Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon

Description: A short and sweet Valentine's Day tale with some beloved Pokemon characters. Requested by The-Collector-of-Things. Enjoy and happy holidays:)

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Hearts.

They are everywhere. How lame. How sick.

Okay, that's harsh.

It's just so cheesy. Hearts…

I am actually sorta kidding. I like hearts. Sorta. I like what they represent.

Romance!

I've actually never been in a romantic relationship.

I actually sorta was…for a while. It just didn't seem all that romantic.

"Hey, you, wanna go out on a date?"

"Marill Marill!"

"With you or with Marill?" I queried.

"Why me, of course."

He's a nice guy. We are friends. He listens to my rants and helps clean the pool and helps me take care of all the water Pokemon, because my sisters are ridiculously lazy. I am pining for the day when all that sitting in the sand doing nothing catches up to them. Ha! Then they will all be jealous of 'the runt'. LAZY.

I am grateful for him. He doesn't live that far away. Pallet is just a short drive, or a medium-length bike ride. And even though I can find people to drive me, I prefer to go on my own now that I have MY BIKE with me, since it isn't all fried anymore.

He brings me presents, we go out on dates, and I kissed him a few times.

Last year when May had a Valentine's Day party, she invited me to join. She offered to find me someone. I told her that I already had a boyfriend. She was surprised. May is so cute. I took my boyfriend to the party.

"There sure is a lot of romance here, don't you think, Misty?"

"Sure is," I responded. I kicked a pink, heart-shaped balloon out of the way. "Very romantic."

"You are unpleased. I think the place looks great."

The party was at Norman's gym. He generally avoided having gym battles on holidays. May probably begged her dad to do it. May is a sweetheart; I can't say no to her easily. She acts a lot like Ash. Excited, curious, a tendency to get stubborn and a bit stupid…Maybe that is why I like him. He makes me look good.

(Him = Ash)

I think about Ash a lot. Other people think that I think about him a lot. I do, but it's weird that people think about what I think. When I told May I already had a boyfriend, she said:

"But Ash is all the way in Alola. I think he's in school that day, and they are having some kind of party the same day I want to have mine. That is when he had posted on his Facebook…Are you on Facebook?"

"No, I am not on Facebook. And Ash isn't my umm, my boyfriend."

I was hoping that she wouldn't ask.

"Oh. OHHHH! It's Danny, from the Orange Isles." May clicked her tongue. "I should have known! I am friends with him, I'll message him for ya."

"May, Danny is not my boyfriend either."

"Oh. Is it someone you met in Cerulean?"

"Do you remember Tracey?" I asked in a small voice. I was basically cringing. I don't even get why I was like this.

"I sure do. I met him at Professor Oak's lab. Don't you remember? I think you were there too. Awww you two! Okay, it's funny, I didn't even think to ask him…how old is he?"

"Two years older than you, one year older than me."

"Oh. I assumed he was much older for some reason. I am glad you are coming. I invited Dre—all my contest buddies. Even Harley. You remember Harley Moto, right?"

"He's hard to forget," I giggled.

"I know. He's funny when he is not pissing you off," she laughed back. "Thanks Misty! I'll text you later with more details."

The party was okay. I liked getting all dressed up every once in a while. I am only half a tomboy.

This year was different. I didn't want to go at all. Tracey and I didn't really work out. It was a mutual and casual breakup. We are still friends. He still helps me the way he did before we dated.

My life felt so slow right now. All these hearts everywhere didn't make me feel any better. They were in the store windows, in the mailroom, at the park, in the laundromat…where does Cerulean think it is? Kalos?

I got Tracey chocolates, because I did every year. He always gets me something for White's Day. I also didn't like the idea of him being lonely. I wanted him to know that I still care about our friendship.

I walked into the gym. Azuril hopped off my shoulder and dove into the pool. Psyduck was there, floating on a raft. Staryu and Starmie jumped out to greet me.

"Happy Valentine's Day," I told them as I rubbed their—heads? Gems? I am a water Pokemon expert, I should know what those gem-like beads are, but I don't.

