2. Rivalry
Misty, Togepi and Brock woke with a start as Ash yelled in horror. "Pikachu! Nooooooo!"
"What's the matter, Ash?" asked Misty, willing him to go back to sleep so she could finish her dream. "I was just about to catch a Gyrados."
"I dreamt that Team Rocket took my Pikachu in the night, but it wasn't a dream. He's gone!" The three of them looked around, and Pikachu had indeed vanished.
"You mean they actually won?" said Brock, tiredly. "Wow." Ash said nothing for a while. Then he began shouting again.
"What am I going to do?!" The volume of his voice was beginning to get on Misty's nerves, so she retorted, far more sarcastically than she had intended:
"Go find him, maybe?". Ash grabbed her by the collar angrily.
"None of this would have happened if YOU hadn't stopped! I told you we should have kept going." Brock intervened before it turned into a fist fight. It was just another day for the arguing pair, he ought to be used to this by now, but he wasn't.
"It's not Misty's fault, Ash. Calm down."
"It's BOTH of your faults! You were the ones who fell asleep." This was the last straw for Misty.
"Well maybe if you'd had the good grace to stop at the last town like we suggested, those two jerks wouldn't have found us! But no, you had to move on, always Mister 'I'm-the-boss'! If anyone's to blame it's you!" Brock tried to stop her before she said something she'd regret later. He wasn't quick enough. "If you were a better trainer that Pikachu would stay in it's pokéball like a normal pokémon and not annoy us all the time!"
"Pikachu is NOT annoying!"
"Wanna bet?" Ash was seething by this point and looked like he was about to shove her. The look on her face dared him to but he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction.
"Yeah, well what about your Psyduck?"
"At least I STILL HAVE my Psyduck!" They all contemplated whether or not this was a good thing. Brock had given up trying to stop them and had instead opted to sit and wait for them to finish. Ash wasn't going to let Misty get away with that one.
"Wanna battle?"
"No way!"
"Afraid you'll lose?"
"No. I'm just not going to sink to your level. That's your answer to everything." Ash ignored her and produced a pokéball.
"Squirtle, GO!" he shouted. Misty rolled her eyes and folded her arms, waiting.
"Oh, brother…" Ash was not deterred by her attitude.
"Squirtle, water gun attack NOW!" He pointed to Misty. His pokémon turned to him and frowned, then shook it's head. "Didn't you hear me?"
"Squirtle." ["She's human."]
"Do as I say!"
"Squirt!" ["No!"] Misty laughed at him.
"Seems as though your pokémon know you really well, Ash." she taunted. He tried his best to answer her back but he was getting angrier and angrier and was finding it difficult to think straight.
"He was talking about you -"
"Takes one to know one." Misty was too good at this. Ash gritted his teeth and growled. Togepi whimpered and Misty picked it up and glared at Ash. "You're scaring Togepi." Misty could tell Ash was really annoyed and was taunting him for that reason. Brock had seen all of the insults coming and calmly waited for the situation to settle down. But then Ash did something that surprised even himself…
Several seconds passed when nothing happened. Time stood still at the roadside. Brock stared open-mouthed. The sound of Ash's hand as it made contact with Misty's cheek echoed around them in the silence. She had dropped Togepi and it was now hiding behind Brock with Squirtle. Ash's eyes, previously flashing with fury, were now wide with horror and panic at what he had just done. And Misty… she stood motionless, her head still facing the direction that Ash's blow had forced it.
The world stopped.
After what seemed like an eternity, she turned to look at Ash, and brought a hand to her cheek. Pain and fear crossed her face, then anger and then something Ash had never seen before. Her bottom lip began to quiver and her previously determined eyes filled with tears, and before anyone knew what was happening, she had turned on her heel and run off. Brock called after her and ran a little way but she was already long gone with no hope of catching her. By the time he'd walked back, Ash was slumped on the floor examining his hands. Brock was now in no mood to be giving advice.
"Great! First Pikachu, now this! Good going, Ash."
"I… didn't mean… it just…"
"Yeah! It did!"
"But -"
"No, 'but's Ash. I don't think I want to stay around someone who hits fifteen-year-old girls." With that he picked up Togepi and calmly walked off, leaving Ash by himself with Squirtle. The water pokémon cautiously approached it's master, only to find itself instantly back inside a pokéball. Ash was upset but his pride wouldn't let him show it, even though no-one was around to see. He balled his hand into a fist and punched the ground before getting up.
"FINE! I don't need anyone! I started this journey alone and that's how I'll finish it!" He walked in the direction he was originally headed, determined and headstrong. But as he walked, he had to fight back the tears…