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 4

Double Trouble Again

"Hello, is anybody in?" I called out upon entering the lab, before walking over as we saw him tweaking some machines located near the back of the building.

"Oh, hello there, you two!" the professor looked up, "Congratulations on your wedding once again!"

"Thanks, Professor Oak!"

"Thank you!" we said, one after the other.

"Hi, you guys! Good to see you again!" Tracey smiled, looking over at us while he took care of paperwork on a nearby desk.

"Hey, Tracey!" Misty smiled as I waved at him. "It was great to see you at the wedding!"

"Uhh, Professor?" I asked, looking around and noticing the absence of a certain person who would always drive me nuts whenever I saw him. "Where's Gary? He was here just yesterday at the wedding!"

"Oh! Gary went to Goldenrod City to visit his girlfriend, Amanda. He told me that he'll be away for a couple of days," he explained, "But first of all, Ash, I've got a pleasant surprise for you!"

"Really? What is it?" I said optimistically.

"Hahaha…you'll see," he chuckled.

"…eh?" I scratched my head, puzzled at what he could have meant. Then, darkness enveloped me as something furry jumped onto the back of my head, covering my eyes with a pair of thick hands which resembled boxing gloves, more than anything. The creature secured both my eyes with one arm whilst reaching upwards and touching the top of my hand with the other, before he let out a small sigh of disappointment. "What the - . I can't see anything! What's going on?" I cried.

"Now, now, that's enough, there. Come off him now," the professor laughed, as the hands which blindfolded me came off of my eyes. I looked down, to see a very familiar sight which I had not seen for many years.

"Prime~" chuckled my old Pokémon.

"Huh? Primeape!" I cried, startled. "How did you get here?"

"He came here just this morning, and was brought over by Anthony. Anthony told me that after you left Primeape in his care, he became the champion of the P1 Grand Prix within just barely a year. Ever since then, he was the undefeated grand champion, before he decided to call time on his Champion status, because he wanted a change in lifestyle," Professor Oak said.

"Wow! Undefeated champion! That's quite an achievement!" Misty said, crouching down and gently scratching the back of Primeape's ear, which he seemed to enjoy very much.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu smiled, walking over and holding out his paw at Primeape, who responded with a soft knuckle. Primeape now seemed to be surprisingly well-mannered in terms of controlling his temper, but nonetheless still had the features of a mischievous troublemaker who would gleefully play pranks on me every now and again - something which he and Glalie had in common.

"Hey, buddy, it's been a long time! It's good to see you again," I said as I shook his hand. Primeape, however, seemed to be a little disappointed, as his head drooped downwards. "Huh, what's the matter?"

"I think…he wishes you were wearing something that brought back old memories," Misty winked at me.

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes, putting on a frustrated face. "You, mister, are the densest person I've met in my entire life," she growled, tapping the top of my head, separating numerous strands of hair in the process.

"Oh…right…my hat," I grinned, rubbing the back of my uncovered head. "I don't wear it anymore. Sorry, buddy."

"Prime~" he sighed again.

"Well anyway, has anything new been going on around here in the past few days? I couldn't visit for the last week, because of wedding preparations and all," I said.

"Not much, Ash. Although Squirtle's gone off again, after receiving a message from the Officer Jenny who's with the Squirtle Squad. I believe that at the moment, they're in a town in the vicinity of Route 3, between Pewter City and Mt. Moon."

I smiled and nodded. Over the years, the Squirtle Squad had become one of the top fire-fighting groups in all of Kanto; a few of them had evolved into Wartortles, bolstering the power of their combined Water Gun and Hydro Pump attacks, which surpassed even the power of a couple of fire trucks. Although he himself had not evolved, Squirtle remained as the sole leader of their group, as his power was still superior due to the vast battle experience he gained over our travels – a characteristic he shared with Bulbasaur, when compared to their evolved forms.

