::Caution::  more copyshipping  ^.^


“Pika…Pi…”  Pikachu mumbled as it gnawed on the rough tent material.
“Hurry up, Pikachu!”  Brock urged slightly above a whisper.
“Pika.”  It sweatdropped and crawled away.
“Great!  Tracey praised quietly, quickly crouching behind the small hole in the tent and looking inside.

“Misty!”  Duplica whined to the tent’s surface.
“Go…away...”  Came the agitated voice from inside.
“What are you two doing in there?”  Todd asked Misty.
“None of your business!” Screamed the redhead, “And I already told you, I don’t know where Ash is.  Get it through your thick head, already!”
“Oh, come on, Misty,” Said Duplica with a sly grin, “We know he’s in there with you.”  
“He is not!”
“We heard his voice in there a few minutes ago, Misty.”  Said Todd.
“Tell me one reason why I would let a guy like Ash into my tent!”
Duplica grinned at Todd, whom grinned back.  Simultaneously, they both began to playact:
“Oh, Ash, you are just so sweet and cute… I just don’t know what I would do without you!”  
“Yes, my sweet Misty, dear, let us go to your tent and make out ‘till eternity.”
“It’s not like that!”  Misty screamed.
“Mm… Oh, Ash, your lips taste so sweet, like honey.”
“As do yours my dear, but your tender neck tastes even sweeter…”
“Stop that!”  Misty blushed.
She abruptly yanked down the small zipper of the tent hearing the dull ‘buzz’ and Duplica and Todd nearly jumped a foot in the air.  Misty sweatdropped.
“Look, here.  Take your clothes-“She tossed Duplica’s clothes out of the tent, “-your stuff-“She threw her bag out, “-and your pokemon,” She tossed out her confused, out-of-place ditto *ditto!*, “And go spend the night in Todd’s tent, since you two just can’t keep your hands off each other.”
“Wait!”  Duplica said, pacing to the tent, leaving Todd to fall into the dirt.
Misty instantly zipped the tent’s opening back up and sighed, a sweatdrop gliding down her head.  Duplica fell backwards onto the hard ground.
“Well, fine!  I don’t need you two making out all over my stuff anyways!”  Duplica said, picking up one of her jeans and dusting it off.
“Go away.  I told you, I don’t know where Ash is.”  Said Misty.
“Whatever, Misty.  We know he’s in there with you.”  Tracey said, still peeking through the chewn-out hole.
“Ack!”  Misty gasped, hearing Tracey’s voice behind her.
She turned around, saw the small hole, and drove her finger through the middle of it.
“Aah!”  Tracey screamed, jumping away from the tent and rubbing his injured eye.
“What happened?”  Brock asked.
“Go away!  Can’t you all just get a life?!”  Misty shouted.
“Hey Ash, are you sure you’re not in there?”  Tracey called into the tent.
Misty again sweatdropped.  
“Do I have to take a mallet to you?”  She asked.
Suddenly, the atmosphere became phenomenally silent.
‘Well, I guess that’s a little bit better…’  She thought, the eerie-ness a little tensing.
Silently, she crawled on all fours over to the sleeping body curled up on the other side of the tent and lie down next to it.
“I think they’re gone now…”  She whispered softly, gently petting his hair.
Almost soundlessly replied a few hushed snores and a cold, damp hand clutch hers, and as if on instinct, the body cuddled close to hers bringing her hand to his chest.  Misty smiled pleasantly and slowly wrapped her arm around his side.
“’Night, Ash.”  She murmured.


“I can’t stand this,” Tracey said, staring at the tent helplessly, “They’ve been in there for over an hour now and nothing.”
“Not even a sound, I know.”  Brock agreed, “Hey, you got any more of those… grape sodas?”
Tracey made a face and stood, looking around for his backpack.
“Somewhere around here…”  He spotted the other tent, “Ah!  I remember. It’s in the tent.”
He began walking to the boys’ tent when Brock stopped him, firmly gripping his shoulder.
“Whoa.  Remember what Mist was saying?”
“What?”
“About Todd and Duplica around an hour ago?”
“No.  Guess I wasn’t paying attention.”  Tracey sweatdropped.
“I think they’re in there.”  He said.
“But... isn’t Duplica a girl?”
Brock stared at Tracey solemnly, “Yeah, that’s...”
“…Ohhhhh…”  Tracey approved of Brock’s hypothesis.
He shrugged, “Oh well, I’ll only be in there for a second anyways.”
“Fine, go.”  The amused Brock chuckled, letting go of his shoulder.

