Disclaimer: I don't own pokèmon!

A/N: YEAH! Thanks for all the great reviews, everyone! I was so happy! I got bit so many times by stupid horseflies ^^' I do plan to use some neo pokèmon in here sometime. I just knew the regular pokèmon best (better???). Anyway, here's the, er-r-r-r, sixth…hold on…I think fifth. Oh, well. Please review!!!

~ Kasagi Onaso

~! Switched !~

* Losing, Fishing and Ash's Secret*

After a night's camp, they finally reached Vermilion.

"Oh-h-h-h, look!" cried Misty. "The ocean! Maybe I can catch some water pokèmon…eh…but wait. I don't have a rod. Does anyone know where I can get a fishing rod?" Ash and Erika sweatdropped as they followed Misty into Vermilion.

"No Misty," said Erika. "I don't."

"I wonder what kind of pokèmon they have," wondered Misty, looking up at the sky. "I think there's some Poliwag around here somewhere if they've fire…or rock…"

"They have fire," Ash said suddenly.

"Nan?" She looked at him but he was looking to the side. "Oh. Thanks. Then I'll look for a Poliwag. Hmm…There's some tall grass!" In no time, Misty had deposited her Spearow for her newly caught Poliwag. "It's great!" she hummed, holding the pokèball to her chest.

"Wonderful!" exclaimed Erika. "You should have no problem beating the Leader if you train it more."

"Hold it, Runt!"

"Eh?" she exclaimed and her surprised expression quickly turned angry. "What do you want, May?"

"I wanna test your pokèmon. See how good you've gotten." She hopped down from the car. "Unless you're chicken."

"I am not!" yelled Misty, pointing a finger at May. "You're on!"

"Go Butterfree!"

"Go Pidgeotto! Gust!" She could feel Ash observing the battle and suddenly felt self-conscious. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she tried to concentrate mainly on the battle. Pidgeotto whipped the Butterfree easily.

"Return Butterfree. Spearow! Go!"

"Stay out Pidgeotto and use tackle!" It was a hard battle, but in the end May's Spearow delivered the final blow to Misty's already-tired Pidgeotto.

"Good job, Pidgeotto! Go, Caterpie!"

"Your bug pokèmon's dead," snickered May.

"Return Caterpie and go Poliwag! Bubble!"

"What--?" The Spearow fainted. "Fine. This is the last battle. Whoever wins this gets one point up."

"Fine."

"Go Pikachu!"

"Eevee!"

"Vee," growled Eevee.

"Come on Misty!" yelled Erika. "Don't let her push you around!" May snorted.

"Are you paying them?"

"What?"

"To cheer for you? Maybe make you feel better?"

"In case you haven't noticed," came Ash's voice. "She's beaten two of your pokèmon and you've only beaten one of hers." Misty shot him a grateful look and he half-smiled back.

"Whatever!"

"Tackle!" In the end, the Pikachu ended up winning. "Stop!" Misty cried before the Pikachu could faint Eevee. She knelt on the ground beside the nearly-fainted pokèmon. "You win!" May sneered.

"I thought so. Who's the better trainer now, eh Runt?" Misty felt herself trembling with anger but she said nothing. "C'mon. I wanna hear it! Who's the better trainer now? Who beat you?" Misty felt angry tears well up in her eyes and she opened her mouth to say it.

"Leave her alone," snapped Ash, putting a hand on her shoulder. Misty didn't look up.

"I don't need you to stick up for me," she hissed but Ash didn't stop nor did he remove his hand.

"Are you paying them to do this too?" sneered May. "Tsk, tsk!"

"Leave her alone, May," said Erika. "You won. Now leave."

"I recognize you," said May, looking in cold delight at the Gym Leader. "You were at the Gym in Pewter. Oh, that's right! You were the Leader, weren't you? Couldn't even save your pathetic pokèmon from those pathetic Rockets."

"I didn't see you helping," snapped Erika.

"I thought that since you were a Gym Leader, you would've been able to handle it," said May, smiling coldly. "I guess I was wrong. You had to get people to do it for you. Why are you hanging out with this loser anyway?"

"I'm not a loser!" yelled Misty, picking up her Eevee and biting her lip hard to keep her mind on the pain rather than the swell of tears in her throat. "Just leave me alone May Oak!" Misty pulled away from Ash, turned on her heel, and began walking towards the Pokecenter.

"Later, Runt!" called May and laughed.

"What a bitch," spat Erika and Misty looked at her with a mixture of surprise and amusement. But she felt a tear run down her cheek. "Don't cry!" Misty sat on one of the couches and buried her face in her hands.

