I tried to make this just a rather laid back episode of the group just enjoying themselves after what had happened., but there will still be some major plot beats in this one! And I know that some of you asked for some more Ash x Misty, well here is the chapter that you wanted.
The Very Best:
Chapter 14:
A Day By The Shore
Opening (If you really want to): chAngE (From Bleach, composed by Miwa)
It had been almost a full week since the group had left Mitis Town behind, and Ash had not been doing well.
The eleven year old was not joking about the whole training thing. Not only had he been teaching new moves to his Pokémon and making them all level up at a rapid pace, but he had also been training his body as well. He would do a two mile run each day to make himself faster along with other exercises that trained the rest of his body, mostly focus on his stomach and chest area. This resulted in him eating very little each day and barley getting any sleep, even staying up an entire night to get stronger.
Something was clearly wrong Ash.
Everyone also did their own training as well, but none of them were as hardcore as Ash. Misty had gotten to know about her new Squirtle and they were actually pretty quick friend's, but Wartortle didn't seem interested in talking with Squirtle. The girl had mostly been training Magikarp and Squirtle, as she wanted either of them to evolve.
Ryan and Sakura were currently using their new evolved Pokémon to see what they were now capable of. Not only was Ivysaur capable of using the move Razor Leaf, but Misty had taught Nidorina how to use Ice Beam attack as well. Ryan and Sakura's friendship had tried to develop during this time, but it would always end in a rather awkward way.
Two important thing had happen during this time, and one of them was that Brock's Zubat had finally evolved. Zubat had become a Pokémon called Golbat, a large blue bat with super long wings. Unlike its pre-evolved form, Golbat actually has eyes. He also has two long, skinny feet. But the most distinct feature of Golbat was his large mouth with four sharp teeth.
And the second thing was that Ryan had finally gained his second badge from Misty herself after they had battled. Ryan had used only used his Ivysaur to defeat Misty, who had used both Seel and Starmie in the fight. Ryan was able to comfortably get the Cascade Badge from Misty, now feeling prepared for when he did reach Vermillion.
The night sky had fallen upon the group after a long day of training, especially for Ash. It was rather late before he and Wartortle slowly made it to camp. Misty was waiting there patiently for the two of them, not happy that Ash had went away for so long again.
"Ash!" She instantly yelled as she came up to him. "Where have you? Brock should've brought you back hours ago!"
"Sorry, but I had to lose him in order to actually make some serious progress." Ash told Misty in a polite way.
You can see how all of this training was beginning to affect the young boy. Ash's eyes had deep bags underneath from lack of any real sleep these past few days. His skin was now slightly tan and darker after spending all that time in the sun. His body was now slightly thinner after all that physical training and lack of food within him. The necklace that Misty had given him so long ago was still around his neck.
Misty was not happy that Ash had been doing this. "You can't keep doing this to your body. You and Wartortle are slowly killing yourselves by doing this."
"Wartortle." The Pokémon replied in a weak way. Wartortle's face was no longer all bruised up anymore, but there was still a small bruise present on his cheek. Wartortle also had dark bags underneath his eyes as he also didn't get that much sleep, wanting to help Ash in any way that he could.
Ash just waved it off like it was nothing. "I'm fine. Just us let go to bed so that we can train for tomorrow." Before Ash and Wartortle could continue to move forward, Misty stood in their way.
"Oh no. You aren't going off again tomorrow." Misty told in a strict, but still gentle way. "All of us agreed that we should be going to the beach that is about 10 minutes away to enjoy ourselves, and I want you to be with us."
"Sorry. But I need t-"
"I am not taking no as an answer." Misty told in a very stern way, interrupting the still kind voice of Ash. "Don't you think that you have enough training as it is?"
Ash was starting to get a bit upset by this, but he still kept a kind face for his best friend. "We just can't stop now. I feel like we are starting to make some serious progress now."
"S-So your just going to keep doing this until you work yourself to death?"
"I just want us to be strong for any threats that might appear later." Ash tried to explain as his anger was starting to come out. "Who knows what might happen."
"We aren't going to get harmed by anything while were at the beach, alright?" Misty finally yelled as she tried to take deep breaths to calm herself. "All of us are going to enjoy ourselves tomorrow."
"I'm not coming, and that's final!"
Ash and Misty were practically a few inches from each other as they glared at the other, poor Wartortle off to do side as he was to scared to intervene.
"This seems like a good spot."
"I think this will work for today." Misty told Brock in a cheerful and determined way as she looked at the water pushing against the hard sand.
Everyone was now at the beach that Misty had talked about as it was now early noon for them. All of them had something that they were holding as they rented it out for the day from the shack nearby, a place that also sold some ice cream as well. Everyone was now a few meters away from the shore as they saw the clear blue water in front of them. A red and white inactive light house in the distance.
