(edited.2020.04.01)

Locked Away, Chapter 13

It had been a little over a month since Ash bunked with the gym leader—an excruciating month. She may have claimed not to be a slave driver—but she very much was. Her demands were unrefined, her standards a cut above impossible, and her drive for perfection was unheard of; often time, when he finally pulled himself to bed at the end of a long day of work, he wondered what her damage was. How someone as nice to him as she was when they weren't working could be so...so... terrifying.

If her goal was to work Ash to the brink of exhaustion so he would not be able to think or function then she succeeded, that was for damn sure. Sighing, his eyes slanted open at the morning rays pouring forth into his bedroom—beside him, togepi was fast asleep. The bed was so comfortable, like fluffy pillows on a set of clouds. He never wanted to leave...

...Ah damn, he slept in. Ash rubbed his face and sighed, having built more muscle over the last month than he probably had during his entire stay at the assisted living home, he ached twice as much. His shoulders ached and his body felt contorted. Ash was so sore. He leaned forward, pushing his blankets down to his waist, the sudden movement waking the sleeping pokemon. He looked down at him and then leaned over.

"Go ahead." He muttered, watching as the egg pokemon perched, wiggled slightly, and then attempted to jump up onto his shoulder. He sprung from the bed, losing some footing because of the cushion of the bed, fell short, and then fell backward again. Ash chuckled but brushed his hand against the pokemon's scalp to soothe his failure. They were still working on that one.

"It's okay." He told the pokemon, scooping him up with his hands, and then laying the base of togepi's feet against the left side of his broad shoulder. Togepi balanced itself on his arm as Ash shifted out of bed, tossing his covers off of his body.

From across the room, the door swung open. "If you want breakfast, you better get down here fast. Violet's boyfriend invited himself over." Misty warned him, though Ash shrieked and covered himself with his blankets.

"Don't just barge in here!" he yelled at her, red in the face but the door was already shut behind her.

"Don't be such a girl!" She shouted back at him. He listened to her footfalls and banter down the hallway as she marched back towards the kitchen. He sighed timidly, looking down at togepi who had fallen back onto his bed.

"Living with girls is a pain..." he muttered while gathering a change of clothes and hitting the showers quickly. He neglected a shower last night; as he does most nights after helping Misty around the gym. Typically, he was too tired once he got back to his bedroom.

When he first arrived at the gym, Ash stayed in the smaller guest bedroom; the one without a private bathroom because Misty didn't want to make up the queen size bed, and her sisters weren't comfortable with him sleeping so close to their rooms. After three days of watching him struggle and fight for the bathroom with her sisters; she emphasized with him, and allowed him to sleep in the master bedroom right beside hers; the only two with an attached, but shared bathroom.

The four and a half hour wait to use the washroom was a brilliant reminder of how grateful Ash was that he didn't have any siblings when he was younger, especially girls. He had no idea how Misty managed for as long as she did.

In fact, Misty was wonderful to live with—except for when she was working between the hours of 8:00am and 5:00pm—she had the patience of a saint for him, and her sisters. If he ever questioned how she was able to patiently wait around for him; he understood now. Ash, he grinned, was easily three times easier to handle at any given bad day at the hospital than Misty's three sisters were at any given moment.

Daisy was the oldest; and aside from Misty, she was arguably the most mature of 'sensational' sisters. She did most of the cooking—and Ash thanked the heavens that one of them could cook, but Daisy never cleaned. She tried to, but it typically ended in a bigger mess than she intended for. Her methods of cooking were the same—somehow, even though half the food ended up on the stove, countertops and everywhere else, she still managed to make a decent meal. Ash found out during the start of his second week that she was also enrolled at the Cerulean City University for Producing and Management, so a lot of her spare time was spent attending class; the rest completing homework.

Some days, when Misty was busy battling and he ran out of chores on his long list, Daisy let him sit in during her study sessions in their office which was fitted with four separate desks and a four-wall bookshelf of collected water pokemon books, as well as Misty's personal collection. He had never seen so many romance novels before—it was a bit unnerving. Two of the desks were always neat and tidy, Lily and Violet's, only because they were never used. Misty's solid oak desk was genuinely trashed at any given time, littered with backed-up paperwork from the Pokemon League and personal letters from friends, trainers, and traveling students. A few, Ash had noticed, might have even been classified as love letters or hate mail. Being a very active, around the clock gym leader, Misty only found time at the end of her day to sort through paperwork—but she had long given up on trying to manage it. By the time she finished signing off on new legislation, a new-new one had already surfaced, and so the old one meant nothing. When Misty said that Gym Leaders had no say in politics, at least Ash knew that she wasn't lying.

Daisy was also the most accepting of Ash from the start. Lily and Violet were hesitant at the idea of him rooming with them originally, but they warmed up to him. The oldest of the four sisters almost seemed joyous at his arrival.

