Hello everybody! Well, here's chapter thirteen of my fic (and only two days late). As I mentioned to some of y'all, I had this chapter done by Sunday, but when I reread it for editting purposes I realized I could do so much more than I had with this situation, and so I delayed publishing it until I had rewritten it to my satisfaction. On a bright note, this is my longest chapter yet, and oddly enough, in its original form it was one of my shortest chapters yet. I think you'll all like the romance, comedy, and slight amount of angst I blended in this chapter, and although I can't say much about it without giving away the plot, I personally thought this was one of the most fun installments yet! Anyway I hope you read and REVIEW PLEASE! As I said last week, I am happy to receive just one word comments (if that's all you have time for), but please give me some insight into what you think of the chapter. Without reviewers, this story really isn't worth writing, and I greatly appreciate any and all feedback that y'all are willing to give me.
On an unrelated note, I had several winners to last week's dedication contest. So in keeping with my promise to y'all, chapter thirteen, "The Date" is officially dedicated to: HighQueen, SecretAgent99, Monte-chan, and PerlaNemesis...that's it. Seriously. Quit reading. OKAY, OKAY, FINE! My guilty conciense (is that how you spell it?) is almost eating me alive, so I'll admit this chapter's also dedicated to licoricejellybean. Happy now LJB? I've wasted TWO chapters in dedication to you (and this one's actually good). I hope you can sleep soundly at night with that greedy soul.
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
"Brock, are you sure this is all necessary?" Ash asked his friend as he examined his new outfit in the hotel room's full-length mirror.
"Of course Ash," Brock said, continuing to run the lent brush over the back of Ash's shirt. "I only wish we had gotten you lighter-colored polos than black and navy. You can see every speck of dust on this thing!" Agitated, he ran over the shirt a few more times with the brush before finally shrugging his shoulders and giving Ash a thumbs-up.
"So you think I'm ready?" Ash inquired, turning away from the mirror. He knew Brock had never been too successful at dating, or getting dates, but at the moment he felt like he needed some support.
"Well, you're definitely ready appearance-wise," Brock said, leaning against the room's sofa and rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "but I'm not so sure you're ready for this mentally."
"What do you mean mentally?"
"I mean, do you know what you're gonna talk about?" Brock asked him.
"Uh, well, I guess we're gonna talk about me being Champion, and-"
"Wrong!" Brock interrupted. "You never talk about yourself on a date. All women want to talk about ever, is themselves. You need to make sure that you never, and I mean never, discuss anything other than her!"
Taken aback by this newfound information, Ash struggled to comprehend. "So what should we talk about?" he asked, trying to fathom spending an entire evening listening to a girl talk about herself.
"Well, for starters, you should ask about her family," Brock informed the young trainer. "You know, about how many brothers and sisters she has, if she has a dog, how old is her grandmother, how many uncles does she have, if they enjoy-"
"Brock, I get it!" Ash interjected, now interrupting his friend. "Talk about the family."
"I'm not sure you do Ash," Brock told him, looking concerned. "When you're in that date, you're gonna be nervous. You may freeze up. That's why I made this." As he completed his last sentence, he handed Ash a small note card.
"What's this?" Ash asked, confusedly reading the words on the paper.
"It's a list of discussion topics I came up with if you need help," Brock said, appearing to be quite proud of himself. "If you find the conversation in a lull, just whip this out and the evening will be saved."
"Wow, Brock. Thanks!" Ash then put the note card in his khaki pants, and examined himself one more time in the mirror. "Also, thanks for the help with my hair. I thought we wouldn't ever get it to stay down." The hair had indeed taken forty-five minutes to fix, with the problem mainly due to Ash's incessant hat-wearing. However, they had finally put enough hair gel and spray on it to keep it down in the back and spiked up in the front. Although Ash wasn't sure the look suited him, he hadn't fixed his hair in so long that he was just grateful it was manageable.
"No problem," Brock said, waving his hand as if the hair had been no problem. "I'm happy to pass along any wisdom I have to you."
Wisdom? Ash thought to himself. That guy creeps out women within a ten mile radius.
However, despite his thoughts, Ash gratefully smiled at his friend and said "thanks".
"Well, we need to get you outside of the hotel. It's seven forty, and Whitney seemed excited, so she might be here early," Brock said to him, opening the hotel door for him to walk out of.
"Alright, but I wanna see Mist first," Ash said as he walked out the door.
