[Pokémon] Shadows on the Heart - Window to the Soul (PG-13)

Shadows on the Heart Window to the soul
by Vibrava (originally name of poster (namely me) Flygon)

Disclaimer: (I.E. Legal Stuff): I do not own Pokemon, Nintendo, GameFreak nor any of the characters involved with said games from these companies. Nor Am I or any of my family affiliated with them. This story is completely my work, and is an alternative fictional account of the Animé series. I do not claim any right to any of it, including but not limited to profit (which I receive none) or sale. This is a free for the reading fic.


Background: This is an alternate from what happened in the animé but so is most of what is being written in FanFics. I could never understand how anybody, with enough intelligence to keep living, could go on a journey and still act like a kid the way Ash did and not get killed. I matured him somewhat but tried to keep some or most of his personality intact. Kanto is the only bit of the anime that I kept true to. This story starts after the Hoenn Region with Ash winning the championship there. He already has the Orange Island cup and the championship at the Johto region, giving him three championships. Misty is the Leader of the Cerulean City Gym since her sisters took off on their world tour. For a year she held this position and is now getting bored with it. Brock is back at his home in Pewter City and finds that the gym is in good hands with the eldest of his younger brothers. Ash is home, restless (what else is new) and looking for more challenges and more pokemon. This being said, I hope you enjoy this fic. there will be 20 + chapters in it.

Note: I checked on some of the names and found no mention of some of the characters last names, so I took literary license here.

(Caution: This fanfic is going to be rated (tentatively) PG-13 for Violence, language, possible suggestive situations, and the like. You have been warned and should respect the rating on it.)


(NOTE: ' ' = thoughts and " " = vocal dialogue)

Prologue

Ash sat on a hill with his back against a tree, legs crossed and stretched out in front of him while he gazed at the horizon. He watched as a flock of spearow flew across the sky and vanished into a copse of trees in the distance and smiled. Absently he let his right hand down from the back of his head and stroked the head of his oldest and dearest of pokemon friends, Pikachu, who squealed in apparent delight at the touch. The other pokemon with him was an aipom who simply sat there, mesmerized by the twitching foot of his trainer. Ash's hat sat in his lap, leaving his unruly black hair loose to be blown in the breeze, while his brown eyes looked out onto the sprawling land near his home. He had been home for four days, It was peaceful, serene, and he was bored sick.

"Hey, little buddy," he said in a lazy tone to his pikachu. "What do you think of a new adventure."

"CHOO, Pika, pi pi" The electric rodent replied sitting up and smiling.

"You like that idea?" and he laughed when pikachu nodded his head and made a victory sign. "We can do this two ways now." he continued to his friend, pulling his legs up and wrapping his arms around them. "We can just pop back home and pack quickly then leave, oooor," he paused for a moment. "we can go home and plan this out and see what we might need and go slowly. I do know that I want to take just you with me and start fresh though."

Pikachu looked at his friend and trainer with wide eyes.. This is the first time that he didn't just bolt into something. His friend was growing up. Pikachu held up one of his fingers and shook his head frowning, then held up two and nodded energetically.

"I get it," Ash stated grinning at his friend. "Take it slowly and plan things out, huh? Lets go talk to Professor Oak and see if he can help us with our planning."

He got up and put his hat back on before recalling a frowning aipom to its poke ball. Then Ash lifted Pikachu onto his shoulder and started towards the home of his friend, Professor Oak. When he approached the home of the Professor he saw that there was a red convertible parked in the driveway, signalling to him that Gary, his once arch rival was there too. Ash wondered why. Ever since he beat Gary in the Johto league, the breach in their once older friendship had been healed. They were friends again and had begun a new road. Ash at a trainer trying to fulfil his dream of becoming a pokemon Master, and Gary had surprised them all with his declaration of giving up on pokemon battles and switching to research instead. It had been almost a year since he saw his old rival turned friend. He arrived at the door, rang the bell and waited. He tried the bell again and waited a bit more, before knocking on the door only to have the door open slowly with the first knock.

"hellooooo" Ash called out and then entered the house slowly. "Professor Oak, Gary?"

Ash heard voices coming from where he remembered the kitchen being and did not recognize them at all. Pikachu jumped from his shoulder and slowly made its way toward the short hallway that led to the kitchen while Ash followed slowly. The voices became clearer and Ash recognized them as belonging to Butch and Cassidy of Team Rocket.

