Pledged
Misty yawned long and loud as she stepped off of the seaplane's ramp and placed her feet onto the dock. "Ugh," she claimed, "finally solid ground after so long!"
"Oh, won't you – like – stop your yammering?" groaned Lily as she stepped up next her younger sister. "Such a bad first step, and it's only the first day of your vacation. Like, cool your jets."
"I'll cool my jets," replied Misty, as an eye of hers twitched, "once my mind can stop the repeating traumatic sounds of your snoring! Isn't that right, Azurill?" she asked towards her 'baby', who could only coo sleepily in agreement.
"I do not snore!" cried Lily, defensively. Misty just rolled her eyes as she angrily tightened the grip on her bag – she clenched her eyes and began to walk away. But after only a few steps she opened up her eyes and noticed the state the town was in.
"Whoa," breathed Misty, awed not having expected the place to look so festive. Lights hung from canopies, and Pokéball symbols were all over, from trees and bushes to all sorts of places. "What's going on here?"
"Ah, you must be new," a young man commented. "It's the Coumarine Festival today." Misty blinked, so the man continued. "It's a day when all of the residents and visitors of Coumarine go to the Pledging Tree – it's the site of our local gym – and give gifts to their Pokémon as tokens of appreciation. It's all done as homage to a story about how the man who planted the tree used it as a gift to his Gogoat."
"Oh! I see," replied Misty, interested. "Um…where would the gym be to drop off the gifts?"
"Oh, just over there," the man said, pointing towards where a very large tree was. "And if you need to go shopping, you can take the monorail to the town's biggest shopping district. Should be a very nice place for you two ladies to go to," he added.
"Wait! Hold on, shopping?!" said Lily suddenly, as she practically bolted from where she had been to the front of the young man, startling him. "As in – like – shopping, shopping? As in, big name clothes, perfumes, shoes, and snacks, like, that kind of shopping district?!"
"Um – er – w-well, yes…"
"Eek! Misty, c'mon! To that monorail, now! Shopping here I come!"
Misty squeaked in surprise as she was grabbed by the wrist and yanked by her sister away from the man who sweat-dropped as he watched the sisters leave. "Oh!" he called. "And don't forget about the festival!"
"We won't!" called Misty, despite the panic in her voice as she was flailed around by her sister.
When the two Waterflowers got to the station, they quickly boarded the train, Lily bubbling over with happiness, whilst Misty pondered over what to get her Pokémon. During that time, wearing a blue short-sleeved jacket, with spikey black hair that was covered by a red cap arrived at the station – he was accompanied by a honey hair colored girl with a black/grey tank top, red skirt with knee high black stockings, and a pink hat.
OoOoO
Misty had never seen Lily so amped up before, the pinkette bolted out of the monorail so fast, she swore her sister had been moving at the speed of sound. When they went about their shopping, Misty couldn't help but admit that some of the items she saw did interest her on a surface level, but nothing stood out to her in regards to her Pokémon. But Lily fawned over everything.
"Honestly," grumbled Misty to herself, "she's impossible to deal with some days." Luckily, Misty did happen to see a few items that caught her attention. She managed to find a nice blue sailor robe for Politoed, and she figured that Psyduck and Azurill wouldn't mind a snow globe each – but the rest of her team were enigmas to her.
"Ooh-ooh!" cried Lily suddenly. "O-M-G, those stilettos look fabulous, so beautiful! Agh, I want to try them on!" Misty gaped in wonderment as her sister disappeared, she sighed, for as nice as it was for her to spend time with Lily, the girl could be too much.
"Hey, Lily," said Misty as she peered into the shop. She noticed that Lily was at the nearest seat, busying herself with fitting on the high heels, but clearly that pair wasn't the only one she was keen to try on…as a stack of some twenty other boxes were stacked next to her.
"Huh? Yes Misty?" said Lily, finally looking up nonchalantly.
"Erm," began Misty awkwardly, her face scrunch up from how perturbed she was at the scene before her, before suddenly adopting a more nervous smile. "Well…it seems that you'll be here for a while, whilst you're doing that, I'm going to go explore the area some more and meet up with you later after I find some more gifts for my Pokémon, okay?"
"Oh, okay," replied Lily simply. "Have fun," she added, but in a tone that suggested that she couldn't care one way or another. Misty gave a very small 'humph' of annoyance at that and walked off.
"That Lily, ugh!" she fumed. "I swear, the only time nowadays where I can have a pleasant day out in public is when I'm by myself or with Tracey," she grumbled, thinking about her oldest sister's boyfriend, and her own good friend back home in Kanto.
