"Forever Always"

"And it looks like this battle has just been evened out with Ash Ketchum and his rival Gary Oak both down to their very last Pokemon!"

This isn’t good. I’m down to my last Pokemon and so is Gary, but I don’t know what Pokemon he’s saved for last, and I know it’ll be his best. I just hope Pikachu can handle this battle because I know it’ll be his hardest. I watched intently as Gary calmly took out his last Poke Ball and gave it a few kisses before throwing it on the ground.

"Poke Ball go!" I heard him shout.

I waited for the red beam to clear as I watched onward, anxiously awaiting my biggest challenge. As the beam went away, I saw my rival’s final Pokemon… an Eevee. An Eevee? That’s my BIGGEST challenge? He’s got to be joking! Oh well, at least this’ll be an easy battle.

"Pikachu go!" I yelled as Pikachu ran quickly from my side to the battlefield.

"Oh and it looks like Ash has chosen his infamous Pikachu to face off against Gary’s Eevee! This could be a great battle!" I heard the announcer say.

"Well LOSER, I’m surprised that you even made it this far, much less faint some of my Pokemon!" Gary said to me arrogantly.

I’ll show him.

"Pikachu, Thundershock!"

"PIIIIKAAACHUUUUUUUUU!!!!"

I watched in anticipation as the electric attack made it’s way towards Eevee. I smirked. This’ll show Gary.

But the smirk was soon wiped off my face as I heard Gary say two words.

"Eevee, Agility!"

I watched as Eevee easily evaded the Thundershock that could’ve easily hurt it seriously. I began to worry. This Eevee was better trained than I thought. Maybe this battle won’t be as easy as I thought.

"Alright Pikachu, time to get serious," I told my best friend. "Counter with your own Agility, then Swift!"

"Pika!"

I watched on as Pikachu started moving around at the same pace as Eevee and started shooting stars at the little fox Pokemon. The stars hit Gary’s Eevee painfully and precisely in the chest, weakening it.

"No! Eevee!" I heard Gary yell.

"Alright then Eevee, go for a Tail Whip attack!"

The Eevee ran at Pikachu, and started to repeatedly slash it’s bushy tail at Pikachu, clearly stinging it.

"Good job Eevee, now Rage Tackle attack!"

I watched in horror and utter amazement as the little Pokemon ran up to my Pikachu at an incredible speed and rammed into his stomach head-first.

"No, Pikachu!" I cried. "Come on Pikachu, get up! We didn’t come all this way to lose to Gary!"

"Just give it up Ash, Pikachu can’t possibly win against my amazing Eevee!" I heard Gary say. "What a pathetic Pokemon! Almost as pathetic as his loser trainer and that scrawny girlfriend of his! Ha! Ha!"

"I’m not scrawny, you stupid jerk!" I heard Misty yell from the bleachers. "And he’s NOT my boyfriend!"

I stared with anger and hatred at Gary. Nobody calls my Pokemon and my friends pathetic and get away with it! Especially Misty and Pikachu! I knew now that Pikachu was almost completely spent, but I he could see that he still wanted to fight. Seeing him in his present condition told me that the next move he did might be his last before he slipped into unconsciousness, so I decided to try out the new move that I recently perfected with Pikachu. This one was for Misty.

"Pikachu, Electric Rage!" I yelled.

"Pi Pika!" I heard him shout back.

I stood silently and watched as Pikachu powered up for his next and possibly final move of the match. If this didn’t hit Eevee then I’d lose for sure. I prayed that this would work and watched as Pikachu’s cheeks started to glow an eerie blue, with electricity surrounding his entire body.

"What’s going on?" I heard Gary ask me. "What’s that little squirt doing?"

"You’ll see" I told him.

The blue glow suddenly grew bigger and bigger until it completed surrounded Pikachu in a glowing blue ball, with Eevee and Gary looking on in amazement and wonder. I could see the dark storm clouds forming over the stadium and could hear the thunder rumbling in the distance. Without warning, a large blue bolt of lightning suddenly seemed to strike Pikachu. But when the smoke cleared, everyone but me and Pikachu stared in fear and shock as Pikachu’s glowing blue sphere had grown considerably bigger. It was now almost half the size of the stadium, crackling with pure electricity all around. I knew it was finally time to release the attack.

