Equanimity, Chapter 12: Week nine
Misty was at her apartment, preparing her bags for her vacation to Kalos region with Daisy barking at her at her door.
"Misty have you read the things they're saying about you? About Ash?"
"Yes, sissy. Of course I have." Misty muttered, throwing together her outfit—she was determined to leave for a weekend, and because of the time change, she could probably squeeze in at least three days.
"And you" Daisy pointed a well manicured finger at her sister and pressed it into her back. "Cannot keep running yourself raggid like this. When was the last time you had a full night of sleep? He can't call you so late an keep waking you up.
"I'm up at that time anyways."
"Because you're crazy! You need to take a breather sometimes!"
"I will, that's why..." Misty gestured to her bags, and bowed mockingly at her sister. "I'm taking a vacation."
"You get jet lag on your way home;" Daisy argued, stomping one foot on the ground. "How are you paying for this, anyways?"
"Ash is paying for it." Misty muttered while rummaging through the top drawer of her dresser, she grabbed a few documents for flying, and Daisy inhaled.
"When is he going to come see you?"
Misty snapped at her sister, looked into her blue eyes with her cerulean green ones, and smacked her lips together. Her hips took the telltale sign of 'enough' as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Stop playing devils advocate, okay? I know what I'm doing."
"Do you?" Daisy asked. "You don't think clearly when it comes to Ash, you never have." the eldest sister said. "He isn't being fair to you."
Misty slammed her suitcase shut and glared at Daisy.
"Stop! Okay? No more of this!" She shouted. "I'm sorry that Ash doesn't bend over backwards for me like Tracey does for you—that he doesn't swoon at every call I have—because I don't expect him to." She hissed mercilessly. "Just because my relationship is different than yours, gives you no right to accuse me of being irrational, or accuse him of being less than a formidable companion."
Daisy stared for a brief period, and clucked her tongue quietly. "If you say so."
"Besides, Ash isn't the only one I've been running around for—I think I spent the majority of my time away from the gym helping you with preparations, so just. Lay off, okay?" Misty snapped, zipping her suitcase and shoving past Daisy with a huff to gather the rest of her things.
Daisy left a few minutes after in a huff, displeased with Misty's tone.
XOXs
Misty, after spending her morning packing, didn't make it two steps out of her apartment before Ash text her not to bother getting on the plane. One most days, she was thankful that she was paying for the extra data to send international texts because it was worth the effort in the long run. It was a step above emailing, otherwise, she would have arrived in Kalos and been stuck there on her own. In his message, he explained that after he abandoned his interview, he had complained several times that the league had been hounding him for 'misbehaving' and was now being treated like an infant. They made it very clear that no one was allowed to come with him to the pokemon league, since as an official champion match, Ash would need to be clear of any distractions.
Basically, he canceled on her—but it was technically a reason he couldn't control.
She looked at her phone, 8:00am for her would be 1:00am for him; which wasn't too late, in fact, if she was lucky, he would be on a plane. It rang once, and then twice while Misty busied herself unpacking her packed bag. Sure, she was a little sad but she and Ash agreed not to let this bother them. Ash was always terrible about answering her calls for whatever reason, so when the receiver turned on, Misty almost jumped out of her skin.
"Helloo~" A chipper, feminine voice answered Ash's phone, and Misty balked, double checked the number and then put the phone back to her ear.
"Hi, is this Ash Ketchum's num-"
"Heeeey, that's my phone!" "Pikapi!" Misty could hear rustling during the exchange while she waited, seated at the end of her bed with one leg crossed over the other.
"Hello?" Ash asked, unsure of who he was even speaking to.
"Hey, Ash."
"Misty!?" He sounded surprised, maybe a little confused. "Why are you calling me so late?"
Misty's skin seared. "Who was that?" She cut directly to the chase and Ash paused.
"...who?"
"That girl."
"...wh—Oh!" Ash snapped his finger. "That was Mary, the receptionist. She answered my phone while I was in the shower."
"Why would she be where you're showering?" Misty hissed, not even bothering to mask the anger , or jealousy in her voice. Ash was at least smart enough to catch the tone.
