Here's part 4

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Here's part 4. Hope you like it^^! I don't want to spoil anything, but this is the chapter that Ash and Misty share their first kiss...

Disclaimer: You know I don't own any of this. Not the characters, the basic concept of Pokemon, only the story itself. The rest of the rights go to Nintendo, Game Freak, and some other companies...and I'm not getting anything out of this other than the pleasure of writing. So no money is involved...unfortunately^_^

Misty slowly began to wake up. At first things didn't seem to make sense. Everything was fuzzy. She heard a voice. It was talking about her.

"I have injected the patient with the solution I used on the Eevees and a special mixture that is supposed to stimulate the communications section of her brain. This should hopefully cause her to be able to communicate with Pokemon. She apparently already had some sort of link with Pokemon so she is an ideal test subject. It is an untested experiment, so the outcome is unknown. I am hoping the side effects that were existent in my previous attempts with this mixture do not appear in this case, as I have altered the combination slightly. I am now waiting for the patient to wake up so I can test if this injection fulfills its purpose." the voice stopped.

Misty opened her eyes and tried to focus on the person who had been speaking. The realization of where she was and why came flooding back to her. A pain started growing in the back of her head. She saw that Claude had been speaking into a mini tape recorder.

"Ah, welcome back to reality!" Claude said, standing up and walking across the room to her.

Shaking her head trying to clear it enough to think, she looked around. The room she was now in was the spotless interior of a well-equipped laboratory. There was an extensive and complex chemistry set that took up the entire length of one wall and a group of large computers, which were constantly printing read-outs, lined another wall. There were some Pokemon in cages along the wall closest to her and she noticed a great deal of them were mutated, sick looking Eevees. This was not a pretty sight to wake up to. A groan escaped her lips as she tried to stretch, only to find her hands and legs were tied to the chair she sat upright in.

"Now, I suggest you cooperate with us, my dear. If you try to escape or trick us, you and your little friend will be terminated. Now, can I trust you enough to untie you?" Claude spoke to her in a sickly sweet voice.

"Of course, my dear! Anesthesia makes people very thirsty, I had forgotten." he turned towards the single door of the room and yelled, "Hugh, Crag! Come here!"

"Go get me a glass of water for the young lady! And make it snappy!" he commanded.

"Now, follow my instructions and everything will turn out just fine. I'm going to have Crag untie you now, so don't do anything foolish," he said in a brisk tone.

As the ropes fell from her hands and ankles, Misty indulged in a good stretch. Hugh returned with the glass of water in his hands. He handed it to Misty who quickly drank the whole glass. After this, she was refreshed and much more aware. Her thoughts became organized once again.

*If I comply with these people, I just might earn their trust so that they'll let their guard down long enough for me to nab Ash and get out of here. * She thought quickly to herself.

She set the cup down on a table by the chair and looking cheerfully at Claude she perkily exclaimed, "OK, let's get busy! The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can leave and get on with our lives, right?"

"Ha ha! I don't think so, doll! We can't just..." but Hugh was stopped by Claude's hand clamping over his mouth.

"Of course, that's the right way to look at it!" Claude exclaimed all too kindly.

*Gee, how fake can a person get? * She wondered to herself, but kept on smiling.

Claude helped her stand up and said, "Now, I want you to see if you can talk to these Eevees," he indicated a set of cages that contained some Eevees that at least showed some signs of life.

Misty went over to one of the cages that held an Eevee that looked like it had tried to evolve into a Vaporeon, but had only gotten half way through. It was curled up looking at Misty with eyes holding such a degree of sadness in them that it almost broke her heart.

"So, um, how are you feeling today, little Eevee?" she asked it in a trembly voice.

"Why would you care, you're nothing but a cruel human," the Eevee/Vaporeon muttered in a pitiful voice. It was obvious that it didn't expect to be understood.

"Um...It says it won't talk to me anymore with you people here, for some reason. I have no idea why it doesn't trust you," Misty said in her best "innocent little girl" voice.

"Erm, yes, well then we'll just go out into the hallway and watch through the window. Make sure to tell us everything it says, my dear!" Claude said, shooing his two guards out with him.

