A/N: No excuse for why I haven't updated. Don't got the time, but here you go. Enjoy my faithful reviewers.

. . .

She pulled herself out of the water carefully, letting the element she had grown so accustomed to slide down her arms and soak her hair as it swayed with each ebb and flow. She reached out to grip the sand between her fingers and let it sift through; she marveled at the earth as though she had never seen it before. Her curiosity was peaking and the exhilaration rushed through her body. It was all new to her, the only thing she had ever felt comfortable in was the mass of blue that hugged her gently, and now for her to take this step, it was huge. It wasn't long until she eagerly let her deep cerulean eyes dart back and forth with a hint of worry and a small. . . rush.

For the audience members that didn't know it already. . . Misty was a damn good actress.

Ash watched her slowly, his interest both acting and genuine.

"You don't come on land much, do you?" He recited; though the line was short and sweet, he managed to add an organic, coy tone to it that intensified the scene.

She tilted her head to the side with a giggle and parted her lips to answer, "Can't, I'm a mermaid . . . remember?" As the words left her mouth, she brought her sea green tail up above the water for all to see. The way she moved with it, it almost seemed like a piece of cake.

"Right, not an easy thing to forget," He said, his line earning a few laughs from the audience.

He walked forward now, taking initiative in the scene and finally, knelt down until he was face to face with the redhead bobbing up and down in the water.

She stared back at him with confidence, "Now, don't tell me, this is the part where you threaten to kill me unless I give you that giant trident that everyone seems to want, so you can control the ocean's tides and blah, blah?"

Ash smirked, "Ooh, you're close but not quite"

"Oh really?" she played along, this time bringing a finger up to her chin, "I'm surprised, that's usually what you pirates go for"

"Well, I'm no ordinary pirate, I promise you that"

She locked her gaze with his and almost slowly, she pushed her arms up, bringing her entire upper body up and out of the water to sit on the water's edge with him. He adjusted himself just so that she would have enough room and so that he'd be able to keep a straight line of sight on her.

"I guess the fact that I'm still alive proves that," She brought her hands up to brush through her locks, "so what do you want?"

He paused a bit before finally letting a grin stretch across his face, "I want you, to give me all the treasures of the seven seas"

She felt her eyes widen and then shook her head with a bitter laugh, "Now how did I not guess that one"

The lights went black indicating the end of the scene, which was so well performed that the audience did well to express their enjoyment as they whistled and hollered at the large tank for a good 3 minutes.

Amidst it all, Misty was sure to make sure her mike was cut before she reached out to grab onto Ash's shirt.

"You ready?"

"Yup" Was his reply as she gave him a tug, indicating that it was time for both of them to make their leave. The darkened lights did well to hide their escape but unfortunately, it wasn't like there was a big underwater sign that had an arrow saying, 'Exit Stage Right'.

The two managed to swim through the opened cave on their set and make it out in time for May and Dawn's scene to start. By the times the lights went back on, Ash was already pulling Misty up out of the water and onto the ground before them.

"That was good," he said as Misty finally gained her balance, what with her feet bound together and covered in a full length tail.

"Thanks, well, you weren't so bad either," She laughed as she twisted all the extra water from her hair, letting it fall back into the pool.

"Who would've thought your sisters would come up with a play people would actually like," He teased, knowing full well that no matter how talented the Sensational Sisters may have been, play writing was not one of their strengths.

The youngest sister laughed, "Oh I agree, a few nights ago it took me two hours to try and convince them to not rip off the plot of that latest pirate movie"

"Oh, that would've been hard . . . the mermaids were pretty hot in that"

She glanced up at him, rolling her eyes with a chuckle as she gave him a playful nudge.

"Well, you ain't exactly Jack Sparrow," she chided.

He let another laugh escape his lips, "You're right, I'm more the Will Turner type" He convinced, eyeing her carefully as though hoping to elicit another giggle from her.

Although she would never show it, being with Ash in this small little underwater cavern had her completely at ease. She was with the two things she knew best in her life, one was water, and the other was him. Just like she could always count on the liquid to sooth her and calm her down, she could always count on Ash to be there for her and always put a smile on her face. Lately, this play had really put things in perspective for her. Was Ash still just Ash, or was he the Ash that she found herself thinking about a lot lately?

