I've crossed valleys, climbed mountains, and...faced a certain illness known as the common cold to bring you this chapter, but I feel it's worth it. In case you didn't know before, I don't own anything except my imagination which created the story. Thanks for the reviews, and I hope you continue to read this story. Soon we'll be at the end of my original ideas, and we'll start the Diamond and Pearl episodes + Misty. Enjoy!

Chapter 5

Normal POV

As Dawn and Brock continued on their way to Solaceon Town, Brock was doing his very best to ignore the venomous glares that Dawn was continuously sending his way. Every time he glanced in her direction, Dawn would meet his eyes with a sharp look that said in no uncertain terms that the coordinator was not happy. "Can you not look at me like that?" Brock finally said.

The glare only intensified. "You still haven't told me where Ash went, Brock."

"I already told you, he's running an errand and he'll be back in a couple of days."

"That doesn't answer my question." Dawn got in front of Brock and stopped the breeder in his tracks, her hands square on her hips. "Where is he?"

"Why did you have to make me keep it a secret, Ash? She's driving me crazy!" All of a sudden, another hole appeared underneath them, and they fell down and groaned from the impact. Although his tailbone was now aching somewhat, Brock couldn't help but feel somewhat relieved that Team Rocket had decided to make an appearance right then. "Yes, now the interrogation will stop for a little while!" Sure enough, the Meowth balloon floated from above, and Jessie, James, and Meowth began their newest motto.

Jessie: "Listen, is that the voice of surprised twerps I hear?"

James: "It's speaking to me loud and clear."

Jessie: "On the wind!"

James: "Past the stars!"

Meowth: "In your ear!"

Jessie: "Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace!"

James: "Dashing all hope and putting fear in its place!"

Jessie: "A rose by any other name is just as sweet."

James: "When everything is worse, our work is complete."

Jessie: "Jessie!"

James: "And it's James!"

Meowth: "Meowth, now dat's a name!"

Jessie: "Putting the do-gooders in their place!"

James: We're Team Rocket!"

"In your face!"

"Wooo buffet!"

"Mime mime mime!"

"Team Rocket!" Dawn and Brock exclaimed from the hole.

"You know you guys have no sense of consistency?!" Dawn yelled angrily.

"What's dat supposed ta mean?!" Meowth yelled back.

"You didn't even use the same motto as last time!" Dawn replied.

Jessie scoffed and waved a hand dismissively. "We decided to change things up a bit, yesterday's motto was from the days of the brown-haired twerpette," She then glared down at Dawn and screamed in rage. "But we didn't even get to finish so what do you care?!"

"What is it you want this time?!" Brock yelled at them. "As if we didn't already know."

"The same thing we always want!" Jessie grinned maliciously. "Give us Pikachu!"

"Um…Jess?" James said timidly.

"What is it James?" Jessie snapped. She looked down when James pointed down into the hole and counted the number of twerps. "One, two, thr-hey! Where's the Pikachu toting twerp?!"

Brock gulped at that question. "Uh oh, back to square one."

"Yeah, Brock," Dawn rounded on the breeder and narrowed her eyes at him. "Where is Ash?"

Brock chose to ignore the coordinator and address Team Rocket instead. "W-Why should we tell you guys anything?!"

"Because if the twerp with the Pikachu isn't here, all the work we put into digging this hole will be wasted!" James said with disappointment.

"Forget dat Pikachu!" Meowth spat. "We'll just hafta settle for nabbin' all de other Pokémon!"

"Forget it, Team Rocket!" Brock managed to climb out of the hole and confronted the three villains. "Let's go, Croagunk!" He threw out a Pokéball, and moments later, his faithful frog appeared and croaked for a moment before looking up at the trio of thieves.

"If it's a battle you want, it's a battle you'll get! Go, Seviper!" Jessie called out her snake Pokémon, who hissed savagely upon release. "Seviper, use Poison Tail!" Seviper charged towards the squatting frog with a ferocity that could strike fear into the hearts of almost any Pokémon.

