Disclaimer - Don't own nothin'. (Creative, I know. . . =P)

Author - Chibi / Warlordess

Notes - Okay, this is going to be a combination of two one-shot series I wanted to write about Ash and Misty. (Apparently one-shot series are the new thing, though I hope mine will be a tad more popular than some of the others I've seen out there recently.) Some of these fics are going to be about methods of communication between the two of them (basically a bunch of phone-call fics showing that they're still close, still best friends who are trying to remain as such) while the other part of these fics was going to be about miscellaneous moments in time (both friendly and romantic).

Please note that, as stated in the first one-shot I posted, these are all unrelated to one another and completely random. I'll try to include a setting underneath the one-shot title so that you have a relative idea of where or when this takes place. If I don't tell you where or when, then it's not a big deal whether you know or not.

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Series Title - "Our Best", Ash and Misty Mini-Series

Inspired by the song, "My Best", sung by Vanessa Carlton.

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OnE-sHoT tItLe - "Accountability"

Time-frame - beginning of Sinnoh League, sometime after Dawn's first competition. (Takes place before the Buizel episode.)

. . . beCaUsE cOmMuNiCaTiOn Is A tWo-WaY sTrEeT. . .

Summary - During a rare phone conversation with Ash, it slips that Misty's special gift to him is not being used properly. But is there a reason why?

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When Misty had picked up the phone in the Cerulean Gym lobby, she had not expected it to be Ash. Truthfully, she would have sooner expected Team Rocket to call her, as outrageous as it sounded. Then again, this was one of the very few times her best friend had ever done such a thing in the whole three years they'd been separated.

She wondered if it was about that thing. She hadn't been nearly so brave so as to hand it to him in person, even though she'd been finished crafting it since before he'd gone to participate in the Kanto battle frontier. Instead she'd waited, biding her time, and taken advantage of a risen opportunity. Professor Oak and Mrs. Ketchum had banded together to give Ash a care package before he was due to leave for Sinnoh later that week and had phoned her to ask if she'd like to throw something in there as well.

Perfect. Absolutely fantastic. What better chance would she have?

But for Ash to call her now, she wondered what he could possibly have to say. Certainly it was going to be about that thing? Maybe he was going to make fun of her, ask her why she would send him something he'd obviously have no need for. Or maybe, just maybe, if she kept her fingers crossed and her hopes up, he would thank her, would smile and say that it was nice to think she hadn't gone and forgotten him just yet.

Either way, her cheeks prickled and began to glow red, her heart thumping up into her throat. Of course, she pushed it back down immediately and dared it to try that foolhardy action again. She was not going to continue crushing on her best friend. Misty had long since realized that it was useless to like Ash that way. He would never return those feelings. . . but he would forever view her as his best friend.

She did value that position far more than those feelings she used - emphasis on the word - to have for him.

Still, telling herself this fact over and over did not seem to be helping her.

"Okay. . . well, since you're not going to say hi to me, I guess I'll say it to you. Hi Misty! What's going on? Are you busy?" With the video-screen option on, he was able to crane his neck as though looking behind her to see for himself. Of course, not only was he left staring at a blank wall, but it took him only five seconds to realize something else was amiss here.

"Why is it so dark? Some sort of power outage?" he asked, ignoring the obvious.

"Ash, when was the last time you were able to call someone using a home phone with a live video feed during a power outage?" she asked him skeptically then, before he could answer her snippy tone, she supplied another reason. "It's nearly eleven o'clock here in Cerulean. I was about to go to bed, you know?"

"Wow, that late, huh? It's only about two here. Hn, maybe that's why Brock was saying it'd be better to wait until tomorrow."

"Ya think?" But her smart-assed remark was interrupted by a yawn. "Is there something you wanted to talk to me about? Is that why you're calling?" she asked him almost hopefully. True, she was tired and she would have to get up extra early tomorrow in order to go to the PokeCenter and retrieve her Pokemon from Nurse Joy, but if he were to ask her to stay up and talk with him about anything, about nothing, she'd do it without another thought. God forbid.

"Uh, well, maybe. . . but. . . no, never mind. It's fine. It's nothing. I mean, I was just. . . I guess I just missed the sound of your voice and I wanted to catch up. But if you're too tired, I guess I'll just. . ." He seemed troubled but blew it off next moment.

"Hm, what are you talking about?" Darn it, there was just something so endearing about the guy, wasn't there? "Besides, if you missed me that much, what else am I supposed to do, right? I guess I can put up with you, you know, if nobody else will." She gave him a small smirk, a quiet chuckle, at the same time biting back another yawn.

