He was going into his final battle. The stadium was crowded beyond belief. Misty and Brock were on the sidelines as always. Cheering their friend on as he neared finally reaching his dream. The Dragon Master threw out his PokéBall. A Dragonite popped out of it.

The now fourteen year old boy ran through his list of choices. He bent down to the small creature standing next to him and whispered something in it's ear. It ran out onto the battle field. "I call Pikachu!" Ash Ketchum yelled. A loud speaker blared, "THE BATTLE IS BETWEEN ASH KETCHUM AND LANCE. ONE POKÉMON EACH. LET THE MATCH BEGIN!"

"Pikachu, agility now!" Ash yelled out to his friend. The small, electric type Pokémon moved swiftly around the gym floor. Lance called for Dragonite to use hyper beam, but the smaller and quicker Pikachu easily avoided it. "Thunder bolt, Pikachu!" Pikachu unleashed a bolt of thunder on the Dragonite. It was hurt, but still standing.

Lance called for Dragonite to use dragon rage. Pikachu caught a glancing blow, but was too quick to take it full force. Ash then said to use swift attack. Pikachu did, and Dragonite was barley holding on at this point. Both trainers ordered their Pokémon to do thunder wave.

The stadium filled with electricity! The two attacks met and sent both Pokémon flying through the air. They were both badly hurt. Dragonite had fainted and Pikachu wasn't far from it himself.

Lance recalled Dragonite. He had lost. LOST!!! He was the Dragon Master, how could he have lost to a rodent?

Ash picked Pikachu up in his arms. He ran out of the building, trying to reach the PokéCenter to heal Pikachu. He didn't care that he had won. All he cared about was getting help for Pikachu.

Luckily, they always have the city PokéCenter close to the gym. Ash waiting nervously while Pikachu was being healed. Misty and Brock made it to the Center a few minutes later and waited with him. He was glad they were there. Especially Misty.

Had had . . . feelings for Misty. Ones he had been feeling since they had met, but he kept saying had to be false. He only recently admitted to himself. He loved Misty. Misty, The person who he had not gone a day without fighting with since they had met. The person who always blamed everything on him. And yes, at the same time, it was the person he loved. He looked over at her. 'If only you knew.' He thought.

~*~

Misty sat in the waiting room next to Ash. She could tell he was worried about Pikachu. After all, Pikachu was Ash's best friend in the world. And Pikachu didn't look very good when Ash had ran him out of the gym.

Pikachu had been inside for a while now, it had never taken this long before. She watched as Ash paced back and worth across the waiting room floor. She wished she could do something to calm him down. She felt very strongly for Ash, though she wouldn't admit to anyone but herself.

Seeing so much worry on the young boy's handsome face made her heart ache. She really wanted to do something to help, but she couldn't. She was afraid of what might happen if she tried. That her secret would come out. And she wouldn't, couldn't let Ash know. He would laugh at her. 'If only you knew.' She thought silently to herself.

So she sat there and just waiting with him. There was nothing else she could bring herself to do right then. A small *DING* was heard and the doors swung open. And there, on a stretcher being rolled out by Nurse Joy, was Pikachu, calmly licking a bottle of ketchup.

"PIKACHU!" Ash, Brock, and Misty said at the same time. Pikachu looked up from his ketchup a little annoyed, but then saw his friends. "Pika pika!" he cried and jumped into Ash's arms. Pikachu then started licking Ash's face. Then jumped to Misty and licked hers.

"Pikachu, you did it! You beat the Dragonite!" Ash said happily. Pikachu looked surprised. "Pika pi chu pikachu? (We won, we beat him?)" Pikachu asked. "Yep, we sure did, Pika-Pal." Ash said to him. Pikachu started to dance with joy.

The friends headed back to the gym to let Ash collect his title. They didn't stay long after that. They all wanted to get back on the road. So they did. But they had really no idea where they were going to go now.

"So Brock, what are you going to do now?" Ash asked him. Brock seemed to think about this for a moment. "I guess I'll go back to Pewter. Nothing else really to do now. I can continue my Pokémon breeding dream there." Ash nodded.

"What about you Misty? What are you gonna do?" Ash asked her. She thought about this for a long time. "I don't really know." She admitted. Ash gave her a smile. "You could always come with me." He said, half joking, half really meaning it. Misty blushed deep red. And when he realized what he had said, so did Ash.

