Equanimity, chapter 24

When the alarm went off in his ear, he heard it, but made no move for it. The sun had long since risen, and Ash was trying to negotiate with himself a fair reason to get out of bed.

He could think of none.

His face was buried into his pillow, and he was certain that yesterday was something of a dream until he moved his arms and felt the soft body of Misty sleeping there, beside him. Suddenly, every nerve in his body was on fire when she groaned near his ear, and her breath trickled down the bare flesh of his neck, and into his shirt. Warm chills sent shivers down his spine, into the pit of his stomach, and he twisted, to find that her arms were wrapped up and around his body in a choke hold.

"Your phone." She whined above a whisper.

Ash didn't move to grab the device. Eventually it would stop, and as far as she knew, he wasn't awake. They could slip back into the quiet, peaceful rest they found themselves in. A few seconds later, he found himself correct. The ringing ended, and an adamant Misty laid lifelessly in his arms once more.

More awake now than ever, he held her close—her torso was squished against his, their legs were a tangled mess of limbs and while one arm was propped under a pillow, the other was happily draped around her bare waist. Her shirt had wrinkled up in the night, and he breathed to stifle the excitement in his chest. Misty was so soft and toned, he couldn't imagine how he ever got to sleep being this close.

He blamed Brock for putting thoughts in his head since they were traveling companions in Sinnoh. Last night, sleep egged him on, dulled his mind and senses, but after the few hours of sleep he had, even his heavy eyelids weren't distraction enough. She was too warm against his body, too close, breathing too calmly. His mind was groggy and a little confused, but his body was alert. His hand slowly grazed her flesh, fingers twisting up and around to her bare upper back and listened to the gentle puff escape her lips.

The scoldings his mother would give him if she found him like this. Even with her adoration of Misty, this was...

The phone started ringing again, and this time Misty's eyes fluttered open, as did his.

When two conscious minds met for the first time that moment through the pits of brown and green orbs, they both parted like the red sea. Ash made absolutely sure to keep the blankets straddled around his waist while Misty clumsily raced to the bathroom, tripping once. And still the ring berated his ears. He didn't need to look to know it was the league trying to get a hold of him.

Misty walked back out of the washroom with a toothbrush stuck between her teeth.

"You gunn' get that?" She slurred, her eyes still foggy. Ash hadn't so much thought of the awkwardness between them—mostly because he couldn't feel any. It felt so oddly specific and normal to wake up to close to her. To see her standing across the room brushing her teeth and waiting for an answer.

"Nah." he finally decided, slapping himself in the face. It wasn't like he had any events planned for this weekend. Misty was coming—he was sure to clear his plate. Not a thing he needed to-

His eyes snapped opened, and he was twisting over her side of the bed without warning, clapping his hand onto his phone.

"Hello?" he groaned after a quick swipe. While the woman on the other side had a momentary freak out, he got a glimpse of the time. A quarter after ten.

"Do you have any idea what time it is, Ketchum?" The high voice yelled to him as he settled back into his bed, still only half awake. Misty took the moment as her cue to finish brushing and disappeared back into the washroom.

"Uhh, ten?"

"A quarter after! Where in the world are you!?"

"It's Saturday—besides, I told you I couldn't do anything this weekend." he managed, praying it made more sense coming out of his mouth than it did in his head. He brushed his hair with his fingers while the woman continued.

"No, you never told me as such. You are still booked solid for the rest of the day and at least two of those meetings, you can't miss. One is with the Hoenn league officials, and you're supposed to be meeting them with the Elite Four—if you're not there then-" while she yammered on, Ash blinked up at the ceiling.

Oh yeah, he didn't book time off, because he didn't actually expect Misty to be here. They were fighting, sort of, last they spoke, and he was convinced that she was going to bail on him. He stared at where Misty was previously standing, and felt a train wreck of guilt.

"Calm down," Ash hummed. "tell them I'm sick—because I am." he didn't sound very convincing.

A flustered, frustrated sigh erupted from the other side.

