Author's Note-I do not, in anyway, own pokemon, or any part of it. And, my usual, this is just for fun and enjoyment!  So…Enjoy!

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~*~Part Three~*~

      Ash and Brittany started heading back to the house, and Brittany started telling Ash just how her Arcanine knew who he was.  "Do you remember that Growlithe that lived near Pallet Town when we lived here?" She asked him.

      "Of course I do.  That little pokemon always loved playing with us!" Ash said.

      "But…How does that explain how Arcanine knows me?"

      "That Arcanine…is that Growlithe."

      "Really?"

      "Yeah. Arcanine is the evolved form of Growlithe.  The day that…you left me; Growlithe came to cheer me up!  We just became so attached, that he stuck around and, finally, let me capture him.  Now, he is just as close to me as Pikachu is!"

      "Pikachu!" The little pokemon smiled.

      "But…Why did he growl at me like that?"

      "He never really liked you again after you left…He saw how hurt you made me feel…" Brittany lowered her head.  "But…That's in the past, now, I guess."

      "No…Not completely…" Ash stopped her.

      "Huh?" Ash stood in front of her as they stopped walking.

      "Yes, it's true. I did like you.  And yes, it is true, that I got jealous because of Gary. But…I felt terrible for leaving you…it was one of the hardest things for me to do. And I still regret it to this day…"

      "Really?"

      "Really. Now, let's go and see what Brock and Misty are up to."  They started to walk again.

      Brittany chuckled. "Maybe mom is showing them embarrassing baby pictures of you!"

      "What!?!? No!!" Ash started to run.

      Brittany laughed. "Just chill out! It isn't that bad!"

      "Wait…if she's showing them of me…more then likely, she's showing them of you, too!"

      "What!?!?" Brittany yelled and took off for Ash's house.  Ash laughed and followed her.

      They burst in the door to see everyone sitting in the living room, having tea and cookies. "Hey, you two!" Brock smiled.

      "Is everything all right?" Misty asked.

      "Everything is fine," Brittany smiled.

      "That's good," Delia smiled.

      "But not for team rocket!" Ash exclaimed.

      "They followed us here?" Misty asked.

      "Yeah, and Brittany got 'em good with her Arcanine!"

      "You did? That's great!" Professor Oak exclaimed. "You're still in fighting fit after all that time off for your career!"

      "What is he talking about, Brittany?" Ash asked.

      "Well…When I became a singer, I couldn't exactly finish my journey, like I wanted. I got to Goldenrod City, and then I got discovered.  I haven't been back out there, since," Brittany explained.

      "Why don't you come with us?" Misty asked.

      "What?" Ash asked.

      "Do you really mean it? You guys would let me come with you and complete my journey?" Brittany asked with a big smile on her face.

      "Of course.  The Silver Conference doesn't start for another few months. We'd love for you to come.  Right Ash?" Brock asked.

      "Uh…yeah…No problem," Ash responded, unsure.

      "Great!" Brittany jumped for joy. "Did you hear that, Pikachu? We're back up and runnin'!"

      "Pikachu!" her Pikachu exclaimed, sparks coming from its cheeks.

      "I'll go pack!" Brittany jumped up and ran down the hallway.

      "You don't have a problem with it, do you Ash?" Misty asked.

      "Of course not! Why would I?"

      "You just…I don't know. You didn't sound too happy about it," Brock explained.

      "I'm just not sure how it's gonna work, that's all. She and I were always competitive at this. In a way, that's why I, almost, thought that it was better that we weren't traveling together. It would be an on-going rivalry."

      "But, that's good for you, Ash," Professor Oak spoke up. "With someone like Brittany on your team, and since you both are going for being a pokemon master, you can test your skills much better."

      "He does have a point, sweetie," Delia chimed in. "Just give her a chance, honey. She does deserve one, I think.”

      “Well, I know that she does deserve one…I’m just wondering how it’s all gonna pan out in the end,” Ash explained.

      “In the end, it doesn’t even matter,” Brock said. “It’s the journey that really counts.”

      “Hey…yeah! I guess you’re right!”

      Just then, Brittany came running out of the bedroom. “You know what?” She said. “I’m going to write a song about this!”

      “Awesome!” Misty exclaimed.

      “That’s great!” Ash agreed, but Brock was in deep thought.

      “What’s the matter, Brock?” Misty asked.

      “Maybe I’m wrong, but don’t singers have contracts with their agents?  And it’s binding?” Brock pointed out.

