Summary of previous chapter: Gary and Misty have a small argument that sets her on the same path as Ash. Ash and Misty shortly talk about their lives, and he asks her to not trust Gary. Ash claims Gary is hiding something from Misty, and that he is playing games with her and Daisy. Misty refuses to believe it but later on asks Gary about it and he tells her there is nothing he is hiding from her. Gary tells Misty that Brock does not want to see her or talk to her again. After a long day of sessions, seven trainers are called to the stand to perform battles for the Pokemon League.
EDIT: I forgot to add a major thank you for Linda Forever. You are so right about the dialogue, I forget to switch from writing to "talking." Thank you for your feedback, and thank you all for reviewing! Only two more chapters to go!
Chapter 10 – Indigo Plateau: Day 3
Regardless of her childish attitude, her live-life-by-the-edge credo, and the amount of influence she had on Ash, even to the point of making him smoke, Dawn was not a bad trainer; at all. She had given Gary a run for his money, and for a moment it seemed the young Pokemon professor was going to lose to one of Maya's apprentices, but a twist of fate and a surf attack from his Blastoise turned the tables to his favor at the very last minute. Even though Gary had covered up his nervousness pretty well, Misty had been able to read him like an open book. She knew he was as nervous as she was, and that he if he did not plan on winning this entire tournament, he surely planned on not losing to Dawn Hall.
Gary had won the first battle, and Dawn had won the second battle. Both trainers had been left with only one Pokemon, and Dawn's Arcanine had been quite the challenge for Gary's Blastoise. He chuckled when she first called the Pokemon out, recalling that he too owned a Pokemon like this and knew all its strengths and weaknesses. However, the advantage he had believed he had over the fire-type Pokemon proved to actually be a great disadvantage for his water-type Pokemon. After several moments of uncertainty, Arcanine had finally fallen victim to a surf attack that flooded the entire battle arena and the nearby audience. The Pokemon League was very pleased.
After the waters had receded, the crowd had found a knocked out Arcanine, an almost fainted but still standing Blastoise, and a soaked Gary and Dawn. The entire stadium had cheered and given both trainers a standing ovation as the referee announced victory belonged to Blastoise. Dawn had recalled her Arcanine and had given it to Nurse Joy for reviving before sitting on her chair next to the other trainers. Gary had returned to his seat after taking care of his Pokemon while Lance had announced the next battle would be between Becca and Ash.
Becca had also proven to be a worthy trainer, but her Jolteon had been defeated by Ash's Venasaur and his sun beam attack. Becca had heard of Ash from Erika, and Ash had heard of Becca from Maya, but the rumors they had both heard were nothing compared to the reality of the situation. They were both extremely talented trainers in their own field, and Becca had defeated Ash's first Pokemon rather quickly. Ash had not battled since Pikachu had died, and was not in agreement with today's battles. Yet, he knew he had very little saying in this and that this probably was Maya's way of pushing him back to the battle field. He had not known if he could ever stand on a Pokemon arena ever again without his departed friend, but here he was, defeating a Pokemon Gym Supervisor nonetheless. Even though his heart ached and his battling was lousy and forced at the beginning, he had moved along with it in the name of Pikachu.
The night he had returned to Pallet Town for the second time around after picking up Pikachu's cold body from the Pokemon Center, he had made himself a promise that he would not battle in a long time unless he had to, and that he would not push the rest of his Pokemon the same way he had pushed him. He could not help to feel responsible for the rodent's death regardless of how many times his mom and Professor Oak said it was not. During Pikachu's burial he promised him that if he had to battle again, he would dedicate every single victory to him. While he was battling Becca, he was almost certain he could hear his friend cheer for him in the background. The crowd had joined him in mourning when Becca had chosen her Vaporeon as a second Pokemon and Ash had called out Pikachu to battle. It had taken him a moment to react and realize Pikachu was no longer part of his party, earning him a moment of silence from the crowd.
