Thanks For Being There
Part 1

     "Another badge closer to being a Pokemon Master!" Cheered Ash holding the badge he had just won. Misty and Brock walked beside him as they ushaully did.
     "Congradulations, Ash," Said Brock.
     "Yeah, but I couldn't have done it with out Pikachu or any of the Pokemon who were there from the start, I'm grateful for all of them," Reminded Ash.
     "What about us?" Asked Misty.
     "You can be grateful for them too," Offered Ash. Misty sighed.
     "No, I mean aren't you grateful for us?"
     "Yeah, of course, sure," Said Ash seeming to brush her off.
     "Wouldn't kill ya to say it once in a while," Mumbled Misty as they turned and walked into a restuarant. Ash looked around, pleased at what he saw and ran to a table.
     "That last battle really wore me out, I could use something to eat," Declared Ash making himself comfortable in his seat. Misty sat across from him along with Brock. As Pikachu searched the table for a ketchup bottle.
     "Believe me, Ash, watching a battle can make a person just as hungry."
     "Yeah, but probably not as hungry as the person actually battling," Argued Ash. Misty snuffed him.
     "What do you mean? Are you saying you do more work than we do?"
     "No, I'm just saying that what I do is something I have to do if I want to achieve my dream, but cheering me on and being there for me is a choice, not something you have to do," Ash pointed out.
     "Yeah, well me and Brock didn't have to give you those badges of yours; the first boost you needed to get to where you are now, have you forgotten that, Ash?" Misty was getting angrier every minute Ash spoke.
     "Of course not, but whether or not you gave me those badges, me and Pikachu could have probably found a way, after all I just beat one of the most powerful trainers and-"
     "So! If it wasn't for us, you wouldn't have even gotten that far, not to mention all the times we pulled you out of trouble when your stubborn and dulisional head would get us into it, after all the times we believed in you and helped you get started, you're just going to say you never needed need us!" Misty was appalled. Before Ash got to shoot his mouth back Brock intervened.
     "That's enough you two, we're friends, we've got to get along once in a while. Misty, you have to be more tolerant of Ash. And Ash, you have to get rid of this new cocky attituide, because I got to admit I'm not a big fan of it either," Confronted Brock, Misty and Brock stared at Ash for a moment, showing how displeased they were.
     "All right, I'm sorry, Misty, I was just so happy I won against such a tough trainer, it kind of went to my head."
     "What a surprise," complained Misty softly.
     "Now, what do we do?" Asked Ash after a long while of pause.
     "We eat," Answered Brock.
     "Sounds good to me," Smiled Ash.
     "Then what do we go after?" Asked Misty, Brock thought for a second.
     "Head to the next town, I guess," Answered Brock again.
     "No, I'm too tired, can't we find somewhere to stay," Misty whinned.
     "Well, I'm not tired, I'm even more energized from that last battle!" Announced Ash in obvious excitment.
     "Well, I have to take Misty's side on this one, Ash, lets go find somewhere to stay..."
     "What? No way, come on you guys, what's a little walking going to do, it'll be good," Said Ash, Ash was always too blinded by his dreams and ambitions to see how much he took Misty and Brock for granted. He might have grown as a trainer, but not very much as a friend.
    "Ash, would you stop thinking about yourself and think about us for a second, you've dragged us everywhere possible to get here, we walked and cheered all day, even Pikachu's tired," Said Misty winning the arguement as soon as she mentioned Pikachu.
     "Well, I guess if Pikachu's tired too..." He sighed as he patted Pikachu on the head, "Lets go find a place to stay."
     So afterwards they found a nice place in the park to camp out, near by there were some other trainers doing the same thing too. Near by there was a stream that ran through and into a forest. As day turned into night, the three friends drifted into a deep sleep. Misty held her Togepi close to her and Ash made sure Pikachu was near by.
     When morning came, Misty awakened to Togepi not being there anymore; he had just disapeared! Misty looked around frantically for Togepi. She gave a loud yell that woke not just Ash, Brock and Pikachu, but every trainer who was camping near by. Everyone gave confused and startled faces as they awoke from their slumber and watched a weird little red head jump from her sleeping bag and look around her area  anxiously.
     "What is it Misty?" Asked Ash.
     "Togepi! He's gone!"
     "Argh... Not again!" Grumbled Brock, groutchy that Misty interuptted his dream about Nurse Joy & Officer Jenny. He jumped from his sleeping bag and searched around with Misty too, the sooner they found Togepi, the sooner he could get back to his dream of Nurse Joy & Officer Jenny. They searched behind every bush, every tree, every rock, every place they could think of, even trainers from near by who had heard Misty's cry tried helping, but no where was Togepi found.
     "Oh, where can he be!" Cried Misty.
     "Don't worry, we'll find him," Asured Brock.
     "Yeah, we're not giving up yet," Said Ash in his ushual determination as he put his hat on.
     "But we've looked everywhere, what if something happened to him, what if..." Misty didn't dare want to continued thinking about the possibilities.
     "Look, we can't say what happened to Togepi because we don't know, but we're gonna kill ourselves thinking, it's dangerous to think that way, Misty, so just don't, we'll find him," Said Brock. Misty gave a small whimper as one last tear fell. Without giving any notice Ash started walking as Pikachu followed.
     "Ash, where are you going?" Asked Misty as Ash kept walking.
     "Into the forest, we haven't checked there yet," Ash pointed out as he walked more farture away from them keeping his eyes ahead.
     "Well, you're not going without us," Said Misty running trying to catch up with him as Brock did the same. They were not followed by anyone else. The other trainers let the three go in on their own, no way did they want to spend the rest of their exciting lives getting lost in such a forest, not after all the stories they've heard about it. People going in and never returning. But they guessed that those three weren't aware of the myths of the Forbidden Forest.
     "Lets go with them!" Called one trainer about to run in. Another trainer shoved his hand out and grabbed him to hold him back from going in.
     "Are you crazy! That's the Forbidden Forest, no one's allowed to go there! We could be lost in there forever, Micheal!" Said the trainer holding him back. Micheal sighed wishing there was more he could do.
     "I guess all we can do is wait, I heard that forest can do weird things to a person. That's why only Pokemon can over come it's trance, this is the one time they should fear for theirselves more than their Pokemon. It can play on someone's emotions and imagination like a harp. The best thing is for them to stick together if anything else, they need each other now more than ever if they want to get through this. So lets pray they'll be okay and whatever they do... Stick together!"


To Be Continued