The start of a new week brought a multitude of new challenges for the young gym leader Misty Waterflower.
There were enough tasks and problems to take care of during business days, without having to take into account how to integrate her newest employees.
Employees. Plural.
The young girl Leaf had that idea stuck in her head to contribute in the same way as Ash and wouldn't take no for an answer. While she had grown frustrated with the little troublemaker, Ash calmly ensured that he would have an eye on the kid all the time. That mollified Misty's worry about child endangerment and made way for a while different kind that wasn't any less unnerving.
She would have to work together with Ash. It wasn't as if Misty regretted inviting him, but from deep inside rose natural thoughts a woman would have in the presence of a man she was interested in. Thoughts which had driven her choice of wardrobe for the day, a very troubling habit Misty seemed to be developing fast.
When in doubt about Ash, her brain gave the advice to put a lot more effort in her looks and turn up the sex appeal with dressing more risque.
Today, this line of events had culminated in a very tantalizing one piece bathing suit in sky blue, which emphasized her curves and revealed a lot of skin due to the generous cuts.
Misty had no idea a piece of clothing could show cleavage and underboob at the same time, let alone maintain its structural integrity under stress.
She kept fuzzing and fidgeting on the elastic material on her way to the pool area, contemplating several times to change in her usual and less revealing outfit.
A single image of being seen in her less flattery ensembles for work like a combination of faded tank top and messy grey sweatpants cemented Misty's ambition to show off.
Her ambition crumbled as soon as she saw her two employees already waiting to begin. In her quest to look gorgeous, she had overshot the appointed time by almost thirty minutes.
More crumbling happened when Misty turned out to be the most overdressed. Ash wore a simple pair of black swim trunks and a white t-shirt. Leaf had borrowed one of the gyms swimsuits for students. A simple one piece in black with white stripes.
Pikachu sat on Ash's shoulders, heaps and bounds more agreeable than yesterday but still very grumpy in comparison to his usual sunny demeanor.
The reason must have been something between Ash and Leaf, if the meaningful glances the pokemon threw at the two humans were anything to go on. The mystery of their sudden relationship distracted Misty from her own thoughts of womanly qualities.
Leaf was clingy and obedient to a fault, too clingy and obedient towards a guy she just met two days ago. Ash had explained it away with her being a thankful orphan and him getting respect as champion, but something didn't add up in Misty's mind.
Something to think about during the mind numbing process of crushing gym challengers.
"Are you ready for your first day of work?" Misty asked the two.
"We've been ready for hours! Where have you been all this time?" Leaf answered in a whiny tone that made Misty wince in guilt.
Ash said nothing, his eyes fixated at Misty's forehead and visible struggling not to ogle her all over. A situation that flattered Misty to no end and soothed her battered ego.
"You can take a better look, Ash. Getting attention is the point of a nice swimsuit."
Slowly, the young man let his gaze wander over her body and she felt herself blush from the top of her head to the toes of her feet.
"You look great…"
Leaf watched the exchange between the two adults with a growing smirk.
Misty cleared her sudden dry throat. "I made a list of all your tasks while I take on the challengers for the day. First point on the list is draining the swimming pools and giving everything a good scrubbing."
"All of them?" Leaf counted six pools in various sizes and gulped.
'I won't lie, it's a lot of work. You are wearing swimsuits because you will get very wet and very dirty."
"Having second thoughts, Leaf?" Ash asked smugly.
"Never sir!" Leaf saluted, which made the young man smile, Pikachu grumble and Misty very confused with all three of them.
"That's the spirit!" Ash said and pulled off his shirt. "No sense in keeping this on if it getting dirty anyway."
Flashbacks to their drunken escapades in Pallet came to Misty's mind as she saw the first bit of exposed skin from his stomach. Her fingers tingled from the memory of stroking his defined abs and suddenly tensed when she saw Ash's chest.
"Woah you look badass!"
Misty didn't share Leaf's enthusiasm. Ash had many little blemishes and smaller scars all over his upper body that showed off an enduring life, but one faded wound in particular stood out in scale.
A fist sized area on the left side of his torso was scarred so terribly you couldn't identify were one scar started and the other ended. Seeing it all at once made her horrified and curious what in the world could leave such a mark on a human.
Her index finger traced gently along the battered tissue, as if enough attention could make it all disappear.
"I can cover back up if it bothers you."
"No, it doesn't." Misty would never let Ash get hurt again.
Work proceeded quickly and without much problems for the two new employees at Cerulean Gym, despite the enormous amount that was to do on that list.
Ash and Leaf talked about a lot of unimportant things that nonetheless helped Ash to get to know the little girl.
Leaf was bright and adventurous kid, always ready to take on the next challenge. She loved pokemon generally more than people and didn't share many of the same interest of her peers, which led to isolation and bullying from her old place.
Whatever Ash tried, he could never elicit the destination of that place from her.
In turn, Leaf's questions focused more and more on Misty. Ash had possibly told the girl his whole history of travelling with her by the time they started cleaning the sixth pool.
He almost fell headfirst into it when she asked him a simple question after hearing their story.
"Do you love her, boss?"
The Ash of the past would have fallen into his usual shtick of denying or deflecting the issue. Current Ash has had years and years of reflecting alone with his feelings and that left no ambiguity about it.
"Yes, I do Leaf."
Ash peeked at Pikachu in apology for forgetting to specify Misty as his most beloved human, but the yellow mouse was too busy gaping at his trainer in shock.
Not because Pikapi loved Pikachu-Pi, that was obvious even to the most oblivious, rather because he actually admitted it for the first time since they knew each other.
