New Beginnings
By: Misty101803
Part: 20
Category: AAMRN

Author's Note: All good things must come to an end, and this story is no different. I can't believe that finally after two years from when I first started writing this story it is finally going to get done. I really doubt I'll ever write a story quite as long as this one in the future, because one of the main reasons it took so long was that I got discouraged due to the number of parts, but that was my fault. Originally it was only going to be a one-shot fic, which over time got larger and larger until I had trouble containing it any longer. In the end, I'm here now, and if you are too, then I thank you for reading through this story for so long. This story was written in December 2005.

The sun shown through the cabin window into the dark room. Slowly it creeped across the room, lightening up the entire place and making it warmer as well. Ash and Misty were still in bed, as they were rather tired from not only last night, but all the events that had happened over the past week. From traveling to Vermillion to get on this ship, to meeting Natalie and the others, to competeing in the Kojho Water Pokémon Tournament, to finally going out on a romantic date, the entire trip was one they'd always remember.

As the sunlight traveled across the two beds that had been pushed together the previous night, Ash and Misty came into view, still dreaming about the future to come. Some of the sunlight came up and shown directly on Misty's eye, speeding up the time when she would wake up. It did the trick as Misty slowly opened that one eye, but quickly looked away and was able to survey the room she was in.

From what she could see, it was just a barren two-person cabin; the same one that they had been sleeping in for the past week, but somehow, something was different about it. It wasn't that it was more brighter than it usually was or more colorful, but she was sure that things were different now. It was a good feeling and it made her smile. She looked up to see Ash still sleeping soundly as he usually does. He was never one to snore, thankfully.

"Good morning Ash. Wake up sleepy head," Misty whispered in his ear as she leaned in to give him a kiss on the lips. Ash woke up just then to find Misty and him exchanging a kiss. After it ended, he opened his eyes and looked at his sweetheart.

"Good morning Misty. Thanks for waking me up," Ash laughed slightly. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes I did. I had dreams of you and I doing all these romantic things. It really made me happy."

"Well soon enough those dreams will all become reality. With over a year alone in the Ohnee region, we've got a lot of time to get even closer." Ash brought Misty's hand up to his and kissed it lightly.

"I'm really looking forward to it. We haven't been alone in such a long time, people-wise I mean. It kinda sucks though that we have to get out of this warm bed soon." Misty crawled on top of Ash and hugged him tight, which he promptly did in return to her as well. They kissed once more.

"But then we'd never get to Ohnee and never get to have all that time alone together either." Ash rolled over to the right and now he was on the top.

"Yeah, you're right. That would kind of suck." Misty rolled over again and now she was back on top. "But then we could just stay in here all alone, just the two of us..." Ash rolled over again.

"Yeah, I bet you'd like that wouldn't you?" Ash started to tickle her now. Misty couldn't help but squirm under his ticklish fingers and started to laugh out loud now.

"Hahahaha, Ash, hahaha, please stop, hahahha." Misty rolled over once more and they both fell off the bed, with Ash landing on the bottom, hitting his head on the floor. They both started to laugh histerically. "Ash, are you okay?"

"I'm just fine. Are you alright?"

"Sure am. But I guess we have to get ready now don't we?" Misty leaned down and kissed him again.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Misty got up off of Ash still slightly snikering at the morning events and walked into the bathroom, where she'd be for at least the next two hours. While he waited, Ash got out his new updated Pokédex and scanned through it looking at all the different Pokémon he'd encounter from the Ohnee region that the ship was still speeding towards head on. After Misty got out of the shower and was nearly ready for the day, Ash went in and took a quick shower followed by coming out to get dressed and meet Misty once more. Once they were both ready, Ash and Misty packed up all the rest of their belongings, and left the room for the final time.

"We have to go down to PATCH first off and get Pikachu, and then we can go and eat some breakfast at The Pokémon Tower. After that I bet the ship won't be very far from docking in Green Leaf Town."

"Alright then, off to PATCH." Ash and Misty walked holding hands the whole way there until finally getting to PATCH when Ash opened and held the door open for her, much like he had done the previous night. "Thank you Ash. You're so kind." They both walked inside and spotted Vanessa on the far front desk almost immediately. She waved at them and they waved back before heading up there to talk with her.

"Hi Vanessa, how are you today?" Misty asked.

"Oh, just fine. You two look great; very happy and lively. Did something happen?"

"Well yes, Misty and I are now going out. It took a very long time, but we're here nonetheless."