Any Pokémon that didn't belong to Ash, Brock, or Dawn that is.

"Croagunk! Dodge and use Brick Break!" Croagunk leaped into the air and avoided the sweeping Poison Tail, then his hand glowed and he brought it down hard onto Seviper's head, earning a pained groan from the pure poison-type.

"Get up, Seviper! Show some spine!" Seviper shook its head and got back into battle-ready stance. As for Jessie, instead of just giving her Pokémon another order, she rounded on James and snarled at him. "Are you going to attack or not?!"

"Oh, right." James said sheepishly as he pulled out a Pokéball. "Carnivine, I choose you!" Carnivine appeared, then immediately turned around to bite James' head affectionately. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not food?!" James ripped his large grass-type off his head and threw him down to the ground so he could join the battle. Use Bullet Seed!" Carnivine opened his mouth and the Bullet Seed attack started raining down on Croagunk, who fell back from the impact.

"Aah! Croagunk, are you alright?"

Croagunk quickly hopped back onto his feet and looked back at his trainer. "Croa gunk!" (I'm fine!)

"Alright, use Poison Sting!"

By now, Dawn had finally managed to climb out of the hole as well and was able to join the battle as she threw out her own Pokéball. "Buneary, get out here and use Ice Beam!" Buneary popped out of her Pokéball in a flash of light, and she immediately fired a powerful Ice Beam just as Croagunk launched his Poison Sting. The two attacks hit simultaneously, and Seviper and Carnivine were knocked back into their respective masters, just in time to be blasted off.

"I can't believe this!" Jessie fumed as she swung her arms in rage. "We manage to lose even when the twerp and his Pikachu aren't around!"

"Hey look, we're flyin' towards da Kanto region!" Meowth exclaimed.

"How do you know that Meowth?" James asked.

Meowth shrugged. "Call it Poké-instinct."

"Will you two boneheads shut up?! Who cares where we're going?! The point is…" Jessie yelled.

"We're blasting off again!"

"Wooo buffet!"

*Ping*

"Nice job, Croagunk, return." Brock recalled his poison-type frog, but then he flinched as he felt a chilling presence behind him.

"So, Brock, I'm not the only one who would like to know where Ash is." Dawn said with her eyes narrowed at the breeder.

Brock slowly turned around and put on what he hoped was a convincing grin. "Good thing I didn't tell, huh?"

"Well, Team Rocket is gone," Dawn put a sweet smile on her face and batted her eyelashes. "Now can you tell me where he is?"

The breeder sighed, wishing with all his heart that he could grant the young teen's request. But a promise was a promise. "Sorry, Dawn." Brock turned back around and started walking. "That information is classified."

Dawn puffed her cheeks in anger with her fists clenched tightly. Enough was enough. "Buneary," She growled. "Use Ice Beam on Brock until he fesses up!"

Brock stopped walking and looked over his shoulder a moment. "You wouldn't…" He got his answer when Buneary fired an Ice Beam at his feet, causing him to jump five feet into the air. "She would!" Brock took off down the road, running from Ice Beams for as long as he could run.

"You can't run forever Brock! I said it once and I'll say it again! I hate having secrets kept from me!"

"If you knew the importance of this secret, you wouldn't be doing this!"

Ash's POV

"Hey, Charizard, thanks for doing this for me." Charizard grunted and gave me a quick nod. I could tell that he was starting to get tired, but looking into his eyes, I knew that he wouldn't stop until we made it to where we needed to go. All that training at the Charicific Valley had given him much more training than I could ever give him by myself. Back then during our journey through Johto, as much as it hurt, leaving him with Liza was the best thing I could've done for him. Now he was one of the strongest Charizard in the whole valley, and I couldn't have been prouder of him.

I looked around and saw something flying across the sky, and so did Pikachu. "Look, Pikachu, it's not every day you see a shooting star in the daytime!"

"Pika." (Wow.) He said in awe.

I closed my eyes and made a wish. "Please, after all the trouble me and my friends are going through, let this plan work…and let Misty like me the same way I like her." I no longer had any doubts about my feelings towards Misty. I did love her…but for how long I loved her, I wasn't sure. Maybe I always did and never realized it.

