AN: My first pokemon story! Of course I don't own pokemon. This story is based of various aspects in the manga, anime, and games.

I actually have no set pairing for this story though it might seem like she's getting really close to some characters. When I started plotting this, I had no pairing in mind, so I don't know whom she might end up with if at all. Part of it was because I read a quote from Miyasaki that said something about wanting to write stories that defy the unwritten law where a boy and a girl featured in the same movie need to get together. And then something about how he wanted to write stories with two people who simply inspire each other to live. I thought that was pretty cool.

I was also inspired by other fanfics such as "Always" and "Vanilla Storm" by ohlookrandom, and "Phone Calls" by Hiasobi.

I TRIED using italics and borders, but sometimes they don't show up. Sorry about that.

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Chapter 1

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It's when she's beaten the fifteenth trainer in her winning streak she realizes that something's not right. The trainer simply leaves with promises of returning for a win as she recalls her pokemon back into its pokeball, and she smiles at his back as she walks towards her gym's personal mini healing facility. She really does hope he comes back—the trainer that is. It gets lonely staying in the gym all day, even with your pokemon with you. With the exception of the occasional trainer and her own voice, she hardly ever hears a sound while she's in her gym. The gurgles, cries, and roars of her pokemon fill the emptiness on occasion, and the nearly silent pull of the water as it swells, dips, and shifts is what's left when all else is quiet.

When she battles the silence is overrun; kicked off its thrown and its reign ended for a short period of time as she and her opponent shout commands and their pokemon trade blows. Battle cries, pained cries, scared cries, and the occasional explosion rock the gym to its foundation until the battle is done. And once the battle is finished, no matter who came out the victor, to Misty silence wins again as it takes its place on a pedestal that seems to stand imposingly behind her wherever she goes inside the gym.

Misty isn't the type to completely hold back. She paces herself, chooses her pokemon in accordance to her opponents skill, and battles at levels she knows will help the trainer improve without overwhelming them. That is the job of a gym leader. Not to pulverize trainers to demoralizing effects, but to help them improve. She enjoys it when trainers keep asking for rematches and she can visibly see how much better they've gotten. Some never win, others do win eventually and, even then, they keep asking for rematches. It makes her feel so happy because she feels like she's apart of something bigger than herself.

It takes her back to the days when a trainer clad in red beat her using a Charmeleon.

She'll never admit it but she's grown tired and bored. As though she's stuck in a runt. Like she'll never get any better while being tied down to the gym. She's good, too good for some trainers, but she wants to get better. Seeing trainers improve is usually the only thing that makes her feel happy being a gym leader anymore, happy and jealous. She tried to hide it, of course, but Misty's never been good at keeping a poker face. Despite specializing in water-type pokemon, her temper, passion, and emotions burn hotter than a Charizard's overheat. That's why she avoids Green at summits, conferences, and other league business affairs. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that something's wrong with her but Green is practically genius and she knows he'd be able to figure it out before even looking at her.

Her teeth grit as she takes her pokeballs from the healing tray and releases her pokemon into the gym's aquarium. Green wouldn't care. Green shouldn't care. Just thinking about him reminded her of Blue, Yellow, and Red. He reminded her with his detached conversations and gaze that she wasn't apart of their world. That she'd never get as close as she wants to them. If she had been a joking type of person, with the lame puns and not-so-witty references, she would tell you that Green turns her green. He definitely riles up that angry green pokemon inside her. Why? It's because he knows things. Things she should also know. Like where Red is at that moment. How Red's doing presently. What Red is planning for the future. Simple things that any friend should already know and he has to say, every single time, "didn't you know?"

No. No, she didn't know. Because Red never called her as much as he called Green, Blue, and Yellow. He kept more in touch with those kids from Johto than he did her and he certainly told them much more than what he told her. She'd be lying if she said she didn't care about Red a lot. Not like a brother and not like a friend; more than infatuation, but not quite love either. How could you love someone you barely saw? Misty didn't think it was possible but she was sure she was pretty darn close.

