This is my first fanfic so bear out with me. The story begins right after the Silver Conference in Viridian City, but there are some changes compared to the anime.

"Someone's words"

'Someone's thoughts'

Changing Ways: Chapter 1: For always

Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu of course, arrived on a hill that looked down on Viridian City from Viridian Forest's side, the Silver Conference all but forgotten for now. They were tired, worn out and hungry after the long journey from Mt .Silver.

"Well Ash, you sure did well in the Silver Conference, even going so far as beating Gary along the way! I've gotta say you've matured a lot since the last time you saw this place, eh?" Brock mockingly nudged Ash.

"Yeah Ash, you've really come a long way from being that kid using his Pikachu against an Onix against Brock in your first Gym battle. Talk about inexperienced." Misty said with a smirk on her face.

"You just won't let that go, will you?" Ash irritatedly said while glaring at Misty. "That was a long time ago! Things have changed you know." He huffed as he crossed his arms in annoyance.

"Now you two, there's no need to fight about it..." Brock intervened.

"Fine…" both Ash and Misty huffed.

"Hey look you guys; the Pokemon Center isn't that far from here." Ash remarked as he pointed down to the Pokemon Center.

Upon hearing the words 'Pokemon Center'; Brock's attention immediately turned to it as he dumbly stared out in front of him.

"Hey Brock, are you okay?" Ash asked as he nudged Brock in the stomach, causing Brock to go into a dazed frenzy muttering the word 'Joy' a couple of times.

Ash and Misty looked at each other and nodded at each other. Each of them grabbed one of Brock's arms and started making their way down the hill towards the Pokemon Center, Brock in tow. The only reaction they received were a few 'Joys' escaping Brock's mouth.

"Pika,"

Ash stopped and looked over his soldier at Pikachu, his best friend."Yeah buddy? What's up?"

Misty looked over Ash's shoulder at Pikachu and tilted her head when she saw Pikachu shaking his head in annoyance with Brock. "Uh…I guess Pikachu's had enough of Brock's 'love' as well…" she muttered as she sweat dropped.

"Well, who can blame him," Ash started as he turned to his yellow buddy. "It literally happens every day!"

The three of them shared a laugh as they dragged a love struck Brock towards the Pokemon Center…

The gang walked through the slide doors at the Pokémon Center and was greeted with an empty lobby. Ash and Misty dragged Brock to a nearby couch and laid him down and both of them fell down on the other couch.

"Phew, I'm tired." Misty exclaimed as she relaxed. "Dragging Brock all the way here isn't as fun as I thought it would be…it sure wasn't made for a lady such as me." She said as she held her head high to emphasize her point.

"Misty, I repeat, only one of us can hallucinate at a time." Ash said as he snickered at the red-headed girl next to him, earning himself a glare from Misty followed by a whack against the head.

"Please Ash, you're the one hallucinating, that's for sure…" Misty informed Ash as a vein pulsated on her forehead.

"Pikapi," Pikachu exclaimed from Ash's shoulder.

"Yeah Pikachu, what's up buddy?" Ash asked as he and Misty turned to Pikachu.

"Pika Pika," Pikachu proudly exclaimed as he pointed towards the counter, where Nurse Joy now stood.

"Hey, there's Nurse Joy!" Ash cried as he looked over to what Pikachu was pointing at.

At hearing her name, Brock regained his composure and in a flash, he was at Nurse Joy's side with her hand in his."Oh my dear Joy, fate has brought us together once more, giving me a chance to reveal my deepest, dearest love to you." He dramatically exclaimed to the Nurse.

"Oh...my…" was all the poor Nurse Joy could mutter out.

"Alright," Misty started as she started getting up. "It's time to get to work." She continued as she started making her way over to the scene. However; as she was walking she felt a hand grab her around her palm. "What the…Ash?" she exclaimed as she stared wide-eyed at the person who grabbed her hand, who was indeed Ash.

Ash just smiled at her and bent down onto his knee, still maintaining a firm grasp on Misty's palm. "Hey Pikachu, do me a favor buddy. Keep an eye on Brock for me and if he by any chance invades Nurse Joy too much for your liking, zap 'em okay? Me and Misty are just gonna take a quick walk, we won't be long." He ordered the yellow mouse.

"Pika – Pikachu!" Pikachu saluted Ash, indicating that he understands his orders.

