DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon. Never have, never will.
A/N: Hmm, just reading over this I decided it could be a prologue if I really wanted it to be, but oh well, it's chapter one. All I can say at this point is that the story is still introductory here and that we will get into the swing of things soon enough. Thanks for clicking on this story in the first place!
Chapter One - The Reunion.
"I can't believe you guys. I can't" I groaned, shaking my head in dismay as Daisy pulled the car to a stop.
"Like, chill out Misty, we thought you would, like, like it here" Lily said distractedly.
"No, you knew you would like it here and gave absolutely no consideration as to what I would like" I said heatedly. No doubt that was the truth of it all.
"Well it's not like we wanted you to come, you know" Violet reminded me as she stepped out of the car and viewed her surroundings. She pretty much just summed up the non-existent care and respect all three of my older sisters show towards me.
I sighed. She was right. Our parents, wonderful as they are, had forced us to go together in order to "re-bond" as they put it. If it hadn't been for my mom and dad, these three would be here having the times of their lives and I would be back having mine, in the vicinity and comfort of my room.
Hey, I'm not completely antisocial. But it's not my fault I was badly emotionally scarred at the age of 13.
Scarred by Ash Ketchum.
I hear you all gasp. Ash Ketchum? The youngest Pokémon Master ever? Well yes, he hurt me pretty badly. And since you're all nosey, I'll sum up as briefly as possible what happened between us. I befriended him, eventually fell in love with him, confessed to him, found out he felt the same, dated him, had the time of my life...until one day he came up to me and bluntly announced that he wasn't in love with me anymore. He was in love with that little cow, Giselle.
Oh yeah, he also proclaimed that he never wanted to see me again.
And, being 13 and under the illusion that I had found my soulmate, this was a kick in the guts. A very hard kick.
But now here we were, me now aged 15 and a bit, at Washbay Beach. Usually I would be thrilled at the prospect of spending three months at a beach, being a water Pokémon trainer and all. But I prefer deserted beaches.
Not beaches that are famous for teenage parties involving alcohol, eardrum-rupturing music and swarms of people. Every night.
Oh boy, this was gonna be a fun vacation.
I hauled my bag over to the bach we had rented out for the next three months (of hell) and slammed the door behind me bitterly.
"Okay, well tonight there's this, like, huuuuge party" Lily started. I suppressed a sarcastic laugh. Of course there's a "huuuuge" party, this is Washbay Beach after all. "And you," she continued, pointing a finger at me,
"are coming with us."
My eyes went wide as I came to terms with the announcement. "What do you want me there for?"
"We don't" Violet said bluntly. "Mom, however does."
"How would Mom know whether I went or not?" I asked feebly, scared of what my mother had got up to. When it came to my presence in the outside world, there was no telling what she could do.
"Like, check it out, Mist. Smile for the camera!" Daisy said jovially, pointing at the spying device in the corner of the entrance.
Despite the horrors of the situation, I had to laugh. "Oh God, I'm on Big Brother. Isn't this a little bit over-the-top?"
"Well, the camera only comes on after 5pm and goes off at midnight. If she doesn't see you leave before 7, she rings" Violet said seriously.
My head spun. Even with my mother hundreds of miles away I was still being forced to go out in a crowd I wasn't even a part of.
Without another word I picked up my bag and dragged it to my room down the hall. I had to admit defeat. She was too powerful. With a heavy sigh I flopped onto my bed. This was going to be a very long three months.
* * * * * * *
"Lily! C'mon, can't we just get to this party and get it over with?" I yelled, my fist repeatedly banging on the bathroom door. She had literally spent hours in there. I had already decided that my motto for the night would be the quicker we arrive, the quicker we can leave.
She finally emerged, unrecognisible with meticulous hair and a perfectly preened face to match. Although the perfectly preened face was twisted in an annoyed scowl.
"Wow, is there a private beauty parlour in there or something?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Haha, like, very funny runt. Nice to see you all dolled up" Lily replied sarcastically. Okay, so I was wearing a dress and my hair was done up in a loose bun. That was pretty 'dolled up' for me. And so what if the dress was denim? It was a dress, wasn't it?
