Author's Notes: This story has been in the works for more than a decade, as I started it around the time I was finishing "Dark Prophecy" back in 2002 as a change of pace from the darker material I had been writing at the time. After a while, however, I shelved it, more for a lack of time than a lack of interest. Every few years I'd return to the story, only to eventually move on to other projects in other fandoms. After I stopped writing in the Pokemon fandom, this story refused to be ignored and I kept finding myself drawn back to it in an attempt to write the rest. Then last year, I decided to finish it once and for all. What was first intended to be a short one-shot, however, has grown significantly and it is now one of the largest works I've ever written, exceeding even "Dark Prophecy" by about 12,000 words. I truly hope you enjoy this story.

Story Notes: "Crossing the River" is set somewhere around the end of the third season of the anime while the trio are still in Johto before Misty left to return home, so this is essentially AU for everything that happened in the later seasons. Using the idea that each season is roughly a year in length, Ash and Misty are both 14 and Brock is 17. This story also ignores the "banned" episode "Beauty and the Beach."

Crossing the River

Ash Ketchum stood quietly looking at the trees in front of him as if they would tell him what he needed to know. If they could, they weren't giving him any sign of it. The trees to the left and right were no help either. He sighed. They all looked the same to him. One would have thought that after a year of traveling in the Kanto region, a year in the Orange Islands, and a year in Johto, he would have picked up the ability to read a map. Unfortunately, while his training skills had improved greatly, his map-reading ones hadn't. And even worse for him at the moment, he wasn't the only one who knew it.

"Have you got us lost again, Ash?" Misty Waterflower asked, annoyance seeping into her voice. She had walked up behind him and was now peering over his shoulder at the map.

"No," Ash countered, moving the map so she couldn't see it. Why did she always have to blame him? So what if he had been the one leading them, and the one with the map, and the one who insisted on taking a shortcut.

"Yes, you have," she said, reaching over his shoulder to grab for the map.

"No, I haven't," he said again. He angled his body to block Misty from reaching the map and tried to focus on its lines and symbols to divine some new information about their location. They were on their way to Blossomful City so Ash could compete for the next Johto League badge.

At the moment, however, they were somewhere in the dense forest separating Blossomful from Goldenrod. At some point they managed to misplace the trail, or maybe it lost them, during Ash's shortcut. And now, Misty had apparently decided it was Ash's fault.

"You did," Misty yelled back, continuing their argument. This time she walked around so she was facing him. He turned in the opposite direction, keeping his eyes on the map.

This continued for awhile until the argument degenerated into a rapid-fire exchange of Ash shouting, "Didn't," and Misty returning, "Did," like they were in a children's cartoon.

"That's enough!" Brock Slate shouted, the older teen sounding fed up with the entire situation.

"Pika!" Pikachu jumped between Ash and Misty, tiny sparks shooting from the yellow pokemon's cheeks as he stared back and forth at the arguing friends.

"Ok, 'Mr. I'm Going to Be the Best Pokémon Master Ever,' which way do we go?" Misty asked, crossing her arms.

"That way," Ash said, pointing to the left of the direction they had been heading before he stopped to get his bearings. He tried to sound as confident as he could, as there was nothing but trees in that direction. He was pretty sure it was the way they needed to go.

"Brock?" Misty asked suspiciously.

Ash reluctantly handed Brock the map and the older teen glanced down at it. He looked back up after a moment and said, "I wouldn't have believed it, but it looks like he's right. Hopefully we'll reach Blossomful City within an hour or so."

"I told you," Ash said smugly to Misty, hoping it would keep Misty quiet for a while.

Instead she raised her chin indignantly. "Yeah, well, if you'd had let Brock navigate, we would have been there hours ago. Sooner or later you were going to be right. I guess it had to happen one day, if only out of luck."

