Still the one

He gave her a malicious look as he took a step back, his hair dripping water. A rather thin Pikachu was sleeping soundlessly in his arms. Brock looked between the two teenagers not knowing what to say.

“Uhm…” he muttered nervously, as he ran a hand through his wet hair. “Look, Misty we’ve been traveling for seven weeks straight without shelter. All three of us are really tired and not to mention hungry. Plus it’s been raining like crazy for three days straight”

Misty looked at Ash, a tear drop falling from her eye. Ash didn’t seem to care as he shrugged and turned his head away from the teary eyed redhead. Brock grinned anxiously as he looked between the former best friends.

“Fine” she whispered, not tearing her gaze away from Ash. “Brock, you and Pikachu can stay as long as you like, but I want him out by tomorrow morning”. And with that she turned on her heel, flicking her long red hair over her shoulder. Ash and Brock stood in the doorway, dripping wet, trying to figure out if that was an invite to step in. As they weren’t getting any drier just standing there, Brock decided to step into the gym, beckoning for Ash to follow him. Ash uttered a “Tss” , before stepping into the gym and away from the downpour.

* * *

Flashback

“You kissed her?” yelled Misty bitterly.

“Yeah, so?” answered Ash, eying the angry redhead. “She came on to me. What’s it to you anyways?”

They were both standing at either side of the bedroom, their faces flushed. Brock was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, looking anxiously at the young teens, his mouth opening and closing silently, a quiet Pikachu sat perched on his knee.

“I can’t believe you kissed that tramp.” Misty spat at him, her face redder than her hair.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m aloud to kiss whoever I want.” said Ash, pulling angrily at his black shirt, his black hair sticking up in every direction. “Why do you care anyways?”

“I- I….” she uttered, tears welling up in her eyes. “Why do you think I care? I always go to your matches…… and you kissed her!!”

She threw a pillow at his head, tears streaming down freely from her eyes, over her cheek and of her chin. He ducked, the pillow missing his head barely.

“What’s wrong with you!” bellowed Ash angrily.

“Nothing! Not one single thing”

“Look she came on to me. What did I have to do? Duck? Plus she is the daughter of a tournament judge. She has the power to disqualify me!!”

“So, what? You’re not even that good anyways” she spat at him hotly, tears still streaming down her pretty face. She started grabbing her things and throwing them in her backpack.

“Oh. I’m not any good am I? What about you and that stupid gym of yours?” he retorted, walking around the beds and stopping just a few inches away from her. She pushed him away from her and started packing again.

“You guys, please just chill” said Brock looking nervously at how Misty was packing her bag. Pikachu was now covering its ears.

“What are you packing for? The tournament starts tomorrow!” Ash spat at her.

“I’m leaving. I can’t take this anymore.” she replied angrily. She zipped up her bag, threw a murderous look at the handsome young man and pulled on her suspenders. Ash watched her angrily as she combed her shoulder length hair into a bun, sobbing whilst she did so.

“You’re not honestly leaving are you?” asked Ash angrily, a hint of fearfulness in his voice. He grabbed her by the arm, as she attempted to walk to the door.

“Yes, Ash. I am leaving.” she said pulling her arm away from him, tears still streaming down her face. She made her way to the hotel room door, opened it and left, closing the door behind her with a loud bang.

“Wait this is just a fight” he hollered, running to the door and opening it. “We’re just fighting…. right?”

End flashback

* * *

Ash was eying Zieck, gnashing his teeth furiously. Zieck looked back at him between his golden brown curls, feeling quite nervous and not knowing what to say. They were both sitting at the table eying one another silently, waiting for the sisters and Brock to bring food to the table

Ash had changed from his wet clothes and was now wearing a blue sweater and ratty jeans.

“So that’s your Pikachu?” asked Zieck in a desperate attempt to start a conversation. He pointed at Pikachu who was sitting next to Ash looking considerably hungry.

“Yes that’s my Pikachu” grunted Ash in response. Zieck nodded and fell silent again. “What does Misty see in this guy” Ash thought jealously, shifting in his seat.

“Pikachu pi pik pika?” (When is the food coming?) asked Pikachu, clattering impatiently with its tiny fork and knife.

“Here we go” said Daisy, bringing a bowl of yams to the table, her blond hair tied into a neat bun.

“You must be hungry Pikachu” said Lily, bringing a roasted chicken to the table. Brock followed her carrying a large bowl of mashed potatoes and a bowl of broccoli.

Ash looked less angry now that there was food on the table. His stomach was growling softly. Misty brought a bowl of beans to the table and took a seat between Daisy and Zieck. Then Violet came out of the kitchen carrying a tin of gravy and a dish of kidney pie and sat next to Lily.

“Everything looks great” said Zieck, winking at Misty.

“Yeah simply perfect, Mist” snarled Ash grabbing the bowl of yams.

“Well I didn’t prepare this by myself, Ashton” retorted Misty, glaring at Ash with a murderous look. The two sat glaring at each other for what seemed like minutes.

