Chapter 4

Misty had set off in a hurry, and had not seriously considered how long it would take nor the difficulties she was bound to face on the journey. now though, she was beginning to realise that, just perhaps, this might be a little more difficult that she had first thought. she carried on though, despite the fact that it had already rained heavily whilst she was on the road, and by the time she had found shelter she was completely soaked.

After leaving Cerulean city Misty had headed south-east, before branching east on the cross-roads that would take her towards Saffron. Sabrina had, kindly, leant her some spare clothes for she was still adorned in the damp garments that she had been wearing several days ago. on top of that, Sabrina had given Misty enough money to catch the express ferry to Sinnoh; news that left Misty overjoyed and only Sabrina’s psychic powers had prevented Misty from hugging her there and then, however once Misty had showered and changed she managed it.

the feeling of relief that came after Sabrina had offered to pay for the trip was so deep that Misty was elated for a very long time. she had never actually considered giving up, yet it had been enough to stop her in her tracks when she thought about the weight of the task that she had set upon herself. now though she was entering Lavender town; the small and newly built port there would be the best place to catch a boat headed for the north, and it also meant that she would not have to spend as long as she would have done had she boarded from Vermillion. she had never really trusted the old classic SS. ships that were most commonly used in Vermillion anyway, not since the Saint Anne had sunk trapping her, Ash and Brock inside.
that last thought kept Misty occupied for a long time as she thought about all of the adventures she and Ash had been on, been together. they had been fun times; she had remembered them all and would never forget them.

she arrived in Lavender town in good time, not spending more than two days on the road between Saffron and her destination, and after a quick stop at the Pokemon centre to rest both herself and her Pokemon she headed for the port.
unlike Ash; Misty regarded the Pokemon centres as a relief; however that wasn’t to say that she was no going through the same thing.
Whilst Pokemon centres provided a comfy bed and a place to sleep and rest; Misty had been unable since she started out to sleep on the road. once upon a time, with Ash and Brock…or ok it was much more Ash’s company she missed, but the point was that now she felt so lonely on the road that sleep was scarce and far between. she needed company, she needed someone with her…she needed Ash with her. alone as she now was, she just couldn’t drift off as she used to do. everything made her jump when she was alone at night, every chirrup of a bird to rustling leaf – all ambient noise seemed to keep her alert and on guard, and more than once she had released Staryu to go and survey the area, just to make sure…make sure of what she was unsure, but when her Pokemon returned (whoever it was she had sent out) she would rarely recall it, preferring to have the company and it was only then that she was able to finally drift off, though her dreams were always troubled.

a loud blast of a fog horn caught her attention, and as she came out of her thoughts Misty realised that she had, in fact, been walking much farther into Lavender town than she had originally anticipated.

ahead of her the landscape of the town had changed significantly since the last time she had been there, which had been on passing through with Ash and Brock. for one thing the town was much bigger, but also a large archway had been cut into the rock that had used to border the town, and through the arch Misty could see blue sky and, much more aesthetically pleasing in her opinion, the shimmering blue ocean.
it was also considerably busier than it used to have been, and most of this people traffic was focussed around the large archway, with many of the older buildings still maintaining their quiet and sombre impression.

Misty joined the throng of people walking through the arch and emerged into a large area of open space, open save for the masses of people going to and coming from the large port and dock yard that had been established.
‘small port’ as Misty had thought it to be, it turned out that the term was an understatement as what was now spread out in front of her would easily rival Vermillion from what she could see now, and there were at least ten large passenger liners either making there way to, or sailing away from the port.

“express to Sinnoh please” Misty asked politely to the rather tired and stressed looking man at the large ticket office

“luggage?” he asked, looking her up and down suspiciously

“err just me and my Pokemon” Misty answered

“passport?”

“yep just a sec” Misty said, rummaging through her small red bag and withdrawing the papers which had never left their abode at the bottom of the red draw-string bag, just in case she should have to travel at last minute, like this for example.

“hmm…it’s a bit tatty” the man said, surveying the small booklet closely and peering hard both at Misty and what she assumed must be her passport photo.

“hope you’re not talking about the picture” Misty answered; humour which failed to rub off on the man who just gave her a cold look

“this seems to be in order” he said finally, handing the passport back to her, “odd for a gym leader to be travelling as far as Sinnoh though I must say”

“well I’ve got…business to attend to” Misty replied, not thinking that her reasons for travelling should be any concern of this weedy little man

“mind if I ask what?” the man asked

“yes, as it happens, it’s personal” Misty replied.

