Tournament One:
Unfortunate Consequences

Alright, this takes place in the KANTO region because I am beginning to despise all other regions. Especially Hoenn. Why isn't Misty there? Why did they replace her with that wimp May?

Sorry if I offended anybody. Please enjoy the story.

Finally, a chance to relax. Misty thought as she plopped her butt down on the hotel's comfortable couch. She felt like her body was just about ready to sink in when. . .

"Oh, what the hell do they want now?!"she yelled aloud furiously as she walked (or rather, stomped) toward the phone, which had now begun ringing. If it was another crazed fan who had witnessed her win yet another battle, she'd blow a fuse.

Misty cleared her throat as best she could and put on her most convincing 'polite' voice while she answered the phone. "Misty Waterflower speaking." she said trying not to sound too irritated.

"Oh, sorry to bother you Miss Waterflower. . ." she recognized the voice as the soft-spoken woman who stood at the counter downstairs. This was fine. Misty could tolerate her.

"No, no. It's fine." Misty said, twirling her bangs.

"Well, um. . . there's a man down here who claims to know you. You see, there are no more rooms, but he said you knew him well enough to lend him a room. And I was wondering. . ."

"What does he look like?" Misty interrupted.

"He's. . ." Misty could tell she paused a moment to observe his features again. She thought it must be Ash. "Well, tall, brown hair, lean, blue eyes. . ."

Okay. . . not Ash.

"He says his name is Gary Oak. Do you know this man?" the woman asked.

Misty's eyebrows knit together in fury. How dare that spoiled little brunette try to use her to get a room at the hotel! She was going to teach him a lesson! "No, I don't know him! Now tell him to get his ass out of here and never call me aga–"

"Yo, Waterflower! How ya doing?" she heard the brat on the other line, somehow knowing he grabbed the phone out of the woman's hand without permission. Or maybe he promised to sleep with her if she handed him the phone. "Why the hostility? We go way back, you know."

Misty growled in the phone, making sure he could hear the anger coming from her end of the line. "Alright, you pompous bastard, you've got thirty seconds to tell me what the hell you want or I'm hanging up the phone to come down there and kick your ass!" she hissed

"Aw, not even a minute?" Gary joked

"Twenty nine, twenty eight. . ."

"Oh please! I can't believe how selfish you are! You won't even let me spend one night with you! I just need to catch a boat in the morning. Now, I bet if I was Ashy-boy, you'd let me spend the whole night with you, and them some! That way you two lovebirds could finally be the hell alone and God knows what you two would be doing all night. And it's certainly not talking!" That bastard was yelling at the top of his lungs! He wasn't even trying to be discreet about anything! And he was still going on!

Misty couldn't take much more of this. "Okay, OKAY!!!" Misty finally gave in. "If I let you come up here, will you shut the hell up and promise to hop on the earliest boat tomorrow?"

She could feel his smirk through the phone line. "Of course."

"You'd better be gone by seven tomorrow morning or I will toss you out the window." Misty was on the fourth floor, and that would cause some damage.

She merely heard him chuckle on the other line before she heard him thanking the woman at the counter (poor thing, she had to listen to the whole conversation), and heard the receiver click as he hung up the phone.

Oh crud. In mere moments, Gary was going to be knocking on the door and she'd have to let him in or he'd throw another tantrum in the middle of the hallway to get back at her. Though she would never admit it, she definitely would have preferred Ash at the moment and would have let him stay in a heartbeat. But Ash and Misty were friends, and she never thought about doing any of the things Gary suggested.

Unwillingly, Misty's thoughts wandered to Gary's appearance. She caught herself actually thinking about if he had matured (in the category of looks, that is). The woman at the counter mentioned he was lean, but did not say whether or not he had any muscle on him. She imagined a slightly taller version of Gary, even longer, and messier brown hair with the same big blue eyes that you couldn't help but stare at, and a shiny grin that made (most) women's knees turn to jelly.

Unfortunately, with all those good looks, he still had the attitude that was about as appealing as a cockroach. She couldn't believe that after all these years, he was still a jerk. You'd think he'd mature just a bit. Ash claimed he did, but Misty didn't notice any change.

Suddenly, she heard the knock at the door she'd been dreading. Quickly, Misty looked through the peephole to get a glimpse of the older Gary. Both of them were about to reach the age of seventeen.

His hair hadn't changed much, but his chest was pretty muscular. However, he didn't look like those men who worked out so much they started to look like gorillas. His arms were lean and wiry, but you could still see the biceps. Gary was still wearing his pendant and normal outfit.

To be honest, the jerk looked pretty hot. But, again, Misty would never admit it.

With great reluctance, Misty finally turned the knob to open the door. He was even hotter up close than through the peephole.

Immediately, Gary strolled right in with his suitcase and snobby aura. Misty wouldn't have been surprised if his old cheerleaders came in with him. She was going to have to lay down some rules.

"Listen, Oak. You are here for one night and one night only. Now pay close attention. One: I am not going to put up with your shit. You cop an attitude and I will kick you out of here in a heartbeat. Two: There are two beds, and I always get the one closest to the window. Three: If you are not out of here by tomorrow morning, as you promised, I will make sure you leave by tossing your crap and your ass out that window."

