Chapter 4
To Bare it All

Prof. Oak had managed to finally shut off the video machine, but the damage was already
done.

Duplica, Tracey, Richie, and Brock all ran to where Misty was now sobbing.

Gary watched on proudly at the havoc he caused, and the humiliation he was able to deal
out to Ash.

"What am I going to do?!" Misty asked Duplica desperately.

Duplica could only look at the grief stricken girl in sympathy.

"Oh calm down. He'll get over it. Geez, what a crybaby," Gary stated in a slightly
amused tone of voice.

However, talking was a big mistake on Gary's part at that moment, because at hearing his
words Misty launched herself at Gary and slapped him. Brock later called it the slap that
was heard around the world.

Gary fell to his knees clutching his face as Misty stared down at him in pure anger.

Richie had to grab onto her arms in fear that she would do worse to him if given the
chance.

"How dare you! How dare you let Ash think that I had anything to do with your cruel,
sick excuse for a joke!" Misty yelled, as Gary noticeably wavered.

Gary, being the egotistical jerk that he was, and not knowing when to admit he was
wrong, decided to further the argument. "Listen, red, this whole thing was your idea
remember?
You put him in a bikini. All I did was tape your joke, and show it to the public. You
should be thanking me! You're probably a legend now!"

"Gary you are way over the line right now!" Brock said dangerously. "Misty would have
never done any of this if she had known the trouble it would have caused, and she
definitely would never had gone as far as you did! You are pushing your luck right now
by trying to blame Misty, so you better shut up, before I make you shut up!"

Everyone was surprised with how threatening Brock could sound when he wanted to.

Even Gary was intimidated by the taller, and much stronger Pokemon breeder looming
over him menacingly.

Luckily(or unluckily) for Gary though, his Grandfather was approaching, looking very
frustrated indeed.

"Gary?! Was this your doing?!" Prof. Oak questioned in annoyance as Gary avoided his
eyes in shame.

"Uh....."

"I knew it. Come with me, we need to have a talk." The Prof. gestured towards Gary to
follow him, as he complied, knowing all to well what a "talk" entailed.

The group watched in satisfaction, as Gary was lead off to hopefully receive some well
deserved punishment.

That is, they were all satisfied, except for Misty. Misty was in total confusion. She had no
clue how she was supposed to fix things with Ash now. Why would he believe her? She
knew that there was some disgusting truth to Gary's words. If it wasn't for her none of
this would have happened. She did start it. Now she had to figure out how to finish it, and
still manage to keep Ash as a friend in the process.

'Will he ever forgive me?' Misty thought sadly as another tear rolled down her cheek.

Duplica didn't know what to say to make Misty feel better, so she just decided to give her
a comforting hug which Misty gladly accepted. However, inwardly Duplica knew just
what she had to do to fix things between Ash and Misty.

'Misty can't go through this alone. She needs my help. Even if I'm risking my own
friendship with Misty, I have to do it. I just hope it doesn't fall upon deaf ears,' Duplica
thought sadly as she let go of Misty and told the others that there was something she had
to do.

"Like what?" Richie asked, curiosity apparent in his voice.

"Something that needs to be done," Duplica stated while looking at Misty. With that said
she exited the area and made her way in the direction of Ash's house.

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Ash had arrived home 10 minutes ago, and he had dodged his mother's questions of:

"Why are you home so early, honey?"

"Where are your friends?"

"Is something wrong?"

"Are you still mad about this morning?"

"Are you hungry?"

Ash had gone straight up to his room in silence, and he was now lying on his bed trying
to hold back tears.

'Why am I letting this get to me? Because it was totally humiliating. I can't believe I was
going to forgive her. I can't believe she would stoop this low. Well, I've had it. As soon
as I get my Pokemon back I'm leaving. I refuse to travel with her anymore. Brock could
come if he wants to......Unless he was in on this too! God, I can't trust anyone anymore!
Not even my best friends,' Ash concluded angrily, putting a fist down on his mattress,
and burying his face in his pillow that smelled like Misty's hair.

"That's it. I am making my decision. From now on it will be just me and my Pokemon.
The way it should have always been. No more tagalongs!"

