Ash and Pikachu darted towards their longtime friend, ecstatic to see the redhead for the first time in years. A little warm feeling came up in Ash's stomach as he grew closer to her. He could hear Pikachu's cries of joy as he raced his trainer to get to her first. Once the two finally made their way to Misty, Ash wrapped his arms around her and giving her the most constricting hug she'd ever received.

"Ack!" Misty let out as Ash squeezed her lungs, gasping for air. "Get off!" She screeched, pushing him away, and smacking her right palm against the back of her old traveling companion's head.

"Hey! What was that for?" Ash snapped rubbing the sore spot where she hit him whilst glaring at Misty. "I haven't seen you in forever and this is how you say hi?" Though he was slightly annoyed that the first thing one of his best friends did after seeing him for the first time in years was smack him on the back of the head, he couldn't help but smile a little, seeing that Misty hadn't changed a bit since he last saw her.

"Don't give me that!" She spat. "You came back to Kanto and didn't even so much as give me a call!" As she said this, Ash stared down at his feet while, still rubbing the back of his head. He began to think back to Daisy's warning from earlier that day, fearing the wrath the redhead was about to bring unto him. "If it hadn't been for your Mom calling me to tell me you were coming home, I wouldn't have known a thing!"

"I..I tried to call you." He defended, knowing that his excuse was completely invalid, especially since he called after arriving in Kanto. After hearing this, Misty continued to beam at him with fire burning in her eyes. The trainer tried to keep a faint smile, hoping it would simmer down the girl's rage against him.

After a moment of staring at one another, she let out a huff. "If you think you're getting off that easy, you're wrong Mr. Ketchum!" She crossed her arms. "You're lucky I missed you, otherwise I'd pull out my mallet on you!"

"Y..you missed me?" Ash blushed, not even taking note of the last part of her statement.

Misty, faintly blushing as well, quickly retorted to the statement. "Don't make yourself feel too special, Ash." She growled. "I'm just here to make sure you don't get eaten by any wild Fearow on your way home."

"Pika?" Pikachu murmured in a doleful tone.

Misty turned her attention down at the little Pokémon. "Oh, of course I wanted to see you!" Misty's tone made a complete one-eighty as she bent down and picked up the yellow mouse, and snuggled him against her cheek. Pikachu began to lick her on the nose, making the redhead to giggle.

Well gee, why does he always get to be on her good side? Ash wondered as he crossed his arms, and stuck his nose up away from the two. "I'm glad I can always count on you, Pikachu." The sarcasm in his voice was quite apparent.

"Oh, get over it you big baby." Misty grumbled as Pikachu continued licking away at her cheek. "Now c'mon, everyone's waiting for us!" She called out to Ash as she started making her way down the dirt road, holding Pikachu in the same manner she once held Togepi and Azurill.

Seeing that she was walking off with Pikachu, the trainer from Pallet darted towards the two, trying to catch up with them. "You know, you could have been a little nicer." He nagged at the gym leader as he slowed down his pace to a casual walk.

"Maybe I would if you called once in a while."

"Pika!" Pikachu joined Misty's side.

Yup, I can always count on you Pikachu.

"Didn't you hear me? I said I tried to call but you weren't at the gym! Besides that, Daisy said you left your cell phone there 'cause you didn't want to be bothered!" Ash paused for a moment, thinking about the last part of what he just said. "Hey!" He cried out, just now causing Misty to turn her head towards him. "Why did you not want to be bothered if you were just coming to see me?"

Misty quickly turned her head away from Ash and began to blush. "Uh… no reason. Can't a girl just ask for some solitude every now and then?" Her tone was very defensive with a slight hint of aggression.

He gave her a puzzled look, not quite sure what to make out of her statement. He could tell she was hiding something, but the trainer just couldn't place his finger on what it was. "Uh-huh. Sure."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The redhead snapped.

"Oh nothing." Ash replied with a smirk. "You come here to see me and you don't want to be bothered by anyone…." He gave her a glare, narrowing his eyes. "I know why you left your cell phone at home."

Misty's eyes widened. Don't tell me he's figured me out that easily.

"You've been getting called by a lot of telemarketers!"

Misty resisted the urge to slam her palm against her forehead. "Yes Ash, that is the exact reason why I left my phone at the gym." Her tone was so dull there was no hiding her sarcasm. She didn't even care if he could somehow piece together that she just wanted to spend time with him without being interrupted at this point.

"Ha ha!" Ash laughed triumphantly. "I knew it!"

How has he not grown out of being such a moron?

Nonetheless, Ash, still oblivious to her sarcasm, made a toothy grin. "Aren't I such a great detective Misty?"

"Amazing, Ash."

"Maybe if being a Pokémon Master doesn't' work out, I could just be a detective instead!"

