Mizu: I don't own Pokemon. There. The disclaimer is done so onto the fic.
This Final Goodbye….
*8 months later*
"And the winner of the Snowpoint Contest is Dawn!" the announcer shouted to the excited audience.
Dawn stood there, tears rolling down her cheeks. Brock was standing in the front row clapping up a storm along with his Happiny. Dawn knelt by her Piplup and Cyndaquil and pulled both into a tight hug.
"A-are you ok?" the announcer asked, walking up to her.
"Y-yeah, I'm just really happy that I won!" Dawn smiled.
Brock smiled. That wasn't the real reason. The real reason was cause Dawn had been training so hard to perfect some of Ash's techniques that he left her and it finally paid off.
Dawn ran up to Brock as soon as she was freed from the crowd of her fans and they were off to the pokemon center. Today was a special day. They were expecting some of their friends to come visit them. No sooner did they walk into the Pokemon Center did they spot them.
"May!" Dawn squealed, running up to the coordinator.
"Dawn!" May squealed back.
"Ouch, my ears," a little taller Max complained, plugging his eyes.
"Haha, you'll get used to it Max." A smiling Tracy stated, "Hey Brock!"
"Hey, how you guys been?"
"Great!" the two answered, "but…"
"But?" Brock questioned.
"Where's Ash?" Tracy asked, "I needed to give him his belated birthday gift from Misty."
"He…He hasn't been in Pallet Town?" Brock cautiously asked.
Dawn stared at the boys in surprise. What was going on?
"No, why would he be there?" Tracy chuckled.
"…" Brock gaped, "L-let's go sit down."
Quickly, everyone made their way to one of the lounging areas of the Center. Brock sat at the edge and cradled his head in his hands. Dawn bit her lip to try to stop from asking any kind of question.
"What's wrong, Brock?" May asked.
"That little Shinx…he lied to us…" Brock muttered.
"What did he lie about?" Max asked, confused.
Brock sighed and looked at his friends, "Ash ended his journey 8 months ago and said that he was going back to Pallet town to relax for a bit before trying to find a job."
"WHAT?" the three screamed, "ARE YOU SERIOUS!"
"Dead serious. And from what you said, it sounds like he hasn't been home…dang it all! What the Heatran are you doing Ash?" Brock shouted.
As the news of this sunk into their minds, the room became uneasily quiet. Everyone who walked into the center was suddenly struck silent from the tension.
"So…have you told Misty this yet?" Tracy questioned.
"no…I thought that Ash would've…" Brock sighed.
"Well, somebody should call her and tell her. Brock?" May stated.
"Don't look at me! I'm not going to tell her about this! No thank you! I'd like to live!" Brock snapped.
"Tracy?" May looked at him hopefully.
"Not gonna happen! She'd kill me!" Tracy yelled.
"Max?" May asked.
"I love you May, but I'm not going to do it!" Max exclaimed, backing away.
"D-Dawn?" May stuttered.
"Well…since I don't know her I guess I can do it," Dawn said.
"Thank you!" May cried out, pulling Dawn to the phone.
May quickly punched in Misty's number and ran behind one of the chairs.
"Hello?" a semi-gentle voice questioned.
"Um…hello. This is Dawn, one of Ash's friends. Is Misty there?" Dawn asked.
The picture of a plain girl with fiery red hair and aquatic eyes appeared on the screen.
"This is her. Where's Ash? How come he's not the one calling? Did something happen to him!" she questioned.
"S-something along that manner," Dawn stammered.
"What happened? Did he break a bone? Get food poisoning? Land himself in the hospital? Is he dieing?" Misty cried, getting more and more worried the second.
"N-nothing th-that bad…" Dawn stated.
"Then what?" Misty snapped.
"H-he ended his journey over 8 months ago and no one has heard from him since," Dawn told the young woman.
Everything was silent for a second. It was just like the calm before the storm…
"WHAT?" Misty shouted so loud that it shook the entire Pokemon Center.
Dawn screamed and ran towards Brock.
"BROCK! GET YOUR BUTT ON THIS PHONE!" Misty ordered.
"Y-yes ma'am!" Brock whimpered.
Brock quickly ran to the phone and faced Misty at her worst. When she was totally angered.
"Why didn't you tell me that he was thinking about ending his journey! I could have talked him out of it! But no! You probably thought that Ash had already told me about it! Yeah, right! Even Ash wouldn't be that dumb as to tell me that he was going to quit! Now I want details and you better give them to me! And all of you behind the chairs, you better get up hear too!" Misty ordered.
"Yes ma'am!" everyone shouted back, terrified.
Brock slowly and carefully retold Misty everything Ash had said and done before he left. He even went in detail how the gifts Ash gave them had helped them tremendously. All of the friends were silent as Brock retold the story. None of them could understand what Ash had meant. All but one.
"He fell in love, you idiots," Misty sighed, a hurt tone in her voice.
"Huh?" every gaped.
" 'That's why I left on my journey so long ago. I thought that if I did, then I could really become the best in the world. That I could be myself for the rest of my life.' That's how he said it, right?" Misty asked.
"Yeah…exactly," Brock stated.
