Hello everybody! Well, here's chapter ten. I know you're all SO excited! (ha,ha) However, seriously, this chapter is much better than last, at least in my opinion. It is also very important because it is the first one documenting Ash's and the group's journey to help him become a Pokemon Master, and to help Misty become a Water Pokemon Master (y'all didn't forget her saying that back in chapter four, did you?). I don't want to say much concerning this chapter as usual because I don't want to give away anything, but I will say that you get to read about his first pokemon that he catches on the road, and you'll get an in-depth description of Misty's appearance which I totally stole from licoricejellybean (read my author's notes at the bottom for the full story). So read and REVIEW PLEASE!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies including, but not limited to, 4Kids, The Pokemon Company, Game Freaks, or Cartoon Network. The characters written within this fic are soley based upon the fictional characters created by these companies, and the story is not meant to, nor will it, receive any monetary funding.
Characters' Ages:
Ash: 16
Brock: 21
Misty: 17
Dawn: 13
Delia: 40
Oak: 55
Gary: 16
"Ugh," Ash groaned as he, Misty, and Brock walked through Viridian Forest together. They had been walking since about five that morning to avoid any reporters who still wanted to talk with the champion (he had done most of his interviews while in the hospital, so there weren't many left) and so they could reach Cerulean as soon as possible.
"Ash would you quit groaning?" Misty asked, irked. Ash had done nothing, but make gargling noises for the past hour and she was getting close to choking him.
"I can't help it, Mist," Ash replied. "All of this walking is killing my feet. We have to have been on the road for like twenty hours now!"
"Actually," Brock said, "we've only been out for thirteen hours."
"Ohhhh," Ash said sarcastically. "Only thirteen hours? Well then I definitely have no excuse for being tired."
"Well you were the one who thought we should leave early to get to Cerulean," Misty reminded him.
Glaring over at the young woman, Ash felt the old flame of conflict he shared with Misty reignite. "Will you quit saying that? I had said that I thought we should leave a little early to avoid those tabloid freaks who kept hanging around my house. Brock was the one who woke us up at freakin' four in the morning to 'start this journey right'." As Ash quoted Brock, he made his voice high to imitate that of a little girl's.
"Hey!" Brock shouted behind him. "I was just looking out for you! I thought if we started a little earlier, then we could reach Cerulean quicker, and maybe you'd be able to catch a few extra Pokémon along the way. However, I don't think you've caught anything all day other than a stomach-ache at lunch."
Feeling his face grow a little red at the realization that his friend was right, Ash decided that he had only one option if he wanted to win this argument. "Oh yeah? Well instead of pointing fingers at me Brock-o, why don't you point them at the real person whose fault this is?"
Curious, Brock asked Ash, "Whose fault is it?"
"Misty!" Ash yelled, pointing an accusative finger at the red-head.
It was once again Misty's turn to argue with Ash. "How is it my fault?"
"You left your car in Cerulean!" Ash said, stating the obvious. "Who goes to a city that's like a hundred miles away and doesn't bring their car?"
"Well, I didn't expect to be dragging you with me back home," she answered. "Besides, I told you we could've taken a bus to the train station in Pewter to avoid going through this stupid, bug-filled forest!"
"Yeah, that's a great idea Misty," Ash replied while rolling his eyes. "I'll sneak out of the house early in the morning to avoid reporters, and then clamber onto a bus with thirty people holding magazines with my picture on the front of them."
"Just shut up," Misty replied. "Besides, if you want to avoid people, how exactly are you gonna get on a train without being recognized?"
Realizing that she was right, as usual, Ash followed her advice and shut up.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
After the confrontation, the three proceeded through the forest quietly, while sweating heavily. It was now late May, and the blistering Southern Kanto heat was showing no mercy at seven that evening as the sun remained high in the sky, and the temperature exceeded ninety. Deciding that although the sun was not setting yet, they had walked long enough, Ash stopped walking in step with Misty and Brock to make an announcement.
As they turned around to see why he had stopped, he smiled. "I think we've walked long enough, don't you?"
