Thundershock

Scripts

"Tracey Sketchit!" she called, giggling. "Stop flirting with my sister!"

"Hmm? I think you're confusing me with Brock!" he replied.

Ash groaned. "Trace, it's obvious. You like Daisy. Just admit it already!"

"I'm not admitting to anything!" he shot back.

"Sure," he responded sarcastically. "Be like Gary, then."

"Nah, why would I want to be anything like Oak? All he does is rave about Leaf all day!"

"What?" Gary spluttered. "I do not!"

Misty sniggered. "And how many sketches of my sister are in that book of yours, Tracey?"

He stuck his head out from underneath the table, frowning. "You're not getting my sketchbook, Mistykins!"

"No, really?" Ash drawled. "Let's see what happens when I do this !"

He yanked the item in question from Tracey's grasp, dangling it teasingly in front of the older boy's face with a fistful of Aura. Tracey tried to snatch it back, but failed as the sketchbook floated towards Ash, who caught it neatly with a smirk.

May gasped. "How the heck do you have so much control Ash?" she blurted, staring at him.

"Practice." he replied, with a shrug. "That, and my anchor's presence. But mainly practice."

Misty hummed knowingly. "Okay, while everyone else is busy working on the script, Ash, we get to look through Tracey's sketchbook. And you're counting."

He just nodded and they got to work. Sitting next to each other, being near each other felt so right, so normal they didn't even blink when he drew her closer to him, combing the knots out of her hair with his fingers. They were in their own world.

Loud, aggravated discussion broke out at the table, and Lily slammed her hand down on the surface, causing everyone to jump and shaking Ash and Misty out of their revere. Misty blinked away the fogginess, and glanced over.

Gary shook his head. "No, no, no. If we're doing this as a sequel, we gotta do this properly! You can't just have the typical 'damsel in distress' archetype! It just doesn't work!"

Violet scowled. "Look, I don't care what you think. I'm the script writer. What I say goes. Especially in regards to the mermaid's personality."

He raked a hand through his hair in frustration. "Violet please. It's a collaboration!"

"Everybody, stop."

Ash's voice cut through the argument, and they all turned to look at him. He didn't look up, just kept his gaze down, on the page in front of him. Misty bit her lip nervously.

"Gary is right. Now, hold up, Violet," he paused, frowning. "before you try to shoot me down, hear me out."

Her sister opened her mouth in stunned surprise. "How did you-"

He smiled. "Know? Aura. But yes, Gary is right on both accounts. It is a collaboration, and no, the 'damsel in distress' doesn't work. That's not Misty."

"Oh?" Lily asked sarcastically. "What is, Ketchum, since you know my little sister so well?"

"Misty is what she is, quite simply. She's capable of messing with your head - Arceus knows she messed with mine - and formidable. The kind of siren who'd lead you to your doom."

Brock whistled. "That's rather ... profound."

"Siren?" Violet queried.

"A mythical being similar to a mermaid, but a lot more deadly. They used their voices to lure sailors to their death on reefs and rocks. Said to be very beautiful." Gary supplied.

Lily snorted. "I think someone hit his head too hard, like, totally. He's not making sense."

"Actually, " Tracey mused, "He is."

"What?"

"Think about it. Who knows Misty better than Ash? Even you, as her sister, don't know half the things he does. They traveled in each other's company for three years. Fought for most of those years, too."

Misty sighed. "Look, can we get back to the script, already? Please?"

"I think we've been off topic long enough," Brock added. "Back to work, people."

"'Because he was the guardian of her heart; he always had been and always would be. No matter how much they argued, no matter how long they were apart. They were each other's sense of home and they were complete.'"

Her whispered words coaxed smiles from the people around her and they all jumped back into script-writing with renewed vigor. Tracey went and grabbed his guitar from his truck so he could go over the song with Ash, picking chords and a melody to match the lyrics.

And there was never a day more full of laughter and a sense of 'family' than that one.

Happy New Year everyone! The song Ash and Misty sang in this chapter belongs to me, so I'd appreciate if you didn't steal it. I don't actually have a melody for the lyrics, but considering the song I was listening to at the time, it'd be written with a 2/4 time signature. Oh, and in case you're wondering, the title is 'Ask Me If It's True'.