Teaching Psyduck to swim!

Summary: Ash returns to Cerulean City after winning the Kalos League, only to find Misty not at her gym, and a note on the door to say that she'll be at her favourite spot in the city. When Ash finds her at the place she was talking about, he watches her in amazement as she tries her best to teach her Pysduck how to swim, he decides to help her and has fun while doing so! Ash and Misty are both 15 in this fic!

The hot summer sun shone down in Cerulean City, though to the citizens, it felt like Groudon was about, and the heat was unbearable for some. A young teenage boy with his Pikachu made his way to the gym to meet up with his best friend, who he hasn't seen for a long time. He kept in touch with her by writing letters and email, and had missed her. "Man it's hot," the boy complained, as he looked at his Pikachu who was sitting on the shoulder. "Pi-Pika-chu, Pi-ka-chu," Pikachu agreed with him. "I think an ice cream sounds good right about now, but I think I'll wait until we're with Misty, maybe the two of us can have one and catch up," the boy added.

It took him about fifteen minutes to get to the gym, and when he got there he noticed the doors were closed and a note was left on it, he took the note off the door and read it aloud.

"To Ash, if you are looking for me, I'm at my favourite spot, hope to see you there" the note said.

"Misty's not in the gym at the moment, Pikachu, let's go to the north cape to see if she's there," Ash announced, giving Pikachu a scratch under the chin. "Chuu!" Pikachu replied.

As Ash and Pikachu began to make their way to the north cape, in Cerulean City, they noticed that a lot of people had ice creams as he walked past them, watching them eat one made his stomach growl. 'Why do they have to tempt me?' he thought. 'It wouldn't be fair if I ate an ice cream before seeing Misty, I'll wait,' he added.

"PSY! PSY PYSY! PSY!" A yellow duck like Pokémon cried in panic as a certain female gym leader attempted to put it in water. Just before it's webbed feet touched the water, the Pokémon freaked out and started crying out loud "PYS! PSY! PSY," it managed to jump from her arms and hid behind her, clinging onto her left leg. The gym leader had orange hair which was in a side pony tail and blue eyes, she wore a pair of; navy blue shorts which had straps reaching over her shoulders, a yellow crop top, and a pair of red and white shoes.

"PSYDUCK! Shesh! I'm only trying to get you used to water, what happens if your the only Pokémon I have, and I don't know, somehow I need rescuing in the water? You Pysducks are supposed to love water, I've seen heaps of them and Golducks loving it, why can't you love it?" the gym leader yelled at him. She sighed and knelt down to the frightened Pokémon, and patted him. "Let's try it again, Pysduck, we've got to do this, I don't want to be laughed at because you don't like swimming," she told Pysduck, as she picked him up once more. She once again tried putting Pysduck in the water, only this time she didn't notice she was being watched by a raven haired trainer and his Pikachu. As soon as Pysduck's webbed feet touched the water, the Pokémon freaked out and started flailing, and jumped out of her arms, then ran to the nearby bushes.

"Honestly Pysduck, we've only tried twice and you act as if the water is lava," the gym leader sighed, then turned around, she smiled and noticed a boy and his Pikachu, who had been watching her. "Misty? What are you doing?" The boy asked, the gym leader. "Pi-Pika-chu!"

"Oh, hey Ash how've you been? I'm glad you got the message," she started to say, "I'm trying to teach Pysduck to swim, but it's not going so well, now I have to find him once more," Misty replied, as she ran up to Ash and hugged him. "I've missed you,"

"I've been great, thanks Misty, I won the Kalos League and now I'm spending a few months at home with my mum and Professor Oak, unless a new region comes up. Teaching Psyduck to swim? Why's that? Psyduck hates water, considering he's a water Pokémon," Ash answered, as he hugged her back. "and I've missed you too," he added. "Hey, maybe I can help you teach him to swim?"

"Sure, I'd love your help, but first we have to find out where he is hiding!" Misty said with a smile. "He ran off into the bushes over there, so hopefully we can find him safe and sound. I'm teaching him to swim because I don't want people laughing at me 'cause he doesn't like swimming and if something happens to me while I'm in water, he could save my life," she explained.

