This chapter is rated T for sexual references. I didn't want to change the rating so fast but turns out I can't control what I write anymore. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
B: BROCK
"Are you gonna deal with that?"
Misty looked up from her magazine, featuring a water-type pokémon with a frilly collar balancing a beach ball on its nose. She spared a quick glance at the scene that Ash was pointing to, and went back to her reading. "Nope."
Ash was getting antsy. Brock hadn't even made it to the blonde woman walking past them on the beach who was, unsurprisingly, too old for him, and Misty didn't seem intent on doing a thing to stop it. It was a break from the norm, and it made Ash anxious – he was afraid of what the doctor-in-training would do if he were left to his own devices.
"Then who's gonna stop him?" Ash asked.
Misty looked up from her magazine again, a little more annoyed this time. "Where's Croagunk?"
"In the Pokémon Centre."
"He'll be here."
Misty again returned to her magazine, while Ash watched his friend in horror as he finally made his way to the woman and got down on one knee. Ash decided he'd had enough. Brock's faithful poison-type pokémon was nowhere to be seen, so Ash stomped over to the couple himself.
"I've been to four regions and I couldn't find a girl as beautiful as you!" Brock was saying, and Ash reached over and yanked at his ear.
"And now you can stop looking," Ash muttered, pulling him away.
Misty was watching him as he dumped a sulking Brock on their beach blanket, and took his seat on the chair next to her. "Wow, Ash," she said, "That was actually pretty impressive."
Ash felt a little heat rise to his cheeks before he looked away, crossing his arms over his chest. "Someone had to do it."
"Hm." He could feel her continue to look at him for a while. "Well, thanks."
"You're welcome." He turned to look at her again, but she was engrossed in whatever she was reading.
A groan came from his other side, and Ash turned to see Brock still moping about the earlier incident. "Did you have to pull my ear so hard?"
Ash chuckled. "I'm sure you've felt worse."
"You're stronger than Misty now, you know." Brock rubbed the sore area, a deep scowl on his face. "Misty doesn't have your biceps. All her strength goes into her thighs."
"Excuse me?" In a flash, Misty was out of her seat with her hands on her hips, magazine cast aside. "What were you saying about my thighs?"
"I-I'm saying they're strong! You're a swimmer!"
Misty stared him down for a few more seconds before returning to her seat. "You're damn right I am."
They sat in silence for the next two minutes, because Misty had nothing more to say, Brock was too scared to say anything, and Ash didn't trust himself to speak up after a conversation about Misty's strong thighs. His thoughts would linger on various things about Misty more and more often lately. Brock had only said it was "hormones", which made sense because he was seventeen and his mother had told him they should've caught up with him by now. But if his hormones were making him think about Misty more, did that mean he was attracted to her?
Yeuch. Too much thinking.
Ash took a quick peak at the ocean just ahead of them, where their pokémon were playing together. It'd been a while since Ash had sat by and relaxed, without having anything else on his agenda, and he wanted to make the most of it. He shut his eyes, soaking in the rays, when he felt a sudden shadow block the sun.
"Ash Ketchum?" Slowly, he peeled an eye open to find a tall, imposing female figure stand in front of him. It'd been several years since he'd last seen her, but her hair was just as distinctive as he remembered it.
He rose, ready to greet her, but someone beat him to it.
"A-ah, you must know tail whip because your beauty leaves me defenceless!" Brock blurted out, rushing to his feet, before he paused. "Lucy?"
"B-Brock?"
He could sense Misty, who was beside him, twitching and ready to move forward, when the unthinkable happened – Lucy giggled.
"Oh …" The woman clasped her hands together in front of her chest, a small flush of pink on her cheeks, "Did you mean that?"
"Mean what?" Brock scratched his hair, before he raised an eyebrow. "Oh! Of course I did! You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen!"
As Lucy's blush deepened, Misty leaned to the side, whispering so only Ash could hear, "What just happened? Is that Pike Queen Lucy?"
"Uh, yeah." Ash rubbed the back of his neck. "I had to battle her for the Luck Symbol in the Battle Frontier. But I don't remember … this."
