Hey! Second chapter up! As far as chapter titles go, congratulations and thank you very much to Sparklewolf and J.C. the Wabbit, who got Chapter One's title right. The line "… from now until the end of time…" comes from the song Together Forever from the Pokémon: 2 B A Master CD. Thanks again! Also, thank you to everyone who reviewed my first chapter and a second thank you to everyone who put this story on their favorite's list. Please, even if you reviewed before, review again! I REALLY appreciate it and value it.
CHAPTER 2: …Oh, Catch Me If You Can…
"La la, la la, la!" Ash sang out merrily, yet not so pleasantly, as he skipped down the dirt road called Route 119.
"Ash, will you be quiet with that already?! You're giving me a headache again."
"Misty," Ash stopped and turned around to face her, as he waited for her, and the rest of the group, to catch up with him. He continued innocently, "Why must you always dampen everyone's spirits so?"
"Big words coming from Ash," Brock muttered as everyone came to a stop, chuckled slightly, and readjusted his backpack on his back.
"Probably got it from him," May sneered playfully, and motioned at her scholarly younger brother. Max simply stuck his tongue out at her and returned his attention back to the book he was reading as he walked. He had bought the book, entitled The Acumen And Aptitude Of Shadows: A Study On Dark Type Pokémon, at Lavaridge's Poké Mart. He had hardly taken his nose out of it all day, and had almost ran into trees four times… just that afternoon. He turned a page, and May rolled her eyes.
"For your information," Misty butted in sassily (Ash could sense an argument coming on), "I do NOT dampen everyone's spirits. Your singing it atrocious, that's all."
"…Like a Gyarados?" Max raised his head up again, and inquired to his water tutor. Misty grinned. Gyarados, the Atrocious Pokémon, as it's labeled in the Pokédex.
"Like a Gyarados," Misty affirmed, and turned back to Ash to wait for his rebuttal. Everyone continued walking.
Ash considered his next move for a moment, before going with the 'right back at ya' option. "But you like Gyarados, don't ya, Misty?"
"I wouldn't like to hear one sing if it sounds like you." Ouch. Man, that hurt. She didn't even stop to think! Boy, she's good. Well, she HAS gotten a lot of practice, but so have I, so why am I not good?
"Oh, really?" was all Ash could come up with at the moment, though it was beyond lame.
"Really."
"Well, I know I sound a lot better than a Gyarados." Good, I set it up so we can start with the-
"Do not!"
"Do, too!"
"Do not!"
"Do, too!"
"Do not!"
"Do, too!"
There was a thudding sound, and they paused from their verbal skirmish, not even warmed up yet. Ash, Misty, and Brock turned to see that May was sitting on the ground, slumped over, her feet sticking out to each side. She gave a heavy sigh.
"What now?" Misty asked, slightly annoyed. She didn't like being interrupted in the middle of a battle, whether it be using Pokémon or with Ash, and especially not by "that wimpy little" May.
Before May could reply, Max, with his nose still in the book, kept walking and suddenly tripped over one of his sister's outstretched legs. He fell forward, his book thrown out of his hands, onto the road. His glasses were knocked askew and they went skittering down the road, a few feet away from his reach. He lay there, immobile for a moment, before his caramel eyes sightlessly searched for his glasses. Max was practically blind without them. Ash, Misty, and Brock sighed at the sight of the two pathetic-looking siblings sprawled on the road. May looked blankly at Max, but made no move to help.
At that moment, Pikachu, Togepi, and Max's Poochyena approached the scene. They had been walking together a few yards behind the humans, chattering quietly in Poké-speech. When Poochyena saw his master's predicament, it gave a short bark. Pikachu barely had time to whisk Togepi from her seat on Poochyena's back before the wolf pup dashed off to Max's aid. He accidental trampled his trainer in his hast to retrieve the glasses. Poochyena picked them up in his mouth and trotted happily back to Max, who was just sitting up. After a few seconds of blindly searching with his hands, Max felt his glasses being pushed into them and he glad accepted, putting the glasses back on. Everyone stared at him, and he gazed back at them, embarrassed, through Poochyena drool. He sweatdropped.
"Yuck," Max took them back off again to wipe them on his shorts. Poochyena sat loyally beside him, smiling happily. Pikachu and Togepi finally arrived at the rest stop. Pikachu leaped back up onto Ash's left shoulder and Misty gathered Togepi into her arms. The three standing humans waited for Max and May to get up. Max repositioned his cleaned glasses, picked his book back up off the road, and got to his feet. May stayed where she had collapsed and sighed again.
"What's wrong, May?" Ash asked.
"… I'm tired." With a groan, everyone fell down.
After they picked themselves back up, Misty inquired crossly, "We just took a break a while ago, so how on earth could you be tired?"
"… I don't know, just am."
"Maybe it's because you didn't eat enough at lunch, since you were so busy choreographing your contest routine with Torchic and Beautifly," Max supplied.
Everyone heard a rumbling sound. Ash sweatdropped. "Well," he giggled nervously, "since you mentioned food… ya know…" Misty snorted.
"Why don't we stop for today and camp here?" suggested Brock.
"Yes! Please!" May cried out.
Max stuck his nose back in his book and began reading again, so everyone took that as a 'yes'.
After careful consideration, "Let's at least have some dinner now," Ash replied.
"Misty?"
She looked away and shrugged indifferently. "Whatever." Why, oh why, do we always end up doing what that skinny little… kid wants to do?
