Author's Note: Hello dear readers! It's Friday, and that means regular updates will now be coming! Yay! The story really gets started here, so read and enjoy!
Oh, and also, I did rate this story Tfor a reason. Like, just a quick heads up for you all, but Ash and Misty talk about drinking in this chapter. It's not really a big deal, considering they ARE of age, but just in case anyone wanted a warning, haha. Ash also attempts to make a bit of a dirty comment, but Misty is able to stop him (of course!) Oh, and I should've done this in the first chapter, but I don't own ANYTHING from Pokemon. Except for my two OC's.
Now, enough rambling from me! On with the story!
Misty hated press conferences.
She hated them even more than Ash did, and hewas the subject of the media's desires, not her. But that didn't mean she hated the things with a passion that burned hotter than the flame on a Charizard's tail.
Misty sat somewhat behind him, Aiden crawling up her legs and playing with her hands. He would sometimes make noise, or start talking too loudly, and Misty would have to shush him. Next to her sat Scott, Ash's manager. He watched Ash quite proudly, happy to see his still rough around the edges master holding a flawless media session. By the begging of Ash, and threatening of Misty, Scott held onto Michelle, the young girl scowling up at the man. She didn't like being left with him. During the conference, she would hold her arms out to her mother and sometimes let out a whimper. Misty would then have to shush her too as she lovingly patted the girl's arms.
After what seemed like an eternity, the session ended. As soon as Ash stood up, both Aiden and Michelle lunged for him. They both begged to be picked up, and soon began bickering over who got to be held by their father.
"Okay you two, calm down," Ash hushed them. The two were arguing too loud to hear him. Sighing, Ash picked up both children and held one in each arm. "Better?"
Both children glared at one another, but then nodded in response to their father's question.
Misty walked over to Ash and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Good job sweetie," Misty smiled as she rubbed the back of Ash's neck. Ash returned the smile, and leaned into her.
"Alright you two break it up," Scott chided gently. Misty turned around to glare at him, and Ash growled under his breath. Neither of them could really stand Scott. "Well, Ash, you'll be pleased to know you're all done for the day."
"Yes!" Ash cheered as he cuddled the two toddlers close to him.
"However," Scott held up a finger. Ash groaned like an agitated ten year old. Sighing, Scott continued, "I thought that tonight, you and Misty should go somewhere…special."
"I'm down with that!" Ash grinned.
"That sounds lovely," Misty blushed a little, "but…I think you're forgetting that Ash and I have two very young children, and no babysitter."
"Of course you do!" Scott wagged a finger.
"Who?" Ash raised his eyebrows.
"Why, me of course!" Scott pointed to himself. The twins squeaked nervously and snuggled up closer against Ash.
"Come on guys, it'll be okay," Ash tried, bouncing them up and down.
"Believe it or not young ones," Scott patted their heads, "I do know how to have some fun!"
"No," Michelle shook her head.
"Aw, Aiden, Michelle, can't Daddy and I have some fun tonight?" Misty touched the faces of both children and gave them a pleading look. Aiden and Michelle gave each other nervous looks, but then looked back at their mother.
"Okay mommy," Aiden mumbled.
"Thank you sweethearts!" Misty trilled and gave a kiss to both toddlers. Michelle showed a little smile, while Aiden was quick to make a face and wipe it away, causing the adults to share a hearty laugh.
XXX
"It was surprisingly sweet of Scott to do this for us," Misty gave Ash a confused look as they walked out of the hotel. She was not, however, about to question it. She hadn't had the opportunity to get dressed up in awhile, and it felt nice to finally wear the new green dress she'd bought several months ago. It had just been laying around, waiting for some excuse to be put on.
"That's true," Ash nodded, and practically reading Misty's mind, he added, "let's just go along with it." With a snicker, he added, "besides, he owes me a drink, considering he drives me insane constantly."
