Ash was going to Pewter City to get his first gym badge. To get to Pewter City, you had to travel through the Viridian forest.

"Do you have any gym badges yet?" asked Ash.

"No, I don't," I said. "I haven't had Pokemon for very long either. As you can see, we still need a lot of training."

"I'm going to be the best Pokemon trainer ever!" Ash bragged like the boy he was.

"So what Pokemon are you going to use to beat Brock?" I asked.

"Pikachu, of course!" he said.

"Ha!" I burst. "No, really, what other Pokemon do you have?"

He looked at me in confusion. "I don't have any other Pokemon."

"You're joking, right?" I said. "Then you're definitely not getting a Boulder badge. Brock uses rock type Pokemon."

"Okay, so what?"

"You have a Pikachu. Pikachu is an electric type Pokemon."

"Yeah, and?"

I wanted to slap him. "Electric types aren't super effective against rock types!"

He looked from me to Pikachu, jaw dropped. "Really?! Oh no!"

"Pika-pi..."

"Wow, then I have to catch more Pokemon!" Ash declared. "Alright, Pokemon, come on out! I'm going to catch you!"

Remarkably, no Pokemon came out of the bushes for Ash to catch them. We walked on until I heard a weird squeaky noise at our feet. It was a Caterpie.

"Wow! Who's that Pokemon?" asked Ash, reaching for his field guide.

"It's Caterpie," I said, backing as far away from it as possible. I hated bug Pokemon.

"Caterpie," Ash read, "the caterpillar Pokemon. Cool! I'm going to catch a Caterpie!" But first, he checked it off in his Pokedex. Nerd. Then he found an empty pokeball and tossed it at the slimy little green worm. It caught. "All right! I caught a Caterpie!" he shouted, spinning in a circle and flourishing his pokeball arm like he was posing for a weird photoshoot. "Now I can go to Pewter City and beat Brock!"

"Ash, it's not that easy," I said. "Gym battles aren't the same as fighting a weak Pokemon you found in the wild. And judging from your Spearow situation, you aren't even good at that. You caught this Caterpie without even fighting it. That means it's very weak. You need to train it a lot."

Ash frowned. "Hey, don't talk about my Caterpie like that. I'm sure it's a great Caterpie."

"Pokemon are only as great as their trainer," I said, repeating a line from Daddy.

"Well, alright then, if you're so good, then battle us! My Caterpie against one of your Pokemon!"

"Erm...," I said, backing away again. Ash released his Caterpie, and I jumped backwards in fright.

"Arthur...what's wrong?" asked Ash.

"I...I don't like bug Pokemon!" I confessed.

Ash smiled. "You're afraid of a Caterpie?" Then he started laughing. "What are you, a girl?!"

"No!" I shouted. "Everyone has something they don't like, and I don't like bug Pokemon, okay? So just put it back please."

But Ash was still laughing. "Afraid...of Caterpie...!"

"SHUT UP!" I shouted, and then I felt fuzzy little feet against my leg. I looked down and saw Caterpie trying to crawl up my dress. I shrieked and shook my leg, but when I did, I fell backwards. And when I pushed myself back up, I realized my hat and jacket had fallen off.

The blood had drained from Ash's face. "Arthur...," he stammered, "why are you wearing a dress?"

And I just couldn't lie to this simpleton any longer. I sighed and tied my messy red hair back up into a ponytail. "Because my name's not Arthur. It's Misty."

He backed away slowly. "You're a girl." I nodded. "And you have Pokemon." I nodded again. "How? You're not one of those Team Rocket people, are you?"

"No!" I exclaimed. "I...I found them. Nobody was using them, I swear! I just...my whole life, I wanted to be a Pokemon trainer...so I thought if I put on this hat and jacket, maybe I could." I tossed the derby angrily into the bushes. "But I was stupid. I see that now. Goodbye, Ash!"

I started running back towards Viridian when Ash called, "Wait!"

I turned around. "I'm not going to let you take me to the police! I'm not going home either!"

"I don't want to take you to the police," he said. "I don't want you to go home. I...I still want you to come with me."

"Huh?"

"I don't care if you're a girl," he said. "You know more about Pokemon than I do. I...I need you, Misty."

"But if I'm caught and I get in trouble, then you'll be in trouble, too," I said.

"Well, then I guess you can't get caught, then," said Ash. And we traveled on.

