Midsummer Nights

by Trish

The third instalment to the Midsummer Series. Chapter Thirty Nine now up.

36. Chapter 35: All These Mixed Emotions

Midsummer Nights

By Trish

Disclaimer: Of course Pokémon does not belong to me. Nor does Puck belong to me, he belongs to William Shakespeare. But the storyline does and any original characters. The lyrics from the chapter title come from "Tears of Pearls' by Savage Garden

Chapter Thirty-Five: All These Mixed Emotions

After lunch, Ash returned to his villa to unpack his suitcase and settle in before the next round of meetings began. Jessie, James, Meowth and Brock were due to come over in two hours time to work out Ash's calendar and publicity strategies for the next few months.

He turned the key fully and found himself hesitating slightly before he pushed open the front door. What would it be like to enter an empty house without Misty there? Knowing that she would never be there again?

Ash was not used to such a scenario. Throughout his entire life, he had always come home to someone. His mom, and then Misty. Never to an empty house.

Sure he had his Pokémon there, but it just wasn't the same as human contact. There is only so much mileage to made in conversations with creatures whose primary interests were food, affection and battling. Even though he was fluent in all Pokémon languages, even Pikachu found some human topics boring and would tune right out.

However, this was just something he would have to get used to from now on.

The Grand Master pushed open the door and pulled his luggage in before closing the door behind him. A few seconds later there was a skittering of claws and the flapping of wings before a river of Pokémon, headed by Pikachu, came to greet him.

'Pikapi, you're home!!' was all Ash heard before being swamped by a mass of wriggling furry and feathery critters.

"Hey, you guys," he laughed as he fended off various attempts to lick him. "I'm glad to see you too, but some air would be nice."

The Pokémon ceased their affectionate attack and let their Trainer pick himself up off the marble floor and move to somewhere more comfortable, such as the lounge room.

'So how was the Fae Realm?' Bulbasaur asked after Ash had sat down on the leather lounge, with Pikachu taking her accustomed place on his lap.

"Good," Ash smiled. "Elysium was very nice and very interesting. Funny thing was, it wasn't that much different from our world with the exception of magical beings and plants the colour of the rainbow."

'Oh it must have been so pretty,' Meganium sighed wistfully. 'Wish I could go there.'

'Were there any Pokémon there, Ash?' Charizard wanted to know.

"None at all," the Grand Master shook his head. "Puck told me that Pokémon don't exist in the Fae Realms."

'Well then, you wouldn't want to go there, Meg,' the orange lizard rumbled to his herbivore friend.

Meganium blinked. 'Whyever not?'

'Because any place that doesn't have us Pokémon has gotta suck! We make the world special just by being in it.'

'Just a little full of yourself?' Pikachu questioned smugly.

'No. I'm just telling the truth,' Charizard shrugged nonchalantly.

"The only Pokémon that happened to be there was me," Ash sighed. "Some Fae decided to turn me into a Pikachu."

'What! Again??' Pikachu blinked. 'What was the reason for it this time? Did they get drunk?'

"No, seems this Fae, Cormac wanted me out of the way so that he could have his way with Jenn, disguised as me," the Grand Master explained.

'What?! He didn't succeed did he?'

"No, luckily I managed to convince Trish and the others of who I was, and managed to rescue Jenn just as Cormac was about to rape her."

'Ooooh that strange Mightyena of hers won't be too happy when it hears this,' Meganium shook her head, the movement releasing the sweet scent from the huge flower around her neck.

'Speaking of which, has anyone actually spoken to it yet to find out what it's doing here?' Bulbasaur asked. 'It's not your usual Mightyena.'

There was a collection of no's from the pokémon. Pikachu sighed and looked thoughtful. 'Someone will have to confront it.'

The others nodded and looked pointedly at the Pokémon in charge.

Pikachu sighed again, 'Maybe someone who isn't me. For a change, I mean. I'm thinking about nominating Charizard.'

'What?!' Charizard looked shocked. 'Why me?'

'Why not you?' Pikachu said calmly. 'You're as good a pokémon as any of us.'

'Gee, I dunno,' Charizard said sarcastically. 'Why not send the Chosen One?'

'Because the Mightyena might be more comfortable talking to a fellow Pokémon than a human,' Bulbasaur said. 'Even if that human is the Chosen One.'

'And if the Mightyena is here because of something to do with Ash, then it's not likely to fess up if he was there, would it?' Typhlosion added.

'I still don't see why I should have to be the one to talk to it,' the orange lizard grumbled. 'I'm not very good at the talkin' thing.'

'Sure you're not,' Pikachu rolled her eyes. 'I remember that pep talk you gave Jenn when she was an Absol during the battle with Gary. Now that worked a treat!'

'That was a one off.'

'Awww come on Charizard, you should do it,' Feraligator spoke up. 'After all you're all with the intimidating look and can stare it down if it tries any funny business.'

'Why don't YOU do it? You've got some pretty fearsome choppers on you.'

'Because I wouldn't be convincing enough,'Feraligator shook his head. 'You know me, I'd probably end up playing or dancing around.'

'If you weren't such a fool, then maybe you could do this,' Charizard growled. When the huge alligator took a step forward, Charizard snorted a bit of flame. 'Don't get your scales twisted. I'll take care of the mutt.'

'Thank you, Charizard,' Pikachu said gratefully. 'As it is, I have many duties to attend to.'

'Yeah, yeah,' the orange dragon said, 'Whatever you say, rodent. If I'm not back in an hour, send someone out to see what's going on.'

'Of course,' Pikachu said. She and the others watched as Charizard leapt into the air and flew in the direction of Drake's villa. When the dragon was a speck in the sky, she turned towards her best friend. 'So, Ash, anything else happen in that strange dimension, or do we have to assume?'

Ash chuckled weakly. Oh, they weren't going to let him get away with anything.

ooo

As Charizard neared the Orange Crew Leader's Villa he sent a telepathic message to Dragonite to alert him of his coming to speak to the Mightyena so that he wouldn't be attacked for trespassing.

The Dragon Pokémon immediately sent back that Charizard was quite okay to land as long as he didn't cause any trouble.

As long as that mutt doesn't cause trouble, I won't either, Charizard thought to himself as he spied the Mightyena dozing in a shady corner of the villa's garden. Just like a Dark Pokémon to avoid the sunlight if at all possible. Charizard never understood Dark Pokémon's aversion to the sun. He loved being in the sun; it made him feel stronger and it also felt good on his leathery wings.

He landed gently on the other side of the vast lawns and was met by Dragonite.

'Nice to see you around,' the huge Pokémon greeted.

'You too,' Charizard said cordially. He inclined his head towards the sleeping Mightyena. 'I'm here to talk to Sleepy over there. You know his story at all?'

Dragonite shook his head. 'Not at all. He keeps mostly to himself and doesn't associate much with any of the Pokémon here. But he hasn't tried anything funny yet otherwise I'd have kicked him straight out on his furry butt, sunlight or not.'

'And people say I'm irrational.'

'You are,' Dragonite grinned toothily. 'I'm just a little more rational than you are.'

'That makes no sense.'

'Nonsense! I always make perfect sense.'

Charizard eyed him and shook his head, 'I'll deal with that later. For now, there's a fuzzy mutt I need to talk to.'

'Best of luck there.'

'Don't make me flame you.'

'Don't make me laugh!' Dragonite countered. 'Unlike you, I'm not limited to basic attacks.'

'Blah, blah. You're such a bragger.'

'Just telling the truth,' Dragonite shrugged.

Charizard ignored the big Pokémon as he approached the sleeping Mightyena. The canine's sensitive ears twitched and pricked at his footsteps and it stretched to a sitting position.

'You want somethin?'

'I want to know what you're doing here,' Charizard said, 'And to warn you that if you're here to hurt the Chosen One that you'd better think again.'

The Mightyena snorted and shook its head, 'I doubt words alone will get you to realize I ain't here to hurt anyone.'

'I'm not assured. It's gonna take a lot more than fancy words to assure me.'

'I bet.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Back down, dragon,' The Mightyena stood up and stretched casually. 'I ain't gonna attack. Not without a good reason to.'

'Then why not start things off by telling me your name?'

'Name's Chance.'

'You've got to be kidding me! What kind of a lame name is that?'

'Least I have a name.' Chance eyed Charizard. 'What kind of a name's Charizard?'

'It's a time honoured tradition within my species and…' Charizard broke off with a grumbled curse. 'I didn't come here to dispute names. Why did you come here? Why were you so glued to that brainless blonde's side?'

'Careful where you tread on that,' Chance suddenly dropped his tone to a warning level. A low growl accompanied the canine's words. 'I've given my word t'guard her with my life and I won't have some flames for brains insult her.'

Charizard took a step back. This Pokémon was very strange and surprising. How could a Pokémon who only just met the blonde human hold such an attachment to her? Things weren't adding up at all.

Chance must've realized that he'd said more than he intended. The Dark Pokémon stepped back into the shadows and settled against the base of the tree. He almost seemed to melt into the tree.

'If you just met her after the hurricane, why would you talk as if you've known her for years?'

'Don't be stupid,' Chance snorted. 'I owe her my life. She saved me and I'm just stickin' by her side to repay the favour.'

'If you say so,' Charizard shrugged. 'Listen, if you want I can shield you with my wings. You can go inside the villa and get out of the sun.'

'I'm not a vampire. I can walk in sunlight," Chance said smoothly. 'And I'm not some stupid pup. I know ways of getting out of the sun if I need to.'

'Fine, I'll remember to not try to be nice to you next time,' Charizard snapped and turned to walk back to the villa. 'Ungrateful snobby little….'

'Thank you…' Came floating on the wind to him.

Charizard looked over his shoulder and saw the Mightyena looking at him with a smug expression. The dragon snorted a derisive blast of flames, then walked over to the villa. Oh, he was going to have such a talk with Dragonite about this rude Pokémon Jenn had picked up. Trust her to find an ignorant type of Pokémon.

ooo

'You and Jenn did WHAT?!' Meganium squeaked, eyes wide

"We kissed," Ash said with a weak grin. "But she's back to acting all funny around me again."

'Ohh how romantic,' the giant Herb Pokémon sighed, hearts in her eyes. 'I knew you two were destined…it was written in the stars…'

The Grand Master managed to resist rolling his eyes and sighed. After Bayleef had evolved into her final form, James had introduced the Pokémon to astrology and she had taken to it in a big way. Meganium was into anything to do with the mind, body and spirit. Perhaps not surprisingly, aromatherapy was her favourite, and she often used her Sweet Scent (and convinced Bulbasaur to do the same) to relax and calm the nerves of the Pokémon when they were stressed or tired.

'I think she's just afraid, Pikapi,' Pikachu grinned. 'After all you're the biggest celebrity around, and you just got divorced. Misty fans would be after her with knives out.'

"Even though Misty was the one who left me and hooked up with Gary?" Ash raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

'I'm afraid so,' the mouse confirmed. 'The loyalty of a fan knows no bounds, no reason and is often blind.'

"Well if they're taking Misty's side even though she's the one who had the affair, then they need more than an eye operation," the Grand Master muttered. "They need a mind operation."

'You could probably get Espeon to help you with that,' Meganium said helpfully.

"Um, I guess," Ash shook his head, "No! That's not a good idea."

