Set during Chronicles & Hoenn. Tracey's perspective of Ash and Misty.

Tracey loved his job as Professor Oak's lab assistant. It was the opportunity of a lifetime. He was able to learn more about Pokemon than he ever thought he could, and he was learning from the best. Tracey had landed his dream job. He looked forward to going to work every day. There was only one thing that he did not look forward to and that was his days off.

Pallet was a tiny town. Outside of Professor Oak's lab, there wasn't much else to do. Not being from The Kanto Region himself, he didn't know very many people, and most kids his age were out on their own Pokemon journeys. He found himself very bored when he wasn't working. Which is why he was excited when he found out that his friend, Misty, had moved back home to Cerulean City to take over as gym leader, which was only a short drive from Pallet Town.

It was the first time Tracey visited Misty at the gym after she got home from The Johto Region that he noticed. Misty had always had a fiery personality and a hot temper. But right now, she had a distant and sad look on her face and just seemed down.

Tracey had heard from Professor Oak that Misty had passed her PIA inspection with flying colors and that so far she was doing great as a gym leader. He expected her to want to tell him all about her recent accomplishments, or show him the Gyarados that she just caught, but instead, she barely wanted to talk at all. The only thing she did want to talk about was how weird it was to no longer to be traveling around (so far she didn't seem to love staying in one place) and how much work it was taking care of a gym all on her own.

When Tracey left, Misty apologized for not being in a good mood. She credited it to being tired and stressed out. But Tracey, who had seen her in both situations several times before, was not so sure that was really the problem. He was concerned.

When Tracey returned to Pallet Town, he told Professor Oak about Misty's strange behavior. But Professor Oak did not seem worried. "Being a gym leader is no easy task," the older man explained, "Having the new responsibility of looking after a gym while caring for all of those Pokemon can be very overwhelming, especially for such a young trainer. I'm sure Misty just needs a little time to adjust to her role."

Mrs. Ketchum, however, had a different opinion. "That Misty," she laughed, "she always did wear her emotions right on her sleeve."

While Tracey certainly knew that to be true about her, he wasn't so sure what this emotion was.

It was when Tracey met Sakura that something caught his attention. Misty's friend, Sakura, from Johto had arrived at the gym to challenge Misty for a Cascade Badge. When Misty introduced him to her, her first assumption was that the two of them were dating. "I didn't know you had a boyfriend, Misty," Sakura said after the introduction.

It was Misty's response, or lack thereof, that stood out to him.

"Oh, it's not like that," Misty calmly replied, "you see, Tracey was with Ash and me when we were in The Orange Islands. He's been assisting Professor Oak the last few years."

It wasn't what she said that was out of the ordinary, quite the opposition. It was how she said it. Throughout the time Tracey was traveling with Misty, any time anyone accused her of having a boyfriend, she would blush and get irrationally angry or upset while vehemently denying it. But this time, she was able to simply correct the mistake and explain the situation. If nothing else, it was out of character from what he had seen from her before.

It was a few weeks later when Tracey met Casey that he started to catch on. Misty's loud, spirited friend from Johto stopped by the gym for a visit while looking for tickets to that night's baseball game. To cut short Casey's shrill rendition of the Electabuzz fight song, Misty introduced her to Tracey.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Casey not so subtly whispered after the introduction.

"Why is it everyone I introduce him to always jumps to that conclusion?" Misty groaned.

Once again, when asked if she had a boyfriend, Misty did not yell, argue, or blush like Tracey had seen her do so many times before. While it was clear she was getting irritated, she still managed to remain calm while simply answering the question before the subject was dropped.

That's when Tracey realized, maybe it wasn't the idea of having a boyfriend that would set her off before, but rather who people were assuming her boyfriend was.

Later that day, a letter from a boy named Georgio arrived at the gym asking Misty to meet him. She did not want to go, but Casey convinced her and agreed to accompany her. When Misty got back from the meeting, Tracey and her sister, Daisy, of course had questions. They were shocked to hear that he was trying to ask her out on a date.