"Yes!" May shouted, and leapt up immediately to help look for a place off the side of the route to camp for the night. Brock, Max, and Ash followed. Misty scowled, but no one saw her. Look, we could have kept going. She's not tired at all! What is her deal, whining about everything like that? What the heck is that… that… scheming… twerp (she grinned at her use of the infamous label) uh… scheming about?
Misty could feel a wanton emotion rising in her. She knew exactly what it was, for she was really no stranger to it. Jealousy. She couldn't help it; there was something in her that always made her feel so jealous about just the slightest move, or exchange of words. Why was she jealous? She knew exactly why. Because May traveled alone with Ash for at least a week before Max or Brock joined up, and I'll never know what went on then. She could have done… anything! She was the only girl in the whole group for months before I came back, and I'll bet anything that she made them do all she asked and took full advantage of Ash's sweet consideration for people. Ho-oh only knows what went on while I was gone, being the stupid gym babysitter for my stupid sisters. Misty was disturbed by May's jovialness, which was displayed by her prancing movements.
"This looks like a good place. How about it, guys?" Brock asked, as they came upon a small clearing surrounded by rather dense foliage. It looked safe and rather comfortable. Ash nodded, so Brock swung his backpack off and started to reach for some cooking supplies. He heard Ash, Max, and May set their own packs down and start going through them. Looking up, Brock saw Misty sit down, clutching Togepi tightly, and glare at May very sullenly. What's up with her? Why are she and May so… against each other? Suddenly, Brock thought he understood. Hmmm… could it be?
Misty looked up from glowering fiercely at May, whose back was halfway turned to her, and noticed Brock staring at her. He raised an eyebrow in question, but Misty, embarrassed at getting caught sending a member of their own group dirty looks, turned away quickly, set Togepi down, and began going through her own bag. She noticed Brock look over at Ash suspiciously. Suddenly, she remembered that she had never finished her argument with Ash. Drat.
Shoot. We didn't finish fighting. Ash looked up from his backpack at Misty. She was clearly engrossed in finding something. She forgot, too. Oh well, I guess. He looked closer at her face. She seemed a little bit upset, which made Ash begin to worry. Most of her face looked completely normal, except her eyes. Her foamy green-and-blue eyes were filled with a bit of anger and sadness that only someone like Ash could really see and interpret. Ash discovered (by himself) a long time ago, that someone's eyes, be it a Pokémon or a person, held their true emotion. Anyone could change their facial expression to not match their real feelings, but it was a whole lot harder to mask the emotion in the eyes. Ash depended on this logic to help him in many situations, as he was easily confused by facial expressions, though that was no fault of his own. He used the theory with Pikachu a lot, which helped Ash understand exactly what Pikachu was saying. He had completely memorized almost all of the emotions that Misty's aquatic eyes had ever held and could read them like a book. Ash saw now that Misty wasn't a little upset; she was a lot upset, but Ash didn't know what to do about it, though it made him feel really bad inside. He didn't know what was wrong, so he couldn't do anything about it. Maybe I should ask her what's wrong. Nah, that'd sound weird. Ash caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of Brock scrutinizing him, and it made Ash slightly nervous. What? What'd I do?
What did I do? What have I EVER done to make that girl so mad at me? May gave a short, sad, sideways glance at Misty. May had seen Misty glaring at her a few minutes earlier. Nothing. That's it. I've never done ANYTHING to her to make her mad at me! I was glad to meet her, but the first time she saw me, she had this weird… distrustful look on her face. What was I supposed to do? Actually, if anyone should be annoyed, it's me. She's the one sending me all these nasty looks for no reason. …Okay, so I sent a few nasty looks at her, too, but I only did it because she sent them at me first. Why can't we be friends? Didn't it ever bother her to be the only girl in a group of boys? It sure bothered ME. …And why on earth does she like Max more than me?!
May sighed. Getting up and unrolling her sleeping bag like the others, May collapsed on her makeshift bed. She put her hands behind her head and rested them on her pillow. She closed her eyes, intending to take a small nap before dinner, but found that she wasn't sleepy. Not moving, she opened one eye a little bit and watched Misty unroll her own sleeping bag next to Ash's. She had just recently noticed that Misty had taken over May's own old sleeping bag spot, to the right of Ash. Now the order of their sleeping bags, from left to right, was Max's, May's, Misty's, Ash's, and Brock's. May found that slightly interesting, but a small bit irritating. That Misty's sure been hanging around Ash an awful lot. Ash has been hanging around her a lot, too. Like, geesh, I still want to be Misty's friend, but am I not his friend anymore, too? Gosh, they must have been really close when it was just them and Brock traveling together, even though they do seem to fight a lot. Kinda like me and – May's blue eyes suddenly blurred as blissful memory came rushing back to her. She forgot that she was still staring at Misty and Ash as her mind focused on a single image of a special significant person … his steel gray eyes… his fluffy white hair hanging over that headband I got him the first Christmas we knew each other… oh, where are you now, my friend… my love…I never got to tell you I love you…
"Dinner's ready, everyone. Come and get it," Brock called out. Misty's hands had been searching through her backpack, supposedly looking for something. However, she had really been trying to escape glances from the other trainers. First, Brock had shot her a suspicious look, then Ash (of all people) sent her a confused and almost concerned look, then May had glanced at her sadly. Misty had just about had enough with all of the fleeting looks everyone was sending all around the campsite, without every saying a word. The glimpses all sent messages, but the messages were confusing because no one was exactly sure what the other glimpses meant, or if they meant anything at all. For instance, Misty wondered, what the heck did that look from Ash mean? I don't think he even knew I saw him look at me, but why did he look at me the way he did? He looked so… worried and upset or something. Oh, shoot. Now I have another thing to worry about: trying to figure out what ASH is worried about. Okay, now I'm worried about one… two… three… three things. She sighed, and quickly took another look at May. May was laying still on her sleeping bag, her face extremely dreamy, looking past Misty. Misty felt a small rush of wind streak past her back, which she concluded, without turning around, was Ash responding to the 'come and get it' eagerly. Suddenly, Misty stiffened. Was May looking at ASH in that wistful way? Oh, no. Heck no. That's what I was… afraid of… heck, what do I do now? What if she… tells him…that she…? Oh no, oh no, oh no.
