I don't own Pokemon or any of the characters in Pokemon. This story is purely for fan enjoyment!

Before I begin, let me clarify a little bit. Sammi-san (who hasn't reviewed in ages so i feel all honored to get one haha) assumed Ash had hit puberty, and that is correct.

The ages from oldest to youngest

Daisy- 24

Violet- 22

Lily- 21

Gary- 16

Misty- 16 (1 month younger than Gary)

Ash- 16 (2 months younger than Misty)

Wow isn't that specific? I know Ash is younger than Misty in the show but it somehow always bother me to see that. And since this is my story, I was liike yeah baby i get to make them all the same age! mmhm i actually don't know if Violet's older than Lily, but in most pictures i've seen with all three lined up, the order was Daisy, Violet, then Lily. So since I know Daisy's oldest, I'm assuming Violet's next. Correct me if I'm wrong.

As for if Misty even has feelings for Gary, you'll find out someday. lol. and for more Ash/Misty dialogue and Ash's feelings, it's in this chapter! (kind of). The reviews were really good. They helped me think ahead a bit more instead of just writing for the present. And that is always a good thing.

Chapter 4

Girl Falls In

"Oh, psyduck, where are you?" She couldn't believe that she was actually looking for psyduck. She had told Gary that just to insult him, but she realized too soon that she really had nothing to do besides arguing with Gary Oak.

I can't believe I fight with him every single day we meet. Which is pretty much every single day... He's basically part of my schedule. Fits right between happiness and ... anger. Why do I run into him so often? How annoying. He's annoying. Next time he annoys me I'm gonna-

Whoa there. Hold on a sec. Remember what the book said. "Do not let your emotions swallow you whole. One must be in control of his own feelings to be completely in sync with his pokemon."

That's all I read...

Tracey will be disappointed.

Well, it's not entirely my fault that the book became illegible!

Misty remembered exactly what happened.

Four Months Ago...

"Misty, I got you a present!"

She had gotten out of the pool and wrapped a striped beach towel around herself by the time her friend reached her.

"Close your eyes and hold out your hands," said Tracey enthusiastically.

"Why?" she questioned suspiciously.

"Oh come on, Misty. Just do it!"

"Fine. This better be good though!" She replied, half-smiling, her eyes closed and hands in front of her.

"Here you go," he said, while dropping a huge rectangular mass into Misty's hands.

She almost collapsed from the weight of the so-called present.

Great, she thought while staring at the 894-page, red hardcover book that was causing her hands to turn red. Tracey stared at her expectantly.

"The Pursuit of Inner Tranquility: A Guide to Improving Mental Connection with Your Pokemon By Following Ten Easy, Effective Steps of Peace-Inspiring Meditation Techniques." Misty paused for a breath. "That's a long title."

"You forgot the last part," he pointed out with a smirk.

"Complete with over fifty gorgeous, fully-colored illustrations by the critically acclaimed artist Tracey Sketchit," she added with a giggle.

"That's better."

"If by 'better,' you mean adding a very cliche and insanely biased heading to an already outrageously long title, then yeah. It's pretty much amazing," she finished with a playful grin.

"And since that is precisely my definition of 'better,'" he retorted, "I agree. It's brilliant."

Misty rolled her eyes, but her lips were still smiling.

"And just why are you giving this holy manuscript filled with timeless wisdoms to a person like me?"

"Oh, you know. Since you're going so far away and I won't be able to visit you as often."

"Aw, you're so sweet!" Misty said, moved by her friend's thoughtfulness.

"Um, hold that thought until after I finish," he said a little nervously. "I was saying... Well, since I won't be around to control your somewhat quick temper after you move to Sinnoh, you should learn to control it yourself, so as to avoid any, uh, accidents." He said the last part so fast that a normal human being would not have been able to decipher it, but Misty was no normal human being.

"..."

Tracey gulped.

Silence. That ain't good.

"Accidents?" Misty asked calmly. "You mean like what's going to happen to your head after I pull out every follicle of hair in it?!" And with that, Misty tackled him into the pool and began ripping him apart.

"Misty, stop- STOP! AHH! IT HURTS!"

"MISTY!"

She froze when she realized it was a female voice, and not the whining screams of Tracey.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Like, no making out in the pool!" said a grinning Violet.

"Yeah, I know you think it's okay 'cause you see Violet doing it all the time, but that's just her being bad influence!" Lily added with a teasing laugh.

The two sisters were giggling so intensely that Tracey thought they might blow up any moment.

"WE WEREN'T MAKING OUT IN THE POOL!"

