Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A Twist of Fate ❯ Rock and Water part 2-The Battle For True Love ( Chapter 3 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

I do not own Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh.
I know most of you are saying, "I thought Misty was in love with Ash." But now five years has past since Misty met Ash. She's gotten over him!
Okay, I have to thank people for helping me get through my writer's block. Duelist Luna and Kvaedi, Brockiepoo15, Animegurl_kizna, Myst_Lady, and especially The Drunken Panda.Thanks!!

Chapter 3
Rock and Water Part 2

Lance the Dragon Master was waiting for us when we got to Indigo Plateau. He had his Dragonite with him, the rare Pokémon being calm because of his excellent training. Lance was tall, about twenty years old with black hair and a cape.
"Greetings," he said. "I am Dragon Master Lance."
"Hello, I'm Ash. These are my friends, Misty and Brock. Nice to meet you, Lance," Ash said, smiling and holding out a hand.
Lance took it and shook it in a friendly manner.
"Hello Misty, Brock," Lance said with a nod. I didn't like the way he looked at me. It was hard to explain. It was like I puzzled him.
Since we had arrived on the tenth day the battle was held when we got there. We were lead into the forest. It was nice, the warm air of the summer day warming me as the sun broke through the trees in bright rays. As we came into the clearing where the arena was, Lance turned to look at Ash. "This is where we will battle. I-"
Just then a boy with purple eyes and a girl with brown hair rushed into the clearing. "Hey, can you help? We're lost," the boy said.
"Yugi, you're in the wrong chapter," I said. This happened all the time.
"Oh, really? I guess we're a chapter early. Sorry," Yugi said. He and Téa went back into the woods.
"As I was saying," Lance said, "I believe if you beat Sakura I should be no problem. If-"
Just then three boys rushed into the clearing, one with blonde hair, one with brown, and one with white. "Hey, you haven't seen a boy with purple eyes or a girl with brown hair, have you?" the white haired one asked.
I sighed. "You guys are in the wrong chapter! Will I have to tell the writer?" I asked.
The blonde gulped and said, "Writer's wraith? No way! We're outta here!" the blonde Joey said quite nervously.
I looked at them. "Get going then!" I said. Joey ran off, followed by Tristan, then Bakura. "I hate it when that happens. Don't you?" I asked nobody in particular.
"Yeah. They almost ruined the next chapter!" Brock said.
"How do we know what the next chapter is?" Ash asked. "I thought we were completely separate from the other animes." Ash was right, but it's not like we lived so far from civilization that anime characters didn't pop in and out at weird times. That actually happens a lot. Like that time when we saw Card Captor Sakura asked us if we knew where one of her cards went. That had been funny.
"I'm tired of being interrupted," Lance said. He looked around. "Coast looks clear. You and I will battle now. Six on six. May the best man win." He shook Ash's hand.
Both went to their individual places at opposite ends of the arena. Brock was the referee, and said, "this is a six-on-six battle between Dragon Master Lance and Champion Ash. No time limit. Let this Pokémon battle begin!"
Lance's first Pokémon was Dragonite and Ash's was Entei. They tussled and fought, but they were both evenly matched. Dragonite beat Entei, but Suicune finished the job Entei started.
Ash had stopped using brute force and started to strategize more. Lance still just used force and the advantage of his higher-level Pokémon.
The battle wore on, and eventually it was down to Lugia versus Charizard. Lance was winning, because Ash had lost five Pokémon and Lance only four. Everybody knew Charizard was at a disadvantage, being weak against water attacks such as Lugia's surf and Charizard was five levels lower. Ash smartly used Surf and Charizard fainted.
Lance laughed. "You're good, Ash. Very good. You might even beat me." He threw a Pokéball. A red, shiny Gyarados came out, which puzzled me, stunned Brock and confused Ash, which if you think about it, it doesn't take a red Gyarados to confuse Ash. Lance snickered. "Surprise, isn't it? Gyarados, use hyper beam!"
A ball of light started to form in Gyarados' mouth. But Lugia had seen this before. Quickly Lugia sideswiped Gyarados with his tail, closing Gyarados' mouth. Hyper beam backfired and blew up. Smoke filled the air. It was hard to see, but I thought I saw Lugia fly out of the smoke and land near Ash.
As the smoke settled, I saw what had happened. Gyarados was on the ground, clearly knocked out. Lugia had flown only a little ways away when the explosion happened, but Lugia managed to make It out okay.
