A/N: Hey guys. Sorry that this chapter took so long. I've been really busy with Thanksgiving, and I changed a few things with this chapter as I went along. Originally this was going to have another part, but I decided to move it to the next chapter because it fit better. Anyway, I hope to get on a relatively consistent schedule when it comes to writing and posting (once a week or so).

Hope you all enjoy!

Sarah

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.


Chapter Two: Life Used 'Confusion'

The leaves were beginning to turn yellow in Cerulean City. The air was still warm, but the autumn was soon approaching. It was a quiet Sunday afternoon with many locals spending the final days of summer down in Vermillion. It was calm in the streets of Cerulean; inside the city's gym, however, was a different story.

"Starmie, water gun!"

The star Pokémon shot out a stream of water. Its opponent, a Wartortle, saw the attack coming and dove into the pool. Misty, a Water Pokémon expert saw this to her advantage. She smirked, knowing exactly what to do.

"All right Starmie! We have it now. Thunderbolt!"

Her Pokémon spun around and then a bolt of electricity emitted from her body. The electric attack travelled through the pool, finding its target. The Wartortle floated up to the surface, knocked out. Misty was victorious. Her opponent, a young boy, fell to his knees in defeat.

"I should have seen that one coming," he said.

"You fought a tough battle," said Misty, walking over to him. "Don't be so hard on yourself."

"Yeah, but this is my third rematch, and I still can't seem to win."

"Just keep at it. Ask Ash over there. He knows more about losing and coming back a better trainer than anyone."

Ash, who had been watching this whole time, looked offended by her comment. He was not the same trainer he had been when they were first travelling together. Yet, he did have that habit of losing to a Gym leader the first time around. He smiled and waved sheepishly at the boy, who was now even more embarrassed. He must have not known that there had been a spectator for the match.

Ash was impressed with Misty's level of skill. She was a lot better than the last time he saw her battle. It had been a few days since their arrival, and Ash had witnessed many matches. Misty had not lost once. Her Pokémon were impressive as well, knowing attacks that would always put the battle to her advantage. He watched her in admiration as she talked to the young trainer, giving him tips about his Wartortle. After the boy had left, Ash came down the stairs in the arena to join her. She was stretching her arms when he reached her.

"I am exhausted. I hate that my sisters didn't even bother taking on challengers while I was gone. There are so many of them now."

"You were great though," Ash said.

"Really? I am a bit rusty from not training for a few weeks."

"You still did great.
"I guess so," she said. "I think I've caught up on all the appointments. Want to go for a swim?"

"Uh sure," Ash said, feeling uneasy for some reason. "I'll go get my swimsuit."

Ash walked back into the gym, nervous. He was in nothing but his swim trunks. His thoughts were of the time about a week previously when he was shirtless. That night they had almost kissed, and possibly done more. He wondered if anything like that would happen during their swim. He wouldn't openly admit it, but he was very attracted to her.

She was already swimming laps in the pool when he walked along the tile floor on the edge. He called over to her, his voice quivering. She swam the breaststroke over to the nearest ladder, and pulled herself up over the surface to great him. She was wearing a white and blue bikini, all of her curves displayed for him. Her dripping wet body sent his attraction into overdrive. His face got hotter as she drew closer, as he was also undressing her with his eyes. She stopped in front of him smiling, her sopping wet hair secured into a tight ponytail, much like the one she had sported years ago.

"You ready?"

"S-sure," he said, taking a running leap into the pool without another word.

Misty shrugged off his peculiar behavior, strolling slowly to the far end of the pool. She reached the base of the diving board, and peering behind her, saw that Ash had been observing her the entire duration. Self-conscious, she climbed up the ladder, prepared to do a high dive. She reached the top and was aware that he was still watching below. Inhaling deeply, Misty trotted down the board and leaped off, flying through the air. Ash watched in awe as she dove effortlessly in the water. His mouth was hanging open slightly when she swam over to him.

"You know," she said, treading the water. "We ought to practice for the show. I'm sure there'll be a lot of swimming like there was last time. Although, I think most of the swimming will be on me…so never mind I guess."

