(edited.2020.04.01)
Locked Away, Chapter 22
What was it that Misty's sisters told her? When assaulted by affection: bail?
No, it was probably to sign autographs, but Misty's first instinct was to bail. She cursed Ash's name under her breath, fighting through the streets which were dirt rather than pavement, and found solace in an alley behind the diner she was eating in. She rounded the building and found herself seated amongst some trash cans, visualizing Ash's demise by her own hands. After everything she did for him! Her fingers twitched, and she glanced over her shoulder once to see the crowd of people die down suspiciously. From the corner of her eye, she watched as the bright-red clad trainer, Ash, leave the pokemon center with togepi and pikachu following him aimlessly.
For a moment, she thought to follow him, until she saw someone else was already doing just that. Misty's eyes narrowed as she watched the figure crouched in the shadows behind Ash, and then dart out of the buildings as a ninja would. Her eyebrows furrowed. What in the world? Pushing out of the alley, she watched the town, only to see that the creature, or person—whatever it was, had vanished into thin air, and her breath caught into her throat.
"Misty! There you are! Can you tell me what pokemon you used to clear the path? My daddy can start pulling carts again!"
Carts? Misty thought rather confused, thinking she had flashbacked into the distant past—she hadn't heard someone use carts since she was a child—and that was only for fun; not for actual transportation! The adoration in the young woman's voice made Misty's skin crawl—she was rarely referred to in such an affectionate way, and she choked from shock.
"Yeah, sure! Just give me..." She looked away, toward the pokemon center. "I just have.. you know, business!" she muttered before hopping away from the approaching woman, leaving the fan standing in front of the diner, blinking.
Misty had no idea where she was going; only that she was going. Anywhere else as fast as possible. She wasn't sure what was wrong with her, wasn't the publicity great? People knowing that Misty defeated the charizard of route twenty-four would be something to brag about, but something... Something about this level of appreciation just stung her the wrong way.
For a split second, she wondered if these types of affection were normal in Ash's world. If this was something he dealt with all the time. Overwhelming gratitude to this extent, Misty had seen-well, aside from the first time Ash said thank you sincerely—never.
People were never so friendly—to pay for her meal, to offer to usher her around the town, to offer to pay for her lodging. Something had to be off—maybe it was in her nature to be naturally paranoid, but she couldn't stop herself. This was wrong.
She dipped behind the service area and found her way to the other side of the town; the small town. An extremely small town consisted of the pokemon center; the diner across from the pokemon center, and a small strip that looking like a shopping unit. The only houses around were near the diner, and they were boarded up. Looking up, she saw the tower with a lit signal beacon at the very top, and she felt her fingers twitch.
For a town that looked to be starving and decrepit—they had wonderful service, great clothes, and the food was plentiful and normal. Nothing like how one would imagine. With route twenty-four cut off, this town's 'primary' trade route, there was no reason their goods and services should have been so neatly maintained. With this in mind, she looked around once more—taking in each person.
The waiter who brushed some dirt away from the welcome mat outside of the diner had tattoos running up his forearm, and freshly busted knuckles. He tucked a cigarette behind his ear—but the pleasant demeanor he presented to Ash and Misty that morning was null and void; in fact, he looked angry. The chef from that morning hollered at him, and rather than replying coolly, he threw up his arm.
"Shut the hell up, I'm tryin' to work here!" He yelled, throwing the broom against the front of the diner and storming inside. From there, she saw the chef point around the diner, until the knife he was holding was directed at Misty, who was now standing in the open. She saw through the windows on this overcast morning and saw that the waiter's face paled, almost like he was nervous that he had been caught acting out of character. Misty steeled herself and then turned to walk down the main street, where a few shops were set up.
Again, thug-like people forcing smiles over their faces, and Misty shuddered watching each of their faces smile at her, and the moment she walked past them, frowning at her.
Something was wrong.
XOX
It made sense why charizard lost his mind. Someone, no, something turned wartortle to stone. Something scary and menacing enough that charizard refused to talk about it, and so much so that Ash wasn't sure what to say himself. His friend, his old friend he hadn't seen...well, he had never seen in the real world, was a statue. Ash pressed his forehead against wartortle's forehead and muttered short sorrows that were recuperated by his pokemon who shared in his pain.
That morning, he busied himself with cleaning up around the statue, placing flowers at the foot of the pokemon and making sure it was at a place away from the runoff of the trail so it would not collapse again. With the help of charizard, he found a hill to place the determined statue on top of, and took a few steps back to admire his work. It wasn't the best, but the way wartortle overlooked the ocean, staring at Bill's laboratory threw a knife into Ash's heart.
After that, Ash sulked back into town holding togepi and covered in mud once more. He had long since returned charizard, who still need more recovery time from the battle, and pikachu was on his shoulder. Having shed a few pounds since the start of their journey already, pikachu was already lighter, but honestly, Ash couldn't feel the pokemon's weight resting on his shoulder. He should have, his aching muscles screamed at him to stop moving so much—but he couldn't find it in himself to care.
Death was a consequence of this world. He repeated to himself, sucking in air as he found himself standing outside the pokemon center. Their faces were all drawn, and his was the gloomiest of all. A cloud hung over his head as he pushed the door open and made his way to his room without sparing a word to the nurse who tugged at her blonde hair and rocked in her chair.
Ash expected to see Misty seated there, waiting for him. Prepared to yell at him for skipping out on her earlier, but what he found was a set of new clothes and a quick note scrawled on top of them.
"Went shopping since you -scratched out- bailed on me. I went to check out the town. I'll be back before lunch.
With -scratched out- anger,
Misty"
Even in his sour mood, Ash snickered at the two words scratched out, "fucking" and "with love". She always tried her best not to curse around him—for whatever reason, and after spending a month with her sisters, he became well aware that she refused to show affection when she was infuriated, thus, removing the word 'love'. He smiled in spite of himself as pikachu ducked onto the bed with a silent, painful cry.
"...Yeah, I know buddy..." Ash mumbled hurtfully.
"...Toge...brii.." The egg pokemon commented, getting a startled look from Ash as he eyed the pokemon suspiciously.
"How would you know that, togepi?" He asked, squatting down to watch the egg pokemon. It seemed to flatten under Ash's gaze, and rather than answering him, he found his way to pikachu and tucked himself in beside the yellow mouse. Ash stood up and frowned at the two of them before pulling the outfit off the bed and knocking the note onto the floor.
He was always a fighter, togepi had told him—but he wondered how the egg would know that as he shifted into the new clothes—a black t-shirt and dark blue jeans.
XOXs
There was no doubt about it by this point; Ash had rubbed off on her. If she never met him, she would never be in this situation, she would never be standing here, and she would never be picking the lock on the door to the pokemon center. This was simply something Misty would never do. She wasn't adventurous, she wasn't brave; she was hot-headed, sarcastic, and blunt. She wasn't some kind of superhero searching for answers to unknown questions! She was a gym leader in Cerulean City, she was the top candidate for the Elite Four, and for fuck's sake she was not this curious. Ever.
Yet, here she was, squatting below a tall trash can, picking the lock for the back door into the pokemon center she just walked out of. To make herself look busy, she purchased a new set of clothes for Ash, just to save face with the people of this town. They didn't have a mayors office; and if they didn't think she wouldn't notice that the market place was wooden cut-outs of buildings used as stage props they were insane and stupid!
