It's All In Your Head

2 days after "Unexpected Response"... (once again, read it before this, and "Too Far" before that)

Misty glanced to her right, where two days ago, she'd seen Ash for the first time in six months. She paused for a moment, staring through the doorway. She was about to walk away when something caught her eye. Curious, she went to see what it was.
Ash's hat.
Misty frowned. Why had he left it there? Recalling the memory of when Ash caught Primape, she remembered him saying that he had to send in a million postcards to get that hat. There was no doubt the dirty old hat had sentimental value to Ash, so he should have taken it with him. He hadn't though, and Misty found that to be unlike him.

"I've been meaning to ask Ash," Brock folded up the map with a frown on his face. He had no idea where they were. Ash had led them into a forest outside Cerulean City, which wasn't on the map. They had been wandering around for two days and there was no sign of any cities.
Ash turned around, continuing to walk but backwards. "Yeah Brock?"
Brock moved his eyes to Ash's head. "What happened to your hat?"
"My hat..." Ash stopped walking. He raised his hand to his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "I lost it."
"You lost it? How? You love that hat!" Brock stopped a few feet away from him.
"It was an accident!" Ash yelled.
Brock backed up a bit. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound imposing or anything." He looked at the sky, then began walking again. "I was just wondering."
Ash sighed, knowing that his temper had gotten him into this mess in the first place. "It's ok Brock, I didn't mean to yell. It's just..." he trailed off and bit his lip.
"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked.
Brock turned to face Ash. "What?"
"Never mind," Ash replied quickly, and jogged to catch up with Brock, Pikachu running close behind.

Misty gazed out the window at the cloudless sky. The stars twinkled brightly, seeming closer than they'd ever been before. The moon shone through it and lit up the entire room. In a few days there would be a full moon, which would probably be brighter than the one Misty was looking at now.
"Misty? You're still awake?"
Misty whirled around at the sound of the familiar voice, coming face to face with Daisy. Daisy narrowed her eyes at Misty, who gave her a small smile.
"It's 2:34 AM! Get some sleep!" Daisy hissed loudly and walked past Misty to the window. She flung the drapes shut violently and turned to face Misty again. Glaring at her, Daisy silently went back to her bedroom, leaving Misty staring at the small beam of light that was shining through the crack the drapes had left. Her eyes followed it to the table in the middle of the room, with a single item on it.
Ash's hat.
Misty glared at the hat, wishing it would leave her alone. No, every time she got the memory of her and Ash arguing out of her head, the hat had to remind her again. It seemed like the hat was trying to tell her something, and Misty had a feeling she knew what it was.
Deciding to try to ignore the hat, she went to the kitchen and turned on the tap, letting the cool refreshing water run through her fingers. She filled a glass and drank it quickly, hoping it would help her get to sleep (it never does though...). Turning off the water, she headed for her bedroom, feeling sleepier than she had a few minutes ago.
Using the wall as a guide as her eyes were half closed, she moved towards her nice comfy bed for about two seconds before she tripped over something and brought a picture that had been hanging on the wall down with her. It landed with a crash that echoed through the hallway and Misty winced, hoping Daisy and her other sisters, whose rooms were only a few feet away, hadn't heard that. She stayed sitting on the floor for a moment before deciding that if Daisy had heard the crash, she'd simply buried her head under her pillow, muttering about why her scrawny little sister could make so much noise so early in the morning.
Misty stood up and squinted, trying to figure out what had tripped her without turning on any lights. She saw something behind the picture, which had its frame cracked right down the middle, and after realizing what it was, scowled and wondered if she was ever going to get any sleep.
It was Ash's hat again.
Misty snatched it up off the floor and carried it to her room. The stupid thing was never going to leave her alone, so she decided to do the obvious and get rid of it. Marching up to her garbage can and stamping her foot on the pedal (is that what they're actually called? ^_^;;), making more noise than she intended to and hearing Lily yell her name through a closed door, she dangled the hat over the opening, preparing to drop it.
The hat must have been working its magic though, because Misty couldn't find it in her to drop it into the small black hole. Memories flooded back of her, Brock and Ash. Of the struggles they went through to get Ash's badges. Of the times they'd foiled Team Rocket, which took a while since that happened on a regular basis. Of catching new pokémon, mainly deciding on who got to keep Togepi. Of the argument.
Misty couldn't stand it any longer. She couldn't through the hat away, it wasn't in her. She couldn't keep it, it was driving her crazy, haunting her even. There was only one thing to do.
Face her fear.
Find Ash.