Vermillion was an interesting city. It had taken the two opposing lives of trainers and non-trainers and merged them together in a way that mostly seemed to work, providing no one looked too hard. Cars sat in the gridlock traffic, blaring their horns at each other. Street vendors were hawking their wares. The sounds of food sizzling was matched by the background chatter of people as they went about their days. Pidgey swooped down from the streetlights to claim any food dropped on the ground. Wild meowth chased after shiny objects in the nearby alleyways.
An unfortunate rattata had met its end trying to race across the road. A spearow dove at the street, weaving between the traffic to race off with its somewhat aged meal.
Ash spun away from the window and bounced back down from the window ledge. The training room in the pokémon centre was the same as the ones he had seen in both Viridian and Pewter. It was blank, devoid of personality until such a time that someone entered commands into the console for specialised training.
The explosion of light when he released all of his pokémon was nearly blinding. Pikachu grunted something from his perch atop Ash's head. Butterfree took to the air, fluttering delicately near the ceiling. Apollo remained on the ground, staring up at Ash with her big, unblinking eyes. Sun had already sunk to the floor, though his attention was rapt on the newest member of their team.
Titan stretched. A chill wind whipped out from around her and dusted the floor in a small layer of frost. Ash shuddered and rubbed his arms. The sandshrew grunted something that could have been an apology, or could have been anything but.
Judging by the way Pikachu sprung to the ground and started to talk to the pokémon, Ash assumed the former. He cleared his throat once, and then again when his pokémon showed no signs of stopping their conversation.
"Guys!" Ash shouted, clapping his hands for effect. His pokémon fell silent and turned to look at him. Ash cleared his throat again, though this time self-consciously as all of his pokémon turned to look at him. "So, we've got a new team member," he said. "I know you all met her before, back in Diglett's Cave, but this is Titan. She decided to join us after we helped her there."
His pokémon all turned to acknowledge her and a small part of Ash found it funny to see that she too was palpably feeling awkward about how to deal with all the attention.
Then, just to add to it, Ash added, "She's also the strongest member of this team."
It got the desired result. Sun got to his feet. Butterfree descended and began to dance circles around the pokémon. Pikachu looked slightly mollified, though hid it under an obviously jealousy-fueled determination.
Apollo meanwhile seemed to shrug, hopped from one foot to the other, then closed her eyes and appeared to go to sleep.
"I've already decided on some training to bring us all up to Titan's level," Ash said, "and I'm not letting Titan slack off either." He met her gaze and found himself smiling at the steely determination he could sense. "You're all going to be the best you can possibly be. The strongest, the smartest… I want all of you to be the pokémon that every trainer aspires to have.
"But that's not why we're here this morning," he said. He reached into his bag and pulled free the food that Brock had so kindly agreed to make the night before. Keeping it in storage capsules meant that it was still freshly cooked. The smells of pickled ginger mixed with the vinegary tange of the dipping sauce he had made for the numerous dumplings that were making Ash's mouth water.
"Instead we're just chilling out, getting to know each other and having a morning off." Ash was smiling as his pokémon gathered around him. Brock had even gone so far as plating out the food and labelling each plate with who it was intended for. Rather than dumplings, Butterfree had been given a bowl of what appeared to be honey. Similarly, Apollo's food consisted mostly of seeds and grains, a bowl of small stones for some strange reason - one that Ash resolved to ask Brock about later - and a lump of raw, unidentifiable meat.
The sight of his pokémon sitting down to eat with each other brought a smile to Ash's face. Even Butterfree had descended to the ground and was sitting beside Pikachu. Sun had his back to everyone else, though given his habit of acquiring food Ash was hardly surprised to see he expected the same of everyone else.
Titan, perhaps feeling like she was still an odd one out, sat down beside Ash. She tried her food hot first, before shaking her head and cooling everything until it was frozen solid. Only then did she squeal with delight as she inhaled a dumpling.
Her mere presence alone seemed to cool the world itself. Ash could feel goosebumps rising along his arms and his back, but stubbornly refused to move away from her. If getting to be around her meant dealing with colder temperatures, it was something Ash would gladly endure.
Naturally, the moment Ash found himself getting comfortable, he realised that the door to the training room was still open. He sighed and rather than getting up to close the door, pulled out his pokédex and started seeing what extra information he could find out about Alolan sandshrew.
"And you're not worried at all?"
Brock's voice drifted through the open door. Ash perked up instantly and nearly dropped his pokédex. He was just about to call out to him when he heard another voice answer.
"Of course I'm worried! That's why I'm training all hours of the day I have spare, you dunderhead!"
Ash chuckled to himself at Misty's hot retort.
"And you really think Ash stands a chance against Surge?"
Ash's heart rate sped up. All thoughts of getting them to join him were suddenly abandoned to listening to what they were saying without him there.
"If I hadn't seen what he's capable of against you, I wouldn't be sure. But what Ash is trying isn't much different to what we do as specialists. He's just going at it in a different way. You know as much as I do that when he catches up to us, he'll be pretty unstoppable."
"You're right," Brock said. Ash could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. His embarrassment seemed to draw Pikachu over, who cooed as he sat in Ash's lap and continued to nibble at his ketchup-covered food. "He just needs to learn a bit more that every pokémon is different, if that's the way he wants to go. He used a butterfree as a physical attacker against me."
"He still beat you," Misty said, her voice teasing. Their voices were growing distant, but Ash caught a final part, "Have you heard of Cynthia in Sinnoh? She's making her way through the Elites there. They think she'll be-"
Their voices faded into nothingness. Ash sighed as he leaned back, closed his eyes and faced the ceiling.
"They're not wrong," he said. As much as he relied on speed now, he knew that eventually he could end up catching something that was disastrously slow. "I'll talk to them later," he decided. "Right now, it's all about us."
He opened his eyes to find that his plate was empty. Each and every single one of his pokémon looked just as guilty as each other.
"Well," Ash said slowly, "I guess I'll just be treating myself to ice cream, seeing as the rest of you ate all my food."
He would be a liar if he ever said he got no satisfaction in watching the way his pokémon all looked instantly regretful.
