Misty had invited Ash to lunch at a casual Kalosian cafe in Cerulean. When she had heard about Ash's journey in Kalos, she looked for any such cafe or restaurant, and found one that was close to the Gym. It quickly became her favorite little cafe, and so she thought it would be nice to invite Ash to the cafe.

But he was late.

That's not surprising. As she grew up, she accepted the fact that sometimes, people will be late for various reasons, mostly having to do with getting to the place. Ash had never been to this one cafe, and wouldn't know where it was.

What was surprising was HOW late he was.

She checked her watch to see that it was 20 minutes till 1:00. He was supposed to be here at 12:30. What could possibly be taking him so long?

But he had agreed to this. And even though she muttered under her breath that she would leave if he didn't show up in the next five minutes, she knew Ash was reliable. He would arrive soon enough.

And eventually, he did. His face was flushed red, he was panting, and Pikachu was trying to give him a neck massage. "I'm really sorry, Misty!" he said.

"Um, why are you late?" she asked.

"I'm sorry!" he said. "I just had to get something, and–"

"ASH," she interrupted. "This is just lunch. It's not some fancy restuarant, okay? Sit down, and enjoy yourself. I already ordered you some coffee."

Ash looked at Misty's eyes and back at his seat. That was the only hesitation he had before sitting down.

It took a couple minutes, but he finally calmed down. Surprisingly, it was the coffee that calmed him down, even though he knew it gave people jitters.

But Misty could see under the table and noticed that his hand kept reaching for his pocket when that hand was free. Several questions ran through her mind, like "Doesn't he know how rude that is?" or, "What the heck does he have in there?"

"Hey Ash, are you okay?" she asked.

"Oh, um, yeah!" he said. An obvious lie. Not made better by Pikachu's scared reaction.

"Why are you reaching into your pocket?" she asked.

When he dropped his fork, she was concerned. But he was still blushing and looking scared. "Um, I uh…" he gulped. "I just wanted to ask you a question, and–"

"Are you proposing to me?"

"WHAT!? NO WAY!? I DON'T WANNA PROPOSE TO YOU!" he reflexively shouted. But her reaction showed that she was somewhere between offended and relieved. But more offended. "THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!" he shouted while people began to watch them. "I-I-I mean, we're kind of young, aren't we? I don't think I wanna get–I MEAN–oh man, I don't know what I'm talking about!"

"You're saying you don't want to rush marriage because we're both young," she said calmly.

"Yeah, that's right!"

"Then, what is it?" she asked.

"Well, um, I guess the next best thing… I want you to be my girlfriend."

Her answer was a resounding and nonverbal "yes".