Mr. and Mrs. Takeshi climbed into the front of the minivan, Ashley and Ashlon climbed into the middle, and Brock, Ash, and Ashtel sat in the back. Ash and Brock started talking after a moment, and soon Brock asked if they always acted like this.
"What do you mean?" Ashtel asked.
"Like, do you always fight like you did earlier?"
Ash and Ashtel looked at each other, then looked back at Brock while replying, "Yes."
Brock smiled. "Well, just so you know, I had Forrest decide who's going to pair up in each room, so I can't tell you what to expect."
"If I have to bunk with Ashley, I'm going to immediately throw myself off a cliff," Ash decided. Ashtel laughed.
"What are you saying about me now?" Ashley yelled as she whipped around.
"Nothing," Ash smirked. She glared at him.
"Heart breaker!"
"Brat!"
She gasped. "Oh, no you didn't!"
"Oh, yes he did," Ashlon sighed. In return, Ashley smacked her head.
"Hey! You made me lose my spot!"
"Nerd."
"Being a nerd is better than being a blonde in disguise," Ashtel snapped.
"Says the girl who doesn't even know what a good pedicure looks like!"
"Like we're going to need that in life," Ash giggled. Ashley looked like she wanted to kill him at the moment.
"You do if you're going to be a fashion designer!" She informed.
"News flash, Ashley! We're going to be Pro Skateboarders!" Ashtel yelled.
"Or Pokemon Masters," Ash added.
"Well, you're not going to have-"
"Why don't we all just take a deep breath," Brock cut in. Ash leaned back in his seat obeying, but that just whipped Ashley up even more.
"Why should I listen to you?"
"Cause he's our older brother now," Ash pointed out calmly. He looked at Brock. "That feels strangely like I've been holding it in all my life and I'm just letting it out now."
Brock grinned. "Well, you always have felt like another younger brother to me."
"I guess you've always been like an older brother to me."
"Oh, very heartwarming, now I need to go puke," Ashley snapped. She turned in her seat to face forwards again. Both Ash and Brock heard Mrs. Takeshi saying, "This is going to take a while to get used to."
"Oh, you can say that again," Mr. Takeshi replied. Ash leaned back in his seat a little more. Well, this first impression is going well, He thought sarcastically.
In a few minutes, they pulled in the driveway to the Takeshi's. Ashtel, Ashley, and even Ashlon looked at the house and gym awe. Ash was just staring at the floor, something obviously on his mind. He looked up and realized they were there, but he wasn't surprised, considering he had already been there twice. They walked into the house, and eleven younger kids ran over to meet Ash's biological sisters. The oldest of the eleven came next to Brock.
"Did you put them in rooms?" Brock asked. The oldest nodded. "Great, Forrest!"
"I put Ashlon and Ashtel together," He began, "And Ash and Ashley together."
"Oh, dear Mew," Ashley yelled.
Ash about-faced and took a couple of steps. "If anyone needs me, I'll be throwing myself off a cliff."
"No," Brock said as he grabbed Ash.
"Okay then," Forrest decided. "Then, Ashlon and Ash and Ashtel and Ashley?"
"NEVER!" Ashtel screamed.
"That's even worse than me and Ashton!" Ashley groaned.
"Then it's perfect," Mr. Takeshi broke in. "Why don't you four unpack in your rooms?"
"Okay," Ash replied. The other three quadruplets looked at him strangely. "What?"
"You're never that quick in agreeing," Ashley mumbled.
He shrugged. "So?"
"Weird," Ashlon whispered.
Ash rolled his eyes and grabbed his things, then Ashlon. "Come on."
Brock followed the two to show them to their room. Ashtel caught up to Ash quickly.
"Help me! I have to room with her."
Ash laughed. "Good luck."
"Well, here's your room," Brock showed them. They walked in to a room with a bunk bed and a couple of dressers. On each bunk bed was a pillow, but on the top was a ball of yellow fur…
"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed. He set his stuff down as Pikachu looked up.
"Pika!" It jumped into Ash's arms, and he gladly hugged it.
"I missed you, buddy," Ash laughed.
"Pika pi," It agreed.
Ashlon walked over to the bottom bunk and set her stuff down after sitting. She opened her book and started reading again. Brock saw this and sweat-dropped. Ash just rolled his eyes, still smiling.
"Nerd," He laughed. She looked at him.
"You're missing out on some awesome Harry Potter spells."
"Oh, come on, Ashlon! You know I read the whole series before you even thought about reading them." He looked at Brock. "Have you read them?"
"I read them all up to the seventh," He replied.
"The seventh is pretty epic, but it's the saddest, too," Ash informed. "A lot of the main characters die, including Dobby." He frowned thinking of it. He looked like he was going to cry until Ashlon screamed, "Well, thanks for ruining the ending!"
He immediately started laughing when she said that. Brock joined in, but soon, they were interrupted by Ashtel.
"Um, hey… Older bro? Can you show us our room now?" She asked gently. Brock nodded and showed them there, still laughing.
Ash's smile faded within a few seconds after Brock left. Pikachu picked this up and looked at him, concerned. He silently climbed onto his bed and lay down. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, until Pikachu jumped onto him, worried about its trainer. He looked at Pikachu with a half smile. It still seemed concerned.
"Pi, Pikachu?" It asked.
"I guess that I just miss Mom a lot," He sighed.
"I miss her too, Ashton," Ashlon informed from underneath him. "You're not alone."
Ash smiled. It felt good not to be alone.
"Hey, Ashes," Mr. Takeshi leaned in the door. The two turned to look at him. "It's time for some lunch."
Ash grinned, jumped off the bed, and punched his fist in the air, grinning. "Yes!"
Ashlon sighed. "Man, and at a great part, too…"
She closed her book, and Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder as they left the room.
Ash stepped out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him. He turned to head towards the outside door, but he heard a voice behind him that scared him half to death:
"What are you doing?"
He jumped and whipped around. "Brock!" He whispered. He began to breath again as Brock walked over.
"Ash, it's almost two in the morning. What in the world were you doing?"
"I couldn't sleep, so I was gonna go on a walk."
Brock held back a sigh. "We're not traveling anymore, you know. I almost thought you were running away."
"In my PJ's?"
Brock looked him over. He had sandals on, wasn't wearing a hat, wore a white T-shirt, and blue jean shorts.
"Oh."
Ash laughed quietly. "I guess I probably should have told someone, though. I'm sorry."
Brock smiled. "It's no problem." He turned to walk away. "Go ahead and go on your walk. Just make sure you don't get lost."
Ash grinned. "Okay, thanks. See you in the morning."
"Night." As Brock walked back to his room, Ash stepped outside, just as a tear spilled down his cheek.
