Hello! It is Wednesday and I am back with another chapter following the theme of the PokeShipping Week over on Tumblr. This one follows a theme that wasn't selected for the final 7 in the end but I liked it so much that I decided to do it for one of the free days! The theme is a "Mewtwo Strikes Back Alternate Ending" but I changed it some more. I changed it so it was some sweet bedtime stories for Ash and Misty's eldest two children, Ben and Katie :3 I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own the story and the OCs mentioned :)
A young hero's eyes shook as Pokémon grew weary all around him, except for the two with opposing pools of light surrounding them. Mewtwo and Mew stood strong, determined to continue their battle. Suddenly as if the fire from them both had been shared to the young man, he leapt up from cowering on the ground. He knew that he could take no more. But it wasn't going to end unless someone took action. Ash knew that he had to be the one to seize the moment.
He felt like the Chosen One long before that title had been bestowed upon him. So in spite of his friend's cries as an attempt to stop him from making a rash decision, he bolted on ahead, pleading both of the duelling Pokémon to stop that very instant.
The young hero was racing towards the two magnificent beasts when not listening to his plight at all; they launched an attack on each other. Both of them mighty and still, offering contrasting colours to show that they would never be on the same page.
Ash took one step too far. His friend Misty had always drilled it into him that he always did exactly that. His mother too, for that matter. But alas, needing to be true to himself, the young hero took it that step too far. And the result of it was those two Pokémon's attacks being unleashed right on his ten year old self!
"Pikachu-Pi!" a brave yellow mouse Pokémon had cried, exclaiming out to his best friend in horror. Before that, both his friends on the side-line, Misty and Brock, could only just utter out their own noises of despair.
But of course it was too late. Much too late. The attacks had struck and now the brave young man was left feeling like his soul had already been snatched from his body and surrounded by an unfaltering red glow. All eyes were on him as his lifeless body fell to the battle field like a discarded napkin in the wind.
His days were numbered it seemed. In fact, his days had appeared to have come to an end. At least his heroic actions might have encouraged a change of heart within Mewtwo, the far more stubborn and catastrophic of the duelling Pokémon, and cause him to see the world a bit different.
"Fool." Mewtwo uttered, his voice low and seemingly indifferent. His three fingered hands hung low by his sides. "Trying to stop our battle."
Apparently miracles didn't even happen right on a young hero's death bed.
Mew merely tilted its head on the one side, blue eyes like sapphires as it mewed its own name in a response to what had taken place. There seemed to be no remorse from either side.
"Pika Pi!" the mouse Pokémon with a heart almost as courageous as Ash at least appeared to care as he spoke his name. He cared greatly. With his entire heart, in fact. He raced close to his best friend's side, letting out a few more words with clenched paws before tragedy stuck all the further still. "Pikachu…"
Onlookers could only watch, helplessly, as the ten year old boy's once fresh and handsome features were replaced with a hard and steely appearance. Ash turned to stone. He was then embodying everything that Mewtwo felt inside.
Frantic, Pikachu could not keep his words to himself and upon seeing the fate that had been served to his best friend, darted all around him, reaching his paws out to his cold exterior. The Pokémon surrounding the scene that had previously been engaging in their own duals before growing tired of it all showed a new, fresh burst of energy.
Thankfully, it was not to turn on the young hero more. Pairs of identical Pokémon moaned and groaned in horror at what all of their collective violence had done to such a sweet and innocent boy.
Evidently, Pikachu could not even bare to think of such things. He did what he could do best and what he could do best alone. He unleashed electric attack after electric attack on the lifeless, then seemingly soulless body of his best friend in an attempt to bring him back to the world.
Pikachu could not bear a life without his soul mate. And didn't think that the world deserved to know existence without that selfless young man.
"Oh no…" Misty from the edge of the battle field could only watch, helpless, as Pikachu's fearless and innovative idea to bring the young hero back to the world was to no avail. Like the mouse Pokémon, she too was to lose her soul mate.
As Pikachu could see with his captivating black orbs that it was completely and utterly useless – and all of his training to be the most powerful Pokémon ever was futile and he could not even wake the person he needed the most, he began to cry.
