Hello everybody! Well, it seems I have no choice. In light of recent events, I am going to have to dedicate this chapter to licoricejellybean for several reasons beyond my control. First and foremost, she dedicated the latest chapter of her great fic (she's my greatest foe, but it really is an unbelieveable story) to me because I cheated off of her story and used her description of Misty in my last chapter...seriously. I really don't think this kid (I know she's older than me) understands what plagiarism means, but anyways the other reason I am dedicating this chapter to her is because I have a hunch that beneath that nice, kind outward appearance, she's really just trying to look like a better person than me. Therefore, in order to prevent her from stealing my readers with her unbelieveable (and confusing) niceness, I am not only dedicating this story to her, but also the Author's Notes. Ha! Take that LJB! Anyways, this chapter was kind of weird, but fun to write. I put a lot of effort into trying to change the dynamic of the story from Ash preparing to go on his journey, to Ash actually going on his journey, and I think I did pretty well. However, I also feel like there were several places where I could have improved the story, but just didn't know how. So if any of y'all have suggestions on how to improve my writing in the future, I am open to all opinions. Remember, I'm writing this story for y'all, not myself, and as always REVIEW PLEASE!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies including, but not limited to, 4Kids, The Pokemon Company, Game Freaks, or Cartoon Network. The characters written within this fic are soley based upon the fictional characters created by these companies, and the story is not meant to, nor will it, receive any monetary funding.
Characters' Ages:
Ash: 16
Brock: 21
Misty: 17
Dawn: 13
Delia: 40
Oak: 55
Gary: 16
"Woah! I caught another one!" Ash cried happily as he felt a tug on the line he had cast into the Vermillion River. It had been one week since he and his friends had left Cerulean and for the past two days they had rented a boat so Ash and Misty could capture the various water-type Pokémon that lived near the beach of the city.
"Great Ash," said Brock. "Now could you come over here and have a bite to eat? Me and Misty have been waiting for five minutes." They had been waiting under a small umbrella Misty had brought to keep them shaded on the opposite side of the boat from the fisherman, all the while greedily eyeing the picnic basket Brock had brought with him, waiting for Ash to take a break. However, the last couple of days Ash had been much too preoccupied with all the water Pokémon surrounding him to notice the great meals Brock had been cooking.
"Just a sec," Ash groaned as he pulled the rod against the struggling prey. "This guy's really hanging in there. It must be a Pokémon!"
"I can't believe we're having to bargain to get Ash to eat," Misty noted in surprise to her travelling companions. "Usually he won't shut up about food unless you put some in his mouth."
"Hey!" cried Ash, as Brock nodded in agreement. "It just so happens that- Whoa!"
Suddenly, the trio felt the boat lurch and begin to move forward.
"Whaaaat theeee craaaaaap???!!!" Ash hollered as the boat picked up its pace and bounced against the surface of the water. Unsure of what was pulling them along with such force, Ash quickly reached for his pokedex in his right pocket, while leaning back and holding on to the rod with his left hand. He hurriedly flipped the trusted encyclopedia open as he watched his reel spinning out of control and quickly losing string.
It's amazing the rod hasn't broken yet, he thought to himself as he pointed the dex toward the unknown object just below the surface of the water.
The pokedex pinged a second after Ash flipped it open, and it provided him with the name of his prey.
"Gyarados, the atrocious Pokémon," the pokedex began. "This Pokémon has a vicious temperament, so use extreme caution. Its fangs can crush stones and its scales are harder than steel."
"Yes!" cheered Ash happily as he heard the news.
"Why are you happy, Ash? We're about to die!" cried Misty as she held on to the wooden seat of the boat with a death-grip.
"I was needing a Gyarados!" Ash yelled back happily. However, he quickly turned his attention back to the matter at hand. He could see that he only had maybe two feet of line left on the reel, despite his feeble attempts to conserve the string by reeling in. In light of that fact, he formulated a plan.
"Pikachu!" he yelled to the little mouse that was gripping his shoulder for dear life. "Use Thunderbolt."
Focusing his energies, Pikachu ejected a large amount of electricity from its body onto the water in front of the boat.
"CHUUUUUUUU!" it cried as it tried its best to hit the Pokémon. However, when Pikachu had completed its assault, it was evident that the boat was no closer to slowing down.
In fact, Ash thought, I think we're moving faster.
As he looked down to see how much line he had left, he was horrified to see that he was down to his last inch.
