Within Reach

Part 2

by usebubblebeam

A/N: Ah, sorry for this taking so long to be updated! I've been doing little by little each night since I finished the first chapter so... yeah. I'm not entirely happy with the quality of it but I'm rather impressed with myself that I'm sticking to the idea in my head.

It was like nothing had changed at first.

The three of them, plus Pikachu of course, being gathered in the same room and going on like no time had past had been both an amazing and a gratifying feeling. The energy had been elated since the reappearance of the mostly missing member of their little trio with things flowing easily with teasing jabs, informing each other of their current lives and reminiscing about the good old days.

It was enough to slightly distract Misty from her nerves.

But that had all gone down the drain the moment her eyes cracked open right on schedule, her inner body clock working overtime, groaning as she stared up at the ceiling above her as she blinked away the blurriness. After a moment, she began to groan softly and move the blankets so that they were covering her face. Was today really the day? Had time really gone by that fast already?

Even before kicking the coverings off her, she knew that she'd be anxious all day. Of course she would; who wouldn't on such an important day? Her entire future could be decided in a matter of only a few hours. These kind of thoughts were creeping on her like some sort of ghost-type trying to pry all the happy ones away from her as she attempted to psych herself up.

Finally sitting up, the redhead looked around the room to see where her friends were. The room that they had been assigned was a lot more lavish than the ones for the trainers who were competing in the Kanto League tournament or the Silver Conference. Instead of the rural looking rooms, this one had four beds dotted along the walls with expensive-looking covers, oak headboards and side tables to match. The room even had a chandelier, for Mew's sake. It definitely suited the lifestyles that her sisters lived by, not Misty.

Brock was sleeping soundly on his bed, perfectly normal. Usually, the oldest of the three was the one to awaken but Misty had been forced to wake up at pretty much the crack of dawn since she had been appointed Gym Leader of her family's gym. Ash, which was unsurprising, had completely sprawled himself across his own mattress. Pikachu was no better; he was almost exactly like his trainer.

Laughing lightly at the sight, she was soon gathering clothes and her toiletries from her bag and making her way towards the bathroom to prepare for the day.

At the sound of the shower beginning to run, Brock was shaken awake. "Misty?" he called out, voice still husky in sleep. Upon realising she wasn't in the room, the doctor sat up and took hold of the one of the pillows that he had been resting his head on only a second ago, and aimed it towards Ash.

He was met by a startled sound, a pained groan from Pikachu, and a fumbling of sheets as Ash and his starter quite literally rolled off the bed. "Oof!" he groaned. "Brock, what the hell...?" He was incredibly tired, but being forced off his bed and onto the floor at such an early hour, was definitely not the way he wanted to wake up today. He had always complained as a kid about being an only child, desperately wanting a sibling, but who needed a brother when he had Brock?

"Misty's already up." he replied. "She's really gonna do it."

Ash was still in a heap, his head against the fldoor and his legs curled. "Pika..." the electric rodent mumbled, eventually sitting up and rubbing the back of his head with his paw. "Pikapi?"

The trainer forced himself to sit up. "She is," he answered. "It feels like such a long time since we all said what we wanted to be, but look at us now. You're a doctor, Misty's about to become a member of the Elite Four and Pikachu and I are still travelling the world." While he was still half-asleep, it didn't stop him from expressing the pride he felt. All three of them had been ambitious as kids, and they had achieved so much in their pokemon careers.

Brock was now sitting properly as well now. "I'm proud of us all."

Said woman had just finished lathering her hair with a finishing layer of conditioner, now standing under the water as it cascaded down her locks to rid it off the soap. She couldn't hear what her friends were saying about her, but she was pretty much thinking the exact same thing. The water was soothing against her body, momentarily distracting her from what was going to happen today. Her pokemon had voiced their excitement, Brock was adamant about how she was more than ready for this, and even Ash had expressed that he was proud of her vocally.

