Ash stared at Misty, his mind in a daze.
Going to
university? Misty? This was just unbelievable. Though Ash didn’t know why, he
felt strange like he would be abandoned, left behind like a pet whose owner had
no use for it anymore.
All he knew
now was that he wanted to be alone.
Misty was
hugging his mom, and Brock was taking care of confused crying little Togepi. So
Ash simple stood up, left the kitchen and went into his room, without saying
another word.
He slammed
the door behind him and threw himself onto his bed.
Pikachu,
who had followed his trainer, jumped onto his belly and looked at him
questioningly.
“Pika Pi
Pikachu?” the small Pokémon asked, moving his long ears up and down to the
sound of his squeaky voice.
“I don’t know,
Pikachu. I just wanted
to get outta there. I…”
Ash was
totally confused. He just didn’t know what he felt, what these feelings meant.
Softly, a
tear rolled down his cheek.
“Pikaaa.”
Pikachu said, placing his little paw on Ash’s arm, silently comforting him.
A few
seconds later, Ash burst into tears. He wasn’t able to control himself anymore.
Uncontrollably,
he sobbed into his arms, hugging his small yellow Pokémon tight.
***
“But, Misty
dear”, continued Mrs. Ketchum. “You have to phone me at least once, no, twice a
week. Or better, every day!”
Misty
smiled and tried to calm the woman, who acted like her mother since she knew
her, down.
“Sure, I
will, Mrs. Ketchum. But there’s till three full days left.”
Togepi had
finally stopped crying, and was now walking over this its mommy.
“Priiii!”
the small Pokémon shouted and waved its arms, indicating it wanted to be
hugged.
Misty
smiled and took the baby Pokémon into her arms, turning around to speak to Ash.
“Ash, I…”
Misty
blinked, finally realizing that Ash was gone.
She looked
around the kitchen to find him.
“Hey, Ash!”
No reply.
“I guess
he’s in his room”, Mrs. Ketchum suggested. “He always goes there when he’s
upset or confused, our just wants to be alone.”
A sad look
came to the young girl’s face.
I didn’t
mean to confuse him, or upset him, she thought. I just wanted to… I…
Misty had great
difficulties in holding back her tears, but she just didn’t want to let
everybody know what she felt about this matter.
Brock
cleared his throat and got up from his seat.
“I’ll go
and look for him. Maybe I can find out what’s wrong with him.”
Misty nodded
thankfully.
A real
friend, she thought.
***
He must be
feeling really bad now, Brock thought as he made his way to Ash’s room. Though
I can also understand Misty’s point of view, and God knows, she struggled a lot
with herself about taking or denying the offer.
As Brock
reached Ash’s (as well as his and Misty’s) room, he carefully knocked on the
door, trying to get Ash’s attention.
After
having knocked four times with any reaction, he finally decided to walk in, no
matter what Ash would say.
He tried on
the door, but it was locked. Brock frowned.
Strange, he
thought, normally Ash never locks it…
“Hey Ash!
You in there?” Brock half shouted through the door.
“…yeah.”
Came Ash’s answer in a low voice.
“Can I come
in please?” Brock asked once again, and some seconds later, he heard a clicking
sound from the lock.
“Door’s
open.” Ash murmured from inside.
Brock
turned the doorknob and entered the room.
He looked
around to find Ash lying on his bed, his official Pokémon League Cap covering
the very upper part of his face. On his
tummy sat Pikachu, looking up at Brock curiously.
The older
boy went over to Misty’s bed, which was now right opposite to Ash’s, and slowly
sat down on it.
Hesitating,
searching for the right words to say, he just looked at his younger friend for
some moments.
“You really
hurt Misty with this, you know?” he said, trying not to sound too accusing.
“Who
cares…” Ash replied dryly, and turned around, now facing the wall, hiding his
face.
“I do, Ash. And I think you should do, too. Actually
I think you do, but don’t want to admit it.”
“If that’s
what you think. I guess I cannot persuade you of the opposite.”
Inside,
Brock boiled with anger. Ash could be stubborn sometimes, and then he didn’t
care if he hurt anybody, and mostly this anybody was Misty.
Brock made
his hands fists and struggled hard not to go berserk.
“Gosh, Ash!
How can you dare say such a thing? Do you have any idea what you’re doing to
Misty? Can you understand what she is going through right now? Do you think
it’s been easy for her to make this decision?”
Ash was
stunned for a moment.
Could Brock
be right? Maybe he had hurt her…
No.
Brock just
wanted to give him a bad conscience.
