White Wedding

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

More Hugs

All Misty could do was stare. Was she truly seeing what she thought she was seeing? There was no way she could be. Since when did Ash hug May? Hell, since when did Ash hug anyone? Ash was, err, not the hugging type (well, except for when it came to his mother and Pikachu). What about this training partner of his, too? Misty had never known Ash to have a training partner, and she certainly didn't know that it was Dawn. She figured that if Ash had a training partner it was her. They used to train together all of the time! Just what was going on? Was she drifting apart from Ash? Was Ash...

"Hey, Misty!"

"Huh?" Misty turned around to face the person who had addressed her. It was May.

"Oh, hi, May," Misty replied, still unsure about how she was feeling about the whole Ash and May Hug incident.

May approached her slowly and then, out of no where, began hugging Misty.

More than a bit surprised, Misty hesitated in returning the embrace but did so eventually, questioning what was going on.

After what seemed like an eternity to Misty, who was not used to being hugged by anyone, May released the redheaded water Pokemon trainer.

"It's so good to see you, Misty," the Pokemon coordinator stated earnestly.

"Umm, it's good to see you, too, May," Misty replied, confused.

What was going on? First the hug between May and Ash, and now this? Well, maybe May just liked to give hugs, a thought that comforted Misty immensely. No, wait, that wasn't right; Ash had initiated the hug between himself and May!

"Misty, are you alright?" Ash suddenly asked, interrupting Misty's rather frantic thoughts.

"I'm fine, Ash. What's it to you?" More than a little irritated by her confusion (and a lot irritated by the fact that Ash had hugged May), Misty snapped at the aspiring Pokemon Master. She and May had become fast friends when they had met back at the Togepi festival in Hoenn, and being angry at the sweet coordinator hardly seemed right, especially when it was Ash, not May, who had initiated the embrace. Misty decided to take her anger and frustration and confusion out on Ash. Yes, somehow that always seemed right.

"Whoa, what's your problem?" Ash questioned.

"Nothing! I want to check on Azurill upstairs," Misty replied, trying to find a way to escape the situation. As much as she loved arguing with Ash (and she really did love it), sometimes she wanted to be alone with her feelings. This was one of those times.

"But we have to go over to Professor Oak's to show him the picture of the wedding cake," Ash protested. "We promised Mom we would. She even made us a picnic lunch to have over at the reserve."

Ugh, how was she going to get away with not going? As much as Misty wanted to go upstairs and just have a good cry over The Hug and The Training Partner while everyone else visited the professor and enjoyed the picnic lunch, she knew there was no way she could fail to go without arousing suspicion in her companions, and there was no way she was going to let them know how she was feeling; she never let anyone know her true feelings...least of all Ash.

"Hello? Professor?" Ash slowly entered Professor Oak's Pokemon laboratory, looking for his mentor and soon to be father figure. "Is anyone here?"

Ash's friends followed him into the laboratory, wondering where the professor was. (Well, everyone except for Max, who was too busy squealing about how excited he was to meet the famed Pokemon researcher again, was wondering.)

"Hey, guys!"

A young man with dark hair and a pink headband suddenly appeared in the hallway of the laboratory.

"Hey, Tracey!" everyone (except for Dawn, who had never met Tracey), responded in unison in that strange way they have a tendency of doing so.

Misty suddenly had a thought, a very strange thought that came to her out of no where. She ran towards Tracey and embraced him in a large hug.

"Whoa, hey, Misty," Tracey responded, more than a little confused, for, at the moment the thought had come to her and Misty had decided to hug Professor Oak's assistant, the Cerulean City gym leader had forgotten a very important fact: Tracey was dating her older sister Daisy. Yup, she was going to get hell for this one.

Tracey hesitantly returned the hug, but quickly let go. Blushing furiously, Misty backed away from Tracey and tried to fade into the woodwork of the professor's laboratory. Everyone else, embarrassed for Misty, acted like he or she hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary. Max was the first one to break the silence.

