Desperate love of a Pokemon Trainer

Discalimer: I do not own Pokemon ar any of its characters, this is the first fic I ever wrote, so don't flame it too bad plz.

(Ash's POV)

The day started like any other day in the pokemon center of Petalburg City. I had just beaten Norman in the gym battle and we would leave for the next town after breakfast. I'd planned to fight some trainers on the way, to keep myself from getting bored. But, like I said, we'd have breakfast first. I figured that we'd just be talking trash during breakfast, just like we usually did, but I wasn't prepared for the truth. The truth that would ruin everything. Brock was reading a newspaper, and I'd noticed that he had been looking kinda concerned for some time now. I didn't know what was bothering him, so when Brock put the paper down, I grabbed it before he could say anything. I wish I hadn't. On the front page, there was an article that chilled me to the bone.

'Cerulean Gym Leader still missing.

The leader of the Cerulean City gym, Misty Waterflower,

Is still missing. About two weeks ago she disappeared, leaving

only a note that said, "Don't call the cops, I'll be fine." Her sisters,

who had come back from a trip around the world just a day before,

honored her request and left the police out of the matter. Even now

they won't let the police search for her, because they say that Misty can

take care of herself. The most peculiar thing about this case, however,

is that no one has seen Misty after her departure. Her sisters worry

about her, but they said that even if Misty was to be missing forever,

they still wouldn't dishonor her request. Even now, it is completely

unknown where she might be.'

After I'd read the article like a million times, I still couldn't believe it. I kept telling myself that Misty would be fine, that there was nothing to worry about. It didn't work. In fact, I worried more every second that passed. It felt like someone had turned on the airco and had set it to absolute zero. I guess I zoned out a little, but that was no reason to get really pissed off at me.

Unfortunately, May didn't realize that.

"ASH!!! Hurry up dammit! It was you who made us get up at seven, so at least have the decency to WAKE UP!" she yelled.

I wasn't in the mood for a big argument, so I just said, "Yeah, whatever May."

Somehow she didn't exactly accept that answer. OK, so I had insisted on getting up early, but I'd just read that the girl I had always liked had gone missing. May ranted at me for a while, she even continued when we were back on the road, but I didn't even listen.

All I could think of was Misty. Was she alright? Was she even alive? Stop it, Ash! I couldn't think like that. There's absolutely no way that Misty was… But the problem was that there was in fact a good chance that she would never be found. At least not alive.

The more I thought about that, the more depressed I became. Like a hole in my heart that was growing and growing. That's how it felt. But I didn't just feel it in my heart; I also felt it in the rest of my body. An emptiness…an emptiness from which I knew I could never escape.

After a while, even May had realized that I wasn't still sleeping or something like that. Even she had realized that it was more than that. At least, for a moment I thought she had.

Ten minutes later I found out that she hadn't realized anything at all. She started complaining again. Now my concern for Misty turned into anger.

Anger burned within me like the flame of a Charizard.

"May, for God's sake, SHUT UP!!!!!" I yelled. "The whole morning you've been complaining about me, now it's time to keep your big mouth shut for a while. If you'd just shut up until tonight, then that would be a relief for my ear drums."

Of course May, being May, totally ignored me and kept raving. But my anger had drained away, once again replaced by worries for Misty. I decided to ignore May for the rest of the day. Misty….I hoped she was all right. Suddenly I felt angry again, not as angry as I'd been at May, but still really angry. Angry at myself for worrying so much, angry at Brock for putting that worried look on while reading the paper, angry at May, of course, and angry at Misty. Angry at her because she had disappeared in the first place.

I realized that it wasn't even her fault that I was worried, but that just angered me more. But the time passed, and two hours after we'd left the pokemon center, I was about to punch May in the face to shut her up. Before I could do that however, Pikachu attempted to shut her up. She did so with her Thunderbolt attack. It just pissed May off even more.

Pikachu sighed, and gave up trying to silence May. Of all the people with me, Pikachu alone knew how I felt. She had liked Misty just as much as I had. No, she still liked her. So did I. I wouldn't give up hope.

I'd never give up on Misty. Not in a million years. And I knew Pikachu wouldn't give up on her, either. I felt grateful to have Pikachu with me. She and I had known Misty longest. Brock had joined us later.

But even though I knew that Brock was worried too, I was certain that he didn't feel the despair Pikachu and I felt. I know, it's stupid to worry so much because of one newspaper article, but I couldn't help myself. Misty had always been there. If I felt rotten for one reason or another, I'd call her in a Pokemon center. Doing that always made me feel better. I wish I could talk to her now… At that point, I felt that I was about to cry.

I quickly shook my head to prevent that from happening. Right after that, someone said, "Hey, you! Are you a Trainer? If you are, then let's battle."

