Episode 1, Angie's Goodbye

Second version of a little story about Angie having to say goodbye to Ash after he has become Sinnoh Champion. Layout has been improved now with speech separated from narrative parts. This story was the first in what was soon to become a series of fictional episodes. Involves some MorpheusShipping (Ash and Angie liking each other) so if you don't like that idea, stop reading here. The rest, I hope you enjoy this fan-fiction.

"This should have been a happy day." Angie thought. "I mean, Ash had beaten the Elite four and Cynthia, and was now the new Sinnoh Champion!"

But deep inside, Angie felt rather sad. Sure, she had cheered for Ash during all his fights, and after the final blow, when his Pikachu knocked out Cynthia's last Pokemon with a devastating Volt Tackle, she had cried tears of joy. She even got close enough to give him a quick kiss on the cheek to congratulate him, but before she could say something to him, other fans surrounded Ash, pushed her aside, and took him on their shoulders, to celebrate his championship. Angie was left with mixed emotions, she was off course glad for Ash that he won, but also realized that he would probably soon leave, to go to another region, and continue his quest to become the best Pokemon Master. If only she could be with him a bit longer, and make him realize what she had felt for him since they first met at summer camp, and he saved her life two times.

"Actually he saved my life three times" she thought.

Apart from taking over the family business, the daycare center of her parents, she had no big plans for her future. But this changed after she met Ash. He had this strange energy around him, invigorating and encouraging everything around him. His Pokemon, his friends, other trainers, and her.

"Does he know that I care so much about him?" she wondered.

He may be the cutest boy she ever met, he was also quite blind to noticing why she wanted to be as close a possible to him.

"Could this mean that he doesn't like me enough to be more than friends?" was a thought that kept flashing through her mind, and made her feel more sad than happy now. "He did say that they were good friends when they said goodbye at the closing of summer camp."

At that moment she was hoping he would have said "we are more than good friends" but that disappointment soon disappeared when he promised to come visit her soon. When she was home again, every day after she got out off bed and got dressed, she would run outside, and stare along the road Ash would have to travel to reach her place, hoping to catch a glimpse of his special cap. He did not say when he would come, but he did promise her, and she believed him. During their stay at summer camp, she had quickly learned that Ash was very sincere when he said something. When he said he would not let go, that time she was almost sucked into the Spirit World by that ghost, she could read in his eyes that he meant it with every fiber in his body. Even though she was so scared at that moment, at the same time she had felt quite safe, with her hand in his hand.

"He will show up one day!" she almost shouted inside her head. "He promised me, and this boy keeps his promises."

But even as she knew deep in her heart she would see Ash again, the waiting became more difficult everyday. Her parents had asked her quite a few times what was wrong. Finally she could not keep it inside any more. She first confided in her mother and told her about that nice boy she met at summer camp.

"I miss him so, mum," she cried while her mother held her lovingly.

"He must be very special," she said to Angie in her most reassuring voice. "If he really is that special, you will see him again."

And it was as if Ash had somehow felt that the waiting was getting almost unbearable for her, since two days later, Angie heard a voice in the distance, calling her name.

"Could it be? "she thought, while momentarily holding her breath.

She looked out over the road, like she had done countless times since she came home again, and saw a waving arm in the distance. She put her hand above her eyes, to see more clearly who it was.

"It did sound like Ash," she thought, but the person in the distance was still to far away to be sure.

Impatient to wait till she could see more, she started to run a little in the direction of the still unknown visitor. Her Shinx also appeared, like it felt something special was about to happen, and came running beside her. As she got closer, she suddenly stopped.

"That boy has a Pikachu on his shoulder! It's Ash!" Angie thought.

Angie started running again, this time much faster than before. She could now also hear his voice better, and this erased any doubt about the identity of the visitor. It was Ash, with his Pikachu, and off course Brock and Dawn. But all Angie could think about was Ash. She really wanted to hug and kiss him, but quickly realized that this might be a little to much, keeping in mind that she still was unsure about his feelings for her, if any. So instead she gave him that special handshake they also used on summer camp. When her knuckles touched his, she felt that familiar electrifying sensation. She felt a blush come on, and quickly turned away, and sat on her knees, as if she wanted to pick up her Shinx, to camouflage the red on her cheeks.

"Angie, is everything okay?" Ash asked in his caring voice.

"Not if you keep being so cute and so kind to me" she thought, but quickly regained her cool, and took Shinx in her arms. "I'm fine" she said, "nice to see you again, Ash".