"I have a few ideas on my mind that might help Psyduck with his fear of water," Ash told her, as Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and into Misty's arms. Misty smiled and hugged Pikachu, she gently scratched Pikachu under his chin. "Chuu! Pi-ka-chuuu!" Pikachu coed, as he enjoyed the attention from Misty.

"Really? What are your ideas?" Misty asked as she started to walk towards the bushes, in hopes to find her Pysduck. 'I hope you are still there, Pysduck and not taken by someone else, who may have thought you were a wild one,' she thought, as she looked worried.

"PSYDUCK!" Ash called out, after he and Misty split up to search for the water type Pokémon. He looked through the bushes and up in the trees, even though he knew Pysduck wouldn't be up in a tree. "Pysduck, come out where ever you are, here Pysduck, Pysduck, Pysduck!" He kept on calling Pysduck's name. "Pika-Pii! Pi-ka-chu, Pi-ka-chuuu! Pii-kaa-chuuu" Pikachu joined in the search from Ash's shoulders, looking around the area, and listening for Pysduck with his ears.

"Psyduck, where are you? Come out Pysduck," Misty called, out for her Pokémon, she was on the opposite side of the bushes to Ash and was beginning to get worried about Pysduck. 'What if someone's tried capturing him, or what if, Team Rocket stole him? Or worse, a Pokémon Poacher?' Misty bit her bottom lip and fell down on her knees, and began crying, she buried her hand in her face, and let the tears flow.

An hour into searching for Pysduck, and still no sign of the water Pokémon, Ash frowned, and reached for a Pokéball. "Swellow, I choose you!" He called out his Hoenn flying type, who he got back from Professor Oak after deciding to swap Pokémon. "Swel-low, Swell!" Swellow cried out, after he was released from his Pokéball, Swellow flew above Ash and looked at him, ready to take an order.

"Swellow, we need your help to find Misty's Pysduck," Ash requested, he knew that Swellow knows Pysduck. "Swell-low, Swell!"

Swellow flew around the area, scanning the ground from the sky to look for Pysduck, at first he couldn't find Psyduck, then spotted something yellow in a hole, nearby looking dazed and confused. "Swell," Swellow cried out, then flew straight to Ash. "Swellow, Swell, Swellow, Swell!" He announced as soon as he found Ash.

"You found him? That's great news, let's get Misty and tell her that too, so we can get him together," Ash said with a smile. "Thank you, Swellow." Swellow nodded and flew above Ash, as they looked for Misty. They found her crouched on the ground, crying, which wasn't like her at all, Ash knelt down by her side and put a hand on her shoulder. "Mist, Swellow found Pysduck," Ash started to say. Misty dried her tears and flung her arms around Ash, pressing her lips against his, once she realized what she did, she quickly pulled him away, blushing bright red. Ash blushed too, and stared at her in surprise.

"Uhm, sorry about that, Ash, let's go get Pysduck back, and try and teach him to swim!" Misty exclaimed, as she got up. "Swellow, lead the way," she called out to the bird Pokémon.

Moments later, Swellow took Ash and Misty to a hole, and pointed down there with his wing, and flew down to Ash's side. "Swel-low, Swell!"

Misty walked up to the hole and smiled in relief seeing her Pysduck in the hole, though he was dazed and confused, he was okay. "Pysduck, you're okay, but what's a hole doing here? It doesn't look like something Team Rocket dug," Misty started to say as she took a closer look at the hole. "In my honest opinion, I think this was dug by machinery," she added.

"Bayleef, I choose you, Bayleef, use Vinewhip to get Pysduck out of the hole," Ash called out his Johto Pokémon. Misty stared at Ash in surprise, she didn't expect him to have Bayleef again. Bayleef obeyed and used it's vines to grab hold of Pysduck, she pulled the water Pokémon out of the hole and gave him to Misty. "Bayleef, Bay!" Bayleef said, as she looked at Ash.

"Thank you, Bayleef," Ash smiled then patted her before recalling both Bayleef and Swellow to their Pokéballs.

