MUCH ADO ABOUT A CRUSH

I don't own pokemon and all that jazz

A/N: This is my very first fanfic EVER! Please be kind in your feedback...and 
I hope you enjoy it! That's what keeps me writing!

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Ch 2

	The shed door opened noiselessly and I was dragged in. It was pitch 
dark inside, and I started panicking again. What was this guy going to do to 
me?! I suddenly heard lots of hushed, urgent whispering. We weren’t alone! I 
could catch some dialogue: ‘She’s finally here’, ‘Did anybody see her?’, 
‘Don’t talk so loud, you guys! Someone might hear us!’…
	The voices were coming from all around me! The whispering continued, 
sounding like a swarm of angry beedrill. Suddenly, my “attacker” came up 
close to my ear and hissed ‘Sshhhhhh…’ The whispering stopped immediately.
	Then, one voice said, from just a few feet in front of me, ‘Did you 
just “shush” me? Don’t you “shush” me, Gary Oak!!’ she exclaimed.
	The hand had fallen from over my mouth. I don’t know when it had 
happen, but I could speak again. ‘Duplica? Is that you!?’ ‘Could one of you 
Einsteins please turn on the light?’ said the voice next to my ear as his arm 
slipped from around my shoulder.
	‘Gary?’ ‘Yes, Misty, it’s me,’ he sighed, as a light flicked on. I 
turned to see who else was here. And, boy! Was I ever surprised!! There, 
cramped into the tiny tool-shed were Brock, Duplica, Tracey and Richie!! I 
squealed (extremely loudly, too) and threw my arms around Gary (he was first 
only because he was standing the closest to me).
	Then, I went around and hugged all my friends. Then, I came back and 
stood next to Gary. I slowly turned my head to look up at him…and I suddenly 
remembered that he had just dragged me away from seeing Ash. Then, before I 
could stop my self, I slapped him.
‘OW…yeah, it’s nice to see you again, too Misty,’ he said, wincing. ‘WHAT 
WERE YOU THINKING?! YOU FREAKED ME OUT!! I thought you were a kidnapper or 
something!!’
	‘Keep your voice down, Misty,’ pleaded Brock. ‘I knew that if we met 
you at the front door, the squealing and the hugging would HAVE to happen 
there, and, well, then you would have to go into the house without finding 
out about the surprise party,’ explained Gary. 
	‘So?! That is no reason for you to go around dra…wait…what surprise 
party?’ I asked, thoroughly confused. ‘See?’ said Brock defiantly, ‘That’s 
exactly what we’re talking about? You would ring the doorbell, he would open 
it, and you would throw yourself at him and be all “Oh, Ash, happy birthday! 
I’m soooo happy that I could be here for this!” and blah, blah, blah. Then, 
our plan would be a disaster!’ Brock cried, charading as he explained.
	‘Er…what “plan”,’ I asked, now even more confused than before. ‘Okay 
guys. Just accept that you lack the “explanation gene” and leave the rest to 
me,’ said Duplica laying a comforting hand on Brock’s shoulder. ‘Look Misty, 
we all got together here for the same reason. We wanted to be here for Ash’s 
big day. But, we all happened to get here at different times. I mean, Brock’s 
been here for almost a month! And Gary just got here a week ago. So, 
according to Mrs. Ketchum, Ash just doesn’t get that we’re here for his 
birthday. He, basically thinks that we’re all just…I don’t know…visiting! You 
know how stupid he can be. When she told us, we thought “Why not just play 
along?” So we decided to pretend that we really forgot his birthday. So, you 
HAVE to join us. We’re planning out a HUGE party! We can’t have you running 
around wishing him “happy birthday” when we’re all trying to pretend we 
forgot! It would ruin everything!!’
	‘Ok, that makes sense…I think.’
‘Great!’ Richie exclaimed. ‘It was actually smart of you to cut it so close 
to his birthday. I mean, anyone who actually remembered wouldn’t have come so 
late, right?’ There was an awkward silence. ‘You really forgot, didn’t you?’ 
questioned Duplica bluntly. ‘Yeah,’ I replied, looking at my feet, 
embarrassed. ‘But, don’t worry. Lily’s mailing his gift over and, if he sees 
that I’m here without a gift, he’ll be even more convinced that I’m 
just…visiting!’ I said, cheering myself up. 

