A/N: ok i RLY shouldn't be starting a new fanfic when i've got so many unfinished ones AND I HAVE LIKE SO MUCH MORE HOMEWORK AND IT'S ALREADY 11:06 PM BUT I HAD POKESHIPPPING FEELS WHEN I HEARD THIS SONG SO TAKE THIS OK AND REVIEW AND I'LL FINISH IT

At The Beginning

i: we were strangers, starting out on a journey

"I still think you're being a big jerk."

Ash heard her rumble a growl before turning over in her sleeping bag with her back to him.

"Well, sorry if I think bug pokemon are gross!"

He sighed in aggravation, knowing he'd probably never get through to her. Instead of coming up with a nasty retort, he opted to idly stroke Pikachu's back - only to find that he was absent from the spot next to him.

A glance to the side told him Pikachu was instead sitting upon the tree stump that separated Ash and Misty's sleeping bags. He appeared to be comforting Caterpie, who had caught Misty's comment and was further saddened.

Ash felt a surge of indigance flare through him. How dare she hurt his pokemon like that! The nasty retort he had bit back down suddenly came tumbling out of his mouth.

"That doesn't mean you have to hurt Caterpie's feelings!" Ash insisted, and he felt the venom leaking into his words. He never liked seeing other people upset. He especially hated the bullies that caused the grief in the first place.

"Look," Misty snarled, ready for a fight, "Just keep it in its pokeball and away from me. I don't like it and that's that. Now quit whining and get back to sleep."

His eyes widened and he retreated for a moment, genuinely frightened by the pure malice in her tone. Then, he snapped out of it. She was still the same old bully that kept hurting Caterpie's feelings! She didn't deserve any of his respect.

"I can sleep whenever I want," Ash found himself saying. He didn't even care that he sounded like a two-year-old, he just wanted that girl off his back. "And no one told you to come with me anyway! You can leave whenever you want."

This seemed to catch Misty off guard, and she flushed slightly while fumbling for an appropriate answer. "I can't because you still owe me a bike you loser!" She bit her lip and turned over, still smarting from his blatant indifference (or apparently, dislike) of her presence.

"I said I'll pay you back!"

"And you're beginning to sound like a broken record."

"So are you."

"... Just go to sleep."

-x-

The next morning, Ash awoke to sunlight caressing his face. Cracking a smile, he sat up and stretched, welcoming the refreshed feeling that came with a good night's sleep. Ah yes, just another day on his quest to become Pokemon master...

Misty stomped on the firewood, putting out what little embers had been left.

Ash cringed at the noise and gave her a disturbed look. "Geez, d'ya have to be so loud?"

Misty only glared. She seemed ready to say something, but Pikachu awoke at that moment. He let out a small cry of delight when he saw Misty and immediately bounded over to hop onto her shoulder.

"Augh..." Ash sweatdropped and sunk to the ground in defeat at his own pokemon's behavior. What Pikachu saw in Misty, Ash would never understand.

After washing his face with some of the cloths his mom had packed him, he slung his backpack onto his shoulder and stood before Misty and Pikachu, who seemed to have quite the conversation going.

"I hate to interrupt, but we're leaving now." Ash grabbed Pikachu and held him protectively as he turned away from Misty and began walking the opposite direction.

Of course, Misty followed.

"This is so unfair," Ash complained, making a face at the girl next to him. "I didn't even ask for this. Why are you here?"

Misty smirked at him confidently with her hands on her hips, a very different reaction from last night. "It seems like your little pikachu wants me here."

"What?!" Ash glared down at the yellow mouse, watching him sheepishly shrug in reaction. "Whatever," he finally dismissed.

"Besides," Misty muttered, voice barely audible, "I've got nowhere else to go."

-x-

By the time they got to Cerulean City, Misty was beginning to get desperate.

"Viridian City is so much better! And there's this super romantic sunset you can watch from the cliffside... let's go, please!" She didn't care if she seemed desperate at this point, really.

Ash and his new travelling companion, Brock, both gave her strange looks. It was Ash who burst out into laughter afterwards.

"Like I care about a romantic sunset," he said in his boyish voice, grinning meanly at Misty. "I'm gonna get my Cascade Badge if it's the last thing I do! 'Cause I wanna be a Pokemon Master!"

And he bound off in the other direction, cockiness and arrogance practically emanating from each step. Pikachu followed obediently, determined like Ash to win the badge, and Brock gave a hesitant glance back at the girl he barely knew before following Ash.

"He's hopeless," Misty sighed. "I didn't want it to have to come to this, but..."

-x-

"So that's why you didn't wanna go?"

"Well... yeah!"

She kicked a rock, and it hit against the gym wall before bouncing back. Ash stared at the rock now at his feet and kicked it, watching it bound far away.

"So you left home because... you wanted to prove yourself. To your sisters." Ash spoke slowly, and rather insensitively, due to his oblivion, but Misty decided to let it slide.

"If you put it that way, I guess." Misty sighed and shrugged and watched Ash's clueless face remain clueless. "You must be an only child."

Ash's jaw dropped. "Whoa, how'd you know?"

"I'm not a Psychic, before you end up saying anything equally stupid," Misty confirmed for him, inwardly snorting at the way Ash pouted and then glared at her insult. "It's just like having rivals, I guess. Ones that you're constantly compared to and it sucks. I want to be better at something for once, and that's why I decided to leave."

Ash nodded during her explanation with a thoughtful expression, hand poised on his chin. "Yeah, I think I get it. I've got a rival, myself."

"Gary?" Misty raised her eyebrow and watched the way Ash bristled with anger at the mere name. He decided not to respond and before he even could, he could spy a certain spiky head walking in from the distance.

"Well, looks like Brock's back. But anyway, I think it's okay if you traveled with us. Our goals are kinda the same, if you think about it." Ash offered a quick grin before he ran off to greet Brock, and inquiring where he went.

Misty stood at her post for a moment, taking in what Ash had told her. Through and through all the cockiness and arrogance and stupidity Ash was someone was who was kind. He was someone who cared - though she had known that the moment she'd seen him with his pokemon.

And she felt herself smile.

"I got a Cascade Badge!" Ash proclaimed, flashing a victory sign as he dramatically posed in the background. She stood next to Brock and they both exchanged knowing grins at their fellow companion.

Misty didn't say much to her sisters as she left, but the parting was on a sweet note anyway. Misty left with her heart soaring with hope. She was on an adventure, and she would finally earn her spotlight!

Her daydream was interrupted, however, as Ash continued to dance around with the gem like it was most precious thing, and the bragging was enough to quickly snap Misty out of whatever new respect she had gained for Ash.

"By some miracle my sister gave it to you," Misty dismissed with a wave of the hand, "If not I would've totally gotten you!"

"As if," Ash bit back, giving in to the bait.

"If Team Rocket hadn't intervened, I would've creamed you!"

"Ha, you're lucky they showed up, you were about to lose!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Oh yeah!"

Brock sighed and wondered if this was going to be a regular thing.

"Oh, brother."

And Misty's sisters simply gave each other the knowing looks of "Oh yeah, that guy is totally gonna be our future brother-in-law."