Ash wasn't exactly sure what had compelled him to keep such a quick pace, but nonetheless he found himself halfway to Celadon City in the early hours of the morning, his charcoal black eyes reflecting the genuine tiredness that racked his very soul.

He thought he could take a bit of a break before heading off to see Gary; his reason for doing so still unsure. He had stopped at a local café in Cerulean City, not even bothering to take off his soaking coat. The café wasn't exactly what it had used to be Ash had recently found out, courtesy of the café's owner. As soon as the owner's mind had registered that she had a customer, she immediately began telling Ash her entire life story, including charging Ash somewhat less than normal, seeing as he was the only customer she had had in a number of days. At first he had been only mildly interested, giving her an occasional grunt and nod to acknowledge her weak sobs, muffled by the Italian woman's purple handkerchief. After speaking of the many boyfriends that had seemingly abandoned her, she somehow got onto the subject of the café itself, and the recent beating it had found itself in. At this Ash seemed to be more attentive, sipping his chocolate milkshake every so often, and twirling steadily on the barstools leather seat.

"So, I was waiting for a customer, as I do every mornin', and I hear this loud shriek," at this she threw her hands up in the air, as if in shock at her own words. "And you wouldn't believe what happened next!"

"Hmm?" He asked, twirling his straw around mindlessly. The large woman leaned over the counter, as if waiting for Ash to answer her question. She had been doing this for the entire forty five minutes he had been there, expecting him to answer everything from her past boyfriend's names to her bra size. She leaned closer to Ash, causing him to feel a bit awkward and to lean in the opposite direction, almost knocking his entire body off the stool. He sighed. This was getting ridiculous.

"Listen lady," he said, swiftly taking some change out of his pocket, "I'd love to listen to more of your story, really I would," he added sarcastically, flicking his wrist nonchalantly, "but I gotta go.

"Well!" she said, somewhat taken aback, her dark brown eyes bulging slightly through her misty, bug like glasses as she watched him turn and walk to the exit door.

Ash opened the cracked door, the bell adorning it ringing to announce his exit.

"Well I hope you're not here to earn a badge young man," Ash swiftly turned around at the mention of a Pokemon League badge, midway out the door. "Because you won't be able to earn a thing in this town, including people's respect!" she said, quickly turning around to enter the back of the café, her large purple earrings jingling behind her.

"W- What?" Ash stammered, holding the door open, letting the cool autumn's breeze enter the small restaurant. He heard the door's lock click behind her, and he found himself wishing she would come back.

Ash left the restaurant debating with himself if he should go and ask the woman's forgiveness and hear the rest of her story, but decided on riding on straight to Celadon City instead. He pulled out his collapsible bike, and continued riding down the streets of Cerulean. As he rode, he couldn't help but notice the way the city had changed since his last visit. Of course, it has been nearly ten years since the last time his journey had taken him here, but in all honesty, Ash had never expected it to look like this. Many of the stores were abandoned, and it seemed the sound of police sirens followed him wherever he went. The city was covered in a shadow that couldn't be lifted. He passed Cerulean's pokemon gym, and found himself thinking about Misty. And as if in on impulse, he turned his bike in the direction for the water pokemon gym. As he approached it more closely, he noticed that it too, had lost its luster. Although the same decoration adorned the gym, it seemed to be falling apart; the gym's trademark Seal's torn cover blowing with the chilling wind. Once he got even closer, he took notice to a familiar poster, one he had often teased Misty about for years afterwards. The poster had a shadowed figure of a mermaid on it, along with many pokemon. He smiled slightly, as he recalled how his enemies had tried to steal the show Misty had been placed in, each one of them wearing their gender's opposites. But his smile quickly faded when his eyes caught the words: Show Canceled, next to the fading poster.

He then entered the gym without anyone welcoming him, his presence gone completely unnoticed until he got to the aquarium part of the gym. He had been searching the hallways for Misty, whom he had not seen in years. But he was not greeted by the carrot topped teenager he knew, but instead by one of her sisters, Daisy. At first he was happy to see the normally energetic woman, but his happiness was soon replaced with a mixture of anxiety and fear. Instead of wearing her usual bright colors, Daisy was wearing all black. She wore a long, black dress, the ends dragging on the floor with ease. Her face had been drained of its color, and her eyes seemed weary.

"Hello Ash," she said, her voice full of mist.

