"Shhh! She's coming... Everyone quiet and get in position!"

There was a tremendous amount of hustle and bustle in the Ketchum household as Misty was walking along the front path in her own little world. It was a little after 3pm when she arrived at the front door and as she looked up through the small window near the top of it, she could have sworn she caught a glimpse of someone running up the stairs. Looking to the front windows, all the curtains were drawn which piqued her interest. Usually Delia, Ash's mother was home and the curtains would be drawn and she'd catch a glimpse of Mimey industriously cleaning the house but giving it no further thought she turned her attention back to the door. Kneeling down, she lifted up the door mat and pulled out the key Delia had left for her. When she was staying there, or any friend of his, Delia always made sure to leave a key under the doormat, saying any friend of Ash was always welcome in her house and to use it as they saw fit. Putting the key in the lock and hearing the first click, she twisted it and pulled down on the handle...

[5 minutes earlier]

"Right guys! Here's how it goes... One last run down!"

Standing in the front room of the house, Gary Oak was addressing the crowd of people, namely the Kanto Gym Leaders, Misty's sisters, Some of the Elite four and various acquaintances and friends they had all made over the years.

Gary: "When Misty gets here, she's gonna probably stall outside for a minute or so, that gives you guys enough time to get in the back, hide behind the furniture, in a cupboard or up the stairs... The plan is Misty comes in the room, opens the curtains and flicks on the TV... That's when we start putting things in place."

Fantina, the Sinnoh Ghost type Gym leader, originally from Kalos pulled a Poké ball out and called out her Rotom. The electric ghost let out a small spark of energy before it flew into the television.

Fantina: "Oui! C'est magnifique plan we have!"

Ash spoke, he was leaning against the wall keeping one eye on the wall where a monitor for a concealed cctv camera was displaying the front path.

Ash: "Misty is gonna turn on the TV and Rotom is gonna keep her distracted, changing the channels, screwing with the volume, doing everything he can to buy you guys some time so you can all get out of your hiding place. After that, Pikachu is gonna make his move..."

Gary: "Pikachu will lure Misty into the kitchen, acting like he wants feeding, and that's when you guys get into this room and close the curtains again and shut the door. Rotom will then use it's night shade to darken the room, so Misty will have to flick on the light to see what's up..."

Brock: "And that's where we surprise her!"

Everyone was in agreement with the plan. It was so simple and straight forwards, it had to work. With the rest of the guests only half paying attention and making idle chat, a shout from Ash spurred them all into action.

Ash: "Shhh! She's coming... Everyone quiet and get in position!"

[present]

Misty opened the door and stepped in. The house was quiet... Almost too quiet for her liking, but she didn't dwell on it. Walking right into the living room, she walked straight to the couch and sat down. Checking her Poké Gear for any messages, she sighed.

"I wonder why Delia or Ash never told me they'd be out..."

Reaching for the remote, Misty tried to turn on the TV but for some reason it wouldn't work. Banging the remote on the arm of the furniture and trying again, she managed to turn the TV on and straight away she screamed.

Misty: "BUUUUG!"

Rotom had mischeviously switched the channel over to a feature length presentation on Bug Pokémon. Frantically trying to change the channel, Misty couldn't hear the snickering from the cupboard in the corner of the room or from behind some of the chairs.

Misty: "Stupid TV... change the channel!"

As Misty wrestled with the remote, not knowing she was dealing with Rotom, the people hiding upstairs begun to slowly creep down them. Taking this as his cue, Pikachu entered the living room. Holding his stomach and looking sad, it let out a feeble cry of its name, getting Misty's attention.

Misty: "Pikachu? Why would Ash leave you at home? Usually you go everywhere with him... Unless he's asleep out back..."

Pikachu said its name again and motioned to its stomach. Kneeling down in front of him, Misty looked at the little yellow rat's face and realised just what the Pokémon was hinting at.

Misty: "You're hungry aren't you little fella? Let's go fix you up some food until Ash gets back."

Picking Pikachu up, Misty walked into the kitchen and walked towards the cupboards. As she sifted through them, trying to find something for the Pokémon to eat, she didn't notice the door close behind her, nor the creepy dark shadow slowly slipping out from underneath it.

Misty: "I'm sorry Pikachu, but it looks like we're out of Poké Blocks... Maybe Ash and his mom went to the store to pick some up for you..."

