AN: I want to thank my friend LadyV77 for beta-ing the story so far.
Rating: PG to PG-13 (although at the moment it's really G)
Summary: When two people are in love, all they really want is to be with the other. But when time, distance, species, and legend suggests otherwise can two lovers really endure the battle? This is the challenge Ash, a human boy, and Misty, the Maideen, must face together. An AAML Story about willpower, finding yourself, and the strength in love.
Pairing: Ash/Misty, Drew/May (canon, and seen randomly), others may be hinted at in later chapters
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, but I do owe this story line. :)
It was once said that long ago there laid a small island in the Johto region where everyday, year after year, thousands of fishermen would catch wild Remoraid in huge woven nets to sell in the market.
'Ash!'
Until the day when the Titan of the Sea became so angry with the island it flooded it with water.
'What do you want to play today?'
The Titan of Land was angered by this action and retaliated against its fellow Titan, with the small island as their battleground.
'Race? Heh. You've gotta be kidding. You can never catch me, you know that.'
Furious and disappointed with the behavior of its two subordinates, the God of all Pokémon sent down the Sky Dragon with two spheres in each claw: a ruby and a sapphire sphere.
'Pfft, fine, your funeral. Ready?'
A bright light emitted from these two spheres and calmed down both Titans.
'Go!'
The Head God then sent the Titans down to, what we estimate to be, the current day Hoenn Region for them to sleep in separate, isolated, caves.
'See. Told ya, Ash!'
In case any further incidents were to arise between the two Titans, the Head God also sent its trusted Sky Dragon to the Hoenn region with instructions to rest the two spheres on a sacred mountain surrounded by fog.
'C'mon, Ash, don't be such a sore loser.'
It was said that while looking down at the once prosperous town, another God could only shake its head in sadness as it was about to leave.
'Gah! You can be such a baby.'
The sound of its trusted friend prevented this departure however.
'Are too.'
A star-shaped God lead the small group of Gods to a woman and two Goldeens.
'Are toooooo'
While their conversation will never be known to us humans, it is said that the eldest Goldeen gave up her life to save the life of an unborn human baby.
'I can beat you anytime, in any water.'
By combining the two life-forces legend says that a half-Goldeen, half-human child will be hatched.
'Oh yeah? Just you wait and see, Mr. Ketchum!'
...
"Mr. Ketchum…"
"Mr. Ketchum!" A harsh voice rang.
"Huh?"
Laughter rang throughout the small lecture hall. Only the teacher sighed and tapped her finger against her folded arms. She could already feel the vein that was beginning to pop out from her forehead. "Are. You. Even. Paying. Attention?" She asked through clenched teeth.
"Of course!" A black-haired teen replied merrily.
"Oh really?" She placed a hand on her hip and raised her opposite hand's index finger in the air. "Well then, Mr. Ketchum, please tell the class what story I was telling."
"Mist-T-the story of the Maideen!"
The class smirked at the correct answer while eagerly waiting for the teacher's outraged response.
Instead, she only grinned, "Very good, Ash."
A few disappointed sighs could be heard throughout the class; that was certainly anti-climatic. A hand rose from the class.
"Yes, Vincent?"
"Cissy, we all know the story of the Maideen. What does this have to do with class?" Vincent, a teen with light brown hair styled like a Midkip's cheek, whined.
The class laughed a bit while Ash just sat back, preparing for the explosion that was about to unwind. Ash's friend next to him, Richie, didn't notice the classroom stir-up, instead he looked at Ash with concerned eyes.
The teacher grind her teeth again, "That's at least Ms. Cissy!" She replied to Vincent, "Or Cissy-sensei! Teacher even! I AM a gym leader in the Orange League and deserve that respect! You students will do well to remember that!"
"Yes, teacher!" They all replied with almost military-like unity.
A smile crossed her face, "Much better."
Ash just simply shook his head in amusement and was ready to float back into his own world. Except, his friend wouldn't let him.
"Psst. Psst. Ash! Do you have her on your mind again?" Ash's friend whispered.
"Wha?" Ash responded, keeping his voice down as well. "Richie, what would make you think that? You know I haven't seen her since I was ten, why would I be thinking about her now?"
"For one thing you knew who I was talking about without me having to say her name..." Richie replied rather flatly, clearly not amused at Ash's now embarrassed face as he turned to look away, "Plus, you said 'Mist.' I mean it makes sense that you thought of her, seeing that you think she's the-"
"Shh! Wait!" Ash whispered harshly while returning his attention back to the classroom conversation.
Richie could only let out a small, disappointed, sigh and also returned his attention back to the teacher.
"- is because of the news. I'm sure by now all of you have heard about the recent alleged sighting of the Maideen in the legend."
Most of the class shook their heads yes. Ash, however, just straightened up and fought back the urge to raise his hand.
