Misty stood there a moment stunned. It was true. Ash really did love her. She wanted to believe it and she knew it was true, but it was impossible. She slowly walked towards the stage. The crowd parted before her, waiting for her. How could he love her? She had only been mean to him and complained. So how could he fall in love with her? Her pace quickened as the shock wore off and the realization sunk in. She flat out ran to the stage, tears of joy flooding her eyes. She didn't care how. All she knew was that he loved her and she loved him. She leapt onto the stage and kissed Ash, who was still buckled into the chair.
The kiss exploded in her head, and if the machine had been hooked up to her, she knew she would have overloaded it. She had dreamed of this moment and now it was happening. It seemed unreal, like a dream. The perfect dream. The perfect moment. She wished it would never end. The kissed seemed to go on forever, but seemed all too short when it ended. She looked into Ash's face, a face that was more handsome now then it had ever been and whispered, "I love you too." Then they returned from their perfect world to the real one, welcomed back by the thunderous din of the cheering crowd.
Giovanni stared at his videophone, petting Persian while he waited. The video link flickered to life as Cassidy and Butch connected to him. Butch finished fiddling with their portable satellite and stood with Cassidy in front of the video cam.
"You're late," Giovanni said calmly.
"It's hard to find a good transmitting point in Imperial City with all the buildings blocking the signal. Why did you pull us off our assignment to come here?" Cassidy asked evenly. She didn't fear him anymore and neither did Butch. They were becoming much like Delilah and Darian. Giovanni smiled.
"I have a special assignment for you. I want you to steal the rare pikachu that Jesse and James are after," Giovanni said, still smiling his cold smile.
"Why have us catch it?" Butch asked. A predictable question. They were not criminal masterminds, but they would be good enough for the task at hand.
"Because I need someone who can actually produce results and Jesse and James can't provide those," he told them. Jesse and James were idiots when it came to evil.
"Well of course, but someone else can do this simple job. Couldn't our services be useful elsewhere?" Cassidy inquired.
"Yes, but I need you for the second half of the mission. Another team may not be able to stomach it," Giovanni said mysteriously. He smiled his cruel smile again. They were starting to look a bit uneasy.
"What's the second half?" Cassidy questioned.
"Did you bring the package I sent you?" Giovanni asked raising his eyebrows questioningly. Butch pulled out the small square package wrapped with brown paper.
"Yes," Butch said, showing the package to the camera. On it, it said 'Do not open until I speak with you.'
Giovanni nodded his head in approval and said, "Open it." Looking at him suspiciously, they opened it. Within was a slender glass vial surrounded by soft, gray foam. They withdrew the vial and saw it contained sickly green powder. They looked at him with puzzled expressions.
"Within your hands you hold a lethal poison," Giovanni said to answer their unvoiced question. "I want you to use this to poison the pikachu's trainer. He has become too troublesome and has bungled too many of my plans so he must be dealt with." Cassidy and Butch were definitely looking uneasy, but he knew they would do it.
"I want both tasks done discreetly. No one can link it back to us. Do you understand?" Giovanni finished. They both nodded stiffly. Giovanni reached for the cut transmission button but let his hand hover over it.
"And of course, you know that if you fail your lives will be forfeit," he said coolly. They nodded again.
"As you wi-," he cut the transmission. He smiled and the persian beside him mewed softly.
"Not much longer now my pet, soon we will have one dead rodent and one very special pikachu," he crooned to the cat. The Persian purred.
After finally getting away from the tumultuous applause, cheering, and congratulations, Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu went out to a special meal to celebrate Ash and Misty getting together. They went to the best restaurant in Imperial City, the Imperial Skyhigh Café. The café was located at the very top of the Imperial Palace, but neither Ash nor Misty noticed it at all. They were together. They loved each other and they knew that the other loved them back. It felt as though it would be painful without the other around, as if a part of their soul was missing. When they reached the café, they entered through two doors made of beautiful blue crystal and emblazoned with an exquisite pattern of gold.
The café was breathtaking. Its walls were made of all glass showing a spectacular view of Imperial City. There were delicate statues of colored crystal and the light from outside illuminated them, giving them a heavenly glow. Soft music played in the background. A friendly waitress escorted them to a table draped with a pure white tablecloth with gold trim and a stunning bouquet of flowers in an elegant vase was the centerpiece. They sat down. The waitress seemed familiar, but Ash couldn't place where he'd seen her before. It didn't matter though, he was with Misty and always would be and that's all that mattered. The waitress handed them their menus and left. Ash and Misty never even looked at the menus; they just continued staring into each other's eyes.
"Ash, look at these prices. We can't afford to eat here," Brock whispered so no one in the restaurant would know that they couldn't pay.
"It'll be fine Brock. Everything will be fine," Ash said in a dreamy voice, not taking his eyes off Misty. She looked so beautiful here. She looked so beautiful anywhere. The waitress came back.
"Are you ready to order?" she asked smiling pleasantly.
"Yeah," Ash said, his voice still dreamy, "I'll have the Number 4 without mayo."
"And I'll have the chicken burrito," Misty said, her voice dreamy too. The waitress continued to smile, but looked perplexed. Brock shook his head.
"Please ignore them. They're love-struck," Brock explained. The waitress gave a knowing smile.
"Well then I've got something special for them," the waitress said. Brock ordered his food, but Ash zoned out. Misty was perfect. She had a perfect face and perfect hair. Ash continued his silent musings about Misty even when the food arrived. He began eating his food without noticing what it was. He could tell it was some kind of meat and it was tangy and spicy. The table ate in near silence, only interrupted when Brock sometimes talked with Pikachu. But Ash didn't hear anything. He was completely fixated on Misty. He was feeling great. His heart was aflutter and he felt as if whatever he was eating was turning to butterflies in his stomach. As the meal finished, he was beginning to feel tired. His energy felt low and his vision was starting to blur with weariness. All four of them stood up to leave, but Ash must have gotten up too fast because he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. He grabbed the back of his chair for support.
"Ash, are you alright?" Misty asked instantly, concern in her voice. Ash nodded.
"Yeah, I just stood up too fast that's all," he said. He continued to walk with them towards the exit. But the dizziness wasn't going away. It was getting worse. He was feeling weak. He stopped and managed to say, "Maybe I'm not feeling so good before he collapsed to the floor. Misty was at his side instantly.
"Ash!" she screamed. Brock ran to his side too. Ash's vision was beginning to blur worse.
"Call 911!" Brock yelled. His voice was distant and echoing.
"Ash, Ash! Hold on Ash. Hold on," Misty said. It was the last thing he heard before the darkness took him.