"Misty never really had a lot of friends growing up," Daisy told him one afternoon when he was sitting in with her during one of her study sessions. He often helped her with flashcards, trying to be as useful as reasonably possible. Togepi also enjoyed spending time with Misty's older sister—so it was a win-win.

"She hasn't always been the easiest person to get along with, if you haven't already figured that out. So it's nice to know she's taken an interest in someone outside of pokemon or work." Daisy added that same day. Ash thought it was funny because Misty wasn't hard to talk to—a little intimidating at times, but she only had the best intentions. In this world, he imagined that for Misty, it would be difficult to keep friends with the reputation some gym leaders carried. Especially one known to yell as often as Misty did. It wasn't that she was mad, it's simply that there were a lot of really disturbed boys who said some...well... Ash thought about the swimsuits Misty had to wear and shuffled his hand over his reddened face

It took him a while to piece it together, but from his understanding; political recess has been a nightmare for the past five years; right around the time Misty became the full-time gym leader in Cerulean City. Apparently, there had been a huge blow-up between coordinators and battlers about the unfair treatment battlers received, and how little appreciation coordinators were given; Ash assumed this was the reason Misty sounded so apathetic about Dawn. Apparently, coordinators staged riots that damaged League facilities associated with battling; and the gym got hit pretty hard. As if to make matters worse, two years after the 'war' between coordinators and battlers; Giovanni, one of the most renown and beloved gym leaders in Kanto, was found to be working with Team Rocket, who had raged a plethora of horrible notions around each of the regions during their most active years.

Ash did not like to think about it often because Giovanni was safely put behind bars; but the pillaging, destruction and overall heinous crimes they caused—not to mention the horrible things they did to Unova-made Ash's stomach churn. Ash winced slightly, dragging his thoughts elsewhere as he dressed for the day, slipping on black swimming trunks below a set of blue jeans and a black t-shirt.

Aside from Daisy, Lily and Violet were the party-goers. According to Misty, Daisy used to be just as bad so, "Don't let her fool you." Misty assured him one evening when they were winding down from a long day at the gym. Still, Lily and Violet were the ones that dragged Ash out of the gym during work hours with Misty's permission. Either because he had effectively screwed up enough times that day and Misty was beyond words flustered with him, or because she knew that he needed a break. When he first started to help out, he managed on average two of the five working days being escorted out of the gym by Lily and Violet who were pleased to have someone to carry their shopping bags. Ash didn't mean to put soap in the filters, or accidentally dye the pool—or blow the breaker box three times in one day... during a gym match...

Ash was not well coordinated with how the gym worked, having only dream experience and outside of that, the working experience of a ten-year-old; he had a lot to learn. Not even Misty's patience prepared her for some of the novice mistakes that Ash made. He felt like such a goofball, but Lily and Violet both assured him that Misty was just "A little crazy" about the gym since everything that happened with Giovanni. The intense regulations for the gym leaders were only one of the many new laws to prevent gym leaders' deterioration. Ash understood that, but he also felt a large portion of it was due to having to run the gym with her sisters her entire life. They weren't exactly the poster children for hard work.

Even still, the sisters accepted him rather quickly as one of their own. Violet particularly enjoyed knowing that she would have a dance partner for her classes on the weekend, and Lily enjoyed having someone around who was not Misty or made up of seventy percent hair gel to dress up. Thus, resulting in many different outfits created by the middle sister; and a lot of stubbed toes provided by the second middle sister.

On the other hand, Misty was an enigma. She was two different people inside the gym and outside of it. While she was working, she was all business, a little harsh, and slightly intimidating. Outside of that, she was hilarious, caring, and a little adventurous; bickering with her sisters non-stop about anything she could imagine simply because she could, even convincing Ash to prank them a few times during the weekends when they didn't have much to do to pass the time. She also very genuinely encouraged Ash to come with her to battle-meets, and tournaments. Ash considered "Gym Leader Misty" and "Misty" as two separate individuals entirely.

Most importantly, Misty let Ash train some pokemon, or at least help, without the threat of being thrown in jail for doing so. Gary was supposed to be working on getting Ash a license again, but it was possible that Ash would need to travel to a new region to get one until Gary could be officially sworn in as the new region professor. While Ash was in no hurry; in fact, he was oddly content with most days he spent with Misty at the gym, he had other goals in mind. One that originated the moment he woke up: where was his mother and pikachu?

The reoccurring thought he had about his mother chilled him to the bone. He deduced that Gary knew something rather quickly after his first visit—though imagined that if the Oak was not telling him; it might have been something detrimental. Ash intentionally avoided it for the month he spent at the gym; worried that if it was bad news, he wasn't ready for it—and it if it was good news...

Well, it obviously wasn't good news because otherwise, Gary would have told him.

