Hello :P It is not Wednesday but I am back with an extra chapter this week. I was going to upload it last night so it would be a Wednesday but I started writing another story instead. This one was a lot of fun to write. It takes place in the "Alola AU" as I like to call it and that is an AU where Ash and Misty go to the Alola School at ten years old and meet Jessie and James and other companions there rather than on a journey. I last wrote about it in the chapter called "The One At The Lunch Table." This time, this focuses a lot more on Misty and James but there's some quite sweet PokeShipping at the end. I hope you enjoy :3

James: 18

Misty: 11

Ash: 11

Disclaimer: I own only the story, no characters this time!

I breathed out contentedly as the whirring fan hit my face with cool air and even though my good friend was at the front of the classroom, doing a presentation for all of his Alolan school class mates, my attention was not on him. My attention was not on Ash. My attention was not on the professor either, nor was it on the other children in the classroom. I had been class pet in the Alola School for many years at that point and in that moment; I was having a moment to myself. I was only thinking about myself and at the same time, I was thinking about nothing. I was simply feeling. I was feeling the fan hitting my face. I was hearing the far off tones of the school work presenting boy. I was enjoying being in my own skin.

But then, something caught my attention. Something managed to pull my away from my thoughts of myself and my thoughts of contentment. As my eyes fluttered open for a fraction of a second when they grew dry from my cool air, I found myself peering out of the window and looking through another window, into the classroom next to the one I was in. At first, I didn't know why I was so drawn to it. But soon enough, I did.

After I blinked my eyes a few times to moisten them from being shut tight, they focused on a flash of lavender. While my good friend Ash presented his assignment in the classroom we were in, James Morgan was sat in his own classroom next to ours and looking very distracted indeed. My head tilted as I studied him and at the same time that mine did, his own head sloped.

He looked down towards his desk and one of his hands ran through the back of his long locks while the other rested on his desk and held a pencil. Through the open window, I could hear his own teacher talking and I could tell that he was trying very hard to concentrate on her words. But he couldn't. He simply couldn't. He was distracted. His mind was elsewhere. I could tell; anyone could.

The lavender haired male let out a quiet sigh and tried to ignore the feelings inside him that were distracting him and he squinted, giving one last attempt to truly listen to his teacher. It was no good. Really, it was no good. The class and the lesson weren't necessarily boring, per se. In fact, he often had a lot of fun in it and found his teacher far more likeable than his tutors that he had grown up being taught by. He didn't find the work too hard; he didn't find the work too gruelling. The other students weren't so bad either. In actual fact, he really liked some of them.

But that day, he was distracted beyond help. He had tried to help himself and he had tried to focus. He had even peered back in his chair to give his magenta haired school friend and classmate a smile in the hopes that her secret smile back would have encouraged him to focus but even that didn't work.

He let out another sigh. It was no good. He had a feeling in his stomach that he couldn't ignore and it was distracting him. And because it was growing more so with each second that, after looking at the clock and being reaffirmed that his feelings were valid, he put both of his palms on the desk and got ready to stand up and address the teacher.

As he stood up on his feet and put one hand in the air to find out to be excused, one of his other hands went back on the desk and at the same time as it did, one of his classmates slipped a note into his hand. It was a girl but it wasn't the magenta haired one. She was blonde and she was slightly younger than he was.

I couldn't help but stare even more. I even smirked slightly, growing even more distant from listening to Ash Ketchum's school report. I hadn't realised that he was a hit with the girls in his class. I had known that some of the younger ones in the school would giggle when he went past and I put it down to their age and them being young. I didn't realise that he had that effect on the females his age as well.

And quite possibly, James didn't realise this either because despite the blonde haired girl giving him a sheepish smile as she handed over the note and also the magenta haired girl behind him raising her eyebrow suspiciously, he didn't really seem to think anything of it. He just simply smiled at the slightly younger female and kept her note in his hand while he continued trying to get the attention of his teacher.

Eventually, he got it and after she let out a quiet sigh and asked him what was the matter, James showed off a sheepish smile and ran a hand through his hair with the fingers that were still holding the note. He asked to be excused to the bathroom for a moment and straight away, the female looked at the clock. She raised an eyebrow. It was only fifteen minutes into the lesson. Normally people his age tried to use that excuse to get away from the lesson at forty five minutes into the lesson. She stared at him over her glasses for a moment. But then she relented. James wasn't that kind of student. Actually, he was a very good one. He probably genuinely needed to go.

