''Did you know, that even though more people are using Rotoms for their dexs, Porygons are more effective?''
"Know-it-all.''
"Dang right I am. More than you, at least."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means, Satoshi," like she was talking to a child, "that I am smarter than you."
Satoshi hmphed. "Are not," he muttered.
"I am, just deal with it."
"I hate you."
She laughed, elbowing him. "Love ya too, Sato."
Satoshi's heart gave a lurch at those words, but he forced it down in favor of looking disgruntled.
"Don't call me that."
"Wynaut?"
Satoshi stared at her, slack-jawed. "D-did you just-"
"Blame it on Professor Oak," Hikari shrugged. "And Shigeru," she added as an afterthought.
"I hate puns."
"Really? Because I find them puntastic."
Satoshi groaned. "Please tell me you didn't-"
"I did," she replied, somewhat smugly.
''You're the worst,'' muttered Satoshi, placing his head in his arms.
''Nah, that's Kasumi," Hikari said.
''Or Haruka,'' mused Satoshi. ''She always finds a reason to meddle in other people's love lives.''
''Like yours?'' Hikari asked with an arched brow.
Satoshi blushed, grateful Hikari couldn't see it. ''I dunno what you're talking about,'' he said, voice muffled, with his head still in his arms.
Hikari poked Satoshi teasingly. ''Sure you don't,'' she said. She gasped. ''Waiiiiiiit. . . .hold the phone, do you have a crush on someone?''
Satoshi blushed furiously. ''No!''
''Aaaaahhhhhh! You do! That's so cute!'' She squealed. ''C'mon, tell me!'' She demanded.
''Like heck I will,'' responded Satoshi.
Hikari crossed her arms and pouted, not that he could see. ''That's not very nice,'' she scolded. Her expression then changed to show the glint in her eyes.
''Cmon, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaase?'' She pleaded. ''Just a hint?''
"No." His voice was soft, but firm.
"Ugh. Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine. You're such a killjoy."
Satoshi finally looked up, only to see Hikari inches away from him. She yelped and jumped back, both of them blushing furiously.
"S-sorry!" She yelped.
Satoshis face was still warm. "N-no, it's fine."
They looked away from each other, one filled with embarrassment, and the other filled with confusion. Satoshi took a deep breath. It was now or never.
"H-hey, Hikari?" asked Satoshi.
"Y-yea?" She replied, somewhat timidly.
"H-have you ever. . .um. . ."
"What? Cmon, spill."
"Uh. . .never mind," Satoshi said.
"No, tell me!"
"No!"
"Tell!"
"No!"
"Tell!"
"Fine!"
Hikari looked at him with an arched brow. "Really?" She asked, skeptical.
Satoshi looked away.
"Well, what?"
Satoshi took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He'd do it. He would! Well, he had to do it now, before he chickened out.
"IthinkIlikeyou," he burst out.
Hikar just looked at him, confused. What? She asked.
Satoshi gulped. "I think I like you," he repeated, mortified.
"Well, yeah, I like you too," Hikari responded, still confused.
"N-no, I mean i like-like you. Like, a crush," Satoshi explained nervously.
Hikari's mouth formed a little 'oh!' in surprise. She looked at Satoshi with something akin to desperation.
Looking at her expression, Satoshis heart broke. He looked away, tilting his hat down to hide the tears that were threatening to flow down his face. "Sorry," he said in a small voice. "I shouldn't have said that, I-" his voice broke. "I have to go." He forced back his chair, grabbed the sleeping Pikachu that was lying peacefully on the table, and ran out of the room.
He raced through the forest that was outside, trying to outrun his problems. He knew that look, on her face. He knew it. It was the face people wore when they were rejecting someone but trying to find a way not to hurt their feelings.
Finally, when he felt he was deep enough, he sat down and took gulps of air, trying to soothe his aching throat. Pikachu looked at him with sympathy and pity and-
Pity, no, not pity, sadness, and a bit of helplessness because he knew there was nothing to do other than just be there, he could be there for his trainer, yeah, he curled up in Satoshi's lap, trying best he could to comfort him.
Pikachu nuzzled him, trying to get him to say something, and that was when his dam broke. He didn't wail, no, instead, as his tears flowed down his cheeks in rivers, he gave small gasps periodically, and whimpers.
After a while, they had no way to tell how much time had passed, Satoshi quieted down, and somehow, even in the day, he slept, with Pikachu, his wonderful Pikachu, kept watch to defend his sleeping form from the wild mons, but there was no need, for they all had sensed the sorrow of the young man and had no urge to confront him when he was so distraught.