“uh huh, tell that to security” the man muttered, “money please” he held out a hand, but Misty did not oblige

“excuse me?!” she said, indignant; how dare he speak to her like that?!

“I said money please” the man replied flatly

“no, no you said something else too!” Misty said. she was attracting a lot of glances from people both in the lines either side of her, and the growing one behind her.
“I’m not a terrorist! and I don’t deserve to be interrogated by a snotty little man like you. now either you take back what you said, or so help me, this cubicle will not protect you!”

“is there a problem?” came a deep voice. Misty wheeled around and came face to face with a rather large and mean looking security guard.

“well…” the man behind the counter began, a smug look on his face which Misty was dying to wipe off, however this security guard might make things difficult. she doubted he would be a match for her alone but who knows how many more of them there were…

“no problem” Misty cut across the man, voice radiating venom as she shot him a death look, “here’s your money” she slammed the cash down on the mans desk, snatched her ticket from him and began to walk off

“have a nice day” the man called after, sarcasm evident

“I will once I’ve gotten your stench out of my nose” Misty called back, before quickly dodging in amongst a crowd of people to avoid being detained and lectured by the security man.

she looked at her ticket once she was safely away and began to make her way towards the security desks which led to her ship. it was only once she drew close, and could be one hundred percent sure which terminal she was headed for, that she caught sight of the name of the ship.

“oh you’ve got to be kidding me!” she exclaimed, stopping still in the middle of the moving crowd of people who had to move around her as she stood gazing up at the ship, the characteristic sweat-drop on her face. painted on the ship, bright red and gold letters revealed the vessels name; the ‘Saint Anne 2’

Misty cautiously continued towards the security check-in, looking around her for any signs of trouble. she relaxed a little though as, surveying the crowds of people around her; she could see no signs of Jessie and James, or their giggly school-girl alter egos. besides she already had her ticket so the old Team Rocket scam that she, Ash and Brock had fallen for would no longer work. she checked around one last time, and found only a Magikarp salesman trying to flog his merchandise, and so decided it would be safe to continue.

upon reaching the security desk it was a simply matter of passing her red bag and pokeballs through the metal detector, being pulled aside along with twenty others in the crowd of at least a hundred as a sample test for shoe bombs (because as we all know; if twenty people don’t have bombs in their shoes then of course the remaining five hundred or so would be equally free of explosive devices – Stanstead airport where would we be without your logic?) and then walking through the metal detector herself. things had become a little…uncomfortable at that point however, as the red light and subsequent beep had immediately awoken the hefty, smelly and balding security guard at the other end, and he seemed only too keen to run his hands up and down her searching for the offending item which turned out to be nothing more than the clasp on her belt.
Misty had a sneaky suspicion that the fat man had realised this too, even before he began running his hands down her waist and legs in a most un-gentlemanly fashion.

“found anything?” she asked, getting impatient

“erm well it would appear that your belt clasp set the alarm off miss, if I could just ask you to remove…”

“the belt, sure, but nothing else” Misty answered abruptly, removing the belt and giving it to the man who seemed even more red-faced than the first time she had laid eyes upon him, and he ran it through a separate detector before handing it back to Misty

“everything seems to be in order” he said, watching as Misty ran the belt back around her waist. this girl really was pretty; sleek and slender, fiery temper, completely unlike the last old hag that he had had to manually check…

“ah hem!” Misty cleared her throat loudly, snapping the man (who had been staring at her the whole time) back to reality, “my stuff please” she said forcefully

“yes of course, I hope you enjoy your trip” the man said, definitely blushing now and handing her the basket with her bag and pokeballs.

Misty clipped the red and white spheres back on her belt, picked up her red bag and stalked off towards the stairs leading up to the ships deck.

the ship itself was startlingly similar to the original Saint Anne, but strangely Misty did not feel any sense of foreboding as she walked through into the ships interior; the large and grand banqueting hall style lobby with the various people showing off their Pokemon and the salesmen and women having established their stalls around the edges of the room as they had done the last time. the Magikarp salesman was there again, having moved his stall and all of the Magikarp in an instant to set up even before Misty had managed to enter the room.
There was a complex web of emotion and thought now in Misty’s head now though as she surveyed the scene. they had been her favourite years; travelling with Ash for, though it was only now she was starting to concede the fact to herself, it was Ash who had made her life so enjoyable where otherwise it had been so trying.

as Misty walked around the room, taking in the sights which fuelled her memories, she caught sight of a battle taking place on one of the central battle arenas, and pushed through the crowds to watch.
on the ring a boy was battling an old man. the boy must have been just a little over ten years old, and his Butterfree was fighting the old mans Ratticate.