"Okay, you may be excused." She told the lavender haired teenage boy and straight away, he reached down to pick up his bag while still holding the note in his hand. He was stopped before he could hurry out of the classroom as soon as he was excused and this gave me time to make my way out of Ash's classroom and move round to the outside of James'. "Not so fast though. You know the rules. You must answer the question on the board correctly before you can go."

James' green orbs swivelled to the words written on the chalkboard behind the teacher and most of the other students did the same. They were glad to be listening to the teacher and teenager interacting instead of having to write down notes.

From behind, Jessie let out a quiet snort and I soon realised that this meant that she didn't think James could answer it quickly or correctly. The lavender haired male openly nodded his head in agreement and agreed, not even having to look at her to share the same thoughts as her. He read over the question on the board once more in his head before giving the teacher yet another sheepish smile that was perhaps even a little charming.

"Oh, I would love to but I really don't think I can give you a lengthy answer without having a bit of an accident. And you don't need more work to do, you already do enough."

As predicted, upon hearing this most of the students began giggling and chatting to one another except for a few who pulled faces and wrinkled their noses. The teacher shushed them before focusing her eyes on James. James was still smiling at her, innocently and charmingly. She was an authoritative woman. She was rather fierce. But when up against the lavender haired male, she found herself breaking into a slight smirk, though she did her best to hide it.

She pushed her glasses further up her nose and walked away from standing behind her desk to move closer to that particular one of her students.

"Go." She told him while trying to hide her bemusement but once again, before he could hurry out too soon, she stopped him a second time. She tapped the note that was in his hand that had been given to him by the younger blonde female. She locked her eyes onto his face. "But give me that paper first so I can write you out a hall pass."

James nodded his head and was about to hand the piece of paper over to his teacher with his bag slung over his shoulder when he caught the eyes of the blonde girl's friend. Her eyes were wide. She was shaking her head. Jessie stopped chewing on her pencil and leaned forward in her desk, curious about what was going on. She was a little suspicious too.

Even though the lavender haired male had been clueless over why he was being given a note and was still possibly naïve to it all, he caught the look and the head shake from her friend. I titled my head on one side and continued watching through the classroom door instead. James was quick on his feet and fast in his thinking. And on top of that, he was charming. He could almost get away with anything.

"Yes, you can have a piece of paper. You can have this one." He told his teacher and before she could protest, he stuffed the private note in his pocket and pulled out a fresh piece of paper in another pocket and handed it to the older female so she could write and sign on it.

She narrowed her eyes slightly at him but after he tilted his head on one side and simply met her eyes, she shook her head and smirked once again. She went along with it. She took the blank piece of paper from James and wrote his hall pass on it while the blonde girl and her friend breathed out with relief.

The lavender haired male did as well. He had almost forgotten the foreboding feeling in his stomach with being caught up in trying to get out of class but as soon as he did so and as soon as the classroom door was shut behind him, he felt it all over again. He felt it closer and stronger than ever. His eyebrows knotted together. Jessie's did too. Her friend had never tried to get out of class without her before. That's how she knew that something was worrying him. I did too. And I felt it even more prominently as I didn't hesitate to scurry along with him, trying to keep up with him.

James gave me a smile and a greeting as soon as I followed him but he didn't give me anything else. He remained quiet. He remained walking, his backpack slung over his shoulder. I began to ponder to myself. He hadn't spoken to me. He hadn't told me why he had left the classroom early. Soon enough, I began to worry that maybe he did actually need to use the toilet and I was being very weird by following him.

I almost stopped walking with him. I almost turned back. He was going in the direction of the boys toilets. I began to think that my second assumption was correct and that I was following him into the bathroom. But then I began to realise that he was being sneaky.

He walked towards the boys restrooms and stopped for a fraction of a second outside them. But he didn't go in. He kept walking again and that time, far quicker. As I looked up at him in bewilderment and confusion, he gave me a breathless smirk. He didn't give me anything else. So we continued walking together, both of our eyes swivelling about in case we got caught. We didn't.

We didn't get caught by any teachers. We didn't get caught by any Pokémon. We did get caught by a student but I came to realise that that student was the reason that James had escaped his classroom early.

