Hey guys, sorry it's been a bit of time, I've been procrastinating! But you don't care, do you? Let's just get to the story!
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Chapter 3

After his encounter with Mark and Shay, and discovering that he was no longer fully human, Ash was walked into his bedroom and tried to sleep. But, of course, what kind of a person discovers that they are part pikachu and then goes right back to sleep. If there existed any people like that, Ash was not one of them. He tossed and turned in bed for over an hour, his eyes shut, trying to fall asleep. But his brain was much too active, bouncing around all this new information, to allow a even a minute of slumber.

At 6:00AM, he gave up. He got out of his bed and looked at his new figure in the mirror. There didn't seem to be any changes other than the ears, patches, and tail. If he managed to cover a these three aspects up, nobody would be able to tell he was any different. What worried him, however, was that he may not be able to control his newfound powers. What if he hugged Misty and ended up electrocuting her. Then again, Ash considered the chances that he would ever get such an opportunity to be fairly low. But what about his mom? Or his pokémon? Pikachu would be okay, since he was an electric-type, but there was no way of knowing about the others.

Ash took the card that Mark had given him out of his pocket. He figured he'd be able to get there without anybody being suspicious. He could just say he was headed to a pokemart or electronics store to do some window shopping, as this was not at all uncommon for Ash. Of course, he wasn't 100% sure that he even wanted to join this team, though he was leaning towards "yes". He would get paid, learn how to use his powers, and help take down Team Rocket. The only worry Ash had was that it may be difficult to pull off without rousing suspicions. He had knew that by now his mother considered him old enough that she no longer had to be watching his every step. The only problem was avoiding Misty's attention. He and Misty were very good friends, and she was inquisitive enough that she may figure out that Ash was up to something. Not only this, but the mere concept of lying to Misty made Ash a little queasy. She was without a doubt his greatest friend, and probably the one person he had real trouble lying to. Not only did it make him feel incredibly guilty, but if Misty discovered she had been lied to, Ash would have to endure a serious ass-whooping.

Ash let out a long, deep sigh. He began to pace around the room, as he always did when he could think of nothing else to do. Usually after a few minutes of this, somebody would become irritated and give Ash suggestions of activities. However, because Ash was now alone in his room, there was nobody to do so. This meant that Ash was free to pace for almost an hour without anybody stopping him-which he did.

When Ash looked at his watch it was almost 7:00. He knew that his mother would be awake by 8:00, and Misty by 9:00. So he decided to use the time he still could to shower, change clothes, being sure to stuff his tail in his pants (Mark was right-it was indeed fairly uncomfortable), and hide his ears behind his hat (this required bending them slightly). He then proceeded to use his mother's make-up (Misty never used make-up, which caused Ash to be even more amazed at how beautiful she always looked) to cover up the patches on his cheeks. A couple times when he was applying it, he could have sworn he saw a spark from one of the patches, but he simply ignored this, as we all do when we do not have the energy to try to explain something.

It was 7:29 when Ash exited the bathroom, and he walked downstairs to see that Misty had not moved throughout the night, and was still knelt beside the couch, her head in the exact same place. She began to awake at the sound of Ash descending down the stairs. Ash didn't even make an effort to resist the temptation boiling inside of him-he knew that any attempt of the sort was futile. He quietly walked over to Misty knelt down beside her, put his face as close to hers as he could (without immediately waking her), and put on the biggest, most wide-eyed grin he could muster. Misty smacked her lips a couple times, and slowly began to open her eyes. when they reached about half-way, he eyelids shot up, and she let out a high-pitched scream. Ash had to quickly move away to dodge an incoming hand. He had to lean on the couch to keep his balance while he was laughing. After a few seconds, he recovered from his fit of laughter and looked up, expecting to see Misty standing right in front of him, fists clutched, her face red with fury. However, instead he saw something that completely threw him off.

She was smiling. He had just pulled a prank on her that had, in the past, always cost him at least one slap in the face, sometimes two or three. But there she was, standing there, a hand on her hip, smiling at him. Ash had learned how to recognize a fake smile, too, and this was not one of those. This was a completely sincere, honest-to-goodness smile, which left Ash so shocked that he did not even realize his next though came out through his lips.

"What the hell?"

Misty laughed, walked over, and raised a hand. Ash braced himself for a slap, but instead received a gentle pat on the cheek. He stood there for a few seconds, looking a Misty, who was still smiling. Then, slowly, a smile began to spread across his face. He chuckled, unable to think of the right words to say. Misty continued smiling silently at him. This smile, however, he recognized as fake.

Ash didn't even have enough time to say "Uh oh" before he was hit with a powerful slap across the cheek.

"That," Misty said, "is for making me worry so much. I'm still going to let that last little joke slide. At least now I know you're okay."

Ash looked up, rubbing his cheek. He grinned at Misty. "I love you, Mist." Misty's cheeks turned red, but not from anger. Suddenly, Ash realized what he had just said, and also blushed. The two then simply stood there silently, looking at each other.

"I mean-you know-by "love" I just mean…um…like-I like you a lot. I mean I-I don't, like, actually-love you, I just-um…" Misty laughed and gave Ash's cheek another pat.

"I get it," she said, and walked upstairs, leaving Ash standing there in the living room, unable to think of words to say.

