An Outside Encounter

 

When Ash woke up, having not really remembered getting to bed or falling asleep (she’d been dead tired after that night), she had the sense that it wasn’t really morning anymore. In fact, as she drifted into the kitchen, where most of the women were, she realized it was practically brunch time.

 

“About time you woke up,” Rue grinned, handing her a cup of tea. She gestured at Meghan. “Tea, not coffee, according to this one.”

 

Meghan grinned wildly. “My brother has such a huge crush on you and knows everything about you that he could from your Trainer Profile.”

 

Ash sat down at the island counter dazedly, accepting the tea. “Does he? Wait, Trainer Profile?”

 

“Mmhm,” Meghan nodded. “You didn’t know you had one?”

 

Ash blinked. “No, I didn’t.”

 

One of the other women, a pretty blonde with green eyes named Harley, gave her an inquisitive look. “Why not?”

 

Ash shrugged. “I’m not…the most attentive to schematics trainer? All I focused on was going after badges and heading to the tournaments, and then heading to a new region when I heard of that. I was pretty one-tracked when I was younger, and still a bit now.”

 

Rue chuckled. “I’m not a trainer –more of a lawyer actually –but I’ve got family who’s completely into pokémon and know a lot. Supposedly, you get a temporary Trainer Profile once you register for a league, then after you compete, it’s discarded after a month unless you register for the next one or another league. Depending on how many times you register for a league or how many leagues you enter into it, it becomes permanent. Considering you’ve been to every region and competed in every league consecutively, yours is pretty permanent.”

 

Ash rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. “I see. I didn’t even know I had one, much less what’s on it.”

 

“But you’ve been to every region?” Georgina, another of the women and who had brown hair and eyes, asked curiously while coming closer.

 

Ash nodded, starting to get out ingredients for her late breakfast. She began regaling the women about all the regions, elaborating when a few of them asked her questions, comparing the regions occasionally and commenting on some of her favorite stuff to do or see in each place.

 

Ash had just finished making a large omurice, some garlic scrambled eggs, and cut up and fried some potatoes that she seasoned liberally. By that time, a bunch of the women were already digging in and Ash was watching in amusement.

 

“I so did not eat any breakfast until you came along,” Meghan said, munching on some of the eggs. “I swear I was just going to eventually toast some bread and put butter on them. Dear God, these are good. I don’t care –you totally need to stay until near the end, just so you can feed us.”

 

“I ate fruit salad,” Rue admitted, enjoying the seasoned potatoes. “But this is way better.”

 

Ash cut up her omurice and moved the plate around to let the others have easier access. “I’ll make even more next time,” Ash’s lips twitched up.

 

“You’re well-travelled,” a new woman spoke up, and Ash saw a beautiful redhead eying her closely. “Yet you’re pretty young.”

 

“Most trainers leave young,” Ash shrugged, careful around her. Something seemed…cold about her. “I left Pallet Town around 16 and began traveling. I was away for around 4 or so years? I met a lot of people and went to a lot of places. After Alola, I finally went back home and decided to have either a break or to finally settle down.”

 

“How old are you?” the redhead questioned.

 

“I just recently turned 21,” Ash pursed her lips, staring back steadily.

 

Rue’s eyebrows raised. “Really? That’s so young! I mean, you look young too, but the way you talk and act, I could’ve sworn you were older, at least by a few more years.”

 

“Well, like I said, I’m well-traveled and met a lot of people,” Ash said softly. “I’ve managed to experience a lot already.”

 

Which, if you exclude the whole crazy “save the world several times” business, was a lot, even if she was just twenty-one. Add in the whole “save the world” business, and hell yeah she felt older than she technically was! What would you expect?

 

On the other hand, Ash wasn’t going to just blurt that all out. She didn’t really care to brag about saving the world. She just had to do what had to be done, and that’s that.

 

The redhead made a noncommittal noise before she turned and left the kitchen. Ash nudged Rue’s arm.

 

“Who was she again?”

 

“That’s Janelle,” Rue rolled her eyes. “She’s a bit…condescending.”

 

Harley snorted. “A bit is an understatement. We’ve barely moved into here and she already pisses me off.”

 

“She definitely has a superiority complex,” Georgina said darkly.

 

“Ugh, this makes me want a milkshake. They got ice cream?” Ash grumbled.

 

“They do,” Meghan crowed happily, looking at Ash expectantly.

 

Ash stared and then looked around the kitchen, seeing matching expectant looks.

 

“Who wants one?” she asked wryly.

 

“Me!” a chorus of voices echoed cheerfully.

 

Wesley looked at George, who marked something on the board.

 

“Okay, betting pool’s opened!”

