It must've been midnight in the now quiet city of Viridian. Almost everyone was asleep, and the only sound Ash Ketchum could hear was the low whir of the air-con blowing throughout his room. If he strained his ears, the young trainer might've been able to hear a Rattata skulking outside his window but that was the last thing on his mind. Along with his closest friends Brock and Misty the trio were on a return trip from Johto and the Silver Conference, each heading back to their own homes after spending so much time away. The three knew that their journey was ending in the morning but it seemed as if they all were having troubles expressing how they felt. Misty had gotten angry at ash for not seeming to care, Ash was his usual arrogant self, adamant in refusing to understand Misty's point of view and Brock, despite having oh so much experience was for once unable to bridge the gap that had formed between the two trainers.
It didn't help that earlier in the day while Misty was taking a needed break from the hot-headed master in the making she was ambushed by the Invincible Pokémon Brothers, with an unfair 3-on-1 battle threatening to take a turn for the worse before Ash and Brock came to back up their friend. Despite acting as if she had it under control, Misty was shaken up and frightened. It was the first time where, even for a moment, she didn't have the brazenly over-confident boy with the messy raven hair at her side, and that made her feel more isolated than she ever had been.
After cleaning up the trio, all three came to a mutual decision that they were simply too tired to continue home and decided to crash at the local Pokémon centre, and that's where Ash found himself right now. For some reason he was simply unable to sleep, his stomach light and jittery while his shoulders were heavy, weighing him down to the bed and draining all the energy from his body. On the bunk above him lay the girl to whom he no longer owed a bike, and across from him used to be Brock however the older boy had walked out of the room half-awake, mumbling about his bladder.
Ash had tried everything to fall asleep. He counted Snorlax, tried his hardest to keep his eyes open as if to trick himself into a deep slumber and even went to reach for a night-light in order to read the latest Pokémon Weekly, but seeing the sleeping electric mouse upon his stomach made him decide against that last idea. He didn't want to wake his closest friend, nor receive an electric shock.
Just as he finally felt his eye-lids droop, something suddenly got his attention.
"Hey, Ash?" The voice of the Cerulean gym leader filled his mind and jolted him back to reality. Lifting his head up with a low groan, he looked up to the bunk above him as if he could see his friend through the wood and mattress.
"Misty…? What's up?"
"I uh, I just wanted to say something to you…" Speaking in a low whisper, Misty's voice was anything but sure of itself.
"…Yeah?" Now sitting up fully, Ash realised his mistake all too late as the Pikachu which was just lying on his stomach had rolled off, softly crashing onto the sheets to his side.
"Chaaa…." Instead of waking up the small Pokémon it simply sprawled out on its back, letting out a deep sigh as it continued the ketchup filled dream.
With a breath of relief Ash turned once again to examine his friend through the bunk, "Misty, what's up?"
"Well, uh… T-thanks for coming to help me today with that trio. You and Brock."
"Oh, is that all? It's not that big of a deal." His fingers combing through the back of his hair, Ash leant out to the side of his bed, looking up just as Misty popped her head over her bunk. Still in her tank-top and jeans her hair had been let out of its side ponytail, the messy heap falling across her features. In some way it made Ash's stomach jitters disappear for a mere second, before coming back with twice the intensity.
"No, but I mean it! I wasn't… I wasn't very grateful to you both. And after getting me my bike back, I dunno…" Casting her eyes away from Ash she fidgeted in her sheets. "Without you there, I was a little scared. Maybe."
Unable to respond but with a blink of his eyes, Ash was trying to figure out what he really heard as Misty's voice trailed off. Scared? No way! Even if she was, there's no way that she'd admit it. Of course if she did, Ash was not about to let her live it down.
"Wait, did you just say you were sorry? You?!" Speaking as loud as he could in a whisper a sheepish grin captured his features. Hearing this was simply a once in a life-time opportunity.
"What? N-no! Of course I didn't! You're just hearing things because that thick skull of yours is still waking up!" In a desperate attempt to cover for herself, Misty resorted to the one thing she was best at; insulting Ash.
"Too bad for you I was already awake! You said you were scared, didn't you?"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!'
"DID NOT!" With the most piercing whisper ever released from a human pair of lips Misty pulled her head back from the edge. Her nose running and her vision becoming blurry, having Ash see her in this state on-top of her prior 'confession' would be too much to recover from. It was just unfortunate for her that in complete silence, there was nothing to cover the quiet sounds of her crying.
