I stayed the overnight at the Pokemon Center. I had an early morning, beginning at six. I knew I needed to call Brock. After getting myself together, I sat in the cold steel chair and lifted the red plastic phone to my ear. The phone didn't even ring once and Brock appeared on the screen, putting a toddler in front of his face. "Ash, look at my son!" He cried happily. I jumped from where I was sitting from the urgent sound in his voice. When my pulse returned to normal I sat back down. I studied the small child. He looked exactly like Brock. From his sand colored cargoes and green tee to the dark skin and messy hair. The only difference was that Ethan had beautiful eyes, just like Solidad.

"Aw," I smiled softly. Ethan waved, grinning toothily. I use that term loosely – he only had a couple teeth.

"Hi!" I could tell that was the only thing in his vocabulary.

"Hey, Ethan, can you go say hi to Mommy for me? I have to talk to Daddy for a couple of minutes," the child nodded as if he knew what I was talking about. He then wiggled out of Da – er, Brocko's grip and scurried into the unknown. Brock smiled as he watched his son go play, but then turned to me.

"Are you leaving early or something? I could meet you."

"N-no, that's not it. Not even close."

"Oh, well, is your mom sick? Can we not go?"

"No, nothing like that."

"Well instead of playing charades, how about you tell me?"

"Ah. Well, I, uh. I like Misty," I said quietly.

Brock stared at me, giving me a bad vibe. There was a drop-dead silence that seemed to last forever. I sat there, unsure of what to say or do. I could feel sweat form at the back of my neck.

"Are you telling me this or asking if I know?" Brock finally said, bluntly. I swallowed.

"Telling you," I thought it was obvious.

"Dude, are you clueless!?" He jumped up from his sit in disbelief. I forced myself further.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him calmly.

"You guys have been in love with each other for how many years now? It's been about six years, Ash. You are sixteen, correct?"

"Y-yeah, but..."

"Okay, then. Ever since you guys met, you guys have been flirting nonstop!"

"Brock, chill. I may be in love with her, but she's not interested. At least not anymore...," I trailed off. Brock caught eye contact with me. He sat down again.

"What do you mean? You've seen her lately?"

"Actually, yeah. Last night. You'd never believe it, Brocko...I still can't believe it..."

"What? She's married? Pregnant? Has a child?"

"No, no," At least not yet. "She's going out with Gary." I clenched my teeth and fought back tears.

"No way, Ash. Did she say anything? A hint, anything?"

"I don't know," I said, taking of my hat and rubbing the back of my head. "She hugged me and told me not to go. That was the end of our intimacy."

"Were there tears?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

"You're a piece of work, Ash!" I could hear a female's voice, Solidad's, shout from far away. I facepalmed. If it wasn't Brock saying it, it had to have been someone.

"You heard her yourself, Ash," Brock said shrugging. "Misty is just filling in the gap that you left. You weren't there, so she decided Gary may be the next best thing. Turns out she was wrong, and she wants you. Dammit, she wants you, Ash, you."

"What if you're wrong...?"

"I have a wife and son, don't I?"

"Yeah...," Let's just pretend all those girls never happened, then...

"Well, the misses is calling, Ash. Later," Brock was replaced with a blank screen. I sat there, thinking if Brock was right. What if Misty does like me? Am I too oblivious to see her desperate cries?

I hung up the phone, put my hat back on, grabbed my bag off the floor, and headed over to one of the couches were Pikachu was still asleep. I picked her up, cradled her in my arms, and walked out with automatic doors and into the town of new beginnings.

-

Misty slept at the gym that night. She came to in the private place, or as she referred to it, the bay room. Light was shining in through the window, making it warm. She rubbed her eyes, sat up, and noticed her clothes strewn over the desk chair. She remembered not wanting to return to her house that evening and decided to stay there instead. Misty grabbed her clothes and made her way down the hall and into the showers, where she changed into her bathing suit. It was a two-piece. A sky blue bikini. She grabbed a towel and made her way down the stairs.

She arrived at the pool, putting her hair up. When she looked up, I was there. Misty dropped the towel where she was standing and gaped. Pikachu had an inner tube and floaties on, and I was attempting to show Pikachu how to swim. I looked up to see Misty, completely stunned.

"Uh, hey, Misty," I said quietly, not quite knowing exactly what I wanted to say.

