Chapter 1
She'd been in Trovita for a month before Misty began to seriously consider that she'd made a mistake accepting his offer.
At first, she'd put her initial uncertainty down to the simple fact that she and Rudy were each trying to find their way with the new arrangement, her staying in one place and him adapting to another female presence in his life, but the more time she spent there, the more she realized that this wasn't the life she wanted for herself.
On some level, she found herself missing the freedom of travelling and exploring that she'd enjoyed ever since she left Cerulean to make her own way. Even if… someone else… had always had final say in choosing their primary destination, she'd always had some input in how they got there, able to suggest detours or ask to stay somewhere for longer, but Trovita just wasn't big enough to engage her interests in the same way as constant travel.
She appreciated having her own room after so many months of camping out, and she wasn't complaining about having an actual bed to sleep in, but every day she got to know Rudy, the more she realized that she didn't have enough in common with him to make a relationship work.
Rudy was content with what he had and where he was, and while Misty appreciated that he knew his place, she didn't want to feel 'obligated' to stay put after she'd left Cerulean City to avoid that kind of forced responsibility. She'd still managed to explore the surrounding area since arriving at Trovita, and she'd even managed to capture a Poliwag during a visit to a neighboring island, but every time she'd left, Rudy's words made it sound more like he expected her to come back, rather than just looking forward to it.
As well as his unvoiced 'expectations' for their relationship, there was also Misty's private concerns about his training methods now that she'd seen them long-term. It wasn't that Rudy didn't care about his Pokemon, but she never got the impression that he really cared about them as individual Pokemon. While he spent time training them in dance techniques to improve his own fighting style, she'd never seen him send out a Pokemon just to talk with it, or leave them out once he'd completed the night's training.
She appreciated that every trainer had their styles, but she'd really come to appreciate the merits of having a fixed team that you could spend time with for reasons beyond just winning the next battle…
On a personal level, she was also growing concerned about the friendship she'd formed with Mahri. While Rudy's little sister was a nice enough girl, everything for her seemed to revolve around her brother and how 'cool' he was; even when she was spending time with Misty, Mahri was still talking about her brother. Misty knew that her strained relationship with her sisters wasn't normal for siblings, and she wasn't going to object to Rudy being a good brother, but she just wished that Mahri would show more interest in things that were just about Mahri herself, rather than every conversation she tried to have with the girl relating back to Rudy.
The thing that kept her at Trovita, however, was always the same; Ash had made his feelings clear in their last conversation.
OK, she acknowledged that she might have crossed a line in that last argument after Squirtle lost to Starmie when she said that getting Togepi and meeting Rudy were the only two good things that had ever come of their travels together, but he understood that she hadn't meant that seriously; they always exaggerated in their arguments. They'd always argued when they were travelling… and she knew she'd made more than a few disparaging comments about his abilities as a trainer when she was frustrated… but she'd always had faith in him in the end, and he had to know that.
But even after all that they'd been through, once he'd heard that she was staying with Rudy, he'd gone and left the island without even saying goodbye. Her last words had been an attempt to apologize by saying she'd be there to see his rematch with Rudy, but he hadn't even followed that up; he'd just left that night without another word, and she hadn't even seen Tracey before learning that they'd both gone.
Whatever Rudy's problems, at least he made it clear that he cared about her; Ash had just stormed off in a huff without even saying goodbye because he was in a bad mood.
If he could leave that easily, he wasn't worth it, Misty told herself each night.
Maybe she'd eventually believe it…
Besides, if she didn't completely approve of the way Rudy treated his Pokemon, she could help him realise that there was a better way, right? Part of any good relationship was helping the other person grow, and Rudy wasn't treating his Pokemon badly; he just needed to interact with them more.
Misty forced down the traitorous part of her mind that reminded her that Pokemon interaction was one thing Ash had never had any trouble with; he might have been good at being friends with his Pokemon, but he'd been so immature when it came to people…
It would be easier to get over him if Togepi didn't keep asking 'Toge Togeprii?' every few hours. It might sound the same as everything else her little egg said, but just like with her other Pokemon, Misty had picked up enough of Togepi's language to understand what it was saying, even if she'd never told anyone this bit.
Where's Daddy?
Misty had always had some ideas about how the egg Pokemon saw Ash, but she'd always tried to convince herself that it was just because it saw Pikachu as a brother rather than a specific attachment to Ash himself, even if that was apparently not the case now that it was asking for 'Daddy' rather than 'Brother Pikachu'. She'd pushed the questions aside by saying that Ash had just gone off to do something, but she wasn't sure how long that would last; Togepi might be a baby Pokemon, but it wasn't stupid.
