Chapter 43
"Happy Birthday!" the girl giggles as she walks into her grandmother's house. Every year, they always try to surprise her on the day she's in Pallet Town; thus, it's not really much of a surprise anymore. The difference with this year's celebration is that Misty is joining them.
"Geez! 10 already. Where has the time gone?" Gary chuckles while hugging Ariel.
Ariel grins up at the professor. "Jace and I are ready for our journeys!"
Ash frowns and looks down at his cup of punch. Misty leans into his side playfully. "You should be happy on our daughter's birthday."
The man watches Ariel sit with her friends after getting hugs from the adults. Sighing, he quietly says, "I know, but this is our last birthday with her for a while."
Misty rolls her eyes. Although she's sad that this means Ariel is closer to leaving them, Misty knows Ariel has waited for this day for years. They need to be supportive of her dreams, which they are, making this a bittersweet birthday. "She'll be in Kanto her first year, so we'll see her often."
"We better."
Giggling, the woman grabs his hand to drag him over to their daughter. Like every one of Ariel's birthdays, Misty and Ariel leave Cerulean City early so that they can make it in time for the surprise celebration. With Ash being on his mission this week, he couldn't pick up Misty and Ariel in Cerulean City, so Misty drove. Ash flew straight to his mother's house. He already wished Ariel a happy birthday along with everyone else.
"Ariel." Misty smiles warmly at the happy girl.
Looking up, Ariel grins at her parents. "Hey, mom! Hi, dad!"
Misty pushes Ash towards Ariel. "Your dad needs a hug."
Ash blushes in embarrassment. "I don't!"
However, Ariel already tackles him in one. With him on League missions, she only sees him on the weekends again, which she doesn't like. Going from seeing him every day to every weekend isn't ideal. "I want one!"
Ash relaxes and he wraps his arms around her tightly. Burying his nose in her hair, he knows he will be letting her go on her own soon. He wants to take in as much of her as possible before then since he feels like he never got to spend enough time with her. Mew, he needs to finish this League mission soon, thus he can make more memories with Ariel. "Same." Ash smiles in her hair.
Misty feels her heart melt watching the two. "Get in on that, Red!" cackles the man who lightly pushes Misty into her boyfriend. The redhead shoots Gary a glare, but she's quickly welcomed in on the hug by Ash and Ariel. They're all going to miss living with their little family once she's gone.
"We did that." Gary whispers to his wife who nods proudly at the scene.
"Actually, we did that." Brock pipes up behind them as he motions to the Oak siblings still seated by Ariel.
"No. We were the ones who set them up and got Ash to visit Cerulean City." Leaf knowingly remarks.
Brock shakes his head. "We've been trying to get them together long before summer." The breeder points to the Oak siblings. "Your kids have been helping Ariel since her birthday last year."
Gary and Leaf exchange surprised glances. They had no idea all of this was going on, but now, some things are starting to make sense. Like why were Jace and Lauren in the forest that late when Ariel was attacked? Or how come no one ever seemed to know where the kids were? Or why would Lauren and Jace constantly whispering to each other?
Looking back at the smirking breeder, Gary clears his throat. "Well, we made Lauren and Jace, so technically…" he points to the Ketchum/Waterflower family that has stopped hugging to talk to one another. "We did that."
Although Leaf's face is a hot shade of red, she nods beside Gary. "Yup, Brock. So we get credit too."
Sheepishly laughing, Brock makes eye contact with the Oak siblings where he gives them two thumbs up. "Sure. We'll all take credit."
After her parents go talk to the other adults, Ariel resumes her conversation with her friends. "This is the best birthday ever!"
Jace smiles at her and swings an arm around her shoulders. "See. Wishes can come true." He recalls Ariel wanting to give up on her hopes to ever have her parents in the same room together. She made a farfetched goal of having them back together, and Lauren and Jace encouraged her to pursue this goal. Now, a year later, everything has fallen how they all wanted. Well, besides for the Team Rocket attacks, but that did help with their plans.
Ariel grins at him. "Yeah. Thanks for helping me, guys!" These are her best friends. While they all have their quarrels, they love and support one another. "I can't wait for our Pokemon journey!" Her wish today is to be a Pokemon Master better than her father.
"I can." Lauren pouts, making the older children look at each other. Jace and Ariel knowingly smile before tackling Lauren in a hug.
"We'll miss you so much, Lauren!" Ariel exclaims.