 

“I want to place my bet on Ash,” Wesley said immediately. “Second or first place.”

 

“Me too,” Zachary said gleefully. “I like her. I think she’s awesome.”

 

Roger lightly shoved Zachary. “This is to bet on the women, not to date them.”

 

Zachary waved him off. “If she’s available after all this, I’m totally asking her out.”

 

Lisa coughed and they turned to her. “I’ll place a bet now too.”

 

“Janelle, right?” Wesley said, looking to George.

 

At her silence, the others looked back to her and her face flushed.

 

“Um…”

 

“No, no, no!” Zachary stopped her. “You swore on Janelle! You said she’d definitely be the one to bag Giovanni!”

 

“Well, I like Ash too. She’s cute and funny, more likable than Janelle. And…sheesh! I walked in on them just earlier, and there’s a total difference between the two. Ash was talking about her experiences and despite being young, she definitely seemed older and more mature. Janelle is pretty freaking frigid.”

 

Lisa fidgeted with the cup in her hand. “Also…Ash made me a chocolate milkshake.”

 

“What?” Zachary yelped, coming towards her. “Really? I want one!”

 

Lisa held hers protectively away.

 

“We can’t all bet on Ash,” Roger said in exasperation. “So, aside from Wesley –who’d supported her from the beginning –and Zachary who already placed his bet, the rest of us has to pick someone else. George, I’m on Rue for first or second. We’ll bet on third or fourth place later.”

 

Lisa sighed. “Fine! I’ll go with Janelle and Ash as my top 2, and placing either one as first or second.” She looked at them smugly.

 

“Alright, I’ll be more specific on my bet,” Zachary cut in. “Ash is first, Janelle second, and –”

 

George interrupted. “No and no,” he glared at them all. “We’re doing just our number ones right now, our top 2 later, and our top 4 tonight. Wesley is for Ash, as is Zachary. Roger’s Rue. I’ll get everyone else’s later on. Lisa? Still Janelle, since you can’t pick Ash?”

 

Lisa sighed again. “Alright, alright. Janelle’s my first.”

 

She looked totally disgruntled and stayed that way for the rest of the meeting. When the meeting was ending, Topher came in and had brought Giovanni, and they brought up the first date.

 

“I would like to have Ash be my first one-on-one date,” Giovanni said, but it sounded more like an order than a request, and with the way he stared them down said that he wasn’t going to accept anything but a yes from them. A bunch of them shivered and could totally get why this guy was the type to get what he wanted without much fuss.

 

“Right, Ash gets the first one-on-one,” Wesley agreed for the production crew. “Let’s pick some of the girls for the group date and then who gets the second one-on-one.”

 

It was decided that Rue, Janelle, Harley, Georgina were some of the few that were on the group date, and that Meghan would get the second one-on-one. Then they were discussing the dates and where and what they were doing.

 

“We’ll be a bit flexible this season,” Wesley told Giovanni. “Usually, we have all the dates planned out and know where you’re going and what you’re going to do before the filming starts, but aside from your request to be included in deciding about all that, we also decided on flexibility and a bit of spontaneity so we could be a bit more unpredictable this season than usual. Also hopefully keep the spoilers from leaking, if you know what I mean.”

 

Giovanni hmmed, seeming focused on something.

 

“So what’re you thinking of?” Lisa prodded curiously, especially since he seemed so concentrated.

 

“I’m deciding on a place to take Ash to,” he frowned, looking at their list of possible locations and activities. “She’s well-traveled and has been able to do a lot in her years of travel.”

 

“What did you manage to find out what she likes?” Lisa asked and Giovanni thought about it.

 

“Pokémon,” he said without hesitation. “Anything to do with pokémon, adrenaline stuff –she’s apparently a bit of an adrenaline junkie –and she secretly likes princess stuff but she refuses to admit that to her friends. She’s a bit embarrassed about it…”

 

Lisa blinked, while Zachary whistled. Wesley raised an eyebrow, watching Giovanni closely.

 

“Some first talk you two must have had,” Roger said wryly.

 

Giovanni hmmed again before saying suddenly, “Seafoam Islands.”

 

“Pardon?” Wesley blinked.

 

“She doesn’t know this, but she mentioned to me that at one point before she went to compete in the Indigo League tournament, she’d gone to Seafoam Islands with her friends and her town. I was vacationing there at the time, and I’m pretty sure we almost met or could have,” Giovanni informed them. “I would like to take her there.”

 

The producers looked at each other before Wesley hesitantly nodded. “Okay. That can be done. What are you planning on doing there?”

 

And so Giovanni began outlining the plan he had, before he was prodded on to think about the group date and the other one-on-one. When he left, Lisa shoved a dazed Zachary away from her.

