"Pokemon Destinies: 10 years after"
An AAML Fanfic Story (G rated) written by NiVeK (uh1_nivek@%nojunk%email.com) Delete %nojunk% to email
(Update #4 - HTML reformatted for improved readability and more editing touchups)

She rubbed her eyes and sighed softly in the now empty room. Why was it never like that with Ash and herself? Why didn't she ever come flat out and tell Ash that she loved him? She wondered for a moment until the answers came to her.
She had decided back then to continue to tag along with him in his adventures as long as she could, and in order to keep her sanity told herself that he would probably never feel the same way about her and that it would be better keeping her emotions bottled up.
As a result back then she had built up a barrier she thought she would never ever cross....

She stopped there for a minute, pouted her lips together, and continued thinking, "But I'm not the same person I was so many years ago, and on reflection there are some things I just couldn't understand back then."
One was their seemingly never ending arguments and fights. She knew now that this was her way of venting her feelings for Ash. She sometimes thought about this and wondered if Ash really had any feelings for her. After all, he was only 10 when he first started his journey and surely had no experience with love and "mushy stuff". Not that she was much better off - what little she knew about romance came from watching her sisters.

She sighed again, wishing back then that she had the maturity only age and experience can bring, maybe things would have been different.

The phone on the desk ringing interrupted her reverie.
"Dr Waterflower."
"Hi Doctor, this is Joy. I know that was supposed to be your last patient for the day but I wonder if you could just squeeze one more in. Doctor Proctor's office just called and said he'll be a bit late for his shift. Apparently he's still in surgery."
"Ok, I'll do it. Where's the patient?"
"In waiting room 1."
Misty put down the phone and sighed yet again. Being a doctor really wasn't so bad, except for the long hours and the constant demands of work. She remembered when she first experienced the thrill of being able to help heal the injured. The trio of Ash, Brock & herself ended up at the hospital when Ash's Pikachu somehow managed to get an apple stuck in its throat. Seeing as there was no pokemon center nearby, they took Pikachu to the nearest human hospital where Dr Proctor was able to assist Pikachu and then rope them into becoming his temporary assistants when Team Rocket instigated an accident with a vehicle transporting pokemon. Helping those pokemon had given Misty a real sense of purpose, and was the start to her becoming a doctor all these years later.

As it was now, her true love was medicine (aside from the occasional flashback of Ash). She'd dated off and on, but never really found someone that had that magic "something" like Ash did. Most of her dates went out with her for her attractive physical attributes, but she never really connected mentally with any of them.

She finally got up and left waiting room 3, walking to room 1 to tend to her hopefully last patient of her shift. She pushed the door open, simultaneously starting her routine,
"Hi, I'm Doctor Waterflower, what seems to be the prob..."
"Pika!"
Misty stopped, dead in her tracks, staring at the little yellow electric mouse standing upright on the examining table. It looked exactly like Ash's Pikachu, same intelligent yet cute face, same lighting bolt shaped tail, same adorable voice. It sniffed the air towards her twice.
"Pika Pikachu!" squealed the electric mouse again, jumping the full 5 feet from the examining table into Misty's arms.
"Pikachu, it's really you!" exclaimed Misty, rubbing the back of Pikachu's ears, just like she used to do way back then. Pikachu, for his part, was content to make small purring noises with the occasional "pi" now and then.
Misty looked around the room. It was empty. Misty knew, despite the years that had passed, that Ash would never leave Pikachu all alone where he could be potentially grabbed by thieves, more specifically Team Rocket.
She stared at Pikachu, who looked back at her intensely.
"Pikachu, where is..."
A male voice behind her said "Ash?"
Misty spun around. There, in the doorway behind her, was Ash Ketchum, all grown up.

Time froze for Misty as she looked at him. He was now taller than she was and his build was that of a young athletic man. He still wore his trademark cap/jacket/jeans after all these years. She looked at his face and found it familiar in spite of the fact that he had only a hint of the babyface he had when he was 10.

She stood there staring at Ash, as if he wasn't real and would vanish in front of her eyes if she blinked. The layers of memory began to peel back...

