Spitfire, Chapter 22: Put the Magic on

After nearly an hour of Ash sitting in the same position at the park a little ways from the mall, Dawn, who had previously been lounging in the grass with Buneary, Pikachu, and Piplup cradled around her napped, finally snapped.

"Is this really that surprising? You've been zoned out for the last hour!" Dawn complained while shaking her foot at him. She didn't move from her relaxation, though, having already yelled at him a few times with little success, she didn't think this one would be any more successful. Waiting a few moments for a reply, she turned her gaze over to Ash, and grumbled. The same as before.

He sat cross legged in the grass, beneath a tree with his hat on crooked. His mouth hung ajar and eyes were wide and unblinking in a permanent state of shock. His fingers gripped violently around the green grass; lost in his own mind. After she dragged him out of the store, he had remained so stoic that Dawn thought he was joking.

But of course, this was Ash that she was talking about. She wouldn't be surprised if he stayed like that for an entire year. Her face fell at the thought and she sat up quickly, toppling the pokemon around her onto the ground. She approached the older trainer and waved her hand in his face a few times, and then snapped her finger. Garnering no response, she tugged on his ear so that she was sure it was open and then yelled loudly.

"WAKE UP!"

"Ahh!" Ash panicked, his dumbstruck face gone by the violent turmoil that was Dawn's voice echoing into his ears. He fell over, cradling his sore ear while Dawn stood tall with her arms crossed.

"I'm awake..." He groaned flatfooted, but went limp on the grass. He was far from awake; physically sitting in front of Dawn, but mentally he had taken a long vacation. At least he was able to form a coherent sentence now; unlike the incoherent babble from the mall. Dawn attempted idea number two.

"Hey Ash, let's have a battle!" She said happily wile raising her finger. At the mention of battle, Ash perked right up, jumping to his feet in a few seconds with stars in his eyes.

"Alright! Where?" he chanted happily while Dawn's eyebrow twitched, none-to-impressed.

After a moment, her mouth twitched, "Why don't we go ask Misty." Dawn suggested, and then that same defeated look pranced into Ash's eyes, but before he could flop back onto the ground, Dawn caught him and shook him violently.

"Don't you die on me again Ash!"

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

After running into Dawn, the shopping trip was a bust. Pallet town didn't really have a lot to offer in regards to sales, and their clothes were fairly limited—and frankly, aside from a select few trainer stores; everything was grandma-ish. Walking beside Misty, May had purchased a new backpack from their last stop of the morning and was sporting the black and orange multipocket hiking bag proudly on her back.

Misty was slightly envious, but couldn't say she had any need for a bag of such caliber anymore, her simple shoulder bag did the work wonderfully. She eyed May while she gnawed on her second sandwich from lunch; amazed at how much May could pack away. Unlike Misty, May ate lots and never seemed to gain a pound; except, maybe, in the bust and butt area. Slightly envious, Misty rolled her eyes to the path ahead that would lead back to the Ketchum Residence. However, there was something still bothering the red head. Dawn was acting so suspiciously at the store, like she was attempting to hide something, and the inclusion of Pikachu being there was twice as fishy. Ash rarely let another person take Pikachu out; no matter how close they were. She pawed at the ends of her gloves while wracking her brain. May had started to talk none-stop about Drew a little over thirty minutes ago; and while Misty was happy for the brunette, she was also tired of hearing about it.

"May, did you think Dawn was acting weird?" Misty asked suddenly, interrupted May's train of thought while she tossed the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth. She tilted her head thoughtfully, but returned a smile to Misty.

"No, she seemed perfectly normal to me."
"So...she usually asks that many questions?" Misty asked which kicking a stray pebble that crossed her path.

May shrugged while pulling her gloves back over her fingers, "She did say that she just wanted to get to know you better."

"But doesn't 'getting to know' someone consist of talking about that person; not about, you know, Ash?" Skeptically, Misty's eyebrows rose while she crossed her arms.

"Meh, I wouldn't worry about it, maybe she didn't know what to talk about?" May offered happily, but Misty shook her head.

"May...it's Dawn. She always has a lot to talk about."

"Why does it bother you so much; was it the love thing? You know we were just joking." May said while nudging Misty on the arm. She winced painfully, feeling a sting in her heart and a blush on her face.

"No; it's not that." She managed, "It's just...well, never mind, I guess it doesn't matter." Carefully rounding the fence corner that would take them to Ash's house. The duo saw Tracey and Gary standing at the porch, having just made their way from Professor Oak's lab. Gary was wearing a pair of dark teal pants, and a black shirt with a popped collar; while Tracey was clad in his normal green-shirt, tan pants attire; a look he only got away with when Daisy wasn't around.

"Hey, Misty!" Gary announced, rather happily while he turned to face the red head. She offered a smug grin in return.

"Hey Gary, how's your head?" She returned while May waved to indicate her presence there.

