"You can't make someone love you, all you can do is stalk them and hope with time they panic and give in."
Disclaimer – I don't own Pokemon.
Beyond the Shadows – The Will In The Way
Ash promised a way, and he delivered as he always did, but something told them it wouldn't be enough this time.
Ash handled this in typical Ash fashion. There was one thing that he knew he could succeed with no matter what, whether it was by skill or blind luck. It was the one thing that he knew he was among the best.
He was almost unbeatable and those were as good a set of odds if any.
So he did what came naturally. He challenged Kirsten to a Pokemon battle and hoped for the best.
The three of them woke up early the day after Garnet's story to a bright sunrise. Any other day this would have been a welcomed sight receiving admiration and coos of 'how romantic' from the two girls, but today they just couldn't appreciate it thanks to the dark cloud that hung over them.
Today was to be an important day, even if they were yet to know just how important.
Since Garnet's explanation Misty had spent the day comforting their new friend while Ash had been planning ways to get Brock back.
Most of these plans were quite ridiculous to say the least, like the one where he devised they dress up as clowns, find Kirsten then put her to sleep by pretending to be clowns and using one of those little flower things that squirt water at you when you go sniff it and kidnap Brock back while she's fast asleep.
Some of his plans were complicated, like the one where they wait for a solar eclipse then fake their own deaths using two horses, an African monkey and a piece of yellow soap thus starting a chain of extremely intricate reactions that I would rather not go into right now eventually ending with Kirsten handing herself over to the rightful authorities.
Some were well . . . um . . . inventive like the one where they were to use an extremely large group of pidgies, pidgeotto, and pidgeot all at once and all using swift attacks to create a rift in the time space continuum so they could then go back in time and warn their past selves of what was going to happen. Ash was actually rather liking the prospect of not one, but two Misty's for that one.
And others were just plain stupid and proved that he watched far too many movies. Quite frankly, the amount of times Ash and Misty had spent in a dark theatre, alone excelled that of actual couples.
Anyway, there was this one plan with these 'aliens' from the future with special mind wielding powers who let them borrow their spaceship and taught them to use the mind wielding powers of the 'Jedi Knights' and to use these cool glowey thingee's called 'light sabers'. Then, with the help of this cute blonde guy (at least according to Misty) called Hayden Christenson and a cradle robber (also according to Misty and who he thought was kind of cute) called Natilie Portman they would sneak into Kirsten's hide out a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away where they would chop off darth vaders arm, kill Luke Skywalker because he's an embarrassment to all Skywalker's, kill Han Solo because he's a pervert who's obsessed with cars from what I can make out, kill Princess Laya because she has bad hair and tried to sleep with her brother, and use Chibaka to find Brock and drive their spaceship back to earth.
Ok, so maybe that last one was just an example of the worst of them and more than stupid but he had been trying to devise a plan for four hours and he still hadn't had lunch.
'Maybe I'll be able to think of something better after I eat,' Ash thought to himself as he sighed.
He was almost annoyed at himself for not being able to handle this, for not being able to protect one of his best friends. He was still wondering how he would ever cope if it had been Misty taken instead, he knew that he would be able to stand it.
'Poor Garnet,' he thought relating the pain he would feel if he ever lost Misty and the constant worry he felt when she wasn't around to how Garnet must be feeling now.
"What am I going to do, Pikachu?" Ash asked his Pokemon.
"Pika," the yellow mouse replied.
"That's it," Ash said suddenly getting up filled with excitement. "You're a genius Pikachu?"
"Pika?" the confused rodent asked tilting it's head to the side as he watched his master spread the good news.
"Misty, I figured it out," he told her excitedly resisting an urge to wrap his arms around her and happily dance her around the room.
"Got what?" she asked not entirely certain of what he was going on about.
"A Pokemon battle," he replied. "That's how we'll get Brock back."
"Ash," she told him seriously with a sigh, "it seems to be the way you solve every problem. Did it ever occur to you that not everything can be solved with a Pokemon battle?"
The words seemed harsh, but not her voice, she sounded tired. She sounded like she was almost to the point of giving up and that she couldn't take much more, like she was beyond the point of exhaustion.
She too had spent the day thinking of ways to save Brock and none of them seemed to bring them any closer to getting him back. Everything seemed to make her more tired.
"Misty, you know I'm good," he pleaded with her. "I can get Brock back if you only give me the chance to prove it to you."
"Ok Ash," she sighed giving in, "but let's wait till tomorrow. Today has already been too long a day."
Ash nodded his anticipation building for tomorrow, which had finally come round.
Garnet had found a note in her room telling her where to bring Michael when she found him, chances are it was from her darling sister, who else would break into her room to give her such a message?
So they set out for an abandoned gym, just outside of Hazelton where they presumed that Kirsten was residing.
The place looked straight out of a horror film. Broken shutters hung limply from boarded windows at odd angles, and ugly vines climbed the walls encircling it. Dark tree's kept it in the shadows, not letting in the light and a broken door creaked as it swayed lightly as cold breeze blew past.
They all shuddered as if the place it's self was emitting a dark cold that chilled them to the very bone.