"Does she love you back?"
A simple question to a child and yet, Ash had to think long and hard about his answer. "We both always known there is chemistry between us. Against popular belief, I'm not a clueless idiot about woman. Enough gold diggers have tried to gain my attention as champion to recognize when somebody fancies you."
"Then why did neither of you confess?" Leaf looked at Ash as if he was stupid.
"I can't speak for Misty's reasons. I didn't do it because she's my best friend."
"That doesn't make any sense! Why wouldn't you confess if you are that close?"
The girl was getting visibly agitated and Ash felt the need to calm her down."I haven't spoken to anybody from my life for almost a decade. I struggle with accepting that she still wants me as a friend, let alone imagining as a boyfriend."
"Besides, as a Team Rocket operative, duty should come first, doesn't it Grunt Leaf?" Ash tried to sound playful, ignoring the glare from Pikachu.
Team Rocket talk was his goto game plan to shut down unpleasant discussions and had a lot of success with it so far.
That success streak ended now. "That's bullshit, sir!"
Was Ash really going to get lectured by a child?
"I want to become a part of Team Rocket to help the people and pokemon. Money and other wealth is only worth something if you can share it with others! Becoming strong only matters if you have something important to keep safe!"
Apparently, and she was not half-bad at it.
"Otherwise, what's the point of it all?"
She managed shake Ash to the core. "What indeed…"
"Boss?" Lead asked tentatively, seeing the haunted look on Ash's face appear.
"Pikapi." Pikachu snuggled Ash's cheek to bring him back from his heavy thoughts. He might be still mad with his trainer, but that didn't mean he would abandon a friend in need.
Ash rewarded the pokemon by scratching his chin. "It's nothing. Your version of Team Rocket sounds pretty amazing."
"It could be, if we convince enough others to do the same."
"Leaf…'
"I know, I know secret agent and stuff. Nobody can know…" Leaf gifted him a bright smile. "But I think Mrs. Waterflower wouldn't mind. When somebody loves you they will accept all of you."
Ash wished he could be this hopeful about the future.
"I will come back to that when I know what all of me is, Leaf. I promise." Ash said and went back to work, ending the conversation.
Leaf wondered how somebody so strong could look so sad, while scrubbing the green muck from the pool floor with him.
"Last challenger for the day!"
After a day of kicking ass, Misty was looking forward to a relaxing afternoon and the newly acquired free time would be used to its fullest.
Preferably with Ash.
Only one remaining trainer had to be put into his place and he was a real piece of work. The boy came too late for his appointed battle and got relocated to the end after a lot of begging and whining.
Misty was used to these kind of trainers and didn't bat an eyelash when he entered the arena. The little kid was really scrawny looking with his red hoodie and a black baseball cap he wore backwards.
"I ask for an opportunity to challenge the Cerulean gym for its badge!"
At least the kid had manners. Many just threw their first pokemon at her from the entrance without introductions.
"As leader of this gym, I accept your challenge." Misty took a pokemon from her belt and threw it. "Choose your pokemon to fight against my Starmie!"
Starmie was a bit overkill for a new trainer. Selfish desire for ending this fight early had taken over control of her actions and she couldn't take it back now.
"Go Cyndaquil!"
Any consideration for the boy evaporated as soon as the fire pokemon came out. She was the leading expert in water pokemon battling and this newbie had the gall to challenge her with a pure fire type.
"That's a tough sell buddy, are you sure about that?"
That's what Misty thought, but she hadn't been the one to say it.
Ash sat in the bleachers to the right with Pikachu and Leaf. All of them somehow gotten in without Misty or her challenger noticing.
"The champion…" The boy muttered starstruck.
Misty sighed and started the battle, ready to teach this boy a lesson. "Starmie use Water gun!"
"Cyndaquil, use Endure!"
Ash's interest was piqued. "The kid has a gameplan…"
Cyndaquil took the brunt of Starmie's attack, battered and barely holding on to consciousness afterwards but still standing.
"Just give up kid and come back another time. Your pokemon is finished."
The cunning smile on the boy's face in response to Misty's comment set off an alarm in Ash. Endure was last ditch effort move to hold on just long enough for one final attack.
Misty should know this.
"Cyndaquill, use Reversal!"
From how fast Misty's face fell, she hadn't thought about it. Reversal was an attack that gets stronger the more your pokemon is injured. Combine this with the survival nature of Endure, and you get the greatest amount of use out of the attack.
The superpowered move hit Starmie like a truck and knocked the pokemon out the arena, making it hit the wall behind Misty with an earthshaking smack.
Ash was impressed and a bit worried about how rusty Misty seemed to be. The lack of challenge had made her complacent and careless. She had fallen for a trick which would only work once but that one time was enough to get a win from her.
He watched the kid receiving his batch from a shellshocked gym leader.
Maybe, Ash thought, there were still capable new trainers out there. "Hey kid, what's your name?"
"I'm Gold from New Bark City." The boy left smiling with his new badge, glancing at Ash one final time before exiting through the door.
Back to comforting his best friend.
"Hey, Misty?"
"Yes, Ash?"
She wasn't looking at him, staring blankly ahead in a dreamlike state. Her mind still had trouble processing what just happened.
"Leaf and I need a few things from town and wondered…" He took the woman by the shoulder to gain her full attention. "... would you like to go shopping with us? Maybe get a bite to eat afterwards?"
"Sounds fun…" Misty began to walk towards the entrance, until a gentle hand took hers.
"Misty?"
"Yes, Ash?"
Ash gave her the most patient smile possible.
"Go change out of your swimsuit first."