Tracey and Teari were now on their way back to the rooms, after a quick discussion over how she met her shiny Deerling she named Fawn.

Misty had left a note on the table that read:

Tracey and Teari,

The pizza we ordered arrived while you guys were in the bathroom. Brock and Ember also came back while you were in there, apologizing for not telling me about their relationship, explaining that they thought I'd get mad. I also apologized and they said that they weren't mad anymore. So now everything is okay. Meet us back at the rooms so we all can determine sleeping arrangements and for pizza.

-Misty

~

"Say, Tracey?" Teari asked, to break up the silence before it got to awkward.

"Yeah, Teari? What is it?"

"You don't happen to still have Azurill on you, do you?" She asked him causally.

"Chiko! Chiko~!" Chiko chirped in agreement, elated in anticipation of his answer.

"Well of course I do," Tracey smiled, "except she's not an Azurill anymore,"

Teari gasped. "You mean she evolved?!"

"Uh huh, she's a Marill now."

"That's great!" Teari exclaimed, while Chiko's eyes were literally sparkling, with a big goofy grin on her face. "Can we see her?! Pleaaase!?"

"Chiko! Chi-ko!"

Tracey couldn't help himself from smiling and thinking to himself about how cute she and her Chikorita were together, and considering how cute Chikorita are by themselves, that was a lot.

He complied with their begging and released Marill from her Pokéball. The aquatic mouse instantly jumped into Teari's arms as she smiled brightly upon sighting her old friend.

"How about... you know... the one I gave you?" Tracey asked her shyly. "Do you still have her?"

"Oh why, of course I do!" Teari exclaimed, reaching around to her Pokéballs. "I could show you if you want."

"Did you ever name her?" Tracey quickly asked.

"Yeah,"

"What did you name her?"

She took a moment to answer, before giving him a beaming smile. "Sketchit."

Without giving Tracey enough time to respond, a flash of light came from the Pokéball that she was about to grab, indicating that the Pokémon must've released itself from the capsule. The light formed itself into a shape that was about a foot taller than Chiko.

It stood on two legs, with a brown stripe at the ankles, and had two arms with round mitten-like hands, but with two similar brown stripes at it's wrists. In it's hands, held it's brush-like tail, that oozed a green colored liquid. The Pokémon smiled with glee, swinging around it's dog-like head with what looked to be a French painter's cap.

"Smearg—LEE!" Sketchit cried in agreement, cheering apon seeing her old friend as well.

"Hehehe, Sketch!" Teari giggled at the Painter Pokémon. "You're so cute!"

"Smeargle! Cute! Smearglee cute!" she giggled gleefully.

"Sketch?"

"For short," Teari explained, "and yes, before you ask, she did just call herself 'cute'."

"Oh," Tracey said, his mouth forming a small 'o' shape. "Interesting."

"Isn't it?" Teari agreed. "I think it's because she hangs out with me a lot when I'm bored or lonely. She's easy to rant to," she mentioned, throwing Sketchit a smile, "I think that's how she eventually picked up some of the words she's heard, but I can't seem to be able to teach her certain words." Teari explained, patting her head.

Tracey smiled. "Come on, let's get going."

"Right!" Teari nodded, quickening her pace, challenging him to try to keep up with her as she skipped along with her happy Pokémon pair, Chiko and Sketchit.

Smiling, Tracey caught up with her, his hand catching hers as they slowed down. Teari leaped at the unexpected contact and pulled her hand back, surprising them both. Upon remembering why Tracey would be surprised by her action, she eased before becoming ashamed.

"I-I'm sorry, Tray. It's just... I haven't really had... um.. much experience with human contact before.. and... stuff..." Teari apologized, awkwardly explaining herself. "I-It's just, been awhile... since I've been with people who care about me. That's all."

"Yeah.. I get it..." Tracey soothed, understanding that she was uncomfortable, "you just weren't expecting it so to happen so causality cause you aren't familiar or use to it," Tracey reasoned sympathetically, his voice soft and gentle, not wanting to unintentionally offend her.

"Yeah..." Teari sighed, grateful that she could always leave it to Tracey to be so understanding with her.

