"Incredible folks! The unbelievable has happened! Ash Ketchum has hung on to win the Johto League Championship Final!"
A massive roar erupted from the thousands of spectators that packed Silverstone Stadium. They'd never seen anything like it! The Astounding Mandy, and his awesome team of fully evolved Pokemon, with members like Exeggutor, Kingdra and Crobat had been beaten! And not only that, but by a team with only a few evolutions! Cyndaquil and the happy dancing Totodile were still in their starter forms, and his newly acquired Eevee had still yet to evolve. Bayleef had only just recently evolved from the Chikorita that simply adored affection. Noctowl's super powers were enough to outdo its smaller physique, and Pikachu was far stronger than a Raichu could ever hope to be. Against all expectations, Ash had triumphed. After years of pain and heartbreak, things were finally falling into place! His journey in Johto had led to so many adventures, personal favours and detours, that Ash ended up getting his eighth badge one month too late. That left Ash in an incredibly despondent state. He had no idea what to do next. He had his heart set on competing in Johto, and he would have to wait 11 months until the next championship. 11 months! It was too much for him to comprehend! And Brock's departure left him incredibly vulnerable. Ash had no intentions of quitting, but without a clear plan, he was left with no way to proceed.
Misty took it upon herself to bring Ash out of the slump. She convinced Ash to battle in the Indigo Championships again. She felt that with Ash's team being as versatile and mature as it was, contrary to popular opinion, Ash would be able to win it this time. She knew that the only reason Ash didn't beat Ritchie was because Team Rocket's attack left Pidgeotto completely exhausted and Pikachu sub-standard. Team Rocket had condemned Ash to defeat that time. This time, Ash would have nothing standing in his way. For 5 months, Ash trained harder than he ever did in his entire life. With Misty at his side, Ash reached new heights, and his campaign in the Indigo League was a glorious one! He was virtually untroubled until the grand final, and even then he only needed half his team to win it all!
But there was something bigger he desired. Johto. That was the prized jewel he needed to acquire. Johto was on another level completely. But with Chikorita's evolution, Ash's chances were vaulted. Bayleef was able to stretch possibilities to the limit and stunned even the most cynical critics. Ash was consistently strong through the minor rounds in his half. In the other half, Gary Oak was also doing incredibly well. Until he met the Astounding Mandy. They were an incredibly even match, and the battle went right down to the wire. Crobat versus Umbreon. Gary's team pretty much revolved around Umbreon, and it had been forced to beat two of Mandy's other Pokemon to get to this point. With a relatively fresh Crobat, Mandy won a cliffhanger. Gary was shattered. Even with his newly acquired maturity and respect, he was still incredibly egotistical and quite the bragger. Gary didn't take defeat in the semi-final well at all. Professor Oak, Gary's grandfather, was considerably disturbed by Gary's reactions and recent performances. Gary was an incredibly talented trainer. But he seemed to rely on Umbreon all the time. Oak didn't like it at all. He never had any type discriminations, but Dark Pokemon always unsettled him in a way. And Umbreon being the ultimate Dark Pokemon, Oak could only speculate what Umbreon was doing to Gary. That left Ash and Mandy in the final. Unlike their first meeting, it was a real nailbiter. It was even all the way. One Pokemon would win then be instantly defeated by the next one. And Ash had made a critical type mismatch. When it got down to just two Pokemon each, Pikachu was forced to go up against Exeggutor. Only Ash's Pikachu could ever have won that one. It drained itself of several hundred thousand volts in order to provide Ash with victory. The final battle was Bayleef and Crobat. It seemed Ash had lucked out, but Bayleef was something else. She never, ever gives up. And somehow she has beaten Pokemon you wouldn't even think she could. Ever since Bayleef beat a Scizor during the Celebi fiasco, Ash knew that Bayleef was one of a kind. She took all that Crobat dealt her, and despite her type weaknesses, she dealt it back even harder. As Crobat's shattered being fell to earth, deflating Mandy's hopes of glory, a new day was rising on Ash's career. All the pain, humiliation, loss and grief was worth it. He had already accomplished more than most ever would. He had now won three of the four leagues. In winning Orange, he won the right to fight Prima. In winning Indigo, he could now fight Bruno. In winning Johto, he now earned the right to face Agatha. Only one league was left. The Green League. And if he was able to win that one, he would then have the right to face Lance, and then he would then be fully qualified to face the Elite 4.
Days after winning Johto, Ash returned home to Pallet Town to catch up with his mother. He and Misty stayed with her for a few days, which allowed Dehlia to catch up on years she hadn't been there to see Ash grow up. It was something that always weighed her down, but with Misty as a friend, Ash seemed to be doing just fine. During that time, Ash and Misty made plans to qualify for the Green League. It seemed that it was the most difficult league of all. But if Ash was ever going to be able to defeat the Elite 4 and become a Pokemon Master, he'd have to win the Green League. Realistically, his team needed far more experience. As amazing as Cyndaquil and Totodile were, he needed fully evolved Pokemon. He knew that Bayleef would soon evolve into Meganium. And he knew that Eevee was bound to be something great. He was going to leave it up to Eevee to decide what it would evolve too. Any decision would be fine with him. After getting an updated Pokedex and catching up with Brock and Tracey, Ash was off. But as he left, Professor Oak gave him the GS Ball. Ash was stunned. He hadn't seen it since he gave it to Kurt over a year ago. Kurt had found that there was a time lock on the GS Ball, and that it was going to open in two weeks! Oak said whatever Pokemon inside would be Ash's. Ash was confused as to why he didn't give it to Gary. Oak made it perfectly clear that Gary was going along a path that disgusted him greatly. Apparently Gary had won the final of the Green League, and now he only needed to win Johto in a year's time to qualify to fight the Elite 4. He had a list of top trainers to battle meanwhile, and he was prepared to take a vacation for a few months too. Ash still considered Gary to be the fly in his soup, and vowed to win the Green League, beat the Elite 4 and become a Pokemon Master before Gary did. Oak gave Ash his vote of confidence. In saying that, he made it clear that he wanted Ash to accomplish the ultimate dream, and that Gary would only once he learnt the true meaning of being a Pokemon trainer.