Pikachu nodded and turned to the door. Seeing the darkness slowly slipping from under the frame, it scratched on the door to let those hiding in there know that it was almost time. Misty turned back as she heard the scratch and saw the door was shut behind her.

Misty: "Hmm, thats odd... Could have sworn I left this door open..."

Placing her hand on the door handle, she slowly opened the door and saw the main room plunged into darkness.

Misty: "What the hell is going on? Did Ash catch a ghost type and leave it here to mess with me til he got back? Because if he did, I'm gonna kill him!"

Walking into the dark room, Misty felt along the wall and found the light switch. Flicking it, the darkness vanished.

"SURPRISE!"

Misty jumped out of her skin almost as she turned round after hearing the shout - everyone who had been in the room a little over five minutes ago were all stood there with Ash and Gary front and centre. Leaning against the wall, slightly in shock, the Red head was speechless. Mumbling and struggling to get her words out, Misty started to well up. With tears forming in the corner of her eyes, she looked round the room at everyone and nodded as she bit her bottom lip. Stepping forwards, Sabrina looked to Misty and smiled.

Sabrina: "When you told us of your plans to leave for Johto, Ash and Gary decided to throw you a surprise going away party..."

Erica, the flower maiden and gym leader of Celadon stepped forwards.

Erica: "We spent the past few days getting everything ready, flying special people in from across the regions, trying to make sure everyone who was important to you was here to wish you luck on your new adventure"

Misty smiled as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

Janine, Koga's niece and the gym leader of Fuchsia City stepped forwards next.

Janine: "You're one of our best friends and we couldn't leave you without one last great drink up between all of us Kanto gym leaders, elite trainers..."

Stepping forwards next were Misty's three sisters, Violet Lilly and Dawn. They didn't say anything, but they grabbed hold of Misty and hugged her tightly. As they broke away from the hug, Misty caught Ash, Brock and Gary's eyes and simply mouthed thank you to them. Nodding back, Ash and Brock gave a thumbs up whilst Gary went to speak, but the booming voice of Lt. Surge, the Vermillion Gym leader got everyone's attention.

Surge: "Well folks... We've had our tender moment... LETS PARTY!"

A cheer went up from all in the room as Surge pulled a can of beer out of his pocket and cracked it open. Handing it over to Misty, he nodded to her.

Surge: "Drink up little one... We're gonna make this a night to remember... Or one you'll wish you rememeber!"

Letting out a hearty laugh, Surge turned his back and walked towards the kitchen. As everyone started to pass Misty, hugging her and wishing her luck for the first of what would be many times over the course of the day and night, it ended up with Ash, Gary, Brock, Misty and her sisters all left in the room.

Violet: "I can't believe it... Our little Misty... Finally going out on her own once again..."

Lilly: "I know... Hard to think that the angry little red head with a childish crush and a rebellious streak as big as a Snorlax would have it in her to stick two fingers up to the league, make us cancel the final few dates of a tour and branch out on her own again... All because of the boy she got cute with years ago!"

Misty was ready to swing for her sisters but Daisy actually calmed her down.

Daisy: "What we really mean to say is, it's about time you stood up for yourself and did what you wanted to do! I wish we could have said we could have been better sisters, but you know us... It's a Waterflower trait, we're always wanting to do other things... It's just you had the loyalty and commitment to actually doing the gym thing... We didn't..."

Misty nodded.

Lilly: "Yeah... Basically, we're proud of you Misty... You've come a long way since we last left you to run the gym completely by yourself and to be honest, you're far better than any one of us when it comes to battling..."

Violet: "But not looks!"

Gary: "Easy ladies... Can we at least fight after the beers are flowing?"

The sisters nodded before hugging Misty again.

Brock: "Girls... Hate to break up the family reunion... But there's like a party to get too... Everyone's made their way over to Oak's now!"

Misty: "Oaks?"

Gary: "Yeah... Gramps let us use some of the land on the ranch to set up a big tent so we could accommodate everyone!"

Misty: "Well then... Let's go already!"

As Brock and Gary led the sister's out of the room, Ash went to follow but Misty pulled him back.

Misty: "Ash..."

Ash looked at Misty as she held onto his wrist. Pulling him in close and wrapping her arms around his neck, she held him in a tight embrace and kissed him on the cheek.

Misty: "Thank you... It had to be your idea... I take it that is why you've been away all the time?"

Ash: "Yeah... I had to fly to Hoenn to get your sisters, and then Sinnoh to bring Fantina over"

Misty: "I wondered how she got here... Normally she always calls me first..."