"Hey, Tracey, what have you been up to? Do you have any more cool gadgets for me?" Max eagerly asked his other idol.

"No, I'm afraid not, Max," Tracey replied, relieved that the focus was off of his strange exchange with Misty. Just what was going on with that girl?

"Where's Professor Oak, Tracey?" Ash questioned.

"Oh, he's resting," Tracey stated. "His lumbago's acting up. I'll leave the picture in his room and then we can go outside and enjoy that picnic lunch your mom made." (Accustomed to Mrs. Ketchum's cooking, Tracey had grown to love it.) Tracey just wanted to get out of this laboratory and away from where his hug with Misty had occurred.

OK, so maybe hugging Tracey hadn't been the brightest idea, Misty mused while everyone was sitting out on the reserve and eating the lovely picnic lunch Mrs. Ketchum had prepared. It had seemed like a good idea at the moment; if Ash could hug his friend May, why couldn't she hug her friend Tracey? Because Tracey was dating her sister; that's why. She should have hugged Brock instead (Max, of course, was far too young), but she couldn't really just randomly go up to him and hug him, could she now? Hugging Tracey had seemed like such a good idea at the time, especially because Ash had hugged May; then again, May wasn't dating Ash's brother...wait, Ash didn't have a brother. Whatever.

As Dawn and May talked about Pokeblocks and Poffins and appeals and other things related to Pokemon coordinating, Misty sat by herself, feeling alienated from the girls because she did not share their interest in coordinating and alienated from the guys because, well, they were guys and she was a girl. Where did she fit in? Sulking quietly, Misty felt like she had no one and really wished she had stayed behind at the Ketchum residence so she could have been alone with her misery. Coming here and hugging Tracey and now feeling as though she didn't belong had only made her feel worse.

Ash, Brock, Tracey, and Max were eagerly discussing the latest battles that had occurred at the Indigo Plateau, where the Kanto Pokemon League Championships (which Ash had participated in during the beginning of his journey, finishing sixteenth) were taking place at that very moment. Ash's mind, however, was somewhere else.

Since when did Misty hug Tracey? Since when did Misty hug anyone? Misty wasn't a hugging kind of person. Ash wasn't sure why, but for some reason the fact that Misty had hugged the Pokemon watcher had made him feel bad...he wasn't exactly sure what he was feeling; he just knew that it felt bad. Something about it almost made him angry, in fact. A wiser, more mature young man might have more astutely picked up on how he was feeling and possibly even realized what Misty was trying to accomplish and why she had done what she had done, but Ash was neither particularly wise nor particularly mature.

"Hey, Ash, did you hear what I just said?" Brock asked his younger friend.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, of course I did, Brock," Ash replied, though in reality he, of course, had no idea what the Pokemon breeder had said.

"Sure you did," Brock stated suspiciously.

Perhaps Misty would have felt a tad bit better had she known that her actions were producing their desired effect on Ash.

As the friends enjoyed their meal, someone interrupted them.

"Hey, Ashy Boy!"

"G-G-Gary!" Ash nearly choked on the food he was eating.

"That's right!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Visiting my grandpa. Duh."

Suddenly Ash had an idea.

"Hey, Gary, how would you like to have a rematch—Electivire versus Pikachu? You aren't going to say no to a battle, are you, Gary?"

"What? No way! You're on! You should expect to lose like last time, though." Gary smirked.

"This match is between Ash's Pikachu and Gary's Electivire," Brock, who usually refereed the group's matches, stated. "You may begin now."

Gary wasted no time and immediately ordered Electivire to use its most powerful attack.

"Electivire, use Giga Impact!" Gary commanded.

Ash was ready for this, however.

"Pikachu, dodge it with Agility!"

The small mouse Pokemon relaxed its body, growing increasingly agile until it was so fast it could barely be seen and successfully avoided the attack, which resounded with a loud "boom!"

"Don't think you're getting off that easily," Gary taunted. "Electivire, use Thunder!"

