Anything But Ordinary

by Violet Emeralds

Ash and co are finally on the slopes!! But who's this new guy, Scott, and why exactly does he have his eyes set on Misty? (Part 1 of 2) FINALLY UPDATED!!!!

10. Chapter 9: A Week on the Slopes :I:

In the last chapter…

Friday came quickly, and soon Misty found herself rushing to school, in fear of being late.  She sighed when she reached the school grounds and found that the bell had not rung yet.  She wandered into the school building and tried to look for her friends.  Once she'd spotted them, she began walking faster in their direction.

Upon reaching them, she was just about to greet them when she heard-

"Attention students!"  Misty stopped in her tracks.  Alyssa turned around almost subconsciously, since the voice was coming from behind her on the P.A, and spotted Misty.  She waved slightly before the lady on the P.A continued.

"I'd like to make a special announcement as to the singing tryouts yesterday.  The three finalists, who will be performing at the grade ten trip to the ski resort, are…"

There was an overly dramatic pause, of which some people couldn't help but laugh at.

"Tina Walker, Misty Waterflower, and Sue Gordon!"

*~Anything But Ordinary~*

*~Chapter Nine a) – A Week On The Slopes(Part I)~*

***

Alyssa, Claire, Michelle, and Roxy all stared at her in shock.  They seemed more amazed by the fact that she tried out than that she won at this point in time. 

"Y-you tried out?" Roxy voiced the thought that was on everyone's mind.

"Um, it was an… accident?" Misty half asked, half stated.

"An accident??" Michelle squealed.  "How do you try out for a singing contest – and for god's sake, WIN – by ACCIDENT?!"

Misty sweatdropped and stepped back cautiously, backing herself into the lockers.  She then began to timidly explain to her comrades what had happened the previous day.

"You mean to say that you tried out by accident and ended up winning?  Oh man…" Claire sighed, rubbing her temples.  "How in the world do you do it, Misty?"

"Eheheh…" Misty just laughed shakily, scrunching her petite form as close to the locker as possible.

"Anyway," Roxy cleared her throat, wanting to change the subject.  Somewhat.  "Can you believe that it's only a week until we leave??  Isn't that so cool?" 

"Yeah," came the excited, chorused agreement. 

The bell interrupted their brief conversation, signaling them to begin heading towards their first class. 

Flipping around in the direction of the main stairwell, Michelle announced "C'mon girls, it's time for Math!"

***

Tuesday afternoon…

"Okay girls, now, take a deep breath, and one, two, three!" Ms. Hughes instructed, moving her hands in different ways, telling which person to start singing and when. 

There, in front of the sometimes-irritable Ms. Hughes, was Misty, Tina, and Sue.  All three had their mouths open wide, melodic sounds emitting from their vocal chords.  

"Silent night,
Holy night,
All is calm,

All is bright,
Round yon virgin,
Mother and child
Holy infant so
Tender and mild…"

Sue accidentally went a semi-tone too high for the previous note, earning a shrieking "Stop!" from Ms. Hughes.

"This has to be perfect," she would say every time someone accidentally messed up.  "You can't make a mistake on stage."

The relentless practicing continued for another hour, and the girls were finally left to go home.  In their hands, they carried the lyrics to many Christmas Carols, along with the written music to look off of for rhythm references.  Preparing to walk home by herself, considering none of her friends wanted to wait around for her this day, Misty picked up her red bag and slung it over her shoulder, exiting the school.

***

Sunday afternoon…

"Wow, it's amazing how fast this week went, huh?"  Ash turned to face his comrades, now walking backwards, hands shoved into his jean pockets.

"Yeah, it did seem to zoom by.  I thought it would have taken longer, since I'm so excited about the trip coming up tomorrow."  Misty looked up into the light of the mid-day sun and shivered as an unexpected gust of chilly winter wind swept past them.

Brock, Tracey, Roxy, Michelle, Alyssa, and Claire weren't talking too much, they were all enthralled with the sparkly Christmas decoration set up in a department store they were passing by.  No one out of the group had gotten anyone a Christmas present yet, considering they were supposed to spend almost a half a day in the huge shopping center in the nearby town when they were going on their trip.        

"So Myst, how's your singing thing coming along?"  Ash couldn't help but snort as he said this.

"What's so funny, Mr. Ketchum?" Misty huffed, placing her hands on her hips. 

He chuckled a bit more before answering.  "It's still sounds funny when you put you and singing in the same sentence…"

She placed her hand behind her back threateningly.  "I'll take it out, you know," she taunted, referring to her mallet.

"Where do you get that thing from, anyway?" Tracey questioned, now entering the conversation.

Smiling devilishly, she answered "That's for me to know and you to just think about but never find out."

Roxy sweatdropped.  "Isn't the saying supposed to go 'That's for me to know and you to find out'?"

Turning her head to face Roxy, Misty replied "Not anymore."

"And, to answer the forgotten question that started this whole thing, my practices have been coming along great.  Everything's good to go, and it sounds really nice."

Michelle grumbled before saying "Don't even remind me about the Christmas thing… I've practiced so much in the last week that I went through about 5 sets of drumsticks."  She looked at her hands in disgust.  "And my hands look like crap, they have so many blisters…"

"Oh, quit whining."  Claire shoves Michelle a bit before continuing.  "You've only got like two blisters, if that, why're you complaining?"

She sniffed, much like that of a valley girl.  "But they're blisters!"

Everyone sighed, except for Brock, who promptly took Michelle's hands in his and complimented "I think they're the most beautiful hands ever…"

Misty, Ash, Claire, Roxy, and Tracey all sweatdropped.  "Eheheh…"

***

"Pika?  {Sweater?}" Sparky asked, looking at his mistress with an interrogative glance as she hunched over her suitcase on her bed.  She tossed in a fuzzy object and replied "Check!"

Sparky looked down once again at the sheet he held in his hands.  There were many pictures on it, and he called out what they were to Misty.  He was then instructed to cross out each item she said 'Check' for.  Putting a red blob of ink over the picture of the sweater, he continued down the page.

"Chu pika cha?  {How about jeans?}"

"Yeah, jeans are a must."  Misty walked over to her dresser and pulled out a few clumps of blue fabric, tossing them into her suitcase on the bed.  "Check!"

Another red blob found itself mounted on the page, and Sparky finished with his last item.  "Ka chu, pi pi.  {Last one, slippers!}"

Misty looked down at her feet, and replied "Almost check.  I'll take them off before I go to bed tonight."  She smiled thankfully at the little yellow mouse.  "Thanks, Sparky.  Never could have done it without you."

Sparky beamed, absorbing all of the gratification like a sponge with water.  "Ka chu!  {I know!}"

Misty walked into the small upstairs washroom of her house.  She missed her old bathroom, which was much bigger.

Yawning, Misty picked her green toothbrush up from its holder and began spreading gooey toothpaste on it.  Once she began actually brushing her teeth, she began to think. 

'I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow.'

Yes, tomorrow was the big, highly anticipated departure date for the slopes.  Misty smiled, which was harder then one might think considering she had a toothbrush stuffed in her mouth, and continued with her thoughts.

'I hope that Sydney doesn't go.'

She'd been lucky these past few days.  Sydney had been absent from school ever since the 'incident', making Misty's life one hell of a lot happier.  She could only pray that the evil strawberry blonde wouldn't ruin her trip, which was highly unlikely if she was going. 

She spit some excess toothpaste into the sink and ran her toothbrush under the tap for a few seconds before continuing where she left off.

'I still can't believe how nice Ash was that day, offering for me to stay at his house for Christmas and everything.'  Placing her toothbrush back in its original position, she gave her reflection a last once-over before trotting out to her bed, impatiently awaiting the next day.

***

Ash sat on his bed, thinking hard.

"Pikapi?" his Pikachu asked in genuine concern, observing her master's reserved state.

"I'm alright, Pikachu.  It just feels like I'm forgetting something."

"Pi pi chu…?  {Such as…?}" she inquired, hopping up to perch on his head.

Ring.  Ring.

Ash groggily picked up the phone in his room, wondering who could be phoning this late. 

"Hello?" he answered the person on the other line.

"Hiya Ash," he was greeted with.

"Myst?  What're ya phoning this late for?"  He turned to face his clock on the opposing wall and noted that it was 10:30pm.

"Well…. I couldn't sleep, and I had to thank you for something."  She petted the top of Sparky's head and smiled through the phone, remembering what he did for her.

"Thank me?" he repeated, scratching his head in question.  "What for?"  He honestly couldn't remember for the life of him what he was being thanked for. 

"For… umm, you know… inviting me over to your house for Christmas."

His face paled.  "Holy shit!"

He was met with a definite "Pika~!" from the other line, and the rumble of electricity.

"Ash!  What was that for?" Misty shouted, annoyed that she had just gotten shocked by Sparky due to Ash's antics.

Ash was met with a similar response from his mother.

"ASHTON SATOSHI KETCHUM, I DON'T EVER WANT TO HEAR THAT KIND OF LANGUAGE IN MY HOUSE EVER AGAIN!!"

Jeez, no matter how late it was, women sure could yell…

"Nothing, nothing…" he replied, referring to Misty's previous question.

The reason for his sudden outburst, in fact, was because of something.  You see, remember that little thing Ash felt like he forgot?  Yep.  That was it.

