Chapter 7- The Discovery

"WHAT??!!" Ash and Misty exclaimed in unison, looking at each other and blushing uncontrollably.

" You heard me, Ash. Kiss Misty." Felicia said, crossing her arms.

" You’re crazy if you think I’m going to let his mouth anywhere near mine."

Misty said angrily, turning her back to Ash, crossing her arms and shutting her eyes in that ‘stubborn’ pose we all know so well.

" Can’t you give me ANYTHING different?" Ash retorted, but from where Felicia and the rest of the skeptical looking players sat, their argument wasn’t very believable. Misty began to ramble on how much she really despised Ash to support the wild beating of her nervous heart, while Brock nudged Ash with his elbow.

" C’mon, go for it!" He whispered. Ash looked him, mouth agape.

" What makes you think I want to kiss her?!"

" You took the chance of being horribly humiliated when you supported the idea of playing this game. Besides, you’d be lying if you weren’t at least slightly hoping something like this would come up." Brock answered in an all-knowing tone. Ash looked at the ground for a moment, embarrassed by the way Brock always knew exactly what he was thinking.

" Besides, he’d probably slobber all over me…" Misty said, about to continue before she was completely silenced by Ash, who had the courage to reach over and touch her cheek. A sharp inhale of breath came from the circle as he slowly turned her head so she stared right into his brown eyes, which conveyed a soft message she couldn’t quite make out. Then without warning, he turned his head slightly and pressed his lips to hers. Her eyes widened in disbelief and her breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t believe it, and neither could the rest of them from the various gasps and whispers she could hear.

The only one not surprised was Felicia, who was snickering rather than gasping as she probed Misty’s mind with her own. She was almost certain that her victory would be set in stone before the eve ended.

Misty, without thinking, shut her eyes and carefully kissed him back, one reason being she felt it was as her dare as much as his. She moved her hand upwards and began absent-mindedly fingering his shirt, which no one else could see because of how close she had allowed him to come.

" And…stop!" Brock said, his watch beeping. Ash pulled away from her and once again looked into her eyes.

" See, I don’t slobber." He said smiling, catching his breath.

Misty, still drawing a total blank, reacted the only way she knew how.

She reeled back and smacked him as hard as she possibly could, knocking him back into Brock. Pikachu took Ash’s defense and thundershocked her. When she opened her eyes, Ash was standing above her, rubbing the red side of his face and shooting her a cold, disdainful stare.

Pikachu stood by him, the same look on his face.

" I’m going to bed." He said coldly.

"Ash…I didn’t mean…" She began, tears in her eyes, but he was already halfway up the stairs.

" Nice going." James said, which resulted in a prompt decking from Jessie and Brock. Meouth looked at Felicia, who smiled.

" Just what I was hoping for."

***

The miniature Victorian clock on the bedside table softly chimed its way to two’clock, awaking Ember from her groove in the top sheet of Misty’s sleeping bag. With a small yawn, she slowly made her way over the hill Misty’s legs created (being she was laying on her side), but halfway over she rolled over squashing Ember for the third time that long and dreamless night.

" Hey, get off!" She whispered, squirming around. Misty sat up.

" Sorry again. I really wish you’d quit moving."

" Do you know how hard it is to stay in one place when something ten times your size keeps moving?"

" Oh, nevermind."

Brock’s deep snore rang out again.

" I just can’t see how he can sleep so soundly."

" Easy," Misty said. " He won the bed for the night."

The three out of four rooms designed for guests Felicia had led them to had only one bed each, and being that the three of them couldn’t decide on anything they had resorted to rock, paper, scissors. Brock had won, leaving Ash and Misty with their sleeping bags. Misty couldn’t sleep at all, one from being tremendously overtired and two with her mind trying to sort out the events of the evening, her head hurt too much to try. She had assumed she was the only one awake, because she couldn’t see Ash from the other side of the bed. Misty sighed and got up.

" Where are you going?" Ember asked.

" There is no real point to lying here awake. I’m going to watch TV."

" There’s probably nothing good on anyway." Ember said. But with a soft mmp, Misty had the tired animal in her arms as she snuck out her bedroom door and made her way downstairs.

" I still don’t think it’s a good idea to sneak around a strange house during the night." Ember whispered.

" Well, it looks like someone else did." Misty said. Ember caught the soft blue glow of the television reflecting on the wall.

" Who do you think is up?" She yawned.

Misty reached the bottom of the staircase and stepped onto the carpet with no more than a tap. She moved foreword cautiously, but stopped dead as her foot bumped something. Looking down, she saw James in a sleeping bag.

" Looks like he couldn’t sleep in those rooms either."

" No.." Came a voice from under James’ arm. Inferno squirmed out, standing before them.

" James was kicked out. That Jessie girl is such an arrogant freak she booted him out to sleep on his own."

" What are YOU doing sleeping with James?" Ember queried.

" The guy’s not so bad. I kinda like him."

" SShh!!" Misty said pointing to the couch. The three could see the silhouette of the top of someone’s head sitting on the couch. Inferno scampered foreword silently and leapt onto the couch head like a cat, his tails waving as he looked down at the person.

" Awww, now this is something you’ll appreciate Misty…" He cooed.

" What?" She asked. She walked over to the couch and looked down at Ash, who had fallen asleep in front of the TV. His hat was down on his head and his arms were folded. Pikachu slept curled in his lap.

" Isn’t that cute?" Ember said, smiling, and looking up and Misty. But to her surprise, Misty looked more hurt than admiring.

" Psst…guys! Over here!"

It was Tidal. He was perched like a cat in front of a mousehole near the basement door. The two of them left Ash and Misty moved over to him.

" What now?" Ember asked.

" Sshh, listen.."

And they did. Three conversing voices, two unrecognizable and the obvious Meouth could be heard through the door. Inferno and Ember listened closer, the only ones with hearing sensitive enough to make out the conversation…

" Tomorrow then?"

" Don’t you think it’s a little early?"

" Of course not..."

" It’s only been a day!"

" So what? They have already been established as gullible fools, believing any little thing."

" That doesn’t mean they don’t learn!"

" Meouth, stop it!! You’re going to wake the humans!"

" Meouth, I should skin you for that comment, but you are correct, as inferior as you are. Stick with the order tonight and see how it goes"

***

To be continued….