"Come on Misty! I've got something to show you!"
She smiled and ran to catch up to him.
"What is it Josh?"
"Close your eyes."
He put a bandana around her head and he held her hands together.
"Josh! I can't see anything!"
"That's the point," he said with a smile and she could hear it in his voice.
It had been a couple of months since she first met him that day in her gym. Josh was so great; she really did like him, but there was this nagging feeling in the back of her mind that kept bothering her.
"Okay, open your eyes!"
Josh lifted the bandana off, and Misty's eyes grew wide, as did her smile. In her hands was a beautiful bouquet of red roses. Her eyes began to water as she threw her hands around his neck, and she kissed him fiercely. She pulled away and looked into his eyes softly.
"Josh, thank you…"
"No, thank you…"
He pulled her into him again, and kissed her. Misty lost her thoughts. Where did that nagging feeling go? It disappeared, for now.
They went back to the gym; Josh was now living with her. Another reason why she felt so obliged to be with him; he just couldn't stand to leave her by herself. Josh was always taking her best interests to heart, and she even thought sometimes that her feelings had really grown into love. But she couldn't think of that at the moment. There was another huge pile of letters on her desk. Misty rolled her eyes and then laughed.
"Look, Fred must have come in and dropped these off."
She began to sort through them.
"Bill, bill, bill, another bill. Why do I have so many bills?"
She was about to reach for the last one, but it fell out of her hands and into the wastebasket. Josh pulled her away from his desk and began to tickle her at her sides.
"That's because you are so popular, that they want all of your money! It's like you're a celebrity Misty!"
She laughed, and pleaded with him to stop it.
"Josh… Josh, I… can't… breathe… stop ittt…"
Just then, he pulled her into him once again, and kissed her. Misty wrapped her arms around his neck and melted into his embrace. When she opened her eyes she could tell he was thinking about something, because his eyes looked clouded. Suddenly the phone rang, Misty smiled as she stepped away from him and answered it.
"Yes? Misty of the Cerulean City Gym, how may I help you?"
Her eyes looked up to Josh, who was holding up his hand to his ear, and began to mock her. She made a face, and threw a pen at him jokingly. It hit him on his hand, and he pretended to seem hurt.
"Oh, hi Lily! How are you?"
Misty nodded her head a couple of times, and soon she took another pen and scribbled something down on a pad of paper.
"Yeah, okay! Sounds great! See you soon!"
She put the phone down and stood up.
"Josh, looks like we need to go shopping."
"Shopping? Why?" he asked impatience already growing inside of him.
"It's Lily, she's going to have a baby shower tomorrow, and we're invited of course. Somehow she just has to remember to invite me at the last minute."
Josh chuckled.
"Hey, it's not funny!"
"Yeah it is."
"Ugh…"
Misty stomped away from him and went towards the gym. While she was doing this, she heard the bell ring from the room she had just left. She rolled her eyes; Josh could take care of it. Soon, she was already on the platform at the pool. In a few minutes, she saw Josh and a young boy enter the arena.
"You have an opponent today."
"Oh do I?"
She seemed angry with him still. Josh let it slide.
"Yes, you do."
The boy got up eagerly on the other side of the pool.
"My name is Bash Gettum! And I'm from Viridian City!"
Her heart stopped. This kid, was so young, and her heart ached slightly. He reminded her so much of Ash, and his name! She could have sworn he was going to say, "And I'm from Pallet Town!" Josh headed towards the middle of the pool, and waved two flags in the air.
"This battle is between Misty of Cerulean City Gym…"
He paused and looked at her. She on the other hand looked away. Josh sighed.
"And Bash from Viridian City. The rules are: two pokemon allowed. You may now begin!"
Misty smiled brightly.
"Come on out Staryu!"
The starfish pokemon twirled up from the pool of water, and landed with a bow onto its platform. The kid just smirked.
"You just watch Misty! I'm going to win! Come on Charmander!"
Her eyes widened. This was just getting really weird. A kid, whose name was just like his, and now his pokemon was like Ash's pokemon too? She relaxed; lots of little kids could have a Charmander.
"Sorry Bash, but you're not going to win."
"Am too! Charmander, flamethrower!"
"Staryu, water gun."
Misty's pokemon evaded the flames, and jumped up into the air. A stream of water shot out at Charmander and he stumbled backwards, finally falling onto its side. Josh waved up a red flag.
"Charmander is unable to battle. Misty wins the round."
"Charmander, return."
Misty could tell the kid was disappointed, but there was so much hope in his eyes, just like Ash.
"Okay, now for my secret weapon! Pikachu come on out!"
Misty practically fell over. Right in front of her was a small yellow mouse that reminded her so much of another mouse she loved. Her heart ached, and her thoughts swirled in her head.
"Pikachu, thunderbolt Staryu!"
The mouse pokemon nodded its head, and it zapped the starfish with a bolt of electricity. Misty couldn't even react in time because she was so caught up with her thoughts. Finally she came back to the sound of Josh's voice.
"Staryu is unable to battle. The round goes to Bash."
He shot his hand up in victory, and Misty smiled weakly. From the side of the gym, she saw Josh looking at her with worry. She didn't lose this easily. Misty stood up and regained her composure. This was just a little kid, and she was going to beat him.