"Wow, congratulations on you're new accomplishment you two. I'm sure you'll both be happy with each other." Misty smiled more and looked towards Ash.

"Yeah, we think so too." Just then Andrew came through a side door and greeted everyone.

"Hello again Ash and Misty. I'm sure you're both eager to get off this ship finally after being stuck on it for a week!" Andrew laughed.

"Well, we're actually kind of reluctant to go. We have a lot of great memories on this ship," Ash pointed out as Misty nodded in agreement.

"Oh, well, no matter. The point is that you're both leaving today, but you can't leave without your Pikachu now can you? I'll go back and get him now." Andrew walked back and exited through the door in which he had entered. Moments later he returned holding a very happy Pikachu in his hands.

"Hey buddy, did you have fun?" Pikachu jumped out of Andrew's hands and ran towards Ash. He jumped into his arms and they shared one of their trademark hugs they always have. "Pikachu, I've got good news. Misty and I are now going out, isn't that great?"

"Pi pi ka chu pi pikachu!" the small yellow Electric type stated gleefully.

"I guess that means yes huh?" Misty voiced, and laughed. They all laughed along with her.

"Thank you for looking after Pikachu, Andrew and Vanessa. It was a big help."

"No need to thank us Ash. We were glad to do it for you, and just look what happened because of it too." Pikachu had fully understood why he was left at PATCH for the night, and was thankful that Ash and Misty were now a couple, because now everything could go back to normal, or at least as normal as it could get now that things had changed slightly.

"Yeah, everything went according to plan, so to speak," Misty smiled. "But we really must be going now. We have to meet up with a few more people and say goodbye to them as well before the ship docks, plus we still haven't had anything to eat this morning either."

"Yeah, I guess we should go."

"Alright then, but don't hesitate to come back some day. I guess when it's finally time for you two to leave Ohnee, we'll see you again," Andrew said.

"That'll be in a little over a year. First I have to collect eight badges and enter into the Ohnee league, which is the main reason I am going to Ohnee in the first place."

"And another reason?" Vanessa asked.

"Why, to be together with my love of course." Ash smiled at Misty who smiled back with a sincere look of love in her eyes.

"Aw, how sweet of you to say that," Vanessa added. "I'm sure you two will be together for a long time."

"We can only hope so," Ash said. "Well, bye then. See you some day."

"Okay then, have a good journey," Andrew replied.

"Oh we will." With some more final goodbyes, Ash, Misty and Pikachu turned towards the exit and were soon headed up top on deck towards The Pokémon Tower restuarant.

Once there, they walked through the door and were instantly greeted by Sean.

"Hey you guys. Did last night turn out okay for you two?"

"Better than just okay. We're boyfriend and girlfriend now even."

"That's great! Congrats you two." He turned his head towards the kitchen. "Hey Nat! Come and see Ash and Misty again!" He turned back to Ash and Misty. "So did you two come here to just eat breakfast or say your 'so longs'?"

"Both actually. We would never leave without saying goodbye, or having one last meal on the ship that changed out lives forever," Misty replied.

"Of course it changed your lives. You met me didn't you?" Natalie walked up asking them with a smile on her face. "Come this way to a table so we can talk. I was just finishing up making some pancakes in the kitchen since I knew you guys would come here today." They followed Natalie to a table for four, and Ash and Misty sat down next to each other. "I'll just go back and bring everything out. Sean, come and help me, will you?" Sean followed Natalie back to the kitchen and moments later they both returned holding two trays with two plates each on them covered in pancakes. After setting them down on the table, Natalie and Sean sat down and they all got to talking again as they ate.

"So you two have finally gotten together. Well you're a lucky girl to have him Misty, and don't you ever forget that, or I'll have to come and steal him from you." Natalie laughed at her own remark, but Misty just faked a smile along with Ash and Sean. It wasn't really funny to them to already talking about break up when it most likely wouldn't happen anyway.

"Uh, I'd never let Ash leave my side again anyway, so no need to worry." Meanwhile, Ash and Pikachu were stuffing their faces with their breakfast and nodded in agreement to what Misty was saying. "Oh, Ash. You'll never change." Misty smiled again, but wasn't really annoyed as she usually was. Ash had a few quirks about him, but she still loved him all the same.

"Well, after we dock in Green Leaf Town, I'll also be getting off and traveling around Ohnee. Maybe we'll meet up again while we're on our travels," Natalie said.

"Oh I'm sure we will, if only at the Ohnee League where Ash will be competeing."

"As will I, so I can't wait to face Ash in a battle when that day comes." Ash managed to clear his mouth of food before replying.