"Professor, I'm here!" a cheerful voice rang from the doorway, causing us all to look behind us. It was a little girl, who was no doubt here to receive her first starter Pokémon.

"Oh, hello, Melanie! I suppose you're here to choose your very first Pokémon?" Professor Oak said in a pleasant tone, turning around to face the soon-to-be trainer.

"Yup! Can I see the three I can choose from?" she beamed.

"When we have kids, promise me that they'll be active like her, and not lazy like you, honey." Misty leaned sideways and whispered into my ear, drawing a temporary glare from the side of my eye.

"Sure! Right this way! Tracey and I will explain all three Pokémon to you!" the Professor said, gesturing Melanie to follow him. The little girl skipped to his side optimistically, before her mouth gaped wide as she looked at me and Misty.

"Hey! Aren't you…" she murmured, pointing her finger upwards at me.

"Ash Ketchum? Yep, that's me. I'm guessing you heard about me through- mmpppf!" I said proudly, before my mouth was blocked all of a sudden by Misty's hand.

"Trust you to not be overly proud about things, as well," she said, her right eyebrow twitching with frustration.

"Oh! And you're…you're Misty Waterflower, aren't you?" Melanie said, turning her face towards Misty, "Oh, um, excuse me…I guess I should call you Misty Ketchum now, right?"

'Misty Ketchum? That sure sounds like a weird combination,' I thought. Looking at Misty's perplexed face, I was convinced she was thinking the same.

"Umm, yeah…" Misty replied, "I guess you could say that…"

"Pleased to meet you!" Melanie smiled.

"Now why can't you be more like that as well, honey?" Misty said to me again, "I still remember. Every single time you came across a gym leader, you'd always be like, 'I'm Ash Ketchum, and I'm here to win a gym badge!'. No 'Pleased to meet you', no 'Glad to make your acquaintance', not even a simple 'hello'! No nothing! Even to female trainers like Erika, Sabrina, or Cissy!"

Although I did my best to keep a straight face on the outside, on the inside, I was boiling hotter than Blaine's gym on Cinnabar Island. As much as I wanted to shout back and argue with her like the old days of our childhood, I loved her too much at present to do that. Things were only made worse though, as Tracey started to snigger silently.

"Oh, but Misty, I'm sure he's developed a lot since then. Now come on – I'll take you all to the research room, where the three starters are located!" Professor Oak said.

(At the research room)

"Now, Melanie, Tracey and I will explain the three starter Pokémon of Kanto to you," the Professor said upon stopping in front of the large, round table containing the Pokéballs of the three starters. "First of all is Bulbasaur – a grass-type Pokémon," he started, releasing the Pokémon.

"Bulba! Bulbasaur!" it cried out happily upon coming out onto the lab floor.

"The grass-type, in its own right, is mainly a supporting type which best suited for lengthy battles, due to it being able to learn moves such as Leech seed, Absorb, Giga Drain, and in the case of part-poison grass Pokémon such as the Bulbasaur evolution line, they can also learn poison-type moves such as Toxic. As such, the longer a battle is, the more it favors the grass type. Also, as the first two gyms of the Kanto region are of the Rock and Water types, many trainers choose to start their journey with the grass-type Bulbasaur. Using the grass-type can also be a very risky business, however, as many trainers tend to favor Pokémon which rely on special attacks, such as Flamethrower and Ice Beam, which can be devastating against a grass-type. The grass type is strong against Water, Rock and Ground types, but weak against the Fire, Ice, Bug, Flying and Poison types: in short, it's strong against three out of the seventeen Pokémon types, but weak against five, in terms of super-effectiveness. What do you think, Melanie?" the Professor explained.

"It looks really energetic!" she replied, looking at the smiling, active Bulbasaur, "But…what are the other two Pokémon, professor?"

"Oh, alright. So you want to have a look at all three before making your decision? A very wise choice, Melanie," Professor Oak smiled. "I'll let Tracey give you an explanation of Squirtle, the next starter Pokémon."