"Relax," he muttered. "We're on a shared train to the pokemon league right now. The showers are...sort of public? It's kind of weird. We have private bunks, but they couldn't splurge for private bathrooms." Misty assumed that Ash shrugged his shoulders given the rustling of clothes on his side, and Misty breathed a sigh of relief, then felt a bit ashamed.
"Oh. Sorry."
"It's okay. I know you're crazy." He chuckled, then in a hoarse tone, he only dared use over the phone, he clucked his tongue. "Are you jealous?" He mused carefully, and on Misty's end, she puffed up one cheek with a dark scowl.
"No, Ash. Concerned." She halted, clearing her voice of any malicious traces before continuing. "Why are you leaving so late?"
Ash paused for a long time, she could hear the sounds of the train whistle, of pikachu making a few remarks about the time, and then of Ash shutting a sliding door before hoping onto his bed, where he hummed in a deep tone—a sexy tone, whether he realized it or not. He probably didn't. Misty cradled her face with her hand.
"Hmmm." Ash started. "Because I played hooky and went and got-" Ash stopped. "Well, don't worry about that. I was out for awhile though."
Misty scoffed, hearing his avoidance of the question. "Doing what? What did you get?"
"Nothin'." He denied, thumbing the phone. He was always really fidgety—so much of their conversation was masked with involuntary long-distance static, and shuffling on Ash's end.
"Aww, c'mon, you can tell me." She cooed, cocking an eyebrow. "You did just cancel on me after all."
"That's not fair." Ash groaned.
"It's completely fair. Now spill."
"I found you a gift."
"...found?" Misty asked, slightly worried before her heart beat rapidly in her chest. "Gift? From Ash Ketchum?" She mocked with a pleasant smile.
He scowled, and she knew that his eyes rolled. "Yes. I can be..." he paused. "Your birthday is next week."
Misty blinked, looked to the calender, and then shrugged her shoulders. "So it is."
"'suppose to be a birthday gift, so I can't tell you, right pikachu?"
Misty's face flushed. "I'm surprised you remembered."
"To be fair, my mom reminded me."
Misty huffed. Ash was nothing if not honest. "Ash, do... do you even know how to get brownie points?"
"Mist, it's really late, I've been up for almost twenty four hours, the last thing I want is brownies." She laughed at that, loudly which brought a smile to his lips.
"Ash Ketchum turning down food? You must be exhausted!" She laughed, then sighed. "I'm sorry, I'll let you get to sleep." She said pathetically, looking at the bright sun in her window.
"No, no. It's okay. I like hearing you." He mumbled, though his voice was slightly muffled by the pillow.
For a moment, she wasn't sure what to say, so instead she bit her lip. "Next weekend?" She asked, looking across the bedroom at her calender. Ash inhaled, and exhaled.
"For sure."
"And I'll visit you?"
His words were still muffled. "If that's not too much to ask." Misty fidgeted and looked around her room sadly.
"No it's not...but you know, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if you came here for one weekend." Misty suggested, thumbing the hem of her red shirt. She heard Ash sigh, and knew that he wouldn't.
"I can't." He said tiredly, and Misty felt her feathers ruffle.
"Why not?" her voice had a sharp edge to it that cut into him and he fidgeted uncomfortably.
"Mist, I have a lot going on here—I can't just leave for an entire weekend."
"And I can? Do you think running a gym is easier than being a champion?" Misty snapped, and in his tired stupor, he might not have answered her the best way he could have.
"...Well, I'm not saying that, I'm just saying that... you know, Mist, it probably is." he sighed. "Just a little?"
She exhaled, heat rushing to her face so quickly she could have snapped her pokegear phone in half. "And how would you know? You've never ran a gym before in your life."
Ash didn't mean to sound as crass as he was when he spoke next, but he was tired, and a bit irritable himself. "How hard could it be to accept battlers and give out badges?"
Misty's mouth fell open, and a strangled noise escaped her throat. "Ash Ketchum!" she gasped, and she heard Ash sit up, alert now that she was calling him so assertively by his full name.
"There is a lot more to running a gym than just that, and maybe if you ever bothered to visit in the last four years you would know that!" She inhaled, stomping her feet against her carpet. It was a cheap shot, but she felt insulted at his accusation.
Ash hesitated. "...Are you going to keep throwing that in my face?"
