Thanks For Being There
Part 2

     "Well... This seems like a familuar setting," Brock grunted sarcastically as they passed the place in the forest, they've passed hundreds of times already. It seemed they had been going in circles, no matter which way they turned. They were definitly lost, well, at least this wasn't new to them. They had given up on finding Togepi hours ago, it was now afternoon and now they were just trying to find a way out and back to camp.
     The trees seemed so tall and majestic, they seemed to be like sky scrappers, standing as if nothing could tear them down; much like Ash. You couldn't see the sky very well with so many long and wide branches, the shadows from them made it seem like it was always night time even in the morning and afternoon.
     "I'd just like to point out that if we just stuck with my idea to keep on walking and not stop and rest, we would have been in the next town by now instead of here," mentioned Ash.
     "Quit complaining, this was your idea!" Argued Misty.
     "Would you two cut it out, I don't feel like hearing you two argue now, even if one of you wins the arguement, who cares! We'll still be stuck here," Brock pointed out.    
     "You're right, Brock," Ash said softly.
     "Argh! There's got to be a way out of here!" Misty whinned frustrated, "I miss my pokemon, I miss my sleeping bag... I miss my Togepi!"
     "Misty, calm down, we'll get out of here, I just need to think," Ash concluded.
     "You? You're the 'brave knight' that's gonna get us out of here? You mean the same genius that got us into this mess in the first place!" Misty was at the verge of going crazy--forget 'verge of going crazy'...! She was already there.
     "I made a mistake, Misty, I can still come up with an idea to get us out of here. Why do you have to doubt me all the time?" Ash sat on a rock and Pikachu sat beside him.
     "I don't doubt you all the time," corrected Misty thinking that was crazy.
     "Yes you do, sometimes you have faith in me, but most of the time you always doubt me like you have from the beginning, you're always mean to me, it's always the same," Ash pointed out. "You do the same with Brock too."
     "I'm not that mean to you... Am I?" Misty questioned softly.
     "Yeah, you kind of are," Brock added sitting with Ash on the rock. Misty still stood, a little distant from them.
     "Well... I don't mean to be, how come you didn't tell me this before if you had such a problem with it?" Asked Misty not aware of any of this.
     "I didn't want to make a big deal, but since we're out here in the forest, and all seems lost and hopeless, I think this is as good as time as any to get my true feelings out about it," told Ash. Misty lowered her head.
     "If I'm so mean, why are you still friends with me?" She questioned very softly, Ash and Brock couldn't even hear her, her head was turned from them.
     "What was that, Misty?"
     "Look, this might not be the greatest plan but we're not gonna get anywhere sitting around, thinking and getting our feelings out, there was another reason we came here!" Said Misty angry about what they had said and just changed the subject because of it.
     "Okay, so what do you want us to do?" Asked Ash catiously.
     "Lets go find my Togepi," Said Misty walking fast, with an obvious determination as she did; same as Ash had had before.
     "I think you're rubbing off on her," Brock whispered to Ash as they got up and started following her, they walked for what seemed to be hours until they reached an edge, where the river that flowed beside them fell over.
     "Priii!!!" Cheered a voice from above them. Ash, Misty and Brock both lifted their heads and saw it was Togepi, jumping up and down on a lowered and surprisingly weak branch. The branch was right above the waterfall.
     "It's Togepi! What do we do?," Asked Misty worried for her small pokemon. Ash saw the fear in Misty's eyes and couldn't help but grow a fire inside him to save Togepi. A fire that burned out all his rational thinking and common sense. He climbed up a near by tree, Pikachu followed.
     "Ash! What are you doing!" Screamed Misty.
     "Saving the reason we came into this forest," called Ash from the top of the tree.
     "Ash, you can't-"
     "It's too late, Misty, I've gotten this far, just leave me alone and let me do this, okay?" Ash catiously moved himself on the branch and reached out for Togepi.