After a few seconds, the realization suddenly hit Ash that his disguise worked. Misty didn't seem to notice any difference in Ash's appearance. He let out a quiet sigh of relief, and walked into the kitchen. He was starving. After a bit of searching, he found himself some bagels and cream cheese. Just as the bagels popped out of the toaster, Ash was all of the sudden hugged from behind.

"Oh, thank goodness you're okay!" Ash let his guard down when he recognized the voice.

"Yeah, mom, I'm fine," Ash said, turning around to face his mother, who was practically in tears.

"You had me so worried-I thought you were going to die!"

"Well, I'm not dead," Ash said, kissing his mother on the forehead. "In fact, I feel completely normal."

"Well, we'll see how you feel at the end of the day," Ash's mother said, still holding onto her son. "Sometimes these diseases will ware off for a little while, then come back."

"I'll be okay, mom," Ash said. Though he sounded irritated, he was actually incredibly grateful for his mother's concerns. At the same time, though, he wished she hadn't been so nice, as this made him feel a little guilty about the fact that he would have to lie to her later. She let go of Ash and allowed him to carry his breakfast to the table.

As Ash was finishing up his breakfast, Misty walked down the stairs, wearing a purple polo shirt and dark blue skirt. She hadn't bothered to tie her hair up in a ponytail today, and Ash was surprised to find that he actually preferred this look, her long orange hair flowing gracefully over her shoulders, reaching almost halfway down her back.

"Still feeling alright?" Misty said. Ash, who had food in his mouth, simply gave a thumbs-up in reply. His mother informed him that a doctor had been called over to examine him, and was unable to give a better diagnosis than a bad case of the flu. Although it was uncommon for children of Ash's age and health to catch the flu, it was not impossible. After a small argument, she managed to coax Ash into agreeing to take things easy for the next few days.

Ash cleaned up his dishes and walked outside, saying that he was on his way to Professor Oak's place to visit his pokémon. Once outside, however, he stopped. He took the card out of his pocket, looking at the address. The headquarters were located in Pewter city, which wasn't too far away. Still, Ash was unsure about whether or not he wanted to join. He had no idea how he would be able to stand lying to Misty, but on the other hand, if he didn't join, he may not learn to control his powers, and end up hurting people. So he decided to do what everyone does when they are feeling indecisive: he flipped a coin.\

"Alright," he said to himself, taking out a quarter from his pocket, "heads I join, tails I don't." He flipped the coin. Heads. Maybe he would try again. Heads. After flipping the coin three more times, he still had all heads.

"Okay, then," he said, "tails I join, heads I don't." He flipped the coin. Tails.

"Damn you, George Washington," he said, putting the coin back in his pocket. That was it. He was joining the team. He sighed, and walked over to the garage. Pewter city was a bit too far away to walk, so he would take his bike. He wondered if he should bring pikachu with him, but decided against it. He didn't know yet if that was okay with the team.

As he was riding to Pewter city, Ash began to wonder what this team would be like. What sort of things would be in the headquarters? Who was paying for this?

Ash almost biked right past Pewter city, and would have if he hadn't been stopped by Brock.

"Hey, Ash!" He yelled, causing Ash to stop biking and look around. He was now in Pewter City, and Brock was waving at him from in front of the gym. He ran over to talk to Ash.

"Hey Brock!" Ash said, climbing off of his bike to meet his friend. "What's up!"

"Not much," Brock said. "Sorry I couldn't come yesterday, I didn't hear that you were sick until the evening. Speaking of which, what are you doing riding a bike?"

"Oh, I'm feeling a lot better now. The doctor said it was probably just the flu."

"Well, that's good. So, what are you doing here? Come to visit?"

"Actually, I'm just riding around," Ash lied, "seeing if much has changed since I left."

"Well, nothing much. Things are basically the same as they were last time you were here. By the way, do you know how long you'll be staying?"

"Until I find something to do somewhere else, I guess," Ash said. "Now that I'm finished with the Sinnoh League, I really don't have anything to do except hang around here and train."

"Great!" Brock said. "It'll be nice having you here for a while. Well, I've got to go to the Pokémon Center, so I guess I'll see you later, huh?"

"Yeah, see you," Ash said, thankful that this conversation was ending. As Brock walked away Ash took the card out of his pocket and walked his bike over to the address. When he got there, he didn't know what he had been expecting to see, but it definitely was not this.

The building looked like it had not been used in years. Bricks were broken, windows were dirty, and vegetation was growing all over the walls. It wasn't too large of a building, and looked as if it had once been part of an apartment complex. Ash checked to make sure this was right address, took in a deep breath, and walked towards the door. However, before he got there, it was opened from the inside, and a man walked out. He was tall and handsome, with sandy hair an average build. He grinned and walked over to Ash. He was wearing fairly casual clothes.

"Hi there!" He said enthusiastically. "You must be Ash Ketchum! I'm Skyler Flynn, I think Mark and Shay told you about me?" Ash nodded, shaking his outstretched hand. "Great!" Skyler said cheerfully. "Why don't you come inside and meet the rest of the team?"
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And that's where the chapter ends. Unfortunately, there won't be another update for a couple weeks-I'm going on a vacation to Yellowstone! Also, I'm turning thirteen this Thursday =D

Anyway, be sure to review and tell me what you think! Thanks guys!