Chapter 5- "Who Said We Needed LOVE?!"

{A/N: Howdy, Y'all. I'm kinda doing this instead of a History paper…. Oops. But hey! Whatever, I'll get it done eventually.

Disclaimer: Well, fine sir. I see you have inquired about me Owning Pokémon. I happen to not. I apologize for any disappointment besides my own in that fact.}

Ash sat down on the Queen bed, clean and sand-free. He dried his spiky hair with a towel, leaving it even messier than usual. He wore what he always had- green fingerless gloves with blue jeans, sneakers, and a black t-shirt, typically underneath a jacket which was laying on his bag across the room. His League cap sat next him. I wonder when the Pokémon battling tournament part will start… He thought to himself as Gail walked out, drying her long brown hair down to the red tips. She was wearing a blue v-neck t-shirt with a pattern on the front. She wore jean-shorts and thin sneakers on her lower half. Gail walked over and sat down on the floor across from Ash. "Hey you." She said and smiled. She traced shapes of Pokémon on Ash's knee with her finger.

Ash felt this and started to drum his fingers on his thighs, anxiously. She's AWFUL friendly with me… He thought. As if Gail could read his mind- What's with girls doing that?- She said- "So, do I make a satisfactory partner for the guy who looks great with his shirt off?" She asked, biting her lip.

"Yeah." He said, looking down at her. "You're competitive, and we're totally going to win" He said.

"Really, Ash? You're already thinking of winning with me?" She asked with a blush and grabbed one of the hands he was nervously tapping. "That's so sweet."

"Huh?" He asked, then realized it might come out rude. "What do you mean? What's so sweet about winning battles? This IS a tournament, right?" He asked her.

"A Pokémon tournament?" Gail asked. She laughed a little. "Oh no, no, no, Ash." She laughed again. "This is a new television show where all the contestants are looking for love, Ash." She looked down. "I'm your date." She said, suddenly bashful.

Ash looked at her with wide eyes. That. Explains. A. LOT. He thought. But no smart words could make their way to his tongue. "Wait did you just say LOVE?!" he asked her, not really hearing anything after that. Gail just nodded. "So, you mean to tell me you're my date?" He asked, trying not to come off as rude but he did anyway. He saw Gail shudder and her sad expression. "Well good. I couldn't think of a better one." He said, redeeming himself. Gail smiled at him.

"You're really sweet, Ash." She told him. "How did you not know?"

"I was tricked. Ash concluded, thinking about it.

*In Flashback*

Two weeks ago…

"Ashy-boy, You gotta get out of this slump of yours." Gary said to him.

"What?! I'm not in a slump!" Ash said defensively, as usual. "I'm not in a slump." He reassured Gary.

"Yes you are, Ashy-boy. Ever since Red left." Gary used his nickname for Misty. "Ashy-boy had his little heart broken!" Gary cooed, holding his hands over his heart. Ash, who was now REALLY mad, stood up.

"Shut up, Gary!" Ash yelled. "You think you're so much better than me just because you're dating Leaf!" He screamed. Gary just laughed.

"Yes, me and Leaf are very happy. And you would be too if you could drop the bone-head act for a minute to find a girl who'd date you. Probably wouldn't lose so many battles." Gary said to him.

"Do you want to battle now, Gary?! Then I'll prove o you that I'm in no slump!" Ash said defensively and stormed off.

Ash even remembered his battle with Gary.

"If only you were in the competition…" He muttered and trailed off, hoping to be heard.

The word 'competition' won Ash's attention. "What competition?! Where can I enter?"

Gary smirked. "I don't know Ashy-boy. There's limited entry spots. They might already be filled." He knew just how to play Ash due to knowing him for so long.

"What do you mean, Gary?! I'm just as good as you are! I just beat you! I'm going to enter this competition and I'll win it!" said Ash, as hard-headed as ever.

"Okay Ashy-boy. Whatever you say. I'll try to get you entered." Gary said and turned to walk away. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he climbed the hill back up to his grandfather's lab.

"I walked right into that…" He muttered.

"Ash, If you don't feel comfortable with this…" Gail started sadly.

"No, No!" Ash assured her. She smiled again at that and squeezed his hand, which she still had.

"So, if you thought this was a Pokémon competition, you must've brought some with you, right?" Gail asked, wanting to see Ash's strength so she could flirt with him about it.

Ash broke out in a grin as Pikachu hopped up on his shoulder. "Well, there's Pikachu. He never goes into his Pokeball." He looked over at the little yellow rodent, who nuzzled the teen's cheek. "Since there was a 'no loose Pokémon' rule at the beginning, he hid in my backpack." Ash said. "I also made a few visits to get my all-star team back. I went to see Liza in the Charific Valley, where my Charizard has been training to become one of the best. He rolled Charizard's pokeball off the bed, where Charizard popped out.

"Zard!" Charizard cried as it looked at Ash.

"Good to see you too, Buddy." He said as the flying dragon stuck its nose in Ash's palm. Pikachu leaped on Charizard's head, reuniting with his old pal. Charizard snorted in excitement, and Ash laughed. "And I stopped Officer Jenny and the Squirtle Squad to borrow my Squirtle for a little bit. Ash put Squirtle's pokeball on the bed and the little blue Pokémon popped out.

"Squirtle!" It ran at Ash and nearly tackled him.

"Hi, Squirtle, Hi." He said as the Pokémon licked Ash's face. "Hey Squirtle. Can you guess who's next?" He let the little turtle sniff the pokeball that was in his gloved hand and Squirtle started jumping and dancing. Ash smiled. "Come on, Bulbasaur." He said and let the grass and poison type out.

