The hike north was fairly uneventful with ash only being jumped by a small handful of trainers wanting to test their mettle against him, carefree as he was it hadn't stopped him from garnering a small reputation amogst up and coming league hopefuls.
He didn't hate it though, in fact if he could battle all the time he'd just about be in heaven! He'd thought that perhaps he could start up a gym of his own, he's got the experience, he's got the skills, but he never felt that being stuck to one place was right for him. Too bad a roaming gym wasn't exactly a thing the league councils would go for he mused.
Traveling had just become such a large part of his life he felt he couldn't give it up. It's not like he was in a hurry or anything, he took his time, saw the sights and moved on when he felt he was ready. He didn't ever have to really worry about cash or a place to stay, he'd saved up plenty of poké and a battle here and there more than covered a day's costs and when he was tired he'd find a spot to camp or stay in a pokécenter that offered overnight rooms.
He'd taken to traveling back through areas he'd been to before, but this time without the hassle of being constantly harassed by some random gaggle of "bad guys" bent on world domination or some tauros-crap. Why'd he have to get caught in the middle of things like that anyways? He was at least grateful no one was out to steal his pikachu anymore, he was sure pikachu didn't mind that either.
As long as he had someone to go around with, he never felt lonely either. From brock, to misty, tracey to even dawn who might even be somewhere around sinnoh. He was hoping that part of his wonderings would be coming across some of these old friends and see how they're doing. Misty was being a good sport and went along with him, though now he had the knowledge of why, and he got to show off some of the places and sights he'd seen as a kid.
"misty.." he thought man he'd been blind. He glanced to his right and saw misty walking happily beside him, cradling pikachu in her arms as he dozed off.
He absentmindedly thought what it'd be like if it were him, curled up in a little ball held tightly in her arms pressed against her soft warm bosom. Slightly flustered and face turning red he tries to focus on the path ahead again.
These certainly are new thoughts for him. He'd never ever been romantically involved with anyone, though there certainly were those that tried. He thought of serena who clearly had had a thing for him but ash was always to focused on battling and badges to really pay it much mind.
Knowing what he did now about how his lack of observational skills had made misty feel, he felt a pang of regret for not properly addressing that in the past. He truly hoped she was doing ok in her life and hoped she'd been able to get the most out of her contest and performer training.
Misty again popped abruptly into his mind, somehow giving him a little tinge of butterflies in his stomach. In all the rush of things, emotions, thoughts, memories, experiences he realizes that he and her haven't really talked over what was going on now. They'd just sort of fallen into an undefined level of closeness that, while neither was unaware of, had not actually made it official.
He should do something about that he thought to himself, exactly what he wasn't sure, but he was sure that if he made the attempt misty would certainly appreciate it. They're nearly in floroma town, that'd be a nice place to talk it over with her.
Why was he suddenly the most nervous he'd ever been?
They'd just passed the sign marking the change in the routes, so just over the next hill would be the entrance to town. He could even see the valley windworks off to the east. Ash steeled his nerves and hoped he could play it cool.