"You can take the bed, Mrs. Ketchum," Misty offered. "I have my sleeping bag. Togepi and I will sleep on the floor."
"Oh, I hate to do that to you, Misty. You were here first. You take the bed," Delia said.
"Oh, it's no trouble, Mrs. Ketchum. Ash, Brock, and I almost always sleep in our sleeping bags."
"All the more reason for you to take the bed," Delia said, pushing the girl in the direction of the bed. "You need to sleep on a decent mattress once in a while. You'll ruin your back."
"Really, Mrs. Ketchum, I'm fine," Misty insisted. "Besides, after what happened earlier, I feel like I should make it up to you by letting you have the bed." Misty felt her face going red again. "And I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry about overhearing what you and Professor Oak were…what you were doing."
Misty, her face now burning with embarrassment, quickly dived into her sleeping bag.
Delia knelt down and patted the girl's shoulder comfortingly. "Oh, Misty, don't worry. You didn't know that Samuel…Professor Oak and I were going to…you know."
Misty peeked out of her sleeping bag. "I didn't know that Professor Oak was your boyfriend, Mrs. Ketchum."
Delia smiled. "We've been friends for a long time, Misty. Sometimes when two people are good friends they fall in love."
"Are you in love with Professor Oak?"
Delia nodded and blushed. "We've been friends for so long that it kind up crept up on us. But tonight, when we were together on the beach under the full moon…" A dreamy look appeared in Delia's eyes.
"Uh…Mrs. Ketchum…maybe I shouldn't be hearing this."
Delia snapped out of her reverie. "Oh, nothing like…like what you saw happened. We were just sitting on the beach, talking. Just enjoying being with each other."
"Mrs. Ketchum, how did you know that you were in love with Professor Oak? I mean, how did you know that you liked him more than just as a friend?"
"Why do you ask, Misty?"
Misty's felt herself blushing. "Uh…no reason. Sorry, I shouldn't have asked. It's none of my business."
"It's all right, Misty." Delia sat down next to the girl. "Samuel…Professor Oak and I have been friends for a long time. At least once a day either I'd go over to his house to visit or he'd come over to my place just to talk. Matter of fact, I didn't realize how much I missed being with him until he went away for a few days on a trip to a scientific convention. I moped around the house, daydreaming about him the whole time until he came back."
Misty nodded. "Sometimes I feel that way when Ash…" Her face, which had almost returned to its normal color, started reddening again. "Uh…never mind."
Delia smiled. "Anyway, I think that's when I realized that I was feeling more than just friendship for him. Whenever it feels like part of your heart is gone when the other person isn't around, then that's love."
"Mrs. Ketchum, do you ever feel funny when you're around Professor Oak?"
"Funny? How so, Misty?"
"Well, kind of like there are Butterfrees flying around in your head and your heart whenever you think about the other person. You feel kind of sick, but you're really not."
Delia nodded knowingly.
"And even though the other person sometimes drives you crazy because he's a big-mouthed show-off, you still can't help but thinking about them all the time," Misty continued.
Delia raised an eyebrow. "Anyone in particular, Misty?"
Misty wished she didn't blush so easily. "Uh, no one in particular, Mrs. Ketchum. Anyway…thanks. I don't really have a chance to talk to other women about things like this. I can't really talk to Ash and Brock about, you know, 'girl stuff' like this with them."
Delia patted Misty's head comfortingly. "Well, you can talk to me anytime about 'girl stuff', okay?"
Misty smiled. "Thanks, Mrs. Ketchum."
"Anything else you'd like to talk about, Misty?" Delia asked.
Misty thought for a second. "Mrs. Ketchum, how does it feel to kiss someone? Is it as nice as everyone says it is?"
Delia smiled and nodded. "Yes. And don't worry, Misty. You'll find out soon enough. Someday you'll meet a nice boy and see what it's like for yourself."
Misty sighed. "I sure hope so. Sometimes I think that I'm not pretty enough for any boy to pay attention to me. And sometimes he…they…ignore me."
"Oh, Misty, that's not true. You're a lovely young lady," Delia reassured her. "You have a nice face and lovely blue eyes and pretty red hair. Most boys would think you're quite pretty."
"Yeah, but…" Misty looked down at her chest uncomfortably.
"Is that what you're worried about, Misty? That boys don't pay attention to you because you haven't developed yet?"
Misty nodded.
"Misty, don't worry," Delia said, giving the girl a hug. "Things like that don't happen overnight. But it will happen, trust me. And besides, if a boy truly loves you, he's not going to care if you have a huge chest or have fifteen eyes in the middle of your forehead. He'll love you for what's on your inside – not your outside."
Misty giggled at the ridiculous image of herself with fifteen eyes. "I suppose you're right, Mrs. Ketchum. But I wish one boy in particular would pay more attention to me. That he would see me as more than just a friend because I sometimes feel that way about him."
"Misty, boys don't mature as fast as girls do. Sometimes it takes time for boys to catch up," Delia reassured her.
Misty yawned. "I hope so."
"It's late. And we women need our beauty sleep." Delia tucked Misty into her sleeping bag. "Good night, Misty. And don't be afraid to come talk to me whenever you have something on your mind, all right?"
Misty nodded and closed her eyes. "Thanks, Mrs. Ketchum. Good night."
