Yesterday's Tomorrow

One - Through the Deepest Rivers and Highest Mountains

Pokeshipping Day 1 Theme: Adventure

Universe: 'The Road You Choose' Universe (meaning this happens canonically with my series of stories because I can.)

...

Ash pressed his lips together, brow furrowing as he puffed out his cheeks. He rolled his shoulders, shifting slightly on the pressed grass, his spine tingling with discomfort. He took one hand off of the fishing rod, slapping his legs to try and get the feeling back into them. The rod suddenly jerked, and Ash grabbed a hold of it. He kept it still and slowly started to reel the line in, stopping for a moment before reeling in again. Fishing took an extraordinary amount of patience, something he severely lacked, but his sheer stubbornness made up for that.

He bit his lip, concentrating on getting the pokemon out of the water. He was sure that it was going fine, no, he was positive about that. He tugged, and then the line snapped.

Ash let out a grunt of frustration, flopping back onto the ground and letting his fishing rod flop down onto the ground beside him. He blinked with mild surprise when he saw the twilight sky above him, not realizing that he had been at it for such a long time.

"Giving up?" Iris' head popped into his field of view, her long, violet hair falling into his face.

Ash reached up, pushing her hair away and saying, "No. Just a break." He pushed himself up off the ground, stretching out but freezing when his back cracked like a loud gunshot. "Not the type of break I was thinking of. Am I still alive?" He didn't move, afraid that something would hurt or shatter if he did. Pikachu, who had been eating apples with Axew, just looked at him with little interest. That alone was actually a comfort to the raven-haired boy. If anything was wrong with him, Pikachu would have been scrambling over himself in panic.

"You're fine," Cilan answered with a laugh, finishing with their dinner. "That's not your bones. That's air escaping your joints." He stood up and walked over, his smile vanishing into a stern expression as he shoved a sandwich into Ash's hands. "What I find more worrisome is that you've been sitting here all day fishing. You have a taste of desperation about you."

Ash sighed and took a bite of the sandwich, chewing a normal-sized bite before shoving the rest into his mouth, causing Iris to make a disgusted sound. He just made a face in reply as he swallowed his food and walked back to the edge of the river, sitting back down and digging through his bag.

"There's a pokemon that migrating through here right now, they're all over the place but are normally pretty hard to find. Misty's been looking for one for a long time, so I want to catch her one," he explained.

"Misty? Your imaginary girlfriend?" Iris asked with amusement as she held her arm out to Axew. The small pokemon gleefully jumped up, climbing up her arm and into her hair.

"She's not imaginary," Ash said, tilting his head back and looking at her with scowl. "You saw the pictures of her."

"Fake," she said simply with a careless shrug.

Not sure if he was amused or not, Ash shook his head. "So...you're saying I stalked some girl over the years and put myself into pictures with her."

"Well...oh my Mew, you have a lure of her?" Iris lurched forward, grabbing at the item he took out of his bag.

Ash reeled back away from her, almost tipping into the water and holding his lure close to his chest so he wouldn't drop it. "She gave it to me. Made it herself. You should have seen the first one, it was horrifying." He twisted around, putting it on the end of his fishing line. This was the last thing lure that he had, he lost all of the other ones. If he lost this one, he'd probably jump into the water and wrestle the pokemon with his aura.

That would be completely subtle, and it definitely wouldn't make Iris and Cilan suspicious about anything.

"The craftsmanship is quite remarkable," Cilan said, coming closer to observe it, since he too had a lure of himself. "She put a lot of hard work into that."

"Misty doesn't do things half way," Ash said with a grin, casting the lure out into the water. "Never has, and I doubt she ever will."

...

Misty inhaled sharply, her chest rising up as she trained her muscles, pulling up with her arms as her legs pushed, stretching just enough to make her uncomfortable. Managing to get herself up onto the flat surface, she exhaled and flopped down onto her back. She had strong arms and legs due to years of swimming, but climbing wasn't her forte, especially not around Mt. Silver in the pitch black.

