A Beautiful Day
He sighed, frustrated and sad. He surrendered to his yearning and looked up into the sky. It was wide and blue, and the sun was shining brightly, laughing at his pessimistic state. The wind was playing with his messy hair and caressed his cheeks. It was such a beautiful day. Too beautiful for his bad mood.
The black-haired boy was lying on the grass, on top of a hill meadow, a view of green and blue right in front of him. But he only saw the blue and the white of the sky. His fellow Pokémon was sleeping next to his head, not noticing his trainer's melancholy. Ash knew he was wasting his day away, but he simply did not feel like battling today. It was such a nice day and he could not help himself but enjoy it. Misty would have kicked his ass if she knew he was being lazy.
He smiled wryly, thinking that it was so ironic for the girl that was thousands of miles away to still have such control over him. And that she was the reason he was feeling so miserable. And he could not even really blame her. It was all him that created problems; and not really big unsolvable problems, but just these… emotional… things…
He sighed again.
It had been bothering him for a very long time, but it did not fully hit him until all his friends went different ways. When he had people around him, he missed her, but it was bearable. Now that he was traveling alone again, he felt the full impact of not having anyone, not having her around. He did not simply feel lonely. He felt devastated. He dreamed of her, even talked out loud, imagining what her answer would be. He wished she were there with him. He wished he had his best friend with him to talk to him and beat the hell out of him when needed.
But she was not here. She was so far away he could only dream of seeing her any time soon. They talked over phone of course, very often if he is honest. But it was not enough. Not in the sense of wanting her here to the point of dying without her but he just… He wanted to be more involved in her life. He wanted her to be more involved in his life. He wanted to have a guarantee that…
He was not really sure what kind of guarantee he needed. They had already declared to each other that they were best friends, and they already told each other almost everything… But he felt it was not enough. He wanted more. So much more. He wanted – he did not know what he wanted. He just wished she were here with all the answers. She always knew what he needed.
And what he needed right now was for her to be here.
He whimpered, frustrated with himself. ''Just what am I thinking.'' He whispered and the wind carried his words away. Pikachu did not even stir. ''She's working very hard to get what she wants. I should do the same.'' But his goal seemed so dull without her. Without anyone standing beside him. She had always told him that without his friends, his dreams would not seem that cool. She had been right again.
Of course he still wanted to be a Pokémon Master, and h wanted to discover the wonders of this world. But he did not want to do it alone. He did not want to do it without her. She had been always there. And it has been a long time since she were here with him, but only now, these past months of complete solitude, did it hit him how much he needed someone with him. How much he wished it were her.
He fished out his mobile phone and stared at it for some time. ''Should I should I not?'' he muttered to himself, Pikachu finally stirring next to him. ''What should I tell her?'' he kept talking and Pikachu blinked at him in confusion. Ash searched for Misty's number and stared at her picture above the number. He gazed at those blue eyes, and bright smile. Her hair was long and wavy, falling down her back. She was a beautiful girl and Ash realized how much he was attracted to her. He whimpered again. ''I can't call her. I don't know what to say.'' Pikachu watched him in amusement and rolled it's eyes, leaning his small head back on its trainer's shoulder.
''But I want to talk to her. She's annoying sometimes, but she's still cool.'' He tried to talk himself into calling her. ''What if she doesn't want to talk with me? What if she's too busy? What if- what if- hey!'' he jumped up when a laughing Pikachu pressed 'call' for him and there was ringing at Misty's side. He felt so tense at that moment of waiting that his hands were shaking. His heart was beating so fast and so loud he could hear it.
After a few minutes, he was sent to the voice mail. He breathed out, feeling a great weight fall off his shoulders, but at the same time disappointment overflow his chest. She did not pick up. She had no time for him. He put his phone down next to him, Pikachu patting him on the shoulder, and looked up into the sky. He sighed. Then his phone suddenly ringed and he almost screamed in shock. He looked at the display and there she was, calling him back.
His heart was running once again.
With a shaking finger he pressed 'answer' and suddenly the girl herself was staring at him, waving her hand and greeting him with a smile. He smiled right back. He already felt better. ''Hey, Misty.''
''What's up Ash? How are you? Sorry for not picking up the first time. I was in the water and had to find a towel before touching the phone.''
''It's all right. Glad you called back. Nothing's up; I'm bored to be honest.''
She looked at him with her big blue eyes. ''Bored? You? How can that be? Don't you have a contest to be at, or something?''
''Well yeah… There are several, but today is just… I don't know. I'm lazy. And I've got nothing else to do. So I called you. Well, Pikachu did, but he's already sleeping again.''
She laughed, her voice ringing in his ears like a beautiful melody. ''I would nag you to stand up and do something productive, but as I can see through the screen, it's really a nice day at your side. And I guess it's not often that you take a day off, so… Enjoy it.''
He blinked at her in surprise. ''That's coming from you? Really?''
''Hey! Don't make me send you a kick through the phone.''
Ash laughed. He was so glad he was talking to her. He missed her so much. And he suddenly did not feel so scared anymore. ''You know Misty… I miss you very much. I wish you were here with me.'' He told her gently and watched as her eyes grew wide, her cheeks got red, and she seemed to be speechless. She was opening and closing her mouth and only after Ash coughed awkwardly, she found her voice.
''Oh, Mew… Ash, I miss you too.'' She blinked back tears and Ash grinned at her, his cheeks also a bit warm. ''That's the first time you said that to me. I'm- I'm happy.'' She stuttered a bit and Ash scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. ''Well… It's true…''
''Man… I wish I were with you too.'' She told him. ''I'd like to travel again, and I'm working on making my sisters do some work here. I think we can start planning again.'' She smiled and Ash's heart almost leaped out. ''Really? You're not joking?''
''Really. Of course if you want me with you again.''
His world suddenly seemed brighter. ''Don't be daft. I want you to come with me.''
''Yeah?''
''Yeah.''
They were silent for a moment, just staring at each other through the screen. ''Great.'' She whispered. ''I can hardly wait.''
''Me too.''
Suddenly Misty turned away and Ash noticed one of her sisters behind her. The two talked about something, before Misty face him again with a smile. ''All right, Ash. I have to go now. I'm planning to go with you again, so prepare yourself.''
He wanted to talk longer, but he smiled anyway. ''All right. Then see you soon.''
''Yeah… And Ash… I'm glad you called. I- I wanted-'' she took a deep breath. ''I hoped you'd ask me to come with you again.''
''I wanted to ask you sooner, but wasn't sure if it was a good idea.'' He admitted.
''Well, I'm glad you did. I hope to see you as soon as possible.''
''Yeah.''
''All right. Be safe. See you, Ash.''
''See you, Misty.''
They ended the call. Ash stared at the screen for a few more seconds, grinning from ear to ear. He fell back on the grass and stared at the sky, feeling so very happy he could yell. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. It was a beautiful day indeed.
