The Truth About Misty

Okay, here's another Chapter. I'm sorry for posting later than I usually do, CL and I have both been really busy (CL: My life is craaayzay right now) and, well...I don't want to get into detail of some of the events that have happened recently. CL knows what has happened and really helped push me and even helped me write this chapter, but everything is better now and we have moved on.

Now, before we go any further, I'd like to thank CerberusLabrat for helping me with this chapter, one of the best beta readers ever! (CL: Now if only I had more time and focus to do this stuff promptly, this would have been updated a lot sooner...)

We both would like to thank the 149 reviews; love all of you guys! And while we love the 272 favorites and 267 follows, we'd love you MORE if you reviewed. So get to it. Chop chop.

Now, if there's any confusion, I would like to a few things straight; Ash has only caught Zubat and Sandshrew, and has a silver egg. I am not telling what Pokemon is inside, however, if it wasn't already clear enough in the last chapter (CL: Which it should be...), It is not a Cleffa. The Cleffa went with Brock. I am also going to stop revealing what Pokemon Ash will get. Also, there is a plan for the Moon Stone, just wait and see!

Now, for the review responses:

Celestial Overlord: I honestly like the Misty and Max combination idea, however, I am not sure if that will be too many people in the group. Part of me is wondering what will happen if I mix up traveling companions. Me and CL will discuss future chapters after Kanto as we go along, but for now, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Dawn Ketchum Fan: Travel combination for the future is an interesting idea, but this story isn't a romantic base; there's a different focus, mostly on Ash's character development and maturity through his journey's. He's only ten right now, his head is full of Pokemon and far away from bewbs. (CL: Okay, I'll admit it. I put that part in.). But CL supports your Latias love. (CL: 3)

Shadow wolf fang: You need to be more specific with "Cry on YouTube"...I am not sure if CL knows what you mean? (CL: Unless you're referring to Cryaotic, I have no idea what you're referring to either. As for Cryaotic, if that is what you're referring to, I've heard of them. But I've never watched.)

Lightningblade49: As always, I love your review. Also, to answer your questions: No, Brock did not catch a Zubat. I am going to get Brock to catch Pokemon that will help him on his quest to be a better breeder; though we do always love getting Pokemon suggestions. If you have a Pokemon you would like to see Brock get, then let us know. But do keep in mind for Misty and Brock, I am looking for Pokemon that will help them with their dreams: Water Master and Breeder, respectively.

Random bug: I like your idea, but it has to go over with CL to see what he thinks. Like you I do love Yaoi, but I am not quite sure how CL thinks of it. Once again, this is not a romantic story, so I will still do teasers. Plus, honestly I can see Ash with both male and female as well as Pokemon, his personality can go any direction, really. (CL: Alright, just to clear up some wondering here: I am a completely straight male. I have nothing against gay people, and I have no problem with you if it floats your boat to read about those kinds of romances, however, I will have very little to do with that kind of thing beyond fixing grammar. That's really the only thing I'll help with on that aspect; just not my cup of tea, sorry.)

Revan Lord of Revenge: Good Pokemon ideas, they might be good with future chapters, we'll have to see.

Noshadowone: I honestly don't know if anyone left the story because of the Yaoi statement, but it's their loss. If they read carefully they would have seen the words Yaoi teaser, which means it isn't going to be full Yaoi. There would be hints of it throughout the story along with girl romance. But...(CL: Just let me handle this, Luna. NOT A ROMANCE STORY, EVERONE. GOT IT? GOT IT. GOOD. OKAY. Ahem. Back to you.) ...yeah, that. There will be romantic teaser in the story, but at least at this juncture, there won't be a full couple. Ash can go with any type of romance; I can see him with ANYONE, who knows, at the end this might be the first harem that could have both female and male partners with Ash including Pokemon. CL, do you have any comments to back me up? (CL: I personally support the idea of Latias, Dawn, and possibly May. Possibly. However, I don't think Romance should at all be a focus in any form of the word focus until Hoenn. Which, I personally think by then THIS story should be finish, and we'll have moved on to writing a sequel; I don't know what Luna thinks of this, but I think we should split this into separate stories, as the anime did [i.e. Pokemon, Pokemon Advanced Generation, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, Pokemon Best Wishes, etc.], As for deino, I don't know what that Pokemon is. Cool idea, but we'll see where this goes. (CL: FLYING BY THE SEAT OF OUR PANTS. WOO! Anyway, Luna, Deino is a Dark/Dragon-type that is the Basic form of Hydreigon. I know next to nothing about it because SCREW GENERATION V but yeah.)