“Ahem” said Violet looking between the pair apprehensively. “Ash could you please pass me the mashed potatoes?”

“Sure” he replied, tearing his gaze away from the redhead, who was looking quite pretty that evening. Her long red hair was tied into a low ponytail and she wore a light pink summer dress.

“So Misty, how did you meet…Zieck is it?” asked Ash in a mocking tone, spooning some beans on to his plate.

“I met him through my parents” she answered angrily. The mocking tone in Ash’s voice did not go unnoticed by her.

“Yeah her parents are great palls of my family’s” added Zieck, obviously not sensing the hostility between the two.

Ash threw him a deadly glare and went back to eating his mash potatoes and kidney pie. A hungry Pikachu sat eating a large amount of mash potatoes and roast chicken, its little paws soaked with gravy.

“Sweetie, could you pass me the yams?” asked Misty, in a sickly sweet voice.

Ash scowled with an envious look.

Perhaps it was his golden brown locks or his tanned complexion or maybe it was the way he had the tendency to stare someone down with his hazel eyes that had gotten Misty to like him. Either way Ash felt a pang of jealousy surge through his body. He liked Misty and that was a fact. It was Misty’s departure that had brought him to the realization that he liked her, not just as a friend, but as a whole lot more. But he could not let her know that, he still had to pretend that he was mad at her. Who was she to storm off on him? She left and that was a perfect reason to be mad at her Ash thought.

He dug his fork into some more mash potato and ate silently; often throwing the couple a deadly glare.

Misty was now feeding Zieck his kidney pie. Brock chuckled at this and looked at Ash amusingly. When Zieck had given Misty a kiss on the nose between spoons of kidney pie, Ash had stopped eating and was looking at the couple as if a badly performed play was playing out in front of him. He scowled at them and glared furiously at the now hiccupping Brock.

They finished dinner, Ash watching satisfactorily as Zieck choked on his last bit of kidney pie. Having fished eating Ash cleared off the table, not taking his eyes of the pretty redhead. She had grown a lot. Her hair was now longer, plus she did not have that scrawny look that she used to have when she was younger. Volunteering to wash the dishes Zieck and Misty left for the kitchen, Misty hanging on to Zieck’s arm. Ash followed them with a pile of dishes, looking like he would have liked very much to strangle the pair of them, mostly Zieck.

“Well I’m off to bed” yelled lily towards the kitchen door. “Goodnight y’all”

“I’m heading upstairs too. I’m beat” said Daisy following her sister up the stairs.

Violet stood on tiptoe gave Brock a kiss on the cheek, petted Pikachu and left for her room. Shaking feverishly Brock touched the spot where Violet had kissed him and grinned slyly.

“Hey stop it” Brock heard Misty say in the kitchen. He walked into the kitchen and watched interestingly as Zieck splashed Misty with water out of the sink. Ash was sitting on a chair in the corner scowling heavily at the couple.

“Pikachu pi pik pika?” (What’s wrong with you?)asked Pikachu also entering the kitchen and walking over to Ash.

“Nothing” he grunted in response. Misty and Zieck finished washing the dishes and walked out of the kitchen holding hands, Ash, Pikachu and Brock following them suit.

“Well. It’s 10.30 already. I have to go.” said Zieck.

“It’s not fair” replied Misty quietly, leaning in for a kiss. Zieck leaned in, rested his forehead on hers and kissed her lightly. A “tss” escaped Ash’s lips and Brock turned around and eyed him like he was the most amazing pokemon he had ever seen.

Zieck tore away from her, said his goodbyes to Brock, Ash and Pikachu, opened the door and left.

“Yeah good riddance” Ash muttered under his breath. “So Misty, care to show us to our room or do I have to pull out my map?” he asked, mockingly. Misty scowled and opened her mouth to reply, but Brock interrupted her.

“I’m really tired and would want to get to my room by tonight” he interrupted calmly.

Misty and Ash were staring each other down now. Pikachu and Brock looked between the two teenagers and they both sighed.

“Like I said before, I want you out by tomorrow morning” Misty spat at Ash and with that she bolted up the stairs, beckoning for Ash and Brock to follow her. She then walked along a long corridor (Ash and Brock on her heel) reached a door at the end of the hall and opened it.

“Hope this is good enough for you” she said, glaring at Ash.

“It will do” he replied, eying the light pink painted room. It was plainly decorated and there stood two twin-size beds in either corner. He tore his eyes away from the room and rested them once again on a scowling Misty a tiny smirk appearing on his face. He loved seeing her mad, he thought it made her look even prettier.

Brock and Pikachu had entered the room and threw themselves on the separate beds.

“So Misty” said Ash, still standing in the corridor. “Does Zieck stay in this bedroom when he’s sleeping over or does he sleep in your room?”

“That’s none of your business” retorted Misty, hitting him hard on the arm. Ash chuckled at this. It reminded him of the good old days when they used to travel together and for a split second he forgot that he was supposed to be mad at Misty. …….

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