Hug

The moonlight shone through a window in the Cerulean City Gym. That light, along with a small lamp, were the only sources of illumination that lit the room. Sitting behind a wooden desk was a young girl, her red hair flowing down to her shoulder blades in small tangles, due to her rubbing her head many times. Her left hand was currently resting on her forehead, her right clutching a pencil, eyes glaring daggers at the piece of paper in front of her.

She continued to stare it for a few minutes, before she lifted her hand to rub her eyes, slightly shaking her head to make herself focus. She looked around the desk to see several other pieces of paper scattered here and there. She gritted her teeth, her eyes showing frustration. There were small bags under eyes, indicating the lack of sleep she was currently going through. She eyed the clock. 11:34. Misty sighed. Right now, she knew she was supposed to be asleep, getting some rest, but this paperwork for the Gym wasn’t going to fill itself out. She groaned heavily, lowering her head to the desk, almost slamming.

“Misty?”

She looked up to see Ash standing there. He, Brock, and Pikachu had come to visit her after the Hoenn league. After an afternoon of catching up, it had become too late for Ash to go to Pallet. So, Misty had agreed to let them spend the night at the Gym. He was wearing only a black T-shirt and some boxers. His jet black hair was tussled around in a messy fashion. If she weren’t so tired, Misty would’ve scolded him on coming in wearing only underwear.

“Yeah, Ash?” Misty asked tiredly.

“Why aren’t you asleep? It’s pretty late.” Ash told her.

“Well, I have to finish this stuff. I’ll go to bed in a little bit.” Misty promised.

“Are you sure? You look pretty tired.” He noted, seeing her ruffled hair and the bags under her eyes.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Just go to sleep, Ash. You need the rest more than I do.” She remembered how, earlier today, he was talking non-stop about the competition that was going to take place tomorrow. He was going to have to be at his best to win.

“Well, I’m just too excited to sleep.” Ash replied.

“I guess we both can’t go to sleep, huh?” Misty smiled at him.

“I guess so.” Ash looked through a few of the papers in a pile. “What’s so important about these papers, again?”

“Well, if I don’t fill them out, we could lose the Gym.” Misty replied, half sadly, half worryingly.

“Wow, sounds pretty important.” Ash whistled.

“It is, and that’s why I gotta do it.” Misty complained.

“Let’s just get some sleep, Misty.” Ash attempted to persuade her.

“Well…” Misty said, standing up and looking at the desk. “I don’t know.”

Ash looked at Misty with a serious expression on his face. He knew Misty was occasionally busy with her Gym work, but he didn’t know she stayed up because of it. She looked so tired, too. Slowly, he moved towards her…

“Ash, I will go to sleep, but after I finish…A-Ash?” She blushed. Ash had embraced her in a small hug, his arms wrapped firmly around her waist. After a few confused seconds, she wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder. They remained in that position for a minute or two, before moving away.

A small shade of pink was on Misty’s face. “Why did you do that, Ash?”

“I dunno. I just felt like you could use a hug. I mean, it seems like you work too much.” Ash told her.

Misty smiled at him. “Well, thanks, Ash. I feel better already.”

Ash grinned in return. “No problem. Come on. Let’s get some sleep.”

“Alright.” Misty finally agreed. They walked towards the doorway, but before leaving, Misty turned around and looked at the desk. She walked towards it, and turned off the lamp. Again, she faced the door to see Ash smiling at her. Copying him, she walked outside the room, closing the door.