"Ketchum. I cannot lie on your behalf! You have to be here."

"Yeah, well." Ash inhaled. "I'm not gunna."

"You should go." Misty chimed in, tired eyes gleaming up at him—only now did Ash pull the phone away and hold it against his shoulder to ignore his receptionist. Misty was brushing her hair, face screwed up.

"What?" he narrowed his eyes to her.

"You should go. It's for the league. I'll just tag along."

"No way, last time you tagged along, you waited outside for several hours."

"Well, maybe they'll let me into the meetings." Misty said, eyes closing again—she said go, but looks were so deceiving.

Thinking on it a second longer, Ash raised the phone back to his ear to enter the middle of a lecture about 'shirking his duties' and interrupted. "I'll go if I can bring Misty Waterflower to all of my events—oh, and I can skip the boring ones."

"You can't just-"

"Take it or leave it." What could he say, he was a great negotiator when he wanted to be.

"Fine." The woman breathed. "But I need you here by eleven. I can cover for you until then."

"Deal." Ash chirped happily, and after ending the call, tossed the phone to the other side of the room after turning off the ringer.

"Look at you, standing up for yourself."

"I know, exciting." Ash laughed while collecting his jeans off the floor and hoisting them on as quickly as possible. Misty didn't seem to mind—and it wasn't like she hadn't seen him like that before. He could count the many hundreds of times they had to share changing spaces in the forest, or small pokemon centers—it was never weird then, and like Misty said, it didn't have to be now. Only if he made it that way. He looked up at her to see her braiding her hair, using the mirror beside pikachu's fort, where the pokemon still slept like a rock.

"Thought you cleared your schedule this weekend?"

"I...well...I might have forgotten, on the grounds that I thought you hated me."

"Ah." she sounded glum, and immediately he rethought his phrase.

"Mostly I forgot, but hey, you can come with me so they won't be boring at least." Unfortunately, his rephrasing didn't make her feel any better. Forgetting was as bad as thinking that she hated him.

"What makes you think I want to go?" She asked, reeling backwards. She looked so unconvincing with her sheepish grin. Ash grinned back in response.

"Well, you said you wanted to know what I did-" then he smirked. "Plus, you love this kind of stuff as much as I do."

Pokemon meetings, learning about pokemon events, league parties, routes of participation, upcoming events and shows. Misty was as much a pokemon buff as he was, even if she chose to specialize it. After all, their dates consisted of talking about boating, and fishing; this was by no means out of her field of comfort.

"They really make you work on weekends?" She asked while taking out her bag and digging through the remains for a clean set of clothes. He found himself staring, but didn't mind.

"That shouldn't be such a surprise. You work on weekends, too."

"Yeah, well. I'm a gym leader. I'm supposed to get shit on." She gestured with her hands to the imaginary hierarchy system of the league and Ash chuckled.

"Well, I'm a league champion, so I'm at least on par." Before the depressing reality of the obscure and demising ranks sunk in, Misty chimed in.

"Oh, give yourself more credit than that."

"Okay.." Ash looked around, licking his lips. "I beat eight gym leaders for the title that is only as good as my public appearance and can be replaced within the next year by the next league champion—so not only am I on par. I'm temporary."

Misty snorted and looked really disturbed by this confession; a little hurt, and more disturbed by the fact that he wasn't more disgusted with his words. He had so easily accepted the meager life, and while his words were a reflection of his ideals, she let it go, if only to give him a break.

"Okay.." She hummed. "It's worse."

XOX

She had a shower right away—which meant that Ash got the secondary cold shower; not that he minded the place having small reminders of her. He didn't mind the red hair stuck to the shower wall, or the faint scent of perfumes being sprayed in the other room; it actually seemed more like home this way.

"I really wish you had sprung for a better room—or at least one with another sink." She let out a frustrated groan.

"I don't understand what's so weird about me coming in there—I can't see anything." Misty growled, drying her hair and applying minimal make up with the help of pikachu and a hand mirror she found in the night stand's drawer.

