A/N: My apologies for the late update. Fair warning once more: there is some light lemon in this chapter, though shorter and not nearly as involved as the last one.
Chapter 5 – Rendezvous in the City by the Sea
They had just come over the hilltop overlooking the city below. It was a fantastic sight. The wooded hill rolled gently downward to a landscape of streets and colourful buildings. The cityscape stretched for miles from the base of the hill, all the way to the coast. In the far distance, Cerulean Cape, along with its signature lighthouse could be seen sitting majestically in the waning afternoon sun. It was not a metropolis by any means, but it held the mixed appeal of populous, yet somehow small-town feel. Only with the vantage point of this last foothill that marked the last of the rugged terrain of Mt. Moon could one hope to get a true view of the serene beauty of this often forgotten gem of the Kanto Region: Cerulean City. Atop this hill stood two people, once close friends, now much closer.
Ash and Dawn had come to Kanto at long last. Their journey together allowed for Dawn to resume participating in official contests, while Ash simultaneously took advantage of each city's gym when the opportunity allowed. He wasn't slacking off by any means, but he decided that Dawn's performances took priority. At this point, they had only journeyed for a short while in Ash's native land.
They began in Cinnabar Island, where their ferry from Sinnoh docked. There Ash challenged the ever elusive Blaine. He had, in the years since Ash's last challenge, built and opened a new gym high on the slopes of the volcano. However, for nostalgia's sake, Blaine proposed the battle take place in the caldera just as they had done before. Moreover, Blaine requested a one-on-one rematch between Charizard and Magmortar, who had long since evolved from the Magmar it last battled Ash as.
Charizard battled with greater ferocity than usual, determined to maintain his superiority over his old fire-type rival; and to help redeem himself for his loss at the Lily of the Valley conference weeks before. In the end, Ash's powerhouse prevailed, though Magmortar certainly didn't make it easy. Blaine surprised the young couple by informing them, through riddle of course, that their bout was the final match he planned to fight as gym leader. Ash was, of course, honoured that he was chosen as his ultimate match, and Blaine was glad to have ended his career in with a battle that brought out his fiery intensity more than it had ever been in years.
Departing from Cinnabar, Ash and Dawn arrived and stayed for longer in Pallet Town, where his mother first scolded him for his lack of communications and his extremely lengthy absence without a visit. Her mood, however, was completely reversed when Dawn and Ash jointly told her that she and Ash were together now. Ash almost had to disconnect the phone in order to stop her from calling everyone about it. Ash and Dawn wanted it kept a secret for the moment. Ash, though now more liberal with his feeling towards Dawn, was still quite apprehensive about how others would react. Dawn agreed, not wanting to push her lover too fast, he having very little knowledge on how to discuss the subject properly or coherently with others. Delia, though flustered at not being able to call everyone in her phonebook about it, agreed.
After a week's stay, Ash and Dawn decided it was time to move on Viridian City and her first contest. Delia was dejected about her son's quick departure after such a long time away; but he promised her that after the next Kanto Grand Festival, he would spend some more time at home. They made it to Viridian in no time at all, and Dawn easily swept in and captured her first ribbon in the Kanto region. Ash of course, cheered for her quite loudly; he looked to return the gesture that she had done for him during his matches at the Lily of the Valley Conference, minus the cheerleading outfit of course.
In Pewter City, they met up with Brock. The year prior, he had finally gotten his degree and was a full-fledged Pokémon Doctor. Now, he had a practice set up in a wing of the Pokémon Center in his hometown. The only downside to this was the near constant pain in his rear due to the antics of his faithful, if slightly overzealous Pokémon, Croagunk. Despite being her being a medical professional, working in the same building as Nurse Joy was not conducive to the new doctor's health.
It was quite the happy reunion nonetheless. Ash and Dawn were both treated to Brock's home cooking which they both sorely missed. Ash still couldn't cook for his life and it was a wonder he survived on his own for so long. Dawn was capable, but still couldn't compare to the squinty-eyed master chef. The trio caught up on the events of the past several years, having not seen each other much beyond phone calls, or at all in Ash's case. Though Ash and Dawn intended to keep their relationship a secret, Ash's bumbling mouth accidentally tipped Brock off and their faces told the rest. Brock was ecstatic of course, though they didn't have to go through nearly the same amount of trouble as they did with Ash's mother. Brock agreed to keep quiet about it; especially because he knew someone who would likely be crushed by the news.
When Ash asked Brock who was in charge of the gym, he was directed to face Forrest, the second eldest of the plethora of Brock's siblings. Though young, Brock had taught him well, and just like his elder brother had long ago, he specialized in rock types. In a two-on-two match, Ash easily prevailed over Forrest, but was impressed all the same. He even opted to give the new leader some pointers, which Forrest eagerly took note of. It was only after that battle that Ash and Dawn bid Brock and his family farewell.
