Author's notes: I still am hoping for Misty's return to the anime. Misty and Togepi were the anime for me. I mean, I guess I just loved the entire trio of Ash, Misty, and Brock. But now Brock is gone too Hopefully they'll pull what they did after Orange Islands and just bring him back... I mean, really...

Ach, I hope this is understandable. I barely proofread.


Misty gazed outside. She found herself doing that quite a bit these days. It wasn't that she didn't like being home. She loved being back at the Gym, where her Pokemon didn't have to be confined in her bag all the time. They could swim freely around in the tanks and spend time with each other.

But even though she had her sisters, and her Pokemon, and Tracey, she was missing something. She missed those days when she would wake up in her sleeping bag in the middle of some random forest or mountain with Ash and Brock. She missed how exciting it was to meet someone new. She missed the feeling she got when she caught a new Pokemon. She even missed battling crazy Team Rocket and their talking Meowth.

Her eyes filled with tears as she thought of Togetic. Her Togetic. She loved her Azurill, but it wasn't the same, at all. She had taken care of Togepi through everything. Misty would have died for her Togepi. When Togepi was being hunted by those evil people from the Mirage Kingdom, she did everything in her power to stop them. She put all of her other Pokemon in danger, just to protect Togepi. And not a day later, Togepi evolved and Misty released her.

And although she hated to admit it, she had agreed to take care of Tracey's egg because she had been trying to fill the void in her heart left there by Togepi.

The mailman dropped mail at the door, and Misty rose from her seat to see what had arrived. Blinking quickly to clear the tears out of her eyes, she shuffled through the letters. There was a notice from the Indigo League and fan mail for her and her sisters. Nothing from Ash.

She hadn't heard from Ash for a long, long time. Walking back into the Gym, she thought of Ash's Butterfree. Ash had released Butterfree, and Misty almost never heard Ash talk of him again. Was that what it was like now that Misty was out of Ash's life? Did he ever talk about her anymore? Or even think of her?

Misty realized then that she had released Togetic, just as Ash had released Butterfree. She didn't speak of (and tried not to think of) Togetic, just because it hurt. It was painfully tear-jerking to think of the things she let go of, even if it was for the better.

Maybe Ash didn't write to her, but that didn't mean he didn't miss her. And as she walked into the room where all her Pokemon were playing, she felt strangely redeemed. She knew that they would be together again someday.