"How was she able to actually talk me into this?" Ash silently thought to himself with a sweat drop as he was carrying the cooler with all the food and drinks in there. The boy was now wearing a simple black swimsuit that showed off his somewhat toned body, he also lacked shoes and his star necklace as well. Wartortle was right by Ash and was carrying a towel for anyone to lay on.
"Someone doesn't look happy." Sakura commented in a joking, but still stoic way. The pink haired girl was wearing a black one piece swimsuit that exposed both of her legs and completely covered her chest. She was holding onto a 6 foot long parasol that was multicolored with both of her hands. The girl was also lacking her glasses as well.
"Yeah. why don't you lighten up, Ash?" Brock asked the boy as he and Wartortle laid down the large towel. Unlike everyone else there, Brock wasn't wearing a swimsuit. The former Gym Leader was simply wearing khaki shorts, a short sleeved button up shirt with a flower pattern, and black sandals. Both of them finished setting up the the towel as Sakura came to put in the parasol.
"I just rather not be here today." Ash simply answered in response. A hand placed on his shoulder.
"Well, just enjoy your time here while you can." Ryan advised with a care free smile. The boy was wearing a green bathing suit as he was also wearing the same black sunglasses that he had gotten all the way back in Cerulean. He was holding two yellow fold up chairs underneath his armpit as he walked ahead from the standing Ash.
"I just know that today is going to be great." Misty declared with complete confidence. The girl was wearing a red bikini that showed her thin and great looking body. Her hair was completely down as her ponytail was no longer present and revealed her bushy hair. A beachball was in her hand as she looked forward with a great amount of optimism in her eyes.
Ryan had finished setting up the chairs as Brock decided to lay back within one of the chairs as he took out a bottle of water from the cooler. "I'll just sit down for a while." He announced before he began to drink the water.
"I'll just join you underneath the shade." Sakura said in a calm way as she sat right beside the empty seat, being left in her own thoughts as she didn't want to read her book today.
"Looks like you and Ash are going to enjoy some time with me in the water." Misty told the Pokémon in a cheerful way as she looked at Wartortle.
"Wartortle." The Water type yelled with a big smile.
"In fact, let's bring all the Water types out here to enjoy themselves!" Misty took out her 4 Poke Balls and launched them up into the air. Her Starmier, Seel, Magikarp, and new Squirtle all came out and landed onto the shallow water. Magikarp was forced to go down because it wasn't able to breath in shallow water. "Everyone; Have Fun!"
"Starmie!"
"Seel!"
"Squirtle!"
All of Misty's Pokémon cheered out loud as they were ecstatic that they got be by the ocean. Magikarp jumped out of and gave a mighty flop in the air to show his gratitude for Misty. "Do they really have to be this loud?" Sakura thought to herself with a frown on her usually blank face.
Just as they were about to begin the water, Misty realized that someone wasn't here. "Where's Ash?"
"Seel." The little Pokémon pointed to a direction that was behind her and making everyone turn.
Instead of smiling or putting all of his focus on the fun in front of him, Ash was just sitting down and read a book out in the open sun with a blank face on him. Misty saw that Ash was reading on a book about the combat of Pokémon, a book that he had taken from Sakura and somehow brought with him. Misty just let out a sigh after seeing Ash doing something like this on their beach trip.
Wartortle quickly came up to his Trainer and swiftly removed the book from Ash's hands. Ash instantly went to grab the book from Wartortle, but Misty was able to grab both of his hands to stop Ash from getting the book. Ash tried to get out of the shockingly strong grip of Misty.
"I need that book!" Ash yelled out. Misty was able to push him to the ground and make the boy lay on the sand.
Misty was clearly unhappy by this. "We came here to have some fun. I want you to stop focusing on that for today." Misty said in a very serious way.
"Wartortle." Wartortle tossed the book aside and made it land in the lap of Brock, who was very startled by that.
Ash was ready to defy them before he saw that Misty was popping her knuckles in case she had to use force to make her best friend comply. Ash knew that Misty and every other Water type would make him have fun, so there wasn't really an option to not do this. Even though Misty wasn't as rude or as mean as she was back at the beginning of the journey, she was still a monster that should be feared when she got angry.
"But Brock and Sakura aren't doing anything." Ash told the pair as he was watching as Ryan was coming back with something.
"That's because Brock didn't bring a bathing suit to swim. And Sakura isn't because... Well, she's Sakura." Misty told Ash as she genuinely couldn't give a good enough explanation for Sakura. Ash just gave a large groan as Misty and and Wartortle brought him over into the water.
