I’m only gonna say this once, and once only: I DON’T OWN POKEMON. Get it ? Got 
it? Good. This goes for all of my stories.
     
     Authors Notes: This my first attempt at an AAML story, so if it sucks, that’s okay with 
me: the first ones are supposed to suck. Write me reviews at Shadow369@yahoo.com. All 
kinds of critiques are welcome.
     
     Until next time…
     
     SHADOW
     When I Fall In Love
     
     At the Ketchum household, the trio are taking a summer-break from their journey and 
getting some well deserved rest. Of course, Ash and Misty have their little spats, but they 
have been getting along much better now than when they started seven years ago. Right now 
they were relaxing in front of the TV and Brock was in the kitchen preparing for dinner.
     
     “Let’s see what else is on.” asked Ash. Right now they were watching ‘The Biggest 
Loser’. He never really liked reality shows. Especially when Misty has the remote. 
     
     “No way,” Misty shot back. “This show gives good dieting tips.”
     
     “I don’t see why you need them. You’re already scrawny as it is.”
     
     Misty didn’t even hesitate and pulled out her hammer and whammed Ash over the head 
and onto the floor. As he was getting up, she put it away, satisfied with her handiwork.
     
     “Ash, you need to learn not to insult people. With a mouth like that, you will never get 
the girl you want!” Misty added smugly, remembering his complaints about not ever being 
in a relationship. Now she waited for him to shout back. But to her surprise, Ash froze. As 
Brock looked on he knew why: Ash had told him that he really liked Misty, and it looks like 
what she said got to him. Ash looked at her and smiled, though his eyes showed that he was 
hurt…badly, by what she said. She was about to say something when he spoke up.
     
     “You know what? Your right, Mist. And I promise I won’t be insulting you anymore.”
     
     And with that, he left the room and went up the stairs to his room, leaving a dumbstruck 
redhead and a confused cook.
     
     “Uh, Misty?” said Brock. “Where on the head did you hit him?”
     
     Misty didn’t respond. She had other stuff on her mind, like the fact that she really liked 
Ash, though she doesn’t like to show it. Also, she needed to go apologize to him right away. 
She was up the stairs when she realized two things: she has never been in Ash’s room 
before, and there was music coming from his room. It sounded kind of jazzy and…so full of 
love in Misty’s opinion. What was making that sound?
     
     “Ash? You in there?” Misty asked as she knocked. She heard a odd squeak, some quick 
footsteps back and forth in the room, and the door opened to reveal Ash without a shirt and 
wearing shorts.
     
     Misty was in gaga mode. She couldn’t believe how athletic he was!
     
     ‘How did I not see this???’ she thought.
     
     “Um, you knocked?” Ash asked. Apparently, she had been out of it for a while.
     
     “Huh? Oh. yeah, I did.”
     
     “Well then, come on in.” he offered a push on Misty’s back to get her to move. She 
shivered at his touch.
     
     Ash’s room was nothing like Misty had imagined: it was clean; his bed was huge, and 
he had hardwood flooring with a soft and thick rug in the middle.
     
     The only thing that was strange was a pile of clean clothes that were awkwardly stacked 
in the corner of his room.
     
     “So,” said Ash, “Are you gonna tell me your reason that you came up here?”
     
     Misty looked at him and him and then his eyes. He has a look of wanting mixed with 
annoyance, fear, and confusion she thought. Also…
     
     “Look, Ash. I came up here to say I’m sorry for what I said and what I did. I didn’t 
mean to hurt you like that.”
     
     “I wanna say sorry too.”
     
     “Huh?” Misty was a little confused. “For what?”
     
     “For calling you scrawny. I only said that because I wanted to hide-” Ash decided to 
stop talking and cover his mouth with his hand.
     
     “Tell me Ash. It’s okay.”
     
     He shook his head.
     
     “Please???” Misty gave her best imitation of her friend’s patented puppy dog pout. Ash 
couldn’t resist.
     
     “Alright, but promise that you won’t hit me.”
     
     Misty frowned at the possibility that he wanted to say something really rude, but she 
promised anyway.
     
