A/N: Well this was certainly a fast update! There's a lot of stuff going on in this chapter, and a new character. I've also realized there have been no Pokémon so far. Let's just pretend they're on their own vaca for the moment, I'll try to remember to address them later.
And let's say, just for future reference that Max is about 16. The rest of the character should therefore be in their very early 20's.
"I said I like Misty," Max restated with more confidence.
"But…but…you can't!" Ash stammered in disbelief.
"Why not?"
"Well I mean, you can like her of course, but c'mon Max. You're too young for her. A-All I'm saying is…I don't want you to get your hopes up for nothing."
At this, Max had to get defensive. How DARE Ash of all people talk to him about love when he couldn't sort out his own emotions for years?? That's right; he knew Ash had feelings for Misty too, so he couldn't help but use his own words against him, when they fit the situation so perfectly.
"Well, don't you think you're a little too young for her too? Yeah, don't get your hopes up either Ash. This is war!"
And with that, Max stormed off back to party, leaving a flabbergasted Ash behind on the cold, lumpy rock which they had been sitting on.
"Well...that was definitely a surprise," Ash said to himself.
And after a moment, he concluded, "I don't think I like surprises very much anymore."
Max was so busy huffing and puffing his way back to the party, he didn't even bother to excuse himself as he rammed into a group of people who had been chatting away.
Only with his luck did this group happen to consist of his sister May and her friend Dawn, as well as two boys they had met: Drew and Kenny.
May darted her head around to catch a glance at the rude person who had pushed them aside. Only seconds later did Dawn gasp and point her finger to a blue-haired boy with glasses who was shoving people right and left.
May scowled. "Jeez, wonder what's wrong with him."
Drew flipped his brilliant green hair back and gave May a knowing look.
"Boys will be boys," he said wisely.
May raised an eyebrow and then drifted her eyes to the left where she caught sight of Kenny and Dawn moving across the dance floor. Drew took the hint and politely asked her dance; May accepted.
At this point, Max was one again at the refreshment table. This time he glared at his sister and Dawn, envying their happiness.
"Look at them, all bubbly *scoff* they don't even know those guys! They only like them for their looks- that's all that matters to girls."
"Not to all girls," A delicate voice from behind said.
Max jumped and spun around. In front of him was a girl with very light brown hair that brushed slightly past her shoulders in waves. Her dark green eyes shined with determination and her tan skin gleamed in the moonlight.
"Oh, uh, sorry, I didn't know you where standing there," was all Max could think of to say.
The girl smiled apologetically. "No, it's not your fault. I shouldn't have scared you like that. My name is Clarissa by the way."
"Uh, Hi."
Once again, the brain-smart, book-worm, know-it-all boy, was rendered speechless by a pretty girl.
"And…your name is?"
"Oh! Max! Yeah, my name is Max," he said sheepishly.
"So Max, you think girls only care about looks?" She said, casting him a side-glance.
Max opened his mouth to retort, but like stated previously, he really was smarter than most boys his age.
"Well, not all girls," he said, remembering her statement.
"Really? Because I thought all boys cared about was looks."
"Not all boys," he said.
"I hope you're one of those boys that don't care," she said quietly before walking away.
Max watched her in amazement as she left, confused and yet happy that she had spoken to him.
It was only 10 minutes later that the music had stopped and the DJ, a large man with short black hair and shades, picked up the microphone for an announcement.
"Good evening everyone! I hope you've all been having a great time!"
Everyone cheered.
"Well, well *chuckle* as you might have guessed, it is now time for the grand finale!! Those of you new to the Fioritura celebration, may I present to you, the traditional Fioritura dancers!"
The crowd clapped respectfully, as four girls stepped onto the stage from behind to large, maroon curtains. Three of them looked to be about in their early twenties, including one with strikingly green hair. The fourth however, seemed younger, about Max's age, and her dark green eyes were piercing from behind the pink veil draped across her face.
The four dancers stood in four corners so as to form a square. Their right hand was held above their head, and the left swept across their stomach, gently resting on their right hip. In each of their hands was something that resembled a large purple petal, which was probably about half their height, which they enclosed themselves in to give the appearance of a bud.
The girls were wearing white, spandex type shorts that ended above their knees, covered by a light pink skirt that ended at their ankles. Their stomach was exposed by a half shirt that was also of the same color and material of their shorts that ended at their elbows. Their hair was pinned up in a pun with loose strays and of course the pink veil that wrapped around their face.
The spotlights danced across the stage as the music begin. It was a soft orchestral sound that appropriately reminded the audience of the spring, yet slightly seductive as the girls swayed their hips back and forth, moving the large petals in a graceful manner to make it seem as if they were blooming.
