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“Ash wh…what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be trying to get into the Unova League!” Misty exclaimed, still in shock over seeing Ash in front of her.

“Well…I got this letter.” As Ash pulled out the letter Misty had sent him, he looked up briefly to see her face had suddenly become beet red, which got him to laugh softly, “And…there’s this really pretty girl in the picture that came with it…I was wondering if…maybe you knew who she was?”

“Um…y-y-yeah, I have a pretty good idea.” The redhead stammered, her heart beating too fast for her to talk correctly, “Y-You could’ve just called y’know.”

“I could’ve…but…” Ash began walking up to the Gym Leader, who seemed to be getting more flustered the closer he got, “Somehow a phone call just…wouldn’t be able to fix this empty feeling I have here.” Ash motioned to his heart, “I really have missed you y’know, and after seeing that photo of you, and that letter you sent…well…it only reminded me of just how much I missed you.”

Misty’s heart was about to burst, it sounded as if Ash was confessing or something! But…he hadn’t used the words “I love you”, all he was saying was that he missed her, which was understandable, they’d been best friends pretty much ever since they met. “I’m getting ahead of myself here, I gotta calm down!” Misty tried to loosen up a little so she could speak to Ash on a normal level…and by normal, she meant trigger an argument, “Wait, you needed a reminder of how much you missed me? That means you forgot you missed me! Which also means you forgot me!”

Ash backed up fast, he didn’t wanna be in range of Misty’s mallet in case she still carried that thing around, “I-I didn’t forget you Mist!” Now it was Ash’s turn to get flustered, as Misty began stomping up to him. Pikachu dropped his little notecard and scurried away, as he didn’t want to be a secondary target of Misty’s wrath, “I-It’s just that, I was busy you know? I try to contact you every chance I get! And that isn’t often!”

“So you’re so busy that every time you stop off at a Pokémon Center, or a contest hall, or anywhere else, that you can’t take five minutes to just call and say ‘Hey Misty, how ya doing? How goes the Gym Leader life?’? You can’t even do that?!” By this time Ash had his back to the wall of the gym, and Misty was right up in his face, unfortunately for her, being so close to him made her realize that she in fact did not have the height advantage any longer. He was taller than her, albeit barely. “That hurts Ash, it hurts a lot!”

Ash was about to offer a rebuttal, a lame one of course…but looking at her face, how hurt she really did seem, he stopped himself. And just hung his head and dropped his shoulders in shame. “I’m sorry.” He mumbled, “I know I should’ve called more, and I really wish I could’ve. It hurts me too Mist…being away from my best friend for so long, not being able to laugh with you, spend time with you, just hanging out you know? But I’m here now! And it’s all because of that letter you sent! You made me realize that I couldn’t stand to not see you for any longer! I had to come down and visit or I think my heart might’ve exploded!” Ash raised his head to look at Misty; her face had lost its angry expression sometime during his speech, and now showed a feeling of astonishment. Acting purely on impulse, Ash took Misty’s face into his hands, “It’s great to see you again.” He breathed.

Misty’s heart was beating a mile a minute now; this just had to be a dream! The Ash she knew would never have the nerve to do what he was doing. She exhaled shakily as Ash’s hands caressed her face, “A-A-Ash…I-I…” Misty was about to mirror Ash’s movements and caress his face, but suddenly she heard a sneeze coming from behind one of the bushes next to the gym, and she jumped away from Ash and grabbed Gyarados’s Pokéball and held it up high, “Alright, out of there whoever you are!” she shouted threateningly.

“Wait Mist!” Ash grabbed the Gym Leader’s arm and slowly pulled it down, much to the confusion of the redhead, “Alright guys, come on out and meet Misty.” Ash said, somewhat disappointed that he hadn’t gotten up the nerve to say what was really on his heart.

Nervously, both Cilan and Iris rose up from behind the hedge and came out from behind it to meet the girl who had almost beaten the snot out of Ash. “Greetings Misty, I am Cilan, one of the Gym Leaders of the Striaton Gym in the Unova Region, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He said in his usual well-mannered way.

“And I’m Iris; I don’t have an official title. But I am looking to become a Dragon Pokémon Master!” Iris exclaimed.

“Wait, you’re not looking to become a top coordinator?” Misty asked in shock.

“Uh, no…why do you ask?” Iris blinked in confusion.

“No, it’s just that both of the girls Ash travelled with after I stopped travelling with him have been coordinators; I’m a little surprised that you’re not one. Did Ash trash your bike too?” Misty glanced at Ash with a teasing smirk after saying that.

“Hey!” Ash exclaimed indignantly, “You got your bike back, are you ever gonna let that go?”

“What on earth are you talking about? I don’t even own a bike.” Iris said, looking back and forth at Ash and Misty.

“Oh you mean he never told you?” Misty smirked at Ash who was waving his hands back and forth; trying to signal to Misty not to tell them the story…she got it, but chose to ignore it. “When I first met Ash, I fished him out of a river with my special lure, and as thanks…he stole my bike, trashed it, and that’s how I wound up travelling with him, and he did the exact same thing with May and Dawn, his other two travelling partners when he met them.”

“Look, in my defense, it was technically Pikachu that trashed your bikes.” Ash suddenly got blasted with a ‘Thunderbolt’ that left him completely fried and his hair sticking out in all directions, “Thanks for that Pikachu.” The trainer grumbled.

“Serves you right for throwing poor Pikachu under the bus!” Misty exclaimed, “Shame on you Ash!”

“Yeah! Quit being such a little kid!” Iris added.

“Arrgh!” Ash started banging his head against the gym wall, there was that insult again, “Misty, quick! Use one of your insults on me! I am so tired of Iris calling me a kid! That is the only insult she knows!”

Misty looked at Iris, who just shrugged at her, “Hey, you gotta come up with other insults, in Ash’s defense; he’s not the same little kid he was when I met him.” Misty said.

“Thank you!” Ash shouted.

“However I’m still not willing to say he’s not as dense as a brick.” Misty said with a smirk.

Ash face-faulted after that, but he quickly recovered and walked back up to the group, “Well, if it’s ok with you Mist, I’m gonna go inside and get cleaned up.”

“Hey yeah! Come on in everyone!” Misty motioned for the group to follow her, and upon walking into the gym, the group saw most of Misty’s Pokémon splashing around and enjoying themselves in the main pool. “Hey guys! We have company!” The Pokémon looked over and saw two unfamiliar trainers…and Ash. One Pokémon was absolutely ecstatic about seeing Ash again, and quickly jumped out of the pool and bounded over to jump into his arms, “Azurill missed you too apparently.” Misty giggled.

“Hiya Azurill!” Ash laughed, “You’re getting big! You gonna evolve into a Marill soon?”

“I’ve been thinking the same thing; I’ve been working with Azurill for a while now so she should be just about ready to evolve. Of course without Brock around, it’s hard for me to tell for sure.” Misty replied for the young Pokémon.

“I can help you with that!” Cilan suddenly got up close to Azurill with a magnifying glass in his hand, “It’s evaluating time!” Cilan took Azurill from Ash and placed her into the bewildered redhead’s arms, and began looking both Azurill and Misty over.

“Ash…what is he doing?” Misty asked nervously, a sweat-drop on her face as Cilan stuck his magnifying glass right in front of her face.

“Uh, lemme explain.” Ash chuckled, scratching the back of his head, “See, Cilan’s a Pokémon Connoisseur, he’s able to evaluate how strong the relationship between a trainer and a Pokémon is just by looking at them! But...I guess since he’s never met you or Azurill before, he has to look…closely.”

“Indeed!” Cilan affirmed, “I’ve never been able to see an Azurill in person before, when I met Ash’s Pikachu for the first time, I was ecstatic! It’s a very rare occasion when a Kanto Pokémon makes its way all the way to Unova!” Cilan backed off and put his magnifying glass away. “According to my observations, you and your Azurill share a very special bond!”

“I coulda told you that Cilan!” Ash exclaimed, “Misty loves her Pokémon! She’s working on becoming a Water Pokémon Master after all, that’s part of the reason why I like her so much!”

Misty suddenly blushed at that, “Wait, what?”

Ash also blushed when he realized what he had said, “W-W-Well you know what I mean, you’re my best friend!”

“Oh…right, o-of course.” Misty looked away and cleared her throat before turning her attention back to Iris and Cilan, “So, as long as you all are here, how’d you like to take a swim?”

“That sounds great! I was so bored on my way here! It’s about time I got to enjoy myself! I’ll go get my swimsuit!” Iris hurried off into the gym to find a place to change.

“Hey wait! You don’t know where you’re going!” Misty called out. Unfortunately, Iris had already disappeared into the gym. “She’s gonna get lost.”

“I’ll go after her,” Cilan volunteered, “Just tell me where your restrooms are and I’ll lead her there, I am the navigator of the group after all.”

“Oh so it’s your job to keep Ash from getting everybody lost.” Misty giggled, “The restrooms are over there, go get Iris and get changed. It’s been a long time since I’ve had any company around here.”

“Thank you, we’ll be right back.” Cilan jogged off in search of Iris, leaving the two best friends alone once again.

“What did you mean when you said it’s been a long time since you’ve had company? Haven’t Brock and Tracey been showing up? And come to think of it, where are your sisters? They haven’t gone on another cruise have they?” Ash’s temper kicked in when he said that, he didn’t appreciate the first time Misty’s sisters did that and left her all alone…not to mention take his best friend away from him.

“No, they’re around here somewhere, but be honest Ash; do you honestly believe that I consider my sisters as company? They barely acknowledge my existence as it is…well…” Misty tapped her chin, “Maybe I’m being unfair to Daisy, after all it was her who helped me get all dolled up for the uh…photo.” Misty blushed a little at the mention of the photograph she sent.

Ash suddenly felt shameful again, “Wow Mist…” he said regretfully, “I had no idea you were so lonely here…I always thought that you still had friends come over and you were able to just hang out…now I really feel bad about not calling you more.”

“Oh Ash,” Misty didn’t feel upset at the black haired trainer for that anymore, seeing how heartbroken he was over his mistake had softened her up. She raised his head so he could look at her, “I forgive you, ok? I’m just glad you’re here now, and we can have fun just like old times! Come on, get in your bathing suit, we’re gonna do some swimming, it’ll be nice to have some human company in the pool for a change.”

Ash smiled and suddenly brought the redhead in for a tight embrace, much to her shock…and pleasure. “Misty…there’s…something I wanted to tell you.” He said, stroking the redhead’s hair as he held her.

Misty’s heart was beating a mile a minute again, Ash was hugging her! And stroking her hair! This was really a dream come true…and…it seemed like it was about to reach the pinnacle moment. “Easy Misty, don’t get ahead of yourself, he might be saying something else…” As much as she tried to convince herself that this was another ‘just a friend’ thing, her heart was screaming that this was about to become the moment she had been waiting for since the day she met him. “What is it Ash?” she asked softly.

Ash pulled back, holding her shoulders and looking right into her cerulean blue eyes, which seemed to shining in anticipation, “Misty…I…”
“What’s going on here?” After seeing Iris come out in her lavender one-piece, the two broke apart, blushing profusely. “Come on! I’m already ready!”

“I’ll um…see you in the pool.” Misty hurried off to change, leaving Ash to stand there in disappointment.

“Iris, I think you interrupted something important.” Cilan said.

“Something important? What do you…” Iris’s eyes suddenly widened, “Ohhhh…I’m sorry Ash, I didn’t mean to.” Iris hung her head in shame.
Ash smiled sympathetically and pet Iris’s head as he walked by to change into his bathing suit, “I almost did it…I’ll have to make it work later on.”

“I ruined things didn’t I?” Iris sighed sadly.

