Disclaimer:  I do not own Pokemon

Life Choices   -part 2
Author-Das Kernal


    Ash slowly regained consciousness.  The first thing he realized was that his whole body hurt.  The last 
thing he remembered was being caught in a rockslide, getting tackled by Misty and being buried by rocks.  
When he opened his eyes he saw that he wasn’t under a huge pile of rocks.  “I wonder how that happened.” 
He wondered.  He slowly stood up, and then realized there was something wet on his back.  He took off his 
jacket to see what it was.  He dropped the jacket when he saw blood.
    ”Waaaaaaah!  What happened?”  He screamed.  Then he felt his back to figure out where the wound was.  
He found a little blood on his shirt, but couldn’t feel any wound.  “But if it’s not my blood, then…..Misty!”  
He turned to see Misty on the ground with blood coming from her forehead.  “No!”  Ash said to himself.  
He rushed to her and put his hand on the wound, trying to seal it.  He also checked for a pulse to see if she 
was alive.  He found a pulse.  Realizing that the wound wasn’t sealing so easily, he searched for his 
backpack.  While looking, he saw Pikachu.  “Pikachu!  Are you okay?”  Pikachu was still out from the 
battle.  Ash checked and found that it was alive and had no major injuries.  “I’m sorry buddy, but Misty 
needs me more right now.”   Ash found his pack and went back to Misty.  He couldn’t find any bandages so 
he used his last pair of clean socks to put on her wound.  “But now how do I keep it there.  I can’t hold it 
and move at the same time.  I don’t have any tape or stuff like that.”  Ash began scratching his head, trying 
to think.  As he was scratching he realized what he could use.  “My hat!”  Ash removed his hat and put it 
on Misty’s head so it would hold the sock in place.  He then checked out the rest of her only to find she had 
no other open wounds.  Ash then started to calm down.  Now to find Brock.  “The last time I saw Brock he 
was running from the rockslide.  Back into the cave.  Brock!  Brock!  I’m sure he’s okay.  He knows how 
to take care of himself.”  Ash put his jacket back on.   “I’ll come back for him, but first I must get Misty to 
a hospital.  I’ll just use my Pokemon to help.  Let’s see.   Pikachu, Squirtle and Bulbasaur were injured in 
the last battle.  Since I forgot to switch them back after the league, that leaves me with Charizard, Muk and 
Kingler.  I guess I’ll have to chance Charizard.  Charizard, I choose you!”  The fire Pokemon came out of 
its ball.  Looked at Ash, and then sent some fire in his direction.  Ash ducked, and called out “Charizard, 
return.  I guess I’m on my own.  I’ll go and see if anyone is outside.  I can’t do this alone.”  Ash walked 
outside in search of help.

    Inside, Misty was waking up.  She couldn’t move and then remembered what happened.  She barely 
opened her eyes and saw Ash walking away.  He was leaving her.  “Wait!  I’m here Ash.  Turn around!  
Don’t Leave Me!  ASH!”  She started screaming only to find that no sound was coming from her mouth.  
“Please, don’t leave me here.”  Was her last silent plea before she passed out.

    Ash, not hearing her silent screams, found his way outside and looked around.  No one was around.  
“Help!  Somebody help!”  He called only to get no response.  “Fine.  I’ll save her myself!”  He said with 
determination.  He went back into the cave, gently put Pikachu in his backpack, attached Misty’s backpack, 
with Togepi in it, to his, and then went over to Misty.  As gently as he could, he picked her up in his arms 
and began his journey to Pewter.

    Brock was running as fast as he could back to Cerulean City.  After a minute, Jessie and Meowth caught 
up and were running with him.
    “What do you guys want?”  Brock asked angrily.
    “We also have a friend on the other side, so it would be best if we worked together.  At least until 
everyone is safe,” Jessie answered.
    “Fine, just don’t pull anything.”
    “We work as a team.  We can’t work with a missed member.”
 

    After an hour, Ash had to take a break.  “Wow, Misty, you’re not as scrawny as I thought you were.”  As 
he was resting, he noticed a red spot forming on his hat.  He quickly changed the blooded sock to his last 
clean one.  “I hope this lasts longer.  Don’t worry Misty, I will get you to a hospital, I promise.”
He then picked her up again and continued his walk.

