A/N: Oh gosh, so sorry that this took forever to post. I've been extremely busy lately. The good news is that I have already started the next chapter, even though it is merely a couple of sentences.

Anyway, if any of you are on tumblr, you can follow me. I'm thinking of posting preview and extra stuff for this fic and my original work, so you can find all of that there. It also gives a more direct way (that I'll see) to contact me, especially for those who do not have an account. My tumblr name is jinxedseries for anyone interested.

Please enjoy the chapter.

-Sarah

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokmon and any of its characters.

Part IV

Chapter One: Wedding Planning

Misty arrived home one cold December night from a Pokémon League conference, exhausted. She had spent the last three days at the Indigo Plateau, discussing the preparations for this year's competition. She dreaded coming home, certain that her sisters had not been able to handle the gym in her absence. After meeting after meeting, the last thing she wanted to come home to was a fiasco. The time spent way over a month ago had done so much damage to the gym's reputation. Misty loved being a gym leader, but she could not rely on her sisters anymore. There had been a small discussion about the fact that Daisy had a habit of giving out badges. Misty had been reluctant to find an apprentice, but she needed to have someone reliable to take over gym battles when she was away. Part of the problem was that she was not sure of where to begin. The best place to possibly scout someone would be at a competition like the Whirl Cup.

She dropped her bag down in front of the reception desk. There was a rushing of footsteps, which ended when Daisy popped through the doorway. It was past eleven o'clock, and normally, her sister would have been in bed at this time. Daisy stifled a yawn before speaking to Misty.

"Ash is on the phone," she said. She continued after being greeted with Misty's puzzled expression. "I told him that you would, like, be home late, but he insisted on waiting for you."

Misty left the room wordlessly, wondering what he wanted. It had been over a month since they had returned from the Sevii Islands, but they had seen each other only a few times. Ash had insisted on going home to Pallet Town, although she had offered to let him stay at the gym once more. He declined, stating that he needed to take some time and figure out what his next move would be.

As Misty strolled to the phone, she pondered the reason that Ash had returned home months ago. With all that was happening, she had forgotten about it. Last time they had talked on the phone, she tried to coax it out of him, but he changed the subject. She decided against asking him again that night. She did not want to risk his phone calls ceasing, even if the thought continued to nag at her.

She saw his face on the videophone as soon as she entered her small office. The desk was littered with paperwork and empty wrappers. She was mortified, knowing that she often would chastise Ash for being messy and disorganized. She shuffled the papers and chucked an empty soda can into the trash in an attempt to tidy.

"You don't have to do that on account of me," Ash said to her. That was easy for him to say. His living room was always spotless.

"I want to do it for myself," she said before sitting in the chair in front of the phone. "You didn't have to wait for me."

"I wanted to," he said, his cheeks gaining a bit of color. "So are you coming to meet Daisy in Pallet tomorrow?"

"To do the final details on the wedding planning?"

"Yeah."

"No," she said. "I have to do a few scheduled battles in the morning due to my absence over the past couple of days. I'm meeting Daisy and the other girls at Daisy's apartment in Viridian. We have a dress fitting down the road in the afternoon."

"Oh," Ash said. Misty thought that she had heard disappointment in his voice, but she decided that she was imagining it.

"Be thankful that you're not her Maid of Honor because I am exhausted from all of this wedding planning. Why she decided to have it this soon is beyond me. I think she invited half of Kanto…do you think she's pregnant?"

"What? Why do you think that?"

"Uh why else would she expedite the biggest day of her life?"

"Maybe because she can't wait for it?" Ash wanted to laugh at her suggestion, but he held his tongue, aware that the call would end abruptly if he did. "Misty, don't you think we would have noticed by now if she were pregnant? They got engaged in August."

"I guess you're right," she said, opening a package of small powdered doughnuts. She took a bite before continuing. "She still shouldn't rush this. I mean part of me regrets agreeing to this."

"At least you don't have to make a speech," Ash replied.

"You still haven't worked on that yet?" Misty asked, incredulous.

"Well…I mean…No."

"Ash," she said. "That's the one thing you have had to do this entire time. Except, maybe rent a tux."

"Wait. I need to rent a tux?"