Misty tried to hide it then said, "I'll think about." Then they reached the hotel they would use for the night. The took the one room that was vacant and went upstairs. The room only had two, yes only TWO, beds.

Brock laid his stuff down and hit the bathroom to take a shower before Misty could utter a peep. She sighed, set her stuff down, and sat down on one of the beds. Ash turned the TV on and sat on the other one. Ash was on the one closest to the bathroom. As soon as Brock was out of the bathroom, Ash ran in. He had the door closed, again, before Misty could utter a single peep.

When Ash came out of the bathroom, he was in his PJs. Misty ran in before anything else could happen. She undressed and took a nice, long, hot bath.

Brock was already snoring in the one bed, so Ash laid down on the other. He tried to get to sleep, but couldn't stop thinking. About his new title, his Pokémon that helped him win it, his friends . . . Misty. He couldn't stop thinking about Misty. He had to let her know how he felt. He just didn't know how to do it.

Misty got out of the bathtub and put on her cute PJs that had pictures of various water Pokémon on them. She walked out of the bathroom and stared at the two boys, now both asleep. One in each bed. She walked over to the one Brock was in. She pulled him out of the bed and he hit with a hard thud.

As Misty started to climb into the bed, Brock was staring at her. More precisely at her rear end. Pikachu and Togepi ran at him. "PIKA!" "TOGE!" They yelled at the same time. Which translated means: PERVERT! Togepi whacked him over the head and Pikachu thunder shocked him. Brock fell back asleep at that point. On the floor.

Misty climbed into the bed and went to sleep. Pikachu and Togepi got in their own little beds and fell asleep also.

~*~

The next morning, they all woke up to the sound a thunder storm. They could tell by the look of it that they wouldn't be going anywhere very soon. Brock turned the TV on and started to make breakfast in the room's small kitchen. Ash and Misty changed into their regular clothes.

Pikachu walked over to Ash's backpack and pulled out . . . A GUN?! Nope, oops, sorry. It was just his bottle of ketchup. He started to lick the ketchup as it came out of the mouth of the bottle.

Brock finished cooking breakfast and the three humans ate. When they were finished, Brock grabbed an umbrella and headed for the PokéCenter to try to get a date with Nurse Joy.

That left Ash and Misty alone with each other, aside from Pikachu and Togepi. They were both thinking of this fact. They were thinking of this fact quite a bit, actually. They both saw this as a chance to tell the other how they felt. Although, both were too scared to do anything.

Togepi was still asleep and Pikachu was still calmly shoving ketchup in his mouth in the corner. 'I wish I could tell her, but I'm just too scared. What if she rejects me? What if she laughs? I just can't do it.' Ash thought. He sighed and laid back down on the bed. He took a quick glance at Misty then turned away.

'Oh Ash, why can't I just tell you how I feel?' Misty wondered to herself. 'I guess I'm just afraid of what you'll say. What would you say? Probably laugh in my face, or reject me. I haven't exactly been the nicest person to you.' She sighed to herself and laid down. She was feeling extremely depressed.

~*~

After Brock had tried, unsuccessfully, to get a date with Nurse Joy, and then Officer Jenny, he returned to the hotel. When he arrived, both Ash and Misty had fallen asleep. He sat down in a chair and watched TV for a while, then started to snore loudly.

The snoring woke Misty up. She was really annoyed at having been woken up, but there was nothing she could really do about it. She looked at Ash. And kept looking. "One of these days, I'm going to tell you how I feel." She whispered to no one. Togepi was right beside her on the bed, and Pikachu was in the corner. Pikachu had very good ears however and was able to hear what Misty had said.

Pikachu had known for a while that Ash liked Misty. Now he knew that Misty liked Ash too. He started to form a plan. He had Togepi come under the bed and explained the whole thing to her. Togepi and Pikachu both started to laugh.

~*~

The next day, after the rain had stopped, the trio was back on the road. They were actually feeling pretty good. Then they heard two familier voices, saying an all-too familier motto.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devistation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Mmmeeeeoooowwwth! That's right!" The travelers looked up to see a hot-air balloon shaped as a Meowth floating overhead. They all sighed and calmly continued to walk. "Hand over the Pikachu, Meowth!" Meowth said.

Ash turned around and looked at the Rockets. "You guys just don't know when to quit, do you?" Jessie glared at him and said, "Team Rocket never quits you little runt! Now give up the Pikachu!"

