Disclaimer: Don't own pokémon! At all! Nothing!

A/N: Thanks for the good reviews everyone! I've been so busy getting school supplies and going school shopping and that made me too depressed to write ;_; But here I am, on the last day of summer, writing the rest of this. So you better review!!!!

~(Kasagi Onaso)~

It WaS

* Ash's Side and the Little Flower Children *

Duplica stared at Ash for a moment before rolling her eyes.

"Go on," said Ash, waving his hand. Duplica glared at him before setting her tea down and going to get him another mocha. She slid it to him and took her still-warm seat across the table.

"Well?"

"Hold on." He took a sip and smiled at her over the rim of the cup.

"You're doing this on purpose."

"I know." He chuckled softly and slowly set his mocha down. "I think I want to tell you."

"For God's sake!"

"God has nothing to do with this," said Ash, staring at Duplica amusedly. "Leave Him out of it." Duplica flushed with anger.

"Ash Ketchum!"

"Okay, okay! Sorry! Where to begin…where did she begin?"

"Who?" asked Duplica slyly. Ash took another sip of his mocha and the smile slid of Duplica's face. "Oh, fine. Well, she started by saying that she hadn't talked to you—hey! You're going to trick me into spilling everything she said, aren't you!"

"No, no!" Ash cried, holding up his hands. "Of course not. I'm not going to trick you into anything. I just want to start where Mm…she did."

"Whatever. She said she hadn't talked to you in four years."

"And…?"

"Well she just took off from there. She said that you two were fourteen…?"

"Actually, I was going to be in a few days." Duplica rolled her eyes.

"That's what she said."

"Oh." He shifted slightly in his seat.

"I'm going to pour this tea on you if you don't start talking, Ketchum," Duplica said venomously, swishing the liquid in her cup warningly. Ash laughed nervously and set his cup down.

"All right! Okay. Um… Yeah, that's right. We were fourteen around that time. She had been travelling with me for four years about then." He nervously picked up his cup and began swishing it back and forth.

"You're going to spill again," warned Duplica.

"It keeps me thinking," he said flatly and continued to swish the brown liquid.

"Does it have any caffeine?"

"Is that on subject?"

"Sorry."

"It's okay. Anyway, I was feeling a little weird, travelling in a group like that. I don't know. It felt funny. Everyone was more edgy, more in need of space, more… I don't know…" He took a small sip, trying to stall.

"Go on."

"And one night… She just told me that…" He swallowed slowly, taking another sip of his mocha. "You know what she told me." His mouth suddenly felt dry.

"No," said Duplica crossly. "No cutting corners." He sighed and set his cup down again. "And will you please stop doing that? It's distracting." He glared at her and picked it up again.

"She told me she liked me."

"Ehem."

"Okay. She told me she loved me."

"That's better." Ash set his cup down and Duplica didn't bother to tell him not to do that. He wouldn't have listened. He was staring at the spilled mocha, gulping tears that tried to rise in his throat. "And what happened?"

"I told her that I didn't…feel the same."

"And did you?" He didn't answer but instead, kept talking.

"I felt weird around her whenever I saw her. She tried to act like nothing had happened but I couldn't forget it. I had hurt her, I know, but I couldn't go back and say that I did feel the same. The quiet friendship we had had before went silent."

"Ash, you didn't answer my question," said Duplica crossly.

"Question?"

"The question I asked earlier." She looked at him. "Ash." He didn't answer at first.

"The question."

"Yeah. Did you feel the same?" He was silent for a longer period this time, pushing back from the table and setting the drink in the spilled mocha. He stared at the ground and swallowed slowly.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell her?" cried Duplica, standing. Ash blinked at her in surprise. Her hands smacked the table, sending ripples through the spilled liquid and splashes where her fingers hit the surface of the mocha. "None of this would have happened if you had told her!"

"I… I was afraid." He sounded afraid now. His voice was soft and Duplica could barely hear it from across the table.

"How do you think she felt when she told you?" Duplica cried, smacking the table again for emphasis. "Do you think she…I…" Duplica sighed, gave him one last glare and slowly sat down.

"I was afraid of it all. I…It was weird travelling in a group as you got older. The people grew up. I know I did. They changed their interests, their style of things." He placed his hands on each side of the mocha cup but didn't pick it up. "I wasn't ready for something like that, Duplica."

"So you told her to leave?" asked Duplica, her voice rising in pitch with every word. Ash shut his eyes.

"Yeah!" he suddenly burst out, standing as Duplica had earlier. "I told her to leave," he said, his voice softer.

"But…" Duplica looked baffled. "Why?"