"Are you dressed yet!? We have to get on the road before noon, Ash, otherwise the badge shop will be closed by the time we get to the village!" Misty nagged at him, pounding on his bedroom door.

He looked over his shoulder while he pulled on a red vest over a black shirt. His hair was damp from his shower, so he neglected his hat, stuffing it into his back pocket as he stuck his arm out for togepi to dance up it. The baby pokemon struggled at first, its awkward body was not exactly fit for climbing, so about halfway, it jumped from his forearm and onto his shoulder with a chirp of excitement.

"Good job." Ash commended the small pokemon, tapping his index finger against its small hand as an indication of a high five. It chirped happily at him in support of its training.

While he usually had no qualms carrying the pokemon, it was an issue if he needed to use his hands—togepi always wanted to have some physical contact with Ash unless Misty was around. The nature of baby pokemon, he assumed. He never understood how unrealistic it was to have Misty carrying the baby pokemon all day during his imagined adventures—now, it seemed so unpractical, and very tiresome. Even though togepi was very light, his arms after the first hour were exhausted.

Therefore, part one of training the pokemon consisted of finding a way to keep it out of the pokeball so it could grow, and yet become independent of being carried. While, as a baby pokemon, it did like to be snuggled at intervals—something Ash himself had to warm up too—Misty never seemed to mind sharing her affection for the small egg; even when she was Gym Leader Misty rather than normal Misty. Though, Ash wondered if he should have told her in his world a togepi belonged to her, not him? He secretly enjoyed the unbiased affection she showed the pokemon, the way her eyes lit up indefinitely. In the end, he kept it as his personal secret, seeing her with the pokemon made him feel at ease in this world, and he worried telling her would make her previous affection weird.

With togepi firmly situated on his shoulder, he swung open his door and made his way down the hallway, offering passing glances and good mornings to Misty's sisters who were still getting ready for the day—an act that they all spent about two hours on each. Except for Misty, she was okay with whatever. Today, for instance, when he stumbled in on her waiting for her toast to pop from the toaster, she was wearing bot-cut jeans and a red long-sleeved shirt that was a little big so the collar hung slightly off her left shoulder. Her hair was done in a sloppy ponytail—a constant complaint and reminder that she needed to cut her hair again; and she wore her usual silver, dangling cascade earrings and cascade pendant. Aside from the fact that she dressed in more relaxed, tomboyish tones, she still carried with her an ounce of girlish nature that had Ash gawking at her odd times of the day.

For instance, now.

She always razzed him about it, too. He pouted, having been caught mid-stare.

"I know, I'm gorgeous." She mused, grabbing her toast and tossing them onto a plate. She then snatched her mug of black coffee—borderline espresso-and carried it over to her seat at the table while she nibbled on toast. He tore his eyes away, forcing himself not to think much about it as togepi jumped from his shoulder as he passed Misty, and directly onto her lap.

"Good morning to you, too, togepi." She muttered, patting the pokemon's head, getting an eager purr in return.

Having lived with the four females for over a month, the budding awkwardness that was breakfast had long since passed; and Ash had no qualms about finding his own plate, cutlery, and cup. Setting everything down at the table, he glanced slightly at the dark-haired man who only wore a white tank top and boxers at the table. Violet's current boyfriend. He flipped through the newspaper and munched on his breakfast roll without even glancing at Misty or Ash.

Honestly, Ash had no idea where Violet kept finding stray men to bring home with her; they never lasted longer than a week at a time, so he stopped trying to greet them. Quite frankly, he believed she deserved better... oh boy, living with them all might have made him only slightly protective. It was just a part of his life now. He rolled his eyes as Misty naturally poured him a glass of orange juice. He still hated the taste of the coffee.

Ash always thought breakfast was awkward with the inclusion of boyfriends at the table—but Misty, having lived with it for the last twenty-one years, paid it no mind. They ate in relative silence at first, mostly because they were usually up much earlier than eight to start gym duties, and while Ash was a morning person, Misty was not; which usually meant that until she was a few sips into her morning coffee, she was impossible to talk to. He glanced shyly at her and had to chuckle under his breath and shake his head at her impenetrable scowl.

"What?" She questioned haphazardly and he fought down his grin.

"Nothing," he argued with an innocent tone, but she groaned.

"What is it this time?" she nagged setting down her magazine featuring newly discovered water pokemon.

Ash chuckled. "I was just thinking that maybe if all the League officials came by before breakfast they would stop harassing you so much."

She snorted, tilting her head while he spread jam over one of the breakfast rolls and took a few pieces of what-ever meat Misty had tried to cook up that morning and burnt black. It probably tasted like tar, but it was food.

"I think if they ever knocked on the door before 8:00 am I would be arrested for assault and battery," Misty suggested with a slight chuckle and shake of her head. Ash could not disagree with her.

Though, he tried a different approach regarding her dependence on the java. "If you would stop drinking coffee every day, mornings would probably be easier."

