Oh yay! I am like completely in love with this chapter. I mean, if I could marry a chapter and then later divorce it in Reno, this would be the chapter for me.
Moving on . . .
_Recap_
Episode Title: Where You Are (Is Where I Wanna Be)
Closest town/landmark: Cerulean City Gym
Distance travelled: 30km
Pokemon mentioned: Ten
Embedded references to 'shipping hints' of old: At least two
Future plot threads introduced/foreshadowed: Three
Hannah Montana allusions that did not go unnoticed: One
Having your highly anticipated arrival overshadowed by something that looks like an otter and smells like rotten fish: Priceless. Fuckin' Priceless.
Ash: The Last Stand – The Twelve Labours of Hercules
Labour 1: Burn, Baby Burn (The Nemean Lion)
Misty's first task could only be described as cruel and unusual punishment, and even that was probably treating it too lightly. It began at ten o'clock on the dot when a noob trainer from Lavender Town came to challenge the Cerulean City gym leader for the Cascade badge. Fridays, in Misty's experience, were notorious for noob trainers.
And thus began Ash's penance. His job today was to replace the digital referee. He was to attend to every detail of the battle, even the most seemingly insignificant, and write it all down as it occurred.
It was torture, pure and simple, because while Misty refused to accept his challenge, she accepted those of four noob trainers before lunch just to spite him and forced him to watch every second. It was painful to watch. Ash actually felt embarrassed for the challengers, especially when one of them had all three of his Pokémon knocked out by nothing more than Misty's marrill, and another who was actually defeated by Psyduck!
It was incredibly unfair. He was forced to sit and watch some of the most one-sided battles in the history of the league, while Misty smiled at him like she was actually enjoying the hollow victories. If he had bothered to notice, he would have realized that she wasn't smiling because of her battles, but rather because of the sullen look on his face.
"C'mon, Misty," he begged as she defeated her fourth opponent. "Forget about these losers and battle me. I'll make it worth your while."
Misty's laughter trilled through the gym. "Do you realize how dodgy that sounded?" she asked him with another laugh. "You sounded just like Brock when you said that."
"Hey, I resent that," Brock called from the stands. He hadn't been particularly interested in the battles either, but he loved to watch Ash and Misty's antics. None of their other female companions ever seemed to match up to Misty when it came to annoying the heck out of Ash. Max had been a close second, but it just wasn't the same.
"Pik Pikachu," Pikachu laughed, making fun of his trainer's expression. "Pikapi pik pik Pikachupi."
Brock nodded in agreement. "It's good to have them back together," he sighed quietly to the electric mouse. "Who would have thought that we would have actually missed seeing them like this?"
"Please, Misty," Ash begged, his voice even more desperate and pleading. He knelt down on his knees before her, grasping her hand as though it were some sort of lifeline. "I'll wait for you to get your Pokémon back. I'll even wait for Gyarados. Just please, no more of this."
"Ok, Ash," she said softly, her lips curving into a warm smile. She looked at his pleading puppy dog eyes and sighed to herself – how on earth could she say no to such an endearing face?
"You don't have to watch the battles anymore," she continued, her smile changing ever so slightly and a strange glint appearing in her eyes. "We'll begin your next task after lunch."
"NOOOoooooOOOOOoooooOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!"
Labour 2: Heads You Lose (The Nine-Headed Lernaean Hyrda)
As Misty promised, Ash was no longer required to referee after lunch and assigned a new and equally torturous task. Misty couldn't help but think about how convenient it was that Ash had shown up when he did, and gone and made complete tool of him self.
She was supposed give a group from the school a tour around the Pokémon habitats after lunch (the result of losing a coin toss to her sisters), but it too could be relegated to Ash along with more of her most hated jobs.
And thus, it was Ash's job to show a group of antagonising nine year olds Misty's beloved water Pokémon and act like he was a) interested in water Pokémon, and b) knowledgeable about water Pokémon on a level that defied both logic and reason.
