A/N: Only two chapters left guys! I managed to finish this chapter, even though I'm not particularly keen on writing battle scenes. Hopefully, I finish this story by the end of July. No promises though.

Until next time,

Sarah

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

Chapter Three: The Battle for Love

"Thanks Professor for all your help."

"It's no problem, Ash," Professor Oak said over the videophone. "Good luck on your match."

"Thanks," Ash said as the screen turned black once again. He stared down at the pokeballs in his hands. They weren't necessarily the strongest Pokémon at his disposal, but even though winning was his main goal, he wanted to use Pokémon that he felt had a more emotional connection to him. These were some of the ones he had the longest—Pokémon he had obtained with Misty at his side. He was hoping that he could draw from that strength in the match.

"You ready, Pikachu?" Ash said as he stood, slinging his bag against his back.

"Pika!"

The young man and his Pokémon headed out of the Pokémon center and in the direction of Cerulean Gym. It had finally stopped snowing that morning, though that didn't do anything to rid the ground of the already fallen snow. Man and Pokémon trudged through the snow, determined to make it to the gym.

It took a little longer than it usually would, but the pair made it there. Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder as they reached the entrance. Ash walked through the doors to be greeted by Bailey again. She saw him and scowled. Ash made a grimace, imagining the things that Misty had said about him. She was sure to know about the match.

"Uh hi," Ash said sheepishly as he approached her.

"Just to let you know," she said, standing up. "I don't like you."

"But you don't even know me," he replied.

"I know enough to know that I don't like you. What you did to Misty…well you deserve to be castrated."

"Excuse me?" Ash said indignantly. "This isn't even any of your business, so keep your opinions to yourself."

"Any guy who uses a woman for sex and lies to her deserves to be castrated."

Ash's face was growing red. "I didn't use her for sex!"

"Well why else would you not tell her about your ex girlfriend for months and then all of a sudden have sex with Misty the same day you ran into said ex girlfriend?"

"I tried to tell her about Serena once, but she fell asleep, and after that it was too hard and painful to try to tell her again. I had sex with Misty because I'm in love with her! It just so happened that it took me running into the girl who broke my heart to realize that Misty was the one."

Bailey stood before him, mouth wide open, not saying anything, so Ash continued, "You don't know me. You only know what Misty has told you, and it's incomplete information from someone who is feeling hurt…and I know I'm the one who hurt her. I hate myself for it, but you shouldn't judge me because even Misty does not have all of the information. There are two sides of every story. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to go have my match."

"Uh, sure," she replied sheepishly as she stood up.

Ash followed her through the archway into the long hall leading to the gym. They moved in silence, Ash not speaking due to his aggravation and Bailey doing the same, except her reason was embarrassment. Water Pokémon swam around them in the aquarium as they passed. Ash did his best to calm the storm raging in his stomach. Usually, he could go into a match with a little bit of confidence. This time, however, he found himself on edge. He knew that he would be in for a tough fight. The lack of training was now catching up to him when he needed it most.

The two entered the gym, a place Ash had not been inside for months. Not much had changed. It was the same old pool with Psyduck waddling around. Misty was waiting for him, clad in her bikini. He couldn't know for sure, but he half wondered if she was wearing it to serve as a distraction to him. On purpose or not, it did the job. His mind wandered to her naked form, his cheeks flushing.

Misty noticed the redness to his face and giggled to herself. Truthfully, she had done some laps around the pool to loosen up before the match. This would be one of the most difficult matches she would have, not because of Ash's skill level, but for the fact that in spite of her pain, she still loved him.

"Are you ready, Ash?" she called from across the gym as he took his place in the challenger's box.

"You bet," he said, newly determined. He would win this. He had to.

Bailey took her place in the center of the gym. "Each trainer will use up to three Pokémon. There will be no time limit. Let the battle begin."

"Let's go, Starmie!" Misty shouted as she tossed her pokeball.

Misty was still the same, Ash had decided. He knew that she was likely to stick to her favorite Pokémon. He smiled, knowing his strategy immediately. Water was Misty's specialty. He would fight water with water.

