Hey There! I've never actually done PS Week (not sure why), and I decided, I'm back in this, why not, and this first one sort of…got away from me :O . Anyway, enojy!
Day 1: If Misty never left
Hoenn
"Ash, why do you always insist on doing things like that!" Misty smacked him as soon as he cleared the cliff.
"Not-" Ash had been about to protest, but he didn't get the chance as she wrapped her arms firmly around both him and Pikachu in a tight hug.
"Uhhh…."
"Prepare for trouble. Uh, what's the point?"
"Thought I'd introduce myself. I'm May."
"I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet town."
"And I'm Misty."
"So how's Pikachu?"
"Poor Ash, he's been taking care of his Pikachu all night long."
"He does that."
May jumped a foot in the air, and Misty smiled at her.
"Ah, don't sneak up on me like that."
"Sorry." Misty said, moving past May a bit to be able to look into the room, where Ash was slumped over at Pikachu's side. "You were going to yell at him about the bike, right?"
May blushed. "Well, I mean…"
"It's okay, he did the same thing to me way back. I did yell at him for it. Several times actually." she laughed to herself. "But I got something much better than a bike because of it. "
The girls both smiled as Pikachu woke up, and nuzzled Ash awake too.
"Glad to see we're all doing better." Misty slid past May and into the room. May was impressed by how much brighter Ash's smile got when she did.
"Well would you look at that."
"Now you two will have to register for the Hoenn league at the nearest Pokémon center you can find okay?"
"And the closest town where I think you'll be able to find one is Old Dale Town."
"Okay thanks."
"Oh, walking all that way alone makes me nervous. And my bike's destroyed, thanks to your Pikachu mister."
Ash's face burst into shock as Misty bit her lip to try and contain her laughter. He turned to her, as though terrified this newest incident might make her bring up her own bike for what would at this point be about the ten millionth time.
"Don't worry." she giggled. "I'm going to officially pass 'Ash Ketchum you bike ruiner' duties on to this one. She seems more than capable."
"Does that mean we're all going to go to Old Dale Town together? I happen to know the way there." May suggested.
"That would be great, considering Ash can get lost going in a straight line." Misty smiled brightly at the girl, who beamed back.
"Uhhh…" Ash looked nervously between the two of them.
"It's settled then!" May cheered.
"That was really fun." Misty said. "But I don't think that I want to do them all the time. I'm all about offense, showing off is more my sister's thing."
The group had just exited the contest hall, and Misty was staring at the ribbon in her hand.
"But you won!" Max protested. Misty shrugged.
"Yeah, but I don't think I did it right. I just knocked the others out."
"That's true. Even with that you still lost tons of points." Brock pointed out.
"I thought it was great! I can't wait to try another one!" May grinned. "I never really liked battles, but those were really fun, I had to be really creative."
"You should definitely keep doing them." Misty agreed. "You looked really in your element up there. I'm sorry I knocked Beautifly around so much." Ash laughed, and Misty glared at him. "Oh shut up, you would've done the same thing." she snapped.
"Which is why I'll never enter one." Misty rolled her eyes.
"Never say never Ash!" May trilled.
"Okay, that boy has got it bad for you." Misty said as May continued to stare at the rose in her hand. "That first time I sorta believed him. I mean, your Beautifly was pretty impressive, and that's the sort of thing I could see; a boy caring more about Pokémon-"
She stopped and narrowed her eyes as May giggled.
"Like Ash?" she teased.
"Hey, we're talking about you here." Misty complained. "Anyway, this is twice now. It's obvious." May glanced unsurely at the rose.
"I don't know." she mumbled. "Drew's just…so smug and annoying. He drives me crazy!" Misty laughed.
"Well, that's it then." May's eyes shot up.
"What?"
"Trust me, when they make you crazy, that's when you know." Misty said sagely.
"So…you are in love with Ash." May exclaimed. Misty's face burned.
"Wha-what? No, you and Drew, that's-"
"Nu-uh. Me and Drew are just rivals. But you and Ash; I've been watching you guys for months now, and Brock said it's been like this forever." May smirked, her blue eyes sparkling maliciously.
"Brock? What, do you guys just sit around and talk about us behind our backs all the time?" Misty demanded. May shrugged.
"Not all the time. Just when you two do something extra obvious and then totally ignore it." May tapped the rose thoughtfully against her chin. "So, yeah, actually. All the time."
