Well, I'm back everyone! It took me a while to write this one, I had to decide what I should do to change the episode to the way it should've been all along. Anyways, you should now probably go to YouTube or something, and listen to the "Battle Dimension" theme song in order to get you into the mood. Remember to add Misty with her hair down in your imagination. ^^ Thanks for the reviews, and I hope you continue to do so, and without further ado, enjoy!

I own nothing except the story.

Chapter 10

Misty's POV

My eyes slowly fluttered open as the light of the morning sun's rays shined in through the window, and I couldn't stop a content smile from slowly spreading across my face. I thought I had a great night's sleep resting against Ash's back on Charizard, but sleeping on a real bed, curled up next to Ash like I was...I knew there was no way I would ever have a better night's sleep after that.

As my consciousness returned, I felt that Ash still had his arm around me. The warmth he gave off was intoxicating, like being surrounded by the pure essence of love. It was so tempting to just close my eyes and nod off a second time, the romantic in me screamed to take advantage of the circumstances...but I knew the day had to get started eventually, and if I didn't squash down the temptation the first time, I feared I would never be able to defeat it in the future.

But that didn't mean I wouldn't allow myself certain liberties. Sighing to myself, I attempted to wake Ash up with a gentle kiss to his cheek. He stirred and a smile appeared on his face, but Ash was clearly still asleep. I giggled at that. As usual, Ash never surrendered sleep without a fight. At least some things would still be the same. At this point I knew that if I was going to wake him up, I'd have to actually get up myself first. I freed myself from his embrace and kicked my feet over the side of the bed, and that caused his eyes to begin to flutter and eventually open.

He smiled as his half-lidded eyes settled on me. "Morning Mist."

I smiled back. "Good morning Ash."

"Pika pika!" (Good morning!)

I turned towards the electric mouse that had just hopped onto the bed and opened my arms to him for a hug. "Good morning Pikachu!" Pikachu immediately jumped into my arms and gave a squeal of glee as I hugged him tightly.

I was about to say something, when I heard Dawn knocking on the door. "Hey guys, you up yet?"

Suddenly a brilliant idea came into my mind, something to get Dawn back for intentionally putting me and Ash in an uncomfortable position. Ash was about to reply when I placed my hand over his mouth, then I whispered my plan into his ear, and a wide grin appeared on his face. "This is gonna be so funny!" he exclaimed quietly.

I nodded excitedly and looked down at Pikachu. "Pikachu, go open the door when I give you the signal." I whispered as I released him from my arms. I could tell from the look on his face that he was confused, but Pikachu acknowledged and hopped onto the doorknob as Ash and I leaped back under the covers, went into a close embrace and pretended to be asleep. Once the two of us were settled in, I peeked out my fingers from underneath the covers and snapped them, and then I heard the door creak open as Dawn entered after Pikachu let her in.

Normal POV

"Hey Pikachu," Dawn snorted as she tried to stifle her laughter. "Are…Ash and Misty awake yet?"

"Pika pika pi chu." (I'm not sure.) Pikachu replied as he scratched his head in confusion. There was something strange about this whole situation to the little electric-type. For whatever reason, Ash and Misty were pretending to sleep and obviously didn't want Dawn to know.

The coordinator walked in quietly, and her eyes widened when she saw Ash and Misty cuddled up comfortably under the sheets. "Ooooh! That's so sweet!" she gushed quietly.

Ash and Misty had to try their very hardest in order to keep from cracking up, but the prank's success depended on them keeping a straight and natural face. "You're gonna learn not to mess with me." Misty thought.

Completely unaware of what was truly taking place, Dawn stood in front of the foot of the bed and made a square shape with her hands, trying to make a small picture-frame with her fingers. "Perfect, I have to get a picture of this!" she grinned mischievously.

"Pika?!" (What?!)

Dawn pulled out her Pokédex, and activated the new camera setting that she had recently downloaded into it. But just before she snapped the photo, Ash and Misty jumped up suddenly and screamed, scaring Dawn to the point of falling down. And if that wasn't enough, Pikachu gave Dawn a Thundershock for being mean to his master and his girlfriend. "My hair!" the coordinator shrieked and reached up to feel her hair which was now standing on end.

Ash and Misty laughed, and Pikachu joined in after a while. "Sorry Dawn," Misty laughed. "We just wanted to get you back for your little prank yesterday, the Thundershock was just an unexpected bonus."

"Pika Pikaka." (Sorry Dawn.)

After a moment of silent glaring, a small smile spread across the coordinator's face and she eventually started laughing as well. "Well, I guess I got my just desserts." The trio laughed a while longer, and then Ash and Misty went to go change out of their pajamas. Afterwards, they walked down into the Pokémon Center lobby to get some breakfast, and found Brock already eating.

"Hey guys!" the breeder waved when he saw his friends.

"Hey Brock," Ash sat down at the table along with Misty and Dawn. "Glad to see you're feeling better."

"Actually," Brock frowned. "I feel horrible."

Dawn's eyebrows shot up with concern. "If you feel so bad, why did Nurse Joy say you were okay?"

"My body is fine…it's my heart that's in pain!" he cried out in agony. "Now that I'm out of there, I won't be able to see Nurse Joy anymore!" The group did a face-fault at their friend's pathetic reaction to being well again.

"Same old Brock." Misty shook her head in amusement after she recovered. "Will you ever change?"

"Not until I find the one girl out there who will finally return my affections!"

"Good luck with that." Ash rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, Brock spotted Nurse Joy and ran to the desk where she was standing, "Oh Nurse Joy! I can't thank you enough for nursing me back to health!"

"Ugh," Misty watched on in disgust. "Good thing I came along when I did. Time to get back to work." Misty cracked her knuckles and got up to drag Brock away from Nurse Joy, but Ash grabbed her by the hand before she could go too far, which caused her to turn around.

"Don't worry about it Mist, this problem will take care of itself in a minute." Misty sat back down and gave him a confused expression, but she quickly turned her head back around when she saw a white light emerge from Brock's backpack. She then turned back to Ash who was quietly counting backwards on his fingers. "Three…two…one…"

Misty looked at Brock, and her eyes widened when she witnessed Brock now cringing in pain on the floor, with a Pokémon dragging him away by the wrist from the somewhat distraught Pokémon nurse. "What the heck just happened?"

"That's Brock's Croagunk. He caught it during a battle with Team Rocket, and it seems to have taken the role of 'Brock Pacifier' since Max left with May." Ash chuckled. "Whenever he loses his mind, Croagunk comes out and gives him a Poison Jab right in the butt, that shuts him down real quick."

Dawn rolled her eyes as she rested her elbows on the table. "You'd think after all those painful experiences, Brock would just chill out."

The redhead sweat-dropped at that. "He's been doing that for years, and it looks like he'll be doing it for years to come."