Jace nods. "Yeah, sis! We need someone to make sure we're not boring."
Lauren buries her face in their hug. She doesn't want to cry, but her eyes are glossing over. This isn't goodbye yet. And even when her brother and friend leave for their journey, it won't be goodbye. "Before you do any plans, you need to call me first." She sternly tells them.
Giggling, Ariel replies, "You bet we will! You come up with the best plans!"
"And you need to take care of each other."
Jace ruffles Lauren's hair. "We always do, Lauren. We'll visit you a lot."
"Yeah! And we'll call you a lot! Every day!" Ariel reassures her friend.
Taking in a deep breath, Lauren now meets them with a smile. "And you better be Pokemon Masters."
Jace meets Ariel's gaze where the two friends proudly smile at each other. High fiving one another, they proclaim, "We will!"
Giggling, Lauren puts a hand in the middle to say, "Operation: Pokemon Masters."
The older children follow, and Pikachu who was quietly eating, runs over to place his tail on their hands. Like a year ago, they will all help one another succeed and be happy. "Operation!" Ariel looks at everyone.
"Pokemon Masters!" the children all shout.
"Pika!" Pikachu cries out as they release their hands/tail in the air.
Days Later
"Where's mom?" Ariel curiously asks her father. She knows he's been on a League mission this week, but she always sees him on the weekend in Pallet Town.
Ash also looks around the room. Where did his girlfriend go? "I don't know, champ. Bathroom?"
"She's been gone for a while."
The man stands up. "I'll go find her." He figures she must be in the bathroom, so that's where he goes first. Hearing a flush behind the closed door makes him realize someone is in there. "Misty?"
"One sec, Ash."
Of course she went to the bathroom. Eventually, the door opens to reveal his smiling girlfriend. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah! Everything's great." Misty walks past him to go back to the living room. Ash follows, and once everyone is back with Ariel, Misty hops onto her laptop again. She hopes Ash didn't hear her vomiting. She hasn't figured out how to tell him, and she is scared to do it. Plus, she has an ultrasound appointment in Cerulean City this week, so she wants to be sure before telling him.
Seeing that she has a new email, Misty opens the message as Ash resumes playing a boardgame with Ariel, Pikachu, and Psyduck. "Ash!" the woman excitedly jumps out of her seat to tackle her confused boyfriend in a hug.
"Mom?" Ariel raises an eyebrow at her mother.
"What's up, Mist?" Ash locks eyes with her excited blue orbs once she raises her head to look at his face.
Still hugging him tightly, Misty gleefully exclaims, "I got it! I'm gonna be an Elite Four member!" She had interviews last month and has been waiting to hear back.
Ash now breaks out in a huge grin while wrapping his arms around her. "That's great! I knew you could do it!" Due to his relationship with Misty, Ash wasn't involved in the hiring process for Lorelei's replacement. He's glad too because that's less work for him.
"Are we moving?" Ariel sadly asks.
Misty releases Ash to smile at Ariel. "Yes, we'll be moving to…" The woman now curiously looks at Ash. "Here?"
"You want to move to Pallet Town?" inquires the man.
"It's near the League. I don't mind the commute, and we'll be by your mom and the Oaks." Misty knowingly replies.
Although Ash isn't sure why Misty wants to move into a place in his hometown with him so soon, he doesn't question it. He wants to spend the rest of his life with her, and he's enjoyed living in Cerulean City during the week. Misty, though, knows she's pregnant, so of course she'd want to raise this child with him and their friends.
"We're moving to Pallet Town?" Ariel exclaims. "I need to tell Lauren and Jace!"
"Uh. Not yet." Misty shyly calls after Ariel.
Ash chuckles as he wraps his arms around Misty again. "Let's go house shopping after I'm done with my mission."
She smiles knowing he doesn't mind living with her. They're not moving too fast, right? "I can't wait, Ash."
With his face in her neck, Ash plants a soft kiss on it, making her slightly shiver. "Same, Mist."
Later on, Ariel excitedly tells her friends that her parents plan to move to the town, meaning Ariel and Jace will be visiting often. Rather than splitting her time between Cerulean City and Pallet Town, Ariel will only need to go to Pallet Town, where all her loved ones are. The Oak siblings are happy to hear the news.
