Hello everyone! Sorry for the late update, I started back at school and well...school sucks ha ha ha. Anyway I'm sure you all don't want to hear my troubles so I'll just let you all know that for the most part I have finished this story. The chapters get longer from here so I hope you're ready for it! Also since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, which I actually forgot about, I'll try to post the rest of the story then. As a piece of good news I'm taking a techinical writing class so hopefully my writing is a bit better. Enjoy!
Chapter 9: A Family Affair
"Are you sure you can't stay with us a little while longer?" Ash asked, holding his love in his arms. Today was the day that Misty was finally going back to the gym, after taking nearly a week off for Christmas break.
"I have to, it's been too long I've been away from the gym, and you know how Daisy gets on days that she's lazy…" she giggled. "But you need to start looking for apartments for us. Are you sure you want to live in Cerulean?"
"Of course, I can't take up your roots to the gym. Besides, you might not want to admit it, but you don't want to leave your sisters behind for very long."
Misty sighed and folded her arms, "Well they are useless without me," she said defiantly. Ash rolled his eyes and placed his head on her shoulder.
"And they say I have a big head. It's nothing compared to your ego," he replied.
Misty smacked her lips and pushed Ash off of her body. "You're lucky I have to leave soon." She picked Pikachu off the ground and held him in his arms. "Pika, remember our promise, you make sure Ash doesn't go crazy and fills his head with nonsense like he always does."
"Pikachu!" the mouse raised a paw up in understanding.
Ash was about to make an arrogant remark but was stopped by a singing voice downstairs. "Ash my love, come down here I have a surprise for you!"
"A surprise? I love surprises!" Ash bounced out of the room like a five year old on Christmas day, and all that could be heard was a loud stomping down the stairs and his booming voice calling for Misty. "Misty, Pikachu hurry up you got to see this!"
Misty laughed heartedly, "Well, Pikachu, might as well see what's so great down there." She felt Pikachu nod and proceeded downstairs onto the yard outside. As she stepped out onto the fresh snow she realized that biking home might be a bit harder than she thought; she also noticed a large black van in the driveway where Ash and Delia were. She slowly walked over, relishing in the sound of the snow crunching under her feet, and wanted to hear Delia's voice without getting caught eavesdropping.
"Oh it's so great to see you all again!" She leaned into the passenger's side of the car. "I almost thought you wouldn't be able to make it for the wedding since I didn't hear back from you. And it's been so long since Ash has seen his cousins."
"Cousins?" Misty whispered to herself. Pikachu perked up his ears as he saw Ash turn around.
He smiled. "Hey there you are! We were just talking about you! Come over you have to meet my cousins!" Misty couldn't prepare herself fast enough as the side door of the van slid open and six people jumped out to gather around her. They all seemed young, from seven to sixteen, and consisted of five boys and one girl all dressed in blue winter coats.
The littlest one spoke to Misty first, his arms sticking out to the sides due to his bubble coat preventing them from relaxing. "Hi my name is Sammy. Are you the pretty lady with the orange hair?"
Misty giggled. "Well last time I checked I was still a red head." She took off her winter woolen hat, showing off her fiery locks. "My name is Misty. It's a pleasure to meet you all."
The oldest boy spoke up for everyone to prevent too many random questions, "Hello I'm Alec and these are my brothers and sister. You already met Sammy, he's the youngest, and here is Kyle with the brown hair, Justin in the long blue coat over there, James with the long black hair, and finally Christina in the pig tails here," he finished tapping his elbow onto his sister's. Misty couldn't help but noticed how much James stood out, and not for his long hair, but for his disposition of seeming quiet and reserved. He didn't even look at her when his name was mentioned. The next to the oldest child, Christina, seemed to notice this and broke Misty's train of thoughts.
"I wouldn't worry about him; he's always shy like that. Don't worry, he just has to get to know you that's all." Her brown curly pig tails bounced as she had a thought. "Is that your Pikachu? Are you a trainer?"
Misty smiled. "Well no this is Ash's Pikachu, but yes I am a trainer, in fact—" But as she was about to finish Christina stopped her, her eyes dancing with delight.
"You're a trainer?! Then let's have a battle!"
Misty couldn't help but step back one foot in shock. A battle here? Now? But it's so cold! She was about to whine in displeasure but Christina's brothers beat her to it.
"C'mon Chris, don't start this now," Alec rolled his eyes, having already seen his sister's form of saying hello and decided that it wasn't always the proper way to introduce yourself. He put his hand on her shoulder to stop her but he knew once her mind was made up nothing could stop it.
"Aww come on Chris it's cold! No one wants to see a stupid battle now," Justin piped up, rubbing his short black hair in frustration. Misty couldn't help but notice his red freckles show all the color of his face. Kyle whined as well, stomping his foot and digging it deeper into the snow, Sammy bounced in place being jovial as always, and James showed a bit of interest before turning his attention back to the snow.
"Oh you guys," Christina protested, placing her gloved hands on her hips, "Why can't we have a battle? What's the point of being a trainer without pushing yourself to the limit every once in a while?"
"Chris, it's too cold, only an idiot would want to battle out here!" Alec responded, spinning her body around to face him.
"Oh so I'm an idiot?!" Christina huffed, "Hmph, you've been acting snobby ever since you beat me in the Johto conference! You're not the best trainer you know, otherwise you would have gotten first instead of third!"
Alec sighed, once again getting tired of the same argument. "Look I'm just saying maybe Misty doesn't want to battle in the cold ok? Why do you keep bringing the conference up in every meaningless conversation?"
Misty stood there confused as they kept arguing, when Ash came up next to her. "Uncle just told me Christina placed sixth in the last Johto conference. She was beaten by Alec and she's still pretty sore, so she takes the chance to train every chance she gets. Auntie has asked us to give them some pointers, so what do you think?"
Misty thought as she lifted her hand up to her chin. "Well I suppose the best way to do that would be to battle, but I feel a bit awkward battling your cousin. What if I beat her and she hates me?" she whispered to him.
Ash smiled. "No way in the world would she hate you, in fact just accepting her battle would make you the greatest person in the world! She's a bit spunky and hardheaded, so maybe you could knock her down a few pegs or something."
