He could feel the sweat on his palms collecting rapidly as he clenched his fists nervously, his black, fingerless gloves now slightly saturated. The pounding in his heart echoed the rumble he could hear from outside the large door in front of him as the crowd roared in anticipation. He knew Pikachu rested on his shoulder but he was numb to any physical feeling. The concrete walls around him seemed to be closing in as his nerves escalated.

Brock had just left. Like an older brother, he had placed a firm hand on his younger friend's shoulder and given him a reassuring smile. Brock was twenty-three-years-old now, something Ash could barely believe; eight years seemed to have passed with a blink. The years had treated Ash well though, he was taller, musclier, and more mature. Yet, as he stood there, nervously awaiting his fate, he felt like the ten-year-old boy who sent out a Caterpie against a Pidgeotto.

His thoughts were broken by a feminine, soft voice that echoed slightly throughout the hollow halls.

"Hey, Mr. Pokémon Master."

He turned, and couldn't help the small smile that formed on his lips as he connected eyes with the source of the voice. Pikachu was in her arms now, snuggling her. She giggled as she cuddled the little mouse close. Carrying Pikachu in her arms, Misty walked toward Ash, her orange hair swaying slightly as she did, caressing her shoulders.

"Hey," Ash said, softly, with a light smile. "Thanks for coming."

"Like I'd miss it for the world!" Misty exclaimed. She paused, tilting her head slightly and smiling wistfully. "I'm so proud of you."

"I haven't won yet," Ash said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Brock said you were nervous," Misty said, gently. "You shouldn't be. I mean, it's good that you are, but you shouldn't be."

Ash raised his eyebrows. "You want me to be nervous?"

She rolled her eyes playfully. "No, you moron, I just mean it's better than you being overly cocky; whenever you got like that you tended to make stupid mistakes…"

"I did not!" Ash interjected, pouting like a child that had just had its favourite toy taken from it. Pikachu jumped from Misty's arms onto the ground beside Ash and patted his leg mock-sympathetically, whilst Misty rolled her eyes again.

"Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I really think you can win this," she said, earnestly. It was so honest and sincere that Ash was a little taken aback, his mouth fell agape like a Magikarp for a few seconds.

"Thanks, Mist," he murmured dazedly, having recovered.

She placed her hands on his shoulders, and looked up at him (which she hated, she despised that he was now taller than her). "I want you to believe in yourself, Ash, because you can do this. I know you can. You've come so far in these past eight years, it's been incredible to see and a privilege to watch. I'm honoured to call you my best friend. You deserve this, Ash."

"What if I mess up?" he muttered. "I've done it so many times. The Indigo League…"

Misty scoffed. "Ash, the Indigo League was seven years ago now! You can't hold that against yourself!"

He placed his hands over hers, which still rested on his shoulders. "Seriously, Mist, what if I mess this up?"

"You won't," she said, confidently, trying to ignore the pounding in her heart from his touch. "You can do this. I know you can."

Her confidence in him suddenly made his fears dissolve slightly; he knew Misty wouldn't lie to him, she never had; she was more than happy to tell him if his abilities weren't as good as he thought. Some people had seen this as a horrid gesture, but they didn't know Misty like he did; she was cruel to be kind. He was about to thank her, when he caught her biting her lip, like suddenly she was nervous.

"Um," she murmured softly, a light blush gracing her snow white cheeks. "This is for good luck."

Her lips pressed against his so quickly yet so gently he didn't have time to register it was happening before it was over. His eyes had managed to flicker shut thankfully, and as he felt the pressure on his lips dissipate he opened them slightly to look at her in a daze. She was looking at the ground and blushing brightly now. He smiled softly and let his hands fall to her waist, causing her to look at him.

"Thanks, Mist," he said, lovingly.

It wasn't their first kiss. Their first kiss had happened four years ago thanks to a drunken Brock and his damn mistletoe at a Christmas party. Brock was so ecstatic he got them to kiss that he made it a tradition every year to follow them around the party with a piece of mistletoe, usually drunk and usually dancing like he was in a ballet. What he didn't know was Ash and Misty took it upon themselves to make it a Christmas tradition, blaming the damn mistletoe of course. They weren't a couple, both agreeing Ash travelling all the time would make it difficult, so decided to wait until after he realised his dream.

"Can't even blame mistletoe for that one," Misty joked, chuckling nervously.

Ash raised his eyebrows. "Mist, I'm pretty sure for the past, at least two years, there hasn't been any mistletoe anywhere near us when it happened."

"Apart from when Brock follows us about like a creepy cupid," Misty scoffed, causing them both to laugh.

They fell into comfortable silence, her arms around his neck and his hands still on her waist, their eyes locked, smiling gently at each other. Ash realised he had two reasons to be nervous, if he lost, he not only failed to reach his dream, again, but he'd lose his chance to start things properly with the girl he adored. Misty was about to speak when a loud, booming voice over the tannoy announced the start of the match. Ash had been so caught up in the moment he'd almost forgotten he had a battle to compete in.

"Well, I better get to my seat," Misty said, reluctantly pulling away from him. She smiled confidently at him. "Knock 'em dead, Ash. I'll be rooting for you."

"And yelling at me when I do something stupid no doubt," Ash joked. Misty laughed.

"Would you expect anything less?" she winked. She turned to leave but he grabbed her hand. She looked at him confusedly and he pursed his lips and looked at the stone floor.

"Mist, I want you to know," he said, nervously. "No matter what happens today, win or lose…." He paused, and looked at her. "I wanna give this a go."

She couldn't find any words to respond, so she simply rushed back and placed a firm kiss on his lips, wrapping her arms around him passionately. She pulled away, resting her forehead on his.

"I'll win it for you," he murmured lovingly, rubbing her arms lightly. The tannoy boomed again and she knew she needed to leave. She squeezed his hand, reassured him once more, than ran off to find her place.

Ash watched her go before turning to the door, a determined smile on his face. He glanced down at his electric mouse smirking at him, and rolled his eyes, before turning his hat backwards.

"Let's go out there and win this, Pikachu," Ash said. Pikachu pumped its fist in the air in determination.

That one word, 'can', from her lips had made all Ash's fears dissolve.

And he became Champion that day.

A/N: Well, I haven't written anything in ages, sorry about that! I hope this was okay. The part about Brock and the mistletoe was stolen from my own fic 'Mist and Snow' *shameless self promoting* but it's not related in any way, I just really like the idea of Brock drunkenly stalking them with mistletoe ;)