Misty was having the time of her life.

Her adrenaline spiked as she spurred her Gyarados on, dodging Thunderbolts from the challenger's Raichu and firing a fierce Dragonbreath in return, weaving under the water's surface like a deadly missile as the Raichu fired more Thunderbolts frantically, unable to avoid the inevitable attack –

Brring ring! Misty froze as the ringing sound rung loud and clear, cutting into the battle and causing the challenger to pat their pockets for their phone before eying her inquisitively.

Misty's cheeks burned with embarrassment. Having your phone ring during a Gym Battle was the absolute worst thing that could happen, especially as the Gym Leader. It was considered extremely unprofessional, and Gym Leaders were expected to keep their cell phones off at all times. Misty had never bothered to do this, since nobody ever called her. Oh, how she regretted that now.

"Um, excuse me for a moment." Misty smiled kindly at the challenger, who blinked owlishly at her while staring down her Gyarados apprehensively. Gyarados unhinged its sharp-toothed mouth and roared at him, causing both the challenger and his Raichu to yelp and jump ten feet in the air. Gyarados nodded at her from the corner of its eye; it would keep them busy until Misty came back.

After sprinting to the back hallway, Misty whipped out her phone and glared at it. Who would be idiotic enough to call her during Gym hours? She checked the caller ID, and groaned. It was Ash Ketchum. Of course it was Ash Ketchum. She called him back, and took a deep breath in preparation to lecture his ears off.

"Hey, Misty!" Ash's gleeful, optimistic voice wasn't hard to discern through the phone speaker. "How are you?"

"Ash." Misty's voice was low, and deadly calm. "Do you know how much trouble you've gotten me into?"

There was silence on the other end for a while, and Misty could almost envision him grinning sheepishly. "No, but we'll talk about that later. Listen, I'm coming back to Kanto. Brock invited me over for a shopping trip. I'll stop by your Gym in approximately –" Ash checked his watch " – five minutes. There's a Pokémon I want you to meet. Trust me, you'll get along great!"

"W-what?" Misty stammered incomprehensibly, flabbergasted. "Wha – you – what – shopping trip?"

"See you, Misty! I can't wait to see you again!"

"Ash, don't you dare hang up on me –"

Ash hung up. Misty groaned again.

True to his word, Ash really did arrive at the Gym in five minutes. He burst through the doors in typical Ash style, shouting "Misty!" gleefully. His words were punctuated by his Pikachu squealing "Pika!" before sprinting towards her, swerving around the challenger's Raichu (yeah, that poor kid was still being stared down by Misty's Gyarados), leaping clean over her Gyarados and crashing into her. Normally, Misty would have responded by laughing and hugging Pikachu back, but these certainly weren't normal circumstances. Besides, she still had to murder Ash, so she gently set Pikachu down and stormed towards him.

"Misty! It's so great to see you again! Listen, I've got a favor to ask you – "

"I am not doing any favors for you."

" – can you please babysit my Chikorita?"

…what? "Ash, do I look like a Pokémon babysitter to you?"

Ash grinned sheepishly. "No, but you're my friend, right? That's what friends do for each other! Besides, there's a set time for the shopping trip, and I can't be late!"

"Ash, I am not babysitting your Pokémon. Since when did you shop, anyway?"

Ash threw a Pokeball at her. Misty caught it instinctively. "Thanks so much, Misty! Bye!"

"W-what?" Ash had tricked her! Pikachu leapt towards Ash, and both of them were out the door before Misty could even hurl a single insult at them. Misty groaned loudly for the third time that day, putting her head in her hands and wondering how on earth she ended up in these situations.

"Y-your friend seems like an avid shopper." The challenger offered timidly, yelping again when Gyarados roared at him before falling silent.

Misty sighed. "Can you wait here for a moment?" It was more of an order than a request, punctuated by Gyarados's roar. The challenger had no choice but to cower in the corner some more, ducking behind his Raichu as Gyarados sprayed water on them.

After wearily trudging back to the back hallway, Misty opened the Pokeball. If she had to keep this Pokémon here for as long as Ash was gone, she might as well get to know it. To be completely honest, the Pokémon looked like a green lima bean with a leaf sticking out of it, with bright red eyes and stubby legs. It was unbelievably adorable. "So this is what a Chikorita looks like!"

Chikorita looked up at her, its wide, sad eyes nearly breaking Misty's heart. Misty couldn't help herself; she knelt down to hug the tiny Pokémon, but suddenly Chikorita jumped away. It opened its mouth, and started wailing. It was crying, Misty realized suddenly, but this was the most raucous crying she had ever heard; Chikorita wailed like a banshee.

Hesitantly, Misty began stroking Chikorita's fur, but the Pokémon only wailed louder. Misty squeezed her eyes shut, muttering "Oh gosh, what do I do?" Finally, Misty took her phone out again and dialed Ash's number. The phone rang for a moment, and suddenly Ash's loud voice bombarded her ears.