"I have a better idea. Go, Charizard!" Ash yelled and threw the PokéBall. Charizard popped out and stared down at Team Rocket. "Charizard, fire spin the balloon!" Charizard sent a tornado of fire at the balloon. It got a hole in it and jetted over the horizon. Taking the Rockets with it.

Ash returned Charizard to his ball and the trio started walking once again. "Is it just me, or is it getting easier and easier to do that?" Brock wondered. "Yep, it's getting easier to do every time. Pretty soon, they're gonna start doing it to themselves." Ash chuckled. Brock and Misty both burst out laughing, Pikachu was rolling around on the ground.

~*~

A few days later, Brock left the group to return to Pewter City. Ash and Misty camped out because they couldn't find any hotels. As they were getting ready for bed, Ash decided to try again.

"Misty, what are you gonna do now?" Misty thought about this for a long time. "I still have no idea. I'm not going back to my sisters in Cerulean. And I really can't think of anything to do."

"Well, you could stay at my house till you think of something better. My mom won't mind." Misty agreed to this. Both Ash and Misty fell asleep with huge smiles on their faces that night. Pikachu and Togepi were laughing. So far, their plan was working.

~*~

The next morning, everyone woke up bright and early. They were back on the road first thing. They reached Pallet later that afternoon. Ash knocked on the door of his house. He didn't exactly have a key with him. Mrs. Ketchum opened the door. She broke into tears and started hugging and kissing her son.

"Mom, your embarrassing me." Ash laughed. But, it was embarrassing with Misty standing right there. After his mom had calmed down, Ash introduced her to Misty. Mrs. Ketchum agreed to let Misty stay in the guest room. Ash thanked her and led Misty upstairs to drop off her stuff.

That night, Mrs. Ketchum had made a huge dinner for her son and his companion. After both being stuffed full of food, Ash and Misty went to bed. Since all of her PJs were in the wash, Misty wore an actual night shirt to bed. Something she hadn't done in a very long time. She was slightly embarrassed, even though she was inside and was in her own room.

Ash was in his room, looking around at all the familier things. But the thing he looked at the most, was the picture of Misty he had set on his nightstand. He sighed, put his PJs on, and went to bed.

~*~

It was storming that night. At about one o'clock in the morning, Pikachu and Togepi met in the hallway outside Misty and Ash's rooms. They decided that now was the perfect time to put the next part of their plan into action.

Togepi ran into Ash's room while Pikachu ran into Misty's. Togepi was buoncing up and down on Ash's bed and waving her arms around. Ash moaned and woke up. Togepi started acting frantic and pointed to the picture of Misty on Ash's nightstand. "Something happened to Misty?" Ash asked. Togepi nodded and continued to jump up and down. Ash jumped out of bed and ran into the hallway.

Pikachu shoved at Misty till she woke up. When she looked at him, he started to look really worried and pointed to a picture of Ash that misty had put on the little table next to her bed. She shot strait up. "Something happened to Ash?" She asked worried. Pikachu nodded franticly and pointed at the wall that was between the two rooms. Misty climbed out of the bed and ran into the hall.

They collided and fell to the floor, a mass of arms and legs. They stood up and looked at each other. "Misty!" Ash cried. "Ash!" Misty cried out at the same time. They wrapped their arms around each other and hugged. "Togepi said . . ." "Pikachu said . . ." They started to say at the same time.

They looked down the hall to see Pikachu and Togepi, calmly eating popcorn and drinking from huge cups. They were acting as if they were in a movie theater. Ash and Misty quickly took their arms away from one another and blushed. Then they started to chase the two Pokémon around the house.

They gave up in the living room after about three hours, and collapsed on the couch. Both were too tired to move anywhere else, so they fell asleep right there and then. Pikachu jumped onto the couch and laid the two humans arms around each other. He and Togepi were giggling as they headed upstairs for their own sleep.

~*~

Mrs. Ketchum came down the stairs the next morning, at about eight o'clock. She happened to have a good veiw of the couch on her way down. She saw the two teenagers on the couch and smiled. "This is going to be a beautiful day." She said to the quiet house. After eating breakfast and changing clothes, she left for work.

Ash woke up at about nine-thirty. He saw the way that he had Misty had slept and instantly started to blush. He didn't dare take his arms away right then, for fear of waking her up.

