Misty awoke to the sound of Dawn drying her hair in the bathroom. She checked the clock beside her bed, it showed 8:27 which made Misty smile as it had been awhile since she had seen a clock in the morning that she hadn't wanted to throw across the room like back at home! As she rubbed her eyes in an attempt to adjust to the light that was pouring in through the window, Dawn heard her stirring from the bathroom and walked in to check on her.

"Good morning Misty, did you sleep well?"

"Morning Dawn." Misty replied. "Reasonably well, how about you?"

"Pretty good thanks." Said Dawn, now brushing her long blue hair. "The bathroom's all yours, I got up early so that you could take your time."

"Aww thanks Dawn." Said Misty. It looked like Ash had been right about what he had said about her, she was a good friend.

"Listen, Dawn." Continued Misty, now getting out of bed and walking over to the window. Dawn by this point had made her way back to the bathroom to continue brushing her hair. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure Misty, what is it?" Asked Dawn, not really thinking too much off her new friend's request.

Misty took a deep breath before she proceeded to question Dawn. "What has Ash told you about me? It's just when you said yesterday that he'd talked about me you seemed a bit...Well...I dunno. It sounded like Ash had told something...Important." She hated asking Dawn this and she knew how stupid she sounded, but she couldn't help it, even after a nights sleep she couldn't think about anything else. Dawn's reaction however to this question was not what she was expecting. She froze on the spot midway through a brush stroke. Misty could see her shocked expression on her face from the reflection mirror clearly meaning Dawn didn't realise that Misty could see her from where she was standing.

"O-oh...Emm...Y-y-yeah." Dawn stuttered nervously. Misty could see that Dawn was hiding something from her now, it was so obvious now. The next thing she had to do though was find out what. Dawn shook her head to get her mind out of the frozen panic she was in.

"Sorry, emm, he didn't say anything major as such, he just spoke very highly of you. Yeah, yeah that's right."

Misty was not convinced though, it was still obvious that she didn't have the full picture yet, but before she could say or do anything else about it Dawn had already made her way to the door.

"I'm going to go down to breakfast, I'll see you down there when you're ready. Bye." Said Dawn, closing the door behind her.

Misty was left in the room alone. She sighed, obviously there was something going on with what Ash had said to Dawn but it didn't look like she was going to find out soon. Despite Dawn being bad at hiding when she knew something, she was awfully good at getting out of telling you whatever it was.

Misty went into the bathroom to get herself ready for the rest of the day, she intended to take her time though as it was quite likely she wouldn't see another shower till they got to Olivine City, which she knew would take a while. After drying herself off, doing her hair and getting changed into her yellow, sleeveless top and matching short with the dark red under-all, she picked up Togepi and headed down to the canteen where she was greeted by Brock, Dawn and Pikachu's smiling faces from one of the tables.

"Morning Misty." Said Brock, pulling up a chair for her.

"Pikachu-pi." Added Pikachu ecstatically.

"Morning." She replied to both of them taking the seat next to Brock. "What is there for breakfast then?"

"Nothing special, just the usual: porridge, toast, tea, coffee etc." Brock said as he continued to munch away on the porridge he had gotten himself earlier.

"Oh okay, say wait a second, where's Ash? Isn't he normally the first one down here?" Misty Asked.

"He's still in the room last time I checked." Said Brock. "I think he's still getting ready."

"Really?" Replied Misty.

"Think so, I'll go up and check on him actually, it shouldn't be taking him this long." Said Brock.

"No, it's okay, Why don't I go and check on him for you? You're still eating after all." Misty suggested.

"Are you sure?" Asked Brock cautiously, as obviously he had no idea what Ash was doing up there.

"Yeah, it'll be fine. I'll knock first." Said Misty getting up out of her seat.

"Mmm, all right, if you're sure." Shrugged Brock, tossing the room key into Misty's hands.

"Won't be long, can I leave Togepi with you for now? It's just he's hungry now."

"Yeah, I'll look after him for you." Said Dawn.

"Thank you." Repiled Misty turning around to go back out the door she came in.

Misty ran upstairs to Ash and Brock's room; their room was on the floor above hers. When she got to the door she noticed that the 'Do Not Disturb' sign had been hung on the outside of the door. Although confused by this, she knocked on the door to see if there was any answer, she figured it must have been left there by either Ash or Brock from last night. As she continued to knock however there was no answer.

"Ash, are you in there?" She asked, whilst continuing to knock on the door, but still there was no response.

By this point Misty was getting a little worried. How come he wasn't coming to the door? Was he even still in the room? Where could he have gone? She knocked one more time before concluding that she'd have to let herself in. She took the key from her pocket and slowly opened the door.

