Water, a pokémon fanfic

Preface: This is a one-shot prequel to a fan fiction I have been working on for some time, entitled 'Pocket Monsters.' The story takes place in a different universe than any of the anime, games, or manga, but it has a combination of themes and characters from all of them. The main fic is still in production, but I was having some writer's block and asked some friends to pick a number between 1 and 5 for me. The other four will be released at a later date.

3- Misty

— — —

The ground was shaking with chaos as sirens sounded, buildings crumbled, and smoke continued to billow from the shoreside city of Cerulean. Utter mayhem had erupted that afternoon without so much as a warning, and the only people not being evacuated from the East side were police officers sent to confront the threat and rescue teams sent to save the trapped citizens. Even reporters desperate for a story stood as far from the ocean's hyper beams and twisters as one could reasonably expect without fleeing the scene all together. It would have been too loud to hear the scoop, anyway.

"This is Channel 9 News reporting to you live from East Cerulean City, where we are hearing rumors that the Coast Guard has been called in lieu of the Pokémon Defense Team to deal with the recent emergency. No official information on when or even really if their arrival is expected, but evacuation is well underway and local forces have been ordered to hold off as much damage as possible until a more definite plan takes effect. This reporter wants to know why our city government is not more adequately prepared for this level of emergencies. Dragons or not, Cerulean is outfitted with an official League gym that should be utilized in states of…"

The television's volume softened as a new voice echoed over the office intercom. "Mayor Beck, Cerulean Gym is here."

And she responded by quickly spinning her chair around to address the voice. "Good! Send them in! Hurry!"

The announcement also got the attention of Mrs. Beck's emergency advisor, who seemed none too pleased with the situation as he took some time from peering out the window to actually face her desk again. "You know, at this point, the Coast Guard might not be a bad idea."

"Bill, if we call the Coast Guard…"

"Then they'll probably kill it." he confirmed. "I know."

The mayor only leaned her palm to her forehead for a brief sigh.

"Look. I don't want to kill what is possibly a domestic pokémon any more than you do," he explained "but if it destroys every building on the coastline, it's going to look a lot worse for the city than just admitting you need federal help!"

"It's not about looking powerful." she argued back, "If that thing is from the Cerulean City gym and I need to call in the Coast Guard, officials are going to have a field day with our city! Economically, if that gym gets shut down-"

"Y-you don't think it's going to get shut down, do you?" A new softer voice suddenly entered the room, prompting both the mayor and Bill to take a break from their debate and face the three lovely yet nervous women.

Cerulean's Sensational Sisters- Daisy, Violet, and Lily- local models, amateur actresses, ballerinas, and the current managers of the Cerulean City gym. The young women sported stylized dresses of three different colors and flowing hair to match. The beauty of their mere presence was enough to send a chill through the room… or perhaps that chill came from the terrified expressions on their faces.

Mrs. Beck was not one to mince words. "Alright. Have you three confirmed that this is your gyarados terrorizing the city or not?" She asked the question in a firm tone that demanded an answer, and silence followed.

"Well… technically, it's our mom's gyarados…" Violet tried to reason, but the mayor stopped her.

"That pokémon is costing more in damages than you girls make in a year! Why haven't you stopped it yet?!"

"W-w-we don't know what's wrong!" Daisy explained with tears in her eyes. She was usually the one to speak up first, but her sobbing reply indicated that she was clearly having some trouble, "I-it just broke out of its underwater tank near the river, a-and it's been attacking everything… I don't know why…"

"We can't stop something like that!" Lily added in defense, "If a gyarados gets ticked off, it just does what it wants!"

"And it won't listen to any of you?!"

"It's not their pokémon…" Bill answered. His eyes finally lit up in realization as he turned toward the window again to survey the distant catastrophe.

"What?" Mayor Beck followed his gaze to try to understand. "Bill? Talk to me. What do you mean?"

The man did not move from his spot. He only looked on with an interested gaze before echoing "Well… technically, it's their mom's gyarados."