      “Oh, no!” Brittany exclaimed.  “That’s right! There’s no way that I’d be able to just leave…” Her head fell. “You guys go ahead…be sure to write…” She started putting her things into her bag.

      “Stop right there, young lady!” Delia appeared in the doorway.

      “Huh?” Brittany looked up from her packing.

      “It is 8 o’clock at night and you haven’t eaten anything! You are not leaving.  Why don’t Ash, Brock, and Misty just travel with you and you can talk to your boss?”

      “Mom, you don’t know Mr. Givot. He isn’t going to let me go off and train my pokemon. He already thinks that I should get rid of the ones I have.”

      “What?” Ash and Misty asked, angrily and in shock.

      “That’s insensitive!” Brock exclaimed.

      “Pokemon are more then battler’s, they’re best friends!” Ash exclaimed.

      “Well, dear, just do your best!” Delia smiled. “You never know, maybe he’ll let you go.”

      “Maybe…” Brittany said under her breath.

      “Now, enough of this! Come and eat!”

      “Finally!” Ash jumped up and ran into the kitchen.

      “That’s like Ash, always hungry for his mom’s cooking,” Misty chuckled.

      “I LOVE mom’s cooking!” Brittany exclaimed. “They all walked into the kitchen to see Ash’s plate full of food, and him shoveling it down. Brittany smiled. “I guess that he hasn’t changed THAT much, huh?”

      “Probably now,” Brock said.

      Misty looked around. “Hey, Brittany, where are all of your, and ash’s, pokemon?”

      “Oh, they all went with Professor Oak when he left.  They’re all probably all playing in his fields!” Brittany laughed.

      “Also, Professor Oak may want to study them and make sure that they’re healthy and fighting fit!” Brock noted.

      “Yeah.”

      “Professor Oak’s research is really doing well now that he has help!” Delia smiled, putting out one more bowl of food and Ash started scooping out of it. “Ash Ketchem! You slow down this instant, or you’ll be having stomach pains all night!”

      Ash stopped. “I’m sorry, mom.  I’m just so hungry and I haven’t had your cooking in forever, it seems.”

      “At least save some for the others.”

      “Okay.”

      Brittany leaned over to reach the spoon, and Ash noticed something. She had a charm on her necklace that looked familiar. Then, he flashed back to the day he left…

      Ash turned and started walking away from her. He hardly looked back, and he saw her take the charm off of her wrist and throw it on the ground and start to walk in a different direction. Ash had seen enough. He took off in a dead sprint. Knowing that if he looked back, he wouldn’t be able to hold it together.

      “Hey Brittany,” Ash asked, once he was out of the trans.

      “Yeah, Ash?” She answered.

      “Is that charm…” He paused and she caught the hint.

      “The charm?” She finished his sentence and he nodded. “Yeah, it is.”

      “But, how? I saw you throw it…” He just couldn’t get the words out.

      “How about we talk about this later?” Brittany winked and Ash nodded.

      “Oh!” Delia remembered. “Did you guys see a flier when you came into town?”

      “No,” Ash, Brock, and Misty answered.

      “Oh! That one about the thing in Cerulean City?” Brittany asked?

      “That’s the one!” Delia said.

      “What thing?” Ash asked.

      “There’s a dance going on at the Cerulean City Gym for the whole region,” Brittany explained.

      “At the gym?” Misty asked.

      “Yes,” Delia smiled as she began to clear the table and the trainers went into the living room.

      “I wonder what’s up…I should call my sisters…”

      “Do you want to use my phone?” Brittany asked.

      “What do you mean?”

      “My cell phone.” Brittany took it out of her bag. “One of the perks of my job!”

      “I guess so!” Brock exclaimed. “Hey, when are you two going to get your pokemon back?” Brock asked as Misty stepped outside to call her sisters.

      “I don’t know…”

      “Maybe we should wait until tomorrow morning. We can let them play a bit at Professor Oak’s,” Ash suggested.

      “Good idea.”

      “I was just wondering because I’m interested in what kind of pokemon you have, Brittany,” Brock explained.

      Misty walked in and handed Brittany her phone as she spoke. “I have a Pikachu, of course, an Arcanine, a Ninetails, a Quilava, a Totodile, and a Chikorita with me. I do have others, though, of course.”

      “Wow! Really? That’s quite a team you have, there!”

      “Yea, I try to mix it up when I can, though. I switched around a lot when I was getting badges.”

      “Well, hey! You can do that again!” Misty smiled.

      “Yeah, and you can start by battling me!” Ash stood up. “Right now!”

      “Ash…we don’t have our pokemon with us…” Brittany pointed out.