She knew something was fishy about this town. Did Ash know too? Should she have asked Ash before she ran off to break into the pokemon center?
She rolled her eyes, she might have asked had he been around! No, he ran off without her and this is what he does to her. He makes her crazy! And stupid!
The lock gave away, and she retracted the bobby pin and paper clip she had stuck in there; thanking Violet mentally for teaching her such a 'pointless' skill. Misty mocked herself in her own mind and pushed the door open slowly. Inside, unlike the rest of the town, it was metallic and sleek—up to date with technologies, and more than that, it was fitted with computers and cameras; cameras for the diner, Ash and Misty's bedroom—the main street. Only, no one was currently sitting in the room to monitor the screens.
Custom to normal pokemon centers, Misty noticed that it had the healing rack inside, and she checked for gyarados' pokeball—marked by a green dot she carved into the front and removed the ball without permission. The pokemon center was spying on the whole flipping town! What little town there was! She sidestepped away from the large cameras, to the cracked door which light shone in from—she noticed right away that it was the shady lobby they walked into and heard the lazy nurse on the phone.
A phone that shouldn't have worked, because there were clearly no telephone towers around, and she hadn't seen a single cable since she walked into this town.
"Yes, sir." The nurse said, her tone of voice cold, unlike the dull voice she used when speaking to Ash or Misty.
"The charizard was dealt with... by who? Some Misty Waterflower—a gym leader." her voice sounded professional, almost trained and Misty exhaled sharply at the mention of her name.
"She's traveling with some kid with black hair who owns a pikachu and a togepi. No sir, I haven't gotten a name for him yet. Yes, sir, I'll figure it out." Her eyebrows knit together suspiciously, and Misty wasn't sure what to think about this, so she swallowed hard against the lump forming in her throat and held her mouth to prevent any noise.
"No, they haven't noticed. They seem to just be passing by anyway. I don't think they captured the charizard. We have a group looking for the charizard now."
At that, a strangled noise erupted from the back of Misty's throat, and she shook her head to get a grip. The nurse turned quickly at the cracked door, and Misty made a B-line to the door she had entered from and dipped behind the picked door and shut it quickly behind her.
Misty wasn't sure if she had been caught, frankly, she did not care, she could deny most things, couldn't she? Her mind froze—but what if there were cameras on the pokemon center, too? Wouldn't they have seen her at the back door?
Shit. Misty swore mentally and spun on her heels, only to run into the very same waiter who served her this morning.
"Is there a reason you're snooping around?" He asked harshly his raspy voice running chills down her spine. Misty's shoulders stiffened, her fight or flight senses kicked in and she looked up at him with wild eyes. She was quickly made aware of the height difference between the two of them and clenched her fists closed.
"Ah, not snooping—just trying to find my way back to the diner to pick up some lunch," Misty said quickly, and the man raised his eyebrows.
"It's barely ten," he said matter-of-fact and Misty forced a smile. In the bright light, she saw the dark green of his hair stand out, and she winced inwardly, keeping up appearances.
"For the road, you know, we're travelers so we're very busy." She offered slyly, forcing a smile across her lips—flashing him her perfect teeth. He seemed to like that and backed off slightly.
"Well, why don't you follow me and we'll get you all set up—you did save route 24 after all." He admitted earnestly and inwardly Misty rolled her eyes but followed the man back to the diner. For now, she hooped and she only hoped that Ash was okay, and whatever weird nature this town had with hidden cameras and people tracking each other, she hoped he wasn't in trouble somewhere.
Though...if Misty had thought to examine the darkened camera room closely, she would have seen the remainders of a box of uniforms cluttering the corner of the room.
XOXs
"Ash, get up." Misty's voice tore through his sleep, the smell of cooked fish penetrated his nostrils and he pressed his palm against his forehead as he stirred awake. He had passed out on the bed beside pikachu and togepi; both were tucked into his arms.
"...mmm?" he mumbled, turning back over to bury his face in his pillows, not quite awake enough to respond properly. Misty sighed above him, watching his pathetic form curl into the bedsheets.
"Ash." She called, leaning closer to his face. "WAKE UP!" She screamed into his ear, and he was up a second later, covering his right ear with a scowl and angry eyes in her direction. Misty stood proudly, with her hands on her hips and a grin plastered across her cheeks. In one hand, she carried take-out, and in the other, her fingers tapped against her small waist. Without asking, he knew her patience was shot—probably because he bailed on her earlier.
"Do you have to be so loud?" he asked, watching her move through the small room to tug open the curtains—it was early noon, and he sighed at the bright light, now that the clouds were beginning to disperse.
"Do you have to sleep for so long? You've been out since I got back an hour ago. I even had time to wash our laundry, get supplies and pack." She said, and only then did Ash realize she was wearing, again, a pair of his blue jeans, rolled up to below her knees; over her tights, of course. As well as his black shirt with white sleeves. Irritated, he frowned at her.
"You didn't buy clothes for yourself?" He muttered while pulling on his new black shirt, Misty shrugged.
"I was going to, but the only female clothes they offered were dresses, and," She paused and rolled her eyes. "I am not wearing a dress." She grumbled and set the take out lunch on top of the table in their room, and then started to pull out the assortment of goods that she purchased. On the ground beside that, he saw fresh traveling goods, and his stomach fell.
"What's all of that?"
"Lunch." She said matter-of-fact, but Ash had no appetite.
"Misty..." he started breathlessly, his sad tone earned him a look of worry from Misty, who snapped her neck at him. Had something happened to Ash? Did he realize that they were being watched as well? Her nerves were like ice right now, trying to act normal, though her mind wanted to scream at them that they should leave. Now.
"What happened?" She asked automatically, and Ash flushed.
"Nothing." he denied instinctively, but then withdrew his comment with: "Well..."
She didn't say anything, instead, she waited patiently for him to continue on his own. "I found squirtle." He confessed, and Misty blinked and then sighed in relief—which went over Ash's head directly.
"Then why are you so glum about it—isn't that good news?" She asked while going about her business, pulling out the foam boxes and setting them on top of the table. Ash inhaled, as his shoulders fell.
Catching onto his silence, Misty looked back at him as she placed chopsticks down against the wooden surface. "...It's not good news then—what happened to him?" She asked and Ash's frown answered the question he was unable to say. Eyebrows lowering, she made her way to him and extending her hand to his shoulder for comfort.
"It's okay Ash." She said and he shook his head, and wiped his eyes, her touch pulling him back into reality. He shuddered.
"No, I'm fine. I just..." he looked up into her sea-green eyes, alive with the illumination of the room. "...Can I show you?" he asked exasperatedly, taking Misty off guard.
Grimacing, she nodded but nudged him towards the wooden table.
"Let's eat first, at least."
XOXs
As Misty suspected, when they tried to leave the town, no one stopped them—in fact, it was empty by comparison of the crowd that morning. Only that weird guy with green hair, and the angry blonde in the pokemon center. She deduced that the rest of the town was out looking for charizard.
Even though she knew what they were looking at, she smirked inwardly. The joke was on them.
"Do you know about a pokemon that could have done this?" Ash asked, circling his old, stony, friend. Misty hummed, wrapping her fingers against her hips relentlessly and looking forward to the destroyed lighthouse. To top it off, this town was only a mile or so away from Bill's lighthouse. A destroyed version, of course. Had this happened recently?
Rather than answering, she pointed forward. "That's Bill's house." She stated and Ash looked up at her.