Brock was stunned, but said, "Gyarados is unable to continue. The victory goes to Pokémon Master Ash!"
"Yay, Ash, you did it!" I said, not being able to restrain myself and jumping out of my seat.
Lance was still paralyzed. "Nobody's ever...beaten my Gyarados...especially when he was using Hyper Beam," he mumbled to himself.
"Lugia, return." Ash put Lugia in its Pokéball and put it on his belt.
Lance was still just standing there, his eyes drifting around as if he was seeing everything for the first time. His eyes stopped on me, and he started staring. Why was he staring at me? What did I do? It bothered me.
"Nice match, Lance," Ash said, shaking Lance from his state of shock.
"You did very well, Ash," Lance said, nodding to Ash. "I'm very impressed. Only Sakura had ever beaten me, but it wasn't as close as that was."
Ash was at a loss of words once more. "Uh...thanks," Ash said. "That was pretty close, but I trained my Lugia hard." Ash smiled, embarrassed.
"I can see that," Lance said. His eyes strayed to me again. Why did he keep doing that? It was annoying me. "Ash, since it seems to me you've had a hard trip, why don't you stay at my place? I have plenty of room," Lance said.
Ash took the offer and we started back out of the forest. As we went, a big Meowth balloon settled on the ground in front of us.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"Make it double."
"To protect-"
Just then a short boy with a hat on his head and a bandanna on his face ran past us. "Mokuba!" shouted a tall boy who ran after him.
Jesse looked at the second boy and turned white. "You again!" she shouted in anger.
Seto Kaiba looked at Jesse and James and a look of recognition spread across his face. "Not you two again," he said, obviously fed up.
Jesse decided she didn't want to deal with Kaiba and so she pulled the cord hanging near her head and the balloon raised.
Seto Kaiba looked at us and then he asked, "What are you doing here? You guys were in the last chapter."
I sighed. This was getting really old. "Didn't anybody get the memo? The writer decided to make this a two-part story, so you guys have to wait another chapter. Stop ruining it!"
Seto left in a huff.
Ash looked confused. "I didn't get the memo," he said.
I glared at him. I gave him a look that said, you really want to mess with me when I'm angry already?
Brock nudged Ash and whispered, "Ssh! Don't get her madder than she is."
Ash laughed and put a hand behind his head anime-style. "Oh, that memo. I know the one you're talking about."
Of course, he was lying so bad it wouldn't convince a two year old.
We continued to walk. We got to Lance's place, which was really like a mansion. It had so many rooms that we all got our own separate ones, and it was ornately decorated inside and out. The beds were big and fluffy; I would sleep well tonight.
Lance also invited us to dinner. He said he never really had any company, and that tonight he was lucky because his niece was visiting. Lance had introduced her as Hotaru. She was shy, with black hair and a pleasant face. Ash had taken to staring at her in a most impolite manner, and Hotaru had resorted to staring back. It was like an unofficial staring contest.
Dinner was good; it was spaghetti, one of my favorites. When dinner was over, Lance retired to his room, Ash to his, Hotaru behind him asking if they could talk.
I started going to my room and Brock was following me. When we got there, Brock sat down on a chair and I sat on the bed. "I'm going to sleep like a log tonight," I said.
"I know what you mean," Brock said with a sigh. "What's up with this, though? Lance lives in a mansion in the middle of a forest on the Indigo Plateau. He never gets any visitors, save his niece. It's just...it's a bit weird."
"For a master like Lance? Not in the least," I commented. I sighed, thinking about Ash and Hotaru. "Why do you think Ash and Hotaru were staring?"
"Isn't it obvious? Love at first sight."
"Brock, what do you know about love at first sight?" I asked, looking forward to a laughable answer.
"More than you think. It's a complicated matter," he said, obviously not wanting to get into it.
"Try me," I said, challenging.
"Um, you see...um...well, it's like you've known the person all your life and..." he stumbled.
"I see. And you know all this from experience?" I asked. This is hysterical. Brock had no clue.
"Um, no...but...uh, okay, no but...I've seen it, and heard of it." Brock really didn't know what he was saying, did he?
I got off the bed and sat on the arm of the chair. "So what you're telling me is you have absolutely no experience with this and you're just making it up as you go?"
"Yeah." Brock smiled.
I smiled back, giggling. The giggling broke out into out-right laughter. Brock pulled my arm and I fell back into the chair on top of him. That only made me laugh harder. Then we started yawning in between laughs.