Misty had no other option but to battle Brock and had won with her Starmie defeating Brock's Onyx even though inside she felt she had lost. She had felt awful when they had announced her rival would be no other than Brock, her former friend. She had not battled Brock in many, many years, and had not seen him in several months. She definitely did not want to bump into him like this, especially when she knew her water-type Pokemon would defeat his rock-type Pokemon as fast as they did. She hoped he had brought any of his non-rock-type Pokemon to at least fake her defeat, but a simple squirt of her water-type Pokemon was enough to stop his Geodude. Perhaps if she had brought Psyduck the defeat would have been easier for her. In a battle between rock-type and water-type Pokemon, there is not much that can be done. Water-type will always win, no matter what. Brock battled her with all he had but his battling seemed monotonous and cold. He probably opposed this impromptu tournament as much as she did.
The fourth battle had brought quite a surprise to the spectators. Daisy had lost terribly to the hidden 8th challenger, the Pokemon Master Maya. Daisy had been called to the arena and when Maya's name had been announced as her rival, the crowd had gasped. From all the other possible trainers, Daisy Waterflower gets to battle the best trainer on the first round. Misty prayed that a miracle occurred and that Maya would lose to Daisy but she knew there was no way for this to happen. Daisy lost all three of her Pokemon in the first round.
Becca easily defeated Dawn with plenty of style on the fifth battle to Dawn's misfortune. Becca had been asked to be Maya's apprentice but she had declined the invitation many times. After months of attempting to recruit her as an apprentice, Maya finally gave up and offered her to be become a League Supervisor instead. Becca had accepted the invitation, but the spot that had been reserved for her was still open. Dawn knew she had not been the first or second option to become Maya's apprentice, but she pretended she did not care. Yet, having her rival being the person who should have taken her place made her feel angry and very upset. She had met Becca back in high school in Celadon City and they used to be very good friends until Becca was accepted to the Pokemon School and Dawn was not. They had lost touch until they met again when they both began working for the League, and this battle was more than just a show.
Gary and Ash's battle had been quite long and extremely close until Ash finally defeated Gary's Arcanine with his Snorlax. Both childhood friends had not battled since Ash visited Pallet Town a year after he had left the first time around. Many things had happened to them in the past ten years, and even though they thought they had matured and had gotten over their childhood competitiveness, being here in front of each other and in front of a very special crowd brought back those feelings of rivalry back to them. If someone had told these trainers five months that they would be battling in front of the members of the Pokemon League and that their friendship would have been effectively ruined by their dirty secrets, they would have never believed it to be true.
The last battle of the night took place between the two Waterflower sisters. Even though Daisy had gotten much better than when she was when she ran the Gym, she was no match for Misty and Gary's intense day and night trainings. Truth be told, the seminars she had been attending for the past months had focused more on leadership and time management skills rather than actual battling techniques. Neither of the older sisters had begun training for battle until last week, and it showed in this battle. Regardless of her awful loss, Daisy felt extremely proud of her sister and how much she had grown. If there was a way for Misty to run the Gym instead of her that did not involve Misty losing her trainer life, she would definitely leave the Gym in Misty's hands. However, she also knew that Misty had things to straighten out before she could even consider settling down in Cerulean again.
After the first seven battles, the League had given the trainers and the audience a break. Lance had stated that seven more rounds would take place this night, and that seven more would take place in the morning during the first two hours of the sessions. The top six trainers would battle during lunch, and the last three would battle at the closing ceremony tomorrow night right before the last battle between the last two standing trainers. Misty was not looking forward to any of these battles. She knew neither of them, with the exception of Maya, expected these battles, and could see the pressure on every trainer's eyes when they battled. If she did not trust the Pokemon League better, she would have turned into a citizen of Paranoid City and claim the lottery had been fixed long before they had arrived.
She was now sitting on the grass behind the platform and right next to Daisy and Gary who kept teasing the older sister about her younger sister defeating her. They had spent the last twenty minutes there, not making any contact with the rest of trainers even though Ash had not stopped staring at them –Misty, for one second. Gary would occasionally check on him from the corner of his eye as he could feel the tension in the atmosphere in the backside of the show. Becca and Brock were becoming acquainted while Maya lectured Dawn and Ash pretended to listen to the reprimand. Gary made another comment about Daisy's poor performance but this time it was Misty's turn to defend her own flesh and blood.
"Let it go, Gary. Daisy hasn't been training as much as you've beenforcing it on me. Leave her alone, you dork."
"Yeah, like, it's over, k?"
"Fine! But remember who taught you those moves, Red. Don't ya forget 'bout the little people who got you where you are."
Both sisters giggled.
"So, did you know about this, Gary?"
"About what?"
"These battles?"