Even though there was a dead silence around them now and that the overall mood has been shifted, she kinda wanted him to hold her hand now.

To see what she thought of it...

After all, that is what she silently longed for back when she traveled alone, right?

Slowly, she looked up at him and showed a shy smile. When he looked back at her, she held her arm out farther away from her side, glancing her sight from her hand to him and his hand. The Pokémon quietly watched, always seeming intrigued with what their Trainer does around others, as they hadn't always seen this side of her nowadays.

He watched her look at him intently. "Are you sure?" Tracey asked gently, unsure if she really wanted him to or not. She nodded, forcing herself to smile a little wider for it to look more convincing.

Hesitantly, he lowered his arm and gently placed his palm against hers, before softly embracing it, as to not shock or surprise her again, even though she was asking for it.

They looked down at their hands and at how closer they were to each other, before their eyes met.

"So?" Tracey asked, wondering what she got out of this.

Teari smiled and looked back down at their hands one last time. "I like it," she admitted, tracing her thumb along his hand, analyzing the texture.

It felt... nice.

She liked it.

It was... peaceful and in its own way... pleasing, because she could tell that she somehow made Tracey feel fuzzy inside. How she could tell, she wasn't sure, but it was a hunch.

"I-I'm glad.. actually..." Tracey said bashfully, using his free arm to scratch the back of his head nervously, blushing a little bit as well.

Bravely, she held up their hands and kissed his softly, adding more heat to his burning face. "Of course you are, Tray."

To her, he seemed like he couldn't get any redder, until his demeanor changed to one of question, giving her a strange look. "What are you implying?"

Her eyes snapped in realization like a twig. "Gosh darn it, Tracey! You know that I know you're not a prevert," she exclaimed, playfully shoving him. "I didn't mean it like that!" They laughed.

"Says the one who's now kissed me twice today," Tracey teased, still laughing.

Teari knew he was just trying to be funny, because she'd say stuff like that all the time too, "What? Wanna make it three?" She teased back, not really meaning it, yet not really against the idea either...

Tracey raised an eyebrow for a split second, before he slyly replied. "You really are quite the flirt you know."

Teari had expected him to blush like crazy and be adorably embarrassed, but she only found herself blushing at his...

Compliment?

No.

Observation?

Maybe... Yeah, observation.

But was she going to be embarrassed about his remark which, if you think about it, was quite true? Not in a million years.

"Well of course! Why wouldn't I flirt with you?" She replied, happily grinning away as she swung their arms around her other shoulder, forcing herself into his side, eternally smiling like a wicked sorceress. She watched in pure amusement as his face when from somewhat pink, to Leppa Berry red within seconds.

"S-shut up," he stuttered, pushing her away politely.

Annoyed at her successful attempts to embarrass him, he let go of her hand, coming up with an idea to get back at her.

'Now that's just cruel,' she thought in response to his action, making an audible 'hmpf' sound.

It was Tracey's turn to smirk as she looked away. "Fine, have it your way then," he said again slyly, while doing something that he would normally never do.

But... instead of her blushing...

She just stood there, letting it happen, giving him this deadpanned kind of look. Bewilderment flashed in his eyes, hopelessly confused as to why this was her reaction to him wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Really?"

Tracey looked back at her, trying to contemplate what she was thinking.

"What?" He finally asked, giving up this guessing game.

Teari raised an eyebrow, hiding the faint traces of a smile. "Since when did you get so cocky?" She asked, making the small smile a faint smirk instead, as she accepted the embrace.

Trying to keep himself together, he quickly ran through a few options in his head.

Option one, respond back with something she'd say. As in... well that only left flirt.

Option two, reply back to it as if it were a real question. Okay, then... well the only clever responses are the ones in which flirting was required.

Option three, answer with 'I don't know'... Well that one seemed easy enough.

Option four, come up with some logical reason as to why he was cocky all of a sudden... Who was he kidding?

Option five, realize that you've spent too much time coming up with more options and look like an even bigger idiot.

He went with option one slash two.

"Since I decided that I'd much rather risk getting out of my comfort zone any day of the week if it meant that I could act like we're together."

Tracey couldn't believe he just managed to even say that, which was probably the reason he was blushing.

