Chapter Eleven: A Kiss Goodbye
The sun had begun to set by the time Misty and Dawn arrived back at the harbour. Tons of boats were scattered around the wooden and stone port, many of them preparing to take people back to the nearby islands where they were staying. But the grand S.S. Kyorge towered above them all, its rich blue and red livery making it quite a spectacular sight. The thousands of windows were all glowing in the dying sunlight, and Misty and Dawn stood at the top of the harbour, watching the truly spectacular sight.
This would be the last time the two would be together for a while. The S.S. Kyorge had to move on, which meant that Misty would be sailing away with it. A long line of people were already moving up the stairs to board the magnificent vessel, and soon Misty would have to join them.
"I'm sorry we didn't get to spend more time together." Misty whispered as the two girls stood together, staring at the giant boat.
"Yeah, it would be nice to hang out with another girl for a change." Dawn whispered, and the two of them looked at each other, both of them smiling. They had spent most of the day inside that field playing with their Pokemon and getting to know each other a bit better. They both had huge big goals: Dawn wanted to be a top coordinator, and Misty wanted to be the most powerful water-type trainer in the world. The more they got to know each other, putting their previous petty fights aside, the more they realised how they are like each other, both young girls with big dreams, both held back by the same man.
"Promise me you won't let him get to you." Misty said, and she wrapped her arms around Dawn, giving her a huge hug. Dawn hugged Misty back, and the two of them seemed to be fighting back tears. Piplup, who was sitting at their feet, watched with a smile, and the girls eventually broke apart, both of them crying.
"I won't let him get the best of me." Dawn replied, sniffing loudly. "If he wants to go to that other region, I'm going to be staying in Sinnoh."
"That's great to hear!" Misty said, beaming brightly. A loud horn suddenly sounded and Misty squealed: it was the five minute horn, signalling that the S.S. Kyorge was going to leave. "That means I have to go!"
"Bye, I'll come visit you at your gym some time!" Dawn said quickly, giving her another brisk hug. Misty turned and began to run, but waved back at the two of them, shouting her goodbyes. Dawn sighed and headed over to a bench, collapsing into it alongside Piplup.
"Pip Piplup Lup?" Piplup asked as he hugged her arm.
"I just would have liked to have spent some more time getting some advice." Dawn replied, wiping away tears. "But I should be alright." Misty had reached the staircase, passing her papers over and still managing to wave at them. Dawn was about to wave back when she heard some loud footsteps thundering alongside.
"MISTY! MISTY, WAIT!" Dawn and Piplup froze and slowly exchanged looks as they recognised the voice that was shouting. And sure enough Ash Ketchum rushed past them, not evening noticing they were there. Misty saw Ash coming and looked nervously over at Dawn before stepping off the staircase while her papers were checked.
"Ash, hey, it's good to see you, but I'm in a bit of a-" The red headed girl began explaining, but Ash ignored this and hugged her tightly.
"I've missed you so much, and I was thinking the other day about going to Cerulean, but than I see you wandering around with Dawn and I'm overjoyed! I'm just glad I caught you in time." He explained. "By the way, you and Dawn weren't fighting again, were you?"
"No, not this time, we actually made up." Misty replied quickly. "Ash, seriously, I need to get on this boat. Good luck with your other battles, but-" Ash interrupted her again, but this time he leant forwards and kissed her softly on the lips. Misty's heart nearly stopped and her mind temporarily blanked out, and she shut her eyes, all the good times from Kanto, the Orange Islands and Johto rushing back to her.
But than she remembered why had come her: she had let her love for Ash consume her, depress her, ruin her, and she had come to stop that from happening to Dawn. Misty stepped backwards, horrified at herself for dropping her standards. She looked over at where Dawn was sitting and felt horrible as she saw Dawn staring at her in shock.
"I-I-I can't do this, I-I need to go." Misty stuttered. Ash looked like a little kid that had his candy taken away from him, but Misty no longer cared. She grabbed her papers and ran up the staircase two at the time, just as the ship's horn sounded again.
Dawn watched Ash watching misty with a sharp pain in her chest and stomach: how could he have ignored her, not even noticed she was there, and go and kiss Misty? Dawn began to sob heavily, and Piplup patted her on the back, unsure what to do.
"How could he…." She whispered to herself through her sobs. Dawn clutched Piplup and her bag and leapt up, turning and rushing back through the market, not wanting to see Ash ever again, not wanting him to break her heart ever again.