Cilan placed a hand on the dragon trainer’s shoulder and smiled at her, “Just a simple case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s not your fault. Besides, I have no doubt that before the day is over, Ash will confess his feelings to Misty.”

“Yeah…” Cilan suddenly wanted to try and hint towards his own feelings towards her, since she seemed to be getting a deeper understanding of what love was all about…but then the old Iris came back, “I wonder where Misty has her kitchen, I’m kinda hungry.”

“Oh well. Maybe next time.” Cilan sighed.

“What?”

“Never mind Iris, come on, race you to the pool!” Cilan took off running.

“Hey! No fair getting a head start!” Iris chased after the connoisseur, splashing in after him and making a wave that threw a lot of Pokémon, including Pikachu and Axew, out of the water. “Sorry guys!”

While they had fun, both Ash and Misty were having similar thoughts. Ash was kicking himself over not telling Misty what was really on his heart, while Misty was trying to figure out what was going on in Ash’s heart. He was acting so out of character, it honestly scared her. But there was nothing they could do at the moment, so they decided to just get changed and try to have fun. Unfortunately, they both came out from changing at the same time, so they wound up literally bumping into each other. And the sight of each other made them both blush.

“Whoa…she’s definitely not the ‘runt’ anymore.” Misty was wearing a light blue two-piece swimsuit that showed a small amount of cleavage, and it was quite clear that Misty had kept herself in good shape, as her stomach was flat and toned while her legs were well defined.

“Wow…Ash really has grown, look at those abs!” Ash was wearing simple red swimming trunks, but what caught the redhead’s eye was how built Ash had become. His abs had become strong and toned, and he was even beginning to develop pecs, all the training and travelling had done a great job giving Ash exercise.

“Well…you’re uh…lookin’ good Mist.” Ash said bashfully, scratching the back of his head.

“Thanks.” Misty giggled, “You’re not so bad yourself.”

The two just stood there and smiled at each other for a moment, “Come on Ash, we can’t stand here forever, quit ogling her and say something!” Ash made a move like he was going to run off, “Last one to the pool is a rotten Exeggcute!”

“Ash wait! The pool area is…” it was too late, by the time she had said that, Ash had slipped on a puddle and landed flat on his back with a hard thud, “Oooh…” Misty cringed, “That had to hurt.” Misty hurried over to Ash as carefully as she could, and knelt down in front of the trainer who had swirls in his eyes, “Ash? Ash, you ok?”

Ash babbled incoherently for a moment or two, but eventually he blinked a few times and came to his senses. “Did I win?” he asked, rubbing his aching head.

“You moron! You could’ve cracked your skull in half! Did you come all the way here to die?!” Misty spat incredulously.

“Not last I checked.” Ash slowly got up and flexed the areas of his body that ached to check the extent of the damage. Luckily all he felt was a slight pain in his back and tailbone, “Everything seems to be intact.”

“You got lucky Ash! Maybe you should’ve been more careful instead of acting like a little…” Iris was abruptly cut off.

“Don’t say ‘kid’!” Misty exclaimed, If you’re gonna insult Ash, you’re gonna have to come up with something more original than that!”

“Besides Iris, I believe we had a similar race as well, Ash just got unlucky is all that happened.” Cilan added.

Iris, mountain of hair and all, just sunk under the water and sulked after nobody took her side, “Ash better ‘confess’ or whatever soon, this Misty girl is cramping my style!”

“How does she handle all that hair anyway?” Misty asked. Both Ash and Cilan just shrugged at that. “I’ll have to ask her later.”

“Why? Are you planning on growing your hair out?” Ash asked.

The way Ash had asked the question gave Misty the impression that he was actually hoping she would say yes. “Well I already have grown it out a bit…but I’m considering letting it grow a little longer.” She said cautiously.

Ash beamed at that response, “I think you’d look great if you grew out your hair, I did always like it when you let your hair down.”

Misty blushed and smiled coyly, and decided to oblige to Ash’s desires and let her hair out of its hairband, and shook out her hair so that it framed her face, “Like this?”

Ash looked at her dreamily, “Yeah…just like that.” It took him a moment to realize he was ogling her again, and when his brain kicked back in, he blushed and dove into the water as if to hide, “Gotta stop that! I’m gonna freak her out!”

Misty just stood there in a daze, one moment Ash was staring at her, the next he was gone, “Ok?”

“He’s probably just a little flustered.” Cilan chuckled, “After all, it’s not every day we come face to face with a beautiful woman, let alone one that makes Ash react that way.”

“Beautiful? Naw, not me, I’m the tomboy of the family.” She replied with a dismissive laugh, “But a girl can hope that Ash thinks that.” Misty sighed inwardly and got into the water as well, and together the group frolicked and goofed off, feeling like little kids again as they were able to play without even having to think about it. That is until another knock at the door. “I’ll get it.” Misty swam to the edge of the pool and climbed out, and still dripping wet, she answered the door to find a young ten year old boy looking up at her, “Can I help you?”

“Are you Misty? The Cerulean City Gym Leader?” the boy asked.

“That’s me, are you a challenger looking to get a badge?” she asked back.

“You got it!” the boy replied, “The name’s Justin! And I’ve come all the way from across the city to get a badge from you!” he exclaimed determinedly.

“Well…” Misty looked back over her shoulder and saw Ash and her new friends still playing in the pool, and for a moment she seriously considered telling this rookie trainer that the gym was closed for the day, which of course was false. But her sense of duty kicked in at the last minute, and Misty switched gears and came back to being the mature sixteen year old she had grown to be, with a sense of responsibility. “Alright, just gimme a minute to get ready.” She nodded and smiled at the boy before closing the door on him. Depressed, the redhead sighed and went over to the pool to break the news to the frolicking teenagers, “Guys, you gotta get out.”

The trio looked at Misty with confusion, “Why? What’s the matter Mist?” Ash asked, leaning on the edge of the pool.

While Misty worked on squeezing the water out of her hair, she explained, “There’s a challenger who wants a battle at the door. And I’m sure Cilan can relate to this…you know…duty calls.” Misty put her hair band back on and her ponytail returned, much to Ash’s disappointment.

“Indeed Misty.” Cilan replied, “But this is a wonderful opportunity! My brother Cress happens to specialize in water-type Pokémon as well, so I’m very interested in seeing how you approach a gym battle.”

“Really? A water-type leader? That’s awesome! And sure, I’ll show you what I’m made of, maybe I can even teach Ash a lesson or two, just like old times.” Misty smirked at the trainer and winked at him playfully.

Ash just smirked right back, “Not a chance.”

Once Misty dried off and changed back into her clothes and vest, she returned all her Pokémon to their Pokéballs, and got onto the platform to face Justin, who she had let in moments ago. “Daisy!” she shouted, “Get out here and referee will ya?”

A few minutes later, Daisy came walking down the stairs that led to where the family of sisters actually had their bedrooms, “Alright, I’m coming already.” She said with a huff. When she reached Misty however, she noticed Ash and two others sitting in the stands, and the blonde had to fight herself in order to not let loose a happy squeal, “Misty, he’s here! Our plan worked!” she whispered excitedly.

“Yes Daisy, he is, now get to your post, we can talk about this later, I have a challenger over there!” Misty hissed back.

Daisy put up her hands in self-defense and walked to the side of the battlefield with a smug smirk on her face, but before turning around, she couldn’t help but mess with Misty a little, “Oh hi Ash! Like, when did you get here?” she asked dramatically.

Ash sweat-dropped at the exaggerated greeting, “Hi Daisy,” he waved at the eldest Waterflower, “Been here for a while, getting ready to see what Misty can do.”

“Well then you’re in for quite a treat! And I’m like; sure you’ll introduce me to your friends later right?” Daisy asked.

“Sure thing…now…could you turn around? I kinda wanna watch this battle!” Ash replied.

“Oh fine, if you insist.” When Daisy turned around, she giggled girlishly when she saw Misty’s furious expression, “You can scowl all you want to little sis, I’m not afraid of you, not today at least.”

“Who’s that Ash?” Iris asked.

“Oh that’s Misty’s oldest sister Daisy, she and Misty’s other two older sisters Lily and Violet used to ‘run’ the gym when Misty was travelling with me.” Ash explained.

“Why do you say it ‘like that’?” Iris asked.

“Well Daisy, Lily, and Violet never treated Misty very well when we were younger, calling her the runt of the litter, they never saw her as ‘one of them’, and their idea of a gym battle was just giving any challenger that walked in a badge, rather than actually battling them. They were more concerned about their water shows than anything else. That’s why when I showed up here, Misty took it upon herself to pick up her sisters’ slack and battle me for the badge…to be quite honest, I woulda lost handily if it weren’t for Team Rocket showing up and wrecking the place, back then Misty had way more experience battling than I did.” Ash explained.

“Wow, she’s awesome!” Iris exclaimed.

“Indeed she is.” Cilan’s tone of voice seemed to display infatuation.

“Who is?” Iris asked.

“Her! Look at that lovely woman, she’s simply astounding.” Cilan replied.

“Daisy?” Ash had to hold in a laugh, “She’s something alright.”

“I think she’s nothing but a blonde bimbo.” Iris crossed her arms and turned her back to Cilan, her cheeks puffed out in anger.

Cilan was about to vehemently object to Iris’s comment, but when he noticed her angry expression, he couldn’t help but smile, “So she does have traits I can hope for, she’s jealous!” Cilan looked forward again and smiled again, “Well perhaps she’s not too special. Besides, I know some pretty special people already.”

Hearing that immediately lifted the purple-haired girl’s spirits, although to be totally honest, she wasn’t sure why. “So come on already! Let’s get this battle started!” she shouted.

“Alright then!” Looking around to make sure Lily and Violet weren’t around so she could skip the “likes”, Daisy began her announcements, “This battle between Challenger Justin and Gym Leader Misty is about to get underway! This battle will be a three on three match and only the challenger is allowed to substitute Pokémon!”

“Alright rookie, you ready to see what I’m made of?!” Misty called out.

“I’m not your typical rookie trainer, you just wait and see!” Justin replied.

Ash laughed, “That kid’s got the same fire that I had when I was his age.”

“You still have that same childish fire, little kid.” Iris smiled as she was finally able to get her insult in, finding it even more amusing when Ash gave her a dark look. “Just saying.”

“Let the battle begin!” Daisy shouted.

“Now John! Come on out!” Justin tossed out a Pokéball, and a Blastoise emerged from it, much to the shock of everyone else.

“A rookie trainer with a Blastoise?! How is that possible?!” Ash exclaimed in shock.

Ironically enough, Justin had heard Ash’s comments, “You like? See my cousin’s been teaching me about Pokémon and how to train them since I was five years old, so when I became a trainer, he let me have some of his older Pokémon so they could travel again! Ain’t that right John?” the Blastoise turned around and nodded at the spiky-haired boy, and then turned his attention back to Misty.

Misty admittedly was caught off guard by the appearance of a fully-evolved Pokémon, most if not all the trainers she had battled over the past few weeks had been rookie trainers just starting out on their journeys, and the most they would show up with was an Ivysaur or a Pikachu, who she would then take down without much of a sweat. But then she recalled the man who had challenged her the day she sent the letter, he had a Shiftry, and Gyarados had managed to take him down after a tough battle. Remembering that battle brought a smile to her face, as she realized she might actually get a decent challenge this time, “I’ve been looking forward to the day when a trainer would show up with some powerful Pokémon; I haven’t had a good challenge in ages!” Misty grabbed a Pokéball off her belt and smiled at it, “And if you’re gonna go with a water-type, then I’m gonna go with this Pokémon! Misty calls Starmie!” the redhead tossed out her own choice, and the Mysterious Pokémon appeared and landed on the platform, ready for a battle.

