Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ fun ❯ manman boyboy ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

i dont own them
Due to the violent content of this story parental discretion is advised.Pokemon and all their characters are the sole property of Game Freak, the WB, and it's creator's.

*** For Your Eyes Only**** information that is disclosed is for your own personal knowledge.
If you choose to reveal said information, your termination will be
applied. And if you are caught, we at MASTERS have the right to deny
any of our prior relationships.

"Ashura must be stopped!" There was a loud crash, as the old man
slammed an enormous pile of papers and files onto the desk. He whipped
around to look at the other people in the darkened room, all of them
seated in the darkness, patiently waiting. "Look at this..." He
pointed to the stack of documents. are the damage reports just in from the 'Highlight." The old
man stated. He opened one of the files and looked over some of the
figures. "Look, we have fire damages, tile and marble damages." He
took a breath then looked at a huge figure. "WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THE
TOTAL REPLACEMENT OF A WHOLE FLOOR!"turned away from all the numbers and looked at the other members.
It seemed that none of them were giving him the least bit of notice.
Ivy was going over some of the results from one of her latest
experiments. Nanami was signing the documents for the approval to add
another wing to the pokemon training facility. Bill was going over the
sports page. The only attentive figure, Brock, had a stern look of
displeasure. He glared towards the old man, during his rant. "It will
cost us $500,000 alone to repair the floor tiles."Brock spoke. "Did he save the girl?"old man ignored the rock gym-leader's response and continued. "The
windows and doors from five different offices were totally demolished.
They are going to cost $75,000 to replace..."interrupted the old man again. "Did he save the girl, Blaine?"
He repeated.old man glared at him through his sunglasses. He was Blaine, the
flame gym leader of Cinnibar Island and the fourth member of the
MASTERS Board. "That is not the point, Brock!" Blaine returned.
"Ashura is a menace. Not only does he show a totally lack of regard to
all the regulations we have here at MASTERS but also..."REGARD!!!" Brock thundered, while slamming his fist against the
desk. "He has always followed the Prime Directives of MASTERS." He
narrowed his slanted eyes. "Has he not?"re-adjusted his sunglasses and stood back to regain his
composure. He also managed to grab a glimpse of the engravings of the
Prime Directives in the background, embroidered big golden letters.Directives Of MASTERS
. The innocent shall always be shielded.
2. The lawless shall always be vanquished.
3. A MASTER shall never raise an arm to another MASTER. the first day an Agent was initiated he or she knew the Prime
Directives by heart. These words were the law and the foundation of
MASTERS. Anyone that defied any of the Prime Directives would be
hunted down by every available MASTER and sentenced to death. But
throughout MASTERS' history, no one has every betrayed MASTERS.
Although, since Ashura's arrival there have been many close calls.took off his glasses. "Look Brock, I know he's your friend and
all, But..."stood up from his desk. "My friendship to Ashura isn't the
case. He has been the best agent to come to MASTERS since 'The Four,'
started MASTERS twenty years ago!"maybe good, but...." Blaine sentence came to a screeching halt
as the door to the Boardroom was opened. light seemed to banish all the darkness held in the room. The two
visitors entered. One of the newcomers was a man: early twenties, with
shoulder length dark hair. There was a prideful manner in his stride,
a step that contained both confidence and poise. He took one glance at
the previously quarreling duo and smirked. see my deeds haven't gone unnoticed," Ashura said proudly. continued into the room. Behind him, the slender figure of a woman
appeared. She appeared to be around his age, in her early twenties.
She batted away a strand of flame red hair, as she stood firmly next
to Ashura. the members of the Board, (especially the men) noticed her state
of dress (or undress). The girl was wearing what looked like the
remains of a once very expensive dress. But now, the material was worn
and tattered. The color was slightly off and dulled. It was a miracle
that the dress still held together on the thin frame of the young
woman. and Blaine both took notice of Ashura's arrival. Deciding this
wasn't the best time to decide Ashura's fate, the two silently agreed
to discuss the matter at another time. Ashura," Blaine greeted. "And might I say, congratulations on
another successful mission," Blaine said with smile. A glare was
Ashura's only response. Blaine narrowed his eyes toward the young
agent. Misty glanced at the two. She could tell there was a silent
battle being fought by the two of them. But in the end Ashura seemed
to have been the victor. Blaine muttered something to Brock, then took
to his seat. the girl's eyes set themselves on Brock. He was much taller now,
coming to at least six foot two. He still kept his brown hair short,
although he looked like he was in the process of growing a bread.
'He probably hasn't shaved in a while,' She reasoned. His face still
had that bold chin, and sharp slanted eyes. But it looked like he
traded in his trademark green vest and orange shirt, for a nice
pressed Armani suit. To be honest she thought he grew up to be a very
handsome man.
'Not as cute as ...' She stopped herself from continuing that thought
and groaned. This was not the time for such thoughts. Misty..." The former Rock Gym leader greeted in a almost
monotone fashion, as he walked over and gave a mild hug to his long
lost friend. was momentarily shocked as she heard his words. She suddenly
felt a cold chill go down her spine, as he hugged her.
"Hello Brock..." She finally said. Memories from the past started to
cloud her mind. Memories that she wished she could forget.smiled. "So how have you been?"took Misty a few moments to respond. "Fine..." She then quickly
added, "Considering the rough treatment I got from this blockhead."
Misty ruefully commented, while jerking her thumb toward Ash.glared at her. "Fine, maybe you would like to have been a Team
Rocket target dummy." He snapped back while crossing his arms. "Oh
yeah, they probably wouldn't been able to hit you anyway. I guess
being paper thin does have its advances after all!"glared. "I have you know, that I have a very fine figure!"
Secretly Ash, was in total agreement. "Plus that was what got you
drooling all over me at the Highlight!" She taunted.words nearly caused Ashura to fall from his feet. "WHAT DO YOU
MEAN? I WASN'T DROOLING OVER YOU AT THE PARTY!" He shouted back at
her, even though Brock noticed his cheeks were slightly red. Ashura
then calmed down a little and grinned. "If anything, you were taken in
by my charming personality. I had you wrapped around my little
finger." He chuckled. Misty returned. "YOU WISH!!" She hated seeing that annoying
grin on his face. She was about to really let him have it when...you two are finished?" A female's voice asked. "We are trying to
have a meeting here Miss. Waters." The woman stated while frowning at
the young woman. Misty looked up and saw face of a person she faintly
remembered. The woman had long brown hair and beautiful green eyes.
She really couldn't put her finger on it but she knew she met her
before. Misty then blushed at realizing how immature she was acting.was about to comment about her yelling at him when... "And Mr.
Ketchum. I would hope...this assignment wasn't TOO much for you. If
you cannot cooperate with your client, I will find another agent that
will." was suddenly alarmed at the proposal. "No, Nanami...I..." He
sighed then looked at Misty. "I apologize for my behavior." He then
scowled toward the chestnut color haired woman. Nanami frowned
slightly, then looked away. was very amazed. She had never known Ash to make a apology like
that. Then she remembered. 'Ash said her name was Nanami.' Why did
that name sound familiar to her?deep voice broke Misty out of her contemplation. "Man, even after
all these years, you two still haven't changed." Brock said while
smirking a little. He then coughed and drew his attention to the
center of the room. Waters..." A violet hair woman addressed her. Misty recognized
the woman instantly. She was the woman that Brock spent a year with,
while her and Ash were adventuring through the Orange Islands:
Professor Ivy. It's funny, she never did find out why Brock left Ivy
in the first place. hope your ordeal wasn't too stressing. I know Ashura here has still
a lot to learn about adequate tact. But I think he did manage to
complete his assignment."nodded in acknowledgment, but remained silent.continued. "If you would like...we can assign another agent to
you, If you think Mr. Ketchum, isn't qualified to protect you."thought for a minute. Then looked at Ash. He was staring right
at her. A mix of emotions was on his face. She could tell he wanted to
protect her and secretly she wanted him too also. She looked forward. Ok. I guess old habits die hard," she said with a small
laugh. smiled. "Very well then." that is settled...." The man in the purple suit, stated. "Miss.
Waters, You have called for the assistance of MASTERS because you
earlier stated that you came across the cure to the AVS virus..." Bill
paused for her response.is correct. I had a confidante enter the Team Rocket facility
and retrieve it." She looked down. "He was able to recover the
information for the cure, but it was at the cost of his life." A few
tears fell from her eyes. In a voice that was hardly a whisper. "I'm
sorry Rudy..." She silently sobbed.the members gave Miss. Waters a few minutes of silence. Ash was
going out of his mind. He was wrenched in one direction for the need
to comfort her, but another part of him said that wasn't the brightest
of ideas. time, reason won. a few minutes, Misty recomposed herself. Nanami continued. Waters we are very sorry for your loss, but we must know the
location of the information that you've received. That is the only way
we can hopefully bring the cure public." understand..." Misty said, while recovering the lost strength in
her voice. "For safety measures, I placed all the documents of the AVS
Anti-virus in a safety deposit box in the Celadon National Bank."grinned to himself. Celadon National, was probably one of the
most highly secured Banks in all of Indigo. Nothing, save for a
terrorist bombing could even scratch that place. He himself would have
a very hard time retrieving anything from it. He smiled again. Misty
was still as sharp as ever.seated Boulder Gym-leader leaned forward, his face coming from the
seemingly menacing darkness. "That was wise choice for holding it." He
stroked his unshaven beard. "So now that we know the location. All
there is to do now, is to retrieve it."see..." Old man Blaine said, absorbing the information. "Well then,
these two should be put on the first flight to Celadon, immediately."nodded her head. "Agreed."word 'flight' sent off thousands of alarms in Misty's head. They
didn't mention anything about flying. SHE HATED TO FLY. a new attitude change in Misty, Ash frowned a little bit.
After a few moments of thought, he silently chuckled to himself. Then
he spoke. disagree...."all eyes in the room was on Ashura. Whether or not he noticed
or cared, he continued without missing a stride. "I'm sure you would
all know that Team Rocket would surely be checking all flights. And as
we've seen in the last couple of days, clearing out a whole airport of
life to complete a agenda isn't beneath them."frowned. "So what would you suggest, Agent Ashura?"smiled. "I say we use the Rapidash Engine, that takes Route 22, 3,
and 16. That will give us a direct route to Celadon, plus it's a very
unexpected method of travel. And..." Then he grinned. "With me
protecting her, no one is sure to lay a hand on her." and Misty both rolled their eyes. Then Ivy spoke. you want to go by train?" Ashura nodded. "Hmmmmm, very unusual..."
The heads of the Board silently drew into a mild discussion over the
matter. Meanwhile, Misty glanced over in Ash's direction. He was
smiling pretty brightly. He was obviously very proud of his
suggestion. It was the first time she seem him smile like that since
they reunited. It almost reminded her of when he was younger. slowly glanced over to her and their eyes met. She was about to
make a remark about him gawking at her. Then she just remembered what
he did for her. So instead she just mouthed "Thank you..." and looked
directly forward. The Board members finally came out of their
deliberation. Ash acknowledged her gesture and looked forward also.
But it was evident a new brighter smile was on his face. spoke. "Ok, Ketchum. We agree to your suggestion. It will take
about 48 hours for the preparations to take place. Return here in that
time and be ready to depart." He said while crossing his arms. A mild
sign of disappointment was clearly on his elderly face.smirked. "Very well. We'll be here..." Ash, was about to turn
to leave but, someone wasn't clear on something.me." Misty said impatiently. "What about me? Where am I
to go?" Then she frowned. "AND WHEN CAN I CHANGE OUT OF THIS
THING?!!?" She exclaimed while motioning to her mangled gown.of the members of the Board looked at each other. "Well..." Nanami
was about to say. Before Ashura cut her off.worry. You can stay with me," He stated to her. Misty wasn't
about to make a comment when, Ashura continued. "I had some people go
to your apartment, to get your things. You can change and then come
with me. I have a small errand to run. Then I'll be going back to my
place." and Misty blushed at that statement. Nanami was about to
comment, when... "And Nanami, You don't have to worry. We are both
adults here and I have a job to do. I've have dedicated my life to
make sure that Miss. Waters will be taken care of. My involvement with
her, shall remain at a professional one," Ash finished firmly. in the room remained silent after Ashura's speech. All eyes
were on Ash, especially the indigo eyes of the young Pokemon Doctor.
