Hello, everyone! Wow, it's seriously been a long time, huh? Months.

Instead of holding you back from the chapter, how about you meet me for my author's note at the end after you finish reading? See you there! (Okay, well not technically see you, but you get the point.) In the meantime, hope you enjoy!

Chapter 10: The Pallet House

Ash Ketchum.

A teenage boy with black hair, brown eyes, a childish but sweet smile, apparently never-ending high spirits, and a general knack of cheering anyone up.

Today, however, he was the one in need for cheering up because he couldn't help but feel guilty. Not because of anything he had done, but because of what he hadn't. Yesterday, after Misty's defeat, he hadn't exactly pushed her on to sign up for class rep. She wanted to be in student council—he was sure of it after all that campaigning—but her sudden defeat had pushed her down for a while, and she hadn't had the chance to pull herself back up and write her name on the class rep sheet.

Or so he'd thought.

Because during voting time, she had been one of the candidates, hadn't she? And that meant she must have signed up. And that meant she must have had to build up the courage to do so herself. She was strong, he realized. Not just going-to-beat-you-up-if-you-cross-me strong, but when it came to willpower as well. But that didn't mean she had to do everything alone.

He should have been there. He was her friend, wasn't he? He should have pushed her on to achieve her goals. That was his motto, after all: Never give up till it's over!

And yet all he had done was give his opinion and leave it at that. He didn't tell her not to give up. He didn't tell her to try again. He didn't do anything. At least, that's how he felt. So as he got ready for school today, there was only one prominent thought that glazed over anything else he might have otherwise been thinking.

She better have won.

Had she won? She hadn't, had she? No, she had lost, like the miserable lying loser she was. Her sisters had found out she hadn't gotten into student council and they were laughing at her. Laughing as she stood alone onstage with Mr. Lance announcing her failure on live broadcast for the whole world to—

Beeep. Beeep. Beeep. Beeep.

"Shut up!" Misty screeched, ripping her head from her pillow and sending a fist at her poor, unsuspecting alarm clock. She glared at it as it fell to the ground, probably meeting the same fate as her original one. She hung her head back and sighed.

"What time is it?" she muttered to herself, picking up her cell phone and turning it on.

7:47 am.

She stared at it drowsily. Why did she feel like she was forgetting something? She frowned as the gears in her head slowly started turning. Her eyes widened.

Today was Friday. Friday was a school day. Class started at 8:30. She would be labelled late at 8:20. She had thirty-three minutes to get to school and not be late.

7:48 am.

"Crap."

And just like that, she transformed from Misty the Dream Queen to a chaotic frenzy of soap and water and toothpaste and uniform and soon found herself galloping from her house all the way to school without breakfast.

Come on, come on, come on… Please don't be late, please don't be late, please don't be late…

She was going to be late. There was no way she could get there on time at the rate she was going….

"LOOK OUT!"

Misty only just managed to jump out of the way as a boy on his bike came heading straight toward her. There was the sound of metal colliding into a lamppost with a cringe-worthy crash. She blinked, snapping herself out of her daze as the boy got up, groaning. She realized that she knew him. In fact, she knew him pretty well.

"Sorry about that! I was in a hurry and… Oh hey, Misty!"

"Ash?" She suddenly couldn't help but feel annoyed. "That's the second time your bike nearly killed me!"

"Ehehe, sorry." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "You running late too?"

Running late?

Oh, right.

"Gah!" She turned away from him and began sprinting again. He had already wasted enough of her time! If only she had her poor, unusable bike….

"Hey, Misty! Mist!" Ash was calling out to her, but she didn't care. He rode up beside her on his bicycle. "Misty, wait!"

Misty groaned. "Ash, I don't have time for this!" she said through huffs. "In case you didn't notice, I happen to be running late!"

"No, wait, Misty! Do you wanna borrow my bike?"

She stopped abruptly, and so did he. "What?"

"Borrow my bike." He scratched the back of his head. "Feeling kind of guilty because I'm sort of the reason you can't ride yours right now."