Ash didn't bother replying. Of course it was weird!

"I walk in on my sisters all the time!" He laughed silently at her complaints. He missed this. Their playful, endless bickering.

"Well, I'm not your sister, Misty." Ash chimed in, turning the water off and snatching a towel beyond the curtain without removing it. Just in case she tried to sneak in to use the sink. She was insanely stubborn that way.

"You're right. You're my boyfriend, aren't I supposed to be even more comfortable seeing you naked?" She asked and like he suspected, she stormed into the bathroom to gather some hygiene items he left forgotten since he got there, and finally leered his head from the corner of the shower curtain to see her tying her hair back into a ponytail. His face felt warm while he stared her down, but she didn't budge until fully facing him.

She wore the same yellow vest from yesterday—leather and cut off at her waist—her token object for her outfit, he assumed. Paired with a red, skintight tank top beneath it and blue cut offs that ended well above her thighs. Needless to say, he kept his glare trained on her eyes, where her growing bangs brushed playfully over her forehead, reminded him of simpler days.

"You're going to get cold wearing that."

"Not as cold as you, wearing nothing at all—besides, it's like the middle of summer. Is a freak snow storm going to appear out of no where?" She mocked him, taking her leave, but leaving the door cracked a smidgen so they could still hear one another while he climbed out of the shower to dry off, and dress himself. His face was flushed bright red, she had a way of getting under his skin, but it was a pleasant and warm feeling—not a frustratingly embarrassed feeling.

A comfortable disquiet.

"I just mean, you look kind of unprofessional for where we're going." he finally said, and Misty almost peeked her head in to glare that snark glare at him, but he slammed the door shut on her face.

"Hey!" She gasped, having not realized what she almost did herself.

"I'm still changing!"

"You're a baby! You hurt my nose." she whined, but heard the layers of gratefulness in her tone.

Ash snorted. "Maybe if you wouldn't put it where it doesn't belong."

She banged her fist against the door for a second, then stormed into the rest of the room. He heard the shuffling of her bag, a frustrated grunt or two while he pulled on the necessities, black slacks, and a black button up before exiting the washroom—only to see that Misty's backpack had exploded.

"I'm a child." She whined, holding a fist full of her clothes—all yellows and reds and jean shorts. "I have no adult clothes."

"I'm sure you have something." he murmured, but Misty held up her hands in defeat—she couldn't wear yesterday's jeans since she still had stains on them from their little adventure last night, but the rest of her clothes consisted of spanx, and tight pants, and shorts with indecent shirts that were either overly revealing, or not a complete outfit.

Ash waited until she laid out the rest of her clothes before making a comment.

"You spend too much time at the gym." He observed, noting how all of these outfits were practical for two things: being a water pokemon trainer, and being at a swimming pool.

"I know!" She breathed. "I have nothing to wear!"

"Don't you shop?" They both paused for a moment, taking in the oddity that was Ash accusing her of not shopping. Then, a strangled noise escaped her lips.

"No!" She squealed, messing up her perfectly laid out clothes in her frustration.

"The last few shopping trips I've had have consisted of trying on a million different maid of honor dresses or Daisy's dress because she's somehow always too busy to get it fitted herself and-" she breathed to silence her rant. "I don't have time, mostly." She goaded, stuffing her items back into her bag without much more to say.

Ash pointed to the bag.

"Let's just go down to the shop here. There's a clothing shop on the second floor I think—I've never been there, personally, but James mentioned it when he was here."

Misty deadpanned. "No."

"Why?"

"I don't have any money for a new outfit." her face screwed up, frantic. "Especially not from here."

Ash waved her off as if it wasn't a big deal. "I'll buy it."

"No way." The idea was ludicrous, a sin in of it self, she brushed him aside. "I'll just go like this."

"You're not going like that." Ash fought her, and she rolled her eyes and mockingly curtsied to him.

"Then I'm not going at all." She winked, and with a scowl, Ash grabbed her by her wrist, whistled to pikachu and dragged her from his bed room, and to the elevator.

