Ash or Satoshi Part One

This was supposed to be a one-shot, but it got kinda long so I made it into a two-shot! And I wrote this in April and only NOW got around to typing it, so I have no clue how accurate the pokemon are in relation to the Diamond and Pearl series. Course, I don't watch it, so why would I know the pokemon anyway? Hmm, well, that doesn't matter now. You reading and enjoying this fic does! So, get to it!

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon, but you don't either so HA!

Ages: Misty -17; Ash-17; Satoshi-17; Misty's sisters- older but not hags (like, duh!)

"Misty!" a blond girl yelled from her position of deciding which pair of earrings to wear. "Misty! I think another challenger is here!"

"Well then you should probably go battle them, Daisy" her red-headed sister rolled her eyes. Misty was busy feeding the pokemon in the big indoor pool. She giggled at the sight of Psyduck falling in the water and Dewgong fishing him back out.

"You dopey duck!" she chided softly. "Really, sometimes you remind me of Ash the way you're always doing stupid things!" Her smile became strained and eyes blank as Misty thought about her best friend.

By now he probably wasn't as silly and clumsy as he used to be. He would be seventeen, a few months younger than herself, and most likely a mature, kind, if not enthusiastic, pokemon trainer. "And even cuter too" she sighed wistfully. "At the Sinnoh Cup he was so confident and sure of his pokemon, always encouraging and congratulating them. Of course, what else should I expect? He had a huge heart as a kid, makes sense that it grew bigger over the years".

She looked down to discover an audience in the form of Dewgong, Corphish, Pysduck, Politoed, Seaking, Starmie, Staryu, Corsola, Kingler, Totadile, Gyrados, and newly evolved Seadra. Misty's already shaky smile faltered even more as she whispered, "Even with a heart so large, I doubt there is the smallest amount of room in it for me".

The water pokemon responded in outrage, saying that of course there was and if there wasn't their hearts more than belonged to her. Kingler, Totadile, and Corphish went on to say that their trainer could never ever forget his best human friend, they were sure. Misty's eyes watered at their sentiments.

"Thank you," she sniffed, rubbing away the tears hastily. "I know you're right, it's just, if he was my friend, wouldn't he visit me? After winning the Sinnoh Cup, he told everyone on T.V. that he was going home for a long rest. If he's here in Kanto, why hasn't he at least written or called? My last letter was sent a week ago, his came more than six months prior" tears threatened again, but now she angrily pushed them away.

"Well who cares? I'm Misty Waterflower, and I'm not going to cry over some boy who's probably forgotten all about me. I'll just forget about him! Hmpf! Some friend!" At her angry outburst the pokemon glanced at each other. All present knew that Misty could never forget Ash no matter what; even Misty herself knew that. She would never give up hope that someday her friend would come back and things could return to the way they used to be before her stupid sisters went on their cruise.

"Misty! MISTY!" Misty was knocked out of her daydreams by Daisy's call, now coming from the lobby. This just made her even more frustrated and she tried to let off some steam by dropping the pokechow box, stomping over to the pool room door, wrenching it open, and slamming it shut. Needless to say, it didn't help. Not when she saw Daisy leaning back in the chair behind the desk filling her nails when she was supposed to be getting ready to battle the challenger who had come. Misty marched over to the desk, arms crossed over her chest, and leaned back on one leg to give her sister a nasty look.

"What?" Misty spat out coldly. "Aren't you supposed to be battling right now?" her fiery red ponytail and wild bangs matched her feisty attitude and anger. Right now it mostly mirrored her anger. But heartbreak and annoying older sisters can really tick a girl off.

"I would" Daisy mused, not looking up from her task. "But Tracey promised me that he would take me out to brunch today, and he should be here any moment". A glance up reveled Misty was not swayed. The blond pouted and continued in a whiny tone, "Come on Misty! I, like, haven't seen him in forever!"

A chuckle escaped a figure who was leaning on the other side of the desk with his back to the girls. Misty Looked his way briefly before turning back to Daisy. She shouldn't have done that because a face like her sister wore now was one thing that broke her resolve.

