The power plant was dark, abandoned. Callum was certain that something was in the walls, watching him. Lights flickered down the once-beige corridor, their dying tones bathing the building in a grey, foreboding colour. The floor was covered in worn, peach tiles, each of which were chipped, if not broken completely.

A door groaned somewhere down the corridor. His stomach did somersaults as his heart leaped into his throat.

Holding his sole poké ball in his hands, he continued his solemn march through the disused power plant. The shadows seemed to grow and stretch with each flicker of the lights. He could hear the crackle of electricity in the air, smell the ozone burning away.

He nearly touched the metal rail for the staircase, common sense stopping him at the last moment. The whole place felt like it was charged with electricity. There was an ambient spark to everything. His phone had died the moment he had crossed the threshold.

A voltorb rolled past, beneath the metal staircase. He froze, breath caught in his throat. The pokémon continued onwards, oblivious to his presence.

He had no clue what the machinery around him did. It was tall, far taller than he was, reaching to the ceiling several feet above him. A thin layer of dust coated the dials. Screens similar to the petrol gauge in a car had flickering arms, telling him nothing.

Outside, he heard the thunderclaps roar. Lightning flashed, cutting out the remaining power. The shadows of tree branches crawled across the walls, like phantom fingers reaching for his throat. He told himself he was being stupid, that it was the middle of a summer's day and that Lavender was hundreds of miles away, their resident ghosts kept in check by the wards Agatha had erected.

Yet the sound of something suspiciously like children laughing chilled him to the bone.

A pikachu raced down the corridor, in the corner of his vision. Callum swore and spun on the spot, searching for where it could have come from.

The corridor behind him had vanished.

The fuck is going on here?

His footsteps seemed to echo before he stepped on the ground. One assignment, one simple survey and report. That was all this was supposed to be.

The top of the staircase guided him down a shadowed corridor where tiles were falling off the walls. He continued to clutch the poké ball in his hands, as if it would help him. Some small part of his brain knew that a zubat would do nothing against the denizens of this electric hell.

The doors in the corridor were all locked, barricaded shut from the inside. He saw blood stains seeping out from beneath them. He blinked and the bloodstains disappeared, as if they had never been there.

He rubbed his eyes. It did nothing to help. The corridor led him in a wide circle. He saw the entrance to the powerplant beneath him, though he was certain there was never a balcony overlooking the plant's entrance.

Thunder boomed outside. He flinched and swore. A pikachu chuckled at him from the end of the corridor, grooming its ears in a condescending, almost taunting manner.

"Fucking rats," Callum snarled, ignoring it. He followed the sounds of the crackling electricity. The roof of the powerplant had crumbled in places, letting the rainstorm descend inside from the heavens. Electric cables in the ceiling sparked wildly as the water ran over them. Raindrops hammered down against the puddles that covered the plant's floor. Arcs of blue electricity danced across the water's surface. He saw pichu clustered in a far corner, timidly drinking from a shallow part of the water.

Callum moved carefully between the electrified water.

Lightning crashed down from the heavens.

He jumped into the air as the white bolt slammed into the ground in front of him. By some miracle he kept his balance, remaining upright. Electabuzz began to creep out from nearby rooms, drawn by the lightning bolts. He hurried on down the dull pink corridor. The ceiling had fallen, now no more than rubble supporting the crumbling walls.

Skeletons of large pokémon stared at him from within the rooms he could see, the meat picked clean. He swallowed as he looked up, searching through the bony tree branches for some sign of the predator. There was nothing. The grey storm clouds rumbled, as if angry with his intrusion.

As he walked further, he saw that nature had begun to reclaim the rest of the powerplant. The tiled floor gave way to grassy soil that seemed to twist around his boots. The walls of the plant had crumbled away, leaving him exposed to the landscape. He could see the mountains of Rock Tunnel in the near distance, looming over him.

The storm clouds continued to rumble. His uniform, though designed to be waterproof, was soaked through. He squinted up through the rain clouds and swore. Something moved up there. It could have been a bird - but it was far too large to be anything normal.

He jumped at the whispers that echoed around the clearing. They came too fast, too quiet for him to understand the words, though he was certain he understood the meaning.

You're going to die here.

He swallowed and spun on his heel. The poké ball he had brought with him had vanished, though he could not remember where and when he had lost it. "No job's worth this," he muttered to himself. It would be easy to run away, hide somewhere lawless like Orre. He had no real family tying him to Kanto, unlike most of the grunts he worked with.