"Yeah, no kidding."

"So because you need it, you deserve to borrow mine for today. Just to get to class on time, yah know."

"But… but what about you?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter." He grinned. "Besides, I remember back when we sort of… crashed into each other, and you were riding so fast—there's no way I could go at that speed! So I'll probably end up late even if I do ride there, but you can probably make it. And anyways, I'm always late, so it's nothing new for me. But you might have just become class rep! And if that's true, then tardiness is not an option." He winked.

She stared blankly. Class rep? But hadn't she lost?

With a jolt, she remembered. No, the results hadn't even been announced yet. They would find out today at the assembly.

"So, you wanna borrow my bike?"

She snapped out of her thoughts, turning back to the boy before her. She smiled.

"Thanks."

Everything that happened next passed in a blur.

Misty could vaguely recall being nearly run over by Ash before locking up a bike at school. Soon after, she was at the assembly, and suddenly, onstage, feeling oddly numb, though it was taking a long time for her brain to register why. Slowly, Mr. Lance's voice began making sense in her head.

"Here is the student council committee for the year. Congratulations!" He, along with everyone at the assembly, began clapping.

Misty blinked.

Student council committee. That meant he had just announced the class representatives. She glanced around. Of course, she could see the obvious three—Rudy, Gary and Dawn—standing alongside her, but they weren't the only ones. There were quite a few representatives too, and she found herself recognizing Giselle from 12A, Drew from 11A, Trip from 11B, the grade ten kid named Sawyer Leaf had mentioned, and some others whom Misty only recognized because she'd seen them in the halls.

But then, where was 12B's representative?

Are you really that stupid? a snide, sarcastic voice in her head (that, for some strange reason, sounded like Paul's) said. Who do you think it is?

And that's when it all clicked together.

She was class rep.

The class had voted for her.

She was now in student council.

It was strange, because before, Misty hadn't thought it would be a big deal, being just class rep. But now, standing onstage, it felt like a big deal. She was now directly involved with student council decisions. Her classmates had trusted her with the job of voicing them.

Her eyes landed on Ash somewhere in the crowd. He looked like he had just arrived, huffing and puffing, and, when their eyes connected, he gave her a huge grin and a double thumbs-up.

She smiled and waved back, suddenly feeling a lot more grateful that he had lent her his bike. His voice (which didn't sound anything like the demeaning Paul-voice in her head) rang through her ears as she imagined his response to her thanks.

No prob! Hey, we're friends, so no need to make a huge deal out of it. It's what friends do!

Or something sappy like that.

But now came the hard part. Now, she actually needed to fulfill her responsibilities. And she was determined to do just that to best of her abilities.

"Hey, Mist! Congratulations of getting the vote!"

Misty looked up as Ash joined her at the table. May was already there, looking joyous about something (probably Misty's success), but Paul didn't seem to be around.

"Thanks, Ash," Misty replied.

Ash frowned. She seemed happy, but also rushed, with the way she was wolfing down her lunch.

"You in a hurry for something?" he asked, even though Misty's mouth appeared to be too full to answer.

"Rudy stopped by a minute ago," May explained. "He said he wanted to hold a short student council meeting right now. So Misty's gonna be off in a sec."

"Oh. Man, no time to celebrate then, huh?"

Misty swallowed. "Yeah, sorry I can't chat right now," she said, getting up. "Hey, thanks for lending me your bike."

"No prob! I—"

"Here."

Before Ash could finish his sentence, Misty pulled something from her bag and handed him a key attached to a pokeball keychain. It was the key that went with the lock and chain Ash had given her right before she rode away that morning.

"I locked it up at the bicycle rack," she said, gathering up her things. "I'm using the bus after school."

"Oh, right. Hey, Misty—"

"Thanks again." Misty hurriedly got up. "Later!"

She left, not wasting another second. Ash frowned, looking down at the keychain.

"It's great, isn't it?" May chirped. "I mean, I wish Misty could have become president, but at least she's class rep. She's gotta be pretty happy about that!"

