close to you (pearlshipping)

[JPG]

hi all. well since i been on here for a while, i thought i should contribute to the site and write a nice fic. as stated in the title, this will be mostly all pearlshipping, some brockxlucy and some one sided pokeshipping. this is the first fic i've written on a forum so if its bad, please forgive me. i hope you all enjoy.





POKEMON:CLOSE TO YOU
by jpg, aka, max acorn.
rating: pg 13.





"well its almost done. mimey, hand me the pepper."
delia ketchum was in a very good mood. why you ask? simple: her son was coming home. her son, ash ketchum had once again left the comfort of pallet town for adventure and to become a pokemon master. this time, his journey took him to the far off land of sinnoh. just like his previous journeys, ash once again obtained 8 badges from the gyms in the region and qualified to competed in the sinnoh league championship. she was especially proud of her one and only child as he advanced all the way to the finals of the tournament, which was broadcast all over the world. even though ash lost, his skill and talent impressed even the pokemon league champion Cynthia. delia had recieved a phone call from ash, stating that he was coming home. she couldnt help but smile at how much more mature he seemed on the phone. she had been busy cooking all day, preparing all of ash's favorite dishes, with the help of her in house helper, mr. mime.

"mr. mime!" spoke the clown pokemon, handing the lady the pepper.

"thank you mimey." she smiled as she added the seasoning to the pot.

"hello?" came a voice from outside. delia looked out of her kitchen when to find the owner of the voice.

"misty!"

"hi mrs. ketchum. i hope you dont mind i come by for a visit."

"of course not. please come in."
the water pokemon trainer walked into the house with a bright smile. misty was once one of ash's traveling companions and one of his closest friends. she had to leave him after her sisters won tickets for a year long cruise around the world, forcing her to take over the duties as gym leader. the fiery red head over time once again made the cerulean gym one of the flag ship gyms for water pokemon trainers. misty entered the kitchen, just as delia was finishing up stirring the pot.

"um arent you making a lot of food for yourself, mrs. ketchum?"

"not really. i just got a call from ash. he's coming home today."

"really?" she asked excitedly.

"brock just called from the port. they'll be here in a few minutes."

"that's great. i cant wait to see ash and brock again."

"that's why i'm cooking for my big strong trainer. you know misty, you can wait for him too."

"are you sure that's ok?"

"of course. you are one of ash's oldest friends."

"yeah. friends."
that word seemed to linger in her mind. her and ash: friends. it was no secret that her and ash got off on the wrong foot, when pikachu destroyed her bike and she followed him to get him to pay her back. at first, ash and misty did nothing but fight but as time went on, they gradually became closer friends. many people have pointed out that they seemed more like a couple than friends. in fact, misty did have a chance for romance in the orange islands but turned him down to stay with ash. after so long, misty decided that she must tell ash how she feels. she has to. and now she will get her chance today.

"ding dong." it was Tracey, professor oak's loyal assistant and another of ash's close friends.

"oh tracey, what can i do for you?"

"well, prof. oak sent me her to look at ash's new pokemon from sinnoh. he's kinda busy and he's sorry he cant make it himself."

"its ok. i'm sure ash will be happy to see you as well."

"MR. MIME! MIME! MIME!" mr. mime exclaimed as he pointed out the window. the humans inside looked outside and who else but ash came into view as he walked the long dirt road that lead to his house. of course, everyone in his house rushed out to meet him. ash's mother embraced him, while pikachu jumped off his shoulder as to not get crushed.

"ooohhh ash! my sweet little boy!"

"mom! you're crushing me!"

"oops. sorry honey. its just i missed you so much." she said, releasing him from her motherly grip.

"and how are you pikachu?"

"pika, pikachu!" the electric mouse responded. meanwhile, misty was silently taking in at the appearance of ash. his outfit was new, at least to her, but his trademark cap was still present. but there was something different about ash. something more mature and evolved. it seemed like the world faded away from her. she didnt notice brock's attempts to hit on delia, nor tracey looking over pikachu to note any changes in his body. all she could see right now was ash.

"hey, misty. you ok?"
the youngest water flower sister blinked as she realized that she was staring at ash. ash, of course, was clueless of this.

"um yeah. i'm ok. i'm just glad to see you. that's all." she answered, blushing a bit.

"so ash, who's your new friend?" asked his mother.

"oh, i'm sorry. mom, tracey, misty, this is dawn. she's a pokemon coordinator from sinnoh."