"You look tired," I said while yawning.
"Me? How about you?" Brock asked, still laughing. He yawned, and that made me laugh again.
"I think we should both get some sleep," I said. I got up. "Good night."
Brock got up after I did and said, "Good night," and left.
I had an odd dream that night. It was dark and there was an odd mist on the ground, the kind you see in dreams. There were three other people in the field, just shadows in the darkness. Two were facing each other and standing about fifty feet apart. The other was very far away, across from me, and although he was far away, I could feel his eyes on me.
I couldn't hear anything, but the two facing each other seemed to be arguing and pointing. There were suddenly more shadows moving in the space between them.
"Misty! Misty! Wake up!" I opened my eyes to see Brock standing over me with a strange look on his face.
"What?" I asked. I looked around. I could see stars through open glass-paned doors that led to the small balcony outside.
"You were screaming. Loudly. You woke everybody up."
I looked behind him and saw a sleepy Ash, Hotaru rubbing her eyes and Lance squinting his eyes. "Oh. Um, sorry." I looked at the clock. It was three in the morning. "Really sorry."
"Are you alright?" Brock asked, still staring at me.
"Yeah. I'm okay," I said. "Why don't you go back to sleep. I don't think I'll fall back asleep anyway."
Lance, Ash, and Hotaru shuffled robotically to the door and left. Ash attempted to close the door but it seemed that he was too tired and didn't have the strength do close it all the way.
Brock was still looking at me. "You sure you'll be alright?" he asked. "What were you screaming about?"
I didn't want to tell him about my dream. I mean, this was a very weird dream. And it was so clear. How could I tell him what I saw? It didn't make sense even to me. No, I wouldn't tell him. "Nothing," I said, and looked into his eyes.
That had been my fatal flaw. Brock was the kind of person who could tell you're lying just by seeing it in your eyes.
"You're lying, but I won't push it," he said.
Wait. Why had I been screaming? My dream hadn't been scary. There really was no reason why I should have screamed. Well, I couldn't hear anything, so maybe I had screamed without knowing it. My brain screamed in protest to all this thought. I was too tired to think about all this now, but I couldn't sleep because I might wake everybody up again. So what was I to do?
Brock looked at me again. "Go back to sleep," he said.
I looked back at him, but I just couldn't help it. My eyes slid shut and I fell asleep again.
I was back in that dark, foggy world where the three shadows were. The two that were facing each other seemed to have stopped, one of them victorious. The other faded away, but didn't disappear. The one who seemed victorious walked over to me and brushed my hair from my ear gently. He whispered into it, "Stay away from the dragon master."
I looked at him, surprised not only because I could now hear, but because of what he said. I was even more surprised that it was Brock's voice.
I shuddered and woke up. Sunlight now streamed through the doors and a cool breeze hit my face. Weird dreams. Unusual dreams. Why?
***
That day was as odd as the one before it. Ash, Brock and I decided to go for a walk in the woods. We saw lots of Pokémon, like Aipom, Rattata, and Spearow. Mainly it was quiet; Ash wasn't trying to catch any of them, so a lot of the racket from the previous years was gone. As we walked, it was quiet enough for my still tired brain to think about my dream. It had been so odd. Brock had said 'stay away from the dragon master.' That meant Lance. Why stay away from Lance?
Suddenly the ground we were walking on broke beneath us and we fell into a deep pit.
"Prepare for trouble-"
I sighed and blocked out the rest. Why were they here now, of all times? That was a silly question. They always show up, no matter what.
"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" Pikachu jumped up out of the hole. He was going up and just about to reach solid ground when a rubber bucket caught him and a lid slammed down.
"Pi-ka-chuuu!" Pikachu said, using thunderbolt. Of course, it didn't do anything because of the rubber the bucket was made of. "Pika?"
"Ha ha ha ha ha," Jesse said. "We've got your Pikachu!"
"Yeah, let's take it to the Boss!" Meowth said.
"Pikachu," Ash cried.
I sighed again. Didn't they know well enough after five years not to mess with us, that it always turned out the same way?
I looked up and Team Rocket was gone. Unfortunately, Ash didn't have any special way of getting us out this time, so I took out Togetic. "Togetic, use teleport!"