"Look, old man" he heard Butch saying. "What we want is simple. All the data you have on all the pokemon that we already have in these sacks."

"In return," came the falsely sweet tones from Cassidy. "We won't put a bullet in your grandsons head."

"If I give you that data," Professor Oak said. "Then you would be able to reset those pokemons poke-balls and they would look like they belonged to you."

"That's the idea, old man," Butch said with an evil chuckle. "Now cough up the data, or we cave in the kids head."

"Gramps, don't do it......." Ash heard Gary call out. then he heard a sick sounding *Thump* sound and Garys voice was cut off abruptly.

"Now give us that data or I'll do more to the kid then just hit him on the head." Cassidy practically yelled.

"Pikachu, get ready to use a thunderbolt on them," Ash whispered.

He saw his friend nod and heard him give off a low *choooooo* sound as sparks began to dance on his cheek spots and then he kicked the door open and dove into the kitchen low.

Butch and Cassidy both turned toward the door when it was kicked and saw Ash sliding across the tiled floor. With a grin they began to bring their pistols to bear on this new target. Began and froze in place as a bolt of electricity flew through the open door and hit first one pistol, then the other. They danced in place, shaking and twitching in the electric bath they were getting before their eyes simply rolled back into their heads and they fell to the floor. Ash moved quickly and grabbed a frying pan from the counter he was near and scrambled to the pair of Team rocket goons. They started to get up, only to have Ash hit them over the head with the frying pan which gave off a dull ringing sound as it hit. The two fell into unconsciousness quickly.

"Are you alright Professor Oak?" Ash asked in a rushed tone as he grabbed a coil of rope that was laid on top of one of the sacks.

"Yes Ash, I am, thanks to you." He replied as he went to his grandsons side.

"And is Gary OK?" he inquired as he slid the two pistols across the floor.

"A sore head, and bruised ego is all," Gary himself answered as he began to sit up.

Ash looked to his friend and saw that he was slowly getting up despite the cautions of Professor Oak. He began to put the rope around the wrists of the two.

"Hey Ash," Gary called out. "Get their poke balls first. That way if they come to before Jenny gets here they can't use them to escape."

He found Butches easy enough, they were on a standard sleeve on his belt, three poke balls. Cassidy proved to be a harder person to search since she wore no belt. Ash moved a bit closer towards her when his knee contacted something round and hard in the crotch of Butches pants. Ash thought quickly and began to undo the thief's belt while he tugged at the pants.

"What the heck are you doing, Ash?" Gary began and then stopped in open mouthed amazement as they saw that two poke balls taped to Butches legs near the groin. They also burst into laughter when they noticed that Butch was wearing bright red underwear with large white heart on the front.

Ash then noticed Professor Oak stripping Cassidy and saw the reason as a sleeve of poke balls were found hanging under her bra. Professor Oak gritted his teeth and reached under her dress and found two more poke balls taped to her leg. Ash reddened slightly when he saw the Professor grip each of Cassidys breasts and squeeze them slightly.

"No, no poke balls are hidden there." The professor said and was starting to re button her top when Gary called out.

"Gramps, Ash, don't redress them."

"Why Gary?" Ash asked reddening slightly.

"Cause, if they get free of the rope they'll be easy to find." Gary said with a grin and then grabbed the phone.

Two hours later, the two Team Rocket goons were placed into a waiting wagon, still tied and undressed to their underwear. Three Officer Jennys were there, and were taking statements from the three of them. While a fourth one picked up the pistols and the poke balls that had been taken from the two crooks. There was also a doctor there looking at Gary's head and proclaiming that there was no permanent damage, and he should just take it easy for a day or two. They soon left and Ash, Gary and the Professor sat in his living room alone.

"I am very glad that you showed up when you did, Ash," The Professor began. "But what you did, while brave, was also dangerous. Those two had guns and I think that they would have used them."

"That's why I had my good bud," Ash replied with a grin while patted Pikachu's head. "start charging up a thunderbolt before I came into the kitchen. I knew that he wouldn't let me down. He never has."

"Heh, boy you have grown in more then size Ashey boy," Gary chuckled from his position on a recliner. "You thought it through this time, instead of charging in blindly."

"See Gary," Ash laughed. "I can learn."

"Never said that you couldn't" Gary responded with all traces of humour gone, "You proved that By taking out the competition at Johto, and then Hoenn."