Brock and Sakura were still underneath the shade of the parasol as Ash was slowly being dragged to where the ocean was. Brock was now about to finish his second water bottle and was about to reach his third while Sakura opened a soda called 'Big Green' as she slowly began to drink, watching as the small clouds drifted off through the air.
"Hey. Sakura."
The girl calmly turned around after hearing the sound of Ryan's voice. She was quitely caught off guard to see that two ice cream cones were in both of the hands of Ryan one mint chocolate chip and one vanilla. The boy gave a warm smile as he brought the vanilla closer to Sakura. "This is for you." He said in a kind way.
"Why would you get me this?" Sakura asked in a surprised, but still calm way.
Ryan was handing over the ice cream to the quiet girl as he was about to explain. "Well, I just though that w-"
As Ryan was about to give Sakura her ice cream, the vanilla fell out of the cone and landed on the skin of Sakura's thighs. The ice cream landed on Sakura and a drop began to melt down her skin, the girl made no comment as to how cold the thing was. Ryan was silently terrified on the inside as he thought that he had just made the biggest, and possibly last, mistake of his life. His skin turned pale white as sweat ran down his face.
Sakura silently grabbed the glob of ice cream from her leg and held it up in her hand. Ryan was prepared for her to throw it at him, but that isn't what she did. Sakura brought the vanilla to her mouth and licked a part of it off, seeing how well it tasted.
"I have tasted better." She simply said in surprising calm way.
Ryan slumped his shoulders down as he now felt safe again. "Y-You don't hate it?"
"I may not hate it, but that doesn't mean I like it." Sakura explained as she took another lick from her hand ice cream, looking at Ryan with a raised eyebrow. "Well. Aren't you going to eat your ice cream?"
Ryan just realized that his own ice cream was beginning to melt and decided to finally start working on it, sitting right beside Sakura. neither said anything or even looked at each other as they ate their ice cream, Sakura finishing way before Ryan could. The girl had to wash off her now very sticky hand with the water in the ocean while everyone was having fun in the water, with Ash being the exception.
Ryan noticed as Sakura began to walk away from them, not even half way done with his ice cream yet. "Where are you off to?"
"Just going to walk by the shore." Sakura answered like it was nothing, seeing that Ryan stood up to go right to her.
"May I please join you? I promise not to make it as weird as last time."
"Sure." Ryan was quite shocked that Sakura instantly agreed with the proposal, but didn't say anything. He was right by her side before he gently held hands with Sakura, an action that he had no idea where it came from.
Sakura quickly slapped his hand away and grabbed ahold of it with a strong grip. Ryan instantly regret his action as he saw his hand get brought to eye level with Sakura giving a not to happy look at him.
"No touch." Was the only that Sakura said in a calm way, Ryan quickly nodded in a nervous way. Sakura let go his hand and watch Ryan breath out a huge sigh of relive. "Sorry about that. I just don't like to be touched."
"It's fine." Ryan told her in a reassuring way as he looked up from his hand. "Let's just go on the walk."
"I agree."
And just like that, Ryan and Sakura began to leave the group behind and walk along the long shore of the beach. Even tough they weren't touching each other, they were still close to each other as they walked across the sand. While most of the group didn't seem to notice the two walking away together, except for one person.
"I wonder where there off to." Brock thought to himself with a smirk as he watched the two of them left the group behind as no one else watched them leave, drinking from his third bottle of water.
The two silently walked through the sand as one side had the forest that they were still staying in, and the other had the still calm waters of the ocean going up and down. Neither Ryan or Sakura said anything as the minutes passed as they walked across the sand, still close to each other even if they didn't make any physical contact yet. The silence between them was downright deafening.
"So... do you like the beach?" Ryan suddenly asked as he decided to break the silence between them.
"I guess it's okay." Sakura said in a rather bored way.
"That's nice to know." Ryan responded as he scratched his head, trying to think of anything to say. "Why dose this have to be so awkward?!" He thought to himself.
"What are you thinking about?" Sakura questioned out of nowhere, starling the boy for a split second.
"Oh. I-I'm just wondering what I should eat later." Ryan lied in as he tried to put a smile. The girl merely scoffed at this answer and gave a very unimpressed look at Ryan.
"Your lying skills are terrible." She told in a brutally honest way. "What are you actually thinking about?"
Ryan just let out a sigh as he saw is poorly made lie didn't even remotely work on the stoic pink haired girl. "Well, I guess I'm just worried if Ash will snap out of this weird phase that he is in right now. I hope this little vacation will make him stop and actually focus on his journey again."
"He'll snap out of it eventually." Sakura reassured in a calm way. "And if you really want to after that third gym badge, then you try to Vermillion like I have."