I hope he's joking

"Yup, that's what I'm going to d-"

"Ash, just shut up." Misty said flatly, annoyance filling her voice.

"Pi-ka". Pikachu sighed in agreement.

"Oh alright." Ash mumbled as he looked down at his feet. Misty turned and looked back at her one time childhood crush and shook her head as she began to wonder how on earth she had fallen for a guy like him when she was a kid.

"Still the same old Ash." She whispered to herself, cracking a smile.

XXXXXXXXXX

The three had finally reached Pallet Town just as the sun started to set over Mount Silver. Ash had to stop and take in a deep breath to let the clean Pallet Town air fill his lungs. From atop the hill overlooking the small town, he could smell the ocean breeze that came from Pallet Beach which was just a few miles away. Not a day had gone by that he didn't think about this beautiful smell, the smell of home. Realizing that Ash had stopped, Misty turned around to face her friend, waiting for him to finish.

After exhaling, Ash opened his eyes to see that Misty stood before him. The soft ocean breeze caused her hair to flow with the wind, and her aqua green eyes were exemplified by the brilliant rays from the setting sun. The rolling hills of Pallet Town flowed behind her. Off in the distance he could see the windmill from Professor Oak's laboratory, as well as the small houses scattered throughout the town. To top off, the ocean created a beautiful backdrop as it reflected the light from the setting sun. Ash found himself dumbstruck by how astonishing the site he was viewing was. It almost looked like a shot from a movie, and to see such a view in person was definitely worth taking note of.

"Are you alright Ash?" She asked, finally snapping him back into reality.

"Uh yeah… Yeah. It's just er…" Misty gave him a bit of a puzzled look as she waited for him to finally say what he was going to say. "I like the uh.. new look." He said, pointing to her hair which had grown a bit since they last saw each other, and was also no longer in the side ponytail she normally kept it in.

The gym leader blushed a little, the setting sun concealing her flushed cheeks. "Thanks Ash." She gave him a warm smile. "You've grown quite a bit yourself." She paused. "You're actually taller than me now." She said with a giggle.

Ash let out a little chuckle, scratching the back of his neck, trying to hide his own blush. A brief moment passed where both of them remained silent before the black haired trainer finally said something. "I guess we should get to my house." He proposed, breaking the silence.

The gym leader gave a nod. "Yeah, you're probably right." she said as she turned around and made her way down the hill, Ash following suit behind her.

"Ya know," Ash spoke as he walked alongside his friend. "I'm really sorry I haven't kept in touch." He said. "I really should have."

The redhead turned towards him, still holding a now sleeping Pikachu in her arms. "Thank you Ash, that's all I wanted to hear." Her expression genuinely seemed warm and forgiving.

The black haired trainer felt a tinge of warmth fill his body, upon receiving forgiveness from her. Though the two often bickered with one another, Ash never liked the idea of Misty being angry at him. Annoyed and irritated was one thing, the redhead was always agitated with him to at least some extent. Anger though, that was something he never liked to be faced with, especially when it was coming from her.

"Do you want to know the real reason I left my phone back at Cerulean?"

Ash looked up at her with a confused look. "You mean it wasn't because of telemarketers?"

Misty giggled. Sometimes when the moment was right, she found his dense nature to be cute in a way. "No Ash, it wasn't because of telemarketers."

"Well then why was it?"

Misty hesitated in her answer. She didn't want to sound too gushy. Especially with her friend. "Well you see…" She paused for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts.

"Yeah?" Ash spoke, waiting for her answer.

"You see," Misty continued. "I've really missed you, and when I found out that you were coming back, I wanted to spend as much time with you as I could before you go on another journey. Your Mom said that you were going to Unova, and that's really far away. So I probably wouldn't get to see you again until you got back.

Ash frowned. "You know, you could go with me?" He offered. "You said your sisters have gotten pretty good at battles, and they can manage the gym pretty well themselves." He recalled this from some of the few letters and phone calls they had exchanged when he first started traveling through Sinnoh.

Misty shook her head. "That sounds really nice Ash, but I can't be that far away from the gym. If an emergency were to come up, it'd take me weeks to get home. If it was just a little closer, I would love to go with you, though."

"Oh." Ash paused for a moment, saddened by her decline to join him. "So what were you saying earlier, Mist?" He asked, trying to get the subject back on course.

"Well," Misty started up again, continuing where she left off. "Since I knew that this would be the last time I'd get to see you until you came back from Unova, I wanted to spend this month with you, and not have to worry about any interruptions." As she said this, Misty turned towards the Sinnoh Top Four competitor, and gave him another warm smile.

"That sounds amazing Mist!" Ash shouted out with glee, happiness returning to him like a second wind.

"You really think so?" Misty asked in a sheepish, yet blissful tone.