"...I sort-of remember Bill's house. He was a little weird." he stood up, looking at the lighthouse. Now that he thought about it, it did look familiar. He remembered the pokemon Bill tried to lure to the rocky shores and smiled faintly at the memory.
"A few people on TV used to talk about how it was attacked during a Team Rocket raid a few years ago...but no one in town mentioned it, and it hasn't been on the news since." She glanced over at Ash. "...So, maybe Team Rocket is at fault?" She finally answered, and Ash deflated like a balloon.
"...What?" he mumbled in disbelief, his eyes filling with sorrow as he shifted the weight of his feet.
"Well, I did say they attacked Kanto in several places; I don't remember all of it, but I'm sure Bill was one of the first people they attacked—they were looking for pokemon researchers." Misty said. "Or at least that's what the news said; they stopped reporting on it after Giovanni came forward." She added while rubbing the back of her neck and looking directly at Ash.
His hand rested on top of wartortle's head, his look of shock in complete contrast to wartortle's determination and commitment. Misty's face scrunched up and she sucked in a breath. This would be Ash's luck.
"You never mentioned that Bill-" He started, almost heatedly; accusingly.
Misty stopped him with a raised palm. "I didn't know about Bill until we got here." She referenced the lighthouse with her hand. "I had no idea it was destroyed or when it was... there was never any news about it." She glanced back at the lighthouse, and then back to Ash. "Which is odd, considering how important Bill was to pokemon field research."
"Do you think it was because of..." Ash stumbled, "charizard?"
A part of him felt guilty that charizard would cause so much mayhem; even on the behalf of squirtle... he shouldn't have acted that way. Misty blinked and stepped beside Ash before turning to face the same direction as him; staring into the ocean. As a child, with the noon sun hanging over the surface of the ocean, dancing off the damp trees and glistening through yesterday's rainstorm, Misty would have called the scene "romantic". Now, watching the dark look in Ash's eye, and the drop of the occasional brick from what was left of Bill's house, the scene only looked tragic.
"I don't. The town is stocked too well. It's weird, actually." She glanced at Ash, who frowned at Misty's paranoia. "To make matters worse, I heard the nurse talking to someone about the situation when I was heading back to our room." she lied, not ready to admit that was snooping. "She kept calling someone 'sir' on the other side and talked about charizard and newcomers—us-making it to the town." She raised her eyebrows at Ash, who shook his head.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Wait, when did you do this?"
"When you were asleep." She confirmed and Ash looked terrified at her response.
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
She rolled her eyes, "With your injuries-" She poked his side, getting a wince in return "You need to rest as much as possible."
Ash rubbed the spot where she poked him with a scowl and then glanced back at the ocean. "So, what do you think that means?"
"...I don't know. It's just weird, is all. Especially since this." She pointed to Bill's former lab, "Never made the news, at least, not officially." She added and Ash watched her from the corner of his eye.
"Do you think Team Rocket is..." he stammered, the cogs in his mind turning in the same motion of Misty's.
"I don't think we should go back to that town." She confirmed and Ash cleared his throat carefully as she continued. "The people were almost lecherous, wanting information but giving none—and a few of them, they were scarred and beaten up. They sent a group of people out to look for charizard..."
At her last statement, Ash looked at her with wide eyes, protectively touching said pokemon's pokeball and looking over to togepi and pikachu who sat at wartortle's side. On cue, a rustle from the trees drew their attention to a figure in the shadows, and Misty's back straightened. Guess her thoughts were correct, after all. In response, Ash's protectiveness kicked in, he stood in front of Misty, shoving her behind him with a strong arm.
"Whoever you are, come out!" Ash yelled, and he saw the figure freeze while Misty looked to the forest branching behind them with wild eyes; in a whisper, she exhaled.
"I think we should run for it." She said awkwardly, looking at the trees rustling more.
Ash scoffed.
"Why?"
"...just a hunch..." She added quietly, her breath tickling his neck as she saw more shadows from the other side of the trail.
Ash gulped; "how?"
"Is Charizard well enough to fly?"
"You're joking, right?" He wanted to swear at her, a moment ago, she refused to admit that charizard would be okay—that he wasn't crazy; now she wanted to escape on him?
"They're known to carry three times their body weight." Misty grumbled, carefully scooping up togepi while also being thankful that she picked up gyarados prior to leaving.
Grimacing, Ash flicked his shirt over his belt and with one swift motion, he threw charizard's Pokeball, releasing the fire pokemon in a blaze of glory.
"Charizard, we need to fly out of here—are you okay with thaaaaaaahhh!" Ash screamed the end of his sentence as the dragon pokemon rushed forward to snatch Misty and Ash on top of his back with one swoop of its powerful wings. Apparently, the pokemon only needed to sense the situation, and he was prepared to dive in to protect them without a second thought.
Ash didn't have time to think as he wrapped one arm around Misty, and the other around charizards neck. Misty was held togepi, so she was unable to grab onto the pokemon by herself. She hadn't been prepared to be whisked away so quickly, either, and so she screamed loudly. Pikachu latched onto the pokemon's claws, electrical currents sparking from its cheeks as it watched the figures rush out of the forest as they left.
Below, he thought he saw the familiar tint of red and purple hair, and pikachu's face contorted slightly. The figures made no attempt to attack them, even with Ash and Misty's screams of terror as they lifted into the sky. Pikachu's cheeks stopped buzzing the moment he recognized the final image below—a cat-shaped pokemon staring up at him with sympathetic eyes.
"Pika! Pika chu!" the mouse cried from below, but it fell on deaf ears.
XOX
When they landed, Misty's legs were shaking violently as she slipped onto solid ground.
"N-never again." She whined, shuddering as she fell to her knees. Behind her, charizard huffed, as if saying "this is the trainer that beat me?", which only caused Ash to chuckle as he climbed off of charizard's back naturally. Even if he had never truly rode on the pokemon's back, it was as natural to him as riding a bike.
The sensation of flying was definitely different, and for once, Ash was glad he wasn't wearing a hat because he would have lost it. In fact, they almost fell off more than once. The imprint of Misty's hand was on Ash's upper arm, her grip defied all natural forms of strength, he thought.
"You good?" He asked with a low chuckle which earned him a flabbergasted glare, followed shortly by a snarl.
But really, she couldn't be mad—it was her idea after all. Rather than complaining, she slumped onto the dry valley of what must have been route nine and gazed up at the fading sunlight. Twilight enveloped the two of them, she was wordless, and Ash muttered thank yous to charizard who dipped his head in gratitude at Ash once more.
"I promise to tell you the full story about what happened when you're better rested, buddy. You must be exhausted." Ash said while stroking the pokemon's neck, and Misty couldn't believe what she was seeing—better yet, what she had just experienced.
A charizard, which had been a nuisance for years was stopped effectively because of some random coma patient with off-the-wall accurate dreams. Said coma patient was now petting the freaking dragon like a pet and the monster reciprocated the feelings. Pikachu wobbled upon landing as well, bidding a thank you to charizard while running around the full length of its body and bowing gratefully.
The dragon huffed and blew smoke out of its nostrils before Ash returned it. Misty swallowed against the lump in her throat—her mouth was dry from yelling, and she blinked up at Ash as he slumped onto the ground beside her.
"Pikachu said we might have jumped the gun..." Ash said while stroking said pokemon's ears. Misty glared at the duo.
