"The first interview is with Misty Waterflower; long time friend and travelling companion to Ash Ketchum."

Let the tape know that she is 18, 5ft 2, has long Red hair and blue eyes.

So Misty sit down.  You travelled with Ash right?

Misty?

The young girl turned her head and blushed apologetically.  "Yes, yes I did." 

And how did you meet?

"The idiot wrecked my bike, I said I would follow him until him paid me for it."

So you weren't friends?

"No we were...well we agrued alot; on stupid things, but we were friends."

When was the last time you saw Ash?

"About 6 years ago, you know he would probably be about 18 now.  Why hasn't anyone found him!?!"

Jenny waved her hands in a vain attempt to calm the girl down,  "we have tried everything.  But don't worry we're still looking."

Misty voice quietened to a whisper, "Do you think it's true?"

The officer looked puzzled.  What?

The young girl began to sob.  "That he doesn't want to come back."

The officer sighed, "you shouldn't listen to rumours."  She turned to the girl "look maybe you should tell me everything about the incident."

"Everything?"

"Everything."

Misty took a deep breath.  "Ok."

"I guess it started as a normal day......................"

We were travelling as usual, me, Ash and Tracy. 

"Tracy?"

  Oh he joined us after Brock left, he sort of just hung around us.

  "You don't know where this Brock is, do you?"

  Well I think he was on one of the orange islands, I'm not sure.  But I don't think Brock could tell you much. 

"Well we've tried to contact him several times, but nothing.  We believe Ash might be with him."

  Brock?  No I don't think so; Brock would never......

"I never should have backtracked you, can you continue about the incident."

Oh anyway we were travelling and we came to this city.  We were walking looking for a Pokemon center.  When Ash just Disappeared.

"Disappeared?"

Well sort of, you see at the time he was ahead of me and Tracy.  He was doing his usual happy dance.  Pikachu was walking with me.  Anyway he turned this corner; when we turned it he was gone.

"So you assumed the worst?"

No, not at first.  Me and Tracy laughed and waited for Ash to jump out and scare us.

"Jump out?"

Yeah it's a typical Ash thing.  I can't tell you how many times we've fallen for it .  Anyway when he didn't jump out, we began to get worried.  It just wasn't like him and things just didn't add up. 

"Like what?"

Well. his pokebelt with pokeballs and backpack were lying on the pavement.  Ash wouldn't ever leave them.  Pokemon was his life; it was beyond his teeny tiny mind to think that there was anything else.

"You almost sound bitter.  What else do think he should have thought about?"

The girl looked surprised.  "What?"

Seeing that she was going to get nowhere the officer changed the subject.

"So then what?"

We got Pikachu and the rest of the Pokemon to carry out a search.  But they couldn't find him.  So we called his mum and the police.

"But that wasn't when he properly disappeared, was it?"

No.  The girl hung her head sadly.  After; I dunno about two weeks of constant worrying and endless police searches, he just turned up.

"How did you feel about that?"

Relieved. Angry.

"Angry?"

After all that we'd been put through.  I....I.....really believed he was dead.  And Mrs Ketchum.  You could literally see her heart breaking.  And all that time he'd been messing about.  Probably goofing off.  He didn't even apologise; in fact he seemed angry.

"Angry?"

Yes, at first I tried to talk to him find out what happened.  I tried to explain to him just what he had exactly put us through.  But he just pushed me away.  It was weird, it had only been about two weeks but he seemed to have totally changed.

When he disappeared he was wearing his usual getup.  The clothes he'd worn since I met him.  A blue jacket, a black t-shirt, and blue jeans.  Oh and of coures his "official Pokemon league cap."  He never ever took it off.

"He loved the hat huh?"

Yeah,there was this one time when a mankey took his hat but he wouldn't it go.  Not even after he got his butt kicked.

"So you would say he is in some ways extremely loyal to those he loves."

A couple of years ago I would have probably agreed.  But now; I....I don't know.  I think it was more stupidity than loyalty.

"I don't get it."

Huh?

"Well so far all you've done is put the boy down, yet you're one of the people who's done the most to try and find him."

Misty blushed.  Just  because he was stupid doesn't mean he wasn't a good friend.  When you travel with the same person day in day out you begin to forget their imperfections.