"Did you know that water Pokémon are one of the most adaptable types of Pokémon?" he asked the group of students who looked incredibly bored. He tried to recall why exactly water Pokémon were so adaptable, knowing it was a speech Misty had given him on multiple occasions. "Because most water Pokémon know ice attacks, they only have one true weakness and that's-"
"Yeah, we know all that," a particularly annoying nine year old cut in. "We just want to see Gyarados."
"Yeah," another echoed. "Where's Gyarados?"
"We came to see Gyarados."
"Why are you hiding him from us? Why do you suck so much?"
Ash growled under his breath. 'Damn, Misty,' he thought to himself. 'Stupid brats.'
"We had to put him down," Ash lied, trying his best to look solemn. "He ate a kid."
Well that finally shut them up.
"A kid?" one of them asked finally, their voice timid and shaking with fear.
Ash nodded sadly. "It was pretty gruesome," he told them with a grimace. "Some kid was here from a school tour group or something, just walking past the tank and Gyarados just shot out and ate him. There was blood everywhere, and guts.
"It was completely unexpected," he added, giving a pointed look at the kid that interrupted him earlier before he continued. "All of a sudden, he just took offence to the colour green."
The kid in question looked down nervously at his green shirt, gulping conspicuously.
"So, do you kids want to take a look at some of the other Pokémon?" he asked them. "I think you should all be fine just as long as you haven't had anything to eat in the past twenty-four hours."
"No we're ok," the kids all said at once. "We'll just be leaving."
"Alright," Ash called after them cheerfully. "Have a nice day!"
Task two: Complete.
Labour 3: Caught Red Handed (Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis)
"What happened to the tour group?" Misty asked as Ash returned to the gym, dusting his hands cheerfully.
"I guess they weren't interested," he shrugged, smiling knowingly.
"Well that's good," she replied. "I need you to catch me a magikarp," she said, tossing him a lure ball.
"What?" Ash asked incredulously. "You've got like a billion magikarp here. What on earth could you possibly need another for?"
"These are all bred in captivity," Misty replied, as though that made complete and utter sense. "I need a wild one."
"What for?"
"You'll see," she replied.
And so Ash was on his way to a nearby stream with Pikachu in toe for good measure when he heard Misty calling his name. Turning around to face her, a smile formed on his face, relief washing over him.
"I knew you couldn't be serious," he said as she came up to him. "I knew it was just a joke. Let's just call a truce, Myst, and be done with this."
"What on earth are you talking about, Ash Ketchum?" she asked, shaking her head at him. She was clearly enjoying torturing him too much for her own good. "I just came to give you my latest lure," she said, holding up a chibi buizel for him to see. "Sweet, isn't it?"
Cue the sweat drop.
Labour 4: Tenacity (Erymathian Boar)
Ash returned several hours later with a freshly caught magikarp in hand. It had been absolute hell, sitting there waiting for a bite. To make matters worse, he hadn't caught a single thing with his own lure (his favourite lure fashioned of a certain young gym leader), but the second he put on Misty's latest creation, he caught a freakin' gyarados.
Had he thought about it, this would have made completely sense given that gyarados were known on occasion to snack on smaller/weaker water Pokémon. As Ash hadn't cared to think about it, he just assumed that it was the ultimate proof that the gods – along with Misty – were against him.
And, if that wasn't bad enough, he couldn't even catch the gyarados in question because he only had the one empty Pokéball on him (the lure ball given to him by Misty) and he needed that to catch the stupid magikarp. That would certainly teach him never to leave the house without his Pokébelt.
"Did you get it?" Misty asked as she spotted him. It was four o'clock by this point, so she was out front turning all the 'open' signs to 'closed' in order to deter over enthusiastic trainers and fans alike.
Ash nodded.
"Great," she said, suddenly slapping a bow on the Pokéball that he held out to her. "Go take this to Bill," she commanded, "it was his birthday yesterday, and I forgot to get him a present."
"No," Ash said shaking his head, "I refuse."
Misty just shrugged. "Suit yourself." She didn't bother reminding him of what 'suit yourself' entailed, as it was unnecessary. They both knew the bargaining chip that she had in her resources.
Ash sighed. He knew he couldn't refuse her. She knew he couldn't refuse her. He was, in short, screwed.
