All in a Day's Work

A/N: Prequel to "The Best Nightmare", though it can be read as a standalone. I took the liberties to adjust Flygon's moveset slightly, to keep up with the new generations. Uh and, in my imagination, May has an Altaria (that may or may not be the same Swablu she saved in AG). Hope y'all don't mind.

This is set roughly 12 years after Battle Frontier ended, and a year before "The Best Nightmare".

Disclaimer: The author does not own Pokémon, and fully respects the works and ingenuity of Satoshi Tajiri, Ken Sugimori and Junichi Masuda.

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"Okay guys, I need your help."

Ash Ketchum, Paul Shinji, and Gary Oak were currently in Drew Hayden's apartment at Mauville Hills. Sitting on the living room's floor, they were surrounded with pizza, soda, various snacks and a few of their pokémon. It's been a while since all of them gathered, as now that they are adults, they are all very busy with their respective jobs. Their meetups usually included their girlfriends, but for some reason, Drew insisted on excluding them for this one.

"What help do you need?" Ash asked, munching on some chips. Pikachu, who sat next to him, was enjoying a bottle of ketchup.

Gary laughed as he took another slice of pizza. "Did you fight with May? Or did she get angry with you for forgetting your anniversary?"

"Please, I'm not like you. I won't forget special events!" Drew told him with a scoff. "How you managed to do so and still patched up with Leaf, it's a miracle."

"Touché," Gary replied, and took a big bite of the pizza. "I was just asking."

Paul, ever the more serious one of the four, asked, "So, what do you need help with?"

"Right, back to why I gathered all of you here." Drew nodded. "I need you guys to assist me in my proposal to May."

"..."

There was a moment of silence. Then...

"WHAT!? Cough, oh I'm- I'm ch-choking on the chips, water!"

"Wow, Drew, I never expected you to be the first one among us to propose or get married! Say, isn't that a little early? Both of you are still young." Gary commented.

Gary certainly brought up a good point, but Drew was certain of what he was planning to do. "We are both 22 years old, more or less done with our travels, and settled into our new work schedule - me as a coordinating judge and her as a contest emcee. I thought it'd be nice to start a new chapter in our lives together. As a family."

Gary's eyes shifted awkwardly. "When you put it that way, you're making me feel kinda guilty. When to propose didn't really cross my mind till now."

"You should," Drew took a gulp of water before continuing, "You and Leaf are together for even longer than May and I. But then again, who am I to comment on other people's relationships?"

"Hah, I'm actually better than you for this, Gary! Misty and I actually talked about it before and we decided to focus on our work first!"

"No, that's not actually better." The auburn-haired man retorted. "Face it, Ashy-boy, Misty's more than settled into being a Cerulean gym leader. She's been doing it for 10 years! She's just waiting for you, like she always is!"

"I- I-...! Well, Leaf's probably waiting for you too! And--"

"Together, huh..." Paul muttered, with a faraway look in his eyes, unknowingly breaking up the almost-squabble between Gary and Ash. Then he blinked, and snapped back into focus. "...That's great. So what exactly do you need help with?"