The Mystery of Aura
Chapter One: Welcome Back

It was a beautiful day; the sun was shining brightly, the bright blue sky dotted with white, puffy clouds, the air warm and comfortable. It was the kind of day that could make anyone excited, but to say that Pokemon Trainer Ash Ketchum was excited would be a huge understatement, and it wasn't because of the weather.

His dark brown eyes were wide, and he had to contain himself from sprinting across the old, stone bridge that they were (much too slowly, in his opinion) walking across. He had half a mind to push the oddly-dressed people out of the way, some of them taking too long to get anywhere.

"Ash, calm down," Brock Slate, a tall young man with tanned skin and dark hair, called out to him. "I know you're excited for the tournament, but we've got plenty of time."

"He's been acting like a hyperactive Spoink since we left the last Pokemon Center," a small boy with dark blue hair and dark brown eyes said dryly, fixing the glasses on his face as they walked. Though still not old enough to be an actual Pokemon Trainer, Max Maple was full to the brim with knowledge on different Pokemon.

"This is a once in a lifetime competition," his elder sister, a brunette named May Maple, pointed out happily as she looked around at all of the unique costumes around them. The Pokemon Coordinator couldn't see two costumes exactly the same. "Look at how everyone's dressed."

"It's not once in a lifetime," Max argued. "It happens once a year." He looked around at everyone else they passed by. "Still, we don't have costumes."

Brock, who always seemed to have a travel guide for whatever area they were in, flipped through the small booklet in his hands on Cameron Palace. He'd always wanted to come and see it, but the last time he traveled around Kanto, Ash was 10-years-old and had a serious one-track mind about competing in the Indigo League (not that things really changed all that much). They had enough side adventures at the time anyway. "It says here that we can get costumes in the palace."

Where Ash would have normally bounced around happily at that, his eyes continued to scan the area in front of him. Pikachu, his ever loyal friend, was perched on his shoulder, looking just as excited as he was. The competition in the palace would have normally been enough to excite him, and it would later, but the 13, almost 14-year-old, was too distracted by something else at the moment, causing him to accidentally bump into other people from time to time.

"Seriously, Ash, what's with you?" May demanded after having to apologize to yet another person that he bumped into and ignored. She was normally a sweet girl, but when she got mad, her temper came out like an explosion.

Ash glanced back at the younger girl, about to answer when Pikachu suddenly perked up on his shoulder. He grabbed a hold of Ash's hat, straightening up, and pointed. "Pikachupi!"

The boy swung away from his traveling partners, looking around eagerly until he finally saw who was looking for the entire time. A laugh escaped his lips, and he darted forward. "Misty!"

"Misty?" Brock, May and Max repeated behind him, all equally confused until they saw a flash of bright orange hair held back in a side ponytail.

Ash ignored them, pushing himself through the crowd to the spot on the bridge where his friend was waiting. She was leaning against the stone railing, her sea green eyes staring out at the beautiful forest around Cameron Palace, jumping when a yellow face suddenly appeared right in front of her. A split second later, she realized who it was, and had to reach out quickly to stop him from pitching off the side, down the long drop to the ground below. "Sorry Pikachu! You startled me!"

"Hey Misty!" Ash said happily as he came to a stop at her side, the grin on his face and the excitement in his eyes telling the girl that he was honestly happy to see her.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Misty asked him as she hugged Pikachu to her, the yellow mouse cooing happily as he nuzzled into the short, yellow shirt that she wore over her tight red one. "Been staying out of trouble?"

"I call you almost every time we get to a Pokemon Center," Ash said while rolling his dark eyes, though his grin had yet to fade. "It hasn't been that long." He purposely ignored her second question.

"I meant since we saw each other face to face, numbskull," Misty said with a dramatic sigh. "I see nothing's changed there."

"Oh come on, it was only a few months ago. It's not my fault Daisy can't understand that she can't just hand gym badges out," Ash replied, referring to when Misty had to head back to Cerulean City when he was just starting his adventure to face the Kanto Battle Frontier. At the time, he was honestly hoping that she would be able to stay with them on their trip around Kanto, because it would be easy for her to get back home in case of an emergency, but it wasn't meant to be. His eyes softened a bit and he said, "I'm glad you could come here though."

"Daisy insisted that I go, and I'm confident enough in her at least that she can handle the gym for a few days," Misty said with a nod. "Besides, I've always wanted to see Cameron Palace."

"Misty!" They both jumped as May seemed to materialize from behind Ash. The younger girl was grinning broadly as she said, "I didn't know you were coming!"

