All I Have Left The entire group is sitting around a campfire, a few miles east of Cherrygrove City. Ash and Misty have been doing most of the talking.
Part 4
By Finaille Nailo
"Misty, what have you been doing the last five years?" Ash asks, curious.
"Not much, stayed on the road for a year with Brock, then went back to the gym to work on my gym leader career." Misty says. "What about you?"
"Well, went to the Kanto and Johto championships for the first three years, trying to earn my title as "Pokemon Master", and the fourth year, I finally won them both. Then I went to the Elite Four, and defeated all but Lance. I’m still training to beat him." Ash tells her. "Oh, and missing you." He adds with a smile. Misty’s cheeks turn crimson. Mike notices and grows a bit jealous. He has been jealous ever since Ash stepped into the group, and sadly, had been less than two hours.
"Um, thanks. I’ve missed you too… well, for a while… I sort of, forgot you for a year or so." Misty stumbles. Ash smiles.
"Hey, you’re not the only one who forgot someone. If Pikachu here hadn’t reminded me…
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Flashback…
"Wow, why is it that I’m thinking I’m supposed to be doing something…" Ash says, scratching his head in utter confusion.
"Pika pikachu!" Pikachu yells at him. He plasters his tail to his head, making it look like a ponytail. Ash completely ignores this.
"Pikachu, this isn’t time to play games! I need to remember…" Ash tells him.
"Pika…" Pikachu says annoyed, and plopped down into a sitting position, when he thinks of something else. He runs around Ash’s apartment, and finds a mallet. He stuffs the end in his mouth, runs to Ash, and pounds it on Ash’s head, quite hard to mention.
"Pikachu!!! What was that for?" Ash asks, also getting annoyed.
"Pika pi pikachu pi pika!!" Pikachu yells, trying to imitate Misty’s scary face. Ash is still clueless.
"Ok then…" Ash says, and goes back to thinking. Pikachu thinks a bit more, and gets an idea. He gets a piece of paper and a pencil, and sets in on the desk. Then, he goes in the storage closet and gets in some boxes. After a while searching, he found what he was looking for. He got it, and put in on the desk. The object? A picture of Misty.
"Pikachu pika." Pikachu explains, pointing to the picture. "Pi pikachu pikachu." He says, taking the pencil and scribbling on the paper. "Pikachu…" He says, folding the note, quite messily. "Pika!" He says, putting the note on Misty’s picture.
"Oooh! I’m supposed to write a note to Misty?" He asks, then thinks about what he said. "Misty! I gotta find her! Come on Pikachu, let’s go!"
"Pikachu!" Pikachu says with a smile.
End Flashback…
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"… I would have no idea to find you again." Ash says. Pikachu smiles. Misty pets Pikachu’s head.
"Pikachu, you’re the greatest!" Misty says, hugging the furry, yellow creature.
"Pika…" Pikachu says, enjoying the attention. Misty thinks for a moment, and decides to ask Ash what was on her mind.
"Ash, did you really mean what you said in the note?" Misty asks.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Ash asks. Misty takes the note out of her pocket, the locket he gave her with the note, and hands it to Ash. Ash easily recognizes his old handwriting, and the old picture. He reads the note, and looks at Misty when he finishes.
"I don’t know…" Ash says, taking her hand. "I sort of have… a girlfriend." Ash says, looking sorry. "I started going out with her after I forgot about you."
"It’s ok Ash, don’t worry, I sort of did the same thing." Misty says, looking sadly at Mike.
"Oh, you’re going out with him. Ok then." Ash says. He was sad, but didn’t show it. Misty was clueless enough. Misty starts feeling uncomfortable again, as she felt the night before when she went a bit too far with Mike. Did this mean that she was supposed to be with Mike? She felt betrayed and used, but that probably wasn’t his intentions. She knew Mike really cared for her, and she used to care for him a lot too. Only Ash made those feelings change.
"Misty?" Ash asks, tapping her on the shoulder. Misty looks up, startled.
"Yes?" She asks.
"You looked really distracted. Are you ok?" Ash asks Misty. Misty nods. "Mist, I think we need to talk."
"No no, it’s fine, we should get going!" Misty says quickly. Mike and Brock look at each other confused. Only Pikachu knew what Misty was really feeling at that moment.
"I guess you’re right. I made my roommates stay in Cherrygrove; I wanted to find you alone. But anyways, I would love you guys to join my group." Ash says, giving them an invitation.
"I dunno, we are both gym leaders now." Misty says, remember what she and Brock talked about a few days before.
"Yeah, but you both have siblings that can take over the gym. Come on, please?" Ash begs. Misty and Brock look at each other and smile.
"Well… I guess so." Misty says. Brock nods in agreement.
"Great!" Ash says, hugging the two with all his might. "Hey Mike, you wanna come along too?"
"Yeah, sure. I’m trying to get badges right now." Mike says.
"How many have you got?" Ash asks. Mike grimaces.
"None. I just started pretty recently." Mike says.
"Oh. Well hey, I can help you! We can train you, and in every town there’s a gym we can get you to battle the gym leader!" Ash says.
"Yeah, it’ll be fun!" Misty says with a smile. Mike smiles.
"Thanks guys." He says.
"Hey um, Mike… may I talk to you for a moment in private?" Misty asks him. Mike looks around nervously.
"Yeah, sure." Mike says. Misty takes Mike’s hand and leads him into some trees.
"Mike… I’m really sorry about how I acted yesterday… I do care about you." Misty tells him. She knew she was lying to herself, but she needed Ash to think that she wasn’t jealous. Mike looks surprised.
