Five Years Time

I should have been over excited and deliriously happy. Any other girl would be on her wedding day. I was getting married to the man of everyone's dreams: Milton Prescott. We had been dating for exactly a year before he proposed and there was no way I could say no. Milton was a perfect gentleman in everyway and Mom and Dad totally approved of him. They had accepted Milton into the family even before our engagement was announced, so there was no problem there. He got on well with seven year old Sunshine. Milton was a good man which was exactly what I deserved. But if Milton Prescott was so awesome, why wasn't I over the moon at the thought of becoming Mrs Tizalicious Prescott in a few hours?

With a heavy sigh I tore myself away from the full-length mirror in my room. We'd rented out a mansion for the ceremony – Milton's idea. My room was on the top floor above the hall where I'd soon become tied to one man for the rest of my (or his) life. I was dressed in a simple white dress that clung to my lanky frame, giving off the illusion that I possessed curves and my long hair had been pinned up with jewel-encrusted clips. I thought my hair was far too fancy but I couldn't complain because Milton's mom had done it for me, being a hairdresser and all.

Four of my best friends burst into my room: Emma, Rina, Rikki and Tubby. Shortly after Rina lost the Sinnoh League, I had put Tubby and myself on a strict diet – on Mom's orders. She was worried about Tubby's arteries getting clogged because as she put it 'he wasn't a young Munchlax anymore'. Tubby was getting older and so was I. It had been about time we put our binge-eating ways behind us.

Nowadays, Tubby was looking fitter than ever. I was really quite proud of him. He had a black bowtie fixed just under his chin and looked rather handsome. Rina, Rikki and Emma were my bridesmaids, the three of them in matching strapless purple dresses with their hair curled – courtesy of Milton's mom. Emma however, stood out from the other two as she was eight months pregnant with her and her husband's first child. They were going to have a boy.

Our lives had changed so much since Rina participated in the Sinnoh League. Andy and I were inseparable, sharing an apartment above our shop The Happy Centre – named after our Swablu. The Happy Centre was a day care of sorts: Andy trained the Pokémon and I played with them to make them bubbly and friendly. Only Pokémon who I deemed cute were allowed to be put in our care, though. We'd built it from the ground up when we both got back to Kanto and years later it was still pretty successful. I'd given it all to Andy when Milton and I got serious and Andy had hired a new girl to replace me. Though my regular customers were sad to see me leave and didn't think much of my replacement, The Happy Centre was still going strong.

Emma waddled into my room and collapsed in the armchair, evidently exhausted. She started complaining about her shoes being too tight and I gladly ignored her.

Rina smiled at Rikki who smiled back and slipped her hand into Rina's, causing her to blush prettily. They had been going out for almost three years but still acted like they were in their first week of their relationship. It was sweet.

"Is Andy here yet?" I asked anxiously. All four of their faces stiffened and I knew the answer. I had barely seen him since Milton and I had announced our engagement. Where was Andy? He was supposed to be my best friend – how could he miss my wedding? This was meant to be the best day of my life but I didn't think I could enjoy it without Andy present. I couldn't go through this day without at least seeing his face. He was the intended best man but as he hadn't replied to the invitation it was decided that Tubby fill in.

My shoulders sagged and I threw myself on the single bed, face-first. I didn't care if my makeup got smudged. I wanted Andy to be here! He was – though I wouldn't ever admit it aloud in case Rikki or Emma beat me up – my number one friend. My friends gathered around me, rubbing my back and speaking soothing words to cheer me up but nothing would work. The only thing that would cheer me up would be Andy's presence at my wedding.

There was a timid knock on my door and I called for the person to come in, though I'm not sure my muffled voice carried that well.

"Uhh...Is everything okay in here?" It was Conan, Emma's husband. Emma assured him it was.

"There's a guy who wants to see Tizzy..." Conan carried on.