Mrs. Beck's confused expression transformed into one of understood fear as she glanced back and forth between the defeated gym staff and the intrigued researcher. "You mean… it's never listened to these three?!"

"Dragons take years to train properly." He answered. "…They're too young to possibly have that relationship with it… This is is bad."

The mayor nodded with a certain amount of hesitation before finally standing up from her chair to approach her guests. "Well, before we do anything drastic… Wait… Aren't there four of you?"

— — —

The officer was focusing most of his attention on evacuating the city. So much, in fact, that he only noticed the teen rushing toward the disaster after her bright red bicycle had flown past his blockade. "Hey!" the man shouted before rushing to the sidewalk so blatantly used to defy him. "This area is off-limits to unauthorized personnel! We are in the middle of an evacuation!" She was too far ahead to catch now.

"Don't worry!" the girl called back over her shoulder, "I'm official!"

But that was not enough for the officer. He immediately leaned into his radio and followed protocol without taking an eye off of the sleek teenage figure fading into the distance.

Naturally, several radios cackled near a farther blockade on the shoreline, but only one official paid it any mind. The others kept focus on the real situation. An enraged sea dragon was violently thrashing at the beach. Small tsunamis were pouring onto land with splash upon splash, and the pokémon's mighty roar shot torrents of fire and water at anyone who dare challenge it. Bullets, electricity, large nets- retaliation only made the beast angrier and prompted more direct attacks at those responsible. A literal storm was brewing from its powerful outburst, and few could afford to pay it no mind.

"Hello? Hello?" The radio sounded.

The senior officer answered with a Southern drawl. "What's the news down there?"

"Sir, we have a civilian refusing evacuation in your area. Female, teenager, estimated to be between 14 and 17, long orange hair, tan skin, yellow top, blue shorts, riding a red bicycle."

The officer only shook his head and looked back at the mammoth they were containing. "You're gonna have to deal with it yourself, Charlie. We don't have time to-"

"Hey!" A familiar voice threw him off for a moment, and the officer brought his attention to a teenage girl with a parked bike right behind the blockade- the very same teenage girl the officer was warning him about. "Chief Moor! Over here!" She was waving frantically to get his acknowledgement, and she got it as soon as he readjusted his radio and dashed to her position.

"Misty Williams?!" He cried above the chaos. "Oh! Heck no! Misty, you are a gym trainer not a police officer! What the heck are you doing beyond the evacuation line?!"

But the girl only cocked her head and scowled while taking a red backpack from the cart on her bike. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm here to calm down Levy."

The monster roared again, and Moor looked back at the raging beast in surprise. "That's your gyarados?!"

"It sure is." Misty answered with a confident nod and an open backpack. The girl dug inside the front pouch for less than a second before producing a small red and white sphere with the word 'Levy' written on it.

"…Well, I don't believe it…" he replied in shock. "What's it tearing up the Kantonese coastline for?!"

"Give me five minutes."

— — —

The mighty gyarados roared in confusion, fear, and outrage for reasons still unknown as a single swing of its tail flooded several patrol cars and hyper beams drove fissures into the various cliffs and rock formations. The police had pushed it notably farther from the mainland than it was originally, but the beast was still more than capable of devastating the city. It saw the men in blue as its permanent foes, locked in heated territorial combat while fighting its domestic roots, but that combat ended abruptly as the team began to back down. Vehicles began to start, weapons disappeared, and while the humans did not leave completely, they seemed to give the monster a little more breathing room by pushing back toward their blockade.

Levy responded with a muffled grunt that did not necessarily represent a trust in the officers but more of a fascination with the situation and contemplation about the possibility of moving in closer for more direct attacks.

"Levy!" A younger voice interrupted from a cliff by the sea. The pokémon's attention turned immediately to find Misty standing alone, obviously separated from the police and their guns and her tone sounding more accusatory than hostile. "Levy! What in the name of Mew do you think you're doing out here?!"

"GRRRAAAHHH!" It answered back in an irritated roar.