After all, who really needed sleep to survive?

"Yeah, thanks for that, Myst. Really. But if you're sure it's okay then I'll. . ."

There was a moment of awkward silence that greatly irritated Misty. She contemplated yelling at him for being so stupid that he couldn't think of anything to say, or else maybe abruptly hanging up to make her point valid, but held herself back. She had to stay positive, she had to think about how nice it had been at first, the very thought of Ash calling her in his rare moment of spare time just because he realized he'd been missing her lately.

"So. . . you got anything?"

"ASH!"

"Oh, wait, I know!" he started over, ignoring her indignant cry, "Awhile ago, I participated with Dawn in her first Sinnoh Contest. It was pretty cool. In fact, she's out training with her Buneary now for the next one. I think she's gonna do pretty well but I've had my fair share of them for now. I'll just stick to kicking Gym Leader butts and winning badges," one contemptuous laugh later, "still though, maybe I should help her train. I've had a lot more experience than her and she's pretty new as it is. But Dawn is intuitive about what to do in front of a crowd, let me tell ya. It's probably 'cause her mom is a former champion herself, ya know?"

If not for the fact that he was obviously rambling, Misty would have been far angrier. After all, as long as it had been since the two of them had talked, it was rather rude of him to speak so off-handedly, so proudly, of some other girl.

And no, in case the peanut gallery happened to be paying too close attention, she was not jealous. She was just a little miffed that he had never been capable of saying those kinds of things to or about her. Seriously, if she hadn't been forced to go back to Cerulean, she probably never would have heard Ash call her his best friend!

Alright, alright. Begrudgingly, she would maybe (possibly) admit to not being not jealous. Just because she knew her place in Ash's life did not mean those stupid feelings of hers would immediately evaporate, you know?

"Uh, Ash, are you sure there's nothing else you wanted to say to me? Maybe about something the Professor and your mom gave you? Something that reminded you of a certain friend of yours?"

"Something like that. . . ?" He took precious care to allow the confused expression to cross his face, his eyes blinking towards the ceiling as he racked his brain for what she could possibly mean. ". . . Nope! Nothing comes to mind! Why, was there something in particular you were thinking of? It seems like a pretty specific question." But rather than give her a chance to answer, he pursued another topic of conversation as a sobbing Brock wandered past him in the background, his spine limp and his demeanor quite hopeless. He gave a listless 'hello' to Misty but otherwise wandered away again without saying anything.

"Haha, looks like Brock got rejected again. I gotta tell ya, Myst, it's been pretty hard to keep him away from the girls without you here. I guess you must know that but jeez, when he really gets going with the glittery wallpaper and the flowers and the poetry. . . Yikes, you know?"

He didn't seem to realize he was rambling again. It was enough to make her suspicious. Maybe he had lost that thing she'd sent him and refused to admit it to her. But that wouldn't be anything new, would it? Heaven forbid he take responsibility for doing something wrong, something that would hurt her feelings.

Awe, he was trying to protect her feelings. . .

Unfortunately for him, though, Pikachu and Piplup hadn't been in on such a plan. They'd followed after Brock but stopped short when they saw Ash talking on the video-phone.

"Pikachupi!" The call came muffled as though Pikachu had something in his mouth. He vanished from her sight for a moment as he approached the counter, too low for the camera to catch him on video.

"No, wait buddy, maybe you shouldn't come up here. I'm not sure how Nurse Joy feelings about Pokemon the tables and stuff. . ." Another cry from the electric rodent, again strangely muffled by something he must have had in his mouth, and Ash replied next, "Fine, whatever, but give me that before you say hi to Pika - uh, I mean Misty. You want her to understand you, right?"

It would have been almost affectionately funny if not for Ash's overly-panicked state. Please, like she wouldn't get the message. Forget the fact that she didn't really understand Pikachu's native tongue anyway. It was pretty obvious by now that her best friend was hiding something from her.

"Pip piplup?" Came a foreign call out of her line of vision as well; apparently Dawn's Sinnoh starter. It sounded so cute too! She wanted to ask for a close-up but Ash seemed rather distracted at the moment.

"You're finished getting your check up from Nurse Joy already, huh? Dawn's out right now, she probably took your Pokeball with her, but I'm sure she'll be back soon. She knows you were scheduled to be released from the Center's custody around now. Just play with Pikachu for - no, Pikachu, I told you to wait, you know? Stop!"

