Misty
dropped her suitcases on the ground and exhaustedly fell back onto the bed in
her new room.
The
building was really impressing, and most of all, huge!
In the
moment she had walked over the threshold, she instantly wished she had stayed
back “home” with Ash, Brock and their Pokémon.
Well,
mainly with Ash,
she admitted to herself with a slight smile showing on her lips.
But there
had been no way back then, as there wasn’t one now.
Yet, things
weren’t as bad as they might seem.
Almost
immediately after Misty had entered the university – which didn’t just contain
various pools and classrooms for theoretical lessons, but as well the student’s
rooms – people had approached her in a most friendly way, starting
conversations about where she came from and which Pokémon were her favorites.
Those new
acquaintances had also helped her with the formalities, so that Misty herself
only had to sigh in, get her timetable and follow the nice boy who had offered
to carry her things to her roomJ
With a
sigh, the girl turned around to face the egg-Pokémon snoring soundly in her bag
pack.
At least
they had given her a single room, so that she could get some time for herself
when she needed it. Enough time to take care of her Pokémon – especially baby
Togepi - , to resume writing in the diary Ash, Brock and the others had given
her shortly before her departure, the day before, and, above all, to think.
She would
need lots of time to think, and mainly about that one guy who drove her crazy,
the wanna-be-Pokémon-Master that could be so dense sometimes, so stubborn and
childish, yet so caring, loving, loyal, cheering, funny and, last but not
least, cute.
That one
guy who had been playing ping-pong with her heart over the past few years; who
had made her blush furiously every time she looked at him.
That one
guy she had given her first kiss.
Ash
Ketchum.
Misty
sighed once more. She had just left him the day before, and, there she was,
thinking about him and missing him like she hadn’t seen him for years.
Which she
wouldn’t from now on…
After
all, he is just a friend, isn’t he?, she tried to convince herself, took Togepi
into her arms and stared out of the window onto the large blue masses of water
encircling her.
Thus she
sat for several minutes, the only motion being a single salty drop emerging
from her eye.
***
“Hey Ash!
You wanna go with me into town to fetch some stuff?” Brock tried cheeringly.
“Again no,
Brock! I really wanna be alone for a while.” Ash replied, getting somewhat
annoyed by Brock’s constant tries to cheer him up and always being around him.
It would be very hard to endure years just with Brock, without anybody to keep
him from things like drooling over girls.
“Ok ok, I
got it”, the older boy answered. “Our little ‘Ashy-boy’ is missing his
girlfriend.” He said with a huge grin on the face, intending to tease Ash to
give him some sort of familiarity.
Ash glared
at the dark haired boy, but did not reply anything. He just stood up, letting
Pikachu jump on his shoulder and walked out of the kitchen, in the direction of
his favorite spot near the small forest
None of the
two buddies – Ash and Pikachu for sure – said a word until they had reached
that secret spot of Ash’s. The young Pokémon trainer dropped himself onto the
ground under his favorite oak and stared at the lake. This had been his most
adored location since he was still a little boy. The purity of the lake’s water
had always fascinated him, though he normally didn’t think this element bore a
special beauty.
Yet in this
moment, there was something special about it.
Every time
he gazed at a lake or river, it reminded him of Misty and her love for it.
It was like
someone wanted to pour salt into his wounds.
Was there
somebody up there in the heavens that took great amazement in hurting and
torturing him?
A few years
ago, when Ash had started their journey and met up with Misty, when she had
started to argue with him, there had been times the boy wished she would just
leave him alone to never bother him again.
But now, he
wondered how he could have ever thought about something like that. Sure, they
had had their share of fights over the years, and surely not just a few, but it
had soon been his – and even her – cycle. He had gotten used to it and
developed a liking for teasing her, just to see how she would react when she
was screwed up.
But back
then, he hadn’t been able to imagine it could be that hard to lose her in an
instance, how much it would influence his life, his feelings… everything!
“Pika ka kachu.” The small Pokémon said comfortingly
and put a hand on its best friend’s shoulder.
Ash glanced
down at his favorite buddy and found some new strength in the deep dark pair of
eyes that were on him.