But she was also pretty darn close to giving up too. She was so tired of everything; especially waiting for the day that maybe he'd give her the chance to get closer to him. Misty knows that there's a lot you have to do that you might not want to do to get what you want, but she's not sure if waiting anymore is worth it. Especially since now there's something she wants more than a chance with elusive Kanto League Champion.

She wants adventures, new experiences, new motivation. She wants to loose—loose and then maybe loose again until she can finally beat whomever this imaginary person is. Her fantasies no longer come in visions filled sunsets and sparkling oceans standing next the strong, silent figure that's captured her fancy for so long. More often now are they filled with traveling, loosing, getting stronger, fighting rivals, gaining friends, and winning.

She wants to feel like a trainer again.

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A trainer's life is never easy, especially on the feet. They've been conditioned to be able to walk the longest, roughest, and most thankless of journeys. But even the feet of a trainer aren't made of titanium.

This is the condition any passerby would find a particular young Johto trainer and his typhlosion as they walked up the dirt path of Route 5.

Gold was a hearty young man; mischievous, confident, and full of life. He was one of the best (THE best, if you asked him) trainers in Johto, and he wasn't against showing it. But even a trainer such as him can be brought down to his knees if his feet can't hold him up.

"Aaaaaaah!" He groaned loudly in anguish. "How far is Cerulean City anyway?! It feels like we've already walked across Kanto! Huh, Explotaro?" By his side, Explotaro nodded heavily in agreement, his own stamina sunken with his trainer's. Gold's gaze focused hazily on the road in front of them, the image shifting left and right as if he'd been hit with a psychic attack from the heat.

"Cerulean City…is like a port…right? It's by the sea…right?" He drawled out, only half aware of what he was saying. His typhlosion didn't pay half a mind to his trainer's dazed questions, fully conscious of the fact that his trainer was only speaking from fatigue as his body began to slump over.

"And that means water…and a nice breeze. Food…and…pretty girls…" then, as if he had said some kind of magical word, his legs moved with a vigor and ferocity that wasn't there before.

"Come on Explotaro!" He yelled. "Cerulean City! Once we get to Cerulean City all our problems will be solved! Gone! Let's go!" Explotaro, not easily so tempted by the promise of food and the opposite sex, let out a cry of protest.

"Huh? What's up Explotaro?" As he watched his typhlosion shake his head and look at him with pleading eyes, Gold sighed and pulled his typhlosion's pokeball from his bag.

"Okay fine—return." A familiar red light shot out from his pokeball and enveloped his typhlosion until it seemed the large pokemon had been absorbed by the red light and returned back into its pokeball. Gold held the pokeball to his face.

"Jerk. Making me walk the rest of the way by myself." Gold mumbled as he stuffed the pokeball back into his bag. He threw his arms in the air and bent backwards to stretch his stiff muscles, a stiff moan sounding behind closed lips.

"Okay! Ready to go!" He shouted, then adjusting the strap of his bag.

"Good food and pretty girls here I come!"

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There was a heavy clicking sound as Misty turned the key to lock the doors of her gym. For a while, she just stood there looking at the heavy iron lock preventing anyone without a key from entering. She had thought that getting out of the gym for a little while would help her with her mood but, as she stood just staring, she wasn't so sure anymore. She turned and walked away from her gym, looking to maybe rediscover her city.

The little stub of a tree that barely made it up to her knee last year was now nearly her height. The small family who owned and turned their house into a pokemon daycare center changed their white picket fence to an elegant looking iron fence that rose and formed an archway above the entrance gate into the front yard. The kid who was always talking about buying new skates to replace her worn down pair was now cruising around in a snazzy looking bike. The old antique rug shop was torn down and replaced with a new cute looking bakery.

She had half of her mind wondering how she never noticed any of these changes, but it didn't really do much to lighten her mood. As she walked down a familiar line towards a small coffee house on the seaside, she wished that someone—anyone—would drop by.

Someone by the name of Red

Her eyes widened and her heart stopped sharply as she realized her train of thoughts. Her shook her head vigorously and gave her chest a few soft pounds, invoking some pedestrians to stop and look at her. After she reassured a kind older gentleman she was okay she sulked as she walked in the premises of the coffee house and took a seat on their outdoor patio overlooking the sea. She slouched back into her seat.