Now recovered from the Poison Jab, Brock returned to the table and got back to his breakfast. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

"I have to get back to training!" Dawn exclaimed as she pumped a fist. "Last night, I thought of a way to make Aipom's Swift work the way I want it to!"

"Hey, that's great! Maybe you can show us after breakfast." Ash suggested.

"Sounds good to me, I'll be ready for that contest and I intend to win!"

"That's the spirit!" Ash pushed away from the table and got up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna get something to eat!"

"Pika pika chu!" (Me too!)

The two took off running, and Misty shook her head with an amused smile on her face. "He still follows his stomach."

"Yeah," Brock chuckled. "Food has been a lifelong friend of his, and I don't think that'll ever change."

"Although they did stop speaking to each other a few days ago." Dawn grinned, but it quickly disappeared when she received an elbow in the arm from Brock. "Ow! What was that for?!"

Misty's brow furrowed in suspicion. "I get the feeling there's something you're not telling me." she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. "Alright, what's going on Brock?"

Brock sighed and dropped his fork on his plate, folding his hands before speaking. "Before you got here, Ash was losing focus on everything he did. He even stopped eating."

"What?" Misty looked towards the cafeteria line to see her boyfriend loading up his plate before turning back to Brock with concern. "What happened to him Brock?"

"Well...truth is Misty..." Brock smiled a little. "It was because of how much he missed you."

The redhead's eyes widened and she blushed, placing a hand on her chest as a strange mixture of both guilt and happiness invaded her heart. "Wow," she breathed. "I can't believe he even stopped eating because of me…"

"You obviously mean a lot to him Misty." the breeder smiled softly. "No other person would be able to have such an effect on him as to make him reject food."

Misty blushed at that, and she turned her head towards Ash when he returned with a huge plateful of food, and Pikachu with a bottle of ketchup. "Gee, hungry much?" she asked with a smirk.

"You have no idea!" Ash quickly started shoveling food into his mouth.

"Hey girls, you better get your breakfast before Ash goes for seconds." Brock joked. He gave a smirk of his own when Ash gave him a quick glare before going back to eating.

"Good idea Brock, be right back." Dawn got up from the table with Misty following close by.

Ash's POV

"That's just what I need…I just know that Brock is going to interrogate me."

"So…Ash…tell me…how did you mange to break Misty from the bonds of being a Gym Leader?"

"It's a long story." I replied without looking up.

"I have time." It seemed that Brock wasn't going to drop the subject; I had to think of something!

"It's too long to tell before they get back."

"Okay, you can tell me later."

I escaped for now, but when Brock wanted to know something, he would find a way to persuade me. At least it wasn't as bad as what Dawn did when a secret was kept; she just annoyed you to death...or had Buneary freeze you solid apparently. I finally finished my breakfast just as Misty and Dawn showed up with theirs, and that gave me an opportunity to take off. "Ready for seconds Pikachu?" I got up from the table.

"Pika pika pika chu!" (I'm still eating!)

Misty giggled as she sat down to eat. "You probably eat more than a Snorlax!"

"At least I eat 'till I'm full…" I smirked down at her. "Scrawny." Misty smirked right back at me and whacked me in the back of the head with her hand, which I knew was coming anyway. "Ow."

"Alright you two," Brock scoffed at us. "You can flirt all you want after we digest."

I blushed and looked at Misty, who was also blushing...suddenly my appetite had abandoned me after that. "I'm gonna go outside and do a little training." It wasn't a total lie. "C'mon Pikachu."

"Pika pika!" (Sure thing!) Pikachu hopped onto my shoulder and we ran outside to the back of the Pokémon Center where a battle area was just waiting for me to take advantage of. "Time for some special training!" I pulled out two Pokéballs and tossed them into the air. "Chimchar, Charizard, come on out!" On one end of the field, Chimchar appeared, and on the other end, my powerful dragon and old friend Charizard. "Alright guys, I want to see some good effort go into this battle. Got it?!"

"Chim char!" (Alright!)

"Charizard, can you battle for yourself?" Charizard nodded with a grunt. "Alright, Chimchar, start it off with a Flamethrower!" Chimchar fired his attack towards Charizard, who looked ready to counter. He did so by firing his own Flamethrower to counter Chimchar's, causing a huge explosion to cover the field. "Not bad you guys, now let's step it up a notch!"

The battle continued, as I called out moves for Chimchar and watched as Charizard countered the attacks and forced Chimchar and I to come up with ways to fight back. There was something so surreal about training with Charizard again, Misty wasn't the only blast from the past I was getting to enjoy, and as long as Charizard was with me, I figured it would be a good idea for Chimchar to get in some training against a much more experience fire-type that could definitely teach him a thing or two.

Suddenly Charizard came flying towards Chimchar with a Steel Wing attack. "Use Dig to avoid it Chimchar!" Chimchar dug a hole and just barely dodged the giant dragon's attack. "Now use Scratch!" he then leaped out of the hole and scratched Charizard's face, causing the dragon to reel back and growl. "Way to go Chimchar!" Chimchar started jumping up and down in celebration, and I stopped the short spar, but not before noticing the smirk on Charizard's face, it was almost as if he was happy that Chimchar had gotten a hit on him. "Thanks Charizard, take a break now." Charizard growled in acknowledgement and nodded, and I recalled him to his Pokéball. "That was a little weird." Then I turned to the still celebrating Chimchar and knelt down in front of him to rub his head. "Hey, nice job Chimchar! You're getting really strong!"

"Chim char!" (Thanks!)

I returned him to his Pokéball just before Misty, Dawn and Brock walked over. Misty and Dawn were talking about something, but I couldn't hear what. Whatever it was, they were clearly into it.

Misty's POV

Dawn had asked me what my favorite Pokémon was, and the answer was obvious of course. "I just love Tentacool and Tentacruel!"

"They're your favorite Pokémon?" Dawn asked in disbelief.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Is there a problem with that?"

"N-No! But, they just don't seem like the kind of Pokémon a girl like you would want." Dawn replied a little nervously, "Are there any other Pokémon you've ever wanted?"

I couldn't help but smirk when Dawn tried to change the subject, it was clear we still had a ways to go when it came to getting to know each other. I figured I could let it slide this time. "Well, to tell you the truth, I've always wanted a Vaporeon." the thought of a Pokémon like that, caused a big smile to spread across my face. "They're just so beautiful!" I saw Dawn smile at me, and then she ran towards the battlefield, holding a Pokéball in hand and clearly excited to get started with training. "Nice talking to you too Dawn." I just shook my head in amusement and hurried over to join everyone else.

Normal POV

Ash waved as his friends approached the battlefield. "Hey guys!"

"Hey Ash." Dawn beamed and turned so she could look everyone in the eye. "Ready to see what I came up with everyone?"

"Sure thing, go ahead." Brock said.

"Alright! But…" Dawn used her hand to signal in a direction. "If you could just move to the center of the field, it would be very much appreciated."