Light flashed as a small, round, blue creature materialized beside her. She blinked down with worry. "Marill? Marill mar?"

"I'm okay," she assured Marill, glancing back over the ledge. They were supposed to make camp earlier, but some rather cranky pokemon interrupted them. Sure, she defeated them, but she didn't want to stay there.

A loud yawn escaped her lips, and Misty hauled her pack off of her back, reaching to pull out her warm sleeping bag to get a little bit of rest. She still had more of a hike than she originally anticipated ahead of her. There was really no one to blame but herself though. She could have easily took the Magnet Train to her destination, but she chose to travel through the lower caverns of Mt. Silver. On paper, the way she was going was a shortcut on foot, but papers didn't always accurately include steep ledges, sloping hills and territorial pokemon. She wanted the challenge, and her sisters assured her that it was okay if she wasn't home right away after her official week off. They were good like that lately, letting her go where she needed to do what it was she wanted to do, once they all found something that they loved to do at home.

"Imagine what it would have been like up there?" She said to Marill as she got into the sleeping bag, taking off the cap that she was wearing on her head, and letting her pokemon get comfortable beside her. She pointed upwards, towards the summit of Mt. Silver that wasn't even in sight, hidden behind a wall of clouds. "We're just in the lower portions that trainers are allowed in." She knew that, higher up where there was a plateau before the rest of the mountain, there was a lone Pokemon Center that guarded the entrance. Only the best trainers were granted access to it.

"Marill mare!" She snuggled into Misty's side.

"Yeah, maybe someday." Misty yawned again, shifting to try and get comfortable. As much as she loved camping, she also loved her warm, comfortable bed and always missed it when she was away. When she was with friends, it was different, but alone, she was left to her thoughts, feeling every contour in the earth beneath her.

"Wish Ash and Pikachu were here," she muttered quietly, trying to keep her voice down.

"Rill."

Misty wasn't quite sure what that meant, maybe Marill was just acknowledging that she heard her. It didn't really matter though. "Hey, he can be a good pillow at times." Not to mention warm, which would have been helpful. Misty wanted to curse herself, because choosing to wear a yellow tank top with a red vest and cut-off jean shorts probably wasn't her best idea, but she originally didn't intend on going up the mountain. She had gone to a lecture on newly discovered water-types in Goldenrold City, and instead of just going straight back home, she decided that she wanted to challenge herself a bit, choosing to go through Mt. Silver on her own, knowing it would take her back to Kanto. She wanted a challenge on the way to her destination.

"Get some sleep Marill. Tomorrow should be fun."

"Marill rill."

...

Ash sighed, well aware that the sun was starting to go down. His eyes fluttered a bit as he fought off his tiredness. His body wanted to sleep, but he was determined to catch the pokemon he was looking for. They had to leave the island tomorrow, after all. He could literally sense them in the water, his aura let him know that they were there, but Misty always said he was kind of bad at fishing, and now he realized that she was just being nice. He caught some pokemon that way before, but he was actually really bad at it. Give him a mountain to climb any day over this.

His breath caught in his throat as he felt one of the pokemon inching closer to his lure, and he silently hoped it would latch on. He probably could have forced it to with his aura, but he would never ever do something like that.

Ash almost cheered when it decided to latch onto the bait. He instantly felt the pokemon's resistance and carefully started reeling it in. It really wasn't putting up that much of a fight though, almost like it wanted to be caught.

"Need any help?" Cilan asked him curiously. Though he was all ready to sleep, he was still awake, watching Ash's progress in between pages of the book he was reading.

"No, I've g-" Ash trailed off, his attention grasped by something else. Eyes locked onto the water, he held his breath as another pokemon jolted almost out of nowhere, slamming into the pokemon that was on his line. The force pitched him forward, and he tried to stop himself, but ended up face-first in the water.

