Since Misty stopped traveling with Ash, bad things have happened to her, and her whole town seems to know. She pretends not to hear their whispers, but they constantly nag at her. When Ash finally returns, what will he do? **RATED M**

Ages; Misty & Ash are both 18

Misty walked into yet another coffee shop, a fake smile plastered across her face. She fake smiled alot now, pretending everything was okay when a lonely little girl was shaking on the inside. In Cerulean City, it seemed everyone knew of what had happened to her. They would give her looks, and she'd hover lowly to the ground. Others would snicker, making snide remarks towards her.

"There comes the slutty gym leader, she'll do it with anyone," a young teen girl with long pink hair snickered. The girl reminded her of a younger Jesse, from Team Rocket. She remembered those adventures before her life had been ruined.

...The mystery she didn't like to talk about, it involved a stupid trainer she had fallen in love with. He was... he didn't love her. It was fake, he wanted her for one thing, and one thing only. She tried to forget his name, it was a distant memory. He had moved to her town two summers ago, and had defeated her in a simple battle. His name was Rodney, and her and him quickly fell in "love". Little did she know he was only using her... for sex.

"I bet if we gave her a quarter she'd drop her pants for us," the girl's friend laughed. Misty continued to walk quietly, pretending not to notice the comments that haunted her. They didn't know the full story. Rodney had made it seem like she just came on to him and begged him. Truth was, Misty was raped. He had down such horrible things to her it made her cry and made tears fall down her face.

Why are their so many people here anyway, Misty thought to herself. She looked back and forth around the room, noting that young girls gathered on every wall with posters, chanting something about pokemon masters. Misty barely followed that stuff, she didn't care. She was a gym leader, nothing more... nothing special. She knew that. That's how she always felt.

"I wanna get a lock of his raven-colored hair," a girl squealed. Misty laughed silently, remembering Ash telling her fantasy of girls asking for his hair. Oh, how she missed him. Five years without him seemed like an eternity.

Another one of the snobby girls appeared behind Misty. "I don't know why she's here. Pokemon Masters don't want crab infested... leftovers."

Before she could answer, something caught Misty's eye. Numerous trainers entered the room. One's she had met before, some she had never seen. She recognized Brock, and James with Meowth. Rodney was in the distance flirting with some chic. If only she could warn her.

A girl beside her started screaming and fangirling like crazy. "THERE HE IS!"

Girls from around the room turned to watch.

"OHMYGOSH!"

"MARRY ME!"

"I LOVE YOU!"

"SHOW US PIKACHU!"

The last one got Misty thinking, as she turned to see what everyone was screaming about. Standing in front of her, a boy her age, with a yellow electric type pokemon and raven-colored hair. Awed in the presence of him, she felt her cheeks fluster. He had grown to be such a handsome man... brave and passionate. Stubble lines his cheeks and as he began to speak, a gorgeous deep voice flooded through the walls of the coffee shop.

Her worst nightmare was beginning. He would hear the rumors and certainly turn on her... if he even remembered her to begin with.

xx

Ash walked into the room met by the cheers of screaming girl. He tried to not let it go to his head. He had always had a big ego, ever since he was just a young boy. He would cry and whine and have a fit if he didn't win. Which was always met by Misty smacking him with a mallet. He smiled slightly at such a distant memory.

"5 years," he whispered, noting that Brock had just entered the room. He offered a small wave. "such a long time."

After talking to some fans, the almost-master trainers met in a quiet back room. Ash's first instinct was to find Brock, but as usual, Brock was being a flirt. Typical, Ash thought, heading over to a guy who looked friendly.

"Hey, I'm.."

"Ash Ketchum, everyone knows who you are," the boy offered his hand. "I'm Rodney, nice to meet you. I've trained in this town."

"Oh, Really?" Ash said, slightly distracted by some of the beautiful girls screaming his name.

"Yeah, and the girls here are crazy. One even begged me to sleep with her. She was very... let's say gross. Kinky. Not even worth my time. You could tell guys don't usually like her," Rodney said, spitting the words off like they we're rehearsed.

Ash looked around. "But they all look soooo beautiful... what was her name?"

"Misty Waterflower."

Ash's eyes popped out of his head. He began to defend his friend, but realized he knew nothing about her. It had been YEARS since they had seen each other, and she had never really been loved. Ash could easily picture her acting like that, but he doubted it.

"I know you two used to be friends," Rodney said sympathetically. "She's changed. She was different when I first met her, and not long after, her whole personality changed."

Girls gathered around Ash, and he could hear little cliques of girls gossiping among each other. They we're saying almost the same thing. Ash chose not to believe them, but the stories seemed so real.

Then he saw her. Red hair flowing down her back, she was slouched over and walking sadly back to her room. Ash had never seen her so beaten down, so hopeless looking. He wanted to grab her and hug her, but afraid of ruining his ego, he hung back.

Misty saw him talking to Rodney. She knew what they had been saying, same story Rodney tells everyone. As raindrops began to pour from her eyes, Misty began walking home. Ready to forget the day she had just been through. Ash wouldn't talk to her now, and she knew it.