But the electric Pokemon was too excited about seeing one of his favorite trainers again for the first time in awhile. He leapt up onto the counter of the video-phone cubicle, a small shiny item dropping out of his mouth so that he could greet her with a familiar wide smile.

"Pikachu pika pikachupi! Chu pipi pika!"

Misty smiled fondly back. Yeah, she still found it impossible to understand what he was saying but there was no mistaking his friendly tone. He was undoubtedly saying that he missed her, that it was good to see her, nice knowing she was doing well for herself, or something of the like.

Of course, when the nostalgia and contentment wore off, she caught sight of Ash slowly inching a free hand towards whatever it was that Pikachu had dropped out of his mouth.

"Ash, what are you doing? What is that anyway?" she asked, eyes drawn to the shining, bright colors of the small item. She had thought it was food at first but was obviously wrong. Orange-red hair, yellow tank top, that winking expression, and a small finger raised, poised as if explaining something with a cute pose. . . That was too familiar to be a mistake.

"Ash. . . is that the fishing lure I sent you?"

He flinched, looking as though he'd been caught red-handed, but still refused to say anything to her, perhaps hoping she'd believe herself to be wrong or else go on a quick rant about how disrespectful he was and move on to something else just as soon.

Unfortunately she did neither.

"You have ten seconds, Ash Ketchum," she began in a nearly quivering tone of forced calm, "to explain to me why Pikachu is running around with my special lure before I hang up and never speak to you again. And don't you dare try and say he's planning on going fishing."

"Darn, it woulda been a good punch line anyway."

"Ash!" she shrieked in response.

"Look, it's no big deal, Myst. Pikachu liked it a lot when he first saw it, in fact I'm pretty sure he and our other Pokemon use it in a game or something, like hide-and-seek, and since I don't want it, I figured it was alright to give it to him as long as he was getting some good use out of it."

One deep breath later and he seemed to be finishing making up his excuse.

"Oh, is that it?" Her voice was a little unnaturally high, as if she were trying to speak over the sound of her own heart crumbling.

"You're not upset, right? I mean, yeah, you made it, but isn't it technically my lure? So I can do whatever I want with it, right?" He gave her a few seconds to respond but she gulped back anything she could have said, unable to trust her own voice as of yet. "I mean, if not for Pikachu, I don't think I'd even remember having it. It'd probably just sit in the bottom of my bag until my mom or Brock happened to find it while searching through my dirty clothes."

"You don't," she cleared her throat to kill the squeak in her voice, "you don't want it, huh? Yeah, I guess you never did. . . Otherwise you probably would have asked me to make you one before, back when we were still traveling together. How silly of me to think that it could be something useful to you!"

"Hey, I'm not gonna say sorry, okay?" he yelled back at her, "Like I said, it is mine and who cares if I actually use it to fish or not? Maybe I don't even like fishing! Did you ever think of that? Maybe we only ever went fishing 'cause you always went on and on about it!"

"Fine Ash, whatever you say! But you didn't have to lie about it, you know? I kept thinking you'd at least appreciate the thought but it turns out you've just been pawning it all off on Pikachu and hoping I wouldn't catch on, acting ignorant whenever I tried to ask you about it, as if you didn't know anything at all."

She was screaming now as a way of venting, screaming because she had to cover the hurt she was feeling, not to mention it seemed to be the only way she knew how to get answers from him.

Her lure, her special lure that she'd spent weeks designing and crafting just for him, had been reduced to nothing more than a chew toy. . .

Honestly, she would have been hurt even if he had come up to her and straight-forwardly spit it out, that he didn't want it, didn't need it, that it was useless to him. She'd racked her brain trying to come up with something that would help him on his journey to another region, something that would maybe remind him of her as well. Even so, even if she had been told from the beginning, even if she'd realized she'd been wasting her time trying so hard, at least she wouldn't have spent just as much time wasted on waiting for him to say that he'd gotten her present, that he thought it looked cool or that he'd caught a really interesting and strong Pokemon thanks to her help. . .

At least she would have known better. But no, that would be too much responsibility for him, wouldn't it? He'd rather drag her lamented hopes through the metaphorical mud.

Dammit, if he weren't so far away, she'd probably already have walloped him with her mallet. Or her paper fan. Or her Gyarados.

"Pikachu. . ." The electric mouse pouted, feeling like he must have done something wrong. Truthfully, both Ash and Misty had forgotten he was even there.