"Yeah, well, if you're lucky, one day you might not be so scrawny and so ugly," Ash shot back. Never one to be quick on the comebacks, he was rather proud with himself for one upping Misty for a change. He was proud right up to the moment she walked over to him and slapped him in the face. Her face was full of anger, but what surprised Ash more was the hurt look in her eyes. Without saying another word, Misty turned and walked in the direction Ash had pointed. She didn't bother to see if he and Brock were following her.

"That was a really rotten thing to say, Ash," Brock said softly, watching the red-haired girl stomp off into the distance.

"She started it," he said half-heartedly. He and Misty always argued. It had become almost a game between the two of them. What made this time any different? He'd called her scrawny lots of times. Well, maybe he had never actually used the word ugly before. He hadn't really meant it. Still confused, he followed Brock as they trailed behind Misty. Pikachu quietly jumped back to his shoulder and nuzzled his cheek.

-o-o-o-o-o-

By the time they reached Blossomful just before sundown, Ash was fed up. Misty had ignored all his attempts to talk to her. In fact, she hadn't said a word to him or given any indication that she was listening at all.

Sighing unhappily to himself, Ash turned his attention to the scenery around them. The path they had rediscovered and were now following ended at a small two-laned road and they began walking alongside it toward town. The buildings, which all looked old, had stone fronts and were roofed with red clay shingles. The houses and shops grew closer together and the paved road became a cobblestone street. Soon, only narrow alleyways separated the buildings and the street meandered its way lazily between them. Misty, who was still silent, led the way, following the green street signs pointing the direction to the local pokémon center. Soon, the large red and white building appeared ahead, looking strikingly out of place among the much older architecture surrounding it.

As the three companions entered the pokémon center, Misty went straight through the lobby to the front counter. The interior of the center looked identical to just about every one they had been in before. At the first sight of Nurse Joy, a glazed look came over Brock and he practically floated over to her.

"Oh, Nurse Joy, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen," Brock said. "It is hard to find a woman so dedicated to her work anymore in this crazy world. Would you like to accompany me to dinner?"

Nurse Joy, for her part, looked more confused than annoyed. Misty simply ignored him, which surprised Ash. Lately she had taken to dragging Brock away from his misadventures in romance.

"Can we get two rooms please?" she asked Joy instead.

Hearing this, Ash stopped mid-step. Two rooms? They always rented one room when they stayed at Pokémon centers. It wasn't as if they charged much, but when you were 14 and on the road, every bit counted. He walked up to her. "Why two rooms?"

"Because I felt like it. Is there a problem with that, Ash?" she spat angrily.

Unable to come up with a reply, he only shook his head.

"Good," she said and tossed him one of the keys, not bothering to see if he caught it before turning to head for the stairs.

She took several steps and then stopped, looking at a community calendar board posted on the wall. Several papers were stapled here and there, but Ash couldn't see which one she was reading.

Without thinking, he called over to her, "What you looking at?"

She turned to him and gave him an annoyed look before walking away and disappearing up the stairs.

Ash was about to follow her when Brock, from whom Nurse Joy had finally been able to extract herself, walked up to him.

"Misty still mad?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ash replied glumly. He wasn't sure why it was bothering him so much, but in his mind, he saw Misty's annoyed look and felt his already somber mood drop some more.

"Look up, she'll forgive you someday," Brock said.

"You think?" Ash asked.

"Yep. It might take a month or two, but she'll forgive you." He laughed, but then must have seen something in Ash's expression because he stopped abruptly. "Let's go get settled into our room," he added more soberly.

As they passed the community calendar, Ash made an effort to see what Misty might have been reading. A poster announcing an upcoming fighting type Pokémon exhibition in Goldenrod took up most of the upper half of the board. Below that was a notice for a meeting of the Clefairy Club and a reminder for the annual Blossomful City Beauty Pageant. There were a few hand-written notes offering various pokémon for trade. The only one which stood out to Ash was an index card with an offer of a horsea to a good home, complete with vidphone number. He knew Misty still missed the horsea she left with her sisters, even after all this time, but she wouldn't want a replacement, would she?

