Summary: After travelling with Ash, Brock and May, Misty leaves devastated, convinced that she had no longer belonged there. It's time for new horizons, unveiled truths, and mysteries, above all, friendship in a place she never thought it would be… Ash's former rival, Gary Oak.

Egoshippy: The pairing is Gary & Misty. If you cannot digest this couple, I strongly suggest you do not bother in reading this.

Author's note: I took a lot longer in publishing this one. I'm ahead by at least 7 chapters. And it's the longest fic yet. Longer than Pumpkin Fights, ForeignTerritories, and all the others. However, expect updates once a week or maybe even more. Even though I'm ahead by 7 chapters, If I update too quickly, I'll get stressed and run out of material to keep up regular updates, and will fall into writer's block xD

Also, Whatever discordance with the show, I'm sorry. It's been Ages since I've watched pokemon, and because of that, the fic is prone to have lots of setting flaws. I'm sorry ;;

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"The flame and the ember"

By Midnight Mist

Chapter 1

She was walking, she only knew that much. It was dusty paths that lead her to believe she was walking in earth's driest desert, but she just kept on walking. She had to. The sorrow was still heavy on her heart, and part of her hoped that if she walked enough, the pain would go away.

Maybe she had over reacted. But she had always been a girl that placed her heart before her mind. Maybe it backfired from time to time, but it made life a little more pleasant for her. That is, until what she felt was something as remotely as heartbreaking as that last week. Misty clenched her jaw, trying to keep her serenity. She had perhaps been too foolish to think that after Lily, Violet and Daisy returned from le-grand-tour she'd go back to her former nomad life with her two best friends in the entire world and everything would be just fine again. She had been too damn foolish.

May was a sweetheart; it only made the throbbing in her heart increase. She didn't spot it the first days back in the gang because of the euphoria of seeing Brock and Ash again, but as things calmed down, she could see May taking good care of the boys like she used to do. She filled in the blanks that her absence had left behind, and there she stood, foolishly idle, trying to be a part of the gang again, make May a new friend, get along, but she—she just didn't belong anymore. And no, she didn't hate May, if anything, she was grateful at her for doing such a good job to keep them at bay, but…

But she was still sad. It used to be her job. And it had been ripped away.

She hated to admit it but she had cried the entire day after leaving them hidden away in a pokemon center room. Her eyes had ended up so puffy she could barely even open them, but she calmed down. There was nothing she could do, and no more tears to spill.

So she was walking through what appeared to be the Sahara, thinking about her old outfit. It would be lighter to wear. The second day after she left, she decided that returning back to the gym and being bullied by her sisters wasn't an option. She went for a change of wardrobe, a blank state. She was starting her own adventure from now on.

She was more than relieved when she saw in the horizon an arid town surface from behind the mountains. She smirked. It was almost cowboy like, and she lightened up for an instant. She already felt like she was a part of some movie. So she started to walk more confidently. Her hips almost swayed getting rid of the tomboy edge, clad in black worn-out jeans, At least she wasn't wearing a jacket, and the day was far too hot. She was wearing a green short sleeve t-shirt that covered more skin that the yellow one she wore before. Her trademark backpack was slung on her right shoulder.

She walked into the pokemon center, and the amount of activity there contrasted against the dead-ness of the street. She almost hesitated in entering, but Nurse Joy spotted her and came out from behind the counter. Nurse Joy seemed to look at a photograph, and then at Misty and smiled, with recognition in her gleaming face.

She waltzed towards her; her steps were so light they almost didn't touch the wood below. "You must be Misty Walterflower, I presume?"

Misty looked zoned out. "You presume correctly?" It came out more like a question than an actual confirmation.

"You have received an urgent message from Professor Oak; he's been trying to contact you for the past few days quite a lot"

"Professor Oak?" Misty asked. Of course, she knew who he was, but in a very superficial way. The only times she had been in the same room with him it all went around Ash, and no real conversations had sprouted in between them. "What does he want?"

"To call him as soon as you get to a phone" Joy nodded, smiling. "There's one in the backroom" She said pointing to the door to her right. Misty nodded, in gratitude and excused herself as she walked through the room.

The video on the phone went on, as the red light blinked in her eyes. She pressed the number Nurse Joy had given her in the back of her own photograph, and waited for a reply.