He took his backpack off his shoulder as soon as he got outside the guidance counsellors office and moved in front of the orange haired younger female whose eyes had darted back to her lap after she had spotted us both. My heart swelled immediately when I saw her. My heart swelled immediately when I saw Misty. We were so very close. I had been her classroom pet for a number of years and we had become firm friends since day one. She wasn't always very happy and who could blame her with all that she had been through? But she made me very happy. And she made me very happy to see her.

But in that moment, like I was soon beginning to notice and like the lavender haired male had felt all along, Misty didn't seem very happy. She didn't seem very content or relaxed at all. She was refusing to look at us. Her cheeks were rather pale. She was very quiet. James moved even closer to her and nudged the sole of her shoe with the tip of his to get her attention.

"Munchkin." He greeted her with her nickname but following that, he didn't really know what else to say. He pushed his hair out of his eyes with a flick of his head. He pondered to himself. He had been feeling knotted up inside his stomach and after seeing the time, he knew that his good friend was due in to see the school counsellor. He had a feeling that it hadn't gone well. And after seeing her face and seeing her outside the office before the time her session was normally over, he was adamant that it had gone badly. He tackled the subject with light-hearted jokiness while I scooted round to be nearer to Misty's ankles. "It went really badly, huh? I could hear your screaming match from my English lesson."

James had made that joke because he assumed that he'd be met with a smirk and an eye roll and a complete denial of his words. I assumed that we'd receive that too or at least, I hoped that we would. But we didn't get that at all. We didn't get anything close to that.

For once, the orange haired female looked like she was about to burst into tears and even though she tried to push that away, she gulped rather loudly. Her paler than normal cheeks suddenly flushed and her head snapped towards her older friend. She was close to snapping at him too.

"Shut up, you did not!" she responded to him and after James took a slight step back from her, we began to notice that, even though she was yelling, her words were almost questioning. It was like she was making sure that it wasn't true. She was making it sound like it could be true. She tried to make up for it. "You did not."

"Misty…" James began and he interrupted her quickly but quietly, using her actual name unlike his nickname for her like he had done before. His green orbs were widened but it was out of concern rather than unsettlement from being snapped at. He swallowed when Misty went back to being quiet. She shuffled her feet next to be. "Talk to me."

I found the lavender haired male's words to be rather anticlimactic contrasting to how he had solemnly said his friend's name but I understood that that was what Misty needed. She needed someone gentle. She needed someone laid back. She didn't need to be fired up all over again.

Misty scrunched her nose up stubbornly and her throat was filled with pride when James crouched down in front of her to listen to her. She felt like a child. But she pushed that away by reaching her hand down to me and stroking my side. It took her a few minutes to answer her good friend. It took her just as long to look at him. But eventually she did both, her voice almost hoarse and her eyes flickering.

"My therapist is a bitch." She began, her harsh (and perhaps uncalled for, I didn't know) words being contradicted by her shaking tones. But despite this, James listened. Despite her language and her stubborn attitude, he took her seriously. She continued with a shrug. "She doesn't understand at all. She doesn't get it. She doesn't get me. She simply doesn't get it."

The lavender haired male waited a few moments before having an answer for the younger female, his own eyes flickering. Misty spent her time continuing to stroke my side. I enjoyed it but my stomach was feeling bloated with concern for her. My head secretly tilted on its side while I listened for the answers that James and Misty had for each other.

"She… She's probably trying her best, you know?" James responded to Misty tactfully and gently but right away he was up against an eye roll.

Misty rolled her eyes and she was so determined and passionate that she almost spat a little bit from her mouth as she answered the older male. Her body tensed with emotion as she looked down at him and gave him an eyebrow raise too.

"Oh will stop being so nice and seeing things from a balanced side and see it from my side instead? You-"

"Fine." James replied to Misty coolly and once again, took her seriously even though the eleven year old girl was being rather unfair. She was lucky to have a friend like the lavender haired male. He pushed his hair from his eyes and continued crouching in front of her. He continued looking at her too. "The guidance counsellor doesn't understand you. She doesn't understand at all."

He looked at Misty, giving the younger female time to nod her head and let out a slight 'hmp' noise with her mouth. James paused, moving his crouching position so he could be comfy as well as helpful. He continued carefully.

"What doesn't she understand?" the lavender haired male asked her and because he asked her so non-judgementally and acceptingly, Misty found herself being quiet. She had all the answers and all the heat and all the sass before, but then at that point, she found herself being quiet.