He didn't dream, no, instead his sleep was filled with blissful ignorance, even for just a few hours, and even as the cause of his tears searched for him.
Hikari sighed, slumping against a tree, with Piplup on her head. She had been searching for ages - okay, more like 20 minutes, but still!
Piplup nudged her, trying to get his trainer to smile, 20 minutes of frantic searching led . . . no where. At least they weren't lost. Hikari still had her Pokenav.
Hikari gave a wane smile, and reached up to pet Piplup, who leaned into the touch. "I'm so worried about him, Piplup," she said softly. "I didn't mean to hurt his feelings, but . . . he didn't even let me talk. I couldn't explain!" Her voice got a bit louder, with a bit of anger directed towards the boy, but then she softened, because it wasn't his fault. No, it was hers.
She got up, dusting herself off, and braced herself for another fruitless search when she heard a noise. "Piplup," she asked her starter, "do you hear that?" Piplup nodded, ears raised and sharp.
She started running, hoping against hope that nothing bad had happened.
Satoshi scrambled back, trying desperately to stay in control. He had woken up to find an Ursaring looming over him and Pikachu. Apparently, this was the Ursaring's territory.
A bunch of wild Pokemon were in front of him, trying to protect him. Ursaring roared and spit out a stream of water towards an obviously young Vulpix, who was trying in vain to stay in the fight. Satoshi gasped. If that water gun hit-!
He threw himself in front of the Vulpix, who let out a whimper as Satoshi was blasted into a tree. He gave a weak smile to the fire-fox, and struggled to get in a sitting position, absolutely drenched all over, hair flattened against his forehead and multiple small cuts and bruises scattered across.
"Ursaring, I'm really sorry, I didn't know this was your home!" he pleaded. "Can you please forgive us?''
Ursaring stopped, but then sensed the sincerity in the boy's words, nodded, and lumbered away. Satoshi sighed in relief, then winced, because hitting a tree can really hurt sometimes.
Satoshi tried to stand up but almost fell down, bracing himself against the rough bark of a tree, fighting the onslaught of dizziness.
"Ugh, my head," he groaned, bringing one hand up to feel the bump. Satoshi gave a small yelp of pain as he brought his hand down, a dark red coating his palm.
Vulpix nuzzled him in distress, and Pikachu Pika-d worriedly. " 'Sokay, head wounds always bleed more than others. I'm fine."
Pikachu raised an eyebrow in disbelief, and Vulpix looked at him with a 'really? You expect us to believe that?' look.
He didn't feel fine, but Satoshi put on a brave face for his Pokemon.
There was a noise in the distance, coming closer, and Pikachu and Vulpix jumped into defensive positions as Hikari crashed through the brush, halting in surprise when she saw the blood on the ground that was slowly dripping from Satoshi's head.
He gave her a wan smile, then winced as another wave of dizziness hit. He groaned.
"Satoshi," Hikari breathed, reaching out a hand.
Satoshi flinched involuntarily, the raven-headed boy overcome with shame all of a sudden.
Hikari let her hand fall, then gazed at the clearing. The other Pokemon had left, leaving only Vulpix, Pikachu, and the swaying Satoshi.
"Satoshi, what . . . ?" Hikari stared at him with a mixture of curiosity and horror, but the master-in-training didn't register it, his glazed eyes slowly opening and closing.
He only dimly registered Hikari calling out his name as he fell down, blacking out from blood loss.
Dawn bolted up in bed, her breathing erratic as her chest moved up-and-down frantically.
She calmed down, looking at the shape in bed next to her that was her husband and smiled, he had come so far since then.
Ash and Dawn Ketchum, with their kids, the oldest being Luke Ketchum, 14, Zoe Ketchum, 12, and the twins, Bianca and Jason ketchum, 7, and finally, the babys, Charles and Silena Ketchum, who was 8 months.
Dawn didn't understand why her husband was so firm on those names, only that they held some sort of significance on his side of the family, his father's side, who, curiously enough, she still hadn't met.
Either way, she didn't care. Her children were beautiful, and so was her husband. She leaned over and gently kissed his cheek.
Opening his eyes, Ash blinked blearily, trying to get the sleep out of his eyes. "Morning, Beautiful," he greeted, sitting up and yawning. Before she could respond, little Jason came running in.
"Daddy! Mommy! Someones at the door!"
Dawn looked at Ash in confusion, wh only grinned in response. He got out of bed, shirtless, and ruffled Jason's blond hair.
