There Is No Happy Ending

Okay, I'm here to tell a story. I don't know if I would call it a love story, but it definitely
involves love. There's no doubt about that. A love between two best friends. It's a true
story, a true tragedy. I'd like to start out by asking forgiveness for any details that might
be lacking in this story, for I was not there, and I am only writing what was relayed to me
from various people.

All right, well first I'd like to tell you who these two best friends were. One was Ashton
Ketchum, the current World Champion, the other was Misty Yawa, his best friend. Her
name is probably not as familiar to you, but I'm sure you've all heard of her before, at
one time or another. Anyway, one day, from what I understand, they both had some kind
of silly bet going on between them, which was typical behavior for these two 16-year
olds. I'm not sure on the specifics of the bet, but I'm positive it had to do with Pokemon.
Well, Ash lost this bet, making him Misty's slave for the next few days. Knowing them,
and knowing her, I'd say Ash had his work cut out for him.

Okay, so now Ash was doing every little(and every big) chore that Misty could think of..
She was definitely taking full advantage of the situation. However, what Misty wasn't
aware of at the time was that Ash was coming down with a horrible case of the flu. While
he did mention to her constantly that he felt weak, and light headed, she just brushed
these comments off as him "trying to get out of their bet." I mean, it was understandable
that she didn't believe him. It does sound like something Ash would do to escape doing
manually labor which included: carrying many heavy packages all around the mall, doing
the many bundles of laundry that accumulated from Misty's shopping spree, and
basically waiting on her hand and foot, without a moments rest. After all, when would
she get such an opportunity again? The answer? Never, but I'll explain more about that
later.

In the meantime, Ash was becoming sicker by the day(I believe the consequences of the
bet was a week-long thing, I'm not sure). It got to the point where he could barely walk
up the stairs without getting extremely nauseous. He was fed up with the bet at this time,
as Misty was now taking it to the extreme with him not only caring for her, but all her
Pokemon too. He charged angrily into her room at the Pokemon center where they were
staying that night, and demanded that she end this bet at once, because he was sick. He
was now aware of his illness and pleaded with her to "touch his burning forehead if you
don't believe me." She, of course, refused.

"You're just trying to get out of our bet, Ash Ketchum! What's wrong? Not man enough
to handle a little hard work? You're so use to your mommy doing everything for you, that
you can't do anything by yourself! Fine, if you want to quit, just quit. Nobody's holding a
gun to your head to do this. I won't care if you give up, but I do care that you continue to
make stupid excuses just so I can let you off the hook. I'm not giving in this time. If you
don't want to look like a wimp, you are going to have to follow through with the bet that
you started."

Ash could have quit right there and then, but being who he was, he didn't. Her words
stung him. She always knew just what to say to push his buttons, and she knew how
competitive he was.

"Fine, he said "I won't quit the bet we made, but I'd just like you to know.....that these
days have been some of the worst days of my life."

Misty was a little taken aback, but she quickly recovered. "Good, you didn't think I was
going to make it easy for you, did you?" Misty asked proudly.

There was a tone of resentment, and sadness in Ash's voice.
"No...nothing is ever easy with you."

Misty never realized it, but when Ash mentioned that those were the worst days of his
life, he wasn't referring to the bet. No, what he had in mind was the last year, or so.

Pikachu watched on as his two favorite humans once again argued. It was getting to him.
He hated to see them fight, and lately that's all they ever did. They couldn't even have
simple conversations anymore more without breaking out into screaming matches.

See, the thing, I believe, was that Misty loved Ash with all her heart, and Ash loved
Misty, but neither of them had ever expressed these feelings to each other. Frustration
was building up inside them, and they didn't know a healthy way to let it out so....they
just would argue. It was getting pretty horrible to be around them, and to be around each
other. It was sad because they could have done so much with there relationship, and they
could have been so happy. If only they were more honest with each other. If only they
weren't so insecure. Things might have turned out differently......But they didn't.

