A/N: I'm Moonrabbit, by the way, and my penname is named after my favorite Pokemon, an Umbreon.
Okay. You know how in Crystal Version you try to find Misty to battle her and find her with this cooltrainer dude being lovey dovey on the bridge while Ash is being beat up by your character in Mt. Silver? Well, so what happened during the three years that he became the champ? This is my answer to them, and what happens when he comes back. This would not be some fake romance story. I plan to make this as real as I could.
Please excuse me for my grammar mistakes. I typed this as fast as I could and my brain's clouded up because I feel like a tired loser.
There will be flashback scenes in italics, although FFN usually strips them.
Dedicated to my fellow workers PrologueThe Hope
"Are there many strong trainers like you in Johto now?" the redheaded gym leader asked interestedly as she handed her newest winning challenger the Cascade Badge. "Because I'd really like to battle with them someday."
The green-haired girl named Crystal who was receiving the badge looked thoughtful for a moment. She was unlike most people Misty had seen, because she actually resembled another serious trainer Misty had once known. She had a pink bag on her back, a belt strapped with Pokeballs around her waist, finished by her Pokemon Gear around her neck. Yup, Misty thought fondly. I've seen that style somewhere before.
"Well, what do you mean by strong?" Crystal asked suddenly, catching Misty off her guard with such a strange question.
"What do I mean by strong?" Misty frowned. "I guess someone who can beat my lineup just the way you did." Crystal's Ampharos had merely sent a few Thunders and most of Misty's Pokemon just collapsed and fainted.
"The gym leaders, then."
Misty rolled her eyes. "Well, I do know that the gym leaders are strong. I've seen them in their elements before! But are there any trainers?"
Crystal chewed her lips for a moment. "I never actually met any," she said. "My rival could be considered pretty strong, but I don't think he's exactly stronger than you." Misty beamed. "But I did hear of one trainer that's stronger than anyone the Johto people had seen."
"Oh?"
"I don't really remember that much about him, but I've heard that he beat the Ultimate League three years ago, and said that he wanted to go to Mt. Silver to beat the legendary champion." Misty suddenly felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle coldly. "Let's see…yeah, and they heard that he beat the original champion, and had trained in the legendary Silver Cave ever since. He's said to be the strongest trainer there ever was. Nobody had ever lived to really determine whether it was true or not, because nobody had so far come back surviving the climb."
"Is he…is he a native of Johto?"
Crystal shook her head. "I don't really think so. I'd know him then, even though he's before my time. There are rumors that he's from some stupid town in Kanto, the same town where another gym leader was born. I know the gym leader's name," she added helpfully.
"Yeah?"
"Gary. Gary Oak."
Misty actually stumbled back, nearly falling into the Cerulean pool. Then there's no mistaking him, she thought. He's alive. Ash Ketchum is still alive. "You sure about this?" she asked breathlessly.
Crystal shrugged. "But I really don't worry about that," she said, grinning. "After I beat Brock in Pewter and Gary in Viridian, I'm going to gain access to Mt. Silver myself. Then I'll climb it and see for myself if he's really real or not. Do you know him?"
"He's an old friend of mine," Misty said faintly.
"He is?"
Misty nodded resignedly. "Yeah," she said, and suddenly said, "Wait here." She dashed a wad of paper out of her pocket and scribbled Time to come back on the crumpled sheet. Then she handed it to Crystal. "Only give it to him if you defeat him." Crystal nodded, confused. "But if you do defeat him, give it to him. Also, after you meet him, whether winning the battle or not, visit his mother in Pallet Town. Gary's sister will lead you to him."
"But why?" Crystal asked, confounded. "What's all this about?"
Misty knelt down before her, her green eyes large and sincere. "Please," she begged. "Just try to see him. And then…come back. I want to hear from your own lips that's he is still of blood and flesh, that he's still alive and kicking."
"Er…" and although Crystal still looked unsure, she nodded hard, to Misty's enormous relief.
Crystal's untimely visit had been three hours ago, but Misty was still in the same place as she had been before, staring at the water pensively. It couldn't be real…it couldn't be real…after three years of mourning, after three years of regret and sorrow, Ash Ketchum was alive…and a champion? How come nobody ever told her? How come not even the thinnest wisp of rumor reached her ear? It simply couldn't be true; Misty wanted to believe it, that her Ash was still alive, but also wanted to not believe it…for that meant that she didn't mean enough to him for him to try and contact her.
"I SAID I'm not going to climb the mountain!" Misty shouted.
"Misty…" Ash said soothingly, "come on…"
Misty folded her arms across her chest and looked at the imposing mountain with raised eyebrows. "Ash Ketchum, I told you that I actually value my life. If you think that I'm going to climb up with him in an attempt to break my neck then you're very, very wrong!"
"I got to agree with Misty here," Brock said. "Nurse Joy actually agreed to meet me for a date…"
"I thought it was for a…seminar?" Misty said shrewdly.
Brock avoided her eyes. "That too," he said, beet red.