He stopped at the sight of a pikachu standing several steps away from him, watching. He was certain it was following him. It rubbed at its ear slowly, a smirk obvious on its tiny little face.

"The hell do you want?" he asked the pokémon. He was frozen in place, unwilling to move any further. The whispers had gotten louder. He felt them come towards him like a crashing wave. He could hear the beating of wings in the clouds. Each clap of thunder was accompanied by strong downward winds and a shrill, bird-like song. He looked up at the clouds, searching for it. He found nothing.

When he looked back at the way he had come, the power plant was no longer there. He spun on the spot, heart racing.

It has to be there! Buildings don't just up and vanish! This isn't Lavender!

He felt the ground rumble. The grass seemed to be moving away from him, as if he were cursed, diseased. The pikachu had vanished. He raced towards where he had seen it, intent on clinging to some semblance of life. He found nothing but an old, worn children's pikachu dress up, discarded in a muddy puddle. He picked it up, expecting it to move, to talk to him. It draped over his arm lifelessly, with missing eyes replaced by sewn-on eyes.

He stood, searching for any sign of an exit. The whispers had stopped. There was no sound. He could feel the rain beating down against his skin. He could see the flashes of lightning in the sky above. He splashed his foot in the puddle repeatedly, covering his black uniform in splotches of brown.

Nothing. No sound reached his ears.

A flash of light exploded from behind him. He felt the heat scorch his back, burning through the uniform. His clothes, once soaked, dried almost immediately.

Terrified for a reason he was unable to understand, he turned around and found himself facing a myth.

White lances of electricity crackled over its black-tipped yellow feathers. It stood on two muscular pink legs, as long as he was tall. Grey storm clouds leaked from its extended wings. Its beak was as large as Callum's own legs. Lightning flashed behind it. The pokémon's eyes shone gold.

The pokémon threw back its head and made a sound like a thunderclap. Callum covered his ears with his hands. He felt something wet trickle from his ears as they began to ring.

The pokémon looked down at him with an expression that exuded disappointment. Callum took a step backwards. He felt the grass hook around his ankles, trapping him. Gasping, he looked down. Thick tendrils of darkness began to wrap their way around his body, trapping him from the legs up.

"What?" he gasped.

The discarded costume on his arm began to quiver, coming back to life. With wide eyes, he watched, horrified, as inky black smoke poured out of the costume. It swirled around him rapidly, with a tangible bloodthirst he could feel in the back of his throat.

The smoke spun around him. Faster and faster. He could see nothing but darkness. He began to feel less and less of his body, as if parts of it were falling off. In the darkness he heard a voice whispering, circling around him in a constant loop, getting louder and louder until it was impossible to hear anything else.

Everything became deafeningly silent.

Then a voice whispered in his ear, "Revenge."

-O-O-O-

The smell of the sea brought back memories of Misty's childhood. At the first inhale she could almost see and hear her parents, laughing as they brought her and her three sisters down to the seafront to let them run riot. Back then, her sisters had planned on being a triple threat water show act, combined with their experience with pokémon. Their father had been all for it, encouraging them with every breath he took. Their mother, though more reserved, always seemed to support them, though Misty could remember that her attention was always on her youngest daughter, teaching her how to fix bikes rather than bake cookies.

As she blinked the memories away, Misty rubbed her eyes dry. After finally leaving Diglett's Cave - though personally, she still found that name entirely too misleading - even the seldom-travelled paths around it were like a blessing. She kicked rough gravel out of her way to make a softer spot to sit down on, from where she could sit and stare out at the sea. The ocean breeze seemed to wrap around her like a blanket, cooling her under the subtle heat of the sun. Ash had already seen the endless lush fields of mountain grass to the east of Diglett's Cave and rushed off to try and train his pokémon. Misty could not be certain, but he seemed to be taking their advice to heart.

West was Vermillion. Leah and Chloe had already retreated back, though had promised a warm welcome should they ever drop by to say hi. Misty could see the entirety of the town sprawling out below, built on a series of alternating peaks and dips. Vermillion was a hilly city - she could remember taxi drivers when she was younger sometimes failing a hill start and drifting backwards before rapidly breaking. Though it was still several miles away and down the slight mountain path that led to Diglett's Cave, she could still see the gym on the far west side of the city, almost lighting up the landscape. Much like her own family's gym, it used water power to generate electricity, though she knew that Surge's genius with electrical systems helped the entire city's electrical grid.

Taking a poké ball from her belt, Misty released the pokémon inside. Despite herself, she still flinched a little when she touched its red, scaled body.

