Story Summary: After weeks of traveling in the Hoenn region, Ash finally decides to sit himself down and write Misty a letter. But what will come of it?

A/N: Please be aware that I can't follow the anime storyline episode-by-episode, and will mainly just refer to episode summaries in Serebii and Bulbapedia. Referring to individual episodes will be far too time-consuming.

This fic begins during Ash's journey through the Hoenn region, and carries on from there.

Letters

14 April 2005

Dear Misty,

How are ya? It seems like years have gone by since the last time we saw each other, although in truth it's only been a few weeks. How's the Cerulean gym going? Is everything ok without your sisters?

You must be real surprised to even see a letter from me. Even I'm surprised that I'm writing this, because I'd usually be busy training my Pokémon. I guess I must be feeling homesick and need to keep in touch with what's happening in Kanto, even though I'm used to traveling now.

Brock's traveling with me again, which gives me a bit of relief. I don't know where I'd be without his cooking: just a few days without it makes you go insane! He doesn't know that I'm writing this to you, because, well…I honestly haven't told him yet. I don't really wanna, because…well, I have my own reasons.

We've met and made friends with two new companions soon after coming to Hoenn. Their names are May and Max. It's funny how I ran into May. If you wanna know the truth, it's basically the same way that I met you in the first place. But lucky for me, she doesn't have your temper!

May is our age, and Max is eight, so he's not ready to be a trainer in his own right yet. But believe me when I say that he knows a lot about Pokémon. He could probably become a better Pokémon expert than Professor Oak, in a few years' time!

I've become kind of a mentor/teacher figure to May in the past few weeks. Her Hoenn starter Pokémon is Torchic, the fire type. It was really quite timid at first, but it's growing used to battling every day. Teaching someone else about battling is something which is really new to me, but I'm growing in to it, I guess. May has a lot of potential, though: she might be shy and all, but I can't help but feel that her skills are gonna grow quickly.

This goes without saying, but Team Rocket is following us again. I honestly don't think they'll quit anytime soon. Oh yeah, it's just come to me now, Misty, but do you really wanna hear about all the things that happen with Team Rocket? Or should I just leave it out?

Well, it's getting late, and Pikachu's dozed off already. Tomorrow's going to be a big day, and I need some rest. I'll be sure to post this the next time I'm at a Pokémon Center. I'll soon be arriving at Mauville City, where I'm going to battle against Wattson for the Dynamo Badge, the third of the eight badged of Hoenn.

Miss you, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Ash

19 April 2005,

Dear Ash,

It's so good to hear from you again! I thought for sure that you'd be too super-focused on battles and other Pokémon-related stuff to contact me, but it turns out that I was wrong. It seems that you do care about me, after all! As a friend, of course.

The gym's fine, although the first few days were really rough for me. You remember those "Invincible Pokémon Brothers" thugs who attacked us? Well, they showed up again a few days after I got back to the gym and was trying to get things – or, rather my Gyarados – under control. The poor thing was so stressed after evolving from a Magikarp, that he had to be put in a cage to stop him from destroying the gym equipment and hurting the other Pokémon.

I don't really want to go into details about what happened during that time, because I don't want to worry you before your big battle for your next badge. Rest assured, I'm fine now, with everything under control, and I dealt with those thugs with the help of Gyarados who I managed to tame. The Nurse Joy who helped me that day was really a Pokémon Inspection Agent. She said she was leaving for the Hoenn region, so I naturally asked her to tell you that I'm doing fine over here by myself. Make sure to greet her if you see her around!

Hehe, old Brock's back with you again, I see. That's good – you'll need the food, trust me. I could never stand the sound of your stomach when it growls. That sound is super effective against any Pokémon type! There were honestly some times in our travels together, when I was tempted to shout out, "Ash's stomach, use roar!"

And for what reasons didn't you tell Brock that you were writing to me, might I ask? Could it be that you're missing me already, hmm?

It's great that you've made new friends in Hoenn. I'm sure that all four of you will be a great help to one another, especially Max. You really need someone with brains by your side, Ash! Just make sure to repay May for her broken bike; remember, Nurse Joy may have fixed my bike for me, but that doesn't mean that you haven't repaid what you owe to me, Ash Ketchum!

Oh…Team Rocket. I can't believe it. On second thoughts, I actually do. Just fire away about them whenever you want – it's always a good laugh to hear about them failing all the time!

I hope that everything goes well for you in Hoenn, and that May will quickly learn to become a great trainer. As much as I want to wish you luck for your gym battle, I can already feel what the result was. Just remember that I'll always be rooting for you! : )

By the way, Ash, are you writing to your mom, as well? I'm sure she'd be really interested in whether you're changing your you-know-whats everyday!

Make sure to keep a close check on Brock's behavior, and give Pikachu a kiss on the cheek for me!

Love,

Misty

A/N: This fic was partly inspired by Napoleon Bonaparte's love letters to his first wife and empress, Josephine de Beauharnais, although I'll try my best to keep both Ash and Misty in character and not overdramatize to that level. You can google 'Napoleon Bonaparte's letters to Josephine' and read the wikisource link, if you want to know what I mean.

However, Ash and Misty will most probably be out-of-character at times, as I'm very used to the writing style of my Chosen One series, where the characters are all of mature age.

I've decided to take a brief break for a few weeks from Book IV of my Chosen One series, because it's been really taxing on me, and I've been really wanting to try something new and refreshing to rejuvenate me in my writing. Rest assured, the next chapter in Book IV is coming along, but I've only got about 3000 words right now because I'm studying for my final uni exam for this year. Accounting's a bit of an asshole in terms of memorization demands -_- .

I'll be working more on this fic, and I'm also looking to start a new fic on either Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, or Star Wars: KOTOR, two planned fics which I have great plans for. I'll make sure to work on Book IV when I have the time to write more on it.

Please leave your opinions and thoughts for this new story : ) .