Misty shut the door behind her as it was on a hinge that would make it slam shut if she let go of it and walked into the center of the bedroom. From where she stood there was no sign of Ash anywhere which was very unusual. Perhaps he had gone down to the canteen whilst she had been coming up here. 'Yeah, that must be what happened' she thought to herself. As she made her way back over to the door to head back downstairs to check if he was there she heard a sound coming from behind her. Misty froze and turned to see where it was coming from to discover that the bathroom door was being pulled open from the inside, creaking as it moved. 'Oh dear' Misty thought to herself. She could tell this wasn't going to go well, but there was nothing she could do to get out of this situation now. Just as expected, from the other side of the door emerged Ash completely naked, save for the towel he had wrapped around his waist. He entered the bedroom drying his hair with another towel so did not see Misty straight away. She just stood there frozen to the spot, not knowing how to react. But she didn't have long to worry about that long as when Ash had finished drying his hair and no longer had a towel in his face, there weren't many places for Misty to hide.

"GAH!" Cried Ash in astonishment due to the female presence in the room, quickly trying to cover as much of himself as possible with the towels. "W-w-what are you doing in here?"

Misty just stood there, still frozen to the spot, not really knowing what to do now that Ash had seen her. She could only laugh nervously whilst trying to make sure she kept focused on his face.

"Sorry." She managed to blurt out after a few agonising long moments. "I...Err...Just…Downstairs…You weren't...Err...We didn't know." She continued to blurt out whilst making wild hand gestures towards the door and the canteen downstairs, trying to convey the reason for her being in the room. But despite her efforts it just made the situation worse as Ash had no clue what she was going on about at all. He was still getting over the fact she was in his room whilst he was in nothing but a towel.

"I'm just gonna..." Continued Misty gesturing towards the door. "Emm...Yeah."

She swiftly turned on her heels and walked briskly out of the room leaving a dazed Ash alone to try to figure out what had just happened. Once out of the room and in the corridor she found herself able to speak, probably as she was now alone and wasn't in there with him.

"Meet you in the canteen." She said timidly through the wood of the door, but there was no response. Perhaps he didn't hear her, but she didn't dare go back in there to tell him. He'd figure it out.

Misty leant against the door and sighed. 'That could have gone better' she thought. Although upon reflection it hadn't been all bad for her. She had seen Ash without his top on in the past, but as it had been a few years since she had seen this much of him, she realised that something had changed. Ash was far more...Buff than he had been before. She had never really thought about it before but, now she'd seen him, she would never have imagined he would look as good as he did. 'Ash certainly had filled out well' she thought.

Whilst still leaning against the door Misty closed her eyes and bit the end of her left index finger as she let her mind wander to thoughts of her and Ash, her laying next to him on a bed slowly running her finger over his finely chiseled abs, tracing each defined muscle with the tips of her fingers. Him laying there running hand along the side of her hip, following the curves of her body. This was far steamier than any thoughts of Ash she'd ever had before, she kinda liked it. This fantasy did not last long, unfortunately for Misty. She had forgotten by this point where she was and, more specifically, where she was leaning. Her day dreaming was interrupted as a frantic Ash opening the door. This resulted in a now even more confused Ash being completely flattened by a very surprised Misty. Misty had been caught completely off guard when Ash had opened the door and as a result had lost her balance and fallen right on top of him. The two of them lay there on the floor in a dazed state, Misty still laying on top of Ash whose head was spinning from the unexpected collision. When Misty was able to gather herself and had realised what had just happened, she quickly got up off of her friend, feeling even more embarrassed than she had before.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." Said Misty as her face got redder and redder.

Ash just lay there, his eyes spinning inside his head. "Ahhhhh." He groaned. "Why were you standing behind the door?"

"I...Err…I'm just gonna go." Misty sighed and she left the room for the second time that morning.

Ash, Misty and Togepi, Brock, Dawn and Pikachu all met up in the lobby of the Pokémon Center after they had all finished breakfast and had packed for the journey to Olivine City. There was an awkward silence between Ash and Misty now, the others didn't pick up on it but Ash and Misty both knew why. Misty couldn't wait for the silence to pass, she intended to pretend that that morning never happened.

"So then." Said Brock. "Is everyone ready to get moving?"

"Hell yeah!" Dawn replied ecstatically. She couldn't wait to get to Olivine City so she could have a chance at getting her next contest ribbon.

"Yep. Mhmm." Repiled Ash and Misty in turn, still not feeling quite up to talking just yet.

Brock saw this but decided it was in everybody's best interests if he just let them work this one out. He had been with both Ash and Misty enough in the past to know when it's best to take a step back and let them sort out their own mess!

"Alright then, next stop Olivine City." Said Brock as they walked out of the Pokémon Center, pointing towards the north of the city where the exit towards Ecruteak City was which, in turn, would lead to Olivine City.

As they were walking Misty approached Ash. "Hopefully we won't get lost again." She chuckled, hoping Ash would take the bait, so to speak, and the silence would be broken.

Ash smiled back at her. "Yeah, with any luck." He replied, still sounding a bit uneasy towards her.

Misty picked up on this and decided to take the initiative. " Maybe we should pretend this morning never happened."

"Yeah." Ash replied smiling. "I was thinking the same thing."

Misty laughed. "Alright then." She said smiling back at him. "It never happened. Now come on, lets catch up with Brock and Dawn otherwise we're gonna loose them. Then how would we get out of this City with your sense of direction!"