"Hmm…she reminds me of someone…" she lifted her bright blue eyes to him and smiled. "I suppose a short battle wouldn't hurt." Pikachu hopped onto Ash's shoulder as she walked over to the bickering siblings.
"Alright," she agreed, clasping her hands together, "You have yourself a battle Christina."
Christina stopped mid-sentence in her fight to stare at Misty, her eyes dancing with excitement again. "Really Misty? Oh thank you thank you!" She stuck her tongue out at her older brother as she pulled a pokeball from her belt. "Is two on two ok with you?"
"Perfect," Misty nodded. She turned to Ash and whispered to him again, "Hey, does she know I'm a gym leader?"
Ash smiled evilly at her, "Aw c'mon Mist you'll ruin the fun. Besides trust me it's better if she doesn't know."
"You think so?" she asked.
"Trust me a long time ago I battled an elite four member and had no idea about her being so prestigious. If she doesn't know then she'll try her hardest against you without getting nervous or anything." Ash brought his arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek.
"Hey Ash! Quit flirting and let me battle your girlfriend already!" the younger girl shouted in anticipation a few feet away. Ash smiled and began to back away when Misty called him back from over her shoulder.
"Ash, what do you think you're doing? Get in the middle and be our referee! Hurry up before it starts to snow again!" she shouted.
Ash sighed and trudged over to his designated spot. Gosh if it isn't one girl bossing me it's another. I think those two would get along well…
He walked over to the white colored sidewalk and began to state the rules. "Alright you two this is a two on two match with no time limit. Both trainers are allowed to make substitions and once one trainer's pokemon are unable to battle the match is over. Ok are you both ready?"
"Hey Ash my boy I got an idea for you," Ash's uncle interrupted, subconsciously flexing his arm muscles a little, "How about you get in there and we can make it a double battle!"
"A double battle?" everyone repeated.
The tall muscular man nodded. "How about it? Both Christina and Alec need training, and they really need your advice, whether they disagree with me or not…"
"Dad you want me to battle with him?" the pigtailed trainer whined, pointing at Alec. "No way! He'll just slow me down!" Alec just sighed and rolled his eyes, silently cursing himself for being involved.
"I don't know about that Uncle Steve," Ash thought aloud. "I don't think they would want to battle together…"
"Exactly!" both Alec and Christina agreed, although Christina was more enthusiastic about it than Alec was. Steve, however, became even more excited knowing this. He wrapped his strong muscle arms around his son and daughter and pulled them closer to him.
"Oh ho ho ho! C'mon now wouldn't you both want some tips from a strong pokemon master and his fiancée? They are both strong trainers and you both could learn a lot! And besides," he squeezed the children closer to him, making them squirm in discomfort, "You both are also children of a strong former pokemon trainer! You both are my children, children of the Ketchum family! Pokemon battles are in your blood! Why wouldn't you both want to participate in them together? And you both are also suppose to set a prime example for your younger brothers, who will also become strong trainers someday! Make our family proud and give this young pokemon master of Kanto a powerful showing from two magnificent Johto siblings!" The over enthusiastic father pretty much crushed his children to death with every word and was so happy and proud that he didn't notice everyone sweatdrop with worry and slight embarrassment.
"So…your uncle seems more excited than they are…" Misty whispered to Ash.
Ash chuckled. "He's always like this. You should see him when he's drunk, he flexes his muscles like he's in a weightlifting competiton! Not only that but his eyes shine so much you get blinded just by looking at them!"
Finally Alec got an arm free to tap his father on the elbow. "Alright, alright we'll battle just let us free already…"
Uncle Steve looked down at his purple colored children. "Well that's the spirit my beauties! Show them the strength of the Ketchum family and make sure you give Misty here a wonderful welcome by us!" He slapped both Alec and Christina on their backs, causing the younger sister to nearly fall by her father's unintentional display of strength. Christina coughed and Alec sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Fine I'll battle with him," Christina agreed once she caught her breath, "But he better not mess up!" She had turned to face him but he was already walking back to the spot where his sister once stood. "Ugh, he acts like he's so cool!"
Misty giggled as she turned to Ash, "Well are you up for it?"
Ash sighed, "Not really. If I had a choice I would be sitting on the couch cuddling with you, since this is one of those days I feel lazy."
Misty walked back to her spot and looked at the dark sky. "Yeah, this is one of those days when you don't feel like doing anything…" Ash stood beside her, thinking of a pokemon to choose.
"Well this shouldn't be a real serious battle anyway right? I'm just going to go with Pikachu."
Pikachu stomped on Ash's shoulder, looking offended, "Pika pika chu pikapi?! (What's that supposed to mean?!)"
Ash blushed slightly, "Nothing Pikachu, really, I'm sure you're capable of handling any situation!"
Misty was slightly confused again but quickly dismissed it and grabbed a pokeball. "I'm going to use Golduck, I think he deserves some screen time."
Steve stepped in between the couples and served as the new referee, "Alright everyone let's get started! I want to see some good old fashioned battling!"
Christina smirked, although going against a pokemon master wasn't easy, she held no fear. "Ok then! Staraptor, let's go!" She unleashed her mighty bird into the sky, its wings being caressed in the wind as it soared into the air.
Alec, although reluctant, decided to get into the spirit and release his pokemon. "Meganium, let's show them what we're made of!" The large grass type hopped out of its pokeball, its large flower pedals sparkling as they swayed.
"Oh wow would you look at that," Misty whispered, "A golden Meganium! It's beautiful!"
"Yeah and it looks strong too," Ash commented, "We better be careful, but you shouldn't worry too much Misty, me and Pikachu got your back."
Misty smiled knowingly, "I'm amazed by that pokemon but I'm not scared of it! Go Golduck!" The tall blue duck landed down on the hard snow right next to Pikachu, and acknowledged Pikachu and Ash before looking at his opponents.
"Excellent!" Steve exclaimed, "A Golduck and Pikachu against a Staraptor and Meganium! This should be a good battle!"
"We're going to allow you two to make the first move Christina!" Misty shouted to her opponents.
"Good!" she answered back, "Then let's go Staraptor start off with an aerial ace on Golduck!" The large bird flew up high in the air to gain speed, then sped down to ground like a jet plane, letting the snow fly behind it as it headed straight toward its blue target.
