A/N: Here I am again, me and my Pokéshipping self! Maybe you're not sick of my Ash and Misty pairing yet :P If so, well, great news! XD This new story is not only being written by yours truly *takes a bow*, it is also being written by my wonderful friend videogamenerd101! :D Our wonderful little collaboration will consist of many pairings, not just Pokéshippng, because, quite frankly, we're awesome like that! ;D I want to thank Sissy for her great job at editing and adding to this chapter; I couldn't have done this without her! And last, but certainly not least, don't forget to R & R! :) P.S. As a final note, Sissy will be doing the even chapters, and I will be doing the odd. :) Also, we would also like to mention that you'll find May really OOC at several parts throughout the fic. This is being done on purpose and we're aware of this, because her OOCness is for the plot. You'll see what we mean and I hope you'll be relieved once the reason for her behavior is revealed later on, but she'll be IC for the majority of this story.

Disclaimer: We don't own Pokémon. Well, maybe just a*cue Sissy's smack in the face here* Second thought, hehe, can't say we do :P Love ya, Sis! On with the story!


Chapter 1: The Wacky Fortune-teller

Top ten reasons why I officially don't like going to the Cerulean City Waterflower Festival:

10. The food tastes horrible and is way too expensive.

9. Most of the games don't even work, and if they do, they're seriously rigged.

8. And I should know this, since my sisters are the hosts of this lovely festival.

7. I have to participate in any and everything they tell me to (not something I'm quite fond of, by the way).

6. Water show. As if we don't have enough of them already.

5. I have to be in said water show, normally in some insignificant role that requires little to no acting on my part, but still incredibly time-consuming.

4. May has the opportunity to drag me all over the place, since my sisters gave her implicit instructions to keep an eye on me.

3. All May wants to do is ride the Ferris wheel and eat funnel cake.

2. Until she changed her mind, and decided we should go see a fortune-teller. Which I responded to with NO Way!

And the number one reason I hate the Cerulean City Waterflower Festival?

1. I may or may not be able to see my best friend the entire time. Which, on a typical day, would be totally normal, aside from the fact that he's missing and presumed dead.

"Come on, Mist. It'll be fun! Just this once?" Despite the fact that May had called me by a name I preferred only Ash use—it had a slightly better, if not special, ring to it—I wasn't about to start another argument.

"Mist-y," I corrected, narrowing my eyes as I scowled at her. "And I don't know, May. I don't really think it's the best idea…"

"But wouldn't you love to find out what your future holds? Don't tell me you've never been curious about it," she retorted, staring at me just as icily.

"Well…" She sighed, shutting her eyes and shaking her head one good time.

"You're coming, Misty. Whether you like it or not," she answered, grabbing me by one arm and dragging me toward the innocuous-looking tent that had the words "Madame Zettl—Fortune-teller" scrawled across the front in a loopy, eighteenth century sort of cursive.

"But what if she's just some whackjob?" I found myself asking, which, despite what I'd intended to happen, didn't seem to faze May a bit.

She shrugged her shoulders, saying, "Then that's that. It's not like it's costing us anything, and it's not going to hurt us. The worst it could do is give us some type of horrible fortune that just so happened to be true." I shuddered, vaguely considering the possibilities of what Madame Zettl just might have to say about my life.

"Don't tell me the strong and mighty tomboy of a mermaid Misty is scared of getting her fortune told?" May teased, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Yeah Mist. Why the heck would you have any reason to be scared?" Ash quipped, and I glared at him. Too bad May couldn't see him (or hear him, for that matter), or I'd have thrown quite a string of words at that annoying ghost. Words that I'm not very fond of repeating, either.

Instead, I opted for the obvious reply. "Scared? As if." I glanced over at May to make sure she didn't think I was some kind of lunatic for staring off into space like I'd just seen a ghost. Except, truthfully, I had. She couldn't know that, though. No one could.

