Ignore my number in the last chapter. It's hard doing mental math these days lol. 4 more chapters after THIS one. :D

Chapter 21

Once at the gym, Ash keys into the doors of the living quarters while Clementine is licking her ice cream beside him and Pikachu is comfortably perched on her head. They walk inside to see Misty and Lily sitting in the living room and Nathan on a different sofa.

Being careful of her ice cream, Clementine hugs her aunts. "Hi Mr. Nathan!" she smiles at the man. She is now more comfortable with him and he gives her a warm smile back.

Ash closes the door before sending Pikachu upstairs with Clementine. He pecks Misty's cheek and greets Lily and Nathan. "You know ice cream will ruin her appetite." Misty says matter-of-factly.

Ash grins at his fiance. "Relax, Mist. We were celebrating."

"What is there to celebrate when you're 4, besides your birthday?"

He winks at her and says, "I'll tell you later." before turning his attention to Lily who excuses herself for the weekend. Sometimes, she would spend time on the weekends with Ash, Misty, and Clementine, but she hates being around Nathan when she doesn't have to be. Trusting that Ash has the situation handled, Lily walks out of the house.

"Hey Ash!" Nathan smiles at the man. Ash nods.

"Joining us for dinner?"

"Yes!" Nathan exclaims. Misty had cooked earlier, and Lily had set the table while they waited for Ash. Nathan had dropped by shortly before Ash arrived. Misty calls up the stairs for Clementine to wash up. During dinner, Nathan does his usual thing of solely talking to Ash, and Ash, being nice, holds the conversation.

Sensing his fiance's annoyance, Ash manages to get Nathan to leave with the talk of seeing him tomorrow. As the Kanto champion washes the dishes and Clementine is upstairs bathing with Squirtle, Misty is sitting in the kitchen by the island. "Mew. I thought he was here for Clementine, not you." She tiredly says.

Ash grins at her. "Jealous, Mist?"

The woman rolls her eyes. "You wish I'd be jealous."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Whatever you think it is." Misty smirks at him.

"I never told you about my first kiss." Ash says with a smirk.

"Try me, Ketchum."

"It was when I was in Kalos and Serena had kissed me as we were departing." The man glances at his fiance to see her clearly not amused face.

"I knew about that." Misty glaces at her nails as if uninterested. "Brock told me."

"Hmm. Okay. How about the first time I had sex."

"Ash!"

"What? You told me to try and make you jealous." he snickers at her.

"I do not want to hear about your previous relationship with Serena." the redhead glares.

"Aw. How'd you know?" He defeatedly asks.

"I follow the news, Ash. You spent a lot of time in Kalos 10 years ago."

Ash finishes the dishes and dries his hands on a towel before walking over to his fiance. "Wow. You must've really liked me to be tracking my secret relationships." He grins at her. She looks up at his mischievous smile and can't help but melt into those warm brown eyes. He puts his hands on either side of her, trapping her between his long thick arms. Ash closes his eyes and lowers his head to meet Misty's lips.

"I didn't just like you." Misty blushes as they break away from the kiss. He smiles and places a kiss on her forehead.

"I'm glad the feelings are mutual." They walk into the living room to sit down together. "Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you about school!" Ash starts.

"Oh no. She wasn't getting bullied again, was she?" Misty gives him a worried look.

Ash smiles nervously. "Well, yeah, she was. But I think everything will be okay now. Clem and Cole talked and they seem like they'll be great friends."

"And did you have something to do with this, Mr. Pokemon Master?" she asks while leaning into him.

"Try 'Future Best Dad'."

Misty just laughs at his quirky response and then she smiles at him playfully. "Since we were on the topic of firsts…"

Ash shoots away from Misty who glares at the man she was using as a headrest. "Uh uh, Mist. You said you couldn't get jealous. I never said anything about me!"

She gives him a questioning look and teases, "Oh. So Mr. Pokemon Master, Future Best Dad, and Future Mr. Misty Waterflower gets jealous?"

He blushes and looks away from her. "I mean, yeah Mist. I am a guy with lots of testerone." He then gives her a soft gaze. "Call me selfish, but I was always glad you're the Cerulean City gym leader."

"Why's that?"

"Because it meant I was your first and last traveling partner, well Brock was last too, I guess, but I was the first and I was there until your last day." He smiles at her. "And since you are too busy with the gym, you don't have time to date. So I guess I always knew I'd have you in my life."

"You must've been pretty upset when May and Dawn left to travel again." Misty assumes.

He shakes his head. "Not really. I always knew Drew and May had a thing for one another. As for Dawn, I just wasn't as affected. I don't know. Maybe it's 'cause you and I have a closer bond or that you had to leave me?" he shrugs.

"What do you mean?"

Ash sighs and puts an arm around his fiance. "Misty, Dawn, and Serena left me because they wanted to become better coordinators. But, you, Mist, you left me because your sisters abandoned the gym, and you had to run it. Life happened and you made the most out of it. They chose to leave me." Misty snuggles into his arm. "I dated Serena on and off for a little over 2 years because she asked me out and really loves me, but the whole time, Mist, I didn't feel completely satisfied. Don't get me wrong, she's a great trainer, coordinator, and person-heck. She was even a really good girlfriend-but we couldn't really see a lot of things eye-to-eye since she is a coordinator. We do things differently, especially when trying to get to the next level of our competitions."

"Ash, you don't need to tell me about your exes. I get jealous too." Misty finally confesses as she senses his drop in mood.

"No. It's okay Mist." He kisses the top of her head that is resting against his arm. "After Serena and I broke up for the final time, I focused on training and just me and my Pokemon. I realized that what makes me truly happy is being able to share my passion of battling with others." He smiles at her. "After Violet passed, I wanted to support you, Mist, but we hadn't talked in so long, so I didn't know how to reach out...and I'm sorry." Misty squeezes his hand lovingly. "But Mr. Goodwin allowed me to come sub for you, and after our battle that day, I was really really happy." He is now grinning widely at his fiance. "I hadn't been that happy in a while, and you managed to beat me, Mist! I just felt so alive and it reminded me of my love for battling as well as my feelings for why I first started traveling." Misty's head is off of his shoulder now, and she is looking into his passionate brown eyes. "It was the first time I hadn't felt lonely in a while. I remember thinking to myself 'Ash, this is your life happening right now. You like it? Well, do something about it!' So I realized I needed to marry you before someone else comes along and takes you from me." he blushes.

The redhead smiles at his cute demeanor and kisses his cheek. "I was honestly ready to grow old with just Clementine." she chuckles.

Her fiance puts a hand on her stomach. "Well, too bad, Mist! Now you got me and little Ash Jr. here!"

"We are not naming the baby Ash Jr."

"Okay. We'll keep thinking." Ash says as they head upstairs to tuck Clementine into bed.

I said I would never make Serena out to be a bad person. Ash wouldn't be with someone like that. But I don't care for any characters after Sinnoh, so it'll be a rare occurrence to have Serena mentioned in my stories. Anyway, last forced title reference until the last chapter lol.