"Golduck stand your ground and hold it off!" Misty commanded. Golduck spread out his legs and braced himself, holding his arms out in front of him to grab the attack. Staraptor struck with full force, nearly sending the poor blue duck flying, but he dug in his heels and stood strong. As the two were struggling to hit one another…
"Pikachu, iron tail!" Pikachu spun in the air, his tail dark silver, and was about to crash down on the speedy bird.
"Pika…pika…!" he cried in determination, but was then interrupted by yellow green vines grabbing his tail and stopping his momentum.
"Pikachu!" his trainer yelled, "Try to break free!" Pikachu couldn't do much unfortunately, being upside down, his little arms couldn't reach the ropes that bound his tail.
"Now, Meganium, bring it in and use body slam!"
As Meganium was reeling in Pikachu like a weak Magikarp, Misty was making her move. "Golduck ice punch!" Golduck pulled back a little, his jewel shining on his forehead, and pulled back his arm as it became incased in ice.
Christina gasped, "Staraptor get out of there!" Staraptor's strong talons, which was once used to push it forward, now began to push it back and into the air—its wings barely missed getting clipped by the ice punch.
Meganium was still holding down Pikachu to the ground as it jumped up in the air. He was unable to move due to the vines hugging his body. Ash knew an electric attack wouldn't hold it off but he had to try.
"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" As expected the volts of electricity did nothing as the large Meganium was still heading towards the ground.
"Golduck, hydro pump!" Meganium was stunned as it spiraled backwards, the water mixed in with the electric attack seemed to do a bit more damage as its hold on Pikachu loosened and was about to crash into the ground. The only thing that prevented this from happening was the flower pokemon's strong legs, which made contact with the snow first and allowed it to recover.
Pikachu jumped back into the air and landed next to Golduck, expressing his thanks. Golduck just smiled and gave the little mouse a thumbs up.
"Thanks Mist, that helped, but we have to be more careful of that Meganium—it's not a pokemon to be messed with," Ash replied.
Misty nodded. "Yeah, we can't let our guard down now!"
"Hey!" Christina yelled, "Don't forget about my Staraptor! She can't be ignored! Use quick attack on that Golduck!"
Alec looked to her and scowled. "You idiot! You can't just charge in like that!"
Just as Christina was about to argue back she was stopped by the sound of her precious bird pokemon getting electrocuted by Pikachu's thunderbolt. "Staraptor!" she yelled.
Misty attacked next as the once mighty bird began to fall. "Golduck ice punch!" The blue duck once again pulled his fist back, and charged in quickly as it prepared to strike, but was stopped by a magical leaf attack that Meganium unleashed at the last moment. Due to Golduck's superior speed, it managed to dodge and land perfectly back in the snow, but the damage to Staraptor had already been done.
Alec sighed. "This is exactly how you lost the Johto conference, always charging in head first without thinking, now I have to be the one to save you!"
Christina yelled back, her fists clenched and shaking in anger, "I never asked you to save me and I don't need your help! You just stay on your side and worry about your pokemon!"
"This is a double battle in case you haven't noticed, and we're supposed to work as a team, but you rushing in recklessly is also hurting my Meganium!"
"Well your yelling isn't making things any easier either! Just mind your own business!"
Ash and Misty could only stand and watch as the two rival siblings began to fight again. "You know, they remind me of May and Max," Ash replied.
"I guess every couple fights, but they sure picked the wrong time to do it…" Misty said as she saw her prized water pokemon shrug its shoulders.
"Gah, what are you two doing fighting each other for! What about the battle?!" Steve yelled to his stubborn children, his voice in a state of panic.
"Alright Ash, I hate to win like this but I think that Meganium would give us trouble if it's focused so follow my lead! Golduck, aqua jet!" Misty said.
Ash nodded as the duck sped forth, being incased in a pillar of water, propelling himself with his long legs. Golduck closed in quickly on his target, and after waiting a moment for Meganium to receive an order from its tired trainer, it dodged on its own—but in the wrong direction. It moved straight into a charging Pikachu, who used his incredible speed to also surround himself by a wall of electricity and became a speeding bullet.
"Go Pikachu, volt tackle Meganium into Staraptor!"
"Pika pika pika pika…pika!" The yellow mouse quickly obeyed, and tackled the grass type with a surge of electricity that transferred right to the large bird that was still on the ground trying to recover. They both screamed from being paralyzed by the attack, and so did their trainers that snapped back into the battle and feared for their safety.
"Meganium!"
"Staraptor no!"
Staraptor was out like a light, but Meganium was somehow able to stand and began to charge for a quick solarbeam that was launched a second later. Pikachu somehow managed to dodge the full force of the attack by rolling on his stomach and using his tail to bounce back up. Meganium charged at Pikachu for another attack, but forgot about the Golduck standing right behind it.
"Meganium behind you!" Alec yelled.
Misty smiled. "It's too late now! Golduck, focus punch!" Golduck pulled back his fist once again, and it was enveloped in another white light before hitting Meganium from behind with full power. Meganium gave a final cry of frustration, before it collapsed to the ground unable to continue.
Well there were many looks as Christina and Alec recalled their pokemon. Christina had a livid look as her eyes started to water; Alec looked frustrated and sighed sadly; Steve smacked his face into his hand and shook his head; Ash sighed and looked to Misty his face laced with worry; Misty shook her head and impatiently tapped her right foot, getting upset that a perfectly good double battle was wasted; however Pikachu and Golduck seemed quite pleased with their victory, while all the spectators sweatdropped, waiting for another verbal argument to ensue.
Alec sighed again, waiting for his younger sister to find something else to complain about. Sure enough…
"This is all your fault!"
There it is…
"If you hadn't got me distracted and started yelling at me, then we would have won that match! I had the perfect strategy!" Christina continued.
"You call charging in blindly against a water type knowing that its partner is a main weakness to flying types a strategy…?" Alec mumbled, too distressed to raise his voice.
"Shut up! You're always contradicting me! You think you're so special that no one else is better than you!"
"I'm afraid I'm not as narcissistic as you are…" he mumbled again.
