Hey everyone! Welcome to my contribution to Pokeshipping Week 2017! This is one of my favorite weeks of the whole year because I love sharing my work surrounding this fantastic -ship, as well as looking at everyone else's work!

This year, 7 different themes were chosen, and if we wanted, we could replace just one theme with one of our choosing. I have decided to change one of the themes, but I'm going to leave which one as a surprise for now!

The first theme was Fishing, so obviously (as the title clearly shows) I decided to go with that one!

As a reminder, I do not own any of these characters or anything else related to the Pokémon anime and franchise. The only thing that's mine here is the storyline.

Fishing

Really, is there anything better in the world than fishing?

Misty smiled to herself as the thought ran through her head. What she was experiencing was nothing short of sheer bliss: a warm, sunny spot by the lake with a light breeze blowing through, completely silent with the exception of a few chirping bird Pokémon from the nearby trees.

Reaching into her red drawstring bag, Misty pulled out a portable fishing rod and unfolded it to its full size. Of course, carrying around a full-size fishing rod when you were travelling from city to city was not just impractical, it was basically impossible. Fortunately for Misty, a collapsible rod worked just as well for her as any of her good rods back home.

Naturally, it was because she was just so good at fishing.

The next thing she had to do was attach her lure to the end of the rod, and pulling out the small figure brought a different smile to Misty's face: one of pride. She had crafted her "Mini Misty" lure by hand, spending many painstaking hours on it to ensure that it would properly capture her beauty. After all, a lure with that much loveliness would be simply irresistible to water types!

Once the lure was all set up, Misty held the rod with just the right amount of pressure and gave it a small toss forward, casting her line into the still, clear blue water before her. Mini Misty bobbed for a moment before sinking beneath the surface, and with that, Misty was fully in fishing mode. She let out a soft, content sigh and closed her eyes, waiting for the first tug at her line to bring her back down to Earth.

"Hey, there you are!"

Unfortunately for her, that plan was dashed rather quickly.

Misty's eyes snapped open into a sharp glare, which she immediately directed over her shoulder. Upon seeing who had disrupted her peace and quiet, Misty was anything but surprised, and the expression on her face changed a degree in order to reflect that.

"Ash," Misty hissed. "What are you doing here? I told you and Brock I'd be back in a little while!"

"Yeah, but I got bored," Ash replied effortlessly, shrugging his shoulders. It was that motion that made Misty realize Pikachu was not perched in his usual spot.

"Where's Pikachu?" Misty asked, temporarily forgetting her anger towards the boy.

"Oh, he wanted to stay with Brock. He was still finishing his lunch," Ash answered, starting to move closer to Misty. "What're you doing out here?"

Just like that, the irritation returned, although she tried to keep her voice level. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Um…sitting by the lake?" Ash lamely suggested.

Misty narrowed her eyes and nodded her head towards the fishing pole in her hands. "I'm fishing, Ash."

The boy's face lit up. "Fishing? That sounds like so much fun!"

"Yeah right," Misty scoffed. "Every time you fish, you complain about how boring it is!"

"Only sometimes," Ash grumbled, his exuberance twisting into a begrudged pout. "Besides, anything is more exciting than just sitting around the campsite while Brock talks about Nurse Joy non-stop."

Misty giggled, covering just half of her mouth with a hand. "The last one made quite an impression on him, huh?"

"Yeah, and the one before that," Ash muttered.

"And the one before that," Misty added, closing her eyes as she tilted her head back. It was out of amusement, but the sun hitting her face certainly relaxed her. In that single, solitary moment, it was like all the peace she had felt before had returned.

"So…can I fish with you?"

And just like that, it was gone all over again.

Misty opened her eyes and tilted her head down, finding that Ash had sat down beside her. His brown eyes were pleading, and they seemed genuine. Then again, nothing about Ash really ever seemed fake. He was about the most sincere person Misty had ever met.

"Fine," Misty groaned, earning a victorious fist pump from the boy next to her. "But you can't bug me! I do this for fun, and relaxation. So I know it's hard for you, but could you just try and keep your mouth shut for a little while?"

Most people would be put off by such a comment, but Ash expected nothing less from Misty. In response, he lightly shrugged his shoulders and quipped, "You should know. It's just as hard for you, right?"

Misty scowled, but chose not to retaliate. Ash knew that when that happened, it was because she couldn't come up with anything better to fire back with. He liked to take those small victories and roll with them.

He was soon being handed a portable fishing rod identical to Misty's own; it was a spare that she kept in her bag alongside the original.

"Don't break it," Misty warned him, her tone more serious than before.

"Come on, Mist," Ash whined, taking the rod. "I know I can be kinda clumsy, but I'm not an obliterator!"

"Big word for you," Misty complimented. Now it was Ash's turn to scowl. Misty smirked and handed Ash a lure; a regular one, far less detailed than her own Mini Misty. "Just be careful, okay? It's not exactly easy to find these things."

"A fishing rod?" Ash questioned, taking the lure and examining both tools in his hands.

"A portable fishing rod," Misty stressed. She stopped to think for a second before adding, "A good portable fishing rod. Most of them are junk."

"And these are good, huh?" Ash asked, looking from his rod over to Misty's after attaching his lure to the end of the line.

"The best," Misty proudly confirmed.

Ash smirked. "We'll just see about that!" And with that, he cast his line into the lake. Her competitive streak flaring, Misty looked right ahead and re-cast her own line, watching as the two lures bobbed beneath the water, right next to each other.

XXX

It took Ash less than ten minutes to become painfully bored.

