Embrace the Changes
"Wow, it smells great down here!"
"What are you cooking?" Dakota asked, rushing up to her aunt's side.
"Can't you wait for a while, sweetheart?" Misty laughed tiredly.
"Not when it comes to food I can't," Dakota refuted.
Misty smirked and rolled her eyes. "Or presents or visitors or-"
"Hey Auntie, what's that on your neck?"
Misty looked at her niece and raised an eyebrow. She was looking curiously at the side of her neck, head tilted to the side. Misty reached up and touched the spot, wincing when she pressed down just a bit too hard on it. She smiled afterwards, however, and pulled her shoulders back.
"It's nothing," Misty assured him.
"Are you sure?" Dakota prodded. "It kind of looks like a bruise."
"You could call it that," Misty murmured, her cheeks beginning to grow red. Her mind traveled back to the gym battle that day, when Ash had given her that very mark before sending her back into the battle area. It hadn't started to darken until that night, although Misty wasn't at all surprised by it. Ash had a bit of a habit of leaving hickies on her…most commonly on her neck. She'd gotten pretty successful at getting him to leave them other places when they are surrounded by fellow family members , because Misty didn't necessarily want her nieces to see them and ask awkward questions. Ash had obviously had a lapse of memory, however, and left it there anyway. When Misty playfully reminded him of it the same night, Ash had just smirked and, in just as playful a fashion as Misty's tone, lapped the mark with his tongue.
"So I got a little bit excited," Ash had chuckled lowly. "That's just so you remember that you're mine, and I'm yours."
And it was that last line that had led to Misty giving Ash his very own mark, one that he would have no choice but to show off at training complex that day.
"Does it hurt?" Dakota asked, going to poke at the mark.
"Dakota! Stop bugging her while she's cooking!," Daisy scolded.
"Okay, I'm done with it, now I have to go and watch over the gym," Misty said before leaving.
XXX
Ash returned to the Cerulean gym, but this time, he had no intentions of practising battles with Misty. He knew that if he wanted to try and get Misty to view him differently, he needed to heed Brock's advice and not do the same old stuff he always did with her…stuff that she definitely didn't view as romantic. Of course, Ash's brain was practically running on empty for different ideas, and as a result, his nerves were already shot. That's why he decided to head out super early so he could think clearly while the streets were quiet and he had less of a chance of being spotted or hunted down by photographers or adoring fans.
And, unfortunately for him, he managed to make it to the gym before it even opened.
When he stepped in front of the doors, and they didn't automatically slide open, Ash was initially confused.
"That's weird…" he muttered to himself. He knocked on the glass, assuming that maybe someone was inside and just hadn't opened the doors for potential challengers yet, but after waiting a minute, no one came. "Is there really no one here?"
He began pushing at the glass, trying to pry it open himself. Pikachu, who sat on his usual perch of Ash's shoulder, let out a tired sigh. His trainer really never learned.
"You trying to break into my gym?"
Ash gasped and spun around, finding himself face-to-face with Misty. She had an eyebrow raised, but otherwise sounded amused, much to his relief.
"No!" Ash cried, just in case she was actually angry about such a thing. "I was just…surprised that the doors were closed."
"Yeah, because I didn't open them yet," Misty scoffed, holding up the key for proof. "What're you doing here, anyway? And so early? I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon."
"I just…missed you, that's all!" Ash blurted, blushing a bit.
At this, Misty tilted her head. "It hasn't even been two days since we last saw each other. You usually go much longer without seeing me."
She strode past Ash in order to open the doors with her key. Shuffling closer to Misty, Ash timidly asked, "are you mad about that?"
"What, not seeing you?" Misty distractedly asked, watching as the doors parted before her.
"Yeah…" Ash breathed.
"Of course not," Misty easily replied, looking over her shoulder at Ash as the doors slid open. "We both had our own things going on! Sure, I missed you babe, but I couldn't possibly be mad when you were working towards your goal and I was running the gym."
And then she finished that statement with a peck on his lips, walking into the gym and leaving behind a flustered Ash.
"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried, pawing at his trainer.
Shaking his head out, Ash hurried after Misty, walking into the gym himself and taking a look around. For some reason, it seemed different in the morning, when the sun was so new and there'd been no one there for a battle just yet.
