A/N: I needed a little recharge from writing my other story that so back to more light and fluffy drama. Also still on a writing block for The Burning Nightmare. Anyway thanks for hanging tough.

Chapter 8 – Bright sun shiny day

"I'm really sorry, I swear!" Ash tried to be heard over Misty's yelling. No matter how long it had been the girl never seemed to mellow out. Sometimes he was concerned she was legitimately have a heart attack from how worked up she got over everything.

"I'm going to kill you! All those years of you being too busy to come see me and then you go and enter a tournament without even telling me!" Misty yelled as she shook Ash with her one hand that was wrapped around his collar.

"Look, I said I was sorry." Ash muttered in a halfhearted apology. He really did not want to go through this with everyone. Brock had made him feel like a terrible person. The red headed terror on the other hand, well he'd be lucky if he made it out without any broken bones.

"Well sorry won't cut it! Not now, not ever!" Misty yelled as she continued to shake Ash her anger carrying her through even though she knew shaking him wasn't really doing anything to actually hurt him.

"You're such a jerk Ash Ketchum! I'm not that far away. I'm barely half a day's trip but you never came. Do you know how many days I waited late at the gym hoping you'd pop in for a surprise visit? Do you know how many hours I spent almost calling you to give you hell or debating coming down there myself?" Misty yelled in frustration.

"But I knew…I knew if I did, you'd barely give me the time of day." She finished with a strangled sob.

"Misty!...I…" Ash started to come up with an excuse over why he had never made it out to Celadon City to visit her.

"Don't lie to me! Don't you dare lie to me Ash Ketchum!" Misty broke down into sobs. The shorter red head found herself burying herself into Ash's chest as she felt the tears fall unbidden from her eyes.

"How could you leave us all Ash? You just shut us all out. We had to find out from Gary that your mother was fighting for her life! Did you think we wouldn't support you? That we didn't care?" Misty continued ranting as she sobbed against her childhood friend.

"Uh…" Ash awkwardly hugged the small slip of a girl in an attempt to offer some type of comfort. Honestly he wasn't sure what he could do to make this situation better. If his past was any proof he was horrible dealing with emotions.

"You left us…Ash. You left us and never looked back. Do you know how that felt to me? To all of us? All those years together and you just disappeared. No matter how many times you came to see us at Christmas or saw us when we passed through, you never even acknowledged us as more than a distraction." Misty continued as she dropped her hands from Ash's shirt. Her head rested against his chest. Her hands just hung at her sides.

"Then I get a call from Gary and all of a sudden I hear you've run away again! Do you know how that felt? Getting a call from Gary just to find out my one chance of actually seeing you outside of your office is almost shot! I felt abandoned all over again without even knowing I had a shot at talking to you." May sobbed in barely restrained anger.

"I…I didn't mean to. It just happened. I was just…busy." Ash mumbled in what he knew was a pathetic defense at best. Even as he spoke the words they tasted like ash in his mouth. No matter what he did or what he said, it didn't matter. It was all so meaningless. No words could take back the hurt.

"You really haven't changed." Misty let out a watery chuckle as she half sobbed and half laughed. All this time and he still couldn't lie or make any excuse worth his salt.

"Hey now…I said I was sorry. And I have too changed. I run a business now." Ash muttered petulantly. No respect from any of them for his career change as per usual.

"Ran a business, from what I hear your mom kicked you out." Misty chuckled a little. The red headed started to wipe her eyes with the back of her hand as she started to calm down a little.

"Don't remind me." Ash muttered. Even though he found himself getting back into the training circuit and enjoying the battles, it still kinda annoyed him that his own mother had up and kicked him out. If he was a vindictive person he would have appealed to the board. What was he even thinking? The board was just as terrified of his mother as he was. They'd hem and haw but in the end they'd side with Delia.

"Well I for one can't thank your mother and Gary enough." Misty responded with a faux glare before she gently punched Ash in the shoulder.

