Pokemon: The Quest for Misty Chapter Three

Chapter 3: Surprise and Guilt

We continued through the Viridian Forest on our way to Pewter City for Ash's first gym battle. He had just caught his first Pokémon, a Caterpie, and was so overjoyed he had himself a little party. Personally, I wouldn't have made such a big deal of catching Bug-type Pokémon. I absolutely hate Bug Pokémon! I don't care if their harmless or not! A bug is a bug, and they're gross! And yet, as I watched Ash throwing his little celebration for his first catch, I started to feel… something. I actually thought it was adorable. I was starting to think… HE was adorable. I didn't understand it at the time and I still don't understand it today, but I was beginning to develop something rather deep inside for him. Him! Ash Ketchum, the kid who stole and destroyed by bike who I told I would follow till he paid me back! Why? Why did it have to be him? To that question I will never know the answer. Well, when we had finally reached Pewter City, Ash headed straight for the Pewter City Gym. I knew Ash was dense and inexperienced, (he fought a bird-type with his bug-type. How dense and inexperienced can you get?) so I offered my help by offering my Pokémon, which where all water-type by the way, for the gym match. But being the stubborn kid he is, Ash just laughed and walked towards the gym. That of course made me angry. Later, I found out Ash lost to the Gym leader, Brock Slate, and found him trying to charge up Pikachu. I once again offered my help but once again he just laughs at my offer. This time I was fed up, so I just waited at the Pokémon Center, extremely ticked off. 'I swear he drives me crazy,' I thought to myself. This is true. He has driven me crazy ever since that day I met him. But then why was I getting these funny feelings inside of me for him of all immature people? I guess it's true when they say that love is a funny thing.

The next morning…

Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie packed their bags, gathered all their Pokéballs (except Bonnie who was too young to own a Pokémon), and headed off towards the docks. They got on the first cruise ship to Kanto and were on their way to Ash's homeland.

Ash couldn't wait to see his mom, Professor Oak, and his friends and show off his trophy and Medal of Masters to them, especially to Gary. When Ash first started his Pokémon quest, he and Ash were bitter enemies, always trying to out do each other any chance they got. Gary had some advanages while Ash had some others. Their rivalry finally came to an end when Ash defeated him in the Johto Sliver Conference. Though the two had become friends afterwards when Gary had quit training Pokémon and decided to become a Pokémon researcher like his grandfather, there still was some rivalry left in their relationship though now tamer and friendlier than it used to be. It became more of just teasing each other. Last he talked to Gary over the vidphone was a month and two weeks before the World Competition.

His mind then wondered off to his other friends. He could never forget Brock, his best human friend (Pikachu being his best Pokémon friend). He had traveled with him longer than anyone else, having traveled with Ash through Kanto after they met, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. He not only became one of Ash's closest friends, but he also cooked the meals, "mothered" him and the other travelers, couched him, and got him ready for any challenge and battle. (He also chased after every pretty girl who caught his eye, but that's another story.) He kind of became Ash's big brother. There was no other friend he could talk to about things better than to Brock. Even after Brock had left to become a Pokémon doctor, the two best friends still kept in touch and texted or called each other whenever they got the chance. Last he talked to Brock was the day right before the World Competition when Brock gave his usual encouragement and of course teasing to Ash as all good best friends do. Honestly, Ash couldn't ask for a better brother.

He then thought of May and her brother Max, his traveling partners, along with Brock, during his journey through the Hoenn region and the Battle Frontier in Kanto. May was always the very sweet and optimistic girl of Ash's traveling partners and plus probably the closest to being a girl version of Ash due to the fact that she always ENJOYED eating. She at first was a very under-confident girl for a while and then sometimes became a real go-getter type of confident person. When it came to certain things, she could be a glass half-full type of a straight woman that she is. However, May was always a sweetheart and a loyal friend to Ash and Brock when she traveled with them and she never stopped. Since she left to go on with her own dreams of being a Top Coordinator, she and Ash had kept in touch, though not as often as Ash did with Brock. Last he heard from her was a month before the World Competition when she cheerfully told Ash over the vidphone that she was now in a relationship with Drew, her former rival whom she had a secret crush on for awhile.

