Heyoooo! So this is my first Pokémon AU story! In honor of my dad coming home from a long and stressful deployment, I wanted to write this little story! Enjoy! Dialogue heavy story.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Pokémon or the registered trademark characters!
"Daddy, when are you coming home?" A small child with dark red tresses, twinkling emerald orbs and a slightly quivering lip asked her father
"I'll be home as soon as I can Ariel," Ash's throat felt tighter than a vice grip
"Hey there Ash" Misty smiled as she sat down next to her and Ash's daughter
"Hey Mist, you guys doing ok?"
"Just really missing you" Misty sniffled a little as she picked Ariel up to sit on her mother's lap
"I miss you guys terribly too" Ash bit his lip and managed to keep himself from crying
"Pikapi!" Pikachu groaned loudly
"Pikachu, I'm sorry I didn't bring you with me buddy, but, I needed you to stay and protect mommy and my little girl" Ash explained softly
"Chu" Pikachu begrudgingly nodded his head
"Alright little miss, it's time for you to go to bed, let mommy talk to daddy for a little bit ok?"
Ariel groaned slightly but nodded
"Okay Mommy, Goodnight Daddy, I love you! And I miss you very much!" Ariel blew him a big kiss
A smile finally graced the young Marine's face
"I love you most baby girl! I can't wait to hug you, and give you big, big kisses when I get home" Ash's grin grew wider as his little daughter smiled and giggled happily as her mother tickled and kissed her rosy cheek.
"I'll be upstairs in a little while sweet pea, I love you" Misty's voice was breaking
"Okay mommy, I love you most!" Ariel hugged her mom tightly as if sensing her distress,
Pikachu hopped up on Ariel's little shoulders, and she began giggling even louder
"Come on Pikachu, we need to go to bed so that Mommy and Daddy can have some time together!" she blew one last kiss to her father and her mother and bounded up the stairs.
As soon as Misty was sure that her daughter was out of earshot, she burst into tears
"Ash, it's been so hard not having you here with our little girl and me, and hearing…hearing about troops not. Not coming home."
The young raven haired man couldn't hold his tears back for another second; he had just lost some guys he knew personally during a firefight.
"Misty…I swear to you, I will come home! I know what's at steak, and…I can't wait to be reunited with you and Ariel; you two and Pikachu are the only people keeping me from going insane over here, I love you, Angel."
"I love you too Ash, and"
Misty was cut off by a knock at the door in his room
"Cpl. Ketchum?"
"Enter Sir!" Ash stood at attention
"I need you in my office in five minutes Ketchum, understand?"
"Yes, Col. Johnston! Right away sir!" Ash saluted his superior officer and he saluted back and walked out of the room
"I'm sorry Mist, but I gotta go, I'll call you tonight ok?"
Okay Ashy, I'll be waiting for your call! I Love you" Misty blew her husband a huge kiss and a flirtatious wink for good measure
"Love you too Angel! Night!" He blew her one last kiss before the call ended.
Ash walked to Col. Johnston's office wondering why such a high-ranking officer would want to see him on such a short notice
Knock Knock
"Rank and name."
"Corporal Ash Ketchum sir!"
"Enter please."
The young man walked into the Col.'s office; it looked pretty much the same as everyone else's: bland, with guns mounted on the walls and plain desks with computers.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" Ash stood at attention once more and saluted the Col.
"At ease Ketchum, yes I did, congratulations, you just earned yourself a seat on the next flight outta here!"
Ash's eyes widened, and a loud laugh escaped his throat
"T-thank you s-sir! Excuse my outburst Sir!"
Col. Johnston smiled warmly at his young marine
"Why don't you pack up, I'll meet you at the airstrip before you take off."
"Thank you, sir!" Ash gave the older man another salute
A few hours later, Ash was all packed up and more than ready to get home to his beautiful wife and daughter, and Pikachu too.