"Nu-uh. I was as surprised as the rest of you. I thought we only came here for food."
"Do you think we're actually competing for something?"
"Who knows? After this, I don't know what to expect from Maya."
Misty sighed hoping she was not secretly battling to keep her home or Gary's job.
After a couple of more minutes, the second round of seven battles began.
Brock was easily defeated by Maya in a very quick match right before Ash defeated Dawn in a very close one. Ash and Dawn, or mostly Dawn, had been flirting back and forth throughout the battle. Ash had not been as close to Dawn as they had been before his visit to Pallet Town, but after the argument he and Misty had he welcomed the attention. Gary and Becca battled as well, giving Gary the victory and earning him a hug and a kiss from Gall that he did not expect.
Misty encountered Maya and allowed her nervousness to get the better of her, causing the mistake that cost Misty the battle. However, she recovered in a back-to-back battle against Dawn and won graciously to Dawn's distaste and despite's Maya's previous lecture to her. Misty had to admit that beating Dawn felt much better than defeating anyone else in this Tournament. She had seen how Dawn was flirting with Ash and could not stand it for the life of her. She had also recalled how Dawn had flirted with Gary and felt even angrier at the girl. Dawn had been quite aggressive with her comments but at the end Misty had proved to be a better sport when she offered a freeze-potion to Dawn after her Cloyster had frozen up Dawn's Squirtle.
Finally, Brock encountered Becca and then Gary but was not able to win any battle, setting him even more far behind in the ranking than he already was, and putting an ending to the second round. Misty and Ash knew it was not like Brock to battle without any care for winning, but he had isolated himself from both of them, and there was nothing they could do for him from a distance. Brock had not won one single battle in fourteen rounds, but the worse part of it all was that he did not seem to care at all.
After the last battle was fought, Lance announced the closing of the battles for tonight. He thanked everyone for watching and wished them a good night's sleep. Everyone said their goodnights, returned to their rooms and quickly fell asleep, tired of the exciting and long day they had all have, not knowing that tomorrow, their last day in Indigo Plateau, was one to be remembered for years to come.
Gary held his third cup of burning hot coffee in his right hand as his left hand had sought the comfort of his pocket to avoid the numbness the cold weather around him brought to his fingers. His eyes were partially open and he had not spoken a word since he had arrived to the battle arena more than an hour ago. Misty sat very still on a bench while she served as a life-size pillow to a very much asleep Daisy, who in turn used Daisy as a blanket to keep her away from the cold. Ash, who still had his blanket on him and was grateful he had brought it with him even though he had not realized it until he was already in the stadium, was sitting on the floor, his back resting on the wall. Dawn had joined him and had somehow ended up covered by the blanket too and all that could be seen of her were her feet and the hat on top of her head. Brock held a cup of chocolate in between his hands as he sat on the stairs, and Becca could only sit still on a chair because her five jackets and sweaters did not allow her to move very much. Maya was nowhere to be seen as she was making sure the Pokemon Village was adjusted to the sudden change in weather that had hit them last night.
The weather had considerably cooled down overnight and the Pokemon Stadium had just been closed down five minutes ago. The heater still had a lot of work to do before it could warm up the stadium, the lodging facilities, and the Pokemon Center. The employees had been woken up at four in the morning to set up the stadium and turn on the heaters for the battles and for the guest rooms. They had not expected a cold front this strong this soon and the mountains around Indigo Plateau made the humidity increase worsening the wind chill factor.
The lottery winners had been woken up at five in the morning for an emergency meeting and a recap of last night's battles. They were shown videos of the battles and given advice on their moves and selection of Pokemon to battle. Breakfast was in the making and the trainers would get to eat their food on the backstage in the next half hour. Battling was scheduled to begin at seven sharp. After two hours of battling, the trainers would then return to their regular session. They would have lunch brought in to the stadium to watch the semifinals, and then attend the last two sessions before returning to the stadium and enjoying the closing ceremony along with the final battles of the tournament. Whether the trainers battled or not, the last day in Indigo Plateau was scheduled to be a very busy one for all, and the change in weather made wakening up and the transitions from one building to the other much more difficult to bear.
