A/N: A fill for a prompt on the meme (this judging thing is getting old, you guys), because I'll be damned if there's any Pokeshipping or Rocketshipping prompts that go unfilled. Just a warning – this has, like, no plot. It's just like PWP, except with no porn. It's like FWP (fluff without plot). Doesn't quite have the same ring to it…

For the purposes of this fic, Misty's Gyarados is female. I don't care if your headcanon says otherwise; I'm sick and hungry and that's what my headcanon says. No, really, I love you guys, I just hate my cold.

Ages: Ash - 15, Misty - 16.

Oh, and: Easter Eggs in this one. Cookies if you find them.

Disclaimer: Nothing's changed. I still don't own it.

Edited for typos – thanks for reminding me, Warlordess.

Surprises and Hormones

by Naranne

Cerulean Gym was just as Ash Ketchum remembered it, and the thought brought a grin unbidden to his face. He paused on the road leading up to the doors, taking in the same brightly coloured dome, the larger than life Dewgong perched above the entryway, and the gaudy sign that proclaimed: Cerulean Gym. It was well into the afternoon, and the soft golden light that caught in the glass of the doors and windows made Ash's reflection sparkle back at him as he approached. A slight bit of worry hung about in the pit of his stomach – bar his mother back in Pallet, he hadn't told anyone he was coming, and he didn't know how the Waterflowers would react to a spontaneous drop-in. It had been a long time since he'd last been in Cerulean, let alone in the Gym, and the question wasn't so much would they remember him, but what they would say when they saw him. He'd called, of course, but it wasn't quite the same.

Looking a lot more confident than he felt, the fifteen year old trainer raised his hand to the electronic doorbell, flashing a nervous smile down at the Pokémon by his side. If there were any of Pikachu's expressions that resembled a human eye-roll, that particular one was definitely it – much less nervous (but just as excited) as his trainer, Pikachu was having none of Ash's hesitance. With an exasperated chaa, the little yellow Pokémon scampered up his trainer's side and jumped from his shoulder to the doorbell.

The chiming, high pitched little tune of a doorbell mingled with the sound of hurried footsteps brought one of Ash's hands up to the back of his neck in his habitual reaction to nervousness. A moment later, a figure came into view and Ash swallowed drily, preparing himself for the onslaught of the Sensational Sisters.

Misty was halfway into leading Gyarados through one of her most complicated manoeuvres when the doorbell rang, and Misty started, caught off-guard. The warbling, corny melody reminded Misty of just why she should never let her sisters be in charge of anything to do with the Gym, and she gave a half-hearted scowl. Annoyance quickly melted into confusion and curiousity, as she remembered that she'd specifically closed the Gym that afternoon to give her some quality training time with her Pokémon – if her sisters had re-opened it, she'd be mighty annoyed.

Sighing, she gave Gyarados an apologetic smile before returning the Pokémon to her ball, promising to continue their training session as soon as possible. Although she hadn't gone in the water that time, training a water Pokémon as big as Gyarados made fairly hefty splashes inevitable – Misty quickly towelled herself off, pulling her jacket on and slipping the dragon's Pokéball into her pocket. The pool she used to train her Pokémon was in a separate section of the Gym to the stadium, and if not for the fact that the doorbell was wired to the speakers (another insistence of her sisters), Misty would never have heard it. As she wove her way through corridors to the front entrance, she tried to think who could possibly be calling – if it was just a challenger too fired up to take note of the fact that the Gym was closed…

Shortly, voices floated towards her – she could hear her sisters, talking animatedly to someone whose voice sounded terribly familiar. It annoyed Misty that she couldn't quite place it, but the mystery was quickly cleared up when the highly recognisable, excited squeal of one particular electric mouse reached her ears. Misty stopped dead, mere metres from the foyer of the Gym, her eyes wide. Pikachu? What the –

It was all she could do, however, not to run the short distance to have what her ears told her confirmed, and she was immensely proud of the fact that she walked calmly (if a little quickly) into the foyer. Daisy stopped talking abruptly, mid-sentence, when she saw her younger sister. The stunning (beautiful) silence of her older sister had no impact on Misty at that moment, though, because of all people to be standing in the Gym's entryway on her afternoon off, Ash god-damned Ketchum was right before her, looking a little sheepish.

"He like, totally just dropped in to see you – isn't that sweet, Misty?" Violet gushed.

