Chapter 4

Lilycove City was full of people and their pokemon. Ash saw them everywhere. It was like an invasion of water pokemon and their trainers; there were Horseas, Seals, Seakings, Corsolas, Azumarils, and more. It was so packed that he thought he'd never find Misty within so many people. He had only one choice to get around the chaos and that was go to the street with the shops. He didn't want to, but it was the only way.

Ash had tried to move through the street as quickly as possible because he didn't want the to meet up with Brock or May. He was rushing when Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and ran up to a small booth that was hidden among the many shops in the street. Ash ran after him and when he got there he picked up Pikachu.

"Pikachu, why did you do that? You know we don't have time to shop."

All Pikachu did was point at the display. Ash looked and peered at it curiously…

After awhile, Ash and Pikachu had finally gotten around the crowd of people and through the street. It just so happened that they ended up right back at the Pokemon Center, but that was a good thing because Ash had remembered that he forgot to reserve a room for him and his friends. At the front desk Ash asked to book a room. While he was waiting, he grew anxious because he had to put away something in his room and he didn't want May and Brock to see what it was. Then all of a sudden he jumped because someone had tapped him on the shoulder.

"AHHH… uh…MAY! Umm, what are you doing here?"

"Me? I would ask you the same thing! And what is that in the bag?"

Ash squirmed as he tried to figure out something to say.

"Wait a minute…did you go… shopping!"

"NO! No, I just, I just got some medicine for the Pokemon in case we'll need it later or something…yeah, that's what I got."

"Oh…well then what are you still doing at the front desk?" asked May suspiciously.

"I was getting us a room…that's all," he said coolly.

"Well I already got us a room. Here's your key." She handed the key to him and smiled.

"Wow, you actually thought about something besides shopping. That's a first, but also impressive."

He chuckled and went to go find their room. May watched him leave and thought to herself excitedly. He was actually impressed with me! Maybe he feels the same way…Oh I wish Max was still with us, it feels like I'm alone without my little brother here to keep me sane… Max had stayed at a Weather Institution to learn more about the research they were doing with the Pokemon and the weather there. Her thoughts drifted off and she went to go get Brock and Ash.

Ash found the room and hid the bag in a spot where the other two wouldn't be able to find it. His lie actually worked but he had still not found Misty. He wondered why she wasn't there still, but he also thought about all of the water pokemon trainers. Maybe they were here for the same reason as Misty. But if that was so, then why wasn't she with them? He stopped thinking about this because just then May and Brock came into the room.

"Ash what are you doing? Let's go!" begged May.

"Okay, okay. Come on Pikachu let's go."

Ash was the last one out of the room so he looked one more time at it and then closed the door behind him.

Outside, the chaos had quieted down a bit and the trainers were beginning to head off somewhere else. Ash thought that it was strange, but his attention was brought back to May because she was squealing again.

"Oh you guys! Look! There it is! The Lilycove Department Store!"

Ash and Brock looked at the huge building she was pointing at and saw that it was in fact the Department Store. It was a bit of a walk to get there and Ash groaned as facing another shopping experience was giving him chills.

"Do we have to go now? How about we go later? I just…umm… I just want to get some decent food first!" said Ash. He would do anything to get out of shopping. It was becoming a form of art to get May away from shopping and he was good at it. She sighed and agreed that she too wanted some food.

Brock pointed over by the store and said, "Hey look! There's an outside restaurant close to the store! At least it's closer." He shrugged his shoulders and looked at Ash. Ash sighed and said okay.

They sat down outside and waited for the waiter to bring them the food. All of them were in a cheerful mood except for Ash. It looked like he was irritated. He kept looking everywhere. As if something were going to attack him. He saw that there was a small group of water pokemon trainers gathering around a hotel near the restaurant and it seemed as if they wanted to see someone. He didn't understand what was going on but then May interrupted his thoughts.

"Yo, Ashhh? You there?"

"Oh yeah, yeah. When's our food coming? I'm starved."

