Dalia Ketchum knew that moving to Cerulean City would be rough for her young son. However, she was offered a job as the head chef for the Cerulean gym and couldn't let the opportunity pass. So, she packed up their meager possessions and drove to their new home.
Ash was pouting throughout the journey and wouldn't say anything no matter how much prodding his mother gave. The seven year old just stared out the window at the passing scenery; not understanding why they had to leave.
"Ash, honey, were here." Dalia gently spoke to the slumbering child.
He blinked open his eyes to find a large blue building with a massive Dewgong staring down at him. His brown eyes widened as he stared back at it.
"Come on. Let's get settled in." His Mother was already standing near the door.
Ash still didn't say anything as he ran forward to help his mom with one of the smaller bags she was trailing behind her. The massive doors slid open to revile a large lobby and a large family, well large for an only child of a single mother.
"You must be Dalia Ketchum." A tall man smiled and reached out a hand in greeting.
"Yes and this is my son, Ashton, though he prefers Ash."
"Nice to meet you. Let me introduce you to my family. I'm Alek and this my wife Sarah. My daughters, in age order, are Violet, Daisy, Lily, and Misty."
He gestured to each as he called out their names, however when Ash noticed the much smaller girl standing behind her older sisters he was immediately intrigued. As the girls waved and shook hands he couldn't take his eyes off the girl with flame red hair.
"Girls, can you please show Ash around while I settle Ms. Ketchum in and show her the kitchen?"
The older three gave fake smiles, however as soon as the adults left they ran off to their rooms. Misty on the other hand just gave a grin that was borderline demonic before grabbing Ash's wrist and pulling him through the massive doors leading to the Gym itself.
A large variety of water Pokemon swam around in the massive tank that took up a majority of the room. Misty climbed up to one of the platforms before pulling off her long shirt and shorts. She dove in and swam swiftly over to where Ash was staring into the tank; placing a hand on the glass and smiling widely at the new boy. He only laughed at her odd behavior before scampering up to the same platform she jumped off of, pulling off his shirt and shoes before jumping in after her.
Three years later
"Come on, Misty, you know girls aren't allowed up here!" Ash called down from the tall tree house that her father built for him. The older man claiming that boys need somewhere to just be boys.
"Yeah, go away, Red!" Gary Oak smirked at her from his place beside Ash.
Misty didn't understand why Ash hung around such a rude boy. Gary always picked on her and Ash hardly ever did anything about it. That is until later in the day when he had to go home and Ash would find himself in Misty's room apologizing for not defending her. She always accepted his apology because he was her only friend; the only person who was willing to hang out with the runt of the newly proclaimed Sensational Sisters.
However, this time was a bit different. Ash glared at his friend and told him to leave. Misty has never heard the ten year old's voice so cold. Gary was taken aback by his unusual tone and slid down the fireman's pole to the ground. Ash still glaring at him as he harshly pushed passed Misty.
The push causing her to fall to the ground, but she quickly got back up and pulled out her small mallet. Ash knew not to mess with her when she pulled out the weapon and winced as a harsh hit to the back of Gary's head knocked the boy over.
"Don't hit a girl, Jerk!" Misty yelled.
Gary only scrambled away in utter fear of the red-head. Ash just raced down to his best-friend and grabbed her around the waist to hold her back from chasing after the idiot.
"He's gone now, you know what that means right?"
She calmed instantly and began to pull him toward the tree house. Ash had been forced to promise her access to his small space of girl-free stuff. Misty knew that if she didn't make him promise he would be up there for hours planning different strategies for the Pokémon matches he would face with his starter Pokémon next month.
They both treasured the time they spent in the tree house. Both for varying reasons. Ash because he enjoyed spending time talking about all this Pokemon with her, especially when any mention of water pokemon came up. Misty on the other hand treasured it simply because she was slowly developing a crush on her best friend and knew that with him leaving in a few weeks for his first journey she would be alone.