What's this? Two stories in one day?! Well...I have to play catch up, and I'll be playing catch up again after tomorrow. The story and the art for Day 6 aren't done.
"But EP, isn't THIS Day 6?"
Ahh, excellent observation. Yes, it is Day 6. But we're not done with Day 6, so we're giving you Day 7's theme to make up for it until it is done. The theme is "Life as a couple," so prepare for some insight on the life of Ash and Misty Ketchum. With art as usual from HollyLu on her Tumblr. Go see it! I own nothing except the story.
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Do you know what it's like to be married? What it's like to share your life with another person? It's a difficult endeavor and there is - unfortunately - no such thing as a perfect relationship. There are always a few lows to go with the highs, always cons to go with the pros, and fights that happen for whatever reason to match the times of joy.
The key to a successful relationship is communication, compromise and above all, never letting the love shared between the two people die out. Not necessarily the romantic, passionate love, but the love shared between best friends that just can't imagine living without each other despite all odds. Take for example the lives of Ash and Misty Ketchum, two newlyweds who have quickly found out that no matter how much they love each other, married life is no bed of roses.
Or waterflowers, as the case may be.
Ever since their childhood days, the two bickered and fought over every little thing, and guess what? In the end they always went back to being best friends, because that was just how they worked, and it carried over into their marriage and their new everyday lives.
Their days start off simple enough, they wake up with smiles on their faces and get ready for what's ahead. For Misty, it's another day as the Gym Leader of Cerulean City. For Ash, it's training and working towards his long-term goal of becoming a Pokémon Master, while simultaneously working as the newest Frontier Brain for Kanto's Battle Frontier. There are bills to pay after all, and a Gym Leader's salary isn't really enough to raise a family, so Ash took it upon himself to take the ever-standing offer to become a Frontier Brain to help make ends meet.
On days when they're feeling particularly...amorous, like newlywed couples tend to be, they may elect to take a shower together and...revel in each other, as newlywed couples tend to do. But this is Ash and Misty, and anyone who knows them knows that this state of bliss won't last for long. Eventually something will happen that will get them bickering and pretty darn close to each other's throats, and not even in a good way.
That starts almost immediately after their morning shower.
Once they're dried off it goes from an intimate moment to a mad dash for the lone sink as they fight to see who gets first dibs on using the all too small appliance. Naturally, this turns into a shoving match between them with some muffled shouts of frustration as Misty tries to brush her teeth while her elbows fly to keep her husband from wasting precious time with his irrational idea that he needs to shave despite not having any hair whatsoever, and sometimes she makes contact with his nose leading to an instant victor, at the cost of some wounded pride and maybe even a little blood.
Not that it lasts of course, it's just how these two work.
But you know the craziest thing about marrying your best friend? It's that no matter how much you think you know the other person, there's still plenty more to learn, and it isn't always good things. Shortly after they married, both Ash and Misty found out things about each other that drives them absolutely crazy.
For Misty, there are only three things in the world she fears, and everyone knows them. Carrots, peppers and bugs are never to set foot in their house under any circumstances, unless it's one of Ash's Pokémon. That was a compromise Ash had to make since he had come to love both vegetables.
But there are a lot more things that makes Misty angry, and one of the things she didn't see coming was Ash's horrible habit of drinking...directly from the milk carton. The first morning she caught him chugging down milk from the carton, she froze in place and her brain stopped processing for a moment...until she screamed.
Ash nearly shot milk out of his nose from the shock, and for the next five minutes he endured a tirade from his wife about why drinking from the carton is not only a thousand different kinds of wrong, but it's also gross beyond belief. It only drove Misty even more crazy when her points about what happens when company comes over and the disgusting issue of backwash seemed to fly right over her husband's thick head. She stormed out of the kitchen with a huff and spent the next couple of hours trying to calm herself down. Ash just put the milk away and decided to get on with his morning training.
Of course, she got over it after a while, it was just how they worked.