"I can't think of a better way to spend my time home than with my best friend!" Ash smiled from ear to ear.

"You really mean that?" She asked, looking down at her red tennis shoes, her cheeks like two red cherries.

"Every word of it!"

"You're really sweet Ash."

Ash gave her a puzzled look. "What do you mean sweet?" He had heard Misty call him many things before. 'Dumb', 'baby', 'moron', 'immature', and 'idiot' being among the top five. But 'sweet' was one of those things she had never called him before.

"Don't worry about it Ash." Misty replied with a giggle as the two continued their trek to Pallet.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sun had completely set on Pallet Town, and the moon began to rise over the ocean. The warm early summer air felt great as Ash and Misty made their way towards the Ketchum household. All the lights were on inside, and Ash couldn't help but feel that there was something else going on that Misty hadn't told him about.

"Pikachu, wake up." Misty said in a soft, sweet voice, awakening the Pokémon. "We're home."

"Pika!" The rodent's ears perked up upon hearing the news, and quickly sprung out of Misty's arms, and onto his master's shoulder.

Ash chuckled. "Someone's happy to be home."

"Pikachu!" Gleeful wasn't enough to describe the happiness the Pokémon was feeling.

"Do you blame him?" Misty giggled as she approached the front door, being sure to wait for Ash to catch up before opening it. Once the young trainer was next to her, she slowly creaked the door open.

"SURPRISE!" Three voices boomed upon the two entering the house. Taken aback by the unexpected greeting, it took a moment for Ash to identify those inside waiting for him. After taking a moment to collect himself he found that the voices belonged to his Mother, Professor Oak, and Tracy, all whom were standing in the living room.

"What's the occasion?" Ash seemed a bit puzzled by it all.

Misty gave him a light smack on the back of the head. "What do you mean "What's the occasion?"?"She snapped. "We've missed you, and you should be proud of yourself for making it as far as you did in Sinnoh."

He let out a laugh, knowing that Misty's gesture was entirely playful. "Alright, alright. Ya didn't have to hit me." He said, sticking tongue out at the redhead; she did the same.

"Oh enough of that, you two love birds!" Delia's soft voice spoke up. Ash and Misty quickly turned to her, their cheeks glowing red.

"Where're just friends!" Both of them yelled in unison.

"Whatever you say." Delia rolled her eyes at the two as she approached her son to give him a giant hug. "I've missed you so much Ash." She said as her grip tightened around his ribs, forcing him to let out an 'Ack'.

"Now you know how I felt." Misty slyly remarked, giving Ash a little wink.

"It's good to see you too Mom." Ash grunted while making a vain attempt to return the hug. However as his arms began to encircle her, she tightened her grip on him even more, causing his arms to stick straight outward like one of his old action figures from his childhood that would stretch its arms out when you squeezed its sides. As her grip tightened, he swore he could hear one of his ribs crack when she did.

I'd rather be getting a hug from a Kingler.

After a few more seconds of his Mother's vice grip of a hug, she finally let go, allowing for Ash to gasp for air.

"It's so good for you to finally come back home." She said in a loving manner. She then turned to Misty and gave her a much lighter hug. "And it's great to see you too Misty. It's been so long." Once Ash had finally sucked in enough air to fill his oxygen deprived lungs, he couldn't help but throw a glare at the Cerulean City Gym Leader who was getting what looked like the much more comfortable hug.

"Me and Tracy watched you compete in Sinnoh." Professor Oak spoke, diverting Ash's attention. "I was very impressed. Especially with Infernape, Sceptile, and Pikachu." After hearing this, Pikachu let out a little squeak.

"Yeah!" Tracy added. "That battle with Infernape and Electrivire was phenomenal!"

The black haired trainer nodded at the two. "Thanks, I just wish that I had been better prepared for Tobias."

Oak shook his head, his look a little more serious. "No one could have prepared for a fight like that."

"Even the Elite Four had a lot of trouble taking him out." Tracey stated. "And besides, you did better than any other trainer at the conference. Nobody else could even take down his Darkrai."

"Yeah," Ash wanted to change the conversation as soon as possible, lest he wish to begin dwelling on his loss again. "So is there any food?" He asked making a toothy grin. "I'm starving."

"Of course you'd ask that." Misty mumbled, rolling her eyes.

"Me and Mimey have been cooking all sorts of food." His Mother answered in her soft spoken voice as she guided him and Pikachu into the kitchen.

Once the two entered the kitchen, Professor Oak looked turned his attention to Misty. "Well Ms. Waterflower, it is very good to see you again." Oak said as he sat down on the couch and took a sip of his tea.

"It's good to see you too, Professor." She greeted back, making a big ear-to-ear smile. "And it's great to see you too, Tracy!" Tracy was in the middle of drinking his tea, and couldn't immediately respond. After taking a sip though, he was finally able to reply.

