Legal Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Pokemon is the property of Nintendo Entertainment.

This is the second 'Book' of a total of six in this series.

Chapter 2

The Honeymoon

(Ash's POV)

Several hours had passed since our wedding as we now enjoyed each other's company, taking a leisurely stroll across the beach-side of Pallet Town. For all the years I've known her for, Misty had never looked as content as she was now; her beautiful face illuminated by the full moon, as her head rested gently upon my shoulder. Pikachu and Marill walked alongside us with a happy smile beaming across their faces, as they both indulged on a small packet of ketchup I gave to Pikachu earlier.

"Did you enjoy the wedding today, you two?" Misty asked after awhile, standing upright again as she turned her face towards them.

"Pi-kachu!"

"Marill!" the two Pokémon merrily responded.

"But you know, Ash," she said, looking back to me, "We're soon gonna have to work out a whole lot of stuff, like where we're gonna live."

I stopped walking. Misty and Pikachu looked at me with puzzled looks on their faces, as I turned sideways to face her. She had quite a concerned look on her face, as I raised my head to meet her eyes.

"Mist…" I started, before smiling at her, "That, and everything else we'll have to deal with, we can think about tomorrow morning. Tonight is for you. I want today to be the happiest day of your life; when you can relax and let go of all of your worries, if only for a few hours."

Her confused gaze soon turned to a smile of assurance, as she leaned in, kissed me on the left cheek and whispered into my ear.

"Alright, Mr. Pokémon Master. If you say so."

We continued to walk together along the sandy shores of the beach. I had never felt so complete…so relaxed…so perfectly…

Happy.

"Y'know, Mist," I said to her again, as we rested our heads against each other's, "Honestly, there really couldn't be anything more that I could ever want right now, than to be beside you tonight."

"Actually Ash, there is something that I've wanted for a long time now," she replied.

"What is it, Mist?" I asked.

"Ash, I…" she said, looking downwards, "…I want children. I know it may be a little too early in our marriage for me to say something like this to you, but…I really do. In fact, I've always dreamed of being a mother someday. I guess it's because I talked to your mother so often while you were off traveling in Hoenn and Sinnoh, and I started to envy her a bit. She told me that although she occasionally feels sad from missing you, being a mother was the best thing that could ever happen to her, and that she's proud of you, always."

I looked at her. "Do you…do you really want to be a mother that much?"

"Of course," she nodded. "Ash…nothing could make me prouder than being the mother of your child."

"But Mist," I said, holding her hand firmly, "Being a mother and going through pregnancy at your age is gonna take some serious work, and cause you a lot of hardship. Are you sure you're ready for something like that?"

"I am," she smiled as she laid her free hand upon my cheek, "And besides…I know that you'll always be there to look out for me."

"Mist…"

I pulled her in gently and gave her a hug, as she reciprocated my love by holding me in her soothing embrace. I then laid my right hand upon the side of her face, stroking her radiant hair as I did so. We then kissed passionately, as the waves crashed gently on the shoreline, and a wild flock of Butterfree flew elegantly across the night sky.

"Okay then, what kind of names do you wanna give them?" I chuckled as we broke contact.

"Well, I dunno exactly," she replied, placing her forefinger upon her lower lip. "What do you think?"

"Well, let's see now," I said as we started walking again, hand-in-hand. "If it's a girl, why don't we call her, umm…Bianca, or Melody?" I grinned sheepishly as I teased her. As soon as she heard my suggestions, Misty gave me a tired glare, sticking her tongue out at me in frustration before looking forward again.

"Fine then, Ash Ketchum," she said in a vexed, yet sarcastic tone as she grinned. "Then surely you wouldn't mind me naming the child if it's a boy? How about…Rudy…or Danny?"

My eyelid twitched at the sound of the names of the two Orange Islands gym leaders whom Misty had developed strong crushes on while we traveled with Tracey. Jokingly, I responded to her by flicking her playfully on the arm, causing her to wince and hold the upper part of her arm with her other hand. She replied back by playfully slapping me softly on the arm, as we both chuckled. Then, I nudged her in the shoulder with a little more force, and while attempting to push me back with her left hand, Misty lost balance and fell onto the sand as I quickly leaned back to avoid it.