"Hmm I don't know but I'd just wish it come soon so we could go shopping…"

Ash rolled his eyes and looked away. May saw this and began to worry. He probably thought that all she cared about was shopping, well she did, but she didn't want Ash to think of her like that. "Well, we don't have to go shopping just now…we could…oh yeah! I know we could go watch a Pokemon Contest. I heard that Lilycove is where the Master competition is held!" Ash looked somewhat interested and May smiled. She knew he couldn't help liking something that had to do with Pokemon.

"Oh yeah! We should go do that!" said Brock, "what do you think Ash?"

"Actually that sounds like a pretty good idea!"

The three were now all smiling but Ash had zoned out again. This time however, he seemed happy. He sat there leaning his head on his hand. His other hand was twirling the straw in his drink around in circles. May just looked at him, puzzled to why he was so happy all of a sudden. She thought that maybe he was thinking about her, but her thoughts stopped as she and the rest of them at the table heard someone yell. It came from the hotel that Ash saw earlier. The whole group was looking at the Department Store and one of the trainers pointed.

"LOOK! THERE SHE IS! IT'S THE WATER POKEMON GYM LEADER FROM CERULEAN!"

Ash quickly turned to look at the entrance of the store. There she was. She had gotten just a little taller, but not by much. Her hair was more of a distinct orange now, but it still had some hints of red blended in. She wore her hair down however, and so as she stood there, it flowed gently with the breeze. Her skin had become really smooth and it blended in perfectly with her new outfit. She wore a white tank top with light blue shorts along with a sleeveless jacket that came down to just above her knees. The color of the jacket was a combination of teal and blue, just like her eyes. When he looked at them, it seemed as though he was looking into a vast ocean that never ended, but for as long as he looked at her, she didn't even glance at him.

Misty stood there and smiled. The group from the hotel began to run over to the store. Brock, May and Ash got up and started to run after them. As they were running, Brock yelled over to Ash, "Hey Ash, it's Misty!"

"Yeah! I know! But how do all of these people know her too?"

"Excuse me! But I'd like to know how you two know her?" asked May accusingly.

"She's a good friend of ours," replied Brock.

May looked at Ash who was focused on Misty. May got extremely jealous then. Misty was beautiful, anyone could tell that, and she looked to be as old as Ash. May turned extremely quiet as she thought of how Ash viewed her. He probably thought that she was a little girl and with Misty being here…wait a second, Misty! That was the person Ash said in his sleep. Now May knew that Ash was really good friends with her. She stopped thinking about that when Brock suddenly replied.

"Well they probably know her because she's the gym leader, and so they admire and adore her or something."

Oh great, May thought, Misty was a gym leader. Her trainer skills weren't even considered skills.

They were standing now in front of the store entrance and it seemed like the group was hushing down so that Misty could give a speech. Ash, Brock and May were standing all the way at the back, but because it was a small group, they could see Misty clearly. Seeing her again made something stir inside of Ash. He felt a lot closer to her somehow even though there was a crowd between them. Everyone got quiet as Misty put up a hand to signal that she wanted to say something.

"All water pokemon trainers! I welcome you to Lilycove City where we have come to be a part of the wonderful Water Pokemon Convention! As I came here, I thought nothing more than of the shops and sites, because that is all I heard about! So of course, I came and I did just that! Oh! I must tell you all a little secret! On the third floor there is the cutest little shop with water pokemon dolls and I bought some there! When the salesmen found out that I was the Cerulean City Gym Leader, he asked if I could sign some of the dolls, and I did! So you can all go and…"

She stopped talking because as soon as she said that all of the trainers started running inside the store. After the last person had passed by, Misty chuckled and turned toward a man that was standing next to her. Ash had just realized him for the first time, and he seemed really familiar but he couldn't tell who it was.

That really didn't matter to him as much, because he started to worry more about Misty. Had she really changed that much? She never liked shopping, well she did, but it wasn't her priority. And since when had she become such a celebrity? Even if she was well known, Ash knew that she wouldn't let it get to her head. She had changed so much, that Ash didn't know if it was really her. The man that she had turned to said something and he showed her the way down the steps.