“Yeah,
Pikachu. I know I have to cheer up, but it’s harder than I ever imagined. It’s
just that… that I miss her so much, Pikachu. I know I’ve never been very
sentimental, but…”, he sighed and looked onto the ground.
“This is
all so different from anything I ever thought of.”
He sighed
once more and petted Pikachu’s head.
“I’m sorry
if I pull you down, I really didn’t mean to depress you in any way. It’s enough
that I’m under depression.”
Pikachu
shook his head furiously, indicating that his master hadn’t done anything
wrong.
“Ka Pika Pi
chuu.”
Ash smiled
and set Pikachu in his lap, hugging him.
“Thanks,
buddy.”
And with a
sigh, he looked up at the clear blue sky, watching birds pass by.
***
Dear Ash,
I’m sorry I
didn’t write sooner, but I had some stuff to do, like meeting the profs or
attending my welcome-party.
Yup, you
did read right. They held a welcome party for me! It was so great!
At first, I
felt so lost because I didn’t know anybody around, just some people whom I had
talked to before. But soon, I got to talk to them. It’s amazing how much those
people know about water Pokémon! That’s been the topic for, let’s say, 2 thirds
of the evening. The rest was spend eating and dancing.
I hadn’t
expected to find friends here that soon, but everybody’s so nice and helpful
that I had far less problems than I’d ever imagined.
As there
were no lessons yesterday, I went to the beach with Kathy, Alec and Hitomi, who
are my best friends for now, as we all have the same timetable and do lots of
stuff together.
The weather
over here is so wonderful, it’s even hotter than in Pallet! And there’s
gigantic masses of water! Before lesson starts I can take a swim in the sea and
watch many water Pokémon.
*sigh*
Nevertheless,
I still miss everybody. I wish you all could be here with me and enjoy the
time.
But enough
about me.
How are you
doing? Could you hold back Brock trying to drool over girls? Did Pikachu
thundershock you again this morning to wake you up?
Please tell
everybody that I’m fine, especially your mom.
Is she
still crying?? I hope she has stopped by now, cuz it would drive you crazy, I’m
sure.
And give
Pikachu a big hug for me.
Besides,
Togepi here next to me wants me to tell you to say hi to Pikachu. Seems like
she misses her Pikapal, cuz there’s not many Pokémon she plays with here.
But I gotta
stop now, cuz it’s already late and I don’t wanna sleep through my first school
day.
So bye for
now,
Misty
P.S.: And
don’t you dare to do any dense things without me being there to criticize you,
will you? J
***
Dear Misty,
I’m really
glad to hear that you’re doing fine. I guess I could say the same about me.
Although it has become very quiet here, and Pikachu seems to miss you and
Togepi a lot. He wanted me to include one of his finger-paint pictures he made
just for you. You will find it in the same envelope as the letter. I hope he
never gets such a crazy idea again!
You
wouldn’t believe what a mess he created in the kitchen!
It was …
it’s really hard to find words expressing half the destruction I’ve seen!
It looked
like he had tried about 8 different motives: 4 actually on his paper sheets,
the other 4 ones on the tiled floor!
Even Mr.
Mime was stunned when he saw that chaos, not to mention Mom.
Well,
actually she just stood there smiling like always, patting Pikachu on the head
to congratulate him for his great artwork!
Sometimes I
think I’ll never understand her…
Well, after
5 hours of reeaaallllyyyy hard work, I finally finished cleaning, just to see
Pikachu waddling in with dirty feet!
I don’t
know what has gotten into him, but I think it’s just his way of coping with
your absence. At least I hope so…
Well, and
for the others, holiday season just started and people are rushing in to
sunbath and enjoy a swim in the sea. I think you can guess what that means for
Brock:
He has gone
into his regular
I’m-a-lovesick-teenager-who-drools-over-everything-that-is-female-and-walking-on-two-legs
mode. It’d be your mallets high time! (I
think of buying one myself, cuz it can get really annoying when he starts
drooling and flowing in the air every two seconds… that means if he at all
comes down except for at nighttime).
By the way,
I’ve resumed my Pokémon training. Though I’m still around Pallet, as there are
a lot more Pokémon around here than I thought.
