Chapter 3:

The ship pulled into dock and the passengers collected on the pier with Ash and Misty being the last to get off. Their hands intertwined with each other as they made their way to the closest cafe. A hostess seated them on patio and the ocean breeze blew, enveloping them. Misty's hair danced in the wind causing Ash to stare at her. The food was set in front of them and Ash didn't move a muscle.

"Are you okay, Ash?" she asked. He still gawked at her. A fly could have passed through one ear and out the other and he wouldn't have noticed. She snapped her fingers in front of his face.

"Ash!" she said loudly. This brought him back to reality and wonder what was going on.

"Are you okay?" she asked again.

"Yeah, I am fine. I was just thinking about the gym and what I need to do." Ash lied. He was really thinking about the other night on the ship and the connection they had. They ate their meal and headed to the gym where Ash was now mentally preparing himself.

"You are going to be great. You are good at this." Misty said boosting his confidence. Ash stood in front of LT. Surge and prepared for battle. The gym leader made it simple to Ash as it was going to be a one on one battle, electric only. He knew what he was getting into and agreed. Pikachu took front and center with raichu ready to go. The battle took off with lighting bolts dancing around the room. Pikachu would use his tail as a ground wire to take less damage and with one final iron tail, Ash won the match. He collected pikachu into his arms and left with a thunder badge added to his collection. Misty jumped for joy and gave him and pikachu a big hug.

"That was amazing you guys! I was on the edge of my seat." Misty cheered. They made their way out of the door and was greeted my other trainers congratulation Ash on his win.

"Where are we going next?" Misty wondered. Ash just stood there and thought about it.

"Lavender Town! I'm in the mood for a good challenge." he said. Off they went to Lavender Town cutting through the woods.

The trees weaved side to side as the wind picked up. They were half way through the woods and the sun was getting ready to set, so they started setting up camp. Ash had set a fire and Misty finished putting the tent up and organize it with all their supplies. He sensed something was in the air and looking at pikachu's cheeks; sparks emanated.

"Might want to make sure the tent is secured to the ground, we have a bad storm coming." he said walking around the campsite picking up wood for preparation for the heavy rain.

"Ash, do you think we will be okay during the storm?" Misty purred. "I might need your protection." He looked at her and smiled.

"Oh I don't know." he wrapped his arms around her body. "I'll try my best to keep you somewhat dry." he said pulling her in closer for a deep and passionate kiss. Pikachu curled up next to the fire ignoring the love couple. As the couple began to become more intimate, Ash sensed that something was wrong.

He sat up quickly and stared into the sunset. She knew that Ash had a look when something bad was near.

"Do you sense a demon?" she asked shaking a little. He still continued to have that look and didn't respond to her question. She knew this was not going to go well.

"I want you to stay in hiding and whatever you do don't try to help, okay?" he had a demanding look, but he told her what to do because he loved her. She shook her head in agreement and gave him a hug and kiss.

"Just don't die on me. I need you in my life." Misty said holding back her tears. He got out of the tent watching where pikachu pointed in the direction it was coming from.

"Pikachu, I want to protect Misty to best of your ability and don't try to help me. You need to stay with her and lead her out of danger." he commanded.

"Pika!" Pikachu ran over to Misty and was ready to do what he was told, looking for escape routes if things became worse. Ash prepared himself for anything that was coming his way as his senses heightened, eyes glowing a grayish-blue and orbs formed.

Several miles away from where Ash was waiting was a dog-like beast with a fiery orange furry body, stood about six feet tall and had bad breath that you could smell a mile away. The razor-sharp claws dug into the ground as it charged at its new victim. The ground shook under its brute strength leaving footprints about three feet wide. The beast could smell that there was an enemy ahead and was up for a challenge. It stood in front of Ash and growled. The beast sniffed the air around it and began to charge at Ash. He quickly moved and turned towards the beast and thought this was going to be easy to defeat. The beast kept running towards the tent where Misty was in. Pikachu took his attack position and sparks emanated from his cheeks. Ash tossed an orb at the beast's back catching its attention.

"Come on you bastard. This is between you and me." Ash commanded tossing more orbs. It turned around and growled at him.

"That's right come and get me!" he took off into the woods getting the demon to follow him and away from Misty. The demon growled more as it chased Ash. Misty didn't want Ash out of her sight.

"Come on Pikachu, he might need our help." Misty said grabbing pikachu. Pikachu was not too happy about leaving the tent as he feared for Misty's life.