Misty sighed, and a lone tear trickled down her cheek as she watched on. Pokemon trades and love, it was a strange comparison that Brock had made at the time but then…she had consoled Ash at the time about the trade, having noticed how worried he looked about it. Pokemon trades and love, well, perhaps that was the start of her love for him, for Ash; consoling him and trying to make him feel better. there was no doubting the feeling now, love was what it was and there was no hiding it but then…did she really want to?

“I say young man, your Butterfree was very impressive” she heard the old man say, and turned her attention back to the fight which the Butterfree had just won, using sleep powder to put the Ratticate to sleep

“thanks, your Ratticate wasn’t bad either” the boy replied

“say, what do you say to a trade? your Butterfree for my Ratticate” the old man asked.

Misty found herself transfixed by this scene; it was just like watching all that time ago, the conflict in Ash’s heart about trading away his Butterfree. odd it was now she looked back at it; she could see what was playing through his heart there and then.

“well I…yea I suppose…I dunno” the boy replied.

“hey Ted? Ted!” came another voice, and then a girl pushed through the crowd, her green hair tied up in a side pony-tail (on the right hand side)

Misty watched in fascination now, at just how similar all of this was, even this girl resembled her somewhat, if with different coloured eyes and hair.

“listen, trading can be really good, but if you don’t feel right about it in your heart then you shouldn’t do it. that’s what my gramps told me, he traded a Ratticate for a Butterfree on the first Saint Anne, you know, the one that sunk” the girl said.

“errm…ok then yea, no I think I’ll leave it thanks, I’m happy with my Butterfree” the boy replied, addressing the old man.

“oh well if that’s how you feel about it, I’m not going to try and convince you otherwise. you make a good team” the old man replied and, with a tip of his hat, he was gone.

Misty could only stare. what was all of this? was this all some joke being played on her? fate having a good laugh at her expression now as all of this familiarity threatened to push her to tears. the girl, the girls grandfather, he must have been the old man with whom Ash had traded his Butterfree.

“hey lady, do you want to battle me?” said the boy.  the small crowd of people gathered around the battlefield stepped aside, and Misty gave a start as she realised that the boy had been addressing her.

“huh? me?” she asked, surprised, she was not really prepared to be dragged out of her deep memories.

“yea…” the boy said, a challenge in his eyes but the girl stepped in front of him, peering at Misty

“hey wait a minute!” she said, excitedly, “you’re Misty aren’t you! my Gramps told me you were on the first Saint Anne with this kid who traded him a Butterfree. Ted, this is the gym leader for Cerulean city!”

“oh wow a gym leader!” the boy said, a new fire lighting in his eyes, “If I beat you does that mean I can get a gym badge of my own?!”

“well I…” Misty began but the girl interrupted

“yea it does, but be careful Ted, Misty uses water types and she’s really good with them, I checked the league website, she’s only ten matches away from getting the all time best record of Kanto gym leaders! Koga has it at the moment I think but Misty’s only ten away” the girl said

“ok then, I challenge you to a gym match Misty!” the boy said, his Butterfree fluttering to his side with a determined expression.

“I…sorry I shouldn’t, this isn’t the gym so it wouldn’t be official and besides…I’ve sort of run away” Misty admitted

“run…” the girl started but the boy interrupted

“aww please miss, I’ve never fought a gym leader before I’d really like to try” the boy pleaded

“come on miss, be a sport, give the lad a try” said the old man who had been battling earlier, and who had reappeared with the promise of an interesting match to watch. many other people had come to watch too, given that gym leaders were quite famous in their own rights, and always promised a good battle.

“well…yea ok…yea I can take you to school, you’re on!” Misty said, the thought of Ash in her head inspiring her to adopt his enthusiasm whenever a battle was proposed.

“I’ll referee” the old man said, standing in the centre of the ring, “this will be a three on three battle, no substitutions. combatants ready? then…begin!”