"Don't you dare drink too much just because someone else is paying for it," Misty narrowed her eyes, "not only is it completely rude, but the last time you did that, I had to practically drag you home. Not fun."
"That's really funny Mist," Ash shot back, only half playfully, "you're acting like you've never gotten drunk before. I would know. I was there."
"Fine, I have drunk too much before," Misty sighed, "I'll admit it, because unlike you, I'm mature. Fortunately for me, I can keep in my mind that we have two young children, and it would be completely irresponsible of me to do any kind of excessive drinking."
"What are you implying about me?" Ash folded his arms.
"Nothing, nothing at all," Misty waved her hand at him.
"Yeah, okay," Ash huffed. He suddenly stood up straight, and stopped walking. He looked around curiously, and finally let out an exasperated sigh.
"Is something wrong Ash?" Misty stopped next to him, giving him a glance with her emerald eyes.
"I don't get it," Ash mumbled, "I'm following the directions Scott gave me, but I don't see a restaurant around here anywhere…"
"You probably followed the directions wrong," Misty narrowed her eyes again, "you never were good with them."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Ash replied coolly, "but seriously, we're practically in the middle of nowhere. I can't imagine there being a nice place anywhere in this area!"
Misty now looked around herself. There were mountains off in the distance, all a light a brown color. The ground was dusty and cracked from being so dry. It was at that moment she realized just how hot it was outside. Pulling one of her elastic bracelets off her wrist, Misty tied her hair back into a high ponytail, letting it sway wildly behind her.
"Do you have the directions?" Misty turned back to Ash. Her raven haired husband nodded and retrieved a piece of folded paper from his pocket, handing it to the red head. Misty unfolded the paper and studied the directions closely, nodding as she read each one. As she finished reading the last pieces of information, she raised her head and slowly began walking forward. Ash, who had been staring off into the distance from boredom, suddenly noticed Misty moving, and followed quickly behind her.
"Do you know what you're doing Mist?" Ash piped up. Misty didn't respond. She continued walking, still holding the paper in front of her. Finally, she stopped in front of a cave, and turned to give Ash a somewhat aggravated glance.
"This can't be it," Ash snorted, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, I think it is," Misty fumed, before grumbling, "should've known Scott can't do anything right."
"A cave Misty? I don't think even Scott is that dumb."
"Somehow, I do," Misty folded her arms. Raising her eyes, a square piece of bright yellow taped to the front of the cave caught her eye. She sauntered over to it, tearing it off the rock.
"What's it say?" Ash asked over her shoulder.
"Ah!" Misty spun around, "Ash! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Sorry Mist," Ash apologized with a smile, "just getting impatient."
"No kidding," Misty murmured. She looked back down at the square and read off of it:
Dear Ash and Misty,
Enjoy!
Love, Scott.
"What the hell kind of date is this supposed to be?" Ash whined.
"The kind of date your idiot manager comes up with," Misty rolled her eyes.
"I was really looking forward to that drink," Ash sighed, "oh well, come on."
"I'm not going in there!" Misty's eyes widened.
"Why not? We can make this fun Mist!" Ash looked into the cave, and announced, "I think its dark enough where we could…"
"STOP BEING SUCH A GUY!" Misty struck the back of Ash's head.
"Ow!" Ash wailed, rubbing the spot.
"At this point, we should probably just go back to the hotel," Misty turned around, "I'm feeling extremely guilty about leaving our children with Scott. Also, I kind of want to beat him up."
"Nuh uh," Ash leaned forward and grabbed Misty's wrist. The water type trainer spun around and gave Ash a glare that was half confused, half infuriated. "We're supposed to be on a date. This may not be the ideal sort of date we were imagining, but it's still some time alone."
"You're right," Misty breathed, hating having to admit this fact to Ash. She knew this would lead him to nonstop (and in her mind, undeserved) bragging.
"Awesome," Ash moved back to the cave, still holding onto Misty, "let's go!"