The trek over Mt. Moon was not as arduous as Ash remembered, with a new and far more direct path having been carved into the side of the mountain in recent years. As a result, they arrived in Cerulean City much earlier than anticipated. It was this journey that led up to their now brisk descent to the Cerulean coastline.
"Ash! We're almost a week early for the contest! We don't need to rush into the city!" Dawn protested as she only barely kept pace with the excited young man ahead of her. Piplup was protesting loudly from atop her head, but she didn't heed her starter's pleas as she tried to keep pace. Pikachu was shouting after Ash as well as he slowly bridged the gap between the two humans.
Ash was terribly close to breaking out in a full sprint down the winding dirt path that led from the Mt. Moon foothills into the sun struck basin that was the Cerulean Lowlands. He was excited to be coming back to this city for many reasons. True, he was excited about Dawn's impending contest, but he knew full well that it was days away. It was the fact that he wanted to take advantage of the free time given to them both to see one of his oldest friends; and challenge her to a gym battle.
He was wrapped up in the thoughts of meeting her and battling her again, just like old times; which was why he failed to notice the root protruding from the ground ahead of him. High speed and his ignorance of the obstacle in his path wrought a disastrous and somewhat comic event as Ash nearly did a full somersault as his foot hooked into the intruding root. He landed flat on his back with a loud 'oomph' and lay motionless for a moment.
"Ash!" Dawn cried out, quickly catching up and kneeling beside her reeling boyfriend. Pikachu was quick to join her and so was Piplup after he tumbled off of Dawn's head at the sudden stop she made.
"Ow," Ash blandly grumbled, making a half-hearted sound of discomfort as he raised himself into a sitting position.
"You goof," Dawn ribbed, rubbing his back gently, "What's the rush? Like is said, the contest won't be for a week at least. The last time I came through here, they hadn't made the trans-mountain road, so I expected we would still be on the mountain for another three days at least."
"Yeah... same here," Ash agreed, rubbing the back of his head as he often did when embarrassed or confused. Right now, he was feeling a bit of both.
"You didn't answer my question. What's the rush? You seem so excited to come to Cerulean!"
Ash's face lit up as he slowly pulled himself to his feet with Dawn's assistance. He looked out over the distant city which stretched from the base of the hill to the coast and answered thoughtfully, "I haven't seen Misty in person in a long, long time. Not since... I think I was thirteen and I was challenging the battle frontier. I couldn't get a hold of her when I got back from Unova, and she was always gone when I came to visit while I was training for the Indigo League."
Dawn was taken aback. She never expected that she had seen Misty more than he had. Granted, she knew that Ash had shut himself off from everyone the last four years; but prior to that, she thought that Ash would likely have hung out with Misty while he was in Kanto. She looked at him with a face of concern and bewilderment, "Did you ever get in contact with her since?"
"No... because... you know... I was being stupid and selfish and went off to perfect my battle style... at least until I found you again," Ash explained, a small smile gracing his face as he finished his statement.
"Aw, Ash, you're so sweet," Dawn cooed, bring herself up for a quick peck on the lips. She wrapped her arm around his waist, and he mirrored her action. She looked up at him with affection and playfully instructed, "Come on, let's walk there... together... AND SLOWLY!"
"Alright, alright..." Ash acquiesced.
Just as Dawn wanted, the two lovers walked downwards to Cerulean City. It had changed some in the years since Ash had last been there. Though he didn't remember all of it, having made a straight run to the gym on his first visit, he noticed a greater variety of stores and restaurants. Cerulean had grown quite a bit in his ten year absence, and from the looks of it, had become quite the tourist trap. The streets were packed, and now being the heat of August, the city was absolutely bustling with activity.
"It's been so long since I last been here!" Dawn gushed, "I need to check out all these new stores!"
"Hopefully not all... there's a ton of them!" Ash tried to act as the voice of reason, a role he rarely played.
"But look! All those clothing stores! Those restaurants look pretty ritzy! And hey, you'll like that PokéMart!" Dawn continued to admire all the surrounding sights, pointing to each one in succession.
"Let's get to the Pokémon Center first. I want to make sure my team is in tip-top shape before I go and battle Misty!" Ash exclaimed, himself growing excited at the prospect of a battle, especially with the fiery redhead.
"Yeah! That'll be great too! Then we can go shopping! Misty can come too!" Dawn yelled, loud enough in fact that some onlookers began to gawk at the noisy young woman.