Tears promptly dribbling down his soft cheeks, he murmured words that he wished with all of his shattered heart that his best friend could somehow hear. He could not. He had stopped hearing a long time ago and the last thing that he remembered was his own heartbeat drumming in his ears and his own voice screaming out.
Sadly, cries of his dear friends had gone unnoticed by him. He was to die without knowing how treasured by all he had been.
"Dewgong!" a pair of seal Pokémon were the first the clones to speak of their regret – and their sorrow. Touchingly, two mighty sea dragons quickly got the idea and expressed their own anguish.
Ash had died not knowing how much lives he had touched. However, in that moment everybody surrounding his lifeless corpse knew that that was very much the case.
Two Venusaur. Two Squirtle. Two Charizard. Two Bulbasaur. Two Blastoise.
All of the creatures offered their emotions two by two. Unlike boarding an arc like the great myths, they were boarding the journey of knowing life without that one in a million ten year old boy.
Such horror had fell upon the scene moments before and of course, this was still the case following the events of such a young life lost. But in times of tragedy there were often times of beauty too.
It was the kind of sight that people would wait a whole lifetime for when as more Pokémon shed their tears and their previous armour of engaging in battle and at last showed their true, kind-hearted colours, all of the streams from their eyes stretched out towards the fallen hero.
And not in the metaphorical sense. Literally. Their tears stretched outwards and rained down on the unmoving boy, their emotions speaking far more than their lips or their beaks ever could.
On legs that felt as though they could break at any moment, Misty and Brock from the side-lines somehow managed to stand up. They didn't know how they were coping at all. They gathered that when it was finally said and done, and when they finally had to return home without their dearest companion by their side, then it would well and truly hit them.
Mewtwo and Mew watched, silent, as the rest of the Pokémon's tears continually made a beeline for the young man. It was a shame that death had to occur in order for everybody to finally come together. But at least Ash could rest easily knowing that he lost his life by doing the right thing.
Causing a noise to erupt from the throat of Pikachu, after some minutes of all of the creatures lending their tears to Ash, he started to glow differently again. This time, he shone like the ocean in a hue of blue. He appeared no longer so hollow and so steely. He was then a spectre. A spectre belonging to the sea. Perhaps it was claiming him back, in a twist of fate and against the meaning of his volcanic name and nature.
Pikachu and Misty's eyes were united there and then. Both glassiness filling their orbs, they looked on at their sweet and dear friend with the same disposition. Their tears bubbled and brewed. They could not believe so many tears could be shed for just one life. Yet they knew that Ash was more than worth it.
Seeing Pikachu's tears lend their own comfort to the deceased boy and fall against his lifeless cheeks, Misty started to realise that she could no longer just stand and stare. Though the love of her life was gone, she knew that there was no place she would rather be than right by his side.
The sky appeared to alter dramatically outside of the tower when at long last, the girl with hair with the same hue as a carrot – funnily enough that she despaired so much and yet the lifeless young man had once found it so beautiful – knelt down next to Ash.
There were a great many words that Misty wanted to say but just couldn't. Brock looked on, his expression hardly moving an inch. Misty wanted to pour her heart out to the sweet boy who lay next to her and quickly turning cold. But she did not know where to begin. She did not know where she would start.
She wanted to tell him that she loved him. That she always had. That she always would. And she was sorry that she had not told him while he was alive. But she would make it her life's mission to let everybody know from that moment onwards, even though she had been so cowardly before by not saying a single thing of her truth.
Ash's lifeless hand slipped into a far warmer one. And as if they were becoming one in the same way in which they did when they too engaged in Pokémon battle, Misty laid across Ash's back as she leaned down to press her soft lips against icy cheek of her lost love.
More tears from Pikachu joined the opposite side at that moment so because of this, when in the seconds after that – by a miraculous twist of fate, the young hero actually started to twitch – nobody could be sure whose actions had caused it.
But alas, Misty knew. And Ash knew too.
Apparently miracles did happen. They not only took place right on a young hero's death bed. But they also occurred and they snatched someone deserving of life back away from the grim reaper before he could run any further with the lost soul.
A kiss planted from Misty and onto Ash's cheek awoke him and although it took him some time and a great deal of strength, trembling, he was somehow able to lift himself up from cowering on the ground. With palms placed on the battle field which had been the reason for his death, his eyes searched for one person and one person alone.