He turned his head towards Misty, who, unlike him, looked like she was in heaven. Neither of them had caught a single thing yet, and Ash was starting to think that maybe the lake didn't actually have any Pokémon in it. Then again, Misty knew a lot about fishing, so it wouldn't make sense for her to waste her time at a spot that she knew had nothing to catch.

"Mist?" Ash prodded.

She ignored him. Ash sighed and tilted his head.

"Misty?"

Still ignoring him.

"MISTY!"

The redhead growled and snapped her head around. "What did I say about not bugging me?!"

"Are you sure there are Pokémon in this lake?" Ash questioned, ignoring her own inquiry.

"Of course I'm sure," Misty grumbled, turning away from him.

"How?"

"Because I read it in my fishing guide that's literally never failed me before in my entire life," Misty growled.

"Did it say what kind of Pokémon?" Ash pressed.

"Water types," Misty deadpanned.

"You know that's not what I meant!" Ash shot back. "I was talking about, like…Dewgong, or Seaking, or, oh! What about Gyarados?!"

Misty's eye twitched. "G-Gyarados?"

"Yeah, how cool would it be to find one of those?" Ash marveled, his excitement overflowing.

"Not cool at all," Misty muttered under her breath. Her hands suddenly jerked forward, catching both her and Ash's attention. "Hey, I think I got something!"

"Maybe a Gyarados?" Ash breathed, leaning forward on his knees.

"Would you quit it with the Gyarados?!" Misty shouted, tugging the rod backwards while simultaneously attempting to reel in her line. The handle was fighting against her, however, and Misty was finding it pretty difficult to move. "Ugh, it won't budge!"

Ash blinked and inched closer to Misty. "What'dya mean?"

"The reel," Misty grunted, sharply tugging at the handle again to try and spin it. "It's stuck!"

Whatever was at the end of her line yanked again, this time dragging Misty forward. Ash gasped and jumped up, wrapping his arms around Misty's waist without a second thought.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" Misty yelped. If the back of her head hadn't been facing Ash, he would've seen that her face was tinted bright red.

"Trying to help you!" Ash grunted as he dug his feet into the ground in an effort to keep himself steady. "You want to reel that thing in, right?"

Misty let out a shuttered breath before smirking and nodding her head. That Ash could see, and his own smile returned upon the simple action.

"Try pulling back again!" Ash instructed.

Misty hummed affirmatively and dragged her arms back, guiding the rod over her shoulder. She gave a small peek back, making sure she wasn't about to hit Ash in the head with it. Unfortunately, that quick glance loosened her stance, and she started tumbling towards the lake once again. This time, however, Ash was holding her, and she stopped short.

"Careful!" Ash warned her. It wasn't said angrily or even in a chastising manner, however. In fact, he said it in such a way that Misty was almost convinced he cared about her.

"Right," Misty breathed. She set her body rigid, tightening her grip on the rod and once again pulling it back, her hand cranking hard on the reel's handle. The tension in the reel started to lessen, and it suddenly became much easier for Misty to turn the handle. She went as quickly as she possibly could, not wanting to lose the momentum that had built up.

Before she could process it, her line emerged from the water, the sudden loss of the weight pulling her forward instead sending her toppling backwards. She collided with Ash, both of them falling to the ground. They both lay there stunned for a short moment before Misty popped back up, her eyes set wide.

"My rod!" She gasped.

She got to her feet and scurried over to it. Ash sat up and rubbed the side of his head, but quickly recovered when he remembered just why exactly he and Misty had hit the ground in the first place.

"What Pokémon was it?" Ash cried, scrambling to get to her. She was leaning over the rod, standing completely still and not responding to his question. "Was it a Gyarados like I thought?"

"Um, no…" Misty squeaked.

"Oh," Ash murmured, only a little disappointed. "What Pokémon then?"

"It…isn't a Pokémon."

Ash was about to ask what she meant by that, but had the question answered for him when she stood back up holding an old, deteriorating boot in her hands.

"A shoe?" Ash deadpanned. "All that struggling…over a shoe?"

"Technically it's a boot, not just a shoe, but yeah," Misty coolly replied.

Ash blinked and tilted his head. "How'd a boot put up like a fight like that?"

"I don't know," Misty grumbled, a distinct whine intermixed.

"Do you catch a lot of junk like that?" Ash questioned, pointing at the boot.

"No!" Misty stormed, quickly becoming reanimated as her face lit up red. "A talented fisher like me never catches anything worthless like this!"

"…but you just did…" Ash plainly stated.

Misty loudly growled and tossed the worn out boot over her shoulder. "Whatever, it was just a fluke. You saw nothing."

Ash looked confused, but suddenly, it all seemed to click for him. His lips bent into a sly smile, one which Misty didn't like the look of at all. It wasn't anything like his normal, genuine smile.

"What?" Misty grumbled, folding her arms.

"So…you wouldn't want me to go back to Brock and tell him how you fished an old boot out of the lake?" Ash asked theoretically.

Misty held her breath before rushing out, "No, I wouldn't."

Ash's wicked grin widened, and before Misty could stop him, he bolted forward and grabbed the boot off the ground, running a few more strides before spinning around and holding the boot above his head.

"Try and stop me!" He teased.

Misty blinked before deeply narrowing her eyes, grabbing her bag and the two portable fishing rods. "You'd better not let me catch up to you, Ash Ketchum! Not unless you want one of these rods making contact with your skull!"

The threat made Ash nervous, but he'd never let Misty know that. So with a cheeky smile and bellowing laugh, Ash whipped back around and started to run as fast as he could, tightly gripping the boot as he hurried to get back to Brock as quickly as possible with only one thought running through his head.

Really, is there anything better in the world than driving Misty crazy?