What was so special about Red anyway? Besides the fact that he's probably the strongest trainer in history? Or the fact that he defeated the mass international crime organization Team Rocket? Sure, those are more than note worthy accomplishments, but they shouldn't be enough to keep her so strung on him for so long when he didn't even bother to call her and talk to her. She knew she admired him a lot, but what she didn't know was if they were even friends anymore? Can they call each other friends with such lack of communication? As she reflected on this, she realized that really good friends don't even need to talk to each other regularly to feel like they're friends. It should be that they could go months, maybe even years without seeing each other but, once their united, it's almost as if they were never apart for more than a few days. Good friends never felt lonely when they were separated. So maybe they weren't friends—she and Red—because she felt so lonely, so terribly lonely. Or maybe it's just her romantic feelings getting in the way of that.

Misty groaned, covered her eyes, and nearly slammed her head on the table.

What was so wrong with her? This was pissing her off! Arceus help her; she couldn't keep living like this.

As she sat there in silent, lonely rage—her mind blank but her feelings distracting her and rendering her senses useless—she didn't notice as a figure dragged his way to her table looking pitiful and as dehydrated as dried fruit. Pedestrians and patrons who happened to by out that day began to wonder if there was something toxic in the sunshine, some radiation in the wind to make people act so strangely today. Many backed away and pulled their children and pokemon aside as the shriveled young man made his way onto the coffee house patio and took a seat in the only available chair; one situated in front of the strange young woman who looked like a hitmonchan had mach-punched her chest.

Birds of a feather flock together, they supposed.

A young, newly employed waiter was pushed into the part of the sacrificial lamb by his employer and made his way shakily towards the duo. He stood right in front of their table, shaking harder than anything anyone at that coffee house has ever seen, and opened his mouth to let out a scratchy repetition of the first syllable in his usual "what would like to order?" question. Misty could only take so much of the 'wha-wha-wha-wha" that, by the time the waiter had spent two minutes failing to get past the first syllable, she snapped her head up and barked at the waiter.

"No! I don't want anything! You can go and leave me alone!" She roared with a ferocity that could send a Gyarados swimming for cover. Misty's roar was super effective and nearly had the waiter fainting. Down to his last legs, the waiter turned to the person sitting opposite of her and tried to say something, only succeeding in flapping his mouth uselessly. It was then that Misty noticed someone sitting across from her.

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The employer at the coffee house had long since called his waiter back and Misty now sat and watched as a familiar face from Johto ate his roasted chicken with cheese and tomato panini.

"Mm! Thanks Miley! I thought I was going to starve!" The younger of the two said while his mouth was still full. Misty's lip twitched, wanting to curve into a sneer from his bad table manners.

"Whatever. You should know better than to travel with no money on you," she said plainly, stirring her pecha-oran berry smoothie with her straw.

"My name's 'Misty,' by the way. Not 'Miley." Gold looked up at her, a string of cheese hanging from the corner of his mouth.

"Right, right. Sorry about that," he apologized with a wide smile before going back to devouring his panini. Now that he didn't look like a shriveled up fruit, Misty was able to observe him carefully and compare him to the twelve-or-so year-old who had barged into her gym and demanded for a gym battle those few years ago. He was taller now; he stood a whole head taller than her, which was tremendous progress when compared to the time where he stood a little past her shoulder. His face had lost some of that boyish roundness to it but, for some reason, it was still undeniably boyish. Maybe it was the eyes? Since they were pretty large for being on the fiercer side of things as far as eye shape went. Or maybe it was because his eyes were so bright, but their gold color might be a huge factor to that. Maybe it was because he still wore his hair with one huge fringe off to one side of his face with his hat still on backwards and his goggles lying on top of them. Whatever it was, it didn't hold her curiosity for long as she soon grew bored and began to stare at sea view.