And even if she could, it's not like she'd believe it. That I could see Ash, I mean. I'd be thrown into the next loony bin within walking distance from the Cerulean City Water Festival. "Then come on," she remarked hastily, gesturing toward the tent's ominous opening.

I followed her reluctantly, whispering to Ash, who'd so blatantly become my laughing shadow, "Shut up, and go away. Before I snap a limb off."

"Try me," he replied, rolling his eyes, clearly bemused by my insistence of inflicting any mortal pain on him. Because technically, I couldn't. He didn't think I could, anyway. As soon as I stepped foot into the purple tent, I noticed a short, middle-aged woman, with graying light brown hair and piercing emerald eyes that did nothing but stare at me. Or, more accurately, at the ghost boy smirking beside me.

"You must be Madame Zettl," May inferred, walking over to the lady.

"Why yes, that would be me," she replied, never tearing her penetrating gaze from us. "Is there something you need?"

"Oh," May said, astonished that the lady was even asking. "My friend and I here were wondering if you could read our fortunes to us."

"Ah, yes, of course." She nodded, glancing back and forth between us.

"She can see you?" I asked, hoping May was too busy to hear me. Ash sighed, rolling his eyes again.

"For the trillionth time, only you can see me. Arceus knows why, but that's how it happened. But she can tell that some sort of 'unnatural presence' is here, if that's what you're wondering," he answered, putting air quotes around the "unnatural presence" thing. Yeah, unnatural all right. More like just plain old creepy.

Madame Zettl smiled endearingly up at May, who was overjoyed at the thought of getting her fortune read. I, on the other hand, was slightly less than thrilled, if not on the brink of depression. Madame Z. naturally consulted her crystal ball, the centerpiece of the entire tent (not to mention the only thing in it, aside from the table the crystal ball was balanced on, the chair May sat in, and Madame Zettl's own chair), gazing into it as intently as I gazed into Ash's chocolate-y brown eyes the last time I ever truly saw him. When everyone else could, I mean. I gulped, my heart breaking slightly at the thought, until I realized that there was no point in being hurt anymore, especially since I could still see him. Not everyone can say that, though. Not even Ash's own mother.

"Ah, I see it now. Young one, I can tell you'll be quite successful in life, if you haven't been already." Which she had. On top of being Johto's Top Coordinator, she had successfully grabbed the title of the Hoenn Princess, a title she's grown quite fond of over the years.

She nodded as Madame Zettl continued on. "You enjoy teaching, don't you?" This question surprised May, whose face quickly developed an enthused expression on it.

"Why yes, Madame Zettl," she anxiously replied, beaming at the older lady.

"Wonderful. I do see that career in your future, if you so choose to take that path." She stared one last time into her crystal ball, then looked up at May and said, "You've broken quite a few hearts, haven't you?"

Boy, has she ever! I thought, rolling my eyes over at Ash, who was getting quite a kick out of it.

"First Drew. Then Harley. Then back to Drew. Then Paul. And now she's got the hots for Drew all over again!" he exclaimed, shaking his head. "Glad I was gone before she had the chance to chase me, too. She'll never learn."

"Like you have," I bit back. Learned, I mean. Luckily, May didn't hear me. She was too busy thinking it all over in her head. Finally, she slowly nodded.

"I see. Well, there's one boy you've had your sights on for quite some time, I'm sure. I can't tell you it'll end happily, though. Just be mindful of what I'm saying, dear: don't expect him to put his heart on the line time and time again if you're going to keep toying with it. He isn't a fool, though you treat him as though he were."

Ouch. That had to hurt. May's face fell, if only for a moment, as she said, "Is that all?" Madame Zettl nodded, still giving May the warmest smile she could muster. "Well, thank you, Madame."

I was pretty sure May was actually thinking somewhere along the lines of, Misty was right! This lady is a total whack-a-doo! But as anxious as I had been about getting my fortune read before, now I only felt something slightly akin to curiosity. And of course, Ash pushing me toward May's chair wasn't exactly giving me much of a choice in the matter.