He pushed himself back up to the surface quickly enough, hearing Iris' laughter and Cilan's worried inquiries if he was okay or not. Ash wasn't focused on them though, all of his attention was solely on the creature in front of him.

"Ash? Are you okay?" Iris stopped laughing when she realized that he wasn't moving beyond treading water, staring at something with wide eyes and a paling face.

Ash didn't say anything, he only watched as a very annoyed Tentacool surfaced in front of him. He knew that they were getting close to Kanto again when he started seeing more and more familiar pokemon, but these were ones he hadn't missed at all.

"Tentacool, the Jellyfish Pokemon. A water and poison type," Cilan read out, having retrieved Ash's pokedex to check on what it was that had him so petrified. "It's body is virtually composed of water and it normally drifts in shallow seas though can sometimes be found in rivers and lakes. It shoots strange beams from its crystal-like eyes and anglers who hook them by accident are often punished by their stringers." He looked up at Ash. "Their stats don't seem that great."

"Pikapi! Pi pika pikachu!" Pikachu had been at the edge of the water since Ash fell in, watching with narrowed eyes, sparks dancing from his cheeks though he dared not actually attack.

"No, don't touch any of my other pokemon." Ash didn't move because he didn't want to startle it. "They're not really strong but if it stings me, I'm screwed." He could feel one of the tentacles in the water brush against his arm, glad that it hadn't released any poison yet. He was scared that if he moved too much or another pokemon appeared, its agitation might turn into aggression. Ash didn't want to use his aura to get away, he hadn't told anyone about it since his time in Sinnoh, but he would if he had to. He was going to leave it as an absolute last resort.

"Why? I can cure a little sting."

Cilan didn't have to get out his detective hat to put two and two together, quickly going to the part of Ash's pokedex that had information on him. His bright green eyes went wide and he said, "You're allergic to them."

"Just a bit," Ash replied sarcastically, carefully moving back bit by bit. Ash did reach the edge of the shore, but when he did, his hand met something else. He looked out of the corner of his eye and saw the lure that looked like Misty stuck on a rock at the ledge, otherwise it would have been lost to the water. He carefully tried to get it out, but when it was in his hand, the Tentacool tensed up and he felt the rage building up in it.

Before he could even hope to move, it attacked.

...

Misty heard something moving around her. At first, she sluggishly thought that it was just Marill, not fully awake, but when she shifted and felt her pokemon tensed up beside her, she realized that it wasn't. Her eyes snapped open, though she didn't move too quickly. Instead, she slowly looked over her shoulder.

She yelped with surprise when the hat that she had been wearing the other day popped up in front of her face. Red, white with a green version of the Kanto/Johto League's symbol, the old and slightly frayed hat once belonged to Ash, but it still fit her so she opted to wear it on her trek through Johto.

Needless to say, she was really shocked to see it move on its' own, realizing a moment later that there was a pokemon holding it up. The sky was still dim, and it was hard to see exactly who the culprit was before they took off into the lower caverns of Mt. Silver.

"Hey!" Misty flailed to get out of her sleeping bag, quickly recalling Marill and running after the pokemon, haphazardly shoving her sleeping bag into her pack. "Get back here with that!" She threw the pack onto her back, able to run a little faster now that she wasn't trying to do ten things at once. She had no clue what it was or where it was going, but she needed to get that hat back. Ash would never let her leave it down if she lost his hat.

She sprinted through the twisting caverns, the creature she was shadowing hopping just out of sight around every turn. She growled angrily, running around another bend, and slamming into something solid.

A sharp cry of pain escaped her as she fell to the ground, holding onto her hand that happened to get slammed between her own body and the apparent rock wall that she hit. Misty heard the sound of shifting rock, and her eyes opened to see a pair of massive feet. Dread rushed through her and she slowly looked up, meeting the eyes of a very unhappy Golem.