About ten minutes later, a soft moan came from Misty and her eyes fluttered open. She looked at Ash and noticed that they had their arms around each other. She turned as red in the face as Ash was. But the thing they both found strange, was that neither was making a move to break the hold.

They snuggled closer together and fell back asleep. After all, they had been up half the night chasing Pikachu and Togepi. Who, by the way, were sitting on the last step, eating popcorn and drinking sodas. Again. This time, Ash and Misty didn't even notice.

After the show started to get boring, Pikachu and Togepi went back upstairs for a nap. After all, they had been chased by Misty and Ash for half the night. They fell asleep after not too long.

Back down in the living room, Ash and Misty were both dreaming. About each other of course. What else would they dream about? Okay, okay, I get the point. But they were dreaming about each other. Both had huge smiles on their faces as they slept.

At about eleven-thirty, Ash and Misty awoke again to an empty house. They looked very closely at the position they were in and blushed. Their faces were as red as a Flareon's.

'Now's the best time to say it. I won't get a better shot than this.' Ash thought. Misty looked over at Ash, still blushing. 'Well, I've been looking for a chance to tell him. And I don't think I'll get a better one than this.' She thought to herself.

"Misty, I have to tell you something." Ash started. "I need to tell you something too." Misty replied. "But you go first Ash." Ash nodded and took a deep breath. Then he let his biggest secret come out at last. "I-I love you, Misty." He said softly.

Misty was in shock. 'He feels the same way about me!' Misty started to cry from happiness. "Ash, I l-love you too." She said, as softly as Ash had spoken. When Ash heard this, he too started to shed tears of happiness. They hugged each other tight. Neither wanting to let go, and neither planning on doing so any time soon.

They leaned closer to each other. Their lips met in a soft, loving kiss. They held that kiss as long as they could. Pikachu walked down the stairs at the beginning of this, then quickly ran back up to get Togepi. When the two Pokémon came back down, they had their popcorn and drinks with them. Where do they get all that popcorn anyway? And those drinks gotta have free refills. I wish I could go to that movie theater. Oops. Where was I? Oh yeah . . .

Ash and Misty pulled away from each other after a long time. Both were out of breath. Togepi and Pikachu started clapping because of the great show. Misty and Ash jerked at the sound. When they saw their audience, they both started to turn red again. Once again, the two Pokémon were chased relentlessly around the house.

Pikachu and Togepi made it into Ash's room. They slammed the door and Pikachu started to dig through Ash's backpack. Just as Ash and Misty burst through the door, Pikachu pulled out . . . A GUN?! Ack! It WAS a gun! "Misty, watch out!" Ash screamed as he lept in front of her, just as Pikachu pulled the trigger. A red stain appeared on Ash's chest. Misty screamed.

Ash fell to his knees. "Why Pikachu?" He said weakly. "THIS WAS A GOOD SHIRT YOU LITTLE RAT!" He suddenly screamed and shot up, after the laughing Pokémon. Pikachu tossed the ketchup filled water gun away and ran like crazy. When Misty and Togepi realized what had happened, both burst out laughing.

After Ash had given up trying to catch Pikachu, he went back upstairs and changed his shirt. What he had forgot, was that Misty was still in his room. She was staring at him and had a look on her face that almost matched Brock's "around-a-pretty-girl face." Ash blushed as he realized what he had done. When Misty recovered, she gave Ash a weak smile and went back downstairs. Ash followed right after her.

They ploped back down on the couch and wrapped their arms around one another again. Before they could blink, Togepi and Pikachu were back on the bottom step, with their trusty buckets of popcorn and never ending drinks. "Do you two mind? We would like a little privacy here." Misty said. Pikachu took the *hint* and dragged a complaining Togepi up the stairs.

Pikachu took Togepi to the top step, then handed her a pair of binoculars and pulled out a pair for himself. "Pikachu, pi pi pikachu. (After all, she said a 'little privacy.')" Pikachu and Togepi both chuckled. They watched the show from there. Down the stairs, Ash and Misty began another kiss that made the first seem like nothing had happened at all. Pikachu and Togepi calmly munched on popcorn and sipped their sodas as they watched.

After about a solid straight hour of kissing, they pulled away from each other, panting. After they caught their breath, Ash spoke up. "Wanna go for a walk?" He asked. She nodded and smiled. "What about a picnic?" She said. Ash's smile got even bigger than before as he agreed. They went into the kitchen and gathered all the things they would need, called their Pokémon to them, and left.