"Uh, sure Dawn." the redhead said with a raised eyebrow. Nevertheless, the trio obliged, and moved to the center of the battlefield.

Satisfied with that, Dawn twirled and tossed the Pokéball she was holding into the air. "Aipom! Spooootlight!" a white light flashed and Aipom appeared standing on her tail. "Aipom! Swift, go!" Aipom swung her tail back and forth, causing a circle of stars to surround the trio of Ash, Misty and Brock.

"What's she doing?" Misty asked.

"Dunno, guess we'll see in a minute." Brock replied.

Without warning, Aipom punched one of the leftover stars towards the spinning circle, and it bounced around like a pinball before causing the stars to shatter into a shiny dust. The trio gasped in awe at the marvelous sight. "It's like being sprinkled with mist!" Misty exclaimed. Aipom landed on the ground, and gave a bow along with her new master Dawn.

"Great Aipom! You and Dawn are totally in sync!" Ash exclaimed. Aipom chattered in thanks.

Brock crossed his arms and nodded in approval. "And I'm really impressed with that new variation on Swift you used."

"For sure!" Misty added. "I've never seen Swift used like that; my sisters would've fallen head-over-heels if they saw it."

"Thanks guys!" the coordinator beamed. "It looks a lot prettier than before, and we did a lot of changes on Focus Punch as well."

"How about showing us then?" Misty asked.

"Sure thing!" Dawn leaned down to look at her faithful starter. "Piplup, can you be our opponent?"

"Pi plup!" (Of course!)

Dawn grinned and pointed into the sky. "Use Bubblebeam!" As soon as the order was given, Piplup leaped into the air and fired a stream of bubbles straight into the sky. "Now Aipom! Focus Punch!" Aipom leaped into the air to meet the bubbles, and started launching rapid punches towards the now popping bubbles, which sprinkled more mist on the trainers below.

"What's that?!" Ash asked in awe.

"That seems too fast to be a Focus Punch." Misty added.

"Yeah Mist, you're right!" Ash replied. "It actually looks like Aipom has two tails! That's awesome!" Pikachu squealed in agreement.

"I wanted it to look like Aipom was attacking in two places at once with one Focus Punch." Dawn explained.

"Well that's a great idea Dawn," Misty spoke up. "But that doesn't look like Focus Punch to me."

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"Well, just look." Misty directed the coordinator's eyes back to the Pokémon above them. "No Focus Punch can move that fast, as a Gym Leader I've faced off against a lot of Focus Punches from all sorts of Pokémon, and the fastest one I've ever seen was barely half that speed."

"Misty's right!" Brock added. "Do you two realize that what Aipom is using is a brand new move?"

"A new move?" Dawn held out her Pokédex to examine exactly what Aipom was doing.

The Pokédex made a few beeping noises, signaling the completion of its analysis.

Double Hit, a single attack that causes damage twice.

Dawn's eyes started shining in excitement. "Double Hit…wow! I've got me a new move!" Aipom finally popped the last of the bubbles, doing a few midair somersaults before gracefully landing on her master's head with a happy chitter.

"You know," Brock said. "I would think that Aipom is close to evolving after learning to use that move."

Misty smirked at him for that comment. "Only Brock would be able to tell that just by looking at it."

"Well, if I'm going to be a Pokémon Breeder," Brock smirked back. "I need to be able to tell things like that."

"So you're gonna evolve soon, eh Aipom?" Ash pulled out his red Pokédex. "Let's see what that'll be."

"Ambipom."

"Huh?"

Confused by the sudden voice, the group all turned their heads and saw Dawn's old friend Kenny standing there with his Prinplup. "The evolved form of Aipom is Ambipom." he repeated.

"Kenny!" Ash exclaimed. Pikachu and Piplup greeted Prinplup, who reciprocated.

"What do you know?" Brock chuckled. "If it isn't Dawn's old friend."

"Who's that Ash?" Misty asked with a finger pointed at this newcomer.

"Kenny is an old friend of Dawn's." Ash explained. "They're both coordinators, so you could consider them friendly rivals."

"Long time no see." the male coordinator put his hands on his hips and smirked with his eyes closed. "I am kind of surprised you didn't even know the name of what the evolved form of Aipom is…" he leaned in close to Dawn and grinned mischievously. "Dee Dee."

Dawn immediately bristled and growled at that, her face red with barely contained fury. "Don't you ever call me 'Dee Dee' again!" she snarled with her fists clenched.

"Huh?" Misty scratched her head in confusion. "Why did you call her-"

The redhead was quickly cut off when Dawn jumped over and started violently shaking Misty by the shoulders in a panic. "Misty, please don't go there!"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry!" Misty was then released by Dawn, and she fell to the ground with spirals in her eyes.

Ash knelt down next to her and lifted her up by the shoulder and helped her back to her feet. "You okay Mist?"

"Yeah," she replied woozily. "Just a little dizzy."

"Guess everybody's got secrets hidden in their closet." Brock chuckled.

"Yeah," Dawn gave a malicious smirk. "Let's ask Ash and his 'secret' friend."

Ash and Misty just blushed.

"Soooo..." Kenny glanced at Dawn and pointed a finger in Misty's direction. "Are you gonna introduce me to your friend here or what?"

"Oh yeah," Ash spoke up for her. "Kenny, this is Misty."

Misty walked up and held out her hand for Kenny to shake. "Nice to meet you."

"Same here, he shook her hand a moment. "Are you a coordinator like Dee Dee?" he asked with a smirk, vaguely aware that the only thing keeping him alive at the moment was Brock holding Dawn back.

"Uh, no." Misty said slowly, looking back at the enraged Dawn for a moment before addressing Kenny again. "I was actually the Gym Leader of Cerulean City in Kanto before I came back to travel with Ash."

"Sounds cool," he nodded and turned his attention back to Dawn, "So Dawn, you'll be in the contest, right?"

Dawn sighed and rolled her eyes. "Of course I will."

"Awesome! Oh, hey," the male coordinator smiled sympathetically. "It was too bad what happened at Hearthome City."

Misty couldn't help but notice the way Dawn's face fell at the mention of whatever they were discussing. "What happened at Hearthome City?" she asked.

"Dawn lost in the first round." Ash said sullenly.

"Oh," Misty frowned and glanced at Dawn sympathetically. "Sorry Dawn."

Dawn's smile returned. "It's no problem Misty! This time there's no need to worry because I'm ready!" Dawn made a 'V' for victory sign with her fingers, and Aipom chattered in agreement as she made the same sign with her tail.

"I didn't know you had an Aipom." Kenny said.

"Oh yeah," Dawn smiled. "She's a new member of the team, Ash used to be Aipom's trainer."

"I feel sorry for Aipom." Misty teased.

"Oh yeah?" Ash replied. "What about your Psyduck, Misty?"

