Hey, this story has been in my head for months. However, I couldn't get it out the way I wanted to. Then last night my muse slapped me and I was like "Got it!" And now it's perfect. Enjoy the wonder that is Ash and Misty.

Ash sighed, staring at the stars out the window. He couldn't sleep tonight, and he wasn't entirely sure why. He did know it had something to do with his best friend though.

Misty. She was miles away in Cerulean City, and he was in a Pokemon Center in Sinnoh. But for some reason she was plaguing his thoughts as of late. He supposed he just missed her, most people didn't go months at a time without seeing their best friends. True, they video phoned, but they were both so busy it only happened maybe once a month.

"Ash, what's up?" Brock asked, sitting up and looking at him from the bed across the room. Ash's forlorn sigh had woken him.

The young man glanced absentmindedly in his friend's direction. "Nothing really. Just thinking."

Brock grinned in recognition. "I know that look. I know it all too well."

"Huh, what do you mean?" Brock's tone implied he knew more than just what the look meant. Pikachu was in his lap, watching with one open eye as they spoke.

"You're thinking about Misty." It was a statement, not a question.

Ash blushed. "How'd you know?"

"You always get that look on your face when you think about her."

"R-really?" He hadn't realized. But he couldn't exactly see his own facial expressions.

"Yeah. I've known you for five years, I know that look by now." He smiled knowingly while Ash glanced downward. "You know, Dawn's mom is coming into town tomorrow. They'll probably waste a bunch of time together, and I wouldn't mind going to visit my family. Why don't you take the time to go visit Misty?"

The teenage trainer glanced up surprised. "Really? That does sound nice." He glanced down at his furry yellow friend. "What do you think Pikachu, want to go visit Misty?"

His furry friend opened both eyes and stared up excitedly. "Pikachu pi?" He asked hopefully, yawning despite his eagerness.

Ash chuckled. "That seemed like a yes. We'll head out tomorrow morning. We can surprise her."

"Pika." Pikachu nodded his approval before going quickly back to sleep.

"Thanks Brock." Ash called lightly before rolling over to sleep.

"No problem." He rolled over as well and whispered to himself. "Anything to further the cause of true love."

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"Alright Staryu, let's finish this off with water gun!" Misty shouted out after a successful tackle, her flaming red side tail bouncing along with her. This battle was in the bag.

The star shaped Pokemon quickly obeyed, knocking the young Bulbasaur off it's platform with a powerful jet from it's spout. Staryu landed neatly back on it's own platform, seconds before the little plant monster resurfaced from the pool with a dizzy look in it's eyes."

"Bulbasaur!" The trainer cried out in dismay, fumbling for his Pokeball to return his companion from the water.

Misty giggled leaning down to pat the appendage Staryu called a head "Sorry kid, you can't win every battle. Good effort though. Make sure to get your Pokemon to the center down the block. You're welcome to come back again after you've trained some more." She smiled at her friend and returned it to it's ball.

"Ha ha, just as good as ever Mist." A voice from behind her rang out.

She started at the sound of the familiar voice, flipping her head around quickly. As soon as her eyes confirmed what her ears had told her, she smiled so wide it reached her eyes. "Ash!" There was her best friend standing at the edge of the pool, Pikachu perched precariously on his head. Without hesitation she jumped off the platform towards the water, still fully clothed. Gyarados noticed from under water and pulled himself up to the surface to make a bridge for her, ever faithful to the girl who saved his life.

Ash laughed. "Now that's a well trained Pokemon." He quickly had the breath knocked out of him as Misty reached him and threw her arms around his neck in an immense hug. "Woah! Careful Misty, you'll knock Pikachu down." The little mouse made a happy sound from atop Ash's head before leaping down onto the redhead's shoulders.

"Ha ha, hi Pikachu." She removed one arm from Ash's shoulder to scratch Pikachu's head. He let out a happy "Chaaa" sound. Misty laughed and pulled fully away from the hug. "What are you doing here?" She asked breathlessly as she looked up into the chocolate brown eyes of her favorite trainer, before realizing that she was, in fact, looking up. "And when did you get taller than me?"

Ash chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "Well I've been getting taller for a while, you just couldn't tell from the video phone. As for why I'm here, Brock needed to go do something with his family and Dawn's with her mom, so seeing as I had some time to myself I decided I'd come surprise you."

"That's so sweet." She blushed with a warm smile, not expecting such a sweet gesture from her knuckleheaded friend. "How about I close up the gym for the day so we can hang out?"

"Sounds good. As long as you don't mind." He would love to spend the day with her, but didn't want to impose.

"Of course not! I hardly ever get to see you anymore, and this gym's been going for almost two weeks straight, I can shut down for the day."

"Two weeks?! Now that's dedication Mist." He smiled, her energy never ceased to amaze him.

"Hey, it's my job now." She winked playfully and turned around. "Let me make sure this little newbie trainer is okay and then I'm all yours." She walked over to the young boy, blushing slightly at her own choice of words.

Ash froze for a moment. All his. Why did that statement sound so wonderful?

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They were laughing together on the steps outside the gym. It was now nearly sunset.