"Pikachu, release it now! Do it for Misty" I shouted.

"Pi! Pika Pika PikaaaaCHUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!"

I could only watch in amazement as the blue ball of electricity was thrown incredibly fast at Gary’s very last Pokemon. I knew it was all over for him then. I could hear his Pokemon scream at the pure pain and shock of having millions of volts of electricity running throughout his entire body. The attack finally ended with a big explosion, leaving a think cloud of smoke in the stadium. The crowd was completely silent now. The smoke finally started clearing up, & I could see Pikachu; barely standing from the exhaustion of having executing such a powerful attack, but grinning back at me with satisfaction in his eyes. As more of the smoke cleared away, I turned to look in the direction of Gary’s Eevee. I saw it lying on the floor in a crumpled, smoking heap. I then looked at Gary. He was mumbling something that I couldn’t hear, but I knew by the look on his face what he was thinking. I could tell that he was horrified to see an attack of that magnitude coming from a MERE Pikachu. I had won.

"Uh, uh" I heard the announcer stammer. "Uh…And Ash Ketchum has just won the title of Pokemon Master by beating his rival from Pallet Town, Gary Oak!"

I heard the crowd suddenly starting to cheer for me. I smiled and leapt for joy!

"And what an incredible move to win by too!" I heard the announcer continue. "An astonishing attack to say the least!"

My smile grew and grew as I continued to hear praise from the crowd and announcer. Just then I remembered the person who I dedicated that move to. Misty. I turned to look at her sitting in her chair cheering for me along with everyone else in the stadium.

"That was for you Misty" I whispered under my breath.

I heard the footsteps of something walking towards me. I turned around expecting it to be the announcer or one of the judges, only to find Gary Oak of all people facing me.

"Congratulations Ash" was all he said.

He then put forth an open hand, gesturing for a handshake. I gladly shook his hand. It seemed the rivalry between us had finally ended…

"But don’t get too cocky because I’ll be back to challenge you soon!" he told me with a grin.

…Or maybe not.

"And I’ll be waiting for you Oak"

"Just make sure you don’t lose to anybody in the mean time Ketchum"

"I won’t" I told him seriously.

He nodded, and walked off towards his fainted Eevee and gave it a Revive and a Super Potion. It woke up suddenly and jumped into his arms. I guess he does care about his Pokemon. I then proceeded to pick up Pikachu in my arms.

"Well Pikachu, it looks like we did it!" I told him excitedly.

"Pikachu!" he agreed with me happily.

"Come on, let’s go get Misty and head off to the Pokemon Centre to get you and the others healed.

"Pi Pika?"

"Yeah, I think I’ll tell her tonight"

"Chu! Pika Pi Chu Pika!"

"Thanks Pikachu, I needed that"

"Pika"

************************************************************************

As Pikachu and I were about to the Pokemon Centre to meet Misty, I heard Nurse Joy call me.

"Ash! There’s a phone call for you!"

"For me?" I asked. "Who is it?"

I soon found out as I picked up the phone and the picture of Professor Oak appeared.

"Professor!" I exclaimed surprised.

"Hello Ash! Congratulations on your victory!"

"Thanks Professor, but I couldn’t have done it without my buddy Pikachu here" I said as I pointed to

the cheery Pikachu sitting on my head.

"Yes well that’s what I wanted to talk to you about"

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"Well you see, there’s been a bug going around with certain electric type Pokemon, and I need to check your Pikachu for the bug"

"I guess you can" I replied. "Are you okay with that Pikachu?"

"Chu!" he replied.

"Alright, since Pikachu’s OK with it then I guess you can run your check-up on him"

"Well then I’ll you need you to transport Pikachu in it’s Poke Ball to me immediately"

"Alright then" I replied. "Pikachu, can you get into your Poke Ball just this once?"

"Pi…" he replied, obviously not happy with having to go into his Poke Ball.

Nonetheless, he still agreed as he was sucked into his Poke Ball by the red beam of light.

"I’ll miss you buddy"

With that, I put Pikachu’s Poke Ball into the transfer machine and Pikachu was soon back with Professor Oak in Pallet.