"A-Ash? What are you doing here? Even better, how are you here?" Misty looked more surprised then angry.

"The door was open, and I thought you were swimming. I thought, what the hell, I'll join her, but when you weren't here I decided to go in anyway, and then Pikachu kept looking at the water, so I felt bad and gave her all those things to help her swim, but now she is afraid, and you don't look to happy, either." That was one hell of a run on sentence, I thought to myself.

"I don't really care about that. I just thought you were kidding when you said you were going to be around for a couple more days."

"Well I'm here!"
"Apparently," she smiled softly. She almost stepped into the pool, but stopped. "Are you hungry?"

I was so glad she asked. I hadn't eaten anything made by Brock in a couple of days, so I was starving. "Yes. Do you have anything?"

"Well, no. But there's this great restaurant in town that is really cheap but really good. Do you think you would want to go with me?" She asked.

"I would love to, Misty," I smiled, crawling out of the pool.

"Cool," she grinned, running out the doors. "I'll be right back, okay? I just have to change," she called after me.

I chuckled to myself as I began to deflate Pikachu's floats. Same old bubbly Misty. Pikachu looked at me as if she knew something was up. She didn't say anything, though. I pet her and began to walk out the door.

"Misty?" A voice came from in front of me. I looked up. Gary. "Oh, it's you, Ashy-boy," he teased.

"Go to hell, Gary."

"I'm sorry, who ended up with the girl, again?"

"Me, apparently. We are about to go out to lunch. That is, if you don't mind."

"We'll see, kid. Here she comes now," Gary smirked as Misty came in. She wasn't wearing her denim shorts or suspenders, but some sort of gym leader uniform. She looked hot. "Hey, babe," Gary walked up to her, pecking her on the lips. She seemed surprised.

"G-Gary. Where did you come from?" Misty asked him uneasily.

"Sinnoh, of course. When I didn't see the loser there, I thought he might have been delayed." He gave me a look. I sneered in return.

"Oh, well, can we do this another time, please?" She asked politely.

"Why not now? We have every reason to," Gary began putting his arms around her, but Misty pushed him away. It pissed me off how he didn't care that he was making her uncomfortable. He just wanted to show off to me.

"And every reason not to," she spat. "I'm going to hang out with Ash for a little now, okay? Piss off for just once." Misty grabbed my hand and began to pull me with her. I could feel my face get hot.

"But, Misty..."

"She said get lost, loser," I shot back at Gary, giving him the finger with my free hand. Pikachu followed us out the door. I didn't look back at Gary. I think it was because I was afraid to see what he would do. "Hey, uh, Misty?" I asked her, hoping she wouldn't snap.

"Yeah?"

"Before we leave, can I get changed? It's a little cold outside and I'm all wet and in shorts."

"...Ah, 'kay," she said sheepishly, letting go of my hand and rubbing the back of her head. Misty saw my stuff next to doors, probably wondering how she missed it. "Follow me. I'll show you where the showers are and where you can get changed." I followed her around the building. We reached the third floor. She pointed at the showers, and then gestured me to follow her further. She showed me the door at the end of the hall. "You can change in here. Your clothes will get all wet if you change in the showers," she smiled, walking away. Pikachu followed her. "I'll be kicking Gary out."

I chuckled and went into the showers.

Misty walked down the stairs, fuming. Pikachu realized and jumped on her shoulder.

"Pika?" Gary?

"Yeah. He disgusts me, Pikachu. Did you see him down there? Gary was acting like he owned me. And the hickey he gave me is huge!" She yelled, aggravated.

"Pi ka chu." Break up with him.

"That's what I'm about to do," she said, walking towards the pool doors. Misty knew Gary would still be in there. She took a deep breath and opened the doors. Gary was sitting along the wall, head in his hands. Misty didn't give a crap. Gary looked up at her.

"I'm sorry, babe."

"Do I look like I care? You marked me without permission, but you're saying sorry about kissing me in front of my best friend? You don't get it, do you, Gary?"

"Will you explain? I can work on it, I promise."

"You promised me a lot of things. You promised me you wouldn't be a control freak, yet you're visiting from Sinnoh on a daily basis and showing off to my best friend!"

"Best friend? Misty, come on. It's so obvious you guys are in love with each other. I knew there wasn't anything between us," he said quietly, turning away.