...she remembered that fateful day almost ten years ago when she finally decided to leave Ash, after three years of following him through his adventures. She was 15, he was almost 14 (the differences in birth dates accounting for the age difference). She was bored of their neverending routine - wandering through forests, stopping at pokemon centers, and challenging gym leaders.
She'd learnt as much as she finally decided she wanted to about water pokemon. She kept thinking more and more of life without these constant pokemon battles or the constant uprooting as they traveled from town to town. She wanted to learn more about medicine, try giving her sisters in Cerulean City another chance, and maybe become a doctor. There was only one problem.

She couldn't think of living without Ash.

Her resolve finally came to her after a dinnertime campfire talk with Brock while Ash & Pikachu were away on a nighttime Pokemon wilderness training exercise. She just sat by the campfire, mulling over her thoughts while picking at her food. Brock had noticed her unusual behavior and asked her what was wrong. Tormented by her desires and the conflicting emotions they released she suddenly broke down.

Brock was quite surprised at her reaction to a simple "What's wrong?". Nevertheless he handed her a box of tissues and asked "Do you want to talk about it?". When after a couple of sobs she didn't reply he said "It's about Ash, isn't it?" to which she nodded.
Brock said, "You like him, don't you?"
Misty blew her nose loudly, and out of frustration threw her hands up in the air and said "Is it THAT obvious?"
Brock grinned and said, "Well, I have seen the way you look at him sometimes. I've seen something in your eyes that reminds me of myself when I see a pretty girl". He blushed at the thought.
Misty sniffed a bit and then said "Brock, I'm thinking about making some decisions, but of course Ash has to get in the way! He can't even stay out of my mind now! It's bad enough I have to put up with him every day."
"What's on your mind?"
"I'm think I'm tired of this life. I want to return to Cerulean City and maybe become a doctor. I think I've done enough wandering for the time being. I just don't think my destiny involves pokemon any longer."
"So the problem is leaving Ash?"
"Yeah, I really want to be with Ash, but I know we'd both ruin our dreams that way. He's determined to be a Pokemon master. I want to tell him how I really feel, but I can't ask him to give up his dreams to be with me, that's if he even feels anything for me! At the same time I don't want to deny my own dreams. Oh, Brock, why do choices have to be so hard sometimes?"
"Life can be tough", replied Brock, "but something tells me Ash likes you too."
Misty started sobbing again, much to Brock's dismay.
"Don't you see", she said after a few moments, "that'll only make it more difficult. It'll be hard enough leaving Ash if he didn't like me, but if he had true feelings for me..."
She was unable to finish her statement at the thought.

Brock pondered over her dilemma for a few moments. He had always thought of both Ash and Misty as his younger brother and sister and it always hurt him to see either of them in distress. His eyes squinted more than usual as he tried to think of a solution.
"I think maybe you should tell Ash how you feel and let it play out from there", Brock finally said, "You owe it to yourself to find out."
Misty wiped another tear and sighed, "Maybe you're right. I'm so mixed up I don't know what to do."
"Well, think about it as an option. Or I can try and talk to Ash to find out what his feelings are."
"No!", Misty shouted, "If anyone should talk to him it should be me. Promise me that you'll never tell him about this conversation."
"Okkkay" Brock mumbled.
"Brock!" half-screamed Misty, with fire in her eyes, "I mean it! Swear to me you'll never tell him!"
"Okay, I swear, I swear" Brock quickly said. He was smart enough to back off whenever Misty really got fired up about anything.
"Good. Now let's get some sleep before Ash returns tomorrow" said Misty, wiping away the final tears.

But Misty didn't sleep. She lay awake all night, wondering which decision she should make and how the future might be affected as a result. As Brock lay across the campfire from her, dozing away, she eventually came to a decision...

Ash looked at the beautiful young woman staring at him. She was definitely not the scrawny girl he used to know - she was taller, not as thin, and her figure was definitely more womanly. He had left Pikachu in the waiting room while he went to use the drinking fountain he passed near the entrance. He'd opened the door to hear Pikachu cry out and jump into the arms of the woman dressed as a doctor. He couldn't see her features as her back was turned to him, but swallowed and thought to himself, "Is that Misty?" Then as the young woman spoke there was no doubt in his mind. She was saying "Pikachu, where is..." when he blurted out his name. She spun around and as he took in his first look of her he thought of the memory of her leaving...