"Ahem," Tracey started, clearing his voice. "Squirtle is a tortoise-based Pokémon, and as such, is a water-type," he said, releasing Squirtle from its Pokéball.

"Squirtle, squirt!" it happily cried, waving its arms in the air in a stretching fashion.

"The water-type is quite a balanced one in terms of stats, with high defence and special defence, giving it more freedom in attack. The water type is strong against the Fire, Rock and Ground types, but weak again the Grass and Electric types. However, many water-type Pokémon are able to hold their own against the Grass-type, due to them being able to learn Ice-type moves such as Ice Beam – Blastoise, Squirtle's final evolved form, being one of them. The water-type is a very good choice as an all-rounder Pokémon, as it is able to withstand a lot of damage while also being able to deal quite a bit of damage itself. Water-type Pokémon are also able to carry you around on sea, provided that they are large enough, like Blastoise, Gyarados and Cloyster. Also, they are an all-round good choice for taking on the gyms on the Kanto region, as they can stand up very well to the first two gyms, and hold their own against other types, too," Tracey said.

"Cool! And what about the final Pokémon?" Melanie asked.

"The final Pokémon," said Professor Oak, releasing the last Pokéball, "is the fire-type, Charmander."

The light of the beam of the Pokéball subsided, revealing the small Charmander who stood before Melanie. My eyes widened slightly, as I recognized the shy Pokémon who shook slightly in a timid manner – he was Charizard's son.

"The fire-type is a highly offensive type, able to deal tremendous amounts of damage in a short amount of time, depending on the battle. However, they are very fragile defensively – this has caused some to liken the fire-type to a glass cannon; they can be a very destructive force, yet are very fragile at the same time. Therefore, you must be extra careful during battle, to ensure that your fire-type Pokémon don't become too immersed in attack, that they neglect defence. Charizard, Charmander's final evolved form, is also able to fly, thus enabling it to carry you in the air. The fire type is strong against the Grass, Bug, Ice and Steel types, but weak against the Water, Ground and Rock types. Oh, and I should also point out while I'm at it – as the first two gyms in the Kanto region are of the Rock and Water type, you must be extremely patient when raising Charmander, or also catch other Pokemon types to make up for its weakness in the two gyms. So, Melanie, which of the three types do you most fancy?" Professor Oak pointed his arm at the three starters standing next to each other, as Melanie held her chin with her hand in thought.

"Erm…I think I'll pick…Charmander!" she declared, pointing at the small dragon who winced shyly.

"Hmm…strange," the professor said, "he's normally quite the energetic type, but for some reason, he's acting very diffidently at the moment."

"Maybe he just doesn't wanna leave his dad…" I mumbled quietly, heard by no-one.

Our silence was suddenly cut out by a loud thudding noise outside, followed by the roar of a great machine on wheels. Not them again…

"Well, that could mean only one thing," Misty sighed, "…they're at it again."

We all ran outside, confirming that our initial thoughts were correct, as we saw Team Rocket terrorizing the Pokémon of the lab with yet another of their mechas. A steel-plated vehicle rumbled towards us, waving two long, tube-like arms with claws which protruded from either side – no doubt designed for nabbing Pokémon. In the cockpit behind a glass screen were Jessie, James and Meowth; James at the wheel, while Jessie and Meowth seemed to be the ones controlling the arms.

"What do you think gives you the right to come here and cause trouble?" Misty fumed, before slapping her forehead. "Crap…I shouldn't have used that word…"

"…Did she just say…" Jessie turned an eye towards us.

"…trouble?" James finished.

I think you must have meant, 'Prepare for trouble!'

You're in for it now, so make it double!

To protect the world from devastation.

To unite all peoples within our nation.

To denounce the evils of truth and…

"Wo~buffet!" the Pokémon cried boisterously, bursting out of its Pokéball out of cue and squeezing between them, causing James to squeal as his cheek comically pressed against the glass.

