Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish or how much fairy dust I use, Pokemon will never belong to me. ;-; I only own a strange little bird, but you dont want him. ^^ But the characters that were created out of my own imagination were Racheal, Jason, and Aydee. ^^ Thankyou! ^-^

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Ash managed to swallow weakly. What was that? No. That question in particular was a stupid one. He knew perfectly well what that was. And he also knew very well of how much that simple sound could complicate more then one person's life. In a matter of a second, a life could be lost and chaos could enter into another's life. All from that one shot of a gun.

After the following thirty seconds of deadly silence circling the room, he heard Brock's voice by some miracle.

"We have to go. Racheal, get Misty. Tell her we have to leave now...." He cleared his throat, as to shake the fright from his voice before continuing.

"We might be late."

She merely nodded in reply before walking out of the door, in mission to get Misty out of her room as fast as humanly possible. Not to mention to get her own self out of the hotel just as quickly.





Each step they all made and their feet breaking the leaves was the only sound heard. Racheal and Brock had an on and off conversation every once in awhile when things got too quiet. Ash and Misty didn't dare speak to eachother..They didn't even dare speak, for that matter.

'I can't stand this..Maybe if he threw a rock at me or made fun of me..Or something! It's too quiet when he's not talking to me.' Misty thought to herself before looking down at her watch.

Tick..Tick..Tick..

'Another second without Ash...And about five more seconds until Racheal says something to Brock.' Misty looked towards Racheal.

'Five....four....three....two....'

"So, Brock.. Where we headed? On our way, I need to get the camera's film developed. We are passing through one of those places, right?" She smiled slightly at him.

'It's her fifth time asking that..' Pikachu mumbled under his breathe before crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes, Racheal. We will. You have my word..." Brock sighed.

'She has your life too if you dont bring her there.' Pikachu snickered.

"Pikachu." Ash said sternly to him.

Misty felt her heart beating much faster then at its usual pace at the sound of Ash's voice. Even if he was did seem so upset and if the only chance she got to hear him was when he was talking to Pikachu, it was enough.

'..So..Hows Togepi?' Pikachu asked Misty, in hope of starting a conversation after feeling the uncomfortable silence beginning to spread.

"With my sisters." Misty replied, sounding just as emotionless as Ash.

'Yes..I know..But how is Togepi?'

Pikachu was growing quite annoyed at the immaturity Misty and Ash were showing eachother. Although, he did notice that they did once make eye contact for a split second before turning away from eachother. It was a start, right?

'I pick the worst times to travel..' Racheal sighed to herself, deeply in thought.

"Whats wrong?" Brock's voice prevented Misty from answering.

She was somewhat happy she didn't have to answer Pikachu. It was hard to speak when you felt like a rose's thorn was stuck in your throat..Not to mention, she missed Togepi as it was.

"Nothing.." Racheal's lips forced a small smile, despite the atmosphere around them and ignoring the guilt slowly building in her stomach.

That familiar, yet uncomfortable silence fell over them for the millionth time in the past thirty minutes, destroying Pikachu's hope for a conversation.

Ash, every once in a while, would check to see if Misty would walk into something. Her face and eyes faced the ground sadly. He knew that both of them didn't want to face the world with fake smiles which pathetically claimed that everything around them was just fine, but they had to. He even wondered if she was crying a couple of times, but continued to stay silent. He turned away from her with a sigh before a man's yelling caught his attention.

"MISS! PLEASE WATCH WHERE ON EARTH YOUR......" His words stopped at soon as he saw her face...Her tear-strained face.. It was far too beatiful to be crying..

Ash clenched his fist at the man's desire to raise his voice at Misty.. As much as he felt that she had hurt him, he couldn't help being protective of her. It somewhat became a habit after all they've been through together.

'Who..does..he think he is?!?!' Ash thought before even suggesting to himself to think calmy about this.