Brock faked-coughed, to break the silence. that ok with you Misty...eh...Miss. Waters?" He asked.eyes were burning bluish holes into Ashura. Whether he didn't
know or care, his face remained unchanged. Still eyeing him, she
slowly broke away to face Brock. "Yeah..." she shakily said. "Yeah,
That's fine...."nodded. "Good then all is agreed." The two were about to leave the
chamber. Ashura..." Ivy called to him, to which he promptly turned around.
He motioned to Misty to go ahead, as he waited for Ivy's last minute
counsel. "I want to wish you good luck. Miss. Waters is very important
to the lives of countless people. So do whatever you have to do, to
protect her."smiled a little and replied. "It's nothing.... protecting her
is something I vowed to always do, a long time ago." He then turned
and exited the 'Board' room.frowned slightly at his words. The door to the Board Chamber
slowly closed. Nanami looked down her paper work trying anything to
occupy her mind and allow Ashura's words to fade. knew he didn't love her and probably never would. But knowing that
didn't stop her feelings. Somewhere she always had hope. And right
now...hope was what she really was going to need.Can you hold up!!!" Misty shouted down the hallway. Running
around barefoot was hard enough. Running and trying to catch-up to the
idiot was simply unbearable. "AND WHEN CAN I FINALLY CHANGE!!!" here..." He stated, while pointing to a room marked, 'Woman's
Locker room.' He turned to her, and threw some keys. " Here, your
stuff is in locker # 2079. I'll be out here if you need me." He said
while leaning against the wall. glared at him. "You sure you don't to come in and I'm sure you
want to make sure I'm 'safe'?" she said sarcastically. rolled his eyes. "Look, you don't have anything I want to see
anyway. I prefer women with curves. Not an ironing board," He replied
bluntly.were flames burning in Misty's eyes. "IRONING BOARD!!! IRONING
BOARD!!!" She repeated. "I'LL SHOW YOU, AN IRONING BOARD!!!" She
shouted, as she started to reach for the hem of her dress.eyes widened, as his cheeks started to fluster. He nearly
tackled the woman, trying to stop her. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!?!" He
shouted, while pinning her to the ground. "We're in public!"shrugged him off. "Well, you insisted on..." Misty started while
returning to her feet.sorry..." frowned. "I said I'm sorry..." He sighed. "Look, I know you hate
me and all, but we are going to be working together for a while. Can
we at LEAST be civil to one another?" He smirked a little. "Besides,
I've already seen you naked before anyway..."blushed furiously and grabbed him close to her by his collar.
"ASH!!! That was like eight years ago." She then smiled. "Besides, a
lot has changed since then.." She gave him a very seductive look.raised an eyebrow. "I see." He thought for a minute then
smirked again. "Willing to allow another viewing?"released him and took a step back. "As if..." She turned around
and took a step towards the locker room door. As soon as she did, the
door *hissed* and slid open. She looked over her shoulder. "Anyway...I
doubt you would be able to handle it this time." With that she walked
inside.could be right..." Ash said out loud, to no one in particular. He
leaned against the wall and patiently waited for her exit, hoping her
ability to take long amounts of time to get dressed had improved over
the years.wandered around the large empty room. It was dark when she first
got in there, after searching for a few minutes. She found a light
switch. The lights flickered for a few minutes, then gradually
illuminated the room.and thousands of lockers surrounded Misty. There were 5
sections of lockers. Each section held a different color. Gazing over
the several numbers and different colors, Misty was wondering around
what looked like a maze of multi-colored hell.sighed, as she was looking for her bin. 'What am I doing here?'
She wondered. 'Is this thing really that important to bring Ash into
it?' She wondered. 'He's changed, I've changed, even Brock...' Her
mind was hit with a sudden flash.
Brock...
The letter...
The tears she shed...images ceased, but her tears did not. She didn't want to remember
the past. It was too painful for her. Memories...how she hated them.
All they did was bring pain. It was a constant reminder of what she
didn't have and how alone she truly was.around a bit more, she finally found the locker. 'My
locker,' She guessed. Retrieving the keys Ash gave her, Misty opened
the door. A few duffel bags were in the locker, as well as a few other
items. one of the duffel bags, she took out her gray sweat pants and
her red Aeropostale shirt. Searching through another bag she found
some tennis shoes she could wear also. With that squared away, she
lazily threw together the ensemble. It wouldn't be her first choice of
dress. But she didn't have much time to go through the rest of her
stuff.day, another dollar." a voice said. Entering the woman's
locker room from another entrance, there stood another finely figured
redhead.stretched out a bit. It had been a long day. She was about to
go to her locker to grab her stuff, when she noticed the young Pokemon
doctor in the progress of changing. And Jessie, never missing a chance
to spread her joyous personality, decided to 'chat' with the skinny,
flamed haired woman. "Hello Misses Twerp!" She said cheerfully, while
walking over to the younger woman. rolled her eyes and grumbled something intangible. She glared at
the older woman. Jessie noticed all this and laughed. "Hey don't be
mad. I was just kidding." A cold glance was Misty's response. "No
wonder Ash looked totally depressed out there. Your just horrible."
Jessie pouted.Misty turned to her intently.was an interesting development. One minute the skinny runt won't
have given Jessie the time of day. With a mention of the 'A' word,
however, she was all ears. Jessie's usual smile contorted to the upper
right side of her mouth, forming a devilish grin. Ash..." Jessie reassured her. "But enough of that...." Jessie
sat down next to the younger woman. "Look, I wanted to come by and
apologize about what I said before." She smiled brightly. Cause she
knew the next thing she was going to say...was going to be very hard.be...friends." She said finally. Every word looked
like it was sucking the life out of her after every syllable was
uttered.glared at her. "Right..." She narrowed her eyes. "So what
brought on this new want for friendship?" She asked sarcastically.we both have a lot in common." Misty was listening with some
interest. "We both are very beautiful and intelligent woman. We both,
could probably get any guy we wanted..." She paused to see if anything
she was saying was having any effect. It looked like it was.thought for a minute. "Granted, those are true. But it just
seems very out of the blue." She eyed a now nervous Jessie.
"Besides...let's be honest. Jessie you hardly do anything unless you
have some other motive."sighed. "Well you got me." She leaned against one of the
lockers. "To be honest, I only wanted to be friends because of Ash."raised an eyebrow. "Ash?"Jessie nodded. "Yeah, I figured if we became friends, that
would earn me some points with him." She grinned.narrowed her eyes. "I thought you had James..."why can't I have both of them?" Jessie said honestly.was at loss right now. She was fighting with the decision of
straight-out killing Jessie right there, or just cramming her into one
of the lockers and prayed that no one would find her for a good week.Misty could come to a final decision, Jessie continued
speaking. to be honest, I don't have a chance with him." She looked into
Misty's direction. "His heart belongs to another...."looked away. She didn't want to think about things like Ash and
love at the same time. "So.... you're married to James right?" She
said trying to change the subject.sighed. 'She wants to deny what is so obvious.' She shook her
head. 'And people say I was stubborn.' Coming out of her thoughts.
"Yeah, the poor guy finally broke me down and got me to marry him."
She smiled. "It's a good thing too. He needed me in his life. He could
barely function before anyway."smiled. "That must be nice. He must really love and rely on
you." Her sentence ended with a sigh. "I wish there was someone like
that for me..." She stated, not necessarily to Jessie.cocked her head to the side. "Hey, What about Ash?"gasped. In five seconds the color of her cheeks turned from a
pleasant pink color to a deep beet red. "What?!? Ash?? We're just
friends. Actually I wouldn't even say that..." She corrected himself.
"He's just a jerk anyway..."brought her hands behind her head and closed her eyes. "Too
bad..." She started to say. "Too Bad. Cause it's obvious he has it bad
for you..."WHAT?"shrugged. "It's nothing. Actually to be honest I'm really
jealous of you." Jessie went over to her locker, which was amazingly
right next to Misty's. She opened her locker. Wrestling through her
things, she continued to talk. "You missy.... You get to have him all
to yourself for a some 'close contact' protection." She stuck her head
out of the locker to look at the bewildered girl next to her. "Do you
know how many woman would kill to be in your place?"looked at her. "Why do you say that?"thought for minute. Some devilish fantasies danced in her head.
"Ummmm...never mind." She sighed. "Misty, I know we are not the best
of friends...." Jessie thought again. 'Hell we ain't friends period.'
She shook it off. "And I know you probably won't believe me, but Ash
is in love with you."looked straight ahead, giving the impression that none of Jessie
words had any effect. But she continued on. "He's always been in love
with you." Misty still remained wordless. "I know you probably don't
believe me. But if you look into your heart, I think you know my words
are true."was a long pause between the two women. Jessie was going to
comment on something else but Misty beat her to speaking. "You
know...A long time ago, knowing that would have made my day." She
paused and concentrated on her words. "But now...Now I'm older and I
know the truth." got up to gather her bags from the locker. Then she turned to
Jessie. "You told me I should look into my heart for the answers. I
did that along time ago. And my efforts were just rewarded with
heartbreak..."that she left a speechless Jessie alone in the locker room. again there was silence in the room. Jessie turned to one of the
lockers and kicked it. "Those two are so perfect for each other..."
She said. "They're both idiots...."had been a good half and hour since Misty entered the women's
locker room. Ash was bored. The one thing that he still had a problem
with was patience. But in his waiting, he had time to recollect on the
person he was waiting for. she was still hard to get along with at times, but he did see
signs of her weakening. Sometimes it showed she was slightly
interested. fact he remember she blushed a few times when he made comments on
her flowering figure. It really wasn't too hard though. She was always
beautiful and age hadn't taken that away in the slightest. he believed he still had a chance with her. As long as he watched
what he said and tried to keep his ego out of the picture. That and a
little bit of luck, maybe this thing will have a happy ending after
all. sound of the women's locker room sliding opening snapped Ashura
from his thoughts. He turned to the opening as lovely young women he
was just envisioning exited the room. prepared his best smile and was ready to greet her. But then he
noticed a change in her aura. She seemed agitated. Like something was
really troubling her. was about to ask what was wrong but she turned and glared at him.
The glare she gave drove chills down Ash's spine. She almost looked
like a different person. Then she spoke, and when she did, every word
seemed as though they were encased with venom.know I hate you, don't you..." It was a statement. Not meant to
be questioned. Just accepted. Ashura managed a nod. Not really paying
attention to her word. He was more taken aback by her manner. you know that I wished you never existed, so I wouldn't have had
to met you..." She said with the fires still burning in her eyes. "You
are annoying. Egotistical. A total moron and I can't wait for this
whole thing to be over so I will never have to see you ever again." time her words set in. Every phrase. Every cut-down. It was like
they were all targeted for Ashura's soul. Her words hurt. They hurt so
much he almost lost his bearing. After awhile there wasn't any more
pain, there was only numbness.Waters." He said without any emotion. He drifted
back into his agent mode, The only frame of mind that allowed him to
deal with any situation. Good or bad. It didn't matter. This manner of
thinking allowed him to function, without the worry of his feelings
getting into the way. His feelings were often his weakness anyway.
This moment proved that to be true. But now he was safe. Safe from
harm and safe from being harmed. Her words no longer had any effect on
him. He was Ashura. Agent of MASTERS. He was assigned to protect her
and he would, because he was ordered to. He could no longer care what
happened to her afterwards. He kept repeating to that to himself. But
it could be noticed that his fist were clenched more tightly then
normal.smiled warily. "Good...Now I think you had somewhere to go...."