"You're the one getting roses. How did this become about me?" Misty whined. May laughed again.
"Because you love Ash and everyone knows it."
"Except him." Misty corrected without thinking.
"See!" May threw her arms forward in excitement. Misty sighed, and sat down, defeated.
"Fine, but it doesn't change the fact that grass head likes you." she said, nudging May with her shoulder.
"No way, he's just teasing." May brushed the comment aside. "Let's talk more about Ash."
"Alright, you have to know those aren't for Beautifly now, right?" Misty said. May, who had been staring at the latest rose intently, snapped her gaze up onto the red head.
"Of course I know that." she said. "But it's more fun this way." Misty grinned.
"I guess so."
Ash snorted.
"But he said they were for Beautifly. Who else would they be for?" Both girls rounded on him with incredulous looks.
"I hate when you two do that." he muttered.
"Seriously?" May asked. Ash just stared at her.
"You can't think of any other reason Drew would be giving May the roses and not just giving them to Beautifly directly?" Misty prompted.
"Well, if Beautifly is in her Pokeball, of course he would have to give them to May instead." Ash reasoned. Misty smacked her palm into her forehead.
"Pika chu, Pikapi." the Pokémon sounded as exasperated as Misty felt.
"What?" he demanded, looking between Pikachu and Misty. May stood up, twirling her rose in her fingers.
"I'll leave this to you. He'd your lost cause after all." she said as she walked away.
"What does that mean?" Ash asked. Misty sighed.
"Oh, Ash."
"Well you two ,Pewter City is this way, and Pallet Town is that way. So I guess this is where we say goodbye." Brock said lightly.
"Mmhmm." Ash and Misty both nodded at him before glancing at each other.
"You have a safe trip back home." Ash said.
"I'll see you again soon. Don't forget about me when it's just the two of you." He said.
"Oh, come on Brock, it's not like we haven't been here before…twice. You know we'll be fine." Ash said.
"You know that's not what I meant." Brock raised his eye brows suggestively. They each blushed.
"Right, well, see you later Brock!" Misty said.
"Bye now." Brock turned and walked away, and Ash and Misty did the same.
A little while later, Ash's stomach rumbled loudly.
"Lunch time already?" Misty said airily. Ash rubbed the back of his head.
"Guess so. Hey!" He stopped, and looked around. "This is great, I actually know the perfect place we can go." he grabbed her hand, and tore off through the trees.
"Hey, Ash, careful! What are you-" she was rendered speechless as she looked around where they had come to halt.
"Look, it's the pond where you fished us out!" He spread his arms proudly, emphasizing the scenery behind him. "Where we first met. Isn't that cool?"
"Pi Pikachu!" Misty could feel the lump forming in her throat.
"Ash, you…you remembered that?" she choked a little, and silently cursed herself.
"Course I did. It was the best day of my life." he beamed at her, and she could feel herself melting. Then, as she should have probably expected, Ash's stomach growled again, much more loudly this time.
"Well, Mr. Sentimental, I guess we should probably eat." she smiled.
"Wow, the Viridian Gym. It looks brand new!"
"Hey there you two, are you Pokémon trainers!"
"Yes." Ash and Misty nodded in unison.
"Hi, I'm Scott and I'm an agent."
"Nice to meet you." They chorus. The man laughed. Then tilted his sunglasses down.
"You must be here for a gym battle. What are your names?" The pair exchanged a look.
"I'm Misty, but I'm a gym leader myself, technically."
"And I'm Ash. But Actually I already have the badge from this gym."
"So you two must be really good then. Maybe you'd qualify for Battle Frontier." The man grinned a little creepily.
"Battle Frontier, what are you talking about?" Ash said.
"Well now, I'm glad you asked!" Scott said, but he was interrupted by a shout. They all whipped around to see an old woman who had fallen off her bike.
"Oh no!"
"Wow, they are scary in sync." Scott remarked under his breath as they spoke in unison for a third time.
"I'll help you up!" Ash said, reaching out a hand.
"Oh, it's alright. I just took that last turn a little too fast. At least I didn't land on the tomatoes!" The old woman said, standing up.
"Here, let me carry your bag." Ash said.
"And I'll get your bike." Misty added, picking it up.
"Thank you young children. You can just help me get them into the gym over there."
Agatha had insisted on a tag battle, despite being on her own. She said she wanted to see what each of them could do, but as it turned out, even together the old woman was too much for them.
