Disclaimer: Don’t own Pokemon! A/N: And here’s chapter 3! Oh, and sorry for the long wait guys! Enjoy! Chapter 3- Revelations The light breeze sprayed the local streets with a thin layer of mist as people crowded the sidewalks, enjoying what the beautiful day had to offer. Misty and Alex had been walking for nearly 10 minutes, walking in and out of shops, on their way to the deli, a local hang out by many of the college students in Calysto. They had been window shopping, enjoying each other’s company, as they strolled along the streets of the seaside town. “Hey, check out this dress! That would look awesome on you,” announced Alex, pointing at a strapless, baby blue evening dress. “Wow, it’s gorgeous,” marveled Misty, pressing her fingers to the glass window, “Too bad I’m on a budget.” She laughed as she encouraged her friend to press forward. “Oh my gosh Mist, how about this one?” smiled Alex, pointing to yet another window in the next store over. “Come on Alex! At this rate, we’ll never get there,” teased Misty, leading her friend away from the window. The two friends continued to walk down the bustling sidewalk, chit chatting about the day to come. A hooded figure, however, didn’t see them and came colliding into a very confused Alex. “Hey, watch where you’re going!” shouted Alex as she rubbed her lower back to try and relieve the pain. She looked up to see who the stranger was and was met, face to face, with a young man in a black hooded sweater. The hood was loosely draped over his head as he went to help Alex to her feet. “Sorry Alex, you okay?” the young man asked roughly. He had deep brown eyes, spiky black hair, and carried a somewhat depressing tone in his voice. “Yeah, I think I’ll live,” she replied, standing up and brushing off the excess dust from her clothes. “You okay Al?” asked Misty as she handed Alex’s fallen purse to her. Misty tried to look over the young man, a possible friend of Alex’s, but found it hard because of the hood. Alex simply nodded as she continued to stare at the young man intently. “Well, I gotta go, catch ya later,” he said, briskly walking off in the opposite direction. “Hey wait up!” called Alex, but it was too late. The mysterious figure had already retreated into the multitude of people surrounding the sidewalk. “Who was that?” asked Misty, looking towards where the young man had been. “I-I think that was Darren,” replied Alex, unsure of herself, “Yeah, that was definitely him.” Alex motioned for Misty to continue walking as she started to explain the man that they had just encountered. “That was Darren, he goes to the same school as us and lives in our apartment complex,” explained Alex. “A friend of yours?” questioned Misty as they neared the deli. “Mmm…not quite a friend, just more like an acquaintance,” she said as she held the door to the restaurant open for her friend. “Hello ladies, welcome to Brent’s Deli (A/N: this is a real life deli where I live…the best ever ^^). How many?” asked the friendly hostess. “Two,” stated Misty, holding up two fingers to accentuate her point. “Okay…will that be inside or outside?” “Outside please,” smiled Misty as she watched the hostess take out two menus from behind her podium. “Right this way ladies,” smiled the hostess as she lead the two friends upstairs and onto the balcony that overlooked the harbor, “Here we are.” “Thank you,” Misty and Alex said in unison as they took their seats and looked over the menu hungrily. “So, what was up with that guy?” asked Misty, reverting back to the original conversation. “He was just being himself,” sighed Alex, “Although it is very unusual to see him out and about.” “What do you mean?” “Well, he hardly ever leaves that apartment of his. Can’t really say that I blame him though, after what he’s been through,” replied Alex, instantly regretting what she had said. “What happened to him?” asked Misty, cocking her head to one side. “Oh…umm…I’m not sure,” smiled Alex nervously. “Oh come on, just tell me. How bad can it be?” prodded Misty. Sighing, Alex propped her elbows on the table and looked out over the harbor. The ocean looked especially beautiful today, as the waves broke on the sand elegantly. She had sometimes taken the ocean for granted and continued to marvel at its beauty. “Alex?” called Misty, noticing that her friend had begun to space off. “Well, rumor has it that Darren’s…well, his fiancée was killed a couple of years ago,” she explained. Misty gasped and held a hand to her mouth to emphasize her shock. “Oh, that’s terrible,” she gasped, shaking her head, “How did it happen?” Alex made no eye contact as she continued to look out towards the ocean, “The rockslide…” Misty’s mouth had become dry as she tried to comprehend what her friend had just said. How many lives had that rockslide taken? How many lives had it affected? Countless innocent lives lost because of Aki and Marissa’s lust to kill Ash…when was it going to stop? “Poor thing,” whispered Misty as she hung her head low. Misty knew first hand the pain that that rockslide had caused her and she felt she could relate to the young man. Though she was still on the long road towards recovery, Misty felt she could better this man’s life by allowing him to listen to her story and maybe…just maybe they would find the light amidst the darkness. “Well, maybe…maybe I could talk to him,” offered Misty gently. The comment had earned her an odd look from her best friend as Misty reverted her attention back to the ocean. “If you think about it, he and I are the same. We’ve both lost people dear to us in that rockslide…maybe, knowing someone that’s been down the same road would help,” smiled Misty. Alex, however, just shook her head in dismay. She knew how Darren was and his attitude, as it would seem, would never change. He had already given up on life, holding himself up in his apartment, only coming out to attend school. He had also, on occasion, been known to miss school for days at a time and looking completely worn the day of his return. Though Alex knew Misty’s intentions were pure, Darren would never change and he would only become upset at the mention of the accident. “Not a good idea Mist,” she said bluntly, “I know you mean well, but he just has a different approach on life.” “A different approach?” Misty