"Togi," he said, and everything flashed blue. Suddenly we were next to a cliff. No, wait, Ash, Brock and Togetic were on the cliff, one of my feet was on the cliff, and my other went shooting down. My other fell and I tumbled down to the river below, swelled because of all the recent rain we'd had.
***
I woke up on the river bank felling very cold and banged up, and started coughing water. It hurt, hacking up water.
"Are you alright?" said a voice from behind me. I was very startled. I turned around to look at who it was. I was looking into the face of none other than Lance the Dragon Master.
"What.what are you doing here?" I asked, trying to speak with a lungful of water.
"I...heard you screaming." He stumbled over his words.
Funny, I didn't remember screaming.
He came closer, then thought better of it. He was silent. Finally, he said, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I guess so," I said. I couldn't get my dream out of my head. 'Stay away from the dragon master,' Brock had said. This was getting really eerie.
I tried to get up and utterly failed, getting onto my knee and teetering over onto my side again. "You might not want to try that yet. You had quite a long fall," he said.
I had no choice but to lay there. Lance just kept on staring at me. I strained to her Brock or Ash calling, or someone other than the person who had, ironically after my dream, found me. I managed to sot up and lean against a tree. I ached all over. No part of me felt good at all. Even my toes hurt. I closed my eyes and, against my own will, drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
I woke up a couple of hours later. The sun was high in the afternoon sky and it took me a few minutes to remember what had happened. It all came back when my brain connected to my body and all the aches and pains that come with falling twenty stories into a river. Actually, I was surprised I didn't hurt any more than I did.
I looked around and saw Lance. He is very odd; he still hadn't taken his eyes off me. "What are you staring at?" I asked.
He was shaken from his stare. "Nothing. Are you feeling any better?"
Actually, I wasn't, but I didn't want to tell him so. "Yeah. I feel better."
He started staring at me again. I was getting really ticked off. I wanted to punch him-do something that would make him stop staring. I tried to get up but apparently my body didn't want to listen so I was forced to just sit there.
"So...um." I wasn't sure what to say, just that I had to say something. "Uh, thanks for finding me," was the first thing I got out.
"No problem," he said. "I was going to look for you guys anyways. Hotaru had wanted to go with you, but didn't realize you had left so early."
Yup, now I knew how to do it. Brock's trick; I could tell he was lying through his teeth. "So where's Hotaru now?" I asked, angry that he was lying to me and taking advantage of Hotaru.
He coughed. I don't think he was expecting my question. "Uh, she went to go find Ash and Brock," Lance said.
"And she left you all alone here with me? She should have stayed here; Brock and Ash will find me soon enough."
He was looking pretty nervous for who knows why. Why was he really here? "Heh, silly girl. Always wants to go out on her own."
That I knew was the most outright lie of the day. From one day I knew Hotaru was shy and probably didn't really ever want to leave the house much less go out in the wild looking for three boys and leaving someone behind.
By now I was pretty angry at Lance. I didn't want to show it, though. So I stayed quiet. Over a few years Ash and Brock had gotten tired of attempting to argue with me and stayed quiet, witch kept me quiet. So I was now used to it.
Suddenly Lance gulped and took my hand. "Misty, I just wanted to tell you something.um, oh, um..."
Now this was really confusing. Did it have something to do with him always staring at me? I couldn't even guess.
"What?" I asked, impatient.
"Um...uh..." He turned a deep crimson red and kissed me on the cheek. "I...uh, I love you."
Now this I had not expected. It had something to do with staring at me alright. But...oh my gosh. Just, weird. But I was already in love and didn't find Lance attractive because of it. What was I going to tell him? No matter what I did I was going to break his heart. I would never leave Brock. Never. Not for Lance. Not for anybody.
"I...I...I don't know what to say," I said truthfully, and shivered.
He got closer to me. "Then don't say anything," he said.
He was really starting to creep me out. I wanted to run away from him, as far as I could. Yeah, I could go strand myself somewhere remote in the Orange Islands for a while.
I tried to get up again, but only made myself hurt more and still couldn't move an inch without a sharp pain running through my entire body.
Lance kept getting closer. I tried to get away, so much, I was panicking inside. I was on a rampage. He was just getting closer.
"Misty!"
It couldn't be real...could it? Was it really...?
I tried one more time to get up. Thus time I managed to bend my legs a little, and so I did my best to get up. I tottered around a little, a world of pain spinning before my eyes. I did my best to run towards the voice. I stumbled and fell into strong arms just as everything went black.