"Hey, I resent that!" Shouted Ash as he chased after Misty who was now running away from him after her last comment. The two chased each other towards the city limits, running straight past Brock and Dawn. Misty stopped for a second in front of them and gave Togepi to Dawn to look after temporally, this way she'd have a better chance at outrunning Ash. After that she sprinted as fast as she could, with Ash in hot pursuit. Ash would catch up to Misty and try to grab her hand or arm, when this happened Misty would smile and playfully slap his hand away so as he couldn't get her. Ash knew she was teasing him so he kept persisting, he would get her eventually.

"You know I'm gonna catch you." Joked Ash.

"Haha, we'll see." Misty laughed.

Misty hadn't had this much fun with Ash in a long time, it felt so natural to her to be like this with him. She couldn't think why she had been so awkward with him before, it seemed so stupid now, but it probably would have been even more awkward if she had been okay with it and Ash hadn't have been. While she had been thinking though, Misty realised that Ash had been catching up with her.

"Oh no, you're not gonna get me." Misty shouted back to Ash who was getting increasingly closer.

"Oh, I think I am." Replied Ash in a cocky fashion.

Ash knew it was only a matter of time, and he was right. Before Misty had a chance to put in one final spirt of energy, she was pounced on by the boy chasing her. He had got her. Ash wrapped his arms around Misty as he jumped onto her, almost tackling her to the floor in his haste. Fortunately for him, she didn't mind, she thought it was cute the way he was holding her, his arm around her waist.

"Alright, alright. You win. Let me go." Misty laughed, struggling within Ash's hold.

"Haha, no. I've got you now. If you want me to let go, say please." Ash smirked.

"What? Hell no." Misty said.

"Say please or I'm not letting you go." Said Ash, enjoying the new power he had over her.

"Oh alright then. Ash, can you please let me go?" Misty asked.

"Sure, no problem." Said Ash letting go of Misty.

The two stood there laughing at how far they'd ran. They could only just see Brock and Dawn in the distance trying to catch up with them. They hadn't realised that they weren't following them and were walking at their own pace. Ash and Misty had actually made it to the city limits, and in surprising time. They hadn't even gotten lost which shocked both of them!

"Well, that's more like it." Ash said to Misty once they could both stop laughing.

"What do you mean?" Asked Misty.

"I hate awkward silences between us." Ash explained.

"Oh. Well, I just thought that...Considering what happened...I didn't really know what to say I guess." Misty replied shyly.

"You know what, sod it. Who cares? It's not really that big'a deal anyway. After all, you have seen me topless before. Now if it had been the other way around, then we might have had a problem." Ash joked, smiling at Misty.

Misty smiled back. "Haha, yeah. That might have been slightly different."

By this point Brock, Dawn, Togepi and Pikachu had caught up with Ash and Misty, Brock, Dawn and Pikachu were very out of breath though having been trying not to loose them.

"Thank god. We thought you two were never gonna stop." Panted a very tired Brock.

"Yeah." Followed and equally tired Dawn. "What were you two doing anyway?"

"Sorry." Misty Apologised. "We were just messing about really. We thought you were still behind us."

"Messing about hey?" Said Dawn, giving Togepi back to Misty and giving Ash a sideways glance. Ash responded by suddenly becoming very interested in his shoelaces.

"Right, as we're all together now, shall we get going? And this time can we try to stay as a group?" Asked Brock.

Ash jumped of this subject change. "Yep, sounds good. Come on then, next stop Olivine City."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu called out in agreement, jumping onto his trainer's shoulder so he could rest after chasing him for so long.

Ash, Pikachu, Misty, Togepi, Brock and Dawn headed into the woodland area just outside of Goldenrod to begin their journey towards Dawn's next contest and Brock's encounter with Jasmine the Gym Leader. Now that they were on the move, and at a normal pace, Misty was able to reflect on everything that had happened so far that day. She was happy to see that things between her and Ash were back to normal again after their eventful morning, but one thing was certain. Now that she had seen Ash's new 'physique,' her daydreams were never going to be the same again.

...

A/N: Hello, long time no see. I know what you're think, Holy Hell this one took a while! I Know and I'm sorry but despite it being the holidays, I haven't had a lot of free time and the free time I had when I was trying to write this chapter, I was suffering from writers block. Serious, I don't know what it was but I just could not think of what to write. Sooooooooo frustrating! But it's okay, I'm back now :D

I really hope you like this new chapter, a lot of effort went into it to getting it done so if you do like it please let me know by reviewing. It's been over 3 weeks since I uploaded my last chapter and I miss hearing for all of you.

I'm hoping my next chapter won't take as long to write, I'll try my best to make sure it doesn't, just for you!

Also on a side note, my beta reader is away on holiday at the moment, so if there's a lot of mistakes I'm sorry. There back soon so I'll do the corrections then.

Thanks for being patient with me these last few weeks. I hope you liked it. Review. Review. Review!

...

8.8.2010

Hello again, if you have already read this chapter, thank you :) but I have just made some changes. nothing major, just fixed a plot hole. When I re-read the chapter I noticed I hadn't mentioned Togepi at all so I wanted to say what happened to him during all this.

If you're interested then have another read, if you're not the next chapter will be up soon.

Thanks again :)

Ps: One last thing...Please keep reviewing :)