"Not all of us were able to get ten years of rest, Ash." The comment didn't bother him, her jabs at his progressive sleep actually made it easier to cope with. He smiled as she continued. "Besides, do you want to be around me when I ween myself off?" She offered with raised eyebrows and he grimaced dutifully, biting into his breakfast.

"Touche. Wait until after I leave." He gushed in a short panic, stuffing the burnt substance inside of the store-bought breakfast rolls. Had Ash been watching her, he would have noticed the look of concern that pressed over her face at the mention of leaving. He rarely talked about it, so to casually drop it in conversation concerned her... until she saw him trying to bite the burnt food from earlier and she shook with laughter.

"Ash, don't eat those. They're charred." Misty scolded him, trying to swat him away from eating the burnt goods, but he bit into them and only grimaced slightly—having grown accustomed to the taste; like all of her sisters had. Eventually, his taste buds would die, a moment he could hardly wait for at this rate.

"It's fine. I'm hungry and while you girls eat like mice: I can't live off of bread like you do." He muttered with his mouth full—an action that deservedly got his shin kicked under the table. He jumped, rubbing his shin with his spare hand and started to curse while she snickered playfully, drinking her coffee to hide her smug grin. He swallowed before he spoke again.

"Besides. It's not like I can complain. I'm just as bad at cooking as you are." he said forcing the terrible taste down with a sip of the orange juice Misty poured for him when he sat down.

Misty chuckled abruptly at the memory. A couple of weeks ago, their combined efforts almost ended in a kitchen fire. Daisy officially banned them from trying to cook anything together—even if their intentions were good. Daisy was positive that they would be the only living people on the planet that could burn down a house that was built around four different pools.

"I'm getting better." Misty weakly argued frowning slightly as she gently rocked togepi back and forth.

"Right. It doesn't cause automatic food poisoning anymore." he playfully rolled his eyes. "At least I have an excuse for why I can't cook." He murmured, grinning at her and preparing for the fireworks of her inevitable anger; something he saw more of only now that the awkward first steps of their friendship had passed.

"You're about to have a good excuse for why you never woke up." She hissed coltish, eying him dangerously. Looking at one another, they both chuckled as she kicked away from the table, setting togepi on the ground as she got up to prepare for their trip. Ash winced, knowing what was next.

A short second passed, a wobble of his lip, and then togepi immediately began to cry. Ash looked over at him quizzically, crunching on an extra burnt what-ever-those-were-before-Misty-killed-it. Misty sighed irritably, and then picked togepi back up and he stopped crying right away. She couldn't stand to hear him cry. She grumbled something about faking, and then tried to put the pokemon on her shoulder as Ash usually did, but it kept sliding back down into her arms to be cradled. Misty grimaced, trying over and over again several times before giving up with a loud sigh and storming out of the kitchen.

Ash watched with an amused stare—she simply didn't have the finesse that he had with training togepi, and that made his entire body warm with her artful antics. It was relieving to see a part of her that wasn't always so proper. She was great with water pokemon, sure; but she fell short elsewhere.

Jarring his attention, she poked her head around the open the kitchen doors a few seconds after storming out.

"You have five minutes, or I'm leaving you." She warned him and then left once again.

Finally, Violet's newest boyfriend chimed. "These sisters, huh?"

Ash raised an eyebrow and found that at the insinuation of conversation from the man, Ash was no longer hungry. He didn't like speaking with Violet's two-second boyfriends. Usually, they were crude and had nothing decent to say. So, he threw back the rest of his juice then exited the kitchen wordlessly, promptly following after Misty.

XOX

Contrary to popular belief cascade badges weren't manufactured in a facility like other gym badges; the Cerulean City gym had been long time supporters of Rifure Village where a local man hand-crafted each badge. The trip took most of a day, and they were on their way back from the brief adventure; the badges jingling in Misty's backpack.

"Isn't that kind of wacky, though? I mean, you give them to trainers who will most likely lose them and you never see them again?" Ash asked, in this particular moment togepi was perched on his shoulder. He and misty had been talking about the over-priced badges on their way back from the village.

Both Misty and Ash wore boots to protect their feet from the winter weather as well as warmer jackets. Togepi was wrapped up in the tails of Ash's forever-borrowed scarf because since hatching, the egg pokemon took a distinct liking to the article of clothing. Ash supposed it was because he wrapped the egg up with it for so long when he was at the home.

"It's the principle of the matter. If we slack off on something because it's easier then what's the point of telling trainers to work hard?" Misty argued in retort, tucking her nose behind her blue scarf and pulling her black toque a little further down on her head.

Ash scoffed. "You just like an excuse to shut the gym down for the day and go for a walk." he challenged her with a grin. "Because I'm pretty sure spending an hour looking at arts and crafts is not apart of teaching trainers to work hard."

She blushed slightly at the accusation.