Prof. Oak
gave me some pieces of advice and I even captured some new Pokémon on the way!
My favorite
is the baby Eevee I captured yesterday. Well, I didn’t really capture it. One
of the travelers had an Eevee couple with him, and while he was crossing the
forest near Pallet, the female Eevee went into labor.
I helped
the traveler to get her to the next Pokémon center, where she gave birth to
four incredibly cute (I never thought I’d ever say something like this…) baby
Eevees. And guess what: to thank me for my help, he gave me one of the babies
as soon as he left town and the baby was old enough to be taken away from it’s
mother.
Little
Eevee seems to like everybody a lot, and especially Pikachu seems to develop a
certain liking for it. I think he’s glad to have a baby around againJ
I think I
could write like this for hours, I gotta stop now, cuz Mom wants to go shopping
and I promised to accompany her (why did I ever agree on that??J)
Bye,
Ash
P.S.: Pikachu
says I gotta say hi back to you for your saying hi in the last letter (wow,
that’s lots of his).
P.P.S.:
You’re lucky, I was just about to do some dense things when your letter arrivedJ No, really, I’ll try to behave. (Though I
don’t say I’ll succeed in thatJ)
***
Misty stood
at the edge of the large pool, watching Staryu trying to get to know the
Starmie of another trainer.
The teenage
girl, smiling at her Pokémon’s efforts, sat down at the edge and let her feet
dangle in the cool refreshing water.
Letting her
gaze wander over the water’s trouble surface spotting several Pokémon belonging
to her fellow students, she let her mind drift away on the soft currents of the
transparent liquid.
Like so
often over the past few days, she had to think of Ash. Somehow, she wasn’t able
to banish him from her mind, though it would help her a lot to improve her
ability to concentrate on her work.
Sure,
training her Pokémon and conversing with other trainers temporally distracted
her, but something always brought the memory back. Something in her
subconscious seemed to be wanting to rise to the surface, demanding for
attention.
After all,
her feelings for Ash were far too strong to simply be suppressed. And
seemingly, the great distance between her and the one who was driving her crazy
hadn’t done anything but strengthen those feelings, tightening the emotional
bonds she would have wanted to loosen.
They had
just made so much precious experience together, had spent their everyday life
together, that it had become hard to even imagine a life without the other. Yet
now they had bare it.
Smiling,
she thought of Ash’s last letter and the cute painting Pikachu had enclosed for
her. When she had looked at it for the first time, she hadn’t recognized much
more than just a few lines, resembling an abstract piece of modern art. But
after studying it for several minutes, she recognized patterns in it, and
shortly after was able to see several simply drawn figures: two taller ones and
a pile of small ones.
The left of
the tall ones had a black spot at the top, and a small red one in it, the right
one had a red “head”. Misty giggled as she noticed that those two figures
should be standing for Ash and Misty, who were holding hands, surrounded by all
their Pokémon (which were represented by the small piles of lines).
In that
moment, Misty had felt very homesick. Loneliness had crushed over her like a
wave rushing onto the shore, accompanied by regret and doubt.
With a
sigh, she had pushed these feelings aside and hung the picture onto the wall.
Now every
time when Misty felt lonely, she looked at the picture and instantly, her state
improved, the nearly unrecognizable pile of lines and paw prints spending
consolation.
I have
to remind myself to tell Ash to thank Pikachu for that one, she wrote a mental note for
herself.
Thanks Ash, and thanks Pikachu. Thank for all the love you two are giving me.
***
Dear diary,
5 months have
passed since I’ve last seen Ash and my
other buddies. You can’t imagine how much I miss them…
But nevertheless,
I try to live my life the best way possible. And I myself think I’m doing fine
at it. I’ve found so many new friends. If it hadn’t been for Hitomi’s
consolation and cheers, I’d be bursting into tears every two minutes.
Hitomi shares
my love for water Pokémon, though she is most fond of my Psyduck, what I can’t
understand at all. But despite that, she’s really seriousJ
Yesterday,
we’ve been to the near village and did some shopping. Well, some is not really
the right expression for our excursionJ
Tomorrow, we
plan to go to the beach with Alec. He’s some funny guy, really good looking,
intelligent and most perfect. Though I would prefer if he had at least some
small faults.