"W-why does she have to be so mean?" sobbed Misty. "I can't believe I lost. That was s-s-so embarrass-s-sing!" Erika sat on one side of her and Ash on the other.

"It's okay. You'll beat her next time." She felt Ash's hand on her shoulder and sniffled. She was acting like a baby.

"Yeah," said Misty, making herself stop crying and sitting up. "Thanks guys."

"No problem," Ash said softly, smiling fully for the first time.

"Your pokèmon are fully healed, miss," said the Nurse Joy. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Misty took the pokèballs and attached them to her waist. "Let's go check out the Gym." Ash shifted uncomfortably as they entered the Gym.

"Ash!" The three looked to the side and Ash's eyes widened. "I didn't think you'd be here too fast!" said a boy with spiky brown hair.

"Yeah," snickered a guy with green hair. "I thought you were out achieving your 'fire master goal'."

"But it looks like you've decided to follow our footsteps!" declared a guy with deep red hair.

"No," said Ash curtly. "My friend wants to challenge you."

"Really? Oh! Is the other one your girlfriend?" The three crowded around Misty.

"No!" said Ash, blushing.

"This other girl. Hmm. She looks familiar…"

"She's the Pewter Gym Leader!"

"Oh, yeah!"

"Why're you going out with a loser like Ash?"

"Why are you hanging out with this loser anyway?"

"Who are these people, Ash?" Misty whispered in his ear. He flinched slightly.

"My brothers."

"Your brothers are Gym Leaders?!"

"I'm Gary!"

"AJ!"

"And Pyro!" Misty smiled.

"You're lucky to have siblings. I'm an only child."

"No I'm not," growled Ash. "Believe me." Gary narrowed his eyes.

"Aw, we're not that bad. But now that you're here, Ashy-boy, how about battling your girlfriend for the Badge?"

"She/I'm not my/his girlfriend!" Ash and Misty yelled.

"Whatever."

"I'm not battling her! That's your guys' job! Not mine." AJ rose an eyebrow.

"If you wanna be a Gym Leader--?"

"I don't want to be a Gym Leader! I'm here because Misty wants to battle you three!"

"Well, if you won't battle her, we'll just give her the Badge for free," said Pyro, smiling evilly. "Here you go! The Volcano Badge is all yours!"

"No, but I--"

"Go on," said Pyro, winking. Misty smiled and took it.

"Thanks."

"What?! No, you can't give it to her for free! She has to battle for it! Fine! I'll battle her! But don't think I'm gonna go easy on you just because I'm your friend!" Misty smiled inwardly and made way towards the arena.

"You're on."

"Okay. Two on two battle for the Volcano Badge!" yelled Gary from the side. "Ash against Misty! Go!"

"Growlithe!"

"Eevee!" Eevee looked strangely at Misty.

"Ee, eve, eevee!"

"What do you mean you won't battle Ash?" demanded Misty. Ash smiled widely. "I don't care! This is a battle! I need you-hoo!" Eevee shook her head and sat next to Misty. "Fine. I'll do FINE without you. Go Mankey! Karate chop!" There was a crack as Mankey bought the side of its hand down on the Growlithe's head.

"Ember!"

"Low kick!" Mankey ducked under the flames and reached to strike the Growlithe.

"Ember!"

"Key!" screamed Mankey as its leg was burned.

"Rats. Scratch attack!" Soon the Growlithe was fainted. "All right!"

"Go Vulpix!"

"Poliwag! Bubble!" The Vulpix was weakened and shook its head.

"Quick attack!"

"Bubble!" Then Poliwag fainted. They both looked to Gary.

"Misty is the winner!"

"Yeah!"

"What?! No way! It was a tie!"

"And it goes to Misty," said Gary, placing the Badge in her hand. "There you go." She pinned it under the Thunder Badge and made a peace sign.

"Three Badges already! I bet May doesn't have this Badge yet!"

"You mean the girl with all those men around her? Yeah, she was here. She beat us." Misty's face fell.

"Don't worry Misty," said Ash quickly. "Now you've got the Badge."

"Why am I always behind her?" wailed Misty, throwing her hands up in the air. "Why, why, why? Oh, wait until we get to the NEXT city. Then she'll be sorry." Erika groaned.

"We've been going awfully fast, Mist. Let's take a break and enjoy Vermilion, ne?"

"Hai," sighed Misty. "I guess so."

"If we look hard enough, maybe we can find you a rod," said Erika, looking happy for the break. Ash rolled his eyes.

"Forget it. She can use mine."

