Equanimity, Chapter 11: Week Seven

Ash was tired, so very, very tired.

Work wasn't getting easier, more and more of his time was being devoted to standing in front of a camera and being asked silly questions, and more than that, he hadn't had a battle for ages. He was miserable on top of everything else.

His body ached for the travel, the grind of a continuous adventure, bright spring skies, long summer nights, he missed all of it now that he was trapped in Kalos for what felt like a century. He looked at his pokegear for an adjustment of the time.

Seven weeks was a century, in Ash's mind. He inhaled once, seeing a slew of messages left over from Misty, his mother, two from Brock, and one from Dawn.

Eyebrows raised, he looked on at the message from Dawn first.

"Just wanted to say thanks for sending Misty! I really appreciated it! I hope you two make up the time! Anyways, I'm off to Johto now, so if you're in the area, let me know! Bye Ash!"

Every single sentence followed with an exclamation point—that was Dawn if he didn't know any better. Ash face scrunched up as he flicked through the rest of his messages; his mom liked to ask how he was doing, remind him to wash his face and keep himself clean for the camera—and always to tell him how proud of him she was. Brock liked to send news to Ash, mostly in terms of his goals; also in terms of battling. They were opening a new advanced-tournament in Johto soon, which pint up current and former regional champions against each other in a live showdown.

...There was also, of course, the thousand questions left by his old friend about how Ash and Misty were doing. Ash tended to ignore those, much to Brock's disappointment.

After flicking through some general replies, ignoring voice mails left by the league, and clicking through pointless emails about upcoming events that he had marked in his calender—thanks to that receptionist at the tower—he found his way to Misty's text messages.

His eyes were barely open by this point, dozing in and out of consciousness, he hadn't been able to get back to her until now, and while he felt like garbage, he knew that she would understand. Ignoring the texts that she sent, he skipped directly to calling her.

Ash didn't care that it was 3:00am in Kanto, if he got to hear her voice, that would be more than enough. The gentle ring of his phone brought his eyes down heavy and he exhaled as the call finally connected.

"...Hello?" Misty's voice cracked, and he could easily hear that she had been sleeping. Tiredness gone in a second, he snapped up.

"Hey, sorry if I woke you up." he said with a slight cough to clear his throat.

She hummed, he could hear he roll over to check her clock and then through squinted eyes she inhaled. "No, it's no problem." Misty lied. "What's up, Ash?"

Then the nerves sunk in, he felt so guilty that his only excuse for calling her so late was because he wanted to talk with her. It sounded so wrong and cheesy in his head that he flopped backwards with a sigh. Pikachu was asleep on his custom made perch, and his ears twitched only slightly at Ash's late night conversation. Ash spoke quietly.

"Nothing much..." he grunted, he had no idea what he was even supposed to say to her.

She paused. "Oh. What time is it there?"

"Err..." Ash grumbled, feeling old for being as tired as he was so early. "...nine."

She huffed uncomfortably, and he listened to her move until she was sitting up, possibly rubbing her eye and yawning.

"You're going to have to start calling earlier, you can't keep waking me up this late." Misty groaned, rubbing her temples.

Ash stammered, nearly dropped his phone and inhaled oddly. "It's the only time I have off, you know that." He grunted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I know." Misty hummed. "It just sucks is all." She added with another yawn.

"What did you end up doing today?" her raspy voice questioned and Ash's nerves stood at full attention.

"There was a meeting this morning outlining the current statistics of battlers. I learned that there has been a push to have show cases opened up to both male and females—I attended a tournament greeting ceremony, and signed some papers." He rattled of his list while looking up at his white ceiling. "What did you do?"

"Usual gym cleaning, battled a few trainers—won most of those, I might add." Ash smiled at that. "And then I helped Daisy pick colors for her wedding in August."

"That's good. Did everything go alright with Dawn?"

Misty shifted uncomfortably. "Didn't you get my messages?"
"I did, but I might have skipped them and called you instead..." Misty snorted on her end at his reply.

"Really Ash?"

"Sorry..." He tried, chuckling oddly.

"Dawn is fine, she was just having girl problems. She's off to Johto now that I think about it."
Ash hummed. "Was it really important?" He asked, maybe a little selfishly, but it caused Misty to giggle.

