Author's Note: This fic is set at the end of "Pallet Party Picnic," except in this fic, Ash and company didn't leave Pallet Town as they did at the end.


"Ash!" Mrs. Ketchum called. "It's time to eat dinner!"

"I'm not hungry," came the boy's muffled voice.

"It's not like Ash to refuse a meal," Brock observed concernedly.

Misty bit her lip, staring off into space for a minute. "I'm gonna go talk to him," she said, getting up and going to Ash's room. Brock watched her leave, a slight frown on his face.

Misty rapped quietly on Ash's door.

"Who is it?"

"It's Misty," replied the concerned redhead.

"What do you want?" His voice sounded strained.

"I want to talk...That is, if you want to."

There was a long pause, and, for a minute, Misty thought he was going to ignore her. However, after a few moments, the door opened.

Ash's eyes were rimmed with red, and Misty could tell he was still shaking from the after-effects of crying.

"Can I come in?" Misty whispered, almost afraid to ask.

He nodded, and they went and sat down on his bed.

"Ash, are you okay?" Misty stared at him, her eyes conveying her worry.

He was quiet for a moment, but at last he spoke. "I went and talked to Houndour today."

"What?" Misty exclaimed. "You shouldn't go near that thing after what happened!"

"It's...not her fault..."

"Not her fault?" the redhead repeated skeptically. "It's not her fault she tried to tear you limb from limb?"

At this, Ash's temper flared. "What do you understand about being lonely and being abused? Have you been there, have you felt the things it does to you?"

Misty looked at him coldly. When she spoke, it was as if there was ice in her voice. "As a matter of fact, I have." She stared at him for a moment, the look just short of being a glare. "You forget, Ash, that growing up, I was the runt...My parents both died in an accident, leaving the gym and me to be taken care of by my three beautiful sisters." There was a bitter tone in her voice as she continued. "Three swans raising an ugly duckling and taking care of a Pokémon gym, both of which they didn't want. They hate Pokémon battles and always have...As for me...Whatever I do is never good enough for them. I could clean the entire gym with a toothbrush, but they would still find some reason to complain." She sighed. "They always have...I finally just decided I had to get out of there."

Ash looked at her with surprise. He'd never heard her talk about this before. Hesitantly, all his earlier ferocity gone, he asked, "What happened to your parents?"

Misty gave a humorless laugh that sent shivers down Ash's spine. "It's somewhat ironic, really. The two leaders of the Cerulean Gym, a gym specializing in Water Pokémon, both died in a fire...The police put it down as accidental, but I think it was arson..." She took in a haggard breath. "Goldeen is all I have left of them." She stared into space for a moment before speaking again. "The day my parents died, I decided to specialize in Water Pokémon just like them."

The dark-haired Pokémon trainer stared down at his hands. Suddenly, he felt horrible.

But Misty took on a lighter tone, pushing all those painful memories to the back of her mind, "What about you?"

He didn't reply, tensing up and continuing to observe his hands.

Misty lightly touched his shoulder. "Ash?"

Soon, he spoke, not meeting her eyes. "My father just left us to go on a Pokémon journey. Left, just like that. It wasn't even that he was starting on a new adventure. He'd already been on his Pokémon journey, succeeding in beating nearly everyone in his path...Eventually, he met my mom and decided to settle down. He'd gotten his awards, won his battles...And then one day, he decided he was leaving for more Pokémon battles."

He swallowed, then continued with a somewhat guilty tone. "That day, he took me aside, and, smiling, he brought out a big box and set it in front of me. There were holes in the side, so I had an idea of what it was." Ash's eyes glittered with tears. "I opened up the box...and..." his breath caught, "and...there was what to me was the most beautiful sight in the world. A real live Pokémon, black, white, and orange, sat in the box looking up at me with its innocent dark eyes. I stared at it for what seemed like an eternity, memorizing its every detail. I even noticed it had a slight nick on one of the bones sticking out on its back, but I didn't care. I knew it was mine, and that erased any possible shortcomings from my mind.

"I picked the eager squirming Pokémon up and looked up at my father with this big smile on my face, but as soon as my smile started, it left. My father was giving me this strange look, and I knew right then that whatever he was going to say wasn't going to be good. He said—" at this, Ash coughed, choking up. "He said, 'Ash, I want you to take care of her. She's a rare Fire- and Dark-Type I got from a land far from Kanto—Dark being mostly an unknown type in Kanto right now—, and she needs someone to train her. She's not very strong right now, but you can train her when you're both older...I'm going to be going away for a while, and—' I just cut him off," Ash said, trying to blink back the moisture in his eyes. "I knew he was lying. He didn't plan on coming back. I yelled at him and told him to take his stupid Pokémon back; I would get one of my own without help from him. I would succeed on my own Pokémon journey without any help from him. I looked at the Pokémon one last time, but this time with anger instead of happiness, and she looked with sadness at me. She knew something was wrong..."

He bit his lip in remembrance. "My dad...got really angry, threw her Pokéball at her, took her, and left." His eyes closed, Ash whispered, "That was the last I ever saw of him...and her...Until..."

"Until the other day," said Misty quietly as it dawned on her. "That used to be your Pokémon?"

Opening his eyes slowly, Ash nodded minutely. "I don't know how Professor Oak got her or what my dad did to her...I was going to ask, but...I'm not so sure if I want to know."

Misty gave a weak smile. "I know what you mean. If I ever find out who killed my parents...I don't know what I'll do."

Ash nodded again. "I don't know what I would do if I saw my dad again...But, seeing Houndour again...I want to make my peace with her. I'm...I'm sorry that she's been surrounded by hate and anger for most of her life,...and that it's mostly my fault..."

"It's not your fault your dad left," Misty said quietly.

"Yeah, but if I hadn't been so stubborn, I would have kept her."

"But then you might never have gotten Pikachu," pointed out Ash's companion.

Ash tried to imagine his life without the yellow rodent, and he had to admit that things could have gone a lot differently.

"Yeah," Ash said softly. "But now I have to right this, Misty...I have to help ease some of Houndour's pain."

"I understand..." The redhead looked at the dark-haired trainer. "Do you want me to go with you?" she asked.

"Maybe later," Ash told her. "Right now, I need to go alone."

"All right," Misty said. She paused for a moment, thinking, then said, "You might get a Psychic Pokémon to translate back and forth between you and Houndour if you want to really speak to her..."

"Okay."

"Now, why don't you come and eat dinner with us?"

Ash thought for a moment, then he nodded slowly. "Okay. I think I will."

On impulse, Misty grabbed his hand and led him out of his room. She wouldn't have him changing his mind.