A/N: Hello Pokemon world! I'm Dark Shining Light and I'm here to tell you that I'm a Pokeshipping fan! Yay!^^ So all I'm asking as a new author to pokemon fanfic is that you give me a chance. I promise I'll do my best so please enjoy my 1st pokemon fanfic!

"The Late Night Conversation"

By Dark Shining Light

Pairing: Misty and Ash

General/Romance

Rated k+

Summary: one-shot. Misty reunites with Ash and Brock, but since Ash was so happy, Misty had no choice but to chat with him while Brock and Dawn sleep.

Notes: This takes place during in the Dawn season. Please forgive me if I don't know what exactly happened to some of Misty's pokemon. Plus I've never seen a Hoenn or Sinnoh episode. I learned all that I know from my boyfriend^^

(Do NOT Own Pokemon)

Misty giggled as she watched her pokemon play in the pool. Starmie, Staryu, and Golden were moving freely in the water while Azurill and Psyduck (with floaters) jumped off Gyarados; the large water/flying pokemon didn't seem to mind at all. Corsola, Luvdisc, Politoed and Horsea appeared to be playing a game of tag. Soon all the water pokemon decided to play.

The redhead loved all her pokemon and she loved being Cerulean Gym leader. Though everything seemed to be going well with her career and the gym, she realized that there was one problem.

It was too peaceful.

She admitted long ago that she missed the days she spent with Ash and Brock and their pokemon. She missed their adventures of beating Team Rocket, making new friends, seeing new pokemon, going new places….and Ash.

It pained her more than anything else to know that he was traveling with another female companion. She met May and liked having her as a friend, much to her dislike. She was supposed to hate her rivals but she couldn't hate May; she was her friend, even though she spent time with Ash. With Ash's new companion, Dawn, she had yet to meet her and feared seeing her; Misty had a feeling she would end up liking her as well. That's why she'll make a mental note to never meet her.

She pondered for awhile, thinking about her feelings and her situation. Misty knew she should be happy that she had a nice bed instead of having to sleep on the ground in a sleeping bag. She never had to starve, and her pokemon were well kept. But still….

The female looked up to spot them looking at her, wondering what their trainer could be thinking; even the little dense duck noticed. Misty smiled. "I'm alright guys. I was just thinking."

Yet they continued to look at their trainer with concern. "Seriously. I was just confused about something….and I still kind of am." Misty sweetdropped. The water pokemon decided to let it pass since she insisted so much.

She sighed. She went back to watching her pokemon play but her mind started to drift off again. She pondered with the ideas of what she had and what she wanted. She had what she needed, Misty told herself. But deep inside of her, a little voice disagreed. What she needed, it said, was what she wanted. She was not truly happy here.

The pokemon stared at the redheaded girl again, and Misty caught them staring again. The Gym leader looked back at her pokemon but smiled at them sadly. "I'm sorry but there is something I have to do."

(Scene Change)

"WHAT? YOU"RE LEAVING!" Tracey stated, both confused and shocked. Misty was now at Pallet Town, in Professor Oak's laboratory to be exact. The redhead nodded.

"But Misty, I thought you liked be the Cerulean gym leader."

"I do Tracey but I feel that I should take a small break from the gym. I love battling and being a gym leader but sometimes I feel like the whole world is passing by me. I'm in one place while thousands of trainers are out exploring the world.

Misty sighed sadly. "I just want to be part of that world again, relive that life, even if it's just for a little bit."

The pokemon sketch artist looked at his friend. Looking at her and how much she wanted this, he knew he had no power to convince her. "Do you want me to go with you? It could be dangerous."

Misty knew she couldn't ask him to do that. Just because she wasn't happy with her current life style didn't mean he had to change his. She knew he loved working with Professor Oak; being in this lab was his personal heaven. The female smiled. "I'll be fine Tracey! I'm the Cerulean gym leader after all."

He smiled at his tomboy friend. 'Same old Misty.'

"How did your sisters take the news Misty?" Professor Oak inquired as he walked into the room.

The water gym leader smiled. "Professor Oak, I thought you were out back with the pokemon."

"I was but when I heard Tracey yell that you're leaving I thought this would be more important." The old man answered. The artist blushed, embarrassed of his outburst.

"Well, at first my sisters freaked out. I had a hard time convincing them until I mentioned seeing new pokemon. Daisy got the idea that I should go to Sinnoh and send back whatever water pokemon I could find, that that would bring more people to the gym. My two other sisters quickly agreed."