Everyone eventually was seated on the three logs, that served as benches, around the campfire. Brock handed out bowls of soup that he had made for their dinner, and they all thanked him. Max, who was still lost in his textbook, Pikachu, Togepi, and Poochyena were sitting on one log, Ash and Misty on another, and May on the remaining one. Brock sat down next to May to eat. He tried to be cheerful, but everyone seemed really preoccupied. Dinner was almost always a noisy affair, what with May busily chatting about various things to no one in particular, Max interjecting into her monologues to supposedly correct her, Misty loudly chiding Ash for eating too quick or too messily, and Ash retorting Misty's degrading comments with his mouth full. Dinner this time, however, looked like it was going to be very silent, and probably uncomfortable. Ever since they had stopped, Brock observed that everyone had been very restrained, even himself. He figured that they all were engrossed in thought, as he was, so he made no move to start a conversation and just let things be as they were. Everyone WAS, in fact, engaged in contemplation.
…Oh, great. Now she looks even more upset. Maybe I SHOULD ask her what's going on; she'd probably ask me if I looked upset. Well, maybe I shouldn't. Mist looks like she's trying to hide it, so she'd probably get mad at me if I mentioned it, especially with the others around. I wonder if she knows that she's not very good at hiding her feelings? The only expression of hers that I don't get is that one that- Hey! May has that expression right now! What IS it? It's like… compassionate, or something… geesh, where AM I getting these big words from? Gee, thanks a lot, Max… I know! Maybe after dinner I can catch Misty alone so I can ask her what's wrong! That's perfect! Ketchum, you're a genius… oh great, now I sound like Gary…
…Why, oh why, me? Why is it always ME that has issues? Well, at least I don't have flirting issues like Brock does. In fact, I'm FAR from that…it's a good thing that I'm very good at hiding my feelings …I bet that May flirted a lot, when I wasn't here… okay, the one time I leave, and some girl had to come in and take me place! Heck, did I even HAVE a place in the FIRST place? Ho-oh only knows. Well, at least Ash isn't shunning me or anything…yet. In fact, we seem to be spending more time together than we used to…he seemed so very happy to see me when I first came back… Does May… really… love Ash… too? You know, I think I would die if she told him… before I could… and…he…loved…her…back… Yes… I would die… physically AND mentally… I know I would. I… I love you so much, Ash…Please, love me… and not her…heck… you're still too dense to even think of anything but Pokémon… probably what you're thinking of right now…
…It's a truly pitiful thing, Brocko, my man, to sit here and worry about everyone else's relationships because you don't have one yourself. Well, they are all my friends, so I should help them out a bit. First, though, I have to figure them out myself. Okay… we all know…well, I do at least…she didn't tell me but it is easy to guess…that Misty is in love with Ash. Bit of an interesting choice for her to make, if I do say so, but everyone is entitled to their own decisions, I suppose. Okay, Misty loves Ash… a lot…a whole lot. Ash doesn't understand this kind of stuff, because he's not mature enough yet, but he's been with her a lot more lately, so maybe he's kinda getting a thing for her. Okay, that's good. As their self-proclaimed elder brother, I do now formally give them my blessing. Anyway…second of all, May is in complete love with… some guy named… uh…Brendan. Brendan Birch, that's it, Professor Birch's nephew and May's old best friend. And I know this because May told me. Okay, May's in love with Brendan. Got it. Thirdly… okay, complete guess coming here… Misty doesn't seem to like May, so the obvious reason is that she must think of May as competition for Ash. That's got to be it. Too bad Misty never actually TOLD me she loves Ash, or I could reassure her about May and Brendan. No communication, that's the problem with everyone these days. Look at that, everyone else is in love, but you have no one… oh, Jenny, Joy, why do you break my heart so!? Why…
…WAIT A SEC! Sharpedo can learn Ice Beam!? How can they learn Ice Beam? Ice Beam is a… well, it's an Ice-type attack, but Sharpedo is a Dark- and Water- type Pokémon! Wow! That's awesome! I wonder if May's Pokédex has that data in it? Does Misty know that, since Sharpedo is a Water-type, too? Hmmm… WHAT!? Sableye can learn Shock Wave, Water Pulse, Sunny Day, and Aerial Ace? A Dark- and Ghost- type can learn Electric-, Water-, Fire-, and Flying- type attacks? That's awesome too! I'd definitely want a Sableye for my gym. It would be really strong against all kinds of Pokémon… WHAT! Nuzleaf can learn Rock Tomb!? But…
…And then there was that time when we were out in the woods, and that Pinsir jumped out of the bush right in front of us. I was terrified out of my mind completely, but you were so calm and collected. You thought of the idea, giving it our picnic lunch to distract it, so quickly! It was almost funny…because it worked. Ha! After that, Mom and Dad wouldn't let us go into Petalburg woods unless we took Dad's Vigoroth with us. Brendan, you silly thing, you absolutely LOVED Dad's Vigoroth! You know what, my best friend? I loved you, and I'm still in love with you now. I don't love anyone else, even though I'm traveling with this pack of unruly boys…and Misty, but she kinda acts like a boy. Gosh, you're probably still too…what's the word that Misty uses for Ash all the time? DENSE! … You're still too dense to even think of anything but Pokémon… probably what you're thinking of right now…
As Max finished reading the chapter he was on, he glanced over the top of his book at his friends. Ash was just sitting there with a concerned look on his face, his dinner finished a long time ago, noticeably looking at Misty. Misty was slowly eating her soup, looking sadly into the campfire, totally oblivious to Ash's watching. May, who was sitting with her elbows on her knees and her hands propping up her chin, had a dreamy, happy, far-away look and had forgotten about her bowl, which was still half-full. Brock was staring alternately between Ash, Misty, and May with a bemused look on his face and his bowl was almost empty. Max sighed slightly and set his three-quarters-empty bowl of soup to his right, so that Poochyena could finish it off. Poochyena happily accepted. Max pulled a piece of grass from the ground and used it as a bookmark to mark his place. Three hundred and seventy nine pages in one day was no record for Max; he hadn't been able to read very fast while walking. For the first time in hours, Max set the book aside and became aware of what was going on around him. He suddenly felt restless, as he always did after a long period of studying.
