Second Period had already drifted by, and Misty and Gary were still in the Main Office, awaiting punishment. Mrs. Maple had been in the Principal's Office for a while now, they were still deciding if counseling would settle their differences.

"How long are they going to be?" Misty whispered, her thumbs fiddling in her lap.

"This is all your fault," Gary muttered from one seat away down a row of chairs. He was still holding his sore cheek from when Misty had punched him.

Misty's eyes snapped into a glare at him. "My fault? You shouldn't have touched me!"

"Whatever! You're the only one that's going to get in trouble. Gramps is going to let me off like he always does."

"Yeah we'll see about that."

Misty rolled her eyes and stared intensely at the Principal's door. 'If they were going to let him off the hook, we wouldn't be in here for this long. They're deciding something drastic, I bet. Oh no, I can't afford for this to be on my record..'

Finally, Mrs. Maple opened the door. "You two may come in now."

"About time!" Gary swiftly stood up and entered the room, looking too optimistic for his own good. Misty slowly filed in behind him.

"Take a seat, you two," ordered Mr. Oak.

Misty sat in one of the leather chairs up by his desk.

"Look, Old Man, do I really need to be here? Just give Misty detention and we'll call it a day."

"Sit down, Gary."

Gary rose an eyebrow, noticing the seriousness in his grandfather's voice and slid into the chair beside Misty.

Mrs. Maple cleared her throat then began her story, "As you know, I came into the room to see how Mr. Giovanni was doing on his first day. When I walked in, I immediately saw these two bickering as usual and then Misty punched him."

"But you didn't notice the big fat CAT he had on his desk?"

"Stop your play-talk, Gary, this is a situation that needs to be dealt with," said Mr. Oak.

"Gramps, I'm-"

"I only punched him because he touched my knee," Misty spoke out. "In fact, I should press Sexual Harrassment charges!"

"Press charges against ME? You ATTACKED me!"

"It was out of self defense, moron!"

"Quiet! The both of you..." Mr. Oak sighed, "You two have been enough of a disruption in your classes. It's time I did something; many teachers have made this clear. Since compromise is out of the question, you two will have to learn how to deal with each other... respectfully."

Misty scoffed. "Respect my ass."

"Actually that's the only thing about you I respect..." Gary muttered, his eyes flirtitiously stalking Misty's figure.

"UGH! You see why I can't be around him?"

"Indeed," Mr. Oak nodded, "So I have decided to schedule guidance counseling sessions every Friday and Monday after school for an hour. Your counseler will be Mr. Brock, and you'll both have to attend the classes.. together. If you do not show up after school, you will be forced to during your lunch periods everyday."

"WHAT? I don't need counseling, I need to get away from HIM!" Misty stood and pointed down at Gary.

Gary jumped to his feet. "Gramps, you have to be kidding me! I'm not the one with anger problems, send HER to counseling."

"Enough," Mr. Oak waved his dismissive hand, "Get to class, you're already late for third period."


Outside of the Main Office, Misty was fuming. She snatched Gary by his shirt collar and slammed him up against a locker.

"You decide to be a perv, and I get in trouble? Tell your Grandfather to call off the counseling sessions," she threatened.

Gary smirked to hide that tiny bit of fear in him.

Tiny.

"You're stretching the shirt, babe."

He grabbed Misty's feeble wrist and pulled her hand from his collar. She failed to snatch her hand back, and Gary chuckled at the attempt as his hand held her wrist in an iron lock. He whirled her around in one swift moment, then spun so that he was now leaning over her and her back was leaning into the metal locker.

"I tried to get him to change his mind, but too many teachers are working against us. We have no choice."

Misty rebelled to this. "I don't care! There has to be something that you can..."

"Who dares to walk through the these hallways?" A woman's voice boomed through the hall.

Gary dropped Misty's wrist and pulled away from her. Two figures with black hooded cloaks on faced off with Misty and Gary.

"Who the hell are you guys?" Gary demanded.

"All us to introduce ourselves..." said a male's voice.

"To protect the hallways from devastation!"

"To unite all students without our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love.."

"To extend our reach to the stars above..."

A magenta-haired female tore off her cloak. "Jessie."

The blue-haired male ditched his cloak as well. "James."

"Team Rocket, blast off with the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or perpare to fight."

Jessie and James pointed to the pair, "That's right!"

...

...

...

Blink. Blink.

"Uhh..." Misty didn't know what to say.

"Ah, whatever, I'm going to class." Gary casually threw his arms behind his head, turned, and walked off.

"You little twerp!" Jessie yelled, "You're not going anywhere without showing me a hall pass first."

"Since when does Oak High even have Hall Monitors?" Misty inquired.

James smirked. "Since Boss Giovanni decided it!"

"And soon it's going to be Team Rocket High, and soon the world will only be Team Rocket," Jessie stated smugly.

