(Okay so apparently I was so organised and got the document ready way ahead of Wednesday 15th that I forgot to press upload on the actual day -.- Enjoy two chapters today I guess!)
Hello, it is Wednesday and I am back with a new chapter! Like I always do in the month of November, today I am uploading some classic PokeShipping, and both this and the other two chapters I am uploading this month will follow the themes of PokeShipping Week that has been and done over on Tumblr. As usual, I like to put a lot of ingredients from the world that Shannon and I have created into quite a classic ship. I really enjoyed myself with this! I do like when I focus more on the Pokémon aspect of the Pokémon World. A whole bunch of ideas came together for this one. But I'll tell you about it later! I hope you enjoy this moment in time for the Ketchum family, some Ash and Misty cuteness, and father-daughter bonding between Ash and Katie :3
Disclaimer: I own the story and the OCs mentioned!
It was as if the late spring sun had bled into the disposition of Katie so because of this, I continued my antics to draw out more glee from her! I don't know why she loved that snow loving friend of hers so much. Katie adored many of her toys just a little bit more than other children her age, often spending hours lining them all up together and having quite the frown on her face, insisting they could hear you when she was told it was time to pack them away.
But Mr Hugsy was different. Her love for that bear shone bigger. Brighter.
Perhaps it was because they had been side by side for all her life. Or, more realistically, it was because it had once been her Uncle James'. That notion caused a bitter frown to take over my own frown! But it was what it was.
Katie loved her dear friend more than anything. And because I felt the same way about the three-year-old child, I continued allowing Mr Hugsy to ride on my back, my neck aching as it turned over my shoulder in an awkward angle, my teeth buried in his fuzzy fur to keep him from slipping.
I continued marching with him, arching my back and strutting so it looked like he was striding himself. Katie was so delighted to see him in this way! Even if he wasn't talking because Uncle James wasn't around, he had come alive.
I smiled patiently as she trotted behind me, clapping her hands together over and over and more than once tripping on the uneven grass of Professor Oak's Research Laboratory. But she was not deterred. And I wasn't either.
Ash and Misty weren't as well! Seeing as Katie was being occupied by Mr Hugsy and I, they could have a bit of alone time underneath the large oak tree, sitting side by side and relishing in the company. I tried to tell myself they were relishing more in having a built-in babysitter! But even my stubborn self knew that this wasn't true.
They treasured each other's company. They had done since they were just ten years old. Their bond hadn't faltered from the way that they sat side by side underneath the looming tree, enjoying the shade but appreciating the warmth that the other person brought their heart furthermore.
The curve of my lips changed from patient to present. To content. They deserved that bit of alone time together. But that didn't stop me from tuning into what they were saying while still trotting a few metres in front and with Katie and Mr Hugsy in tow!
Ash wrapped his arm even further around Misty's waist to pull her closer even though they were almost being the same entity at that point. He smiled his own smile and breathed in, taking in the fresh air around him as well as his girlfriend's scent that surely bought him more peace than the foliage.
In tune with her boyfriend, Misty's own lips curved upwards and hugged further around his shoulders, massaging the back of one of them with the attentiveness of it she had never explored there before. That couldn't have been the case. At twenty-three years old they already had two children!
I had a feeling that, like Katie's bear, the two of them were going to utter no words to each other. No declaration of affection though they surely felt it beating in their hearts – and no small talk either. It was my guess that they would continue to merely enjoy each other's company, the silence saying everything.
But then Misty parted her lips to speak. And because I needed a minute to catch my breath after trotting with Katie and her toy for quite some time, I perched my own bottom down on the grass and heard every word.
"So, your mom mentioned today that she was hoping I would swing by her restaurant so she could get my opinion on something. I was thinking of going in the next couple of minutes." Misty told Ash, both of her hands still on his shoulders, affectionately squeezing the round ball of them before leaning in and touching her nose against his. "You'll be okay sitting here with Katie and waiting for the others to get back, won't you?"
The others in question were Professor Oak, Gary, Eddie and of course, Ben. What had intended to be lunch in the laboratory had turned into something much more exciting when Samuel had received information that Professor Birch was in town. Both Eddie and Gary hadn't been able to resist the idea of a quick spin in Professor Birch's new car! Ben naturally wanted to prove that he was up for anything that Eddie was up for.
And while Professor Oak was growing even greyer and just a little bit forgetful at times, he had a twinkle in his eye at the opportunity.
Ash had leaned into Misty's affection at once from the second that she had touched her nose against his and his lips had quirked into a smile that spoke of the words, mm is that so? He planted a quick, loving kiss to Misty's own lips given the closeness of their proximity, not really understanding what her words meant.
But then it hit him.
He regretted the fact that he pulled away from his girlfriend, a frown plaiting his dark eyebrows ahead of glancing over at the group of Katie, Mr Hugsy and I before he knew that he did not want to raise suspicion, looking away again.
But still, his frown persisted. And these words tumbled out of him before he could stop them.
"Aw, Mist, do I have to?" Ash grumbled, his youthful brown eyes glistening in a way that was as if Misty was suddenly his mother and he had been instructed to offer the last slice of cake to a friend instead of wolfing it down himself.
In return, Misty did not hesitate to pull away from her boyfriend for a different reason. The frowns were contagious as her own one pulled her eyebrows closer together. She openly shook her head and scolded Ash for his attitude.
"Ash..." Misty breathed out. She intended to get more words out because she knew why her boyfriend was being reluctant. But as I relaxed my bottom against the grass for a little longer than expected and my teeth unclenched from around Mr Hugsy's arm, he slipped down onto the grass as well.
As he tumbled, he must have turned over his own shoulder and winked at Misty. She was struck by the inability to say anything more.
Fortunately, my best friend hadn't had a feline running off with his tongue. Despite his naïve personality that had followed him since he had been around Katie's age, he knew exactly how his words sounded.
He sat a little further upright as he clarified, tousling a clumsy hand through his unruly black locks.
