Authors Notes: The Eevee got away, so… update!

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With a tug, Misty pulled her rucksack shut. It'd taken her a while to find the paperwork, but a week before Misty had finally found the badge records. Her job didn't require her to analyse patterns, but one pattern was clear, going back years. Steadily, week by week, month by month, the number of badges she'd parted with was dropping.

She'd gotten too strong. A bit paradoxical, perhaps, but a gym leader was only expected to be so strong. A gym nobody could claim a badge from was a gym that was serving no function to the League. It was rare, but a gym leader being punished for failure to lose battles was not unheard of. Unofficially, gyms existed on tiers, with it carefully laid out that it was impossible for a trainer to earn enough badges to qualify for the league without beating two top tier gym leaders. Misty was struggling to lose enough battles to qualify for that. Literally one less loss would've gotten her a visit from Lance. A sudden visit from the Champion was almost never a good thing. For reasons most would find bizarre, she was no longer fit to be Gym Leader.

So, she was leaving.

She'd been considering this off and on for a long time. Not because of Ash, he was just the catalyst to reignite the idea. Brock was well on his way to becoming a Pokémon doctor, Ash was PokémonGrandmaster (she could so easily picture his ten year old self breaking out into dance over that). She, she'd been here, at the gym, her life on standby. Everyone else she knew was finding their way in life. Now it was her turn.

It had been a long talk, but she'd convinced her sisters to do their job. She'd had to get a bit underhanded with the negotiations. Technically speaking, the premise pretty much belonged to the registered Gym Leader, meaning Misty. The League left her with funding only she could decide what to do with. The staff she'd hired would be kept on hand, they'd keep the workings of the gym flowing. Literally, all the sisters had to do was actually battle. She'd made it clear; If they weren't gonna do the job, then the League was going to find someone else to do it, at her request (there were always trainers looking to become Gym Leaders). She would feel guilty about threatening to kick them out of the place, but to quite frank, they had everything they needed to set up anywhere else. There were literally half a dozen venues inside the city limits that'd kill for the opportunity to host The Sensational Sisters. It was their turn to put the nose to the grindstone, or find a new venue.

Her gym was in order, now there was one final piece of business to attend. She turned to the familiar box on a table. It was time for its contents to be returned. She opened the box, placing an envelope next to the hat. It wasn't fair to either of them to let things hang in the air. Ash deserved the truth, and she deserved to finally share it. She just hoped he wouldn't take her method the wrong way. She hoped he wouldn't feel guilty, either, but she knew he would anyway. It wasn't his fault. He didn't make her fall for him. Well, not intentionally. In the letter was what she wanted to say, everything she wanted to say, six years of mixed-up feelings condensed into a single letter.

It'd had taken several drafts.

She hated doing this to Delia, but she'd understand (she hoped). She'd explain it to her soon, when she could get a private call. Ash, she'd talk to him eventually. Eventually. She just needed to clear her head for a while.

They'd meet again, when the waters were settled.

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Brock smiled to himself as he watched the majority of his siblings drag off their father and mother. Family outings had become more frequent since the parents of the household had returned, and even more since he himself had come back. Never let it be said his was a family that got tired of one another's company. He turned away, making his way towards the house, the only sound the ambiance of his footsteps.

Another step. Brock stopped, a loud step had seized his attention, by intent no doubt. His mind ran through a few possibilities of an identity. Random challenger, another journalist, pretty fan (hey, he was allowed to dream!), his mind didn't predict who he actually turned to face.

"Ash."

From out of the shade of a tree, Ash emerged, slowly, Pikachu following at his feet. Ash's steps were slow, heavy, his gaze not quite meeting Brock's eye. The moment served to prolong the sense of time, every step seeming to take moments, rather than seconds. He came forward, stopping just out of arms reach.

"Brock." Ash forced his gaze to meet Brock's. "I..." Brock saw his hands clench and unclench, the effort that was going into just being here, never-mind how much it would take to utter words he already had.

"I watched your coronation, Ash."

Ash's pupils widened, his eyes glistening. "I never stopped to think-! I never-! I'm-i'm sor-" His words kept trapping in his throat, as he tried to get them out, he had to get them out, he had to say. He had-Brock stepped forward, pulling Ash to himself. Ash found himself returning the sudden embrace, tightly hugging his older friend, his brother.

