After going through the twin regions, Ash got all of his badges and Misty decided to get a few as well (In other words, as many as Ash except for those that no longer exist). They both went to the league tournaments and in the end tied by her getting first place Johto and him first place Kanto.  They had started a gym of their own in Viridian, which hadn’t had one since Giovanni disappeared.  Both were members of the Elite four after Agatha retired and Lance was forced to after being found as a member of Team Rocket.  Brock visited them often and they him.  He eventually married Daisy to the disappointment of the other two.
    Ash and Misty had gotten married recently when it was pointed out that six years together was long enough and they might as well.  Their gym was about the same theme as Giovanni’s but better balanced and decorated, with a pool and a land area.  Many things change, but some don’t and the need to travel and catch pokemon had never left Ash.  Misty was tired of it, though and so argued with him, another thing that never changed.  “I want some time to stay in one place.”  Misty said.  “You and I have traveled a long time and the we haven’t stayed in one place for longer than the two months we held the Cerulean gym down.  We’re gym leaders, we can’t just up and desert whenever we feel like it.  My sisters have only ever taken that one vacation in the decade they have been there.”
“But Misty.”
“Don’t but Misty me!  You and I traveled almost constantly these six years.  We need some time to settle and you may even like it.”  Her tone softened “I’m sorry, Ash, but you are a master now.  As a higher up in the league, you have responsibilities and besides which, you have nowhere else to go.  This gym has the least losses ever recorded in this amount of time.  We have responsibilities and don’t forget that you’ve promised mom not to desert for at least another year.”  They spoke of it no longer and got on with their work.
    That night, as they were sleeping in their imitation campground (Misty let Ash have that much), Ash was kept awake by a feeling he had forgotten something.  He went out to look around the gym when he saw pikachu also looking around.  “What is it?”  There was no answer and then there was a knock at the skylight and he saw a familiar form.  “Butterfree?”  He said and then remembered that it had been about long enough for the migration to have ended and his pokemon come back.  “Butterfree!  It is you.”  He opened the skylight and Butterfree flew in hard, landing in Ash’s outstretched hands. “Butterfree!  You are back, I’m so happy!”  Ash said laughing.  The commotion had woken Misty who saw Ash and noticed that he was like his old self, not the master he had become but the youth she had first met and started traveling with.  She had forgotten how much he truly cared, not about titles or gyms, but about pokemon and how they cared about him.  She realized then that he had been trying to settle down so much to please her and how in the last month or so he had stopped traveling, how restless he was and how no trainer seemed to interest him in battle. “Misty!”  Ash called, breaking her out of her reverie “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Why?”
“I need you to help me into my pidgeot costume so I can fly around with Butterfree.”
Misty laughed “Only if I can play, too.”
“Sure, you’re my wife after all.”
“I hate that term, don’t call me that.”  She went and zipped him up, then went off to get into her own, coming back to find him flying around with Butterfree.  “You started without me.” She said and then Ash swooped down, picked her up and then dropped her in the pool.  “Hey!”  She said, laughing. “Toge!” a voice cried.
“Togetic, you shouldn’t be up so late.” Misty chided her pokemon.  
“Toge” it said in a voice that clearly meant, I am evolved and no longer your little egg.
“Yeah, and those wings get you into more trouble than any of us can handle.” (Togepi had evolved when Misty finally realized that it waving was an attack and tried to command one.  Instead of releasing an attack, it had evolved.  Knowledge is power in any realm; this place just takes it more literally.)  Ash was still flying around and true to his word, picked Misty up every so often to fly her around.  Meanwhile, pikachu had jumped onto his back and was enjoying the ride until Ash saw him and did a barrel roll over water.  It went on like that for a while before they all went back to bed and Butterfree was returned to the pokeball it had always been in.
    The next day, she decided to make Ash feel better.  “I’ll go on another trip with you, but only if we go where I always wanted to go.”  She told him.
“Where is that?”
“The oceans and islands of our two regions.”
“Fair enough, I’ve dragged you into enough deserts, and besides which in this case, we can have some more of our usual water fun.”  It is noted that Ash too had a golduck costume that he didn’t use much unless he wanted to join Misty in some underwater fun and of course she had a pidgeot costume.
“Fine, Brock and Daisy can come over and mind the gym I guess, the others wanted to be alone with their new prospects anyway.”
“Who?”
“Gary and Tracy.”
Ash fell over a moment and then managed to regain himself “A bit young, aren’t they.  I mean compared to your sisters.”
“Age doesn’t matter in true love.”  Brock said.
“I asked them over last night when I realized how much pokemon travels meant to you.”  Explained Misty.  And so they were off, first leaving a sign saying “Rejoice, for Ketchum is not in today.” and so left, first stop is the Orange Islands.  On their way, they planned on who to say hi to while they were there.  “If I can find Lapras, that would be great, and of coarse we could find out from Professor Ivy what happened.”  Said Ash.
“Unless she, like Brock, won’t tell us.”
“How will we travel around if Lapras isn’t around?”
“We could always build a raft for our water pokemon and sometimes maybe ourselves to pull.”
“I forgot about the golduck costume.”
“I thought you had.”
“And also the pidgeot costumes could come in handy for short distances.  Maybe even one of us could ride the other."
"An interesting idea."

Critiques are always welcomed and encouraged.  *soapbox* Please send my your arguments, acumen, blind rage and confusion.  All questions will be answered, all fears allayed.*end soapbox*  And by the way, although these all exist together, the writing styles are considerably different from fic to fic.