A/N: It's been awhile since I've posted anything (I've been busy), but I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed and favorited my last story, The Greatest Gift of All. But here's a new one. It'll probably be five chapters long. I also fully intend to finish this fic, btw.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. If I did, it would be vastly different from the way it is now.

The crowd was dead silent. Ash stood there, eyes wide, fists clenched in anticipation. The dust cloud looked as though it were about clear. A surge of emotion washed over him as he waited. Fear, excitement, anger, hope, all rushing through him like a herd of wild tauros. The cloud of dust started to settle. He saw two figures, standing defiantly, waiting for the other to fall over.

At the far end was a gallade, its arms out, poised to continue fighting, but you could tell he was struggling to stay upright. Nearest to Ash stood a pikachu, on all fours, panting, legs shaking, sparks still flying from its cheeks. That pikachu had been his companion for more than eight years, the only constant in his otherwise volatile life as a pokemon trainer. He began to worry; he knew his buddy too well. He could tell Pikachu was going to fall over any second. The question was, would the gallade fall first?

They stood there, staring into each others' eyes for what seemed like an eternity to Ash, but was, in reality, only a few seconds. Then Ash's fears came true.

Pikachu fell.

The crowd erupted into applause and the opposing trainer rushed to his gallade. A cold pallor descended over Ash as he watched the gallade stumble over, only to be caught by his trainer's ecstatic embrace. Pikachu had only lost by a second or two. The reality of that fact seemed to slam him in the chest, causing him let out a sharp breath of surprise. Then, the weight of disappointment slowly lowered itself onto his shoulders, making his upper body feel heavy. Head down, eyes toward the dirt, he walked over to his friend, and picked him up. He patted Pikachu's head as he turned around.

"You did great... Ya did your best, and that's all I could ask for," he said solemnly. Pikachu lifted his head and licked Ash's face. He smiled a bit. "You should get some rest now."

He looked back at his opponent, who was walking up to the podium to accept his position as League Champion. Ash sighed heavily, but felt very little. His feet began to drag on the turf below him. A small rock caught his gaze. He stared at it, and it stared back. It seemed to mock him, all too complacent where it sat. He lifted his foot up and tried to kick the insolent stone. He missed. Sighing once again, he set off to the pokemon healing station that was just beyond the door to the stadium's interior.

He turned his head toward where his friends and family were, in the stands. He saw many people he knew there, but only cared to notice the one person who wasn't. He looked toward the seat next to his mom, an empty seat. He was pretty sure it would be empty. It had been so all week. He looked back toward the exit to the stadium's facilities and continued his slow trod.

"I guess she was too busy to come..."

A Few Weeks Later

RING RING RING

"Ahh! What?" He jolted up from the bed and looked to his side to see his cell phone ringing. He flailed his arm toward the bedside table, whacking the phone. He tried to grasp it, but he found he had trouble coordinating his movements. He finally got the phone up to his face. The call was from Brock. Absent-mindedly, he accepted the call and put the phone up to his ear.

"Hello," Ash said with a groan.

"Hey, Ash. Did I wake you up?"

"Yep. Ya did."

"Do you know what time it is?" Brock asked with a hint of impatience in his voice.

"Breakfast time?"

"More like lunch time. You were supposed to meet me outside the Pewter Gym half an hour ago."

"No, that's impossible. I set an alarm to wake me up. Call me after my alarm goes off."

"But, how am I supposed to know when -" click. Ash dropped the phone on the bedside table and closed his eyes. He let out a yawn and stretched out his arms.

RING RING RING

Ash grabbed the phone, this time with a little more verve.

"What?"

"Ash. Your alarm didn't wake you. It's noon. Get out of bed and get over here." Brock said matter-of-factly.

"Hold on. I'm gonna check a clock." Ash looked at the display of the time on his phone. Sure enough, it said 12:03 pm. Ash's brain suddenly jolted awake. "Dammit! I'll get there as soon as I can!" he shouted into the phone, immediately hanging up. He jumped out of bed and threw on his clothes in a flurry of panic. Once he had figured out which way his shirt went, he looked around the small Pokemon Center room for Pikachu, only to find that he wasn't there. His head shot back and forth until he had an epiphany. "Dining hall!" he informed himself as he rushed out the door.