"Misty? Why?" Brock asked, unsure of the reason Ash needed to see the fiery redhead before going on his first date.
"Because she seemed so down earlier," Ash explained, walking down the long hallway. "I just wanna make sure she's okay."
As he reached Misty's door, which was situated next to the elevator, Brock grabbed his shoulder and turned him around.
"What is it Brock?" Ash inquired, sounding annoyed as he shoved the breeder's hand off of him.
"After all our time together, I can't believe you haven't learned your lesson, Ash," Brock said, shaking his head at his friend's naivety.
"What lesson?"
"Never irritate an upset Misty," Brock stated. He had a slight undertone of exasperation in his voice. "We all know how, uh…passionate she can get when she's upset and people bug her."
"But I don't wanna bug her," Ash told him as he flailed his arms in frustration. "I wanna talk to her."
"That may be, but somehow your voice seems to bug her."
"So what? We just leave her in there locked up and upset until we leave?" Ash asked, completely irritated.
"No," Brock said, hoping to calm his friend down. "I'll tell you what. When you go off on your date, I'll go talk to Misty. Okay?"
Reluctantly, Ash agreed.
I don't need to risk messing up my clothes anyway, he thought as he entered the elevator and pushed the button for the main lobby.
"Good luck," Brock said, giving him another thumbs-up as the elevator door closed.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Ash waited in the lobby for about ten minutes before he saw a red convertible with the top down pull up in front of the hotel lobby. Walking through the sliding glass doors, he greeted Whitney as she pulled the key out of the ignition.
"Hey there Whitney," he said, feeling his heart beat a thousand times per second as he examined his date. She was wearing her long brown hair down to her waist, and had on an elegant, strapless red dress.
I definitely underdressed, Ash realized, looking down at his own attire.
"Oh, hey!" she greeted, obviously thrown off by his presence. "I got here a little early, so I was about to go in and wait for you."
"I-I thought you might show up a little early, so I was waiting in the lobby," Ash explained. He felt as if his stomach was crawling into his mouth.
"Alright." She pushed her bangs away from her eyes and giving him a perfect smile. "Well, uh, hop on in!"
Ash did as he was told, grateful for the invitation because he felt as if his legs were about to give out beneath him. As he got in the car he noticed how well-furnished it was. It had tan leather interior, with a beautifully wooden-carved dashboard.
"Wow, nice car," he complimented as he finished his inspection. "It's much better than what I've been driving around in."
"Oh, well your car is lovely," she said, starting the car again and pulling away from the hotel.
"No, really it isn't, but at least it's not mine."
"Well then, whose is it?" she asked.
"Oh, it's my friend's. Her name's Misty," he responded. Suddenly, he remembered how upset his gym leader friend had been earlier, and for a second wondered if she was feeling any better.
"Yes, I remember her," Whitney said thoughtfully. "She was the nice girl who helped get that strange man away from me, wasn't she?"
"Yeah, that was her, alright," Ash replied, wanting to laugh. He wondered how many times women had referred to Brock as "that strange man".
"When you see her again, do please be sure to thank her for me," Whitney requested as they came to a stoplight.
"No problem," Ash replied. "She's been keeping Brock away from women for years now."
"She sounds like a great girl."
"Yeah, she's pretty nice," Ash responded as the light turned green and his date turned the car to the right lane and came onto the highway. He was beginning to feel a little more comfortable as they talked about his friends.
"Are you sure she's just nice?" Whitney asked as she sped past a few cars.
"What?" Ash hollered back at her. The wind was hitting his ears as the car accelerated, and he was having trouble hearing his date.
"Hold on a sec," Whitney told him. She pushed a button next to the power switch for the radio, and the hood extended to cover the car.
"Ah, that's better," Whitney said as the hood locked tight above them. "What I was asking you was whether or not this Misty girl is more than just a friend?"
"What?" Ash asked, though this time he had heard Whitney perfectly. "Of course she's just a friend. Why would I be on a date with you if we were more than that?"
"I guess you're right," Whitney told him, appearing to blush slightly at her own curiosity. "I guess I just am having trouble believing that the Pokémon Champion of Sinnoh is going on a date with me. It feels like there has to be some sort of catch."
"Well there's no catch," Ash told her as reassuringly as he could. "I like you, and that's why I, uh, am going on a date with you." As he heard the words come out of his mouth, he was amazed at his own fluidity.