"Is that what you really want?" A very recognizable voice from the doorway questioned
as Ash sat up to view the intruder.

"Duplica?" Ash looked at her in confusion which quickly turned to anger. "What do you
want? How did you get in here?"

"Your mom let me in, and I want to talk to you.....How could you do that to Misty?!"

"What?!" Ash was enraged.

"How could you insult her like that?!" Duplica's voice held a tone of disgust

"What are you talking about?! I didn't do anything to Misty! But she did plenty to me!"

Ash was now yelling at Duplica, who seemed to be perfectly calm.

"How could you take Gary's word over Misty's? I mean, is that how it is now? That you
would believe Gary instead of Misty? You think higher of him, than you do of her?"

"No! I-"

"Well it sure seemed like it!" Duplica interrupted. "Yes, Gary said Misty was in on the
joke today, but Misty said she wasn't. And instead of hearing her out, you just totally
blew her off. So the question is, who's word do you value more, Gary's or Misty's?"
Ash lay back down on his bed, letting out a sigh of frustration in the process. Duplica
climbed the ladder and sat by him, waiting for him to talk to her.

"...........Duplica, if yesterday had never happened there wouldn't even need to be a
question. I wouldn't have even needed to think it over......But, I just can't trust Misty
anymore. Too many things have happened, and it just makes sense for her to have done
this. It...." Ash was distressed. This could be told by the tone of his voice, and the tears
that betrayed his tough exterior.

Duplica simply put her hand on Ash's.

"Look, I understand how you are feeling. I understand that you are upset, and you have
every right to be, but you cannot let that cloud your judgment," Duplica tried to reason.

"You don't understand. I travel with her. I have been traveling with her for 4 years, and I
have come to know that she takes every opportunity to humiliate me, and make me look
stupid. So forgive me if I'm a little doubtful that Misty had nothing to do with this," Ash
answered back in annoyance.

Duplica realized that this was going to be a lot harder than she had originally thought.

"Ash, just trust me, Misty would never go this far to humiliate you."

"Oh really? Why not? She put me in a bikini and paraded me in front of a group of
people. One of which she knew was my rival, and was recording the whole thing. Maybe
she just didn't let you in on this part of the joke. Did you ever think of that?" Ash threw a
question back at her. He had a point, but this point was aggravating Duplica more than
anything else.

"Ash......I just know she would never do this, okay?!"

"How do you know?! Huh?! I mean, please, enlighten me. How do you know she would
never do it?!" Ash questioned, sounding just as aggravated, and sarcastic as Duplica.
Except now Duplica looked like she was about to burst.

"Because she likes you! I know, because she likes you, and she would never do this,
because she might lose you if she did! That's how I know! Get it?!" Duplica yelled at the
now shocked Ash.

Duplica observed his reaction, and tried to catch her breath. She put a hand on his
shoulder, and made sure to tone her voice down so that it was now just a gentle whisper.

"She would never risk losing you. That's why she would never do something like this.
She likes you way too much to put you in so much pain. Don't you see that, Ash? Don't
you see how sorry she is?"

"..........She likes me?" Ash asked in a breathless whisper, his eyes staring into space.

"Yeah." Duplica nodded, smiling.

"She told you that she likes me?" Ash was now coming back down to Earth, as he tried to
make sure he was clear on this point.

"Well.....not willingly, but yeah, she told me herself......But you can't tell her I told you,
or she'll kill me!"

Ash sat in silence for a few minutes. It looked like he was trying to comprehend the
information he just got from Duplica.

"Is it really so hard to believe, Ash?" Duplica asked, snapping Ash out of his trance.

Ash's head bolted up, as he tried to find the right words to answer Duplica back. "I-
uh....wha-a.......um.."

"Seriously, Ash, is it that hard to believe?" Duplica giggled at Ash's blushing face, as he
tried really hard not to look her in the eyes. "You like her too don't you?!" Duplica
questioned excitedly.

Ash shook the feeling he was having off, and he tried to change the subject. "L-let's say
that I believe Misty didn't have anything to do with what happened today...." Duplica
raised an eyebrow in amusement.