"Pika pika!" Pikachu agreed, atop Ash's head. He hadn't had to walk in several hours, but he felt bad for his master having to travel for so long in this kind of heat.
"But, there's still some daylight left," Brock pointed out.
"I know, but we've been on the road for fourteen hours, and I don't think I can take much more," Ash replied. "How about you Mist? You can't feel like walking more."
"Well, no. Not really," she said this looking at Brock apologetically. She hated to sound like a wimp, but walking in ninety degree weather for several hours was not a small feat for anyone, in her opinion.
"Fine," Brock sighed, giving up. "I'll set up the tents, and you and Misty can see if there's a stream or something where we can get washed up. Also, grab some twigs and brush so I can cook us up something."
"Oh, alright," Ash relented. He had really just wanted to lie down, but he knew Brock wasn't going to relax until he had cooked some food for the weary travelers.
He then turned to the left, and wandered aimlessly through the trees in his search for a stream with Misty by his side. However, as soon as he was sure they were out of sight and earshot of the breeder, he sat down on a tree stump.
"What are you doing?" Misty asked in a scolding voice.
"What does it look like?" Ash replied. "I'm sitting."
"Brock told us to get some brush," Misty reminded him. "So get up and help me grab these twigs and leaves."
"Geez Mist!" Ash exclaimed, appearing peeved at her behavior. "What is he, your mother? I'm tired, so I'm resting a minute. I'll get the stupid sticks in a second. Why don't you join me?"
Realizing that he was right, Misty took a seat next to Ash. He looked over at her and seemed to suddenly realize something as his eyes grew a little and he opened his mouth momentarily before closing it.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Nothing, really," he replied. "I was just wondering why Azurill wasn't with you like it normally is."
"Oh yeah," Misty said, realizing Ash had never heard the news. "She evolved into a Marill a few months ago, and now she's one of the Pokémon my sister and I share for gym battles. Ever since she evolved and got a lot stronger, she's really enjoyed taking on challengers, so it doesn't make sense for me to keep carrying her around."
"Oh," Ash said. After the small-talk, he proceeded to just sit on the stump quietly, gazing out in the distance.
After the explanation, Misty followed Ash's example for several minutes before breaking the silence. "Ash did you hear that?" she whispered nervously, seemingly out of the blue.
"Hear what?" he asked, not sounding too pleased at having someone interrupt his resting time.
He suddenly heard a rustling sound behind one of the large pine trees a few yards away.
"That!" she hissed.
Wondering what was behind the tree, Ash stood up with Pikachu on his shoulder and walked slowly over to it, hoping not scare whatever was making the noise. When he reached the pine, he gradually peered behind it, and when he looked back at Misty she saw that he had a big grin on his face.
"What is it?" she half-whispered.
"It's a Weedle!" he yelled back, not caring who heard him.
"Ugh," Misty groaned, sticking her tongue out disgustedly at him. "Shoo it away or something. The last thing I want is a creepy Weedle bugging me."
"Are you kidding?" Ash asked. "I'm gonna catch it!"
"Why is it that every time we go into this forest, you end up catching something I hate?" she asked him, half-joking and half-seriously.
However, by this point Ash was no longer paying attention to her. Instead, he ordered Pikachu off of his shoulder, and was facing the bug Pokémon while strategizing.
Okay, he thought. This should be simple. It's just a Weedle after all.
Suddenly, the poison bug started to charge towards Pikachu with the point on its head growing dangerously near.
"Jump Pikachu!" Ash ordered. At his command, the mouse jumped over the worm lookalike and landed behind it.
Fast little guy, Ash mused.
"Now, use Thunderbolt!" he ordered. Pikachu's electric pouches began to crackle at the order and soon he was zapping Weedle with a large voltage of electrical power.
"WEEEEEEEEEE!" the bug cried as it was overpowered.
After Pikachu ended his electric assault, Weedle lied no more than five feet in front of Ash, unconscious. "Now let's catch it!" he yelled as he pulled an unused pokeball from his side and expanded it. He threw it at the Weedle, and in a flash of red light the insect-like creature was captured.
