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Set during random events in Hoenn. May's perspective of Ash and Misty.

Some events in this chapter are out of order for creative reasons. I apologize if this upsets anyone. I own nothing.

It was right after they left the Mirage Kingdom the first time May noticed. Something about Ash had been off. He was not being his normal bubbly and energetic self. Right now, he just seemed down. It was almost as if he had just lost an important battle, except he hadn't battled anyone recently.

After they left the kingdom, he barely said anything the rest of the day. As they were walking to their next destination, it seemed like he was always one step behind the rest of them instead of anxious and eager in the front. If anyone spoke to him, he responded in a way that indicated that he wasn't listening. He had a distant and sad look on his face instead of the cheerful smile he normally wore. That night at dinner, he barely touched any of his food, rather than devouring second or third helpings like he usually did. Then he went to bed early, before anyone else. The weirdest part was that Pikachu seemed to be trying to cheer him up, but looked like he felt the same way.

May was concerned. But unfortunately, neither Brock or Max seemed to notice.

"He's probably just tired," Max suggested, "in case you forgot, the past few days have been pretty crazy."

"You know Ash," Brock laughed, "he's always wearing his emotions on his sleeve."

"Yeah, but," May tried to counter.

"He'll be fine," Brock offered implying maybe he knew more than he was letting on, "just let him rest."

May wasn't so sure. But fortunately, he got progressively better as the days went on and a few days later, he seemed to be back to his old self again. While May was relieved that he was ok, she couldn't help but still wonder what brought on that strange behavior. She didn't want to ask him, so decided to drop the subject for now. Especially since no one else seemed concerned. But she didn't forget.

It was a few weeks later when Ash said something that stood out in May's mind. Not because what he said was out of the ordinary, but because it contradicted what she knew about him.

They were completely lost and she could only blame Max for the incident. Max, on the other hand, could only blame her. As they continued to argue about whose fault it was, Brock pointed out that he and Ash get lost all the time, but don't fight about it.

"That's right," Ash chimed in, "when we were traveling around with Misty we probably set the record for getting lost. But we'd always wind up getting where we wanted to be in the end."

She looked over at him and he had a big smile on his face and Pikachu happily agreed. Something she found interesting because the Ash that she knew was not alway so calm, cool, and collected when their group found themselves lost like this. Although, she would agree that he was not exactly a pro with directions. That and he did have a tendency to forget things. Often. This was all out of character if nothing else.

But at this time, May was too upset with Max to even listen to them.

It was when they met Jimmy that May was officially on to something. Down on his luck Jimmy was explaining to the group all about his journey as a trainer. All four of them were intrigued by his stories about how he caught, or rather obtained, his three Pokemon. Then he got to the part about how he was never able to win a gym badge, or even a Pokemon battle, and then proceeded to show them a badge. A Cerulean City Cascade Badge, as Brock helpfully pointed out since May and Max had never seen one before.

"That's Misty's gym," Ash followed, "You must be a great trainer if you got one of those."

As he said this, May noticed the tone of his voice was different than it had been for the rest of this conversation up until this point. Almost as if it had dropped slightly even though he still sounded completely confident in what he was saying. But it was the look on his face that really stood out. This was the look that May had seen once before. That distant, down, and quiet look that she never could figure out after Mirage Kingdom. This time, however, it only lasted until the end of Jimmy's story, until they were interrupted by Team Rocket. Then it went away, but May's suspicions did not. Those two instances had something in common...

It was the second time that she met Misty that May decided to put her new theory to the test. Lucky for her, she didn't have to look very hard for signs, if at all. Misty even gave her a head start by showing up at Ash's house early by herself just so she could be there as soon as he got home from Hoenn.

Between the two of them, May could barely even keep up with the compliments, the winking, the petty arguing, the flirting, the one-upping, and the goofy exchanges they would give each other. Not to mention how almost all of Ash's pokemon obeyed her as if she was their own trainer; especially Pikachu, who May was sure had never been that excited to see her before. This made her surprised that she didn't notice anything the first time she and Misty met.

After that brief trip to Ash's house before hitting the road, May was proud of herself for confirming her suspicions.

It was after they parted ways at the foot of Mt. Moon when May noticed it again. The subtle separation from the rest of the group, the silence, the distant and sad look, the demeanor resembling a recent loss of a battle that never took place, the untouched dinner, and the unusually early bed time. Even though she was still concerned for him, she didn't wonder what was wrong this time. This time, she knew.

After Ash had gone to bed, Brock had been talking to Max about something for a little while. May sat by herself against a tree with her new Squirtle thinking about how she could help him. She barely even noticed when Max came and sat beside her.