Christina had finally reached her breaking point. She raised her hand up above her, ready strike down with all her power, but her mother held her back. Misty finally managed to get a closer look at Ash's aunt to realize she was pregnant, by at least five months. Her long blue dress swayed slightly as she pulled her daughter's body back further, and giving her a stern look.
"Christina Ketchum!" she placed both hands on her hips, "Don't you dare hit your brother!"
"But mom!" she protested, "Can't you see it's his fault?! He always thinks he's the better trainer just because he's two years older!"
"Well he has been traveling longer than you sweetheart," Steven intervened, "I'm sure he has just a bit more experience…but that doesn't explain getting mad at your younger sister like that, Alec, especially during a pokemon battle!"
Alec held his head down, not saying a word. Being the oldest he knew very well when he was overreacting, but he had wanted to win just as much as Christina did, and didn't want to lose due to a stupid mistake. Although Ash was his cousin he was also the pokemon master of Kanto, and he wanted to show off his power to him a little. But now he just looked like a spoiled kid in front of him and his future wife.
"Don't you understand that Ash and Misty did right by continuing on the battle? For one they wanted to get you back into the battle, and if this battle was during an actual tournament you both would probably lose automatically!" the children's mother scolded, her hands still firmly on her hips. "Now, I want you both to apologize to Ash and Misty here for wasting their time!"
"Sorry…" Christina mumbled.
"I'm sorry for all of this," Alec stated sadly. "I didn't mean to get so angry, but I only wanted to impress you both. I never fought against a pokemon master and a gym leader at the same time, so I guess I wanted things to go perfectly, but I freaked out when Christina went in like that because I knew that all it took was one thunderbolt…"
"Wait a minute!" Christina lifted her head back up in shock after feeling bad for the display she showed. "You mean Misty is a gym leader?!"
Alec turned to look at her, "You mean this whole time you didn't know this was Misty the Cerulean City gym leader?"
"A gym leader…" Christina whispered in awe. She then began to bow profusely, feeling even more embarrassed, "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry! I just thought you were some random trainer and I took your Golduck for granted! Forgive me!"
Although Misty was still clearly upset she swallowed her bitterness and accepted the young girl's apology. "It's quite alright, but let this be a lesson that you can't take any trainer or pokemon for granted, because there are a lot of powerful trainers out there, and some of them can even look as clueless as Ash here!"
Ash eyes narrowed at her, "If I'm so clueless then how come I'm champion?"
Misty smiled, "Maybe Lance showed pity on you," she giggled.
Ash rolled his eyes, "Anyway you guys shouldn't feel so bad, it's not like you lost anything by losing your battle against us, in fact I would say you both learned something!"
"That's right," Misty agreed, "Double battling is tougher than singles because you have to learn to trust and rely on the person you're fighting with as well as rely in the strength of their pokemon and your own."
"Yeah as soon as you both learn to trust each other then you two would definitely give us a run for our money!" Ash said.
"Oh ho ho! So you guys did learn something after all!" Steven had popped up behind Ash and Misty and smothered them in a bear hug, despite their attempts to run away. "Yes, listen to them well my children, for trust and friendship is the first step to winning pokemon battles! Although learning about type matchups and your opponents is also important, trust is even more important! In fact it is the fabric of the Ketchum family! We were born and raised on it! You must learn to trust in yourself and trust in each other as well!" His constant subconscious flexing of his arm muscles nearly choked out Ash and Misty, but lucky for them Ash's loving aunt tapped his on the shoulder, causing him to release his hold.
"And just as much as trust is important, what's also important is self control dear," she spoke gently, slightly pointing as the gasping Ash and Misty.
"Oh ha ha ha! Forgive me for that you two, I tend to get over excited at times, but you all understand me right?" Steve laughed. He tapped Misty's shoulder lightly as she was recovering, "Hey I forgot to introduce you to my little wifey here! This is Liza, and this," he pointed happily to her belly, "Is my little four month old unborn child who has no name! We are pleased to meet such a great water trainer! Welcome to the family Misty!" He hugged her again, but this time taking care to watch his power as he wrapped his arms around the small young trainer's body.
Misty laughed. "It's a pleasure to meet both of you! I never realized Ash had cousins until today!"
"Well I guess this just goes to prove you learn something new every day!" Steve laughed.
"Well now that all the introductions are finally out of the way, how about we all go inside and get to know each other in the nice warm air!" Delia replied, leading everyone inside the house.
About thirty minutes later everyone was in the living room laughing and getting warm by the heat of the fireplace. Liza and Steve were sitting on the couch, four year old Sammy on his mother's lap sleeping, while Ash and Misty shared the chair next to them. The six year old Kyle was more interested in watching tv than talking, Justin sat next to him on the floor playing a small handheld game that was in reality too violent for the eight year old but as long as he didn't get caught he didn't care much, and James, the quiet ten year old, was on another couch in the corner—looking out the window as more snow began to fall. Christina, the wild pre teen at twelve and Alec, the oldest at fourteen, were still sulking over their loss, and sat next to their parents not talking to one another. Ms. Ketchum took a break from cooking and was sitting next to Ash and Misty in another chair she had brought out from her room, her favorite rocking chair that she had since Ash was a baby.
"I still can't believe you're getting married, Ash, it seems like just yesterday when I bought you that little sailor outfit for your first day of school!" Liza clapped her hands together and said excitedly, "It just goes to show how fast time flies by!"
Ash's mother nodded in agreement, "It seems like just yesterday when I was cleaning that little bottom of yours!"
"Mom!" Ash blushed.
Misty giggled. "I bet he had the cutest little butt," she laughed along with Christina.
"Can we change the subject please?" Ash asked, his blush deepening.
"Well anyway I'm so glad you all could make it," Delia continued, "Since the wedding rehearsal is in a couple of weeks I'm glad you're here before all the seats are filled."
"Yes, it's a wonder we're here at all knowing your brother's perception of time," Liza stated, taking a glance at him.
Steve started to scratch the back of his neck, "Well of course I wanted to get here early, and it's a good thing we did, we would have missed meeting Misty here until the wedding day!"
"I guess people still tease you about taking a month to get out of Viridian forest, huh Uncle Steve?" Ash asked, beginning to smile.
"They tease me for a lot of things my boy, but they'll never take the pride I had since I was born!" he answered.