Maybe I try to
compare him to Ash. No, not maybe, I really do. How much I wish he could be
here…
I wonder if he
has changed a lot? With each letter I he writes, he seems to have become more
mature and serious about life. Maybe Brock’s helping him, or maybe his Pokémon
Journey just forces him to grow up.
But I bet
Pikachu still hasn’t evolved. I think he never will, and it’s better that way.
My Pika-pal has to stay the way he is, no evolution would be worth changing his
character.
I wonder how
all the other Pokémon are doing, and I’m really looking forward to get to know
Ash’s little Eevee, though it could be some concurrence for Togepi.
By the way,
Togepi hasn’t changed much yet. It likes to get a lot of attention, which it
mostly gets, cuz the other trainers like its looks… and find it most cute. But
I don’t think it will evolve soon, yet again I’d prefer my lil baby to stay the
way it is. Not everything in life should change. Some things have to stay the
way they are.
And some
things have to improve…
***
Misty sighed
and put the pencil down, looking out of the window. Leaning her head onto her hands, she pondered again
about him.
Him meaning
Ash, the only boy always on her mind.
Unnoticing,
she had started counting down the days, weeks, months and years until they
would reunite.
Sure, they
wrote tons of letters, at least one per week, and sometimes they also talked on
the phone, but that could never be a surrogate for being near to him, sensing
his presence as soon as he entered the room, this fluttery feeling as soon as
he came into sight…
Unconsciously,
Misty smiled at the thought of Ash and her entwined in that loving embrace they
had shared shortly before her departure.
With another
sigh, Misty put her diary down under her pillow, glance over at her baby
Pokémon to see if it was still asleep and walked over to the window.
Just in that
second, she heard a knock at the door.
“Come in,
please.” Misty answered the unvoiced question.
Shortly
thereafter, the door slowly opened and Hitomi walked in, her happily round face
showing the same cheering smile as always.
Misty instantly
beamed back, banishing the previous thoughts from her mind, not wanting her
friend to notice she had been thinking about him again.
Hitomi kept
her hands hidden behind her back, indicating she had something Misty was
wanting bad.
“Guess what
I’ve got for you?” Hitomi asked, dancing around in front of her.
Misty frowned,
but suddenly was infected by curiosity.
“I don’t know,
so what is it you’ve got?”
“Hey hey, you
know curiosity killed the cat.” Hitomi said, grinning. “You at least have to
guess.”
Misty frowned
once more, wondering what it could be, but she already had a guess she assumed
to be very close, or even accurate. Yet she did not know if she should voice
her thoughts, because it would be like a confession to her friend.
“I have no
idea”, she lied to her friend who was still jumping up and down.
“Oh come on!
Admit it! You clearly know, you just don’t wanna confess!” Hitomi stated with a
sly smirk on her face.
Misty blushed
profoundly.
“I don’t at
all know what you are talking about.”
Hitomi sighed
about the stubbornness of her friend.
“You can be
really thickheaded sometimes. Ok then, here you go”, she said and her hands
revealed a small parcel.
Misty slowly
took it and examined the addresses, a smile creeping onto her face.
“Yup, it’s
from your boyfriend, your Ashy-boy”, Hitomi stated, grinning. “Seems like he
still remembers your birthday.”
“He’s not my
boyf…”, Misty started. Those words came out all the time, it was like a reflex.
Hitomi’s grin
grew wider and wider.
“Yeah, sure”,
she said sarcastically. “I better leave you alone now so you can see what he
gave you.”
Still
grinning, she left the room, leaving Misty alone.
The red-haired
girl sat down on her bed and slowly opened the parcel, carefully unwrapping the
brown paper.
“Toge
prrrriiii?” the small egg Pokémon woke up and waddled over to its mother.
Misty smiled
over at “her baby” and gently petted its head.
Then she
returned her attention to the half opened parcel and ended the opening process.
Inside, she
found a letter, and, to her most surprise, a Pokéball.