As for her little brother Max, he was kind of the brains of the Hoenn team. Though he wasn't old enough to be a Pokémon Trainer, he still had a great knowledge of all things Pokémon for an 8 year old, even though sometimes it got on his sister's nerves causing the two to go into an all out sibling battle. But the two really did love each other and Max really started to look up to Ash during their travels through Hoenn. After leaving with his sister, he told Ash he wanted to became a great Pokémon trainer one day. Ash then promised him that when he became one, they would have a battle. Ash last heard from Max the same time as May when he begged her constantly to speak to Ash. When May finally gave in, Max then, much to Ash's dismay, spent an half hour on the vidphone telling Ash about the new Pokémon facts he had just learned before May finally took the phone away from him. Ash then spent the next half hour watching the two siblings bickering again. Just like old times, he thought to himself, smiling and shaking his head.

Next on his mind was his friend from Sinnoh, Dawn, who (along with her Pokémon Piplup) was always notable for her confidence, since she almost always tries to look towards the future rather than dwell on her mistakes. Dawn was overly confident and assured in her own strength at the beginning of her journey, much like Ash was. She had quickly became close friends with Ash and Brock on their journey through Sinnoh, though proved to be more girly than May was. Dawn always enjoyed Pokémon Contests and left Ash and Brock soon after their journey together ended and headed for Hoenn, since Hoenn is the region Contests originated from, with her dream of becoming a Top Coordinator. Because of that, she became close friends with May. She kept in touch with Ash as often as May did, if not more. Last Ash heard from her was a week after he last talked to May. She talked awhile about the latest Contest she had participated in and then told Ash about her recent relationship with Paul, Ash's brutal former rival back in Sinnoh who later became a friend of his and obviously Dawn.

He then thought of the rest of his friends: Tracey who travelled with him through the Orange Islands, Iris and Cilan who traveled with him through the Unova region, Richie who he became fast friends with during their first encounter at the Indigo Plateau Conference, Todd the photographer, Melody, Casey, Duplica, Ralph, Emily, Giselle, Erika, Lt. Surge, Sabrina, Whitney, Suzie, Cheryl, Barry, Kenny, Zoey, Angie, Lyra, Khoury, Bianca, Luke, Stephen, Cameron, Anabel, N, Alexa, and some others, whom he all met during his travels. He even considered Drew and Paul as his friends now, even though Paul was still a pretty mean and closed person even to Dawn and Ash considered Drew kind of a weirdo. Nevertheless, he always enjoyed having such good friends.

But out of all the friends on his mind, there was one in particular that kept coming back to his mind constantly. No matter how hard Ash tried to keep these thoughts out (which weren't dirty thoughts, btw), his thoughts kept returning to the memories of a very close friend he once had: a red-headed girl that resembled the fishing lure Ash kept (minus the cartoonish look). As much as he tried, he never could forget that girl. She had the temper of a Gyarados (meaning VERY hot tempered) and yet a heart of gold. She was hard to get along with and at the same time she wasn't. He teased her about her looks and yet deep down thought she was an angel of God (with attitude). She was very argumentive and stubborn and yet so was he. She was there since the first day of his journey, since she fished him out of the lake followed by him "borrowing" her bike. He remembered her vowing to follow him to the ends of the earth till he paid her back for her bike. He remembered all his travels with her: Kanto, Orange Islands, and Johto. He remembered all the times they constantly argued, all the times they laughed, all the times they cried, all the times they couldn't stand being near each other, and all the times they enjoyed each other's company. In the end, they were the bestest of friends. Ash actually felt closer to her than anyone else, even more than Brock and Pikachu. He never admitted this to anyone, but deep down, Ash could have sworn there was some weird feelings he was developing for her...