"You've always been the heart of our group. Without you we wouldn't have ever become friends with everyone. When you went away we almost broke apart. Christmas parties were never the same. If not for Gary, I really think we would have all drifted apart." Misty smirked as a thought came to her.

"Way to drop the ball Ketchum, if you aren't careful Gary'll be the new Ash."

"Don't even try it. I'd out Ash him any day. No one can think like me!" Ash crowed with a smirk. The mood was already lightening up a little between the two.

"That's for sure. You're one in a million, dunderhead." Misty chuckled before she hugged him again.

"So…a kid with May? How'd that happen?" Misty asked in genuine curiosity.

"Don't ask me, I certainly wasn't there." Ash muttered petulantly.

"A five year old child says differently." Misty pointed out with a small poke. "In fact I'm pretty sure it must have been a process that you were very aware of."

"I meant when May found out she was pregnant. She never told me." Ash responded hotly.

"Well if it makes you feel better she managed to hide it from everyone. Max from what I heard almost had a coronary when he found out. In fact I'm surprised he hasn't tracked you down yet." Misty offered her less than comforting words with a wink.

"Thanks…something else for me to worry about. I'm already scared enough of dealing with Iris as it is and now I have to worry about Max trying to kill me." Ash responded with a heavy sigh.

When had everything changed? Back when they were traveling together everything had a simple answer. It was all black and white. The issues they dealt with had such a childish simplicity to them. They never doubted what they were doing. In fact they all had a certain confidence that had gone away.

At some point they had all grown up. Nothing was so simple…it was all gray. She could appreciate how easy they used to have it. The free time and the freedom to just do whatever they pleased. At some point though they had responsibilities slowly added to their life. Maybe it didn't happen all at once like it had with Ash but it had happened.

"So how are you really doing? Misty asked tentatively.

"I'm…I don't know. Confused, angry, pissed off?" Ash half asked half sighed in confusion. How was he doing? Really it wasn't like there was a guide book to how he should handle all of this crap.

"Well that sure describes all the emotions you normally feel. Only thing missing is hungry." Misty chuckled a little trying to interject a little humor into the situation.

"Yeah…I guess. I just don't know what the hell to do about this." Ash responded with a small smile at Misty's attempt to interject her humor into the conversation.

"Well I think you need to get in contact with May. I know you think you're in the right but try and see it from her perspective. You guys are traveling together and then you start dating. Finally right when you start getting intimate with each other you got a call from your mother and you just tell her that you've gotta go home at the next city and you never asked her to come with you. In fact you just told her you're going home and how scared and overwhelmed you were." Misty lectured.

"Now I'm not saying it was wrong to get back to your mom as soon as possible. In fact we'd all understand. Everyone loves you mom. But!" Misty interjected with a raised finger when it looked like Ash was about to interject.

"You told her in your own screwed up way that you were dropping her and didn't need her or her problems, because your issues were what were important. She ended up at Dawn's house crying and a complete mess from what I understand. Then a few months later she just disappeared. Now I'm not saying she was right to keep it from you that she was pregnant but you two are both so stubborn."

"I swear if you two just talked to each other none of this would have happened. Instead it is up to the rest of us to get you two to talk and knock some sense into you." Misty ended with a helpless shrug.

"Well if she just called me." Ash started.

"Nope. Stop right there. She is just as stubborn as you are. The moment she left, she interrupted that as disinterest. You know full well how that jerk Drew treated her. He toyed with her emotions and played with her for his own amusement. He never went after her, she always came to him. That was her first introduction to love. Then one day Drew told her to stop trying to come back to him. He told her that she looked like a desperate whore just begging for someone better than her to take her back. After that he told her he was busy with his own issues and left her without ever explaining his change of personality. Now are you drawing any correlation?" Misty asked.

"Uh…." Ash started.

"Of course you don't." Misty sighed in annoyance.