After he met the gaze of Misty and the two of them shared the longest and most intimate smile that the two of them had ever shared before – both of them in disbelief that they were seeing each other once again – Ash knew that there was one thing to do and one thing alone.
A part of him remembered the warnings about girls and cooties and how they were even grosser as girlfriends than they were as friends. But another, whole part of him did not care at all! He had transcended death itself! Anything was possible.
If there was a time for madness, then that was the moment!
Fate being on his side yet again, Misty had the same idea coursing through her veins. Knowing her sweet kiss had awoken the love of her life, she was hungry to experience that sensation yet again and this time, even more boldly.
Arms contracting around his neck, the two young heroes prepared to lean in. And they prepared to kiss each other right on the battle field, and right on the dawn of a new day and a new day in the Pokémon World where violence was a thing of the past and it was unification that would be etched in the remainder of all days.
Ash and Misty then did lean in. and the two of them couldn't wait for the sublime and blissful sensation of-
Blissful and sublime sensation of what? Apparently, we would never find out!
The grown up version of Ash felt something else pressing against his lips and it was not another pair of lips but a hand preventing him from saying any more.
"I think you're telling it different, Daddy." Katie told her father with eyes as wide as the saucers that she used to support her teacup during her afternoon teas. Her fingertips cupped over his mouth before they fell away.
Ash, who had been in the same bed with two children snuggled up together, felt his eyes growing equally as innocent and wide but in a different manner. However, before his lips could part and he could defend himself, somebody surprised the gang in the children's bedroom by coming home early and appearing in the doorway.
"I think you're being a bit too kind to your Daddy, Katie." Misty interjected the scene, her jacket still on from her night out and her clutch bag in hand too. Feeling all eyes wandering to her, this did not deter her from speaking slyly to her husband. "I think he has been telling straight up lies."
Finally showing my own piece of truth now that it apparently was welcomed and put forth by the orange haired woman, from the foot of the single bed, I gladly closed the distance between my nose and the ceiling and bobbed my head up and down.
Straight up lies had indeed been told! How dare my best friend rewrite a part of our history in such a way! I was hardly ever reluctant to share moments of glory with Misty but on that day, it was completely clear that Ash had been telling nothing but porky pies.
Copying his father's countenance but in an utterly intentional way, Ben moved his legs so they were no longer pulled close to his chest and his twin sister's bed clothes grew smoothed out. With eyes that looked like they could contain the world in the sheer roundness of them, his own lips parted and he did not bother to refrain from speaking.
"But Daddy isn't lying!" Ben cried out, and from sitting right on top of his sister's pillow, he snuggled even closer to his beloved father and the older raven haired man felt a sweet hand cupping around the ball of his shoulder. "Daddy would never do that."
In the times of when Ash's fable took place and Misty was ten years old, it would have taken a huge amount for her stubborn and determined exterior to fade away. However, times had moved on and two of the children that they shared together being read a bed time story to, proved this.
In the brief moments after Misty heard her son's words, she could not stop her expression from melting and taking on a different form. Clutch bag being switched to her opposite hand, her eyes practically danced as she listened to the innocence that had been spoken by Ben as he naturally worshipped her husband.
She hated to burst his bubble.
"Hmm, perhaps he doesn't realise that he is doing it…" she relented and I was the one who could not stop my previous attitude from remaining as I shot her a glance! I knew all too well that my best friend knew perfectly well what he had been doing. But at least it had not been malicious. "Or maybe he does." Misty conceded, still loitering in the doorway. "It does take quite a lot to write poor Pikachu out of the story!"
I felt that I had done a good job of keeping my expression the same for quite a while. But then it that moment, my cheeks flushed and my eyes glinted and my mouth widened as if I had been the one on the night out and having a merry drink!
I couldn't stop my glee when the orange haired woman defended me and did it in such a way that was enjoyable to listen to. Misty shared that look back at me and we had a private moment but then she looked back over at her husband, ready to continue bringing his cheeky actions even further to the light. And give him insight on just how much of the twisted tale she had heard.
However, in spite of her natural ability to read people as much as the written stories that she so loved to pore over for hours upon hours, Katie couldn't quite figure out if her parents were joking with each other or whether as they were seriously displeased.