And then it all went wrong. Sitting in the lush, green groves on the fringe of Pallet, Ash and Misty were taking their last break before departing to the Green League. Light pink cherry blossoms floated to the ground in the crisp spring breeze, and the golden rays of the mothering sun showered everything in its loving rays of light. Bird Pokemon were soaring gracefully across the azure blue sky. Misty was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans that hugged her figure perfectly along with her trademark yellow sleeveless top. She started wearing jeans ever since young boys spent too much time checking her out, and it got to the point Misty was bringing out the mallet again. But Ash was more than equipped to handle the situation as well. With some stinging words that sometimes couldn't be repeated ever again combined with a hyper-charged Pikachu, boys knew to glance and then move along. Misty was fine with boys liking her, but they were liking her too much for just one particular reason. Ash was still wearing his usual outfit, except he no longer donned the Pokemon League cap. He let his spiky black hair stand out for everyone to see. Although many teen girls spent too much checking out Ash's butt to notice, which left them facing the less pleasant side of Misty, which is a curse you never want to experience twice. They were just kids when they met, and now they were in the beginning of adulthood. Friendship brought them closer that anyone could imagine. And Ash was finally prepared to say what was in his heart. He walked up to the duck pond nearby and gently removed a water lily flower from the cool, crystal clear waters that reflected his figure just like a mirror. Ash smoothed out his hair just a little, took a deep breath, and braced himself. He walked over to Misty and presented her with the flower. "I thought you might like this, Misty."
Misty smiled instantly upon presentation of the flower. "Thank you Ash. It's beautiful." Misty loved water lilies when she was growing up in Cerulean City. It led to her affinity with water and her desire to become a Water Pokemon Master. She loved to spend many sunny days lying in shady groves, feeling the gentle kiss of spring breezes caressing her pearly face, as she laid down in cool, lush, emerald green grass, with creamy white lily flowers in her hair. Seeing Ash giving her the flower brought up all those memories in a flashing instant, and made her feel so high. She was about to place it in her silky orange locks when Ash let his right hand slowly slide up her neck, past her ear, into the silky tendrils and place the flower slightly to the left side of her head in just the right place. Misty rose up and slowly walked with a feminine grace to the pond that left Ash totally mesmerised. He felt he was in a dream at the moment, and he never wanted to wake up from it. Misty stared at her reflection with a look of pride in her appearance.
"Wow, Ash. You knew just where to place it."
"It's not too heard when you've got someone as beautiful as you are."
Misty froze. That comment revealed more than she expected. She had liked Ash for quite some time, but never knew if he felt the same way about her. She slowly swirled around with a starstruck look in her eyes that made Ash felt like his heart was going to explode if he didn't reveal all right now. The moment was right. And that look conveyed something only the two of them could understand. Ash felt himself lulling his eyes into their own dreamy look, showing Misty that the feeling was definitely mutual. Her heart began to pound and she could feel butterflies in her stomach. Ash's lungs were about to crush from the pressure building up in him. Something had to give.
"I mean...Misty, we've been friends for a long time."
"Mmmm. Quite some time."
Ash felt like he'd died and gone to heaven. Everything around him was melting away, leaving him aware of nothing but the angel standing in front of him. Misty felt like she was breathing underwater, feeling the cool caress of the liquid life all over her, and that Ash was the only thing left as everything else drained away. The two stared into each other's eyes for a moment that seemed to last for eternity. Ash's right hand slowly moved forward, shaking like an earthquake. Misty gently extended her own shaking right hand, taking Ash's strong, lightly tanned hand in her own smooth, graceful, slender fingers. That gesture conveyed more than a million words ever could, and both felt themselves slipping away.
"Misty, I care about you more than anything in the entire universe."
Ash didn't even recognise what he'd said until he'd said it, and felt like he was going to collapse with embarrassment. But all it took to relieve him was a gentle reply from Misty.
"Ash, I care about you in the same way."
This was it. No turning back now. Ash's dark brown irises stared into Misty's sapphire eyes, and the two of them locked in a gaze they couldn't get out of. They slowly moved toward each other, yet with a confidence they had never felt before. Ash leaned forward and Misty extended her arms invitingly. Their heads gradually stretched towards each other like sprouting plants, and their lips spread apart like flower petals at dawn. Then they met each others, and they felt ecstasy upon contact. Bliss that words could never describe. Years of confined feelings that were sheltered up for none to see, hear or feel were suddenly brought down to earth. The glass walls around them crashed into a zillion pieces, and they all melded from that moment. Ash let his right hand drift up to Misty's silky orange locks and let in linger there, enjoying every sensation that was invoked into his fingers, never wanting to let it leave there, while his left hand slid around her back, gently caressing her spine and massaging her shoulders. Misty let her left hand float like a butterfly and land in the midst of Ash's spiky black locks, relishing the stimulating response, while her right hand cupped round his neck, stroking it as if she were stroking a newborn kitten. Their tongues broke from their subdued positions and eagerly met each other halfway. The scene lasted for several minutes, but it seemed more like several lifetimes. Everything the two felt for each other was conveyed in that kiss. They finally parted lips, and lingered just a few centimetres from each other. Now that the two had revealed how they truly felt, the future was bright.