"Umm… Myst, I gotta go now…  I'll talk to you tomorrow!"  Barely giving her a chance to respond, he hung the phone up with lightening fast speed and sighed.  He continued out of his room and down the stairs, preparing to face his mother.

"Damn…  And it has to be tonight that I ask her, too.  Cuz we're leaving tomorrow morning, and we'll get back on that very day…  Ergh!"  He came upon the entrance to the kitchen and braced himself, knowing full well that this might not go over quite as smoothly as planned at 10:30 at night.

"Umm… mom?"  Deliah, who had previously been turned away from him, sitting at the kitchen table, faced him and answered "Yes, honey?"  It seemed the previous swearing incident had blown over already.

"I kinda promised someone something… and I kinda forgot to ask you… and the question was…"  His voice got lower with every word he spoke.  "… can one of my friends come over for Christmas?"

Deliah looked at him blankly.  "For Christmas?  As in Christmas day?"  Ash could tell by the tone in her voice that she wasn't too keen on complying.

"But mom, she doesn't have anybody with her on that day, and she's spent a lot of Christmases alone, and…"  He paused, carefully thinking of a way to word his next thoughts to get his mom to agree.  "…and I wanted to make the holiday more special for her."

Deliah had to use all of her self restraint to keep a resounding 'Awww…" from escaping the confines of her lips at her son's caring words.  Not wanting it to look like she broke as quickly as she did, she drawled "Well, I don't know.  I mean, you're going to be gone for a whole week, and when you get back, I wanna spend Christmas with you."

Ash inwardly sighed.  This conversation didn't seem to be going anywhere, he was tired, and he wanted tomorrow to get here as fast as possible.  He almost felt like giving up and just retreating to his room.  But one thing stopped him from doing so.  He remembered how happy it seemed to make her when Misty first found out that she didn't have to spend Christmas alone.  How sad she was when her sisters had to work, and she had to face another lonely Christmas.  The way she thanked him on the phone just now, the true gratitude expressed in her voice with those two little words.  And then, he decided, he wasn't going to leave this kitchen until he got what he wanted.  His mother's permission.

"I'll still be spending Christmas with you, too, mom!  Please!!"  He got down to his knees and clasped his hands together in a praying position, gaze directed upon his mother above him.  "Mom!  I'm begging you on my hands and knees here, that's got to count for something!"

Deliah smiled.  'He must really want this girl to come over this Christmas.  I know from experience that Ash and pride go hand in hand, him actually begging is something he hasn't done since he was a little boy.  I guess I'll let it end here.'

"Alright Ash, she can come over."  Just Ash's smile alone after she said those words was reason enough to keep her happy for years to come. 

'I think I'll make this girl stick around if Ash smiles like that more often.'

***

The dream.  It was happening again.  She was standing on a dock, overlooking the beautiful shimmering water. The mysterious full moon peeked over a silver-gray cloud, making the night seem that much more majestic.  She took in a breath, preparing herself for what was going to happen.  She turned around on instinct, but saw nothing but a few scattered trees and bushes behind her.  She turned back around, guided by some unknown force.  She desperately wanted to stay turned around in hopes of catching a glimpse of the unknown man she knew was coming before he fell into the shadows.  She unwillingly faced the still gleaming water and waited impatiently for the inevitable.

There, she felt it again.  His arms winding their way around her waist.  She felt the slightest hint of his warm breath tickling the back of her neck from where he was standing.  It was the most wondrous feeling, she felt so safe.  Slowly, she turned around and, try as she might, she couldn't make out any features on the man.  She thought she heard him mumble something, but it was so inaudible she couldn't decipher the voice, or what it was saying. 

Surprisingly, she heard her own self mutter a soft "What?"  That was something that had never happened before.  He leaned closer to her ear, preparing to repeat those words…

"Beep!  Beep!  Beep!"

Misty, upon re-entering the conscious world, let loose the most evil of growls and snapped "GODDAMN ALARM CLOCK!  WHY THE HELL CAN'T I HAVE THAT STUPID DREAM ON A WEEKEND!!"  She didn't care if her sisters heard, hell, she didn't care if the neighbors heard.  All she cared about was letting loose some frustrations she'd developed with the reoccurrence of that dream. 

A few minutes after her rather loud outburst, Violet poked her head into Misty's room.  "Like, Misty!  Do you have to be so, like, loud in the morning?  And watch your language!"  Violet's face, which had been somewhat annoyed upon first entering the room, turned to a glare as her statement finished.  Although, the last comment wasn't even needed, for a couple seconds after that, Sparky entered the room.  He'd previously been a level lower, wanting food before its mistress got up.  He glared at her, telling her exactly what was coming.

"Sparky!!" she whined, pulling the covers up around her more in a futile attempt to delay the inevitable.  "Pi pika chu.  {You deserve it.}"  He approached her in an overly dramatic way and smiled evilly.  This next part was the fun one.

"PIKACHUUUU!"

"Waaaaah!!"

***

Ash yawned widely, approaching the school in his mom's car.  Even though the walk was not that far from his house, he was heavily laden with a duffle bag filled to the brink with items, and also due to the fact that it was the middle of winter and it was 6:00 in the morning, his mother opted to see him off on his 'big journey'. 

"But mom," he'd remembered protesting.  "How can you classify this as a journey?  It's only a trip!  Now, my Pokemon traveling, that was a journey."

But, all the same, Deliah Ketchum would not let her son wander off to 'some strange place' without seeing him off before he left. 

They reached the parking lot, where Ash would unload his junk from the car and proceed to the bus loop of the school, where the bus would be waiting to have their bags packed in.  He groaned upon lifting the bag, the full weight of it kicking in.  Muttering something about why his mother made him pack so much stuff, he slammed the trunk door down and began walking to where he'd find his friends.

"Yo Ash!  Over here!"  Ash saw Brock waving his hand around in the air, motioning for him to come join him.  He smiled upon running into one of his friends so quickly.

"Hiya, Brock.  Where's your dad?"  Ash had found out from Brock the previous night that his dad had the same type of idea his mom had, driving him to school this morning. 

"Over there," he answered, pointing to a slightly aged man standing beside the school wall.  After greeting Mr. Slate with a wave of his hand, Ash proceeded to the bus.  Once he saw it, his mouth practically hit the ground.

"This is our bus?"

The bus was massive.  It was one of those you'd see on a fancy tour around Europe or something, not a type of bus you'd expect for a three hour trip to the nearest mountains.  It was a bone white colour, with a beige and deep maroon double stripe going across almost the entire frame, save for the very front.  Even the hubcaps on the tires seemed to be gleaming in the sunlight.  A panel of the lower portion of the bus was uplifted, and Ash saw some of his fellow classmates depositing their bags into a fairly large compartment underneath the windows.  From the look of it, or from what Ash saw through the window of the bus, the seats in the bus looked pretty comfy – and pretty high up.

"Nice, isn't it?"  A voice sounded over Ash's shoulder, startling him.  He jumped around just in time to see Misty shoot her hand up to her mouth, stifling a couple of giggles. 

"You're so easy to scare, Ash," she reprimanded. 

"Shut up," he retorted, flicking his hat to the side to make himself look more intimidating.  "And to answer your question, yes, it is a nice bus.  Can't believe this school could actually afford one this nice."

Deliah walked up to the couple, saying "Ash, shouldn't you put your bag in the bus?"

"I guess so," he answered.  "Do ya wanna come with me, Myst?"

"Nah, I already put my bags away."  So, with that, Ash left his mother and friend to put his bags in the bus. 

"Hello.  You must be Misty," Deliah greeted, smiling. 

"Yeah, I'm Misty," she confirmed.  "Nice to meet you, …"

"You can call me Deliah," she supplied, shaking Misty's now outstretched hand.

"…Deliah.  That's a nice name," Misty finished.

They continued chatting while Ash was loading his bag into the bus, talking with Brock a bit, as well.  The two of them came back over to Misty and Deliah, waiting anxiously for everyone to get here for the trip to start.

Misty caught a glimpse of Sydney walking by.  'Shit,' she cursed in her mind.  'She's coming.  And I was hoping she wouldn't.'  She then began thinking of how much more frustrating Sydney could make this trip.  She was broken from her thoughts by a roll call taking place in front of the bus.

Knowing that her son would be leaving in a matter of minutes for an entire week, Deliah's motherly instincts began to kick in.

"Ash, do you have your money?"

"Yep."

"Your toothbrush?"

"Yep."

"All your clothes?"

"Yep."

"Even your-"

"Yes!" Ash shrieked before his mother had a chance to finish the sentence.  He turned and answered when his name was called, and began walking towards the group of people gathered around the bus, Brock and Misty following close behind.  Misty sighed inwardly, thinking of how everyone else's parents came to see off their kids.  Even though it was kind of childish in the tenth grade, Misty could see that most of her classmates still enjoyed getting attention from their parents in times like this.  That was something she'd never experience again.  'No, Misty,' she told herself, shaking her head.  'Don't think things like that.  At least not now.  Not so close to…'

"Misty Waterflower!"

Upon hearing her name, Misty announced her presence and adorned a fake smile on her lips.  After taking a quick peek at Misty, Ash could tell what she was thinking and felt bad for her.  Looking back at his mom for one last time in the next week, Ash yelled out "Say goodbye to Pikachu for me!  And don't let her stay out too late!"

