Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, or any lyrics within the story.

This story was inspired by the song "The Night Before (Life Goes On)" by Carrie Underwood. It takes place in the "Of Ill Behaved Pokémon and Smitten Trainers" 'verse, so make sure to read that if you want the whole back story.

Hold On Tight (Don't Let Me Go)

[Part One: Preface]

They say that young love doesn't last. People change as they age. New interests come out of thin air. And, often, young lovers find that their new interests collide. Maybe one wants to travel, while the other wants to stay local. Or maybe they both want to go different places, where their other half just won't fit in at. And this is exactly the scenario that Misty Waterflower and Gary Oak were facing. Having been together since they were sixteen years old, the two grew together, just not necessarily in the same direction. She had made sacrifices for the sake of her relationship, and she was paying dearly for it. It had been about four years since she stepped foot in the city limits of Cerulean. Her sisters barely talked to her anymore, blaming her for the poor reputation their gym had since her departure.

The elder Waterflower sisters weren't very skilled battlers. In fact, they would rather perform than battle. But no one came to their shows anymore, thinking of them as nothing but a joke. Misty had left them, desperately wanting to follow her heart. But now she craves being home. She wanted nothing more than to swim in the pool, enjoying the company of her water pokemon. To be able to laugh at her sisters' shenanigans. But she also couldn't bear the thought of leaving the one man who made her life feel complete. Years ago, Misty gave up going to Johto alongside Ash and Brock to help her sisters run the gym. And while that was exactly what she did, she didn't stay there for very long. Her relationship with Gary had taken off not long after she went back home. They were basically inseparable, after a while. Every night they would sneak up to the rooftop of the Celadon City Department Store (courtesy of Alakazam's teleportation ability, of course), just to sit and admire the view of the city lights under the nighttime sky.

It was a therapeutic time for the both of them. They got to know each other, and found themselves falling in love in such a short time. However, then came the night that he asked her to come with him to Johto. He was itching to get into the Silver League, having trained so hard with his team. But he didn't want to leave his girlfriend. He wasn't like Ash, who had left Misty without a second thought when he learned that she was going back to Cerulean. She had opened up to Gary during their time together, telling him that she had in fact had feelings for Ash once, but it was obvious in her eyes that he didn't return the feelings. Because of this, Oak did everything in his power to never have to leave her behind. She was hesitant, at first; not knowing if she should leave so soon, having only being back in Cerulean for about six months. Misty ended up listening to her heart, ruining her relationship with her sisters in the process.

After the couple arrived to Johto, it took the former gym leader time to adjust. Gary collected his badges, and entered the league shortly thereafter. But after watching his pokemon battle, he began to change his tune. He had spent so much time with his team, training them and watching them get stronger that it almost killed him to watch them get hurt against other opponents. That was, in the end, what inspired him to become a researcher, instead of a trainer. His girlfriend stayed by his side the whole time, continuing her dream of becoming the best water pokemon trainer. She battled along with the best outside of the league, and Gary supported her doing so. After the Silver League, the two headed back to Pallet Town, where they stayed in the Oak home, where Gary learned everything he could learn about researching from his grandfather and sister. Samuel sent a good word out to his colleagues, and that was how the younger Oak was offered a job on Sayda Island. It took every ounce of Misty's being not to stop by Cerulean City while being back in Kanto for the next few years. But she just didn't want to see her sisters' looks of disapproval, or hear their mouths, for that matter.

During their time on the island, Misty felt at home for the first time in quite a while. Surrounded by water, she truly felt in her element. While Gary spent hours upon hours researching prehistoric pokemon, she spends hours upon hours working on her tan and playing in the water with all of her pokemon. They were prepared to settle down here, with his career flourishing like it was. He proposed to her in the most creative way, having one of the native bulbasaurs hand her a note, with an engagement ring taped on the inside, using its vine whip. Of course, Misty said yes. And before long, she found out that she was pregnant. After this news, they were satisfied with raising their family here on the island, with it only being a boat ride away from Kanto. Not even pregnancy kept Misty away from the water. Her fiancé would cover her from head to toe in sunscreen—expanding belly and all, not wanting to upset her. You thought Misty was bad before pregnancy? That was child's play.

But their perfect getaway came to a screeching halt when Gary was offered a researching job in Sinnoh. Professor Rowan to Gary was like Professor Oak to Tracey. He admired the man's work, whole heartedly. So, to get an opportunity like this, for much better pay and opportunities, how could he turn it down? Especially considering he had a growing family to support. Misty hadn't been so thrilled about this. Heavily pregnant at this point, she barely had the energy to make it to the water, much less move miles away to another region. They began to have minor tiffs. For once, she was arguing against something Gary wanted, and he didn't know how to deal with it. It wasn't until Misty lost her temper for the final time that the facts finally sunk into his head.