"None of us did," Brock added as he and Max caught up, staring at Ash suspiciously. "Though I get the feeling that you did."

"You mean you spent hours bothering my sisters so that they would let me come, and didn't tell them?" Misty asked Ash suspiciously as Pikachu climbed from her arms back onto his trainer's shoulder.

Ash laughed weakly rubbing the back of his head with his hand, Pikachu copying the motion for some reason. "I didn't spend hours bothering them."

"Three different Pokemon Centers," she said, holding up three fingers. "And you spent at least an hour each time bothering them. What did you even say to Daisy? She was practically shoving me out the door and seemed both horrified and impressed for some reason. Says she suddenly has a little more respect for you, and that makes me really, really suspicious."

"Nothing," he said a little more quickly than he should have, letting everyone know that he was lying. "I mean, it's not like I had any blackmail that Tracey accidentally let slip. And I definitely wouldn't use it." They all stared at him with disbelief, and he asked, "What?"

"You tried to blackmail someone?" May asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"You tried to blackmail my sister?" Misty added.

"Given that Misty's here, you successfully blackmailed her sister?" Max asked, sounding oddly impressed.

"I just wanna know what you have on her," Brock said quickly.

"It was his idea," Ash said quickly, jerking his thumb in Pikachu's direction. In response, Pikachu let a small spark of electricity hit the appendage, causing Ash to wince and shake his hand to get the sudden numbness to go away. "Anyway, costumes! Weren't we talking about that earlier?" He had to mentally applaud himself, since that seemed to be the right topic to switch to, as May and Misty both perked up at the prospect.

"These dresses are gorgeous," Misty gushed, letting her rare, girly side show. "We can actually wear something like them?"

"Yeah," May said with a nod. "Brock said that we can buy them in the shop inside the castle." She quickly linked her arm through the older girl's and said, "Come on! We need to find awesome ones and catch up! Oh! And Ash, you should dress up Pikachu too!"

"Yeah," Max agreed with a laugh, "that'd be pretty funny."

"Pika?" the Pokemon in question said as he tilted his head curiously, having been distracted by a Taillow flying by. No one answered him though, leaving him feeling a little worried.

"So, that's why you've been hopping around like your Totodile," Brock said teasingly as May and Misty moved ahead of them. "Excited to see Misty again, are we?"

Against his will, Ash felt his cheeks heat up. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and said, "Well, she's my friend, and I rarely get to see her."

"Yeah, and apparently you missed her so much that you're willing to blackmail her sister to see her again." The fact that Brock didn't go off into la-la land at the mention of Misty's sisters was a testament to just how amused he actually was. "So tell me—"

"It was Misty!"

Ash and Brock both looked down at Max, who was walking between them and was now staring up at Ash with wide eyes.

"Umm yeah, that's Misty," Ash said slowly, glad for the interruption, but not quite understanding what the young boy meant. Maybe he bumped into one too many trees while reading, and it was finally coming back to haunt him.

"No, I just...I know this is random. Don't ask where it came from. But remember when Jirachi was here?" Max asked, his eyes flickering a bit with sorrow at the mention of the friend that he only got to know for a week but would be with him forever. "I was upset because he'd have to leave, and you told me that he'd always be with me because he'd always be in my heart. You said that best friends never forget each other and then said that you had a friend who had to go away, and that you missed her and thought about her every day. I always wondered who you were talking about. It was Misty. Though, now that I think about it, that should have been obvious."

Ash was sure that his face was as red as Pikachu's cheeks, and he could feel his friend snickering on his shoulder. Casting a quick glare at the Pokemon, he demanded, "How do you even remember that? I can't even remember what we talked about yesterday."

"Well, that's because it's you," Max shot back, causing Ash to scowl at the dig at his intelligence. "Besides, it was a pretty big deal." Max frowned a little bit, looking off in the distance. "I'd never forget that."

Feeling the air getting a little heavy around them, Brock cleared his throat and then, with a silly grin on his face, said, "Thought about her every day, huh?"

"Ugh!" Ash cried out, throwing his arms up into the air before (unsuccessfully) trying to hide the blush that overtook him. "Let's just go find costumes! We have a competition to win, right Pikachu?"

"Pika!" the Pokemon agreed enthusiastically, sensing his friend's desperation to change the subject. As much as Pikachu loved to tease Ash, he was still, and always would be, firmly on his side, so if it was bothering his trainer too much, Pikachu would back off and force anyone else who continued to bother him to back off too. That much, Brock was well aware of, and the young man decided to let the subject go for now.

"There you guys are!" May said when they finally caught up. "I thought you got lost on the way here or something."