"Ash meant that he wanted to try to keep traveling in hopes that he'd never fall in love. Most likely due to the fact that he never knew much of his father and was probably scared that he wouldn't be able to have a family. So he traveled endlessly, trying to avoid any kind of contact with the other gender except for a few," Misty stated, sighing heavily, "But somehow, someone snuck their way into his heart…"
"Wow…I never took as the shy guy," Tracy stated.
"He always was when it came to "other" girls. Me, May, and Dawn were the only ones that were the exception. When May and I started traveling with him, he most likely felt like he owed us. Ash most likely would've paid us back quicker if we hadn't done one thing for him," Misty said.
"And that was?" May asked.
"We gave him someone to talk to," Misty stated, tears filling her eyes.
She turned her back to the screen and stared up to the ceiling.
"You guys don't know Ash like you think you do. The poor guy has gone through more than any of us could imagine," Misty sighed, "I was the only person that he could ever talk to about his past. That's the one thing I wish I could change. To never have left him so that he wouldn't have to face this world alone…"
"Misty? What are you talking about? What did we do for Ash? I'm confused…" May questioned.
"Just what I said. We gave him someone to talk to. We gave him company. We gave him…his first friends," Misty explained, keeping her back to them.
"What?" Max asked, not believing what he was hearing.
"Ash never had any friends before us. Why else do you think that he acted like a child even as he got older? He was still relishing the idea of having his first friends with him. That's also why whenever he was in a battle he was always trying to prove himself. He was trying to prove himself to us. To show that he could be a good friend," Misty said.
Misty got up for a second, leaving her friends to ponder what she had just told them. When she returned, she had a blue book with her.
"When I first met Ash, I'll admit that I thought that he was the worst kind of boy. Annoying. I thought that was just how he was and that nothing I could do could ever change him. Then one night, something changed that idea. And I wrote it down so that I'd never forget," Misty stated, showing them the blue book.
(FLASHBACK)
Misty had just gotten back from taking her bath at the nearby lake. She felt so happy after it and that she didn't hear the annoying voice of a certain boy. He normally waited until she came back before he settled down, which kept Brock up later than he should have been up. But for some reason this night was different. Misty found it almost strange that it was so quiet. That annoying boy was a notoriously loud snorer, so even if he had fallen asleep she should've still heard him.
As she approached the camp, she spotted the boy curled up into a ball. Misty could see him tremble and shudder for some reason but he made no noise. Quickly, she made her way to were he was. That in itself confused herself. Why was she so suddenly worried about this boy? Really weird night.
Misty looked over the boy's shoulder to see what looked to be blood on the ground in front of him. Instantly she began to freak out.
"Ash! What happened!" She shouted softly, for some reason not wanting to wake the other male at camp.
Ash jumped at upon hearing his name, and he quickly turned his head to try and see Misty. He wore a terrified looked upon his face. Misty quickly knelt by him and tried to see what was bleeding. But he kept pulling away from her. After five minutes of silently pleading with him to let her see, Misty was fed up. She grabbed her mallet and let him make the choice. Reluctantly he offered up his arm to show her his injury.
The genius had gotten up to start pacing while waiting for her and slipped onto some sharp rocks. Misty had to admit, though, that when normally he'd be freaking out, Ash had remained very calm. Most likely from the shock of it all.
Misty gently grabbed his arm, much to his protesting.
"Shush, you baby!" She hushed, "I've got to clean the cuts so they won't become infected. You didn't hurt yourself too badly but they still need to be wrapped up and cleaned every night till we get to a Pokemon Center. Then we'll have Nurse Joy check to make sure that everything is completely ok, alright?"
He just nodded.
Misty grabbed a few cotton balls and dabbed their supply of cleaning alcohol on one. Then, Misty pulled Ash's arm closer, still much to his protesting. Slowly, she touch the wet cotton ball to his wound. She could hear him hiss and almost hear him about to cry. Misty looked up and saw him biting down on him lip.
"Don't do that! You'll hurt you lip that way," Misty scolded, "I swear, you're just like a little kid. Here, if you really need to bite something, bite this cloth."
Ash quickly put it into his mouth, and Misty continued cleaning his wound. She'd only hear him whimper from time to time. Misty had to admit that she was impressed. The Ash she knew would have been complaining the whole time. The Ash she knew would have broken down. The Ash she knew, wasn't this mature.
It took about an hour to fully clean his arm and wrap it tight. During this time, Ash never said one word. He'd hiss at the stinging sensation from the cleaning alcohol but nothing more. Misty was starting to put up the first aid kit when he finally broke his silence.
"Th-Thank you," Ash stated, sitting down in the grass, his back to her.
"You don't have to thank me. I was just doing that so that you're injury wouldn't get infected," Misty sighed, "But you really need to be more careful. Brock and I aren't going to be around forever, so you need to learn how to do all of this by yourself."
Ash sat silent for a few moments and then said, "s-so you guys are going to leave soon…"
"What? No. That's not what I meant," Misty almost snapped, "What brought that up?"
"Th-that's what everyone's done before…" Ash stated.