[Part Two: Current Time]

"I can't believe this! After all I've sacrificed for you. My sisters refuse to talk to me. I haven't seen my friends in years! Relationships are about compromising, but I haven't seen you compromise anything since the beginning," Misty told him, growing more aggravated by the minute seeing him continue to stuff essentials into a suitcase. "Are you even listening to me?" She tried to maneuver upright in bed to grab her fiancé's wrist, but her bump made that difficult.

Gary caught this from the corner of his eye, and did stop and come over to her, helping her sit up. His mind was reeling the entire time, though. He wanted to fire something back at her. But something stopped him, and he registered just what she was saying. Misty was right. Up until this point, he had been making all of the shots. And she went along with whatever he wanted. Well, now he just felt like an asshole. His features grew gentle and he sat down on the edge of the redhead's side of the bed, taking her hands in his own. "I hear you, okay? But I've already accepted the job. I—"

She snatched her hands away, as if he burnt her. "There you go again, making decisions on your own," Misty snapped, turning her fierce gaze away from him.

He brought his hands to his hair, tousling it in frustration, an exasperated sigh escaping his lips, "would you let me finish?" Finally, his fiancée looked back at him, though the tears in her eyes made it really hard for him to continue to speak his peace. "I was going to leave you here while I got everything set up with this new job. Professor Rowan agreed to let me work remotely. I'll have to go to Sinnoh for briefings and conferences, but I can do all of the research here."

Misty was quiet. Too quiet. And Gary wouldn't admit it, but that was a terrifying sign because she always had something to say.

"Misty—"

"How long will you be gone?" The redhead finally asked, willing her tears to suck themselves back up into her ducts. She didn't want him to go, for any period of time.

Again, Gary sighed, running a hand across his face. "That I don't know. As long as it takes to get everything set up, I guess." His hand drops to his lap, and he makes a subconscious decision to take hold of Misty's again, reaching out for it without much thought. To his surprise and delight, she didn't reject it. The pad of his thumb traces the back of her hand and he sees a faint smile come across her face.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" She asked, her voice barely audible as she peered up to catch his gaze with her own.

"Well, we haven't exactly been seeing eye to eye over the past week, and I knew you'd just get mad if I told you I was leaving," Gary told his future wife, squeezing her hand a bit.

Misty chuckled a bit, "well, you were being a bonehead."

"Was I? Or were you perhaps just being a little too sensiti—ow," before he could even finish his sentence, she whacked him in the back of the head. "Okay, I was the jerk."

Seemingly satisfied, she leaned over, resting her chin on his shoulder, "glad we agreed on something."

Gary took Misty by the arm, gently guiding her onto his lap. She settled in without a fuss, nuzzling against the crook of his neck. His arms wrapped around her frame, both hands placed on her belly. "I'll do better from here on out. No more decisions, unless we both make them," he murmured, placing a kiss on her temple. "That means, don't come up with an off the wall name for our son on your own. Wait 'til I'm back and then… bring it on," the brunet teased, smiling at the sudden flip he felt underneath his fingertips, "see, he agrees."

"Oh, just shut up and kiss me, will you?"

"You act like I can say no."

o-o-o-o

In the following months, Gary was doing everything in his power to make his job transition go by smoothly. He called Misty every time that he could—multiple times a day, sometimes. But one day about a month into the move, he couldn't get a hold of her. He called multiple times, but to no avail. Taking a moment to calm down before doing so, he called up Dora and asked her to go and check up on her. Their home hadn't been too far from the lab, after all. She called him back after discovering Misty unconscious in her bed. Gary never moved so fast in his entire life. He just hoped that the boat in Canalave City would move a bit faster than last time. He paced back and forth a lot, not knowing exactly what had happened to his fiancée.

He inwardly cursed himself for having to come here in the first place. If he had just listened to Misty, not of this would be happening. Getting tired of pacing, Gary made a special trip to the Captain, tipping him off well so they could dock a lot sooner than anticipated. The other boat riders were worried about the speed they were going at, and he had to bite his tongue to not go off on these whining people. They should be thanking him. Now they would be arriving to their destination much earlier. They could take a nap in a Pokemon Center, smell the freaking flowers, he could give two shits about them. Gary had much more pressing matter on his hands.

Once they finally docked, he booked it out of there wicked quick, pulling a pokeball off his belt. Calling upon his trusty Arcanine, they rode off to the nearest Pokemon Center so he could find out where his fiancée was at. Unfortunately, Sayda Island was too small for it to have its own place for healthcare, so she would be here somewhere in Kanto, hopefully close by. Gary's hands were trembling as his dialed the number for Dora, almost missing a couple of numbers up.

