Yay one shots! I knew I had to write a short story in honor of Ash's birthday (which, for those of you who don't know, is on May 22nd.) And I know I'm uploading it 2 days early, but today (May 20th) is MY birthday, so I wanted to upload something for the occassion :P

This story takes place much earlier in the series, when the original three were still traveling together.

Surprise

Today would be a good day for Ash.

It was bright and sunny, the air warm and fresh. Vibrant flowers were in full bloom, and young Pokémon were beginning to wander around in the grass for the first time. Everything in the world seemed wonderful and at peace.

Yes. Ash decided that today was going to be very memorable.

He had just awoken from his deep slumber, eyes not even heavy with remaining sleep. Ash unleashed a long yawn and stretched out his arms, looking around curiously afterwards. He found that his two traveling companions, Misty and Brock, were still fast asleep. Ash frowned for just a moment, but he quickly returned to his happy disposition. There would be no misery on this day, no sir!

Jumping out of his sleeping bag, Ash crawled over to Brock and tapped the older boy's head.

"Hey Brock, get up!" Ash cheered. Brock didn't budge, however. Ash raised an eyebrow and poked Brock a little more roughly. "Brock, come on."

"Wah…JENNY!" Brock shrieked, flipping over in his sleep, "of course I'll go on a date with you! Don't you know how beautiful you are?"

Ash rolled his eyes and stood up, walking quickly away from Brock. The Pokémon breeder had always had a habit of taking in his sleep, and as Ash had learned, the dreams usually involved Brock going on various dates. That's why they were called dreams, after all.

Ash next locked his eyes on Misty, smiling as he did so. If he could rile anyone up, it was his red headed friend. Kneeling down next to her, Ash grabbed the girl's shoulders and began to shake her vigorously.

"Ash, stop," Misty groaned, lazily swiping at the young trainer.

"Mist, guess what today is!" Ash beamed.

"I don't know," Misty sighed, pulling the front of her sleeping bag over her head.

"Yes you do," Ash chuckled.

"No I don't," Misty huffed, "and I don't care."

Those words stunned Ash a little. How could Misty not care?

"You don't mean that Misty," Ash tried to laugh it off. Misty, however, wasn't changing her position.

"I do," Misty rolled over so her back was facing Ash, "so just let me sleep."

Ash sat up straight and let his lips quaver. So…she really didn't care. That was that. No one was willing to share in his excitement. As he got to his feet and trudged into the forest, Ash began to think that this day might not be so perfect after all. In fact, it might just be the worst one of his life.

XXX

"Ash is going to be so surprised!" Misty giggled as she hung a bright red streamer from a tree branch.

"He certainly won't be expecting this in the middle of a forest," Brock chuckled in agreement, blowing up a blue balloon.

"Speaking of which," Misty knit her eyebrows, "aren't you surprised that Ash hasn't bugged us yet?"

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen him all morning," Brock mused. Looking down by Ash's sleeping bag, he noticed Pikachu peeping out of the sack with tired eyes. "Pikachu, do you know where Ash went?"

"Pika," Pikachu shook his head, scampering out of the bag.

"This is strange," Misty began looking around, "should we be worried?"

"No, Ash will be fine," Brock waved a hand, "he's very resourceful. Besides, he probably just excited and ran off to do a little training."

"Without Pikachu?" Misty eyed the electric type.

"Maybe Pikachu was too tired to go with him," Brock suggested.

"Well…I'm a little concerned," Misty bit her lip, "I think I should go look for him."

"Misty, I'm sure his fine," Brock tried to reassure the girl. Misty, however, just couldn't believe him.

"Brock, I…I can't. I need to find him."

And with that, Misty ran off into the trees in search of her raven haired best friend.

XXX

Ash sat on a large rock, his legs crossed as he sulked. No matter how hard he tried to forget them, Misty's words just kept echoing in his head.

"I don't care."

Ash closed his eyes tightly and punched his legs. Misty knew what today was. She was a liar. And to say she didn't care…well that just made it all the more worse.

"Ash?"

The young trainer raised his eyes, grimacing at the sight of Misty. She was walking slowly towards him, her eyes wide in curiosity.