    He went for another hour before the sun went down and forced him to stop.  Ash took Pikachu out of his 
back pack, laid it in Misty’s arms, and then put the backpack under Misty’s head.  He also put Togepi with 
Pikachu.  He then carefully took out his dirty socks and went to a nearby stream.  He took off the socks he 
had on and proceeded to wash all of them as best as he could.  He went back and changed the sock on 
Misty’s head.  Ash thought she might be cold, so he put his jacket over her.  “Misty, why did you do that?  
I should be the one who’s hurt.  I know you want your bike back, but isn’t risking your life going too far for 
a bike?  I’ll never understand why that bike was so important to you.  I guess it’s a girl thing.  Don’t worry; 
tomorrow you’ll be safe in a hospital.  Good night.”  Ash tried to sleep but couldn’t leave Misty alone.  So 
he decided to pass the time by talking.  He heard somewhere that it helps the unconscious.
    “Hey Misty, it’s been one weird day, huh?  I wish we could start the day without fighting.  I don’t know 
why we fight all the time.  I don’t like to.  I never used to fight.  Then I met you and it started.  I don’t get 
it.  I fight with you all day, and then at night you’re all I think about.  Sometimes I just sit up at night and 
stare at you.  Sorta like I’m doing now.  I just can’t help it.  You know, if you weren’t hurt, I might enjoy 
this.  Taking care of you and all.”  Ash stopped as he changed the sock.  “Part of me wants so much to 
touch your face.  You look so peaceful.  I know that if I tried you’d somehow remember.  Then I’d be dead.  
I’ve thought so much about what you’d do.  I’ve only been able to imagine two possibilities.  In the first 
you get mad and make a permanent imprint of your shoe on my face.  In the second you just bust up 
laughing and walk away.  I couldn’t take either of those.  I can’t let myself imagine you feeling the same 
because I know that you don’t.  You show how you feel everyday we’re together.  Part of me is glad you 
don’t feel like I do.  I can be immature much of the time.  But I know that I’m just not ready for a 
girlfriend.  I’d mess it up, just like everything else.  Oh Misty I’m so sorry.  I could’ve prevented this, I 
know I could.  You should’ve left me.  I can’t bear seeing you like this.”  Ash was already crying and 
couldn’t stop.  He stayed up all night watching over her.
    As soon as it was light enough to walk, Ash picked up Misty, still in his jacket, and continued on to 
Pewter.  After a couple hours, during one of his frequent stops, Ash heard some screaming.  It sounded like 
a girl.  He ran to where the source was, only to find a couple Mankeys attacking someone.  “Hey, stop it!”  
Ash shouted.  They ignored him and one of the Mankeys picked up the human and tossed him off a rock 
ledge.  As he was being thrown, Ash saw who it was.  It wasn’t a girl, it was James!  Maybe it was a girl 
after all.  Acting on instinct Ash grabbed one of his pokeballs and threw it at the Mankeys.  “Go, Muk!”  
While the Mankeys were busy attacking Muk, Ash ran over to the ledge to see James hanging onto a grip a 
foot down.
    When James saw Ash, he looked totally shocked. “Y-you’re alive!”
    Not wasting time, Ash reached down and grabbed James and pulled him up.  As Ash got up, the 
Mankeys had given up on hurting Muk and turned to Ash.  They started by picking him up and playing 
catch.  Then Muk rose up and body slammed one of them as Ash came flying in his direction.  Without the 
Mankey to catch him, Ash hit the rocky area with his shoulder.  He could feel something move out of place.  
When Muk got back up, the Mankey had fainted.  Seeing his friend put out, the other Mankey ran away.  
James ran over to help Ash get up.  “Ash, can you feel your arm?”
    “Uh, no.”
    “I think it might be broken,” James stated sadly.
    “No, it can’t be, I still need it.”
    “Don’t worry, it’ll heal in time,” James tried to cheer him up.
    “I don’t have time!”  Ash yelled.
    “W-what do you mean?” James asked as he jumped back from Ash.
    “I still need to carry Misty to Pewter!”
    “What happened?”
    “She was hurt in the cave in and she needs to get to a hospital.”
    “So that was her blood,” James realized quietly.
    “What?”
    “N-nothing.  Listen Ash, I’ll carry her.”
    Ash looked at James for a minute, “okay, but I’m watching you.”
    They went back to Misty.  James picked her up and the group headed to Pewter.
    “Ash?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Thank you.”
    “For what?”
    “You saved my life.  I owe you.”
    “Just help me get Misty to a hospital.  That’s all that matters.”
    “Oh,” James looked at Ash with a grin on his face “I see.”
    “See what?” Ash saw James’ grin.
    “It must be nice having a girlfriend to take care of,” James decided to start some guy talk.
    “She’s NOT my girlfriend!”
    “She’s not?”
    “No!”
    “Then why do you care so much?” James baited him.
    “What do you mean?” Ash was getting defensive.
    “Well, I see you’re letting her use your jacket and your socks.  I can see you’re not wearing any.  
Doesn’t that hurt?”
    “A little, but it doesn’t matter.  I’m letting her borrow my stuff because she needs them.  Besides, I can 
get more clothes in town.  “
    “And your hat?”
    “Huh?”
    “You can’t get another hat.  I doubt that blood is going to come out easily.  One of your most cherished 
possessions is ruined.  And you want me to believe she’s just a friend?”
    “I don’t care what you believe,” Ash could see he was losing.
    “I’m sure you’ll believe what you want to believe.  If you remember anything I’ve said so far let it be 
this, don’t wait too long before saying something.  The longer you wait, the harder it will be.  Believe me, I 
know.  I once waited too long and now am unable to say anything.”
    Ash looked at James like he was a talking Pokemon.  He’d never seen this side of him before.  It was like 
he was….human.