“go Butterfree! the boy said, and his Butterfree fluttered to the centre of the ring.
“don’t go easy on me just cos I’m an amateur, I wanna see how I’d stand up in a real gym match” the boy called

“well, if you’re sure…” Misty said, a smile appearing on her face as her eyes glinted, “in that case; Misty calls….Gyarados!”

in a beam of red light the giant sea serpent emerged, the roar uttered sounding all around the ship making heads turn, and even outside, the call arousing those in the sea and seven more Gyarados emerged, surrounding the ship, roaring in reply though theirs was feeble in comparison to Misty’s. the sudden roar and subsequent emergence of seven more terrifying creatures startled the three figures who had been climbing up the side of the ship at that time, causing them to waver and then fall completely, with only the woman’s quick reflexes saving them from dropping to the sea, whilst a small cat-like figure climbed up and over the other two, reaching the deck and safety. meanwhile, the native Gyarados provided a guard of honour as the Saint Anne 2 cruised quickly and quietly out of the port and off to the north, to Sinnoh and closer to Ash…


Chapter 5

The rest of the battle unfolded in much the same way as Misty’s last gym battle had. admittedly the boy had skill, but he and his Pokemon had been no match for her Gyarados which defeated the boys three with relative ease.

Misty had spent much of the rest of the voyage in her room, feeling guilty for the rest of the first day for showing the boy up like that, particularly in front of the girl whom he was with, though that was largely due to her developing feelings towards Ash, and her growing consciousness about such things. she got over the guilt eventually however, turning her attention more on to what would happen when she got to Sinnoh and, eventually, what would happen when she met up with Ash.
she had become aware that she had not given an awful lot of thought to that problem as surely it wouldn’t be as simple as just turning up out of the blue, saying ‘hi Ash, I love you, can I stay with you forever’ and that being it…

“hi Ash…hi…Ash…Ash I love you…I love you Ash…HOPELESS!!!” Misty wailed, collapsing down onto her bed and pummelling her pillow, “Misty – you – never – think – things – through!!!” she said to herself, yet no matter how often she chastised or insulted herself, it didn’t change the fact that what she had said was, in essence, exactly how she felt in her heart. she was in love, she was unquestionably in love and her heart needed no other justification than that. she had begun this quest under the pull of her heart towards him, towards Ash, and her brain had had very little say in what had happened, and so it was to continue.

the voyage was scheduled to take about ten to eleven days, arriving in Canalave city. Misty spent much of this time walking around and around the deck, trying to keep her mind off of the growing problem of what would happen when she finally reached Snowpoint.
as the days drew on however, she began to notice a few little oddities, not easily noticeable, but they were there nevertheless. there were three things to be precise.
the first was that she had accidentally foiled an attempted pick-pocket. the strange little person had been following her all through the second day and, whilst she did not think much of it at first, she certainly did come dinner time of the same day.
she had been milling around the buffet again, trying to choose between many different platters, each more exquisite than the next. Misty had been searching in vain for a plate of chips, when she had accidentally upset a large bowl of hot soup. the bowl had fallen from the buffet table with a clatter and the contents had been tossed into the air, to land on the little figure whom had just managed to get a hand on one of her pokeballs. Misty had jumped away anyway, not because of the hand (which she had not felt at first in any case) but because some of the liquid had caught her on the leg. she had recovered however, just in time to see a little hairy creature with whiskers and a tail, sprinting away as fast as he could whilst ‘Meowth’ing his complaints to the world – that had been the first incident.

the second incident had come shortly after Misty had discovered the wondrous heated pool and Jacuzzi. her venture to the Jacuzzi however had not gone unnoticed by some of the local youth however that is for later.
the second incident then, had been when she was on around her fiftieth length of the swimming pool. she had only just started really, as she often used swimming as a method of escaping the harsh realities of life, to drift away with the cool water.
on her fiftieth length Misty had looked up towards where she had left her bag, towel and clothes, and had discovered two strangely dressed people bending over the white plastic chair on which her things had been placed. quick as a flash Misty had leapt out of the pool to confront these goons, only to be confronted with two sets of clearly forged papers. clearly forged they may have been, however these two women…were they both women? one of them was suspect looking closely but still…

“hey what the hell are you doing?!” Misty had yelled, water flying in sheets as she shook her head rapidly to dislodge the droplets from her hair

“greetings miss, we are baggage authority” the lady with the purple-red hair had said. Misty had a funny feeling she had seen this woman before somewhere…some time ago

“baggage authority?” Misty asked, curiously, “but I don’t have any baggage”

“is this bag yours?” the other…woman had said

“yea so hands off!” Misty exclaimed, snatching it back and then jumping back in surprise as a third figure appeared, jumping from inside the bag itself

“Meeeowth watch it, I was cat-napping in here!” the thing had said.

“hey I know that talking Meowth anywhere!” Misty said, looking at the three suspect figures hard and reaching into her bag, checking she still had everything before picking out a Pokeball

“but…we are baggage authority!” said the first again, each of the three now looking nervous

“rubbish” Misty replied

“but look, we have papers and everything” the second figure said, flashing the card again, just for a second, before hiding it again.