"That you didn't visit or talk to me for four years?" She asked sarcastically, high off her anger. "Yes!" she said as if it were the most natural occurring thing in the world. Ash remained quiet for a very short time before he sighed.
"I'll come see you... not next weekend, but the one after that." He said weakly, and Misty's mouth opened in surprise; the anger drained from her body instantly. She had expected him to bite the lure, take the bait—fight her in every respect...but instead, he sounded wounded.
"Really?" She gasped, albeit guiltily.
"Yes. If you swear you'll stop bringing up how horrible I was." He muttered awkwardly, and Misty sat back on her bed, stunned.
"Wow..." Awestruck, her brain ticked for appropriate replies. "Really?"
"If that will make you happy." and then there was the undoubted guilt that embedded its way into her chest, and she felt like a jerk for having lost her temper over something so little as gym duties.
"No, look, I'm sorry. Don't worry about it, okay?"
"What, do you not want me to visit now?" Ash mused, most likely grinning in that mocking way. "Are you trying to hide something?"
"Yes. All the secret admirers." Misty laughed, and Ash did too.
"Seriously, though." He slurred. "I need sleep. We will arrive at league headquarters in a little under four hours, and I'm beat, Mist."
"You sound beat." Misty hummed thoughtfully, hearing an odd chuckle from Ash, as if he was about to say something, but then changed it the last minute.
"I'll catch you later?"
Misty smiled dreamily. "Yeah, take care of yourself."
"I will, and you too."
When he ended the call. For a long moment, she stared at her phone and then exhaled. Ash seemed to be growing up everyday, and yet, here she was, constantly moving backwards. She lashed out at him again. But why? Why was getting mad with him easier than enjoying his company—it's not like what he said didn't have any truth. As a champion, Ash probably had many different aspects of his job that Misty would never understand, but that didn't excuse what he said.
But his absurd kindness should have.
"Blah!" Misty sighed, she couldn't think straight when she kicked herself forward and snatched her gym bag. Technically the pokemon gym was closed for the weekend because of her vacation, but she would try to get ahead on Monday's chores—what better way to spend the weekend than working?
Misty could think of two: Ash, and Kalos. Better yet, fishing on the beach, catching rare pokemon from the Kalos league to bring home—spending alone time with Ash away from the combat of everyday life.
With a heavy sigh, she slumped out of her room, clicking the light off with the back of her hand, and stumbled out of her house once more. Only two more weeks, and he would come see her, however, she couldn't shake the feeling of doubt encasing her heart.
XOXs
For the rest of the morning, Misty spent her time cleaning up the main pool, readjusting the chlorine levels, stocking the food at the supply closet, cleaning the filters—and just around noon, with no trainers to break up the day, she ran out of chores. Since her sisters stopped celebrating water ballets every weekend, the gym was much easier to run, but that wouldn't last. Once Daisy's wedding was over, Misty was positive the girls would return to water ballets, and their bad attempts at acting and writing the very moment Daisy returned home from her honeymoon.
Then her life would truly return to chaos.
Misty had dipped her toes into the pool to calm her nerves, the same way she had for the last four years. Immediately, the cool springs of water wrapped up and around her legs, sending vibrations of relaxation through her body, and she fell backwards with a sigh.
Since Dawn's outburst, and the constant upkeep with Ash, Misty almost forgot the simplicity of life that followed before she starting dating. When she could wake up, return to the gym and sit quietly, alone.
She hated it.
Slowly, her eyes opened, green orbs stared up at the visible window on the roof and she gnawed on her bottom lip sadly. This wasn't the life she wanted for herself—she loved the gym, but she hadn't progressed; not really. Here Ash was, this amazing champion, and Brock was about to be a pokemon doctor and Tracey was getting married. Misty owned the same gym she owned when she was a small girl, and while she was proud of her achievements. She still felt stuck. Ash wasn't wrong when he called her jealous, but the problem wasn't that she was jealous of anyone around Ash, it was that she was jealous that she couldn't travel. Because she wanted to. Deep down.
More than anything.
Lost in her thoughts, she almost didn't notice when a brick came soaring through the front window of the gym. Providing a loud bang, followed by a crash of the window collapsing in on itself, Misty shot forward, glaring at the broken glass in alarm.
