Hello :P It is Wednesday so I am back with the next PokeShipping chapter of this month. Like I said at the end of last week's chapter, this theme is Ash protecting Misty. I wanted to do something different. Instead of doing Ash protecting Misty from physical pain, I wanted him to be protecting her from emotional pain. So enjoy!

Ages:

Ash: 18

Misty: 18

Delia: 36

Disclaimer: I own only the story. And also, trigger warning for miscarriage. Just in case that upsets anyone.

I nuzzled into the side of my best friend's neck as he walked up the path to the house of Mrs Ketchum. He turned to give me a smile and petted my head back before reaching for his key and letting himself into the house. We both inhaled deeply and let out a sigh of contentment at the smell of home and Delia Ketchum's evening cooking. I held onto Ash's shoulder as he quickly kicked his shoes off to the side and took off his gloves. He massaged his hard working fingers before reaching for his cap and setting it on the side.

He let out a slight achy groan as he went back to massaging his fingers and padded along the carpet to where his mother was in the kitchen. She beamed when she saw him and held her arms open to me. I was more than happy to leap into her arms and give her a loving nuzzle.

"Hi Ash, you're a little bit earlier than usual." She remarked with a warm smile, her soft fingers combing through my fur. "How was work today? I'm sure you two battled hard."

Ash grinned upon hearing this and gave his mother a thumbs up. When she turned to look down at me, I did the same grin and gesture as my best friend.

"We sure did, mom. Actually there was this little trainer kid that was exactly like Gary when we were that age. I kicked his butt of course. What can I say? That's my job."

His grin turned to a smirk as he looked across at his mother and itched his nose in an innocent yet sheepish way. Delia shook her head fondly at Ash and wanted to tell him off for his very mild language but she just couldn't. Daily her son was achieving his dream and she couldn't be prouder of him.

Before Delia could say anything, Ash smiled warmly at his mother and ran a hand through his thick and raven locks.

"What about you, mom? How was your day? Did you get up to much?"

Delia smiled happily at being asked and just nodded her head, her brown orbs shining.

"It was nice, thank you. I ran a few errands with Professor Oak and mostly spent it in the garden doing some work and relaxing." She continued rubbing my head as she spoke to her son before changing the subject off herself. "Misty's upstairs. She had a little nap earlier and I heard her go for a shower. If you go up there, she's probably in her towel or something."

The chestnut coloured haired woman's words were innocent but I saw my best friend try and hide his orbs glinting and his cheeky smirk. Delia didn't see it but I did.

Ash laughed quietly and held his arms open to me. I leaped onto his shoulder and gave him a playful nudge of my nose to pretend to tell him off. He stuck his tongue out at me before rubbing his gloveless hands together and smiling back at his mother.

"Well I'll catch you later; I'm going to go chat to Misty for a bit."

Delia nodded her head upon hearing this and headed to make her way to the living room, ruffling his hair on the way.

"That sounds like a good plan. She wasn't really hungry and we have all already eaten so there's food on the stove for later. Sound okay?"

Ash beamed at the mention of food but unlike when he was ten years old, his priority of his girlfriend outweighed the priority of food by a mile. He gave Delia a thumbs up as he headed to his room with me.

"Sounds awesome, mom, thank you." He sighed contentedly at the love before stopping at the top of the stairs and calling down to her. "Tell everyone I said hi. I'll be down soon."

We both glanced at each other and laughed as soon after Delia agreed to this, the chorus of greetings sounded from the other rooms of the house. Ash shook his head fondly in my direction and nuzzled me back before continuing heading to his bedroom.

We both sighed in satisfaction. Life sure was good for us at the moment. Ash and Misty were young and in love. The others in the house were slowly but surely getting on their feet and getting successful. Delia wasn't alone so often anymore. I was so content and I was sure that Ash was feeling exactly the same way I was. My eyes were filled with worry when as soon as he stepped outside the door of his bedroom, he let out a sigh of sadness and scratched the back of his head.

I looked at him but he didn't look back at me. He just headed inside, his eyes not really even lighting up at the sight of his girlfriend.

Misty gave Ash a small smile when she saw him and sat up from relaxing on their bed in her towel, her hands moving to play with her damp locks.

"Hi Ashy. I knew I heard you." She continued managing her smile and held her arms out to me. Like with Delia, I was more than happy to leap into her warm embrace and cuddle close to her. She kissed the top of my head before resuming talking to her boyfriend. "Good day?"

Ash just nodded his head and came to sit next to his girlfriend. He didn't look at her and looked at his lap, his fingers running through his front bangs. I watched as Misty furrowed his brow and looked at him with mild bewilderment. He hadn't even asked her how her day was, let alone smirked at the fact she was in her towel.

My raven haired best friend let out a quiet sigh before snapping back into reality. He jumped slightly as if he had been in a far off place before putting on a small.

"Sorry, what did you get up to today? Did you have a good day?"

The orange haired female studied her boyfriend's face as she could tell he wasn't quite himself but she didn't reveal her concerns just yet, instead choosing to focus on answering. She continued smiling at him and holding me.

"Nothing much really, a little this and a little that." She paused to brush the bangs out of her eyes before smiling for real slightly. "I took Jayden on a walk to Cerulean with me. He really is the cutest…"

I glanced at her before nuzzling her, both Ash and I noticing the underlying wistfulness in her voice. She shook her head before running a hand through her hair, looking at her boyfriend almost apologetically.

My best friend didn't notice her look as once again, his eyes were focused on his lap and his hand was tangling in his hair. This time, Misty furrowed her brow for him to notice and reach forward to hold onto his arm.