"This may also be a part of the reason," she admitted sheepishly and poked her tongue out at him.

A comfortable silence swept between the two of them, the howl of the wind filling their ears. Over the last couple of days; weeks, really, since Ash started working with pokemon again—he had a nagging feeling inside of his chest; clawing to be released but could never find a good time to bring it up with Misty. He was ready to leave. But when he went to request this, the redhead was usually in the earshot of her sisters and Ash lost all of his nerves. He wondered if they heard him it would be an issue or not. They were as much his friends by this point as Misty was... weird, too-much-information-baring, girly girls, but he saw them as friends. He clucked his tongue, glancing at togepi who sat with a sincere smile, watching Misty.

"Hey Misty..." Ash started, alerting her as she stopped to turn at him. His gaze fell forward, however, having difficulty in keeping eye contact with her since the start of the week.

"What?" She asked carelessly and he inhaled. If he didn't ask now, he wouldn't do it later.

Rolling his shoulders, he stammered. "I huh..." he looked up as heat rose to his cheeks, she wasn't even doing anything, and somehow she managed to unnerve him.

While he staggered about his words, Misty was entertained by his flushed nature as she watched the trail in front of them. He gestured with his hands, trying to convey the proper emotional words; but found that they curled on the edge of his tongue, but did not move. Misty winced, listening to his garbled tone and shook her head.

"Just spit it out, Ash." She groaned impatiently, rubbing her pale hand down her face.

His heartbeat loudly as he watched her. Heart was not racing because he was tired; he had long moved past the jitters of walking outside because of Misty's rigorous schedule. No, it was something else entirely, and while it was reoccurring, Ash found that when he wanted to bring it up, he usually ended up saying something rude instead. He wanted to avoid that this time.

Blushing, he rubbed his temples, looking ahead at the forest which seemed to move in the distance and his breath caught in his throat.

"Well?" She pressed, but his mind was whisked away.

"An oddish!" He yelped, pointing at the blue pokemon excitedly. Ash's flailed his arms, forgetting his rise as he pointed at it. Misty took quick note of this and sighed; at least that part leftover from his dreams didn't change. He was still easily distracted by pokemon. She put her hands on her hip and kicked her foot out. Misty was positive that he was the human pokedex at this point; fitted with all the classic, snarky remarks as the original.

"Can I catch it?" He mused looking at her with bright eyes. Misty shook her head.

"You can battle it, but you know that you can't capture it." She offered; because one, Ash didn't have a pokemon license, and two, he didn't have any pokeballs. But, battling was just as important for practice, and he had never had the chance before. Gleefully, he grabbed togepi off his shoulder and pointed it directly at oddish. Though, the egg didn't seem to mirror his confidence at first.

"Let's battle!" he called to the opposing pokemon. Having acknowledged the trainers, the oddish turned to the two of them and took a battle stance; one that togepi rivaled confidently at first, mimicking Ash's composure. Finally, a battle! His first battle outside of watching gym matches. He clenched his fists victoriously, watching the oddish as he semi-expected togepi to start the battle without his command...

I don't know any of togepi's attacks... Ash realized suddenly, his eyebrows knitting up. He couldn't recall Misty ever battling seriously with the pokemon in his dreams—except for when they found out it could use...

"Metronome!" Ash called happily. Automatically, Misty snorted and slapped her forehead as togepi looked back at Ash, confused. Ash's face scrunched up, not understanding its confusion as oddish went in for an attack using razor leaf. Landing a critical hit, Ash winced as he watched togepi roll back a short ways.

Misty gasped, both trainers calling after togepi. "Tell it to dodge, Ash!" Misty groaned, crossing her arms protectively. Flustered, Ash blinked.

"It's alright, you can do it!" Ash cheered hopefully, but the baby pokemon clearly did not enjoy being struck, and instead, its eyes started to water. Oddish moved in to attack once again, but before it could land another hit, Misty deterred oddish by throwing out her own pokemon and startling it.

"Poliwraith, go!" She called—as it was the only pokemon that she brought with her on this trip. The oddish screamed in fear at the larger pokemon's disposition, and then retreated back into the forest while Misty returned poliwraith quickly and raised her eyebrows at Ash while he scooped up the distraught egg worriedly.

"You don't have any idea what you're doing, do you?" she scolded; he twiddled his index fingers together. Even after all the trainer magazines he read, ten years of mental practice, he still made mistakes like that.

"Things sort of came easier in my head..." he mumbled unable to make eye contact with her fiery green eyes.

"You can't just expect a pokemon to know a move it hasn't seen. You have to teach it to them if it's not some basic physical move. Why didn't you use a physical move, like sweet kiss, or I don't know DODGE?" she crooned, touching two fingers to her forehead.

"How was I supposed to know?" He snapped defensively, crossing his arms. Misty threw hers up.

