat concerned about what he might have to say.
"I think you're right..." Angie replied, "Shinx, would you like to go play outside with Pikachu for a while?"
"Shinx?" her Pokémon answered, a bit confused.
"Great idea, Ange," Ash got the hint, "Pikachu, you know your way around here, so you look after Shinx, okay? Have fun and don't go too far away from the Pokémon Center."
"Pikachu!" Ash's Pokémon nodded.
The two electric Pokémon went outside, leaving their trainers behind, both getting more nervous about the "talk" they intended to have.
"You know....when we....it felt...different..." Ash started, looking away from Angie.
"What do you mean?" Angie asked, as she started to worry a little.
"Well... you know....different than in Lavender town," Ash continued, still avoiding her eyes.
"Oh...." Angie said, getting more nervous now.
"Well...it was...... at first I wanted to pull back, you know..." Ash almost whispered.
He tried so hard to find the right words to describe his feelings, which was very difficult for someone like him, always thinking about the next battle, the next badge, the next league... Meanwhile Angie was getting very worried. "What if he didn't like it as much as she had enjoyed their spontaneous kiss?" she thought. "Maybe it made him realize his feelings for me are not as strong as I feel for him?" it flashed through her mind, making her even more worried. "Why else would he look away from me like that?" But before she could torture herself even longer with her thoughts, Ash finished his sentence.
"...but I couldn't, and after a few seconds... I didn't want to let go of you anymore," Ash said, as he turned his head towards Angie again, and now looked her straight in the eyes, with a loving smile.
"You...mean that?" Angie said, very surprised after the scary thoughts she had just a few seconds ago. "Oh, Ash, I felt exactly the same!" she almost shouted, because the was so relieved.
"Pfew, and I was afraid you may not have liked it at all," Ash confessed.
"And I thought the same when you started about how it felt different," Angie replied.
"Do... do you think we should kiss more often now, then?" Ash asked.
"Well... only if you want to..." Angie said, as she started blushing a little.
"So you don't expect me to do so, right?" Ash said, still feeling a bit uncertain.
"I think we should just let it happen, and not expect it from each other at all," Angie answered.
"That's a relief," Ash admitted, "I didn't want to disappoint you, but I imagined it would feel strange to just kiss you for no reason... except that I like you a lot, of course."
"Well, me too," Angie admitted, "when the time is right..."
"...and a Spheal crosses our path..." Ash finished her sentence.
Then they both started to laugh, about Ash's remark, and the fact that they discovered they both had been scared to let the other down because he or she might have high expectations as a result of this kiss.
"Ash...thanks, for your understanding," Angie said.
"Same goes for you," he replied, "I'm glad to get that off my chest. You're my best traveling partner ever."
"Thanks," Angie said.
"Not that you're just like any traveling partner of course," Ash quickly added to correct any possible misunderstandings about his previous words, "I mean, you know that, don't you? Right?"
Angie watched Ash trying so hard to make up for his words. He even started to blush a little. "That's so cute" she thought, "I'd better put him out of his misery before he hurts himself..."
"It's okay Ash, I know what you meant to say," she tried to put him at ease, "all I have to do is think about that kiss yesterday and then I know how you feel about me."
"Oh... okay," Ash said as he stopped making apologies.
The doors of the Pokémon Center opened, and Tracey came walking inside.
"Do you know Pikachu and Shinx are outside all alone?" Tracey asked, "and why are you in here then?"
"Did you make some nice sketches?" Ash immediately asked, avoiding answering that question as to prevent Tracey from finding out about what Ash and Angie has just been talking about.
"Yeah, the lighting outside is fantastic!" Tracey answered, "Here, I'll show you some that are nearly ready," and he took his sketchbook out off his backpack.
After admiring his talented artwork, our three friends got themselves a good breakfast, and made sure their Pokémon buddies were also well catered for. Then they went outside.
"What are your plans for today, Ash?" Tracey asked.
"Well, I thought about traveling east, along Route 4, to Mount Moon," Ash suggested, "we may find some interesting Pokémon on the way there, and maybe we'll even run into Sabrina, so I can finally challenge her," as he made a strong gesture with his arm, to indicate he was ready for any battle.
Angie noticed Officer Jenny pacing from left to right and back next to her motorcycle, just a few meters from them.
"Is something wrong Officer Jenny?" Angie asked.
"Well...eh...I don't know if I should tell you..." Jenny started, "can you keep a secret?"
"We won't tell it to anyone else, right guys?" Ash said, as both his friends nodded, along with Pikachu and Shinx.
"Okay then. We've received a distress call from a hiker somewhere on Mount Moon. He seems to be trapped somewhere, with hardly any supplies." Officer Jenny explained.
"That doesn't sound good," Tracey remarked.
"That's correct," Officer Jenny comfirmed, "and what makes it even worse is that I can't go to Mount Moon right now."
"Why not?" Angie asked.
"Well, in about an hour, a heavily guarded prisoner transport is coming through, and my assistance is needed there," Officer Jenny answered Angie's question.
"We can go there!" Ash suggested, "we were already heading for Mount Moon."
"That's great!" Officer Jenny replied, "but you must promise me you will be very careful. Mount Moon can be a dangerous place."
"We'll take good care of ourselves, officer," Tracey said.
"Good luck then, and when that prisoner transport has passed, I'll come after you as soon as possible!" Officer Jenny shouted, while racing off on her motorcycle.
At first Ash, Angie and Tracey intended to travel to Mount Moon by foot, but since now it had become important to get there as fast as possible, they decided to go fying with Charizard. Ash asked Liza if his fiery friend could stay with them a little longer. Liza told him she didn't need Charizard at the moment in Charicific Valley, so it was okay. As long as it wouldn't take too long, since Charla, Liza's female Charizard, began to miss Ash's Charizard just a little more each day. So off they went, and in no time they were at the base of the giant mountain. Tracey, attentive as ever, noticed a small column of smoke not too far from where they had landed. Soon, they arrived at an apparently abandoned campsite.
"Helloooo!?" Ash shouted, "Anyone here?"
"It looks really deserted..." Angie said.
"But judging on how the fire has just gone out, there was someone here not too long ago," Tracey remarked.
"Look, over here! Footsteps!" Ash yelled.
"These must be from whoever made this camp," Tracey said.
"Well, then we must follow them," Ash replied.
He made Charizard go back in his Poké Ball, and the three friends began following the trail, unsure what they might find at the end of it...
(to be continued)
My 21st fan-fiction story already. I apologize for any typing errors, or grammatically not 100% correct sentences. Remember, I am not a native English speaker or writer. I tried to make this story as close to the Pokémon series as possible, so that the characters will react roughly the same in this fictional story as they do in the series. Comments are always welcome, you can use the review function on this FanFiction site for that.
Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own any trademarks of Pokémon. Any similarities to the works of others is purely accidental, and not meant as an infringement on anyone's achievements.