I'll Take the Tears

"I see that you're in love, I know it's not with me. But I don't want the truth to haunt my memory . . ."

Just made a few changes because I realized that it was very ambiguous at times who I was talking about. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with this (I want to get Ash and Misty (elders) together but not sure how I would intend to do that) but it seemed easier to make some sort of distinction. Although my preference for Ash is Ashton, Misty's son is Ashley which allows some disambiguation there and Ash's daughter is called Myst rather than Misty by everyone but her mother thus allowing us to disambiguate that one too.

Note, that it is roughly twenty years on. Ash and Misty are now about 34/35. I also just changed Ashley and Myst's ages to 10, because I don't think I wrote them very 12, and the only reason they were ever 12 was for the romance element.

DISCLAIMER: Guess who doesn't own Pokemon?


So you take the smiles . . . from all of our years

. . . I'll take the tears . . .



I'll Take the Tears – A New Generation: 20 years on

~ 20 years later ~

Misty Waterflower stared out the window towards the ocean flowing distantly into the horizon. She stared past her husband, Stephen Hunt and beyond even the sunset in the distance.

She looked beyond reality and saw the love that she left behind in the Jhoto regions beyond Kanto.

"Is something wrong, Misty?" Stephen asked from across the table in her favourite restaurant in Fuchsia City.

Misty shook her head. "I'm ok," she replied, "just tired."

Now I'm sure your wondering why she was still Misty Waterflower and not Misty Hunt, it was simply because it felt wrong to give it up. Sure she loved Stephen, she really did care for him and she was happy with him, but her heart belonged to Ash Ketchum no matter how hard she tried to change that fact.

Stephen was kind and sweet and everything Ash was. He had dark brown hair and almost black eyes. He was a Pokémon trainer turned researcher when he realised that he was more interested in finding new Pokémon than battling them.

He reminded her so much of Ash with one difference, Stephen loved her. At least she thought that was different.

"Are you worried about, Ash?" he asked.

Misty gasped suddenly but recovered quickly when she realised what Stephen meant.

He wasn't talking about the handsome Pokémon trainer who had stolen her heart and broken it in two twenty years ago. He was talking about the nine-year-old boy beside her who aspired to the same dream of his namesake.

His name was of course Ashley Satoshi Waterflower, and everyday she could see more and more of her Ash shinning through.

He wasn't quite twelve yet, it was only a matter of a few days before he was, and he was already a lot taller than Ash was at that age thanks to that Waterflower trait. He had his father's dark hair but Misty's sea blue eyes and smile. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of his hero, the great Ash Ketchum the holder of the title Worlds Greatest Pokemon Master.

It seemed he had reached his goal in the end; without her.

But things had changed since the times of our hero's journeys through the different leagues. Kanto was a much safer place then despite the constant attacks from team rocket. It was a lot harder to get your license now and you had to know what you were doing before you started.

But Ashley knew exactly what he was doing, he'd been practising for so long and she'd taught him everything she had learnt from her time with Brock and Ash.

In a few days they would be in Pallet sending him off on his journey. Tracey had taken over from Professor Oak when he retired 5 years ago and he had requested that they come to see him in Pallet so he could start him off properly.

Misty knew it was his dream, but she knew she was going to miss him when he was gone. She wasn't sure how she could live without him and the thought brought tears to her eyes.

"Don't cry, mom," Ashley told her. "I won't be long," he smiled. "I'll be back home with that cup before you even start to miss me."

Misty smiled and kissed his forehead. "I hope so."


"I can't believe you, Ash Ketchum."

Ash sighed to himself. 'What have I done now?' Ash thought exasperatedly to himself.

He had only been back from the Indigo Plateaux for two minutes and already his darling wife was yelling at him.

He just wanted to lie down and go to sleep for a few days, he had been there for ten weeks without a moments rest and he only had a month before he had to defend his champion of champions title in the orange islands then after that he would be off to Jhoto, then the element league, a few others that he couldn't remember the names of and before long he would be back at the Indigo Plateaux before he had to set off to the world championship as well as a few other leagues that weren't quite as annual as the Kanto league.

No wonder he needed sleep. He still had weeks of promo to do and he wasn't in the mood for whatever Chelsea had up her sleeve.

Somehow he had imagined that being the greatest Pokémon master and the champion of about ten different leagues to be a lot more fun.

"Daddy, you're back," a young girl called as she ran into the room.

She had dark strawberry blonde hair and startling chocolate brown eyes and it seemed that these days she was the only thing that ever brought a smile to his face.

