Dedicated: Par usual, Chelle. And Ariala (Who runs 'Unintended') for liking my fic enough to host it at her site.
Brock/Misty, It's a pattern, darlings.
Disclaimers: I don't own Pokemon. The only person who does think that (read, the little voice in my head) also thinks that I make a ton of money writing fanfiction. Which I don't.
It's More
"Why'd you do that, Misty?! Brock might've had a chance with that girl!" I love Ash. He always sticks up for my right to get some action.
"Don't go giving him hope, Ash Ketchum!" Misty, who's still got a tight hold on my ear, tells him. Man she sounds bossy. Bossy and mean. I love Misty too. She always sticks up for her right to claim me.
"If you keep it up, Misty, everybody's gonna think that you like Brock! Even Brock'll think it!" Like I'm not standing within arms reach of both of you, Ash.
"Brock," she says, tartly, "can think whatever he wants. And so can everybody else." You'll notice, of course, that she didn't say he was wrong even though it sounded like she did. You've just gotta learn Misty-speak.
"And why do you always get him by the ear? That's gotta hurt!" Actually, it doesn't, well, it doesn't hurt when Misty does it. My Mom used to do the same thing, but she always pinched it and that hurt.
"Exactly." But she does give me back my ear and all of us head out of town. Ash is leading the way, despite the fact that he gets us lost more often than not. Misty and I hang back, walking beside each other like we always do. Every now and then our shoulders brush.
"…And then you can use thunderpunch! When you learn thunderpunch, anyway." Ah, the wonders of strategy.
Misty nudges me and grins. I nudge her back. Hard. She takes two stumbling steps to the side and then tumbles back into me, on purpose. I end up on the ground, on my butt. Ash remains oblivious. Misty stands over me for a second, eyebrows raised as if to say 'what're you gonna do about it?'
"Ewww! Girl germs!" I trill at her, my voice suddenly falsetto. "Ewww!" I scramble to my feet and make a mad rush to Ash's side. Misty is laughing softly behind me. Ash is distracted from his strategy only when I grab Pikachu off of his shoulder.
"Hey!"
"No, Ash! I need all the help I can get! Misty has krabbies!" Spinning to face Misty I grin and hold Pikachu up between us, like a poke-shield. "Get her, Pikachu!"
"Krabbies?! I do NOT have Krabbies! Brock Harrison, you take that back!"
"Pika-pi, pikachu!"
"Misty has a krabby? How come I've never seen it?"
"I'm not taking it back! It's true! Misty Williams has krabbies; a full set of 'em too." I drop Pikachu back on Ash's shoulder and pull my lower eyelid down at Misty, sticking out my tongue. "I've seen them."
"I haven't! When did she catch her Krabbies? Why don't they train with my Kingler?"
"I don't have krabbies!"
"Do too! You got Krabbies the same day you said that Onix looked like a snake trying to eat a beach ball!"
"What?! What was Onix doing? Is that how she got a Krabby? Where does she keep them? She doesn't have any extra pokeballs!" Poor Ash…and at least half the fun of this game is playing it when he's around. Misty, meanwhile, is starting to laugh. She got it…for a second, I thought she forgot about it.
"They're in my room, Ash. At home." She rounds on me, shoulders shaking with laughter. "And you! I did not say that Onix looked like a snake trying to eat a beachball."
"Did too! It hurt Onix's feelings…and it broke my poor heart!"
"I said that Onix looked like a snake wrestling
Oh, and she has a point there. It had looked just as she'd described it. Onix had only been a baby at the time…it had been his first real battle. It had been at one of the League Gym Association Family Fairs. The jigglypuff had belonged to Erica's younger sister Emily. I think we won, but I can't remember it exactly.
"It was your fault we lost!" I tell her, just to be on the safe side. When in doubt...
"Was not! It was Suzie's fault for spilling her lemonade in the battle area. And you both lost because Onix actually knocked Jigglypuff out when he fell on top of him." She sticks her tongue out at me. Ash is staring at us.
"So, when did she catch a krabby?" He wants to know.
"I didn't catch any krabbies. It's all Brock's fault that I have krabbies."
"It is not!"
"It is too! You gave me krabbies!"
Which is true. Earlier that morning at the fair we'd been hanging around together; I hadn't wanted to be by my younger brothers and sisters and Misty's older sisters hadn't want her around. Misty had told me all about how she wanted to win her own set of Princess dolls because all she had was her sisters' old ones. Like I knew what a 'princess doll' was. Or why they were important.
But it had seemed kinda sad to me. As the oldest I always got new stuff, I'd never really thought about how it might be to get hand-me-downs all the time. So, when we'd separated to eat lunch with our families, I had sneaked off to the midway; some of the booths sold toys and stuff. I bought something for all six of my little brothers and sisters, even the one who hadn't been born yet, little stuff because I was saving my allowance to buy a TM for Onix, but all of it was brand new. I was gonna leave but I stopped by the door to tie my shoe and I saw it.
In a little display case on a chair by the front of the booth was a set of Krabbies. They were made out of colored glass and sparkled where the sun hit them. And all of them were dressed like princess and princesses and court-jesters and knights. There were even two Kinglers, dressed up like a King and Queen. I blew my entire allowance on them and Onix didn't learn Rock Throw for another year.
"Sure! Blame me! I gave you krabbies! It was me! It's always my fault!" I turn Ash around, fling an arm around his shoulder and jerk my thumb to indicate Misty, behind us. "Girls," I tell him, "will always find a way to blame it on a guy." Ash nods. Good man.
"You gave me krabbies and I can prove it!" She can? Ohhhh…yeah, I bet she can. "They're in my room and so is the note that said they were from you!" She steps around us, ignoring us now, and starts walking. She takes exactly three steps before she turns around again. "So there!"
Ash shakes his head at her. Then looks at me. "You two sure fight a lot."
"It's not fighting." I grin, cheerfully. Ash shakes his head again and walks off.
"You're weird and you two fight about weird things." He tells Misty as he passes her.
"It's not fighting." Misty says, falling into step beside me. She nudges me with her shoulder, and I nudge her back. And after a minute, I grab her hand in mine, for just a second. And for just a second, she hangs on when I let go.