Hello everyone! Here is my first attempt at an AaML fic and my first attempt at a one-shot. I apologize for any grammatical errors/misspellings in advance.

Pinky Promise

"Do you think it bites?" A young red-headed girl pressed her face up against the glass of a large cylindrical aquarium tank, eyes wide with wonder. She let out a tiny gasp as a small horsea swam near the young girl, curious as to who could be so interested in it.

"Like, why would it bite?" replied a teenage girl with flowing blonde hair.

"Yeah, like, Daisy's right. You've never been bitten by one at the gym" added another teenage girl, this one with pink hair.

The young red-head sighed and stared somewhat longingly at the Horsea. "I know, Lily… but maybe this one is different… I've never met a Pokémon that wasn't trained at the Cerulean Gym before…You guys never let me watch your battles." She whipped around to face her three teenage sisters. "But…maybe this Horsea is wild or something!" A wide grin spread across the little girl's face.

"Misty…like, why would you want a wild Pokémon? It may have, like, rabies," said the sister with purple hair.

Misty's face contorted into a weird expression in confusion. "What's rabies, Violet?"

The purple-haired sister just shrugged it off. "Like, how should I know? I just know that people, like, say it all the time about wild Pokémon." Misty wasn't satisfied with that answer, but turned back to the aquarium and away from her sisters. The Horsea had since wandered off to the other side of the tank, at which the redhead sighed sadly.

"I wish I could catch my own wild Pokémon…" she said quietly to herself, though fully aware that she was much too young to care for one on her own.

"Well, like, we're going to go back to the festival so we can, like, enter some more beauty contests and win tons of fabulous prizes!" Daisy said excitedly. The three sensational sisters flung their hair back in unison and left the little redhead alone by the aquarium tank. Misty didn't mind though. She wasn't like her sisters at all. She'd rather spend all day playing with Pokémon than dressing up and pretending to be a princess. At least, that's what Misty called it anyway. What other reasoning does a five-year old tomboy have for beauty contests?

Misty continued to watch the Horsea from the other side of the tank until it found something else on a different side of the tank to occupy it's time with. As the Horsea moved, Misty could see the saddened face and chubby hands of a young boy plastered against the glass opposite her. He looked about her age, with a mess of black hair piled on top of his head. She was rather far away from him but could tell he had been and possibly was still crying. Curiously, she began to walk towards where the boy was, the Horsea following her movements.

"Hi," Misty said cautiously, her hands together behind her back. She was afraid the boy might start crying, but instead he removed himself slowly from the aquarium glass to look at the young girl. Misty could see that his eyes were puffy and his cheeks wet with tears. "What's wrong?" she added innocently. However, the boy's eyes began to fill with tears again as he broke out into a silent sob. "Ah! I'm sorry!" Misty hadn't meant to make the boy cry again and wished she could help him out. "I don't want you to cry anymore…" The boy looked up at her as if she had just said something completely ridiculous.

"But… You… Don't know me…" the boy managed between his sniffles. Misty once again had a confused look on her face, like he just said something ridiculous.

"So?" Misty had a kind smirk on her face. "Besides, no one wants to stare at a crybaby all day," she added. The boy's eyes grew wide and immediately began blushing from embarrassment. He wiped his eyes and nose with the back of his t-shirt and did his best to keep from breaking out into tears once again. "See? Much better," Misty exclaimed, proud of the great deed she had just done. "By the way, I'm Misty and I love water Pokémon!"

The young boy smiled at this, the first smile the young redhead had seen from him. "I'm Ash and I love every Pokémon!" He was simply glowing with excitement. Misty could only assume that the mention of Pokémon had instantly cured his sadness. She giggled to herself at Ash's enthusiasm, at which he smiled even wider.

"Then why were you crying?" Misty suddenly asked. "There's a whole tank of the most awesome type here! Water!" Misty grinned and stretched her arms out as a gesture to the big tank. The smile slowly vanished from Ash's face as he remembered just why he had been crying.

"I…" he began quietly, "can't find my mom…"

"Oh…" Misty stopped grinning and instead began to think hard. "I got it!" She said suddenly, surprising Ash.

"Wha-what?"