The steam from all of the hot water was now fogging up the en suite, but Misty didn't seem to notice as she absently focused on the intricate designs of the tiles. The thoughts had been plaguing her for days, the doubts. She couldn't help it.

She jumped at the sound of a rapid tapping sound against the door. "Misty?" Brock called. "You've been in there for fifteen minutes. You done? You're gonna use all the hot water and you know what that means. Are we in for a cold shower?"

"Hot water doesn't run out that fast!"

"With how you take showers, yes it does!" This was Ash's voice now, muffled by the closed wood. "The bathroom is probably flooded!"

She closed her eyes in annoyance, an irritated sound escaping her lips. "Well, with how important today is to me, I'm entitled to a great shower and extra bathroom time!"

It was more than half-an-hour later before Misty had finally emerged from the bathroom, her hair still up in a towel. But she was now fully dressed, a pair of tight denim shorts being covered by a yellow, fashionably arranged sarong with a pokeball design on it, a tight navy blue shirt and what looked like to be the strings of a red bikini beneath it that wrapped around her neck like a halter top. On her exposed thigh, the side that wasn't being covered by the sarong, was a bag strapped around her flesh. Instead of a normal belt, it seemed Misty had opted for that to keep her pokeballs in.

While she seemed to have gained some fashion insight from her sisters, her tomboyish nature wasn't all gone. On her feet were still a pair of high-top red sneakers.

"Is that a Cascade Badge around your neck, Mist?" Ash couldn't help but ask as Brock took his turn to disappear inside the bathroom. While he had noticed her change in outfit, and the fact that she was definitely more grown up in more ways than one, he hadn't noticed the short string around her neck that connected the water droplet.

"Oh, yeah," she said. She was now standing over where her bag was, her free hand lifting the piece, though her thumb covered the centre. "Daisy gave it to me as a good luck charm. Weird, I know, huh? Apparently it was my dad's."

The subject of the Waterflower parents had been a subject that was strictly off limits unless Misty was in the mood to talk about it. Which was extremely rare. In all the years that Ash had known her, the number of times they had been mentioned he could count on both hands. All of their parents had messed up their lives. Brock's father had abandoned his family in favour of going on a pokemon journey while his mother left to pursue some odd goals until they had finally both been convinced to come back to take care of their family, Ash's dad was long-gone on his own pokemon journey and Misty's father had died while his daughters were young. Being the Gym Leader of Cerulean City at the time, he had left the gym to his daughters.

Misty's mother was another story; the truth about their oceanographer of a mother abandoning them just after her husband had died out of grief had been told in strict confidence to the two boys by Daisy. It actually explained why Misty only ever talked about her dad when they spoke of parents and was so attached to Ash's own mother.

He coughed at her words, trying not to make it a big deal. "Mist, if I had known..."

She shook her head. "No, it's okay. It's like my sisters and him are gonna be with me today. Gotta give it my all, right? So, why not have something to show where I came from?" she answered with a smile.

When had Misty become so mature?

Ash was still in his pyjamas while he waited for his friends to finish in the bathroom, and so was still lounging around on his bed.

"You're gonna win."

Finally pulling the towel off her head, her hair tumbled down her back. She had let it grow out the older she got and it now sat at her mid-back. She looked so distinctively like her three older sisters now. Ash couldn't help but feel a little intimidated. He had Brock had been talking about their progress earlier, but he was still sitting there in his pyjamas and a massive bed head.

"We've all trained so hard for this... It feels so weird to say that we're both so close to our dreams. It's almost like yesterday that we were fighting over who was going to keep Togepi or getting lost trying to find the next town."

As she mused, she pulled on a navy fingerless glove that covered her right forearm and a sleuth of black bracelets on her left wrist. He couldn't help but notice, his eyes once again going to the Cascade Badge around her neck. Now that he looked at it properly and Misty wasn't covering it with her thumb, he could see where her Key Stone. The last time he had seen her, it had been hanging off an elastic band that she'd used to tie up her hair.