Before he knew it, he heard an 'aw', had a set of arms wrapped around his torso, and was squeezed my the person, who was now clinging to him, at his side...

Meaning Teari literally just fangirled and hugged him sideways...

Great job Tracey, 100+ life skills. You learned you fell in love with a weird one.

But did he mind? No. He loved it.

~

Soon they arrived back at the rooms and we're chatting away with Misty, Brock and Ember about the room arrangements... that they were having difficulty with.

The reason why this choice was so difficult, was because no one other than Misty minded if it was boys in one room and girls in the other.

Ember believed that the age differences between her and the other girls was unsettling, and would prefer to have the arrangements based on age, while also believing that separating them based on gender was unfair because they all believed that they could trust each other to where it'd seem unnecessary to spilt them up.

Teari didn't want to sleep in the same room as Ember, partially because of age as well, but mainly due to her previous experience with disrupted sleep while Ember snored. Teari also determined that she did not want to sleep in the same room as Brock, for she didn't know him as well as the others, and the fact that he was older.

So Teari had suggested that she and Tracey would share a room while Misty made sure the other two weren't up to anything by staying in their room. This seemed like a decent arrangement, except Misty was sticking to her belief that none of the so called 'couples' should share the same room, which lead them into a paradox that couldn't be solved.

Not to mention that Teari and Tracey were fixed on staying together, because of how far apart they've been. This was when Teari and Ember had to explain to Misty that over the years, Teari had been experiencing multiple, almost constant anxiety attacks because she missed Tracey so much.

Upon hearing this, the other three, especially Tracey, were shocked. After that, it was clear to Misty that Teari's idea was suitable, therefore agreeing to it so they wouldn't spend more time figuring it out than they already had.

"So Brock, Ember, move your stuff from this room to the bigger room," Misty instructed, taking the roll as leader, even though she was in fact the youngest out of all of them, "and I'll be there in a sec."

~

"Whatcha doin'?" Teari asked as she peered over the top of the sketch book resting against Tracey's bent knees.

"Nothing much," he replied, focusing his attention to the movement of the pencil in his hand. He was drawing Teari's Shinx, Sparky, and her Fennekin, Fynx, who were sleeping together. Teari had swapped out Treble Clef and Fawn for them earlier that day, as well as Owlia for her Decidueye, Hunter.

Teari moved her position from hovering over his knees to the spot beside of him. Tracey didn't mind her looking over his shoulder to watch him work. He enjoyed her company. Considering how long he's been without her company, he knew he wasn't going to take it for granted anytime soon.

"Don't forget their tails," Teari mentioned.

"What?" Tracey asked her, half dumbfounded, half confused as to what she was talking about.

"Look," Teari pointed while getting closer to him to point out what she was trying to show him.

Not only was Sparky's tail holding Fynx's, but it was also wrapped somewhat around her. And if that wasn't enough, Fynx was using her tail as a blanket for Sparky (to the best of her ability, that is).

Tracey's expression was brightened as he smiled at his best friend's discovery.

"Aww, that's--" Tracey said before abruptly cutting himself as he turned to Teari, only to find her centimeters away. About close enough to kiss her...

"Adorable," Teari finished for him in a low voice, startled by how quickly he turned to her.

They were caught in each other's eyes for what seemed like a solid 5 minutes, before Tracey decided to lean in...

"Chi~KO!"

The pair instantly jumped back, blushing.

Teari sighed, and looked down to see Chiko crying out in pain, due to Angel accidentally stepping on her leaf while she was sleeping on her side in the floor. Angel was obviously taken aback by the Leaf Pokémon's sudden outcry, which also woke all of the other slepping Pokémon. Angel wasn't much of an early sleeper, and preferred to wait until Teari was ready to go to bed and sleep with her.

"Smear..."

"Fenne! Fenn!"

"Shinx... Shinx!"

"Coo~...?"

"Marill! Mar?"

"Scy... ther..."

"Veno-nat?"

Teari and Tracey groaned. It was going to be a long night, but at least it was with each other.

~

Despite the forgiveness that they had exchanged... there was still tension.