"H- Hi, Daisy," he was somewhat surprised that she still remembered him, but even more surprised by her appearance. "Do you know where Misty is...?

Her eyes widened slightly, but the rest of her expression and tone stayed the same. "Ash, don't you, like, read the newspaper?"

When Ash was younger, he never really cared much for news of any kind. His perspective of it was that no news was good news. His mother had even made jokes that her son was allergic to newsprint, for he rarely read the newspaper, except for maybe any update on the top trainers and their battle tactics. Even now when he was older, he would hurriedly turn the inked pages to the Pokemon Trainer section, scan it for a few minutes, then disregard the paper and forget that he had a two year old newspaper lying on his small dining room table, never bothering to recycle it. So when Daisy asked him if he read the newspaper, he had meekly replied with a shake of his head.

And as his old best friend's sister stood before him, her long blonde hair messily covering her pallid face in wisps, he knew that his saying about no news being good news had just lived up to its title.

"Follow me, Ash," she said in a whisper, her valley- girl accent seeming to disappear entirely. Daisy had figured Ash was referring to where Misty's body lay, for surely he couldn't have meant anything else. She grabbed a hold of Ash's hand, her cold fingers draping around Ash's like ice. Ash looked at her in bewilderment, but didn't resist following Daisy down the twisting corridors of the Pokemon gym. She dragged him along, never releasing his hand from hers, and as Ash noticed, seemed to be somewhat of a comfort to Daisy, although he still wasn't entirely sure what she needed comforting from in the first place. They didn't speak, and the only sound that could be heard was Daisy's black heels clacking against the shimmering tiled floors, and the beating of Ash's own heart. As the two approached what looked like a large conference room, a new sound could be heard. A sound Ash had become accustomed to. They reached the door, but before entering, Daisy squeezed Ash's hand, and said in a hushed tone, "Thank you for coming today, Ash. My sisters will surely appreciate it, and I do as well."

After all the years Ash had to learn to become "prepared" thanks to an infamous trio, his years of experience couldn't help him in being prepared for what he was about to be lead into. He took a deep, ragged breath, released Daisy's hand, and followed her into the room. Daisy immediately left to go and attend to other family and friends, so Ash was left to speculate the scene alone. He scanned his eyes around the carpeted room, his midnight black eyes mimicking everyone's apparel. No one seemed to notice Ash's arrival, for many of them were shielding their eyes with handkerchiefs, crying into someone's chest, or huddled toward the front of the room, their backs facing him. His eyes as well began to burn, and he started to mutter quietly to himself, something he currently did on a regular basis.

"No, no, no," he whispered, his voice becoming increasingly louder, shaking his head fiercely as tears began to roll down his cheeks, causing his long bangs to stick to the sides of his face. The lump that had been forming in his throat since the phone call with Gary last night seemed to dive into his heart, and a quiet wail escaped his lips. He quickly snapped his head up, and hurriedly began walking to the front of the room, shoving several crowded groups of mourners out of the way. His eyes were only set on the front; his heart, soul, and mind only on Misty. He shoved the last set of people out of his way, and by the time he dropped to his knees, wailing miserably, all teary eyes were on his slumped figure. His hair shielded his face, and as he slowly tilted his head upward, he saw what he had jokingly wished for whenever the redheaded girl yelled at him, which was practically everyday for years.

Misty's once lively form was lying in a casket, her hair passing her shoulders in wisps of orange. She wore an elegant aqua colored dress, which Ash recalled, matched her eyes perfectly. Her neck bore a pendant, which resembled a drop of water, something that she had loved since she was a small child. The casket fabric was white, and the ends that slightly fell out of the casket were ruffled. Ash drew his face towards the coffin, caressing his tearstained cheeks on the fabric. He let out another muffled sob, and his body went colder than it already was when he felt a large hand place itself on his slumped shoulder. He reluctantly tore his eyes from Misty, feeling that as if heaven itself was tempting him to turn around, only to find that when he turned back, his best friend's body would be gone forever. But when Ash turned around, he did not see the Grim Reaper, as he was half expecting to, but instead he saw another familiar face. The face of his other best friend, Brock.

Immediately his frown disappeared, temporarily forgetting that everyone else's lips were curled in the opposite direction. He leapt up, wrapping his arms around his old friend and began crying into his chest; his tears mixed with sadness and relief, relief that Brock hadn't too left him forever.

Yay! Another chapter done. Grr... some reviews would be appreciated here! The next chapter should be out soon.