"Aw c'mon, Mist, you know I didn't mean it like that." Ash defended himself and it was true that Misty understood already why he had said these words. But the frown didn't leave her face and she couldn't stop herself from looking over at a none the wiser Katie, her lips pressing together in a tight line. "She just always gets herself in such a state when you leave and it's always okay eventually but then she doesn't remember next time and gets upset all over again."
Ash's brown eyes grew murky as he expressed his truth and although he wasn't the one who was three years old, after his explanation, his lower lip poked out as if he was. He meant it to show how honest these words were – he wasn't trying to get his own way. He had been used to Misty leading them in many ways since they were children!
Ash never learnt whether Misty's took his poking bottom lip out as adorable, guilty, or sincere. Once she managed to compose herself from the emotions of guiltily looking over at Katie, secretly not really wanting her to go through the inevitable stress either, Misty pressed a kiss to her boyfriend's tanned cheek, and she prepared to stand up.
Ash didn't have a say in a matter. He was a father and not only did Katie need to be eased gently into realising he was a safe space also, but Misty was as devoted to his mother as he was. If Delia wanted Misty's opinion on something, then she was surely pure sunshine inside and wished to fulfil that role for the woman she hoped would one day be her mother-in-law more than anything.
Ash tried to smile at the love placed on his cheek in the form of a kiss before deciding to stay put. It would look too obvious that something was about to happen if they both stood up and approached Katie. Ash tried to focus on the kiss that had been placed on the side of his face.
But all he could think about was how he was going to stop Katie from missing Misty so much. He just had to pray that the others got back before Misty did so there was at least a bit more of a distraction for her!
When I began to realise that Misty was heading off and she too would need to feel comfortable with leaving her daughter for that short amount of time, I hitched Mr Hugsy back against my spine and resumed parading around with him even though I would have liked to continue basking in the sun.
And that, my friends, is called love!
Misty acted as if she was approaching us all to clap her own hands together just once, fascinated by what we were all doing, before she touched her daughter on the shoulder and crouched down against the grass as I had been doing.
She brushed her daughter's sunflower orange bangs out of her eyes before speaking to her and immediately knew that this was too obvious. But it was too late. She had to just get on with it.
"I'm just going to pop to Grammy's restaurant for a little while now, Katie. But I won't be long." Misty began, trailing that regrettable hand of hers from Katie's bangs to the side of her jaw before trying to make everything brief and to the point. She prepared to stand up again. "You're going to continue playing out here with Daddy and Mr Hugsy and Pikachu, okay honey? I'll be back very soon."
And with that, now that neither of Misty's hands were occupied by any part of the child, she stood back up to her full height and rested her hands over the front of her jeans for something to do. Ash was about to move from sitting underneath the tree as he chose this moment to be the one to reassure Katie that he was there even if Mommy was not.
But it was too late!
Misty might have stopped reaching out to Katie, but Katie did not wish to not reach out to her mother. Suddenly, she vaulted forward on clumsy legs and pressed her cheek against her mother's hand that was against her thigh.
Katie began to cry out, desperately trying to wrap her small arms around her legs.
"No, Mommy, stay." she whimpered, the fear of her mother leaving her side taking over the entirety of her body and causing her to shiver though she instinctively tried to console herself by rubbing her cheek back and forth over Misty's hand.
I did not dare look over at Misty. But I could hear her heart cracking to pieces at her daughter's emotions. But still, as difficult as they were to come to terms with, Misty knew that she had to hold space for everything that Katie was feeling.
And she knew that she had done the right thing by her. It would have been even crueller to have snuck off while she was playing and to only realise her absence later.
"I will be back so soon, Katie." Misty said gently but firmly, having to squeeze her eyes shut momentarily before trying to prize Katie off from clinging to her legs like a little Mankey. She just had to pray that either Ash or I would be there for her to cling onto instead.
Both of us forward to be there to console Katie, proving to the child that her mother's words were very much true. Seeing as Ash edged forward with a little more gusto and that he was the father, I let him be the one to be there for Katie next.
I could hear his voice trembling as he tried to act like Katie's display hadn't been tough on his heart either. He hated how upset she got when Misty left. And deep down, he wondered why he wasn't good enough for Katie to care that much when he left a room.
"It's lovely and peaceful underneath the tree there, Katie." Ash began, crouching down to his daughter's level and touching her on the shoulder, trying to gee her along and encourage her to make the most of time with him with her mother a few minutes down the road. "Why don't we sit under there and have a bit of a teddy bear's picnic?"
Oh, this was a wonderful suggestion! It sounded so nice and so natural that I couldn't stop sunshine from racing across my own face and my cheeks warming more so than ever. It was as if Katie wasn't upset at all and this was a suggestion because it was the right thing to do, not because a child needed distracting.
Misty tried to act as if this was the best thing that she had heard. It was a lot harder for her. She was forced to swallow roughly as she had to dodge her daughter's embrace when she tried to hurry forward and attach herself to her legs once again.
"Daddy has come up with a wonderful thing for you all to do together, Katie." she said to her three-year-old daughter, needing to feel her own hand grasping over the centre of her chest to steady herself when she could see Katie's eyes beginning to puddle at her rejection. She forced herself to look away. "You can tell me all about it when I come back very soon."
And with that, her palm still flat over her chest to steady herself, Misty knew that it was the right thing to turn away and to begin to walk away and to show Katie that she was following through with her actions. Oh, how she wanted to give her daughter another kiss and her husband one too. But that would have made everything worse.
Not just for Katie. Misty would've surely crumbled into her boyfriend's arms if his hands had risen to her hips and held her as she planted a kiss to his sun-kissed cheek. How alone she felt during parenthood sometimes. But how sure she knew that this wasn't the case when she had Ash supporting her every step of the way even when it was challenging and heartbreaking for him as well.
We all watched Misty disappear further down the hill of the laboratory grounds and begin to trudge the sandy, yellow road of Pallet Town towards Delia's restaurant. We all knew that it was the wrong thing to do. For our sake. For Katie's sake. But still, we felt the need to do it.