"Um, hey guys?" Max tentatively spoke up. It was the first time that anyone had said anything during the whole meal, which caused a lot of reactions. Ash visibly jumped in fright and turned quickly to face Max, praying that no one had seen him basically gaping in worry at Misty the whole time. Misty slowly looked up from the campfire, failing to catch Ash turning away from watching her. Brock gave his attention to Max, but only after watching Ash's surprised movements. May continued to stare off into space, and remained unconscious of any action until Max had shouted her name a few times. When he finally had their concentration, he became nervous at their stares, but continued. "Um, I was just wondering, because you all are finished, if maybe we could, you know, well… I know we usually get ready to go to bed after dinner, but we ate so early, so…" Ash, Misty, and Brock all looked confused, but May grinned roguishly at him.
"Oh, that's it, is it? I should have guessed, since all you've done is read all day and go smashing into ten trees this afternoon."
"Four," Max muttered, "Four trees."
"Huh?" Ash and Misty said at the same time.
"Max has some kind of… Book Anxiety Disorder," May explained.
"I do not! There's no such thing as Book Anx-"
"Whenever he reads for a long time," she cut him off, "he always gets all fidgety and everything afterwards, from lack of being social." May spoke to Max slyly, "I know what you want to do. You want to play one of those little kid games like we used to, don't you?"
Max blushed severely. "Well," he retorted slowly, "I AM only eight." May rolled her eyes.
"I like games," Ash remarked to no one in particular.
"What kind of game did you have in mind, Max?" Brock questioned courteously.
Max gave Brock an appreciative smile. "I was hoping maybe we could play Brace Hide-And-Seek."
"I know Hide-And-Seek," Misty said, "but I've never heard of Brace Hide-And-Seek."
"That's because he made the term up," May grinned, "It just means that you play Hide-And-Seek, but everyone has a partner. Max just likes the partner thing because he gets scared if he hides alone. We always use to call it Couple Hide-And-Seek when we played it with all of the kids in our neighborhood… what on Earth is a 'brace' anyway?"
"It means 'a pair', and I am not scared to hide by myself. It's just more fun that way."
"I used to play a version of that back home," Misty commented sarcastically, yet bitterly, "Daisy, Lily, and Violet would hide together and let me look for them. After we clearly specified that you could only hide outside, they would go back to the gym and swim while I was out hunting frantically for them for hours."
"Gee, that's sad," Ash commented sympathetically. Misty gave him a quick smile. Oh, good, she doesn't look so upset anymore. Maybe playing Hide-And-Seek would cheer her up… it's not really a little kid game, is it? "You know, Max, this Brace Hide-And-Seek sounds like fun. Maybe we should play. I always used to love Tag and stuff like that, and I haven't played any for a while. I like games," he added again.
Max smiled happily. "Okay, that's two people!" He was getting very enthusiastic.
"If it's better than my sister's version, I'll play," Misty commented. I'll do anything to stop thinking about all of these issues… Oh! In this game we have partners, so maybe I can be partners with Ash! Wait…what if he ends up being partners with May? Drat!
"I want to play, too, because I AM the master of hiding places!" Brock declared, "My brothers and sisters could never find me when I played with them."
"Just call him Kecleon," Ash joked.
"The red zig-zag stripe gives him away," Misty smirked. The whole group laughed, even Brock, but Ash saw Misty's smile looked rather strained. Oh, man, what IS the matter!? I need to know!
"Okay, that's four!" Max was practically jumping up and down in his seat. He gazed at his sister with Eevee-eyes, "May, please, please, please, please, please! Please play! You know you have fun!"
May rolled her eyes, but her playful grin gave her away. She didn't answer for a moment, though, to drag out Max's suspense. "Well…" she drawled, "Even though it's more for little kids… I guess anything to stop you from hurting your brain from reading too many words."
"YES!" Max shouted, shoving a fist into the air and leaping up. He paused, then sweatdropped. "Sorry."