"Bulba!" Bulbasaur exclaimed and reached out one vine and wrapped it around Ash's waist. The pokemon wrapped the other around Squirtle's waist, and pulled them in a group hug. Ash laughed, remembering the old days with these guys.

Gail watched Ash laugh with his pokemon. Aww that's so adoreable. She thought and watched him bring out Heracross.

"Uhh, Gail?" Ash said, his pokemon surrounding him. Pikachu was asleep on his head and Gail couldn't help but laugh at Bulbasaur and Squirtle chase each other around him.

"Yes, Ash?" She asked, giggling.

"Uhh, about my last Pokémon…" He started, pressing the center of the pokeball in his hand to make it grow full size.

"Yeah, what about it?" She asked.

"He's a little… Affectionate. He'll tackle anyone in a hug."

"So, brace myself?" She asked.

"Definetly." Ash said and brought out Muk.

"MUUUUKKKKK!" He bellowed and engulfed everybody but Charizard in a huge and Ashboth laughed, and Gail looked over at him.

"You're cute." She said and kissed Ash's cheek. He just stared at the ceiling, trying to comprehend what just happened. "Wanna go to the pool?"She offered, propping herself up.

Ash sat up and nodded, returning all his Pokémon. "I'm going to get my bathing suit on." He said, ducking into the bathroom. Gail changed into a bikini while he was in there, and she was ready to go. Ash wore a white t-shirt and walked out to see her waiting. "And, We're off!" He said, grabbing her wrist and running out the door.

They arrived at the pool, which was shaped like a 'U'. There was a large decorative rock jutting out of the middle, concealing the other half of the pool. He reached the edge and let go of Gail's wrist, only to be pushed in by her. She giggled and sat on the edge.

"What was that for?" Ash asked with a mischievous grin.

"You were being goofy." She said with a smile before she shrieked and was dragged in. Ash had pulled her in by her legs. "AAsh!" She whined, but smiled. He just laughed. Soon she joined him. They were just happy and entertained to mess with each other.

After the challenge, Misty walked in to cabin #3. "So what happened that made you decide to join the show?" Eric asked her, stepping inside.

"Huh? What do you mean? I just wanted a challenge." She said.

"Finding a boyfriend is a challenge?" Eric asked,

"Wait, what?" Misty said, looking over at him. Did he just say boyfriend? She thought in her mind, trying confirm what she just heard.

Eric threw his hands up in mock defeat. "Yeah, this is kinda a show where people get paired and go on dates…" He started.

"Wow…" Misty started but trailed off. "I think my sisters tricked me." She said. "I'm just not sure if I'm ready…." She muttered.

"Why, what happened?" Eric asked.

Misty dismissed it. "Nothing. Just, can we be more of a friendly couple rather than a mushy, kissy couple?" She asked.

"Sure, Misty." He said. "Want to go to the pool?"

"Do I ever! Water's my life!" Misty excitedly said and got changed. "Let's go!" She said after she came out to find Eric already changed. She ran out the door and dashed to the pool. It was empty on their side of the rock. "Cannonball!" She yelled, not knowing there was more pool behind the rock. She jumped in from a full-on sprint, making a huge splash.

Ash had Gail underwater when he heard that yell. "Looks like we've got company." He told Gail once she surfaced.

"Good, more people to help me dunk you." She said giggling as she tackled Ash underwater. They both came up and started laughing. "Oh you no you didn't." He threatened, splashing her. But something still bugged him about that yell.

Eric hopped in behind Misty. She laughed and hoisted herself up on the side of the pool. "Thanks for understanding that I was tricked." She said, kicking her legs back and forth.

"No problem." He said and smiled at her.

"It's just that…" she was cut off by a guy's voice on the other side of the rock, playfully threatening whoever was with him. She looked up and stared straight as if she could see right through the rock to identify who was on the other side of the rock.

"Hey, Misty, its just that another couple had the same idea." Eric reassured her. She was blank. Not moving or anything. Just staring at the rock.

Misty hadn't heard him. Her mind was too busy racing, trying to identify that voice. Where have I heard that voice before? She wondered. Her subconscious had apparently made its way to her vocal cords, because she heard her own voice speaking. She was muttering something. Finally she found out what her tongue was slurring. She listened as her voice broke silence. "Ketchum?"

Eric dismissed the thought that she could be talking about the guy on the other side of the rocks in this dreamy kind of way. She was supposed to be his. "Were you gonna say how you caught your Starmie or something?" Eric asked, thinking 'Ketchum' was 'Catch 'Em'.

That snapped Misty from her frozen state. "Huh? Oh, no. I don't know what just happened." She lied. But if it was who she thought it was on the other side of those rocks, maybe she wanted to investigate this on her own.

A few hours later, Ash and Gail were headed back to their cabin. Gail decided to show Ash her favorite Pokémon, when a Psyduck pops out. "You dumb duck!" Gail yelled at it.

"Psy?"

Ash chuckled. Oh Mew that's nothing new… He couldn't help but also feel a pang for the old days.

"Sorry." Gail apologized and returned the duck. "I didn't even mean to bring him. He must've snuck in. I meant to bring out my Butterfree." She said, tossing a ball in the air.

"Freee!" The butterfly Pokémon called out as it flew down to its trainer.

"I raised her from a Caterpie." Gail informed him, gently putting her hands around the Butterfree's body and holding it in her arms. "Isn't that right?" She asked it, to which it nuzzled her nose, causing the girl to laugh.

Ash smiled and sat on the couch. So she's competitive and she loves Pokémon. Ash thought and smiled. Maybe this isn't so bad.

{A/N: Sorry it took me a while to update this, life kept getting in the way. Plus, it was a kinda long chapter. Well anyways, Here you go! I cant wait to upload the next chapter, I had a lot of fun writing it!}