Ryan was instantly confused by the last part, cleaning his ear to see if he heard correctly. "Wait. What?"
"I tried to escape to go straight for Vermillion two separate times during this past week, but I sadly got caught both times." She admitted like it was nothing. "The first time I got caught by Misty, and the second was Brock."
"Were you really just going to leave us behind like that?" Ryan asked in a somewhat angry way.
"I was going to leave a note to tell you that I was going to wait there for you." She responded in a still stoic way. "I'm not that heartless."
"I sometimes wonder if you actually care about the group."
"I do care." Sakura said like it was a pure fact. "I may not ever really show it, but I care."
"You don't really seem to show any kind of emotion." Ryan remarked as they continue to walk across the sandy beach. "You are always just so calm and emotionless that it's hard to tell how you fell. You never even want to show your smile or feelings to anyone."
"Emotions are often perceived to be a sign of weakness to people." Sakura simply explained in a still calm way. The girl then looked down at the ground in a rather subconscious way, a small frown or usually plain face. "Besides, I personally think my smile is ugly."
"I don't think it's ugly." Ryan instantly told her, making Sakura scoff once again.
"I already told you, your lying skills are horrible."
"But I'm not lying. I meant what I said." Ryan told in the most genuine way imaginable. "In fact, I think everything about you is great."
Sakura stopped dead in her tracks after hearing that, Ryan also stopping as well. Unlike last time, Ryan wasn't embarassed that he had just said something like this to Sakura. The girl was actually shocked that anyone would say this to her, especially considering how she always treated Ryan. The boy moved his hand to grab onto Sakura's, but he stopped himself before he could grab it. He didn't want to upset the girl in any way right now, and he was silently cursing himself for attempting to do that.
Just as Ryan was about to remove his hand from even being near Sakura, The girl actually gently grabbed the hand of Ryan. The boy was shocked that the always quiet and reserved would actually do something like this. Sakura was silently thinking to herself before she looked up at the boy, emotion in her usually blank green eyes.
"No one... has ever said that to me before." Sakura admitted as she looked at Ryan directly in the eye, accidently letting out a kind smile. "Thank you."
"Well, I don't think your ugly in any way." Ryan responded as he also gave a smile to the girl. "After all, I'll always be your friend."
"Friend." Sakura said in actually kind way as she gave a small nod as well.
"Slowpokeee."
Both Ryan and Sakura stopped to look at where that noise just came from. laying on a rock was a mostly pink colored Pokémon. He had four legs that a white claw at the end of each one, along with a long tail that was remaining motionless. His mouth was a pale brown color. The Pokémon didn't seem to notice the two people staring at him as his eyes were looking off into who knows where.
"W-What is that Slowpoke doing?" Ryan instantly asked as they slowly walked up to the still oblivious Water type.
Sakura was closely inspecting the Pokémon to see if there was something wrong with him. "He doesn't look hurt, but he doesn't even realize that we're here."
"So now what?" Ryan asked as he looked at the still very dopey Slowpoke that wasn't even moving in the slightest.
"I think you should capture him."
Ryan wasn't expecting that answer. "Why me?"
"Because your entire team is literally weak to fire." Sakura explained in her normal calm way.
Ryan knew that this was true and that this Slowpoke would make an interesting addition to his team, but their was one problem. "I can't capture him now, because I a promise to Misty that we would help me get a Water in Vermillion. I just can't brake the deal."
Sakura just gave a calm and quite nod at this. She knew that it wouldn't be right or fair if Ryan just left Misty behind like it was nothing. She wanted Ryan to get this Slowpoke, and have Misty go with someone. An idea came to her mind.
"How about I go with Misty instead of you?" She suggested, making Ryan slightly perk up.
"You'd really do that for me."
Sakura walked up to Ryan and placed something into his hand, a Great Ball. "I'll go and get my own Water type with Misty, just like how you're going to get this Slowpoke all on your own."
Ryan just gave a small smile as he looked down at the ground, feeling a bit flustered. "Thank you for this."
The boy turned to face the Water type, who was still just sitting on the rock like absolutely nothing was happening. Ryan took a deep inhale as he readied his throwing arm for the Slowpoke, keeping a firm grip on the Great Ball.
The boy let out a slow breath out as he threw his Great Ball at Slowpoke, who didn't even try to make any kind of movement as the ball came to him. The Great Ball was able to bring Slowpoke inside and close him into it. Ryan seemed nervous as the ball landed on the rock while Sakura remained impassive, silently hoping that Ryan got it.
One shake.
Two shake.
Three shake.
Four shake.
Five shake. The Great Ball stood still as the light on the button had turned off.
Ryan had caught the Slowpoke!