-O-O-O-
The smell of smog and the constant thrum of noise that drifted in through the open windows was beginning to give Misty a headache. She could feel her gut dancing with butterfree at the thought of going to meet Surge. She knew that his approval would be one of the harder ones to get - he was notorious for only sponsoring a select handful of candidates to train in his gym, rather than the dozens that most other gyms would take on. It was all she could think about as she sat in the pokémon centre waiting for the others to meet her.
All of her thoughts scattered the moment Brock appeared to collect his pokémon and laid eyes on the nurse working behind the desk.
"Oh my," he practically sang as he sauntered up to the desk, "but you are a remedy for sore eyes everywhere!"
Misty's jaw felt like it hit the floor. She was uncertain whether she should hide in mortified horror for even knowing him, or stand back and watch the car wreck unfold.
At least Ash was outside, away from the cringe-worthy display of puberty. He would have had far too many awkward questions.
"Nurse Joy!" Brock declared, swooning at the pink-haired woman. Misty wondered just how close Brock had to be to the poor woman if he could read her name tag. "What an apt name, for you have brought a sudden feeling of euphoria into my life! Tell me, do you know what to do with a heart with an irregular rhythm? Because mine skipped a beat when I first laid eyes on you!"
The poor woman stared back at him with such surprise and concern in her wide, blue eyes that Misty was honestly tempted to stay back and watch to see how the woman decided to react. However, deciding instead that since they had places to be, it would be wise to put Brock out of the woman's misery, Misty walked up to him and grabbed him by the ear.
"Come on, Romeo," she groaned, dragging him by the ear. "I'm sorry, I'll be sure to put a muzzle on him from now on," she said to the nurse.
"You may also want to get him spayed."
Misty snorted a laugh as she dragged Brock away, much to his protests and cries of love. Her shoes squeaked across the recently cleaned floor as she thanked every benevolent being she could name that the centre was mercifully empty.
"Until we meet again, fair Joy!"
Misty groaned and continued to drag him away, stopping only as she waited for the centre's automatic doors to open. She hoped that the cool morning air would be enough to bring him to his senses. Or failing that, she hoped the smog might choke him and prevent him from ever talking again.
She took a deep breath as she walked outside, inhaling the scents of the ocean spray and the nearby curry stall. The pokémon centre was built along one of the streets closest to one of Vermilion's beaches. Even now Misty was certain her feet throbbed with the memories of pain from being a child and running across the stone beach barefoot.
Letting go of Brock's ear, she shook her head as he stood up and dusted himself off. She had to admit that he did a remarkable job of hiding his embarrassment.
"So, care to explain?" she asked. From the corner of her eye she saw Ash walking back to them from the beachfront, Pikachu on his shoulder and the both of them sharing an ice cream. "Ideally before Ash gets back and we have to explain puberty to him."
Brock should have been ashamed. Instead he simply shrugged and said, "She was a vision of beauty and deserved to know as much."
"I thought you would have had enough practice raising children to put you off ever wanting to do that again," Misty pointed out.
Brock actually seemed to consider her point on that one. "True, but that doesn't mean I can enjoy the act of -"
"Enough," Misty growled, slapping her hands over her ears. She glared at Brock as he laughed, painfully aware that her ears were burning and there was a crimson flush working across her cheeks. "I thought you were meant to be the adult amongst us."
Thankfully, whatever he was about to say was interrupted by Ash rejoining them, grinning as Pikachu consumed the last of their ice cream.
"We get to battle another gym today!" he declared, pumping a fist into the air. "It's gonna be so awesome."
Instead of starting the same argument again, Misty turned her attention to the road and began to lead them towards the gym. The street the pokémon centre was on was filled with apartment blocks with balconies covered in potted plants that combee were buzzing around, even at the early hour of the morning. The buildings, all a different shade of pastel, each were tagged with graffiti artwork that almost seemed like it should have been in a museum.
As they crossed the road, heading further into the city, she saw the empty plots of land being flattened by teams of machop as machoke carried steel beams to and fro. A pelipper squawked, chasing the flocks of honking wingull from the roofs of the local buildings. Bicycle bells dinged as the cyclists shot through the cobbled streets, weaving their way around the slow moving tauros cart bringing supplies to one of the nearby farms.
Misty inhaled the smells of the local bakeries and found her mouth watering almost immediately. Visions of croissants, pineapple buns, donuts - the actual ones, not the riceballs Brock claimed were donuts to feed his younger siblings healthy food - and custard cream cakes danced before her eyes.
"So Surge uses electrical pokémon," Brock said, drawing Misty back to reality. She glanced back to find him walking with his nose in a guidebook that did a poor job of concealing the comic he was actually reading. At least it was just a comic and not something worse. He looked over at Ash, who had been equally as distracted by the smells of the bakery as Misty had. "Any ideas how you'll counter that, Ash?"
"I guess I'll use Butterfree and Apollo," he said, shrugging slightly, just enough so that Pikachu was not displayed by the movement. "I haven't really thought about it much. I mean, I've been training everyone slowly and if I need a third pokémon, I can always use Pikachu."
"And you're sure about pitting two fliers against Surge?"
It was funny to hear the doubt in Brock's voice. It was so achingly familiar to the sentiment Misty had shared when Ash had first shared with her his plan. Despite her argument for logic at the time, Ash had the uncanny ability to defy what normality demanded.
"Hey, I beat you with those three, didn't I?"
"True, but I was acting as the first gym battle for you," Brock pointed out. His nose was still buried in his 'book' as they continued to walk down towards the gym. Misty made the mental note to ask him just how he managed to do that at a later date. "Would you have been able to beat anything I put against Misty?"
"Not yet," Ash admitted, "but soon I'll be able to! Just you wait Brock, when I'm ready for the League I'll prove it to you!"
"I'll hold you to that," Brock said. "Hey, maybe we can even have a triple battle when that happens!"
Misty fought the urge to groan. "Have you ever tried one of those before, Brock? They're so confusing."
He smirked at her. "I have a lot of siblings and ran a gym. You think we didn't all take charge of a pokémon at any point and just all battle each other?"
Misty tried to process the thought of that battle and found herself crashing against a mental wall. Thankfully, instead of having to form a response to it, the gym was only across the road from them.
Built on the water's edge, the gym was a spectacle of modern engineering. Its front was covered by glass panels that Misty had heard were as tough as steel, and all functioned as solar panels. When exhibition matches were happening, electromagnets hidden behind the panels of glass would activate and the entire glass front of the gym would move to reveal a large cinema screen hidden beneath, from which anyone without a ticket could watch a match.