'Pikapi, you're just going to have to help her along,' Pikachu said kindly. 'If you're ready for another relationship, then you're going to have to work at it as gently as you can.'

"I guess you're right, but it's so hard to read Jenn," Ash sighed. "One minute she's all over me and then the next it's as if she hates my guts. It's really frustrating. I kind of feel like she cares more about her badass image than anything else."

'She thinks she's a badass,' Bulbasaur grinned. 'But she really isn't and everyone knows it but her. Not sure why she would want that kind of reputation.'

'As I said, I think Jenn's just afraid,' Pikachu patted her Trainer's hand. 'She has been rather unceremoniously dumped by Gary, duped by Lu, and nearly raped by a Fae. She's bound to have her defences up. Have you tried talking to Trish about it?'

Ash grinned deviously, "That's how I found out from Jenn that she does care. I pretty much hid out in Trish's room, while Trish nailed Jenn with questions about how she felt about me."

'So you got it right from the Rapidash's mouth?' Bulbasaur looked impressed. 'Very sneaky, Ash.'

'That's about the only way you can get that one to talk,' Pikachu said, 'Other than peeking into her thoughts.'

"That was tempting," Ash admitted, "But I didn't want to pry like that. If I did something like that, I'd get my answer, but I doubt she'd appreciate it."

'Sure she'd appreciate it,' Donphan grinned. 'Jenn would be so appreciative that she'd be likely to sue you for every last dollar you have. That is after all, the American way.'

The Grand Master gulped nervously.

ooo

'And I have never met such an infuriating Pokémon before in my life….oh wait…there was that Togepi of Misty's. But anyway, that stupid fur ball out there needs to be taught a lesson in manners.'

Charizard had come to the end of his complaint to Dragonite. The two Pokémon were sitting in the sun on the other side of the villa sharing pieces of fruit and Pokémon snacks.

'Like Trainer, like Pokémon?' Dragonite grinned. 'I know that Drake often says that Jenn is infuriating and needs to be taught some manners. He also sometimes complains that he doesn't know what Trish sees in Jenn.'

'I have to confess that I don't understand either,' Charizard grumbled. 'I think Trish has a few screws loose.'

'Watch it, flame brain,' Dragonite warned. 'That's my trainer's future mate.'

'I just meant about how she could be friends with an airhead like Jenn,' Charizard said quickly. 'Geeze, there's just fruit here? Don't you have any meat?'

'Nice try at changing subjects,' Dragonite said wryly. 'Yes, we do have meat. And maybe a little snack could convince that Mightyena to talk a little more openly.'

'Who cares about him? I'm starving.'

ooo

"I wonder what Charizard is doing here?" Jenn mused as she peered out from the second storey window in Trish's room.

"Probably visiting Dragonite," her friend offered as she flipped through a magazine as she waited for the curling iron to heat up. "Those two are pretty good pals."

"Probably up to no good is my bet," the blonde grinned as she kept an eye on the two Pokémon. "They're bad enough on their own, but once those two get together, they're nothing but trouble."

"And there'll be trouble if you don't come away from that window and sit down and let me try this new hairstyle you want to wear for the dance," Trish warned as she picked up the curling iron and waved it around in the air.

Jenn eyed the window, and then her friend before deciding that sitting down would be the wisest move. A crazy Australian and a long hot instrument made for a potentially harmful –to-Jenn combination.

"Now, I know you normally like to wear your hair straight," the Aussie said as she took up a portion of blonde hair. "But you can trust me to curl it right. There's nothing a man loves more than ringlets just brushing a girl's shoulders."

"Make them loose," Jenn said, "I hate tight curls. They look kinda dumb."

"What? You don't want to look like Shirley Temple?" Trish asked with an evil twinkle in her eyes.

"No!!" Jenn started to snap then thought better of it as her friend had the curling iron in her hand. "I'd look ridiculous."

"Relax, Jenn," Trish laughed. "I'm not going to do tight curls, which I rather dislike myself. I was thinking more soft cascading curls like Callie's."

The blonde visibly relaxed. "Oh, that's okay then. Because I'd hate to have to hurt you afterwards."

ooo

Meanwhile Ash was also talking about his appearance with Jessie, James, Brock and Meowth. Specifically the delicate question of how he should handle his public appearances as a newly single Grand Master.

"The most important thing is that you must always dress your best. If you always look like a million dollars when you step out the door, then that's one in the face for Misty," Jessie declared with a flick of her crimson hair. "She mustn't get the satisfaction of seeing you look like crap in the papers or television and knowing that it's because of her."

"It wouldn't be because of her," Ash protested. "I'm just not the best at putting together an outfit."

"More than ten years of those clothes you always wore can prove that," James said with a shudder. "I won't even begin to comment on the hat."

"Hey!" Ash said. "I loved that hat!"

"Loved it so much that you got a new one when you were travelling with May?"

"I liked that hat, too."

"The point James is trying to get across," Jessie broke in. "Is that he's agreeing with you. When it comes to dressing by yourself, you suck."

"Nothing like getting right in his face," Brock muttered.

"What's that?!"

"Ain't nothin, Jess," Meowth interjected. "Squinty ova here is just agreein' wit you, dat's all."

"Oh, yeah," Brock said, "Because you're so good with fashion."

When Jessie turned her back to Brock, the squinty eyed gym leader made a long flowing motion with his hands, mimicking long hair. Ash saw and couldn't resist laughing.

"WHAT'S SO FUNNY!!!!!"

"Nothing, Jessie, I swear," Ash objected. "I just thought of how Misty will be really angry that I've got you and James to make sure I look good. Because she only has herself."

"Well, you're right," Jessie settled down. "But zip it until I figure something out."

"Plus you have to be careful about who you're seen with," James spoke up. "Any girl that is seen to be accompanying you to events will be jumped on by the media as your new love interest. So for now, you're better off attending solo."

"But what good will that do?" the Grand Master demanded. "As soon as I get inside, every single female will be throwing themselves at me. And if the paparazzi are lurking, they're still going to think the same thing."

"I didn't think of that," the lilac haired man admitted.

"Seems to me that the only female that I can safely appear in public with is my mom."

"Nuh uh, not even your mom," Jessie shook her head.

"Why not?"

"You want to get a reputation as a bit of a mommy's boy?" the redhead asked. "You'd end up like James."

"I am NOT a mommy's boy!" James squealed in protest. "How can you think that, Jessie?!"

Jessie rolled her eyes. "The wounded look on your face says it all."

"Not to mention that high pitched squeal," Brock agreed. "Mariah Carey would be envious if she'd have heard that."

"You people are so mean!!" James huffed and crossed his arms. "If I hadn't left him at home, I'd send Growly after you. He would defend me against such accusations." James was of course referring to his beloved Growlithe whom he had since a child and had left with his eccentric parents when he had run away to join Team Rocket. After a brief reunion which Ash, Brock, Jessie and Meowth well remembered, he had left the faithful canine behind. However, a few years later, James had changed his mind and gone back for the Pokémon.

"Awww come on James, we're just having a little fun," Ash attempted to soothe his assistant's ruffled feathers. "They don't really mean it."

"Yes, they do," James sniffed. "They're always mean to me."

"Well if you promise to settle down, I'll let you have that surprise I've been saving up for you."

"Ooooh, something for me?" The former Team Rocket member's tears dried instantly.

"The complete set of the Legendary Birds bottle caps. Moltres, Articuno, Zapdos, Lugia and Ho-oh," Ash grinned. "Specially mounted and framed on a velvet backdrop."

James squealed again, forcing all to cover their ears to prevent damage. "I'll take them!!" he cried before sinking back down on the couch with a blissful look in his eyes. "I can die happy now, my life is complete."

The rest exchanged glances.

"His life is complete because of some bottle caps. How pathetic," Jessie rolled her eyes.

"Yeah," Meowth agreed. "He could at least go for someting more sophisticated, like sparkly diamonds. Aaaaaaaaaaaah…" Stars appeared in the Scratch Cat's eyes.

"You are just as pathetic," Jessie groaned.

ooo

Trish had finally finished with the curling iron and stood back to survey her work with satisfaction. Jenn's blonde locks were now a mass of soft loose curls, cascading gently to just below the shoulders.

"Now we just have to pin it up in the style you want with some curls just falling free, and you will look sophisticated and sexy," she declared. "Ash will be unable to resist you."

"Who says I want to impress Ash?" Jenn snorted, shaking her head just a bit.

Trish sighed in exasperation. "Let's not go through that again. You already admitted it to me, so you can drop the act."

"I already faced death only a lot so far," Jenn huffed. "I don't feel like facing a horde of Misty supporters."

"And you think they're going to…what? Kill you for dating him?" Trish sighed patiently. "They won't kill you, Jenn. They might be jealous, but they won't kill you."

"I'll just hold you to that then," Jenn said and stood up. She looked to be about to say something else, when suddenly there was a frantic scrabbling at the wooden room door. "What the heck is that?"

Trish shrugged and went to open the door. She'd barely opened the door a crack when a slender white blur burst into the room.

Kigali, the little Absol puppy, had grown a little while they'd been gone. Where she'd once been the size of a house cat, she'd now grown about half larger than that. The puppy leapt up at Jenn, and the blonde had no option but to try to grab the canine.

"Whoa there!" Jenn hugged the little pokémon, trying to avoid a tongue frantically licking her face. "Geeze, Kigali! Try leaving a little skin there."

"I think someone missed you," Trish remarked wryly.

"None of my other pokémon missed me this much!" Jenn was surprised. "Why did she miss me like this?"

"I'd base that on how you two first met."

"And?"

"You looked just like her, only bigger." Trish said sagely. "Get it?"

Jenn looked confused, "No."

"She might, ah, think you're her mom. Or at least the closest thing she's gonna get."

"Her what?!" Jenn looked down at the puppy. "Is that true? Is that how you see me?"

The little Absol just beamed up at her and licked her under the chin.

"Honestly, that's as close to a yes as you're going to get," Trish said. "Until you can talk to her through Meowth."

Jenn sighed. "That's an option I'm keeping open."

"Though I'm pretty sure I'm right," her best friend grinned. "Little Kigali here has adopted you as part of her pack and as the mother figure."

"But neither Mac, Beth, or Willa have adopted me as part of their pack and they're canine Pokémon, too," Jenn was confused and sat down, settling Kigali on her lap.

"Yes, but Mac and Beth are siblings, and grew up with my two Growlithe, and you didn't get Willa as a puppy," Trish explained. "Kigali came to you as a very young puppy, and probably had not long been taken from her mother. And she first saw you as an adult Absol, so naturally she would think of you as a mother Absol."

"Wouldn't her knowing that I'd changed back into human have cured her of that?" the blonde wrinkled her nose as she stroked the Pokémon's silky fur.

"Nope," Trish grinned. "Kigali's adopted you and you are her pack mother. Don't argue with me, after all who has a dog for a pet?"

"Trish!" Jenn looked shocked. "I never thought I'd hear you talk about Drake that way!"

"There is no that way when it comes to Drake," Trish levelled a mildly annoyed look at her friend. "He's not a dog or a pet."

Jenn sighed. "You know me too well."

"At any rate, this little one is going to look up to you more than any other pokémon you've ever had. I think you'll have to adjust how you do things with her." Trish regarded the puppy, who was very much unaware of Trish. "Nothing will be normal with this one."