“Amazing! Iris, we’re about to witness a full on Kanto League Gym Battle! Ash, use your Pokédex please, I would love to get some information on all these fascinating new Pokémon!” Cilan exclaimed.

Ash laughed, “New Pokémon. I guess new just depends on where you’re from, I grew up with these Pokémon.” Ash pulled out his Pokédex and activated the scan setting, “So which one first?”

“Do that one!” Iris exclaimed, pointing at John the Blastoise, “It kinda looks like a dragon!”

“Kinda.” Ash shook his head with amusement and scanned the turtle.

“Blastoise, the Shellfish Pokémon. Blastoise's strength lies in its power, rather than its speed. Its shell is like armor and attacks from the hydro cannons on its back are virtually unstoppable.” The Pokédex chirped.

“Wow! That’s amazing! I want an unstoppable Blastoise!” Iris squealed.

“Maybe we’ll find you a Squirtle before we head back to Unova. Squirtle is the starter Pokémon that evolves into Blastoise by the way,” Ash chuckled, “Ok Cilan, I’m assuming you wanna hear about Misty’s Starmie?”

“Indeed I do Ash; it’s quite an exotic looking Pokémon!” Cilan replied.

“Starmie, the Mysterious Pokémon. Starmie's center section - the core - glows brightly in seven colors. Because of its luminous nature, this Pokémon has been given the nickname ‘the gem of the sea’.” The Pokédex chirped.

“Astounding! And Misty has one!” Cilan exclaimed.

“Starmie’s one of Misty’s oldest Pokémon, but I don’t remember her using it much, I wonder what she’s got up her sleeve.” Ash replied.

“I’ll start this battle off! John, use ‘Hydro Pump’!” Justin ordered. Blastoise’s cannons aimed directly at the sea star and fired a dual blast of highly pressurized water at it.

“Quick Starmie, into the pool and dodge it!” Starmie acknowledged Misty’s order and jumped into the pool, making the water from the ‘Hydro Pump’ splash on the platform and make a huge mess, effectively getting Misty wet again.

“Oops, sorry about that!” Justin chuckled sheepishly.

“Hey don’t worry about it! That’s what happens in battles! Just like this happens! Starmie, leap out and attack with ‘Rapid Spin’!” Starmie burst out of the pool and came spinning at Blastoise, and the turtle just couldn’t react fast enough to dodge as it took the hit and staggered backwards slightly.

“You ok John?” Justin asked. Blastoise easily shook it off and got back into battle-ready stance, “Alright then!”

“That Blastoise sure has some tough defense.” Cilan marveled.

“Most Blastoise do, in fact that’s usually their trademark stat.” Ash replied.

“You wanna use ‘Rapid Spin’? We can play that game! Go John!” the nicknamed Blastoise withdrew back into his shell and began spinning at a high speed, then it leaped onto the water and began bouncing like a skipping stone towards the sea star.

“Quick Starmie, you use ‘Rapid Spin’!” Misty countered. Starmie went spinning again, but this time Blastoise’s size came into play as Starmie was sent careening into the pool after colliding with the turtle, “Oh no, Starmie!”

“Maybe she’s not as awesome as I thought, what was she thinking trying to overpower something six times her own Pokémon’s size?” Iris asked in confusion.

Ash wasn’t convinced that Misty would make such a rookie mistake, “She’s up to something.”

“I can’t believe you would try that! John’s way bigger than your Starmie! Alright John, use ‘Ice Beam’!” Blastoise fired two beams of ice at the sea star, but Misty had already gotten what she wanted.

“Ah hah! Now Starmie, dodge and use ‘Thunderbolt’!” Starmie quickly burst out of the water again just as the beams struck the pool and froze it over, and the Mysterious Pokémon unleashed a furious blast of electricity that severely weakened the turtle. “Nice job Starmie!”

“Awesome! I didn’t know Misty taught Starmie ‘Thunderbolt’!” Ash exclaimed.

“She’s quite an impressive Gym Leader, that much is for certain.” Cilan added.

“We’re not finished yet!” Justin shouted determinedly, “Use ‘Rapid Spin’ again!” Blastoise shook off the pain and charged for Starmie, but the sea star easily dodged. “We’re too slow!” Justin growled.

“Let’s finish this Starmie! One more ‘Thunderbolt’!” Starmie obeyed the redhead and fired, and this time the electric shock was too much for John the Blastoise to withstand, as he fainted on top of the frozen water.

“Blastoise is unable to battle! Starmie is the winner!” Daisy announced.

“You battled hard John, take a good rest!” Justin returned the fully-evolved starter to his Pokéball and reached for his next choice, “You won’t be so lucky this time! Now, Gardevoir, come on out!” Justin’s choice happened to be a psychic-type Gardevoir, who landed on the ice created by Blastoise and awaited orders.

“Ooh! That’s a pretty one!” Iris exclaimed, “Scan it Ash!”

Ash nodded and did just that, “Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokémon. Gardevoir has the psychokinetic power to distort the dimensions and create a small black hole. This Pokémon will try to protect its Trainer even at the risk of its own life.” The Pokédex chirped.

“Such loyalty, and what a fitting description for such a beautiful creature such as itself.” Cilan commented.

“This is my cousin’s Gardevoir! She once saved his life when she sensed an incoming Fearow and she blasted it outta the sky with ‘Charge Beam’ before it could grab him!” Justin exclaimed.

“Well I’m impressed by that!” Misty quipped, “But is she any good in an actual gym battle?”

“See for yourself! Ok Gardevoir, let’s show off that ‘Charge Beam’!” Gardevoir’s body began sparking with electricity, and then she fired the beam of lightning at Starmie, who was unprepared for that first move. “Yeah, now we’re cooking!”

“That ‘Charge Beam’ was impressive.” Cilan said.

“Yeah, but now Misty has to watch out, ‘cause ‘Charge Beam’ has a pretty good chance of raising special attack power!” Ash added.

“Starmie, can you still battle?” Misty asked. The sea star’s core blinked a couple of times, but it eventually got back up and faced its opponent, “Ok, ‘Recover’!” Starmie’s body began to glow as it made an attempt to regain lost strength.

“No you don’t! Gardevoir, finish it with ‘Magical Leaf’!” Gardevoir raised her hands above her head, and glowing leaves formed above it, then she swung her hands forward and the grass-type attack headed straight for the still recovering Starmie.

“Stop recovering Starmie and dodge it!” Misty shouted. Starmie obeyed and leaped up to avoid the attack, but the leaves came back around and nailed Starmie in the back, and when the sea star fell, it turned over and revealed that its core was blinking, signaling its defeat. “Aww Starmie.”

“Starmie is unable to battle, Gardevoir is the winner!” Daisy announced.

“Yeah Gardevoir! One down!” Justin cheered.

“Magical Leaf’ is an attack that rarely ever misses…so being a water-type Gym Leader, Misty’s at an extreme disadvantage.” Cilan said.

“You don’t know Misty like I do! She’ll pull this off! You watch!” Ash exclaimed.

“Return Starmie!” Misty returned the Mysterious Pokémon to its Pokéball for a well-earned rest, “You did a great job Starmie, thanks!” Misty then looked up at Justin, “Your Gardevoir’s got some good moves, I have to admit…but now it’s time to get serious!” Misty pulled off another Pokéball and looked at it before throwing it, “Misty calls Gyarados!” With a menacing roar, Misty’s powerhouse emerged and towered over the psychic-type, who couldn’t help but be intimidated by the giant Pokémon glaring at her.

At the sight of Gyarados, Iris’s eyes lit up, “Wow! Amazing! Ash, scan it scan it scan it! It’s just gotta be a dragon-type! It looks so awesome!” Iris squealed.

“Uh, you’re gonna be disappointed by this.” Ash pulled out his Pokédex again to scan Misty’s Gyarados.
“Gyarados, the Atrocious Pokémon. Once Gyarados goes on a rampage, its ferociously violent blood doesn't calm until it has burned everything down. There are records of this Pokémon's rampages lasting a whole month.” The Pokédex chirped.

“Ok, so why should I be disappointed?” Iris asked.

“Gyarados looks like a dragon. But its typing is water-flying, not dragon.” Ash replied.

“Oh…” Iris was noticeably disappointed as Ash predicted, but she wasn’t totally let down, “Well…at least it looks like a dragon. I still approve!”

“Ok Gardevoir, hit it with ‘Charge Beam’!” Justin ordered. Gardevoir charged up power again, but this time Misty was ready.

“Use ‘Protect’!” Gyarados acknowledged the order and formed an unbreakable barrier that the beam feebly bounced off of. “Great, it protected Gyarados, but all those ‘Charge Beams’ are powering up Gardevoir’s special attack power! Gotta think fast…” Misty looked at the field, and realized that Gardevoir was still standing on the ice. “That’s it! Gyarados can swim…but maybe…just maybe…Gardevoir can’t!”

Ash smiled as he watched Misty battle, “I know that gleam in her eye, Misty’s got an idea!”

“Gyarados! Break through the ice!” Misty ordered. Gyarados roared and shattered the top layer of the pool, leaving Gardevoir to stumble and try to regain her balance on a lone chunk of leftover ice.

“Oh no! Gardevoir!” Justin shouted.

“Finish the job Gyarados! Use ‘Crunch’!” Gyarados burst out of the water, and the Atrocious Pokémon caught Gardevoir in its mouth, much to the shock and horror of everyone else.

“Did Gyarados just swallow Gardevoir?!” Iris squeaked.

Luckily however, Gyarados slowly swam over to Justin, who had been watching with his jaw hanging down. Gyarados spit Gardevoir out of its mouth, and the psychic-type hit the ground hard, covered in the dragon’s saliva. “Gardevoir?” Justin gulped. Gardevoir tried to push herself up and keep fighting, but the attack’s power paired with the trauma of almost being swallowed was just too much for Gardevoir to handle, as she fainted. “Gardevoir, no!”

“Wow…uh…” Daisy shook her head and came to her senses, “Gardevoir is unable to battle! Gyarados is the winner!”

“Astounding, I’ve never seen a strategy that drastic before! I was sincerely fearful that Gyarados had actually devoured Gardevoir!” Cilan said in astonishment.

“Even I gotta admit…I knew Misty had nerve, but I didn’t think she had that much nerve.” Ash added.

“Oh don’t be such a kid!” Iris scoffed, “That’s just what dragons do! They overpower their opponents and annihilate them!”

Ash face-palmed and leaned his elbow against his knee, “She said it again, she said it again!” the trainer grumbled to himself.

“Gardevoir, return!” Justin returned the now slimy psychic-type to her ball, “Don’t worry, I’ll get you all cleaned up.” Justin placed Gardevoir’s Pokéball back onto his belt and looked up at Misty. “You’re a lot tougher than I thought you’d be, I never would’ve seen that coming! I might even have nightmares about that!”

“Don’t worry; I train Gyarados almost every day! It’d never actually eat anyone! I’ve made very sure about that.” Misty replied, “But enough about that, choose your final Pokémon!”

“Oh I will…this one’s my secret weapon!” Justin pulled out his final Pokéball and looked at with a smirk, “Being cooped up here in Cerulean City, I’m willing to bet you’ve never even seen one of these!” Justin wound up and threw the Pokéball, “Lilligant, come on out!” Upon release, the denizen of Unova did a little dance before focusing on the task at hand.

“A Lilligant?!” the group in the stands shouted.

While the bystanders were shocked to see a Lilligant in Kanto, Misty had reeled back in apprehension. Justin was right; she had never seen anything like this Pokémon before. Just by appearance alone she could predict it was a grass-type…but she had no idea what special traits this Pokémon had, or what Justin had in store for her. “Gotta keep it together!”

“Misty looks overwhelmed.” Iris commented.

“I can understand why, having never seen a Pokémon like that, it’s difficult for her to come up with a strategy.” Cilan added.