"It was important enough. I will see you again soon, don't sound so lonely." She chided with a chuckle that made his bones vibrate.

"I'm not." He denied with a blush. "It's just that... last time you came back angry." he grumbled and Misty sighed.

"Then don't screw up and I won't be angry."

"No pressure or anything, right?" Ash laughed.

Minutes ticked away as they passed off information about the day, before he knew it, he had kept her up for a little over and hour. His eyes were shut tightly, drifting in and out of consciousness, yet skillfully still able to carry a decent conversation with the redhead, who after waking up fully was completely possibly of yammering—she vented about her sisters mostly, and the growing impossible regulations to maintain while running the gym.

"See, this is why you should say screw all of that and come visit meee." Ash slurred, turning over so that his face would mesh into the pillow.

"Or..." Her voice dropped unexpectedly, in a low, sultry kind of way that made his eyes snap open in shock. An euphoric feeling slammed hard into his stomach, and he curled onto his side as a deep blush spread over his cheeks. "You could come visit me..?" She finished, her voice trembling in a way that his entire body shook.

"Misty," He returned hotly, blinking several times to clear his impure thoughts. "I can't." he mumbled automatically, to effectively kill any sulfurous intentions behind the redheads worlds. She huffed out of frustration.

"Well, then when is the next time I can visit you?"

Ash sprang from his bed, grabbed his mess of documents on the night stand, and flipping through the pile until he found his calender.

"Next weekend?" He asked quickly, and he could hear Misty's grin.

"Sure."

His heart skipped and he swallowed against his dry mouth. "But not in Lumoise City." he checked the map beside the calender and raised his eyebrows. "Ambrette town." he muttered, since that weekend he would be in the sea-side town, and so far away from Lumoise city and the pokemon league, he would have plenty of time to slack off. Besides, Misty loved the beach.

"What's in Ambrette town?" Misty questioned with a skeptical tone. Ash inhaled.

"Lots of stuff, mostly the beach though."

"Ohhh, it's been a long time since I've gone to the beach..." Her voice sounded so dreamy that Ash let out a loud sigh of relief before she followed up an excited tone: "Do you think we can go fishing for some water pokemon there?" She asked in a tone that made Ash's heart skip happily.

"This is why I love you." He grinned proudly, getting an amused scoff from her.

"Oh please, Ash."

"No, really, it's amazing that we have the same interests. I don't feel bad if I say that I wanted to go finishing as well." He exhaled breathlessly into the phone before adding. "And I haven't had any time to train my pokemon either, do you think we can do some quick matches? Oh, maybe I can convince Professor Sycamore to give you a froakie or-"

"Settle down Ash," Misty giggled sweetly, and shook her head. "I can only come for two days, remember? Don't plan too much."

"I won't." he grumbled, biting his tongue. "but...it's all within reason."

"You're forgetting time for romance, Ash."
"Romance?" Ash echoed, a little brashly, in a tone that matched his ten-year old self a little too much. Misty hissed.

"Yes romance! We're dating now, so we should have some romance, right?"

"Aww, but Mist..." Ash started, eyebrows lowered.

"You're the one who can't keep his hands off of me Ash Ketchum, I'm just saying that you shouldn't plan anything if you're just going to ma-"

His face had grown increasingly red as she spoke until he dropped his phone and had to shuffle around the floor to pick it up once more.

"I will behave this time." He whined playfully, sinking down into his covers.

"Oh, please don't." she growled and his stomach twisted again as he slapped his forehead.

"Misty!" He shouted in a hushed tone, sparking her alluring chuckle.

"I'm just kidding, settle down." she assured him in a low, teasing tone. "I know you're sooo innocent."

Ash felt his temperature rise, amongst other hormonal changes that were acting up. He shuddered and clicked his tongue against his teeth. "Go to sleep, Misty." he said breathlessly.

As if she could sense his discomfort, she grinned as her voice laced with sarcasm. "Oh, no, no, you've kept me up this late, you're stuck with me now."

Ash's voice lowered to match hers as he turned over on his bed and closed his eyes. "I'm going to sleep." He said flatly. "I love you, good night." He said flatly before thumbing for the end call button.

"Ashhhh," Misty mused playfully. "Don't hang up."

"Miiiissty." Ash whined back. "Don't tease me."