     “All right…I wanted to say that you didn’t need the dieting thingies because you 
already got it good: you’re healthy,” he put one of hands through her hair causing her to 
close her eyes.
     
     “Strong,” his hand stroked her arm, making her shake with excitement.
     
     “And beautiful.” he brought his hand to her face, cupping her cheek in her palm.
     
     Misty didn’t know what to think. She just fell for Ash right then and there, but did her 
best to hide it.
     
     “D-do you really m-mean all of that?”
     
     Ash smiled and pulled her into a hug. “Of course I do. You’re my best friend. Why 
wouldn’t I?”
     
     Misty stood in his arms for a second, then pulled out to look him in the eyes.
     
     “That is the sweetest thing that anyone has ever told me. Thank you so much.”
     
     “My pleasure.”
     
     And they stood there, wrapped in each others embrace. It had been a good five minutes 
when they let each other go, both blushing like crazy.
     
     “Um…I gotta go. Nature calls.” Ash went straight for the bathroom. Misty just rolled 
her eyes and giggled at her crush’s cute stupidity. Unbeknownst to her, though, was that Ash 
was actually doing a little victory dance when he got in the bathroom to celebrate hugging 
Misty and for getting her to blush at his compliment. However, the dance wouldn’t last long.
     
     “Hey Ash?”
     
     “Yeah?”
     
     “Before I came in here, I heard music.”
     
     Ash froze. She could not find out about his ‘talent’ right now!
     
     “Oh! Uh, I, uh, had the stereo on. I think Pikachu was messing with it again.”
     
     “Oh…okay then.”
     
     Ash sighed. ‘Whew, that was close heh heh…’
     
     “Ash, hasn’t anyone told you to not leave clean clothes on the floor?”
     
     ‘Aaannnd crap!’ Ash threw open the door and ran towards Misty.
     
     “Misty, leave those-”
     
     Then Misty gasped. She found it. The source if the music she heard earlier. A beautiful 
black and silver saxophone rested on a stand. It looked like it had been recently shined from 
what Misty could tell. It’s mouthpiece was still on the neck, looking as if it was begging to 
be played.
     
     Misty was taken back. “Ash…is this yours?” She asked as she turned towards the 
extremely nervous boy.
     
     Ash was blushing like crazy. He didn’t respond at first, just nervously scratching the 
back of his head. Then very slowly, he nodded his head.
     
     “I didn’t want anybody to know,” he said. “at least not yet anybody.”
     
     “For seven years?! Why?” asked Misty. “I’ve never held anything from you. Why did 
you hide this from all of us ?” When she said all of us, she really meant her.
     
     Ash didn’t respond. He felt too guilty to say anything.
     
     “Why Ash?” Although Misty sounded strong, her eyes said she felt betrayed. Ash tells 
her everything, so why was he hiding this?
     
     Ash sighed. “Look, the reason I wanted to keep it a secret because…I wanted to 
surprise you. I wrote a song…for you. You know, to show my gratitude for being my friend, 
my best friend for all these years. And now, since you’re here and you found out anyway, I 
guess there’s no better time to play like the present.”
     
     He went to the stereo and pressed a few buttons. Then he picked up his instrument and 
strapped it on. He led a speechless Misty to sit on his bed, hit play on the stereo, and brought 
the mouthpiece to his lips and started playing.
     
     He love the feeling his sax gave him. To Ash, there was no better high except when he 
thinking about Misty. God, how she makes him feel. Since actions speak louder than words, 
he left the talking to his sax. He had been playing since before he met her. Ash was already 
one of the best underground sax players in Kanto, but he has improved far beyond what his 
mentor, had ever thought, much thanks to Misty.
     
     Misty was soaking the music up in her heart. She could see the love that Ash poured 
into his passion for the song. The stereo was playing the other instrumentals that were on a 
cd, while Ash played the sax part. It still sounded like there was an actual band playing with 
him instead of a stereo. She had no idea that Ash could even play a sax, let alone play it like 
a pro. She could tell that he had been playing for a long time. But right now she was paying 
attention to the music. It sounded like it was something romantic, like for couples or for 
people in…love. But could Ash…?
     