"Pika pik!" he warned her as much as he could but she continued. She was able to find Ash and the demon in hand to paw combat. His body was beaten, bruised and worn out. Misty was scared as she watched the two battle, with orbs of light and body slamming against everything. She could tell that Ash was getting angry and watched him stand against a tree that stood about thirty two feet tall and was very thick. His arms were straight towards the beast and the beast began to do the same thing. Misty knew that this was not going to be good. A large ball of energy formed at both ends of the battle zone and as soon as they conjured all of their energy into this ball they released. It was like slow motion to her as she watched the ball of lights collided, exploding. Trees were bending to their sides, leaves were flying off of the branches, wild pokemon fled the area. Misty tried to get away as fast as she could but the explosion blew her and caused burns on her side. Ash had collapsed and was pinned under a fallen tree branch. The demon was lying unconscious barely breathing. It was completely quiet. Nothing from the wild pokemon, the wind wasn't blowing, and the sky just went dark. Rain poured heavily as they sky lit up with lighting. Pikachu tried to wake Misty by shaking at her shoulders until Misty started to finally wake up. The pain in her side was intense.

"Are you okay pikachu?" she asked and looked over his body. He shook his head 'yes' as he was okay. Misty's body had protected him from the blast. She looked at her side and saw that it was badly burned and her shirt was covered in blood. A slight ringing in the ears gave her a headache. She looked around and saw the destruction of the woods and saw Ash under a heavy limb. She ran over to him panicked as she tried to move to limb. The pain in her side was too much for her to deal with and leaned over Ash's body.
"Ash you have to wake up and help me get this off of you! Come on!" Misty yelled and started to cry. He showed no signs of movement even from his chest cavity. She panicked even more and the adrenaline rush gave her enough to move the limb off of Ash.

"Ash!" she slapped him across the face. "Wake up!" she cried harder laying across his body.

"Pikachu!" pikachu's tears pour from his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. The pouring of the rain became heavier and louder, the ground was starting to slowly collected rain around them.

"I need you in my life Ash, I love you." Misty cried into his chest. The demon caught her attention as it got off the ground and with a loud roar, all the energy it had left, began to charge at them. She didn't know what to do but got up onto her feet and held out her hand as a command to stop.

"Stop, please!" she yelled at the top of her lungs and with a sudden halt the beast skid to a complete stop inches from her hand. She could feel the hot heavy breath on her hand. Opening her eyes to see the beast standing in front of her, she begged it to leave him alone.

"He has not harmed you in any way and now look at him. I don't even know if he is alive! Please, please leave him alone! I can't live a day without him because I love him very much." she said with tears running down her cheeks and her words were carried with sobbing. She watched in horror as it lightly placed its nose on her hand and licked it. With that, it just walked away like nothing happened. She exhaled and returned to Ash's body placing his head on her lap. She moved some of his hair from his face and placed a kiss on his cold head and quietly begged for him to wake up. Pikachu curled up next to Ash and nudged at his cold hand. The rain had soaked both of them, but it didn't bother her as she had lost the one she loved.

"I love you Ash." tears fell from her eyes onto his face.

Ash awoke to a bright light and a man standing over him. His eyes slowly adjusted to see who the man was.

"Dad?" he asked. This confused him of where was and why his father, who has been dead for years, was standing in front of him.

"Son, I am so glad to see you again. You have gotten taller since I saw you last." his father said in a peaceful tone.

"Am I dead?" Ash looked around and saw clouds and clear blue sky. Was he in heaven?

"Not really son, I just brought you up here so I can speak with you about a pressing matter." his father placed his hand on Ash's back. They started to walk around; Ash was now more confused than before.
"About what?" he asked.

"So I was just wondering what in the hell are you doing?" his father spoke angrily. Ash was shocked and didn't understand the question.

"You told someone, who is mortal by the way, what you are and on top of that you could have gotten her pregnant! Why son, why? You know that you can't go around and tell the world that we exist." his father's voice dug into Ash's brain like a nail into a wall. He just stood there replaying the question in his head.
"Well!" his father demanding an answer.

"I'm sorry." was all Ash could say.

"You're sorry?! That's all you have to say for yourself. You better hope that she never says a word about your secret." his dad was beyond pissed and Ash could see that.

"What's it any different than you telling mom? She kept your secret and mine." Ash retaliated.

"I told her because I got her pregnant!" His father gave him a stern look. "It's dangerous for a mortal to bear a child of the heavens."

"So that is all I need to do is get a girl pregnant, keep her alive and I can tell her my secret? Dad, I really do love Misty. Anyway she found out on her own. We were under attack and I had no know how I feel about memory wipes on people." Ash defended.

"Except the poor guy on the ship." his father reminded Ash.

"That was a different situation. Misty somehow has this gift to attacked desperation in men and they tell her that they will give her everything but wind up giving her bruises. I don't want to see her hurt like that anymore. I really do love her, dad. She wants to be with me." Ash almost began to cry as he was passionate about her.

"You really do love her with your whole heart?"