"Ash, What do you think you're doing?" Misty scowled as she frowned at Ash, who was getting back up onto his feet. "You can't leave PIKACHU in charge of Brock! Are you insane!?And furthermore what's this 'walk' you are talki-"

Misty couldn't finish her sentence however, as Ash placed his finger over her lips, causing her to shut up as her cheeks started turning a light pink color.

"Misty, you talk too much…" Ash said. "Now," he said as he slowly pulled his finger away from Misty's lips. "Just come with me, please? It's really important to me, Misty."

"Ash…" Misty trailed off as she frowned at the boy. Ready to reject his offer, she saw him begging her with his eyes. Giving in, Misty sighed. "Alright Ash, we can go for a walk…"

"Yes," Ash silently started cheering.

"But," Misty intervened. "No funny stuff!" she yelled at the boy.

Ash cringed at the yelling, mainly because he was standing right next to Misty when she yelled. "Y-Yeah sure whatever…" he mumbled as he rubbed his ears and started making his way towards the door.

Misty quietly followed Ash as they exited the Pokemon Center and started making their way down the road that lead out of town.

"CHUUUU"

Ash and Misty could the crackling of electricity coming from the Pokémon Center from afar as they looked at each other wide-eyed, and then burst out laughing while they continued walking down the road.

"Oh boy, I so don't want to be Brock right now." Ash said in between laughs.

"Yeah," Misty giggled. "I think he must be CRACKING up!" she said as both of them laughed again as they continued down the road.

"So Ash," Misty started after they calmed down from their laughing hysteria. "What's the point of this 'walk'?" she asked Ash as she raised her brow at him.

"It's nothing really." Ash said matter-of-factly as he grinned sheepishly at Misty. "I actually just want to show you something, that's all…"

"What is it?" Misty curiously asked as she frowned at Ash.

"Just follow me. I'll show it to you." Ash said as he turned his face back towards the road, which was now starting to lead them out of Viridian City.

Misty nodded as she followed Ash.

Ash came to a halt on a hill outside Viridian City, which was on the opposite side from which they entered the city earlier. This side was closer to Pallet Town. He walked a bit further with Misty in tow, and finally stopped next to a huge boulder. It wasn't too high, but it was flat on the top, which made it look like a nice bench which overlooked Viridian City and its surroundings.

"Well, here we are." Ash declared as he motioned to the boulder behind him.

"A rock," Misty started. "You brought me all the way out here to see a rock?" she skeptically asked as she crossed her arms while lifting her eyebrow at Ash.

"Yep…" Ash proudly stated as he stood with his hands on his sides.

"Wow." Misty sarcastically said as she sighed. "Well, if that's all, I guess I'll be heading back to the Pokemon Center then…" she said as she turned back towards the road from which they came from.

"Hey wait, Misty!" Ash pleaded as he yanked on Misty's arm. "Don't you wanna get on top of it?" he asked as he made his way over to the boulder, pulling Misty with him.

"Ash, why would you want to climb a boulder?" Misty irritatedly asked as she tried to get out of Ash's grip.

To Misty's surprise; Ash let go of her arm and turned to face her. "Why not?" he asked her as he turned back to the boulder jumped up against it and started climbing to the top.

Misty exasperatedly sighed. "Never mind…" she mumbled as she made her way to the rock. Eying it slightly; she looked for some grabbing spots and tried pulling herself up. Sadly, she didn't get very far as she slid back down onto the ground.

"You need some help?" Misty heard a voice coming from above her.

She looked up to find Ash's waiting hand in front of her face. "No thanks," she started as she grabbed hold of the boulder again. "I'll manage." She declared as she pulled herself up again, but failed miserably again as she slid down onto the ground once more.

"Here," Ash said as he held his hand out to her once again. "Just take my hand, Misty. I'll help you up!" he confidently proclaimed.

"Fine…" Misty sighed in defeat as she grabbed hold of Ash's gloved hand.

"Alright, now just climb up by using your legs…"Ash said as he put his other hand over Misty's, taking a firm grip on the girl.

"Alright…" Misty said as she started making her way up the side of the boulder, putting her other hand over Ash's to get more stability.

Ash helped by pulling on Misty's hands and she eventually made it to the top.

"Phew…" Misty said as she sat down, exhausted from the climb.

Ash pluffed down next to Misty and stretched his arms over his head. "Wow, I'm glad that's over with…who would have thought you'd be so he-"he froze when he saw Misty viciously glaring at him.