"Hang on!" he yelled to his terrified comrades as he felt the reel and string separate, and his body begin to fly backward.
This is gonna hurt, he thought as he pressed his eyes closed in preparation of feeling his back break against the hard wooden benches of the boat. However, to his surprise he felt nothing, but air as he sped back.
Opening his eyes slightly, he was relieved to see that the boat had continued moving forward with the momentum the Gyarados had provided, but was less happy when he realized that he was about to hit the water.
SPLASH!
Panting for breath, Ash kicked his feet and flailed his arms to keep his head above the water.
"Chu! Pikachu!" he heard his friend cry out near him. He couldn't see his Pokémon immediately, but turning around he saw that the little yellow mouse was fighting a losing battle to keep its body from being totally submerged.
"Pikachu!" Ash cried, "I'm here!" He then swam over to his friend and placed him on top of his head.
As he felt his loyal Pokémon breathing hard for oxygen while resting on his cap, Ash looked over in the distance to find that the boat appeared to have stopped, and saw that Misty was releasing her own Gyarados from its pokeball. Several seconds later, she and her Pokémon had arrived next to Ash and Pikachu.
"Are you alright?" she asked, as she helped pull Ash from the river.
"I-I think so," he stammered as he felt a sudden chill go through his body when a gust of wind whipped against his soaked, green t-shirt.
"How's Pikachu?" she asked, looking worriedly up at the electric Pokémon.
"He'll be okay," Ash stated, lifting Pikachu off of him and holding him in his arms. "But I don't think he's in any condition to battle."
"Battle what?" Misty asked, confused. "The Gyarados is gone."
"Not really," Ash said, pointing to his left. Underneath the surface of the river, they could see the shadow of the Gyarados approaching them.
"Don't worry Ash," Misty said. "We'll take care of him." As she said this, she nodded over at Gyarados.
"No, don't!" Ash yelled, halting her before she could order an attack. "I wanna catch it still."
"How are you gonna do that?" Misty asked, aggravated that her friend wouldn't let her help him out, and scared as she watched the blue dragon loom ever closer to where they were standing.
"Watch and learn," Ash said, smirking. He grabbed a pokeball from his belt and threw it at the water. "I choose you Buizel!"
As the pokeball opened, the weasel-looking Pokémon jumped into the water.
"Bui, bui," it stated as it saw the Gyarados coming towards it.
"Buizel, wait until the Gyarados gets a littles closer," Ash commanded to the waiting Pokémon.
Nodding its head, Buizel simply floated in the water, waiting for its master's next command.
It sure trusts Ash, Misty noted as she waited to see what Ash was planning.
As the Gyarados got within ten feet of Ash's battling partner, Ash unleashed his strategy.
"Now Buizel, use Waterfall to get up in the air!" As Ash gave the order, Buizel shot a large stream of water below its body that forced it up into the air. As it did this, the Gyarados finally brought its head above water, seeing that its prey, Ash and Misty, were near.
As it began to open its massive jaw, Ash implemented the next phase of his plan.
"Use Ice Jet!" he ordered, as his eyes locked with those of his opponent.
"Ash," Misty said confused. "Ice Jet isn't an-"
She was interrupted as she saw Buizel suddenly rush toward the Gyarados, completely covered in ice.
As Buizel made contact with the Gyarados, the ice shattered and the blue Pokémon appeared dazed as it rose from the water, towering over the trainers and their Pokémon, and then fell backwards.
"Now use Ice Beam Buizel!" Ash ordered, knowing he had only seconds before the giant Pokémon would be back on the attack.
Obeying its trainer once again, Buizel quickly shot off a large jet of ice while remaining above water by rapidly spinning its tail. The Ice Beam was very effective, and completely covered the upper-half of the Gyarados' body.
As the once-strong dragon-looking Pokémon flailed its tail about, Ash knew it was time.
"I've got you now!" he cried as he threw a net pokeball at the Gyarados. In a flash of brilliant red light, the Pokémon was captured inside the blue and black ball. While floating on the river, the ball rocked a few times back and forth as the wild Pokémon struggled to break free. However, after a couple of seconds, the red light in the center of the device faded, and the pokeball automatically teleported to Professor Oak's lab. At the site of the teleportation, Ash leapt in victory.
"I caught 'im!" Ash celebrated.
"Good job Ash," Misty congratulated, slapping him on the back. "I hate to admit, but that was pretty impressive."
