I Promise: Platinum Edition

Note: Fear my pwnage of nothing.

Chapter 3

Brock looked up from his favorite book, How to Groom a Vulpix, and smiled. "Misty, darling! You came back for me!" He looked at Ash, who was still carrying Misty in his arms. "Are you buggin', Misty? Are you cheating on me?"

Misty resisted the sudden urge to smack her forehead. She kissed Ash on the cheek, jumped out of his arms, walked up to the giddy Brock, and smacked him in the forehead. "I NEVER LIKED YOU, YOU PERVERTED DOLT!"

"Then why'd I wake up with you lying on me?" Brock challenged.

"Because I tripped on your leg, dummy! I had been keeping the fire going, and you just happened to roll into my leg on my return trip to my sleeping bag!" Misty had steam seeping out of her ears.

"Oh."

Misty cleared the steam, smiled, and smacked Brock's forehead again.

"That's better," she said, cackling evilly. "Much better! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Ash and Brock both developed sweatdrops. Brock crept over to Ash and whispered, "Don't get involved with this girl. She's psycho."

Ash's sweatdrop grew larger. He put one hand behind his head and smiled. "Umm... too late..."

He looked over at Misty, who was playing with Togepi and Pikachu.

"What do you mean, too late?" Brock asked suspiciously. "You aren't..."

"Ummm... we're in love..." Ash grinned a goofy grin.

Brock paused for a second. "Yesterday was the two-yearanniversary of you meeting Misty, right? That means you turned 12 yesterday, and Misty is... 14. Isn't that a little young to be... uhh... dating?"

Misty walked up to Brock and Ash. "Happy birthday yesterday, Ash!" She handed him a small package. "Sorry I couldn't give it to you yesterday. We were sort of... lost..." She smiled a discreet smile because only she and Ash knew about what had happened the day before.

Ash carefully opened the present and smiled. It was a 3-D Pikachu keychain. "Thanks Misty. You didn't need to get it, though." He gave her a caring look that said, Yesterday was a gift in and of itself.

Misty understood. She gave him a wink and walked back to where Pikachu and Togepi were playing.

"So you're dating, huh?" Brock whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

All Ash could do was grin and nod.

This is ridiculous, Brock thought. A tall, muscular, super-attractive 16-year-old like myself can't get a girlfriend, and short, hat-haired Ash gets the girl! Ridiculous, I tell ya! He looked up at the sky and sighed. What have I done to deserve this?

A beam of light shone on him, and he heard a voice. When you were five, you tried to kiss the pretty girl next door. When you were seven, you pretended to know CPR to be able to kiss that pretty girl in class. When you were 10...

All right, already! Brock thought. I guess I have done a few stupid things for love, but you don't have to run them past me.

All right, said the voice. Chao, homie.

The light twinkled away.

Brock sighed and looked at Ash... or... where Ash should've been. Ash had gone to play with Pikachu and Togepi along with Misty.

"Short guys always get the luck," Brock complained.

Pikachu and Togepi were having a race. Pikachu was holding back, of course, as to not discourage Togepi.

Ash and Misty had watched their Pokémon play all day. The sun was setting and the Pokémon were taking early naps. Ash took Misty's hand and led her to the clearing where he had saved her the day before. The full prism of hues stretched across the lake. They laid their sleeping bags down and sat on them. Misty rested her head on Ash's shoulder and sighed. What a great day today was, she thought. I wish today could last forever.

Misty fell asleep. Ash tucked her into her sleeping bag and lied down in his own. He looked up at the sky. The sun had fully set, and the sky was bright with beautiful, twinkling stars. I'm so glad I'm out here, he thought. He turned his head and looked at Misty, who was peacefully sleeping. "Especially with you," he whispered. He turned his head to look back at the sky. He sighed. He was thinking about what had happened since his first day as a Pokémon trainer, from the numerous times Pikachu had shocked him to the countless fights he's had with Misty and that Nurse Joy of Vermillion City telling them that since they fought, they must've really cared about each other. He thought about the time that Brock had described trying to stop their bickering. "It's like trying to stop the time..." Brock had said.

Ash realized that he had cared for Misty the whole time. He fought with her so that she didn't find out.

He looked at Misty again. She'd been doing the exact same thing the whole time, he realized.

"I'll be with you forever," he whispered to his sleeping companion. "I promise."

He looked up at the gorgeous starry night sky and sighed. He snuggled up in his sleeping bag and fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Fin.