He didn’t
know how much Misty had hurt him.
She acted
to self-centered. Had she at least thought about anybody else, at least any
second?
No, he bet
not. She was just doing what she wanted.
Without any
second thoughts.
She surely
hadn’t thought about other’s feelings.
About his
feelings…
Brock stood
up from the bed. He knew he couldn’t talk to Ash when he was in a state like
this without being totally ignored. Ash
was stubborn and totally irrational now, Brock had already experienced this
many times. All he could do now was try to make the best of it.
“Ash, but
please, just try not to argue with Misty today, or ignore her. And please don’t
be that rude, ok?” Brock tried.
Ash
shrugged.
“If that’s
what you want.” He simply replied.
Brock
sighed. He wasn’t really content with this “consensus”, but he knew that it was
even more than he had expected from Ash.
He only
hoped Ash would do what he should.
***
Misty leant
her head back against the tree and closed her eyes.
This is so
weird, she thought. It’s much too complicated.
How could I
ever be happy without hurting anybody else?
This time,
I hurt Ash, didn’t I?
But if he
is hurt just because I move, doesn’t that mean he cares for me? Maybe he
doesn’t really hate me…
Misty
shoved that thought away.
If he only
knew what I feel… I would really like to stay, but I also know that this is a
great opportunity for me, and I have to take it.
Misty
sighed, opened her eyes and looked up at the clear blue sky.
This was
just the opposite if her own mind. Inside of her, it was a dark, sad tone of
gray with no ray of sunlight to shine through the thick clouds.
Life had
become complicated, especially lately. Everything had changed: her habits, her
temper, even her relationship to Ash, well, more exactly, her feelings for him.
They had
become stronger.
She thought
it was mainly because all of them got older and, as everybody knows, feelings
change when one grows up. Often, she wished she could turn back time and change
things, but then, when she thought about it again, she suddenly realized that
somehow everything was good the way it was. On the whole, it had giver her a
happy, content life full of new friends and lots of adventures she wouldn’t
miss for anything in the world.
Should this
really have an end now?
All her
travels with Ash, Brock and their Pokémon?
But she
would soon begin a completely new life, full of interesting work with Pokémon,
training, research, new friends, new places…
All this
didn’t mean she wouldn’t be able to stay in contact with her present friends.
Though she didn’t think she would be able to meet them. But they could talk on
the vid-phone and write tons of letters!
And after
five years, if her graduate degrees were good enough, she would be acknowledged
member of the Pokémon Research and Trainer Elite, with a status like the Top
Four. She would have reached anything she ever wanted.
All she had
to do now was persuade Ash that what she did was not that bad at all, and that
she did not do it to hurt him, but simply for her own good and future.
She had to
do that. Not just for him, but also for her own good conscience.
Suddenly,
she heard steps from behind her.
She turned
around and looked at the person.
Talk of the
devil, and there he comes.
As Ash
spotted her, his face hardened even more. He stroke Pikachu’s head, seemingly
wanting to ignore her.
“Misty”, he
simply said and nodded.
“Ash!” Misty
half shouted and lifted Togepi from the ground to take it in her arms.
Ash stopped
and looked at her.
“What?” he
asked, his voice just the same emotionless tone as before.
Misty
hesitated, looking down at the ground to plug up the courage she desperately
needed right now.
“I just
want to tell you that I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you or something.”
An apology,
Ash thought. Just what I expected. She just wants to do this for her own good.
I bet she doesn’t really mean what she says.
“Yeah,
whatever”, he said.
The small
yellow Pokémon on his hat seemed confused. It moved his long cute ears and
blinked with it’s puppy eyes.
“Pika Pi? Pika
Pikachu Piii?” (What’s
up? Why are you two behaving so strange lately?)
Even Togepi
blinked, not understanding why her mommy was so sad, and why daddy was talking
so strange.
“I gotta go now.
I wanna train my Pokémon.” Ash said and turned back around. While Pikachu turned to take a look at
Misty, who seemed deeply hurt by Ash’s ignorance, his trainer headed off in director
for the beach without even glancing back to see Misty cry.
***
Mrs.
Ketchum held back the curtain of the window to watch the scene. She dearly
wished that Ash would forgive Misty, and that he would understand her reasons.
But as it seemed, he behaved like the thickhead he always was and just ignored
her apology. She really needed to talk to him when he got back from his Pokémon
training at the beach (although she knew this was only a lame excuse for not
having to be around Misty).
