The next thing they knew, they were walking down the road that would take them to Fuchsia City, with many detours of course. Ash and Misty themselves were probably a bit too confident in their own personal search. Misty hugged Togepi tight, imagining Kyle would take its place soon. Ash hummed to himself and tried to picture how beautiful the human Katherine might be. Brock looked at these expressions and sighed in confusion.
"You do know how much of a daze you two are in, don't you?"
"Wha…?" Ash and Misty mumble.
"What are you two thinking about?" Brock asks.
"I'm just looking foreword to all the, uh, beautiful scenery of the Safari Zone." Ash improvised.
"I'm just thinking about how nice it'll be swimming in the ocean with…the Pokemon." Misty quickly substitutes.
"Well," Brock replies. "We have quite a ways to go until we reach Fuchsia City."
"What Pokemon do you want to catch at the Safari Zone, Misty?" Ash asks.
Misty makes a determined face. "Nidoking."
Ash looks at her and wonders if she would want a Nidoking for the same reason as him…for revenge.
"That's not even a water Pokemon, Misty. I'd think you'd want to catch another one." Brock says.
Misty racks her brain for an excuse. "You can teach a Nidoking to surf."
"I guess you're right there." Brock nods his head. "What about you, Ash?"
Ash didn't want to say Nidoking too, so he replied the next best thing to throw a hint towards Misty, if she was who he whooped she was. "A Poliwag."
Misty smiles. "Good choice."
"I know." Ash replies. "They're beautiful Pokemon." Misty's eyes grow big and her cheeks flushed pink. Ash grinned to himself to express his anxiousness and happiness. "What's the matter, Misty?"
Misty laughs nervously. "I see where you're heading with this, Ash. You just want to try and prove you are better at training water Pokemon than I am!"
Ash hadn't thought of that. "No, that's now what I meant."
"Yeah, right." Misty says teasingly.
Up ahead, hidden in the bushes, sat Team Rocket. Unsuccessful for months and near starvation, they were looking for anything or anyone to steal food or Pokemon from. Jessie looks out of the bush and down the road.
"See anything, Jessie?" James asks.
Jessie comes back in the bush. "Nothing special. Just the twerps."
The Team goes back to moping, and then suddenly jumps in excitement. "The twerps?!"
"I don't believe it!" James looks down the road. "We haven't seen them in months."
"Didn't dey split up?" Meowth asks.
"Who knows; who cares? It only matters now that we can follow them again." Jessie says.
"Our trap is already in the road, if they just walk on it, we're all set!" James exclaimed.
"Do you know how many holes dey walked past before, Jimmy?" Meowth sighs.
"Oh well! Let's see what happens." Jessie hits Meowth aside.
Ash, Misty, and Brock walk along. Ash suddenly notices a glint of red in a few trees down the road. Pikachu jumps off his shoulder in stimulation and coos.
"Wow, great!" Ash says. "An apple tree!" He runs to the tree, right over Team Rocket's trap. It didn't budge.
"Hey, Ash! Wait up!" Brock yells and goes over the trap as well. It didn't fall this time either.
"Great hole, Jess!" James and Meowth say hoarsely.
"Shush! Just wait." Said Jessie.
Sure enough, when Misty trotted after the two boys, the dirt and twigs gave way and she full in. She screams and that was followed by a loud thump…her hitting the bottom of the pit.
"Told you it would work!" Jessie says triumphantly.
"Let's grab her so we can steal her Pokemon and maybe anything else that's good in her backpack." James suggests.
"Good idea! Maybe she's got food!" Meowth agrees.
"Wait, what about the other two twerps?" Jessie asks. "I can't believe this! They didn't even notice! How could they have not heard her?"
"Even the smallest hunger can do strange things to a person." Meowth says wisely.
"Let's take the change and take her!" James gets out of the bush and looks down the hole at Misty.
"GET ME OUT OF HERE NOW!!" Misty yells up.
"Nyah Nyah!" James sticks his tongue out. Meowth joins him.
"You idiots! That will make the other two twerps notice!" Jessie quickly gets in the hot air balloon.
Brock turned around and saw Team Rocket's balloon off in the distance. He drops the apples he had. "ASH!"
"Wha?" His mouth was full.
"Team Rocket's balloon!" Brock points.
"Eh?" Ash spits out the apple he had in his mouth and jumps out of the tree. "Where's Misty?"
"Team Rocket must have got her." Brock concludes.
The first thing Ash did was panic. "KATHERINE!" He screams and runs after the balloon. On the way, he spies a large hole in the ground. "What's this?" He looks down it and was surprised to see Misty.
"Get me out of here, already! How can you two be so dense as to pick food over rescuing me?" Misty was really angry.
"But…the balloon. Team Rocket…" Ash stumbled over his words.
"They couldn't get me out either, so they just left." Misty sighs.
"Hey, Brock. I found Misty." Ash yells over his shoulder.
"Good!"
The two boys help Misty out of the hole and she sits on the ground exasperated. She stands up and brushes off her tank top and shorts and then continues to walk down the road. "We going to Fuchsia City or not?"
"Uh, right." Brock walks forward a ways and leaves Ash and Misty behind him.
"By the way, Ash." Misty says after Brock was out of earshot. "Who's name did you call out when you realized I was gone?"
Ash looks at her confused. "What are you talking about?"
"You don't remember? I could hear you guys talking… but obviously you couldn't hear me." Misty snorts.
It hit Ash and he remembered. "Ah, that's right! I said Ka--…therine." Ash whispered to himself in surprise. He had forgotten he had ever said that. He couldn't control his words.
Misty sings silently inside her head, but then puts on a stern face to make it look convincing. "Who's this Katherine, Ash?"
It was Ash's turn to laugh nervously. "I don't know."
"Then why did you say it?"
"Just a name that came to my head all of a sudden. You know how those things are." Ash says.
"I guess so…" Misty says but then walks away from Ash before whispering to herself. ",Kyle."
Ash just stands there. Had he heard her correctly? He runs up to her. "Misty! You're not… are you?"
"What the heck are you talking about? Let's get moving already."
Ash shakes his head and walks on. Pikachu jumps back into his shoulder and asks him what that was all about. Ash didn't really know. He could have sworn he heard Misty call him Kyle just then. Then again, he didn't realize he called Misty Katherine, so maybe she didn't realize she called him a different name. But…there was the chance that she did that on purpose! Ash takes in a deep breath and runs to catch up with Misty and Brock. This journey was going to be easier than he thought. Still the toughest part lay just ahead. He first had to get Misty to admit that she was Katherine, and then he could confess as well. But if he confesses first and Misty denies it…or she actually isn't Katherine…she'd think he was a psycho and a goon. He couldn't risk Misty's trust. That was the one thing he needed the most.