You see his marriage was on the rocks, not that it had ever been that stable. He didn't love Chelsea, not like he loved Misty, not even like the love he felt for his daughter, most of the time he actually hated her.

He knew Chelsea was cheating on him, he could tell by the way she guiltily turned her eyes elsewhere. Many people thought he was dense, but he wasn't stupid he just couldn't be bothered doing anything about it. He barely saw her as is and he knew that if he filed for divorce he would have to say goodbye to the only thing that brought him joy in this godforsaken world.

He didn't want to have to do that again.

"So did you have fun without me, Myst?" Ash asked his little girl.

She took a glance at her step-mother who glared at the two of them. She just shrugged her shoulders though secretly making faces at her father when she was sure Chelsea wasn't looking. Ash held back a smile so as not to attract the unwanted attention of his darling wife.

"Hey why don't you go play outside with Quilava while me and your mother talk," Ash suggested handing her the Pokeball containing the cute little fire Pokémon.

"Ok, daddy," she said taking it in both hands and ran outside.

"I honestly can't believe you, Ash," Chelsea said once she was sure that Myst was beyond hearing range.

"You know it would help if you told me exactly what it was that you can't believe this time," Ash said his voice remaining calm and emotionless. He found that this was the best way to deal with Chelsea, to be as callous as she was.

"I want a divorce," she replied. "I'm sick of hardly seeing you and being left alone for months on end with no one to talk to but her."

"She has a name," Ash told her coldly.

"Oh, yes," Chelsea said drolly. "Little Mystique Ketchum. Sometimes I think the only reason you keep me around is to look after your little bastard."

"Don't you dare say that about my daughter," he growled dangerously. It was a constant theme in the arguments. Chelsea seemed to enjoy rubbing the circumstances of his first marriage and daughters birth in his face, letting it hang as a constant threat between them - letting him know that she wouldn't hesitate to use it against him if it ever came down to it.

"I wouldn't dare, darling," she told him in a tone that reminded him of a snake. "She's the only thing you care about. I'm sick of being second place to that brat of yours," she told him. "Either do something about it, or I'm walking."

"Go then," he responded. "There isn't any hope for this marriage. You're right - I married you so that Myst would have a mother, and you just married for the fame. It seems that both of us have overstayed our usefulness to one another. I've closed my eyes to everything that's gone on behind my back - sometimes I even justified what you were doing, blaming myself for your cruelty, but I give up on that. Just go."

"Are you just giving up on our marriage?" she asked.

Ash scoffed. "You gave up on this marriage long before I did," he told her angrily. "You think I didn't know that you've been cheating on me?"

She scowled, her face tightening at the thought of Ash knowing the truth. "Well, if that's how you feel Ash," she told him. "I'm going to my mothers." She paused, knowing there was one last way left to hurt him. "Mystique Kasumi Ketchum come here right now," she called.

"What is it?" Myst asked, glancing cautiously between the blonde haired woman and her father.

"Come with me," Chelsea as she grabbed Mystique roughly by the hand. "We're leaving," she said pointedly, sending a smug glare in Ash's direction.

He gaped as his daughter tried to pull away, sensing that there was something wrong with the situation. "I don't want to go out," she complained, wrestling against Chelsea's grip. "I need to show something to dad."

"I didn't give you a choice in the matter," she told her. "Bet you're regretting having me sign those adoption papers now, Mr. Pokemon Master?" Chelsea asked with her cruelest look yet.

"Chelsea, don't!" Ash cried, literally begging her now as stepped closer. "Take whatever you like. The house, the cars, you can even have the beach house on Cinnabar. Just don't take her away from me. She's all I have left.

"Don't take away the one thing I care for in life," he finished quietly - desperately - bowing his head in despair.

Chelsea smiled like she had gotten just she wanted. "I was hoping you'd say that, honey," she said in the same sickly sweet tone that had fooled him into believing she would be a good mother for his daughters. "Keep her," she told him, finally releasing her krabby like grip on Mystique's wrist. "God knows I can't stand children as it is."

She left quickly, slamming the door as she left, although not before leaving a card with Ash as to where he could contact her divorce lawyer to make arrangements to settle.

Ash sighed with relief as he picked up his daughter knowing that he would never have to say goodbye again.

"C'mon," he said as he fitted her into a more comfortable grip. "I think the two of us should go see grandma?"

Myst nodded at the suggestion, and the two were on their way.