"um pleased to meet you all." said the girl. up until now, both tracey and misty hadnt really noticed her before delia asked, but now they got a good look at her. she wore a black top with a pink skirt that came up to just above her knees, pink boots with black socks and she sported a white knit cap. tracey was most stunned by her deep blue eyes that matched her sky blue hair. it was easy to say that the pokemon watcher was a bit awe struck at her while misty was a bit jealous. sure, she was cute in her own way, but this girl was something before the word 'cute'.

"so you must be misty. ash talks about you a lot."

"oh does he?" smirked misty.

"yep. he showed me the lure you gave him. it looks just like you." she commented. misty felt a little better at the fact that ash thought so highly of her.

"so ash, are you and dawn......you know, a couple?" asked tracey, secretly in hopes that she was single. ash and dawn merely laughed it off.

"naw, trace. we are just friends."
even though misty heard it from his own mouth, something in her told her that she shouldnt believe him.





we return to our group of friends later in the day: brock and ash introduced their friends to their new pokemon, dawn let her pokemon out to allow them to view the skys of kanto and the new faces of ash's friends, misty of course fell in love with ash's buziel (but was a little put off about how he got it.) but finally we come to ash's favorite part: dinner. everyone was seating around the dinner table, full of all different foods, all of which were ash's favorites. everyone smiled as the trainer from pallent dove into the food like a hungry snorlax after waking from a long nap. pikachu and pipplup, dawn's starter pokemon, were on the floor, happily eating the pokemon food brock took time out to make.

"same old ash." commented misty who was sitting next to him.

"the more things change, the more that stay the same." added brock, who was feeding his beloved happiny in his lap.

"so ash, run into any rivals in sinnoh?" asked tracey.

"yeah. paul. he was a good trainer but he was a jerk. he treated his pokemon so badly and coldly. in fact, he released chimchar because he wasnt strong enough. but then i picked him up."

"well his lose was your gain." dawn added. just then, she took a napkin from the table and wiped ash's mouth which had a loose piece of food on it.

"you are such a boy."

"i cant help it. i havent had mom's cooking in so long." he remaked as she wiped his mouth. brock merely smiled at the exchange but tracey, delia and especially misty were surprised at this show of affection by the duo. ash never let anyone interrupt him when he's eating, much less comment on his eating habits in such a way. but here was this girl, cleaning his mouth and ash was letting her.

"well, she's just worried about you choking yourself ash." said brock, breaking the slight silence that filled the room.

"no need to worry. ahhhh and i'm finished. time for some training. you ready, pikachu?" he proclaimed, getting up from his seat.

"pikachu." the pokemon said to his friend.

"ash, you just cant leave in the middle of dinner." said misty.

"sorry but i've got training to do. even at home, i cant rest just yet." he said before he rested a hand on dawn's shoulder.

"say dawn, you wanna train with me too?"

"not right now ash. but i will so." she replied, placing her hand on his, giving it a light squeeze. ash smiled as he and pikachu both sprited out of the room and outside of the house.

"that ash. always training."

"sounds like you are use to it dawn."

"of course. me and ash train together all the time. but mostly cause i ask it from him."

"but ash never trained with me." misty commented.

"really? he never told me about it."
it was true that ash rarely trained with misty. in fact, she couldnt remember the last time she and ash really trained together.

"but its not a bad thing dawn. if you hadnt had ash to train with, you probably wouldnt have gotten so good as you are now."
brock was correct; dawn had come a long way from the trainer she was to the great coordinator she is. dawn, despite a very rocky start, was able to join zoey and kenny at the sinnoh grand festival. she made it very far on her first run but still didnt take the win. but unlike the other times she lost, dawn wasnt upset. she was happy that she could make it as far as she did.

"and it goes both ways, dawn. ash is a better training thank to you. i mean just look at that rolling dodge he has."

"wait a minute. i saw that move when misty and i were watching the sinnoh tournament." said tracey.

"yep. that move. it was originally dawn's move."

"well it wasnt anything special. i just came up with it when i was training for my next contest. ash really made it's own. but i'm glad he uses it so often. that shows that i can help ash when i can." she answered with a smile.




the ketchum house hold was quiet as night fell. tracey had returned to the oak ranch while misty remained at the house when delia offered that it was too late for her to be out so late. ash was somewhat asleep in his room, with pikachu out cold at the foot of his bed. it was usual for ash not to sleep right when he comes home. having been use to sleeping in sleeping bags and pokemon centers, it would take him a while to adjust to sleeping in his own bed once again. just as he was about to drift off to sleep, there was a gentle knock at his door. ash didnt answer because he had a feeling who it was. the door creaked open and a pj clad dawn walked in, with a sleeping pipplup in her arms.