Her breath hitched in her throat, and all she could think was that she'd rather be out in the open, fishing or swimming or something like that. Not lost and trapped in a small tunnel, hand throbbing, with an angry pokemon looming over her.

She jerked back and it attacked.

...

Ash flailed backwards into the water, just avoiding the Tentacool's tentacles. The only bright side that he could think of was that it wasn't a Tentacruel, because there was no way he could escape 80 tentacles and a stringer to boot. He heard Iris and Cilan yell out to him, flashes of other pokemon appearing, but he didn't focus on that, he just wanted to get away from the pokemon.

He ended up dodging another attack, coughing as he inhaled some of the water and swimming as quickly as he could to the shore. The Tentacool managed to grab his leg, and he was more than thankful for the thick pants his mother insisted on buying him. The poison didn't get him, but getting dragged back into the water without taking a breath wasn't pleasant in the least.

The Tentacool let go of his leg as something else slammed into it. Ash immediately surfaced, gasping for breath. He felt hands grab his arms, dragging him up out of the water and to the shore.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu was immediately beside him, ears pressed against his head and eyes scanning Ash for injuries. His nose twitched and he smelled Ash's leg, growling a little bit.

"You need to change pants, so take them off and then let me look at your leg," Iris demanded, her face serious as she knelt beside him.

"What?" Ash asked, one eyebrow raising. "I'm not yanking off my pants. If there's no cut, I should be fine." His eyes turned to the river, where the two pokemon inside splashed and flailed as they attacked each other. He completely ignored his friends' protests, standing up and taking a few steps towards the water. He could feel the burn of a rash budding on his shin, but he focused on the water instead.

Without warning, a pokemon was tossed out of it. He moved quickly, reaching out and grabbing it before it could hit the ground, teetering dangerously against the edge of the water. He almost fell back in, but there was a flash of light, and then a long body wrapped around him and jerked him back onto solid ground.

"Thanks Serperior," he said with a sigh of relief. He took a few steps back, glancing down at the water to see the Tentacool glaring at him fiercely. Ash glared back, but then the pokemon in his arms moved a bit, tearing his gaze away. He frowned and then said, "Serpieror, get that Tentacool out of here." It was the only one, he could sense it, and the poor pokemon in his arms needed to get back into the water. He didn't even watch, knowing that his grass-type could handle this without him actually telling her what to do.

Send it away, but don't hurt it too badly.

"Iris, do you have any..." He trailed off as she almost instantaneously bounced over, shoving the berries he was going to ask for into his hands. "Thanks." He held them out to the pokemon and said, "This one will cure any poisons you might have got in your, and this one will help you get a bit of your strength back." He was actually a bit surprised that it ate so eagerly, but then again, it did seem a little on the small and scrawny side.

"Ser perior per!" His pokemon called out, looking incredibly proud of herself.

"That a girl," Ash said warmly to his pokemon, rubbing her head as he walked by. Despite his friends' call for him to 'get out of the water before you kill yourself' Ash got in anyway, careful to hold on to the little pokemon while it was getting used to the water again.

...

By the time the Golem took a step towards her, Misty's brain finally caught up with what was happening, and her hand reached back to her belt, grabbing for one of her pokeballs, only to get her fingers jabbed with tiny pieces of metal, find it empty. A quick glance over her shoulder let her see that they had scattered when she hit the ground, the clasps that normally kept them in place breaking from the impact. She pushed herself away from the looming pokemon with her feet, her hand reaching out to grab the first one that she could get.

The Golem roared, and then something jumped at its face. Misty didn't wait to see what it was, she twisted around, grabbed her pokeball and threw it. Light illuminated the cavern, and relief washed through her when her Starmie appeared. This Golem didn't stand a chance against her oldest pokemon.

"Use Hydro Pump!" There was really no need for her to command it, Starmie knew that she was in a bad situation and could figure out the best way to react on its own. The pokemon spun in the air, first slamming into the Golem to dislodge whatever it was that gave her the distraction earlier, before letting strong jets of water to blast the rock-type back.

