Thanks for choosing to read this Pokémon fanfic. This Ash and Misty Romance Novel (AAMRN) is titled as such because of another fanfic I wrote, a Jessie and James Romance Novel (JAJRN), called Passion Under Fire.

If you haven't read it, I strongly encourage you to read it first, even if you don't like JAJRN's. It isn't necessary to do so, really, but as the title would suggest, the two stories are interlocked at various points which will make more sense as you read this story than if you haven't read Passion Under Fire. Don't get me wrong though. This story can stand on it's own. One might say there are a few holes in this story, which is probably true. You see, in the beginning, it starts off with our heroes walking down the streets of L.A. Suddenly, Pikachu is shot and other gunfire is heard overhead. I'll tell you now, this story will not tell you who shot Pikachu or where the other gunfire came from. Why? Well, a) you can guess who would shoot Pikachu, b) random gunfire isn't unusual in L.A. and c) it's not critical to the events that follow or the story itself that we actually know the answer (although I'm sure some professional writers would pull their hair out for my saying that).

But I want to know the answer, Jolt!

Gah! Okay, calm down! Read Passion Under Fire first then. It'll make more sense. But I'll say it again, the story stands up fine on it's own, but you might be left with questions that aren't going to get answered unless you read the first story.

Enjoy!

     -- The Jolt Master

They finally reached Los Angeles: the City of Angels. Ash's pursuit to obtain the Urban Badge, and ultimately to become a Pokémon Master, brought him and his friends near the Griffith Park Observatory.

"This is great!" the eleven-year-old dark-haired boy said excitedly. "I've always wanted to come to Los Angeles and see the celebrities. Although, I'd rather earn the Urban Badge first." His biker-gloved hands where clenched with delight at the prospect of his next victory.

The yellow, tiger-striped rodent on Ash's shoulder seemed to squeak its similar delight as its master. Ash smiled and reached up to give Pikachu a little scratch under the chin, to which it responded with an almost human sounding sigh of contentment.

"I know what you mean, Ash," replied Misty. The thirteen-year-old girl had her red hair tied up on one side, pointing at Ash, as she walked alongside him on his right. "I'd like to see some celebrities too. I wonder if Freddie Prinze Jr. lives around here." Her eyes had taken on a light dreamy texture as she thought of him dancing with her in some elegant ballroom.

"I certainly wouldn't mind meeting a few starlets of my own," commented the sixteen-year-old boy on Ash's left side. His dark spiky hair barely moving in the crosswind, smiling at the thought of going to a famous Hollywood-style party with a lot of really pretty girls draping themselves on him.

"Brock," started Misty, "you have no money, no job, and you want to breed pokémon for a living. Do you really think that a starlet will want to date you?" Misty gave an amused smirk at her friend. Ash even glanced at her and smiled, then smiled at Brock.

"She's got a point there," Ash chimed in.

Seeing that he just got zinged, Brock looked at his two friends and traveling companions. He smirked and looked back down the street they were walking on. "You guys suck."

The three of them laughed as they passed by yet another Hollywood junk souvenir shop. The street itself was pretty bare of people today. They wondered about this, then glanced down an alleyway and saw a lot more people on the next street down.

"Ah, apparently we're not on the main strip," said Brock, glancing over a map he had. "But to get to the Griffith Park Observatory Gym, we would need to cross this street, through that alley, and go north a couple more blocks."

"Then let's do it!" Ash said, his excitement growing. His friends also smiled as they jaywalked across the street.

As they almost reached the other side of the street, they heard a sharp crack rip through the air. A loud yell of pain and cussing echoed immediately afterwards, seemingly to come from above, as Pikachu fell to the ground from Ash's shoulder.

"Pikachu!" yelled Ash and Misty. Misty crouched first to the electric mouse as Ash realized that he needed to protect them from further gunfire. He covered her back with his own, facing the street to see if he could spot the gunman. Brock had turned around also, but spotted nothing. He then darted into the alley they had been heading to.

"Ash! Misty! Quick! Get over here for cover!"

Another gunshot cracked through the sky. Fear set in as Ash turned around and helped Misty up, who had picked up Pikachu.

"Misty, c'mon! Let's go! I'll protect you! Let's go!!"

The two of them bolted to join Brock and kept going until they had reached the other end of the alleyway. As soon as they stopped, Ash looked at Pikachu as Misty cradled it like a newborn infant. All of them saw a tiny steel tube with red ruffles at the end of it was sticking out of the tawny fur that covered the mouse pokémon. Ash immediately pulled out the dart, but Pikachu didn't wake up. Ash felt a wave of panic set in, thinking that Pikachu might be dead. The others had been thinking the same thing, then Brock spoke up.