She suddenly shook her head internally. Ash was Ash, what the hell was she talking about? He was her best friend through and through. Granted though, he did change-in many more ways than one, and she wasn't sure if she was. . . happy with his changes or angry because his new attitude, body, and dare she say, charisma, were driving her absolutely insane.

She said nothing as she let her snort answer his little quip, "We'd better get backstage, our next scene should be starting soon" She said, bringing the attention back to what she felt comfortable with.

He walked in close and let his hand rest on the curve of her back in a small, quiet, and comfortable gesture. She didn't have much time to react before he opened the door leading to the backstage dressing rooms.

"After you Miss Swann" He laughed.

She rolled her eyes, "Why thank you Mr. Turner"

. . .

Meanwhile on stage, the scene was divided into two simultaneous sights. The first, were Paul and Drew, both resting on the deck of their ship-a ship that Daisy, Lily, and Violet managed to build or rather, hire someone to build in time for the play. Next was Dawn and May, both underwater in a small cavern that seemed like any other cave to the audience but had an air space that allowed them to breathe and say their lines.

The mood of this scene was rather dramatic, and frantic.

"I-I don't get it, she was right behind me!" Dawn cried out as she moved her arms as if to explain what had just happened to the brunette in front of her, "I don't understand how I could lose sight of her so easily-!"

May reached out shake her head, "Well, maybe those-"

Her sentence dropped as the spotlight then moved to the pirates who were just as distraught, pacing back and forth on their ship. Drew was the first to speak as he brought a hand up to his chin.

"-mermaids got him. I knew it! They look all pretty but once they get their hands on you they'll pull you into the depths of the ocean. How could he have been so careless?" He rambled on, obviously unaware that Ash, his pirate of a friend was indeed safe.

"He wasn't careless maybe it was just-"

The scene switched back to the mermaids as the spotlight did will to avert the attention of the audience.

"-a mistake?But she never makes mistakes! She's one of the strongest fighters out there. . . " Dawn cried once more. A sudden gasp escaped her lips, all the Goldeen and Seaking beneath her feat looking up at her with anticipation, "Oh no, what if-?"

"What if what?" May asked, just as curious as the audience, who Dawn had hanging on her every word.

The spotlight moves again, onto Drew once more.

"What if they got him Paul?"

The older pirate crossed his arms and leaned against the railing carefully, raising an eyebrow with interest, "You don't really think he'd let himself get captured would he?"

Drew turned back to him with a sudden anger in his eyes. His frustration was apparent and the audience was sucked into this important, plot developing scene so much that with every dramatic pause they each took, they were on the edge of their seats, waiting for the next line.

Drew shook his head and laughed, "Would he let himself get captured? No, he wouldn't. He's too good of a pirate to be taken in by a-"

" stupid, evil, greedy, and arrogant pirate. They must've tricked her somehow . . . grabbed her Milotic and threatened to hurt it unless she came with them" May elaborated, carrying the scene once more. She had to admit, that huge battle scene that had unfolded before was one of the best-and fortunately, it turned out way better than it had during rehearsals. Non e of the Pokémon missed their cues and neither did the actors for that matter. That epic showdown between Misty's Gyrados-who was currently fighting on Ash's side, and Brendan's Milotic, who was in turn Misty's beloved sidekick was one that ended in a huge explosion of smoke, glitter, and a light mist that showered over the audience.

As a coordinator she thought that her and Dawn did a pretty good job organizing the fight and with the furious claps and squeals from their directors, she realized that Daisy, Lily, and Violet didn't think it was half bad either.

Suddenly, Dawn snapped her fingers, acting as though this sudden idea had popped into her head, "Wait a second. . . "

"What is it?" May found herself questioning yet again.

"I didn't see that black haired pirate get onto the ship with them," she elaborated.

May nodded, "You're right, come to think of it, his Gyrados is missing as well.," the wheels in her head started turning, "Which means, if he's missing too. . .? "

The scene changed again, this time unraveling a very important piece in the play's plot.

"-then we can pretend we have her so that way, we can trick them into giving Ash back to us!"