"So…" Ash awkwardly began, Misty too busy behind the front desk to look at him. "What're you doing today?"
She stood back up, once again arching an eyebrow. "Working."
"Oh, right," Ash murmured, Pikachu hanging his head. "Well…what about…after working?"
"I don't know," Misty earnestly replied. "Is there something you want to do? It certainly sounds like it."
"Not especially!" Ash laughed heartily, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'd do whatever you wanted to do! I mean, if you want to hang out after you're done working, that'd be fun! I could even hang around here if you want! At the gym, I mean. I don't have anything to do today. And it's not often I get a break from league stuff, you know! They keep me really busy. Actually, it's kind of exhausting, and that's saying something -cause I've got so much energy! But I get it. They really want to hype up the Elite Four stuff. Apparently, tons of people are talking about! I don't really pay attention to that kind of stuff, but it makes sense. I'm excited, too!"
Misty blinked, amazed that Ash had managed to spit all of that out in one breath. "You're not kidding about that energy…"
Ash groaned and mentally smacked himself on the head. That wasn't helping his case! "Sorry, guess I got carried away."
In response, Misty giggled, which caused Ash's cheeks to become tinted pink. "It's fine! I mean…if you really want to hang out around here while I'm busy, be my guest! You might have to interact with my sisters more than me, though…depending on how many challengers show up."
Ash's giddy disposition was quickly replaced by one of hesitance. "Uh…"
"Don't worry, I'll tell them to behave," Misty assured him.
"Does that actually work?" Ash asked, folding his arms.
After a long pause, Misty stepped out from behind the desk with an armful of paperwork and admitted, "no."
As if on cue, the doors to the gym opened once more, granting access to the aforementioned sisters. Unlike the last time he was there, however, Ash was now seeing all three of them, as Daisy was back in tow. When she saw Ash, she had a little smirk on her face, but Violet and Lily were far more shocked than anything else.
"Oh my gosh, you're back!" Violet shouted. "It's like you can't stay away all of a sudden."
"He was probably regretting not giving me that autograph," Lily teased, winking at an unimpressed Ash. "Offer still stands!"
"Lily, nobody wants to sign your questionably real shirt," Misty snapped, glaring at her pink haired sister.
"Oh yeah?" Lily sniffed. "There are plenty of men out there who've said and done otherwise."
Ash's face had exploded red all over again. Daisy quickly took notice of this, and her smirk managed to widen. "Ash isn't one of those men, Lily. I think you know that!"
The third sensational sister shrugged her shoulders. "Doesn't hurt to ask!"
For the third time in a short while, the gym doors opened up yet again, this time revealing a young boy who nobody in the lobby recognized.
"Um…this is the Cerulean gym, right?" He asked.
"You've got it!" Lily trilled, flipping her pink hair over her shoulder.
The boy's eyes lit up. "Oh, good! I wanted to challenge the gym leader to a battle!"
"Perfect, you're right on time!" Misty chirped, relief washing over her.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Violet whined.
"You know exactly what it means," Misty curtly replied, pushing past her sisters and smiling at the newly arrived trainer. "I'm Misty, the Cerulean City gym leader. I'd be happy to accept your challenge! Please, follow me to the battlefield."
She started to walk away, the guy eagerly following behind her. When they reached the doorway, he continued walking, but Misty stopped and grabbed onto the doorframe. "Remember what I told you, Ash!"
His blush returned, albeit more gentle than last time. Daisy took notice of this, and her expression became more thoughtful. Violet and Lily, on the other hand, didn't notice and instead began loudly extrapolating.
"What'd you tell him?" Violet demanded.
"Yeah, sounds steamy!" Lily giggled.
"It's not," Misty promised them. "Lily, come on. I want you to be the referee."
"Ugh, why me?" Lily groaned.
"Because I don't want you to keep torturing Ash!" Misty barked.
"I am not!" Lily argued, although she made her way over to her younger sister. "I'm just teasing, that's all!"
Once Misty and Lily had disappeared from view, Ash turned towards the remaining two sisters, nervous energy radiating off of him. Daisy had on a kind smile, while Violet looked far more mischievous.
