Chapter 14, everybody! In which we get some insight into Misty's home life….Also quote an old commercial too, but I can't remember nor find which one it was. :\

Harmonius Wolf, thanks for the review! Haha, glad you like Frenzy—he's been fun to write. :) Well, since I'm basing Nugget Bridge off of how I remember it in Fire Red, it may not be as exciting as we would hope….

Hunter Redflame, thanks for the review! Yes, slowly…and yes, most definitely. And yes, not that he'd ever admit it. Aha, yes—I know he grew out of it, but Gary will always be the jerkiest of jerks in my mind. Yes! I'm working on making it more organic in future chapters. Yes…good question—you shall soon see. :) And thank you! I hope to continue to please!

Thor94, thanks for the review! Yes…and yes…and yes. Sorry, Ash. Well, I am using the Nugget Bridge from Fire Red, so there's going to be a lot of trainers with Kakuna and Metapod….

Pokeevee57, thanks for the review! Me too. And me too….Thank you! I hope to continue to please!

Thanks for the review, guest! Eh, I tend to try to keep the chapters at around three pages in Word, because I remember reading somewhere that people reading stories online prefer shorter chapters, so they can read them on a bus or train as they're going somewhere. I'll try to up the word count per chapter in the future, if that helps. :)

Prototron MJ Tornada, thanks for the review! Yes….This is true.

Johnny Spectre, thanks for the review! I suppose so….

Xyoras, thanks for the reviews! You've really given me some things to think about…I especially like the idea of the Rockets selling some of the Pokémon to people who couldn't get their Pokémon from the Professor…have some people sympathetic to the Rockets too and therefore complicate things later on….I have actually not seen/read Of Mice and Men, so I can't say that for certain, but that is interesting—I'll have to look it up. :)

Thanks for the review, guest! Mwahaha, yes….

Vismur, thanks for the review! Um….This is true. As is this. Me too….And Darkrai asked me to pass along this message: "I'm no one's nanny, it's just more entertaining to keep stringing him along, and I'm going to give the writer nightmares for mentioning those hugs." Saying that, we'll be mentioning those hugs this chapter. :)

Pokémon © Game Freak; Nintendo

And now, for something completely different:

This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is a required weekly test. You cannot mute this. You cannot ignore this. You must simply endure this annoying noise that makes small Pokémon whine in agony. This has been a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. Had this been a real emergency, we would have gotten the Exploud on the horn.

The Bridge wasn't as challenging as Ash had been led to believe.

For one, a lot of the trainers used Metapod and Kakuna, so he could safely bolster up his weaker Pokémon—Frenzy especially, considering the Paras' unnatural zeal stunned quite a few trainers into not giving their Pokémon orders at all.

By the fifth trainer's defeat, Frenzy and Lenny had gone up a couple of levels, to the point that Lenny finally learned a move—Tackle.

It was glorious. And the joy it gave Lenny to use it was obvious. Ash was practically walking on air when he reached the end of the bridge.

"Congratulations!" A guy at the end of the bridge said, clapping. "You've beaten the nugget challenge! As your reward—here."

Ash accepted the solid gold sphere—it was about the size of a Pokéball when it was shrunk down, and sparkled nicely, with an NB etched into it. Next time he caught up with Gary—

"Since I have you here," the guy said, startling him out of his reverie. "And since you're obviously such a strong trainer—what do you say to joining Team Rocket?"

Team Rocket? Why did that sound familiar? "I don't know," Ash said slowly. "Could you tell me more about it?"

The man smiled—like he smelled a sucker, Darkrai would say. "Team Rocket is an up-and-coming organization dedicated to the betterment of Kanto," the man explained. "We rescue displaced and abused Pokémon, and have single-handedly reduced the unemployment rate of the region by two-percent."

"Huh," Ash noised, making sure to draw it out. "Hey, I think I have heard of Team Rocket before—I don't suppose you have two, ah, employees by the names of Jessie and James? They have a talking Meowth with them?"

The man's face twitched.

"Sorry, but I don't think Team Rocket is as nice as you say they are," Ash declared. "And I'm going to have to decline your request," he added, using some of the big words he learned from Darkrai.

"I was afraid of that," the man said, pulling two Pokéballs out and releasing their contents—a Golbat and a Tauros. "Say goodbye, kid."

Something big and black dropped down behind the man. "'Goodbye, kid.'"

And with that, the man, the Golbat, and the Tauros all were out cold.

"I could have taken him," Ash said.

"The words you're looking for are 'thank you,'" Darkrai said testily, tapping his claws. "And fine—next time I'll let you get gored."

