Misty slowed to a jog when she reached the outskirts of Saffron City. The next town over, Cerulean, was her home, and her current destination. The peak of Mt. Moon loomed large from the west in the pale light of the early morning. She'd run from Pallet all night, not paying attention to the pain in her legs and chest from running so hard. She decided to rest a bit. Her stomach growled. She spied a coffee shop near the Silph Co. building, and purchased a muffin. After she was finished, she clutched Togepi tightly and completed the final leg of her trek. It was still rather early in the morning when she arrived at her home, the Cerulean City Gym. She paused at the end of the walk. Suddenly, the door opened, and the youngest of her older sisters, Lilly, came out to get the morning paper. She yawned and looked up to see Misty. "Misty," she called, waving. She ran down the walk to greet her. She pulled her into the house. "Daisy! Violet," Lilly shouted up the stairwell. "Misty's home." They went into the back of the gym, which is where the residency in the gym was. Lilly and Misty sat on the couch, waiting for their sisters to join them. "Like, weren't you visiting Pallet with Ash and Brock? Why did you come home?"

Misty shifted uncomfortably. "I guess I just got homesick," she lied.

"Like, look, Daisy," Violet said as she and Daisy entered the room. "It's Misty."

"Duh, Violet," Daisy retorted. "What are you doing here? Did something happen with Ash?"

Misty's eyes welled up again. She bit her lip to contain herself. "I just—I have to get some sleep," she said. "I've been up all night. See you later." She quickly retreated to her bedroom. Her sisters looked at each other and shrugged.

Misty spent much of her time in her room in the days that followed, only venturing out when her sisters were away, as to avoid their questions. Togepi quickly grew tired of being confined, and opted to spend more time with his "aunts". Consequently, her loneliness and sadness grew. She thought about Ash and his mother daily, and of what Delia had said. She wanted to ask her sisters about it all, but she couldn't bring herself to it. Her sisters worried about her endlessly. They knew that Misty's odd behavior was because of Ash, in some way, so the three of them made a trip to Pallet to confront him. They ran into Brock, who was leaving Professor Oak's lab. "Like, hi, Brock," Daisy said, turning on the charm. "Could you, like, take us to Ash's house, pretty please?"

Brock quickly morphed into the dopey guy he became whenever there was a pretty girl in range. "Uh, yea, okay, sure," he said.

"This is totally cool," Lilly exclaimed, taking his arm. "You're, like, the best, Brock!"

"Totally," Violet agreed, latching onto his other arm. Brock blushed furiously. Professor Oak stood by the window and watched Brock escort the sisters to the Ketcham house.

Ash sat on the porch swing on the façade of his house, looking forlorn. He'd kicked off his shoes, and was rocking slightly in the swing. Pikachu was asleep, resting its head on Ash's lap. He spied Brock and the elder Waterflowers coming from the road. "It's Misty's sisters," he said. "Or, I guess they're actually my sisters too…"

Lilly released Brock's arm and charged at Ash. She picked him up by the collar of his shirt. Pikachu tumbled off Ash's lap. "Okay you little worm," she shouted. "Like, what did you do to Misty?"

Ash's dark eyes widened. "What? Cut it out," he cried. "I didn't do anything!"

"Pika-pi," Pikachu piped up.

"Misty's been like, sitting in her room, totally all alone, for days now," Violet said. "She like, doesn't come out, and she's totally bummed. What happened?"

"What are you guys talking about," he asked. "Don't you know?"

"Know what," Daisy asked.

"Why don't you come inside, girls," Delia offered from the doorway. The sisters looked at her. "I'll explain it all." They obliged, and Delia gave them a grave look. "Didn't your father tell you that Misty's father died with your mother in that plane crash?"

"What?" They were aghast.

"Yes, that's what happened," Delia explained. "Misty's father was actually my late husband, and Ash's father. He was going on a jaunt with your mother, and they died. I'm sorry it happened. But you really didn't know?"

"Mrs. Ketcham, Misty is like, totally, our sister, one hundred percent," Violet said. "We totally knew that Mom was like, carrying on with Ace. She even like bragged to us about it, in front of Daddy. But Ace is totally not Misty's father."

"Yeah, we were like, wondering why Daddy gave her to you," Daisy said. "But we never thought it was because of Mom's relationship with Ace."

"Misty's like, a hemophiliac, Mrs. Ketcham," Lilly said. "And, so was Daddy. Isn't that, like, hereditary, or whatever?"
Delia looked stunned. "I never knew," she said.

"Did like, Ace have that same disease," Violet asked.

"No," Delia said. "He was totally healthy."

"So, Misty is like, our sister, not Ash's," Daisy said, smiling.

"Really?" Ash's face lit up.

Delia and the Waterflowers nodded. Ash jumped high enough in the air to touch the ceiling. "This is great," he cried. "Now we can be…." His face darkened. "Mom, who's Ace?"

"Your father liked to call himself that," she explained. "I hated it. I thought it was an awful nickname. But that's neither here nor there. Go find Misty, and tell her the good news!"

"Like, come on, Ash," Daisy encouraged, dragging Brock along. "Let's go!"

The return to Cerulean was much more joyous for Ash, Brock and the elder Waterflowers than it was for Misty. Ash and Pikachu rushed ahead of the pack, eager to see Misty again. Soon, Cerulean was in view, and Ash broke into a run. "Ash, wait," Lilly shouted. He sprinted up the Waterflowers' driveway and into the house. Once inside, he wasn't exactly sure of where to go. He was in the front of the gym, where the aquarium and pool was. He had no idea where Misty could be. There were two dark hallways on each side of him. He opted to take the one on the left, and he knocked on every door, crying, "Misty? Are you in there?"

Meanwhile, she'd heard the racket that he was making and peered out her door to investigate. She saw Ash walking down the hall with Pikachu on his head. She gasped and dashed back inside, bracing herself against the door. Ash had caught sight of her, and entered through the open doorway. "Misty," he asked. "Hey, what are you doing? You hiding or something?"

Misty sighed from behind the door. "Ash, why are you here," she said. "We can't be together, you know that! It's not fair for you to be here…. I'd love for you to stay here with me, but it's not right. You should leave."

"I have great news," Ash pressed. He took her hand and pulled her away from the door. He put his hands on her arms.
"Misty, you and I are not related."

"Huh?" Her face went blank. "Ash, stop this. You can't change what happened."

"No, Misty, it's, like, true," Violet said, joining her sister and Ash. Daisy, Lilly and Brock weren't far behind.

"Misty, you're a hemophiliac, and so was Daddy," Lilly explained. "Ash's dad wasn't, and the only way to, like, get it, is through your genes."

"My genes?" Misty looked down at her denim shorts, but came up with a smile. She felt as though a ton weight had been lifted from her chest. She looked at Ash, whose wide grin matched hers. She threw herself into his arms with such force she nearly knocked him over. Pikachu tumbled to the floor. "Pika-cha!" Ash chuckled and hugged her tightly. Violet and Daisy smiled at each other. Lilly scooped Pikachu off the floor and swung him around happily. Brock tried to hug one of the sisters, but was quickly shot down.

"So, Misty, Ash, Brock," Lilly said. "Like, what now?"

"Well, there's more of Pallet that I haven't seen yet," Misty said. "Ash, should we head back?"

"Let's do it," he agreed. "Brock, you coming?"

Brock turned red. "I'd like to stay here with you, ladies," he said to Misty's sisters. Misty tore herself away from Ash long enough to grab Brock's sleeve. "Come on," she said, irritated. The elder Waterflowers saw them out, and waved good-bye to them as they headed back to Pallet.