"Good. Well, I'm going to head into the grass and see if I can catch a Nidoran or something. See ya!" Erika wiggled her fingers before heading up north

"Bye! Oh, that's right! I almost completely forgot you had one. Even though you, er…" Misty laughed and scratched the back of her head nervously. "Never mind. Maybe I can catch some good water pokèmon! Though that would be dumb 'cause May's strongest pokèmon is an electric type…"

"Did I say Duplica talked a lot?" said Ash, shooting a look at her. Misty glared back.

"Yes." They reached the water's edge.

"Here," said Ash, handing her the rod. "Don't break it." Misty blushed and nodded.

"I won't," she said quietly, taking it and sitting off by herself, quickly casting the line deep into the water. Ash looked at her guiltily and moved to sit next to her.

"I shouldn't have said that," he admitted.

"I know," said Misty coldly and tugged on as the line slackened and pulled. "Got one! Shoot. It got away."

"That's 'cause you're doing it wrong," said Ash and bit his lip reluctantly before kneeling behind her. "Like this," he said as something bit her hook. He put his hands over hers and reeled the line in. "Now pull. No, no. Like this." He hoisted her to her feet, hands still over hers, and pulled her arms underneath his as he pulled the line in.

"Carp," bubbled a Magikarp, flopping on the sand. Both Ash and Misty stared at the fish. Ash blushed and quickly drew away before holding the carp up.

"Do you want this?" Misty, blushing furiously, shook her head. With a flick of Ash's wrist, the Magikarp was flopping its way into the water.

"I think I've got it," Misty said softly, staring at the rod. "Um. Thanks," she said suddenly, looking up at him quickly, flushing pink over the bridge of her nose.

"You're welcome." They sat in a comfortable silence, staring at the calm ocean. The line was still for a couple minutes before another Magikarp was caught.

"I don't think we're going to catch anything useful," sighed Misty, reeling the line in. "Thanks for letting me use your rod, Ash." He nodded, a quick flick of his chin, and took the rod Misty was extending to him. "We better go see if Erika caught any useful pokèmon."

"Yeah." They walked slowly side by side, occasionally bumping arms. Then they would quickly draw apart, blushing, before falling back in line, just as calm as ever.

"Hey you guys!" Erika ran up to them. "Wow you won't believe it!"

"You caught a really rare pokèmon?"

"Gloom evolved?"

"Well, I caught a Hopip and a Shroomish, but look!" Misty held her hand out at Erika offered her a piece of paper.

"A phone number?"

"Like, yeah! And it's not mine either." Erika giggled. "I met this really cute guy in the tall grass and he was totally sweet and let me win when we battled."

"That's stupid," said Misty, snorting. "No matter how much you like the other person, you should give it your all. If someone intentionally let ME win, I would sic my pokèmon on him." Erika chuckled.

"You're too young to understand."

"How old are you grandma?" snorted Misty as she pushed past Erika.

"Fifteen," said Erika, clasping the paper and staring into space with sparkling eyes. "Ah…Joe…" Misty rolled her eyes and walked into the tall grass. "Wait! Aren't we going to sleep in the Pokecenter?"

"I wanna sleep outside tonight. You two go ahead." Misty didn't wait for them to respond.

"Come on, Ash," she heard Erika say. Misty smiled to herself, glad that he had wanted to stay out here with her.

"Vee?" cooed Eevee, snuggling up beside Misty.

"Nothing. I had fun today. Did you have fun fishing?" Eevee nodded, large eyes on her trainer. "Good. That was nice of Ash to let me use his rod, ne?" Instead of waiting for her pokèmon to answer, Misty laid back on her newly-spread mummy bag and stared up at the sky. "I guess…he's nice once you get to know him for a while."

"Ee-vee," agreed Eevee, curling up under Misty's arm and against Misty's side as Misty placed her hands behind her head.

"He helped me fish today." The darkening sky concealed Misty's blush. She smiled and her eyes drooped with sleep. "Though all we caught was Magikarp. But you saw, didn't you?" Misty felt Eevee nod against her side. "Yeah." Misty chuckled. "I'm glad he didn't let me win." Misty closed her eyes and fell asleep to the wind-rustling grass, a small smile on her face.

Well then! A bit 'o AAMRN there for all you who have been waiting for hints. But they kinda just met each other (sort of) and I don't want it moving fast. And Ash's secret. Eh… Well, one of my more creative ideas! Got a little something coming in the story for ya hehe! Maybe you smart people can guess (don't hurt yourselves!!!) Please review! Twenty-eight please? Thanks!

~ Kasagi Onaso