From the
first time she had seen Ash and Misty together, she was convinced that, one
day, the two of them would confess their feelings and become a couple.
A dreamy
look appeared on her face.
Mrs. Ketchum smiled and shook her head.
She knew
very well that Ash couldn’t stick to his present kind of behavior, sooner or
later he would forgive Misty. He just couldn’t be mad at her really.
As long as
she was his mother – which meant forever – it would not be later, but sooner,
very soon.
***
Misty sunk
back against the tree and hid her face in her hands, crying silently.
What had
she done? Had she hurt him that much, so that he couldn’t forgiver her? Would
he ever be able to forgive her?
She really
didn’t want him to be mad at her for the rest of her life! But she just didn’t
know what she could do without making him upset even more.
And again
she came to that question: Why did life have to be so complicated? Why couldn’t
it be easy?
***
After about
half an hour of walking – and some running in between – through the forest, he
reached the beach.
It was a
wonderful sight in the bright daylight. The clear blue sky invited people to
pay a visit to this beautiful place and lots of people did come.
Ash found
himself in a small, empty lagoon he had often played in as a toddler. He put
out his Pokéballs and, one by one, released his Pokémon to let them enjoy the
warm water and fresh air.
All his
Pokémon had very soon found something to do. They either played with other wild
Pokémon or jumped into the water to go for a swim.
Only
Pikachu stayed at Ash’s side. It wouldn’t leave its trainer.
Never.
And
especially not when he was in this kind of mood.
Ash had sat
down in the sand and just stared out on the great wide open of the ocean.
He sighed
and petted Pikachu’s head.
“Pika Pi.”
Said the small Pokémon and placed a paw on Ash’s knee to comfort him.
“Oh
Pikachu. Why does this all have to be so complicated? Why does she want to go?
Have I done something wrong? It must be like that, cuz if I hadn’t, she’d never
be that cruel to me. How can she do something like that?”
Ash hung
his head low and a few silent tears ran down his cheeks.
“I wish I
could apologize to her, I really do, but every time I try to, those thoughts
come to my mind. And then I’m mean to her again. I don’t want to hurt her. I
know I hurt her, too often actually. But I don’t wanna! How can I be so stupid
to do the same idiotic mistake all over again? What’s wrong with me? Why can’t
I just forgive her?”
Tears were
flowing steadily now, falling down onto the warm white sand to leave small, wet
salty spots.
“Pika Pi
Pikachu.”
Humans are
really complicated, Pikachu thought. It’s not life that’s complicated. But I
think they’ll never realize…
***
The sun set
slowly, the beautiful tone of red driven banished from the sky to let the moon
start its reign. It was now about
She sighed
and got up from the bench. She tool Togepi into her arms and smiled. The small
Pokémon was already sleeping, it wasn’t used to stay up this late.
Misty gave
her a small kiss on the forehead and slowly started walking back to the house.
Please, she
thought. Please let him feel better now. Please let him not be mad at me
anymore. Please let him forgive me.
***
At about
“You’re
late, Ash”, she said, deep concern showing in her eyes.
Ash lowered
his head and put his hands in his pockets.
“I know,
mom. I’m sorry, but I just needed some time off.”
Mrs.
Ketchum smiled and nodded.
“I know,
Ash. But please, just try to be a bit more understanding in front of Misty.”
Ash nodded
and smiled softly.
“I’ll try,
mom. I promise.”
With these
words, he turned around and walked into their bedroom. He quickly changed and
slid under the covers of his bed with Pikachu lying right next to him on the
pillow.
Misty and
Brock seemed to be asleep already, as well as their Pokémon.
But Ash
didn’t have that pleasure. He lay in his bed and simply stared at the ceiling,
senseless bits and pieces of memory flying though his head.
Then,
suddenly, he heard a sound from the direction of Misty’s bed. Curiously, he
turned his head to the side, trying to make no noise, to get a glance at Misty.
She was
crying, he suddenly realized.
Ash was
stunned. At that very instance, he got a really bad conscience. She surely was
crying because of him, he knew that.
Ash wanted
to get out of bed and walk over to her, comfort her, apologize to her. He’d do
anything if she just stopped crying. He couldn’t stand seeing her cry.
It hurt
him.
It hurt him
deep in his heart.
He would
change the whole world if that made her stop crying.
In a
sudden, crashing wave, realization swept over him.
What had he
done? He would have loved to curse over himself, but he bit his tongue.
I got to
apologize to her tomorrow morning, that’s for sure, he thought. I hope she’ll
forgive me.
Please,
God…