"Like Pokémon like trainer," Jenn shrugged with amusement. "Now let's get on with this dance readiness thing. I want to get this torture session over with as soon as possible."

ooo

Mia looked at her reflection and felt a twinge of nervousness. It wasn't like her to be nervous about how she looked. Normally, she'd sooner flip someone off than to worry about how she looked.

Tonight was different though. She was different. The difference wasn't from facing down Lu or even getting shot…shot…all in the name of love.

Mia was an engaged woman. Or a soon-to-be-engaged woman. Even though Puck hadn't proposed to her or given her an engagement ring, she was pretty sure he would over dinner tonight. Puck had been mysteriously absent all day, having gone out with Drake, Ben and Chris in the morning; on 'men's business' he said.

The thought of a proposal from the man she loved made butterflies dance in her stomach and increased her nervousness. Her life would change forever. Though why she should be so nervous when, as Trish said, she had been in a de facto engagement with Puck ever since she accepted his ring and promised to wait for him two years ago. She just didn't have the bling to go with it.

She gulped down her fear, took a deep breath and let it out, and then smoothed her hair. Nothing would be solved, fears wouldn't be conquered, if she stayed in this room. She'd face them with the same old determination she faced everything else with. And she'd kick it's butt if it tried to bring her down.

The brunette took one last look at herself in the mirror and decided that her appearance did meet with her approval and probably Puck's as well.

Mia was wearing a simple emerald green silk dress shot through with gold thread so that it shimmered with every movement. Mia hated wearing dresses, but Trish would not hear of her wearing pants to dinner.

"You don't go to Chateau Pidgeot in pants," she had declared. "And you certainly don't get proposed to over dinner in pants!"

Even though Jenn had muttered something about being proposed to in jeans if she damned well felt like it, Mia had to agree with Trish. Chateau Pidgeot was a famously ritzy restaurant and there was only one reason Puck would take her there on a date.

Drake or Ash had arranged it. It wasn't like Puck couldn't magically get them a table there, but Drake definitely had local strings to pull. And Ash, well he was the Grand Master. His face alone was a ticket to the best tables globally.

Excitement shivered along her spine. She was ready. She was done getting ready and if she stalled any longer, she'd probably be sick all over her lovely gown.

She grabbed her silver mesh evening purse and looked at her Delcatty who was playing with a small ball of yarn on the floor. "Wish me luck for tonight, Sheba, cause if things go how I think they will, I'm going to come back an engaged woman. Our lives will never be the same!"

Sheba watched the door close behind her human and sighed. Life for her had already changed since Mia's reunion with Puck. Sure the Pokémon was happy that her beloved human was happy; but that didn't mean that she had to like everything about it.

For one thing, Mia didn't have as much time for her anymore. When she wasn't with Puck, she was hanging out with her friends. And Sheba really didn't like being anything less than the centre of her mistress's attention at all times. A Delcatty's purpose in life was to be admired and adored like a queen.

The second thing, and what really annoyed her was Puck's bad habit of appearing and disappearing at will. Many times, Sheba had been peacefully lying in the sun or minding her own business when the Fae would appear out of nowhere, scaring the daylights out of her. The Pokémon only hoped that she had not lost too many of her nine lives through this. Sheba stretched luxuriously and hopped off the bed. Perhaps she'd feel better about after talking to some of the other Pokémon.

ooo

"Do you think that Puck's really going to propose to Mia tonight?" Jaime asked as the group gathered around the table for dinner.

"Of course he is!" Trish grinned. "Why else would Puck take her to one of the ritziest and most expensive restaurants in the Archipelago? It has to be for some special reason."

"That and he told Ash and myself that he wanted our help in booking the restaurant so that he could give Mia the romantic proposal that she wanted," Drake added.

"Romantic schromantic," Jenn rolled her eyes. "Romance sucks."

"So says the girl who was dumped and duped," Drake grinned.

Jenn glared at him. "You're so getting coal next Christmas."

"Like that scares me," Drake snorted. "You're not that great at giving presents."

"I am too!"

"You are not!" Drake said, "You sent Trish a Christmas present once in June!"

"Oh, Drake, there's nothing wrong with being early," Shannon said.

"The June following Christmas," Trish said teasingly.

"Oh."

"It's the thought that counts!" Jenn said defensively.

"Jenn, you sent her a calendar!" Drake laughed. "Half the year was gone."

"Whatever. You're still getting coal."

Whatever Drake was going to say was interrupted by the arrival of Ash. The Grand Master was escorted up by the maître d'.

"Sorry, I'm late," he apologised. "I had to make good on my promise of exclusive botte caps for James and I couldn't remember exactly where I had put them."

"You're not that late," Trish smiled. "We've only been here a few minutes and we've yet to order. Come, take a seat."

Ash sat down next to Jaime, with Jenn feeling pretty pleased with herself that she had managed to engineer it so that she wouldn't have to face him at all through dinner. The blonde had made sure to sit herself opposite Trish and in between Shannon and Chris so that Ash would have to sit elsewhere.

Even though she admitted to herself that she was probably fooling no one with her "avoiding Ash" antics, she still felt she had to put up a front. At least so she could enjoy her dinner, rather than fretting and being scared stiff with Ash right next to her.

It wasn't so much that he was anywhere near her. That's what her friends thought. But being close enough to smell his cologne was enough to put her into a mindset of worrying about getting food caught between her teeth or even the act of eating. It was easy enough for Trish or Mia to not worry about scaring off their guys; they were already ball and chained.

The blonde sucked down some of the icy cold water that was in a tall glass. She'd much rather face Lu right about now. Oh yeah. Most definitely.

But she squashed that thought quickly when she could practically hear Trish saying, "Be careful for what you wish for." Yes, she knew that Lu had been made human and was banished to Florida (hopefully to the Everglades where he would make a nice snack for an alligator), but it couldn't be failsafe. Oh, especially if the King was anything like Puck at casting spells; then they'd better watch out for whenever it backfired on them.

Jenn definitely did not want to be whisked away magically to face Lu again, just because of some foolish wish. Things were finally starting to look up for her again. And a happy human only made Lu hell bent to not leave her alive if he came across her again. Then she'd be the one ending up as alligator dinner and that was so not the ending she visualised for herself.

So she resolved to think about other things. Nice things. Safe things. Like her Pokémon. At least she knew that her Pokémon would never want to kill her.

ooo

Mia gave a satisfied sigh as she finished her main course, and laid her knife and fork neatly on the plate. The Chateau Pidgeot was everything she imagined a first class restaurant to be. The furnishings were elegant and sumptuous, silk curtains hung over the floor to ceiling windows and the seats were covered with the smoothest velvet. The waiters were smartly attired in white shirt, bow tie and white tuxedo jacket with black pants and white gloves.

Mia had been secretly thrilled when their personal waiter addressed her as 'Madam' and used a silver brush and pan to sweep away the crumbs left over from the bread. She had never been here before, and probably never would again, so she was treasuring every moment.

The food was simply divine, the meat, potatoes and beans cooked to perfection and Mia made sure that she ate slowly and savoured every mouthful. At the prices they were charging per dish, who wouldn't!!

Puck, on the other hand, wasn't enjoying himself quite as much as his girlfriend. Not only was he nervous about what he was about to do, but he nearly had a heart attack when he first opened the menu and observed the prices. Even though he was a Fae with the ability to pull money out of thin air, the fees charged for the food were obscene!

The Fae had almost stood up from his seat to protest loudly that this was outrageous when Mia swiftly pulled him back down again. She silenced his protests by explaining that this was normal for exclusive and world class restaurants in the human world and that she was enjoying every moment; so she'd rather not end it by being thrown out, thank you very much.

Puck got the message that he'd better behave and so settled down, but not without a little internal grumbling. He'd thought about playing a prank on the establishment, but thought better of it. Mia would not approve.

The desserts came and went before Puck felt a gentle tap at his mind. It was Ash, of course, reminding him about the ring. It wasn't as if Puck had forgotten – how could he? – but Puck had asked Ash to gently give him a clue as to the perfect time for 'popping the question' to his lady love. It's now or never. Puck took a deep breath to calm his nerves and rose from his chair.

Mia looked at him with questioning eyes, only to widen them when he got down on bended knee beside her chair. The Fae took a deep breath, and taking her left hand in his and looked into her eyes.

"Mia, from the moment I saw you two years ago at the Indigo Plateau, I knew you would be the most beautiful, wonderful woman I will ever know. And the last two years have only reinforced that you are the only one for me." He reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew a small black velvet box. Mia held her breath as the box was opened to reveal a diamond ring, the precious stone sparkling with all the colours of the rainbow in the soft light.

"Will you make me the happiest Fae in all the worlds, and be my wife?"

His answer came in the form of an all engulfing embrace and an ecstatic whisper of "Of course, I will!"

Puck grinned giddily as the realisation hit him that he was now officially engaged to the girl he loved, and hugged back. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that."

Mia let go of him and grinned, bouncing lightly on her cushioned seat. "Aww, there was no need to be nervous. There was absolutely no way that I would have said no. Not after I've waited for you to come back these past two years."

"Yeah, I knew that, but I was still nervous!" the Fae said. "I mean, I've never proposed to anyone before!"

"You better not have," Mia warned playfully before giggling. "Then again, I haven't been proposed to before either!"

Puck smirked and threw her words right back at her. "You better not have!"

ooo

Jenn threw herself across her friend's bed with a soft whump. The blonde had showered and got ready for bed when she decided that she wanted to have a good chat with Trish before she turned in for the night.

Trish raised an eyebrow at the figure of her best friend sprawled across a once neat bed. "Comfortable are we?"

"Awwwyeah," Jenn flashed a cheeky grin. "It was so very kind of you to offer your bed for the Goddess to relax on."

"Even though I didn't offer in the first place, I'll still take your thanks," Trish shook her head good-naturedly as she sat in the stuffed chair at the foot of the bed and drew her legs up under her. "So what's up?"

"Nuthin' much," the blonde shrugged. "So, when do you think Mia and Puck will get back from their ritzy dinner?"

"Oh, I don't expect we'll see them until much later tomorrow."

"Geeze! I think I'm gonna make myself scarce when they do reappear," Jenn decided. "I don't want to be around when they get all mushy and sappy. It'll make me want to puke."

Her friend sighed and shook her head. "Just because you're not dating, doesn't mean that you have to be a grump and killjoy about it."

"I'm not being grumpy!" Jenn protested.

"You are," Trish said patiently. "And the thing is, you could have all of this too, if you really want to."

"You make it sound ever so easy."

"It is!" Trish said defensively. "You just have to be open, especially when the right guy is right in front of you."

Jenn looked at the 'guy' right in front of her and sighed in a romantic fashion, "Oh, Mister Fuzzy, you are the one for me!"

Mister Fuzzy, one of Trish's large stuffed bears, said nothing.

Trish, on the other hand, glared at her friend. "I was talking about Ash!"

"I don't see him here!" Jenn looked around with mock surprise. "Are you saying he's invisible?"

Trish's glare deepened. "If you make me get glare lines, Drake will be most cross."

"So Ash isn't here, in your room, all invisible?"

"No," Trish rolled her eyes, "What would make you think that?"