    As they were walking, Misty woke up again.  The world was a blur.  She could tell she was in someone’s 
arms.  “Oh, it must be Ash.  He came back for me,” she was saying to herself.  “I know I’ll be okay.  I feel 
safe in his arms,” she smiled inwardly.  As she thought this, her vision started to clear.  “Wait, Ash doesn’t 
have blue hair.”  Then she saw who it was, James.  She just moaned and fell asleep.

    By now, Brock, Jessie, and Meowth had found Cerulean City and ran into the police headquarters.
    “Help!  We need help!”
    “What’s going on?” Officer Jenny asked.
    For some strange reason Brock wasn’t in girl mode.  “There was a cave-in inside Mt. Moon.  Our friends 
were on the other side and might be hurt.  We have to help them.”
    “Okay, get in the jeep outside and I’ll take you there.”
    They all piled in the jeep and sped off.
    Along the way Brock shifted into girl mode.  Of course the whole way Brock was constantly being 
threatened of getting kicked out if he didn’t leave Jenny alone.

    The group was just entering Pewter when James heard Misty moan.  “Ash, I think she’s awake.  She just 
moaned.”
    Ash went to Misty, “Misty?  Misty, are you awake?”  She gave no answer.
    “Come on, we’re almost there,” Ash said as he lead the way to the hospital.
    Once she was there, the doctors hurried her into the ER.  Ash was also admitted to a room.  That left 
James standing in the waiting room with Ash’s backpack.  James sat down and started a guilt trip.  His trip 
was interrupted when he felt Ash’s pack moving.  He opened it to find….Pikachu!  And the rest of Ash’s 
pokeballs.  This was it.  He finally got them.  “But at what cost?” He asked himself.  “I may have killed 
Misty and I don’t even want to think about what Ash will do if she dies.  No, not like this.  Stealing is one 
thing, but killing is wrong.  Besides, I still owe him.”  James got up, grabbed the backpacks and ran out of 
the hospital.

    Someone watched the whole incident.  When he saw Misty was hurt, he began to worry.  He never told 
any of them but he liked Misty.  Maybe he would ask her out when she was feeling better.

    James kept running until he found his destination, the Pokemon Center.
    “Hello, how can I help you?”  Asked Nurse Joy.
    “Oh, um, yeah, I’m just dropping off some Pokemon for my friend.  He’s in the hospital and asked me to 
do this for him.  Here they are,” James handed over Pikachu, Togepi and the pokeballs.
    “Tell your friend that they’ll be ready tomorrow.”
    “Thank you so much,” James ran out the door, feeling very confused.