As Misty released Ash, he turned to the door and motioned for her to join him but she stayed put, looking at him, she felt nervous, like a swarm of Butterfree had just woken up in her stomach.

"Ugh.. What am I doing... If I'm going to make a fool out of myself I better do it fast!"

Misty took a deep breath and looked Ash in the eyes. Stepping closer, she held his hand and was about to move forwards when..

"ROTOM!"

The electric ghost flew out of the TV, shooting in-between the pair of them and through the wall, presumably to return to his trainer. Startled by the mischievous spirit and possibly spared a potential rejection, Misty burst out laughing along with Ash.

Misty: "Let's make a move Ash!"

=...=...=

The party was in full swing as it was hitting 10pm. The music was loud, the people were talking loud, dancing, drinking and generally having a good time and even some of the Pokémon were in on it too, gathered in their own small groups. As everyone was enjoying themselves, Misty ducked out of the tent to catch some air. She loved the lengths her friends had gone to in order to give her a great send off for her journey and it touched her in a way that she didn't realise just how close they all were and how she was going to miss them all when she left Kanto for the foreseeable future. Taking a look to the night sky, she saw Crobat flying about, chasing Rotom and Ash's Charizard watching them, just waiting to get involved in the chase.

"It's so good to see everyone having fun... People and Pokémon alike... But where's Ash? I haven't seen him for a while..."

Misty looked round for any sign of Ash but there was none. Sighing, she walked towards the fence and leaned against it, looking out over the lake where a lot of the water Pokémon were relaxing. As she let her mind drift, she saw a slight movement out of the corner of her eye - it was Ash. He was sitting there alone on the shore of the lake, busy using his Poké Gear's phone. Part of her wanted to sneak up and eavesdrop, but the other part of her which showed more self control than curiosity won out and kept her by the fence. Realising Ash was getting back up to his feet, Misty quickly looked away, turning round and watching the aerial game of Pokémon tag Rotom and Crobat were having. Acting like she was distracted, she focused her hearing on what was behind - Ash was walking back towards the party, still on his phone.

"Yeah... I know... I'll be back in a few days though... Plan is dock at Olivine and then head to Goldenrod. From there I'll head north and circle round to Mahogany Town whilst Misty heads south and goes to New Bark to meet with Professor Elm... Yeah, I think it's easier that way... No, they don't know either... I don't know how to say it I guess... No... You can't do it... It's gotta be me... Nevermind, We'll talk when I'm on the S.S Ann, that way you'll have a better idea of when I'll be in Johto... Anyway, I gotta go... Catch you round..."

Ash hung up and walked towards the fence, not realising Misty had caught the tail end of his conversation. Instead of prying, Misty simply let him climb over the fence and stood there, waiting for him to notice her.

Ash: "How come you're out here?"

Misty: "Needed some air and the attention was a little smothering... You?"

Ash: "Phone call... Don't know if you heard any of it, I kinda raised my voice a little..."

Misty played dumb.

Misty: "Oh no... I didn't hear a thing, I must have zoned out whilst watching those two play Pokémon Tag!"

Ash: "Yeah... Goldenrod Radio want to do an interview with me... Ethan... You remember him, the guy who goes by the nickname Gold?"

Misty: "Yeah, vaguely"

Ash: "He said he'd go in my stead since he's a celebrity in Johto now after top performances in the Silver conference and stuff... And a rarity in the fact he only ever competes in Johto and Kanto, nowhere else... "

Misty: "No offense Ash, but Ethan does have a better record than you!"

Ash smirked

Ash: "I hold my hands up to that one! The guy is great, but Goldenrod are insistent on having me... That was him... He was trying to go in my stead and was set to try and get the interview tomorrow but you know... When Goldenrod Radio wants someone..."

Misty shuddered. She too had had some run ins with the over zealousness of Goldenrod's PR department and reporters who hounded her for a while.

Misty: "Yeah, they stop at nothing until they get their man or woman..."

Ash: "Exactly... Anyway, I'm gonna go grab a beer, you coming back in?"

Misty: "Eh... Would be rude if I ran off on my own party... Just know this... We depart tomorrow afternoon for Vermillion, I am not carrying your hungover ass there Ketchum!"

Ash simply smirked at her.

Ash: "Oh we'll see about that"

Grabbing Misty by the arm, he dragged her back towards the party.