She grabbed her other pokeballs, shoving them into the outer pocket of his bag when a distressed cry reached her ears. "Lar!"

"Huh?" Misty leaned over to look around Starmie, her eyes going when when she saw Ash's hat sitting on the head of a very familiar pokemon that was getting hit by part of Starmie's attack. She jumped up, launching herself forward and grabbing the pokemon, grunting a bit at how deceptively heavy it was as she stumbled forward. She didn't care if her clothes were wet, as long as the pokemon was safe.

The Golem ran by her, nearly trampling her in the process. Starmie landed beside her, and though it didn't have a face, Misty just knew how proud it was.

"Good job, return." She held up her pokeball, and her pokemon vanished again. She shifted onto her knees, her hand still throbbing horribly as she reached out and pushed the hat up a little bit so that she could stare directly into the eyes of the thief. "You're a Larvitar."

"Tar!" It nodded, the hat flying off of its' head. Misty picked it up, and the pokemon actually appeared sad.

She looked at the cap, and looked back at the Larvitar with confusion before her eyes went wide. "Oh! Oh I know you!" She laughed as it pretended to freeze up in horror, proving her theory. "You're the Larvitar that Ash took care of years ago!"

"Lar!" It cried out happily at being recognized.

...

"You're okay now?" Ash asked the water-type pokemon as he let her swim around in the water. He found a shallow spot and stayed in it, staying aware of everything else that was in the water. It was just more of the same pokemon, the ones that eluded him earlier, but they were keeping their distance.

The little one that saved him swam over to them, but they swam away and it ended up coming back, floating around him sadly.

"Huh," he pressed his lips together thoughtfully before reaching out to touch the pokemon. "They treat you differently, don't they?" She nodded, which was essentially moving her entire body. "Hey, you know who would love to meet you? My friend! She loves all water pokemon and has huge pools for them to swim in! She would love to have you around! You know, if you want to." He shrugged. "She even has a Psyduck that can't swim." If it was possibly, Ash was sure that the pokemon would look scandalized.

"Are you talking the pokemon into coming with you?" Iris asked him, amusement crossing her features as she knelt by the edge of the river.

"Yup!" He looked at the pokemon. "Really, you seem...lonely. She would love you and train you. Even enough to evolve!" That caught the pokemon's attention, and it jumped out of the water, cooing happily. "Is that a yes?" A nod.

Ash laughed, fishing for an empty pokemon that he held out. The pokemon swam at the button, engulfing itself in red light as it vanished. Ash tilted his head back to look at Iris and Cilan, showing them the pokemon. "See! All I had to do was ask!"

"Next time, start with that," Iris replied dryly. "And get out of the water before something else tries to drown you. I swear, you're such a kid."

He made a face at her, but climbed out without any other form a protest. He felt too excited and giddy over his newest friend.

Ash couldn't wait to get back home.

...

Larvitar chanted a little song as it led the way through the cavern. In her earlier chase, Misty had become horribly lost, not sure which way to go. The pokemon felt guilty, and elected to show her the way out.

"So," Misty spoke up, watching him curiously. "Are you here with your mother?" She frowned when he shook his head, but realized that, though he wasn't evolved, he wasn't a baby anymore either. "So you're alone?" He nodded his head sadly. Misty knew that, in an environment like this, a pokemon refusing to evolve might have been seen as strange, and something to be shunned.

She frowned as she walked, wincing as they went around the corner and her eyes were assulted by the bright light from outside. She walked to the edge of the cave, surprised to see that Larvitar had led her to the Kanto side. She honestly expected just to end up wherever she has been the night before, but he actually showed her a legitimate shortcut.

"Thank you," she smiled warmly, kneeling down beside it. Larvitar smiled and held up his hand, but then frowned a bit as his eyes caught sight of the hat she was wearing.