Turning away from the board, Ash made his way up the stairs to the second floor, Brock just behind. Flipping over the key in his hand, he saw the plastic keychain read 208. They quickly found the correct room and set down their travel gear. Pikachu hopped onto one of the beds. Ash flopped down next to him and turned on the television. After several cycles through the channels, however, he gave up and turned it off.

"You ready for dinner?" Brock asked him.

"Sure," Ash said, stretching his back to work out the ache that had developed from carrying his pack for the better part of eight hours.

They left the room and Ash thought of inviting Misty, but she didn't tell him her room number and besides, he doubted she would want to join them anyway, at least based on her earlier attitude. The idea did nothing to improve Ash's own mood. Instead, he, Brock and Pikachu shared a mostly silent dinner in the center's cafeteria before returning upstairs.

They were passing room 207 when the door opened and Misty appeared. She saw them and stopped, giving Ash another look that would have probably sliced him in two if it had been possible, before returning to her room and closing the door.

Inside their room, Ash went straight to his bed, even though it was much earlier than he would have normally gone to sleep. He paused just long enough to take off his shoes and was then quickly under the bedsheets. He rolled over to face away from Brock, not wanting to talk about Misty or anything else for that matter. He knew if he was going to be ready for his battle the next day with the Blossomful City gym leader, he was going to need a good night sleep. He doubted he would get one.

-o-o-o-o-o-

The next morning Ash woke up to find himself alone in the room except for Pikachu. He had been right about not getting much rest. Although he fell asleep rather quickly once in bed, he awoke several times through the night and each time it was harder to reclaim his sleep. After grabbing a quick shower, he made his way down to the first floor and found Brock eating in the cafeteria.

"Hey, Ash," Brock said.

Ash picked up several items from the breakfast bar, including a bottle of ketchup for Pikachu and sat down at Brock's table. Pikachu hopped onto a third seat and gladly accepted the ketchup Ash offered him.

"Hey, man," Ash said. "Misty around or is she still sleeping?"

Brock hesitated. "Actually, she came down already, grabbed a quick breakfast and left. She said she had some things to do and not to wait for her."

"Oh," he said. What about his match? Misty had never missed one of his badge battles.

"By the way, after you're done with your battle, do you mind if we go to the city park?" Brock continued. "They're holding a beauty contest here the day after tomorrow and I heard the girls are practicing today. I really, really want to check 'em out."

"Sure Brock," Ash said, although he was admittedly concerned about bringing his friend to a place where so many girls would be, especially without Misty for support.

When he and Brock finished their breakfast, Ash turned to Pikachu, who was trying in vain to get the last drops of ketchup from the bottle. "You ready, Pikachu?" he asked.

"Pika," he responded, and licked the ketchup off the rim of the bottle before jumping onto his shoulder.

"Then let's go," Brock said.

Back in the lobby, Ash checked an oversized map of Blossomful to see where the gym was. He found it in the middle of a large public square to the north of the Pokémon Center. Fortunately, the road they had traveled on to reach the center continued further into town only to dead end right into the square. There was no way he could get lost.

After leaving pokémon center, they turned right and began walking down the sidewalk. The street continued to meander this way and that as they traveled deeper into the town. Evidently it and the buildings on either side had been built long ago before the city grew to the size it was now. Feeling Misty's absence, he found he was not in a rush to reach the gym, so he slowed his pace and examined the shops as they passed. Most were closed. He glanced at his watch and saw it was nine in the morning. Some towns, he decided, just woke up later than others. They did pass a bakery which had its doors wide open, and the aromas of freshly baked bread and pastries beckoned him to enter and sample its wares. With difficulty though, he kept walking even as his stomach noisily reminded him that it did not think dessert was inappropriate after breakfast.