"Yeah, definitely!" Ash said, brightening up, his fist clenching around the pokeball. "She totally deserves it."

He sat down at the table. "You know," he said thoughtfully, "we should do something. Like celebrate. Since we've all been—"

"Table's gotten kinda empty," May said absentmindedly, apparently not having heard what he was saying. "Misty's probably gonna have a lot more meetings during lunch and stuff."

"Yeah, well, she's gotta. Right?"

"Mm-hm. Funny, because just yesterday, it was so many of us. We've kinda made a little group, haven't we? You, me, and Misty."

"And Paul," Ash added.

May blinked. "Who?"

"Paul. You know, Misty's friend. Purple hair, quiet guy?"

"Oh, right. Him." She frowned slightly. "I think…."

"Anyways, like I was saying, we should do something for Misty. You know, to say congrats or some—"

The bell rang at that moment.

"Oh, looks like we gotta go now." May bounced up, empty tray in hand. "Need to get to class!"

"Yeah." Ash stood up. "Well, later then!"

"See you!"

Ash watched her disappear through the cafeteria doors. Maybe he'll ask her later. He had her cell phone number, after all (they'd exchanged numbers with each other and Misty in case they needed to contact one another in regards to the campaigning). But for now, it was time for class.

"So, Mist," said Ash after school once the final bell of the day had chimed through the air.

"Yeah?" She finished zipping up her bag. "You need something?"

"I was thinking, we should celebrate. I mean, you've worked so hard to get the votes, and you finally got 'em! When you first started, it really looked like no one wanted to vote for you at all!"

Misty rolled her eyes playfully. "Ash, you're making a big deal out of nothing. Getting elected in the student council isn't that big of a deal. It's not like I won the Nobel Peace Prize or anything." She swung her bag over her shoulder.

"Yeah, but still. We should do something."

"Like?"

"Like how about we go out to a restaurant? You, me, May and Paul! We'll have a great time!"

"A restaurant?"

"Yeah, it'll be on me! How about the Pallet House?" He followed her out the classroom.

"The Pallet House? Wait… Wasn't that the restaurant your mom runs or something?"

"Yeah, that's the one! It'll be great!"

Misty shrugged. "Sounds nice, actually. When will it be?"

"How about tomorrow?" Ash said excitedly. "Saturday, so no school. We can have lunch!" He frowned. "Should we invite Gary too? I mean, he was helping out too, right?"

"He wasn't exactly doing it out of the goodness of his heart, remember?" Misty said. "We made that deal. And he only wanted me in council so he'd have someone to back him up."

"Yeah, I guess there's that."

"So… tomorrow?"

"Yeah, tomorrow! I'll call May and invite her too. And Paul, though I don't have his number. You have it though, right?"

"Oh, don't bother inviting him," Misty said dismissively, catching Ash off guard.

"Wha'? But isn't he—"

"He's really not into, well, social stuff," Misty explained. "Unless it has to do with art. Speaking of which, I think he mentioned there's an art gallery thing on Saturday that he's attending, so he won't be able to make it anyways."

"Oh." Ash frowned. "Are you sure? I don't want him to miss out…."

"Trust me, he wants to miss out. Because to him, it's not missing out if it's something that doesn't interest him. And being in a group—or with people in general—really doesn't interest him."

"If you say so…." Ash went from looking uncertain to intrigued. "Art, huh? He likes art? I mean, nothing wrong with that, but didn't expect him to be the artsy type."

"He may not look it, but he's an artist. At school and outside, he's basically the grouchy introvert, but once it's art time, you wouldn't believe it's the same guy. He actually talks. On his own."

"Whoa!"

"I know, right?" She rolled her eyes jokingly.

"So… tomorrow?" Ash said. "Noon?"

"Sure."

"Yeah!" Ash's face brightened up. "Where should we meet up?"

"Oh, we can meet up at the Pallet House. I'll get the directions from you later."

"Okay! So see you tomorrow!"