"Be back by dinner," she told him as she saw his shoulders slump in defeat. "Brock's making his 'lazy-boy-no-chew-stew', and Daisy's gone to get some fresh bread. Should be done by seven."
Ash just nodded sadly, trying his best to remember exactly what it was he liked so much about Misty Waterflower.
Reprieve
When Ash returned for dinner, things were strangely normal, as though Misty hadn't spent the day ordering Ash to do menial tasks and torturing him through whatever means were available to her.
They sat down to a comfortable meal, the two teasing each other across the table like their lives depended on it. Ash forgot that he was supposed to be mad at Misty, and was instead reminded of all the things that made her so irresistible.
"Do you think it's over?" Ash asked as he and Brock turned in at the Pokémon centre for the night.
"Knowing Misty?" Brock asked, a thoughtful look present on his face. "Far from it."
Ash woke up the next morning, hoping against hope that the horrors of the previous day were over and that he could finally have his long awaited battle against Misty. Misty had always been his favourite sparring partner.
When they found a message from Misty awaiting them at the desk, his hope grew, and in spite of him self he let himself believe that he was finally back in Misty's good graces and therefore, eligible for battle. They kindly thanked Nurse Joy, and collected Misty's four Pokéballs as requested before the four of them made their way to the Cerulean Gym.
But things only went down from there. Almost as soon as they stepped out of the Pokémon centre, a massive explosion had them cowering on the ground. The dramatic tones ringing through a pair of speakers alerted them to a familiar villainous trio.
"Prepare for trouble."
"And make it double."
"To protect the world from devastation."
"To unite all people's within our nation."
"To denounce the evils of truth and love."
"To extend our reach to the stars above."
"Jesse."
"James."
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light."
"Surrender now or prepare to fight."
"Meowth dats right."
"Woobafet."
"Mime!"
"Team Rocket," Ash, Brock and Dawn cried with a groan, followed by Pikachu's cry of "Pipikachu".
"Can we get this over with quickly?" Ash pleaded with them. "I'd really like to get to the gym and-"
"I suppose you have a date with your little twerpy girlfriend that you'd much prefer to be attending," Jesse cut in spitefully, her eyes narrowing at the twerps. "You think we don't have better things to be doing with our time?" she asked.
"She's not my girlfriend," Ash protested. "She's just a girl that happens to be my friend. You might as well say that Dawn is my girlfriend."
Jesse and James rolled their eyes in unison. "It doesn't work with that one," James replied, gesturing flippantly at Dawn.
"There's no point saying it about a girl that you don't like," Jesse added, "it would be like going around saying you and rock boy were an item."
"You know I'm right here," Dawn pouted. It was a good thing she was over her crush on Ash – this sort of talk was rather disheartening.
Ash just narrowed his eyes at them. After yesterdays trials he was desperate for his battle, and it hadn't exactly put him in a good mood. In a very unsportsmanlike gesture, Ash threw a Pokéball into the air, releasing his gastly on the unsuspecting trio.
"Scooby, use hypnosis," he commanded.
"You haven't seen the last of us twerp," Jesse argued sleepily as her eyes began to close heavily.
"You're dreaming if you think this is over," James added as his body collapsed to the ground.
Meowth just yawned and curled himself into a ball. "Looks like Team Rockets drifting off again . . . "
"What?" Ash asked as his two friends looked at him in awe.
"Nothing," Brock said, shaking the confusion out of his head. "Just wondering why we never tried that before."
"Never had a Pokémon who knew hypnosis?" Ash suggested with a shrug. "You coming?" he asked, unable to hide his impatience.
They nodded and followed behind, doing their best to keep pace.
Labour 5: _ _ It Happens (Clean the Augean Stables in a single day)
"She wants me to do what?!" Ash asked, his eyes bulging at the horror of what Daisy was suggesting.
"The gyarados tank," Daisy explained again. "She would have come out herself, but she's right in the middle of a battle. It's down the hall and to the left, and don't forget to check the pH levels when you're done."
Ash groaned painfully, wondering what exactly he had done to deserve such punishment. 'Oh right,' he thought, reminding himself that it was never a good thing to be on Misty's bad side. He really should have known better by now.