"He's very nice," Misty said describing Georgio, "but I've just got too much work to do at the gym." Misty had a strange look on her face when she said this. A sad, distant look that Tracey had seen once before, which indicated that this was not the real reason why she didn't want to go out with Georgio.

When Casey returned to the gym later to tell Misty all about her date with Georgio. Tracey of course noticed that Casey's version of events was different from Misty's.

"Georgio wanted to take Misty out on a date!" Casey exclaimed, "He even got tickets to the Electabuzz game! But Misty didn't want to go! Not with him, not with anyone else! That's what she said! So they battled for it! But then Team Rocket showed up and tried to steal his Delcatty, so we fought them and we beat them! Then they finished their battle! Misty won, so she didn't have to go out with him! Then I battled him for the extra ticket! I didn't win, but he took me to the game anyway since Meganium and I helped get rid of Team Rocket! It was so much fun! And I have Misty to thank for it!"

That was when Misty (conveniently) had to excuse herself to greet a challenger in the lobby.

"So Casey," Tracey couldn't help but ask, "Why do you think Misty didn't want to go out with Georgio?"

"Beats me," Casey told him, "Georgio thinks Misty likes someone else. She got all weird and mad and started blushing when he asked her about it. You know?"

Tracey knew exactly the reaction she was talking about. He had seen it many times before. And he had a pretty good idea of who that someone else might be.

It was when Misty returned from the Togepi Festival in The Hoenn Region that Tracey noticed it again. As a gym leader, she was often invited to trainer events like this. Rarely did she attend them unless they were close by or convenient for her. This one was neither, but Misty decided she was going as soon as she read the invitation. Tracey suspected that the festival was not the only reason why she so interested in going to Hoenn.

She returned without Togepi and with the same unexplainably down, sad demeanor that she had when she first returned from Johto. Still concerned for his friend, this time, Tracey felt like he had an idea of what was going on with her, but the departure of Togepi in the process threw him for a loop.

"How was the Togepi Festival?" he asked in attempt to get to the bottom of her strange mood.

"It wasn't a real festival," she responded glumly, "just a scam set up by some royal loser to steal a Togepi so he could be king."

"Did he steal your Togepi?"

"No, it evolved into Togetic and wanted to stay there and protect the Togepi paradise. I had no choice but to leave it," she said almost in tears.

"I have something that might make you feel better," Tracey told her hopefully, "my Marill laid an egg a little while ago. It's going to hatch pretty soon. I know how much you love water Pokemon, so would you like to keep it?"

"Sure!" Misty said excitedly.

Togepi might have been the reason reason why she was so upset right now, but that wouldn't explain the last time he saw her like this. It was nice to see her smile again, but Tracey had one more question for her to test his original theory.

"So how is Ash?" he asked with a smirk. Misty's eyes grew wide and he could tell she was about to get defensive, just like how she used to. "...and Brock?" he then threw in. And then her reaction changed back to how it was.

"They're good," she said quietly.

And with that, Tracey knew there was more to it than just Togepi.

It was when Ash returned from Hoenn that Tracey really put his observation skills to the test. Not that he would have had to look very hard, but Misty made it especially easy.

She had been watching the Hoenn League on television very diligently, barely missing a minute of it. The day after the Ever Grande Conference ended, Misty left the gym in her sisters' hands and headed out to Pallet Town. She showed up at the lab with her newly hatched Azurill in tow claiming that she was only there to show it to Professor Oak. The timing was suspect at least. It was no coincidence that Ash returned home early that evening and Misty was already at his house when he got there.

When Tracey first met Ash and Misty, he always had a suspicion that there was more going on than either of them was willing to admit at the time. Even when he wasn't looking for it, there were many things he noticed but never read into. Now that he was looking, he was kicking himself for not seeing it sooner. From the winking, the wayward compliments, the one-upping each other, the arguments that seemed all the more ridiculous now, and the excitement they both expressed for getting to travel together again even if it was only for a little while, the two of them could not be more obvious.