“Did I forget to mention my cousin moved to Unova a few weeks ago? He sent me his Lilligant specifically for my battle against you! I may even keep her to go up against the Gym Leader in Pewter City!” Justin exclaimed cockily.

That aroused Misty’s ire. “You better not pick on poor Forrest! He’s only been a Gym Leader for a couple of months!” Misty snarled, shaking a fist at her challenger. “Now you’ve made me mad! I’ve got a trick or two up my sleeve too! Gyarados, unleash your ‘Flamethrower’!” Gyarados opened its mouth and a blazing inferno came blasting out of it.

Lilligant took the hit with some difficulty, as Justin was unprepared for the unlikely move choice, “No, Lilligant!”

“Yeah! Misty’s gonna take the fight to this brat!” Ash whooped.

“I wouldn’t get my hopes up too soon Ash.” Cilan replied.

“Whaddya mean?” Ash asked.

“Look at Misty,” Cilan pointed at the redheaded Gym Leader, “Look at her eyes, her eyes deceive her. I can tell she’s still uncertain about what she’s facing and what she’s doing. Depending on what Justin calls next, Misty could quite possibly seal her own fate.”

The more Ash examined Misty, the more he realized that Cilan was right. Jumping headfirst into a battle with a Pokémon from a region she knew nothing about, very little at the best, Misty was nervous about what she would call out next…but even with all those facts taken into consideration…Ash still felt like something else was off…like Misty was worried about looking bad. “What’s the matter Misty?”

“Alright, use ‘Quiver Dance’!” Lilligant began doing a beautiful dance, which instinctively got Misty to counter.

“Quick, use ‘Protect’!” Misty shouted. Gyarados created the barrier, but when Lilligant didn’t make a move to attack and just stopped dancing, Misty reeled back again, “W-Wha? It didn’t do anything!”

“Quiver Dance’ raises the special stats Misty!” Ash shouted.

Misty’s head twisted to meet Ash’s gaze, and then back at Lilligant who even seemed to look stronger and faster than it did just a moment ago. “Oh boy.”

“Lilligant, finish it with ‘Giga Drain’!” Before Misty or Gyarados could even react, Lilligant leaped onto Gyarados’s head and began sapping the energy from its body.

“Gyarados, no!” Misty watched as her ferocious powerhouse was drained of all its power, and as soon as the grass-type leaped back onto its side of the stage, Gyarados became limp and crashed into the water, making a huge splash that made everyone in the area soaking wet. “G-Gyarados…”

“Unbelievable…” Daisy mumbled to herself, “Gyarados is unable to battle, the winner is…uh, Lilligant, was it?”

“Yeah that’s right! Way to go Lilligant! One more to go!” Justin cheered.

“I can’t believe this is happening!” Ash growled.

“Are you mad at Misty?” Iris asked.

“Yes! I mean no! I mean…” Ash ripped off his hat and tugged on his hair in frustration, “It’s my fault!”

“Your fault? What are you talking about?” Cilan asked.

“I should’ve kept in better touch! I could’ve told her about all these new awesome Pokémon from Unova, I could’ve told her how they battled! Now she’s down there struggling because she doesn’t know what to be ready for because she’s never been able to see or even hear about Unova Pokémon!” Ash hid his face in his hands, shaking his head in remorse, “Why didn’t I tell her?”

Meanwhile Misty had taken a moment to look up at the stands…and her heart cracked a little when she saw Ash with his head in his hands. “Great, now he thinks I’m weak!” Misty closed her eyes for a moment and blinked back tears, and she stood tall and scowled at her opponent, “I don’t care who you come at me with,” Misty decided to go back to her roots, and convert her sadness into rage, and let it fuel her, “I’m not letting you win! Now Corsola! Come on out!” Corsola emerged and growled at the grass-type she was facing.

“Oooh, that’s cute!” Iris giggled.

“Corsola, the Coral Pokémon. Corsola's branches glitter very beautifully in seven colors when they catch sunlight. If any branch breaks off, this Pokémon grows it back in just one night.” The Pokédex chirped.

“I must say, seeing all these unique Pokémon in battle has been exhilarating!” Cilan said.

“Come on Misty! Take this guy down!” Ash shouted. But Ash reeled back when Misty shot him a dark look, “What’d I do?” he asked in confusion.

“We’re not wasting any time! Lilligant, ‘Giga Drain’!” Lilligant quickly leaped for the Coral Pokémon to end the battle in one hit, but this time, Misty had it called.

“Mirror Coat’!” the redhead shouted.

“W-What?! Lilligant turn back!” But it was too late. Corsola leaped up to meet Lilligant in the air, and when Corsola smashed into the grass-type, Lilligant took the full effects of ‘Mirror Coat’ and fell to the water with a splash. When it came back up, it was limply floating. “I don’t believe it…”

“Lilligant is unable to battle! The winner is Corsola and the match goes to Gym Leader Misty!” Daisy announced.

“She did it! I knew she could!” Ash was now taking leaps and bounds to reach his best friend and congratulate her, “Misty, you did it! You totally baited this guy!”

Misty could see Ash was trying to be nice, but she was still bothered by his expression before, so all she could relinquish was a small smile before walking past him to meet with Justin. “You sure gave me a run for my money.”

“Yeah…I really thought that Lilligant would be the one who’d get me the win, but I guess you’re too tough to go down that easy.” Justin sighed, “I’ll be back.”

“And I’ll be here.” Misty shook the trainer’s hand and watched as he walked out of the gym, “But he’s right…” she said to herself, “I looked like such an idiot using ‘Protect’ against a stat boosting move.”

“Misty, what’s the matter? You won…” Ash asked. Misty just walked as fast as she could out of the gym to try and keep from being with Ash. “I don’t understand…Cilan, what’s going on?” Ash asked hopelessly.

“I don’t know Ash…but I do know that you have to be the one to talk to her.” Cilan replied, “Go after her, finish what you started.”

Ash nodded determinedly and chased after the redhead, with Pikachu and Misty’s Azurill bounding after him. As he did that, Daisy came up to join Cilan and Iris, “Wow, that was quite a battle…Misty really struggled with that Pokémon, was it from your region?”

“Yep, sure was!” Iris exclaimed.

“Ash felt it was his fault that he hadn’t informed Misty of Unova Pokémon, but I don’t see how he can blame himself, it isn’t his fault Misty’s spent so much time here.” Cilan explained.

“No…it isn’t.” Daisy scratched her chin in thought, “I have another idea.”

“Misty!” Ash crashed through the doors of the gym and found Misty standing there with her arms wrapped around herself, “Misty, what’s the matter? You won!”

“I got lucky Ash, ok?!” Misty spat, turning on her heels to scream at him, “I saw you watching me, shaking your head in disappointment…well what do you expect huh?! I’ve been stuck here for years! I don’t know anything about Unova Pokémon! How am I supposed to know what to do?!” Misty turned around and started to cry a little, “Just…pack your things and go! I don’t need you here to patronize me.”

Ash couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He didn’t think Misty was weak, he thought the total opposite in fact. Seeing Misty take down Lilligant despite her obvious disadvantage was something he honestly never expected to happen. But he realized then why she might’ve thought that. She must’ve seen him when he was blaming himself for her lack of knowledge and misinterpreted it as disappoint in her. Upon that revelation, Ash felt his heart break. There was no holding back anymore, he either did what he came to do, or go back to Unova with his heart in turmoil for the rest of his journey. Without any more hesitation, Ash ran up to Misty and hugged her as tight as he could from behind. “I wasn’t disappointed in you Misty! I was blaming myself that you didn’t know about Unova Pokémon!”

Misty was stunned by this, as she slowly removed Ash’s arms from around herself so she could face him, “Blaming yourself? Why? It’s not your fault!”

“Yes it is!” Ash shot back, “I could’ve told you about Unova Pokémon, I could’ve called you a long time ago and told you about all the awesome Pokémon I was seeing!” Ash’s voice began to crack as he fought back his sadness and remorse. “I let you down Misty; I don’t deserve to have you as a friend.”

“Don’t even say that!” Misty shook her head vigorously to object, “Ash, do you have any idea what being your friend has meant to me?”

“No…but I do know what being your friend has meant to me.” Ash hugged Misty again, hoping to draw on her strength to steady himself. “Misty…you’re nothing short of amazing; everything about you is just inspiring…” Seeing how Misty was in awe, Ash decided to try and hint even further towards his point, as he pulled her hairband off and tossed it aside, letting her still wet hair to fall around her face, “I did say I loved your hair down.” He said.

“Ash…”

“Misty, my heart can’t take being away from you anymore, if I go back to Unova without saying this…I’ll probably be miserable the rest of my journey.” Ash gulped and braced himself for what he was about to drop on Misty. “Misty…I…I-I…want you to come with me to Unova!” Ash internally kicked himself. “I chickened out again.”

Misty however, was still thrilled. “You...you want…you...!” Misty simply reacted, and leaped into Ash’s arms and kissed him passionately on the lips, knocking Ash’s hat off his head and onto the nearby Azurill’s.

Ash wasn’t sure what just happened, all he knew was that he was currently holding Misty up in the air while she kissed him. Wait, she was kissing him! Ash gripped Misty tighter and returned the gesture as best as he could, as he’d never shared a kiss with anyone else before. At least now he could safely say his first kiss was shared was someone he really loved. “Man oh man, this is AWESOME.”

When Misty realized what she was doing, she immediately pulled back from Ash’s face and saw how wide his smile was, and then she noticed that she wasn’t even on the ground, and that Ash was holding her up. “Um…I-I don’t…I don’t know what came over me…sorry.” she stammered, her face as red as it could possibly get.

“Don’t be.” Ash replied, “You just made what I really wanted to say a million times easier.”

“Um…what-what you really wanted to say? What’s that?” the redhead asked, “Oh, and um…could you put me down?”

“Oh-oh, sure!” Ash chuckled sheepishly and put the Gym Leader back onto the ground. “Well…since you kissed me and all…I feel ok saying this now…” Ash hugged her one more time, and this time Misty reciprocated without hesitation, “I love ya Mist, I really do.”

“I was dying for you to say that Ash, you have no idea how badly I wanted you to say that.” Misty kissed Ash again, just to try and release some of that pent up emotion that had been building up over years of holding back, “And I love you too, more than you even realize.” Then Misty remembered Ash’s previous offer. “But…I can’t go with you to Unova.” She said with a sad smile.

“What?” Ash’s heart dropped, “But why? Don’t you want to travel again?”

“Of course I do…but…I can’t just leave the gym, it’s my responsibility, and I can’t very well leave my sisters in charge when they barely know how to battle rookie trainers.” Misty replied.

“That won’t last long.” A voice said. The two trainers looked to the doors of the gym and saw Iris, Cilan, and Daisy all standing there. “You need to brush up on your Pokémon knowledge little sis, I think you need to take a trip to a new region…say…Unova?”

“Really?! But…what about the gym?” Misty asked.

“A week or two of Misty’s boot camp oughta help with that,” Daisy giggled, “I said I had a lot to make up for Misty, consider this me making another payment to that debt.”

“So…so I can go to Unova! Will you wait for me?” Misty asked sweetly.

“As long as you need. Maybe I can go visit Mom and Brock while I’m in Kanto. And I could always visit a certain redhead that I recently found out I’m in love with.” Ash smirked cheekily at the Gym Leader, who responded by giving him another passionate kiss on the lips, this time with her feet on the ground.

“Ew, gross.” Iris commented.

“Oh…don’t be such a little kid.” Ash replied.

“HEEEEEEY!”
_____________________

That's it! The big conclusion to the three part series inspired by the artwork of ~Simply-Nicole . The next oneshot I write will probably be for a different couple, so guess we'll wait and see what inspires me next. ^^

Description
“Ash wh…what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be trying to get into the Unova League!” Misty exclaimed, still in shock over seeing Ash in front of her.