She inquired, while turning away from him. For some reason she didn't
want to look at his eyes. Cause when she did, all she could see was
her own reflection, something she didn't care to see at the moment.nodded. "Yes...Just follow me. It won't take long. I just want to
visit someone, then we well leave." He said. He then looked away, and
walked down the hallway, heading toward the parking garage. Soon he
was out of sight.waited for him leave. Watching his departure, she leaned against
one of the walls and released a long sigh. Her vision was starting to
blur. Her lips trembled as her cheeks were matted with tears. She slid
down the side of the wall she was leaning up against. Red bangs poured
down her field of vision. Her sobs starting to get louder, she balled
up and cried into her knees. sorry Ash...."
:00 am...long and boring morning,' Veronica thought as she glanced at
her monitor. She typed a few keys then the screen cleared again. She
sighed, while playing with a lock of her violet hair, the only thing
she could think of too pass the time. she had a good job, being a receptionist of the Viridian City
Hospital. The money was good and the work wasn't too hard. But it
often got really boring. shouldn't be wasting my good years like this..." She stated. "I'm
almost 34 and I still ain't got a man." She didn't really mind being
her own woman and all. But years of seeing all the girlfriends she
grew up with start to settle down with husbands started to get to her
after a while. Especially if they seemed to always make you the
designated bridesmaid. sighed. She was the only one out of the bunch that kept her
figure over the years, but she still always managed to find the wrong
guy. Or was it the wrong guy always managed to find her? She could
never figure out which of the two. that twiddling with her hair had reached the height of its
amusement, she looked around her desk to find something else to occupy
her time. She glanced at her calendar. Margarette's bridal shower was
coming up soon. She sighed again, which also meant another wedding to
attend. And another day she would have to be someone else's
bridesmaid. hazel eyes traced over the paper to look at today. Instantly she
perked up. It was Wednesday. Which meant 'he' would show up. This
realization started to make her whole day brighten. didn't really remember when she first started taking paying
attention to his presence. It was probably the around the third or
fourth time he came by that she took notice. The young man always came
to visit the patient in room 151. His mom, she believed. was really sad though, his mother. She was suffering from AVS
virus, A disease that accelerates the deterioration of muscle tissue.
The victim's muscles start to breakdown faster. Victims of AVS appear
as though they are aging faster, since the condition of the muscles
also affects the appearance of wrinkles or other signs of age. a person that was in his mid-twenties that was affected by the
virus could appear sixty or seventy. The rate of the muscle
deterioration always varied on each subject. And since there was no
known cure for the virus, there was no proper way to treat it. All
hospitals could really do was try to make everyone comfortable. They
run what tests they could, but in the end the person was always on
burrowed time.

Still despite the odds, the young gentleman always visited every
Wednesday. And for some unknown reason, Veronica thought that was real
sweet. There wasn't a lot of guys around like him anymore. He was kind
of quiet most of the time, but was very kind. And cute...If he were a
few years older, she would consider pursuing him....paused on that thought. 'I wonder if he goes for older women?' had to admit the thought was quite tempting. the Hospital, Ash and Misty was instantly overwhelmed by the
fumes of disinfectant that was pumped into every inch of the building.
The two walked in complete silence of each other, a silence that had
been lasting the whole 60 minute car ride they had coming to the
Hospital.walked the all so familiar hallway, to the all so familiar desk,
that the violet haired receptionist occupied. She frowned slightly,
and then greeted him with a smile as he came to the desk. something that could be considered a smile, Ash tried to
return the woman's cheerful attitude. "Hello Miss. Veronica. How is my
mom doing?" smiled. "Well she's been doing ok. Gary and May are here
today too. You should join them." She looked pass Ashura and noticed
the slender red-head standing behind him. "So who's your friend?" looked over his shoulder. "This is an acquaintance of mine." He
stepped aside to let Misty come into full view. "Miss. Veronica, this
is Miss. Mistae Waters."was starting to hate her stage name. She stepped forward and
extended her hand to the older woman. "It's nice to meet you. And you
can just call me Misty." She added. smiled. "Oh she is so charming. You two make such a cute
couple." Even though she hated to admit it. It was true, the two
standing together they did look like a good match. And from the way
they both were blushing it was probably something said often.Veronica.." Ash said, finally finding his voice. "Believe
me it's not like that."shook her head slightly. "Whatever kids..." Sighing, the two
left Veronica's desk and continued down the hallway. glanced at her monitor again. "I wonder if that new Doctor in
pediatrics is single?"and Misty continued down the hallway to Mrs. Ketchum's room.
Besides the small conversation with the receptionist, the two still
hadn't spoken.there was something on Ash's mind that he knew he had
to tell Misty before they met Gary and May. It was something
important, but after all of today's events he just plain forgot. I am as dense as she says?' Ash pondered, while looking to the
crimson haired girl. The dull pain in his heart increased the more he
looked at her. She had finally told him, her feelings. After all this
time and after all his heartache, he found that in the end it was all
for nothing. She didn't care about him at all. part of him said he should have been glad. Even though he did care
for her a lot, she was often moody and annoying. Hell, sometimes she
could be unbearable. But another part of him, his heart, his true
emotions, still loved her and he knew he would love her till the day
he died. reflected on the idea. 'Death...' For the longest time he always
tried to avoid death. For him, death was always like a counterpart of
his life. Since he joined MASTERS, its presence always seemed near,
just lying in wait. In the past, he always tried to stay alive, hoping
for the one day he would be able to see her again and love her,
possibly to start his life over with her.now his reason to live was no more. She hated him. That was
something he accepted. He knew he never had a chance with her in the
first place. It was just the fact that he always hoped. And hope could
be a strong thing for a person that dealt with fate like he did. But
hope failed him now. And death was looking like a plausible option.in his next encounter with death, he might finally concede and
let his fate be decided....two stood in front of the door to Mrs. Ketchum's room. Ash went to
turn the knob then stopped. As if he was remembering something but
couldn't quite put his finger on it. He turned the knob and opened the
door part way.May, I wonder when ol' Ashy boy will show up..." Escaped from the
crack. eyes widened. He looked over his shoulder at Misty. Who...at the
moment looked really impatient. He was about to say something...but
the words couldn't form. minutes waiting in the hallway, was enough to push any
Waterflower to the edge. And since the slow dim-whited guy wasn't
making a move to proceed. Misty had to take the situation into her own
hands. aside Hatboy, I'm tired of waiting." She ordered, while pushing
past the man, to open the door.finding his voice Ash shouted. "Misty, wait!"turned around to look at him. "What is your problem Ash?..." She
looked forward. "You said...we were...." stopped in her sentence as she took in the whole scene. Mrs.
Ketchum was lying down in the hospital bed, possibly asleep. The girl
looked to the older woman. She momentarily was frozen in place. Mrs.
Ketchum, cheeks were sunken in and lost allot of her natural color. pained Misty to see her like this. Mrs. Ketchum was almost like a
mom to her. She was the closest thing to a mom she really ever had. To
see her in such a weaken state was such a shock to Misty. turned to the other visitors in the room. A brown haired girl
stood over Mrs. Ketchum. She turned as Misty entered. 'May' Misty
subconsciously noted. Misty scowled at her. Misty remembered the role
the girl played in the dismantling of all of her affections. She could
never forgive May Oak. And the fact that the girl was grinning at her
like a moron, wasn't improving Misty opinion of her.her sapphire eyes glance to the remaining figure in the room.
Misty blinked twice to make sure what she was seeing was real. Ash
moved behind her. She turned and looked at him. He could read what she
wanted to say although she dared not utter a phrase. All he could do
is give her a reassuring face and prayed that everything would go ok.A voice said. "Hey, long time no see!" Gary cheered as he
turned to the girl. He reached down and grabbed the sides of his
chair. Releasing the brake, he wheeled himself over to the girl. down at her old time friend. Misty reacted more like the man
was a total stranger. She shrieked back slightly only to be thrusted
forward by the powerful arms of the MASTERS agent. cocked his eye up. "Hey, you act like you haven't seen a guy that
was part car before?" He jested while running his hand through his
brown hair. He smiled again. slightly embarrassed and disappointed in herself, Misty bent
over to give a hug to the man. "Sorry Gary...I just didn't know...."laughed. "It's ok, Misty. Bro..." His eyes went to Ash. "Probably
forgot to inform you."this 'the' Misty?" A highly pitched voice asked. Everyone turned
to the once quiet May Oak. The girl, in a flash, rounded the bed and
embraced the pokemon doctor. Well a simple embrace would have been
nice. This was more like being in steel clamp. The girl was clearly
almost crushing Misty's ribs. heard so much about you..." She said, while facing the girl in her
embrace. "But Ashy never told me you were so.... cute." She smiled.
There was a sudden flash in her green eyes. was going out of her mind. Here she was, the one person that was
the cause of so much pain for her. And the whore had a nerve to be
hugging her. May loosened her grip on Misty. "Me and you should hang out
sometimes...It might be fun." She said with a big smile and gently
gave the girl a small kiss on the cheek. May then turned to Ash.She shouted while nearly tackling the grown man. She sat on
top of him and pounded her fist into his chest. "You are so bad. You
hardly ever come by to visit us anymore Ashy...I miss you." She
whined.blushed and looked up at Misty. Apparently she didn't enjoy May's
affection. He sighed and pushed the grown woman off of him. "How are
you doing May?" He asked while they both rose to her feet. "And how
are things going with you and Freddie?"smiled when he mentioned her lover. "Things are going so great.
Pretty soon, we'll move out of Mrs. K's home and have our own place.
We tried to get Gary to come with us. But he's just as stubborn as
you." Ash grinned. I'm just not able to keep up with you two anyway. Besides, I
like to sleep at night. And hearing you two all night doesn't exactly
help," Gary voiced.looked slightly confused. "Did she say that, you were living at
Ash's Mom's house?" She asked.nodded. "Well when Gramps passed away...." Gary paused for a
moment of silence. "Well he was our only family. So when Mrs. Ketchum
heard, she, adopted us both." Gary smirked. "It's funny before I would
have never thought I would ever be related to a jerk like Ashy boy."grunted to Gary's comment. The brown hair man laughed. "But
it's been real cool..." He added.not with Ashy always at his car dealer place." May chimed in. eyes narrowed. "Car dealer?"coughed. "Umm...yeah. I sell cars.." He stated trying to be
nonchalant about the whole thing. not only does he sell cars, but he must make a fortune!!!" May
cheered with a volt of excitement. "Him and Gary both started out
owning a whole lot. But after Gary had a driving accident, which
caused him to loose the ability of his legs, Ash took over and we
haven't had any problems since." looked at Ash. 'Is this girl for real?' was the question she
mentally was asking him. Ash shrugged. we both need to talk to Misty for a little bit. You think
you could stay with Mrs. K for a while?" Gary asked. The bubbly
brunette shook her head in agreement.
"Thanks, Sis.." Gary said while wheeling himself toward the door.felt so out of place. She thought she should say or do
something. "Ummm...you need any help Gary?" She offered.shook his head. "Nah...I'm cool. Besides I always get sympathy from
the chicks anyway..." He grinned. rolled her eyes. "I wondered if it would be ok to slap a guy in
a wheelchair..." She pondered while exiting the room. three moved to the hospital's courtyard, the only place they were
certain that no one could overhear their conversation. turned to the two. "So can someone tell me what's going on?" She
turned to the man in the wheelchair. "Gary what happened to you?"Gary started, but heard Ash clearing his throat, signaling
not to talk about it. Misty glared at Gary. Between Ash and
Misty...Gary decided he just wanted to keep his life. "Well it's
obvious that the car dealership is a scam. We just tell that to Mrs. K
and May so they wouldn't worry." He looked down at his lifeless
appendages. "And the reason why I'm in this thing is...."my fault..." Ash voiced in.frowned. "Ash it's not your fault! Me getting paralyzed and what
happened...is not your fault!"it is!!!" Ash shouted, bringing silence to the whole space. "I
was supposed to watch your back! And those people...God...All those
people." He hit his fist against the tree he was leaning against. "I
failed them all..."was really starting to get frustrated here. "CAN SOMEONE TELL ME
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?!" She turned to Gary. "What are you
talking about?" Then she whipped around to Ash. "And what people?"ever here about the incident at Toshiro Towers?" Gary asked. cold chill went through Misty's spine. She gasped at the mentioning
of the event. "You?" She turned to Gary. He nodded. "And you?" She
turned to Ash. Eventually he nodded too. sank to her knees. The weight of all this information was too
great for her. The faces of the ones she lost in Toshiro raced in her
head. She looked up at Ash. Her cerulean eyes looked vacant, like she
didn't even recognize who he was. Clear streams of tears rolled down
her eyes, as she looked at him. How could you have a part of that?" She whispered. "Those
people..." She rose to her feet and gripped the front of his clothes.