"There's proof of us going so far, though. The stone on your necklace is." Ash said. He readjusted his hat so that he could focus on it properly. "And us just growing up in general is another result. Who knew you'd grow your hair out and look less scrawny?"

"Who knew that you would go back to school?" the redhead replied without missing a beat. It wasn't out of spite; the two of them were sharing grins and a small chuckle.

"Well, yeah, that's true! But we're on a break right now so it was perfect timing!"

To be standing in a room such as this, the freezing cold nipping at her skin enough to cause goosebumps to rise where her skin was showing, across from Lorelai in all her glory was really something Misty thought would never happen.

Ash and Brock had been leading the way and had even pushed the double doors open for her, the ponytail that she had done up after her hair dried immediately and the strands that framed her face immediately lifting from the impact of the cold wind. She could see the breath falling from the lips of her companions, but soon enough her lips were being trained on Lorelei herself.

The woman was standing, waiting patiently on her own platform. She had clearly aged since Misty had first met her idol during her travels in the Orange Islands with Ash and Tracey. Her dark red hair had been streaked with a few grey strands, though she was still extremely tough. Her stance proved her to be very ready for the battle.

"Misty, welcome." Lorelei greeted, nodding respectfully.

The Gym Leader smiled nervously. "Thank you, Lorelei. Let's have a great battle!"

"I couldn't agree more!"

This exchange had Misty gaining a little confidence; if the ice-type trainer wanted this to be a great battle, then why shouldn't the Gym Leader?

The younger trainer began to make her way up to her side, Ash and Brock following behind her. They knew their friend was antsy, both in nerves and excitement, and so were both glad to be there to support her.

Similarly to her opponent's side, the challenger's side was fitted with another platform. Considering this was Lorelei's personal room, unlike the usual stadium that held the Indigo League conference, the set-up of the interior was customised to her taste. The four tall columns that were holding up the ceiling were surrounded by ice. Snow drifted around the room and Lorelei, who was dressed very lightly, didn't seemed bothered by the cold. Assuming that the two of them would just watch from the platform where Misty would be, all three visitors were surprised by the sudden shaking of the room.

Pikachu couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated by the loud rumbling, shrinking a little bit behind Ash's head but was still very much curious about what was happening. Suddenly, doors slid open for the ground in between the pillars on either side and compacted bleachers began to fold out and set themselves up properly.

All three visiting trainers gasped in awe through the process. "Whoa! How cool is that?" Ash said, stepping towards the bleachers already. Above them was a viewing area but the glass was keeping the people in the main room from seeing who was inside. Across from the bleachers was a large screen that was currently switched off.

Brock paused for a moment, placing a reassuring hand on Misty's shoulder with a smile. She grinned back at him gratefully, the both of them nodding at each other in a silent agreement.

After taking a deep sigh and finally turning to face Lorelei, the two locked eyes and began a stare down. Misty was more than ready for this. The reputation that she had built for herself and her family's gym preceded her. After all that time she spent honing her own skills and helping up-and-coming trainer become stronger, it was time. She had immensely improved, and the rank of her as a Gym Leader had continued to grow and grow.

To match the gym's new rank, under Misty's care, she had completely revamped it. Instead of the entertainment aquatic centre it had previously been, with bright colours everywhere and a giant dewgong on the top of the room to match Daisy's dewgong, it was now a sleek glass pyramid with an incredibly high ceiling, an adaptable battlefield and an even bigger aquarium that it had had prior.

That was an indication. Her skills as a pokemon trainer were an indication.

She was ready for this. It was time.

The screen suddenly lit up with two photos; one of Misty and one of Lorelei. Below their ID photos was their names and four slots where pictures of their pokemon were bound to be. A a man who had previously been unnoticed to Misty stepped up to the field, being the referee. He had two flags in his pockets, clearly for signalling.

A loud siren sounded itself for a moment, letting the two trainers know that the redhead's fate was going to be decided.