“Well…I got this letter.” As Ash pulled out the letter Misty had sent him, he looked up briefly to see her face had suddenly become beet red, which got him to laugh softly, “And…there’s this really pretty girl in the picture that came with it…I was wondering if…maybe you knew who she was?”

“Um…y-y-yeah, I have a pretty good idea.” The redhead stammered, her heart beating too fast for her to talk correctly, “Y-You could’ve just called y’know.”

“I could’ve…but…” Ash began walking up to the Gym Leader, who seemed to be getting more flustered the closer he got, “Somehow a phone call just…wouldn’t be able to fix this empty feeling I have here.” Ash motioned to his heart, “I really have missed you y’know, and after seeing that photo of you, and that letter you sent…well…it only reminded me of just how much I missed you.”

Misty’s heart was about to burst, it sounded as if Ash was confessing or something! But…he hadn’t used the words “I love you”, all he was saying was that he missed her, which was understandable, they’d been best friends pretty much ever since they met. “I’m getting ahead of myself here, I gotta calm down!” Misty tried to loosen up a little so she could speak to Ash on a normal level…and by normal, she meant trigger an argument, “Wait, you needed a reminder of how much you missed me? That means you forgot you missed me! Which also means you forgot me!”

Ash backed up fast, he didn’t wanna be in range of Misty’s mallet in case she still carried that thing around, “I-I didn’t forget you Mist!” Now it was Ash’s turn to get flustered, as Misty began stomping up to him. Pikachu dropped his little notecard and scurried away, as he didn’t want to be a secondary target of Misty’s wrath, “I-It’s just that, I was busy you know? I try to contact you every chance I get! And that isn’t often!”

“So you’re so busy that every time you stop off at a Pokémon Center, or a contest hall, or anywhere else, that you can’t take five minutes to just call and say ‘Hey Misty, how ya doing? How goes the Gym Leader life?’? You can’t even do that?!” By this time Ash had his back to the wall of the gym, and Misty was right up in his face, unfortunately for her, being so close to him made her realize that she in fact did not have the height advantage any longer. He was taller than her, albeit barely. “That hurts Ash, it hurts a lot!”

Ash was about to offer a rebuttal, a lame one of course…but looking at her face, how hurt she really did seem, he stopped himself. And just hung his head and dropped his shoulders in shame. “I’m sorry.” He mumbled, “I know I should’ve called more, and I really wish I could’ve. It hurts me too Mist…being away from my best friend for so long, not being able to laugh with you, spend time with you, just hanging out you know? But I’m here now! And it’s all because of that letter you sent! You made me realize that I couldn’t stand to not see you for any longer! I had to come down and visit or I think my heart might’ve exploded!” Ash raised his head to look at Misty; her face had lost its angry expression sometime during his speech, and now showed a feeling of astonishment. Acting purely on impulse, Ash took Misty’s face into his hands, “It’s great to see you again.” He breathed.

Misty’s heart was beating a mile a minute now; this just had to be a dream! The Ash she knew would never have the nerve to do what he was doing. She exhaled shakily as Ash’s hands caressed her face, “A-A-Ash…I-I…” Misty was about to mirror Ash’s movements and caress his face, but suddenly she heard a sneeze coming from behind one of the bushes next to the gym, and she jumped away from Ash and grabbed Gyarados’s Pokéball and held it up high, “Alright, out of there whoever you are!” she shouted threateningly.

“Wait Mist!” Ash grabbed the Gym Leader’s arm and slowly pulled it down, much to the confusion of the redhead, “Alright guys, come on out and meet Misty.” Ash said, somewhat disappointed that he hadn’t gotten up the nerve to say what was really on his heart.

Nervously, both Cilan and Iris rose up from behind the hedge and came out from behind it to meet the girl who had almost beaten the snot out of Ash. “Greetings Misty, I am Cilan, one of the Gym Leaders of the Striaton Gym in the Unova Region, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He said in his usual well-mannered way.

“And I’m Iris; I don’t have an official title. But I am looking to become a Dragon Pokémon Master!” Iris exclaimed.

“Wait, you’re not looking to become a top coordinator?” Misty asked in shock.

“Uh, no…why do you ask?” Iris blinked in confusion.

“No, it’s just that both of the girls Ash travelled with after I stopped travelling with him have been coordinators; I’m a little surprised that you’re not one. Did Ash trash your bike too?” Misty glanced at Ash with a teasing smirk after saying that.

“Hey!” Ash exclaimed indignantly, “You got your bike back, are you ever gonna let that go?”

“What on earth are you talking about? I don’t even own a bike.” Iris said, looking back and forth at Ash and Misty.

“Oh you mean he never told you?” Misty smirked at Ash who was waving his hands back and forth; trying to signal to Misty not to tell them the story…she got it, but chose to ignore it. “When I first met Ash, I fished him out of a river with my special lure, and as thanks…he stole my bike, trashed it, and that’s how I wound up travelling with him, and he did the exact same thing with May and Dawn, his other two travelling partners when he met them.”

“Look, in my defense, it was technically Pikachu that trashed your bikes.” Ash suddenly got blasted with a ‘Thunderbolt’ that left him completely fried and his hair sticking out in all directions, “Thanks for that Pikachu.” The trainer grumbled.

“Serves you right for throwing poor Pikachu under the bus!” Misty exclaimed, “Shame on you Ash!”

“Yeah! Quit being such a little kid!” Iris added.

“Arrgh!” Ash started banging his head against the gym wall, there was that insult again, “Misty, quick! Use one of your insults on me! I am so tired of Iris calling me a kid! That is the only insult she knows!”

Misty looked at Iris, who just shrugged at her, “Hey, you gotta come up with other insults, in Ash’s defense; he’s not the same little kid he was when I met him.” Misty said.

“Thank you!” Ash shouted.

“However I’m still not willing to say he’s not as dense as a brick.” Misty said with a smirk.

Ash face-faulted after that, but he quickly recovered and walked back up to the group, “Well, if it’s ok with you Mist, I’m gonna go inside and get cleaned up.”

“Hey yeah! Come on in everyone!” Misty motioned for the group to follow her, and upon walking into the gym, the group saw most of Misty’s Pokémon splashing around and enjoying themselves in the main pool. “Hey guys! We have company!” The Pokémon looked over and saw two unfamiliar trainers…and Ash. One Pokémon was absolutely ecstatic about seeing Ash again, and quickly jumped out of the pool and bounded over to jump into his arms, “Azurill missed you too apparently.” Misty giggled.

“Hiya Azurill!” Ash laughed, “You’re getting big! You gonna evolve into a Marill soon?”

“I’ve been thinking the same thing; I’ve been working with Azurill for a while now so she should be just about ready to evolve. Of course without Brock around, it’s hard for me to tell for sure.” Misty replied for the young Pokémon.

“I can help you with that!” Cilan suddenly got up close to Azurill with a magnifying glass in his hand, “It’s evaluating time!” Cilan took Azurill from Ash and placed her into the bewildered redhead’s arms, and began looking both Azurill and Misty over.

“Ash…what is he doing?” Misty asked nervously, a sweat-drop on her face as Cilan stuck his magnifying glass right in front of her face.

“Uh, lemme explain.” Ash chuckled, scratching the back of his head, “See, Cilan’s a Pokémon Connoisseur, he’s able to evaluate how strong the relationship between a trainer and a Pokémon is just by looking at them! But...I guess since he’s never met you or Azurill before, he has to look…closely.”

“Indeed!” Cilan affirmed, “I’ve never been able to see an Azurill in person before, when I met Ash’s Pikachu for the first time, I was ecstatic! It’s a very rare occasion when a Kanto Pokémon makes its way all the way to Unova!” Cilan backed off and put his magnifying glass away. “According to my observations, you and your Azurill share a very special bond!”

“I coulda told you that Cilan!” Ash exclaimed, “Misty loves her Pokémon! She’s working on becoming a Water Pokémon Master after all, that’s part of the reason why I like her so much!”

Misty suddenly blushed at that, “Wait, what?”

Ash also blushed when he realized what he had said, “W-W-Well you know what I mean, you’re my best friend!”

“Oh…right, o-of course.” Misty looked away and cleared her throat before turning her attention back to Iris and Cilan, “So, as long as you all are here, how’d you like to take a swim?”

“That sounds great! I was so bored on my way here! It’s about time I got to enjoy myself! I’ll go get my swimsuit!” Iris hurried off into the gym to find a place to change.

“Hey wait! You don’t know where you’re going!” Misty called out. Unfortunately, Iris had already disappeared into the gym. “She’s gonna get lost.”

“I’ll go after her,” Cilan volunteered, “Just tell me where your restrooms are and I’ll lead her there, I am the navigator of the group after all.”

“Oh so it’s your job to keep Ash from getting everybody lost.” Misty giggled, “The restrooms are over there, go get Iris and get changed. It’s been a long time since I’ve had any company around here.”

“Thank you, we’ll be right back.” Cilan jogged off in search of Iris, leaving the two best friends alone once again.

“What did you mean when you said it’s been a long time since you’ve had company? Haven’t Brock and Tracey been showing up? And come to think of it, where are your sisters? They haven’t gone on another cruise have they?” Ash’s temper kicked in when he said that, he didn’t appreciate the first time Misty’s sisters did that and left her all alone…not to mention take his best friend away from him.

“No, they’re around here somewhere, but be honest Ash; do you honestly believe that I consider my sisters as company? They barely acknowledge my existence as it is…well…” Misty tapped her chin, “Maybe I’m being unfair to Daisy, after all it was her who helped me get all dolled up for the uh…photo.” Misty blushed a little at the mention of the photograph she sent.

Ash suddenly felt shameful again, “Wow Mist…” he said regretfully, “I had no idea you were so lonely here…I always thought that you still had friends come over and you were able to just hang out…now I really feel bad about not calling you more.”

“Oh Ash,” Misty didn’t feel upset at the black haired trainer for that anymore, seeing how heartbroken he was over his mistake had softened her up. She raised his head so he could look at her, “I forgive you, ok? I’m just glad you’re here now, and we can have fun just like old times! Come on, get in your bathing suit, we’re gonna do some swimming, it’ll be nice to have some human company in the pool for a change.”

Ash smiled and suddenly brought the redhead in for a tight embrace, much to her shock…and pleasure. “Misty…there’s…something I wanted to tell you.” He said, stroking the redhead’s hair as he held her.

Misty’s heart was beating a mile a minute again, Ash was hugging her! And stroking her hair! This was really a dream come true…and…it seemed like it was about to reach the pinnacle moment. “Easy Misty, don’t get ahead of yourself, he might be saying something else…” As much as she tried to convince herself that this was another ‘just a friend’ thing, her heart was screaming that this was about to become the moment she had been waiting for since the day she met him. “What is it Ash?” she asked softly.

Ash pulled back, holding her shoulders and looking right into her cerulean blue eyes, which seemed to shining in anticipation, “Misty…I…”
“What’s going on here?” After seeing Iris come out in her lavender one-piece, the two broke apart, blushing profusely. “Come on! I’m already ready!”

“I’ll um…see you in the pool.” Misty hurried off to change, leaving Ash to stand there in disappointment.

“Iris, I think you interrupted something important.” Cilan said.

“Something important? What do you…” Iris’s eyes suddenly widened, “Ohhhh…I’m sorry Ash, I didn’t mean to.” Iris hung her head in shame.
Ash smiled sympathetically and pet Iris’s head as he walked by to change into his bathing suit, “I almost did it…I’ll have to make it work later on.”

“I ruined things didn’t I?” Iris sighed sadly.