More than food, though, he wanted some time to think about his upcoming match. He had to admit he was more than a little apprehensive. He had grown accustomed to Misty's cheers, and in some cases, her critiques. Well, he decided, there wasn't much he could do about it. Her life didn't revolve around his. He knew that, but it didn't quell his growing uneasiness.

After another ten minutes of walking, the small street opened into the public square. It was about one hundred and fifty yards to a side. Paved walkways criss-crossed the well-groomed park. Several dogwoods and maples dotted the area and numerous park benches provided ample places to sit and enjoy the air. There were few people about, but as it was a weekday Ash guessed most of them were at work.

The splendor of the park was dominated by the enormous pokémon gym at its center. Looking like something out of ancient Greece, the structure was circular and the columns adorning its exterior were of such a scale that they made Ash feel inordinately small. Even the entrance was daunting to look at, with the double doors at least twelve feet in height. Crossing the square, he gazed up with wonder at the building. He had seen many gyms during his travels, but he had to admit that this was by far one of the most impressive yet.

"Wow," Brock said as they drew closer.

"Pika," Pikachu added from Ash's shoulder.

So taken in by its size, Ash didn't notice the sign attached to the doors until he was right in front of it. In large calligraphy, it read, "Closed."

"Closed?" he said. "How can it be closed?"

Below the large letters, the sign continued, "The gym is closed until after the beauty pageant. Sorry for the inconvenience. We will reopen Monday."

"Well, that's just great," Ash said. It was Friday and now he would have wait three three days before he could compete for the badge. What was he going to do now? They could always try for the next town, but that would just mean coming back to Blossomful later.

"Looks like we may be here longer than we thought," Ash said.

"Yeah," Brock replied. His face brightened. "But this means we will be able to stick around and watch the beauty pageant."

Ash felt himself smile despite the disappointments of the day so far. People said he had a one-track mind. Besides, he told himself, it was only three days. It would give him some extra practice time before he had to face the gym leader. Hopefully by then he could patch things up with Misty and she could be with him like usual.

Making their way back to the pokémon center, Ash watched as the town awoke around them. Store owners were opening their shops and soon the smell of baking bread was mingling with the aromas of flowers, spices, and perfumes. The plethora of smells was enough to make Ash's head spin and he was glad to get back to the center. A quick search found no sign of Misty in the cafeteria but he hadn't really expected to find her.

"Still want to go to the park with me," Brock asked when he returned to the lobby. "Nothing else to do."

Ash could have argued the point, but he didn't. He reasoned he better go make sure his friend didn't get himself arrested or killed. Nurse Joy was dutifully behind her desk and he walked over to her.

"Could you tell me where they're holding the beauty pageant practices?" Ash asked.

"Sure," she replied. "Head out the front door, take a right, then take your first right, follow that road for three blocks, take that left, then your second right and you're there. They're holding them in the city park where the have it every year."

Ash just looked at her confusion, trying to keep the rights and lefts straight. "Umm," he started, "could you write that down?"

"No problem," she said with a smile. It was a nice smile, not like the condescending ones Misty usually gave him. Ash wondered momentarily where she was, but Nurse Joy handed him the directions, distracting him from his thoughts.

"Thanks," he said, and held up the written directions to Brock, who gave him a thumbs up.

After two wrong turns and a run in with a rather irate meowth, they managed to find the park. It was a vast open plaza in a shallow area of ground lower than the surrounding city. In ages past it had evidently been home to a large body of water, a much smaller version of which remained at the center of the depression. On the far bank of the small lake was a large wooden theatre. The stage actually extended out over the water a few feet, resting on pilings. A pier or walkway of sorts stuck out even further, almost reaching the center of the lake.

Even from this distance, he could see a teen girl doing something on stage with a small pokemon he couldn't immediately identify.

