AN: I was GOING to hold off on a certain character's appearance here for… a very good while, but I decided to have her briefly be featured in this chapter to see how much I've decided to alter about her ahead of time. As for the beginning part of this chapter, this continues on from the flashbacks occurring from while Bianca was getting her eye examination done with, as in, before the end of Chapter 22; the end of this chapter picks up after the events of Chapter 22 for those curious.
Truth and Ideals Chapter 24:
As Bianca stepped into a small room within the clinic, she saw a nurse waiting for her within. The lighting was very dim, and whatever brighter lights were in the room were very easy on Bianca's eyes.
"Welcome, Bianca. I've been told by you and your friend that you're having eye problems?" The nurse asked, to which Bianca silently nodded. "So, tell me. How long ago did you begin to experience these problems?" She had asked, as Bianca began to think back to a few days prior. While she had more noticeable problems within the past two days, she recall back around four days ago when these problems first began to appear…
Days earlier…
Bianca was walking at the outskirts of Striaton City towards a park to try and get some form of peace from her panic and worry over how Ash had been injured by somebody, and how he had been out cold since the day before.
As she was walking, though, she did not seem to notice somebody heading in her direction.
"Ouch!" Bianca said, falling backwards upon impact with the person in question, as she began to look around, her vision unusually blurred, before seeing the hand of a relatively strong, near 8 foot man before her.
"You okay young lady?" A tough, deep sounding voice asked, as Bianca took the man's hand to stand up, with one hand rubbing her eyes to get them to stop blurring, only for her vision to still look a bit worse for wear.
Without hearing anybody speak anything, somebody next to the tall man had handed her a cloth to rub her eyes with, and Bianca carefully reached for it to take and rub against her eyes.
"T-Thank you." Bianca said, "And yes, I'm fine. I just sort of zoned out there I guess." Bianca added, as her vision cleared up, ready to hand the cloth back before she now noticed a shorter girl standing beside the taller male, and that was saying something since the girl was actually shorter than Bianca. Despite that, she physically looked the same age due to her body's development in certain areas.
"Um… Wow. Who are you two?" Bianca asked, looking back up towards the towering, blonde man.
"Lieutenant Surge is what I'm referred to back at Kanto, and beside me is my "niece" named Misty. She doesn't speak much too much… like, at all." Lt. Surge introduced himself, as the shorter girl, having fiery orange hair, green eyes, and blue colored clothing and a scarf bearing the symbols of the three, "Super Ancient" Pokémon on them.
"So, your name's Misty?" Bianca asked the girl, to which she nodded, all the while staying beside Surge. Just as Bianca tried to think of what to say next, a sudden thought had hit her.
'Wait, isn't this the girl that Ash was trying to mention before?' Bianca thought to herself, as she looked back at a confused Misty, who was crouching and looking at Tepig with curious eyes.
"Oh, you want to know what Pokémon he is? He's a Tepig, a Fire Type Pokémon." Bianca told Misty, as Misty blinked, moving to carefully pet Tepig, all the while Tepig looked a tad bit aggressive at first… until rolling over playfully after Misty made a certain gesture with her hand.
Watching Misty quickly befriend Tepig, Surge chuckled a bit to himself.
"Same ole' Misty: always managing to befriend even the most aggressive Pokémon." Surge told Bianca, as he looked at Bianca. "Speaking of which, why don't you see if you can help Misty with befriending one of her own Pokémon? It could benefit both of you for all I know." Surge said to them both, all the while Misty moved to stand, brushing her scarf out of the way as she did.
Grabbing a Premier Ball, Misty called out her own Pokémon that she currently had on hand, stepping back at a bit as from the Poké Ball emerged a rather large, red, serpentine Pokémon with a gaping maul.
"… Oh wow… What kind of Pokémon is that?" Bianca asked Misty, all the while grabbing her own Pokédex to scan it.
"Gyarados, the Atrocious Pokémon and the Final Form of Magikarp. Once it begins to rampage, a Gyarados will burn everything down, even in a harsh storm." Bianca's Pokédex said, as Bianca looked up at the large Pokémon with awe.
"So, wait, I take it this Gyarados is a Shiny Pokémon?" Bianca asked, as Bianca looked at her Pokédex to see a blue colored Gyarados on the screen, even though Misty's Gyarados was red in color.
"Yeah, long story as to how. Basically a bunch of goons from Team Rocket many years ago had tried to force a lake full of Magikarp to evolve, and Misty's uncle Lance captured this particular specimen and eventually allowed Misty to have it for herself." Surge explained to Bianca, all the while Bianca was fascinated still.
