2-1 A New Day As the morning sun pierces through the grey clouds of the night's rain, a colorful rainbow scans across the sky illuminating the small town of Pallet below. A young red head is resting in her bed gazing out the window at the beautiful sunrise. "How romantic..." Misty says to herself, dreamily. She looks across the street and notices an open field of flowers, secluded in a small valley sorrounded by trees. 'What a peaceful place that must be,' she thinks to herself, smiling. 'Someday...I'll take the one I love to that very spot. There we can hold each other in our arms and watch the sunrise, with the sweet aroma of the morning dew and wild flowers around us. It'll be like heaven on earth.' She looks down and sighs, 'Someday...' She lazily slips out of bed and into her robe, than slowly walks down the stairs into the kitchen to find some breakfast. Ash is already up and in the shower getting ready. Misty decides to get something to eat, than jump in the shower when Ash gets done. She notices a note on the table from Mrs. Ketchum. Dear Ash and Misty, I need to go to a new clients house today to check out their house (Mrs. Ketchum is a realtor) and I won't be home till late tonight. I left some money on the table for pizza if you want to order out tonight. Have a great day! Love, Mom Misty smiled at the last part. Mrs. Ketchum was like a second mother to her. She enjoyed having a woman around to talk to since she had been traveling with nothing but boys for the past few years. She noticed something else scribbled at the bottom. P.S. I saw in today's paper there is going to be a community festival next week with games, music, food, and a couples dance at the end of the night. Perhaps you two would like to go! Misty ignored the obvious hint at the end. It sounded like a lot of fun, but she didn't know of anyone she could ask to the dance. She hadn't met any boys she was interested in that lived in Pallet, and she definantly wasn't going to ask Ash. Misty scowled, 'He probably already asked Crystal to go anyway!' Ash had just gotten out of the shower and came bounding into the kitchen, looking for something to eat too. Misty glanced over at him from the table. His hair was still wet and dripping, and he was shirtless with only a pair of jeans on. His chest and stomach were still damp and glistened in the sunlight. Misty felt a bit flushed looking at him, 'I never knew Ash could look so damn sexy when he wasn't wearing that stupid jacket all the time!' She quickly turned away and blinked away the very unlady-like thoughts she was having. 'What am I doing!! This is Ash I'm getting all hot over. The same dense, stubborn little kid who destroyed my bike!' Deciding she'd be safer if she left to take a cold shower now, she turned toward the door. "My turn for the bathroom. There's a note on the table from your mom. She won't be home till late tonight." She quickly said, than she was gone. Ash looked at the note and saw the message at the bottom. 'Hmmm. A dance. I wonder if Misty'll wanna go!' He frowned, 'Who am I kidding. Misty would never wanna go to some stupid dance with me. I guess I could always take Crystal.' Just than he heard the doorbell ring. "I'll get it!" he heard Misty yell half-way up the stairs. She went to the door half expecting it to be Crystal, like usual, or maybe Mrs. Ketchum had forgotten something. She opened the door to see a boy, and a very handsome boy at that. "Hi!" the stranger smiled softly at her. He was about 5'4", a little taller than her, and probably a year or two older. He was muscular but not too buff, and was wearing a white button-up collared shirt over a white wife-beater and jeans. He had brown spikey hair with frosted tips and was wearing a silver chain necklace around his neck and a hoop earring in his right ear. His most striking feature was his clear, blue eyes which seemed to be able see right through you. "Hi! Can I help you?" Misty smiled back. "Well, I'm sure you could." he grinned at her as he looked her over. She just remembered that she was still in her pajamas and robe and probably looked like a mess. "Oh, I'm sorry. I just got up. I must look terrible'" she blushed. "Oh, no, I'm sorry, it's my fault. I should have called first before I stopped by," he apologized. " If I had known such a beautiful lady lived here, though, I would have stopped by much sooner than today." Misty blushed even more. "Oh, that's very nice of you to