"Tell me Ash! Tell me he's lying!" She desperately shouted. "Tell me
you didn't have a part of it...PLEASE!!!"wave of black hair fell across Ashura's face. He turned away from
Misty. Her tearful gaze was more than he could handle. "Misty...I..."girl sank to the ground as more of her tears fell. Ash bent down
and held her. For a brief moment she allowed his comfort. Prior
memories of when he used to comfort her flew threw her mind as she
sobbed into his chest. Then she tensed up, and drew back from his
embrace.tell me what happened that day..." She ordered.a second Gray looked at Ash. He nodded, giving his approval. Gary
then sighed and took a breath. MASTERS was alerted of a bomb threat that was called in at the
newly opened Toshiro Towers. At first, MASTERS wasn't concerned. A
bomb threat was something the police usually dealt with." Gary stopped
and looked up at Misty. The girl was eyeing him intently. Sighing he
continued. "But when it was learned that the terrorist held 100
hostages. The condition of the hostages weren't confirmed, so MASTERS
was immediately sent in to handle the situation." was where me and Ash fit into the picture. This was our first
big assignment. Everything we had before was a walk in the park
compared to the urgency and stakes involved with Toshiro. And when the
identity of the ringleader was finally known, things got even more
urgent."Ringleader?" Misty asked.Giovanni..." Ash said. His back was toward the pair. His eyes
looking across the horizon as he spoke. "The newly appointed leader of
Team Rocket. Before MASTERS didn't consider Team Rocket much of a
threat. They did commit thefts here and there, but more or less, they
were considered harmless." turned to face Misty and Gary. A flash of hatred glinted in his
eyes. "But with the arrival of Richie, things changed drastically in
Team Rocket. Now instead of outfitting his men with Pokemon, he gives
them Magnums and Uzis. And their Pokemon were taught to kill and
torment. I've heard that he has raised some that develop a taste for
human flesh."stomach churned at the thought. She looked down trying to get
the morbid thoughts of Pokemon being used that way out of her head.face softened. "I'm sorry..." He apologized. shook her head. "No..I'm ok..."Ashura continued. "With Richie leading Team Rocket, the cities
in Indigo were hit with a crime wave like no one has seen in like the
last hundred years. Robberies, rape, homicides...the percentage for
all of these crimes increased drastically. And now Richie was ready
for terrorism. He had to be stopped and MASTERS entrusted us to do
it."what happened really?" Misty innocently asked Ash.turned to the side. There was a gentle breeze that flew through his
raven black hair. "We had two major priorities in the mission. One to
find and hopefully aid, the hostages. And two to find and neutralize
the bomb. We knew Richie was going to be there and we had orders to
also bring him in, but the hostages and the bomb came first." sighed. "Since there were two main objectives were the bomb and
the hostages, me and Gary split up and searched through the building.
Gary was searching for the location of the bomb. While I was looking
for the holding place of the hostages..." here got himself kidnapped..." Gary interrupted. Ashura
glared at him. And of course, Gary ignored his scowl. "He was lucky he
was wearing a transmitter or I wouldn't have been to late..." was running through the halls of Toshiro. Ash had got himself in
trouble, and as usual it was up to Gary to get him out. Jessie and James may have their flaws...but they are still good
people..." The sound of Ashura's voice echoed in Gary's ear
transceiver. It appeared that Ash and Richie were together. 'Good.'
Gary thought. He could rescue Ash and take out Richie. Kill two birds
with one stone. stopped in front of a wall. Ashura and Richie were less then 50
feet away behind the barrier. Gary knew the perfect way to remedy that
problem. slung his bag to the floor and reached inside. Searching through
some of the items, he finally found the purpose of his hunt. The newly
produced FU-HPs, a new type of explosive that enables different
settings for the size of their burst. Not only did it have varying
levels of blasts, but the small size of the FU-HPs helped a too. It
resembled a slightly larger hockey puck with a gauge on the face. think 3 should do just right..." Gary said while adjusting the
explosive. It was funny, the FU-HPs were the new inventions of those
two new members to MASTERS Research and Development ward. Jessie and
James. How ironic former members of Team Rocket were now developing
weapons to fight Team Rocket. well that's how the world works. I guess...' Gary thought while
placing the disk on the wall, the explosive set. Gary took a few steps
back and raised his semi-automatic AU4 Shotgun. He the then pulled the
trigger.closed his eyes and patiently waited for the round from Richie's
gun to fire; an action that would never take place. There was a
deafening explosion that shook the whole room. The sounds of falling
debris and rubble could be heard echoing through the walls. if it isn't the loser from Pallet." eyes opened when he heard the voice. He grinned. 'Gary always
did like the flashy intros,' He noted. Through the smoke and flames,
his rifle wielding partner entered the room. Ash looked forward to
Richie, ready to make a comment. But all he did was catch the back of
the villain, fleeing the room.note of his leave Gary cursed. Sighing he drew out a
switchblade and cut the robes that bided Ashura to the chair. "It
seems I can't leave you alone for a second, can I Ketchum?" He
grinned. "I guess you always need someone watching your back..." was about to respond when he noticed a shadow moving behind
Gary. Knowing that alerting his partner would take too long, Ashura
dove for Gary's sidearm. Gripping the Desert Eagle, Ash swung around
behind Gary and discharged the weapon into the hidden foe. All his
actions were completed in mere seconds. By the time Gary turned
around, the body had already hit the floor. got up to his feet and cracked his neck. "Looks like I'm not
the only one that needs their back watched." He smirked, then handed
the weapon back to Gary. curled his lip upward. "Shut up, Ketchum." Then he retrieved his
pistol.grinned even more. "You do know...legally you are a Ketchum too,
now." He laughed heartily. Yeah...." Gary said warding off Ashura's taunts. "So you find
the location of the hostages?" He asked. Trying to bring the
seriousness of their purpose back...and also changing the subject.shook his head. "I've been through the building up and down. I
checked every room and all the areas. I don't see any trace of there
being any hostages."stroked his chin. "So that means that the hostages claim was just
a bluff." He smirked. "Good makes our job easier. All we have to do is
deactivate the bomb, put a few slugs into Richie, and call it a day."worried expression graced Ashura's face. "I don't know Gary. It
seems too simple." He walked a little bit, pacing in the room. "I mean
why call a hostage scare with no hostages? And why have all the man
power if it is only a bomb?"thought for a minute. "Well maybe this was Richie's plan to lure
us here. You know he has it in for you, ever since you beat him to get
to the final round. He could have been a Pokemon Master, if you didn't
crush his team with Pikachu." thought for a minute. "Well I guess your right." Ash sighed and
reached into Gary's duffel bag. He was glad Gary always brought extra
guns and ammunition. The dark haired youth brought out a pair of
nickel plated berettas. Loading both pistols, he turned to Gary.
"Where's the location of the bomb?"Ashura's lead, Gary was also in the process of reloading his
rifle. "It's in the penthouse. There's a few patrols running around
the building..." He glanced over the monitor. The screen showed
1:19:56sec. He sighed. "And we have less then 2 hours to get to it and
deactivate the bomb."grinned. "Then we can take all the time we want, kicking
Richie's butt." laughed, while slinging his duffel bag onto his shoulder. "Let's
go..." He decreed. Ashura nodded. The two left the room.exiting the room, the duo ran down the hallway. "The fastest
way to get to the penthouse, is going through the banquet hall and
taking the service elevator." Gary mentioned, as the two ran
side-by-side down the corridors.Team Rocket member that was exiting one of Toshiro's Suites didn't
notice the approaching duo. Yawning, probably after a good nap, the
Rocket stepped outside.spotted the mercenary. "Rocket up head."it," Gary informed him. He then slung the duffel bag he was
holding, into his hand then flung it at the unsuspecting Rocket. in the process of rubbing the sleep out his eyes, the Team
Rocket looked to the side. He could have sworn he was seeing something
blurry coming right at him. Probably still half-sleep he took a look
at the large duffel bag he just caught in his hands. Hearing footsteps
he looked up, only to see the twisted form of Agent Ashura in the
process of delivering a devastating leaping Crescent Kick. Rocket would have naturally fell backward by the blow, but the
impaling backward spinning elbow delivered from Gary Oak, rocketed the
Rocket forward. His body fell to the ground, bound for another long
nap. seeing that the job was done, the two continued down the hall.
Soon after they reached an area where the path divided. Ashura glanced
over to Gary. "So which way?"thought for a minute. He looked over to Ashura and smiled. "Well
both paths lead to the banquet hall." He answered. "And most likely,
both paths are going to be filled with Rockets. So how about a little
competition?" Ashura raised an eyebrow. "Let's see who can get to the
banquet hall first... that is if you keep yourself from being
captured." Gary added, suppressing a smirk.UP ABOUT THAT!" Ashura shouted. "And...you're on..." He
confirmed. Then he took off, full speed down the right side of the
hallway. sighed and walked down the left side of the hallway, strolling
like he had all the time in the world. He knew his way was the
shortcut, so why should he overexert himself? YOU NEVER TOLD ME, THAT BEFORE!!!!"UP KETCHUM! I'm in the middle of telling a story here..."down the hallways of Toshiro Towers, MASTERS agent Ashura
Ketchum was desperately trying to beat the clock, as well as his
partner to the banquet hall. couldn't beat me at Indigo. And I'm not letting him beat me now.'
were his thoughts as he rounded another corner. Ashura put on the
brakes as he stalled and backed off, hoping that the Rockets that
flocked in the hall preceding him, didn't spot him. over the side of the bend, he too a quick glance. He sighed in
relief. The Rockets still remained in their current position. Taking
another look. Ash counted. One. Two...Four Rockets. He was
outnumbered, but he did have the element of surprise.leaned against the wall and took a couple of quick breaths. This
was going to take a lot of his skills to pull offguys, lets check this floor again, then head to the kitchen. I'm
hungry." The Rocket ordered. The other members agreed. They started to
head further down the hall. of the Rockets swung around, as if he heard something. He looked
and all he could see was an empty hallway. Turning around he followed
his crew. knew he heard something that time. He turned around again, all he
saw was a lot of black...Or something dressed in black coming right at
him. ran at the Rocket at full speed. The member was totally off
guard. Reason would tell anyone that they should have fought back or
something, but he was totally speechless, a fact Ashura used at his
advantage. a flash Ash jabbed the ball of his foot into the right into the
chest of the Rocket. Maintaining his momentum, he lunged all his
weight onto his foot. Using his other leg, he planted it onto the
Rocket's shoulder, leaping off the Rocket totally, sending the Rocket
to the ground and Ashura into the air.the climax of his hurdle, he reached behind and brought out the two
Berettas and fired them at the Rockets on either side of him. In his
descent towards the ground, he brought the two guns forward and fired
again into the leading Rocket. Then he spun his body in mid-air and
fired into the Rocket he leaped off of, as he landed on his back. was lying onto his back, his weapons still aimed in the
direction of the last Rocket. He took one quick glance around to make
sure no one was there, and then Ashura rolled backward to his feet.
Please with the results of his stunt, he continued on to the banquet
hall. had already been waiting a good five minutes by the banquet hall.