"You did the same thing to her that Drew did. You never went after her. You told her you didn't have time for her and told her you were going away and she couldn't come with. Then you wait months to try and contact her. Now would you be too keen on responding to someone that pulled something that your asshole ex-boyfriend pulled?"

"Oh…" Ash nodded a little finally understanding but not understanding what Misty was getting at. Mainly it seemed like it was some comparison with Drew. Honestly he still didn't get it completely but he figured he better agree.

Misty held back another biting remark. How did this idiot become a businessman again?

"So we good?" Ash asked tentatively as he reciprocated the hug with a strong squeeze.

"After you pay for a nice dinner I guess I can be persuaded to forgive you." Misty responded with a small smirk.

"What! Oh come on Misty! Do I look like I'm made of money?" Ash responded with a defeated sigh. He should have known there'd be a catch. There was always a catch.

"You know it comes to mind that you still technically owe me for my bike…" Misty responded with a faux thoughtful expression on her face as she tapped her chin.

"Right, dinner it is!" Ash responded with a nervous laugh as he put his hands up in mock defense. Really was this girl ever going to give up on that bike? It wasn't like either of them didn't have the money to replace it but she reminded him every time. He half wondered if she didn't buy herself a new bike so she could continually extort him.

"Besides I'd like to see these table manners that Delia speaks of in person." Misty poked Ash in the ribs with a smirk.

"I'll meet you at the Golden Mew in three hours. That should be enough time to get cleaned up and presentable." Misty mock demanded before she headed out the door of Ash's trainer room that he had been assigned during the match with Blaine.

"Sure I'll be there." Ash sighed as he realized that Misty was completely gone. Why was he even surprised that the girl hadn't changed one bit. It would have been more of a surprise if she had. Well for now he supposed he'd better get ready. Last thing he wanted was to catch hell for messing up with Misty already. Of course it was too bad things wouldn't be so easy with everyone else.

Although everyone else combined was easier to deal with than May. Hell what did he do about that entire mess? Why couldn't life just be a little simpler like when he was younger? Ash sighed in annoyance. Maybe he could just put everything off with May for a little while longer. Still he had a kid. When did he get so old? And how did he not see through the few communications he had with May after they parted.

"Man being a grown up sucks." Ash groaned in annoyance. Well he better get himself changed and dressed up if he was going to look decent for dinner. Now he would have to hope that he could avoid running into anyone else. Mostly Iris but really any of his friends would likely ream him out. Iris would probably do it in public and really embarrass him.

"I really hate Gary." He muttered to Pikachu before he grabbed the remaining items in his locker and walked out of the trainer's locker room and into the waiting media. The moment he opened the door the public smile was on his face. He waved to reporters and gave those that asked the sound bites they wanted.

Battler's Review –

"What'd I tell you May!" Barry crowed in excitement as he pointed towards the final few moments of Ash and Blaine's battle.

"Ash may have taken a while getting up to speed but I think the results are pretty clear. Ash Ketchum is back in the game and I'm betting that he'll make it all the way to the top!"

"Well seems you've changed your tune a little bit from the battle. I thought you were gonna cry at the end of that match when you thought Ash's Snorlax had been taken out." May retorted with a roll of her eyes for the benefit of the audience.

"Oh whatever! You're just jealous that you weren't asked to be a commentator for Ash's first major battle!" Barry responded with an exaggerated sniff of disdain over May's clear and obvious jealousy.

"Yes jealous is the word, especially since if I remember correctly you were the one that just begged me to switch with you so you could handle the match." May responded before she hopped off her chair and came around to the front so the crowd could better see her. With a wink she got down on her knees and exaggerated Barry's request.

"Please please please May! I know I'll never be anything compared to you but it'd mean the world to me if I could comment for Ash's match. You know I've always chased skirts but it's all been a lie. I want to tell Ash my big secret that deep down, I'm in love with him. If I can just gather the courage, I'll announce it to the world at the match." May made a horrible attempt at imitating Barry's voice.