Misty did not reply to him. Instead, she sighed and buried her head into her arms. She had tucked her legs up into her chest when their conversation started, and now that she was in a human ball, she discovered that it was warm and comfortable. As soon as her head was resting on her arms, she acknowledged how tired she was. She did not have the energy to lift it back upright. Instead she muttered her responses to Ash as she drifted in and out of sleep. It eventually came to the point where Ash said something, and she did not respond. After calling her name a few times, he ended the call. It would have been pointless talking to her as she slept, he had decided, and there were other things that he could be doing instead, such as taking care of her Christmas present.

Ash went over to Oak's lab early the next morning. He was still disappointed that he wouldn't be seeing Misty. A minuscule part of him regretted returning to Pallet a month ago. He had yet figured what to do aside from Pokémon training, something that he told Misty he was going to do. He knew that she would kick his ass if she found out that he had moped around his house the whole time. Ash had decided to come home instead of staying in Cerulean for different reasons. The truth was that his feelings for her terrified him. He needed some space away from her to sort everything out. He wanted to be truly sure that he felt something for her and not because she just happened to be there so recently after he had been dumped.

As he trudged up the steps, his mind went to Serena, the blonde bombshell, as he used to think of her. Now he thought of her with extreme bitterness. He wondered what she was doing in that moment and whose arms she was in. It was not as if he still loved her – he wasn't even certain if he had loved her in the first place. He would not know what to say to her if he ran into her on the street. He recalled the day that she left him as clearly as the day it had happened. This was part of the reason he stopped training. She had called him a failure of a trainer, never meant to be a Pokémon Master. It was those words more than breaking up with her that destroyed his will to train Pokémon. Looking back on it, he knew that he should not have let her get to him in such a way, but part of him believed it. It had been over a decade since he started his journey, and he was not much closer to being a Pokémon Master than at the beginning. He would never live up to her expectations. Thus, he gave up.

Misty was another story entirely. She had encouraged him, even if it were in a subtle way. He acknowledged that she was trying to help him at times, even if he hadn't wanted the help. In retrospect, he should have borrowed her water Pokémon to battle Brock. It worked out in the end, but as he matured, he realized that he should not have been that stubborn. Of course, part of him was still stubborn, not telling her about his feelings. Every time she was mentioned or the times that he saw her his heart missed a beat. This was followed by his stomach doing somersaults

Ash rang the doorbell, expecting Daisy or Professor Oak to answer the door. To his surprise, the door opened to reveal Gary's smug face. He looked at Ash and smiled. Without a word being uttered from his mouth, he waltzed away. This irritated the hell out of Ash.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?"

"Uh, I have work to do with Gramps," Gary replied as Ash rushed to catch up to him.

"So you can't even say 'hello' or anything?"

"Fine," Gary said, sighing. "Hi Ash. How are you?"

"I'm okay, I guess," he grumbled as they walked through the hall. "Is Tracey here?"

"No, he left for a few days."

"He left already?" Ash said, his voice laced with annoyance. "I was supposed to see him today about the wedding."

Gary did not reply. Instead he made a noise to indicate his annoyance.

"Don't tell me that you're still upset about all of this. Is it that bad that your sister is getting married?"

"I guess not," Gary replied as they exited the back door, leading to the grounds. "I'm shocked to see you here. I thought you were staying at Cerulean with Misty."

"Not anymore. It was starting to cause problems for her."

"Oh yeah. I saw the tabloids. Was any of that true?"

"No," Ash said quickly. "Of course not."

"I don't understand why you two aren't a couple yet," said Gary.

"We're friends. That's all."

"Ash, you can deny it all that you want, but anyone with eyes can see that you are in love with her."

"I am not," Ash said. He could sense his face growing hotter by the second.

"Denial," sighed Gary. "It's not just a river in Egypt."

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind," Gary said. "Hey Green!"

Green was sitting out in the field on a blanket with Daisy Oak and May. The three girls were in the middle of a picnic breakfast, for it was an unusually warm morning for the beginning of December. Not that it would stop them from having a catered breakfast. They had a spread of fruits, breads, and jams. There were English muffins, bagels with cream cheese, and muffins. Ash also saw Danishes, cinnamon buns, and croissants, making his stomach rumble audibly. All three ladies were sipping on champagne glasses filled with mimosas.

Ash hadn't seen May in a couple of years. She smiled and waved at him as the two men approached. Her brown hair had grown a little longer, and it was pulled back into a messy ponytail. She had gone on to be a top coordinator in Hoenn and Kanto. She had seen her picture on a magazine a few months ago to promote the new contests that would be starting in Johto. He had also heard a rumor that she and Drew had started dating, but he did not know the accuracy of that statement.