They beat a hasty retreat when they realized that they had become the center of attention, making a quick detour to the Pokémon Center. The Nurse Joy there did a quick examination, informing the two of them that both their teams were in perfect health already and cleared them to leave. It wasn't long after that they arrived at the doors of the Cerulean Gym. It seemed to have been improved since their last visit, though most of the outward features remained the same, especially the giant Dewgong sign plastered to the face of the gym.
"Great! Let's go in!" Ash, in his enthusiasm nearly burst into the doors, when Dawn gripped the back of his collar and stopped him.
"Manners, Ash!" Dawn scolded, her tone turned sweet as she finished, "Let's knock!"
Dawn did just that. In the meantime, however, Ash remarked, "That's a nice fountain over there... I wonder when they built that." He was looking over at the seemingly new fountain in the middle of the plaza that separated the commercial district of Cerulean from the Gym itself. It was quite elaborate, probably something to commemorate the gym, as it was a spectacular stone carving of several water Pokémon, the most prominent of which was Gyarados, all seemingly emerging from the basin with the water spouts simulating the splash from the depicted event. It was quite a sight to behold. It was, of course, at this exact moment that one of Ash's most impulsive Pokémon decided to emerge from his pokéball unannounced.
"DEWOTT!"
"Hey Dewott, what are you-," Ash's unfinished question was answered as Dewott excitedly dashed over to the fountain and began playing in it. He began to float around in the basin, even going as far as mimicking the fountain's function by spraying a mockingly small stream of water above his head as he lazily drifted.
"Ugh! Dewott, come on! That's not for playing in!" Ash lectured dejectedly, running from the doorway to retrieve his mischievous sea otter. His species may have been known as the 'Discipline Pokémon' but this one was anything but. Dawn giggled until she heard the door open behind her.
"Dawn?"
The blunette spun around at the mention of her name. Before her stood the twenty-three year-old Misty. The redhead had changed quite a bit since she and Ash had last seen each other. She had grown into a tall, and quite shapely woman. She wore a yellow shirt that clung to her curves very well, accentuating her bust which outdid Dawn's; showing only a small portion of midriff. She wore red shorts that showed off her fabulous hips quite nicely, and though she had a small rear, her shorts did not do it any disservice. Her hair had grown out down her shoulders in full, wavy locks; giving her the visage of a fiery mane that matched her determined face. Her face had not changed much in the years: same small cute mouth, same piercing sea-green eyes, same strong angular features, capped by her lovely cream coloured skin. Her legs were long, and muscular, matching her arms and giving evidence of her still strict swimming regiment. Today she wore cute blue sandals which showed off her dainty feet.
Dawn's smile widened as she practically tackled Misty in a hug that nearly threatened to topple them both.
"Misty! It's been too long!"
The flustered redhead let out a small laugh through the surprisingly tight hug and returned the gesture. She responded kindly, "It has been. How long is it... a year?"
"Year and a half," Dawn corrected, letting Misty out of her embrace, which in turn allowed Misty to breathe.
"So... I didn't expect you... are May and Iris with you again? I'd love to have another girls' night!" Misty inquired, growing a bit excited at the prospect.
"No, no, no! It's just me and... wait where did he go?" Dawn began to explain, but trailed off as she began looking at the fountain and the surrounding area.
"You brought a boy? Which one! Kenny? Barry? Oh... not that Paul guy. The way you describe him he sounds like a sourpuss," Misty rambled in amusement.
Dawn wasn't even listening now. She ran out into the plaza and began frantically searching. Neither Ash nor Dewott were anywhere in sight.
"Return!" a loud, deep male voice rang out in the distance.
Misty's face twitched momentarily. That voice reminded her of someone. The bold power, the inflection, the enthusiasm was all familiar. The only thing that kept her from recognizing it was the pitch. She couldn't place it yet, but it evoked a strange feeling of familiarity, and other feelings she had sealed away for a long time. She didn't understand why 'those' feelings were welling up now.
"Come on! We've got a battle to get to! You can play later! I promise!"
There it was again. That voice. It almost shook Misty to her core.
It's not... it couldn't be...
"Hey get back here! Don't get water everywhere!"
No no no no no no no! Please don't be him! Please don't be him!
And yet, her expectations were simultaneously shattered and met all at once as raven haired young man in a red and white cap dashed across her field of vision, between the two girls and the fountain, whilst chasing a blue otter-like Pokémon who was playfully squirting blasts of water back at his trainer. From a distance - she was baffled she didn't see him earlier - a small and clearly amused yellow mouse Pokémon watched from a distance. Ash's water-type broke down laughing as the last hit caused Ash to stumble and slip on a puddle as he rounded the side of the fountain. The result, of course, was Ash taking an impromptu bath in the fountain as he had earlier scolded Dewott for in the first place.
"Well, at least I'm beating the heat now..." Ash muttered in annoyance, taking advantage of Dewott's halted movement to finally return him to his pokéball. Dawn went to his aid and pulled him from the watery monument.
