Chapter 9: Renewing a Friendly Rivalry

Misty couldn't remember the last time she felt this excited leading up to a battle. She had faced many trainers over the years at the Cerulean Gym, but they were mostly rookie trainers just starting out, and those who did have skill still provided little challenge. But Ash was no rookie trainer, and Misty knew that he would provide her with the type of challenge no other trainer could provide. The same was true for Ash. He had faced many challengers since moving to Unova, and though they were strong in their own right they offered little in the way of a challenge. Against Misty, though, Ash was assured a challenge. She knew him the best and would certainly use her knowledge of his battling style to try and exploit every advantage she could, a fact Ash knew all too well.

"So, what are the rules?" Ash asked.

"How does a one-on-one sound?" Misty inquired.

"Sounds good to me," Ash agreed. He then turned towards Pikachu, who was sitting next to Zorua.

"You can stay there with Zorua, buddy," he said. Pikachu looked genuinely surprised. He was sure Ash would have called on him for this battle.

"P-Pi Pika Chu?" he questioned.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Ash answered. "Besides, we both know you hate battling against Misty. Remember when I first challenged the Cerulean Gym?"

"Chu, Pi Ka," he agreed.

"Of course I'm right," Ash responded. Misty had to stifle a laugh. Even after all these years it was still funny to see just how well Ash and Pikachu knew one another.

"So, you ready?" Misty asked.

"Ladies first," Ash offered. At first Misty was surprised by this, but after taking a moment to think she realized what Ash was doing.

"You think you're pretty slick, don't you? You're just letting me go first so you can she who I chose," she accused.

"It's not really that hard to know what you're going with. I mean, you are training to be a Water type Pokémon Master," Ash replied.

"Well, when you put it that way I guess it is pretty easy to know what I'll chose," Misty agreed. "Alright then, I'll go ahead and make my choice. Now, Misty chooses… Gyarados!" She swore she heard Ash curse when the Atrocious Pokémon appeared before him.

"I should have known you'd choose him," he sighed, suddenly regretting telling Pikachu he didn't have to battle against Misty.

"Of course. He's my powerhouse, after all," Misty stated. "I bet you wish you had Pikachu now, huh."

"It would have been nice, but he's not the only Electric type I have," Ash said. He then whistled loudly.

"Manectric, I need you!" he called. It was Misty's turn to curse when she saw Ash's Discharge Pokémon run to him and stand opposite of Gyarados. As expected Glaceon and Eevee weren't far behind, joining Pikachu and Zorua as spectators.

"Shit! I forgot about Manectric," she swore.

"Yeah. For those who only know about Pikachu he's a real surprise," Ash said. Gyarados looked down at Manectric and let out a menacing growl, attempting to intimidate the Discharge Pokémon. However, Manectric was unfazed and returned Gyarados's growl with a growl of his own.

"Gyarados is wasting his time. Manectric isn't easily intimidated," Ash said.

"I can see that, but I still plan on winning!" Misty declared. "Gyarados, Flamethrower!" The massive serpent inhaled deeply and spewed a powerful Flamethrower at Manectric.

"Dodge and use Thunderbolt!" Ash countered. Manectric quickly jumped out of the way of Gyarados's Flamethrower and countered with Thunderbolt.

"Dodge it, Gyarados!" Misty shouted. Gyarados twisted and arched his serpentine body in a way that let him completely avoid the Thunderbolt.

"Ah, damnit!" Ash swore.

"Now go right into Dragon Dance!" Misty called. Gyarados continued to twist and arch his body, turning it into a type of dance. After a while his body gave off a red glow, indicating that Dragon Dance had done its job.

"Now use Aqua Tail!" Misty instructed. A column of water encircled Gyarados's tail as he took a swing at Manectric.

"Dodge that!" Ash said. The Discharge Pokémon jumped away from the impact, but in the blink of an eye Gyarados changed the attack's trajectory and scored a devastating direct hit.

"What the Hell?! How can he move that damn fast?!" Ash shouted.

"It's because of Dragon Dance. Using it increases not only your attack strength but also your speed, meaning that Gyarados now hits harder and faster than before," Misty explained. Ash had to admit that he was a bit surprised. He expected a straight-forward attack from her, but instead she threw him for a loop by using Dragon Dance ahead of Aqua Tail.

"Okay, Gyarados! One more Aqua Tail should end this!" Misty assumed. Gyarados raised his tail in the air, a column of water once again swirling around it. One the sidelines Glaceon and Eevee were doing their best to will Manectric back into the battle. The Discharge Pokémon slowly got back to his feet, but by then the Atrocious Pokémon was bearing down on him.

"Do it, Gyarados!" Misty shouted.