Misty had never been more grateful to Pikachu, for he chose that moment to leap towards her, masking the dusting of a blush that had flashed across her cheeks. She laughed and caught him at his excitable "Pikapi!", scratching him fondly behind the ears. Her sisters took that moment to beat a hasty retreat, leaving her alone with Ash and Pikachu. How long had it been since she'd last seen him? He'd called, but video phone didn't quite compare to actually seeing somebody – especially Ash. Misty blinked. Oh, no, she reminded herself, none of that.

"Well, surprise!" Ash laughed, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

Berating herself for her slight shyness and hating the hints of awkwardness that hung in the air (she was sixteen, not twelve), Misty looked away from Pikachu, smiling at her one-time travelling companion. He was much the same as always – a cap had been rammed down over messy black spikes, his eyes were kind, and his clothes were in a permanent state of semi-disarray. It took a fair bit of effort to banish the thought that where he'd been cute before, he was definitely attractive now and she bit her lip, fighting another damned blush back. The main difference, however, was that instead of looking down to meet his eyes, Misty found herself looking straight forward, and so she said the first thing that came to mind. "You've grown."

It came out almost accusatory, and Ash blinked. "Being a teenager does that to you, apparently," he said, and then seemed to suddenly think of something. "You can't tease me about being short, now!"

Misty quirked an eyebrow at him. "Uh-huh. You're as tall as a sixteen year old girl. Big achievement, Ketchum."

"Oh, yeah?" he challenged, and despite herself, Misty burst into laughter. Same old Ash, she thought happily, their banter banishing any lingering awkwardness. Misty grinned, feeling the easy camaraderie that they'd always enjoyed settling over them. Pikachu leapt back onto Ash's shoulder, dislodging his cap. They both chuckled, and then Misty tugged his sleeve, leading him back towards where she'd been training, her bare feet padding on the Gym's tiled floor.

I hate being a teenager, Ash thought miserably, joking along with Misty as she showed him the way to the training pool, a new installation and far larger than the stadium, she'd said. His excitement at seeing this new part of the Gym and their light banter were far from feigned, but Ash was fighting a losing battle with the hormonal side of him that really appreciated just how much of a young adult Misty was. Can't I just enjoy time in her company without ogling her? She's my best friend, dammit.

However, try as he might, Ash couldn't help noticing her. In fact, he'd been immensely glad when Pikachu had leaped towards her, because he was sure that left to his own devices he would have blurted something rather uncomfortable. Ash had become well aware, over the past months, that there was part of him that recognised that Misty was rather pretty, and he knew he wouldn't mind being more than just her best friend. Her outfit didn't leave much to the imagination, either – it was practical for a water Gym, sure, but a matching white and blue one-piece swimsuit and loose jacket didn't exactly help his cause. And the fact that her hair was no longer up in her trademark side ponytail, and instead hanging loosely around her face, had him itching to brush it back. Idly, he wondered whether it was as soft as it looked.

I'm going mad, he thought. Stark, raving mad. She'd shoot me if she ever found out what I was thinking about.

"You're not listening to a word I'm saying, are you?" Misty accused, breaking through his thoughts.

He scrambled for a reply, but she beat him to it. "Whatcha thinking about, Ashy-boy?" she teased, and despite the fact that it was a question he really didn't want her to know the answer to, he completely ignored it in the face of that name.

"Don't call me that," he protested, bristling.

Misty grinned. "Why not, Ashy-boy?"

Maturely, Ash stuck his tongue out her in reply, and shoved her playfully. "Because," he retorted. "I said so."

She stumbled, and then recovered and shoved him back, laughing. "Oh, yeah, because that's a really convincing argument."

"It is, isn't it?" he agreed proudly, eyes dancing and a lopsided smile hanging around his lips.

Misty raised her eyebrows at him, and prodded him squarely on the nose with one finger. "If you say so, Ashy-boy."

"Ow," he muttered, catching her hand and holding it away from his face. "Don't poke me!"

"You can't stop me," she challenged, and poked him in the chest with her other hand. Ash grinned, a somewhat evil little idea taking root in his head. Grabbing her other hand and then pinning them both together in his left hand, he proceeded to tickle her rather mercilessly with his right. Having not known Misty was ticklish, it was entirely a gamble, but it certainly paid off: she giggled endlessly and tugged at her hands, trying to break his grasp.

"What aren't you going to call me?" he grinned, tickling her harder.

"This – is – unfair –" she gasped in between fits of giggles. And then Misty caught a wicked gleam in her eye, and Ash knew he was about to be done for. Sure enough, the blow to his stomach caused him to release both her hands (no, he did not miss the contact), and he gaped.