As Misty and the man were getting toward the bottom of the stairs, Brock called out, "Hey Misty! Long time no see!" Misty finally saw who was talking and her smile widened. She laughed bluntly.

"Brock! Wow, it's really you!" She walked up to him and then looked at May.

"And who might you be?" she said in a little kid voice.

"I," May replied in a superior tone, "am May; I'm friends with Ash and Brock."

Misty smirked at the tone of voice that May had used and then she realized the name that she had said.

"Oh! Ash!"

Misty finally looked at Ash and she smiled. Ash looked at her eyes and he melted. It really was Misty. The two of them just looked at each other for a couple of seconds and finally Ash said quietly with a smile, "Hi Misty. It's been a while."

Her smile became as warm as the sun, but the man that was with her was not smiling. Just before she could say anything, her smiled suddenly turned cold and her eyes stiff. She turned away from him abruptly and looked at Brock.

"So how are your pokemon doing?"

Misty smiled, but it wasn't the same one that he just received from her. In those few seconds, she had changed back into the person he didn't recognize. The man standing beside her seemed happy at the change in her behavior.

"Um, they're doing great! How about you?" replied Brock.

"I'm great! Actually I've never been better!"

Ash was in deep thought about Misty, and especially about the man that was with her. He seemed so familiar, but yet he still couldn't figure out what it was.

"Misty, who's your friend?"

She didn't even look at Ash; instead, she turned and looked at her friend. "Why this is Rudy, from the Orange Islands."

"RUDY!"

Ash couldn't believe it. His jaw dropped and he had gotten really angry. His face showed his emotion and Rudy could tell. He finally went up to Ash and spoke to him.

"Yes Ash, remember me?"

The handsome boy smirked and chuckled.

"Yeah…I remember you."

Ash pouted and looked away.

"I met Misty on the ship that took us here. What a coincidence, huh?"

Rudy smirked again and laughed to himself as he saw Ash's frustrated face.

"Yeah, I couldn't believe we bumped into each other on the ship! Rudy here showed me all of his new water pokemon and I couldn't believe how many new interesting things I hadn't known about! Rudy is so smart, he knows everything."

Misty was looking at him and smiling. There was still something different about it. Whenever Ash looked at her, he felt a coldness sweep over him, and yet it seemed that there was warmth somewhere very distant.

"Well come on Misty, we need to get going. The first part of the convention is going to start soon and we need to set up."

Rudy took her arm and led her away from the group.

"Bye! Nice seeing…you…"

Brock's voice died away as Misty left without saying a word in return. Ash was really angry. How could she have changed so much? She didn't even say more than two words to him. But his anger died away quickly as it began to be replaced by worry. He had in fact seen the real Misty for a couple seconds. It was the same old Misty he had remembered but then she began to act differently again. What had caused her to be like that? He wondered and wondered but then May interrupted him.

"So…that was your friend Misty? She seems like she's nice. Oh I know! We should go get tickets to the convention! It should be a lot of fun! We can learn all kinds of new things too! How about it Ash?"

"Yeah…yeah! We should! Good idea May."

Ash smiled with a hint of a smirk. May was thrilled that he had liked her idea. Now he would surely begin to notice her, right? To her, Misty seemed like a snotty person, so there was no way Ash could have any interest in her. May began to get excited and lost in her thoughts as the same thing was happening in Ash's head. If we go, I might get a better idea of what's going on with Misty, he thought.

The three of them headed back to the restaurant and ate their lunch. They were ready to start exploring the city so Ash suggested that they go to see if they could get tickets first.

"I think we should find out where the convention is taking place."

"Oh! No problem! I got a ton of maps at the Pokemon Center!"

"Great thinking May! I don't know why I didn't think of that," said Brock with a frown.

"Oh, that's probably because you were too busy focusing on Nurse Joy," she replied.

"Well then? Do you know where it is?"

"Yeah, it should be close to the beach."

"Alright then, let's go."

Brock and May were just about to take a step, but Ash had already taken ten steps ahead of them. He was ready to find out what in the world had happened to Misty.