Then that painful day came when she left. Her sister's were going on a cruise and she had to go home and take care of the Gym. It was at that point the worst day of his life. It felt like his best friend just died. He never saw her after that except for a couple of times, which seemed too short for him. Once when her Togepi evolved into a Togetic, once again when they investigated some Mirage Pokémon together, and then after his return from Hoenn where she was waiting at his house for him to arrive. It felt good to see her again and again whenever he had the chance. Then it all ended. On the day before he left for Sinnoh, their friendship met an devastating end. On that day, Ash felt his world was over. He made a huge mistake that consequently ended his relationship with his closest friend. He never saw her again. Afterwards, Ash never told anyone what happened, not to his mom, or Brock, or even Pikachu. They all just assumed Ash was too busy on his journeys to call her or pay a visit. He did his best to cover his guilt and pain by only thinking Pokémon 24/7. The cover had worked. No one suspected Ash's true feelings. He still loved Pokémon and all, especially Pikachu, but he still felt empty inside. He realized how true it was that you don't know how much someone means to you till they're gone.

It's all my fault we're not friends anymore. Forgive me, Misty, wherever you are.

Pikachu couldn't help but notice his best buddy looking depressed, but he didn't understand why. Ash had just won the World Competition and finally fulfilled his dream, and yet he still looked unhappy. Being the ever so loyal Pokémon he was, a very concerned Pikachu walked over to his master.

"Pika chu Pika, Pikapi?" (Are you ok, Ash?)

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm find, Pikachu."

"Chu Pi Pika Pika." (You don't look like you're find.)

"Don't worry, buddy. I'm fine. Never felt better. I'm just thinking about the friends we haven't seen in a while." That last part at least was true.

"Pika, Chu Pi Pi Pika." (Ok, if you say so.)

Ash smiled a fake smile at his little buddy, the same fake smile he wore since that last day with Misty. It always pained him to lie to him and all his other friends, human and Pokémon, but he didn't want them to know what a jerk he was to his best friend that day.

That day...

He remembered it well...

Too well...

After about a five hour cruise, Ash and the gang finally made it to Kanto. Luckily, they weren't that far from Pallet Town. Ash couldn't wait to get home, Clemont couldn't wait to meet the infamous Professor Oak, Serena couldn't wait to tell Ash how she felt about him, Pikachu couldn't wait to get his paws on some ketchup, (Author's notes: Still a better love story than Twilight) and Bonnie...well, she just couldn't wait. When they finally got to Pallet, Ash noticed that the place hadn't changed a bit. But of course it never did, and that was ok. It was nice living in a quiet, little town like Pallet, though Ash still thought it could use a Pokémon Gym. Just a thought, you know. Nonetheless, Ash quickly ran towards his house with his friends trying to catch up with him. Ash expected to find his mom at the front door, waiting with open arms, but she wasn't there. He looked inside. The only other being in the house was his mom's Pokémon Mr. Mime, doing his usual routine of cleaning house. He asked the Pokémon where his mom was. With Pikachu translating, (by now, Ash and Pikachu had bonded so closely Ash could understand the exact words his Poké-companion was saying) Mr. Mime told him Delia was out to run some errands. Not really willing to just sit and wait, Ash and his friends headed to their next stop- Professor Oak's Laboratory.

When they got there, Ash knocked on the door but no one answered. He knew someone was home cause he could see the Professor's car out front. He knocked again. Nothing. He then figured the Professor was out back so he headed for the backyard to see if he was right. They had just turned the corner to the backyard when suddenly...

"SURPRISE!"

Ash was surprised indeed. There he was with his four companions (counting Pikachu of course)infront of almost everyone he knew. There was his mom Delia, Professor Oak, Gary, Brock, May, Max, Dawn, Iris, Cilan, Professor Birch, Richie, Todd, Melody, Casey, Duplica, Ralph, Emily, Giselle, Erika, Lt. Surge, Sabrina, Whitney, Suzie, Cheryl, Barry, Kenny, Zoey, Angie, Lyra, Khoury, Bianca, Luke, Stephen, Cameron, Anabel, N, Professor Juniper, Alexa, Drew & Paul, (who where both brought by May and Dawn respectively) and even the Elite Four among others. Everyone of them was there to congratulate their friend, the young new Pokémon Master Ash Ketchum. He was then welcomed with hugs, hand shaking, kisses from his mother, high-fives, and many "Congratulations, Ash."