"Ow." He grimaced and righted himself, meeting her triumphant smirk. He extended a wary hand. "Truce?"

Misty's smirk refused to waver. "Fine."

They shook on it. As she pulled her hand away, Ash refused to think about what it meant that he'd accidentally-on-purpose held on longer than was strictly necessary, brushing his thumb over the back of her hand as she let go.

Whilst Misty had been entirely honest and innocent in her intentions with showing Ash the large pool she used to train her Pokémon – he'd never seen this part of the Gym before, and if she were honest with herself, it was also a chance to show off how strong some of her Pokémon had become – a small part of her was very, very glad that it was the one place in the Gym her sisters barely ever went. In fact, she often had to drag them there, reminding them that even though she was now the official Gym Leader, their Pokémon still needed their attention. To which they would invariably reply that "attention" didn't have to mean "battling", but would allow Misty to push Pokéballs into their hands with a roll of her eyes nonetheless.

This would be the first time she had been alone with Ash in a very long while – she was, perhaps, one part nervous, two parts calm, and one part thrilled. Misty had long ago learnt to stop trying to hide her feelings from herself, but she'd also come to accept that the chance that Ash would ever reciprocate was very small. Which made the way he was acting today all the more odd; sure, for the most part, he acted exactly the same towards her as he always had, yet there were moments where she was not quite sure.

Misty shook her head, mentally chiding herself for letting her thoughts slide that way, and instead turned to the teen in question. "What do you think?"

Ash took a few steps forward as Misty shut the door behind her, looking around with a huge smile plastered on his face. "It's brilliant."

"The Pokémon certainly think so," Misty said with no small amount of pride, walking towards the pool and enlarging Gyarados' Pokéball. She could feel Ash's eyes on her, and blushed despite herself. My outfit's not exactly what you'd call modest, she realised, before shrugging and laughing a little. With one smooth movement, she threw the Pokéball in a graceful arc – in a flash of bright light Gyarados materialised, sending up a tower of water that splashed both Ash and Misty. Pikachu scampered, getting out of the way of the water, to which Ash laughed. His Pokémon retaliated with a cheeky sounding string of Pikachu-speak and ducked through the doors, dashing off to the remainder of the Gym, where it was dry.

"Gyarados looks really strong," Ash commented. Misty glanced over her shoulder at him, surprised.

"Thanks, Ash," she said, honestly appreciative of the compliment. Gyarados roared and dived underwater, splashing them again. Misty laughed and wiped some water from her cheek. "Doesn't deal well with compliments."

"Neither does her trainer."

As Gyarados resurfaced behind her, Misty turned to face her friend. She raised an eyebrow, placing a hand on her hip, and Ash's hand went to the back of his neck sheepishly. It took her a few seconds to realise that she must make a fairly intimidating picture, narrowing her eyes at him with Gyarados sitting calm in the water behind her. She grinned quickly, but then took a step forward. "Don't I now?" she challenged.

Ash nodded. "'Course not."

"I don't see how you'd know, though," she pointed out, rolling her eyes at his contradictions. "I can't remember you ever complimenting me all that much."

"Well, I –" He stopped, and frowned.

Misty smirked, pushing down the sliver of sadness that emerged. "I know how you can repay me, though." She chuckled downright evilly then, and Ash took a step backward. Misty was not having any of it, and reached out, grabbing him by the arm and pulling. He stumbled, and when he righted himself, Misty's breath caught as she realised there was very little space separating them. Pushing that thought firmly to the back of her mind, she grinned and said, "In you go."

Then Misty gave an almighty shove and Ash landed in the pool with a loud splash, coughing and spluttering and laughing as he came up for air. In one fluid motion she stripped off her jacket and then dived into the pool, surfacing next to Ash, her hair plastered to the sides of her head. Grinning, she shook her head like a dog, spraying Ash with water and loosening her hair. Gyarados peered down at the new arrivals in her pool, looking as curious as a giant water dragon Pokémon can look (not very). "Oops," Misty said, flicking water at Ash.

Ash retaliated with a wave of a splash. "Looks like I'm staying the night. I can't go anywhere like this." He gestured to himself.

"You just gestured to all of you," Misty remarked.

"Exactly," Ash said, and splashed her again.

Gyarados roared, fed up with their antics, and smacked her tail on the pool's surface, sending water crashing down over the heads. Misty laughed, watching as her Pokémon dived and raced to the other end of the pool, away from them. When she turned back to Ash, he was looking at her with an odd expression. She cocked her head to one side. "What?"

Ash cleared his throat. "You, uh – you look like a girl, Mist."