She stopped playing with my fur and played with her own fingers instead. She looked up at the ceiling. She shrugged. She thought about her answers. Despite being eleven years old and a pre-teen, she didn't want her problems to come across as simply being down to her age. It wasn't that. It definitely wasn't that.

She didn't like broadcasting every high and every low but she had been through some stuff. She had really been through a lot. And it affected the way she thought. It affected the way she felt. It affected the way she was. She needed someone understanding. And if the guidance counsellor wasn't that for her then I and James would be. She could count on us. Most definitely.

"She… She just doesn't understand." The orange haired female began and because James knew better than to assume, he didn't. He knew not to roll his eyes and assume that was the only answer he was going to receive. He knew that there would be more if he waited for it. So he waited for it. I did too. And he got it. We got it. "She's got so many students. She's only known me a few months. How can she expect to know me if she hasn't known me her whole life? She doesn't know how it is. She doesn't know how it feels. She just doesn't know."

I looked up at Misty when she trailed off thoughtfully and quietly. I swallowed the lump in my head and I found myself shaking my head too. It was unfair. It was so unfair. So many of the Alolan children had problems and had to go to the counsellor and I thought it was unfair. They were young. Their lives should have been carefree.

But just because something should have been, doesn't mean that it is always meant to be. I had learnt that in my years of being the classroom pet. I wanted to take all of their pain away. I wanted to take Misty's pain away. I wanted it all to go away. But I could only do my best. And if my best was letting them all hug me and hold me and squeeze me and talk to me, then I would do it. Believe you me, I would do it. I would do it for hours on end. I just wanted to be there for them. I just wanted to make a difference.

The answers that the orange haired female was giving James were still vague and she knew it. He knew it too. He was about to open his mouth and gently ask what had caused all of this. He wanted to know what had prompted all of those feelings. But because he was quiet and patient, he didn't have to ask. As he reached down to nonchalantly tie his shoelaces, Misty found herself opening up to her friend once more and even more so.

"She… She wants me to get in contact with all of my sisters and us all talk to each other about my parents and stuff. She… She just doesn't understand." Misty told James and these made his head snap up, even though he did his best to hide it. She had wanted him to be on her side and he knew it. But he also knew that he'd end up being neutral again sooner or later. Misty knew this too. She continued, not looking at either of us and shaking her head. "She doesn't understand how weird that would be. Suddenly get together out of the blue and have a therapy session? No thanks. It'd be so unhelpful. I'm done with the counselling. I'm done with her ideas. I'm done."

I looked up at Misty while, even though he very much wanted to, James didn't focus on her last few sentences. Instead, he focused on what really mattered and that was his friend's emotions towards getting back in contact with her sisters. He swallowed. He thought about it. He wondered how he'd feel in her position. He thought about it. He shrugged to himself. After a good few moments of thinking to himself and a good few strokes from Misty, he answered her. He let out a long and heavy breath, but he answered her.

"Maybe it would be unhelpful. But maybe it wouldn't. I don't know. I think sometimes you forget that they've had losses too. They've shared the same losses as you, Misty. It's easy to forget while you're here and they're there. But your parents were theirs too. And they lost them as well. I think the guidance counsellor wants you to heal by helping them heal too."

This really gave the orange haired female something to think about and it gave me something to think about as well. I nodded my head at the same time that Misty did slowly. It was a fair point. It was a very fair point. Sometimes people forget that others are suffering too when they are themselves. All they can see is the problems in front of their faces so much so that they can't see the faces of pain that are in front of them. It's easy to do. It's not necessarily right. But it's easy to do.

Misty had even more thinking to do. She wanted James to agree with her. She wanted James to be on her side. That's what she wanted. But she soon realised that even if he presented her with ideas that she hadn't even thought of, it didn't meant that he wasn't on her side. He would always be on her side. But most importantly, he would help her. Even if she didn't appreciate it enough at the beginning.

The orange haired female nodded her head. Then she shook her head. Then she nodded it once again. Following that, she groaned slightly and she stretched before burying her head briefly in her hands. While James nudged closer to her to offer her support, I rested my cheek on her ankle and she soon went back to stroking me while she spoke.

"I do agree with you. Sometimes I do forget that they're probably in pain as well but sometimes I find it easy to forget about them. I mean, they forgot about me for years and years. Even when my parents were around, they would always be off and doing their own thing. I was the one close to my parents and seeing every little detail. We've never shared feelings with one and other. Why would we start now?"

