Last One Standing

Part 3

By Finaille Nailo and Pikachu

Ash and Misty are in Mia's guest room, lying on their beds. Ash is reading a magazine on the latest Pokemon gear, and Misty is lying on her stomach wishing there was something better to do. Brock is downstairs on a couch in Mia's living room.

"Ash… do you really think that bomb was dropped... accidentally?" Misty asks, turning on her side to face Ash. Ash's focus on the magazine is quickly turned to Misty.

"I don't know… I guess... I mean, the bomb was dropped in the middle of nowhere." Ash states.

"Yeah, I get that, but do you think it might have been aimed for something more important? Like Mia's lab, they could go after that." Misty says.

"I never really thought of that before... she does have some Pokemon I know the Teams would want to get their hands on." Ash realizes.

"Hehe... I see you didn't settle on Rockmagua... that was kind of stupid anyways." Misty says with a grin.

"Shut up. I'm not using it cause… it's too er, long." He stammers.

"Riiiight, and I'm gonna be a Pokemon Master in my lifetime." Misty says sarcastically.

"Well, who knows…?" Ash questions.

"Well, first I was being sarcastic. Now I think we should get back to the topic before we start fighting again." Misty demands.

"You're so cute when you're angry." Ash says with a goofy grin. Misty turns a little red in the face.

"I wasn't angry!" Misty yells. Ash laughs as he sets down his magazine and joins Misty on her bed.

"You were, quit pretending. You always tell me to grow up." Ash points out. Misty's angry face softens.

"Good point. Wow, Ashy-boy is actually right about something.. Amazing." Misty marvels. Ash laughs and hugs her.

"Sometimes I wonder how I can get so mad at you." Ash says with a smile.

"Well, we are both stubborn and hate being wrong." Misty says. "That's a pretty good reason."

"But, we still have our good times." Ash says, looking into her eyes. Their eyes lock, and they lean forward a little bit. Their lips almost touch when…

"Whoa!" Misty says, pushing Ash away. She is blinking uncontrollably.

"Something… wrong?" Ash asks, sprawled on the floor.

"Um… no..." Misty says, looking away from Ash. "Um… if you don't mind, I think I'm going to go for a walk."

"You sure? It's pretty dark out."

"Yeah." Misty grabs a sweatshirt from out of her backpack. "I shouldn't be out too long."

"Should I come along?"

"No, I'll be ok alone." Misty smiles. "See ya later." She walks out of the room, and sneaks down the stairs. She's only a few feet away from the front door when.

"Where do you think you're going?" A voice asks from behind her. She jumps startled and turns around. Mia was standing there.

"I was going to take a walk." Misty informs her.

"I'm not so sure if that's a good idea. It's pretty late. Is something wrong?" Mia asks. Misty nods, then Mia smiles. "Come on, why don't we talk about it in the living room? Brock's upstairs taking a shower, so he won't disturb us." They walk into her living room, and they both sit down on a couch.

"So, what's up?" Mia asks. Misty gulps.

"It's Ash."

"What happened?"

"Well, I like him and all, but he tried to kiss me and I freaked out." Misty says quietly.
As they are talking, Ash tiptoes out of the guest room and down the stairs to get something to eat. As he reaches the bottom, he hears two voices talking. He sneaks to the living room entrance, and hides in the corner.

"I want to tell Ash how I feel, but I'm too nervous." Misty tells Mia. Ash's eyes widen.

"Why? It's somewhat obvious he likes you too." Mia says.

"How can you tell? You only met us the other day."

"Well, boys are pretty obvious." Mia says, grinning. As Ash is spying on the girls, Brock, who is done taking his shower and is now downstairs, taps Ash on the back. Ash shrieks, and the girls hear him. They rush over to the entrance to see a startled Ash and a confused Brock standing there.

"Were you two spying?" Mia asks the boys.

"Um, you know, I just got down here." Brock replies. Ash gulps.

"I didn't hear anything." Ash says, lying through his teeth. "Misty, I, can I talk to you?"