'She's perfect...' The artist thought in his mind, barely comprehending her ramble of apologies.

"I'm sorry.. I wasn't watching where I was going.. I promise I will be careful next time, but I'm sure there won't be a next time..Oh..please.. I'm so sorry.." Misty went on and on for bumping into a man and making him spill something over him..

Her eyes wondered down to his shirt with a blue stain all over it.. It was...paint..

"Augh! I really hope thats washable.. But hey, you do look great in blue.." Misty shrugged, forcing a small smile, despite the atmosphere around them.

The artist continued to stare at her in awe. He almost looked like he was incredibley in love with her.

Racheal stood a step back, as well as Misty as the artist continued to stare at her strangely.

"Excuse me.." Ash's emotionless voice sounded before Brock could ask to pay for the damage.

The artist's eyes slowly went toward's Ash, slowly beginning to stare at him in awe also.

"Err..Ahem..I can pay for that shirt..." Ash mumbled before taking a step backwards.

"THEY'RE PERFECT!" The man screamed, jumping up into the air, overjoyed, causing Misty to jump a bit as well.

"...Are you feeling alright, sir?" Brock asked with a hint of fright in his voice.

Racheal and Pikachu's mouths hung open, but Pikachu was the first to speak.

'So...Humans really are weirder then Pokemon....Interesting...'

The artist suddenly shook his head quickly, as if to clear his mind.

"I'm sorry to have scared you..My name is Boune Di Claire..Only the best artist in all of Darken City..", He shook Misty's hand violenty as he spoke, "And I could really use you two."

As hard as Misty tried to be nice about making him let go of her hand, she had to pull away roughly in order to be free and could only hope it went unnoticed.

"Me?" Racheal said, glowing with confidence, obviously misunderstanding the man.

"Err..No.. I meant that young man with the Pikachu..And the clumsy red head.."

Misty's eyes narrowed at him angrily.

"Clumsy red head?" She growled.

"Excuse me, let me explain a little more. I'm used to working with landscapes and such..Most paintings are dark, since this is after all Darken City.. But now I am trying to new things and concentrating on real- life drawings of models.." He smiled at them kindly.

"..I'm not a model..I'm sorry I can't help you with that..." Misty shrugged.

'I am!' Pikachu grinned, ignoring the annoyed look Ash gave him.

"You dont have to be..." The artist's smile went from kind to almost evil.

"I'm sorry..Mr. Claire..Is that your name?" Ash asked, running a hand through his darkish night hair.

"That is correct." He smiled proudly, even at his own name.

"I've got a big day ahead of me..And...wait..", Ash paused to think for a moment, "..What exactly are you asking for?"

The artist smiled confidently.

"To draw you and your lady.. I'll give you the original painting for free if you allow me to make copies and sell them.."

Ash thought for a moment...What if he did? But he couldnt! He had no time for silly paintings.

"I'm sorry..But I have quite a day ahead of me and don't have any...."

"Time?", The painter interrupted him before an even more confident grin spread across his face, "I bet you didn't know I was also the quickest painter in this part of Darken City either, hmm..?"

Ash sighed. He was beat. Now it was all up to Misty.

She opened her mouth to say an apology and that she didn't want to do it, but Racheal beat her to it.

"They'll do it!" Racheal said with a small grin.

"Racheal?!" Misty's eyes narrowed at Racheal angrily.

"What?" She placed her hands on her hips, the confident smile still there.

'No use argueing with her when she's this confident..What's the big deal anyway..? It's just a painting that will probably come out with me looking like a stick figure.' Misty sighed to herself.

"I'll do it."

Pikachu tugged at Brock's pants angrily.

'Brock..Ask the man where the nearest photo developing thing is......Err', Pikachu finally realising that Brock couldn't understand him, turned to Ash, '..Ash! tell him!' Pikachu hissed, annoyed at the fact that all Brock heard was a bunch of pika's and chu's.

