Ash sighed. He was lying down on the couch and hugging the pillow onto his abdomen when his dad walked past the living room. He was stuffed and he could barely move.

"I thought you were training. I was going to join you."

"I got tired."

Mr. Ketchum gave him a look. He walked over to him and he felt his shoe kick something on the ground. He looked down and saw some empty cheese packets. "It seems like mom was cooking here again."

"I ate those."

Dad looked up. "What?"

Ash bit his lip. "Nothing."

"Okay, time to clear some things up." His father sat facing him. "Why aren't you training?"

"I don't feel like it and it's not your problem!"

"Don't snap at me."

"You always snap at me and you never consider me!" Ash sat up. "You always say I'm a little girl and you make fun of anything I do! You don't care about my feelings!"

Mr. Ketchum remained silent for a moment. He said, "And you just proved I'm right."

Ash lay down again but he gave his back to his dad this time. "Leave me alone."

"You still are being this little girl," His dad said with a nod. "Look at you, you can't even look me in the eye and tell me what's really wrong."

"You'll make fun of me."

"Why would I?" Mr. Ketchum leaned back on the sofa.

"I just..."

"What happened this morning?"

"Huh?"

"If something happened, it happened this morning. This bad mood of yours started this morning."

Ash was a little surprised his dad actually noticed he was bothered. Usually he's too blinded by his harsh attitude and being blunt and he doesn't care about people's feelings.

"I guess..."

"Ash, you're seventeen. You'll soon be eighteen. You'll go to Naval Academy and what you will go through will be million times worse than a small issue with a woman."

Ash's mouth opened. "How did you-"

"Crystal clear. You come back from her place and you look like a ghost. Do you think I'm blind? I caught it. Mom caught it. Your grandmother saw you walking back home and called me to check on you minutes earlier. Even my old mom caught it."

He sighed. "I did something awful."

"Is it what I'm thinking about?"

"No, but..." Ash took a deep breath. "I tried to kiss Misty."

Mr. Ketchum blinked. He paused before saying, "Did you?"

"No. She looked mad-she slapped me."

Mr. Ketchum raised his eyebrows. "So, you tried to kiss her and she slapped you."

"Yeah."

"But you didn't kiss her."

Ash blinked. Something clicked in his mind.

"So, basically, you didn't really try. She didn't let you try."

"No. It's a little moment after... I tried to change the subject and I laughed at something stupid and she slapped me."

"She didn't slap you instantly after you tried to kiss her, is that so?"

Ash thought his father was really weird. What kind of questions was that? They weren't in the Navy military base investigating. "Uh, no. I reacted."

"So, she let you do that. She gave you the chance."

Ash blinked. "What do you mean?"

"How would I know? She's your favorite best friend. See what happens when you get a female best friend? First, you get soft and girly, and second, you fall for her!"

Ash made a face. "I'm not girly."

"Oh yeah? Who has gone shopping with Misty this week? Was it me? The next thing we know is you watching chick flicks with her and eating Nutella straight from the jar! You need more guy friends, Ashton."

Ash frowned. He actually did watch a chick flick and eat Nutella straight from the jar with Misty before, but she was on her period and her cramps were really bad. He wanted to help her feel better.

"You didn't question the second part about falling for her. Interesting." Mr. Ketchum patted the sofa handle with his hand.

Ash looked down slightly. He shrugged. "Things happened and..."

"Yeah, yeah."

"I always thought she's quite attractive, that's all." Ash thought he should keep the inappropriate scenes to himself.

"That's all?"

Ash shrugged.

"Uhm?"

"Well! Recently..."

Mr. Ketchum nodded to himself. He got up and patted Ash on the head. "Your mom thought she was having a girl when she was on her first month of pregnancy with you. Guess she wasn't wrong, after all."

"Dad!"

to be continued