"Thanks so much, Sparky Jr.," he said.
Jason pouted at the name, which Dawn still didn't understand. Ash shrugged a shirt on, and, following his lead, Dawn got dressed too.
Ash opened the door and a fifteen-year-old girl slapped him. Hard.
Dawn gasped, about to say something, but Ash just chuckled, embarrassed.
The girl had choppy black hair and a silver circlet. She also had electric-blue eyes.
"Uh, 'sup, Thals?" Ash greeted nervously, scooping up Bianca.
"'Sup? Sup? That's ALL you have to say?" her voice was rising dangerously, and Dawn was sure she wouldn't like where this was going.
"Sorry?" Ash said, voice rising in the end so it was more like a question.
The girl threw her hands up before looking at Bianca, who had black hair and brown eyes. "Who's this?" she asked.
"Bianca," Ash said nervously.
The girl looked at him shapely before sighing. "I assume that's not the only one?"
"You assumed right," Ash said, smiling confidently before stepping back and letting her in.
"Thalia, this is my wife, Dawn. Dawn, this is my little cousin, Thalia. She's really more of a sister, though." He put emphasis on the 'little.'
"Little? Little?" Thalia's eyes flashed, and it seemed like the air was rising around her. Ash cleared his throat before answering.
"Yes, little," he said again, this time with a rather - in Dawn's opinion - pointed look.
Thalia sighed and looked at Dawn. "it's nice to meet you," she said.
Dawn nodded, replying with, "And you as well," but she was still uneasy.
"So who're the others?" Thalia asked.
Ash sent her a nervous look. "Um, well, there's Luke, he's the oldest, Zoe, she's the second oldest, and there's Jason, who's Bianca's twin, and finally there's Charles and Silena."
Both of their expressions grew sad, but then Jason ran in front of them. "Mommy! I'm hungry!"
Thalia gasped as she took in the scar on his lip, where he had tried eating a stapler when he was one.
"Oh, my, Gods. do you think?"
She didn't finish, still looking at Jason, but Ash answered. "I dunno. We can ask Nico later, but the scar is from eating a stapler when he was one."
Thalia's eyes glistened with tears. "Thank you," she whispered.
Ash nodded.
A few hours later, she left, saying something about her sister needing her, when Ash turned to Dawn with a grin. He kissed her, catching her by surprise, before she kissed back, hard.
He almost hadn't made it, that night in the forest. It was touch and go for a while, but Ash pulled through. He always did, in the end.
And when he beat his older brother and became the Pokemon Master, as well as Champion of Kanto, he had proposed. While the whole world was watching.
It was perfect.
Notes:
So, how'd ya like? I actually found this on my computer half-written, and I have a couple of requests for Pearlshipping, so I finished it.
A bit of a crossover. Give me a review to guess who Ash's godly parent is! Red is mortal, though. He's also dating Blue Oak, the girl version.
Luke Ethan Ketchum: Luke Castellan reborn. Sandy-blond hair that flops over one eye, inherited his mother's eyes.
Zoe Piper Ketchum: Named after the late Zoe Nightshade. Piper Mclean reborn. Brown hair with streaks of blue with chocolate-brown eyes, a rebellious girl who wants to become a top-coordinator, like Dawn.
Bianca Sally Ketchum: Second Reincarnation of Bianca Di Angelo. Final life before possibly reaching the Isles of the Blest. Dark hair with brown eyes, a curious one who sticks her nose into everything.
Jason Grace Ketchum: Named after the late Jason Grace, who was Thalia's brother, possibly Jason's reincarnation. Blond hair and scar on his lip from where he tried to eat a stapler when he was one.
Charles Lee Ketchum: Second reincarnation of Charles Beckendorf.
Silena Juniper Ketchum: Second reincarnation of Silena Beauregard.
No, Ash doesn't know that they're the reincarnations, he only knows about Luke, but Piper died about ten years after Jason did, and right now it's eighteen years after the war. Sally is still alive, but still, she needs something here. Juniper's tree got burned down by accident, but she was reborn into a new tree, an Ash tree, ironically. Grover loves her either way.
Misty and Gary Oak.
Brock and Lucinda(oc) Harrison.
Serena and Clemont Citron.
Max Maple and Bonnie Citron
Shauna and Trevor.
May and Drew Shu.
Iris and Cilan Dent.
Kiawe and Lana.
Mallow and Drake(oc).
Lillie and Dean Thomas.
Gladion and Kayla Aether.
Pm me or leave a comment if I'm missing anyone!
(Sophocles is single.)