"Well done, well done you two. You showed a lot of creativity, and a great understanding of each other. You two really gave me a good battle. You're quite the couple."
"Oh, we're not…" Misty began, but Ash began talking over her.
"Yeah, but even together we're not nearly as good as you." Ash moped.
"Well now, you didn't really expect to beat a member of the Elite 4 did you?" Scott said.
"Huh, Elite 4?!"
"Do they always do that?" Agatha whispered to Scott, who nodded. "I'm filling in until the permanent new gym leader arrives, but I figured if you knew, you would have been intimidated."
"Yeah, maybe a little." Misty said.
"But because you didn't know, you fought a good hard battle. You and Pikachu and you and Gyarados keep training and you'll go far. Especially you Misty. We Elite four trainers are all type specialists. I'm going to make sure to keep an eye on you."
"Oh, wow! Thank you!" Misty said, blushing with embarrassment. "I'd never really thought about that."
"Well Ash, Misty, what do you say?"
"Yep, I'll do it!" Ash blurted. Misty took a moment longer. She looked down at the little Azuril in her arms.
"Me too. I'm in." she said confidently.
"Ash, did you realize that Agatha called us a couple?" Misty said as they walked. The pair were trudging the last few miles to Pallet Town. Ash didn't even break his stride as he hopped across some rocks.
"Did she?" he asked. Misty frowned at him as she jumped along behind.
"Yeah."
"I honestly didn't even notice." he said, coming to a stop, and holding out his hand to help her hop from the last rock to the bank. She took it and landed next to him. Neither of them let go.
"Well that's a switch." she said. Ash considered that.
"I guess it is." he observed.
"We used to blow up at anyone who even implied we might care about each other, let alone what we did to people who thought we were romantic." she mused. Ash laughed.
"Good times."
"Pikachu!" Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulder to Misty's, and they both laughed before realizing they were still holding hands. They let go, both blushing a little.
"Glad we're not still like that." Ash said, beginning to walk.
"Yeah. Me too." Misty agreed, falling into step beside him.
Battle Frontier
Ash finished explaining the Battle Frontier to May.
"And you can both challenge the brains, even if your together?" she asked. Ash and Misty nodded.
"So you'll be rivals then." May declared. Misty grinned and glanced sideways at Ash.
"Oo, does this mean I get flowers now?" she joked.
"Of course! That's what rivals do right?" Ash carried on. May stared nonplussed between them.
"Only rivals that like each other." Misty corrected with a wink. Ash blushed, and it took Misty a second to figure out why. She had forgotten that none of the others had been around in the last week when the pair of them had stopped pretending like there wasn't something between them. They hadn't actually talked about it yet, but they had definitely turned a corner.
"Are you…making fun of me? Because honestly, I can't tell. It just sorta looks like you two flirting." May pointed out. Ash cleared his throat and Misty looked away.
"It looked like both." Tracey said with a chuckle.
"Well then I am both annoyed and ecstatic." May said with a sage nod.
"That's stupid." Max grumbled, his expression dark.
"But what do you want to date him for?" Max pouted. Misty grinned and knelt down.
"Is this jealousy I detect Max?" she asked. Max blushed and looked away.
"Of course not. Don't be ridiculous." he scoffed. Misty laughed.
"Look, it's nothing personal. We can't help who we fall in love with, right?" Max kicked the ground.
"No…"
"You're a great kid Max. But you'll find someone out there who is much better for you than me." Max sniffed.
"I don't think she heard you Ash." Max drawled, as May bolted off toward her green haired rival.
"That girl has a one track mind." Misty agreed.
"What?" Ash asked. Misty rounded on him.
"You can't be serious." she said.
"What?" Ash repeated more forcefully.
"Oh come on, they are so obvious. Don't you just want to go up and smack them and demand they stop being oblivious to the fact that they like each other?" she waved a hand to where the two coordinators were talking. Brock coughed loudly.
"Yeah, I mean, it must be so frustrating." he said. Misty glared at him, and to her surprise, so did Ash.
"Hey, sometimes it's just hard to admit how you feel." They all looked down at Max, who had a huge blush across his face. Misty shook her head, but before she could say anything, May reappeared.
"So, did you see your boyfriend off alright?" Max teased, probably to divert attention away from himself. May puffed out her cheeks, but didn't protest.