      “Oh…That’s right…Well, first thing tomorrow!”

      “Are you sure you want to, Ash?”

      “Yeah! I gotta see how you battle!”

      “Ash, then it’d be best for you to watch her battle,” Misty pointed out. “Instead of just jumping into it.”

      “Really?”

      “Yeah.”

      “Then, I will challenge you!” Brock stood up confidently.

      “Brock!?” Ash and Misty exclaimed.

      “Yeah! Why not? It’s not everyday when I get the chance to battle a beautiful young woman.” Brock bowed before Brittany. “Please, accept my challenge.”

      “I accept!” Brittany smiled.

      “All right!” Brock rejoiced. “It’s about time that I get to battle! I’m always reffing your guys’ battles!”

      “Just to warn you, Brock, I may be a little rusty. I haven’t battled in forever,” Brittany explained. “But I am still good!”

      “We’ll just see about hat tomorrow, Brittany.” Brock held out his hand and Brittany shook it.

      “I can’t wait to see you battle, Brittany,” Misty said.

      “Me either! I wanna see what you’ve been doing all this time!” Ash said.

      “Yeah, no kidding!” Brittany agreed.

      “What are you kids still doing up?” Delia asked, yawning and wearing a bathrobe. “I think that you should get to sleep. Oh, before I forget! Brittany, your mom called while you were off. She would like you to visit her on you way back. She said something about having big news for you. Okay? Goodnight everyone!” Delia left.

      “Good night,” The trainers answered.

      Brock stretched and yawned. “Well, I think that I’m going to call it a night and get some sleep.” He went to his back pack and unrolled his sleeping bag and laid down. “Goodnight everyone.”

      “Everyone was getting theirs out, too. “Goodnight,” They answered. Ash went to his room while Misty and Brittany settled on the two couches in the living room.

      About an hour later, Ash walked out of his room and towards Brittany’s sleeping bag, only to see her not there. He was confused at first, but then he knew exactly where she was.

      He put on his shoes and headed outside to the back of the house. Sure enough, she was lying on the grass, gazing at the stars. “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” He asked and she jerked around, alarmed, but then she smiled at him.

      “Yea, they sure are,” She answered. “Come sit next to me.” She sat up and Ash sat next to her.

      “So…what really happened that day we split up? What did I miss?”

      “You missed a lot, Ash…you missed my pain, my fear, and my tears…Basically my explanation!...Yes, I did throw our friendship charm on the ground…but I couldn’t leave our friendship like that…I couldn’t leave YOU like that…like you left me…” She fell silent and looked away.

      “It wasn’t easy, you know…when I was running, I had our past going against me and it was incredibly hard…I just kept having flashbacks going over and over in my head…and I’ve been having them ever since I saw you again…It was when I saw you throw the charm on the ground that I almost lost it. I knew that if I looked back, if I saw you again, I would just fall apart, or run back to you.”

      “It wasn’t only hard on us; you know…Our Pikachu’s took an emotional beating, too.”

      “I know…that’s probably another reason why Pikachu didn’t like me, at first!”

      “That may be it!” She chuckled. “My Pikachu and I really bonded, then. Also when I saved Growlithe. We were a team that no one could separate…still are.”

      “That’s great! Wait…what do you mean you saved Growlithe?”

      “Growlithe was attacked by poachers and was really weak. I hadn’t caught it, yet, so I carried it most of the way to the Viridian City Pokemon Center. Another girl helped me out by giving me a ride there on her bike. She left soon after to go fishing, but she helped! Then, when Growlithe was recovering, he allowed me to catch him.”

      “Wow! You’ve probably had quite a few adventures!”

      “Oh yea! But what pokemon Trainer doesn’t?”

      “That’s true.”

      Brittany looked up at the stars one last time before standing up. “Are you going to bed?” Ash asked, standing up as well.

      Brittany yawned. “Yea, I got a pokemon battle to rest up for!” She winked at him. “Well…goodnight, Ash.” She started to walk away.

      “Goodnight…” Ash said quietly as she disappeared to the front of the house. Then, Ash looked up at the stars one last time. “What am I going to do, now? What will happen next?” It seemed as if he were asking the night sky to answer his questions, because then he saw a star shoot across the velvet, black sky. He smiled and nodded. He, then, turned around and went back into the house.

TO BE CONTINUED…

~*End Part Three*~

Author’s Note: As you can probably tell, Ash and Brittany have some issues to work out. Don’t worry! They’ll get ‘em worked out sooner or later! But things just seem to spiral downhill for a moment in the next few additions. So keep reading and please leave a comment or two!