"I saw something like it on TV once," Jenn said in a low conspiring voice. "It was tricky."

"You don't believe everything you see just because it's on TV," the Australian chuckled. "It could have been an illusionist's trick."

"I wouldn't put it past Ash actually being able to become invisible, especially now since he has all those freaky Chosen One powers," Jenn sat up and pushed the fringe of her bangs away from her eyes. "Any magical or freaky thing you name, I bet you that Ash could do it."

"Well I can assure you that he's not here now," her friend said. "Nor did I arrange for him to be here either, if that's what you're thinking. I didn't even know you were going to pop in."

"He might have popped in without either of us knowing," Jenn said. "After all he is psychic and omnipheasant."

"First of all, it's omnipresent…"

"Whatever."

"And secondly, with all the popping, wouldn't that make you two the perfect couple?"

"Say what?"

Trish affected an innocent look, "Well if he pops in and out of places, whilst you pop in and out unannounced, then wouldn't that make the two of you the perfect couple?"

"That would be like me saying you and Drake are perfect together because you're a palaeontologist and he's a dinosaur fossil."

"That makes no sense!"

Jenn nodded sagely, "Exactly."

"Jenn…you're really weird."

"If I had a dollar for every time someone said that, I'd be really rich," Jenn sighed enviously. "Really rich."

"And you sound so pleased about it."

The blonde gave her a look that clearly said 'duh.'

"Anyway I think you need to be more open with Ash about your true feelings for him," Trish said, with a decisive nod. "Starting with the celebration dance."

"What about the dance?"

"You're going to tell him, flat out and without pretence, exactly how much you care for him."

A horrified look passed over Jenn's features. "No way! I'm not doing that!"

"I don't see why not."

"You never see why not," Jenn grumbled good-naturedly. "And to repeat myself for the billionth time, it will be CURTAINS for me if I did that! Misty has millions of fans all over the world! She's not only Ash's ex, Trish, she's his baby's momma! And she's a gym leader. She has fans like people like Mariah Carey and Jessica Alba do! I don't doubt that there'll be some of them there at the dance and if I make a big announcement like that, they will kill me, and then Misty'll find a way to bring me back to life just so she can kill me!"

"You keep thinking that and you'll never do it," Trish said with a patient shake of her head. "Twenty or so years down the track you'll still think that Misty's gonna kill you and by then it will be far too late."

"Huh? Too late for what?"

"If you don't make a move on Ash now, then some other girl certainly will!" the Australian wagged a finger at her friend. "He's loaded with money, he's handsome, he's newly single. Of course every gold digger out there will want to get their dirty mitts on him and every cent he has."

Jenn didn't like the sound of that but said nothing.

"The dance will be a great opportunity for you. It's not open to the general public, it's by invitation only, and you and I drew up the guest list which was approved by Drake. So Misty will not be there nor will Misty supporters."

"And how many people are coming to this little shindig of yours anyway?"

"It's not just my little shindig," Trish smirked. "It's yours too since you helped plan it. But to answer your question, I say about three hundred."

The blonde almost had a fit. "Three hundred! That's not little! That's humungous!"

"Actually, it is little," Trish said with an evil grin. "Orange Islands little."

Jenn groaned and buried her head in her hands. "Oh don't you start…"

"Start what?"

"You know what," Jenn sent a mock glare her friend's way. "Just because you're going to be living here, it doesn't mean that you have to make like the locals."

"But I will be a local…"

"You know what I mean!!"

"I know," Trish chuckled, "It's just so much fun teasing you."

"I knew I should've shredded Drake's vest when I had the chance," Jenn growled. "And now I can't even flame it."

"You wouldn't hurt Drake's vest."

"Well now I can't! It would've made a great threat though."

Trish just shook her head, but at the same time, she had a great idea. Now if only Ash might go along with it…

ooo

If Charizard had hoped that his fellow Pokémon would forget his unsuccessful mission to get the strange Mightyena to talk, he was about to be sorely disappointed.

Over a hearty breakfast of Brock's special gourmet Pokémon chow, Pikachu fixed her little brown eyes on him and asked, "So, Charizard, you haven't yet told us about how your talk with that strange Mightyena of Pikapichu's went."

Charizard suppressed a internal groan by swallowing a big mouthful of chow. The proud orange lizard didn't want to have to admit failure to anyone, let alone a fellow Pokémon. "Oh it went okay," he said nonchalantly. "The freak's name is Chance."

"Chance?" Bulbasaur wrinkled his nose. "What kind of strange name is that for a Pokémon?"

"I said he was a freak, didn't I?" Charizard growled low. "Do you need any other kind of explanation?"

"Now, boys, settle down," Pikachu sparked her cheeks warningly. "I will shock the two of you regardless of how things go."

The two stared each other down, but visibly calmed down. Pikachu was satisfied and went back to eating. "Has he told you anything other than his name?"

"Not really," Charizard admitted. "He's a typical Dark though and stayed in the shade right through the whole talk. He seemed to be really amused by the blonde's Absol. I can't blame him for that, though. The little runt is something else."

"You used to be a little runt, too, if I recall properly," Pikachu twitched an ear. "Soaking wet and lying on a boulder, all abandoned in the rain."

"I grew out of it, didn't I?" Charizard glared from the corner of his eye at Bulbasaur and Squirtle, who were smirking at him. "Unlike a couple of other runts I know."

"Unlike some bigmouthed lizards we know," Squirtle said smoothly. "We don't need to evolve to prove how strong we are."

"Ash likes us how we are," Bulbasaur said with a lazy yawn. "And it takes a strong pokémon to resist the pulls of evolution. So I think that makes us leagues stronger than you."

"Want me to flame you to a wilted leaf?" Charizard challenged the Grass Pokémon angrily.

"Not if I use Stun Spore on you first."

There was a sudden ominous crackling sound and both looked to see a frowning Pikachu standing with her forepaws crossed and sparking cheeks. "How about I SHOCK the lot of you to a nice blackened crisp?"

"They'll be good!" Squirtle said quickly, for out of them all, he would be the one to suffer most from the Electric Pokémon's wrath being a Water Type. He shot a glare at Charizard and Bulbasaur. "Won't you."

Charizard wanted to see Squirtle suffer in the worst way possible, especially after that comment. However, he knew he'd get a tongue lashing from Ash later, and he didn't want to deal with that. "I'll behave," Charizard rumbled haltingly.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear," Pikachu huffed before settling back down to her breakfast. "Imagine if I had to tell Pikapi what happened. He would say that it all served you right."

"So you were saying about this Mightyena?" Typhlosion spoke up, hoping to steer the conversation back on track.

"He was really freaking weird" Charizard answered after he took another gulp of chow. "He talked as if he'd known that blonde all his life, when all of us know that she just found him after the hurricane."

"That is odd," Pikachu said thoughtfully. "Was there anything else that stood out as peculiar?"

"Other than his horrible grammar? Not really." Charizard stood up and walked away from the group. "I know you'll miss me, but I gotta stretch my wings."

As he took off, Charizard could've sworn he felt the tickle of a razor leaf along the underside of his tail.

ooo

The humans were also having breakfast over at the Orange Crew Leader's Villa, although some of them were just finishing when Mia and Puck finally made an appearance.

"Well, look who's here," Jaime grinned as she poured herself another glass of juice. "So how'd it go?"

In answer, a grinning Mia held up her left hand which sported a glittering diamond ring set in a gold band.

"Congratulations!" Trish smiled before giving the younger girl a quick hug. "I knew this would happen eventually!"

Jenn smiled at the newly engaged couple and nodded. She didn't really feel like joining in the congratulations but thought she'd ought to keep up some sort of façade. What she really wanted to do was to get away from all the romantic mushiness which she couldn't share.

The blonde was trying to think of some excuse to escape when, to her surprise, Trish made it for her.

"Now we hate to cut and run from all this happiness, but Jenn and I really have to go," the Australian quipped. "We've got an appointment to meet with the fun fair organisers and to go over the menu for the dance with the caterers."

The fun fair was the brainchild of the two friends, so that families with young children, and all those who weren't invited to the exclusive dance, could join in the post-hurricane celebrations.

Jenn had teasingly termed it the "po folks pity party" but Trish had glared at her a bit scathingly. It was thusly renamed fun fair.

The blonde followed her friend, keeping up a steadily cheery expression until they rounded a corner. Then she let out a sigh and relaxed her face. "Man, it's hard to smile that long when you really don't mean it!"

"Then find some way to mean it," Trish looked back with an evil glance. "Or I'll call Ash."

"What for?!"

Trish said in a singsong tone, "Blackmail…"

"You've got nothing on me!"

"I've got pictures," Trish said with a smug look. "And I have a diamond collar…"

"That's mine!"

"And she admits it!"

"Well…" Jenn bit at her lip. "They're diamonds. Who wouldn't?"

"It's still a dog collar," her friend gave an evil smirk.

"So?" Jenn tossed her head. "No one else but you, me, and Ash knows that I wore it. I can always pass it off as a collar for Beth, Willa, or Kigali."

"I didn't think of that," Trish admitted.

"Hah!" It was the blonde's turn for a triumphant smirk. "I've got you this time!"

Trish stuck out her tongue. "For once. It doesn't happen very often."

"Which makes it all the more sweeter when it does," Jenn grinned.

"Anyway, as I was saying," Trish said, ignoring the last comment. "You'd better smile like you mean it when we're meeting with these people. You can't properly organise a successful celebration shindig if you're not in the mood."

"Will we get to taste some of the food that's going to be served?"

"Of course! I wouldn't allow for food to be served which doesn't taste as good as it looks!"

"Will there be chocolate involved somewhere in the desserts?"

"Duh! There is always going to be chocolate in the desserts menu," Trish grinned. "You are talking to me, the proud owner of a chocolate dyed t-shirt or two."

"In that case, I am so there with the sincerely happy face," Jenn beamed. "Free food and chocolate, what more could a girl want?"

The Australian shook her head good-naturedly. "And you wonder why everyone keeps on saying that you and Ash would make the perfect couple. You're too much like Ash."

"Okay, yeah, with some things I guess we are alike," Jenn shrugged nonchalantly. "Doesn't mean we should get married."

"How about if you don't then some gold digger will?" Trish said, just as nonchalantly. "Someone who won't care about Ash at all, and just about his money and prestige?"

"Well that's just stupid," Jenn snorted. "Ash's much more interesting than his money."

"But you'd be okay to see him marry someone who cared more about his money than him?"

"Course not!"

"So…"

"I can't just rescue him like he's some puppy off the streets, Trish."

"He did for you."

Jenn stopped in her tracks. "Oh, that's low."

"It's true."

"Things were just a little different then."

"How so?"

Jenn levelled a look at her best friend, "He's not exactly running around on all fours."

"He had been when he was a Pikachu…"

"Hey! Ixnay on the Ikachu pay!" Jenn looked around the empty area. "Anyone could be listening!"

"Aww, you're concerned about him!"

"I'm not concerned about him," the blonde sniffed haughtily. "I'm just concerned about his reputation if people overhear he was a cute little rat."

"Still means that you're concerned about him," Trish smirked as she led the way to the front door. "You shouldn't let anything stop you from going after Ash, Jenn. Think of it as repayment for what he's done for you."