Paul watched Drew carefully, and then shook his head, bringing his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Clearly, Paul was playing the older, more mature, and more sensible pirate, a character that seemed to have an awful lot in common with his real life personality traits, so for him, this was an easy job.

"I don't know if you didn't notice, but we don't have the red-haired mermaid. They're bound to call us on our bluff," he sighed, "They may be half fish, but they're not stupid"

The spotlight moved once again, this time, cutting to May's laughter, "Sure they're not Dawn, and I'm secretly a Pidgeot" The audience laughed as they realized that the conversations were paralleling each other.

"May. . . maybe this isn't such a good idea," she began to reason, her and Paul both acting as the voice on conscience.

"It's a brilliant idea! They'll never know that we don't have their friend but by the time they figure that out, we'll have Misty back with us and we'll scare 'em off for good!" She swam forward lightly to grab onto Dawn's hands.

A group of water Pokémon suddenly surfaced around them, all of them chirping as if to reinforce May's idea and get the pink tailed mermaid to go along with the plan.

It wasn't long before Piplup and Kym's Lumineon surfaced and nudged Dawn lightly did she actually began to think about the plan.

"Think of it as our final victory" Drew's voice suddenly sounded out over the mikes as he too began to convince Paul. The spotlight divided and landed on both scenes now, the two groups on opposite sides of the pool/stage. May and Drew were seemingly pleading with Dawn and Paul to get them to come on board with their crazy-enough-to-just-might-work plan.

"Please?" May asked.

"C'mon Paul" Drew echoed.

It didn't take long for an answer to be heard.

"Fine," Both Dawn and Paul said, resulting in a flurry of cheers from the water Pokémon and laughter from each other.

"You won't regret this!" May squealed as she lunged herself forward to latch her arms around Dawn in a huge embrace. Dawn only giggled softly as she reached a hand up to pat her hand on her back.

"This had better work May," She told her.

Drew cut in, as if to answer for the both of them, "Don't worry it will. All you have to do, is follow my lead-" He smirked as both him and May took their cues to turn out to the audience, ready recite the final line of the scene.

" –we'll get Misty back in no time"

"-we'll get Ash back in no time"

Finally, the lights blacked out once more, indicating the end of the scene.

"Do you hear that? The loved it! They totally loved it!" Lily shouted in excitement as the three sisters sat above in the director's box, overseeing the entire play and more importantly, controlling the lights, sound, and pretty much the entire play. So far, they liked everything they saw. The audience was the same as they were still cheering-not realizing that it was time for intermission.

"And that was only the first act," Daisy laughed, "Wait 'till they get a taste of the second one" There was mischievous twinkle in her eye and if you didn't know all of the eldest Sensational Sister's little perks and signs, you wouldn't have realized that that little twinkle, meant she had a plan.

Violet crossed her arms carefully, "Daisy, okay spill" She caught on immediately.

"What?" Daisy looked up and tossed her golden blonde locks over her shoulders, "You think I'm hiding something?"

Lily crossed her arms, "We know you're hiding something"

It wasn't long before Daisy couldn't hold in her excitement and finally clapped her hands excitedly with a fit of giggles. Whatever her plan was, it clearly made the three of them burst with excitement as soon as Daisy shared it with her two sisters and not to mention, it certainly was going to spice up the second act.

For Daisy, everything seemed foolproof, nothing could get in the way of her, and this oh so brilliant and ingenious idea she had come up with.

That is, unless you were little Miss Kymberly overhearing every last word of their conversation. But now that she too knew of what Daisy, Violet, and Lily were talking about-she wasn't sure if she wanted to tell or not because she had to admit, it was a pretty damn good idea.

. . .

"The crowd is just eating this up! I never realized how fun the spotlight could be" May giggled as she sat in front of her vanity table, bringing a nice, strawberry pink gloss to her lips and painting it on delicately, smacking her lips in the process.

Misty rolled her eyes as she stood in front of the full length triple mirror, re-pinning her tiara up on top of her head, "You're a coordinator May, you guys live for the spotlight, not to mention you're all little diva's on the inside. You practically burp glitter" Her tease was not taken lightheartedly by May as she pouted and stuck her tongue out in the mirror, hoping that Misty would catch her reflection.

