Hello everyone I am back with chapter 12

Please enjoy,

POV (Misty)

"Alright guys, I'm going to go on ahead to Cerulean to start getting things set up, have fun hanging out," Misty announced after hanging out with Brock and Ash for a while. She was enjoying herself and would have loved to spend more time talking, but she couldn't afford to spend much more time away from her work.

"Are you sure you don't need me to come?" Ash asked, but Misty couldn't think of a good reason to bring him along aside from personal enjoyment.

"No, I mainly need to do paperwork and make preparations. You'd be a distraction a nice one, but still a distraction," Misty said trying to be gentle. It was true that she enjoyed spending time with Ash, but Misty knew she had to focus on work if she wanted things to go smoothly. He was starting to occupy her thoughts too much and that would be a problem if she wanted to get work done.

"I got it, besides it'll be good for me to hang out with Brock, so I'll see you later Misty," Ash replied sounding cheerful, Misty was glad she didn't offend him.

"Bye everyone it was great to see you all again," Misty said to Brock and his family. "Come by soon, Lola," Misty turned to look at Lola who nodded enthusiastically. With that Misty walked out the door and managed to catch a bus back to Cerulean. She didn't want to drag out her goodbyes, if it took too long she might end up wanting to stay longer.

She returned to thy gym and let her Pokemon out of their balls, Jigglypuff in general seemed annoyed at having to spend time in the ball. Misty couldn't have carried the balloon Pokemon flying on Charizard or in the crowded bus so Jigglypuff spent more time than in a Pokeball that she was happy with.

Jigglypuff was given a full tour, but ended up staying Misty while she worked rather than hang out with the other Pokemon. She wasn't going to force her Pokemon to stay away as long as it didn't impact her ability to work.

So with her loyal Jigglypuff at her side she launched into her paperwork, flying through it like a madwoman. Daisy stopped by to give her some coffee which Misty gratefully accepted. Aside from the work she would normally have to do, she had to draw up long term contracts for her various suppliers, and of course create the terms for an interim gym leader. She needed to have an airtight contract with Lola, not that she thought the woman was going to try anything devious, and something that would satisfy the Pokemon League.

If the League decided they didn't feel like accepting her request she would be stuck. To leave she would have to put her sisters in charge or try to shut down the gym for time period, but shut downs were regulated to an even greater degree. The last gym successful in a long term shut down was the Viridian gym, but that was rare.

Of course she wouldn't shut down the gym just a long period of time just for her own goals, she refused to be that selfish. In reality the 'sensational sisters' brought in enough money to keep the gym afloat if it was closed for a time, but she still didn't feel comfortable doing it. The repercussions completely outweighed the benefits. So if her request wasn't accepted she would have to wait another three months before she could try again.

She knew she didn't have time to dwell on that so she worked well into the night. When she woke up the next morning it was with her face on her desk and a paper stuck to the side of her face, luckily it was just blank printer paper.

She forced herself to go through her morning routine, grabbing a bowl of cereal and some much needed coffee. Rather than jump right into her paperwork again she trained with her Pokemon which was very important and far more enjoyable than dealing with financial statements or responding to e-mails.

POV (Ash)

Ash spent the night with Brock's family and directly after breakfast Brock said he wanted to discuss something with him. Brock led him to his room and sat down indicating Ash should do the same. Ash felt a tension in the air, which he chose to ignore.

"Alright Ash I have a question," Brock began carefully.

"Sure what's up?" Ash felt slightly worried about Brock's demeanor, but not overly so.

"I'm going to be blunt because I think too much time has been spent dancing around the topic. Do you like Misty?" Brock asked outright.

"She's one of my best friends of course I liked her," Ash responded weakly trying to avoid the real question.

"Don't play dumb, Ash. Do you have any romantic feelings for Misty?" Brock asked again in a slightly lighter tone, clearly he could tell it was a delicate topic.

Ash wasn't sure how to respond, he wasn't great with feelings and he knew that, but it was still hard to figure out. His relationship with Misty was more difficult to define that his relationships with other people. She was one of his best friends he knew that, but there was this underlying sense of something that appeared once in a while. Whatever that thing was came from both of them at different times. "Look, Brock I don't really know much about feelings or romance, that's not my strong point," Ash finally replied.

