Author's note: SO sorry for the delay, but here it is!! Part 6! Finally! Part 6: New Recruit His eyes lost in the galaxies, Ash thought of everything him and Misty have been through on Earth as the spaceship lifted him further and further, and further from her. He's given her comfort, he's given her love and care and warmth and a happy home... And she's given him a reason not to trust her anymore. "One thing Earth specializes in is love..." said a voice. Ash turned around to see Jacob, the assistant general. Ash said nothing back to him. Jacob put his hand on his shoulder. "...But don't let it ruin your mission." And with that, Jacob gave him a slight shove and squeeze, then left. Jacob always had a tendancy to make Ash and others mad for sometimes small and other times reasonable reasons, but no matter how much Ash itched to just pop him upside his head or throw him into a black hole, he couldn't because he would be punished in ways that Earth couldn't bare the heartlessness for. Earth doesn't specialize in love, thought Ash. It fools and mistakes its victims. "Aaash," said a female in a sing-song voice. "Oh no," Ash muttered as he felt arms slip all around him. "I missed you," said the girl. She batted her eyelashes that somehow intensified her red eye color. Her silky, long, green hair slipped loosely all around Ash's shoulders as she started to give Ash a shoulder massage. "Don't you miss me?" she said in the baby tone that Ash couldn't stand. "Yeah whatever," he mumbled. "Oh, something wrong, sweetie?" she asked, kissing him on his forehead as she gave him a hug from behind. "You're just sitting here, looking out the window, looking so lonely here in Section 7...." Although she was beautiful beyond belief, Ash couldn't stand this girl. And she was crazy over him. "Wasn't until now," he mumbled. "Hm?" she asked. Then she realized something. "Ashie...you don't miss any um... Earth girls, now do you?" "None," he said truthfully...or at least what he thought was the truth.... "You look so different now, Ashie...you're so much cuter...if that's possible," she giggled. "Rosa, can you please bug me later?" "Why don't you like me, Ash?" she asked. "Because you're never serious about anything," he answered. "All you think about is... well...." "A lot of guys like me for that, but I only like you," Rosa said. "Then if you want me to like you back, then be somebody and I'll think about it." "Really?" "Really." "Oh Ash I love you so much!" said Rosa as she kissed him fully then left. "Bye!" "Bye...Miss RINA," he said with a smirk. Rosa gasped. "How'd you--" "That Venus perfume scent...it came with you at the fair on Earth," he said with a laugh. Rosa's disguise as Rina wasn't very different from her own person. "Well...aaaanyway..." she said as she dashed away. Ash exhaled deeply. Imagine what Misty would do if she saw...WHY DO I KEEP THINKING ABOUT HER? I HATE HER! ...Don't I? Don't I?? Rosa...she reminds me of all the girls Misty is jealous of. When is she going to go back to Venus? When am I going to go back to Earth? This time, Ash didn't argue with his last thought, and he was well aware of it. *ASH KETCHUM, SOMEONE'S TRYING TO CONTACT YOU ON PORT 004* came a voice, very close to Ash. Ash looked at the watch he had recently placed on his wrist. A picture of a female appeared. "Where are you at, Josie?" "Don't worry about that now. Someone's trying to reach you on port 004," she said, then the image of her disappeared. Ash got up and went to a certain section of the spaceship. He picked up some kind of gadget and held it to his ear. "Ash Ketchum," he announced. "Listen, Ash, I know your secret, and you know I do. And I want to help you." "M-misty???" "Yes. Ash, I'm really sorry about what I did. I understand, Ash, I really do, and if you just let me help you--" "You've helped enough," said Ash coldly, then started to turn off the device. "Ash, I love you too," she breathed. Ash paused. "......." "Please let me help you. Let me be your female father figure," she said, with a hint of humor in her voice that lightened Ash's mood a little although he did not laugh. Ash was still silent. "Listen, Ash," said Misty, "we've been friends for how long? Three years, Ash, three years. And I swear, I may not have made it seem like it, but those were the best three years of my life. We stuck together in those three years--me, you, and Brock, and partly Tracey--and we survived what couldn't be survived, and we saved the world together, and we saw things that maybe only we will ever see, and we had a friendship that was just as strong as through thick than thin, and I loved it, okay? I loved our friendship, it was one of the most powerful friendships alive, and that only happend because we stuck together, because we cared for each other, because we believed in ourselves and each other...please don't let that end," she whispered. By now, she was crying. Surprisingly, tears were coming down Ash's cheeks also. He said nothing. He wiped his tears away, then took in a deep breathe. Misty allowed him to think for two minutes, then put the device back to his ear. "Down in the basement," said Ash with a hushed tone, "there's a table, an oak table that looks like it's never been dirty, never been touched, never been used, despite all of the dust down there. It's actually a very expensive high-tech solar transportation antenna. Stand on it for a few seconds, and you'll be transported to the ship, section 5.56. Go straight and you'll reach section 7 shortly." "Thank you, Ash," she said as happy tears came down her eyes. "Hurry up, and make sure no one sees you. If they do, say you're another Earth protection assistant from Venus. I don't know why I'm telling you this...." "Thank you so much...." "Yeah...now go!" he said, then hung up. Misty smiled and mentally hugged herself. She left a note for Delia as she ran downstairs. TO BE CONTINUED...