Oh I am Slain: Thank you so much for your comment, as for Battle Strategies, CL, do you have any comments on Scyther biting through rock? (CL: It was one of those things where I was tired when I was editing your chapter, I read it, thought 'wait, seriously?' and then kind of shrugged it off and just edited it for grammar and spelling. I was too lazy to think of another idea entirely and change the direction of the chapter to the point where it would be all janky and such. On a completely unrelated note, I was thinking we'd have Ash hold off on the wordless orders/independent fighting until he'd discovered Aura or simply became closer to his team.

Princessfrankie:L Thank you! I am trying my best to bring them out more! Those two always drove me crazy because if you read their backgrounds, they seem like cool characters but it never really got brought up, So I am trying to round them up more and not just Ash in this story, though Ash is still going to be the main one.

Badgedbadger: Hmm, I never thought my summary might need work. What do you think CL? (CL: I could work some magic with the summary. It was enough to pique my interest, but let's be honest; a lot of people judge a book by the cover (myself included) and if we can't make the summary interesting, how the heck could we make the story interesting?) Also, CL needs to take most of the credit. He helped me make this story; make the scenes, and re-write it. He's an awesome beta reader and if I lose him we're screwed. (CL: Honestly, Luna, the only thing you need to work on is grammar and spelling. That's honestly the only thing I fix during most of my edits. Maybe fill in a little bit of detail and fact check to make sure a 2 pound Koffing isn't slamming into walls and causing cave-ins, but beyond that, it's all you.)

: I agree about AJ, but the same could be said about Bill and a lot of other Pokemon characters. But I will try to bring them back more.

Whoa, okay. I hope my answers clear some things up. Now enough with the chit chat, It's story time!

We once again find our heroes on their way to another gym. Despite Ash's outburst on Gary's lovely little message, he the young trainer had appeared to get over it relatively quickly; Blade, the ever-calm Scyther, for one, being especially approving of the calm. His two human companions weren't exactly sure that Ash was even just a child at heart; when training, the youngest of the three was wise beyond belief for a ten-year-old, although he claimed he was just using common sense. Maybe the trait was honestly that rare. Then, there was his battle style; it was unusual. Different. The out of the box thinking had truly thrown Brock, former Rock-type gym leader of Pewter City, way off. Misty, on the other hand, couldn't help but admire his compassion for Pokemon. Not just his own, but all of them. He focused on helping the Pokemon he encountered, rather than just catching them.

Though usually, he ended up catching the wild ones he helped anyway...or, were they catching him? She had traveled more than the other two combined, so far. When she'd started her travels, she wanted to catch more Water-type Pokemon; not thinking about anything else. Not which type she wanted, or if they even wanted to join her in the first place. That being said, Goldeen, Shellder, and Surskit were her only three caught Pokemon that were actually hers. Staryu and Starmie...well, they belonged to her, but they weren't really hers to begin with. She hadn't caught them. She hadn't trained them.

But we're getting side-tracked from the main story, aren't we? The final thing that made Ash...well...Ash was the child-like attitude he had; it was plainly obvious that he was a momma's boy. His thoughts were innocent, but with the belief that anything was possible; he had to have a certain Pikachu shock him every morning to get him up out of his sleeping bag, he had no table manners whatsoever; it was more akin to seeing exactly how much food he could stuff in his mouth in the space of thirty minutes, rather than even attempting to be polite. And he was always eager to learn.