"He only took me in as an Absol out of pity. And as payback for when I looked after him when he was a pint-sized rodent," Jenn shook her head. "It doesn't mean he loves me, let alone that he even likes me."

"Sure he doesn't love you,' Trish rolled her eyes. "How many times has Ash come to your rescue over the past few months, the human you. And each time he hasn't been obligated to save you, but he's done it each time. Jenn, if he didn't care about you, if he didn't even like you, then he would have left you to die."

"Well, he can't love me," Jenn looked at the ground. "You thinking a famous guy like him could be interested in me? It's not even remotely possible."

"Gary was famous…"

"Yeah well obviously he didn't love me," the blonde muttered. "If he did, he'd still be here instead of with the freak of the week."

"That would be Misty," Trish reminded Jenn.

"Oh yeah," Realization dawned on her. "Still, freak fits her."

"Anyway, getting back to my point," Trish said as they stepped out of the villa and into the brilliant sunshine. "Just because Ash is famous, doesn't mean that he can't love you."

"Despite the fact that we went out for two years, Gary didn't."

"Gary was and forever will be a Class A Wanker," Trish declared firmly as they walked down the paved pathway to the front gate. "Put him right out of your mind and out of your life. He's a freak and a putz and deserves nothing less."

"Well I can't argue with that," Jenn grinned.

"Just don't take Gary's behaviour toward you and apply it to Ash because it would be unfair to Ash and simply not true," the Australian warned. "Ash is nothing like Gary Oak. Never has and never will be. You can't even begin to compare them, they're like chalk and cheese."

"Loves it," the blonde murmured absently.

"Then think of Ash like melted cheese then," her friend said with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "Hot, tasty and melts in your mouth."

"Trish!" Jenn hissed, turning bright red. "Someone could be listening to every word we say!"

"What?" Trish affected an innocent look. "I was talking about melted cheese…What did you think I was talking about?"

"Yeah right," the blonde rolled her eyes. "Acting innocent just does not suit you."

"Like it does you?"

"Course it does," Jenn said with an innocent bat of her eyes. "Who couldn't think I was innocent?"

"How fast can I raise my hand?" Trish wondered out loud. "Maybe one…two seconds tops."

"You don't count."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

ooo

'Look Mom! Look Dad! No hands!'

Pikachu grinned as she watched one of her little sons do a cartwheel using his two pointy ears for traction. Today was family day for the electric mouse.

Katrina had brought over Pikachu's mate, Raichu, so that the little family of mice could spend some time together.

While Raichu was busy chasing after and herding back one or two of the more rambunctious offspring, Pikachu was relaxing under the shade of a tree.

She was musing over Charizard's report of his attempted talk with that strange Mightyena of Jenn's. What was he doing here? And why was he talking like he'd known the human all her life? Things were just very strange.

"Hey, Pik," Ash sat down next to his dearest friend. "How are things?"

'Interesting, Pikapi, very interesting.'

"How so?" He rubbed her between her ears, and was rewarded when she leaned into it with a happy sigh. "Don't tell me I missed another fight between those three again."

Between Ash and Pikachu there were normally no need for words with certain subjects. The ongoing arguments between Squirtle, Charizard, and Bulbasaur happened to be one of those.

'That was part of it, yes. However there's something strange about that Mightyena that Jenn found. It speaks in weird tones.'

"Considering that Jenn found it?" Ash said teasingly. "I'm not too worried, Pik."

'Even though he talked to Charizard as if he'd known her for all of his life and not a few weeks?'

Ash's brows furrowed together. "What?"

Pikachu shrugged. 'That's what Charizard said to us after he'd talked with the dark canine. Ash…this pokémon concerns me.'

That she'd used his human name was evidence enough of how worried she was. Ash rubbed behind her ears, trying to sooth down the static that was building up. "You want me to talk to him?"

'No, I want you to talk to Jenn and get a final answer out of her,' Pikachu sighed with annoyance. 'She'd be a great mate for you, Pikapi. If only she'd realize it.'

Ash snorted, "I don't think there's much she does realize."

'I worry she'll lose you from being stupid enough to let you slide through her paws.'

"Don't give up yet, mommachu," Ash chuckled, "If it's okay for Misty to have someone in her life, then it's damned well okay for me to have someone in mine."

Pikachu glanced up at her friend with a twinkle in her dark eyes. 'That's exactly what I wanted to hear from you, Pikapi. And it's more than damned well okay for you to have someone in your life, it's a Mew given right. You deserve as much happiness in your life as anyone else, if not more.'

"Thanks, Pik," the dark-haired Grand Master smiled as he gently scratched her behind the ears as she liked best. "You're a true friend."

'Anytime, Pikapi. So…do I take it that you're not going to give up on Jenn without a fight?'

"Well…if not Jenn, then some other woman…"

'You can't fool me, Pikapi,' the electric mouse said knowingly. 'You're in love with Jenn, aren't you? Why else would you always rescue her?'

"Cuz my timing just happens to be right?"

'No, because you care about her,' Pikachu grinned. 'I've heard you talking in your sleep, and I've heard you say Jenn's name more than once.'

Ash flushed a bright red. "I…have?"

'You have,' Pikachu grinned and idly raised a hind leg to scratch an itchy spot on her back. 'Therefore I say that Jenn is the only mate for you. So go for it, Pikapi.'

"Yeah, but Jenn is also the problem. How do I get her to realise her true feelings, let alone get her to even admit them to me, when she obviously doesn't want to?"

'I wouldn't say that she doesn't want to, rather that she's scared and chooses not to.'

"Why would you choose to not have something that would make you happy?"

Pikachu shrugged. 'Maybe someone who is masochistic? But if you think about it, Jenn's been through some tough times recently. Dumped by Gary after two years of dating, nearly killed by Lu a number of times and nearly raped by a Fae. Naturally she'd be a bit scared of another relationship.'

"But I would never hurt her!" Ash protested. "I'd never hurt anyone!"

'We know that, Pikapi,' the electric mouse patted him with her tiny paw. 'I think that Jenn knows that too. But as I said, she's scared and maybe she also thinks that she is not good enough for you.'

Ash sighed wearily and laid his head back against the tree, "She is such a twit sometimes."

'But one you love. Right?'

Ash sighed again, but smiled. "Yeah, I'm beginning to think I do."

ooo

Pallet

Misty sighed and carefully sat up. She looked at the nightstand alarm clock and groaned out in irritation. It was only 2:45 in the morning. "Why me?"

The very pregnant redhead lumbered to her feet and pulled on a thin silk robe. Gary still wasn't home. Though she'd like to say that it wasn't like him, Misty had warily noticed that more and more often that it was becoming more like Gary to not come home until very early in the morning. It might be something good if he worked the midnight shift, but Misty was pretty sure he had normal working hours.

If that ass has a job at all, Misty thought sourly. More than likely, he's partying off of whatever he gets from his inheritance.

Though Professor Oak was very upset with the calamity brought on by Misty and Ash's divorce, there were certain legal repercussions to Gary's inheritance that couldn't be halted due to an angry grandparent. So, Gary still got a certain amount of money each year. He didn't have free rein, but did get money.

Misty padded down the stairs to the kitchen. Though she'd been intent on heating up a small mug of milk, she eyed the cordless phone. In the end, how could she not call him? While the milk was heating on the stove, there was something comforting about doing certain things the old fashioned way, she dialled the number of Gary's cell phone.

She held her breath for a heartbeat, right until she got a busy tone. Frowning, she hung up and tried again a few minutes later. Same thing. Well, maybe he was busy. Misty chided herself at the weak excuse, but she didn't want to think of what horrible things could be going on this very second.

After the milk warmed, Misty carefully poured it into the thick beige mug. She sat down at the centre island and wrapped her chilled hands around it. Off handedly, she wondered what Ash was doing. What would she be doing if she was still with him? Anger simmered momentarily at the thought of Jenn simpering on his every word. Then the anger died as quickly as it arrived. What were the chances of any problems coming from that blonde?

The milk was half finished when she tried Gary's cell phone again.

Again the line was busy.

The ex-Cerulean City gym leader leaned against the counter top, pillowed her head in her arms, and cried. What had she done?

ooo

Pummelo

Jenn woke to the sounds of her clock radio and the distant sound of the surf breaking onto the private beach just down from the villa.

Stretching her long limbs, she thought back to the previous day's activities. The planning session for the fair had gone very well with all things looking to be contracted and on track. The meeting with the caterers had been equally good with Jenn gorging herself on so much food that Trish wondered how on earth did she manage to put it all away without a distended stomach.

'Just as well we didn't have Ash here too,' the Australian had quipped. 'Otherwise the entire place would have been cleaned out.'

The thought of the darkly handsome Grand Master sent delicious shivers down her spine. He was so damn hot and sexy. And single, a little voice sounded in her head. Funny how that little voice sounded a bit like Trish.

But since her best friend was not psychic, Jenn dismissed the thought instantly. Trish was psycho, yes, but she couldn't get into Jenn's head. Perhaps it was just her own mind conspiring to get her hooked up with Ash.

Jenn sighed as she got out of bed and stood in front of her full length mirror. Everyone made it sound so easy, as if they were destined to be together. But was it as simple as that? Did Ash really notice her in a romantic way? Or did he only notice her because he thought she was a dumb blonde?

She studied her reflection in the mirror with a critical frown. While once she had enjoyed being a blonde, now it was a nuisance. Jenn was tired of being the butt of so many dumb blonde jokes told by her friends and strangers.

Maybe if she dyed her hair auburn, the jokes would stop and perhaps Ash would notice her as a woman worthy of his affections. "Auburn, or," Jenn lifted a lock of gleaming gold. "Or maybe black. Black as night. Black as sin. Ooh, it's all so dramatic! Who loves it? I do!"

It was time to make an appointment with the hairdresser.

ooo

Puck was walking from the beach area back to the villa when he noticed Jenn sneaking out the back door. He frowned as he watched the blonde slink not so stealthily towards the garage.

"Looks like she's up to trouble," the Fae muttered to himself. "Again. And who to get her out of it?" He looked around, but saw not a soul in sight. He sighed. "Me. Why? Because if I don't, then I'll never hear the end of it from Mia or Trish."

Taking matters into his own hands, he slipped through time and space to reappear at the side garage door Jenn had just closed. Nothing like keeping some of his powers. He put his hand on the knob, but was interrupted by a low growl coming from the bushes to the right.

Puck sighed, "Now what?"

The growler stepped from the bushes. It was the strange Mightyena that Puck had heard everyone talking about. 'Don't interrupt, Puck.'

"And you know my name how?"

'That's not important. This, however, is really important.'

"She's sneaking off, again. The last time she did that, she ended up on all fours and yapping 'Absol' for a couple of months." Puck could hear the garage door opening up, heard the soft purr of one of the sedans rumbling to life. "If you don't mind, I'd rather stop something like that from happening again."

'Nothing bad'll happen to her this time, I promise.' The Pokémon grinned and a long tongue lolled out. 'Actually, somethin' good'll come from it.'

"Since when are Dark pokémon Psychic?"

The canine grinned again. 'Since I ate one for breakfast. Tastes like chikin.'

Puck shuddered, "You're among the most revolting creatures I know."

The Mightyena shrugged, 'At least I'm fair about it. I ain't lyin about who I am or what I'm doin here.'