"Thank you, Ash for helping me get Pysduck back," Misty smiled to him, giving the surprised teen a sudden kiss on the cheek, she blushed and looked away. "Uhehe, let's go back to teaching Pysduck to swim," she recalled Pysduck to his Pokéball, to ensure he won't get out of her sight.

"I know this is going to sound silly to you, but I thought about dressing up as Pysduck and getting into the water with him, maybe he'd feel more comfortable to see his own kind, maybe you could dress up as Pysduck too," Ash told Misty as they walked back to the north cape. "you know, that's not a bad idea, maybe I could pretend that I'm drowning too, and perhaps Pysduck would snap out of his fear to save me," Misty smiled. "Good thing I have costumes with me," Misty grinned, as she pulled a couple of Pysduck costumes out of her bag.

Once they got back to the water and were dressed as Pysducks, Misty called out her Psyduck and knelt down to his size. "Pysduck, duck, Psy?" Pysduck asked Misty. "I'm dressed like this so Ash and I can help you get used to the water, Pysduck!" Misty told her Pokémon. Pysduck blinked, and put his paws on his head, looking at her in confusion. "Ready, Ash?" Misty smiled to her friend.

Pikachu jumped off from Ash's shoulder and onto the ground to watch things unfold. Ash nodded, "you bet I am," he cried out, smiling to her as he picked Pysduck up in his arms.

"Duck? Psy-duck! DUCK! DUCK! DUCK!" Pysduck cried out in panic as Ash held him in his arms. Pysduck thought it was weird to see a bigger Pysduck pick him up. "Calm down, Psyduck, just calm down and trust me," Ash ushered to the Pokémon.

'That won't work, I've tried yelling at Pysduck to calm down, and huh? Wait, it can't be,' Misty snapped out of her angry thoughts as she watched as Ash carried Pysduck into the water, talking to him casually. Once they were in the water, knee deep, Ash gently put the Pysduck in the lake, to see his reaction. "PYS! PSY! PYS! PYS!" Pysduck cried out, panicking as he realized that the ground felt weird to him. "Psyduck, calm down, shhh, it's okay! You can't be afraid of water forever," he winked to Misty and nodded to her.

Misty made her way to the lake, she felt weird in the Pysduck costume, but she also hoped that her plan would finally work to get Pysduck over it's own fear of water. 'Pysduck can't be a strong Pokémon if he doesn't like water,' she thought as she made her way to where Ash was standing in the water, with her Psyduck now safely back in his arms. She was almost there when she suddenly felt her foot get hooked up in a vine, that wasn't a part of the plan. 'Oh no,' Misty thought, as she attempted to get her foot freed, the more she tried struggling with the vine, the more it wrapped around her, suddenly she went under water.

"MISTY!" Ash exclaimed, with fear in his voice, he let Pysduck out of his arms, at once the Pokémon freaked out about being in the water. "Come on Psyduck, we've got to rescue Misty, you have to dive under and free her, I think she got hooked under a vine or a seaweed. We have to check it out," Ash encouraged the frightened Pokémon who at once stopped flailing his arms, and nodded. "Let's go Pysduck, I'll hold your paw and you follow me in, we've got to help Misty," he added.

Pysduck nodded as Ash held onto his paw, Ash planned to let go of him once they neared Misty, it was a good thing she could hold her breath under water for so long, without needing air, for the plan to go well. When both Ash and Pysduck were under water, they looked around for Misty, and spotted her in her Pysduck costume, she was attempting to tug the vine from her foot, a Golduck swam up to her with hearts in his eyes, thinking she was a real wild Pysduck, the Golduck swam to her aid and put his arms around hers. Ash and Pysduck noticed Misty with a Golduck, Pysduck frowned and let go of Ash's hand, forgetting he was in water, he swam closer to Misty, and glared at the Golduck, his claws started to glow and Pysduck used scratch on the Golduck.