"Congratulations Ash, Misty, now you've both conquered all seven of the battle facilities. And now you're each members of the Battle Frontier Hall of Fame." Scott said. Though Misty had defeated Brandon before Ash, she had insisted Scott wait to give her her award until they could do it together. She was glad she had as he held out a plaque to each of them containing their frontier symbols, and listing their names and the Pokémon they had used.
"Thank you so much." she said.
"Yeah, it's been a real honor Scott." Ash added.
"It would be an even bigger honor if you'd each consider becoming one of our frontier brains." Scott said, spreading his arms wide.
Misty's pulse quickened, and she couldn't bring herself to look at Ash as he "hmm"ed quietly to himself. That noise scared her. Her first instinct was to scream "yes, of course!" They could be a double battle facility, and stay together forever.
"You see, the thing is, there's still so many awesome people and places I haven't even seen yet. And that means there are still so many awesome battles out there for me to win!" He said. Misty's heart sank. So much for that first idea. Now, if she said yes, it would mean separating from Ash, and she didn't want to do that. They had been together for years; they were a part of each other, and now, well, they were finally together together. Could she really walk away from that? Her dream and Ash's had been in sync for so long, but what Agatha had said nearly a year ago had really stuck with her, nagging in the back of her mind.
Her apex as a type specialist was to become an Elite Four, and those trainers were usually gym leaders first. Scott had warned them that the brains were every bit as powerful as Agatha, so wouldn't becoming one be the next logical step? With a start she realized everyone was staring at her. She turned to Ash, his bright brown eyes alight, waiting for her to turn Scott down too. She held his gaze, torn. Finally she blinked.
"Ash is right." she said with a smile. I'm not ready to stop traveling." she ignored the sharp intake of breath from May behind her, and laced her fingers with Ash's.
"I understand." Scott said. "Just remember, we'll always be here if you change your mind." Misty bit her lip.
"So I guess you two will be taking a boat from here back to Hoenn." Brock said.
"Right." May agreed.
"And I'll be heading back to Pewter City." Brock continued.
"And we'll be heading back to Pallet Town." Ash said, squeezing Misty's hand. She smiled weakly.
"Which means we'll all soon be home." May finished. Misty looked off to the side as the rest of them gazed out at the harbor.
"Yeah." she murmured.
"A Pokémon contest! I want to do it!" May said.
"Me too!" Ash said. Everyone stared at him.
"What? It can't be an official contest, which means I don't need a pass. We should both do it!" he turned to Misty.
"I guess it could be fun." she said slowly. "Alright." she agreed.
"Yeah!" Ash cheered.
So, Ash and May coming up before the final of the Terra Cotta contest, and May beating him, and that whole final tie thing being with Misty instead. I ran out of time/motivation to watch that episode and re-write the whole thing, but that's the main point.
"May, you need to go to Johto by yourself." Misty said. "But you need to do it for you, not because of Drew." May glanced at her. "You can't let the boy you like dictate your life." Even Misty heard the edge in her voice, and hastily smiled. May wasn't fooled.
"You wish you had taken Scott up on his offer, don't you?" she asked. Misty glanced back to make sure they were alone.
"Maybe…" she clasped her hands in her lap. "I just keep thinking that that was my next step, you know, as a type specialist. If I want to be a water Pokémon master, should I have taken a position with them? Isn't that exactly what I'm aiming for?" May placed a hand on her best friend's shoulder.
"Traveling and meeting water types around the world is good too." she said with a reassuring smile. Misty gazed at her.
"But I didn't turn him down so that I could keep going and meet more different kinds of Pokémon. I turned him down because Ash did." she was feeling slightly panicked at having admitted this.
"Hey, it's alright. You two have always been together, it makes sense." May said.
"Just, don't lose sight of your own dream, okay?" she sighed.
"Don't worry Misty, I'm not doing it because I like Drew. I'm doing it because I need to stand on my own two feet, without you and Ash helping me and influencing me." May sounded determined, and Misty smiled.
"Good. Also, thanks for finally admitting it." May's eyes widened in shock.
"I…I didn't…" Misty laughed.
"It's okay May, you can like your rival. It's about balance." May smiled back at her.
"Yeah, alright," she said, "balance." May glanced at the docks.
"When are you going to tell them?" Misty asked, jerking her head back toward the picnic table where Brock was preparing lunch, and Ash and Max were messing around.