"Don't give me any of that crap!" she challenged, "This is my favorite spot in the whole freaking city, and you had to light it on fire?!"

"GWAAAAAOOOO!"

Misty's eyes remained locked on the gyarados as it gently swayed in the distance.'Never turn your back to a dragon.' That's what her mom always said. And it wasn't attacking her yet… That was a good sign. But it was still too far out in the ocean for her poké ball to reach it. Her heart was already racing. She knew she'd have to get it closer. Levy was never the most cooperative pokémon… And her roars didn't sound cooperative either. Sweat graced Misty's right palm as she placed it over her belt to retrieve the poké ball strapped to it.

"Get your tail over here right now, or I'm bringing you over here!"

Another roar.

Bad call.

Fortunately, Misty was expecting an attack even before the raw energy in Levy's mouth began to glow, and she dove out of the way right as a hyper beam ripped through the air above her. "Arceus!" the girl screamed. Her hair was nearly singed by the blast, and even after landing safely, the heat and dirt made it difficult to breathe in the area. But Misty was still fully aware of the situation. With her mind on survival, she covered her mouth in part of her shirt and used the pause in time to crawl out of Levy's view. Only when on the other side of the cliff, did she finally take a breather. "O-okay… That could have gone better…"

"Misty?!" the sound came from her left pocket. "Misty Williams, are you alright?!" It was Chief Moor's voice. He had lent her a radio right before the action, and none of the on-lookers could honestly tell if she made it out of the hyper beam induced dust cloud.

She took a deep breath before activating the speaker to make sure she didn't sound winded. "Yeah… I'm here." Speaker off. More panting.

"Thank Arceus! No offense, kid, but she doesn't sound willing to reason. And the department can't justify a suicide mission. Wanna go back to Plan A?"

Misty picked herself up at the mere thought and worked around the cliff wall until she was just barely facing the oceanfront again. Peeking across the vast rocky edges, her eyes focused on a small gathering of water pokémon to her left- just out of Levy's sight. The girl smirked. "I haven't tried Plan C yet."

"Plan C?"

Misty whistled to the huddle of pokémon and gave a short sweeping motion with her arm before they each dived underwater. Then she produced another poké ball and answered the radio again. "Just… give me ten minutes."

— — —

Levy was silent as her eyes bore into the cliff. She was not thrashing or howling or firing any attacks. Rather she knew the small human had avoided that hyper beam, and she was anxiously awaiting her reappearance. The pokémon made a point not to draw any closer to the cliff, but it was very impatient. Everyone had caught on to that by now. And as soon as the smallest growl escaped its lips, the battle suddenly continued.

An ice beam firmly struck the serpent's jaw and sparked another tantrum as she turned to find a wave of fellow water types racing toward her with a flurry of similar attacks. Starmie, staryu, dewgong, cloyster, goldeen, seaking, and tentacruel, among others. The small pokémon had familiar faces and battle cries. Levy had trained with all of them at one point or another, and she lashed back with her own arsenal as payment for the treachery. One tail whip would send several spiraling backwards. One hyper beam would scatter the forces into smaller groups. The water and ice barraged her rough scales in too many places for her to focus, but she was determined to hold her ground, and her massive power gave her more than a fighting chance. What she wasn't expecting was the young pokémon trainer who had used this distraction to silently work her way out from behind the cliff on the back of a lapras.

Misty made sure her ocean escort moved in slow, smooth paddles to blend into the rocky background as they circled the mighty behemoth. She kept her guard up and her body as low as possible just in case Levy decided to look in their direction. She held on to the side of the shell facing opposite the sea dragon and then she patted Lapras's head gently as if to give a signal.

"Waoooo…" it moaned in response, the pokémon less than eager to enter the nearby fray.

"Shhh… I know… I know…" Misty whispered back, "But we've got to go now, okay?" The girl presented Levi's poké ball to the friendly giant and gave another pat. "She'll never stop thrashing around if we don't get close enough to use this."