“look you’re not baggage authority, there’s no such thing…”

“well your baggage seems to be fine to me miss” the first figure said hurriedly, throwing the towel at Misty who had to react quickly to catch it

“so we’ll be on our way” the second figure said

“got some more of da official baggage authority business to attend to, catch ya later” the talking Meowth finished, before the three sprinted off in the other direction.

“hmm…I bet” Misty said quietly, before leaving towards the changing room to dry.

after all of this, Misty made sure she kept her things on her at all times, not knowing when the three figures might surface again. she was sure the talking Meowth was the one who had tried to pinch her pokeballs the first time, but she was also sure that she recognised the three, even if they were disguised as she suspected. thinking about it though; why would Team Rocket suddenly be after her rather than Ash?
the third incident was not to happen until the end of the trip.


these mysterious goings on had meant that Misty had not thought at all about the actual journey to get to Snowpoint, for in her mind it would be as simple as getting off of the ferry and walking. the fact of the matter was however, that she would have to traverse not only Mount Coronet but also Eterna Forest, and the deep and treacherous snow fields on routes 216 and 217. the fact that she had spent all of the money Sabrina had given her on getting the ferry meant that she would have to forage for what food she could find on the way, and would have to utilise the four sets of clothes she now had to maximum effectiveness in order to get to Snowpoint. sure she would probably end up with no clean clothes left, but none of this had so far crossed her mind.


“I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you” Misty said to herself over and over again, getting used to the feel of the phrase. they would be docking in Canalave later that day, and the coast line had just appeared on the horizon.
“but will you love me too?”
Misty had been troubling herself with this for some time; ever since she had stopped troubling herself with what she would say, leaving it down to fate and fortune. now her attention had turned to this most obvious and potentially problematic of issues.

“ladies and gentleman, dinner is now served” came a voice over a loudspeaker

“food!!!” Misty exclaimed, she had only just realised how hungry she was.

her ticket had included meal prices for the voyage luckily and, since the meals most often consisted of a buffet, she had a plan which should hopefully set her up for the rest of the journey.
she bolted from the deck where she had been looking out over the sea, skipped down the stairs and skidded into the banqueting hall. once there she grabbed herself a plate but, instead of immediately filling it, she pretended to take a long time thinking about what to pick, whilst discreetly shovelling as much into her red bag as she could fit.
eventually when her bag could hold no more Misty began piling food onto her own plate, before choosing a seat in the corner, out of the way of that group of slightly younger boys who seemed to have been following her ever since she had been caught sunning herself on the deck-chairs.
apparently this sight was more appealing to others than she had thought, and once upon a time she wouldn’t have minded the attention too much; however now her mentality had changed. it wasn’t the usual teen self-consciousness that had plagued her already, but this time was more a desire to keep herself away from prying eyes (if subconsciously, not being vain) and safe for one particular person, in the desperate hope that he would see in her something  more than these stalkers seemed to.  


dinner was a lonely affair, sitting and pushing the noodles around her plate. Misty watched everyone else as she did so, everybody enjoying themselves yes but, and this was the fact that Misty picked up on, they were all enjoying themselves WITH another person. there were husbands with wives, mothers and fathers with children, boyfriends with girlfriends – each and every person aboard seemed to have a partner…everyone except her.
finally, after a loud and rather effectual complaint from her stomach, Misty gave in to the inevitable, and began shovelling down the food.
she went back for seconds and for thirds too; apparently alarming her stalkers who must have been worried that she would ruin her figure with obsessive eating, but Misty wasn’t the sort of person to sit there and let the pounds pile. you would rarely find a more energetic sixteen year old than Misty Waterflower, who was rarely to be found doing nothing. as such; her figure was impressive to say the least, hence the increasing interest from people like the fat security man and her stalkers. she didn’t want this attention though; she wanted someone in particular, that one person to notice and to care…

her thoughts were interrupted quite suddenly as the lights went out; the immediate effects of which were quite a lot of screaming.

suddenly though, two sets of spotlights were turned on, shining down on the raised platform at the end of the room. at first there didn’t seem to be anything in particular these lights were shining on, just a lot of smoke.
Misty knew what they were shining on however, despite the years since she had last seen it, she would never forget the infamous Team Rocket Motto. her suspicions had been right then; those strange ‘baggage authority’ people and the small thief were most definitely…

“To protect the world from devastation…”

“to unite all peoples within out nation”

“to denounce the evils of truth and love

“to extend our reach to the stars above…”

the smoke had cleared by this point, to be replaced by pink and blue fireworks which began exploding at random intervals, casting light down on the two figures stood on the platform, one with a rose in his mouth.