"Now?" May shrugged. Misty hesitated for a moment before stepping forward and wrapping the brunette in a tight hug. Clearly surprised, it took May a moment to reciprocate, but when she did it was rib achingly tight.
"I'm gonna miss you, small fry." Misty wheezed.
"You too, stilts." May laughed. They broke apart.
"Well, let's go do this." May grumbled.
"Hey, at least Brock's cooking should soften the blow." Misty pointed out.
"Max, what's going on?" May called as her brother got up and started to walk away.
"I'm sure Max is thinking about his journey right about now." Brock said.
"Kay, I'll go talk to him." Ash said, starting to stand.
"Hold on Ash, I think I've got this one." Misty said, placing a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Just give me a sec." She kissed him on the cheek, then started off after the younger boy. When she caught up to him he had perched himself on a swing set. Misty grinned.
"This seat taken?" she asked, gesturing to the other swing.
"I guess not." Max said moodily. Misty sat down.
"So, you want to talk about it?" she prompted. He looked up and sniffed.
"Big sisters ruin everything." he grumbled. Misty laughed.
"Ah, this again." she said.
"Well they do! May leaving me behind means I won't get to keep seeing new Pokémon and learning all sorts of new things. I just want to be able to battle too. Watching the two of you in the contest, I was jealous I couldn't be up there." Misty raised her eye brows. "Plus, I won't be able to stay with you…guys." Misty grinned.
"Max…" she began.
"I know, I know." he conceded.
"Hey, you know what Max, I'll make you a deal!" Misty snapped her fingers. "When you get your first pokemon and become a trainer, we'll battle." she grinned.
"Then I could totally prove that I'm worthy. It'll be a cinch. After watching you battle for the last two years, I know every trick up your sleeve!" he declared.
"Right, you better train hard. I don't go giving my heart to just anyone." she said.
"Plus, that'll give you time to get sick of Ash!" Max shouted. Misty snorted, and glanced up. Max hadn't been paying attention, but the others had come within ear shot, and Ash looked torn between laughing and coming over and smacking him.
"Alright, let's not get too carried away." Misty said.
"It's a promise, right?" Max pressed on. Misty stood up and offered him her hand.
"Promise." A foghorn blew in the distance.
"Ah, Max, that's our ship!" May screeched. "We've got to go!"
They made it, but only just. They all waved as the ship pulled away.
"Bye Misty! Don't forget what you promised me!" Max shouted.
"Don't worry Max, you'll be there to remind me!" Misty called back. Ash rolled his eyes.
"Bye you guys!" everyone was shouting.
After several minutes of waiting, they lost sight of them.
"Well, they're gone." Brock said.
"Pallet Town is to the left." Ash said.
"And Pewter City is to the right." Brock added.
"So I guess this is it." Ash grabbed Misty's hand, something he didn't usually do, but had done twice today alone. She considered him, but didn't get the chance to say anything as Brock turned to face them.
"No funny business when I'm gone you two." the pair of them blushed, and after glancing down at their interlocked hands, stepped pointedly away from one another.
"Of course not!" Ash shouted, a little more dramatically than was necessary.
Brock smirked.
"Tell Delia hi for me." he said.
"We will." Ash whispered.
"Well, good bye then, Brock." Misty finally spoke up.
"Yeah, see you later." They waved as they headed in their separate directions.
"So, just the two of us again." Ash said.
"Funny how it keeps ending up that way." Misty remarked. She had meant for it to be joking, but she hadn't really managed it. Ash didn't seem to notice.
"Nah, that's how it's supposed to be. Me you and Pikachu." he said, putting his hands behind his head. "Together forever." Misty grinned, though briefly.
"Yeah, forever." she whispered.
Sinnoh
"Wow, that is such a cute water Pokémon!" Misty gushed.
"Mar!" he own little blue water mouse spoke up.
"Sorry, second cutest." she amended. She eyed the little Pokémon.
"We're supposed to be looking for Pikachu." she began a fierce internal debate, stay and watch the young girl and her penguin battle, or carry on. Her answer was provided for her however, as none other than Pikachu fell out of a bush in front of them.
"Piplup, bubblebeam!" The girl called.
"Hold on!" Misty jumped out from her own position on the other side of the road, just as Pikachu fired its own thunderbolt to counter.
"Ah, my bike!" Misty cringed as the stray attack scored a direct hit on the girl's nearby bicycle.
