Timing

Timing was something he never had in his favor. He was always late for something, a battle, meeting with a friend, and most tragically, he was far too dense to realize things before it was too late.

And for once in his entire life, this time, he didn't know how long it would take him to move on, and forget how badly his timing had screwed him over.

Let's start from the beginning.

There he stood, in front of a building in which he hadn't visited in years. A place he hasn't visited in far too long. The Cerulean City Gym.

He clutched a small bouquet of roses (A/N: new concept, Ash is mature and romantic?!?!?), somehow remembering roses were a certain redhead's favorite flower. His pikachu had stayed at the Pokémon Center at his request, as his mind paced back and forth and thought of ways to finally admit to her that he had feelings for her.

After years of not seeing Misty, Ash had grow to realize he couldn't live without her. He wanted her to be there traveling with him, not some pathetic excuse of a pokémon trainer, like Serena or Iris (A/N: no shade, just trying to set the tone for the fanfic). After not seeing her for so long, he finally admitted that he truly missed her. But even after admitting that to himself, he still felt like he felt something towards her, something unlike he had ever felt towards another person in his entire life.

He loved her.

And it took him far too long to realize it.

Of course, the constant thought of, What if she doesn't feel the same way as I do, or even worse, What if she forgot me, always ran through his mind. But finally, he rounded up a bit of courage, and bought a plane ticket back to Kanto, and headed towards Cerulean City.

He stood there now, his heart racing. He didn't know what to expect. Would Misty be happy he was there, or would she be angry and kick him out? He walked slowly towards the entrance of the gym, only to find the door slightly ajar. He pushed open the door, trying to not make much noise." Mist?" He called, hoping she was here. He hadn't really expected that she would be any place else but the gym, considering she barely ever left the gym. He wandered quietly and slowly through the hallways, searching for Misty. He heard a faint voice, and walked towards the direction of the pool. Once he reached the entrance, he stopped in his tracks.

There was Misty, in the pool, in a small yellow bikini, splashing a shirtless Tracey. She giggled as he tried to cover himself from the incoming splash of water. He couldn't believe his eyes. He was about to confess to a girl, to this girl, that he was madly in love with her, and she looked like she didn't even notice him.

He watched as Tracey splashed Misty back, and heard a small shriek from Misty as a wave hit her. She violently splashed him back, only to find that he was no longer in the place he had stood mere seconds before. Before she could even analyze what happened, she was lifted off of her feet and thrown over Tracey's shoulder. "Tracey! Let me down!" She screamed, trying to hold back fits of laughter. When he refused, Misty started to vigorously kick and flail her limbs, causing Tracey to set her back down in the water." Now what was the for?" She asked. He slightly smiled." It was cute seeing you all riled up." He said, Misty's face instantly covered in a blush." Ah, well..." She trailed off, not sure how to react." Oh what the heck." She said, before doing something that made Ash's heart split in two.

Misty wrapped her arms around Tracey's neck, stepped on the tips of her toes, and kissed him. What surprised her was when he kissed back. She had developed a very strong friendship with the boy, as he helped her learn to move on from her feelings for Ash. Ash had made no contact with her in years, and she figured he had forgotten her. So she decided she was done sitting around and being hurt, and she decided to let Ash go, and she had began to start moving on from him. And she found herself kissing someone she wasn't even sure if she loved.

They remained in an embrace after they had both parted, Tracey's arms had managed to find their way around her waist. They stared into each other's eyes, Misty almost couldn't stop staring into his emerald orbs. The only thing that was able to tear their gaze from each other was the sound of something hitting the ground.

Ash dropped the bouquet of roses. His heart was shattered. He started to walk away once he knew they had their attention on him. He ignored the yells from Misty and Tracey to come back. He didn't want to go back. He meant nothing to the girl who had become his entire world.

Maybe if he would've realized his feelings sooner, he wouldn't have lost her. Or maybe he would've actually had her. He had never envied Tracey before, but now, he would give anything up to be him, to be the one who Misty holds feelings for.

He had never felt this pain before in his entire life. It was almost like his world collapsed right in front of him. For years, his life was pokémon and gym battles, but now, he had let this girl. who he was almost sure shared his feelings, become everything he cared about. But he couldn't get himself to forget her, just like she had done to him. He wondered how she was able to do that, to just forget about the past, and how much they had meant to one another.

He didn't even think of how his action affected her, the pain she had gone through while he stormed out of the gym, when all of her feelings for him came crashing back to her.

Timing was never on his side, and this time, it happened to not be on her side either.

Hey guys. I'm sorry for this in advance.

I actually just wrote this (an idea for a one shot popped into my head, so I decided to write this lol).

I know barely anyone who reads anything I write support Orangeshipping, but I felt like uploading this anyways.

Just to clarify, I am a huge supporter of Pokeshipping (while I do like Orangeshipping, I will always choose Pokeshipping over it).

I hope you guys liked it! Not one of my best, but eh, it's alright.

Go check out my other stories!! If you like Pokeshipping, go check out Life! If you like Ikarishipping, go check out Just a Kiss, and So Close!!

Bye loves!!

- Victoria