She could see the docks stretching out far behind the gym, the grandstar of which was Surge's personal cruiseliner. He had christened it the SS Anne, after his late wife, or so Misty had heard.
Ash and Brock fell silent as they entered the gym's lobby. Through the windows behind the reception desk, Misty could see the battling ground. It seemed to be the size of a track race course. The gym trainers, wearing the gym's dark green and yellow tracksuits were all no older than Brock, with faces bright red as they ran laps around the edges of the training ground.
The inside of the lobby was almost spartan in its design. The walls were white, bare. The floor was tiled with black, unpatterned tiles that still had the recent marks from a fresh clean. Misty was struck by how sterile the place smelt, almost like it had been cleaned by professionals used to working in a hospital.
The reception desk faced both the entrance and the waiting lobby, as if it were designed so that everything was visible at all times. The furniture was all pressed to the walls, bolted in place. Misty was certain that the metal benches could also function as a place to hide beneath if there was an earthquake. Rather than having a water cooler, there were instead pipes hidden beneath the walls that left only small taps exposed, beside which were a variety of dipsticks she recognised as chemical tests to check water purity.
Though the woman behind the desk was as old as Misty remembered her grandmother being, she still looked as fit as someone half her age. Her grey hair was cropped short and she dressed in a dark green and yellow blazer that almost seemed to be part of an army general's uniform.
"Hi," Misty said, smiling at the woman and trying to pretend that she was nowhere near as nervous as she felt. It certainly did not help matters that instead of an aura of love, like most older people Misty had met seemed to have, this woman seemed like she could and would snap her like a twig for the barest of slights. "We've got an appointment to see Lieutenant Surge at seven thirty."
Without breaking eye contact, the woman's fingers flew across her keyboard. She glanced at the screen for less than a second before nodding and pointing to the airlock door to her right. "Proceed through there. The Lieutenant will meet you on the other side."
Saying nothing, Misty nodded and shared a look with Brock. He answered with a quick twitch of his mouth.
At least I'm not the only one that thinks this is over the top.
Misty thought that nothing else in the gym could surprise her.
However, when the door opened to reveal a metal detector for them to walk through, she began to truly reconsider everything she had previously heard about Surge.
"I'd say that he's paranoid, but he probably has cameras and speakers set up in here," she commented. Frowning as she walked through the archway of the metal detector, she was confused when no sound emerged from it. She was certain that it would have alarmed given the change in her wallet and the poké balls on her belt.
As Ash skipped through the detector, Misty had the image of him setting it off and guns descending from the ceiling to fill them full of holes. Thankfully nothing happened. She breathed out, surprised at how quickly her heart was racing.
"I'd heard stories, but I had never imagined all of this." Brock was staring at the ceiling, no doubt imagining the same scenario as Misty. "It seems just slightly excessive. The war ended years ago."
"I guess it hasn't for him," Misty said, shrugging. Once all of them were through the scanner, Misty reached out to open the door on the other side. Groaning with the effort of moving it, she shoved it open and was rewarded with the smell of burning ozone. She could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand rigid instantly. She saw shards of glass shattered on the ground, covered in sand as it hemorrhaged from a wound in one of the sandbags by the arena's sides.
Looking into the field, she just caught the faintest whiff of deodorant before suddenly there was a giant standing before her, blocking out the artificial lights.
"What the hell do you three think you're doing here unannounced?"
Misty swallowed and took a step back instinctively, bumping into Ash. She craned her neck upwards as she tried to look at the man's face. She had heard the stories, but she had always thought they were just that. Seeing him in person, however, was another thing entirely.
He looked down at them, blonde eyebrows pressed together and a fierce glare on his face. Misty noticed the beads of sweat running down his shaved head and instead tried to look directly into his dark green eyes, afraid that looking anywhere else may somehow make matters worse.
Behind him, she saw the gym trainers, still running their laps, apparently blind to their leader's invasion of their personal space.
"We're here for a gym battle!" Ash announced, smiling despite his obvious surprise.
In an instant Surge's glare snapped towards him, like somehow he had taken his head from behind and moved it in a sudden, jarring motion. "Did I look like I was talking to you? Huh?" As he closed in on him, Misty was treated to the view of Surge's army jacket opening slightly, exposing the numerous scars on his hairy chest. She tried her best not to imagine them at the time of injury, open and leaking blood and organs into the outside world.
"Well, punk?" Surge continued, pointing a finger into Ash's chest. Pikachu snarled at him, cheeks sparking. Instead of moving backwards, Surge's eyes flicked to the pokémon and narrowed. "Is that what you've come to challenge me with? I've bred pichu that are bigger than this sorry excuse for a pokémon. If this baby is all you've got to face me with, then I have no interest in battling any of you infants."
"Hey," Brock said, moving himself between Ash and Surge. Despite the height difference, he seemed to have no problem in meeting Surge's gaze. "That's enough. You're supposed to be a gym leader. Act like it. We don't terrorise the challengers, we help them."
Instead of answering, Surge snorted dismissively. He stood back up to his full height, pulled a carton of cigarettes out of the inside pocket of his jacket and placed one in his mouth. "You talk a big game, Takeshi," he said, lighting the cigarette with a zippo that Misty caught a woman's name engraved on. "Though the last I heard, you'd quit being a gym leader. You don't get to march into my gym and tell me how to run my show when your gym was nothing more than a pity bone for the Elite's little nephew.
"Now frankly," Surge continued, breathing smoke out of his nose, "ain't none of you impressed me enough to make me consider battling you." He took another drag of his cigarette and exhaled slowly out of his nose before turning his head and screaming, "I don't recall telling you rookies to slow down! Pick up the pace! You think being unfit helps you in a battle? Your pokémon are going to be fighting twice as hard as this! Don't shit on their efforts by half-assing your own training!"
He turned his head back to them and seamlessly continued their conversation. "So what is it that you're actually here to do? You ain't booked in for a battle, I can tell ya that much."
"We're not?" Ash muttered, disappointed.
Misty fought the urge to growl at him. "We talked about this," she hissed. Turning her attention back to Surge, she tried to smile. Instead she found her eyes continually drifting to the trainers behind him, certain that there was something familiar about them. It was impossible to tell from a distance, as they all were red in the face, covered in sweat and generally looking like they were about to pass out, yet still Misty found herself convinced she had seen at least one of them before.