"Hey," she said gently, smiling at the venipede. He looked up at her with wide, yellow eyes, almost uncertain as she picked him up and placed him delicately on her lap. "I've been treating you unfairly, and for that, I'm sorry."

Her pokémon answered her with a series of clicking sounds. She could not be certain what it meant, though she chose to take it as a positive sign.

Continuing, she picked up a handful of gravel and began to massage it gently into the bug's back. He shuddered at first, though quickly seemed to relax and almost melt as she continued. The Samurai of Viridian Forest had his quirks, though Misty could not deny that he certainly knew his stuff when it came to caring for bugs. She would never have thought massaging small rocks into a pokémon would ever end well.

"I want you to be a part of my team, even if I haven't treated you that way lately. The first step is giving you a name." She bit her bottom lip as she looked from him to the sea, haunted by memories of loneliness. "When I was younger, I always felt like a bit of an outsider. Despite what I think of him, Will was right. I named my pokémon after flowers because I tried replacing my family with them." She craned her neck towards where Ash had run off to, sighing at the now familiar crack of thunder from his pikachu. Brock had mentioned that he wanted to check something out quickly and had run off to parts unknown.

Thinking of them, she found it impossible to keep a smile from her face. "I never realised that well, maybe I don't need to replace my family. I love my sisters. I loved my parents. Nothing can and will ever replace them. What I'm trying to say," she whispered, letting her hands drop to her sides, "is that was the old Misty. With everything that's happened, and everything that even Ash has taught me - though never tell him I said that - I can do better. I will do better.

"And that's where you come in," she said, looking back to the venipede. "I'm afraid of bug pokémon because well, it's complicated. Anyway, I'm trusting myself to train you, to broaden my horizons. Unlike the old Misty, the Misty I am now is going to rely on you, to even listen to you and seek your help. I've been thinking of a name for you, something that will do you justice. I want to become a strong trainer, to help those who need helping and make sure what I've suffered doesn't happen to anyone else. My pokémon are part of that.

"So how does that name Knight sound?"

Her pokémon twitched its antennae at her, answering in a series of almost bird-like chirps. Misty chuckled and took it as a yes, though part of her wondered if he was simply happy that she had finally stopped talking.

"Alright." She moved him to the ground and jumped to her feet, glancing back towards Diglett's Tunnel. She saw Brock walking back towards her, almost bouncing as he tossed a poké ball up and down in his hands. "That's step one down, Knight." Smiling once again, she crouched down to look at her pokémon. "It'll be tough, but we'll work together and change the world."

"Nice to see you're getting along." Brock was all smiles when he returned. "I managed to do what I needed. I can't believe whilst we were in the tunnels I forgot I'd wanted to catch a zubat."

"A zubat?" Misty echoed, perplexed. She knew that a crobat could be fearsome, but to train one from a zubat took a lot of nurturing and care, so far as she was aware. "Why did you want one of those so badly?"

"Their echolocation can be useful," Brock said as he clipped the poké ball to his belt. "Also they're naturally poisonous, so I can use that to train my pokémon, and where I've been thinking about becoming a pokémon breeder, having something like a crobat that only evolves with proper love and care shows that off better. A friend of mine, Melanie, runs a nature reserve a little outside Cerulean. She has one that she raised from an injured zubat that she uses to help her guard the reserve and she's given me a few tips about raising one. When we're nearby, we should swing by and see her. She has lots of water pokémon she cares for that you could probably show her how to care for."

"That sounds good," Misty agreed. The thought of going near Cerulean was still painful, though she knew that eventually she would have to suck it up and deal with it. As another crack of thunder echoed from the grass, Misty sighed. "I really hope he isn't getting himself into trouble."

"It's Ash," Brock said, with a knowing grin on his face. "I don't think he manages a day without it."

"You're right." A groan escaped as she began to stomp her way towards Ash, following the sounds of the thunder. Brushing the long grass away from her waist, she glanced back to see that Knight was still scuttling beside her, traversing the grass with ease. Brock, meanwhile, had a hand over his nose and seemed to be struggling.

"Pollen," he explained with a groan. "I've taken something for it, but I just need it to kick in."

Whatever else he was about to say was lost to his sneeze. Misty flinched as the grass around them rustled almost instantly after. Heart pounding, she called Knight to her side. Whatever was in the grass appeared to be circling them. The grass shook, faster and faster, as if the creature inside was creating a vortex to surround them.

Then just as suddenly, it stopped. Misty was frozen on the spot, waiting for the attack. There were too many pokémon that would try and lull them into a false sense of security. She had heard tales of people being tricked by it more than once.