"Wait, Pikachu's breathing. Look, its chest is rising and falling."

It was true. A little snore even escaped from the rodent and they all sighed with relief. After a moment, Ash gritted his teeth in anger as another crack echoed in the street.

"I know Team Rocket is behind this and I'm sick of them always bugging us and trying to capture Pikachu. I've had it! This is the last straw! I'm going to the police with this. C'mon, that tall building over there might be a police station."

The others nodded in agreement. Anything to get away from the alley and the gunfire made them happy.

"Wow! Officer Jenny is a major hottie!"

Misty gave Brock a tired and disdainful look at the love-struck boy. Ash just rolled his eyes as they left the police station several hours after they had entered it.

"Yes Brock, she's really hot," said Misty, her tone matching her look. "She's just beautiful. Truly a wonder of wonders. Would you shut up already about Officer Jenny!"

Ash only smirked at Misty's reaction. It's true that the cop was pretty, so he didn't say anything. Instead, he looked at Misty.

"Misty, thanks for writing the report out for me," he said, looking a bit embarrassed. "I wish my handwriting was a lot neater."

"Oh, you're welcome, Ash," Misty beamed. "Anything I can do to help the boy who protected me."

Ash turned beet red at that and was about to say something when Brock jumped in.

"Hey, we need to get to the gym as quick as we can. It's going to be dark soon."

The trio and Pikachu, who was still asleep from the drug, headed towards the forested area of Griffith Park.

Some hours later, they finally pitched their camp in a sparsely forested clearing. Brock offered to stand watch first, since they felt Jessie and James were probably hunting for Pikachu. After breaking some food out, Misty sat close to Ash, looking tired from the hiking. She turned to speak to him as Ash cradled Pikachu in his arms.

"Ash, I didn't get a chance to thank you for protecting me like you did.

"Ah," Ash stammered out, turning quite red. "I was just trying to protect Pikachu, since he was shot."

"But I distinctly heard you say, 'I'll protect you,' to me."

She smiled warmly, watching poor Ash squirm some more, which he did and was looking really uncomfortable. He knew that she was dead-on right. He had said it and had certainly meant it. Of course, he would protect his friends. That's what friends do for each other. Misty continued to watch him, her eyes glazing over a bit as she saw them together, dancing the night away under a romantic moonlight. Ash was about to speak and explain that she was a dear friend to him when there was a little squeak from Pikachu. Ash excitedly looked down and before he could cry with delight, bolts of lightning leapt from the scared pokémon. Both Misty and Ash's bodies tightened up involuntarily from the wild current of electricity. With a loud yell, Ash managed to toss Pikachu over the campfire, away from them, and thereby breaking the circuit.

Brock darted back quickly to Ash and Misty from his post, looking very concerned. When he came upon the scene, Pikachu was shaking off the leaves his fur had picked up. Ash and Misty were lying flat on their backs, their clothes were smoldering in some spots where Pikachu's lightning had struck them.

"You okay?" Ash asked of Misty, his voice strained with pain.

"I think so," she replied weakly, forcing herself to breathe. The thought of rolling herself on top of him crossed her mind and delighted her, but the electrical shock had been too much for her. Instead, she limply fanned away the smoke. Ash managed an amused smirk.

"I'm sorry...is my smoke bothering you? Should I put myself out?" Ash chuckled painfully.

"Oh no...but you don't mind if I smoke, do you?" Misty replied in kind.

The two of them laughed, in spite of the pain. Brock could only stand there and wonder if their brains had been fried.

The next day was a beautiful sunny day. The sort of day that Los Angeles had always been famous for and would continue to be so in the centuries to come. The trainers and pokémon alike continued their journey up the tall hill to the Griffith Observatory and its corresponding gym. The climb itself was fairly uneventful, except for Misty who kept watching Ash rather rapturously during the course of the day. Ash however, didn't notice her at all. They would talk once in a while, but it was becoming apparent that her subtle signals weren't getting through.

They took a break in the hot midday sun to rest and have something to eat. They saw that they still had quite a climb to make in order to get to the Observatory, much less the gym. Ash had wandered off with Pikachu, which gave Misty a chance to talk with Brock as they sat on a pair of large rocks.

"Hey Brock," she started, not talking too loud, but suddenly didn't know what to say. After all this time they had been around each other, she felt like she was asking about a total stranger in a bar.

"Yeah, Misty?"

"Ash...ah, what else does he like, apart from pokémon?"

Brock blinked once at her, then did it again because he realized that he heard her correctly.

"You looking to buy him a birthday present or something? That's three months off."

