Yesterday's Tomorrow

Seven – Someday

Pokeshipping Day 7 Theme: Future

Universe: 'The Road You Choose' Universe

...

"I'll be ready in a minute!"

"Yup."

Misty paused at the uninterested reply, her hand resting by her ear where she was putting her earring in. They were running really late, and normally Ash whined and groaned when she was 'acting like her sisters and taking too much time' to get ready. She secured her earring and walked down the short hallway to the living room of the 'penthouse' (as her sisters insisted on calling it) that was their living area in the gym. She expected to see her boyfriend being his normal antsy self, fidgeting with the tie that she had already done twice for him. What she found was much stranger.

He was upside down on the couch, long legs over the back of it, while his bored eyes were focused on some silly game show called 'Are You Smarter Than An Abra?'. The red dress shirt that he was wearing was all wrinkled, the coat tossed aside on the floor.

"I can't leave you anywhere, can I?" Misty leaned over the back of the couch and looked at him, struggling to keep the smile off of her face. She wanted to appear stern, but it was just too difficult.

Ash tilted his head up from the TV and looked at her. He blinked and stared at her, that same awestruck expression that he had when they were eleven and he saw her in a kimono for the first time. Her sparkly navy dress was completely different from that, they were different from back then, but the look still made her feel warm in a good way. He might not have been the best at using his words to convey his thoughts, but his eyes always spoke the truth.

Ash shook his head and and flipped himself over to roll off of the couch, apparently predicting that he'd have to do this by moving the table earlier. He stood up and put his hand to his head. "Blood rush. Oh god."

"That's what you get for watching tv upside down," Misty rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Now come on before my sisters come upstairs and start whining about why we're not down at their silly New Years party."

"Do we have to?" There was the whining she was expecting.

"Yes we have to. That was part of the deal. We were at your house for Christmas, so we're here for New Years." She poked his chest gently. "You promised."

"I know, I know," Ash sighed, reaching for his jacket and pulling it on because Arceus forbid one of her older sister caught him 'underdressed'. He got the chance to talk to them from time to time when he called and was waiting for Misty. He got along with them, but those three also terrified him like no one else.

"Besides," Misty spoke up brightly, running her fingers through her wavy hair. "I don't want to stay that long either. They see us there, then we can leave, eat pizza, watch movies, and be lazy loafs for the rest of the right."

"You're awesome." Ash smiled at her broadly, reaching out and wrapping his arm around her waist. Misty laughed and the two of them walked down from her apartment.

When the three elder Waterflower sisters did something, they went all out. Hard covers had been brought out over the pools so that people could walk over them, the pokemon moved to the other ones for the night. Pretty much everyone in Cerulean City was invited to come, and it looked like almost everyone did.

Music blasted through the massive gym, reverberating off of the bleachers and back down to the mingling people , most not even realizing that they were standing on a retractable floor that led to a very deep pool. Even if they did, it didn't matter. They were all having fun laughing, dancing, talking and just generally being together.

Of course, Misty had been fretting over that floor all day. She could just see it collapsing and taking all of the people in their fancy clothes down into the water. The people who installed the retractable floor assured her that it could hold up more than a hundred Snorlax, but she was still a bit paranoid.

"You look lonely," A young man with blond hair said, sliding up to her side. "May I have this dance?"

The redhead raised an eyebrow because the song was upbeat and definitely not something she wanted to dance to with anyone. She shook her head and said, "Sorry. I'm here with my boyfriend." Clearly this guy didn't even realize who she was, because she made it very clear that she wasn't available.

"Oh? Where is he then?"

That was a very good question. Misty frowned, looking around for her raven-haired boyfriend who claimed that he was just going to get a drink a little while ago and had yet to come back. Maybe he was just getting tired of reassuring her that, no the floor would not collapse, and no that stupid disco ball that her sisters insisted they needed wouldn't fall.

Finally, she caught sight of him and laughed, knowing exactly what held him up. It was only after she was halfway to where he was that Misty realized she just rudely left that the blond man, but there was no point in going back.

Ash was taking sips from his cup, looking clearly uncomfortable as he tried to edge away from her sisters. Every time he tried, either Lily or Violet, who were on opposite sides of him, would grab his arm to keep him still. His eyes met hers and Misty almost laughed at the pleading expression in them.

Deciding to come to his rescue, Misty walked over and not-so-subtly worked her way in between him and Violet. "I thought you got lost. What's going on?" She smiled at her sisters, an expression that wasn't so much happy as it was a promise of violence.

"We were just asking Ash how his Christmas was," Lily said innocently.

"Uh huh," Misty clearly didn't believe them, especially with the way Ash glared at them. "I told you not to traumatize him."

"Oh he doesn't mind," Daisy waved her off. "Right Ash? Besides, we kinda come with you as a package deal so he just has to...well...deal."

His cheeks went red at the implication, and Misty groaned. She grabbed his arm, tugging him with her across the crowded gym. "Come on, we're going to dance.

"That's a horrible idea." Ash sounded slightly mortified. "You know I can't dance."

"Didn't your mom make you learn?"

"I'm pretty sure you were never supposed to mention that again." The teenager pouted at her. "All it taught me was how not to step on your feet anyway."

Shaking her head with amusement, Misty turned to face him, throwing her arms around his shoulders and tugging him close, smiling when he placed his hands on her back. "See, now just sway. You can do that, right?"

"I guess." He still clearly wasn't happy.

"What would we be doing back at Pallet Town? Like, what's New Years like there?" That was one thing she had never experienced herself. She had spent several New Years with Ash when they were traveling, but she never got to experience it at his home.

"Nothing like this. Mom likes us to dress up nice and then the Oaks and the Greens would come over, a few other people." He shrugged, appearing a bit embarrassed by that fact.