She stared into her crystal ball a few seconds, seeming slightly disinterested in my fortune. At least it seemed that way, until I noticed the surprise in her eyes and the pallid color of her face. "You can see him, can't you?" she asked, glancing up at me. "The boy, I mean."

"Boy? What b—" I cut May off, holding a hand in the air at her as I tried to tell Madame Z. without arousing May's suspicions. You know how gushy and boy crazy she can be. And I certainly didn't think that particular boy was in a situation ideal for her to know about.

"How do you know?" I asked, staring at the crystal ball as if it held all the answers to my somewhat confusing, ever complicated life.

Instead of answering my question, she prattled on with my fortune. "He has a…certain attachment to you. One that apparently, death"—I winced at the word—"couldn't even sever."

"Are you suggesting that some stalker spirit ghost boy has been following Misty around? That's stupid!" May pointed out, laughing at how senseless it sounded. "Why can't I see him?" It didn't occur to me why May would want to see him, when obviously she had no idea it was really Ash, so I didn't bother to answer. Madame Zettl didn't either.

"I would say it's a gift that you can do that, but others would call it a curse. Take it however you'd like."

"But," I began, "I thought ghosts only stayed until their unfinished business is taken care of."

"Sadly, dear, I believe you are his unfinished business. The only thing, er, person, keeping him tied down to this world."

"Great," I muttered, shaking my head. "But that can't be it! All we ever did was fight anyway."

"Did? That's all we ever do, Mist. My sudden 'transformation' certainly didn't change that," he pointed out with a smirk, putting a finger to my lips to keep me from giving some snappy retort back. Not that I would've anyway. May would've thought I was as wacky as the fortune-teller if I had.

"Well, things happen for a reason, my dear. Many things, as you and I both know, that are completely out of our control. Now," she sighed, looking back into her crystal ball. "To finish your fortune." She glanced back up, saying, "You're the city's Gym Leader, no?"

"I was, well…until Ash…"—I shuddered. Disappeared. Somehow I just couldn't bring myself to say that word—"Then I decided to take some time off."

"Oh? To find your own way," she suggested.

"Find my own way?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Certainly. Despite your misgivings about it, you don't really want to stay Gym Leader forever, right? In fact, you planned on becoming the greatest Water Pokémon trainer ever lived quite a few years back, when you were still traveling with the boy."

"Wow, for a whackjob, she sure knows how to use that crystal ball of hers," Ash stated, seeming almost as amazed as I felt.

"Wait, Ash is the boy you've been talking about?" May whined, her voice becoming incredibly squeaky and high-pitched, like it normally did when she was truly shocked. "But that's not fair! How come she gets to see him and no one else can?!"

"Gosh, I wish she'd just shut up," he muttered, staring up at the ceiling. "It's not like we had much of a say about who got to see me and who didn't." I decided it'd be best to keep ignoring her, like I'd been doing. Madame Z. agreed.

"You still have that spark, that hope that your dream will come true. But while you want it to, you certainly don't want it to happen without him." It took me a second to realize whom she was implying, but Ash had clearly already figured it out.

"She's talking about me, Mist," he replied, sighing.

"Shut up," I quipped through clenched teeth.

"Excuse me?" Madame Z. asked, eyeing me warily.

"Oh, not you, Madame. I'm sorry. I was talking to…" I trailed off, not really wanting May to have another fit about it. Not being able to see Ash, I mean. Which I'm one hundred percent positive is what would happen if I had even mentioned that I'd been talking to him.

"Ah, I see. Well, I can certainly tell you you'll reach your dreams, though they might very well change along the way. And it certainly won't be easy, especially with his death being so heavy on your heart, whether he's still here or not. But just because his journey is over certainly doesn't mean yours is. Not by a long shot. My dear, yours has only just begun."


"Jeez, Mist, you were totally right! She was such a nut! I mean, honestly, me? Playing with a guy's heart? Please," she said, rolling her eyes over at me.

