Ash Ketchum looked over at Misty and Brock sleeping. He sighed. There was 
something missing, he didn't know what, but something felt like he didn't 
belong here. It had bothered him all his life. Pikachu rested against him 
and sighed contentedly. It was how long? five years? Five years that he had 
been on the road, five years with Misty, just slightly less than that with 
Brock. He sighed.

Togepi got up, stretched, and waddled over to him. He sighed and helped the 
little Pokemon onto his lap. He stared up at the stars. It must have been 
sometime around midnight, and here he was, looking up at the stars. There 
was one constellation in particular that he liked, and he was probably the 
only one on the planet that had a favorite star. Oak always looked at him 
strangely when he pointed it out on a star map.

Misty stirred, but did not wake up. She moved her arm, and, in doing so, 
some of her hair fell across her face. He suddenly had a strong urge to get 
up and brush that hair away from her face. He thought about how he had 
gotten to know Misty. Yup, Misty. Annoying, insulting,  and the love of his 
life. That was Misty. He sighed, thinking about how many times he had longed 
to pick her up and hold her in his arms, how many times he had wanted to 
tell her exactly how he felt, and how exactly he liked it whenever she 
slapped him, just for the joy of having physical contact.

Ash sighed. There was no way on earth that Misty could feel the same way 
about him. She was always insulting him. Always putting him down, always 
doing her best to hurt him emotionally. He carefully put Togepi down and 
crept over to where Misty lay, sleeping on the hard ground in her sleeping 
bag. He tucked the stray hairs behind her ear and, ever so gently, alert for 
any sign that she was awake, he moved his lips and kissed her lightly on the 
head. He scooted back as quickly and quietly as he could. his moving had 
caused Pikachu to wake up, and Ash lay down, his head on Pikachu, facing 
Misty. The last word that he said before he fell asleep were, "I love you 
Misty."


Misty woke up, having the feeling that she had just missed something very 
important. She looked over at Ash just in time to see him mouth the word, 
"Misty." Suddenly, she wished that she had woken up earlier. Pikachu, who 
Ash had rested his head on, looked at her. Was that her imagination, or was 
that a smirk on the electric rat's face? She sighed and glanced at the fire. 
It was getting low. She got up, and, determined to walk right by Ash. She 
stopped, looking at him, just lying there. She knelt down and placed her 
lips against hers, and kissed him. He gave a sigh and relaxed. She pulled 
away and went to get firewood.

She sighed. She liked Ash. She loved Ash. She always felt herself go woozy 
at the very sound of his name or his voice. But he always acted like a jerk. 
suddenly, she heard a rustling behind her, she screamed and whirled around, 
stick at the ready.


Ash was dreaming, in the dream, he was telling Misty how he felt about her. 
She looked at him and kissed him. Suddenly, it seemed like it wasn't only in 
the dream, but in real life that he could feel her lips touching his. He 
sighed and leaned back in his dream. Everything was going right. He had 
beaten Gary, and become the ultimate Pokemon Master. Misty liked him, and 
Brock had a girlfriend, plus, Professor Oak was engaged to his mother. 
Nothing could be better. Then, as Misty was leaning in towards him again, 
without opening her mouth she screamed.

Ash woke up with a start and stumbled to his feet. There it was again, Misty 
screaming from inside the woods. He stumbled forward, still sleepy. He 
licked his lips, suddenly, there was a taste that he couldn't figure out how 
it got there. But it reminded him of Misty for some reason. He stumbled 
forward, towards where Misty's scream had come from. Suddenly, there she 
was, waving a stick back and forth against two Beedrills. Ash Picked up a 
rock and threw it against one of the Beedrills. It turned and flew against 
him. He picked up a stick and fended it off rather well. Suddenly he heard 
another scream from Misty. The other Beedrill was charging her. He acted 
instinctively. He threw the stick like a spear at the Beedrill he was 
defending himself from, and, picking up a large rock, heaved it at the 
charging Beedrill. It stopped, and dropped, not two feet from Misty, 
unconscious. Suddenly, Misty screamed again. The other Beedrill was coming 
for him, and he couldn't defend himself. THe two poisonous stingers stabbed 
into his chest, lifting himself off of his feet and throwing him against a 
tree. Suddenly, he saw lightning hit the Beedrill, and it flew into a tree 
itself, and fell to the ground, dead.

Ash turned his head and saw Misty staring at him, a shocked expression on 
her face. He looked at his chest, and saw the blood gushing from it. He took 
a step towards Misty. "Misty...Misty I-" he never finished the sentence. He 
fell down, breathing shallowly.

Brock came running up in time to see the Beedrill's final attack, and Ash 
falling onto the ground. "Misty!" he called, "Hurry back to camp and get 
some antidotes! hurry!"