Gold wasn't as stupid as many like to think he his. No, he wasn't stupid; he just didn't think things through all the way. But it doesn't take much in-depth thinking and planning ahead to pick up that something was wrong in the silence surrounding the two of them. For a moment, he wondered if she was upset that he got her name wrong. However, judging from the fact that she hadn't corrected him right away, he figured that couldn't be it. He didn't really know her well—and most of what he knew he had heard from Lyra—but she seemed like the type of person who would have a quick temper and would have corrected him right away and quite loudly if that were the issue. But no, she had just brushed it off and corrected him about traveling without money, bringing up the mistake last before she went silent.

The name wasn't the problem, but there was something seriously wrong here.

Before he could think on it anymore, Misty's chair screeched against the patio as she moved to stand up. Gold quickly swallowed his food so he could speak.

"Wait! Where are you going?" He questioned. Misty shrugged her shoulders.

"Back to the gym I guess. If you're worried about being left with the bill, don't worry about it. I paid upfront while you were busy chugging down water." Without so much as a "bye," she left him on the coffee house patio, her back screaming at him that she wasn't in the right.

If he had to be more specific and go on a limb, he would have said that her back was screaming that she was alone.

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When Misty opened up the gym the next day, she wasn't even expecting a trainer to come. The day before had been hot, but today it was just too dangerous to go wondering down any of the routes. She was actually dozing off with her feet in the gyms battle pool when the entrance was thrown open and the loud bam had made her jump out of the pool.

There, standing with his hands in his pockets and his skateboard held steady under one foot, was Gold.

Suffice to say, she wasn't pleasantly surprised.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded. Her voice lacked and true outrage behind it that was nearly her trademark, and that couldn't go unnoticed by either trainer in the gym.

Gold shrugged, smirk in place as he kicked his skateboard up and walked inside the gym and looked around. He let out a low whistle.

"Wow. This place has definitely been upgraded since the last time I've seen it," he stated. Misty sighed and slipped her feet into her sandals before making her way towards him.

"Yeah. Sometime last year I decided to renovate to make more room for my pokemon to swim. Keeping them all in one tank doesn't give them much space." Her explanation was true enough, but she left out the fact that she was hoping to maybe catch new pokemon to add to the gym. It's too bad she doesn't have the opportunity to travel outside of Cerulean City and that she's caught nearly every water pokemon you could find in Cerulean waters without venturing too far out to sea.

"Misty." Gold's voice snapped her to attention and she focused on him, finding him standing on the opponent's platform of her gym. Misty raised an eyebrow at him, but he just nodded her over to the leader's platform. He dug in his bag, his hands finding the pokemon he was looking for with ease, and drew it out, presenting it too her. With a sigh, Misty made her way to her own platform and drew her own pokeball, really the only one she had with her in its pokeball and not in the gym's other aquariums.

"What's the point of this?" She asked. She had yet to press the button on her pokeball to enhance its size and was still twirling its more compact form in her fingers.

Gold shrugged again, smirk never leaving his face as he released his pokemon.

"You ready to go Mantaro?" He asked energetically. Misty winced as his loud voiced bounced off her gym walls. The pokemon nodded and have an affirmative cry, looking at her with a determined gaze. Misty gazed back, not half so determined but curious as to when Gold had gotten himself a mantine.

"Hey!" Gold called when she still hadn't released her pokemon. "Are you gonna battle or what?"

"Or what' sounds more like it," was her reply. A scowl found it's way onto Gold's face.

"Well! You have nothing to loose!" Misty crossed her arms over her chest, showing no sign on appeasing him.

"What do I have to gain?" Gold's scowl twitched as he realized that enticing her for a battle wouldn't be easy. His first thought was: what the hell? Trainers he had run into before coming here had said that the Cerulean City gym leader (a.k.a. Misty) had always accepted rematches, even when the opponent had already beaten her. So why isn't she battling him?

"Okay! How about this: if you win in a singles match, six on six, I'll leave you alone. But if I win, I get to come to the Cerulean gym as much as I want and stay as long as I want and you can't kick me out! That a deal?" It seems his change in tactic had worked, as Misty's shoulders twitched and her face contorted into an odd face of displeasure.

Misty pressed the button on her pokeball, enlarging it, and threw it in the air to release her starmie.