"ash........."
it was all she said. it was all she had to say. ash knew what dawn wanted. the way she said his name was proof enough. it was like she was asking his permission. despite the darkness of the room, ash's chocolate brown eyes found dawn's eternal blue ones. ash was the first to move; he raises the sheets of his bed, careful not to disturb the yellow mouse. dawn quietly made her way over to the bed and placed her water penguin next to pikachu. she then slide under the covers and replaced them over herself. she moved her back against his front as their legs intertwined with each other. ash placed his left hand about her chest from under her, hold her close to him.

"i like your mother. and your friends."

"thanks. i think they liked you too."

"not to mention that she's a good cook."

"yep. why do you think i ate like i did?"
dawn relaxed her head against his, as the tension and energy of the day slipping out of both of them.

"are you sure you want to do this, dawn? you didnt have to come with me."

"i know. but i need to take a break right now. i have things to think about."

"ok. good night dawn."

"good night ash."
ash took his right hand and captured her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. he then took a deep breath, smelling the scent of her hair. he would never tell anyone this but he did like the way dawn's hair smelled. it was like poke-nip to himl; it calmed and relaxed him. by now, he couldnt really sleep without it. in turn, dawn would never tell anyone but she loved it when ash inhaled and smelled her hair. she prided herself on the care and groom of it. it was her sort of her idenity and she was glad that ash, despite what he says about not noticing the difference when she fixes it, really appreciated it. being together like this was their highlight. to just be able to relax and find utter comfort in each other's pressence. the two friends soon drifted off to sleep, inside his bed and his home, never to be interrupted from their blissful state. at least until the sun rose the next day.

 

[Daisenki]

You know I usually find most pearlshipping fics a little rushed, but I really like this one. Continue the good work, I'm looking forward to the next chapter.

 

[Bubbles18]

I really like how close Ash and Dawn are. Daisenki is right, most Pearlshipping fics are usually rushed but you took your time with this one and it came clear through it.

I hope you will come back with a new part soon, this is gotten me hooked and it's very hard to find a pearlshipping story let alone a good one.

Keep it up!

 

[Blazing Charmander]

What a rarity it is, like Daisenki said above, to see a Pearlshipping fic on here, letalone an excellent one. I know that it's difficult to form an opinion on just one chapter, but I feel that this could turn out to be a great fic. I can't wait to see more.

It also contained hints of both of my favourite ships - Pokeshipping and Pearlshipping. It had the sort of jealousy that Misty was known to exhibit often, which demonstrates how in-character everyone was. I also liked how Dawn was eager to brag about the exclusive training that she and Ash have been sharing in Sinnoh, as that's quite unique between the two.

One gripe I have though is the grammar aspect of the fic. Although I perfectly understood what was going on, I was a bit wary of there being no capital letters at the start of the sentences and whatnot. However, other than that, i'd say that this is an excellent piece of work, and can't wait to see more from you

 

[JPG]

thanks guys. i'm already thinking of the next chapter. but this is the first fic i've written on a forum and still not use to the lack of cap checking so you'll just have to get use to the lack of caps. sorry.

 

[JPG]

time for chapter 2. please forgive for any lack of caps.




morning rose over the small town of pallet. we find the next part of our story in the home of the ketchum family. delia ketchum was up and about a little earlier than normal. maybe it was the fact that her beloved son, ash was home after yet another journey and her home was now full with the energy of young people. whatever it was, it seemed to energize her as she prepared breakfast for the group of trainers in her home. the smell seemed to work as misty drifted down stairs.

"morning, mrs. ketchum." she greeted.

"mr. mime." her pokemon called out as it was sweeping the floor.

"oh morning misty. how did you sleep?" asked the older woman.

"it was great. i almost forgot how good it is to sleep over her."

"that's great. hmmm. that's strange."

"what is?"

"well, normally ash would be down here after smelling the bacon but he's unusually late."

"well i could go wake him."

"oh would you please, misty? thank you."
with that, misty darted back up stairs, and made her way to ash's room. she had a lot to think about last night, mostly about ash's growing maturity and his closeness with dawn. misty didn't want to think bitterly about her. she didnt hate her. she didnt know know her well enough to hate her but she did dislike the way ash was around her. he was never like that around her and it really stuck in her craw. she hoped that she would have some time with ash and maybe enough confess her growing romantic feelings for him. she was slightly giddy as she made her way to his room, hoping to see him spread out on his bed, his hair in a mess, and pikachu loyally at the foot of his bed. misty slowly and quietly turned the knob to his door and opened it.

