Part 8 – Operation Ruth-less "Um Misty…….I want you to have this…"

He reached out his hand, which he revealed to be holding a small silver ring.  It had a design of a Staryu on the front and two small blue gems cut and set in the shape of water drops where on the sides.  Misty's smiled as he gently raised her hand and slid it onto her finger.  Ash's voice was slightly shaking. "It's a promise ring….i just wanted you to know…..your all I think about…and I want to go steady with you….because I love you.."

Misty was so touched at Ash's outpour of affection.  The gems in the ring were sparkling like her eyes.  "Ah Ashy….you didn't have to do that…..I already know you love me…and I love you….but thank you."  She twirled the ring around.  "I love it…..its beautiful."

They were about to lean in for a passionate kiss when Brock poked his head between them.  "And me without my camera…"

"WAAA!!" They both fell backward off the park bench.

Brock chuckled and went back inside the pokemon Center.  After the ordeal with Moltres, they headed back once again to Azalea town to rest and agreed they would finally make the journey to Violet City in the morning.  Altogether they had spent a total 6 days in the city.  It was far to long to stay in one place but it was unavoidable because of the past events, visiting Grant, finding a stolen pokemon and now capturing Moltres.  It had been a busy week for Ash to say the least. 

That morning when they went for a walk, Ash had stumbled across a small jewelry store and bought Misty that ring.  When he found it the display case his eyes where glued to it.  It was almost to perfect, it had a water pokemon theme and most importantly, it was in his price range. 

Over the past month, Ash and Misty's relationship had grown tremendously.  They were continuously holding hands and cozying up to each other.  This of course, made Brock sick.  But he was happy for them nonetheless.  He just wished that they would tone things down a bit and not be all gooey all the time.  They hardly argued anymore and this is what Brock missed the most, surprisingly to him.  It was like they weren't the same Ash and Misty he had thought they were, they were all grown up.  Brock had been a long time friend and a parental figure in Ash and Misty's life.  And to Brock, it upset him to see his 'kids' grow up so fast.

The night Ash had captured Moltres, they threw a huge party at the Pokemon center and all their pokemon where invited.  Never before had such an undertaking been performed.  Ash, was now the owner and trainer of two of the three legendary birds.  Ash believed it was just complete blind luck but something in the back of Misty and Brocks mind was asking otherwise.  Nurse Joy had fainted again when discovering Ash had Moltres, but after the shock subsided she joined in the festivities.  Ash had Nurse Joy promise that she would tell no one of his encounter with Articuno and Moltres.  The last thing he wanted was the paparazzi to come barging at his door wanting exclusive interviews and photo's of the birds.  He wanted to keep things low and for good reason, who knows how long it would last.  To Ash, Articuno and Moltres were just pokemon, but to everyone else, they were front-page news.

It was very obvious that he and the gang could not stay in one spot long so it was important for him to get out of Azalea as fast as possible.  Before the sun even hit the tops of the trees Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu once again left for Violet City.  As they walked down the near vacant streets of downtown Azalea, they all heard the familiar sound of Ash's stomach rumbling.  Before Ash could even open his mouth he felt himself being pushed along the road from behind.  Misty and Brock did not want to stop for anything and they made sure Ash wasn't going to change his mind about staying any longer, even for breakfast. 

"come on just let me eat something!" Ash moaned. 

They shoved him clear through the city gates and dragged him along the trail.  When they were a safe distance from the city they let him go.  Brock threw a cookie at Ash hoping this would quiet him down.

Violet City was not far away, about half a days walk or more.  And after less then a week they were once again on their way.  It was lovely day and Ash and Misty were walking hand in hand like they usually were.   The group had traveled only half an hour when they saw a very large group of people gathered in a nearby pasture.  They were all huddled around something and they where cheering somebody on.  The curiosity sunk in and they all ran over to see what the hub bub was about.  Ash then suddenly saw a Nidoran come flying over the tops of the people and land right in front of him.  A young boy pushed his way through the crowd to get to his fallen pokemon.  The fainted Nidoran was alright but its seems the young boys pride was hurt even more.  As the crowd cheered and hollered it was obvious that a pokemon battle had been fought.  Ash clasped his hands in excitement and ran over to a man in the crowd. 