 

“Not that all of the dates don’t sound good and are actually pretty extravagant, but…am I the only one who noticed how personal Ash’s is? I mean, he catered it around things he remembered about her. And he plans on cooking dinner for her himself!”

 

Roger bit his lip. “It’s going to be pretty obvious who his favorite is.”

 

Wesley looked thoughtful, before shrugging helplessly. “Can you stop gravitation?” he asked with a huff.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Zachary eyed him.

 

Wesley snorted. “They’re going to gravitate towards each other no matter what happens. It looks pretty inevitable.”

 

Lisa moaned. “Damn it, and I have to bet against her!”

 

The others either shook their heads or laughed.

 

Ash tried to get some of the others to go exploring with her, but they all wanted to lounge around, laze by the pool, or exercise around the house. So that meant she was traipsing around, kind of paranoid if she was being watched by the cameras, and also getting more than a little bored.

 

But Wesley had warned her about this. No books, no TV, no cell phone…They were isolated and had nothing to do. It kind of sucked and she missed Pikachu too. At least with him, the two of them could always keep themselves from being bored.

 

However, Ash found herself nearing another building and realized this is where “the Bachelor” was staying when she caught sight of Giovanni sitting on a couch outside and writing something.

 

“Pst! Is it okay to come there?” Ash whispered and he whipped his head around to face her, eyebrows raising.

 

“Technically not,” he grinned when he realized who it was. “I think, according to one of the producers, the number one rule of the show is that there’s no off-camera interaction between you all and myself.”

 

“So one of their jobs is to make sure you don’t get any alone time with any of us if it’s not being filmed?” Ash asked.

 

“According to them, they take that job very seriously because it’s important to show the entire, complete journey onscreen,” Giovanni rolled his eyes.

 

“Should I leave then?” she glanced around.

 

Giovanni waved her over. “There are no producers around and besides, we already have a past history they have no idea about,” he told her as he patted the seat next to him.

 

She looked around one more time before coming towards him and sitting down. She glanced at what he was doing, but she couldn’t get a good look.

 

“What are you doing?” she decided to outright ask about it.

 

“Work,” he answered. “Or what I remember I needed to work on. I’m not allowed my laptop or phone. It’s infuriating because I still need to work and run my business and Team Rocket, even if I am here.”

 

“Should you really be talking about you know what out in the open?” she asked sarcastically.

 

Giovanni held up some kind of device she didn’t recognize. “I’ve slipped some of my people around here. They’d warn me if anyone’s around.”

 

Ash sweatdropped at the smug man. Really, this guy…

 

“How’s moving into the mansion?” he asked then and she twitched.

 

“Boring,” she grumbled. “There’s nothing to do. The others are just exercising, playing around or lounging around the pool, or lounging in the house. Well, we did get a cool gift bag at least…”

 

“Oh? What was in it?”

 

Ash remembered to when she officially moved in with the others.

 

“Um, some jewelry, beauty product stuff, clothing…and I think some bikinis. That kind of stuff.” She shrugged. “We have to do our own cooking and laundry. Somehow I’ve gotten drafted into cooking for the house,” Ash laughed.

 

She shifted a bit, looking at him from the corner of her eye. Having sat next to him, she could feel his warmth from how close he was and she wanted to fidget or even move away, but didn’t as she knew it would draw attention to her. Still, she watched and instead carefully moved closer to him, trying not to make too much of it.

 

“Why did you agree to be on this show anyway?” she questioned, remembering that.

 

“My reputation was being threatened,” he turned towards her, somehow bringing their knees to touch as he did so. “Apparently the rumors of me being the boss of Team Rocket was escalating –it was spreading to the public and being taken more seriously, so the idiots on my PR units from my business and the Team came up with this crap. I agreed and got stuck here, though I suppose it’s not too bad, since it’s more or less a vacation and you’re here and a kindred spirit.”

 

That made her blush and she hoped it wasn’t visible, or at least that he couldn’t see it.

 

“I should go,” she muttered.

 

He blinked at her. “What? Why?”

 

“Don’t want to be caught,” she said a little louder and stood up. She gave him a weak grin. “I’ll stick around the show and help you out, endure this crap and help you keep your boss status secret.”

 

She was about to leave when she felt him grab her wrist and she turned back to him in surprise. He stared back at her intensely with dark eyes, making her shiver.

 

“I will see you tomorrow,” he murmured and turned her wrist over, placing a soft kiss to the inside of it.

 

She swallowed heavily. “See you tomorrow,” she whispered.

 

Then she turned tail and ran, not looking back and not admitting that she was running away.