“I……. don’t know, she went out yesterday but I guess she hasn’t come back yet.”

“….. So…. Should we go look for her?” Casey asked, unsure.

“Why would we do that? She’s a big girl, she can take care of herself.” The last thing Misty wanted was Sabrina back in the picture.

Ash sat there in the palm of Casey’s hand pondering what might have happened, “I thought she just went out of some fresh air and a walk around Pallet but………. Well she did say her whole reason for coming was to scout for new physic talent for her gym. Maybe she went off recruiting? ………. Yeah, that must be it! I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about.”

“I don’t know, she said she’d be back by nightfall.” Casey shrugged, “I don’t really care either way. I don’t really know her too well.”

After a moment or two Ash came to a decision, “……….. Sabrina will be fine. Besides she didn’t tell us where she was going so it’s not like we could track her down even if we wanted to.”

Misty smiled, it was bad enough dealing with Ash’s now hostile mother. The last thing she needed was another woman in Ash’s life trying to take him away from her. Especially one as voluptuous and well curved as Sabrina. Misty suddenly felt very self conscious again and, though she tried not to, she let her gaze drop to her body. She felt inadequate in comparison, maybe her sisters were right, maybe she was just a runty little tomboy.

“Uhhh, Misty?”

“……………………”

“Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssssssssssssssssssty!”

“Huh, what?!” Misty looked up, Ash’s voice bringing her back to the present.

Everyone was staring at her. Ash seemed a little worried, Casey had a smirk on her lips, and Delia was visibly annoyed.

“What’s wrong Mist?” Ash asked.

“Nothing, I just spaced out for a minute. My mind was….. on other things. Sorry.”

“No big!” Ash sighed, “Well I’d hate to ditch her. I guess we’ll have to wait here till Sabrina comes back. I guess we’ll be staying for at least another day.”

Delia looked startled, “Y- you were planning on leaving today? And you didn’t even tell me, your mother?!

Ash’s ears turned a little red, “Sorry mom, I just wanted to avoid a confrontation. It’s not like I was planning on leaving without saying goodbye. I just didn’t want to give you a day, I knew you’d fight with me about it.” Tears weld up in Delia’s eyes, “Mom, please don’t.”

“My baby boy wants to leave me all alone again…. I’m sorry.” She rushed off to the bathroom.

“No mom, wait!” Ash nearly ran off of Casey’s hand trying to pursue her, Casey curled up her fingers to keep the boy from plummeting to his death.

“Easy Ash.”

“Casey, please go after my mom.” Casey nodded and followed Ash’s distressed mother out of the room.

Misty watched them go. She twiddled her fingers nervously. She really hoped Ash wouldn’t make any promises in his attempts to calm his mother down. She also felt a bit guilty, she knew she was the reason Ash planned on leaving so early. They’d only gotten in yesterday, he and his mother still had a lot of catching up to do. Plus Ash hadn’t gone to see Dr. Oak yet. Ash must have noticed how uncomfortable she was. The tension between her and his mom was so thick you could probably cut it with a knife. It warmed her heart to know that he’d put her comfort and happiness in front of his own.

Casey came back into the room Ashless, Misty posed the question with her eyes, “I gave him to his mom. They’re in the bathroom now.” Casey sat down with a sigh, “They could be in there for a while. Mrs. Ketchum is crying like a baby.”

Misty moaned, “Great, just great. And in her eyes I’m going to wind up being the villain. She’ll think I tried to force Ash to leave today.”

Casey didn’t respond, she just nabbed a glass of orange juice from the table and chugged it.

Misty poked at her eggs with her fork but refused to eat any. She didn’t have much of an appetite, besides, eating without Delia present would just give her one more reason to hate Misty. She’d be the ‘rude girl’ who started eating before her gracious host even sat down at the table. Misty gritted her teeth thinking about how she used to like the old Ms. Ketchum and how she’d pay money to punch the new one in the jaw. She just wanted Sabrina to show up so they could leave. Annoying….. shapely….. soft spoken….. appealing Sabrina.

Misty slowly turned towards Casey, “I’ve got a question for you, please be completely honest, don’t try to spare my feelings.”

“No problem!” Casey laughed, she wasn’t the

“Do….. you think I’m pretty?” Misty turned away as if continuing to stare at Casey would cause her eyes to be burned out of his skull.

“… Well Misty what I think isn’t important. It’s what Ash thinks and Ash-” Casey tried to keep a straight face but burst out laughing.

“What is it?” Misty asked hurt, assuming Casey was laughing about her looks.

“Lets just say Ash finds you very pretty. I’ve seen his ‘devotion’ to your beauty first hand.” Casey broke out laughing once more.

Misty didn’t know what that meant, or if Casey was even being serious, but it felt good to here it. 15 minutes later Ash and his mother reentered the room.