"Come have a seat with us," Daisy exclaimed as the two reached them. "I'm sure you guys are hungry, especially Ash."

Before he could respond, his stomach started groaning again, causing a fit of giggles from the women. They had all spent enough time with him to know that he was a bottomless pit when it came to food. Daisy had worried about having a bunch of stuff left over, even with her plan to bring some for Misty later, but now that Ash was here, she was more concerned with having enough to bring to her Maid of Honor. Gary sat down in between his sister and Green while Ash had sat down next to May. The young researcher took the time to gently grab Green's hand, causing her to blush, but Ash wasted no time stuffing a bagel into his face.

"Tracey apologizes for missing you this morning, Ash."

"Huh?"

"He also said that whatever you think of to say is fine. It doesn't have to be perfect."

Ash, whose mouth was filled with bagel, simply nodded in response.

"Are you and Misty dating like the tabloids said?" May blurted.

He jumped and accidentally swallowed a bite of half-chewed bagel, causing him to begin to choke on it. He automatically grabbed for the pitcher of orange juice, or what he hoped was orange juice. Adding alcohol to this situation would not be helped. He poured himself a glass and chugged it down, bringing the starchy bread along with it. He coughed gasping for air.

"I'll take that as a no then…" May said slyly.

"No," Gary piped in. "He's too afraid to make a move on her."

"Gary!" Ash shouted, finally finding his voice.

"You know, Ash," Daisy said. "You're welcome to join us this afternoon. I'm sure that Misty would love to see you."

"I'm all set," Ash said, almost cutting her off. "I'm not really into any of that girly stuff."

"Oh come on, Ash," May said.

"I have stuff to do."

"What stuff?" Green demanded.

"Uh—uh—Pokémon training!"

Daisy snorted. "That's bull shit, and you know it. You haven't been training for months now. You don't even have Pikachu with you right now."

She was right. Pikachu was still sleeping in Ash's bed, as far as he knew. His first Pokémon was starting to get lazy in his old age. However it was more likely due to the fact that they hadn't been training recently. The desire to train was not there still, but there was something slowly stirring inside.

"I guess you caught me," Ash said.

"So does that mean you're going?"

"No, I do actually have other things to take care of today."

"Uh huh," Daisy said skeptically.

"Aw c'mon, Daisy, you know what I am talking about here," Ash pleaded with her.

"No I d—oh! That? Yeah I guess you better stay."

"What is he talking about?" Gary asked.

Ash stood. "I'll show you. C'mon."

Gary followed suit, allowing Ash to take him in the direction of the small pond. He had been traveling abroad for the past couple of months, and returned the previous night. He hadn't had a chance to inspect the grounds. As Gary wondered what Ash was going to show him, Daisy watched them disappear from view, a small grin tugging at the edges of her lips.

Misty strolled down the side streets of Viridian City, searching for Forest Ave., the paper with Daisy's address scribbled on it in her hand. Her cell phone was in the other, with Misty ready to call at a moment's notice. She still had some time before they were meant to meet, but she was afraid that she wouldn't find the place in time. If her sisters had been more reliable with the gym or she had an apprentice, she could have met Daisy at her grandfather's lab. She might have had time to go visit Ash as well. She shivered as the wind picked up, longing for the jacket she had left at home. It had been mild when she left that morning, but for some reason, the temperature suddenly dropped. She needed to find Daisy, so they could go up to their apartment to the warmth. She was about to give up and call when she heard a voice shouting her name.

"Misty! Over here!"

She turned her head to see Daisy standing in front of a small two-story house with May and Green. The two of them stood with their coats clutched against their bodies as Daisy put the key through the lock and turned. When the door opened, they bolted inside, while Daisy waited in the threshold for Misty. She sprinted down the street, her grip on her phone tight. As soon as Misty was in the front entryway of the house, their hostess slammed the door shut.

The four women ascended the stairs of the small building to Daisy's studio apartment on the second floor. As with the front door outside, the young women waited for their friend to unlock her door. Once it was open, they all filed into her tiny living room.