"No, but you're not exactly being forthwith about it, either," Puck growled out in dismay when he heard the vehicle pull out of the garage. "Foolish canine!" Aggravated more about being in trouble with Mia or Trish than being worried about canine teeth being dragged through his legs, Puck shoved past the pokémon and flung open the garage door.

He was just in time to see that Jenn had taken Drake's black BMW SUV. The big one. "Oh, that's just great. Now I'll have Drake after me as well."

The Mightyena sat next to Puck, 'She always did have expensive taste.'

"What do you mean by that?!"

Snarling a little, the Pokémon stood up. 'Oh great. Now I have car oil on my butt' He looked up and shrugged. 'I'd love to stay and talk, but I gotta go. Later, loser.'

Puck stared after the Pokémon, feeling a little as if he'd been through another hurricane. Something about that Pokémon wasn't right. Puck laughed a little. It had sat in oil.

ooo

Pallet

Tracey was busy sweeping the front porch of the Professor's laboratory when he saw a familiar figure come puffing up the long driveway.

He put the broom to one side and rushed down to greet her. "Misty! Long time no see. You should have called up earlier and I would have had Scyther or one of the Tauros to carry you up! You shouldn't be walking up steep slopes in your condition!"

Misty gave a wry smile. "You make it sound like I've got some terminal disease rather than just being almost nine months pregnant."

"Sorry, anyway come in, in," the Pokémon Watcher ushered her up the remainder of the driveway and into the living room.

"Is the Professor in?" the redhead enquired as she gratefully sat down on the sofa. Neither Misty or Gary had much to do with the elderly professor since the divorce. It seemed that Gary had brought on more disgrace to the Oak family name than the Professor could tolerate. First the Pokémon abuse, then this. And Professor Samuel Oak hailed from a generation where extra-marital affairs were greatly frowned upon. The fact that Misty was pregnant was even more disgraceful.

So the Professor decreed that he would not see either of them unless it was absolutely necessary, or only if it was on a professional basis to do with Pokémon. But since Gary was banned from Training and Misty had given up her Gym leadership years ago, that wasn't to be.

"No, he's currently over at Professor Hale's house. Professor Hale wanted to consult him on some research project he was conducting," Tracey said, breathing an internal sigh of relief.

Ever since the news of the affair had broken out, things had been rather tough for the Pokémon Watcher. He was friends with both Ash and Misty, and because he had not been there, he didn't know which side to take. In the end, he decided that since he was employed by Gary's grandfather, he should probably take Gary and Misty's side.

Which did not go down well with Ash or Brock.

"So what brings you here?" Tracey asked, getting his mind back to the task at hand.

Misty sighed and fiddled with her hands. "I need your advice, Tracey."

"Sure, go ahead."

The redhead stared at her hands some more before finally raising her head to look at him, her blue eyes filled with tears. "I think that Gary may be cheating on me. I'm afraid that I may have made the biggest mistake of my life by leaving Ash."

Tracey felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. "What? Misty, are you sure about this?"

"Of course I'm sure!" She snapped angrily before calming down again. "He's never home at night and only ever comes back in the early hours of the morning if at all. He never answers his cell phone and yet he seems to be getting a lot of calls and sending text messages. He said he loved no one but me, Trace. He should be home with me, getting ready for this baby to be born!"

"I…don't know what to say…"

"I thought that I might go and talk to Ash if possible," Misty said miserably. "Do you think that he'll listen to me?"

Tracey ran a hand through his dark hair. "I really couldn't answer that, Misty. But to be honest, if what you say is true….and you've made a mistake. I'm not so sure that Ash will take you back if that's what you're hoping for. And I don't think many people would blame him if he didn't."

ooo

"Has anyone seen Jenn?"

Puck was brought of his daydream with a start by this question of Trish's. The dark-haired Australian was puzzled by her best friend's non appearance at breakfast, which the blonde rarely missed, if ever.

Oh what to do, Puck thought quickly. Tell them no or tell them yes. I'm in trouble either way.

"Do you mean lately?" was all he asked weakly.

"Of course lately!" Trish looked exasperated. "What else? I don't mean yesterday!"

"She looked like she was going out for an early morning, um, drive."

"What?"

"She…" Puck was interrupted by the Mightyena, who had grabbed his pants leg in his teeth. "What do you want?!"

"Do you really want to say this? You could get into trouble."

"Well of course I'll get in trouble! I didn't exactly get a chance to stop her. No thanks to you."

"Stop her?" Trish looked puzzled. Then she looked alarmed. "Stop Jenn? Stop her from what? What's going on?!"

"Thanks a lot, mutt," Puck glared at the Mightyena, who shrugged in an 'I told you so' manner. "I should turn you into a stuffed animal for that."

"If you don't answer me soon, I'm going to tell Mia, and she's going to turn you into chopped liver!" Trish warned. "Now what's going on?!"

"The last I saw of her was," Puck looked at his watch, "About three hours ago."

"Three hours?!" Trish's jaw dropped. "PUCK!"

"Well, c'mon, Trish," Puck said, "Three hours to me is the blink of an eye. I've had all the time in the world already. Three hours isn't much to get worked up over."

"Oh, that's puttin' your foot in it, bub."

"Not much to get worked up over?!" Trish sat down. "Puck, she's just gotten over an insane Fae, a hurricane, a disastrous time loop, and a near rape, and you think it's no big deal to not get worked up over three hours?"

"Not really," Puck was confused. "I mean, three hours, that's what…"

It was then that Puck was realizing that the face off with Lu was nothing compared to facing off an enraged Trish. No one was coming to his rescue, nothing could save him, there wasn't a spell in the world to help him, and worst of all, there was no alcohol to buzz this drama down to nothing.

"Oh, wow, three hours is about the time it takes to drive to the salon, get your hair did, and drive back," a new voice chimed in. "What's up with the what, guys?"

Puck couldn't see anything, but he could hear Trish gasp out, "Jenn…What did you do to your hair?"

"Like it? I call it Christina Aguilera Black." The former blonde did a little spin. "Cute, huh?"

Trish shook her head and blinked to get over her shock. "Wow, though I must admit that dark hair really does suit you better than blonde."

Jenn looked pleased. "You really think so?"

"Yeah, I do. I'm not sure whether to be jealous that your hair is blacker than mine, and I'm a natural raven hair," the Australian grinned.

"I've always wanted to dye it black," Jenn grinned as she sat down next to Trish. "To have hair as black as midnight, as black as sin. Awwwyeah."

The two friends were interrupted by Puck clearing his throat with a slight 'ahem.'

"Yes, Pucky Wucky?" Jenn greeted the Fae. "You want somethin'?"

Puck winced slightly at the nickname but continued. "Ah…is it safe for me to go now, seeing as Jenn is back safe and sound?"

"Of course it's safe for you to go," the American grinned. "Why wouldn't it be?"

The Fae merely pointed to the Australian sitting next to her. "Trish was about to go all feral and tigery on me because you had been gone three hours and I hadn't told her."

"And you were scared?" Jenn laughed. "C'mon, Puck, Trish is the least scariest person on the planet. She wouldn't hurt a fly. How could you possibly be scared?"

"Yeah, well, it's nice to see you're back to your old ditzy self," Puck gave a little half bow, "Ladies, I take my leave of thee."

The Fae vanished before either could say a word.

"You know, that colour really does make your eyes bluer," Trish said.

"You think so?" Jenn asked. "I was thinking that, too."

From their feet, the weary Mightyena sighed. It was gonna be a long day.

ooo

The first inkling that any of their friends had of Jenn's dramatic change in appearance came at lunchtime. Shannon, Mia and Jaime were helping to set the table in the conservatory for lunch when Trish walked in, followed by an unfamiliar dark-haired young woman.

"Hey, Trish, you didn't tell us you were inviting a new person for lunch," Mia quipped as she set glasses out in front of each place setting. "We're going to have put one extra place out or else we won't have enough."

"Yeah, who's your new friend?' Chris piped up from where he was flaked out on one of the lounges with a magazine.

"Awww, don't you guys recognize me?" Jenn's familiar voice sounded. "I know I changed my hair colour but it's still me, the Goddess you all know and love!"

Shannon blinked then peered closer at the 'stranger' before gasping and nearly dropping the basket of bread rolls she was carrying. "Jenn, it really is you!! What did you do to your hair?!"

"I decided it was time for a change, so I went and got my hair done," Jenn flicked the ends of her hair with her fingers. "Like it?"

"It looks good!!" Mia grinned, being the first to recover. "It really suits you!"

"Thank you," the former blonde beamed. "I know I loves it." She then noticed that Jaime was looking at both her and Trish with an amused grin. "What?"

"Are you two trying to look like twins?" the Canadian chuckled. "You do realise you now have exactly the same hair colour as your best friend."

"Hey, I've had black hair since the day I was born," Trish grinned. "And mine is an all natural black which doesn't come out of a bottle."

"And mine is Christina Aguilera black," Jenn sniffed. "Which didn't come out of a bottle."

"Then what did it come out of?" Jaime asked.

"A bowl. They painted it on."

"Still comes out of a bottle, Jenn," Mia chuckled. "They squeeze the colour out of the bottle and into the bowl so they can mix it and apply it better."

"Oh," Jenn blinked. "I thought it just came in the bowl…"

"Obviously the change in your hair colour has done nothing to improve your intelligence," Chris smirked as he sat up and sauntered over.

"And yours will be lowered once I finish pummelling you," Jenn glared at the Scot.

"I'm so scared."

"Duh."

Just then Drake walked in, talking with Ben, when both saw Jenn and stopped dead in their tracks.

"Your Beemer seriously needs some gas, Drake," Jenn said nonchalantly. "It's borderline empty."

Ben was wisely silent, but Drake was far from that.

"Jenn?" He looked confused. "What's with the bad wig?"

"Wig?" Jenn's eyes widened in annoyance. "Oh no you did not!"

"Didn't what?"

"You did not just go there!"

"Go where?"

"This isn't a wig, genius! I got my hair dyed. Thanks for noticing," Jenn stalked over to him and slapped the BMW's keys into his hand. "I borrowed your SUV, FYI. It's a shame I'm not short, because I'd have loved to have seen your tall butt get back into the driver's seat when it's pulled all the way forward." Then she stalked out of the kitchen with her head held high.

"Ooh, smooth move, Drake," Chris snickered, "Even I didn't make fun of her hair that much. And I could've. I had the chance but I didn't take it."

"Yeah well she didn't go and borrow your car without asking," the Orange Crew Leader grumbled. "Not my fault if Jenn is overly sensitive when it comes to her appearance. That girl can dish out criticism but she can't take it."

"Shouldn't you go after her and apologise?" Shannon asked, frowning slightly. "What if she doesn't come back?"

"Jenn'll be back in a few minutes," Trish said confidently. "And she'll have forgotten all about Drake's gaffe too."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because I know Jenn," Trish grinned. "And she always goes stalking off in a huff and then comes back later having forgotten all about it."

"Always?"

"Always," the Australian nodded. "Besides she went off this morning without having had breakfast. If nothing else, her stomach will always bring her around."

So they went ahead with lunch, and sure enough a few minutes later, Jenn came walking back in and pulled up a chair next to Trish. "Trish, can you pass me a roll?" She visibly ignored Drake.