"This will be a four-on-four battle between Lorelei of the Kanto Elite Four and Misty, the Cerulean City Gym Leader! This is an official match with no time limit and no substitutions allowed! Let the battle begin!"

"Dewgong, it's time to battle! Let's go!" Lorelei called, throwing the pokeball up the air. The capsule opened up, a bright light popping out to form the shape of the Water and Ice type. It called out its name and landed heavily on the ice field, clapping its flippers together.

"Alright! Politoed, I choose you!"

As soon as the bright light faded to reveal the very cheerful pokemon, it immediately began to leap from one foot to the other, clapping its hands and repeating its name. Since Politoed had evolved, its confidence had increased so much that it was almost like it didn't have a care in the world at times. But Politoed was one of Misty's oldest pokemon and a trusted companion.

"Dewgong, use Hail!"

The sea lion pokemon responded quickly to the command, arching its body as it called on the move. The wind began to pick up and grow harsher, the snow that was already blowing freezing into ice cubes. A cloud formed above the battlefield and soon enough, even bigger ice cubes were dropping from it. Both Misty and Politoed raised their arms to try and block the hail from harming them, the redhead eventually opening an eye to look to where the field was. Lorelei wasn't playing around. She was going to make Misty work to win the match, and she was already off to a good start by setting up like that.

"Use Double Slap to knock them away, Politoed!" she countered, watching as the water-type did exactly that. The move would stay in affect for a little while, so Misty would have to be creative about countering and somehow having Politoed attack Dewgong. "Bubble Beam!"

A jet of bubbles was then aimed right towards Dewgong. It managed to hit the sea lion right in the belly, pushing it back a couple of metres, but it really didn't have that much effect. Dewgong winced slightly in pain, but was more than capable of going on with the battle.

"Ice Beam!"

"Dodge it!"

Very narrowly, Politoed leaped sideways as to avoid getting hit by the strong attack. "Now use Rain Dance!" Going back to clapping and dancing about, a dark cloud soon overcast the battlefield from Politoed conjuring it. The hail was still falling at this point, being accompanied by the water droplets.

"Planning to power up, are we?" Lorelei asked, looking up at the cloud. Her eyes were glinting a little bit. "Don't give them the chance! Double Team!"

A series of dewgong quickly circled around Politoed who had now stopped in the middle of its little dance, glancing around as it attempted locate its real opponent. Misty gritted her teeth slightly, ignoring the rain that had begun to pelt down onto them harder. The strategy was a simple one, but if well implemented, it was effective.

"Don't worry, Politoed! Use Bubble Beam to find the real one!"

"Lorelei's really good... It looks like it's going to be a really long battle." Ash mused from his perch, eyes glued to the battlefield as he watched Politoed spin around in a circle with a well-aimed Bubble Beam. Dewgong had soon been hit with the attack, the Double Team illusion fading instantly at that. "Good job! Don't you think so, Brock?"

The breeder seemed to be immersed in the battle as well, but for a completely different reason. "Lorelei, my love, don't let this setback freeze you! Otherwise I'll use my body heat to thaw you out!"

"We're supposed to be here for Misty, not Lorelei..." Ash said, nudging his very enamoured friend in the side. Is this what all of his friends had to go through every time he battled an older female trainer?

By the time Brock had settled down and the two of them had refocused on the battle, Lorelei had ordered her dewgong to use Take Down. Dewgong began to quickly slide across the ice covering the battlefield. Its smooth belly and thick skin allowed it to glide across the ground with ease. Politoed was pretty much stuck in one spot; the hail had started to slow down, but the rain across the ground wasn't helping to slow its opponent down at all. It was almost skating around Politoed.

"Jump up!"

"Do it now, Dewgong!"

As Misty's pokemon leaped up, Dewgong seemed to shoot across the field and hit its opponent square in its stomach. Politoed was then flying back through the stadium.