Brock was on his queen-size bed, presumably doing nothing important on his phone out of boredom.

Ember was laying on her stomach while being supported by a pile of pillows, reading a book that she seemed to have trouble paying attention to, occasionally staring into space.

Misty... well... she was trying to get Psyduck to shut up and return to his Pokéball before they were complained about by the other passengers.

After successfully doing so, she sighed and turned to her roomates.

"I... I'm going on a walk," Misty said, getting off the floor and reaching for her bag. "I'll be back," she said, not giving them a chance to respond before closing the door behind her.

The two sighed to themselves, before going back to what they were doing.

Ember sighed again after a while and gave up on her book, and sat upright, wondering whether or not to sit with Brock on the other bed. She decided she would. Tensions or not, she loved this man and was not letting a simple little awkward silence stop her from getting to know him.

She got up and stood by his bed and waited for him to scoot over before joining him.

When she did, Brock immediately exhaled, telling her he was relieved. "Finally!" He said, breaking the tension while snaking an arm around her waist, pulling her closer affectionately.

Giggling, she rested her head on his chest. "What have you been doing over here besides dying to have me finally coming over here?" She joked, earning a few chuckles from him.

"Texting Ash." He replied simply, giving her a glimpse of the bright screen.

"Ash? Why are you texting Ash?" She asked him, wondering if this had something to due with Misty.

"I was telling him to come with us." Brock explained, showing her the texts.

Ash- Brock! Where's Misty?

You- Hey Ash. Misty is with us on our way to the Inkanni region.

Ash- Us?

You- Teari, Tracey, Ember, and I

Ash- Who's Ember?

You- Oh she's just Teari's cousin that just so happens to be the best thing that's ever happened to me

Ash- Meaning... girlfriend or...?

You- Of course she's my girlfriend. We had some issues with Misty finding out the hard way and... yeeeaahh

Ash- Um... well then. Good for you. Getting a girl to love you back that is.

Ash- Why are you guys going to the Inkanni region?

You- Teari wanted to... travel I guess? I think that it might be about something else though.

You- I think it was also because her and Tracey had wanted to start their journeys together before she moved away

You- Hey why did you ask in the first place?

Ash- Uh... It's a long story but I went to vist her at the Gym she wasn't there and Casey told me to ask you about where she went

You- Oh. Well... do you want to come with us?

Ember looked back up at her boyfriend and smirked. "Best thing that's ever happened to you, huh?"

Brock smiled, bent down and gave her temple a quick sensation of the touch of his lips, before pulling back speedily. Their first kiss together as a couple. "Of course you are, my sunshine."

Ember giggled and buried her head deeper into his chest in an attempt to hide her blush. "You romantic," she tried teasing him, but obviously enjoyed the affection.

Brock glanced at his phone just as Ash replied to his text. Smiling, he showed it to Ember again.

Ash- Um... I'm not already chasing the S.S. Aqua on my old Pidgeot or anything of the sort...

Ember laughed. "Oh my gosh! He's such a dork!"

Brock began replying to him.

You- Ember says you're such a dork

"Brock!" Ember giggled.

Another text then came in.

Ash- Tell her I said thank you and that I also said hi

Ember laughed again. "Why do you want him to come with us, Brock?" She asked him.

"So Misty doesn't feel left out," Brock replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Ember cocked her head. "Left out? Wouldn't Ash be the one that'd be left out?"

"No when you're surrounded by lovebirds while your one true love is all the way across the world, hanging out with a new girl every region."

"Oh yeah," Ember realized, "that makes sense." She fiddled with her denim vest for a little while, before an idea came to mind. "Wanna sent him a selfie of us?"

"Why?" Brock asked, noticing her smirk.

"So that when he sees it, he'll get jealous about it not being of him and Misty." Ember explained, watching as his shipping mode was activated.

"Oh my Arceus, Ember, that's a brilliant idea!" He exclaimed, switching over to his Camera application. "I love you so much."

Ember kissed his cheek. "I know you do."

~

I don't like my mind right now

Misty was on the deck, looking out into the water. The moon was full, and reflected elegantly above the waves. From underneath, she could see many brilliant orbs of light. Lanturn. A whole pod of them.