Dawn laughed before realizing that she too, was a coordinator.

A sudden knock was heard on the door before the three turned to see Lily, holding two baskets in her hands, clearly bearing gifts.

"Look at what I got! Your adoring fans sent you backstage goodies," She laughed.

Lily reached into the first basket and began to pull out flowers and chocolate and all sorts of candies each with their own tag and message. She walked over to Dawn and dumped a handful of sweets into her arms-most of which were from her mother but she was happy none the less when she saw a few signed 'Lots of Love, Zoey' and 'Keep it up DeeDee! –Kenny'.

Dawn smiled, "Wow, I didn't realize so many people would be here-this play sure did hit it off huh?"

Lily scoffed, as if mortally offended, "Of course it's a hit! The last time we put on a show was. . . forever ago! And the fans clearly love us and miss us so much that they couldn't wait to hop on board with our next play! Not to mention, you guys are all pretty popular so-I guess we owe you. . . "

Misty suddenly broke out in a grin and walked up to her sister, slinging an arm around her shoulder, "What's this? A sensational sister, thanking someone else. Oh my, do I feel ever so honored" She feinted as she brought a hand up to her forehead dramatically.

Lily scoffed and flicked her little sister on the forehead with a grin, "Don't forget baby sister, you're a Sensational Sister too. You've already got one boy falling at your heels," She teased.

A silent rush suddenly entered the room, if only for a second-but during that time May and Dawn exchanged a quick, knowing glance between one another.

Lily suddenly straightened herself out and threw a bubble gum pink curl over her shoulder before continuing to hand out more of these 'backstage goodies' as they were effectively labeled.

"Oh! Hang on, can't forget the most important one of all-"

She stepped out of the room quickly, leaving the door wide open as the three peered out to see just what the heck she was taking about. It wasn't until Lily reentered with a giant bouquet of roses in her arms did Dawn's face immediately light up.

The younger coordinator giggled and nudged Misty, "Three guesses as to who that's for"

'Not me. . . ' She commented in her head before realizing how snarky her voice had sounded.

Lily pulled the bouquet out and finally handed it to the awaiting arms of May; who eagerly brought the red petals up to her nose to take a big whiff of the scent she had grown so accustomed to.

"Wow, he sure knows how to really whoo a girl," Lily commented.

Dawn peered at the bouquet realizing there was a small, folded white card sticking out from it, "Hey, look there's a card too!"

May followed Dawn's eyes and plucked the square from the flowers, "Yeah but if Drew's not being sweet, he's usually being an ass. That card probably has something sappy like, 'Roses are red, violets are blue, you're kinda cute and I am too'" She recited perfectly.

She placed the bunch of red in her lap before unfolding the card, she only read the first line before grinning, handing over the card to the redhead in front of her.

"What?" Misty asked lamely.

"It's for you," May told her, that sing-songy tone already underlining her voice.

Misty raised an eyebrow, pulling the card from between May's fingers and opening it carefully.

"What's it say? What's it say?" Lily chanted, her and Dawn were already peering over her shoulder with deep interest.

Her cerulean eyes read on.

'Hey Mist,

Took a card from Drew's playbook considering that it works pretty well (better than Brock's I assume). He let me slip in a note to you and just wanted to say, break a leg in the second act. You're doing a great job!

And, you make a cute mermaid.

See you soon! –Ash'

By the time she finished reading it, she realized she read it again and let a smile rush to her lips as she traced over the last sentence.

She looked up to see May grinning with a bit of a confident look, that she no doubt picked up from Drew, and said, "Well will ya look at that?"

Misty held down her blush as best she could before she folded the paper up in her hands and tossed it onto the vanity table as though it was no big deal.

On that contrary though, it was indeed 'big deal'-whether Misty wanted to admit it or not.

From behind her, no one seemed to notice Lily's excited, if not ecstatic grin as she reeled through the conversation with her sisters to realize that it was the perfect plan for getting things into action. Ash was already taking initiative and growing up, and if their plan succeeded then he'd become a man by the end of the play.

The youngest sister was now more than excited.

. . .