"Misty! Hey, you're just in time! We're at the spa right now. Brock fell asleep during his pedicure, so you can't talk to him now. Anyway, what's up?"

"You're at a – Brock got a pedicure?" Since when did Brock get his nails done? And why hadn't they thought to invite her to the spa, too? Misty pouted.

"Your Chikorita is crying." Misty informed him. "What am I supposed to do?"

"What? Oh, that." Ash laughed a little. "Chikorita just wants her daily flower."

Wait, what? "Chikorita wants her daily what?"

"Flower, Misty. Jeez, keep up. Anyway, Chikorita loves flowers. Find her a flower, and she'll be fine."

"Ash, where am I supposed to find a flower?"

There was silence on the other end for a while, before Ash spoke up again. "I'm sure you'll find one, Misty! You're good at that stuff."

"Wait, is there a certain type of flower I'm supposed to get? Or – "

Ash hung up. Misty swore, ending the call before sweeping the Chikorita into her arms and walking out the door past the challenger, Raichu and Gyarados. "Stay there," Misty told the challenger. Gyarados gave an affirmative nod before curling around the terrified trainer and his Raichu, effectively trapping them in place while letting out a huge yawn and falling asleep.

Misty and Chikorita left. There was silence in the Gym for a while.

"Um…" The challenger tried in vain to escape Gyarados's tight embrace. "Can somebody help me?"

Raichu headbutted the Gyarados. Gyarados snorted before sinking into a deep slumber, blissfully ignoring the Trainer's cries of "Help! Hey, anyone? Heeelp!"

Misty and Chikorita finally came across a field of flowers near the harbor. Misty sighed in relief, while Chikorita gasped, red eyes lighting up in elation.

"Chikorita, do you like these flowers?" Misty asked kindly.

Chikorita certainly did like them. In fact, she liked them so much that with a squeal of glee she cannonballed into the flowers, sending flower petals raining down on Misty.

"Eek!" Misty squeaked, brushing flower petals off her clothes before laughing a little at Chikorita's obvious glee.

Chikorita stopped suddenly, staring curiously at the ground before its eyes widened and it backed away slowly.

Misty stepped forward. "What's wrong, Chikorita?"

While Chikorita played in the flowers, she had accidentally stepped on and crushed a fallen Beedrill nest. And Beedrill, as everyone knows, do not take kindly to people and Pokémon who destroy their nests. A swarm of Beedrill now hovered over the field of flowers, glaring murderously at Chikorita. Chikorita backed away nervously before letting out a squeal and breaking into a full-out sprint. The Beedrill zoomed after her.

Misty, who had a bad case of arachnophobia, was terrified of bugs. She screamed so loud that even Ash, Brock and Pikachu could hear it from the other side of town.

("Hey, what was that?" Ash inquired curiously. Brock shrugged. "I dunno. It kind of sounded a bit like Misty.")

Misty had a split second decision to make. If she ran away from the Beedrill, she would lose track of Chikorita. And Misty knew Ash would be devastated if she lost Chikorita. Misty swallowed her fear and sprinted after them.

Chikorita finally managed to escape the Beedrill by leaping into the harbor. Chikorita did not know how to swim, and so she flailed frantically in the water. Luckily, Misty was a more than competent swimmer, and she managed to fish Chikorita out in no time. The two of them trudged back to the gym soaking wet and covered in flower petals and Beedrill stings.

Ash was waiting for her in the Gym. Chikorita gave a little cry of joy when she saw Ash, nuzzling him gratefully. "She says she had lots of fun with you! Wow, Misty, you really are a miracle worker!"

Misty was about to smile and thank him, but she stopped herself just in time. "She'd better have." She muttered, but she couldn't stop a stupid grin from spreading across her face.

"Thanks so much, Misty." Ash really did look grateful. "Oh, and would you mind babysitting Charizard as well? I have to go to the mall."

Ash threw another Pokéball at Misty, and she caught it instinctively before realizing her mistake. "Oh no you don't – Ash Ketchum, come back here!"

Ash turned and ran, and Misty sprinted after him. They zipped out the doors, and the Gym was silent again.

The challenger Gyarados trapped blinked owlishly, while his Raichu looked around in confusion. "…Hello?"

AN: Hey! This story is actually based off an inside joke I created in sixth grade, when I drew a Chikorita and a flower and started saying "Chikorita wants her daily flower." to annoy my parents and friends. Soon enough, it got turned into a meme, and I decided to write a fanfiction about it (against my better judgement). So that's the basis of this story. I had no idea how it would turn out, but it did turn out pretty different from what I expected.

So Happy New Year, and I hope you enjoyed this! Leave a review whether you liked it or not; I love constructive criticism!