***Brock's point of view***

"Misty!" I called. Where was she?
Ash and I walked into a clearing. I saw was Lance first, then Misty. She didn't look so good. She was shivering and her leg was broken. She stumbled around and half-ran, half-fell over to me and Ash and fainted in my arms.
I looked at Lance, trying to hold Misty's dead weight in my arms. "What did you do to her? What?" I asked, very angry.
"Nothing. I would never hurt her," Lance said
Lance had done something to her, I knew it. What had he done?
I laid Misty down on the ground. She looked so peaceful when she was sleeping. But she wasn't sleeping. She was unconscious, but still beautiful.
"What did you do to her?" I asked, enraged. Oh, if he hurt Misty I'm going to be very mad...
"I told you, I did nothing to her except fish her out of the river," Lance said.
He was lying again. He hadn't fished her out of the river. She had probably washed up there.
"What did you say to her?" I asked.
"Nothing she didn't want me to say."
He was definitely hiding something. Why else would he be lying so bad?
"She'd be the judge of that," I said.
"Ah, but she can't be now, now can she? She had quite a fall. I heard her scream. What happened?" he said.
Funny, I had been right there and I didn't hear her scream.
"Togetic used teleport and she got teleported off a cliff," Ash said. I looked at him. He suddenly realized that he had said too much and put his hand behind his head. "Whoops."
"Whoops indeed," Lance said. "And was there not someone there to catch her?" he asked, content that he was annoying me.
"What did you tell her?" I hissed. He was just pushing it. Would he have been able to catch her if she was going to fall off a cliff in a split second?
"I told her nothing but the truth; that she's mine and nobody else's."
That was it. He pushed it too far. "I think she's to decide that also," I said. "I love her and she loves me."
"There's only one way to settle this. I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!" Lance said, stunning Ash and I. A Pokémon battle? He must be kidding. Against me? I was no champion or master.
"Misty has major injuries. We have to get her somewhere warm."
"Well, then, we will make it a short battle. One-on-one."
I really had to get her somewhere. But if I had to battle for Misty, I would. "I accept." Anything for Misty!
Ash looked surprised. Lance seemed very satisfied that he would win.
I picked up Misty as Lance led us to the arena in the woods again. I set Misty down on one side of the arena as Ash went to the other side. He would have to be the referee this time. Well, he had been in enough battles; it should be an easy job for him.
"Okay, this is a one-on-one Pokémon battle between Dragon Master Lance and former Pewter City Gym Leader Brock," Ash said. I looked at him. "What? It's true," he said. I hadn't thought he would've brought that into this. Okay, so did I really need a title?
"Go, Gyarados!" Lance sent out his red Gyarados. Like that had been any surprise.
"Go, Steelix!" If any of my Pokémon stood a chance against Gyarados, it was Steelix.
"Gyarados, use hydro pump!"
"Steelix, dodge it, then use iron tail!" I had trained Steelix well when it came to speed and agility because he's such a big Pokémon.
Steelix safely dodged Gyarados' hydro pump and swung his tail around. It collided easily with Gyarados' skull.
"Gyarados, use mist!" It started to rain, no, mist, on the field. It got dark and foggy and you couldn't see anything. "Gyarados, thrash!"
Suddenly, there was Gyarados coming straight for Steelix. He thrashed about, hitting Steelix numerous times before retreating back into the mist.
"Steelix, use barrier!" I said. In this mist I couldn't se a thing.
After a few moments, though, the mist started to dissipate.
"Gyarados, use thrash!" Again Gyarados came at Steelix full speed, but because of Steelix's barrier, nothing happened.
"Steelix, let your barrier down and use iron tail again!" Steelix followed my commands and started for Gyarados.
"Gyarados, dodge it!" Gyarados didn't move, but he just stared with clouded eyes. "Gyarados!" Lance looked at his rare Pokémon closely. "Gyarados?" My Steelix's iron tail was a direct hit. Suddenly Gyarados bit its own tail.
Then I remembered something and smiled. "Have you forgotten that thrash causes confusion?"
Lance looked at me, stunned. I guess he had forgotten. But Gyarados' eyes began to clear and he unclamped his jaws from his tail. Lance started to get really mad. "Gyarados, hyper beam!" Like before, Gyarados opened his mouth and a ball of light started to form.
But this trick I had learned from Ash. Maybe Lance had forgotten. "Steelix, close Gyarados' mouth! Hit it with your tail, and then use barrier!"