"Gary, I really like you, but...but do you really think he likes me?" She asked him, touching his shoulder.

"I'm pretty damn sure he does, Misty."

"If you knew all along, then why did you let our relationship happen?"

"Well you're a damn good kisser, and you're hot. I see what Ash likes in you. It's really no surprise."

Misty smiled, hugging Gary. She didn't say anything, but just pecked him on the cheek.

-

Fifteen minutes later, I was all geared up again. I set off down the stairs, Misty greeting me at the bottom. She was grinning. Without a word, she grabbed my hand. "Come on." She made sure that Pikachu was in front of us the whole time. No matter what age she was, Misty was always so protective. Even the way she held my hand was secure. I smiled as we kept walking down the busy street.

Even though loud, it seemed silent. Even though overrun, it seemed empty. Even though we were friends, it felt like more. So much more. I looked at Misty, who was looking straight ahead, completely zoned out. I rubbed her hand and kept walking. She smiled at me, guiding me to a small diner around the corner. I could feel the wind blow my hair around.

"Here we are," she turned to me. "The Orange Corphish."

"Looks cool," I said following her inside the neighborly diner.

"Two adults and a child, please," Misty told the hostess.

"Pika...," Pikachu glared at Misty.

"Chill out, Pikachu," I picked the yellow mouse up and held her. "You don't eat as much as I do anymore, anyway," Pikachu gave me the cold shoulder as I set her down.

"Follow me," the hostess said with our menus, sitting us down at a booth towards the end of the restaurant. Two kids, both younger then Misty and I by at least five years, pointed us out right away. They came right over to us, Pokeballs and pens in hand.

"Aren't you Ash Ketchum? The one who beat all the Pokemon Leagues? Can I have your autograph?" The little girl asked me, handing me the device and writing utensil. I smiled.

"Absolutely."

"And aren't you Misty, our gym leader?" The little boy asked, handing Misty a Pokeball and pen.

"Yes I am," she smiled, signing the Pokeball. "What Pokemon do you guys have?"

"I have a Lapras," the boy replied, a silly grin plastered to his face.

"And I have a Vulpix!" The little girl said excitedly. Misty nodded.

"Those are both really strong and beautiful Pokemon, guys. Lapras grow to be one of the strongest Pokemon I've ever seen, and Vulpix can evolve into Ninetails," she remarked.

"Mommy says I can evolve Vulpix as soon as she grows to be strong."

"That's a very smart idea! Then Vulpix can learn a lot of moves before evolving."

"Ash," the boy caught my attention. "What kind of Pokemon do you have?"

"I have a lot of different types. I think you've seen Corphish, Swellow, Sceptile, Donphan, and, of course, Pikachu," I smiled petting my Pokemon on the head. The kids' eyes sparkled.

"Wow!" They sang in unison, walking away.

"That was cool," I smiled at Misty. Pikachu was still a little angry at me, but I knew she would get over it.

"Yeah. I love to see that some kids are still interested in training," Misty said, taking a look through the menu. I did the same.

We decided on Ramen and water. She told me that The Orange Corphish had the best noodles. We talked idly until the hostess came over and we ordered our food. Pikachu was coloring intently on the kids menu. I smiled at her, but she didn't notice.

"What's up with you and Gary?" I asked her finally when the food arrived. She took a sip of her water.

"I broke up with him," she said. "Or he broke up with me...Well, I'm not exactly sure how it happened. But it did happen, I promise you." We laughed.

"So does that mean that you're free tonight?" I asked her, clasping my hands.

"All yours," Misty smiled. I returned the gesture, but Pikachu began to tap on my shoulder.

"Pika!" She squealed. Pikachu drew a make shift picture of Misty and I kissing. I could feel my face get hot as I grabbed the picture and crumpled it.

"Don't ruin this." I whispered through clenched teeth.

"Pi ka chu." You're doing a good job of doing that yourself.

Pikachu began to laugh hysterically, and everyone looked over at us. I looked around, and on instinct, I grabbed the bottle of ketchup and handed it to her. She stopped laughing right away and began to eat the ketchup instead.

"Very crafty, Ash," Misty laughed. I was so relieved I had to laugh myself. Suddenly, I stopped laughing and I could feel my expression grow blank.

"I'm going to have to buy the ketchup now."