Anyway he always wore these clothes but when he came back he was wearing this blck get-up.  The sort of thing people wear if they want to be a spy.  And the amazing thing was his hat was nowhere to be seen, instead he wore this black cap. 

"And that was unusual?"

Haven't you been listening!?!  For Ash it was, also he was completely out of it, didn't talk to anyone, except Pikachu.  And he always kept his face hidden.  In fact he kept everything hidden.  Before his jacket had been short sleeved now his jacket was full length and his face was always hidden under his cap.  It was weird.

"So what did you do?"

What else was there to do I got angry.  I told him just exactly what I thought of him.  How he was treating everyone.  I just got so mad.  But he did deserve it; I least that's what I thought at the time.

"And how did he respond?"

He lost it.  He told me "there was no way I could understand what he'd been through.  That he'd counted on all of us and we'd let him down."

I didn't understand, but of course he didn't explain he just ran off.

"Then a few days later the incident occured."

Yes.  The days beforehand had been rough but I was sure that he would return to normal soon.  Anyway one day we were sitting there.....

"Sitting there, talking?"

Talking!?! With Ash!  He was too stubborn he wouldn't talk to anyone.  So we were just sitting there.  Then all of a sudden this girl ran up.

"How old was she?"

About  16.  Anyway she ran up and Ash ran to her.  They hugged eachother.  I hadn't seen Ash that happy in ages. 

"Then what happened?"

They started talking.  I couldn't hear most of it.  But I think she was asking him if he was alright.  Then all of a sudden I heard Ash say to her, "let me leave with you."  I couldn't believe it, I didn't know what was going on.  Then all of a sudden everyone ran up.

"Everyone?"

Yeah, Proffessor Oak, Mrs Ketchum, Gary, and some other people from Pallet.

"Go on."

Well the strange thing was they all knew this girl.  So I assume that at one point she must have lived in Pallet.  Well everyone seemed to be in shock to see her.  I know I heard a few mumourings of  "I thought she was dead."  But they all seemed to hate her except for Ash and Gary.   Even the normally placid Proffessor Oak was hurling abuse at her along with the others. 

They started to walk away.  But Prfessor Oak stopped them.  He said , "That Ash shouldn't be brought done to Sarah's level."

"Sarah?  Must be the same sarah the others talked about."

When Proffessor Oak said that, Ash cracked.  He just went right up to him and punched him.  And I mean punched him.  He was pratically unconscious.  I couldn't believe it.  Professor Oak had given him Pikachu and his Pokedex, he been a mentor to Ash and had cheered him on in the Pokemon league.  And Ash did that to him. 

"That's when you learnt the truth."

The horrible truth.  He said that those days he'd been missing he'd been kidnapped by some Rocket agents.  They'd beaten him up to the point that if he'd stayed a minute longer he would have killed.

"And you........"

We laughed.  Team Rocket were the biggest bunch of bunglers there were.  They were harmless and Ash had escaped them loads of times before.

Ash got really mad at this.  You could almost see the fire in his eyes.  He said that it was true and that Sarah saved him.  If it wasn't for her he would have died.  People really began to get uncomfortable.  No could understand what he was going on about. 

Then he showed us.

............................

"Miss? Are you ok?"

Yeah. He showed us.  He took off his cap.  I could have killed them for what they had done to him.  The right side of his face was covered in dry blood and there was a deep laceration on his forehead.  His eyes were bloody and swollen as well.  From the impression we got that wasn't all they had done to him.  Anyway from there it all went quiet and they began to walk off.  Gary told the girl to look after Ash and she smiled so I guess there were friends.  And that was it.  No one stopped him.  He just left.  His mum was crying; literally begging him to stay but he didn't even look in her direction.

No one knew what to do after that. 

"The police were eventually called and a search was lauched."

I just don't understand, it's been so long.  The searches have been worldwide.  Why haven't they found him?  I hope he's okay.

I felt so bad after he left.  The way I'd treated him and he had been through all that,  I was scum.

"You really care about this Ash, don't you?"

As I said he's my friend.

"Nothing more?"

No!!!! With a jerk like that!

"Denile is the first sign."

The girl sighed, No, there was nothing.

The officer looked at her quizzically.

"Ok interview terminated at 12.00"

She got up and turned to the girl.  "Thanks, do  you want something to drink."

"No thanks,"

She studied the girl's forlorn face for a moment.  "Don't worry, we'll find him."

"I hope so, I hope so."