Portal Series

Chapter 10: This Feeling...Shall We Call it Love?

The next day was lovely, and school had just ended for me. I hurried towards my house, and ran inside. Today was the day that I was going to go to Ash's house! I squealed with joy, and ran up to my bedroom to pick an outfit to wear. I browsed through several, but none of them seemed to interest me, so I called Christine. "Walter residence, this is Christine speaking." She answered through the phone. "Hi, Christine! You have a dress I could borrow? I'm going to a certain guy's house today." I responded. "Is this 'guy' Ash?" She asked. I was surprised that she knew I was talking about. "Yeah, how did you know?" I asked. "I have my ways of knowing things. Open your window. I'll toss the dress to you. Good luck!" Before I could say anything else, she hung up on me. I opened my window, and she tossed the dress to me. We waved to each other, and then closed our windows. I looked at the dress. It was a beautiful pink dress with satin bows, and laces on the back. On the front, it had a Pikachu on it. It was so adorable! I quickly tried it on. It was a perfect fit! Excited, I headed down the stairs, left my mom a note, and ran towards the Portal. Inside, I noticed that the Mayor wasn't there, but I paid no mind to his absence, and hurried towards Ash's house. 

 When I got there, I knocked on the door. There was no answer, so I knocked again. No response. I finally rang the doorbell. Mrs. Ketchum answered the door. "Hello dearie! I'm Mrs. Ketchum, Ash's mother. You must be Peachy!" She exclaimed. "Yes, that's me. I'm Peachy." I replied. She smiled, and motioned for me to come in. I stepped inside, and analyzed the appearance of the house carefully. It had wooden floors and cream-colored walls. There were shelves spread about here and there with books aplenty, hinting that the mother was fond of reading. I noticed some pictures on the wall of Ash as a boy with his mom, then I realized that there were no pictures of his father. "Excuse me, Mrs. Ketchum, but where is Ash's father in any of these pictures?" I questioned. "Ah, you see, Ash's father is on a long Pokémon journey. He's been gone for months now, and we hardly receive any letters from him. Guess the post office isn't mailing letters at the moment." She responded. "Sit down, I'll make you some tea." I sat down on the sofa, while she was brewing a fresh pot of tea. I noticed an old photo album, and picked it up. It was full of photos of little Ash and his mom. "Aww, he's so cute!" I gushed. A few minutes later, Mrs. Ketchum brought 2 cups of tea and set them on the table. "One for you, and one for me." She responded, pointing to each of the teacups. She picked up her teacup and sipped her tea thoughtfully. "I see you found the photo album. Let me show you a picture of my little one in the tub." She chuckled. She flipped through the pages until she found a picture of a little boy swimming in the bathtub. "There he is!" She exclaimed, while pointing to the little boy. "My little boy swimming all by himself." I giggled. Ash was so cute! Mrs. Ketchum was about to show me another picture of Ash, when someone came down the stairs. "Hey, Mom. Who's the guest?" The voice asked. It was Ash. I looked at him, and stated, "Hey there! Sorry if I came in too early." Ash looked at me in amazement. "Oh, no. You're fine. Welcome to my house, Peachy. .... You look beautiful." He blushed. Ash was wearing a formal black dress shirt with black pants and black shoes. To be honest, his attire reminded me of James Bond. "Thank you. It's a pleasure to be at your house." I replied, blushing. Mrs Ketchum looked towards her son. "Hi, sweetie! I was just showing Peachy some of your baby pictures. I hope you don't mind." She told him. "MOM! You showed her my baby pictures!? Including the one with me in the bathtub!? To our guest!?" Ash exclaimed, his face red with embarrassment. "It's okay. I really didn't mind looking at them." I reassured him. Mrs. Ketchum chuckled. "Ash, why don't you show Peachy your room?" She suggested. "I'll be down in the kitchen washing dishes. Let me know if you need anything." "Okay mom, I will." Ash responded. He grabbed my hand and led me up to his room. 