"I guess you still had that pride when your pants fell off you at our wedding day huh?" Liza laughed.
Everyone laughed, and even the quiet James smiled a little, as Steve explained himself, "Of course I did! Never show fear, even when your being laughed at, that's what I always say!"
"Hey speaking of that day, I think I still have that picture!" Delia smiled.
"Hey, come on now sis, no one would want to see that I bet…"
"I wouldn't mind," Ash said.
"I want to see it too!" Christina said as she bounced a little.
"Count me in!" Misty agreed.
"Aw come on, why are you all against me now?" Steve whined.
"Oh I think those boxers with the Eevee on them fit you pretty well dear," Liza said as she laughed behind her hand.
"I'll go get it! Hey maybe I should show you some of Ash's baby pictures too! They would be great for the reception," Delia winked at her son before skipping to her bedroom.
"How did I get involved? And no one wants to see my baby pictures mom!" Ash began to blush again.
"I already saw them, you were a cutie," Misty giggled.
Ash groaned as Pikachu began to laugh. "Don't tell me you saw them too…" Ash turned to his trusted giggling partner—which gave him away.
As Steve followed Delia in her room, still disagreeing with the recent turn of events, Liza turned back to Ash and Misty. "By the way, how is Delia doing?" she whispered.
"What do you mean?" Ash asked back.
"Well…since the anniversary is coming up and all…how is she holding up?" she asked.
"Oh…well she seems to be doing well so far…" Ash answered.
"Anniversary?" Misty questioned.
"The anniversary of when mom and dad got married is a couple of weeks after our wedding. Mom always gets kind of down before then, but for the most part she's been ok. I think it's because we're all here with her. It's always nice to know that you're not alone all the time," Ash explained, which Misty understood immediately.
"Say Ash, has your mother ever talked about getting married again?" Liza asked next.
Ash shook his head. "Never, at least not to me."
"I have a man in mind to fix her up with, you know, just someone to keep her company now she's going to be alone again."
"What, who do you mean?" Ash wondered, getting a little worried as he remembered his aunt's track record of being a matchmaker.
"Well, I was thinking about Professor Oak!" she exclaimed, getting giggles out of Alec and Christina.
"Professor Oak? The Professor Oak?!" Ash said, already in a state of shock, silently wondering if this was a cruel joke.
Liza nodded, "I think they would go really well together, and they know each other so well! They've known each other for years, they even went to college together, and Oak was always there for her, especially when Jo died."
"What? No way! I mean I know he was there for my mother, but I promise you they are just friends and nothing more," Ash tried to persuade her.
"Well I don't know…I remember every time we saw Professor Oak your mother wasn't too far behind…I think they would make a good couple!" Misty said.
"Misty, you're not serious are you?" Ash looked to her.
"Oh Misty we shouldn't pay any attention to him, he's obviously just a little protective of his mother, and doesn't know a good relationship when he sees it!" Liza smiled.
Misty and Liza giggled, and Ash rolled his eyes. He was thinking of something else to say, when his mother and his uncle walked in. His uncle had a crimson defeated look to his face, which told Ash that he lost his battle in keeping an embarrassing photo from being shown. Ash's mother on the other hand, looked happily at her family as she held a large book in her hands, filled with images of the past.
"Alright then," she said joyfully, "Now who wanted to see my dear brother in his underwear?"
Later on in the day, Misty had to be on her way back to the gym, especially when Daisy called about twenty times complaining about how many trainers wanted to battle her. Ash walked her back to that familiar fork in the road, talking about what their wedding would be like all the way. Finally Ash reached the subject of his cousins again.
"Sorry about my cousins earlier, I know they kind of ruined things…" he trailed off.
Misty shook her head and smiled. "I loved meeting them. My family is just as rambunctious so don't feel so bad. But there is one thing I'm wondering about."
"What is it?" Ash asked.
"Well all this time I thought Delia was an only child. If Steve is her legitimate older brother then where was he when Delia was kidnapped and her parents were killed?"
Ash watched his foot dig deeper into the snow. "Well you see Uncle Steve really is mom's older brother, but when she was young he was supposedly already on a pokemon journey. By the time he finally returned, mom was a part of Team Rocket. He spent years looking for her, and when they finally reunited, mom couldn't even remember that she had an older brother. She told me that Team Rocket had really messed with her head badly and no one could even bring up the subject of her parents death without her acting distant and strange. The only reason mom can talk about that memory now is because of dad. Dad literally changed her life and made her see those memories not as a curse but as a blessing."
"A blessing?" Misty repeated. "Watching your own parents get killed like that…how is that a blessing?"
"If Team Rocket was really cruel, they would have killed mom too. Then I wouldn't be here and things wouldn't be as they are now," Ash answered.
Misty smiled. "Well I guess the past doesn't matter anymore. There's nothing we can do to change it, but we just live from it. Now we have the future to look forward to, right? Well I guess I better get back to the gym. The princesses await my arrival," she said politely as she curtsied a little, causing Ash to laugh.
"Well princess can you call me tonight? We don't have to talk long since you would probably have like a million battles tomorrow," Ash said.
"That's true," Misty nodded. "But I wouldn't mind staying up late to talk to you, after all we still have a lot of things to discuss, but I would have to get up early if Violet decides to take me shopping tomorrow for my wedding dress."
Ash shook his head. "I still can't believe she's willing to pay for your wedding dress."
"Well she keeps saying it's the least she can do, since she thinks she killed my childhood," she smiled a little, secretly feeling glad that she wouldn't have to pay for the beautiful dress she saw in a magazine a few days ago. "Well I should be off now. Take care Ash and Pikachu, I love you both." She gave Ash a kiss and kissed Pikachu on his forehead, then hopped on her bike.
"I love you too, Mist, talk to you tonight ok?"
Misty nodded and then rode off into the waning sunset, hoping her tires wouldn't slip on the icy ground beneath her.
A few days later, Dawn and Kenny made an appearance in Cerulean. Misty of course wouldn't let her best friends stay in a crummy pokemon center, so the gym became even more crowded than before. As promised, Violet took Misty out of town to Celadon to buy a wedding dress, and since Dawn was around she decided to treat the blue haired girl to a dress for the wedding as well.