Then there are some things Misty does that throws off Ash's groove, which he didn't realize she did until they started living together full time. Ash Ketchum was never known as the most organized individual in the world, but he somehow always knew what he was doing and where whatever he needed at the time was. His room growing up - when it wasn't being cleaned by his mother or Mr. Mime - was what one might call a disaster zone, with phrases like "it looks like a tornado came through here" being thrown around on a regular basis. But he always knew where everything was and he liked it that way.
And shortly after their marriage, Ash found out Misty was a neat freak. It had been such a shock to his system too. He was just coming in after a hard morning of training with Pikachu and his recently evolved Garchomp, and he was walking upstairs to his home office to check for any messages from Scott - the owner of the Kanto Battle Frontier - about potential challengers and also to catch up on some overdue paperwork...Ash hated paperwork more than anything else and Scott had gotten on him more than once about his lackadaisical approach towards getting it done.
He had reached the final step and that's when he felt a chill go down his spine. His office, which at one point had everything in a place where he knew where it was, was now almost spotless. The floor was clean, cabinets were closed and any laundry that had piled up was mysteriously absent...someone had come into his office and committed a neatness! Then his eyes caught the ever-familiar (and undeniably hot, he never failed to note no matter what) figure of his wife Misty standing in front of his desk, and a cold sweat formed on his brow.
She was on the phone talking to someone - presumably his mother - and in her hands was a stack of papers that she was in the process of straightening out. She had cleaned his desk, ruining his system and forcing him to find everything all over again before Scott inevitably called him again to ask for a status report. So what else could he do but scream?
Misty nearly dropped the phone from the shock, and for the next five minutes she endured a rant - after Delia had decided to hang up after hearing her son's outburst of course - from her husband about why moving stuff around without asking him is not only a thousand different kinds of wrong, but it also throws his whole way of thinking off. It only drove Ash even more crazy when his points about how his system worked seemed to fly right over his wife's hot head and she argued that his system wasn't really a system. He stormed out of the office with a huff and spent the next couple of hours trying to explain to Scott why his next report would be late this time. Misty just sighed and decided to head to the Gym to get her day started.
Of course, he got over it after a while, it was just how they worked.
Yes they regularly got into arguments with each other, yes they got on each other's last nerve on a daily - and sometimes even hourly basis, but what couple doesn't get into battles like this? That's just the reality of love and marriage, it's not easy, and it comes with a lot of stress and sometimes even anger, but do you know why Ash and Misty are the perfect example of what a marriage should look like? Because even after all the battles, the bickering and the arguing and sometimes even unbridled rage...when the day ends and they find themselves alone together, they make up and spend some quality time together, whether it's as best friends or lovers - and sometimes even both.
No matter how often they fight, they both know beyond the shadow of a doubt that they love each other with their whole hearts, and when the going gets tough, there's no one they can count on more than each other. Once the day's tasks are over, they cuddle up on the couch and let the stress melt away in each other's loving embrace.
It's really a beautiful thing to see when you think about it. Here are two people who - despite all odds - have an undying commitment and devotion to one another. That kind of relationship is almost unheard of in today's day and age, and here are Ash and Misty Ketchum, two people who can't see themselves with anyone else.
They're partners in battle, partners in life, and most importantly they'll be partners until death do they part. That is what relationships and marriage is all about. Loving each other, comforting each other, solving problems together and getting through whatever challenges life throws at you as a team. That fits Ash and Misty to a tee.
The dedication they have for each other, emotionally, mentally and yes, even physically, is unmatched in this world. And when the lights go out and they're left alone, they get to revel in each other making the problems of life disappear entirely. Well, except for when one specific phrase occasionally gets thrown out and ruins Ash's night.
"Not tonight Ash, I have a headache."
But he'll get over it, just like they get over everything else. After all, it's just how they work.
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A/N: So yeah, that's it for now. Sorry I don't have everything ready, but I got sidetracked. I'll try to have the last theme up as soon as I can though. In the meantime, happy Pokeshipping week!