I still don't own anything other than the plot. Hey there :) so just really quick thanks for clicking and this is a little different than my other stories it's a light read. I see this as more of a "finding yourself" story than anything else. So I hope you enjoy it. If you do you might want to check out my profile for some other stories, the choice is a little (lot) more intense.

Also this is a filler chapter in the beginning. I normally like to be very descriptive, but I just needed them to get from point A to B to start the real meat of the story. It's all still important or I would have just said "Poof they're doing X" but I'm sorry it's not as well written as it could have been.

Misty closed her eyes and took a deep breath finally making her decision. She walked down the stairs to her video phone and dialed the number she knew so well. As it rang she tried to calm herself. She really couldn't figure out why she was so nervous. When the answer finally came in it was Brock's mother, Lola, who picked up the phone. As soon as she saw it was Misty she smiled brightly. "Misty darling how are you?" She asked with excitement.

"I'm well Lola how are you?" She asked in return not wanting to seem rude.

"Oh you know just making do around here." She said with a laugh. "What can I do for you today?"

"Well I was actually calling to talk to Brock is he around?" Lola thought for a moment. It was sad tht she actually couldn't remember what he was doing.

"Oh!" She exclaimed brightly when she remembered making Misty jump, "Brock is out training with Forest and Salvador, I can go get him if you would like."

"Please." Misty waited as Lola disappeared it took about five minutes for Brock to finally appear and Misty couldn't help but wonder if Lola had gotten distracted or just took forever to get to the point of telling Brock who was calling. "Hi Brock."

"Hey Misty did you make a decision?"

"Right to the point huh?"

"You know me." He said with a laugh.

"Yes I'll come, when do you want me to get to your place?"

"Well I'm leaving in two days," He reminded her thinking at the same time. "So it's up to you."

"I'll leave tomorrow afternoon so I'll get to you around supper time." Brock smiled.

"Well my Mom is cooking but you know she's the one that taught me all my cooking skills so it will be good."

"Hey coming at supper time is not all about the food!" She protested. Brock laughed.

"Sure it's not, anyway I promised my brothers I'd help them train so I've got to go, besides you've got a lot of packing to do." Misty rolled her eyes.

"You're telling me. See you soon Brock."

"Bye Misty." She ended the call on her end and sat back for a minute to think about what she would bring with her. She pulled out the pad of paper she always kept next to the phone and started to write down everything that she would need. When she had her list set she went up to her room and stared to get everything set. There was a lot to do; she needed to make sure everything was set for her sisters to run the gym, she needed to pack for the journey, pick out which Pokemon were coming with her and which ones would stay to defend the badge. She stayed up until four in the morning before she finally passed out in her bed leaving the rest to be dealt with later.

At around noon there was a knock on her door. Misty heard it but rolled over sure it was too early to be dealing with her sisters. Violet came in anyway and sat on her bed. "Like Misty it's late you need to get up." She said gently shaking her. Misty groaned and mumbled something inaudible into her pillow. Violet rolled her eyes and shook Misty harder. "Misty get up. You need to finish packing if you're going to leave on time and Daisy and I are leaving to get our hair done in an hour and would like to see you before you go okay?" Misty finally looked up and at the clock.

"I didn't realize it was so late." She explained.

"Like I knew that, that's why I woke you up. Anyway Daisy is making brunch if you want some." Violet said before she left the room. Misty looked around evaluating what still needed to be done. She probably had a god two hours' worth of work and so threw the cover off and got up to get ready. She put on the cloths she had picked out the night before and walked down to the kitchen.

"Morning sleepy head." Daisy greeted handing her a plate of food.

"Thanks, and thanks for waking me up Vi." Violet smiled but said nothing, continuing to eat her food. They ate in silence for a little while before Misty looked back up. "I left out the combination to the badges in the desk drawer in case you need them, and the schedule is up right now it's looking like a quite couple of weeks, oh and the tank was cleaned two days ago so you guys shouldn't have to worry about that-"

"Misty" Lilly cut off putting her hang up. "Stop honey we know." She said sweetly. Daisy smiled.

"Misty," Daisy started. "I know you think we can't do this because when you took over you took the gym to the next level, but Misty we did like do this for a while before that. Before the ballet shows took off we took the gym stuff much more seriously and we have been helping you a lot more in like the last few years. Its two weeks baby sister we can handle it." Misty nodded and took a deep breath. They continued to eat and chit chat. Misty stayed in the kitchen until Daisy and Violent went to get their hair and nails done. After that she finished everything she needed to do and went to the office. Lilly interrupted her ready to push her out the door if need-be. "Misty you are driving us crazy." She stated looking around the room trying to figure out what she possibly thought was left to do.

