Ash walked through the street, cheerfully giving Lillie detailed information about the match he just won, with her smiling slightly at the effusive hand motions the boy used, his childish way of talking and above all the excitement in his voice. She had just seen the match, but it didn't bother her that Ash couldn't stop talking about it anyway. His excitement wasn't unjust, he really had put up a formidable performance, giving the challenged trainer a difficult time.

"And then Pikachu used Thunderbolt, causing that Garyados to lose consciousness!" Ash yelled proudly, his hands casually behind the back of his neck.

"Yes, we saw it all, Ash." Mallow commented, slightly annoyed by having to listen to Ash's endless rambling, after she lost her match. She shot a glare at Ash. "In case you think I lost my eyes."

"Nah, only your match." Ash replied, childishly stocking out his tongue to Mallow. Lillie chuckled. Though Mallow didn't seem to find Ash's remark that funny. Her glare became even more intense, scaring the ever living hell out of the platinum haired girl, while Ash only put up a dumb face. "Anyway, shouldn't we go back to Professors Kukui. I still have some stuff I want to handle." Ash said, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Stop pretending, Ash. We all know you only do it to see that red haired girl you know from your first days as a Pokémon Trainer." Lana said, pouting slightly. "Sometimes I wonder what's so special about her that makes you give her all the attention."

"Now, now, don't be jealous, Lana." Lillie said, chuckling slightly. Truth be told, Lillie didn't really like Ash's focus on the redhead herself. Whenever they had some free time at their hands, Ash left to visit his old friends Misty and Brock. She could easily talk to Brock, and it wouldn't be such a big deal if he just also spent some time with us, but it almost seemed as if the redhead was more important to him. And that really scared Lillie. What if she got left behind?

"Well, she's a really good friend of mine, after all." Ash said, not noticing the sudden change in mood. Kiawe, Mallow and Sophocles didn't seem that affected by it, but Lillie and Lana got noticeably quieter. She didn't really understand it. It wasn't as if she didn't like Misty. In fact, she looked up to the girl. She was strong, beautiful, and she even made it Gym Leader. Her goals were clear to her and it was almost as if she wasn't afraid of anything. Basically the opposite of what Lillie was. Misty often got into fights with Ash, but when it came to it, the two could work together better than anyone.

Ever since Lillie met Ash he had protected her, and she really was grateful to him, but seeing Misty and Ash working together... It made her painfully aware of her inability to repay Ash for all those times. Ash relied on Misty. He trusted her to help him whenever he needed. Something Lillie was unable to do. Even Brock, who was a Gym Leader too, wasn't relied on that much. When Ash and Misty worked together they were in synch. It was almost as if they knew what the other thought, truly amazing. But it scared Lillie more than anything. It caused an unknown pain in her chest, a pain that never seemed to fade.

"Lillie?" Sophocles yelled, making the girl let out a soft scream in response. Mallow snorted at the strange noise that Lillie had made, creating a soft pink colour to spread itself over Lillie's face. "Lillie, are you okay?" Sophocles asked, a worried look on his face.

"Y-Yes. Nothing to worry about."

"You suddenly got so quiet." Ash said, also looking worried. The rosy blush on Lillie's face seemed to deepen, getting close to red than pink. "We asked if you had time to go along with us to Professor Kukui."

"Ah... Yes, I think so." Lillie replied quietly, embarrassed by the lack of interest in her voice. It bothered her that she was so wrought up with Ash's interest in Misty. It wasn't like she had any say about that, if Ash preferred spending time with Misty, she completely understood. Then why did she still have that agitating feeling in her chest? Why couldn't she just accept Ash's deep friendship with redhead?

She knew the answer, but decided to call it paranoia, and ignored that possibility. However from Ash's behaviour Lillie could already tell that the chance that she was simply being paranoid was very small.

She followed Kiawe, Ash and Mallow to go to Professor Kukui, Lana and Sophocles took their own path, parting with the rest of the group. Mallow and Kiawe got into a discussion about which tactics they should use in certain situations, while Ash silently walked besides Lillie. She hesitantly looked up at the raven haired boy beside her. She got a soft smile on her face when she saw Ash's cheerful smile, not knowing what exactly was bothering Lillie. That wasn't Ash's strong point in the first place, he was basically unable to understand other's feelings. But he still managed to act so gentlemanly sometimes. It was kind of comforting having him around, even if he didn't understand some simple things.

It didn't take that long to get to Professor Kukui. Mallow and Ash had eventually spend most of the time talking together, while Kiawe and Lillie just listened to the two bickering. Professor Kukui happily greeted the group, but left soon after. Brock later explained Kukui's tight schedule, now that he finally had gotten a lead on a new research project.

"Seems all of us are pretty busy, huh?" Kiawe mentioned, his lips curved into a soft smile.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say you're busy, but if you consider walking around town without a shirt as busy, then go ahead." Mallow said, a devilish smile imprinted on her face. Kiawe just shrugged it off, already too used to Mallow's snarky remarks to even bother getting back at her for it.

"Hey Brock, where's Misty?" Ash asked from behind Lillie, looking around in the hope to catch a glance of Misty's familiar red hair. The small smile that had formed itself on Lillie's lips disappeared.