When he got to the dining hall, he didn't have to look far. Pikachu sat right near the door, with his new favorite meal in hand: two pieces of toast with ketchup slathered on them, stacked on top of each other. Ash rushed at him, not seeming to care that Pikachu was only just about to take the first bite of his meal.

"Pikachu! We're going!" Ash yelled, as he grabbed his buddy by the arm and pulled him away from his glorious ketchup concoction.

"Pikaaaa!" Pikachu cried out as his creation dropped, ketchup-side-up on his now abandoned plate.

Ash ran out the door and quickly tossed one of his Pokeballs. "Go, Charizard!" he shouted.

Charizard let out a roar as it was released and flapped its wings, already knowing why he was out of his ball.

"Charizard, fly that way," Ash instructed, pointing in the general direction of Pewter City. Charizard rushed off into the skies, realizing that Ash was in a hurry.

Ash looked down at Viridian forest below him. He watched as the light glinted off the leaves, creating a sparkling array of stars, laid out on a bright green backdrop. It must've rained last night, he noted. He looked forward, to the visible but far away Pewter City skyline. After a bit of thought, he guessed that they were half an hour away from the Pewter Gym. One hour late wasn't so bad.

He looked down once again and felt the treetops rush beneath his feet as he flew through the air, a feeling he had never quite gotten used to. It gave him a bit of a rush; he could never decide if it was an invigorating or an unsettling one. Sometimes it was a little of both, as it was now, probably due to the fact that he had just woken up. He had never dealt well with mornings. Most of the time, he had been able to ignore it, but lately, he felt less and less inclined to get out of bed in the morning. For the last few weeks, upon waking up he felt like an anvil had been placed squarely on his head during the night. Maybe it just came with being in the late-teens era of his life, or maybe it was something else.

Before he knew it he was touching down near the Pewter Gym, but Brock wasn't outside. Curious, Ash walked up to the door of the Gym and attempted to look through the translucent, dark-colored glass. After awhile of shadowing the glass with his hand and squinting, he decided that no-one was inside. It was just then that a voice came from behind him.

"See anything interesting?" Ash jumped up in surprise, only to see Brock behind him.

"Brock! Sorry I'm late, I just -"

"Don't worry about it. It happens." Brock offered a handshake and Ash accepted. "Great to see you again."

"You too."

"So, how's your little vacation from training been?"

"It's okay. I feel like I haven't done anything."

"That's the point. After all, you deserve it after coming in second place in the Honsho League Championships," Brock replied. Ash recoiled at the mention of the tournament. He didn't want to think about it.

"Yeah, whatever," Ash mumbled dismissively.

"Oh, come on Ash. The Honsho League is one of the biggest around. Getting second is nothing to shake a stick at. They're starting to talk about you, you know. It's gotten you noticed."

"Second place is great, I know that. It's been, what, three weeks now? I'm over it." Ash looked at the ground, something other than his reputation as a pokemon trainer on his mind.

"It's about Misty, isn't it?" Ash's head darted upward in response. His mouth hung slightly open in surprise at Brock's perceptiveness. However, his first instinct was denial, and he was never one to deny his instincts.

"Why does it always have to be about Misty? Don't ya think I have anything else to think about?"

"Ash, it always has to be about Misty because it always is about Misty. Now, talk to me. What's up?"

Ash looked at him again and sighed. "She didn't come to the tournament," Ash admitted.

"Oh boy," Brock said immediately. "Come on around back. I feel a man-talk coming." With that, Brock guided them to the back yard of the gym, and they sat down at a picnic table. "So Misty didn't come to the tournament."

"That's the second time she's 'been too busy' to show up."

"She's a busy woman."

"Yeah, but she knew this was comin'. Don't ya think she could've made time?"

"Things come up when you have a life like hers."