"Okay, then let's get ready to play," Brock said while collecting their food bowls, which had various stages of emptiness, "So how does it work, and what are the rules? I'm guessing that this is not just regular Hide-And-Seek, besides the 'playing with partners', is it?"
"Couple Hide-And-Seek is-"
"Brace."
"…Whatever. BRACE Hide-And-Seek is really pretty simple. Everyone has a partner. The rule is, if you are hiding, you and your partner have to hide in the same place, so it can be a bit tricky. If you split up with your partner, you're disqualified. If you and your partner are searching for the other groups, the two of you can't split up either; you have to search together. The first pair to be found are the searchers in the next round. When you and your partner are found, you have to follow the seeking pair around until every group is found or has turned themselves in. Let's see," May began to tick off items on her fingers, "Two or more groups can't hide together… you can't help the searchers spot the other groups if you've already been found… to turn yourself in, you have to return to the base where the searchers' started… oh, yeah, you have to be touching your partner the whole time…"
"That's all," Max spoke up. After a moment of thinking, May affirmed this with a nod.
Everyone was quiet for a moment, letting the rules sink in. " 'Not as hard as it sounds," May confirmed.
"Okay," Brock said, setting the bowls aside to wash later, "Then let's get into our groups so we can start. If we go ahead and play, we can play a few rounds before it gets too dark to see."
"Alright, alright," Max immediately took command, standing erect on his log bench. "Stand up, stand up." The four sitting humans stood up obediently. "Now, since I initiated this game, I get to choose my partner first." Max gazed around at them, his arms crossed, inwardly weighing the pros and cons of choosing each person according to the rules of Brace Hide-And-Seek. Ash felt rather nervous for some reason, but he couldn't think of a reason why he should be. Finally, Max said, "I choose… Poochyena."
"HUH?" Ash, Misty, Brock, and May all cried at the same time, as Poochyena leapt happily into Max's arms and licked his face.
"The Pokémon get to play!?" May asked incredulously.
"Duh!" Max muttered, shaking his head. The others groaned and fell down. They slowly stood back up. "Okay, let's see… Pikachu, you can pick your partner next."
"Pipipi." Pikachu hugged Togepi tight to himself. Togepi chirped.
"What about me, Pikachu?" Ash asked playfully.
"Pika Pi?" Pikachu's ears sagged.
"I'm just kidding. It's okay," Ash said sincerely. Pikachu perked back up.
"Okay, now you all split up," Max turned to his friends and sister. The four looked at each other.
Hmmm… I know! I'll get Ash and Misty to be partners, so maybe Misty will understand that May doesn't love Ash, and maybe Ash will find out that he kinda loves Misty. Hee, hee! Brock: Matchmaker Extraordinaire… except for yourself… "Hey, May, you can be my partner."
May beamed, happy not to be the last person picked. "Sure Brock."
Ash glanced at Misty. Yes! Me and Mist are partners, but I can't believe Brock didn't pick her or me! I wonder what's going on. "I guess we're partners, then, Misty." She nodded, for she was thinking too hard to speak. Why did Brock do that? I was sure he was going to pick me or Ash, because it's the most sensible thing to do… wait… is Brock trying to get me and Ash together or something? Don't know why he would, but… what if he is? Well, I'm definitely not going to complain. Actually, thanks a lot, Brock. I owe you one… maybe I'll let you hit on Nurse Joy or something next time, to pay you back for this… maybe…
"Okay," Max superiorly instructed, "We've got our partners, so now we have to decide who goes-"
"MAX! You're skipping the best part!" May whined.
"…What did I skip?"
"The handcuffing!" May replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"What handcuffing?" Misty stammered nervously.
"May, that's not a rule, so you don't have to do it if you don't want to."
"But it's so much fun, Max!"
"What handcuffing?" Ash repeated for Misty.
Max sighed impatiently. "Handcuffing is just a rule that May made up. It's where you get a piece of cloth or something and tie your wrist to your partner's. It ensures that each pair never separates, and that you were touching each other the whole time."
"See, it IS necessary!"
"No it's not!"
"Well, I'm going to look for something to handcuff everyone with anyway, whether you like it or not!" With that, May dashed over to her side pouch and started rummaging through it. "Come on, everyone! Look for something!"
Ash, Misty, Brock, and Max moaned slightly, but did as May had bid, hoping to make the process of handcuffing go a bit faster, for even though no one said it aloud, they were all excited about the game. Ash pushed aside all of the items in the top of his backpack, for he knew that there was nothing there that could tie wrists together. His hand blindly ventured deeper into his pack, searching for some kind of cloth. Ash wasn't sure if he knew what all was in his bag anyway, because he knew that he hadn't looked that far into it since he left Pallet Town to go to Hoenn. His mom could have literally packed anything in it! When his hand was almost to the bottom, Ash felt something soft and fabric-like brush the back of his fingers. He twisted his hand around and latched onto the item. He pulled it out and when he saw what it was, Ash gasped in delight, causing everyone to turn and see what was going on.
"Ash!" Misty cried, "It's your old vest!" And so it was. Slightly wrinkled, it was still the blue, yellow trimmed, white collared vest that Ash had worn the day he left home. Ash held it up and shook it to get the creases out.
"Cool!" Brock commented, "I thought you left it back at your house, Ash."