Later that day Misty walked into Ash's room just in time to see Ash pass out and fall to
the floor. She was in total shock. Pikachu was desperately calling out his name. It had
obviously been there to witness Ash's dramatic change in health. Apparently Ash,
moments before he collapsed, had been complaining about being light-headed again to
Pikachu. Misty ran to Ash to see what was wrong, but she jumped back when Pikachu
angrily let off a Thundershock in her direction. Misty was frightened as Pikachu stood
protectively in front of Ash, and growled at her menacingly.

Misty knew that Pikachu must be placing the blame on her, and she tried to reason with
it. "Pikachu, I understand that you're upset. I'm upset too. But you have to let me see
what's wrong with Ash. I only want to help." Tears continuously flowed down Misty's
face as Pikachu began to back away, and she began to slowly approach Ash. This time
she did put her hand on his forehead. He was burning up. Distraught, she called for an
ambulance, which arrived quickly and took him to the hospital.

Misty and Pikachu rode along with Ash in the back of the ambulance. They were now
both sitting in the hospital lobby, waiting anxiously for information from the doctor. The
doctor eventually told them that Ash was going to be okay. He just had the flu, and he
was in a state of exhaustion. I'm sure Misty's heart sank at those words. He would need
to stay in the hospital for a couple of days, because of how weak he was. Misty simply
nodded as the doctor told her that Ash was resting, and she would be able to see him in
about an hour.

Misty told Pikachu that she was "relieved he was okay." However, I'm sure she must
have felt extremely guilty. Probably blaming the incident on herself. Probably trying to
imagine what Ash would say to her once she saw him. Would he be angry with her?
Unfortunately, he would.

Once she got the okay, she entered his hospital room. The expression on his face was in
no way unreadable. He was obviously upset, but for a much different reason than Misty
probably imagined.

"Ash,.......I-there are no words to express how sorry I am." Misty was acting
uncharacteristically shy, and nervous. Maybe even frightened.

He answered back in a hard tone of voice.
"I can't do this with you anymore, Misty."

She was obviously confused. It was written all over her face, but I'm sure fright increased
in her at that moment.

"I hate what our friendship has become. We can't even talk to each other anymore
without getting into a fight. It's worse now than when we first started traveling together.
I'm sick of it. I don't like being with you anymore. I don't even want to wake up in the
morning because I know I'm not going to have a good day.....and I know the reason why.
And I hate the reason why. Our friendship isn't even a friendship anymore. It's just
constant fighting, and I just want it to end."

As Ash spoke, he spoke so coldly, you could tell that Misty was on the verge of a mental
breakdown. She was losing him. She loved him, and she was losing him.

"What I'm trying to say is...I don't think we should travel together anymore."

Misty's eyes were glazed over. It was as if she wasn't there. Her body was there, but her
spirit, her mind was somewhere else.

Ash nervously played with the sheets of his hospital bead, swallowing hard as Misty
stared at him blankly. He could see tears dropping from her eyes. He could see that she
was upset, but he was upset too. Very upset.

Pikachu looked on, in shock and horror. He had imagined this scene many times in his
head over the last year, but he had never wanted to see it played out in real life.

Ash didn't know what else to say because Misty wasn't responding, but he did notice that
she had started to tremble slightly.

"I promise that I will pay you back for your bike eventually. You have my word on that. I
just, I just think it's time we go our separate ways.....Misty?"

Ash's voice had softened considerably, as his own words began to sink in, but Misty's
face still remained blank. I honestly don't know what she was thinking during that
moment, but I could guess that her heart must have been ripped to pieces.

Ash watched as she shakily exited the room. Nothing. Not one word did she say. It's
anybody's guess what she was thinking in those few minutes of intense emotions. She
was upset, angry, lost, depressed, sad...I guess we will never know her thought process,
or her feelings at the time. What we do know is that she was in love with Ash. She had
always been in love with Ash, and had only been in love with Ash, and her greatest fear
had suddenly come true.

Ash sat in his room, rethinking what he had said. Thinking that maybe he overreacted.
Maybe they could have worked something out. Maybe they could have tried to rebuild
their friendship. Maybe he could have told her how he really felt. These thoughts raced
through his mind just before he heard a loud scream. The scream that would change his
life forever.