'It couldn't be … It just can't …' He told himself, trying to stay as calm as possible. His friends frequently joked about him being an open book, letting every emotion and thought that crossed his mind out, but this time he couldn't. The chances of this 'sighting' being true were slim. Right?
Jimmy raised his hand after a few visible nudges from Marina, his unofficial girlfriend. "Cissy-sensei? I haven't seen the interview; I hope that isn't a requirement for the assignment." He said as diplomatic as ever.
Cissy gave the boy a wink, letting her youthfulness show for a moment, "That's okay, Jimmy. I have a recording here; but before I show it I want to tell you guys the assignment."
She took a deep breath, straightened out a bit, and slowly scanned her the class, making eye contact with each and every one of her students. "The year is almost over, class, and this will be your last assignment before finals." After pausing for the expected 'yays' and 'woo-hoo's' she continued. "I must say teaching this class has been… interesting. Both the school and I have put you through a lot. You should all take pride in your studies, but I've had enough for the year. This last paper won't be about the different probabilities in battle, advantages of levels or elements, experienced versus wild or any combination thereof."
Another pause for more 'yays'.
"But your final will, so don't forget it." She said seriously and with just enough emphasis to prevent a full case of senior-slump in her class. "This last paper will be about her, the Maideen." She walked behind her desk and placed her hands firmly on it. "No one knows, heh, for starters, if she exists. Has she ever existed? Will she appear in the future? If she did or does or will exist, what do you think she'd be like? What's her personality? What's her relationship to her peers? Who are her peers? The legend tells us so little; I want you to write a paper about who the Maideen is."
Students just nodded in agreement, suddenly interested in the assignment. Cissy smirked and mentally patted herself on the back for her slyness on having properly disguised the 'pokémon and human relationship' paper. When she'd heard the interview on the news, she couldn't help but think that the Maideen was the perfect embodiment of the relationship between pokémon and people. The Maideen was, therefore, the perfect way to trick her students into giving their all in one last 'fun' paper instead of doing a lackluster job on a 'boring' assignment.
"I hope you were taking notes on those questions." She said firmly, "Because I will be looking for some of those points in your papers."
With a few 'aww's from the students who didn't take notes, Cissy merely turned on the projection monitor and began playing the interview to get the class quiet again.
Ash watched intently at first, but it was boring. Some lame swimmer going out for a joy-swim who didn't catch a Seadra – big whoop.
"Such a fake." He whispered to Richie, a slightly bitter taste in his words.
Richie only gave him a sympathetic smile back, he knew how much Ash was hoping she would be back. He'd always known Ash to be such a happy, energetic… though a bit dense… trainer. That's why the few times that Ash stared into space thinking about the Maideen made Richie nervous. A lot of the girls at school had a crush on Ash; why would he deprive himself of happiness just to wait for a legend? "Sorry about that, pal."
Ash sat back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head. "Pfft. It's okay. I guess people would do anything to make the news; even lie about seeing her." He whispered back with mild disgust.
Richie just shook his head in semi-amusement. 'He defends a myth… great.' He returned to the interview, hoping he didn't miss much about the 'sighting'.
"So you didn't see much of her form then?" The interviewer asked.
"No, not much, but enough." The swimmer replied. "Just as the smokescreen was clearing up I sort of saw her face."
"How much? Any details?"
"Well, I saw her red-hair; it was really long" Ash peeked one of his eyes open at this, now slightly interested.
"Anything else?"
"I heard her voice. It sounded like she was yelling at me"
Ash nearly fell forward at this. The students in the surrounding seats snickered a bit, figuring he had suddenly woken up from a small nap. But Ash didn't hear them, he could only hear the interview now.
"Yelling? Why would she do that?"
The swimmer stumbled a bit, "I – I don't know. Maybe she was upset about me trying to capture one of her friends."
"Liar!" Ash whispered cynically.
"Ash!" Richie interjected, also in a whisper.
"What? She knows the laws! She wouldn't interfere!" He was beginning to have trouble keeping his voice so low.
The reporter nodded with an understanding smile. "Perhaps so."
"I tried to capture her but she swam away too fast. Perhaps another time." The man laughed off.
"We all wish you luck on that. And with that, this is JPN – Johto Pokémon News, I'm-"
"Okay, class, that's it." Cissy said while stopping the recording. She glanced at the clock, "It's about time to go anyways, so get working on my papers! You have a five minute head start!"
"Yes, teacher!" The class replied before quickly packing up.
Ash however just sat in his seat for the moment, trying to let it sink in.
'I tried to capture her but she swam away too fast. Perhaps another time' The swimmer had said. Another, playful, voice rang in Ash's head. 'You can never catch me, you know that.'
Ash mentally laughed, 'Heh. You will never catch her. I've been trying for eight years and haven't.'
Richie shook his friend to snap him out of his thoughts. "Ash, c'mon. Let's go."
The boy looked up at his friend and gave him the widest smile possible, "Misty's finally back!"
End Chapter 1