I looked up and stared in the face of a guy who was obviously a Trainer too. Hoping that a battle would distract me, I said, "Sure."

"Great, let's do a one-on-one match. I choose my Fearow."

"Pikachu, do you think you can fight?" I asked my little friend.

"Pika!" she said, but she didn't have the glittering eyes she usually has before a battle. I couldn't blame her. I didn't feel great myself. But still, Pikachu jumped from my shoulder and faced the Fearow.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" I yelled, hoping to end the battle quickly.

"Fearow, avoid and use your Drill Peck!" the Trainer said.

I could have evaded the attack. Could have told Pikachu to back off and start another attack. But I didn't. I was too distracted for that. Immediately after Pikachu's attack, my thoughts returned to Misty. Pikachu got hit with the full power of the Drill Peck, an attack that could cause massive damage. She got thrown back by the force of the attack. When she came to a stop, I didn't order her to get up. Pikachu knew me well enough to sense that I wanted the battle to end. She was messed up too, so she didn't argue with my decision that wasn't exactly a decision. She just pretended to be beat.

Brock said, "Pikachu can't fight anymore, Fearow wins."

"Geez, I've never fought someone so weak as you," my opponent said with a smug grin.

I didn't even care. All my emotions came to an explosion in the park we had to pass through. May was complaining again, and something in me snapped.

"I have had it with you and your endless whining! If you don't have anything useful to say then SHUT UP! I'm serious May, leave me ALONE!"

I yelled, and ran off to the lake in the center of the park. When I got to the water's edge my anger was replaced by sadness. I sat down and stared across the water, my sight blurred by the tears that filled my eyes.

"Pikachu, I miss her. I miss her so much that I wouldn't even care if the world fell apart right now. My world has fallen apart already anyway…Misty…If only you knew what you mean to me…"

"I do know Ash," a voice behind me said. A voice I knew.

I blinked the tears away and turned around and I looked right in Misty's green-blue eyes.

"Misty…you're alright!" I said disbelievingly.

"Yep. Never been better," she replied.

"I thought you were…" I began.

"Come on, Ash. How long have you known me? You, of all people should know better than to think something happened to me."

"Yeah, but the paper said you'd been missing for two weeks. I couldn't help but worry about you," I said in defense. Now that I knew she was safe, I felt like dancing the rest of the day.

"I noticed you worried about me," Misty said with a grin.

"How did you know I was here?"

"I've been following you for about one and a half week now," she said.

"Then why didn't you show yourself?"

"I…wanted to know who that girl was. May, I believe her name is."

"You could've asked who she was," I said.

"I…I thought that you were in love with her…" Misty said softly.

"You're kidding me. Misty, I thought you knew me better than that. May's a close friend, but I'm most certainly not in love with her."

"I just wanted to make sure. I came to the Hoenn region because I wanted to see you in person again instead of talking over the phone. I love you Ash," Misty said, blushing. I guess I blushed too. It was only then that I realized that I loved her too. I had thought I just liked her a lot, but now I realized it was more than that.

"I love you too, Misty, I thought you knew that," I said.

"I did, I just wanted to make sure. You shouldn't have lost that battle because you worried so much about me Ash. I'm serious, don't let your love for me hinder you in battles," Misty said softly.

I hugged Misty close. I had no idea why, I just did. It surprised me as much as it surprised her. But she didn't push me away, instead she hugged me back. We stood like that for about five minutes, and then Misty said, "Let's go see the others. We should explain what this was all about."

"Yeah, you're right," I said.

I felt reluctant to let her go, but Misty was right, we had to tell the others the reason for my strange behavior. When we got back to the others, we found that Brock had explained everything already.

"Ash, I'm sorry for annoying so much," May said. "I didn't know how you felt."

"It's OK, I should be apologizing too," I said. "I shouldn't have exploded like that."

"You were just concerned about Misty, that's all," May replied. She wasn't angry at all anymore. She just smiled a friendly smile. I smiled back. I was relieved that I could again. That night Misty and I sat at the lakeside again.

"It's great to see you again," I said.

"Yeah, it's also great to see you again," Misty replied. I felt like a total idiot. I loved her so much, and yet I couldn't think of anything to say. It was like my brain was blocked or something. But that was good. You see, if my brain had been working, I wouldn't have done what I did. I put my arms around Misty and kissed her. She was surprised, but she kissed me back immediately. We sat like that for awhile, and then we let go of each other, both embarrassed and amazed.

"You know, Ash, you're a pretty good kisser," Misty said.

"You're pretty good yourself too," I answered. Of course I had no idea what I was talking about, I had never kissed before, so I couldn't know. Still, Misty said, "Thanks, Ash." Then she blushed. I did too. And I felt like I could take on the whole world again.

THE END.