".....and let's say that I have a plan to get Gary back, but I need Misty's help to do it. Do
you think if I asked, she would help me out?" Ash asked shyly.

"Maybe...What did you have in mind?" Duplica was intrigued.

"Pika! Pikapi!!!!!"

"We're almost there, Pikachu, calm down. Ash isn't going anywhere." Brock and
Pikachu's voice could be heard coming from outside.

Duplica saw Ash's eyes instantly light up at the sound of Pikachu's voice.

"Pikachu!"

"I bet Misty is with them too." Duplica said suggestively, as Ash blushed in annoyance.

"Do you want me to tell her to come up so you can talk to her......and tell her that you like
her."

"No!!!!.......But I do want to talk to her,.....about getting back at Gary." Duplica could see
the wheels turning in Ash's head, and she couldn't even imagine what kind of revenge he
was thinking up.

".....And tell her to bring Pikachu with her." Ash smiled happily at Duplica, as Duplica
smiled back, jumped off the bed, and headed downstairs.

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"Brock, I think I'm going to stay at the Pokemon Center tonight with Duplica. Tell Mrs.
Ketchum for me so she won't get worried, okay?" Misty said nervously, as she stared up
at Ash' s window.

"Misty, if you don't even face him, then this will never get resolved. Besides, you did
nothing wrong. "

"Yeah, well, tell Ash that." Misty looked at the ground sadly, as Duplica came bursting
out of the front door.

"Misty! Ash want's to talk to you." Duplica called out in a sing-songy voice, as she
smiled brightly.

Misty just stared at Duplica with a surprised expression on her face.

"Oh yeah, and bring Pikachu with you."

Brock was also quite surprised at this request, but decided to just be glad that Ash seemed
to be willing to talk to Misty. "Well, if you are going up, take the rest of Ash's Pokeballs
with you," Brock said handing Misty Ash's Pokeballs while Pikachu jumped onto her
shoulder.

Misty, a surprised and confused expression still on her face,  walked to the front door and
stopped in front of Duplica. "You can thank me later." Duplica winked as she pushed
Misty inside.

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The door to Ash's room opened as Pikachu came running into the room, and immediately
jumped into Ash's arms.

"Pikachu!" Ash hugged Pikachu tightly, as Misty coyly watched from the doorway.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried out happily, as it nuzzled into Ash's chest.

Then something else caught Pikachu's eye as it suddenly jumped at the.....stereo system
in the corner of Ash's room. Pikachu began to hug it with almost as much affection as it
was hugging Ash before.

Misty and Ash both had bewildered expressions on their faces as Pikachu then  pressed
the play button, and a familiar, and annoying if you ask Ash, song began emanating from
the speakers.

Friday night it's party time

Feeling ready looking fine,

Viene diego rumbeando,

With the magic in his eyes

Checking every girl in sight,

Grooving like he does the mambo

Ash and Misty both sweatdropped at the sound of the very familiar Ketchup Song.

Pikachu began to dance around in glee at the sound of his new favorite song. How he
missed it while at Prof. Oak's.

"Now I remember why I was so quick to give you to Prof. Oak yesterday." Ash recalled
as Pikachu glared at him.

"Heh, heh...." Ash scratched his head nervously at the annoyed stare Pikachu was giving
him, but then he heard Misty giggle as he turned to look at her.

Misty watched on in amusement as the Pikachu danced around. The look on Ash's face
was priceless at that moment. She couldn't help but laugh. However, that seemed to
attract attention to herself, as Ash turned to look at her. Misty was worried, very worried.
'He couldn't have forgiven me so soon, could he?'

"Misty, I need to ask you for a favor." Ash could tell that Misty was a little confused as
she inched her way over to him. As she got closer he could feel his face get all flushed.
Now knowing this new information, information that he was not suppose to know about
Misty's feelings for him, made him feel very nervous and awkward. 'Like I need to feel
more awkward around her. It's weird knowing that a girl likes you, but it's even weirder
when the girl is Misty.'

When Misty had arrived near Ash, curiosity got the better of her, and she decided to ask
the obvious question, " Are you still mad at me?"

Ash just looked at her, and hope was written all over her face. He had wished to string
her along for a little bit, but...