Lance knew there was no escape now. Steelix used his tail and hyper beam backfired with a loud bang. Smoke filled the air like last time, blocking the view of the Pokémon on the field. My Steelix wasn't as strong as Ash's Lugia, though, and probably wouldn't be able to endure a hit from a backfired hyper beam, so I had to hope that barrier worked.
Slowly the smoke cleared. I could only see shadows at first. Then the smoke cleared some more, and I could see Gyarados had fainted. But what about Steelix?I looked harder and saw Steelix on the ground. No...
Steelix got up slowly, painfully. I was stunned as it cried out in victory.
"Gyarados is no longer able to battle. The victory goes to Steelix and Brock!" Ash said.
I just stood there for a minute. I won? I won! "Steelix, you were great! Return!" Steelix went back in his Pokéball.
I walked over to Misty. She still wasn't awake yet. I didn't blame her; if I had fallen down a cliff I would be unconscious, too. I more blamed Lance. He should have seen that she had broken her leg and that she was soaking wet.
I took a blanket and a towel out of my backpack. I started to dry her off. When she was dry enough for my liking I put a temporary splint on her broken leg. Then I wrapped her up in the blanket and picked her up.
Ash walked over to me. "Nice job, Brock!" he said. "How's Misty doing?"
I looked at her in my arms and then looked at him. "She'll be fine if I can get her somewhere warm and make a better splint then she'll be fine."
Ash and I started to walk down the path. I looked back and said, "Good battle, Lance." And then we rounded a bend and he was gone from my sight.

***Misty's point of view***

I woke up once, briefly and in pain, lying on the ground. I blinked and looked up. I decided I must be dreaming again, because it was the dream I had had last night. The two people facing each other and the one in the background. It was all foggy and a cold mist was hitting my face. I could see the shadows moving between them, which now looked surprisingly like a Steelix and a Gyarados.
I put my head back down on the ground, closed my eyes, and drifted into the black again.
***
I woke up again, this time wrapped in a warm blanket and next to a small campfire. I could smell something cooking that smelled absolutely delicious. I knew before I even opened my eyes that Brock was making something good. Was it really true? Was Lance finally gone, and was it really Brock's cooking I smelled?
I felt a warm hand by my cheek. "She's still pretty cold, but not as cold as before," Brock said.
"That's good," Ash said.
I dared to open my eyes. Brock and Ash were staring into the fire. A pot hung over it, and the delicious smells were coming from there.
Then the pain came back again. Mostly in my leg; it was really stiff and it hurt more than anything.
I guess I made some sort of noise, because Brock and Ash were suddenly looking at me. Brock came over to me. "How are you feeling?"
That was the stupidest question he had asked in his life. "How would you feel if you fell down a cliff, plunged into icy water, accidentally steal someone's heart, tried running, then had a very repetitive dream?" I looked at him. I sighed. "Better than I was," I said, answering his question.
"Mm hmm. How's your leg?"
"That's what hurts most," I told him.
"Yup. That's because it's broken."
"Oh." I thought a minute. "What happened?"
"Now, that's a long story. Let me get you something to eat while you listen." Brock got up and got a bowl. He ladled out some of the soup he had been cooking over the fire and handed it to me. "Careful. It's hot."
"Thank you."
He looked at me. "What happened? I think you should tell me where I should start."
"Um, how about the painful run I tried? I heard your voice and ran away from Lance."
"Yeah. Okay, well, I asked him what he had done to you. He said nothing." I laughed once. "That's what I thought. Then he said he loved you and would battle for you."
"I'm not some playing piece that he can gamble!" I cried, outraged. Him, battle over me? "He should have let me decide."
"Uh-huh. Well, we battled."
"And you won?" I wanted to know how he had pulled that off.
"Uh, yup. I won."
"Now how exactly did you do that?"
Brock thought a second. "I don't think I could give you an unbiased report. Ash was the ref. Ash?"
We both looked over at Ash, who hadn't really been paying attention and was startled when he noticed our stares. "What?"
"The battle," I said.
"Oh, yeah. The battle...uh, yeah. It was one-on-one, Steelix against Gyarados. Gyarados tried a hydro pump and Steelix dodged, then successfully attacked Gyarados with iron tail. Gyarados used mist and then a successful thrash. Um, Steelix used barrier. Gyarados tried attacking again but was confused because of thrash. Um, hmm...yeah, then Gyarados tried a hyper beam, but Steelix closed its mouth and used barrier. Then...Steelix and Brock won." Ash smiled, happy he had just remembered the entire battle.