"Wouldn't surprise me if they did, knowing Ash," Misty teased her friend.

"That was your fault," Ash replied, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Excuse me? How was it my fault?!"

"You had the map more than I did!"

"No, you had it more!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not! Brock did."

There was a pause, and they both rounded around to look at Brock. He chuckled weakly and glanced around at the younger ones with them.

"Come on," May urged them as she started running through a much emptier hall. She didn't catch onto Brock's silent signal for help, but she was eager to try on costumes. She was a coordinator, after all. "The store is this way. There's apparently a big room with loads of costumes, and we can pay for them on the way out."

"May, wait up!" Max cried out, running after his older sister.

Misty smiled at the two of them as she fell in line with Ash and Brock, the three of them walking calmly after the excited Maple siblings, the argument forgotten. Misty cast a glance over at her two friends, taking in the changes in them since the last time they were all together. They were both pretty much the same, though, Misty had to admit, she was impressed that Brock hadn't assaulted over half the women they walked by yet. It seemed like a lot of the dresses around involved low cut tops, and that should have set him off. Misty was glad that he seemed to have matured even just the slightest bit, though she suspected that he was just distracted by something else for now. The way he kept looking at Ash and grinning told her as much.

Ash looked a little embarrassed over something, and it occurred to Misty that Brock was probably teasing him about inviting her to the festival. For what it was worth, she was equally surprised when he told her their plans and insisted that she should take some time off and meet them there. He always joked about or hinted that she should try to catch up with them, and though she was sure that she'd never be able to travel around with him like she used to, it still made her feel happy to know that, despite their arguments and whoever he met, he still wanted her around. Even after nearly a year of being apart.

Though still obviously excitable, impulsive, and dense as he'd always been, she could see a bit more maturity shining through Ash now, maybe from the fact that he was acting as a bit of a mentor to both May and Max, even if Max seemed to know more than he did at times. Misty thought on that for a moment, realized that traveling with trainers less experienced than himself was actually helping him just as much, if not more, than traveling with trainers who were more experienced.

Though, to be fair, the only extra experience Misty had over him was from the fact that she grew up in a Pokemon Gym. There she trained her Staryu (now a Starmie) before she was 10, and when she could leave home, she was quick to do so, taking her Staryu, Starmie and a Goldeen with her, a few days before she was even technically allowed to leave. She came off as more knowledgeable than Ash, but she was only a month older than him, and they'd been on the road the same amount of time before she went back home. Most people assumed that she was older though, because she was more level headed, a bit more experienced, and she used to be quite a bit taller than him.

She missed traveling with Ash and Brock more than anything and was glad to be with them, if only for a little while. She never regretted being the Cerulean City Gym Leader; no, she loved it, but she wished that she had a little bit more freedom. More than anything, she wished her sisters would take a little more responsibility and let her take longer leaves to catch more water Pokemon and to battle trainers that were stronger than the beginners. That was the biggest drawback to her gym. She had some fiercely strong Pokemon, but there was a certain level that she had to be at. It was one of the things that most trainers didn't know. She felt like she didn't have as much room to grow herself because of that and wished her sisters could let her take smaller trips from time to time.

That, and Misty still missed traveling and her friends a lot. Though admittedly jealous of May at first, feeling like she'd been so quickly replaced (briefly realizing that was probably how Brock felt when they met Tracey, even though Brock left them on purpose, and she was forced to leave), but she had a soft spot for the younger girl and her brother now. They weren't replacements; they were just new friends on a crazy adventure. Even if May was younger, and quite a bit different from Misty, she still enjoyed talking to the younger girl when she called. Still, there was something about walking with just her old friends that felt right to her.

"They're all so gorgeous!" May cried out as she rushed past a cashier, who was dressed up already and looked highly amused. "How do I pick just one?"

That seemed to break Ash out of whatever little brooding fit he was in, and he quickly rushed after the youngest members of the group, Misty and Brock rushing to keep up with him. Misty was in awe at the sheer amount of costumes in the room and had to admit that May's question of being able to choose just one was a legitimate one.

"I need to find a cape!" Ash exclaimed suddenly, rushing into the racks.

Misty snorted with amusement and said, "He would." She went down the row May disappeared into, eager to pick out her own costume.

Pikachu watched everyone leave, feeling happy that his Pikachupi was there with them that day. He knew how much his Pikapi missed her. Sure, the others were there, but it wasn't the same.

A rustling sound caught Pikachu's attention, and he looked around at a small voice saying, "Pichu!"