"Don't worry, Ash," Brock said encouragingly, "me and Dawn will help you out. Right, Dawn?"
"Um . . . well . . . Brock, do I have to?" Dawn pleaded, scrunching up her nose in disdain. "It's all icky and gross and there's like gyarados pooh everywhere. Please don't make me."
"Dawn," Brock replied, a slight warning tone in his voice. "You know this will go a lot faster if we all pitch in, and it's the least you could do after all the things Ash has done for you."
Dawn sighed. 'Moma Brock' knew a thing or two about guilt.
"Like, about that," Daisy cut in, looking thoughtful as she recalled her sister's words. "Misty like said that Ash can't get Brock's help or else he fails. But that doesn't mean you can't help out . . . uh . . ." Daisy paused as she tried to remember the name that Brock had used less than a minute ago, but all that came to mind was 'blue-haired, little sister's boyfriend stealing wench' and that just wasn't appropriate language to use around one so young.
'What is she – like eight?' Daisy wondered to herself. 'I know guys like to trade them in for like a younger model, but this is totally ridiculous. He could at least get a girl who had gone through puberty.'
Dawn rolled her eyes at Daisy's now vacant expression. "It doesn't seem fair that Brock gets out of it, but I still have to help," she pouted, crossing her arms sullenly.
"Technically Brock was banned," Ash countered, "but if you don't want to help you don-" Dawn was gone before he could even finish his sentence, taking Pikachu with her to god knows where.
And so with a defeated sigh, Ash grabbed his utensils and was off to do more of Misty's bidding.
"Stupid Misty," he muttered as he bent down on his knees to try and get the grit out of the deepest corners of the tank. "Stupid water Pokémon."
"I heard that," he heard a voice remark from above him, followed by what he considered a sanctimonious laugh.
He stood up to glare up at the redhead who sat hanging her legs over the edge of the empty tank, smiling innocently in his direction. "By the way, I hate you," he muttered coolly, crossing his arms over his bare chest.
The movement drew attention to the fact that he was shirtless, causing Misty to blush brightly. It was so distracting, in fact, that she failed to attend to anything else in that moment. "Geez, Ash. When did you get so hot?" she asked unthinkingly. She couldn't help but notice that he was somewhat more chiselled than your average teenage boy.
"What?" Ash asked, gaping at her. His mind tirelessly tried to comprehend what she had just said. "Did you just . . .?"
"I asked when you got so hot?" she said again in a less dazed manner, quickly trying to cover her lapse in judgment. She stood up, backing away from the edge. "You look like you need cooling off," she added to solidify her farce.
"Oh," he replied disappointedly. He had so hoped she meant something else.
"Maybe some water?" she suggested.
"Yeah, that'd be great, Myst."
"As you wish," she replied. There was something in her tone that should have told him he was in for more pain. He should have seen it coming, that is, the high-pressured hose being pointed in his direction as the stream of water hit him dead on. It couldn't have been more painful if she had set Gyarados on him.
"Oh that's it, Misty," he cried, racing up the ladder and out of the tank. "You are so getting it."
He brought the bucket with him, chasing after her with dirty sponges and soapy water, and eliciting laughter and squeals of delight from the girl as she deftly dodge his arsenal. But as agile as Misty was, Ash did have one advantage over her, and he decided to use it, racing at the girl and tackling her to the ground using their weight discrepancies to ensure his victory.
She squirmed in his embrace as he pinned her underneath him, causing Ash to smile in satisfaction when she was unable to free herself.
"Get off me," she commanded, whacking his shoulder ineffectually.
"Don't pretend like you're not enjoying it, Myst," he teased, holding her a little tighter for affect.
"Like I want your smelly arms anywhere near me," she responded, screwing her nose up at him. "You're all gross and sweaty."
"And hot," he added, smirking at the look of horror that seemed to overcome her face. "I know you think so."
Her face turned red with anger and embarrassment, and her expression contorted into rage. "You get off of me right this instant, Ash Ketchum, or I'll-" she told him squirming vigorously.
"Or you'll what?" he asked, moving his face closer to hers. "What exactly do you intend to do to me, Misty?" he added, his voice taking on a husky, almost silky quality.
