Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in this fic, and if I decide to make up a character, I'll tell you in the next chapter.

In the last chapter, I made some grammar mistakes, so forgive me. And I said that Brock was in a foul moon, I meant to say foul mood. Sorry bout that too.



"Ash, I'm getting a little worried about Brock. Usually he's on time, especially to the Pokemon Center because of Nurse Joy. I mean, what if something happened?" Asked a worried Misty.

"Mist, you worry too much. Brock is 17 and can care for himself." Ash said incoherently. He was more absorbed in a book he was reading.

"Yeah, I guess..." the red head answered slowly. "He still has a half-hour before the center closes, but I won't start to worry until after 10."

"Great." Mumbled Ash.

"What did you say?"

"Uh... hehe... umm... I just meant that... uhh... that...never mind." Ash was laughing nervously.

Misty decided to leave it be, he made enough of a fool of himself not even being able to finish his sentence.

Meanwhile.....

"Arghh! Let go of me! Misty, Jenny, Nurse Joy, Ash! Somebody, anybody! HELP!" Brock yelled muff idly. His head was in a cloth sack, or so he could tell, and his hands and feet were tied with a rope.

"No, we need you"

~~~

"OK, now am I allowed to be worried? Wait, I don't need your opinion! Its past 10, and Brock is nowhere up and down the street! In fact, nobody is up or down the street!" Worried, she went over to Ash, took the book out of his hands, and put it on the top shelf in the bathroom.

"Ash, you are going to think, and think hard. WHERE did Brock say he was going?"

"Uhh..."

"Ash..." Misty warned. At this point she was very aggravated and knew he couldn't remember--

"I GOT IT!!" Ash screamed at the top of his lungs after ten minutes of thinking and jumped in the air for joy.

"FINALLY! This is the first thing you have gotten since... I don't know when!"

"Shh and let me tell you where he went. He went..." Ash paused for dramatic effect, but it just turned out making Misty even more mad.

"Oh hurry up and tell me already!" She shot.

"Aright already. If you kill me you'll never find out where he went." Misty nodded. Ash actually made sense! "He went to the grocery store to buy food for out trip!"

"WHAT?!?!"

"You heard me. I said he went to buy food. What's so bad about that?"

"Ash, it's bad because I already bought food. Before I took my shower. Didn't you see me come in with bags?"

"Mist, calm down. I am sure a little extra food won't matter. And I'm sure where ever Brock is, he will be fine!" Ash was trying so hard to reassure her. It didn't exactly work.

"Ash, you are 13, and I am 14. That means I have been traveling with you guys for 3 years now. I *THINK* I know Brock better than for him to be late, at least to the Poke Center."

"Misty, we are getting nowhere. Why don't we just go out and look for him?

"It's past ten. Nurse Joy won't let anyone out of the building!"

"It wouldn't hurt to ask!

"You right. Let's go!" They ran out the door, down the stairs, and to the front desk.

"Hi! Shouldn't you two be in bed?"

"Nurse... Joy. You...have to.... help... us! Brock, our friend...has not come...back yet. We...don't...know where he is!" puffed Ash.

"It's not like him to be late" Misty put in.

"Well, you know I'm not going to let you go out. It's after hours." chimed Nurse Joy.

"But we have to find him!" Misty argued. Nurse Joy wouldn't hear of it.

"I will call Officer Jenny to look for him. What does he--- oh never mind. I remember him when you came in. He had dark skin and squinty eyes?"

"Yeah." Ash and Misty said in unison, then looked at each other and blushed.

"I love seeing people traveling together in love but haven't told each other yet." Nurse Joy said to herself as she walked to the telephone. " You kids go up to bed now and get some sleep. If your friend is not found by morning then we will form a search party.

Neither Ash nor Misty slept well that night. If one would turn to face the other Ash being on the floor and Misty on the bed, whoever didn't turn world turn. (AN I hope that makes sense. To put it simply, they refused to face each other)

~Mistys POV: "He is so cute! Wait, am I saying that I, Misty Waterflower, like stubborn, short, and rude Ash? HE RUINED MY BIKE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! I cant like him. It's just not possible...is it?" (end Mistys POV) This argument with herself continued on for awhile, and another person started another argument...sorta

~Ashs POV: " Her hair is beautiful. Should I tell her....? Tell her what? You have nothing to tell. After how I've acted, I wouldn't blame her if she got up right now and walked out that door and never came back."

Misty suddenly got up, and Ash sucked in his breath. She was leaving, he just knew it.