... he was returning as dawn broke from an overnight pokemon training session with Pikachu. They were both pretty beat, and wanted nothing else but to sleep for a couple of hours.  Upon returning to camp he immediately got in his sleeping bag and fell asleep. He didn't even notice Misty was gone until later in the day when he awoke and Brock told him she had left to take care of a family problem and would not be back until she had gotten it sorted out. The way in which Brock said it didn't cause much alarm on his part either. He just made it sound like it was no big deal and that they should continue on with their travels. And so Ash did, bolstered by the fact that Pikachu's training went well and that he could use a break from Misty's seemingly endless verbal harassment. But later that night as they stopped to camp for the night his inner emotions were ones of sadness and longing, as he found a letter from Misty in his backpack, where she must had put it there before she left. It read simply,

"Dear Ash,

As Brock would have told you by now there's been a family matter back home that I have to tend to. I don't know how long this will take, so in the meantime please continue on with your travels - I'll catch up with you guys one of these days! Don't stop believing in yourself and in your dreams - and work hard towards those dreams, don't let anyone get in the way of your destiny.

P.S. Don't worry about the bike, I was going to buy a new one anyway.

Misty"

He was astonished when he first read it, tears trickling down his cheeks. He knew that Misty was not coming back, he'd never get the chance to tell her how he really felt about her, that he secretly liked her despite the fact that the two of them were always arguing and fighting. If only he was nicer to her and had worked up the courage to tell her those three words he'd thought about so often...

Instantly he was seized by the desire to go wake up Brock and the two of them start for Cerulean City immediately. Then he reread the final sentence she had wrote:
"Don't stop believing in yourself and in your dreams - and work hard towards those dreams, don't let anyone get in the way of your destiny."
He thought about this for a minute. The pokemon regional qualifiers were in a few days time. They would miss the qualifiers if they headed to Cerulean City, but he felt he had to see Misty again, tell her what he felt, miss the qualifiers as a result...
"Don't let anyone get in the way of your destiny."
With a heavy heart, he sighed and made his decision.

... and it all happened so fast, he thought as he stood there watching the woman he once knew as a girl, his winning the regional qualifiers and facing new battles and challenges. By the time he got around to planning to visit Misty he found out that the Waterflower Gym was sold to a new owner. Then before he could track down Misty's whereabouts came more tournaments, battles, and preparations. He'd both won and lost battles over the years, and realised just how hard he'd have to train to become truly good enough. Often as he found himself walking out of a gym after a battle he'd think of Misty and remember her parting wisdom. Now, at the end of it all he was a Pokemon master - he'd achieved what he'd dreamed about for so long.
He thought such an achievement would make him complete, but he realised that he still felt so... empty inside.

He had mentioned this to Brock, who he sought out shortly after his crowning victory. It was then that Brock finally revealed to him the details of Misty's sudden departure. Brock related the entire story, including how he awoke to find Misty gone and Ash sleeping away. Brock told him about the note that Misty had left for him one of his cooking pots (where Ash wouldn't find it by mistake). She wrote that she was wrong to even contemplate disturbing both their destinies and that she would have to find a way to live without Ash.
In any case, she continued, she didn't think she had the courage to face Ash and maybe her leaving would be the best thing for both of them. She told Brock he was to tell Ash that she'd gone away on family matters and reminded him not to reveal their conversation to Ash. She also mentioned that she'd also left Ash a note. Finally she thanked Brock for looking out for her and asked him a favour, namely, to look after Ash and help him fulfill his dream, which to his credit Brock did.

