Disclaimer: Do the people who made pokèmon write FANfiction? 'Corse I don't own pokèmon!

A/N: Well here's the second chapter. It'll turn into an AAMRN I swear. It's so hard to NOT put a little AAMRN in everything 'cause they're so cute together ^_^ There will be a little more angst I think in later chaps.! REVIEW!!!!!!

~(Kasagi Onaso)~

It WaS

*Phone Calls*

It was a shining knife

She didn't want to think about it. It only made her brain hurt, not to mention her heart. She turned over, trying to keep the memories on the other side of the bed, where her back now faced. It was a knife in her heart; a knife in her mind.

It was an angry ocean

Tears like an ocean flooded from her face. That she remembered well. They left scars unknown to the human eye on her face. They were hot; like burning, fresh embers from a dying fire. And they streamed down her face like lithe river fairies, dancing from sand-polished stone to the next sand-polished stone. They left scars on her face, burn marks on her hands and a hole in her heart.

It was a raging storm

Her head pounded with blood, dark blood… It rocketed her mind like a storm, flashes of light like lightning and striking pains were thunder. Though she tried to nurse it with ice and soothing words, it would not stop. It clouded her mind, muffled her thoughts and muddied her dreams until they were mixed and matched and deformed.

It was a song of grief

It played over and over in her head like a song you can't forget or an important someone's number. She watched the tube, went for walks and hung out with friends but she could never take her mind off it. It played with her mind, tempting her to think of how things could have been, would have been, should have been…It itself lived as grief.

It was a soothing pain

It was calm and quite and yet it was loud and disturbing. It unnerved her feelings and sent them scattering. All she could feel was a dull, numbing pain. A pain that racked through her body each night. Made her wake each midnight in a sweat, teeth tightly clenched and fists compressed so tightly the knuckles were white. Yet it was calm enough to gently wash over her body like his caress.

It was a memory

No matter what medications there were, no matter what therapy she went through, there were the memories. The memories of happiness and love. Of young of new of calm of serenity…Which were now replaced with grief with hate with boredom with betrayal with such malevolence that she sometimes scared herself. But then there were the memories. Something she couldn't 'just drop'. They were like a broken souvenir from some out of state park.

It was knife.

It was ocean.

It was storm.

It was song.

It was pain.

It was memory.

But most of all, it was truth.

*****

Slap. The clock was knocked off the wooden dresser in one angry swipe and the annoying beeping stopped immediately.

"Wakey, wakey Misty!" said a turquoise-haired teen, poking her head in Misty's room.

"Of course it is," murmured the teen, slipping out from under the covers. She was medium at a height of five-six. She had long red hair which was swept back from her face into a ponytail and lifeless blue-green eyes that used to hold something. She slipped on some pants over her shorts and headed to the kitchen. "What the hell Duplica?" she yelled as she saw the time. "It's seven in the morning!"

"Coffee?" said the other, Duplica, sliding Misty a steaming cup of the dark liquid. Misty growled softly and accepted half-heartedly. "I'm sorry for waking you up so early," she said.

"On a four day weekend," murmured Misty, sipping the hot coffee. "Phew!" Coffee spattered the table. "You forgot the sugar," said Misty, sending Duplica a look. The other looked mildly intimidated and looked back.

"Sorry," said Duplica, shrugging. "I like mine strong. It's the taste that keeps me awake. But anyway, Lily called last night." Misty snorted and grabbed for the sugar.

"What about?"

"Someone broke into the Gym again." Sugar now joined the coffee as Misty's hand slipped.

"What? Again?" she said angrily. "They didn't take anything again, right?" Duplica shook her head and Misty dumped Irish Cream coffee mate into her drink, turning it a tan color. She sipped it. "That's better."

"And it seems that another Gym Leader was kidnapped as well."

"What? Another? Which one?"

"Erika of Celadon," said Duplica, shaking her head. "When she was watering her flowers." Misty grabbed a remote and flicked on the TV. "What are you doing?"

"Seeing if there's anything on about it on PRN," said Misty, her cerulean eyes scanning the television.

"Erika Hana was kidnapped last night at around ten-thirty," the news reporter was saying. "So far, the site has been thoroughly searched and no clues to the kidnapper has been found."

"She's the third one," said Duplica, her brown eyes blinking. "It's so weird."

"I'm worried about Daisy and them all," said Misty, crossing her legs and laying against the bars of the chair. "I mean, all these Gym Leaders are getting kidnapped and they're Gym Leaders…I just…I don't know." Duplica smiled sympathetically.

"I know. They'll be fine if they're anything like you." Misty laughed and took another drink of her coffee.

"I sure hope so." As the news went on to talk about the weather for the day, Duplica noticed that familiar look on her best friend's face.

"You had another hard night," she stated. Misty looked away sheepishly.

"I did not," she retorted but stopped when she saw the look Duplica gave her. "Is it really that obvious?" she asked timidly. Duplica sighed.

"I wish you'd tell me what happened. How much sleep?"

"Four hours," she said quietly. "I couldn't sleep at all."

"Misty!" exclaimed Duplica. "This is the third time this week! How are you supposed to keep up with school work when you only get four hours of sleep three out of seven days?" Misty shrugged and stared into her cup.

"I don't know," she whispered. Duplica leaned forward.

"Misty. What happened." Misty forced herself to look into Duplica's eyes.

"I…I never meant…" Misty swallowed and looked back down into the dark liquid that was turning cold quick. "He…"

"Who?"

"He…We were best friends," she stared, ignoring Duplica and staring off into space. "It wasn't supposed to happen like it did. I wasn't supposed to be fishing, I wasn't supposed to catch him and he wasn't supposed to give me an excuse to follow him. But I did. And I fell in love with him." Misty held back tears.

"And what happened?" pressured Duplica gently.

"I couldn't hold it in anymore," continued Misty. "I was fourteen. It was four years ago. I told him how I felt and he…he told me that he didn't know how he could love me. And we got into a fight and I left. I just…it was too embarrassing because even though I knew he didn't love me, I couldn't stop loving him…I loved him for three years, Duplica. And I don't know where he is…he hasn't written to me but once…"

"I'm sorry," her friend whispered, wrapping the sobbing teen in her arms. "Ash," she said suddenly and the redhead jerked. "That was his name, wasn't it." Misty nodded.

"Telephone!" called the via-phone, startling both of the girls.

"Who would be calling at this hour?" grumbled Misty and went to get the phone. "Hello?"

"Ah, Misty, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to reach you at the dorms," came the friendly voice of Professor Oak.

"Oh, hey Professor!" exclaimed Misty. "Long time no see. What's up?"

"I'm asking for your help, Misty. As you have heard, Gym Leaders have been disappearing. I think your sisters are next and I have gathered a few people to check it out. Will you and Duplica assist us?" Misty smiled and nodded.

"Uh, sure!" said Misty, thoughts swirling in her head. "When should we head to Pallet?"

"Today. Please be here by the afternoon. I plan to reacquaint you with your companions. Bye!"

"Reac-what? Professor?" But the Professor's image was gone. Misty stared at the phone for a moment before speaking.

"Well, what was it?"

"Pack up. We're heading to Pallet and we can't be late!"

Hey! The first part-aced! Well, you can pretty much guess who she'll meet down in Pallet (it's obvious when you REALLY think about it-careful! Don't hurt yourself). Things could get ugly for Misty. PLEASE REVIEW! Thank you!

~ Kasagi Onaso