Misty smiles and looks at Mia. "Maybe now I can take that walk."

They go outside and start walking away from Mia's house.

"So?" Misty says quietly, after about ten minutes of silence, "What did you hear?"

"Hear?" Ash asks, wishing he didn't have to be in this situation.

"Yeah, hear… I know you heard most or all of the conversation, didn't you?" Misty asks.

"Um, yeah, I heard, uh, some of it."

"Ash!" She gives him an annoyed look.

"Ok, I heard most of it." Ash spits out.

"So, you um, know, huh?" Misty asks. They stop walking.

"Yeah, I guess I would say I do." Ash looks at Misty. "I feel the same way." He smiles.

"You do?"

"Well, duh, I mean, I TRIED to kiss you, then you pushed me away. I thought you didn't like me."

"Oh, right, well, I've never been in a relationship before. I got pretty nervous when you kissed me the other night." Misty confesses.

"And if you haven't noticed, I've never been in a relationship either." He looks into Misty's eyes.

"I suppose we could, try?" Misty suggests.

"Would you want to be my.. girlfriend?" Ash asks shyly. Misty nods silently. They lean forward, and their lips touch clumsily. It lasts only a few seconds. Misty looks up at Ash, with a small blush on her cheeks. Ash takes her hand, and they start walking again.

"So, you think there will be more bombs around here?" Ash asks.

"Yeah, I suppose. I really don't know the area though. As I said before, the only thing I'd know they might be targeting would be Mia's lab."

"You think we should have Mia with us so she'd be safe?"

"I really wouldn't think so, I mean, her house isn't anywhere near the lab." Misty reminds Ash.

"Yeah, but she could be in the lab." Ash points out. Misty looks up into the night sky.

"I'm sure whatever she'll do she'll be fine."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Of course I am" Misty reminds him with a huge grin on her face.

"Uh-huh, sure you are." Ash says with a laugh. They approach the lab.

"The lab isn't closed yet, huh? The lights are still on." Misty notices.

"I guess not."

"Ash… how long will we be staying here?" Misty asks.

"I don't know… if things are going well, we could leave tomorrow morning."

"Well, I'm still worried about the bombings." Misty says quietly. "Not here, but elsewhere. I mean, they could be targeting gyms for all I know. I've actually been thinking about returning to Cerulean until things get sorted out." Misty's eyes meet Ash's, and she quickly looks down.

"We should probably get back to Mia's. I'm sure she's worried." Ash says, breaking the tension.

"I'm sure she is. She told me not to go out while we were talking." Misty smiles.

"Guess we're gonna get chewed out then, huh?" Misty just laughs. "Let's go." Ash puts his arm around Misty's waist and they turn away from the lab.

************************************************************************

The next day Brock, Ash, and Misty are all ready to go, again.

"You be careful on the way to Clover. It's about a three to five day walk, depending on the weather." Mia says, and then turns to Ash. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Ash, the third town you'll pass on the way to Clover is called Arcalli Village. I forgot to mention it to you earlier. Whatever you do, please do not stop there." Mia pleads.

"Why?" Misty asks curiously.

"It's the rare artifact, isn't it?" Brock asks. Mia nods. "It's a flute that's supposed to draw any Pokemon to the flute player. I'm sure Team Rocket might want it, if they know about it. I want you guys to be really careful, ok?" Mia asks. They all nod.

"Trust us, we'll be careful." Ash tells her. Misty grins.

"Well, I know Brock and I will be careful, we'll keep an eye on Ashy-boy here." She says in a baby-tone. Mia smiles sweetly. "You do that. I don't want my only brother getting hurt." Mia says, sarcastically pinching Ash's cheeks. Ash scowls at the two girls. Misty and Mia laugh.

"Well, you keep safe." Brock says. Mia takes Ash's arm and pulls him into a hug.

"If you need me, give me a call." Mia says, whispering in his ear. Ash nods, and they break the hug.

"Bye Mia, it was nice to meet you!" Misty says, smiling. They all say good-bye one last time, and the three get back onto Route 48.