    When James got back to the hospital, Ash had been released.  He now wore a cast on him arm.  His hat 
and jacket had been returned to him.  James went over to see how he was.
    “The doctors say it was a slight break and should only take a month to heal. But they did tell me that I 
better get some rest or I’ll suffer from exhaustion.”
    “Then you should rest,” James insisted.
    Ash was getting used to them not fighting.  “I can’t.  Not with Misty in there.”
    “I understand,” James handed Ash his backpack.
    Ash then remembered Pikachu.  He opened the bag and found only clothes.  He looked at James 
confused.
    “I took them to the Pokemon Center.  They’ll be ready tomorrow.”
    “Thanks.”
    They both stayed in the waiting room all night.

    Brock, Jessie, Meowth and Officer Jenny reached the other side of Mt. Moon just before the sunset.  
Then looked inside and found nothing.  Then Officer Jenny found some footprints and determined that they 
went to Pewter.  It was too late, but they would follow the next day.
    They woke up early and hopped in Officer Jenny’s jeep and went to Pewter.  They all ran into the 
hospital to find James asleep in the waiting room while Ash was pacing.
    “JAMES!”  Shouted Jessie as she ran over to hug him.
    He woke up instantly and realized who it was.
    “Jessie!  You’re okay.  I thought you were dead.”
    “We would’ve been if we weren’t hiding in that hole you dug,” she explained with a smile.
    Then James saw Brock and his eyes went wide with fear.
    Brock, not seeing Ash, looked at him coldly, “where are they?”
    “Uh, um, they are okay.  Misty is in the emergency room and Ash is...” James didn’t get a chance to 
finish.
    Brock walked over to him and took a swing.  His fist connected to Ash who stepped in the middle.
    “Ash!  What’re you doing?” Brock asked, shocked.
    Ash was on the floor.  He barely had the energy to get up.  “Please, Brock.  Don’t hurt him.”
    “What!  He caused this mess!”
    “I know that.  He knows that.  But he helped save Misty.  To me that deserves forgiveness.”
    Brock looked at Ash, then coldly at James and walked to the information desk.  When he turned back 
around, only Ash was in the waiting room.  “They say she’ll be fine.  She should wake up soon.  Then 
they’ll do a check up and release her.”
    “Can I go see her?”
    “Yeah.  Don’t stay too long.”
    Ash set off to find Misty with hope in his heart.

    Misty was awake but resting with her eyes closed.  She suddenly felt someone’s hand on her face.  The 
back of this person’s hand was stroking her cheek.  She instantly knew who it was.  Without opening her 
eyes she reached out her arms and hugged the owner of the hand.

    Ash had finally found Misty’s room after about 20 minutes of being lost.  The door was closed so he 
looked in through the small window on the door.  What he saw was terrifying.  Someone was stroking 
Misty’s face.  Ash knew who it was.  Anger started to boil within him.  Then it was replaced with despair 
when he saw what happened next.  Misty reached up and hugged him.  Ash could also see her smiling.  
“Misty…how could you?” Ash thought as he watched.  “That’s supposed to be me.  If it wasn’t me, did it 
have to be…him?  Of all people.”
    Ash was now fighting back tears.  “Okay, Misty.  You made your choice.”  Ash walked back to the 
waiting room.  He ignored Brock’s questions as he left the hospital.

    Misty could feel the person hugging her back.  But something was wrong.  It didn’t feel right.  “Hi, 
Ash.”
    “Ash!  I’m not that loser.”
    Misty’s eyes opened and went wide.  She pushed away from the stranger and lay back down.  Then she 
saw whom she had just hugged.  It was Gary Oak.
    “What are you doing here?”  Misty asked half-shocked and half-angry.
    “I saw you were hurt and was worried.”
    “Leave.”
    “But I came to see you,” Gary looked serious.
    “GET OUT!”
    Gary practically ran out.  He continued running till he got to the waiting room.  Then he saw Brock.
    “Gary!  What are you doing here?” Brock demanded.
    “None of your business,” Gary answered as he casually walked out of the hospital.

    After Gary had left, Misty was alone with her thoughts.
    ‘EWWWW.  Disgusting.  What was he doing here?  I should’ve known it wasn’t Ash.  He wouldn’t do 
that.  No, he’d just walk away.  Just like he did in the cave.  How could he do that?  What did I do to make 
him hate me that much?’
    The doctor walked in.  “Hello Misty, are you ready for a check up?”