"Ash is collecting the gym badges so he can compete in the Indigo League," she explained, snapping her attention back to Surge. "We do plan to return at another time for him to battle you, but we arranged an appointment to speak with you first because there is something I wanted to discuss with you."
Surge crossed his arms and puffed a cloud of smoke at her. Misty did her level best not to cough or give into the red clouding her vision and tell him exactly where he could put that damn cigarette.
"Cut the political speech, girly," Surge said, his gaze stern. "There ain't any camera crews or League officials recording this. I don't care if you gotta talk flowery for the bigwigs in their hightowers, but if you're coming to me to ask me a favour - and that's clearly what this is, don't try and deny it - then cut the bullshit and tell me directly what it is you want." As he looked over at Brock, the thin line of his mouth curved downward in a grimace. "Now given that two of you here are former gym leaders, I'm assuming this is something big and official."
"It's nothing to do with me," Brock said, his tone clipped. "I'm here supporting my friends."
"I want your endorsement," Misty said, surprised at how nervous she felt now that the words were in the open. She glanced back, saw Ash grinning at her and managed to draw some strength from his goofy expression. "I want to become an Elite. I'm willing to work for it, do whatever it takes. I don't know fully what the process entails, but I know I need the endorsement of the other leaders in Kanto, so I'm asking you."
"Is that all huh?" Surge grunted, laughing gruffly. He dropped his cigarette and crushed it beneath the toe of his black, polished boots. "This ain't the place to have this discussion. We'll talk in my office." Spinning on his heel, he bellowed, "Listen up here you sacks of torchic shit! I am leaving you unsupervised for the next fifteen minutes. I expect you all to continue with your warm ups. Any failure to continue is going to be met with everyone doing double drills this afternoon. Have I made myself clear?"
When the chorus of breathless, 'Yes Sir!'s sounded, Misty felt even more sorry for them. She honestly had no clue how they were still managing to move.
"What was that?" Surge screamed.
"Yes Sir!"
"You three follow me then," Surge said. He reached up, able to easily pull down the metal escape ladder from the stadium's arena seating, and clambered up in three quick, large leaps.
Misty grumbled as she took to the ladder first, glad she was wearing jeans and not the small pair of shorts she had first planned on wearing. As she reached the top of the ladder, she found that Surge, instead of waiting for them, had decided to carry on. Figuring that Ash and Brock would be able to catch up easily, she forced herself to try and keep pace with Surge.
Whilst Misty knew that each gym was designed differently, the leader's office always seemed to be in the back of the building, as far away from the battlefield as possible. Instead, Surge's was above the crowd, where a private VIP box would usually be located.
Surge grunted as he held the door open for Misty. The large window that took up the entire wall facing the crowd was mirrored, allowing him to see out and blocking their view in. His office, as spartan as the rest of the gym, had a metal desk bolted to the floor, facing the door and the window, behind which was a beaten, ancient looking brown armchair. Metal filing cabinets filled the wall to her right, atop which a large raichu was dozing. Misty had to guess it was rather old - its fur was a dull, faded gold and its tail was grey, drooping over the side of the cabinets. It opened an eye when she walked into the office and seeing Surge with her, closed its eye and went back to sleep.
"Wow, a raichu!" Ash gasped when he walked in behind them. Jumping, the pokémon opened both eyes and froze when it looked at Pikachu. In an instant there seemed to be a tension in the air. The two pokémon locked gazes, refusing to break.
"That's what you'll evolve into one day!" Ash said, looking up from his pokédex. Misty could not be certain, but it seemed that when Pikachu broke his staring contest, he seemed almost offended at the idea of evolving.
Brock, when entering the office, also was enraptured by the pokémon. As Surge sat in his chair and pulled another cigarette out from inside his jacket, Brock shut the door behind them and leaned against the wall. "That raichu's your oldest partner, isn't it?"
"Sure is," Surge said, speaking around his cigarette. "Danny there fought by my side since I set out on my own journey." At the mention of his name, the raichu opened both his eyes and raised his head. "He's enjoying retirement now."
"He looks like he was a real powerhouse back in the day," Brock said. The raichu yawned and with an air of obvious boredom, went back to sleep. "I take it you've bred him?"
"For my own teams, sure," Surge leaned back and placed his boots on the desk with such force they made the computer monitor shake. "No little upstart breeder is gonna try and claim their fame off our hard work, not if I have anything to say about it."
Kicking the ashtray on the desk closer to himself, Surge took a long drag and left half of the cigarette resting in the tray. He breathed out slowly, filling the room with more acrid smelling smoke.
"So Misty," he said, looking over to her, "explain to me why exactly you want me to endorse you for this."
"Because," Misty started, though she quickly fell silent. Her first thought - 'because you're strong' - felt too much like she was pandering his ego. Instead of thinking about her answer, she decided instead to just say what she truly felt. "I've spoken to several different people and each one has given me a different answer. I know there's no one-size-fits-all method of becoming that strong. I know I need to be stronger than Giovanni, who, quite frankly, is terrifyingly strong.
"I've come to you because of two main reasons," Misty said, holding up two fingers. She wrapped her free hand around the first of her fingers and held it close to her chest. "I want to help people. I've felt weak, helpless, like I was nothing more times than I want to admit. I want to make sure no one ever feels that way. I want to make sure every kid never has to deal with what I've gone through. Other gym leaders have helped their towns, maybe a little bit of their city. You fought in a way against us, then joined our side when your own home country's morals went against your own."
Surge's face was an impressive mask that was devoid of emotion. Realising that perhaps trying to say the right thing to him was the wrong thing to do, Misty closed her eyes.
"I don't just plan on helping people by coming to other gym leaders. I'm travelling, so I get to see the world, get to see what's working and what needs fixing. Whilst I can't volunteer to help the homeless eat, I can do something for people in every town I visit. But to do that, I need to come to gym leaders and see what's been raised as an issue. It's a paradox that I haven't been able to solve. I was hoping that regardless of your feelings of my potential as a trainer, you might help me with that.