"Fine, fine, I get that," Brock sighed, "Do you think Misty is attractive?" Ash could feel Brock's eyes on him and had the decency to blush.

"Yeah, I've always thought she was pretty," Ash said looking anywhere, but at Brock.

"What else do you like about her?" Brock prompted.

"Well she's smart, she's funny, she isn't a push over, she loves Pokemon and is a good trainer, she's fun to argue with, she's easy to talk to, I kind of like her temper when she isn't being too scary, and yeah she's really pretty. I don't know Brock, I like a lot of things about her. I like when she gets excited about things, I like how kind she can be, how brave she except when she sees bug Pokemon, but she's also kind of cute when she gets scared," Ash paused he only realized how much he said after he stopped speaking and froze in horror at how much he revealed.

"Jeez, you've got it bad," Brock whistled at Ash's admission.

"Shut up, you get crazy over almost every girl you meet," Ash shot back.

Brock shrugged, "Yeah, but I admit it. You're repressed, you've got to face these feelings, like a man."

"That stuff doesn't mean I like her," Ash replied fighting with himself about his possible feelings. He didn't want to confront them so he allowed his stubbornness and fear to shove the thoughts away.

"Sure, but you should probably try to figure things out at some point," Brock rested a hand on Ash's shoulder and looked at him sympathetically.

Ash just shook his head and sighed, he almost jumped out of his skin when someone knocked on the door. "Mom, made lunch are you guys hungry?" The high pitched voice of one of Brock's sisters called from outside the room.

"Yes," Ash replied to escape the conversation before Brock could take things further. Ash was barely able to focus on his food, too deep in thought to do anything, but robotically eat.

POV (Misty)

Misty groaned, she spent another long night in her office and was desperate to have something distract her. Luckily that came in the form of an excited woman coming through the front doors. "Misty, dear I'm here," Lola called as she ran up to her.

"H-hi Lola," Misty was surprised by Lola's energy or maybe she was surprised because she was comparing it to her own lack of energy. She took a few moments to collect herself and invited Lola to her office to discuss the terms. Lola to her credit took it very seriously and showed no hint of her usual crazy personality. Soon the contract was signed and both females stood up glad to have everything in order. Misty was hoping to get an e-mail about the approval later that day. If they said yes, she would scan the contract and send them a copy hopefully finalizing everything.

Seeing that Lola was already over Misty gave her a tour, which would make things easier when she took over assuming things went well. Misty was mildly surprised at how attentive Lola was and how carefully she inspected the facilities and the questions she asked. Misty felt a bit like she was being assessed again, though unlike the assessors Lola was smiling at everything she saw.

"Do you think any of your Pokemon will have an issue with mine moving in?" Lola glanced over at Misty while they stood outside looking over the grounds.

"Most of my Pokemon will be fine about it, a few might be shy at first, but unless your Pokemon are very aggressive everything should be fine," Misty said watching Politoad clapping. She knew at the very least Politoad wouldn't have any problems and almost all her Pokemon were friendly and had spent time around other Pokemon.

"Don't worry my Pokemon will be on their very best behavior," Lola promised.

"The only Pokemon I could see having an issue would be my Gyrados, he sometimes has trouble getting along with others when I'm not around," Misty admitted, "but I generally keep him with me in a Pokeball so I don't think it'll be a huge issue."

"Trust me dear I understand, my Gyrados is a bit temperamental as well, but as long as I'm around she's an angel," Lola said patting Misty's shoulder. "Oh, it's getting rather late isn't it?" Lola asked looking up at the setting sun.

"Do you need to get home?" Misty looked at Lola who was still staring at the sunset.

"Yes, I'm sorry to leave so suddenly, but I want to get home soon," Lola turned to face her looking slightly sad.

"It's fine, I'll walk you out," Misty led the way allowing Lola to follow her to the front door.

Once they reached the door Lola grabbed her for a hug, "Thank you sweetie for this opportunity, I'll see you soon if things go well. Oh and I'll tell the boy's you're doing well."

Misty wouldn't admit it out loud, but it was nice having someone like Lola around, it was the same way she felt when she was with Mrs. Ketchum. She missed the feeling of having a motherly figure around, although she wouldn't call Lola the ideal mother.

Once she was out of sight Misty headed back to her office to check her computer to see if she had received any e-mails from the league. After opening her inbox she noticed three e-mails all from the league. The league had a habit of being very quick or very slow depending on the type of paperwork and who in particular was dealing with it, somethings they were fine rushing through and others they dragged on.