"Pi?" He looked and saw a Pichu staring at him before darting behind the pink curtains. Pikachu walked over to it and said, "Pikachu?" He blinked as a soft glow came from behind the curtain and jumped back in surprise when a Treecko appeared.

"Treecko tree!" The Pokemon hopped on a table, climbing out the open window it was by.

Pikachu stared with surprise, honestly not sure what was going on. Maybe he should really start listening to Pikapi and cut back on the ketchup. He jumped to the window ledge and looked out, watching the Treecko used its sticky fingers and toes to walk across the wall and out of sight.

"Pika?" he said himself as he blinked with confusion. Yes, he was definitely going crazy, and he blamed Pikapi for it.

"What do you think, Pikachu?" May's voice caught his attention, and the little Pokemon looked around at her with interest.

The young girl was wearing a dress with a red and pink dress with a massive skirt at the bottom, a beautiful bow decorating the back. She wore a short, puffy-sleeved white shirt over it lined with purple and somehow managed to turn her bandana into a bow in her hair. Pikachu cooed happily, telling his friend in his own way that he approved.

"Wow May, is that you?" Max asked as he appeared, wearing a white tunic with short, puffy sleeves, a red and gold hat, puffy blue shorts, white tights, and a green and red cape on the back of his shirt. May giggled at her little brother, finding him completely adorable, despite how annoying he was.

"Tis I, indeed," May replied in a haughty but joking tone.

Brock appeared, wearing an orange, round hat on his head with long, beige robes, and a decorative, long poncho on top, his favourite colours of orange, brown, and green adorning it with gold accents. He smiled at the young girl and said, "Wow, May, you look great."

"Thank you, Brock," she said, glad to have approval from one of the people that she thought of as her older brother. She didn't want to wear anything inappropriate, having seen several teenagers, even those closer to her age, wearing more revealing dresses when they walked in.

Back in the dressing room, Misty gritted her teeth as she came out, her frustrations building to no end. Her dress was styled to resemble a Milotic, with the soft fabric of the top being mostly a pale yellow while the bell sleeves were part pink. The skirt of the dress was in two layers like May's, the top layer with thick, black lines running through the mostly blue fabric, creating diamond shapes, a few of them coloured with the same dark pink as her sleeves. The last layer of fabric was completely blue, with small ovals of pink around the bottom, designed after Milotic's tail. She loved the dress and thought it looked beautiful, even going as far as to put the pearls that she wore with her mermaid costume in her hair that she left down, but it took forever to get on. At least the shoes she wore with it didn't have heels; that would have completely killed her.

She looked at herself in the mirror, her fingers going through her orange hair, wondering if she should have brought her extensions with her. She shook those thoughts off, wondering why she was so focused on what she looked like. She was Misty Waterflower, the tomboyish mermaid (or so people called her in Cerulean City); she didn't fret about her appearance that much.

Some movement in the mirror suddenly caught her attention, and she turned around, backing up slightly to look around the corner, a smile appearing on her face as she caught sight of Ash. He found his cape like he said he wanted and found a matching black hat that had a blue band around the middle with a golden symbol on it that she didn't recognize. He wore a long sleeved, dark beige shirt with blue gloves that had some sort of light blue gemstone on them with gold markings, a blue tunic over the shirt with beige pants, matching blue boots with golden ties up them, and a black pouch to finish the look off (and hold his pokeballs for the competition). She had to admit he looked charming with it on, but he wasn't even focused on himself at the moment, instead looking through a rack of tiny, Pokemon costumes.

"One for Pikachu?" Misty had to hold back her laughter as he jumped into the air. He spun around to look at her with wide eyes, no doubt about to yell at her, which she was entirely prepared to deal with. What she wasn't prepared for was for him to just freeze and stare at her for a moment before his face turned red, and he abruptly turned around again.

"Yup," Ash said quickly, his voice sounding slightly squeaky to even her. "I'm not sure which one though."

Narrowing her eyes at him, Misty came up to his side to look at the costumes and felt him tense up beside her. She cast him a suspicious look, and he vehemently tried to avoid her gaze, his cheeks and across the bridge of his nose red. Misty wasn't a dense person; she could put two and two together, and after having several guys flirt with her back at the gym, she could notice small, different things about the ways they acted. If she didn't know Ash better, she would have swore he was acting that way because he thought she was attractive. That was impossible though.

She paused for a moment as she thought back. He always did kind of stare when she had her hair down, even when he was young and even denser than he was now, and he admitted to finding her cute at times before too. Now that they were a bit older, maybe he did think a little more of her. That thought instantly made her feel warm and excited.