"Yeah, well I do what I can." I shot Lily a grin and walked towards the kitchen. "Are you guys ready?" I directed the question to the lounge, where my other two sisters were 'patiently' waiting. To them, patience means actually waiting in the first place. It doesn't, however, exclude whining and complaining.
"Finally! God, I dunno what takes you so long when you, like, hardly make an effort" Violet said in distaste. I didn't bother telling them that I wasn't the one who had been holding them up. I knew there was no point.
I warily followed my sisters to the door and uttered what I thought would be my last words to the camera. "I hope you're happy, Mom." I closed and locked the door behind me to witness my sisters reconciliating with some complete stranger to me.
"Candy! Hi babe!" Daisy shouted.
"Hey guys!" this Candy chick replied, kissing the air beside all their cheeks. I instantly and correctly assumed that she was as big an airhead as my sisters. I mean, who honestly thinks they can name their kid Candy and
get away with it? (A/N: No offense to anyone called Candy by the way.)
"Like, check it out, who invited the kid?" Candy asked, pointing a perfectly manicured nail in my face.
"That's our kid sister, Misty" Lily introduced me in a bored tone.
"We totally didn't want her here" Violet added. I lagged behind them as the four of them met up with people I had never met and arrived at the party. Not a word passed from my lips since we had left the house.
Eventually I gave up trying to sink into the shadows - it just kinda happened without even trying. Still, this amazed me, since I was having trouble finding somewhere to just sit out the night by myself without getting involved in anything. It was, after all, an outdoor party.
But then something hit me, (and no, I don't mean the beer bottle that was drunkenly thrown in my direction) and I decided to partake in a saying I usually ignore. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. So with that thought in
mind, I flung off my (cheap) sandals and, having lost all direction of where my sisters had got to, merged into the throng of dancing, mostly drunk people.
And would you believe it? I almost enjoyed myself.
Almost.
There I was, dancing to some hardcore techno "song" - what kind of song is a whole lot of electronics put together? - when my flailing right arm came into contact with something. Someone.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" I yelled, wanting my apology to be heard over the noise. The person I had hit had his eyes winced in pain and was clutching his nose. Oops. "Are you okay?"
This person lifted his head and leaned over to my ear, whispering three words I wished I'd never heard.
"I'm fine, Misty."
I coiled back in surprise and watched in shock as Ash Ketchum revealed himself in front of me. The same Ash Ketchum I had fallen in love with two years ago. "Ash..." I whispered, my mouth now resembling a mill of sawdust.
Ash grinned and motioned to somewhere outside the huge group of people. For some idiotic reason I wish I'd picked up on then, I nodded and followed him out to a surprisingly quiet spot.
"Ash..." I could only repeat his name dumbly. Yet he continued to smile. Why was he standing there grinning away at the girl whose heart he'd broken? I shook my head as my shock was soundly replaced with anger. "What do you think you're doing here?"
"I'm here on a vacation..."
"With Giselle?" I snidely interrupted.
"No" Ash replied. Why did he sound/look so surprised? His face seemed to be clouding over in some kind of emotion I couldn't pick up... "The whole thing with me and Giselle never went anywhere" he announced flatly.
"Oh but you two were so perfect for each other, both of you being jerks and all" I sneered. Ash sighed, sat down on a rock and uncomfortably ran a hand through his hair. Good, feel uncomfortable, you bastard, you deserve it!
"Misty, I never wanted to leave you. I've been trying to find you" he said quietly.
"Well, I've been at the gym since we split, wouldn't that be the first place you'd look?" I replied sarcastically. Ash went noticeably quiet and I grinned in satisfaction. First round victory to Misty!
"I didn't mean to hurt you. It wasn't my fault I left like that" he added.
"How could it not be your fault?!" I yelled, astonished by his attitude. This was not how I pictured our reunion to be going. In my imaginary scenarios I always ended up somehow hurting him, relishing in his
crestfallen look as he experienced the pain he put me through...