“Jessie!”

“James!”

“Team Rocket blasts of at the speed of light…”

“Surrender now, or prepare to fight fight fight!”

“Meowth dat’s right!”

”oh surely not” Misty thought to herself in distain. this was definitely a scheme worthy of Team Rocket, bursting on the scene with a few badly trained Pokemon and attempting to confront a lot of trainers both considerably outnumbering them, and with considerably better Pokemon with which to send the trio blasting off again.
Misty had been one of the first to recover from this sudden change of events, being seasoned now in dealing with Team Rocket, particularly these three. oddly though, in a way, she was actually quite glad to see them. Jessie, James and Meowth had become quite a large part of her life during her voyages with Ash and Brock, and they had been gone for a very long time, off chasing Ash and his Pikachu still most likely. as surprising as it was to see them here now, and despite the fact that she knew there would most likely be a battle to follow, Misty couldn’t help feeling slightly relieved at the presence of the goons; it was soothing in a bizarre way.

“ladies and gentlemen, we are making ready to dock. if you wouldn’t mind leaving your pokeballs with one of our associates on your way out, it would be very much appreciated” Jessie said sweetly

“forget it, we aren’t giving up our Pokemon!” someone shouted back, presumably one of the more experienced trainers as there were still a lot of people sitting paralysed to the spot, not being sure what to do in these kind of situations.

Misty had joined the group of trainers already on their feet ready to confront Team Rocket, itching to send them blasting off. it felt right, it felt good it felt…familiar, good familiar and it reminded her of all the times she and Ash had teamed up against this trio. after all, she had been the one responsible for buying Ash enough time to escape with Pikachu at Viridian city hospital, and since then they had become quite efficient at seeing off the Rockets.

“oh but we insist” James said, politely yet with a slightly menacing air about his tone. no sooner had he finished speaking, then the doors all around the room were flung open, revealing yet more Team Rocket grunts waiting and barring exit, presumably so the trainers could carry out the instructions given to them by Jessie and James.

“what do we do? there’s so many of them, we’ll never be able to fight them all off” one of the trainers whispered

“oh for the love of…” Misty barged through the small crowd of trainers and confronted Team Rocket
“right listen up you three! either you get off this boat right now, or I’m gonna make you” she yelled

“oooh it’s the prodigal twerp!” James exclaimed

“so why are you coming to Sinnoh then? going to be reunited with your long lost twerp boyfriend?” Jessie sneered

“his names Ash!” Misty yelled forcefully, catching the Rocket trio by surprise. they had clearly been expecting her to blush and deny; the tactic she had always used in the past, and it was clear from their expressions that they were somewhat disappointed with the way it had turned out.
Misty was surprised too, she hadn’t been expecting to answer like that but something told her, some inexplicable force that overrode he brain, told her to answer with what she felt, and not try to cover it up. after all, what was the need to hide it anymore?

“so…you mean…” James spluttered, looking for some way to regain the upper hand, and failing.

“what are you doing here anyways?” Misty asked, “I thought you were still stalking Ash around everywhere; trying and failing to capture Pikachu”

“well yes we are” Jessie answered

“but ya see, da last time your boyfriend and his pals sent us packin, we got blasted straight into the ocean” Meowth explained

“then we drifted all the way back to the port in Lavender town” James said, pouting at the memory and his face took on that familiarly upset expression

“and arrived just in time to see you of all people, boarding this ferry boat” Jessie finished.

“so you thought you’d stalk me instead?! you’re worse than that lot!” Misty exclaimed, gesturing to the group of boys, who blushed and immediately began busying themselves with other things.

“look that’s beside the point” Jessie said irritably

“the point is we’re here for your Pokemon” James said

“so hand em over!” Meowth finished.

“not without a fight!” Misty yelled back.

“but we cant, there’s too many of them” a trainer whispered in his ear

“and they’re about as smart and well trained as my Psyduck!” Misty snapped back, releasing her confused looking Pokemon just to prove a point, “they’re no match for us; it’ll be easy, you watch. Staryu, Starmie, Politoed, Gyarados; I choose you!”