Her heart giving an annoying little thud at his nickname for her, Misty was torn between exasperation, amusement, and irritation. She settled for a combination of all three. "Well spotted."

"No, I mean –" and here Ash blushed, and Misty's eyes went wide— "you really look like a girl."

The flick of his eyes down to her chest wasn't quick enough for Misty not to catch. She gaped. "Ash!"

"It was a compliment, Misty – see, I said that you don't deal with them well, just –"

Whatever else he had been about to say, though, was cut off with a resounding smack, as Misty's hand connected with his cheek. He may be my best friend, she thought furiously, and I may have had a crush on him since I was ten, but that does not excuse blatantly eyeing me. (It would occur to her later that perhaps she had been angry because she didn't know how to deal with the alternative – and the fact that Ash was appreciative of her appearance.) She raised her arm to strike again, but was too slow; anticipating her next slap, Ash had caught her arm, gripping her wrist with his hand.

"Consider me duly punished," he attempted, cheek bright red, even though it was clear he still wasn't quite sure where he'd gone wrong. "The – um, the outfit suits you, though," he fumbled, gesturing lamely at her with the hand not gripping her wrist.

Misty couldn't help feeling a little astonished, and more than a little exasperated by the blush she was sure she could feel creeping up her neck. "Thank-you?" She frowned. "Although, you're not off the hook yet." Misty realised her poor choice of words too late, as Gyarados roared. "Metaphorically!" she shouted at her Pokémon. "I meant a metaphorical hook, you silly dragon!"

Gyarados snorted derisively and dove underwater to sulk. Misty rolled her eyes fondly, and then realised that Ash's hand had slipped upward without her noticing; they were now effectively holding hands. She gave him a questioning look, but didn't pull her hand away – she wasn't sure he'd noticed, either. A blush staining his cheeks, he coughed and apologised, although he didn't move his hand.

"Honestly, Mist, I didn't mean it in a sleazy way," he protested.

"Big day for misunderstandings, then, isn't it?" she replied, eliciting a laugh from him.

Ash cleared his throat, and wouldn't meet her eyes. "S'pose I should have said you look great, or pretty, or, you know, like the summer sky, or something."

Misty giggled. "Ash, attempted Brock-style flattery will never, ever work from you."

"Sounds like a challenge," he laughed, despite his apparent embarrassment.

"Try it and you're going under," Misty warned, moving closer and pushing down on his shoulder experimentally.

He resisted, and then yanked on their joined hands. Misty tipped sideways, her right shoulder breaking through the water's surface. Ash smirked at her. "Well then, so are you."

Misty righted herself and then bit her lip when she noticed how close they were – every kick to keep her afloat sent her legs crashing into Ash's underwater. His bark of laughter made his breath ghost over her cheek, and she shivered involuntarily. Though his eyes had darkened, making her breath catch in her throat, there was a dash of uncertainty in them as he tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear. It was an entirely futile gesture given they were in a pool, but it was sweet nonetheless and she found herself returning his shy smile with one of her own.

The kiss was awkward at first; their teeth knocked, their noses bumped and Misty laughed against his lips, elated and giddy. It wasn't her first kiss, yet how obviously it was his didn't matter, as the fact that she was kissing Ash sunk in. He wound an arm around her waist and pulled her to him, water rushing out from either side. Letting go of his hand, she cupped the back of his head. "Thank God you're a fast learner," Misty mumbled into the kiss, and felt his grin in return.

When they broke apart, Ash rested his forehead against hers. "Kissing in a swimming pool is one of the harder things I've done, I think."

Misty laughed. "Harder than initiating it?"

Ash grinned sheepishly and kissed her quickly. "You should wear things like this more often."

"So should you, if you're planning on swimming," she retorted.

"Wasn't my idea," Ash pointed out.

With a giggle, Misty closed the gap between them again. At the other end of the pool, Gyarados peered over at the two teens, mystified by their sudden silence, before launching into the air. The impact when she broke through the surface sent waves through the entire pool, but neither Ash nor Misty noticed. Apparently having decided they weren't worth her time, Gyarados retreated to her favourite corner to sulk, giving Ash and Misty some peace and quiet.

Until Daisy walked in on them, at least.

A/N: Oh God, I haven't described a kiss in forever. I'm sorry if it sucked. And the ending is totally lame (so is the title, I hate thinking of titles). And I have Mission:Insane to be working on and fffffff.

*WAILS*

… I want pizza. I'll deal with reviews, though.

Hope you guys enjoyed it. 8D

Naranne