On their side of the pond about 25 stone risers followed the natural curve of the depression, forming an open amphitheater. Behind it, the slope of the land lessened but still provided a good view of the stage. Several large oaks offered shade to those unable to find seats on the risers. Some 20 people were already seated, watching the practicing girls on stage.

Brock led them to about fifty feet from the risers and sat down, leaning his back against one of the oaks.

"Come on, Ash, pull up some ground and watch the show."

Ash did so, sitting down next to his friend. By now, the girl had left the stage and another replaced her. Now that they were closer, he could see she had dark hair and a vaperon with her. After performing what looked like a dance routine of some kind, she too returned backstage through a small opening in the back wall.

A few moments later, a blond girl walked onto the stage. If Ash had to guess, she was around 16 or 17, but girls had never been his strong suit. He couldn't even understand Misty, let alone strangers. The blond girl performed some tricks with her Squirtle, and then left the stage.

"You see, Ash," Brock explained. "There is a talent portion to see how well the girls train and control their pokémon. Not everyone practices on the stage, deciding not to give out their secrets, or sometimes they'll do a different performance to fake out the competition." He was distracted by the next girl walking out, leaving Ash to wonder how Brock learned so much about this sort of thing. "Mostly this practice is for girls who are new to competition and want to get rid of some of their jitters."

The audience cheered as the girl on stage finished her routine and Brock joined in enthusiastically. Ash clapped more to be polite that for anything else. "And don't forget there's the evening gown and swimsuit parades," Brock continued. The girl-struck teen's eyes glazed over again and Ash shifted over to give the two some distance.

The process repeated many times as different girls practiced their tricks and showcases. Each time they were met with polite applause. Despite himself, Ash was beginning to feel boredom set in. It wasn't to say he wasn't interested in girls. Like most 14-year-old boys in the world, he was slowly learning about the fairer sex. He just didn't have the stamina for the whole thing like Brock did. He wondered if he would when he was Brock's age, but shuddered at the thought.

Some of the girls had music to accompany their practices. The park must have speakers hidden all around the valley, Ash thought absentmindedly. Another blond appeared on stage followed by her Persian. Soon she was done as well and left the stage.

This time a redhead walked onto stage. Ash's first thought was the girl looked a lot like Misty. After staring for another moment, he realized with a shock that it was Misty.

"Misty?" Brock asked from beside him, but Ash couldn't decide if he was asking him or the figure onstage.

"Did you know about this?" Ash asked, glancing back and forth from the stage and Brock.

Brock turned to him, a confused look on his face. "I had no idea."

It had to be a mistake, Ash tried to tell himself. As if to prove him wrong yet again, however, Misty stubbornly remained onstage, her faithful Staryu in tow. Ash felt himself becoming nervous, although he couldn't immediately understand why. Some primal part of him didn't want Misty to know they were here. The odds of her recognizing them in the crowd from this distance were beyond remote, but then he thought back to the night before when she had shut the door to her room as they passed, and decided it was imperative that he get out of the park without Misty seeing him.

"Come on, Brock," he said urgently, tugging on the sleeve of his friend's shirt.

"What's wrong?" Brock asked, turning his attention away from the stage and Misty.

"I just want to go, ok?" Ash said and stood up to emphasize his point.

"Fine," Brock replied. He also stood up, but didn't appear to be in nearly the hurry Ash was.

As they were leaving, Ash risked a glance back and saw Misty busy finishing her routine. Even so, he didn't slow down until he and Brock were safely out of the park and into the city streets. Neither said a word to the other as they made their way back to the pokémon center, this time with only one wrong turn and no misadventures with stray meowths.

"So," Brock said as they entered their room. "What do you want to do now?"

"I don't care," Ash said. "Let's see what's on TV." He glanced at his watch, surprised to see that he and Brock had spent several hours at the park. Lying on the bed, he grabbed the remote off the nightstand. Flipping through the channels, he finally stopped on a movie he liked but hadn't seen in several years. Brock, evidently deciding that Ash didn't want to do anything else, sat down on his bed and began to read the latest issue of Pokémon Breeder Monthly.