"So, how exactly would we go about befriending a Pokémon as big as this?" Bianca asked Misty, who didn't seem to acknowledge Bianca's question and had already walked up directly in front of Gyarados, petting him as to calm the monstrous sea serpent's temper, all the while Gyarados seemed to growl with a hint of hostility.
Bianca, looking at her Tepig hiding behind her, Bianca moved to pick up Tepig and pet him to keep him calm, hushing the smaller Pokémon in a gentle tone, all the while Bianca looked over as Misty began to walk away from Gyarados, her eyes shut and facing away from him, all the while Gyarados simply watched her move away.
"What is she doing?" Bianca whispered towards Surge.
"Just a trust test. If she can walk back to safe distance without looking back at him, and if Gyarados stays put, she knows she can trust him to not attack her." Surge told Bianca, before suddenly thinking of something.
"Also, hate to bring this up so late, but we never did get your name. No need to really tell us, but Misty does feel better knowing who she's "talking" with if you catch my drift." Surge told Bianca, all the while Bianca yelped in embarrassment at not having introduced herself yet when Surge and Misty have already done so.
"Oh, that's easy. My name is Bianca." Bianca finally introduced herself, as Surge nodded, all the while Misty walked up to Bianca and blinked, bowing before her for a brief moment before standing back up straight.
"Wow, you're certainly expressive, Misty." Bianca told Misty, all the while Misty blushed in embarrassment and simply twiddled her boot covered feet against the ground. Misty, before gesturing for Gyarados to face Bianca's Tepig.
"Well, what do you know." Surge chuckled. "It looks like Misty wants to battle you." Surge said to Bianca, as Bianca blinked a bit, her eyes suddenly becoming a touch blurry again, but quickly she rubbed them with the cloth she was given earlier to keep them clear. However, even though the lighting in the area was beginning to decide against her, Bianca stood ready to face Gyarados.
'I don't know if any of my Pokémon will be able to win against Gyarados due to how powerful he looks… but that doesn't mean I can't solve Tepig's fear of him at the very least.' Bianca thought, as she looked at Tepig, quickly picking him up briefly to cuddle him, before setting him down in front of the small "battlefield" and looking towards Gyarados.
"I trust you on this one, Tepig." Bianca told her small, Fire Pig Pokémon, all the while Tepig looked up at Gyarados with nervousness. Watching as Misty gave a gesture to signal to Bianca to make her move first, Bianca nodded and looked forward with a somewhat fierce gaze.
"Alright, Tepig! Let's start off with Smog!" Bianca ordered, before Tepig mustered all the courage he could to jump up into the air high enough to directly face Gyarados, before snorting out a plume of toxic smoke towards Gyarados, all the while Gyarados' inhaling of it was accidental at best due to his mouth nearly always being open.
Gyarados, roaring a bit towards Tepig, suddenly slammed his tail onto the ground to cause the ground below to shake and tremble, all the while Tepig was quick to jump like it did before to avoid severe damage. After a moment, Gyarados began to give off sneezing motions as it didn't look like it took that attack from Smog very well, but Gyarados still stood defiantly.
"Good job, Tepig! Now use Rollout!" Bianca called, as Tepig landed on the ground and began to spin in a ball at, initially, a weak intensity, before crashing into Gyarados once, and then once again with increased intensity and strength, and then doing so in a repeated fashioned. Gyarados, trying to make a move, was constantly interrupted by Tepig's Rollout to do much else, especially considering their difference in size.
However, perhaps Gyarados would soon have a better opening; as Tepig continued to strike the colossal sea serpent with Rollout, he began to glow and change in size and shape to a much larger, bulkier Pokémon. As Bianca recognized this as Tepig evolving, she was quick to grab her Pokédex to scan Tepig's evolving form to see what he would become in a few seconds.
As she did, Misty smirked a little bit, all the while she watched as Tepig, now a Pignite, began to tire out from Rollout, as Gyarados suddenly leaped into the air at an immense height, all the while Bianca clenched her fist in slight agitation. As much as she figured it would've been impossible to win against a fully evolved Pokémon…
… That did not mean she would give up so easily.
"Alright, Pignite, keep calm, and use your head!" Bianca called, all the while Pignite looked up towards Gyarados with a snort of fiery smoke from his nostrils, before jumping up into the air, head first towards Gyarados. Slamming into Gyarados head-on and causing them both to fall to the ground, with the two of them standing back up.