"Take good care of him while I’m not around ok Professor?"

"Sure Ash, you don’t need to worry"

"Well bye then Professor! I’ll be back home soon!"

"Alright then Ash. See you soon!"

With that, the screen turned black and I hung up the phone. I felt sad not having Pikachu with me, but then another thought came to mind. ALONE in the woods with Misty. Perfect. Now I’ll finally have some time alone with her to tell her how I feel. That is, if I can get the courage to do so. I chuckled a bit at the irony of being afraid of telling her when I wasn’t afraid of being killed countless other times by Team Rocket or my own stupidity. But this was different. If she didn’t feel the same way, I knew that the pain would be far greater than anything Team Rocket or anyone else could cause me. But if I didn’t tell her I knew that I’d never be able to live it down. I have to tell her. With that thought in mind, I opened the front doors, and left the Pokemon Centre.

****************************************************************************

As I left the Pokemon Centre, a lot more thoughts came to mind. Me being a Pokemon Master, my life-long dream finally achieved! Then there was the fact that Gary and I sort of made up and almost seemed to be friends again. Then there was Pikachu leaving me temporarily to be checked out for a disease that he might have. And finally, Misty. I had to tell her soon I knew, but the unpleasant thoughts of rejection that came to mind made me think twice about telling her. As I continued to think about this, I heard a beautiful voice call me.

"Ash! Hey Ash!"

I turned around just in time to see an excited Misty come running up and hug me. I blushed deeply at this, and fought the urge to grab her and kiss her right there and then.

"Uh…h-h-hi Misty" I stuttered.

"Huh? What’s the matter Ash, why are you so red?" she asked me curiously as she let go of the hug.

"Um...well…" I stammered, trying desperately to think of a reason.

"Well it’s really hot outside!" I lied.

"I just need to take cool off!" I replied while backing away little.

As if on cue, I slipped on a puddle of water and landed right in a fountain. I heard Misty giggle at the site.

"Have a nice trip Ash?" she asked me playfully.

"Very refreshing" I replied sarcastically.

"So where’s Pikachu?" she asked. "I thought you went to get him and your other Pokemon healed?"

"Oh, well when I was about to leave the Pokemon Centre I got a call from Professor Oak telling me that he needed to check Pikachu for a new bug going around with electric type Pokemon, so I handed Pikachu over to Professor Oak for a while" I explained.

"Oh ok," she replied with a look of happiness in her beautiful Aqua-Green eyes. "Then I guess that leaves the two of us ‘alone’ in the woods for a while then huh?"

I gulped and put my hand behind my head in nervousness.

"Um…Yeah, I guess it does!" I replied a little too cheerfully.

"Well then let’s go!" she said cheerfully.

************************************************************************

We finally stopped walking after 4 hours and set up camp for the night. As we ate our dinner in silence, I began to think about Misty. Her beautiful orange-hair, her rose red lips, and her aqua-green eyes that always put me in a trance whenever I looked into them.

While I was still deep in thought about the things that I loved about Misty, she suddenly broke the silence.

"Hey Ash?" she asked. "I’m sorry I forgot, but I meant to congratulate you earlier on beating Gary"

"Thanks Misty, it means a lot to me to hear you say that" I told her. "It’s not often that you compliment me!"

"Yeah, well, you deserve some compliments for beating the Elite Four and Gary" she told me with a sincere expression. "Besides, you’ve come a long way since that battle with Pigeotto! You remember don’t you? The one where you sent out a Caterpie of all things to fight him?"

I chuckled at the memory.

"Yeah, I remember that" I told her while laughing a little. "That seemed so long ago now. It’s been 2 years since that little incident. It was 2 years ago that I got Pikachu, and it was also 2 years ago that I met you Misty"

"Yeah, it was" she said softly. "I remember fishing you out of the river, then you….stole…..my bike"

"Misty? What’s wrong?"

Suddenly, she seemed to snap out of her trance and started talking in an annoyed tone.

"Hey that reminds me! Where’s my bike Ash Ketchum? I’ve waited 2 years for one and you still haven’t delivered!"