Gary had proven time and time again that he was not a morning person, and today was no exception. The only words he had spoken so far were "coffee" and "more coffee." He had had a long night trying to reason with Brock about his decision of cutting off Misty from his life, and he had only worsened the situation. After that he visited had Ash and had had a run down with him as well. However, talking two former friends of Misty had set everything into perspective. Once the probation was over, Misty would have nowhere to go. The reality of losing her friend and her boyfriend would finally kick in, and if he did not do anything about it, he did not believe she could take such a great blow of life. He could stand losing his reputation. He could stand losing his childhood friend. But one thing he was not going to stand was seeing Misty suffer ever again.
He took another sip of his coffee as memories of last night recapped in his head.
He went to her room but did not knock on the door, afraid he would interrupt her sleep after realizing it was three in the morning. He stood there outside her door as he usually did back in Cerulean before leaving the dormitories and heading outside. He sat on the same bench Ash had been sitting the day before and stared at the nothingness in front of him. His mind replayed the scene with him, Misty and Ash over and over again, and every time it appeared in his mind again, Ash and Misty's faces got closer and closer. Truth was he could not stand her close to him anymore.
He could not stand the tricks Ash was playing with her.
He could not stand being alone anymore.
He did not want to be without her anymore.
He covered his forehead with his hands as he focused his eyes on the floor in between his legs. He took deep breaths to calm the anger the entire situation made him feel. He had her, but he did not have her. Ash had her, but he did not really want her. He wanted her, but she did not want him. What was he supposed to do? What was he expected to do? Was he expected to do anything at all? Or was it his job to return her home to her, wave goodbye and leave like the whole experience meant nothing for him at all?
"Fucking decisions," he growled.
"Fucking decisions, indeed."
Gary looked up and saw Becca standing next to him. She did not show signs of sleep and probably had been awake all this time as well. She sat next to him and placed her arms around him. They remained like this until Becca finally spoke up. "What decision are you about thinking of taking?"
Gary sighed, knowing that even if he was not ready to tell anyone about it, he could not keep secrets from Becca. He had never been able to, and he probably never would be able to. "I don't know what I will do after my work is done in Cerulean."
"What do you mean you don't know? The League will assign you something else."
Gary exhaled deeply. "I don't want something else."
Becca smiled. "Don't you mean you don't want anyone else?"
Gary scoffed and crossed his arms. "Sure, you know everything, don't you?"
"Of course I do! Don't tell anyone about it, though."
Gary chuckled. "What do you suggest I do?"
"Well, that depends…"
"On what?"
"What do you want to do?"
Gary narrowed his eyes and stared at her as if she had said the worst joke in the world. She tilted her head, trying to read his mind and after a few seconds of staring at his funny looking face she smiled. "Really, Gary. What do you want to do?"
"Hello? I don't know!"
"Bullshit! You do!"
"I don't!"
"You do!"
"I. Don't."
"You. Do."
"I…"
"You…"
They both sighed. The argument was going nowhere fast.
"Ok, you say I know. What do you know that I know that apparently I don't really know?"
"Do you want to see her leave?"
"Who?"
"You know who."
"No."
"Do you want to leave her?"
"No."
"Do you love her?"
Gary looked away. "Do you love her?"
"She loves Ash."
"That is not what I asked. Do YOU love her?"
"Ash still loves her, don't matter how much he denies it."
"I thought you were smarter than that. Quit answering questions I ain't asking, boy. Do you love her?"
"Yes."
"Then there you have it."
"There I have what?"
"Your answer."
"Which is…?"
"Take her with you. Show her what kind of life she can have with you. Show her how you feel."
"I can't do that!"
"Why not?"
"Because…"
"Yeah?"
Gary looked down at the floor again. He cracked his knuckles and shifted uncomfortably on the bench. Becca was not giving up or leaving until she made him change his mind. "Look, Gary. I don't know if she loves you, but you've got to try. That poor girl's been hurt so much. Don't you want her to be happy?"
"Yes."
"Don't you want to be happy?"
"Yes."
"Don't you want to make her happy?"
"I do."
"Then suck it up, grow an extra pair of balls, and do it."
"I can't…"
"Dammit, Gary Oak! You better say you will because I'm tired and wanna go to sleep but I won't until you said you will run away with her!"
"Ok! Ok! I will!"
"You better!"
"I…promise…."
"Finally…"
"…I'll try."
Becca growled. "Fine, that's a start. I'm going to bed and you should too."
"I will."
"Try?"