Drake was about to say something when an elbow in his side from Trish persuaded him not to.

"We were all just saying how great your hair looks," her friend said though her gaze clearly was on Drake, daring him to say differently.

"I'm glad most of you are smarter than Drake," Jenn grinned evilly.

"Did you get James to do it?" Shannon asked. "James' reputation as a hairdresser is really taking off."

"Uh…no. I didn't know he did hair."

"Where did you go?" Mia asked curiously. "Viva la Vulpix?"

"There was only one place open when I called last night, so I pencilled myself in for a salon called Sparks," Jenn explained. "He was really, um, well he reminded me of James, only a little more muscular."

"Flamboyant?" Trish offered.

"Showy?" Shannon said.

"Actually…I was going to go with gay," Jenn brushed back her hair, "But whatever works. Oh, come on people. The man does clothes, hair, and collects bottle caps. What else should I think?" She frowned. "Come to think of it, he does have the best hair I've ever seen on a guy."

"That's true," Jaime agreed. "His hair is always so smooth looking and shiny."

Brock nodded. "James has always taken great care with his appearance. Always has to look his absolute best. Meowth said he was like that even before he teamed up with Jess and himself in Team Rocket. James even took pride in the fact that he looked better than Jessie, whenever he cross dressed," Brock reminisced.

"See? He's gotta be gay," Jenn insisted. "Cross dressing, hair, clothes, collecting bottle caps and he used to carry around the rose all the time. No straight guy would ever do all those things."

Brock shrugged. "I wouldn't say for sure whether James is gay or not. I can't ever remember James being interested in either gender during our journeys. He's never said anything and I've never asked – it's none of my business anyway. The main thing is that James is a great guy and friend."

"I've got nothing against him being gay," Jenn shrugged. "I just think that he acts like it."

"Sparks Salon?" Ben was puzzled. "I've never heard of it around here. Whereabouts is it?"

"Downtown near the main beach."

"Still never heard of it."

"Duh, you're a guy. I don't doubt that you haven't heard of it."

ooo

A few hours later, Jenn and the rest of the girls were relaxing by the indoor pool with ice cold sodas when James came rushing up to her.

"Jenn!!! Brock told me you got your hair done!" the lilac-haired man gasped. "I'm hurt that you never asked me to do it!"

"I didn't even know until a few moments ago that you did hair!" Jenn said defensively as she sat up on the lounge chair. "So how could I have asked you? I swear I will next time."

James ran a practiced eye over her hair and fingered the ends delicately. "Your ends are fried, which ends up making the whole thing looking more than a bit fake," he sniffed disdainfully. "Just which back alley salon did you go to for this do?"

"It wasn't in a back alley," Jenn glowered, "It was a place near the beach called Sparks ."

"SPARKS?!!" James shrieked like a wildcat. "You went to Sparks?!!!"

"Yeah, that's what I said," Jenn scowled. "What's with the drama queen reaction?"

"I have every right to over-react. It's in my contract," James folded his arms across his chest and scowled right back at her. "Sparks just happens to be my rival in hair design and he's always trying to steal my clients."

"What part of 'I didn't know' didn't you get?" Jenn grumbled. "Lay off."

"Of course not," the former Team Rocket member said as he examined her hair a bit more. "How much did he charge you?"

"Um…$200."

"Sucker. He missed a whole section in the back," James smirked.

"He what?!!" Jenn nearly leapt off the chair. "Please tell me you're kidding!"

"Nope."

Jenn turned to her best friend with a with desperate look. "Trish, tell me that James is being a twisted jerk."

The Australian got up from her lounge chair and came over and looked at the back of Jenn's head. "Um…unfortunately he's not kidding, Jenn. There's a whole section of blonde still showing."

Jenn's shriek of rage echoed throughout the villa.

"I'm gonna KILL that freak!" she ground out through clenched teeth. "I know I did not just go and pay all that money for a shit job!"

"That's Sparks for you," James snorted. "Promises the world and delivers dirt. Whereas I would have done a proper job and done it for free as well."

"Well in my complete defence, this was a total spur of the moment kind of thing. Why no one here told me about the blonde spot, I don't know," Jenn said. The former blonde twisted her thick hair into a ponytail and sighed. "I didn't think I'd have to kill someone before breakfast."

"You could always eat first and say it's a killing someone before lunch kind of thing."

"Oh no," A new voice broke in, "Now who's Jenn killing?"

"First it's gonna be the lackwit hairdresser who screwed up my hair," Jenn smiled charmingly at Drake, who had been the one to walk into the room. "Then it'll be you if you think about cracking any more jokes about my hair."

Drake gulped and wisely said nothing.

"Surely you're not gonna entrust Sparks with fixing up your hair, are you?" Mia quipped. "He botched it once, what's to say he won't botch it again."

"I'm not letting him near it," Jenn grouched. "I'm gonna show him what a shit job he did, then I'm gonna demand my money back. After that I'll get it fixed by a proper stylist."

"That would be me," James preened. "I'll fix up your hair as it should be and, just to show how generous I am, I'll do it for free. But if you would care to donate some bottle caps it would be much appreciated as well."

"What if Sparks won't give the money back?" Trish questioned. "If he is as dodgy a business as James says, then I don't think he will."

"Ain't no thang," Jenn declared confidently. "There won't be any problemos getting my money back."

"You're not going to threaten him are you?" Shannon asked, a suspicious frown creasing her forehead.

"I could, but I don't feel like it," the former blonde waved off her concern. "Drake's gonna threaten to run him out of town and make sure that he'll never work in the Archipelago again."

"I am?" Drake blinked before receiving a sharp jab in the stomach from Trish's elbow.

"You are," Jenn gave the Orange Crew Leader an evil smile. "That way I get my money back and everyone's happy."

"Um…what's my incentive for doing this?"

"I'd have to say that there aren't going to be any murders so soon after Hurricane Lu," Jenn offered. "Not that I'd kill you. I'd kill Sparks. Cuz if I had to kill you, then Trish wouldn't be happy at you. She'd find out a way to bring you back to life so she could kill you."

"Continued living sounds just fine to me," Drake said quickly.

"That's what I figured," Jenn said. She turned to James, "Ready to go, James my boy?"

"Whatever you say, tiger," James smirked, "Growl."

"If it looks tigerlicious, then I'm almost tempted not to fix it," Jenn grinned.

"Oh, please, fix it," James said quickly. "If not for you, then for me. As a high ranking stylist, it's painful to look at."

"Tell me about it," Drake snorted. Luckily, the Boss of the Archipelago was safely on the other side of the room.

ooo

Jenn came back two hours later, all smiles and black hair that shone and bounced as she walked.

"Did you get your money back?" Trish demanded the instant her friend walked into the great room.

"Yep," Jenn grinned. "Dude was a real coward. All I did was scowl at him and he was begging for mercy."

"James fixed up your hair?" Shannon asked.

"Awwyeah," the former blonde beamed. "He's a really great stylist. You guys should try him sometime. My hair feels so sinfully silky and smooth. And look how straight it is! I haven't had it this smooth after a hot iron in ages."

Trish examined the ends of her own tresses, "Hmm….I just might make an appointment. My hair could do with some TLC and there is some grey starting to show."

"Your hair looks a more natural black now, Jenn," Mia smiled. "It's hard to get black done just right, it has to look more natural like Trish's or else it looks too black."

"Black like sin?"

"No, Jenn," Mia patted Jenn's shoulder, "Black like fake."

"Oooh," Jenn shrugged, "Works for me. What now, guys?"

"Now we get to work," Trish said with an evil grin, "And you have something to prepare for."

"What?" Jenn looked instantly wary.

The evil grin got a little bigger. "Oh, let's just say he's got black hair and a tan, too."

Jenn blanched, "Oh, crap."

"Good, I thought you'd like it."

ooo

Finally, it was time for the celebration dance to be held. The start of week long festivities to celebrate the island's survival of the worst hurricane to have hit it in centuries.

The morning was fresh and dewy and promised to be another warm tropical summer's day and a gorgeous and balmy night. 'We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather,' Trish thought to herself happily as she walked down the corridor to Jenn's room.

Colourful fairy lights and Japanese lanterns had been strung up along the perimeter of the wide sandstone balconies that surrounded the Grand Ballroom of the Pummelo Island Convention Centre where the dance was to be held. Guests would be able to spill out onto the balcony and chairs and tables were set up as well as speakers linked to the main PA.

The Australian knocked sharply on the bedroom door. "Jenn, are you ready? We've got heaps to do before tonight!"

When Jenn swung the door open, Trish was shocked to see that her friend was still in her sleepwear, with her previously perfect hair completely messy and unkempt.

"Jenn, did you sleep in or something? You need to get dressed quick."

"I'm not gonna go to the dance," the former blonde muttered as she turned and padded back to sit on her bed.

"WHAT?! Why not??" Trish's jaw dropped. "After all the hard work you did on your hair!"

"Actually, that was James' doing."

"Irregardless," Trish said, "You can't just not do this!"

"No, I can't do what you want me to do," Jenn looked miserable. "I can't bring myself to tell Ash how I really feel."

"You can't even admit it to me!"

Jenn looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You just said that you can't tell him how you really feel," Trish said, "You couldn't even say that you like him, much less that you love him."

"So," Jenn glowered and rested her chin in the palm of her hand.

"So, he only rescued you when you were at your lowest," Trish reminded her gently, "You owe him at least that."

Jenn rolled her eyes and sighed, "I'll go get dressed."

Trish cheered and left the room. Success was hers.

ooo

'So tonight is the big celebration dance,' Pikachu chirped as she ate breakfast alongside Ash, Brock and the other Pokémon.

"Oh yeah, it's gonna be great!" Brock enthused. "Imagine all the beautiful women and girls that will be there, all wanting a piece of Brock the Rock!"

Bulbasaur looked at the Pokémon breeder and then at Ash. 'He hasn't changed at all, has he.'

'Nope,' Charizard snorted before taking a gulp of his Pokémon chow. 'Still as deluded as ever.'

'Totally.'

Since Brock couldn't understand the Pokémon, he blissfully ignored the two creatures and continued. "And this time you get to have part of the action too, Ash. It's your first public function as a newly single man. Every single female, at least those who aren't after me, will be after you. You can think of it as a Cinderella ball. Only for a guy who's not really looking for a girl."

"Oh, that's great. Thanks, Brock," Ash smiled weakly and tried to not think about all of the female eyes that would be on him as soon as he walked into the room. While that wasn't a new thing for him, he'd never been so publicly advertised as being single as now. Thanks to the media, everyone knew about the divorce and that Ash was back on the market. The last time he was single was before he was the Grand Master and before he was so very famous.

"James rang a few minutes ago to inform you that he will come by to personally cut your hair and Jessie will be by later to drop off the Armani suit she wants you to wear."

'Is Jenn going to be there tonight?' Meganium asked.

"She should be," Ash said. "After all, Jenn did help with organizing the dance."

"Somehow I don't think that Trish would let Jenn stay home even if she wanted to," Brock chuckled. "Trish can be pretty persuasive and forceful when she wants."

'You going to dance with Jenn at all?' the Herb Pokémon asked. 'It would be so nice and romantic…'

"Well, Jenn did promise me she would." Ash said with a small shrug, "But who knows with that girl. I hope she does, though. It would really help to hold off the other masses of females if someone was already by my side."