The boy slowly walked up to the Great Ball and examined it through his sunglasses, not entirely sure on how to feel about this. He felt happy that he had a new member on his team that would help him, but he still felt guilty that he broke Misty's deal like that. He hoped that she would understand when he told her.
"Welcome to the team, Slowpoke." Ryan finally thought to himself as he placed the Great Ball in the pocket of his swimsuit.
"I thought you would've been more happy with this catch." Sakura remarked, making Ryan turn to her.
"I am happy." Ryan then looked up to see where the sun was, realizing that they have been gone for a long time. "I think it's time that we head back."
"I agree."
The then began to walk away from the location that they had found Slowpoke to where all the other members of the group were. Both made small talk from time to time, but none of them really lasted long enough. Even though Sakura did not smile the entire time she didn't use her calm voice that much, actually talking to the person she considered a friend in a kind way. Ryan just kept on smiling as he looked at the pink haired girl that he personally though was beautiful.
Now knowing that Sakura may not be the empty girl that they all once thought.
Ash had not made a real movements since he had entered the calm water.
He didn't want to do this right now.
While everyone else in the water was obviously enjoying themselves, Ash just remained calm and still as the water was above his knees at this point. Brock was now merely taking a nap on the chair after feeling tired, six empty bottles of water right beside him. Misty slowly went up to Wartortle while everyone else was having fun.
"Ash is looking really bored right now." She silently told Wartortle as they watched the boy with concern. "I'll see if I can encourage him."
"Wartortle." The Water type simply nodded.
Misty walked up to Ash through the water ad stopped right beside him. Ash was so bored at that point that it took him a few seconds to realize that Misty had come up to him. "Oh. Is everything?" He asked with concern in his voice.
"Everything is fine, but I have one thing to tell you." Misty said as she placed a hand on both of Ash's shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry for wh-"
Ash wasn't able to finish his sentence, or even think about what was happening, before Misty used her force to make land on his back in the sand. Ash's entire head submerged underwater as Misty quickly ran away from him. She and Wartortle hoped that would be enough to make the boy finally put effort in this beach trip.
Ash was able to quickly stand up and cough up all the water that had entered into his system. He looked at the pair with a very determined look in his eyes, a thing that just about all of them were used. Finally, a smile of pure confidence was present on his face.
A smile that none of them have seen in days.
"Looks like you really want to play this game with me."
Ash was able to surprisingly make his way through the water and quickly came to Misty, launching a large wave of water with his hands. Misty was able to protect her face from the water, but most of the water had made her hair wet almost instantly. The girl was not pleased by her hair now being dripping with water.
"Alright. Now you've asked for it."
The girl gathered water in her hand and launched it at Ash, who merely laughed it off as he didn't even try to block or dodge it. The two Trainers traded blows with each other as they continued to throw water, sometimes even trying to drag the other person into the water. Both of them laughed as they were doing this, obviously having fun right now.
Squirtle was watching the two Trainer's having a good time as they enjoyed themselves. Wartortle silently came up behind and pushed the Squirtle into the water, just like how Misty pushed Ash in. The Squirtle gave a look of determination as they tried to attack each other with water. Soon enough, everyone else in the water began to do this do each other.
At this point, everything went into chaos. And yet, they we're all laughing and enjoying this. All of the continued to play rough with each other as they all had the most care-free attitude imaginable. all of this ruckus eventually woke up Brock from his little nap, and the Former Gym Leader just gave a silent chuckle after seeing this.
They all just seemed so cheerful right now.
Ash and Misty continued to playfully brawl until they accidently came out of the water, laughing as they finally decided to stop their skirmish while everyone else continued to play in the water. Wartortle decided to leave the fight with Squirtle to rest on the lap of Ash, leaving Squirtle to go against everyone else.
The felt content at just looking at the slowly falling sun as the sat right by each, small smiles upon their faces. Ash felt like it had been forever since he actually had fun like that, and he began to regret that he even tried to avoid this in the first place. The boy then turned his head to look at the first companion that he had ever made on this journey.
Ash saw just how amazing Misty looked like right now, especially with seeing her hair down. The girl in front of him just looked so great to him, and he was no wondering why her sisters ever called her ugly in the first place. She just looked so lovely in his eyes.
"You know. I never really thought about it before, but why do you always have your hair up in a ponytail?" Ash asked as he looked ay how great she looked with her hair down.
"I did my hair like this because I wanted to be different from my sisters. I didn't want to have my hair to be even remotely like theirs." She explained as she gently touched her head and look at the boy. "Do you not like my ponytail?"
"I do like it. But I personally think you look pretty with your hair down."
Misty wasn't expecting this kind of answer as her voice accidently became a bit timid. "Yo-You really think that I look pretty."