   The sun rested peacefully along the mountain’s peaks as it settled into a sweet afternoon dusk.  The air was warm with the smells of a forest and the liveliness of the stable pine.  Acorns dusted the road.  After numerous apologies, Tracey walked out of his tent, dazed, the skin upon the back of his neck still rising from all of the terror-sought screams.   Brock grinned intellectually and neighborly patted Tracey’s back, taking his backpack from him.
“Didn’t think you’d come out alive.”  Brock commented.
After a while, they sat back down on the large, rotten tree stomp and leaned up against another tree while watching the sunset.
“You know, we should get a fire going.”  Brock said, standing up.
“Naw, do we have to?  It isn’t even cold.  And it seems that everyone else’ll be sleeping soon enough.”  Tracey said, gesturing towards the two tents.
“It just occurred to me,” Brock swallowed hard, “Where’ll we sleep?”
Tracey smiled and handed him a bottle full of the clear fluid.
“Thanks.”  He said, sitting back down and twisting off the bottle cap.
He was about to drink it, but instead briskly sniffed it, and examined the ingredients.
“What are you doing?”  Tracey laughed.
Brock shrugged it off and drank.
“Wow, it really is grape soda.”  He said.
Tracey rolled his eyes.  “Duh. I told you that.”
“Huh.  Very good drink.”  Brock said, twisting the cap back on and setting it aside.
“You think we’d get away with… re-ordering them?”
“Huh?”  
“Get Tracey and Duplica in the girls’ tent?”  Tracey asked.
“Hmm.  I’m not sure.  It’s risky.”
“Once they fall asleep, I mean.”
“Maybe.  But do we have to move them right away?”  Brock asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Tracey, have you ever really pulled a good prank?”  Brock asked.
Tracey grinned.  “Maybe.  What’s it to you?”
“Hmm…”