"Scuse me, what's going on here?"

The young man pointed to the center of the mass of people.  "it's the weekly pokemon battles we hold outside of town.  Today some stranger is competing against some of our best.  He's doing really well; he's only gone through two of his 6 pokemon and defeated 4 trainers already.  I only wish I caught his name."

Ash once again got that determined glint in his eye.  "I bet I could beat him!" Ash scoffed.  He grabbed into Misty hand and worked his way through the giant sea of bodies to get to the battleground.  His mind was already deciding what strategy he should use against the supposed 'unbeatable trainer'.  He was almost there when he heard a voice emanate from the center. 

"alright! Who's next!!"

Almost instantly a hundred hands shot into the air.  He squeezed past the last to people and was now standing on the makeshift battlefield.  The crowd became quite as they awaited the inevitable battle that would proceed. 

Ash looked for the mysterious trainer and found him hunched over searching through his backpack.  He was attaching pokeballs to his belt.

Ash cracked his knuckles and flipped his hat around.  "I am Ash Ketchum from Pallet town! I challenge you to a pokemon battle!"

The mysterious trainer seemed to jump at the sound of his name.  He slowly stood up and turned to face Ash. 

His eyes almost popped out of his head as he looked upon his rival, Gary Oak.  Everyone clapped and cheered but Misty and Brock stood there, deathly still knowing the confrontations they have all experienced before.  This was going to be very messy.

Gary smugly ran his hand through his hair.

"So its you again, came all this way to get beaten by the best?

Ash was beginning to tremble with rage as he reached down to the pokeballs containing Moltres and Articuno.  He wanted to teach that no good punk that you don't mess with Ash Ketchum.  But there were a lot of people around him, people who would tell other people and then a large chain will form and the proverbial house of cards would tumble on him, knowing his secret would be out.

He shoved his finger at Gary.  "Have we forgotten what happened no less then a week ago concerning a certain mystical pokemon? HMMM??" He said sarcastically.

Gary was visibly shaken as the memory of Ash soaring out of the gorge on the back of Articuno.  He didn't understand how Ash could of possibly captured the legendary bird, it should have been him with all the glory.

Without another word Gary flung his pokeball into the field, much to the delight of the crowd.  His Arcanine burst forth from the pokeball and let out a tremendous ball fire. 

"Your still a pathetic little runt that knows jack about training pokemon!"

Gary stuck out his tongue and pulled down his eyelid, trying his best to annoy Ash.  And it was working a little to well.  Ash was pulsating with anger towards Gary and now beating his Arcanine with extreme prejudice didn't seem to bad.  He glanced over to Misty and saw the worried expression on her face.  But she understood what Ash had to do.  She thrust her hands in the air.  "KICK HIS ASS BABY!!"

But before he cold do a thing a young girl jumped into the fray and ran up to Ash. 

"Are you Ash Ketchum?"  The young girl asked.

Ash was abit confused but nodded his head.  The girl grabbed his hand and yanked him out of the field.  Ash was surprised to have this young girl pull her right out of a battle.  "WAA! What are you doing? I have a battle to win!"

The young girl put her hands on her hips.  "Don't you remember?"

"remember what?  I have no idea who you are…"

At this time the crowd was becoming unruly and wondering why the challenger was pulled out, and so was Ash.  It was at this time that Brock, Misty and Pikachu found Him. 

The young girl reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Ash.

"…aren't you the one that has to see my dad about the GS ball?"
Ash almost dropped the paper, as usual he had completely forgotten.  He opened and read the letter and found that it was from Kurt requesting he follow his daughter to his house to get the GS ball.  He rubbed his face in his hands from embarrassment.  He only hoped that Prof Oak didn't find out.  Just then he remembered that he had a battle to win.  As he was about to re enter the battlefield Misty grabbed his arm.

"its to late Ash, Gary left already, we should get going to Kurt's…."

Ash let out a long sigh, another chance to show up Gary has passed him by.  But he knew that there would be other chances.  The most important thing now was to get the GS ball and to finally get to Violet City.

As they made their way to through the unruly crowd he was able to catch a glimpse of Gary waking in the far distance.  As he stared at his back the anger returned to him.  Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder and patted him on the head. 