"I asked myself that, Duplica. It would've been so awkward. And with Brock leaving in a couple days… We were silent after I told her how I felt and I couldn't even LOOK at her, none the less TALK to her." Duplica sat back on her chair, looking at Ash intently.

"You didn't have to tell her to leave."

"Yes I did!" He smacked the table. "I did, Duplica. I could see I had hurt her and I couldn't just…" He sank back into his chair, looking like he swallowed a lemon.

"Ash," said Duplica kindly. "You need to tell Misty this." He winced and glared at her.

"No. Duplica you better not." She held up her hands.

"I won't, Ash. I didn't say what Misty told me, did I?" He looked at her wearily before taking a giant swig of his mocha.

"No."

"There's more, isn't there."

"We got in a fight," he said softly. "She told me to forget about it…we could still be friends…but I couldn't forget it. Nothing could make me forget it. So I lost my temper and yelled at her." Duplica nodded, suddenly looking like a psychiatrist.

"Then what happened?"

"You know how she gets when someone yells at her. And she was worse because she had been rejected."

"I would've been," snorted Duplica. "She loved you for three years, Ash." He looked stricken, his eyes going wide. "But whatever," sighed Duplica. "Keep going." He opened his mouth for a second time, after no words seemed to come out the first, and continued slowly.

"You know how it went."

"You're cutting corners," warned Duplica.

"I know…you want me to tell you everything?"

"Can you remember it?"

"I know everything she said to me… She told me I was a selfish bastard and that I would never be able to make it to the Pokémon League with my loser pokémon. And all I cared about was those damn pokémon."

"You hurt her bad, Ash. She's still hurt."

"I know, Duplica!" Ash nearly yelled. A couple people swiveled around to look but shrugged and turned around, thinking that it was just a quarreling couple. "I know I hurt her bad. I know."

"You know she didn't mean what she said," said Duplica softly. Ash looked at her sharply.

"Do I? She looked so angry I thought she was going to beat me up." He chuckled. "But all I did care about were my pokémon. I did like her but I guess I thought liking meant…I'm not sure what I thought it meant. But right then, my goal was becoming the Master."

"Ash…"

"Stop it, Duplica." Duplica fell silent and stared at Ash. His tan skin looked suddenly pale and his large brown eyes tired. His strong jaw bone was jutting out as he ground his teeth.

"I'm sorry, Ash," she near-whispered. "I'm just so confused." Ash nearly chuckled but it sounded more like a cough.

"I think we all are," he said bitterly.

"How do you feel now?"

"What?"

"About…her." He looked at her intently, one jet eyebrow raised.

"Why?" Duplica flushed slightly and mentally kicked herself for asking that question. Ash smiled and leaned forward. "Hand me some napkins?" Duplica whipped around, thankful for the chance to calm her flaming face, and threw him some napkins. He slowly began moping up the lukewarm mocha, face thoughtful.

"Do you love her still?" Ash calmly went on moping, his top teeth biting his lower lip. He stopped and threw the dripping napkins in a trashcan.

"No," he said softly.

"Are you lying?"

"No. I don't." Duplica couldn't tell what he was thinking for he wouldn't look at her. She gave up trying to catch his eyes and sat back. As her spine pressed against the back of the chair, Ash stood up and pulled his chair next to her.

"Ash…?"

"Thanks," he said, finally peering into her eyes. "Thank you for listening to me, Duplica."

"It's fine," she whispered. He was so close… Just do it!, her mind screamed. But then it reminded her about Misty… Forget it! Go for it! Duplica bit her lip and leaned forward…

*******

Misty stirred slightly under a light sheet that Duplica had put over to the side. Now she was burning hot but she hated sleeping without something covering her.

Something was nagging at her mind and she couldn't close her eyes without feeling dizzy, like she was about to tip over the side of the bed. Every time she had closed her eyes, she had scooted a little closer to the center of the bed. Now she felt cornered and uncomfortable. There was no way that this could be a normal flu.

"Duplica…" Misty whispered. "Richie… Have they left me here?" Misty sat up, the room doing cartwheels before her eyes, and threw her feet over the side of the bed. Unfortunately, as she headed towards the door, she couldn't tell which one was real as they doubled. "Steady," she whispered and reached out in front of her. She cursed and pulled her hand back as her fingers smashed into the wall.

"Duplica," she whispered again, not too sure where to find the girl. "Lobby…Downstairs…"

"Call the front desk if you need anything. If you feel any better later, come downstairs. Okay?"

Misty was tempted to be lazy and call the front office but she didn't know if Duplica was there and she was afraid that she would barf all over the mouthpiece. No, this was better. Even if she wasn't feeling the least bit better, she rather come downstairs.

She stopped and leaned against the wall for a moment, breathing hard. Her head pounded like drums and her heart fluttered in her chest.