"Oh..err..yeah..Brock... You should get those pictures developed with Racheal..We can just get more things done in less time.. Sooner the better..I'm already a day late for the battle."

"Battle?" The artist asked, as he continued to set up his paint and searched for a clean sheet of paper.

"Yes..Pokemon battle..If I win this, only three more battles to go until the Championships.."

Misty rolled her eyes.

'Here we go, Mr.I-am-going-to-be-a-showoff-pokemon-master..'

"My, that is so interesting...Ahem..Now could you two please just sit on the grass, please?" The artist said, motioning towards the grass.

Misty nodded, silently thanking him for the switch of topics. They both obeyed and sat on the grass, about five feet apart from eachother.

"Guys, Me and Racheal will be back in just a couple of minutes alright? ...Or hours if she is capable of finding a mall..But we'll be back eventually. If we're not back eventually, we will probably be poor.." Brock smiled, despite his fear of malls at that time, knowing how much Racheal was an expert shopper.

"..Yea.." Ash mumbled to himself.

'How much more awkward can this get?' He thought with a small sigh escaping his lips.

(Authors note: As awkward as I can possibley get it to be! mwahahahahah! ^^;)

"Finally ready..Can you guys get just maybe about 100 feet closer, please? It would help." The artist smiled slightly as he took out his trusty pencil, getting ready to draw a masterpeice that wouldn't ever be forgotton.

"This..Should be interesting.." Pikachu snickered, seating himself beside the artist.





"Lift your chin a bit higher."

The artist's commands were obeyed as Misty lifted up her chin. His serious eyes glanced back at forth from his sheet of paper and their faces. This was his passion, Misty and Ash both understood. They could both easily tell from how serious he was at it, and yet how much he seemed like he loved it.

Every once in a while his brownish-haired bangs would fall over his eyes and he would let out a frustrated sigh. Misty smiled to herself, just thinking about what she would do if she was a painter.

'I'd probably cut them off..Or..err..Just quit painting..Or maybe..' Her small random thoughts were interrupted by the artist's voice, yet again.

"Could you please tilt your head slightly to your left, facing her? Like your about to kiss her..But hold your temptations for now and kiss the air.."

Ash's eyes grew cold as he unwillingly obeyed. His mind screamed for him to just walk away from it..But his heart wouldn't allow it.

Misty was turning to look away, but the artist caught her. He felt something was wrong between them, but he also felt a strong bond and love being held inside from each of them. All he knew for sure is that they both could not stand still for more then thirty seconds.

"Misty..", He sighed, "Could you just look at him for the next twenty seconds, please? That doesn't mean looking at your watch and counting down until the next twenty seconds are over either."

"Could you honestly draw a bit quicker? I bet there are turtles on this island that can draw faster then you can!" She hissed.

"Possibly. If they could draw. Nice imagination you have, though." He replied with equal sarcasm in his tone of voice.

"Listen, I don't have to do...." Misty's words stopped after Pikachu's tail came dangerously close to being in contact with her body.

'..Shut up..Look into Ash's eyes..Smother him for all I care..Just listen to the somewhat not crazy big artist person, okay? So far the painting looks great, and I want him to finish..' Pikachu growled.

"...Aren't you the pushy little yellow mouse today." She mumbled, turning to look at Ash...in his eyes.. His beautiful luring chocolate brown eyes..

They felt a million feelings go through them all at once, especially including panic. Their hearts raced at quite a speed, as if it were an actual race for their hearts. A race like who could have a heart attack first.

"The most stubborn two in love people I have honestly ever drawn in my life..Err..At least the most stubborn girl in love.." The artist muttered to himself, drawing as quickly and as gracefully as he could before Misty went crazy on him again.

'They're meant for eachother..' Pikachu whispered to the artist.

"..Excuse me?" The artist looked down at Pikachu.

'Augh..nevermind..Why do I have two strange people as the only people in the world who can understand me?' He sighed, laying down on the grass.