When James didn't have an answer for Misty, I got ready to answer her instead. I put my paw on her knee and got ready to tell her what I thought. But I didn't have time. The eleven year old girl had more questions. The eleven year old girl had more concerns.

She cleared her throat and appeared even quieter before she said them.

"Nobody thinks the way I do, James. Nobody feels the way I do either. Even if I did open up to them about… everything… Even though it happened to all of us, they are bound to feel a completely different way. They-"

"Grief affects everybody in different ways, Misty." James told her and thought he had the answer for her and that's why he interrupted her. The orange haired female shook her head but she let the older male continue. Even though she was younger than him, she soon figured out that he almost got as much healing from helping her through her problems as she did. Him giving her answers sometimes helped him have epiphanies and new approaches surrounding his own problems. So that's why she let him continue. Even if she didn't agree with what he was saying. "Besides, nobody thinks or feels like anybody else. You can't let it affect you. You can't let it hurt you. The sooner you realise that, the happier you'll be. I'm eighteen and still trying to learn it but hopefully you'll get there quicker than me."

Even though these words didn't resonate with Misty then and there, she nodded her head. She listened to them. She kept them in her brain for another time. But in that moment, she had other stuff in her brain. She had her own answers rattling around and she was desperate to express them to someone. She was desperate to express them to James.

Contrasting her previous head nod, she shook her head. The lavender haired male knew to be quiet. He wanted to be quiet. He wanted to hear her speak. He wanted to hear her thoughts. It made him proud. It made him happy to be her friend.

"What I mean is that I seem to think more than other people. I seem to hurt more than other people too. I try not to show it so it might come across as a shock to you but I'm kind of sensitive. So what would hurt anybody else, will hurt me ten times more. And I feel it in different ways too. I hurt over things that other people would be completely unaffected by. I don't know why. I've tried not to. But I just do. I feel a lot of things. Always. Sometimes I don't show it. But it's always going on."

I found myself nodding my head slowly and of course James did as well. But for once, neither of us had an answer for the eleven year old girl. She desperately wanted one, you could tell. But we didn't want to lie to her and bullshit her just to give her what she wanted. So we kept quiet. We listened to her words. She absorbed them. We accepted them. We nodded our heads.

And even though Misty didn't receive reassurance or answers or a response, she felt better. She felt better for saying them. And you could tell this by the way that she continued and the way that she looked into my eyes and James' eyes when she spoke. She was coming along in leaps and bounds, she was. And she made great progress every single day. I adored her. I simply adored her.

"Looking back, I should have handled it better back in there. It could have been so easy to just listen to her weekly request and then honestly tell her that I don't feel ready. Because truthfully, I don't. But I didn't do that. I got so frustrated and hot and bothered and yelled at her. I give my sisters a hard time for the things they used to do to me but I'm hardly any better, am I? Oh well."

You could tell from the orange haired female's prior words that it definitely wasn't an 'oh well' situation. It bothered her a lot. It affected her a lot. She felt bad. She felt remorseful. She felt guilty. And that in itself was a lot. That was yet another improvement on her part. The Alolan School was magic for her.

The thing is with James was that he was a great listener. He listened to anybody. But as well as listening to words and studying them, he also noticed the things that a person didn't say. He heard what people said and listened to them well, but he also took on board the things that a person didn't say.

Even though Misty didn't openly express it, the way that she spoke about other things and the way that she kept quiet about others, allowed James to figure out it all. And he told his observations to her in a laid back and an accepting way.

He felt proud of the younger female for all of the opening up she had done to him and the progress she had made in the months that he had known her. So he showed her this by taking hold of her hand and squeezing it before running his thumbs over her knuckles. He thought about giving her an innocent kiss on the hand too but like Misty, he overthought about everything. He didn't need strange rumours circling about!

So instead, he squeezed her hand and gave her a pride-filled and warm smile. He didn't let go of her hand. Misty didn't let go of my paw.

"I know that you worry a lot about ending up like your sisters, I can tell. You probably worry about turning into various other people that you have watched growing up too. I feel the same way. But you don't need too. You have me. You have Pikachu. You have Ash. You have all the kids here that are your age – they're pretty great. You have some of the ones my age too – they're not all bad. What I mean is that it doesn't matter if you're not ready to see your real family. We're all strange here but we're a family. And you fit in. And we like you. For who you are. Because you will never be like your sisters. You will never be like other relatives. You will always be like you. And that's the best thing you can be."