Misty pursed her lips for a moment before her eyes went wide. "Oh! I have an idea!" She held out a pokeball, and he looked at her curiously. "Why don't you come with me? Then, when we see Ash again, you can go with him! Oh, if you want to, of course. You don't have to! I know he'd love to see you again."

Larvitar stared at her with shocked eyes before he laughed and danced around, causing her to laugh. She held the empty pokeball out a little farther, and he happily slapped it with his hand, going inside.

Misty beamed at the pokeball happily, holding it to her chest as she stood up again, finding the easiest way down the steep slopes and towards Virdian City.

Misty couldn't wait to get back home.

...

Misty ran as fast as her feet could possibly take her, ignoring the startled cries of people as she barrelled down the sidewalk. If she slowed down enough to actually hear the people, she could only imagine what they'd have to say about one of the Cerulean City Gym Leaders tearing through the streets like a hyperactive Ponyta.

Not that she really cared. She had places to be and things to do. It wasn't her fault that she ended up staying in Mt. Silver a lot longer than she meant to, the days had just kind of blurred together.

Plus she ended up missing the train in Viridian City, and had to wait for the next train. The direct train from Viridian City, over the water to Vermillion City had yet to be complete, so she was stuck taking the scenic route to Celadon, transfer over, and then get down to Vermillion. It was a bit mind boggling really and she had no idea who planned it out, but that's the way it was. The Magnet Trains that were being installed all over Kanto and Johto were fast, but they didn't teleport people, it still took some time.

Her eyes locked onto the harbour, and she huffed angrily when she saw that the ship she promised to be waiting for had already docked. That was the reason she was in such a hurry. If she just said that she'd meet up with them somewhere else, it would be no big deal, but no, she promised she'd be waiting there for Ash.

She could already see the look on his face when he'd undoubtedly find out that she got lost in the lower levels of Mt. Silver. He would tease her mercilessly! Strangely enough, that thought didn't really bother her as much as it should have, but maybe that had more to do with the fact that she missed him a lot. He hadn't come home for Christmas or anything like that, not having the money for it, so it had been over a year since she'd last seen him. Ash called every night he was at a Pokemon Center, or somewhere he had access to a phone without racking up someone's bill, and he sometimes sent letters or parcels too, but seeing someone in the flesh was different.

Misty finally came to a stop, leaning against the stone wall of the building that she was beside and catching her breath. If he and his friends from Unova left, she'd see them go, but if not, it gave her a chance to regain her composure. Did she really want her long-distance boyfriend to see her as a mess the first time he saw her in a year? Misty thought about that and realized how stupid that was. Ash could literally care less.

With that in mind, and honestly not really caring herself if she looked a little winded, she straightened herself up and walked around the corner, through the archways that separated the docs from the rest of the city. Her sea-green eyes scanned around for a moment before she caught sight of a Pikachu sitting on someone's shoulder. If that wasn't enough to tell her that she found the right person, the messy black hair hidden beneath a baseball cap did.

She was about to call his name, but stopped herself, choosing to sneak up on him instead. Pikachu's ears twitched, and he looked around, his eyes going wide, but he stopped himself from yelling when Misty put her finger to her lips. The girl that Ash was talking to her, about their age, maybe a little younger, with wild violet hair glanced at her and did a double take, looking honestly surprised to see her.

Misty reached forward to grab his arm or shoulder, and yelped as he grabbed her arm, twisting around to face her with a big grin on his face and yanking her towards him at the same time. His familiar laughter rang through the air, as he wrapped his arms around her, only quieting as he muttered, "Aura." Of course she should have remembered that. He was probably searching for her even if nobody else realized it.

"Fun ruiner," she replied as she shifted a bit, flinging her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. She buried her face into his shoulder, the scent of the sea lingering on his clothes after being on a ship for so long. She was never one to wallow in missing someone, to get it detract her from everything else she wanted to be doing, but it all rushed back through her at that moment and she was practically clinging to him. She wanted to protest as his grip loosened, but he didn't go that far. It was only afterwards that she realized exactly what she was doing. She was staring up at him.

