Note: This is a redo of WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? by RedHal. I only gave this story my own "touch" and is purely written so that I would like the story even better. Not that I didn't like the original one. This is AAML. I DON'T OWN POKEMON. Please read and review.
I'm sorry for taking so long to write this one. I know this excuse sucks, but it's unfortunately (for me then) true. School began last Monday, and much homework I got. If someone wants to make my homework for me, and can read & write Dutch, please pm me :P !
Chapter 4: Love will cost a thing
What May saw was unbelievable. Pikachu and the Pichu's were watching a movie. Empty bottles of ketchup and cans of pokemonfood were lying on the floor.
"Pika Pi?" (Anyone some ketchup?) Pikachu asked
"PiPi, PiChu" (No, thank you, I've had enough) one of the Pichu said
"PikaPikachuPika" (Enough, you've only had 2 glasses)
"Pikachu, are you making these Pichu's drink again!" Ash said while entering the living room. Pikachu and the Pichu stormed outside through the doggie door.
"Here we go again" Ash said disappointed.
"Ash, what was going on?" May said while entering the living room further
"Well, Pikachu is addicted to ketchup again, and is making these Pichu's also to drink."
"But how does he get so much ketchup?"
"It was a sale out, and my mother thought that we could use some ketchup."
"Ash, … I uhm, I… have to tell you something."
"Yes May?"
"I…. I… I think I, uhm, love you"
"Jeez, is it already so late, I'm getting back to bed. Goodnight May."
After Ash left, May thought about the past year. How Ash had been away for a weekend, then appearing and disappearing all the time.
FLASHBACK
It was a month since Ash disappeard for the weekend. He was called on his cell now and then, and he always got away from the group so they couldn't hear him. Even Pikachu wasn't allowed to hear him. But the last time Ash got a call, there was something different.
"Pikachu, can I talk to you in private?" Ash asked his pokemon when he came back.
"Pika" (sure)
And they went away, so Brock, May and Max couldn't hear them. May decided that she should play it more obvious. The group had arrived at a beautiful lake, where they decided to eat lunch. While Brock was preparing the lunch, Max was playing with Pikachu, and Ash was patiently watching over the water.
Wow, Ash is more patiently than before she thought This is my chance!
"The lake is beautiful, isn't it Ash?"
"Oh, yes" Ash agreed with her.
"It is almost as beautiful as you are."
"Hahahaha!" Max laughed at his sister.
"Shut up, you twerp!" May didn't appriciate Max overhearing and she ran after him.
END FLASHBACK
What should I do? Ash thought. May says she loves me. What should I tell her. I want to stay friends with her, but with what happened almost a year ago……
FLASHBACK
"No you can go with them also, if Brock bothers pretty girls, shock him good. Maybe he stops bothering them." Ash said, resulting in a Pikachu who gave an evil smirk to Brock.
A few minutes after Brock, May and Pikachu left, Ash heard Pikachu shocking someone. Ash sweat-dropped.
"Can't Brock control himself?" He said to himself.
After an hour Ash got bored of sitting around, and decided to go eat something. He was on his way to a restaurant, when he saw two old men entering a dark blue blimp. They were entering very slowly, like something was trying to stop them. They both were wearing funny dresses with Togepi markings on it. Then Ash saw a girl with red hair, who looked a lot like Misty, in fact, it was Misty, and she was pushed on the blimp. Ash ran after her, and got unnoticed on the blimp.
After a bumpy ride they got into a strange place. Ash jumped unnoticed out of the blimp into the bushes. He saw Misty guided outside by the two old people. One of them was fatter than before.
"You're quite strong for old people" Misty said.
"Who are you calling old, twerp!" one of the men shouted.
"Jessie, you're ruining our cover" the other said, while Misty had a surprised look on her face.
"Ah, shut up James, this dress itches, and don't tell me you like to have Meowth on your stomach!" Jessie answered angrily.
"Team Rocket!" Misty cried, while she had a tone of surprise in her voice.
Team Rocket put off their disguises and began their motto.
"Prepare for trouble,"
"And make it double!"
"To protect the world from devastation,"
"To unite all peoples of our nation,"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love,"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie,"
"James,"
"Team Rocket, blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight."
"Meowth! Dat's right!"
"Waaaabuffet"
Team Rocket? What are they doing here? Ash thought.