A thumb going in between her lips before that plinked out again, she blinked a couple of times before commanding the situation so the ball was in her court.
"Mommy, come and s… see me." She commanded in a very meek manner, hardly telling her mother what to do at all before her thumb went back in between her lips and with her other hand, she motioned for the company of the orange haired woman.
Ben absentmindedly scowled when he heard these words but truthfully, he didn't mind much at all. And he minded even less when Ash found himself smiling at the sheer sweetness of his daughter and it encouraged him to not only show it by smiling at her twin brother, but also ruffling his son's hair in an affectionate manner.
Immediately, the young boy with unruly and wild raven locks positively beamed and became the sunshine in the room while the moon hung just outside of the window in the night sky that seemed to go on forever. Ben didn't hesitate to nuzzle even closer to his father. And, because Misty had ditched her clutch bag and the company of the doorway for good in order to grant her daughter's wishes, it was soon both the children receiving fondness from an individual parent.
It was this of course that melted away any disposition of mine for good. I so enjoyed their company. I so enjoyed story time. Even if I had been written out of things completely and falsehood after falsehood were being claimed!
This understandably became a topic of conversation yet again in the next couple of peaceful moments but funnily enough, it was actually Ash who led the interaction there. Apparently he did not learn. Apparently he did not learn his lesson after all of those years.
"I'm glad that you are home for story time, Mist." Ash began and after wrapping his arm sturdily around his son's shoulders and even poking Katie on the end of her nose too, although she was absorbed in the love from her mother, he encouraged Misty closer to his side as well. Ben pulled a face that Misty soon shared once she pulled away from the greeting smooch. "Are you sure you want to accuse me of lying though?" he continued. Immediately, I knew he should tread carefully but he did not heed my warning or even look at me! "Because I know how this tale of mine ends. And I can make you look really really good or really really bad."
I gasped in my head loud enough for them to not need to actually erupt from the children's mouths. As I looked on at my best friend though he did not look in my direction still, I knew that it was fascinating how eyes so deep and warm could be so mischievous at times as well. And he wondered where Ben got it from!
Misty was not to blame. Misty was not to blame at all. And speaking of my best friend's wife, the woman in a very telling manner briefly swiped her lips with the back of her hand before perching on the end of the bed, close to me and close to Katie too. Her equally orange haired daughter scooted close to her, immediately resting her cheek down on her knee.
"I would prefer that you told our children the truth, Ash." Misty warned and Ash showed that he was not scared after all of those years of knowing each other by widening his eyes further. She could never get him in the way that she wanted. Katie looked up at her and Ben's mother from lulling on her lap. "Besides, they have been told this story a great many times. They know which one is real."
Clambering onto the part of her lap that Katie wasn't lying against while having her thumb firmly between two rosy lips; I could feel the little girl nod her head from the way that her hair brushed back and forth against the tips of my toes.
Looking over at Ben, however, I saw the way that he nonchalantly shrugged in between getting distracted by listening to words that were not part of a story and started unbuttoning the lower buttons of his sister's bed clothes in order to get a reaction out of her later on.
Ash shrugged in a way that told all that he would never be scared. Misty could never get her own back on him. How wrong he was! But for the moment, I allowed him to think that he was right.
"I'm allowed to tell a different version, they do it in movies all of the time." He insisted, his invincible attitude melting away for just a second to become a touch more accessible. He directed his words down at Katie as much as he did his wife, lightly nudging her with his elbow. But she was far too distracted with snuggling her mother. "Besides…" Ash chose to steal Misty's words and she knew it. An invisible fish hook tugged her brow close to the ceiling. "If you want to tell the children all of the stories then you had better not leave me in charge of bed time, had you?"
Katie looked up from Misty's lap and using the hand which had previously been in her mouth to trace along the stripes on my back. I tried not to grimace and I tried to be flattered instead. The two of us watched as two arms folded over the chest of the orange haired woman while Ben finished off unbuttoning every last one of Katie's duvet buttons.
He eagerly anticipated the reaction from her later on in the night!
Two arms constricting over her chest, Misty looked right at her husband and playfully couldn't believe that he was trying to make it seem that he had been telling lies as punishment for going out and having some fun on that night. Some fun! She had come home early from being with James when he needed to dash back to give one of his son's a lift home from a party.