Before walking in, and noticing how dark it was, Misty growled and began to take her heels off.
"What're you doing?" Ash tilted his head.
"What does it look like? If I wear these in there, I'll end up tripping and cracking my head open."
"Good point," Ash nodded, "you never were good at walking in heels."
Holding the shoes in her hand, Misty used one to smack Ash on the shoulder as she entered the cave.
"Ow!" Ash yelped as he followed after her, "Misty, you've gotta stop hitting me!"
With a satisfied smirk, Misty tried to look around the cave, but to no avail.
"It's pitch black in here," Misty called to Ash, "how are we supposed to do anything when it's so dark?"
"That's not a problem," Ash chuckled, "let's go Charizard!"
Throwing the red and white sphere, the giant fire Pokémon appeared before his trainer, roaring proudly as he spread out his wings. The bright flame at the end of his tail instantly lit up the formerly dark space, causing Ash to show a victorious grin.
"You brought Charizard with you?" Misty smiled at the flame Pokémon.
"Of course! How am I supposed to compete in an elite tournament without one of my best Pokémon?"
"Good point." Misty continued to walk forward, now that she could see. Charizard followed diligently behind her, and Ash hurried ahead to be next to Misty. He looked curiously at the walls, and suddenly, something interesting caught his eye.
"Wait," he held his arm out in front of Misty. She grabbed onto his forearm, and gave the man a curious look. Ash lowered his arm and neared closer to the wall. As he did, he removed his suit jacket, finding it now to be unbearably hot. It felt good to throw the thing on the ground, as Ash had always hated dressing up. It felt like some kind of long awaited revenge. He pushed up the sleeves of his dress shirt, and put his face right up against the rock, squinting to get a better look at the object of his interest.
"Ash, you're being weird," Misty commented from behind him.
"No," Ash shook his head. Misty raised an eyebrow as Ash continued to stare at the wall. After a few more seconds, Ash looked over his shoulder and called to Misty, "come here."
Sighing, Misty shook her head, but walked over to her husband. She kneeled next to him, and looked at the drawings on the wall. When she did, she let out a soft gasp.
"Is that…?"
"Yeah," Ash breathed, "Entei."
Misty blinked wildly and continued to stare at the image of the majestic Pokémon.
"Why do you think this is drawn here?" Misty questioned.
"I'm not sure," Ash shrugged, "but look here." He pointed at a group of triangles drawn to the right of Entei. They were somewhat larger than the Entei, with bright red spouting from the tops and flowing to the bottom.
"Are those volcanoes?"
"Looks like it," Ash nodded, "that would make sense. Entei is the volcano Pokémon. That would also explain why it's so hot out here."
"This must be some kind of legend," Misty added, "I mean, everything is beginning to come together. The conference here is called the Lava Conference, and we're on Heat Stone Island. So I'm beginning to think all of this is part of a local myth."
"You may have a point there Mist," Ash looked further to the left. As he did, he noticed three misshapen letters scratched into the wall. He moved directly in front of them and ran his fingers over the carvings, trying to get an idea of what the word was.
"That handwriting is worse than yours," Misty teased with a playful giggle.
"Heh," Ash chuckled gently as he continued his inquisition. As he finished running over the last letter, his eyes widened and he fell over, landing on his hands.
"What's wrong?" Misty squeaked.
"Uh, those…those letters," Ash rubbed the back of his head, "they spell out a…word."
"No, really?" Misty snapped sarcastically.
Rolling his eyes, Ash responded, "Guess I might have deserved that one. It's just…the word that's spelled out…"
"Well, what is it?"
Ash turned to Misty, and in a serious tone, stated, "Run."
Author's Note: In case anyone is curious, Scott is the same guy who owned the Battle Frontier. So why is he Ash's manager now? He'll explain it in the next chapter, but I thought it was a nice fit considering (in my opinion) the guy had some really creepy obsession with Ash.
Please leave a review or comment, they're very much appreciated!