Ash found it hard to concentrate on the movie. He kept thinking about Misty and the beauty pageant. What did it mean? Why didn't she tell him? Was she really that mad at him? It bothered him more than he cared to admit.

After some time, the movie ended and another began, but Ash hardly noticed. Brock got up from his bed and stretched before asking if he wanted to grab a late lunch. Ash declined.

"You sure?" Brock said, giving him a look that bordered on concern.

"Yeah, I'm just not hungry." That much was true at least.

"Ok."

Ash looked over at Pikachu, who was still watching the television. "You want to go buddy? I know you're probably hungry."

"Pika," Pikachu said, shaking his head.

"Come, Pikachu," Ash said. "I'm fine, I just want to rest. You go on."

"Pika?"

"Go on."

Finally, the yellow pokémon nodded and followed Brock out the door. Ash settled down and tried to see where he was in the movie. Soon, however, he lost track again.

Sometime later he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. They stopped and Ash heard the door to Misty's room open and then close. He glanced at the clock on the nightstand and saw that it was a little after six in the evening. He must have fallen asleep.

Ash knew he needed to talk to her, so he turned off the television and sat up. Doing so, he noticed his reflection in the large wall mirror. His clothes were mussed from lying in the bed and his hair was in even more disarray than usual. Almost instinctively he tried to straighten his hair, mostly failing in the attempt. He sighed and left the room.

Ash walked quietly to the next door and once again a wave of nervousness overcame him. Steeling himself, he knocked softly on the door.

"Who is it?" Misty's voice asked through the door.

"It's me," Ash replied.

There was a pause and then the door opened. Misty looked exhausted. "Hello, Ash," she said.

At least she was talking to him again. "Hey," he said. He knew he should say more, but every time he tried to think of something, the words seemed to slip away before he could voice them.

"What do you want?" she asked. The anger from the night before was gone, but there was an almost formal manner to her words that might have been even worse.

"Nothing really," he said, her attitude making him lose track of his thoughts again. Finally, he added, "How was your day? You were gone before I woke up this morning."

"Oh, nothing much," she said in that same indifferent tone. "Just walked around the town some. How was your battle?"

If Ash hadn't known where she really was that morning, he would never have known she was lying. "It didn't happen," he answered. "The gym was closed because the gym leader is competing in the beauty contest they're holding here the day after tomorrow." He mentally kicked himself for bringing up the beauty pageant.

Misty, for her part, looked surprised. "I didn't know Candy closed her gym for it. Figures." Ash saw that she instantly became nervous. He knew that she knew that she wasn't supposed to know who this Candy person was. "Um, I'm sorry to hear that," she added cautiously.

"Don't worry about it. I'll just battle her Monday."

"That's good," she said. "So what did you do instead?"

He thought of a few lies to tell, but then decided to tell the truth. "Brock and I went to the park."

"You did?" she asked, a little too loud and much too fast.

"Yeah." Ash wasn't sure why he was pushing the issue or even mentioned the park after having been so desperate earlier to ensure she didn't see him there. He was upset over Misty lying to him, however, and felt the growing anger drive him onward. "You know Brock. As soon as he heard a bunch of beauty pageant contestants were practicing there, he had to go."

"I guess…" she trailed off, not meeting his eyes. Her face was no longer the impassive mask it had been moments earlier.

"Yeah," he said with a firmness he hadn't intended.

"So why didn't you say so in the beginning?" she asked, heat now flowing into her words as well.

"Well, I didn't know you were going to lie about it," Ash replied, his anger now fully kindled. Part of him tried to shout that this was how all of their arguments started, including the one in the forest the day before, but he quickly pushed that voice aside.

"Are you spying on me now?" Misty asked. "Can't I do anything by myself with you hanging around?"