Without opening them she saw one was the results of the assessment which she almost forgot about, one was the response to her request for an interim gym leader and the last was an invitation to something.

She opened the results of her assessment and let out a small sigh when she saw the gym's rank would not be changed, not that she was expecting anything else. She read quickly through the rest of the e-mail which basically confirmed what she thought the reasoning would be. However it was the end of the e-mail which surprised her,

'Although you will remain a three star gym we are offering you a pass to enter the gym leader preliminaries to participate the Pokemon League. We have chosen to do so because you expressed interest entering the Pokemon League and we saw your skill firsthand during your battle with Ash Ketchum. We wish you the best of luck.'

Misty almost cheered out loud, she was going to be able to enter. She would have to face off with the other gym leaders to earn a spot in the preliminaries, generally only four Gym Leaders were allowed entrance into the actual competition.

The second e-mail she opened only increased her good mood, her request had been accepted all she needed to do was send them the contract between Lola and her. The third e-mail she hadn't been expecting at all, it was an invitation to a multi-regional gym leader gathering.

The Pokemon League organized large gatherings for the gym leaders, on the surface it was basically an all expense paid vacation for gym leaders, but it was important to an extent. It fostered friendships and prevented problems between Gyms who often times formed rivalries. It gave the leaders a simple place to discuss how things were being handled from gym to gym. It was also a good time to gather information about what was going on in the different areas the gyms were located in and learn new strategies and techniques from other talented gym leaders. Of course there actually were meetings as well, which dealt with anything from major issues involving requirements for all gyms to requests to change the gym's badge.

This time it was being hosted in the Orange islands with Gym leaders, officials, and League members which included the elite four and the current champions from Johto, Kanto, and of course the Orange Islands. It was technically optional, but unless someone had a reason not to go it was expected they would attend. It just wasn't in good form not to show up or have someone there to represent the gym.

Misty's exhaustion was catching up with her so with the good news still fresh in her mind she decided to go to bed early. She would let everyone know the good news when she woke up hopefully fully rested. Misty didn't plan to bring up the multi-regional gym leader gathering for a little while, she wanted to plan how everything would be set up before saying anything.

Still before she could actually head off to bed she needed to train a bit longer, she was really on the verge of a breakthrough with some of her Pokemon and thought Tentacool might evolve soon. Of course she would never rush her Pokemon or push them past their limits, but for now they had enough energy to do a bit more training, she just hoped she did.

"Seadra use bubblebeam one last time and Tentacool pop the bubbles with your poison sting," Misty called out and watched in satisfaction as Seadra launched a barrage of bubbles into the air and Tentacool aimed perfectly and popped each one. "Alright, perfect you guys. Now you're all tired and so am I so I'm calling it a day," Misty finally concluded the training and trudged off to bed. Her Pokemon stopped their attacks, finished their laps, and went to their separate areas to rest.

Misty finally collapsed into bed concluding a productive day and allowed herself to look forward to the future. For the time being things were finally falling into place.

Yes, I updated finally and I'm sorry for taking so long, but I got things together and I have been posting other stories so I haven't been completely inactive. I know this chapter didn't seem to have a lot of action, but this set up most of the major events which will come up later in the story. The gym leader change, Misty's ability to leave, the Pokemon League, the gym leader gathering, and of course Ash is being forced to confront his feelings to an extent.

In the show it was always Misty worrying about her feelings while Ash was working on becoming the Pokemon master right now it's the other way around. Misty's trying to get work done and Brock is forcing Ash to open up emotionally.

I swear things will pick up and then everything will fall into place, adventure, drama, and romance of course.

Not much was introduced this chapter so I will postpone the trivia, but I swear it will be back next chapter when new things start coming.

Thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed it.

Misty's Pokemon in the Gym

-Politoad

-Starmie

-Psyduck

-Corsola

-Slowbro

-Gyrados

-Staryu

-Seadra

-Seaking

-Tentacool

-Kingler

-Cloyster

-Caserin

-Azumarill

-Dewgong

-Jigglypuff

-Various Pokemon mainly used for shows

Ash's Pokemon on hand

-Pikachu

-Charizard

-Pidgeot

-?

-?

-?