Welcome!

Author Notes:

This is one of my few fics that focus on canon characters instead of OCs. It is complete.

Some ships that will be featured:

RocketShipping

PalletShipping

PokeShipping

ContestShipping

WishfulShipping

GeekChicShipping

VolcanicAshShipping

sorry, no Firstfriendshipping-I wrote this way before Gou was introduced and now (May 2020) I am just checking in do some additional edits.

Age Headcanons:

Bonnie is nine.

Max is eleven.

May is fourteen.

Drew, Dawn, Iris, and Serena, are fifteen.

Ash, Clemont, Gary, Sophocles, and Lillie are sixteen.

Misty, Tracey, Lana, and Mallow are seventeen.

Brock, Kiawe, and Cilan are eighteen.

Travel Headcanons:

Ash's order of travel is first Kanto, then Orange Archipelago, then Alola (which is why he appears so young in that anime), Johto, Hoenn, back to Kanto with May and Max, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, back to Kanto briefly, Orre, back to Alola briefly, and now he is back in Kanto. He spends somewhere between three months to nine months at each location, placing him at about age sixteen for this story.

Other:

I talk about pheromones in this fic, so if you don't know what they are, here is the basic definition from: "A chemical secreted by an animal that influences the behavior or physiology of others of the same species, as by attracting members of the opposite sex." 'Animals' include humans and for my purposes, Pokémon, and that it doesn't have to be 'the opposite sex'. For example, humans who are gay and bisexual have been proven to be affected by the pheromones of a member of the same gender. *throwing this out for potential relevance*

Orre – Orre is a location not mentioned in the anime (as far as I know) but is a part of the game-verse.

This fic was co-authored with Chipotlepeppers. Thank you, Chipotlepeppers for your ideas and insights, and for letting me post this on my account.

Thanks for clicking and I hope you enjoy:)

Holiday parties among Ash Ketchum's friend group had become common ever since his sixteenth birthday blowout. Now, several months after than spring event, Delia decided to host Ash's first-ever Valentine's Day party.

Only he wanted nothing to do with it.

"It's lame," Ash told her. "Embarrassing…mom, we aren't ten anymore!"

"Pikachu pika," Pikachu chanted in agreement.

"Don't be like that. I've already talked to Dawn, May, and Misty. They think it's a lovely idea," said Delia.

"Mommm…" he groaned.

Someone knocked on their door. Ash used that as an excuse to leave his mother and the conversation. But the fun continued.

"Sup Ashy-boy," Gary said as he gave Ash an unwelcomed noogy.

"Don't touch me," Ash grumbled as he wiggled from Gary's grip.

"Why are you in such a bad mood?" Gary asked as he sat down at the Ketchum's kitchen counter.

"Why are you acting like you live here?"

"Gary's been helping me around the Pallet House," Delia explained. "So, he and I have been hanging out more."

"Why?"

"Because my grandpa's trying to get me some assistants for when I take over, and he wants to train them, so he doesn't need me around as much," said Gary.

Gary rested his feet on a stool and filed his nails. Ash fumed at his arrogance and nonchalant responses.

"I heard you're hosting a little lovey-dovey get-together," Gary continued. "Cute. Got a hot date?"

"I'm not hosting anything," Ash asserted.

"You finally have a group of friends. Keeping up appearances is important for a young Pokémon Master," Delia said in this infantilizing tone that Ash despises. "I already talked to Gary about it; he thinks it's a good idea. He's already offered to help."

"Wha…?"

"Don't worry, Ashley, I am not replacing you as my son," Delia told him, still using her cutesy-tone.

"I don't care about that, what I care about is—"

"Pokémon," Gary and Delia sighed together.

"Duh. My friends wouldn't be interested anyway; we all live far apart from one another and we only meet up all together for important stuff, like—"

"Pokémon competitions."

"This is weird…"

"I'll get you a date," said Gary. "There's that Clemont kid…and Kiawe. I know you like Kiawe."