Lapras didn't protest any further and ducked her head beneath the waves for an even more concealed approach. Misty rubbed her shell accordingly as they began moving forward, "Attagirl…" and her ears focused on the ever increasing sound of crashing waves. She closed her eyes.

Water pokémon Fact: Gyarados have poor eyesight. Misty could remember her mom training Levy to focus on sound and smell to counter this handicap in battle…

The attacks grew louder.

One of the reasons you scarcely ever see a gyarados in lakes or near land is because their natural habitat is deep in the ocean. The dark, dark ocean…

The cries of the enraged water beast were almost deafening now.

More food to eat. More room to swim. Many magikarp all over the world avoid evolving just because of the strain it would put on their natural resources…

The water was becoming so rough at this point that Lapras was nearly tipping over with each wave. Misty held her breath.

Of course, there are always exceptions. Some famous lakes and rivers would advertise themselves as one of the only ways to find gyarados reasonably near land, and of course, the pokémon in those areas would eventually adapt better eyesight than the average gyarados…

They must have been right on top of her at this point. The waves were becoming unbearable. The attacks from Misty's distraction were almost as loud as Levy herself, and Misty's grip was loosening.

But this gyarados was not from a special lake or rare river. Levy was fished right out of this very ocean as an undergrown magikarp, and from her perspective, Lapras was just a rock!

Misty's opened her eyes, and in one motion, she put Levy's poké ball between her teeth and used both hands to swing up the side of Lapras's shell- staring at the sea serpent from behind. Dear Arceus… They were closer than she thought…

The gym trainer paused in awe for a brief moment. Her better judgment told her not to, but the sight of this sea titan commanding the waves and weather against an army of water was like something right out of a classical painting. It was as if the entire ocean was at war and more water escaped from the clouds above to join in the battle. She was just as terrified as she was mystified… and she was almost close enough to touch it…

"MISTY!"

That wasn't good! The girl immediately broke from her daze when a panicked scream cut through the atmosphere from shore… or three screams. A quick shift to that location showed all three of her sisters gathered near the coast with expressions of incomparable fear and anger.

"Misty! Get back over here right now!" Daisy shouted.

"Your going to get yourself killed!" Violet added.

"Do you like have a death wish or something?!" Lily.

And the mayor had apparently arrived with them, but she seemed concerned with chastising the police rather than youngest sister.

The sudden interference was almost enough to make Misty scream, but before she could manage to blow her own cover, Levy took care of that detail by turning around toward the subject of the shore party's interest.

Her eyes rest on Misty.

Misty's expression dropped.

The poké ball was still in her mouth…

'Come on, girl… Easy…' she told herself, and both hands raised slowly to retrieve the poké ball. 'Careful…'

But one tail whip ruined that plan.

"MISTY!"

"OH, LUGIA!"

Lapras was practically tossed to the side, and Misty went flying with her as the battle continued. It was probably the most uncomfortable splash she had ever experienced. Her poké ball soared into the distance. The ocean slapped her in the face and chest. Her pokémon nearly fell on her. And she swallowed just enough water to black out.

— — —

…

"Levy? Levy, honey? It's time to go back inside!"

It was a warm summer evening at Cerulean Cape. There was not much more anyone could ask for than a nice breeze, chirping birds, and a sunset lighting up the ocean sky. It was the perfect atmosphere for a water pokémon trainer to get some solid practice in, and while the Cerulean City gym had no shortage of pools and tanks, Lana made sure that larger pokémon like Levy were occasionally given some wider swimming room. It was only fair. After all, the woman loved her pokémon, but soon it would be too dark to safely train in these waters.

"Come on, girl! Back to shore!" the woman called out, poké ball in hand. "We had a good day, but it's about time for a trip to the center!"

Misty was only a girl. She had barely reached six years old, and honestly, Levy was scary… especially when she had her temper tantrums. As a result, the young trainer rarely found herself nearby when her mother had a playdate with the massive monster, but this time she found the courage to watch things from a distance. The bright sunset reflecting off of her mother's flowing pink hair. The small breeze ruffling the leaves of the tree she was hiding behind… It certainly didn't hurt that Cerulean Cape was Misty's favorite place in the world. Right now there was just enough protection that Levy's training day even looked kind of fun! …That is, until…

"GWAAAARRR!" The indignant pokémon roared back from afar. She did not sound at all happy with the idea of leaving.