"Okay, you had me worried for a moment. I am also glad to see you again" Ash replied as he nodded to her.

And together with the rest of Ash's company, they walked back to her house, while Angie tried not to look at Ash all the time, which was no easy feat for her, of course. But still, during the short period he was staying at her home, she didn't have the courage to tell him how she felt about him. So saying goodbye when Ash left Solaceon Town to complete his quest in the Sinnoh region and challenge the Elite Four, sure had been difficult. But she promised to come cheer for him during his fights with the elites and the Champion, Cynthia. She asked her parents and they had given her permission to leave the daycare for this, so she would see him again. But this time it was different. Ash would leave Sinnoh soon, and then she would not see him again very soon.

"This might be goodbye forever," it flashed through her mind, and she started sobbing a little.

"What is wrong Angie?" A voice behind her startled her.

A very familiar voice, it was Ash! She never heard him coming, perhaps because she was so in thought.

"Great," she thought, "instead of saying goodbye in a nice way, now he sees me crying. I must look awful now. "Have you been standing there all the time?" she said, while still keeping her back turned to him, so he could not see her tears.

"I have been looking everywhere for you" he said, as if he hadn't heard her question, "I can't leave without saying goodbye to you first."

"That is so sweet of him" she thought, but at the same time the idea of having to say goodbye made her more sad, and her sobbing became louder.

"Hey Angie, what is it? You can tell me, you know that. You have been there for me during the championship, I'll always be there for you as well."

These words had a slightly reassuring effect on her, and she slowly turned around towards Ash. When he saw her eyes filled with tears, Ash was shocked.

"What could have made her so sad"? he wondered. "What happened?" he asked her.

For a moment there was nothing but silence.

Then Angie tried to pull herself together, and she whispered "I don't want to say goodbye".

Ash was puzzled, you could almost see the big question mark floating above his head.

"Why not? You want me just to leave then without saying goodbye at all?" Ash asked, still being as clueless as ever about what went on in Angie's head.

Again a moment of silence, this time lasting longer than the previous one. Then she started sobbing even harder than before, her head buried deep in her hands.

"Are you crying over me?" Ash asked in a soft voice.

Suddenly Angie looked up again, and through her tears she saw his eyes.

"Is that a tear in the corner of his eye?" she asked herself. "It was, he must really care about my feelings."

This gave her confidence the boost she needed.

"I... I don't want you to leave..." she finally confessed.

"I don't like to leave" Ash quickly said, "but remember we're friends forever, so we never really leave each other, right?"

That answer was a major disappointment.

"For a moment it looked like he finally noticed that she had feelings for him beyond "friends forever" and stuff" she thought "but now he was back to his normal oblivious Ash again". She had been here before, when they said goodbye at summer camp. Back then she didn't have the courage to say she felt more for him than friendship, and if she did not say anything now, this moment would probably end the same as their goodbye then. "That is not going to happen again!" Angie yelled inside her thoughts.

She took a deep breath and shouted to him "I love you, you silly boy! Can't you see that!"

Ash was startled for a few seconds. He knew Angie was a fiery girl, and she had shouted to him numerous times during their rivalry at summer camp, but this time, he was surprised at this outburst. Sure, he had felt something different in Angie at the end of summer camp, and later when he visited her in Solaceon Town. But he had never thought much about it, "Girls behave strange all the time" he always said to himself. But now he understood why Angie behaved so strange lately, even for a girl. She LOVED him! He looked at Angie, looking at him with asking eyes, which were still filled with tears. Then a warm, strange feeling came over Ash. He had felt it before when he grasped Angie's hand when she was about to get sucked in that spirit world, and when she almost fell of that cliff. Of course he would have done this for anyone who was in danger, but still it was different. He really didn't want to loose her. When they were apart the past few weeks, between summer camp and his visit to her in Solaceon Town, and later, in the period between that visit and his journey through victory road, he had thought about her a lot. But he had not sought much behind this, "it just indicated that Angie was a real close friend, right?" he said to himself then. But now he was not so sure about this any more. Seeing her cry, hurt him more than he expected. He felt that she was in trouble again, and this time he really was the only one who could save her. Slowly he reached out his right hand towards Angie.

"I....eh... also don't want to leave you..." he stuttered.

"Did I really hear Ash saying this? Or was I just dreaming?" Angie asked herself.

It seemed real though, and Ash's hand was still invitingly stretched out towards her. Before she knew it, she had grabbed his hand firmly. She still had tears in her eyes, but suddenly didn't feel so sad anymore.

"You can come with me on my new journey if you want," Ash then said, out of the blue.