Brock easily discovered that the hard way; as soon as Ash realized he could cook Pokemon food, the young trainer had eagerly wanted to learn instead of just mixing some crushed berries in with the normal food. And, of course, Brock couldn't turn down the innocent puppy og eyes the younger trainer had pulled on him. But he did insist that Ash learn how to cook human food first, before trying his hand at Pokemon food...That being said...let's just say Ash is still learning and is finally starting to improve. Or maybe it was the two of them building some form of immunity to the poison of his cooking. So yes, with his attitude, it was quite easy to underestimate the kid and his whole team.

And it appeared as if Ash was starting to figure out that people underestimating him was a good thing; at least for him.

Devious little kid...

Speaking of Pokemon, however. It appeared as if a little blue Nidoran was dangerously quiet. Misty, out of the group, knew Ash's Pokemon the best other than Ash himself, simply due to the fact that she'd been with him longer. Point being; she was more terrified right now of the poison rodent, than of the giant bug Pokemon standing next to her right now. The usual hyper-active little mouse was just eerily calm. Yet with each step she took, her eyes seemed to glow an even darker red. And Misty could literally see the fire in them...not Aednat's usual battle hungry fire; but a strong, smoldering ember, not dissimilar to flowing lava. Promising doom as it made it's way down the slope of a volcano to destroy your house, your neighborhood, and everything you held dear.

"Aednat, are you alright?" Ash's voice broke the awkward silence.

The little rodent huffed. "Nido."

Her trained responded by halting in place and turning around, bending down to Aednat's eye level...or as close as he could get that wouldn't have him lying entirely on the ground, and smiled gently at her. "You can tell me what's wrong..."

To say nobody was ready for the explosion of "Nido-nido-nido-ran-ran-nidoran-nido-nido-ran!" That followed, complete with Aednat rearing back to her hind legs and waving her forelegs around wildly, screaming in complete outrage. Misty and Brock both jumped back; Misty even going so far as to forget her fear of bugs and hide behind Blade; who, as usual, stood stock still with the redheads hands holding the bugs shoulders as she cowered in fear. "Ran-ran-niiiido-do-ran!" With that, the flame around Aednat's form appeared to slowly be dying down...or maybe she was just slowing down to breathe.

A fingerless gloved hand appeared on the rodents head, rubbing her scalp soothingly; actions which caused her to relax a little, and lean into her trainer's touch.

"I understand you're upset at Gary's message. And I'm not sure if it's the same Gary that hurt you either, but you can't let it get to you..." Ash murmured softly.

"Nido?"

"You see, bullies like Gary are weak. They feel they need to put other people down in order to make themselves feel better. Mom said that Gary tries to cover up for something he is missing. I think she called it over-confrontation or something?"

Here we run into the obvious issue where Misty and Brock were both older...and therefore more knowledgeable about the subject that Ash was unknowingly referring to. Both of them blushed a bright red as soon as it registered.

"...Nido?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. He's missing confidence. Or severely lacking in it. That's why he's over-confrontation-ing...is that a word? For!"

The two older teenagers both practically fainted at what they heard. Only Ash. Was the thought that cross both of their brains.

"Wait a minute!" Brock noted a moment later, a realization hitting him once the 'Gary' fiasco and disbelief at Ash's obliviousness had run it's course. "Do you understand Pokemon?"

"What do you mean, Brock?" Misty questioned, blinking in confusion at Brock's question.

"Haven't you notice that Ash is able to talk to his Pokemon?" The redhead wasn't entirely sure Brock hadn't given an exasperated sigh at the fact that he even had to explain this part.

Ash seemed completely unconcerned as to whatever Brock was babbling on about; he was getting up from his eye-level position with Aednat while pulling out his Pokedex to see how far they had left to walk. His Pokemon seemed to care about what the other two humans were discussing as their trainer did...that is to say, not one bit.

"Ash, can you speak to Pokemon?" Misty directed the question towards the youngest of the three humans, causing the kid to rub the back of his head sheepishly, while attempting to think of a way he could explain his connection to his Pokemon.

"I...Don't really speak to Pokemon...it's more like I can...uh...feel what my Pokemon are trying to tell me." Ash shrugged lamely at the end, feeling that it was a terrible summary towards his ability, but it was really all he could think of.