"Hey Misty." He said after swallowing his tea. "How's the gym going?"

"It's fine I guess." She answered as she reached for a cup to make herself some tea as well. "Daisy, Violet, and Lily are running it for now." She paused as she poured the dark liquid. "Now that they can run the gym themselves, I don't have to stress so much about running it full time anymore."

"That's nice to hear." Tracy said with a small nod. "Are you going to be traveling with Ash to Unova now that you don't have to worry about running the gym all the time?"

Misty stopped, holding her tea mere inches from her lips. She wanted to say yes, but instead she shook her head. "No, I can't." It was quite obvious to Oak and Tracy that wasn't the answer she wanted to give. "I'm not running the gym full time anymore, but if an emergency ever came up, I'd need to be able to get back to the gym as quickly as possible." She took a sip of her tea. "And if I'm all the way in Unova, it'd take weeks just to get back home." Her explanation was almost identical to the one she gave Ash earlier.

"Understandable." Oak said as he gave a nod. "That's a very mature thing to do."

Misty returned the nod and made a weak smile. However, she couldn't help but know that it may have been the mature thing to do, but that didn't mean it was what she wanted to do. This was more than just a childish need to escape from responsibility. She was a lot like Ash in that they both wanted to travel the world, see all sorts of different Pokémon, and go on adventures. However, the hand destiny dealt her just wasn't a lucky draw. It wasn't that Misty hated being a gym leader, it was just that there were things she wanted to do while she was still young. Maybe the idea of being a gym leader would be more appealing as she became older, but for the moment all she wanted to do was go on adventures like Ash did.

"Yeah, I guess sometimes life just doesn't schedule itself to our convenience." She mumbled. The statement wasn't directed at anyone but herself. After hearing this, Oak gave a silent nod and proceeded to drink his tea.

Ash and Delia returned to the room along with Mr. Mime, all of them carrying plates full of food. Ash, Delia, and Mimey carried a plate in each hand, while Pikachu carried his own little plate above his head. Delia gave one of her plates to Tracy, while Mimey gave one of his to Professor Oak, and finally Ash made his way over to Misty and gave her his second plate. All three of them replied with a "thank you" as the dishes full of food were handed to them. Meanwhile, Pikachu had placed his dish on the floor and began to chow down on his plate full of ketchup soaked french-fries.

"Take a seat you two." Delia directed at Ash and Misty. Both of them silently nodded in agreement, and took a seat next to each other on the couch across from the one Oak and Tracy were sitting on. Once they were seated, Delia gave both of them a kind hearted smile.

"This food smells really good Mrs. Ketchum." Misty praised as she looked down at her plate that had been loaded with chicken, mashed potatoes, and salad. However, after saying this, she realized that there were pieces of carrots in her salad. She had to resist the urge to cringe. She didn't want to seem rude, but she couldn't help but gag a little at the site of carrots in her food. Curious as to what was going on, Ash looked over at the gym leader's plate.

"Oops." Ash said as he realized what he had done. "That's my plate." Ash quickly swapped out his plate for Misty's. Upon inspection of her new dish, Misty was pleased to see that there was no trace of any carrots or peppers on her food.

"Thanks As-" She stopped as she looked over to see that her friend was already gobbling down his food. However despite having a mouth full of food, he still took time to acknowledge Misty's thanks.

"Not a probrum Mist." She almost lost her appetite when she caught a glimpse of Ash's mouth full of food. Tracy and Oak couldn't help but chuckle a little after seeing her repulsed reaction to Ash. Delia on the other hand didn't find it anywhere near as amusing.

"Ash Ketchum!" She snapped. "I taught you better than that!"

"Sorry Mom." He apologized after swallowing his food.

Delia shook her head. "I thought I raised such a good boy. And here you are talking with your mouth full in front of your girlfriend."

Misty nearly choked on her tea, and Ash almost coughed up his chicken. Did she not hear what they said regarding her love birds comment from earlier?

"We're just friends!" Once again, spoken in unison.

Everyone else, including Mr. Mime and Pikachu couldn't help but laugh at the overly defensive teenagers. The two teens both began to blush as the words Delia said sunk into the two.

"Mom!" Ash yelled out. "We're just friends, that's what we've always been!"

Professor Oak and Tracey, though trying to remain quiet throughout this were still quietly exchanging laughs with each other as they watched the conversation ensue.

"Then what about the mistletoe incident a few years ago?" Delia said in a semi-serious tone.

Ash and Misty's faces both erupted in redness as they heard these words. There faces became so hot as the blood rushed to their heads that they could have sworn steam was coming out of their ears.

Oak, Tracey, and Pikachu couldn't hold it in anymore, and started cracking up with laughter.

"That was four years ago!" Ash quickly defended. "A..And it was Misty who tried to kiss me!"