Drew watched Ash pace through their dressing room. Raising an eyebrow he pulled his feet off from the table and stretched his arms, "Dude, stop pacing. There's only half the show left. . . I'm sure you'll be able to make it through" Drew somewhat, tried to console. Even Paul, the one you'd least expect to be a part of a Sensational Sister Production was as calm as ever. However, little did they know that the play was the bulk of Ash's worries.

Pikachu watched his trainer, his eyes following him back and forth. Despite being Ash's number one Pokémon, Pikachu was confined to backstage . . . considering he couldn't exactly hold his breath underwater. Not to mention, some of the little kids in the audience might see Pikachu and instantly think 'Ash!' and Daisy, Lily, and Violet couldn't have that breaking character now could they?

"Do you think it was too much?" He suddenly asked.

Paul raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

Drew snapped his fingers in realization, "Ah, the note you mean?" he leaned back casually in his chair, "No 'course not, if you ask me it was long overdue"

Ash breathed out and ran a hand through his hair, "Then why am I freakin' out? I can take on legendaries and all that but this. . . I'm freaking out" He elaborated and repeated again as if to prove the fact.

From the corner Paul snorted before Ash turned to shoot him a glare, to which he simply just smirked and shook his head disapprovingly.

"You got a better idea? I like her okay? So when you like someone-you tend to show them. That's how it works right?" That was the first time he'd officially admitted his feelings out loud and as liberating as it was, it was also a huge epiphany for him.

He liked Misty.

He really fell for his best friend.

He had become a part of that cliché that everyone had told him would happen.

"I told you, the note was a good idea-she'll read it and be ecstatic, trust me on this" Drew said nonchalantly. Out of the three of them, it was clear that he was the most smooth with the girls, the countless fans and crushes were proof of that.

Paul let out a sigh and then crossed his arms, "Okay, well if you like her then I don't understand why you just don't walk up to her and tell her. That to me seems the most obvious. You're acting like such a girl Ash," He said; figures that a hard hitting trainer like Paul would approach every situation head on.

Drew was quick to rebuttal, the romantic coordinator within him ready to argue, "Yeah like that's any fun. You can either just blatantly tell a girl you like her and have her giggle and say 'Oh, I like you too' or, you can have a little fun and make her fall right into your arms," He smirked as though his argument was the best one yet, "Worked for me didn't it?" He grinned.

The Sinnoh Trainer rolled his eyes, "You make it seem so much more dramatic. Just because you decided to fall in love with a girl that was already hooked on you doesn't mean that every girl will put up with all those stupid mind games," Paul said, making a point that was proven to be valid.

"They're not stupid if they work," Drew quipped.

"May's the only exception to that," Paul deadpanned.

"Well I don't see you waltzing up to girls declaring your feelings!" Drew growled.

"Don't like anybody right now," he stated point blank.

Drew laughed and then rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah, that's a load of-"

Ash finally checked back into his brain after watching the two bicker back and forth. He realized that listening to Drew's romantic, mind trickery, crazed tactics and Paul's, straight up, just do it ideas weren't going to help him make a decision in how he should approach Misty.

First off, he didn't want to scare her off-that was the last thing he wanted to do. If he knew things were going to end badly then he'd rather just push aside his feelings and continue being best friends with her, although he wasn't sure if he'd be able to handle the 'just-a-best-friend' situation for too much longer.

Secondly, he so desperately didn't want to screw up. Being best friends they had built up six years of friendship he'd pretty much shown her all his weak points, his biggest fears, goals, and all that. He was completely and totally comfortable around her so if he was going to tell her how he felt . . . he wanted to do it right.

Although according to Drew and Paul, 'right' had two different approaches.

He pulled himself to sit down and shake his head.

'I'm never going to get anywhere. . . '

Pikachu was quick to jump onto Ash's lap and try and console his tormented trainer.

"Pika. . . "

A sudden call cut through the room.

"Ash!"

He turned and immediately recognized Kym as she stood in the door way with hands on her hips.

He looked at Drew and Paul, both seemingly to still be arguing and made the obvious decision to get up and walk over to his friend.

"What's up?" He asked.

She put a finger to her lips and 'shh'-ed him quietly as she seemed to make frequent glances around the backstage dressing room area before she motioned for him to come out of the dressing room. Ash, completely confused at her behavior followed her reluctantly, pulling the curtain to follow her out and letting it fall back to cover the door.