Deliah giggled at the opposing end of the parking lot.  "Don't worry Ash, I'll look after her!"  She waved broadly, then turned to board her car and head back home.

"We have arranged seating for the way there, since I know how rowdy you kids can be when you get all excited and such," Ms. Bentley announced.  Just about everyone groaned. 

"And I don't want to hear any complaining about it!"

Before Ms. Bentley began reading off the names in pairs of where they would be sitting, she said "There's a washroom in the back of the bus that you can use, but we'll be making one stop along the way, considering it's a three hour drive.  Everybody got that?"

Ash groaned.  'Why did she, out of all teachers, have to be one of the ones who's coming along?'  He cursed his bad luck.  'If it wasn't for her, we'd probably have gotten to choose our own seats.'

"Hey, Misty!"  Misty heard a loud whisper from behind her, and when she turned around, she came face to face with Alyssa, waving.  "Hope I'm sitting beside ya!"

Misty smiled back.  "Me too."

"Listen up!  The pairs go as follows, from front to back on the left side…"  She began calling out paired names, half of which Misty barely knew.  She crossed her fingers to be able to sit beside someone she knew.

"Alyssa Minden, Tracey Sketchit!"

'Ah well,' Misty concluded, scratching off a name from her mental list.  'There's still plenty of other people.'

"Brock Slate, Sue Gordon!"

"Michelle, Roxy!"

"Tamiya, Claire!"

Misty looked hopefully at Ash, her only good friend left that wasn't destined for a certain seat yet.

"Ash, Kody!"

'Argh…  Well, try to stay on the optimistic side, Misty.  You get to make a new best friend for three hours straight.'

Some more names were called, and Ash and Alyssa looked down at Misty sympathetically, knowing there was no one left from their regular group of friends left for her.

"Misty…"

Maybe it was just her imagination, but Misty could've sworn the pause for this pair was greater than the others.

"and Sydney!"

Her face colour dropped about 5 shades to an almost white colour.  "Sydney?" she squeaked, barely audible.  How the hell was she supposed to sit beside Sydney for three full hours?  It could have been anyone except for her!  Anyone in the whole school. She would have even rather sat in the middle aisle than in a comfy seat beside her.

The sympathetic looks given to her previously by Ash and Alyssa were now given to her by all of her friends – and increased by tenfold.  The feeling inside of her right now was indescribable.  It seemed all the happiness she was feeling about going on the trip and being able to go to Ash's house for the holiday when they got back all melted away with that one simple name – Sydney.  She sucked in a deep breath, preparing herself for what was to come.  'There is no way possible that this can be good.'

***

Several minutes later, everyone had found their seats on the bus.  It ends up that the closest person to Misty, that she was good friends with, was Ash, but he was two seats behind.  She sighed exasperatedly, facing the window.  'I guess I'll be staring out the window for the whole trip,' she told herself sadly.  She crossed her legs and got comfy.  No matter how comfortable the seats were, the fact that she was sitting next to her worst enemy didn't make things that great.  She heard a huff coming from beside her and was glad to see that Sydney was just as annoyed as she was.  'I soo can't wait for the next stop.'

"Please, everyone, take your seats!  And don't talk!" commanded Ms. Bentley from the front of the bus.  Everyone sat down, but the chatting continued.  "I said be quiet!"  Most everyone piped down, but faint whispers could still be heard.  No one wanted to see how bad Ms. Bentley could make their trip for one week.

"Thank you," she said, not really meaning it.  "Now, we'll leave as soon as the driver deems worthy."  Almost immediately, the whirring of the engine began and a soft rumbling could be felt from the seats.  The bus began to move, and slowly, but surely, the school began to fall out of sight. 

Misty sat, unmoving, for about ten minutes, just glancing out the large window.  She watched the snow covered trees whiz past.  Glancing at her watch, she sighed when she noted that only 11 minutes had passed.  'Only 2 hours, 49 minutes, and 32 seconds to go… approximately.' 

Finding it hard now to keep her eyelids open, whether is was from the lulling whirr of the bus' engine or the drowsy consistent pattern of the passing trees, she didn't know.  All she could think of was whether it would be safe to go to sleep with Sydney in the next seat.  Eventually, the battle ended and sleep won over, and Misty softly closed her eyes, willing the time to pass faster than normal.

From a couple of seats back, Ash watched as Misty fell asleep.  'I guess I'll keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't do anything,' he said to himself, referring to Sydney.  His face softened when he saw Misty's reflection on the large tinted windows.  This was the first time he'd ever seen her asleep before, and she looked so much more peaceful when she didn't have the stress of everything weighed down on her shoulders.  He smiled slightly, then turned his head to begin a light conversation with Kody, who was sitting beside him.

***

Time flew by very quickly, and surprisingly enough, Sydney hadn't bothered Misty one bit, or vice versa.  Of course, this could have to do with the fact that Misty slept the whole way.  Now, the bus was stopped, and people were beginning to load off to refresh themselves after an hour and a half of straight sitting.

Meanwhile…

'Again.  Twice in one day?  Why does this keep happening at the weirdest times?'  It was true.  Misty was there, at the dock, again.  The moon was radiantly glowing, the lake was shimmering, and sure enough, the feeling of that mysterious man's arms around her waist greeted her quickly after.

           

He turned her around in his arms and whispered something to her.  She was so close to hearing it. 

Again, she heard a faint "What?" emerge from her mouth, and he answered her again, this time a little louder, although Misty still wasn't sure on what he was saying. 

Then, something else happened.  He slowly brought his face down to hers.  She could feel his soft hand trace the line of her jawbone, and could feel her heart speeding up, anticipating what was going to happen.  His face was so close to hers, their noses were practically touching.

"Earth to Misty!!  Helloooo?  We've stopped, time to get up!"

Misty had never felt a time when someone had been more annoying. 

"Ugh, Lyss!!  You freak, shut up!" she whined, pushing her friend away in a playful manner.

"Oooh, touchy.  Remind me to never talk to you in the mornings." Alyssa reprimanded.

Misty just laughed lightly, putting the dream behind her. 

"So I take it sitting beside Sydney wasn't as bad as you thought?" Ash asked, walking up to the two.  He waited as Misty pulled herself from her seat and stretched, making her way down the narrow aisle to the front of the bus.

"Well, considering I slept the whole time, I don't think I have that much of an opinion."  Misty pulled the ponytail out of her hair, letting her reddish orange locks flow freely in hopes that it wouldn't look as messy as it surely was after sleeping on a bus.

She was happy for the bright sunshine to greet her, and the cool chill in the air brushing against her cheeks felt almost heavenly after begin pressed up against her coat for an hour and a half.  She squinted a bit and observed the surrounding area.

There was a service center.  In it held all that any service center would – assorted popular restaurants, huge washrooms, a small convenience store; surely home to a variety of candy, and lastly, parking spaces galore. 

"Listen up!!"  Ms. Bentley's chirpy voice directed all of their attentions back to the general area of the bus. 

"You have half an hour to do what you need to in here.  Get a snack, go to the bathroom, whatever.  You must be back and in this bus, ready to leave, by-" she paused for a moment to check the time on her watch, "-9:00, no later.  Got it??"  Everyone made some sort of reply before venturing out into the stop.

Misty, Ash, and Alyssa met up with Brock, Tracey, Roxy, Michelle, and Claire.  They all walked as a big group towards the huge building, talking.  Misty was happy to be surrounded by her friends once again.  She could only hope Sydney wouldn't do anything to her for the rest of the trip.

Just before they entered the building, Claire commented "Ooh, its chillier out there than back home."

"Well duh, genius.  We're heading north for the slopes, so logically, it would get colder," Roxy justified, waving her index finger in various direction to help further prove her point.

"Oh shut up, brainer," Alyssa retorted playfully, giving Roxy a shove.  "We're on this trip to get away from school and have fun… we don't need a Ms-Know-It-All telling facts along the way."

The two continued bickering, and soon, the group found themselves already inside the building.

Automatically, Michelle and Claire headed straight for the nearest coffee shop, in desperate need for some caffeine to boost them for the rest of the trip.  The others followed close behind, watching as their two caffeine-deprived friends quickly ordered their hot drinks.

Upon reaching the seating area of the small shop, the teens noted that there were only two chairs per table.  Once each of them got their drink, they paired up and headed off to a table.  Michelle sat with Brock, wanting to spend some time with her boyfriend, and Roxy sat with Tracey for the same reason.  Claire and Alyssa paired up shortly after, as well, leaving Ash and Misty with a table to themselves.

Ash pulled out a chair for Misty, placing his forearm alongside his back and bowing, imitating the 'perfect gentleman'.  Misty giggled at his antics before taking her seat and watching him walk around the table to his own chair.  She carefully lifted her hot apple cider to her lips, blowing on it gently before taking a small sip.  She relished in the feeling of the steaming drink going down her throat. 

"Good?" asked Ash, after taking a gulp of his own drink.

"Mmm, very," she sighed, placing the cup onto the table.  She took this time now to take a look around the building.  There were so many fast food places, some people already going to them this early in the morning.  Upon her visual tour of the place, Misty's eyes stumbled onto a Pikachu plushie hanging from a rack of one of the stores.  She sighed, already missing her own little rodent. 

"What's the matter?" Ash inquired upon hearing her sigh.