She gasped, but that only made his stomach tighten more. "I would never."

He wasn't as amused as she was, "Then what are you doing now?"

"Well..." she mused and Ash could hear her shift in her bed and he shook his head.

"I didn't—" He paused for a very long time, his breath hitched in his throat. "...Are you?"

"Ash, you pervert!" She squealed and he threw his face under his pillow and felt like disappearing forever.

"I didn't mean that, I meant that-" He stammered, face boiling hot while Misty inhaled, coming down from her laughing fit.

"I know, but I need to go start gym duties, so I will have to talk to you later." She cooed, and Ash knew that if she was here at the moment, she would have ruffled his hair and ran away laughing.

"You are so..." he started, exhaling loudly. Misty grinned.

"Amazing, I know." She hummed, slipping out of her sheets. "Anyways, babe, I'll talk to you later."

Ash yelped at the pet name. "Were you drinking last night, is that why you're so..."

"I'm just playing, Ash, settle down." Misty advised innocently, "Anyways, get some sleep and have a good day tomorrow. Try to call me sometime before 4:00am, okay?"

"Will do." He said pathetically, though a smile tugged at his lips. "Take care, sorry for keeping you so late..." He said in a low tone.

"I know, might give the wrong idea, Ash." Misty grinned her response and Ash swallowed.

They said their goodbyes, followed by a round of Ash diving into a numbingly, cold shower. From his perch, pikachu snickered—having heard most of the conversation with his keen hearing, but decided to keep that information to himself when Ash emerged from the shower, wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top for sleeping.

"She drives me crazy, pikachu." Ash muttered, knowing that his friend was not truly asleep. He ran a towel through his hair before collapsing onto his bed. His heart and mind was racing, so in an attempt to drown out the thoughts Misty inaccurately placed into his mind, he watched some battling, but his eyes kept drifting to his poke gear which pulsed a green light at him. He had a message, but he wasn't sure he wanted to answer it right now.

He needed to think about battling, about his next step to becoming a pokemon master, and yet his eyes drew to the phone once more.

Damn it. He hissed while snatching the device and clicking it on. Misty had messaged him, which was the worrisome part. Wearily, he clicked the message open, and felt all the blood in his body rush to his nose, and something more south. He didn't hesitate to reply to her, fingers clicking multiple times to drown out the image she sent.

"Misty, what was that?"

"Something to spice up your life." She replied instantly and his face only grew brighter.

"You're not wearing anything!" She paused for a short time, and Ash fought the urge to scroll back up.

"Don't be dramatic. I'm in a bra, that's what I sleep in. Not like you haven't tried getting under it before, anyways." Then added right after. "I'll make sure I don't pack a bikini, because that's apparently too much for you. -winky face-"

He had no semblance of an idea of what to reply, so instead he tossed the pokegear as far away as reasonably possible, and then crossed his arms with a deep frown while watching the television screen play reruns of the Kalos match, he could see himself sitting in the stands, and covered his face with his hands, and forced his eyes closed. Staring back at his closed eyes was Misty smiling at him all to clearly, and he forced his eyes open.

Sleep was clearly not an option. Slipping on a pair of jogging pants, and his light jacket, he pressed for the door instead, and went for a jog.

XOXS

Ash had an interview the next morning, but he would be lying if he said that he wasn't mildly distracted. Misty had sent a few apologetic messages at the end of her day, saying she knows better, and that she won't send anything again.

That was great, and he appreciated it, but a part of him didn't mind that she sent him such things. However, such a mindset was terrifying in its own way.

His age always came back to memory in times like this, he was eighteen, not twelve anymore. It was normal to have feelings for girls, strange, abnormal, impure feelings. It was all apart of puberty, Brock told him it was normal, Gary insisted that Ash bloomed too many years late, and yet until Misty, Ash had never experienced sensitiveness like this. He wasn't oblivious, he knew that other girls had a trained eye on him, he wasn't blind to the obscure things other girls did, especially not since having his bubble burst by the fiery redhead. However, the only one who had any affect on him was Misty.

...And some of the things he dreamed of, or thought would have made his mom cover her eyes in embarrassment. It was like coping with six years of pint of emotions that suddenly spilled out of his guts, and his mind and body was in a constant state of distress.