"Zu zu, Azurill," chirped the Polka Dot Pokémon in agreeance.
"Oh, how I miss not having to spend most of my days with my sisters…"
OoOoO
Ash barely managed to hide a twitch in his eyes when looked over and saw – much to his extreme displeasure – that Serena was eying more fashion items. "Serena," he groaned, "I get that you like that stuff, but does a dress really seem like a proper present for your Pokémon?"
"Aww, come on," said Serena, pouting. "Doesn't hurt to look, does it? And besides, it would be useful if Fennekin could adorn a dress for my upcoming Performance."
"True," conceded Ash, smiling. "But it would help to look for gifts that are their sizes, wouldn't it?"
Serena blushed and reluctantly admitted that he had a point. But the problem still persisted, and Ash found himself getting flustered at the lack of progress either of them were having at finding a gift for their Pokémon, no matter what he looked at, he couldn't find something practical, useful, or whatever it was that would seem suitable to him for his Pokémon.
As the two were walking up some steps, Serena found a shop that caught her interest, but Ash – who was a few steps behind her – saw an alleyway off to his side that lead to more shops. "Hey, Serena!" he called. "I'm going to go check out these shops, meet you back at the train station!" And before he could hear of any indignation from her, Ash ran off, much to Serena's displeasure.
Misty sighed as she exited another store that had failed to pique her interest. "Oh Azurill, I'm sorry, I just can't really find anything of value here," she said apologetically to her Pokémon. "It's times like these where I wish Brock was around, he'd know what to look for…"
Just then she heard a sudden cry to her right, and the sound of someone falling over, followed by multiple objects clanging together caught her attention. "Oh man…" came a gruff voice. Misty made her way over, curious to see what the commotion was about.
A man who appeared to be the stall owner was sweat dropping, as he overlooked a young man was sprawled over the stone tiles. "Hey," began Misty. "Are you all right?" She peered closer, her eyes widened in surprise of what she saw. Black spikey hair, z's under the eyes, a voice that only sounded slightly rougher than it was before – Ash Ketchum.
"Ouch," he grumbled. "Well," he went on, addressing the stall owner, "the thoughts nice, thank you, but I don't think these are what I'm looking for."
The man gave a nervous chuckle and went about retrieving his items back. As he did so, Ash carefully began to get back up; as he got his back up, a sudden pale hand came into his view, he looked up to see who its owner was, to say he was surprised to see who's face it was would've been an understatement. "Misty…?" he asked, perplexed.
"Hey Ash," said Misty softly. "Long time no see…"
"Well I'll be!" replied Ash, accepting her hand as she helped pull him up. "It is you, Misty! What with the orange hair and voice," he said, taking her in, he rose to his full height, and Misty found herself having to look up by a few inches. "What are you doing all the way out here?!" went on Ash. "Not that it's not good to see you, but…just, wow."
Misty just smiled. "Yeah, good to see you to, it's been too long."
Ash nodded. "So…want to go shopping with me?"
OoOoO
"Whoa," said Ash. "She wants to try on that many shoes?" Misty nodded. "I guess that's your sister for ya."
"Yeah," said Misty, awkwardly sweating. "And that's just Serena for you."
"Honestly," mused Ash. "Girls and shopping, just…bleh!" he grumbled, before realizing who he was talking to as his first traveling partner glared at him. "But o-of course th-that's what makes you so great, Mist. You're the exception, sure you sometimes go on a shopping kick, but generally you're not as into shopping as some of the other girls I've known throughout my life. That's what I like about you, you're not as...as…"
"One-track minded?" suggested Misty.
"Yeah," agreed Ash, not sure if that really would've been the word to use. "So," he went on, trying to change the subject, "you came here to Kalos to support Lily on one of her gigs here in Coumarine?" Misty nodded in confirmation. "Huh, that's awfully nice of you. Course, I imagine running into me wasn't something you expected?"
"Nuh, uh," replied Misty. "It's a complete coincidence."
Ash hummed in amusement as he casually threw his hands to the back of his head and connected his fingers. "Guess it's lucky then that I was out here shopping in this district for the Festival today," he mused.
"Speaking of the Festival," thought Misty aloud. "Where's Pikachu?"
"Oh him? He's back at the Pokémon Center with the rest of my Pokémon. I want their gift to be a surprise."
"Have you found anything yet?"
"Err…no…"
"I'm sure you'll find something," said Misty, hoping to boost his confidence.