Brock felt something wet fall onto his shoulders. Ash was shaking. "I'm sorry."

Brock patted his friend-his brother's back gently. His vision blurred, his own tears flowing freely. Last time they had met, had turned out so very bad. Such old wounds, so deep wounds, could finally be opened, to let the poison that had sunk so deep to be expelled at long last.

"I'm sorry too."

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He wasn't sure how long he spent with Brock, just talking about seemingly anything. It was amazing, how long it felt they managed to talk, without touching on anything with emotional weight. Yet like all inevitable things, the wider reality found them eventually, as Ash was leaving Brock inquired about two others Ash had previously been unable to locate. He'd sent Ash off with the instruction that he see them before the day's end.

Which is how he found himself here, at a hotel in the middle of town, at room 17. He gently rapped on the room door. Pikachu looked up at Ash, gently tugging on his leg. "Pi ka pikachu." It'll be okay.

-Click- The door opened, showing Dawn on the other side. Her expression was difficult to decipher anything from. As was her voice. "Come in, then."

She turned, and walked. Sharing a brief glance, the pair followed. The reached the living quarters, finding May at the window-she'd seen him coming? They knew he was coming. Dawn moved to her side, neither looking at him as Ash approached, stopping just short of them. Pikachu jumped to the sofa, his nose noticing something he couldn't see...

May and Dawn stood, arms folded, their shoulders to him. Ash looked between them. He took a deep breath, he had to do this. "May. Dawn. I-I, I just wanna say-" -CRACK-

"Pikapi!"

May's hand returned to her side, her gaze cold, and-CRACK- Dawn's followed, and mirrored, both of Ash's cheeks stinging. "I-I deserved that." May and Dawn took a few steps, putting Ash between the pair of them. He couldn't look either in the eye. "Girls, I'm sorr-"

They each grabbed a shoulder, and-what the-?!

He saw his reflection in the window. His face shocked, confused and mouth agape, with a girl attached by the lips at either cheek. A blur shot up-"Pip!"

Flash

They detached. "Did you get it?"

"Piplup pip!" Piplup tossed up a phone to-a quickly smiling Dawn.

Wait, what the hell just happened?

"I'm making this my background." After a few button presses, May's phone suddenly flashed into life, she took a look at-

She grinned. "Me too. Up high." The pair exchanged a high-five, before continuing to put their little stunt on display.

Ash blinked. "Uh-? What was that...?"

"We slapped you for being a jerk," spoke Dawn.

"And the kiss was for your speech," followed May.

Wait, what? What did that-girls were confusing! "Wait. Do you forgive me or not?"

The pair looked at each other. They smiled, in a way that sent a chill down Ash's spine.

"Half way there."

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During his time at the Edge, Ash faced the one of most physically gruelling times of his life (it was in top five at least). Conditions were harsh, the local Pokémon life was harsher still. Every day served as a trial. in an effort to improve his own physical strength, Ash spent much of his spare time pushing and pulling a boulder up and down a very steep hill. The boulder was impossible to role, bigger than him and heavy as hell.

He missed that boulder.

Even now, his shoulders were killing him. May and Dawn's idea of the "other half" of his penance had involved a shopping spree. A long, extravagantshopping spree. He'd gotten saddled with the bags.

He really missed that boulder. He massaged his neck, who hung a bag around a guy's neck, seriously? Ah, the prince of penance. It was worth it. Though he ended up paying for more than he'd planned. They'd passed a bike shop at the end of their trip, and Pikachu had destroyed their bikes way back when…

Their prolonged repayment had earned considerable interest. He didn't know bikes, but apparently their new bikes were nice bikes. Well, May and Dawn kept protesting they were "too much", so they must've been good. He had to imply he'd just have Pikachu destroy them if they didn't accept, but that little detail wasn't important. All in all, today was a good day. He'd expected it to go a hell of a lot worse. He didn't even expect to see May and Dawn for a good while. He never saw their little stunt coming either.

Their kisses, they didn't feel the same as Misty's. It couldn't be the surprise, both had caught him off guard. It was something else, something else that made hers different.

Something else that made him...like it. He raised his hand to his cheek, placing it over where she'd kissed him.

"I love you."

"Misty..."

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End of Chapter

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Author's Notes: Threw a bone out there for Advance/Pearlshippers. You're welcome.