Misty desperately tried to form the words, or even the thoughts, to describe all the terrible things she intended to do to punish him, but they left her. As clichéd as it was to say so, she suddenly found herself lost in his chocolate brown eyes, and completely incapable of thinking of anything else.
She was incredibly aware of how close they were. His arms around hers; his torso pressed against her torso; their legs intertwined; and their faces only inches apart. It wouldn't take much to simply lift her head and seal his lips against her own.
She felt Ash release her wrist, his hand moving slowly towards her cheek and brushing the loose red hairs away from her face. His eyes stared longingly into hers, and then without warning, he closed in on the space between him and gently pressed his lips to her mouth.
The kiss only lasted a briefest instant. The first touch of her lips was enough to break him of whatever spell she had him under, and he quickly jumped back as though he had been electrified in the process. Maybe he had – it would at least explain the incredible tingling feeling that the touch of her lips left against his own.
"Misty, I'm sorry," he pleaded, closing his eyes tightly shut as he awaited her wrath. "I shouldn't have kissed you like that." His head dropped into his hands and his whole body slumped with the implication of what he had just done.
"Like what?" she asked, not sounding the least bit angry. He prayed her lack of anger wasn't because she was crying instead – he couldn't stand the thought of Misty crying. He'd much rather Misty mad at him and trying to kill him, than be cause for her to cry.
He looked up cautiously, slowly opening his eyes to look at her. She didn't look angry or sad. Instead she was giving him a sweet imploring look with her head tilted to one side. It was the sort of look that made his heart race in a not entirely unpleasant way.
"Like what?" she asked again, leaning forward on her knees.
He wondered when they had gotten so close. Once again their faces were merely inches apart. And for once it wasn't because of an argument, or some insane predicament brought on by Team Rocket, and somehow that thought made his breach catch in his throat and his legs turn to jelly.
"L-l-l-li-like," he stuttered unable to voice the notion aloud.
'Like you were mine to kiss,' he thought to himself, turning his gaze away from her sadly.
The touch of her fingers to his skin drew him from his trance, forcing him to look at her once again. Try as he might, he was caught by those blue-green pools once again. He should have known they would be his demise.
"Like this?" she asked softly before making her move. She gently cupped his cheek with her hand and drew his face towards her. On instinct, he closed his eyes and moments later he was rewarded by a light pressure against his lips.
Her lips moved tenderly against his, and he responded in kind, returning her kiss to the best of his ability. This was what a first kiss was supposed to be like – tender, electrifying, exciting, and sweet. He decided that none of the other kisses that he had experienced counted – that no one else counted but Misty.
She held his gaze as they broke apart, smiling at his awed expression. "Because you should know, Ash," she said, seemingly continued from whatever stream of conversation had existed prior to their kiss. She was emboldened by his response. "That if you're going to kiss me like that, you have no right to act surprise when I go and kiss you like this."
And suddenly her lips were pressed against his once again; harder this time, gently forcing his mouth open and running her tongue over the edge of his teeth before pulling away.
Her smug expression told him what this was. It was a game now, in fact, it was more than that – it was a challenge, one he was most definitely up for. She smirked at him in a way that seemed to say 'what are you going to do about it, Ketchum?'
It was his move.
He returned her smirk with a smile that made shivers run down her spine. There was something almost primal about that smile – like a predator teasing its prey. She couldn't take her eyes of his mouth, wondering coyly what he intended to do with it.
"If you're going to do that, Misty," he told her darkly, the smile on his lips broadening, "then perhaps you should be prepared for me to do this."
Without giving her a moment to question his actions, he moved towards her, pressing his lips hungrily against hers and wrapping his arms around his waist. Her challenge he considered an open invitation as such, and he grazed his teeth against her lower lip silently asking for admittance.
He smiled against her lips, a single thought flowing through his head:
'Check mate.'
~ to be continued ~
I wanted to carry this one on for longer, but that was just the perfect line to end it on.
Will definitely have this arc all up before September, though I have no idea when I'll have the second arc up. August is pretty busy for me assignment wise, so I don't have as much time as I'd like for writing, but I'll do my best to start arc two before the end of the year.