Thanks to everyone for reviewing and all those readers who sent me their teams. I should just remind you all that you should select the strongest team possible!
Anyway, I decided to split this chapter further, so this isn't the end of this arc.
There is once again, not much action happening in this chapter. Sorry about that.
Enjoy!
I do not own any characters or events related to Pokemon, this story is solely fan made.
Changing ways: Chapter 11: "Confessions" Part 2:
"Misty how much further is it?" Ash whined as he looked at Misty with desperation evident in his eyes.
Misty sighed aggravatedly at Ash's one-track mind, which is always either pokemon-related, or food-related. "Ash for the 5th time, it is just a little bit ahead." She assured him once more as they walked down the road.
Ash groaned as he dragged his feet on the ground. Pikachu was sitting on his shoulder and stole a glance at Misty every once and a while. Something was wrong in the little yellow mouse's eyes.
Misty was looking down at the ground while biting her lower lip and appeared very deep in thought, something which did not go unnoticed by Pikachu.
Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and landed on top of Misty's head, which caused her to snap back to reality.
"Huh? What?" Misty said groggily as she looked around her.
"Pikachupi, pika chu?" Pikachu inquired as he hung over Misty's head to look into her eyes, albeit upside-down.
Misty smiled half-heartedly at Pikachu's actions. "Yeah I'm fine Pikachu…" she said in a fake joyous tone.
"You don't look fine…" Misty heard a familiar voice saying from behind her. She turned around and found Ash staring at her with a very serious expression on his face.
"What are you talking about Ash? I'm fine…" Misty hesitated as she faked a smile.
Ash looked at Misty for a long time, which caused Misty to really get on her nerves.
"Ash…?" Misty asked uncertain as Ash frowned at her.
"Misty…" Ash said as he finally stopped looking intently at her. "I've gotta tell you something..." he said as he gently and carefully took one of her hands in his.
'Oh no…his gonna tell me that he has decided to go home…' Misty thought as she stared wide-eyed at Ash with a slight blush on her cheeks because of Ash's show of affection. 'I have to think of somehow out of this…and quick!' Misty panicked on the inside as her eyes scanned the area around them for any way out, but when she turned her gaze to Ash, she saw that he had a dead serious look in his eye, so whatever he is about to say, is very important to him.
"Misty, I-"Ash began as he looked deeply in Misty's eyes.
"Look Ash, the restaurant!" Misty interrupted him as she pointed to the restaurant situated behind Ash. Misty inwardly fist-pumped and praised her quick thinking. 'Yes there's my way out of this!'
Ash turned around and sure enough, the restaurant, called Cerulean Pazzaroni, was there. Ash started drooling over the thought of a nice, big lunch, but then he remembered what he was doing; he was telling Misty something really important.
"That's great Misty…" Ash began as he shook his head to focus on the task at hand. "But it can wait, I wanna tell you something first." He said with a serious look on his face again.
Misty's eyes grew wide because of several reasons. Firstly, did Ash just pick her above food? 'Wow, this must really be serious if Ash is willing to do it before eating…I don't wanna hear him say it. I don't want to hear him say he's going home tomorrow…I don't think I'd be able to handle it when he leaves now, not after everything that happened yesterday.' Misty panicked when she also realized that her plan to get out of this mess was now ruined because Ash was willing to put the subject above his huge appetite.
"Misty…the rea-"Ash began once again.
"Come on Ash," Misty interrupted him again. "Let's go have some lunch!" Misty over eagerly said as she hastily walked away from Ash towards the restaurant, which resulted in Pikachu jumping off onto the ground.
"But Misty-"Ash said as he turned to her.
"Not now Ash, I'm hungry. Let's have some fun. We can talk about whatever it is you wanna say later." Misty said with her back turned towards Ash. To be honest, she was afraid that she would cry if she heard Ash saying that he was planning on leaving. "Come on…" she said as she walked to the front doors of the restaurant.
Ash watched Misty go into the restaurant. "I guess I'll tell her about it later…" Ash figured. "Come on buddy, let's go eat." He said to Pikachu as he slowly made his way to the restaurant.
Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder. "Pikapi, pika Pikachupi?" he asked Ash in a sad tone.
"I don't know buddy, I don't know…" Ash said as they went inside the restaurant…
Meanwhile Misty had found a good place to sit. She had her head in her hands, trying to regain her composure before Ash arrived. She had to admit that she hadn't thought of life without Ash in it. He had a knack for finding adventure and it sure made things interesting, plus he really was her best friend. They had gone through so many things together. But now he was going home, probably realizing how boring it would be being stuck at a Gym. She saw Ash and Pikachu coming into the restaurant. 'Well, if this is our last while together, I might as well enjoy it having some fun with him.' Misty sighed determinedly as she put up her best smile possible. "Ash over here!" she called out as she waved to get Ash's attention.
Ash looked up and found the source from which the calling of his name came from. He walked over to the seats where Misty sat and he sat down on the seat opposite her. He looked over at her and frowned.
Misty noticed Ash looking at her and frowned. "What's the matter now?" she asked impatiently and her frown transformed into a glare.
"Hmph, aren't I allowed to look at you?" Ash said as he glared back at Misty and crossed his arms.
"You better watch what you say Ash Ketchum!" Misty said aggravatedly as she shook her fist in front of Ash's face.
"Hmph, whatever…" Ash mumbled as he took a quick glance at Misty. "Sorry then…" he added coolly and then looked down at the table.
Misty and Pikachu both looked at Ash in disbelief, which caused Ash to look up at them in confusion.
"What? What is it?" Ash asked as he looked at Misty with confusion evident in his eyes. He then turned to Pikachu, only to find that he was looking at him with the same look of disbelief. "What's wrong Pikachu?" Ash asked as he was starting to get a bit on his nerves when he did not get a response.
Pikachu crawled up onto Ash's shoulder and then onto his head. He took Ash's hat off and tossed on the spot next to them. He then placed his paw on Ash's forehead and held it there for a while.
"Hey what are you doing Pikachu?" Ash asked as he looked up at Pikachu out of curiosity.
Pikachu looked up at Misty. "Pika ka Pikachupi" Pikachu said as he shrugged his shoulders at Misty.
Misty nodded and directed her gaze to Ash. "Are you feeling okay, Ash?" she asked him as she tilted her head to the side.
"I'm fine! What is it with you guys?" Ash responded while frowning at Misty and then at Pikachu.
'Well Ash," Misty started as Pikachu hopped off Ash's shoulder and sat back down next to Ash's hat. "It's just that it's not like you to apo-"Misty said before she was cut off by the waitress coming up to the table.
"Good afternoon you two, I'm Jazmin and I'll be your waiter this afternoon." Jazmin greeted as she handed menus to both Misty and Ash. "I'll come back in a while to take your orders." She bowed as she made her way to one of her other tables.
Ash redirected his attention to Misty. "You were saying?" he asked as he looked at Misty with a skeptical eye.
"It's not important Ash." Misty said as she opened the menu and started nervously scanning through it, hoping to get Ash to change the subject.
"You guys are acting really weird today!" Ash said as he looked at Pikachu and then Misty. Seeing that Misty just ignored him and went on looking through the menu, he sighed and opened his menu and started scanning through it.
Pikachu made his way up onto Ash's shoulder and also started looking for something to nibble on the menu. "Pikapi pika!" he exclaimed excitedly as he pointed to his choice of food.
"Since when do you eat fries Pikachu?" Ash asked his yellow friend as he turned at him and looked at Pikachu with a skeptical eye.
"Uhm Ash…I'm taking a wild guess here, but I think Pikachu wants fries with KETCHUP." Misty said as she emphasized the word ketchup and laughed nervously at Pikachu's sudden excited demeanor.
Ash face palmed and sighed. "Pikachu, are you gonna eat the FRIES as well? Or just lick the ketchup off of it?" he asked as he lifted his eyebrow at Pikachu, awaiting an answer.
"Pi-Pikachu" Pikachu eagerly nodded as he made a peace sign with his paw and a silly, happy grin plastered on his face.