Misty took a deep shaky breath. She didn't want to go in there, it was worse than the tower in Lavender Town, but she had to. She had to save Brock and show Ash that she was there for him no matter what.
They walked into a large room. It was dark except for a few spots of light that somehow made it past the shadowing trees and rotting boards that tried to block it's way.
This was one of those places, which looked just as bad inside as it did outside.
Misty rubbed her shoulders trying to rid herself of the goosebumps. She didn't like this place, it made her feel so unsafe and vulnerable. The sooner they were out of here the better.
"It'll be ok Myst. We'll be out of here in no time," Ash told her reassuringly as if he had just read her mind.
Some how this was enough to ease the queezy feeling in her stomach that this place gave her.
Suddenly the lights turned on illuminating the entire room.
Ash moved in front of Misty protectively as he often did in times such as this. He surveyed the now lit battling area noticing things that had been invisible in the almost complete darkness they had found when they entered.
"Well who do we have here?" a girl with bleached blonde hair and menacing blue eyes asked snidely. She looked similar to Garnet, but only tiny things, you could barely tell they were sisters.
"I'm Ash Ketchum," Ash said still protecting Misty, "and I challenge you to a Pokemon battle."
"What for?" she asked getting right to the point. "Why would I want to battle you?"
"If I win," Ash told her his voice filled with its usual determination, "we get Brock back."
He saw Garnet's eyes light up noticeably from the corner of his eye. He knew he was doing the right thing. He knew that this was their only option.
"And if I win?" Kirsten asked eying him suspiciously.
Ash sighed at the thought of what he had to do, but he had to, it was the only way. Brock was on of his best friends practically his brother and like a father sometimes. There was no other option but this.
"We still get Brock," Ash told her taking a deep breath before continuing, "and you get me."
He heard Misty gasp and swore he could see tears welling in her eyes, but he disregarded them, he had to. He stood their trying to convince him self they meant nothing so he wouldn't have to go into a battle he might not win second guessing himself and his decision.
"Looks like I get the better of this deal," Kirsten smiled as her eyes moved up and down Ash's body eying him seductively.
He shuddered and suddenly felt an urge to wash every inch of his body. He actually preferred her suspicious glare to this, at least that didn't make him feel so dirty.
"It's one on one," she told him as she released her Pokemon. "And there's no way you'll beat Catamoran."
Chances are she was right. Catamoran was a Purrsian she had forced to evolve despite the fact that purrsian was the felines ultimate level anyway. She had practically killed it in the process turning it into a ghost type cat with the powers of the 'undead' and the stealth of a cat.
"Ash, are you crazy?" Misty asked her eyes welling with tears.
He had already asked himself the same question and he was pretty sure the answer was yes but he had seen the pain in Garnet's eyes, a pain greater than anyone could ever imagine and knew he had to do something. Garnet and Brock were in love, they needed each other. He had to do this, for Brock, for Garnet and most of all, for Misty.
If Kirsten got him, sure Misty would be upset for a bit but she'd get over him. They were just best friends and he knew she could never feel the same, he had spent too many lonely nights convincing himself of exactly that to think otherwise.
Garnet couldn't live without Brock and he was going to make sure that at least someone was happy after this whole ordeal even if it wasn't him.
Garnet looked between the two, their identical faraway stares and the tears they wouldn't dare cry. "They hide it well," she whispered to herself she too resisting an urge to cry.
"Please Ash," Misty begged. "It's like fighting with a blunt sword. You're fighting a battle you've already lost."
"This coming from my best friend," he sneered sarcastically probably more angry at himself for making her sad than her. "Glad I found out sooner rather than later how little you really think of me."
"You know that's not what I meant," she pleaded with him as a few tears tried to escape the vast hold she had on her emotions. "I just don't want you to get hurt."
"Don't you believe in me?" he asked hurt from even having to ask that question of her.
"of course I believe in you," Misty replied. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't. But there's just too much at stake here Ash, and we've already taken too many chances. Soon our luck is going to run out and . . ." she trailed off as it became more difficult to hold back her sobs. "I don't want to loose you Ash," she finished finally letting a single tear roll down her face
Ash reached out and wiped the tear away, stepping closer to her and cupping his hand against her cheek.
He didn't want to be fighting with her, especially not now when this could be the last time he ever saw her. When this could be the last chance he would ever have to let her now just how much she meant to him.
He took another step closer to her and spoke loud enough so only she could hear. "Then put your faith in me, not luck," he told her softly as he lightly caressed her cheek. "Just take a chance on me and pray you'll be pleasantly surprised."
With that he closed in on that last inch of space between them and gently kissed her mouth before preparing for a battle, which could change their lives forever.
~ to be continued ~
I tried to make this chapter as long as I could, but I didn't really work too well, though I really do love the end. Heck, I've been trying to get those two crazy kids to kiss since chapter . . . um . . . was it five?
Anyway, next chapter awaits. I wonder how Misty's going to react to that and this newfound knowledge, no wait I'm using denial Misty, damn it.
Please review, and sorry about the Star Wars crack it was a rather desperate attempt at humour.
