Alright! Now that the end of the school year is coming up this Wed. for me, I have more time to work on my stories! I shall of course begin with this little story, which will be centered around my first word picked, "Anger". I'm sure that alot of you weren't expecting this update to be so late, (some of you possibly not at all!), but rest assured, I am a man of my word. And when I said I planned on updating this, I meant it! After thinking it through, I decided that I would make some of these one-shots more than a quick little story. This means that I may also add in another romance or two, including DAML, my usual secondary couple. But I digress, allow me to get started with what you have all been waiting for, my first story since "Eternal Darkness"!

The room was quiet and dark; not a soul was present. The two bunk beds located across the room from each other were unmade, blankets sprawled and pillows unfluffed. Four backpacks layed under the beds, two on each side. On the window was a sticker of the official Pokemon league in Sinnoh, stating that they hope the guests have a wonderful time in the room. Suddenly, the door swung open, banging into the wall in its path. A young but experienced looking boy stormed into the room and quickly slammed the door closed upon entering. He quickly ripped off his hat and threw it onto the floor, not caring where it landed. He grabbed his hair and pulled on it in frustraition. He then yelled in anger and, with one mighty punch, hit the wall. A loud pounding sound echoed through the room. He pulled his fist away from the undamaged wall and looked at it. His fingerless gloves showed some white dust from the wall. His fingers were scratched and small blotches of blood bled through the gloves. He seemed uncaring of the matter and lowered his fist. The boy then dove onto the lower bunk bed, burrying his head into the pillow.

"All of that training...the struggles...and the badges...wasted!", the boy said to himself in the pillow. A lone tear then cascaded down his cheek and was quickly absorbed by the pillow. A few minutes went by without any other disturbances before the door knob to the room slowly turned. The boy on the bed remained still, his head still in the pillow as if he didn't know anything was happening. The door slowly creecked open and a head popped through the opening. By the light of the hallway, the person's face was visible. This person was a girl, roughly the same age as the boy on the bunk. Her red hair tied by a single ponytail on the side of her head. Her blue eyes looked soft, but concerned and worried. In the dark, she could not see very well and searched the room.

"Ash?...Ash, are you in here?", the girl asked the darkness. She then opened the door more, allowing the hall's light to fill the room enough to uncover the boy on the bed. The girl looked relieved to have found him, but her concern did not vanish. She opened the door completely and stepped in. By her feet, scurrying into the room was a small yellow mouse. Its bright red cheeks and pointed tail distinguishable to its body. The mouse looked up onto the bed and quickly hopped on it, sitting itself at the foot of the mattress. The girl walked towards a small bedside table near the window and turned on a lamp, dimly lighting the small bedroom. She then walked over and closed the door with a click. Knwoing that Ash was emotionally distressed, she walked over and sat herself on the bottom bunk opposite his. "Ash, we were all looking for you, we had no idea where you ran off to. Brock checked in at the Pokemon Center to get your Pokemon healed, Pikachu too...Ash, please answer me", The girl said softly. Ash did not stir. "Ash...I know that winning was important to you, but you can't...", before she could finish, Ash stirred.

"It wasn't important to me...it was everything to me!", Ash said. Although it was muffled by the pillow, it was still easy to hear. He then put his hand over the pillow to cover his face more. By doing this, the girl noticed his bleeding hand, which now covered most of his glove and spread down to his fingers. The girl gasped.

"Ash! What did you do to your hand! That could be broken!", the girl said as she rushed over to check on the hand.

"It's nothing", Ash said not moving. The girl still held his hand to see.

"This isn't nothing Ash, it's bleeding all over!", the girl said. As she lifted his hand, he yanked it away and immediatly sat up.

"IT'S NOTHING!", Ash yelled. The girl backed up, fear and worry in her eyes. Ash looked at her, suddenly feeling guilty. "Listen...Misty, I'm sorry, it's just...ERGH!", Ash yelled as he sat up and covered his face with his hands. "I have waited my whole life for a moment like this! I've trained for years, preparing for the chance to become a Pokemon master. I've traveled nearly every corner of this planet and have battled the toughest and strongest trainers there are. And after being invited to compete in the Pokemon master tournament, I felt that it was finally my time to reach my dreams. But then...I lose it all to a nobody IN THE FIRST BATTLE!", Ash yelled. Misty felt disheartened at his anger, Ash wasn't the type to hold a grudge this easily or for this long.

"Ash, you have to understand, things like this happen", Misty said.

"Not to me! Maybe they used to, but they shouldn't after all of this training! Everyone I've ever met said that I was destined for greatness, that I was virtually guaranteed to win this tournament!", Ash countered. Misty wasn't sure how to approach the situation, but she knew that she had to.

"But Ash, you have to think about it, he probably trained just as much as you did, and when you compare Pikachu to his Golem, it's not really a even fight", Misty said.

"Pikachu could have beaten it, he's beaten Golems before!", Ash yelled. Pikachu looked down in disappointment. Misty noticed this and looked at Ash more sternly now.

"Ash, it's not fair of you to lay the blame on Pikachu", Misty stated. Ash looked down the end of the bed to see Pikachu. Their eyes briefly met until Ash looked away, towards the window. He fell silent. "Listen, it's late Ash, and your hand isn't looking good, I say we head down to the Pokemon Center and see if Nurse Joy can take a look at it", Misty said. She then reached over to grasp Ash's hand when Ash slapped it away with his other hand.