The unspoken notion that Misty was the glue that held many a group together whispered through mine and Ash's minds. Mr Hugsy had no thoughts. He lay limply on the grass, waiting to come alive again.
Katie certainly wasn't going to breathe life into him there and then. She was too busy feeling her breathing turning rapidly, tears spurting out of the corner of her eyes and holding her arms out towards the sight of Misty growing as small as the head of a pin.
She hated how she was using her energy to cry. She wanted to run! Wanted to chase after her mother and be by her side for always.
"M-Mommy..." she wept in a guttural kind of sound, the kind that would've shattered even the toughest hearts made of stone. Katie's little hands became starfish, opening and closing at the sight of Misty getting further and further away as if this would bring her back to her.
This snapped Ash into action. He couldn't see his daughter upset anymore. He wanted to do anything to make her feel better. Even if it left him with his own sense of rejection in the middle of the night.
"Mommy will be back really, really soon, darling." Ash reassured his daughter, crouching behind where she was staring dismally down at the empty yellow road of Pallet Town. He moved to tap her on the shoulder before his arms opened, holding his breath as he guessed the outcome of this but wanted to try anyway. "Why don't we have a little cuddle, Katie?"
While Ash's arms were still stretched out wide, I looked down at Mr Hugsy and saw that he had no glint in his eye. I was jealous of him. I wished that I could've shut myself off like that and not had to see Katie get so upset, let alone Ash later act like he was fine even though he wasn't.
I know that I'm biased, but I think that my best friend's hugs are some of the greatest in the world, so I didn't understand when Katie refused to even turn around, shaking her head and forlornly clenching her fists by her side in defeat.
"I... I d-don't want a cuddle with you..." Katie wept, her little shoulders shrugging up and down. Her words could have been a lot less cutting if she hadn't emphasized on the one word at the end. She was only three years old. She can't have known that she was doing that. But either way, she had done it.
Ash was forced to stand back up to his full height and act like he was okay with it. Act like he was still full of ideas. But he had a feeling that it was going to be a very miserable and long-time just sat around waiting until his girlfriend returned.
"No problem." he said out of habit. But I had a feeling that one big problem in his mind would have been resolved if Katie had at least tumbled into his arms, even if she didn't manage to act as if she was feeling better. "Well, you can just stand right there and enjoy the sights if you want. It's a lovely view." Ash continued. I didn't know what kind of method he was trying to discover so I turned my attention towards him, cocking my head! "I think I'm going to play with Pikachu and Mr Hugsy though."
And with that, I had to stop looking at my best friend so doubtfully and quizzically as he turned to look at me in a different way than I had been looking at him before he broke the distance with Mr Hugsy lying limply on the floor.
Whether it was her dad saying her dear friend's name or the fact that Ash's hand had begun to reach out towards his furry paw, Katie couldn't help but settle down from her crying enough to begin to turn to the side even if she hadn't managed to turn around.
It was as if there was something inside of her – a mother's instinct for the bear – that told her to keep a watchful eye as soon as anybody that wasn't herself reached for her friend.
Ash's hand fully wrapped around one of his paws. He was holding him in his hand just by this one point, so Mr Hugsy was hanging there, half swinging. Katie had fully turned around now! She was beginning to rub her white knuckles underneath her eyes, trying to get rid of the stains of tears clinging to her cheeks.
When Ash didn't look at Katie as she was then giving him her attention, I wondered what he was playing at. I wondered even more so when he broke the distance with me, still holding Mr Hugsy in the same way and he edged the bear closer to me to that his other paw brushed near to me.
For a rare occasion, I couldn't fathom his words initially either!
"Fancy a swing together, Pikachu?" Ash suggested. For half a second, I wondered if seeing all of Katie's painful emotions had made him go mad! He was delirious! How on earth would I-
Oh.
I understood what kind of game my best friend was going to play. He shouldn't have doubted his abilities so much. He always knew how to make the best out of a bad situation. Always knew how to turn a bad time into a fun time. That was one of his greatest assets. Always had been.
The sun in the sky was put to shame by the glint in my eye there and then, my teeth sparkling too as I grinned, not saying anything but moving to hold Mr Hugsy's other paw in one of my own paws.
His plush hand was a lot bigger than mine, so it was a challenge! But it was worth it.
As if Mr Hugsy was the child and Ash and I were the two parents, we began frolicking together, swinging him between us both and acting like we were having the time of our lives. As time edged forward and different clouds in the blue sky above looked down on us, we actually did begin to have the time of our lives!
Sometimes it was so fun doing something so carefree.
Ash had felt his cheeks draining of colour when his daughter had been so upset. Now they felt as red as mine! He remembered to include this daughter of his a couple of minutes into the swinging, turning over his shoulder and inviting her too.
Katie looked down at her trainers, imagining them growing roots out of the soles and pinning her in the same exact position. She didn't know if her mother was coming back or not despite the reassurance. So, if she was not returning, then she needed to stay exactly there. She could not control the other thing. But she could control this thing. Could control her own actions.
Or could she?
Katie's gaze rose from her favourite plimsolls and Mr Hugsy seemed to turn over his fuzzy shoulder at her. He wasn't winking at her. He was smiling at her. He was telling her that it was okay to try something new. That it would make Misty happy to know that she was okay without her.
The three-year old's feet felt fizzy in the shoes. And then it was like electricity was surging through her and I can assure you, that I most certainly hadn't unleashed some kind of attack on her! Katie jolted into action once again.
She did not smile. In fact, she did not seem thrilled about it at all. But she did decide to join in, taking over from me and beginning to swing Mr Hugsy with her father. Part of me suspected that Katie only broke the distance with us to make sure that her dear bear friend was okay.
But progress was progress. Katie was no longer crying. And she was joining in.