Some fun, indeed. No, it had been fun while it lasted. But to tell you the truth, bickering like ten year old's with her husband was equally that way. It reminded her that though things would change, there were some things that could always be the same.
"Fine." Misty tugged me away from my thoughts by replying to her husband, and she also caused Katie to peer from being in the middle of caressing me, double checking just in case her parents really were mad with each other. "You tell your stories, Ashy Boy. I will rate you out of ten. But I already deduct you two points for comparing my hair to a carrot!"
The way that the orange haired woman so vehemently and dramatically tightened her grip around her own chest told Katie that she really was just playing around so the child smirked knowingly for all to see now that her lips weren't partially blocked by a thumb and balled fist.
Ben had since finished his anticipatory practical joke on his twin sister and as well as this, the tone that even he could read from his mother instantly put amusement to the pit of his stomach! He chuckled wholeheartedly while being close to his father and that same father of theirs widened his eyes in a very contrasting manner from before. And in a very real way too.
I watched as my best friend grinned nervously, a hand roaming through unruly and thick, raven black locks in order to comfort himself. So, Misty had heard quite a lot of the story. And if that was the case, he was lucky to still be alive. He needed to keep things that way.
"I meant it with nothing but love because, of course, you know that they are my very favourite vegetable." Ash tried to butter his wife up, those eyes of his not being as wide as they clapped together, eyelashes moving and grooving on his lids. Ben chuckled all the more, snuggling further under the covers. Misty was as stone faced as her husband had been in the story. "In fact, I meant the whole thing with nothing but love. After all-"
Misty knew that Ash trying to butter her up could go for days on end. Someone with a manner about him that liked to choose short sentences to get to the point as quickly as possible could somehow string out a never ending line of flattering words to get around her.
She knew when to put a stop to it and when to put a stop to it quickly.
"Just tell a story, Ash." She commanded him; however, her voice could not hide the elevation of amusement that bubbled in her throat. After she spoke these words that actually didn't mean any harm, one hand reached down to cup the top of Katie's head. Then, with the other, it brushed past me on the way to land on Ben's locks that had been tamed as best as they could be before bed time.
I didn't mind for a single second that my being had been reached out for as a bypass to somewhere else. I was more than happy to be included. In fact, the tale of Ash's even though it had been quite a bit of nonsense paired with the company of the children put a feeling in my belly that was far warmer than a roaring fire on a winter's day.
There was something about the dichotomy of past and present that made me feel alive. Things always moved forward. But ties to where you always would be and always would need to be were a comforting sensation. I loved being in the best of both worlds. And like how Ash's egotistical telling of the tale had expressed, I was actually glad that my world still included him. And each and every one of the Ketchum's too, of course.
It didn't dawn on me until my thoughts faded away that I had been pondering for quite a long time. I had distractedly pondered to myself for a while. But Ash still hadn't started another story. Of course, it wasn't a look from me that finally encouraged him to say something – anything.
It was only Misty's look and Misty's look alone that did this. At long last, he conceded.
"Actually…" he began and the orange haired woman and I could garner what was coming next just from this, let alone when his arm left from wrapping around Ben all over again and the back of his neck felt contact from his own fingers. "Do you think that you could tell a story? I'm kinda all used up from the last one."
It filled my line of vision when Ben and Katie shared a look with each other. They had been sharing the same bed before sleep time but it was that moment that their own eyes actually reached for one and other. They shared a wordless look. Within that unspoken gaze, their thoughts could not have been more different.
But then again, they were the children of Ash and Misty, weren't they?
The twins weren't the only two with lines of vision that searched for companionship within each other. Misty and I discovered ourselves to be sharing a look too. It became most comical! It was lucky her arms were not folded over her chest because they could have faltered and fell if the situation had allowed it.
Misty tried to hold her tongue. But in the end, it was futile. A very clear look was sent to her husband.
"Tired of telling lies and comparing my hair to gross vegetables no less?" she quipped and Ash did not take a moment of hesitation before his mouth slammed shut so obviously that his teeth clicked together! This caused a twinkle to develop in Misty's iris and long to quirk up the corner of her mouth. But she did not fully allow it. "Fine. What kind of story are you after, sweethearts?"