He lazily looked at his watch. "Ketchum is getting slow. No wonder
they caught him before." He sighed. "If he gets captured again....
He's on his own."Gary smiled. He knew that groan from anywhere. He turned
around to face his partner. "How did you get here so fast?" The jaded
Ketchum asked.grinned. "I told you Ketchum...I'm naturally skilled." He laughed
to himself and kicked off the banquet hall doors. Ash wailed. "Anyway lets get in and head to the
penthouse, so we can get this over with." Ketchum suggested while
reaching for the doorknob.Gary warned. Ashura was looking slightly impatient. "Hey I
have a hunch about something...." He encouraged. He creeped over to
the door. Instead of swinging it wipe open, he decided to take a small
peep inside. As he did, he got a good view of the rooms occupants. good couple of dozen, or so Team Rocket members, all armed and
looking like they were waiting for someone. Gary was just glad that no
one spotted them yet. He left the door, as Ash took a quick look. The
dark haired Agent was just as enthusiastic as Gary was.I knew it..."Gary shouted. He turned to Ash. "Ketchum...You
always notice when the secret agents open the doors, it always leads
to a room filed with ninjas or something...."nodded his head. "Yeah I know..."sighed. "Just once I would like to open to a room full of
strippers or something. Maybe topless Nurse Joys...."raised an eyebrow to his partner. "You been hanging out with Brock
again haven't you?"shrugged. "Hey the Breeder has a point. The Nurse Joys and
Officer Jennys are kinda fine."rolled his eyes. "Anyway..." Changing the subject. "So what do you
suggest, to be our best course of action, Mr. Oak?"Mr. Ketchum..." Gary answered while rummaging through his little
bag of tricks. "Well, we do have a few more of those handy, dandy
FU-HPs."grinned. "Hey I think those will do just nicely." He picked one of
the disks up. "So what do you suggest. Three or four?" He asked,
referring to the blast level that the device could cause. thought for a minute. "Well seeing as though, level 4 would
probably kill us too. I would suggest level three again. Actually two
level 3s should do the job just nicely."Ash handed him the explosives. Then he drew one of his
berettas. "Ok...so on three then...right?" Gary nodded and took a
position by the door. Holding the FU-HPs in one hand and the door knob
in the other.Ash shouted. soon as he did, Gary swung open the door and threw the FU-HPs into
the air. The disks floated through the room, while Ashura was taking
aim. He squinted, then pulled the trigger. The bullet ran through the
air hitting it's mark. As soon as it did, there was a brief flash. But
the light died down, as Gary slammed the door shut. was a deafening explosion that rang from the room. The explosion
was so severe the door nearly flew off into hallway, the ground
quaking during the destruction. Then all was silent...dared to peek inside the room once again. There was a new grin
painted on his face. how is it?" Gary asked. He was greeted with a patented Ashura
smile. Instead of answering Gary's question, Ashura thought it was
best to just show him. So he swung the door open, to give Gary a view.grandson of Professor Oak was held in awe. The room was totally in
disarray... Disarray would have been welcome compared to the condition the
room was in. Small fires where scattered around the premises. Bodies
upon dead bodies were everywhere. Parts of the floor above them could
be seen. Ash and Gary even had a good view of the bathroom in the room
below them. Towels...." They both commented.looked up and turned to Gary. "Umm...you think we may have over
did it?" panned the room. He noticed a florescent light falling from its
fixture. It shattered hitting the surface. He also noted there were a
few sparks dancing here and there. He looked back to Ashura.
"Naaaaah..."the two exited the room, both being mindful to watch their
steps and their walk. Then they both entered the service elevator.Ding! Ding!*was a sound of a heavy door sliding open. Two shadows raced from
inside the elevator and emptied into the darkened penthouse room. One
creeped behind a wall while the other positioned itself by a pillar in
the room. The silhouettes emitted no sound and hardly left any trace
of their presence as they moved. They made sure their tracks were
always left clear. These were the skills they were taught and these
were the skills that were expected.took post by the wall. From his position, he could see the
outline of the bomb that was supposed to ignite in twenty minutes.
Since he had the higher percentage of disarmed simulated bombs, it was
his job to handle this one. Gary was lurking close by to cover him.once again at the explosive, Ashura made his move and drew
closer to the bomb, the counter still slowly running out. Ketchum
crouched down by the device and produced a small tool kit. Glancing
through all the items, he drew out a small screwdriver.was about to unscrew the counter screen, when there was a small
humming that resonated in the room. Then, the room's 24-inch computer
screen flickered on. Gary and Ash both scowled when they saw who was
on the screen.... Richie Giovanni.guys!" The monitor cheered. "You know, you just killed fifty of
my best men. I spent three mouths training them to be nothing but cold
blooded killers...." He smiled and shrugged. "Oh well...I hadn't paid
them yet anyway.... no loss..." He laughed a little to himself.narrowed his eyes. "Look Richie, you might as well give up. I'm
going to disarm this thing with 5 minutes to spare. Then Gary and me
are going to take turns kicking the ever-living crap out of you. Take
a five minute break, and go another round." snickered from the corner. Ash could still talk some trash if he
wanted to. His eyes wandered around the room, trying to figure out
where the monitor's signal was coming from. the screen Ash could see Richie grimace to his remark. The
brown haired criminal then laughed maniacally. "Hmmm...so your going
to disarm the bomb with five minutes to spare..." Richie chuckled.
"Well what if I speed the clock up to three minutes left..." As soon
as he uttered the phrase, Ash looked over to the clock. if on command, the time left accelerated to only three minutes
remaining. Richie laughter was all that consumed the background.
Totally ignoring the Rocket's presence, Ashura hastily went through
his procedures to disarm the bomb.was totally oblivious to the change in the stakes. He was still
trying to find how Richie was sending the signal. Then a small red
light reflected through one of the skylights. He tried to find the
source of it, but it was probably coming from the building across the
street. would have paid the light no mind if it wasn't moving. The light
traced over the penthouse walls. And rested a few spaces behind his
partner. Gary didn't need a second thought to know what was going on. raced out of the room. Only thing that was on his mind was saving
his partner...No. Saving his friend. was making good time. Of course he was going to cut it close,
but close was better then being dead. All he needed was a little bit
more time and concentration. Then he would be able to disarm this
thing and finally end this nightmare. Only thing was, time was a
luxury that he didn't have. But as long as he had a clear head, things
should turn out ok....know...it's too bad about those hostages" Richie taunted. "Having
their lives cut short, just because a few MASTERS agents had
hotheads."that about concentration... "What?" Ash's eyes widened. "There
are no hostages...I looked in every room in this place. There were no
other people but Rockets!!!!"grinned. "Yeah...that's true. There weren't any hostages in
rooms...But think about it Ash. This is a big place. You think only a
room can house bodies..." of Ash's worst fears were starting to come to light. He never
considered that they might be in another place. "NO! YOU'RE LYING!!!
YOU BASTARD, YOU'RE LYING!!!" smirked. "Sure I am..." then the screen went black.tried to push those thoughts out of his mind. All he had to do was
disarm this thing. Then everything would be all right. He had a minute
left, he could do this. He had too...

"ASH! GET DOWN!!!" Gary shouted. Hurling his body over top of Ash.
There was a sound of splitting glass. A shot was fired. Gary cried out
in pain as he felt the bullet enter his back and shoot through his
chest. Then everything went black.rose to his feet. "GARY!!!" He shouted as he saw the condition of
his friend. Blood was pouring out of his chest and back. Then a spark
of remembrance hit Ashura. BOMB!"
:00:10secs...NO!!!!!" Ash cried out. He didn't have enough time. He failed.
Those people, all those lives. He was ready to accept his fate. He
failed so he should join them. a hoarse sound jolted his senses. Ash looked down and saw an
unconscious Gary coughing up spurts of blood. "Gary!" His mind
registered. He couldn't save those people, but he could at least save
Gary.gathered up the seemingly lifeless form of Gary and threw him
over his shoulder. Then, Ashura dash to the nearest window. Using his
free hand, he fired a few shots shattering the glass. Ketchum then ran
straight toward the window.of glass parted as he leapt through the window. There was a
flash in the background, as the penthouse room ignited. The force of
the blast carried Ashura and Gary into the neighboring building. bodies crashing against the panel glass, and then landed roughly
into the room. Ash ignored his broken ribs, scrapes and cuts. He
looked with horror at the blazing building of chaos that was once
known as Toshiro.entered his vision as he finally collapsed.was totally silent as she heard the remainder of Ash's words.
She hadn't formed an opinion yet. Whether or not Ash was truly at
fault. But whatever her resolve was, it didn't matter. After listening
to Ashura's tale...after hearing and seeing the pain and hurt on his
eyes, she couldn't punish him anymore. He was doing that too himself.was a silence between the three. No one really wanted to speak.
Misty looked at Ash. She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a few
tears wet his face. spoke again. "When I finally came too, I was laid out in a
stretcher. They cramped a oxygen mask on me, but I removed it and shot
up in the bed." He looked over at the two then continued talking. greeted me on the bed. I remember asking him over and over, if
there were any hostages..." Ash made a fist and slammed it against the
tree he was leaning against. "He told me he didn't know. Then I heard
a forensic guy shouting to others about finding a body...A three year
old girl's body." looked at the two, at first gazing at Gary's eyes. His former
partner's eyes were showing forgiveness. Ashura looked away, he didn't
deserve forgiveness. He then looked into the blue eyes of Misty. Her
eyes showed pity. He looked away again. He didn't want her pity. He
just wanted to forget. But fate kept finding a way for him to
remember. In the end he resolved to just look at the ground...continued. "Shortly after, more and more bodies were found."
Ashura swallowed hard. He knew his next sentence was going to be hard.
"Richie was right. None of the hostages were in rooms. The sick
bastard stuffed them in the ventilation system."gasped at the news. 'How could anyone be so cruel?' She didn't
know Team Rocket was involved with Toshiro. She knew that MASTERS
played a hand in it. Then she tensed. If Richie was capable of doing
that, then what could he do to...I thought..." Misty paused. "On the news they said Toshiro just
caught on fire."shook his head. "The press were fed that line, so MASTERS could
cover their mistakes..."mean my mistake, don't you, Gary..." Ash murmured.was about to comment. But this time Misty beat him to it. "Ash
it's not your fault." She said softly, drawing both of there
attentions. "You did everything you could...I think...I think you've
suffered enough," She said while placing her hand on his shoulders. turned and looked at her. He then turned away. "You know, nothing
of my suffering..." He said bitterly, while removing her hand from his
shoulder. drew her hand back. A quiver of pain was showing on her face.
Ash softened a little. "Misty I'm sorry..." She scowled at him. was the time when Gary decided to intervene. "Ok, kiddies. Now
that we got some sun and did sharing time, I think it's time to go
back. Besides I'm worried about leaving May alone for too long. She
gets tempted easily."and Misty both agreed and the trio went back inside.door to room 151 opened and the three entered the room. A dark
mood hung over the trio as they walked in. Ash looked up and noticed
his mom was starting to wake up and May was missing. Ketchum opened her weary blue eyes and set them on her son.
Suddenly the light in the blue started to sparkle. "Oh, hi, Ash
honey!" She cheered as her son came by and gave her a big hug.Mom," he answered back. "How are you doing?" He asked her as he
drew a seat next to her bed. Misty slowly walked over besides him.of answering his question, Mrs. Ketchum noticed the new face
in her room. She squinted a little, noting her eyes weren't as good as
they used to be. But she knew that face anywhere. bowled over her son. "Is this little angel Misty?" She asked in
delight. blushed at her comment and went to hug the older woman. "Hi Mrs.