"Gee, I see you've grown into a charming young lady." he retorted sarcastically. "Damn, why do you always have to judge me? I'm not the 'snobby little brat' I used to be. I admit, I was mean to you guys in the past, but just give me a freaking chance!"

"A chance?!" Misty spat, "You just embarrassed me from the lobby and threw the most immature tantrum ever, and insulted me by using Ash as blackmail!"

"I wouldn't have had to throw that tantrum if you didn't start cursing the clerk out, telling her to throw my ass out, now would I?"

Misty fumed, but said nothing. She couldn't when she realized that he was partly right. With a sigh, she gave in. "Alright. I apologize for exploding. I just had a hard day. I spent all day down at the tournament and barely made it to the next round." she rubbed her forehead and flinched when Gary patted her red hair.

"That's okay, I guess. I didn't know you were in the Ice Princess tournament." Gary smiled at her.

The Ice Princess tournament was located all the way on the Seafoam Islands and had only been around a couple years. This was Misty's first year actually competing. She figured her water-type were good enough. Hell, her Seadra had even learned Ice Beam over the years.

"Of course!" she winked and held up two fingers for 'Victory'. "I saw this on TV the first year it came out and I couldn't resist." she shrugged.

"I can't refuse to watch a good battle. Do you mind if I watch you tomorrow?" his eyes went wide as he remembered that he had to be on the earliest boat tomorrow or Misty would (quote) 'throw his ass out the window'.

"Okay. You can watch the battle. It's at nine thirty. But I would really prefer if you just left after the fight." she said, as she fell back onto the couch, again.

"That's fine with me. You got any details on your opponent yet?" he asked curiously.

Just like Gary. Had to know every detail of the battle so he could tell Misty about her advantages and disadvantages.

Suddenly, a lightbulb flicked on in Misty's brain. If Gary was around to help her during this battle, she could have an easier time winning. She would learn his tricks and play it by ear so that she could rise to the top and win the tournament.

What a brilliant plan, Misty deducted.

"Yeah, come over here and I'll show you." she pulled out a piece of paper that revealed all of her Pokemons' status and a laptop. She smoother out the piece of paper, revealing the five Pokemon she had entered in the tournament: Seadra, Staryu, Starmie, Golduck, and Seaking and their levels.

Seadra: Level 55
Staryu: Level 49
Starmie: Level 52
Golduck: Level 58
Seaking: Level 40

"Pretty nice team you have here." Gary complimented. "You might want to level up your Seaking a bit more, though. And let me guess, Golduck is your ace in the hole?"

"Actually, it's Seadra. But you were close." Misty smiled at his compliments. They seemed sincere enough. "Let me show you my opponent."

With that, she opened the laptop and typed in the website for the Ice Princess Tournament, searching on the current competing trainers.

"Here we are." she pointed out, turning the laptop toward him. "Her name is Tiffany Spring."

Gary nodded at the trainer's photo in the screen. A pretty blonde haired brown-eyed girl smiled back at him. But he scrolled down to look at her Pokemon.

Dewgong: Level 50
Slobro: Level 53
Blastoise: Level 45
Poliwhirl: Level 53
Gyarados: 60

Gary flinched. Not only was her strongest Pokemon the infamous Gyarados, but it was at a level 60, two levels higher than Misty's own Golduck. And this 'Tiffany' would obviously use Gyarados since they were so close to the finals.

But this was Gary Oak. He would, of course, find a bunch of advantages for Misty. He let her look over Tiffany's Pokemon and saw her flinch as well.

"Don't worry about it. Just follow my lead and the levels won't even matter in this battle." Gary reassured her

Misty had a look of guilt on her face. "Gary. . . I did misjudge you. I'm sorry about that." she turned her head away and Gary could've sworn he saw her blush.

"Hey, it's no big deal. It's my fault, I guess for acting like such an asshole in the past. And for humiliating you when I didn't get my way." he shrugged "I guess we both screwed up."

"When I first talked to you, I didn't think you matured at all. I thought you were the same brat Ash and I completely despised six years ago. I could still hear the obnoxious cheerleaders, the red car honking, and you constantly bad-mouthing Ash."

"I knew you had a thing for him all along. All that chemistry between you two. . . it was so disgustingly obvious."

Misty's jaw dropped. "I do not have a thing for him! He's just my best friend, even though he destroyed my bike."

"In that case. . ." Gary stood up, helped Misty on her feet and walked toward the door. "Wanna go grab a bite to eat together?"

He didn't give her much of a chance to respond because he walked out the door as soon as he asked her. Somehow, he knew Misty would say 'okay' sooner or later.

Misty could have sworn that Gary Oak had just asked her on a date.

More excitement and drama on the way. Not going to spoil it, but I'm holding off all the SERIOUS romance till later in the series, m'kay?

Hope you enjoy the next chapter! Here are some lovely previews... Kiss, Kiss! ;)

Misty looked back at Gary. His smirk was somewhat comforting, telling her she could win this battle.

"Why are you getting so angry, Misty? I didn't know Ash became such a taboo subject in the last hour!" Gary yelled, his frustration with the stubborn redhead rising.

Misty blinked and hesitated. But before she knew it, her body was whirling around and she violently grabbed the back of Gary's shirt. "Don't go." she pleaded. "You're the best company I've had in forever. Just stay. . . for a little while longer?"

Stay tuned.