Misty stared in shock at Ash, but Brock brought her back to reality. Misty 
ran back to camp and grabbed her antidotes from her backpack, and ran back, 
crying all the way.  Brock looked serious as he took the antidotes from her 
and carefully applied them to Ash's wounds. He pulled a Super Potion from 
his belt and applied that to Ash's wound too.

Misty was hysterical after he had applied the antidotes and super potion. 
"IS he going to be okay? Please tell me that he is! PLEASE PLEASE!"

Brock looked at her with a worried expression on his face. "Misty, listen to 
me! go back to camp and boil five pots of water and bring them to me!" Misty 
bit her lip and nodded, looking at Ash worriedly, his face devoid of color. 
She ran back to camp. Brock muttered to himself, "Rule number one during an 
emergency, keep calm. No matter what, do not panic."


Misty threw a stick onto the fire, and put her head onto her knees, and she 
cried. What if Ash died? What if She never got to tell him how hse felt 
about him. She looked into the trees and the thought hit her again, this 
time sinking in fully. She fell down onto her stomach and cried. Suddenly, 
she heard footsteps passing by, then, they stopped. They came into camp. 
Misty rolled over, tears flowing from her eyes freely. There he was. Gary.


Gary walked past the camp, whistling, and would't have given it a second 
thought, except that he saw someone crying. Plus he had heard screams 
earlier. He looked at the camp, then saw that the sleeping bags were empty. 
All of them. He walked cautiously into camp. He saw a girl on her stomach 
with bright red hair. She rolled over and faced him. She had been crying. 
Suddenly, like a lightning bolt, he realized who it was. Misty. He ran over 
to her and knelt down next to her. "Misty, What's wrong?" he asked.

Misty cried, but managed, "Beedrills, attacked." she choked up and managed 
to clear her throat long enough to talk, "Me, I was out gathering firewood. 
I'm terrified of bug Pokemon, so I was really scared. Suddenly, Ash was 
there, and he managed to distract one of the beedrills. Suddenly, the other 
beedrill charged me. I thought that I was going to die. Ash threw a rock at 
it, and the other one attacked him. He's in bad shape."

Gary's eyes grew wide, and they were damp, "Where is he?" he choked out. 
Misty pointed the way, and he ran into the woods. He came to a stop when he 
saw the Beedrills. They were big. very big. Then he saw Brock and rushed 
over to him. "How's he doing?" he asked.

Brock looked up at him seriously. "Gary, I'm going to lay it on the line 
with you. I didn't want to with Misty because she would panic a lot more 
than she is right now! Unless he gets medical attention in the next two 
hours, he will die four hours after that."

Gary looked Brock in the eyes and said, "I'll get what help I can."


Misty kept her head down on her knees, and Togepi pushed at her elbow. She 
picked him up and looked at him. "I never got to tell him." she said, "I 
never told him how I felt aout him. never. And now he'll die thinking that I 
hated him all this time!" Togepi hugged her as best that she could, and 
Pikachu nosed his way so that his head was on her lap. Through her tears, 
she managed to get out, "What am I? a Pokemon cheer up machine?" she smiled 
at Pikachu so the he would know that she didn't mean it. Pikachu seemed to 
cheer up a little with that.

Suddenly, she heard a Pokemon come out of its Pokeball. She looked up to see 
Gary, looking at her with pitying eyes. "I'll be back soon," he said, "Try 
to get some sleep."


In the woods, Brock felt Ash's pulse start to race, and suddenly, Brock was 
afraid. What if his estimates were wrong? what if it was already too late. 
What if Ash died? Who would give him tips on getting girls then? What if...


Misty stroked at Pikachu absently, while she stared at the flickering flames 
of the fire. What if Ash died and she never told him how she felt? What if 
he stayed in a coma all of his life? What if she died of grief, but he 
pulled out of it? What if...


Gary urged his Pokemon on faster. He pulled out his cell phone and called 
the hospital, and told them the situation. He then called Professor Oak, and 
filed him in, and said that he would call Ash's mom. His mind raced iwht 
possibilites for what might happen. What if Ash died? How could he apologize 
for what he had said? What if he couldn't tell him that he just wanted Ash 
back, and that he would sacrifice becoming the ultimate Pokemon Master for 
him.If only he stayed alive? What if...


Ash Ketchum relived those last moments over again, seeing the Beedrill stab 
him, feeling the stingers, and the tree bite into his back. What if he died? 
What if he couldn't see Gary one last time? What if He couldn't see Brock 
one last time? What if He never got to tell Misty how he felt, what if he 
never got to kiss her? What if...

MISTY! the thought exploded into his head, and he jerked his eyes open. 
There was Brock. Sitting there staring at him. His eyes widened as he saw 
Ash wake up. Ash felt an unbearable pain in his chest and he screamed!


Misty dropped Togepi as she heard Ash scream. He had screamed louder before, 
but she could tell that he was screaming as loud as he could right then. 
She, Togepi and Pikachu ran into the forest towards Ash. What if he was 
awake and he was dying right now? What if, what if, what if...