This has Ash/Misty but also some mother-son moments. 

-

For Delia Ketchum, cooking was who she was. All her life as a wife and a mother, she rose at six in the morning, making the pancakes from scratch, cutting the freshly baked brownies into even slices, adding the exact amount of cinnamon to the coffee - just like how he husband likes it - and making her only son his favorite banana and strawberries milk juice. By ten in the morning, lunch was planned, the oven was heating, and the dough was resting in the fridge for the pie. 

Her husband passed away a little while after their only son Ash enrolled in university. Delia cooked and put in glass containers, wrapped and shipped the boxes over to her son. She was happier to find out that he's managed to find a job in the same city as hers and will be living near her. 

Ash dropped home every week, checking on his mom, having dinner with her, checking her bills, the washing machine, the door and window locks. She'd send him off with grocery bags full of her cooking stocked in containers, settled and wrapped carefully.

And they have been on this schedule ever since.

"Aren't you hungry?"

"I'm good." Thirty years old Ash Ketchum flashed a smile. He didn't look too comfortable, sitting on his chair.

"You didn't eat outside after you left office, did you?" In Delia's mind, eating outside was a crime worthy of big punishment.

"No." Ash was quick denying it. 

"Alright."

Feeling his phone vibrate inside his pocket, Ash took it out. He licked his lips upon seeing his fiancee's text:

Misty: Dinner is getting cold... stuck in traffic?

"I was thinking of painting the kitchen in yellow - not actually the bright yellow - the soup yellow color." Delia spoke as she settled the clean dishes carefully in the cupboard. "More like, a mustard color."

"Oh." Was all Ash managed to say. He slowly got up. "Uhm, okay then. Just tell me when."

"Where are you going?" Delia was alarmed when she noticed there was still food on Ash's plate.

"I-uh, I've got to go." Ash smiled sympathetically at his mom. "I didn't tell Misty I'm here, so..."

"Call her." Delia suggested.

"And I need to go home anyway - I've got this thing I need to finish - it's work, actually." 

"You didn't bring your laptop?"

"No." His laptop was in his car. He really hated when he lied to his mother.

"Well, at least finish your dinner." 

"Uh, sure." Ash sat back on his chair slowly, picking up his fork and flashing his mom the best smile he could afford.

* * * 

Misty Waterflower hated confrontation.

Having grown up with three older sisters, she learned to make peace, obey by the rules, take the shots, and not defend herself. She hated fights, and would do anything to stop them, even if she had to get the blame for something she never did.

But now, her patience was wearing thin.

"Did you eat already?"

"Huh? Yeah."

From her spot on their bed, Misty watched Ash change his clothes in front of the closet. Honestly, she already knew the answer to that question, since Ash got home with ten food containers stuffed in groceries bags; but she was hoping things were different this time.

"How's your mom?"

Something was different about Misty's voice. Ash caught it. "She's fine."

"That's good." Misty got off the bed. She fetched the makeup remover from her vanity desk to take off all this absurdity of her face. What was she thinking, wearing makeup and a dress for a homemade dinner that was never on schedule? Well, of course! She had to book her own fiance...

"So, I was thinking for tomor-..."

Ash stopped talking when he heard the slam of the bathroom's door.

* * *

"I woke up and she wasn't there. She slept on the couch."

Gary Oak was the expert when it comes to women. He knew how to get them wrapped around his fingers and how to keep them wrapped. That said, there was an exception called Misty Waterflower, who, instead of falling for him, fell in love with Ash, and was acting in this way he didn't understand.

"She slept on the couch because you went to see your mom?"

"That's not it." Ash sighed after he took a sip of his coffee. "Thing is... uh... I barely eat with Misty." Even his lunchboxes were sponsored by Delia since he didn't want to waste all the food he gets after each visit.

"So? That's less work for her. She won't have to cook." And everyone including Ash himself knew how bad he was at cooking.

Ash chuckled. "You don't know Misty. Cooking isn't work for her." That dinner yesterday looked really good and smelled incredible, but Ash wasn't hungry so he didn't touch it - and he knew Misty was upset because of that. Actually, his mother and his fiancee weren't different from each other...

"Are you kidding me? She's upset over this?" Gary narrowed his eyes.

"Even when we're eating together, we're not actually eating together." Ash shrugged. "She eats the food she makes and I eat the food mom makes, so we don't share."

"I can't believe this is actually a problem." 

"Thing is, I can't say no to mom's food." Ash explained. "Saying no to it is like saying no to her."

"Again, I still can't believe this is actually a problem."

"My fridge is full of my mom's containers, I tell you," Ash said. "They never end."

"Again, I don't see where the problem is!" Gary insisted. "She can't sleep on the couch because of this!"