"I did, but I guess my mom packed it when I wasn't looking." Ash's mom had gotten him a new traveling outfit, something he had never had through his journeys through three regions, before he left for Hoenn. He had agreed to wear it, seeing as the Hoenn journey was to be a completely brand new start, because he left all of his Pokémon (except Pikachu) and Misty and Brock behind. The whole idea of a "brand new start" had vanished, because again he had Misty, Brock, and two of his Johto Pokémon with him, and now he had his old vest. Immediately, Ash unsnapped his belt (which contained his Pokéballs), wiggled out of his new vest, which had no opening in the front, and slipped his old one on. It automatically clung to him just right.
Before anyone could say anything, Ash paused, then whipped around to his backpack. He plunged his hand back into it, right to the bottom, and frantically felt around. His fingers skimmed over top of something cloth-like, but not as soft as his vest. His face lit up and he jerked the object out hopefully. "Yes!" Ash cried out, holding the item up. Misty and Brock smiled, knowing all of the sentimental value the item held for Ash. It was his old Pokémon League hat, red and white, with the red brim and league symbol on the front. Ash loved that hat. He quickly whipped his new cap off of his head, throwing it on top of the new crumpled vest, and placed his favorite hat on top of his head. It, like the vest, instantly became almost an extension of his body.
"Now that's the Ash Ketchum I know," Misty commented, and couldn't help but giggle as Ash jerked his hat backwards into his "Battle Mode".
"Ash wore that outfit the whole time he ever traveled, before he came to this region," Brock commentated to May and Max, who were very confused. They nodded, now understanding.
Ash turned his hat back the right way. "I think I'll wear this outfit again, seeing as it always used to bring me good luck, like in the Orange League. Maybe it will help me win this Hide-And-Seek game!"
"Well, did anyone find anything to use?" May interrupted impatiently. "I didn't." With the attention away from him for a moment, Ash slipped his Pokédex into the vest he was now wearing, and secretly took an item from inside his new hat and tucked it into his Pokémon League hat.
"Nothing here," Misty replied. Like I would let you use anything of mine anyway, menacing… twerp.
"Nope," reported Max.
"Nothing here either," Ash added. He saw that Misty's eyes, which had gleamed contentedly when Ash was fawning over his hat, were again filled with distress. This is getting worse, and I don't like it. There's no reason for her to be so upset, is there? Did I do something wrong? That's it! First chance I get, I'm asking her what's been bothering her! She's worrying me, for Ho-oh sakes… and I usually don't get worried so easy, unless it's about my Pokémon or something important to me!
Brock gave one more glance at the contents of his backpack. "I couldn't find anything either. We don't even have any bandages or Escape Ropes or anything. Remind me to restock when we get to Fortree," instructed Brock to the youngest member of the group. Max nodded.
"Aw, man!" cried May unhappily, "How are we going to play without handcuffs? Someone will cheat!"
"May, you forget," Brock countered gently, "who you're playing with. It's us, remember?"
May flushed a deep crimson color. "Sorry. I- I wasn't thinking."
"LET'S PLAY ALREADY!" Max wailed out in annoyance. Poochyena whimpered and wiggled a bit in Max's arms as the boy hugged the pup tighter.
"Alright, let's start; no more distractions. And Max, you're going to strangle your Pokémon that way," May chided. Max relaxed his hold and Poochyena quit squirming. "Now, who's going to be the first pair to be the searchers?"
"NOT IT!" Max screamed out, accompanied by a howl from Poochyena.
"NOT IT!" Ash yelled out automatically, and heard Misty call out the same thing at the same time.
"CHU PIKA!" Pikachu yowled loudly for both himself and his partner, who was personally busy pulling pieces of grass out of the ground one by one.
"Well, I guess that means that we're the searchers, huh?" Brock said to May and chuckled. May resigned to her fate with a sigh.
"Brock, you and May have to count to a hundred," Max retook control, "We three groups will all hide and we'll only hide in about a two hundred foot radius from this camp. You HAVE to count ALL the way to a hundred, MAY! Got it? And don't stick your tongue out at me like that, or I'll do it right back, sister!"
"Fine!" May shot back.
"What's a 'radius'?" Ash questioned, but they all disregarded him.
"Now everyone, hold hands or something, 'cause you have to be touching the whole time," commanded May. She reached over and assertively grasped Brock around the wrist. Brock winced. May was known to have an intense grip and Max would sometimes call her a Kingler behind her back. Max embraced Poochyena closer, but not as rough as the last time. Pikachu reached over and took Togepi paw in paw, and Togepi looked approvingly at the electric mouse, not fully understanding what was going on.
Ash abruptly became nervous and glanced over at Misty. Misty's face was nonchalant, but her eyes glistened frantically. He paused, not knowing what to do. Sometimes, if Ash made contact with Misty, or made a move to do so, she would basically pound his head in with her fist, or if it was available at the moment, her mallet. Sometimes, though, she didn't object to his touch, especially if he was trying to help her or comfort her. I do want to help her. I want to know what's wrong. As his mind considered what to do, the length of the pause in action drew the attention of the other groups. They were now watching to see if either Ash or Misty were going to make a move to touch each other, or if one of them, most probably Misty, were going to object to the rule. Suddenly, however, Misty reached over with her left hand and clutched Ash around his right wrist. His first reaction was to jerk away, as this was usually a threatening gesture coming from her, but he stilled his body before he could shudder. Everyone, including Ash, stared at her for a second. She still obtained her imperturbable and apathetic expression. "Are we going to play or what?" she inquired calmly.