"Pikapi, pi pi ka chu?" (Ash, what's on your mind?) Pikachu nuzzled my neck to get my attention.

"Oh, I was just thinking about Misty again." As I said that, I felt my cheeks starting to grow warm.

"Pikachupi pi ka chu pika pika." (Misty does like you, I just know it.)

"I sure hope so buddy." I chuckled to myself, as memories of our time together started flashing in my mind once more. They suddenly had a much stronger meaning now that I was thinking of Misty in a whole new way. Maiden's Peak was a lot more than just a fun night spent together, it was practically our first date, even if neither of us called it that. "Crazy how things can change overnight."

Suddenly I heard Charizard grunt, and I felt the lurch as our altitude started dropping. "Whoa, hey, Charizard, you alright?!"

More grunts from my fire/flying-type, but I could see in the distance that Cerulean City wasn't far now. "Cerulean City! We're almost there! Just a little more, Charizard!" I did my best to encourage my flying friend, but it was obvious that in spite of how strong Charizard had gotten, I was pushing him to the limit with this nonstop flight. "We're over an ocean, if Charizard gives out now, we're in serious trouble."

Misty's POV

After many more encounters with Daisy, I was starting to become exasperated with the whole situation. Why did she want to talk to me about this so badly? I went to the gym's pool to take a quick swim and calm my nerves. I changed into my red bathing suit, and set Azurill by the edge of the pool before diving in. "Ahh, finally, the one place where I can be alone with my thoughts. Underwater!" I swam to the bottom of the pool, and started to think. "I wonder where Ash is right now. Probably battling another Gym Leader…I can't help but be proud of him…he's fulfilling his dreams…like I want to." I smiled in spite of myself, "Who knows, maybe one day one of my sisters will step up and let me go find him someday. Doesn't seem likely, but a girl can dream, can't she?" As my breath started to give out, I swam back to the top and took in a big gulp of air.

"Azu, azu!" (Look, look!) Azurill was pointing her tail towards the gym door.

"What is it, Azurill?"

"Azu zu zurill." (I think someone's there.)

"Well, only one way to find out." I picked up Azurill into my arms and hugged her close, there was always a feeling of comfort when I had Azurill with me, but the inner turmoil I was feeling lately was more than Azurill alone could cure. I walked to the door, dreaming that it would be Ash standing there, inviting me in for a hug. But that was impossible…he was all the way in Sinnoh. I finally got to the door and opened it, and saw a young boy with his Growlithe standing there. I sighed internally. So much for dreams coming true. "Come on in, challenger. Let's see what you can do."

Ash's POV

"You did awesome, Charizard, I'm way beyond proud of you." I rubbed the back of my exhausted dragon, who had managed to find just enough strength to land at the very edge of Cerulean City. I had to give credit to Liza, she knew how to train Charizard, and if it weren't for her there was no way this plan would've worked.

"Now, we'll get you to Nurse Joy so that she can get your strength back up for the flight back." Charizard just growled, doing his best not to collapse on the spot. I felt bad for him, really I did. "Charizard, return." I recalled my powerful friend into his Pokéball, which would make the trip way easier. "Alright, Pikachu, first stop is the Pokémon Center, and then, Cerulean Gym!"

"Pi pika chu!" (Alright!)

I laughed at my friend's enthusiasm. Luckily for me and Pikachu, the walk wasn't very long, and we reached the Pokémon Center in ten minutes. "Take good care of Charizard," I said as I handed the nurse Charizard's Pokéball. "He went all out to get me here, and he's beyond exhausted."

"Of course, young man. I'll see to it personally, you're welcome to wait if you'd like."

I shook my head. "No thanks, Nurse Joy, there's somewhere else I gotta be. But I'll be back for Charizard real soon."

"Well then, good luck to you." She gave me a cheerful wave goodbye.

"Seeya, Nurse Joy!" I waved back and walked out the doors of the center. "And now…" I paused to allow Pikachu to finish the sentence.