Ash was dumbfounded by what Brock told him.
"So did you really like her, Ash?" asked Brock, after letting Ash have a few moments to himself.
"Y-Yes", he stuttered out, "and I think I still do. Brock, if only she had said something, if only I had said something..."
"Would you have changed your future then for her? Given up your dreams of being a Pokemon Master? Ended your travels and followed her around? Watched her dreams become reality while yours never did?"
Ash's face clouded over with uncertainty. He said nothing.
Brock spoke again, "And do you think she would have been happy knowing you did that for her? You know Misty as well as I. She's not that selfish, deep down inside."
Ash gave a small smile at that thought before replying.
"So what are you saying? That she did what was best for both of us? That it was our destiny the way things worked out?"
"I don't know, Ash. Maybe it was. Who really knows what life has planned for us? All I know is that I still can't get a date with any of the Officer Jennys." Brock sighed at the thought.
The two friends said nothing for a while, thinking about times past and the present.
Finally Ash spoke.
"I have to see her again, Brock. I have to find out what happened to her. I have to see if she still feels the same way about me. I mean, I still do. If not I want to at least be able to say a proper goodbye."
Ash stood up from the table and turned, ready to leave.
"Uh, before you leave Ash..."
He turned back to face Brock, who had a sheepish look on his face.
"You think she's gonna be real mad at me for telling you?"

"Ash?"
Her voice brought him back to the present.
"Hi, Misty, how have you be..."
But he didn't get to finish as she put Pikachu back down on the table and rushed over and embraced him. Holding her like that, Ash felt a wave of emotion rush over him, and he had to close his eyes for a second.

They sat in the hospital cafeteria, away from the rest of customers. Pikachu was busily eating ketchup from one of the almost empty squeeze bottles on the table next to them. After their embrace in the waiting room and the half expected remarks about looking so different Misty suggested they walk down to the cafeteria to catch up on old times.
"So how did you find me?", Misty started off what she was sure to be an interesting conversation. For some reason she felt more alert than usual.
"Well, it wasn't easy. I managed to track down Daisy after she and your other sisters sold the gym. She told me that after you returned to Cerulean City things didn't go too well between you guys and you eventually moved out. She said you made up your mind to study human medicine. From then on it was only a matter of phone calls."
"...and here I am today, in Celadon City and a doctor. Sometimes I still can't believe how things worked out."
Ash was sure he heard a slight tone of regret in her voice as she said that.
"So, um, that receptionist, she reminded me a lot of Nurse Joy" he said after a second.
"Joy? Oh yes, she's the second cousin of one of the Nurse Joy sisters," she replied, "except she decided to help take care of people, rather than Pokemon."
"Well, at least one of them is different from the rest" stated Ash.
"So what about yourself Ash? What's happened to you in the past few years?"

Ash blushed slightly. Despite becoming a Pokemon master, he'd never really gotten accustomed to telling people his title. He thought to himself that he'd matured since he began his adventure, when he'd have been only too happy to shout out to everyone he met, "I'm a Pokemon Master!".

"I eventually fulfilled my dream a few weeks ago", Ash quietly said.
"You're a Pokemon master?", Misty exclaimed. She sat up as she said it.
"Yeah, I'm surprised you never saw it in the newspapers" Ash replied.
"I - I stopped reading the Pokemon Sports section after a while" she managed to say.
Ash didn't reply. He was trying to figure out what her statement meant when Pikachu, having emptied the ketchup bottle from the other table spoke to Ash.
"Pi Pika Kachu"
"Huh? Oh sure Pikachu, here you go". Ash handled Pikachu the ketchup bottle that was on their table.
Misty looked at Pikachu, with ketchup all over his mouth and paws and smiled, "I guess he still has a thing for ketchup, huh?"
"Yeah, I can't figure it out either."
They both watched Pikachu slurp up ketchup for a moment or two.

Ash thought, "Well, this hasn't been going too bad so far, at least she hasn't hit me yet!". He spoke,
"So what about family? How's the husband and kids?"
"Me? No, no, there was uh, never anybody interesting around" she said, maybe a little too quickly, "What about you?"
"No, same here. Always on the move, never any time to settle or to focus on anything other than the next challenge."
Misty thought she sensed some sort of resentment in his voice.
Ash felt his heart beat faster, even though he wasn't sure whether it was from anticipation or apprehensiveness.
"How long are you in town for, anyways?" Misty asked.
 "I'm, ah, not exactly sure" replied Ash as he thought to himself, "Maybe the time is now?"
"Oh, I thought you might be here for just a few days..." Misty slowly trailed off.
"Well, I haven't even checked into a hotel as yet. I came straight here from the airport. I do have about 3 weeks until my next battle, but I haven't decided what to do with the time yet."
Now it was Misty's turn to figure out what he meant by that. She decided to go for it.
"Ash, why don't you stay with me, I mean, I've got a perfectly good guest room that I keep clean but never gets much use. That is, if you want to." she said, slightly blushing.
"Pi Pi Pika!" exclaimed Pikachu, happy at the thought of being able to spent more time with Misty.
"You're sure it wouldn't be inconveniencing you in any way? Pikachu sometimes zaps me when he says I snore too loudly. I don't want to disturb you or put you through any trou..."
"Ash, don't worry - it's okay really" she insisted, with just a hint of fire in her eyes. He knew he was overruled at that point and readily accepted her offer.