That comment and how he said it grabbed Misty's attention. She quickly put the stuff away and crawled over to Ash. Pulling her legs up to her chest, she sat next to him.
"What does that mean?" Misty asked gently.
"Everyone who has ever been around me leaves…" Ash sighed, "Even my father."
Misty just stared at him. Was this really Ash? When had he started to grow up?
"You see, when I was little, I was always sick. So sick that I could never go outside. Because of that, I never could make friends very well. My mom would go around to parents and see if they would mind letting their kids play over at our house. She'd get about three or four kids to come over and then go spend some time with my dad. She was always hoping that I'd make some friends. But those kids…They never played with me. They wanted nothing to do with me. All they did was call me names and take my toys. Then they'd go outside and play with each other. My mom would come home and they'd tell her that we were playing hide and go seek. So she'd send them home and find me in my bedroom crying. I couldn't understand how come I was so different than they were. It didn't make any sense to me," Ash explained.
He paused and looked up at the sky, "Then, when I was about 7 or so, there came a night that finally made me realize what was wrong with me. That night, my own father abandoned me. He just left. I remember hearing my parents in the middle of the night arguing. Somehow I made it to the hallway and just stood there. It was the first time I saw my mom angry and one of the few times I ever saw my dad. Then what he said that night…It'll forever be engraved in my memory…"
"What did he say, Ash?"
"That…That THING could never be my son! How could you bring that THING into this world! What good can he ever be? All he'll know how to do is to beg, cry, and be a burden to everyone! He's wasted my time, my money, my love, and my blood! ….You have no idea what it's like to know that you're father thinks that you're a waste of mass…" Ash said, trying not to cry.
"Oh my goodness, Ash…" Misty gasped.
"He was right, though," Ash said after a few minutes, "When I heard that, for the first time in my life, I ran. I ran straight to my dad and wrapped my arms around his legs. I started to cry and beg him not to go. That I could change. That I'd get better. That I'd become a tough boy like he wanted. He picked me up just like a father would to calm his child. I tried to stop crying. Then…He threw me into the wall. I remember my mom running to me and cradling me in her arms. Then my father grabbed his stuff and…he left."
Misty was staring at Ash, expecting him to start crying. But he never did. He just stared up at the sky.
"I haven't seen my father since nor do I ever want to see him again. But I did realize that what he said was right. After that, I stopped talking. I didn't want to see anyone. When the doctors came, I'd scream and refuse to see them. I was tired of tests. I was tired of pills and needles. I just wanted to be a kid. It got to the point that they had to sedate me to treat me. The doctors would leave the house with their jackets destroyed and scratches everywhere. Then my mom finally asked me what I wanted. After all that time, no one had ever asked me that. And I told her the truth. I wanted to be free. I wanted to be away from everything and one that liked to hurt me. I wanted to be a pokemon trainer.
"So I started get ready for my journey. I worked on my muscles and tried to read about all the stuff that I had missed when I was a kid. And well, you know the rest."
Ash sighed and laid back into the grass. Misty stared at him. What was he? After going through all of that, why didn't his eyes even water at the mention of it?
"Ash?" Misty slowly questioned, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. That's why I act like I do. I never got the chance be me. With you guys…it's just so weird to me…I've never had a real friend before you…"
"Well, Brock, Pikachu, and I just-"
"No. I said you. You are my first friend, Misty," Ash said, sitting up.
"What about Pikachu?" "Yeah, Pikachu was my first pokemon friend. But you're the first human friend I've ever had. The first person I can talk to. And to tell the truth, that's all I wanted from all of those kids back then."
"A-Ash…"
"I can't talk like this with Brock, Mist."
"Mist?"
"Huh? Oh! Sorry…"
"No…it's alright. I actually like that nickname. So how come you can't talk about this with Brock?"
"I don't know. I just don't get the feeling that I do with you. Like a bond of friendship. I trusted you the moment I saw you."
"Really?"
"Really. I don't understand it but I feel like I can tell you anything, Mist. You're…You're already my best friend. My first human best friend."
Misty looked into his eyes and saw that he was finally starting to cry.
"You're my best friend too, Ashy-boy. You wanna know something? When I first pulled you out of that river, I didn't have very many friends in Cerulean. I was the runt of the Waterflower family and most of the other girls just used me to get to them. I was tired of it too. So I ran away and do you know what? I'm so glad that I did now." Misty pulled Ash into a comforting hug and smiled. "Cause, otherwise, I'd never get to meet such a true friend like you. And I know that we argue a lot but I think that's just cause our personalities are so similar. We clash a lot but still like each other. We're friends but we enjoying arguing…it's kinda weird."
Ash smiled, tears running down his cheeks. Slowly, he returned the hug and then broke it off.
"We should get to bed otherwise Brock's gonna kill us," Ash laughed.
"Yeah!" Misty agreed.
Misty pulled out her sleeping bag and then saw Ash walking over to her.
"What is it, Ash? Something wrong?"
"Well…Can I sleep over her by you? I've been having nightmares for a couple of nights and…"
Misty smiled softly and nodded. She laughed on the inside. So Ash could be mature while being a little kid. Such a strange boy.
(End of Flashback)