"Back to you," Misty said. "We'll get two walkie talkies. Brock and I are going to wait down here for you to meet that master of yours, realize you can't beat him, and come down. Then, we're going back to Pallet Town like the smart, sensible people we seem and live the rest of our lives basking in glory. Brock and I will try to train harder for our gym leader jobs, and you and Gary can compete for the vacant gym."
Ash suddenly had the weirdest expression on his face.
"What?" Misty asked.
"You don't need to wait for me if you don't want to climb with me," he said suddenly.
"And why not?" Brock demanded.
"I'm not coming back down."
"WHAT?"
Ash sighed. "This time, I'm serious. I won't be coming back down…well, I will, actually, but not till I meet the greatest champion of all time, beat him, and then train with him to become even better. Only then will I come back, and I'll start my own league, Ketchum League."
He looked as if he half expected Misty to burst into laughter, but Misty felt oddly sad. "So…basically, you're leaving?"
"Yeah."
"Leaving? No kidding?"
Ash shrugged. "I guess this is goodbye, then."
Misty shook her head. "No, in that case, I'm climbing up with you. Brock too. We're going to drill some sense into that thick skull of yours and drag you back down."
Ash smiled faintly. "You can try," he said, and he looked so sober that Misty wondered what he meant.
Five minutes into the climb, and a snowstorm was already brewing. Misty had no idea for the life of her why things had become the way it was, but now she reflected that it was perhaps fate.
"We have to get to safety first!" Misty shouted.
"Yeah, this storm is blowing harder by the minute, and we can't see in sleet and snow!" Brock seconded Misty.
Even Pikachu agreed this time.
Ash hesitated, but he followed Misty, Brock, and Pikachu to an abandoned cave that seemed to be made by Ursarings. Misty sat down gratefully on the floor, which was cold but would soon be warm, and watched as Brock started a fire. Ash merely watched, his eyes abnormally dark with Pikachu on his shoulder. Suddenly, a determined expression came on his face. He pressed Pikachu into Brock's hands, and said, "Goodbye, then!" and dashed out into the snow.
It took a while for Misty and Brock to react.
"ASH!" Misty jumped up, wondering why she felt so distressed over a biker-breaker. "ASH!" She looked down and saw Brock's eyes, a flash of understanding in them. He nodded encouragingly. "Let's go, Pikachu. We're going to get him back. He's not leaving MY sight!"
And with that, Misty too left the warm shelter of the cave and ran out blindly into the snow, looking for an idiotic dork who always caused more trouble than he was worth. It was hard to see in the snow, very hard, and Misty and Pikachu were starting to grow discouraged and tired. But just as they were about to head back, Misty caught the familiar flash of that red cap of Ash's.
"ASH!" she shouted. "ASH!"
The wind blew harder, louder, drowning her voice.
"ASHHH!" she shouted again, hoping against hope that he'd hear.
The figure that was Ash paused, and turned around. "Misty?" he said in a low voice, but Misty caught it. "Misty?"
He stopped and waited as Misty and Pikachu stumbled themselves toward him, puffing for their breaths. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Misty shouted. "This is a storm! If you're so eager to meet this champion girlfriend of yours at least wait till it's nice and romantic, not horrid and idiotic!"
Ash lowered his head.
"And what's with you, anyway? Hadn't our three years of friendship mean anything to you? How could you just leave like this after all we've been through?"
Ash's shoulders slumped, and Misty's voice softened.
"Come back to the cave with us, Ash, please. I'll support and cheer for you all the way when you battle the champion, but please do come back. We need you…Pikachu and Brock need you…I need you…" The last words slipped out of her mouth without her knowing.
Ash faced her, and slowly put his hands on her shoulder. "Misty, if I come back to the cave with you, I'll never be able to leave."
"But…what about Pikachu?"
Ash turned away from her. "This is so very selfish of me, but I want him to be with you so you will always have something to remember me by."
Misty cocked her head in confusion, but before she could react further, Ash had put his hand under her chin, and tilted it up to meet his lips for a kiss. Misty was too surprised to respond as his arms drew her into a warm embrace that rendered her immune to the storm, to respond as he ran his hand through her hair, and to respond as he ran off in the distance without looking back.
As Misty put her fingers to her lips to relive the long-sought kiss, she heard the distant roar of an avalanche.
Misty was startled to realize that tears were running down her face as she recalled the last moments of her and Ash together. She and Brock had been devastated to learn that five bodies were recovered from the mass of ice and snow after the avalanche, all too mangled and frozen to be identified. Misty had spotted a red cap and Ash's blue jacket, and broke down crying over them. She still had them somewhere in her treasure trunk, which she kept all of her favorite things.
She realized that Pikachu had joined her sometime during the past hours, and seemed to feel her anguish. He must've missed Ash, Misty thought, feeling Pikachu lean his electric cheeks against Misty's, stroking her hair. And she did too. And what killed her the most was that she never had time to savor the taste of love she'd felt when she was in Ash's arms, that all Ash had now to remember her by was a bratty hot-tempered redhead. But she had great faith that he would come back, and when he does come back, things would be different. Very different indeed.
A/N: Like it? Hate it? Oh, and one last word: REVIEW.