"No, it's not your fault Pikachu. . . But I do know who is to blame." Misty hinted, eyeing Ash with a sharp glare. "Hey, do you think your stupid trainer and I could have a few minutes alone? I have some select things to say that aren't going to sound very nice."

Pikachu nodded, turning his nose up at Ash, believing that he deserved whatever he had coming to him. Then he leapt off of the counter and ran back across and out of the lobby, Piplup trailing behind him.

"I can't help that I don't like it, Misty. Looking at the darn thing makes me feel queasy. Fishing isn't worth it if I have to deal with that every time."

"Looks? You don't like how it looks?" Admittedly, those were not the choice words she'd been expecting to hear.

"I never liked it. Like I said, I feel sick just looking-"

"-Yeah, yeah. I got that. I guess. . . I guess I just didn't expect you to be so shallow. I mean, I get that it looks like me, I know I'm not the cutest girl you've ever met, but really? You're going to turn away a special hand-made gift because you don't like looking at it? Do you even realize how much of my feel - uh. . . how much of my time was spent on it?"

"Time?"

Could it really have been such a valuable investment?

Even so, the way she phrased it made her seem at least a little bit shallow too.

"Gah. . ." she sighed frustratedly, her cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment. She should have known better than to work on something so important. Since when had Ash ever valued anything she had made before? The frustration was giving her a headache and yet - underneath all of that - she couldn't help but realize that, yes, she should have known better.

"Look, it's not 'cause it's ugly. Or you; it's not 'cause you're ugly either. 'Cause I never even thought that far. . ." he amended, apparently just as embarrassed as her for some reason. And Misty couldn't help the celebratory flutter in her chest, though it nearly evaporated when Ash continued speaking.

"But, hey, what do I know? Maybe you are ugly!"

"W - what?"

"Awfully ugly!"

"ASH!" she raved.

"God ugly!"

"I'll kill you!" And she lifted her arms as though hoping to strangle him through the video feed. Quickly, she dropped her tone down to a whisper, glad that her sisters were sleeping on the opposite side of the Gym/duplex home, one floor above. Otherwise she'd never hear the end of it.

"I'm kidding, okay? I just wanted us to move on from that thing is all."

"That thing, huh? You mean the fruits of my labors? My blood, sweat, and tears? My. . . Well, you get where I'm headed. No Ash, I won't drop it so easily. Just tell me why you would do this. What were you so worried about? I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt, the chance to explain yourself. If you care about our friendship at all, I suggest you take it."

She expected him to complain, maybe to yell stubbornly back at her or to defend himself. However he did none of those things, just choosing to stand there. For a moment, she wondered if she'd gone too far. She was sure that, even if he turned around and said point-blank that he just didn't care about "that stupid lure" and that she was blowing the entire thing "way out of proportion", she would find it impossible to just hang up and never speak to him again.

But she figured she might as well go ahead and prepare herself for the bout of disappointment she would surely be feeling any moment now.

"It's just. . . hard to explain. When I first opened up the box my mom had sent me, I saw this note from her along with some snacks, and Professor Oak sent me a couple of League magazines. The thing is, I could just eat the snacks - they're supposed to disappear. And I could give the books to Brock once I was done with them. . . but what you sent me. . . well, like you said, you spent a lot of time on it. Blood, sweat, tears, and all that, right?"

"I still don't get what you're trying to say."

"I just. . . I kept thinking of all the bad stuff that could happen to it. Dropping it, losing it, scratching or breaking it. It was easier to give it to Pikachu so that I wouldn't have to deal with it at all."

"Let me get this straight. Rather than chancing it and using it despite the possibility of something happening to it, or else leaving it in your bag like a priceless, super-valuable collectors item, you decided you'd rather pawn it off on Pikachu and act like it never existed whenever you and I talked?"

"Well, when you put it like that. . ."

"Good plan, Ash, good plan. . . I can see where you thought that would be the best course of action. I mean, I know I greatly appreciate what you did, tossing aside something special that I made just for you. You do realize of course," she paused here for dramatic effect and maybe so that she could focus on the guilty expression on his face, "that I made that fishing lure so that you could use it to - oh, I don't know - fish."

It took every ounce of self-restraint she had not to reiterate all of the pleasant hopes that had crossed her mind after first sending him her something special. She had been looking forward to the phone call when he would tell her how he'd caught some cool, new Pokemon, how he'd made his Sinnoh team stronger - all thanks to her, how he really could've done without the pose and the obviously-Misty likeness (though he'd be trying to hide a fond smile as he stared at it and said such a thing).