"...Explain." Brock replied, pulling a notebook and a pen, seemingly out of nowhere; all with his new Cleffa resting upon one of his broad shoulders; looking at the notebook curiously, trying to figure out where it had come from. "Clef-Cleffa?"

"It's hard to explain." Ash sighed, once again trying to think of a way to word his response so that it would make some semblance of sense. "It's like I know what my Pokemon are feeling, or what they're trying to tell me. I couldn't tell you word for word what they're saying...but I can get the gist of it."

"So can you only do it with your Pokemon?" The Orange-haired girl next to him asked, while the Surskit sitting on her head tilted it's head...nearly it's entire body, to the side.

"Well...not exactly." Ash lifted his right arm up towards her head, Surskit leaning in towards him while the dark-haired youth's fingers found that sweet spot on the back of his neck; the kid truly had magic fingers. "I can understand my Pokemon the best, but I can understand some of yours a little bit too. Take Surskit, for example. He's your Pokemon, but I know what he feels better than, let's say, one of your starfish Pokemon."

"...That was absolutely confusing." The girl groaned, massaging her temples as she tried to figure it out.

"Why do you think I said it's hard to explain?" Ash questioned dryly, even though he had a smile on his face as he did so.

"I think I get it. You're saying you're like a Pokemon Empath?" Brock questioned, writing down a series of notes in his book, with the little pink Cleffa on his shoulder nodding and calling her own name as if he were doing a good job.

With a few looks and nods, and a satisfying end to the conversation...though one particular female trainer was still confused, the trio continued on their journey.

It didn't take long to get to the end of the road...Where Misty's eyes widened as soon as she read a particular sign. Cerulean City Ahead. The last time she had been through here, she'd been on a bike. So for one, the trip had gone a lot faster, and for two, she hadn't been paying nearly as much attention to the scenery as she'd been able to now, when walking.

Without even thinking, the water trained seized the arm of their young leader...It was his journey, and they were just tagging along after all, and pulled him back. "Wait!"

The target of her actions cried out in surprise. "Whaaa-?"

"Let's go somewhere else. Like Vermilion City." Misty suggested with far too sweet of a smile for the hot-headed temper she usually displayed.

"But Cerulean is closer. Why would I want to go further? Not to mention we need to stop at the Center and rest up and restock on supplies. You've been complaining for days now about wanting a bed to sleep on!"

"That, and all the Cerulean City Gym Pokemon are based off the Water-type. I thought you said you were a Water-type trainer. Wouldn't you like to go there and see some techniques?" Brock piped up in confusion, while still nodding at Ash's statement; she had been complaining for almost a week now about wanting a real bed to sleep on.

The orange-haired girl refused to meet their eyes. "I can't go back there. I just...I can't. Not until I become a water master." She declared, clenching her fist in determination, her whole body shaking. Surskit took the moment to drop down to her shoulder and rub his head against her cheek, trying to calm her down. If only a little bit.

Ash blinked, pausing for a moment as he tried to figure out why Misty would be so desperate to avoid Cerulean City. Wait, so. She doesn't want to go BACK to Cerulean City...Until she becomes a Water Master...The Gym is Water-Type...So is she...? "Why can't you go back? Misty, are you connected to the Cerulean Gym somehow?"

Her blue eyes blinked in surprise and shot to his warm chocolate orbs, she bit her lip nervously. But then dropped her head and sighed out a breath. "I...yes. My full name is Misty Waterflower. Violet, Lily, and Daisy Waterflower are my older sisters...and the Gym Leaders."

"Wait, so you're one of the Cerulean Sisters? But I thought there were only three!" Brock exclaimed.

Misty crossed her arms and scoffed, eyes rolling upwards to the heavens. "I'm not surprised. Everyone forgets the runt of the litter even if she ran the gym since her parents decided to go on a long cruise visiting all the islands in the world."

"So you're a gym leader then?" Ash guessed, blinking as the full implication of what she was saying came to him.

"Technically all four of us are Gym Leaders...But my sisters prefer to show off their beauty and put on synchronized swimming shows rather than actually run the family gym." Her very voice during this explanation was full of distaste at the vanity of her sisters, as well as their refusal to actually run the gym like it was a gym.