"Secondly," she said, wrapping her and around both fingers, "I need to get stronger. You specialise in pokémon that my specialism is weak against. Even if I'm not strong enough to ever be able to defeat you, even if I'm never able to reach the levels I've set my sights on, I'm still going to give it my best shot."
Opening her eyes, she let her hands drop by her side. "I left my gym in disgrace and promised myself I would become a water pokémon master. I've added to that promise to make sure I'm one of the four strongest trainers that Kanto has to offer. I honestly don't know if I'll ever make it. I honestly can't say that in five years from now, my goals will still be the same."
She thought of Will, of the way he made her feel so powerless. She thought of Gary and the way his heart seemed only to be clouded by revenge. She thought of her sisters, travelling Hoenn, trying to make something of their lives and trying to see if there are answers to their parents' deaths there.
She pictured her parents smiling before her and found herself wondering what they would think of her plans.
"I want to be the best version of myself possible," she whispered. "I need someone impartial to tell me what they truly think. Regardless of where I end up, I know that I want to be strong enough to help anyone, anywhere."
Surge placed his feet back on the ground and rested his elbows on the desk, cupping his hands together. He fixed Misty with a long, intense stare before finally sighing and picking up the remains of his cigarette.
"Well, after hearing all that, I only have one logical conclusion." Relighting, he took another drag and exhaled through his nose. "I'd be a fool to back you."
Just like that, Misty felt her heart and soul ripped from her body.
"What?" Ash shouted, advancing a step. Pikachu added his own opinion, chittering in anger. "How can you even say that?" Ash continued, red in the face. "She's just poured her heart out to you! What kind of horrible person hears all that and says no?"
Surge looked past the both of them, to Brock. "You know exactly why, don't you?"
"I'm not answering that," Brock said. "You can't put me on the spot like that and expect me to put my friend down."
"Fancy talk for someone who's dancing around saying something someone might not like. Misty," Surge said, drawing her attention back to him. "You're passionate. I won't dispute that. But I want you to do something for me. Think about what you said. Truly think about it." He picked up the phone from beside his computer and pressed it to his ear. "Rookie!" he shouted down the phone. Misty heard his voice echo behind her, in the arena, but found herself too numb to flinch at the anger in his tone. "Get your backside to my office, on the double!"
Placing the receiver back down, he stubbed the remains of his cigarette out. Folding his arms across his chest, he reclined in his chair.
"You say that you're after me for a gym battle?" he said, looking at Ash.
"Hell yeah!" Ash declared. "And when I beat you, you're going to take back everything you said about Misty!"
"Ash," Misty whispered, unable to look at him. "Don't. You don't need to fight for me. If Surge says he's not going to back me, then he's not going to back me."
"Really, girly?" Surge said, surprising her. "That's it? I say no, crushing these supposed dreams of yours and you stand there and take it?" He blew out a disappointed sound. "If there are your dreams then you should be fighting for them!"
"I…" Misty said, her mind spinning. "I mean, I guess…"
When there was a knock at the door, Misty nearly jumped out of her skin. Brock pulled it open at Surge's indication, only to reveal a dozen bright red, exhausted gym trainers.
"What the hell is this?" Surge screamed, standing. "I specifically requested one of you! All of you are rookies, but there's only one of you that's the newest! Evergreen!" he barked, pointing to the filing cabinets in his office. "Front and centre! The rest of you, back to your training, on the double!"
Misty looked up as the trainer Surge had requested walked into the office. Her long, brown hair was tied up in a ponytail and her face was still bright red. With the lack of a hat and wearing colours she once swore she would never be seen dead in, it took Misty a moment to recognise her.
The moment the girl's mouth dropped open when she looked at Misty, everything clicked into place.
"Holly?" Misty gasped.
"Misty?"
Squealing, Holly launched forwards and wrapped her arms around Misty, giggling. Misty hugged her back, ignoring the way Holly's t-shirt was stuck to her through sweat.
"Evergreen!" Surge barked, red in the face. "What the hell is this? Did I tell you to relax?"
Instantly Holly let go of her and stood rigid, saluting. "No sir! Sorry sir!"
"You've changed," Ash said, so quietly that Misty barely heard him. "Where's that book you always have your nose in?"
It was the subtle twitch of her shoulders that gave away that she had heard him, yet was pointedly choosing not to. Misty had many questions as to how and why Holly was one of Surge's gym trainers, of all the possible things she could have done, yet chose to say nothing.
"At ease," Surge commanded, taking his seat. Holly relaxed, going so far as to grin at Misty. "Now," Surge said, looking to Misty, "you gave me two reasons. I'm giving you two conditions. Your buddy there," he said, pointing to Ash, "wants to battle me. In my gym, we teach teamwork. You're both going to battle me, one after the other. Three on three, both battles. If you average a victory between the two of you, then you both win. If you average a loss, both of you lose. If it's a tie then I'll make a decision based on the battles individually."
"Okay," Misty said, through gritted teeth. She hated the thought of relying on Ash, even if they were friends.
"Good. Secondly, I have something you can help with. You're familiar with the power plant east of Cerulean, I assume?" As Misty nodded, he continued, "Brilliant. You're all going to go there and investigate the reports I've been getting about suspicious trainers. Evergreen, you're going with them and reporting back. That way I'll know that you've all gone and you aren't just bullsitting me."
"We'd never lie about something like this!" Ash declared.
"Given the looks I'm getting from Takeshi there, I would assume he feels the same way," Surge said, smirking. "Still, it never hurts to have an inside man. Evergreen, I assume this fits well with you?"
"Yes sir!" she barked. "I'll make certain the report is ready for you on my return."
"All four of you, return here at midday sharp. My magnezone will teleport you to the pokémon centre near Rock Tunnel. You're to make your own way there and back afterwards. This is a test for both of you," Surge said, looking at Misty and Holly. "Takeshi may no longer be a gym leader, but I assume he's still capable enough to act as an independent witness. Should any actions be required from your findings, I'll make sure your names are protected."
Snorting, Surge reached into his desk and produced a single sheet of paper. "I've got the perfect codenames for the both of you. Evergreen and a redhead. You'll be Red and Green."
-O-O-O-
"I honestly don't know what killed him first - the electricity or the blood loss from all these wounds."
James found himself at a momentary loss for words as he considered the dead agent. What was once human now resembled Swiss cheese. Burnt Swiss cheese. James could see the floor of the power plant beneath the man's body and could trace where the blood had created horrific patterns before being washed away.