Her blue eyes blinked around in suspicion once more.

"Kym. . ." He began, raising an eyebrow, "Are you feelin' okay?"

She looked up at him, "Me? Oh yeah I'm fine, I just-might have heard something you might want to know," she told him, "In fact, I'm pretty damn sure you'd want to hear this"

That's when Ash's curiosity peaked.

"What's going on?"

She took a deep breath and began her retelling.

"Well, I was backstage earlier, before intermission started. . . "

She threw her curls over her shoulder as she walked diligently towards the lobby, knowing that during intermission the lobby would be swarming with hungry, hungry kids and curious adults wanting to know more about this play and unfortunately, Daisy had put her on concession duty.

Kym walked past the sound room the three were located in and sighed.

"Maybe I can get them to convince Brendan to sell snacks instead. . ."

She began to walk up the steps that lead to the sound room until she heard Daisy's laughter cut through. She slowed down her steps and decided that maybe she shouldn't burst in just yet.

Their voices became clearer as she got closer.

"You think I'm hiding something?" She recognized the voice as Daisy's.

"We know you're hiding something" Lily's voice interjected.

Kym felt her eyebrow raise, "Hiding what?" She muttered quietly as she continued to eavesdrop.

"So, you know the ending scene, when Ash and Misty get stuck in that cave?" Daisy began.

"Yeah," Violet responded, "That's the scene they were supposed to kiss in but they made us cut it out. Shame too. . . "

This wasn't news to Kym, she had known that the kiss scene had been cut-partially because Daisy recognized the anxiety and all the freaking out that came with what would no doubt Ash and Misty's first kiss. Misty seemed the most anxious so being that wonderful big sister, Daisy decided to help Misty and cut the kiss. She really was a good big sister.

"Well, what if we put it back in?"

Or so she thought.

"Wait, what do you mean? We can't just add the kiss back in-they haven't practiced it, the timing will be all off" Lily cried frantically.

"Lil', have some confidence in them. I was thinking, all we have to do is just extend that scene and with the lines they'll be saying, it'll be hard not to give each other a little peck!"

A sudden giggle emerged before Violet began to speak, "You're right huh? The only cue the others have to start the next scene is the lights, but if we, let's say "forget" to change the lights, then –"

Kym could just imagine the grin on Daisy's face, "Exactly. Ash will realize the timing's off and so will Misty but by the time she figures it out, I'm sure Ash'll think of something to extend the scene, and he won't be able to come up with random lines in time,"

"And the next thing you know, they'll kiss and then we'll keep the show going. Daisy, you are like, a total genius!"

Lily and Violet grinned excitedly as Daisy took the compliments with a grin just as mischievous.

Kym, having heard the whole thing realized what they were going to do and couldn't decide on whether or not to spill, or just let it happen, honestly, the plan seemed foolproof.

Kym finished her story with a breath and brought a hand to push her bangs from her face. She looked at Ash, expecting him to react instantly with anger, surprise, frustration, anything, but as of right now, he stood there with a blank look on his face.

". . . you're kidding right?"

She shook her head, "I highly doubt they were lying" she elaborated.

He let out another breath. Daisy, Violet, and Lily were basically planning to trap him and Misty in a cave, during the show, and force them to kiss so that the play would keep going. As if he wasn't anxious enough over that stupid note. . .

"What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

Kym brought a hand to smack her forehead, "What? Ash, I told you this plan so you could think of something to do! Think! You're a trainer, act like this is another battle and your opponent just threw in a twist like they used a full restore or switched out their Pokémon or something. . . what are you gonna do?"

Ash shook his head.

"Not another battling analogy, I've already got Paul and Drew arguing about how to 'woo' a girl," He sighed.

Kym snorted, "Wait, they're what?"

"One thinks you should 'tackle' it head on and the other thinks you should 'Petal Dance' your way around a girl's heart" He rolled his eyes, still completely frustrated.

Kym on the other hand, couldn't begin to fathom what the heck he was saying because she let a laugh escape her, "Paul's arguing with Drew about how to. . . get a girl?" She asked slowly, glancing at the room behind them.