Though Misty
felt the sudden and strong urge to release what was kept inside the spherical
object, she first took the letter, unfolded it and started to read:
Dear Misty,
Happy happy birthday! J Yup, it’s me, Ash. I bet you’re surprised that I didn’t forget about your birthday, huh? And I even got you a presentJ But don’t you dare open it now. I’ll tell you more about it later.
So, how are you doing? Did you get a big birthday party this time? I think your friends arranged something big for ya, huh? I just hope this letter reaches you on your birthday, and not just days later.
As soon as you return home, we gotta have a great birthday party for all the birthdays we can’t spend together. And then we’ll invite all our friends, maybe even some nice girls for BrockJ
But enough about the future (as interesting and tempting those thoughts may be), lets talk about the present.
How’s “school” going? I’d swear your grades are fantastic. Though by now, you should have unnerved everybody to death with your endless talks about Tentacruel and how beautiful you think it is…
Sorry sorry, but I couldn’t resist, it was just too tempting to tease you again, even if just in a letterJ
That reminds me of your birthday present. You should already have noticed that it has to be a Pokémon, if not, open the window and breath in some air to make your brain start working againJ
And as you love water Pokémon so much, it must have been your first guess.
At first, I wanted to evolve my Eevee into a Vaporeon and give it to you, but then I though about your love for this special Pokémon and went out with Pikachu to catch it.
After about 3 days we finally found what we wanted: we found the perfect Tentacruel! With Pikachu at my side, the fight was not that hard – he fought extra hard that time cuz he knew it was his birthday present for you, better than another finger-print-catastrophe in the kitchen I assumeJ.
I’m gonna stop writing now, cuz I bet you wanna see your new Pokémon right now.
So bye, and have a happy birthday,
Ash
P.S.: Actually, there’s not really a p.s. this time, but I though I had to make up one, cuz I always had them in my last lettersJ Silly, huh? J
P.S.S.: I gotta correct myself, well, actually Pikachu corrected me reading over my shoulder. Pikachu says happy birthday, too, as do all the other Pokémon. Plus Pikachu says he’ll give you another of his “artworks” as soon as you come home (oh gosh…)
Misty smiled.
Each letter she received made her happy, but at the same time gave her homesick
feelings. Once more she had to think about how much she missed her friends.
Sighing, she
placed the letter in her lap and gazed over to the Pokéball, placing it in her
palm.
Whipping it up
and down, like testing it’s weight, she got up and went downstairs to one of
the large pools.
As soon as she
reached the pool’s edge, she stretched out her right arm and released her new
Pokémon.
Engulfed in a
majestic red glow, a gigantic Tentacruel appeared in front of her, consuming a
great part of space from the pool’s bottom up to half the height of the
ceiling, towering even one of the teacher’s Gyaradoses. But despite it’s
frightening presence, the Tentacruel’s eyes showed pure loyalty and trust.
Misty took off
her t-shirt and slid into the lukewarm water. Nearing the water Pokémon, she
was hovered into the air in front of the Pokémon eyes with one of it’s mighty
tentacles.
Softly,
carefully, Misty touched the huge Pokémon’s “mouth” as if petting it.
The Tentacruel
let out some satisfied, pleasured noises and stroke the teenager with a
tentacle.
Smiling,
feeling most content, she hugged the Tentacruel, in her mind thanking Ash for
the greatest present she ever got for birthday.
***
“Gyarados,
go!”
Red light
engulfed the huge dragon like Pokémon as it emerged from its Pokéball and
materialized in the warm air.
The Young
trainer grinned at his opponent for giving him a chance like that.
That
shouldn’t be too hard, he thought.
“Pikachu, I chose
you!”
The small
yellow mouse Pokémon at his side nodded, sure to win, electricity sparkling
from his round red cheeks, and ran onto the battleground.
“Gyarados,
Hyperbeam!”
The dragon
launched forward to execute one of its most powerful attacks, powerful enough
to wipe out inexperienced trainers Pokémon.
No, not
with me, the young trainer thought.
He had too
much experience with Pikachu in battle to lose now.
“Pikachu,
Agility!”
The small
Pokémon did as its trainer said and escaped Gyarados’ critical attacks.
Much too
easy, the young trainer frowned.
He must
have some kind of special attack, otherwise he wouldn’t have chosen this
Pokémon in such a moment.