Ash suddenly realised that despite his earlier encouragement of Katie staying in the same place, it was probably best for her to get a change of scenery. Best for us all. He took a chance by smiling down at his daughter while continuing to swing Mr Hugsy with her.
"How about we swing your Mr Bear further out and go and see some of the Pokémon that Professor Oak is keeping here?" Ash suggested, not growing disheartened by his daughter's vacant stare and choosing to offer her an even bigger smile. "I'm sure he'd love to go and make some new friends."
Calling Katie's beloved bear Mr Bear instead of his name was a massive risk – as was insinuating that he needed friends other than her and her Uncle James! But miraculously, Katie agreed. She did not comply wholeheartedly. But she did not protest when the four of us began to move to different areas of Professor Oak's laboratory, Katie and Ash still swinging Mr Hugsy in the middle.
Out loud, Ash wondered what kind of Pokémon that Katie and Mr Hugsy would like to see best. Like he said, Professor Oak kept a great many in his care and all of them impressive in different ways! My best friend half muttered to me while still swinging with the aid of Katie's limp arm that it would be best not to take her to the bug Pokémon field – just in case she reacted like her mother.
I couldn't help but titter and grin even though Katie was being a bit of the butt of the joke. But in the end, the universe got its own back. Ash may have once been the chosen one, but he was still not able to escape karma!
In the middle of intending to take a detour away from the bug type Pokémon field, he accidentally got a little carried away and swung Mr Hugsy a bit too much for Katie's tiny arm. Suddenly, her grip slipped on her beloved bear's paw.
Ash was surprised by his own vigour too! I gasped, watching it all happen in slow motion. Mr Hugsy tumbled through the air, spinning in circle after circle and surely growing very dizzy before finally landing in the hedge at the end of the field of bug type Pokémon.
Oh, brilliant.
I shot my best friend a look. Immediately, his eyes became the shapes of rainbows, and he rubbed the back of his neck. Then he realised that he should show this gesture towards his daughter instead. This display of his grew even more noticeable as inwardly, he was praying that she didn't burst into tears all over again.
Fortunately (or unfortunately), when his eyes opened back to their usual size, Katie was merely deadpanning up at him, causing Ash to wonder if he had known Misty at three years old whether she would look at him like this as well!
My best friend apologised. I wondered which one of us would have to go rectify his mistake. I had a feeling that I knew(!)
"Whoops. Sorry about that Katie." Ash bared his teeth down at his daughter even though he would have earned her respect more by cupping his hands around his mouth and exclaiming an apology to her beloved bear instead. "Guess we're going to meet some bug type Pokémon after all." I was quickly holding my breath. "Time for a new adventure I guess."
What was Ash playing at?! Was this his plan all along?! Was he trying to desensitize the daughter of Misty so that she didn't grow up having the same problems as her mother?!
While it was true that at three years old Katie didn't have the same disgusted reaction when coming face to face with the occasional bug – Katie was nonchalant about most new interactions unless it was Mr Hugsy or a character in a book or Uncle James - I knew that those genes could be lying dormant and ready for any occasion.
I watched with disbelief as, now that Mr Hugsy wasn't part of the equation, Ash reached for his daughter's hand for the first time and she held it back without too much hesitance, following her father into the field when he led her there.
I knew that Ash wasn't stupid. He visited the Pokémon Research Lab more than anyone and he knew that every creature there must've been placid otherwise they would have been placed in their own separate environment or kept tucked inside the oasis of their Poké Ball along with the others in Samuel's great collection.
The only Pokémon in the Lab who were sure to snort and charge were Ash's own thirty Tauros!
But still, I watched with my head shaking from side to side, still not entering the field myself, as Ash led his daughter past creature after creature who fluttered above their heads or buzzed near to them or stopped spraying sticky gunk onto trees to peer at the intruders.
Ash merely muttered reassuring words to Katie, though she did not seem to need them. He uttered them to the Pokémon also, though they did not seem to need them either. I knew that Pokémon often knew that Ash had a pure heart so could sense that within Katie too.
To tell you the truth, I was more surprised that she could sense their pure hearts! It was in her genes to (even jokingly) suspect that all bug types were evil!
I wondered where on earth Katie had received this desensitization from – even if I was still partially certain that Ash was trying to numb her fears to those kinds of Pokémon there and then. It wasn't as if she was often around a lot of bug types.
Ash still had Heracross and Leavanny as dear friends but then again, I supposed that they weren't the creepy crawly type that could make your skin shudder with their unfriendliness. Although it was sad for her, Jessie didn't have her Dustox anymore, so it wasn't like she was flapping around the house when everybody went to the Morgan Household! Ash's Butterfree was still as free as his name suggested also.
I stayed firm and wary in my stance that Katie could grow scared at any minute even when I decided to traipse across the field too to join them both. But I saw that, in the end, it should be Ash who should be frightened by the look that he received from his daughter in the next couple of moments!
When we arrived in front of the bush and all peered in between the branches and the foliage, we saw that Mr Hugsy was buried in there a lot deeper than we initially predicted.
Ash was forced to rub the back of his neck and restrict from his eyes from turning too much into remorseful rainbows. He apologised to his daughter for the second time that day. If Mr Hugsy had been sitting upright, then he would have demanded an apology also!
"Man, I'm sorry Katie, but I'm not sure that I can crawl in there all that well. I'm not ten years old anymore." Ash confessed, still massaging the back of his neck where his mane of unruly black locks tickled his skin. I turned to look at him and him alone. This was news to me! To me, he was the exact same person I had always known. "Do you think you can scramble in there and get him yourself? How do you feel about that?"
Katie's eyes, even though they were no longer damp, were still very expressive and they widened before peering uncertainly into the bush herself. Her little hands twiddled together uncertainly. She didn't want to let her good friend down. She wanted more than anything to be brave like him – to be dignified like he was – but she just wasn't sure.
Ash crouched next to her. Reaching his arm in and around, though he could not reach Mr Hugsy, he was certain that the branches weren't too spiky and there definitely weren't any stinging plants of any kind. He told Katie this, reassuring her. But he also told her that I could go if she couldn't.