"Gary Oak" a voice identified itself at the other line. His side of the screen went on, as they establish perplexed eye contact. Misty hesitated obviously uncomfortable "Uh… Is professor Oak there?"

Gary's eyes wavered scrutinizing her and his eyes drifted from the screen a moment before returning to haunt hers. "Nope, not here. Any message?" It sounded more like boredom than actually caring about anything she had to say, but she was still too awkward to get insulted by his rude manners.

She felt slightly disappointed, if anything. "Just tell him Misty called"

Something lit up in his eye. Pure undisguised confusion. "Misty Waterflower?" His eyes drifted away from the screen and drifted back and forth from her to something she couldn't quite see. She suspected it was the same picture Joy had given her. She bleakly nodded. He seemed silent. "Did you just get reconstructive surgery or something?"

Her eyes widened in fury, but he was only smirking, and before she could even try to reply, he winked. "Just kiddin', red—you've changed"

"What if I have?" She retorted coldly.

He shrugged "None of my business" he said, anticipating her words- "Gees kill a bloke for noticing…"

She huffed. "Can you take the stupid message or is it too complicated for you!"

He looked taken aback, but amused. "Look, pretty, granddad's here. He's just not taking all of the calls. But since he's been waiting for you, I'll put you through."

She clenched her fist trying to stay calm.

"Lighten up" He finished smugly, and it felt like the final blow to her. She glared at him but before she could even try to speak his side of the screen went black, and she almost thought he had hung up on her. But soon enough into her perplexed state, the smiling face of Professor Oak appeared in a different background. He was probably in his laboratory, and Gary had been in some sort of living room. Probably his house.

"Professor Oak!" She exclaimed, taken by surprise. Misty noticed his smile. It had the slightest hint of tiredness in it. Almost heavy, or forced, even. It made her fall into expectation, and not the good kind of anticipation.

"Misty! Thank god. I couldn't get a hold of your sisters"

She sweatdropped. "They just got back from their world tour, so they're probably catching up with half Cerulean. I think the line's gonna be busy for a couple of weeks"

They both fell silent for a moment. Misty tilted her head. "What did you want to tell me?"

Professor Oak beamed. "Misty, Togepi's been with me for a month now, and she's missed you greatly. However, last night she evolved into Togetic while eating her usual pokemon food, it's…"

Her breath got caught in her throat. She opened her mouth to utter some words but her brain betrayed her, drawing blanks. "What…?"

"It's unprecedented. A pokemon evolving with cero amount of training or battling, It's why I'm calling, I'm going to have to ask you if I can keep around Togepi for the next month, we really need to discover how, it could be a great scientific breakthrough"

She tilted her head, dazed out. "Wow" She said both proud and disappointed. She missed Togepi—Togetic too much to wait a whole month.

"I know you had been looking forward to having Togepi there, I'm sorry" Professor Oak seemed honestly sorry. But he smiled sweetly as a grandfather would. "Of course I've already looked into that, I'll send you tickets to Pallet, and you could visit!"

She cracked a smile. "That's sweet, sir, but since I'm not travelling with Ash, I don't really have a place to stay"

"Taken care of, this house is big enough. I don't know half of the bedrooms in it. We could get you set up. Take it as vacationing as I study Togetic better"

Nurse Joy walked into the room. "Miss Waterflower, a ticket for Pallet has just been faxed in for you" She smiled politely as she handed Misty the tickets. Misty sweatdropped realising it was an offer she couldn't refuse. She smiled back to the screen. What could go wrong?

"I'll see you there, professor!"

"Goodbye Misty" And the conversation was interrupted. Misty beamed. She was finally going to see Togepi. Her mind was reeling, she had no idea how she could evolve like that into Togetic, and she couldn't wait to see her new form.

It was the perfect start of a new adventure. New looks, new pokemon, new friendly faces. The reminder of Ash and Brock appeared on her mind and she smiled sadly. She still missed them, and couldn't even try to lie to herself about it. And even in the anguish of leaving the group, she still looked at the ticket in her hand with some excitement.

She was leaving for Pallet that very night.

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Author's Note:This was a "setting" chapter so I apologize for the lack of action. It's just to give out the setting. Misty is about 17, new wardrobe, currently Togepi-less xD and many other things.

Next chapter: Ahoy Pallet!

Reviews make me all warm inside!