Misty threw her head back confidently. "We can find your mom!"

"B-but I've been looking for her for forever…" Ash said dejectedly.

"So?" Misty said in response. "Just because a crybaby like you couldn't find your mom, doesn't mean we won't!" Misty had her hands clenched in determination. Ash stared at the red-haired girl and couldn't help but wonder why she wanted to help him. After all, she kept calling him names…

"Well?" Misty was now two inches from the boy's face, "Whaddaya say?" Ash stared at her a little longer before jumping back and mimicking her, determination apparent in his tear-stricken face.

"Alright!" Ash replied with his new-found confidence. "But, where do we start?"

Misty shrugged. "I don't know… but we can start anywhere!" Misty grabbed Ash's hand and began to drag him to the exit of the aquarium tent. "Since she's not in here, we have to go back to the festival!" Ash still couldn't figure it out, but as the redhead pulled him along, he knew there was something about this girl he really liked.

"Excuse me, mister, but have you seen his mom?" The gentleman that had the unfortunate luck to have two five-year olds tugging at his pant leg coughed and looked off in the distance, pretending that a nearby ice cream stand had caught his attention.

"I-I'm sorry, no…" he replied and quickly walked off. Ash hung his head as tears began to well up in his eyes.

"Misty, she's gone…" The raven haired boy plopped down on the ground in front of a balloon stand and began to sob. Misty sighed and sat down next to him.

"She's not gone…" Misty said. "No one knows what she looks like," the redhead shrugged. "Actually, I don't know what she looks like…" At this, Ash looked up to see the young girl giggling to herself. "Kinda silly, huh?" Ash smiled through his tears and couldn't help but laugh himself.

"Well, what do we do now?"

Misty began stroking her chin mockingly, mimicking the detectives in the old movies she sometimes watched on TV. "Elemenberry, my dear Watson!" Ash laughed at her detective impersonation and decided to do his own impression. He jumped and took the wheel of his large pirate ship and peered through his imaginary telescope.

"Avast, ye matey!" Misty couldn't help but laugh. "Out there be my mom! And we're going to find 'er!"

Misty was in a fit of giggles at this point and could barely make out "Aye, aye captain!"

The man working the balloon stand couldn't help but smile to himself at the scene that was unfolding in front of him.

For the next hour, Misty and Ash ran up and down the many isles of booths that were littered about the Pokémon festival in Celadon City. Their pirate adventures in search of Ash's missing mom led the duo right back where they started from.

"The aquarium tent…" Misty stopped dead in her tracks, Ash consequentially running into her, causing them both to fall over.

"Ermf! Ash! Get off!" Misty yelled as the boy scrambled to get up off the fiery redhead.

"S-sorry…" Ash backed away, scared Misty might get even angrier. To his surprise, she simply sighed and nodded her head.

"No… I'm sorry… we didn't find your mom…"

"Ash…!" The raven haired boy whipped around to see his mom running at full speed toward him.

"Mom!" The boy's eyes once again filled up with tears as he ran towards her. Misty simply watched from the sidelines as the young boy was reunited with his mother.

"Wh-where…were you?" Ash said between sniffles.

"Oh, Ash," his mother replied, "I told you I was going to get us some cotton candy to eat while we watched the water Pokémon!" Ash looked like he was about to start sobbing but his mother simply hugged him and smiled. "It's okay, we all forget sometimes. But I'm here now, so there's no need to worry" she added as she hugged her son tighter.

Misty smiled, happy that the boy had nothing to cry about anymore. Even though she wasn't the girliest little girl ever, she did like cute, happy endings.

"Oh, who's your friend?" Misty looked a little surprised, as the focus of Ash's mother had now turned to her. She felt embarrassed but wasn't exactly sure why.

"That's Misty! She helped me find you!" Ash said excitedly, smiling at the redhead. Misty smiled at the boy and his mother, hands folded behind her back.

"Why, Misty, that was awfully nice of you!" Ash's mother came over to Misty and knelt down in front of her so they were eye to eye. "You must be a very nice girl for helping a stranger out like that," his mom added with a smile.

Ash ran over to where his mother and Misty were. "But mom! I'm not a stranger!"