"Ugh." Misty glared at her boyfriend. "Don't go there Ash."

Dawn continued her conversation. "Don't you remember Aipom from the Jubilife Contest?"

Kenny raised a finger in realization. "That's right! So did you make a trade?"

"Yeah, for Dawn's Buizel." Ash explained.

"So that's where you got that Buizel," Misty smirked at Ash. "I should've known that you wouldn't have been able to catch such a powerful water-type by yourself."

Ash scowled at the redhead. "What's that supposed to mean?!" he yelled.

Ash's outburst riled up her own anger as she shouted back. "I'm saying that you can't catch decent water-types without someone else intervening somehow!"

"Oh yeah?!"

"Yeah!"

"OH YEAH?!"

"YEAH!"

"Do they do this often?" Kenny asked with a sweat-drop.

"You get used to it after a few years." Brock deadpanned.

"I don't think I can handle waiting that long!" Dawn covered her ears with her hands. Meanwhile, Piplup was getting really annoyed with it all, so he fired a Bubblebeam at the quarreling couple that abruptly cut their argument short.

"Hey!" they said in unison.

Dawn put her hands on her hips and frowned as she looked back and forth between the two. "Is that the way a boyfriend and girlfriend should treat each other?!" The next thing she knew though, she had been tackled by Ash and Misty as they started shooting off comments at her.

"No one else needs to know Dawn!"

"Yeah, just keep quiet!"

Aipom just looked on in confusion, wondering why her former master was torturing her current one.

Finally Ash and Misty got off of Dawn with satisfied smiles, while Dawn now had spirals in her eyes like Misty had earlier. "Sorry about that Ash," Misty smiled bashfully at her boyfriend. "You really are doing a good job with that Buizel."

Ash just waved it off. "No prob Mist, I know you don't really mean what you say when you do that."

Dawn had now gotten up and dusted herself off. "You two go from enemies to friends faster than an ExtremeSpeed attack."

"True that." Brock agreed. Ash and Misty just glared at their friends.

Meanwhile, Kenny was watching in utter confusion. "You sure know how to pick your pals Dawn." he finally said.

"No kidding," Dawn winked playfully at him. "I chose you for one didn't I?"

Kenny did a face-fault at that, then he recovered. "Anyways, so you will be in the contest?"

"No doubt!" the female coordinator exclaimed determinedly. "This time I'm gonna use Aipom for both round one and two and win for sure!" Aipom chattered in agreement.

Kenny's face turned smug. "Yeah, we'll see." he glanced down at his Prinplup. "We're gonna enter too after all," he looked back up at Dawn. "And we're feeling strong."

"Prin plup!" (That's right!)

"You have two ribbons right Kenny?" Ash asked.

"Yeah," Kenny turned his attention to Ash. "How many badges do you have?"

Ash pulled out his badge case, revealing two Sinnoh League badges. "I've got two of 'em. Six more to go!"

"Only two Ash?" Misty narrowed her eyes teasingly. "Guess I didn't miss much."

Ash chose to ignore the obvious jab. "I'm just glad you'll be here for the rest of my battles."

The redhead reeled back in shock at Ash's answer, but she definitely couldn't say she was disappointed with it. "Believe me, there's no place I'd rather be." she said with a wink.

Ash blushed bashfully and rubbed the back of his neck, but he quickly regained his composure when an idea popped in his head and he turned his head back to Kenny. "Speaking of battling, how about you and me finish our battle Kenny?"

"Uh, maybe later." Kenny chuckled awkwardly. "I actually had plans to go and see Dialga and Palkia right now."

"Huh?!" Ash gasped.

"See Dialga and Palkia?!" Dawn asked in disbelief.

"Yeah…see them." Kenny said slowly. The group gasped in shock, and that was when Kenny realized what the misunderstanding was. "Hey, hey! I don't mean the real ones!" he said with his hands raised. "It's just a monument."

"Ohhh..."

After finding that tidbit of info out, Misty decided she wanted to see it for herself. "A monument huh? C'mon Ash, I wanna go see it!" she grabbed Ash's hand and ran off, ignoring his shouts of protest as she dragged him along.

Brock sweat-dropped at the scene. "Looks like we'll be going with you Kenny."

"It sure seems that way." Kenny chuckled.

They ran off to catch up to the couple that already headed towards…somewhere. "Misty, we need Kenny to tell us where we're going!" Ash exclaimed.

Misty stopped in her tracks, making Ash run into her and fall on top of her. "Oh yeah." she smiled a little. "Well, as long as they're not here yet…" She leaned up and gave Ash a quick peck on the cheek before wiggling out from under him and getting to her feet.

Ash placed a hand on the cheek she had just kissed. "What was that for?" he asked with a goofy smile.

"No reason," she shrugged and smiled cutely. "I just wanted to."

Ash just blushed and chuckled.

"Chaaa!" (Cuuute!)

Misty soon joined Ash in the blush-fest.

But while the young couple waited for their friends to catch up to them, trouble was brewing at the monument of Dialga and Palkia. Men and women in silver suits and multi-colored hair were standing dutifully in front of the shrine, while in the bushes, an all too familiar Meowth was busy picking berries.

"Dis must be my lucky day!" Meowth said to himself. "Grabbin' grub for free!" His eyes wandered over to the shrine, and they widened when his mind registered what he was looking at. "I know dose fashion freaks!" he looked over his shoulder and called over his two Team Rocket partners. "Hey, check dis out!"

Jessie and James crawled over and saw what Meowth was pointing at through the bushes. "Team Galactic, wonder what they're up to." Jessie whispered.

"No good as always I'm sure." James replied. Their grudge against Team Galactic had now been rekindled, as they thought about how they had been tricked into stealing the Adamant Orb for them, a rare artifact rumored to have connections to Dialga and Palkia.

Jessie, James and Meowth snuck over to behind a pillar, trying to follow them unnoticed. "What's dis joint?" Meowth asked referring to the shrine.

Unnoticed by Team Rocket, the Team Galactic leader had seen them hiding, but he decided not to do anything about it as they approached a dark tunnel leading into the shrine. The leader then threw out a Pokéball. "Bronzor, Flash." A Bronzor appeared from the Pokéball, and its face lit up like a flashlight, allowing Team Galactic to proceed through the long tunnel, followed closely by Team Rocket, who had decided to believe it was a treasure-house.

By this time, Ash, Misty, Dawn, Brock, and Kenny had reached the shrine themselves. "It's true! Dialga and Palkia!" Ash exclaimed.

"These are the Solaceon Ruins," Kenny explained. "The ruins of the temple where people once paid tribute to Dialga and Palkia, and there are lots of places like this throughout Sinnoh."

"Wow!" Ash gasped in awe.

Dawn looked around at the two statues, and then her eyes caught an engraved message at the base of the statue of Dialga. "Hey, look at this!" Brock and Kenny walked over to her as she read the message. "When one life meets another life, something will be born."