Days Later - Cerulean City
"Dang! 'Bout time you picked up, Misty!" Lily exclaims when Misty answers the call. Her sisters have been trying to reach her the past 5 minutes, but Misty doesn't want to listen to them grill her about Ash again. It's all they ever do when they call now. Plus, Daisy already confirmed that she and Tracy will move to Cerulean City to run the gym since Misty accepted the Elite Four offer.
"Make it quick, Lily." Misty just finished escorting out a trainer, and she isn't sure when another one will arrive.
"You're not gonna like it."
"I already don't like this call."
"You and Ash are on the news."
"We're always on the news." They are a new couple, and Ash is the champion. The world has a lot to say about them getting back together. Moreover, Misty just became the new Elite Four member, which adds to the media talking about her and Ash.
"No. Ash's ex is slandering you guys." Lily replies.
Misty blinks in confusion. "What?" She's also surprised that Lily knows the word slandering.
"Yeah. Like she's saying Ash cheated on her with you. It's bad, Misty."
The redhead rushes to her office where she logs into her computer. "Why?"
"I don't know. But she's saying he was sleeping with you before he broke up with her, and then you two started dating weeks later. I know you said Ash is still on that mission, but you two should talk about this this weekend."
Misty scans the trending news article with Melody's lies. There's even a video of Melody crying, which irks Misty. Just how far is this woman willing to go to make their lives miserable? Melody should just stay away! "Bye, Lily." The woman quickly hangs up to call her boyfriend. This can't wait until they see each other this weekend.
Ash picks up instantly, which still surprises Misty because he used to never pick up any calls when they were married. "Hey, Mist. Everything okay?" She knows he's on a mission, so she never calls him. She just waits for his calls every night. Thus, Ash is concerned that something must've happened for Misty to be calling him mid-day.
"Melody says you cheated on her with me." There is silence on the other end, which Misty assumes is Ash processing the information like she had with Lily.
"What?"
Sighing, Misty glares at the photo of Melody on her computer. "I don't know what she thinks she's gaining from this, but she claims you and I were having sex while you were still with her."
Ash groans. This is all so annoying. He already hates the media enough without this drama. "Just ignore them. It'll go away."
"Yeah, but, Ash, she's making you look really bad. I can't leave it alone."
"Yes you can. Don't get provoked by her again." Ash appreciates Misty wanting to defend him, but this would just add more drama. "I love you, Mist. I gotta go."
Misty frowns while clicking out of the screen with the article. "I love you too, Ash." When they hang up, Misty leans back in her seat to take in a deep breath that she hopes will calm her down. The stress isn't good for the baby. The baby she has yet to tell him about or anyone for that matter. She's too scared about what Ash will say. Now that this drama with Melody is here, Misty doesn't feel like this is a good time to tell him.
Later
"Mom!" yells the distressed girl running into the gym. She and Politoed just pushed through a crowd of newsreporters outside of the gym where Misty had locked the doors. Fortunately, Politoed kept the media away while Ariel unlocked her way inside. She relocked the doors, and now she's running from the empty office to the battle arena. Her mother is always in the office when not battling, which surprises Ariel when she's not.
Misty is laying in the pool. "Yes?" She calmly says to the girl worriedly watching her.
"What's going on? Why is Melody saying bad things about you and dad? And why are there a lot of reporters outside?" the girl frantically asks.
Misty is still peacefully laying in the pool. "It's adult stuff, Ariel. Your father and I will take care of it."
Ariel shakes her head. "No! People are saying you shouldn't be an Elite Four Member anymore! I wanna move to Pallet Town! I want you to get promoted! It's not fair!" Ariel wipes at her angry tears, and Misty, hearing Ariel's voice cracks, swim over to the poolside. "I hate this! I hate Melody!"
Misty envelops the little girl in a tight hug. Taking in a deep breath, the woman says, "Ariel, I know how you feel."
"Doesn't look like it." Ariel hiccups in Misty's shoulder.
The woman hates seeing her daughter cry. This whole situation is unfair, but that's what happens when they're famous. "I called your dad. He's telling me the same thing I'm telling you." Misty rubs Ariel's back. "Ignore it. It'll go away, and we will handle everything."
"Kids at school are making fun of me. Even the teachers are talking about us!"
Misty glares at the wall. The teachers are supposed to protect her daughter. The woman will make a trip down to the school tomorrow to give them a piece of her mind. "I'll take care of it."
"But you won't take care of Melody." Ariel disappointedly responds. Misty is a great mother who always comes to Ariel's rescue, but for things involving Misty, the gym leader ignores those problems. Like the divorce, the media, and Misty's happiness. Ariel hates how lax her mother is about this.