Ash shrugged again. He understood where Misty was coming from. He noticed it the first time they went on a date together - which was actually a dinner back at her old apartment. After moving in together, he noticed how offering him food made Misty happy. It was exactly that happiness he'd see on his mother's face when she's offering him food.

"Fine. I get it. Your mom puts her soul into making food and Misty puts her heart into making food."

"That sums it up."

"And you can't afford to eat all that."

"Not emotionally nor physically." Ash laughed. 

"Yeah, it must be hard to be Ash Ketchum." Gary smirked. "All the food that's flooding - all the love. Two-timing must be a lot of work."

"Stop it, will you?" Ash rolled his eyes. "It's getting bad."

"Okay then." Gary sipped his coffee. "Maybe it's time your mom retired. How about this?"

Ash raised his eyebrows.

"You're marrying Misty in a couple of months. In this reverie world of passionate-cooking-love-Ash-feeding I can't relate to, maybe she thinks it's... her turn, you know? You're leading a separate life with Misty. Your mom cooked for you when you were under her wing. Now..."

"Her turn..."

"In Misty's head, you should be eating what she makes, not what your mom makes." Gary said. "If she's as passionate as you say, then she thinks it's her job - and she must take this job very seriously if she slept on the couch last night because you had dinner with your mom instead. That's extreme, man."

"She was dressed up last night." He told her she looked beautiful, but she didn't seem to care. 

"Dude, and you walk in and already had dinner..." Gary groaned. "No wonder she slept on the couch!"

"I thought you couldn't relate to this."

"I can't relate but it must suck to put so much effort on making a dinner and looking pretty only to be ignored."

"I didn't ignore her!"

"When was the last time you ate something she made?"

Ash blinked.

* * * 

"Got everything you need?"

Delia was checking the grocery bags on the kitchen table. She and Ash were gone this Saturday evening to buy what she needed around the house. It was easier with Ash who drove.

"I guess so." Delia smiled at her son. "Thank you, sweetie."

Ash smiled back. He fetched his keys from the table. "I should go home now. Misty is waiting for me."

"Oh. Why don't you stay for dinner?" Ash saw that coming. After all, she always asked him that.

"Actually, I can't." Ash was fearing this moment, but he had to do this. In his life, it was no longer he and just Delia. There was another woman in the picture, and she deserved her fair share. Ash had to grow up from this. Both he and his mother had to... grow up. He was no longer a college guy. 

Delia gave him a puzzled look.

"Misty is making dinner, so..." Ash rubbed his hands together. "She's waiting for me."

Delia seemed to let her guard down for a moment. Knowing her, she wasn't going to give up yet - but she also wasn't going to tell him not to have dinner with Misty and have it with her instead. Ash saw in her eyes that she was looking for a new tactic.

"Okay." Delia turned toward the fridge. "If that's what you want."

"I'm off, th-"

"No, wait."

Well, he knew she was up to something. His mom doesn't give up easily. She opened the fridge and started taking several food containers, putting them on the table. The more containers she put outside, the more Ash felt pressure. How is he going to say no to this? 

"Uh, mom?"

"There you go." She put everything in bags and tied them closed, as to make sure no containers were going to leave the bags in a way or another. 

"Mom."

Delia stopped when Ash put a hand over hers. He squeezed it, as if he was asking for compassion.

"Misty likes to cook too." Ash breathed in and out. "And I love what she makes. She's becoming my wife in a few months - isn't it right for the husband to be eating his wife's food? The food she put so much effort on making? This really means a lot to Misty."

Delia said nothing. She pulled her hand gently away from Ash's grip.

Ash regretted instantly every word he said. Is this how he treated the woman who took care of him since day zero? Cooking was what kept his mom breathing. It's what she did best and it's what she had to offer. She never asks for anything in return. She cares for him but wants nothing in return.

It was at the moment Ash was going to take back everything he said that Delia spoke,

"Alright."

He blinked.

"Makes sense." She untied the bags and started taking out the containers. "You know the saying? The way to a man's heart is through the stomach? Maybe it's true, after all. Misty must have done something right."

"I don't know what to say about that." Ash chuckled.

"Okay, then. I need to negotiate this." Delia looked her son in the eyes. "You could still take a few, right? Misty gets the main course, and I get the side dishes, or the entree. Both can cohabit on the same table. Doesn't she like what I make?"

"She's a big fan."

"Good for her. Pick a number of dishes. We can work this out." She looked like a woman ready for business. It made Ash smile.

"Uuuh, four dishes?"

"Five - the steamed shrimp is not actually a dish. It's like a snack. You can eat it on your way home. They're already peeled."

Ash laughed. "You've got a deal."

When Ash got home, he found a sixth container in the bags he tied closed himself. How come she stuffed it inside, he'll never know.

THE END 

Married life problems no one can relate to e.e 

At least I published something...

YO!