Disclaimer: Pokémon does not belong to me.

Chapter Five

"Ah!" The scream awoke everyone in the beauty parlor and probably the rest of the town too. All except for Ash.

"Pika-pi?" Pikachu poked him. "Pika pi!" He rolled over. "PikaCHUU!" A burst of electricity ran through his whole body. That woke him up.

"What's the matter, Pikachu?" he asked sleepily.

"Eew!" All of the girls, except for Misty, were standing on top of their beds.

"Gross, a frog!" Combya shrieked. Ash looked at where she was pointing. The Politoed he caught for Misty sat at the foot of it, croaking loudly.

"Aw! Isn't it cute?" Misty bent down to pick it up.

"Misty, don't touch that thing!" shouted Spraya.

"Huh? Oh, right, frogs, yuck. Bad, bad, bad." She set it down reluctantly.

"Where'd it come from?" asked Rinsya.

Misty sat on her bed. "Ouch!" She pulled back the covers to reveal Politoed's Pokéball. "Who put this here?" she wondered. Ash started to tiptoe to the door, but he was too late. "Ash!"
"That's like, so immature," said Combya. "Playing practical jokes like that."

"First of all, it's not a frog, it's a Pokémon," Ash said defensively. "And it wasn't a joke. It was a gift. Misty seemed like she needed cheering up and I thought she would like one. That's all."

"Well, thanks, but no that's. Politoed, return!" She handed him the Pokéball.

Ash looked at her as if she were crazy. "But you love water Pokémon," he protested. Now this was strange. He could understand her dressing up. He could even understand her trying to control her temper and thought it was a good idea. But giving up a Pokémon? That was sheer lunacy. What happened to becoming the world's greatest water Pokémon trainer? He wondered.

"Well, I won't need it anymore," she replied.

"What do you mean?" Brock asked. "If you're going to be a water Pokémon master, you should catch all the Pokémon you can." Clearly, he was thinking along the same lines as Ash was.

"I've changed my mind. I'm not going to be a Pokémon trainer anymore. All I do if follow you guys anyway, and it's done nothing. I'm staying right here."

Ash's jaw dropped. He could see refusing a Pokémon, just one, particularly this one. She could just wait for her own to evolve, as Brock said. But give up everything? He couldn't imagine life without Pokemon. And he couldn't imagine this journey without her. Who would cheer him on in the Johto league? Who would see he was doing something stupid and not tell him so? Brock would be around, but it wasn't the same. Misty had been with him since the beginning. It was almost as bad as not having Pikachu. He wouldn't stand for it. The question was how to talk her out of it. "Stay here? But what are you going to then?"

Misty shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I'll become a model like my sisters, or perhaps a beautician. Who knows?" The first idea should have clicked something in Ash's brain, but it didn't. Not yet anyway.

Ash frowned at her. "Well, I think you're being stupid. Give up Pokémon for hair and make-up? Typical girl. Come on; let's go Brock. We've spent enough time here already." If that was how Ash planned to talk her into going back with them it wasn't the brightest of ideas. Ash had yet to learn when to watch his mouth. It tended to produce the opposite result of what he wanted.

"Fine, go. I don't need you. Get out of here," she said. She pointed towards the door.

"Wait, can't I get your number first?" Brock asked the girls. Hearts were in his eyes. Spraya wiped his drool off her shirt with a tissue. Ash rolled his eyes. Since Misty couldn't do it, he grabbed him by the ear and dragged him towards the exit.

"Let's go, Pikachu!" Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder, sadly waving to Togepi as they walked out. Ash slammed the door behind them without even saying goodbye.

Misty gulped to hold back a sob. Combya put a hand on her arm.

"You don't need them anymore," she said. "Who wants to hang around those little boys anyway?"

"Yeah, who needs them?" the others chorused.

Misty picked up Togepi and hugged him close. Do I? She thought. She wasn't so sure.