With no arms folding over her chest at all, both of Misty's hands were free to cup under the chins of both her beloved eldest children. They melted and grinned back immediately though they didn't speak of anything straight away.
Ash was left wanting to speak straight away but still managing to hold his tongue when his wife's hands fell away from her children and her spare right hand cupped me under the chin next instead. But no other hand reached for him!
He tried his best to hide his contempt but it was to no avail. Katie was far too busy taking her chance and piping up to worry that he really had been wounded. Ben would have usually been the type to fuss over his father and want to fight anybody who upset him. But on that day, he instead chuckled as heartily as he had done in moments previous, before he leaned back against Ash's chest, ready to listen to whatever his mother had to tell them.
"We… We want something that is true. Really, definitely true." Katie piped up and spoke for both her and her twin brother to which he nodded his head. Playing with the loose buttons of the bottom of her bed clothes, maybe he felt bad about undoing them from the way that she spoke out in the way that suited them both.
Yet alas, he didn't bother to correct the situation! He let the loose buttons go. And focused on continually lounging against his father's chest, fighting back a secret yawn. If his eyes watered a single bit or his lips parted, they would catch onto him and he would be tucked in his own bed to sleep.
Ben remained stoic. Katie remained doe eyed after she had asked their mother of exactly what they wanted. Ash pretended to scowl. But he too was curious to hear what his wife came up with. In truth, she was too! Yet I knew that she did not need to worry. Her whole life had a never ending line of stories fit for soothing children to sleep.
I should have known that it would be another one from her and Ash's beginning together. And the start of all of our friendship too.
"Wild Pokémon tend to be jealous of human trained Pokémon." The male voice rattling out of the red Pokédex spoke, informing the rookie trainer of new information. All Ash could do was let out a noise of realisation, looking on at the way that the wild Spearow was attempting to attack his new Pokémon, Pikachu.
It was all the boy's fault anyway. He should never have thrown a rock at an innocent Pokémon like that. Now Pikachu was struggling as he tried to hang onto the tree branch and it was yet another thing that was Ash's fault. He would never be the hero that he claimed to be.
At least there were other beings around that were far more heroic. Pikachu's fingers slipping on the branch and the Spearow flying around him, preparing for another attack, the yellow mouse Pokémon had an instinct wash over him that was most natural and it was equally as feral. But it was exactly what he needed to do.
The bird Pokémon flying nearer, it accidently flew a bit too close. Pikachu unleashed his attack. His electric attack. Spearow yelped and winced in pain, Ash feeling rather awe struck that after so many years of being desperate to go on a Pokémon journey and see every inch of the Pokémon World, he was then seeing a Pokémon inside and out as it's skeleton became visible from the electric attack.
Spearow was left catapulting to the ground with x's for eyes before it somehow recovered, bouncing to its claws with narrowed, offended eyes that could not hide its tears.
Disbelieved and embarrassed, it still had a nasty streak to it as it turned to call out its own name and the reason for this would soon be revealed. From their impressive hiding place that somehow managed to conceal so many of them, a whole gang of other Spearow flew out of a tree and made a beeline straight to rescue it's disadvantaged friend!
Ash's eyes quickly filled with horror. He was no longer feeling quite so heroic.
To his young and yellow friend, he considered running before the two of them actually did so, making the comical sight as they attempted to flee the scene. Apparently Pikachu's own bravery had run out along with the electric attack that had been omitted from his cheeks.
A gang of Sandshrew and Mankey too looked on as the two were chased by an entire flock of bird Pokémon, sprinting through the grass and towards more trees. Hopefully ones not containing angry birds that time!
"Don't worry Pikachu! No matter what, I'll save you!" Ash cried out in between running, his arms waving up and down in the air leaving any other potential onlookers wondering where on earth he learned to run like that.
It was no wonder that, despite his attempt to be reassured, Pikachu was not having any of it and ran on ahead. Ash commented on his eagerness to leave him in the dust and because of his momentarily slowing down of running, he was pecked right on the head by a single Spearow.
He winced in pain. But soon enough, he could see that he was not getting the worst of it. Pikachu had made the wrong decision by running on ahead and not because Ash needed him more than the Pokémon needed him although that was true as well.
Singled out among the grass, Pikachu was a prime suspect and started to feel the sharp beaks of many, many Spearow all around him. Ash warned the pesky Pokémon not to cause any more damage right as poor Pikachu hit the ground. Was it too late?