"God…" she hissed, holding her head. "I've got to find Duplica. Her Advil…" She got up and kept walking slowly down the stairs, making sure both feet were on each step before taking another one.

"Where is she…" muttered Misty, steadying herself with the wall as she almost tripped down a step. She reached the last five stairs and stared out through the lobby. Her eyes meticulously searched each table for a familiar face and they came to the table where she saw a flash of turquoise. She had begun to slowly step down and looked up again when she suddenly stopped, an image blurring and doubling before her. She closed her eyes and willed it to go away.

Just go away…

*******

"Is this it?" asked Gary, popping up from the bush where they were hiding.

"Yeah, I guess," replied Richie, peering at the tall gray building towering before them. "It's huge," he said, rubbing his chin.

"Please don't do that," said Gary, curling his lip. "God, I can't believe you're growing a goatee. Brock, tell him he's being an ass. Please? Tell him that razors were invented basically for one purpose and one purpose only and that he's neglecting—!"

"I'm not neglecting anything," retorted Richie. "I'm actually taking advantage of my many ability to grow facial hair."

"Will you two shut up?" hissed Brock. They glared at him. "You're BOTH being asses. Now come on. We've found the HQ. Now let's get back to the Pokecenter."

"Let's go check it out instead," said Gary. "I'm sure Ashy-boy's doing fine. He's got two women with him, remember?" He winked and chuckled.

"Man, whatever," said Richie, rolling his eyes. "Ash is so not like that."

"How would you know?"

"Just because that's something you would do, doesn't mean that Ash would do something like that."

"I dunno," said Gary with a shrug. "You never know."

"No really. He wouldn't," insisted Richie, stroking his chin again. Gary slapped his hand down away from his chin.

"Man, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't DO that!"

"It's just some stubble." Brock rolled his eyes and began drawing a map of the HQ with a red colored pencil while the two men argued. Richie scowled at Gary, who sat Indian style not too far away from him. "Anyway, you're just jealous."

"You said that before. I am NOT jealous of your hairy chin, man!"

"Man, you know you are. Women love the stubble. Have you seen those posters around? The men all have a little stubble. It's totally cool."

"Yeah and they're all dark haired. Richie-man, you have like, red hair. It looks like you're Irish or something. Maybe like a leprechaun." Richie rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"So now I'm short?"

"No, man. Just dumb. Kidding!" laughed Gary as Richie made to stand.

"Shh!" hissed Brock, not taking his eyes from his map.

"Sorry. Look. You're as tall as me! I'm just saying with your stubble you look like a leprechaun." Richie glared at the sandy-haired man beside him as Brock made the details on his map.

"Whatever."

"Or maybe a hippie," continued Gary, obviously having fun teasing his companion. "Like, totally, peace dude. I, like, love the world, mon!" Gary flashed a peace sign and grinned like a jack-o-lantern.

"Shut up, Gary!"

"I'm a flower child, mon!" cried Gary, parading around the clearing. "I hug trees and lick the dirt, mon!" Richie rolled his eyes.

"You're a Jamaican hippie?"

"Dude! Wait, what?"

"Shut up!" he hissed. "And sit down! You're going to be seen!" Gary snorted but sat down.

"Okay. Whatever." Richie crossed his arm and sulked. Brock labeled one last thing and stuffed the map into his vest pocket. He rolled onto the balls of his feet and motioned for Gary and Richie to do the same.

"Come on," said Brock, standing up to leave. "We better get going before someone realizes we're here."

"Right," said Gary and Richie in unison. Suddenly, there was a rustle and a click and they all froze.

"Put your hands above your head and stand towards the HQ," said a voice and another one chuckled. "I don't want to have to shoot."

"Hell no! We won't go!" chanted Richie and Gary almost laughed.

"Run!" Brock cried suddenly. Gary raced ahead, long legs stretching. "Gary!" He turned quickly to Brock who tore off his vest and threw it at his feet. "In the pocket! Run!" Gary nodded, the Rocket officers drawing their guns, and ran into the woods, leaving his two companions behind.

Hey, hey! How'd you like it? That's what reviews are for, ne? 46 at least! Please! I hate my computer (heh heh) Right in the middle of this chapter, it froze and when I shut it down, didn't recover any of it. So I had to retype all of it (exaggerating: only about seven pages but STILL!) So please review! Heh, heh. Richie and Gary are so dumb! But Richie WILL get rid of his goatee, I promise! This chappie is about two or three pages longer than the other I think so I am trying. Please review!

~ Kasagi Onaso

The chappies may be coming out very slowly from now on. Y'know, since school's starting and everything (You guys: AH! MY EYES! IT BURN-N-NS!) So be patient with me!