"Be that as it may," Professor Oak said hold a hand up to stop Gary. "Though it was dangerous, you did save not only Gary and myself, but also all the pokemon that those two had in those sacks. For that, I thank you Ash."

"Me too," Gary added with a grin. Then he raised an eyebrow. "Why did you come here in the first place?"

It took Ash about fifteen minutes to explain why he had come there and he ended with a request.

"I need to know where I should go." Ash began. "I want to start fresh, with only pikachu and rebuild a team from ground up but I need to know where I should go. I already have the trophy's from Johto and Hoenn, plus the Orange Island one, and the Battle frontier, but I know that that isn't enough to qualify me as a Master Pokemon Trainer."

"You're right on that score, Ash." Oak began, pulling a sheaf of papers off an end table. "It takes five championships to qualify you as a Master trainer. But they have to be from different regions. The Battle frontier doesn't count, but it is another feather in your cap. Orre region is not recognized as of yet," The Professor was pulling paper after paper off the pile in his hand and laying them face down on the end table. "Ah, yes." he exclaimed after he had gone halfway through them. "Sinnoh region might be a good place to start a new journey."

"Sinnoh region?" Ash queried with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Professor Oak pulled a map from the end table drawer and laid it on a coffee table, then tapped an area. "There. The researcher in charge in that region is Professor Rowan, an old friend of mine and a fellow student that studied with me. He focuses on Evolutionary lines. There are new pokemon there that you may have never seen, and many regions having many different climates. Plus, the Sinnoh League is registered with the pokemon league and their championship would qualify you one more step closer to your goal."

"Yes," Ash exclaimed, throwing two fists into the air above his head. "I can win there and be one step closer."

"Whoa, Ash." Gary smirked at his friend. "Just don't go getting too confident. Remember the Indigo Plateau? You went overboard there and what did it get you?"

Ash scowled slightly at that reference and would have started arguing with Gary, if not for Professor Oak and Pikachu.

"Pika, pi, choo choo," His friend seemed to scold him with a stern expression.

"Gary is right, Ash." Professor Oak told him. "I have seen more trainers fail due to overconfidence then poor training."

Chapter 1


At home, Ash told his mother what he wanted to do and as usual, she got teary eyed and nodded. It was during dinner that she started to make suggestions.

"It might be a good idea to call Brock," Delia Ketchum told her son while he was finishing his meal.

"But mom, I wanted to do this alone." He complained.

"But nothing sweety." His mom said in a slightly stern way. "Can you cook, yet?"

That stopped him. He knew that he couldn't cook a meal in the out doors to save his life. All his efforts in that area were either burnt, or horrid tasting. So Brock would be a good companion. Not to mention that he knew a lot more about pokemon and the caring for them then he did. He just hated to admit that.

"OK, Mom." He began, taking a quick drink of milk. "I give."

"Good," She said with a smile as her Mr. Mime came in to collect the dishes. "Plus I would feel better and rest a lot easier if you had a friend or two with you. It is safer to travel in groups."

"I'll call him in the morning." Ash said.

He went up to his room followed by pikachu and clicked on his computer. Checking his Email he noticed that he had messages from May, Max, Professors Elm and Birch, and *Misty*. He froze. Almost automatically his hand moved to the one from Misty and clicked it, First thing he saw was a jpeg of Misty holding a small blue ball-like pokemon, a Marrell. He scrolled down to the message quickly.


Ash,
As you can see from the pic, azurill evolved. It was a shock to me. I was in the middle of a battle with a boy from some place called Eterna city in an area that is called Sinnoh and we were both down to our last pokemon. Azurill stumbled onto the field and the rules say that I have to use any pokemon that is on the field so I was ready to concede when azurill used bubble beam and then followed it up with a bubble attack that beat the boys pokemon. Then she evolved. I renamed her Cutie, because she is. I wanted you to be the first person I told this to, after Professor Oak of course. I mean, I needed to know how to care for her and since Tracy was there he told me. right after that I sent this and a pic to you. I would like to hear from you so please call me or email me.

Misty.

Ash felt his heart racing. He scrolled up to the pic again and looked at it, focusing more on Misty then the pokemon for once in his life. She was still wearing the same outfit that she seemed to favour when they had wandered the Kanto, Johto, and the Orange Islands. Blue Jean shorts with red suspenders and a yellow half t-shirt. The pic showed her face clearly and Ash could make out her sea blue-green eyes and that fiery red hair of hers. His mind drifted back to all the adventures they had had with Brock, Tracy, Todd. He remembered all the arguments that they seemed to get into, and the most wrenching moment of his life. The day that she had to leave to take over the gym while here sisters went on a world wide tour. He pulled out the gift that she gave him when they parted, a handkerchief and unfolded it to reveal a picture of her. Ash looked back and forth from one picture to the other until his friend jumped up on his desk and poked him in the shoulder.