"Wow," Ash said to Pikachu. "He didn't even try to break free. Good job buddy!"
"Pika pi!" Pikachu replied, giving Ash a thumbs-up.
However, as Ash began to shrink the pokeball, it suddenly disappeared from his hand.
"Wha-?" he exclaimed, confused.
"Don't tell me we have to go over this again," Misty said, coming up behind Ash. He hadn't noticed that she had come over to watch the battle. "You already have six Pokémon in your party, so you can't carry anymore with you."
"Oh yeah," Ash said in realization. "Well, did you see that battle?"
"I saw it," Misty replied nonchalantly.
"Why don't you sound more impressed?" asked Ash. Usually when he caught a Pokémon, Misty acted a little happy for him.
"Because," Misty said exasperatedly, "it was just a Weedle! It's not like you just captured a Mew or something."
"Still, this is my first step to fame!" he exclaimed cheerily while holding up the pokeball proudly. "With this little Weedle, I begin my journey to becoming a Pokémon master!"
"Whatever," said Misty, irritated. However, despite her outwardly cool appearance, inside she couldn't help, but smile at the trainer in front of her. He was acting just like he had when he caught his first Pokémon, which happened, ironically, in the same forest.
"What are you doing?" both trainers heard Brock yell from behind them.
Looking back nervously, Ash could see that Brock's face was red with anger and he had his fists tightened into balls. Gulping, Ash sheepishly lifted the pokeball in front of him to show Brock.
"S-See Brock?" he asked, feeling his heart pound. "I-I-I caught, a, uh, a Weedle."
Staring at the two with an agitated expression on his face, he sighed. "I was waiting for y'all for almost a half-hour now. I assume neither of you at least managed to pick up some brush for the fire?"
Embarrassed, the two dejectedly lowered their heads and shook them.
"Well then hurry up," Brock said in a tone much like that of Misty's moments ago. "I'm making some soup tonight."
"Alright!" Ash yelled happily, his fear of Brock's mood replaced by his joy at the thought of eating.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Well, we're finally here," Misty noted as she and the two young men stepped up to the front of her gym in Cerulean.
"Yeah, and it only took us three days to get through that forest," Brock added, obviously displeased at the delay.
"But," Ash chided him, "it was worth it. I caught all of the Pokémon I needed from Viridian."
"I'm not so sure having no electricity or running water was worth a Pidgey, an Ekans, and a Rattata ," Misty said while yawning. She had been hurt most by the delay in getting home. She realized that she was no longer the little twelve year old girl who could stay out in the forest for days at a time without the luxuries she had come to love at home. As much as she hated to admit it, she had become more like her sisters in that she liked to take hour-long showers everyday, and always look her best. However, she refused to acknowledge, even to herself, that she was as vain as they were. She had just grown a little more concerned about how she conveyed herself, and she felt especially self-conscious now that she was travelling with Ash and Brock again.
"It was totally worth it," Ash rebutted. "Every Pokémon I catch gets me-"
"We know, we know," Brock interrupted. "Gets you closer to your dream of being a Pokémon master. You must have told us that at least a million times these past few days."
"Exactly," replied Ash happily. "I'm glad to see that you've been paying attention."
"I don't know about you guys," Misty said, having lost interest in the conversation between Brock and Ash, "but I sure could go for some air-conditioning right about now."
Suddenly being made aware of the pressing heat and mugginess that was surrounding them, Ash and Brock hastily agreed with the water trainer, and all three of them hurried inside through the sliding glass doors.
As they walked in, Ash gasped. "Wow Misty!" he exclaimed, looking around the gym. "You sure renovated!"
"It's true," Misty said, pride seeping through her voice. "Over the past few years the gym has done very well under me. The Pokémon League Board has set up a system where gyms are given compensatory award for their success in battles."
Gaping at Misty, Ash felt like an idiot.
