Ash's little proclamation there really threw off my original formulation but I think I'm happy with the eventual result and that's what matters. I love dramatic irony (why else do you think I insist on writing in eye-of-god, even when I intend to stick to a single characters point of view I can't help myself) so usually I spend most of the fic having the two characters angst over their feelings for one another while I smile all knowingly as they wonder if the other feels the same. Quite a change to have a confession so early in the piece (relative to my other fics).

So this chapter (so you don't have to search back to refresh) is two days since Ash's confession - well more like a day and a half but you get the gist.

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Pokemon the entire show would revolve around Ash and Misty's burgeoning relationship and most of the Pokemon would be axed from the cast unless they somehow furthered this relationship e.g. Chikorita could stay (because of her jealousy) and Pikachu (in order to offer advice and someone for Ash to talk to about his feelings for Misty) and Togepi could return (in egg form as the two of them raised their child Pokemon together). A few of them would be able to remain due to their general cuteness like vulpix and evee. Essentially it wouldn't really be Pokemon at all, and I may have to rename the show to 'Super Happy AAMR Time!' or something equally sappy.

Sweet Home Pallet Misery Loves Company

Misty sighed as her eyes flickered open slowly. She was waking in her old room back in Cerulean, making the conscious decision not to go back to Pallet after the opening festival. If anyone asked – which they often did – it was so she could get herself back into shape for the Water Show in two days time.

"Stupid Ash," she muttered to herself as thoughts of him rushed at her. Thoughts that seemed to consume her every waking hour. His words kept repeating themselves in her head over and over again, wearing down her defences.

"Stupid Misty," she sighed sadly, fresh tears welling in her eyes. "Stupid, stupid Misty."

Togetic flew around her in comforting circles, purring words of condolence. "Mummy not stupid," Togetic said softly in its own poketongue. "Mummy just scared."

"I'm not scared," Misty replied, glaring haughtily at inanimate objects.

"Of course you're scared," the Pokémon replied, having a rare moment of ingenious insight. "Being with Daddy means giving up everything. If it ends then you've nothing to fall back on – no net."

Misty sighed as she reached for her young Pokémon, wrapping it in a hug. "When did you get so clever, Toge," she asked sweetly as she gently stroked her face.

"I've always been smart Mummy," Togetic replied with a smile. "You were just always so busy mooning over Daddy to notice."

"Oi," Misty said warningly. "I'm very upset right now. You're supposed to be nice to me."

"That's not what Uncle Brock and Auntie Jesse said," Togetic replied innocently. "They said that somebody needed to whack some sense into that thick head of yours."

"Nice," Misty muttered rolling her eyes. She sighed again, her eyes becoming distant as her thoughts consumed her once again. "I am being sensible. He's hurt me before," she said sadly. "He's the only one who ever could hurt me. I can't put everything on the line when I have no idea how this is going to end.

"Damn stupid Ash," she sighed as she raked her fingers through her hair. "Why couldn't he have been in love with me when I was in love with him?"

Togetic gave her a knowing look, which led to Misty sighing again. "I mean before, when everything was simpler, instead of now when everything is so complicated," she explained, making very little sense to either herself or Togetic.

"Why is it complicated?" Togetic asked, staring at Misty in wonderment. Human affairs had always confused her, especially when Pikachu wasn't around to explain them. "You love Daddy and Daddy loves you. You do love Daddy, don't you?"

"Of course," Misty said, her eyes and voice softening at the thought of her beloved. "Always. But it's not just about him. Or me. What about all the people I'd be letting down? Jacques put his own reputation on the line to get me where I am today. And my staff. Andrea. Patrick. For the past seven years I've been building a life in Emerald, and loving Ash means letting all that go and letting all those people down.

"I can't be irresponsible like that," she added, her eyes clouding over with concern and worry once more. She tried to sound certain and come to some sort of conclusion, but it was rather futile. "Emerald is the right decision. It's the sensible choice. I can't just let everything there go. I have to finish what I started."

