Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters, yada yada, all rights go to Nintendo and some other companies, blah blah, not making any money (don't you think I should be, though^^) so don't sue

Free Web Hosting Provider - Web Hosting - E-commerce - High Speed Internet - Free Web Page

Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters, yada yada, all rights go to Nintendo and some other companies, blah blah, not making any money (don't you think I should be, though^^) so don't sue. I don't have any money anyway so it's a waste of time.

Misty opened her eyes and stared at the sunlight shining through the hotel room curtains. The remembrance of the previous night's pain washed over her. She knew she had feelings for Ash as more then just a friend, but after what she had done, she knew she could never express those feelings now. But then a new resolve caused her to sit up with a determined look on her face. She would bury these feelings deep inside. They hurt too much to be kept in her heart. She would face today, and act as though nothing was out of the ordinary. She quickly got dressed in her yellow shirt, jean shorts, and suspenders. She quickly got ready and was just about to go out of her room, when her three sisters burst in.

"Hey Misty, we just thought we'd see if you were up, yet. We ordered room service to our room, and we thought you and your friends could join us out on our balcony for breakfast." Daisy said quickly.

"Misty, Why did you put your hair up in that awful style you had on before we came to your rescue last night?!" exclaimed Rose.

"Really, you must learn how to do a more complimentary style on yourself. Here let us show you," Lily said pushing Misty back into the bathroom.

In the end, they managed to get Misty to clip the sides of her hair back in pretty blue hair clips, and even got her to put on a little lip-gloss and light scent. She had always loved the way Freesia smelled so fresh and flowery and light.

"I still think fancy hair styles and makeup are silly when you are traveling around and camping out, but this is simple and pretty, and not to much trouble to do. Maybe I'll do this more often. I could even try a few other styles." Misty said, liking what she saw in the mirror.

"I think your hair would look really lovely if you grew it out. It's so pretty, but you can't tell because it's so short. It has great body and softness," said Rose stroking Misty's shining hair.

Misty was getting rather hungry, so she thanked her sisters for helping her, and said they had better go eat the food before it got cold.

They walked back to the sisters' room and found Ash and Brock already helping themselves.

"Well I see you two wasted no time once your noses picked up the sent of food," Misty said, her hands on her hips trying to sound annoyed.

Brock and Ash paused in their feasting to say good morning to the girls. Ash's gaze lingered on Misty, but she quickly turned away from his penetrating gaze.

Later they all decided to go to the beach. The sun was perfect, and they were all looking forward to a nice day at Pleasant Beach. After Ash and Brock changed in the men's bath house, they decided to go for a dip, since they knew girls always take longer doing anything that had to do with clothes. After splashing around for awhile, they noticed a crowd gathering around the area where they had put their quilt. They also noticed that the crowd consisted of only guys. *Uh oh. * Ash thought with a worried expression. They made their way back to shore and headed for the blanket, expecting the worst. *I wonder if these guys are part of a gang, and when they saw our abandoned blanket decided to steal some of the stuff. * He thought, wondering how he could have been so stupid to leave their things there.

So they were taken aback when they finally made it past the guys around their blanket. There was Misty and her sisters, all in stylish bikinis having about a dozen guys applying sunscreen on their backs. Misty, in a cute blue and turquoise two piece was in no way left out. It seemed her fame had spread.

"That was some talk you gave last night," one fairly handsome guy commented as he continued rubbing her back even after plenty of sunscreen had been applied.

Ash started going red in the cheeks. He wanted to knock the guy over, but he knew women hated it when guys interfered, or so he thought. Instead, he just said loudly, "Hey Misty, you guys sure took long enough getting out here."

Misty looked up to find Ash looking angrily down at her. She hadn't even known he was there! And now he seemed mad at her again. *Will he ever forgive me? * She thought. She always seemed to be making him angry. She shrugged out of the other guy's touch and turned away, trying not to cry.

When Ash saw the hurt expression in her eyes after what he had said, he realized he had been unkind. He hadn't meant it to come out that way, but he had lost his head for a moment. Now he realized he had made it even harder to get her to like him. He sighed and sank down on the blanket dejectedly.

Brock, Pikachu, and the three sisters looked at each other confused. What had just gone on here?

The other guys were casting unfriendly looks at Brock and Ash, so Brock decided to make himself scarce.

"Hey Ash, you want to go get something from the snack stand?" Brock said, hurriedly pulling Ash after him and heading off in the direction of the farthest snack stand from their blanket. Even three pretty girls weren't worth getting beat up over. Besides, maybe there were girls over by the snack stand...

Misty didn't like having all this company around at the moment, so she stood up and started to walk off in the other direction. Pikachu, who had stayed behind, saw that Misty was feeling sad, so he followed her. After walking for some ways absorbed in her own thoughts, she realized that Pikachu was following her. She sat down in the sand at the edge of where the waves were lapping the shore.

As she let the soothing waves swish around her feet extended in front of her, she reached over and picked up Pikachu, settling him in her lap.