To some people, it might have sounded kind a lame thing to do on New Years, but Misty had grown up with these big obnoxious parties. "I think it sounds nice. I think I'd like to go to Pallet next year instead of you coming here." She smiled broadly. "I'll just come down for Christmas and stay."

"I'm sure your sisters would be happy with that." He didn't oppose the idea, because it sounded appealing to him too.

Misty rolled her eyes and motioned to where she her sisters were, all with their dates. "They all have boyfriends, and who knows how that will work out by next year. Daisy will have Tracey to cling onto." She had to admit, the Pokmon Watcher was doing a pretty good job at not being awkward about getting introduced to every second person that they ran into. "Vi has her movie-star boyfriend." She pointed towards where the blue-haired woman was dancing with a tall, muscular man with dark skin and a charming smile. "And Lily...well Lily has her...boyfriend."

"He's a little old," Ash conceded, looking to where Lily was laughing with the man that she brought with her. Saying he was a little old in comparison was kind of an understatement. He had to be at least 45 but that might have been generous.

Misty rolled her eyes and looked back up at him. In order to hear each other, they had to stand so close that her nose brushed against his. She smiled and said, "You know, this might be the last year I'm with my sisters on New Years, and I don't even want to be here."

"Then lets go steal that pizza you mentioned earlier," Ash urged her because he really didn't want to be there either. "We'll swipe it right out of the kitchen and run back upstairs. We can watch the countdown in Goldenrod." That celebration was an even bigger one than this.

The redhead looked around, unsure, but when she realized that literally no one would notice that they were gone, nodded her head. "Come on, lets go!"

...

On one hand, taking the entire pizza and running was definitely the best idea that either one of them had all night. On the other, both were too full to really move, and instead of sitting up to watch the New Years countdown, they were laying side by side in her bed, staring up at the ceiling and slowly drifting off to sleep.

Her sisters might have seen all her effort in curling her hair and choosing her dress as a waste since she was quick to retreat back home, but Misty didn't think so. She felt really pretty and she had a lot of fun, so that was really what mattered.

"Do you ever think about the future?"

Misty craned her head to glance over at Ash. She raised an eyebrow when she saw just how thoughtful he looked, pushing herself up onto her forearms. "Doesn't everyone?" He shook his head, trying to look stern but failing to hide the smile on his face. "Of course I do. Something specific you're thinking of?"

"I dunno. I guess the future's always been on my mind, right? It was always, I'm going to get the next badge, I'm going to win this league, I'm going to be the world's greatest Pokemon Master." He shrugged a bit, looking from her and towards the ceiling. "Someone I met in Kalos asked me a weird question."

"Hmm?"

"If I had a future bride in mind."

Misty was trying to make herself comfortable, which was a little hard when she was still wearing a dress covered in sequins. She paused in her movements and rolled over onto her side so that she was facing him. He mimicked her movement so that they were face to face, and she just stared for a moment, trying to read him. "Bet that broke your mind."

"You have no idea." He laughed with relief. What was he expecting, for her to blow up or something? "I think I had a headache for days from all the thinking I did."

"Huh, you mean you actually thought about it? You didn't just stutter and let your brain go numb?" Her voice implied that she was joking, but the emotions that he could sense pulsing from her let him see the truth. She was curious and a little bit anxious.

"I told her that it's wasn't just up to me. And you know. When I picture being a Master and stuff, you're always there. Kickass Water Pokemon Master yourself, but there."

She was a bit taken back by his answer, but thought about it a bit herself. A small smile passed over her features as she scooted closer to him, burying her face into his chest. "That sounds like a good future. Maybe..." She hesitated, but then decided to just go for it. If he could freak her out a bit, she could do the same to him. "Maybe another person could be there too. A small one. You know, distant future."

"Uh..." Ash's brow furrowed with confusion before his face suddenly went red with realization. "Oh! Oh. Well, yeah someday. One might get lonely though. I was."

"Yeah, well too many people can cause trouble."

"Not if we don't let it happen."

That much was true. Part of the reason Misty's sisters, from her point of view, terrorized her so much as a child was because her parents died when she was young, and then her grandmother passed away not long before she left on her journey. The woman hadn't been exactly stern with the older three when they would tease her, but Arceus knew that she tried. If her parents had actually been around, it might have been so much better. "That's true. So I guess...yeah you're right. One extra person might get lonely."

If someone told 10-year-old Misty that she'd be laying in her bed beside Ash Ketchum, having this serious but incredibly vague conversation, she probably would have screamed at them in anger. 10-year-old Ash probably would have just stared, not understanding what they were talking about at all. She knew that some people would find it strange to be having these types of conversations when they were 16, but time rushed by quickly. There was nothing wrong with having a goal, or at least a path in mind.

Ash ran his fingers over the exposed part of her back, an idle movement with no real thought, as he hummed thoughtfully. "Mist?"

"Hmm?"

"Whatever happens, lets just try to stick together."

"Yes." That was definitely a promise that she could get behind at the moment.

As the clock hit midnight and the people cheered loudly in the gym, Misty and Ash dozed off together, still in their formal clothes. Missing New Years wasn't a big deal, not when there would be many more to come.

...

Note

Happy Pokeshipping Day!

I feel like this is a bit subpar for the actual pokeshipping day, but I was actually kind of stuck with what I should write. Oh well, I tried.

These fics were actually a lot of fun to write and I'm glad you guys liked them in all their different forms. If you don't know, I've been posting pics over on tumblr too under theroadyouchoose. Most of them go with the fics or at least the themes of the day. For today, I have two. One is my pokeshipping family (it's already there) and I'm going to post another one in a few minutes.

Seriously, there have been so many awesome pics and fics this week! I love it! Hope you guys thought this one was okay!

Written: Skylight Sparkle
Edited by: CLAVUS