When Ash and his friends left the next morning, Tracey was proud of himself for confirming his suspicions from all that time ago.

It was when Misty got back to Cerulean City that Tracey noticed one more time. The silence, the anger, and the distant, sad look on her face. He was still concerned, but he didn't wonder what was wrong this time. This time, he knew.

He approached her carefully knowing that this was a sensitive topic. "You really miss him, don't you?" Tracey finally asked her.

"Uh," Misty said as she scrambled for words.

"Ash," Tracey clarified, "you seem to miss him a lot when he's not here."

Misty still didn't say anything, and Tracey was relieved that she didn't immediately blow up at him like he somewhat expected her to.

"Misty," Tracey began, "I've seen you two together. I get it. And I have a feeling that he's probably feeling the same way you do right now, if not worse. You know you can talk to me about it if you want."

After a long pause, Misty finally spoke. "It's never easy to say goodbye," she said quietly, "but I suppose there's always a time when people have to go their separate ways."

"If you don't mind me asking," Tracey said, "Your sisters are back home now, couldn't one of them reclaim the role of gym leader? That way you can go back out and travel again."

"It's not that easy," Misty sighed, "Since I took over as gym leader, the PIA has been so happy with the changes I've made. Before, the Cascade Badge was a joke. My sisters were handing them out to anyone. Ash told me he met someone who got one for cleaning the pool! I don't think any of them want to be gym leader again. On my way back here, Daisy called twice asking if she could just give badges away. Trainers are finally starting to respect this badge."

"Ok, maybe this is the best thing for the gym, but what about what you want?" Tracey inquired.

Misty thought about it for a minute. "I don't think it would be that easy to give it up. All my life, I've always wanted to be the greatest water Pokemon trainer there is. That's why I left Cerulean City in the first place. I was able to experience great things that helped me achieve my goal and catch a lot of water Pokemon that I would never have seen here. But now being back here, I've realized that if I want to be the world's greatest water Pokemon trainer, getting the experience that I am as a water type gym leader, constantly surrounded by water Pokemon, battling and improving water-type skills, is invaluable."

"So you want to stay here as gym leader?"

For the first time that day, Misty smiled. "I left home to become a great water Pokemon trainer. Ash left home to become a Pokemon master. That was how our paths crossed, we were both out to achieve our dreams."

"And that's what you're still doing," Tracey cut in.

Misty's tone was becoming more positive as she continued. "Our goals brought us to different places right now. But I know that our paths will cross again. Until then, we'll keep seeing each other whenever we can. And we'll always be friends."

With that, Tracey remembered something that Misty once said describing someone else, 'They're not mature enough to admit it, but they really like each other.' It sounded like his friends were finally starting to get there.

It was when Tracey told Misty about Ash's recent difficulty in the Battle Frontier that he finally saw a different side to Misty when it came to Ash. Misty had been doing a great job in her recent battles. She sympathized with Ash, knowing that defeat was not something he handled well. But she didn't seem upset.

After Tracey told her about the banner he had made him with his Pokemon's signatures to help lift his spirits, Misty decided to give him something too. She pulled out one of her favorite fishing lures and gave it to Tracey to give to Professor Oak to give to Ash. She said this particular lure had always been her good luck charm and she felt that Ash should have it. She knew he would remember it from the time she won the Seaking catching competition.

This was when Tracey knew that Misty, and maybe Ash, too, had finally come to terms with their situation. She was no longer sad about being away from him or angry about being stuck in the same place, but happy to support him in achieving his goals. Just like he always did for her, too.

Tracey always knew that Misty and Ash weren't the typical "best friends," they were something else. While he knew that one day they would figure that out on their own, he would never know if the conversation he had with Misty helped her to do that. Either way, he was glad that Misty was finally figuring out how to deal with it. Maybe one day, she wouldn't be afraid to admit her feelings out loud, either.

That's why I'm concerned. But now it's confirmed, that you spread your wings and learned to fly all alone.