    After a couple more hours Misty had her check up and the doctors okayed her release.  She was just 
checking out when Brock saw her.  “Misty!”
    Misty turned to see Brock running to her.  They gave each other a hug.  Just then Ash came back.
    “Hi Misty,” Ash said trying to sound happy.  All he could think about was her and Gary.
    Misty saw Ash and remembered how he had left her in the cave and walked off.  Her rage went through 
the roof.
Ash stopped when he saw Misty’s expression shift from happy to angry when she saw him.
Misty walked over to him and all her anger and rage was consolidated into one action.  A fist connecting to 
Ash’s face.  He was sent flying several feet back.  “How could you do that to me?  How could you walk off 
and leave me for dead!  If James wasn’t there I would have DIED!” She was screaming.  Now, unable to 
hold back her tears, she ran out.
    Ash just lay there on the floor.  He was unable to respond because he was unconscious.
    Unsure about what to do, Brock went to the nurse’s station to get Ash readmitted.
    Invisible to all, a pair of eyes had watched the whole incident.

    The next day, Ash was released.  In addition to his cast, had a bandage on his nose from Misty’s fist.  He 
wasn’t supposed to eat solid food for a few days because his jaw needed to realign.  This was courtesy of 
Brock’s fist.
    He and Brock went to the Pokemon center to get his Pokemon.  When he said who he was, they gave 
him his Pokemon and Misty’s backpack with Togepi in it.  When he saw it, he started to cry.
    “Pika, pi?” inquired Pikachu.
    Wiping the tears from his eyes,”nothing, I’m fine.  Let’s go.”  Ash picked up Togepi and the pack and 
walked out the door.  Brock followed silently.
    Once outside, Ash handed Togepi and the backpack to Brock, “please, take Togepi to Misty.”
    Brock looked stunned, “but, Ash, you should do it.”
    “She won’t talk to me.”
    “Ash, I can’t leave you now.”
    “Brock, please.  Misty needs a friend more than I do right now.  I’m going home.  I’ll have my mom.”
    “Well, okay, but I’ll be there soon.”
    “Thank you, Brock,” Ash said as he walked away, tears falling down his face.
    Brock stood for a moment, watching his friend leave town and his life.
    The same invisible eyes saw this scene as well.

    The whole trip home Pikachu was constantly trying to get Ash to speak but without success.  When he 
reached home, his mom was extremely happy to have him back.  She wanted to know how he had been 
injured so much.  She could tell he was not in the mood for talking, so she let him be for awhile.

    Brock raised his hand to knock on the door of Misty’s house.  He didn’t know what to expect.  Was she 
still mad?  Was she upset?  With her, there was no way to know.  When the door opened Brock saw Lily, 
Misty’s sister.  He instantly went into girl mode.  “Hi there.  You certainly look lovely tonight.”
    “Can I help you?”  Lily asked uninterested.
    “Uh, yeah, how about a date tonight?”
    “No, now why are you here?”
    “Oh, um, is Misty here?” Brock realized why he was here.
    “Yeah, just a minute,” Lily said as she practically slammed the door in Brock's face.
    A minute later Misty opened the door again.  Brock could tell she had been crying.  But her face lit up 
when she saw Togepi.
    “Togepi!”  She exclaimed as she hugged it.  “I’m so sorry I forgot about you!”
    Brock watched, as both were ecstatic to see each other.  Once they calmed down he dared a comment; 
“here’s your back pack too.”
    “Oh, Brock thank you.”
    “Don’t thank me.  Ash asked me to bring them back to you.”
    Misty’s mood changed at the mention of Ash.  “I’m surprised he didn’t keep them for his own.”
    “Misty, that’s not fair.  You know Ash wouldn’t do that,” Brock tried defending his friend.
    “Only recently I’ve realized how little I know about him.  And I’m glad for it.”
    “Okay, I’m really confused here.  I take it something happened after the cave in that I don’t know 
about?”
    “He left me Brock.  He left me in the cave to die,” Misty was starting to cry again.
    “No way!  Ash wouldn’t do that.  He cares too much to do that.”
    “I know what I saw.  I barely woke to see him walking out of the cave and not look back.  He’s not too 
dumb to know to check for a pulse.  He knew I was alive and left me!  I thought I knew him!”  Misty was 
now in complete tears and ran to her room.  Brock was left on the doorstep.
    “So what do I do now?” Brock asked the world.  He didn’t want to see his friends pull apart over what 
must have been a misunderstanding.  He decided to wait a week and let them both have a little time.  In the 
mean time he would go home.