"I was equally weirded out" Ash confirmed.

Kym crossed her arms and blinked, "Huh, well that's fun. But anyways-!" She snapped back, "you've got five minutes till intermission starts and only a few scenes before the final moment. Pull yourself together and figure it out-I'm sure whatever you do, it'll be fine" She tried to comfort.

"Did you tell Misty?" Ash suddenly asked.

Kym shook her head, "What are you crazy? That' d freak her out-can't do that to the star of the show, and besides, I'm giving you the upper hand here Ash. This is opportunity knocking so you can either answer or not"

At first he wasn't sure what her words meant but after he thought about it, she was right. He was getting that second chance after their kiss got 'cancelled' and he was sure as hell not going to give up an opportunity like that again.

. . .

Intermission ended five minutes later just as Kym had said and they were all back into character. May, Dawn, Drew, and Paul occupying the stage with the final battle showdown of the play.

"Give us Misty and then just maybe, we'll give your pirate of a friend back!" May shouted rather stubbornly as her trusty Dewgong waded beside her, ready to fight.

Drew narrowed his eyes as he took a step forward on their little floating island, his boots scuffling under his feet. Flygon was his Pokémon of choice as it got into character as well, ready to attack on command.

"Oh, things don't work that way mermaid, sorry. How about you give us Ash first and then we can talk about releasing her"

Dawn looked up timidly at the two pirates before her and pushed her tail to swim behind May, "May, they're going to find out we're nowhere near having their friend as a captive"

That's when Paul took that as his cue. He narrowed his eyes and drew his sword, his Honchkrow perched on a rock behind him, stretched his wings before intimidating calling out at the Lumineon beside Dawn.

Piplup furrowed it's brows as well, ready to take on its next cue.

"They don't have him, Drew," Paul sighed.

Both Drew and May gave a look of surprise before simultaneously shouting, "What!"

Dawn shook her head, "I told you!"

Drew turned to glare directly at May, "Is this true?" May however, said nothing as she kept her gaze hard. She was firm on keeping in character and she flinched slightly as Drew bent down letting an evil smirk spread across his lips and bringing his sword up to May's neck lightly, "You're a pretty bad liar aren't ya?"

May furrowed her brows before uttering three words, "Dewgong, Aurora Beam!"

"Deww gong, gong!" The familiar Cerulean City Gym Pokémon nodded and threw its head back before realizing a beautiful, yet colorful beam straight at Drew.

He managed to dodge it as the beam zeroed in on their prop ship instead, freezing it over in an instant.

Drew stood up with a glare, "Okay, you asked for it" He turned to Paul and nodded.

Before the audience knew it, a double battle had just begun and they were more than excited.

May fought against Drew's Flygon, while Dawn called her Piplup against Paul's Honchkrow that both her and her Piplup were more than already acquainted with.

The four began calling attacks and although this fight was coordinated and completely staged, which was challenging considering Paul's Pokémon didn't exactly know how to "take it easy", the audience ate it all up. Kids were cheering on their already favorite contenders, the little boys rooting for Flygon and Honchkrow obviously, while the girls cheered for Piplup and Dewgong.

"Piplup, use Hydro Pump!" Dawn commanded.

Piplup nodded and performed the well mastered move, unleashing a powerful stream of water straight at Paul's Honchkrow who seemed to watch the jet carefully and hovered in the sky with ease. Paul watched the attack with dare he say, awe. He would have never expected a small Pokémon such as Piplup to learn one of the most powerful water moves out there, let alone, Dawn to be able to teach it to her starter who was still in its first evolutionary stage. He caught his thoughts as he realized he was putting Dawn down again, it should have been clear that she proved herself as trainer a while ago and at this moment, he realized that he was. . . proud of her.

He pushed away his thoughts quickly and it wasn't until the last second that Paul shouted a command.

"Honchkrow! Dodge that and hit Piplup straight on with your Dark Pulse!"

Honckrow nodded and obeyed his commands with ease, turning in the sky to dive down parallel to the Hydro Pump, skillfully dodging it.

"Krrrow!" It called as the dark beam emerged from its mouth, hitting the water and Piplup dead on., well or so it seemed. Piplup ducked under the water just like it was told during rehearsals just in time not only dodge the attack but make it look as though it had been hit.

