damn it, you know what? I was going to give you the 13th chapter before this one when I realized "Hey, they're still on chapter 11... how stupid am I!"

So now you get two chapters!

(Questions will be answered in next chappy)

I don't own Pokemon

"We will be arriving in Mossdeep City in five minutes," announced a perky ferry worker girl.

Misty had her eyes closed, her eyebrows creased in distress. Beside her she had her backpack. She had gotten a first class flight to Slateport City in the Hoenn Region, and that's where she caught the ferry to Mossdeep.

She still felt a little guilty for leaving Jessica in charge of the Cerulean City gym, since the girl was clearly nervous as hell. But it was either that or close the gym. The trainers wouldn't like that at all.

But since she had a friend in apparent need…

Misty had decided to meet up with Brock, May, and Max in Mossdeep before setting out after Ash. Getting off the ferry, Misty made her way through the crowd, trying to find where the pokémon center was… Because if she knew Brock, he'd make the rest of them stay there while they stayed in Mossdeep.

She finally spotted the building and trotted inside, smiling at Nurse Joy. "Is there a young man named Brock staying here?"

Nurse Joy's face instantly turned red. "Why…yes…he is… He's in room six if you want to speak with him…"

Misty nodded her thanks and went back to room six. Raising her hand, she knocked on the door lightly.

"Nurse Joy!" Brock asked excitedly from behind the door.

Misty smirked. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. "No, Brock. Sorry to disappoint you, but it's Misty."

The door flung open. "Misty! What are you doing here? Come on in!"

She did as she was told and saw May and Max sitting on a small couch, and next to May was…this green-haired boy that Misty didn't know. Misty took a seat on a small chair, and May and Max greeted her.

"And this is Drew…," Brock introduced. "He just joined up with us…"

"I see," Misty said evenly. "But the reason why I'm here is because yesterday I called Ash… And he told me the whole story—or, at least, most of the story. He still won't tell me how he got that little red line on his neck, or about one of the times that he ran into Team Rocket…… I just found out that he's not doing too well…" She frowned.

"Yeah, but what made you come here?" May asked.

"Well, I know Ash pretty well, and in all the years I've known him, he's never acted this upset. He completely blew up at me, and…" Misty sighed. "I'm just going to meet up with him after this."

"Well, you should be able to reach Youter Town by tomorrow, right? It's right near Lilycove, and if I give you directions, you should be able to find it." Brock smiled wryly. "As long as you don't get lost."

"Yeah… I'm going to find him, help him, and maybe knock some sense into him while I'm at it." Misty punched her fist into her hand. "Quite literally if I need to. No one hangs up on me."

Brock sighed himself and began to write directions down on a piece of paper.

"So… What is it with Cinders?" Drew asked blandly. "I mean, I know he ran away, but still, I can tell from what you say that he's been acting stupider than usual."

Misty shot a glare at this new person. "Did you just call him Cinders!"

Drew gave her an innocent look. "Yeah."

"And did you just say that he was acting stupider than usual!"

"Yeah," Drew said again.

Misty glared at him, but Drew just smirked.

"Well, I guess you were right, May, Cinders isn't your boyfriend. He's so obviously yours." He looked to Misty.

"You take that back you little son of a bitch!" Misty cried indignantly.

Drew chuckled softly.

"God, it's like a Gary Oak remake!" Misty cried, getting up and grabbing the directions from Brock. "It was really nice seeing you again—May, Max, Brock. And it was really unpleasant meeting you, green-haired-freak."

May's eyes flashed. If Misty only knew the guy beneath it all………… But still, May wasn't sure what was under there either…

Misty threw them a wave before leaving their room and setting out for the ferry again.

"I'd like to stay for two more days, please," Ash said to Nurse Joy the next day. He really wasn't feeling up to going back out there just yet. He was still tired and sore, and his cuts were giving him a pain that he really could live without.

"Okay, then. Take as much time as you want," Nurse Joy replied with a smile. And with that, Ash went back into his room.

Stripping off his shirt, Ash fell into bed once again. The last night he hadn't gotten much sleep, so of course he was still tired out of his mind. But there was always something keeping him awake. Headaches, pain from cuts, nightmares, the phone that just kept ringing. But the phone was taken care of, so he'd have a better chance of catching some sleep, right?