"You've only been watching me battle for an entire month now! I figured you might have learned something!" She gasped, getting a scoff from Ash.

"Your pokemon already know all the moves you're going to use—how was I supposed to know this, specifically?"

"Common sense? Togepi has never seen metronome, let alone if it's a legitimate attack that it can learn."

"Well, it is a legitimate attack because I've seen it."

"You've seen it in your dreams, Ash, that doesn't count!"

As they went back and forth, the small egg pokemon rested forgotten in Ash's arms. Togepi's lower lip started to wiggle, tears pressing at the corners of his eye as it listened to the duo trade verbal blows. The twitching fear that stung during battle as he picked himself up off the dirt was replaced with the quickening of its heart and the penetrating shrill cry of its tears.

"See, you made him cry," Ash growled, stopping the argument to hold the pokemon and investigate the reason for his tears. Perhaps it was too early to battle with him.

"It's just a baby, Ash. You have to be more careful." Misty chided, ignoring his backhanded comment.

"It won't evolve without training." He argued quietly, looking into the small black eyes of the pokemon. "You gotta be tough, togepi." he motioned his support with a clenched fist, but his lip only quivered and started to cry once more. Ash's face fell.

Ash felt horrible, hanging his head. What did he do? Technically, this was the first time he ever tried to battle with the pokemon—and would probably not be his last failed attempt. Sighing, Ash tried to pat togepi's tears away with the red scarf, but it didn't ease up at all. It was moments like this when he missed pikachu most of all. Misty approached him, ripping the crying pokemon from his fingers and cradling it close to her body as they continued their walk back to Cerulean City.

"You're supposed to hold something when it's crying, Ash. Not stare at it." She groaned, soothing the young pokemon's cries.

Ash scowled. "Well, if you're such a professional, why don't you take care of him?"

"Maybe I will." She challenged and walked away from him with her nose stuck up. His mouth twitched once, and then he ran after her.

"I was kidding. I'll take him back now." Ash whined, holding out his arms apologetically. Misty shook her head.

"No, you gave him away." She warned and Ash growled.

"I did not! I was...I was just upset." He whined, still holding out his arms but she had no intention of releasing the pokemon.

"Then apologize." she wagered.

"I am not apologizing!" he yelled stubbornly.

"Then I'm not giving him back," she said flatly with an underlying playful tone.

"Misty!" he shouted before stuffing his hands into is pocket; breathing out. "I'm sorry," he whined pathetically. Misty stopped and smiled victoriously at him.

"What was that?" Her grin made him exhale loudly.

"I'm sorry." He muttered a bit louder, pouting away from her. She didn't ease up.

"Hmm. I dunno togepi, do you think he's being sincere?" Misty commented looking down at the sniffling egg, and Ash shuddered, the same blush as before returning to his cheeks. The tone of her voice. He threw his arms up.

"I said I'm sorry. Now can you please give him back?" he whined, Misty finally smiled earnestly at him.

"You can't just give away pokemon when you're angry." She coached him, twisting togepi in her arms as to return it to Ash.

He breathed. "I know."

"You shouldn't joke about it either." She scolded as if reading his thoughts. He grinned at her the pressed his fingers against the side of togepi to hear it whistle below him and pounce into his arms. He hugged the pokemon and looked up at Misty with a questioning gaze, his thoughts returning to his dominant question. With the city lights poking over the horizon, Ash whistled.

"So...I was thinking for awhile now." He muttered pathetically.

"Oh, no." She mocked.

He smacked his lips, ignoring her jest. "I want to go back on my journey; even if I can't train pokemon. I want to find my mom. And pikachu..." He said earnestly twiddling his fingers against togepi's shell, massaging it. Misty raised her eyebrows.

"Gary said he might be able to get you a license if you're patient." She tried with her mouth twitching.

"But how long is that going to take?" Ash sighed. "Another month? Misty. I don't have any idea where my mom is right now and it..." He stammered off, wanting to avoid the 'mushy' stuff.

"I know. I don't blame you." She grunted chewing on her words.

His heart rang aflutter, his nerves endings shooting off at each point. Did she just agree with him? His hands twitched; that weird fluttering feeling in the pit of his stomach when he thought about her was...

"But, uh, there's more." He added, and she looked at him skeptically, eyebrows raised, watching as his tan skin turned a deep shade of red.

"...I was wondering if you would come with me?" He spat out face flushed eight different colors-finally asking his question from before, stumbling over his words only a little bit as Misty came to a complete stop a second later, stunned.

"What?" She asked ambivalent and he inhaled. There was no way he was getting that out a second time, so instead, he scratched the back of his neck.

"It's just that, you're sort of right. I don't really know what I'm doing much in this world and you've been here since..." he stammered off, her uninviting silence taking hold of the outdoor air. Misty's jaw clenched.