"Um….um…." I stammered. "Um…well…hey! How come you just remembered now? Haven’t you been following me around BECAUSE of the bike? How could you have JUST remembered?"

At this, I saw her blush. The soft orange glow of the fire mixed with the redness in her face caused her face to look just like her hair. Simply beautiful.

"You know what Ash?" she asked while yawning. "I’m really tired, so I think I’ll go to sleep now"

And with that, she quickly dove into her sleeping bag without another word or changing her clothes.

That’s weird, why did she blush when I asked her that? And why didn’t she answer my question? Oh well, she was probably too tired like she said. She MUST have been tired if she didn’t even change out of her clothes to go to sleep. I smiled as I gazed upon her beautiful angelic face that seemed to glow in the fire’s light.

"Goodnight Misty, sweet dreams" I said softly.

And with that, I put out the fire and went to sleep, but not before hearing something that sounded like Misty saying "Goodnight Ash, sweet dreams".

****************************************************************************

I awoke suddenly in the middle of the night for some reason. I tried and tried to go back to sleep and start to dream of Misty again, but for some reason I couldn’t. So I laid in my sleeping bag, thinking about the things that had happened up to this point in my life.

But as I laid in my sleeping bag wide awake, one word kept coming to mind. Misty. The fiery red-headed water goddess that I fell in love with. How could words express my undying love for her? Her scent that warmed my heart was sweet like a rose. Her beautiful smile was all I’ll need to keep me going through even the worst times. Yet why couldn’t I tell her what I felt? I yearned to tell her what I thought of her and her kindness and compassion towards everything and everyone. I longed for those rose red lips of hers. The same lips that I would give anything to touch with mine. But how could I tell her? HOW? I wanted to tell her earlier, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I wanted to hold her in my arms so badly, but the thought of rejection kept coming to mind.

As I continued to think about my dilemma, I heard an angelic voice singing a beautiful song. I knew it had to be the girl I loved. Only her voice could capture me the way it did; only her soft and delicate voice could melt my heart the way it did. I got out of my sleeping bag with a blanket wrapped around me, and approached the angel of my life.

The past three nights I had heard her sing the same song before she went to sleep, but I didn’t know why. But it didn’t matter to me. All that mattered to me was hearing her singing the song with as much brilliance as her flaming orange-red hair. As she finished, I noticed her shivering. I slowly and silently walked up to her, taking off my blanket. When I was finally close enough to breathe in the scent of her sweet smelling hair, I gently wrapped my blanket around her. Startled, she turned around.

"Ash?" she asked startled.

"Yeah it’s me" I replied gently. "Misty, what are you doing out here in the cold without something to keep you warm?"

"Well I was just thinking…"

"What about Mist?"

"Well I was thinking since you’re the Pokemon Master now, I don’t think you need my company anymore" she replied looking sad.

At this comment I was worried. I didn’t know how or when to tell her how I felt but I knew it had to be soon. If she were to go away I wouldn’t be able to continue. My title meant absolutely nothing if she wasn’t around to cheer me on when I was battling. To hit me with her infamous mallet when I was being dumb. But most of all, my life wouldn’t be worth living if I didn’t have the girl that I loved by my side. I quickly tried to think of a reason for her to stay.

"But where would you go?" I asked trying to hide my surprise and my sadness.

"I don’t know" she replied solemnly. "I kind of want to go home. I haven’t seen my sisters in a while, & I kind of miss them."

"But don’t they dislike or you or something?" I asked, trying to come up a way to counter that.

"I know they don’t really want me around that much, since I’m not good enough to be a Sensational Sister to them" she replied. "But then, why does it matter? After all, what good is an ugly useless runt like me good for anyways?"

I could see the tears forming in her beautiful aqua-green eyes. The same eyes that usually held so much happiness and love for everyone was now showing such pain and sorrow. I couldn’t stand seeing her like this.

"Misty," I said as I wrapped her in a hug that I never wanted to let go. "Don’t say those things. You are not a runt, you are not useless, and you are definitely not ugly"

I saw her smile her heart-warming smile a bit after my comment.

"Well then what do you think of me?"