"Oh, Pikachu, I've been so horrible, and now Ash hates me," she murmured, tears starting to run down her face.

"I wish I knew what you were saying, but even though I can't understand your language, it still comforts me some how." Misty said looking fondly down at Pikachu, hugging him.

Pikachu hugged back, but he still wanted to tell Misty what he thought. So he gently pushed away from her and concentrated on trying to make her understand him. He looked intently up into her eyes and began talking. She concentrated hard on what he was saying. With amazement she realized she could understand most of what he said.

"If you are honest with Ash, it will all work out. He doesn't hate you. I think he actually LIKES you. I know he appreciated what you said for him last night. You really ought to talk to him," Pikachu said in Pika language.

"Do you really think so? Well, I guess you know him better than anyone does, huh? You really think he doesn't hate me? Maybe even LIKES me?!" she suddenly realized what Pikachu had said about Ash liking her. Some sparkle returned to her eyes. Pikachu would know better than anyone would if it was true. Oh, if only it could be true!

She suddenly wanted to talk to Ash more than anything in the world. She hugged Pikachu tightly.

"Pikachu, you're the best! Thank you so much! I'm going to go talk to him right now," she said, realizing that she had been gone for quiet some time.

"I'll give you a belly rub on the way back," she said sweetly, starting to stroke him. Pikachu settled into her arms contentedly thinking *I always knew I liked her*.

Suddenly someone grabbed Misty around the waist from behind, making her drop Pikachu. Pikachu rolled back on his feet and looked startled to find Gary Oak with Misty firmly in his grasp.

"GARY! LET ME GO-MPHF!" Misty yelled, but was stopped by his free hand clamping over her mouth.

"Well, I hadn't planned on seeing you here today, so I'll just give you some fair warning. That little stunt you pulled last night was a no-no. It doesn't pay to cross Gary Oak. Heh heh. If I were you I'd just watch myself. You never know when danger might find you," he said menacingly

Misty had had just about as much as she could take and quickly twisted around and shoved him backwards. She grabbed Pikachu, still a little dazed from his fall, and bolted off in the direction of her sisters and friends. She clutched Pikachu tightly and tried to forget the feeling of Gary's arm around her. *No one has ever treated me like that. * She thought, shuddering.

Pikachu noticed the tremor and said "Pika" in agreement and understanding. He was very angry with Gary also. He probably wouldn't get that belly rub, now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gary just stood there watching the retreating form. He sighed. Once again, his mean side had won. Well, he told himself, I really don't mean to do anything bad to her. Just shake her up a little. He couldn't help feeling vengeful after what had happened last night, but he also felt like what she had said was true, and he had deserved it. Maybe he wasn't the greatest after all...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ash was beginning to worry. *Where could they have gone? * He wondered. Misty's sisters wanted to head back and go see a movie, but Misty hadn't returned so they all decided to go looking for her. Just then, Ash saw Misty running towards him with Pikachu in her arms. A wave of relief flooded through him. He started running towards her. When he finally reached her, she fell into his arms and he just held her. It felt so good to have her in his arms finally. But then he realized that something must be wrong because she was shaking, and Pikachu was just clinging onto her and hadn't even shocked them when they had squished him between them. He stepped back and looked anxiously into her eyes.

"Oh, I, uh, just lost track of time," she said, not wanting to heap her troubles on Ash.

But he could tell she wasn't telling the truth. He lifted her chin in his hand and tried to search her eyes. Although she tried to hide it, he could see hints of fear. He sighed. He wasn't going to pry, but he'd ask Pikachu about it later, but right now Pikachu seemed a little dazed. Ash had gotten better at understanding Pikachu's language so he wouldn't have a problem discussing it with him.

"Oh there you are!" Daisy exclaimed as she came running up with Brock and her sisters. "You shouldn't go off like that for so long. We were worried."

"And it starts in forty-five minutes, so we have to hurry and get back to the hotel to drop our stuff off, and then make it to the movie on time." Rose finished off, pulling Misty towards the bathhouse to change.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they got back to the hotel, Misty and her sisters wanted to change because they said their clothes had gotten all sandy. Brock went down to the lobby to look for some pretty girls so Ash and Pikachu were alone. Ash sat down on a bench in the hallway and picked up Pikachu. He tried to think of what he wanted to ask Pikachu, and decided to start from the beginning.

"Pikachu, why did Misty leave and go wandering off when we were at the beach?" Ash asked.

"I didn't mean for it to sound like that. I just lost my head. What happened then?" Ash looked at Pikachu.

"I told her you didn't hate her and that maybe you liked her." Pikachu said turning a little pink.

"I wanted to tell her myself!" Ash exclaimed, but then blushed when he realized what he had said. "And I thought I was the only one who can understand what you say."

"I only said MAYBE, and I'm sure she would still like hearing it from you. I don't think she really believed me." Pikachu responded.

"But something else must have happened, I mean she looked really scared and you were totally zonked out." Ash said looking carefully at Pikachu.