And there
it was.
Just a
small sign from trainer to Pokémon, unrecognizable for everyone who wasn’t
looking for it, but at the same time cue for the Pokémon to dash forwards at an
incredible speed to capture Pikachu.
“Pikachu,
Thunder!”
The Pokémon
obeyed, but it didn’t have any chance.
The young
trainer stared unbelievingly at the Gyarados, his eyes widely open.
The Pokémon
had erected its horn plates, reflecting Pikachu’s thundershocks easily,
grabbing the small Pokémon with his long, winding body almost serpent like.
Pikachu
cried in pain as the other Pokémon tightened his grip in it.
Darn, the
young trainer thought. This can’t be the end. I haven’t come this far to
lose now! I have to prove to myself that I can do it! I have to prove it to
her…
A wave of
energy flooded through his whole body and suddenly his brain started to develop
a solution.
Once again,
the young trainer grinned.
This is it.
“Pikachu,
direct a thundershock at Gyarados’ nostrils!”
Pikachu
grinned back, obviously knowing his trainers’ plan.
The
nostrils were Gyarados’ most sensitive spot, as soon as it was touched in any
way, the Pokémon would start to spit out a beam of water.
And so it
happened. Just as the fountain shot out of Gyarados’ mouth, it loosened its
grip on Pikachu so that the small Pokémon could escape and use its thunder
attack on the fountain.
In the same
moment as the electric Pokémon landed back on the ground, Gyarados let out a
bone-shattering cry as it was hit by the high voltage, and soon after it fell
to the ground with a thud.
Silence.
Nobody
spoke a word.
Even
Pikachu stared unbelievingly at what he had just done.
A crackle
in the speakers broke the silence.
“Sigfried’s
third and last Pokémon has been defeated! What a fight! 15-year-old Ash Ketchum
is the new Pokémon Master! Congratulations Ash!”
Suddenly,
the crowds began to cheer and celebrate their new hero they had gotten so
acquainted with over the past few years.
This was
when Ash finally realized he was not alone with his opponent like so often when
he had battled in the wild.
He had won.
He actually
was the Pokémon Master.
Finally.
Once more,
his childlike behavior broke through the surface and Ash ran onto the
battlefield to give his most precious friend a hug.
Thinking
the same, his buddy ran up to him and jumped into his arms.
Never
before had they felt so completely satisfied.
Yet he was
still lacking something.
He was
lacking somebody.
***
Misty still
sat in her seat in the TV room and stared at the screen as if she had been
hypnotized. Unbelievingly, she watched Ash Ketchum fight his most important
stand, and win!
Though she had
always known Ash would someday win the Pokémon League and become a Pokémon
Master, she still was surprised when it finally happened.
Even little
Togepi in her lap seemingly understood what Ash and “Uncle Pikachu” had
achieved and cheered loudly.
Misty watched
quietly, but with a proud smile on her face, as Ash gave his first interview.
And he did
better than she had ever imagined. While she had been traveling with him, Ash
had still been incredibly immature and childish, but he obviously had matured
during the years they hadn’t seen each other.
The interview
went on several minutes, questioning Ash about every single period of his life,
up till the part when he had traveled with his friends, and finally coming up
to the events of the present day…
“So, Mr. Ketchum, this has been an incredible fight. I bet everybody’s heart skipped a beat as your opponent’s Gyarados easily reflected your Pikachu’s thunder attacks. What about you? Did you feel self assured all the time? And how did you ever think of the attack that finally made you the new Pokémon Master?”
“Well”, Ash answered, smiling brightly, “He surely surprised me with what he did. I had never seen a water Pokémon react that way before, and at first, I thought I was about to lose the fight, but then I remembered all the things someone once taught me about water Pokémon, like what their weak points are. One just lead to the other.”
“Oh, so you had a teacher to learn more about Pokémon? Did you attend a PokéTek University?”
“Oh no”, Ash answered, slightly laughing as he remember how he had been taught in the ways of Pokémon training. “I never went to University. Like I already said, I started my Pokémon Journey at the age of 10, and on the very first day I met a girl who had specialized on water Pokémon as her sisters lead the Cerulean City Gym. She always gave me good advice, and though I was sometimes, well always, too stubborn to admit it, I really appreciated her help and criticism. If it hadn’t been for her, I would never have come this far. I wouldn’t even have won enough badges to challenge other trainers in the league.”