"Piplup!" Dawn cried out. The crowd seemed to share her worry as she dove down to pull her Piplup back up the surface.

"Pip," it cried weakly as Dawn cradled her beloved Pokémon in her arms.

Paul jumped down from the small rock he stood on and held his arm out for Honchkrow to land threateningly, the battle obviously being a piece of cake.

He looked down and Dawn and let a small smirk emerge, "Looks like I won"

An small explosion cut through their conversation as Dawn realized that May and Drew were still fighting, meaning that they still had a chance of winning.

For the most part, May and Drew's battles were nothing short of a full on contest battle-something they were more than happy to perform. Granted, it was a bit harder for May to adapt and collaborate partially because she was fighting with Misty's Dewgong.

May clenched her fists, "Oh, don't be so sure. His battle is only just beginning, you're on our turf pirates and there is no way, we're going to let you win," Just as she said that, all the water Pokemon beneath them rose to the surface ready to fight. All the Goldeen, Seaking, Starmie, Staryu, Corsola, Politoad, and for themost part, the bulk of Misty's Pokémon cried out in support and were angry and ready to fight, only further proving May's statement.

This battle has only just begun.

. . .

The two stood there, waiting anxiously with their feet in the water, waiting to jump back in and finish the play. The light reflected off the small cavern they waited in, completely hidden from the audience-the lines and attacks from the others were loud and clear though.

Misty kicked her tail lightly and sighed, "I'm nervous" she breathed.

Ash turned to her lightly, "Didn't think you got nervous" He teased as he bent his head down slightly to try and capture her eyes with his.

She laughed and nudged him, "Don't act so surprised. Acting isn't exactly my forte and even though I'm pretty good at it," She smirked, "I still get nervous. I want to end it with a bang so; I guess I'm afraid of messing up our scene"

Ash gulped. Oh, the infamous scene. . .

"It's just me, Misty. If you forget a line, I'll try and find it in me to forgive you" He joked once again, only this time, she didn't simply roll her eyes and shout to defend herself.

He watched her carefully.

"It's not the lines I'm worried about messing up"She muttered.

"Misty-" Ash began to interject, wanting to ask her what she meant but Drew's voice cut through their small cave.

"Use Dragon Breath!"

That was their cue to jump into the water and get ready, as the scene was going to cut directly to them. So without another word, Misty submerged herself into the water, hoping that her element would calm her down but in truth, it had little effect.

Ash stayed up on the rock considering he wasn't the one who was supposed to be in the water but as the final act approached he couldn't help but think-was here something she wanted to say?

And possibly, just maybe, would it have something do with what he was about to do?

Before he could think anymore an explosion was heard which he knew was the sound of Flygon's Dragaon Breath and Honchkrow's Shadow Ball colliding with Dewgong's Waterfall and Lumineon's Blizzard. The lights blacked out soon after, indicating the end of their scene and the start of theirs.

He took a breath.

'This is it, Ash. Don't freak out, don't freak out, just stay calm' He told himself.

He glanced up at Misty, managing to catch a glimpse of her as the small underwater light in their cavern illuminated the pool beneath them. Her tiara glistened slightly and her hair fell past her shoulders, swaying in the water with ease. Her face however, had the same features he had grown so accustomed to, only with a elegant feature to it all. She had grown up wonderfully, and he had in a sense grown up as well-but not as beautifully as she did he commented to himself.

She was gorgeous, he realized and as she looked up at him and offered him a smile, he grinned back.

He knew what he had to do now, and boy, was he ready.

. . .

A/N: BOOM. Done with this chapter, the longest one yet and for rushing the hell out of it, I think it's pretty damn good. This was written just because I got the sudden urge and idea to continue-only took me three days so sorry for mistakes and OOC-ness , if there is any (hopefully not). Just to clear up some things, May and Dawn are using 'prop' Pokémon, i.e borrowing Misty's because they don't have water types so don't think May suddenly got a Dewgong and what not. But anyways, you guys have asked for it so here it is, I can only thank my faithful reviewers for not being fed up with the lack of updates.

Next chapter will be the final conclusion and climax so stay tuned!

R&R

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