"Of course!" she exclaimed in a cutesy way that would make even the most suspicious person believe what she was saying.

"That wasn't what I said, but at least you got rid of them. Smart move. Too bad you can't really understand what I'm saying. You might be the one person who could help us. But since you can't I guess we'll just continue our meaningless existence as science projects," the Eevee/Vaporeon said in a weak voice full of despair and turned it's head away from Misty.

"I CAN understand you, and I want to help you in any way I can," Misty's voice wavered.

The Eevee looked up in awe with a startled expression on its face. Then it quickly turned to one of hope.

"You can understand us? And you would be willing to help us?" it said in a hopeful voice.

"Of course. Pokemon are one of the most special things to me. I hate this place and what they've done to all these poor creatures. Maybe you and I can come up with a plan! I'm sure you know more about this place than I do. Do you know of a way we could put that awful man and his two idiots out of commission so we can escape and free all these Pokemon?" Misty asked looking into the Eevee/Vaporeon's face and softly stroking its head through the bars of the cage.

The Eevee/Vaporeon thought for a minute, making a sound that reminded Misty of purring, then a smile spread across it's face.

"You know, I just might know at that!" it exclaimed, "You see those capsules over on that table with the chemistry stuff? That's what they always use to put one of us to sleep. You just have to break one open and it emits this fume that immediately puts any creature to sleep!"

"That should give us just enough time! Now, I think we should..." but Misty was cut off by Claude entering the room.

"Well, what did the little monstrosity have to say?" Claude said smiling evilly.

"It, er, ah, said it was honored to be part of a project that had such potential!" Misty exclaimed trying to think of something to say that would satisfy Claude.

"Well, it seems to be a sensible creature! But that's enough for today, I have to get back to my other projects for awhile." Claude said moving towards Misty.

She new she had to get those capsules now or she might not have another chance. She quickly moved over to the table they were on and pretended to be immensely interested in the project on it.

"Wow! You must be a genius to have done all this!" she exclaimed quickly grabbing a handful and stuffing them in her pocket before he came up behind her.

"Well, it looks like that potion I injected you with improved your opinions of me! I am very pleased to here you say that. Now I'm sure you must be tired, my dear, come with me. I had Crag and Hugh put a nice cot in your cell," he said escorting her from the room.

"Could you possibly put my friend and I in the same cell? We might be able to, um, play a game or something..." she asked sweetly.

"Well, I suppose so...but you must keep him under control. He has an awful disposition. Why don't you tell him about all the wonderful things you've seen today!" Claude agreed.

She didn't want to put her plan underway until she had talked with Ash about it and made sure he was OK. She was worried sick about him.

Gary Oak quietly made his way through the woods. He had already found and destroyed two security cameras. He wondered how much farther it was before he'd find the place Ash and Misty were being held. The sight of the lab in the clearing answered him almost immediately.

He knew how to sneak about and not get caught from all those years of being part of that "gang" that had all but ruined his life. He moved around the clearing, always keeping out of sight in the woods and making sure not to fall into any traps. When he got to what he judged to be the back of the building, he slowly crept from the trees and sprinted from shadow to shadow until he was pressed up against the hard surface of the lab itself. There were no windows on this side.

Gary made his way to the only door on that side of the building. He examined it closely. It was a small door. It's only purpose was to serve as a back door to the building, as far as he could tell. It hadn't been opened in weeks judging by the dirt that filled the crevices. He looked up. Yep. Just as he had thought. It was rigged with an alarm. There was a wire that ran across the top and down one side. He took out a pocketknife and ran his hand along the wire searching for the right spot. There it was. A weakness only the best trained would have found. He quickly sliced through the wire at that exact spot and held his breath. No alarm. It had worked. "Yes!" he said aloud and then quickly looked around to make sure no one had heard. *Watch yourself, Oak* he silently chastised himself.

Now to pick the lock. He was surprised at the quality of the locking mechanism on the door handle. *This might take awhile...* he thought to himself as he set to work. After a few minutes of work with a lock pick, Gary finally succeeded in unlocking the door.