"With something like that, I really can't afford to loose," she said. Briefly, she examined Gold's mantine. It didn't seem like he used it very much, as it wasn't near the level she was expecting of his pokemon, but that didn't mean it wasn't strong in its own right. Still, she scowled. Was Gold going easy on her? Not only to come at her with the weakest (by Gold's standards) pokemon on his team, but with a water-type pokemon as well?

"Starmie, tackle!" She yelled, insulted by the very notion. Gold smirked, glad and excited that she was agreeing to battle.

"Dodge Mantaro and use supersonic!"

"Out of the water starmie!" She called loudly. She had figured out a long time ago that supersonic and her gym was a strange combination. Her gym echoed, so supersonic was nearly impossible to avoid while out of the water, so the only way to escape was diving in. However, in vice-versa, sound echoed in water too. So the only way to escape it then was to jump out of the water. Starmie followed quickly and was out of the water and up in the air to avoid being forced into confusion.

"Oh not you don't!" Gold shouted. "Mantaro, use bullet seed!"

"Counter with swift and follow with tackle!" Bullet seeds and glowing stars bounced off each other and starmie dived back into the water and began to charge towards mantine with a tackle.

"Counter with take down Mantaro!" Mantaro met Mist's starmie head on and managed to overpower the star shaped pokemon, sending it reeling back.

"Starmie!" Misty yelled. She looked into the water for starmie, and, seeing it spin in the water to let her know it was okay, she sighed in relief.

"Take down again!" As Misty saw Gold's Mantine charge towards starmie, she waited for it to come closer.

"Dodge!" She yelled as Gold's mantine got close enough. "And use flash canon!"

"Flash canon?" Gold mumbled under his breath. Starmie's attack landed a good hit and his mantine was forced to fallback with the total damage dealt to each pokemon now even. Gold wondered to himself when Misty's starmie had learned flash canon, because he certainly couldn't remember her using it when they first battled.

"Go starmie!"

"Use giga impact!"

"Out of the water!" Misty yelled in a slight panic, knowing how strong that attack was. Gold smirked, face set in competitive determination.

"Hyrdo pump!"

"Use ice beam to freeze it starmie!" Misty yelled. Starmie's ice beam had frozen a direct path to Gold's mantine, and Misty wasn't about to let that go to waste. "Now ride it straight to mantine!"

Gold pointed straight at starmie and shouted, "Use bullet seed!"

"Keep pushing forward starmie and tackle it into the water!" Starmie, being ever loyal to Misty's command, continued it's rapid approach to Mantaro, even while taking damage from the grass type move being directed at it and tackled Gold's mantine into the water.

"Rapid spin now!" Gold's teeth grit as he watched his Mantaro get caught in a whirlpool. While using rapid spin, he thought, starmie has to stay in the water. As Gold tried to weigh his options, he assessed the strength on his opponent's rapid spin. She's gotten stronger than before, he realized. Mantaro won't be able to break out of that current to use any physical attacks and elemental attacks would affect the both of them. Gold's lips stretched into a worried smile. Maybe I shouldn't have chosen Mantaro first.

Misty surveyed the seen with strict focus. She was watching; watching Gold's mantine, waiting for it to get dizzy.

"Use supersonic again Mantaro!" Gold called. Misty's fingers twitched in surprise and quickly called for a counter.

"Get out of the water and knock Mantaro with you starmie!" She yelled.

"Again?!" Exclaimed Gold, tired and annoyed at Misty for commanding starmie out of the water for the third time in their match. Starmie let out its strange cry and proceeded to spin into its own whirlpool and knock mantine out of the water, flying up with it.

"Use air slash Mantaro!"

"Thunderbolt full power!"

"What!?" Gold yelled. "Thunderbolt?! Since when did your starmie know how to use thunderbolt?!"

"Don't get distracted!" Misty yelled at him. Gold's attention snapped back to the battle quick enough to see his mantine fall into the water, unable to battle. He quickly called back his pokemon.

"Mantaro, return!" Misty did the same with starmie, muttering a soft "you did great" as it was fully placed back in its pokeball.

"You've gotten stronger Misty," Gold commented with a smile. Misty shrugged and got off the platform.

"As strong as I could get being stuck in a gym battling new comers I guess," she said off-handedly as she made her way towards the back of the gym.