"Not again, Pikachu." she groaned.
"What's going on here?" the girl demanded, sticking her hands on her hips and frowning. "Is this your Pikachu?" Misty frowned right back at her.
"No, it's my boyfriends. We were trying to get away from this group of people called Team Rocket."
"Is that a twerp I hear?" A high female voice rang through the forest, and Misty's shoulders slumped.
"Them." she sighed. She spun around to come face to face with Jessie, James, Meowth, Seviper and Mime Jr.
"Why did you follow us here?!" she shouted.
"That Pikachu is our ticket to the top." Meowth declared proudly. Misty growled.
"We'll see about that. Gyarados!" she pulled out her Pokeball, and Meowth and James paled quickly. Jessie however, remained determined as the large blue dragon emerged.
"Whoa." Misty grinned at the amazed expression from the girl behind her.
"Hyper Beam!" she shouted. It hit team rocket with full force, sending them flying.
"Looks like team rocket's blasting off again!"
"That was amazing!" The girl rushed up, as Misty turned to scoop up the exhausted Pikachu.
"Thanks. Sorry about your bike." Misty nodded. "This seems to keep happening."
"Pi-ka." Pikachu apologized weakly from her arms.
"Sorry, I know none of them were really your fault." she cooed.
"You said that Pikachu belongs to your boyfriend?" The girl prodded.
"Yeah, we split up to cover more ground. We should get to the Pokémon center right away, only I'm not from around here, I don't know where the nearest one is."
"No need to worry!" The girl cheered. "I'm from Twinleaf Town, I know exactly where we need to go. Follow me!" The two girls ran off down the road.
"I'm Dawn, by the way." the girl with blue hair said.
"Misty."
Misty stared after the purple haired boy as he stalked away.
"He sort of has a point." she said. Ash rounded on her.
"How could you say something like that?" he demanded. Misty merely raised an eyebrow at him, and he took an automatic step back. His glare didn't lessen any however.
"I know that the bond between a trainer and their Pokémon is important, but it is smart to think about what Pokémon you catch. It's not like it's harder to bond with a strong Pokémon, but it can be a lot harder to train a weak one, even if you are connect to it. Like, I loved Togepi more than anything, but did you ever see me actually battle with it?"
"That's insane! He's crazy, and if you think he's right, then so are you." Ash shouted.
"I am not saying he's right, I'm just saying that there's a gray area there!" She shouted back, her anger rising in a way that only Ash could cause.
"There is not a gray area! The bond is the most important thing!"
"Strategy is important too!"
"Bond!"
"Strategy too!"
"Bond!"
"Strategy too!"
They continued shouting, as Brock just smiled, exasperated, as Dawn's head back and forth like she was watching a tennis match.
"I thought they were a couple?" she said, not taking her eyes off them. Brock laughed.
"Oh, they are." he said.
"But…"
"Don't worry, this is just what they do; always have. Apparently always will." he shook his head and sighed.
"You gave him Azumaril?" Ash demanded as the kid ran off.
"Yeah, so." Paul drawled.
Just because it lost!" Misty shrieked at him. Up to that point, she hadn't really had a problem with this Paul guy. His methods were harsh, and nothing like Ash, but they were effective, and Misty could sort of respect his commitment to power. Now though, she was beginning to get seriously annoyed.
"That was as good as that Azumaril was gonna get." Paul snapped.
"What? You could have kept training it you know!" Misty leaned in, glaring daggers at the boy.
"Please, only a loser like your boyfriend over there would believe something dumb like that. I thought you were made of stronger stuff." Paul sneered.
"Hey!" Misty took a step forward, but, Ash and Brock showed up at her arms, straining to hold her back. Dawn came skidding to a halt in between them, holding her arms out.
"Now wait a minute! Can't we all just get along?" she said urgently, looking up at Paul.
"And who are you?" he asked. Dawn's face puffed out in anger.
"Excuse me mister, we've met once before. The name's Dawn!"
"Don't remember you." Paul said off handedly.
"Argh!" The blunette flashed forward quicker than any of them could have anticipated. Ash and Brock had both been too concerned with holding Misty back, they hadn't even had a second to try and stop the younger girl. The next thing they knew, Paul was holding his cheek, and Dawn was breathing hard, shaking out her hand. Misty went slack in the boy's arms.
"Did she just…?" Brock trailed off. Misty grinned impishly.