"He's in room three… Be careful, I think he's trying to get to sleep again."

"Why? He's been having trouble?"

"Oh, yes. He must have asked for an Advil four times already. I think he's also been having some trouble with nightmares… But I can't be sure…"

"Thanks, Nurse Joy." And Misty walked back to room three and stood in front of it for a while, listening. All she could hear inside was slow, steady breathing, so she assumed Ash was sleeping.

Opening the door quietly, she crept into his room.

Even though it must have been three in the afternoon, the room was nice and dark. There was a blanket covering up the one window in the room to keep out the sunlight, and everything looked so secluded…

Misty could spot a bird pokémon sleeping on a desk, in a makeshift nest made out of towels and blankets. She didn't know which pokémon it was—probably because she wasn't too familiar with the pokémon from Hoenn—but it looked like it was pretty comfortable. Misty briefly wondered if this was the Taillow that Ash had when she last saw him. Maybe it evolved? She spotted three other pokémon sleeping on the floor. One was a green grass-pokémon—or Misty assumed it was of the grass type—a small crab pokémon, and a cute turtle pokémon.

Finally, she set her eyes on the bed, where she could see a lump that apparently was Ash.

Pulling the blanket off the window, Misty let sunlight spill through the room. She then went up to the bed. "Rise and shine!" And she pulled off all his blankets and threw them on the floor, only to blush when she saw he didn't have a shirt on.

Sleeping on his side and his back was to her, Ash didn't make a move, obviously not noticing anything around him.

"Ash!" Misty called. "Wake up!"

Groaning, Ash turned over and kept his eyes squeezed shut. "Nurse Joy, I'm really, really tired…"

Misty couldn't respond, because it was like someone stole her voice box. Her eyes went up and down Ash's chest, seeing all the cuts that were etched across it. Her eyes were wide, glimmering with tears. Who would hurt him like this?

"Gro gro vyle gro!" exclaimed the green pokémon, waking up and beginning to glare at Misty. "Grov grovyle gro!"

Misty stared at him for a second, wondering what to do.

"Swellow! Swell swell swellow low!" the bird pokémon said, waking up himself. He flew up and landed on Misty's outstretched forearm. "Swellow low."

"You were Ash's Taillow, right?" Misty whispered, no longer wanting to wake Ash up.

Swellow nodded. "Low swellow!"

"Phish…? Corphish?" asked the crab pokémon, waking up along with the turtle pokémon.

Swellow let loose a string of words, maybe explaining who Misty was to the other pokémon.

"What—what happened to Ash?" Misty asked quietly, looking to Ash again…and all those cuts……

"Kooooooooooaaaal!" the turtle pokémon cried, tears like a waterfall down his face.

Misty crouched down and petted the turtle pokémon on his head. "It's okay… I'm scared too… I came here to help you find Pikachu."

"Torkoal koal, Koaltor koal torkoal…," the turtle pokémon said dryly.

"What are you doing here!" came Ash's voice from the bed, and Misty turned to see him pulling a shirt over his head.

Misty stood up and put her hands on her hips. "For your information, Mr. Pokémon-Master-Wannabe, I came to help you out."

"Help me out with what? I don't need your help. If I needed any help, I would have brought Brock or someone." He gave her a look. "And what's the big idea barging on in here like you own the place? I was trying to sleep! I was this close"—He held his pointer finger and thumb an eighth of an inch away from each other—"to getting a full night's sleep."

"It's three in the afternoon, Ash."

"Fine, a full afternoon's sleep. I was actually able to get to sleep a few minutes ago, and now you woke me up… I'll probably not get any real sleep for weeks now."

"Oh, stop being so crabby." She looked him up and down, and her face softened. "I saw what was on your chest…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Those cuts. I saw them. All of them."