"Leggo!" She yelped, surprised by his strength.

"Don't be so stubborn."

"I'm not being stubborn!"

"I still owe you for an outfit, anyways. You left that one at my house." Her face flushed, surprised her remembered the outfit at all, stuffed beneath his pillow.

"Yeah, but-" midway through her argument, the elevator singed.

Unlike last night, when there was no one around, the halls were fairly busy, and Ash waved to the group inside. They were all dressed to the nines; slacks, leather loafers, suits and ties and hands stuffed in their stuffy pockets. Ash was like a cross breed between casual dress and formal since his collar was left partially unbuttoned, and he always skipped the suit jacket and tie. Plus, pikachu perched on his shoulder like it was no one's business, and his hair was still damp form his shower. Misty, however, stood out like a sore thumb, and only then did she realize how out of place she was in this situation.

She looked like the ten cent hooker carried off the side of the road in those trashy novels she enjoyed reading. Quietly, she and Ash slipped alongside the rest of the stuffy business men and while Misty picked at hem of her short-shorts self consciously, Ash passed casual conversation off with some guy. Ash was a some guy talker now. He spoke with people casually about things he hardly knew about to pass the time, and Misty fidgeted while the elevator went up, and up and...

"So who is this?" Asked some guy talking with Ash, and Misty's shoulders straightened and Ash grabbed her hand.

"This is my girlfriend, Misty." Ash hummed, and Misty was taken by surprise—possibly winded—by his confident response. Apparently, the conversation died after that, because the man gave Ash an estranged look, and Ash, the oblivious gentleman that he was, brushed off the remark.

When she was feeling at her most self conscious, praying they would stop on the second floor as quickly as possible, Ash finally leaned in, snickering.

"Maybe we should have taken the stairs." So he wasn't as oblivious as she thought.

XOX

"You did that to me on purpose! I was humiliated!" She whined, throwing her arms up as they left the elevator and ventured to the shop James had told Ash about.

"I did not." he laughed.

"You should have told me not to bring casual clothes...I look stupid." She breathed helplessly—maybe a little overly-dramatic. Ash looked at her sincerely, then offered a charming smile.

"I don't think you look stupid. In fact, I don't mind at all. If it were up to me all of these silly meetings would require casual dress—these fancy-pansy people get so caught up in their egos and jewelry they forget that normal people even exist."

That somehow made her feel better. "So why'd you stop wearing jeans?"

"My first receptionist actually broke into my hotel room and switched out some of my jeans with them." however, there was something about his eyes that made her question the validity of the statement .

"Ouch."

His eyes shifted, and he cleared his throat. "Yeah, I know."

They entered the store and Misty, never imagining a whole department store would fit into a hotel, was at a loss of words. Everything was on the high-end of priceless.

"I feel like if I touch something, I'll be in debt for the rest of my life." Ash shrugged off her comment so easily, it was odd to see him to comfortable in a high-end store, when only two years ago, he was as absent minded about such places as she was now.

"You should wear a dress." Ash cut into her amazement, not making eye contact.

"I'd sooner cut off my own hands." he scowled at her response.

They ventured around the store once, then twice, so Misty could adjust to all the colors—Ash, who said he never saw the store before—seemed at less awe than she was. Was all of Kalos so extravagant and over the top? Was this normal?

"Ah, Mr. Ketchum, you're back again? For what are you looking for this time."

Misty whipped around like a snake to watch Ash's face fall, turn bright red, and his hand reach his hair in attempt to hide his face. Liar!

"I'm okay! Just shopping for m-my girlfriend."

"Your girlfriend!" The old man's trained eye landed on Misty, but none of that mattered as she pointed an accusing, snarling smile at him. A victorious grin.

"You lied! You said you had never been in here!"

"Well...I had to buy work appropriate clothes somewhere." After all, Ash always played by the rules—well, most of the time. He was an outstanding citizen, of course he was going to fit to the dress code.

"You still lied about it." She sneered happily. "Embarrassed that you had to upgrade from your small town jeans?"