"I'm fine!", Ash said, still looking out the window. Misty held the slapped hand, astounded. Then she became angry.

"Listen Ash! Just because you lost your first battle in the tournament doesn't mean you can take it out on me or Pikachu!", Misty exclaimed. Ash looked at her this time.

"Are you kidding me! I have the worst possible day of my life and you're yelling at me!", Ash yelled back. "You aren't me Misty, you wouldn't know what it felt like to lose in the first round when you were the hands on favorite! NOTHING ELSE MATTERS ANYMORE! EVERYTHING I'VE DONE WAS WASTED! EVERYTHING!...I might as well just retire right now", he continued. Now Misty stood up.

"So is that it! You're giving up! What happened to the Ash Ketchum I used to travel with! When he fell, he got back up, he fought on, he got stronger!", Misty retaliated.

"The Ash you knew wasn't as experienced!", Ash yelled back. There was silence in the room for a moment. Ash looked at Misty, who was at a lose for words. She couldn't believe that this was the same person that she had traveled with in her youth, that she had quickly become friends with...that she had fallen in love with. She kneeled down in front of Ash.

"Ash...why are you doing this? You shouldn't throw away everything you've worked so hard for just because you lost a battle. It's not fair to your Pokemon and it's not fair to you", Misty said. Ash looked at her. "We all care about you Ash, your mom, Prof. Oak, Brock, Tracy, May, Max, Dawn...me. We all want to see you triumph", she finished.

"I failed to see a triumph today, only failure", Ash reminded.

"The loss would only be a failure if you gave up. If you got back up and continued training then it's a triumph. We don't care how many battles you lose, because in the end we're all proud of you", Misty said. She put a hand on Ash's knee. Ash didn't bat it away, but merely looked down in acknowledgement. Misty then sat up on the bunk next to Ash. Pikachu moved over to Misty's side.

"Then answer me this Misty", Ash said still looking down. "Why did I lose in the first place?"

"Everything happens for a reason, if you were meant to win, then you would have. Obviously your destiny wasn't to win yet", Misty answered. Ash looked at her, the frustraition showing yet again.

"What's that supposed to mean! Are you saying that destiny wants me to be a loser!" Ash yelled. Misty shook her head.

"No, I think destiny wants you to train harder, to become the best of the best", Misty replied. Ash thought about this for a bit and then stood up. He paced around the room, thinking. Misty and Pikachu looked on, afraid to interupt him. Ash then leaned against the opposite bunk; holding onto the top half with his hands and looking down.

"This is alot to take in", Ash said to himself, although he knew Misty would hear him. Misty sat up and approached him.

"I know it is, but once you do, you'll succeed", Misty said. She then placed a hand on Ash's shoulder and smiled. Suddenly, Ash turned around and grabbed onto Misty, wrapping his arms around her waist. He burried his head in her neck and held her tightly. Misty was shocked at the sudden hug.

"Thank you Misty...thank you for doing all of this for me...I don't deserve a friend like you", Ash stated. Misty, after hearing these words, wrapped her own arms around Ash.

"Don't say things like that Ash, you know you do. You just have to get rid of all this anger", Misty said. Ash gave a very light chuckle.

"Big words coming from you of all people", Ash said. Misty smiled.

"That's the Ash I remember", Misty stated. Pikachu ran over to their feet and looked up at them, a smile evident on his furry face. For a moment none of the two noticed the little rodent; but soon Ash looked down and smiled.

"And thank you Pikachu for giving it everything you had, it wasn't fair of me to put so much on your shoulders", Ash said rubbing the top of Pikachu's head. He gave a slight purr to the soft rub.

"Come on Ash, we have to get going, everyone's wondering where you are", Misty said. Ash stood up and nodded. They both then made their way to the door. As Ash grabbed the handle, Misty noticed Ash's hand. "Ash, we still need to get your hand chekced out!", Misty remembered. Ash looked at it and nodded.

"I guess so, after all...I have to train tomorrow, and I wouldn't want anything slowing me down", Ash said with a smile. He then met eye contact with Misty. She smiled in turn.

"No, you wouldn't", Misty said. She then looked down at the ground to hid the blush that was showing. Ash realized that the light was still on and went over to the window to shut it off. As he did this, Misty noticed on the ground Ash's hat, still there from when he threw it. She bent down and picked it up, beating it slightly to remove any dust from it. As Ash walked back over, the room dark again, Misty gave the hat to him. Ash placed the hat back on his head and then grasped the doorknob. He opened the door and they both walked out into the light. Misty looked at Ash's face for a moment. She could see the determination and joy in his eyes, the same look that she used to see every day when they were younger. Misty wrapped herself around Ash's arm and rested her head on his shoulder. Ash smiled. The anger was gone. The three then left the room and Ash closed the door.

Alright, my first readable work done after nearly 3 years! Can you believe it? Well I hoped you liked this little one-shot. And for those wondering, I plan on putting on "The Lake House" as soon as I can. Now I won't be able to update anytime this week because I still have exams and school the next 3 days. And then once school's done, I'm going to Boston for a senior field trip. So I apologize, but you'll all have to wait a little longer for the "B" chapter. So then, what do you think so far? Worse than before, better? Either way, be sure to review and favorite, I appreciate it! Now then, let me look through the dictionary and see what my next chapter shall be on! ( looks through dictionary ), and the word is..."better"! Easy enough. Ok then, as always, thank you and keep in touch! For now, I'm signing out!

sincerely,
evan, a fan of aaml

-EVAN AAML