"Hey! Don't give me that attitude!" The woman shot back before adjusting her glasses. "You know neither of us see well at night, and I'm not risking an accident just because you wanted to goof around in the ocean for a few more hours!"

"RAAAAHHHH!" She still wasn't buying it.

"Remember the row boat incident?"

"RWAAAAHHH!"

"Leviathan! I'm not asking you! Get back to the shore right now!"

"Raaahhmmm?!"

Lana was staring the monster down now, but dragons were stubborn creatures. Levy made a point to stare right back. She was concentrated. Prideful. She wanted to leave on her terms, and the trainer should know that she was far more powerful.

The tension was more than enough to make Misty shudder behind her tree. 'Mom, please be safe…'

But the woman only began tapping her foot impatiently. "Levy? Levy! Look at me."

"GWAA-"

"Look. At. Me!" She demanded.

The pokémon went back to staring her down, but Lana didn't even blink. She simply furrowed her eyebrows and held both hands out. There was no longer any poké ball. She had strapped it back to her belt.

…More staring.

Then she began slowly with a firm but loving voice. "It's time for us to take a break, okay?"

…A low growl.

"…Come on home, sweetie."

And then with the slightest hesitation, the dragon gently wandered back to its trainer and nuzzled its massive hand down in her outstretched arms.

Misty smiled in relief, and so did her mother.

"Good girl…" Lana whispered softly. Then with a calm reach to her belt, the pokémon was back.

— — —

Water!

Misty's eyes opened again. She was surrounded by water! Nearby splashing and thrashing and ice beams and hyper beams only served to further jog her consciousness as the entire situation raced back to her mind.

She couldn't breathe!

And with a mighty kick of her arms and legs, the surface came back into view. The surface! The battle! The screaming! The air!

Her lungs did not take kindly to the undue pressure and sudden water flow. The girl found herself coughing and spitting and gasping the very moment she could feel the sky again, but she was also paddling for dear life. With her hair over her face and water everywhere, it was hard to see anything well enough to really determine what just happened. Regardless, she knew she had to get to land for any hope of surviving.

"MISTY! MISTY!" Her sisters continued to shout after the very obvious near death experience, but Lily finally put a stop to it with "LOOK! THERE SHE IS!"

"Dear Arceus!"

"Praise Lugia! Is she swimming?!"

"I think she's okay!"

"How did she even survive that?! I could've sworn Lapras landed on top of her!"

"Daisy, can you ground her from TV for… like… forever?!"

Misty ignored most of it. Truth be told, she probably couldn't respond to them if she wanted to. It was taking everything in her to swim and breathe. In fact, the only reason she even thought she had a chance to make it to shore was because she had swam in similar conditions before. Benefits of growing up in a water gym. Right now she had an idea, but she would have to make sure she hit land away from the crowd if it was going to work.

— — —

"Is she okay?!" Mayor Beck nearly shouted from shoreline. Everyone was close enough to hear her at a normal volume, but it was a little shocking to see such a near miss in this situation. She turned to the Cerulean Sisters. "Where's she swimming to?!"

"Like does it even matter?!" Violet answered, "Let's just focus on the fact that she'salive!"

"Sh-She might be disoriented from almost drowning like a second ago!" Daisy added, "I could care less where she's swimming as long as it's away from that thing!"

And then Beck turned toward Chief Moor. "Listen, Chief! I want this pokémon detained or killed before it endangers one more person or piece of property! I don't care what methods you have to use, but if I have to call the Coast Guard-"

The police radio cackled again. "Chief! This is blockade one! We're having some serious trouble with cameras down here! I'm holding back a crowd of twenty or so reporters at this point, can we-"

"Not now, Charlie!"

"But we still don't even know why Levy is acting like this!" Violet reminded the mayor.