He turned and stared up at the empty sky, unnerved to be able to see the surrounding mountains whilst still being technically inside a building. It was a strange match of nature and humanity vying for control that seemed to have mutated into an unholy compromise.
Jessie, apparently unfazed by the state of the dead, reached into his pockets and pulled free a poké ball and a trainer ID. "Don't know why he didn't think of using this," she commented, pocketing the ball herself. "Granted it's not worth much, but it'll do a field rookie some good." She flicked the ID card out to James, smiling impishly when he caught it reflexively. "He was one of Team C's interns."
"Brilliant," James sighed, blowing his wet hair from his eyes. Thankfully the rain had let up, but everything still smelled like a wet was starting to grate on his senses, leaving a dull, aching pain at the bridge of his nose whenever he breathed. "I had hoped the rumours weren't true. I'd heard whispers of what Namba and Zager were researching with Lovrina from Team C but thought it was all fantasy."
He managed not to flinch as Meowth leaped down from the top of the ruined wall behind him, flipping over his head and landing lightly on his hind legs. "You should know by now Jimbo. No matter how stupid the idea seems, have a plan just in case it turns out to be true."
"There has to be a balance. Otherwise we'd be forever forming contingency plans and never actually getting any work done."
"Speaking of work," Jessie said, grunting as she finished her search through the corpse's pockets, "we should be prepared for when they get here. You heard what our agents in Vermilion said."
"I know," James said, staring at the body. Though part of him recognised that outwardly, he must have seemed disturbed by the sight, he was honestly intrigued. The only creature he could think of that was capable of doing such a thing was the very one he had previously thought as just an old wives' tale. "The agents captured in Viridian mentioned that the boy was nearby when Archer and Namba were investigating the queen beedrill's nest. They've broken out of prison now - Archer's plan was for them to be caught. That way it would make people think there was real importance to their research and throw money at it." He sighed. "And it seems to be working. They've had research committees from as far away as Kalos offering funding."
"That's nice," Jessie said, "though I don't recall asking for the Science Division updates."
"If you'd let me finish," James said, rolling his eyes at her, "I was about to add that whatever we do here has to be smart. If we mess up it'll have repercussions across the agency."
"What else is new?" Meowth asked. From beneath the crumbling remains of a weathered floor tile he pulled out a bright yellow feather as long as his arm. It seemed to crackle with lightning when the light caught it and the fur around Meowth's paw was all stood on end, controlled by the static. "We got some good favour with the bosses for those pokémon we pinched back in Cerulean, but that ain't gonna last forever. Best option for all of us is that we attack the twerps three, but make it seem like we're bumbling around, just happening to be following them here. They think we've got a big operation here? Make it seem like we're trying to take over the power plant. That way, people are gonna want to get it back up and running so it's one less thing we can have. Everyone wins."
James stared at him for a few moments, his mouth wide open in surprise. Finally he closed it again, humming as he began to outline the plan in his mind. "You know Meowth, sometimes you're wasted by not being our strategist."
"I know," Meowth said, smirking, "but if I took the job full time, I wouldn't be able to show you both up at every opportunity, would I?"
-O-O-O-
One moment the world was the right way up and everything was fine.
The next, there was a pulling sensation and everything changed.
Up became down. Left became right. Sky became ground. Ash had to scrunch his eyes shut as he saw the world spin in a million different colours at once. When solid ground formed beneath him, he fell to his hands and knees, head spinning, ears screaming with the sound of sirens. His mouth suddenly felt hot, far too hot. He could feel his saliva swishing around beneath his tongue, almost burning.
His lunch made a reappearance before Ash could do anything to stop it. He heard Pikachu cry out in alarm. He felt a hand on his back that began to rub circles between his shoulders. Someone took his hat from him before it could fall into the puddle of his re-emerged lunch.
His stomach squeezed again. Ash groaned and formed a fist on the ground, promising himself that he would never teleport again.
"Come on, Ash," Brock said, his hands on his shoulders. Ash let him guide him backwards, so that he was sitting up. The weight of something cool and wet pressed down against his spinning head, bringing a moment of relief. He heard the sound of a poké ball opening and the familiar cry of Misty's vaporeon reached his ears. He felt the way the pokémon's water blast struck the ground, clearing away his lunch.
"That was gross."
Ash opened his eyes to find Holly staring at him, her lip curled in disgust. She rolled her eyes as she crouched down and offered him a flask of water. He took it, gulping down greedily. "I've never seen anyone react that badly to teleporting before."
"Yay me," Ash grunted. He swished the water around in his mouth briefly before spitting it out to the side, clearing away the taste. "Aren't I just the lucky one?"
"Violet acted the same way, the first time she tried it," Misty said. She sat down by Ash's side and began to rub his back, taking over from Brock, who had produced a shovel of all things and was busy tilting the soil clean. "She's always had some form of motion sickness though. Surge teleported us near to the pokémon centre, so we can always go there and rest for a little bit if you'd like?"
The thought of movement was enough to make Ash's mouth fill with the too-hot feeling once again. Pikachu gave him a sad, worried look and approached him cautiously, as if afraid to be caught in the shower of bodily fluids. Not that Ash could blame him. He could still taste everything and honestly felt like his stomach was still bouncing around in six different directions at once.
"Go on ahead," Ash said, waving a hand in a direction he assumed was the pokémon centre. All he could see were rocks, some big hills in the distance, a blue sky and patches of worn grassy dirt. He took a deep breath to cool his mouth and noticed the way everyone flinched back away from him. "I might just stay out in the fresh air for longer. And I'm not teleporting back," he said, trying to laugh.
"I think that's a given," Holly said. She crouched down next to him and placed a hand on Pikachu's head. "We can go the scenic route back once we get what we need to from the power plant."
"Do whatever," Ash said, groaning. His stomach convulsed again and he lurched over, clutching his chest weakly. "I won't mind if you want to get back quickly. You're training there. I'm just after a gym battle, which I won't get until I get back from this anyway."
Ash looked up as Brock's shadow loomed over them. His shovel had disappeared again - Ash made the mental note to ask just what that was about - and he crouched down in front of him, pressing the back of his hand to Ash's forehead.