    “James, we have new orders,” Jessie said with excitement.
    “So what,” James muttered as he held his face in his hands.
    “Is something wrong?  You haven’t seemed very happy about our job lately.  Ever since that cave in.”
    He looked up to revealed tears going down his face. “Jessie, I almost killed someone!” He cried.
    “But you didn’t.  Mrs. Twerp recovered.  Now about these new orders….” Jessie tried to change the 
subject.
    “Screw the orders,” James yelled as he pulled off his Team Rocket shirt only to leave a black shirt 
underneath.  “I quit!”  James started walking away.
    Jessie and Meowth both looked dumbfounded and shocked.
    “What’s eatin him?” Meowth asked. “Anyway, we gotta go do dis job quickly.  Les go.” Meowth got ten 
feet before it noticed Jessie wasn’t moving.  “Come on, I said.  I’ll be top cat yet!”

    “Hey James, wait up!”
    James turned to see Jessie running after him.  She also lost her TR shirt and had on a black top.
    “What are you doing?” James asked in disbelief.
    “Well the way I see it we’ve been partners so long that I wouldn’t know what to do with out you. You’ve 
always been there for me.  Now it’s my turn.”
    James looked like he was going to cry.  All he could do was hug Jessie.
    “Thank you, Jessie.”
    After James was done, Jessie started planning.  “First we get some new clothes, and then you tell me 
what you’re doing.”
    “Deal.  But what about Meowth?”
    “He still wants to be top cat.  He is obsessed.  You know what that’s like.”
    “I sure do.”