She had a way of getting under his skin, the voice of an angel disguised as Satan and a mixture of other painful thoughts that made him uncomfortable and hot under the collar. Ash had to put it out of his mind. Where Misty was only supposed to be an addition to his life, he could see that she was slowly taking over.

If there was one thing Ash wanted more than a battle, it was Misty. Such thoughts were terrifying, because only two months ago, the thought never crossed his mind. Sure, he had a few bursts of jealousy as a child, he and Misty had a long history of being teased by their peers but Ash Ketchum in a relationship at eighteen? He never thought that he would see the day.

He rubbed his temples while being sprayed with some type of perfume in the dressing room in the back of the interviewers studio and hacked.

"Can you not?" He asked, waving the girl away while dusting out his black shirt that got traces of powder on him. He smelled like a girl. Pikachu didn't like it either, because he pranced around his trainer, lowered his ears and shook his head.

"I know buddy, we're having a ton of fun—but we get to see Misty this week end!" He said optimistically, but pikachu sneered.

"Chaaaa, pikachupi, pika." The moment quipped, telling Ash that was great news, but when were they going to start battling again? Ash hadn't used any of his other pokemon weeks.

Ash pinched his nose. "We'll train a little tonight, okay? Let's just get through this."

Before he could finish his statement to the rat, he was being ushered into the next room, to take a seat on a long couch beside a pretty lady with golden blonde hair—if Ash had to make a comparison, he would suggest to the woman she looked like Misty's oldest sister, but put the thought of his head. He was only national television now—the first interview on national television that he had been forced to practice for during the last few weeks.

Ash gave a broad smile, staring directly at the live audience, and if possible, the tiniest bit of stage fright crept into his chest.

"Hello, Ash Ketchum!" The pretty blonde woman clapped, while rising from her seat. All in one motion a loud applause echoed from the audience and Ash nearly shrunk away. With Pikachu on his shoulder waving at the audience a few 'aww's' went around.

"Heya." He replied lopsidedly while shifting in his seat to sit as far back as possible. Slowly, the applause and cheers died down, with a very distant 'I love you, Ash!'shouted in the back that caused him to chuckle.

"You seem to be very well liked." The interviewer suggested happily, flipping through her notes. Though, Ash wasn't the most perceptive, he could still see that the smile she wore on her face was fake to some degree. Ash smiled in return regardless.

"I guess so..."

"Oh, no need to be so modest!" She slapped him on the knee and Ash glanced at her hand and then back at her, trying to recite 'proper' television educate. He was stiff, but the woman didn't seem to care. "My name is Kathleen, I'll be interviewing you today. So, tell us about yourself."

He could answer that question easily enough at least! "Well.. my name is Ash Ketchum, I'm from Kanto region's Pallet Town," He stroked pikachu's head, his nerves slowly dissipating as he grew more comfortable with the scene; these were the practice questions he was given. "This is pikachu, he's been my partner for a little over eight years now. I've been training pokemon since I was ten, and someday I want to become a pokemon master." He finished strong, mentally patting himself on the back for a wonderful delivery.

"And do you think becoming Kalos Regional Champion has affected you in any way? Maybe helped you reach your goals?"

He hesitated at that, his eyebrows knitting together cutely. He glanced at the camera and the crowd—knew there was only one right way to answer, so he let out a very brief, strangled noise and smiled. "Yes and no." he said against his better judgment.

Her eyebrows rose, interest in the interview for the first time since he arrive, she smacked her lips together.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I kind of feel like I'm trapped here, truthfully." Ash admit, puffing one cheek. In the distance behind one of the curtains, he could see what would be his 'manager' barking at him to be quiet. "I mean, I spent easily eight years on the road, and that all sort of stopped these last few months and I've been sitting in Lumoise City watching tournaments and signing documents when I feel like I should be out catching and training pokemon."

A large grin encapsulated her face when she spoke next. "So do you maybe regret becoming champion?"
"No, I feel like I earned it." Ash answered smoothly, going so far off what was written out for him that the man holding the note cards put them down and glanced at his partner. "But I think lording a million tasks over a champion who can be changed at any given time is pretty silly. In Kanto the Elite Four manages most of the public affairs."

Her mouth opened. "So are you saying that you don't approve of Kalos League management."

"Am I allowed to say that?"