"Come back here, Ash Ketchum! I'm going to kill you!" Misty bellowed furiously as she got up onto her feet and brushed sand off her cheeks, chasing after me as I dashed away, laughing. Pikachu and Marill quickly ran after us. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Misty running at me like my Primeape when I first encountered it years ago. There were two things in this world that could make Misty run faster than you could ever believe to be humanly possible: her fear of bugs, and her burning will to pummel someone with her mallet when they made her angry.

I suddenly fell into a fit of panic, as I tripped over a clump of sand lying on the beach. I cried out in fear as Misty came running in and leapt on top of me, as we both started rolling along the sand, clutching each other's backs.

"Aah, Misty, don't hit me!" I cried, covering my eyes with both of my hands. "Don't kill me, please! Not on our honeymo-oompfhh!" I wailed, before I was made to shut up as my lips made contact with hers, drowning out my fearful shouts. Misty then continued to kiss me between heated breaths, before she leaned back and onto the sand, holding onto my back as I leaned over her.

"How are you ever possibly gonna be the man of the household when you're such a chicken, huh?" she teased as she stroked my cheek.

"Get used to it, honey," I grinned, drawing her in for another kiss.

We made love to each other on the sandy shores of the beach for a brief time, before sitting up together and looking in each other's eyes.

"I promise you Mist, that I'll always be there to love and protect you… I promise," I whispered, holding both of her hands in mine as she leaned her chin on my shoulder.

She whispered back into my right ear, laying soft kisses on my cheek as she spoke. "I know."

Then, as we stood back up, I saw Pikachu and Marill with very tired looks on their faces, yawning from fatigue.

"Come on," I said to Misty, squeezing her hand delicately, "It's getting late, and Pikachu and Marill are exhausted. We should be getting back."

"Alright Ash," Misty nodded, before looking over her shoulder at them, "Come on you two!"

"Pikapi!"

"Marill!"

Pikachu and Marill cheerfully replied, as Pikachu leapt upon my back and Misty took Marill in her arms.

Minutes later, we were back at the hotel we were staying at, as its yellow outdoor floodlights glowed brightly, leading the way to the entrance. Branches of tropical trees rustled against the gentle wind, which made Misty shiver slightly as I held her beside me with my right hand. Both of us were quite exhausted after all that we did together after the wedding; the after party with several of the guests at my house, taking photographs, restraining Brock yet again from a group of girls who were confused by his behavior…all I wanted now was to relax in a comfortable bed, with Misty by my side.

Upon entering the hotel's elevator, I pressed the button to go to the top-most floor, where our room was located. I turned my head left to look at Misty; her eyes were almost half-closed, as I placed my arm around to support her. She leaned into me, breathing lightly onto my neck as the doors of the elevator opened.

We walked down the corridor to our door, and I unlocked it with the room key, which Pikachu handed to me after swinging down from my back to the front of my jacket pocket to remove it; the speed and precision with which he did it so great, that it would've put even a Mankey to shame. I opened the door, and put the key back into my pocket, as Pikachu jumped down from my shoulder onto the floor. I gently removed Marill from Misty's arms, and placed the blue Pokémon on the ground.

Pikachu and Marill then proceeded to run into our bedroom, as Misty and I looked on smiling. Knowing how tired she was, I picked her up by her back and legs and carried her into the bedroom, taking great care to place her delicately on the mattress of the bed. I kissed her gently on the forehead and lips, and stroked the side of her face as she closed her eyes, seemingly ready to fall into a deep sleep.

I then crouched down to speak to Pikachu, who was still frolicking with Marill on the foot of the bed.

"Hey buddy, do you mind taking Marill with you to the other bedroom? Misty and I would like some…privacy… just for tonight."

"Pi…" Pikachu replied silently, smiling at me and Misty in acknowledgment of my request. I turned my attention back to Misty, as I held her hand which lay on the side of the bed, looking at her tired eyes which shone a radiant cerulean blue. After a few moments, I released her hand, laying it gently upon her chest, and walked towards the wardrobe.

"Do you wanna have a rest on the bed Misty? I'll be out after I take a shower." I said to her, turning around to head into the bathroom as I grabbed my bathrobe.

"Ok, Ash. I'll be waiting," she replied, as she drifted off into a brief nap while I took a shower. After I finished and came out, Misty also took her nightgown into the bathroom and took a shower while I waited on the bed. Then, once she had finished in the bathroom, she came back into the bedroom and joined me in the bed, as we enjoyed our first night together as husband and wife.