"Sure, you only saw him, what, yesterday?" she said sarcastically. Daisy opened her mouth to retaliate but was cut off by Misty's sigh and hand wave. "But go, go. I know you'll only mope around and be an even bigger pain than usual if you don't".

The older girl squealed and gathered Misty into a tight hug.

"I love you too little sis!" she giggled. "Now, I like, gotta go get ready! Have fun with your little battle!" still laughing, Daisy raced upstairs into her room to finish primping for her date.

Misty sighed again, rubbing her temples slowly. "Alright, so, this is going to be a three on three battle, you win two out of three and you get a Cascade badge. Pick your pokemon well, you can't switch once you've chosen. This match will follow the guide lines of a league gym battle" she said in a rehearsed monotone. It got really boring saying the same thing over and over again. Usually the kid would respond with a "You're going down!" or "Fine, prepare for battle!". There was even a few "I'm not going to lose to some wimpy girl!". These were the people she most enjoyed introducing to Gryados's hyper beam and Seadra's hydro pump.

However, this voice just sounded amused. "Really? A three on three battle? Last time I was here it was two on two".

That voice! Misty whirled around and stared at her opponent and received the shock of her life. Black, messy hair framed a sharp, yet still somewhat boyish, face with large, laughing russet eyes. The teen, who looked to be around her age, was wearing a black vest, a cerulean blue tee-shirt, jeans, and black biker gloves. His smile was small but crinkles around his mouth showed a smirk was being held back.

"A-Ash?" Misty practically whimpered. It wasn't exactly him, but his demeanor and smile were very similar to her friend's. And the last time she had seen Ash, not on her small T.V., was a couple of years ago. So, could this be ...?

But the smile turned into a confused look. "Ash? No, sorry, my name is Satoshi".

"Oh" Misty's heart broke for the second time that day. Luckily, she had tons of practice with putting up a barricade to stop the sadness and wipe traces of disappointment off her face. "Sorry" her one was no longer depressed or dejected. Instead, it was business like. "Just another trainer" she thought. "Another trainer who looks a lot like Ash. You just probably think of him so much now that anyone who bares the slightest resemblance to him instantly looks like that boy. He's in Pallet Town now and in all likelihood still sleeping. This is a different person. A totally different hot person!" at this thought a blush streaked across her face, but was gone a second later. Misty had had much practice getting rid of blushes too.

"'S okay" Satoshi shrugged, smile returning to his face. Now there were little dimples that added to his cuteness.

"Ahem, yes, well" Misty brought back her gym leader persona and remembered his earlier remark. "We haven't had two on two battles for a couple of years now. I thought my sisters would battle more if they could use more pokemon and so have a better chance, but you can see that didn't work so well" Misty gestured back in the direction Daisy had gone.

Satoshi laughed, and said, "Yeah, I heard your sisters weren't too into battling. I came prepared to face the tough gym leader here " he looked at her with a twinkle in his eye.

"Darn you face!" Misty thought as it turned red again. It didn't, however, prevent her from grinning back and saying, "Well then I hope you also came prepared to lose!"

Another laugh. "Nope! I'm here to win! Whether it's two on two or three on three!"

The two made their way back into the pool area. Misty asked her companion on the way, "If you've already been here before, why did you come back? Did you lose last time?" she teased.

"No, well, I guess you could say I won" he looked around. They were in the battle arena now and the pokemon were playing in the pool. They cleared out, though, when the two came in. It was battling time and they knew it. "But I'm back in Kanto to compete in the pokemon league again. That means I need gym badges".

Misty frowned, he had been here before? It must have been prior to when she was leader because she wouldn't forget his face easily.

"If you were here before you must have battled Daisy because I don't remember you. In which case, I'm not surprised you won" Misty pointed to a white box at the opposite end of the pool. "There's your battle box, the battle will start shortly".

