Jealousy
Ash was a rather selfish man.
Not in the common sense, of course. He was anything but, in fact. He was one of the kindest, gentlest, sweetest people in the world. Ash would do anything for his friends and strangers alike. He always stopped for autographs and pictures, and never failed to provide a star struck young trainer with helpful Pokémon advice.
No. Ash was selfish when it came to Misty.
The love of his life.
She was a pretty young woman; beautiful, in fact. She had been cute as a child, but not "model gorgeous" like her three older sisters. Once Misty had hit her teens, however, she began to rival the older girls' looks. Now, as a young adult, Misty was arguably even more beautiful than them. The color of her hair was so rich and warm, and the color of her eyes was so deep and cool. Her skin was milky, her lips rosy, and her teeth glistening white. She was tall, with long legs and a slender body with delicate curves of muscle that obviously declared her as a swimmer.
In short, Misty was stunning, and Ash couldn't help but to feel that every other male in the world had their eyes set on her.
It disgusted him. The very idea of these men having thoughts and ideas about his pretty girl. Dirty, vile thoughts that only Ash himself should have been allowed to think. After all, he was the only one allowed to look at Misty like that. The only one allowed to touch her like that.
If he could have washed out all of their brains with soap, he would have.
Unfortunately, that wasn't possible. It also wouldn't actually do any good, although Ash simply chose to believe that it could. So, instead, he had to settle for being very protective of his fiancée.
A level of protectiveness that Misty could only describe as jealousy.
It didn't matter who the particular guy was. Ash was wary of any and all males who came to close to her. He was especially distrustful of the ones Misty worked closest with: other gym leaders and members of the Pokémon League. Functions for the League, as a result, tended to be very troubling for Ash, and very uncomfortable for Misty.
then soon Ash got a formal call, leaving the pretty red head to socialize for the both of them.
Misty had met up with Marlon, one of the Unova gym leaders. She always enjoyed talking to him, because he was a fellow water type specialist. He wasn't too bad on the eyes, either.
Ash, despite of being busy on a call, still managed to catch Misty and Marlon from out of the corner of his eye.This little sight nearly caused Ash to choke and fumble.
Ash couldn't help but to view Marlon as one of his biggest threats when it came to Misty. After all, the man was a water type gym leader…just like his wife-to-be. He was also tall and handsome, and tan…with lots of muscles. Usually, the guy didn't walk around with a shirt on, which was just an added bonus for Ash's paranoia. Fortunately, the charity dinner was a formal event that required formal attire, which meant that Marlon had to be fully clothed.
That didn't make Ash feel any better, however.
After all, the dinner being a formal affair meant that Misty was also dressed to the nines. Her strapless, mermaid dress was skintight, aqua in color and adorned by silver beading and sequins until it scalloped off over the tulle skirt. Even from the back, Ash could tell that Misty was softly scuffing the floor with her silver heels and delicately tucking loose curls of sunset locks behind her ears as she giggled at whatever Marlon was saying.
It was sending his overzealous tendencies into overdrive.
Ending up the goal, Ash turned on a heel and began to march towards the two chatty gym leaders, his chocolate brown eyes narrowed in determination. As soon as he was next to Misty, Ash slung his arm around his fiancée's waist and pulled her roughly against his side, causing the beautiful young woman to audibly growl.
Hey, Ash, there you are!" Marlon chuckled, his pearly whites visible as he laughed. "I was beginning to think Misty had left you at home!"
"Oh, she wishes," Ash murmured, Misty rolling her eyes as the words left his mouth. "So, what are we talking about over here?"
"Just the upcoming wedding!" Marlon crowed. His hand, which was currently holding a half full wine glass, motioned towards Misty's own left hand, which she had resting on the right side of her hip. "That's quite the rock you gave her!"
"Well, I only give Misty the best," Ash drawled as the redhead's eyes widened in horror. "And that ring certainly was the best!"
"I'd say so," Marlon murmured with a small chuckle before downing some more of his cabernet. "So, how is engaged life treating you two? The wedding planning and all of that?"
Misty opened her mouth to respond, but Ash was quick to cut her off, much to the female gym leader's annoyance.
"It's great!" Ash chirped. "It's really, really exciting, actually. Knowing that Misty is all mine, and we get to spend the rest of our lives together, is so awesome! We get to be all loyal, and loving, and we get to protect each other, too!"
"That's really sweet, Ash," Marlon earnestly replied. "You should include that in your wedding speech!"
Ash just grinned back at the male gym leader and swiftly moved his arm down Misty's lower waist, and squeezing her a little too tightly, Misty actually jumped at the action, not having expected it in the slightest. Soon enough, her entire face turned as red as her hair, and she quickly grabbed onto the man's arm and began to yank him away from Marlon, making sure to throw an apologetic smile at the confused Unova gym leader before pulling Ash away to the other side of the room.
"What's up, Misty?" Ash asked almost stupidly.
"Oh, don't play dumb with me!" Misty scolded, digging her nails into Ash's tuxedo jacket and causing him to wince. "You know exactly what's up!"
"What?" Ash whined. "That I grabbed you? Is that it?"
"You did that on purpose!" Misty hissed.
"Well, of course I did!" Ash whirred. "My hand didn't just grab you on accident!"
"You made it obvious!" Misty growled, not liking that Ash was skipping around the facts. "You made sure that Marlon saw! That wasn't a flirty little squeeze, Ash. That was a 'this is my property' snatch! And I don't appreciate it!"
"You're just being delusional," Ash scoffed, although his own cheeks were now turning red and betraying him. "I didn't make a show out of it!"
"Yes, you did," Misty continued to push the fact. "You always do! Why do you have to be so jealous, huh?"
"I'm not jealous!" Ash cried, his eyes widening at the suggestion.
"Now you think I'm the dumb one," Misty huffed. "Anyone could tell that you're jealous! I can tell just by looking in your eyes, you had even threatened Jack to not visit my gym!"
"Ash, there's no reason to get so worked up, okay?" Misty sighed, grabbing onto her fiancé's shoulder instead of his arm, and not using her nails this time around. "You know how much I love you! I would never, ever do anything to upset you. Just because I'm talking to other guys doesn't mean I feel the same way about them that I feel about you. I never have, and I never will. You mean everything to me, Ash."
The young man smiled and wrapped his arms around Misty, hugging her tightly as she rested her head atop his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Misty," Ash whispered, pressing a hand against her back. "I trust you. I really do. I'll try to keep my jealousy under control from now on. I promise."
"That's all I could ask," Misty murmured, pulling away before gently pressing her lips against Ash's. "Oh, and Ash?"
Ash was still smiling sweetly at his fiancée. "Yeah, Mist?"
Misty's face turned to a more serious disposition, with her brow slightly furrowed, "Are you drunk?"
"Yeah, just a beer", Ash huffed.
"Then don't expect anything from me tonight", Misty said playfully.
"No babe, you're going to treat him whole lot today", Ash whispered into her ear, then nibbling at it causing misty to moan.
"Well, you turned me on.", Misty pulled away winking at him.