For a small studio, it was rather spacious. Misty had to commend Daisy for utilizing her vertical space efficiently. There was a modern navy blue couch and chair set in the middle of the living room across from the compact kitchenette. There were pots and pans hanging on a rack that was attached to the ceiling. Behind the stove, attached to the wall were herbs growing in small pots. In the far end of the room resided the large bay window, which faced the outside. Daisy had made a small reading nook, placing a bookcase next to the window bench. The light cascaded through the window, and with the lack of space, it illuminated the entire apartment. There was a small bathroom with a toilet, sink, and shower to Misty's immediate left. In the corner next to the bathroom lay the ladder leading up to the small loft, where Daisy and Tracey's bed resided.

"Here Misty," Daisy said, handing her a brown paper bag before setting everything else on the island. "I saved you a bagel."

"Thanks," she replied as she placed it on the glass-top coffee table. Daisy bustled around in the kitchen. After filling the bright orange kettle with water from the faucet, she put it on the back burner of the stove. She turned the dial to hear the clicking, followed by flames bursting to life underneath the kettle. The orange flame turned into blue as she fled to the couch.

Misty sat on the couch in between May and Green. She took a bite of the bagel. To her delight, it was blueberry, one of her favorites. She was astonished that there hadn't been more for her, for she knew about the breakfast Daisy had planned for them. She pondered on how much they could have possibly eaten.

"Sorry, we didn't have more for you, Misty," Daisy said as she sat in the armchair. She rested her binder in her lap before opening it and flipping through the pages. "Ash and Gary crashed our picnic, so it was lucky that I had anything to bring back."

"You saw Ash?" Misty said, now wishing even more that she had been able to make it.

"Yeah," Daisy said. For a moment, she wanted to tell Misty that they had offered to let him come along, but she thought better of it, especially considering how Ash had declined. "He was there, visiting Grandpa and his Pokémon."

"Oh."

"So do you still like him, Misty?" May asked.

"Huh? What makes you say that?"

"I was just wondering," May shrugged.

"He's okay—I don't know. Let's get through these plans, shall we?"

"Sure thing, Misty," Daisy chuckled as the kettle whistled. She shut off the stove as she grabbed the handle. Once snatching four mugs, she brought the hot water over along with some tea bags. There was already sugar on the table. She placed the kettle on a trivet shaped like a Marill, and returned to her place in the chair. Knowing that they did not have much time before the dress fitting, they went straight to work on the final wedding details.

"Daisy you look so gorgeous!" Green cooed.

It was near the end of their appointment at Julianna's Dress Boutique. Green, May, and Misty had already tried on their dresses and had any last minute alterations. The only one left was Daisy. She stood in front of them in her gown, which was faintly silver instead of white. Since their wedding was set on New Year's Eve, Daisy wanted to go with colors that fit the theme. She decided on having a classic grey and royal purple, which meant that all the groomsmen had grey suits and the bridesmaids had dresses made of purple material. Misty would not have normally minded as much, except for the fact that the gown was so poufy that it made her look like a purple-frosted-cupcake.

"Misty, what do you think?"

"Huh?"

"How does it look?"

"Oh right," she said, almost in a daze. "It looks amazing on you."

"Hey, May," Green said. "We should try on some wedding dresses, too. You know, for fun."

"No, that would be silly," May said, emitting a nervous laugh. Knowing her luck, Drew would show up to see her in a white wedding dress. That would freak him out for sure.

"Oh c'mon," Green said, tugging on May's arm. "Misty, back me up here."

"Sorry," she said. "I'm with May on this one."

"You two are no fun," Green pouted as the other two giggled at her expression.

Misty remained silent for the rest of the afternoon, too lost in her own thoughts to interact with her friends. Ever since she was a little girl, she wanted to get married and live happily ever after. It started when her parents had died mostly. She missed them terribly, and thinking about getting married was a method of coping for her. She often wondered what her husband would be like.

There had been a few young men to ask her out in recent weeks, as soon as she had returned, completely ignoring the rumors that she and Ash were dating. In normal circumstances, she would have given some of these guys a chance, maybe gone out for tea or lunch. However, ever since Ash waltzed back into her life, she could not get him out of her head. She tried so hard to get him to notice her. She thought that he might see her the way she had always seen him now that he had stopped training his Pokémon, but it was still no use. She watched Daisy finish her fitting with a great sadness inside of her heart, with the possibility of never getting married plaguing her, for she could only see herself with Ash Ketchum.