"Well...better safe than sorry. That place gave me the creeps." She hissed while scratching the back of her neck, one of Ash's habits. Seeing the action, Ash grinned and pointed at her.
"I think I'm rubbing off on you."
She glared. "I would say so. Constantly making poor life decisions since I've met you." She added hotly, and then ran her hand down her face; Ash looked insulted.
"You don't really believe that, do you?" he asked as she checked over togepi in a motherly way that made his mouth twitch.
"No." She admitted halfheartedly. "Maybe." She grinned while pushing herself to her feet, and setting togepi onto the ground—only last week, the pokemon would have cried at such an action, but it had grown so much in the last couple of days.
"So what do you think that was?" Ash asked, looking up at Misty.
"Honestly? I've heard about old, unreachable towns becoming a base for former Team Rocket members..." Misty muttered tiredly, and Ash blinked. "Route 24 being sealed off and Bill's Lab being destroyed seemed overly suspicious... you know? It was just a hunch. I'm paranoid, is all."
"...Misty, you're not a member of Team Rocket are you?"
A brief pause passed between the two of them, and she titled her head almost ninety degrees.
"What!?" She hissed, earning himself a bump on the head. He held his head, and whimpered. "How dare you even suggest such a thing!"
"It's just that you know so much about them!" He argued pathetically. Beside him, pikachu snickered at the assault, but then togepi scolded pikachu beside him—taking the older-brother approach, even though he was clearly younger than the yellow mouse.
"Everyone does!" She added, and then retracted her statement. "Except for you." She added and twisted her lips into a frown.
"It's common knowledge. Pokemon trainers are told to avoid situations like that since we had league champions and top coordinators start going missing. Plus they had cameras everywhere, and they were watching us and... After you told them who I was, it was like they were doing more than watching me...they were surrounding me."
Ash's face fell.
"Sorry for leaving you." he paused, "Wait. Cameras? When did you see cameras?"
"Oh, don't be. I can take care of myself." She said matter-of-fact, ending his worry. She also dodged his question, causing Ash to scowl. "It was just...weird. Everyone was strange; the fact that they had no official way to travel to and from large cities with no effective harbor, yet they had merchandise and goods? It was just fishy."
"Shouldn't you report that to the league?" Ash asked. "Your suspicions?"
"I will, especially now that charizard isn't destroying route 24. We might actually get a group of people out there." Her fists clenched and Ash watched her silently for a moment.
"You don't think they're plotting anything, do you? If it is Team Rocket..."
"I don't know, honestly. The fact that Bill's laboratory never hit the news is my only concern. I had no idea the researcher was...well, missing." She hissed and Ash looked away from her.
"Or dead," he added, and she glared down at him, her face flushed.
"Let's hope not." She clasped Ash on the shoulder, bringing him back to his feet. "Anyways, let's get going." She said quickly changing the subject. "Nights going to be coming soon, and we can cut down at least an hour of tomorrow's walk back to Cerulean City if we leave now." She said while gesturing towards a sign that read "Cerulean City" with an arrow pointing down the path. Ash gulped.
"Wait!" He cried awkwardly, reaching out for her.
The way a worried Misty turned at him, her confusion and frustration detailed into the iris of her eyes, he bit his tongue. I don't want to go back to Cerulean City, he wanted to say, but his words caught on the edge of his tongue, and instead, he shared a look with his pokemon and then followed her.
"What?" She asked when his arm brushed against her own.
"Nothing." he lied quickly, covering his mouth and sighing. He had a few more hours before he made a final decision, after all.
XOXs
Ash was depressed, in the time it took to get away from Bill's lab and fly over the expansive forest, he hadn't thought about much aside from the wind in his hair, his uncomfortable thighs around charizard's shoulders, and the pain in his arm where Misty physically bruised him from her intense grip. He swore while rubbing his shoulder—to which she called him a big baby for, periodically. Nevermind that he was already one large bruise in the first place.
They walked until nightfall, which in the dead of winter was no later than 5:00 pm, and stopped to make a small campsite off the road. Misty told him a thousand times that the best thing about route nine was that there were no trees, no rain, and anything was flammable because it was so dry here all the time. Ash couldn't share in her humor—though she was trying really hard to cheer him up. After the fire was started and their sleeping bags were laid out on each side of the fire and they sat peacefully and passed around their leftovers that Misty brought with them, did Ash finally let his shoulders slump.
"Okay, you haven't said anything all day." Misty finally accused him, watching his face from across the fire. Her elbow was on her knee, and she cupped her hand with her palm, staring intently at him as he picked at his sandwich. Pikachu, who had been curled at the end of his sleeping bag with togepi, perked up to stare at his trainer.
"What's wrong?" She inquired smoothly.
"Do you have to ask?" He muttered, and Misty sighed, despite herself.
"Yeah, I do, because there is a lot wrong." She muttered mercifully and even in his sour mood he had to fight the onslaught of a repressed grin at her forwardness.
"I mean, where do I start?" She paused for effect and raised her fingers. "Your mom, your brother; your pokemon remembering you; Brock, in general, Charizard, wartortle, that town. Really, Ash, the possibilities are endless right now."
Ash chuckled at her banter, her tone of voice causing a sense of warmth to flood into his stomach he had all but forgotten—the same one he got when she vented about the doctors who 'didn't know' what they were doing or the nurses who 'spent too much time on their hair'.
"Thank you," he muttered, but she only shook her head in response.
"Talk to me." She spoke awkwardly. "I'm not a therapist, and—Mew, I'm not as nice as Dr. Abby, but you can talk to me."
For a brief moment, his eyes connected with hers across from the fire; sea-green mixing with chocolate gave an exasperated sigh. It wasn't but a few days ago that he was telling her that exact phrase—talk to him—trust him. Because she was allowed to do that. Only, Ash felt like he almost took advantage of her openness, he talked a lot over the last few months; only to end up as confused as he ever was.
He cracked a smile; "Where do I start?"
"Where ever you want." She assured him, bracing herself for the oncoming emotional roller coaster, but Ash didn't remove the brakes just yet. His eye fell onto the fire, and Misty waited patiently for about ten minutes before she sighed.
"I see now why Dr. Asshole had such a hard time talking with you." She grumbled, referencing Sebastian, which once again, caused Ash to chuckle and shake his head. He was uncomfortable.
"I don't want to go back to Cerulean City." He said first, unable to make eye contact with her as he glared down at pikachu and togepi, stroking the latter's shell comfortingly. A habit both he and Misty had taken to.
"I sort of got that impression," Misty smiled glumly at him. He spared a glance at her, an apologetic one.
"It's not that I don't want to-" he stammered, shivering even though he wasn't cold beside the fire "It's just that..well...you know.. I mean I appreciate that you offered and all, but..."
"You have a journey. You need to go find your pokemon—I understand." She paused, watching his facial expression as he shifted awkwardly. "I would do the same thing in a heartbeat." She added, with a reassuring smile that he caught from the corner of his eye that removed the weight off of his shoulders.
"But," She added and Ash winced; as did pikachu—there always had to be a but didn't there? "You have to be careful. Which means so help me, Ash Ketchum, if you run at a raging pokemon again I will find your dead body, find some way to bring you back, just to throttle you." She swore wagging her finger at him for emphasis, causing him to laugh.
"I won't, I promise." he muttered, rubbing his arms comfortingly.