"Ash, what's wrong? Over the past few days you keep doing this." She continued holding onto his arm as her aquamarine orbs studied them, their usual passion filled with concern. She looked at him while clarifying her previous words. "You keep going off on another planet. Like you're thinking about really serious stuff."

When Misty squeezed his arm gently, Ash was bought back to reality and he jumped out of his thoughts. When he saw his girlfriend's concern, he gave her a fake reassuring smile and pressed a kiss to her nose.

"I was just thinking about this battle I had today. This kid was exactly like Gary was at that age. He-"

"Stop lying to me." Misty breathed out, her tone not of frustration or anger but concern and perhaps hurt that something was being hidden from her.

Ash blinked and looked at her with his large and round chocolate coloured orbs. Misty sighed and shook her head at this, her hand going to her forehead.

"Sometimes I can't tell if that's your innocent look or your eyes really are that adorable."

After Ash quickly showed off a blush and a goofy smile, Misty shook her head again and took the conversation back to its initial serious place.

"Talk to me, Ash. I feel like you're hiding something from me. I did wonder a few days ago but now I'm really sure." She mumbled, her skin going slightly paler as she spoke. "Just tell me what's wrong. Talk to me, Ashy."

Ash breathed out and smiled slightly at the nickname, pulling himself further onto the bed and moving nearer. Misty swallowed her worry as he held onto her hand and played with it while he spoke.

"Nothing's wrong. That's the problem. Something quite wonderful has happened but it's not wonderful for us. It's quite bad for us. Well, it could be good for us. I don't know. I-"

"Ash…" Misty breathed out, the anticipation getting to her as she reached out and cupped her boyfriend's face in her hands. Her eyes shook and they pricked with slight tears. She just wanted to know and his ramblings weren't making it any easier.

I swallowed a lump in my throat as my best friend suddenly broke down and weakened, his own tears threatening to fall.

"Oh, Mist…" he mumbled as he held tighter onto his girlfriend's hands and I watched as she did the same. Ash sniffed and looked at her, his eyes full of sadness yet mild guilt. "Jayme's pregnant. She and Gary are having a baby."

Upon hearing this, Misty gulped quite loudly and she held even tighter onto Ash's hands. She swallowed once again before exhaling.

"Oh…" she mumbled, trying to ignore the breath hitching in her throat. "O-Oh…"

I shut my eyes and turned to nuzzle into Ash's pillow as they held onto one and other.

This was wonderful news for Jayme and Gary, just wonderful news. But when they were newly 18, Ash and Misty found out they were having a baby. We all were struck with grief when the baby was miscarried. Ever since then, they had been trying for another baby but with no look. Quite some time ago now, they had decided to give up. They had given up hope. And now this had happened. I knew they both felt awful for sad tears being their immediate reaction to another couple making new life.

Misty swallowed and clutched tightly onto her boyfriend's hand. I wondered how he wasn't wincing with the pain. But then I realised, he had lost a child. They both had. And that was the most gruelling pain any person could ever feel.

"D-Did they plan it…? Was this baby planned…?" she managed to mumble, her bottom lip trembling though she bit it to try and stop the shaking.

Ash didn't say anything but he shook his head. Misty let out a miserable sound upon hearing this that broke my heart. They both had tried but didn't manage to conceive. Jayme and Gary didn't plan on having a baby but they had managed to. Life was simultaneously so cruel yet so kind.

When Misty finally gave up and let her pained and guilty tears fall, Ash took a deep breath and instantly knew what he had to do. He wrapped his arms tightly around his girlfriend and held her as close as he possibly could as she cried. I watched as Misty's tears flowed yet somehow, not one escaped Ash's eyelids. He pulled her even closer to his chest, his hands stroking her hair as he spoke.

"I'm sorry for having to be the one to tell you this, I'm so sorry. I hate seeing you in such pain. But I also want you to know that it's okay. You don't have to be happy right now. It's perfectly fine to be sad and jealous and even a little angry. You feel whatever you want to feel. And I'll be here. Loving you and protecting you always."

Misty couldn't speak as she continued to sob into Ash's shirt but the way she clutched onto him reassured us both of her immense gratitude. Ash began to rock her gently and rubbed her back. He shut his eyes as he continued speaking.

"I know it hurts you and it hurts me too. So badly. But I don't believe now is our time. I do however know that our time will come. If we are patient, there will be a baby in our lives someday. Maybe not this year and maybe not even next year. But someday there will be. And when we become parents to a baby that has been made out of the love we have for one and other, a gap in our lives we didn't realise was empty will be filled. So just hold on, my dear Mist. Our time will come. I know it will."

As Misty's sobs began to die down and Ash's comforting hug grew even tighter, I just sat and watched the pair. I watched as absent mindedly, Ash's hand reached out to press his palm against his girlfriend's stomach. The way he breathed out so calmly and the way he shut his eyes and smiled got me thinking. It was almost as if he knew that right in that moment, his girlfriend's belly was already becoming a home to two of the most precious things soon to grace the universe.

The End.

There you go! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed :3 So yeah, at the end of the next month from that, Misty finds out she is pregnant with her and Ash's twins. With this chapter I really wanted to capture all aspects of Ash and Misty's life as a young couple without children - from Ash being a Frontier Brain and Jessie and James and their children also living in the Ketchum household and Misty being close with Jayden and a toddler, especially when she lost her own baby and he enjoys her company so much. I hope I got the emotions right because it's a very tender subject for Ash and Misty. Especially the pain of someone else getting what you want when you're trying so hard to get to that place yourself. Thanks again and I will be back next Wednesday for another chapter. Next week's theme is "Sleeping Together". But don't worry it's not as it sounds and is definitely innocent :P See you then!

AmyBieberKetchum signing out :3