"I'm excited about it too. Just watching you battle Misty this past week really was exciting. I think it's awesome how we're all such good battlers."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. All of us do have rather good skills when it comes to Pokémon, and if nothing else, that'll always be true," Sean added.

"So then you're not going to try to compete in the Ohnee League Misty?" Natalie asked.

"Oh no, that's not a goal on my agenda. I just want to see all the new Pokémon in the Ohnee region and maybe even capture more than a few while I'm there as well. There must be tons of new Water Pokémon there; I can't wait to see all of them!"

"Me too. It'll be a great adventure for all of us," Natalie said.

"Well except for me of course. I'm not going into Ohnee. I'll just be staying here on this ship feeding anyone who wants my food and of course giving free food to anyone who has a Corsela with them..." Misty took the hint and went into her backpack to get out her Lureball.

"Come on out, Corsela." The ball opened and the pink horned Pokémon rematerialized on the floor next to her. Sean immediately stood up and walked over to Corsela to fuss over it.

"What a crazy brother of mine," Natalie sighed and laughed at the end, where Misty and Ash also joined in.

Once their breakfast was over and all of them had their fill for the time being, Misty recalled her Corsela back into it's Pokéball, much to the dismay of Sean, and they all stood up, ready to leave.

"I'll have to stay here in the restuarant, so I can't see you off from the ship, but have a great and safe journey you guys. Natalie, call every once in a while okay? You know how your family worries about it."

"Okay Sean, I will. Don't worry about me. I'm old enough to take care of myself now."

"Alright then. Have a good time you guys, and good luck being a couple now."

"After all the time we've already been together, the only thing that's going to change is that we may be a bit closer nowadays." Misty leaned over and took Ash's hand in hers.

"As I can see," Sean stated. The rest of their goodbyes were exchanged before Natalie, Pikachu, Ash and Misty walked from The Pokémon Tower restuarant and headed towards the front of the ship to try and see if Ohnee was in sight by now.

"Look! There it is!" Natalie was very excited about this, as were Ash and Misty. Finally the place they were ultimately heading towards was in their sights. It didn't take long for the ship to dock in Green Leaf Town, and so by the time Natalie went back to the restuarant to get her backpack and come back, Ash and Misty were already waiting for her down on the dock, ready to say their goodbyes, at least for now. They all started to walk away from the dock as they talked.

"So Natalie, where are you headed to first?" Misty asked.

"Well first I have to head off to Jenia City to see an old friend and then will go to the nearest gym from there to earn my first badge. After I collect eight of them, I'll head off to where they hold the Ohnee League and that's probably where you'll see me next, but who knows?"

"Well, we're first going to stop in on Professor Redwood so that Misty can meet him and he can also tell us some things we don't know about this region," Ash said.

"That's a good idea. This region is different than most of the others in some ways, but I'm sure the professor will tell you all about it once you get up to his laboratory."

"Are you going to come and see him right now too?"

"No, I've already met the guy a few times before, but I can tell you how to get to his lab." They had come to a crossroads where one path led left and the other right. "All you have to do is follow this road and you'll come to the lab before you know it. It's rather big, so I doubt that you'll miss it. Meanwhile, I'll be going this way," Natalie poited to the left.

"Well, I guess this is so long then." Ash put out his hand and Natalie shook it with a smile. She then went up to Misty and hugged her, whispering into her ear,

"Have a wonderful life with Ash." After that, she turned around and started walking down the road towards the left. Ash and Misty said some final words of farewell, and started to walk down the path to the right, heading towards Professor Redwood's laboratory. The road they were on was built onto the side of a cliff, and it was steadily sloping upward and to the left. As Ash, Misty and Pikachu, who was riding on Ash's left shoulder, turned the corner, they looked up to see a very familiar balloon floating some feet above them.

"Oh no, not again."

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"Yeah, yeah, can you skip this part this time? We're kind of in a hurry right now!" Ash called up to them.

"To protect the world from devistation!"

"Hey, did you hear what I said?!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

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

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, dat's right!"

"Wobbuffet!!"

"Okay, now that that's all over with, what do you want?" Misty asked.

"Oh nothing you two little lovebirds. Just Pikachu is all of course," Jessie called out below her.

"Hey, how did you know we were going out now?"

"Why, we stowed away on that ship for a week and were waiting to get off it to capture Pikachu," James answered.

"Why did you wait all that time?"