    A few days later, Lily told Misty that she had some guests at the door.  Misty walked to the door, saw 
who it was and went into fight mode.
    “Team Rocket!”
    “Sorry, kid, you’ve got the wrong people.  We’re just old friends visiting,” Jessie corrected her.
    “What do you want?” Misty asked coldly.
    “Please, let us talk.  Ten minutes, that’s all I ask.  Then you can kick us out and we’ll never bother you 
again,” James was begging on his hands and knees.
    Misty couldn’t help but give in to his heart felt begging.  “Fine.  Well take a walk.”
    Misty left the house; started walking then realized how quiet it was. “Where’s Meowth?”
    “He’s still in Team Rocket,” Jessie explained.
    “Then you’re….”
    “Correct.  We quit.”
    “But why?”
    “James here will explain later.  As for me, well I just couldn’t let him do it alone.”
    “Okay, James.  What’s the story?” Misty asked as she started walking.
    “I know you’re not going to want to hear this, but you need to,” James began, “it’s about Ash.”
    “Why would I care anything about Ash?” Misty tried to hide any feelings in her response.
    “I’ll get to that later.  But first I’d really like to apologize for the cave in.  It was an accident, but it was 
still my fault.”
Misty stopped and looked at him a little surprised.
    “I’m really sorry.  I never meant to hurt anyone.  We’re not killers.  Just thieves.”
    Jessie was just walking with them, not taking part in the conversation.  This was James show.
    Misty looked into James’ eyes as he apologized and saw genuine regret.
    “It’s okay.  We all make mistakes,” she answered him, smiling.
    “That’s true.  But my mistake has caused so many others.  But I’ll get to that in a few minutes.  After the 
cave in, I went back in to see what happened.  I found you and Ash and dug you out, hoping you were 
alive.  I found Pikachu but that didn’t matter anymore.”
    Jessie started to pay attention to this.  James hadn’t told her any of this.
    “When I uncovered you two, I saw blood on Ash’s jacket.  I thought I’d killed him.  Then I ran away 
screaming like a little girl,” James head now hung low.  “I just kept running until I was too tired.  Then I 
fell asleep.  When I woke up, I headed for Pewter City to contact Giovanni to tell him what happened.  At 
that time I thought I had lost my two best friends.  I didn’t get too far when a couple Mankeys started to 
play with me.  I thought it was more torture than playing.  After awhile, they got bored and decided to toss 
me off a cliff.  I managed to grab a ledge just a foot down and held on for my life, not knowing how to get 
up.  I looked up to see just how far the ledge was and there was Ash, reaching for my hand.  I thought he 
was dead.  Just as he helped me get up, the Mankeys stopped playing with his Muk and started on him.  
Muk saved him but not before he got a broken arm.  He didn’t care that he was hurt, just that he couldn’t 
carry you back.  After what he did for me, I had to help him.  So I carried you the rest of the way.”
    “So it was you that I saw.”
    “Huh?”
    “I woke up for a minute and saw you carrying me.”
    “I thought I heard you awake.”
    “It wasn’t very long.  Sorry for interrupting.”
    “Let’s see, oh yeah!  When I saw you, you had a big cut on your forehead.  He had used some clean 
socks to try to stop the bleeding.  He even used his Pokemon hat to hold the sock there.  You know how 
protective of his hat he is.  It was then that I realized that I didn’t see him bleeding, it was you.  As we 
walked we also talked about things.  He told me how he was trying his best to save you.  Using his hat as a 
bandage, his coat to keep you warm.” James started giggling a little; “he even walked the whole way 
without socks in case you needed them.  As we got into town, I thought I heard you moan.  I thought I was 
just imagining things.  We got to the hospital and both of you were taken in for treatment.  They said that 
you might not live.  I didn’t know what else to do so I just sat there and waited.  While I was there I 
realized that I had both yours and Ash’s backpacks.  I held all of your Pokemon.  The boss would’ve been 
so happy to get Pikachu and Togepi.  But I just couldn’t do that.  I felt that it would’ve been murder.  So I 
took them to the Pokemon center.  When I returned, Ash was released and told to get some rest.  He hadn’t 
slept since the cave in.  I fell asleep in the waiting room.  But Ash stayed up in case something happened to 
you.  When I woke up, Jessie, Meowth and Brock were there.  Of course I was happy to see Jessie and 
Meowth.  But I was afraid of Brock.  After I told him where you were and he came to hit me.  But Ash got 
in the way and was hit instead.”
Misty turned to look at James.
    “I deserved it, not him.  But after that we left.  But I waited around in hiding to see what happened.  
After watching as Ash thought you liked Gary, then you hitting Ash, I decided that I had to help.  So I quit 
Team Rocket and came here.”
    “Why?  Why did you come here?  Why do you want to help?” Misty looked at him as tears began to 
come.
    James offered a tissue.  “Two reasons.  First, this is my way of apologizing for what I did.  Second, Ash 
saved my life.  Even when he knew that I might’ve killed you.  This is my way of paying him back.  He 
saved my life and now I’m trying to save his,” James was also starting to cry.
    “What?  How….is this…..saving…..his life?” Misty sobbed.
    Jessie decided to step in.  “Are you blind?  Don’t you see that you are his life?  You are the most 
important person to him.”
    “What?  How…do…you….know….that?” Misty was starting to blush and cry harder.
    “We’ve spent countless hours watching you three trying to figure out a way to get Pikachu.  We see the 
way he looks at you when you’re not looking.  And we see the way you look at him,” Jessie added.
    Misty looked at them in disbelief.  “I do not!”
    “Don’t what?”
    “I don’t look at him like….like…”
    “Like you love him?” Jessie offered, smiling.
    “No I don’t!”
    “Okay, sure, keep believing that.  That’s not the important thing right now.  Right now he is out there, 
thinking that you love Gary and that you hate him.  Can you really leave him like that?”
    “But he left me.  He was the one that…”
    “No,” James stated confidently, “he was the one that saved your life.  Then he saved my life.  If those are 
mistakes then we should thank him for being stupid.”
    “And all you did was ruin his favorite hat and jacket,” Jessie chimed in.
    “You’re not helping,” James shot her a look.
    “But she’s right,” Misty was looking at the ground.  “I didn’t know what happened and I overreacted.  
What should I do?”
    “Go to him,” Jessie and James said together, “he’ll forgive you.”
    “How can you be sure?”
    “After I almost killed you, he forgave me.  And my crime was so much greater than yours,” James 
responded.
    “Okay, I’m going,” Misty said and started to run off.  Then she stopped and walked back to the former 
Team Rocket members.  “Thank you so much for telling me.”  Then she ran at full speed out of town.
    They watched her go.  Then James turned to Jessie, “Thank you Jessie.”
    “For what?”
    “For not letting me do this alone.”
    “Anytime.  I always thought that I had the time of my life while in Team Rocket.  I just realized that it 
wasn’t Team Rocket.  It was having a friend like you.”
    “Let’s go find our new life.”
    “Agreed.”