"It could be a meowth," Brock said. "Most other pokémon I can think of hunt in packs around here." He moved to Misty's side, a poké ball primed in his hand. "Rattata are scavengers."

A peel of thunder made Misty jump. Deciding that whatever was after them was clearly either taunting them or had already left, she moved towards the sound. She found Ash and Pikachu quite quickly, and was honestly expecting to find him fighting off a flock of angry birds.

Instead, to her surprise, she found him in an area where the grass had been cut to only reach her ankles, and surrounded by balloons.

Brock nearly fell into her from behind. Misty and he shared an incredulous look as Ash directed Pikachu to hit certain coloured balloons in specific order. Misty counted at least thirty balloons surrounding them, in all different shades of the rainbow.

"I didn't know it was anyone's birthday," Brock commented. Nearly twenty silver, glittery birthday balloons were scorched and almost melted in a large pile behind Ash. Misty hoped that he had a plan to clear those afterwards, because she would personally make him eat them if he was considering leaving them behind.

"Oh hey guys!" Ash waved when he noticed them. Pikachu copied his movements, cheering happily. "Are we heading into Vermillion now?"

"Not quite yet," Brock said. Misty saw the way he focused on the dead balloons and wondered if he was thinking the same thing as her. "Where did you even get these from?"

"Back in Pewter," Ash said, his smile impossibly wide. "I thought this would be a good idea if I didn't manage to win my first battle." Held held out an arm for Pikachu and chuckled as his pokémon jumped atop it and ran to sit on his shoulder. "Honestly, that battle made me realise that maybe my plan for gyms can work. I can use pokémon that are weak to the gym leaders to make them see that any pokémon can be strong."

"That's admirable Ash, but you do realise how much training you're going to need to do?" Brock asked. "Have you planned out all your gym battles then?"

"Nope!" Ash declared.

Misty fought the urge to bury her face in her hands. Sometimes, Ash truly was the epitome of ignorance is bliss.

"You can check that online, you realise?" Brock asked.

"Maybe, but I'll figure it out when I'm at the next gym. If I try and plan in advance what to battle in what gym, then that means I'll be hunting out pokémon to train and capture, instead of befriending them and making sure that they want to battle with me." He shrugged, much to the displeasure of Pikachu, who cried out and grabbed onto Ash's hair to steady himself. "Anyway," Ash continued, wincing at the way his pokémon pulled his hair, though his smile never faded, "If you're not coming to get me, how comes you're both here? Are we training together?"

"Actually," Brock said, removing his backpack and tossing it next to the pile of melted balloons, "Misty and I are going to have a battle."

"We are?" She felt like her brain had crashed into a solid wall. Memories came crashing back to her. "We are!" she conversation with Brock felt like actual weeks ago. She glanced down at her venipede, who was staring up at them all with unblinking eyes. The only movement he made was a seldom twitch of his antennae. "Um, the balloons though?"

"I'll clear them!" Ash volunteered. "So long as I get to watch!"

At Brock's snort, Misty rolled her eyes. "Grow up, gutter-brain," she snarled, punching him on the arm. At his cry of pain, Misty sighed. "That didn't hurt, so quit attention seeking." Checking to make sure Ash was truly moving the balloons out of the way, she wondered how they would go about explaining the field of balloons to anyone that happened to wander past.

If nothing else, it would be entertaining.

"Three on three?" she suggested. Vermillion meant dealing with Surge. Though she could not say for certain, she had a feeling that if he even agreed to entertain any of her requests, he would want a battle. "Shall we save our strongest for another time, just use this to see how well our weaker pokémon are doing?"

"That sounds good to me." Brock grabbed a ball from his belt and began to walk away from her. "Maybe not my zubat though. I don't think thirty minutes is enough time to train anything." Grinning, he spun the poké ball on a single finger. "One on one, League level battles?"

Misty nodded. Her heart was racing again. She could feel sweat gathering in her palms. How long had it been since she had taken part in a real battle, rather than just observing? Random trainers on the routes never seemed to count - none ever seemed to bring a full challenge.

Ash seemed excited, but confused. He tried sitting on the ground, then jumped back up to his feet and was currently bouncing on the spot, almost vibrating with excitement.

Misty closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The smell of the sea was still drifting gently into her lungs. She let the memories flood through her before she opened her eyes, resolute.

"Well, shall we try this, Knight?" she asked her venipede. "A real battle? I know we haven't trained much yet, but let's give this a shot."

She could admit to herself that she was surprised when her pokémon scuttled forwards and stood between her and Brock, as if he already knew what a trainer battle meant. She wondered if there was a chance he had previously been owned by someone.