"hey ash. it's time for.........."
misty couldnt finish her sentence. she couldnt even finish her thought. all she could feel is utter and complete shock at the sight before. as she thought, pikachu was there, sleeping at the foot of the bed, but he wasnt alone. next to him was dawn's pokemon, pipplup. ash was there, just like she imagined but like his pokemon, he wasnt alone. sleeping very contently on his chest was dawn, with a slight smile on her face. ash had his nose deeply buried in dawn's hair, explaining why ash didnt smell the bacon downstairs. misty couldnt catch her breath. she couldnt believe it. only when dawn stirred in her sleep that she was able to exhale. ash pulled her a little closer to him, making a audible intake of air. misty slowly made her way out of the room and closes the door. she leaned against the door and started to catch her breath.

'she was..............sleeping with him........." was all her mind could process. they told everyone that they were just friends. was it a lie? did ash lie to her? her mind was reeling but she was calming down after thinking of it more carefully. they both had their cloths on and their pokemon were on the bed so they couldnt have do it with pikachu and pipplup on the bed, much less in the room. she composed herself and readied herself to meet back up with delia. she would have a word with ash about this, big time.

we returned the duo in the mentioned room. dawn's eyes fluttered opened at the bright sun shining through his window. carefully she rose from the bed and stretched out. she looked down at the still sleeping ash and smiled. he still had that almost permanent bed head of his, that he will try to hide with his cap. there were many a days dawn just wanted to tackle him to the ground and fix his hair. but of course, she'd never tell him that. she ran her hands through her hair and of course, it was in total disarray. she silently slid out of bed and crept out of the room. she snuck back into her room to retrieve her hair care supplies.



"why thank you brock. i sure did miss you around the house." delia complemented. it was about a half hour later and brock had joined misty downstairs. being the at home man he is, he decided to help delia peel potatoes to make hash browns.

"its no problem. its what i do, remember. but of course, i'd do anything for you, sweet delia. ARGGGGGGG!!!" he said just before his crogunk gave him a wake up call with its poison jab. misty grinned, somewhat relieved that someone is keeping brock's flirting in line.

"GET OUT! DONT LOOK AT ME!!!"
the yell came from upstairs which was followed by a falling ash from down the stairs, who was in turn followed by pikachu. ash got back up, to the astonished looks of his mother and female friend.

"ash, are you ok? what happened?" inquired misty.

"i'm ok. dont worry. i'm sorta use to it." he answered, sitting down at the table.

"let me guess: you went in the bath room while dawn was doing her thing?" brock said.

"you know it. i didnt know she was in there."

"ash ketchum, did you try to sneak a peek at that poor girl?" scolded his mother.

"no mom. i'd never do that to dawn."

"he's right. you see, dawn says she has terrible bed head so she like to do her hair before breakfast. and she doesnt like anyone to see her like that."

"personally i dont get it. i mean, it looks the same to me, really." ash commented. misty watched him and his words closely. she knew how dense ash was to most things, including girls. but there was no mistaking what she saw this morning: ash and dawn were sleeping together and it seems he enjoyed her hair very much.

"good morning everyone."
dawn skipped down stairs with pipplup in tow and to the dinning room table. she danced around a bit, showing off how her blue hair was now free of tangles and shined a bit.

"i still dont see any difference."

"of course you wouldnt ash. you're such a boy." she snapped at ash's comments but sat next to him nonetheless.

"did you sleep good, ash?"

"yep. like a log, mom."

"yeah, i bet." mumbled misty under her breath but fortunately, neither ash nor dawn heard her. a little time later, breakfast was served and of course, ash ate like pig, stuffing his face full of eggs, bacon and hash browns. the table was full of talk, mostly about dawn. delia wanted to know more about this girl who her son is traveling with. dawn were very accommodating to her questions, from her home town, to her dreams and goals, to her time with ash and brock. delia then said something to the effect of 'if ash was a girl, he'd be dawn.' to which, ash nearly choked on her his toast. dawn and delia merely giggled while brock smiling knowingly. misty was strangely silent but smiled nonetheless. after breakfast, ash suggested that he and dawn go to professor oak's lab for a quick visit. of course dawn jumped at the chance to meet him, in hopes of not only seeing ash's pokemon but to get a poem from the legendary researcher. brock wanted to stay behind to help delia with clean up and misty wanted to join them. the sinnoh duo ran up stairs to get ready for the trip.