"Hey-!" Ash whined. "I like my small town jeans."

The old man, seemingly forgotten, gasped at the young champions expression. "But with your bones, slacks are much more suiting for your age—They bring out your-"

"Thanks, but I think I'm good today." A red in the face Ash sung while pushing Misty away from the man and towards the woman's section. Misty was on cloud nine, laughing to herself.

"Bring out your what?" she cooed mockingly as he tried to push her to a nearby escape route. "Your eyes?" she sang and she laughed and his face matched the color of her hair.

Misty enjoyed teasing him too much, what was endearing was almost frustrating now, and he tried to cover her mouth, but found that she licked his bare hand the same what he had done to her the night prior, and then escaped into the racks of some lady-suit jackets. While he wiped his hand dry, she playfully sifted through the clothes.

"Are all places in Kalos so upper-class?" He knew the look she gave him was a strong indication that the questions would not end any time soon—such as how he found clothes that matched so neatly after never actually having to dress himself with effort before. Traveling with two almost-top-coordinators and one princess must have rubbed off in some way.

"Sort of." Ash grumbled. "It's weird, okay? Don't make a big deal about it." he uttered, clearly upset that he was already in a situation where he had to change everything about his appearance. His mood soured quickly after that, and Misty felt guilty for it.

"A dress, huh?" And his face brightened up once more, with a slight tint of pink behind a sparkling eye, if Misty thought she saw correctly.

XOX

She bought exactly three things: a simple, yet fashionable navy blue strapless cut above the knees, with a cropped, three quarter sleeved yellow cardigan—she fought with Ash for nearly ten minutes that she had to have her signature color on at all times—and matching yellow flats, because she would be damned if he got her in heels ever again. Plus, they were cheap, and on the bargain rack—so Ash only paid a fraction of what he would normally pay. Plus, her shorts still fit under the breezy dress, so it was practical, as well as fashionable. Daisy would be proud.

She left the store feeling a bit more fancy, and to keep some part of her stubborn intermittent will, she refused to let her hair down, regardless of Ash's attempts as they left the store. She was still much more agile than he was, zipping past his hands as if he were a meowth and she a butterfree.

"That was torture." She whined, but not really. Misty enjoyed shopping, but she was trying to make Ash feel more comfortable. A task he was making a habit out of. She scratched the back of her neck as they opted for the stairs—they would more than likely be late for his appointment; they had five minutes to reach the league building, but Ash wasn't worried.

"I thought you liked shopping?"

"I do, when I can afford it."

"Well, you bought everything off the clearance rack, so I don't think you paid for much."

"Hey-" She snapped her fingers at him. "Don't bark at my penny pinching—there was a time when you would have appreciated it." She scolded him, and Ash looked away dozily.

"You look nice, anyways." he blurted out awkwardly and she rolled her eyes playfully and grinned.

"Why thank you." she smiled, tangling her fingers in his and marching ahead. "But, you see, if I stay tomorrow, what will I wear? What will they think if I wear the same thing twice. They'll think I'm some kind of animal!" She sniveled jokingly while approaching the front entrance, only to be stopped and yanked away by Ash. Without speaking directly about it, she knew it was because of rabid fangirls waiting outside.

Right, in her joy, she had almost forgotten about them.

"They're too snooty here." Ash shot quietly, but then regretted saying it. Who was he to judge the Kalos' leagues extravagant life style. He chose this, after all. He huffed, correcting himself: "They just have different standards here."

"Yeah, the ritzy kind."

"Misty." he groaned, and she shoved him playfully.

"Lighten up."

"I hate meetings." He breathed, and she saw the crawling discomfort as they traveled past the diner, and into a very thin hallway. "They're always stuffy, and someone always tells me I have a million things to do—and I left my planner in my room and-"

"Shh" she held a finger up to her lips. "Don't worry. I'll be your planner today." He somehow doubted that would go as well as they both intended.

"Thanks."