"Pikachupi!" (Misty!)

"You got it! So what are we waiting for?!" I ran off in the direction of Misty's gym, excitement running up and down my spine. My stomach felt more and more like Butterfree with every bounding step I took. "Am I hungr-" I quickly rethought what I was about to think. "Nope, I'm not falling for that again. My stomach is acting this way because of Misty." I thought with a smile on my face. At least, I thought that was what it was, until my stomach growled angrily.

"Oh, heh heh, looks like I really am hungry." I said with a sweat-drop. Pikachu chuckled at that. "Okay, first we get a snack, and then we go see Misty." Me and Pikachu took a small detour to a nearby hotdog stand, and I bought a hotdog for me with packets of ketchup and mustard. I only cared for mustard on my hotdogs, which worked out since Pikachu had already opened the packets of ketchup and started eating them all. "I guess some things never change, eh, Pikachu?" I couldn't help but laugh at my friend's face which was now covered in ketchup.

The little yellow Pokémon licked his face and grinned. "Pi ka chu!" (That's right!)

Before long, we were back on the road to Cerulean Gym. "There it is!"

"Pikachupi!" (Misty!)

I ran to the front door of the gym and was about to open it, when I got slammed into the wall by an overly excited kid running out of the gym. "We did it! Can you believe it, Growlithe?" the boy said happily.

"Growl growl!" (Awesome!)

The boy ran off with a Cascade Badge in his hand, and I rubbed my aching head as the door closed behind him. "Okay, that hurt." I hissed through my teeth as I watched the boy disappear into the distance with his Growlithe. "Misty lost to a fire-type? Weird…that's really unlike her." I dusted myself off and chuckled. "Misty's probably pretty mad now, eh, Pikachu?"

"Pika pika." (Yeah, probably.)

I thought about what the best way to approach this would be. If I just went in and announced myself, it'd probably be the easiest way to handle it…but then again, that wouldn't be much fun. After all, this wasn't just anyone I was coming to visit, this was Misty. And if there was one thing I knew, it was that Misty was really easy to rile up, and sometimes it was lots of fun to push her buttons. That's when I got an awesome idea, one that put a grin on my face that Pikachu couldn't ignore.

"Pikapi, pi pi ka chu?" (Ash, what are you going to do?)

I grinned at him. "Just watch this. My voice has changed a little since the last time I talked to Misty, she probably won't even recognize me."

"Pika?" (So?)

"So think how surprised she'll be when she thinks I'm just another challenger, and then bam! It's me!" I saw Pikachu roll his eyes, and I just scoffed at his reaction. "Roll your eyes all you want, I'm doing it anyway." With a grin I slammed my fist against the door and yelled. "I'm here to see the Gym Leader of Cerulean City!"

Misty's POV

I was beyond angry now. I lost to a fire-type! I just knew that Daisy would try to talk to me about this too. I was about to walk up to my room and cry some more, when I heard a determined voice from outside the gym, demanding to see the Gym Leader of Cerulean City.

I briefly noted that the voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. There was one thing I knew for sure though; I was not in the mood for anymore battles. So I tried to walk away, maybe if I didn't acknowledge them, they'd just leave and go away. But whoever was there kept banging on the door, shouting obnoxiously at the top of their lungs.

I felt a vein bulge on my forehead, whoever this rude challenger was clearly wasn't going to quit until someone put them in their place. So I turned around and stomped towards the doors, poking my head out with my eyes closed as I shouted back in the person's face. "Well the gym's closed for the day so you'll have to get your dumb badge tomorrow!"

"I just said I wanted to see the Gym Leader, I didn't say anything about a badge."

I gasped, and my heart seemed to stop as I suddenly realized that this was no ordinary challenger. In fact, it wasn't a challenger at all. Surely, it couldn't be…him. I dared to open my eyes, and I felt my heart lurch again as my wildest dreams came true right in front of me. Sure enough, there was my very best friend, standing there with a huge grin on his face. This just had to be a dream. "A-Ash?"