"Nothing, its just that I miss Sparky already.  Its gonna be so weird going a whole week without seeing him."

"Yeah, I know exactly how you feel.  I mean, Pikachu's been with me ever since day one of my journey back when I was ten.  Its kinda weird not having her here."

Wanting to remove herself from the subject of Pokemon for the time being, Misty decided to change the subject.  "Well, only an hour and a half until we're there!"

"Yeah," Ash agreed, nodding his head.  He could feel the anxiety building up in the pit of his stomach.

"Yo, Ashy-boy," Gary sneered, walking up to the table both Ash and Misty were sitting at. 

Ash groaned loudly and, without even turning around to face him, growled "What do you want, Gary?"

"Nothing much," he answered.  "Just seeing if you remembered out little challenge from before.  You know, how you're so much better than me and everything…"  The last part of his comment was harshly sarcastic.

Misty tried her best to ignore the ongoing feud, knowing all to well that you shouldn't interfere between Ash and Gary's arguments.  But, watching the two and how they looked at each other, Misty couldn't help but think there was something else to their feuding.  It almost seemed like they were really good friends at one point in time.  'I know it seems weird,' she thought to herself.  'but their arguing just seems different.'

Misty was pulled from her thoughts by Ash's cocky voice saying "You bet I didn't!  And you'd better be watching your tone of voice, because you won't be using it when I kick your ass in that race!"

The argument pretty much died down from there until Gary decided he'd had enough.  Upon his retreat, Misty fiercely whispered in Ash's ear "Ash!  I thought you said you didn't know how to ski!"

He gulped nervously and squeaked "Well, for my sake, let's hope I learn fast."

***

"Ka chu pi pika Pikapi ka Pikachupi?  {I wonder what Ash and Misty are doing right now?}" Pikachu questioned her male companion, sitting beside her. 

"Chu pi pika…  {They're probably only on the bus…}" Sparky answered in all honesty.

Pikachu looked out the window at the heavily falling snow and shivered just from the thought of being outside.  "Pi pi chu, ka pika cha… {Why would anyone voluntarily go out  into this freezing weather and go falling down a steep hill?}" Pikachu asked, referring to her perspective on what Ash and Misty were so excited about.

"Ka pi pi, chu pika Pikapi ka Pikachupi chu.  {I'm not sure, but Ash and Misty seem to enjoy it.}"

Delia peered in on the two Pikachu, sitting on Pikachu's little pillow, looking out the window.  She sighed. 

"Its so romantic…" she whispered to herself.  "Reminds me of another soon-to-be-couple that I know of."  Her smile broadened even more as she thought about her son and that girl, Misty.  She could tell by the way her son talked about her that he really liked her.  'Yeah, she's a nice girl.  Wouldn't mind having her as a daughter-in-law someday.' 

Feeling bad about interrupting their conversation, but knowing it was vital, Delia voiced "Pikachu, its time to go to Prof. Oak's!  Sparky can come along to, if he wants."

Both Pokemon nodded eagerly and bounded off the pillow, Pikachu taking a little longer and being a tad more careful.  Delia smiled once more, noting the extra care Pikachu put into her steps nowadays.  'I'm gonna get my suspicions confirmed once and for all.'  Then, thinking about what Ash had said previously about Pikachu's condition, she finished 'Yeah, sure.  Drunk my foot.'

***

Everyone reluctantly piled themselves back into the bus, annoyed that their break was over so quickly.  However, the excitement soon caught back up with them as the bus began rolling once more towards their final destination.  Some people were not so happy, though.  Such as Misty.  She was once again faced with the fact that for the next hour and a bit, she had to sit beside Sydney again.  Although, she would not have it as easy as the last time, considering she was no longer tired.  She only prayed Sydney wouldn't start anything.

She found her wishes to be crushed, however, as Sydney struck up a conversation no later that two minutes after the bus started rolling.

"Waterflower, how are your skiing skills?"

Curios to know why she asked that question, and presuming there had to be some sort of hidden catch behind it, Misty was hesitant in giving her answer.  "Not too shabby, why?" she lied.

Sydney smiled to herself briefly, seeing through Misty's thin lie immediately.  Not letting on, though, Sydney quickly replied "Oh, no reason."  She then turned her head and paid no more attention to Misty for the rest of the bus trip.

***

Excitement shone in everyone's faces as the bus approached the snow-covered haven, known as Montagne National Ski Resort.  Huge mountains were scattered all over the place, some smaller ones not as noticeable but just as plentiful.  All faces of the bus' occupants were pressed up against one of the many tinted windows.  They couldn't wait to get themselves on one of those mountains.

The second the bus stopped, everyone on it jumped up and began pushing and shoving to try and get to the exit at the front.  They didn't get very far, however, when the loud voice of Ms. Bentley stopped them. 

"Don't move!"

Everyone complied. Ms. Bentley waddled towards the bus doors and, before leaving, announced "We have to let the front desk know that we've arrived.  No one leaves this bus until its established, and then we'll get our stuff from the bus and make our way to out rooms."

The excitement only built up further as the students' teacher left the bus to enter the building, knowing full well that they were only a couple of minutes short of stepping outside for the first time in the Montagne National Ski Resort.

"Hey," Misty heard a voice from beside her.  She turned to face the source of the voice and was surprised to see it was Alyssa. 

"Hey, how'd you get back here?" Misty questioned.  Alyssa smiled broadly and cracked her knuckles in front of herself, declaring "Aaah, the powers of being small."  Misty laughed, glad to be surrounded by friends once more. 

"Oooh, I can't wait to get off this bus," Misty complained.  "Even  though it is big for a bus, I still can't help but feel cramped."

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.  And having to sit next to Sydney, too.  What a bummer."  Alyssa's expression then turned serious.  "She didn't do anything to you, though, did she?"

"Not really…" Misty drawled.  "She just asked me how my skiing skills were.  Then, she didn't say or do anything else."

"Weird." 

Misty agreed with Alyssa's thoughts completely.

Before too long, and to everyone's surprise, Ms. Bentley exited the small office, shortly followed by a younger looking male.  He had blonde hair and wore skiing goggles atop his forehead.  It was safe to assume that this was to be both their director and ski instructor.  Ms. Bentley gave the signal that it was okay to exit the bus, and the students at the front began to pile out, eagerly getting pushed from the awaiting bodies behind.

Upon setting foot outside the bus once again, Misty inhaled a deep breath of the cool mountain air.  Before a word was able to escape her mouth, though, Ms. Bentley interrupted rather loudly.  "Okay!  I'd like you to have your things packed away by 12:00 for lunch,  which leaves you an hour.  I'll now turn things over to Mr. West."  The man stepped up, obtaining the air of authority.

"Thank you, Ms. B," he said.  The then turned towards the group of students.  "Hello.  As you heard, my name is Mr. West, but you can call me Mike."  He turned around slightly, motioning for them to follow.  "Come this way, I'll show you to your rooms."  The students followed Mike through the intricate footpaths laced through the forest floor at the foot of the tall mountains.

Not too long later, the group found themselves in front of the enormous log building, shivering from the winter cold.  After announcing that they were now there, something that was painfully obvious, Mike led them up to the front porch and pushed open the heavy doors.

"Can you believe this place is this big?" questioned Misty skeptically.  Ash, who had just bumped into the small group of girls a couple of seconds ago, agreed with her wholeheartedly.  "Yeah."

Roxy grumbled a bit.  "Well, at least we know where all of the money for this trip went towards…"  Ignoring her tone, Claire added "Well, I think it'll be worth it.  I think this will be a great Christmas."

***

The group of teens were given a small tour around the place.  As soon as you entered the building, you were in the common room for the place.  There were several couches throughout the place, varying between navy and burgundy in colour.  The floor was that of solid oak, shimmering with the sun's light.  On top of that was an extravagant rug.  A large fireplace lined one wall.  There were also a couple of desks and tables a little further away from the other pieces of furniture.  At the very back of the common room, however, were two sets of stairs.  One spiraled to the left, the other to the right.  Mike had explained to them that the left one – the one with the burgundy railing – led to the girls rooms, and the left one – the one with the navy trim – led to the boys'. 

Now, not too long later, Misty sat on her bed with all of her cloths unpacked and shoved into drawers on the opposing wall.  Each 'room' had a small shower and five bunk beds along the sides of the walls, allowing only that many people per room.  Misty had been extremely lucky – she had landed with all of her best friends.

Stretching out on her top bunk, Misty smiled.  She couldn't wait to snap on a pair of skis and fly down the hill.  The light, fluffy snow just looked so inviting!  She was interrupted from her daydream by a soft, white pillow slamming down on her stomach; a wake-up call from one of her roommates, no doubt.  Sure enough, Misty looked over to see a giddy Claire, holding a white pillow and whistling innocently.  Mist picked up her own pillow and pummeled Claire.  The three other girls soon caught on, and before anyone knew it, they were already engaged in their first pillow-fight of the trip… within fifty minutes.

***

Sometime later, after a test of every couch in the common room and a quick lunch in the food court – the building to the right of their own – the group found themselves preparing for their very first skiing lesson.

"Dammit!!" Misty screeched, kicking her skis as far away as she could.  "I still can't get these god damned, blasted, bloody, friggen-impossible-to-use, evil, satanic contraptions from hell, on my feet!"  She earned many questioning glances in her direction.

