For a long time Misty lay in her sleeping bag staring at the ceiling and thinking about what Mrs. Ketchum had told her.

You're a lovely young lady. You have a nice face and lovely blue eyes and pretty red hair. Most boys would think you're quite pretty.

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.

Whenever it feels like part of your heart is gone when the other person isn't around, then that's love.

Do I love Ash? Misty wondered. I do get kind of a funny feeling around him sometimes, especially when he's in the middle of a battle. When I watch Ash battle, I feel like I'm part of him. I can feel his excitement, his joy – his happiness is my happiness, too. Sometimes I wish Ash would feel the same excitement over me the way he did about battling Pokémon.

And tonight, watching Goldeen hadn't helped things.

Goldeen, I understand how you feel. It must hurt so much to be rejected by those other males. You just wanted someone to love you and they kept turning you down.

Misty sighed and carefully slid out of her sleeping bag, being careful not to awaken Togepi.

Maybe some warm milk will help me fall asleep, she thought as she silently opened the door to the hallway and headed for the kitchen.

Now who in the world left the sliding glass door open, Misty thought when she saw the curtain billowing up on the other side of the living room. As she went over to close it, she heard a familiar voice coming from outside.

"Get him, Pikachu!"

Ash?

Misty stepped onto the back porch but was surprised to see that no one was there.

That's odd. I could've sworn I heard Ash.

Misty glanced out towards the ocean, but saw no one.

Must've been my imagination.

As she stepped away from the rail, a loud splash made her heart jump. Racing back to the porch railing, Misty looked down and saw Ash on the beach below.

"That's it, Pikachu! Get him!"

And in the surf below was Pikachu, who was struggling to hang onto one of the largest Goldeen that Misty had ever seen.

"Now, Pikachu!" Ash commanded. "You've got him, so hit him with a Thundershock!"

"Pi-ka-chu!!!!" The flash from the electric Pokémon's attack lit up the ocean.

The Goldeen, stunned by Pikachu's attack, writhed and flailed for a moment, then collapsed limply in the surf.

"Poké ball, go!" Ash cried, throwing a red and white ball at the fainted Goldeen. With a bright flash, the Goldeen disappeared inside the Poké ball. The boy jumped into the air and gave a whoop of delight. "All right! We got a Goldeen!"

"Pikachu!" the yellow Pokémon cried excitedly as it swam back to shore with the red and white Poké ball in one of its paws.

"All right, Pikachu!" Ash laughed happily, taking the Poké ball from his friend and clipping it to his belt. "That was awesome!" Ash took off his jacket and used it to dry off Pikachu, who was starting to shiver from the cool ocean breeze. "Come on, buddy, let's get you back inside." Ash wrapped Pikachu in his jacket, picked him up in his arms, and the two headed for the steps that led up to the back porch. As he bounded up the steps two by two, Ash was so excited that he didn't think he would be able to go back to sleep. "Misty is going to be so surprised when…"

"When what, Ash?"

"Gahhh!" Ash screamed and nearly dropped Pikachu at the sight of the red-haired girl at the top of the steps. "Misty!"

"Sorry, Ash," Misty apologized. "I saw that the sliding door was open and went out to investigate."

"You shouldn't sneak up on a guy like that, Misty!" With shaking legs, Ash put Pikachu down in a nearby chair and sank down in the adjacent wicker love seat.

Misty sat down next to the trembling boy. "Are you okay, Ash? I didn't mean to scare you."

"I wasn't scared," Ash insisted as he tried to calm his racing heart. "Just surprised, that's all. What are you doing out here?"

"I couldn't sleep. I was going to go get a glass of warm milk when I saw that the door was open. Then I heard you and Pikachu down below on the beach. What were you two doing?"

"Pika," Pikachu said, pointing to the Poké ball on Ash's belt.

"Why were you having a Pokémon battle in the middle of the night? I know you like to battle, but this is getting a little carried away."

"It's…uh…" Ash removed the Poké ball from his belt and handed it to Misty. "It's for you."

"For me?"

Ash nodded. "Pikachu and I caught you a Goldeen. Professor Oak said that the reason why those other Goldeen wouldn't mate with yours was because wild Pokémon don't get along with trainer-raised ones. So Pikachu and I caught a Goldeen so that yours would have one to mate with."

"Wow, Ash. I'm really surprised. I can't believe you went to all this trouble just for me."

"He's a pretty stubborn one. It was harder than I thought to capture it, but Pikachu got him with a Thunderbolt, didn't you?" Ash reached over and scratched his Pokémon's head affectionately. "He'll be a good match for your Goldeen once I get him trained." Ash took back the Poké ball and reattached it to his belt. "Unless you want to train it."

Misty smiled and shook her head. "No. You caught it. You keep it."

The two friends stared at the moonlight shimmering on the surf for a moment, then Misty spoke up again. "Ash, why did you go to all that trouble just to catch a Goldeen for me?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno. Guess it was because you were pretty upset before. And whenever you're upset, you make the rest of us miserable."