This was news to me as well! I did a double take. But then feeling Katie's eyes melting into my skin, I sighed, and I nodded. I of course would do anything for her. I felt my best friend's gloveless hands going around my middle as he wished for me to get a good look to make sure I was comfortable going in there before venturing in.
But in the next couple of seconds, the impossible happened! Or rather, the quite amusing happened.
Ash suddenly felt a small palm pressing against the back of his hand, stopping him from sending me further into the bush. I had to stifle my laughter when I suddenly felt Katie's small grip around my middle instead as she took me away from her father's hold and placed me down on the ground!
Wordlessly, she told Ash that she didn't trust him with small things anymore. She did not wish for me to have the same fate as Mr Hugsy – although, of course, that would only happen if any swinging actions occurred yet again.
Ash did not know whether to blink with hurt or to feel his mouth dropping open! But either way, he could not see through either of these two things. Katie was slowly becoming a very different person to the one who had been weeping at the edge of the grass and watching her mother disappear.
You see, Mr Hugsy needed her. Mr Hugsy was her strength. Truthfully, she was her own strength. But it would be a long time before she realised this.
Katie took a long, bold breath and she clenched her fists by her sides. She did not meet her father's eyes. But she said these words to him:
"I can do this." she muttered. And with that, Katie became a little explorer! She edged herself into the bush slowly at first and then all at once. Despite her bright red hair and her porcelain skin that glowed like the moon underneath rays of the sun, she became quite camouflaged in not much time at all.
All Ash and I could do was hold our breaths and look at each other. She could be so bold when she wanted to be. So courageous. She just usually needed something outside of herself to discover this quality inside of herself.
Seconds passed. Then minutes. The clouds continued to pass above our heads in the sky and different bug types flew, buzzed, and frolicked. Rustles could be heard inside of the bush. And then it died down to nothing. To silence.
Ash and I homed our hearing in, listening to something. Anything. But there was nothing. Nothing from inside of the bush anyway. Not a yelp of pain because there was stinging plants inside there. There wasn't. No whimper of bravery suddenly leaving Katie. Not even a grunt of victory as Mr Hugsy grew secured.
After a while, the nothingness stopped being such a novelty and became quite worrying.
What if Misty suddenly came back and found us all right there? What would she do if not only did she realise we had taken Katie to the bug type field, but Katie was in a bush where there was potentially bug type eggs ready to hatch at any given minute?
Very slowly and then all in one go, the complexion of Ash and I's skin became like that of Pokémon eggshells. We darted closer towards the foliage when we decided that the silence had gotten too much. Was too deafening. We were both about to call out – were both about to call out Katie's name – when the silence came to an end.
We heard a sound – a perplexing sound – and it caused our hearts to leap into our throat before we looked at one and other.
The sound was like that of hiccupping, and we knew at once that it was Katie. It happened more than once. It began to sound repeatedly. But as much as we knew the little three-year-old girl, we couldn't quite decide what it meant.
Ash's words spoke exactly of this.
"Katie?" he said at first, gingerly reaching a hand into the bush as if he could somehow feel his child lurking there. "Are you laughing or are you crying?"
My best friend's tone was laced with uncertainty. His arm still stretching into the bush as if he suddenly had the power to reach Mr Hugsy after all, he turned to look at me with worried eyes. He didn't like that he received no response. I didn't either.
I was the one who was going to burst into action next. I was thinking about leaping onto my best friend's shoulder and then vaulting from it and into the bush as if he was a springboard and there was a pool waiting to greet me rather than a mass of leaves.
I'm kind of annoyed I didn't get to show off such heroics! But I am also still pleased by what happened next.
You see, out of nowhere, the noise that Katie was omitting began to get louder and louder and it was accompanied by rustling. The bush came alive it started shaking that much! Though Ash and I should've probably gotten closer, we backed further and further away.
We wondered what on earth was going on. Soon, we knew.
Soon enough, we were not alone.
Both Katie and Mr Hugsy popped out of the bush, but they were not alone. Katie had not needed to use her own limbs to edge herself out of the bush let alone her beloved bear friend. Ash and I watched, gobsmacked, as Katie was carried out of the bush by a line of Sewaddle. And to make matters worse – or should I say better – she was not frightened one bit.
Katie was laughing! Katie was kicking her little legs in the air, filled with glee at the rescue mission and how sweet their little faces were. In not much time, all previous emotions managed to leave both Ash and I like a ghost Pokémon that didn't want us anymore and we too began to chuckle.
Ash didn't hesitate to kneel, patting the four Sewaddle each on the top of their nubbed heads before doing the same to Katie even though hers was perfectly round and covered with lovely, straight hair.
"Well, would you look at that. It seems like you've both made new friends today." Ash gushed, watching the way that the Sewaddle had come to a halt, but Katie still had not dismounted them, continuing to kick her legs and giggle and hold Mr Hugsy close to her chest. He nudged his daughter. "If you really want to get to know them, then you can touch your forehead against those little bumps on their heads."
Katie looked as if she didn't really want to get down! But after the four Sewaddle seemed to understand what Ash was talking about and actively clamoured for a demonstration, she was forced to.
The three-year-old slowly used her own legs to stand herself up on the grass but fortunately, the wonder did not end there. She hadn't really understood what her dad had been talking about even if the Sewaddle themselves did. But she became a lot more clued in when Ash did his demonstration. She clapped her hands together! She never did this for Ash! Ash was as elated as anybody!
And I was as well. Just like that, I was back in Pinwheel Forest in Unova and Gym Leader Burgh was showing a teenaged Ash exactly what to do, showing him exactly how to greet Sewaddle. I was taken aback when no sooner had a twenty-three-year-old Ash broken the distance with the Pokémon after bonding with them in a special way, Katie was crouching on all fours to do the same.
