The Whisper of a Heart

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon


Ch.3

"As the gym leader you need to take more responsibility on what you wear. Just look at this mess, if you go out on stage like that you'll taint your precious nickname" Lily scolded pointing out the triple pig-tails, crookedly applied lipstick, and the over-amount of eyeliner. Looking at herself in the mirror, she saw the disaster she made herself into "Excuse me for not being good at this. I just don't like wearing make-up is all" she argued. "That's fine but you should at least remember how we do it every time we perform. You are the star after all so we got to make you as pretty as possible" Daisy replied as she wiped off the red lipstick on her little sister. "Sorry, this just isn't me. I appreciate the help though" Misty said. "Don't worry about it, you're our only little sister so we don't mind. Besides, the only one who knows how to pokemon battle is you. We're a teeny bit embarrassed that we gotta rely on you for stuff like that but when it come to the make-up department that evens it out" Violet added finishing up her messy hair.

The show went underway without problems and like always female fans line up for autographs while the boys prepared their love letters. Misty was furious on the other hand, not because of the fans but not a single challenger showed up all day.

"I'll have to go out and go search for some game instead then" this wasn't uncommon for her. She goes around the city and asks for a pokemon battle and usually ends up being victorious whenever the gym gets a shortage of challengers.

Changing into her sweater and some short pants she quietly ditches her gym leader duties and runs out the back door.

"Where's she going?" Daisy asked looking out one of the windows. "Oh, I hear she causes a ruckus in the back streets beating all the troublesome ally kids in a pokemon battle" "That sounds like her" Lily added. "She must think we don't know" Lily giggled at the thought. "Just let her be, having time for herself is good". "Yeah, I guess you're right". "By the way, the mail is filled with love letters and chocolates again. Let's help ourselves with some, Misty doesn't even touch em'".

"Another one bites the dust! Nice going Marill!" Misty applauded her partner before returning it to its pokeball. "I'll beat you one of these days, you can bet on that!" yelled the man wearing a spiked leather jacket. He recalled back his Metang and ran away with the rest of the trainers she managed to defeat. "I'll welcome the challenge anytime!" she yelled out. "Time for a break".

Wearing her hood prevented fans from recognizing her but only if she avoided eye contact and walked at a distance. It became another eventful day for her with the battles and a side of window shopping.

At the end of the day, she took a long walk to her favorite location in the city; Cerulean Cape.

The slow moving waves, the tender ripples from fallen leaves, and the graceful magikarp splashing from time to time was a peaceful place. She chose the spot away from where the public usually gather, it was a nice a secluded area behind a few scubs that separated a bench from view.

To her, it became the perfect place to gather her thoughts. No one would bother her and she adored the serene moments compared to all the noise she hears in the gym. All she would do is raise her knees so she can rest her chin on top of them and close her eyes.

Reaching for one of the sweater pockets she took out a cap and placed it on her head. "Ahh, This feeling never vanishes when I wear his cap. Wonder what he's doing right now?" she asked herself in a small voice then released a wondrous sigh. 'Will I ever see him again? I might not recognize him even if I did though. The same goes for him, I've changed so much'.

"I miss him nevertheless, oh what I would do to hear his voice again".

"What did you think of the show today Pikachu? We've been here for 3 days and she still doesn't cease to amaze me" the boy named Ash from Pallet questioned his faithful partner. Instead of replying with poketalk, the yellow rodent pokemon jumped and landed him a hurtful iron tail attack. Falling to the ground with a silly face "What was that for?!" urging for an answer his partner glared at him with intimidating eyes. "Alright fine. I get it, but whenever is see her my knees shake and my heart starts to pound. It's not like before when we used to travel together… many things have changed". "I've managed to catch all her shows but I always end up sitting in the back. I doubt she'll even tell it's me if we do actually meet again. Seeing her again though, I wouldn't ask for more if she really doesn't know who I am anymore".

Arriving 3 days ago, Ash was able to stay at the Cerulean City Pokemon Center thanks to Nurse Joy's kindness. And over the days he developed cold feet in meeting a certain person even with Pikachu's constant influence.

Every night when Pikachu falls asleep he would sneak out of the Center and visit the pokemon gym. He'd stand at a faraway street and look at the building. "Even the designs have changed. Probably her sisters idea. No way she'd personally agree to pink bubbles and flowers on the sign board" he laughed a little at his remark. "And what is 'THAT' supposed to mean?" a stranger abruptly asked him. He glanced at his side and saw a woman with red long hair. "Oh, sorry about that. I was talking to myself just then" he defensively replied. "Hmm, next time try to keep it to yourself primarily if one of the owners just so happens to walk by and overhear" she huffed at the end.

Those last bits made him realize who she was. "You're Lily aren't you? One of Misty's sisters".