I sound as poetic as Shakespeare, he thought to himself. Well, maybe not that poetic, but I still sound pretty good.
Smiling, Whitney looked over at him and gave him a very quiet "thank you".
They then rode silently for the next few minutes until they reached the restaurant.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Whoa, Ash thought as they pulled into the front of the restaurant. The name of the eatery was "The Green Awning", and as Whitney parked the car, he could immediately tell that this was not a normal restaurant. The restaurant was a large, brick building that took on the appearance of a mansion more than a place for food. The entire structure was supported by five large, Corinthian-style columns and in the front was a large fountain with Cherubim in the center and water shooting out from all sides onto the divine beings.
"May I park your car ma'am?" asked a chauffer in a tuxedo who came from no where.
"Yes please," said Whitney, getting out of the car as the man held the door open for her.
Ash followed her into the restaurant, and was struck by how fancy the place was. As he walked towards the maitre de, he glanced at the ceiling to find that it was made up of large frescos which were held to the ceiling by golden frames. The entire floor was lit up by several chandeliers that appeared to be made of silver bases and diamond jewels.
This place looks so expensive, I bet those chandeliers really are made of silver and diamonds, Ash thought as he looked down and around at the customers.
If the restaurant itself had not impressed him, which it did very much, the people he saw eating completely shocked him.
Jabbing Whitney in the side lightly, he leaned over and whispered to her. "Hey, is that Lance over there?" he asked, pointing in the direction of the famed Kanto Elite Four member.
"Why yes, I see him here a lot," she whispered back. "Looks like he's eating alone tonight. Should I introduce you?"
"Maybe later," Ash replied. He had always been a big fan of Lance, but he was so nervous in the environment that he wasn't sure he could meet one of his idols without embarrassing himself.
As the two approached the maitre de's podium, the man, who was bald and appeared to be in his mid-fifties, looked at the couple suspiciously.
"Can I help you?" he asked, sounding as if he didn't expect them to ask for a table.
"Yes, I would like a table for two, please," Whitney told the man before Ash got a chance to reply.
"What is your name?" he asked, looking down at the large book of reservations he had in front of him.
"Oh, I didn't make a reservation," Whitney replied, non-chalantly.
"You didn't make a reservation?" Ash and the man asked simultaneously.
"Nope, but that won't be a problem. Will it?" Whitney asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes at the man.
What's she talking about? Ash thought. It's gonna be a huge problem. We should've just gone to that burger place down the road.
"I'm sorry then Miss, but it is a problem," the man replied. He sounded shocked at the girl's lack of awareness. "I'm afraid we're booked for the next month straight. If you wish to eat, then I suggest you go-"
"Here," Whitney interrupted the man. She was holding her driver's license out to the maitre de, and once again Ash felt lost.
"Whitney, I don't think showing him you can drive is gonna-"
"Not the card silly," she replied to him, while rolling her eyes jokingly. "The name on the card."
"Miss Goodshow?" the man asked, sounding shocked.
As Ash heard the name, it sounded oddly familiar. However, he couldn't place it.
"That's right," she said, giving the maitre de a sweet smile. "Now do you think we could have a table, please?"
"Why, of course," the man replied hurriedly as he grabbed two menus from behind the podium and beckoned for the couple to follow him. "Anything for the daughter of the president of the Pokémon League Competition Committee."
"What???!!!" Ash screamed as he heard the man. "Who are you???!!!"
"I'm Whitney Goodshow, Ash," she replied to him, tilting her head to the side. "Didn't you know that?"
How was I supposed to know that? Ash screamed in his head. However, he could tell that he'd already attracted enough attention as it was, and decided to just shake his head and follow his date to their table.
"I'd like to eat outside, if that's alright," she informed the maitre de as they began to climb up a winding marble staircase.
"Absolutely Miss Goodshow," the maitre de replied, sounding much happier than he had before.
As the two reached the top of the staircase, Ash noticed that there were only four large wooden doors on the second floor.
"Right this way," the man directed the young couple, walking to the door furthest to the left. He opened it up and Ash was stunned to see a large balcony with a quaint, small wooden table in the middle of it. Surrounding the guard rail of the balcony were white flowers of some kind. The table itself was already set with silverware, plates, two wine glasses, and a candle in the center.
"Here you are sir and ma'am," the maitre de said, pulling the chair out for Whitney so she could sit down.