"Excuse me, miss," a voice interrupted.  Misty looked up into the face of a young man.  He had short black hair and shimmering honey-brown eyes.  He continued, "I couldn't help.. err," he cleared his throat, searching for an appropriate word.  "… overhearing your troubles with your skis."  He motioned to the pair of skis in his arms, the same ones that Misty had previously thrown across the room.  A small blush tinted her cheeks in the moment of embarrassment. 

"It's okay," he began.  "My name is Scott West, and I work here at the resort.  I know all about skiing, so I can help you."  Misty found that he said all of this modestly, not in a bragging tone.  She gladly accepted his generosity as he bent down and began fiddling with something on her skis.

"Here, I snapped the bindings down, so you should be able to get it now."  He took Misty's hand and lifted her up, guiding her foot into the lock and positioning it correctly.  "Now push down." 

After doing what he said, Misty found herself now standing proudly with her skis secured tightly around her feet.  "Thanks!" she beamed at Scott.

"No problem."

From the other end of the room, Ash sat on a bench, fuming.  He was crouched over in the position of  securing his skis, but his eyes were firmly placed on Misty and Scott, now walking out the door together.  A growl emerged from deep within his throat. 

"Woah there, Ash.  What's your problem?" questioned Brock, who noticed Ash's animalistic growl from his place beside him. 

"Them," he answered, motioning his head in the direction of where Misty and Scott were, talking animatedly in the doorway.  "Look at them," he continued.  "They were practically all over each other just now."

Brock sweatdropped momentarily.  "Uhh… Ash?  They were just talking…"

Ash turned his head and glared at Brock.  "Yeah, now they are."

Brock sighed.  "Man, I know you like her, but you don't have to be so possessive."

Turning his head to hide the dark blush blemishing his cheeks, Ash retorted "I do not like her!  I don't know what you're talking about!"  Seeing as Ash was in a grumpy mood at the moment, Brock decided to get up and join his girlfriend in their first skiing lesson.

When everyone was finally outside with their skis on, they were faced with some recent news…

"We're splitting up!" Mike announced happily in that chirpy little voice of his.  He pulled Scott over to him quickly.  "This is my little brother, Scott.  He's going to take the girls on the other side of the mountain, while I keep the guys on this side."  Everyone looked at the tall youth, who looked around their age if not only a couple of years older. 

"Alright then, girls," Scott began, already walking in the opposite direction of the group.  "Follow me."  And, with that, the girls headed off to the complete other side of the huge mountain.

Mike got all of the guys' attention as quickly as he could.  He explained in great detail all of the things a beginner needs to know about skiing, such as how to control speed and turning, and how to stop.  The newbies practiced some of the techniques on top of the hill before going down, while the more advanced (or daring) skiers shot straight down.  Of these, Gary was the first to go down, showing off his highly accelerated skiing skills.  He maneuvered right and left extremely quickly, making the fresh white powder fly in his trail.  The students above, as well as Mike, watched in awe as Gary jumped into the air and pulled a complete three-sixty.  Well, most of the students watched in awe.  Ash just glowered in his direction.  "Stupid showoff," he muttered to himself before going back to practicing his beginner techniques.  "He's not all that great…"

Now it was time for Ash, Brock, and Tracey to begin their trek down the hill.  Hesitantly, they inched closer and closer to the edge.  Ash gave once last final push before beginning his descent, and he was off.  Upon gaining speed, he nearly fell over before remembering the maneuvering techniques Mike had shown them moments before.  His movements, although quite jerky to say the least, were not in too bad of shape for someone who just put on a pair of skis less than half an hour ago.  He definitely showed some promising talent.  More than halfway down the hill and still standing, Ash was quite pleased with himself. 

That is… until he accidentally crossed his skis over, causing his feet to collide from opposite angles and, in turn, leading him to find himself flat on his rump in the cold snow.  Before he even had a chance to collect his thoughts, however, a freezing array of cold snow showered down on him, followed by an annoying laugh.  Ash cleared the snow away from his face to see Gary standing above him, a broad smirk upon his features. 

"I see you're in no condition to race, huh, Ashy-boy?" 

Ash growled at him, snow still clinging to his face. 

"Alright then, how 'bout I make you a deal to save whatever dignity you have left?"  If possible, Gary's smirk adorned an ever more cock look with this proposal.  "I'll give you until the last day of the trip to improve on your… technique, if that's what you wanna call it.  Then we'll race." 

Ash tried to stand up to be level with his rival height-wise at least, but it was to no avail, as he fell back down within seconds.  Gary laughed and turned, skiing the rest of the way back down the mountain before Brock and Tracey caught up with Ash.

***

Misty took a deep breath, standing at the top of the mountain.  Alyssa and Michelle stood on either side of her, and Claire and Roxy on the outside of the group.

"Ready?" Michelle asked, turning to face the other members of the group.

"You betcha!" they replied, and gave a hearty push off the top.

Everybody got down the hill with no problem, save for Misty, who still didn't have the whole 'steering' thing down pat.  After several falls, however, and many times falling off course, the red-head finally made it down to the bottom of the hill, covered in snow.

The other girls couldn't help but giggle at their friends expense. 

"Having some troubles, Misty?" Roxy questioned her, muffling yet another laugh from behind her mitten. 

Misty growled playfully.  "Ooh, you just wait!" she threatened.  "By the end of this week, I'll be better than all of you!  I'll be doing circles around you on the way down!"  She thrust her fist up into the air to further enhance her point.

"Sure sure, Misty.  Sure sure."

***

Michelle and Alyssa collapsed on the nearest couch in the common room with a loud thump. 

"Ugh, my legs hurt," Alyssa complained, holding her head.  "You have to walk around soo weird in those ski boots…"

"We all had to go through it, too, so shush up!" Claire reprimanded, shaking her head. 

"Point being?"  Alyssa shrugged her shoulders apathetically.  Claire just shook her head and gave up on her impossible friend.

Ash leaned back against a small, wood end-table behind him.  As he did so, his hand brushed up against a stack of papers.  He turned around and looked at them inquisitively.  He glanced over them quickly before pointing them out to the rest of the group.

"Hey guys, look at this."

Everyone looked at the papers on the desk to which where Ash was motioning, save for Alyssa and Michelle who were not leaving their spot on the burgundy couch. 

"What are they?" Misty asked.

"Seems like come sort of agenda, about what we're going to be doing and when while we're here."  Ash pointed to a chart near the bottom of the paper.  "See?  December 19th, 12:00 to 4:30; skiing with instructors Mike and Scott West."

"Wow, cool!  When's the dance?" Claire asked excitedly, reaching out for a paper.  Everyone soon followed in her footsteps and grabbed their own.

"Hey, pass us one, too!" Alyssa exclaimed, pouting as no one answered her.  Just before she was about to get up and leave her precious couch, Michelle stopped her. 

"Wait," she said.  "I'll handle this." 

Alyssa looked on in question about how her friend was going to get the sheets.

"Oh Brock…" Michelle cooed sweetly, batting her eyelashes.  Brock was by her side in less than a second.

"Yes, my Princess?" he asked, kneeling in front of her and clasping her hand.

"Would you be a dear and get a paper for me and Alyssa?"

"Sure, anything for you!" Brock exclaimed, already practically over to the table with sheets in hand. 

Michelle turned her head towards Alyssa and the pair shared a wink.

"Whipped."

***

Misty smiled brightly as she looked into the foggy mirror, brushing the tangles out of her hair at the same time. 

'Ahh, nothing feels better than a nice, warm shower after being out in the cold all day…'

The trip had been just about perfect so far.  Sydney had barely acknowledged her presence the whole day, and what's better, she got to practice on her skiing skills.

'Or lack there-of,' she thought, laughing lightly.  Yes, things were going so greatly that she was almost starting to forget about what happened all those years ago to her parents.  Key words, almost starting.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. 

"Misty!  C'mon, other people are waiting for the bathroom, too, ya know!" Michelle teased playfully from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, I'll be out in a second."

Misty took one last look in the mirror, brushing out her last tangle before thinking 'I hope tomorrow's going to be just as good.'

***

After locking the door behind her, Deliah dropped her purse lazily on the table and watched humorously as Sparky did his best to help Pikachu in through the door.  It was so adorable, watching the two Pokemon show such affections towards one another.

"Are you doing alright, there, Pikachu?" Deliah asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Pi, pika cha.  Chu pi pi ka pika chu ka… {Yeah, I'm good.  I don't know why everyone's so worried about me now…}"

Sparky didn't say anything to this, just continued to help her onto the couch in the living room.

"Aww, Pikachu…" Deliah crooned, sitting on the couch where Pikachu was now seated and rubbing the little electric rodent behind the ears softly.  "We're only being protective of you because you're in a very delicate condition."  Deliah traced her palm down to Pikachu's stomach and looked into the small mouse's eyes.  "Being pregnant can be a very trying time."

"Pika chu chu, pi pika cha, kachu pi.  {Well, I've been battling and training my whole life, so I don't think this will be hard in the least.}"

Deliah shook her head and laughed a bit.  "Pikachu, you spend way too much time with Ash for your own good."

***

The kids had to wake up very early that morning to prepare for what they were going to do that day.  Roxy gave a satisfying yawn while she turned to look at her paper.  "Hmm… first is snowboarding or tubing, then we go and eat lunch, and then we go on the hiking thing."