"Hey! Where are you going?! Our battle's not done yet!" Gold yelled from his platform.

"I know that," she told him. "I'm going to get my other pokemon." Gold blinked once, then twice, in stupor.

"You…only had one pokemon on you when you entered the battle?" He asked. Misty nodded, stopping in her tracks to speak to him directly.

"That's why I'm going to get my other pokemon." Misty watched as Gold's lips screwed into a squiggly line before he burst out laughing. Misty gazed on, stupefied as the boy laughed and slipped on some water, falling on his back on the opponent's platform.

"That's really stupid!" He commented. "And you tried to correct me?! YOU should know better than to enter a battle without a full party of pokemon!" Misty's face screwed in annoyance and embarrassment as the younger boy laughed.

"It's not like this is an official match or anything!" She yelled in her outrage. Her other pokemon, swimming in some other part of the gym, manage to hear her cry and felt relieved. It sounded like their trainer was getting back to normal.

"Official match or not, you loose," Gold stated as he composed himself. "You entered the battle with only one pokemon, so you can only use that one pokemon. Let's face it, your starmie may be really strong, but it can't stand up against a whole team, especially my team, by itself." Gold hopped off the opponent's platform and walked his way towards her.

"I hear you got your own small healing facility here; don't be stingy and keep it a secret and let me heal my mantine." Misty's mouth flapped open and closed, trying to think of something to say to him, only to come up empty. In the end, Misty snatched his mantine's pokeball from him and led him to the part of the gym she kept sectioned off for the care of her own pokemon. Setting the pokeball on the healing tray, she gave the button a push and waited for the pokemon to be fully healed. Gold was impressed that she had her own mini-clinic in her gym now, and the jiggle that played once his mantine was fully healed, which was exactly like the one played at pokemon centers, was a nice touch.

"I wasn't actually expecting to beat you. I'm surprised you chose a newcomer on your team to start the battle," said Misty. Gold put Mantaro's pokeball back into his bag and scratched the back of his head.

"You could tell?" Misty nodded.

"He wasn't was leveled as much as I expected your pokemon to be by now."

"Well…Mantaro isn't exactly a newcomer, but he is the newest on my team and I don't use him as much as I do my other pokemon. But I guess our loss—even though I technically won, mind you—was partly at fault from me trying to take you one with a water-type pokemon." He admitted. Misty smiled, a haughty, teasing, and completely sincere smile.

"Yeah, that was a really stupid move of you. Have you been thinking to highly of yourself? I'm glad to have knocked you down a pedestal or two."

"Pshh." Gold leaned back against the wall, his hands behind his head. "It won't happen again, partly because I don't plan on battling for a while. My pokemon and I are in need of some R & R, get what I'm saying?" Misty nodded, leaning against the parallel wall, hands in her pockets.

"That's good. Pokemon and trainers alike need a break every once in a while." At this, a devious smile made its way only Gold's face, making Misty immediately regret saying anything.

"I'm glad you think so," Gold said as he got off the wall and looked around exaggeratingly, pretending to scope out and assess the gym. "I think this place would be a good place for my pokemon to relax."

"Wait what?" Misty said, following after him worriedly.

"And not just my pokemon," Gold continued, "but me too!" Misty grabbed his shoulder and turned him around forcefully.

"Hold it kid. Just who said you could relax here whenever you want?" Gold's smirk turned so goofy that Misty wondered if he was possessed by a ghost-type pokemon.

"You agreed. And I won." All of a sudden, memories of their bet raced through her mind. She tried to grab Gold's jacket as quickly as she could but she was already out of her reach and at the door.

"See ya tomorrow Misty!" He called and he laughed gaily out the door.

"Gold! Wait!" Misty chased him as far as the entrance to her gym before he was out of sight. Her teeth grit and she pinched the bridge of her nose. To anyone else who saw her, they would think she was under serious aggravation or was having a bad headache. Well, that was true in a sense.

She was aggravated because, no matter how much she tried, she couldn't bring herself to dislike the fact that she'd have company tomorrow.

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Word Count: 5,107 / Pages: 11

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