As they walked, Ash used one hand to carry the basket, and the other hand was busy holding Misty's. Ash led Misty to a little field he remembered from before his journey started. He spread out the blanket and Misty laid out the food. The two sat next to each other as they ate.

About halfway through the meal, some familier voices were heard overhead. Ash and Misty sighed as they realized who the owners of those voices were.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devistation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Mmmeeeeoooowwwth! That's right! Hand over the Pikachu, now!" As always, Ash refused to give up his best friend to the lame Rockets. And as always, Team Rocket didn't know when to give up.

"Arbok, go!" "Weezing, go!" The two Pokémon appeared from their PokéBalls. Ash calmly took a PokéBall from his belt and let the creature inside loose. Ash's Blastoise came out. Without even needing an order, Blastoise hydro pumped the Team Rocket Pokémon into a tree, causing them to faint. But while this was happening, Meowth had snuck up behind Pikachu and had captured him in a rubber bag. Meowth jumped in a jeep followed quickly by the two human Rocket members. They drove off with Pikachu.

Ash couldn't believe it. After four years, Team Rocket had finally gotten Pikachu. He sent out Pidgeot. "Go find Pikachu!" Pidgeot took off in the direction the Rockets had gone without saying anything. Ash returned Blastoise and called out Charizard. He climbed on Charizard's back and helped Misty on as well. Charizard took off, following Pidgeot.

Team Rocket took Pikachu to a secluded meadow in the middle of the forest. Armed with rubber bodysuits, they tried to get him to accept them as his new trainers. Pikachu wouldn't of course. He tried to shock them, but their bodysuits protected them.

It wasn't very hard for Pidgeot to track down the Rockets. Their jeep had left deep treads in the dirt from them going so fast. He simply followed them till he had found the Rockets and their little hiding spot. He circled the area till Charizard arrived a few minutes later with Ash and Misty. "Go get 'em, Pidgeot!" Ash yelled.

Pidgeot dived down and started to peck at the Rockets. Charizard dived down and let Ash and Misty off of his back, then started throwing fire blasts at the Rockets and the Pokémon they had released. Ash retrived Pikachu and returned Pidgeot and Charizard to their PokéBalls. Team Rocket's bodysuits had been ripped during the fight. "Pikachu, thunder shock 'em!" Pikachu did so, and the Rockets went flying over the horizon.

Misty sent out Starmie to put out the small fires Charizard had started. When Starmie was finished, Misty recalled it. Ash took Misty's hand, and they walked back to their picnic to finish it.

~*~

Later that night, after everyone else has fallen asleep, Ash and Misty were still talking on the couch. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Ash wondered. Misty looked slightly embarrassed and then confesed. "I was just afraid of what you might say. We hadn't exactly gotten along very well. In fact, I thought you hated me." Ash gave her a big, warm smile. "I could never hate you." He said softly.

Misty smiled at that. "What about you? Why did you wait so long?" Misty asked. Ash looked even more embarrassed than Misty had. "Pretty much the same reason as you." His said. "I was afraid you would slap me, or that I would get the mallet. Either that or that you would laugh at me." Misty chuckled and snuggled up to him.

He put his arm around her and she laid her head down on his chest. They fell asleep together. As far as they could tell, they had reached a living heaven. Neither could see how life could have gotten any better.

~*~

When they woke up the next morning, they started a kiss without saying a word. Someone started whisling and they jerked away from each other. They looked over at the small table in front of the couch. And there, as you should have guessed by now, were Pikachu and Togepi, popcorn and sodas in hand, watching the show. The two Pokémon started giggling. Then, when they heard something from their trainers, they decided to leave.

What the two humans had said, was that if they weren't left alone for a while, the two Pokémon would be put in their PokéBalls. And since neither Pokémon was looking foward to that, they thought it best to give the two love birds some privacy. Ash and Misty didn't start to relax again till they were sure the Pokémon were upstairs.

They wrapped their arms around each other once again and began to kiss. Ash laid back on the couch, pulling Misty on top of him. Not that Misty minded. Not one bit actually. They held that kiss for quite a long time. And when it broke up, they began another. They kept up that pace for the rest of the day.

~*~

Mrs. Ketchum came home that afternoon at about five o'clock. Ash and Misty were still kissing on the couch. When the front door slammed shut, the two jerked up and away from each other. When they saw Ash's mom, they both started to blush. "Don't let me stop you." Mrs. Ketchum said with a smile, then headed into the kitchen.