"Sounds great," Misty stated.  "One question… are snowboards any harder to get on than skis??"  The other girls laughed at Misty's statement, remembering her trouble with the skis yesterday.

The instructors were the same as before, except this time Mike was taking the tubers and Scott the snowboarders.

"I vote tubing," Misty said, giving a not-too-appealing glance towards the complicated-looking snowboards, and a gracious one to the simplistic snow tubes. 

"Aww, c'mon, you chicken…" Alyssa taunted, already walking in the direction of the snowboarders.

Misty sputtered a jittery response before Claire pulled on her arm tightly, dragging her along with the rest of the group.  "You don't want to be alone, now, do you?"

Seemingly not having a choice in the matter, Misty felt there was nothing she could do but agree.

Moments later, Misty found herself clad in a pair of snow-boarding boots and staring down at a mess of buckles, clips, and harnesses that the people surrounding her liked to call 'snowboards'.

"This," she began, taking a deep, calming breath.  "…will take a while."

Roxy giggled from beside her.  "You just wait 'til you have to snap these things on when you're on the hill!"

Misty gave her an inquisitive glance.

Roxy's face fell.  "You do know that you have to unclip one foot every time you go on the lift, right?"

Gulping fearfully, Misty stuttered "E-e-every t-time?"  The poor girl looked as if she would faint on the spot, as the colour continued to drain from her face at a rapid rate.  She looked down at the snowboard once more.  "Guys, I'm really having second thoughts about this…"

***

"Well," Ash began, looking down at the steep hill and standing steadily on his snowboard.  "Skiing didn't seem to be my thing, so let's see what snowboarding's like!"  He looked down at his gloved hands for a second and whimpered.  "I do miss my poles, though…"

Tracey chuckled lightly beside him.  "Get over it, Ash.  Besides, I'm sure you won't even give your poles a second thought when you're going down!"

"Yeah," Brock agreed sarcastically.  "He'll be too occupied rolling down the hill as a big snowball."

Ash glared at his comrades playfully.  "Don't have faith in me, eh boys?"

The two chose not to answer that question, and hoped Ash meant it rhetorically.

Taking a good look at his surroundings, Ash had to smile.  It was such a great feeling to be on top of the hill with the brightly gleaming snow and heavily laden trees to the side.  He took  in a deep breath of the fresh mountain air, then turned to look at his friends next to him. 

"Ready to go?"

"After you."  Brock gestured with his hand to the twisting slope before them.

After checking his board and making sure that his foot was completely locked in, Ash gave himself a hesitant push and slowly began his descent.

Contrary to most people, Ash actually found snowboarding to be a lot easier than skiing. The horrible landing that his first skiing attempt provided was long forgotten for Ash as he swerved down the hill very professionally.  His stop, in fact, was one to behold, as he turned just at the right time at the foot of the hill and leaned back, causing that wondrous spray of snow to fly from under his board.

"Yeah!" he cheered to himself, proud that he had made it down completely without one mess-up.  He glanced back up to the hill to see how his friends were faring, and he had to emit a small chuckle at their predicament. 

Brock was embedded deeply into the freshly fallen snow, the only part of him breaking the surface from under the snow being his head, and part of his board.

Tracey was not far from him, and not much better off.  He sat in the snow, a sour expression on his face, preparing to get back up on his feet.  Ash could see even from this distance how he glared at the snowboard, a determined expression briefly flashing across his face.  He pressed his gloved palms into the snow and dragged his board up with his feet, trying to dig it into the snow to obtain somewhat of a grip on the white flakes.  It was to no avail, however, as within a second of straightening to an upright position, he slipped and fell back to his original position.  From the expression on his face, Ash could easily tell that this wasn't his first attempt to get  back up.

Thinking of a million things to say about them when they finally made it down, Ash walked off with a smile on his face, preparing to go down once again.

***

"You know what?" Misty question Roxy as they were gradually inclining the steep hill on the chairlifts.

"What?"  Roxy dangled her board lightly, knocking some snow down to the hill.

"I think that the chairlift is my favourite part about snowboarding."

"How did I guess that…?"  Roxy rolled her eyes, enhancing the sarcasm of her statement. 

Misty touched a finger to her chin in mock contemplation.  "Hmm, I wonder if they'll let me go around and around until lunch?"

"Probably not," she replied, gazing down at the people below on the hill. 

"Ooh look!" Roxy observed, pointing to a small spot on the far end of the hill.  "Isn't that Brock and Tracey?"

Misty, too, peered closer, not daring to remove her back from the seat, though, afraid of falling. 

Both girls giggled at the boys' predicament, as they were in no better shape as they had been before.  "Looks like they're having a tough time."

Roxy then began to pull the bar up, noting that they were beginning to near the top.

"What are you doing?!" Misty screeched, clutching on forcefully to the back of the seat.

"I'm lifting the bar up…" Roxy explained, stating the obvious.

"I know!  But now?  We still have so far to go!!"  Misty held the seat even harder and pressed herself up against the cushioned back.  She unwillingly looked down below, miserably regretting laughing at the parts in movies where they say 'don't look down' at the same time, and swallowed thickly.  Heights… ugh.

They eventually made their way up the entire way and, surprisingly, Misty had no trouble jumping off the lift. Of course she had to sit on the top of the hill for ten minutes, with the assistance of her friends, to try to get the snowboard back on her feet.

Eventually, her friends tired of her illiteracy of the concept and started down the hill once more, wanting to make the best out of their short time before lunch. 

"Hey there again." Misty heard a voice from behind her, and she abruptly shot her head around to see who it was.  To her surprise it was Scott, a very welcoming face at this point in time, as he was an instructor and was bound to know how to solve her problem.

She grinned up at him sheepishly and told him of her predicament.  He just gave her a warm, gentle smile and explained to her what she was doing wrong and how to fix it.

Since Misty was also having trouble gaining balance on the slippery snow, Scott had to hold her waist to ease her up into a standing position.  Misty still slipped a bit, causing Scott to hold onto her more firmly.  She noted briefly that their faces were closer together than they'd ever been before, and her strong blush proved that she wasn't entirely objecting.

Unfortunately, it was at this point in time that Ash got off of the chairlift, and his first sight after hopping off was not enjoyable.  He growled deeply, his face turning red from anger.  And he also noticed all to well the red hue that both of their faces carried, one that was assuredly not from the cold wind.  He clenched his fists so hard that if it weren't for the gloves covering them, they would surely be bleeding by now.  Deciding that now probably wasn't a good time to confront either about their encounter, Ash quickly snapped his foot back in the snowboard and rudely pushed past the two who, in all the time he took to compose himself, still had not left the embrace. 

After someone had rammed past them, Misty didn't notice that it was Ash, both her and Scott quickly pulled away from each other, flustered.  They both wordlessly decided that they would put this matter behind them for now, and both quickly parted ways.

For the rest of the morning, however, Misty's mind was buzzing with unexplainable thoughts and feelings.

***

Misty was glad when lunch rolled around, and she got to talk with her friends again on a completely horizontal flooring.  Her ankles were kind of cramping from the absurd boots, and she was sure she wielded several bruises from none too pleasant landings.

Misty hummed softly to herself as she exited the girls bathroom.  She was thankful that the hallway was isolated, so no one would be around to hear her. 

She inhaled sharply when she felt a hand on her shoulder from behind.  As she turned around to face the culprit, she was both happy and anxious at who it was.  Scott.

Gulping nervously, she gave a quick greeting and swiveled around to continue walking down the hallway.  Before she got a safe distance away, however, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him.

"Misty, please," he pleaded.  She numbly forced herself to look up into his eyes.  There, she was struck with an overwhelming sense of déjà vu.  'Those eyes,' she thought.  'Those eyes are almost like the ones in my dream.'  It was true, the deep chocolate brown was just like that of the man in her dreams.  A tiny voice deep within her being, so soft that she could barely hear it, whispered 'and just like Ash's.'

~*~

Ash too hummed to himself while walking down the twisting hallways heading towards the bathrooms.  He looked up at the signs, and let out a loose breath as he saw yet another arrow pointing in a different direction.  'It could take me ten minutes yet to find these damn bathrooms.'

***

Misty continued to stare into those eyes so much like the ones in her dream, and got pulled further and further into her dreamland.  In fact, she barely even heard the things he was saying.  "I… please… just… kiss…"

And before she knew it, his lips were upon hers. 

***

"Ahh… finally!" Ash whispered out loud to himself.  He smiled up at the sign, the words 'Men's Bathroom' sprawled upon it.  This was it, the last hallway to the bathrooms.

When he turned the corner, however, he was completely shocked at what he saw.  There, plain as day in front of him, were Scott and Misty locked in one of the most intimate of embraces. 

He quickly whipped his head around, tears stinging at his eyes.  He refused to let them out, however.  'If she doesn't even want to give me a chance, then so be it.'

Ignoring his purpose of entering these halls in the first place, Ash quickly spun around on his heels and darted from the interlocked couple.

***

As if only realizing what she was doing, Misty quickly ripped her lips from his.  She stared at his, shocked at what they both had done.  'What just happened there?' she though, bewildered.  Holding her head in her hands, she quickly reprimanded herself.  'What did I do? And what about Ash?  Don't I love him?  Then why did I let Scott kiss me?' 