"Ariel, we all just found this out today. Your father and I will talk about it this weekend when he's back." After calling Ash, Misty's gym became bombarded by reporters. She managed to push every last one out with the help of her Pokemon before locking the doors.
The League called and told her to find a replacement for the time being or to close the gym and risk losing it. They also informed her that they're investigating Melody's claims because they can't have their champion and new Elite Four Member involved in a scandal. The Champion, Elite Four, and Gym Leaders are supposed to be role models to young trainers. Thus, they don't need anything tainting their image. Misty's offer to the Elite Four, which Misty accepted, is contingent on this investigation.
Despite the terrible situation, Misty isn't trying to stress out this baby. Thus, she took a lot of deep breaths and shut off everything to go swimming. Swimming always calms her down. With Ariel's words, Misty feels slightly upset about the whole situation, though she also feels more determined to face Melody head on. Being pregnant is hindering everything Misty wants to do.
After Ariel stops crying, Misty releases her daughter. Smiling at Ariel, Misty asks, "Wanna go home?"
Ariel nods. "Yes, mom."
Misty dries off and puts on more clothes before she takes Ariel's hand to lead her out the back door full of reporters. Calling out Pokemon, Misty has her Pokemon keep the reporters away. Of course, there are reporters at their house, but these people are no match for Misty's Pokemon. Once inside the house, both girls feel exhausted from the short walk. Fortunately, Psyduck, who usually housesits, closed all the curtains when the reporters started snooping. He isn't a complete idiot.
Misty glances over at Ariel. "Get some rest, baby. I'll make dinner."
Ariel is tired and upset from the day. A nice nap usually helps when she can't go outside, else she prefers training. As much as Ariel wants to stay by her mother's side, the girl knows she is in no state to console anyone. Ariel knows Misty is only being strong for her, though Misty must be affected greatly by this scandal. Nevertheless, Ariel makes her way upstairs to her room where she closes the door and pulls out her pokenav.
The call is picked up instantly. "What's up, champ?" Ariel rarely calls him, especially when he's on missions. She knows to only call when there's an emergency.
"Dad." chokes out the girl who didn't know she still had more tears in her.
Now, Ash frantically asks, "What's wrong? Where are you, Ariel?" He figured she called because she heard about the news.
"Can you come home, dad?"
She hasn't asked him to come home since the first few months after the divorce. This is serious. "I'm on my way." Forget the mission. They have Lance here anyway. Plus, Ash has handled most of the Rocket bases. Lance, Bruno, Lorelei, and Silver can take care of the last one. The man ends the call, and runs out of his tent to see the Elite Four members looking over plans for the infiltration tonight. "I gotta go." Ash calls out Charizard.
"What?" Lance sternly glares at Ash. Not only has Ash been taking phone calls during their practice today, but now Ash is abandoning the mission.
Ash gets on top of Charizard. "My family needs me. You guys can handle this base. It's a small one."
"Your family can handle this scandal." Lorelei tells Ash.
Bruno nods. "Your duty as a champ-"
"They need me." Ash narrows his eyes at the four. "I'm leaving. If you're too scared to take down the base without me, then you can help me make this scandal go away, so I can come back."
Before Ash can order Charizard to fly off, Silver, the usual quiet member, mutters, "Misty might lose her offer." The other Elite Four members glare at Silver. He was not supposed to tell Ash this for fear that Ash would leave.
Now, Ash stares at them in shock. Did they all know about this? For how long? "What?"
Silver shrugs as he resumes looking at the map. "The director said it. Scandals are bad."
Looking at the concerned Pikachu on his shoulder, Ash nods. "Thanks, Silver."
Charizard then flies off to the family that Ash needs to be protecting. It's also why he agreed to be on this long mission. The League wants to continue taking down Team Rocket, which Ash wants nothing more than to do for Ariel's safety. However, Ash's family needs him now, and he won't make the same mistake of neglecting them like he did in the past. There is no doubt in Ash's mind that his family will always come first.
Guess who's back? Hahaha. C'mon. Ash broke up with Melody in such a boring anti-climatic drama-free way. I wouldn't get rid of her that lazily. Well, I kinda did because I didn't wanna write a breakup scene. But I also was okay with being lazy then because I planned to have her cause trouble once Ash and Misty were together/getting comfortable. Anyway, enjoy. :P