"Pretty impressive?" Ash asked, shocked. "That was single-handedly the best performance of Pokémon-capturing anyone has ever seen! What are you talking about it being pretty impressive?"
Feeling herself grow frustrated at his over-confidence, Misty had an idea.
"Why, fifty years from now, you'll be telling you're grandchildren about that capture. Professor Oak will write poetry about-"
Ash was suddenly silenced as he felt Misty give him a shove from behind.
"Ah!" he cried as he fell face-first towards the water below. Looking up from the river's surface, he saw Misty leaning against her water Pokémon's long neck, laughing uncontrollably, and was surprised to even see his Pikachu chuckling slightly at the prank.
"Hmph!" Ash said, swimming back over to Misty, who helped him upon Gyarados once again.
"You know," he stated, withdrawing Buizel into its pokeball, "that wasn't necessary."
Still giggling, Misty replied. "Yeah, but it was fun. You should have seen the look on your face when you looked up at me!"
"Just bring us back to the boat," Ash said, put out with Misty's behavior and the cold which was gripping him like a vice. Despite the scorching sun, the winds upon the river were still very strong, and he felt like he was catching pneumonia.
"Oh fine, you spoil-sport," she said, sticking her tongue out at him. "C'mon Gyarados, let's go back to Brock."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
A few hours later, Ash, Brock, and Misty had returned to their hotel.
"Man, it sure is nice not having to hang out at those crummy Pokémon Centers anymore," Brock said, contentedly, while stretching out on the sofa in Ash's room.
"I know," Ash said, while putting on his sneakers. "We practically grew up in Centers, but now that I've got some money, I'm more than happy to leave them behind. Remember how grungy they always were?"
"Yeah," Brock agreed, "but you can't really blame them. I mean, the PCs usually hold like fifty or sixty trainers a night."
"I guess so, but it still would've been nice if they could have kept their rooms a little cleaner," Ash stated.
As he finished tying up his shoe, he heard a knock at the door.
"That must be Mist," Brock said, getting up to answer the door. As he opened it, Ash noticed that Misty was in a similar get-up to the one she wore a week earlier, except now she wore a blue-ruffled shirt, and no jacket over it.
Purposely avoiding making a mockery of himself as he had last week when he saw her dolled up, he kept his head down facing his sneakers until she had come in and was sitting across from him in an empty chair.
"So what are we gonna do tonight?" she asked inquisitively, wondering why Ash was suddenly so interested in his shoes.
"Uh, I dunno," he replied, slowly facing Misty.
Remember what she did to you earlier today, Ash told himself. He found that the only way he could stop from gawking at his travelling companion was to remember some cruel joke she had played on him. As he thought back to being shoved into the water earlier in the afternoon, he began seeing her as the young girl with whom he shared a deep-seated rivalry again, rather than the attractive young woman that she was.
"Well, I was thinking that we could go to this restaurant I heard of, called The Duke's Palace," Brock suggested. "I read they make a great Porthouse Steak!"
"You can't wait to blow my money, can you Brock-o?" Ash asked jokingly.
I probably have enough money to buy The Duke's Palace, he thought to himself proudly.
"Well, you're right," Brock said, smiling, "but that's not the case this evening. I just got my check from PokeBreeders Inc. for my internship in three weeks, and let's just say I'll take care of the bill tonight."
"Wow Brock!" Misty exclaimed, sounding impressed. "I can't believe they're paying you for being an intern!"
"Well, that's just part of the deal the professor was able to work out for me," Brock said, sounding grateful. "I don't know what I would've done if it hadn't been for him."
"You'd probably be a stupid gym leader again," Ash blurted out without thinking. Realizing what he had said the moment it left his throat, he tried to apologize to Misty, but he could tell by her ever-reddening face that it was too late.
"What's the problem with gym leaders, Ketchum?" she asked in an angry whisper. "You jealous because you know you could never be one?"
Incensed by her insult, Ash scoffed, temporarily forgetting his fear of the red-head.
"Call me crazy, Mist, but I think that owning thirty-six badges and seven Frontier Symbols proves that I'm more than capable of being a gym leader."
"Oh yeah?" Misty asked, angered that Ash's fear of her hadn't stopped him from being a jerk. "How about we battle right now to find out if you're good enough to be a leader then?"
Grinning at the challenge to a battle, Ash quickly nodded his head, and both trainers rushed outside the hotel before they could hear Brock complain about their overly-competitive attitudes.
"Three on three?" Misty asked when they had reached the coastline of Vermillion (which was several feet away from the hotel in which they were staying).