Pro. Oak chuckled. "So what pokemon will you be taking?"

"You see, that was the second part of the deal." Misty explained. "The first was to send back the water pokemon that I capture.

"The second was to leave all my pokemon except Gyarados because they were afraid of it. I had to go through another round of arguing to get them to hand over my Starmie."

"Impression." Pro. Oak smiled.

"So when do you plan on leaving Misty?" Tracey asked.

"I'm leaving tomorrow morning." The redhead answered. "I wanted to come by today to say goodbye."

Tracey nodded. Sure he was sad about her leaving but if she wanted to do this then he would support her.

"…Misty, may I ask you for a favor?" The professor inquired.

Tracey and Misty looked at one another surprised that he was requesting something from her.

"Sure Professor Oak, what is it?"

"Come with me." The two teens walked behind the older man as he led them to the back. They walked into his garden. All the pokemon were out playing; all of Ash's from Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn, plus a couple that Tracey and Pro. Oak had. They all looked so happy except-

"Hey, what's wrong with Bulbasaur?" Misty asked, concerned for the small grass pokemon that rested underneath a tree.

"You see Misty, just like you, Bulbasaur appears to be bored of his life style. The reason Bulbasaur stayed behind was to protect the garden but with no more threats from wild pokemon, he just lays there. Once in awhile he plays with the other pokemon but he seems to be little interested in playing. To be honest, I think he wants to battle again."

"Poor Bulbasaur." The water gym leader said.

"That's why I'm going to ask you Misty," The old man said, "If you could take Bulbasaur with you."

Misty looked taken back. "WHAT!"

Pro. Oak raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

"I…I don't know professor." Misty started. "I'm nervous. I've never trained a grass pokemon. I wouldn't know where to start!"

The white haired man smiled. "That's not true. This Bulbasaur has already been trained by a very dear friend of yours. Plus, you've already traveled with Bulbasaur and seen what it's capable of."

"What if Ash wants him back?" The female asked.

"I don't think Ash will need him anytime soon. But the choice is yours."

The water trainer looked at the bored pokemon. He was bored, you could tell that much. But if you looked closer, you could also make out that he was depressed.

Misty grew unsteady; she was spit into two. One half wanted to take the pokemon and the other was unsure. If it was Squirtle, she would have agreed in a heart beat. But Bulbasaur…

It wasn't that she disliked him. She loved Bulbasaur as her own pokemon and considered him a friend. But she never worked with a grass pokemon before. She didn't know what attacks Bulbasaur now had or any future attacks that he may learn. She also wasn't sure how he would get along with Gyarados. Bulbasaur once battled side on side with Starmie so reforming that bond won't be two much trouble. But she didn't know what to expect from her other pokemon.

She looked at the grass pokemon again. He would come in handy, she thought. Being a grass pokemon meant that he had an advantage over her water pokemon so in case they faced a strong grass pokemon or electric, Bulbasaur would have a higher chance of beating it. Plus the way he looked made her want to take it out so he could smile. They were friends, so maybe it won't be so bad…

"Misty?" Tracey said, breaking her from her thoughts.

"So what do you say?" Pro. Oak asked.

"Let me ask him." Misty responded. "It's his choice."

The redhead walked to the small green pokemon. He looked up at her and smiled. Misty had to smile back. "Bulba!" It greeted.

Misty went on her knees to speak directly to the pokemon. "Listen Bulbasaur. I'm going to leave to Sinnoh tomorrow morning. And I was wondering if you would like to join me."

Bulbasaur broke into a grin. He knew if he traveled with the girl, he could battle once more and meet his former trainer.

"I can't promise we'll see Ash Bulbasaur." The redhead spoke, causing him to turn his attention back to her. "And you know I only have water pokemon so I won't be as good as a trainer Ash was. But if you give me some time, I'm sure I could be good enough to work with you."

The grass pokemon looked at the redheaded girl. He remembered the days when they all traveled together. His trainer was friends with her and she was nice to him and the pokemon. He was even friends with her Togepi. And every time she visited, he could feel himself being closer to her. Though she didn't know much about his type, he knew he could trust her.

Bulbasaur jumped on Misty's lap and smiled. "Bulbasaur!" He said, nodding his head with a grin.

Misty returned his smile and hugged the pokemon. "Thank you Bulbasaur!"