"Thanks Mist," replied Ash, staring off into the sky absently. "What about you? Find anything for your Pokémon?"
"Some stuff, but not a lot…wish I could find some more though that could really show my gratitude towards them."
"Guess we're both in a bit of a rut then," said Ash with a sigh. He lowered his hands and looked solemnly up at the sky. "I bet that Clemont and Serena are having an easier time than me with this stuff."
"Aw c'mon Ash," said Misty. "Don't give up, I'm sure you'll find something, you always do come through in the end, and besides," she added with a smile, "it's not like you to ever give in and admit that you can't do what others can, right?" Ash blinked, taking her words in. "Just listen to what your gut says, and it won't lead you astray. It never has in the past, has it?"
"Thanks Misty," murmured Ash, awed by her words, and in that moment he had a strange feeling wash over him. In that sunset light, there was something about the way Misty looked that caused his eyes to stare at her, her very words resonated within him to some capacity, and the way the light reflected off of her hair made it look as though she was glowing. His gut was currently feeling very, very weird.
He averted his gaze to quickly shake off the strange feeling, and looked around for a moment, and noticed a souvenir shop close by, an idea came to him. "Hey Misty, be back a second! I want to see what's in there." And he ran off.
"O-okay," said Misty, perplexed by had happened. Meanwhile, inside the shop, Ash looked around, hoping to find something, and he did, it was perfect…
"So," said Misty after Ash came back out. "Did you find what you were looking for?"
"Kinda," replied Ash, avoiding eye contact for a little bit. "But not really…"
OoOoO
It was lucky for Misty that Lily just happened to have finished her shopping when she did, as ironically both her and Ash found their other partners at the station. Instantly both Misty and Serena weren't sure what to make of each other. Ash was oblivious to the unknown tension, and ended up getting rewarded by the station staff for being the millionth passenger, and got a blue ribbon as a prize. But even after he got the strange gift, he was still puzzled over what to do.
"You know," said Serena at last. "They're you're Pokémon, right? They'll love whatever it is that you give them – what you like is probably what they like."
"She's right!" added Misty, realizing what Serena was getting at. "Think of whatever it is that makes you happy, and that'll be enough for them." She sighed though after she said that, not sure if she herself knew something charitable that made her happy.
"Something that makes me happy…" said Ash quietly. He closed his eyes to try and think – Grr – everyone jumped as Ash's stomach gurgled loudly. Ash laughed nervously as sweat dripped down his forehead. "Whoops," he chuckled. "With all the thinking and walking I've been doing, I didn't have the time to find something eat."
Lily and Serena could only smile awkwardly at the nineteen year olds plunder, but when Misty was about to make a joke, her stomach suddenly gave a light growl. "Oops," she said, laughing nervously while blushing. "Guess I'm in the same boat."
Ash just chuckled, when it hit him, his eyes widened at the thought. "That's it!" he shouted, standing up. "I figured it out, the perfect gift!"
"Wait, Ash," began Misty. "What are you talkin – "
"Oh come on Misty," said Ash. "What is it that would make me happy?" Misty was about to reply when it also hit her. She could only smile.
"You know what, Ash? You're right."
To both Serena's and Lily's surprise, both Ash and Misty suddenly went running out of the station, but not before the latter had given her Azurill to Serena, she didn't trust Lily enough. "We'll see you at the tree!" was the only response they got from the two trainers.
OoOoO
"So there you are, Ash," said Clemont when he saw Ash and a girl who he never met before arrive back at the Pokémon Center. He had been informed of the arrival of Ash's longtime friend, and had become acquainted – some would say 'unfortunately' – with Lily, well, after enduring embarrassment from Bonnie trying to propose to the pinkette for him. It was lucky for the young man that the elder girl had the grace to not say anything about the incident. "It took you long enough."
Ash meanwhile just chuckled lightheartedly before turning his head to smile at Misty. "Yeah, sorry, it took a while to sort everything out. But hey, we both figured out what to get in the end." Misty just smiled back at Ash and hummed in agreement.
But Bonnie got a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Excuse me," she began. "You're 'Misty', right?"
"Err – yes?"
"Then please," said Bonnie suddenly, taking a knee in front of the Cerulean Gym Leader. "You're a keeper! Please take care of my brother," she declared, holding a hand out. Misty blinked, before realizing what the little girl had meant.
"W-what?!" shrieked Misty, startled by the fact that a nine year was asking her to be a bride. Lily was speechless, Serena just smiled awkwardly, and Clement was a furious shade of red.