say but..." she was interrupted by someone clearing their throat behind her. She turned to see Ash looking at the two with a very displeased look. He must have heard the whole conversation. "I'm Ash Ketchum and I'm the one that lives here. Is there something I can do for you?" he asked slightly annoyed. Actually, I just stopped by to say hi. I'm new to the neighborhood. I just moved here a few days ago in that house right there," he said pointing to the big blue house to the right of the Ketchum home. "I thought I'd stop by and get to know my new neighbors. My names Chad, Chad Dawson," he said as he shook Ash's hand. Then he took Misty's hand and kissed the back of it gently, "And you are?" Misty giggled and blushed, "Oh, my names Misty. I'm just a... friend of Ash's. I'm only staying here for a while, than I'll probably go back to my home in Cerulean City." "Cerulean City! I knew you looked familiar. Your Misty, the fourth sensational sister at the Cerulean gym, am I right?" "Yes that's right! How'd you know?" "I went to one of the water shows there. I saw you in the one where you played the mermaid in that big tank. I thought you were the most beautiful mermaid I'd ever seen, so I asked someone nearby who you were, and they told me your name was Misty and you were one of the gym leaders there. After that, I couldn't take my eyes off of you! You were great!" Chad explained, smiling. "I can't believe I'm actually talking to you. This is great!" Misty giggled,'Not only was this guy a gentleman and fine as hell, but he also liked her too, A LOT!' "Well, thankyou! I'm glad you liked the show." She noticed the expression on Ash's face. He was definantly not too happy with where the conversation was going so she decided to end it before Ash met his fist with the poor guys face! "Well, I need to go take a shower now. It was nice meeting you Chad." "You too. It was very nice to be able to meet you, Misty!" She smiled, then turned and walked up the stairs. As soon as the two boys heard the bathroom door close, Chad spoke up first, "So, Ash, may I come in? Or isn't this a good time?"he ginned, mocking Ash's obvious jelousy. Ash was about to tell the guy what he thought about him, when he heard someone gasp from behind them. They both turned to see Crystal walking up the drivway with a look on her face like she had just seen a ghost. Ash noticed she was staring at Chad and he had an even more astonished look on his face. "It can't be...Chad?!!" she barely choked out. "Crystal?!!" ________________________________________________________________________________ ______ 2-2 Crystal's Past "Chad!?" Crystal said again, a little less choked up but still very much surprised. "What...what are you doing here?" She walked up to the door, staring at him as if he were about to bolt away at any second. "Well, well, well...," Chad halfheartedly smiled, "I wouldn't have expected to run into you in a place like this! Whatever happened to the girl who wasn't going to end up in some small-town 'loserville'? The girl who was going to make something outta herself? Be somebody?" he sneered, his voice touched with a hint of pain, but his face remained emotionless. Crystal immediately turned her face away and looked toward the ground. "You didn't answer my question," she looked back up at him with a stern look on her face. "What are you doing here?" Chad's eyes darkened a bit, but he continued to smile at her. "My parents and I just moved here a few days ago. I guess they decided to take a break from the 'ranching' life, so we decided to move here. Ash, here, is my new neighbor," he smiled, giving a confused Ash a pat on the back. "Now it's your turn. Why are you here?" "Well, I've been living in this town for a few months now. I'm working as an assistant at Prof. Oak's pokemon laboratory. Ash and his friend, Misty, have been helping out at the lab these past couple of weeks since the Prof. left on business." Ash, who had been standing there, listening to their conversation, finally decided to speak up. "Wait a minute...How do you two know each other?!" "It's a long story," Crystal began. "Let's just say we were old childhood friends. We used to work and play at the same pokemon ranch together. Both of our parents worked there, so that's how we eventually met and almost immediately we became the best of friends." ******************* (FLASHBACK) "Crystal, hunny! Would come out here please!" "Coming, mother!" Crystal