By popular demand, this story is now a three-shot. Don't say I didn't warn you.
The digital buzz of an alarm clock broke the silence of the Cerulean Gym. Azurill bounded upwards from her previous position at Misty's feet when the piercing noise of the alarm penetrated her sensitive ears. The redhead reluctantly opened her eyes and peered at the red digits. 7:00. In a few hours the gym area below her would be swarming with challengers wanting the Cascade Badge.
A small sigh managed to escape her throat. She had been doing this routine for the past nine or ten years. She was beginning to lose track of time.
The gym leader lifted her heavy head, prying it from the warm, soft pillow below. She turned off the alarm and got ready for the day. She slipped on a bluish one-piece swimsuit and jacket, her usual attire as gym leader. Afterward, she headed downstairs and grabbed a cup of coffee, letting the warm brown liquid wake her up slowly. She looked around at the walls, surrounded by photos of times past. Her eyes landed on one of herself and her three sisters, Daisy, Violet, and Lily, all three of whom had moved out. Daisy got engaged to Tracey, whom she now lived with somewhere around the Orange Archipelago. Violet and Lily, however, went off to create a traveling water Pokemon show on their own, which was currently on tour. Misty became the only sensational sister that remained stationary at the Cerulean Gym.
The redhead continued to browse the wall of pictures. She went across many fond memories, stopping at one in particular. It was a photo of herself with Brock and Ash, just before they went their separate ways. She placed a single hand on the photo, smiling at all the good times they had.
Her emerald eyes began to focus on one person in the photograph. Ash Ketchum. Back then he was just a boy with ambitious dreams, and now he was a Pokemon Master. The gym leader's heart skipped a bit. Just as he had matured, so had her feelings for him. When they first met, she despised the clumsy boy for charring her bike to the point where it was no longer usable. After a while, however, she began lying to herself. She was not following him around for the sake of her bicycle, rather, she had developed a crush on the young boy. At first it was just dumb teen love, but eventually, they got to know each other more and more, to the point where they could almost read each others minds. But before he could confess to him, he left for the Hoenn region, and she had to stay behind to take care of the gym while her sisters went off on a tour. The hand she had placed on the photo balled up into a fist as she tried to suppress her feelings.
Before she could do anything else, though, the sound of her videophone's ring tone broke the delicate silence of the area. Deciding that whoever was calling would take her mind off of the raven-haired boy in the photograph, she quickly ran to the kitchen and placed the receiver to her ear.
She could not have been any more wrong.
"Hello?" The voice of the cerulean gym leader was transmitted to the other end of the line, where Ash stood nervously, completely forgetting whatever he was about to say.
"Oh, uh, h-hey, Misty," Ash managed to sputter out in his state of distress. A bead of sweat rolled down the champion's temple as Misty's lips pursed.
"Oh, hey, Ash," Misty said, doing her best to hide her expression of shock, "Why are you calling me so early?"
"U-uh... well, I... y-you know..." Ash's mind scrambled to find an excuse. After a moment or so of stuttering, he managed to formulate something of a plan. "Wanna go get lunch today, or something?"
Misty raised an eyebrow at the suggestion. "Uh huh," the redhead said sarcastically. Then a thought occurred to her. This could be the perfect chance to finally tell Ash what she wanted to tell him all these years. Her face lit up into a large grin. "Wait, actually, that sounds perfect! Meet me at the diner a block away from the Cerulean Gym at noon, don't be late!"
Ash opened his mouth to comment, but before he could respond, The sound of a slight click and white noise replaced the view of Misty on the screen. The Pokemon master let out a large sigh, part of him relieved that the conversation was over, the other part worried about what would happen during the foreseeable events. His head tilted down the the kitchen floor, revealing that Pikachu was there the entire time.
"Sorry, buddy, I think I'm gonna have to do this one alone," He patted the electric mouse on the head.
Misty placed the receiver back into its holster, cutting off whatever the raven-haired Pokemon master was about to say. The grin from before was still plastered on to her face. It quickly turned into a rather large frown, however, as she realized what she had just done. She plopped onto the hard tile floor, running a single hand through her hair.
"Oh, what have I just agreed to?"
Well, there it is, chapter two of the shocking trilogy. Don't worry, chapter three will be up soon.