"Dear sweet Mew, what did you eat in Unova? You got so tall." She reached up, pushing a bit of his hair out of his eyes. "Your hair's a bit longer too." They were the same height when he left for Unova, but now he was definitely taller than her. It was actually astounding, considering when they first met, he was a head shorter than her.

Ash just smiled at her, warm and so familiar. Without any warning, he pulled her close again, leaning down and kissing her. Misty hummed in approval as he ran his fingers along her cheek as her own intertwined in his hair, propping herself up a little bit so he didn't have to lean down so much.

"Pikachupi!" Misty felt Ash's annoyed sound rather than hearing it, but he pulled away from her anyway, glaring over at his pokemon, who had retreated onto the girl's shoulder.

They shifted around so that they were facing the three other people there, the girl, an older boy with matching bright green hair and eyes, as well as brunette woman who looked terribly amused. Misty honestly felt a little shy, but she felt Ash put a hand on her shoulder, and looking up at him, he didn't seem embarrassed in the least.

Pikachu wiggled a bit and then jumped over to Misty, who caught him in her arms, laughing as she hugged him. "Yeah, I missed you too Pikachu. You've been keeping an eye on him?"

"Pi pikachu." He rolled his eyes and Misty laughed. She looked up, startled by the fact that the violet-haired girl, Iris if she remembered right, was standing directly in front of her. She took a couple steps back, stopping when her back hit Ash's chest. She glanced up at him, and he raised an eyebrow at her. She glared back, just knowing what he was thinking.

She took a step away from him and towards the girl, smiling and holding out her hand. "I'm Misty, and you must be Iris, right? I've heard a lot about you."

"I did too but I didn't think...I thought he was making it up that he had a girlfriend!"

Misty snorted with amusement. "Dawn said the same thing when I first met her!"

"You know Dawn too?" Iris suddenly appeared all too excited. Misty decided that she liked this girl's enthusiasm, and the fact that she clearly wasn't shy.

Cilan cleared his throat and walked forward, smiling at her and holding out his hand like she had. "I'm Cilan, and it's simply fantastic to meet you. You have a unique taste about you, bold and still sweet!"

"What?" She couldn't hide the wariness in her voice, once again taking a step back. Ash chuckled behind her, putting a hand on her hip and shaking his head.

Iris groaned and nudged Cilan in the ribs. "Way to freak her out. We're trying to make a good impression on Ash's not-fake girlfriend." She rolled her eyes. "Ignore him, he doesn't mean anything by it." Cilan rubbed his ribs and smiled sheepishly. Ash was about to speak, but she interrupted excitedly. "And this is Alexa. She's a journalist from Kalos!" Alexa smiled and nodded at her.

"Oh!" Ash's eyes went wide all of a sudden. He tugged at Misty's arm gently and said, "I got something for you!"

"You got something for me?" She repeated, though she wasn't exactly surprised. Ever since she went back to Cerulean City, Ash usually brought something for her when he came back from wherever he was.

"Come on!" He let go of her arm and grabbed her hand instead, taking off and pulling her along with him.

"Ash you spaz!" Misty yelled at him as she stumbled along behind him. She swore she heard the other three that they were leaving behind laughing, though Pikachu was sprinting after them. "You're going to rip my arm off!"

"I am not!" He hurried down to the shoreline, stumbling a little bit himself. He came to the edge of the water and held out a pokeball. "I spent hours fishing and nearly got attacked by a Tentacool."

"You...were fishing?" Misty stared at him with an absolutely dumbfounded expression.

"I'm glad you skipped over the Tentacool part."

"Yeah but...you? Fishing? That's just..." She shook her head, smiling broadly as she fished through her own bag, taking out her own pokeball and holding it out to him. "We'll trade. I found this guy for you when I was going through Mt. Silver."

