Pokemon - With Me Always

With Me Always. Rated G.

An early morning wake-up call, a tedious hour of packing his bag with his mother reminding him to pack underwear every five seconds, a traffic jam bad enough to be counted as evidence for the existence of the devil, Professor Oak's insistence on playing the license plate game while they waited, and a long line at baggage check-in combined had done absolutely nothing to tire Ash out or dampen his exuberant spirit. A new region with new friends, new Pokemon, and new adventures awaited him. He was the very picture of joyful excitement.

"I wonder if we'll see any new Dragon types there," Ash wondered aloud. It wasn't really anything particularly special about Dragon types that brought him to that question. He'd already wondered about Electric, Fire, Rock, Ghost, Water, Grass, Flying, Steel, Dark, Ice, Psychic, Bug, Poison, Ground, Fighting, and Normal types so it was about time.

"Pika pi!" Pikachu cheered from his shoulder.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be pleased," Professor Oak commented good-naturedly, adjusting his embarrassingly touristy visor. "You might even see some from the plane as we land."

"Really? Awesome!" Ash enthused.

"Oh dear," Ash's mother said, looking somewhat crestfallen as they reached the first security checkpoint. "Is this all really necessary?" she asked, as the many lines of weary travelers being scanned by Jennies wielding radar wands came into view.

"I'm afraid so," Professor Oak said with a serious nod. "With so many criminal organizations on the loose, it's imperative that they're tracked down before they can flee to another region. It would be a sorry state of affairs if Kanto let someone like Team Rocket ply their odious trade in Unova."

"I suppose," Delia responded, still slightly intimidated by the mass numbers of people and the sophisticated scanning equipment.

"Don't let it trouble you," Professor Oak said fondly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We've nothing to fear from these people. And they're running quite a few stations, so if we get in separate lines, we should be through in no time."

"Are you sure?" Delia asked, brow creasing slightly. "I think we should all stay together…"

"Mom, don't worry!" Ash exclaimed, knowing that her nervousness was directed more at him than at herself or the Professor. "I can take care of myself. I'll meet you guys in the food court after we get done."

"Sounds like a plan!" Professor Oak responded with a smile.

"Well… if you're sure," Delia said uncertainly, looking over her shoulder as Professor Oak led her away.

Ash stretched his arms out eagerly and got into line behind a sleepy-looking business man. He wasn't at all worried about the security routine. He knew they were profiling, but they were profiling young adults wearing ridiculous outfits that were part of 'Teams,' so he knew he had nothing to worry about. The Electabuzz Team Manager a few lines over was trying to explain to the officer searching him and his fellows that this rule should not apply to baseball teams. Their mascot wasn't helping matters.

He had to feel sorry for the jokers in the line next to him though. There were three of them, two tall, one almost comically short. They were wearing long black coats, matching hats, and big, black sunglasses in a look that practically screamed, 'This is inconspicuous, right? Right? I totally blend in. Yeah. Nothing says not-suspicious like long black coats and dark, identity-hiding glasses. We're on easy street, baby.' If Ash was any judge, they'd be selected for additional screening in a heartbeat.

As the line moved up, he turned his attention to the conveyor belt that sent carry-on items through the scanner. Following the lead of those around him, he took off his backpack and stuck it into one of the light brown plastic containers provided for that purpose, and added his hat to the pile. He then knelt down to unlace his shoes, wondering vaguely if he'd worn matching socks that day or not. He was pleased to find that he had—for once. There was a hole in the big toe, but… well, that didn't really matter, right? He set his shoes down in the container and was about to set it on the conveyer belt when a shout made him turn.

"WAIT!"

Ash looked around for the source of the sound, and suddenly saw a red-headed figure weaving her way through the crowd.

"Misty?" he said, as she came into view. "What are you doing here?"

She was clutching a stitch in her side and breathing heavily, but she still had enough energy to snap at him. "What do you mean what am I doing here? Were you even planning on telling me you were leaving?!"

