Following Dreams

Summary: It seems everyone is following their dreams, but crushing hers in the process. AAML. (Not as simple as the summary makes it sound, give it a go? Not a oneshot!)

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon.

Authors Note: I am not very up to date with the anime/games, so yea... could say its AU. But bear with it and don't flame please ;[ just trying to get a story out of my head. Advance warning; updates may be sparse due to working full time, doing a degree and learning to drive. Bummer aye?

She awoke to him moving around the bedroom. She watched him sleepily, smiling contentedly to herself until she realised what he was doing. She bolted upright in an instant, no longer sleepy. Her head filled with confusion and hurt.

"Sorry Mist," He grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head like he did whenever he was nervous. "Didn't mean to wake you."

She pulled the quilt up, covering her naked body defensively.

"What…" She tried to force the words out, and he looked into her eyes reading the words she was trying to say from her eyes. His face showed an emotion that rarely graced his features, sadness.

"We knew I had to go eventually," He sighed, sitting on the bed beside her ceasing his packing for a moment.

"Yea, it just so happened to be the morning after we slept together," She spat out, hurt lacing her features. She remembered the slightly intoxicated actions of the night before, feeling the regret she never thought he would make her feel. She had given herself to him, and he gave himself to her. He had been her first, and she his. They had been putting it off over the last few visits, but this time it just felt right.

"I didn't mean it to happen this way," He sighed, rubbing his temples to try and banish the oncoming headache.

"No of course you didn't," Sarcasm dripped from her voice. She knew he probably didn't, he wasn't like that, but it didn't stop the hurt she was feeling.

"Brock called this morning," he began to explain. "He had a call from Dawn saying she was finished visiting the family, and was ready to begin again when we are."

"Ah, so she called and you guys go running right?" She didn't even bother trying to keep the venom out of her voice. How could he do this to her? He couldn't have possibly said they would leave tomorrow.

"It isn't like that Mist and you know it!" He growled, annoyed by her lack of understanding. Each time he left her, she was getting worse. He could understand as his love for her grew with every visit, but this was hard enough for him without her giving him a guilt trip. "You know why I have to leave."

"Yea to chase your precious dream," Misty growled back. She knew his passion was one of the reasons she had fallen in love with him in the first place, but it didn't make their parting any easier. She would never ask him to give up his dream, he wouldn't be who he was if he wasn't chasing his dream.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked.

"Because I love you Ash, and I am so fed up of being left behind and forgotten all the time," a tear escaped from the corner of her eye and she angrily wiped it away.

"I could never forget you! You know that," He smiled at her, trying to erase her fears and try to salvage their last moments together for who knew how long.

"Then what happened? Before we got together you took the time to contact me, send me tickets to your league battles, call me and text me! Every time you leave the communication becomes less and less frequent! I get to sit here learning about your life through the tabloid, who are obsessed with your love life! Constantly pairing you up with beautiful girls," She began to pick at the bedding dejectedly. No one knew they were dating, not even Brock. They had decided to let the relationship blossom on its own and see what happened. It started when they were eighteen, three years ago. They only got to spend a substantial amount of time together in the summer though, and that was barely a week. Sure they saw each other at Christmas, but it was with friends and family and wasn't the same.

Since they had begun dating, Ash had won numerous tournaments and had quickly established himself in the tabloids as the one to watch. As time went on and he matured, they became more and more fascinated with him and his life. As he had gotten older his muscles had become more defined due to the constant training, and he had become a handsome young man. And in the eyes of most, he was a handsome single young man full of promise. This made him one of the most talked about trainers, and it was only time in their eyes before he snagged a beautiful girl. It was just a question of who, and it regularly graced national headlines whenever he was spotted with a girl. Much to Misty's disgust and jealousy.

"Because when I call it becomes harder and harder to hang up," he ducked his head, hiding his face from Misty as he spoke quietly. "Every time I leave it is harder and harder, and all I want to do is run back to you. Whenever I call you, the next week I am consumed by the overwhelming urge to come here and never leave again. But I can't do that, you and I both know that. I have been working on this for eleven years now Misty, and I am so close I can almost taste it. You know I will always come back to you, that you are all I want. All I ask is that you wait."

"I have already waited three years Ash," she sighed sadly. "It is tearing me apart. I make myself sick worrying about you. It is so much easier for your Ash, you are the one chasing your dream while I am stuck here waiting for my dream to return to me without having to leave. It is so much harder being left behind. You never call, and I don't know if you are even alive half of the time, until you next make headlines with another girl, or appear on TV! You know I am safe, stuck here at the gym, where the biggest danger is slipping due to a puddle."