"And here are your menus," the man continued, handing them their lists of entrees. "If there is a problem, notify me immediately. Your waiter shall be here momentarily." With that, he promptly turned towards the large door and reentered the restaurant.
Ash took his seat and sat staring across the table at Whitney. The moon was waning now, and despite the candle, he could barely make out the outlines of her face on the dark balcony.
Gulping, he opened his menu and smiled at her.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Misty, are you in there?" Brock asked, knocking on the door to her hotel room. It had been a few minutes since Ash had left, and Brock decided to check up on the young woman before he went out in town to hopefully meet some women.
"Yeah," the girl called back.
She doesn't sound upset, Brock thought.
"Mind if I come in?" he asked, hoping he could fulfill his promise to Ash quickly.
"Sure," she said. "Just hold on a sec."
He heard what sounded like a bed creaking, and then her footsteps approach the door. A second later he heard the lock being undone and the door opened. As Misty stood in the doorway, Brock was surprised by her appearance.
"Misty, why are you dressed for bed? It's only eight o'clock," he remarked, sounding surprised by her choice in attire. She was wearing her Togepi, pink button-down shirt and matching shorts which she always wore before going to sleep.
"I dunno, I just feel like going to sleep," she said, sounding more depressed than angry.
"What's the matter with you Misty?" Brock asked the girl. Just a few hours ago, she was acting perfectly normal, but something changed her mood quickly.
"Whaddya mean?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips angrily. "Just because I wanna get some sleep, you assume something's wrong?"
"Now that's the Misty I know," Brock said, grinning. "Always ready for a fight. That's why I don't understand why you've stared acting so mopey the past few hours. When we were at the park you were annoyed, but that was understandable. Then at the mall, you were happy, but on the way back here you suddenly got-"
Brock stopped himself as he realized the obvious dilemma Misty was facing. His face suddenly broke into a smile, and Misty's eyes grew wide as she understood what he was thinking.
"Brock, no!" she shouted. "I would never-"
"It's because Ash is on a date, isn't it?" Brock asked.
"Brock, if you don't shut up this instant, I'll kill you," Misty warned, beginning to blush a little at Brock's comment. "Seriously, wipe that smile off your face before I do it for you."
Although he was usually unnerved by her fiery demeanor, Brock couldn't help, but notice her reddening cheeks, and knew he had figured correctly.
"That is it, right?" he asked, still grinning.
"Wha'?" Misty said, trying her best to look confused at his question, even though she understood it perfectly. "N-no. Of course not. The r-reason I'm upset is because, uh, I never got asked out by a guy." As she heard herself make the comment, she couldn't believe her ears.
Did I really just say that? she asked herself. Could I have thought of a girlier reason to be upset?
However, her answer seemed to do the trick as Brock's grin soon dissipated into a frown.
"Is that really the reason?" Brock asked seriously. He hoped he hadn't hurt Misty's feelings with his incorrect assumptions.
"Uh, yeah, that's it," Misty said, although she was still mad at herself for the lame excuse. The truth was she didn't know why Ash's date was bugging her so badly, but she knew that if she couldn't come up with a legitimate excuse then Brock would instantly assume it was because she loved Ash.
He can be such a moron at times, she thought as she waited to hear his response to her fake excuse.
"Well, uh, that's a whole other thing than what I thought," Brock said, feeling a little nervous. He never really discussed love with Misty before.
"Yeah, well that's why I'm sad…so goodnight!" she replied, about to slam the door in his face and escape the situation.
"No, no, no," Brock said, holding the door open with his hand.
"I can't let you go to bed in this condition," he told her in that nurturing tone he had. "I'll tell you what. You get dressed and meet me in the lobby in a few minutes."
"Why?" Misty asked, dreading the answer.
"Because you're coming with me to town to meet some new guys," Brock said to her. "That'll make you feel better. You'll see; Ash isn't the only one who gets asked out in our trio."
"But, I'd really rather go to bed," Misty said, hoping to get out of the situation without arousing Brock's suspicions. If he thought she were lying, then he'd immediately go back to assuming she was upset because of Ash getting a date.
"No, no," Brock said, wagging his finger. "You'll feel much better once you talk to some guys who you like and realize you're every bit as wanted as Ash."
"But, well…fine," Misty finally relented.