"Huh, what's up little buddy?" He asked. perplexed at this behaviour.

"Pika....pi pi choo." it stated with exasperation pointing at a clock that showed it was now one O'clock in the morning.

"Damn it," he gasped, seeing the time.

He realized that he had gotten up to his room at about eight, and spent a little over four hours simply looking at pictures of Misty.

"Sorry, Pikachu." he said as he began to get ready for bed. "Your tired and here I am keeping you awake."

He folded the handkerchief over the picture before returning it to his pocket. Then fully dressed for bed, he reached over to switch off the computer, which still had Misty's picture on the screen. He paused for a moment, taking in her smile.

"Sweet dreams Misty," He whispered and switched off the computer before going to bed.


It was evening and Ash was sitting on the bank of a lake with Misty next to him watching a sunset. There was a small forest around them and they were alone. They both watched the sun go down behind distant tree lined hills turning the sky into a rainbow of reds and oranges as it set. He could feel a peace come over him that he had never felt before in his life. He looked over to his companion and saw her profile as she smiled shyly and seemed to drink in the whole scene. Her eyes were glued to the sunset and the breeze that blew tousled her short red hair just a bit. He lost track of how long he gazed at her.

"Thank you Ash," She seemed to breath out softly. "This is so beautiful."

"Yea, it is," He replied in soft tones that caused her to turn towards him and meet his gaze. "But not as beautiful as you are."

He heard a catch in her breath, and her sea coloured eyes seemed to soften a bit. She looked like she wanted to say something but could't.

"I know that we were meant to be together since we met that day when I took your bike to escape the flock of spearow." He began and placed his hand on top of hers. "I know that I have been a bit of a brat at times, but you never left my side because of it. We have been through a lot and I think that we have gotten closer then either of thought possible." He pulled out the handkerchief from his pocket, and held it in his open palm.

"You kept it?" She gasped looking first at the handkerchief then to Ash's chocolate brown eyes. Then her gaze turned puzzled when she seemed to notice that there was something inside the folded piece of cloth.

He slowly unfolded it to reveal a picture of her sealed in clear plastic sheets, and what seemed to be a small poke ball.

"I used to have a dream of being a pokemon Master." he said while looking into her eyes. "Now I have a new dream and there is only one person in the world to help me realize it." He continued and then pushed the button on the poke ball.

It popped open to reveal a ring that looked at if it were made of rope with bands of twisted gold and white gold in it. In the setting was a star sapphire shaped like a heart with two diamonds on either side of it. He watched as she looked at it for only the briefest of moments, gasping. He saw her eyes begin to fill with tears, yet a smile began to form on her lips. He reached out his hand to touch the side of her face and it felt as if he had touched soft warm velvet, then he slowly brought his face closer to hers. He could smell lavender that was in the soap she used, and saw her eyes close ever so slightly as she tilted her head. A single tear drifted down her face toward her chin and he felt her breath softly on his face just as their lips began to brush together...


"Ash, Breakfast is ready" His mother called through his door, and for the first time in his life he wanted to scream at her in anger. He didn't notice a small shimmering ball just outside his window, though Pikachu did, yet the little mouse pokemon saw nothing when it looked out the window but the sun peeking over the tree line.



Brock


Brock arrived at home just in time to stop his mother from turning the gym into a twin to the water gym at Cerulean city. It had taken him almost an hour to convince her that this city and gym would not be able to support the water types that she seemed to love so much. And now that she was gone, he wondered for the hundredth time how his rock pokemon loving father could have fallen for her. He wondered the gym looking at all the changes that she had made already and that would have to be undone. Then he saw Forrest, his younger brother who had taken on the task of Gym leader for him while he was with Ash.

"Is she gone?" Forrest asked with a roll of his eyes.

"Yea," The older one responded.

"That's not the way you should talk about your mother, Forrest." Their father said coming out of one room.

"I know Dad," Forrest replied, again rolling his eyes but facing Brock so their father could not see. "But look at what she did to the Gym." He indicated the rocky walls that had been painted the colours of the ocean. "It's going to take us weeks to get this place back in shape." Then he looked to his older brother and smiled wanly. "I guess that you want to take over now, Brock?"