"Let's start!" replied Max. "Turn and face that tree or something to count, you two." Brock and May did as they were instructed. They were both silent for a moment.
"Count out loud!"
"ONE," May yelled, to satisfy Max. "TWO," Brock joined in. "THREE… FOUR…" Max, with a wild look in his eye, took off with Poochyena out of the campsite. Pikachu ushered Togepi out of the clearing and into some undergrowth. Ash was jerked sharply by Misty. She took charge and almost dragged him into the surrounding woods. Her pace was fast, so Ash had a hard time keeping up with her. A moment went by. The light from the campfire slowly disappeared, but still neither Ash nor Misty had glimpsed a suitable place to hide. Ash had a hard time seeing anything, however, as her gait got faster still. Even though he was worried about her, he unexpectedly stopped and yanked his arm backwards in irritation. Misty stumbled backwards a pace or two and gave him a livid look. This was always a warning sign, but he ignored it, pulled his right arm out of her grasp and reached with his left hand to grab her right wrist. She realized what he was about to do, and started to move her arm away when they made contact. Ash missed her wrist by accident, and grabbed her hand instead. Ash didn't bother to exchange her hand for her wrist, because clutching someone's hand was much more humane than their wrist. Misty froze, and it took Ash a second to comprehend that she was nervous about holding his hand.
"What?" he asked.
Slowly, softly, she answered, "Nothing." The reply was so out of character for her that Ash froze, too. She looked away from him. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh…he's holding my hand! Calm down, it doesn't mean anything; he just doesn't want you tearing his arm off like that… he's holding my hand! Hmmm… it feels so… right, too.
When she didn't continue her answer, Ash muttered, "Well, we better keep going then, before Brock and May stop counting." She nodded, and he leisurely started back their pace. The pair now walked side by side, hand in hand, looking for an object suitable for two people to hide behind, in, or under. All they saw were trees, skinny trees without low branches, and bushes, scraggly and halfway bare. "We better find something to hide behind quick, or we're gonna be caught first." She nodded again.
Ash turned his head to watch her for a minute, and somewhat forgot about the game going on. She was apparently still watching for hiding places, but her mind was racing with preoccupied thoughts. Does May really love Ash at all? She didn't even protest a little when Brock chose her as a partner. Does Ash… does he… love… me? He was trying to grab my wrist, and caught my hand, but he just left his hand in mine. DOES that mean anything? Misty, who are you kidding? Ash doesn't think like that, and you know it. Ash, I wish you weren't so dense. Her foamy green-blue eyes once again betrayed her real emotion to the boy strolling next to her, holding her hand. This is the perfect time to ask her! I should have thought of it sooner.
"Mist?" He looked at her.
"…What?" She kept staring straight ahead.
"What's wrong?"
"…What do you mean?"
"Well…" Ash meticulously chose his words, "I've noticed… that all evening… you've been… well… worried about… something. At least you look worried about something." She didn't reply, though her eyes widened a bit. How could he know I was worried about something? How could he tell? "And… I was wondering if maybe…? …You can tell me what's wrong, you know. If you want to. I can listen. Or help. And I can keep secrets, too, if you're worried about that." He shut his mouth tight and looked away. It was Misty's turn to look at her rather nervous companion. When they spoke again, it was in very soft voices, though they didn't realize that they were doing so.
"I… how did you… know that I… was worried?"
"Well… you just looked worried and upset and… that's all."
"Oh… well, thanks for being… concerned?" She wasn't sure of what word to use, because she wasn't sure what Ash was thinking. Has Ash… been worried about ME all evening? Was he thinking about me?
"Yeah. I am concerned." He WAS thinking about me! After rethinking his last sentence, Ash felt that he had, in some way, implied something, but he wasn't positive. He turned his head to face her again. "So can you tell me what's wrong?"
Oh, I wish I could, Ash! But I can't… because I'm worried about YOU, about MAY, about…US. "…No." Misty saw the injured look on his face, and tried recklessly to explain without… explaining. "It's not that I don't trust you, or anything. Really, I would tell you. I just… can't tell you." Oh. Good going, Waterflower. Now you hurt his feelings. Smooth. Real smooth.
"Yes you can! You can tell me anything!" Desperation was easily detected in his voice, but Ash was now too worried about Misty to notice. She was worried about something that she couldn't tell HIM, of all people? Anything, Ash? Yes, I can tell you anything… anything except the fact that I love you and I've always loved you and, most importantly than that right now, that I'm worried that you'll never love me back and that May will tell you that she loves you first and you'll love May instead.
"Yeah, I know," Misty's brain was laboring swiftly to come up with something to assure Ash, "It's… I'm just worried about… uh… it's girl stuff, so you probably wouldn't understand… well, I'm mean, of course you wouldn't, but… uh…. yeah. Girl stuff." Well, it's not exactly a lie. Love IS mostly girl stuff… unless, of course, you're Brock… but he can't tell the difference between a 'crush', if you can even call it that, and real, true love. Oh, man, my brain's messed up! I have WAY too many issues without thinking about Brock's love problems. It's not like he's thinking about my love problems or anything.
"Oh, okay." Ash didn't believe what Misty had just explained to him for a moment, but he let it slide. She had retained an expressionless appearance, but her eyes had darted back and forth anxiously, a sure sign of falsehood. For her to not tell him, to lie to him, Ash knew that it, whatever it was, was bothering Misty more than anything he had ever known her to be bothered about. There were quite a lot of things that bothered Misty, too. Ash vaguely wondered if her dire current problem bothered her more than bugs did.