"pika…pi?"
He smiled and scratched its chin.  "the day will come…..and I will be ready…."

*********

"Ahhh….this is the good life…" James moaned as he sank back into the Jacuzzi. 

Meowth threw some grapes into his mouth.  "yuse can say dat again…." 

Luckily for them, because they gave Giovanna such interesting information regarding the trewp and Articuno they were given many perks, such as room service, a new Jeep and a hearty raise.  It seems what mistakes they made in the past had been forgiven.  Although like they say, nobody forgets were they buried the hatchet.  Just then Giovanni barged into their room holding a office file folder. 

James and Meowth quickly ran over to their boss being sure to put on their robes.   They both gave Giovanni a salute and stood at attention. 

The leader of Team Rocket cleared his throat and tried to not look at the mound of shampoo suds on James' head.

" I have a new assignment for you…er…where's Jessie.." He stated.

James raised his hand in the air and waved it back and forth as if he were a student getting the teachers attention. 

"She's getting a manicure SIR!!"  He stomped his foot in enthusiasm.

Giovanni wiped the spittle off his forehead.  "I'm right here you dunderhead, you don't to yell!"

"SORRY SIR!..um sorry sir"

Giovanni rubbed his face.  "James, put the following words in order. 'your' 'sodding' 'face' 'shut'.

 James thought a moment.  "Oh! I like games! Let me see.."

"SHUT UP!!" Giovanni bellowed.  He fixed his suit and tried to calm down and not strangle James.  "Now, I have an assignment for you, You three are to follow this Ketchum boy and report to me if anything new transpires.  Pikachu is no longer a priority in fact I could care less about the rat.  You are not to interfere, just track him down. Understand?"

James nodded "is it 'sodding your shut face?"

*****************

Ash sighed as he once again reached the entrance of Azalea town, by now it was starting to wear a bit thin.  Knowing that Gary was ahead of him.  He was quickly snapped out of his trance when he felt Misty grab his hand.  She smiled lovingly at him as Ash twirled the ring on her finger. 

Ash was able to catch Ruth looking back at them holding hands.  She was shorter than Misty and had long black hair, she had darker skin and deep brown eyes.  She walked along wearing long blue jeans and a light blue jacket.  She was very young, maybe a year younger then Misty.  Ash knew this because Brock didn't go into girl mode; he usually does it around older women. 

It was a short walk to Kurts house, which was huge surrounded by a large 10 foot wall.  Inside the yard he saw that the house was design in a traditional Japanese architecture complete with Magikarp pond and everything. Ash was hoping he would be in, out then on the road. 

They entered through the front sliding door and took their shoes off.  Ruth beckoned them to follow her into the basement.  They all began to hear loud clanging noise coming from a room and the end of the hall.  Just then Ruth cursed and stomped her foot. "damn! Pop's working, we can't go in."

Ash looked at his pokegear, it was already noon.  "why can't we go in?"

Ruth turned around sighed.  "when ever my dad begins his work on his custom Pokeballs he has one rule, no body, not even the president must disturb him.  He is in extreme concentration and we can't break it.  We have to wait for him to finish…sorry, look's like you'll be here for another 3 hours or so."

Ash felt like screaming, but Brock had that covered.  "WILL WE EVER GET OUT OF THIS TOWN!!" He screamed. 

Ruth quickly shushed him and motioned them to go back upstairs.  At this point Ash was 2 seconds from tearing this town 3 ways from Sunday.  They all dragged themselves to the back yard and flopped down in the rickety porch. 

Brock was about to sit down next to Ash when Ruth came out of no where and took his spot.  "to slow!" She sneered.

Brock mumbled something and sat on nearby rock.  Ash and Misty held hands as they watch the Magikarp jump from the clear blue water.  Nobody said anything, being mentally exhausted Ash and the gang weren't really up to conversation.  But Ruth would try to get something out of them.

"so you three are pokemon trainers?"

"uh-huh." They said simultaneously.

"Been traveling long?"

