Ash's eyelashes flattered and he opened his eyes slowly. He stared at the white ceiling for a while then turned over onto his side to look at the clock on his bedside table. 12:30. With a groan he rolled over onto his back and rubbed his eyes. What a night, he thought. Sneaking out to see Misty, fighting with Rochell…He remembered the fight clearly. Yelling at Rochell, threatening her, but in the end, she won. Just like she always did. 'Good god' he thought, 'what have I gotten myself into?' * * * Misty had slept late. Real late. It wasn't like her at all, usually she'd wake up early and get started on the many things she had to do, but today was different. Unlike her other days, she had today free. To tell the truth, she'd rather be doing something. Anything to get her mind of Ash's engagement party tonight. Right after breakfast she drove to the mall and spent the day looking for a new outfit to wear, which she really didn't need since her closet was full. Once she had picked one out, she thought of what to get Ash and Rochell. Ash and Rochell. That thought sent another arrow of pain through her heart. Buying a present was out of the question. She knew exactly what to get them. * * * Dressed in the long white dress, that bared her back and white gloves that went up to her elbows Misty walked into the 'drawing room'. She saw her reflection in a mirror on the wall. Her hair was pulled up with two loose strands framing her face. She wore sparkly diamond earrings and a matching bracelet. In other words she looked dazzling, but she didn't feel dazzling. Sighing she made her way across the room and took a painting off the wall. It was a beautiful oil painting she had finished just a few days ago. On the canvas a waterfall splashed into a river and a green forest grew around it. She smiled. It was where she and Ash had first met. * * * Rochell examined herself in the mirror carefully. In her gorgeous midnight blue dress and her hair flowing down to her waist in waves, she still looked plain. It made her angry. She hated to admit it, but Misty was beautiful and she wasn't. No matter now gorgeous the clothes were, how flawless the makeup, she could never compete with her. In fury she hurled all the make up, perfume bottles and jewelry off her dresser. She looked at the mess carelessly. 'Oh well' she thought 'the servants will clean it up'. * * * Ash stood in his room in front of a mirror and struggled to tie his bowtie. 'What's the point of all this' he wondered 'the wedding's on whether we have an engagement party or not'. Frustrated he ripped off the bowtie, and started all over. 'How in the world have I gotten myself into this' he thought. But it was a rhetorical question. He knew perfectly well how he got himself into this. "Oh Ashy! The guests are arriving!" he heard Rochell holler from downstairs. Wonderful. Now just to get this bowtie right.... * * * Misty walked up the steps to Ash's house. It was quite a house. Big, gorgeous and luxurious. Of course her house wasn't bad either, but it couldn't compare with Ash's. She rang the door bell and one of Ash's servants opened the door. "Name please" he said, his voice had just a slight trace of British accent in it. "Misty Waterflower" she said, flashing him a smile. He ran his finger down the list and checked off her name. "Come in please" She walked in and looked around, noticing that there were a lot of people there already. She recognized some trainers and gym leaders. Before Misty had a chance to take more than three steps, Rochell appeared out of nowhere and flung her arms around her. "Misty! Hi! I'm so glad you came!" she squealed. "Uh, hi Rochell" Misty mumbled. Rochell let go of her and wrapped her arms around Ash's arm, who had just walked up. "Hey Misty" he said, somewhat awkwardly. "Hey Ash" she replied smiling. For a moment they just looked at each other then Misty noticed something flicker in Rochell's eyes. Was that rage she saw? Not wanting to get into an argument she handed Rochell her present. "Here. I uh, got this for you guys. It's nothing special really" she stammered. "Oh thanks!" Rochell beamed. Whatever Misty saw in her eyes disappeared. Excitedly Rochell opened the box and pulled out the painting. "Oh, wow. Misty this is beautiful" she exclaimed staring at the picture in awe. "Thanks" Misty replied her eyes on Ash. He took the picture from Rochell and looked at it. He seemed hypnotized by the painting. "Isn't it wonderful Ashy?" Rochell said watching him closely. "Yeah. Wonderful" he replied not even looking at her. Misty smiled. She knew it didn't mean a thing to Rochell, but from the way Ash looked at it, it had meant something to him. Good. That was the plan. * * * The landscape unfolded itself before him. The dark forest was outlined with the dark blue background of the sky. The moon was half covered by a cloud and stars shone brightly down at him. Ash leaned onto the balcony's railing and looked at the beautiful scenery. A cool breeze blew his hair from his forehead. Suddenly he heard the balcony's door open and close, then footsteps approaching him. He turned around slightly to see Misty approaching him. She walked across the balcony and leaned onto the railing next to him. They looked at the landscape before them for a while then Misty turned toward him. "Ash, what's going on?" she asked softly. "Nothing's going on Misty. I'm getting married" "Don't give me that Ash. I can tell when something's bothering you" He was silent. "Ash, please. Tell me what's going on. Don't shut me out like this" she pleaded. He turned toward her, looking at her for a while. "Alright. Alright Misty, I'll tell you" ***Flashback*** Ash paced back and forth in his room. His big pokemon battle against Lance was tomorrow. The one that would decide if he became the Pokemon Master or not. He was nervous. Okay. Nervous was an understatement. They had been battling hard and won the previous battles with the other three members of the Elite Four, but this was going to be the hardest. Lance used dragon and water type pokemon, so Pikachu was his best bet really. The problem was he used Pikachu a lot in the previous battles and it was probably very tired. Ash would feel better if he could ask Pikachu, but Pikachu was taken away with his other pokemon and held under guard in a pokemon lab on the Pokemon League campus. It was the only way the Elite Four could make sure the pokemon weren't given drugs to increase their abilities. Ash knew if he lost this battle it would be the end. It would kill him. But there was nothing he could do except wait. Or was there? * * * Ash carefully crept through the campus and into the lab. He knew where his Pokemon were kept because he had taken them there himself. He carefully pulled open the door to the room and walked inside. His pokéballs were lined up on a shelf and Pikachu slept peacefully on a pillow on a table in the middle of the room. Ash shook Pikachu awake and motioned for it to be quiet. He pulled a small device out of his pocket and attacked a wire to each of Pikachu's red cheeks. He pushed the 'on' button and the device had slowly fed Pikachu electricity. When he was done, Pikachu fell asleep exhausted, and Ash had crept out of the room. Once he made it out of the lab, he bumped into Rochell who was standing right in front of the exit. He remembered seeing her in the stands during the pokemon battles, but otherwise he didn't know her. She smiled. "You do know about the security cameras, right?" Ash paled. He completely forgot about them. Then Rochell made him a proposition. She would get the security tape, since the guard happened to be her dad, if Ash would marry her. He had no choice. If he didn't agree the Elite Four would find out, and he would never be allowed to train pokemon again. ***End Flashback*** Ash stared at the ground as he finished the story. Misty gasped in horror. "You cheated Ash? And Rochell's blackmailing you into marrying her?" "Yeah" he said sighing. She swallowed painfully. Ash cheated. She couldn't believe it. But at least now she knew why on earth he was marrying Rochell. "Well Ash the way I see it, the only thing to do is to sneak into Rochell's room and look for the tape" "It's not here Mist, I had looked in there" Silence fell over them, then Ash's face brightened. "She does have a house somewhere" "Then that's where we have to go" she said confidently. He nodded.