"Alright" Satoshi agreed and began walking. Once there, he called back, "And I didn't battle Daisy, I battled a different cerulean sister. I battled the prettiest one".

"Hmm, so he battled Lilly or Violet. Oh well, those two are worse than Daisy" she shrugged, trying to ignore the sting of not being the prettiest sister.

"Either way I'm much better than any of my sisters" was Misty's confident reply.

"I know" came Satoshi's voice. "I've seen you battle before" she could barely make out the grin from where she was standing that was on his face.

"He, he's seen me battle?" she whispered, heart pumping even faster. "He's seen me battle, he's been here before, he's the exact look a like of – no!" Misty shook her head to clear it. "No! He said he's not Ash! You're just so desperate for him to come Misty you've started making untrue conjectures! Just forget about him!"

"You okay?" Satoshi sounded concerned.

The gym leader smiled and said easily, "Yeah, just a little headache. You wouldn't believe how much paper work comes with running a gym!"

"Sounds boring" he chuckled sympathetically.

"Extremely!" Misty groaned, then smiled. In a lighter tone, she went on, "But battles make some of it worth the effort! Choose your first pokemon Satoshi-boy!"

"Satoshi-boy!?" she grimaced in her head. "I only call Ash Ashy-boy. What's wrong with me today?"

"Okay! Go, Staravia!" he shouted.

"Totadile!" Misty shouted. The small alligator was sent flying by Turtwig's solar beam. It was about to crash down painfully into the water, which wouldn't usually be a problem, except for the fact it was unconscious and could drown. She didn't think anymore but started running across the platforms. Misty judged the distance and where Totadile would fall before taking a flying leap off a final platform and reached out to catch the spiraling pokemon. Her arms closed around Totadile just as girl and pokemon splashed into the water. Instinct made her legs kick as soon as contact with the water was made. Because of this, the two soon resurfaced. Misty opened her eyes and was surprised with that met her gaze. Satoshi was right in front of her, a worried expression upon his face.

"Are you okay? I shouldn't have had Turtwig use that much power. Is Totadile okay? I'm so sorry!" his voice sounded guilty and a little unsure.

"I'm fine" Misty said reassuringly. "Don't blame yourself and Turtwig, Totadile and I have been in situations like this before. Not that he gets hurt this much each time" she quickly followed up with. It wasn't like she was a bad trainer or anything! "That was quite a solar beam, you must have trained Turtwig well!"

"Um, yeah, I guess" Satoshi admitted bashfully as he took Totadile from Misty so she could get out. She pulled herself up and out, shaking her hair in the process. Satoshi cradled Totadile in his arms and looked back at the gym leader. Misty tried wringing out the bottom part of her tank top but decided it was useless. She was soaked. Satoshi saw her disgruntled expression as she looked down at her wet apparel and suggested: "I'll stay here with the pokemon if you want to go change".

Misty glanced up surprised. "Oh, sure. I'll get a super portion for Totadile first though".

"Good idea" the boy agreed and they hopped back to the deck. Misty went over to a closet on the opposite end and brought back the medicine. She turned and before a protest could leave her lips Satoshi plucked it from her fingers and went to sit in the stands to care for Totadile. He was very gentle with the little pokemon and a caring, happy aura surrounded him as he worked. Misty smiled, he was so good with pokemon. How come she always met people like this? He was going to leave too though, just like – but she wouldn't allow her mind to go farther. Her shoes squished with water as Misty started back to the other end of the gym where her room was.

Misty returned to the pool clothed in a pair of small jean shorts, a navy blue t-shirt, and in a moment of weakness, Ash's old blue and white vest. She had acquired it on a visit to Mrs. Ketchum's. It had started raining when she was about to leave so Delia insisted she borrow a hat and jacket and return them later. The clothes she had received turned out to be Ash's Kanto attire, much to her joy and embarrassment. By the look in Delia's eyes, Misty figured Ash's mom knew exactly what she was doing and what these things meant to the girl. For some reason, Mrs. Ketchum had never asked for them back so Misty never mentioned it. Today she needed some comfort and this jacket was as close to Ash as she could get. His scent still lingered on it and Misty buried her head in the collar for a while.