Even though Misty had been friends with the lavender haired male close to a year at that point and she was used to him being (in her mind) soppy, she still sometimes found it hard to get used to. Like she said, she hurt lots. She felt lots. She thought lots. But one thing that she still wasn't completely comfortable with was being overly affectionate. But that was okay. She appreciated the words from James, even if she didn't show it so openly.

She wrinkled her nose and she pretended to pull a face but she gave him a special smile. After he squeezed her hand again and gave her one back, he stood up. He dusted his knees off and he stood up. For the first time that little session, Misty tilted her head and observed her older friend. She then smirked, after figuring out he must have escaped class for her.

She was about to bring that subject up, when something distracted her. Something very loud distracted her. It was something very energetic too. And something very human and animated. It was Ash. And he came bounding down the hall, holding onto his backpack straps as his bag was fixed on his back.

I smiled right away when I saw him and Misty did too. I felt bad for missing the rest of his presentation for Misty and James so I didn't hesitate to hop onto his shoulder. And we didn't hesitate to rub our cheeks against each other. This made Misty smile even more. This made James quieten down. He almost stepped away from them both, already knowing from previous interactions than even when those two were in a big group of people; it was like they were alone together.

Misty was about to stand up from her chair outside the guidance officer and stand next to Ash to give him a royal teasing, when the door swung open. The orange haired female only had time to stand up before she was face to face with the woman that she had previously yelled at.

The guidance counsellor was a young woman and a kind one at that, even though she made some students feel like she didn't care. James liked her a lot. Of course he did. He liked most of the adults at the school. Of course he did. None of them were his tutors from back home. None of them were his parents.

He ducked his head slightly shyly but he gave her a smile. Like how Misty had been close to moving close to Ash, James was going to move closer to Misty. He planned on putting his hand on her shoulder and squeezing it to wordlessly tell her that she could make up for how things turned out.

She had said herself that she regretted not being honest and communicative and she had a chance to make things right. But she proved to me and she proved to us all that she really was coming a long way. She didn't need a shoulder squeeze from James to prompt her into doing this. She decided to take action, all by herself.

She ignored her embarrassment and her shyness when stood in front of the guidance counsellor and she decided to push on through it. She held her head high. She balled her hands at her sides. She could do anything, that one. She had all of us. And she could do anything.

"I… I'm really sorry about my behaviour today. If you've got time, I'd really love to finish our session. I think I should hear more of your ideas and at least be honest if I think I can't manage them."

I showed off a bright beam as soon as Misty said these words and Ash and James' eyes flickered curiously but they didn't say anything. At first, the guidance teacher blinked. She really hadn't been expecting an apology off the eleven year old girl; let alone a great deal of honesty. She didn't show it too much, but she was very impressed. She was very proud. She felt bad about what her answer had to be. But she was proud of Misty very much.

"I appreciate that. But actually, this young man here had to move his session to this timeslot which is why he was been waiting out here for you. I presume that's what he's been doing anyway. It's time for Ash's session now. We'll have to catch up the same time next week. That okay?"

Once again, Ash and James shared looks but they included me in their gaze as well. All three of us looked between each other. We glanced over at Misty and assumed that she'd be ready to join in our communicating eye contact as well, but she wasn't. She wasn't looking at any of us. I understood.

Her cheeks were slightly rosy red once again. I felt a great deal of sympathy for her. She had put herself out of her comfort zone and tried her hardest, only to be rejected by the teacher. Even if she felt bad about it and there wasn't really anything she could do, it would've given Misty a great boost of confidence to be met with a 'yes'.

I looked at James. He had since pulled out the lollipop out of his pocket from his last session of counselling and was nonchalantly sucking on it. He met my eyes but for once, he wasn't really picking up on Misty's inner feelings.

But someone else was. Someone very unexpected was picking up on her feelings. It was Ash. And he gave both Misty and the guidance teacher a positive smile as he moved between them, me still on his shoulder. He rested his arms behind his head and squinted.

"Oh, I would be very okay with Misty sharing some of my session today. She sounds like she's got some stuff she wants to tell you and I don't want to make that not happen. I-"

Ash was interrupted by the guidance counsellor politely but firmly telling the raven haired boy that his request was against the rules. Since getting rejected, Misty had been very quiet but she had become very surprised over the boy's act of kindness.