Sighing in frustration, Misty sat up from her bed and stared out of the window, Togepi still resting silently beside her pillow.
Why was it so hard to get over missing Ash? Rudy might not be perfect, but Ash was an immature kid who made impulsive decisions and relied on luck more than training, and that was before she started thinking about all those times he got mad at her for stupid little things; she was better off with someone who actually knew what a girl wanted.
Who cared if her old travelling companion was also the most compassionate boy she'd ever encountered, willing to put himself at risk for people and Pokemon he'd never met against impossible odds, who treated his team as friends rather than tools, who wouldn't even give up on the Charizard that cost him the biggest match of his life at that point…
Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard her room's videophone ringing; while Rudy might have certain expectations of their relationship, he had still respected her request for privacy, which included her own number. Getting up from her bed, she walked over to the phone and pressed the 'Accept Call' option, surprised at the sight of the person on the other end of the line.
"Tracey?" she said, looking at her old friend in surprise.
"Misty…" Tracey began, looking awkwardly at the Water Pokemon trainer. "Ash is in hospital."
Chapter 2
Ash was in hospital.
The moment she heard that news, Misty felt like her blood had frozen.
It wasn't that Ash had never been in danger, but he'd always come through it safely enough; even when Charizard was being disobedient, he'd never done anything more serious than char Ash's clothing even if the flames were hot, and Ash had always been careful about not getting close enough to wild Pokemon to give them a chance to hurt him before he'd determined if they were safe…
"Hospital?" she repeated, hoping that she didn't sound as anxious as she felt; even if Ash had hurt her when he left, she didn't want him hurt like that.
"He's not actually ill- he suffered a close call with frostbite, but Charizard was able to keep him warm long enough to get him to a hospital-"
"Hold on a minute; Ash almost got frostbite and Charizard saved him?" Misty interjected, looking at the screen in shock, fear for Ash temporarily overridden by confusion. "What happened?"
"That's… a bit of a long story," Tracey said awkwardly. "You heard about all that weird weather out at Shamouti Island a couple of weeks ago, right?"
"Yeah…" Misty nodded uncertainly, remembering all the chaotic storms a fortnight ago; she hadn't heard much of the details as she'd been on another island in search of new Pokemon, and by the time she'd returned with Poliwag, everything had calmed down and nobody seemed to know what had happened. "Did Ash get caught in the storm?"
"Actually, he stopped it."
"He stopped a storm?" Misty repeated in confusion. "How could he do that?"
"Well… it's a bit confusing, but it started when we landed on Shamouti at the same time as they were starting this annual festival," Tracey explained. "Part of the Festival called for a Pokemon trainer to collect the three treasures of Fire, Lightning and Ice Island around Shamouti, as part of some old legend, but when Ash went to collect them, he ended up getting caught up in the plans of this Pokemon Collector who was trying to acquire three legendary Pokemon from each island."
"Legendary Pokemon?" Misty repeated curiously. "Who are we talking about here?"
"Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres."
"The Legendary Birds?" Misty yelled in shock. "Someone just wanted to… to collect them?"
"And that's not even the worst bit," Tracey continued grimly. "Apparently, he was after them because of a prophecy that stated that, if someone disrupted the harmony of the three Birds by trying to capture any of them, it would wake up the 'beast of the sea' in the form of the fourth Bird, Lugia, because he wanted to capture Lugia as well."
"That's… bad… but what does that have to do with the weather?"
"I'm not clear on how, but capturing the birds provoked some kind of territorial instinct that prompted them to try and take each other's territories, which also disrupted their own influence over the weather patterns," Tracey explained. "The only thing that could calm them were the three treasures Ash had been collecting for the ceremony and Lugia's song… and Ash was apparently the literal 'Chosen One' of the prophecy."
"Really?" Misty said, allowing herself a slight smile at the thought; even if Ash wasn't in great shape now, he'd at least had some interesting news beforehand. "He must have enjoyed that-"
"He didn't."
"Excuse me?" Misty said, not sure she'd heard Tracey correctly. "We're talking about Ash here; he got ridiculously excited when he won his first battle in the Indigo League, and you're telling me he didn't like learning that he's some 'Chosen One'?"