Ash's heart that had once felt so broken at his daughter's tears had now been blessed with a new lease of life at not only her bravery but her seeming so like him even though she looked so much like Misty.
His cheeks warmed to a similar hue to mine. He had to blink rapidly for his brown eyes to not grow as puddly as a murky swamp.
"Oh, look at you, Katie. You've never done that before, but you did it so brilliantly." Ash complimented his daughter. She didn't look at her father, too busy pressing her forehead to the Sewaddle's little nubs more than the once. But no doubt did she hear her father's words. Ash stood, with his hands on his hips, and looked down at the creatures when Katie broke the distance with them again. "Do you have any other friends that my daughter could say hello to? I know she would love that."
And with that, the four Sewaddle turned towards each other, conferring in their own language and seemingly agreeing based on their lack of fights. Then, they looked up at Ash, squeezing their eyes tightly shut and nodding their heads.
As if the moment couldn't get even cuter, Katie clambered clumsily to her full height, feet pressed in her sneakers back against the ground, Mr Hugsy pressed against her quietly thumping chest, and she nodded her own head.
Katie whispered for only herself to hear. But in the end, we all heard and melted like butter because of it.
"I really would." she mumbled, the hushed nature of her voice explaining just how much she meant these words. Katie always quietened down when she felt a lot. Katie always whispered when she meant things the most.
And oh, how she really meant it when she said she wanted to meet more bug Pokémon friends. What fun followed for us all!
We spent the next little while wandering around the field, the four Sewaddle being our guides and introducing us to all sorts of friends of theirs. And of course, Ash being Ash, he told anecdotes from journeys as a child and as a teenager and stories about when he met these Pokémon for the first time.
He was a mine of information! Even though I lived with Ash in the day to day and was very much part of his career, sometimes I forgot just how much he knew about the world that we were a part of. I suppose that's the amazing thing about children, isn't it?
They encourage you to see through their eyes and oh, how everything seems so wonderful. So exciting. So full of possibility. I could tell how much Katie was listening to her father by how tightly she gripped Mr Hugsy against her chest, not even needing him to talk for her, and by how her little feet grew clumsier by the second.
But it didn't matter. If she tripped, she had new friends there to catch her. As she got older, I hoped that she would always remember this day.
This was the day that she made friends just by being herself. This was the day that she turned sorrow into a new adventure. And it was all because of her, as much as she was likely to point the attention towards somebody else.
As much as I longed to see the world through the eyes of Katie that were as green and blue and as wondrous as the earth, I found myself taking a step back, love thumping in my heart for her and a certain look in my eyes to prove it.
When a group of Combee flew above the child's head and did a little dance just for her, Ash couldn't help but marvel at the display as well before he told her that their honey is just absolutely to die for – and when it's provided by knowledgeable breeders in Sinnoh then it's even better!
The group of buzzing creatures narrowed their usually kind-hearted eyes! But Ash gave them a reassuring smile. There sweet treat was just for them in Professor Oak's laboratory. It was time for them to think of themselves.
Katie's small hands appeared to fizz when she was introduced to another gang of Sewaddle's friends. They would've very much liked to flutter like butterflies of their own had she not been holding onto Mr Hugsy. The swarm of Combee above had been replaced by a gaggle of Butterfree. Katie really liked these!
Possessing the same feelings as his daughter inside of him, Ash stood to a fuller height and raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. When he could feel the gentle breeze given off by their wings as they flew over the four of us, my best friend's eyes softened like the warm centre of a pudding.
I knew that he missed his Butterfree. I did as well. It was funny how so much time had passed since his departure – much more time than we had even known him – but he still filled our hearts with great fondness.
Ash didn't let Katie know a single droplet of his feelings in the shape of words. But he looked over at her. And he smiled. She didn't look back over at him. But I still like to thing she understood the moment being shared.
I got the feeling that she felt a little unsure when the Butterfree went on their way and then no longer disguising them as a pile of rocks, Sewaddle's pals who were Dwebble began to silently click their claws along the patch of sand and back onto the grass.
Breaking the distance with the three-year-old child, I could see her nails digging into the fur of her beloved bear. This time Ash did say words to Katie.
He crouched down nearer to her level for her benefit and so he was even more amiable towards the Dwebble, not forcing his daughter to make friends with them too but sharing with her something he found interesting.
"Cilan in Unova used to have one of these before it evolved. Shy little thing. I still remember the day he caught him." Ash began. It was amazing how transformed by memory I was! That day had blurred into an entire picture of memories with Ash, Cilan and Iris. But my lips quirked upwards when I too could recall the day. "They choose rocks for their homes but sometimes they don't even choose that! It's fascinating."
Ash couldn't help but reach up slightly, wrapping his arm around her daughter's shoulders that were naturally drooping down from being closer to her ears than normal, the other arm waving to the Dwebble to say hello.
He still wasn't trying to make them friends, I could tell. I just knew that he was in the presence of a great number of things in which my best friend loved.
Ash filled his daughter's mind with all kinds of images as he explained his words further. Dwebble didn't just make rocks into their homes, oh no. He had heard of some using a discarded bucket at a beach. Someone's hat. Even a teapot!
Katie's shoulders were now very much away from her ears, breaking away from her father's touch and not because it was smothering her. Her arms clasping further around Mr Hugsy for comfort, she decided to copy Ash's stance and kneel in the field, much closer to Dwebble.
The group of shy creatures didn't all say hello to each other – the Dwebble considering hiding in their shells for half a second when a lot of people had eyes on them. But perhaps they could tell the gentle nature of Katie's own heart. The shy nature.
They all blinked harmless eyes at each other. Katie didn't smile. Dwebble neither. But the Pokémon scurried on their way, even going the extra smile by scuttling across Katie's feet in her trainers.
She smiled then. She laughed! And it goes without saying that Ash and I did too, Mr Hugsy still being surprisingly silent but with the usual glint in his eye.
"Tickles!" Katie announced, chuckling. By then, the Dwebble were already on their way, perhaps to find another group of rocks to disguise themselves with or they would return later. Maybe they were merely stretching their legs.