It shouldn't have been a surprise, really. He was a very selfless boy. It wasn't out of the ordinary for Ash to do something very very kind indeed. So I soon realised that Misty was shocked because it was a kind gesture being done for her. She didn't really know how to feel about it, coming from him. They were friends, of course they were. But it felt strangely new to her. She felt strangely shy about it.

She opened her mouth to express gratitude in her own way but she didn't have time. Like Misty had grown more communicative and truthful – kind of like Ash, Ash had become relentless and ballsy – kind of like Misty.

But he was still himself too. He gave the guidance teacher a respectful and warm smile but it was firm too. And before he could be stopped, he grabbed hold of Misty's hand pushed open the door to the office even further. The teacher blinked. James did too. Misty did as well. Ash just smiled.

"Misty and I are good friends so I really don't mind. In fact, I insist." He told the teacher and with that, he was not taking no for an answer. It wouldn't have been a no. He wouldn't have let it be a no. He had watched Misty over time, much like James had, and he had learnt that if Misty wanted something, she would bring it up. And she had bought it up that she wanted more time. So he was going to help her get it.

The orange haired female was blushing slightly at her first hand hold with the boy, as well as him calling her 'his good friend'. She found it all very new. She found it all very exciting. Deep down, she found it all very sweet. And then she found it very funny - she found it very playful - when Ash let go of her hand and whispered in her ear instead. Somehow, he knew that she'd had a tough start of the session and wanted to make it better for her.

"I bet you can't stuff as many of the candies in your mouth as I can!" he sung to her in a whispery-like way and after Misty smirked and said the words 'bring it on, Ketchum', the two of them rushed into the guidance counsellor's office and sat down, waiting for their session to begin.

The teacher blinked once again but soon followed them, having no choice but to help them both with her problems. Before she went in for good, she turned to James who had since gladly taken a step back. She didn't even need to ask him if he wanted to join them. He knew what he was being asked. He knew what he wanted to say.

He shook his head and took his lollipop out of his mouth. He fixed his backpack more firmly over his shoulder and I hopped onto his opposite one. He pushed his hair out of his eyes while he answered with a smile.

"No, I'm fine thanks. Actually, I'd better get this hall pass turned into a detention note. That's the fate waiting for me. See you later." He told her and with that, he disappeared back in the direction that he had come from, with me on his shoulder rather than trying to keep up with his feet.

The guidance counsellor thought about his answer but soon waved to him and headed inside to see Ash and Misty and their mouths full of candy. She was right to pause, however. She was right to be confused by James' answer as she thought a different one was going to come out of his mouth.

Now that I think about it, I felt the same way as her. And James did as well; he had a different answer in his mind but he didn't say it with his mouth. Instead, he continued down the hall and got on with the rest of his day.

He wanted to say that he had helped Misty as much as he could but he knew that at that moment, it was Ash's turn. And he was right. About both things. He had done what he could. He had got Misty to a specific place, a place of opening up and being honest. But it was Ash's influence that would propel her next.

Ash didn't really know too much of her problems and unlike James, he didn't need to. They were friends and they had a laugh together. They messed around. They bickered. They teased one and other. They made fun of each other. They never spoke about heavy stuff. They only really joked around. And that was okay, in fact, it was brilliant. It was exactly what Misty needed.

Ash seemed to know exactly what Misty needed without ever being told, without ever being asked. She needed light-heartedness. She needed jokes. She needed company. She needed nonsense. She needed energy. She needed James. But she needed Ash too.

She needed his light-heartedness. She needed his jokes. She needed his company. She needed his nonsense. She needed his energy. She needed his love too. And that was something that they both needed as they got older. And it was something that they both got too. In every single way.

The End.

There you go! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :3 I really enjoyed writing this one. It feels like I haven't written a story focusing on Misty for a very long time, let alone the classic trio of Ash, Misty and James. This is an important chapter in a way because it shows how much Misty needs both Ash and James. James is there to be laid back and to listen and Ash is there to be his usual energetic self and make Misty forget things. This is also a chapter that mentions Misty's sisters and I want to write more about them in the future. I think it's easy to say that she doesn't get on with them and then just not develop their characters at all so I want to try the harder option :P In the last Alola AU chapter, it mentions how the girl's in the younger school years giggle over James. And I wanted to develop that more in this chapter! Thanks again and I will be back next Wednesday with another update so see you then :3

AmyBieberKetchum signing out!