Misty turned towards the black haired teen. "Well we were both under the mistletoe, what was I supposed to do?!"

"I don't know, not try to kiss me?"

"I didn't even try to kiss you! I just pointed out that we were under the mistletoe and you went screaming into the kitchen, slipped, and knocked down the table!"

"Well why did you mention we were under the mistletoe if you weren't going to kiss me?" Ash crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out at Misty.

If Misty's face could have turned any redder than it already was, it would have. "We were twelve years old, I thought you had to…. Just forget it!" Misty threw her hands up in the air and leaned back on the couch to see that Delia, Oak, Tracey, Pikachu, and Mr. Mime had all erupted in laughter after seeing the two bicker over something so trivial.

However, the moment was interrupted as a knock rattled on the front door. Everyone one in the room stopped laughing for a moment as they all turned their attention over at the door. Ash put his plate on the coffee table in front of him, and made his way to the door, his face now finally returning to a normal complexion. He looked through the peep hole on the door to see that there was young man in an orange and black jacket with a matching baseball cap that had 'Pokémon League Association' spelled across it in big bold letters standing outside. Ash slowly opened the door, greeting the unfamiliar man as he did so.

"Hello, I have a letter for a Mr. Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town." He said, motioning towards a large tan colored bag strapped to his side.

Uh that's me." Ash replied to the currier's statement. The currier eyed the trainer, seemingly looking him over to see if he was telling the truth. As he did this, Misty, Delia, and Tracy made their way towards the door to see what this was all about. Oak on the other hand remained seated, and coolly continued drinking his tea.

"Yeah, you're Ash Ketchum alright." The man in the jacket said after he finished inspecting the trainer. "I've gotta say, you were amazing in Sinnoh." The trainer nodded at the compliment and thanked him as the currier ruffled through his bag, searching for the letter he was sent to deliver.

"Any idea what the letter's about?" Misty inquired out of her own curiosity.

The currier shook his head. "I don't know. I was just told by President Goodshow himself to make sure this letter was hand delivered to you." After hearing these words everyone in the room gasped. Even Pikachu took note of this. The only one seemingly unfazed was the Professor.

"You mean the Charles Goodshow?" Tracey asked, almost at a loss for words.

"Is there any other?" The currier laughed under his breath as he continued rummaging through the letters. "Ah, here it is." The young man said, pulling out an envelope with the Pokémon League symbol crested onto the seal. "Here you go." He said as he handed the letter to Ash.

"Uh, thanks." Ash was still a little confused and taken back by this sudden, unexpected mail call.

Once Ash was handed the letter, Delia remembered her manners. "Would you like some tea, young man?" she offered the currier, pointing towards the set sitting on the coffee table.

The currier gave a smile and politely shook his head. "Sorry ma'am." He answered. "But I've got to deliver a few more letters before the night's over." He turned and looked up towards the sky. "Pidgeot!" He shouted out as his flying companion soared down from the sky and landed in the Ketchum's front yard. The currier turned to give the four at the door a wave as he walked away. "You guys have a good night!"

"You too!" All four of them shouted back as he mounted the giant bird. Once saddled in on his Pidgiot, he gave it a slight kick to its side with his heels, and the bird took off into the sky, soaring off northward.

Ash closed the door, still staring at the envelope in hand. A puzzled expression remained on his face, as he had no idea what this letter was about, or why he received it.

"Hey Professor." Ash called to the scientist who was still drinking his tea. "You're apart of the P.L.A., do you have any idea what this is about?" After the question was asked, all eyes turned to Oak.

The Professor took another sip of his tea. "We've had a few meetings over the past few months, but you know how much of an enigma Mr. Goodshow can be." Oak calmly replied, claming ignorance. "Why don't you open it and find out for yourself?"

Ash shrugged his shoulders, and then broke the seal on the envelope. Misty peaked over his shoulder to see the letter as he pulled it out from the envelope. On the front of the solid white sheet of folded paper was Ash's name spelt out in beautiful penmanship. Ash stared at the piece of paper for a second, admiring the beautiful handwriting before feeling a nudge at his side as Misty told him to hurry up and open the letter.

"Okay, okay." He grumbled, unfolding the letter. Upon opening the letter, Ash saw that the penmanship in the letter itself was just as beautifully handwritten as Ash's name had been.

"What does it say Sweety?" Delia asked as she leaned over Ash's other shoulder.

