Hey all, Kenshin again. I had a crazy idea as I woke up this morning, so naturally I
decided to write it down! Hope you enjoy!


The Big Idea: Part 1
by Kenshin


 "Brock, you're not talking much today," said Ash, who had just finished another
fight with Misty. He looked concerned. He had lost the argument due to the fact
that Brock had not intervened. 'What was I arguing with her about....?' he thought
back, 'it was....I can't ever remember......' *sigh* 'She's so hot....' he took
a quick glance at her and was rewarded with a great view of her cute butt, which
was sticking up in the air as she bent to tie her shoes.

 "Gaa.." Ash began to drool...just as Misty finished and looked over at him.
"Ketchum?" she said, "are you okay?" She was still a little angry over the argument
about....what was it about? Well, anyway, she was still *trying* to be mad at
him, but he had dropped the argument, which made her wonder. 'What's wrong with
him today? Is he losing interest in me.....god, that didn't come out right, and
I'm only thinking!'

 "Huh?" said Ash, coming out of his daze, "Did you say something Misty?" *sigh*
"I asked you if something was wrong," she said, sounding peaved. 'Honestly, can't
he just listen for once?' "Oh...actually, I was wondering why Brock's so quiet
today." "Did you ask him?" "Yeah, but he didn't say anything," replied Ash.

 "I think I'm just tired," said Brock. This startled both Ash and Misty, who
looked over to find him leaned against a tree that was growing next to the path
they were following. 'He doesn't look tired,' thought Misty. "Oh, okay Brock.
Let's get to the next pokecenter so we can get some rest," said Ash, oblivious.

 "Right," said Brock, "Great idea!" "Let's go!" The boys then took off down the
path, with Pikachu right behind, leaving Misty behind. She scooped up Togepi and
ran after them. "Hey, what about meee!" she yelled.

***

 In a few hours they reached the rural pokecenter and were resting in their rooms.
Ash was lying on his bed, thinking and absently scratching Pikachu behind the ears,
while Misty was sitting on the edge of her bed rocking Togepi and letting her mind
wander. Brock, it seems, was chatting with Nurse Joy (as per usual).

In Misty's room:

 "Togepi, what if Ash never figures out that I like him? Or worse, what if he finds
out, but doesn't like me back?" Misty sounded sad. "Toge toge priiii, toge priii,"
said Togepi. (Mommy, don't be sad about daddy. I don't like it when you cry!) Misty
gently hugged Togepi. "Don't worry, I'm not going to cry," she said, holding back
a few tears, "Besides, Ash isn't cruel or anything. Even if he doesn't care about
me like I do him, we'll still be friends." 'But won't that be even worse?' thought
Misty in anguish.

Meanwhile, in Brock and Ash's room:

 "Pikachu, I wonder if Misty likes me?" he said, mostly to himself though he addressed
his pokemon. "Pika pika, Pikapi," replied the electric mouse. (Trans: Of course she
does, Pikapi.) "I guess so, but in what way..." Ash continued, staring at nothing in
particular on the ceiling of his room. "I know we're friends and all, but I wish we
could be more...but would it ruin our friendship if I told her how I felt?" It was
a familiar argument to Pikachu, and he had yet to come up with a way to solve it.
'Pikachu...pikapika chu pi chupika,' thought Pikachu. (Maybe....I should ask for
Brock's help.)

 Just as Ash was about to continue his monologue, Brock opened the door and stepped
into their room. He had a big grin on his face. That snapped Ash back to reality
and made him more than a little curious. "Hey, Brock. What's with the grin? Did you
kiss Joy?" he teased. "No," said Brock, his grin lessening slightly, "but I just
hatched a foolproof plan to find the perfect girlfriend for me!"

 Ash rolled his eyes. Brock was always trying this kind of thing. "What did you do
this time? You didn't put an ad in the personals again, did  you?" said Ash, snickering
at the trouble that the ad had caused Brock about a month before (maybe in another
story, but not this one!)

 "No, I got this idea out of 'Bachelor Magazine'!" Brock said proudly, as if that
made the idea completely sound. "Uhh, where why would you want advice from other
bachelors?" Ash asked. "It's not written *by* bachelors! It's written *for* bachelors.
You know: dating tips, pick-up lines, stuff like that." "Oh, you mean all that stuff
you try to do, but can't ever get right!" teased Ash. "Yeah...HEY!" ASh chuckled
again before a pillow hit him square in the head.

***

 After a short pillow fight, Brock explained his plan in detail to Ash.  
"Brock, I don't know if that was such a great idea..." began Ash, looking more
worried than he ever had before. "Don't worry! I got it out of the magazine, so
it'll work! It has to work!" he said, the last sentence mumbled to himself.


TO BE CONTINUED

As always: review! ....Oh, yeah! send them to jon_schug@yahoo.com

Hope you enjoyed this fic!
-Kenshin