"Oh, and no more throwing togepi against rock pokemon. Start with something smaller." She scolded, and Ash rolled his eyes. "And charizard; do not get me started on why you can't use him. Especially because you don't have a license." She added, the last part as a reinforcing idea—technically, Ash was only supposed to have Pikachu and togepi, and was only licensed to carry the two. The only reason he had charizard was because Misty didn't take the pokeball away from him. His lips pursed tightly and he glared at her.
"If you get audited or checked anywhere, you lie to them. You tell them that those are not active pokeballs—which means do. Not. Carry. Them. On. Your. Belt." She chopped up her words and Ash threw up his arms.
"Jeeze, lecture me later!" he swore at her, jokingly and Misty gnawed on her cheek and narrowed her eyes at him.
"I'll talk to Gary about getting your license expedited." she grumbled, looking at her leftover food and slowly dropping it into the fire. She had lost her appetite, but she appeared to take the news well. On the outside.
"Are you going to tell him why..."
Misty snorted. "Heavens no. Can you imagine trying to explain that to Gary? I don't even think he knows about your wacky dreams. He'd tell me I have to go to the insane asylum if he knew I was letting you leave alone." She said nonchalantly, the same voice she carried so proudly in all the time he knew her. Ash smiled.
"Do you believe me, Misty?" he asked sincerely.
At first, when Misty looked at him, her smile dropped into a serious frown. She thought about lying to him—that no, she did not believe him. She wanted to tell him that he was evidently, still crazy, that this was a big coincidence, and there was no reason to go out on a journey when there was clearly no evidence that his dreams meant anything. They were simply that. Dreams. Intricate, detailed dreams.
"Mew knows that I wish that I didn't believe you." She muttered, sounding a bit harsher than intended.
He didn't deflate, instead, he snickered. "Why?" He chortled, as did pikachu who ran to her comfortingly to sit on her lap. She stroked the edge of his fur, wondering when it became normal for her to scratch pikachu.
"Because you're crazy. People can't speak to pokemon. They certainly can't know people they shouldn't know. And people don't survive a ten-year coma without repercussions." She gestured to him. "You, my friend, have broken all the rules I thought I understood, and then you stomped and spat on all logic and reason."
At her deceleration, he laughed, his shoulders bouncing gleefully while she rolled her eyes.
"Seriously, only a few months ago you were just a helpless basket case—flash forward to now and you have a little brother, you know several different pokemon—and you know about areas that you shouldn't. I mean, even though you know jack about this world's political standing and laws, you know more about everything else than most of the diverse people I'm supposed to meet on a monthly basis." She cocked her jaw. "It's a bit scary. You slept for ten years and somehow developed more knowledge about pokemon than I have in ten years of training."
At her words, Ash face flushed in embarrassment. "I don't know that much..."
"Ash, you taught a baby pokemon to jump on your shoulder—it went from crying every ten minutes to staring down a geodude with confidence even though it had no chance to win. You took an overweight pikachu—no offense-"she pat the frustrated pokemon in her lap, "and managed to injure a master-class rock pokemon with him. I mean, you weren't awake to see that thunder attack hit onix, but, damn." She paused. "Not to mention the general knowledge about water pokemon that took me years to accumulate that you just seem to know. As well as general knowledge about other things—what to feed a pokemon, how to groom them, what makes them sleep—what upsets them."
She looked at him with a fire in her eye, since he wouldn't talk, she would build him up—positive reinforcement was as good as any therapy. "If you took that knowledge to someone who could do something with it, imagine what you could change in this world. Recently, some guy in Pewter City created a new pokemon food—but you came out of the hospital spouting that stuff. It's not just pokemon, either. You know weird things about people, and about cities and routes that I would have sooner called you crazy fpr. Sure, some of your information is outdated and you're a bit slow about technology, but even without it, you manage to..."
She paused, realizing she was ranting about him and her face matched the color of the fire temporarily. The heat covered her blush and she shut her eyes in frustration. "You're so weird."
"That's it?" He laughed, a huge grin tugging on his lips.
"Yeah. You're weird. The weirdest, most reckless person I've ever met." She confirmed with a locked frown and he couldn't stop himself from smiling, eyes closed.
"You're weird, too, you know."
"Hey, now. I am normal. The weirdest part about me is you." She confirmed with a snooty head-nod that mimicked Daisy's all-too-perfectly. "Before I met you, my biggest worry in the world was what I was having for breakfast. It certainly wasn't: gee, which pokemon center am I going to break into today?"
"So you did break-in." He scowled at her and she shrugged.
"I might have gone through the back door."
"What was back there anyway?" he asked, and Misty shrugged again.
"I didn't get time to check, really. A bunch of cameras and video footage, a box full of clothes, or something, and my gyarados. No other pokemon were around. I left pretty quick after listening to that lady on the phone." She said while Ash straightened up his back.
"So, do you think that could have been one of those towns?" He asked, finally changing the subject in a direction Misty was more interested in.
"I don't know. I don't like to assume before things are investigated, you know? It would make sense, considering what happened to Bill's lab and squritle..." She trailed off at the mention few squirtle, and watched very carefully as Ash's raised mood soured.
"Have you talked to charizard about what happened?" Misty asked, feeling a sense of dread that she was suggesting to Ash that he should talk with his pokemon in the first place. Ash shook his head.
"He won't. I asked him earlier when I found the statue the first time. He refused to talk about it then... I don't want to ask again too soon."
"Well, when he does, I'm sure it'll make sense."
"How can it? Misty, squirtle is gone!" Ash hissed, glaring at her careless nature. Misty shifted uncomfortable, still unused to his glare.
"Maybe it's reversible? The attack, I mean..."
Ash seemed stoic. "I don't think so... he was cold to the touch."
"Well... you're the expert, have you ever seen a pokemon, or person capable of that?"
Ash sat quietly for a moment, racking his brain for the answer, but he drew a blank. Instead, his eyes fell on pikachu.
"Do you, buddy?"
The pokemon shook his head gently, and Ash sighed. "Then no, I don't."
"Well, maybe it's not a pokemon then—maybe it's some kind of new technology? Or old, Team Rocket was known for their rather... cruel weapons."
"What did they want, anyway?"
"According to Giovanni they wanted money, and strong pokemon sell on the black market for a lot of money." She said matter of fact. "But honestly, no one really knows. He was a crooked as a snake."
"So why did they try to overthrow Kanto?"
"Beats me." She said while cupping her cheek in her palm once again. "If you can figure out which prison he's at, maybe you could ask Giovanni himself. I'm sure he'd love to share that story." She muttered shamelessly and rolled her eyes, the same spiteful tone in her voice when she mentioned the former gym leader's name.
"Misty..what happened with you and Giovanni?" Ash gulped at the question, and Misty's eyebrows raised.
"Between us? Well, nothing really." She said and leaned back. "He was considered the strongest gym leader out of the eight of us, so I naturally looked up to him." She shook her head at the memory.
"...He was always a bit of a pompous ass if you'd ask me though. I don't understand how they didn't think someone with slicked-back hair, like his, wasn't a criminal to begin with." She mumbled and Ash swallowed against the lump in his throat once more, fighting a chuckle.
"Giovanni had a really strong pokemon in my dream... one that was able to K.O. Gary's pokemon with a single attack. It was never confirmed, but I'm pretty sure he was the ring leader behind all of Team Rocket in there, too."
"And did he ever succeed?"
Ash blushed, "Well, no, because all of his orders were carried out by these two jokers known as 'Jessie and James' and they spent more time on fancy gadgets than they did being evil." Remembering the trio, Ash snickered.