Now here was the moment when everything was up to fate. If the people within happened to be in the hallway that this door led to, all this work would have been a waste. He took a deep breath. Slowly he turned the knob. He gave a slight tug on the door and it grudgingly came open. He peered in. No one was there! He quickly ducked inside and shut the door. Things might really be tough from here on in...

James dumped a bucket of water onto the inert form of Brock who was tied to a tree.

"Let me go! I have a major emergency to deal with!" Brock exclaimed struggling to get out of his bonds.

"What kind of emergency? We want Pikachu and we won't let you go until you tell us where the rest of your group is!" Meowth exclaimed.

"That's the emergency, now let me go!" Brock yelled practically yanking the tree out of the ground with his furious movements.

"So far you have told us absolutely nothing at all! Now I repeat, where is Pikachu!" Jessie yelled back, getting impatient.

"They were kidnapped by a mad scientist and now they're being held captive! I have to go get help!" Brock was starting to snap some of the ropes.

After rolling around with mirth for awhile, Meowth looked up to see Brock looking serious, and very angry.

"He must have been knocked pretty hard on the head! I think he really believes it!" James acknowledged.

"That's awful! You'd better go get help! What am I saying, I'm supposed to be a bad guy, er girl!" Jessie said looking horror-stricken.

"Yeah, but we want to have the satisfaction of beating them, and now some mad scientist comes and thinks he can take away our victory!" Meowth spoke, looking peeved.

"THANK YOU, NOW IF YOU WOULD KINDLY LET ME BE ON MY WAY!!!" Brock yelled pulling out his pokeball and releasing Onix.

"Oh, yeah, well then you'd better get out of here quickly before I finish you off! I didn't have time to dilly-dally around here with you!" Brock yelled (he was really mad, if you couldn't tell ^^)

Team Rocket shot out of there faster than a Rocket that had been set on fire (sorry for the pathetic pun^_^)!

Misty. I have to help Misty. The thought entered Ash's head the moment he started to become aware. The throbbing in his head became worse the more he became awake. He groaned.

"Shhh! Lie still," a sweet, soft voice came down and gently filled Ash's hearing.

It was her. He didn't have to open his eyes to know he was with Misty. He could smell the sweet scent, hear her soft words, and feel her gentle touch. He opened his eyes and saw her lovely face.

He realized where he was. In a cell. But he was with Misty. His head was cradled in her lap and her hands touched his face, softly stroking it, relieving a great deal of the pain. He remembered her last words to him before they were separated. She loved him. His heart filled with joy. She loved him! He looked up at her. His beloved Misty.

"You were knocked out by one of those brutes. I tried to bandage your head up, but I don't know if I did a very good job," she lightly tapped the bandage she had made from one of her spare shirts that she had shredded.

"I didn't mean about me, I meant what happened to you? Did they change their minds about that whole awful experiment?" asked looking worried.

"No, the put me under for awhile, too. Apparently they gave me an injection of some sort that is supposed to make me be able to communicate fluently with Pokemon. And you want to know the strange thing? It actually worked! I talked to one of the poor Eevees and we came up with a plan of sorts. You see these capsules? I nabbed them right before they brought me back here. They contain a gas that knocks people out almost instantly, or so the Eevee told me," she said showing him the tablets.

"How come they let us be in the same cell?" Ash suddenly asked the least important question given their situation.

"Heh heh. I sweet-talked 'em. I got them to let us share a cell and they put two cots in here too. And they gave us our bags back. Not bad for a day's work, huh?" she asked a smile of pride dancing on her lips.

"I'll say. Here you've all but freed us, and all I did was sleep!" he said with mock disappointment.

After a moments silence, Ash asked incredulously, "You can really understand everything Pokemon say now?!"

"Well, I only talked to one Pokemon, so I don't really know. You have no idea how badly used some of these Pokemon are! The one I talked to looked like the healthiest of them all, and it was pitiful. It was somewhere half way between being an Eevee and a Vaporeon. It was so sad..." she trailed off looking mournful.

Misty suddenly remembered what she had told Ash before they were pulled apart last time and blushed.

She looked in his eyes and saw the love coming from them. Two tears ran down her cheeks.

"Oh, Ash, I wanted to hear that so much," she choked out and closed her eyes as more tears of joy ran down her face.

