Hey Everybody! Well, there's not much to say here, except this chapter came out pretty quick, and I think the next one will be done even sooner. Just please remember that these stories are completely separate and apart from my main fic "A New Journey" and anything written in here has no bearing on what will or won't happen in that story. I really appreciate the feedback I've gotten for this fic, and I really hope that if you come by this story and enjoy it, you'll take the time to just leave me a quick review. It doesn't have to be anything special, but I always appreciate people taking time out of their busy lives to just give me a little compliment or criticism, so please feel free to do so. Also, this chapter's kind of long (for this fic only), which is good, but I'm going to try to bring down the word count from here on out because I would like to finish this around the time summer ends, which means I can't write so much per installment. Anyway, I've bored you enough, so please go ahead and read!

A light breeze blew across Misty's face, providing temporary relief from the beating summer sun above. She looked angrily ahead at the young man who'd forced her out onto this seemingly endless trek out of his neighborhood and now past Professor Oak's laboratory.

"Ash, this better be worth the walk," she warned in yet another growl. She hadn't relented in tormenting the teenager since they'd left his shaded porch ten minutes ago with the promise that he was taking her somewhere "cool". "If it's not, I can't be held responsible for what happens to you."

He looked behind and gave her a toothy grin. "Oh, c'mon Mist. You know we didn't have anything else to do today anyway."

"Not dying in a hundred degree weather was actually at the top of my list."

"Well, when we get there, you'll be glad you came." With that, he turned back around and continued to march proudly toward their destination.

Now past the old lab, the brown dirt path led down a small incline. Reaching the bottom of the slope, the raven-haired trainer turned to the right; down yet another dirt path that led into a thicket of trees and shrubbery. Though the path was wide and clear, around them nature creaked in its unique way, reminding those who would trod down the manmade walkway that it held ultimate dominion over all that lay within its boundaries.

"Ash, if you're gonna throw a Caterpie at me or something, I'll kill you."

He shook his head and laughed. "Don't worry, it's nothing like that...today, at least."

She glared hard at the back of his head, but he refused to turn around.

A few more seconds passed when Ash suddenly muttered something about being "almost there" under his breath. Sure enough, after another minute of walking, the clearing seemed to grow even larger, and at its end, Ash stopped to take in the view.

Misty joined him.

"Hm?"

"This is my old school, Misty. The one I went to back before I started my journey."

Before the duo rested a two-story tall, four hundred foot-wide brown-brick building. It was actually quite standard in appearance to all other public schools in Misty's eyes. There were about a dozen windows on both the first and second floors, and the entire front was tied together by two large, red metallic doors with small rectangular windows that opened only during the other three seasons.

"...you took me to your old school?" She wasn't angry just yet. Something about how Ash was gazing at the perfectly average structure made her bite her tongue, but she still didn't understand their purpose for being there.

He turned and nodded, giving another smile. His eyes lit up as he turned back and examined the building. "I just wanted to see it again. For the first couple of years after I left home, I'd come back to Pallet and avoid it...I didn't really care about seeing the place I hated most as a kid. Now that I'm older though...I dunno. It has a lot of memories, I guess."

"Gotcha, Jimmy!"

"No you didn't, idiot!"

More screams and laughter could be heard coming from behind Pallet Elementary, and Ash smiled. The look on his face told Misty he was temporarily out of touch, and she allowed him the moment; unable to help the smile creeping upon her own lips.

"Let's go check out the playground in the back," he suggested after the quiet moment had passed and he'd returned to the present.

"Okay, sounds good," the redhead agreed as they walked out of the cool shade of the tall pine trees and back into the blazing sun. They walked past the school, the ground crunching beneath their feet every few seconds as dirt and rocks found themselves trampled by their steps.

Coming around the corner, Ash was unsurprised to find the old playground exactly as he'd left it.

It wasn't much, honestly. There were monkey bars and a swing set and a basketball court, but that all fell into the background when he saw it; the old tree.

Here he'd spent more time from the ages of five to ten than anywhere else. Here he had his first, unrecognized at the time, crush on a girl he constantly teased - much like a redhead he met not long after. Here was where he and Gary started as friends, and ended as rivals.

It was all here, and as a cool breeze blew across his face, he almost couldn't help but feel a sudden and deep pang of nostalgia bury into his heart.

This morning, as he laid in his old room, fast asleep, he'd been awoken by the chirping of Pidgey and Spearow. The second he opened his eyes, he noted the window pane's rising shadow creep along his walls as the sun began to rise, and as he breathed in the air of his childhood, he decided it was time to come back.

Misty looked at her boyfriend again. "Why's this place so special?" she asked gently, touched to find that her oftentimes Pokémon-obsessed boyfriend was capable of such a tenderhearted moment.

"It-I grew up here, you know?" He turned to face her. "It's kinda like you and the gym...it just means something special. I used to hang out here every day - right there under the big oak tree - and I would play and make friends."

"I get it," she nodded, understanding exactly how he felt after the gym analogy. Though she couldn't ever imagine herself returning there permanently again, every time she went she found herself overcome by memories. "Your childhood is here, right?"

He gave a small smile as he turned back to the tree. Several younger kids were swinging from its lower branches, and about ten others were running around it in a spur of the moment game of tag. "Yeah, my childhood. I mean, I love that I've been able to travel, and make friends, and meet you, of course, but-"

"But it's still sad to think of all that you left behind," she finished, eliciting a nod from her best friend. "I get it."

They were quiet again as the children went on about their business, completely unaware of the two older teens watching from a distance. Unaware, in fact, that one day they too would grow up and come back to this same tree and bemoan the loss of their own childhood.

Summer, Misty realized, has a way of doing that when you're a kid, though. The warm air, the hot dogs, and the sleepovers all come together to create some hybrid of total apathy for the future. As a child, during the summer, school seems infinitely far away, and adulthood even further.

It makes you sad to think of when you're older...but it makes for the best memories when you're younger, she realized with a small grin.

"Hey Misty," Ash muttered after another few moments had passed.

"Yeah, Ash?"

"Um, thanks for sharing this with me."

She gave him a wink. "I wouldn't have missed it for the world...besides, it's good to see the school our future children'll be going to."

His eyes almost jumped out of his head at the last statement. "Children?"

She simply laughed and turned around, walking back towards the Ketchum abode where hot dogs awaited them for lunch. Ash panicked from behind the entire trip.