They made small talk during the drive to Misty's apartment, she pointed out all the customary landmarks and points of interest that people do when they have visitors around. During the drive they both gradually got into talking to each other as longtime friends do. Ash helped her make dinner, and he was amused to find out that she still didn't like carrots or peppers. Afterwards they both attended to the dirty wares and Ash took a shower and put on his favourite robe. He was turning back the bedcovers in the guest room when Misty knocked on the door.
"Come in"
"Hi Ash, just bringing you an extra pillow for Pikachu."
"Thanks. I think he's in the kitchen, probably looking for more ketchup or something."
She watched him fiddle with the bedcovers a bit.
"Ash, do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"Why'd you come to see me?"
Ash thought for a moment.
"I wanted to know what became of you after you left. I just wanted to see how you were doing", he finally said.
Misty continued to look at him. Ash felt he had to say more.
"And I wanted to talk to you, talk about the times we had."
Misty walked over to the bed where Ash was sitting and sat down facing him.
"Ash, there's something I have to tell you about my leaving."
Ash started to say "I know" but she put her index finger to his lips, silencing him.
"Don't talk, Ash... just listen. I've felt so guilty for not telling you. You deserved to know..."
She buried her head in his shoulders, not daring to look at his face as she spoke:
"There was no family emergency. I left because of many things. I was tired of pokemon. I wanted to learn about medicine. I missed my sisters. And..."
She took a breath before continuing,
"I loved you. I've always loved you, but was too scared to tell you. The bike was only an excuse to be with you. I mean, I know you didn't love me, after all the only thing I did was harass you and we were always arguing. I'm sorry." She broke down, unable to speak any further.
He held her for a few seconds, then slowly raised her chin with his finger.

She was shocked at what she saw and heard next.

There were tears streaming down his face as he said "I love you. I was too shy to tell you. I cried the night I found your note. I came back here to tell you how I felt and still feel about you.  Brock recently told me what happened. I have always loved you, Misty. I was such a fool for not following you after you left."
"No Ash, don't say that. You had your destiny to fulfill and I had mine. I couldn't allow you to give up what you believed."
They both held each other and cried silently for a few moments.
"So what happens now?" said Misty, regaining her composure somewhat.
"Will you marry me?", Ash found himself replying.
"Yes, my soul mate."
"You won't kill Brock at the wedding, will you?" he smiled, through tear filled eyes.
"He brought you to me, didn't he?"
They kissed passionately, at long last.

As Pikachu watched from the doorway, he could be heard to exclaim softly, "Pika Pi".
Translation?
"Finally!"

The End.

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Author Notes:
1. Yeah, I know Misty's lastname has not yet been officially revealed in the anime. However, I've assumed (like other fanfic authors) that her surname is "Waterflower" (taken from the episode "The Waterflowers of Cerulean City").
2. The bit about Dr Proctor and the hospital incident is from an anime episode. I can't remember the name of the episode right now, but it certainly gave me a bit of inspiration in thinking about "What would Misty do if she left the group?"
3. Pikachu's fondness for ketchup also comes from one of the episodes (can't remember the name of this one either). I have tried to take known bits of info from the anime and work them into the story for added realism.
4. You'll notice I left Togepi out of this fanfic entirely. This is because at the time I wrote it (2000) I didn't know if or when Togepi would evolve (or be written out of the show) so I just decided the easiest way to deal with this is to omit Togepi. In any case the story's focus is between Ash & Misty, so Togepi would just be a bit player in this story.
5. Please, gimme some feedback on this story. I've spent quite a bit of time planning, writing, re-reading and editing until I was satisfied with the version you have just read. All comments, whether good or bad, are welcomed (just keep it constructive).