The Sketch
By Chris Devlin
E-Mail: chris_devlin@hotmail.com
Author Note: This is set about five years after Brock rejoins the group and Tracey works with Professor Oak. Ash is now 16, Misty 17 and Brock 17. The gap in between this and my last story (Secret Liason) is due to a nasty case of Writers Block (Or is it writers Brock? Ha ha ha. Ahem, sorry). I just couldn't come up with a plot that pleased me. Then I got the idea for this. I now have several ideas that I am working on (One Drama with a not so nice plotline, a new Ali G/Pokémon and another few AAMRN's)
Misty, Misty, Misty, Misty. So went the various entries in the diary of Ash Ketchum. The pages and pages of observation and amateur poetry were interspersed with the occasional sketch of Misty, mostly of when she was sleeping, but some were of the occasions when she looked at her best. The times when the light would catch her features just right, Ash would take a picture with his mind, then commit it to paper that evening. He was drawing one now. In this one her hair had been let down and it was soaked through with water. This was one of the best he had drawn in his opinion. Maybe next time he saw Tracey he would show them to him. Tracey didn't do any drawing any more, not since his drawing hand was cut off in an accident with his Scyther. Now he spent all his time assisting Professor Oak in his research. It was Tracey that had encouraged Ash to take up sketching in the first place, just after his accident, and now here he was, drawing picture after picture of Misty. The woman he loved.
Misty rolled over in her sleeping bag, trying to get comfortable on the hard dirt ground. As she endeavored to reposition herself, she noticed Ash sitting on a rock, scribbling furiously in his diary. She'd often wondered about the contents of that mysterious book. She wondered what he wrote and what he drew. That much she knew. It was obvious he drew in it from the various ways he would position and move his pen. Swiftly sweeping it across the page with a flair and passion she had rarely seen in him. Her idea of what the quality of those sketches was like wasn't very high. She'd seen some of Ash's attempts at drawing before, and none of them were very good. Lying perfectly still she watched the young Pokémon Trainer going about his work. He must have sensed her watching him because he stopped sketching before turning to look directly at her. Snapping her eyes shut she prayed he hadn't noticed her. Hey. She thought. Why should I be afraid of him seeing me? she added to herself. You know fine well why, Misty Waterflower! He might find out. her mind told her.
Ash looked at Misty's prone form. He was positive she had been watching him. Oh well. It doesn't matter anyway. Just so long as she doesn't suspect my feelings. Ash told himself. He turned back to his drawing. It was almost finished, all that remained was to put in the most important part of all. The detail in Misty's eyes were what defined her. They revealed so much about her, her personality and spirit were contained there. To get the eyes wrong, would be to ruin the entire sketch. The slightest twitch in the wrong direction and it was wasted. As he gently shaded in the eyes correctly he pulled away with his pen and admired it. It reminded him of the time they had found the Crystal Onix. The crystal sculptures looked as though they would come alive at any time, the same now applied to Ash's sketch. The Onix had been inspiration for one person, Misty was the inspiration for Ash. He smiled at the sketch before signing it at the bottom as he had come to do as a matter of habit. Closing the diary over he glanced over at Misty. Again, he was positive she had been watching him. Keeping his eyes on her he slid his diary into his bag, then zipped it shut.
"Hey Brock." Misty greeted the young man as she woke up and got out of the sleeping bag. "Morning Misty." Brock said to her as he cooked some bacon over a dwindling camp fire. Misty looked over at Ash's sleeping bag. It was empty. "So where's Ash?" she asked Brock. "Oh, he's away for a swim in the lake we passed before we set camp last night." he explained. "Oh." Misty said. Looking around the camp site she noticed that Ash had left his bag next to the rock he'd been writing at the previous night. Slowly a plan formulated in Misty's mind.