Ash was not retaining anything that Misty was saying. His attention was focused on her body in front of him. His hormones running wild, all he could do was stare at her. She was so beautiful in front of him. He just wanted to push her up against the side of the pool and kiss her. It was not all that he wanted to do to her. These thoughts pervaded his mind as he felt a tightening in his mid-section and a particular pressure in between his hips. As he realized what was happening, panic became present. What was he thinking? This was Misty he was fantasizing about then. She was the scrawny brat from his childhood. He should not be experiencing this attraction, no matter how beautiful she may be. She was his best friend, and he would be devastated if he ever were to mess that up for his own selfish pleasures.

"Ash, you even listening to me?"

Her high-pitched scolding shook him from his pensive state. His face was beet red by that point, with something else occurring below his hips. Not wanting her to see that, he briskly swam away from her, much to her chagrin.

"Where are you going?" she shouted.

"I just remembered that I had an appointment for something."

"You haven't got any appointment. Get your butt back over here, Ash Ketchum."

"Sorry, Mist. I can't. I'll catch you later, okay?"

He lifted his body out of the pool, back turned to Misty. Once standing on the floor, he moved his head to see the tent forming in his pants. Still greatly embarrassed, he ran out of the area, praying that he would not run into one of her sisters on the way to his room upstairs. He did not say another word to Misty, leaving her angry, but also feeling rejected and confused.


Ash had been absent from Misty's presence for the rest of the day. She spent over an hour that evening making dinner for everyone. Her sisters were at the table, ready for the meal, but Ash was nowhere to be found. She thought this to be odd because her cooking had greatly improved, and he was not one to miss a meal. It was reminiscent of the first night she was in Pallet Town. She hoped that he was not reverting back to his depressed state. It was awful to see him so sad, and she had worked hard to cheer him up.

"Do any of you know where Ash is?" Misty asked as she set the food down at the table.

"Well the last I saw of him was when he went thundering through the hall to his room with nothing but swim trunks on." Lily said.

"Yeah, Misty, what did you do to the poor boy?" Violet said.

"What do you mean?"

"He was all hot and bothered when we saw him. He couldn't even utter like two words to us when we said hello. If I didn't already know him, I'd say he was extremely rude, but I know better."

"Nothing," Misty replied. "We were swimming in the pool after my last match, but it didn't last long. He left, giving me this lame excuse."

"Oh," said Lily.

"That explains a lot," Violet said.

"Huh?"

"Well little sister. Think about it. He saw you in your bikini right?" said Daisy.

"So? It's not like he's never seen me that way before."

"Yeah that may be true," the oldest sister continued. "But you were kids then. He only thought of his Pokémon, not girls. Not to mention you weren't like as voluptuous per se. Seeing you in an outfit like that probably got him excited."

"You mean—" Misty yelped, her face turning crimson.

"Aw look. Our little sister is blushing," Lily teased.

"I am not!"

"Don't tell me that you're like still a virgin," Daisy said.

"And what if I am?" Misty asked, indignant.

"There's nothing wrong with that, Misty," Violet said.

"Yeah, we love you little sis," said Daisy. "We were only teasing you, but if you do decide to go there with Ash, just do us a favor and put on some music or something."

"Agreed. We don't want to hear any of that."

"Oh and don't forget to use protection!" Lily called as Misty stormed out of the kitchen, grumbling.


The evening was turning into night when Misty brought up a tray of food from dinner to Ash's room. She could not see a light emitting from the crack underneath the door. She wondered if he was sleeping. She went to open the door, but hesitated. What if he were doing something else? Her face got hot by the thought of that. Her heart hammering, she pushed the image out of her mind. Inhaling sharply, Misty placed a gentle knock on the door. There was a moment of silence before the soft footsteps of bare feet against the floor grew louder. There was a click of the light, bringing illumination to the dark hallway. Even more light seeped in when Ash opened the door and popped his head out.

"Oh hi, Misty," he said.

"Sorry to intrude. Were you sleeping? The light was off."

"Oh no," he replied, shifting awkwardly. "What's up?"

"You didn't come down for dinner, so I thought you might be hungry," she said, holding out the tray.

"It's that late? I must have lost track of the time. Thanks," he replied, taking the tray of food from her.

"Well that was all," she said as she began to walk away. "Have a good night."

"Misty, wait!"

"Yes?" she asked, her heart still hammering.