It seemed to be. But rather admirably, Ash still did not give up and he even forced himself to run straight into the gang of Spearow and grab his new friend off the ground. Pikachu had never wanted to be his friend. Not really. But at least he had been saved.
Tramping through the leaves and the grass, Ash attempted to run away from all that were angry with him and get the yellow mouse Pokémon to safety. Soon enough he discovered a break in the foliage and he thought he had reached freedom. He could not have been more wrong!
He had reached something all right. His legs started to tremble while clutching Pikachu as he eyed the far drop and the waterfall and the river flooding below. There was only one thing for it. Turn back and give up? No! He wasn't quite that cowardly.
He might have not been the hero that he made himself out to be but he was no quitter either. Showing this determination clear as day, Ash swivelled his hat backwards and prepared to jump. And he actually did jump. The pair were met with an icy cold landing and when Ash was only just able to open his eyes that stung against the salt of the lake, he was met with the sight of not only a gormless Magikarp but its evolution, a far more ferocious Gyarados.
Choking for air as much as he was doing so with fear, adrenaline pounded through the young man's legs and he was somehow able to swim away and out of harm's way too. But not for long.
You see, Ash and Pikachu had not been the only people visiting the lake side on that day. A young lady with hair the colour of a fiery sunset on a summer's day was perched on the edge and doing some fishing. She didn't have a clue that a very peaceful day would turn into a chaotic one with the one, chance meeting!
Misty watched as at long last and after a long day fishing, her lure finally bobbed in the water. This paired with the severe bubbling motion that broke the surface told her that she was in for catching something quite spectacular.
"Hey I got a bite! Oh wow, I really think this could be a big one!" she cried out gleefully, already tugging on the rod and preparing for her chance to go up against whatever it was that had grabbed onto her hook. And end up catching it, of course!
With all of her might, she tugged and she tugged and she tugged on her rod. It didn't take too much effort, really, because she was so very strong.
She should have known from the scream that erupted that she had caught something that was not quite just a Pokémon on the other end of her fishing rod.
Plopping her prey down onto the ground with a splat, she quickly saw that it was not just a Pokémon. It was a boy! And she called out of such. But then, she somehow recovered quickly from the dismay that she had caught a human child during her fishing trip when she saw what was in the arms of the uninteresting kid.
"Oh and a Pokémon! Aww, are you okay?" she questioned, her gentle voice then a far cry from the concentrative grunts that she had uttered when she was tugging her pray to safety.
Ash had known such coldness in moments before then; such fear. But now he had been rescued! And he had not been rescued by just anybody. He had been rescued by someone better than a princess. Prettier than a princess. He had been rescued by Misty. Not that he knew her by name.
Then, he only knew her by face. And he could not be stopped from softening as he gazed upon her porcelain features and eyes that glistened like crystals.
"Yeah, I'm okay…" he found his voice with his hat twisted to the side and water dripping off from both that as well as his features. No water clouding his vision could stop him from seeing Misty the way that she truly was.
Stunning.
Ash was quickly stunned by her words.
"Not you! Look what you've done to that poor little thing!" Misty retorted, putting the raven haired boy in his place and with a hand rising upwards.
But despite the tone to her words, that hand did not mean violence. It did not mean violence at all. It meant something else. Something different. It meant…
What did it mean? Again, something that we would not find out in the story!
Katie did a rare thing as she was sat properly on her mother's lap that time and she interrupted the tale.
"It… It meant l-love?" the child questioned, her eyes already wide and hopeful although having heard the story many times before, there was no way that she could be so mistaken. "Your hand rose because… because you pulled his face close to yours and… k-kissed him?"
Misty tried to deny it. Misty in the future and as a mother tried to deny it and she knew that she could not lie to her children – either of them.
But for just a moment, there was a part of her that could not do anything and her expression was filled with not only amusement but a rosy blush too, part of her wanting to leave everyone lingering, wondering what had actually happened between Ash and Misty and on that day.
Of course, mystery led to the opportunity of speculation. And I watched as after a good while of listening to the story against his father's chest, Ben peeled away from him long enough to whisper secretively to his twin sister.