As Gyarados and Pignite aggressively eyed each other, Gyarados was the first to collapse to the ground with a loud thud, before soon after, Pignite had also collapsed as well. The battle, for as brief as it was, seemed to be at a tie, leaving Surge to judge who the victor was.
"Well, how's about that; considering Gyarados was the first to faint out of the two, I hereby declare Bianca and Pignite the victor of this battle!" Surge explained, all the while Bianca cheered for Pignite, all the while she noticed Misty doing something odd; praying in a kneeling stance.
As it seemed she was doing this for a while, a strange glow began to emanate from Misty, and within seconds, Gyarados, as well as Pignite, were fully healed and standing up again.
"… H-How… did you…?" Bianca tried to ask, as Misty looked up at Bianca, with Surge looking towards Bianca to try and explain.
"I believe the ability is called… "Heartsoul"… or something like that? I might've gotten the term wrong, but Misty has displayed a special ability to connect to Pokémon in order to bond with them better or to even heal them of their injuries." Surge told Bianca, as Misty nodded in response, although her expression seemed to indicate that Surge might've gotten the term wrong.
… Regardless, due to the flashing light from Misty earlier, Bianca's eyes were watering again, as she was quick to wipe her eyes clean with the cloth again. Surge, looking at an older looking, phone-like device, signaled towards Misty to call back Gyarados as Surge looked over towards Bianca. Misty, walking up to Bianca, held out her hand for her to shake.
"Well, it's been a pleasure meeting you, Bianca, but we've got a ferry to catch for getting us back home to Kanto. I do hope that somehow we can meet again." Surge told Bianca, saluting to her as well, before beginning to leave. Bianca, shaking Misty's hand with happiness.
"Thank you, Misty, for helping Pignite and I stay confident during our battle. I'm sure my friend Ash Ketchum would've loved to meet you!" Bianca said before moving to leave, all the while Misty waved goodbye as well…
… Before looking absolutely stunned once the name of Bianca's friend sunk into her mind, but Bianca had already gotten too far away for her to notice this…
Present Day…
As Ash, Cheren, and Bianca woke up in the morning, all three of them packing to prepare for their long walk across a Skyarrow Bridge towards Castelia City, noticed as Regulus was beginning to grab the Poké Ball that he was bounded to be returned into.
"Regulus, is there any meaning for this?" Bianca asked the Lucario, as Regulus nodded.
"Simple; if Team Plasma shows up at Castelia City by any chance, I don't think it would be wise for them to see me present right away or else they'll notice us before we do and they'll have another chance to escape." Regulus explained, as Ash nodded.
"Smart move." Ash said, "Besides, I've been wanting to give my other Pokémon a chance to train since I've been giving a little too much focus on Regulus for the second gym battle, that's why I intend to use Dewott, Tranquill, and Pansear against Burgh instead." Ash told his friends, all the while grabbing Regulus' Poké Ball and returning him into it.
"Good idea, all of our Pokémon could use some kind of training if they're not strong enough as it is." Cheren said, before adding in, "Besides, I think it would be odd for my dad to see me with a Legendary Pokémon before the holidays begin tomorrow." Cheren said, as Ash nodded.
"We'll save introductions for tomorrow, then." Ash said, before beginning to walk open the door of the bedroom and begin to walk out…
… Only to see N standing right at the door.
"You three wouldn't mind if I had joined you on your way to Castelia now, would you?"
To Be Continued…
AN: N returns yet again for this chapter, but don't expect him to leave so soon; at least, not until Team Plasma in Castelia is confronted. Yeah, in case you're curious, since Ash has already put two and two together regarding N, and even though N himself won't admit it during the Castelia Arc, Ash already knows that N is the King of Team Plasma because of the Dark Stone's visions. Ash won't outright ask about it just yet, though; he's not the kind of guy to make that sort of assumption real quick unless he sees this kind of thing for himself in person.
As for Lt. Surge appearing during this chapter as well, it was basically a little tiny plan that I had to go along with the fact that the Misty you see here is NOT the same Misty from FR/LG or HG/SS, but the Misty from those particular games DOES exist in this AU canon as the mother of the particular Misty seen in this story.
As for why I had chosen Lt. Surge for Misty's guide, I had originally had a choice between Lance and Brock as well as Surge. Lance I decided against due to his role as the Champion of the Indigo League, and Brock I decided against since I didn't know what type of characterization I'd use for him just yet.