"Of course I do." Ash reassured in his usual kind way.
"Wartortle!" The Pokémon said as well.
Misty gently touched her hair again, now feeling a bit different. Even though she would say that she think her hair was perfect in every single way, that isn't what she thought about herself. She had always thought that she wasn't pretty at all and that no one would ever be interested in someone as ugly as her.
But hearing someone, that had been with for months, calling her pretty was something she thought no one would ever call her. Misty could see that Ash wasn't trying to lie or just say to her without actually meaning it. A deep and weird feeling felt enhanced after hearing this, an emotion that she had been felling whenever she was around Ash.
"Thank you, Ash." She finally said back in a warm tone of voice.
The boy just gave his usually happy smile. "Anything for a friend."
"SEEL! SEEL!"
The three of them, along with Brock, turned after hearing the distress from Seel. Starmie, Seel, and Squirtle all fled the water after feeling a very dangerous presence nearby. All of them gathered around Misty as she returned Magikarp to his Poke Ball, since the poor Water type couldn't do much outside of the water. Both of the the Trainers were waiting for what was about to come, even Wartorlte didn't back down despite feeling the strong Pokémon nearby.
A new Pokémon that none of them had ever encountered before suddenly popped out of the water.
The Pokémon was a male that had a white, circular, gem-like object on their forehead. Their eyes were light purple, and it had what looked to be two developing wings at the sides of it's head. It has a white belly, and is light blue the rest of the way. It overall looked like some sort of snake or sea monster, and their overall size made every other Pokémon looked feeble compared to him. No one could believe that this creature was ever in the water in the first place.
It was a Dratini.
Everyone there, besides Wartortle and Ash, couldn't believe what they were just seeing right now. "I-It can't be." Brock somehow managed to say in a voice that was below a whisper.
Ash instantly made stood up and stood directly behind his Wartortle. "Use your Ice Beam attack!"
Wartortle took a quick second before he realized what he was just told to do. Wartortle quickly began to charge up the beam in his hands and aimed directly at the Dragon type, taking only a few seconds thanks to all that practice that Ash had given him. He launched the Ice Beam from his hand and made go directly to where Dratini was.
The Dratini was able to turn around quickly enough to see the attack coming. He was able to quickly slither out of the way the attack and get out of the water to land on the sand. Wartortle attack went far away, eventually disappearing into nothingness after not hitting anything. The Dragon type looked at the Wartortle in a enraged way.
"Dratini!" The Pokémon hissed in anger.
"Wartortle." Wartortle responded back, already charging up another Ice Beam.
Dratini was able to skillfully launch itself into the air to try and make a perfect arc back inside the water. Wartortle was able to quickly throw the second Ice Beam attack to try and intercepted his opponent, but he accidently miscalculated. Dratini was able to move his slender body out of the way and made it very close to the water.
"NO!" Ash thought to himself, angry that he was just about to lose the chance of capturing the Dragon type.
Just as Dratini was about to escape into the water, an Ice Beam attack hit it directly in the stomach area. Everyone was surprised that Wartortle didn't launch the attack and saw the Dratini land on the sand. The Dragon type had lost a lot of health from this shockingly strong attack, now having a hard time moving. Everyone else turned to see where the attack came from.
Sakura and Ryan were there now, with Nidorina shooting that Ice Beam.
"What are you waiting for, Ash?" Sakura calmly asked as she looked at the weakened Dratini. "You better catch it."
Ash took a second before he nodded and took out a Great Ball from his pocket. He wasted no time before he threw it at Dratini and watched as the Pokémon was sucked into the ball. The ball landed on the ground and began to rock back and forth.
One shake.
Two shake.
three shake.
four shake.
five shake. The Great Ball then remained still as the light went away.
Ash had just captured a Dratini!
The boy just couldn't contain his excitement at that point. Instead of being the calm and collected individual that he had been this past few days, he became to show absolute joy like a child. Wartortle was acting very similar to Ash and began to cheer along with his Trainer.
"It seems like it has been forever since he has been like this." Misty told to Brock as they watched him and Wartortle cheering out loud. "I guess this trip did work after all."
Brock nodded before he began to walk away from them. "I think we need to return all of this to the guy."
"Alright." Misty then looked down at all of her Water types that we're still close to her. "It's time for the three of you to go back inside." The three Pokémon didn't complain as they all went back inside their balls, smiling at Misty as they were sucked in.
Ryan got a bright idea as he went up to Misty. "How about I set up a fireplace right for tonight."
"That sounds like a great idea." Misty told in a kind way.
"I'll go get some wood for us." Ryan ran off into to woods while Sakura and Brock we're putting everything up everything that they had gotten for that trip. All of a sudden, a gentle was placed on her shoulder as Ash and Wartortle came up to her.