"That's so true!" Kenny exclaimed.

"No kidding," Dawn pointed over her shoulder with her thumb, where Ash and Misty were admiring the other statue. "We have two living examples standing over there."

"You know Dawn," Brock scratched his chin in thought. "I think I've heard that saying somewhere before."

"Oh yeah!" Dawn snapped her fingers. "Cynthia the Elite Champion told us that saying!"

"Wow," Kenny said in awe. "That's so cool that you got to meet the champion!"

Dawn grinned in satisfaction. "I guess you could say that I have a much more exciting life than you."

"No duh," Kenny just grinned back. "From what I've seen from Ash and that Misty girl, you'll never be bored again."

Dawn sweat-dropped at that. "You're...probably right."

Brock walked over to the statue that Ash and Misty were checking out. "It says the same thing over here." he said.

"Says what Brock?" Misty asked.

"When one life meets another life, something will be born."

"That sounds so mysterious!" Misty exclaimed.

Ash looked up at the statue again. "I wonder if it has anything to do with Dialga and Palkia."

"Probably, considering that it says it on their statues." Misty replied.

"Hey, I've got a good idea!" Kenny exclaimed suddenly.

"Yeah? What is it?" Ash asked.

"Let's battle now!"

"What?!" Misty shouted in horror. "How could you possibly think it's a good idea to battle around these beautiful statues?!" Somehow, Misty had a feeling the beautiful sculptures wouldn't be beautiful for long if they battled nearby.

"Yeah, Misty's right!" Ash exclaimed.

"Why thank you Ash." Misty replied in satisfaction.

"Yeah, I mean, how can anyone battle with Dialga and Palkia staring at you?"

Misty did a face-fault as she realized that Ash had completely missed her point. "Ash, you're density isn't exactly something I'll miss if you ever lose it."

"Oh come on! It'll be fun!" Kenny exclaimed.

"Well…" Ash thought about it for a moment, but he quickly made up his mind. How could he ever refuse a battle? "Alright then!"

"Alright!" Kenny put a fist on his hip, "So who gets to attack first?"

"Uh, that's a good question." Ash said with his arms crossed.

Dawn cleared her throat suddenly and walked in-between the two trainers with her arm raised in the air. "In case you haven't noticed, in situations like this, I have just the thing!" she lowered her arm and showed off the pink Pokétch on her arm, which was set to a specific screen.

"Whoa!" Kenny exclaimed in bewilderment. "A coin-toss application?!"

"Don't have one huh?" Dawn teased with a grin.

Kenny groaned and bent over. "I hate this."

After choosing the first attacker (which would turn out to be Ash), the two called out the rules. "One-on-one sound good?" Kenny asked.

"Awesome! Let's do it!" Ash exclaimed.

Ash's POV

"You can do it Ash!" I heard Misty cheering from the stairs of the shrine. Somehow I felt my face heat up a little when I realized I wasn't just imagining her voice anymore. I gave her a quick smile and waved, taking comfort in the fact that she was really there, and she always would be. Although I was wondering why she was cheering since she was against the battle in the first place.

Misty's POV

"Well, there's no way I can convince him otherwise, so I guess I'll just cheer him on."

Ash's POV

I figured that Kenny would use Prinplup again, like he did in Floraroma Town. So I decided on my grass-type. "Turtwig, I choose you!" I threw out the Pokéball and Turtwig emerged, ready for battle. Suddenly, Kenny threw out a Pokéball himself, which meant my judgment was wrong, and Kenny wasn't using Prinplup.

"Alright, go Breloom!" Kenny's Pokémon emerged and stood tall, ready for a fight.

I saw Dawn pulling out her Pokédex. "Hey Dawn, turn up the volume on your Pokédex so I can hear!" Dawn gave a thumbs-up and obliged, and I listened intently to the explanation.

Breloom, the Mushroom Pokémon. Its short arms stretch when it throws punches, and its technique is as good as a professional boxer's.

"Hmm, I wonder if it's a fighting-type too." I wondered. "Oh well, grass versus grass won't do much, so I'll just roll with it!" I decided to just jump right into the battle, "'Kay! Turtwig, Tackle!" Turtwig ran across the field to tackle the mushroom Pokémon, while Kenny told Breloom to dodge the attack. But my Turtwig was just too fast for it, and Breloom took the full force of the attack. "Now, Razor Leaf! Go!" I called out another attack, and Turtwig got ready to launch razor sharp leaves at its opponent, but there was no way I would be ready for what came next.

"Use Mach Punch!" I gasped, there was no way that Turtwig could dodge the attack now, and all I could do was watch Turtwig take the impact. "You gotta admit, my Breloom is really good."

"Yeah," I glanced down at my grass-type. "Hey Turtwig, you alright?" Turtwig nodded, and the battle continued. "Use Bite!" Turtwig ran towards Breloom, but once again was stopped. This time by an attack I never saw before.

"Use Energy Ball!" A growing ball of energy appeared in front of Breloom's mouth, and it launched the attack at Turtwig, who took the full brunt of the attack, as it detonated and sent Turtwig flying backwards.

"Wow, that move looks awesome!" Dawn had exclaimed.

I couldn't help but agree, I wanted Turtwig to know that move. "Hey Kenny, do you think maybe you could teach Turtwig that move?"

Kenny reeled back a little. "Energy Ball?"

Then Misty walked up to me. "You're really going to just stop the battle?" she asked in shock.

I could understand why Misty was shocked, back in the old days I wouldn't stop a battle until someone was declared the winner. Somehow I found it funny that Misty was having to learn about me all over again. "Hey, when you get the opportunity to learn an awesome move, you take it!"

"Hmmm, I never said I gave you an opportunity…" Kenny had this smug grin on his face now, and he placed his arms behind his head. "Hmm, now what should l do?" Clearly, Kenny wasn't going to make things easy for me.

"You should teach Turtwig that move of course!" Dawn answered for him.

Apparently all he needed was a little coaxing from Dawn, I made a mental note to thank her later on for convincing Kenny to go through with it. "Okay, here's the deal." he said to me. "You beat me, and I'll teach Turtwig Energy Ball."

"Oh come on!" Dawn pursed her lips in frustration. "Meany!"

Dawn may not have liked the answer, but it sounded good to me. I turned to Misty and smiled at her. "Looks like the battle's back on Mist, go enjoy the show!" She smiled back at me and walked back over to where Dawn was sitting.

Normal POV

Meanwhile, Team Galactic had reached their destination inside the shrine, completely aware of Team Rocket "sneaking" behind them. They placed three strange plates into three slots on the floor, and a strange light began to glow moments later.

"Exactly as our leader said." the head man said.

"Leader?" Meowth looked up at his human teammates, and they just shrugged at him. Suddenly a strange cube rose up from the floor, and the Unown that were engraved in the wall began to glow brightly. "Uh oh, my Poké-senses are tinglin'!"