"I'm going for a walk," Ash said as he grabbed his knapsack. "You…never mind. Bye."

XO

"Interestin stuff," Meowth said as he lowered his binoculars and pushed his earpiece aside.

"All the twerps in one place…but the whole 'us versus all of them together' setup never seems to work in our favor," said James.

"All that is in the past so it no longer matters," Jessie said as she walked towards the back of their hideout.

She looked out the window and watched as Ash and Pikachu joined Bulbasaur, Pidgeotto, and Muk in the Ketchum's front yard. She huffed and crossed her arms.

"Maybe we shouldn't turn this opportunity into just another Pokémon-stealing scheme," Jessie mused.

"What? Yous nuts?" Meowth quizzed.

"What other scheme can we make it?" James asked.

"Let me explain," said Jessie. "The ultimate day of cheesy love is approaching…what if we lure Pikachu and the twerps into traps of a different breed?"

"I don't know what you are talking about; you're gonna have to spell it out."

"But not literally cuz I hates spellin," Meowth piped.

"I'm still thinking. I'll let you know when I'm there," Jessie replied.

"Yere gonna do some thinkin'? Uh-oh."

"Jessie's plan will be great," James said as he nudged the scratch-cat Pokémon.

"Yes, great it shall be," she confirmed.

XO

"You can count me in," Misty said as she tossed baitfish to her Dewgong and Seel.

"I am so happy. Ash really likes you…but you knew that already," Delia replied.

"Well, he is my best friend. I have to like him a little bit," Misty laughed into her phone.

"We'll meet up tomorrow then. Thank you, Misty," Delia said before hanging up.

"It's never a problem, Mrs. Ketchum. Talk to ya later!"

Misty sighed as she tossed her phone onto the nearest chair. She looked around the gym, hoping to see one of her sisters coming to help her finish up all the work, but no one was in sight. She called Tracey.

"Daisy, Violet, and Lily ditched me again," she said flatly. "Would you mind helping me close up?"

"I don't ever mind! I'll ask Professor Oak to borrow an Abra for teleporting," Tracey responded.

"You're the best."

"It's no trouble. See you in a few."

Tracey was at her door within minutes. As usual, he wore his pool-ready wardrobe in case Misty asked him to clean the drain again, and the smile was there despite this being a huge inconvenience for him. Misty handed him a list.

"Clean the drain…saw that coming," he laughed. "Scrub the Dewgong and Seel trough, sweep the upper catwalk, vacuum the office, and refill the Pidgey-feeder out back. Not so bad. What else is there?"

"I still have to feed the Sharpedo and Carvanha, put new oil into the buggy, change the filter of the main pool, and get rid of the gum that some stupid kid stuck at the bottom of my arena," she answered.

"It's amazing how you manage to run this place as well as you do."

"I try."

As they both got through their list of chores, Misty thought about Delia's idea. A reunion ball held at the Pallet House Motel and Restaurant. Delia has been wanting that place to bring in more customers for a while, and this was an effective way to do so. She knew Tracey would be invited, and obviously Ash would be present—whether he wanted to be or not—and that meant she had an important decision to make:

"Goldduck, should I be safe and moral and ask Tracey or hurt Tracey's feelings and take a risk asking Ash?" she asked her Pokémon.

"Gol gol~," Goldduck mumbled.

"I like them both, but the idea of Ash going with someone other than me is unsettling. And since most of his friends are female…"

"Gol duck duck."

"True, he could be gay. He sure likes Kiawe…"

"Goldduck Goldduck."

"Either way, he's got far more options than I do, or than Tracey does. I'll ask Ash what he thinks of the idea…then go from there."

"Goldduck."

Notes (then none for several more chapters):

Pallet House – the restaurant/motel that Delia owns and operates. It is across the street from Ash's house.

Kiawe- I know that probably most readers haven't watched the Sun and Moon anime, but after watching three episodes I became a big VolcanicAshShipper and I invite you to join me.

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please review if you can.