"Oh please, can we be mature about this?" Barry responded with a roll of his eyes.

"Says the one that is a self-proclaimed skirt chaser? That's right girls don't believe his lies, he'll never settle down and no you aren't his long lost love he's been looking for." May openly mocked her co-host a slight smirk on her face.

"Back on subject." Barry coughed in an attempt to draw the conversation to what they were here to talk about. That mainly being his love life. It was an unspoken agreement that they wouldn't mention Ash and May's giant blow up on the last show. By unspoken agreement, it was more like May had threatened bodily harm to him and his family. Of course for some reason it was perfectly fine to bring up his love life. Then again he didn't have any secret children with a famous ex-CEO of a major company.

"With Blaine knocked out we know no one is safe. While there are still some wildcards in the mix, every battle from here is going to be intense. Even the Coordinator battles are heating up. While I can't promise anyone who will move on based on our predictions it is time for our top four Coordinators!" Barry yelled out as he motioned to the LCD screen that suddenly appeared behind him. On one side his name on the other side May's name.

"Now viewers each of us will pick out our top four Coordinators. I know, I know, we're Battler's Review and we mainly concentrate on the Trainers but let's show the Coordinators some love!" Barry yelled out to the crowd eliciting a cheer from the crowd.

"Who we think will make it to the semi-finals. Of course our lovely May the Princess of Hoenn will only be competing in our upcoming doubles tournament but that is a promotional battle only and won't actually count for the rankings." Barry made sure to leave out her doubles partner because that would just have him murdered on the spot.

"Well Barry, you know I have to give it up to my little sister the Princess of Sinnoh, Dawn!" May yelled out to the cheers of the crowd.

Behind her on the board, Dawn's name and picture popped up under May's side.

"An excellent first choice my dear but I fear the top spot will go to my girl Jasmine, the Olivine City gym leader!" Barry responded with a grin.

"Oh you mean the girl you've been sending letters to professing your love for ever since you interviewed her on our show?" May responded with a long sigh to indicate her suffering. Then again who wouldn't if they had to deal with Barry on a daily basis.

"Look she's not only a complete sweetheart but she has competed in the Sinnoh Super Contests. She's given Dawn a run for her money." Barry nodded confidently at his own assessment.

"Sure Barry…Hey Jasmine, if you're watching I am really sorry for my co-host. Also don't believe anything he tells you. He's a complete horn dog that is waiting for the wrong girl to say yes!" May spoke directly to the camera while pointing at her co-host in-case anyone missed who she was talking about as if it wasn't obvious.

"Oh whatever, not like any girl could resist my charm." Barry confidently smiled at the camera.

"While my co-worker evaluates his list based on who he believes he can trick into bed, sorry Jasmine but it's true. I evaluate based on skill and potential. I have to put Zoey down as my second choice." May waved her hand to the board as Jasmine came up under Barry's board and Zoey came up underneath Dawn.

"Zoey has always been right at Dawn's level and when the two of them are in the same contest things heat up quickly. The verbal sparring is all part of the show with them. If anyone has a shot at Dawn it is her chief rival."

"Well I got a surprise for you then! Kenny is my second choice! That's right this guy has been a rival with Dawn since they started as well! He may not be a household name yet but after this contest he'll prove the potential has always been there." Barry nodded sagely to himself.

"Oooooh soooooo what you're saying is that you picked Kenny because you are trying to prove me wrong." May rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner before looking to her viewers.

"Sometimes ladies and gentlemen, he likes to believe somewhere deep down there is a man. A man that isn't a sexists pig. From what I understand he's still looking but if we all believe. Perhaps one day he'll find his inner man. Until then we'll have to deal with a petulant man-child."