"You got it!" Ash responded. "For my first Pokémon, I'll-"
"Wait!" Brock cried in the distance. "You can't do this!"
"Don't try and stop us Brock!" ordered Misty to the breeder. "I'm gonna put this smart-alek in his place once and for all!"
"Yeah Brock!" Ash chimed in. "It's time someone show this kid that she's not all that great!"
"No," Brock said, finally within talking distance of the two angry trainers. "I mean you really can't do this. Check your belts."
Looking down, Ash and Misty were both shocked when they saw that their Pokémon were no longer by their side. They had both completely forgotten in their frustration that they had left their Pokémon at the Center before they had gone back to the hotel about an hour ago.
"Whoops," Ash said, rubbing the back of his head. "I forgot about that."
"Y-yeah, me too," Misty stuttered embarrassedly. She felt grateful that the sun was setting over the water, because there was not enough light for Ash and Brock to see that she was growing red. Unlike earlier however, she was now blushing out of humiliation, not fury.
"Yeah, you did, morons," Brock muttered.
"Hey!" Ash cried. "We were just excited, that's all!"
"Yeah!" Misty agreed. She didn't like anyone, especially girl-crazy Brock, telling her she wasn't smart.
"Fine, whatever," Brock said, hoping not to kindle any anger against him. "Can we go eat now? Ash, you can't tell me you're not starving. We haven't eaten since breakfast."
Feeling his stomach growl, Ash knew Brock was right. After the incident with the Gyarados, the trio was upset to find that the picnic basket containing all of their food had been tossed overboard. However, despite their pleas, Ash refused to go until he had caught the last Pokémon on his list that he needed from Vermillion; a Shellder. Fortunately, the Shellder caused a lot less damage than the previous Pokémon had, but unfortunately it had taken a lot longer than expected to catch, and now it had been about ten hours since any of them had eaten.
"He's right!" Ash hollered. "I'm about to keel over! Let's go to that place. I'm gonna get the biggest steak they have."
"Me too!" Misty agreed excitedly, running towards the parking lot where her car was parked. Ash was hot on her trail.
Brock remained on the beach a second later than his companions as he struggled to understand how food had so quickly resolved the conflict between the three of them, but then sprinted to catch up with them.
"Hey, not too big guys!" he yelled from behind them. "Remember, I'm buying!"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Two hours later, the three travelers were stuffed to the rafters in good food. The place that Brock had chosen was very nice, and the portions of the meals they had each chosen were remarkably large.
"Ugh," Ash groaned, trying to sit up straight in the booth. He had the whole side of the table to himself, so he had laid down for a minute after such vigorous eating. "I can't believe I just ate twenty ounces of cow." After he said this, he gave up the fight for sitting, and fell back down onto the plush booth seat.
"I know," Brock said, sounding just as sickly as his friend. He and Misty had sat next to each other, and were now leaning against each other for support. "I think my heartbeat stopped."
"That's nothing," Misty said. "I haven't eaten that much in forever."
Temporarily forgetting his aching stomach, Ash propped himself up on his elbow and peered over the table at the water trainer.
"Why are you full?" he asked, almost sounding insulted that she should try and join in the conversation with the guys after they had eaten so much. "You had a salad!"
"Yeah, but did you see how big it was?" Misty responded.
"I did," said Ash, "but that's 'cause I ate half of it for you! Face it Misty, you're a wimp when it comes to eating."
"Oh yeah, that's a contest I wanna win," Misty shot back sarcastically. "I don't need an electric scooter after every meal. I guess I lose."
Suddenly remembering his full stomach again, Ash groaned and laid back down on the booth.
"Where's that waiter?" Brock asked looking around. He couldn't wait to get back to the hotel and lay down.
"I dunno," replied Ash, already half-asleep, "but when he comes, can you ask him for an antacid or something?"
"Will do," Brock said, seeing that the waiter was approaching their table.
"I trust you all enjoyed your meals?" the waiter asked, looking at the stuffed teenagers. The restaurant was not really a formal place, but all the staff were dressed in nice tuxedos, and as the waiter stared at her, Misty felt a pang of guilt for appearing so under-dressed in comparison.
"Yes, very much," Brock said, taking out his wallet.
"Would any of you like to see our deserts list before I give the bill?" asked the waiter out of habit. However, he knew their response before they gave it.
"Ugh!" they all cried in unison.