The two looked relieved. "Wanna go for a walk before supper?" Ash asked. Misty nodded and the pair stood up. "Should we bring the Pokémon with us?" Misty wondered. "Nah. Knowing those two, they probably fell asleep." Ash said. Misty agreed to this. They took each others' hands and walked out the door.

Gary watched as Ash and Misty walked out the door. He was angry. Not only had Ash beaten him to reaching the Eilte Four, but had made a fool out of him in the Pokémon League. Gary had a big score to settle with that little runt. 'He'll get what's coming to him.' Gary laughed to himself. He had big plans for the next day.

~*~

The next day, Ash was challenged to a Pokémon match by Gary. He accepted, happy to be able to make gary look bad again. They met at the gym that had resently been built in Pallet. Gary called out a Beedrill. Ash used his Butterfree. He had captured a new one some time ago.

The match began. Ash wanted to end it quick, so he called for sleep powder. Beedrill was hit, but not very hard. He was yawning and moving a little slow, but was still able to fight. Beedrill used twineedle. Butterfree was hurt, and fluttered a ways back to his master. Ash called for psybeam. Beedrill was hit hard and was wobbly. Beedrill shot out a poison sting. Butterfree dodged because of the bad aim.

The attack kept going and hit Ash. He fell to the floor, poisoned. Butterfree was extremely pissed and tackled the Beedrill to kingdom come. Gary recalled it and ran out of the gym, a huge smirk on his face.

Misty called the hospital and had an ambulence rush over. She rode with him on the way to the hospital, crying the whole time. The doctors said that he might not survive. Beedrill poison was extremly deadly to humans. He was rushed into the ER as soon as they made it to the hospital. Misty had to stay in the waiting room.

Pikachu was with her. They were both pacing back and forth. After the first hour, a good sized grove had been worked into the floor. She finally sat down when she was too tired to pace anymore. Pikachu curled into a little ball on her lap. Togepi was asleep in the chair next to her.

A few hours later, the doctor came into the waiting room. Misty jumped up. "How is he, Dr. Martin?" She asked. The doctor shook his head slowly. "So far, there hasn't been much improvement. He's still unconsious and might not wake up. We just have to give him time and hope he pulls through it." Misty told him thank you and he left. He had given her his room number.

Misty walked in quietly and sat down next to his bed. She held his hand. "Please don't leave me Ash." She whispered to his unconsious form. "I can't go on without you." She laid her head down on his chest and cried into it. Soon, she fell asleep there.

~*~

Ash had been unconsious for several days now. The doctors said that the chances were slim that he would wake up. But Misty never gave up hope. She never left his side. She even slept with him on the bed during the nights. Mrs. Ketchum came by every day to check on how he was. She too, never gave up hope.

It happened around three A.M.

A soft moan came from Ash's lips. Misty's eyes shot open instantly. Another moan was heard, and slowly, Ash opened his eyes. "Ash! Your awake!" Misty cried. She already had hers arms around him. She tightened her hold and held him close. "Wh-what happened?" Ash muttered. Misty explained what happened during the match with Gary. Ash cursed. "I bet he had Beedrill do it on purpose. The rotten little {cencered}." Misty nodded her agreement.

~*~

Two days later, Ash was allowed to leave the hospital. 'First thing's first: Find Gary.' Ash told himself. It wasn't very hard to do. Ash walked up to him. Ash looked extremely angry. When Gary saw him, Gary looked extremely afraid. Ash handed Gary an evelope. "See you later Gary." Ash walked away.

Later that day, Gary read the letter in his room. He groaned. The letter was an order to appear in court. Ash was sueing him for damages. Gary grumbled himself to sleep that night.

Misty was surprised. She had expected Ash to pulverize Gary, not sue him. She was amazed at how restrained Ash was being. Just one more thing she was learning about the boy. She soon relized: She had quite a bit to learn. And so did Ash about her. They spent the next few days getting to know each other better.

~*~

Ash won in the court. He won BIG time. He collected several hundred thousand dollars to be exact. After the hospital bill was paid, there was still plenty of cash left for personal uses. One of those, would be Misty's fifteenth birthday.

Ash wanted it to be special for her. He had paid off the bike a long time ago, so he had to think of something else. And he had the perfect idea. 'I knoe just know she'll love it.' Ash thought to himself as he picked up the package from the store. 'At least I hope she does. It sure cost enough money.' Ash carried his present home.