"Sorry it's not the gym. I don't have anything to give Ash so I was looking at the inventory to see if there was anything lying around he might like." Lilly rolled her eyes.

"You don't have to pick it out here. You have two weeks, wait and see if you can find something and if not call Mrs. Ketchum." Misty smiled.

"That's actually a pretty good idea. Thanks Lilly."

"Sure, now are you leaving or not?"

"What? That eager to get rid of me?"

"Yes!" She laughed "You need to go or you'll make you and Brock late."

"Okay, call me if you need me and I can come home sooner if there's a really big problem."

"There won't be Sis but that phone works both ways, remember that okay?" She reminded with a wink. Misty smiled and gave her sister a last goodbye hug before finally leaving. Once she was on the road she took out a pokeball and called out Gyarados. He was not only the only Gyarados in the world she liked, but also her only flying/ water type pokemon.

"Hey Gyarados ready to fly to Brock's?" She asked climbing on its back. He gave a roar of approval before jumping off and flying toward pewter city. It only took about an hour to get to his house and by then Gyarados was very tired. Once they landed Misty immediately recalled him to his pokeball and started for the door, bags on her back. When she got to the door she was greeted by Flint, Brock's father, with a smile and a hug.

"It's good to see you Misty."

"You too Flint, I'm sorry it's been so long." He gave her a warm pat on the back leading her in. Misty had taken it upon herself to stay close to both Brock's and Ash's families while they were away. She liked having the connection to them even when they couldn't be there. It was one of the few things she had never told either of them. She didn't want them to feel bad that she was stepping up while they were away. Anyway because of that she had become very close to everyone. It had been a while though she had seen Delia last month but she hadn't gotten to Pewter in about three.

Lola was next to appear, chipper as ever, with a big hug for her as well. "Misty dear how are you?"

"I'm well thank you." Even though she was very flighty and Misty didn't like how she walked out on her children constantly she was an excellent water type trainer that Misty respected if nothing else. Plus Lola loved talking to Misty about Cerulean. She joked constantly that she was going to move the family there, but it would be over Brock and Forest's dead bodies.

"You don't feel like switching places any time soon do ya?" She joked with a wink.

"Not today anyway but I'll keep it in mind." Misty said lightly. She understood exactly how Brock felt about her. She was 300% more confident leaving the gym with her sister than she ever would be with leaving it with Lola, after all she might disappear on a whim one day.

"Mom cut it out." Brock moaned coming out from the kitchen. "Here Misty" He said as he handing her a plate of food. "We saved you some dinner."

"Thank you." She said gratefully setting down her bags to eat. It took a while to get through the meal as all of Brock's family was talking to her and asking questions.

When she was finally done. Forest took her plate and Brock leaned in to whisper. "Hey do you want to get out of here tonight?" Normally she would have hesitated because this was Brock's family after all, but they were acting a little extra clingy so she nodded instead. She didn't know what was up, but she had a feeling there was more to this trip than Ash's birthday and pep talk.

They chatted for another hour before Brock broke the news that to get to the port they would really need to leave that night. Everyone seemed disappointed but understood. It would take a whole day's journey to get to Ash and that was if he'd stayed close to port like he was supposed to. When they started walking Misty turned to Brock first.

"This feels weird doesn't it?" She asked him staring at the ground in front of her.

"Just a little bit. After all I'm basically waiting for Ash to appear out of nowhere and get us into some sort of mess." They both laughed and Misty looked at him.

"Is he still the same?" Brock looked at her very seriously.

"He's grown up a bit, but yeah he's the same. He'll still run into every kind of trouble without thinking, and rush after something because he thought it was a new pokemon." Brock rolled his eyes.

"It's weird. When Ash first went so far it was like he didn't exist anymore. And then when he said he was going back to re-challenge the leagues and win them all I really thought he would start from home, not work his way back."

"I thought so too, but I think he viewed it as every win would being him a step closer to home and to beating the league where it mattered most to him. Besides why tease yourself?"

"Well if he had come home everyone here could have seen him and been around to wish him luck. I had to stay up until three in the morning just to watch his matches."

"At least we're finally back in Sinoah. I never thought that would feel close to home."

"Brock why did you stay?" She asked. It was weird because she had never thought to question it before.