"PSY-DUCK! DUCK! DUCK!" Pysduck snapped at the Golduck who let go of Misty in surprise, Misty stared at her Pysduck in disbelief, after a while, she realized she needed to go up for air, but she couldn't because her foot was hooked under a vine. Frightened, Misty attempted to pull free from it, but the more she did, the more the vine wrapped around her foot. She needed to go up for air badly, and began flailing her arms around hoping to get Ash's attention, she saw him swimming closer with her Psyduck.

'Oh no, Misty's in real trouble, she's not faking it, like we planned,' Ash thought in fear, as he swam faster to her. Pysduck stayed close to his side, still not realizing that he was in water. The closer they got, the more Misty began to panic, she attempted several times to unwrap the vine from her foot, but failed each time. Pysduck's claws glowed white, Misty watched him use Scratch on the vines, which broke into pieces, soon her foot was freed, but it was too late, Misty fell unconscious in the water, Ash rushed to her side and swam up with her in his arms, with Pysduck still following him.

Once they reached the surface, Ash gasped for air, and ran to the shore, with Misty safely in his arms, Pysduck began to freak out after realizing he was in the water, but Ash couldn't rescue him, because he was concerned about Misty. Pysduck continued to freak out, Pikachu, who was waiting for Ash patiently swam out to rescue Pysduck, while Ash lay Misty on the ground. Ash took the Pysduck costume off Misty, thankfully she wore her usual outfit underneath, once he did that, he began CPR on her, Professor Oak and Delia had taught him that.

For what it seamed like forever, Misty began to cough and splutter, Ash stopped the CPR and sighed in relief, watching as she opened her eyes. "W-what happened? and where is Psyduck?" Misty asked, as she slowly sat up, with Ash's help.

"You nearly drowned, and gave me a fright, I had to do CPR on you, how are you feeling?" Ash started to say, then looked around for Pysduck, to tell her what happened, he smiled noticing that Pikachu was swimming towards the water Pokémon who was still freaking out about being in the water. "Pysduck is still terrified about being in water, but he was fine when we went to rescue you, it was him who used Scratch to cut the vines from your leg, you had me worried, I thought I'd lose the only person I love, aside from my mum and Professor Oak," Ash explained to her.

Misty blushed as he spoke to her, especially when he said that he loved her. "Y-you did all that for me? T-thank you Ash. Wait, you love me? I love you too, I always have loved you and wished I could go on a journey with you. It was so hard being without you, even though Tracey, Professor Oak and your mum would come over and say hello to me, but now my life is complete. Does that mean you and I are boyfriend and girlfriend now? It looks like we will have to continue to teach Pysduck to swim, he can't be like this all of his life," Misty looked past Ash, and watched as Pikachu came running up to her with Pysduck who looked petrified.

"Mhm, we are boyfriend and girlfriend if you want us to be, I'm happy to help you teach him to swim, as long as you promise me one thing," Ash smiled as he put a hand out to help her up. Misty shivered, after that fright she was cold, Ash took his vest off and gave it to her to wear, Misty smiled and put it on.

"Sure, what is it, Ash?" Misty asked, wondering what promise he wanted them to keep. Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder and Pysduck ran up to Misty, and hid behind her legs. "PSY-duck! PSY! PSYDUCK!" Pysduck cried out in fear.

"Don't scare me like that again, I don't want to lose you Misty. You are important to me," Ash smiled to his new girlfriend. Misty blushed and flung her arms around him, Ash returned the smile and hugged her back, Misty blushed and pressed her lips against his pulling them into their very first kiss, Ash returned it,enjoying the moment with her. Pikachu had jumped from Ash's shoulder to join Pysduck's side and watched his trainer kiss Misty.

"It's about time they got together, don't you think, Marill?" A certain assistant asked his water type Pokémon, he was spying on them the whole time, with Marill, he was sketching a picture of the two kissing. 'I know Professor Oak and Delia told me to come here and ask Misty if she wanted to stay for dinner, but I couldn't resist to watch them teaching Pysduck to swim,' he thought to himself. 'just wait until they see this,' he grinned at the thought as he continued sketching Ash and Misty sharing their first kiss.

"Marill, Mar!" Marill replied to the assistant.

THE END!