"Oh, it's you," Ash commented simply, and with a slight hint of disgust.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Ash grumbled as he averted his dark brown eyes, "why don't you just leave me alone?"

"What's with the attitude?" Misty demanded, folding her arms as she cast Ash an incredulous look. Ash, in turn, looked completely aggravated with Misty's reaction.

"You've gotta' be kidding me, Misty."

"Okay, why are you acting like this?" Misty sighed as though she were dealing with an intolerable child.

"You told me you didn't care!" Ash finally snapped, his face reddening slightly. "I asked you if you knew what today was, and you said no, and that you didn't care. But you do know what today is!"

"Of course I do," Misty furrowed her brow, "it's your birthday."

"Yeah, but like you said, you don't care," Ash rolled his eyes, "so just leave me alone."

"I never said I didn't care!" Misty cried.

"Yes you did! You said it this morning when I woke you up!"

"Ugh, because I wanted you to leave me alone," Misty rolled her eyes, "I didn't mean it, Ash."

"You sounded like you meant it."

"Well I didn't," Misty moved closer to Ash, her tone softening considerably, "come back to the camp site now. Please?"

"I don't want to," Ash looked away.

"Ash, quit acting like a little kid!" Misty stormed, placing her hands firmly on her hips.

"See what I mean?" Ash wailed, jumping off the rock. Misty didn't seem to understand what Ash was saying, so he grunted and continued, "You're always yelling at me. Always. You don't even take into consideration that it's my birthday! Haven't you ever thought about how it makes me feel?"

Misty twisted her mouth and blushed. Truthfully, she never had. And now she felt terrible.

"Whatever," Ash shrugged as he brushed past the girl, "I don't care."

"Ash, wait!" Misty turned around and held her hand out towards the boy. Ash stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes. "I…I'm really sorry Ash."

"Are you?" Ash huffed sarcastically before he continued walking.

"Ash!" Misty ran forward and grabbed his hand. She felt a blush crawl up onto her cheeks, and had she been able to see Ash's, she would've seen that Ash was glowing a deep shade of red as well. "I mean it, Ash. I'm really sorry. I shouldn't ridicule you so much."

"But you do," Ash withdrew his hand.

"I don't mean to," Misty shook her head slowly, "it's just…it's almost like a reflex." Ash turned back around, waiting for Misty to explain. "I live with three older sisters who aren't always the nicest girls in the world, Ash. You know that. When I was younger, I had to find some way to protect myself. That was the only method that actually worked with them, and I guess it stuck."

Ash didn't say anything in response, although he was beginning to look more sympathetic.

"I shouldn't use it on you though," Misty sighed, "you've never hurt me the way they do sometimes. I don't think you ever would, actually."

"I don't ever want to hurt you," Ash shook his head. Misty's heart leapt, but she knew that Ash probably was unaware of how sweet his words were. "I like to see you happy, Misty."

"I like it when you're happy too," Misty smiled, "which is why you have to come back with me!"

"Why do you sound so excited?" Ash hedged slightly.

"You'll see!" Misty giggled as she grabbed his hand once again, "I can't tell you now. It'll ruin the surprise!"

She dragged Ash all the way back to the camp site, leaving the raven haired boy to think about what this 'surprise' could possibly be. When they finally reached the clearing, however, Ash's eyes grew wide in shock as Misty jumped to his side, a proud look overtaking her beautiful face.

"Well?" Misty asked sweetly, "what do you think?"

The entire area was decorated with colorful streamers and balloons, all hung from the branches of the tall forest trees. A small pile of wrapped presents resided on a nearby rock, and the group's table and chairs had been set up in preparation for what would most likely be a very delicious lunch.

"You…you guys did this for me?" Ash asked in awe.

"Yes we did," Brock confirmed as he approached his two younger friends, "and it was all Misty's idea!"

Ash turned towards Misty, his mouth open wide. Giggling yet again, Misty leaned forward to give Ash a gentle, friendly hug.

"See Ash?" She prompted in that heavenly voice of hers, "I told you I cared."

In response, Ash just smiled. He had been right after all! Today was going to be a very good day.