"You don't have a temperature, so it's probably not an illness or anything. From what I understand, if you've acquired an infection or gotten ill then teleporting can activate the virus or nasty thing in your body that causes you to be sick. From what I can tell, this looks just like teleportation sickness."
"I wish I'd known this was a thing before agreeing to this," Ash groaned.
"Well we know now," Brock said. "I'll stay with him until he feels better. You two go on ahead to the pokémon centre and book us a room. From what I understand the quickest way back to the main cities from here is to either double back down the mountain paths to Cerulean or go through Rock Tunnel to Lavender. See if the pokémon centre has any more info while you're there."
"Alright," Misty said. Ash smiled weakly as she and Holly headed downhill, towards what he assumed was the pokémon centre. With them out of ear shot, he groaned and fell backwards. "My tummy doesn't feel well, Brock."
"I'd noticed," Brock said, chuckling. "Take it easy and rest up for a little bit. I'll make you a drink that should help settle your stomach."
"Thanks," he said, grinning up at the sky. "I guess that means we won't be teleporting our way around Kanto then, huh?"
"No chance in that. I think you'd end up vomiting out your stomach."
"I'm sure there's a pokémon that does that as an attack," Ash said, trying to laugh. Pikachu approached him slowly and, deciding that he was safe enough to be near, curled up next to his head and licked his ear gently. Ash reached over and began to scratch him behind the ear, his mind running in circles whilst his body was resting. "Hey Brock," he said, moving slightly so that he could look at him. He found that Brock had dug a fire pit several paces away from him and was boiling a pot of water over a campfire he had assembled without Ash even noticing. As Brock grunted and looked up, he continued to place ingredients in the water without looking.
Seeing it made Ash think of his mother, back home in their kitchen, chatting to him happily as she cooked that night's meal. He wondered, not for the first time that day, just where she was, what she was doing and why he had still heard nothing from her. He was worried, but something told him that returning home to see what was happening was the worst possible course of action.
"Yes Ash?" Brock asked, his attention back on his bubbling pot of water.
"I was thinking about how to train my sandshrew," he confessed. "I know that you and Misty talk sometimes after I've gone to sleep, and I've heard you both talking about my training. I know they're all fast, but it's like you said before that they're all strong in different ways. To overcome their disadvantages, I also need to learn their advantages and work with them."
"That's a good idea, Ash." Having finished whatever he was making, Brock dipped a ladle into his creation and poured it into a glass. Ash took it from him, staring suspiciously at the clear, steaming hot liquid inside. "It'll help settle your stomach," Brock explained. "And as for training you, I'm more than happy to. I just want to ask first though, what's brought on this train of thought?"
Ash shrugged, pinched his nose and chugged the drink, doing his best not to choke. It tasted like the unholy love child of ginger and pepper with what his growing heartburn told him was garlic.
"Just been thinking," Ash explained, wiping his mouth with the back of his arm before handing Brock back the glass. "After watching you and Misty battle, I guess I kinda just saw what I've read about. I don't just want to be a pokémon master, Brock. I want to be the very best."
"'Like no one ever was'?" Brock finished, smirking.
Ash laughed, recalling the League's many advertisements for new challengers each year. It was corny and a cliche, but as far as he was concerned, it was true. He knew that Gary would be aiming to revolutionise the world in some way. Anything less than that was not something he was willing to consider. That first day with the spearow had taught him how truly unprepared for his journey he was. Travelling with Misty and Brock only served to remind him the difference between their skill levels.
"Kinda like that," Ash admitted. "But I guess…" He shrugged and picked up Pikachu, placing him gently on his lap and wrapped his arms around him. "I know you were testing my skill level as a trainer with no badges. Before we met up with you, I saw a bunch of other trainers that were about my age but knew so much more." He drew his knees up to his chin, balancing Pikachu atop his knees and resting his forehead against his pokémon's back briefly. "I promised everyone I'd make sure they were the strongest they could possibly be. I can't expect my pokémon to get stronger and not learn and train myself too."
"You realise that you've given me a very long explanation that skims around answering my question, but never addresses it, right?"
"I guess," Ash said, shrugging once more. "I just… sometimes I don't feel like I'm good enough," he admitted, his voice barely a whisper. Pikachu, sensing his feelings, turned around and nuzzled his head beneath Ash's chin. "I know it's kinda silly."
"It's not silly, Ash," Brock said gently. He sat down on the ground beside him and stared up at the sky. "You don't know how often I thought that I wasn't good enough to run the gym in Pewter. I didn't really have anyone to truly rely on when I was doing that. Whenever I lost a big battle, I'd always ask myself if it was because I wasn't good enough. The trainers I was battling against were always out in the real world, learning new skills, actually doing things that I was only preparing them for in simulated environments. I watched countless trainers come through and work at my gym that would ask themselves the same thing.
"I can only tell you what I told them. This is your journey. It's up to you and your pokémon to decide what your end goal is. If you want to be the best of the best, you have to be able to commit. Learn from everyone you can. I know we've only started travelling together recently and it seems strange for me to say this, but at some point you'll need to move on from Misty and I. You can't learn by staying around the same people all the time.
"It's similar to running a gym, or just being a boss, in that regard." Brock sighed and placed his hands back into the pockets of his windbreaker. "You hire people with skills you don't have, so that you acquire the knowledge and skills they have in return for the experience and training you can offer them. In time, they move on to learn new things and you retain what skills they introduced you to. You'll come to a stage eventually where you'll want to stay with your friends because they're what you've known and what you're comfortable with, but unless you challenge yourself you'll never progress. As a trainer or in anything in general."
Ash took a very long moment to process his words. It was probably the most advice he could recall getting, ever. "Wow," he whispered eventually, staring down at Pikachu, who was looking back up at him with wide, brown eyes. "I never really thought about it like that. It makes sense, but when will I know about any of that?"
Brock laughed as he stood back up. "You'll know when it's time, Ash. Until then, I'd be more than happy to share my experience with you. Come on, we'll start now." He grabbed a poké ball from his belt and expanded it to full size. "You're used to hitting hard and relying on speed to bring a victory. Most rock pokémon are slow, powerful and can take hits well. It requires an entirely different style of thinking."
-O-O-O-
After making her way to their shared room, Misty claimed a bottom bunk as her own and sat down heavily on it, feeling like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. She grabbed her starmie's poké ball and rolled it between her cupped palms, staring down forlornly at it.