"It's been a long time Team Rocket."

The trio gasped when the Galactic leader addressed them without even turning around. "Busted!" James gulped.

Suddenly the Unown engraved in the walls came to life, and the Team Rocket trio shrieked in horror, they had already had a particularly bad run-in with the species in the past.

"Unown, hear me!" the leader exclaimed as he stared at the glowing, floating cube. "We shall change the world! This cube that you now guard contains the very power needed to make this all possible!" the leader gently grabbed the cube and it stopped glowing in his hand. "And so it shall be." the Unown immediately moved in to attack and save the cube from the intruder, but the Galactic leader wasn't phased in the slightest. "Bronzor, Confuse Ray!" Bronzor sent out a ghostly light all over the room, causing the Unown to become dangerously confused. When everything cleared, Team Galactic had vanished without a trace, leaving a bewildered Team Rocket surrounded by a bunch of enraged Unown.

Meanwhile outside, the battle was just about to be wrapped up, when a giant red light flashed from the shrine, and the spot that Misty, Dawn, Piplup and Aipom were sitting on suddenly folded into itself.

Ash's POV

I heard screaming from the shrine, and when I looked over to see what was going on, I briefly felt my heart clench. Misty, Dawn and her Pokémon were suddenly getting pulled into the shrine itself. "Misty! Dawn!" I grabbed a Pokéball and called out Charizard, who gave a roar as I leaped onto his back. "Hurry Charizard!"

I knew Charizard had felt my concern, he took off at an incredible speed, chasing down the wall. But then my worst fear came true when Misty slipped off the still folding stairway and fell into the red light coming from the shrine along with Dawn's Pokémon. "No! Misty!" And if I didn't have enough to worry about, Dawn had leaped in going after her Pokémon. "Gun it Charizard!" Charizard flew even faster, but it made no difference, since I had plenty of time to get in.

It was Brock and Kenny who had the close call. The shrine closed up completely just after we managed to get in. I didn't bother to wait for Brock and Kenny, I was now on a mission as I flew on the back of my dragon. I had to find Misty!

Misty's POV

"Oh great, just one day back with Ash and I'm already thrown into a creepy adventure!" I was livid. For the briefest of moments, I actually regretted coming to Sinnoh. Thoughts of Ash's love and him hurrying after me quickly removed such blasphemy from my mind though. Dawn had actually ignored my outburst, as she was checking on Piplup and Aipom.

I looked around and noticed that the walls were starting to move! I gave out a scream as angry Unown started coming out of the walls. Now I really wished Ash was here, 'cause this was just scary!

"What are those?" Dawn asked in a scared tone as she pulled out her Pokédex.

Unown, the Symbol Pokémon. Unown use telepathy to communicate with each other. Many different shapes of Unown have been discovered.

"We already discovered them years ago!" I shouted in a panic. "I just didn't wanna discover them again!"

Red beams were fired at us, and out of instinct, Dawn's Piplup and Aipom defended us with a Bubblebeam and Swift respectively. But judging by the enraged looks the Unown were still giving us, they weren't ready to quit. Well if they wanted more, I would oblige. "They want a fight? I'll give 'em one!" I was ready to send out Staryu, when Psyduck popped out of his Pokéball suddenly and threw me off. "Psyduck! Not now!"

"Psy?" (Huh?) Another beam from the Unown caused Psyduck to totally freak out, and I recalled it before me and Dawn ran off screaming.

"Ash! Come and find us!"

Ash's POV

I heard screaming coming from a flight of never-ending stairs, and I looked to where the voices seemed to be coming from, and I saw Misty and Dawn being attacked by what looked like a mob of Unown, with Piplup and Aipom doing their best to defend. "Misty!"

"Ash, help!"

"C'mon Charizard! Get over there and use Dragon Breath!" Charizard roared and flew over to the Unown, exhaling a fiery breath at them. The Unown cried out in pain, and attacked again just as Charizard landed in front of the group, ready to take them all on. "Charizard, use Flamethrower!" While Charizard fought off the Unown, I jumped off to help Misty and Dawn.

Misty's POV

I was beyond relieved when Ash showed up with Charizard, he knelt down next to me and hugged me tightly, which I gladly reciprocated. "Misty, thank goodness you're alright!" I could hear the concern in his voice.

"Ash, I'm so glad you're here." I could feel myself starting to feel safe in his arms.

"I'm fine too, thanks for asking!"

Dawn sounded pretty upset for being overlooked, which given the circumstances, made sense. Ash looked like he was about to apologize, when I noticed Charizard. "Ash, Charizard looks like he's gonna pass out!"

We all watched as the panting dragon took another combined barrage of attacks from the mob of Unown. I knew he wouldn't last much longer, so I grabbed a Pokéball, and hoped that Psyduck wouldn't make another appearance. "Misty calls Politoed!" As soon as my frog Pokémon emerged from its ball, it quickly launched a Water Gun attack before I even had the chance to say anything. The water hit the Unown dead-on, and they suddenly seemed to lose their rage.

With an ominous moan, the Unown disappeared, and we were now inside a corridor of sorts. "We're back!" Dawn exclaimed.

Ash released me, and walked over to the now exhausted Charizard. "Thanks Charizard. Take a nice, long rest." he returned him to his Pokéball.

"I don't think we're out of trouble yet guys." Dawn said nervously.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

Dawn pointed ahead of us and we got a good look at what she meant, as the corridor a few feet ahead of us was still glowing an ominous shade of red. "It still looks really weird up ahead."

"Well," Ash adjusted the hat on his head. "All we can do is push on ahead."

The thought of doing so made my heart pound a little. After all the drama we'd had with Unown in the past, I couldn't help but feel pretty nervous about going deeper into the maze. "I'm a little scared Ash." I leaned in and whispered.

There was a part of me that was trying to remind me that I was supposed to be the strong one, the fearless Gym Leader who could take on anything thrown her way...but with where we were, and with Ash there with me, I felt the need to take down the mask of toughness I normally put on and lean on Ash's strength a little.

"We'll be okay Mist," He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. "I promise." I gripped onto Ash's arm, and we all walked ahead cautiously.

Brock's POV

Kenny and I had been searching for the others in this maze for at least half an hour, and the amount of angry Unown we'd run into while we were here was mind-boggling. Fortunately, Prinplup, Breloom and Croagunk had so far been able to deal with whatever the Unown threw at us. "Why are they attacking us Brock?"

I glanced at the young coordinator as we ducked behind a wall to try and get some cover. "Something must have happened to make them so confused."

"Prin plup!" (Heads up!)

When Prinplup got into a battle-ready stance, I looked around and my eyes locked on to even more angry Unown hovering above us. "Here we go again!" Kenny exclaimed.

"Croagunk, Poison Sting!"