"Because we've had experience with ships before and we knew that if we battled you on the ship, it would only turn out really bad," Meowth chimmed in. "But now that we're here, there's no stoppin' us!" Meowth got out a control pad and pushed a button on it. Instantly, this large claw came out and grabbed onto Misty, lifting her high above the ground.

"Misty! You guys better let her go right now!"

"Or else what?" Jessie asked sarcastically. "Look twerp, all we want is Pikachu and we have no interest in your little girlfriend here. Just give us Pikachu and we'll give you back Misty. Do we have a deal?"

"Of course not I'll never give Pikachu to you!" Ash quickly got a Pokéball from his belt and threw it up. "Kingler, I chose you!" Kingler popped out a few seconds later, ready for anything. "Use Vicegrip on that mechanical arm!" Kingler promptly obeyed by using it's long legs, it jumped from the ground up to the arm and sliced it clean in half with one chop of it's massive claw. Meanwhile, Misty was falling to the ground, some 30 feet below. "Now, Pikachu, use Iron Tail to cut through the claw!" Pikachu jumped off of Ash's head and quickly chopped the claw holding Misty onto the arm to bits. Misty slipped from the rest of the machinery and was then caught in Ash's open arms. It did hurt him to catch her from such a height, but he didn't notice the pain until after the battle was over.

"Ash, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you alright?"

"Yes of course. I'll deal with Team Rocket now."

"And just what can you do?!" Jessie yelled in frustration. "Dustox, go!" Jessie threw the ball into the air and Dustox came out in a white flash of light.

"Now, Cacnea, you go too!" Cacnea came out of it's ball and landed on James, who screamed in pain from the spikes hitting him. "Ow, get off me, and use Pin Missile!"

"Dustox, use Poison Sting!" Misty meanwhile had already gotten out the Pokéball she was going to use.

"Gyarados, I chose you!" She threw the ball and out came the enormous blue dragon that roared so loud the ground nearly shook. "Hydro Pump!" Gyarados obeyed quickly and shot out a ton of water right at Team Rocket's Meowth-shaped balloon. Within a few more seconds, the balloon along with their Pokémon blasted off into the sky, completely away from vision. "Great job Gyarados, now return!" The usual red light beam shot out from the ball and hit Gyarados, morphing it into the same kind of energy and pulling it back into the confines of its ball. After this was done, Misty went back to check on Ash.

"Great job Misty. No wonder you were a gym leader for some time." Ash was just now noticing the pain he was in from catching Misty. He had pulled a muscle in his right arm and it hurt to move it.

"Ash, what's wrong with your arm?" Misty could see that he was holding it and that he was obviously in pain.

"Oh I think I just pulled something. It should be better in a few days I think. It's not too bad anyway, as long as you're okay is what matters to me."

"Oh Ash, I'm sorry that you got hurt because of me."

"Really Misty, it's no problem. You'd do the same for me."

"That I would. Now, we should probably still go to see Porofessor Redwood. I bet he'll be able to help somehow."

"Yeah, you're right, let's get going. Just one last thing." Ash pointed a Pokéball at Kingler who was then returned to his ball. Ash placed the ball back onto his belt and they were on their way once more down the road.

Misty walked on Ash's right side on the way to the professor's lab. She had a look of concern on her face the whole way there, to which Ash could only smile and respond by telling her it didn't hurt that bad, which was really a lie, but he didn't want her to worry too much about it. Meanwhile, Pikachu was walking on Ash's left, so as not to injure his arm even more if he were to ride on Ash for the time being.

After everything that had happened, one thing was definately certain to both Ash and Misty. That they would always be together and that nothing would ever change that. They were both ready to do whatever they could to help each other for the rest of their lives because their love was truely something to be amazed about.

Now they were both in for a ton of new beginnings. The new beginning of their relationship and a new beginning in the Ohnee region as well. And if anything, they're going to have a lot more new beginnings as their lives continue. They would walk a similar road together for the rest of their lives, they both knew, and they wouldn't have it any other way.

'Because...' Ash thought.

'Because...' Misty thought.

"I love you," Ash and Misty said together.

The End.

Thank Kami, it's finally done! It took literally two years to finish this story. This is so weird because I didn't even plan it this way. Today is the second anniversery of the day I started writing on December 19th, 2003. Talk about weird coincidences. May me finishing this story be a testament that shows no matter how long it takes me to write a story, I eventually get it finished. Now that my first fic ever is over with, I can focus on all of the other fic ideas I have floating around in my head. I think finally, I'm back at the Tower, at least for a while. Gotta Catch Ya Later! Misty101803 signing off for the final time this story.