“So, how did it go?” Brock asked his younger friend.

Ash smiled as he entered the small common room. “It went great. Absolutely perfect. We went to a little cafe for lunch, talked for a little while. Then took a short stroll around the city, which actually turned into quite a long stroll. We walked for about four hours endlessly talking about each other.”

“So what’s she like?”

Misty heard the two guys talking when she was in the bedroom, still sorting out some of her clothes. She walked over to the door, holding some of her clothes, and pushed it a little ajar so she could hear what they were saying a bit better.

“She’s brilliant," Misty heard Ash reply to a question of Brock’s that she hadn’t quite heard. But she could guess the subject of the inquiry, neither-the-less.

“She’s smart, beautiful, and great fun to be with. I can’t believe how great we got on. And I’m amazed at how interested she is in me.”

“That’s great to hear. So, she is going with you to the dance tomorrow night, then?”

“Yep, and I can’t wait to see her again.”

“Are you not seeing her before the party?"

“No. I asked but she has something planned.”

“Oh, well.”

“Yeah.”

This wasn’t the type of thing Misty wanted to here. It wasn’t like she wanted the girl to dump Ash or anything, but Misty didn’t like to see him with anyone else. She wanted him for herself, even though she knew that wasn’t possible. It still hurt, though, to hear him singing the praises of another girl. She had always had a crush on him and some feelings that for years now she had been trying to suppress, but, knowing that he was now seeing her, out of the blue, it brought it all back to her how they could never be together. She brought one of her pieces of clothing up to her eye and wiped away a small tear. At that point, she felt something touching her leg.

She looked down to see a little ball of yellow fur look back up at her with a concerned look on it’s small face. “I didn’t realise you were in here, Pikachu.”

“Pika pika?”

“Am I okay? Yeah, I’m fine.” She bent down and picked up the small Pokémon.

“Pikachu?”

“Your right, I’m not.”

“Pika pi, pikachu?”

“Yeah, it’s him.”

“Pikachu pika pi.”

“Yeah, I have feelings for him, but don’t you breathe a word. I don’t want anyone to know.”

“Pika?”

“Why not? Because we’re too close as friends for anything to happen. And he doesn’t like me the way I like him.”

“Pika pikachu pika.”

“You’d like us to get together. Mmm, so would I, but it’ll never happen.” She put the electric rodent onto the bottom bunk bed where the rest of her clothes were and began to sort them again. Pikachu just watched, wishing that his two closest friends would tell each other how they felt.

“Hi, Misty.”

It was Ash. She hadn’t heard him open the door to the bedroom and was shocked to suddenly hear his voice. She turned to see him coming into the room, walking towards her. He sat down on the floor next to her and picked up Pikachu. He softly stroked the rodents head, making him purr.

“Hi,” she finally replied. “Your back then,” she commented, trying to make it seem that she didn't really care.

“Yeah.”

“How did you get on?”

“Pretty great. I think she really likes me and were going to that party tomorrow night, so-”

“That’s brilliant.”

Then she hesitated, realising that she should apologise for earlier. She understood why he hadn’t dated. If he found someone he really liked he may have to decide between his lifelong dream and that relationship, and either choice would severely hurt him. “I’m sorry, Ash, about this afternoon. I just got angry and as usual took it out on you. I didn’t mean what I said. I can understand your apprehension.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it. Anyway, if you hadn’t of said those things I’d never plucked up the courage to ask Stasi out. And I guess you were right. Relationships are part of life and I can’t neglect them just to stop from getting hurt. I should really start thinking about those types of things and taking a few more risks. I don’t want to end up alone. I’d like to eventually fall in love, get married, and who knows, even have a couple of kids.”

“I didn’t exactly see you as the settling-down type,” Misty giggled.

“Ah, who knows what the future holds. All I know for sure is that I don’t want to be alone.”

“You’LL never be alone. You’ve got me , Brock, Pikachu, your mum and a lot of other people who’ll always be there for you.”

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“Saying that.”

“No problem.”

With that, he went back into the living room, leaving Misty alone with her thoughts again. She was happy, and a little shocked, that everything had went so well, but her joy for her friend was overshadowed by her envy. She wanted him for herself.