I had to wear my hat and jacket when we reached Pewter City. Ash now had two more Pokemon, a Pidgeotto and a Butterfree evolved from his Caterpie. I still didn't think he could beat Brock with them, but I had to let him try.

"Are you going to try to beat Brock too, Misty?" Ash asked.

"Hm? Oh," I said. "Wow. I guess...I don't know. I never thought about it."

"Don't lie to me," said Ash. "Getting gym badges is what being a Pokemon trainer is all about! It's what you've been waiting your whole life for, isn't it?"

"Well, when you put it that way, I guess I have to," I said. "Yeah! Sorry. This is just all so new to me. When you've been told your whole life you can't do something...it's hard to actually do it, you know?"

"That makes sense," said Ash sympathetically. "Well, I really think you owe it to yourself to give it a go. Just don't use Psyduck."

"Right," I laughed. "But I think I need to take my Pokemon and train them a bit in the wild before I face Brock." I hadn't battled anyone since those thugs in Viridian, and that was an epic failure.

After a bite to eat, I parted ways with Ash to go train. I hoped I wouldn't run into the weird rock seller guy again while I was out there. He had some strange fixation on Ash.

I went to the river by what looked like an abandoned mill and dipped my pole in the water. I couldn't catch a person twice, right?

"MEOWTH! ACH! I HATE THE WATER!" said the Meowth that was dangling on the end of my line.

"You again!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Where are your trainers?"

"PREPARE FOR TROUBLE!"

"AND MAKE IT DOUBLE!"

"TO PROTECT THE WORLD FROM DEVASTATION!"

"TO UNITE ALL PEOPLES WITHIN OUR NATION!"

"TO DENOUNCE THE EVILS OF TRUTH AND LOVE!"

"TO EXTEND OUR REACH TO THE STARS ABOVE!"

"JESSIE!"

"JAMES!"

"TEAM ROCKET BLASTS OFF AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT!"

"SURRENDER NOW OR PREPARE TO FIGHT!"

"MEOWTH! THAT'S RIGHT!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" I shouted.

"The same could be asked of you," said Jessie, bending down to remove my derby hat, "Misty Bay."

I stared up into her eyes. "I...I don't know what you're talking about."

"A redhead of ten years old," James said, reading from a newspaper. "May be seen with a bike, derby hat and large grey jacket. Has three Pokemon: a Goldeen, a Staryu, and a Psyduck."

I hung my head.

"And using your father's name," said Jessie. "That is bold."

"Please," I sobbed. "Please, let me go. I won't get in your way again, I promise. Just don't take me to the police."

"Now why would we do that?" asked James, bending down beside me.

"Little girl," said Jessie, bending down on the other side. "We don't want to hurt you. We want to help you."

"Help me?" I asked. "Why would you help me?"

"Because I was you," said Jessie. "You'll never get what you want this way, kid." She took a puff of her cigarette.

"Wouldn't you like to be somewhere you can be yourself?" asked James.

"Instead of hiding in the shadow of that incompetent fool," said Jessie.

"How'd you like to be the star of your own show? Call your own shots?" asked James.

"And trade this ridiculous disguise for a fabulous dress?" asked Jessie.

Her dress was pretty fabulous. "Are you asking me to join you?" I asked.

"We hardly have to ask, do we?" said James. "We're your only option."

"The only organization to recognize and welcome women Pokemon trainers," said Jessie.

"But you're criminals," I said.

"Criminals?" asked James.

"Oh, darling, you don't understand," said Jessie. "We aren't criminals. We're a business."

"You steal Pokemon," I said.

"To make them stronger," said James.

"And as they grow stronger, we grow stronger," said Jessie.

"Although, if you think you'd do better out here on your own, with that boy and his Pikachu..."

"I am better," I said, pushing them off me. "Now leave here, or I'll tell the police."

"Will you now?" said James. "Imagine that, a criminal, turning in criminals!"

"I am not a criminal!" I declared.

"That dress under your jacket says otherwise, sweetie," said Jessie, blowing smoke in my face, "and those stolen pokeballs in your pocket."

"But...but...!" I stammered. I couldn't think of a way to defend myself. They were right.

Jessie took my hand. "Go to the Viridian City gym. Knock three times. Two short knocks, one long knock. The password is 'Persian.'"

"The Viridian City gym is abandoned...," I said.

"According to respectable society, yes," said James.

"But we're not part of that scene anymore, are we?" said Jessie. She patted me on the head before following her partners deep into the forest.