"No, I will for real. I'm tired."
"Alright, then."
"Goodnight, Becca"
"'Night, Gary."
Becca gave him a hug before smacking him up the head and then smiling as her wave disappeared behind the doors.
Gary sighed as the words she had spoken echoed in his mind. The solution was so easy, yet so difficult at the same time. How could he sum up the courage to take the plunge? How could he convince her to do it? How can this idea ever work? It was unreal, impossible, impractical…
But he wanted to. He wanted to run away with her, so badly.
So what if she did not feel for him the same way? All he wanted was her company, her everlasting presence in his life. He could settle for her unconditional friendship. For her always present fate in him. For her unbreakable trust.
"Fuck it, I'll do it."
He smiled at the thought of it last night, and he smiled at the thought of it again today as he held his now cold coffee.
Now more than ever he was sure of what he wanted to do with his life after his supervising period ended: He was quitting the League, and he was going to ask Misty to join him in his Pokemon travels, and if she said no, she would tie her up, put her on his shoulder and take her against her will. He knew he could make her happy, and he wanted to make her happy. And happy was what he was going to make her feel.
The idea had been playing around his mind since the night at the Carnival. Sometime and somehow between arriving to Pallet to celebrate Ash's birthday and seeing her talking to Ash yesterday the idea that being together had made perfect sense, but no one else had known or believed it to be true until last night. He had spent five months with her, the longest time than any other relationship, of any kind, had lasted. He had seen her laugh, cry, be happy, be sad, be scared, and smile, and she had seen the same on him.
Gary smiled again at the thought of returning home tomorrow morning as he had decided that tonight he would ask Misty to leave the city with him. Tonight was definitely going to be a big night.
"Welcome League members!" Lance said, bringing Gary back to reality. "Thank you for being here so quickly in such short notice." Gary looked at his watch and realized it was seven and that he was the only one still standing in the middle of the backstage room facing the wrong way. The rest of the trainers were lined up, ready to go up to the stage. He ran to the table and left his coffee mug there and then ran to the line of trainers. Misty was the last one there and could not help to stare at him. "Glad you could join us, Mr. Oak."
"Why didn't you…wake me up?"
"I didn't know you could sleep with your eyes open."
"Me neither!"
"Don't worry, you didn't miss much."
"Ok."
Lance announced the trainers were taking the stand, and after they had all sat and Maya had joined them, the first battle of the day began.
The talk among the League members had been all about the battles. The session that had taken place after the third round was about analyzing the battles, and now that the members were retuning to the stadium to watch the semifinals the bets had began taking place. During the third round of battles, Becca and Ash had their own long match from which Ash came out victorious. Maya had shown Dawn why she was still just an apprentice, and Gary had shown Daisy he did not need her generosity twice. Ash and Misty had reminisced about old times before Misty defeated him, to the shock of every single person in the stands. Brock lost to Dawn, and Gary lost to Maya. Ash defeated Daisy, while Maya defeated Becca, and Misty defeated her own supervisor in a highly amusing battle. Long lost friends Ash and Brock battled against each other, and as before, Ash won the battle by far. Dawn defeated Daisy, and Misty defeated Becca.
However, the highlight of the day had been the battle between Ash and Maya as, in a surprising turn of events, Ash defeated Maya at the last minute. The fact that Misty had defeated two of Maya's apprentices was great, but the fact that one of Maya's own apprentices defeated her was uncanny. The last battle was between Becca and Daisy and the audience knew Daisy would be defeated again even before the battle began.
The final scores for the three rounds had been highly predictable after this morning's rounds. Ash had led the scoreboard with seven wins. Misty and Maya had followed with six wins each. Gary had four. Becca had three, and Dawn had squeezed in with two wins. Brock and Daisy had no wins whatsoever and were in turn disqualified from the tournament.
The semifinals allowed for only one Pokemon and one Pokemon only. The Pokemon had been chosen by the trainer beforehand, without knowing who their adversary would be. Once the audience was ready and the battle arena was set, the first battle of the semifinals began: Ash against Dawn.
Ash did not like battling against Dawn because when it came to losing to him, she was a very sore loser. He had been avoiding her ever since Pikachu died, and he had been literally stalking him ever since. She had given up on stalking him as much, but for the past two weeks she had been asking him to talk to her, claiming she had something very important to say. Whatever it was, he did not want to hear it.