"Gives me a reason to show up." she signed with a wink, and today he was prepared to experience the best day of his time as a champion—or was about to willingly be fired. If that was a possibility. While Ash stumbled behind her, his eyebrows knitted together, and eyes darted around the room.

"...Are—have you been flirting with me?" he clued in aimlessly, and her robust snort answered all too clearly.

"You're slow to the upkeep, huh?"

He answered by burying his face in his hands, as pikachu chuckled on his shoulder.

XOX

"I think we will need to raise taxes on pokeballs again, to increase profits retained to fix the old pokeball factory in March."

The man at the end of a long, mahogany desk spoke endlessly; the same manager Misty knew as the man who liked to yell at Ash, and reminded him that he was an idol now, a household name, a respectable name—not someone who should flaunt his girlfriend. In turn, they found his comments to be boring, and Misty used the notebook she was given to take notes with as a scratch pad to write notes to Ash, and play tic-tac-toe.

You do this everyday? She wrote in blue ink

Not evryday, this is just saturday. Regional Champ. is always gone. Why it's mantory I be here.

You can't spell. she mocked him playfully, a twisted grin over her lips. You should fake a stomach cramp

I can't leave. This is work. Also, shut hup i'm riting quickly

Misty snickered at how sneaky he was being, terrified of being caught. Like a student, his eyes were always on the teacher. If she didn't know that they spent the last hour playing silly word games, she might have even been convinced that he knew exactly what the executive was talking about. Ash was still a good kid, even if he had no reason to be. The rest of the people here looked as bored as he was, and she wondered why so many important people found it necessary to work on Saturday. Or attend this stuffy meeting at all. Couldn't an email suffice? That's what the Kanto region did. Misty pursed her lips, sitting back in her chair and zoning back into the conversation.

"The tournament that Ketchum sponsored was a success, we'll be having talks about hosting another one very soon. In the mean time, we have a representative from Hoenn here to speak to us about opening up Kalos region's first contest hall in Lumiose city." Misty's brows quirked at that, a wave of confidence washed over Ash's face for a moment before she twisted her pen against her lips.

Congrats she wrote, and Ash replied with a smile before looking ahead at the Hoenn representative. She was proud of Ash, insanely so—but since arriving two hours ago, they listened to a man drone on and on about financial issues that she knew Ash would play no part in, complain about misrepresentation, and play through a slide about upcoming league challenges—it was nothing they couldn't cover in an email. Certainly not something they needed to host on a beautiful Saturday.

Misty reminded herself it was control, not duty. They simply wanted control over the people in the league. Years ago, a ten year old Ash would have shoved his nose up at their gossip and office lingo. He would have demanded a more caring approach, and less business demand. Now, he bit his tongue, almost like a wounded pup. A mindless soldier.

...She couldn't stand seeing him that way, and so feeling the mischievous bone in her body acting up, she wrote another note to him, then slipped her hand against his thigh and squeezed.

Let's make out.

Ash fell out of his chair, and Misty refrained from laughing, shuffled her notes together in a panicked display and jumped to his side.

"Oh no! I think it's that flu going around." She hummed, the room was quiet. "Where people faint, you know the one?" She whined, looking up the Elite Four and Hoenn representative. They looked concerned, Ash laid motionless, face turning a wry shade of pink. Pikachu joined in, pretended to be worried; when only moments ago the mouse was also dozing off on the table.

"It's super contagious. I should take him to the doctor."

"Oh man, I've heard of that one." Drasna, the ghost pokemon specialist of the Elite four, said in an alarmed tone, Misty could tell they were in on it. "My cousin had it last week, he went to the hospital."

As the room erupted with conversation, Misty smothered her grin behind a false look of concern, and Ash used that as his own cue.

"Really, I'm fine." He mumbled, trying to brush off the fact that he had literally fallen out of his chair but rubbed his nose, and immediately faked the sniffles. His manager stood up, shaking his head.

"No, I think it's best that you go home and get some rest. We'll fill you in over the phone."