Then the cameras shut off, going to a commercial break. The once booming audience was quiet, possibly insulted by Ash's words while he tapped his fingers on his knees thoughtfully.

"Mr. Ketchum! What are you doing?" Bellowed the man in a gray suit and blue tie as he came around the corner to stare at the young boy. "You were supposed to rehearse the script we gave you."
Ash looked down. "...yeah, but that wasn't really me answering those questions."

"That's because it's not just you. You're the Kalos League champion, you're representing the Kalos League on National television. "Do you realize how bad you are making us look?"

Ash's mouth opened, and then closed again. "No, sorry." Looking away sadly, his eyes turned downward at the ground, the to pikachu who shared in his frustration, and then back to the interviewer.

"Alright, so we're good to go back on then?"

The Kalos Executive looked to Ash who shrugged apathetically, and then smiled at the blonde once more. After the suit-in-tie man aborted the stage, the cameras clicked on once more. This time, however, Ash had taken on a more calm persona.

"Ash, do you have any one you're inspired by? Perhaps some words for other trainers like you?"
Ash glanced at the notes that were being held up once more, and forced a smile. "Yeah, I do, actually. There's a great trainer from the Kanto region named 'Red' who went missing after finishing the original pokedex. He's the reason I started taking an interest in pokemon." Ash said assuredly. "As for my advice to give to other trainers, I'd say don't give up. It's not easy. I mean, I lost five leagues before I won in Kalos."

"That's right. You were only ever the top five in those other regions... However, we did hear that you were offered a position as an elite brain, and that you won an unofficial league;" She glanced at her notes. "The Orange Islands, was it?"

Ash smiled wide. "That's right. I turned the Elite Brain position down though."

"Can I ask why?"

"Mostly because I wasn't ready at the time. I mean, I was like fourteen; if I'm antsy now, can you imagine what I would be like if I had taken a stationary position then?" He chuckled, getting a brief laugh from the crowd. Hearing them laugh at the same time as him boosted his confidence in an odd way, and he grinned.

"And do you think as an eighteen year old you've matured enough to hold a prestigious mantle of champion?"

"Well, yeah, I mean I have the Kalos executives managing me, so I think I'm okay."

They cut again, and Ash blinked in confusion. The interviewer hissed, her patience growing thin. "You can't say that on television, Ash."

"..why not?"

"Just read the damn cards!" the executive screamed and Ash shuddered.

They repeated the process several times, and Ash realized that the audience was a paid audience, and this wasn't really a live show at all—they would edit the footage the same way they do for movies. What did he even need to prepare for? He was being told everything to say.

The week ticked by, with several live interviews following the first, where he repeated most of the same answers as prior with no creativity in between sentences. He wasn't only having his time managed, he was now having his words managed—and he wasn't sure exactly which one he liked the least.

When the week was drawing to a close, he was about to attend his last interview of the week before he would head to Ambrette Town, where in a few short hours, he would see Misty, he could forget all about this terrible week; visit the beach, find some pokemon and get out for awhile.

It might have only been three months, but Ash was already going out of his mind.

When he arrived at his last interview of the week, it was the first live show he had, the key to knowing the difference was in the audience. Paid audiences were not given applause signs, while live audiences were—the cameras were also different a well; where during none-live shows, the cameras were stationary and around the room, when they were live, it was pretty well a single camera. He was also told that if he messed up on a live show, he wouldn't ever have another one.

Truthfully, Ash was okay with that.

He walked naturally onto the stage, waving to the cheering audience with a a flick of his wrist. Pikachu joyed him cheerfully, with waving paws in both directions as they found their way to a large lounge chair opposite another lounge chair with a coffee table in the center. In the back was an image of the Prism Tower to hide the bleeding sun, and the air on stage was so chilly he almost had gooseflesh.

"Hello, hello Ash Ketchum!" The interviewer cheered, her red hair sending a vibration down his spine—he hadn't the chance to call Misty since their last conversation and seeing the woman sent a strange pang of guilt into his chest. Regardless, Ash cracked a smile.

Perhaps it was the nature of the business, but he was finding it easier to smile without really meaning it. "Hey," he squint at her tag. "...Mandy." he muttered, his eyebrows lowering.

"Oh my gosh, that is my name? Have you watched my show before?"