'Strange, yet powerful little creatures. Best to just stick to painting just like mama said I should.' The artist thought while looking over Pikachu's frustrated form.

He returned to his painting and with a couple of more strokes with his pencil, grateful he was nearly finished.

Maybe Misty and Ash didn't see it at that time, but the artist did. There was love between them.. Even the painting said so. It was all said in their eyes and souls..And it would be all that was needed to be said.

"Okay. I'm just about done with you guys..I just need one more thing.." The artist smiled warmly at them.

"What's that?" Ash picked himself up off the ground.

"Your lady's bracelet."

Misty's head snapped up at the words.

"Excuse me?" She grew incredibley protective over the bracelet in just a matter of seconds.

"...I would like to see the bracelet to make sure I didn't miss any of the gems.. If you could just hold out your hand..please?"

"...No.."

Misty thought to herself, 'If I already lost Ash, you aren't going to take away what he gave to me or what it means..'

"But I'm missing the other half of the bracelet, Misty. I just need to see what it looks like on the back." He was almost shocked at how protective she was of this bracelet.

"..She said no. If she wants to keep it on her hand, let her." Ash tried to convince himself that he was defending the bracelet only because it was his mother's..But deep down he knew the true reason he was defending it, even though he shouldn't of cared.

"Hm..Must mean a lot to you, then?", He chuckled lightly before continuing, "Alright then. I guess the bracelet will have to go on to be broken."

"I guess so." Misty replied sternly, showing no amusement in the fact that the bracelet meant the world to her, next to Ash.

Ash, not being as angry as Misty was at the time, realised the irony behind the artist's words..

'The broken bracelet...The broken trust...' He rethought in his mind over and over again. He could almost feel his heart break in two again, but forced himself to forget.

Dismissing the thought as being ridiculous, he switched topics.

"So, can we see the painting?" Ash let out a fake smile, only hoping it would seem convincing that he wasn't in that bad of a mood.

"What do you think? It's your painting..You can look at it." He smiled reassuringly at them.

Pikachu nodded in agreement.

'The word for this painting is 'speechless'..That's how amazing this thing is.' He added, showing nothing but confidence that this painting would be framed and be worshipped by Ash and Misty forever.

Their eyes were automatically drawn to the painting's magnificance. There they stood, facing eachother in the painting. A white spaghetti-strapped dress revealed Misty's womanly curves as her fiery red hair fell over her shoulders. Ash's hair easily blended in with the background with its night color, but the love in Ash's eyes was quite noticeable. He stood facing her, in the painting, looking as if he were about to kiss her, yet also trying to hand her a red rose at the same time. In the painting, they both seemed completely absorbed in eachother and wanting nothing but to never leave eachother's sides.

As Misty looked over the painting, something also tugged at her eyes to be noticed. She looked around at the landscape, noticing it was dark and looked somewhat scary, yet still romantic in a sense. Her eyes wondered a little more upward and there she saw a full, glowing moon. The painting was perfect....In more ways then one.

Ash's eyes wondered over the painting carefully before falling upon the red rose he seemed to be handing Misty. For some reason, it was the only thing colored.. The rose just seemed to jump out at you. He looked downward at the rose's stem and noticed there were no thorns.

"..What are you going to call it?" Misty asked, still completely absorbed in the painting.

"I've decided to call it 'Red Rose'." The artist smiled proudly down at his creation, taking out a thin black marker to write down the name of the painting, date, and his name.

"Why's that?" Ash said, finally tearing his eyes away from the painting to look at the artist.

"If you noticed, the red rose has no thorns. No, its not because I dont know how to draw thorns.. Its because it symbolises something." He spoke while scribbling his name down on the painting.

"..It symbolises that you don't like to draw thorns?" Pikachu muttered.

Ash rolled his eyes at him.