"No, Forrest." Their dad said with a decisive tone. "Your older brother has his dream of being a pokemon breeder." He looked to a very surprised Brock. "He had to put that dream on hold when I turned chicken and left, But I won't allow that to happen again. You remain as the Leader of this Gym, Forrest, and let your brother chase after his dream."

"Besides, Forrest," Brock said after a shocked silence. "You're doing a great job as it is."

"I wasn't doing a great job to let our mother come here and do this to the Gym." he said with a twist of his mouth. "I wasn't even here."

"You were at the Badge makers home getting more Boulder Badges," their father interrupted them. "Like a real gym leader should do. Like your brother Brock has done many times."

"That's right Forrest." Brock stated with feeling, seeing his younger brother's spirits drop slightly. "Besides," he continued, "Your name is now registered at The Pokemon League as the Gym leader here, or the badge maker would never have given you those badges. And You got two of our Onixs to evolve to steelixs. Your a natural for this job."

Forrest beamed at that, and he gave them both a big smile.

"Thanks Brock, Dad." Then he turned to Brock, "How long are you going to be here for?"

"I don't know Bro." Brock said, putting his arm around the shoulder of his little brother. "I learned a lot while I was going with Ash, but I learned that there is a lot more that I need to know before I try to open a breeding salon."

"Why don't you go to that new salon that opened up across town?" Forrest meant that as more of a suggestion then a question. "It's run by somebody named Suzie." And the younger brother stood there, mouth dropping as Brock turned and started running up the stairs two at a time yelling that he would be back.



Misty

Misty fed her hungry marrell some of the Poke chow, and the occasional poke block while she looked through the window at the Cerulean city skyline. It had been a long time since she had come back and took over the gym and a lot of money had to be spent. She remembered when she got to the gym, and saw the disrepair that it was in. The filtration system had to be totally replaced, the pokemon needed to be checked out by the local Nurse Joy. Her sisters had almost ruined the gym because they couldn't control their impulses to shop for clothes and other things. Not to mention all the eating out and take out food that they had gotten instead of cooking their own. It had taken her three weeks of hard work after the PIA had declared the gym to be in competent hands to get it in shape to open.


That and the arrival of Sandy, her older cousin from Johto and Roxy, Sandy's younger sister. Her light chocolate brown skinned cousins had brought in a collection of the Johto water pokemon that she had caught and together they had opened the gym. Misty as the leader and Sandy as her top trainer and breeder. Then four other trainers joined and the gym started to hum along like it should have done, and never had. She heard the main doors open.

"Is it another trainer after a cascade badge, Sandy?" She called out coming to the main entry area, "If so, they have to come back tomorrow, cause we're closed..." She stopped and her expression turned from smiling to a frown. "What are you doing here?" She practically yelled.

There stood her three sisters, Daisy, Lily and Violet with a suitcase each and shocked looks on their faces. And behind them was a very stern looking Nurse Joy.

"Well, like, is that anyway to greet your sisters?" Daisy said, coming out of the shock first.

"Yea, like we just came back to take the gym back so you could get on with your life." Violet responded.

"Like I really love what you did with the place, Misty," Lily said looking around the place. "Hope you left some money for a quick shopping spree, cause like, we need some new outfits before we do any gym battles with anybody."

Misty advanced on her sisters with a scowl on her face and they backed away slightly.

"You expect me to give you the gym after you abandoned it to scurry all over the globe, instead of taking care of the pokemon?" She started raging. "You left this place in such a state that I had to spend weeks and almost twelve thousand dollars to get it back into shape. You blew money on shopping trips, restaurants and take-out and didn't think of the pokemon at all. There was algae growing in some of the tanks here, and the filtration system had to be completely replaced. Three of the tanks had to be overhauled because they leaked and Nurse Joy had to heal several of the pokemon because they were sick, and all you three could think about was shopping and a round-the-world trip. And now you come back and expect me to just hand over the gym and money that has to be used to pay the bills here so you could go shopping?"

"Well, like, little sister," Daisy began with a smirk. "You were only a substitute leader in the first place. The gym is, like, in our name so we say who is who here. I mean, like we are the Sensational Sisters and the real leaders of this gym."

"Not really," Said Nurse Joy from behind them, causing the three to spin around with a collective 'Huh?'