Dawn reached for her pokeball and called out her Gyrados. Ash called out his Alakazam.
"Seriously, Ash. A psychic Pokemon against a dragon-type? Have you lost your mind? You know psychic Pokemon are weak against brute strength."
"And you know brute strength is weak against intelligence."
Dawn scoffed. "Gyrados, hyperbeam!"
"Alakazam, barrier!"
The hyperbeam attack made some of the nearby spectators cover their ears, and cracked a hole on the ground. Ash did not feel the need to move as Alakazam's barrier protected himself and his trainer. Gyrados growled and put his head down when Dawn scolded him for not producing a more powerful hyperbeam.
Ash knew Gyrados needed to recharge, and without wasting time he ordered his Pokemon to use confuse ray on the dragon. Dawn told Gyrados to avoid it but he was weak from his previous attack. Before Gyrados could know what had hit him, he was tackling himself against a wall to the cries of desperation from Dawn.
"Snap out of it!"
"Alakazam, psychic!"
Alakazam did as told and engulfed Gyrados in a barrier that prevented him from moving and continue harming himself. However, the attack also included a break down of his nervous system, making him fall to the ground, out for the take.
"Gyrados is unable to battle. Alakazam wins!"
The crowd applauded and stood up to cheer for Ash. Dawn recalled her Pokemon and gave it to Nurse Joy. Dawn was disqualified from the tournament.
She joined the crowd and Ash returned to his seat on the platform. Lance took over the microphone. "That was some quick battle, wasn't it? Our trainers want to waste no time. The next battle will be between Misty Waterflower and Becca Gall."
Misty and Becca stood up from their seats and walked down the stairs from the platform to the arena. They shook hands before going opposite directions to take their place before Lance marked the beginning of the battle.
Becca smiled at Misty as she released her Pokemon, Vaporeon.
Misty smiled at Becca as she released her Pokemon, Cloyster.
"This will be the quickest battle of all, Misty."
"Oh, really? I wanna to see that."
Becca smiled again. She pulled out her pokeball and recalled Vaporeon.
The stadium went quiet.
"I forfeit," Becca said before waving at Misty and joining the crowd.
Everyone stared at Becca and then at the referee who was as shocked as the rest of the audience was. Silence invaded the stadium for a few seconds before the referee finally spoke, ending the battle that had not taken place. "Becca…forfeits…Misty is the winner."
Misty recalled her Cloyster before walking back to her seat while the crowd clapped with same confused look she had on her face.
Lance shrugged and then announced the third and last battle: Maya against Gary.
Both trainers walked down to the battle arena and took their place. Lance announced the starting of the battle as both trainers released their Pokemon.
Maya had chosen a Dragonite. Gary had chosen an Electabuzz.
"I knew you were going to choose that Pokemon, Maya."
"I knew you were going to choose Misty over the Pokemon League, Oak."
"W-what?"
"Dragonite, dragon rage!"
Dragonite's speed was worthy of a car race. Electabuzz stood there waiting for a command from his master but Gary was shocked at Maya's comment. Too many questions rose in his mind and did not allow him to focus on the battle he was fighting on time. He was brought back to his senses when Electabuzz ended up near his feet, hurt by Dragonite's attack.
"Dragonite, wrap!"
"Electabuzz, screech!"
Electabuzz's cry made everyone except Gary and Maya cover their ears for the second time around today. Dragonite stopped his attack and growled at the hideous sound that punished his ears. Gary took advantage of this and ordered Electabuzz to use his thunder punch against Dragonite. Dragonite did not see the attack coming and was sent flying backwards, almost hitting Maya in the process.
Gary did not waste time and asked Electabuzz to use his thunder attack. Maya ordered Dragonite to use agility and then counterattacked with slam. Electabuzz was sent to the floor.
"Ready to give up, Mr. Oak?"
"No."
Maya smirked and ordered Dragonite to slam Electabuzz again. This time, Electabuzz avoided the attack and responded with a quick attack, pinning Dragonite to the ground.
"It's over, Maya," Gary said as Electabuzz charged to use his thunder attack. Maya did not ask Electabuzz to let go, allowing Gary's Pokemon to take advantage. Gary knew she was not being generous, and expected an attack any time soon. Electabuzz's charge was almost complete.