"Look, Misty, I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't have any cuts…," Ash let his sentence trail off when Misty gave him a classic 'don't-give-me-that-shit' look. Ash looked down, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets. "They're nothing." And before Misty could press the subject, Ash gestured to his pokémon. "Oh, and this is Grovyle, Corphish, Torkoal, and Swellow—who evolved from Taillow." He pointed to each of them in turn. "Now if you'll excuse me…" He went into the bathroom and shut the door, and Misty could hear the click of the lock. Soon after, there was the sound of water in the sink.

"You should really have someone look at those," Misty called to Ash through the bathroom door.

"Huh?"

"Your cuts. They look pretty bad."

Misty heard Ash laugh slightly. "You think I'm just going to walk up to Nurse Joy and someone and just show her these things? I don't have time for that. Besides, next time I run into Team Rocket, I'm bound to get more."

"…How did you get the ones you already have…?"

There was a long pause, and then Ash came out of the bathroom and sat on his bed. "I ran into Team Rocket the second time, and was fighting them with all my pokémon. Pikachu…made them all faint. James said something to me… And I—I got really angry… I jumped on him and strangled him…"

Misty gasped softly.

"Before I could k-kill him, Pikachu used Iron Tail on my head." Ash put his hands to his head, his headache flaring up again. "I fell unconscious. When I woke up, I was tied, my pokémon were in cages, and we were in Team Rocket's base. They were going to steal my pokémon, and just leave me there. Meowth was the first one who wanted revenge on me for all the stuff I've interfered with in the past, so he used his claws to…… Well…you know." Ash indicated his chest. "But I did eventually get away……"

"Take off your shirt," Misty ordered.

Ash cocked his head to one side, confused. "What?"

"Take off your shirt. I'm bandaging up those cuts whether you like it or not. You can't just leave them unattended."

"I can, and I will."

"Tough." And Misty grabbed some bandages and antiseptic from the bathroom and came back up to Ash, once again telling him to take off his shirt.

Ash scowled and did as he was told.

Wetting a paper towel in antiseptic, Misty began to clean the cuts. She pressed a little hard to get the dirt out, and she knew that Ash's cuts must be hurting like crazy. But when she looked up at him, he was looking away, appearing deep in thought.

Misty inwardly shrugged and put on more antiseptic. This time he flinched, but didn't say anything. When she was satisfied with her work, she began to put on the bandages.

"Those aren't needed, you know," Ash said absentmindedly.

"Yes, they are."

"They're just going to get sliced through. But this time, I'm not going to stop… Not going to screw up again." Ash yawned. "I shouldn't have—" His eyelids drooped.

Misty looked up to him again, her job finished. "Get to sleep."

Those three words were like a coffee bullet to Ash. He sprang up. "What! No way! I've got to pack…" He put his shirt back on, returned his pokémon to their pokéballs, put the pokéballs in his backpack, and began to pick up the rest of his stuff.

"Where do you think you're going?" Misty asked.

"I'm going to Mossdeep City. Tomorrow. When I was with Team Rocket, I overheard them talking about going there to steal more pokémon. Ironic, really. If this whole ordeal hadn't happened, I'd already be in Mossdeep, probably battling for my seventh badge right now…"

"I'm coming with you."

Ash sighed. "Listen, Misty, I know you want to help, but you can't. This is my problem. Pikachu is my pokémon. I don't want you or your pokémon getting hurt, so why don't you just go back to Cerulean? I'll call you when this is resolved."

Misty glared at him. "No way, Ash. I'm staying with you, and my pokémon and I are quite capable of taking care of ourselves. I very much doubt that even your Pikachu can beat my Gyarados."

"As much as I'd like to say 'likewise', I know Pikachu, and he's pretty powerful."

"Not strong enough to beat Gyarados."

"Take it from someone who knows, Pikachu's attacks hurt like hell. He knows Thunder. And when you get hit with Thunder, it's like… It makes you think like you're going to die. It hurts so bad you wish you would die."

Misty was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry, Ash," she finally said.

"Why? I was just telling the truth. I don't want you hurt."

"Fine, I won't get hurt. But I am coming with you."

Ash knew better than to argue with Misty when she had that kind of tone of voice. He shrugged inwardly, trying to tell the part of him that was yelling 'do it solo' that it was okay to bring her along.

I swear, if she gets hurt……… I'll never forgive myself…

go to the next chapter, now, if you wish