"Oorah Sgt. Ketchum!"
"Sir, I-I'm only a Cpl. I don't get my review until next year."
"Plans have changed son, I need you, and you'll regrettably be coming back here in about five months."
"Yes sir" Ash was trying to hide his indignation, but it went unnoticed by the seasoned marine officer who put a hand on his shoulder
"Hey, you're doing a tremendous job here Ash, I honestly could not be any more proud to have a fine man such as yourself be in my unit, now, get your butt on that plane before I change my mind!"
Before Ash could do anything, Col. Johnston saluted him, smiled and walked away.
"Hold on just a little longer Misty and Ariel, I'm coming home" Ash kissed a small photo of his wife and daughter and boarded the plane
A few days later, back in Cerulean City, Misty was a little upset that her husband had not answered her calls
"Oh well, he must really be busy." the young redhead was feeling very nervous; the last time her husband had taken this long to call was when he got called out of his base because of an attack on a nearby city, he ended up turning out ok, but, she had been a nervous wreck the entire time.
Moments later, Misty could hear Pikachu scratching at the front door frantically
"Pikachu? What's the matter?"
"Pikapi!"
The young red head gym leader had been around the little electric mouse long enough to know what 'Pikapi' meant
"Oh, Pikachu, Ash is in Afghanistan right now and."
Misty opened the door, and there he was
"Ash? Oh, my Arceus! Darling, you're home!" Misty leapt into her husband's arms and began laughing and crying hysterically
"Heh, hey there Misty! You miss me?" Ash chuckled
After a few moments and several kisses in between, Misty smacked Ash's chest
"You jerk! You had me worried sick! I'm so happy you're home!" She grabbed his chin, and he wrapped his arms around her waist and they kissed deeply
"Mommy! I heard you yelling and crying and.. Daddy?"
Ash grinned ear to ear at the sight of his baby girl
"Hey, Sweet Pea!"
"Daddy!" The young child ran to her father and hugged him as tightly as she possibly could, and like her mother, she started crying
"I-I missed y-you so much Daddy!"
"I know, I know Ariel. I'm here now." Ash kissed his daughter's head and rubbed her back soothingly
"Pikapi!" Pikachu jumped up Ash's leg and nuzzled its cheek against its trainer's cheek, causing him to laugh gleefully
"Oh, Pikachu! I missed you a whole lot too!"
The young Ketchum family all sat down for a special dinner, afterwards, a very sleepy Ariel tapped her father on his shoulder to ask him a question that she had been waiting nearly a year to ask him.
"Daddy, can you please put me to bed?"
"Of course sweet pea" Ash picked his daughter up and carried her to her room
"Do you need your night light, Ariel?" Misty came in
"No thank you, Mommy, Daddy is home now, I'll be fine." The little girl sighed contently as she yawned and fell fast asleep, Pikachu laid on the pillow next to her
Ash and Misty grinned ear to ear as they both hugged and kissed their daughter, then walked out of her room, and into their bedroom.
They both just plopped on the bed and cuddled while whispering sweet nothings to each other, and kissing one and other.
"Misty...I have to go back in five months...I don't know how long" Ash sighed
Misty looked up at her husband, who just looked so torn up and exhausted, she pecked his lips,
"We will get through this together Ash, I said it on our wedding day, and I'll say it again, you and I are a team, I am yours, and you are mine."
"And that makes me smile every day" Ash grinned as he pulled his gorgeous wife closer to him and kissed her tenderly
"I love you Ash" Misty breathed out as she reciprocated the kiss
"I love you too Misty" Ash let out a happy sigh as they both drifted off to sleep.
Heyoooo! Hope Y'all enjoyed this little AU "one –shot", I know that it's technically longer than a traditional one-shot, but I digress. Please review, it really does help tremendously, I will be adding chapter eight of "Enter the Missing Father" here real soon!
Until Next Time!
Stay Pokeshipping Everyone!