"…Misty?" Even if they may yell and scream at each other, the last thing Ash ever wanted to do was to cause his friend even the mildest discomfort, let alone make her cry. Getting out of bed as silently as he could, he hoisted himself up the bed-side ladder so he was head and shoulders above the top bunk. The second his eyes adjusted to the darkness properly, he saw his best friend crying.
"Misty, I'm sorry! I-"
"It's okay… you didn't do anything wrong." Holding the sheets up to her face so that only her eyes were visible, she looked Ash head on, neither of them pulling their gaze away. "I… It was just the first time I was in trouble and you weren't immediately there. Every other time, if it was team rocket or something else, you and Brock were right there beside me."
With a million and one things popping up in Ash's mind, all he could do was remain silent and listen. As thick as he was, this wasn't something he wanted to interrupt.
"For a few minutes I was by myself, and even if I could handle it… all I wanted was to hear you and Pikachu right next to me." Now, the tears came faster than before.
"B-but Misty, you were fine! You're a gym leader, you-"
"I know!" Throughout their conversation, both trainers had unknowingly gotten closer to each other. Now, for the first time Ash was conscious as he felt Misty's warm breath caress his face. It tickled, and in any other circumstance he would've been annoyed but right now the last thing he wanted was to move away, and he had no clue as to why. "I know I can handle it alone, but I don't want to Ash! I want you to be there, I don't care how easy or hard it gets!"
Ash didn't even go to reply. He had no idea how to react in this scenario. Throughout their entire journey together, the two had been in countless sticky situations, and they had fought their way out of each and every one. This though? This was entirely alien to them both.
"Ash… I don't want you to go tomorrow."
"I… I have to, though. I need to go back to Pallet, and-"
"No! Ash… don't leave me!" Misty's voice was as weak as it had ever been, but she had never wanted anything more in her life. Lowering her sheets, she reached out and brushed her fingers against Ash's shirt, feebly clawing into the fabric and pulling him closer. For the briefest moment her face was less than an inch away from his, and their eyes were locked on each other. Even in the darkness Ash could see the beauty in his friend's eyes, and he was stunned. With one final move forward from them both, their lips locked. The kiss was awkward and inexperienced, but it was entirely pure and Misty had put her entire message into it, pulling Ash as close as she could manage.
Neither of them knew for how long for but they remained in that position, Ash leaning up and over the top bunk as Misty pulled him close and their lips danced together. For the young red-head, she was giving her last-ditch effort to convince the one person she felt truly safe with to stay, and for Ash, all he knew was that this is what Misty wanted, and for some reason fulfilling her wish filled the void in the stomach and gave his shoulders the strength to carry the world. Their lungs screamed for air but neither wanted to break free as their tongues danced against each other in the clumsiest yet most passionate embrace any human could ever know.
It wasn't until they heard the sound of footsteps approaching that they separated, both moving back to their original positions just in time for Brock to walk back in the room and into his bed. Before long, the familiar sound of the older teen snoring had filled his ears, but his mind was focused on nothing but the girl above him as Ash hopelessly struggled to figure out what it was he should do. It was ironic that then, when he actually wanted to stay awake that sleep came in an instant, forcing his eyes closed despite every protest.
It was 7 years later that Ash now awoke, covered in cold sweats but remaining still. It wasn't the first time he'd had this dream, and unlike the first where he woke up screaming and choking back tears, he simply remained in bed and stared up at the ceiling. In the next few minutes he replayed the events after that night. The 3 woke up in silence, and walked out of Viridian to the cross-roads. He couldn't muster the nerve to talk to Misty at all, and even Brock picked up in a second that something was up. Unfortunately, he put it to simple depression of the group going their separate ways.
The 3 split, saying their farewells before heading off in their own directions. He hugged misty, and felt her fingers dig into his shirt once more but neither knew what to do. They were young, doubts flooded their thoughts and removed any hope of them speaking about what happened. With his closest companion on his shoulder, Ash walked towards Pallet, turning around one last time to see Misty on the horizon just as she broke into a run, head down, moving as fast as she could.
There was nothing that 18 year old Ketchum could do now but wipe the sleep from his eyes and get up, stretching just as Pikachu woke up beside him.
"Chaaa..." Slowly getting to its feet, Pikachu imitated Ash and stretched out before hopping on his shoulder. "Pikapi!"
Thankfully that was enough to get a smile on Ash's face. "Come on then Pikachu, we've got a pretty big day ahead of us."
Soo, this is just the start of something I had been thinking of after re-watching the original anime. I'm entirely new to showing what I write to other people, so feedback is appreciated but in the end this really just is a little project of mine for fun, nothing all too serious. If people like it I'm more than happy to keep uploading what I've written, just figured i'd chuck this part up and see what you all think :)