"Misty! Did I just hear right?" This time it was the eldest sister Daisy, who had made her entrance. "I know you're like practically grown up and more mature than Violet and Lily combined, but I think it's a little too early to be so... passionately involved with someone."

"Come to think of it, I don't remember ever seeing Daisy make out in the pool."

"Of course I didn't!"

"Of course she didn't, Violet. Don't be silly! Why would she use the pool when she had the whole-"

Daisy's hand went flying to her younger sister's mouth, firmly muffling all her words as she struggled to keep her calm. "As I was saying-"

"Daisy, you're suffocating her!" Violet yelled while tugging at her older sister's hand. Lily's face was now the same shade of blue as Violet's hair.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Anyways, Misty-"

"We weren't doing anything!" Misty replied exhaustedly.

Tracey blinked. Although he had been exposed to it many times, he was still amazed by the lightning-speed dialogue and dramatic movements involved in the average conversation between the four sisters. What was more amazing was that now he had to be a part of the conversation.

"She's right," he said in support. "I just fell in, and she was trying to save me."

"Oh, okay then. You two have fun!" Violet yelled out while dragging a semi-conscious Lily behind her.

"But not too much fun!" Daisy added with a giggle, and all three sisters were finally gone.

"That's it? They question me, their own sister, like I'm some kind of serial killer, and then they just listen to you like that?"

"Well, at least now you know what I meant by 'accidents.'"

Misty moaned. "You're right, Tracey. I need to stop going berserk at the tiniest matters! It even affects my battles! Thanks for the book. I'll cherish it."

She gave him a tight hug and swam out of the pool. Tracey blushed but followed her out.

She threw him a towel and got another one for herself.

"Ah!" she suddenly screamed.

"What's wrong?" Tracey immediately questioned, concern etched on his face.

"It's soaked!" Misty said with an apologetic face. She was holding the book in front of her, which was dripping inky, black water.

She laughed as she remembered Tracey's devastated face.

Hehe. I wonder what he's doing right now.

Ah! I got so off-track thinking about that incident. Anyways, the point is that I really need to control my temper. It actually does help me during battles. Especially when I have to use psyduck.

Psyduck...

Misty realized that she had walked off in no particular direction while she was reminiscing about the book. However, she immediately knew that she was in the backyard when she almost stepped right into the pool.

Fortunately, she had stopped just in time. Unfortunately, a yellow blob had bombarded her face while she was just regaining her balance.

"Misty!"

An arm quickly wrapped around her waist but it was too late. Pikachu had obscured her vision and made her top-heavy, causing her to fall in along with the person who had grabbed her.

Splash

"Misty, you okay?" said a compassionate voice.

"Ash, this is the second time you've made me fall in water. Do you have something against me?" She said while moving her wet hair out of her face.

"Hey, it was all Pikachu's fault if you think about it! He was the one Team Rocket wanted, and he was the one that jumped on you just now!"

"Well, I guess it can't be helped that Pikachu likes me more than you!" She gave out a mischievous laugh and splashed Ash on the face.

"That's not true! There's nobody Pikachu likes more than me. Right buddy?" He asked with much confidence.

He almost collapsed when he realized that his so-called best buddy was too busy saying hi to Misty to even listen to a single word he had just said.

Misty smiled. "I win."

Ash smiled back. He liked it when she smiled, perhaps because it always made him do the same. Or maybe it was just the way her lips became slightly crooked and made her even cuter than usual. He wasn't sure.

Thinking back on his travels with her, he couldn't help but acknowledge that she had always affected him like the weather. When she was happy, he was happy. When she was mad, he was too. When she was scared, even though he didn't want to admit it, he was also scared. Everything she felt always transferred to him, and vice versa. It still did.

Ash wondered how it all came to this. They were inseparable three years ago, always bickering about nothing but still supporting each other no matter what. After they said their goodbyes and walked down different paths, they both did fine. Actually, Misty was doing much better than fine. And just yesterday, he thought he was too. But seeing her again after all this time seemed to have triggered something in him. He had thought he was a happy guy before, but with Misty, he was floating on cloud nine. He had fancied himself invincible before, but with her, he knew he was. As cliche as it sounded, the girl had always been a part of him, so much so that he didn't even realize what had happened when she left. When she came back, or rather when he came back, she let him know that he had been walking around with a big hole in himself. Or maybe he let himself know. Either way, he knew he couldn't go on any longer like that. Not when he finally knew what he needed.

The hole had existed solely to be filled.

"Misty, where were you all this time?"

She stopped playing around and looked at him gravely.

"Where was... I?"

End of Chapter 4

I did the last part over and over until I got sick of trying to do something and just left it as is. This chapter really didn't have much except the flashback, but the next chapter will have actuall real time action. yay.