The dance went on for a while until the DJ stopped them once more.
"Alright then, that was great wasn't it? But how about we have someone from the audience join these lovely ladies on stage?"
"Any volunteers?" he asked, scanning the crowd, until he spotted Misty.
"You there! In the blue dress, how about giving it a try?"
"Oh no, that's ok. I'm sure someone else would love to--"
"Go on Misty! It looks like fun!" Kayden urged.
Before she could protest further, the youngest of the dancers pulled her up on stage and handed her the two purple petals.
Misty seemed a bit awkward at first, but soon got the moves down and even looked professional. She laughed and smiled with the crowd, enjoying herself, until her eyes landed on Ash.
His eyes met hers with a look of pure sadness. Just one look at him, and Misty's spirits spiraled downward. It wasn't until that moment that she realized what a horrible 'best friend' she had been to him lately. She could hardly recall their last conversation, and here she was, up on stage having a good time without him.
She slowly lowered her petals as the final song ended and the crowd burst into applause. Misty was still staring in Ash's direction, but the crowd had rushed past him, blocking him from her view.
"Ash," she whispered.
Kayden laughed joyfully as he helped Misty down, showering her with compliments. Brock and the rest of the gang, including Kenny and Drew, also congratulated her on a great performance. But Misty's mind had drifted off, and she let herself go on auto-pilot, smiling and thanking her friends without any real meaning in her voice.
"Wow Misty, seriously, you were so great!" Kayden said for about the 10th time.
The crickets chirped loudly in the background as he walked her back to the hotel. Misty could only mutter another thank you.
Kayden sighed.
They had finally reached the hotel and where at the front door when Kayden gently took Misty's hand and leaned down to give her a good-night kiss.
It was at this instance that she finally awoke from her dream-like state, and turned her head so that he kissed her cheek instead.
"What's wrong?" He asked, knowing full well the reason to her odd behavior.
"Nothing it's just…"
"You like someone else, right?"
Misty was shocked at his forwardness, and couldn't answer his question.
Kayden smiled sadly.
"It's ok Misty, I understand. Well, Goodnight."
Misty watched him leave until he was no longer in sight. Once he was gone, she leaned heavily on the wall adjacent to the doors. Sighing loudly, she let one hand linger on the handle, running the other through her hair in frustration.
"What's wrong with me? The old Misty would've pulled Ash on stage too. But I just let him stand there, I ignored him," she said to herself, unaware that from the downstairs window, a certain black-haired trainer had been carefully watching her the whole time.
It had been two days since the Fioritura dance, and Kayden hadn't been seen since. During his absence, Max had apparently decided to put the 'moves' on Misty. At least, this is what he had told Brock, to which he had responded with a very forced smile of encouragment.
He was busy picking flowers in a large meadow he had found near a park in town when he heard a familiar voice call, "Hey, it's Max, right?"
Max stopped his flower picking and came face-to-face with Clarissa, the pretty girl from the party.
"Yeah, and its Clarissa right?" he asked.
"Yeah," she laughed, enjoying their word game.
"So watcha doing over here by yourself?" she asked.
"I'm trying to impress a girl," he said, without a hint of shame.
"Oh!" She exclaimed, not realizing the girl was not in fact herself.
"What does she look like?"
"She has orange hair and really pretty blue eyes. You might have seen her at the party, one of the dancers pulled her up on stage."
Clarissa went wide-eyed. "Oh… I know her."
"So, did you just see her, think she was pretty, and decide to give her flowers?" she asked in an accusing tone.
"What? No, I told you I'm not like that, remember? Me and her travel with the same group of friends, I've known her for a while."
"…But don't you think you're too young for her?"
Max glared daggers.
"What—NO! Why does everyone keep saying that? And, and, why don't you mind your own business anyway?"
"I'm just saying--"
"Never mind. Nice seeing you again," he said, with a strong tone of sarcasm.
Max quickly left the meadow and bought some chocolates when he spotted Misty in the middle of street, looking at a pair of earrings with May and Dawn.
"Misty! May, Dawn!" He called.
The three girls waved back at their companion.
"What's with the flowers and chocolate?" Dawn asked.
"They're for Misty. Here you go Misty. I hope you like it," He said genuinely, completely unabashed to have given her the gift in front of his sister and friend.
May's jaw dropped and Dawn burst into a fit of giggles as Misty politely accepted the present.
"Oh, thank you Max. That's very thoughtful," she said slowly, unsure of how to handle the situation.