"Totodile, I choose you!" he shouted as he released it from its pokeball.

Totodile came out, and began to dance on the floating platform. Misty watched it, recalling that there was a time where it was almost hers. For some reason, she had been expecting this much from Ash. This didn't deter her, however. She knew that this round would not last long.

"Totodile, water gun!"

"Use your water gun too, Starmie!"

The two each shot a stream of water out of their mouths. It was clear who would win this battle. Starmie's attack easily overpowered Totodile's. Ash's Pokémon was knocked off of its feet into the pool. Misty knew that she had this round locked down. She prepared for the final blow.

"Thunderbolt, Starmie!"

"No way!" Ash shouted.

He watched in horror as he saw the bolt of electricity exiting Starmie's body. In an instance, the electricity flew through the pool, zapping anything in its wake. Misty had been sure to remove the other Pokémon from the pool prior to the battle, knowing that this had been a possibility. Ash had not considered this, however. After the attack finished, Totodile surfaced, knocked out. Ash pulled out its pokeball to return it. Totodile disappeared into a ray of red light.

"Totodile can no longer battle. Starmie is the winner!" Bailey shouted.

Ash had to think quickly. He had not anticipated one of Misty's Pokémon to know electric attacks. Even though he had lived there for several weeks and watched her battle, he had not seen her do that. His confidence faltered. Maybe he didn't have a shot after all. He had to think quickly, for his life in this battle depended on it.

"Bulbasaur, go!" he shouted as he made his decision.

The grass Pokémon popped out of its ball, ready for battle. Ash had faith in one of his oldest Pokémon. They had been together almost as long as he and Pikachu. He knew that a grass type was the way to beat her Starmie. He wouldn't back down this time.

"Vine whip, Bulbasaur!"

Bulbasaur ensnared the star shape before it had a chance to dive in the water. Now it was Misty's turn to think on her feet.

"Rapid Spin, Starmie!"

Starmie began to spin, increasing in speed every second. It was able to free itself from Bulbasaur's vines in no time. Ash groaned, knowing that he would have to try harder. There was one weakness to Starmie. If its energy were drained, then it wouldn't be able to battle.

"Bulbasaur, use your leech seed!"

Bulbasaur launched its attack and made a direct hit. The red seed flew from its bulb and struck Starmie, exploding on contact into a thicket. Misty watched in horror as it completely drained Starmie of its energy. The jewel in the center of its body had begun to blink when she made the decision to call it back. This round had gone to Ash. Misty tossed the second pokeball, knowing that she could easily beat Bulbasaur with her next Pokémon. Bailey watched on in amazement at how quickly the battle was going back and forth.

When Gyarados came blazing out, Ash knew that he was in trouble. He had little time to react before Misty ordered it to use its Flamethrower. Ash tried to yell at Bulbasaur to dodge the attack, but it was too late. Bulbasaur took the attack directly, causing it to faint instantly.

"Bulbasaur is unable to battle. Victory goes to Gyarados!" Bailey shouted as Ash called his Pokémon back.

Ash had his back against a wall. He was down to his last Pokémon. He had stacked his team with a lot of grass Pokémon, knowing that they would have an advantage against her water types. However, he had forgotten to take Gyarados into account when doing this. None of his grass types were a match for its Flamethrower. The only hope he had was an electric type, but the only one he had was…

"Pika!"

"Pikachu?" Ash questioned. He had been too deep in thought to notice Pikachu jumping into the battle. "You mean you're going to fight!"

"Pikachu!" The electric mouse knew that there was a lot at stake in this battle.

"Thanks, buddy," Ash said, welling up.

Misty was a little shocked. Pikachu had abstained from battling all of those years ago, after only knowing her for about a month. What could have made him change his mind? As soon as Pikachu entered the battle, Gyarados had not chance. One Thunderbolt, and it was out of the match. They were tied with one Pokémon left.

This put Misty in an awkward position. Due to her natural competitive nature, she did want to win, but at the same time, she didn't want to hurt Pikachu. Not to mention, her water Pokémon were no match for Pikachu's electric attacks. She tossed out her last Pokémon—Clefairy.