Misty just continued to stare, stunned at this sudden appearance of the boy – now turned man – from her past. Her mind was racing with all sorts of different thoughts. She wasn't sure what to settle on. It was as she was trying to organizing her thoughts out that she realized the two visitors were standing right in front of her.
"Hey Misty! Long time!" as a half-way soaked Ash hugged her. He noticed he was only slightly shorter than her now. This gave Ash some relief, as he was tired of being so far behind her in regards to height.
Though she couldn't decide how to react based solely on his reappearance, his gesture clinched how she would respond, "Hey! Don't hug me! You'll get my clothes drenched!" She pushed him off playfully.
He rubbed the back of his head again, and nervously replied, "Oh right, sorry! Guess I'm just excited to see you after all this time."
That made the weight on her shoulders lift slightly. At least she was glad that he didn't hate her for not seeing him for such a long time. It had been ten years since they had seen each other in person, and almost seven since their last phone call. Still, though she hid it well, she was not overly excited to see him.
"It's fine. Would you like to come in?" she offered, trying to break the silence that had ensued after she had failed to answer his apology immediately as she had once again become wrapped in her own thoughts.
"That'd be great, thanks!" Dawn piped up perkily. At Dawn's re-emergence into the conversation, Misty felt a bit more comfortable.
"Pikachupi!" Ash's partner squeaked from Misty's feet.
"Aw, hey Pikachu! How have you been?" Misty replied sweetly, picking up Ash's starter. Pikachu called his own name again and bounded from her arms to her shoulder like he would if it were Ash's.
She led them inside, past the reception desk, and through a branched hallway, one leading to the pool and gym battle area, a second hall leading to the lower levels and aquarium, and the third to the living quarters. She told Piplup and Pikachu that they could go play with the other Pokémon in the pool area if they'd like. The two partner Pokémon agreed, and scampered away to join old friends as Misty took the trainers to the living quarters portion of the gym complex. She invited them to sit in the living room as she prepared to make her guests feel at home.
"Can I offer you two anything to eat or drink?" Misty offered politely.
"Something cold! It's so warm out today," Dawn remarked, fanning herself with her hand.
Ash had quite the opposite view, still not quite dry from his encounter with the fountain, "Orange juice, please."
Misty nodded and went into the adjoining kitchen. Once she was out of sight of the two of them, she slumped back against the fridge, and took a deep breath. She was honestly not sure how long she would be able to maintain this appearance around the two of them. She just wanted to shut herself in her room and think. But she wanted to be a gracious host too.
Damn it Dawn... some warning would've been nice, she cursed in her head. But she mentally corrected herself, it's not her fault... she doesn't know... only Brock knows...
She realized that she was taking far longer than usual to get drinks than most people would so she quickly opened the fridge she was formerly leaning on, grabbed Ash's orange juice and some iced tea for Dawn. She poured both quickly into tall glasses, giving Dawn's some extra ice, and returned to the living room to offer them to her guests.
"Here you are," Misty announced as both her guests' faces grew into smiles as they were given their beverages.
"Thanks," they said at almost exactly the same time. They shot each other a look and then started laughing lightly at their near identical timing. Misty gave a perplexed look, but dismissed the occurrence and reaction.
"So Misty? How's the gym?" Dawn asked, starting the conversation after taking a sip of her drink.
"It's the same as before, got a lot of rookie trainers come by to try and beat me. Occasionally I get a really good one come by and give me an actual challenge, but otherwise, it's been pretty stale lately. I win about nine out of ten matches," Misty elucidated.
"That's pretty good," Ash complimented, having just finished a long swig of his juice.
"Thanks, Ash," clearly pleased with the praise. She knew he was a good trainer, and any compliment from him was always welcome. But her mood soured as her mind just raced back to the fact that she had kept herself from such praise by virtue of not seeing him or talking to him for so long.
"How have you two been?" Misty questioned. Though she kept her face cheerful and casual, she was quite curious about Ash. She realized that four years ago he stopped trying to contact her, and she had in fact heard that he cut off all ties to people and went travelling alone.
Dawn and Ash exchanged yet another odd look before Dawn decided to answer first, "Oh! It's been great. I took some time off from contests, did some fashion consulting, but now I'm back on the circuit here in Kanto, travelling with Ash as he trains and re-challenges gyms."
"Oh you should have told me that you were back in Kanto! I would've cleaned up a bit better!" Misty gestured to the room, her tone thick with embarrassment. It wasn't messy by any means, but it wasn't the epitome of clean either.
"Oh, no need to worry," Dawn chirped, "I wanted to surprise you anyway! Besides, I've seen Ash's room when he lives in it. No comparison." She laughed and Misty joined her.