"Politoed!" Misty called out. It was falling quickly. 'Think, Misty, think!' Would Politoed be able to do what she'd had planned while it was in the air like this? "Use the force from being pushed back and use Earthquake!"

Lorelei's eyes widened. Politoed had been wincing in pain but upon hearing its trainers voice, it seemed to remember what today was. Calling out its name to answer, Politoed's expression was now showing how determined it was. Forcing itself upright almost right before it hit the ground, Politoed slammed its feet upon hitting the surface so that it began to shake.

Dewgong allowed a pained groan to be released as the attack hit, Politoed as well still in pain from the Take Down attack. But Dewgong had also been hit with recoil damage. The two pokemon looked about as tired as each other at this point, but the battle had only just started. The aftershocks were still in affect from the Earthquake attack.

"Bubble Beam again!"

While Dewgong was still recovering from the aftershocks, Politoed took the opportunity to send a barrage of bubbles towards the other water-type. The hail had slowed down significantly as well, allowing the two pokemon on the field a little more ease to move around as well.

Lorelei was watching the battle like a fearow, trying to find any opportunity to counter attack. Politoed finally stopped, needing to catch its breath. That was when Lorelei pounced.

"Dewgong, use Rest!"

"What?!"

Misty cursed under her breath. Dewgong closed its eyes and remained still, slowly regurgitating the energy that it had lost. The only upside to this was that it would be asleep for a few turns now. But otherwise, everything that Misty and Politoed had achieved up until now in the battle had been all for naught and there was no denying that her pokemon was exhausted but Dewgong would be back to full health in no time.

Politoed was staring down its opponent, no longer dancing cheerfully. They needed to act quickly before Dewgong woke up again and Lorelei could order it to attack.

"Politoed, Double Slap!"

It immediately jumped forward to be right in front of Dewgong, and a slew of flying hands went against Dewgong. Since it was asleep, it couldn't react until it would awaken normally. Politoed jumped back just in case, following up with another Bubble Beam at its trainer's command.

The dewgong was taking the attacks rather well. It was definitely well-trained, but that didn't mean that Misty hadn't worked very hard to train hers to a very high standard as well.

In fact, she was one of the best Gym Leaders in Kanto.

While Politoed slowed up on its barrage of attacks, Dewgong had finally started to awaken. It blinked a couple of times tiredly, not exactly reacting.

"Earthquake before it gets ready to attack again, Politoed!"

"Ice Beam!"

As the force of Politoed's jump landed on the field to shake things up, Dewgong managed to fire the Ice-type attack, though its accuracy was distorted from the Earthquake. Even so, Politoed still managed to be hit, one of its feet beginning to be encased in ice that was connected to the ground.

Beginning to panic when it realised this, Politoed struggled to pull its foot of the ice but to no avail. It was trying to move around but was completely stuck, completely vulnerable. It was waving its arms back and forth but to no avail.

Misty gritted her teeth. While they were both lucky that the Ice Beam hadn't hit dead-on, Politoed was now at a disadvantage because it couldn't move and Dewgong could easily slide across the ice.

It was Lorelei's terrain, and Misty was struggling to gain her footing.

"Good one, Lorelei!" she said, offering her grin as she rattled her brain for something to do. Physical attacks wouldn't work. "Even with Earthquake in affect, Dewgong managed to pin Politoed down. Nice work!"

"Right back at you, Misty! From what I've seen so far, you've trained your pokemon well!"

To hear that made the Gym Leader's heart swell with pride. "Well, you've seen nothing yet. Politoed, Bubble Beam!"

Ash and Brock turned to look at each other during this exchange. Misty had looked to be freaking out only a second ago because Politoed was trapped and could no longer move about freely but now was battling confidently like she normally would. It was like a switch had gone off inside her brain. Maybe hearing words of encouragement from her idol was exactly the boost she needed.

The Bubble Beam attack shot right out and hit Dewgong in the belly once more, Politoed panting heavily as it tried to push through. Dewgong slid back once more from the Water-type attack, being startled by the force behind it. But it wasn't going down that easily.

