A/N: Thank you very much for reading, following, favoriting and reviewing! I hope you like this chapter :) Oh, and for those who were wondering, Nicole from the last chapter comes from the Advanced Generation episode The Lotad Lowdown, where she and her two sisters are running a flower shop.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover, though I did edit it.

Days

The day when Pikachu is glad he stayed downstairs

Ash

Tuesday, November 19th

Ash was slightly sweaty when he returned from his early morning jogging round with his Pokémon, and he could hear Misty singing rather off key in the shower. She was up early, but he already knew that she hadn't had a good night's rest. With a groan of exhaustion Ash plopped down on the couch to rest his tired legs; he would enjoy a relaxing shower later.

Whose idea had it been again to go for a morning jog because it would strengthen his and his Pokémon's condition and their bond- Oh right, that had been his own. Ash let out a sigh and swung his legs on the couch, before lying down. His muscles burned and his breathing and heartrate still hadn't slowed down. At least most of the storm had passed during the night, and only the harsh and cold wind had remained.

For a moment he closed his eyes, but apparently it was more than a moment because Pikachu jumped on his stomach with a teasing, "Pi!"

"Alright, alright, I'll go do something..." Misty would never let him live it down if she caught him napping after going for such a short run. She was in a much better condition than he was, swimming at least twice a day, if not more, and she already teased him enough without that he gave her a valid reason to. At least he did have some ammunition to tease her back: Misty's training with Psyduck was still proving hopeless.

"Pikapi," Pikachu reminded him when he still hadn't made an attempt to get up, and he poked Ash's stomach. With another groan, Ash pushed himself back up in a sitting position (Pikachu fell from his stomach to his lap with an annoyed "Chu!") and turned on the TV. He could at least pretend to be interested in something when Misty came down.

The morning news was on and surprisingly, it did catch his attention. Economics, and even politics (though they were closely tied to the League) had never interested him very much, but Ash still liked to stay a bit up to date on the rest of the world. There was a short report about Agatha's funeral, and Ash sucked on the inside of his cheek. That had been yesterday, and both his own and Misty's position had earned him an invitation to the official ceremony, though the burial itself had taken place with only the family and close friends. He was only half-surprised when he was among the faces shown of important people attending the funeral.

After that, the news made the logical switch to the topic of the new Elite Four member. While the official announcement had been made yesterday, Ash still watched with slight interest and more than a bit amusement as the newsreader announced it.

"Yesterday evening, Indigo Champion Leaf Greene has announced the name of the newest member of the Indigo Elite Four, who are considered to be one of the strongest in the world."

The screen switched to show Leaf, yesterday evening, who was talking into several microphones. "I already had my eye on someone for quite some time, in case a member of my Elite Four decided to retire, which I had thought likely with Agatha's old age." Leaf put on a look of practiced sadness which Ash saw right through. "Of course I had never expected that one of my members would be torn away from us so unexpectedly and once again I express my condolences to Agatha's loved ones. She will be strongly missed in my crew."

There was a moment of silence, and then Leaf straightened up and looked confidently in the camera. "This sad occurrence left a hole in my crew, and I have sought to fill it as fast as possible, and..." She smiled in a way that was only meant for the press, practiced, just as that look of sadness had been. Ash certainly hoped he would never become like that when he became Champion, but perhaps it was needed to be able to deal with the press. "And I'm very happy to announce that Misty Ketchum-Waterflower, Gym Leader of the Cerulean Gym and water-type specialist has accepted this position."

A lot of questions and comments came from the reporters, but Leaf raised her voice to continue. "Misty and I will be available for more questions tomorrow at the press conference. Thank you."

The scene cut back to the studio, where the newscaster was smiling brightly, Agatha's funeral already forgotten. "The appointment of Misty Ketchum is not unexpected. She has been acting Gym Leader since she was ten years old, and while young, she is known to be a very strong Trainer and water-type specialist. She is the two-time winner of the Whirl Cup in Johto, and she has also won the Tour de Alto Mare in her youth. She's part of the famous Waterflower Sensational Sisters and recently, she and promising Pokémon Trainer Ash Ketchum have tied the knot. It is also rumored that she and Leaf are close friends-"

Ash couldn't resist rolling his eyes. While Misty and Leaf had occasionally met on a not-business-like occasion, it had always been through his and Gary's association. Leaf was much too controlling for Misty, Ash knew, and Misty liked to have her independence. Plus, he had the sneaking suspicion that Misty thought Leaf was arrogant. And well… Maybe she was, a bit, but with reason.