"Gosh she's crazy." Ash continued. "The things that kid puts us through. Once she wouldn't come out of her tent because of a bad hair day, and another time she made us go shopping with her and forced us to carry her bags." Pikachu lay on the steps before them and covered his eyes, remembering all too well that even he had been forced to carry some bags for Dawn and her clingy Buneary.

Misty giggled. "She sounds like a piece of work."

"Yeah." Ash glanced self-consciously at the girl next to him. "And you know what I kept thinking? 'Misty would never do this to us.'"

She chuckled lightly while a blush crept over her cheeks. "Really? You're not just sucking up?"

"Of course not, no one could ever be like you Misty. That's why you're my best friend." He smiled, one of those genuine Ash Ketchum smiles that melted her heart.

Mew how she'd missed him! But she couldn't go off with him again, her sisters would destroy the gym she'd built up so well. She could finally tell him though. He did seem to have matured enough to not laugh in her face about it.

Her blush deepened as she made up her mind and gave a heavy sigh. "Ash, there's something I need to tell you. It's pretty important." She stared down at her hands, as unsure as ever where to start.

Ash looked at her seriously. "What is it Misty? You can tell me anything."

She continued to stare and blush. "It's something I've been meaning to tell you for years. But every time I tried to, I'd lose my nerve."

"Misty," His tone was confused, and he grabbed her hand to get her attention. She looked up and saw the concern in his eyes. "Why would you not want to tell me something? It's just me."

She smiled shyly. "That's exactly the problem." Another sigh. "Honestly, I never told you because I was afraid of getting hurt."

Ash was seriously confused now. He squeezed her hand tighter. "Misty, I would never hurt you. Never in a million years." He couldn't believe she would ever doubt otherwise.

"I know that. You'd never hurt me on purpose, but it's really easy to hurt someone by accident. People hurt each other without meaning to all the time."

He frowned. "Misty, I think you should tell me what's on your mind, because now I'm just worried. And I promise you I will do everything in my power to not hurt you."

She smiled again. "You're right. I should just come out with it." Misty adjusted her hand so she could hold firmly onto his as well. With one more deep sigh, she let it out. "Ash, I'm in love with you. I don't know when or how exactly it started, but I know that have never loved anyone as much as I love you. You mean more to me than anything else in the whole world." She kept her eyes shut, terrified of what she might see in those soft brown eyes.

Ash himself stared unsure at her, hand still locked firmly in hers. Pikachu still lay on the ground, ears erect, glancing between the two teenagers in anticipation. Ash noticed the fear on Misty's face, fear of rejection, fear of him. And something occurred to him. He reached up with his free hand and gently moved Misty by her chin to face him. She opened her eyes hesitantly, and let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. He was looking at her so gently, as if he were afraid his gaze alone might break her.

"Misty, I don't know exactly, but I think I might love you too. I know I care about you more than most people in my life. I know that I really do think you're pretty, I have since I first saw you in that pink kimono on Maiden's Peak. And I know that that look of fear I saw on your face a minute ago, is something I never want to see again. I want to make sure you're never afraid of anything again." He stared at her for a moment longer and got a look of realization, as if he'd spotted something in her blue-green eyes. "I guess that must be love. I can't really think of what else it could be."

Misty gave a very shaky laugh. Relieved and overjoyed beyond words at his response. "Wow, that was easier than I ever thought it would be."

"Told you I wouldn't hurt you." Ash said with a broad smile.

Misty gave a genuine laugh, and then Ash got another strange look.

"Hey Misty, do you think it would be okay if I kissed you?"

She started slightly, and her blush returned furiously. "K-kiss me?"

"Yeah, it would be a first kiss for both of us, so I thought I should ask you first." He scratched his head worriedly, but didn't falter.

An awkward smile quickly found it's way to Misty's face. "Yeah Ash, I would really like it if you kissed me."

"Good." He licked his lips nervously and reached down to hold her other hand in his as well. With a quick glance of reassurance to her eyes, he carefully leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. It was new and completely different, but he thought this might be a better feeling that winning a Pokemon league. For Misty, it was everything she had ever hoped for, her perfect guy and greatest friend kissing her and sending gentle chills down her spine.

Ash pulled away seconds later and smiled. "What do you think?"

Misty blinked at him and smiled wider. "I think I'd like to spend the rest of your break exploring the possibilities of kissing."

He smiled too. "Well Brock told me that when people kiss they tend to… use their tongues a lot." He blushed, realizing how awkward it sounded.

"That doesn't sound anywhere near as gross as it would have when I was ten." She leaned forward again, wrapping her arms around his neck, she used one hand to direct his hands to her waist. An entirely new sensation occurred once tongues were implemented.

Pikachu still sat in front of them, covering his eyes with one arm in an embarrassed fashion. Oh, the awkward things humans inadvertently subjected their animals to.

Opinions? I was really proud of the way I incorporated Pikachu, he's not hard to work with or anything, I just specifically enjoyed this incorporation. The end kind of goes out to my ex-boyfriend, because my dog used to shove all 80 pounds of himself between us while we were kissing on my couch. Humans just get so comfortable with our pets that we really don't realize the kind of crtap we tend to subject them to.