"R-Right! Compulsory awards! That explains it." he said, hoping she wouldn't notice he had no idea what she was talking about.
Rolling her eyes, Misty smiled a little at Ash's misunderstanding. She had to admit he was a little cute when he allowed his pride to make him look like a fool.
"Not compulsory, Ash! Compensatory. It means that we get cash allowance from the PLB for every win we get against a challenger. As you can see from all the renovations, we haven't given out a badge in quite some time."
Ash was impressed as he began to follow Misty, who said she would lead him and Brock to their rooms where they would be staying for the night. As they walked by the indoor salt water pool (which was necessary for the various water Pokémon that lived in it), Ash noticed that it seemed to have grown from the last time he saw it, and was now at least eighty feet long and seventy feet wide, while the bleachers where spectators could witness the battles had also been expanded. He also noticed a new, large jumbo-tron screen that hung high above the battlefield. As they approached the rooms, he observed that the gym was noticeably cleaner than the last time he had seen it as well. Curious, he decided to ask Misty about that.
"Misty?" he asked, as she came to the end of the hallway.
"Hm?" she responded, still walking.
"Why is it so much cleaner in here than before? Have you hired maids or something?"
"What?" she asked, looking confused at first. "Oh, no, no. The League now sends a janitorial service over here once a week to clean up for us. Apparently some gyms were festering with mold and asbestos that no one knew about, so the League, out of fear of a lawsuit, now spends a few bucks to clean all of the gyms weekly."
"Huh," stated Ash. He was amazed at how well the League had started taking care of their gym leaders. In his opinion though, it was about time.
As they reached the end of the hallway, Misty pointed at two doors on opposite sides.
"Here you are," she said, opening the door on the left, and then on the right with a flourish. "Waterflower Suites. We hope you enjoy your stay." She then giggled a little at how convincing she sounded, before heading back up the hallway.
"I'll see you guys in a little while. I'm gonna go get cleaned up!" she called back as she practically ran towards the stairway which led to her room.
"She sure seems happy to be back," Brock noted as he entered his room.
"Yeah," Ash agreed as he flipped the lights on in his room. "Well, I'll see you in a little while Brock-o."
"Yeah, see ya," he said, shutting the door.
As Ash turned around to observe his room, his mouth dropped. He had a fourty-two inch television screen, a kitchenette with a microwave, stove, and fridge, and a queen size bed with a blue comforter before him.
How many battles has she won? he asked himself in wonderment.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
A couple of hours later, Ash was lying on his bed watching television. He had gotten showered and had put on a blue t-shirt and some jeans. Unfortunately, his favorite outfit that he had been wearing around Sinnoh had been torn up after his fall, and he had promised his mom that he would buy some new clothes (with his prize money, of course) once he reached Cerulean. However, right now he just wanted to lay on the bed in the air-conditioned room and rest off the last three days of travel.
As he laid there watching a re-run of a sitcom he really enjoyed, a phone which he hadn't noticed before suddenly started ringing on the nightstand next to his bed.
Groaning, he reached over to get it. "Hello?" he asked, wondering who had his number.
"Ash?" the voice on the other line asked. It was Misty.
"Hey Mist!" he said, surprised. "Pretty fancy place you got here."
"Heh, thanks. It is pretty sweet, isn't it?" she asked, enjoying Ash's compliment.
"Yeah! I'm watching 'King of the World' in high-def right now," he said, almost in wonderment.
"Well, I hate to interrupt that," she said jokingly, "but I thought you might be hungry."
"Uh, yeah!" Ash said, startled that he hadn't thought of this himself. "You got someplace in mind?"
"Well, I don't think after three days on the road we should eat in, so I thought we could go to this burger place that's down the road." When she said "burger" however, Ash had stopped listening and instead began to feel his mouth water.
"Sounds good to me!" he cried happily.
"Alright, I'll see you in front of the gym in five minutes!" she said excitedly, and then hung up.
