A/N: I apologize for my recent inconsistencies. I've pushed my writing to the side, because it honestly never has and never will be my top priority. I do enjoy writing when I have the spare time and motivation, but one or both of those have been missing for quite some time now.

Thinking back to his travels, Ash remembered showing up to the gym despite Misty's protests, searching for his second gym battle. Instead, he was handed the Cascade Badge by the Sensational Sisters, who did not care enough to battle him for it. He found it a little strange, but he gladly accepted it.

Enraged at their antics, Misty revealed the fact that she was their younger sister, and she took over duty as a gym leader for that one afternoon. Unbeknownst to everyone at the time, she would end up taking that role permanently a few years later after her sisters abandoned the post.

Ash reminisced on the older days- the adventures, the friends, the fun, the battles- all the things that Ash wished he could still have. Though he had yet to announce it to anyone but himself, Ash already felt saddened at the lifestyle change that was going to accompany his career change. He wanted to stay a Pokémon trainer; it was his true passion.

"Ash!" He realized he was daydreaming at the sharp call of his name.

Misty gave him a questioning look, wondering what he could be so deep in thought about. She opted not to ask him about it, but she made a mental note of the incident. Now that she had regained his attention, she began walking towards the gym entrance with Ash following suit. Opening the dual glass doors, she welcomed Ash into the building with another gentle smile that she had become accustomed to using.

Ash followed Misty to the training pool with his main focus being to not let his melancholy mood show. Once they reached the end of the pink-walled hallway and turned the corner, Ash's eyes opened in surprise. Before him laid an Olympic sized pool, fully capable of serving home to all the Pokémon of the Cerulean Gym.

"Wow, this must keep your Pokémon in great shape, huh? He marveled.

"You bet! How about I show you with a battle?" Misty proposed.

She expected an immediate "Yes!" to fly from Ash's mouth, but instead his face dropped and he appeared lost for words, which served as quite the surprise to her. The Ash she remembered always looked for a battle.

"Maybe some other time," He answered after a few seconds of contemplation.

"That's fine." She said, dismissing the notion of a battle, and instead, leading him down more hallways.

Misty made note of more unusual behavior from Ash. Still, though, she refrained from commenting on her observations. He spoke of his failures in the Shinto region at lunch, but other than that, he never brought up anything that was bothering him. Based on his disorientation, her first guess was that he was dealing with a break-up, but she never remembered hearing that he had a girlfriend.

"This," She said with a dramatic pause, "is our new stage."

Through the doors lay an enormous pool, with 60x30 meter dimensions. The distance between the ends was so great that a trainer on one end likely would have a tough time hearing the trainer on the other end. The water itself was clear and about twenty feet deep. Surrounding the massive battlefield were large sections of bleachers, primarily used for when a water show took place.

"Wow," Ash remarked, "This place sure is different than the last time I was here."

"I know, isn't it great?" Misty gleamed in her response.

"Uh… Yeah. I guess it is." Ash said in a half-hearted attempt to agree with her.

That served as a third strike in Misty's mind, and as a friend, she felt obligated to get to the bottom of whatever was affecting him.

"Is something wrong, Ash?" She finally asked.

"No," He lied instinctively.

"Don't lie to me." She said sternly, seeing straight through him.

Her hard look softened when Ash turned his head to look into her eyes. He gave her a look that admitted something was wrong, but he didn't really want to talk about it.

"You can talk to me Ash." She said in a voice slightly louder than a whisper.

Exhaling softly, Ash gave in; "Alright."

Misty said nothing while a long pause came into the conversation because she did not want to push her luck. She patiently waited for Ash to gather his thoughts and put them into words. Honestly, she was surprised that Ash had even caved in and agreed to speak to her since they had been separated for such a length of time.

"I'm done."

"What?"

"I'm done competing in leagues. I'm done chasing some lucrative dream of mine. I'm sick and tired of failing. I quit."

When Misty's brain finally attained comprehension of his words, she felt blindsided. It was a mixture of sickness, pity, and pure shock. Ash had always been so perseverant and determined when she had been close with him, and the thought of him quitting seemed inconceivable. Now another lengthy pause was present, and it was thanks to her this time.

"Why?" She finally mustered up.

"Why the hell did it take me this long?" He fired back to start his rant.

"Once I get to the biggest stage, I crumble. I lose every time. I can't do it. I just can't. No matter how hard I work, no matter how much I want it, no matter what I do, I can't win."

Strangely enough, Ash felt noticeably better once he finished talking. His stress had been bottled up for so long that if felt incredibly relieving to finally let it out to one of his friends. He now expected to fend off an argument from Misty on why he should never give up, but what she actually said surprised him.

