Hiya! I don’t know what I’m about to write. I’m kinda high from getting my first review (WAHOOOOO!!!!!). So, I’ll title it later. Also, for some reason “Can I Have This Kiss Forever” is going through my mind. Don’t ask me. *This is from later: I hope you aren’t expecting another sad one. I said I was versatile, and I meant it! _I’M_ laughing at this!*

“Ash whatever-your-middle-name-is Ketchum, we are GOING to that town!” yelled Misty.

“But it doesn’t have a gym!” whined Ash.

“THAT’S NEVER STOPPED US BEFORE!!!!!” she roared.

“_Those_ times we needed supplies! We have plenty of stuff now!” he insisted.

“WHY CAN’T WE JUST _GO_ THERE AND ARGUE ABOUT _WHY_ LATER?!”

“Because!”

“Because WHY??!”

“Because!”

“Please, anything, anyONE, make them _stop_,” moaned Brock.

“I think that’s our cue.”

“Huh?” said our little group.

“Ha ha ha ha ha! Prepare for trouble!”

“Er...ho ho ho, make it double!”

“Hey, it’s rude to butt in on a conversation!” yelled Misty, severely annoyed.

“Yeah!” yelled Ash.

“What conversation? All _we_ heard was a lot of yelling,” said Jessie sweetly.

Not noticing Brock making exaggerated clapping gestures, Ash yelled, “You’re never getting Pikachu!”

“Pi-KA!” Pikachu agreed.

“The heck with Pikachu, we’re going to the dance!” said Jessie.

“Yeah!” said James. “And by the way, why do you always assume we want your Pikachu?”

“Because you always do,” muttered Misty. Then she brightened up. “Did you say dance?”

“Yeah, twerp. See?” Jessie whipped out a poster.

“’Rainbow town dance’,” read Misty. “’Come one, come all! Pokemon trainers get in free.’ Ooooohhh, let’s _go_!”

“But-” It was too late. Ash and Brock were already being dragged to the town in the distance.

“Pi! Pika! Pi pi pika pika pi pi ka pika chu ka cha...” <Hey! Guys! Why you *Er, untranslatable*!> said Pikachu as he ran after them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I _really don’t think this is a good idea,” said Ash. His voice was slightly muffled, which was understandable-he was in a closet.

“Oh come on, Ash, it’ll be fun!” said Misty. She was putting some pearl barrettes on for the dance tonight. She also had white elbow-high gloves and a light-blue, spaghetti-strap dress.

“Number one, I can’t dance. Number two, I hate dances. Number three, I just _know_ Gary’ll be there. Number four, Team Rocket’ll be there too. Do we _have_ to?”

“YES we have to Ash!”

“All right, all right. How do I look?”

Her jaw dropped.

*Oh my gosh...*

Brock was speechless out in the lobby of the Pokemon Center.

“....................................................................................”

“ASH WHATEVER-YOUR-MIDDLE-NAME-IS KETCHUM, YOU CAN’T GO TO A DANCE IN YOUR USUAL CLOTHES WITH A TIE!!!”

~Note: I was wasting space to make you think Ash looked _good_. ^U^ ~

Ash pouted and tugged at his blue-and-white striped tie. “I don’t _wanna_ wear that stupid tux!”

“WEAR IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” screamed Misty.

Ash gulped. “Yes MAM’M!” He ducked back into the closet.

“AND MAKE SURE YOU LOOK _GOOD_!!” Misty hollered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Ash, you are GOING to wear ALL of that tux, not just the pants,” said Misty.

Ash stuck his tongue out. “Who died and left YOU in charge of my life?”

“PROBABLY your BRAIN!!”

“Nope, it’s still there. I had a MRI yesterday.”

“YOU DID NOT!!!!”

“Oh yes I did!”

“Why?”

Ash had no response for that one. “I’m STILL not wearing that tux!”

“WHY THE- _HECK_- NOT?!?!?!”

“IT MAKES ME LOOK STUPID!!!”

“Oh yeah? Put it on and prove it to me.”

“FINE!!”

A few minutes later, Ash came out.

Misty sweatdropped. “You’re right...”

Brock snorted. “How the heck did they get you to buy one with a pink jacket?”

Misty was flustered. “It was the only one left!”

Meanwhile, Ash had gone back inside the closet.

“Okay, I’ll never let them con me into that again,” said Misty, by the time Ash came out of the much-used Pokemon Center closet. *That didn’t quite come out right...*

Actually, he looked pretty good. Visualize it.

“Can’t you do anything about your hair?” asked Misty.

“Nope. Mom tried _everything_ when I was young-haircuts, hairspray, hair gel, _peanut butter_-”

“I get the picture,” Misty said hurriedly. She looked at the clock. “Oh crud! We’re late!”

“Aw, what’s the darn hur-RRRRYYYY!” His question turned into a yell as Misty dragged him off.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ash stood against the wall. “This is SO boring,” he sighed.

