DECISIONS AND ESCAPE

Part 8

Disclaimer: Nothing and nobody except Alex belong to me.

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Ash sat down next to Misty on the front porch, who had her face covered by her hands. Ash was unsure of what to expect, but

he didn't understand why Misty seemed so depressed. Pikachu went back inside and left Ash and Misty to sit in silence. Both

sat for what seemed like forever with nothing to say to one another.

"Misty, what's the matter?" asked Ash quietly

Misty looked up with a tear stained face. "It's all so confusing"

"I'm...I'm sorry. Is there anything that I can do?"

"Could you answer one question? and be totally honost with me."

"Ok"

"Do you still love me?"

"Of course I do. I've continued to love you since the day you left. I was foolish to let you go."

"Oh, it wasn't your fault. If I hadn't said anything about my bike, things would be fine."

Ash gave Misty a hug "It's ok, everything's fine now. Do you still love me?"

"I didn't at first when I left, but now I'm not so sure. Being back with you has brought back the way I felt years ago. I'm just

so confused now"

"It's ok. Since you're here with me, things will work themselves out. You can leave Team Rocket and start a new life here."

"But Ash, Team Rocket's my life now. If I stay, I'll eventually be caught. I can't hide in the shadows here forever."

"But if you stop stealing, people will forget about you."

"I just don't know."

"At least think about it. Please stay. But whatever you do, I'll still love you."

A blush creeped onto Misty's cheeks, and she gave a slight smile. She then stood up and wiped away her tears. Ash also stood

up, and they both walked into the house.

~A few days later~

Misty lay on the bed in the guest bedroom and stared at the ceiling. Soon, she turned her head and looked out the window at

the forest. Visions of Vaporeon and Alex came into her head. It was so hard to leave Ash, and it was getting harder every day.

"Why did Alex, Vaporeon, and I come to Pallet?" she asked herself. "Why did I join Team Rocket? Why did I leave Ash?

and...why is life so complicated?"

Misty sat up, then jumped off the bed and walked over to the open window. She put her hands on the edge and leaned out. She

closed her eyes and let her hair blow in the breeze. She took in the peacefulness of the moment, then walked away from the

window and sat back down on her bed.

"What am I going to do?" The words of the newspaper article ran through her head. She then pictured Alex and Vaporeon hurt

and behind bars. And she pictured Alex, Vaporeon and her in Team Rocket together. She also remembered Vaporeon on the

Seafoam islands when they first met. Then, a new scene came into her mind. It showed Vaporeon at the edge of Viridian forest

and calling her a traitor before running out of sight. "I guess I know what I have to do. I love Ash...at least I think I still do,

but I can't desert my team, my friends. And I never know, maybe I'll return. Who knows what the future holds."

~That night~

Misty packed up her bag. She then opened the door and peered into the dark hallway. Seeing nobody, she walked silently down

the hallway and stopped at Ash's door. She opened it and walked in, then placed a note on the dresser along with Ash's hat.

She stared at Ash sleeping for a moment, then leaned over and gave him a small kiss on the cheek before walking out. After

leaving the house, Misty stopped to look back for a moment, then broke into a fast run tward the forest. She walked through

the forest for awhile before stopping to sleep.

~The next morning~

Ash sat up in bed and stretched. He looked sleepily around his room. His gaze focused on his hat on the dresser along with a

note.

"She didn't..." Ash started. He jumped up out of bed, waking up Pikachu who was still sleeping at the foot of his bed.

"PIKA!" he yelled angrily. Then sent an electric bolt tward Ash.

"S..s..orry...Pi...Pikachu" Ash stuttered while struggling to get up from the floor. Satisfied, Pikachu curled back up and went to

sleep. Ash, half asleep/half toasted, walked over to his dresser and picked up the note beside his hat and read it:

Ash,

I'm so sorry, but I'm afraid I couldn't stay. As you might have guessed, I've gone to re-join Vaporeon and Alex in Team

Rocket. Thank you for keeping me safe these past few days, and for helping me overcome the hurt that hung in my heart from

years ago. I hope you will forgive me for leaving without telling you, but I felt it was the only way to avoid second thoughts.