She almost fainted. It was a good thing that Ash held her hand so tight, it helped her keeping her balance.

"Did he mean that? That would be great," Angie thought as her heart jumped up with joy.

"I was wrong, Ash said. "Seeing you this way made me realize that you have become more than a very good friend," he continued, "I really want you around, get to know you better, I think..." Ash paused momentarily "...I love you too."

"This was even better than I could have hoped for" Angie thought. "Not only did I finally confess my feelings to Ash, but there really was more in his eyes than just helping a friend when he saved me twice, he really cares for me!"

"Angie! Well, would you like to travel with me for a while?" Ash asked her.

She had been so much lost in thought about the nice things Ash suddenly said to her, that she had forgotten to accept his invitation yet.

"Well..." she teasingly said "Of course I do, you silly boy!" and she jumped in his arms, causing them both to fall on the floor.

For a moment they stared into each other's eyes, and Angie started to blush again. Even Ash seemed to blush a little, but then they quickly stood up again, and Ash put on his cap, that had fallen on the floor when they fell down. Suddenly Angie's face became very serious.

"What was I thinking? I can't come with you Ash," she said, looking down at the ground.

Now Ash started looking a little sad. "Now that I finally found out that I have feelings for her and what she feels for me, and we won't have to say goodbye, she can't come with me?" He asked himself, puzzled.

"Why not?" Ash asked Angie, with a soft voice.

"I can't leave my parents to run the daycare for that long without me. They really need my help. Even going here for these few days to watch you battle must have been difficult for them." Angie said with an equally timid voice.

"But.. then..." Ash started.

"I will take care of that. Don't you worry," a familiar voice suddenly said.

It was Brock. He had heard Angie crying when she was talking with Ash, and fearing something was wrong, had walked in the direction of that sound. He then overheard them talking. After recovering from the shock that Ash had more luck in love than he, Brock decided to step forward to help the fresh couple. He offered to work in the Daycare for Angie, so she could travel with Ash after all.

"If I can't be happy in love myself, I will gladly help others find that happiness themselves," he said. "Especially since these 'others' are such good friends as you two. And helping at the daycare will also be a good experience for me in fulfilling my dream to become the greatest Pokemon Breeder. So what do you say, shall we visit Angie's parents and ask them if this is ok?"

Instead of a spoken answer, Ash and Angie fell around Brock's neck, and now he was knocked over to the ground.

"I guess this means yes," Brock whispered as he gasped for breath and wondered what was tougher, getting knocked over by these two lovebirds, or getting the familiar Poison Jab from his Croagunk.

So they went to Solaceon town again, to tell Angie's parents about their plans. Her mother agreed rather quickly, as she had liked Ash from the moment she first met him when he visited Angie earlier. Angie's father first talked about "not taking her responsibility too lightly" and "work first, pleasure later" but eventually he gave in, after Ash assured him that he would look after Angie, and that the purpose of his journey was to learn more about Pokemon, and not just some field trip where only fun would matter. A spare room was made ready for Brock, so he would be able to make himself comfortable for the coming period. Since they would leave the next day, and there were no more free rooms, Ash slept on the couch, but he didn't mind. Not having to say goodbye to a very good friend that now had suddenly become his girlfriend was a nice thought to dream about.

The next day Angie started packing, and soon she and her Shinx were ready. Saying goodbye to her parents didn't go without a tear, but she didn't feel as heartbroken as when she thought she would never see Ash again. And as Brock and Angie's parents waved goodbye, the young couple set their first footsteps on their journey together.

"Don't forget to change underwear everyday, dear!" Angie's mother shouted.

"Mum, you are embarrassing me!" Angie yelled with an annoyed voice.

"Don't be mad about it Angie," Ash said in a calm voice, "my mother used to do the same when I went on my first journey. It is what mothers do, I guess."

"I think you're right" Angie said, and they both looked at each other with a look of understanding, then bursting out into laughter.

Slowly, the young couple moved towards the horizon, to face the new challenges that lay ahead, a bit uncertain about the future, but sure they can count on each other, no matter what may come their way.

So that is it, my first fan-fiction story ever. I apologize for any typing errors, or grammatically not 100% correct sentences. Remember, I am not a native English speaker or writer. I tried to make this story as close to the Pokémon series as possible, so that the characters will react roughly the same in this fictional story as they do in the series. Comments are always welcome, you can use the review function on this FanFiction site for that.

Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own any trademarks of Pokémon. Any similarities to the works of others is purely accidental, and not meant as an infringement on anyone's achievements.