Hugging her arms around her slim waist so the material embraced her curves, Misty walked over to where her guest was kneeling amid a group of pokemon by the pool''s edge. He had been whispering quietly to them but stopped when he caught sight of her. His eyes widened in shock and his mouth dropped open at her appearance.

"What?" she demanded defensively. "I like this jacket, it used to be my friend's!"

Satoshi closed his mouth and grinned even more broadly than before. "It wasn't that. You're just so quiet I didn't hear you and so seeing you right behind me gave me a little start. And I think it looks cute on you" he added with a wink.

"Hmp, you're a sweet talker" Misty knelt down by him and scratched a now revived Totadile on the head. The pokemon danced in place and she laughed at him. "Feeling better Totadile?" she giggled. In response the alligator gave off a 'Tota-DILE!' and leaped into her arms. She laughed even harder and hugged him close. "I'll take that as a yes!"

Satoshi watched the girl and pokemon in contentment and some sadness. "And I'll take that as a compliment" he said.

"Good" she grinned at him over Totadile's head.

Satoshi looked down at the small Corsola that was nudging his knee. "Are all of these pokemon yours?" he asked, running a hand over its rough, bubble gum pink spikes.

"I wish" Misty sighed. "Corsola, Politoad, Gyrados, Seaking, Psyduck, Seadra, Staryu, and Starmie are mine. I also have a Luvdisc and Azurill, but they're with my other sisters Lilly and Violet preparing for their first water show" she explained.

"Wow" he said impressed. "That's a lot of water pokemon".

"Not as many as I would like though" Misty said glumly. "As a gym leader, I can't travel like I used to and catch more".

"Why not leave your sisters in charge?" Satoshi queried.

She snorted. "If I did, every rookie would have a Cascade badge and Cerulean City would shun its own gym".

"So you battle everyone who comes through here?" he asked amazed.

"Pretty much" Misty nodded in affirmation. Satoshi whistled appreciatively.

"No wonder they all look so strong and well cared for" he complimented.

"Thanks" Misty blushed again.

"Mmm" was the reply. Then, "So who do these other pokemon belong to?"

"Dewgong is my sisters'," Misty looked to the sea lion in the pool. "They also have a bunch of Goldeen and Seaking as well as a few Shellder, but they're in the tanks downstairs". She turned back to the group surrounding them and smiled down at Totadile, who was still in her arms. "This little fellow, Kingler, and Corphish all belong to my good friend. The same one whose jacket I'm wearing actually. He's away traveling and Professor Oak would usually keep his pokemon, but they needed a big pool and some time battling so I offered to take them".

"That's nice of you" Satoshi told her. "Your friend is really lucky".

"Mhmm, he doesn't know actually" she admitted. "I sent him a letter quite some time ago to see if it was okay, but I didn't get a reply back. His pokemon were really bored, however, so I brought them here anyway".

"I doubt he would mind. You've obviously put much of your time and effort into these pokemon. They seem very grateful" Satoshi examined Corphish up close. The lobster pokemon was very relaxed at the stranger's examination.

"It still would have been nice to hear from him" Misty whispered. She didn't think Satoshi would had heard, but he did.

"Maybe the letters got lost in the mail" he offered.

"Maybe" perhaps there was hope...

"If not, he's a jerk for being so good of a friend and not writing back" Satoshi told her seriously.

"He's not a jerk!" Misty flared up. "He was just in the Sinnoh league, so he was probably busy training! Or like you said, they got lost in the mail! Ash might be annoying and forgetful sometimes but he's not a jerk!" Misty finished angrily.

"Alright, sorry!" Satoshi waved his hands in front of his face. "I just can't imagine why someone who has such a great friend wouldn't write back is all!"