"When we first heard the full prophecy, he kept protesting that saving the world was too much for him even after he'd already recovered two of the orbs; even when I tried to assure him that I had faith in him, he didn't seem to want to accept it," Tracey explained. "Pikachu gave him a shock to get him moving, and some of his other Pokemon came out to express their own faith, he still seemed like he was just doing it because we wouldn't let him run away from it rather than because he felt he could actually pull it off. I wasn't there for most of it, but… actually, Team Rocket-"
"Team Rocket?" Misty cut in. "What were they doing there?"
"Helping him, actually; they apparently argued that they'd be out of a job if the world ended," Tracey replied with a slight smile. "He'd been trying to get to the third island on his own while Lugia kept the birds distracted, but it would have been slow going if Team Rocket hadn't salvaged a dingy and fitted it with a propeller to give him a boost… anyway, I spoke with them for a little bit after the birds had calmed down, and Jessie noted that Ash had been in a particularly grim mood during the whole experience."
"Why would they even care?" Misty asked, wondering what the world had come to if Jessie was expressing concern for Ash.
"She said something about how it's no fun trying to steal anything from someone who isn't trying to keep it, but I don't think that's it…" Tracey said, his smile faltering as he looked at her with a new intensity. "Actually, what did you say to him?"
"What did I- I haven't even spoken to Ash since you left-!"
"That's what I meant," Tracey said, his voice surprisingly cool as he looked at her. "He's changed ever since we left Trovita, and I only noticed it happen after he went down to the port after going off to see you, so what did you say to him?"
"He… didn't tell you?" Misty asked, trying not to think too much about what Tracey was implying; Ash had just stormed off in his usual childish huff and made a big thing out of a loss, it wasn't because of her…
"He barely spoke to me after we left apart from mentioning that you'd decided to stay and something about him only caring about his Pokemon…" Tracey shrugged awkwardly. "To be honest, after his initial outburst, I was almost afraid to ask him for more details. He spent most of the next day in silence, and then he just headed to the nearest island to start some very intense training, fighting some of the local Pokemon and then moving on. I tried to get him to stop, but he just kept on moving; when we found an island known for producing larger-than normal Pokemon, he went straight to it so that he could send Snorlax and Bulbasaur out against some very large Rhydon, as well as pitting Pikachu and Squirtle against some of the local giant Pidgeot."
"He's just… sending them out?" Misty asked, suddenly anxious about how far Ash might be pushing his team…
"He recalls them and runs the moment he thinks it might be too much, but the fact that he was looking for opportunities to train like that… it just seemed like he was pushing himself too hard even if he wouldn't put his Pokemon at risk," Tracey explained. "I mean, he even tried using Lapras for a few matches, and you know that Lapras has always seemed fine just carrying us."
"Yeah…" Misty said, grateful to hear that Ash didn't seem to have changed that much even if he was pushing himself. "And… Charizard?"
"He tried that a couple of times," Tracey admitted, his expression shifting to a more familiar awkwardness. "It… went as well as you'd expect."
"Right…" Misty said, going over the timeline in her head; she had definitely started living in Trovita only a fortnight before that storm, which meant Ash must have crammed a lot of training in between his departure and whatever happened on Shamouti for Tracey to be this concerned about it. "This was all before Shamouti? Why did he-?"
Her mind froze as she suddenly remembered her last 'conversation' with Ash, during which she'd mentioned that she'd initially believed that he and Squirtle would win his battle with Starmie, only to follow it up by saying that she guessed she had been wrong.
And then Ash asked if I meant he still wasn't a good trainer…
She could argue that she'd been looking for a way to make a cleaner break by using that argument to say that it was time for her to move on, but the thought that Ash had taken that comment and twisted it around to imagine that she still didn't think he was a good trainer…
She'd been harsh sometimes, but she'd never thought that he'd take it seriously enough to think that she meant that he was a bad trainer. He might not train the same way that she did, and his attitude could be a bit lax given how little time he'd spent genuinely training before the Indigo League, but she wouldn't want him to become the kind of trainer who only used his Pokemon to fight and train while leaving them stuck in their balls otherwise.
Oh Arceus, she thought, her mind going over everything she'd said to him in their last meeting with a new sense of anxiety.
Talking about how she had been wrong about the winner of that battle… revealing her decision to stay with Rudy… talking about how Togepi and Rudy were the only good things to come of travelling with him… basically treating him as though he was still the stupid kid who'd sent out a Caterpie against a Pidgeotto…
He'd never seemed to take her harsher comments that seriously ever since Team Rocket attacked them for the first time during that argument in Viridian Forest when he'd captured Pidgeotto… but could she really have made him think that now?