Crap! I was backed into a corner now! If I told her that I thought she was beautiful, she’d definitely know that I was in love with her, but if I told her she wasn’t beautiful I knew that she’d be hurt beyond any physical pain she could go through.

But would she feel the same way?

The same question was repeated in my mind over and over again as I started to stutter.

"Uh…well…you see…" I replied nervously.

"Yeeesss?" she asked with a look of hope in her eyes.

This was it. I knew it was now or never. If she didn’t feel the same way, I would be crushed, but I had to say it. I knew that if I didn’t tell her now it would eat away at me for the rest of my life. I bowed my head down, took a deep breath, and told her from the heart what I thought of her.

"Misty, I don’t think you’re a runt or useless" I started. "In fact I think you have more talent than all three of your sisters put together! I also think that your sisters are right about there only being three Sensational Sisters of Cerulean City"

At this I saw her frown and look upset, but I quickly cut her off before she had a chance to say something back.

"There are only three Sensational Sisters," I repeated. "But there is only one sister of the four Waterflower sisters who is beyond sensational. There is only one sister of the Waterflowers who can be as beautiful, delicate, and sweet as a rose. There is only one Waterflower, who can be called the "Angelic Sister". There’s only one sister that can be called this because her kindness and beauty has touched many hearts. That sister, is you Misty Kasumi Waterflower. Out of the four sisters of Cerulean City, none of them are as cared about as much as you are Misty. Whether it's by her Pokemon, or by me."

When I finished I slowly brought my head back up to face her. I knew that that would put a smile on her delicate face. But I never imagined that I would also put tears of joy in her eyes.

"Oh Ash! I never knew you cared!" she said while sobbing happily in my shoulder. I gently pulled her into a loving hug.

"Of course I care Misty, we’re best friends." I said softly. "A lot of people care for you and love you, and don’t you ever forget that"

She nodded slowly and happily, but there was a look on her face that still showed a hint of sadness.

"Yeah" she replied. "Best ‘Friends’"

I noticed that she cringed a little when she said ‘friends’. It was almost as if she resented that. But all those thoughts were put aside for the moment, as I suddenly became nervous because I knew what I was going to say next.

"Misty, I don’t know how you feel or what your reaction is going to be, but I have to say this before I go crazy".

She looked at me slightly confused at first, but then giggled.

"Well what is it?" she asked cheerfully.

"Well, it’s like this" I replied seriously.

"Misty Kasumi Waterflower", I started.

"I love you", I whispered into her ear.

As I pulled away I once again saw tears in her beautiful aqua-green eyes, but also noticed that she no longer had that hint of sadness on her face.

"Oh Ash, you don’t know how long I’ve wanted to hear that from you!" she replied through tears. "I don’t know how to tell you this, but I love you too!"

I was shocked. I thought she wouldn’t feel the same, but here she was telling me that she LOVED me.

At this thought, I looked into her eyes as our heads tilted closer to each other, until my lips finally met with her rose red lips. The feeling I had in me when we kissed was pure bliss! I never thought that I could feel this good! Even achieving my life-long dream of becoming a Pokemon Master didn’t feel as good as kissing Misty! As our lips parted, we looked at each other and smiled.

"I’m so glad you told me," she said softly. "When you won that match against Gary I wanted to kiss you and tell you, but I didn’t think you’d feel the same away".

"Misty, why wouldn’t I feel the same way?" I asked. "How can I not be in love with someone as beautiful on the inside and outside as you?"

She smiled when I said this and jumped into my arms for a loving hug. We stayed there for a while, just happy to be in each other’s arms. Finally, Misty broke the silence.

"Ash?"

"Yes Misty?"

"I love you"

"I love you too Misty" I replied in a gentle whispering voice.

"And Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you"

"For what?" I asked a little bit confused

"For saying all those sweet things about me and cheering me up. For always being there for me whenever I needed someone to turn to."

"I’d do anything for you my angel" I replied. "Never forget that. And never forget that I will always love you. Forever always."

"Forever always" she replied contently, before falling asleep in my arms.

I gently kissed her forehead, before carrying her back to camp with me and into my sleeping bag. I soon fell asleep with the thought of the new love that I shared with Misty on my mind. The love that I would always have for her.

Forever Always.

By: PikaPi84

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