"Bonnie…!" shouted Clemont as a drop of a bag was heard.
"Aw c'mon big brother- ow!" cried Bonnie suddenly, as she was suddenly lifted up onto her feet, her right ear in pain. To everyone's surprise, there was Ash, bent down with an annoyed look on his face, his eyes were shut, he looked clearly annoyed as he held Bonnie by an ear – and if one looked closely, a small hint of a blush was under his eyes. His mysterious bag lying on the ground, still tied up even after it fell presumably out of his hands.
"That's enough," said Ash sternly before anyone could speak. "I won't have you going around and proposing to my friends like that, it's rather rude." And without another word he dragged her away from Misty. To say that Clemont and Serena were speechless was an understatement. Usually Ash would look rather amused whenever Bonnie tried to propose to other women, but this time, he was completely annoyed.
"Wow," murmured Misty, "didn't see that coming. Does he normally do that…?"
"N-no…" replied Serena, still shocked.
OoOoO
Later that evening the group finally got to present their gifts to their Pokémon at the Pledging Tree – after a brief scuffle with Team Rocket anyhow. Clemont's gift was a rather nice music box with hand built miniatures of his Pokémon on the turntable. Serena's was a dress for Fennekin, and new sunglasses for Pancham. Lily presented her Goldeen and Seel with necklaces.
Ash and Misty proudly presented to their Pokémon their collective gift of freshly picked berries, the two figured that they both loved to eat, and given Ketchum's growl from earlier they figured why not gift their Pokémon with food. Misty also took the time to show off some of the smaller items she had purchased specifically for some of her other partners – Politoed was especially thrilled by his new outfit.
Neither trainer noticed, but during their presentation, Misty's Luvdisc, 'Caserin', was casting the both of them a strange look as he glanced back and forth.
The evening though was still not free of surprises, as another event occurred when the traveling group was surprised to see a mysterious package for Serena, with the box turning out to be a gift sent over by Serena's mother for her performance the next day. That led to Ash surprising Serena by giving her his gifted blue ribbon.
"…Ah well," said Ash calmly after she asked him 'why'. "Your performance is up is tomorrow so I figured you could do with a little charm."
"Oh, I see," she murmured.
"Oh yeah," added Misty. "Ash told me this is going to be your first Showcase, so here's a good luck charm from me as well." In Misty's hand for her was a small blue and gold necklace. "I didn't realize I was getting two for one when I bought one for my Luvdisc," explained Misty. Ash meanwhile was just looking at her.
Then to everyone's sudden surprise, a chorus of loud noises could be heard as fireworks proceeded to go off before them. Everyone awed at the sight of them, Misty couldn't help but smile brightly, she hadn't expected her first day in Kalos to be so lively and fun, she took a moment to steal a glance at Ash, seeing him standing next to her only made her heart race, she quickly turned away, not wanting her unresolved feelings to take over.
Ash however caught that, and stole a glance himself at her, in the glow of the fireworks and the nearby lanterns her orange hair and pale skin seemed to glow in a way that entranced him. He shook it off though, and remembered something.
"Um, Misty," began Ash. Misty turned round, and seeing her eyes make contact with his caused a warm feeling to overcome his chest, he felt himself blushing. "Erm – um…" he fumbled, his hands sweating even more than usual under his gloves.
"Yes Ash?" asked Misty. "Is something wrong?"
"N-no," replied Ash, nervously avoiding eye contact by staring at her forehead. "It's just that – well – I – um…" he knew he was stalling, sweat building up and he felt lightheaded. "W-well, I just thought that since…y'know, it's been such a long time since we've seen one another, I thought well, I'm – um – just here!" he eventually shouted hoarsely, showing a bag in front of her. "For you…" he added quietly.
"For me…?" asked Misty, perplexed as she stared at the bag. She opened it tenderly, and it revealed something that caused her heart to skip a beat – a pink necklace made of Corsola shells and horns. She stared at it, and looked at Ash. "How?"
Ash just nervously scratched his nose. "Remember that gift shop we saw earlier? Well, when I went in there, I saw they were selling these necklaces, and I…well... I thought that gifting you one would be cool to do." He paused to gather his thoughts. "I just…I wanted you to know that…I'm thankful to you, like I am for my Pokémon."
"To me?"
"Yeah…for well, all the fun we've had, and just – I, err – well. I…" he stuttered, once more blushing madly. "I just like having you around…"
Misty went red, and stared at the gift. "Thank you, Ash," she said softly. "I love it."