Who knows? she thought. Maybe this will help me feel better.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"So why didn't you tell me you were Mister Goodshow's daughter when we first met?" Ash asked Whitney as they waited for their meals.
"I don't really know," Whitney responded. "I guess I was just so nervous I didn't think to."
"Well, at least it explains the nice car and the fancy restaurant and everything," Ash told her with a smile. "For a while there, I thought you had stolen the convertible."
"Really?" Whitney asked, suppressing a giggle. "Do I look like the thieving type?"
"No, no," Ash said, suddenly worried he offended her. "I was just joking about that, really."
"Oh, I know," she replied, flashing him another brilliant smile. "Look! Here comes the food."
Ash turned in the direction of the large doors and saw a waiter coming onto the balcony with a large tray. He handed Ash his plate first, which caused the teenager's mouth to water at the sight. He had ordered a medium-rare Porterhouse Steak with Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans. As the waiter handed Whitney her meal though, Ash felt a little guilty. All she had ordered was a large Caesar Salad.
"Um, would you like a bite of steak," Ash asked her after the waiter bid them a good evening and returned inside.
"No thank you," she declined. "I try to stay away from carbs."
What is it with girls and salad? Ash thought as he remembered Misty's meal from the night before. You'd think they were all a bunch of Bulbasaurs the way they eat vegetables all the time.
However, he kept these thoughts to himself as he cut up his first bite of steak, and brought it to his mouth.
"So…" Whitney began. She didn't seem to know what to say. "What does it feel like being the Pokémon Champion of a country?"
Hurriedly chewing the piece of meat he had just put in his mouth, Ash raised his hand to signal for her to wait a moment for his reply. Swallowing, he answered her question.
"Well, it's pretty awesome. I get recognized a lot," as he said this, he smiled at Whitney, "and I am known as one of the most powerful trainers in the world."
"That's cool," she said, sounding truly interested. "So are you gonna go for the Master rank?"
"How'd you know about that?" Ash asked, his eyes widening in surprise. "That's supposed to be a secret!"
"You do remember who my father is, don't you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at his forgetfulness. "It's hard to ignore seventeen years of constant Pokémon League discussion."
"Oh yeah," Ash said. "Sorry. Sometimes I talk before I think."
"That's no problem," she said, her smile returning. "Pokémon trainers are supposed to be instinctive. If you weren't, you wouldn't be where you are today."
"That's true," Ash agreed, picking up a spoonful of mashed potatoes. Whitney followed suit and grabbed a fork-full of salad.
This is going well, Ash thought. But Brock said for me to keep the conversation focused on her, so I better stop talking about myself.
After they had both eaten quietly for several minutes, Ash decided to reengage in conversation.
"So what is it like being the daughter to one of the most powerful men in the Pokémon League?" he asked her as she finished swallowing a mouthful of lettuce.
"Well," she said, obviously not sure of what to say, "it's pretty fun. I mean, I get to meet a lot of important people and I've never had any problems with money or anything like that, but my only problem is that it's hard to have fun when people are constantly watching you."
"Is that why you were at the mall today?" Ash asked, thinking back to that afternoon.
"Yes," she answered. "I like hanging out with my friends at the mall because it's so crowded. It's easy for people not to recognize me."
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I didn't recognize you even when I did see you," Ash said, jokingly.
"I guess I'm not that well-known," she told him. "However, I do get recognized a lot for being in some commercials for the League, and for being in the closing ceremonies of the Indigo League a few times."
"I think I remember seeing you on some of those commercials growing up," Ash mentioned, thinking back to when he was younger. He remembered the League had started an ad campaign with a little girl who would come on the television and shout "Can you catch 'em all?", while Mr. Goodshow stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders.
"Yeah, they used me a lot when I was growing up, but now I'm only asked to appear on television for important events," she explained.
"Oh," Ash said. He suddenly realized to his dismay that he couldn't think of anything other than Pokémon to talk to her about, and he could tell that subject wasn't able to carry them through the entire evening.
C'mon Ash, he thought to himself as he saw Whitney staring at him from across the table, waiting for him to bring up another topic of discussion.
Hey, I can us the list! he thought, remembering the note card of topics Brock had given him in case he ran out of things to talk about during the evening. Reaching into his left pocket as subtly as possible, he pulled the card out and took a quick glance at one of the topics. He then shoved it back in and leaned forward, hoping Brock's knowledge would be useful.