   Ash woke up slowly, sluggishly sitting upwards and examining the surroundings about him.  For a moment, his heart skipped a beat, realizing the pink tent material and wondering why in the world was he in the girls’ tent, but then, remembering the incidents that had happened only… well, who knows how long ago at the moment, he lay back down again next to the shallow-breathing redhead.   He tried to fall asleep again but his body was overflowing with energy, the kind of energy a person only experiences after a well-deserved nap.  Eyeing his sleepy friend, he tenderly stroked her shoulder, down her arm, to her fingers and back again.   He didn’t know why though…  He frowned.
“What…”  He muttered quietly.
He lay back down, supporting himself on his elbow, and sighed facing Misty.  Her face was blank; the expression empty and cold.  She laid so still, only her chest rising and falling with each light breath.  
‘The beauty of an empty expression…’  Thought Ash, ‘The beauty of emptiness.  The… beauty of… nothing…’
The absence was so inviting…was almost hypnotizing…
Shock pulsed through his body as he came to realize how far up Misty’s thigh his hand had been traveling.  He instantly jerked it away from her body and stuffed it into his pillow, ashamed of his thickheaded actions.
‘Good thing she isn’t awake.’  He thought, a pink blush warming his face.
The sweet aroma of night entered his atmosphere and he was at once surrounded by the light sounds of poliwags.  
“It must be sundown already…”  Ash said to himself.
Suddenly, his stomach growled in hunger.  He winced.
“Better go see if there’s anything to eat.”
Carefully crawling through the tent he reached the exit and crawled out.  The stars and moon were radiant against the pitched blackness and the slight burbling of the poliwags grew a bit louder.  Another sound drifted through the air: the sound of twigs snapping and a temperate roar of fire.   Brock and Tracey sat together next to a small fire as Brock threw in a large stick.
“I thought you said you weren’t going to build a fire.”  Tracey said.
“I changed my mind.”
“Hey guys,” Ash said, sitting down next to them, “What’ve you been up to?”
Both Brock and Tracey gasped and jumped in their seats then turned to face Ash.
“How long have you been sitting there?”  Tracey asked.
“I just sat down.”  Ash said lamely.
Brock sighed slowly of relief and smiled.
“So, Ash,” Brock started, rubbing his hands together, “Have fun?”
Tracey stifled a laugh.
“Fun?”  Ash asked, “What do you mean.”
“C’mon, Brock, we don’t need to be teaching him anything he doesn’t know.”  Tracey laughed.
“What?  What are you two talking about?”  Ash asked in a pure voice.
Tracey and Brock snickered.
“Never mind.”  Brock said, waving at Ash’s question.
“Why did you build a fire, Brock?  It’s not cold out or anything and-” Ash asked.
“Because I felt like it.”
“Because Brock’s scared of the dark.”  Tracey said.
“I am not!”
Tracey laughed.
“Hey Brock, you got anything to eat?”  Ash asked.
“Yes, but not much.”  He said, pulling his backpack into his lap.
He reached in a pulled out a bag of marshmallows.  
“Where’d these come from?”  He asked, eyeing the bag, “Wha…”
Brock began to pull out anonymous items, such as pictures of women and extra cases of film.  Er… at least he thought it was film, but it wasn’t like he wanted to find out.
“What in the world?”  He asked, tossing the stuff back in.
“Hey!”  Ash said, snatching the bag from his hand before he had the chance to stuff it back in.
“Oh, Brock… What’ve you been up to?”  Tracey asked slyly.
“What do you mean?  This junk isn’t mine!”
“Oh really, whose is it then?”
“I don’t know.  It could be Todd’s.”
“Oh, sure.”
“Hey guys, I’m gonna go now.  G’night.”
“’Night Ash.”  They said as Todd tried to sneak a picture out of Brock’s pack, but was only responded with a slap on the back of his hand.


“Misty?”  He asked softly as he entered the pink tent.
She was still asleep, her hair spread out upon the small pillow.  She must’ve been moving or rolling around in her sleep at least a few feet across the tent.  She had a sweet smile on her face… it looked kinda creepy…  Must be how you’re not really supposed to be smiling while you’re sleeping.   She rolled to her side and sighed.  Ash plopped down next to her popping in a marshmallow and sat cross-legged.  
“Mmmph.”
A slight moan caught his attention.  He noticed Misty had been facing him.
“Mmmmmph.”  She moaned lower.
She faintly giggled.  For some reason Ash couldn’t chew…
“Ash?  You-…”  She uttered gently, “Mmmmmph…”
Ash suddenly realized the many marshmallows scattered at his feet.
“Ah…”  She sighed and rolled onto her back.
Ash sat completely frozen, not even able to compute the numerous sensations rolling down his spine.  Her smile faded and he sighed almost thankfully.
“Well,” He scoffed and lay down; he rolled his eyes at the empty plastic marshmallow bag and tossed it aside, not even bothering to pick any up, “So much for dinner…”
His eyes strayed to Misty’s face.
“It’s not like I could eat anything right now anyways…”
The wind blew softly, getting a tiny bit stronger and stronger.  It made the walls of the tent shiver and Ash sat up.  He could hear the leaves above them clattering and shaking.  A small twig snapped and fell, one by one, hitting the top of the tent.   The wind softened but didn’t stop.  Faint drops of water lightly tapped the top of the tent.  A few at once, and then some more.  The sprinklets of rain intruded the silence, as if rudely.

   Suddenly, Ash froze as he heard a soft, almost silent whispering.  
“They must be sleeping,” He could make out, “Just avoid the two by the fire.”
“How will we get the pokemon if they’re in the tent with them?”
Ash’s palms began to sweat.  He tapped on Misty’s shoulder.
“Misty, wake up.”  He whispered hurriedly, gathering his pokeballs and pushing them into his backpack.