She shrugged. "Not that you would if anything happened, anyway."
"Hey! I might've been dense, but at least I always knew what Brock was up to."
"You're still dense, Ash."
"You know what –"
"Hey, guys!" They stopped immediately, moment killed along with any other irritation Ash was feeling, as they faced Brock. "Lucy and I were heading out to get ice cream. Wanna come along?"
"Ice cream?" Ash asked, "I'm always up for –"
"Actually," Misty cut in, pulling Ash back by the elbow, "We're tired. But you guys go on ahead!"
"Cool," Brock said, as Lucy looped an arm through his, "I'll see you guys at the hotel?"
"Sure! Have fun!"
Once they were far enough that Ash was sure they wouldn't hear, he yanked his arm away from Misty. "What the hell was that for? I wanted ice cream!"
"And they wanted alone time," Misty rolled her eyes. "Ash, Brock only asked because he was being nice. He didn't really want us along."
"It's just us. Why does Brock have to be nice?"
"I suppose he's trying to impress Lucy."
"Why? It's not like he's ever involved us when he's flirting with girls before."
He received an incredulous look from Misty in response, and he placed his hands on his hips and pouted. He still wanted an answer. Misty sighed.
"He just asked her out on a date."
Ash blinked a few times. "Brock has a date?"
"Well, he asked her out."
"But Brock's gotten ice cream with us plenty of times. Were we on a date with him?"
"Don't be stupid, Ash."
"I've gotten ice cream with you plenty of times. Were those dates?"
Misty pushed him with a little more force than she normally did, forcing him to stumble backwards into his beach chair. He looked up at her, mouth forming a small 'o', as she crossed her arms and turned away from him. It'd been a while since she'd been this violent with him – years even. As they'd grown older, they'd resorted to verbal bickering rather than anything physical.
"That hurt," he complained.
"Don't be a baby," she huffed, slipping her sandals off and placing them neatly next to her chair. "I'm going to check on the pokémon. They must be hungry after all that playing."
"I'll come with you," Ash said, starting to get up, but he was pushed back into his seat again. "Hey!"
"You're staying right here," she grumbled.
"What's your problem anyway?" Ash glared, and then something clicked in his head. "Is the idea of going out on a date with me that bad?"
Misty flashed him a started look, and Ash regretted opening his mouth. He'd spoken without thinking. He didn't even know why he'd brought it up. It was a passing comment, but some part of his subconscious had decided to stay fixated on it. And he supposed that same part of his brain thought Misty was thinking about it too, but judging from the look on her face, she obviously hadn't been.
At least, that was what Ash decided.
"Do you think it's a bad idea?" Misty finally managed.
"Obviously," Ash replied, a little too quickly.
Her eyes narrowed. "Really."
"Uh …" He gulped. He'd always been a terrible liar. He'd never cared because he'd never felt the need to lie, but at that moment, with Misty's eyes trained on him and waiting for an explanation, Ash knew that the universe had let him down.
He rubbed the bottom of his nose, eyes looking everywhere but at the girl in front of him. "Well … it can't be that bad, can it? I-I mean, we've hung out plenty of times, a-and we have a lot of fun together, right? At least … I uh … I like spending time with you. That's what dates are, right?"
Misty had a look on her face that was completely unreadable. There was no sign of any kind of emotion on her face, and it was making him nervous. "Yeah," she said, "That's what dates are."
"Yeah," he finished lamely. He was ready to suggest heading back to their hotel, if only to avoid the situation getting any more awkward, but his feet wouldn't budge. "So … whaddaya say?"
She blinked. "What?"
What he really wanted to do was yell "SIKE!" and run far, far away, and pretend none of this ever happened. But he supposed he was past the point of being in control of his own words and actions now, and he might as well ride the wave till it all came crashing down. "Wanna go on a date with me?"
Misty's cheeks grew a little pink, and Ash took comfort in the fact that he was making her as uncomfortable as he was. "Y-you can't just ask a friend out on a date like that. There are … implications."
"I know." He shifted in his seat, pointedly looking at the ground. "I'm … w-well, I'm okay with them i-if you are."