"It is over, for you," Maya said as she ordered Dragonite to use the hyper beam he had been gathering while Electabuzz was charging. Electabuzz tried to move away, but Dragonite grabbed his arms, not allowing him to run. Dragonite opened his mouth and aimed the hyper beam to Electabuzz's head and fired it.
The crowd gasped.
Silence dawned on the stadium again.
Dirty and smoke covered the battle arena.
Gary clenched his fists at the idea of his Electabuzz being severely hurt. What Maya had done had been low and had endangered both Pokemon. He did not care she was the official Pokemon League President; she had lost all of his respect now.
The cloud of smoke began dissipating from the outside in. Everyone was standing now, waiting to see the fate of the Pokemon on the ground. Misty covered her mouth with her hand, hoping both Pokemon were alright. Maya had played a tough card, and if someone got hurt, she would be in big trouble.
Gary and Maya were not visible to the audience, and slowly but surely the Pokemon were visible as well. Both Pokemon were on the ground on opposite sides of the arena.
"Who won?" Lance asked.
The referee carefully walked to the arena and eyed both Pokemon from a distance. If they suddenly woke up and began attacking each other, he did not want to be in the middle of it. Both Pokemon were known for becoming blindly enraged when teased, and he did not want to the first victim of their rage.
"Is it a tie?" Misty wondered.
"Electabuzz, you can get up now," Gary said.
The audience stared at Gary, not fully comprehending what he had meant. Yet, a couple of seconds after he had asked his Pokemon to stand up, Electabuzz shakily stood up.
The referee stared at him and then ran to Dragonite. He eyed him carefully before raising his flag.
"Dragonite is unable to battle. Electabuzz is the winner!"
The stadium went wild in the background as the Oak trainer revealed to Maya that his Pokemon had been trained to deflect a hyperbeam at a very close distance.
Maya frowned. "I didn't know you had a Dragonite."
"I don't"
"Then who does?"
Gary did not answer but stared a very happy red head who was cheering for him in the platform. He smiled back as he bowed to Maya and joined the winner circle in the podium next to the stands.
After the first part of the semifinals had ended, the members had attended two more sessions before returning to the stadium for the closing ceremony. It had all added up to this: a cheap dinner, an even cheaper attendance diploma, and a heated battle to come.
While the ceremony took place, Misty paced back and forth in one of the backstage hallways with one pokeball on each hand. She would be battling either Gary or Ash and had no idea what Pokemon she should choose. Both trainers had very different styles of battling, and very different Pokemon taste. If she chose the Pokemon that could defeat Ash and ended up battling Gary, she was sure to lose. If she chose the Pokemon that could defeat Gary but ended up battling Ash, she was sure to lose as well. It was all a matter of good guessing, and even better luck.
She growled and stomp her feet on the ground at the desperation of not knowing what Pokemon to choose. She knew she did not have much of a chance of winning the tournament, and it was not one of her life goals, but she did not want to lose because of a wrong choice. She felt she did not deserve to be here, and that the only reason she was in the second part of the semifinals was because Becca had forfeit. If she lost miserably, she would insult Becca and her intelligence.
Misty sighed and sat on the floor, giving her back to the entrance and not noticing Daisy was behind her. "What are ya pouting about, now?"
Misty gasped and almost dropped a pokeball before watching her sister go around her and sit in front of her. "I don't know what Pokemon to choose."
Daisy rolled her eyes. "Like, what's the big deal? You're a great trainer regardless of what Pokemon you get."
"Shut up, and help me choose."
"What are your choices?"
"Gary or Ash."
Daisy blinked several times. "Like, I thought we were talking 'bout Pokemon, not guys."
"We ARE talking about Pokemon. I've had a perfect Pokemon against Ash, and one perfect Pokemon against Gary, but I don't know who I'm battling, and the Pokemon don't work for both!"
"I see. Well, choose the one for Ash, if you battle Gary he'll lose."
"What?"
"Yeah, he totally owes the family a favor. He'll lose to you, girl. Such a nice guy…"
"What favor?"
"You mean he hasn't told you?"
"Apparently not!"
"It's not a big deal anyway."
"Well, then tell me."
"Maybe he doesn't want ya to know."
"I don't care. What favor are you talking about?"
