Fair

[In which Ash finally returns to Pallet Town and meets his old friends. One in particular is shocked by how much he's changed.

"It's not fair!"]

Ash was finally returning home. His mother was beyond ecstatic and decided to throw a celebratory party for the young man. Everyone in Pallet Town was excited to see their local hero, who had once and for all won a championship and was finally declared Pokémon Master. All those years of hard work and constant battles had finally paid off and Ash could proudly say he had finally achieved his dream. As he walked the familiar road that led to his home, he began thinking of how this journey not only helped him realize his dream, it also allowed him to meet great friends along the way. Brock and Misty being the ones he was most fond of, as they were the first to join him in his journey –after Pikachu of course. It had been a long and arduous journey full of wins and losses, but more than anything else, for growth.

He was far from the immature ten year old that was a perfect mix of stubborn and proud. Now he was eighteen, and he liked to believe he was much more mature (at times), and more considerate of others. He wondered how his friends had changed over the years. How were Gary and Tracey doing with Dr. Oak? What about Brock, how was his dream of becoming a Pokémon doctor going? (There was still this nagging feeling that maybe, just maybe, Brock wanted to be a poke-doctor to be close to a nurse Joy, but he didn't doubt the good intentions of his friend.) What about Misty? He had heard great things of her as a gym leader, one of the most recognized ones in the Kanto League. How was she doing? Was she still as obsessed with her water Pokémon as ever? Had she changed? Had she...had she waited for him?

So many questions plagued him, and he could barely contain the excitement that invaded him as he saw his home in the distance.

"Ready Pikachu?"

"Pika!" the yellow rodent squealed in return.

They sprinted their way towards their home with a determined gaze and big grin. Ash practically slammed the door open.

"I'm home!" he shouted to the ill lit room.

"Surprise!" his friends and mother shouted in response as they flickered on the lights and jumped from different places of the house.

Ash did a quick scan of his Kanto Family and for each friend he saw his grin grew wider, until he realized that a certain orange-haired girl was missing.

Brock and Delia quickly took notice of the quick change in demeanor of the young man and shared knowing smiles. "Oh darling, I'm so glad you're home," she quickly hugged her son for all that he was worth. Even though she saw him once or twice a year and called constantly it was different than having him home for good.

"It's good to see you again buddy," Brock said as he enveloped the young man in a quick hug after his mom.

"Good to see you too Brock," the dark haired Pokémon Master said as he took notice of what Brock was wearing, "You're wearing a lab coat?"

Brock looked down and took notice, "Uh, yeah, I'm actually interning at one of the Poke-Centers in Pewter City,"

Ash gave his friend a thumbs up in approval. Gary and Tracey also came to see him and asked about the Pokémon he had seen in other regions, their keen interest as researchers took over. Ash went on and talked to them about the different Pokémon he had seen and captured, but his eyes would continuously look at the door to see if by some miracle, his very first friend would walk in. He only then realized, that he really wanted to see her. With every new female companion he was reminded of his great friend Misty. It was love-hate relationship to put it mildly, with their constant bickering, but it was great and Misty always kept him in check and encouraged him to pursue his dreams no matter what.

"Dear, I'm sorry to interrupt, but could you go and buy more plates for our guests," she placed a hand on her cheek in dismay, how could she have forgotten?

"Yes mom, no problem," he excused himself from his friends and sprinted towards the door. As soon as he closed it behind him, he bumped into a soft body making both of them fall to the ground. "Sorry,"

"I wasn't paying attention so..." her words died as she saw her long time best friend, "Ash!"

Ash looked up quickly, he would recognize that voice anywhere. "Misty! You're here!"

"Well of course I am, I wouldn't miss this for the world!" she said fondly.