"What do you mean?" Lily advanced on the nurse with a scowl on her face. "We are like the registered gym leaders with the Pokemon League."

"The gym was officially transferred to Misty when she came back and showed that she was capable of running it right and caring for the pokemon." Nurse Joy began, scowling herself. "Two other PIA agents and I inspected this place and were ready to close it down before that. And as for your registration, it lapsed six months ago and you three are not even listed as official trainers with the Pokemon League. And furthermore, you won't be able to re-register, 'like', until you prove to the League and the PIA that you know how to care for pokemon in the first place."

Misty watched as Nurse Joy collected their cascade badges and Gym leader Ids and they left in a huff. She felt drained and told Sandy that and also to lock up for the night. Then she began to make her rounds to see that pokemon were fed and returned them to their poke balls. During this she was stopped by Katie and Marie, two of her junior trainers.

"You aren't thinking of leaving us are you?" Marie said with worry showing in her green eyes. "I know your bored here but if you leave, those three may have a chance to take the gym."

"My sisters won't cause any trouble, Kate." She said to reassure the Blue eyed girl. "And I didn't know that my boredom was that apparent." She responded to Marie.

"It's just, you know, like, all the trainers here noticed it." Came a quip from Sandy who came back from the entryway.

They all laughed at her flawless mimicry of Misty's sisters while Misty looked at the three. It was true, she admitted to herself, she was bored with the day to day routine. She missed the travelling, the excitement, and most of all she missed a certain brown eyed trainer with a mop of black hair that always seemed to scream for fixing. She never thought that she could miss somebody like that. She never missed her sisters, and her mother died when she was born, and her father soon after, so she never got to know them. She never knew anybody well enough to miss them, save Ash. Her mind flashed back on all that they had been through. The Battles, the squabbles, foiling Team Rocket at every turn they could. She could almost hear Ash saying something and her arguing back at him. She always meant to tell him that she really cared about him but was always afraid that he would either laugh, or just reject her. She knew she wasn't much. She wasn't pretty like her sisters, or wise and knowledgeable like that breeder Susie, so she hid her true feelings by picking on him and arguing with him to try to get him to notice her.

"If I do leave, I'll put Sandy in charge." She said finally. "She is the most capable trainer here for the job, and as you heard, my sisters have a lot to prove before they are even recognized as trainers, let alone Gym Leaders."

"Misty, I'm not good enough to be a leader." Sandy stated, fear tingeing her voice.

"Sandy, your more then good enough," Misty reassured her and put a hand on her shoulder. "You were the one who took on four trainers in one day and only one of them got through you to me and he failed to beat me. You have more in you then you know and it will show, if you give yourself a chance." She laughed. "I may leave to go on a journey or two, but I will always be back here because this is my home, this is where my heart is." She felt the lie of that statement even as she said it, but hid her feelings well enough to fool the others. Her heart was being carried around by a thirteen year old pokemon trainer, and the crazy thing was that trainer didn't even know it.

Misty sat in her room brushing her hair and thought back on the day. She remembered her fear when azurill stumbled onto the field with that trainer that managed to get through Sandy. She remembered her shock when the little girl did a bubble beam that knocked back a pikachu. And when she was going to call the pokemon back by her cute nickname, 'Bubbles', the azurill took that as an attack command and proceeded to knock-out the pikachu. Then her little 'Bubbles' evolved into a marrell and she changed it's name to Cutie, both because it was and so that another mistake like this would not happen again. And when the boy asked how a water type could possibly out battle an Electric type, her remark to that trainer came clearly to mind.

"You'll have a ways to go kid, with that pikachu before you can even begin to measure up to Ash."

That was so not like her, she thought, wincing at that thoughts resemblance to how her sisters sounded. And then, instead of calling her best friend across town to tell her the good news that her azurill evolved she fired off that Email to Ash. And she still had not told Florence the good news. She remembered watching Ash in his Hoenn competition and cheering every victory he got. She had burned the whole thing onto both tape and DVDs and still watched them over and over again. And she remembered the hurt she felt when she saw that girl and her brother in the same spot that she and Brock used to be in. She remembered the relief she felt when she met Ash and he didn't seem to have any real feeling for the girl. And she remembered Tracy telling her that Ash thought of May as a sister, and then gave her the little azurill.

Misty looked at the scrapbook she had on her computer desk and thought of all the articles about Ash that she had collected. What would that trainer from Pallet town think, if he knew that two thirds of that book was about him. She began to hum a tune while she continued to brush her hair.