"Not now, you idiot!" Jessie shouted angrily, bringing her knuckle down hard and fast onto the top of Wobbuffet's head before recalling him into his ball. "Now…where was I-" she turned her head, before wincing as Charizard came flying in with a Flamethrower attack which came off the reinforced-glass protecting them. Charmander, who stood by Melanie, looked on with admiration and awe at his father's magnificent display of power.

"Screw da' motto – let's get on wid' it!" Meowth said in frustration.

"Right!" James replied, placing his hand on the control panel.

"Hey, wait a minute…" Jessie said in a dumbfounded manner, pointing towards me and Misty. "Are those rings around their fingers…"

"Huh? What rings?" Meowth and James leaned forward to have a closer look.

"They're our wedding rings! Why do you care about them anyway?" Misty yelled again.

"Wedding rings? But surely you must only be twenty at this point in time!" Jessie said confusedly, before her expression turned into one of frustration and anger as she turned to James, who drew back away from her in fear, squealing like a scared mouse. Jessie lurched forward, shaking him back and forth by the collar. "Dammit, James, we're THIRTY already! Thirty! Thirty, and still not even married! I should even be a mother by now! Those damn parents of yours!"

By the time Jessie finished with him, James was in a completely dazed state, and sure to be seeing stars wheeling overhead as he landed back onto his seat.

"Hey, are those…" I said, pointing at them.

"What, twerp! You better not say anything else that'll do nothing but tick me off even further!" Jessie roared, her voice ringing out as loud as that of an Exploud.

"Oh, nothing. I was just gonna say, you actually look kinda cool in those new, black outfits," I said.

"Oh, why thank you!" Jessie replied, suddenly seeming completely happy. For some reason which I'll likely never find out, Jessie was always obsessed with her looks. "We got a promotion a short time ago!"

"Yeah! Advanced Troops now! It's quite a deal!" James smiled.

"Stop being distracted and wasting time, youse' two! Start nabbing some Pokémon!" Meowth cried.

"Eh? Oh, right!" James said, as he and Jessie immediately got back on the controls. Then to our shock, six more elongated arms – three on each side – shot upwards into the air and waved madly around, frightening some of the smaller Pokémon. Bulbasaur, however, bravely jumped forward and unleashed a Razor Leaf attack, which did little to stop the machine, which just kept on plodding forward. But then, a few of the leaves made contact with one of the arms, causing a small but noticeable tear to form on it. Trust those three to overlook minor details…

"That's it!" I shouted, clicking my fingers in realization, "Bulbasaur, keep up the Razor Leaf attack! Aim for the arms!"

"Bulba! Bulbasaur!" he responded, unleashing another barrage of sharp leaves.

"Arbok! Seviper! Stop that twerp and his Pokémon!" Jessie ordered, pushing up a trap door on the top of the contraption and releasing her two snake Pokémon.

"Cha~bok!" Arbok screeched.

"Seviper~" Seviper hissed. The two of them soon started to spray a shower of sharp Poison Sting attacks, all aimed towards Bulbasaur.

"Balbasaur, watch out!" I cried. But Bulbasaur was too focused on taking down the arms of Team Rocket's machine, that he didn't pay attention to the poisonous needles coming his way…

"Golduck, Protect!" Misty reacted, releasing Golduck, who promptly rushed forward and in front of Bulbasaur, deflecting the Poison Sting attacks.

"Saur~" Bulbasaur smiled, thankful and relieved.

"Gol~" Golduck responded, looking back and giving him a thumbs up.

"Weezing, smokescreen! Go!" James cried, releasing his Pokémon which promptly filled the air with smoke which made it impossible to see what was going on around us. "Hurry! Now's the time! Just nab any Pokémon you can!"