"So what are your favorite cat names?" he asked with a big smile on his face.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Brock, why are we back at the mall?" Misty whined.
"Because, it's a known fact that malls are the best places to meet members of the opposite sex," Brock said, giving a long glance at a passing group of young women.
"I'll be right back, Mist," he said, running over towards the group.
Misty sighed. She had agreed not to pull him away from any women he flirted with tonight, and she had also said she would try and meet a couple of new "friends" while they were there too, although in reality she just wanted to be back in the hotel.
I wish I could just go to bed, she thought. It wasn't that Brock had such authority over her that she couldn't leave, but she knew if she did, then he'd grow suspicious as to why she was upset.
The last thing I need is him thinking I'm upset because Ash is going out with that little nobody tonight.
"Excuse me," a young man said, snapping Misty out of her thoughts. "I just need to see where the ice cream shop is."
"Huh?" she asked, startled. "Oh I'm so sorry." She had been leaning against the large map of the mall, so she stepped to the side so he could have a better view of the layout of the store.
"It's no problem," he said, eyeing the map for a second before he turned his attention to the redhead.
He's not that bad looking, Misty silently noted as she examined him. He had neatly-combed brown hair, blue eyes, and wore a brown sports coat with jeans and a button-down green shirt. He certainly dresses nicer than Ash.
Suddenly she wondered why she even thought to compare him to Ash.
"I'm just bored so I thought I'd go grab a bite," he continued to tell her. "Sad that a twenty year old guy has nothing better to do on a Friday night, huh?"
"Not sadder than a seventeen year old with nothing to do," Misty said, laughing. The young man followed her lead and laughed some too.
"My name's Chip, by the way," the man told her, holding out his hand to shake. "What's yours?"
"Mine's Misty," Misty replied, taking his hand with a firm grip. "Misty Waterflower."
"Whoa, Misty Waterflower?" Chip asked, sounding impressed. "You mean the Misty Waterflower that's leader of the Cerulean Gym?"
"Was leader of the Cerulean Gym," she informed him. "I'm on hiatus right now as I continue working towards becoming a Water Pokémon Master."
"Dang," Chip remarked with a smile, "that's awesome. I've always admired trainers for their hard word and persistence. I mean, it's gotta be tough becoming a Water Pokémon Master, right?"
"Yeah, it's kind of hard," Misty said, feeling her ego grow at his comment, "but I've always liked challenges."
"Well that's cool," Chip said. Suddenly, his face changed from displaying excitement to worry.
"Is something the matter?" Misty asked Chip, wondering what could have suddenly changed the man's demeanor so quickly.
"No, not at all," Chip replied, suddenly smiling again. "It's just that I was wondering if you'd like to grab some ice cream with me real quick. I mean, if you're hungry or something."
"I'd love to," Misty replied as she felt her heart skip a beat at his invitation.
I never thought I'd get asked out, Misty thought as she began to follow Chip to the ice cream shop on the second floor.
"Misty! Where are you going?" Brock suddenly asked her from behind. Turning around, she could see that he had struck-out once again, and was alone.
"Me and Chip here are just gonna grab a little ice cream," Misty said, indicating who Chip was with her thumb. "I'll meet you back here in an hour, 'kay?"
"I understand," Brock said slyly. A large grin spread across his face.
Shut up Brock! Misty silently screamed at the breeder. She hated it when she was proven wrong.
"Are you coming Misty?" Chip called as he turned and saw she was no longer walking with him.
"Oh yeah," Misty said, running up to him. "Coming!"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Why do you keep throwing my questions back at me?" Whitney asked Ash. By her tone of voice, it was obvious that she was irritated.
"What are you talking about?" Ash asked, feeling completely innocent.
"What am I talking about?" Whitney almost screamed back at him. "First you start asking me a million weird questions, and then when I try to get you to act normal, you just ask me my own question with different wording!"
"But women are supposed to like talking about themselves!" Ash replied. He felt as if he'd been tricked. "I didn't want to talk about myself!"
"I'm supposed to like talking about myself? How selfish do you think I am?"
"I dunno," Ash said, knowing he'd already lost control of the situation. "I just heard that somewhere and thought that it sounded true."
"I can't believe this," Whitney said, almost hysterical now. "You just put all women into one category? How chauvinistic can you be?"
"Hey, I'm not a chauvinist," Ash responded quickly. "I'm a Kantonian."