"Prinplup, use Bubblebeam! And Breloom, use Energy Ball!" The attacks were launched, and the Unown suddenly became serene and disappeared with an ominous moan. And just like that, we were in a hallway. "This is just too weird." Kenny sighed in exhaustion.

"Let's keep going, the gang just has to be around here somewhere." And we pressed on.

Normal POV

Ash, Misty and Dawn were now running up another flight of endless stairs, where more angry Unown were waiting to zap them. "Alright Piplup, use Whirlpool!" Dawn exclaimed. Piplup launched a giant whirlpool at the Unown, which caused them to lose their rage once again and they floated off into the walls.

"Looks like water is the cure!" Misty exclaimed.

The scenery went back to a regular corridor, and the next thing the teens knew, Team Rocket had tumbled from an opening in the wall and flopped to the ground in a groaning heap. "Team Rocket?!" Dawn yelled.

"It's the twerps!" Team Rocket exclaimed.

Ash clenched his fists and growled at them. "I should've known you guys were behind the Unown being so upset!"

"It wasn't us this time!" Team Rocket said fearfully, then they looked to their left, and saw yet another group of Unown headed towards them. Like the cowards they were, Team Rocket cowered behind Ash, Misty, and Dawn. "Save us!"

Misty looked over her shoulder and snarled at the trio. "You guys are pathetic, you know that?!"

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Politoed, use Water Gun!"

"Piplup, use Bubblebeam!"

The attacks were launched, but this time the Unown remained angry despite the splash of water to the face. "Uh oh, it didn't work this time!" Misty exclaimed.

Now even more enraged, the Unown charged towards the them. "They're not stopping!" James yelled from behind Ash. They all screamed in fear and braced themselves for the incoming attack, but Aipom leaped in front of them at the last second and gave the Unown a taste of her new move Double Hit.

"Yeah, way to go Aipom!" Ash cheered. But the Unown still weren't ready to back down, so they zapped again, and this time, their target caused Ash's heart to catch in his throat.

Ash's POV

"They're aiming for Misty!" When I saw the laser beams zooming for Misty, I felt the grip of fear wrap around my heart and squeeze. If I didn't do something fast, she'd take the full brunt of the attack and get hurt...so I did the first thing that popped into my head, and pushed Misty out of the way.

"Ash, no!" I heard her scream.

"Pikapi!" (Ash!)

The lasers hit me dead-on instead, and boy did it hurt, it was enough to bring me to my knees. "Ash, are you alright?!" I forced a smile out of myself when I heard the concern in Misty's voice as she knelt down next to me, it was touching that she cared so much, but the pain from the hit I just took stole any warm feelings I could have had away from me. It felt as if someone was taking a jackhammer to my ribs, and it wasn't fading in the slightest.

"Nobody hurts my friends!" I watched as Dawn twirled around and glared daggers at the Unown. "Aipom, use Double Hit again!" I watched as Aipom attacked the Unown again under Dawn's command, it was really amazing how well they were in sync despite how long Aipom was my Pokémon. But the Unown still weren't backing down, as they focused solely on Aipom and rained a barrage of lasers at her. She did a back-flip and propelled herself into the air to dodge the beams...and the next thing we knew, Aipom was enveloped in a bright white light.

"She's finally evolving!" I smiled through the pain again, as my former Pokémon grew in size behind the light and grew a second tail. When the light finally dissipated, she emerged as Ambipom.

"Aipom has evolved into Ambipom!" I could see the pride in Dawn's eyes, they were shining with excitement.

"Way to go Dawn." I pumped a fist, but doing so caused the pain to flare up again and I cringed. Misty tried to comfort me as best she could, which I appreciated greatly, but there was no way I would be able to battle, and if Misty was with me, she couldn't either. "Misty, forget me, I'll be fine, help Dawn!"

Dawn's POV

"Stand back you guys," I looked over my shoulder and gave my friends a confident smile. "Misty, you stay right there and take care of Ash, me and Ambipom will take care of these bozos once and for all!" The Unown had been stunned by Ambipom's evolution, but were now charging forward again. "Alright Ambipom, let's see what you can do! Use Swift!" Ambipom leaped into the air, and with a quick swing of both her tails, her more powerful Swift attack rained down on the Unown who clearly weren't ready to deal with a sudden power boost.

"Wow," I made a face when I heard Jessie from Team Rocket gushing behind me. "I need to get me an Ambipom!"

"Dream on!" I spat back at her. I turned back to face the Unown again, but then I saw that they had apparently calmed down after Ambipom's attack, and they disappeared with an ominous moan. Just like all the others. "Guess they finally had enough." But just as the Unown vanished, I looked up and saw Brock and Kenny…on the ceiling?!

Normal POV

"Look, it's them!" Kenny exclaimed.

"And they're with Team Rocket!" Brock exclaimed.

"What are you guys doing on the ceiling?" Kenny asked.

"You two are the ones on the ceiling!" Dawn replied.

"This has to be those creepy Unown's doing!" Misty yelled, still kneeling over Ash. As if on cue, more Unown appeared for a battle.

"Come on, enough already!" Team Rocket exclaimed fearfully. Without being told, Piplup fired a Bubblebeam towards the incoming Unown. They snapped out of confusion again, but before they vanished, Piplup started speaking to them.

Ash suddenly groaned again and draped his arm over his stomach. "What's Piplup saying?"

"Just relax Ash," Misty tried to calm him. "Save your strength."

"Piplup's tryin' ta get on deir good side!" Meowth translated for everyone. By the time Piplup finished chirping, the Unown went away peacefully.

"Well," Dawn sighed in relief. "Whatever Piplup said seems to have worked." But then the weird red cloud separating the two groups dissipated, and Ash, Misty, Dawn and all their Pokémon suddenly felt their blood rush to their heads in a hurry. "Uh oh..."

"Oh no…we were upside-down!" Misty exclaimed. As they fell down, the team below leaped into action.

"Happiny, Croagunk, catch them!" Brock tossed out another Pokéball, and his super-strong Happiny popped out of her ball, catching as many people as it could. When the dust settled, Happiny was carrying Ash, Misty and Pikachu. While Croagunk had caught the rest of the smaller Pokémon. Brock managed to catch Dawn, and Ambipom merely landed gracefully on her two tails, leaving poor Team Rocket to land painfully.

"So who catches us?" Team Rocket asked exasperatedly.

But then Ash groaned in pain, this time with very little restraint, which caught Brock's attention as he whipped around in shock. "Ash, what's wrong?!"

Misty looked up at Brock with an almost guilty expression. "Ash took a hit from the Unown when he saved me."

The breeder knelt down in front of Ash and carefully removed the trainer's arm away from the apparent injury. "Ash this is going to hurt, but I need you to let me check your injury." he waited until he got an affirming nod from the grimacing trainer. Then Brock stuck his hand under Ash's shirt and felt around his ribs, wincing a little when he heard Ash's pained shout. "I don't think anything's broken, but if he's hurting this badly then we've gotta get him to a Pokémon Center for some real medical attention!"