"Thank you so much for buying me a dress too, Violet!" Dawn smiled as she spun around in a long bright yellow sleeveless dress that had a simple white sash around her waist. She admired herself in the mirror before turning back to her friends.
Violet grinned. "No problem, Dawn. I just wish May were here too I would buy her a dress."
"Uhm, Violet if you don't mind me asking, where did you get all this money from anyway? Wedding dresses are really expensive you know," Misty said.
"Well you would be surprised just how much I've been working these past two years my dear," Violet replied, her hands sitting proudly on her hips, "You know that Kai is a swimming teacher back at his home and with me to help him out we can proudly say that we can live pretty comfortably. You'd be surprised how many people in Unova don't know how to swim!"
"So what do guys think? Is this good?" Dawn asked.
Violet and Misty looked back to her yellow dress. "It seems too plain for you Dawn, you should pick something more frilly," Misty giggled.
Dawn sighed and went back to the selection of dresses she picked out. "It's a bit hard with the theme you and Ash picked," she said.
"Yeah, who would pick a theme called wintertime in the summer? You're getting married in February!" Violet agreed.
"Hey don't ask me it was Lily's idea. I don't know a thing about themes so I just went with it. Besides I pretty much denied every idea she suggested I would feel bad if I didn't accept at least one idea." Misty shrugged her shoulders and turned back to the collection of wedding dresses on the racks.
"Misty, we don't accept Lily's ideas for a reason—they're stupid!" Violet exclaimed.
Dawn giggled to herself as she picked up a light blue dress with a satin sash. It was long and strapped and also came with a small and fluffy cotton vest that complimented the white satin sash and would be able to cover her shoulders if it got too cold. The dress extended all the way to her ankles and was tiered from the waist down, flowing with folds and creases that curved and wrapped around one another almost like a pleated dress. She brought the dress up to her chest and it felt perfect; she giggled happily again and turned back to the sisters.
"I think I found it guys!"
Misty turned away from a dress that she had been admiring and smiled. Violet was a few feet away looking at a dress of her own and looked to nod in approval.
"Yep, now that's you Dawn," Misty said.
Dawn began to bounce in place, happily cluching the dress in arms, when she noticed a familiar figure pass by the window. "Hey that's—"
Misty turned around to notice a familiar flash of jet black hair. She smiled and ran out of the small shop, running and grabbing him from behind. "Guess who?"
Ash turned around, "Hey, fancy meeting you here. Out shopping?"
"You can say that," she blushed. "Hey what are you doing here?"
Ash sighed. "Well the guys and I was here for tuxes, but Brock saw a couple of pretty women and went after them, and Ritchie and Tracy went after him because—well you know Brock. I'm also trying to catch up to Gary and Kenny because Gary wanted to show me this little shop for pokemon items but I lost them too."
"I guess you're having a good time then," Misty laughed feeling his despair a little. "I would let you come with me, Violet, and Dawn but I doubt you would want to see us dress shopping."
"Of course not, Misty," Violet intervened, "Besides it's bad luck for a groom to see the bride's wedding dress before the wedding, and especially before she even buys it."
"Oh who ever came up with that stupid supersitition anyway? It never made any sense to me," Misty pouted.
Ash wrapped his arms around his girl's waist. "I bet I know why they came up with that. Women were afraid that if they were seen with their dress on before the wedding that the men would take their virginity away before they even went down the aisle."
Misty laughed and tapped him on the shoulder, "You're a mess!" She noticed his glance shift and followed it to Ash's missing friends. Tracy and Ritchie came up to greet Misty and her friends, holding Brock in between them. Brock looked the most tired out of all of them and the red haired trainer noticed two red hand prints on either side of his face.
Misty laughed and bent over to see his worn out overcast face facing the ground. "Well hello there, sunshine, I see someone has given you a double slap for your trouble!"
Brock could only groan and moan something incoherent. Ash sighed again, "Didn't find any good bargains, huh Brocko?" He still couldn't help but smile, knowing that even after all these years his best friend was still the same.
"Only two slaps in the face exchanged for a probable kick in the shins," Brock moaned pitifully.
"Yeah, and I say it was a good bargain from where they were thinking of kicking him at first," Ritchie said, trying to suppress his laughter.
"Well it was nice seeing you all again, ladies," Tracy said, "But we better get going if we want to get back home by sunset."
Violet, Misty, and Dawn all said their goodbyes to the men, and giggled to themselves as they saw Brock being dragged by Ritchie and Tracy.
"Alright everyone! Welcome to the one and only wedding rehersal!" Lily exclaimed, bouncing in place at the center of the aisle.
It was still at least two weeks before the wedding, and the small group of family and friends were in the large white church in Pallet, learning about their roles they would play when the big day would come.
"She acts like she's an announcer on a tv show," Misty whispered to Ash.
Ash gave a quiet laugh, "Is that a script in her hands?"
Misty giggled. "Even at my wedding she still wants to be the center of attention. Oh well I don't really care, as long as we get married I don't care who's looking at who."
"Who wouldn't want to look at the most beautiful woman in the world?" Ash whispered in her ear. "Hey, would you try on that wedding dress for me?"
Misty blushed a little, remembering what he said about seeing wedding dresses before the wedding. "In two weeks I will, you perv."
"Ouch, why do you have to be so mean? I was only kidding," he whispered again.
"Ash!" a voice yelled. Immediately the two lovers were snapped back to reality.
Lily stood there fuming, since calling Ash's name for the past few seconds got her a bit riled up. "Have you been listening to a word I said?"
"Uhh…have we gotten to the part where I kiss her?" Ash asked innocently, his bright brown eyes shining in the light coming from the ceiling lights. Lily shook her head. She sighed and mumbled something under her breath.
Misty smiled sweetly as everyone else began to giggle. "Sorry sis, you now have the attention of Ash and I. Could you repeat what you said please?"
Lily folded up her papers into a cone shaped figure and pointed it at her younger sister. "I was telling you and Daisy to get to your spot behind the door, and Ash you and the spiky haired guy over there get over to your spot over here by the minister."
"Uhm, it's Brock, Lily," the spiky haired boy mentioned.
"Whatever, just get over there."