"Way to go, Ashy-Boy," teased Gary with the nickname Gary gave Ash when they were rivals.

"You were awesome," cheered May, clapping gleefully.

"We never had a doubt you would pull through," complemented Max, giving Ash a high-five.

"Congrats to ya, champ," said Dawn, shaking his hand.

"My baby! I'm so proud," said Delia, squeezing Ash in a really tight, motherly hug.

"Well done, Ash. I knew you could do anything if you put your mind into it," said Professor Oak, nodding at the young man.

Ash felt great. Here he was with his dream finally fulfilled with the people he cared about and who cared about him back here to congradulate him. (He did notice that Tracey wasn't present, but figured he was running an errand for Professor Oak.) He couldn't have felt happier. Then he remembered who wasn't there- Misty. But then again, it wasn't surprizing. And yet, he still wished by some miracle she was only late to the party, though he knew it would've been too good to be true. Still, he couldn't let that bother him right now. He decided to do his best just to enjoy the party.

"Ash, man! How's it feel to be the Master, buddy?" asked Brock as the 15-year old walked over to hug and congradulate his best friend. Though the two have always kept in touch, it was always better when the two brothers got together in person.

"Well, it's something else. I gotta say I was hoping for a bigger crowd of people for a Master like me," Ash joked.

"Well, sorry, but most of Kanto had better things to do than bow down and worship Ash, the great and powerful," Brock joked sarcastically.

"So does that mean you still have no life cause you had nothing better to do?"

"Hahahaha! Yeah, I have no life because I don't fight birds with bugs and go through six competitions before I actually win something."

"At least girls like being around me."

"Ok, you got me there," he said taking Ash's hat off and giving him a nugi.

"Hey hey hey, quit," Ash said laughing.

"Speaking of girls, I wonder where Misty is? I know your mother sent her an invitation."

Ash really wished he did not bring up that name. He felt worse than when Brock heard Professor Ivy's name after "something" happened during the short period he was working for her. Only Ash did his best to play it cool. "I-I guess she was, uh, just too busy at the Gym."

"Yeah, your probably right. I know she would have been happy to see you. I can never forget how close you two were when the three of us were traveling together. It was something else."

"All we did was argue all the time. She probably was glad to get me out of her hair when she left us."

"Now come on, Ash, you know that's not true. Granted you two did argue constantly. And it did normally end with you getting walloped with her mallet," he chuckled at that part and Ash sweatdropped, "but I could tell guys had something special between you two. And when you guys weren't biting each other's heads off, your's more than her's, you guys joked, played games together with both of yours and her Pokémon, cheered for each other at Pokémon matches, and constantly talked Pokémon strategies. I could tell you guy were compatable, even during the times you guys didn't think so. When was the last time you talked to her, by the way?"

Ash hesitated to answer. That was the one subject he so deeply wanted to avoid. He couldn't tell Brock the truth. Not now anyway. "Uh, it must have been quite awhile ago. I have been so busy with my journeys I haven't gotten the chance," he lied. "Besides, I don't know what her schedule is like so I would never know when to call or even text her. Uh, when was the last time you talked to her?" he asked nervously.

"Actually to be honest, you are probably the only other person other than my dad and siblings I get a chance to call these days since I started Pokémon Med School. I text just about everyone else: Tracey, May, Dawn, Gary, Max, and a couple others. I texted Misty a couple of times, but she never responses. She's probably just as busy as you and me have been lately."

"Yeah. Yeah, that's probably it." Ash was relieved. He was afraid Misty might have said something to him about what happened. Yet by the sound of it, he hasn't heard from her in awhile.

"Well, what do you say we go and enjoy the rest of the party. I know there still are some people here who want to talk to you. Plus, I think your mom is bringing out the cake."

"Great! I'm starving!"

Brock couldn't help but laugh. "Same ol' Ash."

Ash smiled at his long-time friend, but inwards he didn't have the strength to be happy. Same ol' Ash, Brock? If only that were true.

The party continued, unaware of the dangers already taken place in Cerulean City just the day before.