By Chris Devlin
E-Mail: devlin1983@hotmail.com
Genre: Romance
AN: Ok, this is the first traditional AAML fic I've done in a while (It's the first one I've had a good idea for in a while). It's standard stuff, nothing special or challenging, but I think it's a good one and hopefully you will too.
Sun poured down on the Johto forests, filling them with it's warm rays. Filtering through the dense trees, it landed it spots, creating dotty patterns on the forest floor. "Wow, isn't it pretty?" Misty said as she, Ash and Brock made their way through the forest towards the nearby town. "Misty, it's just light." Ash pointed out to her. She glanced at him, a look of pity in her eyes. "You know Ash, I feel sorry for you. You're unable to comprehend the beauty of the things around you." she told him. "She's right, Ash." Brock said. "If it isn't Pokémon related you generally don't see it. Like Officer Jenny, or Nurse Joy. Oh, they're so wonderful." he added, drifting into a trance as he mentioned the women to whom he'd devoted his entire attempts at wooing. Misty just shook her head and continued walking, Brock somehow floating along behind her, gently whispering things about Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy. Ash shuffled along slowly behind them both. "I do so notice things." he muttered to himself. "I notice you."
The trio made their way through the forest at a steady pace. Occasionally Misty would hear Ash quietly talking to himself. Once or twice she thought she heard him mention her name but couldn't be sure. Eventually they made their way to a clearing. Littered about the ground were a couple of old tree stumps. Misty slumped on to one. "Ok Brock, tell me. Just how lost are we?" she asked. Brock looked up from his map. "Well from what I can gather. Totally." he told her. Misty sighed as she lay back, her head hanging off the end of the stump so her vision was upside down. Closing her eyes, she took deep breaths, trying to calm herself down slightly. Unknown to her Ash was sitting on another stump, just staring at her longingly. He'd been in love with her for a while now, almost since he'd met her. That was weird for him. He'd never thought he could have these feelings towards her. When they first met he thought of her as a big mouthed annoyance. Now though, he dreamt about her and prayed that one day he might get up the courage to tell her his feelings. Ash smiled as he thought of her. He watched her as she lay there, totally still save for the rise and fall of her chest as she took breaths.
Misty sighed as she thought of her life so far. She thought of everything that had happened to her over the past few years. Meeting Ash and Brock, getting Togepi, meeting Tracey, having Rudy ask her to stay with him and... falling in love with Ash. "Ooh. Why does life have to be so complicated?" she muttered to herself. She gazed out into the woods, her vision still inverted, not really looking for anything but just staring. Suddenly something darted between some trees causing Misty to jump in shock. Brock and Ash looked over at her as she struggled to sit up quickly. "What's the matter Misty?" Ash asked. Misty finally straightened up and turned back to the spot she'd seen the blur. "I don't know. Something just shot between those trees." she explained. Ash looked at Brock. He shrugged back at Ash, indicating he had no idea what she was on about. "Well lets go take a look." he suggested.
Misty edged towards the trees, her eyes darting back and forth, looking for any sign of the mysterious shape. Looking around she saw nothing, "No sign of anything." she reported before turning back towards the others. As she took a step she heard something. A snuffling kind of noise coming from behind her. She spun round to see a small penguin-esque Pokémon standing before her. It was black and white, with strange hair down to it's shoulders. "Uh, guys." Misty called. "I think I found it." she added. The others ran over to her. "Yeah. What is it?" Ash asked. she glanced at him. "You're the one with the Pokédex, you tell me." she replied sharply, not in the mood for guessing games. "Sheesh Mist, calm down." he replied as he pulled out the Pokédex and pointed it at the small Pokémon.
"Smoochum, The Kiss Pokémon. The pre-evolution of Jynx, this Ice/Psychic Type supposedly has the ability to read minds." the Pokédex explained.
"A mind reader huh. That's pretty cool." Brock said, getting down on his knees to take a better look at it. "It's super cute!" Misty exclaimed as she watched. The Smoochum blushed and smiled at her. "OOOH! I want one, I want one!" Misty squealed with delight, her hand subconsciously reaching for an empty Pokéball. She rooted about her bag looking for one. "Oh!" she moaned, I don't have any empty Pokéballs.". Ash laughed at her, "Tough luck Misty. Looks like a real trainer's gonna have to catch it." he announced reaching for his own. "Wait a minute Ash." Brock interrupted. "Look, it's wearing a collar. I think this Smoochum already has a trainer." he said, indicating the red band round it's neck. Ash sighed, moving his hand away from his belt. "Yeah, guess you're right." he conceded.
"What is that thing?" Jesse asked as she watched them through her binoculars. "I don't know Jess. But it looks really rare. I think we should grab it." James told her as he looked through his own. Jesse nodded in agreement. "How will we do it?" she asked. Turning to Meowth for an answer, she watched the cat as he loaded up their rocket launchers. Noticing Jesse watching him he looked her in the eye. "I dunno. Let's just go out there and demand it." he suggested. Jesse considered this for a second. "Hmm, bold, no holes, rockets or robots. We haven't done that for a while. Let's do it!" she agreed. James just shook his head, preparing for the inevitable defeat.