"Maybe you aren't meant to be a Pokémon Master," She replied.

It threw Ash off that she was basically agreeing with him, and it even surprised Misty a bit that those words slipped from her mouth. She had been witness to Ash fulfilling the ancient prophecy and saving the world back on Shamouti Island, which was the day that she was convinced that Ash would end up reaching her dream.

"But that doesn't mean you have to quit altogether." She followed it up with.

"What do you mean?"

"We all know that Pokémon are your passion, so you can always find other ways to work with them. You could try to be a breeder or doctor, like Brock, or even a gym leader, like me, if you want to stick with training."

Stunned at her idea, Ash pondered the situation briefly. His mind had always been so dead-set on reaching the top of the Pokémon training mountain that he had never even thought about other career opportunities in the field. Now that Misty brought it up, it sounded like such a simple idea that he was a little embarrassed that he had never seriously considered it himself.

"Yeah," He said with something resembling a small smile, "Maybe."

As enticing as the idea seemed, Ash waited before getting all worked up about it. He would certainly give it some thought, and it certainly made him a feel a little bit better right off the bat, but there was still a little part of him that could not happily resign to giving up on his childhood dream.

Misty gave it a rest, taking what she could get for now. Pushing Ash too hard would likely only make matters worse. Now that she had shown him the changes to the gym and gotten him to open up, she could not think of anything to say. A silence fell, yet it wasn't awkward. In fact, it was comfortable.

"Well, I guess I should go." Ash finally spoke up.

"Ok," She responded, "Just know you're welcome back here whenever you want,"

Turning away, he walked out at a moderate pace. Misty watched him in disappointment with him and herself. She was upset with him for being so down and distant, and she was upset with herself for starting to feel something flutter in her chest. It had taken so long to get over him when they parted ways years ago, and just one day of seeing him again already gave her some of the same, old feelings.

XXX

When Ash returned to his house, he went straight back to his room, where he had spent the majority of his time in the recent weeks. Again, he flopped onto his bed, closed his eyes, and ventured into the deep thoughts of his mind. This time, though, he had a few different thoughts to play around with after he opened up with Misty.

He figured it was time to give some serious consideration to the ideas that she had given him. Obviously, Pokémon had been his passion ever since he was born. From watching it on television as a young child, to researching them and watching them at Oak's ranch, to his time spent on the road with them, he had always had Pokémon in his life.

Life without them seemed foreign, and even impossible. Of all his experiences, battling had to be his favorite, and the idea of being a gym leader brought a few happy visions to his mind. He could picture himself now; he definitely would be the last gym leader in the region, and he would have the widespread reputation of being the toughest one to earn a badge of.

Maybe he could start a gym up in his home town of Pallet Town, and maybe he would use his best buddy Pikachu in an electric-type gym. Or maybe he could he go unconventionally forego having a type tendency and use any of his Pokémon, much like a champion of the elite four.

Just like that, with the mention of the word champion, the thought of never reaching the status of champion hit Ash again. His happy glimpse into the potential future halted, and frustration for his failures took over just as quickly as they had temporarily left. Now it felt like a vicious cycle, where he could not keep the depressing thoughts out of his head for long.

Misty had made him feel a little better about his situation, and he felt compelled to go and see her again. He'd just returned home from her company at the gym though, so driving back over there hardly seemed like the right thing to do. Besides, he did not want to bother her.

Staying in his room for the next few hours, Ash tried to preoccupy his mind with some TV, but to no avail. Only minutes after turning it on did his mind slip away from the program, turning the noise from the speakers into simple background sound for his brain. His thoughts were only interrupted by his mother's call.

"Supper's ready, Ash!" She hollered from the kitchen downstairs.

Slowly rolling out of bed, Ash made his way downstairs. The sweet scent from the meal his mother had prepared reminded him of how hungry he was. As he normally did, Ash scarfed down everything on his plate in just a couple of minutes, finishing with a satisfying lick of the lips, while his mother rolled his eyes at his poor manners.

"I think I'm going to head back out." He suddenly blurted, jumping from the table.

Since her mouth was full of food and she had enough manners not to talk with food in her mouth, unlike Ash, Delia could not ask where he was going before he was already out the door. Again, she found herself frustrated at how he was acting, but she figured it still must be a good thing for him to be leaving his room.

XXX

Ash flew down the small two-lane road in a manner that surely would have gotten him a ticket had there been any cops staked out in the area. His eyes stayed focused on the road, but his concentration was far from it. Luckily for him, no other cars were present at the time. Somehow, he subconsciously navigated his way safely back to Cerulean City.