yelled from inside the barn. As she stepped outside into the sunshine, she looked across the yard toward where her mom stood talking with two other adults and two young boys. Both boys were older than she. The eldest was probably around the age of 13 or 14. He had dark spiky hair and wore baggy, dark clothing. Her instincts told her by the look on his face that he couldn't be trusted. The youngest boy was more around her age, probably about 11 or 12. He immediately caught her attention, though. He was wearing baggy blue jeans and a cute, little, white tank-top. He had spiky, dark hair too, but the tips were frosted a light blonde color. His face was kind and gentle and, somehow, she new this person would play a special part in her life... (END FLASHBACK) ********************* "...So after that, 'Her Majesty' here left the ranch in hopes of leading a better life. Isn't that right?" Crystal looked up at Chad and noticed he had been talking about her during her little daydream. She realized he had just asked for a response from her. "Uuh...What was the question again?" Chad frowned, "Weren't you listening to a thing I was saying?" "Um, no. I kinda zoned out," she said sweatdropping. "Well, I can see you haven't changed one bit these past few years," Chad sighed, "Just as ditzy as ever." "Oh, excuse me Mr. Perfect! I forgot how you NEVER made any mistakes. Please, forgive me!" She said quaintly with a small bow. "Yep, still the same rude, selfish, spoiled, little brat that I remembered!" he spat back in her face. "Watch it asshole!" she growled back. "Hey! Knock it off you two!" Ash angrily intervened. "Now I don't know what's happened between the two of you or why you two are at each others throats all of a sudden. What I do know is that the pokemon at the lab are counting on us being there in half an hour. So, if you two would mind shutting up for a second, I'd like to get going, ok?!" Chad and Crystal stared at Ash, stunned by his sudden outburst. "Fine! I'll meet you and Misty at the lab, Ash." Crystal gave him a snide look. Then she turned and began walking toward the lab again. Chad followed her with his eyes, then looked back at Ash who was giving him a "Now what do you want?" look. "Well, I guess I'll be going too then. See ya later, Ash. Give Misty a kiss for me will ya?" he winked at him as he jogged across the lawn toward his house. Ash slowly closed the door and took in a deep breath. 'Those two were definantly going to be a handful.' He turned and saw Misty walking toward him. "What was that all about?" "Uh, nothing, " he lied, hoping she hadn't heard Chad's last statement before he left. By the look on her face, he knew she hadn't. Whew! "What do you mean nothing!? I heard two people yelling all the way upstairs. It didn't sound like nothing." "Look, we don't have time for me to explain it all right now. We have to be at the lab soon. Go get ready and I'll tell you what happened on the way there, ok?" "Ok, all right! Sheesh!" she said, throwing her hands up in the air as she went back up the stairs. Ash followed her with his eyes, then glanced out the window. 'There's something more behind Crystal and Chad's relationship that they're not telling me.' he ponders to himself. 'Oh, well. It's none of my business and I really don't care. Whatever it was between them is long gone now!' he decides as he too wanders back upstairs to get ready. But in reality, he couldn't have been any further from the truth!... ______________________________________________________________________ 2-3 Chad vs. Crystal "Ring, ring, ring! Phone call, phone call!" Ash heard the computer telephone blare out as he went to answer it. It had been two days now since the little episode between Crystal and Chad had been played out. Ash hadn't talked much with Chad since, but he knew Misty had visited with him a few times over the phone. He figured it was probably him calling on the other line right now. "Hello?" "Hey, Ash! It's Chad. Is Misty home?" Boy did he call that one! "Yeah she is. Hold on." He walked upstairs to her bedroom. "Telephone, Misty...It's your boyfriend...," he teased. Misty smiled and picked up the phone in her room. "Hi Chad! What's up?" Ash stood in the doorway and scowled. 