The evening stars reflected in Moon Lake. The Moon from afar looked like a smaller version of the shining lake. Ash laid there, trying to sleep while thinking over the past events and the times he was there with his two best friends Misty and Brock. He wanted to tell someone his feelings, he used to tell Brock, but now he's gone. 'How could he chose someone else over me?' Ash thought to himself and drifted off to sleep. Misty on the other hand was thinking of the lies she's told. Why she's following Ash, who she is, what she did before she met Ash, and everything. She also drifted off to sleep with her Togepi next to her. Ash mumbled a few Pokemon names, a few people, and a few vague words, but became clearer and clearer. Sweat started to form on his face, he tossed and turned, and suddenly... "Misty!" Ash yelled. Ash sat up and cold sweat dripped off his face and onto his black t-shirt. He blindly made his way past his sleeping Pikachu and to Misty's red sleeping bag. He let out a sigh of relief and shakily reached for her face. Ash slid his hand down the side of Misty's face and made its way to neck when he felt something warm and thin catch in the palm of his hand. He carefully lifted it up, and looked at it. It was a gold chain, which shined in the moonlight; he fingered the chain and found a charm dangling behind Misty's neck, hidden by her bright orange hair. The charm looked like a red 'R'. Confused, he tried to take off the necklace without waking up Misty. Ash tugged at the chain, hoping it would give way. Misty groaned softly, and he told himself to forget out it. The sun glowed and a few Pidgey twittered. Ash's Pikachu was the first to wake and yawned. Pikachu smacked her master's face a few times, waking Ash up. Ash slowly stood up with his eyes half closed, and stretched his arms. He peered over at Misty and remembered the night before. "Pikachu, go wake up Misty." Ash pushed Pikachu towards the sleeping girl. Pikachu stumbled over to Misty and Togepi. Pikachu pulled at Misty's hair, then smacked her face. Misty sat up in her sleeping bag, her hand went to her neck and gasped. She stood up and angrily made her way to Ash, almost stepping on poor little Pikachu who was trying to wake up Togepi. "Ash Ketchum!" Misty shouted. Ash turned towards her, getting slapped across his face. "Ow! What did you do that for?!" Ash shouted. "Then why did you touch my chain?!" Misty shouted even louder. "How do you know that it was even I?!" Ash shouted, his voice raising. "I know because you're the only one who wouldn't be able to understand what it means!" "Then what does it mean?!" "You really don't understand?!" "No!" "Then why do you even care?!" Misty's voice started to wane. "Tell me." Ash's voice returned to his usual voice. Misty sighed and said, "You showed me love and care. I showed you Jesse and James." "I don't understand, Misty." Misty sighed again. "Of course you don't understand." "Could you rephrase that?" Ash asked. "I mean I'm part of Team Rocket." Ash gaped at Misty. "Pikachu?! (Misty?!)" Tears started to form in Misty's eyes, and she ran with Togepi running behind her. The tears flew from her eyes, glistening in the sunlight. Tears were starting to form in Ash's eyes as well.
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Misty sat there, in the forest on the other side of Moon Lake. The dirt ground was slightly dampened by Misty's perpetual tears. Togepi sat there quietly with his eyes huge, looking as if he was about to cry.
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Team Rocket happened to be eating their lunch when James said through a mouthful of rice, "I could read your palm, Jess." Jesse looked up from reading a bag of potato chips. "Really?" She asked. "Just gimme your hand." Jesse gingerly took off her right glove. James took off both his gloves, and held out his left hand. Jesse placed her hand in James' hand and almost instantly shivered. Using his right hand, he traced the lines on Jesse's hand. Jesse smiled, and closed her eyes. After a while or so, James looked up from Jesse's hand. "I don't really know how to read palms, Jesse." James said. "What?" Jesse asked, not having heard what James said. "I don't know how to read your palm." James repeated. "You don't?" Jesse asked. "No." "I should be mad at you, but I'm not." Jesse replied, and James smiled. James stood up, and stretched. *BAM!* James reeled back in pain. Jesse grabbed James before his hit the ground. "What's the big idea?!" Jesse shouted, looking up. "Huh?" "Prepare for trouble!" "Make it double." James replied weakly. "To protect the world from devastation!" "To unite all peoples within our nation." "To denounce the evils of truth and love!" "To extend our reach to the stars above." "Jesse!" "James." "Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!" "Surrender now or prepare to fight." "Meowth! That's right!" Meowth shouted from his sleep. "It's the twerp! Arbok, go get him!" Jesse yelled, as she reached for her Pokéball. Ash grabbed her hand. "Shut up." Ash growled through gritted teeth. "Why should we?" James asked, also reaching for his Pokeball. "I have no time for you now." Ash growled louder. "I'm looking for Misty, has either of you seen her? She said she was part of Team Rocket, so I thought that Team Rocket members should know." "The red-head brat? A member of Team Rocket?" The Team Rocket duo burst out laughing. "Look, that's what she told me, and I saw a gold chain on her neck with a red 'R' charm on it." The two stopped. "Either it's a fake..." Jesse started. "...Or she's one of..." James continued. "...De top Team Rocket agents..." Meowth said. (He woke up when Team Rocket started laughing earlier). "So that means..." Jesse started again. "...She's actually the..." James also continued. "...We've been talkin' to..." Meowth chimed in. "No wonder so had such a bad sense of fashion." Jesse said. "I'll say." James nodded vigorously. "Misty is actually part of Team Rocket?!" Ash asked. The trio nodded in unison. "I-I can't believe it..."
