A Night To Remember

She stepped into the garden, her new dress shimmering in the moonlight. This party had been thrown in honor of her, the gym leader of Water from Cerulean City. Misty surveyed the surrounding area with pride. The entire thing had been planned by her closest friends: Brock, Tracy, Ash, Gary, Daisy, May, Max, her sisters, and the Professors. Not to mention Mrs. Ketchum, who'd let them hold the party at her house and decorated everything herself. And in Misty's opinion, she'd done the job pretty well. Candles, hung from the canopy, scented the air and lit up the garden in their flickering light. Bright flowers graced every table, where the guests chatted amiably.

The guests, for that matter, were either her relatives, her friends' families, or gym leaders. Nearly everyone invited was there. In one corner, Winona was advising Falkner on raising Taillows, Wattson and Lt. Surge were relating their experiences with shocking Pokemon, and Claire was showing off her Dragon Pokemon to Lance. Misty was sure the last two had something going on between them.

"Hey, Misty!" Her favorite dark-haired friend rushed up to her. He whistled when he saw her dress. "Wow, you look great."

She blushed. "Ash!"

"What, it's the truth!" He laughed, dark eyes shining. Over the years, he'd come a long way from the clueless, immature kid with only a rebellious Pikachu and a wild dream. Now he was more of a young man who'd found his place in the world. And what a place he'd found! He was the Elite Champion in all of the Pokemon Leagues and the owner of a collection of gym badges from all over the world. The fame he had gained was legendary.

Misty suddenly realized that he'd been telling her something and had ended with, "Isn't that great?"

"Uh, yeah, great!" she said, not sure what she was agreeing to. Ash rolled his eyes.

"Earth to Misty! Come in, Misty!" He laughed, his voice ringing with a pleasant sound. "Where's your brain? I was telling you about May and Drew's relationship," he explained. She immediately perked up.

"What about them?"

"Well... I heard from my mom who said she'd been told by Norman who told her Max had hinted to him... Drew's thinking of proposing to May!"

Misty gasped. "Really? Does May know?"

"I dunno. Probably not." Then his eyes gleamed mischieviously. "I hope not."

"What are you planning?" Misty asked suspiciously.

"Eh, nothing." The expression on his face told her otherwise, but she decided to keep quiet.

Suddenly a bell rang out, accompanied by Brock's voice saying, "Dinner is served!" There was a rush to get to the buffet table, and there were several exclamations of delight as the guests sampled the cooking. Misty laughed. "I guess they've never tasted Brock's cooking before!" Then she realized that Ash had already grabbed a plate and was practically shoveling food onto it. She stared, flabbergasted, then shrugged and dived into the throng herself. If her past experiences with Brock's cooking had taught her anything, the food would be gone in a few minutes. No point in being the hostess if she was going to starve.

"All right, everyone, ready for some dancing?" Mrs. Ketchum, decked out in a gauzy dress, flicked a switch. Immediately the lights dimmed, and some slow music started to play.

"Mom, don't embarass me," Ash whispered. She shook her head and, smiling, pointed at someone across from them. What he saw stunned him.

Lance was saying something to Claire. Then he took her hand, and she blushed. Ash's jaw dropped. He had <never> seen Claire blush! WHAT WAS THE WORLD COMING TO?!

"Now that you get my meaning, I guess you should take care of your own business... with the hostess," Mrs. Ketchum said slyly, and walked toward some new arrivals to welcome them. Her son stared after her, then finally let her words sink in.

"Hostess...?"

He disappeared into the crowd. Mothers sometimes understood too much about their children, he thought.

Misty sat away from the dance floor, stirring her drink. The ice tinkled softly against the glass as she sighed.

"I thought so," she said aloud to herself, "I knew those two Dragon-lovers had something going on."

A hand touched her shoulder, startling her. She recognized his voice before she even saw him. "Mist, you're starting to talk to yourself. That's not a good sign."

"Ash!" She glared up at him. "I told you before to stop scaring me like that!"

"You never said anything like that to me!"

"Yes I did!"

"No you didn't!"

"Yes I did, I remember it clearly! I told you just last Saturday!"

"You didn't even see me last Saturday!"

"Then it was Sunday!"

Ash opened his mouth to say something, closed it, and said instead, "This is useless."

Ashamed, Misty nodded. She didn't remember the last time that she'd stopped an argument. Maybe he really has matured, she thought.

They sat in silence for a while, listening to the music and watching the dancers waltz across the floor. Finally Ash said, "Want to dance?"

She looked at him, startled. "What?"

"You know what I said."

Misty was speechless. Numbly, she nodded. Ash laughed and pulled her to her feet.

"Come on, don't be shy! It's just a dance." Their eyes met. "Just one dance."

"But I don't know how to dance!" she protested, as he put his hand on her waist.

"Mist, don't lie to me, I saw you dance with Gary before." Misty's eyes widened.

"How did you know about that? It was at the Indigo Plateau ball! And he only did it to save me the shame."

To her relief, he laughed. "Yeah, I know you two don't have any chemistry going on. Thankfully," he added, muttering. "I would <never> live that down: my greatest rival going out with my best friend. Eugh."

He pulled her into the dance, their feet moving in time, weaving in and out of each other. They said nothing until Misty decided the silence was too stifling.

"Did you watch the first episode of the TV show that you were interviewed for?" she ventured.

"Yeah. It was pretty accurate, actually. I told them how we met; remember that day?"

"Of course! Especially since your Pikachu decimated my beautiful bike." She sniffed. "It was brand-new."

"You know, the kid who plays you is pretty good," he said quickly, changing the subject. "I can't believe that you gave them your old outfit!"

"Neither can I," she said wryly. Then she said, "Y'know why I still kept traveling with you and Brock? It wasn't really because you owed me a bike anymore."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. It's because I knew I'd miss you... guys," she added quickly.

"Really." He looked thoughtful.

The music ended, and Ash led her away from the crowd. She didn't notice where he had taken her until something leafy brushed her face.

"Mistletoe," he said, grinning.

"Ash! It's not even Christmas yet!"

"The rules apply outside of Christmas."

"No, I'm not gonna do it," she said firmly, and tried to pull away from him.

But in the end she yielded, and their lips met in a soft kiss. In the darkness, she felt Ash take her hand and press something into it. When they finally pulled apart, she gazed at the object.

"Are you sure that I'm the right person to receive this?" she whispered. She felt him nod.

"Absolutely."

"Then..." Her eyes shone in the moonlight. "My answer is yes."

----

I'm hoping that you readers out there will give me feedback, but no pressure. Personally, I think this is the best work I've written in a while. The rest is just a bunch of junk that I don't have published. Oh, and FYI, I wrote this in two days, so NO MEAN COMMENTS!

I already know how bad I am without my readers telling me so! (sniffle)

(If you're curious and want to read my "junk", just give me a review saying so.)

"If you get a review, it either means your writing is so good your readers want to tell you, or it's crappy."

-me