     Finally, after a slow, entrancing solo that left Misty slumped into the bed, eyes closed, 
and breathing deeply, Ash stopped playing. He smiled from Misty’s reactions and put his 
instrument back on it’s stand. He then sat down next to his love and rubbed her shoulder.
     
     “So?” he said. “What did you think?”
     
     Misty awoke from her trance and looked into Ash’s eyes. Molten brownish-gold met 
dancing waters. Misty was crying. Ash got worried and wiped away oncoming tears.
     
     “Mist? What’s wrong?”
     
     ‘Oh God, he’s calling me “Mist” again. I can’t resist that.’. Misty did a small laugh. 
“Nothing’s wrong. It’s just that…do you really…wait. Before I go on, I want to know the 
name of the song.”
     
     Ash wasn’t expecting this. ‘Should I tell her…go for it.’
     
     “It’s called ‘When I Fall In Love’. And yes, it is describing how I feel about you.”
     
     Misty was overcome with excitement. “Then…you really do love me?”
     
     She was expecting an answer. What she got was a kiss on the lips. She was shocked at 
first, then she succumbed to his embrace, letting him take control and putting her on the bed 
on her back. Arms now wrapped around each other, Ash pulled out of the kiss, much to his 
reluctance. He waited for her to open her eyes, then stroked her beautiful red hair.
     
     “Now, does that answer your question?”
     
     All Misty could do was nod, shaking from his touch. Ash then laid down next to her 
and went in to kiss her again, expecting her not to expect it again. He was surprised when 
she opened her mouth, letting his tongue go in. Coming out of his stupor, Ash started French 
kissing her, running his hands up and down her arms. Misty stopped the kiss and looked at 
him, her eyes glinting with mischief.
     
     “Well Ash,” she said, a hint of what’s-to-come in her voice. “You showed me how 
much you loved me. Now it’s my turn, and have I got something for you.”
     
     And with that, she pulled the sheets up.
     ----------------------------------------------------------
     
     Three hours after Ash had first gone up, both he and Misty came down the stairs to 
Brock and Ms. Ketchum watching T.V. Brock saw the couple coming in holding hands, and 
stood up.
     
     “Hey guys, where’ve you been? Dinners been ready for the past hour and a half.”
     
     “Oh hey Brocko.” said Ash, trying to act aloof. “I was, uh, moving my bed around. 
Didn‘t like where it was anymore.”
     
     Misty coughed at the actual truth on that. ‘I’m gonna have a lot of fun this summer’ she 
thought as she giggled.
     
     “Okay, and what else? I could hear noises up there.”
     
     “Oh, that? We were making music.”
     
     “Music?”
     
     “Yep. Sweet, beautiful music.”
     
     Misty was doing all she can to keep a straight face. When Brock, confused about the 
music thing, went back to watch T.V. she felt Ash’s face come closer to her ear and whistle 
the tune from his song. She moaned softly and playfully pushed him. Ash pushed her back, 
which caused a little pushing war between them, then Ash chased her back into his room; 
once he closed the door, Misty rounded on him and they started kissing passionately. They 
made their way to the bed and laid out on it, holding each other.
     
     “Ash,” Misty said. “even when I’m giving you something, like what just happened, you 
go and give me so much more. Oh, I love you so much.”
     
     “I love you too, Mist. And don‘t worry, I‘m gonna top this,” said Ash.
     
     “How are you gonna top this anyway?”
     
     Ash laughed. “Cuz’ I haven’t brought out my guitar yet.”
     
     Misty’s eyes widened, then she smiled slyly. This is going to be a very fun summer…
     
     
     
     Author’s Notes: How’s that for my first story ever? The ‘Ash plays a saxophone’ idea 
is actually based on me: I play the alto and baritone saxophone, and I’m one of the best in 
the area. I couldn’t think of anything for the end, so I left a hint for a possible sequel, but 
I’m not sure if I will write one. Hope you enjoyed it.
     
     Until next time…