"Yeah, see you!"

They parted ways, heading for their respective homes.

The next day…

Misty arrived at the Pallet House earlier than planned, thanks to the bus's route being clear of traffic. Because of that, Misty was expecting a long wait until the others arrived, but, to her surprise, she appeared to be the last one there. Both Ash and May were ready and waiting at a table near the entrance.

"About time you got here!" May cheered as Misty sat down. "I'd been waiting for so long to order, but Ash kept saying we shouldn't start without you, and the food kept smelling so good, and—"

"How long were you guys waiting?" Misty asked, bemused.

"Not long," said Ash, shrugging. "About ten minutes."

"What, really?" May frowned. "I thought it was at least an hour…."

"Ten minutes? I thought we were going to meet up at twelve."

"No, you got the time right," Ash said quickly. "I'm early 'cause I usually help out here, so I've been around since morning. I'm taking the next hour and a half off to have lunch with you guys."

"And there's no way I was going to be late for food," May added.

Of course. Misty mentally rolled her eyes.

"Okay, so should we order?" Ash passed a menu to both.

"Right." Misty scanned over the selection. Everything actually sounded delicious, and she was almost tempted to pull a May and order one of everything. Almost.

"I see what I want!" May said, her eyes lighting up. "Noodles! Oh, and I think I'll also have—"

"Wait until the waiter gets here," Misty interrupted. "Then you can just hand him the entire menu and ask for one of each."

"Oh, good idea! But, actually, your mom cooks here, right?" May said, turning to Ash. "One of each will be way too much. I think I'll just have the Pallet noodles, then."

Misty blinked in surprise. May—May, of all people—was cutting back on food! And the reason for it was… actually pretty considerate. It suddenly occurred to Misty that both she and May were getting these meals for free from a restaurant that, being new in town, was probably not making a whole lot of money just yet. Maybe she shouldn't overdo it….

"I'll… I think I'll try out the Pallet noodles as well," Misty said, passing back the menu.

"All right, then!" Ash looked around. "Hey, Iris!"

The waitress who answered was a girl with thick, bushy purple hair, and, from what Misty figured, she wasn't much older than them. In fact, she looked maybe a year or two younger. Misty assumed she must work here as a part-time job.

"So these are those friends you were talking about," Iris said, scanning over the group.

"This is Iris, guys," Ash introduced. "She just recently got a job here, and she's a huge help during the weekends. And Iris, these are Misty and May."

"Hi, nice to meet you!" Iris said, smiling widely.

"Hey Iris." Misty gave a small, polite wave.

"Hi!" May greeted cheerfully.

"I should take your orders now." Iris pulled out a notepad and pen. "So what do you guys want?"

"Pallet noodles for three!" Ash told her.

"And for drinks?"

"I'll have water."

"What, Misty, just water?!" May gave her a horrified look.

Misty shrugged. Carbonated drinks weren't exactly healthy, and even juice was usually laden with extra sugar. Not the best for drinking daily, especially when you were an athlete. At least, that was how Misty saw it.

"Well, unlike Misty, I'm going to have a 7-Up!" May announced.

"And I'll go with a Coke."

"All right, then!" Iris finished jotting down the order. "Three Pallet noodles, a water for Misty, 7-Up for May, and a Coke for Ash. Okay, I'll get right on it!"

She soon left, leaving the three at the table.

"That Iris, she's pretty fun," Ash said, grinning. "Don't get much time to hang out during the week, but still, when we work here together during the weekends, we have a blast!"

"Yeah, she seems pretty nice," said Misty. "I don't remember seeing her at school, though. Does she go to a different one?"

"Nah, she doesn't go to school at all."

"Wha'?" May sputtered. "Really? No fair! My parents would never allow me to ditch school!"

"She's probably home schooled, May," Misty pointed out, rolling her eyes.

"Don't know much about her, though," Ash continued. "But I think she's sixteen right now."

"Then she might be in my grade," May said thoughtfully. "I should get her to move to Cerulean High. Then we can be in the same class!"