Truthfully though, she felt she'd gotten her point across without all of that.

"If it helps, I never . . . I mean, I didn't think it would. . . I never planned it would upset you this much. In fact, I was so sure I was making the right call because. . . doesn't it prove how important it is to me?"

Misty quirked an eyebrow at him.

"I meant the not-using-it-for-fear-that-I'd-lose-it part, not the giving-it-to-Pikachu-as-a-toy part."

She sat there quietly, staring blankly through him, holding back another yawn and wondering just how much time she'd spent trying to force the truth out of him. Stupid Ash. She couldn't understand how he didn't get it. Wasn't it supposed to be simpler?

"Ash, let me see it."

He wordlessly removed the lure from his vest pocket, where he'd hidden it away when she wasn't paying it enough attention.

"Hold it up."

"I don't get it, Myst, why do you. . ." he started, but placed it between his index, middle, and ring fingers and his thumb, propping it straight up for her to get a good look at it. Good, she surmised, it was still in one unscratched, un-nibbled piece.

"Now promise me, Ash Ketchum, that you'll take the first opportunity you find to use that lure. I don't care what plans you have otherwise made or if you only put it in the water for a minimum of fifteen minutes. . . As long as you're moderately careful with it, as long as you try to take care of it, and as long as I get the first punch free if the time should come when you do let something permanent happen to it," she faltered with a dangerous smirk, "then it's fine."

"But what if I-"

"-Ash, I'm telling you that I don't care about any of that! It's supposed to be useful, so I'm telling you to use it!"

". . . Alright, alright. I promise the first two things but as far as the third one goes, I'll raise you." he countered her smirk with a confident grin of his own, "I'd rather just promise that you won't even get that chance. What do ya say?"

"Works for me."

Both of them did a funny little number, raising a hand to the screen and the thousands of miles between them and curling a pinky towards one another as if making a promise.

Suddenly Misty yawned long and loud. Darn, that one had escaped her before she'd had any chance of holding it back.

"Oops, looks like I might have kept you up a little longer than planned. Sorry about that." Ash said to her with a soft smile. Misty understood anyway. It was nice to talk to her best friend, and nothing was worth apologizing for when you came out that happy in the end.

"Nah, it's fine, though I probably should get off soon. Was there anything else you needed to talk to me about?"

"Nope, I think you've beaten enough sense into me for one night. I might have to call you back by the end of the week for round two though. . ." he replied jokingly, waving her off, "Maybe I'll destroy another girl's bike or have to face off against another evil megalomaniac or something. . . But honestly, Myst, I do feel a lot better now. Thanks for that, I guess."

"Well, if you need any advice or possibly a good smack to the head, give me a call. Im always willing to oblige," a Cheshire grin enveloped her features as she rubbed her hands together almost excitedly.

"Don't I know it. . . " he grumbled in response, one of his hands rubbing at his scalp, "And to think I missed you anyway." He didn't give her a chance to reply to such an admission, deciding to hurry and end their conversation now that he was both thoroughly humbled and embarrassed. "Well, I think I've heard all I needed to hear tonight. Sweet dreams, Myst. I'll try and call you again soon."

It seemed like another gamble he was willing to take, or else another promise he was willing to make.

"Alright, okay. Have a nice afternoon, Ash. And when the time comes, you be sure to have a nice sleep too."

It was a good thing she lingered in placing the receiver back on the hook (a touch of misplaced romanticism), otherwise she would have missed what he said.

". . . never thought. . . ugly anyway. . ."

"Come again?"

"Uh, nothing, I didn't say anything at all, you must be hearing things, Misty, goodnight!"

He managed it all in one instant before hanging up on her. She was so shocked that she was still sitting there with the receiver attached to her ear almost a minute later when the operator tone jingled at her, followed by a mechanical voice telling her that her call had been disconnected.

She finally hung up too, an unnaturally wide smile on her face.

And, many a thousand miles away, Ash held that so-called special lure in his palm, finally embracing it as a link in the chain tying him to his best friend. He pocketed it, as much a good luck charm as it was going to be a key item in his future travels through Sinnoh. It wasn't so bad to look at either. Kind of cute, really. . .

Tonight would be filled with sweet dreams after all.

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Notes - Whew! I hope that came out okay. I realize I haven't much been on this site in awhile but I've mostly stopped writing and kinda forgot to update my old fics.

I would appreciate any commentary or faves or whatever the system is here. Until next time!