Coughing, I could hear the rumbling of the contraption's wheels which bounded towards us. Reacting quickly, I dived sideways, holding Misty tightly as we both landed on the ground. Golduck and Bulbasaur quickly dodged the machine just in time, while Primeape leaped in the same direction as me. Charizard then let out a roar, before flapping his powerful wings and scattering the clouds of smoke. Pidgeot, alerted by the ruckus, also flew in alongside Butterfree, helping to clear the smog with their combined Whirlwind attack. After the smoke subsided, I looked up to see to my relief, that Professor Oak, Tracey and Melanie had also safely dodged the vehicle by diving in the opposite direction. However, I panicked as I realized that all was not well – Charmander had been nabbed by one of the arms of the vehicle, waving his little arms about and crying out frantically. Charizard immediately became enraged, the fire on his tail seemingly about to explode as he gave a savage roar of anger at the sight of his son about to be kidnapped.

"Quick! The whole lot of em's coming! Let's make a break for it and try again ano'der time!" Meowth hastily said, seeing some of my other Pokémon who rushed over to give us a hand. Their vehicle started to turn around, but wasn't very maneuverable due to its heavy, bulky body.

"Oh no, you don't!" I yelled, "Pikachu, give a Thunderbolt attack to put Arbok and Seviper off balance. Bulbasaur, aim your Solarbeam attack towards the bottom of the mecha, to put it off balance! Charizard, follow them closely and wait for my signal!" I then turned my head, to see that Donphan had arrived by my side. "Donaugh, use rollout, and Primeape, use mega punch, but make sure that you time it correctly, so that Bulbasaur's Solarbeam makes contact first with Seviper and Arbok, and Charizard frees Charmander, before you take down Team Rocket's vehicle. Did you get that?"

"Phan~" he responded, before lowering his head to prepare for his attack.

"Ready, guys?" I asked.

"Pika!"

"Bulba!"

"Char~"

"Prime~"

"Phan~" the five Pokémon replied. Bulbasaur immediately started to power up his Solarbeam attack, while Charizard took to the air and Donphan and Primeape waited patiently. Pikachu then let out a controlled Thunderbolt, dazing Arbok and Seviper while taking care not to hit Charmander recklessly.

"Arbok! Seviper! Keep them away with your Poison Sting!" Jessie ordered. After Pikachu's Thunderbolt ceased, the two Pokémon came back to their senses to unleash another wave of poisonous needles; Seviper towards Bulbasaur, and Arbok towards Charizard, who dodged and weaved past them.

"Donphan! Protect Bulbasaur! Defence curl!" I cried. Donphan reacted immediately, bounding in front of Bulbasaur and curling his body up just as the Poison Sting was about to make contact with him. The Poison Sting attacks, too weak to penetrate Donphan's thick hide, fell harmlessly onto the ground like bundles of hay.

Seviper, seeing that its attack was futile, joined Arbok in aiming its Poison Sting attack towards Charizard, who seemed to almost effortlessly dodge their attacks, due to his years of training in the Charicific Valley. After securing effective range, I yelled out to him. "Charizard, use Fire Blast now!" Charizard then unleashed a massive Fire Blast attack, sending Arbok and Seviper flying off the top of the mecha and onto the ground in a daze, causing them to faint. After taking them out, he severed the claw which held Charmander, and quickly flew to safety with his happy son in his arms.

"Now's your chance, Ash!" Misty said.

I nodded. "Alright, Bulbasaur, use your Solarbeam, now! Donphan, Primeape, go!"

"Bulba!"

"Donphan!"

"Prime!"

Donphan promptly rolled himself into a ball-like shape, and started to hurtle towards Team Rocket with violent velocity, accompanied by Primeape who ran at a furious pace, his fist glowing with a searing light. Bulbasaur shot his Solarbeam which hit the ground directly below the mecha, causing it to wobble uncontrollably, before Donphan and Primeape dealt the crushing blow, knocking it onto its side with unison timing. Its wheels soon stopped rotating, indicating that it was now completely out of power, following the attack.