"Sorry you're in denial about my amazing charm and personality. It's alright because my third pick is Solidad. This girl used to give our own Hoenn Princess a run for her money and while she has been off the circuit for a while I hear she is back with some new surprises." Barry cut in before May kept going. Knowing how pissed off she had been lately, she would have kept going and going. Hell the whole show could really be make fun of Barry hour and the audience would love it. What did he do to deserve such abuse?

"While I do have Solidad in my line up she's my number four. I have to admit she is solid but I don't think the time off will be the advantage she needs. I've got my number three in as Robert. Not only do I like him because he beat Drew, but he has always been a solid class act. He is cool, calm, and collected. I could even see him edging out Zoey for second or Dawn for first." May glanced back and watched as her top four all came up on the board. While under Barry's name only three of the four were lit up.

"Well last but not least I can't forget about Wallace and his amazing performances while he was champion. I gotta root for the underdogs here. All of my coordinators aren't the obvious choice but I really think their unique skills are what will set them apart." Barry responded as his final choice lit up on the board behind him.

"Well there you have it folks, our top choices for the Coordinators competing in the Light of the Stars Tournament. Next time we're going to cover the highlights from the most recent battle and give our predictions for the future matches. And ladies and gentlemen, just for you we have a special surprise." Barry dropped to a stage whisper at the end.

"That's right Barry, we're going to have the current champion of Sinnoh, Cynthia on our show." May grinned as she flashed her audience a megawatt smile.

"Now calm down everyone, Cynthia informed us she'd be signing autographs and taking some choice questions from the audience!" Barry announced with a grin.

"And that is it for Battler's Review!" May and Barry yelled together as the credits closed.

-Golden Mew

Ash attempted one last time to comb away his mess of hair that never seemed to want to stay in place. He was almost tempted to wear his hat with his suit…minus the fact Misty would kill him. It'd been a long time since he had pulled that little stunt. The last time he'd gotten an earful from his mother when she had turned on the TV to watch the gala Pallet House was sponsoring, only to discover her son was at a gala in a nice suit she had picked out. And a beat up old Pallet House baseball cap he tended to wear while in the kitchens.

"Typical." Ash complained out loud not that anyone was paying much attention. Here he was on time and Misty was fashionably late. It was funny since during their travels it had always been the other way around. Ever since Ash started running the company though he had learned quickly the value of getting places early.

"What's typical?" Misty ventured in a curious tone as she walked up the sidewalk towards the front entrance of the Golden Mew.

"Nothing at all…" Ash started a low whistle once he saw what she was wearing. He always forgot his best friend from childhood was a girl. Even as a gym leader she tended to dress more like a boy than anything else. Still it was a shock to see her in a fancy ankle length seafoam green dress that ended in a halter top. The dress's color complimented her eye color and hair color perfectly. Even her hair was done up with chopsticks running through the bun she had pulled her hair back into.

"Stop starring your embarrassing me. Not like you've never seen me in a dress before." Misty poked him in his ribs to get his attention again.

"I wasn't starring. You just caught me by surprise." Ash groaned. While he could admit that Misty was indeed gorgeous looking tonight, it was too weird. The two of them had shared way too many experiences while they were still kids for either of them to even think about dating the other.

"Besides I don't date guys with children…or at least not when I have a good relationship with the mother of said child." Misty responded with a small smirk.

"Oh rub it in some more why don'tcha." Ash grumbled as he moved around Misty and opened the door to allow her into the restaurant. It was a few moments later that the two were led to their table and they each took a seat. Misty sat facing Ash her back to the sidewalk and windows. Ash took the seat facing the windows with his back to the kitchen.

"You know someone has to, or else it'll never get through your thick skull." Misty commented as she perused the menu.

"You're always there for me Misty. Whether I want you to be or not." Ash ended with a small smirk.

"Just for that, I think I'm ordering something expensive." Misty declared as she scoured the menu for the priciest item she could find. It'd teach him to open his big mouth or at least that was the thought. In all likelihood even if she ordered the most expensive thing, Ash's share of the bill would still be greater by sheer volume alone.