"Thanks for bringing me here today." He said in a good-natured tone of voice.
Misty just gave a small smirk. "Anything for the future Kanto Champion."
The sun was almost gone from the sky as the once bright blue sky was now turning a dark purple, that eventually became black. The half moon was now present to the eye as it's light landed upon the region. The store at the beach was no longer open and the person there person working there had gone away, but our group still remained at the beach.
Everyone was sitting on one of the two large logs that we're around a small fire in the middle, something that both Ryan and Brock set up. Everyone was just right by the fire and mostly talking about nothing in particular, except for Sakura who mostly stayed silent. They just enjoyed themselves as the sky slowly got consumed by the night.
"Alright. Alright." Ryan said as he, and everyone else besides Sakura, calmed down from laughing at something earlier. "What do you think would win? Dragonite, or a Caterpie?"
"Caterpie. It's so obvious." Brock quickly responded in an obviously joking manner. "Catperpie's have the move String Shot, which can one shot anything it touches. Dragonite will perish in the Bug type's presence."
Everyone laughed at this while Sakura gave a small chuckle at this, Misty was now about to speak. "Let's be honest, Caterpie can solo any Pokémon if they used 100% of their power."
"Quite bold of you to assume that Caterpie's power is only limited to 100%." Sakura responded, causing everyone else to laugh again. You could tell that they were just enjoying themselves as time continued to pass around them.
All of a sudden, Ash cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "I've decided to make an announcement." He began as Wartortle sat on his lap.
"We're going to be training again tomorrow." Sakura said like it was a fact, but Ash actually shook his head at this answer.
"Actually, we aren't going to be training tomorrow." He said as everyone was now facing to see what he was going to say next. "We are instead going to resumed our journey and finally go to Vermillion City, just as we should have days ago."
Everyone was now happy that that Ash had finally come to his senses and decided to continue the journey, but none of the outright showed their joy for this. Now they could finally continue on the journey to reach the Pokémon League and make it to the top, just like how they we're before thing went down in Mitis Town.
"Yes! Glad that we can finally begin again." Ryan said out loud as he was just imagining himself finally getting the Thunder Badge in Vermillion. "I'm happy that we got some more training this past week, but did we really have to do that?"
"I just wanted us to be strong, because we couldn't do anything back then." Ash explained in a gentle way as he looked down at his Wartortle. "Now I see that it was wrong to force you to do it as well."
"Do you really think we're weak?" Ryan asked in a curious way.
"None of you are weak to me." Ash instantly responded in a honest way before he closed his eyes. "The only weak one here is me."
Everyone remained silent as Ash remained opened his eyes and looked at the fire, the burning orange flame being reflected from his black eyes. The entire group looked at Ash as they waited patiently for what he was about to say next.
"I feel like it is my duty to protect anyone and anything from harm. If I can't even do something as simple as that, then I would be considered the very definition of a failure." Ash told everyone as he was trying to bring himself down. "I know that if I can't protect anything when no else can, then I might as well not even be there. Not everyone can be strong, and I want to help those people." Ash's eye began to water up as a single tear drop began to form. "But if I am to weak to even defeat a single person, then I would've failed everyone that I was meant to protect.
A single tear fell off his face and landed on the sandy ground.
"You were never weak to us, Ash."
Sakura plainly stated, making the boy, and everyone else, look at her. The girl was the last person they would've expected to say anything about this situation. The girl didn't seem to be lying when she said this, and Sakura herself actually believed this line.
"You were right about one thing. Not everyone can be strong, but that does not automatically make you weak." Sakura began in calm way as she looked at the boy. "Do you think that the strongest people in any region didn't struggle, or didn't make mistakes as they made it to the top?"
Ryan decided to chime in after Sakura finished her sentence. "We aren't even halfway through this journey yet. There will be plenty of chances to become stronger and defeat people that you know are at the top."
"When I first met you, I merely thought that you were a boy that was dreaming too big." Brock added as he made Ash look at him. "But now that I have seen you become stronger and much more smarter in this journey, I just know that you will make your ambitions a reality."
"Wartortle!" The Pokémon decided to add as well.
Ash couldn't believe that all of his friend's were actually trying to assure him that he doesn't to be strong in order to do great things. The boy was now starting to think about just how lucky he truly was to have them with him. Finally, Misty decided to say something.
"Ash. I have met plenty of failures and idiots in my life, but you are not one of them. I even consider you the opposite of them." Misty began in her usual soft-spoken way. "You are kind, smart, brave, and honest person that will always try to do the right thing." She said as everyone else nodded, agreeing to this description. "We don't want a protector. We don't desire a hero. We don't even want a strong Trainer." Misty listed to Ash, who was listening to every last word she said. And the last sentence that she said was the final nail in the coffin for the boy.