"But if you were a Gym Leader there, then you already know quite a bit about Water Pokemon, so why can't you go back?" The young leader of the group wondered, still racking his brain to the point that it almost hurt as he tried to figure things out. It was odd; using his brain. Before his mom had held him back from leaving with a disobedient Storm, Ash hadn't exactly bothered to do a lot of thinking. Ever since...

Well, he'd been slowly starting to push his mind into gear. Obviously, not such a drastic change that he was reading every day, or anything ridiculous like that...but he was getting there. It was the little things that he started thinking on here and there, that really showed the change from the kid he'd been a month prior.

His musings were interrupted by Misty shaking her head at his summary. "I don't know much of anything. All the Pokemon at the gym belong to my parents, and they've already trained them. The only ones that don't belong to them are the ones that are weak, and they're more for show. Heck, the only Pokemon that I have that are really mine are Shellder and Surskit." Looking to make sure Ash was still following her, she decided to continue. "So most of my Pokemon, like Staryu, Starmie, and Goldeen, and all the Pokemon my sisters use, belong to the Gym. We're allowed to use them...But they aren't ours. And it kind of shows too. I don't have the same bond with them that you have with any of your Pokemon because I didn't train them."

Brock, being one to understand how a family gym worked...his Onix and Geodude were both his fathers before his, although he'd done most of the raising on them, since they had been young when they'd been given to him, had some idea as to what she meant. And a very good idea as to why she'd left; he, more than quite a few people, realized what it was like to not want to be a Gym Leader. He had his own dream. And so did she, at that. But her dream wasn't exactly mutually exclusive to being a Gym Leader, as his was. So the question remained...why? "So why is it that you don't want to go back?"

It didn't exactly look like she was going to be able to avoid it any longer, so Misty finally sighed and broke, telling them the whole story. "Well...Like I said, my sisters all care more about putting on a show than actually being gym leaders. But I don't have their looks. And I'm no better than them at battling, so the three always made fun of me." Once again, her fist clenched, as she thought of her past. "I got sick of it, one day I just decided I would leave, become the best Water Trainer in Kanto, and I'd come back and show them that just because I don't want to win beauty competitions doesn't mean they're better than me. I grabbed a backpack, filled it with clothes, hopped on my bike...and I left. And I just...I can't go back there. Not now. Not until I've met my goal. It's only been a month and a half since I left. I'm nowhere near where I want to be."

"Well, I guess that explains why you wouldn't want to go into Cerulean City." Ash mumbled, rubbing the back of his head as he tried to figure something out. This would definitely complicate matters related to their journey, and there were a few options. "Well, I guess that leaves a couple options, at least. One, you could wait out here while me and Brock go into town, I'll go to the Gym alone, and we'll meet up again in a couple days...or, we could just go into the city, get to the Center, rest up, and then leave for Vermilion, and come back here later." He sounded hesitant towards both options; neither of them sounded appealing to him. He definitely didn't want to be a jerk and leave Misty behind just so he could go beat her sisters, nor did he really want to just skip a city when he was so freaking close.

"Wait, even if you aren't in the gym, you're still technically a gym leader, right, Misty?" Brock questioned. Making both Misty and Ash look to him in confusion, Misty following her look with a slow nod.

"Do you have any of the gym's badges with you?" The Breeder-hopeful pressed, eliciting another nod from the female of the group. When she'd left the city, she'd taken a badge case with her, with four Cascade Badges; each one, a slightly different tint to it. One seemed to have a more yellow tint, one pink, one orange, and the last, purple. Since the badge itself was actually made out of gemstones, she'd chosen the ones she felt best represented herself and her sisters, and the reason behind taking them with her was to have them serve as a bit of motivation to her. A reminder of why she'd left, and a reminder to try really hard.

"Under league regulations, a gym battle doesn't actually have to be held in a gym. It just needs to be held between one of the recognized leaders of the gym, and be observed by a qualified league referee. Since you have to study the league rules so much to become a Gym Leader, Gym Leaders are automatically qualified referees..."

Ash caught on from there. "...So if I were to battle Misty right now, you could be the referee, and if I were to win, and she would award me the badge..."