---
Professor Oak groaned as he rolled over and tried to get comfortable on the hardwood floor. Ash had loaned him his sleeping bag (which smelled like it needed a trip to the laundromat), but it didn't provide much padding for his aching back. Between that and Brock's talking in his sleep, Samuel knew that he wouldn't get any sleep if he stayed in the bedroom with the two boys. Leaving the sleeping bag behind, Professor Oak stood up, stretched out his sore back, and quietly opened the door, being careful not to awaken anyone.
"Mmm…Officer Jenny…arrest me…" Brock muttered as Professor Oak carefully shut the bedroom door behind him.
He headed down the hallway to the living room couch. It probably wasn't much better for his back, but at least it was more comfortable than the hard floor. He stretched out on the cushions, pulled the quilt that was lying atop the sofa over him, and closed his eyes. He had just drifted off to sleep when a thump followed by a tickling on his nose brought him back to consciousness. Slowly opening his eyes, he found himself face to face with a furry yellow Pokémon with bright red cheeks.
"Pika," Pikachu said softly, peering curiously at the rumpled form lying on the couch.
"Sorry, Professor Oak," Ash apologized, scooping up his Pokémon off of Professor Oak's chest. "Pikachu had to go to the bathroom."
Professor Oak grunted sleepily, nodded, and shut his eyes.
"What are you doing out here, Professor?" Ash continued. "I thought you were going to sleep in the room with me and Brock."
Professor Oak opened his eyes and glanced at his watch, groaning when he saw that it was well after two AM. "I'm trying to get some sleep, Ash. With my bad back, I figured that I'd be more comfortable out here," the older man replied groggily. "Now why don't you and Pikachu head back to bed?"
"Um, okay," replied Ash.
"Good night." Professor Oak pulled up the quilt to his chin and shut his eyes. When he opened them again a minute later, he was surprised to see that Ash and his Pokémon were still standing over him.
"Professor, since you're still awake, can I talk to you for a second?" the boy asked.
"Seeing as that you're not going to let me get any sleep with you standing there, I guess I don't have any choice." Professor Oak pushed the blanket aside and sat up. "What's on your mind, Ash?"
Ash sat down in the chair next to the couch. Pikachu curled up in his trainer's lap and started to doze off.
"Professor, do you know why Goldeen would reject another Goldeen?"
Professor Oak couldn't believe that Ash was keeping him awake just to ask him that. "Ash, don't you think this question can wait until the morning?"
Ash shook his head. "Misty wanted to let her Goldeen go tonight to see if it could find a mate. Kind of like the same way I did with Butterfree. But when she did, all the other male Goldeen kept rejecting it and doing mean things to it like splashing water in its face."
"Splashing…Ash, are you saying that was Misty's Goldeen that the other males kept rejecting?"
"Yeah. Did you see it, too?"
Professor Oak nodded. "That explains everything, then."
"Explains what?"
"Ash, the reason that the wild Goldeen rejected Misty's Goldeen was because her Pokemon is human-trained. Wild Pokémon are jealous of human-trained ones."
"But my Butterfree didn't have a problem finding a mate among all the wild Butterfree. Well, maybe it did at first, but then they got along all right after that. Why didn't the Goldeen?"
"Because Goldeen also tend to reject unfamiliar ones that aren't members of the school they travel in."
Ash looked confused. "School? I didn't know Goldeen had to go to school."
Professor Oak sighed. Sometimes the boy took things a bit too literally. "Ash, school is just another term for the group that Goldeen travel in. Like a herd of Tauros or a flock of Pidgey."
"Ohhhh. So what you're saying is that the only way Misty can find a mate for her Goldeen is to find another one that's been trained by a human?"
"Well, there's no guarantee that even a human-trained Pokémon will accept another one. You can't force two Pokémon to fall in love – just like you can't force two people to fall in love, either."
"But you're saying that if someone did have a Goldeen that was trained by a human that it would be more likely to accept Misty's?"
"Yes, it's more likely that two human-trained Pokémon will be more receptive to mating with each other, but…"
"Thanks, Professor Oak!" Ash leapt out of his chair excitedly, dumping the sleeping Pikachu on the floor in the process. "Whoops. Sorry, buddy." Ash picked up his annoyed-looking Pokémon and turned back to the man on the couch. "Good night, Professor. Thanks for the advice."
But Professor Oak's eyes were closed. He had already fallen back to sleep sitting up.
"Come on, Pikachu," Ash whispered to his Pokémon. "We've got something to go do."
A few moments later, Ash and his half-asleep Pikachu stood on the back porch overlooking the ocean.
"I don't seen any Goldeen, Pikachu," Ash said, scanning the horizon. "Maybe they've all gone."
A loud splash in the ocean below made Ash jump, and then he found himself face to face with a Goldeen.
"Goldeen," it said playfully as it did a somersault in front of the startled boy, then dived back into the ocean below.
"Wow! Did you see that, Pikachu? That Goldeen was right in my face!" Ash cried excitedly.
Another loud splash heralded the return of the same Goldeen. This time, the fish Pokémon leapt skyward until it was eye level with Pikachu, who was sitting on the deck railing.
"Goldeen," the fish Pokémon said as it smacked Pikachu in the face with its fin.
"Pikachu," the mouse Pokémon growled angrily. It knew that the Goldeen was taunting him.
"You want to get that Goldeen too, huh, Pikachu?" Ash said.
"Pika," the Pokémon nodded as sparks started flying from its cheeks.
"Come on then," Ash grinned. "It's time for a Pokémon battle!"