"How did he get frostbite?" she asked, trying to get back to the more immediate concern. "I mean, if Team Rocket had that boat-?"
"The three birds attacked Ice Island before Ash could get off, and he had to hitch a ride on Lugia to get away," Tracey explained. "I only saw it from a distance, but it looked like the collector tried to capture Lugia, and Lugia managed to destroy the collector's fortress at the same time as it was trapped by… something. Ash and Lugia both fell into the water, and with Marill the only water-type anyone there had to spare, it took us a while to find him; by the time he reached the shore, he was constantly shivering no matter how close Charizard stayed to him, and Charizard wasn't in great shape-"
"I'm sorry; he used Charizard in a frozen ocean in the middle of an all-out showdown between three legendary Pokemon?" Misty yelled, falling back into old habits as she tried not to think about how close to death Ash must have been. "Why didn't he use Squirtle or Lapras? They'd-"
"Both took a beating during an earlier attack from Zapdos when we were trying to get back to Shamouti after releasing Zapdos and Moltres; Charizard was the only Pokemon large enough to keep him afloat after Lugia was nearly captured," Tracey explained, before he smiled grimly. "The good news is that it looks like Charizard's calmed down; he actually seemed to be very protective of Ash when he got back to Shamouti, and he's actually been getting along with the rest of the team while they've been resting in the hospital garden."
"So… Charizard's listening to him?" Misty asked, grateful to hear at least one bit of good news; the circumstances of it were terrible, but after all the times Ash had tried to earn the respect of his potential powerhouse, at least it sounded like he'd achieved that goal.
"Well… I'm assuming it will, anyway; like I said, Ash has been in hospital since the storm ended."
"Hold on; he's still in hospital after frostbite?" Misty asked, suddenly struck with horrific visions of Ash having to have something amputated. "How bad was he?"
"Actually, he's over the worst of it; the doctors think Charizard and Pikachu were able to keep him warm enough to avoid the worst of any potential damage, and we got him to a hospital as soon as we could once the birds had stopped fighting," Tracey explained. "It was touch-and-go for the first few days- his mother and Professor Oak were by his side until he woke up-"
"His mother's there?"
The fact that Tracey hadn't mentioned Professor Oak earlier despite his initial enthusiasm about the chance to meet his hero said a great deal about how concerned he was about Ash, but the idea of Delia Ketchum coming all this way to see her son raised a few worrying ideas about just how Ash was doing.
"She came over in a helicopter with Professor Oak after they saw a news broadcast about the storm, and like I said, they've been here even since; Professor Oak hasn't even bothered to try and analyse the GS Ball until we can be sure Ash is over his… whatever this is."
"Whatever this is?" Misty repeated sceptically. "You said he was over the worst of it-"
"The physical injuries are pretty much healed; it's his mental state that has the doctors concerned," Tracey explained. "He responds when his Pokemon come to him, but most of the time he just sits in his bed ever since he woke up, responding to a few direct questions about his health and nothing else. Professor Ivy's tried to get that 'Brock' person you mentioned to come and talk to him, but… well…"
"You want me to try and talk to him?" Misty asked, unable to believe that she was hearing this. "Tracey, he left me behind-"
"And then went through a radical change of behavior that all seemed to be focused on trying to get over you," Tracey countered, his entire manner strangely grim as he looked at her. "Misty, just because I specialize in Pokemon doesn't mean that I don't pay attention when it comes to people; Ash has been pushing himself since he left Trovita because he's trying to stop himself thinking about a painful topic, and the only thing that's ever inspired this kind of emotional intensity from him is you."
Misty didn't even bother trying to awkwardly deny that; if Ash was in that kind of mood, she was going to do her best to get him out of it, no matter what she thought about Tracey's theory.
He might have left her behind, but that didn't mean she'd stopped caring about him; she just needed to make him realize that moping around about some stupid argument wasn't helping anyone…
"All right," she said, nodding at Tracey in grim acceptance. "Give me a day or two to sort things out here, and I'll be there as soon as I can."
She doubted she could do anything that Oak and his mother hadn't told Ash already, but she'd spent too long with him not to at least try and help him.
Alright guys.Watch for the remaining Chapters soon
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I'm sorry for that.Now I know.Thanks