Ketchum..." wheeled over to Ash and stated he was going to look for May. Ash
considered it a good idea. May had a tendency to trouble all the Nurse
Joys in the hospital. Paying his respects to Mrs. Ketchum, Gary
excused himself. Ketchum eyes then looked at Misty. There was something about the
girl that interested her. Then Mrs. Ketchum looked back at Ash. Her
blue eyes traveled again to Misty and drifted back to Ash. A bright
smiled gleamed on her wrinkled face. "Ash honey, so you finally found
her? That's so great!" She smiled. "You know he was so depressed when
you left Misty..."Ash shouted, not really wanting to get into the subject.Ketchum ignored her son. "I kept telling him you would come back
to him, but he still wasn't sure. Now you're back and the two of you
are together. I couldn't be happier."Ash shouted again. "It's not like that, Mom, really..." don't raise your voice to me. I'm talking to Misty here.
Besides, honey, I'm glad for you. You've been alone for too long. I'm
glad you finally found someone to settle down with..."you don't" Ash was pleading. He didn't want her to get
the wrong idea. He already knew how Misty felt about him. But he also
hated to disappoint his mom.you know you shouldn't be arguing with your mother..." Misty
frowned at him. Ash's mouth dropped. Misty then turned to Mrs.
Ketchum. "Yeah, I'm glad I found him again, Mrs. Ketchum. But don't
worry I'll straighten him out in no time."Ketchum smiled. "Misty honey, I would love it if you call me
Mom."Misty giggled after saying the word. It was weird for her,
but for some reason it felt nice. She looked over at Ash who still had
a look of total befuddlement. She smiled, then turned back to 'Mom.'Misty honey...What have you been up to all this time?" Mrs.
Ketchum asked the girl, trying to catch up with old times. The two
talked for a few hours. All Ash did was watch. Sometimes he answered
some questions, but mostly he just was listening in. smiled as was gazing at the two women. His gaze went to his mom.
This was the first time in months she'd actually been really happy and
excited. Her illness had been taking a lot out of her lately, but
talking to Misty seemed to have done her a world of good. gaze then turned to the redhead in question. She seemed like a
totally different person now. Well, not really different, but it was a
change from how she'd been acting in the last couple of days. It
reminded him of how she was when they were younger. The spark in her
eyes, the liveliness of her voice, it was really the first time he saw
the old Misty. This was also the first time she actually looked happy
too. a few hours of conversation, the two left Mrs. Ketchum so she
could get her rest. As soon as they left the room, the newly acquired
energy that the elderly woman brought soon left them as walked down
the halls. and gold lights reflected off the hospital walls. The two
turned to a window and watched the sun set. The scene was truly
beautiful. The skies filled with different hues of colors, and a
slight breeze was going through the trees. Everything seemed so
peaceful. been a long time since we've watched a sunset together..." Ash
said, while facing Misty. The girl just nodded, not wanting to ruin
the moment with words. smiled. He just had one of the best visits with his Mom. Usually,
she didn't say much, and they would just watch TV or he would tell her
about the some of his travels when he was younger and still training.
But this time she talked and laughed. It was so good to see her that
way again. He said quietly. "Thanks for what you did for my Mom."girl didn't respond, she just continued to gaze out of the window.
After a few minutes she turned to Ashura. Waters, if you please..." She uttered, reinstating her proper
title to him. She then turned around and headed for the garage. you wish, Miss. Waters." Ash replied tightly. He clenched and
unclenched his fist. Then after a few minutes, he followed her to the
garage.the outskirts of Viridian City, a navy blue BMW Z8 pulled into an
abandoned building. The bumper skids to stopped inches in front of the
closed garage door. A small red light flashed from behind the tinted
windshield. passenger side window of the vehicle opened.flock of red hair flooded from the opening, as a young woman peered
out of the vehicle. The women said while looking at the building, her sapphire
blue eyes taking in the building's course and rugged appearance. structure contained a possible four or five levels. There was
something like a sign or label on the side of the building that said
"LCLF Tech." All of the levels of the building had dark tinted glass
surrounding each floor. In the first few levels, every now and then,
some of the windows were either cracked or missing.drew her head back into the vehicle. "This is where you live
Ash?" She asked, while turning to the driver. made no comment.she fell back into the comfortable folds of the seat. There
was a slight pull forward as the car drifted inside the building. two got out of the vehicle. Misty looked to either side of her. As
far as her large blue eyes could see, it appeared that they were in
the remains of an old factory. Scant traces of machinery were lying in
the back, all of them covered in a cloth, but some of their parts
could be seen from the distance she was at. All the equipment were
pushed far to the side of the floor. 'Probably they were hoping to be
lost and forgotten.' Misty wondered.looked in front of her. Through the cracked glass, she could see
the violet colors of the sky and the small twinkling of the stars.
Night had fallen.continued to stare outside the shattered shards of glass, when
the sound of a large scraping sound drew her attention. She looked
back in the direction Ash had gone to. She saw him lift up a flap to a
metal door for the service elevator. gripped his hands in the slightly opened grove in the center of
the door and lifted it up. A clanking sound echoed as the door started
to part. Ashura then stepped in and looked to the girl.looked at him like he lost his mind. "OH NO! I am NOT going on
that thing!" She protested. shrugged. "Fine...sleep in the garage." He was about to slide
the door down, when he stopped. "Oh... It would be fair to warn you
that a Venomoth that I take care of from time to time likes to come by
at night. So if you see him, please be considerate? Bye..." The door
slammed shut. waited for like ten seconds. He knew there wasn't any Venomoths
that came around his place. He was just hoping that he could trick her
into getting in. After a few moments, he sighed. 'I'll just sneak her
upstairs when she's asleep, I guess.' His hand slowly drifted to
pressed the button for the next floor....WAIT!" He smiled.elevator door slowly opened and they young man's head popped out.
"Yes..."
Ash asked with a bold smile.you have any Black flag?" She asked. "Maybe DDT?" mouth dropped. "Misty will you stop being such a baby and come
on!?!" He shouted, not knowing why the cruel God of Fate had to have
made this woman be the one person he loved. Ok...I'm coming." She finally said. Not really being thrilled
about sleeping in a garage anyway, she also didn't believe a word of
what Ash was saying about the Venomoth. He never was a good liar
anyway. She could always tell when he was. slid the doors open so the girl could get in. As soon as she was,
Ash slammed the door down and pulled down the secondary cage. He then
looked into the corner of the elevator. There was a small surveillance
camera mounted in the position. "It's us Pikachu...send us up..."loud. "Ka..." was produced from a small speaker.whole elevator shook, and then started to ascend up the levels. they went up two floors, the elevator came to a halt. Ashura
slid the doors of the elevators opened and stepped out. Soon after,
Misty followed him, her head gliding back and forth looking at all the
items in Ash's apartment.here, I'm going to get where you'll be sleeping prepared," he
told her.
Misty nodded and continued to look around his place.had to admit she was kind of amazed. Ash had a pretty decent
apartment. She ran the palm of her hand over the soft texture of his
black leather couch. She glazed over at a big screen TV set. And next
to it, she saw what looked like to be a entertainment center, with a
DVD player, stereo system, VCR and even several game systems.was about to investigate more of the system when she felt
someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned around and came face to
face with Ash. The gentleman was holding some blankets in his hands.
Misty assumed it was for her.since there is only one bed, you can use my room. Pikachu and I
will stay out here." As if on cue, the little rodent that was
mentioned scurried out from around the corner. It was dragging a
blanket and a pillow in it's hands. A slight look of annoyance was
welded onto it's face, probably disliking the fact it had to leave
it's room, so she could use it. Ok Ash. I'm the visitor, so I can use the couch," Misty
said. She was feeling a bit guilty that she was becoming a burden.shook his head. "It makes no difference. I don't sleep in there
much anyway. So you might as well take it," he stated. "And I'm sure
Pikachu doesn't mind. Right Pikachu?" He said to his Pokemon
Partner/Roommate.was already plopped down in one of reclining chairs in the
room. The Pokemon was nestling into the pillow that was about the size
of it's body, with the covers surrounding it. When addressed, the
pokemon didn't even turn around. He just waved it's paw and said,
"Pika...Pika.." not caring where who slept anymore.shrugged. "If you say so..." Ash nodded his head. Sighing, she
gathered up her things and started to carry them into Ash's room. Waters..." The girl turned around. "Good night..." Ash
said with a warm smile.returned his gesture. "Good night, Ash..." She then entered the
room.gleam of light shined into the bedroom as the door was opened.
Misty's hand scaled across the sides of the wall, desperately
searching for the light switch. Flicking on the lights, the room was
instantly lit. A whistle escaped Misty's lips as she looked into the
bedroom. It was directed more to the large king sized bed that
dominated the center of the room. is the biggest bed I've ever seen," Misty admitted. She was
fighting every urge to do a running swan dive onto the mattress. She
walked over to the bed, her small soft hands tracing the across the
dark fabric. She sat down on the bed to test the softness. To her, it
was like sitting on a cloud. She tossed her body back onto the
mattress and stretched out. Misty suddenly realized how tired she
actually was. glanced over to Ash's nightstand. The time on the clock radio was
9:15pm. It was still early in a sense, but she was beat. She looked at
the other items on Ash's nightstand: a gold watch, some lose change.
Misty eyebrows rose when she noticed his vid-phone and answering
machine. red light was blinking on and off, signally that someone had left
a message. Actually from the number on the dial, quite a few people
called him. Which was to be expected, he did have an important job, so
MASTERS probably had him on a short leash. rolled to the other side and looked at the items on the
neighboring nightstand. Some stray bullets were in a tray, as well as
a few pictures. Those, Misty took interest in. looked into all of the different photos. One photo was of Ash and
Gary in front of the Ketchum home. They looked a few years younger
then they do now, and in this photo Gary was standing. must be before Toshiro,' Misty thought, as she put the photo
down. She didn't want to remember anymore of the topics she was told
about today, so instead she looked at a few more photos. had been a good five minutes and Misty was looking over all of
Ash's pictures. It was funny, the guy had quite a few. After she
finished looking over the photos on the nightstand, she went over to
the pictures on his dresser. After she went through them, she looked
through his drawers to find some more.was a reason why the girl was making such a frantic search.
After a few minutes, she realized that she couldn't find a single
picture of her in the room. In fact she couldn't find anything that
could tell she left an impression on him. she shouldn't have been so troubled with that fact. It still
bothered her though, almost like he didn't think about her the whole
time she was gone. Like he totally forgot about her. wasn't like I really meant anything to the jerk.' She reasoned.
'So I shouldn't get upset,' she told herself, as she wiped the tears
from her eyes. to end her search, Misty thought it was time to get ready for
bed. She really wasn't that tired, but she couldn't think of anything
to do to kill time. And she didn't want to talk to Ash. She had had
enough of him for the night. went through her bags to find her sleeping clothes. It wasn't
nothing special, just an oversized T-shirt and some sweat pants. So
she stripped out of her clothes and started to get dressed. Halfway
through, she noticed the door to the room starting to open. having anytime to think, she ducked into what appeared to be a
closet. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT? I'M CHANGING IN HERE! GET OUT!!!!"
She screamed through the door. Pika-chu PI KA!!!!!" An angry Pikachu shouted then exited the
room. outside she could hear. "Told ya Pikachu, it's best to leave her
alone," Ash voiced. His statement was properly rewarded with a heavy
serving of electricity, followed by a Pikachu commentary. a few minutes, the voices of the two couldn't be heard anymore.