"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad..." Ash protested.
"I can see why you pack light when you travel, Ash," Dawn mocked, "Otherwise our campsites would look like disaster areas."
"Hmph..."
"So you two are traveling together?" Misty probed.
"Oh yeah! It's been a blast!" Dawn informed her excitedly.
"When did this happen? Last I heard, he was traveling alone," Misty continued her line of questions, trying her best to sound casual, though she was quite interested in the answers.
"About eight months ago," Dawn recounted, "He just showed up at my house in the dead of winter to visit, and we..." she paused to find the right word that wouldn't insinuate their current relationship, "just kinda agreed to travel together."
"What prompted that?" Misty asked, her voice starting to grow curious now. She realized it and wished she hadn't asked.
However Dawn either didn't notice or didn't mind and went on, "Oh, I really wanted to get back out there! And Ash seemed so lonely out there." The latter sentence of her explanation was thick with a teasing tone, which Ash scoffed at. Though truly, Ash knew she was right, he hid the acknowledgement of her accuracy both for the purpose of hiding their relationship and for his pride.
This little jab by Dawn elicited a giggle from both the girls, temporarily distracting Misty from her line of questions. Ash took the gap and asked a question of his own, "So how are your Pokémon?"
Typical Ash, still obsessed with every to do with Pokémon, Misty thought to herself nostalgically. She almost shook her head at herself, Dang it, Misty. Stop getting lost in memories and be part of the conversation.
"They're doing well. They get plenty of practice, with being a gym leader's Pokémon and all. But I have plenty of them, all strong, so each gets their downtime as well!" Misty explained methodically.
"Great! That means you can battle then!" Ash grew more excited by the second.
"Ash! Let's take some time to catch up before you go all hot-headed into a battle with her! We've had a long day after all!" Dawn pleaded with him.
Misty supported Dawn's assessment, saying "Yeah, I've actually had quite a few gym battles today actually, and it's almost time to close, so I wouldn't mind putting it off until tomorrow. Is that ok?"
Were this a younger Ash, he might've been more belligerent about waiting for a gym battle. However, Ash had in fact matured some in the years and had learned at least some patience. Despite his fierce determination to battle Misty again after all those years, he decided that one night wouldn't make a whole lot of difference. He replied with kind sincerity, "Of course, whenever it's good for you, Misty."
Misty was taken aback by this display of maturity. Her facade almost broke then and there, but she kept a polite face on. Maybe there is hope for you after all Ketchum...
"How long until you close?" Dawn interjected.
"Half an hour," Misty informed the blunette.
"Great! We can go shopping!" Dawn cheered.
"That sounds fun!" Misty agreed, "Haven't been in a shopping spree since... well, the last time you were here!"
Ash shot Dawn a look of confusion and quizzically asked, "Wait, when were you here? You never told me about that."
"Oh! I never told you! How forgetful of me!" Dawn smiled cheekily at her absent-mindedness, "I came to do Kanto contests the first year you left. I was quite disappointed to find you were gone, but May was doing them too so we met up and she introduced me to Misty, and we had a great time!" Ash was going to try and apologize, but Dawn continued unaware of Ash's attempt, "We liked it so much, that we decided to make it a yearly thing. Since Misty has a hard time leaving the gym, we decided to come here to Cerulean in the contest off-season. The next year, I even got Iris to come too, and it was a real party! We did it every year until this year, when May couldn't make it because she made plans with Drew, and I started travelling with you again. But ever since that first time we met, we've been in frequent contact. We're real best friends aren't we!" Dawn was practically giddy by the end of her speech, even grabbing Misty by wrapping one of her arms around Misty and standing shoulder to shoulder.
"Right!" Misty replied enthusiastically, flashing the peace sign towards Ash, who could do nothing but sit in stunned silence.
"Huh... well that's great news!" Ash finally managed to speak. He was shocked, but ultimately pleased, since he was always glad to have his friends be friends with one another. He was still trying to digest that condensed four year history that Dawn threw at him though.
"Isn't it!" Dawn squealed. She continued to lay out the exploits of the girls outings over the past years, with Misty either giddily agreeing, or vehemently denying various events. She continued until Misty pointed out that it was past time to close the gym and that she had to attend to it for a few minutes.
As the two were left alone, Ash turned to Dawn and said, "Well, I'm glad you two bonded. You seem to have a lot of fun together."
"Yeah! She's a great person. It's no wonder you and her traveled for so long together," Dawn admitted.
"Did you guys talk about that?" Ash pressed.
"We all did..." she paused and thought for a second, "Well, May certainly did, and so did I, and Iris kept giving examples of why you were such a little kid, but now that I think about it, Misty really didn't say much about you at all."