     "Just be careful!" Warned Brock. Suddenly as Ash was just about to grab Togepi, the branch broke, Togepi whirled in excitment as he fell into the water and was carried the rest of the way by the rushing water to the edge. Ash's eyes grew wider as he yelled, right about to jump, when Pikachu jumped in front of him following Togepi into the water.
     "Pikachu!" Screamed Ash as Pikachu got hold of Togepi but was already thrown off the edge by the current.
     "No!!!" Screamed Ash before he let go of the branch to catch up with Pikachu but as the water carried him, a hand grabbed his collar of his jacket and the other his arm. Ash struggled to break from it, but their grip was stronger than the water's and eventually he gave in and was pulled back to land.
     "It's too late," concluded Brock in a gentle voice when he was finally on land.
     "There's no need for you too be gone too," Misty said softly to Ash.
     "It would have been worth it for Pikachu!" Yelled Ash frustrated as he sat on the ground soaked and angry. He let out a cry of frustration.
     "Why didn't you guys let me go after him!"
     "Ash, you could have gotten yourself killed, we saved you. You should be thanking us," reminded Misty.
     "Thanking you? Pikachu's my friend, and I thought you guys were too!"
     "We are," Argued Misty but was rudely cut off by Ash.
     "No! Real friends would have let me go after him. We just won the biggest battle of all and everything was going fine. I was so close to saving them, you should have let me go," said Ash stubbornly like a young little child.
     "Ash, we were doing what any friends would do, we were just looking out for your sake," explained Brock.
     "Yeah, do you have to play the big hero all the time, you're not superman and there is a limit to how much a human being can accomplish, you've got to slow down," Misty warned him.
     "All that matters is Pikachu and me, not you, you two just decided to step into the picture, I didn't need you then, and I don't need you now. I could have saved Pikachu, I know I could have! You weren't saving me, you were just getting in the way!" Ash snapped back, Brock and Misty had never seen Ash so angry. They were very hurt by what he said.
     "Ash I-"
     "I don't know what to say," Misty said softly, "We were just trying to help."
     "Don't say anything, I just need to be alone, I'm going to find Pikachu, I'd appreciate it if you didn't follow me this time or try to help anymore," Said Ash in a calmer voice. What was that suppose to mean?
     "You mean... You want us to stay away from you... Forever?" Misty's eyes began to water. Ash lifted himself up.
     "I think it's better that way," Ash said to her, then walked away screaming out for Pikachu til Misty and Brock could no longer see him or hear him as he faded into the shadows.
     "You're welcome, Ash, it's nice to be appriciated," Brock said sarcastically but in a serious tone and stern look on his face. Misty stood there, stunned at what just happened.
     "That hurt," concluded Misty in tears referring to Ash saying he didn't need them.
     "Yeah, it was hard for me too, he was being pretty harsh, but he didn't mean it, Misty. He was just mad because he lost Pikachu along with Togepi, he still can't stand losing after all this time. He'll get over it like he always does as soon as we find them again, it's been a long day, why don't we just go to sleep," suggested Brock trying to lighten up the situation.
     "With what? We don't have our sleeping bags, Brock, we left it all behind, remember?" Said Misty still sad.
     "We'll find something," Asured Brock as they walked in the opposite direction.
     Ash was exhausted by the screaming and yelling, his tiredness began to overcome his determination to find Pikachu and his eyes began to get heavy. He then thought about Misty and Brock. The thought of them made him so angry.
     "Who do they think they are standing between me and Pikachu! I knew what I was doing," He declared, "The nerve of them! They want to be good friends, they should just stay out of the way." He grew more and more tired, his legs got weak and he fell to his knees.
      "I wish I had never met them, me and Pikachu could have been fine without them, who needs em!" Ash--who was now on his hands and knees-- stared at the ground, tears falling one by one.
     "We could have made it with or without them, probably even been better off without them, It could have been just me and Pikachu, I wish I never met Misty and Brock! I wish we were never friends!" Ash said as he fell to the ground in tears, moarning for the loss of his beloved Pokemon.
     "Pikachu..." He whispered as he laid on the ground falling into a deep, deep, sleep.


To Be Continued