"there they go again. i swear those two are too much alike." said brock as he began to wash the dishes.

"brock, are you sure those two arent........"

"what? ash and dawn? no. if they say they arent, then they arent."

"well what if they were lying to you?"

"what do you mean, misty?"

"well, this morning, when i went to go wake ash up.............dawn was with him..........sleeping in his bed."

"she was?" asked a stunned delia.

"yes. i dont know if they did anything but they were sleeping rather close together."

"that's nothing to worry about." brock spoke.

"that's normal."

"how would ash sleeping with a girl be normal to you?"

"well, mrs. ketchum, i think it started a few months ago. dawn was scared during a thunderstorm and her tent had a large hole in it. she was wet and scared so ash offer to let her share his sleeping bag. ever since then, dawn regularly slept with ash. there were many a morning where i found those two together in his sleeping bag. but i dont think anything has happened. i'd know."
misty didnt know what to say about that story. there were many times that a storm scared her when she was traveling with ash and brock but not once did as offer to let her sleep with him. something was up with those two and she would find out what.


the walk to the oak compound wasnt really eventful. well in misty's opinion, it was. dawn was asking ash all kinds of questions about the woods around pallet. it was really starting to annoy her how ash was so accommodating to her. she also noticed that her pipplup was out of its ball a lot. was she copying ash and pikachu? did she have to do that? her train of thought was broken when they arrived at prof. oak's compound. dawn was espeically wowed by sheer size of the ranch, larger than prof. rowen's lab by far. it was easy to consider why prof. oak was consider the number one pokemon researcher in the world. they made their way to the lab where they ran into tracey, who seemed unusually happy after seeing dawn.

"hey guys. hi dawn."

"hi tracey. this compound is so huge! it could take me days to look around. so where's prof. oak?"

"how about this oak instead?"
the voice belonged to gary oak, prof. oak's grandson and ash's one time rival.

"gary!" called ash and he walked over and shook his hand.

"ash! i heard you were back. good to see ya. i saw your match at the sinnoh tournament. you looked a lot strong than you were in when we fought."

"hey thanks. but why are you back home? i thought you were still in sinnoh."

"my work is done there for now. hey dawn. long time no see."

"hi gary. its been a while. work on a any poems lately?"

"sorry dawn. that's grandpa's field."
just then, the aforementioned professor crashed out of a near by room, covered in what looked to be living ooze.

"grandpa!"

"prof.oak!"

"ash! dawn! misty! oh hello there! i thought you'd be dropping by." he said almost calmly as he got to his feet. the large purple mass started to take shape with a face and arms.

"you just caught me giving your muk a good check up."
the slime pokemon then caught sight of its owner and ran, or what ever you could call running to a creature with no legs, over and enveloped ash in a toxic hug.

"muk! mu mu muk!!" it said happily.

"awww muk! i missed you too!"

"ash this is your muk?" asked dawn.

"yeah! i caught him a long time ago and he's been so affectionate. muk, this is my new friend dawn. say hi."
and of course, muk said hi, the only way it knew how: it tackled dawn with its large blob-like body. most people would be put off by being hugged by a toxic pokemon but dawn giggled happily.

"wow, dawn. not many people withstand muk's hugs." said tracey.

"well i'm sort of use to it. when ash, brock and i were enrolled in a pokemon school, they loaned me a grimer who acted just the same as muk. but i think ash's muk is a bit cuter." she explained, petting the pokemon. muk seemed to blush in response.

"well i'm glad to see the both of you here, ash and gary. i can hardly believe how far you've both come. it seems like yesterday when i gave you both your starter pokemon." oak said.

"there is something i've been meaning to ask you, prof. oak. from what i understand, kanto starter pokemon are squirttle, charmader and bulbasaur. but how did ash get pikachu?"

"well that's quite a story, dawn. you see, our friend ash slept in on the day he was to get his pokemon. when he arrive, gary has just receive his squirttle. when ash came to get his pokemon, sadly there was none. all i had left was a overly powerful pikachu." he remembered, as ash petted pikachu who was on his shoulder.

"that was also the same day we met, ash. i fished you and pikachu out of the river and then you took my bike." misty said with smile.

"you're not gonna get on me about that bike again?"

"wait ash destroyed your bike misty?"

"yep."

"me too. but i really didnt mind since pikachu was in danger at the time."

"that's right, dawn. i didnt even know until you mentioned it."

"well i'm just proud of you both and how you've both grown and matured."

"tell me about it grandpa. to think i use to be kind of a jerk."

