I knew from day one, something was unusual about Misty. Her excuses for
following me seemed anything but common. When I got sent to the hospital,
something was wrong with her. Everytime I was hurt, she seemed more...
worried than upset. Worried like someone was going to blame her for it or
something. I have to know. I have to figure out just what's going on.
Ash sighed at his own thoughts as he ran through the forest and reached
Cerulean. His obvious first aim was the gym.
"Misty, is there something you want to like, tell us?" asked Violet.
"What? ...What do you mean?" asked Misty as she picked up a card.
Daisy finished dealing. "That's what we want to ask you, little sister."
Misty put a card next to the deck. "I...I don't know what you're talking
about."
"Well," said Lily as she picked up Misty's trashed card and spreaded with
it, "I'm sure that man that called does."
Misty gasped. "Jake?"
"What a coincidence, you even know his name, as secretive as he was being,"
said Daisy as she picked a card from the deck.
"Listen, can we just finish this game of Tonk and stop kidding each other?"
asked Misty.
Daisy, Lily, and Violet all put down their cards. "Who's kidding?" they all
asked.
"Listen, even if there was something up, I think it will be a lot better if
we all dropped it until later. Just let me lay down for a while, I don't think
I...um...would be strong enough to--"
"Cut the crap, Misty!" shouted Violet. "If you're strong enough to play cards,
I'm pretty sure you're strong enough to tell us what's up! What is it that you're
doing behind everyone's backs that you can't tell anyone?"
"I'm leaving," said Misty as she ran to the door. When she opened it, she saw Ash on
the other side, about to knock. Her eyes widened.
"Misty, I want to know what's going on," he said, "and I'm not leaving until I find out."
"Just let me take a quick walk..." Misty said as she tried to go past Ash, but Ash blocked her.
"How dare you!" she gasped. She pushed him, he didn't budge.
"Apparently, Misty, I'm not the only one who wants an explanation," Ash said, motioning towards
her sisters. Misty turned around. They were folding their arms and looking at her with
the same glare Ash was giving her. He walked up to Misty until she backed up all the way
back into the room.
"Misty," he asked, "why is it that you left as soon as I became a Master?"
"I'll never tell!" she shouted.
"Why not?"
"And this time, no excuses for not to tell us!" said Daisy.
Misty sighed as she looked down. "All of you hate me already for everything. You'll
hate me more if I told you."
"What? We don't hate you!" Ash, Daisy, Lily, and Violet all said in unison.
"All right!" Misty said. She sighed deeply. "In order for me to tell you...you
have to come with me."
"Give me a minute," Misty said as she opened an entrance to a hidden basement right
on the ground of an alley in Pallet. Misty's sisters and Ash were all left bewildered.
They heard some angry shouting, then Misty came back up and motioned for them to follow
her down the stairs. It wasn't long until they walked through a lab and a meeting room
to reach a small office. A man was sitting, waiting for them. They all stood before him.
Misty stood in front of them.
"I was sent on a mission to protect you," Misty said straight out. "I prepared your
presence and used a bike as a decoy for an excuse to follow you without you knowing
that I was an agent. Ash Ketchum, you to me are Assignment 009, and once you returned
home where danger is petite, my mission was over, and it would be my last mission,
so I had no choice but to leave you."
"So that's it?" he asked sadly. "I wasn't your friend at all, I was your assigment?
Your assignment in that the only way you would care about me is for your own good to
keep your job?"
"Ash, it's not like that--"
"Oh yeah? Then what is it like?" he asked.
Misty sighed. "You're making this difficult--"
"I'M making this difficult?? I bet! I was the difficulty all along, wasn't I? Everytime
I got hurt, you didn't care, you were just hoping that you wouldn't get yelled at
by WHOEVER THIS MAN IS!" he yelled.
"Ash, you're not the only one stressing!" Misty shouted back.
"Misty...is like...that why you left?" asked Lily.
"Yes."
"Assignment," Ash mumbled. "The girl who once told me she only knows me as a best friend, only
knows me as her assignment."
"Ash, I'm sorry!"
"No, you're not! You've never been sorry, Misty! How would you feel if one
day I told you I was your best friend, I told you everything, I shared everything with you,
I cherished you, I cared about you, I loved you, I'd sacrifice my life for you...
and it was all a lie?" he asked quietly as his voice cracked and his eyes watered.
This time, Misty couldn't top that with a weak comeback. A tear streaked down her
face.
"You know, you're too much like my father," said Ash. "Like you, he gives the illusion
to his close and loved ones that he loves them and cares about them, but acts like
they don't love him back and does things that actually could make people hate him.
Like him, you left us behind without any explanation. I wouldn't be surprised if
my dad was that man right there," he said. "If he does care about me, then I pity
him that he can't face me and protect me himself."
"Do you hate your father, Ash?" the man asked. Ash turned around to face him.
"No, I don't, I never did. But I just don't think he deserves my title of Father."
The man said nothing.
"Hey...aren't you Jake?" asked Ash.
"Jake Ketchum."
Ash stopped... After a minute, Jake noticed that Ash's face was turning blue.
"Ash, breathe!" he said.
"Huh?" Ash asked, snapping out of it. Suddenly, he started to desperately try
and catch his breath. (Don't worry--it's just one of my corny jokes ^.~)
"But...you couldn't be..."
"Yes, Ash. I'm your father."
For Ash, the world went silent. A tear fell down Ash's face.
"If you're my father," he said as his face darkened, "then don't ever let me
see your face again once I turn around."
"See this, Ash? This is the reason I haven't come back home."
"No, you didn't come back home because you thought we would be ashamed of you
failing to become a Master, like I did. Dad, I don't care about you failing!
I don't care! I wouldn't care if you wound up broke and lost your job that you
never told us about! I wouldn't care if you had some contagious disease or
became blind or deaf or something! All I want is for my father to be home,
where he belongs," choked Ash as more tears fell.
"You mean..."
"If you quit your job and come back home, nobody will be ashamed of you,"
Ash said for Jake.
Jake smiled. "Let's go then. The vice can take over."
Ash smiled. But when he turned around and saw Misty, he frowned. He said nothing
to her as him and his father and Misty's sisters all walked out of HQ.
TO BE CONTINUED...