"You do care?" He asks her. Misty kisses him on her own will. This surprises Mike even more.
"Yes, I do." Misty says, still lying. She couldn’t help it. It had to be this way, or she might NEVER get Ash. She didn’t want to look desperate if she was single. They kiss more, harder and hotter, but then realize that they had to go, so they get back to the group and they start on the day’s hike to Cherrygrove City.
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That evening…
"Wow, it was really hot today." Ash says, getting the key to his hotel room. Misty, Brock, and Mike are right behind him, a bit anxious to meet his friends. Ash opens the door, and the group walks in. Two people were sitting on one of the beds. One was a tall boy, with brown hair and purple-tinted eyes. He was sitting on the bed, looking like he was waiting for Ash a long time. The girl, with pink-hair, blue eyes, and wearing a dark brown cami top. She was reading the latest Sixteen magazine. Brock went gaga right away the second he saw her. Go figure.
"Ash, dude, I thought you were never coming back!" The girl says as she was putting down her magazine. The girl walks over to Ash, hugs him, and gives him a kiss on the cheek. Didn’t take too long for Misty to automatically know that was his girlfriend.
"Misty, Brock, Mike, this is my girlfriend Josie and my friend Andy." He says, looking uncomfortable. Misty notices and wonders why he was acting so strange. Andy walks up to Misty, takes her hand, and kisses it.
"Hello, m’ lady." He says. Misty blinks. "What may your name be?"
"My name, m’ lord is Misty Yawa." She says, grinning. "I remember you."
"You know Andy?" Ash asks, while Josie is dragging him to sit on a bed.
"Sure, we played the leads in The Four Knights." Misty says.
"How could I not remember such a pretty face?" Andy says, smiling. Ash blinks repeatedly, and Mike just stood there.
"Does she know everyone or what?" Mike whispers to Ash.
"I don’t think so. She doesn’t know Josie anyways." Ash whispers back. Josie looks up at Misty.
"Misty Yawa, huh? The big-shot from Cerulean Gym, eh?" Josie says. "I battled you last year. You were a tough leader."
"You were an equally tough opponent." Misty says. "You creamed me soon enough."
"Good battle though. So, how do you know my Ashy-boy?" She asks, grabbing Ash’s hand. Ash just blushes and looks away.
"We traveled together for a long time." Misty says, jealousy growing in her eyes. Ashy-boy was HER nickname.
"He talks about you a lot, gal, of course, it wasn’t till recently he told me you were also the gym leader of Cerulean." Josie says. She looks over at Brock, and grins.
"And for certain I remember YOU. You were the gaga guy…" She says, grinning. "You still are I see."
"I…uh, yeah…" Brock says, checking her out. Josie looks at Ash expected him to say something. To her surprise, he says absolutely nothing. She gives a sort of pouty look in Ash’s direction, then looks back at Brock.
"You weren’t all that easy either." She says.
"Come on, since we all just seem to know each other, I say we go and get some dinner and talk." Ash suggests.
"Still the same Ash, always hungry." Misty mumbles to herself, with a half-smile on her face.
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After a good meal, Misty, Brock, and Mike all check into their own room and head back up to Ash’s. Misty and Mike sit on Andy’s bed, Brock sits on the chair, STILL looking at Josie, and Ash and Josie are on their own bed, looking very comfortable together.
"So m’ lady, why’d you stop trying out for plays after The Four Knights? You were a natural!" Andy exclaims.
"I really had no choice, being a gym leader and all, school was hard enough. I had a lot of catching up to do basically." Misty says. She liked the way Andy called her m’ lady. It sounded so… so dashing to her. Andy smiles.
"You are a natural actor and gym leader, m’ lady, Andy knows you will go far." Andy says with a smile. Misty knew he was the mysterious type, and quite the lady’s man. She looks over at Mike, who seems to be observing Andy’s every move. He could tell by the way Misty liked his moves. Misty grins, and takes Mike’s hand. Mike looks at Misty, and puts his other arm around her. Andy gives her a bit of a disappointed look. That told Misty right away that Andy definitely had a crush on her. She felt so "loved" and as she thought of that, she laughed.
"Whatcha laughing about Misty?" Mike asks her.
"Oh, nothing really, just happy to be here." Misty says with a grin. Mike squeezes her a bit. For the first time in days, she wasn’t thinking about Ash although he was right in the room. She was happy…
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Later that night, Misty and Mike went back to their room, alone. Brock stayed back to talk more with Andy, since Andy also had a passion of Pokemon breeding. As Mike opens the door, Misty stops in the hallway. She looks at the room cautiously.
"Mist, you ok?" Mike asks her.
"No Mike, I’m not…" Misty says in her head, looking at the familiarity of the room. Didn’t she, Ash, and Brock stay in this room not too long before Ash left them? She had to know. She walks in after Mike, and goes to the desk. She kneels down to where the drawers pull out, and opens the one, -second from the top. And she saw what she was afraid she might see. Her, Ash’s, and Brock’s signature, signed three weeks before they parted. She climbs in her bed and sobs quietly, as Mike sits next to her, stroking her hair.
A/N- Part 4 done! Yay! Well, I’m pretty sure I can say this is my best story out yet so far! I have gotten 11 reviews on this story alone, including the reviews on ff.net PLEASE TAKE THIS AS A NOTE: I AM SHUTTING DOWN MY HOTMAIL ACCOUNT. PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL ME AT MY HOTMAIL ADDRESS, ONLY MY YAHOO. Ok, um, sorry for the caps. I only do it to get people’s attention.