"You're the only Pokémon I know who attacks humans," Ash pointed out. Darkrai's eye twitched. "Not that I don't appreciate it. Anyway, I'm glad you're still speaking to me," Ash continued. "I'm sorry for being a jerk and ignoring you."

"That brooks no argument."

"I get the feeling you've just insulted me."

"Go with that feeling."

Ash spread his arms. "Do I get a forgiveness hug?"

"Sorry, my hugs are for special occasions only. Stay away from me you crazy human!"

Ash and Darkrai spent the next hour or so exploring around the lake with his Pokémon, searching for a fifth teammate and trying to rack up some more levels.

It was slow going.

"I think it's broken," Ash declared, hitting his Pokédex against the palm of his hand.

"Stop that," Darkrai scolded. "It won't work if you break it."

"I want Patches and Lenny to be as high a level as they can before my gym battle, but at the rate we're going—"

"I'm sorry—don't you have an Electric Pokémon?"

"Pika pi," Pikachu added, tugging his pants leg.

"Yeah, but I want it to be a fair fight," Ash argued.

"A lost cause," Darkrai said to Pikachu, indicating Ash. Pikachu nodded sagely.

"If you're not going to be helpful—"

"Oh, I plan on being extremely helpful. See over there?" Darkrai asked, pointing.

Ash followed his claw to see—

"Trainers."

Misty waited until ten o' clock. Ten o' clock was when her annoying sisters had their first show. Ten o' clock was when she could sneak in.

So at ten sharp, she snuck in through the back.

"Seel?" a white Pokémon queried, poking its head out of its tank.

"Shh," she told it, patting its head. "I'm not going to be here long—you never saw me, all right?"

"Seel," it said, using a flipper to mimic her shush motion.

Misty patted it once more and continued on to the office, not quite tip-toeing, but close. Get in, grab a handful of badges, and get out. That was the plan. Straight to the drawer where they were kept—

The badges were all gone.

Misty couldn't help but gape at the empty drawer. How was this possible? It had been filled with hundreds of badges when she had left! They couldn't have given them all away!

A knock at the back door startled her out of her shock—she dodged under the desk as one of her older sisters, Violet, went to answer it.

"It's about time you got here!" she heard her chide. "We had to delay the show because of how late you are!"

"Sorry," some guy said. "I just started today—"

"And this'll be the last day, too."

Ouch.

The office door slammed.

Oh boy.

Misty held her breath as her sister walked by the desk, opened the badge drawer, and proceeded to open one of two boxes. She watched as the boxful of Cascade badges were unceremoniously dumped into the drawer.

"Violet, was that the badges?" one of her other sisters, Lily, asked.

"Yep," Violet said, picking up the other box. "Come on, let's go—we're late!"

Misty counted to fifty before crawling out from underneath the desk. Two boxes of Cascade badges? That had to be a couple thousand badges at least! How many trainers were challenging the gym?

Misty shook her head and stood, unshouldering her bag and pulling it open. She grabbed a handful of badges and dropped them in.

"Misty?"

Misty shrieked in alarm and spun to see her third sister, Daisy, standing in the doorway, hand on a headset on a side desk. She must have glimpsed her as she ducked in.

"What are you doing?" Daisy asked, eyebrows furrowed. "I thought you said you weren't coming back until—"

"I know what I said!" Misty snapped quietly. "I just needed some badges because I've been having some challengers—"

"Ooooh," Daisy noised mockingly. "Do you mean suitors?"

"No. What happened to all the other badges? The drawer was full when I left!"

"We decided to start handing them out at the shows."

"What?"

"What happened to your whispering? I liked you better when you were trying to be quiet."

"How could you?" Misty squawked. "You're giving the Cerulean gym a bad name!"

Daisy shrugged and picked up the headset.

"If you cared so much about it, you shouldn't have left in the first place," Daisy tossed back as she left.

That hurt. She did care—she left so she could become stronger. She left so she could become a better trainer.

She left because she couldn't stand her sisters.

"Hit me with a half-truth, why don't you," she muttered, grabbing a handful more badges before leaving. She gave Seel an affectionate rub as she walked out.

Once back in the sun, she took a deep breath. She was in, she was out, she was on with life.

Someday, yes, she would come back, and kick all three of her sisters' cans. Tease her for being a tomboy—there was more to being a Pokémon trainer than looks!

And what really truly bugged her was that their comments really truly bugged her. She had run away from her sisters, and no amount of convincing was going to change that.

Water off a Psyduck's back, Brock had commented.

"I wish it were that simple," Misty sighed.

Enough of that—she shook her head and set off.

She had a challenger to find.