Misty twirled by him, leading some poor fool who had asked her to dance. “Come on Ash, it’s fun!” she yelled.

*Yeah, sure. Maybe for _her_.* Ash thought.

“Hey LOSER!”

*A little dose of Gary, just what I need...*

Gary smirked. “Couldn’t find a date, huh loser?”

“Shut the heck up, Gary!”

Gary smirked even more. “I suppose you’re afraid I’ll out show you on the dance floor.”

“I am not!” yelled Ash.

“Well, why don’t you prove it, loser? There’s a girl right over there.” Gary pointed at a girl in a blue dress and gloves.

*No way! Not Misty!* “No way!”

“Why not, loser? I guess you are afraid.”

“Oh, all right, I’ll do it! Just shut up and GET THE HECK AWAY FROM ME!!!!!”

Gary was slightly blown away. “Er, sure, Ash.” He ran and hid behind his cheerleaders.

Ash strode determinedly to the other side of the room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

*Gary just has a _knack_ for getting me into trouble. How the heck did I let him convince me to do this?* thought Ash.

Misty, of course, was leading, and rather roughly at that. And for some strange reason, everyone was flashing Ash grins.

“Er, Misty, could you ease up a little? I actually _know_ this dance.”

Misty blushed. “Yeah, of course.” She eased up. A little.

Ash looked around. “Hey, there’s Team Rocket! What the heck are they doing?”

“Looks like they’re going into that closet.”

“Weird.”

“I wonder what they’re doing?”

“I don’t know, but in that closet I was in, there were a whole lot of tally marks for something or other. And frankly, I don’t think we wanna know.”

“...I think you’re right.”

“Arrgh... WHY is everyone STARING at us??!” yelled Ash, just quietly enough that no one but Misty heard.

“I think I have an idea why...” said Misty.

“Really? Why?”

“Go for it, you two!” somebody yelled.

“Arrgh... HELLO YOU PEOPLE OUT THERE!!! I AM _11_!!! AND ASH IS...um.... how old _are_ you, anyway?”

“10 and 8/12.”

“Thanks. TEN! SO SHUT THE HECK UP!!! NO SHOW HERE!!!!!”

“Er... yeah! No show here!”

“Aw, man,” was the collective sigh of the audience.

“Thank you,” said Misty quietly.

“Uh, Misty? What was that all about?” asked Ash.

“Oh, nothing,” said Misty. “Just something that’s ridiculous... at the moment...”

“Hey Ashy-boy! Gonna have fun with your girlfriend? Go out on a date or something?”

Ash calmly walked up to the buffet table. He took three plastic cups of red fruit punch.

“Oh, serving us? Thanks, Ashy-boy,” said Gary.

Ash took a cup and held it out to Gary. Then, quick as a Thunderbolt, he dumped it on his head. Ash took another one and splashed in on Gary’s tux. And he dumped some ice down Gary’s pants. Gary went dancing crazily around the room. “Yah yah yah yah yah yah yah yah yah.....!”

Ash and Misty burst out laughing.

Then....Officer Jenny (off-duty of course) kicked them out.

“Aaaaaahhhh, party muyo. Let’s go to the Pokemon Center and listen to the radio!” said Ash.

“Sounds good to me!” said Misty.

And forever they would remember that night as the night that they discovered that they didn’t hate each other; Misty found out Ash didn’t hate her, and Ash found out that Misty didn’t hate him. The next morning, Brock hit on Nurse Joy and failed, Ash and Misty argued about when they should leave Rainbow, and they set out on their merry way. Everything _seemed_ normal...but a seed had been planted. Would it bloom? Only time will tell...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hi, Meredith here! I _am_ a Pokeshipper, or a Gakishipper, but I call myself a Willowshipper, because I like that term. (I made it up myself!^_^) I have determined that this fic will be called...drumroll please... “The Rainbow Town Dance”! I don’t think I’m that good at writing romance, but I think this is good, and if you don’t....that’s what reviews are for! ^_^ And, did you know that many weak, wild fire Pokemon lose flames all the time? Tens of Pokemon die each year because they ran out of fire! I think this is atrocious. Therefore, I am donating all the flames I get to the Pokemon Fire Helpers Network. I encourage other authors to do this, too. Become a member of the Pokemon Flame Donation Alliance! All you have to do is say you are. ^_^ Oh, by the way, if you like my last fic, I’m making a sequel. I was reading my reviews and I got the idea. I have many more fics to type, ones that I’ve already written. I’ve gotta get caught up! If it’s not too late, I’ll start on the sequel to “Can’t I Have Some Peace Tonight” now. Thanks for all the good reviews I’ve gotten! It’s really nice. And flattering. I didn’t even think it was all that good! ^_^ Thanks again!

“For what it’s worth, it was worth all the while; It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right, I hope you have the time of your life.”

So sue me, I like that quote!

~Farewell,

Meredith *Meredithdawriter@cs.com*