"So how's the gym?" Ash asked in an attempt to keep Misty from eating him out of house and home in one sitting. From the looks of things the prices weren't cheap. A soft chuckle taking over for a moment. Yep he never would have been caught dead eating at a place like this while he was younger. Now it was almost normal to be eating at such establishments during important business trips. Unless of course a Pallet House was in the area but normally he was off trying to get one built so it was not a normal occurrence.

"Good, it's just me now. My sisters took off to take their performance on the road. Last I heard from Daisy, they were in the Orange Islands and thinking about settling down and opening a school there." Misty responded with a smile.

"That sounds just like them." Ash chuckled lightly.

The pair settled into their old routine from when they were younger. Verbal pokes and prods along with the occasional mocking. The only time they stopped was when the waitress briefly came out to take their order. The girl must have recognized one of them from the blush as she took their orders before she scurried off.

"Did you know that Gary and Dawn are dating?" Ash asked, happy for once that he could prove he was an observant individual.

"No." Misty responded as she took a sip of her mixed drink. "Still I'm not surprised. Every time he came through he was always on his way to the port. There seemed to be a lot of research he needed to do wherever Dawn was competing."

"How'd you find out anyway?" Misty asked with no small amount of curiosity.

"I kinda ambushed him while he was on a date. After the interview with May and Barry I realized a little girl we helped get back to her mother was in fact my daughter. Gary never told me that she must've been May's daughter the entire time." Ash responded with a hint of regret in his voice.

"Figures." Misty chuckled. "I was wondering why he called to tell me you may be leaving and to stop you at any cost."

"Well my mom stopped me anyway." Ash responded with a smile.

"We can always count on her to knock some sense into you." Misty responded as she gracefully accepted the lobster tail she had ordered for her main course. Her eyes bulged slightly as she watched the cart that contained meals for at least five more full size adult males unloaded in front of Ash.

"I see your appetite and metabolism remain intact." Misty commented dryly as she used her fork to point to the spread in front of Ash.

Misty was surprised as Ash simply nodded in agreement as he actually cut up and ate human sized portions of his food. Normally she had a hard time distinguishing between Ash and Snorlax while they ate. The Ash she knew wouldn't have thought twice about shoving half a lobster tail down his throat while trying to make decent conversation.

"You know, I just realized, I don't know if I've ever seen you date anyone." Ash commented after finishing two of his dinner plates. His hunger momentarily sated enough for a brief conversation.

"Well, unlike you, I don't tend to end my dates with the conception of a love child." Misty responded with a less than subtle verbal jab.

"Har Har. So how long can I expect to get reminded about my shortcomings?" Ash muttered grumpily.

"I dunno." Misty put her finger on her chin and tapped it in an exaggerated manner. "How many years did you ignore me?"

"Noted." Ash said with a sigh before he started in on his second round of food. He was about to finish with his 4th platter when he heard a familiar voice. He looked up to see Dawn standing next to Misty with a giant grin on her face. Ash quickly swallowed the remaining chicken that he was half way done eating before acknowledging the new arrival.

"Uh…oh hey Dawn…ummm sorry about interrupting your date…and punching Gary…wait scratch that I'm not sorry about punching Gary but I am still sorry for interrupting you two."

"No worries Ash. Gary always deserves to be punched." Dawn waved off Ash's apology with a giant grin.

The young girl took a look at the spread in front of her before glancing back at Ash with a devious smirk. "Soooo when can I expect an apology dinner?"

"Erg…It's a one-time thing. If you want one so bad, I'll take you out too." Ash muttered in resignation.

"Oh no Ash, you can't take a girl out to the same place you've taken another girl even if it is an apology dinner." Dawn responded with a wag of her finger.