Ash's mother looked a little confused but happily asked "Oh, Ash, do you two go to school together?" Ash shook his head in response.

"No, but we're best friends now!" Misty's eyes grew wide at Ash's comment. No one had ever called her a "best friend" before. Heck, she barely even had any friends at all since she rarely left the gym.

"Oh, you are?" Ash's mother smiled in delight. "Well, isn't that just wonderful?" Misty couldn't help but smile back as she linked arms with Ash.

"Yep! The best of friends!"

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the crowd in front of them. Three teenage girls with vibrantly colored hair pushed and shoved their way through.

"Misty!" Daisy ran up to the young redhead and grabbed her little hand, tearing her out of the arm-lock she had been in with Ash.

"Daisy!" Misty looked upset but not as upset as her three sisters were.

"Like, how many times have we told you not to go wandering of by your little self?" Daisy was knelt down in front of Misty and tried looking in her green eyes but the redhead wouldn't allow it. She turned away from her blonde sister and stared at the ground instead.

"Why do you care?" Misty said almost inaudibly, "You always leave me alone…"

"So? Like, a little runt like you should have just stayed where you were until we like, got back with all of our prizes for being like, amazingly beautiful." Misty now had a scowl on her face, but she would never let herself cry, especially not in front of her sisters…or a boy.

"Yeah, well, what are you gonna do now?" Misty suddenly tore her hands out of her sister's grip and disappeared into the seemingly endless crowd.

"Misty!" Ash surprisingly said first out of everyone witnessing the scene. He jumped to run after her but his mom grabbed him before he could do so.

"Oh, no, mister. There's no way you're getting lost again."

"But mom!" Ash pleaded, "She helped me… We need to go find her!"

Ash's mother looked at her son, his lip quivering in desperation. "Alright…" she sighed, "We'll go look for her." His mother stood up and faced the three teenage sisters. "Well, how about you? Are you going to go look for her as well?" The three girls sweatdropped in embarrassment.

"O-of course…!" Daisy managed, fearful of this strange woman with a demanding stare.

"Good!" Ash's mother put her hands on her hips in a very matter-of-fact way. "Because the way it looks to me, you three haven't really been very good sisters. That little girl was really nice to my son and she deserves a little bit more respect from the people who are supposed to be taking care of her."

The three sisters hung their heads, their feet the most interesting things they could find to stare at while they were reprimanded.

"Alright, alright! Like, we'll go look for her..." Daisy sighed. The three girls took off in the direction Misty had run, happy they were finally out of sight of whoever that crazy lady with the raven-haired son was.

"Misty!" Ash called out for what felt like the hundredth time. "Mom…what should we do?" Ash's mother sighed. The sun was setting.

"Ash, honey, it's getting late. We need to head home before it gets too dark. The train will stop running soon." Ash looked sadly at the ground and took his mother's hand. "I'm sure she found her sisters," his mother added. "She seemed like a very strong girl. She'll be alright."

"Yeah… I guess…" Ash just wished he could have at least said goodbye to his new friend. "Wait, mom!" Ash suddenly blurted out. "The river!" He took off in the direction of the river, his mom speechless in surprise.

"Ash!"

"She loves water Pokémon! Maybe she's there!" Just like that, Ash was out of his mother's sight for the second time that day, but fortunately this time she knew where he would be and she soon took off in the direction of the river herself.

As soon as the river came in sight, Ash spotted the messy red hair of the girl he was looking for sitting at the edge of the dock.

"Misty!" He yelled happily as he ran towards the girl, glad that she was alright.

"I hate all of them," Misty mumbled almost inaudibly through the streams of tears. "All they do is call me a runt and a squirt and yell at me. They don't even like me."

Ash sat down next to Misty and stared at the water with her. "Of course they like you, Misty." Misty looked up from the water and gave Ash a very disbelieving look. Ash sweatdropped. "I don't have any brothers or sisters, but I always see them fighting when I go with my mom places. She says they fight and say mean things because they love each other." Misty scrunched up her face as if she smelled something terrible.

"That doesn't make any sense."