"You're a moron!" Whitney screamed. She couldn't believe that an evening that had started so well could end so horribly.
"I didn't mean to insult you," Ash explained. He was hoping to somehow salvage the date, although it seemed impossible at the moment. "See? I had this list of conversation topics that a friend gave me. Those things I said really weren't even my idea." As he told her, he pulled the card out and showed her.
"What?" she asked ripping the list from his hand. Scanning it quickly, she soon turned her attention back to the frightened young man on the other side of the table. "You had someone write out your conversations for you?"
"Yeah, see?" he said, thinking the worst was over. "I was just getting some tips for the date, and my friend thought-"
"What kind of a moron is your friend?" she interrupted. She looked at the list of topics and began to read aloud. "Topic number one: favorite cat names. Topic number three: favorite percussion instrument. Topic number fifty-four: least favorite parent."
"The list is kinda long," Ash quietly admitted.
"You think?" the enraged woman asked. "Next thing I know, you'll be telling me that it was that pervert who tried to marry me in the parking lot that wrote this list!"
"Uh, yeah. That'd be something, huh?" Ash asked as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Probably isn't the best time to bring that up, he thought to himself.
"I just don't get why you couldn't be yourself on this date," Whitney said, sounding as if she were beginning to cool down.
"I was just nervous," Ash told her. He couldn't believe he had screwed up his first date so badly.
"Well, your nervousness has ruined my evening!" she shot back at him. "I think you should leave."
"How?" Ash asked. It wasn't as if he could just climb into a car and drive off.
"There's a private cab for diners who can't drive themselves home," she informed him. "You can go home in that."
"Alright," he said, taking out his wallet. "How much did this cost?"
"Don't worry about the cost," she told him as she turned her head to the side and rolled her eyes. "They owe my dad a free meal for a favor."
"O-okay," Ash said, standing up. He quietly walked towards the door that led to the inside of the restaurant.
"I really am sorry about all this," he told her before he stepped inside.
"So am I," she responded, still not looking over at him.
He closed the door and explained that he needed a ride to the maitre de, who agreed to let him ride the private cab to the hotel. As he rode back, he felt as if he'd swallowed a brick.
This feels almost as bad as losing a battle, he realized.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"So Chip gave you his number, eh?" Brock continued to prod as the two began their ascent to the third floor of the hotel.
"Yes Brock," Misty replied, sounding exasperated. "He gave me his number. Is it really that big of a surprise?"
"It is when you think of how you were feeling earlier," Brock said, smiling. "Looks like my diagnosis was right after all. Maybe I should become a psychiatrist instead of a Pokémon breeder, huh?"
"Yeah Brock," Misty said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Then you can cure your girl-craziness."
"Whatever," Brock said flippantly. "The point is I was right."
Misty ignored the comment and looked down at the card Chip had given her. It turned out he was a student at Vermillion College, and was currently interning at a local bank to help him get a job as an accountant when he graduated. She had learned a lot about him over the last hour or so, and she felt glad to have met him.
Now Ash isn't the only one with a partner, Misty thought as she smiled to herself. I guess I really was just feeling undesirable. And here I was thinking it was something else.
As the door to the elevator opened, Brock invited her to his room for some television until Ash got back.
"We'll wanna know how his date went," Brock said, explaining his invitation. "It's only ten-thirty, so he probably won't be back for a while."
However, both Brock and Misty were shocked when they opened the door to Ash's and his room and found that the trainer was not only already home, but packing his bags.
"Ash?" Brock and Misty asked in unison.
"Oh, hey guys!" he greeted, temporarily turning away from his small suitcase to wave to them. "I was wondering where you were."
"We just went to the mall for a while," Brock explained. "Why are you back already?"
"Well Brock-o, let's just say I took your advice."
"Oh my gosh," Misty groaned as she slapped her forehead with her right palm. "You mean Brock gave you dating advice and you actually took it?"
"Yep," Ash replied. "I won't be making that mistake again."
"What?" Brock asked, sounding earnest in his shock. "You mean my conversation topics didn't do the trick?"
"Nope," Ash responded, shaking his head. "Apparently women don't like talking about their favorite dead relative on a first date."
"That's odd," Brock noted. "I thought that she would appreciate an unusual dinner conversation rather than the boring, run-of-the-mill first date chats."
Ash didn't respond, and instead grabbed his new hiking shoes and shoved them into the suitcase.