Stacking up problems that are so unnecessary

The orbs were an electric yellow, which reminded her of him even more. She sighed.

Wish that I could slow things down

Misty took off her bag and pulled back the drawstring, opening it up. She dug her arm through it and pulled out what she was looking for.

His old Pokémon League Expo hat.

It wasn't very dusty or worn out, but it was stained with grass, mud, and her tears.

She held it out in front of her.

"How did you do this too me?" Misty asked the sea air around her. "Why is it that I can never stop thinking of you and I when I see Tracey and Teari...? They've gotten much closer than what I thought they would over the past two weeks... especially today..."

I wanna let go but there's comfort in the panic

She didn't notice that her Pokégear was ringing, even though the caller tried to reach her multiple times.

"And Brock and Ember... I... I never really thought I'd see the day that Brock would really care for a girl so maturely, and have her love him back... I really am happy for them... the more I see them together, the more I see that they were made for each other..." Misty sighed. "Yet... I'm not happy... I love them all, but now they'll be more focused on each other... I just can't stand it sometimes..."

And I drive myself crazy thinkin' everything's about me

Little did she know, their ship, the S.S. Aqua, was being chased.

"...I know that they care about me... very much honestly... but that doesn't stop me from thinking about you and I... I know you've traveled with many girls... I like May... she reminds me of myself sometimes..."

Yeah I drive myself crazy cause I can't escape the gravity

Misty looked down at the hat. She let the tears come out, blinking away what she could.

"But... I guess that you've— No... no you'd never."

I'm holding on

She looked at the ocean. Many tropical colored Pokémon took control of the waves, dominating the light orbs of the Lanturn with the vivid glowing of their own, blue, pink, and green stripes.

"Wow..." she breathed.

Why is everything so heavy

The sleeping Azurill in her arms stirred, and looked up at her Trainer curiously, "Azu..?"

Holding on

Misty faked a smile, "I'm okay, Azurill," she yawned, "Let's go back now, we probably have lots to do tomorrow so I need to sleep."

Azurill nodded, before falling back asleep in her arms.

There's so much more than I can carry

Misty sighed and yawned again. She was about to put his hat back in her bag, but stopped. "Who am I kidding?" Misty asked herself, "he's never coming back."

I keep dragging around what's bringin' me down

She held it out one last time, before letting it go.

If I just let go I can step free

Instead of it landing in the ocean like she had hoped, a strong wind caught it, and blew it behind her.

She sighed. "Great, with my luck, it'll blow all the way back to Cerulean City."

Yawning, she took her attention away from the sea, and went back to her room.

I'm holding on

Why is everything so heavy

~

From behind the S.S. Aqua, a Pidgeot and his Trainer that was on his back was gaining on the water vessel.

The Trainer's Pikachu was hanging on his shoulder for dear life. The Pikachu was about to fly off when he spotted something familiar fly in their direction. The Pikachu's Trainer moved him from his shoulder, to his chest and the Pidgeot's back, so he wouldn't fall. That's when he saw it too.

I know I'm not the center of the universe

"Pidgeot! Go left! I think I see something!"

The bird cried out, following the boy's orders. The boy then caught the object, right before Pidgeot swooped back up.

But you keep spinning 'round me just the same

The boy and his Pikachu looked at each other after they saw what it was. There was no mistaking it.

The boy looked to his Pikachu, with fear threatening to leak in his eyes. The Pikachu, however, nodded, determination unmistakably present. The Trainer smiled, knowing his buddy was right. He faced ahead, not giving up hope.

I'm holding on

"Don't worry, Misty. We're coming for you."

~

Words: 4061

Thank you guys for not murdering me for my lack of inspiration to peruse in what I've begun. I know what twists I'm gonna add near the end of the story, but I can't seem to think of what I should have them do in the mean time.

Also, a quick shout out to littlebunny2 for agreeing to critique and advise me on this story! They have given me great advise and compliments on what I had on this story so far, so thank you, littlebunny2!

Please comment too! The song used at the end there is Holding On by... I don't know actually. It's not mine!!!

Don't expect another update soon!

But anyway...

HaVe A nIcE dAy! :)