Cilan placed a hand on the dragon trainer’s shoulder and smiled at her, “Just a simple case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s not your fault. Besides, I have no doubt that before the day is over, Ash will confess his feelings to Misty.”

“Yeah…” Cilan suddenly wanted to try and hint towards his own feelings towards her, since she seemed to be getting a deeper understanding of what love was all about…but then the old Iris came back, “I wonder where Misty has her kitchen, I’m kinda hungry.”

“Oh well. Maybe next time.” Cilan sighed.

“What?”

“Never mind Iris, come on, race you to the pool!” Cilan took off running.

“Hey! No fair getting a head start!” Iris chased after the connoisseur, splashing in after him and making a wave that threw a lot of Pokémon, including Pikachu and Axew, out of the water. “Sorry guys!”

While they had fun, both Ash and Misty were having similar thoughts. Ash was kicking himself over not telling Misty what was really on his heart, while Misty was trying to figure out what was going on in Ash’s heart. He was acting so out of character, it honestly scared her. But there was nothing they could do at the moment, so they decided to just get changed and try to have fun. Unfortunately, they both came out from changing at the same time, so they wound up literally bumping into each other. And the sight of each other made them both blush.

“Whoa…she’s definitely not the ‘runt’ anymore.” Misty was wearing a light blue two-piece swimsuit that showed a small amount of cleavage, and it was quite clear that Misty had kept herself in good shape, as her stomach was flat and toned while her legs were well defined.

“Wow…Ash really has grown, look at those abs!” Ash was wearing simple red swimming trunks, but what caught the redhead’s eye was how built Ash had become. His abs had become strong and toned, and he was even beginning to develop pecs, all the training and travelling had done a great job giving Ash exercise.

“Well…you’re uh…lookin’ good Mist.” Ash said bashfully, scratching the back of his head.

“Thanks.” Misty giggled, “You’re not so bad yourself.”

The two just stood there and smiled at each other for a moment, “Come on Ash, we can’t stand here forever, quit ogling her and say something!” Ash made a move like he was going to run off, “Last one to the pool is a rotten Exeggcute!”

“Ash wait! The pool area is…” it was too late, by the time she had said that, Ash had slipped on a puddle and landed flat on his back with a hard thud, “Oooh…” Misty cringed, “That had to hurt.” Misty hurried over to Ash as carefully as she could, and knelt down in front of the trainer who had swirls in his eyes, “Ash? Ash, you ok?”

Ash babbled incoherently for a moment or two, but eventually he blinked a few times and came to his senses. “Did I win?” he asked, rubbing his aching head.

“You moron! You could’ve cracked your skull in half! Did you come all the way here to die?!” Misty spat incredulously.

“Not last I checked.” Ash slowly got up and flexed the areas of his body that ached to check the extent of the damage. Luckily all he felt was a slight pain in his back and tailbone, “Everything seems to be intact.”

“You got lucky Ash! Maybe you should’ve been more careful instead of acting like a little…” Iris was abruptly cut off.

“Don’t say ‘kid’!” Misty exclaimed, If you’re gonna insult Ash, you’re gonna have to come up with something more original than that!”

“Besides Iris, I believe we had a similar race as well, Ash just got unlucky is all that happened.” Cilan added.

Iris, mountain of hair and all, just sunk under the water and sulked after nobody took her side, “Ash better ‘confess’ or whatever soon, this Misty girl is cramping my style!”

“How does she handle all that hair anyway?” Misty asked. Both Ash and Cilan just shrugged at that. “I’ll have to ask her later.”

“Why? Are you planning on growing your hair out?” Ash asked.

The way Ash had asked the question gave Misty the impression that he was actually hoping she would say yes. “Well I already have grown it out a bit…but I’m considering letting it grow a little longer.” She said cautiously.

Ash beamed at that response, “I think you’d look great if you grew out your hair, I did always like it when you let your hair down.”

Misty blushed and smiled coyly, and decided to oblige to Ash’s desires and let her hair out of its hairband, and shook out her hair so that it framed her face, “Like this?”

Ash looked at her dreamily, “Yeah…just like that.” It took him a moment to realize he was ogling her again, and when his brain kicked back in, he blushed and dove into the water as if to hide, “Gotta stop that! I’m gonna freak her out!”

Misty just stood there in a daze, one moment Ash was staring at her, the next he was gone, “Ok?”

“He’s probably just a little flustered.” Cilan chuckled, “After all, it’s not every day we come face to face with a beautiful woman, let alone one that makes Ash react that way.”

“Beautiful? Naw, not me, I’m the tomboy of the family.” She replied with a dismissive laugh, “But a girl can hope that Ash thinks that.” Misty sighed inwardly and got into the water as well, and together the group frolicked and goofed off, feeling like little kids again as they were able to play without even having to think about it. That is until another knock at the door. “I’ll get it.” Misty swam to the edge of the pool and climbed out, and still dripping wet, she answered the door to find a young ten year old boy looking up at her, “Can I help you?”

“Are you Misty? The Cerulean City Gym Leader?” the boy asked.

“That’s me, are you a challenger looking to get a badge?” she asked back.

“You got it!” the boy replied, “The name’s Justin! And I’ve come all the way from across the city to get a badge from you!” he exclaimed determinedly.

“Well…” Misty looked back over her shoulder and saw Ash and her new friends still playing in the pool, and for a moment she seriously considered telling this rookie trainer that the gym was closed for the day, which of course was false. But her sense of duty kicked in at the last minute, and Misty switched gears and came back to being the mature sixteen year old she had grown to be, with a sense of responsibility. “Alright, just gimme a minute to get ready.” She nodded and smiled at the boy before closing the door on him. Depressed, the redhead sighed and went over to the pool to break the news to the frolicking teenagers, “Guys, you gotta get out.”

The trio looked at Misty with confusion, “Why? What’s the matter Mist?” Ash asked, leaning on the edge of the pool.

While Misty worked on squeezing the water out of her hair, she explained, “There’s a challenger who wants a battle at the door. And I’m sure Cilan can relate to this…you know…duty calls.” Misty put her hair band back on and her ponytail returned, much to Ash’s disappointment.

“Indeed Misty.” Cilan replied, “But this is a wonderful opportunity! My brother Cress happens to specialize in water-type Pokémon as well, so I’m very interested in seeing how you approach a gym battle.”

“Really? A water-type leader? That’s awesome! And sure, I’ll show you what I’m made of, maybe I can even teach Ash a lesson or two, just like old times.” Misty smirked at the trainer and winked at him playfully.

Ash just smirked right back, “Not a chance.”

Once Misty dried off and changed back into her clothes and vest, she returned all her Pokémon to their Pokéballs, and got onto the platform to face Justin, who she had let in moments ago. “Daisy!” she shouted, “Get out here and referee will ya?”

A few minutes later, Daisy came walking down the stairs that led to where the family of sisters actually had their bedrooms, “Alright, I’m coming already.” She said with a huff. When she reached Misty however, she noticed Ash and two others sitting in the stands, and the blonde had to fight herself in order to not let loose a happy squeal, “Misty, he’s here! Our plan worked!” she whispered excitedly.

“Yes Daisy, he is, now get to your post, we can talk about this later, I have a challenger over there!” Misty hissed back.

Daisy put up her hands in self-defense and walked to the side of the battlefield with a smug smirk on her face, but before turning around, she couldn’t help but mess with Misty a little, “Oh hi Ash! Like, when did you get here?” she asked dramatically.

Ash sweat-dropped at the exaggerated greeting, “Hi Daisy,” he waved at the eldest Waterflower, “Been here for a while, getting ready to see what Misty can do.”

“Well then you’re in for quite a treat! And I’m like; sure you’ll introduce me to your friends later right?” Daisy asked.

“Sure thing…now…could you turn around? I kinda wanna watch this battle!” Ash replied.

“Oh fine, if you insist.” When Daisy turned around, she giggled girlishly when she saw Misty’s furious expression, “You can scowl all you want to little sis, I’m not afraid of you, not today at least.”

“Who’s that Ash?” Iris asked.

“Oh that’s Misty’s oldest sister Daisy, she and Misty’s other two older sisters Lily and Violet used to ‘run’ the gym when Misty was travelling with me.” Ash explained.

“Why do you say it ‘like that’?” Iris asked.

“Well Daisy, Lily, and Violet never treated Misty very well when we were younger, calling her the runt of the litter, they never saw her as ‘one of them’, and their idea of a gym battle was just giving any challenger that walked in a badge, rather than actually battling them. They were more concerned about their water shows than anything else. That’s why when I showed up here, Misty took it upon herself to pick up her sisters’ slack and battle me for the badge…to be quite honest, I woulda lost handily if it weren’t for Team Rocket showing up and wrecking the place, back then Misty had way more experience battling than I did.” Ash explained.

“Wow, she’s awesome!” Iris exclaimed.

“Indeed she is.” Cilan’s tone of voice seemed to display infatuation.

“Who is?” Iris asked.

“Her! Look at that lovely woman, she’s simply astounding.” Cilan replied.

“Daisy?” Ash had to hold in a laugh, “She’s something alright.”

“I think she’s nothing but a blonde bimbo.” Iris crossed her arms and turned her back to Cilan, her cheeks puffed out in anger.

Cilan was about to vehemently object to Iris’s comment, but when he noticed her angry expression, he couldn’t help but smile, “So she does have traits I can hope for, she’s jealous!” Cilan looked forward again and smiled again, “Well perhaps she’s not too special. Besides, I know some pretty special people already.”

Hearing that immediately lifted the purple-haired girl’s spirits, although to be totally honest, she wasn’t sure why. “So come on already! Let’s get this battle started!” she shouted.

“Alright then!” Looking around to make sure Lily and Violet weren’t around so she could skip the “likes”, Daisy began her announcements, “This battle between Challenger Justin and Gym Leader Misty is about to get underway! This battle will be a three on three match and only the challenger is allowed to substitute Pokémon!”

“Alright rookie, you ready to see what I’m made of?!” Misty called out.

“I’m not your typical rookie trainer, you just wait and see!” Justin replied.

Ash laughed, “That kid’s got the same fire that I had when I was his age.”

“You still have that same childish fire, little kid.” Iris smiled as she was finally able to get her insult in, finding it even more amusing when Ash gave her a dark look. “Just saying.”

“Let the battle begin!” Daisy shouted.

“Now John! Come on out!” Justin tossed out a Pokéball, and a Blastoise emerged from it, much to the shock of everyone else.

“A rookie trainer with a Blastoise?! How is that possible?!” Ash exclaimed in shock.

Ironically enough, Justin had heard Ash’s comments, “You like? See my cousin’s been teaching me about Pokémon and how to train them since I was five years old, so when I became a trainer, he let me have some of his older Pokémon so they could travel again! Ain’t that right John?” the Blastoise turned around and nodded at the spiky-haired boy, and then turned his attention back to Misty.

Misty admittedly was caught off guard by the appearance of a fully-evolved Pokémon, most if not all the trainers she had battled over the past few weeks had been rookie trainers just starting out on their journeys, and the most they would show up with was an Ivysaur or a Pikachu, who she would then take down without much of a sweat. But then she recalled the man who had challenged her the day she sent the letter, he had a Shiftry, and Gyarados had managed to take him down after a tough battle. Remembering that battle brought a smile to her face, as she realized she might actually get a decent challenge this time, “I’ve been looking forward to the day when a trainer would show up with some powerful Pokémon; I haven’t had a good challenge in ages!” Misty grabbed a Pokéball off her belt and smiled at it, “And if you’re gonna go with a water-type, then I’m gonna go with this Pokémon! Misty calls Starmie!” the redhead tossed out her own choice, and the Mysterious Pokémon appeared and landed on the platform, ready for a battle.