    “Mom, please promise me?”
    Mrs. Ketchum couldn’t believe what her son was asking of her.
    “I’ll promise to keep in contact only if you promise not to tell ANYONE where I am,” Ash said as he 
looked across the table at his mother.
    “But Ash, I still don’t understand why you’re leaving,” Mrs. Ketchum was starting to cry.
    “Mom, it has nothing to do with you.  I have to do this.  I can’t stay here.  It’s too close.”
    “Too close to what?”
    “Mom, please.  I’m leaving either way.  I’d like to still have you in my life.”
    “Okay, I promise.”
    “Thank you, Mom,” Ash got up and walked to the door.
    Mrs. Ketchum took one last look at her son.  He was still wearing the same clothes as the last time he 
left.  Only now there were bloodstains on his hat and jacket, which he wouldn’t explain.  He also wouldn’t 
explain his injuries.  He had only promised that he wasn’t in trouble with the law.
    “If Misty comes, please give her the bike I got yesterday.”
    “What?  You’re not taking it?”
    “It’s not mine.  I owe it to her.”
    Mrs. Ketchum nodded as he walked out the door and out of her life.  She put her head on the table and 
started crying again.

    Hours later she was still crying when someone knocked at the door.  She barely got herself to stop and 
went to the door.  She opened it to find Misty out of breath.  “Misty?  Please come in.”
    Misty came in and sat down.  When she was rested enough to talk she asked,”Is Ash here?”
    That only caused Mrs. Ketchum to start crying all over again.  Misty went over to try and comfort her.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Ash…has…left.”
    “Huh?  Where did he go?”
    “He had to…..no.  I can’t say anything.”
    “Why not?”
    “I promised I wouldn’t.”
    “Please!  I must know!” Misty begged as she started to cry.
    “I’m sorry.  If I tell, he won’t ever talk to me again!”
    “Fine.  I’ll find him myself.”
    “Misty, wait.  Follow me,” Mrs. Ketchum went upstairs.  She stopped in front of Ash’s room.  “Go in.”
    Misty opened the door and saw a bike.  “What’s this?”
    “He said that he owed it to you.”
    “Yeah, but it didn’t think th….oh Ash, please come back.”

    The next morning Misty was on her bike getting ready to leave Pallet Town.  “I’ll find him, I promise.”  
With that, she headed back to Cerulean City.  She stopped only to get her Pokemon, supplies, and send a 
letter to Brock.  Then she began her hunt.

A month later….

    Misty walked her bike into Celadon City.  Her hunt had led her in many circles.  Now it led her here.  
She started the same process as in the previous towns.  Go to all the hotels and give details about Ash to see 
if anyone had seen him.  The first three hotels had yielded nothing.  But the fourth one gave some results.  
They had a tenant a few days ago that matched his description, right down to the blooded hat and jacket.  
Unfortunately he was gone.  Misty thanked the secretary and walked out.  She was going to the next hotel 
when she saw something in the trash in the back of the hotel.  She saw a Pokemon League hat!  She rushed 
over to it.  With it she also found his jacket, shoes, shirt, and all his other clothes.
    “Why would he throw them out?” Misty asked Ash’s clothes.

    A few hours travel outside of town; a boy stood up to start the day.  He had blond hair, which was cut 
rather short.  He wore a blue shirt with green pants, a dark purple sweatshirt and black tennis shoes.
He looked into the sun with determination.  Then he started the first day of his life.  “Someone was 
following Ash Ketchum.  So he had to die.  Now Chet Shumak’s life will begin.”

    Misty pulled out Ash’s clothes.  She instantly started crying.  She kept crying as she put them in a bag.
She slowly went into the hotel and got a room.

    The next day Misty stepped out of the hotel with her bike.  The receptionist almost hadn’t recognized 
her.  In addition to her old clothes, Misty now wore a Pokemon League Hat, with a bloodstain on the front, 
with a blue and white jacket, with a bloodstain on the back, and two green and yellow finger-less gloves.  
Misty got on her bike and started peddling to the next town.  “Ash, don’t think you can lose me that easily.”
    Little did Misty know about how much Ash had changed.  She was in for a long and difficult journey.