"Say it…" Misty venomously said as her gaze narrowed at the boy, her glare intensifying.

"N-N-Never mind…" Ash stuttered out fearfully under Misty's menacing glare.

"Hmph…" Misty huffed as she turned her attention to their surroundings. The road which leads to the Indigo Plateau was visible on their left. Grasslands were stretched out over the horizon to their right and down the middle in front of them was a breathtaking view of Viridian City, accompanied by Viridian Forest in the background and a gorgeous sunset, illuminating everything in a pink-orange color.

"Wow," Misty said in awe. "The view is beautiful from up here…"

"Yeah…" Ash agreed as he plumped his arms up behind him and lay back slightly, admiring the view.

Misty slightly nodded, not really paying attention to Ash as she stared at the beautiful landscape in front of her.

The two of them stared at the landscape in silence for a quite a while, before Ash got slightly bored and turned his attention to Misty.

'Well, I'm glad Misty likes it here…' Ash thought as he smiled at the redhead next to him.

Misty caught Ash staring at her and turned towards him. "Ash?" she asked him as she frowned. "Why are you staring at me?"

Ash snapped out of staring and smiled sheepishly at Misty. "Just thinking…"

"Wow," Misty started. "Can the great Ash Ketchum also use his brain?" she sarcastically added as she rolled her eyes at Ash.

"Haha…very funny…" Ash sarcastically replied as he glared at Misty, who was now giggling slightly.

They were interrupted though, as a loud grumbling radiated from Ash's stomach, scaring off a flock of Pidgey in a nearby tree.

"Hehe…guess I'm hungry…" Ash said as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and laughed nervously.

Misty sighed exasperatedly. "Guess some things don't change…but in your defense; we didn't stop for lunch on our way here and it's getting close to dinnertime." She concluded as she stood up on the boulder. "Come on; let's get back to the Pokemon Center. Besides, I'm getting kinda worried about leaving Pikachu in charge of Brock with Nurse Joy around." She added as she started getting into position to climb off of the boulder, but before she could get off, Ash grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her back.

"Ash," Misty said as he turned her head to Ash. "What are you doing? Let go of my hand, we've gotta get back to the Pokemon Center." She ordered as she tried to get free of the boy's grip on her hand.

"Just hold on a sec, Misty." Ash said as he frowned at Misty's show of impatience.

"Fiiiine…" Misty mumbled as she begrudgingly sat back down. "What is it Ash?"

"Well," Ash started nervously. "The reason we took a walk and came here." He said as he pointed around them. "Is because I wanted to tell you something…"

"Is that so?" Misty asked as she lifted her eyebrow at Ash. "Well spit it out then, Ash."

"Well, uh…it's just that I think that you were important to me, on my journey so far…" Ash stumbled out. He didn't really have a way with words, so he didn't quite know how to say what was on his mind.

"What do you mean?" Misty asked as she tilted her head to the side with a confused look in her eye.

"Well," Ash started again. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be where I was today. You guided me and always backed me up. I could not do anything without knowing how you feel about it or having your support. Sure, Brock was with me too for most of my journey, but you were there almost right from the start, although you denied it at first; I know you liked traveling with me." He joked with a sheepish grin.

Misty was listening intently to what Ash was saying and a small smile made its way onto her face.

"So, I want to thank you, Misty, for everything you've done for me and everything we've been through together." Ash said as he cautiously leaned over to Misty and slowly wrapped his arms around her.

Misty's cheeks were now a bright pink color as she looked wide-eyed at the ground behind Ash. She returned Ash's gesture by awkwardly wrapping her arms around the boy's neck.

Ash's cheeks were burning as he quickly let go of Misty after a moment of hugging and nervously looked at the scenery in front of them.

"C-Come on Ash," Misty said as she shrugged her embarrassment off and stood up again. "We've got to get back to the Pokémon Center."

Ash nodded and got up. He looked over at Misty and then jumped off of the boulder, landing on the ground.

"Ahem," Misty cleared her throat as she looked down at Ash. "Well, aren't you gonna lend a hand?" she asked as she blushed at the fact that she wasn't willing to jump off of the boulder.

Ash smiled at Misty and held his hands out to her.

Misty took hold of his hands slowly started climbing off, aided by Ash.

The two of them started making their way back down the road into Viridian City, on their way back to the Pokemon Center as the sun was setting over Mount Silver in the distance…