She shook her head roughly and raced into the bathroom, hoping beyond all hope that Scott wouldn't be there when she came back out. 

***

Later, the students were informed that they were going hiking on the scavenger hunt.  Everyone thought that sounded kind of kiddish, but Mike quickly informed them that this was quite a challenging hunt, and that there have been very few winners over the lodge's history.

The bad part, though, was that Ms. Bentley had informed both Mike and Scott that she would be choosing the groups.  A loud groan was heard, as is almost every time Ms. Bentley makes her presence known. 

By the time that Ash and Misty found out who they were going to be paired with, it was too late to object.  They looked at their individual partners apprehensively.  Each other.

'Oh man,' Ash groaned into his palm, trying to vent some of the stress.  He wasn't ready to have any encounter with Misty, let alone having to be her partner for God knows how long. 

On the opposing side of the room, Misty was having similar thoughts.  'No!  This isn't fair!  Why do I have to be paired with him now?  Just as I was trying to sort out some of my thoughts…'

Mike quickly explained, as Scott was being abnormally quiet, that all areas of the lodge were included in the hunt, with the exception of the most northerly point, for that was where the caves were, and it wasn't safe to go there without a member from the lodge, as avalanches were quite probable and frequent.  Their objective was to find all twenty silver bells and obtain a stamp from each, proving that you've visited it.

"Stay with your partner at all times," Mike warned.  "After all, we don't want anyone getting lost."

Ash and Misty gave each other a weary glance.  This was going to be interesting.

***

Gary and Sydney, two very well chosen partners, skied through the woods easily and skillfully.  Both excelled in the area, so finding these 'silver bells' was a breeze.

However, as both wanted to assure their spot in first, after they had visited a station, they unhooked the bell from the tree, post, or whatever thing it was hanging from and stuffed it into one of their bags.  Pretty soon, they had collected quite a few, and their bags were weighing down.

"Ugh, I really don't wanna carry these anymore," Gary complained, finding more challenge in skiing with every bell they picked up.  "Can't we do anything with these?"

Sydney flipped her cherry red bangs back behind her ears.  As she did so, she spotted a melancholy pair slowly skiing and snowboarding their way down the nearby hill, the skier fumbling quite frequently.  That pair was Ash and Misty, with Ash donning the snowboard and Misty the skis.

Suddenly, Sydney smirked widely.  "You know, Gary," she began, turning to her boyfriend with an evil glint in her eyes.  "I think I have an idea."

He looked at her oddly, wondering what it could be.

She casually pointed to the bag of silver bells he held on his back, then to Ash and Misty barely visible through the brush to their left, and finally ahead of them to a small, snow-covered sign.  After carefully looking at all three, Gary quickly caught the gist of her idea.  He, too, also grinned, and both set off to work on their unspoken plan.

***

Misty stumbled again, almost losing her footing.  She had fallen three times already, and with the looks Ash had been sending her way the entire trip, she wasn't about to ask him to help her up any of the times.  Almost painfully, she continued on her way, following Ash slowly.

Neither had spotted any of the bells yet, and both were wondering whether or not to just give up.  But, neither knew that is was because they were unknowingly practically tagging Gary and Sydney the entire time.

Ironically, in a sigh of exasperation, Misty spotted one of the bells.  'Look Ash,' she wanted to yell, but her voice betrayed her.  Probably for the better, she supposed, as she wasn't entirely sure that she'd want to speak with him now.

Thankfully, he, too, spotted the bell and both began moving faster to get to it.

To their surprise, they found another bell only feet away from the first.  Both thought that it was a bit strange, but neither felt like saying anything.

They followed the trail, both too deep in thought to realize that the bells were lined up in a perfectly straight row, and eventually found themselves in an area they'd never seen before.  But, as stubborn as they both were, they continued on their way.

Gary and Sydney smiled at each other from within the brush.  They watched as Ash and Misty neared the hill, closer and closer, venturing near a cave they were previously warned to stay clear from, but were too involved with themselves to think twice about it. 

The idea that Sydney told Gary was that they would lead them into the cave, spook them out with some ghostly calls into the cave, get them into trouble, and that would be it.  To this, Gary readily agreed. 

But, the temptation of harassing the pair further was too much for Sydney, and she called loudly towards the cave "Haha, suckers!"

What neither of them expected, however, was the avalanche that followed.  Both looked on, almost in horror, as the vast amounts of snow began falling from the hilltops.

Gary began racing towards the cave that Ash and Misty were in, but Sydney pulled him back.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.  "We're supposed to be running away from the avalanche, idiot!"

Looking back on the falling snow, Gary knew that it would be too late to rush in after them now, so the only thing he could do was to follow Sydney in the escape.

'No,' he thought, eyes glittering with heavy shame.  'This wasn't the way it was supposed to go.'

***

The deep rumbling noises emitting from the ground startled the pair, but their eyes completely widened in shock and fear when they saw the approaching snow.

Spotting the cave that they were so close to, Ash instinctively grabbed Misty's hand and pulled her towards the entrance.  With snow falling just over their heads, they had little time until they'd be crushed beneath the frozen particles. 

The two rushed into the cave, just in time to hear the resounding thump as the snow found its way to the place the two were just standing moments before, and to feel the reaming snow that entered the cave shove at the ankles.

Ash quickly dropped Misty's hand from his own, almost ashamed at himself for caring about her still. 

Both turned around slowly, and Misty almost felt like crying at what she saw.

The entrance in front of them was completely blocked in with thick layers of snow.  Ash and Misty looked on at the snow bank, dejectedly thinking the same thing.

'We're stuck.'

***

TBC…



Oh man, I am so, so, SO sorry about how long this has taken.  I mean, I can't even look back on the date when I last posted, its almost too painful… *sniff*  I feel really bad for you guys, 'specially the ones who have been there since day one.  I just can't say sorry enough, and the worst part is that there's not really an actual real reason for it, just that I barely ever found inspiration, and when I did, it was late at night and I would have school in the morning.

Well, I was going to have both parts of this written out before posting, but then I thought that you guys have waited long enough, and I was going to split it up in the first place, so I decided to make it a two-part chapter and post it separately.  'Sides, I think that slightly over 12000 words is enough for one chapter….. (P.S – its my longest yet!!  My second longest was ~6700, so I've practically doubled!)  Now, to the reviewer's reviews!!

~*Crystal Lily*~:  Thanks for the 'Good luck in High School' bit, but I'm practically finished now anyway.  I hope that my next chapter will be out waaaay sooner than this.

Childsnake: Aww…. I feel so bad now after what you said.  For a memory jog, here it is: "it's great your story is the only AAML fic that i read (and actually want to continue reading) that doesn't involve, element powers or lots and lots of action/adventure in it...so in my opinion your doing a great job."  So now I feel even extra bad for making you wait so long!!  Gomen ne!!!

mistys twin:   Yeah, high school is a killer.  I haven't had so much homework in my entire life.  Well, you got your long chapter, eh?  And if 12000 words isn't long enough for you, then… umm… well, 12000 words is just long.

Slate-and-Pipi:  …Does it still need more Brock?  I'm thinking so.  Don't worry, I think we'll be seeing more of him in the next chapter.

DeathAngelHell:  Yepp, lil 'pudgey Pikachu' will be a mommy soon enough.  Aww, and if you felt bad for Misty now, just wait til the next chapter.  Here's a little special preview… kind of.  While stuck in the cave, Misty and Ash begin to talk, and she tells him about what happened to her parents.  Should be sad!!  'N cute, maybe.  Who knows?  (lol, I probably should!!)  Well, you're gonna hate Sydney more and more as this story goes along.  Though, by the select choice of words you used to describe her, I don't think you'll have a problem with that!

StarPikachu:  Hmm… about the sequel idea, I'm not sure.  I was planning on doing it, but then I thought it over.  Doing a sequel to this would, for me anyway, almost make it seem too long of a story, so I'm more leaning towards about three or four more chapters plus an epilogue.  But, if enough people want me to do a sequel, I can see what I can come up with!  There's gonna be lots more Sparky and Pikachu in the next chapter, and pretty soon cuz Pikachu's soon gonna be a mommy!!

E2K:  Ummm…. Hehe… sorry?  Oh man, I went back and re-read your review, and you said 'I don't wanna wait.'  And now I think back on how long you guys did have to wait!!  Ahh, I'm so sorry!!  (Again!!)  Oh, and to comment on your school not having ski trips, I had just gone on one in March.  And let me tell you, a fine lot of Misty's troubles in this chapter came from personal experience, if you catch my drift.

TeamRocketCutie:  Well, if you think that before I did a good job of keeping you waiting for the next part, this time I probably deserve an award!!  But, still, I'm glad that you still think its good, and I can only hope that this chapter was worth at least a little of the wait!!

Kasumi Yawa:  If you thought the plot was thickening before, then I don't know what you're thinking of it now!  With the whole new 'Scott' twist on things, and Gary actually feeling remorse for what he and Sydney did, then the plot is getting deeper and deeper.  Yes, this story is quite a long one, but I'm thinking roughly three to four more chapters and an epilogue.  The chapters are gonna be pretty long, though, as the next one is almost guaranteed to be just as long as this one.  (P.S – Yes, you did review twice!!)