"Kalea!" Brock cried. From his poké ball burst forth his strange, electrical geodude, though this time there was no spoon stuck to her face. The pokémon growled as she slammed her fists together. Sparks danced over her arms.

Misty looked across the field, met Brock's eyes. He nodded.

"Toxic!" she screamed.

Knight raced forwards, poison dripping from his mouth. Misty was impressed with his speed. He seemed to move almost as fast as Ash's pikachu.

"Localised sandstorm!"

Misty swore. Brock reached beneath his top and pulled a pair of goggles over his eyes. Misty had to shield hers with an arm as Kalea slammed her fists into the ground. Knight, still racing in, was knocked off balance by the tremors. Taking his chance, he spat globules of steaming venom towards the geodude.

Dirt and sand rose up from the ground, guided by winds Misty could not feel. A howling vortex of dirt and rock surrounded the geodude. The pokémon disappeared from sight within. The toxic poison smacked harmlessly against the vortex and was scattered to the wind.

"Spark stone!"

Shit. Misty's brain raced. Her venipede was not well trained enough for new commands, not yet. The whipping winds of sand exploded outwards with a deafening howl. Her pokémon fell backwards. Kalea snarled and punched the ground with a single fist. As rocks emerged from the ground, she snatched them from the sky and, arms sparking with electricity, began to throw them at her pokémon.

"Dodge!" Misty cried.

Knight rolled over and ran. Stones flew at him, covered in dark blue lances of lightning. He weaved through the grass in wide, arcing circles. The stones slammed against the ground with a series of miniature thunder cracks.

"Double back and poison tail!"

Knight leaped out of the grass, soaring above the projectiles. Spinning in the air, Misty saw the venom leaking from her pokémon's tail. As he descended, Kalea dove her way underground. Knight's tail slammed against the ground, covering it in thick, purple ooze.

Misty swore. She had no way to fight anything underground. She had to wait for it to come back up. She never even noticed Brock give a command for it to go under.

A rumble in the ground was her only warning. She tried to cry out for Knight to dodge, but she had no idea where to dodge from.

Kalea erupted from behind Knight, her fists coated in flame. Misty swore at the impossibility of it all as the geodude fell atop her pokémon with two large, fiery fists. As her pokémon squealed and was sent flying backwards, Misty grit her teeth and recalled him.

"If I'd paid attention to you before, we'd have done better," she said to the poké ball. Looking over at Brock, she called out, "One to you, then."

Before he could even answer, Ash, having made himself what appeared to be a cocoon of balloons, cried out, "That was amazing! I didn't know geodude could use electricity, or that your venipede was so fast Mist! We should-"

For the sake of her sanity, Misty did her level best to tune him out. As Brock recalled his geodude, Misty grabbed her next poké ball.

"Willow!" she cried, calling forth her poliwag. Her pokémon bounced happily on the spot and Misty could tell she was glad to be outside and in the real world. As she slapped her tail on the ground, Misty noticed that it was getting progressively shorter. It meant soon she would be ready to evolve. Ideas of a beautiful, powerful poliwhirl started to play in her mind.

Her attention snapped back to the battlefield when Brock called forth his pokémon. It was as tall as him, though extremely thin, like a young tree. Its body was covered in jagged, brown stones, looking almost like bark from a tree. Its hands ended in what appeared to be furry green pom-poms. It fixed her and her pokémon with a goofy, wide smile and shook both its hands and hips at them.

"Kodama," Brock said. In an instant his pokémon was serious, its smile replaced with a frown. "Sweeping uppercut!"

"Horror storm!" Misty countered.

Willow's spiral began to glow. Even from behind her, Misty could feel the effects. The grass seemed to grow in length, twist and become withered. Fog leaked from the ground. The trees contorted and reached for the heavens.

Misty pulled her hood up as the first raindrops began to fall. The trees seemed to reach up towards it, desperate for moisture.

The sudowoodo stopped its charge, staring at the ground in horror. Despite Brock's calls, it seemed afraid to put its feet anywhere. As the rain began to fall, it whimpered, cowering away.

Thunder boomed above. Lightning flashed. Misty had a flash of the horrors her pokémon was inflicting and found herself feeling almost bad that she spent so much time with Willow watching horror films.

"Marching band!" Misty cried.

"Seismic elbow drop! Trust your feet, not your eyes!"