"So… hopefully this time we can get somewhere." Ash says.

"I don't think Team Rocket would be stupid enough to bomb the same place twice." Brock says, looking at Ash. His focused lay on Ash's arm, which seemed to be gripping something. He looks down a bit farther, to see Ash holding Misty's hand. Brock thinks for a moment, then grins.

"I agree." Misty says while Brock is still curiously thinking. "But… they didn't bomb Arcalli… or here in fact. They still could bomb this general area." It's silent for a while, but sooner or later Ash and Misty both get the tingling sensation you get when somebody's staring at them. They turn to see Brock grinning at them.

"What?" Ash asks.

"When did you two become a couple?" Brock asks, trying to control his laughter. Ash and Misty look down at their hands, and pull them away from each other's.

"That's because we aren't." Misty says, blushing furiously and staring down at the ground.
"Ash?"
"It's true." Ash mutters, doing the same as Misty. Brock rolls his eyes, and they continue on. That night they reach Maioko Town, immediately heading towards the Pokemon Center, and also in one piece. Ash goes up to Nurse Joy right away, for on the way to Maioko had a battle, and one of his Pokemon fainted. Brock and Misty head to the sitting room.

"Hey Misty?" Brock asks.

"Um, what?"

"Are you and Ash really going out?"

"NO!" They stare at each other for a moment.

"Misty. I'm not stupid you know."

"Never knew that." Misty says with a mischievous grin. Brock raises an eyebrow. "Fine, we're going out."

"Ha! I knew it! When did it happen?" Brock nags her. Misty sighs heavily.

"Last night."

"On your walk?"

"Yup."

"Cool."

"I guess." Ash walks into the sitting area, with Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Hey guys. What's up?" Ash says, sitting down next to Misty. Misty looks at Brock, Brock looks at Misty, and then they both look at Ash.

"Nothing." Brock and Misty say in unison. Ash blinks.

"Ok then. Hey guys, I think we should stick around tomorrow. Nurse Joy was telling me about this awesome theater here in Maioko." Ash tells them. "There's a play tomorrow… and I think we should go see it."

"Ash, I thought you hated plays." Brock states.

"Yeah, and we don't have the money." Misty adds in. Ash holds up four tickets.

"I sort of won these... the millionth person to get their Pokemon healed." Ash blushes for a moment. "The play's tomorrow."

"What play is it?" Misty asks.

"A re-make of Romeo and Juliet." This time Ash and Misty both blush. "I thought it would be interesting."

"Sounds good… maybe I can find a date to go." Brock says with a grin. "I mean, since you two already have one…" Ash blinks again, and then looks at Misty.

"You told him?"

"He's not stupid." Misty says, quoting Brock. Ash grins.

"Didn't know that… OW!" Ash yells and Brock hits him in the head. "I've already got enough brain damage from Misty." He says sarcastically.

"That or your mom dropped you on your head as a baby." Brock says with a sarcastic grin.

"No... she threw me up and my head hit the ceiling…. jeez… get it right people." Ash grins. Misty laughs. Ash puts his arm around her, and gives Brock an evil look. "Bet ya anything you don't find a date for tomorrow."

"Uh, yeah, I WILL!!!"

"Yeap… sure you will." Misty says with a smile.

"No guys, I will! In fact, I'm going to ask Nurse Joy RIGHT now!" Brock stands up boldly. "I'm gonna march over there."

"And cower like an idiot." Misty says, interrupting him. Brock squints his eyes at Misty, and walks over to the front desk.

"You think she'll say yes?" Ash asks. Misty shrugs.

"I don't know… maybe?" They watch Brock, and when he starts dancing around the entrance area, they knew the answer.

"Come on," Ash says, "It's getting late." Misty nods in agreement.

"Guess we should drag Brock over here and get a room…" Misty smiles, and Ash quickly kisses her.

"Let's go."

A/N- GOD!! I HAVEN'T WORKED ON THIS FIC IN FOREVER!!!! Sorry… I know it sucks. :( please R&R and sorry for the caps ^^'.