"He was threatening Misty. He said he would get her back for embarrassing him in front of all those people last night. He sounded pretty serious. I think it really scared Misty," Pikachu said looking upset.

When Pikachu looked back up at Ash, he was startled to see the fury in Ash's face.

"That..THAT.. GARY! Ooooh, if he ever tries anything..." Ash started, but then a look of concern came over his face, "No wonder she was so shaken up! Poor Misty, she must have been terrified. I'm going to keep a close eye on her."

Just then Misty and her sisters came out, all freshened up. Ash looked to make sure Misty was alright and notice she had on a pretty yellow and blue skirt and top. Her hair was nicely brushed and the top part was pulled back. Ash wasn't sure if she had makeup on or not, but she looked fresh and sweet. A light, flowery aroma seemed to surround her. Misty smiled at Ash.

Ash nodded dumbly and stayed next to Misty on the way out of the hotel. Misty's sisters exchange knowing looks and smiled. They met up with Brock in the lobby and headed for the movie theater.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they got there the theater was packed. The only seats left were four seats near the middle and two seats in the back.

"Come on, Brock, lets grab those seats in the middle," said Daisy as she and her sisters ran for the seats. "I think those two need a little alone time." she whispered.

Brock was all too happy to be sitting with three pretty girls and once again got that dopey look on his face. *The sacrifices we make for our little sister...* Daisy thought grimly, not particularly looking forward to 2 hours sitting next to Brock.

Ash was glad he could sit where he could keep an eye on Misty. After the movie had been on for awhile, Ash suddenly realized her head was on his shoulder. He looked over and found her sound asleep. He smiled. Misty looked so innocent when she was asleep. A shiver ran through her body and he noticed she was cold. Careful not to wake her, he wrapped his arms around her and tried to keep her warm. Apparently it worked, for Misty stopped shivering and snuggled down in Ash's arms. Ash wished the movie would never end and he could hold Misty forever. But when he glanced down at Misty again, he became aware that her face looked very scared, and she started shivering even though she wasn't cold. Suddenly she struggled out of Ash's arms and sat straight up in her chair with a little cry of fear. She was gasping for breath and had a look of terror painted on her face. She looked over at Ash and seemed to realize where she was.

At the worried look on Ash's face she managed a feeble smile and whispered, " S-sorry, just had a bad dream."

She settled back in her chair and tried to focus on what was happening on screen. Images from the dream kept flashing up to haunt her. Gray was a giant creature with tentacles, and he wrapped them around and around her, squeezing the life from her. The dream had seemed so real, and she could almost feel the slimy arms wrapped around her.

Ash looked over at Misty with concern. The frightened look hadn't left her face completely, and she still shivered now and then. He figured he could guess what the dream had been about. *Why did Gary always ruin things? * He wondered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the movie was over they all went out to dinner. As they sat around the table talking, Misty's sisters noticed she was rather silent, so they tried to draw her out by discussing something that would interest her.

"You know Misty, I totally forgot! Professor Oak was here a few days ago, but had to leave before the big dinner. He gave us two pokedex's as thanks for running the convention this year. We were thinking maybe you would like one of them, that way if you catch more than six Pokemon, the extra ones can be transferred to us and you can exchange them back and forth using the Pokedex. Wouldn't that be great?" Daisy asked.

Ash was happy for her. For the first time since the night before, Misty looked genuinely happy.

Misty's sisters pulled out the Pokedex and started showing Misty how to use it and programming it so it would have Misty's ID in it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ash, Misty and Brock were starting off on their journey again. They were trying to make their way to the port so they could catch a ferry to the Seafoam Islands, but first they would have to take a day to go through the woods that stood between them and the harbor. As they walked along, Misty kept her eye out for new Pokemon, while Ash kept his eye out for Misty. Suddenly, Misty halted.

"I thought I saw a Pokemon over there!" she whispered in response to Ash and Brock's inquisitive looks.

Suddenly an Eevee burst out of the foliage and jumped right into Misty's arms, shaking.

"Oh, you poor thing! What happened?" Misty asked, stroking the Eevee and trying to calm it down.

"Why that's terrible!" Misty exclaimed, "Who would do such things, and where is this place?!"

"Well they won't be doing that much longer! I'm going to go put a stop to that!"

All of a sudden, Misty seemed to notice Brock and Ash looking at her very strangely.

"I don't know! I just can. But we have to go, quickly! Eevee says that there is a lab over in those trees that is conducting all kinds of sick experiments on Eevees and other Pokemon! We have to go save them!" Misty said urgently.

Ash looked uncertain, but Pikachu looked up and nodded to Ash, telling him that was what Eevee had said.

"Well, then, lets go!" Ash exclaimed, running off with Misty and Brock in the direction Eevee had pointed out. He wondered what they were getting themselves into.

TO BEEEEEEEE CONTINUED!! BWAHAHAHAAA! (We might get a few mad scientists in this next chapter. Who knows? Sorry if my fics are too predictable! I think you MIGHT be surprised in the end, but if you're one of those personality examiners, I may never be able to surprise you!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~