"Come in and spend time with me." It was more of a request than a demand. Ash's eyes stared at her earnestly, pleading with her. Her heart did a backflip, and she couldn't resist his desire. She followed him into the room, closing the door gently behind her. Pikachu was in there as well, sleeping peacefully, curled up on the small desk in the corner. The electric mouse stirred, but did not wake, when Ash placed the tray down next to him. Misty sat on his bed, opposite to him. Concentrating on calming her shaking hands, she sat in silence, observing as he took the first bite.

"Who made this?" he asked, reaching for the glass of iced tea.

"Um I did," she replied sheepishly.

"You're pulling my leg right?" he said with a smile. "This is pretty good. From what I recall, your cooking used to be complete shit."

"Hey, I resent that!"

"Relax. I'm only kidding. It was pretty bad though. You've gotten a lot better. Just take the compliment Misty."

"Okay fine," she said. "What were you doing in here with all the lights off anyway?"

"I was thinking."

"About what…?"

"Stuff."

"That's all you're going to tell me?"

"Yup."

"You are—"

"What?"

"Incredibly frustrating."

Misty flopped back on the queen size bed, expressing a low groan. She was on the unmade side, the covers askew. Since this was the guest room, Ash enjoyed the luxury of a bed large enough for two people. She had been so busy. Now that she had a moment of rest, she realized how tired she was. She tucked an arm under the pillows, sighing at their comfort. Ash grinned at her before taking another bite of food. He was not doing it intentionally, not telling her. He was not ready for that still, even though it had nearly been a month. It amused him to torture her, though. She did not speak for the remainder of his meal. He was pensive, considering telling her everything, or at least, some of it. She would be more understanding of his strange behavior, he hoped in the very least. He took a deep breath before beginning.

"I know you've been wondering why I've been sad and stopped training," he said, staring out the open window next to him. "I'm not ready to share all the details, I guess, but I can give a basic summary of what's happened. I started dating this girl about a half a year ago. We were friends for a while, and she had been travelling with me. She was the one who wanted to go out with me initially. After some persistence, I eventually agreed to try it out. We got along pretty well and things were great at first. The reason I came home was she dumped me for another guy. He was better looking I guess. He had more money and was more put together. Having a girlfriend like that took away from my training, too. It was a disaster.

"So I came home. Pokémon training reminded me of her and the previous months. It was too painful. I needed to take a break. I'm glad that you came to see me though. Having you around has helped. I never realized how much I missed you. I know that I should have told you about her sooner, before we even broke up I guess. I got too carried away with the new relationship and neglected everything else. It only made matters worse when it came to an end.

"Right now, I am so confused about my feelings. I know I am sad and angry about what she did. I don't know if that's because I was betrayed or if I actually loved her. I never had a girlfriend before, so I'm not sure if what I felt for her was love or if it had been something simple. And right now I feel that we are getting close, and I don't know what that's all about. Are we getting closer as friends or is there something more to this? I look at you and I cannot even describe how it makes me feel. It's similar to the emotions I had for my ex, but seems so much stronger.

"You got to give me some time, Mist, to sort through all of this. I'm getting out of a bad break-up, and I don't know if this is just rebound stuff that everyone talks about or if I'm really falling for you. If you don't feel the same way, then that's fine…tell me now before I get myself in too deep because I don't think I could handle that. You're my very best friend, and if I lost you, I know that my entire world would fall apart—way worse than this time. I want to be sure, you know?"

His soliloquy was greeted with silence. He waited for Misty to respond, but he did so in vain. Was she in shock? Was she angry? He could not bear to look at her at first, but got so frustrated that he gave in, whipping his head around to face her. Misty was sleeping peacefully in his bed, her face relaxed, and she was even snoring softly. Ash sighed, realizing that she had not heard a single word of all of that. Here he was, spilling out his heart to her, and she was not conscious. Maybe this was a sign that he shouldn't tell her. It might hurt her to know that he had kept this from her for so long.

He gave a sigh, and rose from his chair. He tucked the covers around her sleeping body before heading to the light switched. After turning off the lights, he prepared for bed, taking off his shirt. Not wanting to wake her, Ash climbed into the bed on the opposite, unused side. He spent several moments staring at her face, drinking in her beauty, and wondering whether or not if he deserved her. He could tell that she would never do anything to hurt him like the other girl, but he feared shattering Misty, knowing how fragile she could be. He placed a kiss on her forehead, and she stirred slightly, but did not wake. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close to him. He fell asleep to the sounds of her beating heart.