"Gary. They took her to Cerulean. She's being looked after there," Dora told her former colleague, sparing him a kind smile.

Gary was about to sit there and ask why, but then it dawned on him that he didn't have any time to waste. He quickly thanked Dora before ending the call, rushing over to the city on Arcanine's back once more. They had nearly won the extreme racing all of those years ago. They could win this race against time now.

A tear falls off her cheek and
Right when it hits his arm he says
"Come on baby
Let's get outta here"
They take one last drive around town
And man it
Already looks different
He bangs the wheel and says
"Life ain't fair
And this growing up stuff man I don't know
I just don't wanna let you go"

When he finally arrived, he was beat. But there wasn't any time to stop. His brain ran a mile a minute as he approached the main desk, asking for the room Misty was in. Gary's heart plummeted to his stomach when he was told that she was on the labor and delivery wing. She would have been about eight months along. Their son would survive out of the womb with no problem, unless something had gone wrong. He squashed the feeling of negativity away and headed straight there. As he rode in the elevator, he had to hold onto the rail. The brunet, himself, felt like he was close to blacking out. He could hear his pulse in his ears, his breathing labored. Peering up, he got a glimpse of himself at the glass elevator door. Man, he looked like hell. Dark circles under his eyes, his unruly hair looking even more disheveled.

The elevator's ding brought him back to reality and as soon as those doors were open, he was out of there, not even bothering to apologize bumping into some intern's shoulder as he passed, who looked a might confused. His pulse was even more erratic the closer he got to the room, hoping that everything would be okay. Needing everything to be okay. Gary would never forgive himself if something happened to Misty, their son or—God forbid, both of them. He was heading past the waiting room when something caught his eye. Rather, someone. In the room he saw his grandfather, sister, and Misty's sisters, along with Ash, Brock and Tracey. Not bothering to stop and say hello, he rushed back to the room, only to find the doctors wheeling Misty out as soon as he reached the threshold. He backed up, eyes immediately finding hers. She was awake, but probably wouldn't be for very long.

"Are you the father?" A female doctor pushing the gurney asked, catching his nod, "good. Your fiancée got here just in time. Her blood pressure was sky high. We have to do an emergency caesarian. Nurse Bianca will get you set up, but I advise to make it snappy. We don't have all day to deliver this baby," she explained.

Gary had been just about to grab Misty's hand when he was whisked away by the nurse to throw the protective gear over his clothes. The hair piece wanted to struggle against his spikes, but he managed to get that on and pull the cover over his clothes, barely taking the time to tie it in the back. But he didn't care. His son was being born.

o-o-o-o

"He has your eyes," Misty spoke, sleepily as she gazed down at the bundle in her arms. She didn't remember anything about today. The first thing she clearly remembered was waking up in her hospital room, being surrounded by familiar faces of family and friends. She had been so happy to see everyone; it caused her to burst into tears.

"Oak genes make good lookin' babies. Look at me, for instance," Gary tipped his chin up with pride, looking back down at his fiancée and son when she just rolled her eyes in response.

The procedure had been a success. Christian Samuel Oak had been born healthy as he could be, weighing over eight pounds. He had a head full of dark hair, chubby little cheeks, arms and legs. The blue blanket he was swaddled up in made him look so much smaller than he actually was. As Christian had been passed around between family members when they were first able to come in and see him and Misty in one of the recovery rooms, it would take them by surprise to feel his weight. Samuel's reaction was the best, telling the newborn that he weighed more than quite a few pokemon. May hogged him for the longest time, only for Misty to whine about wanting her son back. She had obliged, and proceeded to head back to the waiting room to bat her eyelashes at her own fiancé, Tracey, (but did he get why? Probably not). After May came in, each of the new mother's sisters did. None of them mentioned their silent war, which was progress. But, this wasn't an every day visit. Time would tell how the sisters got along after the youngest got out of the hospital.

A week after, Misty and Christian were clear to get out of the hospital, so the new family set out to their home back on Sayda Island. They were immediately greeted with Dora and her crew, who gushed over the baby and congratulated the couple. Over the next few weeks, their house was just one big revolving door with visitors, whether they were colleagues, friends or family. Gary ends up having to throw them out at one point, so Misty could get some sleep while she could. Maybe one day, they will all just leave them alone. (But neither of them were holding their breath).

So, that just leaves us with one last question. What about Gary's research job with Professor Rowan? After learning about the premature birth of his son, Gary's colleagues had everything brought to him that he would need to start working remotely. Every now and then, he would have to head out to Sinnoh, but Misty got used to it. Usually, he wasn't gone for more than a month at a time. They made it work, no matter how stressful things got. And one thing was for certain; they never ever made a decision without making sure the other knew about it first. Not again.

I'm gonna wrap this up here. Hope you all enjoyed this little fluffy fic.