Misty's face fell. That wasn't exactly the answer she wanted to hear.

"And I guess it's because I don't like seeing you sad either," Ash continued.

"I've been sad before, Ash. But why this time?"

"Why this time? What do you mean, Misty?"

"I mean that I've been sad before, Ash. But this is the first time you've gone way out of your way to make me feel better. You and Pikachu even went to all the trouble of having a Pokémon battle for me."

"A Pokémon battle is no trouble, Misty. Not for a Pokémon Master like me."

"Yeah, but you usually don't go to all the trouble to get me a Pokémon just to cheer me up. Why did you do it?"

Ash's face starting turning bright red. "I…uh…well…"

Ash didn't know why he had gone to all that trouble, either. It was as if something inside of him wouldn't let him get any peace until he made Misty happy again. And seeing that smile on her face and that look of pure joy in her eyes when he had told her that he had caught her a Goldeen had made his insides suddenly feel all warm and mushy. He had never felt like that before. Not that he minded – it felt pretty nice, actually.

"Uh…Ash?"

The boy was staring dreamily out in space with a goofy grin on his face, not unlike the way Brock looked when he was around a pretty girl.

"Ash?" Misty waved a hand in front of his face. "Earth to Ash…come in, Ash."

"Huh? Oh, sorry, Misty. I kinda spaced out for a moment. Must be the night air or something. Maybe we'd better get back inside."

"Actually, I'd like to stay out here for a couple of minutes." The pair fell silent as they gazed at the moonlight shimmering on the surf. Misty sighed dreamily. "I love hearing the waves breaking on the shore, the tangy smell of the ocean breeze, the moonlight shimmering on the waves."

"You really do love the ocean, don't you, Misty?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah. That goes along with being a water Pokémon trainer. I guess it's in my blood."

Ash studied his friend's face for a moment. "I can tell you really love it because you get that look in your eyes."

Misty turned to her friend in surprise. "Look? What look?"

"That dreamy look. Your eyes get all sparkly – just like the ocean. Matter of fact, your eyes kind of remind me of the ocean. They're pretty and blue and twinkly."

"That's a really nice thing to say, Ash," Misty smiled. "Thanks." She then noticed that Ash was shivering. "Are you cold?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "A little. But Pikachu needs my jacket more than I do." He nodded in the direction of his Pokémon, who was now sound asleep in the patio chair.

"Scoot a little closer to me," Misty said. "We'll stay warmer if we sit closer to each other."

As soon as his hip touched Misty's, Ash's heart jumped into his throat.

"There. That's better, isn't it?" Misty smiled.

Ash's insides felt all warm and mushy again. "Yeah. It does feel better." The two stared out at the ocean once more. "You know, the moon looks really bright tonight. Kind of like the time when found the Clefairy and the Moon Stone."

"Yeah. Or like the night when we danced together at the festival. Remember?"

"Yeah. That was a pretty fun evening we had together. I really had a good time."

"So did I, Ash. We've had a lot of fun times together, haven't we?"

"Yeah, Misty, we sure have."

"Ash, do you ever wonder what's going to happen to us?"

"What do you mean, Misty?"

"Well, someday you're going to be a Pokémon Master, and I'm going to be the world's greatest water Pokémon Master. Do you ever think about what's going to happen to us after then?"

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "Not really. Most of the time I'm thinking about my next badge. But I guess we'd still be together even if we both became Pokémon Masters."

"You think so?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah. Why wouldn't we be together then? We've been together so long now that I can't imagine us not being together."

Misty, her face radiant with joy, turned to her friend. "Ash, I think that's the sweetest, most wonderful thing you've ever said to me."

And before Ash knew what was happening, Misty was kissing him. At first he was too shocked to respond, but then his entire body began to feel tingly, kind of like how he felt whenever Pikachu zapped him with a Thunderbolt.

"Are you okay, Ash?" Misty asked as their lips parted.

Ash looked stunned.

"Ash…say something."

A wide-eyed Ash still didn't move.

Misty shook her friend's arm. "Ash, are you all right? Say something, please."

Ash finally recovered his voice. "I…uh…wow…I think my insides just melted."

Misty smiled. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm not so sure about that. I think there's a Machamp inside my chest trying to pound its way out."

Misty laid a hand on Ash's chest and felt the rapid thumping of the boy's heart against her palm. "Well, at least you're still alive, anyway."

"That's good. Uh…hey, Misty. Could we try that again?"

"Try what again, Ash?"

"What we just did. You kissing me."

"Are you sure you're going to be all right, Ash?"

"Yeah. I'm sure." This time, Ash took the lead and drew Misty towards him. Their lips met once more and this time, Misty was the one who felt her insides melt.

"Wow, Ash…that was really…really nice." Misty whispered as their lips parted.

"You know, Misty, I don't feel so cold out here anymore," Ash grinned.

"Neither do I," Misty smiled back.