The next day was Misty's birthday. She woke up. Surprisingly, the house was quiet. She changed into her regular clothes and walked down the stairs slowly. She got to the last step and . . . Nothing. She sighed with relief. No big party had been planned. She walked into the kitchen to fix something to eat.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Ash, Mrs. Ketchum, Brock, Pikachu, and Togepi yelled. Of course, Pikachu and Togepi sounded like "Pika pikachu!" and "Toge togepi!" She was surprised to see Brock there. "Oh, when I saw that your birthday was coming up, I started my way here. I didn't know what to get you, so for my present, I just made all your favorite foods." He said by way of explination. And there they were. All of her favorite foods had been prepared and set out on the table.

For their present, Togepi and Pikachu told Misty their secret for all the popcorn you could ever want. Misty had to strain not to burst out laughing. Mrs. Ketchum had gotten her a hundred dollar gift certificate for the mall. All that was left was Ash's present.

He pulled the small box out of a drawer. He handed it to her. "I hope you like it." He said softly. Misty opened the small, rectangular box. When she saw what was inside, tears started to come down her face. There, sitting in the box, was a gold necklace. In the center, it had a good-sized diamond, shaped into the form of a Cascade badge.

Misty threw her arms around Ash and hugged him tight. "Thank you Ash!" She said through her tears. "I love it!" Ash hugged her back and smiled. She gave him a big kiss on the lips. "I love you too." She said shyly. Ash blushed and told her he felt the same way.

Everyone enjoyed themselves for the rest of the day. But like all things, the day came to an end. Brock had to get back to Pewter. They said goodbye and watched as Brock started his walk. They walked back inside and started to get ready for bed.

~*~

At two-thirty A.M., Ash still hadn't gotten any sleep at all. He was just laying in bed with his eyes open, staring at the ceiling. Of course, he was thinking of Misty. He was so happy that they were together now. He couldn't stand being away from her. Quietly, he climbed out of bed, and walked out into the hallway.

Misty too, was wide awake. Sleep wouldn't come to her no matter how hard she wanted it. Her head was filled with images of her party. But mostly of Ash, and the gift that he must have spent a small fortune on. She couldn't sleep without seeing him again. She made her way into the hall.

They bumped into each other again, although not nearly as hard as before. They smiled at one another and hugged. "I thought you would be asleep." Ash said quietly. Misty looked slightly embarrassed. "I just couldn't. I kept thinking about everything that has happened resently." Ash nodded and explained that the story was the same for him.

They made their way downstairs and laid down on the couch. They fell asleep against each other. As it seems, not even fate can get in the way of true love.

~*~

A few years later . . .

Misty looked around at all the familier faces. Her sisters were there. So was Brock. Ash's mom. Professor Oak, and even Gary had showed up. Jessie and James were there also. They had quit Team Rocket and had become good friends with Ash and Misty.

She was so happy. She turned back to face the man that stood in front of her and Ash. The man spoke to them. "I do." Misty and Ash said, in turn. The priest in front of them smiled. "You may kiss the bride." He said to Ash. Ash turned to Misty and kissed her, full on the lips.

Misty was smiling bigger than she ever had in her life as Ash led her out to the waiting limo. They drove off towards their honeymoon.

~*~

Twelve years further down the road . . .

Ten year old Tommy Ketchum couldn't sleep. He was too excited. He would be starting on his Pokémon journey in the morning. He was watching Pokémon battles on TV, trying to be as prepared as possible for what was to come. His mom came into the room.

"Tommy, if your going to start tomorrow, you need to get a good night's sleep." Misty said. Tommy nodded and laid back in the bed. Misty smiled, turned out the boy's light, and went back into the hall.

"Don't be so hard on him." Ash said sweetly. "I started off late that morning, and look how I turned out." Misty and Ash wrapped their arms around each other. "He'll be fine, you need to stop worrying."

"I know. But it's hard not to worry about him. He is our son after all." Misty said quietly. Ash nodded. He led Misty back to their bedroom and they went to sleep.

~*~

The next day, young Tommy started out on his Pokémon journey. Hopefully following in his father's footsteps. He even had the same starting Pokémon. It was one of Pikachu's sons. Yes, even the electric mouse find the right person . . . er . . . Pokémon.

Will Tommy be as successful as his father? Well . . . that's a story for another time.