"Hey!" Misty shouted, seeing in the distance three, young-ish looking girls retreat back into the forest, giggling to each other. Misty raced past the broken glass, and ripped the gym doors open with half the mind to chase the girls down.
"Why don't you come back here and face me!" Misty shouted after them, but they didn't heel. Instead, they ran faster, and Misty turned to see the large window busted.
"Damn it." She cursed under her breath, trekking back into the gym. She avoided the large shards of glass in favor of the broom located in the utility closet, and started to sweep the broken glass away from the pool. The brick was a red, ugly thing lying at the center of the damage, and she sighed as she swept her way to it. When she leaned over to grasp the object, her heart jolted at the words written on it in black marker.
"whore", in faded, jagged writing over the top of it. Misty licked her lips tiredly, and then with a sudden bout of rage, she reeled backwards, and chucked the brick back through the broken window, then neatly flipped off the direction the girls ran off to.
Kalos might have been 2000 miles away, but it was still close enough to put thoughts in stupid girls heads. Misty thought she recognized them—she could easily call their parents; but she didn't want to be that person. Misty wasn't old enough to call and tattle on children, was she?
With a faint growl, she continued sweeping up the mess, driving her thoughts to the task, rather than what she should do for revenge.
XOXS
When Misty called the window repair company that was covered under the league's crappy insurance, they told her there was no emergency weekend service, which meant that Misty spent the weekend camped in her old bedroom at the gym, making sure no one else attempted to trespass.
By Monday, she had spoken with several executives high on the Kanto league food chain, and was all but blamed for the incident. Misty clear didn't throw a brick through her window—but they were blaming it on her regardless. Wonderful.
Next time, she was going to call the police; apparently, that was the only way to prove one's innocence.
Misty spent the majority of the weekend attempting to text Ash what had happened—but he never replied. He was probably busy with the league, with his own life outside of her. Figures. Misty grimaced, and rammed her head against the gym wall before looking back at the window.
In three hours, the window would be fixed, and she could forget this ever happened. The league had also apparently ordered a plexiglass, so it wouldn't shatter so easily—it would, however, dim the sunlight. Misty sighed, sitting at the edge of the bleachers. She canceled all battles for the day, in hopes that the repair men would arrive earlier, but three hours late already, she wasn't expecting them now until dinner time.
It wasn't like she had trainers coming to battle her anymore, anyways. Most people who could read thought she was a 'dirty' trainer, and didn't feel like she had a claim to even the gym anymore. How quickly a few weeks could turn her entire career around was frightening.
"Hey, there!" Gary's voice boomed across the gym as he walked in, looking past the front doors. "Why the long face?" He joked, before sticking his hand through the window.
"What happened?" He added innocently, maybe a little concerned when Misty huffed, blowing a strand of short hair from her face.
"Hey, you." She replied. "I thought you were in Johto?"
Gary looked over his shoulder, and approached her slowly. "I'm heading there now, but I thought I would stop by and see how Misty was doing." He grinned, which she only shrugged.
"I'm doing great. Can't you tell? I only had a few bratty kids throw a brick through my window—they're lucky I wasn't a few years younger, I might have actually attacked them." She warned no one in particular, clasping her fist closed and looking up at the rafters with a determined look.
Gary flinched, and handed her a news paper.
"According to the news, you did throw a brick at them."
"As an after thought—and not at them. They were already gone." Misty grunted in her defense, looking away from his skeptical gaze. Gary already knew that the majority of the news was eye-candy; whatever sold, lies or not, was the published material. Drama sold. That was the media they grew up in.
"Either way, I thought I would come by to see how you were doing before I left." Gary explained while taking a seat beside her on the bleachers.
They stared down at the pool in silence, which was crystal clear in the sunlight shining from above, and he grinned slightly; proudly.
"Do you want a coffee or anything?" She asked halfheartedly, thumbing her phone while speaking. Gary's eyebrows raised, and then he shrugged slightly.
"No, I'm fine, thanks." He said quietly, then twiddled his fingers. "I heard you opened up the water ballet again last week?"
"That's right. My sisters wanted to raise some money for Daisy's wedding." She said nonchalantly when Gary puckered his lips.