"Right then," the waiter responded, handing Brock the little black book with the receipt in it.
"Thank you very much," Brock said, stuffing the money into the book and handing it back to the waiter. "Keep the change."
"Thank you, sir," the waiter said, bowing slightly before turning around and tending to another table.
As the group slowly got to their feet and began heading out the door, the three of them heard a very familiar voice yell from outside.
"Raichu, use Thunder now!"
"Is that-?" Ash asked, not finishing the question. He ran outside, but did not see anyone there. Confused, he ran in the direction where he saw sparks flying through the air, his full stomach completely replaced by curiosity. Misty and Brock were right behind him.
They ran about a quarter-mile before they turned the corner of a building and saw Lieutenant Surge and his Raichu, in front of the Pokémon Center. Although they could not make out what was going on exactly, it was evident that something big was happening by the large amount of spectators witnessing the scene from above in their apartments and offices.
"Machoke, throw that rat in the air, and Venasaur, use Solarbeam!" Ash heard a woman command. Although he could not see her well, he did see the Machoke use Vital Throw on Raichu and the Venasaur blast it with a strong Solarbeam.
"CHUUUUUU!" it cried as it hit the pavement with a thud.
Running over to help, Ash realized that he didn't have any Pokémon on hand.
"Now use Vine Whip to throw that moron out of the way!" the woman hissed to her Venasaur.
Unsure of how he could help, Ash simply watched on as the vines of the large grass Pokémon wrapped around his old teacher.
"Steelix, Take Down!" Brock suddenly ordered as he threw a pokeball in between the leader and the woman.
Emerging from the ball in a flash of white light, the large metallic Pokémon dove headfirst into the Venasaur, forcing it to release Surge and sending it flying into the Machoke.
"Forget this!" the woman yelled, thrown off by the unanticipated intrusion. As she said this, she threw a pokeball.
As Ash, Misty, and Brock saw the Pokémon emerge from the pokeball, their mouths simultaneously fell open.
"Fearow!" cried the bird Pokémon as it landed on the pavement. Jumping onto the fierce creature, the woman began to fly off.
Knowing that she had his Pokémon (it was a gut instinct), Ash took control of the situation.
"Steelix, use Flash Cannon!" he commanded to the metal snake. Although Steelix did not belong to him, he was good enough friends with its owner to battle with it as if it were his own.
Opening its mouth, Steelix shot a burst of light towards the departing Pokémon and its master.
"Aaaaaah!" cried the woman as she and the Fearow hit the ground. Although they were not high enough to cause serious harm, she was very disoriented and Ash saw a large bag fall to the side of the large bird Pokémon before the two took off to the sky again.
Having lost interest in her after seeing the bag fall, already having a feeling of what was inside, Ash ran over to it and found that it was made of rubber.
Rubber doesn't conduct electricity, he thought to himself as he opened the bag and Pikachu sprung out.
"Pikachu!" he cried as he gave his friend a hug. He rummaged through the bag and found five other pokeballs, which he already knew were his.
"Ashy!" he heard Lieutenant Surge call from behind him. "You're back!"
Turning around to greet his old friend, Ash grinned.
"What are you doing here?" Surge asked as he came and shook hands with the trainer.
"I think the more important question is what you were doing here," Ash said. "If it weren't for you, that woman would've taken off with my Pokémon."
"Those were yours?" Surge asked, sounding shocked. "I wouldn't have guessed that in a million years!"
"Yep, we've been here the past couple of days," Ash told him, feeling very grateful for his preventing Mallory from escaping with his Pokémon.
"Well, Nurse Joy over there," as he said this, he motioned to the young nurse with his head, "was yelling for help when I was on my way to my apartment building from the gym. She said that woman had just stolen some Pokémon, and so I decided to help out since the police weren't around."
"Well, it looks like Raichu had his hands full," Ash noted as he looked past Surge's shoulder to find the electric Pokémon still lying half-unconscious in the middle of the street.
"Oh man!" Surge yelled, running back towards his battling partner. "I'm sorry little buddy. Don't worry, we're gonna fix you up nice and good. You did a great job back there."
As he recalled his Raichu back to its respective pokeball, Ash, Misty and Brock walked over to Surge.
"So you know who that creep was?" he asked them when they reached him.
"Yeah," said Brock. "She stole Ash's Pokémon before and put him in a coma."
"Oh man, that's right!" Surge said, his face the epitome of realization. "I read all about that in the paper. That's why I didn't expect to find you here. I would've thought you'd be at home resting still."