Misty giggled at the hyper little yellow mouse. "So Ash, how was sleeping on the couch last night?" she asked as she turned her attention back towards Ash.
"Misty, why do I have to sleep on the couch anyway…" Ash groaned. "There are four bedrooms in the Gym; one of them is yours', and the other three belong to your sisters! So why can't I just sleep in one of their rooms?" he continued whining.
"Now Ash," Misty began as she cleared her throat in order to talk sternly. "You know my sisters won't like it if you slept in one of their beds. They're pretty possessive about their property you know…" Misty trailed off.
"But Misty, it isn't as if I'll go through their stuff…just let me sleep in one of their rooms please." Ash whined as he pouted like a little child at Misty.
"Like I said," Misty began. "They won't like you interfering in their private stuff," she continued.
Ash sighed defeated at Misty.
"But," Misty went on as a smirk started forming on her face. "Seeing as how they are so spoilt, I think that it would be a good thing if someone got on their bad side for a change."
Ash liked where this conversation was going and he perked up during the course of it. "So wait does that mean tha-"Ash started before Misty took over again.
"So I'm gonna let you have a room Ash." Misty concluded as she crossed her arms, satisfied.
Ash's eyes immediately grew wide as a large smile appeared on his face. "Alright!" he yelled as got up from his seat and fist pumped the air. "Wow a nice, comfy bed tonight! You hear that Pikachu?" he asked Pikachu as he turned to the little yellow mouse.
"Pika pika" Pikachu replied happily at hearing the news of a nice bed to sleep on for the night.
Misty grinned at the boys' excitement and all three then laughed happily.
[Meanwhile…]
Jazmin made her way back into the kitchen, where two more waiters, a female with long, red hair and a male with lavender colored hair standing beside her. There was also a short, Meowth-looking cook standing on top of the oven.
"Uhm…don't you guys have tables to waiter at?" Jazmin asked the two waiters who were slacking off as they leaned against the counter.
"Nope…" the lavender-haired waiter replied.
"Aren't any people in the restaurant, thus there aren't any tables to waiter at." The red-haired waitress elaborated.
"Dat means that I down't haf to cook this heres food." The Meowth-looking cook added as he pointed to the variety of meat and other ingredients on the oven.
"Well uhm…okay?" Jazmin concluded uncertainly, until an idea popped up in her head. "Well there are some kids here at one of my tables…" she said matter-of-factly.
"Wow…good for you." The red-haired waitress said unemotionally as she stared at the ceiling out of boredom.
"Dat means I don't get to be off anymore…" the Meowth cook said depressively.
"Haha sucks to be you." Both the lavender-haired waiter and red-haired waitress mocked the cook at the same time as they both pointed at him.
"Anyway," Jazmin interrupted the weird trio of employees. "Can't one of you two take over their table, it's my lunch break." She asked as she looked at the two waiters.
"Dream on sister." The red-haired waitress said as she waved Jazmin's request off which counted for both her and her lavender-haired companion.
"Oh well, just remember that those kids look like they eat a lot. Growing children…might have been a big tip for one of you too…" Jazmin casually persuaded as she slowly walked to the employee lounge to take a break from working in her hell hole of a job. 'Oh yeah, off for the entire day baby! Those clumsy goons will probably want to waiter at every table they can, including mine!' she thought as she disappeared through the doorway.
"A tip!" both waiters exclaimed excitedly at the same time as their eyes started sparkling over the thought of extra money. Both made a dart for the door in order to be the table's waiter.
"Go away James that table is mine!" Jessie yelled as she and James wrestled to get through the door.
"No way, that table is mine…so is the tip!" James yelled as he pushed Jessie as the wrestling continued.
Jessie dropped some round, shiny object onto the floor. "Oh look James; a bottle cap!" she yelled as she pointed to the fallen object.
"Ooooooh a bottle cap you say? I must add it to my collection at once!" James yelled as he ceased the struggle and bent down to pick up the precious bottle cap.
Jessie laughed victoriously as she went through the door unchallenged. "That table belongs to me alone now!" she exclaimed as she made her way to the table while still celebrating her "victory".