"Yes! She understands me, cares for me, and I have a feeling that she is always thinking about me. I care and love her. I want to protect her." Ash was speaking from his heart and his dad could tell.

"Okay Ash, I understand you. I want you to promise me that you will always be there for her. She is a special young woman and it's hard to find people like her. Just let her know that she can not say a word about your gift." he warned.

"I have a feeling that she won't." he said wholeheartedly. "Here is my question to you dad, how did I end up here?" Ash wondered.

"You don't remember?" his father looked at him with a puzzled look.

"No." he said. Ash's clothes began to turn red and liquid ran down his body, pain shoot through his whole body letting a tear roll down his cheek.

"You are going to be in a lot of pain when you wake up." his father said disappearing into the clouds.

Ash awoke lying on the ground, pain rendering him motionless. He could see Misty over him crying her eyes out telling him that he can't die on her, she wasn't going to let him. He could feel the rain beat down on him and saw that they were soaked head to toe. He was able to conjure enough energy to put his hand on her cheek.

"Ash, you stupid son of a bitch! How dare you do this to me!" Misty cried. Her words were barely heard from the storm and her sobbing. He just smiled at her and stared into her deep ocean blue eyes.

"Come on Ash, I need to get you to help me get you to the tent so I can stop some of this bleeding." Misty said wrapping his right arm around her neck. He couldn't move but knew he had to get her out of this rain. With all his might he was able to stand and make it to the tent. As he collapsed on the ground in the tent his eyes closed. Things were black and he couldn't feel anything, was he really going to die. He knew his body had it's limit but he should bounce back from this, easily.

Misty was panicking as Ash had passed out. She had to stop the bleeding on his left thigh, around his chest and set his broken arm.

"Think Misty, what will stop the bleeding in his leg?" she saw that he was wearing a belt and took it off and wrapped it tightly around the upper part of his thigh. This sent enough pain to shoot up quickly screaming in pain.
"I'm sorry, I have to stop the bleeding." Misty said holding him. He took in a big deep breath and exhaled but the pain was still over barring.

"Jeez! How bad do I really look?" he asked. Misty had grabbed a few thick, arm length sticks that Ash had collected earlier for firewood and began to work on his arm.

"Well, you have a wounded leg, left side and left arm broken." she said pulling on his arm, trying to get the bone back where it should go by feeling. Ash screamed again in pain and Misty look at him in sorrow and continued with his arm. She had wrapped the sticks around his arm with parts of ripped up shirt.

"Try not to move it, okay." Misty said giving him a kiss.

"How are you? Are you hurt?" Ash asked, concerned as she was cover in blood and not for sure if it was all his or hers.

"I'm fine." she lied. "You need to relax you body so I can finish." Ash laid back down and tried to relax. The pain kept making him twitch, causing more blood to exit his body. After a couple of hours Misty was able to clean him up and wrap his wounds. He had fallen back asleep and that gave her the opportunity to tend to her wound. She took her shirt off and it had peeled some of the damaged skin away.

"Ouch!" she said quietly trying not to wake Ash up. The rain was still pouring down hard and she stepped outside of the tent to let the rain wash her body. She mostly had a second degree burn, nothing that needed major medical attention to her concern. She cleaned her burn and went back in the tent to wrap it in gauze and as she finished up she put her bloody shirt on just in time as Ash woke up.

"Hey Mist." Ash said slowly sitting up. He cringed until he was able to find a comfy spot on the ground.

"Hey sweetie, how are you holding up?" Misty wondered checking on his wounds. The gauze had some blood on it but not enough to worry her mind at the moment. She didn't want Ash to know that she had taken a hit and want him to panic and be apologetic and beat himself up for not protecting her.

"I'll be okay. It will take me longer to heal, this is the first time I have been this badly injured. I have you to take care of me though." he gave her a goofy smile.

"I'm just really worried about you. That was one nasty battle between you two." Misty said leaning in giving him a kiss on the cheek. Ash overlooked his body and still couldn't remember how he had gotten the wounds.
"Can I ask you a question?" he wanted to ask what happened without causing her to panic.

"Sure, anything."

"How did this all happen again? My memory is a little fuzzy." Ash was waiting for a drastic Misty to flip.

"A dog looking demon attacked you and fought causing damage to each other. It was almost like a tie between you two, strangely enough. You both conjured up an energy ball, if that is what you call it, and there was a mass explosion. It tossed both of ya several feet and..." Misty stopped her sentence afraid to tell him what happened next.

"And?" Ash was caught up in the story Misty was telling, but could tell that it put her in danger.

"The demon awoke and began to charge at you, I stood in front of you, to protect you. I told it to stop and leave you alone and it halted in it's tracks staring at me for a good minute, nudged my hand and licked it, then just walked away. It obeyed me." Misty continued. She was expecting him to go off on her; she should have never done something so stupid. His facial expressions confused her.

