Left Behind

Ash's Trials

Author's Note: Whoops! I was so busy today that I almost forgot to publish this.

Ash's Trials

A FEW minutes after lunch concluded Misty eyed up a milk bottle toss booth. Ash could see that her cerulean eyes had lit up upon seeing the available prizes. From small Pokémon dolls to very large plushies that one could probably sleep on.

Both bought a round of balls. Misty went first (because ladies first as Ash's Mom always taught him) and she tried but her throws only got one stack.

"Ooh, that's one of the smaller prizes, miss," said the condescending employee.

"Well, I'll pick that one," said Misty through gritted teeth. She held a very small Poliwag doll in her arms. Now Ash was used to Misty getting giddy over any water-type product she could get, but when he saw how melancholic her lips and eyes were when she took the doll he could tell otherwise.

Eying the prize board, he could see a large Togepi plushie amongst several other cute Pokémon likenesses. Despite how obviously happy she was with Azurill, he still remembered how sad she was when Misty said goodbye to Togetic. Perhaps...

He walked up to the front and checked the softball's weight and did a faux practice swing. "Oh ho!" called the worker. "We have a bit of a ball throwing expert, huh?"

More than you know, thought Ash. With a hard swing Ash pitched the ball and knocked over the first stack much to the carnival worker's shock. With cheers from Pikachu, Ash knocked down the other two stacks with ease.

"Uh- we...WE HAVE A WINNER! Take a pick, son!"

Ash grinned both in and outwardly. He thought how happy Misty would be with a Togepi plushie, a nice reminder of one of her old friends-

Wait. As good as the idea sounded, Ash suddenly remembered that this reminder was of the past, a painful past. Togetic had left for a noble reason and Misty had accepted that and knew it was for many others' best interests. Given his still raw feelings about things – well, people – from his own timeline making uncomfortable reappearances and judgements on his life, giving her that plushie could be interpreted as tactless and needlessly bringing up her past.

"I'll take that...Tentacool plushie," he said suddenly. He accepted it along with the man's compliments. After taking a few steps away from the booth Ash turned on his heel and held the plush to Misty. "Here, I want you to have it."

"Wha? F-for me?"

"Yeah," said Ash with nod, "I won it for you."

"Aw, thanks, Ash." She held the plushie along with the smaller doll and hugged it. "So soft... I love Tentacools – never owned a plushie of one. This'll go great with my collection."

"Collection, ey?" Ash chuckled. "I'd like to see it one of these days. I imagine it's a sea of water-types." Pikachu hummed in agreement.

"Mm...we'll see about that someday," she smiled.

"Well, I'm just happy that you like it. Looked like you really wanted one and I wasn't about to let that guy talk down to either of us, especially when he laughed at ya for your throw. That was uncalled for. Bet he didn't see me coming," he went on proudly, "I was once the best pitcher on my school's baseball team – I know fine well what I'm doin'. That'll show him."

"The embarrassment you gave him with your throws was awesome! That was really well done back there. Although...Ash, were you planning on getting me the Togepi plushie?"

He nervously scratched his cheek. "Oh, you could tell?" Misty raised an eyebrow and he wisely looked down. "Er – yeah – I almost did but it struck me as a bad idea."