Hurriedly, Ash put on some socks and his sneakers. He then stood in front of the mirror, and for five minutes straight tried to get his hair to stay down, but it was to no avail. His dark hair simply refused to flatten unless given no alternative under the weight of some serious hair gel, which he had none of at the moment. Frustrated, he quickly grabbed a burnt-orange cap that he had brought with him to replace the one he lost that night at the party, and sprinted out the door.
Seeing Misty at the door, he couldn't help, but gape a little. Ever since he first saw her at the party, he knew that she had grown, but he hadn't realized until now exactly how much she had grown. At the party, it had been too dark for him to appreciate her beauty, and ever since he woke up at the hospital she had seemed haggard and tired from her constant worry over him. Although even then he considered her pretty, he now got an eyeful of what he believed to be a beautiful woman. Her long, flame colored waves of hair fell about her like a lion's mane, reaching almost to her waist. She was wearing a ruffled white shirt with a short sleeved yellow cropped jacket over the top, a blue flared mini-skirt, white knee socks which covered two long legs, and a pair of little blue shoes.
This is definitely a big change from the long t-shirts and jeans she's been wearing the past couple of weeks, Ash thought to himself as he looked at her amazed.
"So you ready to go?" she asked him with a smirk on her face. With horror, Ash realized that she had caught him staring at her.
"Uh, y-yeah," he stuttered, feeling his face grow red as he realized that he was about three seconds late in a reply.
Grabbing the keys from the counter that was used for selling tickets to watch battles usually, Misty chuckled a little, and Ash felt himself blush even more.
Is she laughing because of me? he thought worriedly. I need to make sure I don't gawk at her like that anymore. I just need to remember that she's still annoying ol' Misty, despite her appearance.
As she finished chuckling, she looked up at him.
"Do you know what's holding up Brock?" she asked, suddenly looking a bit impatient. "I called him about twenty minutes before you 'cause I knew he would take forever to get ready, but I guess I still didn't give him enough time."
Glad to be talking normally with his friend again, Ash agreed. "Yeah, I know. He can't ever go anyplace without first checking to make sure that his hair's perfect, and he has on cologne, and everything else."
"The sad part is he still doesn't have a girlfriend," Misty noted, although she actually sounded more amused than disappointed for her friend. "You'd think with all the attention that boy pays to his appearances, he'd have a horde of shallow girls following him around by now."
"You'd think," Ash replied, with a smile on his face.
However, both trainers quit their conversation instantly when they heard the door to the guestroom down the hallway close. Just as Misty and Ash had predicted, as Brock approached them the strong smell of "Lust" cologne reached their noses. Also, Brock had dressed himself in a tucked in, collar, button-down red shirt and khaki pants with white tennis shoes.
"Wow Brock," Ash commented. "Pretty fancy get-up for a burger place, don't you think?"
"Well, you never know," he replied with a dreamy look on his face. "The girl of my dreams may be ordering a double patty burger as we speak. A guy has to look his best if he wants any chance of finding a woman." As he said this, he looked at Ash's t-shirt and jeans flippantly.
"Of course," he continued, "I'm sure you could find some ladies interested in the sloppy appearance too."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ash asked, incensed.
"Nothing, nothing," Brock murmured. "Should we get going then?" He asked casually, still receiving death glares from Ash.
"Oh yeah, I'll pull up the car," Misty said. "You two wait out front."
Agreeing, Ash and Brock stepped out to the front of the gym as Misty went to the back where she said the garage was located to bring around her automobile. As the two stood there waiting for her, Ash seized the opportunity to find out what Brock thought concerning Misty's new look.
"So what do you think about Misty?" he asked, trying to act casual, although the curiosity was clear in his tone.
"Whaddya mean?" Brock asked with a truly confused look on his face.
"You know, the new clothes and hair thing," he chided the breeder.
"Huh," said Brock, shrugging. "I guess I didn't notice, but thanks for telling me. Girls hate it if they change something about themselves and then you don't compliment them on it. You may have saved me from a bloody nose."