Ash and Misty walked in silence for a few seconds, still hand and hand. They suddenly came to a clearing in the middle of the woods and walked out into the center of it, where there was a small bare patch of ground. Like a bolt of Pikachu's lightning, Ash recalled the Brace Hide-And-Seek game that they were supposed to be participating in the whole time they were talking.
"Misty! The game! I forgot about the game!"
Misty's eye's widened in shock. "I forgot, too. Drat!"
"Shoot!" Ash twisted his head side to side rapidly, looking for a boulder or a thick tree. He also glanced around for a glimpse of Brock or May. There was no sign of either subject. "We're basically trapped. Brock and May are probably almost done counting now, unless they're already looking for everyone."
"We CAN'T be caught first!"
"I know. Hey, Mist, you know how Max said something about a two hundred foot radius? Uh, what's a 'radius'?"
"Ash, you don't know what a 'radius' is!?"
"No. What is it?"
"You know what it is, don't lie."
"…You don't know either, do you, Mist?"
"Well, it has something to do with circles. At least I know that."
"What do circles have to do with Brace Hide-And-Seek?"
"Who knows?"
"…Max knows."
"Well, he's the only one." Ash sighed dejectedly, for they both had now realized that they had gone too far away from the camp, and absentmindedly squeezed Misty's hand for comfort. Misty felt him do so, and gave their linked hands a quick peek out of the corner of her eye. Ash had simply slipped his hand into hers when he had went to grab her wrist, and that's the way it was now. She looked away from Ash, so as to not arouse suspicion at her next move. Slowly, carefully, she turned her hand and slipped each of her individual fingers between his. Misty squeezed his hand back to comfort him, but the stronger grip didn't loosen afterwards. Ash noticed her movements, but didn't get any strange ideas from it. Instead, he tightened his own grip to match hers, glad that she had not cuffed him for wanting her reassurance. Misty's heart began to beat double time in ecstasy.
"There is absolutely nothing to hide behind anywhere."
"This is ridiculous!" Misty stomped her left foot on the dirt patch they were standing on, and a small wisp of dust spun through the air around her shoe. Unnoticed, a small crack in the ground made its way from the point of impact.
"I wonder if Max and Poochyena, and Pikachu and Togepi, have found somewhere to hide."
"They're all smaller than us, so they should have found a bush or something." Unnoticed, the crack grew and branched out.
"We should have played Tag. It would have been more fun in a place like this."
"We should have taken that book away from Max when he bumped into that second tree." Unnoticed, the crack spread under Ash's feet, too.
"You know that you wanted to play. Games are fun. I like games."
"I like them, too, but this kind of forest is not good for Hide-And-Seek." Unnoticed, the cracks met and the ground started to crumble. Ash felt a strange sensation under his feet, and he glanced down. Noticed, the ground started to sag. Misty glanced down, too. Noticed, the ground suddenly started to give way under their combined weight. Both Ash and Misty's russet-colored and ocean-tinted eyes grew wide. The astonishment of their findings paralyzed their minds, bodies, and conversation. Abruptly, the ground completely disappeared from under them and for a fourth of a split second, they gazed upon a giant, gaping, pitch black hole. Ash and Misty fell, straight down, feet first, into the opening. The Umbreon-black hole seemingly rose up to meet them in a flash. Everything went so fast and so sudden, that the surprise event wasn't able to process in Ash's mind fast enough for him to reach out and grab the edge of the hole. All he could do was cry out in fright and hang onto Misty's hand like a lifeline. She screamed along with him, and reached out her free hand to clutch onto him as her own lifeline. The light from the opening disappeared from above them a second later. The dark was complete as they continued to fall, the downward tunnel being so narrow that the walls would sometimes scrape against their unprotected arms. They fell, and there was no sign of their descent stopping anytime soon.
Ash and Misty's screams resoundingly echoed back up through the hole, but they became faint, fast. Everything was then silent. Dust from the collapsed dirt billowed around the opening for a moment, then settled into the grass. Everything was then motionless. Then, there was only a hole, hidden slightly by thin blades of undergrowth, in the middle of a meadow, in the middle of the forest, in the middle of Route 119, in the middle of Hoenn.
Just a hole in the ground.
"… NINETY-EIGHT… NINETY-NINE… ONE HUNDRED!" Both Brock and May's voices rang out into the trees. May whipped around excitedly, and nearly pulled Brock's wrist out of its socket.
"You know," she whispered secretively and slyly, "that's the first time I've actually counted ALL the way to a hundred, but don't tell Max."
"… 'Kay…" Brock dizzily answered, still recovering from May's wrenching. May immediately bolted off with a wild whoop, dragging Brock, with a bruised wrist, behind her.
"READY OR NOT! HERE WE COME!"
TO BE CONTINUED...
WOW! Cliffhanger, huh? Hee, hee! Don't be mad, just enjoy the suspense. Rather fluffy, too… it gets even better! Well, the more reviews I get, the faster I write! To tell you the truth, I write on this story, while eating a bagel and peanut butter for breakfast, everyday before school. Talk about devotion. ;) Once more, please, even if you reviewed before, review again! I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY appreciate it and value it.
NOTE: Every chapter title is a line from a song, and all of the songs are songs from one of the many Pokémon CD's. If you have identified the song that Chapter 2's (or any chapter's) title is from, review and let me know, and I'll post your name with the correct title on my next chapter. (HINT: This chapter's title is from a Pokémon Movie CD.)