"Why am I not surprised?" Delilah asked her son. "I told you not to marry that little tart but do you ever listen to me?"

"You said that about the last one, too," Ash reminded her, thinking back to his last wife, Mystique's mother who had died not long after child birth, merely months into their marriage. "I figures you just wanted me to marry Misty instead," Ash shrugged.

"Well of course I wanted you to marry Misty," Delilah sighed. "But I definitely didn't want you to marry her. Now how on earth are you going to look after your daughter? You can't just leave her like last time - she's not a baby anymore."

"I was just going to take her around with me," Ash replied. "I know she'd love it, she loves Pokemon and she loves watching me battle."

"Ashy, you-" she began, giving him a stern look that already told him it was a bad idea.

"Grandma?" Myst asked, cutting off her grandmother as she walked into the room carrying a large photo album. "Who's that?"

Delilah looked at the picture and smiled. It was one of Ash and Misty sitting together with Togepi and Pikachu on their laps.

"She's pretty isn't she?" Delilah asked pulling the child up on the couch next to her and the photo album onto her knee, she was glad that Myst was small for age.

Myst nodded. She had always felt a little self-conscious about her hair colour, and so seeing someone with hair even brighter than her own looking so lovely made her feel a little more secure. Seeing someone so carefree and beautiful made her think it was okay to stand out so much in the crowd.

"She was a water Pokémon trainer and one of the Sensational Sisters of Cerulean. The most sensational of all as I remember it," Delia explained giving Ash a look. "She was your dad's best friend in the entire universe," she added smiling at the thought of the two together like they use to be.

"Even more than Uncle Brock and Tracey?" she asked naively, unaware of her grandmothers secret looks. Delilah nodded knowingly, staring lovingly at the long forgotten picture of the daughter she never had. "What was her name?"

"Her name was Mist'."

"Just like me," Mystique smiled.

"She's the reason you got your name," Delilah smiled. "The reason why the two things that your father loves the most share the same name."

"Can you tell me a story about her?" Myst asked her father.

Myst shared her father's curious nature. She always wanted to know more about things, she could never leave anything alone and she could barely sit still for five minutes without fidgeting.

Ash sighed. "It's been so long and there are just so many stories to tell," he said sadly as he too stared at the red head in the picture. "I don't think I'll know what to say."

"Why do I get the feeling you're not talking about the story anymore?" Delilah laughed. "I'll tell you a story about when they went to the orange islands.

"It was when they reached the island of Arshia," Delilah continued. "There was a festival on and there was a pretty maiden called Melody struggling for Ash's attentions but he didn't see her, he only ever saw Misty . . ."

Myst sat up listening to the story and staring at the picture before her of a girl with fiery red hair and cerulean blue eyes trying to imagine it all just as her grandmother described. She wished that she could have met Misty, she seemed so wonderful.

"Daddy, was she nice?" Misty asked as Delia finished her tale.

Ash nodded looking towards the picture himself. It brought back many happy memories and made him wonder why he had ever let Misty go.

"The nicest," he replied pulling her into his lap, "though she had a temper as fiery as her hair."

"When I turn ten, can I go on a journey like Misty and you?" she asked.

Ash smiled and set her down on the chair as he went to go find something. He was back in a few seconds with two things. An old red and white Pokémon league cap and a Pokedex.

"Definitely," he said placing the cap on her head. It was a little big and slipped over her eyes as she tried to look up at the two adults.

"Its next month isn't it?" Delia asked.

Myst nodded enthusiastically making the hat fall off her head.

"I'm going to miss you so much," Delia sobbed as she grabbed the child in her arms.

"Nana," Myst giggled. "I haven't even left yet."

"But you will," she sighed.

"Yes," Ash sighed. "But first you need to start training."

"I'll go call, Tracey," Delia said.

"I can't wait," Myst smiled.

~ to be continued ~

So anyway now you've read it now for the most important part of the entire process, the bit where you review and tell me/us what you think.

By the way, were alternating so the next chapter will be written by Xx Kusanagi xX.

Virgo Writer and Xx Kusanagi xX

So this is my last free weekend before I'm back to uni, so I've decided to try and put all of my excess chapters up. What I mean by this is that I have a tendency to hold back a chapter to take the pressure off myself and so that's what I have for you. If you love AAML I'm not sure you're going to like this one - I'm not even sure I like it and I came up with the idea for it.

Ok, so according to the authors note here at the end which I wrote a long time ago I have more than one chapter spare to this, but you still get the intention. I think I know where it is, so review if you want it.