Willow's spiral seemed to grow brighter, almost glowing under the heavy rain. Misty's hair was plastered to her face, even beneath her hood. As the fog continued to creep through the battlefield, visions of her poliwag emerged from the grass. Swirling, glowing spirals surrounded the sudowoodo. It pressed its hands over its eyes and faltered, falling back a step. The poliwags began to beat their tails against their stomachs, drumming a knelling, marching tune. It seemed to follow after the sudowoodo.

Closing its eyes, the sudowoodo rushed forwards. Mud splashed beneath its feet. It raced through several illusionary copies of Willow. Misty saw illusionary vines fail to trap it.

Snarling, the sudowoodo snatched Willow by her tail. In an instant the illusions were all dropped. The fog faded, The sounds of drums stopped. The rain continued.

The sudowoodo spun and slammed Willow into the ground by her tail. As she lay there, Kodama, arms covered in green energy, dropped elbow first on her pokémon with enough force that Misty winced at the impact.

"Now, sweeping uppercut!" Brock cried.

His pokémon danced back to its feet and lashed out with a single, well placed kick. Willow was sent airborne. Kodama raced forwards and with a hand glowing with bright, white energy, hammered its fist into the poliwag's stomach. Crying out, Willow was launched into the sky, helpless.

Shit, shit, shit!

The rain would heal Willow, but not fast enough. "Willow, try cryogenic bide!"

Willow croaked as she began to spin in the air, faster and faster, like a ball held in place. Ice began to form over her body. As more rain fell atop her, the ice formed faster and faster until she was coated in a thick, clear cover of ice.

She dropped to the ground with enough force to make the ground shake. Mud splattered the sudowoodo and rained down around them.

"While it's down!" Brock commanded. "Thunder break!"

Kodama's hands lit up with lightning. Snarling, it brought them down against Willow's icy barricade. Chips of ice flew away. As the rain fell, it continued to replenish the ice. Growling, the sudowoodo doubled its efforts, its arms almost shining white.

There was a deafening crack as the ice shattered.

Kodama raised both its hands to the sky, lightning dancing between them. It brought them down as the thunder above boomed.

Willow sunk into the ground with the impact, groaning in her induced slumber.

"Finish it!" Brock called. "Batter up!"

Misty clenched her fists as the sudowoodo grabbed her pokémon. Spinning like a ballet dancer, the pokémon twirled faster and faster until it flung Willow into the sky.

There!

A twitch of her tail. It was all Misty needed.

"I learnt this one from you, Brock," Misty shouted, smirking. "It's one of your very old tricks. Willow, unleash!"

The moment Brock's face dropped in understanding was a beautiful thing.

Almost seeming to shine, Willow gathered all the kinetic energy she had been absorbing. Misty watched as it seemed to take on a blue glow as her pokémon forced all the energy into her body.

Moving as if the sky were her own, Willow dropped like a predator hunting its prey. She fell atop the sudowoodo and slammed her tail into the pokémon's skull. There was a sound like a tree splitting. The sudowoodo dropped to the ground without a sound.

Willow flew backwards from the impact, though landed on her feet. Weakly, she trilled as she bounced up and down on the spot.

"Well," Brock said, recalling his pokémon. Above, the grey clouds slowly faded. The rain receded, moving from a heavy thunderstorm, to a light shower until a clear sky in a matter of moments. As the sun returned to beating down on them from above, Brock shook his head like a wet dog. "That was fun. I have to admit, I'm embarrassed to lose to my own technique. Deciding battle it is."

Misty glanced at Ash out of the corner of her eye. He almost seemed like he was about to pass out through excitement. His hands were clenched and held up to his face, where he was biting not just his bottom lip, but was apparently attempting to bite the bottom of his chin. Though he seemed tense, Misty could see the way his eyes danced with light. Even Pikachu was watching them with amazement, Misty noticed.

Time to finish this. Grabbing her last poké ball, she called forth her last pokémon with a flourish. "Quill, let's do this!"

Her totodile appeared in a flash of light, hunkered down, tail arched in the air. His jaw opened slowly as he hissed, eyes narrowed.

Across the field from her, Brock was grinning. "You're up! Come on, Keith!"

As the poké ball burst open, Misty was treated with the sight of a large, bulky pokémon that stood as tall as her. Covered in rock-hard plate armour, it snorted as it kicked at the ground with one of its forelegs, horn lowered already to attack.

As intimidating as it was, however, Misty could only focus on one thing.

"'Keith'?" she echoed, laughing.

"Don't ask," Brock said, his embarrassment evident in his voice. "When Nanako was little and before her younger brothers were born, she wanted a little brother called Keith. Then well, I caught this rhyhorn and suddenly she decided he had to be her little brother."