repeated confusedly. “Yeah…aka, he’s pretty much given up on life,” Alex nodded, taking a sip from her glass, “You talking to him might even provoke him into remembering the past. I don’t want him to start verbally attacking you for trying to help…so just drop it.” Misty sighed as she looked out towards the ocean. How sad that a young man’s life had to change so drastically because of Aki’s selfless act. Though Alex knew the young man far better than she did, Misty still felt the need to connect to the young man and, perhaps, allow him to see the light. “Forget it Misty, you’d only be wasting your time,” announced Alex, seeing the look of determination on her friend’s face. “There must be a way to help,” sighed Misty dejectedly. Rubbing her temples at her friend’s persistence, Alex replied, “Okay, I’ll tell you what we’ll do. I’ll take you to his apartment to introduce him to you, but that’s it. You’re on your own from there.” “Thanks Alex,” Misty smiled, happy that her friend had given in. Their lunch went without a hitch as Alex paid the bill and prepared to leave the restaurant. The two girls walked in silence, both having an immense amount of thinking to do. Misty was trying to work out what she would say to the young man, while Alex was too excited about the party that same night to be bothered by their conversation at lunch. Upon returning to their complex, Alex punched in the fourth floor and awaited the doors to open. Sensing Misty’s nervousness, Alex put a hand on her friend’s shoulder reassuringly. “It’ll be okay and, who knows, maybe you’ll prove us all wrong and change him for the better,” Alex smiled, exiting the elevator with her friend. “Easier said than done according to you,” exclaimed Misty, giving her friend a sly look. Reaching their destination, Alex stood in front of room 435 in anticipation of what she might expect. Would Darren willingly allow them into his room? Or would he freak out and slam the door in their faces? ‘Guess there’s only one way to find out,’ thought Alex as she pounded on the door. Inside, the pair could hear shuffling and the sound of things being knocked around in a frenzy. Amongst the noisiness of the apartment, glass could be heard shattering to pieces as footsteps heavily approached the door. Alex and Misty gave each other unsure glances as a voice could be heard from inside the room. “Who’s there?” demanded the voice. “Darren, it’s me, Alex. I wanted to know if I could come in for a second,” she replied nicely. “Now is not the best time Alex,” came the voice as more shuffling could be heard within the confines of the room, “Come back later.” “Well, you heard the man,” shrugged Alex, as she directed herself towards the elevator. Misty stunned at what had just happened, ran to catch up with her friend, “I think we came at a bad time.” “No, I think we came at the perfect time,” said Alex, “That is him being normal. Now tell me if you still want to prove us all wrong.” Misty sighed as she entered the elevator, giving into her friend’s advice, the elevator door closing as she did so… *** “Where the hell did I put that damn thing!?” Darren exclaimed, literally tearing his apartment to pieces. He threw some papers on the ground, filed through his desk drawers, and searched through various cabinets but to no avail. The young man dropped to his knees, anguish written all over his face. “I’ve lost her and now I’ve lost the only things that remind me of her. How could I have been so stupid!” he yelled, inwardly scolding himself for his lack of attention. Slamming his fists into the floor, he cried silent tears of anguish praying that he would find his missing treasures before it was lost forever. *** “Maybe your right, I didn’t think it was that bad,” Misty admitted, exiting the elevator with her friend. “Well, believe it. Now let’s drop the subject and relax for a while before the party,” she exclaimed, opening the door to their two room flat. Misty hadn’t realized that the poor young man had been affected so drastically. He seemed almost rude, demanding, and extremely anti-social. He hadn’t even opened the door to greet them properly. ‘Maybe Alex was right, maybe he just needs to help himself before he lets others help,’ thought Misty as she entered her room. “Hey Al, I’m going to take a long hot bath before the party to kind of relieve myself,” Misty announced, grabbing a bath towel from the cabinet. “Alright, I’m going to go grab a soda from the vending machine. Do you want anything?” asked Alex, as she started for the door. “No thanks, I’m good for now,” called Misty as she closed the door to the bathroom to start her bath water. Alex exited the room, thinking to herself of the events that had just transpired. She had to admit, Darren seemed more flustered than he normally did. All the commotion in the apartment, moreover, did nothing to ease her of her fears that Darren was still mentally unstable. Upon reaching the vending machine, Alex went to take out a few coins from her purse when she dropped one underneath the machine. Sighing, she knelt down to retrieve the lost coin. Spotting it, she grabbed it with ease, but not before something caught her eye. She scooped out the object from underneath the machine and found what appeared to be a black wallet. Examining the wallet, she opened it and started to search for some kind of identification, but was surprised to find a small metal object and what appeared to be a photo fall gracefully to the floor. Examining the two objects, Alex discovered that the shiny object was a ring. She had noticed the inscription on the band and brought it closer for further examination. The band read, ‘Ash Ketchum 2003’ and the back read ‘I Love You…’. The thing that really caught her eye, however, was the heart and Japanese symbol engraved on the side. Recognizing the symbol and heart, her heart started to pound a million beats a minute. Frantically searching for an ID card, she successfully found it amongst various credit cards and other important looking cards. Pulling the ID from its confines, Alex gasped at the name imprinted on the card. “Darren…no way…” A/N: And there’s Chapter 3! Sorry if it might have been kind of boring, but I did leave a little bit of a cliffhanger lol! Anyways, please read and review! AAML for life!