He cleared his throat and began to read "Dear Mr. Ketchum, firstly I would like to congratulate you on making it to the Top Four of the Sinnoh Region's Lily of the Valley Conference. You should be very proud of your achievement." Ash cracked a small grin at the thought of being congratulated by the Pokémon League President. "However, that is not why I'm sending you this letter. Within the past few years the Pokémon League Association has been discussing the idea of adding another league, albeit a much more exclusive league than the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh Leagues." Ash paused for a moment and looked at Misty, who was still leaning over his shoulder. The two gave each other an intrigued look, and then turned back towards the letter. Ash continued reading. "Starting May 3rd, The Pokémon League will be opening the gyms to the exclusive Master League Conference in the Zerra Region, which you have been cordially invited to attend." Ash could see Misty's eyes light up when the Zerra Region was brought up. All Ash knew about it was that it was an island just south of Hoenn, and it was a major vacation spot. "The gyms operating under this league will only be open to those who have achieved the top eight spots in the most recent Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh competitions." Ash paused for a second. "Wait." He said with a big smile. "I made it to the top four! So that means I get to go!"

Misty slapped her palm against her forehead. "What part of when he said "You've been invited" did you not understand?"

Ash then silently acknowledged the redundancy of his statement, and brushed it off before he continued reading. "Those who can achieve all eight badges in the Zerra Region by November 1st will be allowed to compete in the Master League Championship. Though the winner of this championship will not be awarded with a regional title like Lance, Steven Stone, or Cynthia. Instead, the winner will be allowed to choose between either the total sum of a five million dollar cash prize, or a chance to challenge any of the three champions for the title of their respected region, without having to face the Elite Four's gauntlet."

"Oh wow!" Ash, Misty, and Tracey all exclaimed at once upon hearing this. As the letter continued on, Unova began to drift farther and farther away from Ash's mind. "If you wish to compete, then you must attend the League orientation meeting in the P.L.A. Tower in Crestpeak City of the Zerra Region on May 2nd. I hope to see you there, and look forward to seeing you compete. With the utmost regards, President Charles Goodshow."

There was a moment of silence that blanketed the house. The only one who showed no real reaction to this was Professor Oak, just as he had from the moment the letter arrived. "This is so cool!" Ash screamed aloud, breaking the silence, causing everyone else to jolt from Ash's sudden exclamation.

"Uh, Ash." Misty said as she poked him on the shoulder." The trainer turned to her. "I think there's something else in there." The gym leader pointed towards the envelope, revealing that there was still another piece of paper inside.

Ash pulled out the paper, causing for two previously unseen tickets fall out of the envelope and land on the floor. Before he could pick them up though, Misty was already reaching down to scoop them up off the ground. "Are those plane tickets?" He asked as he stared at the two stubs of paper Misty was holding.

"I think so." She answered as she examined the little rectangular stubs.

"Hey Ash, that paper says something." Tracy pointed towards the second piece of paper Ash was holding.

Seeing that Tracy was right, he took a quick look at the paper, and read it aloud. "P.S. I know that you normally travel with companions, and as such I would like to give you an extra ticket to Zerra. Your guest's traveling expenses as well as their ticket to attend the Master League Championship as a guest have already been paid for. However, we can only spare the expense for one guest due to the size this event. Good luck on your journey, Charles Goodshow."

"Well that was very kind of him." Delia said as she looked away from the letter, and towards her son. "So who are you going to take with you?"

"Well Misty of course!" He replied with a large amount of enthusiasm in his voice.

Wait, what did I just say? Had the redhead been drinking her tea, she would've spit it out.

Ash quickly realized that what he said was completely impulsive and he hadn't put any thought into his statement whatsoever. He mentally scolded himself for saying that. Not because he didn't want Misty to go, he loved the idea of her joining him on another journey. However, she was a gym leader and was probably too busy to go with him. That, and he felt that just outright saying he'd take her with him without even asking her about it first probably made him sound like an inconsiderate jerk.

He slowly turned towards Misty, who was still standing next to him. He was expecting her to have that same angry look she'd always give him whenever he'd say or do something stupid. Ash took a deep breath as he prepared to give a whole hearted apology for his inconsiderate statement. However, when he turned towards her, he was met with quite a surprise.

Her face wasn't angry at all. There wasn't even a sign of her being somewhat miffed. Instead, a big smile stretched across her face, and her green eyes lit up like a bright, starry night. Ash was completely taken back by this, as it was the complete opposite reaction as to what he initially expected. Which made what happened next even more surprising.

"Oh Ash, that sounds amazing!" The redhead opened up her arms and took him in for a tight hug. Ash was completely caught off guard, and didn't expect this in the slightest. He had never seen Misty react like this before, and honestly he didn't really mind it too much.

"Oh now isn't that just precious." Delia said. "Let me get my camera."

Now he minded it, so the trainer started to gently push Misty back. "Are you sure you want to go Misty?" He asked, still remembering what she said about wanting to be close to the gym. "I mean Zerra is pretty far away."

"Yeah, but it won't take me two weeks to get back home if I needed to." She replied, her smile still present. "Besides, I've always wanted to go to the Zerra Region ever since I was a little girl!"