When he finally reached his destination, Ash shut the car off and stayed in the driver's seat. He realized how rashly he'd just acted, and now pondered whether or not he was making the right decision. His nerves almost got the best of him and he came close to starting the car again to head home. Deciding that he might as well go in after taking the time to make the drive, Ash stepped outside the car and made his way towards the gym.

Bright lights were visible through the glass door, so Ash let himself inside. It seemed a little late for the gym to still be unlocked, but Ash didn't give this much thought, with so many others on his mind. Misty was nowhere in sight, prompting him to walk around for a little bit in search. Turning the corner to the training pool that he had been shown earlier, he caught a glimpse of her.

Now that he had finally found her, he froze up again. Calling out to her seemed impossible, as did walking any further. As all awkward moments do, this period of time lasted forever, with Misty failing to notice her visitor, who stood silently at the doorframe. Once she finished pouring out food for all of her Pokémon, Misty turned around and noticed Ash with a startle.

"Hey," She said in a confused, uneasy voice.

"You, uh," Ash paused uncomfortably, "Said I could come back whenever, right?"

"Yeah, of course! I just didn't expect you back tonight is all…"

Immediately, Ash regretted his decision to return. Feeling like his presence was an unwanted intrusion, he debated turning around one last time. He had felt a certain urge to stop back here, but he now realized that he had no idea what his actual reason was. Before he could make his abrupt exit, his weak mind was swayed again.

"My sister's aren't going to be here tonight, so I can set you up in one of their rooms if you want."

"Uh, yeah, sure," Ash accepted now that he felt welcome.

Apparently, Misty had gone for a swim not long before he had arrived, and he was suddenly very aware of her attire. Her green bikini was modest and completely covered everything it needed to, but most of her body was still in plain sight. Like just about any guy, Ash was strangely compelled to take good notice of her figure.

Another flashback popped into Ash's mind after he got a good look at her. This time he pictured the first time that he, Misty, and Brock went to the beach, and he had stupidly remarked that Misty "actually looked like a girl," which resulted in him getting hit in the head. Her body was even more fit now than it had been that day many years ago.

When Ash finally snapped out of his little daydream, he realized that Misty had already walked away. Now he faintly remembered her saying that she would be back in a minute, but he obviously had not been listening closely. He also suddenly realized that there was a very good chance that he been caught staring at the red head.

After mentally scolding himself for his stupid mistake, Ash looked around nervously, waiting for Misty to come back. Pulling his phone out to pass the time, he also made not of the current time. He was shocked to see that it was already past 10:00. Apparently, he had spent more time in the car than he had thought. Soon enough, Misty came into sight, wearing pajamas now rather than a swimsuit.

"Well I'm sorry to go to bed right when you get here, but I'm really tired." She told him upon return.

"Let me at least show you to your room first, though."

"Alright," He responded.

Following her around the corner, through the hall, and up the stairs, Ash felt better in the presence of his friend, just as he had earlier. Misty took him to the second bedroom on the left, which she said normally belonged to Violet. Before she left for her room, Misty said goodnight and opened her arms to give Ash a quick hug.

Embracing Misty back, Ash felt another urge to do something, only this time he had a much better idea of what it was for. Holding her close created a warmness inside him that had been absent for so long. Misty pulled away after a few seconds, but she did not leave just yet, sensing that Ash still had something he wanted from her.

Waiting patiently for him to speak up, Misty stayed right in front of Ash, with their faces a mere foot apart. No movement or sound was made by either person for a few moments. Suddenly, Ash broke the stillness with an action that neither he nor Misty had been expecting. Moving his head forward quickly, Ash pressed his lips against hers.

Before Misty could even comprehend what had happened, Ash pulled away. The lack of reciprocation terrified him, making him think that he had ruined their friendship with a stupid, instinctive decision. Just as he was going to apologize and leave the room, Misty leaned back in and initiated a kiss of her own.

Just as Misty had been moments before, Ash was caught off guard by her move, and it took him a minute to react. Once he finally kissed her back, a current of electricity ran from his lips all the way down to his toes. Misty felt a similar jolt of warmth strike inside of her body, and without thinking about it, she deepened the kiss, and even started a little tongue action.

The rest of the world seemed to fade away as the young couple melted into an intense make-out session. Impulse decisions took over for the fleeing outside thoughts, which led to some tugging on clothing. Shirts were off in a matter of seconds, prompting Misty to coax Ash into getting on the bed with her, their lips staying connected the whole time.

A/N: I'll let you guys imagine the end of this chapter in order to keep this from becoming MA material. By the way, I've made a few updates to my profile, so you can know what you can expect from me, and I think I put up a couple of polls so you guys can tell me what you want to see. This story will get done at some point, but as I'm sure you can infer, it took me a long time to force this chapter out.