"Deal!" Misty sang, then yanked Ash out of the room before he had a chance to say his goodbyes. Only his receptionist didn't look as pleased as Misty did when they ran to the elevator with Ash beet red and Misty giggling frivolously.

XOX

"You embarrassed me." he grumbled while they ordered ice cream from a local stand, clearly, he was not sick. Clearly, the league would figure that out at some point, and clearly he would get in trouble for it. Pikachu was tucked inside of Ash's shirt, and any obvious key items that made them look like Misty Waterflower and Ash Ketchum was blurred by Misty's fancy outfit, and Ash's bulging and occasionally moving stomach. He wore his hat low to keep his face hidden and Misty was too busy proudly grinning to hear his complaint.

"I did not. But, I'm sorry, we needed to escape."

"Yeah, well, they don't have a sense of humor, and I'm kind of the one who will get in trouble with this."

Misty pat him respectfully and then hugged him over the shoulder while licking her ice cream.

"But it was funny, right?"

Ash shook his head. Sometimes she had more of a one-track mind than he did.

"I guess." At his lack luster response, Misty spun away form him; walking backwards. Her dress kicked up the right amount of air to give her a frolicking appearance and she threw out her arms.

"Who wants to be locked up in a building on a beautiful day like this, anyways?"

Ash watched her—saw how desperate she was trying to connect by the curve and squint of her eyes, and then he breathed, and let his shoulders drop. She was trying; he needed to try to. Though, he wondered when they ever had to start trying in the first place.

"It's definitely a story to write home about."

Misty grinned now, then tagged his hand while falling back in line beside him.

"So, what's next on the agenda?"

"Well, I have a few new hot spots to investigate. You know, places where small groups of trainers get together to host small party tournaments. They're like low-key gyms."

"Ah-ha, then what about after that?"

"I have a meeting at two with Viola about her participation in the next league tournament as an announcer."

"Annnd after that?"

"Assuming that goes well, I'll have a tournament to observe which could take hours, and then I have a report and papers to sign."

"Sounds like a lot of work for a Saturday."

"It is." Ash tried not to sound to down about it.

She waited before adding. "When do you get to battle people?"

"Under very heavily scheduled events laid out by the league and my peers. Once a month, at least. I told you that."

Misty nodded, mumbling 'mhm' after everything that he said, and then sucked on her cheek.

"Okay, but what about this?" She asked, spinning him into an ally way beside the street and he blinked, face turning red. They didn't have the best of luck in ally-ways, given their history. She put both hands on his shoulders, gripped them tightly and looked him in the eye.

"Why don't we blow all of this off, and go have some real fun?"

"Misty we—wait, what?" he asked, eyes narrowed. Misty Waterflower, his, Misty wanting to forgo all rules and regulations and...bail? He shook his head.

"I can't. I'm responsible for all of these things."

"Yeah, and what do you get from it?"

He looked around pathetically, tried not to laugh, then realized she was serious: "A nice pay check?"

"You're sick, as far as they know, you're taking the rest of the day off—hell, the rest of the weekend off."

"Misty, I don't go to your gym and-"

"But if you did, I wouldn't say no." She interrupted him with a stern expression, and a finger pointed to his chest. Guilt rolled off of him, torn between his duty as a trainer, and his loyalty to his friend. How many times had he canceled on her, ruined what was supposed to be a good date, or vacation because of a job. She said that she understood, but now...

"I can't."

"You can."

"I don't want to." He tried, and pikachu had finally chimed in with a subtle squeak.

"Then prove it to me." She said, and Ash saw the desperation in her eyes. A wild look of unrestrained excitement and bravado. What was she trying to do? Uproot his life? Change everything about it in one swoop? She couldn't just come here and try to fix everything! He had to do this on his own, this was his victory, his championship! If the following act was book work, well, he'd just have to suck it up.

"Misty-"

"Ash, if you can honestly tell me that you would rather make phone calls, and attend miscellaneous tournaments, I'll let it go—we'll forget about whatever I have planned, and we'll continue with your normal day. But you have to say it."