(Scene Change)

The water trainer finished explaining and looked to the pair of black eyes. To her surprise, after 5 months of being in the Sinnoh area, she met up with Ash, Dawn and Brock just before sunset. Brock, Pikachu and Ash had greeted her with eagerness and Dawn and Piplup sweetly introduced themselves. Misty had to sweetdrop. 'Just as I thought,' she's thought when she saw Dawn. 'Another face that I can't hate.'

Since they were tired from their previous adventure, Brock insisted that they go to bed and

Misty could explain why she was away from Cerulean in the morning. But Ash, being so eager, wouldn't rest until Misty explained to him what she was doing. So after Brock and Dawn had fallen asleep, Misty told Ash her tale with a few taken out details, like the ones of being jealous.

The pokemon trainer could only stare at his female companion. He didn't know Misty had felt that way. So instead, he asked, "So Bulbasaur is here with you?"

The redhead smirked slightly. "Well, in a way."

Ash blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Let's just say that he evolved to the next level."

After a couple of seconds, Ash finally got it. "Oh! He evolved!" The boy exclaimed in shock. Misty giggled at his slow reaction. 'Same old Ash.'

She brought out Bulbasaur's pokēball and handed it to the former trainer. Though Ash wanted to summon the pokemon, he didn't have the heart to wake him up from his sleep. "Wow…" He whispered. "An Ivysaur." 'I'm really proud of you Bulbasaur.'

Misty stared at Ash as he held his old pokemon's ball. 'I wonder if he'll want him back.' She knew he loved all his pokemon, especially his now Ivysaur. He was one of his first pokemon that Ash ever caught in the beginning of his journey; that made him special. But Misty had grown fond of the Bulbasaur and so had her other pokemon. It pained her that Ash might want him back but she knew it was the right thing.

"Are you going to take him back?" She asked quietly.

The blacked haired boy looked at his water gym friend. He thought for awhile; he loved Bulbasaur, there was no doubt about it. That's why…

"No." Ash told her. That caught her off guard. Misty was about to open her mouth to ask why but he continued. "I was Bulbasaur's trainer, not Ivysaur's. Since you were the one that made him evolve, it's only fair you continue to train Ivysaur."

"Ash…" The redhead was deeply touched. She didn't know Ash had matured so much. She had noticed when they re-met that he was taller and his face was had lost some of its baby face edges. He was growing both in the mind and body.

Now the pokemon trainer looked at her. She was still a petite of course but her body had more curves to it. She was had also developed in other places. But her hair style remained the same and Ash didn't mind; he thought her hairstyle made her stand out from all the girly girls there were in the world. Sure Misty cared about her looks (what girl doesn't?) but at least she didn't exaggerate like May and Dawn. Plus in a way, it made her look cute.

"Hey Misty…" Ash suddenly spoke. The girl looked at her friend. "How come every time I went to visit Pallet Town, you weren't there?" He was hurt that she rarely showed up when he was in town.

There was no way the water gym leader could tell him. She couldn't tell him that it hurt her to see him with other girls. Yes, it did hurt to not see him but it hurt more to see him with another girl. There would be no way she would be able to hide her jealousy from the group. Sure she could pretend to like Tracey but what would be the point in that?

"Misty?" He said her name with concern and confusion.

"Did it even matter Ash?" The girl blurted out. She should have just told him but she needed to know how he felt about her before she could make a big fool of herself.

"It did matter?" He repeated, his hands turning into fists. "Of course it mattered! Why wouldn't it?"

The raven haired boy gaped Misty's shoulders, causing her to jump in surprise. "I missed arguing with you over silly things, I missed seeing you become determined when you wanted to win a match, I missed watching you play with Pikachu and Togepi! Don't you get it? I MISSED YOU!"

The forest echoed Ash's last words and after it faded, it grew in silence, minus the light snores of Brock and Dawn. Misty looked at the pokemon trainer as he removed his hands and looked down at his lap. "I missed you…" He repeated in a whispered manner.

He wasn't sure how Misty was going to reply to that; he didn't expect her to either. The redhead couldn't have possibly missed him. She was hardly ever there when he arrived. If she had, then she would have visited him when he came over to Kanto.

The teen felt something touch his hand and he looked to find Misty's hand holding it. He turned to meet her blue eyes. "I missed you too." She whispered back.