Misty eyed him, a change in her features that caught Ash's attention, she was leaning forward. "Jessie and James...and meowth, perhaps?" She asked, causing Ash to shudder.
"Yeah, that's them." puzzled, he gawked at her. "Do you know them?"
"Know them? Ash, they were one of Team Rocket's leading thieves. They robbed the Viridian City Pokemon Center the day I brought you to the hospital. It made headlines everywhere." Seeing the look of shock wash over his features, Misty pursed her lips. "Are those the 'goofs' you've always referenced?" She asked, having never heard Ash mention them by name before. Ash gulped.
"That's them."
"Good to know you were wrong about some people." Misty suggested, sitting back.
"Where are they now?" He asked suddenly. After a long pause, Misty shrugged and sat forward.
"I don't know."
"Chu, pika." the mouse spoke, and Ash fell a chill run down his spine as pikachu continued.
"You saw someone with purple hair when we were leaving?" Ash asked, grinding his palms against his jeans. "Why didn't you say something?"
"Pika!" The pokemon offered, as if saying that it tried. Until now, he had forgotten about it. Misty stiffened under the weight of pikachu and touched the pokeball on her belt lovingly, reminding herself that she grabbed gyarados.
"So that must mean that..." Misty started, staring worriedly at Ash who immediately shook his head.
"You can't be for certain, can you? You might have just been seeing things, pikachu." Ash tried, but the mouse shook his head confidently, and denied the claim. He was not seeing things.
"Well..." Misty paused. "If we send the league that way, they'll get caught, then." Misty murmured and Ash gulped.
"Why would they be over there, though?"
"You know them better than me. They followed you in your dreams, didn't they?"
Ash froze, slightly panicked. "You don't think they're following me, do you?" Ash nearly whined and the worry in his voice pulled her into a laugh.
"Heavens no." She assured him. "It was probably a coincidence, if it really was them. Besides, we got away, that's all that matters, right?" She suggested even though Ash's shoulders slumped. However, with the new knowledge passed between them, Misty's name now on the line—and Ash knew he put her in that situation, he pinched the bridge of his nose, the tension rising from the ground.
Great, he might have signed Misty over to Team Rocket. She didn't seem scared though.
"It wasn't your fault." She said quickly, and Ash blinked at her, pulled from his thoughts.
"What wasn't?"
"Everything." She said quickly, rubbing the back of her neck once more, "The accident, squirtle, your mom, charizard—Brock being stuck at the gym—everything. None of it's your fault." She said and Ash blushed at her words, feeling uncomfortable in his own skin.
"Why are you saying thi-" "It's just not, okay? I see the way you look at me, and Brock, and pikachu...the way you looked at squirtle, and most importantly, the way you looked at charizard before he picked you up yesterday. Don't blame yourself."
"I'm not..." He tried to argue, puffing up his chest for effect, but found no honest denial to fight against her.
"Talk about me defeating charizard is going to spread regardless of if you said anything or not. And it's like you said, maybe that will finally get me the promotion I've been itching for." She fell backward, rolling pikachu onto her belly with her knees and placed her forearm on her forehead. Ash pursed his lips.
After a few moments, he finally shifted.
"...I just feel like, if I had been around everyone would have been happier. I would have met you, and Brock, and we could have gone on an adventure and followed our dreams."
"Or," Misty said pointedly, raising her hand but not her body. "We could have never met. I could have hated your guts because you stole my bike and Brock would never have left the gym and you would have traveled alone for ten years."
Ash scowled at her cold response, and narrowed his eyes—even when he was trying to be nice, she found a way to deflate his need to...help everyone.
"You don't know that it would have been that way."
"You're right!" She sprung forward, knocking pikachu off her lap, and nearly flinging him into the fire as she looked fiery at Ash. "And neither do you! You can't change the past. It's better to look forward with your chin up."
Stubbornly, Ash argued with her; "But, look at what happened to Brock, and my mom—and squritle; man, if I had been around everything might not have been so messed up between everyone, between us."
Misty snorted. "What about us?"
The warmth of the fire hid his blush well, but his fidgeting became very noticeable. "Nothing." He denied, but Misty pursed her lips and glared at him—he had the option of answering right away or having the pleasure of being pestered about it for hours.
Ash caved to her glare. "It's just that we're not the same. You were my best friend, you and Brock. Brock doesn't even know me and you, well you're..."
She waited, eyebrows raised while awaiting a response, but when nothing came, she pursed her lips in a challenge. "Still your best friend?" She wagered, causing a bolt of emotional lightning to burst into Ash's chest. She continued.
"I mean, sure, I'm probably the only friend you have, so that gives me the spot automatically, but still." She said with a sarcastic drawl. Across from her, Ash's chin wobbled and his eyebrows lowered. It might have been the reflection of the fire, but she thought that she saw tears forming in his eyes.
The thought was confirmed when he bravely wiped at his eyes with his bare wrist. "I don't know why," he mumbled, his voice painfully shaky. "You took care of me, and you didn't even know me. You had no reason to help me, and yet you're still here—still following me around and..."
And he was crying. Awkwardly, Misty rubbed her hands together and looked to pikachu for support. Instead, togepi, who had stayed out of the conversation until that point rubbed its nubby arm against Ash's leg comfortingly while Ash wailed.
"If I recall correctly, that's how it happened before, right? I followed you around. For a bike, I believe?" She asked, trying to stop his flowing tears; they didn't, he only hiccuped and Misty attempted to salvage the situation. She wasn't even sure why he was crying—it wasn't that big of a deal, was it? Her eyes shifted around the bare trail.
"Besides, we're friends. We've already talked about this, too. Why I stuck around...It's just who I am." when her words didn't reach him, she scratched her cheek nervously. "I'm...sorry I'm not the girl you remembered; but just because you remember me doesn't mean that I or anyone else is defined by your dreams—the same way that they don't define who you are." She added, and Ash stopped whimpering to listen.
"You are who you are, I am who I am. It doesn't matter if we met now, or ten years ago—We're friends now because that's who we are now. Not because you knew me in your dreams, but because we know each other now. The same way that you and togepi are friends—the same way you're friends with my sisters... even though I, we didn't know you, we still became friends... I think, someday," She fidgeted, the conversation clearly uncomfortable for her, she was thankful for the darkness of the night, and the fire to hide her warm face. "We can all be friends—You, Brock and I; and anyone else."
Ash sniffled, looking up at her with watery brown eyes that made her heart skip.
"You think so?" He asked weakly and Misty nodded, even though her words oozed the kind of emotional cheese she made fun of in romantic movies.
"I think so."
A smile pulled on his lips. "Even about my mom?"
"With time, yes." She confirmed confidently.
"And Cole? Do you think I'll get to spend time with him?"
"If you ever visit Viridian City, I know you will." She said while rubbing her shoulders.
More enthusiastic and brushing his fingers along togepi's nubby arms. "And what about us?"
"Us?" She echoed, and the bluntness of her question bringing his flustered cheeks back into play. He could hear his heart in his chest.
After a moment, Misty shrugged nervously. "...Best friends?" She stammered, and Ash looked up at her.
"Even in this world?" the question had her sighing.
"You mean the real world? There aren't two worlds Ash, just this one." She pointed to the ground for emphasis.
"Right, of course." Dazed, he grinned.