"No.....I'm not mad at you."

Misty inwardly let out a sigh of relief, but outwardly her spark was returning.
"Well....good! Because if you were I was going to give you a real ear full!" Misty
declared. "You had no right to be mad at me, especially since I was telling the truth."

'And your not giving me an ear full now?' Ash thought in irritation, but he decided not to
say it out loud. He also thought that he still had plenty of reasons to still be mad at Misty,
but he decided to keep that to himself too. Mainly because he needed a favor from her,
and, well, there was another reason too.....But I'm sure we can all figure out what that
was. ^^

"Look, I'm sorry about that, I should have believed you, but when I saw you with Gary, I
just....I assumed the obvious." Ash explained as Misty understood where Ash was
coming from.

"Yeah, that's what I figured......Don't worry about it, Ash, I probably would have thought
the exact same thing."

Misty was admitting that she could have made the same mistake?! Misty was
sympathizing with him?!

'Huh? Maybe Misty will be the screw up and I will get mad at her more often, instead of
the other way around.' Yes, that is what Ash decided will happen from now on, and we
are all very sure that will work out for him.

"So, you said you needed a favor?" Misty questioned, curiosity present in her voice.

"Yeah, we are going to get revenge on Gary," Ash's voice was filled with competitive
spirit. He sounded just like he does before a Pokemon battle.

"We?!" Misty asked in shock.

"Yeah, I need you for this. It's very important that you help me, because I think you are
the only one who could pull it off," Ash told her honestly. "So will you do it?"

Misty could see that this was really important to him, and, well, how could she refuse
when he was giving her that puppy face again.

"O-ookay."

"Great! There is just one thing. I don't think the situation is embarrassing enough." Ash
seemed to be deep in thought.

"What situation?" Misty was still wondering what exactly he had in mind for her to do,
but he seemed to be ignoring her.

"What else can I...." Ash's attention was turned towards the dancing Pikachu in the
corner of the room.

Aserejč ja de jč de jebe tu de jebere seibiunouva,

Majavi an de bugui an de buididipi,

Aserejč ja de jč de jebe tu de jebere seibiunouva,

Majavi an de bugui an de buididipi

"Hmmmm." Ash's mouth formed a devilish grin, as Misty stared at him in bewilderment.

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"Red, are you planning on telling me where we are going any time soon?" Gary asked in
annoyance as Misty continued to drag Gary by the arm into a row of bushes.

"No need, cause we are here!" Misty announced, gesturing towards the body of water in
front of them.

"Cloyster Lake?" Confusion filled Gary's voice.

"Yup! I thought we could do something fun together," Misty said cheerfully.

"Why didn't you just bring your girlfriend Ash to come fishing with you?" Gary
questioned suspiciously.

Misty inwardly scowled at Gary's remark, but she bit her tongue and continued with the
plan. 'Well, for one, Ash is being a jerk, as usual, and two, we are not going fishing. But I
do want us to do something that Ash has never had the guts to try. But I'm sure that
won't be the case with you." Misty said seductively as she traced her finger up and down
Gary's shirt.

Gary could feel himself getting excited. "Y-you mean, you didn't kiss and make up with
Ashy-boy, yet?" Gary questioned in surprise.

"Are you kidding? After the way he treated me back at that lecture?! No way do I want to
hang around a loser like that anymore. Especially if he can't even take a simple joke."
Misty had now wrapped her arms around Gary's neck while Gary smiled stupidly.

Neither of them noticed, but gagging noises could be heard coming from the bushes
behind them at that moment.

"Well, red, it looks like you have finally come around to my way of thinking. Glad to see
you have some sense after all.....So, what was that gutsy thing that you had in mind for
us?" Gary's curiosity and excitement began to rise as Misty was now tracing a finger
around Gary's neck, and under his chin teasingly.

"I was thinking, since you are so much better than Ash in every way..." Gary nodded his
head in agreement. ".....That maybe you would be brave enough to go skinny dipping
with me?"

Gary's face turned 5 shades of red, as Misty couldn't help but giggle. "Y-you m-
mmmean swim na-naked?!"