"And who says this is a one-time thing?" Misty responded with a grin. "If I remember correctly you still owe me for a bike. You've got a lot to make up for. In fact with interest, I see many free meals for me in the future."

"Hey….yeah! Ash destroyed my bike too!" Dawn realized with a giant grin. "So I guess you owe me some dinners as well."

"That's not even fair. I've saved you both numerous times." Ash responded with a whine. It wasn't even fair that they blamed him for destroying their bikes. Really how was it his fault that the bikes were destroyed? Alright fine he could see Misty's bike…but he saved Dawn!

"Come'on, let's go discuss how to get the most out of Ash for our destroyed bikes." Misty grinned as she placed her napkin on the table and got up to go to the bathroom with Dawn.

"Oh and don't forget the emotional damages too!" Dawn pointed out as she and Misty started walking away.

"What'd I ever do to deserve this kind of punishment?" Ash let out a groan as he put his face in his hands. Was it too much to ask for a simple repayment of the bikes? It'd make his life a lot easier if he just got them both new bikes. Still like he figured earlier the two of them enjoyed holding it over his head. He supposed he could allow it. Not like the two didn't deserve it with what he put them through for the past seven years or so.

May was walking along humming a tune on her way to pick up Sammy from Delia. It seemed that Sam had really hit it off with her grandmother. Of course Delia had left it up to May to actually tell Sammy. She just wasn't sure how to break it to the girl.

There was also the issue of Ash. While she wasn't sure what to do just yet, Delia had mentioned that Ash really didn't seem to know. Maybe it wasn't that much of a surprise. After all the dunderhead hadn't changed that much and despite his business savvy personality he was still dense as a rock when it came to subtle hints.

"Jack ass…complicating my life." May muttered in annoyance as she continued heading towards the park she was to meet Mrs. Ketchum in. She happened to be walking by the Golden Mew during her musing when she suddenly caught sight of someone that looked just like Ash.

Scratch that, it was Ash. Her eyes narrowed as her eyebrow started to twitch. He was with two women. The glare of the lights didn't give him a good view of the two females but by the laughter going on at the table she could tell that the three were flirting. Really? That jerk just found out he has a child and he goes off flirting with women.

Oh it was time to give him a piece of her mind. Here she thought he had matured but surprise surprise he was the same idiot he always was. Only now he was flirting with not one but two women.

With a push of the door she was past the door man and angling in directly on Ash. Her eyes were balls of fury as she locked onto her target. She absently grabbed a plate from a waiter on her way by. She didn't even know what it was but she was keen on making a scene.

"Ash Ketchum!" May roared as she heaved the plate of creamy chicken bisque soup at Ash without even aiming. Luck was on her side as the majority of the contents landing all over Ash's suit while the bowl bounced off his head before disappearing into the back ground.

"What the hell." Ash groaned as he rubbed his head from the unexpected attack. That hurt like hell and he already felt a welt forming as he tenderly rubbed his head. A glance down confirmed his suit was ruined before he eyeballed the one that attacked him. Oh what the hell was this?

"That was uncalled for. Still angry that I'm not all knowing about the little secret you hid from me?" Ash growled. He knew full well this was going to be all over the papers but he just couldn't bring himself to care.

"Like an idiot I was going to forgive you for that!" May yelled as she picked up another tray of food from a nearby table and in the process surprising the customer. "But here I find you flirting with two…two floozies! I thought you'd want to meet your daughter but I guess she just doesn't rate next to an easy lay does she?"

With a cry of anger May threw another plate of food at Ash. This one sailed over his head trailing tomato based crab and pasta all over the table and Ash's face as he looked up to trail the flying object.

"May!" Ash attempted to interject as he started to stand up only to be pushed back down into his seat by May's finger.

"No! I don't want to hear your excuses you jerk! If this is how you're going to act then I don't want our daughter anywhere near you!" May was mad…she in fact knew why she was mad but she didn't want to admit it. It had always been a fantasy of hers in the deepest part of her mind that she denied to no end that Ash would come back to her one day.