"I didn't know you were going to be there. Brock wanted to go and I mostly went to keep him out of trouble. I didn't know you were involved until you walked out onstage."

Misty didn't say anything, but the anger in her eyes didn't diminish.

A sudden thought came to him, extinguishing the fire in him as if sometime had poured cold water over his head. "Misty, does this have anything to do with what I said to you yesterday?" he asked.

"No it doesn't Ash," she seethed. "But thanks for reminding me why I was mad at you in the first place." She turned to go back into her room, but stopped. Facing him, she shouted, "You know Ash, not everything in this world revolves around you. Just maybe I wanted to do something other than traipsing through the woods watching you battle after battle. Maybe I'd like a life of my own for a change."

Ash was taken aback by her outburst. "Misty," he started, but she interrupted him.

"No! I don't want to talk to you anymore. Just go away. I have to get ready for practice tomorrow and I can't do that with you hanging around."

Had this been another day, he may have replied with something like, "Why bother, you're going to lose anyway?" or, "What type of contest is this? Miss Scrawny?" But he didn't say anything at all. Instead he just stood there and let her slam the door in his face so hard he felt the resulting whoosh of air. After a moment, he walked down the hall to his room, opened the door, and quietly shut it behind him before laying back on his bed.

Many things passed through his head, but he was too upset to make much sense of it. He was mad at Misty. He was mad at himself for making Misty mad at him again. She started it, he tried to tell himself, but it didn't sound convincing. Giving up, he tried to think of something else. He attempted to concentrate on the strategy he would use when he was finally able to face the gym leader, but every time he tried he just saw Misty's angry face.

For how long he lay there, he didn't know. After sleeping through most of the afternoon, he wasn't tired at all, so he simply stared at the ceiling. Sometime later, Brock and Pikachu returned.

"Hey man," Brock said. "Sorry we were gone so long, but this town has some great breeder shops." Ash heard him pause. "Oh, sorry," Brock said softer. "Didn't know you were asleep."

Ash pretended not to notice. After a few minutes he opened his eyes slightly and saw his friend reading a book.

Pikachu, sensing he was not asleep, jumped onto the bed and said, "Pika, pikapi."

"Quit it, Pikachu," Brock said, "let him sleep."

Ash felt the pokémon move across the bed and curl up to rest. Although he felt guilty for ignoring his friends, he just couldn't stand the idea of talking to anyone at the moment. Instead he tried to forget the hunger that was beginning to set in. He had had very little to eat during the day, and by now he had missed lunch and dinner, but still he did not stir. Finally, after what felt like ages, Brock shut off the light and climbed into his own bed.

As the darkness settled in Ash tried again to fall asleep. No matter what he tried, however, he couldn't. He kept thinking about Misty. She had never been this mad at him before. He sighed. Why was he even worried anyway? But he knew why. She was his friend, even if it had never been a normal relationship between them as far as friends went.

When he first met her, Misty was an overbearing, annoying, loud, and sometimes violent person to be around. But as time passed and they continued to travel together, they became friends. Good friends, even. Best friends. It had been more than three years since Misty fished him out of that cold stream on the first day of his journey. They had both been eleven. She was only four months older than he was, but that never stopped her from rubbing it in.

When he was younger back in Pallet, playing alongside Gary, girls had always been from that icky other world of dolls, barrettes, and playing house. But then Misty had come along. She didn't act like the girls he knew in Pallet. She was often accused of being a tomboy, a fact that Ash used on occasion during their frequent arguments.

That really was the problem. They argued so much. They would get mad at each other, not caring or even remembering by the end what had started it. It all came back to that, didn't it? He really felt bad about hurting her. It didn't matter that he hadn't meant it. "Maybe I'd like a life of my own for a change," she said. As he thought about it, he realized part of him was afraid she was so mad that she'd leave. Leave for good.

And it was with that thought ringing in his head that the fog of sleep finally took over.