Brock didn't even try to explain to his brother about his uncharacteristic departure from the gym. He had bolted clear across town to the Salon that was supposed to be run by Susie. When he had arrived at the shop he was informed that Susie was not present but had gone to a place called Sinnoh to learn more about different pokemon.

"With Zane, no doubt." He could not help but feel a bit dejected.

"Zane? No, she went by herself." The young lady informed him. "Susie and Zane parted company a while back."

"What happened?" he had inquired, feeling his heart give a leap at this news.

"And who are you, sir?" The girl inquired somewhat suspiciously.

"My name is Brock, I was the Pewter City Gym Leader a while back." he began. "And I was the one who Susie gave her vulpix to, to raise for a while."

"OH, Brock, I thought you had said Rock." She had gone on to explain that Zane had used a fire stone on vulpix without Susie's permission to get it to evolve so he could breed it with his Nine tails. She told Brock how she was so furious when he made a remark about her wanting to keep a cute but weak vulpix over an obviously more powerful pokemon.

Now he was home and looking up the Sinnoh region on his computer. He had told his family that he was going there as soon as he could, but he did not tell them the reason.


That night Misty dreamed.

It was evening and she was sitting on the bank of a lake with Ash next to her watching a sunset. There was a small forest around them and they were alone. They both watched the sun go down behind distant tree lined hills turning the sky into a rainbow of reds and oranges as it set. She could feel a peace come over her that she had never felt before in her life. She could feel him looking at her as she watched the sun set Her eyes were glued to the sunset she felt a breeze ruffle her short red hair just a bit.

"Thank you Ash," She said in a soft breathy tone. "This is so beautiful."

"Yea, it is," He had replied in soft tones that caused her to turn towards him and meet his gaze. "But not as beautiful as you are."

Her breath caught in her throat and she couldn't seem to talk. For the moment she lost herself in his brown eyes.

"I know that we were meant to be together since we met that day when I took your bike to escape the flock of spearow." He began and she felt a tingle as he put his hand on hers. "I know that I have been a bit of a brat at times, but you never left my side because of it. We have been through a lot and I think that we have gotten closer then either of us thought possible." She watched as he pulled out the handkerchief from his pocket, and held it in his open palm.

"You kept it?" She gasped recognizing the handkerchief as the gift she had given him when they had parted. Then she got puzzled when she noticed that there was something inside the folded piece of cloth.

She watched as he slowly unfolded it to reveal a picture of her sealed in clear plastic sheets, and what seemed to be a small poke ball.

"I used to have a dream of being a pokemon Master." he had said while he looked into her eyes. "Now I have a new dream and there is only one person in the world to help me realize it." He had continued and then pushed the button on the poke ball.

It popped open to reveal a ring that looked at if it were made of rope with bands of twisted gold and white gold in it. In the setting was a star sapphire shaped like a heart with two diamonds on either side of it. She looked at it for only the briefest of moments, gasping at it's beauty. She felt tears of joy begin to fill her eyes and looked into Ash's chocolate brown eyes and began to smile She felt an almost electric charge as he placed his hand on the side of her face and began to move closer to her. 'Oh if I am awake, don't let me sleep, and if this is a dream, I hope I'll never wake' she thought as she could begin to smell the fragrance of the plain soap that he used. She closed her eyes slightly and tilted her head, praying that this magic moment would not end. She felt a single tear drift down her face toward her chin and he felt his breath softly on her face just as their lips began to brush together...


Her alarm clock went off, and she threw it in a fit of rage into the wall, causing it to shatter. Then she noted a slight movement near her window, but she only saw the city of Cerulean when she checked.

An alternate universe anime fic? Those are my favorite!

This is looking to be interesting. I like how you're taking your time in setting up the story and getting the characters connected. It leaves time for references to older characters, like Todd and Suzie. It's also just really nice to spend time with all these characters, getting to know how they've changed in the years and how you're writing about them.

The only advice I can give right now is to keep your eye on typos. There weren't any huge ones, but there were a lot of small ones. Mostly comma placements. Proof-read your chapters before you post, or you can ask for a beta reader to check them over for you. It's a step that, if taken, would help make your chapters read better. For example, towards the end of chapter one, the chapters weren't as numerous, and I didn't stumble over an unnecessary or missing piece of punctuation.

Good luck, and I'm looking forward to more!