Ash got up quickly and offered a hand to Misty, he was beaming at her. It had been 5 years since the last time he saw here and while they occasionally called or texted each other it was nothing compared to seeing her in person. He noticed how much she had changed in these last years, for one her hair was longer, akin to the length she had during her mermaid presentations. Her face had softened up, quite feminine he would say. Which was odd because the words feminine and Misty were estranged to one another as far as he remembered. As he helped her up he also took notice that she was wearing a pale yellow dress, another thing he wasn't used to with Misty. Since when did she start wearing dresses? She was always one of the guys, not really a girl...just Misty. Ash wouldn't consider himself a superficial guy, but he wasn't completely oblivious to women's charms, and if he was honest...well...it seemed that the tomboyish girl he knew, was quite...charming. Her big viridian eyes, her soft, now slightly sun kissed, skin, and the most beautiful smile he's ever seen before. Those pictures that mom sent him didn't do her justice.

Wow, she definitely had changed.

"Kyah!" She screeched as they both stood a foot away from each other. "How is it possible," she muttered.

Ash began to get alarmed, "What? What's happening?"

She leaned in closer to him, now just mere inches from him. She slowly tiptoed her way up, and if Ash didn't know any better he would think she was going to kiss him. The thought made him blush. "It's just Misty…" Since when did she stop being just Misty and turned into an actual girl he wondered. Not that he hadn't noticed her before. Even since they were kids he knew that Misty could be pretty. She already had the prettiest eyes out of all of the Sensational Sisters (or any other person he's ever met). Now, she was interestingly, probably, not quite, but maybe, the prettiest girl he's ever seen. As these thoughts kept swirling around his head, he began to think that maybe kissing Misty wouldn't be so bad. The thought was almost appealing.

"Why are you taller!?" she exclaimed as she jumped back in dismay, "It's not fair!"

Oh, so that's what was bothering her. A drop of sweat dripped from his forehead and he couldn't help but chuckle, "It's called a growth spurt Mist," as she retreated he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"Jeez, no kidding Ash," She said with a smirk, "I'm still smarter," she said with a cute pout and they both shared a laugh. "I'm happy to see you Mr. Pokémon Master," she said after a comfortable silence. She was so proud of him and never doubted he would achieve his dream.

Ash nodded, "Me too Mist. Me too," without a second thought he took her hand and dragged her away from the house, "come with me, mom needs me to buy some stuff for the party,"

Misty slightly froze, but tried to maintain her composure. Ash still made her heart skip a beat, dumb Pokémon Master, how dare he? "Uhm, uh, sure," she ended up saying.

"Great! Now you can tell me all about being a Gym Leader, how do you like it?" he began as they walked a familiar road towards a Poke-Mart.

It didn't go unnoticed by the orange-haired girl that he still held her hand, and she honestly didn't find it in her heart to pull away. Why would she? "It's pretty neat, you meet a lot of great people. Many stubborn kids remind me of you,"

Ash nodded sagely, "Great kids I'm sure,"

"Dork,"

Their journey towards the Poke-Mart was spent with light hearted banter and two good friends catching up.

Who knows, maybe one day they could be more.

"What'cha looking at Mrs. Ketchum," Brock asked as he walked towards the woman who was looking outside the window, with a big bag of disposable plates on one hand.

"Me?" She asked innocently, "I'm looking at the future,"

"Ah," Brock also saw outside and noticed the exchange between his two best friends. Now he only hoped they weren't as hard headed as they were when they were kids. "The future," he repeated intrigued as he observed the Gym Leader and Pokémon Master look at one another with a particular glint, " I can see it too," he whispered.

"Who do you think will make the first move?" Delia asked.

That really got Brock thinking, sure Ash was impulsive, but he was as dense as a geodude when it came to women. Then again Misty wasn't much better, she lived in Denial Land more often than not. "That's hard to say, but if I really, really, really, had to choose, I want to say Misty," Yeah, his money was on the fiery water-type gym leader.

Delia thought about it for a moment and remembered how she saw her son blush and take the girl's hand, "Well Brock, I think you're in for a surprise," she said enigmatically.

The END