Ash laughed. "I know!" Misty soon joined Ash and the two broke out into a seemingly endless fit of giggles. "Well, at least you aren't crying anymore." Misty looked surprised at Ash's comment. "No one likes a crybaby," Ash added with a smirk.

Misty smirked back playfully. "Thanks, Ash."

"Hey… Misty?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we'll be friends forever?"

Misty once again tried out her detective-like thinking pose, at which Ash laughed. "Yep!"

"Promise?"

Misty reached out her hand, fist clenched but her pinky extended. "I pinky promise." Ash grinned wide and reached out his own hand, interlocking his pinky with hers.

"So we'll see each other again?" Ash asked, causing Misty to grin as well.

"Yep!" She replied happily. "Only, next time, you better not be crying or in trouble," she added with the best attempt a five-year old could make at a wink. The pair soon broke out into another fit of giggles.

Up on the hill that overlooked the riverbank, Misty's sisters and Ash's mom couldn't help but squeal at the adorable scene happening down below.

Nine Years Later

"Ugh, Ash! Get off of me!" Misty shoved Ash's sleeping form off of her for the tenth time that train ride and proceeded to whack him on the shoulder with her book.

"Whazzappening?" Ash jolted awake, hand automatically reaching for the Pokéballs strapped to his belt. The commotion awoke Pikachu, at which he gave his master an angry shock of electricity.

"There you go again, trying to be all heroic," Misty scoffed. "The only problem here is you. You keep falling asleep on me!"

Ash blinked a few times and began to scratch the back of his head in his signature way of expressing embarrassment. "Sorry, Misty. I'm just exhausted."

"Yeah, well, if you're going to fall asleep, do it on Brock," she gestured toward the already asleep young man across from them. "He obviously wouldn't mind." Ash sighed nervously.

"I think I'll pass…" Ash said, "He'd probably think I was a girl in his sleep and try to kiss me or something…" He then grimaced at the thought of what an experience that would be. Misty held up her book higher, covering the wide grin of amusement that soon played across her face.

"Man, how much longer do we have, anyway?" Ash asked with a yawn, Misty sighing in response.

"It shouldn't be that much longer," Misty said as she buried herself back in her book. "Maybe you should have brought something to do instead of trying to fall asleep on me the whole time." Ash rolled his eyes, annoyed.

"It's not like I want to fall asleep on you! It's either you or falling into the aisle, so I went with the lesser of two evils." Misty's eyebrow began to twitch in anger.

"Oh, really, now?"

"A-anyway…" Ash raised his hands in defeat and tried to change the subject. "So where are we going again?"

Misty sighed. She swore she told this boy at least seven times where they were going. "Ash, I told you. We're going to Celadon. There's some water Pokémon exhibit at the festival they are having and they wanted the great Misty Waterflower to speak at it," Misty said rather nonchalantly. Ash rolled his eyes again.

"And why are Brock and I going?"

Misty took a deep breath to calm herself before going on. "Well, you and Brock got back from Sinnoh right after I got the invitation. I thought it would fun, just like the old days. You guys need a nice break, anyway."

"Pshh…yeah," Ash added. "It's certainly like the old days, alright, with you yelling at me and stuff." Misty whacked Ash with her book again. "Ow!"

"So anyway, Ash, have you ever been to Celadon's Pokémon festival? I think I went there with my sisters when I was little." Misty looked at the ceiling thoughtfully, trying to remember anything about her previous time there.

"I think my mom might have taken me when I was little also, but it very well could have been a festival in a different city." Ash rubbed the back of his head nervously. "You know I don't have the best memory in the world." Misty smirked.

"Yeah, that's for sure. But anyway, I think I remember there being a really neat aquarium there." Misty was lost in thought, trying to recover whatever memories she could.

"An aquarium, huh? I think I remember that too. I feel like I was crying there or something," Ash said, trying to remember whatever he could as well.

"Crying?" Misty asked, trying to hold back her laughter. "Why would you be crying at a water Pokémon exhibit?" Suddenly, Misty froze.

"Uh, Misty?" Ash poked the redhead, causing her to drop the book she was holding.

"W-we're you crying…because you couldn't find your mom…?" Misty managed to get out, albeit rather quietly.