"No problem," Ash replied, completely dumbfounded by Brock's unawareness. Of all the people to notice a change in a girl's appearance, Brock was the master. He could even differentiate between all the Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys, so Ash had figured noticing Misty's "growth" would have been no problem.
I thought he would've been drooling over himself by now, Ash thought, surprised. He even figured Brock may have asked her out after seeing her like that.
Shrugging, Ash decided to change the subject.
"So after tomorrow, I thought we'd head over to Vermillion City. They've got a lot of water types that I need, and I thought we could see Surge if we have time."
"Sounds good to me," Brock said, giving Ash a thumbs-up. "I have to admit that I'm impressed Ash."
"What do you mean?" he asked, unsure of what he had done to earn his friend's admiration.
"Well, no offense, but you've always seemed a little overconfident. I mean, over the years you've definitely matured, but I've always gotten the feeling that you expected things to just work out for you, but now you're being responsible. Some trainers would just wander around the countryside looking for any Pokémon they didn't already have, but you've mapped out a schedule for how long you need to be in certain places, and what Pokémon you need to find there. It's really something."
Grinning at the compliment, Ash felt his ego grow a little. "Yeah, well it was pretty hard, but I find that it helps to be prepared when attaining the highest rank a Pokémon trainer can have."
"Really?" Brock asked. "So that's why you used Pikachu when you battled me for the Boulder Badge? Because you were prepared?" He laughed as he said this, knowing Ash would be embarrassed.
"Hey!" Ash exclaimed. "I was young then. I'm saying now I'm prepared."
"Oh, okay," Brock said between laughs. "Now, you're prepared. I get it."
Before Ash could say anything else about Brock's smart-alecky attitude though, he heard a car horn beeping behind him. Turning around, he saw a vehicle that made his jaw drop for the second time that day. Misty was driving what he considered to be one of the ugliest cars he had seen. It was a station wagon that was covered in rusted and chipped-off green paint, with wooden paneling on the side.
She may look nice, but her car sure doesn't, Ash thought to himself while smiling.
He looked over at Brock to see his reaction, and wasn't surprised to see that it was similar to his moments ago.
"Nice ride, huh?" he asked his dazed friend.
Suddenly, Brock looked at Ash seriously.
"Look, no matter what we cannot let her know how we feel about her car," he instructed Ash in a whisper. "Trust me, you know how violent Misty is."
However, Ash didn't listen to his friend's advice, and instead slowly strolled over to the driver's seat where Misty sat with a dumbfounded expression upon her face.
Why do they look so goofy? she wondered.
"So," Ash said, retaining a laugh, "I see you decided to go for that worn-out, ugly looking car, instead of those over-valued, nice cars they sell nowadays, huh?"
Suddenly realizing why Ash and Brock had looked so stupid earlier, Misty felt her temper flare.
"At least I have a car!" she shot back. "Unlike certain people."
"Hey!" Ash retaliated. "I could buy any car I want. I just thought with all that money you're getting from the League, you could at least afford something that was built within the last three decades!"
"Well shows what you know! I can only use that money on the gym, and unlike you Ketchum, I adhere to the rules!"
"Hey, I adhere to the rules as much as you do," Ash pointed out. "I've never even gotten a speeding ticket, although I see you have from that note on the dashboard there," said Ash triumphantly.
Shocked that he had actually made a valid point, Misty said nothing else, but instead called over to Brock.
"Hey Brock, you ready to go get some food?" she yelled to him.
"Yeah!" he said as he began heading towards the car. He had known better than to enter that conflict.
Getting into the car, he told Ash to hurry up. However as Ash was about to get in, Misty stopped him.
"No way," Misty said, right before the trainer sat down. "I'm not gonna let someone who doesn't like my taste in cars to ride in mine.
"Aw, c'mon Mist," Brock pleaded with the upset girl. "He didn't mean anything, he was just being an idiot.
"Hey!" Ash said. "I can hear you, you know!"
"I agree with you on that," Misty said to Brock, completely ignoring Ash's existence. "However, should that really be an excuse? Maybe if we let him stay here and starve, then he'll learn his lesson, and he'll be a little less of an idiot."