"I can't Ash. You've seen how busy it is at the gym. I can't leave." she said bitterly, awkwardly shifting her attention back to their walk to clear the space between them.

Rejected, which was his expectation from the start, he shifted uncomfortably and chewed on the inside of his cheek, following her. Stuffing his nose behind the scarf to avoid the brisk wind he sighed quietly, trying to shrug off the accountability. Ash could not blame her, not really. She had a job, and aside from being a thorn in her side, he was only a problem. Even if she didn't have gym duties, why would she want to come with him?

"...Yeah, I figured as much." He grumbled sadly; with that, he smiled, closing his eyes. "I just thought that I would ask, regardless."

"Couldn't hurt." She assured him with a pat on the shoulder. The rest of the walk, she seemed a little bit unnerved by his comments looking up at the dreary, clouded sky for long moments as they barreled into the streets.

"Do you think about her often?" She paused, glancing at him. "Your mom, I mean."

A little embarrassed, he shifted his shoulders. "Everyday." he said coolly.

"Have you ever considered that..." She trailed off, catching Ash's innocent-by-nature attention.

"Considered what?"

"Well. Nothing." She said quickly, dismissing the subject as the taxi she hailed came forward and stopped in front of them. "Don't worry about it." She suggested with a weak smile as she popped open the door and slipped inside. Ash followed her movements, thoughtlessly. In the back seat of the musky cab, the driver spoke a weird language that Ash didn't quite catch, neither did Misty.

"Cerulean City gym, please." Misty mused as she looked at his tanned face. "When were you expecting to leave?"

A little disheartened, mostly because the idea of going alone was terrifying, he sucked in air, wrapping the length of the red scarf around the egg pokemon apologetically.

"Within the week...?" he offered, pursing his lips.

"Wow, you don't waste any time, do you?" She nudged his shoulder with a sly smile on her face.

"Well, I already missed ten years, as you like to remind me." he scrunched up his face, glancing out the window at the passing street lamps and multitudes of people; there was a rally going on downtown for some kick-starter Ash had no idea about. Even after being in the city for over a month, he was not used to the constant flow of people and bright lights. Cerulean City was three times bigger than he could have ever imagined it to be. He eyed Misty at this thought.

"Are there any other professors I can talk with to get a license without leaving Kanto?" He asked suddenly, wanting to get off the top of leaving. He was prepared to go without a pokemon license, but he couldn't deny that it would make things much easier.

"Ahh." Misty pursed her lips. "You might be able to get a temporary one from an Elite-four member while you're waiting for Professor Oa-...err" She scratched her cheek, unsure of how to address the boy she had become acquainted with over the last couple of weeks. "Waiting for Gary." she decided.

"How long does that take?"

Misty grimaced. "A few weeks to a few months? Since Professor Oak passed I'm sure they've been swamped with requests."

Ash's face messed up; "Is there any other way?"

"Hmm...I could write you down as an official understudy of Cerulean City gym, I suppose. I could get more funding that way but there is a ton of paperwork." She sighed dramatically, brushing a few strands of hair from her face.

"You're allowed to do that? Aren't I already supposed to be a trainer before I become a student?"

"Actually, most of my students are people who are too nervous to raise their own pokemon so they catch them and drop them off with me. It just means the pokemon you catch will be considered property of Cerulean City gym and I have the right to withhold them or release them as I see fit."

"That hardly seems fair to the student..." he whined haphazardly, but she brushed it off.

"Some people shouldn't be trainers." Misty retorted callously, face scrunching up.

Ash had not thought about that. In his world, even when a trainer was relatively harsh on their pokemon they still loved them—he noticed that this doesn't always ring true in this world. A lot of people viewed pokemon as a simple way of making money and, or creating personal slaves. They'd use them, then send them away broken and battered.

"I guess you're right." He offered his confidence in her and settled back.

"You would also be representing the gym in any action you take; which means if you screw up, and it looks bad on me-I will publicly chastise you before removing you from my roster and reporting you to the league."

"Sounds like you've had some bad eggs..." He grinned nervously, rubbing the back of his neck and she sighed, rubbing her temples.

"You have no idea." She groaned. "Since Giovanni ran his stupid affiliation with his 'students', aka Team Rocket members, a lot people think they can catch a bunch of pokemon, return them to the gym, and then auction them off, or whatever—without repercussions of carrying an actual trainers license. Instead of the damage being done to their own name, it's done to the gym leader's title. Even though we shouldn't be held accountable for the stupidity of our mandatory students, we are. Apparently, we're supposed to fix their damaged minds." She vented, tugging on her tied hair.

"Sounds like you don't get paid enough." Ash grinned, this much he already knew.

"I don't."

"Why are students mandatory then?"

"Because we're technically teachers. We're supposed to prepare students for what training actual pokemon will require and years ago this actually worked...it just... doesn't work as well now." Misty only ever took in the bare minimum, and even out of those they were made up of people she knew well—her time letting in strangers ended when Giovanni's scam was plastered over news media. Ash sucked in.