Misty sighed, and finished getting dressed in the closet. Realizing
that she was in the same building with two idiotic perverts. Getting
dressed in the closet was probably the best idea. putting the last article of clothing on, Misty was about to
leave the room when she started to realize that the closet she was in
wasn't really a closet. She flicked on the light in this room and
stared at the items that were draped around the room. Trophies,
awards, prizes, and several medals covered all four corners of the
room. was amazed at all the honors Ash had received. She assumed that
he was a good trainer when she left him, but she didn't think even he
could do this well. Her eyes glanced over to one of the corners of the
room. There she found a picture frame that held close to twenty
different gym badges.badge. Soul Badge. Even the four Sea Shell badges from the
Orange Islands, were there. All expect the badge Misty was really
looking for. The blue teardrop shaped badge of Cerulean City. The
badge Ash got after the first time they battled each other. Of course
the only reason why he got it was pure luck, but she was always
secretly proud of him for receiving it.her badge wasn't with the others. It was missing, like it didn't
belong. She shouldn't have expected it also. It did make sense if the
guy didn't keep any pictures of her around, why would he keep her
badge either? little crestfallen, Misty slowly started to leave the room. As she
left, her eyes wandered to another part of the room where she didn't
inspect. In that corner she could see a shinny object encased in a
glass frame, much like all the rest of Ash's badges. Only thing was,
this one was by itself. wondered over to the frame to survey the object. Instantly her
eyes started to water. There was her badge, her Cascade Badge, ever
present, encased in a singular frame. There were letters on the bottom
of the casing that read, "My hardest battle ever." read those words over and over again. She felt as though her
heart skipped a beat. All she wanted to do now was to go into the next
room and hold the man she loved with all her might. She didn't care
that whether or not he loved her, she just wanted to be with him. wanted too. God knew she really did. But she knew she couldn't.
Things were too complicated now, and if she left things like her
feelings get into the way, Misty shuttered at the thought of what the
results might bring.eyes glanced away from the Cascade badge and then set themselves
on a large book that was placed on a table directly below it. Having
the nasty bug called curiosity, Misty decided to flip through the
pages.sky blue eyes widened as she looked at a matching pair of blue
eyes in a photo. It was a picture of her and Ash, way back when they
first started journeying together. She still remembered the cute
kimono that Ash was wearing. flipped through to the next page. There, she saw a picture of her
from the "Mermaid Princess". Ash was right beside her wearing his
Captain costume. Misty smiled at the small memory.then flipped through more of the pages. There she found many more
pictures of her. In fact it was probably every picture of her they
ever took was in the book. Misty didn't know what it meant. Why would
Ash isolate all her photographs from all the others? Misty's mind
continued to wonder as she flipped through more pages. young red headed doctor continued to look through the photos till
the late hours of the night. cheerful chirping of a neighboring Pidgey sounded throughout the
morning air. Many that heard the pleasant cry would gladly welcome the
new day...well, all except a very groggy Waterflower.had the right mind to throw the pillow she was laying on right
at the annoying Pokemon. She thrusted her head into the pillow, trying
to block out the noise. Then a thought occurred to her. When did she
get back from the trophy room and into the bed? last thing she could accurately remember was her looking at a
photo of herself prying Brock away from a very grateful Nurse Joy.
Things after that got hazy. sighed and curled into the comforter. The bed was soft and she was
still tired. The facts of how she got into the bed didn't matter. Only
more SLEEP. She allowed her still weary eyes to droop a little bit,
feeling sleep recalling her for another session. Misty was soon fast
asleep. Or she would have been, if the smell of something really good
didn't yank her up from sleep again. scanned the room from either side, and then noticed a small tray
with a sliver lid on it. She sighed. did he have to choose now to be sweet?' She groaned. But her
complaints didn't last long, for a smile was on her face almost
instantly. She never had any guy give her breakfast in bed before. her once needful venture for sleep, she reasoned that food
was the more important factor now. Especially since she didn't get any
dinner last night. Pulling back her loose sleeve from her XXXL
T-shirt, Misty reached for the lid to uncover her mealthe tray was a very modest breakfast: eggs, toast, a few pancakes
and some syrup. But the one thing that caught her eye was a small note
that was onto of the meal. She flipped the card over and looked at the
message.on the floor isn't real good for your health, Miss. Waters.
-Ash"jerk..." She said, and soon after, a small smile formed on her
lips. Even after all that they have gone through yesterday, he was
still looking out for her. She admitted he was a very special person,
she just wished she could get out of her situation so she could find
out really.....about an hour of feasting on the surprisingly delicious
breakfast Ash had made for her, Misty once again settled herself in
the very comfortable setting of his bed. She was really enjoying this
and she was really enjoying this bed. It seemed like it was made just
for her. thought came to her head. She wondered after this whole ordeal was
over could she somehow swing it so she could get custody of the bed.
Granted it would probably be the largest piece of furniture in her
single bedroom apartment, but she decided she would manage it somehow.away her irregular intentions to Ashura's bed, Misty relaxed
and fell onto the mattress. Knowing that she had another day before
she was to go on that trip to the Celadon National Bank, the Pokemon
Doctor decided to use this day to relax. She was also planning on
abusing Ash's hospitality a little. day was going to be for her. She wasn't planning on doing
anything, just relax and try to take it easy. She didn't know when she
would have this opportunity again. Usually she was on duty at her
Hospital or had to run the Cerulean Gym. But she put in a few weeks
vacation, at the Hospital and she notified her Assistant at the Gym to
handle any challengers for the time being. So in a sense she was
free....only if that damn phone would stop ringing...frowned her eyebrows as she was slowly losing her lethargic
state. It had been a good half a dozen rings and Ash hadn't' picked
up. The more the phone rang the more she lost her will to return0 to
sleep. After a while, she just got up from the bed. Sighing, she
decided to get dressed and maybe get in a shower if she could find it
in this huge place. a few more minutes of hesitation, Misty finally wrenched herself
out of bed and started to get dressed. At this point of the morning
she didn't care about what she wore. The only person she'd probably
see the whole day would be Ash and since she was so used to living
with him from before, she didn't see the need to do anything special.managed to finally find something she could wear, so Misty was
ready to venture out into the apartment. The still present sounds of
the vid-phone still rang. Finally the answering machine picked it up. you've reached the residence of Ashura Ketchum. Please leave
your name and a short message and I will get back to you as soon
as I can."Was heard in the background.and if you would like to talk to Pikachu, Press 2"laughed to herself as she heard the additional sentence. The
beep from the machine sounded. "HI ASHY!!!" Misty cringed. The ever so
bubbly and high pitched sound of May Oak's voice piped through the
machine. "THIS IS MAY! CALL ME CUTIE WHEN YOU GET THIS MESSAGE. IT WAS
SO NICE SEEING YOU YESTERDAY WITH THAT LITTLE GIRL OF YOURS. SHE'S
KINDA CUTE! BUT NOT AS CUTE AS YOU ASHY! BYE CUTIE!"groaned. She had half a mind to just erase the message... Hell,
why not? Misty rushed over to the side of the answering machine. "What
Ash doesn't know won't hurt him?" Misty reasoned.went to press the 'erase' button, then she noticed his unviewed
Messages rounded to thirty. Slightly curious to know why thirty people
called Ash, she went to listen to a few messages.ASHY! I'M HERE WITH FREDDIE! YOU'RE WELCOME TO COME OVER
AND HAVE FUN WITH US..." Misty cut off the message and went to the
next one.ASHY! THIS IS MAY! WHY DON'T YOU COME OVER, I'M LONELY
TONIGHT!" Next message...ASHY..."ASHY..."was frantic, message after message was filled with that totally
annoying bubbly, high-pitched slut May. She hated her. She hated how
she called Ash, "ASHY." She hated how desperate she sounded when she
called and how she almost had no self-respect with her advances to
Ash. Especially since May had a man already. Ash was her's, and she
wasn't going to let some ditzy airhead take him away. phone rang again. This time without hesitation Misty picked up the
receiver. She was going to lay that little Miss Oak straight. She
might have stolen him away from her before but things were different.
She was going to tell her as long was she was around, there wasn't
anyone that was going to call her man, unless it was her. BITC-" Misty shouted through the receiver.up! Who's this? And where's Ash?" Misty concentrated. The voice
didn't sound like some clueless, moron. But it sounded more like an
obnoxious woman. is Misty. Who's this?" Misty answered.Miss. Twerp! AND WHO WERE YOU CALLING A BIT..."Sorry," Misty cut her off. "I thought you were someone else."
She sighed.You better be. I was calling for Ash, but this appears to
be more interesting," Jessie answered. groaned. She knew she couldn't live this down for a long time.
And what was going through her head? She shouldn't get so worked up
over Ash. Please. He made his decision long ago. see you're answering his phone now..." Jessie began.so?" could tell Jessie was smirking even though the phone wasn't on
video. how personal of you.." She teased the young doctor. "I wouldn't
have thought you two would have moved to that stage already..."not what you think Jessie.." Misty replied. She cranked her neck
to the side. She could have sworn she heard something. Something that
sounded like pounding. She juggled the phone to her other shoulder,
and walked outside of Ash's bedroom. really..." The Jessie responded. "So how was he?" She inquired. eyes widened. "How was who? What the HELL... are you ...talking
...about?!" Misty shouted as she walked down the hallway. The pounding
sound was getting closer. She walked down a flight of stairs and
opened a door.heard Jessie sigh over the phone. "DUH!!" She couldn't believe how
dense this girl was. "Misty you spent the night with probably the most
desirable Agent of Masters..."rolled her eyes as she walked through the door. She was closing
in on source of all the noise. The sounds that started off as just a
loud repeated thumping, was converted to mild yells and grunts. "You
can't be talking about Ash.." Misty spoke to the woman on the other
line. do you mean? Ash grew up to be quite fine I must say."was walking down a hallway and turned a corner. "Please Ash is
still nothing but the skinny, scraggly kid...from....from..." Misty's
eyes widened as she finally found what was causing so much racket.triceps contracted, as he let his clenched fist glide
forward. A bead of sweat flew from his forearm as he completed the
motion. He had been working out for nearly two hours already. He
wasn't even close to feeling fatigued. raised his sword arm to guard his face with the blade. Then he made
a downwards vertical slash with sword. He then held the blade at a 45
degree angle, then turned the edge upwards, and made a raising upper
slash with the sword.landed in a parted stance. The sword glided across the air.
With a flick of his wrist, he rested the blunt of the edge against his
arm. Then he performed a three-kick combination that ended with a
spinning heel kick.was watching all these actions from out in the hall. All the
graceful movements, all the powerful techniques... these weren't
things she was concerned about. What interested her weren't the forms
that Ashura was doing, but the form Ash had.did he get so ripped?' She asked herself. could she not have noticed it before, but the sight of the man,
clad in only some sweat pants and a small tank top, she was totally
able to see the whole package Ashura had. His physical frame wasn't a
mass of oversized muscles, like in the Mr. Universe contest. He had
the more of the thinner, well-defined look. A look she felt was very
attractive...and she had to admit he looked kinda good.way he moved, the sight of seeing his body and muscles exert
themselves. The way the light glinted off of his slightly perspiring
frame. All this things were doing a number on Misty's hormones.was glad that Ash practiced with a blindfold on, 'cause he would
clearly see her gawking at him. She kind of smiled at seeing a little
ponytail he had clearing some of his long hair out of his face. She
thought it kind of made him look...cute.how long are you going to stare at me?" Ashura's voice called out,
breaking the relative silence. He had already finished the form and
was making his way across the room to sheath the sword in the rooms
weapons rack. He hadn't taken off the blind fold though, which puzzled
her. Misty was nervous. She'd been found out. Now not
only did she feel slightly guilty, but also quiet embarrassed. So she
said the first thing that came to her mind. "Nice moves..." she said
with a uneasy smile.... very uneasy.smiled and took off his blindfold. "Oh...so that's what was
interesting to you." He smiled again and focused his dark brown eyes
on her. Suddenly Misty felt like a mouse caught in by a Meowth.turned away. "You hear that Pikachu? She likes our stuff...," he
said in corner of on the dojo/exercise room. felt even more embarrassed. She was so fascinated with Ash she
didn't even notice her surroundings. Now that she was paying more
attention, she looked around at the room where there were working out
at.back of the room had a large assortment of different martial arts
weapons. Ranging from katanas, to plum flower staffs, to even twin
butterfly swords. Another corner consisted of a multi-armed Wing Chun
dummy and a large punching bag. Misty realized the large banging
sounds she heard earlier probably came from that. Throughout the room
were different weight machines, a weight bench and a few dumbbells.
