Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or its affiliates.

A/N: This is an idea that I have had for a while and decided it was time to get out. This is set a few years after the Sinnoh League so that the gang is older. The three older Sensational sisters have stopped using like all the time in this because they have matured out of that phase. Please review and tell me what you liked and disliked, this is my first real try at a romance centered fic so any advice is welcomed.

Ages:

Ash: 20

Misty: 21

Lily: 22

Violet: 23

Daisy: 24

May: 17

Drew: 17

Paul:19

Dawn: 16

Gary: 20

Tracey: 24

Brock: 24

Cerulean City. A bustling city set near the ocean, famous for it's wondrous array of seafood and the Sensational Sisters of the Cerulean gym. Speaking of the gym, it is abuzz with activity tonight as a party is going on to celebrate a special event that only happens once a year. Misty Waterflower's birthday. The gym had been decked out for the special occasion with streamers, balloons and even a disco ball. The large pool that was usually used for battling was covered and turned into a dance floor where most of the guests were at having a good time dancing to pop music until the birthday girl arrived.

Despite the rain that had been soaking the city for the past week, most of the people who had been invited had shown up, from local friends to the ones who lived in different regions. Among the friends invited a few stood out as best friends, one being a miss May Maple. May was a coordinator from Hoenn who was currently dancing with a friend of hers she had brought with her named Drew Hayden. Both seemed to be enjoying themselves, May in her red silk evening gown and red heels and Drew in a white dress shirt, red bow tie and black dress pants.

Across the room near the punch bowl, a certain blue haired coordinator from Sinnoh named Dawn Berlitz was trying and failing to convince a purple haired boy named Paul Shinji to dance with her. Dawn was wearing a blue strapless dress that went to her knees and blue high heels to make herself taller while Paul was in a simple black dress shirt and black dress pants. Paul had spent the entire time at the party sipping the punch that was provided while glaring at Dawn and any other people who dared look his way. Hearing Dawn rattle on about something, Paul just shook his head and thought to himself."That jerk better show up soon. I only came because he asked me to."

While Dawn was fighting a losing battle with Paul, in another part of the gym three beautiful young ladies were talking with three young men. The three girls were three of the four Sensational Sisters Daisy, Violet and Lily Waterflower while the three men were Tracey Sketchit, Brock Stone and Gary Oak. The oldest of the girls and the blonde of the group, Daisy, was wearing a yellow gown and flat yellow shoes and was talking very intimately with Tracy who was wearing a white dress shirt with a yellow bow tie and black dress pants. Though no one knew about it despite the two's closeness, they had been secretly dating for a few months and seen each other as often as their schedules would allow. They had a few private dinner dates but mostly late night phone calls and text messages were how they stayed in touch with each other. They had decided that they were going to tell everyone about their relationship soon but they both kinda liked the excitement that having a secret relationship can have.

While the secret love birds were chatting the second oldest Waterflower, Violet was chatting with the other two boys Gary and Brock. Violet was wearing a dark blue cocktail dress that matched her hair and dark blue flats while Gary and Brock were wearing white dress shirts and black pants, Gary with a blue bow tie and Brock with a gray one. Brock was busy telling them about how he had graduated from Medical school and was looking for an opening in a Pokemon Center somewhere. While Brock was busy talking, Violet was lightly flirting with him by rubbing his forearm and standing close to him. She had a thing for doctors and thought he was kinda cute in his own way.

Gary was also listening to what Brock was saying but he was more interested watching Violet flirt with Brock and despite his best attempt to convince himself other wise he was a little jealous of Brock. Gary thought Violet was quite beautiful with her blue hair and warm smile plus she cared about her looks, which was something that Gary also prided himself in. After watching as Brock finally noticed Violet flirting with him and start flirting back, Gary had to look away. While scanning around the room he noticed that the third Waterflower sister Lily, who was standing behind her sister was oddly quiet and seemed to be looking around the room for something or someone. Lily was wearing a pink evening gown that went to her feet covering the pink flats that she was wearing. With nothing else to do, Gary decided to figure out what Lily was looking for. "Hey Lily, who you looking for?" Gary asked pleasantly.

Lily jumped in surprise at being questioned while she was in deep concentration before nervously answering Gary. "Oh Gary, you startled me. I wasn't looking for anyone just waiting for the birthday girl and her boyfriend to get here that's all."

Gary eyed her carefully, she was acting like a little kid who had been caught doing something they shouldn't have. Gary already had a high curiosity being a Pokemon professor but Lily's words had only made him even more curious about what she was looking for. "Are you sure that's who you are looking for cause the birthday girl shouldn't be here for another half hour you know." Gary stated with a smirk on his face, knowing he had her cornered.

Alarmed at the fact that she was found out so quickly, Lily stuttered. "Um.. uh well I don't know just looking around I guess." She finished while finding her shoes very interesting.