"kind of?" ash and misty chimed.

"ok ok. i was a big jerk. happy?"

"so you and ash ever have a pokemon battle?"

"a few. we didnt face each other during the kanto league tournament since i got knocked out the first round. we finally battle during the johto league tournament."

"that was a good battle, gary."

"you're telling me. even though i had type advantage, you still beat me. i think it was around that time i realized that i should be a pokemon researcher. you've really gone farther that i could ever go ash."

"hey thanks gary. that means a lot."

"say dawn, how about i show you around the compound?" asked tracey, a bit too eagerly.

"actually ash said he's show me his pokemon."

"oh yeah. that's right. heracross, bulbasaur, cyndaquil, all my tauros! i gotta show you them all! come on!" he exclaimed excitedly as he grabbed dawn by the wrist.

"ash! slow down! well it was nice to meet you, prof. oak!" she yelled before being dragged out of the room, laughing all the way. tracey's eyes watched her go, wondering how he could get her attention.

"forget about it, tracey." spoke gary.

"what are you talking about?"

"i mean, forget about going after dawn. her hooks are too into ash. trust me i know."

"you mean.............you....."

"yep. i mean dawn is a cute girl, nice, kind, energetic; any guy would be lucky to have her. but dawn and ash are too well connected."

"what does that mean?"

"i understand what you mean, gary. even i could tell that ash and dawn have a special bond with each other. a bond that could go beyond friendship or even love. its not something easily broken." explained prof. oak.

"and that goes double for you misty."

"what?! I-I dont have any feelings like that for ash!"

"oh please! you have to be as dense as ash not to notice. you have feelings for ash. but, i'm sorry to say that you had your chance."
misty turned away from the younger oak to look out side, seeing ash and dawn running from one spot to another, looking at ash's various pokemon.

"we'll see about that."







ash did as he promised and show dawn all his pokemon: from bulbasaur who was keeping everyone in line, to his bayleef who tackled him to the ground, to his noctawl who was sleeping the day away, to his donphan who took a real shine to dawn. it seemed that there wasnt a single one of ash's pokemon who didnt seem not to like dawn. and the girl in turned loved everyone of ash's pokemon. currently, dawn was up a large tree, looking at heracross greedily lapping up sap from the tree.

"wow. your heracross is so cool, ash." she said, standing on a limb, watching the bug pokemon clinging to the trunk.

"thanks. too bad he is hard to move once he starts feed."

"its ok. i've never seen a live heracross, not to mention one that was eating."
she sat down on the branch, signaling to ash that dawn was ready to come down. he raised his arms and she jumped down into his hands, his palms gripping the sides of her hips. dawn hugged ash's head against her stomach ash he found his base with his feet. ash slowly lowered her to the ground, his face dragging up her body slightly until they were face to face. but it seemed that ash's balance wasnt as good as he thought as he tripped backwards and feel backwards to the grass with the blue haired female on top of him. for a while, neither of them moved, as the wind blew over them and grass swayed with the wind. dawn wiggled a little against ash's lap as she rested her head his shoulder.

"did you have fun?"

"of course i did, silly."

"i'm glad."

"ash, do you think i could catch as many pokemon as you?"

"of course. remember that you are still starting out. you still have lots of time." he answered, raising his leg up between her legs.

"but........i hope we can still travel together." she thought outloud, reach her hands up and grasping ash's hands.

"we will. friends stick together and i want you to stick with you for a long time."

"mmm i'm glad."
the two friends laid on the grass as their pokemon played together in the bright midday sun. but little did they realize that they were being watched. no, not by pokemon or by their friends or even not by his old enemies, team rocket. no, this was something else. something that had plans for one of our heroes. plans that not only threatened to tear apart the world but would tear apart their bond of friendship.

 

[Daisenki]

"but........i hope we can still travel together."

Do I smell marriage in the air?

Aside from some grammar problems (I'm not grammar police), this was a good read.

 

[Bubbles18]

You really have gotten me hooked. I love the ending part though and I'm curious to who is it that's plotting - I keeping thinking it's Misty but then again it could be Team Galatic so I guess I just have to wait and see.

I like how Gary warned Misty and Tracy off. Hope to see more of him in this.

 

[JPG]

you want your pearlshipping fix? then i'm your pusher man!.









"master."

"report."

"sir, we have found the target."

"excellent. where?"

"a small town here in the kanto region. it's called pallet."

"pallet town."

"you know of it, master?"

"let's just say, i'm well aware of that little town. is the target alone?"

"no, master. we tracked the one down to prof. oak's ranch compound."