"I knew I liked her." she said.
The tales of the strong Buizel were beyond tantalizing, even to Ash, who normally couldn't stand to stay still long enough for fishing.
"I'm totally gonna catch that Buizel, Ash, you don't stand a chance!" Misty said smugly. "Because I've got my Misty special all ready to go." She flashed the lure, which she had hand crafted to look just like herself, and mimicked it's victory pose.
"Yeah, that's what you said about Totodile too." Ash teased. "Remind me, how did that one turn out?" Misty glared at him.
"Hey! You cheated. That could have been my lureball too!" she fumed.
"Ah, old times." Brock said, looking out over the water.
"What's a Totodile?" Dawn asked. She pulled out her Pokedex to look up the Johto starter, trying to tune out Ash and Misty's bickering.
"Are you sure about this Dawn?" Misty asked.
"Definitely. Buizel likes battling much more, and you said yourself that Spheal has always had more flair for the dramatic." Dawn's dark blue eyes sparkled with so much excitement that Misty couldn't help smiling at her.
"I think it's a great idea." Ash said. "I sorta wish I could get Buizel, but you're definitely the right trainer for it. Besides, this makes us even for Totodile." he grinned, and Misty smirked at him.
"Alright," she said, turning back to Dawn, and pulling out Spheal's Pokeball, "let's do this."
"But you said contests were too much like what your sisters do." Ash said skeptically. "Don't get me wrong, I like this," he gestured to her outfit, a replica of the Goldeen one she had worn at that magic show years ago, "but…" Misty glared at him.
"It's a celebration of Water Type Pokémon, of course I'm going to do it, and so are you." Ash laughed and wrapped her arm around her waist.
"And so is May, and Dawn, and Zoe, and…" Misty smacked him on the shoulder.
"Ash, please tell me you actually understand why I'm doing this." Ash looked confused.
"Because you want to be the greatest water Pokémon master ever, and that means knowing everything about them, and proving that you're the best at using them, including making them look good." Misty blinked at him in surprise. "What, I pay attention." He shrugged, then grinned.
"For example, that outfit," he nodded down at her, "is the one you got from that magician. I liked it then because I thought it was funny. Now though…" he kissed her and she forgot for a second what she was upset about. "I like it a whole lot more."
"This isn't over Ash." she said against his lips as he kissed her again.
"It is for now." he replied.
He was right.
"Prinplup, Togekiss, spotlight!" Misty clapped along with the rest of the crowd as Dawn released her newly evolved starter. It had been hesitant at first about evolving for the sake of preserving its bond with Dawn, but after more interaction with Misty and her own powerful water types it seemed to have been inspired. As always though, Misty had to check her emotions as she gazed at the Psychic type. Ash squeezed her hand, and she smiled. They had been shaky since their fight at the Wallace Cup, but it was little things like that that made her realize she'd made the right choice.
Unova
"But you need to go back to Kanto! Lucian told you, you can only go for the Champion League by winning your home league." Misty actually stomped her foot in frustration. "This is a waste of time!" Ash's mouth was pressed in a tight line.
"I don't think-"
"What, that you're ready for it?" Misty cut him off. "Of course you are Ash. You came in Top 4 in Sinnoh Ash. That's the best you've ever done! You can definitely win the Indigo League, and you know it." ash glared at her some more, but she refused to back down.
"But if we go back to Kanto, we'll have to split up." He finally said, his shoulders slumping. Misty was so surprised she didn't even bother to close her mouth for a full 20 seconds.
"That's what you're avoiding?"
Ash peaked up at her from under the brim of his hat.
"Well, you sure don't seem to care, and one of us should." The anger flared back up in her.
"Ash, I'm going back to the gym either way. You going back to Kanto is the best option for both of us. You wouldn't even have to travel all that much. I mean you should, since most of your Kanto badges shouldn't even count…"
"Hey!" he protested. She ignored him.
"But the point is I need to be a real gym leader, and you need to actually take the next step." he considered her for a moment.
"This is how you've felt since Johto, isn't it?" he asked. Misty blushed and looked away.
"What do you mean?" her voice was little more than a whisper.
"Being torn between what you want and what I want." he replied. She couldn't look at him.
"I've been telling you that for a year now." she scoffed.
"Yeah, but until now, I didn't really get it. This sort of sucks." She glanced at him.