"Listen!" The chief piped up again, "Can everyone just-"

"Guys…" Lily interrupted, and with a small flick of the wrist, she pointed back to the cliff Misty stood atop earlier only to bring attention to the exact same trainer doing the exact same thing again.

"Dear Mew…" the mayor whispered.

— — —

Misty locked eyes on the battle that was still raging in the middle of the ocean. Levy was farther from shore than ever before at this point, but the young woman was determined to calm this pokémon down.

She placed two fingers in her mouth and stopped the fight with a single whistle. Well… sort of. Levy continued to thrash about, but the other water types recognized the signal to back away, and it was only a matter of time before the gyarados found herself sitting alone in the sea yet again.

"Leviathan!" Misty shouted, and sure enough, she received that familiar glare for the hundredth time tonight.

"RAWWWWAAAA!" It fought back.

"Levy! Look at me!" She demanded.

It howled again in pure anger.

"Look. At. Me!"

— — —

The crowd at the coast was silent, save for a few officers muttering into their radios.

Bill finally made it to the scene covered in papers and half opened notebooks while everyone else was busy staring. The man was clearly struggling to contain all of his analyses, but he was ready to help in any way he could. "Sorry it took me a while, Mrs. Mayor, but I think I've got…"

"Bill, keep quiet." She answered under her breath.

It only took him a second to analyze the scene. "What is she doing?"

"I said 'Keep your voice down'." The mayor spoke again.

"She is too young to control a dragon pokémon!" He whispered somewhat angrily while pointing in Misty's direction. "The chances of whatever you're planning actually working are practically zero!"

"She's going to get herself killed!" Lily echoed, but Daisy only turned her attention to the lapras that had just made it to shore. She looked at it curiously.

— — —

Misty adjusted her stance only slightly- arms out, hands visible, no poké ball… She could feel a lump in her throat as she continued to look into the beast's fiery eyes. "…It's time for us to take a break, okay?"

The gyarados sat motionless. Its scowl froze on the teenager, and a low growl began to emerge from its lips.

Misty could feel every drop of water from her earlier swim running down her body. It mingled with the sweat she was producing right now as the giant stared into her for a challenge. "…Come on home, sweetie."

There was nothing.

Silence.

Stillness.

The wind from Levy's storm blew through Misty's hair, forcing it to flutter behind her. She didn't move an inch. 'Come on… Come on…'

And then Levy's complexion finally softened. Her back slouched, and her head bent forward as she swam toward the girl.

Misty wasn't sure at first. Levy was still big enough to eat her in a single bite. She could be faking it. She could still be angry. She could even be coming in closer to attack… but as the pokémon grew nearer and nearer, those fears started to fade.

She could feel it! Misty could feel the bond between Levy and herself! The trust she had just displayed by offering her hands unarmed on a cliffside. Levy could eat her, but she wouldn't! Her gentle approach was an acknowledgement of how she saw Misty as a partner! An equal! Someone who could similarly choose to harm her but only had intentions to help! Misty wanted Levy to feel good because that made her feel good! Yes! This is why she was a pokémon trainer!

By the time Levy was almost within reaching distance, Misty could hardly contain the smile on her face, and the dragon grunted happily at the young woman as they finally came close enough to touch…

But it was interrupted with a glow.

A red glow.

A glow that encompassed Levy in her entirety just as the two were about to make contact, and with her eyes widening, the pokémon let out a furious roar before returning to its poké ball, now held by Daisy.

The older trainer sighed. "Praise Arceus…"

But Misty could hardly speak before she was enveloped in a hug. "Oh! Baby sister, are you okay? That thing nearly ate you alive!"

"Woo hoo!"

"Yeah! You did it!"

Lily and Violet cheered with equal enthusiasm as they ran in to join the hug as well.

"Like way to go, Daisy! You totally got that creep!"

"Yeah, and Misty offering herself as bait like that?! I mean, it was risky and stupid but totally effective!"