Ash thought for a second and then nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, I think so. Wait, yeah! I was! Because this girl came and—" Ash leapt out of his seat and into the aisle, eyes wide as saucers. "MISTY?" he nearly screamed, the whole train car turning to look at him.

Misty's eyes were now just as wide as Ash's were. Her hands were shaking but Ash noticed something slowly creeping across the redhead's face: a blush even redder than her hair. Just then, the train came to a screeching halt and Ash was thrown to the floor of the train. Brock sprung awake, confused as to why everyone was staring at Misty and why Ash was on the floor.

The intercom then came on, welcoming the passengers to Celadon City.

"I-I have to go…!" Misty managed as she grabbed her bag and ran off the train.

Brock stood up and immediately began to scold Ash. "Ash! What did you do this time?" Ash looked up from the floor, clearly not amused as he had hit his head on the way down. He then scrambled to his feet and grabbed his own bag.

"Sorry, Brock. We'll catch up with you later!" Ash said as he ran off the train himself, Pikachu following closely behind. Brock sighed to himself, aware that he was now alone. That was, until he looked out the train window and saw that the beauty contest was currently underway.

Ash made his way through the crowds, searching for the temperamental redhead. He had already checked the aquarium, thinking she may have gone there to prepare for her speech. "Well, she's not at the aquarium or at any of the games… and she's definitely not near any of the food" Ash thought, his stomach gurgling as it digested the many food ventures he had throughout his search.

And then he spotted it, closing his eyes as he sighed. "I should have known." The river.

Sure enough, Misty sat on the end of the old dock. "Pikachupi!" Pikachu exclaimed.

"Yeah, there she is…just like I thought." Ash began to climb down the bank towards the dock. Pikachu stayed behind, knowing the two might want some privacy.

"I can't help but feel like we've done this before," Ash said with a smirk as he came and sat down next to Misty. She could only blush furiously at that comment and turned away, not wanting him to see that she had been crying.

"I can't believe I had forgotten all about that. I mean, it's understandable for me, I guess," Ash said, once again scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. Misty smiled even though she knew he couldn't see it. "I'm actually a little surprised you didn't remember that." Misty's breath caught in her throat.

"I…" was all Misty was able to get out. She honestly wasn't sure why she had forgotten about something like that. He had been one of the only real friends she had made when she was little, being cooped up at the gym all the time.

"You know, now that I think about it, I have a feeling my mom's known this whole time… I think that's why she always stares at the two of us strangely…But, anyway, Misty, I'm not sure you're crying," Ash said, even though he knew that girls were way beyond being able to figure out. He first learned that when he met Misty four years ago. "Besides, no one likes a crybaby."

Misty's eyes grew wide and she once again felt herself freezing up. She breathed deeply and began to try to shake it off. She wiped the tears off her cheeks and slowly stood up, finally looking down at Ash.

"I… I just… I feel so strange. Like… I knew it all along, but couldn't really figure out what it was that I knew." Ash stood up, now slightly taller than Misty.

"I know exactly what you mean."

Misty raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Oh, really?"

Ash couldn't help but laugh. "No."

Misty rolled her eyes. "Some people never change," she said as she began heading back to the riverbank.

"H-hey!" Ash called out as he ran after her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Misty scoffed, flinging her bangs back as she did so. "It means exactly what I said." Not exactly the answer Ash was looking for.

"Oh, come on, Misty!" Ash pleaded. "I made you stop crying didn't I?" At this, Misty couldn't help but smile. She quickly grabbed Ash's hand, the two of them blushing profusely as she did so.

"Yep! But that still doesn't change anything, Mr. Pokémon Master," Misty said with a smirk.

"What! Misty! That's not fair!"

The pair continued arguing as they walked, Misty of course having missed giving her speech. However, despite their bickering, the two never stopped holding hands all the way back to the festival.

The End

I hope you enjoyed my first AaML fic! It's based off of a request someone made of me to draw. She asked for Ash and Misty making a pinky promise when they were little and this is the story I came up with around that promise. I tried my best to keep everyone in character and to make them act their ages… I hope I didn't fail too much (Let's just say they were really smart five-year olds haha)

-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)