"Quick, use Double Team!" Ash called. Before Gyarados to go through with his attack Manectric went into his counter, surrounding the serpent with dozens of copies of himself.

"Oh no… which one's the real one?" Gyarados was equally as confused as he looked around at the numerous Manectric, trying to determine which one was the real one.

"Okay, get ready to use Thunderbolt!" Ash instructed. Both Misty's and Gyarados's concern grew as they watched all the Manectric power up a Thunderbolt.

"We've got to take them out before they attack," Misty said. "Quick! Hit them all with Aqua Tail!" Thanks to the boost in speed Gyarados got from Dragon Dance his Aqua Tail was much faster, making it easy for him to sweep through the numerous Manectric clones. As the clones quickly vanished the real Manectric leapt into the air to avoid the attack.

"There he is, Gyarados! Now hit him with Flamethrower!" Misty shouted.

"Quick, fire your Thunderbolt!" Ash countered. Both Pokémon fired their attacks simultaneously. At first it appeared as though the attacks would hit each other, but instead they flew past each other en route to their intended targets. Manectric's Thunderbolt made solid contact while Gyarados's Flamethrower managed to strike the Discharge Pokémon in the side. Because he was in the air when he was struck Manectric fell to the ground with a thud while Gyarados merely collapsed to the ground.

"Gyarados!" Misty shouted.

"Manectric, no!" Ash called. Glaceon and Eevee shard in Ash's concern as they called out to Manectric, trying to urge him back to his feet.

"Well, looks like this battle is a …" Before Misty could finish her statement Manectric started to stir.

"That's it, Manectric! You can do it!" Ash cheered. Glaceon and Eevee joined in Ash as they all did their best to try and will Manectric back to his feet. Misty could only watch in disbelief as, on four wobbly legs, Manectric stood up.

"Yes! I knew you could do it!" Ash cheered. With the battle now over Glaceon and Eevee ran out to celebrate with Manectric. Misty, on the other hand, was left to tend to her defeated Gyarados.

"You doing okay, Gyarados?" Misty asked. Normally Gyarados would be irate after being defeated, but this time he appeared disappointed in himself. He looked to Misty and let out a low, apologetic growl.

"Hey, you win some, you lose some. That's just how it goes," Misty said. "Besides, this is the kind of performance I should have expected out of Ash, so in the end I'm just as much to blame for this loss." Though Misty's admission of guilt did little to make Gyarados feel better about his defeat the Atrocious Pokémon decided to let the matter go. After a quick word of thanks for his efforts Misty returned him to his Poké Ball and approached Ash.

"Well, you beat me fair and square," she said.

"Yeah, but there were times I thought you had me, especially after Gyarados used Dragon Dance. You really caught me off guard with that one," Ash admitted.

"Too bad that wasn't enough to defeat you," Misty replied. "Still, since you won this belongs to you." She took a card out of her pocket and handed it to Ash. The card was light blue with the words "Official Cerulean City Gym Invitation" engraved in gold letters on the left side, and on the right was an image of the Cascade Badge. Turning it over Ash saw Misty's signature engraved on the back, also in gold lettering.

"So this means I'm qualified, right?" Ash assumed.

"That's right. All you have to do is present this card and any form of identification at the registration office at the Indigo Plateau and you'll be all set," Misty explained. "The tournament itself is still a ways off, so we don't have to leave right away."

"Actually, I kinda do want to leave early," Ash said.

"Okay. Any reason why?" Misty inquired.

"There's something I want to do before the tournament starts." Though he didn't say what he wanted to do there was something about the say he said it that let Misty know exactly what he was talking about.

"Sure. We can leave now if that's what you want," she agreed.

"Thanks, Misty," Ash said. "Just give me some time to gather some of my Pokémon and give Captain Wade a call so he can bring us back to the mainland." Misty nodded and watched as Ash left to prepare, Pikachu and Zorua following closely behind him. A smile graced her lips as she thought back to the old days when she first started traveling with Ash.

"It's going to be great traveling with him again," she commented.


A short while later they found themselves inside the Castelia City Pokémon Center, where Ash had insisted on getting Manectric and Misty's Gyarados checked out following their battle. While they waited Ash had a few questions regarding the tournament.

"Just how many competitors are expected to show up?" he asked.

"Hard to say. It all depends on how many invitations were given out," Misty responded. "If everyone managed to give out their invitations there could be quite a few trainers participating."

"I wonder if I'll run into any of my old rivals there," Ash wondered.

"I wouldn't doubt it," Misty said. Right then a chime went off inside the Pokémon Center. Shortly after that Nurse Joy appeared with Gyarados's Poké Ball.

"Your Pokémon are all patched up," she reported.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy," Misty replied as she took his Poké Ball.