His room was filled with Pokémon knickknacks aplenty. His outfits were neatly stored in a drawer, and his badges were neatly placed in their appropriate cases. He sat on the edge of his bed, and motioned for me to come sit next to him, so I did. I looked at him, and noticed 2 yellow ears popping out of his shirt. "It's all right, Pikachu. You can come out now." Ash stated. Suddenly, a large yellow mouse jumped out of his shirt. He stroked it affectionately. "This is Pikachu, my best pal. We've been together for years now!" He exclaimed. I looked at Pikachu, and began stroking it. Pikachu squealed with joy, I guess it was quite fond of me. "He seems to like you." Ash stated. "He? Pikachu is a boy?" I asked. "Yeah. Pikachu is a male." Ash responded. "You have any Pokémon with you?" "Let's see..." I told him. I pondered for a moment, then shuffled through my bag, until I found one of my Pokémon from Pokémon black and white, A Micchino named Cuddles. "Cuddles, come on out!" I screamed, as a cute, grey Chinchilla came out of the pokeball. "Chino!" squealed Cuddles, as she showered me with kisses. "This is Cuddles, my female Micchino. We've been friends for a while as well." I stated. Ash looked at Cuddles, and stroked her affectionately. Her face lit up with joy! Ash introduced Cuddles to Pikachu, and they really seemed to like each other! Ash and I giggled.

 After we chatted for a bit, he left the room for a minute, then came back dressed in a tank and shorts. I blushed crimson. He gave me a confused look, and asked, "Is something wrong?" "N-no... Everything's fine." I stuttered. He looked closely at my face, and inquired, "Do you think I'm hot?" Upon hearing these words, my face turned bright red! "Nope, not really." I replied, trying to hide my red face. He smirked. "You DO think I'm hot, you just don't want to admit it." He sneered. "I DO not think you're hot!" I exclaimed, blushing angrily. "I just find you really gorgeous, cute, and hot at the same time!" I blushed in embarrassment, for I realized what I had just blurted out. Ash sat next to me on the bed and smiled. "So you DO like me!" He exclaimed. "Yeah, it's kind of hard for me to express my feelings." I responded. He chuckled, and remarked, "I hate to break it to you, but you were pretty obvious." I frowned. Ash put his hand on my shoulder, and stated consolingly, "It's okay, there's nothing wrong with telling me your feelings... Actually, I have a crush on you as well." I stared at the red-faced Ash for a few moments. "Really?" I asked. "Yeah, I felt like I didn't have the courage to tell you until now." Ash responded. "It was very brave of you to tell me your feelings." I stated. "Thanks..." he sighed, his voice trailing off. "You know, you've shown me just how powerful you can be, Peachy, and I like powerful girls. So, I have a question for you." "Yes, what is it?" I asked, blushing. 

"WILL YOU BE MY GIRLFRIEND?!" Ash shouted, his face red with embarrassment. I thought I was about to faint. Cuddles and Pikachu were shocked as well. Before I could reply, he pulled me into a sweet kiss. I was very surprised at first, but then I let myself sink into the kiss, and slowly started kissing him back. "Yes, I will be your girlfriend..." I muttered, while kissing him. Pikachu and cuddles watched as we playfully started kissing each other for a few moments, and then slowly pulled away. "Mmm... You're sweet..." I moaned. "So are you." Ash stated, smiling and blushing. "Wanna start dating?" "Sure, Ashy!" I gushed. "But what about our parents and everyone else?" Ash smacked his forehead. "Oh, right. That little detail." He groaned. I could see frustration in his face, and embraced him in my arms. "Don't worry, we'll figure it out eventually!" I exclaimed. "Right now, I wanna spend time with you!" He smiled, stating, "I love you, Peachy. Never change." "I love you too!" I exclaimed with joy. As I said these words, he tackled me and showered me with kisses.