Ash turned his face away from the interviewer and now directly looked into the camera, as if he knew he had caught Misty’s gaze.
“Thank you, Misty. Thanks for everything. I can’t wait for the next time I see you to talk to you in person”, and with a smirk he added, “I still owe you one.”
Misty’s heart
almost leaped out of her breast. Never before had Ash really thanked her for
anything, and especially not in public.
She could feel
a warm red rush up to her cheeks as she repeated his words over and over.
“Good for
you to remember…” she said, grinning like before, posing a riddle to her friend
Hitomi who had been watching the fight with her.
“What did he
mean by: I still owe you one? Is there anything you should tell me, Misty?”
Hitomi grinned, obviously most interested in what was going on between her
friend and the new Pokémon Master.
“It’s nothing really. Nothing important…” Misty
replied, watching the rest of the interview with dreamy eyes.
“But there
is one thing I have to admit…” Hitomi started, pondering over Ash and his
behavior as shown on the screen.
Misty
turned around to her, somewhat curious about what her friend was about to
reveal.
“He is
really cute, just as you said. Even cuter than on the pictures you’ve got.”
Hitomi
smirked as she noticed the somewhat embarrassed, but still happy expression on
Misty’s face.
She hadn’t
seen her like this before. Never so content, so glad, so…
In love.
***
Ash sighed.
This was surely the most exhausting day in his whole life.
Sitting at
the table, he tried to follow one of the many conversations held about his
victory just some hours ago.
But
eventually, Ash just was not able to pay attention to anything. He drifted from
one conversation to the other just to start daydreaming again.
He had
often been thinking about this day before, but in his imagination it had always
been very different from what it really was now.
In his
imagination, he had been celebrating with all his friends he had got to know
during his journey: Prof Oak, Brock, Tracy, Snap, and, most of all Misty.
It had now
been three years since the two of them had seen each other, though Ash was sure
Misty had watched his fight in the TV. All he hoped was that she had watched
long enough to hear him thank her for what she had done for him.
Ash smiled.
She surely had been watching long enough, he could bet on that.
And just
two more years and he would finally see her again. Then he would be able to
tell her what he had wanted to tell her desperately for the past years.
He could
finally confess his inner thoughts and feelings. And from the way she had acted
when she had said her good-byes, Ash assumed that she shared his feelings.
Slowly, he
brought his hand up to his cheek, up to the exact spot she had kissed him.
Smiling, he
recalled that one moment of completeness, of total contentment. He had felt so
in tune with everything, and for the first time, even with himself that he had
been simply overwhelmed by his feelings.
Not to
think what would happen when they would share their first real kiss.
Realizing
what he was thinking about, Ash slightly blushed, but still smiling about his
dream.
Someday, he thought to himself.
***
I
actually behave like a lovesick little schoolgirl, she thought, letting out a deep sigh.
But,
well, that’s not totally wrong. Smiling, she turned around, now lying on her back, with little Togepi
still playing happily on the floor.
Well,
finally, tomorrow…
she thought, gazing over to her alarm clock. Tomorrow will be THE day…
Too excited
to just go to sleep, Misty once more jumped to her feet and went over to Togepi.
“Hey
cutie”, she said, gently picking up her small Pokémon, “It’s time for bed now.
We’ll have a long day tomorrow. You know”, she started, taking a slight pause,
smiling, “tomorrow you will see Uncle Pikachu again.”
“Toge
prrrriiii?” Togepi looked up at its
mommy, nuances of disbelief showing on its face.
“Yes, you
will also see all the other Pokémon: Bulbasaur, Squirtle… Everybody…”
“Toge Toge
prrrriiii?”
Misty
blinked at Togepi’s comment, but then started smiling.
“Yup, your
daddy as well.”
It had
somehow surprised Misty that Togepi was
calling Ash its Daddy, but actually it was just natural. Ash was the male
person Misty had the most contact with, even if he was hundreds of miles away
at the moment. Plus Ash was the second person it had seen.