Even the nearby officers began clapping and cheering for the outcome, but Misty herself was still shocked. "D-Daisy!" She finally managed, leaning away from the group, "Why did you do that?!"

"Well, I can't take all the credit!" She answered with a wink as the hug disbanded, "See, Lapras found Levy's poké ball after you wiped out earlier, and she just so happened to be kind enough to bring it back for me!"

"No! I mean, why did you return Levy?! We were having a moment!"

"A 'moment'?" Violet volunteered with a scoff.

"Yeah, a moment where she was totally going to eat you!" Lily laughed.

"Sh-She was not!"

"Well, I wasn't gonna take any chances!" Daisy explained while proudly twirling the poké ball through her fingers, "Someone as unqualified as you really shouldn't be out here doing this stuff, anyway! Hello? That's a job for the gym leader!"

"The gym leader isn't here." Misty replied with an upwards glare.

Daisy responded the same look but directed lower and with an extra smirk. "Well,I'm the closest thing we have right now, and I didn't nearly drown trying to tackle a gyarados!"

"I wasn't going to tackle her!"

"Like just chill, Misty." Violet again, "We know what we're doing out here, okay?"

Lily. "And we don't need our baby sister getting herself killed because she thinks she can take on a gyarados!"

"I am not a baby!"

"Williams!" This time the interruption came from Mayor Beck, who was slowly making her way up the cliff with a disapproving scowl that could rival Levy's. Chief Moor was right behind her, and all three girls sweatdropped.

Regardless, Daisy decided to answer with a forced smile. "Like hello, Mrs. Mayor! How are you?"

"How am I?" She answered angrily. "How am I?! Where do you four get off letting your pokémon rampage through the city like that?! It's going to take every resource I have to stop a lawsuit from being filed against your gym, and if you-"

"Um… Excuse me…" Chief Moor cut in. The man had a police radio against his ear and seemed to be particularly surprised by the news he was getting. "Mrs. Mayor, we've got a crowd of reporters outside the blockade who want to interview the girl who stopped the rampage."

And then there was silence.

"…They want to what?" She asked.

"There seems to be a lot of excitement over who put an end to the destruction." he explained. "What do we do?"

There was another pause, and this time the mayor held a hand to her chin, contemplating. "…If we can swing this as a hero story, then maybe you girls can stay in business another day."

"Alright!" The three oldest cheered in unison.

"Daisy, get out there and tell them what you did!"

"What?!" Now it was Misty's turn to interrupt, "But I…"

"And I want the rest of you to check in with the police to give your full story on what might have caused that outburst!"

"You got it, ma'am!" Daisy replied with an award winning smile.

"Just make sure it doesn't go to your head." Violet teased, "The last thing we need is more hero moments." And a sly grin toward her youngest sister.

As the group broke to carry out their assigned tasks, only Misty remained on the cliff, still alone in disbelief. "…But I… How did… Guys! I actually did something right this time!"

"You know… you really should be more thankful to your sister for saving your life." A final voice came from below the cliff, and a small gaze in that direction revealed Bill, still holding a dozen notebooks of who knows what for analyzing pokémon and common behaviors.

"Hmph. And to whom do I owe the pleasure?" Misty asked with a hint of irritation.

"My name is Bill Blaustein." he answered with a smile and tilt of the head, "I would offer to shake your hand but… heh." He rustled to the papers he was carrying, but Misty did not seem amused. "…Ahem. Yes, well, I'm kind of an expert on pokémon behaviors and training. Your form was impressive, but honestly, you need at least a solid seven years of practice before you can train almost anydragon. They're particularly hard to reason with. She was probably about to swallow you whole."

And the thought did make Misty sweat a bit, but she ultimately shook it off, crossing her arms and looking Bill in the eyes the same way she did Levy. "Well, my name is Misty Williams, and you're wrong about this one. I could feel our connection."

"Oh, really?" Now he felt equally offended, "And exactly what credentials make you qualified to say that I'm wrong?"

The girl released a determined smirk before answering. "Future water pokémon master."

— — —

To Be Continued...