I apologise. But I honestly have imagined it to be like that. I desperately wanted to hurt him the way he had hurt me. But in my limited power, I knew I could only do that by a fraction, if that.
"The League made me" Ash mumbled.
I couldn't suppress my laughs. "Okay Ash, I know you can never take the blame on yourself for anything, but honestly, the League?!" I exclaimed through my hysterics.
"Misty, would you shut up and listen to me!" Ash shouted in obvious frustration. I stopped laughing but stood there with a smug look on my face. If I couldn't hurt him, then frustration would have to do for now. He paused and continued in a quieter voice. "When I became Master, the League demanded that I be seen with someone...I dunno, respectable."
"Respectable?" I spluttered on the word. "I wasn't RESPECTABLE enough for you?!" I yelled with an undeniable and shameful shrill in my voice. I'm sure the whole of the beach could hear me, even over the music.
"Of course you were!" Ash replied hurriedly, jumping off the rock to face me. "In fact, just before I left you...I was falling in love with you."
Woah woah woah, where was all this love stuff coming from? Now I really was shocked. Seeing Ash for the first time in two years? That was cake compared to what he was telling me now. He had loved me? Why hadn't he told me that when it mattered? When I loved him?
It honestly took me about five seconds to realise that his hand was now on my cheek and his face was only inches away from mine. Coming back to my senses, I angrily slapped his hand away and stood back to face him.
"You can't do this to me, Ash! You can't keep playing with my mind like this! Don't you think if you had loved me then you would've prioritised? You know, love and then the League?" I asked.
Ash was quiet and I knew then. His pokémon, his title, was more important to him than I ever had been or would be, even if he was trying to somehow lure me back now.
"No way, Ash. No way. Two years ago you hurt me so bad that it has changed me more dramatically than you'd care to realise! And now here you come, claiming to be a changed person and that you loved me and blah blah blah. Well you know something, Ketchum? I can't be bothered with that shit anymore" I said dramatically. Right out of a soap opera, I thought warily.
His shocked face...now that was the kind of face I had envisioned in our imaginary reunions. Hell, why stop now?
"I can't be bothered with you swanning in here and opening up old wounds that are only just starting to heal. And I mean only just. Tonight is the first time I've been properly out since you left me, and I was actually, can you believe it, starting to enjoy myself! Ha, stupid me, enjoying myself, I knew something would go wrong if I did!"
Oops. I was starting to sound more than a little hysterical. Tone down, tone down, my brain commanded. However, my vocal chords were in charge here.
"You wouldn't have changed even a fraction of what I have, Ash. So go tell all these lies or whatever to someone who gives two shits cos I honestly don't!" That was my closing statement as I ran off to the direction of the bach, ignoring Ash's distant pleas to come back.
I ran through the front door, gasping for breath and ignoring the red light of impending doom in the corner. I didn't care if Mom saw me come home early. I honestly didn't.
I didn't even bother turning the lights on as I collapsed to the ground, curling up into a ball and really let loose the waterworks. I cried and cried into my little ball of despair. I knew I must've sounded like a
colic-ridden infant, but I didn't care. I needed to do this. I hadn't properly cried since Ash had left me. Sure, I had moped and sulked and vowed never to set foot outside the gym again. But I had never actually cried. Or
sobbed. Or even let one little tear trickle pathetically down my face.
I guess I was making up for it now.
God only knows how long I sat there for. The sobs didn't subside and I started being grateful for the fact that my mother hadn't called and my sisters were obviously a long way off coming home.
So I just stayed there, thinking of Ash. How that one word put so many other words into my heart.
Ash. Once equaled love. Then equaled pain. And even now, still equals pain. Or multiple amounts of pain.
He was a very confusing sum to figure out.
A/N: Okay, so it's kinda short, they will get longer in the future, I swear! The next chapter will be posted in a day or two, it's sitting here on my hard drive ready to go but I wanna give you guys some time to read this one and the prologue. I'm trying to work out how to post these chapters so I don't run out of time and have to put them all up in a mad rush, lol. Puh-leese review, I love reviews so much and they help me out like you wouldn't believe, lol. Thankies very much, more soon!