Ash sat up and pulled her closer. Then he kissed her softly. They held the kiss for awhile, feeling all their cares and hurts fall away. They pulled apart from the kiss and just held each other.

"I wanted to tell you for so long," Misty murmured feeling safe and warm in Ash's arms.

"What about our Pokemon? Are they alright?" she asked jumping up and going to the brick wall.

"Yeah, they should be right where I left them," Ash said, getting up and walking over towards Misty, sad that the moment had ended so swiftly.

"Oh yes! I feel much better now, thank you. So, is it time for my next session?" Misty chirped.

"Haha! It is very nice to see you so eager! Yes, I have been running some tests on that Eevee you were speaking to, and I want to see if it's had any effect on the way you communicate," Claude said.

Misty paled. They had been running "tests" on the poor thing? She hoped it was all right...but she quickly recovered and forced a smile.

Ash was getting very angry at the way Claude was acting about all this, but he wisely kept quiet and let Misty work her charms.

Misty's casually put her hand in her pocket while Crag came over and unlocked the cell door. After letting her out, he shut the door and locked it again. As he led her towards the others, she quickly pulled out a capsule and, breaking it open, released the fumes. Unfortunately, Crag didn't release his grip on her arm, and as the three bad guys were breathing in the gas, Misty couldn't escape from its powerful scent either. All four sank to the ground in complete unconsciousness as the gas cloud slowly dissipated.

"Misty!" Ash exclaimed running to the cell door and rattling the bars. He couldn't get through to her.

Suddenly, Gary entered the room. Ash blinked several times in astonishment. What was Gary doing here?

"Ash! Oh, thank goodness! I've been looking all around this horrible place trying to find you!" Gary exclaimed.

Ash who was still in shock, replied, "Misty was trying to make them unconscious with a special fume-in-a-capsule thing, but she kind of got caught in the gas too."

"I, um, ran into Brock and he said you needed help, so I thought I'd see if I could be useful around here..." Gary stopped and went over to the guards and, laying Misty carefully aside, took the keys from Crag.

Gary crossed over to the cell and unlocked the door. Ash quickly flung it open and glared at Gary.

"Oh you've proven yourself plenty "useful" before...why are you really here?!" Ash exclaimed.

"I realized that what Misty said about me was true, and I wanted to make it up to you and her. I've been really terrible, and I can see that now. I ruined the wonderful friendship we once had. Can you...please...forgive me?" Gary asked haltingly.

Ash looked suspiciously at Gary, but when he saw the true sincerity in his face, he knew that this was a new Gary. Or rather, the old Gary who used to be Ash's best friend not so long ago. Ash was overjoyed.

He held out his hand to Gary, who took it with a very happy look on his face and shook it heartily.

Suddenly, Ash remembered Misty. He ran over to where she lay and gently picked her up. Gary dragged a cot out of the cell and put it in the middle of the room. Ash laid Misty on it and, after giving her a kiss on the forehead, turned back to Gary.

"Great idea! But they're pretty heavy looking so you take the arms, and I'll take the feet..." Ash indicated.

After putting them in the cell and getting their own bags out of it, Gary and Ash discussed what to do next.

"Well, Brock went for help, so he should be back with the authorities any time now. They'll probably be able to handle this. I hope those guys go to jail for a long time..." Ash trailed off thinking about all the mistreated Pokemon.

"Yeah, I saw a lot of it while I was trying to find you. I may not have the great understanding of Pokemon that you have, but I don't like seeing things suffer," Gary said looking sad.

"RELEASE YOUR HOSTAGES AND COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP! WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED!"

Ash and Gary practically jumped out of their skins as Officer Jenny's voice boomed out through a megaphone.

"Would you go get them and tell them it's all right? And make sure to bring a doctor back with you. I want them to look Misty over to make sure she's all right," Ash told Gary.

Gary nodded in understanding and quickly left the room. Ash turned to the sleeping Misty.

"Looks like everything is going to be OK," he thought about their new found love and continued, "Everything is going to be OK, after all..."

What did you think? Tell me honestly, now! I can take it! *gets chicken* No I can't! But tell me anyway!