"The man who looks like a Pachirisu!" Sunshine piped up. It was Andy! I rolled over and sat straight up, ferociously rubbing at my face to wipe away messy makeup stains and probably making it ten times worse. I cleared my throat and looked at the two people in the doorway. Sunshine was in a lilac dress and tossed her curly fringe – much like Mom's – out of her eyes, as was her habit. She really needed a trim but wouldn't let anyone go near her with a pair of scissors. Conan was in a red suit that did not match his cropped purple hair in the slightest.

"Tell him to come up. I want to speak with him – alone." Conan nodded and left the room, Sunshine skipping after him. Tubby and Emma soon followed but Rikki and Rina hung back. I noticed they were still holding hands.

"Tizzy, when Andy comes...just listen to him, okay?" Rina said, confusingly worried. I nodded and Rikki rolled her eyes at Rina affectionately.

"I'm sure Tizzy will do the right thing," she chided, giving Rina a quick kiss on her cheek. The two of them exited my room and that was when Andy walked in, closing the door behind him. He was wearing a dark grey shirt-and-trousers combo which went well with his signature grey hat. I remember when we had been teenagers and Andy had been at least a head shorter than me. I'd stopped growing a little after my seventeenth birthday, giving Andy the chance to catch up to my immense height. Now Andy was half a head taller than I was and he stared down at me, his brown eyes glistening.

"Andy, where have you been?" I was deeply hurt by his avoidance and I hoped it showed through my voice and on my face. He took my hands in his and looked at me sadly.

"Thinking about you being married to and happy with another man made it painful for me to see you. It was only this week that I realised why. Tizzy, I love you and I was too deep in denial to realise it sooner. I thought I was gay but I guess you were my one and only exception."

My throat became horribly dry. How could he dump all of this on me on my wedding day? Did he know how long it had taken for us to put that stupid bow tie around Tubby's neck? What would my friends and family think about this? Mom and Dad simply adored Andy for helping me finally achieve something in my life and Sunshine loved him to bits. I knew Tubby didn't like Milton that much so he wouldn't mind if I didn't go through with the wedding. Emma would be happy for my happiness, however I found it. Rina and Rikki...now that I thought about it, I realised they probably knew all along. The four of us were pretty close, ever since our Sinnoh region days.

Wait a minute. Maybe they had known. Their last words seemed to point me to accept Andy's feelings, not to mention they had been acting weird lately: sneaking around and having secret conversations. Whenever I asked what they were up to they would smile guiltily and deny everything. I should have guessed something like this was going on behind my back.

"Tizzy, say something!" persuaded Andy desperately. Say something? I didn't think I was capable of forming any sentences just then. So rather than attempt to speak, I took action. I slipped the engagement ring off my finger, dropping it on the floor. Milton was the perfect catch – for someone else. Without a word, I threw myself at Andy and pressed my lips against his.

"Finally!" I heard Rina call while Rikki wolf-whistled. They had evidently opened the door. I grinned against Andy's lips and pulled him in closer, feeling him reciprocate my actions. His lips were soft on mine as he applied just the right amount of pressure. I felt the soft hairs on his chin tickle me gently. We pulled away eventually and Andy smiled confidently.

"Come away with me. We'll elope, return here to continue working in the Happy Centre and live the rest of our lives together. You don't want to marry that Milton guy; he's all wrong for you," he said. I looked at Andy, my eyes wide. He was asking a lot from me. Andy wanted me to run away from everything here, from Milton and his family to marry him. I knew I loved Andy – I had never stopped from the moment I laid eyes on him when I was fifteen. We had both grown up a lot since then but my feelings for him had not changed.

"Tizzy, if you don't go with Andy, I'm going to kill you very slowly and very painfully," Rikki said sweetly. Rina slapped her wrist playfully and laughed, though I wasn't too sure Rikki was joking. I drew my gaze back to Andy's face and beamed. Now that he was here, of course I wasn't going to marry Milton. I grabbed Andy's hand and together, we snuck out of the mansion and climbed onto his waiting Venusaur, who was going to take us far away from here.

My wedding wasn't going to be as grand as Milton wanted but it was going to be as simple as I did. What more could a girl ask for?

Note: And that's the end. I do so love a happy ending. I've no idea what I'm going to write next but I'm sure it won't have anything to do with Pokemon...