It was in the paper the next morning. The doctor said "she was lucky to be alive. Misty
Yawa, for some unknown reason(we later found out the reason), had entered into an
emergency room, and shot her self full of one of the anesthetics that were lying around.
She promptly collapsed, with the needle still sticking out of her chest.. She must have
grabbed on to the medical equipment table as she was collapsing, because one of the
surgeons said they found her lying on the floor, several tools lying on, and around
her....and a scalpel wedged in her head."

It sounded like a horrific sight. Ash couldn't to this day, describe it for me. All he would
tell me was that it was his fault. "I was just as much to blame as she was, but I dumped it
all on her. It's my fault, I wasn't a good friend to her."

I'm sure you all now know which Misty Yawa I am referring to now. The miracle Misty.
She survived that incident, but there was a large lesion to her brain. She was not able to
walk, and she was partly retarded. The doctors said that there was no memory loss, but
for some reason she was having difficulty identifying people. She never did remember
Ash, but maybe that was more emotional, than mental.

After the incident Ash fell into a state of depression. He continued on in his journey.
Training, and competing in competitions was the only way he could keep Misty out of his
head. It pained him greatly to see her like that. He barely saw her after the accident
happened. He claimed that he just couldn't bare to look at her, let alone talk to her. After
some advice from a friend of his, Brock Slate,  during his Mastery competition, he
decided that if he was to win, he would go see Misty......He won.

Ash convinced himself that he was unhappy because there was no closure between him
and Misty. He was sure that things would be better after he visited her. Perhaps her
condition was worse in his mind than in reality.

Being in the care of her sisters, Misty lived a good life. She was well taken care of, and
she seemed to be happy. She would usually ask to be taken to the pool so she could be
entertained by the water Pokemon. Ash did visit her and he was lead towards the pool.

He watched her from afar as she smiled at the Pokemon, and sometimes clapped her
hands after a special trick they performed. Ash cautiously walked up to Misty who was
forced to be in a wheelchair. She didn't notice his presence until he spoke.

"These are some beautiful Pokemon you have here."

Misty looked up at the figure standing beside her.

"Yeah. They're pretty. I like pretty Pokemon. All water Pokemon are pretty."

A rush of emotions overcame Ash as soon as he heard her speak. Her words were slurred,
and her thoughts were so childlike, so....not Misty. But it was Misty. This was also a
major reason he didn't want to see her. He didn't know if he could handle it.

He held back his tears as he attempted to have a conversation with her, but if he had
asked her sisters, he'd know that that was an impossible task.

"You like Pokemon?"

"Yes, water Pokemon are pretty."

Ash crouched down to her level, and spun her chair around so she was facing him.
He looked into her eyes, and tried to gain her attention.

"Misty, do you know who I am?"

Misty studied his features, just for a bit, but she pleasantly replied back "no."

Ash's heart sank. The more he looked at her, the more her regretted going to see her.

"I'm Ash. I was your best friend." Anybody would have been able to hear the desperation
in his voice, except for Misty.

"Turn me around, I c-can't see the Pokemon." She stared at him blankly, not saying
another word until he turned her back around to face the pool.

He heard her clapping happily as he swiftly exited the gym, without saying a word to
Misty, or her sisters. Misty didn't even know he had left,.......she hadn't even known he
had come.

Several years passed since that visit. He never went back to see Misty again, but he has
called a few times to see how she is. Ash was now 28, he was married to Melody, a
spunky woman who had fallen in love with Ash during his stay in the Orange Islands.
They had already known each other from childhood, but after Melody heard Ash's story
about Misty she offered him comfort in her arms. I don't know if Ash ever loved Melody
the way Melody loved him, but they did get married a few short months after they were
reunited. They ended up having two children. The oldest boy was named Matthew, and
the younger boy was Daniel.

Ash is the most successful trainer in the world. After winning the world championship
last week, I was sent to his house to interview him.

"So, World Champion, you must be pretty proud huh?"

"I guess, I mean, I only ever aimed to be a Pokemon Master, I never expected to go this
far. It's strange," he said, scratching the back of his head nervously.  