"But yes," She paused to tilt her head away from him. "We're best friends, I guess."
Ash finally thought to lick his lips, and bring up another matter;
"Daisy said you never had many friends."
Misty's eyes snapped at him, and she fought the urge to call him a gossip. "Daisy doesn't know what she's talking about." She denied though Ash saw through the act.
"How come?"
"I'm hard to get along with. Can't you tell?" She gestured to herself, not even bothering to keep up her facade.
"You're not that bad." He assured her, but she sighed in return.
"I'm hot-headed and paranoid." She said, recalling her events at the 'pleasant' town—though her paranoia paid off for once.
"But you're also a lot more than that." He said subjectively, and Misty sighed.
"I guess I just don't have time, then. I don't know, what do you want me to say? I'm a gym leader first, so people already have a hard time associating with me? Throw in a little bit of a mean streak, and you've summarized my social life. I'm not always a very likable person."
Ash smiled at her, it was nice of her to open up finally after months of her nonchalant behavior. "I like you."
"Yeah, because you've literally spent every moment since you've woken up with me." She exhaled, smothering her blush with a petty jab at herself. Ash scowled.
"Why does that matter?"
"I sort of feel like your mom sometimes," Misty confessed awkwardly and Ash felt his chest go cold.
"...what?"
"You know, motherly." She rephrased, hoping that she didn't hit a sore spot. Ash stammered and shook his head.
"You're not motherly, you're sweet." He tried, but it came off sounding more like an insult. She glared at him awkwardly. His delivery was tacky and a little, a lot awkward. However, when their eyes met across the fire, his face turned pale while his eyes trickled from her sea-green hues to her pink lips, and he was standing before he was speaking, stumbling into the darkness of the forest.
"I have to pee!" He lied, wanting to go anywhere but towards her. Feeling the tension, she shook her head.
"I...I'm going to sleep." She heaved backward once more, rolling flat onto her sleeping bag again. Ash's mouth fell ajar.
"Seriously?" He spun, almost falling down while she covered her head with her covers, feeling exceptionally warm in her own skin; her chest felt like it would burst.
"It's dark, and we had a long day. We'll talk more in the morning." She murmured breathlessly.
"...Oh. Right." he shifted his gaze—he wasn't tired at all. "Good night then." he said and he heard a very faint "Night Ash" from the redhead before silence funneled between the two of them. Even the open-air felt like it would close around him and he started into the dark of the mountain terrain blindly. He needed fresh air, and lots of it. Squatting on the path to steady himself once the dying fire was only a pebble in his view, he stopped to scratch the back of his neck and collect himself.
As an adult now, Ash, you may feel a bit strange sometimes. It will be totally normal. I can't describe some of the impulses, but I can give you some reading material that will help you understand the change your body went through over the last ten years... Dr. Abby's words filled Ash's mind as he rubbed his temples. He sort of blocked out her words previously. They didn't pertain to him, after all. He had other, more important things to worry about, like pokemon, his mom, recovery, breakfast—really, anything else. Only now, he wished that he had actually read that magazine that she gave him. It wasn't one of those "nasty" ones Misty threatened to beat him with if she caught him with another one, it was some type of "men's help" magazine that walked through the stages of puberty.
Man, he wished that he had that now because Misty was... His face heated up and he held his mouth to silence himself. Misty was...Something... she was weird! He wasn't the weird one!
"Pika?" the mouse who had followed Ash down the trail spoke behind him, unimpressed by his trainer. Upon hearing the pokemon, Ash flopped onto his rear end and spread out his legs in front of him while pikachu took the spot beside him.
"Oh, you know, the same old." Ash lied in response to pikachu's question.
Its lips curled around its small fangs. "Pika." he offered once more, and Ash glared at him in the darkness, sweat trickling down the back of his neck.
"I do not." he denied quickly, though pikachu raised its eyebrows and lowered his lashes at his trainer.
"Pika, pikachu. Kaaa, chu pikachupi." he baited Ash, talking about his 'family' back 'home' and comparing them to Misty. Ash lolled his head to his companion in order to glare appropriately. That was Ash's life now, getting advice from a pokemon. Sometimes, Ash raised his eyebrows, he forgot that pikachu had a family now.
"You know I lova ya' buddy, but I'm not taking your advice. No way." he said while holding his hands in front of his face in an 'X' shape, thus ending pikachu's raving lecture. The pokemon's cheeks flashed, but then stopped, remembering that shocking Ash in this world had...really negative effects.
"Cha." The pokemon scoffed, flopping down to sit beside Ash and stare up at the sky above them.
"Do you think Misty's right? That there is more to this?" Ash asked, and the pokemon beside him nodded with a squeak.
"So that means there could be more out there like squirtle..." He looked down at pikachu who looked back at him with a confident look. "We need to find them, don't we?"
"Pika." he agreed and rubbed his palms together.
Ash thought for a minute about what that meant for him—he would be traveling again—but his mind raced back to Misty, followed shortly by the image of a stone wartortle.
Hopefully, she was really as supportive as she said she was.
XOXs
Misty woke up that morning with togepi asleep beside her, and the sun pouring down on top of her. By this point, she was used to waking up with the egg pokemon on her chest, and so when she went to grab at the pokemon, she yawned loudly, pulling herself up to rub her eyes. She glanced over at where Ash was supposed to be sleeping; only to see that his bag was already rolled and put away, and he was practicing with charizard once again; talking to him maybe?
She rolled togepi onto the soft dirt beside her, and wiggled out of her sleeping bag, catching Ash's attention. Her disheveled hair and twisted clothes had his eyes off her as fast as they found their way there and he continued talking throw his plan with charizard.
"Why didn't you wake me?" She managed, stumbling over to stand beside Ash. Gazing upon charizard now, the red dragon puffed up its chest, trying to look larger, scarier in front of Misty, but as she scratched her stomach un-ladylike, she rolled her shoulders unpressed.
"You were snoring," Ash said. "Besides, you let me sleep yesterday. I was only returning the favor." he offered her what was left of breakfast—a poorly assembled wrap—and she took it greedily.
"Yeah, but I'm not the injured one." She threw shade at charizard, who showed his large teeth and titled his head away from Ash in shame. Ash chuckled and pat the pokemon.
"There, there buddy. We know that Misty can be harsh." He said though she was being kind considering the fact that charizard almost killed the very trainer he was being so lovey-dovey with now.
"Are you bipolar?" She asked the charizard, getting a snap of anger in return. Ash stood between the two of them, pressing his hand against charizard's snout to lower his anger.
"Misty, don't," Ash whined while charizard almost barked beside him. "Anyways, you better return for now and conserve your energy," Ash said while returning charizard before he got in another word or action against Misty. She seemed not to care while she untangled her growing hair. Watching the horrible attempt, Ash clumsily tried to help, brushing his fingers along her hair.
Misty slapped his hands away, rejecting the offer and gave him a wild look.
"No." was all she had to say to get Ash to throw his arms up patiently.
"Sorry," he said awkwardly, the weird spell that had fallen over him the previous night still heavy on his mind as he looked at her. She glanced around the small campsite, all of Ash's gear was together, the fire was scattered, and based on the fact that he was wearing his hat and light jacket again, she assumed it was that time. She sighed, walking back over to her sleeping bag to roll it up.
Ash watched her wordlessly for a moment.
"I thought if I left early I could look for primeape."
"You had a primeape?" Misty gasped, looking over her shoulder at him.