"Oww, my head! That impact threw me up against the roof!" Meowth wailed after awhile.

"Please, Meowth…don't mention throwing up…" James whined, as all three of them crawled out through the trap door on the top of their vehicle.

"Seviper, Arbok, return!" Jessie recalled them, after seeing that they were in no condition to continue.

"Now, can you please leave us alone?" I said as politely as possible after walking up to them, doing my best not to sound angry. "I don't wanna have to send you blasting off again – I'm quite sick of it now, after all these years."

"Guess we have no choice," James sulked, his head and arms sinking as the three of them started to trudge off sullenly.

"This is your fault again! I told you to make sure that none of these stupid mistakes happen while we're designing our mechas!" Jessie shouted at Meowth, after they had walked quite a distance away from us.

"Me? How's dis my fault?" Meowth complained, as their bickering carried on and on, before they were plain out of sight and audibility.

"Well, that's that again," I said, "God, I'm suddenly tired."

"Please tell me that you're legitimately tired, instead of mistaking it as being hungry as you always do, honey," Misty whined, before I flicked her playfully on the arm. "Ow!" she cried, softly slapping me on the arm in return.

"Wow! That was really awesome! I wish that I could battle like that some day!" Melanie smiled.

"That was great, Ash!" Tracey remarked.

"Char~" Charizard growled softly, placing Charmander back onto the ground in front of Melanie, softly nudging his young son as a signal for him to go back to his trainer. But Charmander immediately burst into tears, turning around and running straight back to hold onto his father tightly.

"Huh? What's the matter with Charmander, professor?" Melanie looked up towards Professor Oak.

"Hmm…due to Ash's Charizard being his father, I'd say that he probably doesn't want to be apart from him," he answered.

"Wow! Really?" Melanie said in disbelief.

"Ash…shouldn't you do something?" Misty tugged my arm slightly.

"Mm," I nodded, and walked over to Charmander, crouching down before him. "Charmander, I know you don't wanna leave your dad, and that you'd much rather stay here. But don't you wanna eventually grow strong like him when you're older?"

"Char?" Charmander looked up at me with tearful and reluctant eyes, but showing that he was willing to listen.

"It's all a part of growing up – sometimes, you need to accomplish things by yourself, without people behind you to support you. But remember that they'll always be with you in your heart, and standing alongside you in spirit. And besides, I'm sure your dad would want you to grow as strong as him eventually, or maybe even surpass him in power. And the only way you can do that is by traveling with a trainer."

After a while of pondering, Charmander's frown turned upside down, as he cheerfully let out a cry. "Char!" he smiled, looking up to Charizard and giving him one last hug before heading over to Melanie with new-found confidence.

"Now, Melanie, I'm sure that your parents have explained to you how to catch Pokémon, as well as using various items, and the importance of Pokémon Centers?" Professor Oak said.

"Yup! I'm all set to go now, professor!" Melanie beamed optimistically.

"Alright then, off you go! Good luck now!" the professor waved, as Melanie began her very own Pokémon journey with Charmander walking beside her. I looked up at Charizard, who seemed to be quite emotional at the sight of his son leaving: a teardrop glistened on his eye, but stubbornly refused to fall.

"There, there, old buddy," I patted him on his left wing, "We all knew this day would come sooner or later. Don't cry."

"Groooar!" ("I'm not crying!") he roared, firing a flamethrower straight at my face. I hobbled around briefly, feeling like a dazed, charred mess before collapsing onto the ground, stunned. Regaining my senses, I got up and dusted myself, before walking over to Misty again.

"Good thing I got used to being burned by him so often, over the years," I said, before noticing that her head was down, and her facial expression considerably sullen. "What's the matter, Mist?"