The tickling motion was over. But you wouldn't think it from the way that Katie stood back up to her full, short height and danced her little feet in her shoes. The memory was made. The moment of chance set more alike experiences in motion.
Ash and I couldn't help but stand back, his hands on his hips and my paws folded over my chest, disbelieved, when it became plain that Katie was the opposite of a chip off the Williams block despite appearances.
Katie began to get introduced to creatures that Misty would have considered creepier and crawlier – but she loved every minute of it! She even loved when they nonchalantly tickled against her hand as a greeting. And she didn't even mind when more Pokémon crawled over her shoe, leaving a sticky kind of mark!
The Sewaddle had so many friends and Katie got to know them all one by one. The Kricketot pranced near her and made beautiful sounds in her ear. It was the two Wurmple that had trotted over her trainers and left a trail of slime. A lonesome Shuckle kept poking its head in and out of his shell to make the child giggle. It worked! And so, he did it over and over. And Katie laughed as if she was seeing it for the first time.
Volbeat and Illumise in pairs held hands and twirled, flying above our heads. Surskit tickled along the arm of Katie, sending the hairs upon her skin shooting up in all different directions like her father's unruly mane. Even the Venipede whose unreadable disposition made them seem quite grumpy had a soft spot for the three-year-old and gave them the time of day.
It was all so wonderful.
But nothing could have prepared us for the friend of Sewaddle's that really captured Katie's heart. You see, Ash and I and even Mr Hugsy thought that the sun was hiding behind a cloud when we felt the wind picking up and our skin growing cooler.
But no, it was far more than just that. It was much more astonishing than just that. Katie stopped giggling at the sticky webbing that the Wurmple had left nearly sticking together her two shoes. She looked up. Ash and I looked up too, me now back to holding Mr Hugsy seeing as Katie had wanted her two hands to make the most of every chance.
The sky was filled with something other than clouds. It was a gang of Vivillion! At least a dozen more of them, flapping their wings and appearing to smile down at us all, as if they were already happier to see us than we were to see them.
But not for long!
Despite Katie's youth, it was Ash to put forth the first exclamation, mightily impressed. He was shielding his eyes with his hand, though the Vivillion were still blocking out the rays of the sun with their individual wing spans.
"Oh, now this is truly incredible!" Ash marvelled, his tanned cheeks beginning to flush as red as the scarlet on his cap that he used to wear more times than he did not. He turned to look at Katie and me, this time unable to play it cool for the sake of his daughter. "How lucky is Professor Oak to have these in his care rather than going straight to Professor Sycamore? I wonder if they all belong to the same person?"
Ash didn't have a chance to wonder anything else any further. He didn't even get the chance to receive an answer. Once more, the quickening breeze that the Vivillion were causing hit our cheeks and in an instant, the sun was also beating back on our faces.
They all flew higher in the sky, moving away from each other. They revealed something from the centre of them all. Katie was the first to gasp aloud. It was a baby Vivillion! So beautiful and blue and a perfect miniature of its older friends and family.
Once again, none of us had a chance to marvel any more. Chattering noises from the creatures filled our ears. We later realised that it was the little one being granted permission.
The smaller, blue Vivillion fluttered away from its friends and began to break the distance with Katie. Ash managed to break away from his heart hammering with joy in his chest enough to move a foot closer to Katie, checking she was okay.
But she was more than okay. The three-year-old was as enamoured by the creature as she was with any of the others. She was somehow even more enchanted than her father was by any creature of the Pokémon world.
Katie's little grabbing hands reached out just like they had done when Misty went away. But this time, no fear moistened the palms of her hands. No upset caused her heart to hammer in her chest. She was at peace. She welcomed this stranger. This friend. She prepared to greet it. And what a greeting she received!
Comfortable with her as she was with it, the Vivillion flew right close to Katie and landed on her face! And how funny it was that I had only just realised how much better she was feeling than when her mother had first gone away that that was then the moment that we stopped being alone.
Able to see both Katie with the Vivillion and Misty making her way across the field because I was facing outwards while they were both facing me, my stomach lurched like a few of the Pokémon were inside my stomach, fluttering their wings and longing to be freed!
There was no doubt that Ash and I and even Mr Hugsy were going to be for it when she realised where we had taken Katie. But in the split second that Misty marched towards us, I saw the situation for how it really was.
I saw my best friend's wife biting on her lower lip and fear dancing in her own stomach as Katie had her back to her.
Oh no, she must have been thinking. She's not going to forgive me for leaving her this time.
But Misty just had to try and earn her daughter's trust and forgiveness back – even though you and even Misty will go on to learn that this wasn't even the case.
For a rare occasion, Misty forgot about greeting her husband, to scold him or to hold him or otherwise.
She approached the back of her daughter, already holding a hand out to her.
"I told you I would be back soon, didn't I?" Misty began. She was so focused on making a beeline for Katie that it dawned on me that Ash, Mr Hugsy and I could be safe after all. If we were very lucky then she might not realise that even she too was now standing in a bug Pokémon field! "Have you had fun waiting for everyone else, sweetheart?"
To Misty's relief, Katie started to turn around. It wasn't really to the rest of our relief. Ash and I glanced at each other, teeth bared, as for a single awful second, we considered tiptoeing out of the field so Misty believed that she had led herself there!
Katie turned around to greet her mother fully, no malice in her heart and not even any forgiveness. Her new friends had made her entirely forget about the upset of being left.
The shuddering emotions would soon be transferred to the older woman instead!
"Mama!" she exclaimed, taking one clumsy footstep forward and moving her hands away from letting the Vivillion flap her wings against it while still hanging onto the end of her nose and preparing to greet her mother instead. "Cuddles?"
Misty let out a strangled noise from her throat that was as if she had seen someone coming alive from the dead! She at least knew not to scream and screw her face up and swear for her daughter's sake, but she could not stop her body from recoiling backwards.