Brock looked as if a dark cloud past over his head, and sulked all the way to his spot. Ash stood to his left and patted him on the shoulder. "That's alright at least I remember your name, Spike," Ash laughed. Brock rolled his eyes, then rubbed his hand in Ash's hair and smiled.
"Watch out man, I think Misty is rubbing off on you," Brock said.
"Ok, places everyone!" Lily looked around. In an area near the front of the altar, Delia and her family took a few seats, Kenny sitting next to the excited mother looking at Dawn, who was in her place on the left side of the preacher, while the other men—Brock, Ash, Gary, Ritchie, Tracy and Professor Oak were in the seats on the right side. Violet and Kai were behind them, Violet yawning in boredom and Kai already asleep on her shoulder. The door to the main entrance of the church was closed, and behind stood Daisy and Misty, waiting for Lily's signal.
"Ok now that everyone is awake," she stressed this word as she tapped her paper roll on Kai's head, "Now we can get started! Ok so Daisy and Misty are behind the door and they hear the music: dum dum de dum, dum dum de dum, hey Daisy and Misty where are you?!"
"We're behind the door!" Daisy yelled back.
Lily sighed again in frustration, "I know that but you both are supposed to come out when you hear the music!"
"All I heard was you humming, Lily," Misty said.
"Well that is the music and your cue," Lily answered back.
"Wow if that's the music I think we're in trouble," Misty said, beginning to laugh as she heard everyone else burst into laughter.
Lily slapped her forehead with her head and groaned. "Now is not the time to be a smartass, Misty! Just get your butts out here!" She couldn't help but smile a little when she saw Misty and Daisy come through the door. "Well don't just stand there, come down."
Daisy and Misty couldn't stop giggling as they got closer to her sister. They couldn't help but enjoy pissing her off, especially Misty, who took the chance to make her sisters angry every chance she got. They stopped in front of Lily, who was blocking the path to the altar, her hands on her hips as her curly pink hair threatened to engulf her face, her bottom lip quivering and her eyes flashing in anger.
"I'm sorry, Lily," Misty apologized, "I just wanted to make you relax a little. Your nervousness makes me nervous too, you know."
Lily sighed. "Whatever, just try to be at least a little serious ok little sister? Now go on up you two."
Lily let them pass, Misty's arm wrapped around Daisy's, as they stood in front of the minister and waited for further instructions. Before waiting for Lily, the minister intervened, telling Ash to get beside Misty. Ash obliged, taking Misty's right hand before turning to her.
"Hi again," Ash said.
Misty laughed. "Hi," she whispered.
"Perfect!" Lily bounced happily again. Then she looked down at her script and flipped a few pages. "Alright so then the minister says his thing, and blah blah blah," she turned a few more pages, oblivious to the way the man in the black robe was looking at her.
Misty patted him on his arm, "I wouldn't worry about it sir," she said, "She's never been a church goer." The kindhearted minister nodded in understanding as they all turned back to Lily, who was still flipping the pages of her script.
"She's not turning this into a movie is she?" Ash whispered. Misty giggled again and shook her head. In the pews, Violet finally got annoyed and finished it up for Lily.
"Let's just skip the formalities and get to the kiss. We already know that Ash and Misty are going to write their own vows, no one wants to object, and Pikachu is going to be the ring bearer."
"Pika!" Pikachu shouted happily that it his name was finally mentioned and walked up with a small white pillow in his paws.
"Well aren't you the little cutie who came prepared!" Lily rushed up the small rodent and kneeled down to him. "Looks like someone can learn a thing or two from you, like that trainer of yours!"
"Hey, it was me who bought him that pillow!" Ash protested.
Lily stood back up to her normal height. "Whatever, well I guess that's it, oh except for the ending!"
Misty groaned, knowing her illustrious eccentric sister had something in mind, "What are you talking about Lily?"
"Oh no you don't, I'll tell you on the wedding day…" Lily hummed happily as she turned around, her eyes dancing in the light.
"Lily it's my wedding you know, I should know!" Misty exclaimed.
Ash held a hand up as if asking for permission to speak, "Yeah and it's my wedding too…cant you just whisper it to me in my ear?"
Lily turned back around and thought for a moment, her hand on her chin, but then raised her head back up. "As tempting as that is Ashy dear, I'm afraid I'm going to pass."
Misty stomped her foot, pulling Ash and Daisy unexpectantly forward as she did this. "Lily if you turn our wedding into a show I swear…!"
"Don't worry little sister it's going to be lovely I won't ruin it I promise!" Lily said, her eyes pleading with Misty to let her do this.
Misty pouted a little, dragging Ash and Daisy closer to the ground by the arms, but then she sighed. Daisy was about to lose her balance in her high heels and Ash tugged on Misty's shirt to hang on. Misty didn't know about her death grip on them until she looked down and released them. Despite this, Daisy still crashed to the ground, causing everyone to laugh, while Ash barely managed to maintain his balance.
"Well I know how childish you can be but hopefully you know the seriousness of a wedding," she placed her hands on her hips, then winked playfully and walked back to her seat.
"Hey!" Lily yelled, but before she could say something back the preacher intervened. He straightened up his robe on his shoulders and pulled a little at the white sash around his neck. He was an old, silver headed man, but still proved every day he had a little pep in every step. He was the town's only preacher after all, so what would Pallet be without him?
He cleared his throat, "Well I would like to thank you all for taking the time out to come to this rehearsal," he began.
"Yeah, especially with Lily here," Violet said, yawning again.
"Well I am the wedding planner you know!" she spoke back.
"Anyway," the old man continued, "I would like to thank you all for coming, because I know there are probably other things you all would rather be doing, but since you all are here it shows your love and compassion for these two young people who are about to join hands in holy matrimony. That be said I like to tell Ash and Misty here not to worry, and to just take these next few weeks to relax and enjoy yourselves."
"Oh we do that already," Ash spoke up, receiving another round of giggles. Misty reached forward and shook the old preacher's hands with her own.
"Thank you so much sir, for all you've done to help us, since we didn't really know anything about weddings until you clarified things for us," she said. "I don't know how to thank you."
The modest man smiled heartedly. "Just live a long life with your husband and family, for life is too short to take things too slowly by preparing for every little thing."