"Really?" Ash asked in bewilderment.
"Yeah, a lot of our conversations centered on you, but she often managed to steer them away to a different topic, or just kinda shifted into the background during those parts," Dawn clarified.
Ash's face shifted uncomfortably. Between never getting see her when he visited or her always being busy or out when he called, or never getting a call back, he was growing suspicious of Misty. Did she not like him anymore? She seemed pleasant enough with him here now, but was that just for show in front of Dawn. The two were clearly great friends now.
"Ash... you're thinking about something hard again..." Dawn teased.
"Huh..." Ash suddenly remembered their conversation on the hill the morning after his and her first time. How she said he wrinkled his forehead when he was deep in thought. His mind was awash in layers of doubts and fears the subject brought up and his face grew worrisome, "Oh yeah... just... I'm not sure if Misty likes me anymore."
"What?" Dawn blurted out loudly.
"Dawn is everything ok over there?"
Dawn and Ash froze. Misty's distant voice and echoing footsteps down the hallway were heard fast approaching.
"Yes!" Dawn shouted back quickly. Dawn put her mouth to Ash's ear, and whispered in a hushed yet frantic tone, "No need to worry, I'm sure she's still your friend... but if it will make you feel better, I'll talk about it when we go shopping. You can go... do whatever you like. This will need to be private if I want her to open up to me about it."
Ash merely nodded as Dawn quickly withdrew back to her couch. Misty walked in not a second later, a relieved smile on her face. "Well, are we going shopping then?" she asked, smirking at Ash.
"It's just us, Misty," Dawn told her, throwing Ash a glance, "He needs to go to the Pokémon Center anyways to book our room."
"Psh! No friends of mine staying at a filthy Pokémon Center, you two can have one of my sisters' rooms each," Misty offered as though it were already a given.
"Oh that's so awesome of you! Thanks!" Dawn hopped with excitement from her seat and ran towards Misty, tugging her hand. She passed Ash her backpack and instructed him, "Take this upstairs for me would you! I'll see you when we get back!"
"Try not to burn the place down while we're gone, Ash..." Misty requested, her tone thick with sarcasm.
"It's a water gym... kinda hard to burn down Misty," Ash retorted.
"You always manage the impossible," Misty got her final jab in before Dawn almost forced her beyond the threshold of the gym door.
As asked, Ash took Dawn's backpack and placed on the bed of the room whose door was labelled 'Daisy'. It was a girly room, as expected, with yellow being the overall tone with touches of frilly pink and baby blue abound. He looked at the other two rooms available. Lily's room was a mass of hot-pink, causing him to shudder in revulsion. He settled on Violet's room, which was a more gender neutral blue, though it was still filled to the brim with excessively girly objects. He knew he would have to just ignore it. After all, it was better than a room at the Pokémon Center.
That thought reminded him of something he did need to do though. He quickly exited the gym after leaving his backpack in his new temporary room and strode down the street opposite the gym towards a large building with a prominent red letter 'P' overhead. Inside a Nurse Joy stood at her post behind a counter, and a phone booth with a pokéball teleporter next to it. He dialed a number and put the receiver to his ear as he waited for the screen to buzz to life.
"Ash, my boy! Good to see you! I suppose you are calling to exchange Pokémon once again?" The familiar voice of Professor Oak rang in his ear, and a smile came to his face.
"Good to see you too, Professor. I have two in mind I would like to have sent to me."
"Great, tell me which ones," Oak asked, bringing up a computer screen to his left.
Partway across town, the two girls were laughing as they carried bags of clothes and other fruits of their shopping expedition.
"I can't believe someone would send a Charmander against your Gyarados? Cocky much?" Dawn burst between laughs.
Misty replied once her own laughter died down, "Yeah... I mean... I know I shouldn't always judge by types, but this trainer was clearly new, and he had a head bigger than Ketchum when he started out."
Another flurry of giggles escaped Dawn and its contagious nature infected Misty as well, who joined her yet again. At the end of her fit Dawn began to think to herself, Ok, I got her to actually mention Ash. Maybe I can get her to talk about it now.
"It must be great to finally see Ash after all these years right?" Dawn posed her question, trying to be careful not seem like she was prying.
Misty's smile faded somewhat, but she still seemed content and replied, "Yeah, it's been a while. He's a good person; we should've talked more often."
Dawn noticed that she said 'we' as opposed to 'he', causing her to realize that Ash's suspicions may have been credible after all.
"Well... what happened? Did you try to contact him when he went all... loner... on us?" Dawn continued her method of neutral phrased interrogation.
Misty fumbled with her words, trying to find out the right way to form her answer, "Well... I... um... I didn't really try..."