"Yeah, I always thought it would be kind of fun, and sexy, don't you?" Misty asked
enticingly as Gary gulped at the thought.

"Well...I.."

"Don't tell me you are even more of a chicken than Ash is?"

"No!...It's just....um...."

"Come on, Gary, imagine Ash's face when he hears that I went skinny dipping with you."
Misty raised an eyebrow as Gary grinned evilly.

"Wow, red, I knew you had potential when you pulled that bikini stunt, but this!...." Gary
was impressed.

"You have no idea what goes on inside my head." Misty grinned just as evilly, thinking
about what was going to happen next. "So, what do you say?"

Gary thought about it for only a moment before...

".....Let's do it!"

"Great! Now here's how it's going to happen. I'll undress first, then you'll undress, then
you'll get in the lake, then I'll get in the lake. Sound good?"

"Well I don't have all that much to undress considering I was already swimming in my
indoor pool when you called me," Gary said referring to his swim shorts, and a plain
black T-shirt he was wearing at the moment.

"That's why I'm going first. I'll undress behind this bush, and you undress behind that
bush." Misty pointed out the opposing bushes.

Gary couldn't believe he was doing this, as he got behind his bush, and awaited the
moment when Misty would emerge from her bush.

He watched as Misty removed her shirt, twirled it above her head and threw it behind her,
where it landed on a nearby tree. She also did this with her bra, her short's and her
panties, all the time Gary was watching, awed by the display.

After she was done she eyed Gary expectantly. "Your turn," she said giving him a
seductive smile.

Gary quickly(really quickly), began to remove his shirt. He then tried(emphasis on the
"tried") to do a similar maneuver to that of Misty's strip tease, but he just ended up
hitting himself in the face with his shirt. Then, while trying to recover from that minute of
idiocy, he threw the shirt so far, that it landed and disappeared somewhere into the brush.

Gary just shrugged this off, and declared that he would find it later.

He then proceeded to remove his shorts and throw them near a bush by the lake. The
same bush that was making the gagging noises earlier. ^_^

Misty's smile significantly widened as she saw him remove that last bit of clothing. Gary
was quite pleased by Misty's smile, and he stood behind the bush proudly.

"Okay, now time to get into the lake." Misty directed as Gary nodded his head, and began
to exit the bush.

Misty quickly turned away as Gary ran and jumped into the lake. Misty didn't have to
turn away. She could have freely looked if she wanted to, but....eeeewwww.

"All right! The water's a little cold, but I'm sure we could warm each other up." Misty
inwardly retched at the sentence.

"Coming!" Gary's eyes grew wide as Misty began to step out of the bush and reveal....the
fact that she still had clothes on.

"What is going on?!" Gary was totally confused.

Misty was smiling, as she looked down at herself, and faked surprise at her appearance.
"Oh no!!! Did I put on two sets of clothes again today?! I swear, I am so dense
sometimes." Misty shook her head at herself in mock disappointment.

"Huh?" that was the only word out of Gary, as another noise was heard coming from one
of the bushes behind Misty.

Gary listened closely, and he could now clearly here laughter. He was getting less
confused, and more worried by the moment.

Misty reached over by her foot, and grabbed the shorts that were so conveniently far
away from their owner.

"Hey! What's g-going on?!" Gary stuttered in nervous fright.

"Oh, nothing important. A friend of mine just thought that we could have a little laugh, at
your expense." Misty grinned while the bush behind her began to shake, and a figure
began to emerge.



To be continued.......




Well, that was chapter 4! I'd like to thank all the people who have been reviewing,
because it really has been an inspiration for me to continue, and finish this story. I am
really having fun with it too! I hope you guys feel the same way. Anyway, this chapter
wasn't all that dramatic, but it wasn't all that humorous either. But the next chapter,
which I will be updating on my birthday(November 3rd ^_^)  will be the last chapter. And
I have to warn you, things get very weird, and silly. But hey, this story started out with
Ash in a bikini, so I guess if you are scared away by weird things you wouldn't have even
read past the first chapter. ^^;;;;
Anyway, it does get worse for Gary, and Misty, *another evil grin* but I did promise a
fluffy ending, so stick around for the next chapter, which will be out next Sunday. Till
then!