"That's almost adorable," Misty said. "You know, apart from the fact her little brother could probably squish her in an instant."

"Tell me about it," Brock said, laughing. In the time it took Misty to blink, his face lost the smile. "But enough chatter, Keith, drake horn!"

"Keep your distance!" It was all Misty could do for now. Her pokémon was a close range fighter but that rhyhorn was too formidable to take on without any plan.

The rhyhorn bellowed a cry that seemed to echo all the way down to Misty's core. Snarling, it lowered its head and began to run. The wet, muddy ground failed to stop it. Charging in a straight line, Misty watched in horror as what appeared to be blue flames began to coat it. A sinister, dark green energy coated its horn.

As it closed in, her totodile pressed himself up onto his hind legs and jumped above it, twirling in the air. Shrieking, Misty dove out of the way as the rhyhorn continued to charge. She closed her eyes and pictured herself trampled under its hooves.

Yet no impact came. She opened her eyes to see the pokémon had turned around and was chasing after her pokémon, building up speed the more it ran.

Growling, Misty slapped a muddy hand against the ground and jumped to her feet. "Dodge and then steel fury!"

"Don't give it a chance!" Brock called. "Earth's wrath!"

Quill jumped backwards as the rhyhorn stopped its latest charge, Snarling, her totodile raced forwards on all fours, claws glowing. As the rhyhorn reared, Quill leaped into the air and twirled, bringing down two glowing, clawed hands. He tore into the rhyhorn's back savagely, hissing as he tore rubble from the monster's armour.

Bellowing in pain, the rhyhorn threw itself to the ground and rolled. Quill leaped from it for safety. As he did, the rhyhorn slammed its forepaws into the ground. The earth trembled. Misty lost her footing. The apocalypse seemed to come to them from below.

Spikes of rock shot into the air. The wet, muddy earth exploded. Quill jumped between the geysers of molten earth, hissing in alarm. As he danced between the attacks, the rhyhorn charged forwards, heedless of the damage. Snarling, the rhyhorn barreled into the totodile full force and with a growl, sent him flying into the nearest explosion of mud.

Screeching, Quill was sent flying from the explosions and into a pillar of rock that erupted from the ground.

Hissing, he pushed himself back up onto shaking legs. A shining, blue glow crept outwards from his chest to his body, coating him from head to toe. As he snarled the moisture on the ground obeyed, rising to his command. His eyes changed from a dark red to a bright, almost sea blue.

"Burning sphere!" Misty cried.

Her totodile howled. Water gathered before him in a pulsing, steam orb. The mud around him steamed and dried in moments. With a snarl he launched the pulsing sphere at the rhyhorn. It exploded against it with the sound of crashing waves. Screeching, the rhyhorn was sent flying backwards, rolling across the grass.

"Follow it up! Jet into waterfall charge!"

The water coalesced beneath her pokémon, roaring with the fury of storming waves. As the rhyhorn struggled back to its feet, her pokémon shot forwards with the force of a bullet. Water surged around it, taking on the glow of its eyes.

"Metallic counter!" Brock cried.

Quill slammed into the rhyhorn with enough force to shatter the armour in its leg. Propelled by the water, Quill launched them into the air. Snarling, he spun and using the water like an extension of his own tail, slammed it down on the same, damaged spot of the rhyhorn's body.

Bellowing in pain, the rhyhorn tumbled back down to the ground. Before it hit, it channeled enough energy to make Misty shield her eyes. When she opened them she saw the energy explode out of the pokémon like a bomb. The heat dried out any water left on the ground. Several plants nearby began to smoke and smoulder. Misty fell backwards, mud drying to her clothes.

Her totodile was sent flying, screaming in pain. She chased after him, calling his name, racing past an enraptured Ash and Pikachu.

Quill landed heavily in the grass near Diglett's Tunnel, groaning. Misty slid to her knees beside him, touching his body gently. He managed to open a single eye and hissed as he breathed.

"You were amazing," she told him. "Rest now."

Pressing the poké ball to his head, he dissolved into energy once more. With a sigh Misty stood back up and began to walk back towards Brock. Her emotions were running rampant within, a strange mixture of sadness, pride and remorse. It was key to getting stronger, though that did not mean that Misty enjoyed watching her pokémon suffer.

"That was amazing!"

She jumped as Ash raced up to her and bounced excitedly. "I didn't even know pokémon could do things like that! You have to teach me, Mist! Brock's rhyhorn was totalled so you won that. I can see why you're both gym leaders! That was incredible!"