"But what about Daddy?" the Pokémon questioned, flying out of her arms.

She sighed sadly. "Ash . . ." she said quietly. "His life is here. He has his friends and his family and his Pokémon and they'll all be there for him when I'm gone. They'll help him see that . . . I'm nothing. If I was around . . . I would only ruin things and he'd soon realize that he was wrong – that he could never be in love with me. It's better that way."

Togetic was shocked. "You can't mean any of that, can you?"

"No," Misty said simply tears streaming down from her eyes once again. "But I've made me decision, Toge, and I can't take it back now. I have my responsibilities in Emerald. He has his life here."

"I noticed you never said much about your life," a voice asked from the door, startling Misty. Daisy smiled apologetically, not meaning to eavesdrop on the private conversation that Misty was having with her child Pokémon, although it was quite apparent that she needed an adult's perspective on things.

"You know the answer to that," Misty said, replying to the question implied in Daisy's statement.

Daisy shrugged, her smile understanding as she gazed into her little sisters sad eyes. "If he's your life why are you leaving him?" she asked after a few moments of silence made it clear that Misty wasn't going to say it.

"Because . . ." Misty began trying to find words to explain her reasoning, but all of them failed her.

"You can't leave him Misty," Daisy said, her voice serious. "You know it. I know it. Even Togetic gets it.

"You can try," Daisy added, almost laughing at the possibility, "but I doubt you make it another seven years without him."

"I can live without Ash," Misty replied sternly, perhaps more a mantra to keep herself in check than for Daisy's benefit.

"No you can't," Daisy replied, taking a seat next to Misty on the bed and holding her hand comfortingly. "If your being here proves anything, it proves that he's a part of you Misty and you can't just leave that behind. He's the one, and you trying to deny that isn't going to do anybody any good.

"Now," she said, standing up suddenly and reverting to her usual perky self, "Lily and Violet have lured Ash over here under false pretexts' and it's all totally for your benefit, so I suggest that you put a smile on and like try to work out just what it is you want to say to him."

And with that she was gone leaving nothing but the scent of daisies in her wake.


Ash arrived at the gym promptly only to find a lone figure standing at the front door of the house attached to the gym, seemingly trying to get someone's attention.

"Can I help you?" Ash asked, staring at the stranger with interest. Nobody ever tried the house door – as far as he knew the thing didn't even open – so he guessed the guy must have been new to town.

"Ah yes," the man replied, his voice confident and unassuming in spite of the awkward situation that he found himself in. "I've been standing outside this door for the last twenty minutes trying to get someone's attention, and now I'm not even sure if I'm at the right place."

"Are you looking for Tracy?" Ash asked, eyeing the stranger once again. He was dressed formally in an expensive looking pinstripe suit with a matching vest waistcoat underneath. He knew that Tracy did often spend a lot of time visiting the Cerulean gym and imagined that this finally explained it.

"I'm sorry?" the man said, his brows narrowing in confusion, but the confident air never leaving. "I'm looking for the Waterflower residence," the man explained.

Ash's eyes widened as everything started to click. There was something familiar about this man – Ash knew he recognised him from somewhere.

"You're here for Misty," he said sadly, his heart breaking slowly as it all dawned on him. This was him; the man that had stolen her heart. The one that would make her happy when all Ash could do was make her cry. This was the one person that Ash despised most in the world.

'But he makes her happy,' he thought sadly to himself and that was all that mattered. He would step aside and forget about his own feelings if it meant that she would be happy.

"Misty?" Patrick asked, silently cursing Ash for making everything so frustratingly confusing. He didn't like it when people knew more than him. "I'm looking for my fiancée, Kasumi Waterflower."

"Of course," Ash said, glowering at the man who seemed to insist on rubbing salt into the wound. "Kasumi. I'll show you the way."