"It's been a while since I last saw you, maybe due to my back-to-back beauty contests,"
By the way Ash, nice job winning the Indigo Conference!" Daisy commented.
"Oh…thanks!" Ash replied, suddenly feeling a bit more relaxed.
"But I don't think that's all that's changed since the last time I saw you," Daisy mused, causing Ash's smile to fade. "No…something seems different!"
"Uh…like what?" Ash tensely asked.
Daisy finished tapping her chin and shrugged her shoulders. "If you ask me, you seem a little freaked out! And I'm not used to seeing you like that."
Trying to hide his unsteady demeanor, Ash laughed shakily and refuted, "me? Freaked out? No way! I'm just…tired is all! Yeah! This champion stuff is pretty demanding, after all."
"Not surprising," Daisy agreed, causing Ash to let out a sigh of relief. "You two sure have gotten too far!"
Ash's eyes widened, and Violet whipped towards Daisy with a gasp. "Whoa, for real?! How could you tell?"
Daisy narrowed her eyes at her blue haired sister. "Vi, with everything Misty said to him, Ash was turning red."
Quickly getting excited, Violet turned her attention back onto Ash and crowed, "I knew Misty said something scandalous and maybe too steamy to you before!"
"She didn't!" Ash blurted, shaking his head. "I swear!"
"Oh, so you're just blushing at everything she says?" Violet muttered. "Wow, you've got it bad."
Ash dramatically rolled his eyes and dragged himself over to one of the lobby couches, sinking down on it and burying his face in his hands. Pikachu, meanwhile, jumped off his trainer's shoulder and instead settled himself by the young man's side, comfortingly patting him.
"Geez, you don't have to act like it's a death sentence," Violet quipped. "I know Misty is still kind of a runt, and a little mean sometimes, and- "
"Violet!" Daisy hissed.
"What?" Violet naively murmured.
"You're not helping," Daisy scoffed, waving a hand at her.
Ash slowly looked up, glaring at Daisy. "You're not either."
"Maybe I wasn't before, but I can now," Daisy easily replied. She skirted over to Ash, taking a seat beside him. "Look, it's still pretty easy to tease both you and Misty, so we can't help ourselves. But if you really do love my baby sister, then I'm more than willing to give you some advice. Honestly, I really do think you two would look good together!"
"The first time we met, you literally said I wasn't someone you'd pick out for her," Ash grumbled. "Besides, I don't need your advice. I already got some, thank you very much."
"Oh yeah?" Daisy teased, an amused smirk growing on her lips. "From who?"
Ash pictured Brock in his head and indignantly turned away from Daisy, figuring he didn't owe her an answer.
"Was it another guy?" Daisy prodded, not deterred by Ash's silence.
"…maybe," Ash finally admitted, still refusing to look at Daisy.
"That figures," Daisy scoffed. "You're really going to take advice on how to impress a girl from another guy? Especially when this girl is the sister of who you are in love with?"
Ash furrowed his brow and finally cast Daisy a concerned glance. "How do I know you're actually going to give me good advice?"
"Because I know what I'm talking about!" Daisy noisily sighed, folding her arms.
"So do I!" Violet eagerly added, raising her hand. "I go out with guys all the time!"
Ash didn't seem convinced, but despite his hesitance, he assumed he had nothing to lose by just listening to them. If the advice was really so awful, he didn't have to take it. "Okay, fine. What've you got?"
Raising a single finger, Daisy elucidated, "there's an outdoor market downtown that Misty absolutely loves. Take her there! You'll both have a good time, and there won't be any pressure on you, since it's super lowkey. I'm assuming you've had enough of that in the past couple of weeks to last you a lifetime; you don't need Misty adding onto it."
While Ash appeared intrigued, Violet groaned. "Ugh, I thought you were going to suggest something a lot more interesting."
"But it's what Misty would like," Daisy pushed, warily eyeing her sister.
Violet frowned and twirled a piece of hair around her finger. "Who knew going steady with a guy would make you so boring!"
Ash's smile suddenly widened as he jumped to his feet. "You know what? That's actually a great idea! Thanks, Daisy!"
Daisy giggled and winked at the young man. "I told you to trust me!"
"Misty was right," Ash mused aloud. "Tracey really has changed you in the best possible way!"
