Let's meet up with Gary!
"Okay…how about…this one?"
Michelle giggled wildly as her father looked down at her, a floppy sun hat placed atop his head. Pikachu, who was on the man's shoulder, peeked out from beneath the limp brim, only slightly annoyed with his current situation.
"No, that's silly, Daddy!" Michelle refuted through her laughter.
"Silly?!" Ash gasped playfully. "I think it looks great!"
Michelle continued to giggle as she shook her head. "No, Daddy. Not that one!"
Ash sighed and removed the hat from his head. "Well, alright. You are the fashion expert around here, after all!"
The little girl beamed and confidently nodded her head, earning a smile from her father. He placed the hat back on the shelf and rubbed his chin, humming as he looked over the large collection of hats sitting before him. Michelle scurried up to his side and began to look as well, her emerald eyes scanning each and every shelf for just the right one. Suddenly, they stopped right on the middle shelf, widening as they fell on the perfect hat.
"I found it!" Michelle squealed, tugging at her father's pants. "I found it, Daddy!"
"Really?" Ash asked. "Where? Which one?"
Michelle pointed up at the hat she had picked out. Ash smirked and took it into his hands; a blue felt fedora with a black and green feather sticking up from beneath a black ribbon wrapped around its base. Ash gave the ridiculous hat one final look over before placing it on his head, grinning at Michelle who nodded eagerly in response.
"Perfect!" She chirped.
Pikachu looked up at his trainer and started to snicker, earning a teasingly warning look from the man.
"Alright, I think that's enough of a fashion show for today," Ash decided, pulling the hat off his head and placing it back on the shelf. "Mommy is going to start to wonder where we went!"
"You should get that hat and show it to Mommy," Michelle suggested.
Ash laughed. "If I come home wearing that hat, Mommy will laugh at me!"
"That's why you should do it!" Michelle giggled.
Pikachu joined in on the girl's laughter, leading Ash to roll his eyes. "Man, you guys sure like to tease me! It isn't very nice, you know."
Michelle stopped laughing and batted her eyelashes at her father. "I'm very nice, Daddy. And so is Pikachu! Right, Pikachu?"
The electric mouse vigorously nodded his head. "Pi-ka!"
Ash just chuckled at the two. They got along so well, and it never failed to warm his heart. He couldn't even continue to pretend being mad at them when they got along like that. "You're right, you're both very nice. I was just messing around!"
Michelle smiled and held her arms up, reaching her hands as far as they would go. Though she used no words, Ash knew exactly what that simple gesture meant: she wanted to be picked up.
"Alright," Ash sighed, bending over and lifting the little girl into his arms. "Better?"
The little girl happily nodded her head. Pikachu leaned forward to lick the girl's cheek, earning a delighted giggle from the child. Ash just smiled at the pair before walking out of the boutique that Michelle had dragged them into earlier. She was a bit of a curious child. Not a girly-girl by any stretch of the imagination, didn't like getting dressed up or even playing dress up. But when she felt like it, she would occasionally show an interest in clothes or other little accessories. Sometimes she liked to examine her mother's make up, but Ash just assumed that was because there were so many different colors to look at. Either way, when they had walked by the boutique before, and Michelle had seen some of the hats in the window, she'd gotten very excited and asked her father to go in. Ash had been surprised, but agreed to it, simply because he loved to see his little girl so happy.
As he carried her down the street, Ash saw a familiar figure walking up the other way. Once he was sure who it was, his smile widened considerably and he picked up his pace, confusing Michelle.
Gary!" Ash called, catching the attention of his brunet rival.
"Oh, hey, Ash!" Gary replied cheerfully. He switched his attention to the little girl in Ash's arms and greeted, "hello there, Michelle."
The little girl frowned and buried her face in Ash's chest, causing Gary to furrow his brow. Ash chuckled nervously while Pikachu leaned over, poking his black nose at the top of Michelle's head. "Heh, sorry about that. She's still a bit shy."
That was the other curious thing about Michelle: she wasn't very outgoing. It was confusing for just about everybody, because neither of her parents were quiet. Her twin brother was basically a wild child, and she was very timid. Sometimes she chose to break out of her shell and interact with people, but it wasn't very often. Once she was comfortable with someone, she had no problem opening up and was the exact opposite of her usual quiet self. When she wasn't as familiar with someone, however, she clammed up instantly. Ash thought Michelle knew Gary well enough to not be so shy, but apparently that wasn't the case.