Dawn was a tad confused by this answer. By all accounts, based on what Ash told her during their first journey together, Ash and Misty had kept semi-regular contact. She leaned into it a bit more, "Oh... so did you know he was going to cut himself off before he actually did?"
Misty was surprised by the pointed nature of the question. She realized that Dawn assumed that she and Ash had communicated regularly. She really didn't want to confess her rather selfish reasons to Dawn, but didn't want to lie either. To lie would mean that she would have known Ash was going on that absurd four year journey alone, and had warned no one. To tell the truth would mean that she would reveal her most treasured and painful secret; one that she had tried to suppress to the point of crushing its very existence. At this point, she just didn't want to damage her friendship with Dawn, so she decided the truth would be the better option.
"No... I stopped talking to him when we both about fifteen," Misty reluctantly admitted.
"That's odd... w-?" Dawn began to make the final inquiry when Misty stopped and put her hand on Dawn's shoulder.
Speaking slowly and deliberately, "Dawn... you're my best friend. You're my confidante, and you've been one of my biggest pillars of support... despite having only known you for four years. You're even privy to a few things that I haven't even told Brock, and I've known him almost as long as... Ash" Misty paused and took a deep breath, "But in this... I just can't talk about it. Can we just leave that matter alone?"
"Of course... just answer me one thing. It's not what you think, I swear," Dawn quietly requested, mustering up as much kindness and feeling in her words as she could.
Misty nodded and Dawn proceeded, "Do you still consider Ash your friend."
A small smile crossed Misty's lips and she said almost in a whisper, "Of course."
A similar smile crept up on Dawn's lips and she hugged Misty. Misty bent down some to accommodate the much shorter girl. Dawn whispered to her, "I won't bother you about this anymore, I just wanted to know that one thing."
Misty gave a small sound from atop their hug and whispered, "Thanks."
Ash groaned as he prepared himself for bed later that night. Mature as he was, he was still a man, and the idea of having to sleep in purple floral print sheets was not entirely appealing to him. He thought about asking for a different set for him to sleep in, but realized that in a house full of women as girly as Misty's sisters, there probably wouldn't be anything to suit his own tastes. So he just decided to suck it up and sleep in what he appreciatively found to be a very comfortable bed. Considering that the Pokémon Center's beds were almost as hard as rocks, with broken springs pressing into his back more often than not, this was certainly a step up.
He was about to climb in and retire for the night when a very light knock came at his door. Despite only wearing his boxers and a tee-shirt, he answered the door, expecting to find Misty there wish him a good night of some sort. Instead he found Dawn in her thin pink nightgown.
"Dawn? Wh-," Ash began to ask before Dawn put a finger to his lips and slipped into the room almost surreptitiously. She pressed the door shut behind her with lithe grace and quickly pressed her lips to his in a deep kiss that surprised and excited him. He quickly returned it and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her waist. He could almost feel the skin beneath the gown she wore, and it began stoke the fire deep within him.
She withdrew her mouth from his and sultrily whispered to him, "I hate pretending we aren't together... I just want to kiss you all the time."
Ash dove in for another kiss, to which she eagerly responded, wrapping her arms around his neck. As if by instinct, one of her legs began to snake around his own as well. Feeling this, Ash lowered his hands to the base of her sumptuous rear and lifted her up, causing her to gasp in shock and pleasure. She had to restrain herself from doing so loudly. She didn't want to alarm Misty after all.
Ash finally took a moment to reply, almost sad at wrenching his lips from hers, "You know I hate going without your touch for so long... but even I think this is a bit naughty. We aren't going to do this in Misty's house? Are we?" Ash grew more and more uncertain of her intentions and his own as he carried her to his bed. He pushed himself on top of her, feeling her every curve beneath her silky gown. He couldn't help himself at this point. Her body was magic to him. He planted kisses along her neck, descending to the open 'v' of her coverings.
Dawn sighed in pleasure, but there was a tint of disappointment in the sound as well, "No... I would love to do that... but that would be rude. I just want to feel your body on mine. Share your heat, gah!" She drew a breath in sharply as Ash peeled open the gown and licked her exposed nipple. Ash was making it hard to refuse, but she knew that she was rather loud when they made love. She didn't want Misty to know that she and Ash were doing such dirty things in her sister's bed. She was her best friend. It wouldn't be right.
"I know... you want..." she panted as Ash continued to work between her two hardened buds on her chest, "but... not in Misty's house. I just want to cuddle with you. I want to be able to touch you before I go to sleep, like we have every night since."
Ash groaned, giving a final lick to her right nipple before returning to Dawn's mouth for another passionate kiss. He was disappointed, but Dawn understood since she was as well.
"At least let me finishing undressing you... I promise I won't do anything, but I need to see you and feel your... everything," Ash rumbled needfully, nuzzling against her shoulder.