"Ice Beam, Dewgong!" Lorelei yelled out.

Soon enough, the two were exchanging blows, with Dewgong not even bothering to dodge as both sides were relentless. It would occasionally move out of the way so the Politoed's attack would hit it only slightly but even with the HP it had recovered from using Rest, it had barely done anything to help.

With one last Ice Beam coming from Dewgong's side, Politoed was hit square in the face. It was pushed off-balance, the ice that had been frozen around its leg finally breaking as it went flying back from its opponent's move.

It soon skidded to a halt in front of Misty, the trainer yelling out its name in concern.

"Politoed!"

The Water-type allowed a strained "Poli..." to escape from its mouth, completely blacked out after finally giving in. Misty hurried forward, kneeling decide her poor teammate and ignoring the cold as it snipped at the bare skin of her knees.

"Oh, Mew, Politoed... You battled amazingly." she mused, gently manoeuvring Politoed so that its head was resting in her lap. It groaned its name sadly again, staring up at its trainer. "You were fantastic! You really did your best. And you know how strong Lorelei is." She offered Politoed a smile, completely genuine in her words.

"Poli politoed..."

"Don't worry. We'll win this for sure."

Pulling out a pokeball from the strapped bag on her leg, she raised it just above her pokemon's head. "Thanks, Politoed. Return and get some rest."

As soon as it disappeared in a red beam of light, the redhead made her way back to her trainer's box. It wasn't easy seeing that; her pokemon were all confident in their skills and were all strong and capable battlers so it really bruised their ego when they lost. So for Politoed, she'd be sure to win this.

"Whoa, I can't believe she lost..." Ash said, staring in disbelief at the battlefield. Both he and Brock had their eyes glued to the battle, the exchange being very intense. While all of them battled, it wasn't often that they really got to see Misty fired up like this since she was usually battling against egotistical trainers who were overconfident. Ash was the main battler in their little group, and with Brock's interest in breeding and being a doctor, he didn't battle as much anymore.

Pikachu's ears dropped, lowering the fans it was holding that he had been using to cheer Misty on. "Pikachupi..."

"Don't worry, you guys. You know how strong she is. She'll make a comeback. Plus, look at Dewgong. It won't last much longer with how much damage it took from Politoed." Brock replied, pressing a comforting hand to Pikachu's head and looking over at this friend. "She's doing pretty good. Don't lose faith in her just yet. She's worked hard for this."

"You're right..."

The electric rodent, who was sitting in between the two males, immediately perked up. He once again began waving the fans around while chanting Misty's name. "Pikachupi! Pikachupi!"

"Your Politoed put up a great fight, Misty. It's very strong." Lorelei said, keeping her eyes trained on the young woman. Dewgong nodded in agreement, though it was struggling to keep itself upright. "It really fought valiantly. It's not often that I come close to losing like that. I haven't been this excited over a battle in a long time." Her eyes were fiery behind her glasses as she spoke.

"Me neither. But don't start thinking that you're going to win, Lorelei. There's still a long way to go!" Misty replied, a large grin gracing her lips as she pulled out her next pokeball.

She tossed it up in the air. It was her partner's turn.

"Misty calls Starmie!"

A/N: This was incredibly long, wow... Sorry about the battle. I'm trying my best but I either tend to go overboard or not add enough in. It's never in between with me. Oh, well... Despite how much I'm kind of on the fence with this chapter, I'm quite proud of myself, honestly?

Anyway, please consider leaving a review! They're much appreciated!

To those who've been reading, reviewing and favouriting, thank you so much!

To NeoXen7; Ash is currently still attending school in the Alola region, but this takes place a few months after the episodes where Brock and Misty are featured. When I initially came up with the idea, I hadn't expected for them to make an appearance, so... Now I'm trying to work it into the timeline. Ash would probably be nearing the end of his time in Alola and is currently on holiday (like term break?).

Word Count: 4,904