She saw what Ash, Mr Hugsy and I had all been seeing. It was a shame that the unusual blue and green dot shape on either of the Vivillion's bigger wings hadn't tricked Misty, so she believed that she had still been looking into her daughter's eyes.
She knew that it was the Pokémon's wings! She knew that it was on her daughter's face! And oh, how she wanted to scream and shudder, telling Katie that she didn't know how on earth she was doing that – let alone wanted to strangle Ash and I for letting that happen.
But Misty had always known not to let her fears affect her children, even if they did see it as something funny than serious. She was determined to leave a mark on her children. But because of how often they could run to her, how they were always met with softness and how safe they felt with her.
Not because she encouraged behaviour that would hold them all back.
I was impressed with Misty when she at least managed to stop squirming backwards. She painted her face into quite the fakest smile that I had ever seen. But Katie wasn't to know. She was hugging her arms around herself. Misty half wished she had snatched Mr Hugsy off me. Oh, how she needed the comfort!
"O-Oh, that's okay, sweetheart. I'll get lots of lovely cuddles from you later." Misty croaked out, her eyebrows twitching on her face only for Ash and me to see and her arms restricting tighter around her bosom thanks to how difficult her words were to get out. "You keep enjoying your new friend while I give something to Daddy."
Katie had always been the child so desperate to please. And whatever Misty said, she usually was happy to go along with. Continuing this behaviour, the three-year-old didn't hesitate to chirp the word okay! Before indeed making the most of the Vivillion on her face.
She was giggling.
Ash and I had really been considering tiptoeing out of the field before Misty gave us both a piece of our mind. I couldn't really go anywhere, I still had Mr Hugsy on my back and even though he was not really weighing me down, the desire to do the right thing always would be.
I couldn't let Ash take the blame like that. I certainly couldn't let Misty think that we would allow the child to be in danger.
In the end, my best friend had a different approach.
Ignoring the intuition that the thing that Misty had for him was a slap or her hand flicking into a particularly rude gesture when Katie wasn't looking, Ash sprang across the field closer to Misty, resuming his affection that had been present at the beginning of our story.
He went the extra mile by puffing his lips into a pout and trying to get many kisses from Misty before she even granted him them!
"Aww do you have lots of lovely cuddles and kisses for me, Mist?" Ash humoured his girlfriend, nudging his hip against hers before it practically bedded into hers. Once again it became difficult to tell where one of them ended and the other began. He proceeded to flutter his eyelashes at her before she could roll her eyes. "I don't have any Vivillion all over my face, you see?" he said. "I only have my love for you."
And with that, how Misty longed to set a gag free from her throat to wipe the smile off her boyfriend's face, but she knew that this would upset her daughter! Heck, it would upset Ash too, but she knew that he was likely to get over it. Katie, on the other hand, could have a sleepless night after all and none of us needed that.
Misty may have managed to stifle the hiccup in her throat, but she could not control the plaiting together of the eyebrows and the upturn of her nose. The palm of her outstretched hand collided against the chest of Ash, intending to push him away.
But then she changed her mind. She relinquished. And not because he was a lot stronger than her.
Even though his words were exaggerated, and his expression was too, there was an element of truth to them. And Misty knew that. She had felt so awful when she decided to go off and fulfil her promise to Delia. While she had wanted to please her future mother-in-law, it came at the expense of breaking Katie's heart – and giving Ash a rough ride of it all.
Her heart had been in her throat when Katie's back had been turned to her. And although she had gotten a fright, even she had to admit that a Vivillion on her face was a lot better than sadness written all over it. She just hoped that she didn't make a habit of it.
Misty set a loud sigh free from her lungs. She did not respond to Ash's words in any way. But the way that she surrendered contentedly in her arms said everything. Though, of course, she soon sounded her own words.
She scrunched her nose up on her porcelain face.
"I swear you better not have had any Vivillion or any bug on your face, Ketchum." she told him. And with that, Misty moved her hands to tousle through the unruly mane of her boyfriend's locks that were warmed by the sun before she leaned in and kissed him.
My best friend was already grinning before the kiss so for half a second, he was beaming against her lips. But then he continued to hold her back and he kissed her back, and he relished in this moment as well.
It was one far less occasional than the gang of Vivillion in the sky and it was one that should have filled him with a lot less wonder. But it didn't. He had fallen in love with his best friend. And as much as that was a dream of a lot of people, it was a dream that only a handful of lucky people had managed to draw into their own lives.
Ash was one of these people. He was more than lucky. On that day, he had experienced a bit of a breakthrough with Katie, had connected with the world in which he loved so much and was now in his girlfriend's arms.
The two of them kissed with the Vivillion above their heads and Katie was none the wiser, that single Vivillion still on her face.
Misty may have been determined not to pass a lot of things onto her children. But accepting the moment for what it was, was something that she very much intended to do. And thanks to Ash it went beyond that. It went to making every moment exactly as it was meant to be.
And as I stood and watched my two best friends, Mr Hugsy weighing down on my spine, my spirits were still elevated. I couldn't help but think that some things were meant to be. The two of them being in each other's lives certainly. But me being in their lives too, getting to see every story unfold.
When I was around the two of them and our little family too – well, I was filled with a whole lot more love than fear. And more Vivillion in my stomach than there had been in the sky.
The End.
There you go, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :) Yeah, this really was a fun one for me to put together. Shannon and I have always had a joke about Katie potentially loving bug Pokémon and it freaking her mother out so that was of course one aspect of the plot! And then, I couldn't help but had a hint of Justin x Katie in it as well what with the butterfly/Butterfree/Vivillion symbolism :P With this, I also wanted to really paint the picture of Katie as a child because I'd like to go into all of that a lot more in the future. She certainly keeps her parents on her toes! But what do you expect from a child of Ash and Misty? :) Thanks again for reading and I will be back again next Wednesday with another Ash and Misty centric tale! See you shortly :P
Amy signing out!