"But do you think your sisters can run the gym?"

"Of course they can!" She said in a matter-of-fact tone. "They're a lot better than they were six years ago."

Ash thought about bringing up more points as to why she might want to stay, but then he came to the quite obvious realization that if he brought up a good enough reason for her not to go, she might heed his advice and stay in Kanto.

"Well this is great!" Enthusiasm poured from Ash's voice. "I can't wait!"

"Me neither!"

Neither one had seen this much excitement in the other before. It was almost strange for them to see each other acting so giddy and childish. However this thought was cut short as Delia came in with the camera.

"Oh shoot." She said, seeing that the two teens were no longer hugging each other. "That would have made an excellent addition to the scrapbook."

XXXXXXXXXX

The Ketchum residence had grown silent as the midnight hour rolled around. Tracy and Oak had returned home, while everyone else had long since gone to bed. Misty had already called her sisters to let them know that she would be spending the next seven months with Ash so they could travel to Zerra. However, all Daisy, Lily, and Violet had to say were things like "Oh that's like, so sweet!" or "Don't go falling in love." Or the worst one being when Violet said "Don't get too friendly when you two are all by yourselves." That was when Misty simply told them to send Starmie and Gyarados to Professor Oak's lab, and to mail her cell phone to her before hanging up.

As she laid on the bed of the guest bedroom, she couldn't help but giggle and smile at the thought of traveling with Ash again. Or traveling in general really. For years she had spent almost all of her time in Cerulean City, and a majority of the time spent there was inside the gym. Just the idea of going somewhere new filled her with glee, and for it to be with her best friend made her even more joyous.

The redhead leaned up in her bed, knowing that she was too excited for any chance of sleeping. Her and Ash would be leaving later that week for Crestpeak City, and would be arriving the day before the orientation, giving them a day to enjoy the 'Electric City' as the tourists called it.

Even though she was going with Ash to help him win his eight badges, that didn't mean she wasn't going to take time to enjoy the pleasantries Zerra offered. Sunnyport Beach, Orchid City, Scarlett Town. All of these cities she had seen several times on television, boasting beautiful scenery, plenty of fun things to do and maybe even some souvenirs to buy. Misty almost felt like she was dreaming just thinking about all the wonderful things there were to do in Zerra.

She laid back down on the bed, and took a deep breath. "This is going to be amazing." She whispered to herself. However, her daydreaming was interrupted by a light rasp outside the window. Curious, she got up and moved the curtains to see what was making the noise. As she slowly pulled the white curtains out of the way, it was revealed that the noise was just the sound of a nearby tree branch rubbing against the house, which served as no surprise to her. What was to her surprise though was seeing Ash sitting in the middle of the backyard, facing towards Mt. Silver.

Curious as to what he was doing out there, she put on her red sleeping shorts which went down to her knees, and an oversized white night shirt before quietly making her way out of the guest bedroom, trying to be sure not to wake Delia when she creaked the door open.

As her bare feet padded down the stairs, she took grip of the wooden rail so she wouldn't loose her footing in the darkness. Once downstairs, the gym leader turned towards the kitchen, and made her way to the backdoor from there. All the while making sure not to smash her shin against the coffee table or accidentally knock over anything in the kitchen.

She slowly opened the back door, feeling the Summer air against her face as she did so. After taking a quick peak outside, Misty could see that Ash was still completely unaware that she was there.

"Ash?" He turned as Misty's voice traveled through his ears.

"Oh, hey Mist." He called back, sounding as though he had been deep in thought just before she came out. "Sorry if I woke you, why don't you go on back to bed?"

"I'm fine." She replied in a soft voice. "I can't sleep anyways.

"Why? Nightmares?" There wasn't so much concern in his voice as much as it was curiosity.

"No," Misty answered as she took a seat beside him on the grass, leaning back on her hands for support, similar to the way Ash was sitting. "Too excited." She giggled.

"Me too." He chuckled.

The two remained silent as they both looked up at the brilliantly lit night sky. Night skies were always beautiful in Pallet Town, especially around this time of the night. Since there weren't any tall buildings around that kept their lights on twenty-four seven, or any smog that obstructed the view of the sky, every night here was always a beautiful one.

"Hey, Mist?" Ash said in what almost sounded like a whisper, speaking as if he didn't want to ruin the beauty of the night's solitude.

"Yeah Ash?" Misty whispered back to him.

"I'm really glad you decided to come with me."

"I'm glad you asked me to go." She said with a smile as the full moon began to hover directly above the two teenagers. The black haired trainer turned his gaze over to the gym leader, and began thinking back to the old days when they were young and had only just begun their journey.

"Do you remember the times we would camp out in a dark forest and wouldn't sleep because we were too afraid that wild Pokémon would attack us in our sleep?