"C'mon Misty," Ash said, climbing back into the car. However, when he was about halfway in, Misty suddenly drove the car forward a little, causing him to fall back and hit the ground with a "thud".
"Not until you apologize for what you said," she told him, not sure if he would do it or not. Usually Ash wouldn't say he was sorry for anything, but since this concerned food, she figured it could go either way.
"Never!" he yelled. "This was one of the first times I've won an argument, and I'm not going to give it up." He then turned his head away from the car, acting as if he didn't care if Misty sped away right then and there.
"Fine," Misty said, pushing on the accelerator a little. Despite what he had said only moments ago though, Ash suddenly started to yell at her.
"Okay Mist, okay!" he said while running back up to the vehicle. "Fine, it's not an ugly car, but I still won the argument about who follows rules better." He knew he shouldn't have thrown in that last part, but his stubborn side simply wouldn't allow him to admit defeat so easily.
Rolling her eyes, Misty figured that was as close as she was going to get to an apology. She knew that if she wanted she could force him to say that he was wrong about the entire ordeal, but the truth was she was very hungry and didn't want to delay their meal any longer. Also, she could tell that Brock was growing sick of their childishness more by the second. Sighing, she allowed Ash to clamber into the backseat with Brock.
"I call shotgun on the way back!" Ash declared childishly as he closed the door after he had buckled in.
I shouldn't have told him about the car, Misty thought as she turned on her left blinker.
Author's note: There you go! I hope that you didn't think that I was seriously going to make Ash and Misty start falling in love with each other this early in the story. Just because she's prettier certainly doesn't mean how they feel about their relationship is instantly going to change. I changed her appearance because I knew that it had been a while since Ash had last seen her, and frankly if she were still wearing the clothes at eighteen that she had been when she was twelve, that would make her either very unhygienic, or a tramp, or both. So yeah, I decided to change her attire.
However, as I said above, the description of her appearance was certainly not my idea and I have to give licoricejellybean all the credit for how I described Misty in this chapter. If you go to LJB's fic "Accidentally in Love AAMRN" you will find almost the exact same description of her appearance. Of course, I wrote and asked LJB for permission to write up Misty as I did, and fortunately she said yes. So thank you very much LJB for allowing me to borrow some of your talent so I could act like I was a better writer than I really am.
Once again keeping in tradition, here are my weekly recommendations:
"The Refuge" by SecretAgent99 - I'm recommending this once again for two reasons. 1) I've been lazy and haven't read many new fics this week. 2) She updates regularly and the story is so superbly done by any standard that I can't resist telling y'all (the readers) about it. Seriously, I'm hooked on it and if you give it a chance, I'm sure you will be too.
"Who You Belong With" by cristipotter - This is just a very well-written one-shot. As you might tell from my recommendations, I really like one-shots when they're written with as much fluidity and description as this one, and although it may not have a certain "plot" the story itself is just intriguing. Honestly, everything I read from this girl reminds me of a Hemingway novel.
"All For One" by licoricejellybean - Once again my greatest enemy has published another chapter of her (yes, now I know they're a girl) flawlessly written story. However, if you're more like me and like boring, descriptive fics that are only updated a week at a time, stick with this one. Her fic is more of a "fun", and "interesting" story, and we all know how overrated those are. (Also, ignore any of the reviews I gave that story. I was drunk at the time, so I didn't mean to be nice)
Well that's it. PLEASE REVIEW! For some reason, about half of my regular reviewers seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth last week, so I didn't reach my 100 review mark like I had hoped. However, since I only need three, I'm pretty sure we can do it this week. However, I don't want anyone thinking I'm mad, since I'm not. Honestly, this fic is just a hobby, so please anyone who didn't review last week don't say you're sorry or anything. I promise it's not a problem; this is just a story. I can't stand it when authors try to guilt their readers into feeling bad for not reviewing every freaking installment. I know y'all have lives, and I just ask that if you find the time, then PLEASE REVIEW this fic. Alrighty then...Bye