Ashura had a very well stocked exercise facility. a small yellow figure that was sitting by itself gathered the
young woman's attention. Misty raised one eyebrow and blinked twice to
make sure what she was seeing was real. Here Pikachu was, sitting in
meditative position, levitating a hundred pound weight over his head.
The only means for the weight to maintain it's height was the constant
streams of electricity that poured from the Pokemon. walked up behind her and rested his elbow on her shoulder. The act
alone nearly sent the poor girl to the roof with fright. Ash laughed a
little. "Neat trick huh?" he asked, referring to Pikachu's training
feat.pushed his elbow off of her. "Yeah, it's ok...You're ok, too."
She admitted. "But you could still use some more practice." She
finished with a small grin.chuckled to himself. "Right.... You know in the last 3 MASTERS
Martial Arts tournaments I've been the undefeated Champion." he
boasted. rolled her eyes. "Yeah... that's only because I wasn't
competing."this Ash laughed hard. He nearly doubled over from laughter. "Oh
please... your saying you could take me?"curled her upper lip. "That's what I'm saying, hatboy..." She
challenged.grinned. He wanted to call her bluff. He had seen her moves from
before. She was pretty good for someone that trained from a
self-defense school. But he knew he had the best teachers in all of
Indigo. "Well, well...I guess we'll have to see one of these days..."
He said while grabbing a towel and drying off some of his sweat.was quite furious. Not only was he not taking her seriously, but
she was mad at herself for still wanting this guy. "Why wait...I'm
ready now." She said, while tying up her hair back in a scrunchy.laughed again. "Sure, sure...You want to fight me now?" After a
few seconds, he realized she wasn't joking. "Umm... Misty I was just
kidding. I don't want to fight you..."glared at him. "Why, you scared you're going to lose?" She shot
back.shook his head. "No it's not that I.... I just don't want to fight
you." grinned. "And here I thought you were the big stuff. The big man
at MASTERS. And your afraid to fight little ol' me...." She teased,
while removing her bagging shirt revealing the small black tank top
underneath.it's not..that..." Ash started. Then he noticed that she took off
her baggy sweat pants, now only be wearing some small short shorts
underneath. The shorts showed off her nice shapely legs. let's go!" He finally agreed, giving in to another part of
his anatomy.two stood about six feet away from each other in the dojo. The
redhead rose her hands, to get into her fighting stance. One arm was
partially extended to her opponent while the other hand guarded her
rib cage and side. Her stance was wide, but allowed equal movement on
both legs.took a similar stance only he raised one hand to his opponent.
He saw no need to put up a guard. begin!" Misty said as she raced across the room planning on
ending this quick with her famous 3-punch combination. As she
approached, she noticed that her opponent only held a bold stare
towards her. trying to sike me out,' She affirmed. Then she was ready to let
her fist swing.He cautioned her. The outburst was so sudden from her opponent
that she simply complied. Misty rested back on her edge of the mat,
waiting for Ashura's response.you not going to go all out, then you're not going to beat me."frowned. To be honest she was trying to be serious. Deep down
inside, she guessed she didn't want to hurt him. But since he was
asking for it...regained her fighting stance. Only this time, she re-adjusted
the weight on her legs, allowing her rear leg to have less weight on
it. Now, Misty was ready. She just hoped that things didn't get too
out of hand. She didn't even remember why they even were sparring in
the first place.have been something that Ash did,' she thought.the two were again. In the dojo. Their only audience was a tiny
yellow Pikachu that was hard at work on his own techniques.two patiently waited this time. Neither was going to be foolish
enough to jump the gun. A flaw that early could bring forth your own
defeat from the start. Each knew that sometimes, waiting for the
perfect opportunity was just as hard as the actual battle itself.

*****Pidgey that landed on a branch of a nearby tree outside Ashura's
building, was busy chirping, signaling it's plight. The Pidgey was
exhausted. All morning it was searching for food for it's young. The
Pokemon ran into a flock of Spearows at which it had to run from and
even two trainers that was trying to capture it.rarity it was, but it had been around for a long time, so it knew
how to handle itself. There wasn't a trainer alive that could capture
this Pokemon unless he had a deathwish. A Momma Pidgey was something
to be reckoned with.stretched it's neck out again and was ready to take flight. It
flapped it's wings as it took to the air. As it did, the Pokemon could
have sworn it heard the sounds of some kind of human battle taking
place in a nearby building. Whatever the case, it didn't concern this
Pokemon. It had fledglings to worry about. assaulted Ashura with a thunderous roundhouse kick. The speed
and the force of the blow would have sent any unprepared opponent to
the floor. Luckily, Ashura saw the attack coming, side stepped, then
put a double block for her kick. failed attack didn't stop his opponent in the slightest. Misty
followed up her attack with a five hit combo. She made sure that each
of her blows were targeted to his vital points.fanned his hands, blocking all of her blows, then countered
with his own crescent kick to the girl's abdomen. Misty used a double
block to counter the blow also, but the force behind the action caused
her to loose balance. That's what Ashura was counting on...her disturbed stance, Ashura took the initiative. He came at
her with a flurry of cross punches and jabs. Misty couldn't meet his
speed so all she could do was try to block all his blows...only
problem was she missed one. fist glided past Misty's defenses. The girl winced, waiting for
the blow to land. She felt the wind from the moving fist, but no
impact. Misty looked up and saw Ash's clenched fist, a few centimeters
from her face. looked past the hand, and at it's owner. Ashura had very calm look
to him. Then he smiled and retracted his fist. "Hey your pretty good."
He admitted. "We should do this again. This was kinda fun."pissed Misty off. Now he was trying to make her sound like a
joke. "Oh we're not finished here!" She challenged.Ash questioned.said We're not finished!" Misty advanced onto Ashura again.Misty. Can't we talk about this?" He said while ducking a wide
haymaker punch. She shouted while throwing a uppercut. The blow landed, sending
Ashura to the floor.rubbed his chin. "Fine if that's the way you want it." He throw out
his leg sweeping the girl to the ground also. Misty rolled to her
feet, while Ashura flipped to his. off!" Misty cried as her leg shot out, trying to deliver a quick
front kick to Ashura's chest. Ashura's checked the blow, blocking her
leg from even extending, then threw a double kick to her head. blocked the attack, then kicked his thigh so she could get
herself untangled from him. Her actions caused him to be temporarily
unbalance this time. She saw her opportunity and took advantage of it.delivered an explosive ax kick. She was sure the attack would
bring an end to all this nonsense. Ashura's eyes glinted slightly as
he perceived the attempt. He then brought both of his hands over top
of him to guard the attack. Misty was kind at disadvantage now. She
was now at a very vulnerable position, cursing the fact that her
earlier attack didn't work.threw her leg off of him and spun her around. He was about to trip
her slightly, with just enough force that she would go to the mat and
so he could finish this. But remember that's what he WAS going to do.
And that would have happened if he didn't trip onto his own baggy
sweat pants.always scolded him for not wearing something smaller and more
manageable, but he never listens.) body was falling backwards. On instant Ashura grabbed whatever he
could to keep himself from falling.....And somehow he did. He managed
to grab something...Something soft...incredibly soft...looked down at where his hands were. She couldn't believe him!
"PERVERT!!!" She spun around in his arms and clocked him right upside
the head. That with the fact Ashura was about to fall anyway, the sent
the two to the floor.fell just inches above Ash. And her lips where just centimeters
above his. She never meant to be this close to him. He looked up at
her with his soft brown eyes. Even though he was a hentai, Misty found
she wasn't angry at him anymore. Her eyes wondered down to his mouth.
His lips would be just within reach of her's if she only moved down a
little... then.... eyes closed, he patiently waited for her decision. Seeing his
actions, Misty lips quivered...She wanted to... know your a pervert right?" Misty said. Ash's eyes shot open. sighed. "It was just a accident..."didn't say anything. The two remained silent for a long time,
both just looking at each other, not really knowing what to say.can you be so perverted?" Misty asked him.rolled his eyes. "Years of practice..." he answered. "Now will you
get off of me? Your kinda heavy."Misty kneed him in the groin. Ash grunted in displeasure.
"Just for that I'm sticking around!" She said, trying to aggravate
him. But apparently, Ashura didn't mind. And the two were silent
again.a while, Misty got tired of holding herself up. So she gently
rested her head on Ashura chest. He, in turn, wrapped his arms around
her. The two once again were silent, both kind of scared of the
situation. But both were kind of excited.been a long time since we've been this close to each other," the
girl said. Her voice was hardly over a whisper, but the gentleness of
her tone was soothing.used to be this close all the time..." He answered. know...I kind of miss it...."do too..." Ash answered truthfully.rose off of Ashura and sat back onto the mat. Ash followed her
actions, though part of him was slightly disappointed that she moved. looked at him for a long time. Her hand graced the sides of his
cheek, gently touching the soft flesh. She looked into his eyes. The
dark chocolate orbs, were focused on her intently. She could see so
many emotions in his eyes. She just didn't know if she saw love there.She finally said.you want to try being friends again? I know if you don't want too,
I would understand. I've been really horrible to you... and.." She was
stopped when his finger was pressed against her lips.he said softly. looked at him again. In this moment she didn't see just a friend
anymore. She only saw the person she loved. She didn't care about what
happened in the past, she just wanted to be with him now. leaned forward, totally ready to embrace her flesh with his. She
wanted him. She wanted to be with him. She loved him. She drew closer
to him. Her lips were approaching his. He didn't appear to back off or
try to avoid him. Could it mean he wanted the same thing? Misty was
about to find out...is... if the phone didn't start ringing. Misty forgot she didn't
put the phone back. She tried to regain the emotions that she was
having before. But each ever-persistent ring was killing any mood that
was previously held.They both mentally thought.get that..." Ashura said. Misty heard grumbling coming from Ash
along his way to the phone.shrugged. 'Maybe another time.' Misty got up from the floor and
took a whiff of herself. She was really in dire need of a shower. She
got up and told Ash, while he was on the phone. Then she cheerfully
made her way to take a nice long shower.took a long sigh when he picked up the phone. The sound of "HI
ASHY!" made Ash want to crawl into a closet somewhere and hide. he loved his adopted sister, but sometimes she was too much
for even him and Gary to handle. As soon he answered the phone, he was
bombarded by thousands of questions and comments by the 100 mph tongue
that May had. There were times when Ash wondered when the girl
breathed when he talked to her.was glad she was seeing someone, because before she was always in
his hair. Always wanting to spend the night over his place. She would
always drag him to when she went shopping... even lingerie
shopping...He shuddered at that memory. was a cute girl and all, but he considered her family, like she
was his real older sister. So it was really embarrassing when she
tried to get his opinion on her undergarments. on the phone, he kinda heard Misty say something, but he wasn't
clear. May was yelling at him to make sure he was listening. And
before Ash could ask Misty what it was, she was already gone.a few minutes, Ash managed to settle the nerves of May Oak. He
placed the phone down, totally exhausted. Talking to May could be very
draining. He looked around the room and noticed that Misty wasn't
back.Ash turned his attention to his pint-size partner, Pikachu,
who was still quietly concentrating on levitating the now five hundred
pound weight above his head, his electricity still on a constant flow.going to take a shower now, Pikachu," Ashura said while slinging
a towel over his shoulders. Pokemon "Pika..." In response then Ashura left the room.was hard at work concentrating on his mediation. Hell, he knew
he could do a whole ton if needed, but today he decided to go light.
Try to work out the kinks in some of his electricity currents.a thought occurred to him. PikaPi said he was going to take a
shower and the Misty girl said she was going to take one also. Only
problem was...This building only had one working shower...small smile curled up on the pokemon's lips.ASH YOUR PERVERT!!!!!" Echoed through the floor. The
clanging of a lot of objects in flight followed the sound. laughed hard. PikaPi was so clueless. How could anyone be so
foolish?Pokemon continued to laugh at his moronic partner. That is, till
he remembered he no longer had control over the very large 500 pound
weight that was hurtling to his head.to be Continued......