Misty turned towards Ash and gave a smile. "Yup, and whenever Brock fell asleep, me and you would look up at the stars and see what Pokémon we could spot in the consolations until we both fell asleep." She remembered those days quite fondly.

Ash smiled as those memories resurged through his mind. He could remember the two of them would spend those nights laughing and talking about how they were both going to be the best Pokémon trainers in the world. Misty was going to become a Master of water Pokémon, and he was just going to become an all around Pokémon Master.

Ash leaned back and looked up to the stars, spotting out the consolations they'd look for when they were younger. "There's Zaptos." He said, pointing up to a grouping of stars to the east.

"And there's Suicune." Misty pointed towards a consolation just south of Zaptos.

Ash turned towards her and give her a faint smile, Misty returning the smile. He looked into her brilliant green eyes that seemed to almost glow in the moonlight. As a child, he had always seen Misty as nothing more than a really good friend, and that was still what he saw her as. However, he couldn't deny how beautiful she looked out here in the moonlight. Her red hair gently blowing behind her, her eyes reflecting the moonlight, and her pale skin contrasting beautifully with the darkness around her.

"Those were great days, huh?" He said, looking directly into her eyes.

Misty made a small frown. "You say it like the best days are behind us?"

Ash remained silent for a moment. There was no denying from the moment Misty left the original trio, he had always felt that there was a hole in his circle of friends that nobody else could fill. He loved all of his friend's dearly. Misty, Brock, Tracy, Max, May, and Dawn. All of them meant a lot to him, but he couldn't help but feel like none of his other companions could truly replace Misty. When it was just him, Brock, and Misty, the group felt so complete and so perfect. Between his 'never say die' attitude, Misty's spunky nature, and Brock's generally brotherly nature, the three of them meshed together so well. They all had someone to go to if they needed help with anything. If Ash felt like he was beginning to lose his touch, Misty would fire him up and bring his confidence back. If he ever had a more complex problem, Brock was always there to help him think through the problem and give him insight on how to resolve it, and if either Brock or Misty ever felt like they should just give up, Ash would always cheer them on and raise their hopes back up. There was no leader in the original trio. All of them relied on one another to help each other get through life and all of the problems it threw at them. They were more than friends. They were a family.

However after Misty left, Ash felt like that chain was broken. He could never allow himself to lose his confidence. Knowing that if he did, then he didn't have anyone to really fire him up like Misty did in the old days. Not only that, but he also had to stay strong for his other friends as well. He had taken a mentor role with May and Dawn, so they were always looking to him for advice, which he was always more than happy to give. However it became so tiring. Now most recently after learning that Brock told him he was leaving to aspire to become a breeder, Ash had started to realize that all of his friends were no longer there to support him anymore.

But then this happened. After hearing that Misty would go with him on his travels, he felt like a thousand pounds had been lifted off of his back, and that all the hindrance the past four years had thrown at him was now gone. Now that it was gone, maybe, just maybe that meant the best days were still ahead.

"You're right Misty." Ash replied, unaware that he had placed his hand atop of hers. "We still have a lot of great days ahead of us."

Misty looked deep into his eyes. She could tell that her return had sparked up a fire in his heart that had remained dormant for the past four years. A fire of determination and motivation. The fire that made him want to achieve more and more until he was the very best, like no one ever was.

"I know we do Ash." Misty whispered with a warm, heartfelt smile spread across her face.

The two stared deep into each other's eyes, feeling as though they were just hypnotized by the other. Ash's deep brown eyes felt so comforting to the gym leader, while her brilliant green eyes felt so reassuring to Ash. As the two continued to stare into one another, both realized that this new journey ahead of them would most certainly be one of the biggest quests of their lives, and they both looked forward to it, knowing that they'd be going on this adventure together.

Suddenly, the moment was interrupted as a flash of light flared behind them, momentarily blinding the two teens as it flickered.

"Awww, that's so cute." Misty and Ash turned around to see that Delia was standing behind them, looking at the picture she had just taken. "That is just so cute." She awed as she looked over the picture of her son and Misty hand in hand with the bright full moon shinning down on them.

"M..Mom!" Ash shouted, his face turning a bright red. Misty's face turned a shade red as well, though she couldn't help but just laugh and giggle. "Give me that camera, Mom!" Ash cried out as he got up and tried to take it from his mother, but proved to be unsuccessful in his attempt.

Misty stood up from the spot she had been sitting in, feeling as though she could now finally get some sleep. "Goodnight Ash." She said as she gave him a light hug from behind, though he seemed unaware of this since all of his attention was diverted towards Delia and the camera.

"Yeah, goodnight Mist." He said half attentively as he continued to try to snatch the camera out of his mother's surprisingly fast hands.

Misty rolled her eyes as she walked back inside. "Moron."

But I've really missed that moron.