"We'll figure it out later. I've still got a battle to get to and I'm not going to miss it to play guessing games about a rose." Ash said, dismissing the idea.

"I want to", Misty shrugged, "I want to know what it means.."

Ash glared at her angrily.

"Then sit down and think until you actually catch a water pokemon. I have a battle to win." He spoke in a cold tone.

"Maybe if you get incredibley lucky to learn from watching me catch water pokemon, you may catch one yourself.. But Dont get your hopes up on winning that battle though." She snapped back at him, equally angry.

The artist immediately sensing the anger, took a step back while running a hand through his hair.

"Well..err..I've got to go now... Um..I hope you really like the painting.. And I'm sure it will be quite a seller with my audience.. And you don't have to worry about me making a copy because I memerized it quite well. I also hope to see you both soon at sometime in the n..........."

"GOODBYE!" Misty and Ash shouted in unison towards the painter, making him take a couple of steps back.

He quickly set the painting on the grass, fearing that if he was closer to either of them that they would strangle him.

"So much of pokemon being strange.. Look at them.." The painter muttered as he walked swiftly away from them.

They returned their angry glares at eachother in just a couple of seconds. Pikachu sat up quickly and walked inbetween them, hoping they would realise that if they didn't listen to his lecture, they would be two...um....very badly electricuted people.

"Grow...UP!" Pikachu growled, sparks of electricity beginning to grow on his cheeks.

After noticing that they both were holding in their temptations to strangle eachother, Pikachu continued.

'If you two would take a moment to stop arguing...You would notice Racheal and Brock are waiting for us....They are obviously too affraid to go near any of us right now.. And may some higher power help them with dealing with two immature people as yourselfs!'

Ash let out an agrivated sigh, ripping his eyes away from the both of them.

"Just..a..waste..of time!" He hissed, turning to walk away angrily.

Pikachu shrugged, "It's over...And we've got a battle to get to."

"..No you dont.." Racheal sighed, talking quietly. She didn't want Ash to hear, even though he was about twenty feet away from them and talking to Brock, she wanted to be cautious.

"..What are you talking about?"

"Well..ahem...There's a time difference in Darken City..A three-hour difference..", Racheal paused to sigh before continuing, ".......Meaning Ash is three hours late for the battle.." She looked away from the shocked expression on Misty's face.

".......Save me..." Pikachu groaned, allowing himself to collapse onto the ground.







"Ash, this painting is really great...." Brock said, hopefully waiting a response from him.

Nothing.

His eyes stayed glued to the ceiling above him...He knew all of his friends and his mother in Pallet Town waited anxiously to see him battle. They probably thought he was dead after missing two battles. He was at least grateful he had one more chance to show up..one..more..chance. His last.

"Ash..Dont you like it?" Brock cleared his throat nervously.

"Everything is gone." Ash mumbled, still looking at the walls.

"..Nothing is gone. Everyone and everything is still here..And you've still got a chance to make it to the battle..Right?"

"You don't understand."

"Your right. I don't understand a thing that could have possibley went wrong between you and Misty that could not be corrected. That's what I don't understand."

"Brock, I mean this in the nicest way..", He sighed, "Leave me alone."

"Sure. Do you want the painting in here..?"

"Just go.."

Ash found himself in the same position he was in a couple of hours ago. In a hotel room, looking up at the ceiling, and wondering where on earth Misty was. Well he knew where she was psyically, but he wondered where her heart was.

'How could she believe what Jason told her? ...How?' He snapped his eyes shut, not allowing any tears threatening to go beyond his eyelid.



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My Gosh, I finally got chapter ten out. School has been beyond hectic, but it's slowly getting better.. promise.. ^^; I hope you guys enjoyed this strange chapter.. At least it's kinda long, right? ^-^ Aaah I hope I didn't loose any readers in my time of absense... X.x; Anyway, I hope to have the next chapter out within one-two weeks. kawaii, ne? See you guys then. bai! ^.~