"AAHHHH!" Ash heard Misty scream. Great. What is going on now? He thought.
When he looked up he saw a strange guy with 3 bug pokemon.
"Hand me over the Togepi!" the strange guy said
"Yeah, thad's ya last chance. Hand over da Togepi!" Meowth said
"Togepi? NEVER IN A MILLION BILLION YEARS!" Misty yelled at the man.
"Very well. I'll have to take it from you by force. Ninjask, Shedinja, get me that Togepi!"
Ash sends out his Torkoal, which happily began to exhale smoke.
(A/N I know that he doesn't have his Torkoal now, but I don't care. It makes the storyline work.)
"Shhh." Ash told his Torkoal as it started breathing smoke. He then whispered a plan to his Pokemon.
"Torkoal" (Ok.)
"AAAAGGGGHHHHH!" Misty screamed as the three bugs headed in for the attack.
"Now." Ash whispered to his fire pokemon.
When the three bug pokemon were near Misty Torkoal jumped in front of Misty and used its Flamethrower on the three pokemon, following by Smokescreen, which covered Team Rocket, the stranger who wanted Togepi and Misty.
As Misty coughed, she faintly heard a "Torkoal Return." She felt someone grabbing Togepi. She began to panic, but when she wanted to scream, someone putted a handkerchief over her mouth and nose and led her out of the smoke before it cleared.
When they were out of the smoke, the person released Misty and the handkerchief, which fell into her hand. She recognized the handkerchief. It was the one she gave Ash when she returned to Cerulean City. Could it be? She thought to herself.
"Togeprriii." (Daddy!)
When Togepi recovered from the smoke, it decided to look at the person who was holding it. It was instant recognition.
"Sorry about the smoke." Ash said. "It was the only way I could think of to get you away from them.
Misty slowly looked at the person. She didn't dare to hope, but she saw a familiar figure. Different clothes, different hat, but she knew hat messy jet black hair and those chocolate brown eyes anywhere. The face was the same face the boy she pulled from the river four years ago had.
"Ash?" she whispered, not wanting to hope.
"Hi Mist." Ash said, as happy as he could be. "Great to see you."
Misty stared at him.
"What?"
"Is it really you?"
"Yes, well, I guess so."
"Yes." Ash said feeling almost the exact same feeling she was feeling. "I can hardly believe you're here myself." He admitted.
Ash and Misty stared at each other. Both had dreamed of meeting again, knowing that they would meet again, but when they met again, they didn't know what to say.
"So, how are things at the gym?" Ash said breaking the ice.
"Busy," she said. "My sisters are so generous, they let me do the work" she added sarcastically.
Ash laughed.
"Shedinja, Solar Beam. Ninjask, Hyper Beam." The creepy guy and Team Rocket showed up
"Pikachu, Thunder!" Ash said while noticing Pikachu wasn't with him. Ash sweat-dropped.
"Misty?" he said
"Yes Ash?" she asked
"RUN!" Ash shouted while the 3 bugs launched their attack.
The explosion blasted Ash, Misty and Togepi off and Ash and Misty got separated from Togepi.
"Ash & Misty are blasting off again!" Ash & Misty shouted
"HEY, that's our line!" Team Rocket shouted.
"Shedinja, Ninjask, get that Togepi. What are you still doing here?" The creep turned his attention to Team Rocket.
After Ash & Misty crashed into the ground, they decided to search for Togepi.
"If that creep lays a finger on my Togepi, I'm going to ……" Misty said.
Ash laughed. "You haven't changed, have you? Let's find Togepi."
After a while they reached a building. A huge building to be precise. The door was open, and they saw a girl in a red dress bowed over Togepi. The girl was around Ash's age.
"What are you doing with my Togepi?" Misty yelled. The girl in the red dress looked up, and when Togepi recognized Misty he began to chirp.
"Togepriiiiii" (Mommy!)
"Mommy?" The girl in the red dress asked
"Yeah, that's her Togepi, give it back. Why do you guys want to steal her Togepi!" Ash yelled.
"Steal a Togepi? I've found this one in the fountain. Don't call me a thief!" The girl yelled back
A man came into the room. "Sarai, what is going on here?"
"They say that I stole their Togepi, but I found it in the fountain, and they want me to give it back, and I don't want to. Buy me this Togepi, please daddy." The girl, named Sarai said.