"Okay, if that's how you want to play it. Starmie!"
The radiant pokemon swam out from under the depths of the pool.
"Pikachu, give it another thunderbolt!"
This time, Starmie evaded the attack, and Misty smirked.
"Starmie, dive!"
The starfish dived down into the pool again, and Bash seemed to panic. Pikachu just looked around with confusion. Finally an idea hit him.
"Pikachu! Shock the water!"
Too late. The water started to swirl downward in a whirlpool. Pikachu's platform went with it, and minutes later, Pikachu floated up to the top with circles in its eyes. Josh shot up the red flag again.
"Pikachu is unable to battle. Misty is the winner."
"Pikachu!"
Bash ran to his pokemon, and collected him in his arms.
"You did a great job."
Misty walked over to the little kid and shook his hand.
"Yes you did. I'm impressed with your talent. Next time, I hope we can have a rematch."
The young kid nodded with a huge smile on his face, and then he ran out of the gym. Misty sighed. How was it that her heart was so sad? Suddenly she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders. She jerked him away, and began to walk towards the entrance again.
"Misty! Wait!"
Her pace quickened. She didn't want to be near him. He had really hurt her feelings, because she meant it when she said it wasn't funny. Her sisters were always treating her like a baby sister who didn't know anything, even though she knew far more than they ever would. She was about to head out the doors of the gym, when he caught up to her. His arms wrapped themselves around her waist, and even though she pushed, and tried to pull away, his grip was too strong. Finally, she gave up. Josh leaned into her shoulder.
"Misty… I'm sorry…"
She turned around slowly, and looked at him. What she saw had shocked her; it was Ash. No, it wasn't, because his face faded away. Misty shivered, and Josh pulled her close into him. That hadn't happened since the first day she met him. Why was it happening again now? She pulled away slowly, and looked into his eyes. The thought had just struck her. Misty had never asked anything about his background. She didn't even know his last name… well he didn't know hers, but still.
"Josh? Do you know why I got angry with you?"
"No…"
"My sisters have always put me down, ever since I can remember. When I told you about how she waited to the last minute, I was angry with that, and you laughed, and said it was funny."
Josh looked away with shame on his face.
"I'm sorry Misty… I didn't know."
She took his face into her hands, and pulled him in for a soft kiss.
"It's okay. Now you know."
..:-:..
"Oh Misty! Josh! Thank you like, so much!"
Lily hugged her sister, as she examined the two little outfits for the baby. One was a little pink dress, and the other was a light pastel green. When Lily looked away, Misty looked at Josh and rolled her eyes. They stifled their laughs. Time passed by, and soon, the shower was over.
"Thank you so much for like coming! See you soon Misty!"
"Bye Lily! Good luck with everything!"
They waved their good-byes and began to walk home. It was around nine o'clock, and the moon was high in the sky looking down on them. Misty and Josh walked hand in hand down the path by the docks. Soon, they were coming to a stop near Misty's favorite lake. The only thing she enjoyed about visiting Lily was that the mountains were close by, and the lake was always beautiful at night.
"Misty, let's go this way."
She looked at him closely.
"What do you have for me now?"
He kissed her gently.
"It's a surprise."
..:-:..
He walked with a quickened pace, even though he was beyond tired. His little companion was at his side, and even he was a few strides in front of him. The man smiled as he saw the sign. 'Welcome to Cerulean City- The Water Front.' The city seemed quiet, most likely because it was such a late hour and everyone would be asleep. Maybe he could go get a room at the Pokemon Center. No, he knew where he could get a room, free of charge, and much more comfortable than a bunk bed.
Finally, he made it to the circular building and smiled. Sadly, his smile vanished when he came up to the locked doors.
'Out.'
He knew of only one other place that she would have gone at this time of night, so he began his long agonized walk there.
..:-:..
"Misty, did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?"
She giggled.
"Only about a million times."
"Well, today you are exceptionally beautiful, even more beautiful than the shimmering lake."
"Josh…"
He shushed her, and looked into her eyes deeply.
"You know, that day when I walked into the gym, I didn't know what I was doing."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, I just saw you, and I knew that I had to do something."
"So you asked for a gym battle?"
"Of course. It turned out I was right. You were beautiful and amazingly talented."
She blushed even now, when she had been with him for over two months.
"I love you Misty."
He pulled her into him, and she kissed him with so much love that she had never felt before. She pulled away and smiled weakly.
"I love you too."
The moonlight bounced off of his face, and it made it glow so stunningly. Her heart started to beat madly. He loved her, he actually had said it right then, in the most beautiful setting possible. They kissed again, and this time it brimmed with happiness, and a true feeling radiated from Misty. Josh picked her up, and spun her around as she laughed freely. He put her down, and he took her hand in his. Suddenly, she saw a figure in the distance. It was coming closer at a fast pace, and when he finally was in the moonlight, her mouth dropped open. Misty took a step back, and her hand fell out of his.
"Ash!"
He greeted her with a wide smile. She ran up to him, and her arms found themselves around his neck. Pikachu jumped up onto her shoulder, and she laughed. Josh turned around slowly. His face expressed sadness, and a deep feeling of sudden hatred.
A/N: Yes, this chapter was short, shorter than the last one too… but look who it is! Ash Ketchum, finally in this fic! Lol Reviews?