Mist. Wait. "Mist, did you say? With You two and Lance, and Steelix and Gyarados?" This was getting weird.
"Yup," Ash said.
My dream! Was it not a dream after all?
"What, Misty? What's the matter?" Brock asked.
"I had a dream just like that. Last night and while I was...unconscious."
"Didn't know you could dream while unconscious," Ash said.
"Hmm. Maybe I just woke up for a bit," I said.
"Okay, but that doesn't explain last night's dream." Brock paused. "After the battle Ash went back to Lance's and got our stuff while I brought you here and set up camp."
Ash looked down. He was sad about something, but what? "What's the matter, Ash?" I asked.
He looked at me, startled. "Nothing," he said. He was lying.
I could guess what he was sad about, though. Hotaru. He had had to leave Hotaru behind. I really felt bad for him. After all, love had prevailed for me and Brock. Why not Ash? That saying's true, life usually isn't fair.
"I'm going to go for a walk," Ash said. Brock let him go, obviously guessing the same about why Ash was down.
Brock looked at me. "So, uh...how's the soup?" he asked.
"Great, as always."
We were silent for a moment as the sun sank ever nearer to the horizon. I thought about all that had happened lately.
"Brock?"
"Mm?"
"Thanks. Lance had no right to claim me his own."
"Anytime. Just don't steal any of the boy's hearts again." Brock smiled.
I thought about this for a second. "...What about you?"
"You already have my heart," he said. "You always will."
I smiled back. "You will always have mine," I whispered.
Just as the sun started to dip under the horizon, Ash came back. He had a frown and a thoughtful look on his face. He was in his own world as he sat down on the ground next to the fire. He didn't talk and he didn't eat. He was acting very strange.
The sun was down completely and the sky started to fade pink, then purple, then a deep blue. Stars started to dust the sky. It was quiet; no one had anything worthwhile to say so didn't bother to say it.
Suddenly the silence was broken. "Ash!"
Ash looked up from staring at the fire. He stood up.
"Ash!" The cry went through the woods again.
"Hotaru?" Ash ran towards the voice, away from the circle of light the fire cast. I couldn't see him any more as he ran through the woods, but I could hear him well enough.
"Ash!" Hotaru cried. I heard another set of loud footsteps running.
Then all was quiet for a minute. I looked at Brock, his face lighted eerily by the flickering fire. He smiled, and I did too.
A few minutes later Ash and Hotaru came walking into the campsite. Hotaru had a backpack and a sleeping bag; apparently she meant to stay somewhere outside. Maybe she was going to stay with us...Ash would like that. But there really wasn't much else to do. Ash was the champion, had all the known Pokémon in the world, had beaten the Dragon Master, and had the love of his life with him. What was he going to do next?
We could figure that out tomorrow. For now I was really tired. I managed to roll out my sleeping bag and wiggle inside. Brock rolled his out next to mine. Ash and Hotaru were next to each other.
I couldn't help it. "So, what are you going to do next, Ash?" I asked.
Ash looked at Hotaru and thought a minute. "Not exactly sure," he said. "Maybe settle down, start a gym. Maybe I can explore secluded regions, looking for never before seen Pokémon. Maybe I could just do what life brings."
"So where are we going to go next?" Hotaru asked.
"You know, you are the Champion, Ash. People will want to battle you and claim the title," Brock pointed out.
"Let them come." Ash seemed content.
"One day, a little boy or girl will come up to you and challenge you. Maybe they'll win and be the Champion. Just like you, Ash," I said.
"Maybe. I guess we'll go back to Pallet Town from here. Maybe Professor Oak has something for us to do," Ash said.
"Pallet Town?" Hotaru asked.
"Yup, that's where I grew up," Ash explained.
That night we all slept well, knowing love was right next to us. Two days later we set out for Pallet Town. Professor Oak did indeed have a task for us; he wanted us to go back into Johto and visit Kurt with the GS ball. Supposedly Kurt had just had a breakthrough and wanted to send it to Professor Oak but, because the GS ball was the GS ball and thus very mysterious, he couldn't and needed someone to bring it to Oak. So that was now our job.
We set out on our new adventure. Who knew what was in store for us? We would just take what life gave us and be happy all the way.