"Well I think you're all nuts," Gary bluntly said, looking over his shoulder.

"SHUT UP YOU DUMB KID, OF COURSE YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND- Wait a minute..." Jessie paused, "Y-you're Gary Oak."

"Everyone knows who I am."

Jessie and James turned their backs for a moment, then whispered to each other.

"That's The Boss's Assistant Henchman, he's very important," Jessie said in a hushed tone.

"Yeah, we're supposed to work under him and do whatever he says..." said James.

They whirled back around, smiling widely.

"Okay, we've had a change of heart!" said Jessie. "We're going to be your faithful Guardians in the school. Whatever you want us to do, we'll do it."

"Are you kidding me?" Misty was outraged. 'Why is everyone kissing up to HIM?'

Gary chuckled deviously. "Sounds good to me. Now, go get me a soda!"


"Counseling?"

"Yep. Every Monday and Friday afterschool."

"Wow, bummer."

"At least it doesn't conflict with my Swim Team schedule."

Misty sighed as she pushed open the door to the school's outside pool area. It was the end of the school day, and she wanted to get some practice while Ash and Tracey watched. Ash agreed to time her and Tracey would be on the bleacher's drawing. The sound of female giggling filled her ears, and then his voice.

"Ladies ladies, you're splashing around too much," Gary said while laughing.

Misty stared in disbelief. "OAK! What are you doing here?"

He was in the pool with two other bimbos. "Having a good time, what else?" He smugly eyed her.

"Get OUT of the pool!"

"No, why don't you take off all those unnecessary clothes and get in?"

"GRRR!"

"Gary, just get out," Ash insisted, "Misty's joining the swim team and she needs to practice her hardest."

"I don't see how I'm getting in the way. She can use that half of the pool, and I'll use this half."

"FINE," she snarled.

His amused gaze followed her figure to the girl's locker room. She eventually came out in a blue and white swim suit - Oak High's colors. Gary whistled rather fondly, which made her growl.

"Ignore him, Misty," Ash advised.

"Hmph, I will!" Misty took her stance on the pools diving board. She stretched a little and then sucked in a deep breath before diving in. She lingered under water, loving the feel of the chilly surroundings engulfing her body. 'This is why I love swimming... it's so calm and peaceful underwater, as the water cleanses you of everything. But for some reason.. I feel weak.. I feel like I'm slipping away...'

Misty pushed her arms through the clear blue liquid. Her vision was growing rather foggy, and she knew it wasn't because of the water. 'I feel so tired.. am I imagining this? Maybe its because I've been stressed out lately..'

She continued falling and falling, deeper into the water until the floor and her back met impact.

Everything faded into black.


"Misty! What the hell happened to her?"

"You act like I know, Ash-boy."

"She just fainted! Let's get her to a hospital!"

"Wait no, she's coming to!"

"H-huuh...?" Misty rolled to the side and spat up water across the ground, then she shifted onto her back and the first pair of eyes to meet her were Gary's.

He was trying to look calm, collected, but angst showed in his eyes.

Concern. Worry.

For her? Not likely.

"W-what happened?" She asked tiredly.

"You passed out," said Tracey, standing over her beside Ash.

Gary was closet to her, and on his knees. His face... masculine and hiding fear. His bare upper body... dripping wet and toned. His hair... drenched and drooping over his eyes.

Misty's face burned red when she realize that in the split moment of her fatigue, she was checking out Gary Oak.

"G-get away from me!" she screamed, scrambling to her feet.

"What the hell? I save you and that's all I get?" Gary frowned.

"I only pass out due to large amounts of stress, which, by the way, is probably YOUR fault!"

"Fine, if I'm stressing you out I'll just leave. Let's go girls," he nodded to the two girls he was originally with in the pool. Before disappearing through a door, his black eyes met Misty's green ones. She felt surprised when all traces of snobbery and amusement were gone. He'd just wanted to make sure she was alright.


"Gary!" Ash had caught Gary in the boy's locker room. Gary had finished taking a shower and walked over to his backpack with a towel hanging from his hips.

"What is it, Ashy-boy?" He sounded ticked off about something.

"I know you're mad at Misty, but I'm grateful that you saved her...actually I'm kind of mad you beat me to it..." Ash shyly admitted.

"If you came here to thank me, don't bother."

"Not exactly... look, Misty only has faint spells when she's under serious amounts of stress."

"Not my fault she has little to no self control." Gary had dried down with another towel, then pulled on a shirt and some jeans.

"That's just it, you're the only one who makes her that way. Well, you and her sisters."

Gary slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Get to the point, Ash."

"I want you to leave Misty alone. I don't want anything bad to happen to her because of you."

Gary smirked, approaching Ash and placing his hand on his shoulder. "Make me," he challenged before leaving the locker room.