"Thanks, Ash." She smiled back at him, already feeling her previous sadness begin to wash away. He was so infectiously positive that she found herself unable to focus on what she did wrong. Honestly, Willow's horror storm was something out of a horror film Misty could only find in her nightmares, and she had only seen it secondhand.

When she arrived back at their battleground, she was amazed to see that most of the damage was already on the road to recovery. The burnt plants had been stripped away and turned into mulch for others to grow. The area seemed like it had recently been plowed and Misty was certain that a few four-leaved clovers were beginning to grow.

Brock grinned at her as he slid his backpack onto his shoulders. "Keith had just enough energy left to tilt the soil and help repair the damage."

"Impressive," Misty commented. "Though I still can't get used to that name."

"Can it," Brock said, laughing as he embraced her in a one-armed hug. "That battle was fun though. I haven't had to think on my feet like that for a while."

"Same," Misty confessed. "Though if your rhyhorn managed this after that battle, I think that match goes to you. Quill had only enough energy to grin at me before I recalled him."

"Yeah, I think I went a little overboard there, didn't I?"

Misty grinned and leaned her head on his shoulder. "We both did. But that's what training battles are for." Catching sight of Ash boxing the air with Pikachu, she walked over to him and grabbed him by his ear, dragging him over to his pile of discarded balloons, despite his cries of protest.

"Don't think we forgot about this, mister! You made this mess, so we're going to make sure that you clean it all up!"

"But Mist, I was just about to!" he protested. "Honest! I just wanted to try a few moves with Pikachu first!"

"Well you can do that after." Grunting, she let go of him by his army of balloons and smiled as she took one. "But I'll help."

"Geez, thanks Mist," he muttered. When she shoved him, poking her tongue at him, he laughed and squeezed the balloon she was holding onto, popping it. "But seriously, you were awesome. Are you sure you're not strong enough to be an Elite already?"

"Certain," she said. Glancing behind, she saw that Brock was at work replanting some of the larger plants they had uprooted. "But hey, we'll get there, eventually."

"Of course we will," Ash said, as if it were already a guarantee. "And just think, battles like this will be simple compared to how strong we're gonna become."

"Is it bad if that scares me a little?"

"Maybe," Ash said, shrugging. He grinned as Pikachu scampered up towards them and began dragging balloons away by their string. "I think anyone that isn't a little bit scared by power usually ends up being one of those people that doesn't realise how bad they're making everything around them."

"You know, Ash, sometimes you're surprisingly smart." Groaning, she pulled a piece of melted balloon from the ground and made a face when it ripped and scattered glitter all over her mud-stained clothes. "Sometimes."

A/N;

And so we're nearly caught up to the point where I'd written myself into a corner. At least this time around there's been other things happen and new chapters in the middle and most importantly, I haven't written myself into a hole and suffered writer's block because of it. (Yet).

So most of this chapter came about from me wanting to play around with battles, as well as showcase the difference in battling abilities between the main group. Also, where Ash is so spur of the moment, it's a welcome change to also write battles based upon strategies. In time, both sides will be able to learn from each other. I also wanted to showcase the thing I had Misty mention early on, where higher challenge battles don't have League terms used for moves. In terms of the actual moves used when I have battles like this, I'll have them listed at the end. For the likes of Ash we'll see him thinking up the name so they're more familiar, it's just that this is the first time that either Brock or Misty have gotten to let loose and battle to a higher level... (and it's only like what, nearly twenty chapters in!)

+ Sweeping Uppercut (Sudowoodo). Low Kick + Mega Punch.

+ Thunder Break (Sudowoodo). Thunder Punch + Brick Break.

+ Batter Up (Sudowoodo). Seismic Toss + Focus Punch.

+ Seismic Elbow Drop (Sudowoodo). Seismic Toss + Hammer Arm.

+ Horror Storm (Poliwag). Hypnosis + Mist + Rain Dance.

+ Marching Band (Poliwag). Belly Drum + Round + Double Team.

+ Cryogenic Bide (Poliwag). Ice Ball + Rest + Bide.

+ Drake Horn (Rhyhorn). Dragon Rush + Megahorn + Rock Polish.

+ Earth's Wrath (Rhyhorn). Earth Power + Stone Edge.

+ Metallic Counter (Rhyhorn). Metal Burst + Counter.

+ Steel Fury (Totodile). Fury Cutter + Metal Claw.

+ Burning Sphere (Totodile). Water Pulse + Scald.

+ Waterfall Charge (Totodile). Waterfall + Aqua Jet.