Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon, nor the themes used here.

A Rose for me- A Rose for you is holding this little contest, and it looked like so much fun I just couldn't help it! It's gonna be a lot of fun to do, because I had a lot of fun doing this one!

Animal

Misty popped a piece of chocolate in her mouth, humming under her breath some cheerful song about snowy weather. It was nice to be back with Ash, it always was, but it was nicer to have a break from him for five minutes. He was running outside, doing some kind of training with Pikachu. She did wonder if training with Pikachu in frozen water was a good idea, but when she brought it up he had stuck out his tongue and raced out without a goodbye.

And what should have been relaxing merely raised her worry.

"Brock, do you think it's a good idea to leave him out there with Pikachu? He's going to kill himself." She got to her knees and looked out the window behind her, trying to see through the light snowfall to wherever Ash might be, but the boy was nowhere to be found. "Brock! I can't even see him out there! Town isn't even a mile away! He's gonna be running around with Pikachu, and he'll wander into town, tick off an Officer Jenny and get himself thrown in jail! This is ridiculous!"

"Worried, Misty?" he asked offhandedly, flipping a page in his magazine.

"Worried?" she snorted. "Why would I be worried? He's saved the world a thousand times! And, I mean, sure he always had his friends there to bail him out and he's a train wreck on legs and he's completely insane and he's not able to walk three feet without something blowing up in his face and completely ruining whatever we were doing beforehand and getting sidetracked on this crazy mission to save a pokémon which we don't have to save but we do have to save it and it's so complicated and, dammit, Brock! What could he possibly be doing out there?"

Brock looked up and grinned. "Well, it is your birthday tomorrow."

"Yeah right," Misty snorted. "I already know what I'm getting for Christmas. It's a coupon for one day of Ash saying I'm right without arguing, same thing we always get each other."

She screamed and fell face first into the sofa, clutching a pillow to her head and continuing to scream into it, not noticing in the least when May walked in, stamping her pretty, in fashion sneakers to loosen the snow. The brunette glanced at the redhead, blinked twice, then shrugged and walked over to Brock, still debating in her mind whether or not she should ask. She had a feeling she was better off not knowing, but temptation proved itself too strong.

"What's wrong with Misty?" May whispered.

"Ash gave her a rose and she figured out it means he likes her."

"Very funny," she muttered. She snatched up her bags and stormed upstairs, face painted a bright red. "And Ash was right behind me! I ran into him coming out of a shop. He seemed awfully excited about whatever he bought. He kept telling himself to walk, so I think he's got something delicate. I don't know what, though, Goldenrod is such a great place to find anything. It's got to be the shopping capital of the world. Why weren't you out, Misty?"

The girl jerked her head up and began to scream at the far wall: "He can't get me something for my birthday! I didn't get him anything for his! This is all a part of a damned plot to ruin me! Ruin me! I'll look like the insensitive one when it's him! It's him! You all know it's him!"

May sighed, "I knew I didn't want to know," and then turned to race upstairs and dump her stuff on the bed.

Ash burst in a moment later, carrying a large box. He had a huge smile stuck on his face as he marched over to the girl, holding it out and declaring, "Misty, I know how you like water and stuff, and my mom's been saying that I should get you something nice because we're becoming adults and we're supposed to be nice to one another and get each other good, adult gifts." Brock snorted at that, burying his face in his magazine. "What's so funny?"

"Adult gifts," he snickered.

"What does…oh, oh…oh, ew!" Ash pulled a face. "Not like that, Brock! Anyway, Misty, so I was really thinking about the stuff you liked, and I realized something. You've got a lot of pokémon and everything, but they're pretty smart and you just have to feed them. You can't really take care of them. I remembered how much you liked taking care of Togepi and thought, well, maybe you'd want to play with this too! You could take care of it and help it grow and all that kind of motherly stuff that you seem to like doing."

She glared. "Did you adopt a baby, Ash?"

"No, I tried that but they wouldn't let me 'cuz I wasn't married," he sighed dejectedly. "And I also asked for a baby mermaid, because it's half fish, but they said they were out of those. So, I went to another cool store and I bought you this!"

He held out the box, which she could now hear was making a faint scratching sound, and she took it. Cautiously, she opened the box, using the lid as a shield in case some crazy pokémon Ash bought for three dollars, on sale for its rabid bloodlust of flesh, and peeked inside. There was a water turtle, about the size of her entire hand, crawling around in the box. It looked up at her with mild interest, then went about its business of escape from the box.

"You…you got me an animal," she said slowly, eyes widening with wonder. She looked up at him, breath catching. He was beaming like he had just caught a new species to add to his pokedex, and she was also speechless. Almost. "These things are practically extinct. Pokémon…pokémon have all but pushed animals out of existence. How much did this cost, Ash? I can't let you buy me this! I'll go halfsies with you! I-"

"No, it's not that big of a deal. I'm a lot better of a trainer now. I've got a lot of cash. It's no big deal to spend some of it. What's the point of saving it all up if you don't spend it." He plopped down beside her. "Besides, you haven't seen the best of it. I've got the tank and stuff down at the store! I'm gonna run and get it, and we can set it up! Isn't that cool?"

"Oh, wow, Ash," she whispered, running her hand over the shell. "But I didn't get you anything great this year."

"S'all right," he laughed, making his way to the door. "You can buy me a dog next year!"