With a smug chuckle, Gary replied. "OK, OK I won't pry. I was just curious cause you were being so quiet that's all."

"Thanks." Lily whispered, never taking her eyes off her feet.

Seeing that Lily really wasn't up for talking, Gary decided to join Daisy and Tracey's conversation since Brock and Violet were now out on the dance floor, much to his dismay. Shaking off the jealous thoughts, Gary broke into the conversation. "Hey you two, what are you guys talking about?" He said while giving a jealous side ways glance at Brock and Violet who were dancing very close to one another.

Daisy saw the jealous look Gary had given but decided not to comment on it. "Well we were just talking about all the people who are here. There must be fifty or sixty people here."

"Yeah, most of them I don't even know." Tracey spoke up. "A lot of them must be from town but I did notice one very important person is missing. Is Ash going to be here Daisy?"

"I'm not sure, he hasn't called for Misty in almost two months. It's really strange because he used to call about every two weeks or whenever he was at a Pokemon Center. Misty has been pretty upset about it and won't even bring it up anymore. It has been hard on all of us, we always enjoyed hearing all about his adventures." Daisy said sadly.

"Yeah it was amazing to hear about all the people and Pokemon he met and helped." Lily spoke up, suddenly more interested in the conversation.

This didn't go unnoticed by Gary, who had to smirk at finding the truth to his earlier mystery. "So that's who she was looking for." He thought to himself.

"Have you heard anything from Ash, Gary?" Daisy asked, unaware of the sudden change in her sister's mood.

Brought back from his musings about Lily, Gary answered Daisy polity. "No, I haven't heard from him in almost six months. So I probably know less than you guys do about his whereabouts. Last time I talked to him he said he was preparing for something but when I asked what tournament it was he said it didn't have anything to do with Pokemon."

This received a surprised gasp from the other three in the group. Ash Ketchum doing something that didn't involve Pokemon was very unbelievable. Everyone who knew the boy, understood that he was focused on Pokemon and had little time for other things. Sure he had human friends and helped people with their problems but Pokemon were always involved in some way.

Gary knew all this and expected them to react this way and had to chuckle at their shocked faces. "Yeah I know it shocked me too. I wanted to know what had caused this sudden change in my single minded friend but he was being surprisingly secretive about it. All he would say was he needed to improve himself." Gary finished.

The shocked faces around Gary turned to curious ones as Gary finished talking. Daisy was the first to regain her composure and asked what all of them were thinking. "What could he mean by that I wonder?" I mean it's a very vague statement, it could mean any number of thing really."

While everyone else was discussing what Ash had meant, Lily was deep in thought about the boy in question. What did he mean improve himself? Was he changing from who he was and was it for the better? All this worried her greatly, she was worried about him and for him. She had never said a word to anyone about her biggest secret, mostly out of fear of what others may say. Especially Misty who had a crush on Ash for the longest time and Lily couldn't help having the same crush on him. She couldn't help it, when he was around he made her feel like a person unlike the other guys that she had dated. He didn't just look at her for her body but also talked with her when he came to the gym, asked how she was doing and what she had been doing. He would tell her and her sisters the most amazing stories of the adventures he had and the people and Pokemon he had met. It was incredible to hear for someone like Lily who had never been on a Pokemon journey or seen the big, wide world. All this had caused feeling to form in Lily and she felt the need to see Ash more and more, she even started carrying a picture of him in her purse. However now that Misty had a boyfriend, Lily thought that she could at least tell Ash how she felt about him. If he shows up that is.

That was why she was looking for him earlier in the night. Well that and she just wanted to see how much he had matured since she last saw him. But why had he not contacted in the last two months? Was he even coming at all? All this made Lily worry more and more till Gary said something that caught her attention.

"Well speak of the devil and he shall appear." Gary said in surprised tone. "I almost don't recognize him without his hat."

Lily, Tracey and Daisy all turned in the direction that Gary was looking and received a shock. Lily couldn't help but blush at how handsome Ash looked. He was wearing dark blue jeans and black shoes like he always did but these appeared to be new or hardly worn at least. He was also wearing a white button up short sleeve shirt with a white undershirt that fit his well developed chest and arms snugly. The outfit wasn't anything special but Lily was just so used to seeing him in his dirty traveling clothes that this came as a surprise albeit a good one. Something that hadn't changed was the wild mass of black hair that didn't have the usual hat to tame it, giving him a somewhat wild look that Lily liked.

"Wow his appearance sure has changed! Wonder if anything else about him has changed?" Daisy said aloud.

"Yeah, I wonder." Lily said quietly with worry in her voice. Was Ash still the same person she had a crush on or was he a different person now? Had she missed her chance with the Ash she liked?