"Only if you let me do the same," Dawn whispered teasingly. Ash nodded and the blunette splayed herself on the bed before him. He gingerly undid the lacy belt tied around her waist, bringing him that much closer to unveiling the heated woman beneath him. He parted the fabric to reveal her only undergarment, a pair of white panties. He drew himself back, and pulled the panties down, giving himself a front-row seat to the view he loved so much. Her pretty pink folds sat there between her legs, almost tempting him to break the agreement he made seconds ago.
She pulled herself up after allowing him to admire her womanhood for a few moments, and quickly pulled his shirt over his arms. She slid her hands down his toned torso before pulling him back onto the bed. She pulled away his boxers to reveal his quite eager member.
"Someone's excited," Dawn teased, though she was quite tempted to forget the agreement as well and begin stroking him.
"With a blue-haired goddess like you beside me... what did you expect," Ash countered, a smirk growing over his features. He saw how she stared at him, just as he did her.
The two of them pulled themselves under the covers, pulling each other close. They were touching almost everywhere, all except in two places where they wanted it the most. Regardless, the skin contact was both comforting and exciting all at once. Despite their mutual restraint, they were quite happy merely looking into each other's eyes and holding one another tightly. Their intense heat flowed back and forth between them, and they couldn't imagine a more perfect form of intimacy under the circumstances.
Dawn exhaled deeply and spoke to Ash in an amorous voice, "I wish we could stay like this forever. I wish we didn't have to keep pretending we aren't together around others."
Ash's chest tightened somewhat. He knew this was his fault. Despite his intense love for Dawn, he didn't know what everyone he knew would think. Naturally, his mom was ecstatic, but that likely because she was worried Ash would never get a girl after all the years he seemed completely oblivious to them. Brock seemed to be happy enough for them, though he couldn't help but notice his older brother figure had a slight edge, as though he knew something the couple didn't. Ash didn't know the reason for it, but he didn't bring it up. Ash was also concerned with what people would think of him dating someone four years younger than him. More importantly though, was that he was unsure how people would think of him trying to pursue a relationship at the same as he tried to attain his goal of becoming a Pokémon master. Many thought his goal was already unrealistic enough, but adding a relationship to that was a balancing act few would be able to handle. Would they have to stop traveling together eventually to reach their own mutual goals? Would they have to break up?
The thought itself terrified Ash, and perhaps it was of some comfort that no one knowing about it meant that no one could judge or criticize. Yet he hated making Dawn keep it a secret.
"I'm... sorry Dawn. I shouldn't be making you do that."
"It's ok, I agreed-,"
"No it's not," his voice growing a bit serious now, "It's selfish. I know how much you want to tell people. You've only been able to tell your mother, though frankly it didn't surprise her. And you know what. It's been about three months now." His voice grew softer again, "Maybe we should start telling people. It's a sign that our relationship is strong, and we can handle whatever judgements people throw at us."
Dawn's eyes gleamed with love and appreciation and she gave Ash a delicate, chaste kiss. She smiled and told him, "Ash... you really are grown up aren't you."
"Yeah, who would've thought," Ash rolled his eyes as the sarcasm dripped from his mouth.
Dawn giggled and pulled her head to his. They could feel their breath on each other's faces, and they loved it.
"Oh I found something out today," Dawn informed her lover, "Remember you were concerned about Misty not liking you anymore."
"Yeah... I'm not sure she was my friend since I was never able to talk to her or see her," Ash moped, his cheery demeanour fading at the new topic.
"Well, she wouldn't tell me everything, like why she wouldn't take your calls and whatnot, but she did tell me one thing," Dawn paused as Ash opened his eyes to look at her, seeing a face of hope, "She's still your friend, and certainly seems to care about you."
An expression of relief spread itself over his face, "Great. Thanks for telling me. That's so good to hear. She's my oldest friend, and I would've hated to lose that."
"I'm glad too. We both have a best friend in the same person!" Dawn cheered quietly, tightening her grip on Ash. He reciprocated, pulling her closer to him, causing more skin to touch, and giving them greater affection for one another.
"Love you, Ash," Dawn sang sweetly as she began to drift asleep.
"Love you too... my Northern Light," Ash spoke dreamily.
Dawn let out a small chuckle, "That's sweet... I like that. Say it again."
"My Northern Light," Ash reiterated gently, kissing her again before dozing off.
He's so thoughtful, and so courageous. He's actually going to let me tell people about us. I know it's scary admitting to the world that we're together. But don't worry, my sweet Ash, no matter what they say, we'll always love each other.
Such were Dawn's last conscious thoughts as she finally allowed sleep to take her for that night, cuddled against the warm, strong body of the man who was the champion of her heart.