Thundershock

Debts

Misty's head was spinning so fast she could hardly think straight. Ash had disappeared round the side of his house to get her 'surprise' and she was standing nervously next to Jesse and James. The blue-haired male gave her a friendly wink when he saw how nervous she was, and sighed wistfully.

"You know, Misty, Ash really does care a lot for you. He's just not sure how to show it."

She was surprised. "Thanks... I guess?" she replied hesitantly.

"And it's easy to see you care about him, too," he continued. "I can name more than one occasion where I witnessed it, and I was startled. You don't find that kind of loyalty very often."

"Maybe Pikachu's rubbing off on me." she joked.

Jesse grinned. "Maybe," she agreed. "That's one special Pikachu, after all."

Her mouth twisted into a grimace. "Don't I know it."

"Pikachu! Give me my hat back!"

Ash's voice followed the Pokemon as it weaved it's way through the crowd of people, heading towards Professor Oak's lab and where Misty stood with the former members of Team Rocket. Misty sighed - she should have known. Pikachu's habit seemed to be that if he was running from Ash, head straight to her. And vice versa.

"Pikachu!" she called sternly. "You know better!"

'Pi-ka-ka~'   it replied, tail twitching from to side to side as it dropped the hat at her feet.

"No," she snapped, picking it up. "Don't give me that. You return this, right now."

'Pi, Pikapichu...'  It took the hat in it's mouth, before turning around, trotting away back to it's Trainer.

Misty groaned, shaking her head in dismay. "I'm not sure who's worse - Pikachu or Ash," she muttered. "They're both hopeless."

James laughed. "Now, Misty, you know better than that."

"I know, I know." she sighed. "They might be headaches, the pair of them, but they're my headaches."

"Too right, Twerpette," Meowth agreed. "I don't know what James and Jess would do without me. I saved their hides way too many times. It's because of me that they're alive right now."

Jesse sniffed. "Oh, I'm sorry, Meowth," she snapped. "Forgive me for trying,"

"No arguing, you three!" Misty admonished. "Can't you save it for a later date?"

James sighed. "She has a point, you know. Hush."

Misty chuckled, spotting Pikachu making it's way towards her. The Pokemon kept bounding around, giggling and acting rather silly, so she knew something was up. It bumped into Iris, sending her toppling into Cilan's brother Chili with a cry of alarm. If there ever was an accident-prone Pokemon, it was Ash's Pikachu. Like Trainer, like Pokemon.

What happened next was completely by accident, but it tripped Leaf as it passed her, causing her to slip and fall. Gary lunged forward, catching her before she hit the ground. They stared at each other, wide-eyed and startled.

"Um... nice catch?" Leaf mumbled.

He laughed. "You know, Green, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were falling  for me." he joked.

She glared at him. "Gary?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up, will you? You're still a jerk."

Meowth cackled. "Dey are loveburds!"

Misty grabbed the Pokemon by the scruff. "I swear, Meowth, if I ever hear that line again, I'm going to skin you like a cat. I mean it."