"Brock, that fire looks a bit low. Why don't you get some more fire wood for it?" she told him. Brock looked at the fire and saw that she was right. "I suppose it could be hotter. Ok, I'll be back soon. Keep an eye on that bacon for me won't you." he asked her as he stood up and walked into the woods in search of fire wood. Misty watched him go and as soon as she was certain that he was far enough away slipped quietly over to Ash's bag. She knew Ash would kill her if he caught her. But she didn't care as she only wanted a quick look at what he drew and wrote so intently. Unzipping it swiftly, she looked in and located the Diary in amongst the piles of junk, candy bars and Pokémon Manuals. As she pulled it out she kept one eye on the woods where Brock had went to find firewood, watching out for an signs of his return. Her hands caressed the surface of the book, taking in it's contours. It was quite impressive for such a relatively small book. On the front were the words The Diary of Ash Ketchum embossed into the surface with a gold coloring. Misty remembered when Mrs Ketchum had given it to Ash for his sixteenth birthday. It had only been about four months earlier and Ash had been delighted with it. When he had received it his mom had told him he could write all his secrets in it. He didn't know it but she had noticed him glance quickly at her when she had said that. That had been when she realized there might indeed be hope for a relationship there. But that hope had faded with each day since. She didn't dare mention it to him as she wasn't one hundred percent positive of his feelings for her. Instead she waited for him to make the first move. Shaking her head clear of the memory, she focused on the diary and turned the front cover.
The cool lake water flowed effortlessly past Ash as he propelled himself through it. His arms pushed the water back behind him, moving him forward, faster and faster. There was something that Ash had always found comfortable about water but he couldn't put his finger on it. It could have been the feeling of near weightlessness that you felt when immersed in it, or it could have been the stillness and tranquility of un-spoilt lakes. As he moved through the water he turned over and started to float on his back, allowing his mind to began to wander. He thought of when he first left home with Pikachu, meeting Misty, meeting Brock competing in the Pokémon League and of everything that had happened to him since then. Mostly he remembered Misty's 16th birthday. They'd taken her out to a really quality restaurant. Ash thought of the dress she'd worn. It had been white, with glittering sequins sewn into intricate patterns on it. That hadn't been the most beautiful part of her though. Around her neck hung the Tentacruel pendant he'd given her that same day. She's almost burst into tears at that gift. Ash smiled at the memory and just shut his eyes as he slowly floated on the water's surface. He dropped his arms into the water and the brushed the surface of the lake bed. Must of drifted back to the beach. He thought correctly. A few minutes later he felt the water ripple slightly as someone else stepped into the lake. He turned his head to take a look at the newcomer. "Oh, hey Misty."
"Hey Ash. How's things?" the young red head said as she slipped deeper into the cool lake. She was wearing her bikini, the one that Ash loved her in. Feeling himself beginning to blush he moved off of his back and gently paddled further out so that he was facing away from her. Misty noticed, and allowed herself a small grin. He's embarrassed. she thought. Quietly she started after him, as slow as possible so that he wouldn't hear her. Eventually Ash stopped and just floated where he was, still facing away from her. "Get a grip Ash." he whispered to himself. Splashing his face with some water he sighed and turned round. The young man nearly had a heart attack when he saw Misty less than a foot away from him, just smiling that beautiful smile of hers at him. "Misty! You scared the heck out of me." he said to her as he put his hand to his chest. "My heart is beating like a jack-hammer." he told her. She still just floated their smiling at her. A few seconds passed before Misty began to drift toward him slowly. Raising her right arm out of the water, she placed the palm of her hand onto Ash's chest. Glancing up at his eyes she flashed him a cheeky grin. "Strange, it wasn't beating as fast before I put my hand on your chest." she said jokingly. "Is there something you want to tell me Ash?" she said looking up at him. "No, wait don't." She quickly added. "I can think of a better way to tell you something." she said. Bringing her left arm out of the water she hooked it around Ash's neck as she brought herself closer to him. As their faces grew closer, she could feel Ash beginning to quiver. "Wh.. What would that be Misty?" he asked his voice shaky. "Shh. Don't say anything." she told him as she put a finger to his lips. "I want this to be perfect." she added as she slid her finger down his neck. Looking back up at his eyes she drew herself to his lips, waiting for that electric spark that she just knew would be there. Sure enough she felt it.