"It could be worse." He laughed nervously while opening the door to let them all inside. While Misty and May followed him inside, Tracey tugged at Misty's elbow while she entered, keeping her outside.

"Uh, what's up Tracey?" she asked skeptically while he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I just needed to talk with you about something." May and Gary turned at him simultaneously as Misty stepped back outside to speak with the artist; waving the duo on inside while shutting the front door.

She looked expectantly at Tracey, who rubbed his hands together in return; "About what we talked about last night..." He mumbled and Misty had to think back to recall. She tapped her finger against her chin and snapped her finger in recollection.

"Your engagement." She suggested and Tracey nodded nervously.

"I..I uh, called Daisy and she's pretty upset that I told you without her.." He pulled on his collar, indicating that he was anxious so Misty put her hands on his shoulders, trying to sooth the older companion.

"It's alright Tracey, I'll talk to her."

His eyes lit up, "You mean it?"

"Of course, what else are future sister-in-law's for?" She grumbled coarsely while stepping back into the house with Tracey on her heels. That officially made two people that she had to talk to; in varying orders hopefully. While she took her shoes off at the entrance of the house and tossed her back pack onto the floor, she and Tracey separated. May had jumped into the living room where she sat beside Drew, and started talking with Max in an excited tone.

Misty wouldn't lie; she was excited for May. She and Drew matched so perfectly it was scary. The way that Drew's arm fell neatly over the coordinators shoulder and she leaned in just enough to show their connection... Misty sighed, if only her situation could have been solved as easily. Stepping away from the living room, she pulled out her gear phone and punched in a few numbers while her stomach rumble. She walked into the kitchen, that appeared to be empty upon first glance while placing the phone to her ear to listen to the ringer. Daisy was notorious for not answering calls—she wouldn't be surprised if today wasn't any different. After reaching her older sisters voice mail, Misty snapped the phone shut, and tucked it away into her pocket while she approached the refrigerator.

After her drinking last night, she didn't think the greasy take-out food joints would sit well in her stomach, and she wasn't going to pay ten dollars for a slice of bread or fancy yogurt. Instead, she scrounged around the refrigerator shelves, pushing some left overs out of the way until she found a small package of coconut flavored yogurt. She stuck out her tongue as it was not the best choice of flavors; but anything was better than the stomach cramps she was getting from skipping breakfast. As she pulled away to shut the refrigerator door; blue eyes stared directly at her.

"Shit!" Startled, she threw her yogurt cup into the air while taking a few steps back. When her eyes focused on the blonde haired subject before her, however; the fear escaped her, and she extended her hand to catch the yogurt like a professional. "Oh, it's you." Misty coughed.

Serena shifted her gaze around the room, and then back at Misty; she was wearing an apron again, and now that Misty was focused on her 'hostile' environment, she could smell cookies in the oven. God damn her and her rivalry with Serena; she could have been having cookies. She grumbled inwardly, but didn't let her facade drop on the outside.

"What's wrong now?" Misty suggested while peeling off the top of her container, Serena didn't speak at first; until she twiddled her fingers.

"When you were out...you didn't by chance see Dawn and Ash, did you?" her voice full of worry, Misty couldn't help but take a sort of sadistic pleasure from listening to Serena. She twisted her mouth into a smile, and licked her lips.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't." Misty chanted, causing Serena to place her hands against her waist in frustration.

"It was just a question." she admit, but her frustration quickly died down as she returned to her cookie-making business. Misty pulled out a chair at the table, and flopped down onto it while choking back her yogurt with a silver spoon. Not quite sure why she didn't just leave the room; she figured it must have been a pride thing. To leave would mean that Serena won—scared her away; but Misty wasn't easily scared!

"Did Dawn seem weird when you saw her?" Serena asked, as if knowing from Misty's tone of voice that she had run into the blue-haired girl. Damn it, asking questions that Misty wanted to know as well. Misty took the bait and turned to face Serena; thinking that if she didn't like where the conversation was going, she could always just leave.

"A little, why?"

"She seemed overly giddy about something. I wonder if she likes Ash, too?" Serena mused unhappily while scooping the rest of the batter into dollops of goo onto a warm baking pan. Misty scrunched her face.

While reading the back of the yogurt cup, Misty replied: "No, she made it pretty clear that it's platonic."

"Just seems a little weird that she would leave with him only fifteen minutes after you and May left, it was almost like she wanted to follow you..." Serena ticked tiredly, hopelessly, while opening the oven and sliding the last pan of cookies into the oven.

Misty's eyes fell onto the clock above the stove, but her face had grown pale white when Serena looked at her. The yogurt cup which had been so interesting moments ago fell limp from her fingers tips. Hadn't Dawn said she brought Pikachu with her on a... oh, oh no. That meant that Ash had to have been... OH NO. Rage screamed in all directions of her mind and she shook briefly.

"Dawn what now?!" she shrieked, accidentally knocking over her chair during her rise.