“Amazing! Iris, we’re about to witness a full on Kanto League Gym Battle! Ash, use your Pokédex please, I would love to get some information on all these fascinating new Pokémon!” Cilan exclaimed.

Ash laughed, “New Pokémon. I guess new just depends on where you’re from, I grew up with these Pokémon.” Ash pulled out his Pokédex and activated the scan setting, “So which one first?”

“Do that one!” Iris exclaimed, pointing at John the Blastoise, “It kinda looks like a dragon!”

“Kinda.” Ash shook his head with amusement and scanned the turtle.

“Blastoise, the Shellfish Pokémon. Blastoise's strength lies in its power, rather than its speed. Its shell is like armor and attacks from the hydro cannons on its back are virtually unstoppable.” The Pokédex chirped.

“Wow! That’s amazing! I want an unstoppable Blastoise!” Iris squealed.

“Maybe we’ll find you a Squirtle before we head back to Unova. Squirtle is the starter Pokémon that evolves into Blastoise by the way,” Ash chuckled, “Ok Cilan, I’m assuming you wanna hear about Misty’s Starmie?”

“Indeed I do Ash; it’s quite an exotic looking Pokémon!” Cilan replied.

“Starmie, the Mysterious Pokémon. Starmie's center section - the core - glows brightly in seven colors. Because of its luminous nature, this Pokémon has been given the nickname ‘the gem of the sea’.” The Pokédex chirped.

“Astounding! And Misty has one!” Cilan exclaimed.

“Starmie’s one of Misty’s oldest Pokémon, but I don’t remember her using it much, I wonder what she’s got up her sleeve.” Ash replied.

“I’ll start this battle off! John, use ‘Hydro Pump’!” Justin ordered. Blastoise’s cannons aimed directly at the sea star and fired a dual blast of highly pressurized water at it.

“Quick Starmie, into the pool and dodge it!” Starmie acknowledged Misty’s order and jumped into the pool, making the water from the ‘Hydro Pump’ splash on the platform and make a huge mess, effectively getting Misty wet again.

“Oops, sorry about that!” Justin chuckled sheepishly.

“Hey don’t worry about it! That’s what happens in battles! Just like this happens! Starmie, leap out and attack with ‘Rapid Spin’!” Starmie burst out of the pool and came spinning at Blastoise, and the turtle just couldn’t react fast enough to dodge as it took the hit and staggered backwards slightly.

“You ok John?” Justin asked. Blastoise easily shook it off and got back into battle-ready stance, “Alright then!”

“That Blastoise sure has some tough defense.” Cilan marveled.

“Most Blastoise do, in fact that’s usually their trademark stat.” Ash replied.

“You wanna use ‘Rapid Spin’? We can play that game! Go John!” the nicknamed Blastoise withdrew back into his shell and began spinning at a high speed, then it leaped onto the water and began bouncing like a skipping stone towards the sea star.

“Quick Starmie, you use ‘Rapid Spin’!” Misty countered. Starmie went spinning again, but this time Blastoise’s size came into play as Starmie was sent careening into the pool after colliding with the turtle, “Oh no, Starmie!”

“Maybe she’s not as awesome as I thought, what was she thinking trying to overpower something six times her own Pokémon’s size?” Iris asked in confusion.

Ash wasn’t convinced that Misty would make such a rookie mistake, “She’s up to something.”

“I can’t believe you would try that! John’s way bigger than your Starmie! Alright John, use ‘Ice Beam’!” Blastoise fired two beams of ice at the sea star, but Misty had already gotten what she wanted.

“Ah hah! Now Starmie, dodge and use ‘Thunderbolt’!” Starmie quickly burst out of the water again just as the beams struck the pool and froze it over, and the Mysterious Pokémon unleashed a furious blast of electricity that severely weakened the turtle. “Nice job Starmie!”

“Awesome! I didn’t know Misty taught Starmie ‘Thunderbolt’!” Ash exclaimed.

“She’s quite an impressive Gym Leader, that much is for certain.” Cilan added.

“We’re not finished yet!” Justin shouted determinedly, “Use ‘Rapid Spin’ again!” Blastoise shook off the pain and charged for Starmie, but the sea star easily dodged. “We’re too slow!” Justin growled.

“Let’s finish this Starmie! One more ‘Thunderbolt’!” Starmie obeyed the redhead and fired, and this time the electric shock was too much for John the Blastoise to withstand, as he fainted on top of the frozen water.

“Blastoise is unable to battle! Starmie is the winner!” Daisy announced.

“You battled hard John, take a good rest!” Justin returned the fully-evolved starter to his Pokéball and reached for his next choice, “You won’t be so lucky this time! Now, Gardevoir, come on out!” Justin’s choice happened to be a psychic-type Gardevoir, who landed on the ice created by Blastoise and awaited orders.

“Ooh! That’s a pretty one!” Iris exclaimed, “Scan it Ash!”

Ash nodded and did just that, “Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokémon. Gardevoir has the psychokinetic power to distort the dimensions and create a small black hole. This Pokémon will try to protect its Trainer even at the risk of its own life.” The Pokédex chirped.

“Such loyalty, and what a fitting description for such a beautiful creature such as itself.” Cilan commented.

“This is my cousin’s Gardevoir! She once saved his life when she sensed an incoming Fearow and she blasted it outta the sky with ‘Charge Beam’ before it could grab him!” Justin exclaimed.

“Well I’m impressed by that!” Misty quipped, “But is she any good in an actual gym battle?”

“See for yourself! Ok Gardevoir, let’s show off that ‘Charge Beam’!” Gardevoir’s body began sparking with electricity, and then she fired the beam of lightning at Starmie, who was unprepared for that first move. “Yeah, now we’re cooking!”

“That ‘Charge Beam’ was impressive.” Cilan said.

“Yeah, but now Misty has to watch out, ‘cause ‘Charge Beam’ has a pretty good chance of raising special attack power!” Ash added.

“Starmie, can you still battle?” Misty asked. The sea star’s core blinked a couple of times, but it eventually got back up and faced its opponent, “Ok, ‘Recover’!” Starmie’s body began to glow as it made an attempt to regain lost strength.

“No you don’t! Gardevoir, finish it with ‘Magical Leaf’!” Gardevoir raised her hands above her head, and glowing leaves formed above it, then she swung her hands forward and the grass-type attack headed straight for the still recovering Starmie.

“Stop recovering Starmie and dodge it!” Misty shouted. Starmie obeyed and leaped up to avoid the attack, but the leaves came back around and nailed Starmie in the back, and when the sea star fell, it turned over and revealed that its core was blinking, signaling its defeat. “Aww Starmie.”

“Starmie is unable to battle, Gardevoir is the winner!” Daisy announced.

“Yeah Gardevoir! One down!” Justin cheered.

“Magical Leaf’ is an attack that rarely ever misses…so being a water-type Gym Leader, Misty’s at an extreme disadvantage.” Cilan said.

“You don’t know Misty like I do! She’ll pull this off! You watch!” Ash exclaimed.

“Return Starmie!” Misty returned the Mysterious Pokémon to its Pokéball for a well-earned rest, “You did a great job Starmie, thanks!” Misty then looked up at Justin, “Your Gardevoir’s got some good moves, I have to admit…but now it’s time to get serious!” Misty pulled off another Pokéball and looked at it before throwing it, “Misty calls Gyarados!” With a menacing roar, Misty’s powerhouse emerged and towered over the psychic-type, who couldn’t help but be intimidated by the giant Pokémon glaring at her.

At the sight of Gyarados, Iris’s eyes lit up, “Wow! Amazing! Ash, scan it scan it scan it! It’s just gotta be a dragon-type! It looks so awesome!” Iris squealed.

“Uh, you’re gonna be disappointed by this.” Ash pulled out his Pokédex again to scan Misty’s Gyarados.
“Gyarados, the Atrocious Pokémon. Once Gyarados goes on a rampage, its ferociously violent blood doesn't calm until it has burned everything down. There are records of this Pokémon's rampages lasting a whole month.” The Pokédex chirped.

“Ok, so why should I be disappointed?” Iris asked.

“Gyarados looks like a dragon. But its typing is water-flying, not dragon.” Ash replied.

“Oh…” Iris was noticeably disappointed as Ash predicted, but she wasn’t totally let down, “Well…at least it looks like a dragon. I still approve!”

“Ok Gardevoir, hit it with ‘Charge Beam’!” Justin ordered. Gardevoir charged up power again, but this time Misty was ready.

“Use ‘Protect’!” Gyarados acknowledged the order and formed an unbreakable barrier that the beam feebly bounced off of. “Great, it protected Gyarados, but all those ‘Charge Beams’ are powering up Gardevoir’s special attack power! Gotta think fast…” Misty looked at the field, and realized that Gardevoir was still standing on the ice. “That’s it! Gyarados can swim…but maybe…just maybe…Gardevoir can’t!”

Ash smiled as he watched Misty battle, “I know that gleam in her eye, Misty’s got an idea!”

“Gyarados! Break through the ice!” Misty ordered. Gyarados roared and shattered the top layer of the pool, leaving Gardevoir to stumble and try to regain her balance on a lone chunk of leftover ice.

“Oh no! Gardevoir!” Justin shouted.

“Finish the job Gyarados! Use ‘Crunch’!” Gyarados burst out of the water, and the Atrocious Pokémon caught Gardevoir in its mouth, much to the shock and horror of everyone else.

“Did Gyarados just swallow Gardevoir?!” Iris squeaked.

Luckily however, Gyarados slowly swam over to Justin, who had been watching with his jaw hanging down. Gyarados spit Gardevoir out of its mouth, and the psychic-type hit the ground hard, covered in the dragon’s saliva. “Gardevoir?” Justin gulped. Gardevoir tried to push herself up and keep fighting, but the attack’s power paired with the trauma of almost being swallowed was just too much for Gardevoir to handle, as she fainted. “Gardevoir, no!”

“Wow…uh…” Daisy shook her head and came to her senses, “Gardevoir is unable to battle! Gyarados is the winner!”

“Astounding, I’ve never seen a strategy that drastic before! I was sincerely fearful that Gyarados had actually devoured Gardevoir!” Cilan said in astonishment.

“Even I gotta admit…I knew Misty had nerve, but I didn’t think she had that much nerve.” Ash added.

“Oh don’t be such a kid!” Iris scoffed, “That’s just what dragons do! They overpower their opponents and annihilate them!”

Ash face-palmed and leaned his elbow against his knee, “She said it again, she said it again!” the trainer grumbled to himself.

“Gardevoir, return!” Justin returned the now slimy psychic-type to her ball, “Don’t worry, I’ll get you all cleaned up.” Justin placed Gardevoir’s Pokéball back onto his belt and looked up at Misty. “You’re a lot tougher than I thought you’d be, I never would’ve seen that coming! I might even have nightmares about that!”

“Don’t worry; I train Gyarados almost every day! It’d never actually eat anyone! I’ve made very sure about that.” Misty replied, “But enough about that, choose your final Pokémon!”

“Oh I will…this one’s my secret weapon!” Justin pulled out his final Pokéball and looked at with a smirk, “Being cooped up here in Cerulean City, I’m willing to bet you’ve never even seen one of these!” Justin wound up and threw the Pokéball, “Lilligant, come on out!” Upon release, the denizen of Unova did a little dance before focusing on the task at hand.

“A Lilligant?!” the group in the stands shouted.

While the bystanders were shocked to see a Lilligant in Kanto, Misty had reeled back in apprehension. Justin was right; she had never seen anything like this Pokémon before. Just by appearance alone she could predict it was a grass-type…but she had no idea what special traits this Pokémon had, or what Justin had in store for her. “Gotta keep it together!”

“Misty looks overwhelmed.” Iris commented.

“I can understand why, having never seen a Pokémon like that, it’s difficult for her to come up with a strategy.” Cilan added.