Daisy frowned, knowing Misty would not understand him, and that she would probably hate her sister for it. She could try to lie or change the topic, but she knew Misty would be able to pick it up if she was lying, and would not let the topic go if she changed it. Daisy sighed and crossed her arms. It was now or never.
"Fine, but it's not, like, a big deal anymore, ok?"
"Ok?"
"Ok, so, remember how Gary went to our Gym before Ash did, way back when they first started training?"
"Yeah. Gary was always way ahead of Ash. It annoyed him to no end."
"Well, he didn't really win the badge."
"What?"
"I sorta…gave it to him…"
"What?!"
"He was the last trainer of the day, I was tired and had an appointment to do my nails…I had a date that night…I couldn't, like, go looking all ugly to it."
"So, you gave him the badge?"
"Yeah."
"Without a battle?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, my god."
"Yeah, when we found out he had been assigned to our Gym we thought it was so funny. Poor guy's probably hiding the evidence."
"By using me?"
"That can't be true…"
Misty could not believe what she had heard. All this time she had believed Gary to be honestly trying to help her but all he had worried about was keeping his dirty secret away from the light. How could she have been so blind? How could he have been so heartless and selfish? All this time he had lied to her even after she had asked him for the truth so many times. Misty felt tears forming in her eyes.
"Misty, I've got to go. Don't sweat it, ok? That's in the past."
Daisy stood up and left an astonished Misty on the floor. She could not understand why people lied to her. Ash lied to her. Brock lied to her, and now Gary had lied to her as well. Daisy knew about it and never told her. Ash knew about it too. Misty's head began spinning as she stood up and placed both pokeballs in her pockets.
"This is a lie…it can't be…"
"But it is, Misty. I told you not to trust him."
Misty felt a shiver run down her spine. She knew who that voice belonged to and it was one of the last persons she wanted to see right now. "Get away from me," Misty said as she turned away and gave her back to Ash.
"Why are you mad at me for? I wasn't the one who lied to you to keep my career on check."
"There must be an explanation for this."
"There is! You just heard it from your sister."
"No. Something else must have happened."
"No."
"How do you know?"
"Maya told me."
"How does Maya know?
"I don't know, but she didn't do anything wrong so leave her out of it. Gary did. He lied and used you."
"He did not!"
"He did, and you believed his lies. He chose his career over you."
"I didn't, but you did, Ash."
Both Misty and Ash turned around and saw Gary and Dawn standing behind them. "I didn't use you, Misty. I was going to tell you the truth, tonight."
"So, it is true? You…"
"I told you, Mist. Career over love," Ash said.
"You're the one to talk, Ash. You left Misty because you didn't want to let go of the opportunity Maya gave you here."
"Shut up."
"You feel like revealing people's truths, my truth? Let me return the favor, Ash."
"Shut the fuck up! You have nothing against me!"
"You know why he was so distant, Misty? Maya had offered him to join the League and he didn't want to take you or Brock with him. He told Brock he had let you go because Maya had told him about you having to return to the Gym, and he didn't want to be stuck in Cerulean for six months."
"What? Brock knew…?"
"Yes, and he didn't tell you because Ash told him you couldn't stand him. That is why Brock won't talk to you."
Misty turned to face Ash and slapped him on the face. Misty allowed tears to run down her cheeks. She did not care who stared at her, or the fact that Dawn was watching the scene. "What are you slapping me for? I wasn't the one who stole a badge! Gary is one of the trainers why your Gym is in trouble. He used your sister and then he used you!"
"I didn't use her!"
"What were you trying to do? Sleep with her?"
"I'm gonna make you shut up," Gary said and jumped to Ash to try and hit him, but Dawn ran and stood in between him and Ash. "Dawn, get outta the way."
"No."
"Dawn, don't make me push you out of the way."
"I am notmoving."
"Dawn, this is your last warning."
"You wouldn't hit a pregnant woman, would you, Gary?"
Gary lowered his fist and stared at Dawn the same way Ash and Misty were staring at her. He took a few steps back and looked at Dawn up and down, not believing what she had just said. Misty stared at Ash, fearing the worst from him.
"You're pregnant?"
"Yes, and I kinda need the father, so please don't beat the shit out of him."
Misty and Gary stared at Ash the same way they had been staring at Dawn. Silence surrounded them until Lance called the three finalists to the platform. That night Misty forfeited. Ash and Gary battled, and Gary won.