"Hey, May, what's on your mind?" Her little brother asked innocently.

"Oh, I was just thinking about something," She vaguely told him.

"Care to tell me what it is?"

The truth was she did care. She was hesitant to share her theory with him, especially since no one noticed anything unusual last time. But that was a long time ago. Maybe things were more obvious this time. So she whispered to him with as little detail as she could, "I think Ash likes Misty."

"Well, yeah," Max responded with all of the innocence of a seven-year-old, "Misty's really awesome. You should have seen the way she knew exactly what Pokemon attacks to use to help us find our way back to you guys. And the way she handled that wild Cleffa. It's no wonder she's a gym leader, I wish I could see her battle someone for a badge some time."

May smiled at her younger brother's response. It was cute that he admired her so much. So with that, she decided to let him in on her theory a little more.

"Yeah, she is pretty cool, but that isn't what I mean," May told him, "I think he likes her."

Max looked at her confused.

"I think that's why he's been so quiet since we left Mt. Moon. I think he likes her and now he misses her after seeing her again. He was like that after the Mirage Kingdom too."

"Huh," Max responded, "So Misty must have been who he was talking about that one time."

"What time? When? What did he say?" She asked excitedly surprised to be proven right by her toughest critic.

"When I was upset about Jirachi leaving at the end of the Millennium Comet, Ash told me that best friends sometimes have to leave each other, but they're always still best friends. Just like him and one of his friends."

"And he told you it was Misty?" May exclaimed.

"He didn't say who it was. He told me that he had a friend who needed to leave him and he misses her every day but they'll still always be best friends. He might have seemed a little sad when he said the part about her leaving, but he and Pikachu were happy about the part about them staying friends forever. It helped to know that Jirachi and I would never forget about each other either."

"Every day," May repeated.

That's when Brock walked up.

"Brock," May asked tentatively, "What's the deal with Ash and Misty?" Hoping the older boy that had known them both for a while would be able to weigh in.

Brock smiled to himself before responding. "Misty is the first traveling companion that Ash ever had after Pikachu. She taught him a lot, not only about Pokemon, but about himself too. He had a similar effect on her. They really grew from one another. The two of them still have some growing up to do, but I think deep down they know exactly how they feel about each other. When they're older and they stop being so stubborn, they'll understand."

"So do you think that's why Ash seems so sad tonight?" May asked.

"I have a feeling that Misty probably looks just like he does right now," Brock replied, "if not worse."

The next morning May noticed Ash still looking a little down and still keeping to himself. That's when she decided to talk to him about it. She approached him as he was sitting with Pikachu by a lake while Brock was making lunch.

She took a deep breath, placed her hand on his shoulder, and finally asked him, "You really miss her, don't you?"

"Uh," Ash tried to deny it.

"Misty," May clarified before he could say anything, "You seem to miss her a lot."

Ash looked at her unable to come up with a response.

"It's ok," she continued, "you can talk to me about it if you want. I get it."

There was a long pause before he finally responded, "Saying goodbye is never easy," and that's when he finally mustered up a smile and his upbeat tone started to return, "but I know it's not goodbye, it's just 'see you later' and we'll always be best friends and we'll see each other whenever we can." Pikachu happily agreed.

And with that, Ash stood back up ready to continue on his journey to earn his first Battle Frontier symbol with a new attitude.

"Hey May," he turned around, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," she replied. Maybe Brock was right; he knows, but he just doesn't get it yet.

It was when Professor Oak showed up after Ash's unsuccessful battle against Brandon that May finally saw a different side to Ash when it came to Misty. While both she and Ash were struggling with their confidence after their recent defeats, she was happy for Ash that he was able to restore some of his spirit after Professor Oak gave him a series of gifts. There was food from his mother, a banner from his Pokemon, and a postcard from his former rival, Gary.

The thing that really seemed to put the smile back on Ash's face, however, was the fishing lure he received from Misty that looked just like her. 'The Misty Special,' Brock called it. It was something that Ash recognized immediately.

"Look, Pikachu," He exclaimed, as he excitedly showed it off, "Misty's lure!" Pikachu clamored in delight at the sight of it.

This was when May knew that Ash, and maybe even Misty, too, had come to terms with their current situation. He was no longer sad about them being away from each other, but happy to have her support in achieving his goals. Just like he always did.

May would never know if it was the conversation she had with him back then that made him feel better or if this was something he figured out on his own. That part didn't matter. What she did know was that she was glad that he was finally figuring out how to deal with it. Maybe one day he would even admit how he felt, too.

Playing as my agent, for you there's no replacement. You will always be my girl, you can hold me on that statement.