Car:  Why yes, Sydney is a Bi- mean person.  I'm glad that I portrayed her that way!!  I don't want anyone feeling sympathy for her.  But, if you do, that's okay.  *starts to question self on why, exactly, anyone would feel sympathy for Sydney*  Lol, and about you saying that you want her to fall on the skis, someone else said that they want Gary to do the same thing.  Though, I think they'll reconsider after this chapter.

Suxie:  I'm so glad that I could be an (unknowing) source of inspiration for you.  Yes, I am having quite a lot of fun writing this.  Except on this chapter, I was really lacking inspiration.  I think what I need to do is go up north, rent a cabin, go skiing and snowboarding, come back inside and watch movie two and collections of AAML moments on TV.  Then, I should be able to write like the wind!!  … probably not a good analogy because the wind can't write, but I hope you get my meaning.

Togepretty:  I think that right now, Sydney deserves much more than a slap.  But, then again, this close proximity may just work out to Ash and Misty's advantage, ne?  *wink wink, nudge nudge*  Why yes, I did, and still do really want you guys to hate Sydney, but she's not quite so much Gary's counterpart anymore.  Slowly, Gary is seeing the light.  Ooh, and I have to commend you on making a right guess.  Her singing *will* be a big part in the story, but I'm not saying what for.  Only AnimeFan knows that one so far. 

AngelicFairy:  If you thought the last 'more' was worth it, then I'm hopiong that you thought double the words of the last chapter was worth this horrendously large wait.  Yeh, poor Ash, he has to have such an… well, *concerned* mom.  Maybe I should make her give Ash a 'check-up' call?  Lol.  Hope that you thought this chapter was worth some of the wait!

tmp:  Yepp, I kinda thought the parts at the house and at lunch were sweet, too, even while I was writing them.  What can I say, I'm a sucker for mush!  Wow, I should seriously count how many times you used the word 'sweet' in your review.  Let's just say it was lots.  But, that's a good thing, of course!  Aww, I'm sad that it wasn't a surprise for you.  But, its not really that big a deal, because that wasn't one of the parts that I was really leading up to, even though it does play a big role later on.  Hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much as the last!

Wacky Witch:  Ugh, don't even get me started on the 'you have homework every day' expression.  I swear to God, I see it so much, it may as well be plastered on their faces.  *starts to picture what a teacher would look like without it, and laughs*  Umm, well, I'm glad that you didn't get that ticket to Canada, cuz I have a feeling I would be severely beaten/tortured at the wait of this chapter…

starlovely:  I hoped you liked this chapter, it has tons more Gary than what you usually see in my chapters.  And Gary's going to become even more of an important character soon.  Well, I think you got both ends of the deal for that one.  You wanted both more S/P and Gary, and you got em both!  What a great deal, eh?  The only payment was the long wait.  As always, I'm glad to see that people actually think my fic is good, so thanks so much for the comments!!

**lover**789:  Well, so far, you got one of the things you wanted to see, things that happens at the resort.  Now, you'll get Christmas in the next chapter, which I promise you will not take as long as this one did.  … Can you believe that the last time you reviewed, you had just gone on your trip to Canada?  Long time, huh?  And  I just went to Niagara falls two weeks ago.  Love the moving theaters and haunted houses.  Clifton Hill is the best!!  Hope this chapter was worth some of the wait!!

Anime Girl 27:  Okay, question: Do you still want me to break Gary's leg?  If you do then you're cruel.  Scott's, maybe.  Lol.  Hmm, I'm wondering now whether or not Sydney can still be the 'She-Gary'.  According to you, probably, since you haven't used her real name once, but meh.  Yeah, everyone feels sympathy for Ash with the phone conversation.  Nope, sorry, no Christmas yet, but don't worry too much, for it will be in the next chapter.  I suppose with how long it took to get this one out, though, that's not much reassurance anymore, eh?  Oh, and about the 'gotta love those mallets' remark, let's hope for Ash's sake that Misty doesn't decide to use it while they're in the cave.  He's got nowhere to run!!

Cutie Blossom:  Yeah, Misty's friends are performing on the trip.  The announcement was for the singers who won.  Alyssa, Claire, Roxy, and Michelle were already going to be in it, anyway, playing as the band.  Sorry if it was a bit confusing…  If you're cheering for Misty slapping Sydney, just wait til when (or if) she finds out that Sydney was the one who caused that avalanche.  No prob for the email thing, and I think half of the people would miss this chapter if I didn't since its been so long!!  Not too much fluff in this chapter, but remember – this is only Part I, Part II is on its way… sometime…

Spruceton Spook:  Heh, I don't think you can say that it wasn't gone for too long this time.  I wouldn't work on Christmas, either.  I'd be such a killer.  Christmas is just a special day, and should never, EVER be spent alone if you have the choice.  Well, about Misty going to Ash's house for Christmas, let's hope they get this problem resolved by then!!  No problem for the reviews on my part – your fic is totally worth it.  Btw, keep working at it!!  I sooo wanna read the next part!!

Sadie Joyce – Myst Lady:  Well, I can no longer say that I haven't watched Pokemon for two years, since I watched some of my old eps (Ghost of Maiden's Peak included) to get some inspiration back for this story.  But the reason I remembered the character's personalities enough to keep them IC was because when I watched it, it was to the point of obsession for a while, so I knew absolutely *everything*.  I've only seen the English version of SM, and I didn't really like it.  Used to, though.  N e who, hope you like this chap!

Niori:  Can't comment much since your review wasn't very long, but I hope the wait wasn't too much of a killer!

Blondie:  Wow, I haven't head from you in a while.  Don't worry, there's no way that I'm not finishing this story.  I'll go crazy if I don't.   Once again, as I'm sure I've said a million times (and if I haven't, sorry, I deserve a smack upside the head!!), I'm really, really glad that you like my fic so much.  But, I'm sorry that I didn't get it out in a reasonable amount of time.  Hope this chapter was worth the long wait! (well, at lease *some* of it… ^^;;)

Dia, Princess Random Insanity:  Well, I hope you had fun at your holiday in Spain… yes, it WAS that long ago since I last posted…  But yah.  I really hope that you think that this chapter was better than the last.  Personally, I think that this chapter was probably the wittiest and most well-written out of all of my chapters so far.  Not that I'm saying that I've got no more room left for improvement or anything, but I think I've come a long way from the Prologue, and I hope you guys notice that too!

Kawaii Kokkei Tsuita no Neko:  Man, I was sooo happy when you said that this was 'wonderfully detailed'.  Detail is probably my worst point.  Usually, its either my readers have little to no detail, of there so much you loose point of the story.  So, as you can tell, I'm very happy that someone out there think that my detail is nice.  Erg, according to my English teachers, the next thing I need to work on is 'Word Choice'… ugh.

AngelAva-Li:  Wow, amazing!  Your review was really inspirational!!  I'm just really sorry that you had to wait so long for this chapter.  I agree, I like the 'bad guy' thing as well.  Its always nice to have someone to hate, ne?  And Sydney's the perfect person!  Sydney-bashing, maybe.  Gary-bashing, probably not.  You're soon gonna find out what happened to him and Ash to make them go from best friends to worst enemies.  Oooh, the suspense!!  Lol.  I guess you'll soon find out what Ash says to Misty in the dream, but not yet.  You'll have to hang on til the last chapter or so, I guess.  About the fluffy aprts, sorry that there weren't any in this chappie.  The next one should be really fluffy, though.  I just needed to put Scott in this one, and its hard to have fluff and jealousy at the same time… ^.^  And about the singing part being a major plot point?  Well, lets just say that its in there for a reason. 

Xeaeros:  Well, at the time you reviewed this, you were grounded from the computer.  I hope that now you're not grounded anymore!!  Glad you thought it was a good one, and once again, hope the wait wasn't unbearably long!  I'll try harder to get myself working on it more in the future!

ash_luvs_misty:  You told me to make this next chapter good, and, well, I tried my very best.  I hope that it meets the standard you were setting.  And if it doesn't, let me know, kay?  As I can see that you're kind of an AAM fanatic, don't worry – they'll be getting back to being friends (at lease ^.^) soon.  Hope that you liked this chapter, and that you'll continue along with this fic to the end!!




Okay guys, that's it!!

Oh, wait.  Best reviewer.  *sniff*  You mean I actually have to pick just ONE from all of these wonderful reviews??  Life is so unfair. 

Ohh, they're all so good.  Let's see… eeny, meeny – heh, not very fair, eh?  Well… umm… okay.

And the winner is… *insert drumroll here*

tmp!  Congratulations!!  Sorry to everyone else, but you wouldn't believe how long it took me to choose this.  And just to let you know, absolutely *everyone* was a great reviewer in the last chap!  Let's keep it going, guys!!

Last thing…

Just in case any of you need/want to be reminded of the past winners, (and for the winners themselves to take in the glory!!  Lol) Here they are!  (I'm glad that just about all of you are still interested in this fic!  That's amazing!!)

Prologue:     Erin-chan
Chapter 01: LavenderEspeon

Chapter 02: Childsnake

Chapter 03: Blondie

Chapter 04: Kasumi Yawa

Chapter 05: Spruceton Spook

Chapter 06: Wacky Witch
Chapter 07: DeathAngelHell

Chapter 08: tmp

Chapter 09: ???  Maybe you!!


R&R to give comments or feedback of any sort!  (Yes, flames included.  Note: I'm not a person to take offense easily!!)