Ash shook his head and pointed to his shoulder area, reflecting to where her own name tag was. "You have a name tag." He said with a coy grin. Her face turned a slight pink when she looked down and then laughed boldly.

"You are so right!" She clapped and then crossed one leg over the other. Unlike Misty, this woman had an orange-y, fake tan sprayed over her body, and she was wearing a too—tight white skirt, and a blue blouse with a white blazer.

"Thanks." Ash muttered prying his eyes away and onto the candy at the table, where he so neatly grabbed a few and gave them to pikachu. A sudden 'aww' came from the crowd, as well as this 'Mandy'. She clapped her hands on her thighs.

"Well, Ash, you've been the talk of the town." She cooed. "What's it like to be so young and the champion? You may be the youngest champion the Kalos league has ever seen."

Peeling his eyes away from pikachu he glanced around the area for the all-knowing note cards he had been drilled into reading for the last several interviews, and when he didn't see them, a brief panic settled in.

"uhh..." he started thouhtfully, looking back at her—her eyes were a lime green, and he frowned. Mind off of Misty, Ash. He chanted to himself and then rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "It's okay. A bit challenging some days, but over all it's been an experience." he said for lack of better words.

"I can imagine." she said with a sympathetic nod. "I'm a huge fan, I've even kept up with your latest interviews, and I must save you have had some crazy adventures!"

Ash nodded, a little hyped to talk about his adventures—he never had a lack of those to talk about, and sharing them usually ate away at the time, but before he could speak she started once more.

"And you're an amazing battler, as we have all seen."

She gestured to the large screen behind them, where the prism tower turned into a moving image of Ash and greninja during their final line up at the championship; greninja had leaped through the air after breaking out of Ash-greninja mode, and lunged itself ten feet into the opposing pokemon's face, securing an effective K.O. when only seconds prior to that, they were on the losing end of the battle. Ash rubbed his nose, recalling the moment before the final match with pikachu and found himself grinning slightly.

"You've talked about your strategies a ton of times, you've mentioned the good and the bad about training—but here, we only have one question for you." She pressed her long fingers together, her long nails tapping while the image of prism tower took precedent behind them once more. Ash looked at her skeptically.

What's that? He might have asked if she didn't beat him to it. "What is mister Ash Ketchum's love life like now?"

The darkened scowl that crossed his face didn't go unnoticed by the woman, but she didn't seem to mind as a mischievous grin pulled on her lips.

"What about it?" Ash snapped in all unkind voice.

"Well, it's no secret that you were the talk of the town because of one incident with a Kalos Princess, Serena, right?" She winked at him, and Ash balked in return. She didn't stop there, instead while she spoke images appeared on the screen behind him and he felt raw anger burn at the back of his throat. Images of Serena and Ash's travels together followed—the unspeakable kiss that started this whole ordeal, followed by a few images from the party thrown after, and even a few from when he was at home.

"But then shortly after your success you two broke it off, and now you're seeing Misty Waterflower of Cerulean City, is that right?"

Ash glared at her, fingers twisting, gripping his jeans tightly—he didn't remember agreeing to an interview about his personal life.

"What about it?"

"Rumor has it you two broke up."

"Not true." Ash gasped in return, insulted.

"But we have images of you bailing on a Kanto league party, and she got pretty feisty the last time you guys saw each other.."

Ash's eyes turned to the camera, where the scene in question was when they first saw each other again at the airport, though he couldn't remember when someone snapped those pictures.

"And recent tabloids have spoke about you and Serena again—basically I guess I want to ask you why a young bachelor like you, a champion with the world at his fingers would settle for one relationship." She seemed amazed with her eyebrows raised. "I mean, that's pretty torturous, right?"

"Was it true that you two were childhood friends and when she returned..."

She was still talking, but Ash's ears had stopped listening. His mouth fell open, then closed. He was appalled—but clearly, everyone was interested in his response. His face flashed a hostile red as he glared at the images spraying behind him, one of Ash kissing Misty at the Prism Tower, and then a few following that which were easily photoshopped and his stomach dropped.

He looked back at he woman, reciting what his mother's golden rule was 'if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all' and Ash hopped to his feet, and stormed off the set. Mandy's mouth fell open and she pointed.

"What's going on?" She shouted to her stage crew who shrugged.