"So you're one of our fans after all" she stopped and faced him to get a better look at what he looked like. Green sports shoes, black pants, a thin black shirt, blue fingerless gloves, a little muscular for his age, messy black raven hair, brown eyes, and tan skin. She could see him clearly since they were both showered with the lights of the city. "You're not bad looking there, I feel like we've met before… Have we?" Lily stared at him waiting for a reply. Her unshaken gaze at him made it feel awkward to talk to her but he averted her eyes and answered "Ye..yeah, we met a long time ago. When I was 10 I came here to challenge the gym to earn the cascade badge".

Her soul-piercing gaze eventually stopped as her eyes lit up and had a vague idea to who he was "Were you the one with the Pikachu? Ash Ketchup if memory serves me right". A sweatdrop came running down the back of his head "It's Ketchum" he corrected her. "Oh!" she yelled loudly as if she won the lottery "Misty's childhood friend. It's a great pleasure meeting you here of all places. It's not every day that one of her pals come by and visit, I'm sure she'll be pleased". Ash interrupted her "I can't really be called one of her childhood friends". "Nonsense, that day you were the first friend she brought home. We kept teasing her many times back then because she was always alone acting all rebellious and stuff unlike now. When we came back from our world tour she became fixated on pokemon battles. I haven't even seen her make any new friends even now. Furthermore, until recently she started wearing one of those pokemon league hats you used to wear. I keep saying it looked weird when she battles with it… it totally does not match with those swimwear she puts on every day." snapping out of her talkative habit, she shook her head "Woopsy, sorry 'bout that. I got a little carried away. Come by and say hi to her, I'm sure she's still awake" insisting he follow her. "I can't tonight but thanks for the offer, I'll come by tomorrow and greet her properly. Intruding late at night just doesn't seem like the right thing to do".

"You don't have to be so humble about it ya know, not once have we ever had a guest who was for Misty. If it's you then I'm certain she would jump for joy no matter what time it is" she teased him slightly. Her words made his cheeks light a hazy shade of red "Sorry but I really can't tonight. Tomorrow..., I promise".

Shaking her head in pity, she lightly knocked his head "You better. I'll stay quiet until then so it'll stay as a surprise for her". Nodding to her words, she got up and prepared to walk away before stopping to relay a quick last message "Oh, don't forget to bring her something unique… ya know, as a gift". "I.. I will" he replied in a mild cowardly tone and waved as she left.

Now by himself, he now was forced to enter the gym as a visitor. Expecting to be nervous and scared he was rather calm at the turn of events. "I did promise I'd get a gift for her so maybe that thing would be perfect" Referring to a specific item inside his travelpack he rushed back to the Pokemon Center not until he ran over someone from across a corner in the process causing them both to fall.

Judging from her figure Ash could determine that it was a female, it became even clear when he heard her scream as they both fell. Completely on his back on the concrete ground he saw on his right a slim girl wearing a thin sweater and her head covered with the hood along with the concealed cap she wore. Only she was not totally slammed to the ground like him but on the ground sitting massaging her right shoulder.

"I'm really sorry, I was in such a hurry and forgot to mind where I ran" he got on his knees and bowed for forgiveness. With his eyes closed and facing the ground he didn't see her face in whole. "That's alright, nothing's broken and it looked like it was something very important whatever it was you were doing" she clarified as she stood up and dusted off the dirt from the fall. Looking at him in his bowing position It felt uncanny for someone like that to overreact to a simple accident. "Okay okay, get up now will ya? You'll cause a scene or something" she exclaimed while reaching out her hand. Ash raised his head and looked to see her helping him up. Hearing her voice struck him like thunder. Knowing in full who's voice was it froze his entire body and made his eyes get wide. 'She still sounds the same as I remembered' he slowly compiled the words in his head. He looked at her face to take in her features better; white fair skin, strands of long orange hair hanging out from her hood, small pink lips, and those sparkling green eyes. He could gradually see the Misty he knew from the past in her changed appearance.

"Is there something wrong? Here, grab my hand and I'll pull you up" she mildly stated with her hand still reaching out for him. I'm her perspective she saw a weak looking man with no sense of directions staring at her rather peculiar.

"I got it, but thanks anyway" calmly getting up by himself he towered her by about an inch or 2.

"If you're fine then that's good. I'll be on my way now. It's late so I'm going home, you better do the same or else you'll run over somebody again". Not bothering to look at him as she walked away all that was in her mind was what tomorrow will be like.

Just like that, it was over. Ash watched her walking away without saying another word. 'She didn't recognize me at all did she?' his mind became blank at the realization.

"Pika Pi!" his partner came rushing and stood in front of him. "It was a good night so I wanted to stroll a bit, let's go back" he told it with a range of expressions.

"A Pikachu?" the sound of the faint pokemon made the orange-haired girl quickly spun back around. Her eyes searching for the pokemon but the city lights covered most of her view. "Must be my imagination" ending her search she advanced back home to the gym.


Author's Note: Still no story cover yet… I have so many ideas but fitting them together is difficult. I'll give up for now and try to keep the chapters flowing. Oh yeah, I'll keep chapters to a minimum of 2k words since I might end up having 20+ chapters in the end (I don't want that).

Also, I keep forgetting to change Misty's description as red-hair into orange-hair... you can see the errors in the previous chapter

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