"Hey this is just a quarter! You rotten cheater this is worthless!" James yelled from behind the closed door in defeat.
Misty noticed Jessie coming up to them behind Ash and got suspicious the closer she came. "Hey Ash," she began as she frowned at Ash.
"What is it Misty? Why are you looking at me like that?" Ash asked Misty as he tilted his head in confusion at her.
"Look at this waitress coming up behind you. Doesn't she look a bit familiar to you?" Misty asked as she watched the waitress stop in front of them, her eyes closed while she had a satisfied smile on her face.
"Hello sorry about the inconvenience, but I will be your waitress for the rest of your stay here. My name is Je-"Jessie said as she opened her eyes, but stumbled as soon as she saw who were sitting in front of her.
"Hello there." Ash said as he waved and smiled innocently at Jessie.
Pikachu copied Ash's gesture and waved to Jessie, while Misty gave a half-hearted smile towards Jessie, still suspicious over her.
"I uh…would you please excuse me for a second…" Jessie stuttered as she made a dart back to the kitchen.
"Uhm…okay…" Ash said confused as he lifted a brow in the direction which Jessie headed. "Well that sure was weird." He added as he put his hands behind his head and frowned as he looked up at the ceiling.
"See Ash, she looks familiar doesn't she?" Misty asked as she frowned at Ash.
"Well yeah her face does look kinda familiar," Ash started as he looked back down to Misty. "But oh well…I just wish she'd come back, I'm hungry!" he whined as he rubbed his stomach.
Misty sighed and face palmed. "Geez, what else is new Ash…" she said aggravatedly as she glared at Ash.
Ash laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Well uh hehe…it's been a while since breakfast, which wasn't much to begin with…" he trailed off as awkward moments of that morning came back to him and he soon had a light blush on his cheeks.
"Are you feeling okay Ash? You look a bit warm…" Misty asked Ash as she studied him with a skeptical eye.
"Yeah I'm fine!" Ash yelled as he laughed loud and nervously to try and get normality back into the conversation. "I guess the hunger is taking its toll on me." He added as he grinned.
"Well okay…" Misty figured as she still watched Ash weirdly. "I wonder why the waitress ran off…I'm getting pretty hungry too…" she said as she looked over towards the direction that Jessie ran in…
James was sitting on the counter in the kitchen and sulking in defeat while Meowth was standing on the oven.
"I can't believe I let myself be tricked like that…that table belongs to me!" James yelled as he swung his fist menacingly in front of him.
"Hush up Jimbo…Jess has probably already helped those there clients." Meowth said as the door flung open to reveal a slightly distressed looking Jessie.
"Jessie, what wrong with you?" James asked as he frowned at his partner's weird behavior.
"Twe- twe-"Jessie stuttered as she started shaking with excitement.
"Yes, we're listening?" James asked as he and Meowth directed all their attention towards Jessie.
"It's the twe-, the twe-"Jessie stuttered until she was slashed across the face with three claws. She snapped out of her stuttering and immediately grasped her aching face. She then directed her rage and anger towards Meowth, who was standing in front of her, retracting his claws and looking quite satisfied with himself.
"Now spit out!" Meowth yelled at Jessie, but he soon found himself being strangled vigorously.
"Why you little wretch how dare you scratch my gorgeous face! I will destroy you!" Jessie yelled viciously as she shook Meowth around by his neck.
"Stop it, both of you!" James yelled as he cut in between the two arguing members of the trio.
Meowth landed on the oven and Jessie stood on the other side of James, glaring at Meowth.
"Now Jessie," James said as he turned to Jessie. "Tell us what you saw." He continued.
"Hmph," Jessie said as she turned away from Meowth. "Like I was going to say, the table I have to waiter at; belongs to the twerps!" she said as her mood grew excited again.
"Da twerps, wow what luck!" Meowth said, seeming to have recovered from Jessie's earlier attack.
"Tell me about it!" Jessie said. "It's the perfect opportunity to steal that Pikachu!" she added maniacally.
Jessie and Meowth started laughing evilly as they prepared to think of a full proof scheme to rip Pikachu from under Ash's nose.