Ash laughed, saying, "What kind of meds has she been taking? Obviously she's on something. Denial isn't gonna get her anywhere in life." I smiled, almost wanting to laugh as well.

"And then the whole 'I-see-dead-people' thing? As if."

"Dead person, May, not people," I replied, sighing impatiently. She waved it off, shrugging her shoulders.

"Person, people. Like it really matters. Not to mention she thought it was Ash! Hmph," she complained.

"And why wouldn't it be Ash, May?" I asked, frowning slightly as I froze in place.

"You two never liked each other, as far as I know. Probably even hated each other, after all the times you fought with him. Plus, he's only missing! It's not like he's actually dead yet. And well, he's obviously always had a thing for me. Ever since he met me, I mean." I rolled my eyes, chuckling slightly.

How clueless and hopeless can she get, right? "Bleh, please. I never had a 'thing' for May. Sure, she's easy on the eyes, but—hey, what was that for?!" Ash exclaimed, rubbing at the red welt I'd just left across his arm.

"Oops," I mouthed with a smirk. "Maybe he did, but did it ever occur to you, May, that Madame Z. never implied that it was because he was in love with me or anything?" Apparently not, based on the confused expression she was wearing.

"But…that's the only possible explanation, Misty!" she exclaimed, squeaking in that annoyingly high-pitched tone again. "Can't you see?" Ash face-palmed, shaking his head in defeat.

"She's not going to listen to you, Mist."

"I know," I answered them both. "Well, it's a good thing none of it was real, eh?" May shrugged her shoulders again, seemingly more unsure about the whole thing than she'd originally let on.

"Some of it might've been," she muttered, but somehow I didn't think she was talking to me. Her eyes drifted towards something else and I followed her gaze.

"Well, if it isn't Drew!" And no sooner had she said it had the green-eyed, grassy-haired rival of hers strolled into view. "Oh, I missed you so much!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him and nuzzling her face into his chest.

He sighed, hugging her back as he said, "Well hello there, May. It's been a while… hasn't it?" His voice broke slightly on her name, but so far as I could tell, she hadn't noticed.

"Doesn't she realize what she's doing to the guy? If she keeps this up, she's gonna isolate him from everybody and crush his heart even more than she already has!" I could tell by Ash's tone that he really wished she could hear him, but of course, she couldn't. No one could. Except for me, that is.

"And since when did you know anything about the heart and its emotions, Mr. Oblivious? It's not like you were interested in the millions of girls that practically flung themselves at you," I pointed out, narrowing my eyes at him.

"You would know, right? Well, Misty, don't think for one second that what you're telling yourself is true! Sure, I never got serious with anybody"—I shot a look at him that said, as if—"but did it ever occur to you that just maybe I had feelings for one of those girls?"

No, it hadn't.

But like I was going to admit that to the ghost kid. "Just shut up!" I screamed, and for once, he listened. He also dematerialized right before my very eyes. He'd be back though, like he always was. Or so I hoped.

I averted my gaze back at May and Drew, noticing how giddy she seemed to be with Drew around. It was such a shame that the look in Drew's eyes was the complete opposite of May's behavior: bittersweet and sorrowful. At least, that's what it looked like to me. I immediately knew the one thing that could possibly be in the back of his mind right now. Memories he probably wished would just wash away, like a huge wave washing the remains of whatever's left on an empty beach shore.

The memories of the breakup. No, let me fix that. The memories of the breakups.


"And then she was like, 'You can see him, can't you? The boy, I mean.' And I'm just like 'Boy, what boy?' Then she tells Misty that the boy is Ash!" May exclaimed as she crossed her arms in a pouty manner, sitting with me at Mrs. Ketchum's dining room table. "But that so can't be true. I mean, total whackjob, right?"

Brock shook his head. "I don't know. I've heard stranger things than that," he muttered, and I knew exactly what he was talking about. The day Ash had had his little out-of-body experience at the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town, nearly five years ago. Though we couldn't see him, I could almost hear him, and I swear to this day he had lifted me off the ground and nearly gave me a heart attack!