"Pikachu, counter it with your own Thunder attack!"

Each attack hit its respective target, and both Pokemon struggled against the impact of the most powerful of electric attacks.

"Hang in there, Pikachu!" Ash yelled, encouraging his most faithful Pokemon.

"Chu!" Poor little Pikachu suffered greatly from the Thunder attack of the larger and arguably more powerful Electivire. As the attack continued, it began to suffer visible damage.

Soon both Pokemon had run out of electricity, and the Thunder attacks ceased. Electivire stood strong and erect; Pikachu, on the other hand, had sustained considerable damage and was struggling greatly.

"Electivire, finish Pikachu off with Iron Tail!" Gary ordered.

Panicking, Ash made an incredibly rash decision. Knowing that Pikachu couldn't possibly take another attack without being hurt (and there was no Pokemon Center in Pallet Town), he leapt in front of Pikachu, taking on the brunt of the attack. Ash would rather suffer than see his most beloved Pokemon in pain. As the attack hit, Ash flew backward and landed in a crumpled mess.

"Ash!" all three girls shrieked at once.

"Ash! You idiot! What are you doing?" Gary yelled.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu squeaked in concern.

"It's OK, Pikachu. It's only a scratch." Ash tried his best to reassure his Pokemon, but he winced while making his statement.

It was not just a scratch, however; a deep, large, bleeding gash ran across Ash's left arm where the Iron Tail attack had hit. It was a truly awful sight.

"Let me look at it," Brock, the medical expert of the group, interjected.

"Well, it isn't too terribly deep and I don't think you'll need stitches. You're very lucky, Ash; it could have been a whole lot worse. You need to be more careful, though. Pikachu's a strong Pokemon and it can take care of itself. You shouldn't take on attacks that are meant for Pokemon and not humans," Brock scolded.

"Hehe." Ash sweat dropped.

"You'll need to apply pressure to it to stop the bleeding," Brock advised Ash.

"Here," Misty stated softly, startling everyone, and, reaching into her bag and pulling out a pink handkerchief much like the one she had given Ash years before, made her way towards Ash.

Misty gently held the handkerchief against Ash's wound (eliciting a small "owe" from Ash) and applied pressure. A tingling sensation made its way throughout Ash's body.

Despite his pain, Ash felt surprisingly good at that moment. He wasn't sure why, but the tingling sensation calmed him and made him slightly giddy. It was not at all uncomfortable; in fact, he rather enjoyed it.

"There. Just hold this against your arm and you should be alright." Misty then let go of Ash's arm and the tingling sensation slowly disappeared. For some reason this disappointed Ash greatly.

"Ash!" May suddenly came running over towards Ash and then flung her arms around him. "I was so worried! Please don't ever scare me like that again!" the brunette coordinator stated earnestly.

"Sorry, May," Ash stated simply, returning the embrace.

Misty could hardly believe her eyes. Was she truly seeing this again? Well, May had hugged her, too, so maybe the coordinator just liked to hug people (as she had definitely initiated the embrace this time), a thought that made Misty feel slightly better. Wait, Ash had hugged May, too! What was going on?

"Hey, Misty!" Ash's voice snapped Misty out of her thoughts. "We're going to head back home now. Come on!"

The last thing Misty wanted to do was to be with everyone else. Struggling to fight back tears, she wanted nothing more than to be by herself.

"Umm, you guys can go. I'm going to go over and visit the stream where the water Pokemon live." Misty was slightly choked up when she said this, although no one really noticed because she was so good at putting on a strong front.

"But Misty, it'll be dark soon. You should come with us," Ash protested.

"I can take care of myself, Ash!" Misty's voice had a bit more malice in it than she had intended for there to be.

With that, Ash and the others set off towards the Ketchum residence, leaving Misty behind.