“Did I forget to mention my cousin moved to Unova a few weeks ago? He sent me his Lilligant specifically for my battle against you! I may even keep her to go up against the Gym Leader in Pewter City!” Justin exclaimed cockily.

That aroused Misty’s ire. “You better not pick on poor Forrest! He’s only been a Gym Leader for a couple of months!” Misty snarled, shaking a fist at her challenger. “Now you’ve made me mad! I’ve got a trick or two up my sleeve too! Gyarados, unleash your ‘Flamethrower’!” Gyarados opened its mouth and a blazing inferno came blasting out of it.

Lilligant took the hit with some difficulty, as Justin was unprepared for the unlikely move choice, “No, Lilligant!”

“Yeah! Misty’s gonna take the fight to this brat!” Ash whooped.

“I wouldn’t get my hopes up too soon Ash.” Cilan replied.

“Whaddya mean?” Ash asked.

“Look at Misty,” Cilan pointed at the redheaded Gym Leader, “Look at her eyes, her eyes deceive her. I can tell she’s still uncertain about what she’s facing and what she’s doing. Depending on what Justin calls next, Misty could quite possibly seal her own fate.”

The more Ash examined Misty, the more he realized that Cilan was right. Jumping headfirst into a battle with a Pokémon from a region she knew nothing about, very little at the best, Misty was nervous about what she would call out next…but even with all those facts taken into consideration…Ash still felt like something else was off…like Misty was worried about looking bad. “What’s the matter Misty?”

“Alright, use ‘Quiver Dance’!” Lilligant began doing a beautiful dance, which instinctively got Misty to counter.

“Quick, use ‘Protect’!” Misty shouted. Gyarados created the barrier, but when Lilligant didn’t make a move to attack and just stopped dancing, Misty reeled back again, “W-Wha? It didn’t do anything!”

“Quiver Dance’ raises the special stats Misty!” Ash shouted.

Misty’s head twisted to meet Ash’s gaze, and then back at Lilligant who even seemed to look stronger and faster than it did just a moment ago. “Oh boy.”

“Lilligant, finish it with ‘Giga Drain’!” Before Misty or Gyarados could even react, Lilligant leaped onto Gyarados’s head and began sapping the energy from its body.

“Gyarados, no!” Misty watched as her ferocious powerhouse was drained of all its power, and as soon as the grass-type leaped back onto its side of the stage, Gyarados became limp and crashed into the water, making a huge splash that made everyone in the area soaking wet. “G-Gyarados…”

“Unbelievable…” Daisy mumbled to herself, “Gyarados is unable to battle, the winner is…uh, Lilligant, was it?”

“Yeah that’s right! Way to go Lilligant! One more to go!” Justin cheered.

“I can’t believe this is happening!” Ash growled.

“Are you mad at Misty?” Iris asked.

“Yes! I mean no! I mean…” Ash ripped off his hat and tugged on his hair in frustration, “It’s my fault!”

“Your fault? What are you talking about?” Cilan asked.

“I should’ve kept in better touch! I could’ve told her about all these new awesome Pokémon from Unova, I could’ve told her how they battled! Now she’s down there struggling because she doesn’t know what to be ready for because she’s never been able to see or even hear about Unova Pokémon!” Ash hid his face in his hands, shaking his head in remorse, “Why didn’t I tell her?”

Meanwhile Misty had taken a moment to look up at the stands…and her heart cracked a little when she saw Ash with his head in his hands. “Great, now he thinks I’m weak!” Misty closed her eyes for a moment and blinked back tears, and she stood tall and scowled at her opponent, “I don’t care who you come at me with,” Misty decided to go back to her roots, and convert her sadness into rage, and let it fuel her, “I’m not letting you win! Now Corsola! Come on out!” Corsola emerged and growled at the grass-type she was facing.

“Oooh, that’s cute!” Iris giggled.

“Corsola, the Coral Pokémon. Corsola's branches glitter very beautifully in seven colors when they catch sunlight. If any branch breaks off, this Pokémon grows it back in just one night.” The Pokédex chirped.

“I must say, seeing all these unique Pokémon in battle has been exhilarating!” Cilan said.

“Come on Misty! Take this guy down!” Ash shouted. But Ash reeled back when Misty shot him a dark look, “What’d I do?” he asked in confusion.

“We’re not wasting any time! Lilligant, ‘Giga Drain’!” Lilligant quickly leaped for the Coral Pokémon to end the battle in one hit, but this time, Misty had it called.

“Mirror Coat’!” the redhead shouted.

“W-What?! Lilligant turn back!” But it was too late. Corsola leaped up to meet Lilligant in the air, and when Corsola smashed into the grass-type, Lilligant took the full effects of ‘Mirror Coat’ and fell to the water with a splash. When it came back up, it was limply floating. “I don’t believe it…”

“Lilligant is unable to battle! The winner is Corsola and the match goes to Gym Leader Misty!” Daisy announced.

“She did it! I knew she could!” Ash was now taking leaps and bounds to reach his best friend and congratulate her, “Misty, you did it! You totally baited this guy!”

Misty could see Ash was trying to be nice, but she was still bothered by his expression before, so all she could relinquish was a small smile before walking past him to meet with Justin. “You sure gave me a run for my money.”

“Yeah…I really thought that Lilligant would be the one who’d get me the win, but I guess you’re too tough to go down that easy.” Justin sighed, “I’ll be back.”

“And I’ll be here.” Misty shook the trainer’s hand and watched as he walked out of the gym, “But he’s right…” she said to herself, “I looked like such an idiot using ‘Protect’ against a stat boosting move.”

“Misty, what’s the matter? You won…” Ash asked. Misty just walked as fast as she could out of the gym to try and keep from being with Ash. “I don’t understand…Cilan, what’s going on?” Ash asked hopelessly.

“I don’t know Ash…but I do know that you have to be the one to talk to her.” Cilan replied, “Go after her, finish what you started.”

Ash nodded determinedly and chased after the redhead, with Pikachu and Misty’s Azurill bounding after him. As he did that, Daisy came up to join Cilan and Iris, “Wow, that was quite a battle…Misty really struggled with that Pokémon, was it from your region?”

“Yep, sure was!” Iris exclaimed.

“Ash felt it was his fault that he hadn’t informed Misty of Unova Pokémon, but I don’t see how he can blame himself, it isn’t his fault Misty’s spent so much time here.” Cilan explained.

“No…it isn’t.” Daisy scratched her chin in thought, “I have another idea.”

“Misty!” Ash crashed through the doors of the gym and found Misty standing there with her arms wrapped around herself, “Misty, what’s the matter? You won!”

“I got lucky Ash, ok?!” Misty spat, turning on her heels to scream at him, “I saw you watching me, shaking your head in disappointment…well what do you expect huh?! I’ve been stuck here for years! I don’t know anything about Unova Pokémon! How am I supposed to know what to do?!” Misty turned around and started to cry a little, “Just…pack your things and go! I don’t need you here to patronize me.”

Ash couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He didn’t think Misty was weak, he thought the total opposite in fact. Seeing Misty take down Lilligant despite her obvious disadvantage was something he honestly never expected to happen. But he realized then why she might’ve thought that. She must’ve seen him when he was blaming himself for her lack of knowledge and misinterpreted it as disappoint in her. Upon that revelation, Ash felt his heart break. There was no holding back anymore, he either did what he came to do, or go back to Unova with his heart in turmoil for the rest of his journey. Without any more hesitation, Ash ran up to Misty and hugged her as tight as he could from behind. “I wasn’t disappointed in you Misty! I was blaming myself that you didn’t know about Unova Pokémon!”

Misty was stunned by this, as she slowly removed Ash’s arms from around herself so she could face him, “Blaming yourself? Why? It’s not your fault!”

“Yes it is!” Ash shot back, “I could’ve told you about Unova Pokémon, I could’ve called you a long time ago and told you about all the awesome Pokémon I was seeing!” Ash’s voice began to crack as he fought back his sadness and remorse. “I let you down Misty; I don’t deserve to have you as a friend.”

“Don’t even say that!” Misty shook her head vigorously to object, “Ash, do you have any idea what being your friend has meant to me?”

“No…but I do know what being your friend has meant to me.” Ash hugged Misty again, hoping to draw on her strength to steady himself. “Misty…you’re nothing short of amazing; everything about you is just inspiring…” Seeing how Misty was in awe, Ash decided to try and hint even further towards his point, as he pulled her hairband off and tossed it aside, letting her still wet hair to fall around her face, “I did say I loved your hair down.” He said.

“Ash…”

“Misty, my heart can’t take being away from you anymore, if I go back to Unova without saying this…I’ll probably be miserable the rest of my journey.” Ash gulped and braced himself for what he was about to drop on Misty. “Misty…I…I-I…want you to come with me to Unova!” Ash internally kicked himself. “I chickened out again.”

Misty however, was still thrilled. “You...you want…you...!” Misty simply reacted, and leaped into Ash’s arms and kissed him passionately on the lips, knocking Ash’s hat off his head and onto the nearby Azurill’s.

Ash wasn’t sure what just happened, all he knew was that he was currently holding Misty up in the air while she kissed him. Wait, she was kissing him! Ash gripped Misty tighter and returned the gesture as best as he could, as he’d never shared a kiss with anyone else before. At least now he could safely say his first kiss was shared was someone he really loved. “Man oh man, this is AWESOME.”

When Misty realized what she was doing, she immediately pulled back from Ash’s face and saw how wide his smile was, and then she noticed that she wasn’t even on the ground, and that Ash was holding her up. “Um…I-I don’t…I don’t know what came over me…sorry.” she stammered, her face as red as it could possibly get.

“Don’t be.” Ash replied, “You just made what I really wanted to say a million times easier.”

“Um…what-what you really wanted to say? What’s that?” the redhead asked, “Oh, and um…could you put me down?”

“Oh-oh, sure!” Ash chuckled sheepishly and put the Gym Leader back onto the ground. “Well…since you kissed me and all…I feel ok saying this now…” Ash hugged her one more time, and this time Misty reciprocated without hesitation, “I love ya Mist, I really do.”

“I was dying for you to say that Ash, you have no idea how badly I wanted you to say that.” Misty kissed Ash again, just to try and release some of that pent up emotion that had been building up over years of holding back, “And I love you too, more than you even realize.” Then Misty remembered Ash’s previous offer. “But…I can’t go with you to Unova.” She said with a sad smile.

“What?” Ash’s heart dropped, “But why? Don’t you want to travel again?”

“Of course I do…but…I can’t just leave the gym, it’s my responsibility, and I can’t very well leave my sisters in charge when they barely know how to battle rookie trainers.” Misty replied.

“That won’t last long.” A voice said. The two trainers looked to the doors of the gym and saw Iris, Cilan, and Daisy all standing there. “You need to brush up on your Pokémon knowledge little sis, I think you need to take a trip to a new region…say…Unova?”

“Really?! But…what about the gym?” Misty asked.

“A week or two of Misty’s boot camp oughta help with that,” Daisy giggled, “I said I had a lot to make up for Misty, consider this me making another payment to that debt.”

“So…so I can go to Unova! Will you wait for me?” Misty asked sweetly.

“As long as you need. Maybe I can go visit Mom and Brock while I’m in Kanto. And I could always visit a certain redhead that I recently found out I’m in love with.” Ash smirked cheekily at the Gym Leader, who responded by giving him another passionate kiss on the lips, this time with her feet on the ground.

“Ew, gross.” Iris commented.

“Oh…don’t be such a little kid.” Ash replied.

“HEEEEEEY!”
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That's it! The big conclusion to the three part series inspired by the artwork of ~Simply-Nicole . The next oneshot I write will probably be for a different couple, so guess we'll wait and see what inspires me next. ^^