Disclaimer: Don't own pokemon

This fic is dedicated to all the faithful pokeshippers out there- never loose hope guys!

So, it's always bothered me that all the fanfcition out here just assumes that when Ash finally realizes just how perfect Misty is for him that she'll just be in Cerulean City waiting for him. That just doesn't seem like Misty to me. I don't think she'd just wait around for some guy, even Ash, especially if she thinks she's been forgotten and replaced. So here's a fic centered around the idea of Misty creating a new life for herself separate of her absentee best friend (and crush) and how Ash would react.

Misty stared at her reflection before her, absentmindedly pulling the brush through the red silky waves of her hair. The vanity she sat at had been a gift from her sisters upon their return from their world trip, a thank you for watching the gym and a peace offering of sorts for all the years of torture they had put her through. Not that they still didn't torture her, giving her the bulk of the jobs around the gym and always the ones neither of the three really wanted to do. Still, things had gotten significantly better since she had run away from home 6 years ago.

The water trainer stood up, holding the towel wrapped around her to keep it from falling. Walking over to her closet she threw open the doors, intent on picking out something to wear. After a half hour of rejected tops and mismatched outfits she finally decided on a dark denim jean skirt and a blue and white collared shirt with half sleeves.

White tennis shoes tied and silver bracelet clicked into place Misty raced down the stairs, skipping two at a time. She reached the landing just as she secured her signature side ponytail in place.

"Misty, is that you?" her sister Daisy called out from the kitchen.

"Yea, I'm going out with Mike, he should be here any minute."

"Wait, I like, need to talk to you about the party"

But before Misty could reply the doorbell rang, echoing through the house. Misty opened the door to reveal a blonde haired boy with bright blue eyes. He was tall, taller then her, and greeted Misty with a kiss on the cheek.

"Sorry Daisy but I got to go, we'll talk when I get back, ok." She said as she grabbed her jacket and left the house, hand in hand with her boyfriend of 2 months.

No sooner had she left then another sister, Lily, replaced her in the kitchen.

"Did you like, tell Misty that her friends were coming for her birthday party?"

"No, she ran off before I could. But I was thinking, wouldn't it be so much more fun if we just let it be a surprise for her that day. I like mean, she hasn't seen them in like forever and I want her 17th birthday to be as special as possible,"

Lily nodded in agreement, grabbed a pop tart, and went to get ready to go shopping.

Meanwhile, in the town of Pallat, a boy of 16 was sprawled on the couch, his hat slid over his eyes and a Pikachu burrowed in his shirt. He was board, extremely so, as was attested by his position and lack of movement in the last hour or so.

The door opened and in stepped May and Dawn, bags in hand. Ash and Brock had meet Dawn in Sinnoh, and were later joined by May and Drew who had wanted to compete in the contests there. After beating all the Sinnoh gyms Ash and company had come back to his hometown to train up before the Sinnoh league. They had been in town for a week now and Ash had yet to do any real training.

Moving slowly Ash sat up, still lethargic, to see the two girls before him properly. Knowing he was going to regret this he asked, "So, what did you guys get?"

"O, you know, just some clothes for Misty's party this weekend," May responded as she and Dawn made their way upstairs to put their purchases away.

Ash froze at her words. Misty's party. Misty. He'd basically pushed any thoughts of said party out of his mind since he'd found out about it when he'd come home.

It wasn't that he didn't miss Misty, he did. They were best friends after all. It was just that, since she'd gone home and he'd continued on his journey they had started to loose touch, more so over the past year then the 2 before. He hadn't seen her in a year, had stopped calling months ago, and now their emails and occasional texts were short and general- "I caught a pokemon today" or " I beat a challenger yesterday". That was it, nothing ever emotional or even personal. He had no idea what was going on in her life right now and she had no more an idea about his.

And now in two days time he was going to see her, was going to sing happy birthday to her. Ash was unsure if he should be excited or terrified at the prospect.

Misty stood with her arms wrapped around herself, Mike's jacket slung over her shoulders to keep her warm in the cool rain.

"I had fun Misty, really fun, did you like the movie?"

She gave him a small smile, "Umhmm, it was great, thanks for everything Mike."

"Anything for you babe" he said and then leaned in and gave her a small quick kiss. Before he could pull away Misty leaned up and, grabbing the collar of his shirt, pulled him back down to her. Their lips meet again, this time for a lot longer, raindrops falling on their heads pressed together in the kiss.

And so Misty stood their, in the rain, getting more and more soaked by the minute as the light drizzle turned into a complete deluge of water. She stood their, wishing, praying that she could get the butterflies she'd always dreamed of from a kiss, the breathlessness that she was so sure should come from their parting. But none of it happened, there were no fireworks, no sweaty palms or goose bumps. All that came was the end of the kiss.

"Goodnight Mike," she whispered before entering the gym, closing the door behind her and sliding down with her weigh against it. She was angry. Angry that Mike was so perfect and that she didn't deserve him, angry that try as hard as she might there was just something missing from their relationship. But most of all Misty was angry that the one boy who had ever made her feel like she was flying, like she was light as air and as free as flowing water, had abandoned her. He had left her.

And that's how Misty Waterflower knew that true love didn't exist, that any love story very rarely had a happy ending. Ash had replaced her with friend after friend, hadn't stopped by on any of his recent visits to Kanto, for all intensive purposes he had forgotten about her.

Misty had learned the hard way that there truly is a thin line between love and hate, and that sometimes the line gets so blurred it is beyond the point of recognition. For this lesson she had paid the price of her heart.

Hey, how do you guys like it so far. Comments, suggestions, anything. Please review.