"It just dawned on me…" she murmured glumly, "Someday, we'll have to see our children depart on their own Pokémon journeys. But I'm not sure if I can bear to see them go…"

I sighed at the thought, before drawing her into a hug to comfort her. "It's alright, Mist. My mom made the same hard decision before letting me start my journey all those years ago, after all. I'm sure you'll be able to take it just fine when that day eventually comes around."

She embraced me, placing both her hands upon my back and resting her head on my shoulder. "I hope so…"

"Well, it's nearly time to get back, and I wanna see Mom again before leaving. But first, could I see all my other Pokémon, Professor Oak?" I asked after Misty and I broke contact.

"Sure, Ash, right this way! I think I saw Snorlax sleeping over in that direction, not long ago. Last I looked, Sceptile and Infernape were also with him," he replied.

'Trust you to sleep at all times, Snorlax,' I thought, rolling my eyes as Misty and I followed behind the professor.

(Back at the hotel, night)

After a long day spending time with the rest of my Pokémon at the lab as well as visiting Mom again for dinner, Misty and I both slid into bed together, exhausted. Pikachu and Marill took their usual places at the foot of our bed, yawning as they closed their eyes to go to sleep. We snuggled up close and rested our foreheads against each other, with little more in our minds besides how tired we were after today.

"Ash, I just realized, but," Misty whispered into my ear, "Shouldn't we do something about our future house? Like you know – take part in online auctions or something?"

"Oh yeah," I replied, "I should probably get onto that right away. I'll do it by this week."

"I swear, that it's the umpteenth time I heard you make a promise like that, honey," she frowned, "But if it's not related to Pokémon, you almost never end up doing it anyway, unless I constantly hassle you about it."

I chuckled. She has such a good memory, this girl…

"Hey but Mist, could you do me one favor?" I asked her.

"What is it, Ash?" she replied, stroking me on the cheek with her hand.

"Could you please, from now on…you know…stop embarrassing me in front of other people by bringing up things about my behavior in the past?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Like today, when you said all those things about me in front of Melanie…about my habit of just demanding battles from gym leaders whenever I see them. I felt really embarrassed and a bit angry, to be honest, but I didn't wanna yell at you. We've definitely both grown out of our old habit of constantly arguing with each other, and well…I just can't find it within me to show my anger at such moments, because I love you. So please, no more of that, okay?" I said, holding her other hand which lay under the quilt.

"Okay, honey," she replied, kissing me on the cheek. "I'm sorry I did that."

"Don't worry, Mist. It's fine now," I said, kissing her on the lips. "Well…goodnight, Mist."

"Goodnight, Ash. I love you."

After watching over her until I was sure that she fell asleep, I kissed her delicately on the forehead and whispered softly to her, before drifting off to sleep.

"Sweet dreams…"

(End of Chapter 4)

A/N: That's the end of Chapter 4. I seriously can't upload another chapter until after November 15, because I've got to concentrate on my exams now, which are happening from October 28.

Just to ask for your opinion, do you guys mind if I skipped forward a month? It may seem like quite a sudden transition in terms of time, but I want to get the story moving as quickly as possible, with Ash and Misty heading to the Seafoam Islands where they'll live.

I also wanted to ask you for opinions regarding Ash and Misty's future children's names. Right now, I'm thinking about them having a boy and a girl, named Ethan and Claire (Claire, after the Nurse Joy in Book I, as Ash's way of remembering that she helped save Pikachu), but I may change them if I receive any good suggestions. Just keep in mind that I don't want any names that go along the lines of 'Ashton', 'Ashlee', etc, as I personally believe that Ash himself wouldn't want his children to live under the shadow created by his own reputation as a master trainer.

I've gotten a few reviewers who are concerned that Ethan will be similar to the 'Ethan' from the Heartgold/Soulsilver games, but I assure you that he will not. And besides, I actually haven't played any games besides those based in Kanto and Hoenn, so any name similarities between game characters in the Johto/Sinnoh regions and the characters in my Books, are purely coincidental.

Again, please go ahead and leave your reviews. :)