Slightly pacified by his compliment she relaxed and let go of Totadile who she had been unconsciously squeezing while she was frustrated. "Sorry I blew up at you, I guess I miss him more than I thought". She already knew that she missed him terribly, but Misty wasn't one to let strangers see all her emotions. Even one who was so friendly and seemed so familiar.

Satoshi gazed at Misty who was in turn being comforted by the pokemon. He watched her for a while more with a look of longing and devotion on his face before saying, "Why don't I make it up to you and take you to lunch?"

Misty was filled with mixed emotions. This guy was really nice, not to mention cute, and she enjoyed talking with him. She wanted to hear about his other pokemon and how he had gotten so good. But by going to lunch, it was like she was denying that she had feelings for Ash. Which she did. A lot of feelings in fact. After a few moments of inner struggle, Misty decided that this lunch thing was just her making a new friend, and wouldn't change how she felt about Ash.

"Okay" Misty assented. "Would you like your badge first though?"

Satoshi rubbed the back of his head with one hand. "Hehe, yes please. I almost forgot about that, thanks!"

After a slight flicker of sadness at the familiar action Satoshi did, Misty got up and walked out towards the lobby. Satoshi got up too, and with a quick good bye to the pokemon, followed Misty to the door. Before exiting, however, the redhead flipped a switch on the wall and some music came on. The boy gave her a questioning look.

"The pokemon like to have music on when someone's not around to keep them company" Misty explained. "I got the idea from Rudy, the gym leader from Trovita".

Satoshi's face darkened and he gave a gruff "oh" before leaving the pool room.

Misty frowned and asked him, "Do you know Rudy?"

"Yes, and I don't like him" Satoshi scowled.

Misty laughed which only made Satoshi's frown deepen. "What?" he growled.

"Nothing," she stifled her giggle. "My friend Ash didn't really care for him either. And you looked so serious!"

"I think I like your friend Ash a lot better now" Satoshi contemplated.

"You and he are very similar" Misty acknowledged.

"Really? How?" he asked interested.

"Well," Misty pretended to ponder long and hard. "You both know me ..."

"Wow, how ever did you think of that one?" Satoshi rolled his eyes.

Misty laughed and went on with a serious expression. "Okay, well, you both don't care for Rudy, you both train pokemon extremely well, both of you travel, you already know that the two of you look somewhat alike, and if I'm not mistaken you share the dream of becoming pokemon masters" Misty told him.

"Well thank you, yes I do travel a lot, and doesn't every trainer dream of being a pokemon master?" he teased her. By now they were in front of the desk and Misty was rummaging around in one of the drawers, looking for a badge.

"I want to be a water pokemon master" Misty said. "But I'm still a trainer".

"Same same" Satoshi waved her comment away.

"I guess so- hey! I found one!" she stated brightly.

Misty's hand withdrew from the drawer with a small blue teardrop shaped badge. "Here you are, the cascade badge!"

"Thanks!" he matched her tone and took it from her. After staring down at it for a few seconds he looked up again with a laugh and said, "I'm resisting the urge right now to say, 'Alright! I got a cascade badge!'"

They both chuckled at that for a while until Satoshi took out a silver chain from around his neck. Misty was surprised to see another cascade badge already on it, and it was soon joined by the new one. Seeing her stare, Satoshi merely winked and dropped the necklace back under his shirt. Since he offered no explanation she didn't want to be nosy and ask about it.

"Now, let's go eat!" he said enthusiastically and was accompanied by the rumble of his stomach. Misty rolled her eyes at this. "What?" Satoshi asked defensively.

"Are all guys obsessed with food?" she sighed.

"Yes" he replied stoically but couldn't help joining in her laughter as they made their way into town.

"But I felt so bad! All he had with him was a Pidgey and a Charmander! I don't know how he got past Pewter City, but anyways that was all he had! Of course the Charmander went down no problem with one water gun from my Staryu and the Pidgey only took a little more work. He was a goner from the start; the whole thing only lasted a minute. At the end he looked like he was going to cry!" Misty laughed a little. They had finished eating and were just talking now. Over their meal Misty and Satoshi had talked about their different pokemon, different gym leaders, and now they were talking about battles.