"Haven't you tried working on that at all?" Gary asked.
For some reason, this ticked Ash off to a degree. "What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing bad," Gary quickly replied. "I just mean haven't you and Misty tried to help her overcome her shyness? I've seen her break out of it plenty of times before."
"Yeah, but that's once she's comfortable," Ash challenged. "She's quiet at first, that's just how she is."
Gary hummed as he looked at Michelle once again. All of Pikachu's prodding had succeeded in getting the little girl to lift her head up to look at him. Pikachu seemed proud of this fact, as he let out a happy "cha" before giving Michelle a big lick on the forehead. Michelle giggled joyfully, and this was enough to peak Gary's interest.
"Say, there's a park nearby, isn't there?" Gary asked.
"Yeah…" Ash replied, having no idea why Gary was bringing that up.
"Why don't we go hang out there for a bit?" Gary suggested. "It might be nice to let Michelle play around for a bit while we catch up."
"I don't know, Gary," Ash sighed. "We've been out for a while, and I think Misty might be starting to wonder where we are."
"Nah, she'll be fine," he refuted, waving a hand for added effect. "I bet Misty likes having you guys out of the house for a while! Women are all about their peace and quiet, which husbands and kids generally tend to ruin."
"I guess you have a point…" Ash murmured. Glancing down at his daughter, he asked, "What do you think, Shelly? You want to go to the park for a little while?"
Michelle beamed and quickly nodded her head. She loved the park and usually went with her mother, but any opportunity to go to there was a good one!
"Alright, I guess we could for a bit," Ash decided, lightly shrugging his shoulders.
"Great!" Gary crowed. "Lead the way, Ashy Boy!"
Ash's face turned red at the old nickname. "Why me?!"
"Because you live here," Gary replied plainly.
Ash couldn't argue with that (as much as he wanted to) and led his childhood rival to the nearby Cerulean Park. The two took a seat on a bench while Ash put Michelle down to play with Pikachu, which got the duo very excited. Michelle quickly began to chase the electric mouse, and Pikachu was happy to oblige. Ash smirked as he watched the two scurry around in circles, focused solely on their little game with one another.
"Michelle's got no problem with Pokémon, huh?"
Ash shook his head. "She loves 'em. Well, not bug types. She inherited Misty's fear of those, unfortunately. But pretty much every other Pokémon she loves! Especially Pikachu. Those two are the best of friends."
Gary watched as Pikachu pounced on the little girl's back, sending her into a fit of giggles.
"She's been around Pikachu since she was born, so maybe that's why they've never had a problem," Ash continued. "But I'm glad they get along so great! Pikachu comes with us pretty much everywhere we go, so if Michelle is being super shy or is kind of freaking out, Pikachu calms her down really quick."
"That's a good thing," Gary replied.
"Ash? You've got a tattoo on your wrist?," Gary questioned simply.
"Yeah, long time ago, when twins were born actually, "Ash clarified.
"What is it about? I mean any particular meaning, ?" Gary asked.
"Take a closer look," Ash changed the position of his hand making easier for Gary to take a look.
Scrutinizing it, Gary raised his brow, "A combination of Misty and Michelle's names?"
"Yes, my two precious ladies," Ash spoke smiling gently.
"Wow," Gary hissed. Continuing, "You are so lucky to have a daughter, you know. Even I would like to have a little girl around. When Kayla first found out that she was pregnant, we weren't even married then. Implying I was quite naïve. Then when Sam turned two, I started having a desire of my own daughter, I brought it up to Kayla, she was quick to refuse"
"Refuse? Why," Ash asked.
"Because she's a super-model, being pregnant would ruin her "perfect figure". Well modeling is all her career is about, "Gary laughed.
"Understandable, "Ash nodded.
"Daddy! Can we go home yet?", Michelle approached Ash.
"Sure, sweetheart," Ash smiled picking the child up in his arms.
"Gary, would you like to have dinner with us tonight, since you are in Cerulean city?," Ash asked.
"Sure thing, Ashy boy," Gary winked.