"No, no..." she became a bit flustered and then just let it out. "Brock, I'm interested in him. I want him to notice me, but I don't know what it'll take, short of dressing up as a pokémon." She sighed rather dejectedly.

"Wow," replied Brock. "You've really got it bad for him."

She nodded, then she put her cheeks in her palms and rested her elbows on her knees. "What am I going to do, Brock? I mean, he was willing to take a bullet for me."

"Well, Misty," he started after a long pause. "You're asking the wrong guy. As much as I don't want to fess up to this, I don't luck out with the ladies. I mean, you remember that really clumsy pass I made at Officer Jenny yesterday?"

How could she forget. The policewoman had gotten so angry with him, she was sure that she would haul Brock away in cuffs and put him in a holding cell until he was out of puberty.

"I can't really offer much else. Maybe the direct approach would work with him. Maybe altering your appearance a bit might get his attention. Maybe you're just not quite motivated enough to really step forward to confess how you feel."

Misty looked him for a long moment and nodded slowly. She had been very subtle about her advances, perhaps too subtle. She pulled the tie that held her hair sideways and it dropped below her shoulders. Ash was coming back over to them as she put her hair tie into her pocket. Brock smiled at her.

"Oooo...aren't you a little hottie." Misty flushed a bit, then gave him an amused glare.

"I should let Officer Jenny lock you away next time." Brock chuckled to himself at that as she stood up and went over to talk to Ash. They chatted briefly and Ash walked away. All Misty could do was smack her forehead and grumble to herself about being a twit.

The next day, as the sun rose high in sky, the group decided unconsciously to sleep in that morning. They did get up eventually and set off to keep climbing up to the Griffith Observatory's gym. It was early afternoon when they finally took their first rest break and have lunch. They stopped near a ledge that had an incredible view of the city below. Ash turned to make a "nature call" as Brock continued to look out over the ledge. He saw something odd about the streets below. He went back to his backpack, pulled out his binoculars and returned to the ledge to get a better look at the swarm of people he saw. Misty noticed this and joined him. She didn't feel like waiting for Ash to return.

"I've never seen so many Team Rocket members in one area," said Brock. "They must be looking for someone important."

"I wonder who it might be," said Misty, as she combed out her bright red hair. She had taken on much more concern about her appearance, in hopes that Ash might take some notice. So far, it had not been working and she was trying to think of a different or more direct approach.

"I dunno. It's--" replied Brock. At that moment, he looked up at the hotel windows and saw Jessie's nude form striding over to James's nude form. Brock's jaw just dropped and moaned quietly at the loveliness that Jessie possessed. Misty noticed this and took the binoculars from him. Brock sat there in a love-struck trance.

"What is it, Brock?" she asked as she put the binoculars to her eyes. She spotted the same window and saw James's nudity in the windows. "Oh my," was all she could whisper and felt her whole body become flushed. The window shade had dropped and Ash came over to them at that moment, hearing Team Rocket being mentioned a moment ago. Pikachu wasn't far behind as he was looking for something to nibble on.

"Hey guys. Any ideas about the big crowd of Team Rocket members?" Ash asked, his red and white cap slightly askew. Brock and Misty looked at each other, both of them very red.

"Ah, I just remembered something. Er, I need to...uh, go."

With that, Brock bolted out of sight. Misty stood up too, but much more deliberately and turned to face Ash.

"I wonder what that was about. You'd think he saw another girl or something," Ash said, watching Brock take off. Misty came up very close to him, smiling at him and even still a bit flushed. Her heart was pounding, but she was determined. She had a new inspiration.

"He did," she simply replied. Just as Ash turned to ask another question, she jumped him. Her lips meshed with his as she quickly put her arms around his neck and took him to the ground.

Ash didn't have a chance against her. She finally had her means of expressing her feelings to him.

While Ash was still uncertain about this, he was certainly enjoying himself, so he went with the flow.

Meanwhile, Brock was looking for a private area to cool off, having seen Jessie's nudity. Sweat easily formed on his brow as he finally stopped and rested by a tree, looking back in the direction he came from.

"Heh, maybe I shouldn't limit myself to just cops and nurses," he mumbled to himself. "Even in spite of my hatred of Team Rocket, the girls are mighty fine!"

"Got a thing for Team Rocket girls now?" A female voice said behind him.

He turned his head quickly, practically jumping out of his skin as he saw two Team Rocket members. They both looked about his age and height, but they both had sandy blonde hair. They were dressed in black uniforms, bearing the trademark dark red "R" logo on their chests. The girl was dressed in a black tube dress that accentuated her curves, along with white thigh-high boots and white elbow length gloves in which her hands were behind her back. The guy was wearing a simple black long-sleeved shirt, pants and boots. He pulled his fist back.