"You don't even know her yet," Misty said, amused.

"So what?" May folded her arms. "I didn't know you, and we still became friends. Anyone you know now, at some point, you didn't know them. You don't start by just knowing someone; you start by getting to know them."

True, Misty thought. Although it was somewhat strange hearing May be so wise.

It didn't take long before their orders arrived. Misty looked around, noting how uncrowded the restaurant was. Maybe that was why their orders came so quickly….

"Wow, these are so good!" May exclaimed through a mouthful.

"I know, right?" Ash grinned widely. "Back in Pallet Town, my mom's recipes were everyone's favourites!"

"Too bad there aren't many people who know of this place," Misty said, swallowing a forkful. She stared at her plate. These noodles were excellent. Much better than any she'd ever had.

"We're slowly getting more customers," said Ash. "We're still new here, so it takes time to build up these reputations."

"Can you cook like this too?" May asked, starry-eyed as she shoveled more and more into her mouth. She was already done half the plate.

Ash laughed. "Nah, my mom's the cook! She's been trying to teach me the recipes, though. Haven't got the hang of it yet, but I will. Eventually."

May looked at him seriously. "You should. Being able to cook like this for yourself every day…" She sighed dreamily at the thought.

"Hey, I'll get there!"

They became engrossed in eating and chatting for the next while. Misty felt like she was genuinely enjoying herself. She couldn't remember the last time she went out with friends, mostly because her only friend, up till recently, had been Paul, and he basically lived in his art studio.

"I wish Paul could have been here too," Ash said suddenly, as if he'd seen the person who'd crossed Misty's mind.

"Who?" May said absentmindedly, even though it didn't look like she was paying attention, being too focused on her noodles.

"Paul," Ash repeated. "I know what you said, Misty, but I still feel like he's missing out."

"Ash, he doesn't even like sitting at the cafeteria table with all of us there. Sometimes, he doesn't even like sitting in the cafeteria in general."

"I guess…."

"Besides," Misty added, taking a bite of her noodles. "He's probably having a blast at that art galler—"

"OH MY GOODNESS!" May suddenly shrieked, making both Ash and Misty jump.

"What? What's wrong?"

"This!" May held up her cell phone, waving it in their faces. It was hard to see what was on the screen with all that moving around, but Misty could detect some kind of note written down. A reminder for something, if Misty had to guess.

"I was supposed to meet someone! I totally forgot and double-booked myself!" May stood up, finishing off the last of her noodles. "Thanks so much for lunch, Ash! I'll have to catch you guys later, though; so sorry about this! Bye!"

She sped straight out the restaurant, leaving both Misty and Ash very confused behind her.

"Okay…" Misty said hesitantly.

"I hope she's not too late," Ash said, looking after her.

It suddenly became awkwardly quiet. May's sudden outburst had cut off any conversation, leaving the two unsure of what to say.

"So…," Misty said, in an attempt to break the silence. "Do you… have any siblings or pets or…?"

"Nah, I'm an only child. Just me and my mom." He scratched the back of his head. "I do have a buddy Pikachu, though. He's at home right now. You?"

"Three older sisters, Daisy, Violet and Lily. All annoying." She rolled her eyes.

"Wow, three!" Ash's eyes lit up. "I wish I had a sibling. Back in Pallet, though, my friends and I were pretty close, so their siblings were like my siblings too."

"Your friends, huh?" Misty thought for a moment. "There were Gary and Leaf, right? Anyone else?"

"It was mostly us three until Leaf moved away. Then it was me and Gary for a while, before Gary started hanging out with some other guys. Then he moved away too. But, I mean, everyone in Pallet's kind of like a buddy. It's a small town."

"So Gary and Leaf have siblings?" She frowned, trying to think. Gary looked like he was an older brother who'd push around a younger sibling. Leaf… she looked like an older sister, maybe?

"Gary has an older sister," Ash said. "It's funny, because her name's Daisy too, just like one of your sisters. And Leaf…" He trailed off as if something suddenly occurred to him. "Hey, wait."