(The next morning)

We were suddenly woken by a thumping feeling on the foot of our bed. As we both rubbed our eyes and looked up, we saw Pikachu and Marill with broad smiles on their faces, which were lit up by the radiant sunlight which beamed through the window. Yawning, I turned to Misty who sat up from the bed.

"How are you feeling today, Mist?" I asked her.

"Great! That was the best night I've had in a long while!" she beamed as she stretched her arms upwards into the air.

"Well, I guess it's time for breakfast, then," I said, getting out of bed with her. We both walked into the kitchen; Misty drawing a box of cereal out of the pantry and setting up bowls and spoons, while I took out a carton of milk from the fridge, as well as a bottle of ketchup for Pikachu and Marill to share.

"So, Ash, about where we're gonna live…have you got any ideas yet?" Misty asked as we started to eat.

"Hmm…I dunno, actually," I said, causing her to smack her forehead with her palm.

"Trust you to think about anything but your stomach or Pokémon…" she muttered.

I laughed inwardly, whilst continuing to eat. "Well, what kinda place do you wanna live in, Mist?" I asked.

"Well," she replied, "Obviously you know that I love the sea. So I was hoping that maybe we could live somewhere where there's a lot of water around, for me and my Pokémon. I want Seaking and Gyarados to be able to swim freely where we live."

"What about just living in Cerulean, then?" I asked.

"No…I was thinking somewhere else," she answered, looking down.

"What's wrong with Cerulean, Mist?"

"Nothing…it's just that I…I wanted to go somewhere else. Somewhere that's new, you know?"she explained.

"Hmm…I see," I said, leaning back into my chair, before a small pamphlet lying on the kitchen bench top caught my eye. "Hey, it's a real estate pamphlet!" I remarked, stretching my arm out to grab it. "Let's see here…"

"See anything nice?" Misty asked as she peered over, while I flicked through the pages.

"Erm…besides Cerulean City, there's a house by the coastline of Fuchsia City, a beach house by the coast of Lavender Town…" I said, listing the possibilities.

"NO. Not Lavender Town," she said boldly, shaking a little bit from the memories of our journey to Pokémon Tower.

I chuckled. "OK, then. There's also a resort house in Cinnabar Island, but then again, there's practically no-one there besides old Blaine. Then there's a house available within the town in the Seafoam Islands…"

"That's perfect!" Misty beamed, clicking with her fingers.

"Ehh? Wha?" I said, looking up at her dazedly.

"Pika?"

"Marr?" the two Pokémon looked up from their ketchup bottle.

"The Seafoam Islands! It's got the most beautiful beaches, as well as stunning sunsets! On top of that, it's also a great place to train all kinds of Pokémon!" she smiled.

"Yeah, but…" I murmured, "It's so far away from everyone else…"

"We can visit everyone once every couple of months, can't we?" she smiled, "We could also visit May every now and then, by taking the ferry to the Hoenn Region!"

"It's just that…I hardly got to spend time with my mom during my years of traveling. I just wanted to be close to her in case she needs any help, y'know?" I said.

"Don't worry about her too much, Ash. Your mom is a very strong-hearted person. I'm sure she can manage," Misty reassured me, placing her warm hand on mine.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," I said, "What's gonna happen to the gym, if you decide to leave?"

"That's fine too! Daisy said that she'll become the gym leader on a permanent basis. She's trained a lot over the past two years, so I'm sure she can handle it." Misty reassured me.

"OK, Mist. It's settled, then," I said, lifting her hand and kissing the top of it, before laying it back down softly on the table. "Come on. Let's finish breakfast, and then we'll visit Professor Oak's lab and my mom's place."

A/N: That's the end of Chapter 2. I can't do too much on this story right now in terms of word length, because my final exams are just over a month away. It's most likely that Chapter 3 won't be put up until around the week of November 15, when my exams finish.

I was originally going to make Ash and Misty go live in Cinnabar Island, but chose the Seafoam Islands instead, because the town there didn't seem like a large-enough place compared to the town in the Seafoam Islands in the anime. It also conflicted with some plotlines that I was going to use in Book III, but I won't specify what they are, for spoiler reasons.