Thundershock

Recollections

They all sat in a circle. Well, almost all of them. Just Ash and his traveling companions, really. And she wasn't quite sure if Team Rocket and Gary counted in the latter category. Misty sighed, toying with the bracelets around one wrist.

"Why was everyone so surprised earlier, Ash?" she asked.

He smiled sheepishly. "Mostly because I was a laughing idiot for half my travels. The girls had no idea I could understand romantic notions and I had intended to keep it that way."

"By the girls you mean May, Dawn, Iris and Serena, don't you?"

"Uh-huh. Cilan, Max, Clemont and Bonnie all just thought I was a bit impatient ... most of the time."

Max scoffed as he joined the conversation. "Until Jirachi that is."

"Jirachi?" Misty queried. She'd never heard of the Pokemon. Still, knowing Ash it would be a Legendary. It always was.

The younger boy sighed. "The Wishmaker. Ash was sitting next to me as I said goodbye to Jirachi, and he started talking about how he knew what it was like to lose a friend. I'd never seen him so quiet."

May pitched in. "When Max told me what Ash had said later, I was surprised. Usually people only feel that way about their rivals, best friends or first travel companions."

She chuckled. "I'm all three."

"So I found out. And when you joined us in Hoenn later, Ash just ... lit up. It was a whole different side to him. There was someone important to him with him again, and it showed. I'm still amazed by the difference in his battles. He had something to prove."

Max nodded. "I noticed he'd get all down and mopey. It was odd."

"No, I didn't!" Ash protested defensively.

"Ash, you'd go to sleep crying and hugging Pikachu like a life raft. You did," May pointed out.

Iris squirmed impatiently. "You didn't finish telling us the story of how you caught Dratini, Ash."

Bonnie squealed in delight. "Ooh! Can you, Ash? Can you, please?"

Ash sighed reluctantly. "Okay. Okay, I will. Where was I?"

"Finding Pikachu curled up next to Dratini," Iris informed him.

He flinched. "Right... that. It was like a slap to the face. And a Misty one, too."

"Was it that bad?" Serena asked.

A shudder passed through him. "I'd appreciate it if no-one interrupted. This is difficult. Please."

"Let him tell the story, will you?" Misty asked.

To her surprise, he shifted a bit closer to her, and laid his head on her shoulder. She could feel the tension pouring off him. He wasn't comfortable telling this story at all, and he was scared. Really scared. It was like they'd gotten lost in fog again, but this time she was the one anchoring him.

"I don't know why I did it, but I let Dratini decide if she wanted to come with us or not. She did - by then I'd completed all the Pokeballs - and she let herself in Misty's. Not anyone else's. Misty's. Just slid up to it and activated it with her nose."

"Smart Pokemon," Tracey mumbled.

"That's what I thought at the time. But other things started happening. I'd blank out in the middle of the road, forget my hat at the Pokemon Center, stuff like that. Catch myself whistling a tune I hadn't heard since Johto. I didn't think much of it, so I didn't mention it to Gary when he tagged along in Hoenn."