Certainly, Ash and Leaf were childhood friends and he did like her, but it also meant he could see her flaws clearer than anyone else. Gary, too, must see those even clearer, considering he was her boyfriend. Ash had no clue how he managed that; Leaf was like Misty, only worse. Although, while Misty had a temper, Leaf had outgrown hers and was now scarily calm at times.

The newsreader had just wrapped up the piece about Misty and started talking about the Wayland Tournament. Ash had heard about it before, and the more he heard the more excited he got. It would be an awesome challenge, and it would be great to see old friends and rivals again… But he had to train for the Indigo League and this time he really, really wanted to win everything, so while he would love to try it, he wasn't sure if he could chance it.

Ash pulled himself back to the reality and watched how the news spoke of the storm that was still raging in the west of Kanto, but which hadn't been as bad as they had thought as first, though the storm had still been unexpected. He felt his attention slipping away from the TV…

Upstairs in the bathroom, Misty was still singing in the shower, and a particularly off-key note pained Ash's eardrums. Maybe nervousness made Misty's singing worse. It was the biggest press conference she had ever done, after all.

Pikachu winced at another false note and Ash cringed along, before a mischievous smile made its way on his face. "Don't worry, buddy," he said, taking Pikachu off his lap and putting him on the floor, "I've got just the solution."

He left the TV on and made his way to the staircase, Pikachu following him after a moment. Ash gestured for Pikachu to stay downstairs, and the Pokémon did as he was told, watching as his Trainer quietly crept up the stairs and towards the bathroom.

Ash grinned widely when he noticed that the door had been left unlocked. Slowly he opened the door, Misty's singing continuing uninterrupted, and it was only when he stood almost in front of the fogged glass that she noticed him.

She let out a scream and stepped out of the shower, her eyes murderous. Her expression didn't change much when she noticed it was him, though he thought to see a slight quirk of her lips. He didn't have time to contemplate on it, though, because the next moment he was pulled forward into the shower.

He couldn't help but let out an unmanly shriek when the water turned ice-cold. Misty smiled wickedly. "That'll learn you to sneak up on me."

A short fight for the dominance of the shower faucet ensued, while Ash also tried to pull Misty under the cold stream. "I was just trying to help you relax!"

Misty raised a skeptic eyebrow while at the same time she managed to slap away his hand from the faucet.

"After all, you're not thinking about the press conference right now, eh?" He gave her his best winning smile.

After a moment of tension Misty's face softened and she let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, okay…" She smiled and relinquished her hold on the faucet, and Ash let out a relieved sigh when the water turned warm again.

"Now get out of those clothes and get back in the shower, you stink," Misty said as she pulled a face, though Ash grinned widely when he saw amusement shimmering in her eyes.

"Yeah, sure, that's the reason you want me out of my clothes…"

"Just hurry up, Ketchum." Misty's eyes shone and for once he agreed with her, jumping out of the shower and quickly stripping out of his clothes. He was about to return to the warmth of the water when he remembered something. With a smile, he closed and locked the door, and then joined Misty in the shower.

A/N: Thank you very much for reading! Please leave me a review on the way out!

Thank you!

Recommendations:

Pokémon: It's All About the Bike by Alyss Ashworth. FFN. Recommended to me by PokeshipperByHeart. This is a fun two-shot about time-travelling, Team Rocket and a certain bike… Some slight PokeShipping, too :)

Pokémon: Yes by PolarDawn. FFN. Thanks to inklaced for recommending this to me. This is an absolutely wonderful and very sweet one-shot about Paul and Dawn. Dawn wakes up and finds Paul gone and mysterious messages left in the house… I'm not going to say more than that, but it has a happy ending ;)

Harry Potter: Godparents by Alohaemora. FFN. This is a short story with a lot of family fluff. As the title might suggest, it's about picking the godparents for the next-generation kids. Fluffy, funny and with some teary-eyed moments.

If you have any recommendations, please, please don't hesitate to send them to me!