'She had known the kid for, what, 2 days, and she acted like they were best buds...or maybe even more!' He shuddered at the thought. Misty glanced over at Ash standing in the doorway, obviously wanting him to leave her with some privacy. "Oh, excuse me. So sorry to interupt!" he bowed to her jokingly. She smirked and waved him away with her hand, shutting the door in his face. He sighed, frowning, then went back downstairs to hang up the phone. Twenty minutes later, Misty came downstairs to see Ash watching a TV show on pokemon training. "So what did Chad have to say," he said in an uncaring voice. "Well...he asked how I was doing and how things at the lab were going..." she said as she sat down next to him on the couch. "And...he also asked me if I...would go to the dance with him," she said as she began fiddeling with her fingernails. "That's nice," he said, trying to make it sound like he really didn't care as much as he did. "So, what did you say?" "Well, I told him I'd think about it." "Hm...well if you do decide to go, I hope you have a great time!" he said, denying the hurt he was beginning to feel inside of him. "What about you?" she asked. "Aren't you going?" Ash turned to look into her eyes. They were harboring some indistinct feeling. One he couldn't quite make out. "Um, I don't know. I was thinking of asking Crystal to go," he said as he turned his attention back to the TV. "Oh," she said looking down at Pikachu and Togepi eating their poke-food. "Well, if you ask her and end up going, maybe we could all go together in a group. Kinda like a double-date. If they can manage to get along all night that is," she said smiling at him. "Yeah, maybe," he said smiling back. Their eyes met. They remained that way, staring into each other's eyes, for only a few seconds, but to them it seemed like hours. Pikachu and Togepi stopped eating and looked up at their masters, then at each other. Misty blinked and turned away. "Well, I'm gonna go get ready for bed. Goodnight Ash," she said as she got up. "Ok, goodnight," he answered as he focused his attention back to the TV. Misty turned and slowly went back up the stairs. The next day, as Ash, Misty, and Crystal were finishing up at the lab, Chad decided to visit them and see Misty. "Hi, Chad! What a surprise!" Misty said beamed when she noticed him walking toward them. Ash and Crystal turned to see him and scowled at his presence. "Hey Misty! How is the lovely lady doing today?" "Oh, I'm doing just fine!" she giggled. "We just got done with our chores and were just finishing up." "I bet it's a lot of fun working here, taking care of all the pokemon." "Yeah, I'm having a wonderful time, plus it's a good learning experience. Why don't you come by and help out?" "Misty, I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Ash said skeptically. "We have enough help now. We really don't need him." Crystal said, crossing her arms. "Hey, we can never have too much help! With his experience and knowledge about pokemon, I bet he'll make a great addition to the team," Misty said. "That's not a bad idea, Misty. I wouldn't mind stopping in to help everyonce in a while. It'll give me something to do, plus I'll be able to see you too!" Misty began to blush. "Oh, please!" Ash rolled his eyes. "I don't think so. I'm sorry, but no thankyou. We don't need your help!" Crystal said as she began to leave. "Oh, come on, Crystal. What's the matter? Afraid I'll see you mess up something?! "Me, mess up? Yeah right! I'd be more afraid of you messing up and me being the one who has to fix it!" she turned and walked up to him. ust like old times, right?" "Whoa, whoa! Wait a minute!" Ash yelled trying to break up the little quarrel. "Now, before you two get into yet another fight, I do recall you both agreeing to try and get along with each other, right?" "Both Chad and Crystal turned away from each other, crossing their arms angrily. "Hey! I know how we can settle this!" Misty grinned as you could almost see a lightbulb light up above her head. "How about a pokemon battle. Chad vs. Crystal! If Chad wins, he gets to join us and work at the lab. If Crystal wins, then she gets her way." They both look at one another blankly. "Sounds good to me! Get ready to lose!" Chad grins at his opponent. Crystal stares at him for a second, then grins back, "You're on!" ________________________________________________________________________________ _____ Ok, finally got done with this chapter. I hope you liked it! Who do you think should win the battle between Chad and Crystal? Please respond! Or you can e- mail me with any comments or questions as always at Misty411pp@aol.com. C ya!