His face screwed up, eyebrows knit and his pursed his lips uncomfortably. "I..." He swallowed, and her eyes gleamed in victory.

She knew she had won.

XOX

First things first—she took both of their poke-gear phones, and turned them off. Ash felt his chest go concave, and Misty might have, too, if she wasn't being so crazy. They both needed this. A break.

Secondly, Misty took of her yellow cardigan to wrap Ash's hair up in, and put his red cap onto her head; they looked like street performers—definitely not themselves.

Third, she dragged him to the Lumoise City bullet train, purchased a set of tickets away from his line of credit, and sped off into the nearest direction that was anywhere but here. She lead the way, and he followed mindlessly—a wave of adrenaline pushing through every vein in his body kept his knees from buckling and his mind from wavering. He had never played hooky before! Even when he attended that short semester before starting his journey, he never ditched class before. This was a new experience, full of uncertainty and excitement and—he looked at Misty who had taken to reading one of the pamphlets. She had no idea where she was going, and he didn't either—and...

He didn't care.

He felt so relieved to be away from that city, he could have floated from the release of weights off his shoulders.

He took a seat beside her, finally removing her cardigan so she could slip it back onto her shoulders. Quickly, he planted a kiss on her cheek, her shoulder and then when she shuddered he smiled up at her, red cheeks and all.

"Thank you.

XOX

Their first date was spent eating cheap food on a cart in Pallet Town; kissing through the second half of a movie he couldn't recall the title of any more, and playing in a river before it blew up in his face. They had never had a successful date before, and Ash was knocking on every piece of wood to be sure that this one would be.

She wore a dress last time, too.

Today, they had terrible tasting rice-balls on the corner street of Laverre city, watching young pokemon trainers battle on the street in the midst of summer, and walk normally—happily through the flood of people lining up for a tournament sponsored outside of the league.

They were cheaper, often time more elaborate, and the league officials hated them.

Ash loved them. He always rooted for the underdogs. If he was working, he would have technically had to shut the tournament down; or require payment to the the league.

"You should compete." Misty said, pointing to the sign up list.

"No way. They'll know it's me." he laughed and Misty shrugged.

"Maybe." She said as she approached the booth. His head titled. "Maybe not."

"Misty—don't you-"

And she slipped away before he could stop her, pikachu was racing after her with a bounce in his step he hadn't seen in a very long while, and Ash found his entire body feeling warm, from his core to his throat as he chased her down.

A blur, that's what it felt like—a blazing, happy blur of bad make-up and terrible decisions. Of dressing like a girl as his disguise, to swapping outfits with Misty, and laughing at their terrible attempt of fitting in and having one hell of a story to tell his mother back home. Of winning an unofficial tournament, beating Misty's totodile and pretending to be effeminate behind a yellow wig and laughing while doing so.

Misty laughed so much she had tears in her eyes during their match.

His chest hurt so much from laughing, he had forgotten how good it felt to be so alleviated—not a care in the world. Not the league, not gym battles, nothing but laughter, sunshine, and fun. At the end of the match, as they ate sticks of whatever was cheap at the carts on the street; he mocked her.

"You know, you could have single handed ruined my reputation by talking me into dressing up like a girl."

"Yeah, well." Misty smiled. "It was your idea." And she kissed him affectionately.

Sparks flew out in all directions, his head spun on a ninety degree axis, and he had her against the nearest wall, the closest shadowy area, anywhere and everywhere that would have been considered unsafe before.

They kissed, and laughed, and he loved every minute of it.

Author's Note:

This...this chapter was a lot longer. I broke it up because the theme changes after awhile, and I wanted to avoid getting lynched, so be kind gentle readers. So instead of this mini-arc being wrapped up with this chapter, it will take this one and the next.

I did want to say thank you guys, for all the positive feedback on the last chapter, especially after talking about how this story has been so difficult for me to write. Thank you for your support, guys. I really appreciate it...and hope you won't hate me after the next few chapters. ;w;

Cheers!?