But the
best explanation was even the easiest: Togepi regarded Ash as Misty’s mate,
which was not wrong at all, Misty added with a smirk.
Tomorrow
was the day of her graduation, starting with getting their graduation degrees,
which would take up most of the morning, ensued by the famous graduation ball
in the evening.
Yet the
most important thing about the following day had nothing to do with her
graduation, nor with her school in general.
It had
something to do with herself, only with herself and her emotions.
Tomorrow
was the day she had been looking forward for years, actually since she had left
about five years ago.
It was the
day she would finally see Ash and her other friends again.
Sure, she
was looking forward to seeing all of them, but most of all Ash.
After all,
she loved him more than even her own dear life, she had been able to admit that
to herself finally.
And
hopefully, she would be able to admit it to him tomorrow night. She had first
thought about practicing what to say to him, but she knew that it would be no
use. The words would either pour out of her naturally, or she would have to
force herself to tell him. It didn’t really matter how she’d say it, just that
she would.
Yet though
she was eager for that moment to come as soon as possible, was eager to be held
in his arms, eager to be kissed by him, she had a slight feeling of nervousness
in her stomach.
But who
wouldn’t be nervous admitting his love for his best friend?
Everybody would be, I guess.
Sighing,
she put little Togepi down on a large pillow that served as its bed and went
over to the large cupboard standing on the opposite side of the room.
Slowly,
shaking slightly, she put her hand on the knob and opened the container, in
search for a special piece of clothing. Delicately, she caressed it with her
long slender fingers, tracing the seam of her newly acquired dress.
Smiling,
she put it back in the closet.
As far as now, everything is working perfectly. I got the perfect dress and I haven’t freaked out yet. Let’s just hope that it goes on like this, just tomorrow.
Please,
let tomorrow be perfect, please…
***
Ash sat at
the kitchen table, absent mindedly fidgeting his coffee cup.
Raising an
eyebrow, his older friend Brock gazed over at him.
“One penny
for your thoughts”, he started, but as Ash reacted and confusedly looked over at him, he continued
with a smirk, “Not that I couldn’t guess them…”
Ash decided
to ignore his friend and, with a sigh, turned back to his coffee cup.
“Pika pi?”
Pikachu asked, twitching its ears. The small yellow mouse sat next to its
trainer, looking over at him curiously, obviously irritated by the way his best
friend acted.
“It’s
nothing, Pikachu. I’m just… like… thinking. … about tomorrow, y’know?”
“Ka Kachu Pi.” Pikachu nodded, the expression on
his face showing that it was just what he had guessed.
“I can
understand that you’re nervous. I mean, you haven’t seen her in years. It was
some kind of abrupt separation. I mean: before, you have been with her every
day, never separated, now all you two could do for five years was write letters
and phone each other. And I have to admit that I as well am somewhat nervous,
though it is more like apprehension.”
Ash looked
surprised. Sure, he had known that his friend as well missed Misty, and that
for sure was not an illogical reaction to their separation, but he had never
thought that he would have feelings that strong.
“Well,
being a Pokémon Master surely makes you stronger, yet it does not teach you how
to handle love…” Ash stated with a sigh.
Brock and
Pikachu simultaneously jerked up. This was the first time Ash had actually
referred to Misty as his love.
The young
Pokémon Master smiled at their reactions.
“You two
still see me as the innocent kid I once was, huh?”
“Umm yeah…
actually… we… ummm…” Brock started, not really knowing how to go on.
Still
smiling, Ash closed his eyes and shook his head.
“You don’t
know at lot about me then. Well, maybe some parts of me are still the same as
they once were, some pieces of me may still be the innocent, dense and stubborn
little wanna-be-Pokémon-Master, but on the contrary, I sure did change a lot.
Maybe I just needed to be alone to learn responsibility. All those years of
just thinking made me realize some facts I had never paid attention to before,
or that I knew of and simply tried to ignore to not make things more
complicated.… just like my love for Misty…” he finished with a deep sigh.
Brock
looked dumbfounded. Though he had noticed a change to Ash, him being more
mature, he had not expected a speech like that.