You are a great trainer, and should continue to persue your dream of becoming a pokémon master. Hopefully our paths will

cross again. Goodbye for now.

Love, Misty

P.S: Tell Pikachu I said goodbye

Ash set the letter down and slumped to the floor. "Why did she need to leave? Alex and Vaporeon would've been fine without

her...why?" he asked sadly.

~Meanwhile, in Viridian Forest~

Misty opened her eyes, only to find herself face to face with a Metapod.

"Ahh!" Misty screeched, then smacked it away and pulled her sleeping bag over her head. After a few minutes, Misty crawled

out from the safety of her sleeping bag. The cool morning air nipped at Misty's legs, causing her to shiver slightly. She pulled

on a pair of jeans and a yellow T-shirt, threw her hair into a quick ponytail, and packed up. She was about to walk off, but

then realized something.

"Where am I?" Misty looked around, but only saw trees, trees, and more trees. "And I thought Ash was bad. At least he had

enough sense to carry a map"

Misty walked aimlessly through the forest, looking for some kind of stream or path, but with no luck. She walked around for

hours, then sat down on a familiar rock to rest. After awhile of thinking, she got up and walked around more without luck.

Soon, her stomach started to grumble. She looked up at the sun's position in the sky to see that it was past noon. She was

grateful for her thoughts to grab some food before leaving, then sat down for lunch [note: of course, she could just fly

Articuno out of the forest, but where's the fun in that? =)].

~Back in Pallet~

Ash sat on the front porch of his house looking glum. Pikachu had eventually given up hope of trying to make him cheer up, and

sat down next to him. Pikachu looked at Ash, who was staring off into space, then looked around for something to do. He spied

a newspaper on the grass and walked over to it and started to read. Suddenly he grabbed one of the pages and ran up to Ash,

then shoved the paper in his face.

"What's so special about this newspaper?"

"Pi pika pikachu pipi (It tells why Misty left)"

"What?" Ash then read the article about Vaporeon and Alex. "It all makes sense now! That's why she was so sad." He paused

for a minute, then turned to Pikachu "Should we go after her Pikachu? Or...should we let her go? after all, this is what she

wants."

~Viridian forest~

Soon the day turned into night and Misty was still wandering. Misty fell wearily to the ground. She was tired, hungry, and very

lost. She started to doze off, but then her eyes shot open.

"I remember reading about navigation by the stars somewhere. I think it's my best bet." she said to herself

Misty forced herself to stand, then searched the sky for the North star. When she found it, she proceded to walk through the

forest. After about 3 hours, Misty finally reached the edge of the forest and saw Viridian City. She went into the city, trying

to keep on her feet without falling. Not many people were out, and few places were open. She was about to enter a hotel, but

then saw the police station out of the corner of her eye.

"If I'm going to bust them out, it should be at night. And the sooner the better." she said silently to herself.

Misty ignored her body's need for rest and food, and walked to the police station. She managed to sneak in, but saw a Jenny

and Growlithe on patrol. She quickly ducked into a dark room. After her eyes adjusted, she looked around. The room was

fairly normal. It looked like an average office with file cabinets and a computer on a desk in the corner. She walked over to

the file cabinets. Misty opened the cabinet labeled 'A' in hopes to find information on Alex.