"Why thank…hey, wait a sec!" Daisy cried, her sea green eyes narrowing.
"Sure, if you think the 'best possible way' is the lamest possible way," Violet grumbled, shaking her head.
"Nice work, Kevin. Congrats again on the badge!"
"Thank you, Misty!"
Ash turned towards the battlefield's doorway. The young trainer who had arrived before came running out, too busy admiring the shiny new Cascade Badge that he held in his hands to even notice Ash. It was a good thing too, because Ash was busy staring at Misty the entire time. She was leaning against the wall, arms crossed as she smirked at the excitable young boy, when suddenly she looked over at Ash.
"Trainers like that always reminds me of you when you were younger," Misty remarked, accentuating her comment with a delighted giggle.
Ash's lips twisted into an odd smile. "Is that a compliment or an insult?"
Misty hummed amusedly, but quickly assured Ash, "a compliment."
Lily, who had finally left the battle area herself, strode up next to her sister with her arms folded behind her head. "Hmph, talk about a snooze fest."
"What do you mean?" Misty scoffed. "That was a really great battle!"
"Sure, if you like watching paint dry too," Lily quipped.
"Don't listen to her, Misty," Daisy calmly interjected. "You know that Lily thinks every battle is boring."
"Not every battle!" Lily exclaimed before wiggling her eyebrows at the bewildered young man standing next to her oldest sister. "Ash's last battle was pretty exciting."
"You're only saying that because you thought Ash and the other guy were hot," Violet sniffed.
"So, what's your point?" Lily challenged.
Misty groaned and rubbed her left temple. "I've got to get out of here with my boyfriend before you start hitting on him again."
Ash's eyes lit up, an idea popping into his head. "So why don't we?"
Misty blinked. "What?"
"Because I have to work," Misty sighed. "I already told you this, Ash!"
Ash was about to argue, but Daisy cut in with an easy, "it's no big deal, Misty. We can watch the gym for you."
Misty's eyes shifted between Daisy and her two other sisters. "Really? You three?"
"We won't give away any badges," Daisy promised her cagey youngest sister. "Honest! I'll even be the substitute gym leader, if that makes you feel better."
"Oh, thank Arceus!" Lily sighed dramatically, covering her heart.
"Seriously just dodged a bullet," Violet added breathlessly.
Misty groaned and rolled her eyes. "Well, I definitely don't want those two filling in for me."
"Then problem solved!" Daisy crowed, jumping to her feet and gently grabbing Misty's shoulders, pushing her towards Ash. "You kids have fun!"
Misty grimaced before looking over at Ash. "Where did you want to go?"
Ash smiled shakily before suggesting, "how about that outdoor market downtown?"
Misty's face lit up. "Wait, really?!"
"Uh…yeah!" Ash chuckled nervously. "Is that…okay with you?"
"Yeah, it's perfect!" Misty cheered. "That's one of my favorite places to hang out! I didn't even think you knew it existed."
Ash stammered before locking eyes with a smirking Daisy. "Oh, yeah! Of course! I passed it on my way here and thought it looked really cool!"
"Oh, it is!" Misty marveled. "Wait until you see it up close! There are so many cool things there, and lots for Pokémon! I bet you'll love it!"
Without another thought, Misty grabbed Ash's hand and began pulling him towards the front door. He looked back at Misty's sisters, who all gave him confident looks save for Lily, who was simply confused. Pikachu, meanwhile, gasped and leapt from his spot on the couch, quickly following after the pair for fear of being left behind. Stopping short of the door, Misty too glanced at her sister, giving them all a big smile.
"Thanks, you guys!" She called.
"Don't mention it!" Daisy giggled, giving the two a little wave.
"Yeah, don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Violet added, winking at them.
"Well, that's a pretty short list," Misty muttered under her breath so only Ash could hear her. He started to laugh quite heartily, which only caused Misty's smile to grow. Speaking more clearly, she called back to her sisters, "see you later!"
And with that, she pulled Ash right out of the gym, Pikachu following at her heels.
As soon as they were gone, Violet and Daisy began to squeal, jumping up and down as they shouted excited, unintelligible nonsense at each other.
"What did I miss?" Lily hissed, frustrated that she was being left out of all the fun. "Ugh, I knew that battle was a waste of time!"