"Looking for me, Ash?" Misty asked. She jumped through the window inside the building.

"The door is only a few inches away." Ash muttered unimpressed, looking kind of annoyed. Misty laughed taking off Ash's cap and putting it on her own head.

"I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, and I have no reason for doing this, but I turn my cap around every time things get serious." Misty imitated Ash, turning his cap around like Ash would. Ash's cheeks visibly turned a dark shade of pink, and he seemed to have trouble speaking.

"I don't do that anymore!" he yelled embarrassed, with Misty just fist bumping Mallow. Ash took back his cap, angrily putting it back on his head and with his face flushed all over.

"I-It's okay, Ash." Lillie stuttered. It was only around Misty that she behaved this way. She had felt inferior to Misty from the moment Ash showed a bit too much interest in the girl, making Lillie's childish fantasies seem impossible to reach. "I think it's cool when you do that." Lillie, too, got slightly pink cheeks as embarrassment already reached her.

"See? At least someone acknowledges my awesomeness!" Ash yelled, looking proud and thankful to Lillie for her comment.

"Say that when you finally win a Pokémon Tournament, Mister I'm-gonna-be-a-Pokémon-Master." Misty teased. Ash glared at the girl, but didn't feel like saying anything back.

"That's enough out of you two." Brock said. The smile on his face had grown wider. "Didn't you have something to take care of, Misty?" Misty seemed to pale a bit when Brock said that.

"Ah, I almost forgot! Sorry, I'll see you later!" she yelled, quickly opening the door and running off.

"Wait! Misty!" Ash screamed after her, following the girl and leaving the others alone again. Lillie sighed. Why was it so hard for her to just accept that Ash wanted to spend time with his friend?

Brock chuckled. "Do you guys want anything to drink?"

Kiawe shook his head. "I've got some stuff I would like to discuss with Professor Kukui." he said, walking off. Mallow looked in thought.

"I'll have some orange juice." Mallow said, already running off to the kitchen.

Lillie smiled, watching Mallow as she cheerfully plundered Kukui's fridge, looking too happy to even dare take away her fun. And her food. "If you can make me some water, that'd be really nice." Lillie said. Brock nodded, walking to the kitchen sink to get some water. "Hey, Brock?" Lillie asked, as she sat down. "How did Ash and Misty actually meet?"

Brock looked up, handing me the glass of water. "How Ash and Misty met, huh?" he muttered. He turned back to me. "I wouldn't know. I wasn't there, however their meeting couldn't have been very pretty, considering Ash stole Misty's bike and then destroyed it before returning it to Misty. That'd be all I know." I nodded. So Misty met Ash even before Brock? Their relationship seemed to go way back. "However when I first joined them Ash and Misty were always fighting. Even more than they are now. Misty followed Ash out of her stubbornness to make Ash repay her bike. Though somewhere along the way, she had forgotten about the incident and the two started to get along. They still had fights from time to time, but I could barely call it a fight next to their old arguments. Ash even started to acknowledge Misty, the same as Misty started to acknowledge Ash. I can't know what happened during their adventures on the Orange Islands, but surely there was some sort of change in their relationship during those times. It's hard to describe as someone who stand outside their relationship, but slowly Misty became someone really important to Ash. Even now, Misty is the person he considers his best friend."

"I see." Lillie muttered. She didn't know why this information made her so down. Brock had said it, right? Friend. So why bother thinking Ash thought Misty to be more than a friend? That was a stupid thought to begin with. Ash often was calling Misty unattractive, so why would he be attracted to her?

"I-I'm going to take a walk outside." Lillie stuttered, quickly drinking up her water.

Pokémon were happily playing in their respective parts of the facility grounds. Lillie took her time with walking, as she enjoyed the calm atmosphere. She came by Professor Kukui and Kiawe. Kiawe had leaned against a tree, casually talking to Kukui. It wasn't that long ago that Lillie had found out about Kiawe's intelligence, that he usually hid when in front of people. He had some way to contribute to Ash. To help him. Compared to him and Mallow, Sophocles and Lana, Lillie couldn't do anything for Ash. She felt helpless when around him. And still... Still she wished for him to notice her. For her to be able to repay Ash for all the times he saved her.

Lillie looked up, hearing laughter and screams. Not screams of pain or fear. She saw Ash and Misty, together with a gigantic Gyarados. The Gyarados seemingly had used Hydro Pump on Ash, and he was yelling at Misty, who was having her share of fun. The pain that had been nagging at Lillie from the inside out seemed to grow.

He seemed so happy. So alive. When he was with Misty, he seemed to truly be complete. It wasn't as if he didn't need his friends. No, he loved all of his friends. But Misty... Misty was special. And Lillie could now admit it to herself. That the pain that was emerging inside of her was jealousy.

She loved Ash, but he loved Misty. So for his sake, she would remain silent.

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I swear this is a Pokéshipping one shot, with some one sided Aureliashipping. It wasn't even meant to contain Aureliashipping.

Anyway, one day late, but who cares. I'm doing something, so be proud. Happy Pokéshipping week y'all!

Also, I'm too lazy to check spelling, so sorry for any mistakes.

-LapisLazulli2-