"HOLD IT!" James yelled as he stepped in between the two converging members of their trio.
Meowth and Jessie both looked at James with confusion evident in their eyes.
"James?" Jessie asked uncertainly.
"What's da matter wif you?" Meowth asked James as he looked at him in confusion.
"What's the matter with me? I'll tell you!" James exploded, which caused both Jessie and Meowth to visibly flinch. "We are always trying to catch that Pikachu, and we always fail! All we are left with is aching bodies and low financial budgets, which cause us to suffer through life!" he yelled as he paced up and down.
"Wow James, you're a real drama queen, since when do you get so melodramatic?" Jessie asked her irritated companion.
"Yeah Jimbo, what's da matta?" Meowth also asked, but in a cautious tone.
"Here is what's going to happen!" James yelled as he completely ignored their questions and stopped in front of them. "Jessie is going to serve those twerps in there, and you, Meowth, will cook their orders at optimal efficiency!" he ordered as he pointed to both Jessie and Meowth.
"Yeah right as if that's going to happen." Jessie retorted as she flicked her hair.
"Yeah imagine da shame of cookin for those there twerps!" Meowth added as he crossed his arms in disapproval.
Both of them were immediately brought to their knees as James' fist connected with each of their skulls, causing them to throb in pain.
"Keep quiet!" James yelled as he dusted his hands off against each other. "You will do as you were told! I will not live under the breadline for you any longer! I will roll over on you!" he yelled as his assault on his partners continued. "Now go take their orders!" he yelled as he grabbed Jessie by the arm and threw her at the door. "And you! Get the grill ready!" he yelled at Meowth as he smacked him up against the oven.
Jessie fell onto the floor with a thud, but quickly got up and made her way to Ash's table. "Sjeesh, who knew that James is such a cry baby…" she mumbled to herself as she dusted her uniform off.
"Hey Ash the waitress is coming back…" Misty whispered to Ash when she noticed that Jessie was approaching them once more.
"Sorry about the delay," Jessie said as she giggled nervously. "Now can I take your orders?" she asked as she shakily held her pen to her notebook, waiting to write down the orders.
"Yeah uhm, I would like an extra large cheeseburger with fries and an orange soda." Ash ordered.
"Okay…" Jessie said as she wrote Ash's order down. She then turned to Misty. "And you?" she asked her.
"Well I'll take a small cheeseburger and fries and also make that an orange soda to go with it." Misty ordered as she smiled sweetly at Jessie.
"I'll bring it right away." Jessie said as she prepared to head back to the kitchen.
"Wait!" Ash stopped her.
"Y-yes, what is it?" Jessie said nervously as she turned around.
"Could we have a small fries with lots of ketchup and a bowl of water for Pikachu?" Ash asked Jessie innocently.
"If it isn't too much trouble…" Misty added as she smiled sweetly.
"T-trouble, did you say tr-trouble?" Jessie stuttered as her face started twitching.
"Uhm…are you okay miss?" Ash asked as he looked at Jessie with skeptical eyes.
Jessie started giggling clumsily and she had a weird, dumb look on her face. "Trouble…trouble…no." she mumbled as she shook her head, until the bottom of a frying pan connected with her head, sending her crashing down onto the floor.
"I'm so sorry about that!" James practically yelled as he hid the frying pan behind his back while talking to Ash. "One small fries and a bowl of water coming up!" he added as he kicked Jessie, sending her flying back to the kitchen and landing against the oven. James bowed for Ash and Misty and then darted back to the kitchen.
"Well that was weird…" Ash said as he sweat-dropped.
"Wow Ash, way to point out the obvious…" Misty said as she started giggling to herself.
Ash started laughing and scratched the back of his head. "Haha…very funny Misty." He said as he stopped laughing and looked at Misty. He soon found himself staring at her. He noticed a weird, tingling sensation starting to form in his stomach. He placed his hand on his stomach and noticed that it made him feel warm all over his body.