“are you crazy?!” James exclaimed in surprise as Gyarados reared its mighty head high

“don’t you remember what happened the last time?!” Jessie asked incredulously

“I do yea, but precedence is no guarantee for the future” Misty replied with a smug grin, resting her hand on her Gyarados, “and besides” she continued, “this is ‘my’ Gyarados. he’ll only try and blow us all up with a dragon rage attack if ‘I’ ask him to, and besides, we’re on a ship, not a raft”

“sure we’re on the ship now, but what happens if the Saint Anne 2 goes the same way as her watery mummy?” James whimpered

“look who cares, let’s just get deyr Pokemon!” Meowth yelled, grabbing the pokeballs from Jessie and James’ belts and lobbing them down to the floor. in beams of red light Seviper, Cacnea and Dustox appeared.
all around them the Rocket grunts released Pokemon of their own, and it took encouragement from Misty to persuade the trainers around her to release their own to help.
they were outnumbered but better trained; and there was no way Misty would allow herself to lose to these goons, Ash never had, so neither would she.

“right lets go!!!”


Chapter 6.

nearly three weeks since they had arrived and received the letter; Ash, Brock and Dawn were still in Snowpoint.
they had already done pretty much everything there was to do in the small town; Ash had beaten the gym leader on his first attempt, that was during the first week. then Brock had suggested they look around Snowpoint temple on the second week, trying to keep everything spaced out to avoid boredom. they had arrived at Snowpoint temple, only to be turned back by a rather sinister looking man who claimed that; since none of them was a chosen one, they would not be allowed to enter.

Brock had been surprised at Ash’s reaction to this, as normally Ash would be able to get anywhere and do anything, given that he nearly always ended up being the ‘chosen one’ in what ever prophecy they would become embroiled in. he had expected Ash to put up some complaint; as he, Dawn and Pikachu certainly had done, however Ash just remained silent, and when the man demanded that they leave Ash had just bowed his head respectfully and walked off back down the steps, leaving the other three dumbstruck.

truth be told; Ash had not been himself at all, not since they received the letter. he was much quieter than he would normally be, and spent a lot of time brooding.  it hadn’t been so bad in the first week, but as the days drew on Pikachu, Brock and even Dawn could see that Ash was becoming even more subdued, and he looked ill too. Ash would never tell them why, not since he had succumbed to their questioning so the three were left to guess, but Ash himself knew exactly what was wrong with him.

he had, in actual fact, been going through exactly the same worries and thought processes as Misty had aboard the Saint Anne 2. what would he say to her when she arrived? how should he react? how should be speak to her; should he come out and admit what he felt or continue the way he had done for years, hiding and denying.
the one worry Ash had that Misty had not was the prospect of what shape Misty might be in when…if…she managed to arrive…

Ash had been thinking these things over and over in his mind since the letter had arrived, but still had not come to any conclusion as to what he should do.

“hey Misty…Misty look I…recently I…more than recently, and now I’m talking to myself!” Ash said, dropping in the snow and making snow angels as he waited for the others to emerge from the Pokemon centre.

it was morning exactly three weeks since the arrival of the letter, yet still they had seen or heard nothing from Misty. Ash had been worrying so much it had been making him ill and it was a concern for the others too, both that Misty had gone unheard from for so long, but also the effect it was having on Ash. he wouldn’t be consoled about it though, he just couldn’t help feeling the way he did…
just then, a noise above him caught his attention and he looked up, jumping out of the way as three figures dropped from the sky, landing in the snow and leaving three people-shaped holes in the otherwise impeccable white blanket.

“what the?!”

the other three came running from the Pokemon centre as a result of Ash’s yell of alarm, and Pikachu leapt to his shoulder already sparking as the three figures emerged from the holes; dizzy, dishevelled and disgruntled.

“to protect the world from…devastation ergh”

“to…to unite all peoples within our…nation”

“what are you three doing here?!” Ash asked, confronting the three before they had quite managed to find their bearings.

“we…we have been blasted off so many times in the last few days I’ve lost count!” Jessie exclaimed, shaking her head to knock some sense into herself, and clouting James and Meowth to the same effect.

“well that’s nothing new” Dawn muttered

“for us it is” James wailed, “we’re used to getting blasted off by you three now, not by her on her own, she’s evil”

“who? who’s evil? who keeps blasting you off?” Ash asked, an excitement growing in his chest now though he didn’t dare hope for the answer…

“your girlfriend that’s who! the red-head twerp!” Jessie yelled.

Brock and Dawn looked at Ash at this statement, the one word in particular that they were keen on seeing his reaction to

“you mean Misty? is she close by?!?!” Ash asked to the others surprise. this was good news most definitely, but they had been expecting him to react to the girlfriend insinuation at least, and so had Jessie and James but Ash was not about to be interrogated again. this was the first he had heard of Misty since the letter and, if Jessie and James had recently been beaten by her, then that could mean that she wasn’t too far away.