"No," Misty answered for Ash, "we're still travelling. We're just doing it a little more discreetly so we can avoid being recognized."
"Wow!" Surge said, sounding genuinely impressed. "I remember when you couldn't reach my shoulder in height, and were just a scrawny little rookie. Now look at ya! You're a big-time Champion tryin' to avoid the paparazzi!"
Laughing at the change himself, Ash nodded his head.
"I guess a lot has changed since I last saw you," he said.
"I guess so," Surge agreed. "Well, I hate to cut this visit short, but I need to get Raichu here to the Pokémon Center. I hope you all understand."
"Of course!" the three trainers said in unison.
"Great," Surge said, turning around.
"Hey Ash!" he suddenly called back as the trio began to walk back the direction they came from.
"Yeah?" he asked quizzically.
"Don't worry about the police report. I'll fill 'em in on the details."
"Thanks a lot!" Ash yelled back sincerely. It was always a hassle trying to tell the police about a Team Rocket theft.
As they continued back towards the restaurant where Misty's car waited for them, Ash was reminded of a question that had popped in his head a few minutes earlier when he saw Brock recall Steelix to its pokeball.
"Hey Brock," he started, " why do you have your Steelix with you? I thought we gave Nurse Joy all of our Pokémon."
"Nah," he replied. "I always keep one Pokémon with me just to be on the safe-side. From the look of things, you'd be smart to do the same from now on."
"Heh, heh. I guess so," Ash replied, feeling a little childish having to be taught such a simple lesson so late in life.
Why did I forget to keep a Pokémon with me? he thought to himself in a scolding voice. It's like Ma said; people are gonna be coming after me. I have to be ready for anything from now on.
"Why do you think that Mallory keeps following us?" asked Misty, breaking Ash from his mental self-beatdown. "I swear, she's worse than Jessie and James. At least they never did any real harm and were easy to get rid of."
"Well, in fairness, she was pretty easy to scare off too," Brock reminded her.
"Yeah, but did Jessie and James ever put Ash in a coma?" Misty asked Brock.
"No, you're right," he consented. "She's definitely trouble. Speaking of Jessie and James though, I wonder why we haven't seen those guys around in so long?"
"I dunno how the Team Rocket operation works," Ash interjected in the conversation, "but I bet that when this Mallory girl started following us, Giovanni moved them to a different mission. Mallory definitely seems a little more skilled than they ever were, even if she did chicken out both times. Last time she even got my Pokémon to the Rocket hideout in Pallet, remember? That's better than anything Jessie or James ever could've done."
"That's right," Misty agreed. "We're all gonna have to be very careful from now on."
"You're right," Ash responded. In the distance he saw Misty's clunker waiting for them in the parking lot of the restaurant.
Author's Notes: This was definitely a hard chapter to write just because I feel a little like the story is in free-fall mode at the moment. I have a general idea of where I want to take the story, and I know certain plot-twists and other things that I want to happen at certain intervals, but in between those, I am kind of improvising. Just so you know though, many chapters will be more or less like this one (as I had mentioned in my first Author's Notes back in May). I will write certain chapters just about Ash catching a Pokemon, because right now that is what his goal is. However, never fear, because as I said a few sentences ago, I have a long list of plot-twists and sub-plots that will be revealed and resolved while the main plot of the story (Ash achieve Master Rank / Ash and Misty's relationship develops) continues to unfold.
Well, enough of me. Here are my recommendations for this week:
"Can't Get Enough" by MsRainey - It's just a short chaptered AAML fic. I decided to recommend this one because although it is not the most eloquently-written fic I have read, it certainly is a good little read if you're interested in Pokeshipping.
"Misty Returns to DiamondPearl!" by HighQueen - This is a chaptered fic (pretty long too) that is basically about what the title says. I honestly don't want to say much because I haven't had enough time to read the whole thing yet, but it really is a good idea. (HQ, I'll review this soon)
"Friendship, Love and Rivalry" by PrincesSTiger - I had almost forgotten about this fic accidentally because I had not remembered to add it to my favorites list, but now that I have, I am catching up on it, and I want to recommend it again (I haven't done so in a month). It's a story wherein Dawn, Brock, Misty, and Ash, along with a new character, are all brought together to help Ash finish his quest. It's a very good idea, and I recommend everyone read and review it. PST, I'll review this one again soon too.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the installment, and like I say; if you liked it, or hated it, REVIEW PLEASE!