This had not been something Ash had been anticipating at all. For one thing, he never expected Pikachu to battle against Misty in the first place. Ash's stomach dropped. Pikachu was in love with Clefairy. There was no way that it was going to battle effectively against it.

"Pi?"

Pikachu hesitated, his cheeks sparking. He wanted to battle for Ash, but he didn't want to hurt Clefairy. The electric mouse looked back at its trainer. They had a mutual understanding. Pikachu knew that Ash wasn't going to force him to battle, no matter how badly he wanted to be victorious.

"Pika pika!" he chimed.

Ash was in disbelief. Pikachu was prepared to battle, even if that meant hurting Clefairy. He experienced a rush of gratitude toward his Pokémon. That was true friendship, and something he would not soon forget.

"Pikachu, Electroball!"

"Clefairy, use Attract!"

"Oh no," Ash groaned as Clefairy waved her fingers. Pikachu halted mid-attack, gaining a dazed expression on his face. His face turning red told Ash that the attack had been effective. Ash panicked, not knowing what to do, seeing his defeat as inevitable. Misty took this as her chance to finish the match.

"Clefairy, Sing!"

The fairy Pokémon opened its mouth and began to lull Pikachu to sleep. He slumped down on the floating platform, incapacitated. Ash's calls to him lacked a response. Bailey raised her arm in the air.

"Pikachu is unable to battle. Clefairy wins. The match goes to the gym leader, Misty."

Ash dashed onto the floating platform and scooped up Pikachu in his arms, feeling completely broken. He had lost more than a match. He had lost the one person was worth living. She was the one, he had figured. With a heavy heart, he started walking away from her. Misty, on the other hand, sprinted across the edge of the pool to catch up with him, nearly slipping on the wet tile in the process.

"I guess this is good-bye," he muttered, unable to look her in the eye.

"Ash wait!" Misty shouted, grabbing his shoulder instinctively. All of the walls she had put up to keep him at bay were crashing down around her. All she wanted was for him to be all right. She didn't want this defeat to be the one to destroy his career as a trainer forever. She could not have this on her conscious.

Ash turned around to face her, Pikachu asleep in his arms. What Misty saw next unnerved her. Tears began to form in his eyes. He said nothing as they began to roll hot down his cheeks. Misty stopped what she was about to say, startled. The only times she had ever seen him cry was when he had to make the hard decision to let one of his Pokémon go. Realization struck Misty like Pikachu's Thunderbolt. He hadn't been fighting to fix a bruised ego. He had been fighting for her.

"What do you want from me, Misty?" he pleaded. "To rub it in my face that I lost? To yell at me some more?"

"Don't go," she whispered, all of her anger melting away. "I don't want you to leave."

"I thought you never wanted to see me again," he retorted, his voice cracking from the strain.

"I—" she started, not sure of what she wanted. One gaze at his face told her what it was. She wanted answers. "You're going to make this up to me."

"Huh?"

"I don't want you out of my life," she said. "I'm feeling unsure about things between us, but I want to give you a chance to make it up to me."

"Okay…" he said, hesitating. Where was she going with this?

"So," she said, and for some reason, she had started to smile. "You're going to take me out for dinner. Tonight. You're going to take me somewhere really nice, and you're going to tell me everything…and I mean everything, Ash. I want to know all about Serena and why you never told me. You owe me that at least…and maybe then we can see about…well…whatever this is."

"Are you being serious?" Ash was taken aback by her sudden shift in mood. Maybe…maybe there was hope after all.

"Ash, please don't make me change my mind."

"Okay, it's a deal," he said, the first signs of happiness in weeks forming on his face. "I'll be here to pick you up in a couple of hours."

"See you then," she said softly as he rushed out of the gym.

The flame that had been so easily extinguished by Misty's water Pokémon had been relit with a new passion. Ash would give her the best date she would ever have. He would tell her every little detail. He wanted to make this work. He had to tell her once and for all about how he felt—he needed to tell her that he was hopelessly in love with her.