"And wasn't the gym toilet papered at the event?"
Misty's eyebrows raised questionably.
"And before that, when you had swim lessons as a fund raiser, didn't someone dye the pool green? Now people are throwing bricks through your window. I wonder when they'll start setting the building on fire." Gary snarled, to which Misty exhaled and rubbed her face. He was right. Sort of. It wasn't that bad though. A prank here and there was okay—but it was becoming...a reoccurring thing.
"I figure they will get bored at some point and stop harassing me." She said modestly, tucking her arms around her knees and frowning.
"Really? So how far are you going to let your reputation be ripped down before you actually do something about it? How much sleep do you even get anymore? You have black rings around your eyes." Gary pointed out.
In the past, Misty and Gary were never close. They had their ups and downs, and while they built a friendship over the time Gary spent at the gym researching her pokemon, he was always the first to accuse her when she was messing up or acting oddly. Even after their strained relationship, he still committed at least that much to the redhead. Misty inhaled, and shook her head, nearly defeated.
"I don't know." Slowly, she turned to him with subjective eyes, and a very weak smile before looking away. Before long, the league would investigate these rumors, and then they would decide how to handle them. A gym leader was only as good as their reputation in the town that they represented, and Misty's wasn't always the best to begin with. Now that the news oozing from Kalos was tainting her good name; she wasn't sure what to do.
They sat in silence. A small part of Gary expected her to open up, like she had in the past but now... Gary could see from the look in her eye that she wasn't going to let him into her bubble, into her space. That small area had been filled by a young man who was too far away, living his own life, too busy to stop in to see what was happening. Partially, it made him sick, secondly, it made him angry.
"You know what's funny about this, Misty?" Gary asked, chortling as he rose and stepped in front of her, slowly backing away. Misty looked up at him in response.
"If the Misty from four months ago saw how you were acting now, she would kick your ass."
Misty scoffed, clearly offended. "What's that supposed to mean?"
In reply, Gary quickly clucked his tongue and spread his arms out for emphasis.
"A relationship doesn't define you!" He shouted at her, taking the newspaper she handed back to him and slamming it on the seat beside her.
"Fix this Waterflower. The next time I see you, I don't want it to be because I have to help clean out your gym!" He added, to which Misty flinched and blinked, amazed at his reaction.
Suddenly, with a respect and calming nature of his grandfather, he brushed his jacket down and nodded at her curtly. "If you're ever in Johto, feel free to stop by, okay?" Gary grinned, and then without missing a beat, he flashed her a classic Gary-smirk, and tilted his head at her in goodbye.
Misty was speechless for a long time when she eyeballed the news paper beside her. Her phone finally buzzed in her lap, and she thought to check it first—but instead, she snatched the paper between her hands, and thumbed through the articles from the last week.
She was the headline in three of them for different reasons. The first was her relationship—that wasn't uncommon, the second one was how she 'broke up' a 'star couple' intentionally, and the third was about her battling; written by a young news columnist, and she was sure to tear out that page before she rose to her feet, and shoved her phone into her back pocket.
Gary was a lot of things: egotistical, an asshole, sometimes a jerk; but mostly. He was right. About a lot of things. That the last few weeks she spent more time fawning over her new relationship than she did her ow goals. Like she always had, when Ash came into the picture, she was beside herself—forgetting her goals, her wishes, her wants. That's what bothered her. It wasn't the way Ash said his job was harder than hers, or his constant cancellations; it was her inability to focus on herself anymore.
To think, she gave this advice to someone else recently, and look what she was doing now: playing the victim.
Her phone beeped once more; a familiar ring tone she designated strictly for Ash, and she fought the urge to answer quickly.
No. she shouted in her mind.
She needed to concentrate on herself first.
Sorry, Ash. She thought bitterly, and shove herself through the Cerulean City gym doors.
Author's Note:
I know that Misty isn't supposed to be older than Ash, but I always headcanon that she's a year and some older than him.
I feel like this is the start of something; can anyone say fast decline? -gets shot- wee, all the drama belongs to meee~
I FEEL LIKE Gary is the father figure, unknowing to him. He's given Dawn advice, and now Misty—when will he get his own chapter? ;w;