"Was it something I said?"

"You told it to stop and to leave me alone? It touched you?" he wanted to make sure that understood her. This was definitely strange to hear to him as it was impossible.

"Yes. It stood there and then just licked me. It almost acted like a dog, heck it looked like an overgrown mutt." Misty added.

"Now why would a demon obey orders from a mortal? That thing should have killed you on the spot." his memory was coming to him of what he was fighting. "I hope you have that effect with all the demon animals, because that will help in the future." Ash laughed passing his hand over her cheek again. They leaned in for a kiss, but she flinched as pain from her burn. Ash noticed the way she acted and gave her a questionable look.

"I'm a little sore from taking care of you. There's not a whole lot of room to move around here." she laughed hiding her burn. Ash didn't buy her act. He gave her a hug and could feel the gauze around her waist.

"What do we have here?" he started to pull her shirt up and was shocked at the noise she made.

"Rape!" she giggled pushing her shirt down and his hands away.

"What?"

"Remember when I wanted to look at your wounds from the tauros attack, you said that if I was you, you would have screamed rape." Misty laughed hoping he would remember. He smirked remembering that conversion, but he still continued to lift up her shirt and see that she had been hurt.

"You are clever women, but it's not going to work on me." he peeked into the gauze and got a better look at her burn. "I gotta take care of my girlfriend." he smiled. Misty was a little shocked to hear that she was Ash's girlfriend. This made her very happy and she smiled back at him.

"When did you acquire this?" he pointed to her side.

"After the explosion knocked the three of us out and before I told the beast to go away." she explained.

"Are you in a lot of pain?" he placed his hand on her side to see how much heat was coming off.

"Not as much as you. How about you lie down and relax. Don't worry about little ol' me. I'll be okay, I'll heal. " Misty said reassuring. He smiled at her as they both laid next to each other listening to the storm slowly drift away.

Couple of hours later the storm had passed and everything was calm. Ash awoke to his stomach growling at him for food. His eyes slowly opened and the moon was shining through the tent. He reached for his backpack, not to disturb Misty. Slowly unzipping the bag, he pulled out a bag of peanuts to nibble on. Popping one at a time into his mouth lightly biting down on the nut.

"All you had to do was ask, I can make dinner." Misty softly spoke.

"When did you wake up?" he felt guilty make enough noise to wake her.

"When you were opening up your bag. How are you feeling?" Misty sat up and tried to look at his wounds in the little light she had.

"Stiff and sticky." Ash tried to move around but caused himself pain. "You know what we need now?"

"What would that be?" Misty said sitting up and adjusting herself in the tent.

"A vacation on the beach." Ash said taking in a slow and steady inhale. She could hear his bones cracking with every breath he took.

"That sounds like a good idea. All we are going to do is lie on the beach and do nothing." Misty said letting the belt release around his leg. A sigh of relief escaped from his lips as blood flowed down his leg. Barely any blood stained the gauze but caused a little more pain in his leg and side.

"Are you warm?" Misty asked wiping away sweat from her forehead.

"A little why?" Ash asked seeing that she didn't look so good. Misty opened the door and fresh air filled the tent.

"Ah, that feels better." Ash placed his hand on her burn and could feel that it was warmer than a few hours ago.

"How are you feeling?" He was becoming concerned.

"I'm fine really."

"You let me know if you feel any different than you do now. I'm worried about that burn as it could become infected and make you ill. My body has healing abilities that are way better than mortals."

"I am more worried about you. Now, what do you want for dinner? It will have to be something that doesn't require heat, everything is soaked." she rummaged through her bag and found peanut butter and two end pieces of bread.

"That will do, carbs and protein." Ash smiled. Misty spread the peanut butter on the bread and handed both to Ash and nibbled from the jar.

"That's all you are going to eat?" he asked devouring his food.

"I'm not very hungry."Misty placed the lid back on the jar and put it back in her bag. She stepped outside and took a good long stretch that her body would let her. The cool air felt good and the wet grass clung to her feet as she walked out to the soaked fire pit.

"I wonder if charizard can burn enough to get a fire started?" she thought to herself. A hand was placed on her back that scared her. She look to see it was Ash on his feet walking around like nothing had happened.

"Are you okay? You have been a little testy since you woke up." he gave her a hug and looked into her eyes.

"I'm fine. How many times do I have to tell you?" she joked. "Still a little jumpy after what happened; I'm still tired." she leaned into Ash's chest and closed her eyes letting out a sigh.

"Can you have charizard get a fire started for us. I think it will be easier than us trying to set fire to wet wood." Misty asked.

"Sure." he called out charizard and asked him to get a fire started and within minutes a fire glowed brightly, then was returned to its pokeball. They both crawled back into the tent and fell back asleep.

To Be Continued...