"i see. well then, i think its time we stepped up the plans a little."

"do you want me to form a attack party?"

"no. pallet town is too near the base for team rocket and i dont want those second rate thieves in my business! this job requires as few of our agents as possible."

"your orders?"

"assemble the 3 swords. their orders: find and capture the target."

"as you command, master."






misty had a lot to think about as she stared across the waters of prof. oak's private lake. the water pokemon seem to relax her and she needed it after hearing what the young oak said to her. how could he say that she needed to forget about ash! she's known ash a lot longer than dawn did. she's been with him at his best and his worse. if anyone deserved that boy's heart, it was her. but she couldnt get past how he acts around her. he claims he's not interested but everything he's done seemed to tell her otherwise. but she didnt blame him if his eyes drifted. all they seemed to do was fight during their time together. she nagged him about her bike while dawn never even mentioned it until it was brought up. dawn seemed like the total opposite to her. but she wouldnt let that stop her. and tonight, she would make her case.
after coming to that decision in her mind, her eye caught sight of ash and dawn coming from the woods, both covered in grass and covered in smiles and laughs, as their starter pokemon took the lead in front of them.

"what happened to you two?" she asked. the duo looked at themselves to see the grass on their clothes.

"oh yeah. we had a little accident."

"little? dawn, you jumped down and we both fell."

"well, you didnt seem to have a problem with it when i was on top of you."

"as skinny as you are, you really arent all that heavy."

"skinny? i'll have you know that my figure is perfect for someone my age."

"its still skinny."
misty watched as the two friends argued. well, she wouldnt call it arguing. there was something playful about it. not like how she and ash use to, full of words and gestures of pain and veins popping out of foreheads. their's seem to be just friendly, which bordered on out right flirting.

"um ash, can i talk to you for a minute, alone?" misty asked, interupting the arguing duo.

"its ok ash. i'll have to go and re-fix my hair."

"looks just about the same to me."

"you are such a boy, ash ketchum." she said in mock anger as she and pipplup walked off, her skirt swaying in the breeze. misty couldnt be sure but she could swear that ash was watching her walk away.

"so what's up, misty?"

"well um........do you know what's happening tonight?"

"i think so. isnt tonight the pallet town block party?"

"yep. your mom told me about it."

"oh its great. everyone comes out with games and plays and the food is awesome. pikachu and i couldnt get enough of those fried pickles. right buddy?"

"pika pika."

"you planning on going tonight?"

"maybe. dont know really."

"well how about you got with.........me?"

"you? like a date or something?"

"yeah, like a date."

"well i've never been on a date before."

"well then, it can be your first tonight. so how about it?"

"um, sure. i mean, we havent hung out in a while so i think its a good idea."

"great. what time is good?"

"around 7pm."

"good. see ya, then."






"a date huh?"
dawn couldnt believe it; ash ketchum, future pokemon master and all around nice guy, was going on a date.

"yep. a date." ash answered. dawn watched as he put on his black shirt with a poke-ball symbol on the front. she sat bear foot on his bed, watching her friend attempt to dress himself for his first date with a girl.

"i didnt think you'd be the type to date."

"i'm not really. its just a date between two old friends. i havent hung out with misty in a long time. it would be good for us." he said, dusting off his cap. dawn grinned a crooked smile as she got up from the bed and walked over to ash.

"w-what are you doing?"

"getting you ready. lose the hat." she answered, taking off his cap.

"but why?"

"ash, this is a date, not a gym battle. no cap."
he knew she was right about that sort thing so he agree. ash soon felt a pair of small soft hands going through his hair.

"now what are you doing?"

"i'm trying to tame that jungle you call a hair." she said, pulling out her pink comb and began to run it into his hair.

"ok. but none of that stuff that you use in your hair."

"i know. you are so proud of this mess."
after a few minutes of fighting with his almost alive hair, she deemed ash presentable, letting him face the mirror.

"well?"

"i'd date you."
the pallet town native smiled at her small joke as she wrapped her arms around him from the back and rested her chin on his shoulder. they both looked into the mirror, at the image of him and her together. ash brought his hand down to cover her hands over his stomach.

"now, you get down stairs and show that girl a good time."

"yes, dear. come on pikachu."
the two reluctantly broke apart with pikachu jumped over to ash as he walked out of the room. he descended the stairs to find misty waiting for him, sitting on the couch. misty was barely recognizable to ash: gone was the ever present side ways pony tail that misty always had, let her hair all down. she wore a nice light blue top with spaghetti straps, with a matching mini-skirt and blue open toed heels. misty went all out for this one. she sneaked into her older sister's wardrobe before coming to pallet, just in case ash was home and she could ask him out. now, she wasnt gonna miss her chance.