Brock never believed me, until Ash finally admitted to it. "Seriously? You've got to be kidding me! There is nothing on this planet stra—"

"Pardon me, but what was this fortune-teller's name again?" Mrs. Ketchum asked with a sweet smile, stepping into the dining room and hanging up the cordless phone she'd just been using.

"Uh, Madame Zettl, why?" Suddenly, I saw Mrs. Ketchum's face go white as a ghost's. And I should know, seeing Ash constantly throughout the day.

"Oh dear," she mumbled, looking over at me. "No reason. Just simple curiosity. Misty, could I borrow you for a second?" I nodded, standing up and following Mrs. Ketchum to the back porch.

"She knows Madame Z., Mist," Ash pointed out. "That's why she acted the way she did in the dining room. Obviously she knows something we don't." I sighed. Of course she did. Moms always know, especially his.

"I know, I know," I hissed through clenched teeth, hoping his mother wouldn't hear me. But with my luck, she did.

"Know what, Misty?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she gestured for me to sit by her on the porch swing.

"Oh, nothing," I lied, but she saw right through it.

"Madame Zettl…she was right, wasn't she?" she wondered, gazing up at the constellations. Her eyes twinkled so brightly in the moonlight, they almost looked like stars themselves. Beautifully crafted stars. I looked away, unable to say anything. To let her know that I could still see her son, when she wouldn't ever get the chance to see him again, that shattered what was left of my broken heart.

I started to cry. I couldn't help it. She held me close, patting my back as I wept for her. For her son. "Mrs. Ketchum…I'm just…so sorry!" I cried out. That's when she knew that she had been right.

I didn't cry for long. But she kept holding onto me, like she'd fall apart without me steadying her. "Is he…out here, now?" I nodded, hoping she could tell. "Can he hear me?" Again, I nodded.

I pulled away, looking over at Ash and pointing. He had his hat pulled over his face, where I knew he'd also been crying. It's hard seeing your mother and knowing you won't ever be able to talk to her again, along with the fact that she couldn't see you, anyways. His cheeks were wet, glistening in the starlight, and my heart started cracking all over again. "Ash, honey, I know you're there."

He looked up, a pained expression on his face. "Mom," he said, even though he knew she wouldn't hear him. "I miss you."

"I…I just want to tell you how much I love you. Please, don't you ever forget that."

"I won't, Mom," he replied, wishing desperately she could hear him. "I promise."

"And honey?" Her voice broke, struggling to keep its equanimity. "I miss you. So much. Not a day goes by that I don't think of you. Your sparkling brown eyes, your scruffy black hair that was so much like your father's. Your mischievous little smile that lit up the entire world when you came into it. My world, anyway."

She was on the verge of tears, I knew, and so was Ash. He strode over to her side, and attempted to embrace her, one last time. "I love you, Mom," he said, kissing her cheek. And I think she felt him. Heard him, too.

She looked dazed, but I knew it meant everything to her when he did that. "I love you, too, son."

"Mrs. Ketchum?" I asked, facing her finally. "I know this is random and all, but could you please not tell May? About Ash, I mean. Brock might believe it, but May will just think I'm as crazy as that fortune-teller."

"Oh, Misty," she laughed timidly. "You worry too much. But I won't say a word. I promise." She smiled weakly as she started towards the door.

After she'd left, Ash took the vacant seat beside me. He didn't say anything for quite some time, and I was wondering if he'd just call it a night and disappear. But he didn't. He just sat there, looking pretty darned happy for a dead guy, if you ask me. Finally, he spoke up.

"It was…really good to see my mom again, Misty," he said, looking over at me with a hint of melancholy in his voice. "Thank you." I didn't answer. He knew I wasn't going to anyway. After a few more minutes, he dematerialized, leaving me alone on Mrs. Ketchum's back porch to ponder what Madame Zettl had said.