"Okay," Holly said, smiling as she took a seat beside her, "who are you and what have you done with Misty? Because the Misty I know doesn't sulk or stare off into the sunset hoping her problems will solve themselves. The Misty I know solves problems head first by tackling them as best she can." Nudging her with her shoulder, Holly grinned at her. "I always looked up to you for that, you know? You never took any of Gary's crap and you were someone I could always count on having my back, no matter what."
"I know," Misty said. When she closed her eyes she found herself swarmed by visions of her failings. Surge's face joined the mix - his disapproving scowl as he sparked up a cigarette and quashed her dreams with only a few words. "But I've been relying on anger and fear too much lately. Surge shot down my plans in less time than it took me to blink."
"So?" Holly asked, grabbing her shoulder. "So you don't fight? If these plans are so important, why didn't you make him eat his words?"
Misty laughed, surprising herself with how bitter the sound was. "Surge basically said the same thing to me, you know?"
"I'm not surprised. He's right. Don't act like something is important and then discard it the moment someone tells you otherwise."
"I know," Misty said, sighing as she fell backwards on the bed, staring up at the mattress above her, "but I just… I lost my family's gym. Everything they worked for, their history, that's all gone now. I may not have been the driving force behind it, but my name is tainted with its downfall."
"So what?" Holly's tone was harsh, enough to jolt Misty into sitting back up in surprise. "Make a new name for yourself. I've never understood the whole 'legacy of my ancestors' thing. I've never had them, so why should we all live up to the hype of some crusty old people that just happened to be part of our lineage several hundred years ago?"
"I can't just discard all of that!" Misty snapped.
"And why not?" When Holly looked at her and met her own fury with an iron resolve, Misty found herself faltering. "Why can't you look to the future instead of the past?"
"I don't know, okay?" Misty growled, standing. She stomped to the other bed and snarled as she slammed her palms against the lightweight metal. "I don't know why I'm doing any of this anymore! I thought I wanted to avenge my parents, once. I thought I wanted answers. I don't know why anymore!"
Holly's voice was quiet. "If you wanted Surge to back you, that's probably why he didn't."
"What?" Misty hissed, spinning around.
Holly shrugged. "I'm being honest. From my point of view, why would I help you if you don't even know what it is you're committing to?"
"But that's not even how it happened! I spilled my guts! I told him all my hopes and dreams and he just told me they were worthless!"
"Then why are you bitching to me about it?" Holly snapped, standing, meeting her gaze. "What happened to you? Get out there and fight!" she shouted, pointing to the door. "Prove everyone wrong! That's the Misty I remember! I remember that summer where Gary told you that you'd never be able to find a corphish in Kanto and you spent the next week proving him wrong because you had your heart set on having a crawdaunt! And look, five years later you have one!"
Holly spun away from her, nearly slapping her in the face with her hair. With her back to her, Misty only just heard her next words.
"You're not the only one that thinks they're not up to scratch."
Taking a deep breath, Holly looked up and spun around to face her, eyes brimming with tears. "I took a bulbasaur as my starter pokémon. I couldn't even beat Brock! I tried being a gym trainer and I failed at the first hurdle!"
"Lots of people don't win their first gym battle," Misty found herself saying, her hand resting over her own heart. "That doesn't mean you're a bad trainer."
"I know," Holly said, laughing bitterly. "But that doesn't stop me from thinking it. After that I thought about what I wanted out of being a trainer. I don't know if I want to fight gyms. I don't know if I want to be a champion trainer or anything like that, but what I do know is that I don't want to be one of the trainers that flunk out after a year. I don't care if I have to work twice as hard for twice as long with three times the help, I want to make sure I'm as strong as you and Gary.
"So I signed up to Surge's gym," she said, shrugging dramatically. "He was the only one that I knew would make me stronger as well as my pokémon. That first month travelling with just bulbasaur and I? That showed me how unprepared I was. I didn't want to spend days on end training. I just wanted out of the wilds and in a nice bed. No books or studying could have ever prepared me for that. Now I'm getting the best of both worlds here."
"I'm sorry, Holly," Misty said, reaching for her. She wrapped her hand gently around Holly's elbow and squeezed. "I should have been there for you to talk to."
"I didn't want to admit I was weak," Holly said, shaking her head. "But it's fine now. I've set my own goals. I don't know what I want to do with myself, but I will pass Surge's trainer programme with the best results he's ever given."
Misty found herself staring at the floor, her mind awhirl with ideas. "You're right," she said, looking back up. "I've been focusing too much elsewhere lately. I've been so wrapped up in my head about the what ifs that I haven't thought about anything else."
"Good," Holly said, smiling. She wiped at her eyes with her palms and blew away the hair that had fallen into her face. "So, are we still seeing through Surge's request?"
"Damn straight," Misty growled. She looked out of the window of the pokémon centre and stared at the mountains beyond, behind which she knew the old Kanto power plant resided. "Spite and anger aren't great personality traits, but they're part of who I am. Surge told me no, which means I will prove him wrong." She ran a hand over the poké balls on her belt, thinking of the promises she had made each of her pokémon. They had all been told she would be the best water trainer the world had to offer. She intended to honour that promise, whether or not she got the public recognition to go with it.
"Ash and Gary make this all look so easy," Misty said, sighing. "It's almost like they don't have room in their minds for doubt."
"Then that's just who we have to emulate," Holly said, grinning as she jumped to her side. Grabbing Misty's arm, she linked hers through it and rested her head against Misty's shoulder. "They have their paths they want to go down, whilst we have ours. Even if we don't end up achieving all our goals, I think as long as we're happy with how we end up, we're doing good."
"You're so good at the empowering, uplifting speeches that you're almost spouting cliches," Misty said, laughing.
"Well, you think Dad's never made me suffer his speeches as practice?" she confided. "Now come on," she said, dragging her to the door, "we should really see if Ash is feeling any better. Surge will want the job done thoroughly, but he'll also expect us back as promptly as possible." She shuddered at something. "I've just heard the stories of these tests that he's given out before. He only ever gives them out to people he sees promise in, or people he's expecting to fail." She swallowed in an obvious attempt to hold back a flow of tears. With a shaking voice she said, "I just hope he's wanting us to succeed. I can't be a failure again."