She knew it was a low blow before she even said it. It had been told to her in confidence and she was about to use it as a weapon. "I see you're working towards being just like your father again! Here I thought you were different but from what you told me you're doing exactly what your father did to your mother."

"He left your mother alone with you while he was off gallivanting with loose women and doing as he pleased. No concern for ever seeing you. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." May finished with a cold glare. To her satisfaction Ash looked completely broken. He wasn't even trying to fight back against her words. It just proved to her in her mind that she was right. If it wasn't true he'd have raged back against it.

It never occurred to her that he was so caught off guard that he didn't have the time to organize and thought. That her brutal assault may in fact cause him to completely shut down. Really May should have known that Ash's dad was a touchy subject.

"I hope you're happy with yourself." May finished with one final sniff before she marched out the door leaving the room a wreck.

Misty and Dawn returned a few minutes later laughing to themselves over their trade secrets. In fact Dawn was looking to put some of this to use against Gary when he was getting out of hand. The two came to a dead halt when they came into the main dining room. The entire room was talking and in the middle of it was Ash.

It looked like he had been in a food fight. The table was completely covered in food, sauce, and silverware. What worried Dawn and Misty was the fact that Ash was just sitting there unmoving with his eyes clenched shut and a grimace through clenched teeth. It looked like he was one second from erupting or completely breaking down.

Misty had only seen him like this once before. It was when they had run into his father while on the road. The man had mentally destroyed the boy. It had taken Delia, Misty, Brock, Gary, and Professor Oak to bring him back to some state of normalcy. Even after that it had been months until he was back to his old self.

Misty growled. Whoever had done this to her friend was dead. She didn't care who it was. With a glare that seemed to silence the wait staff and other clients in one go she made her way towards Ash.

"Woah…scary." Dawn muttered as she observed Misty's handiwork. Without waiting a moment longer she made it over to the two just as she heard Misty asking what had happened.

"She said…she said…I'm just like him." Ash managed to whisper through clenched teeth as he attempted not to break down in front of the entire crowd. The only thing was already going to be all over the news. He didn't need to see pictures of him in tears. The tabloids were already having a field day with his secret love child. Now it'd be going on about his fight and probably a love triangle.

"Like who Ash?" Misty gently shook his shoulder in an attempt to keep him with her.

"Damien." Ash whispered just loud enough for Misty to hear. His answer caused her to clench his shoulder slightly in response.

"Who? Who Ash?" Misty whispered back just loud enough for the two of them to hear. She already had a feeling and if it was who she thought, well heaven help her.

"May…" Ash stated mechanically as he stared straight ahead trying to keep it together. Was he really becoming his father? May didn't understand. It was Misty and Dawn that were here. Still was he that much of a terrible person that his child shouldn't ever see him?

"Dawn take him back to Gary. Just tell him what happened as best you can. Gary'll figure it out soon enough. I've got a brunette idiot to knock some sense into." Misty directed before she stomped out of the door without another word.

"Come'on Ash. Time to go home." Dawn grabbed Ash by the shoulder and pushed him up and out of his seat. Luckily Ash seemed to comply with her directions.

"Charge it to Pallet House Corporation." Dawn said without even waiting for one of the wait staff to respond to her request as she shuffled out of the restaurant with Ash. While she directed Ash with her one hand she fumbled with her cell phone and finally got Gary on the line as she walked Ash down the street.

"Gary, it's Dawn. I need you to meet me in your room. I've got Ash." Dawn immediately ordered as she made her way back towards the room the two men shared.

A/N: Welllllll hope you've enjoyed. Thanks for not giving up on the story. Er sorry to make May out to be kinda a bitch but hopefully next chapter'll explain some things. Um and hopefully I'll get the next chapter up within the next few months…alright under 3/4ths of a year. Anyway let me know whatcha think so far!