So they did , bursting out from their hiding place in some nearby bushes. They recited the motto with practiced flair and were more than slightly disappointed with the reception. "What do you want?" Ash asked with barely disguised boredom in his voice, not once actually looking at them. "Oh, wait let me guess, Pikachu. And I guess you'll be wanting this Smoochum too. Jeez! You guys are so predictable." he added. Jesse growled at him, "How dare you not take us seriously!" she shouted, her fists clenched in rage. "Why you'll be sorry you..." she started but stopped as the Smoochum began waddling over to them, babbling away in it's own tongue. "What's that thing saying Meowth?" James asked as he watched the small Pokémon come towards them. Meowth rubbed his chin thoughtfully, mentally translating the Smoochum's speech. "Hmm. It says that it knows the girl's secret. Something to do with the twerp." he said, his interest peaked. "Secret?" Ash said, turning to look at Misty. She'd turned a bright shade of scarlet, and looked as though she was mentally willing the Smoochum to shut up. "What secret Mist?" he asked. "Uh, well... I, ah... I..." she started babbling. Ash turned back to Team Rocket. "She's in love with him!" Meowth cried, translating the rest of the Smoochum's speech, before rolling on the ground with laughter. Ash gasped. "You love me?" he said, turning back to Misty. She wasn't there, instead she was running, out of the clearing into the woods. The clear sound of tears in her wake. "Misty!" he cried after her, ready to sprint after her. But he couldn't, not until he had Team Rocket out of the way. Feeling something tapping his leg he saw Pikachu. The yellow mouse Pokémon was pointing after Misty, clearly telling Ash to go after her. "But Pikachu. Team Rocket." he explained, really wanting nothing other than to go after her. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Brock, his Pokéballs in his other hand. "Go after her man. I can take care of these three." he said. Ash smiled at his friend. "Thanks." he replied before darting after her.
Misty ran, the sharp twigs and branches of the woods clawing at her, cutting her skin and tearing her clothes. She ran on though, oblivious to the pain of a thousand scratches, instead overwhelmed by the pain in her heart. How could it have happened so quickly? And to have her secrets exposed by a Pokémon, that was just plain embarrassing. Still she ran, not knowing if it had been one or one hundred minutes since she'd begun. Her growing fatigue finally got the better of her though, slowing her down to a brisk walk. Eventually she collapsed in a small clearing, dropping to the floor next to a toppled tree. She hadn't noticed but she was crying. Now that she was aware of it, the tears began to flow faster and in greater volume. She brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them tightly to her body, weeping like she'd never imagined she could. Her mind turned to what Ash was thinking. She could picture him right now, standing next to Brock and Pikachu, laughing himself to death. "Yeah, like I'd ever feel anything for Misty!" he cried at him, falling to the floor in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Misty shook the image from her mind, trying not to dwell on the truth for too long. Not that she could help it, Ash's distant voice crying out for her only served to remind her of the horrible, horrible reality of it all. He knows. There's no point in hiding it any more. her mind told her plain and simple.
"Misty!" Ash cried out as he made his way through the dense foliage, following the trail of broken and bent twigs and branches. Her footprints, fresh in the soft ground, created a track for him to go along, drawing closer and closer to her. He soon reached the clearing where she remained. She was sitting down behind a toppled tree in the middle of the clearing, her hair just visible over the top. Ash gathered his courage and walked over to her, mentally going over in his head what he wanted to say. "You know it's true. Don't you?" Misty asked him, not turning round. Ash stopped in his tracks, perturbed that she had noticed him. He looked at his feet, unsure of what to say, before walking over to her. Jumping over the tree he sat down beside her. He could see the streaks that her tears had left, running down her face. "Yeah." he said, trying not to look her in the eyes. Misty laughed slightly, a smile dancing across her lips as she shook her head. "To think, I've kept that a secret for most of the time I've known you. Then along came that Smoochum, giving it away in under five minutes. Kinda funny isn't it?" she said, her hands gently rubbing her forehead in embarrassment. Ash smiled. "I wasn't laughing." he said. Misty turned to face him, a look of puzzlement on her face. "You weren't? Why not? I thought you would be the one who laughed most." she said, betraying her opinion of what she thought Ash thought of her. Ash smiled slightly. "You did didn't you." he said. He continued before she could say anything. "The way I look at it, it could have easily been my secrets that the Smoochum revealed to Team Rocket." Misty's look of puzzlement evolved into full blown confusion. "Your secrets? What secrets? You don't have any secrets." she said. Ash gave her a cheeky smile. "That's what you think."
Brock and Pikachu wandered through the forest, searching for his friends but not in any particular hurry. He knew they had things to talk about and he didn't want to interrupt them, only locate them. Team Rocket had been disposed of easily enough, as usual, and the Smoochum's trainer had turned up only moments later. He'd thanked Brock for looking after the little Ice type before heading back off into the woods. Eventually they reached a clearing. Pikachu was looking around and was about to wander behind a large fallen tree when Brock picked her up. "I think we'd better just wait at the edge for a few minutes." he explained. Pikachu looked at him with a look of inquisition in her eyes. "Pika, Pik?" she asked. Brock just lifted her higher, letting her see over the tree. "Pikachu." she replied, realization in her small voice. Brock wandered over to the edge of the clearing, put down Pikachu and took out his small gas burner as well as a frying pan. "We could be a while. Want some ketchup?" he asked Pikachu. Pikachu replied in the affirmative, her gaze on the tree trunk, from behind which the occasional rustle of leaves and giggling could now be heard. Brock, followed her line of sight. "Yep, we could definitely be here for a while."
AN: Well, a traditional AAML fic from me. It's been a while since I came up with my own idea, (My last one was a challenge). Hope you enjoyed it. Please Review now and give me some mail to read.