"What?"

"All your sisters, their names are flowers."

"Yeah, I know, right? My dad's a botanist, and my mom's obsessed with flowers. They're both always travelling, since my dad's always looking for new plants, and my mom works with marine life. Put them together, and they're searching for new underwater plant life." She rolled her eyes. "And thus, they named their daughters after flowers. And even changed their surnames to Waterflower. Dumb, right?"

"I think it's pretty cool," Ash said thoughtfully. "But then why are you 'Misty'? Wouldn't they name you after a flo—"

"Don't you dare go there, Ash Ketchum!" Misty interrupted suddenly, realizing where this was going.

Ash looked confused. "Huh? But—"

"Drop it."

"Why? I'm just asking—"

"Drop. It."

Ash went silent after that, looking puzzled and as if he were trying to figure out what he did wrong. Misty finally sighed, the guilt settling in.

"Okay, sorry," she said. "Here's the thing: Misty's a nickname. I don't like my real name, so don't bring it up."

"Oh. All right." Ash frowned. "But you shouldn't not like your name, Mist. I mean, I know you can't control what your parents name you, but still. It can't be that bad."

"Some girls might like it. I don't. I'm planning to officially change it to Misty once I can."

"But why? Is it really that bad?"

"I don't like it. It doesn't suit me."

"But—"

"Just leave it, Ash."

"…Right."

"Hey, Ash!" A call came from the counter. Iris was standing there, looking mildly irritated. "I've kinda been covering you for over half an hour, you know!"

Ash blinked, turning to check the clock hanging on the wall. "Aw man!" he said suddenly. "I lost track of time!"

"Jeez, you're such a kid," Iris muttered, shaking her head.

"Thanks for covering me, Iris!" He stood, giving Misty a sheepish smile. "Sorry, Mist, break's up. Gotta go work…."

"Hey, don't worry about it." She stood. "You have to work; I get that. I guess I'll be on my way then. Thanks for lunch, though! It was great."

Ash grinned goofily. "Thanks for coming! I'll see ya later. Oh, and stop by again, some time!"

Though there probably won't be a free lunch next time, Misty thought. But she liked it here, with the pleasant atmosphere and good food….

"Yeah, will do!" Misty waved as she walked out the glass door. She paused, looking back pensively.

Maybe I can get a job here some time. It's nice enough…

But for now, she needed to get home to do her homework. She began walking again, leaving the Pallet House behind her.

Well, that's done! I hope you liked it. Now need to start working on the next chapter.

But before that, I want to apologize for my absence. Sorry! Thanks for waiting so patiently, though!

So why did I seem to suddenly disappear off of FFN for so long? Firstly, school. I decided to put most of my focus in that area, especially since I had exams to deal with. The last of my exams was on June 27. Then, I had some life stuff to do. Like finish up my university schedule, clean out my closet (trust me, what filled my closet succeeded in filling my entire room), and, of course, relax. And now, there's a lot of reading I want to do, because seriously, I haven't been able to free read much while school was still in session.

So what now? Well, I do plan on writing for FFN, but I am going be starting university in September, which, from what I hear, really busies you up. So this summer, I hope I can get some chapters out (can't promise anything, though, especially if my family decides to make some travel plans), but after summer's over, finding some FFN time might prove to be a bit difficult. I'll do my best!

Also, I realize that, for this story, the grade everyone is in might be getting a bit confusing to keep track of. I'm sorry! I'll keep this in mind if I ever start a new story: Don't make stuff hard to keep track of!

So here are the grades everyone is in. If you want to know about someone I might have missed as well, let me know!

12A: Gary, Leaf, Rudy, Melody, Giselle, Conway

12B: Misty, Ash, Paul

11A: Drew, Dawn, May, Brianna, Serena, Clemont

11B: Ursula, Trip

Iris doesn't go to school, but if she did, she'd be in grade eleven.

Bye bye for now! Have a great day, and smile all the way! :)