Misty noticed Ash staring at her, which caused her to become more self conscious. "Ash, are you okay?" she asked him softly, but nothing happened. He just stared at her with empty eyes and his one hand was placed on his stomach. "Ash…" she called again as she put her hand on his other hand, which was resting on the table.
This caused Ash to snap out of his thoughts and look directly at Misty this time. They caught each others' eyes and soon both of them were staring at each other.
Ash noticed the tingling sensation in his stomach returned again, making him feel warm inside. He subconsciously turned his hand under Misty's hand and entwined their fingers, which caused the sensation in his stomach's tingling to multiply.
Misty's eyes grew wide as she felt Ash's hand recuperating. A blush started forming on her cheeks as she instinctively squeezed Ash's hand.
Ash's cheeks also started turning light pink as he kept staring at Misty, with his mouth now hanging slightly open.
Pikachu frowned at the two humans' behavior, but kept quiet seeing as this looked important to the two.
Sadly, this little scene was abruptly ended when three plates of food were hastily laid on the table, which caused them both to retract their hands.
"Here's your food!" Jessie, who now had a bright, red knob on her head, said politely as she put their drinks down as well.
"Uh…thanks a lot." Misty mumbled out as she slowly looked away from Ash to Jessie.
Ash shook his head and closed his eyes to look away from Misty and turned to Jessie. "Yeah thanks." He said as he smiled half heartedly at her and then turned to his food...
Jessie nodded and slowly walked back to the kitchen while mumbling and rubbing her aching head.
Misty smiled and turned back to Ash and was horrified when she saw him devouring his cheeseburger, having eaten almost half of it already. She shook her head and sighed. "Wow Ash, I guess you really were hungry…" she said as she started nibbling on a french fry.
"Well yeah…ofcawsh I'm hungwy! We hardly ate anyfing today!" Ash exclaimed with his mouth full of food.
Pikachu licked ketchup off one of his fries in delight. "Chaaaa" he cooed in pleasure.
Misty sighed and started gradually eating while she looked at Ash, causing her to blush slightly because of their "moment" just a while ago. 'Ash grabbed my hand, didn't he?' she thought as she looked at the hand that was entwined with his while she took a bite out of her cheeseburger.
Ash had gobbled down his entire cheeseburger and was now puffing fry after fry down the hatch, his appetite causing him to momentarily forget about the events which occurred only a few moments ago. After a while Ash had finished all the food on his plate and was busy sipping some of his coda. He noticed Misty was eating very slowly. "Hey Misty?" he called her.
"Hmm, what…" Misty asked in a dazed tone as she looked up from her hand to Ash. "Oh hey Ash, what is it?" she asked as she smiled lightly at him.
"Are you okay?" Ash asked Misty as he lifted a brow as he looked at her.
"Yeah I'm fine Ash." Misty smiled at him. "Why do you ask?" she asked as she frowned at him.
"Well…it looks like you were kinda out of it for a while there…" Ash said as he looked at Misty with a skeptical eye. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked her again.
"I'm fiiiine Ash, don't worry!" Misty said as she smiled sweetly at him.
"Well," Ash said as he scratched his head. "Okay then...if you say so." He figured. "Anyway…are you gonna finish those fries?" he asked her as he started drooling while staring at the fries in Misty's plate.
Misty giggled at Ash and ate the last of her cheeseburger. "Sure Ash, here you go." Misty grinned at Ash after she swallowed the last of her burger as she pushed her plate full of fries towards him.
"Oh boy; thanks a lot Misty!" Ash said with a tone of voice that sounded full of excitement as he pulled the plate closer to him.
Misty laughed half-heartedly as she watched Ash devoured the poor, helpless French fries. She finished the last of her coda and rested her back against the seat. "Phew, now that was excellent!" she said as she stretched her arms out over her head.
"Wyou can say wthat agwen!" Ash said while he grinned childishly with his mouth full of fries.
Misty face palmed and shook her head. "Ash, how many times should I tell you to swallow first before you talk!" she said agitatedly as she raised her brow at Ash.
Ash swallowed the last of the fries and then laughed while scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, you do say that a lot, don't you." He said as he grinned at Misty.
"Pika Pikachu" Pikachu exclaimed to announce his presence as he jumped on the table.