"Say goodnight, loverboy."

Brock couldn't even respond as the boy clocked him. His vision clouded, then all went black and he landed on his back with a dull thud.

"That was a lovely punch, Butch," the girl said, smiling slyly at her partner. Butch grinned at her, then looked over her shoulder at something.

"Ah, you're too kind Cassidy...and I think that's the little rodent we're looking for" his gravelly voice replied.

She turned around, the tranquilizer pistol she had been hiding behind her was in front and pointed at Pikachu. Pikachu stopped nibbling on the grass and looked up at the Team Rocket duo. Cassidy pulled the trigger. A strong blast of air propelled the dart into the pokémon's chest. It squealed, and then fell back as Brock had done moments ago. The Rocketeers smiled at each other then walked over to pick up the electric rodent. As they did so, they spotted Misty on top of Ash, kissing passionately. A sly smile overtook Cassidy's face and she quickly and quietly reloaded her pistol. A few silent steps on the thick grass brought her into point blank range of Ash and Misty. She grinned evilly as sarcasm filled her voice.

"Oh look! Lovers smooching!"

Ash and Misty stopped, startled by Cassidy's sudden appearance. There wasn't anything either of them could do as Cassidy quickly pulled the trigger twice and they were both out cold. With a content smile, she looked over at Butch.

"Let's bring these two to the Boss. I know he'd love to meet them."

Ash and Misty later woke up the thundering sounds of helicopter blades spinning overhead. They both looked around as they pulled at the ropes that bound their wrists behind their backs. The helicopter was already airborne, cruising over a set of low clouds in some unknown direction. Both of the large sliding doors were wide open to provide a breathtaking view of the sky and clouds. Butch and Cassidy sat opposite of them; Butch matched up with Ash and Cassidy with Misty. Between the Rocket members was a rubber bag that was tied at the top, but a glass tube protruded from the middle of it. The bag moved with a life of it's own and Ash was barely able to hear the angry, but familiar squeakings of his best friend, Pikachu.

"Oh look, Butch," yelled Cassidy, her voice carrying over the rotor blades and her sly smile becoming more wicked by the moment. "The lovers have awoken from their slumber."

Both Ash and Misty turned beet red, both out of embarrassment and anger. Ash pulled at his bonds and felt them loosen some. He subtly worked to get the rope off his wrists as the Team Rocket duo continued to jeer at them.

"It's just so cute to see puppy love," Cassidy yelled.

"It's just so sweet, I might become diabetic," sneered Butch loudly. Ash was almost finished, he could feel the rope slipping from his wrists as his anger swelled. Misty just glared at the two Rockets.

"You two looked like you were really getting into it." Cassidy leaned forward; her face a picture of sinister malice. "Just between us girls...you were going to do him, weren't you?"

Misty could only look disgustedly at her. Butch stood up and adjusted his pants belt. He had a murderous grin on his face as he leered at Misty.

"Maybe you and I should practice, hm?"

That was all Ash could take. With a loud yell, Ash bolted from his seat and threw a hard punch to Butch's groin. Butch cupped his groin quickly, but with Ash being younger and weaker than him, he wasn't too crippled by the blow. Ash managed to land another one on Butch's face, but that would be his last hit. Butch retaliated with a strong shove that pushed Ash back to his seat. Misty cheered Ash on as Cassidy watched the boys with great amusement. She already knew that Butch would win this fight. She also knew that Butch had needed to beat someone all day and this provided a perfect opportunity. Butch knew this on a more instinctive level as he repeatedly hit Ash. Butch's hard fists were landing on his back, his stomach, the sides of his head; Ash was dizzy from the monstrous blows he took, but determined to fight on. Ash managed to shove Butch away from him. Butch took a couple steps back and Ash clumsily charged after him. Butch easily stepped aside and landed a horrendous punch to Ash's jaw. Ash whirled from the force of the blow and staggered dangerously close to the open door. He spun around, now stumbling backwards, but he threw his biker-gloved hand up to catch the top of the door, so he wouldn't fall out.

But he missed and time stopped.

The mirage of suspended motion seemed to give everyone options to consider: try and save those in danger or witness their results. But no one moved; no one could. Surrealism gave way to reality as time moved forward again. Ash's eyes widened to that of tea saucers as his feet left the door's edge. He looked at Misty in sheer terror; his biker-gloved hand flailed out to reach her, but she was too far away. Misty could only scream in horror as Ash disappeared through the clouds, his terror filled screams quickly fading away as he fell.

TO BE CONTINED...Part II