"I have to go to the bathroom. Come on Togepi." Misty whispered, so she wouldn't disturb a, so she thought, sleeping Ash.

"She's taking Togepi. That only means one thing! She's going to talk to it!" Ash thought as a thought crossed his mind. "I'll eavesdrop."

At the place where the two masked people took Brock...

Brocks head was suddenly uncovered, and he looked around at his surroundings. He was in a room, and he wasn't tied up anymore. He was in a soft bed, and there was some food on a table across the room. He didn't remember anything except getting attacked near the ally, then blackness. Nothing hurt, so he imagined he had sucked in some sleeping gas. "Why would whoever these people are want me?" He wondered aloud.

"We don't want you, you are just a decoy." A voice boomed over a loudspeaker. It sounded so familiar, but he couldn't place who it was.

"Who are you?" Brock demanded angrily. "Show yourself!"

Suddenly, a familiar figure appeared at a side of the room, in a window type thing. Beside him was another familiar shape he couldn't place who it was and then all the pieces snapped as he recognized them!

Back at the hotel...

"Oh, Togepi." Sobbed a tearful Misty. " Why in the world is it so hard to talk to someone you have known for three years? It shouldn't be that hard." Mistys sobbed while Ash listened intently. "I should be able to tell him the way I feel, but what if he really doesn't have the same feelings toward me? I know how he feels for me as a friend, we are best friends, so why is it so hard to tell him how I feel? Let's go back to bed. I just needed to babble some of the stuff out to someone before I spill it all, not just some, like the other day." She wiped away the tears and got up. Ash realized she was getting up and made a dive for his sleeping bag. Unfortunately, he landed on Pikachu, who was startled, and gave his trainer a terrible shock. Ash screamed and fell to the floor, burnt to a crisp. Misty walked out of the bathroom as soon as all of this happened, and what she saw amazed her. Ash burnt to a crisp, and Pikachu apologizing over over and over but saying that you shouldn't rip sleeping Pokemon form their sleep or things like this will happen.

Misty quickly padded back to her bed and pretended she was sleeping. Ash recovered almost immediately. He was used to shocks from Pikachu.

"Misty, why is your face tear stained?" He knew the answer perfectly well, but he wanted to hear it from her.

"Mmm" she mumbled, not wanting to be disturbed. Ash decided to leave her alone, not wanting to get hit by a mallet, recalling the pain earlier, or reported to Nurse Joy for loudness in the middle of the night.

Ash figured Misty was already asleep, so he decided to talk to his other best friend Pikachu, who was now wide awake. Little did he know how wrong he was. He told Pikachu everything Misty had said about her, and his feelings toward Misty. So now Misty is the only one that knows that the other person knows. Ash didn't know that Misty heard his conversation with his mouse.

The next morning, Misty awoke with a start. Ash was not in his sleeping bag, he was sprawled out all over the floor.

"ASH IT'S 10 IN THE MORNING! Time to get up!" When Ash mumbled something and wouldn't get up, she walked over to the curtains and opened them.

"The stairway to heaven... AUGH!" He was awake.

"Ash, we have to find Brock." So they got dressed and went to the lobby. They reserved the rooms for the next week, because they figured they world be here a while. There was an article on the news about Brock, and search partys were searching the town.

"Ash, they are not going to get anywhere just searching the town. The have to search the area around it to. I mean, I am convinced that he was kidnapped, otherwise he would be home by now." Misty sounded like Brock.

"Well, the next city is Blackthorn. We have to go through the ice cave to get there. Oh, on the news they said they searched the Lake of Rage, so we don't have to go there. Nobody has gone to the ice caves, 'cause they say when you go in, you have a slim chance of never getting out." Ash pointed out. They walked to the cave entrance about a mile away.

"It's an entrance." Ash said.

"Oh wow. King to state the obvious." Misty sarcastically stated. They were just about to walk in when... ~~~ Cliffhanger!! I LOVE doing them, but I will try to get the next chapter out soon. I have not experienced writer's block yet, but I have heard it usually happens in the 3rd or 4th chapter. I hope this chappie was a little nit longer, and I am gonna make the next chappie even longer. And I am waiting to get at least 10 reviews. Tell me if I am an ok writer or not. I don't want to totally bore you to death. So see ya in next chapter!

~StarPikachu