"It is not easier being the one to leave, to be the one causing you so much pain!" He turned to look her in the eye. "Soon it will be our turn Mist. I promise." He held her face in his hands, looking into her eyes and flinching at the sorrow he found there. "When I am pokemon master, it will be all about us!"

"Will it?" She questioned. "From what I have seen of the life of a pokemon master, it revolves around publicity and the needs of others. You will have to train more than ever to ensure you remain the best there is, while flying from region to region to open tournaments, attend meetings, while remaining in the press to publicise tournaments and the pokemon league! Life will be even more hectic for you then it is now!"

He had no words left to argue against her. He doubted it would be as complicated as she made out, but he acknowledged she had a valid point.

"You are just looking on the bad side of things because you are tired. Give it time and you will realise you were just in a bad mood, and things aren't half as bad as they seem," he tried to give her a comforting smile, still holding her face in his hands. She cast her eyes away, staring once more at the sheets below her. "You are the love of my life Misty Waterflower. You are my best friend and everything I ever needed, and all I ever will need. I can't do this without your support Mist. All I am asking is that you trust me, and support me. Please don't make me choose."

She looked up into his eyes once more, seeing the sincerity there. She didn't know why she had started the fight in the first place. She would always wait for him, she had no choice. He consumed her thoughts, and she could not live without him in her life. Besides, she would never make him choose, because for him there was no choice.

"You know I could never be without you," She smiled sadly, wishing she had fallen in love with someone who held her above everything else in his life. But she knew that would never happen. "Of course I will wait."

He pulled her in for a kiss as though it would seal the promise she had just made. She kissed back, trying to convey everything she felt through the kiss. They pulled away breathless, and Ash leant his forehead against hers softly, brushing his nose against hers affectionately.

"Now come on, get dressed!" He said, jumping off the bed to continue packing. "I have to meet Brock at one."

"I don't think I can come," she whispered. He turned to her, his face falling as it did so. He understood why but it didn't make it any easier. "I can't pretend I don't love you when I am saying goodbye for an indefinite amount of time. Besides, I'd be too teary eyed after to make my way home!"

She tried a cheery smile, failing miserably but he appreciated the attempt.


It was dark by the time she left her room. He had left hours ago, but she couldn't bring herself to even see him to the door.

She knew it was pathetic but she couldn't help it. She wasn't as strong as she thought she was, and it was as simple as that. The minute he left the room she had pulled the quilt over her head and cried till she fell asleep from exhaustion.

She had only awoken moments ago with a throat burning from the anguished sobs that had escaped her mouth hours before, a sore nose from the amount of times she had to wipe it as well as eyes so swollen she could pass for a goldfish.

Creeping into the bathroom, she turned the tap on splashing the cool water onto her face. Gazing at her reflection she exhaled loudly. No wonder he had left, she was a mess. Gently touching the raw skin below her eyes, she winced. Seemed it wasn't just her nose that was sore from being wiped.

Leaving the bathroom, she made her way to the kitchen, hastily making herself a cup of tea.

Moving to the breakfast bar she sat down, cradling the warm cup in her hands using it as a source of comfort.

Tomorrow her life would return to the same monotonous routine it had been for almost a decade. The day would be a mixture of battling challengers and cleaning the gym, while keeping the TV on in the background so she could keep one ear out for his name.

It was sad really, her world revolved around the man who would never really be hers. He would always belong to pokemon, with her being the second choice. But at least she had his love when he had time for her. It was like a drug, she was addicted and couldn't break away no matter how hard she tried.

He didn't mean to be that way, she knew it deep down. He really did love her, but he loved pokemon and battling more. But she would rather deal with coming second, than another woman coming second. She knew whole heartedly how many women would die to be in her shoes right now. It was taking the good with the bad, and she knew she would always do it.


A stranger looked in on the scene from the outside, having sat in his perch all day watching all the drama as it occurred.

It seemed the young man did have a weakness, and it seemed this weakness would do just about anything to keep the young man safe.

This is why love is for the weak, and being in love makes you weak. It leaves you vulnerable and open, and now to his great delight he could choose who to mess with.

The girl or the boy?

He pondered this thought long after the young woman had returned to bed, staring at the now dark building.

If he tried to play with the man, it would be by taking the girl for ransom. That scenario got boring quickly, and often resulted in people trying to play hero.

However if he played with the girl and manipulated her it would be so much more fun.

His mind was made up, and he grinned to himself as he climbed down his current position and vanished into the night.