Alolan Danger **ON HIATUS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE**

Chapter 7: Aura Of Hatred

"ASH!" Misty's voice once again rang loudly through Ash's ears as she tackled him into a hug. He was so stunned that the impact sent them both crashing down onto the dock. When Ash opened his eyes, he saw that Misty's face was literally millimeters away from his own. He gasped as he realized how close they were to kissing.

"Uh, Misty, it's really good to see you and all, but you're invading my personal space, and there are other people and Pokemon staring at us." Ash stated with a hint of embarrassment evident in his voice. Misty's face turned red as she looked around her to see that he was not kidding. Gary looked very surprised at the sight of them being in this position. Lillie and Snowy were staring at them with confusion written all over their faces. Sylveon was glaring angrily at Misty. And Pikachu was feeling conflicted, almost like he was resisting the urge to zap his old friend with a Thunderbolt. Misty noticed the look and became worried.

"Say, Ash, what's wrong with Pikachu?" she asked as she got back up on her feet. Ash turned his head to face Pikachu and smirked. He responded with a smirk back as his trainer got pulled back up by Gary.

"Oh, he was just surprised when you got me in that position. That's all." he said as he and Pikachu gave Misty fake smiles, which, thankfully for them, she bought. Gary, Lillie, Snowy, and Sylveon, on the other hand, could easily tell that what Ash said was only one half of the truth. After all, they remembered what happened when Mallow tried to get dangerously close to him.

"Sorry about that, Pikachu. I was just excited to see Ash again. It's been a really long time." Misty stated in a mareepish tone. Pikachu nodded as if to say that he understood. Misty turned to face Gary and gasped.

"Well, who would have thought that Ash's oldest rival would be traveling with him?" she asked, surprised.

Gary grinned before replying, "If you had told me that I would be going to school and traveling with Ash before the Silver Conference, I would have been like, 'Oh, heck no, I won't.' It was all worth it, though, as I got to meet this amazing girl next to me, Lillie." He put his arm around Lillie's waist and pulled her to his side. She blushed at both the compliment and how close they were. Ash could have sworn that he heard Misty mumble something.

"Huh? You say something, Misty?" he asked suspiciously.

"Eek! N-N-Nothing a-a-at a-a-all, A-A-Ash!" Misty stuttered out in embarrassment. Ash narrowed his eyes, as that kind of behavior reminded him of the times he caught Serena stuttering.

"Don't think that you're off the hook yet. We'll talk later, just the two of us. But anyway, now that that's out of the way, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be back at the Cerulean City Gym?" he asked curiously.

Misty smiled brightly before saying, "Well, Ash, the Kanto region's Pokemon League saw how hard we Gym Leaders have been working lately and decided to hold a raffle to see which one of us would get a free five month vacation to a region of our choosing. And I won the raffle." Ash was astounded by the news. But he also had a bad feeling that something was about to happen.

"Congratulations! But why the Alola region? I mean, you could have gone over to, I don't know, Kalos. That's probably my favorite region out of them all." Ash replied. As soon as he said that, his mind started replaying memories of some of the best times that he's had with Serena, including the kiss at the airport. Ash became so engrossed in them that he completely missed Misty's explanation, which clearly annoyed her. Behind them, Pikachu, Sylveon, Gary, Lillie, and Snowy all had smirks on their faces, as they knew exactly who Ash was thinking about.

"...Hey Ash, are you even paying attention to me?!" Misty shouted angrily. With that, Ash snapped out of his trip down memory lane to see her holding a mallet in her hands, ready to strike. They used to be afraid of the mallet a long time ago, but now, he and Pikachu simply laughed at the sight of it. This shocked Misty so much that she dropped the mallet behind her back, letting it fall to the dock.