"Did she even wanna go? She hasn't talked to me in a year and a half! Does she even care about me anymore? Does she never wanna see me again?" Ash began to rub the sides of the bridge of his nose with his fingers as he let out his paranoia to Brock. It felt surprisingly cathartic for him to get these questions out of his head and into a conversation. It made him realize that maybe it was just paranoia. He began to shake his head and laugh lightly. "I probably sound crazy right now."

"You know, part of me never expected you to be agonizing over a girl this much, but the rest of me totally expected you to be agonizing over Misty this much." Brock's words elicited a chuckle from the both of them. "But you don't sound crazy. It's a perfectly natural part of being head-over-heels in love."

"I am not in love! It's just a crush. That's all." Ash began to blush at the thought, perhaps it was because he was still uncomfortable with admitting he felt anything more than friendship for her, or perhaps it was because somewhere deep inside, he knew Brock was right.

"Oh, come on Ash. How long has it been?"

Ash sighed. "Five years."

"Eight. You 'had a crush' the whole damn time. Well, since the Maiden's Peak festival anyway. It doesn't matter when you finally admitted it to yourself. But crushes don't last that long. They either fade or they grow into something more. And I think we can at least agree that it hasn't faded." Brock's words left Ash silent for a while. He was scared. He felt the fear deep in his gut. Being in love meant that he was betting it all, and of that, he was afraid, because he wasn't too sure that the odds were in his favor.

"I... I dunno." Ash's voice was quiet.

"Well, either way, you feel something. And to answer your earlier questions: she did want to go, she does care and she does want to see you again." Brock knew that now would be a good time to divert the subject from the nature of Ash's feelings. He could tell that it just made him more scared. And Ash was definitely relieved.

"Did she tell you that?"

"Yes, actually. On all counts."

"Then why doesn't she call me... invite me over or something?"

"Because you haven't called her. And you don't call her because she doesn't call you. Something's gotta give. And, like I said, she's a busy woman. Ever since her sisters officially brought her into the whole Sensational Sisters thing, she's had her hands full. They've really been taking off. She's pretty much a celebrity now."

"That's the other thing... She's got guys linin' up just to get a look at her. She can have pretty much whoever she wants. Why would she want me over some teen heart-throb? What if I'm not good enough for her?" Ash asked with a somber look on his face and a hopeless feeling in his heart.

"Ash, trust me, you don't have to worry about stuff like that. She's not like that." Brock had a look of sincerity in his eyes as he said this. Ash found it to be a bit comforting. They sat in silence for a few seconds before Ash felt the need to say something that he had never told anyone.

"I... I'm scared, Brock."

"I know. It's not that hard to figure out. But what do we do when we're afraid? We face our fears. And I've got just the ticket!" Brock took off his backpack and pulled out two slips of paper. "Literally, two tickets actually. They're for the Sensational Sisters' next show." Brock waved them a bit and smiled in a scheming sort of way. Ash began to feel apprehension well up in his stomach, and his eyes began to widen.

"Oh, no. You did not -"

"Oh, yes I did. And we're going, tonight."

"Whaa? Tonight! How're we gonna get there by tonight?"

"I have a car, you know." Brock retorted slyly. Ash sat there for a few seconds, stewing in his own fears, allowing his every paranoid delusion of failure run through his head and make a mess of it. He could almost feel the tornado of bad thoughts rush through his mind. After what seemed like awhile, the reality of seeing Misty by the end of the day set in, and other worries began to occupy his thoughts.

"But... I-I'm not wearing nice clothes!"

"You can change." Ash and Brock began to rapid fire off each other.

"I didn't bring anything that nice!"

"I'm sure whatever you have is fine."

"But I need to take a shower."

"Use mine."

"What about cologne? Do you have cologne?"

"I do."

"Do I even want to use your cologne? Is cologne too much? Does she even like cologne?"

"It's probably too much. You aren't going on a date yet."

"Should I iron my clothes? Is that important?"

"I don't see why not."

"I heard that if you work out, your muscles look bigger for a few hours. Should I do -"

"Ash! Calm down. Just wear something that looks good, don't smell horrible, and calm down. Panicking never helped anyone." Ash looked up at him and paused for a second.