"I'll give you 2 million for your Topgepi." Her father said.
"This Togepi isn't for sale, it's my Togepi, and I want it back!" Misty yelled.
"Dad, what is happening with Sarai?" A young woman in a blue dress entered the room.
"She stole my Togepi!" Misty said. "She's working with this creep."
"My daughter, a thief! And who is this creep you're talking about." Sarai's father asked.
Misty and Ash described the creep, and the young woman in the blue dress recognized Hanson in the description.
"I knew that guy wanted to steal a Togepi, so he can steal the throne from my family!" the father of Sarai said.
As if they were speaking of the devil, Hanson entered the room.
"King, we have intruders in our beloved king.. YOU!" he yelled when he saw Ash & Misty.
"Guards, arrest this man." The king said, while pointing his finger to Hanson.
"Give me that Togepi!" Hanson said, while dashing towards Sarai and snatching Togepi out of her hands. But when he wanted to leave, the guards had already blocked the doors. So Hanson decided to use the window as an escape. When he jumped out of the window, he ran into Team Rocket, sending Togepi airborne. Misty then ran after it, and caught it.
"Get out of the way, you fools!" Hanson yelled
"Sir, you got the Togepi." James exclaimed.
"No, he had da Togepi" Meowth corrected James.
"Stop!" the guards yelled
Hanson and Team Rocket decided to run, but ran into Misty, who knocked them out with her mallet. She had it just in case Brock would act stupid around some pretty girls.
After Hanson and Team Rocket were in jail and Ash & Misty said sorry to Sarai for calling her a thief, Sarah, the young woman in the blue dress, introduced herself and her father, the king of Mirage Kingdom, which was the name of the kingdom Ash & Misty were in.
"Sir, when is the next blimp leaving?" Ash asked the king
"Oh, it just left a few minutes ago."
"When is the next one leaving?" Misty asked
"Tomorrow evening, but you can stay here if you like."
"Thank you, your majesty." Ash and Misty said in unison.
About an hour later, Ash and Misty were walking in the garden. Ash showed Misty his new pokemon, told her about Brock, May and Max, and told about his progress in gymbattles.
"So, this May, how close are you with her?" Misty asked.
"Well, I like her, she's nice and a great coordinator. You'll like her too." Then Ash saw Misty becoming sad by him talking about how good May was. Quickly he reacted. "But it's not like I like like her."
Misty's face cleared up, like the sky after a rainstorm.
"So are you going back to travelling?" Ash asked.
"No, my sisters don't want to be gym leaders anymore, and my parents are retired."
"Oh." Ash sounds disappointed. Does he wants me to travel with him again? Misty thought.
"Maybe I should go with you." Ash said. "I've been a real mess without you."
Something inside Misty wanted to say yes, but instead she said
"No Ash. Don't give up on your dream because of me."
"At least take this." Ash said while pulling a golden ring with a diamond from his pocket."
"Is that a promise ring?"
"Yes. Please accept it, so that I'll know we'll be together again someday."
"Alright."
When Ash and Misty entered the castle, Princess Sarai saw Misty's new ring.
"Are you two engaged already?" She asked them.
Ash and Misty both blushed as they shook their head. Sarai seemed happy with that answer.
"No. It's only a promise ring, nothing special." Ash answered. "Excuse me, where is the boys room?"
"It's down the hallway, the 2nd door to the right. You can't miss it." Sarai said.
Ash walked away, on his way to the boy's room.
"Wow, he's cute." Sarai exclaimed.
"Hands off, he's mine." Misty answered.
"What, that ring of yours is nothing special. He said it himself. Besides, if he can choose between a princess and a girl, for who god made darkness, it seems to me an easy picking. I can get every guy I want, because I've got money. And maybe he says that he goes for the inside of girls, but if money is in the game, the rich girls always win."
By hearing that, Misty felt like her hart was ripped out. Ash couldn't be like that! But what if Sarai's right. She thought. She couldn't take Sarai's attitude anymore. Misty ran off towards her room crying. She ran past Ash, who wanted to ask her where she was going, but she ignored him. When she arrived at her room, she locked the door after her, and cried into her pillows.
Auch, that bites. Well live is hard. Just like a train. Does Ash falls for rich girls? Does Misty get over Sarai's words? TBC