It was funny seeing young versions of Ash and Misty grow up together all over again but as siblings.
"I heard that she slapped him…" Ben whispered to Katie, his warm eyes widening even further as he uttered one particular word and his twin sister's orbs copying the same countenance in the split second after.
Katie thought about turning towards her mother whom she trusted more than anything, getting answers off her. But she decided that she trusted Ben more than anything too so she listened to him, wriggling her bottom nonchalantly against the lap of Misty and watching her twin brother deflate back against his father's chest.
That time, Misty was not such a fan of mystery and set the record straight when she heard the conversation between her two eldest children.
"I did not slap him." She insisted, and she evidently caught on to the way that I looked at her because she quickly continued, adding more words and running her fingers through Katie's hair at the same time that she addressed other words that the twin's had been speculating. "And I did not kiss him either."
It was funny how she had been so against Ash telling lies when it came to story time and then there Misty was! I knew that I had heard the thwacking noise as clear as day and on that specific day way back in the future!
But I knew it was not for me to comment on there and then. It was not to comment on at all. I tilted my head, almost immediately meeting the gaze of my best friend who hummed knowingly to himself and allowed Ben to lull against him furthermore, his arms crossing together and resting behind his head.
If he could let it go then I could as well. After all, that slap eventually turned into a kiss. Maybe not for many years! But eventually. So it was okay.
Though she had asked for a story that told the truth and her wish had been granted, Katie could not stop her eyes from displaying disappointment as she tilted back and looked at her mother, not moving an inch away from her lap to interact with her at a more comfortable level.
"So there is no kiss in this story…?" she wondered, all the more disappointed by the fact that straight away a head shake from her mother as well as a cool brushing of the hand over her forehead told her the answer that she did not wish to her. "So w-will you tell me one where there is a kiss?"
Katie asked. And before another of her young wish could be granted – by either parent – Ben spoke and Ben spoke in such a way that he did not need to properly formulate words. He groaned!
With a huffing noise, the raven haired young man pried himself away from his father's chest and decided to slide further under the covers, so much so that he became invisible. But you could tell that he was burying his eyes against the curve of his knee from the way that a lump formed underneath the duvet.
"Well I'm going to sleep if you're going to start telling stories like that!" he exclaimed and with that, he decided to not make another noise or another movement at all. True to his word, if his parents were going to start telling that sort of yucky story then he would much rather go to sleep.
You see, often times Ben and Katie could not be more different from one and other. And on that night time with most of my loved ones surrounding me, this could not be closer to the truth. While her twin brother buried away and rejected any sort of story with a single kiss, Katie eagerly awaited hearing every word of the tale.
So much so, she stopped just lulling against her mother's lap and even stretched her legs outwards, so her feet were resting on her father's own legs and he could cup the soles of her feet in an endearing sort of way.
With parents like Ash and Misty, is it any wonder that Ben and Katie were so opposing? But also, with parents like Ash and Misty, was it any wonder that they were so wonderful?
While I listened to the third and final tale of the night and enjoyed the company of all of these people around me, I thought of exactly that.
Some of the stories from Ash and Misty might have been bent a little bit on that day. But on the whole, their fables and their love story together was nothing but the truth. It was two people becoming best friends at a young age and falling in love. It was two people going through every aspect of life with each other and still finding utter bliss with each other.
No matter the ups. No matter the downs. No matter the chaos. They formed something beautiful together from the moment they met. Sure, it would take some years before it reached its apex. I'm still not entirely sure that it has fully gotten there!
But one thing I know is that, somehow all the more than Ben and Katie and all of their children too – I love nothing more than remembering these tales. All of them. The elaborated ones. The ones in their simplest forms. They are the chapters in the lives of the people who formulated my beginning too.
I feel like we will never reach the end. Because all of these anecdotes and all of these memories is what keeps me alive.
The End.
There you go! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :) I actually really enjoyed myself when I had to translate scenes from the anime into this story as well as give them a twist! It really brought me back to my earliest days uploading on here. I love all the characters that Shannon and I have made over the years and the complex storylines. But there is also nothing like going back to something simple like Ash and Misty being parents to their children. And reminisicing on their chilhood together too, of course! Even if it involves white lies sometimes :D Thanks again and I will be back again on Wednesday so see you then!
Amy signing out :)