"wow, misty. you look great."

"thanks. so do you."
and this was no mere statement. misty thought that ash looked great, even though he wasnt overly dressed for a date. just then, a camera flash lit up the room. ash went blind for a second before he realized both his mom and dawn were both responable for the blindness.

"ahhh my little boy's first date. i'm so proud." delia spoke, wiping away a tear from her eye.

"now ash, dont try anything naughty with misty. this is just the first date." dawn said with a smile.

"uh huh. you ready misty?"

"yep. let's go." she said, hooking her arm with his and dragging him out of the house. ash waved bye to the two remaining women in the house while pikachu dashed after them. delia and dawn waved back at them as they vanished down the road and into town. but none of them had no idea they a lone figure watched the scene with a cold silent intensity.





pallet town really turned out for this party. it was the event of the year; games to play, prizes to win, plays to watch, and food to eat. and just like in parties of the past, ash and pikachu mostly ate the fried pickles. the duo wondered around the main street of town, trying out everything they came across. ash won misty a dewgong doll in a ring toss game, which she happily accepted. next they went to see a small play about the legend of ho-oh. even though ash was eating most of the time, he was still able to talk to misty about his recent adventures in sinnoh: the new pokemon, the contests he was involved in, his rivalry with pauk, meeting the pokemon world champion cynthia, facing team galactic, etc, to which misty listen intently. but she couldnt help but notice that dawn's name kept seeming to pop up. even though he was on a date with her, he couldnt keep her name out of his mouth. after about 3 hours, the duo took a rest on a bench in the middle of town.

"wow. that was a great play."

"yeah, those poke players are really good."

"i didnt think they could get their pokemon to move like that."

"yeah."

"having a good time?"

"of course. i always have a good time with you ash."

"then i'm glad." he spoke, feeding pikachu a fried pickle.

"so ash............meet any girls you liked?"

"huh? well, i like all the girls i met. they are all great friends."

"that's nice. but i mean, like like?"

"like like?"

"as in.............like a girlfriend type of like."

"you like brock? hmmmm well not really. i really dont see girls like that. i just dont think about it much."

"oh. well if you would get a girl, what would you like for her?"

"well, i guess she'd have to be cute. probably a trainer so we can train together. we'd have to get along and not fight a lot. and my pokemon have to like her too." he answered, scratching pikachu's chin.

"how about someone like..................................................me?"

"like you? misty, there isnt anyone like you in the world."

"but would you date someone like me?"

"um..............i think so."

"oh...um...really?" she studdered but before ash answered, the local band began to play.

"awww cool! i love this song! come on misty! let's dance."
misty blused a bit as ash took her hand and lead her to the middle of a group of people dancing. but unknown to them, they were being watched.

"ha! so that's ash, huh?"
in a tree over looking the town, a darkly clad figured watch ash and misty dance, through a pair of goggles that seem to act like binoculars. he ran his hand through his spiky blonde hair.

"dont know why the master talked so big about him for."

"i wouldnt underestimated him koji. there is a reason why the master wanted to want him for so long."
the voice, thick with a russian accent, came from a long legged beauty of a woman with long red hair.

"whatever, lyja. i dont sweat the kid."

"just remember our job. the target is all that matters."

"too bad goose isnt with us. he gets all the easy jobs."

"i thought you hated easy jobs."

"i do. i just wanted to see how that punk stacked up to goose. that's all."

"so, are we ready?"

"yes we are. time to show these bunkins how dark wind parties."

 

[Bubbles18]

I'm curious to how this is going to turn out. Ash is out on a date with Misty and seems completely clueless. Misty has a trick up her sleeves and we have a team wanting to create havoc.

I hope you will come back soon with a new part!

 

[Daisenki]

I'm going to be blunt here and say that I don't like the direction this story is going. I'm not a big fan in "bad guys" in shipping fics.

 

[Bubbles18]

I was just wondering if you were planning on coming back any time soon? I really like this story and was wondering if you had a time table for it.

 

[Daisenki]

I was just wondering if you were planning on coming back any time soon? I really like this story and was wondering if you had a time table for it.

It's only been 8 days since the last chapter. A good fanfic does take time to write and be proof read.

 

[JPG]

sorry for the long wait. if you didnt know, i live in houston and we got hit by hurricane ike so its been pretty rough the last week.