“well…she sent us packing on the boat, in Eterna forest, then the road towards mount Coronet, then on Mount Coronet, and the last time was on the other side of the snow, route 216 or wherever it was” James answered

“(took us about three or four days to get here from 216)” Pikachu commented

“hmm…and it was the most difficult bit of the journey” Ash said worriedly

“don’t worry Ash, she’ll be ok” Dawn said, trying to be encouraging

“oh yea, with the way she uses her Pokemon, I don’t think anything could go wrong” Jessie muttered

“she’s good then yea?” Ash asked, suddenly turning back to the Rocket trio with an eager and enthusiastic expression on his face. it had been so long since he had last seen Misty, and he had hardly heard from her. when he did hear from her she didn’t talk about herself much but now that was all Ash wanted to hear. he wanted to hear about her; not the gym, not her sisters, not Pokemon and not himself, he wanted to hear about her, everything, he wanted to remember anything and everything from her looks to her scent to her voice…

“(err Ash…Ash! you’re staring, you’re scaring them)” Pikachu whispered in his ear with a grin.

it was curious seeing Ash acting like this. after all, Ash and Pikachu had been together since the beginning, and had become the firmest of friends. what ever one of them experienced the other experienced too, either directly or from observing. this was a new experience and a new feeling for Ash, and thus it was new for Pikachu to observe.

“huh? oh right, sorry” Ash muttered, turning red and it wasn’t because of the cold

“oh dat’s ok, we understand” Meowth smirked

“we’ll be more than happy to tell you anything you want to know about the bride to be” James said

“for a price” Jessie finished

“forget it we’re not paying…” Brock began but stopped in surprise as Ash cut across him

“what do you want?” he asked eagerly

“well since you’re offering, a warm room and a good meal wouldn’t go amiss” James said, and the group walked back into the Pokemon centre, all plans for the day forgotten at this sudden change in Ash’s attitude.

Brock, Dawn and Pikachu left Ash and the Rocket Trio together to talk, after Ash had given Brock his pokeballs naturally; you could never be sure when Jessie, James and Meowth might try and pull something.
Brock and the others staid out for much of that day, just popping back occasionally to get something to eat or to just warm up in general.

it was three hours at least though before anyone saw anything of Ash, Jessie, James and Meowth. it was remarkable really just how much information Ash seemed to be able to get from the three Rockets; but the fact was that he was dying to hear and get as much information about Misty as he possibly could. it was like a hunger really, yet Ash knew that, for all his questioning, this hunger would never be assuaged until he could see her with his own eyes, to be with and to touch…

“so…” Jessie said once they had all gathered in the waiting room of the Pokemon centre, “what are you going to say when she gets here?”

“well I…err…” Ash faltered, he still had not solved that problem himself

“you mean you haven’t even thought of anything?!” Dawn exclaimed in surprise

“hey give him a break, it’s hard the first time” Brock said

“(ha, can’t imagine a first time for Brock, let me guess, Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny?)” Pikachu sneered

“Joy” Brock admitted, his turn to blush

“back on topic” Dawn said impatiently, “Ash I can’t believe you still don’t know what you’re gonna say, she’ll be here in two days!”

“alright take it easy I’ve never done this before! and I could probably do a lot better without you lot breathing down my neck!” Ash fought back

“well the way I see it” Jessie said with a knowing smile, “you have two beautiful ladies in the room with you right now; we’ll be invaluable because we can tell you what we’d like to hear”

Ash looked nervously at James and Brock, both of whom nodded

“(makes sense I suppose)” Pikachu said

“well…alright...” Ash said doubtfully

“ok so, you should probably complement her on how she looks…” Dawn began, but Jessie interrupted

“oh yea? on the road for three weeks straight?! I hardly think appearance will have been high on her list of priorities, and you’d probably be better not to bring it up.” Jessie said knowingly, “I think you’d be better to…to…” she faltered

“say how…” Dawn stopped too

“I think” Brock said, looking at Ash seriously, “I think Ash, that you should speak from your heart. don’t try to think ahead, just wait for the moment, and it’ll all come right”

“as good advice as any” James agreed

“better than anythin dese two will give ya” Meowth added

“(here here)” Pikachu said.

“right…ok then yea I’ll do that” Ash said with a resolved smile.

two days, that was all it would take now; two days and she would be here, with him. he couldn’t wait; it was like a physical pain in his chest now as he knew she was drawing closer, a pain resulting from his need to be with her then and there, to hold, to kiss… of course, she would have to make it over the miles of snow and ice before that could happen but Ash knew, somehow, that she would succeed, that she would make it through – that love would find a way…