"Uh-huh"  It seems her attempts were futile.  They were way to boring, she needed to have some fun.  Her attention was diverted to Ash and Misty holding hands.  She stared at them both for what seemed like hours as something began to stir in the back of her young mind.  She looked up to Ash, sweet, innocent and handsome Ash.  Then looked over to Misty, what did Ash see in her.  To Ruth, she was much prettier then Misty.  An idea finally came to her as a devilish smirk crossed her face.

She slid closer to Ash and put her hand on his knee.  "So you guys wanna have some fun?"

Misty's radar was on full alert when she saw Ruth's hand on Ash.  Her eyes twitched but Ash was unaware.  Brock played with a stick and poked the dirt near his foot.  "what kind of fun?"

Ruth jumped up and pulled up Ash along with her.  "there's a Pokemon Swap Meet today at the Park, there's going to be all kinds of rides, pokemon, trainers and food. 

Ash's ears perked up at the sound of food.  "will there be pizza?!"

"and burgers too cutie!"

Now by this time Misty's alarms where blaring, there was something wrong about this girl.  Ash had already gotten his things together and hoisted Pikachu onto his shoulder.  Just as Ash was about to Reach for Misty's hand, Ruth moved in between them and wrapped her arm around his.  "your going to need someone to show you where it is, come on!"

Steam began to waft from Misty's ears, she couldn't figure out if she was being overly friendly or flirting.  She would have to watch Ash very carefully.

**********

"The horse as left the stable"

"What?"

"I said the horse has left the stable"

"what horse?"

"….it means the twerps have left the house!"

"…..Why didn't yuse just say dat before ya numbskull!"

**********

Ruth didn't disappoint, downtown Azalea was crowded with thousands of people and their pokemon.  Along side the entire road leading to the park where dozens of concession stands to choose from.  But even though Ash was interested in food, he was more interested in the Pokemon Swap Meet.  As they all walked down the bustling road, Pikachu clambered onto Ash's head to get a higher view of the celebrations.  It was able to spot many different kinds of pokemon in the mass of people.  And in the crowd, Pikachu could see the spiky hair of Brock run around trying to get the phone number of every cute girl he could find.  That left Misty, Ash and Ruth all alone. 

Ruth had been talking up a storm since they left her house.  She also ignored Misty the entire way downtown as well, focusing all attention on Ash.  Ruth began flirting the second she saw him.  And Ash was allowing her to do it.  That made Misty angrier then anything.  But she wasn't going to say anything, but she had to do something.

Now Ruth's method of flirting included; playful punching, laughing at everything he said, batting her eyes, playing with her hair and always trying to be next to Ash.  Misty herself couldn't get near him without Ruth trying to get in the way.  So it was Misty holding hands with Ash on one side and Ruth with her arm in his on the other side.  While walking they shot each other dirty looks.  Again Ash had no idea what was going on, although he did feel uncomfortable with Ruth constantly hanging off him, but figured she was just being friendly.  Pikachu knew that something was going to happen, something bad.

They finally entered the park where the pokemon swap meet was taking place.  The entire area was littered with pokemon of all types.  Ruth ran out in front of them.

"welcome to the Pokemon Swap meet, here Trainers can trade pokemon and have battles to see which pokemon is worth what trade."

Ash, Misty and Brock all looked around while Ruth continued to talk. 

"the stronger the pokemon is, the better the trade you will get."

Ash leaned over and whispered to Brock. "I wonder what I could get for Articuno and Moltres."

Brock chuckled and shook his head.  Ruth quickly shushed him and continued on.  "Also the pokemon swap meet is a great place to meet new and…exciting people."  Misty noticed that she was looking right at Ash when she said that.  Deep ceded anger was building in her, any moment now she would pop, but she didn't want to make a scene in front of all these people. 

Even Brock hadn't clued in yet.  In all his life, with all the girls he had flirted with, none flirted back; he didn't know what to look for. 

They all spread out to look at the swap meet.  One guy came up to Ash and wanted to trade his Elekid for his Pikachu.  He politely declined his offer and decided to carry Pikachu in his arms for a while.  He was amazed at all the different pokemon around him, some he had seen and many he hadn't.  Suddenly a bell sounded and a voice could be heard from a P.A. system.