"You went through Mt. Silver? Alone?" He couldn't hide the worry behind his eyes, and she felt a little bit offended, glaring at him. He held up his hands with surrender, and she couldn't help but feel the annoyance almost melt away. She just couldn't stand staying mad with him, not after so long of not seeing him.

"I want you to open yours first," she insisted, nudging it into his hands and taking the one that he was holding. She stared at him expectantly, and then said, "Please?"

"Fine, fine," Ash tossed the pokeball up into the air, Pikachu watching as it soared up and the light burst out from it. When they both saw who it was that appeared, Pikachu let out a cry of happiness and Ash's mouth fell open. "Larvitar? Is that-? Are you-?" He looked at Misty, who nodded her head, and then at Larvitar again. He burst into laughter and easily lifted the pokemon up, hugging him tightly. The pokemon nuzzled into him in return and waved at Pikachu.

Misty smiled warmly as she watched the reunion of old friends. She looked at the pokeball in her hands, more than a little curious about what pokemon he was so excited over. She should have waited until he was paying attention, but her curiosity got the best of her and she opened the pokeball.

Misty's sudden squeal of happiness was a sound Ash had heard from her sisters before, but never her. Needless to say, it startled him, Pikachu, Larvitar, and probably anyone else around them. Misty glanced over her shoulder from where she was kneeling in the shallow water, touching the pokemon that came out.

"You got me a Feebas!" Misty giggled madly, her fingers running across the pokemon's purple scales. He didn't get her just any Feebas though, he got her a shiny one. She never quite understood the term shiny, but she knew that they were fairly rare, especially in pokemon that were hard to find anyway.

"Lar!" Ash looked at Larvitar, setting him on the ground. The pokemon pushed at his leg and nodded towards Misty, causing the boy to laugh and rub the pokemon's head. He got up to head towards her while Pikachu began to talk to the pokemon excitedly.

"I know you were looking for a Feebas for a long time and...well...this one reminded me of you. Who you used to be." She looked up at him curiously, and Ash's cheeks turned pink as he shifted awkwardly. "You know, you were a bit scrawny, and you had a pretty bad temper like this girl does."

Misty's eyes narrowed. "Oh really? Do continue."

"She's also really unique in a good way! I mean, the other pokemon don't think so cause being shiny means standing out and that can be bad but...the right person sees the good things. Having a Milotic doesn't matter if you don't like the Feebas they used to be, right?"

Misty shook her head and looked down at the Feebas, who nuzzled against her hand but rolled her eyes at Ash. The motion made her laugh, and Misty stood up, turning to face him. "You are a complete goob, you know that? But you're sweet too." Pikachu and Larvitar came closer to the water to talk to the shiny Feebas.

She tugged him towards her, pressing her lips against his briefly, swiping off his hat in the process, before just smiling at him. "Thank you, seriously."

"I'm the one that should be thanking you. How you...you have to tell me how you found him again," Ash insisted, leaning his forehead against her own. "Must have been one hell of an adventure."

"It was, and you're going to share how you found her," she nodded at Feebas, who splashed Pikachu playfully. "We'll trade adventures, deal?"

"Deal." He closed his eyes. "I missed you."

"I missed you too. I'm glad you're home."

...

Note

Um well that didn't turn out how I thought it would. I planned 50% less fluff and 50% more adventure. Oops. Oh well, only an hour left of Day 1 of Pokeshipping Week where I am. Might as well post this now.

For the record, they're both around 16-years-old here.

The basic idea, if no one gets it, is that they can have separate adventures, but it doesn't break them in any way, shape or form. Also, Ash tires to be a sweetie but it never comes out right, though he did imply Misty was more like a Milotic now. He just needs to be straightforward, he's better at that.

Interaction with Iris and Cilan was minimal here, because it wasn't the point. Maybe another time it will be!

Hope you enjoy this and sorry if you find any typos or anything!

Written: Skylight Sparkle
Edited by: CLAVUS