"How did you get so good if your challengers were all rookies?" he taunted.

"I wasn't always a gym leader as you know" Misty settled back into her seat. "From when I was eleven to fifteen I traveled through Kanto, the Orange Islands, Johto, and the Whirl Islands".

"With Ash and Brock, right?" Satoshi added.

Misty nodded. "Of course, those two are my best friends. Though it was mostly Ash's journey I got to catch, train, and battle as well".

"You don't regret that you didn't get to go on your own journey to become a water master?" he inquired.

Misty bit her lip and thought for a while. "No, I wouldn't trade the experience I had for anything. I would have traveled alone, but thanks to Ash and Brock, I never had to. We always had fun even if we did get lost all the time" she smiled as memories came back. "I had fun cheering Ash on, helping him train, and pulling him out of trouble".

"Sounds like a blast" Satoshi commented.

His companion grinned. "It was" she said readily. "But I guess that's over now, at least I have the memories".

Satoshi shot her a confused look. "Why is it over?" he asked. "You're not that old are you? If you are then you look really great!"

Misty laughed again and told him, "No, I'm only seventeen, but thanks! And I'm a gym leader; I can't just leave my gym!"

"Teach Daisy how to battle" he suggested, twirling his straw inside an empty glass.

"You make it sound so easy!" she groaned. "Maybe, but it would take a while. And I wouldn't really like to travel alone either". "I would rather travel with Ash" she finished in her mind.

"I guess you're right, just don't put your dreams completely on hold. You never know what's important until it's gone".

Misty glanced up from her plate to his eyes. His tone was serious, and regretful? Then she saw his face, a frown drawing his lips down and sadness etched in every line. But his eyes, they held a loneliness so awful she wanted to reach over and give him a hug. Inside the sad, there seemed to be a tiny bit of hope as well.

"I know what you mean" her voice was low and just as serious. "I thought I was miserable when I first had to leave my friends, but the pain has just grown; I can't stop missing them! Especially Ash, because I love him so much" she added at the end in a barely audible tone. She thought Satoshi couldn't hear, but he did. And he smiled, relieved and hopeful.

"Misty-" he started in a low, excited voice.

Just a day just an ordinary day, Misty's cellphone started to ring.

"Oh! Sorry!" she broke out of her reverie and quickly answered it. "Hello? Violet, what is it? Well of course I'm annoyed! You interrupted my lunch! No it is not! No, we're just friends!" her voice got soft and her face flushed, "What? Oh- of course I didn't forget! I just thought it was rude to decline! Yes I'm coming. Fine, I will. Bye" Misty closed the phone and sighed.

"Well, sorry for spilling out my life story to you, I usually don't do that with strangers" she said ruefully as she got up and pushed in her chair.

"Well, I'm not exactly a stranger am I? I mean, I just kicked your butt in our battle, so I guess I'm your superior" Satoshi grinned wickedly.

"What?!" she shouted, outraged. "And here I was thinking you were nice and-" Misty caught sight of his expression and let off an angered huff. "If I didn't have to leave right now I would kick your face in, as it is, I'll just settle for this" with that she reached over and slapped him on the arm.

"Hey! I was just kidding!" Satoshi growled playfully.

"Since you're such a gentleman, I'll let you pick up the bill!" Misty stuck her nose in the air and waltz out.

He watched her go out the door and back to the gym before chuckling quietly to himself.

"Same ol' Mist" he sighed happily. He frowned slightly and said, "But I didn't tell her. Hold on" his eye caught sight of a sign on the opposite table. It was about the new water show the cerulean sisters were preforming. An under the sea story of a mermaid princess who is waiting for her prince to return home from war. An idea popped into the young man's head and he grinned broadly.

"The return of the Misty mermaid" his voice was low and had a slight under current of amusement to it. A waitress brought over the bill; a minute later saw Satoshi groaning and leaning back in his chair, one arm covering his eyes.

"Yep, same old Misty".