"We just want you, Ash."
This simple line made any kind of doubt or negative emotion leave the boy's body. He know knew that he didn't have to be strong in order to do good things, especially with his friends. To hear it from Misty herself, a person that he had considered a best friend, made this even more impactful to him.
"I'm so grateful that I have people like you as my friends." Ash said in a soft tone of voice accidently letting out a loud yawn. "Thank you for helping me with this."
"Anything for a friend like you." Brock assured with a smile on his face.
Suddenly, Ryan stood up from the large log that he had been sitting on. "Well, I need to go set up the tents for us to sleep tonight."
"I'll come with you." Sakura actually said as she stood up, making everyone silently surprised. Ryan didn't say anything as he and Sakura left the beach to go into the forest.
"Wartortle?" The Pokémon asked Ash as he pointed to where Sakura and Ryan were.
Ash just patted the head of Squirtle. "You can go help them if you want." Wartortle gave a thankful smile as he ran to Ryan and Sakura, ready help set up camp for them.
Ash had let out another loud yawn as only he, Misty, and Brock were the only one's left around the dying fire. Brock noticed that their was something in the water and went to go investigate it. Ash and Misty just remained sitting at the same log as they were left to their own thoughts, Ash having a hard time keeping his eyes open.
All of a sudden, Ash had slowly rested his head on the shoulder of Misty herself. The girl was instantly confused by this and looked to see what Ash was doing. The boy was silently snoring as his eyes we're closed and his body was already beginning to turn itself off.
The boy had actually fallen asleep on Misty's shoulder.
Misty wasn't annoyed, upset, or had any kind of negative emotions toward Ash right now. She knew how tired the boy must have been as he never really got that much sleep this past week. A weird feeling began to build up inside her as she looked at the sleeping, her cheeks starting to become red.
"Misty." Brock began in his normal voice as he walked up to them. "I found thi-"
"Shhhh."
The former Gym Leader was confused on why Misty wanted him to be quiet. He then saw that Misty was silently pointing to Ash on her shoulder, who he realized was actually asleep right now. Brock nodded as he began again with a much more quite tone of voice.
"I found this near the shore." Brock said in a faint whisper as he he handed Misty something.
The girl took the item from Brock and began to examine it, surprised to see that it was actually a necklace. The necklace had a very old but still thick string that had a small and uncut gem attached to it. The gem was mostly white in color and had lines of black and blue circling around the thing.
"What do you think it might be?"
"I have no idea." Misty responded in a quite way before she put the necklace around her neck, tying up a knot in the back of her head. "But I'm not going to complain about a free necklace."
"Of course you would think that." Brock remarked as he face to the still sleeping Ash, about to pick the boy up so that he could carry him to where the camp was.
"Wait."
Brock stopped moving in order to look at Misty. "Just let him rest for now. I'll bring him to camp with me later."
"You promise?" Brock asked in response.
"I promise."
Brock let out a sigh before standing. "Well, good night."
"Good night." Misty watched as Brock left them behind, gently touching her newly obtained necklace.
It was now her and Ash alone as the fire was still going in the middle. She could feel the heat coming off of Ash's body as his head was still on Misty's shoulder. The girl saw just how peaceful the boy looked to be as he was sleeping on a person that he knew he could trust.
Suddenly, Misty had softly placed her head on top of Ash's. The girl wanted to see how it felt to do something like this, and she could see why Ash had rested on her shoulder. The cheeks on her face had become red again as she felt something weird around Ash, something that seemed to be beyond mere happiness. She didn't know what it was yet, but she could just sense that it was a positive emotion.
She let out a small yawn as she began to feel tired now, deciding to stay with the person that she felt content with. Misty looked at her first ever true friend as the fire was now on the verge of death, her mind and body in a truly peaceful state. Her eyes closed as she began to go into sleep with the boy that she always felt safe and happy with.
A small smile present on her face.
END OF CHAPTER 14
I hope you guys enjoyed this simple episode and that Pokéshipping moment at the very end! We aren't going to be at Vermillion next chapter, because I'm gonna dedicate an entire chapter to one of the side character's in this story. Stay tuned!
Ash's Team: Wartortle (M) , Pidgeotto (F), Sandshrew (M), Oddish (F), Dratini (M)
Misty's Team: Starmie (N/A), Seel (F), Magikarp (M), Squirtle (F)
Ryan's Team: Pinsir (M), Paras (M), Ivysaur (F), Slowpoke (M)
Brock's Team: Graveler (M), Onix (F), Golbat (M)
Sakura's Team: Nidorina (F), Charmander (M)