"Yes, thank you," Ash said as he took Manectric's Poké Ball.

"I still can't believe you're actually entering a tournament. It's been so long since you've entered one," Nurse Joy commented.

"Well, this tournament promises to be quite the challenge, and you know there's no way I can pass up a challenge," Ash replied.

"I'll make sure to watch all your battles, Mason. I don't want to miss a single second," Nurse Joy said.

"You're a huge fan of his, aren't you," Misty commented.

"Absolutely. I just love watching him battle. The way he dominates his opponents is like watching an unstoppable force of nature," Nurse Joy explained. "Just watching him battle sends shivers up and down my spine." As the nurse rambled on and on Misty stared in silent amazement.

"She seems to be as close to a stalker as you can get without actually being one," she thought. With their business there concluded Ash and Misty bid the nurse farewell and exited the Pokémon Center. As soon as they stepped outside Ash called on Charizard.

"Can you fly us to Nuvema Town? We need to get to Professor Juniper's lab," Ash requested. The dragon nodded his approval and crouched down to allow them to climb aboard. Ash climbed on first, Pikachu and Zorua hopping on in front of him. He then helped Misty up, who took her seat behind him.

"You'd better hold on tight. He's gotten much faster over the years," Ash advised. Misty didn't doubt his words as she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. The minute she did Ash felt a tingle go up his spine. He didn't know what caused it, but he had to admit it felt good.

"Okay buddy! Let's go!" With a loud roar Charizard flapped his wings and took to the skies en route to Nuvema Town.


Just as Ash had said Charizard's flying speed had increased, for in what seemed like a blink of an eye they found themselves landing in front of Professor Juniper's lab. As they dismounted Misty was amazed at how quickly they had arrived.

"I know you said he was faster, but I had no idea he was that damn fast," she commented.

"Told ya. There aren't many Pokémon in the sky that fan outfly him," Ash bragged.

"I'll believe that," Misty agreed. Ash thanked Charizard for his assistance and returned him to his Poké Ball. They then proceeded towards the front door. They had just reached the fountain when Ash suddenly paused.

"What's wrong?" Misty inquired.

"Step away from me, Misty," Ash said.

"Huh? But why?" Misty asked.

"There's no time to explain. Just step away from him," Zorua advised. Misty still didn't know why Ash wanted her to back away from him, but rather than try to figure it out she decided to do as he asked and backed away. The moment she did…

"Out of my way, out of my way, out of my way!" Ash spun around just in time to catch a girl in his arms that, had he not, would have barreled right into him and more than likely knocked him right into the fountain.

"Holy crap!" Are you two alright?!" Misty shouted.

"Oh yeah, I'm used to this by now," Ash replied. "Still, you really should watch where you're going, Bianca." The girl now identified as Bianca stepped back, straightened out her clothes and adjusted her glasses.

"I know, but old habits die hard," she said. "In any case, you reflexes are good enough to prevent any accidents. I mean, that was a nice save there, Ash." There was a lengthy pause before Ash finally spoke up.

"Bianca, what did I tell you about using my real name in public?" he groaned.

"But we're the only ones here… aren't we?" Bianca began looking around to see if she and Ash were the only people around. After a few moments she spotted Misty.

"Umm… hi?" Right then a wave of panic washed over Bianca.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to blow your cover like that! Oh, I really screwed up this time!" she wailed. Before her outburst became even more frantic Ash attempted to calm her down.

"Just calm down, Bianca. It's going to be okay," he said.

"How's it going to be okay?! I just blurted out your real identity and now she knows who you really are!" she countered.

"But that's just it. She already knows me." That last comment was sufficient enough to get Bianca to calm down.

"S-She… does?" the Unova native questioned.

"Yeah. This is Misty, the Cerulean City Gym Leader, and the first human companion I ever had on my journey," Ash said. "She came here looking for me."

"Nice to meet you," Misty said.

"And Misty, this is Bianca. She was a trainer back when I first came through Unova, but now she's Professor Juniper's assistant," Ash explained.

"Hi there," Bianca said. "Boy, am I glad you already knew Ash. I thought for sure I screwed up when I blurted his name out like that."

"Regardless you need to be more careful. You might not be as lucky next time," Ash warned.

"Believe me, lesson learned," Bianca stated. "So, what brings you here today?"

"We're on our way back to Kanto," Misty explained.

"So does that mean you're entering the tournament?" Bianca questioned.

"That's one of the reasons," Ash answered. "Are you competing as well?"

"Sure am. I've got my invitation right here." Bianca took out a card that was similar to the one Ash got from Misty, only this one was signed by another trainer Ash knew all too well.

"So you got yours from Alder," he commented.

"Sure did," Bianca confirmed.