Ash felt humiliated—but not for himself; for Misty and Serena. He bolted from the stage, dodged a few of the security officers, and stopped at the Kalos Executive who stood in front of him, throwing his arms up.

"Where are you going?"

"I never agreed to do an interview about that!" Ash hissed angrily, eyes full of fire when he looked at the man responsible.

"To be fair, you agreed to do any interviews we asked you to do when you signed our legal document." He said calmly. "It's just a few short questions for about twenty minutes; you can manage that, can't you?"

Ash felt his chest burn, but it was pikachu who let out a few electrical sparks to have the man back up.

"No, I think I'm good." Ash grumbled, walking past the executive; no pushing required—he moved to save himself from Ash's pikachu. Of course, the scene was recorded.

XOXs.

Ash watched the rerun of the interview obsessively, gnawing on his thumb nail while he pestered Misty's phone over and over again, hoping to reach her long before that stupid interview did. He slouched off the rest of his duties for the Kalos League that day: skipped the tournament in downtown, ignored the showcase, avoided the fundraiser, and even skipped free meal time at Walter's Vineyard, because he was too frustrated to function.

He watched the snark woman, Mandy, who might have had red hair like Misty, but was the complete opposite, make assumptions about him with some random trainer Ash ran into before—not only were their rumors about the three of them, now, they were gossiping that Ash was upset over his break up with Misty, and that's why he was in such a huff.

Ash called her again, and held the ringing device to his head for the thirtieth time.

Usually, Ash kept out of the tabloids, he didn't read the magazines, he didn't care to, but now that he had—several of them were open, sprawled all across his king size bed—he was absolutely disgusted in their choice in discussion.

Apparently, Misty and Serena were nemesis, and the shaming done to both females was...

"Hello?"

"Misty?"

"Hey, Ash, you called a million times, is something wrong?" She was breathless, and Ash felt his stomach twist. "Sorry, I left my phone at home today when I left for the gym. I just ran home after your-"

"You saw that?"

"Everyone did." Misty grimaced, he could hear her flop onto her couch and he swallowed hard with a loud sigh. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he thought of the best words he could say, but the only thing that came out was;

"Why didn't you tell me what people were saying about you?"
Her breath hitched, she was about to evade the truth, but luckily, she blew out a sigh first. "I didn't want you to worry. I figured the limelight would get bored of you soon."

"The didn't even touch on my interviews about battling and pokemon, they're only-"

"Relationships sell." Misty interrupted.

"That shouldn't matter!" Ash gasped, standing up and pacing his room to ease his mind.

"It shouldn't... but it does." Misty said modestly, Ash breathed a sigh of relief, then flopped backwards onto his bed where a worried pikachu placidly pawed at him, and muttered a brief hello to Misty.

Ash sighed. "I'm sorry."

"That's okay!" She said cheerfully, but then her voice took another tone. "I do have some bad news though..."

He groaned inwardly, he couldn't handle bad news right now.

"I'm going to have to cancel my trip tomorrow... Daisy did some planning with the gym and she's hosting a water ballet this weekend."

Ash tried to mask his disappointment, but failed miserably. "What?"

"I'm really sorry. I tried to get a hold of you earlier, but you weren't answering your phone..."

"I was busy." Ash grumbled, sounding angrier than he was. "It's fine though, pikachu and I will go fishing."

Hearing the crass tone of voice Misty shuddered. "I really am sorry. Can we reschedule for next weekend?"

Without looking at his calender he nodded. "Yeah."
"Do you know where you'll be?"

"The pokemon league. I have a challenger."

"Ooh, your first challenger, that's pretty exciting." She tried to change the subject but he was already frustrated.

"Yeah, whoopee. They'll record it and then still talk about my relationship status." He inhaled. "Man, I don't understand why that's so important—so what, I'm dating someone, it's not like I'm not still me—I'm still a pokemon trainer—who cares if I'm in a relationship!?" He groaned slapping his forehead.

Misty wasn't sure how to answer that, a part of her was upset that thought so little of the title, but she inhaled keeping it to herself. "It's not a big deal, I'm sure it will fizzle out soon, anyways." Misty tried, but Ash wasn't hearing her.

"I mean, I spent eight freakin' years trying to become a champion—and then it gets ruined by the one thing I've been avoiding my entire life! You know, people always asked me why I remained oblivious for so long, and I'm going to start directing them to this nonsense!"