"I missed you so much that it hurt. But not seeing you didn't hurt as much seeing you with another girl. Brock was still your companion but I was replaced. I couldn't go and see who you replaced me with. I'm sorry Ash." She was telling the truth, it wasn't a lie. However, she felt she couldn't tell him that she had developed a crush on him and was jealous. That would be too much.

Ash tightened his grip on Misty's hand when she was about to pull away. "You thought…I replaced you?"

"What did you expect Ash?" The redhead said angrily as tears started to come down her face. "How else would it look like?"

"You could have come back when ever you wanted Misty." He told her.

She glared. "That's hard to do Ash when you feel unwanted."

"If you would have tried, then you would have known you were wanted." The black haired teen countered.

"How was I suppose to know that when you had another girl traveling with you?"

"Why does that matter?"

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!" Misty yelled. Ash stared at her, mouth opened. The redhead realized what she had said and blushed. Yet, she continued quietly. "I love you Ash. It was hard for me to go with you when another girl was beside you."

"Misty…I…" He was still lost for words.

She glared at him, still blushing. "Well let's get this over with."

Ash didn't know what she was talking about. "Get what over with?"

"Don't play dumb Ash! We know you don't return my feelings for you better hurry and reject me!"

The water gym leader was preparing herself, embracing herself for the harsh words Ash would lash out of her. 'Just say you don't like me so we can move on.' Though she was repeating the words in her head so the impact wouldn't have much of an effort, she couldn't stop the silent tears that traveled down her cheeks.

"But Misty…I wasn't going to reject you."

She opened her eyes in surprise. "What?" Now she was lost for words. Lucky, Ash was going to continue; just with large red blush. "I…like you too…I mean, love…I love you too…"

She raised an eyebrow. "Which one is it?"

"Hey this hard for me too Misty!" The teenage boy stated, still flushed with color. "I've never said those words to another girl besides my mom."

The Cerulean gym leader continued to stare at the boy she had fallen in love with years ago. Then she stared to laugh. That deepened his blush. "What's so funny?" He demanded.

She stopped her giggling. "Only you would say something like that Ash."

He didn't understand what she meant but he didn't feel like he should respond. Seeing her giggly, made him happy.

"So…what do we do now?" The black haired teen inquired.

The blue eyed girl smiled. "Maybe we could kiss." She was amazed she was able to say it without blushing!

Ash turned pink. "Um…okay…"

His response was what made Misty blush. She moved her face closer to Ash's when "Wait!"

The female was caught off guard by his sudden outburst. Ash's blush darkened. "How…How do you kiss?"

Misty giggled again. She knew this was no time to giggle but this was so Ash! Plus, it brought her great happiness to know Ash never kissed another girl. She never kissed a boy before but she always saw it in the romantic TV shows her sisters watched. "You just turn your head a little…"

"Like this?" He inquired as he moved his head a bit.

"Yeah…and then you move your head closer to mine…"

The two started to move closer, their lips were one centimeter apart when…

"Keep it down you two! I'm trying to sleep!" Brock muttered from his sleeping bag.

"Yeah…you can finish it in the morning…" The blue haired girl added with her eyes closed.

"Pika-Pika." Pikachu agreed in a sleeping form and the penguin like pokemon nodded.

Misty and Ash's faces were darker that second than any other moment that night.

"YOU WERE LISTENING THE TIME WEREN'T YOU?" Misty yelled, jumping on Brock and started to shake him furiously. Brock yelled but he was defenseless against Misty's wrath.

Dawn rose up, surprised. "What's going on?" She yelled.

"Don't play innocent Dawn! Once we're finished with Brock you're next." Ash warned her as he went to help Misty.

But after a few moments of straggling Brock, the new couple decided it was best to save Dawn for the morning. Brock passed out and female coordinator was afraid to go to sleep but eventually she grew tired of staying up and collapsed.

Misty and Ash decided to move their sleeping bags just a bit closer. The redhead took Ash's hand and he tightened his grip on her hand.

"Goodnight Ash." She whispered, smiling.

"Night Misty." He replied, returning her smile.

There was a silence.

"Ash?"

"Yeah Misty?"

"Do you have your Buizel?"

"Yeah why?"

"Double team Dawn with a water gun in the morning?"

Ash smirked. "You bet."

A/N: So what do you guys think? I hope it wasn't OOC. This was my first Misty and Ash so please so easy on me on your grading. Excuse the grammar and spelling mistakes; I'm bad at that. Please review! If I get over ten nice reviews I'll update again.

Til next time,

Dark Shining Light