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‘Ok, I guess you’re ready to go. Now, remember! Don’t say anything even 
remotely “happy birthday-ish” to him,’ said Gary as he led me out of the shed 
(leaving the other 4 to continue Ash’s party preparations) and towards the 
front door again. He left me there and started heading towards his 
grandfather’s lab.
	‘Oh, by the way, Misty,’ he called, turning around. ‘We hid your bike 
behind the shed. We thought that if you came riding on the gift he brought 
for you on your birthday, there was no chance you would forget his birthday. 
We thought he might get suspicious, so…just don’t tell him you came by bike.’
	I turned back towards the door. And, finally, I rang the doorbell. To 
my disappointment, Brock - wearing his classic frilly, pink apron, broom in 
hand – opened the door. “Wasn’t he just in the shed?”
	‘Hello, Misty!’ exclaimed Brock (a little too) loudly. ‘My! What a long 
time it has been since I have last seen you!! You have grown so much! I have 
missed you dearly, my friend!’ I couldn’t help it. I just stared at him. ‘Ash 
is upstairs. Why don’t you go and say “hi”?’ he whispered. As I squeezed past 
him to get to the stairs, he winked at me! At least I think he winked. The 
right side of his face kind of convulsed for a fraction-of-a-second. It 
looked like a wink to me…

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‘Ash? Are you here?’ I asked tentatively as I slowly pushed his door open 
(after knocking, of course). ‘ Wah!!’ followed by a *thud* was all I heard in 
reply. He was lying half on the floor, his feet on his bed. He looked at me 
upside-down, mouth hanging open, but he couldn’t seem to find the words to 
say.’            
 ‘Here, let me help you up,’ I offered, stepping towards him. But, before I 
could reach him, something small and yellow streaked out from under a nearby 
pile of dirty laundry and jumped into my arms. ‘Pika-pikachu!’ it squeaked 
happily. ‘ Oh! Hi pikachu! Look at you! I’ve missed you too!’
	In a flurry of movement, Ash tumbled off his bed and got off the floor, 
looking down at me. I couldn’t believe it! He had to be at least a few inches 
taller than me!!
	‘I knew it was!’ he said happily. ‘Man, you don’t know how many times 
I’ve wished you would visit!’ He took two strides forward and threw his arms 
around me (!), enveloping me in a warm hug!! I swear I could have melted. Is 
sighed, contentedly, and looked down…and noticed the yellow ball of fur 
squished between us, struggling to breathe.
	‘Um…Ash? You’re killing Pikachu.’ ‘What? Oh! I’m sorry Pikachu,’ he 
said, stroking the fluffy rodent. ‘Pi-kaa chu,’ Pikachu sighed.
	‘So, Misty…ever since you took over the Cerulean City gym, I’ve heard 
it’s been almost impossible to get a Cascade badge,’ Ash said as we settled 
on the carpeted floor of his room. ‘What can I say? I’ve improved my battle 
style, that’s all. But, right now, I’m taking a break. Actually, I was 
Cinnabar Island, catching up on some sunbathing when I thought, since I’m so 
close, I might as well drop by,’ I said, trying to sound convincing.
	He must have bought it because, his smile dropped noticeably. 
‘Oh…um…that’s nice,’ he murmured unenthusiastically. ‘Well, there’s something 
I have to tell you,’ I said, trying to cheer him up. ‘About two weeks ago, 
Gary came to the gym and challenged me! And, boy, did I cream him good!’
	‘Really?!’ asked Ash, his expression immediately brightening. ‘Now, 
this I have to hear!’
‘Ok! So, Gary thought he had an advantage from the very first moment he sent 
out his Umbreon. He totally thought he was gonna win, but I used Poliwrath 
because of its advantage over dark types. There was one tense moment when…’


A/N: Hope you guys like the story so far. I tried to keep it light and 
fun…constructive criticism will be much appreciated! Ash and Misty 4eva! X3

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