"Adam...Alan..." Misty read. "here it is! Alex." She then opened the file and flipped through it. She stopped to read a few

sections, and skimmed through some: "... He was accompanied by a Vaporeon ... was caught in Pallet ... tried to escape ... he

spent time in the Viridian hospital, but is now back in jail, but is still in weakened condition ... cell B12 ... Vaporeon in cell A27...

still searching for other partner ..." Misty then felt she had read enough and returned the file to its proper place. She looked

around the office in hopes to find keys or something and decided to try the desk. Relief surged through her body as she sat in

the desk chair, it was good to rest. She scanned the top of the desk. She spied a note on the desktop reading: "Jenny, please

lock up the office when you are done. -Jenny". "Oops" Misty said while smiling to herself. Seeing nothing of particular

importance, Misty opened the first desk drawer. It contained a large handcuff supply. The next drawer was another thing full

of files. The next drawer only had a megaphone. The thin drawer at the top of the desk had desk supplies (paper clips, sticky

notes, pens, etc.). Misty spun the chair around and faced the back wall and spotted what she was looking for. A wall of keys

lay before her. She reluctantly got up from the chair and walked over to the keys. She grabbed off the two labeled 'B12' and

'A27' and slipped back into the hallway. Nobody was present, so she walked cautiously down the hall until she came to a three

hallway split. She heard the click of high heels coming from the hallway labeled "Cell block B", so she ran into cell block A and

rounded the corner. She found herself in a hallway of cells. She had dodged so quickly into the hall, that she hadn't checked

for a Jenny. Luckily, nobody was there, and she was thankfull that the gaurd was let down at night. she walked along until she

found cell 'A27' and found Vaporeon asleep. She looked at poor Vaporeon that looked pretty badly beaten up, and was filled

with guilt and sadness. She slipped the key into the lock and opened the door.

"Vaporeon, wake up." Misty whispered quietly as she shook her lightly, so as not to hurt her.

"Vapor? Vapor-eon (Misty? you came back)"

"Yes, I'm sorry for deserting you and have come to free you and Alex. We'll talk later, but now we have to get Alex out of

jail."

"Vaporeon vapvap vapor. Vaporeon (You free Alex, I'll meet you in the main hall. Be quick)" Vaporeon smiled at Misty and

walked down the hallway with a small limp.

"Be careful"

Misty rounded the corner back to the three way split and listened. This time, the high heels sounded in Cell block C, so Misty

went to B. She quickly found Alex's cell. Alex looked equally as beaten up as Vaporeon, and was again feeling quite guilty. But

guilt could come later, she then opened the door and woke him up.

"Misty, I didn't think you'd come... Vaporeon-" started Alex who winced when he sat up.

"-is safe and going to meet us in the main hallway" finished Misty. "I'm so sorry for not coming sooner, but I'm afraid we'll

have to hurry right now. We haven't much time"

Alex nodded and the two rushed down the hallway [note: well, not much of a rush, considering Alex was badly hurt and Misty

was tired and was about to faint]. They rounded the corner back to the three way split. Unfortunatly, They bumped into

Jenny, who was just going to patrol cell block A.

"Uh oh" Misty and Alex said in unison.

"Stop right there!" yelled Jenny and Growlithe growled.

Both looked at each other and broke into a full speed run, using whatever energy they had. They found Vaporeon in the main

hall with Alex's backpack in her mouth. Vaporeon joined the run when she saw Jenny and Growlithe. The three made it to the

front door and Alex and Vaporeon burst outside and fell over in pain on the lawn. Misty however, had fainted before reaching

the door.

"Growlithe, flamethrower!" commanded Jenny [note: before seeing that Misty had already fainted]

Suddenly, a figure with a Pikachu at his side burst the door open and threw a pokeball.

"Wartortle! Water gun!"

Before the fire hit Misty, it was put out With the water. Now, Pikachu, thundershock!

After the small battle which left both the Growlithe and Jenny knocked out and toasted for the moment, The person recalled

his Wartortle and picked up Misty.

"I love you" he whispered in her ear as he carried her out of the door.

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To be continued...

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What did ya think. Please send me feedback. I'm in the midst of extreme writer's block, and need suggestions. Flames can now

be put out by Vaporeon, but she's weak, so go easy. =)

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