"Who's this Misty person?" Patrick asked, as Ash opened the front door to the gym. "Is she a relative of Kasumi's?"

"You could say that," Ash said sadly, not turning back to meet Patrick's gaze. "But I'm not sure she'd know her anymore."


Misty smiled as she spotted Ash walking towards her from across the room. The minute she saw him it was like something finally clicked and everything made sense. She needed so desperately to talk to him. To tell him all the things that were on her mind – to tell him what she'd tried to tell him all those years ago.

But her eyes went wide when she suddenly realised he wasn't alone.

"Patrick!" she cried as her eyes flicked nervously between the two men in her life.

"What are you doing here?" she asked worriedly.

"I came to deliver your fiancé," Ash replied snidely, his eyes full of pain and betrayal his head loathed to admit.

"I think she was talking to me," Patrick butted in, however he seemed to be ignored by the pair who stared at one another, their eyes clouded with emotion.

"Well thank you . . ." Patrick began awkwardly, but Ash quickly cut him off.

"Do you want to know what happened to Misty?" Ash asked him suddenly, glaring at Misty as he spoke. His voice was callous and harsh, and so unusual Misty couldn't help but gasp. "She died."

"Ash, that's a terrible thing to say," Misty cut in. He was almost unrecognisable; completely transformed by his pain.

Ash ignored her and continued, telling Patrick the story he'd kept inside for far too long. "She died in the worst possible way," he continued, heart wrenchingly. "The kind that leaves a hole in your heart that nothing else can fill. And you don't want to fill it, so it just keeps getting bigger and bigger until the whole thing consumes you, and the hole is not just in your heart anymore.

"It's a hole in your life. A hole that is so huge that the only way to go on is to just change things so completely that it seems like you died along with her.

"Only she's not dead," Ash finished sadly, looking at Misty with a look of pity and sadness like none she had ever seen before. "She's just . . . gone."

He stared at her for a moment, shaking his head in disapproval before turning his back on her for good.

"Ash wait, I . . ." she cried, reaching out for him as she searched for the words to explain herself.

He turned quickly cutting her off before she could continue. "No you wait Kasumi," he hissed quietly, his whole face contorted with pain. Though his words were harsh, they were only filled with sorrow, not anger, and the pain of realizing his loss. "I don't know you anymore. You can keep your stupid trinket and you can just go and have yourself a nice life without me."

With that he angrily pulled a chain from around his neck and forced it into her hand, walking away before she could say anything more.

Misty watched his receding figure disappear with a sense of regret like she'd never felt before. She wanted to chase after him, but she felt rooted to the ground. She couldn't do it.

"What was that about Kasumi?" Patrick asked obliviously wrapping his arms around her in a way that felt totally alien to Misty. It shouldn't have been him.

"Just a misunderstanding," she explained vaguely, her emotions in turmoil. Her eyes remained trained on the last spot she had seen him, almost as though she was waiting for him to return.

She forced a smile as a single tear escaped her sad eyes. A tear that went unnoticed by Patrick, but that didn't matter.

It wasn't meant for him.

~ to be continued ~

Don't you love the hole in your heart line? This is actually one of the scenes that I wrote quite early on and I have no idea where that part came from, but it so sweet and deep and completely OOC seeing as it's coming out of the mouth of Ash Ketchum, but losing the love of your life really changes a person. Sort of.

Awwww, poor Ash and Misty. Damn Patrick! Had to just come along and ruin things. Stupid Ash and Misty! Those to are so stubborn the only way to get the pigheaded pair together is to orchestrate some elaborate insurmountable circumstances and watch the chaos ensue. It's like I said: 'the kid seemed to get some sort of kick out of insurmountable odds or something' and it's totally true. Not that I don't love the whole odds against them thing.

So go and review please. It's probably a bit of a long shot, but I would love to get to 80 reviews by the end of this fic and there are only two more chapters left (maybe epilogue? we'll see).