"So why are you packing Ash?" Misty asked him.
"I've decided that we can leave tonight," Ash told them.
"Tonight?" Brock asked, completely shocked. "But it's almost eleven and Saffron's a good four hour drive."
"Yeah, but I checked the schedule I prepared and realized that in my rush to accept the date invitation, I forgot that we were supposed to leave here today. Tomorrow I'm supposed to meet Sabrina and ask her if I can borrow Haunter for a while."
"But couldn't we just leave tomorrow?" Brock asked. "We could get up really early."
"I'd rather leave tonight," Ash replied simply. "Besides, I don't feel too good sticking around here when there's a chance I'll run into Whitney."
"We can go tonight," Misty interjected. She felt bad for Ash as she watched him pack. It was obvious he was upset. "I'll go get my stuff ready."
"Oh, fine," Brock relented, grabbing his own suitcase from the small closet beside one of the twin beds. "We'll leave tonight."
As Misty returned to her room, she reflected on how hurt Ash looked. Although Brock clearly couldn't see it, she had noticed immediately that something wasn't right.
Ash must be feeling pretty terrible, she thought as she unlocked the door to her room. Stepping in, she put the keys back in her pocket and felt a piece of paper. Taking it out, she saw it was Chip's card.
Guess I won't need this if we're leaving tonight, she thought. However, strangely, she didn't feel remorse as she tore the card in two and dropped it in the trash can.
Author's Note: I hope y'all enjoyed reading this one as much as I enjoyed writing it! I think that I did a pretty good job of keeping Ash immature, while also showing that he isn't a complete moron. I hate fics that depict him as an idiot who can't tie his own shoes. While I admit that in the show he was proven to be very dense, I don't think that as he gets older he gets stupider, you know? Also, I know Whitney didn't have much character development, but frankly she was barely in two chapters, and I don't plan on incorporating her in the future, so giving her a specific personality seemed like a waste of the reader's time, at least in my opinion. I really just wrote her and Chip in to show that both Misty and Ash aren't thinking "I can't like anyone else because I'm in love with Ash/Misty". The truth is its been a few years, and it's going to take a while for any relationship to advance. I know for a fact that I've lost a few readers now because they've thought that I'm moving their relationship too slowly, but frankly this is the way I believe it is plausible. If I ran into my crush from when I was in Junior High, I wouldn't just start making out with her there on the street, and I think the same rule applies in the Pokemon world (unless there was an episode I missed where they covered it). Anyway, I hope all of y'all can appreciate the several shipping hints I did put in the story and see those as steps forward in Misty and Ash's relationship (albeit they're not leaps). However, if you disagree with my views on the characters, or think I should point the story in a different direction, just REVIEW PLEASE! If you REVIEW then I can hear your opinion and possibly edit my fic to better suit your interests.
Anyway, in keeping with tradition, here's this weeks recommendations:
"One Year Anniversary" by pokeshipper409 - This AAML is a little angsty (which I normally hate), but this author handles even the worst situations with such grace and style that I couldn't tear myself away from this fic. It's a long, chaptered fic, but it's complete now, and definitely worth reading.
"Misty the Matchmaker" by AngelicFairy - Definitely not the type of story I'd normally read, but I started it, and now I'm recommending it to y'all. While this story is a little too "cute" for my personal taste, I think that many of y'all will definitely like this ongoing story of AF's that is very well-written, and pretty true to life.
"Misty Returns to DiamondPearl" by HighQueen - I'm recommending this fic again because now I've started reading it and enjoy it very much. It takes what I consider to be a pretty realistic view at what the show would be like if MIsty returned to the show right now (which, as a pokeshipper, I completely support). I'll definitely be reading the next chapter soon (as soon as I get a little sleep).
I also wanted to mention again that chapter fourteen won't be out until Sunday, August 30 because this week my football team's having Hell Week, and I don't think I can complete a chapter of my fic with as sore as I feel (typing is a painful experience on its own). However, do keep your eyes open for a new fic I am starting that is basically a parody/comedy fic which I think many will like (although I may be wrong). Since I will be writing it just for fun, it definitely won't interfere with "A New Journey" and I may have it published soon because I'm really not putting 100% effort into it (because, as I said, it's just a little parody fic). If you get the chance, read it when I publish it.
Anyway, REVIEW PLEASE and have a nice day.