"Oh, what about this one?" she said suddenly, pulling out the small costume to show him. Ash seemed relieved that she didn't bring up his odd behaviour or red face, instead focusing on the clothes in her arms.

A smile appeared on his face and he said, "I like it." He hesitated for a moment before saying, "I like your costume too. Milotic's kinda appropriate for you, isn't it?"

The implications behind his words made her blush this time, because Milotic was said to be the most beautiful Pokemon in the world, though it was more likely that he was referring to it because it was a water type. Deciding to go with that, she said, "Well, there was no Tentacruel ones."

He snickered a bit at her words, knowing how volatile she could get when her favourite Pokemon was insulted, which it often was. Ash was going to keep quiet, he honestly was, but he wanted to start an argument with her. "I wonder why."

"What was that?" she challenged, green eyes narrowing at him as she clenched Pikachu's future costume tightly in her fist.

"You heard me. It's a Tentacruel. It's—"

"I swear, if you say it's ugly, I'll throw you out that window, Ash Ketchum."

"Well it is."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not."

Ash was honestly surprised that neither of them started yelling yet. He couldn't understand it, but it was almost like they wanted to keep this argument between them. He moved his arms wildly and said, "Is too. Besides, you look really pretty with that dress on." His mouth instantly snapped shut after he spoke, and he desperately wanted her to throw him out the window now, unable to believe what he just said. Ash had no clue what was wrong with him, but it needed to knock it off before he made a complete fool of himself.

Misty's face turned bright red, causing her to curse her naturally pale skin. Ash might have been sort of able to hide a blush, but there was no way she could. She couldn't stop the small giggle from escaping her and said, "Well, your costume looks really good on you too." That was when she did a double-take when a sudden realization came to her. "How are you the same height at me now?"

Ash didn't realize that he was until she mentioned it and was a bit thrilled that he wasn't shorter than her anymore. Once they realized that they were eye to eye, they just stared at one another, both blushing, the tension between them thicker than any time they fought, and neither (Ash in particular) knew why. They just stared, until a small smile appeared on Ash's face. He was never one for silence and stillness, and he couldn't stop that small chuckle of amusement from escaping his lips. This caused Misty to let out a small laugh that she tried to suppress, turning it into an actual snort.

The sudden, hysterical laughter startled Brock, May, Max, and Pikachu, who looked back into the racks with confused expressions. Max looked up at the eldest and asked, "Should we be worried?"

"Umm..." Brock didn't know what to say to that. In all honesty, he was getting worried when it was so quiet back there. If there was one rule that he had imbedded in him, it was that, when Ash and Misty did something, they did it loud. The loud laughter wasn't bothering him, but the reason they were laughing could be trouble.

Ash suddenly appeared, trying hard to suppress his laughter and looking every bit the medieval hero, and said, "Check it out; this is me, right?"

"Chaa," Pikachu agreed happily with his trainer.

Misty popped up behind him a second later, smiling from ear to ear, and May clapped her hands together. "Misty, you look so pretty in that."

"Thanks, May." She grinned at the younger girl. "You're dress is really cute too."

"She does look nice, doesn't she, Ash?" Brock asked teasingly, earning a glare in reply.

Instead of verbally replying to that, Ash moved closer to Pikachu and motioned for Misty to do the same. She grinned almost evilly as the two advanced on the poor, unsuspecting Pokemon, who was on the ledge of a window and couldn't escape if he wanted to.

"Pi?" Pikachu managed to squeak out before Ash suddenly grabbed him, and Misty stuffed a shirt on him. Ash set him back down, and quickly put a hat on his head while Misty shoved little slippers on his feet, making him look like a tiny court jester.

"You look so cute," May said while clapping her hands together like she did when she saw Misty.

"Yeah, awesome," Max agreed as he stared at Pikachu, who cooed happily at that once he got over his shock at what happened.

"Well, the competition will be starting soon," Brock informed them.

"Awesome!" Ash cried out, his eyes lighting up happily. He held his arms out for Pikachu to climb up, and the yellow Pokemon bounded onto him without a problem, clothes not hindering his movements in the least. "Let's go!"

"Umm, we still have to pay," Misty pointed out to him, flicking the brim of his hat with her finger.

"Oh yeah," he said almost sheepishly. "Well, we gotta go this way to do that anyway, so let's go!" Almost impulsively, he reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her behind him as he bounded away. Brock would have teased them for that too, but he'd seen Ash do that a hundred times before, including when they wanted to kill one another.

He shook his head as he followed May and Max out of the room. He was sure that this little adventure was going to be an interesting one, and who knew, maybe he'd find a pretty girl in the process.