"But strange in a good way, right?" I asked.

"Well I guess so. I just have to get use to all the attention."

"You better get use to it fast. People are calling you the luckiest guy on the planet. World
Champion, a big house, a beautiful wife, two energetic boys. Future World Champions,
maybe?"

Ash chuckled. "You never know."

"Seriously, you define perfection for a lot of people. You always seem so happy!"

Ash's mood noticeably changed at my remark.

".....You are happy, aren't you?"

He turned his head away from me for a moment, as if to compose himself. He then turned
back to me, his face expressing serious sadness. I had never seen such sadness.

"I...I don't-I honestly don't know what happiness is anymore. If I was happy I doubt I'd
be able to realize it. I lost the feeling of happiness.....a long time ago. I haven't been truly
happy since I was a kid."

He wasn't looking at me anymore. He was staring at the ground, as if he was trying to
hide something. Now I'm debating with myself whether to put this into the article or not.

My thoughts were interrupted when his two children came charging into the room.

"Dad!" The younger boy, Daniel cried out.

"Mom said you would take us for a practice session with our Pokemon in the woods!"
Matthew declared.

Ash looked at them uneasily, he then turned his attention to me once again.

"Is it all right if we end this here?"

"Yeah, sure, I think I have enough," I tell him while thinking 'I have more than I ever
wanted.'

"All right, lets go!" Ash cried half-heartedly as the kids raced out the door. Ash following
slowly behind.

"Ash, wait!" I wanted to say something, I wanted to help.

He turned around to face me.

"You told me when we were kids that you always followed your heart. That you will
always follow your heart.....Why have you stopped following your heart?"

He was silent. I was sure he was ignoring me as he turned to walk out the door. But then-

"There are just some things even my heart can't deal with."

And with that said he walked out the door.

A few weeks after my interview with him I found out that Melody was divorcing him.
Apparently she had been cheating on him for months because he wasn't paying enough
attention to her. Melody was also getting custody of the kids. Ash had refused to change
his work schedule to spend time with them, and while Melody was a cheater she was also
an excellent mother, and she loved her kids dearly.

I'm not surprised things worked out the way they did with Ash's family. I could tell his
heart wasn't in it, the way it should have been. I'd like to say that Ash has met someone
knew, and he is finally happy, but that is not the case. However, on my recent trip to
Cerulean City I happened to run into one of the Yawa sisters. We had a chat about a
recent, and frequent visitor to the gym lately.

Apparently Ash has been spending his weekends with Misty. Nothing much is said
between the two, but it does look like they are having a pleasant time together. Misty sits
in her wheelchair watching the water Pokemon, and Ash, with Pikachu on his lap, sits
beside her. Sometimes he steals glances at her as she watches the Pokemon in fascination,
and if you look closely you'll see his hand intertwine with hers every now and then. I'm
not sure if Misty notices this, but I could have swore her smile got brighter during that
moment..

I wish I could say that it was a happy ending, but at this time that is up to fate to decide.
And perhaps it isn't an ending at all. Perhaps it's just.......a pleasant beginning.

*Top of the page reads : Tracey Sketchit - Part-time People-Watcher for the Pallet
Chronicle*

*Bottom of the page reads: Acknowledgments: Brock Slate, Daisy Yawa, Lily Yawa,  
Violet Yawa, Delia Ketchum, Prof. Samuel Oak, Ash Ketchum, Pikachu*



A/N: Well....that was different for me. I seriously hate this story. It was depressing to
write, and incredibly sad to think up. I actually cried while imagining this! But I guess if
you cry when reading a story then it can't be all bad, right? I hope it's not all bad,
anyway. Okay, well that's my opinion on the story. Now I want to hear yours. Did you
like it? Please review if you did. I tried my best not to make the story have a happy
ending, because I wanted it to live up to the title. I didn't find the ending happy,
personally, but you might have a different opinion. Again, please review, because this
really is a great change from my usual stories, and I'd like to know that I didn't totally
screw up with this thing.  Thanks in advance to all who review. ^_^