As if on cue, the door to the shrine opened up right before their eyes, finally allowing the group to leave their torture chamber. Supported by Brock and Kenny, Ash slowly and gingerly walked outside, and then Misty reached for Charizard's Pokéball off Ash's belt and called the dragon out once more. "Charizard, I know you're tired, but can you get Ash to a Pokémon Center?" Charizard sensed the anxiety coming from Misty's voice. She was obviously concerned for his master, and so he obliged.

As the others helped Ash onto Charizard's back, the trainer glanced over at Kenny and relinquished a wavering smirk. "Hey Kenny, what about what happened to our battle?"

Kenny just smiled and waved it off. "Don't worry, as soon as you get back to 100 percent, I'll teach Turtwig Energy Ball." he said with a thumbs-up.

"Thanks." Ash sighed with fatigue and groaned once more, the smirk completely fading. "okay buddy, let's go."

"I'm coming too Ash!" Misty exclaimed determinedly. "I refuse to let you go by yourself, you're in terrible condition and someone needs to be there to help you!"

Ash smiled for a very brief moment before turning his head towards his Pokémon. "Can you do it Charizard?" he asked weakly. Charizard gave a thumbs-up, waited for Misty to leap onto his back, and then flew off towards the Pokémon Center.

"I hope Ash will be okay." Kenny sighed.

"Don't worry," Brock smirked as he watched his friends fly off into the distance. "Ash is tough as nails, he'll be back on his feet before ya know it."

"I hope so...huh?" Dawn blinked in confusion and looked around the area for a moment. "Hey, has anyone seen Team Rocket?"

The other two looked around as well, but there was no trace of the trio to be found. "Oh well," Brock shrugged with a chuckle. "All of our Pokémon are still here, so we should just get to the center ourselves."

"Right." both coordinators said with a nod.

With that said, Dawn, Kenny, and Brock (who now had Pikachu on his shoulder) recalled their Pokémon, and started the walk back to the Pokémon Center to go check on their injured friend.

Misty's POV

Once we reached the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy instructed me to wait outside while she tended to Ash's injury, forcing me to sit around and wait for her diagnosis. I knew he'd be okay, it wasn't a life-threatening injury by any means...but that didn't stop the concern and guilt from gnawing at my soul. Why would Ash pull such a bonehead move like that?! It wasn't like I'd never taken hits before, I could've taken it instead of him! Instead I got to watch him go down after the Unown mob blasted him, and it almost reduced me to tears when it happened.

Suddenly the light above the door of the treatment room turned off, and I practically jumped from my chair when Ash slowly walked out with Nurse Joy gently supporting him. "Ash, are you okay?!"

Nurse Joy chuckled, but for what reason I had no idea. "He has a few deep bruises, but nothing that won't heal over time." she said a little too cheerfully for my tastes.

Nevertheless, I was relieved to find out Ash was okay, and the breath that I didn't even realize I'd been holding proved that. "Thank goodness."

"I'm just glad you're okay Misty," I reeled back a little when Ash said that. "I was really worried about you when that shrine sucked you in." I blushed. Of course he was worried about me, that was just who he was. He took a hit to the gut and all he was worried about the whole time was whether I was okay. I moved in to embrace him, making sure to be gentle so I didn't risk hurting him more. "Oh hey, that's nice." he laughed weakly, prompting a small giggle from me.

"I suggest you get some sleep young man," Nurse Joy said sternly. "Your body needs rest after all those bruises."

"Alright." Ash pulled back and motioned towards the nearby hallway. "Hey, let's go to our room Mist." I nodded at that and let him lean on me for support, judging my how gingerly he was walking, he needed it. We walked to the elevator and avoided climbing the stairs since I didn't want to chance Ash pushing himself more than necessary.

We reached the room and Ash took off his shirt, revealing a bandage that was bracing his ribs. I gasped at the sight, feeling even worse for what happened. "Ash, I'm so sorry."

He gave me a look before carefully pulling a fresh black t-shirt over his head. "For what Misty?"

"You got hurt because of me! I should've moved out of the way myself!" I started crying...again. I was beginning to wonder if my emotions were trying to make up for years of holding in sadness and frustration by doing all this crying...well, if nothing else, if I was going to cry, I felt better knowing it was only in front of Ash. I felt a pair of arms give me a hug from behind, and pull me down to sit on the bed next to the owner of the arms.

"Hey, like I said, I'm just glad you're okay." I could hear the sincerity in his soothing voice. "If you're alright, that's all that matters to me." I hugged him again for that and silently wept over his shoulder. How could I have gotten so lucky as to meet and fall in love with a boy with such never-ending love and compassion in his heart? I felt him tighten the hug, as he tried to calm me down. It worked for the most part. I felt his warmth and his love surrounding me, and I slowly began to feel better. "Just so you know, I'm sure this won't be the last time that we run into a situation like this." Ash said playfully.

I pulled back and wiped away my leftover tears, an exasperated smile slowly working its way across my lips. "Ash Ketchum, how do you manage to attract so much trouble?"

Ash just shrugged and smirked. "Just lucky I guess." I giggled and gave him a kiss on his cheek, bringing a warmth to my own cheeks that I was finding I loved feeling more and more. Ash just smiled and laid down in the bed, exhausted and obviously sore from the whole ordeal.

But then he looked at me expectantly, which confused me. "What is it?" I finally asked. He opened his arms as if to invite me in, and I blushed harder at his offer. He actually wanted me to cuddle with him? Well if he wanted to, I wasn't about to tell him no. I crawled into the bed and gently snuggled close to him, a content sigh escaping through my nose before another though occurred to me. "I can't help but wonder though…"

"Wonder what?"

"What could've been so important to make those Unown freak out like that?"

"I dunno, but I do know that whatever it is, we'll handle it the same way we handled everything else!" Having that put to rest in my mind, I relaxed and nuzzled my head into Ash's chest, and fell asleep in his embrace, listening to the sound of his heartbeat. "Goodnight Misty." Ash said softly. I lost all consciousness quickly, but not before I felt Ash give me a goodnight kiss on my forehead, which I responded to with another content sigh.

Ash's POV

I hugged Misty tightly, and she nuzzled her head into my chest before falling asleep. It may have only been 8:30 P.M., but we were both exhausted. I'd see my friends in the morning, including Pikachu, and we'd be able to watch Dawn's contest in peace. I looked down at Misty, her fiery, and now longer, red hair was in the down position I loved so much, it gave her a relaxed look.

On impulse, I gave her a kiss on her forehead, which she seemed to respond to happily. I smiled and finally drifted off to sleep, taking comfort in the fact that Misty was there for me, and I was glad to be there for her.