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Misty's tears still streaked her face. The previous times went through her head like a jigsaw puzzle. [flashback 1] "You have proved me well, Misty. You've taken your place above the rest of the flunkies. Bear this symbol well, and remember you are an undercover Team Rocket agent, so, wear a disguise." Giovanni threw a gold-chained necklace with a flashy red 'R'. Misty, on one knee, bowed her head to the floor, and replied, "Thank you, boss." "You are dismissed." Giovanni turned his chair around. Misty stood up, and left the room with an evil grin on her face. [flashback 2] "I've caught something!" Misty shouted, pulling as hard as she could. An Asian boy holding a Pikachu flew out of the water. "Aww, it's just a kid...and a Pokemon!" Misty shouted happily, thinking of ways to capture the Pikachu. "Are you ok?" Misty asked, making sure the Pikachu was well to capture. "I'm fine..." The kid answered with a weak smile. Angry at his smile, Misty smacked him. "Not you, the Pokemon." [flashback 3] "Hey, don't leave me with the bill!" Ash yelled. Misty stomped out of the restaurant, and pulled out her cell phone. "Boss, the boy is stupid, but I can't find a way to his Pikachu. Send one of our troops to back me up." "I give the orders her, Misty." Giovanni ordered. "Sorry, sir." Misty replied. "I'll send for the Jesse and James duo." "Misty, out." [End flashback]
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"How is making a fire gonna help us capture Pikachu, Jesse?" James asked. "How should I know, that's what it says to do..." Jesse pointed to a recipe book. "Jesse, that's a recipe book!" James yelled. "Well, as long as we can have cherry pie...Mmm..." Meowth smacked his lips. "Where's the oil for the hot-air balloon?" Jesse asked. "In the balloon, why?" James asked. "The fire's too small." Jesse answered as she grabbed an oilcan from the Meowth balloon. Jesse dumped a lot of oil over the fire, which spreads to a few leaves, and creates a huge fire, burning Jesse's flaming red hair (no pun intended). "Ahh! Get it out! Get it out!" Jesse shouted. James grabbed a fan, and started fanning the fire, making it burst even bigger. Meowth dumps a bucket of water and her head. "Thanks a lot Meowth." Jesse said with a big hint of sarcasm. The water dripped rapidly from the end of Jesse's red hair. The fire grew into a huge forest fire, gobbling up every leaf, bush, and small tree in sight.
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"Misty...I'm sorry..." Ash said quietly with his hand on Misty's shoulder, with Misty looking up at him with big crystal-tear eyes. Misty hugged him, and cried into his black t-shirt. "You must really hate me." Misty said into Ash's shirt. Ash's hands shuddered slightly, but then slowly wrapped them about Misty's body. "I should...but I can't be...at least not at you..." Ash said. The fire from Jesse and James' little 'Pikachu-B-Q' spread about Ash, Misty, Pikachu, and Togepi. "Pika Pi! (Ash!)" Pikachu shouted loudly. "Huh?" Ash looked up from Misty, not letting go. "Pika Pikachu! (There's a fire!)" Ash looked around him at the fire. Misty also looked up. Ash slowly let go of Misty. His hands slipped away silently. A single tear rolled down Misty's cheek. Misty pushed Ash away, and jumped into the fire. "Misty!" Ash shouted, trying to find a way out of the fire. "Squirtle! Watergun!" Ash shouted as he threw out the Pokéball containing Squirtle. The tiny turtle squirted out the water, making a path for Ash. Without calling his Pokémon back, he ran towards the lake, looking around the lake for a sign of the elusive red head. But unfortunately, he found none. He looked a big closer, and found the girl's blue hair band tied around a ripped, slightly burnt, and damp piece of paper. As he read the paper the past journey flashed through his mind. Ash, I know that you're reading this after you told Squirtle to put out the fire, so this paper is probably hard to read. I'm sorry about the trouble that I've caused you. I wish there were something I could do to repay you. But I guess...now we're even, you don't owe me a brand new bike anymore. I'm sorry. By the time you've finished reading this, I'll probably be long gone from this place. Somewhere that's really far away. Anywhere but here is where you'll find me. I may not be the most eloquent writer, but I do know what and who I am now. This is for your love and care and never forgetting my tears. I've never shed them for anyone until now. I bet you could always see the crystal clear tears in my emerald green eyes. And there's only I thing I can truly say. And that one thing is......I love you, Ash Ketchum. Always did, always will. Ash stopped reading and looked at the setting sun. The color reminded him of Misty's red hair. The stars coming out, reminding him of Misty's smiling eyes. Ash thought that maybe he should keep reading, but he only looked through a few words. At least he didn't have to worry about where Togepi was.
I've got Togepi with me. Take care. Maybe someday we'll meet again...Pokémon trainer...I must admit... I wanna stand with you on the mountain, I wanna play with you in the sea, I wanna lay like this forever, until the sky falls down on me... I never knew love before I met you...
The bottom was left unsigned. Tears trickled down his face. Not the kind of tears that he used when he need something, but tears when he had to leave his best friend forever. 'I never knew she loved me as well...' "Let's go, Pikachu, there's no use in coming here anymore..." Ash stuffed the note and the hair band in his pocket of his vest. And for the first time in his life, he was truly alone.
The End... It's not the end...but just the beginning...