Misty's frustrations weren't so elegantly masked the next time she spoke. "Well, if it's such a problem why did you bother, anyways?"

"Well, it wasn't really my choice was it? Serena sort of came out of the blue."

"I didn't mean her." Misty grunted painfully, and Ash's eyes opened. He knew that tone of voice, it was her 'I'm upset, but I'm not going to tell you' tone, and he scrambled to gather his thoughts.

"I don't mean that about you at all, Mist."

"Uh-huh." Misty growled and Ash sweat. Too late, damage done. "It's probably a good thing I'm not going this weekend after all, it gives you a little more time to go back to the glory days."

"Misty, you know I didn't mean it like that..." He muttered, but she remained unconvinced, having come off a long shift at the gym.

"Are you sure?" She asked, surprising Ash. He blinked once, and then twice. Was he so sure?

She hiccuped. "You hesitated."

"I did not."

"You did, too!"

"Misty-" he tried but her grumpy voice cut him off.

"I'll talk to you later, Ash. Have a good night and take care of yourself." She said quickly, ending the call before he could get another word in edge wise.

Ash stared at his phone all of ten minutes, gawking at what had just happened, and then pressed the front against his forehead and groaned loudly. At least she was still friendly when she hung up on him—friendliness meant she was still being civil, none of that irrational ignoring him bit like she tried earlier. However, if he didn't act now, that would give her the fire power she needed to rip into him at a later time.

Taking the cowardly way out, he pulled open his messages to see that she had left a few scattered ones throughout the week about the gym, as well as a—if he had to say it—gorgeous picture of her and a young trainer who beat her in a battle with the title 'reminded me so much of you!' written across the bottom of the photo. He held his mouth, recalling the first time they battled at the gym—how he 'won' and wondered if that was the way the small boy won. He grinned to himself while flicking over to the image she sent a few nights prior that had him so riled up—to see that it was actually fairly modest.

She was laying in bed, the sun peaked through the curtains of her apartment room to illuminate her face, and yeah she was in that black sports bra, but her shortened red hair was sprawled around her face, and she was winking up at him with her tongue stuck out playfully. Mocking him so carefully with 'have fun, but not too much fun!' written beneath it and his face turned scarlet all over again.

Ash would never send pictures, he was too awkward. He wasn't romantic, even in the slightest, without someone there to guide him—so all he managed to do was fumbled on his keyboard.

"Don't be mad at me. I love you, if that counts for anything."

He waited a few minutes, and when no reply came, he set his poke gear down, and laid back onto the magazine and pressed his palms against his eyelids in desperation. Ash would never understand women, more importantly, he would never understand Misty. He would never understand the media, and he would never understand how he was managing right now. Maybe it was the steady paycheck, or the fancy dinners—maybe a small part of him enjoyed all of the attention he was getting.

"pika." The pokemon murmured, and Ash opened one eye to stare at him.

"You know... You're right." Ash said. Quickly he shot out of his bed, gathered together some supplies for the day, as well as his cap, and then shoulder pikachu.

"We can't feel sorry for ourselves, let's get out there and battle some people. Screw regulations!" Ash changed, slamming the door on his way out.

Author's Note:

I imagine becoming a champion is a lot like becoming a celebrity. Like celebrities, people would focus less on what they're actually famous for, and more on their relationship status. For Ash who has suffered in the limelight with the change of two relationships has some... More of that in next chapter.

Misty isn't being immodest. Females send three times the 'selfie' pictures that males do, and I honestly think that given the opportunity Misty would, but in a 'cheer up' kind of way. I also think Dawn would do this.

So, something in this that 'might' be weird for some people (and is just -one- of the headcanons I have) is that there is a huuuge difference between people who say their love, and show their love. Ash is someone that says it, rather than 'shows' it. (Shows it equaling romantic stuff, gestures, devotion of time/space/etc, mushy stuff). I believe that Ash would be one of those people that thinks "Well, I said it, isn't that good enough?" because that seems to be his approach for a lot of things.

In case you haven't noticed, Misty is the opposite.

Finding a line between work and relationships his really challenging at the start. I can see Ash fumbling on this one in several aspects. Also, hormones, you devilish little emotion you.

NINT