Ash nodded, adjusting his hat. "Yeah, and I'm pretty sure I captured him somewhere on route nine, if my memory serves me correct."
Misty tossed her sleeping bag into her backpack in disbelief. Togepi woke up slowly and yawned the sleep from its eyes. Unimpressed, he glared at the dirt. He was tired of waking up in the dirt and complained to Ash who smiled apologetically.
"I don't think going on your own is very safe, Ash."
"I'll be fine," he said automatically, not making eye contact—his eyes were on pikachu, who practiced jumping and running in the distance.
"I think we talk about this every time you say that, but do you know what fine means?" She asked with a sarcastic bite under her words. "It means not running into the arms of a crazy pokemon, it also means checking your injuries." She added while maneuvering her hands to touch his back, but it was Ash this time who shrugged off her touch with a snap; following with a pout. They made eye contact that lasted only a few seconds before Ash looked back at pikachu.
"I'll stop at a clinic in a smaller town." He assured her, shifting his feet in the dirt.
"Well," Misty sighed, breaking eye contact while a small blush crept up her cheeks as she crossed her arms defensively. Her lips twisted into a pout while she looked at the mile marker. "You'll always be welcome at the gym when you do eventually find your way back...you know... since Viridian was a bust, plus, my sisters were fond of you being around..."
Ash turned at her, blinking several times before grinning happily.
"It means a lot. Thank you." He said, remembering the last invitation she extended, right before charizard blew fire at them.
Misty turned her head to look at him, eyes dazzling in the morning glow. Without thinking, Ash extended his hand to brush a strand of hair out of her face that was distracting, and his touch lingered for only a moment before he leaned in. Her eyes went wide when his lips brushed against her right cheek. A barely-there, butterfly kiss. The moment his soft lips left her cheek, her mouth fell open and she fought the urge to touch where the warmth had been previously. A split second, and it was gone as fast as it had come.
"Thank you for everything, Misty." He muttered honestly, voice low enough to send shivers down her spine and her face turned a deep shade of red that brought him soaring back into reality. His hand still brushed against her cheek snapped down to his side and took a full step away from her.
"I..err.."
"Don't be weird, Ash!" She yelled suddenly, and kicked him hard in the shin, causing him to buckle over. Another day, another bruise. He swore under his breath and grabbed his leg while biting his lower lip and hobbling on one foot.
"What the hell, Misty?!" Ash whined, forgetting the intimate moment. Her heart pounded in her head and she couldn't think straight; her first instinct when she was nervous was to hit something. Unfortunately, that something was Ash. She grimaced, realizing her error.
"I am so sorry." She added and Ash waved his arms out.
"I didn't mean to be weird, it's just that my mom used to-"
"YOUR MOM?!" She squeezed her eyes shut when she shrieked, her face growing a brighter red than it had been. His face reflected the same color. Her shout drew in togepi's attention, and pikachu's, who both stopped their preparation for the journey to look at the frantic duo.
"I'm sorry!" he whimpered, shaking slightly once she pinched the bridge of her nose to calm her nerves. Of course, it would be a reflection of his mother.
"Oh, Ash." She sighed. "You're so innocent." She muttered, face-palming hard. If he hadn't been red already, he grew three shades darker from her comment.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he yelled, feeling like he was ten again, having a normal argument with Misty on the road. One of their infamous shouting matches.
Then she was hugging him. Her arms were draped around his shoulders tightly, squeezing the breath from his bones as he exhaled sharply. Unsure of what to do with himself, his mouth fell ajar, unable to move his arms appropriately due to the sudden warmth of her body pressed against his. As quickly as she had hugged him, she pulled away and glared remorselessly into his eyes.
"It means that you better be extremely careful out there. Don't take candy from strangers, that kind of stuff." She held onto his shoulder tightly while telling him this, and the corners of his mouth twitched.
"I know that..."
"And you better call—at least once a month—or write a letter or something; you know, let me know you're still amongst the living." She scolded him, Ash felt the sweat form on his forehead, it was like she knew without telling her that he was terrible at staying in contact with people.
"I'll be really busy but I'll-"
"Ash." She said sternly, and his entire body twitched fearfully, and he nodded, forgetting his own excuses. He would call, or write. Once a month.
With his agreement, she withdrew her firm grasp on his shoulder, and took a step back. "Good." She said happily, sharing a smile with him.
"I guess this is goodbye then?" Ash asked, and Misty glanced at togepi who seemed devastated at the notion.
"I guess so." She said weakly, not making eye contact—more so, she couldn't make eye contact with him right now. The egg pokemon, looking at Misty started to have a lower lip quiver that had Misty at its side in a second, scooping it up, and rocking it the way a mother would.
"There, there, togepi." She cooed, and Ash scratched his cheek.
"I almost think togepi should stay with you..." He offered, but Misty shook her head.
"No way." She smirked. "The egg was something for you to take care of; you're his trainer. You need to take care of him." She said optimistically, and Ash's heart pounded at the memory of the egg he took care of every day, taking for walks and he approached Misty and togepi awkwardly. Misty transferred the pokemon into Ash's arms and winked at him.
"Besides, togepi needs to make sure you don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." She offered, smiling at the small pokemon who fought its tears with the redheads confidence in him.
"briii!" It chirped and nodded its head. Ash wasn't as enthusiastic.
"I'm not going to..."
"Unless you can change personalities in one night, I doubt that." She challenged him and he puffed up his cheeks. "Just be careful." She warned him, and beside him once more, pikachu agreed to watch him, and a tearful togepi whimpered his agreement as well.
With one more pat of the pokemon's heads, Misty pulled on her backpack, and looked at Ash, taking in his appearance once last time. Her breath hitched in her throat as she fought the urge to hound him about remembering to take care of himself.
"...I guess I'll catch you later."
"...Yeah, I guess so." Ash added, but shook away the sadness. "Sooner rather than later!" He swore to her as she turned away from him with a straight back and a long sigh.
She hesitated for a minute, tempted to stay; to help Ash out on his journey, and screw her plans to become an Elite Four member; but the moment her eyes tempted her, she reaffirmed her position. This was something that Ash had to do on his own, and she needed to let him.
"Take care, Ash." Misty tossed over her shoulder and started forward to Cerulean City, leaving Ash behind for once.
"Take care..." He echoed as his eyebrows knit; reliving the moment he said goodbye to her the first time all over again—only the sun wasn't setting, and she was on foot, and he was the one carrying togepi. He looked down at the egg pokemon and then back at her fading back; in a few minutes, he wouldn't even be able to see her anymore behind the sloping and shifting landscapes of route nine. She walked tall, confidently, the same way that she walked into his life. First with a familiar tap of her shoes, and lastly with that all-too-familiar laugh.
Damn it.
He almost wished that he had asked her to stay.
Ash knew thinking like that was selfish, even suggesting such a thing after everything she had told him would be wrong—because if she actually agreed, he would have successfully robbed her of her dream to become an Elite Four member, and if she denied—she would feel guilty for telling him no.
After all, that's what he had done to her prior to meeting his mother, and she followed him into hell and back. Ash couldn't ask this time.
He could do this on his own... he looked at his pokemon, who thoughtfully watched Misty as well, and then reconsidered his thoughts with a slight grin. Actually, he wasn't alone. Not really.
"Are you two ready for an adventure?"
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Thus ends part 1. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed thus far, it really, really means a lot to me!
Lots of love,
NINT