He didn't know where that came from; it was certainly news to him. Not even fifteen minutes ago Ash wasn't even sure if he liked Misty like that, and here he was asking her out on a date.
… But maybe he was lying to himself, and he was aware that he was attracted to her. He certainly thought she was pretty all those years ago at that festival at Maiden's Peak, and these days he thought she looked good without even trying. He used to secretly like it when she would cling to him every time she got scared. He'd never liked the idea of Misty going out with someone else, and his calls with her always gave him a funny feeling in his stomach.
He was forced to look up when she took a seat on the chair next to him, her legs hanging out the side so she was facing him. Her face was flushed much like Lucy's had been earlier and she was biting her lip, looking down at her feet, and Ash found all this far too endearing for comfort.
"I don't mind," she said, finally catching his eye.
"You don't?" he breathed.
"Naw," she smiled, and Ash let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "We're alone now, anyway. And we're hanging out."
"Right!" He ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it a little bit. "So, um … this is a date, then?"
"Sure." She reached out and punched him lightly in the shoulder. "You know, I'm surprised you actually know what a date is."
He snapped out any nervousness he had, suddenly very offended. "Hey!"
She only laughed. She rose to her feet and held out a hand to him. "Wanna go out to the water?"
"Sure," Ash shrugged, taking her hand and letting her pull him up. He was about to kick his sandals off when she leaned up and placed a light peck on his cheek. She squeezed his hand before letting go, turning away and rushing towards their pokémon.
"Last one there's a rotten egg!" she yelled, goading Ash to get to his feet and run after her.
ooOOoo
It was well past dinnertime by the time they stumbled back into their hotel room. Brock sat on the bed, arms crossed and looking very unimpressed.
"Brock?" Ash asked, "You're here already?"
"I am," he nodded, "Why weren't you two answering your calls?"
"Oh!" They jumped, both whipping out their pokégear. Ash noted seventeen missed calls, and he suddenly felt guilty. "Sorry," he said, "We didn't realise you'd be back for dinner."
"I didn't want to leave you guys hungry."
"Ash bought me dinner," Misty said, prompting Brock to finally look down as their intertwined hands. He jumped off the bed; his eyebrows could've hit the roof.
"You … you guys got together?"
Ash felt the blood rush to his cheeks, but he boldly pulled Misty closer to him anyway. "Well, we did go on a date, so … yeah. Is that okay?"
"Is that okay?! Do you know how long I've been trying to make this happen?"
"… You have?"
"Of course I have! I wasn't about to put up with all those years of sexual tension for nothing!"
"Sexual tension?!" Misty spat, and Ash suddenly inched away from her.
"Sorry, denial. You guys are way too young to be having sex, by the way. Wait till you're at least twenty-five. And married."
Misty hid her face behind her hands. "Brock …"
Brock scratched his chin. "I think that just about covers what Delia wanted me to say. Anyway, now that that's out of the way – forget getting married! You guys are plenty old enough. Just give me a warning if you mean to get down to business, okay? Put a sock on the door or something, I can scram. I can hang out with Lucy!"
"Brock," Ash started weakly, but Misty beat him to it.
"Please stop talking," she groaned, running a hand through her hair.
"Sorry," Brock chuckled, "I'm just excited for you guys, you know? It's been a long time coming." He slumped a little. "I just wish I could've helped."
"But you did help!" Ash exclaimed.
"Huh?"
"Yeah, if it wasn't for you and Lucy, I probably would've never asked Misty out."
"Yeah," Misty grinned, "So thanks, Brock."
Brock's lower lip wobbled a little, before he launched himself forward, wrapping his arms around both of them. "You're welcome! I can't believe you guys are growing up so fast!"
"Okay, okay!" they laughed, twisting and fidgeting under his grip until he let them go.
"Well," he said, ushering them towards the small kitchenette that came with their room, "I did make all this food, if you guys are still hungry."
Ash, of course, was always hungry and wasn't about to turn down more food. Misty agreed, and they sat themselves down while Brock ladled stew into a pair of bowls.
"And," he added, "I want to hear all the details about your date."