Well this a bit of a romance which is alot about Misty and Garry making it egoshippy (or so I am told) I have reframed from using captials for pokemon's names as my shift key has a tendancy to stuff up and not work. Please bear with me, and please Read and Review.

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any character in this story that may be from the series or created based upon another series character

Arrogance and Ignorance, Misty's Tale

Chapter 1:

When Misty Met Gary

So much had changed since Misty had last seen Ash which seemed, on it's own, like a lifetime ago. It hadn't really been that long, but each day dragged on as she ran her sisters' gym. But it wasn't the gym, it wasn't the never-ending number of competitors, they actually kept her entertained, it was constantly thinking of Ash that made the days drag on even longer. Misty could see that her life was going nowhere fast, she had a gym of her own, which most trainers would kill for, but she longed for adventure again, she longed to be free of this horrid place that she had no choice but to call home.

Rubbing her eyes she pulled herself out of bed and put her feet on the cold floorboards, why couldn't she leave her slippers where she could find them? She ran to her doorway away from the gym entrance and put on her sneakers, she didn't have any socks, which made the sneakers very uncomfortable, but at least it was warmer than no shoes at all.

It was already winter in Cerulean City and it was really cold. It hardly ever snowed, but it always got extremely cold. Misty looked outside to check if it snowed, she thought of something her mother used to say, "the day it snows in this city, there will be a great change for one of the residents" It was never really proven, but Misty knew enough times when it had actually happened, there had been two times during her lifetime, and, though she didn't really believe this myth, she waited patiently for it to snow, because more than ever, she wanted things to change.

The sound of Misty's Starme in the pool made her wake from her trance, one last look though, nope, no snow. She turned to the kitchen and started scrounging around in the refrigerator for something to eat. Damit! There was nothing left to eat except some half moulded cheese and some nearly frozen bread, great! Misty grabbed a knife and started cutting the moulded parts off the cheese and put the bread in the microwave. She really had to go shopping today.

Misty walked over to the rather large pool in the centre of the gym, normally the battlefield, but this morning just a play area for her rather large collection of water pokemon. Her collection had gotten bigger since she started watching the gym for her sisters, after all she did gain her sister's pokemon, and some days she got the chance to go out to the lake and catch some more. Her pride and joy was her starmie of course, though she did have her gyarados, a dratini and a blastoise.

As if to see what was wrong, dratini surfaced from under the water and just stared at Misty. Misty patted the pokemon's head and it swam away with delight. Misty stood up and stared carefully into the water, after so long working with the pokemon and the water itself Misty could almost always see into the water no matter how the ripples were. She could always tell where each of her pokemon were and could point them out plainly which gave her an edge in battles.

Just thinking about battles made Misty wince, they were always the same, a trainer came in, either won or lost and got a badge if they won. Trainer after trainer Misty had to run through this routine a million times over and that was never ending. Oh well, she had to do it and that was final, but what if one day, somehow she….

"No, I not going to allow myself to believe that things will change, because they aren't going to" She said irritably and went into the kitchen to start writing out a shopping list for later on when she got a break to go shopping.

Misty then went to have a long shower and get herself ready for the cold and boring day ahead. She then dressed in jeans and a long sleeved jersey. Grabbing a few pokeballs she headed to the big glass doors of her gym to let in the trainers, but as she got to the doors she realised there was no one there, odd, because there were always trainers. Misty smiled and hung up the sign on the doors to say that the gym was closed for the day. If there were no trainers here yet, then no one could complain.

"Come on maril" She called to her pokemon. Maril came running to Misty, he was eager to get out of the gym.

The shops were having a sale on and Misty went crazy, she bought enough food to last her for quite some time, she bought pokemon food and care items, and she bought some new clothes.

Misty was ready to leave the shop when she saw a large crowd gathering together. She pushed her way in between all the folk to get to the front to see what the fuss was about. It was Ash, he was being interviewed, he was one of the greatest trainers of all time! Misty's heart ached as she watched ash smile and enjoy his life without her.

"He always was big headed" Came the rather arrogant but all too familiar voice of Ash's old rival; Gary Oak. Misty whirled around to see Gary standing right behind her.

"You can't really talk mister Oak!" She almost spat at him.

"Well aren't we a feisty red head? You haven't changed. Have I?" Gary said with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, but one thing is for sure, you're still as sure of yourself as you ever were, guess you can't expect a boy like you to turn into a man" Misty said angrily.

"Oh I'm a man all right, I'm a real man, you just don't know it cause you've only ever chased after the real boys" Gary said smirking and gesturing to Ash on the television.

"I never chased after Ash, I never even liked him" Misty almost yelled, she was going to go bright red, but it wasn't going to be from anger.

"So why were you standing here ogling that television so bad, god Misty you were nearly drooling!" Gary went into severe fits of laughter as he saw Misty go red with frustration and annoyance. Misty had already had enough, and she was going to show it if he dared to make one more….

"Well at least he has gotten over you, I mean you've been replaced Misty, take a look" Gary said wickedly. Misty looked at the television to see a brunette hugging Ash. The interviewer started to ask if they had a relationship and the brunette rushed ahead to tell the whole story. Misty looked back at Gary who was laughing so hard he would burst. Misty could feel the tears welling up in her eyes from what had happened on television and Gary was laughing at it…

SMACK!

Misty slapped Gary as hard as she could manage and ran off out of the shopping centre crying. She clutched maril so hard she thought the little ball might burst. She ran out to her favourite lake and began to let herself cry. For the first time since Ash's departure she had cried. She felt empty inside, and sick of jealousy, her stomach churned and her head spun with the constant replay of that brunette hugging Ash.

She had been sitting there for just under an hour when she heard the crunch of feet. And a voice too sweet to suit the owner said into her ear.

"No one should have to get so worked up over someone that doesn't feel the same way about them" Gary put his coat over Misty's shoulders and rubbed her back with his hand. He held out a tissue for her and sat with her while she tried to regain her composure.

When Misty finally regained enough composure and dignity to look at Gary she saw something she wasn't expecting. His large brown eyes looked sympathetic and his lips were blue from the cold, as he had been keeping her warm. His expression was soft, something close to a genuine smile, as a slight stain of worry creased his brow. Misty looked into his eyes as if she was searching for something else, but he only held her tighter and put on a comforting smile. He leaned forward towards her, and Misty unwillingly leaned into him, she had lost all control as she went to kiss him, but something cold hit her nose and she and Gary looked up.

"It's snowing" Gary exclaimed in wonder.

"Things are going to change for one of the residents of cerulean," Misty said. Then she looked back to Gary. Maybe this was her chance for change; maybe this was time for her to move on, after all, Ash had. Misty snuggled into Gary and he hugged her for warmth.

"Things are going to change…"

Well that's chapter one over and done with, hope you liked it, please review.