"Hey there buddy, you all done?" Ash asked as he rubbed Pikachu between his ears.
"Chaaaa" Pikachu cooed as he softened under Ash's touch. "Pika Pika!" he exclaimed as he pointed to where his plate was located on the table.
Ash looked to where Pikachu was pointing. "Pikachu!" he yelled. "You didn't even touch the fries! You just licked all the ketchup off them!" he said as he turned to his yellow mouse friend and looked at him with skeptical eyes.
"Pika Pika" Pikachu replied as he shook his paws in front of him in denial.
"What do you mean you ate it? All of the fries are there!" Ash said as he pointed to Pikachu's plate. "I'm waiting, Pikachu." He said as he glared sternly at him.
"Pikachu Pikapi!" Pikachu yelled as he crawled to his plate, which was indeed still packed full of fries. He pointed his paw to the plate. "Pika" he exclaimed as he frowned at Ash.
Ash bent over until his face was right next to Pikachu's and he looked to where Pikachu was pointing. "What is it Pikachu? All I see is your FULL plate of fries?" Ash asked Pikachu in an impatient tone.
"Pika Pikachu" Pikachu replied as he pointed again, but closer this time to give more detail.
Ash looked closer and sure enough, in the corner of the plate full of fries, was a gap that was open, meaning that Pikachu did indeed eat some fries.
Ash face-faulted, but recovered very quickly and sat up right again. "Pikachu, that's not enough! You had to eat ALL the fries!" Ash yelled as a vein started popping on his head.
"Pika Pikachu Pi" Pikachu exclaimed as he crossed his arms and turned the other way with his eyes closed.
Ash sighed. "Fine, I guess, since you DID eat the fries." He said as he slowly stood up and grabbed his hat.
"Where are you going Ash?" Misty asked as she watched Ash put his hat on his head.
"I'm gonna go pay for our meal." Ash said as he headed towards the cash register. "You guys wait outside for me!" he yelled.
"Well…okay Ash. Come on Pikachu let's go." Misty said as she stood up.
"Pika Pikachupi" Pikachu exclaimed as he jumped off and followed Misty to the door.
"Hello? Is anybody here?" Ash called as he stood in front of the cash register, waiting to pay. No one answered. He looked around, but didn't see anybody. He noticed a piece of paper lying on the counter and picked it up. "Hey it's a bill!" he said as he went through the list. "Hey it's OUR bill!" he yelled as he looked around again. There was still no sign of anyone. "Uhm…I guess I'll just leave the money on the counter then…" he figured as he took out some money and put it down, making sure to remember the waitress' tip. He looked around one more time and then shrugged his shoulders and headed towards the door.
A paw stuck out behind the counter and quickly grabbed the money Ash left. "Wow, da twerp sure didn't leave a big tip…who can blame 'em though…" Meowth figured as he put the bill's payment in the cash register and took the money for the tip with him. "Back to work then…" he said as he disappeared back into the kitchen.
Ash came out the door and found Misty and Pikachu waiting for him in front of the restaurant. "Hey guys!" he yelled as he ran over to them.
"Hey Ash, are you done?" Misty asked as Ash stopped in front of her.
"Yep all done!" Ash said as he smiled childishly at her. "Say, how about we go back to the Gym. I wanna let Totodile out of its pokeball to relax.
"Sure Ash; sounds good to me." Misty figured as she smiled back at Ash.
"Come on Pikachu, hop on." Ash said as he turned to the side of the road which headed to the Cerulean Gym.
"Pika" Pikachu said as he jumped on Ash's shoulder.
And the three friends headed back to the Gym in the crisp afternoon sun and relaxing breeze after their weird, but pretty good lunch at the Cerulean Pazzaroni…
As I said, not much action in this chapter, but at least everyone knows where Team Rocket is! And there was a moment or two between Ash and Misty.
Please remember to review! And the next chapter won't be up for some time. Sadly I have to go to my dad and there isn't really a place for writing.
I'll still try to get some work done on the next chapter so I can update as soon as I get back home again!
So stay tuned!