"Well I think at first it was because I didn't want to go home. I mean I'm 21 now and after working with Ivey I knew I wanted to learn more about Pokemon. So when Ash told me about his plan I thought it would be a good change of pace. Now I'm learning more about Pokemon every day and I don't know I just feel like it's my time to not be at home, if I wasn't traveling I would be home with the kids while my Mom runs off to who knows where and my Dad disappears randomly. You know how they are. I want to have my own life too you know?" She did know. Misty hadn't known her mother very much, she was a water ballerina like her sisters and travelled for work all the time. Her father was gym leader until Daisy was elven and then put her in charge so he could work full time to afford the gym improvements they'd needed. Now that the gym supported itself and they were all older the two of them traveled a lot and really were never home.

"I understand." Misty narrowed her eyes realizing something. "Hey wait a minute, is that why you want me to talk Ash out of leaving? Because you need someone to travel with?"

"No." Brock said slowly, "Although I could see why you might think that. This isn't about me. If it was I would travel around Kanto because those are the Pokemon I want to breed specifically. And it would be way less crazy. Ash is a handful you know that. I'd rather have the twins with me most days." He joked.

"Well now that they're nine that might be better actually." They both laughed at the idea of little Billy and Tilly ruffing it out like they had once.

"As long as it's not Yolanda." He scoffed. Yolanda and Misty were about the same age, but where Misty was a tom boy Yolanda was her polar opposite and so they weren't as close and Flint and Lola thought they were. Misty rolled her eyes in agreement and they continued on for a few more hours. When they got to the dock Misty was surprised to see there was a ship on port.

"I thought we would have to wait until morning?" She asked looking at the ship.

"Nope I thought we might like a head start." Brock said with a smile displaying two tickets. Misty smiled and took hers as they made their way down to the ticket agent. They needed passports and legal documents so it took a while but they finally got on and made it toward their rooms. "I don't know about you but I could definitely use some sleep." He said.

"Trust me, me too." She said feeling her body ask for it. Misty was in top physical condition, her job required her to be, but she wasn't used to pulling the long nights like she had been in her childhood. "Night Brock."

"Good Night Misty." As the parted she realized how real this was. In a few hours they would be in Sinoah and she would be facing Ash. The last time they had seen each other she'd been twelve. He had sincerely tried to make her 16th birthday but his ship sunk in some islands so he ended up video calling her an hour after everyone had left. She almost hadn't answered. She played with her hands and looked around the little room. The bed looked more and more cozy every moment and so she crawled into bed and fell asleep.

When the ship hit port she felt fully rested and as ready as she could be to see Ash. She'd put on a green tank top with think straps and a tie in the front left, and wore jean capris with it. She had wanted to put her up but couldn't find her elastics, secretly she hopped they ran into a little shop before they ran into Ash so she could fix it.

When they disembarked Brock started off towards east with Misty right behind him. "How far away was he supposed to be staying?" She asked.

"About a twenty minuet walk to the Pokemon Center. Hopefully he's still there." She nodded again and followed him in comfortable silence for a ways.

"Misty there's something you need to know before we go in." Brock warned after they'd walked about half way.

"What's that?"

"He doesn't know you're coming."

"You didn't tell him you were inviting me to his birthday?"

"No he knew that!" Brock explained quickly. "He asked me to get it to you when I told him I needed to stop home, but I didn't tell him I was going to invite you to come sooner."

"Brock I might not carry a mallet anymore but I hear sticks work just as well." She warned.

"Misty it will be fine I just wanted to make sure you knew he didn't know before we got in there in case he acts weird when he sees you."

"Why would he act weird?"

"Well it has been a while." Brock reminded and Misty didn't need any more than that. It would be weird for her to see him too.

When they finally got to the Pokemon Center Brock walked right to the front desk while Misty looked around. To her surprise this Center was a little different from the ones at home and she wondered if Ash even noticed those things anymore. "Hey Misty!" Brock called regaining her attention. She walked back over. "He's here but he went to get something to eat a little while ago. We should go try to meet him and get lunch."

"Okay." She agreed. "Can we put down our big bags first?" Misty had sworn to herself she would never pack as lightly as she had before the last trip. That one had been unexpected so she had almost nothing with her. This time she had two bags. A big backpack and a little one. Brock had two as well but she imagined Ash would only have one and would say "What else could I need?" Then again his had been twice the size of her small one.

Once they had put the bags in the room they started off towards the market looking for Ash. "How are we going to find him here?" Misty asked looking at the huge crowds. Brock thought for a moment and then reached for a pokeball off his belt. He called out Geodude.

"Hey buddy go try to find Ash and Pikachu okay?" Geodude hurried off and Misty just stared at him.

"Brock now we don't know where Geodude is."

"Oh trust me, that won't be a problem."

"Why's that?" Brock's face fell as he admitted,

"Well Ash is bound to be out of money by now and you know how he eats." Misty covered her face with her hands and shook her head. Leave it to Brock to hope Ash had an empty stomach.