Misty sat by the water Pokemon's stream, lost in thought. Never in all of the time she had known May had she thought of the coordinator and Ash as a couple. Sure, she knew that they were great friends and was often jealous of their friendship, but she never thought that anything romantic was going on between her two friends. The evidence seemed incontrovertible at this point, though. Ash had hugged May and May had hugged Ash. Ash had never hugged Misty and Misty had never hugged Ash. Misty had never thought of May as a rival...wait! She didn't like Ash like that! Oh, who was she kidding? Oh course she did! She had for years! What about Dawn, though? Ash had called her his training partner. Did he like her, too? It was all too confusing.

Tears slowly made their way down Misty's face. The realization that she and Ash would never be more than friends hit hard. Sure, the rational side of her had always believed that she and Ash would never be a couple, but a part of her, however small, had always held on to hope. Now it seemed like that part had no reason to hope anymore.

Suddenly, Misty heard leaves crunching nearby.

Wiping her eyes, Misty tried to put on a brave front.

"Who's there?" she called out in what she hoped was her strongest voice.

"It's just me," a deep male voice replied. Suddenly Brock emerged from behind the trees.

"Brock! Don't do that again! You scared me!" Despite her reprimanding, Misty was secretly glad to see the Pokemon breeder, who proceeded to sit down next to her.

"Sorry, Misty," Brock stated earnestly. "Now, are you going to tell me what's bothering you?"

"What? Nothing's bothering me!"

"Then why did you not want to go to the Professor's for the picnic today? Why did you insist on staying back here by yourself when it was time to leave? Why did I find you here crying?"

"I wasn't crying!" Misty yelled. She hated for anyone to see her true emotions, and crying in front of people was a big no-no.

"Sure," Brock replied sarcastically. "Really, Misty, you can tell me what's wrong. I won't judge you."

Deciding that it was safe to perhaps share just a little of what she was feeling with Brock, Misty began.

"Well, it's just that, well, Ash and May have been hugging a lot lately, haven't they?" Misty tried to say this all very quickly.

"If by a lot you mean twice, then yes. Why does that bother you?"

"Umm, it doesn't! Who said that it did?"

"It bothers you because you love Ash and seeing him hug May has made you jealous," Brock stated wisely.

"What! No, definitely not!" Misty couldn't believe what she was hearing! How could Brock have possibly known her secret?

"I know it's true, Misty. You hugged Tracey because you wanted to make Ash jealous."

"Ugh, hugging Tracey was so stupid! He must think I'm a freak! I hope he doesn't think I like him, because I don't! I mean, he's Daisy's boyfriend!" Misty finished, adding, "not that I don't like Tracey...well, you know what I mean."

"I know for a fact that Tracey knows you don't like him like that. He's the one who clued me in on your crush a couple of years ago. I was too blind to see it, but once he told me I was able to see all of the signs."

"Was it really that obvious?" Misty questioned timidly.

"Definitely," Brock replied.

"Well, do you know why Ash and May have been hugging?"

"I might. It's up to Ash or May to tell you, though. It's private. I can't tell you."

A small "oh" was all Misty could manage.

"Come on, Misty. Let's head back to the house." Brock offered his hand to Misty, pulling her up from the ground.

Sullenly, Misty followed Brock back to the Ketchum residence. Things were even worse than she thought. The secret between Ash and May had to be that they were dating. Why else wouldn't Brock tell her what was going on? He had to be trying to spare her feelings. Yes, that had to be right.

Author's Note: In care you're wondering what's going on, only half of this chapter was posted the first time, so I had to delete the chapter and then upload the completed one. The second half was gone from my Word document, too (I've been having a little bit of trouble with Word), so I had to rewrite it; I hope it's OK. Anyway, please read this new version of the chapter.

I said there would be multiple shippings in this story, and now you have one: handymanshipping (Tracey and Daisy). If you don't know what this is watch the Hosos/Pokemon Chronicles. It's adorable, and there's more of it to come.

Anyway, thanks to all who have reviewed. It means a lot to me. Enjoy, and don't forget to review. :)