"Right. I just have to calm down. Be myself and all that."

"Well, right now, yourself is afraid and not very confident. Why don't you be yourself but without those parts. Girls like confidence. You think you can do that?"

"Yeah. I-I guess."

"Great. You can start by not stuttering." Brock gave Ash a mocking smile. Ash simply shot him a look that said 'ha ha, very funny.'

"I'm gonna take that shower now," Ash stated bluntly. He then walked off leaving Brock to himself.

"Ah, young love," Brock said wistfully to himself.

Ash sat in the passenger seat of the car, silently. They had been driving for an hour, but Ash found that difficult to believe. It had felt more like four hours to him, every second stretched out by anticipation. A dimly burning ember of anxiety had been sitting in the pit of his stomach the entire ride, and it showed no signs of going out anytime soon. The dull hum of the engine, the constant sound of the wind hitting the car, Pikachu's gentle snoring coming from the back seat, the quiet drone of talking coming from the radio all just served to make the waiting worse. The unchanging buzz seemed to resonate with his thoughts, which were equally monotonous. His mind kept repeating the same thoughts over and over again, going over all the ways it could go wrong with Misty. It had gotten to the point where it had made its own droning.

As he sat there in his freshly ironed clothing, barely moving, he began to listen to what the people on the radio were actually talking about. It wasn't very interesting, a traffic report, but listening helped get his mind off his thoughts. After hearing about overturned tractor-trailers and slowdowns on highways, the broadcast took a turn.

"Now let's hand it over to Rebecca Rose and Johnny Dixon with the Celebrity Newscast." Ash cringed inwardly at the prospect of listening to this.

"Hey, everybody! This is Johnny Dixon!"

"And this is Rebecca Rose. And you're listening to today's Celebrity Newscast."

Ash listened to stories about somebody he'd never heard of breaking up with somebody else he'd never heard of, two people he'd never heard of getting into a fist fight, some pop star he remembered from his youth trying to make a comeback, and so on for about fifteen minutes, without caring about any of it. Then something came on that managed to catch his attention.

"In other news, if you're anywhere near Cerulean City, the Sensational Sisters are putting on their final showing of a modern retelling of 'The Little Mermaid' later today. Tickets are nearly sold out, so you'd better get on it if you haven't already, right, Rebecca?" Ash's ears perked up immediately, and his attention was now acutely attuned to the radio.

"Their shows have been popular with the locals for years now, but only since they put out their first hit radio single 'Dance with Me' have they come into the national spotlight. Here's another reason to be excited about the show: they managed to bring in the star of Youth Network's hit drama 'Heartbreak High,' Tyler Westin, playing the role of the prince, alongside the youngest sister, Misty, as the title character. The rumor mill has certainly been working overtime with that one, hasn't it?" Ash's gut wrenched at this.

"Oh, yes it has, and I believe all of it! Any night now, you're gonna be seeing those two out on the town. I don't know how she'd be able to resist him, and you know his reputation." Ash recoiled at that last bit of information. From fear or jealousy or some other source, he couldn't tell, but something began to make him feel slightly nauseous.

"Change the damn station," Ash instructed, contempt lacing his tone.

"Relax, Ash, they're just rumors." Ash sighed. He then reached over to the tuning wheel and flicked it to a random frequency. Gospel music started to play from the speakers.

"I hate celebrity gossip crap like that," Ash replied emphatically.

"Can I at least turn it to something that isn't gospel?"

"Sure, whatever." Brock turned it to something. Ash only cared to notice that it wasn't the same station as before, and then became lost in his thoughts. Ash shifted so that he was turned away from Brock and looking outside, at the trees passing by, and anxiety about the nightmare-turned-reality that was this Tyler Westin guy began to envelop him. The two sat in silence as Brock drove them off toward the now cloudy horizon.

So there was the first chapter. Hopefully you enjoyed reading it. Reviews, favs and follows are greatly appreciated. Criticism is perfectly fine, so long as it's constructive. The second chapter will be up soon. Also, check out my other stuff if you liked this!