"I've asked before...but why are you still a gym leader if you have so many problems with it?" He asked and Misty licked her lips carefully.

Ash watched her shift as they came to a red-light. Unable to flee the conversation like she usually would. Getting her to talk about her position was like grinding nails on a chalkboard; painful to the person scratching and frustrating to everyone else. Usually, Ash did not monitor her inability to service her emotions, it was not really his business to affront her situation—especially because she was technically his boss and his friend. Yet, a sense of relief washed over his face at the thought—he was finally well enough to consider other people's emotions; not just his own. Which, according to Misty, was increasingly frustrating.

"It doesn't matter." She wagered, looking up at the roof of the taxi cab.

"Why do you do that?" He found himself asking, pointing at her accusingly. They would be back at the gym in little under ten minutes, and at that point; any hope of getting an honest reply out of her would die the moment her sisters came around.

"Do what?" she blinked.

"Avoid topics about yourself." he clarified, eying her suspiciously. "You expect other people to be so upfront, but you never really talk about yourself."

"There isn't much to talk about." She shrugged, breaking eye contact like a child would. Even so much as crossing her arms as she looked out the window. The cab suddenly felt three sizes too small. "You apparently already know everything about me, anyways." She pointed out, but Ash was offended at the claim.

"I don't know much about you." He admitted honestly, a confession that hit her like a tidal wave.

He knew his version of Misty well, but it became glaringly obvious to him the more time that he spent with this one—she was different; at least at the surface. Minor similarities in her personality seem prevalent up until he observed who she was as a gym leader; she was stoic and intimidating. A lot of trainers even called her 'mean'. Having never seen that side of her until he lived with her, it was a bit of an oddity. A clear contrast of the caring nature she showed him.

"Maybe I just don't think it's your business." She tossed heatedly, snapping at him.

He bit back on his own anger; "Why not?" They were friends, weren't they? Didn't friends talk about hopes and dreams and their lives? Why didn't Misty?

Misty sighed. "It doesn't matter. I just don't want to talk about it."

With that, the conversation was done. A reoccurring theme of their blossoming friendship. Having moved away from caretaker and patient to essentially co-workers and friends, it was not uncommon for the two of them to bicker. In fact, it was okay for Ash to talk about anything, not that she ever had to really ask him to talk, he was a chatterbox, but if Ash asked Misty to talk, it fell into a range of water pokemon, mostly, battling, and on a good day she would talk about how much of a pain running the gym was.

...but she never talked about herself. And that bugged him. A lot more than it should have.

He rolled his eyes at her behavior—and he was the one who was supposed to be ten. Maybe she just didn't think he was mentally capable of handling certain information—that, or they weren't as close as he thought that they were. It did, after all, take forever for even his mind-counterpart of Misty to soften up around him. How long would real-life Misty take? He grimaced at the thought. The better he got to know her, the more he realized she was as closed off as she was ten years ago. Or what should have been ten years ago. Covering up any discomfort with anger and irrational behavior.

Man, he sure became thoughtful over the last month.

He grimaced to himself; he was spending too much time around Daisy's critical analysis papers, and too much time around Misty's romance movies. He was starting to act like a girl! He paused his racing thoughts... was developing thoughts simply a component of growing up? He shook the thought from his mind quickly and eyed her.

"So," he tried. "If I became your student, I could train pokemon?" he asked, returning to the conversation prior.

She replied quickly. "With limits."

"How long would it take to get the permit?" he blinked.

"As soon as tomorrow, as late as next week." She looked at him, a flash of worry crossing over her eyes. "Are you sure you want to go so soon?"

Ash smiled weirdly at her. "It's my mom, and my pikachu... The sooner I start looking—the better, you know? I mean, if I have to go without pokemon, that's fine, it's just... I would like to."

Misty grew painfully quiet, crossing her knee over the other as they pulled in for a swift stop in front of the gym he was already starting to think of more as a home than his previous. As they clicked open their doors, Ash watched her slip the taxi cab driver a few bills and then round the back to exhale at Ash and togepi. Together, they walked side by side up the walk that would lead into the chlorine-filled atmosphere.

"Misty, what did Gary tell you?" Ash finally asked, watching her pale face closely. The winter wind had turned her nose red, and her cheeks appeared flushed over her pale skin, but her left eye crinkled in a way Ash was not as familiar with. Her shoulders rolled as she bit the left side of her bottom lip and she inhaled through her nose and wouldn't look at him. She shared these same aspects when he first met her back at the hospital—when he would ask about where he was and what was happening.

"He didn't tell me anything." Her lackluster reply forced him to stop briefly; blinking as she moved a steady pace ahead of him.

She lied to him.

Author's Note:

Thank you for all the reviews, favs and follows -hearts-