"Ash, this isn't about want. This is about taking the next step. Moving forward. You can't keep traveling from league to league forever. You want to be a Pokémon master, you need to play the game." Ash stared at his shoes for much longer than Misty would have liked. She was just starting to worry that he was going to tell her that she was nuts and he was staying when he looked up, his eyes full of concern.
"We'll still be together though, right, even if I do go out and re-challenge the gyms?" Misty was so relieved she laughed as she smacked him in the shoulder.
"Of course dummy! I've put over five years into this, I'm not letting you go that easy." Ash smiled at her.
"Thanks for always being here to push me, Mist." she took his hand and laced his fingers with hers.
"Hey, I don't call you Mr. Pokémon Master for nothing. Someday it won't be a joke." He pulled at their intertwined hands, and she fell forward into his chest.
"Love you." he said, his brown eyes sparkling in the bright Unova sun.
"Love you." she whispered back.
Kalos
"You never told me you went to summer camp." Misty was trying as hard as she possibly could not to laugh, because the poor girl already looked like she wanted to disappear into her hair.
"I forgot." Ash said, still looking a little perplexed. "Gary made it hell, I tried to block it out."
"Well, um, I just wanted to thank you, you know, for helping me then." The girl said, turning almost as red as her skirt. "When I saw you on the news…"
Misty's face darkened and Ash shot her a furtive glance.
"Ah, yes, that." she said tersely. "My idiot boyfriend jumping off of stuff. Usually it's cliffs, but he really out did himself with that tower."
"It turned out fine, just like always! I had to save Pikachu!"
"We're not doing this again." Misty said simply. "It was sweet of you to come though Serena. It's always nice to hear that even when Ash was being tormented by Gary he could still make time to be a good friend." She smiled at the girl.
"So, are you starting a journey?" She nodded down at the small fox Pokémon at Serena's feet. "That's a Kalos fire type starter right?"
"Oh!" the girl looked down, surprised, as she had been staring at Ash. Misty tried not to jump to anger. She had dealt with jealousy before, but Serena, though obviously into Ash, seemed sweet enough otherwise.
"I guess so. Though, I'm not really sure what I want to do." she kicked at the ground. "Are you going to stay here in Kalos for awhile?" Serena asked. Misty eyed Ash apprehensively. It was a question she didn't actually know the answer to. He grabbed her hand, and the girl stared at it.
"Not too long. We came to learn a little more about Mega Evolution, and maybe meet a few new Pokémon, but I've got to train for the Champion League, and Misty here is a gym leader, so she can't stay away too long." Ash grinned and Misty felt her heart rate sky rocketing. She squeezed his hand, and looked at the poor girl twisting her toe into the dirt.
"You could come with us, if you wanted, until you figure out what you want to do." Ash suggested brightly. Misty tried to keep the annoyance off her face.
"Oh, no, I wouldn't want to impose!" Serena said, blushing and waving her hands in front of her face in a way that sort of reminded Misty of May.
"Not at all! It's the least I can do after not remembering you." he used his free hand to scratch the back of his head, embarrassed.
Misty had been looking forward to being in romantic Kalos alone with her boyfriend. They hadn't traveled just the two of them for more than a couple weeks in all the years they'd been roaming the world, and she had been ecstatic that they were finally doing it in her dream region. She looked at Ash, so happy at the prospect of helping out someone he couldn't even fully remember, just because it was the right thing to do. She sighed, and turned to Serena, whom she realized was staring at her.
It wouldn't matter what Ash said. Serena wasn't going to join them unless she was sure Misty approved. The red head nodded.
"Of course." she beamed at the girl, highly amused by her look of shock. "It would be good to have a Kalos native around. Ash has a habit of getting lost." she laughed once as Ash scowled.
"Hey!"
Serena finally smiled, whether at Ash's discomfort or at the prospect of being useful, Misty wasn't sure.
"Alright, that sounds really good!" she agreed.
A/N: Yeah…that…got WAY bigger than I meant for it to. I meant for this to be a short blurb from each region, until I got to Unova, which was always intended to be non-existent (not that I have anything against it, I just…always hated how they introduced the perfect plot device to propel the show forward then ignored it an "rebooted"). Sinnoh in particular was rough, because I only watched a handful of eps, but it was still pretty important. Anyway, hope you enjoyed my first ever (despite my 10+ years in this ship) Pokeshipping week piece, despite the length! See you tomorrow!