"I got you all a gift. Hold tight."

The Pokemon all gathered behind me as I headed to the large storage closet. I pulled out a large box with the words: 'Valentine's Day' written on it.

Inside the box, I had dozens of small, pink cupcakes. They all gleefully ran towards the loot.

"There is enough for everyone to have three," I talked over them. They were all conversing and eating with great pleasure. It made me feel good to see them this way.

I walked towards the pool. I couldn't decide if I was lonely or not. I have everything that I want: The gym, a perfect team of water types, fame, my sisters' respect…but I felt like there was still more out there for me to obtain.

May wasn't having a party this year. She and the other coordinators in our friend group were attending some big event that the people who organized the Grand Festival were running. She invited me to join, but I declined. I had a lot of work to do, and I honestly couldn't afford to miss a full day of work and buy a ticket to Sinnoh.

I spent most of the morning doing my regular routine. I ordered more gym badges, checked my mailbox, then battled the four kids I had scheduled to meet that day, as well as the three who showed up without an appointment. I lost all but three of the matches. Kids, only ten years old, now have mega evolutions and something called a Z-ring…when I was their age, all I had was common water Pokemon. That is still all that I have. I am all for getting new Pokemon…but all this technology is weird for me. Cerulean City has a reputation for having the best and most authentic water-type gym in the entire world. I wasn't going to 'upgrade' it. This is what I was thinking when I got a text for the first time in three days. Azuril jumped onto my shoulder so that she could also read the message.

"Hey Mist! I am back in Luminose City tonight. I saw a little brown and white dog, and I thought of you because of that time we celebrated the spring festival and got dressed up and then you noticed it…yeah. You don't see dogs every day, lol."

"Zuu zuu!" Azuril laughed. I also laughed a little. The message continued.

"Luminose City is really cool, but not as cool as Cerulean City. I wish I could talk, but it's loud here, and Bonnie and Dedenne are all hyped up on sugar. I think I am too ha ha! So, that is why I am txting. I didn't want you to think that I forgot you. I really wish you were here. I hope you are having fun at that event in Sinnoh!"

"Zu?"

"May must have told Ash that she invited me, but didn't tell him how I decided not to go," I reasoned.

I read the message over one more time, then stuck the phone in my pocket. I didn't want to respond right away; I needed to think of something good to say. Something meaningful.

It wasn't such a bad day. As I locked up the door to the gym that night, Azuril was laughing and hopping around in the three inches of snow we had received.

Buried under the small layer of snow on the gym's doormat was a flat black box. I opened it up, assuming it was from Delia. She was like a mother to me; it wasn't unusual for her to send Tracey over with some homemade treats. But I was somewhat suspicious, because Delia had already given me a present today. I brushed the snow off of it and peered inside.

Dark chocolate hearts. About two dozen. And a note.

"Hey Mist!

Remember that time we went to the sweet shop with Brock and Tracey and the lady there gave us all that free chocolate? You wouldn't believe it, but the same thing happened again! This time with Serena, Bonnie, Clemont, and I. I remembered you dove for the dark chocolate, but everyone else was like 'gross, it's bitter'. We didn't have a Misty with us, so the dark chocolate went left uneaten for the whole afternoon! Crazy, I know. Who wastes chocolate? Well, I hope you still like it, even though it's been a few years. I promise I didn't forget"

—Ash and Pikachu

After reading this, I knew I couldn't be bitter. He wrote a note. That's effort.

"I wonder how he got it here?" I thought aloud.

"Azuril ril rillll."

"You are probably right. I bet Tracey delivered it. I guess I need to write two well-thought out notes when I get home. Do you agree?"

"Zuu," the Pokemon answered with a nod.

I shook the snow off my bike and mounted. I glanced at the moon before I took off.

Another memory.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

AN: Thanks for reading. Sorry about any spelling/grammar errors: this was a last-minute request and I wanted to get it out before Valentine's Day. Thank you to The-Collector-of-Things for the request. Hope you enjoyed (and you did say short...)

Love and peace:)