"Who's Alder?" Misty asked.

"He's the Unova champion, and if I didn't know any better a student of Brock's," Ash told her.

"What do you mean?" Misty wondered.

"Let's just say some of his pick-up lines leave you wondering," Zorua said.

"Say no more," Misty said, recalling the days she spent prying Brock away from every pretty face they encountered during their travels.

"Well then, shall we get going?" The group continued on inside Professor Juniper's lab, where they found the professor going over what they believed were research notes.

"I'm back, Professor!" Bianca announced. When the professor looked up she almost seemed surprised to see them, but in the blink of an eye she regained her composure.

"Welcome back, and it appears as though you have guests with you. Please, come inside." They followed Professor Juniper inside as she led them to one of the rooms inside her lab. Ash knew of this room. It was the room they went to whenever they needed to speak without fear of someone discovering him. As soon as they entered and the door shut Professor Juniper turned to them, a smile on her face.

"It's good to see you again, Ash. I'm glad Misty was able to find you," she said.

"As am I," Ash agreed.

"Now, am I correct in assuming you're here to find transportation back to Kanto for the League Invitational Tournament?" Professor Juniper inquired.

"That we are," Ash confirmed.

"Well then, you'll be glad to know that there's a ship leaving for Kanto in the morning," the professor said. "If you want I can prepare three tickets for you."

"We'd appreciate it," Ash said.

"Great. In the meantime why don't you rest here for the day," Professor Juniper offered. They graciously accepted her offer.

"Good. I'll prepare rooms for you," the professor said. "And I'll have one of my assistants sent to your place, Ash."

"Thank you," Ash said.

"Wait. Why would you need someone at Ash's house?" Misty asked.

"That's where all my Pokémon are, so I'll need someone there to send them to me when I need to change up my team," Ash explained.

"Of course. Why didn't I think of that?" she said.

"Alright then. Let me show you to your rooms." The three of them followed the professor out of the room as she showed them where they would be staying for the night.


That night, while everyone else was asleep, Ash was wide awake, sitting on the side of his bed with his mind racing with various thoughts. Some were of the tournament and the possible challengers he may face while others were of the fact he'd be setting foot in Kanto for the first time in five years. However, the majority of his thoughts were of one person who, thanks to her efforts, had set in motion a chain of events that would have never occurred otherwise.

"Never thought I'd be going back home again. In fact I know I never would have gone back if not for Misty," Ash mused. As he thought about her his mind began replaying all the events that took place after she arrived, from their one-on-one battle to the flight here to Nuvema Town. A smile graced his lips as he recalled the pleasurable feeling he got when Misty wrapped her arms around him as they flew on Charizard.

"That feeling… it was so good," he said. At that moment another thought entered his mind.

"Could I be… falling for her?" he wondered. While it was true he considered Misty a very close friend he had to admit that seeing her brought him more happiness than anything had recently. Another thing he admitted was the years had been very kind to her. The scrawny tomboy had blossomed into a very beautiful woman that Ash found very attractive. Just the thought of her was enough to make Ash's heart beat louder and louder in his chest.

"Oh man… I think… I think I am falling for her," he admitted. At that moment Ash could feel sleep creeping up on him. He fell back on the bed and allowed his eyes to close. Shortly after that he drifted off to sleep.


The next morning Ash, Misty, Bianca and Professor Juniper were at the docks. The ship to Kanto would be boarding in a few minutes, giving them time to say goodbye to the professor.

"Thanks for letting us stay the night, professor," misty said.

"It was my pleasure dear," Professor Juniper replied. "Now good luck in the tournament, you two."

"Thanks. I'm going to need all the luck I can get if I end up facing Mason," Bianca admitted.

"And don't think I'll be going easy on you just because we're friends," Ash told her.

"I wouldn't want you to," Bianca said.

ATTENTION! THE SHIP TO KANTO IS NOW BOARDING! ATTNETION! THE SHIP TO KANTO IS NOW BOARDING!

"That's our cue," Ash said.

"Take care, everyone." They finished saying their goodbyes to the professor and boarded the ship. After all the passengers were finished boarding the ship set off.

"We're off to Kanto! Oh, this is so exciting!" Bianca gushed.

"You don't get out of Unova much, do you," Misty assumed.

"This will be my first time," Bianca admitted. While the girls talked Ash looked out over the water. A smile graced his lips as he looked.

"Looks like I'll have some backup there after all," he said as he watched a periscope slowly vanish beneath the water. His mind then began to focus on the trip to Kanto, and the possible conflicts that awaited him there.


With his invite in hand Ash, along with Misty and Bianca, depart for Kanto. What awaits him there? Find out in the next chapter of Regrets & Redemption!

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