Misty finished the thought train. "...It's completely legal and we'd never even have to step foot in the city."

"Except battling here wouldn't exactly be fair, since it's nowhere near water." Ash mentioned, not wanting to fight a fish out of water...literally...to get his badge.

"But there's a river and a lake to the North of town." Misty mentioned, familiar with the area, obviously, having grown up here. "Why don't I keep Goldeen with me and go look for a spot to battle at, while you guys go find the Center, rest up all our Pokemon, and grab the supplies we need, and then meet me on the Route 24 bridge around dinner time?"

With the plan made, Misty handed the Pokeballs for Starmie, Staryu, Shellder and Surskit (CL: That's a lot of S's.) to Ash and Brock, and giggled slightly as Surskit hopped down her arm, over to Ash's shoulder, giving her a wave, and with that, the three humans split up: Misty, with Blade tagging along so she'd have a bit of extra protection, turning left and leaving Route 4 to head North, while Ash and Brock continued along the Route into the City to find the Pokemon Center.

-That Afternoon, Route 24-

Hours later, the trio met back up on the bridge; Misty's hair was wet, as she'd taken the opportunity to swim across the river (with her normal clothes in one of her water-repellant cinch bags, of course), with Blade sitting next to her a meditative position. Ash was walking up to her and his pokemon with Surskit on top if his head, latched onto to it, Storm on his right shoulder, Ace perched on his left shoulder, Nika on top of his backpack, and his new Sandshrew latched onto his left leg. Speaking of Sandshrew; her name was now Seqesh; which meant God of the Desert, and, according to his mother, was a name for a guy. But it sounded feminine enough to him, and he really liked what it meant, so it sounded like a good name for her to him.

Considering the utter amount of weight attached to his body, Ash looked relatively carefree...if the Pokedex estimates for species weight had been anywhere close to correct, there were about 115 pounds of Pokemon attached to him at the moment. However, thankfully; it wasn't. Nika was smaller and quite a bit lighter weight than the 'average' Pidgeotto, which was partially canceled out by Ace being larger and heavier than the normal Spearow, and Seqesh was nowhere near the average weight for a Sandshrew, according to Nurse Joy. One notable absence was Aednat: The hyperactive little Nidoran was currently at his mother's house, spending some time with her older sister, Riney.

Rounding out the group...there was Brock. Who was covered in bruises, a fact that drew a confused and concerned look from Misty...and an innocent smile and 'bad Brock' finger wag from the Cleffa sitting on his shoulder. Did she even want to know what happened?

Ash and Misty both smirked at each other, eyes full glaring full of determination on both ends. One; a deep teal, desperate to prove to herself that she was capable of being a water master on her own. The other; a warm chocolate, determined to win this battle and come one step closer to achieving his dream of being a Pokemon Master. One thing was for certain: Neither side was going to back down. There would be no giving up. There would be no taking it easy. Because both of them had something to prove.

And neither were willing to lose.

Friends, now rivals. Who will win? The youngest of the Cerulean Gym leaders? or the young naive kid from Pallet town that's starting to use the thing between his ears? Find out next time!

Be sure to tune in next time! Don't forget to review! Reviews keep us going! Or just favorite and follow us... but we would prefer your reviews here. (CL: I know. We're very demanding. Deal with it. XP)

CL do have anything to add?

(CL: Pokemon list!)

For Conveniences Sake:

Ash's Team:

Storm – Pikachu (male, on hand)

Bulma – Magikarp (female, on hand)

Seqesh – Sandshrew (female, on hand)

Nika – Pidgeotto (female, on hand)

Ace – Spearow (male, on hand)

Blade – Scyther (male, on hand)

Aednat – Nidoran (female, in storage)

Deliah's 'Team':

Riney – Nidoran (female, on hand)

Bruce – Zubat (male, on hand)

Misty's Team:

Cutey – Surksit (male, on hand)

Shellder (male, on hand)

Goldeen (female, on hand)

Starmie (genderless, on hand)

Staryu (genderless, on hand)

Brock's Team:

Cleffa (female, on hand)

Onix (male, on hand)

Geodude (male, on hand)