The young couple nodded, and watched as he gathered his things and began to leave. He placed his book in his satchel and tossed it over his head and onto his shoulders. As he walked down the aisle he was stopped by Ms. Ketchum.
"Uhm, we're going to eat out for dinner in a bit, how would like to join us for a while?"
The minister looked thoughtful as his eyebrows rose, but then as he looked to Ash and Misty holding hands he remembered something important. "I'm sorry dear Delia, I would but I almost forgot my wife is going to fix me a nice dinner when I get home tonight. She would kill me if I spoiled it," he chuckled slowly. "Well how about a rain check then?"
"Of course! You should invite your wife over to my house and let me prepare a meal for you both. Besides it's been so long since I've seen her," Delia answered.
He smiled. "Sure we love to take you up on that offer. I forgot how good your food was, since I haven't eaten it in so long, but as for the rest of you all take care and I guess I'll see you all again two weeks from now right?"
Everyone agreed and said goodbye to him as he left the church doors, thanking him once again for coming and expressing their hopes to see him soon. After that was all said and done everyone looked at each other wondering what to do next.
Finally Delia broke the hushed silence, "Well let's not sit here forever! How about lunch?" Everyone nearly leapt out of the church pews and hurried down the aisle, talking about different things that they had wanted. Ash and Misty followed behind them, still hand in hand, both slowly taking in the thought that the next time they would walk down the pathway together would be their first day as husband and wife. Ash sighed contently, and started to swing his and Misty's arms as they walked.
Misty turned to him curiously, "What are you thinking about?" She turned from him briefly as she bent down to carry Pikachu and his pillow.
"It's just…we never did get to practice that kiss," Ash answered.
Misty laughed and stopped to turn to him. "You're so cute." She bent towards him to give a small kiss on the lips. "Better?"
"Mmm, yeah it is," Ash began to walk again. "But on our wedding day I'm going to kiss you, and it's going to be like, a hundred times better!"
Misty laughed again as she looked down to the rodent in her arms. "Isn't he such a kid, Pikachu?"
"Am not, I'm twenty!"
"Well good for you, so am I, but you're still a kid." She began to smile, knowing what was coming next.
"Am not!"
"Yes you are!"
"No I'm not!"
"Yes you are!"
"No I'm not!"
"Yes you are!"
Pikachu groaned inwardly. Even after all these years, the more things change the more they stay the same.
"Misty! Dawn! I'm so glad you're here!" A brunette girl cried out as she ran up to her two best female friends. "I've been hoping you all would show up!"
She hugged Misty so hard she nearly fell backwards. "May, it's great to see you," Misty replied.
May smiled and hugged Dawn next in the same manner. "May you look great!" Dawn said as she hugged her back, "I hope you're ready for the grand festival."
"Oh I'm more than ready," May pumped her fists up in front of her. "I'm—Ash!" she stopped midsentence to hug her first best friend she met on her journey. "You've gotten so tall! I'm so glad you're here!" Unfortunately Ash doesn't have the balance of Misty or the grace of Dawn and fell on his back with May on top of him. Pain streaked his face for a moment but then he smiled softly, blushing a little as he noticed the position they were in.
"I'm exactly the same as I was last time you saw me, May, which was a few months ago…but I'm glad you missed me…"
"Well, Ash Ketchum, it may have seemed like only months to you, but after traveling with Drew for over a year now it's nice to see a face that's not so condescending!"
"So that's how I am huh?" A voice said from above them. May looked up in shock to see her boyfriend looking at her, a bit irritated and angry. May waved her hands in front of her and shook her head in efforts to explain her feelings that she didn't mean it in a hurtful way. Drew raised an eyebrow as he noticed Misty and Dawn walking over.
"I know you missed him and all," Misty said, her hands placed fiercely on her hips, "But could you get off my fiancé please?"
"Oh! Sorry Ash," May murmured. She stood up, helping Ash up as well, and walked over to Drew. "Anyway, I'm glad to see that you're all here to cheer us on. Well I have to get ready for my next match coming up, so I'll see you all later!" She ran off quickly, holding her head down as she passed in efforts to not make any eye contact with her friends.
"Uh, Drew, is she ok?" Ash asked.
"Well, to be honest, things have been a little tense between us lately. Maybe it's because of the stress of the competition, and I have been a little hard on her and her training," Drew sighed, shaking his head. "I'll have to apologize to her."
"Tournaments can be pretty stressful, especially when you're competing against your boyfriend," Misty said, "I hate to be in her shoes, after all what's worse than having your boyfriend as a rival?"
"That's true I hated it when Kenny and I had to compete against each other too, and it was even worse for us because we've known each other since we were kids," Dawn pouted. Her eyes then widened in surprise, realizing that she had forgotten something. "Oh no Kenny! I left him by the concession stand getting me a hot dog! I have to look for him! Nice seeing you again, Drew, good luck to you and May!" She then shot off like a rocket, all that could be seen was her shiny blue hair and a cloud of dust.
Drew chuckled, "She's such a little ball of energy."
"It's hard to control her at times," Ash remarked, his Pikachu nodding in agreement on his shoulder.
"Well we wish you good luck in the contest, Drew, and give our best wishes to May as well," Misty said. She took Ash's hand in hers. "We have to get to our seat before someone else does."
"I understand. I hope you both enjoy the contests and be sure to root for us, especially you Misty since this is your first time seeing all of this," Drew commented coolly, his mind already wandering to thoughts of May, and secretly wondering how she was doing.
"Yeah, I wish you both well, and we'll all meet up later on after the tournament," Ash said. Then Ash, Misty and Pikachu began to walk back to the seats of the stadium, waving to Drew and once again wishing him good luck.
"They'll be alright, right Ash? Drew and May I mean. They both seem nervous," Misty whispered to him as they were walking away.
Ash nodded, "Yeah, they'll be fine. They're probably just a bit on edge because chances are they might face each other again before the end of this contest."
Misty moved her head up and down in understanding, as if remembering an old tournament battle, but she refocused on her friends as she could hear the droning hum of the audience ahead of her.
I hope you all enjoyed it! Let me know what you think! Until next time...oh and about my OC people I wouldn't worry too much about them because they won't be seen again. Anyway see you next time!