~"Attention all trainers, the Pokemon Beauty Contest will know begin."~

Almost instantly the area around them began to clear out as the townspeople headed for the north side of the park.  Before Ash could ask, Ruth stood up and pointed toward the gathering crowd around a large stage.  "The Pokemon Beauty Contest is for Trainers and their cutest pokemon to compete for prizes, anybody can enter."

Misty was intrigued by the idea of winning a contest for beauty, Brock on the other hand was disappointed that it wasn't a breeding contest.  Ash just wanted to battle, but there was nowhere to do it.  Misty ran out in front of them.  "come on guys, I want to do it!!"

Ash scratched his head.  "what pokemon are you going to enter?"

Misty ran up and shoved Togepi in his face. 

"Togippriiii!!" The baby egg-shelled pokemon grabbed onto his face and laughed.

Brock smacked his fist in his palm.  "Of course! Togepi's cuteness level is off the map, coupled with the fact that it's a rare pokemon; you're sure to win!"

They all ran off to the stage area with Ruth following closely behind.

*********

"will you look at all these pokemon!"

"don't even think about ya mangy alley cat, where not supposed to interfere, just follow and report back to Giovanni, don't mess up our chance to become team leaders!"

"alright, but it seems like such a waste……can't we just steal a little one?

"NOO!"
*********

The audience cheered as the contestants walked on stage, followed by the panel of judges.  Misty was the second last person on the stage and she proud fully carried the giggling Togepi with her.  As the contest began trainers was called forward to present their pokemon.  The audience clapped and cheered as each contender came forward and walked off.  A trainer came up with a Gastly and was almost booed of the stage.  It was almost Misty's turn when Ash felt Ruth put her hand on his thigh.  The alarms where finally going off in Ash's head as he tired to think of what to do.  He quickly stood up and cheered Misty and at the same time flinging Ruth's hand off his leg, talk about slick.  He sat back down but this time moved further away from Ruth.  His attention was diverted to the shrill scream of Togepi as it played with the judges microphone. 

"Awwwwww."  The entire crowd smiled at the cute egg pokemon.  Soon after a unanimous decision from the judges, they gave Misty and Togepi First place.  The audience erupted and cheered the victor.  Ash and Brock jumped up and screamed along with the crowd.  Misty blew Ash a kiss and waved to her public.  After seeing this, Ruth knew she wouldn't able to compete, so she had to take drastic action.  She stood up and yanked Ash's hat off. 

"WAA! What are you doing!"
Ruth ran out of the bandstands and waved his hat in the air.  "You want it back ya have to catch me!"

Ash was already running full speed after her. Brock and Pikachu looked at each other in bewilderment.

"why would she take his hat?"

"Pika?"

Just then Misty ran up to them adorning the ribbon she won.  "hey guys! Wasn't that awesome!…. Where's Ash?"

Brock pointed in the direction they had ran off.  "Ash and Ruth went that way." But before Brock could explain why they ran off Misty was off herself. 

"That two timing JERK!! I'll kill him!!"

Brock stared down to Pikachu.  "I bet I'll get blamed for this…"

"Pika…."

*********** 

"Give me back my hat!"
"okay!"

Ruth ran into a secluded area of the park and put on his hat.  She spun around and walked up to Ash.  "here ya go gorgeous.."

"Wa?"

As she removed the hat and went to put it back on is head, she quickly grabbed his jacket and pulled him in for a kiss.  Ash was to surprised to react in time and their lips met.  His eyes went wide as he ripped himself from her grip and quickly broke off the kiss.

"what the hell are you doing!" Ash yelled. 

He noticed that Ruth wasn't looking at him, instead she was staring at something.  The alarms were now screaming in his head.  He slowly turned and saw Misty with her hand over her quivering mouth. 

"How could you……."  Her voice was filled with so much hurt and pain.  Misty stared down at the promise ring wrapped around her finger. She quickly yanked the ring off and threw it at Ash before running away.

Ash stood there heartbroken.  He reached down and picked up her promise ring.

"Misty…..its not what you think………" 

To be continued……

Author's notes: Ah yes, Part 8 is now finished, took me awhile but I got it done.  And yes, another heart racing CLIFFHANGER BWAHAHAH!!  I've already started on part 9 and that will be out before X-mas I promise.  I would like to thank all those who read and I hope you will be back for part 9! Ja né!!