"Brock I'll check down after Geodude and you go the other way and we'll meet back here in ten." Brock nodded.

"Sounds good to me, good luck."

"You too." Misty started off before she realized that she hadn't seen Ash in years. She stopped for a moment in hesitation, would she really not be able to recognize him? She shook her head. She looked the same for the most part he would have to too. She started out slowly looking at every face that passed, brown eyes, wrong shape, black hair, too tame, she took a deep breath before it dawned on her all she needed was Pikachu. This would be easy.

Ash was counting his change trying to see if he could get the fries and the shake when Pikachu perked up. "What is it buddy?" He questioned not even looking up. Ash trusted his little guy if there had been danger he would know. He was still focusing on the counting when Pikachu hit him with his tail and started speaking.

"Pika pika Pikachupi!" Ash stopped and looked up Pikachu almost never said that because it was his word for Misty.

"Buddy she's not here." He said giving his electric friend a pat on the head. Pikachu charged in protest and Ash threw up his hands. "Okay easy, easy we'll look. Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and started through the crowd. He looked around for a bit before he heard Pikachu get excited again. "It can't be" he said under his breath darting toward the noise. His energy felt at an all-time high when he saw Geodude and Pikachu in a happy reunion. Ash took in a deep breath to rein in his disappointment before greeting the pokemon. "Well at least if Brock is back he can buy lunch, want to show us the way Geodude?" Geoddue nodded and they all started in the other direction. They only walked a few feet before Ash saw the familiar look of messy dark hair. "Hey Brock-O!" He yelled getting his attention.

"Ash!" He replied in greeting. The two met and did the 'guy-hand-shake-hug-thing' before Brock returned Geodude to his pokeball.

"Hey you wouldn't happen to have any money for lunch would ya?"

"My trip home was great thanks." Brock said flatly.

"What? Can't we talk about it over lunch? I'm starving." Brock hit him over the back of the head with a laugh.

"You're always hungry." They turned to start walking before Brock tensed up.

"Ash wait I need to tell you something first."

"No time Brock starving kid here." Ash said with a laugh.

"No Ash I'm serious wait up." Ash didn't hear him instead he started off to go back to the restaurant when he did a double take. There was a girl. He'd seen her in-between people, and she'd had Misty's red hair. Brock looked at his face. "Ash are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost." Ash shook it off and smiled.

"Oh it's nothing Pikachu said Misty's name earlier and I saw a girl with red hair. But Pikachu just made me paranoid. Right Buddy?" Pikachu looked deflated. For one he hated talking about Misty, it always put him in a funk, and also Ash had just called him out so that never turned out well either.

"Ash wait." Ash turned again still not listening to Brock and stopped dead. This time she wasn't in-between anything she was standing in the middle of the path looking right at him with a small smile. Ash turned to Brock immediately.

"Do you-?"

"Yes she's really here." Brock said no longer even trying to explain.

"Misty?" He called out still unsure. Pikachu on the other hand flew. Ash was pretty sure he didn't move that fast in a quick attack. Misty caught him and spun from the force with a laugh.

"Hi Pikachu did you miss me?" He replied by nestling into her neck with a happy 'cha' noises while she patted him. Ash finally shook himself out of it and started over. When he got close Pikachu jumped onto her shoulder so they could hug.

"Hey Ash." She said with a smile as he hugged her.

"Hi." He whispered. When they broke apart Brock rejoined them with a smile.

"I was trying to tell you I brought someone with me." Ash could have killed him. And then when he thought about it realized he should punch himself in the face. Brock had tried, and he was just hungry.

"I didn't know you were going to see Misty." Ash said quietly, still very thrown off.

"Well you did want to invite me to your Birthday didn't you?" Misty said teasing him already. Ash had forgotten he had asked Brock to mail it from Pewter along with another five or six invitations. "I just got a special home delivery." Misty said with a smile. She wasn't happy that Brock hadn't told Ash, but it was way more fun to watch him freak out anyway.

"It's good to see you Mist."

"It's good to see you too, it's okay that I'm here right?"

"It's more than okay it's perfect." Ash said with a smile. Misty blushed a little, and Ash couldn't help but take in all the differences, she had long hair, was wearing girlie cloths, and was somehow softer than before. It was then that it occurred to him how much he had missed with her specifically and he felt the guilt building up again. Brock dropped his hand on Ash's shoulder and smiled.

"Well let's go get some lunch before you shrivel up or something." Misty laughed and Ash gave a small smile.

"Yeah I'm starving." He said dully. Misty and Brock exchanged a look but left it alone deciding to deal with it later.