"Sure," Ash said, completely unmoved by her outburst. "Professor Oak paid extra for wifi on the plane, so I was gonna video call you from the air. Isn't that cool? Fifty-thousand feet up and you can still make a video call!"

Misty was less-than-impressed with this technological feat. "So you weren't going to tell me until you'd already left?! You didn't even want to say good-bye?!"

Ash shifted uncomfortably in his socks. "Oh well… you know… no one likes good-byes."

"If you don't like good-byes so much then why are you always leaving?" Misty glared. She sprung back and sighed. "You just got back from Sinnoh a few weeks ago and I thought we were going to… you know… spend some time together. Make a day of it. Maybe go down to the pier and watch the sunset, take in an independent film at that cute little theatre they have there, and cap it off with dinner at a nice restaurant."

Ash blinked at her. "Why would you think that?" he asked simply.

Misty scowled at him, crossing her arms and entirely locking up her posture. "I thought you missed me as much as I missed you."

"Of course I did," Ash said in a placating voice. "But… I've got this opportunity to see a brand new place now and… well, don't you see it's okay this way?"

"Okay how?" Misty asked. She was calming down by margins and slightly annoyed by that fact. She wanted to be angry at that moment, not comforted.

"Well, you know," Ash said with a shrug. "People like you and me who have been through so much together and know each other so well… it's okay for us to be apart sometimes, because no matter how far away we are…" he struggled here. "It's like a part of us hasn't left, so we've never really parted at all." He made a determined fist. "That way you're with me always."

Misty took a step back. He just… what gave him the right to always think he could justify… and it just made her so mad that he'd always… well it was so…

Sweet.

Misty was forced to admit it. It was corny in the way Ash could be corny without realizing it. For someone with no concept of romance at all, he really did manage to be sweet. It was probably because whenever he cared about something, he cared about it 110%. And now…

Well, Misty'd raced to the airport to give him a piece of her mind about jetting off so quickly after being gone all that time, to try to get him to change his mind, and—if she was desperate enough—to run off with his shoes to keep him from leaving the region. But now she just… couldn't. She knew Ash couldn't resist the call of the new and adventurous and she knew it wasn't because she didn't matter to him. And for now… she was willing to let him satisfy his wanderlust. Though in a few years she'd start to worry if that was still the only kind of lust he had.

"Hey, why don't you come along?" Ash asked, bringing her out of her reverie.

If the 'with me always' bit hadn't caught her enough off guard, that question did it. "Umm…" she tried.

"I'm sure Professor Oak won't mind," Ash said, probably not having much concept of plane ticket price. "And then we can travel around together. It'll be just like the old days." He held out a hand to her. "Well… what do you say?"

Misty stared at the hand. It was tempting. Ridiculously tempting. She wanted to go with him more than anything, but…

"I… I can't," she said, hiding her own hand behind her back lest it get ideas about joining Ash all on its own. "I can't leave the gym without a leader and my sisters are all too busy with their modeling to handle it. And anyway," she added, sticking out her jaw slightly, "I like it there."

Ash withdrew his hand and, much to Misty's secret delight, looked a bit disappointed. "Well," he said, scratching at his unkempt hat-hair. "I guess there's no getting around it."

"I guess not," Misty said, with as much regret as determination.

They both stood there for awhile just staring, impeding the flow of lines and irritating several travelers who were already on edge about delays. After awhile, Misty let out a defeated sigh.

"At least call me when you get there," she said.

Ash smiled. "You got it!"

Misty put on a smile that didn't quite match his, but made the effort. "Well… good luck, I guess. I… really ought to be getting back to the gym. I ran off as soon as Tracey told me you were going and I didn't leave anyone in charge."

"Alright," Ash said brightly. "I'll talk to you once we land."

"Right," Misty said with a satisfied nod, as she turned to leave.

Ash went to set his carry-ons on the conveyer belt again when he was interrupted once more by her voice.

"Oh and Ash?" she said, causing him to turn to her. She gave him a soft, but this time genuine smile. "You're with me always too."