You've got to be kidding me. Max has a crush on me? What am I going to tell him?
Max took her reaction to be "speechless" and offered to buy the earrings she was looking at. Misty said it was alright, but Max bought them anyway.
The next two days were the same thing. Everywhere Misty went, Max was around one corner or another, giving her candy, bears and cards. She accepted each gift with a smile and a thank you, but cringed on the inside.
I can't 'lead him on' like this anymore. I just don't want to hurt his feelings!
She sighed sadly before taking another glance at Max. She was surprised to see him talking with a brown-haired girl who looked oddly familiar.
Letting her curiosity take the better of her, she sneaked her way to the back of pole and listening in on their conversation.
"Seriously, are you following me or something? First I saw you in the meadow, then the candy store, then in the toy and card store!"
"It's a small town! And how do I know you're not following me?"
"Clarissa, why would I follow you?"
"I could ask you the same thing Max."
Misty pulled away, deciding she had heard enough, for their bickering reminded her too much of herself and Ash.
Ash, she thought.
She had promised herself to spend more time with him, but so far wasn't doing too good.
Ash paced around his room impatiently waiting for Brock to finish his shower.
Eventually he heard the squeak of a turning knob, causing the water that had been rhythmically pounding the floor to come to a halt.
Ash waited another minute or two as Brock got dressed. When the door opened, he practically threw himself at Brock, exclaiming, "FINALLY! And I thought it took girls a long time to get ready!"
Brock rolled his eyes at his immature friend. "So do you want to talk about this or not?"
"Right, right, sorry about that Brock-o."
"Well…this would be the time to say something," Brock suggested, after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.
"Oh, yeah. Well it's just…you know how Max has been giving Misty all these gifts lately?"
"Yes," he said, dragging out his answer.
"Don't you dare say I'm jealous," Ash warned before continuing, "but I can't help thinking that Misty may actually…like Max, you know in that way."
Brock stared at his friend with a serious expression. Then his right eye twitched, followed by the left corner of his mouth, until he unleashed his thunderous laughter.
"Aw, c'mon Brock, it's not funny! I need your help here!" He exclaimed.
Brock wiped the tears from his eyes and let out a few more restrained bursts of laughter.
"Sorry Ash, it's just *snigger*Do you seriously think Misty has romantic feelings for Max?"
"Well, I don't want to think that. But she keeps taking all his gifts and smiling and spending time with him- I mean, what am I suppose to think?"
"Ash, she's just being nice to him; she doesn't want to hurt his feelings."
"Oh...I guess that makes sense."
"Why does it bother you so much anyway? If you don't mind me asking, seeing as you insist on not being jealous and all."
"Uh, thing is…you see…"
Suddenly, Ash seemed to become very intrigued by his shoes, his voice dying out completely.
"You were saying?" Brock insisted.
"Ok, Ilike Misty. There I said it."
"Is that all?"
"Huh? What do you mean 'Is that all?' What else did you expect?"
"I don't know. I just mean that you expected me to be surprised, but I already know you like her."
"B-But how?"
"It's pretty obvious Ash, especially when you got jealous about Kayden, which yes my friend, you were indeed: JEALOUS."
Ash growled at the mention of his name, but then sighed dejectedly.
"Does Misty know?"
"Know that you like her, or know that you got jealous?"
"Both."
"I don't think so, and that's for both of them. It seems that when it comes to your feelings for her, Misty's about as dense as you are with…well, everything."
Ash glared.
"Except Pokémon of course," He added.
"Of course," Ash agreed, flopping down on his bed in a depressing manner.
"Lighten up Ash. Are you really considering Max as some kind of competition?"
"Kind of," he admitted.
"Don't worry about him Ash. It's just a matter of time before Max gets tired of chasing after Misty without any result, or Misty gets the courage to reject him…There's also the possibility of a new poke gear device coming out, or the discovery of a new Pokémon fossil that would grab Max's attention away from Misty. You just have to be patient," he concluded, shrugging his shoulders.
Ash laughed at his friend's last remark, and thanked him for the talk. Brock nodded and sensibly left the room to leave Ash with his thoughts.
Max may not really be any competition, but it's time I show Misty I'm willing to fight for her anyway.
Hmm do I see a Max and OC pairing? Possibly, cast in your votes if you would care to review.
The second chapter didn't get a whole lot of feedback, I'm hoping people were just too lazy to review, but please do because now I'm wondering if it's even worth continuing this story.
On another note, yes, Ash is finally going to start taking some action. It seems he hasn't been in the story a whole lot. But that is going to change. I'm considering heavy fluff for the next installment :D