"I'll help out, for sure," Brock said confidently, "I have absolutely no issues with helping to take some of the pressure from your shoulders, Ash."

"I just bet you don't, Brock," Ash chuckled. "But you'd better go get ready."

"You're right, I almost forgot to see if my suit got pressed or not," Brock looked a little pale. "I can't turn up in a wrinkled suit!"

"Don't worry, I know Jessie wouldn't let you turn up looking like a mess," Ash shook his head and gave a little laugh. "If she's dropping off the Armani for me, she's probably got something for you. Ring her and make sure."

Brock sighed, "Damn, Ash, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Go call Jessie," Ash shoved his friend towards the hallway. "I'll clean up here and catch up with the whole getting ready thing."

"Don't you have housekeeping for that?"

"Some things you just need to do for yourself," Ash sighed. "Besides, I need to do this to keep sane. Preparations for dances and functions like this always make me reach for an antacid or be glad I'm going."

"So what's today?"

"Antacid."

Brock nodded. "Me too."

Ash watched his friend walk off and then looked around at his Pokémon friends. "What?"

'That was a bad excuse for not wanting to get ready right away,' Meganium said sagely.

'I gotta agree with the tree,' Charizard rumbled and ignored the angry glares from Meganium. 'What's with the hesitation, Ash?'

"I don't know," Ash hedged, then shrugged. "Okay, I'm nervous about all of the people staring and whispering. Everyone knows about the divorce. It's world wide news now."

'So, what's the worst part of it?' Bulbasaur asked, 'Is it the fact that everyone knows or that you think you'll be embarrassed that the divorce happened at all?'

Ash sat on the floor. "I'm not sure."

Pikachu abandoned her food and sat by Ash's side. She patted his knee with a paw, 'Don't worry, Pikapi. One of us can go with you, if you want.'

"Hmm, somehow, I think it'd be best if I went alone," Ash sighed. "I know that I'm the Grand Master and that I can understand all Pokémon and that it looks strange for me to not be seen without one of you, but for tonight, I think I'd better be alone."

The Pokémon exchanged looks, but they all nodded agreement.

"You guys!" Ash hugged those closest, which was all but a too proud to be hugged Charizard, "I can't tell you how much all of you mean to me."

'Good old, Ash,' Charizard snorted a little flame, 'Still as sappy as ever.'

The hug ended abruptly, but Ash still smiled. Charizard's words could never hurt him, because he could see into the dragon's heart. It was part of his gift as the Chosen One. He could see the inherent good or evil of a Pokémon. While it was rare, so very rare, to find an evil Pokémon, it was always good to tell when a Pokémon that seemed to be bad was actually good.

'Say, Pikapi,' Pikachu said and her tone suddenly changed to sly, 'I heard on the Pokémon grapevine that someone got her hair done very specially for the dance.'

"Really? Who?"

Charizard growled a little. 'Ash, I'm trying very, very hard not to flame you.'

ooo

"I can't believe you're making me go," Jenn grumbled to Trish as the two girls walked back to the villa after a busy morning. She pulled the brim of her baseball cap lower towards her eyes, which were covered by a pair of Dior sunglasses.

"I can't believe you're still complaining," Trish ignored her friend's glare. "You're the one who helped organize this dance."

"I know," Jenn said, "Quit reminding me. I must've been sleep deprived or something."

The first order of the day was to meet with the event organiser and catering manager for a last minute check that everything was in place, and a final run down through the dinner and the evening's program. Then they made sure that all of the girls had been booked in to style their hair and to have their nails done.

"I'm only making you go for your own good," Trish said patiently. "You told me that you had promised Ash that you would dance with him at this celebration. A promise made is a promise kept."

"Promises are made to be broken."

"Not this one," Trish warned. "You don't go and you'll be sorry. Besides, you'll have fun if nothing else."

Jenn rolled her eyes.

"And what's with the hat and sunglasses routine, anyway?" Trish asked. "I meant to ask you earlier."

"Well, at least they're not the ugly oversized LinLo version sunglasses. I just don't want to be recognized by anyone," Jenn said, "Paparazzi are everywhere."

"They're not after you," Trish grinned wryly. "At least, not yet. And not ever if you don't go through with your promise to Ash."

"One dance with him won't make me famous."

Trish kept on grinning. "It could!"

Jenn paused at the front entryway. "Trish, what if it does?"

Trish sighed, "Is that what you're worried about?"

"Kind of," Jenn shrugged, "I guess it's a mix of things. That's just the one thing that keeps surfacing."

"Well, get on in the villa, Christina," Trish motioned her friend inside, "Before the paparazzi get you."

"I also don't want to be teased from here to eternity," Jenn said as she walked in. "I can't stand that."

"Then you shouldn't be teasing me about Drake all the time if you can't take it yourself," Trish said slyly as she closed the door behind them.

"That's different."

"How so?"

"It's more fun when you're the one actually doing the teasing."

ooo

Ash sighed and kept still as Jessie fussed over him.

"You look every inch a million dollars and just like a Grand Master should," she enthused as she fixed his bow tie. "Armani tuxedoes are always so stylish and classic. You can't go wrong with having one on."

"I do like that label," he admitted.

"And ya do have a million bucks, Twerp," Meowth said from Jessie's side. "Okay, foine, he looks like more den a million bucks. Happy dere, Jess?"

"I'd be happier if you'd have learned how to make money the Meowth way," the redhead muttered under her breath. "But you gotta make do with what you have. I guess."

"What was dat!?!"

"If you two can't finish this without fighting, then I'm outta here," Ash said, "And I won't have any problems with showing up at this dance wearing jeans and a t-shirt."

"YOU ARE NOT RUINING ALL OF MY HARD WORK!" Jessie shrieked.

Ash's eyes widened and some of it was genuine fear.

"If you so much as think of showing up at this dance with even one eyebrow hair out of place," Jessie leaned low and growled, "You'll wish you were never born."

"I think…I already am," Ash whispered and gulped. "Jessie…Can you just finish with my hair?"

"Why of course, boss!" Jessie stepped back and clutched the comb and scissors to her chest. She grinned broadly. "I'll have you looking so hot, all of those girls will be fainting at the mere sight of you!"

"That's one of the things I'm afraid of," Ash muttered.

"Why?"

Ash shrugged, "I guess I still feel like it's too soon after Misty to even consider dating. Yet all of these women are going to be at the dance with one thing on their mind."

"Free food?"

Jessie spun on Meowth, "That was the most idiotic thing I've ever heard! No, not food! They want him!"

Ash nodded wearily, "They also want the money I come with, the private jets that fly me around, the press that dogs my every step, the cars I ride in, the stores I shop in, and," he motioned to Jessie and Meowth, "Pretty much any and all of the special treatment I get because I'm the Grand Master."

"And the Chosen One," Jessie said.

"Oh yeah," Meowth nodded wisely. "Youise can't forget dat one. Dat's da most impoitant thing about ya."

"Well, yeah, but it's the one thing about me that nobody else knows about. No one except the small group of humans and Pokémon who know this about me," Ash said. "Besides, even if it was as well known a fact about me as being Grand Master, who would believe it? It's almost too much for me to understand and I've lived with it since I was ten."

"I bet da peoples in dis here Archipelago would," Meowth offered. "Dey do have dat centuries old legend and dis was where you found out dat you were da Chosen One."

"Remember that time?" Jessie reminisced fondly.

"Remember it? How could I possibly forget it?" Ash chuckled. "My life was never the same again. I was the Chosen One for real."

"Do you ever regret being the Chosen One?" Jessie was curious.

"Sometimes I do," Ash admitted. "But hey, there's nothing I can do about it. Fate chose me to be the Chosen One and until another one comes along, I'm it. If another one comes along."

"I don't think this is quite like Buffy being chosen to be a vampire slayer," Jessie shuddered, "And if your being Chosen is like her being chosen, you don't want to be unchosen."

"Huh?"

"The only way a new slayer is chosen, and that's what she was, was for her to die," Jessie narrowed her glittering blue eyes, "Damn you, James, for making me watch that show."

"You know that I saw Ho-oh the day I left Pallet, don't you?" Ash asked it quietly. "I should've known from that step forward that my life wouldn't ever be the same. I guess it took coming here to make it real."

"Enough reminiscing," Jessie said suddenly, startling the other two, "Time to get you all cologned up and ready to fend off all those starving women!"

ooo

"Oy," Trish said softly, leaning against the door she'd just closed. For a second, she leaned against it, then walked away. Her best friend was quickly becoming a huge pain and she was just about to develop a huge headache. She needed to get out and get some fresh air!

She left the villa, and a pacing Jenn ("It's from worry, I tell ya! Worry!" The former blonde had said.) behind, along with Shannon and Jaime who were having fun getting ready. Though she'd forbade Jaime from torturing any Pokémon, the Aussie had no doubt that she'd see at least one small pokémon at the dance, in some sort of formal wear.

With the day only partially gone, and with about five hours left until the dance commenced, Trish decided to take a quick walk down to the small shopping plaza that edged the area where the villa was. The ocean was in a pleasant mood today, as Trish noted the lazy surf that lapped the soft ivory sand.

Seagulls from the mainland swooped and soared with Wingulls, and she noticed a Seel swimming around with a dolphin. The mix of life was incredible, even in the sea itself.

Her tummy rumbled, reminding Trish that she'd walked out on lunch, or what would've been lunch had she not been "talking" with Jenn about what dress to wear and the importance of going to get her nails done.

A Starmiebucks beckoned and who was she to ignore this siren's call? On entering the shop, which had its doors open to the beachfront beyond, she found herself immersed in a familiar homey environment. Coffee mingled with the scent of food and the sound of music and people. It hadn't been too long since the hurricane, but already – thanks to the help that Ash and the mainland, the Fae, and the Pokémon had provided – the Archipelago was back to about 95 full working order.

"Can I help you?" A young woman asked from behind the counter.

Five minutes, and a free coffee and biscuit later, Trish was seated in an overstuffed leather chair that would've been equally as comfortable in someone's living room as this establishment. "Thank you, honey," she murmured into her beverage. Being the fiancée of the Orange Crew Leader so had its perks.

She was in between meditating and staring at the ocean when a familiar person suddenly joined her. Emily, who was one of Drake's personal assistants, sat in the matching leather chair next to her.

"Trish, I thought that was you!"

"Emily," Trish smiled, "It's so nice to see you!"

Normally, Trish would've been worried. Emily was very cute, with long straight blonde hair and teal blue eyes. Though she was currently in between significant others, Emily would have no trouble getting another man in her life whenever she wanted. But while Emily was a tall, thin blonde, she had a disposition that was sweet and a loyalty streak that was a mile long. There'd never been any issues about Drake cheating with Emily.

But…

"Hey, Em," Trish looked over at the blonde, "You doing anything tonight?"

To be continued….

ooo

Author's Note: Perhaps they're going to see a chick flick! Maybe…maybe not.

Please, if you are interested, I would appreciate it if you would read one of my other stories, 'Broken Wings.' I believe it is my best work.

Also, please read my best friend Pikajenn's work. She is a fantastic writer, and especially take a look at 'Imaya's Story'.