2: Misty vs. Giovanni
Giovanni sat and rested as his grunts ran around Viridian Gym, getting things ready for the semiannual meeting of gym leaders. "You there," he said gruffly as one of his underlings wandered by, sporting an immaculate Team Rocket uniform. As the grunt turned toward him, Giovanni gave the order. "Go change. We can't have that here today."
"Yes, boss! My apologies!" the man said, saluting before he ran off.
What a waste, as he looked fine in the outfit. Even so, appearances had to be considered. Everyone knew, had to know about the organization Giovanni ran when he wasn't participating in gym battles. Some had called it a 'trouble making gang' and were initially opposed to someone who ran such an organization being in charge of a gym in a major city. Throughout the years, Giovanni had just learned not to call as much attention to it. His minions could all be in their stylish uniforms tomorrow, or even later that day when it was all over.
He was looking forward to then, getting through this tediousness. How annoying it was, having to make nice with all of the ever-changing gym leaders. But whoever was chairman got to create the agenda and direct the conversation, making this job too beneficial to give up. He'd even changed things so it was held right there in Viridian Gym rather than anywhere else, allowing the rocket boss to have his people around without making too many travel arrangements. The arrangement was as unobtrusive as possible, bringing some benefit. He may as well try and put on a brave face.
Giovanni looked through some reports while his plainclothes underlings got the area nice for their guests. With the contacts they'd been getting throughout the week, it didn't seem likely that many would show up. When it was time, Giovanni waited before he went to the meeting room. They could all deal with him being fashionably late. He was so late he'd be the last to arrive for certain, saving himself some time catching up any other latecomers. As he entered the room, he noted only a few people sitting around the table, many missing from their few dozen members. Good. This would also make things end quicker.
The conversation that had been in the room quieted as he entered. "Bonjour, Giovanni!" a cheerful young child with a ponytail called to him as he walked to the head of the table.
"Yes, hello," Giovanni replied, brushing by her. He opened the book as he sat down. "Let's take the role call," Giovanni said. Most of the present gym leaders looked as bored as him. He scanned their faces and said their names. He noted an adolescent boy he didn't recognize. "Who are you?" he asked.
The boy dropped his notepad, picking it up before he looked Giovanni's way. "It's Tracey, sir! I'm here for Professor Oak."
So, the old man that had been absent since Giovanni had been present had sent a representative. That shouldn't matter. Non-gym leaders didn't get a say in anything, and besides, nothing important was about to be discussed. "Let's see who's absent," Giovanni scanned the list, reading over several names. "...Erika of Celadon sent her condolences for having to miss. Blaine of Cinnabar thought the weather was too bad to get a boat over. Koga of Fuchsia said he might not make it, and I see he isn't here. Sabrina of Saffron didn't RSVP for the fifth time in a row, but we can't complain, since her win ratio beats all of us. Surge of Vermilion says he's sick, perhaps having flashbacks. Let's be sympathetic. Speaking of sympathy, let's also forget about that Pewter boy, he has enough burdens. I see the newbie from Cerulean isn't here either. She didn't RSVP, maybe we forgot the invitation." Giovanni slammed the book shut as he finally finished taking attendance. He didn't care if any of them attended at all, but reading out the excuses saved any time from having to listen to questions of those that liked to ask. Now they could just get on with the agenda.
"Wait."
Before he could, a young voice interrupted him. Giovanni turned and saw the girl that had greeted him standing up, hand on her hip. He'd figured she was a hanger-on to someone here, and hadn't cared to find out, but it might be different if she was speaking up like this. "What is it?" he asked. Despite being annoyed at being interrupted, he tried not to seem so harsh. Giovanni glanced to the man that was sitting next to the disruptive child, but he wasn't even paying attention. It seemed the girl was here on her own.
"Cerulean is here," the girl said in response to his question. "I'm Misty, the new Cerulean gym leader. You still sent the invitation to Daisy, she's the last one. She didn't tell me until later, so I couldn't RSVP. Why don't you correct it for next time?"
"Hmph." Giovanni couldn't hide his amusement. "Have you just turned ten?"
"Half a year ago. My license is valid and current," Misty said.
It had been a while since they'd had one as a guest, but yes, even children this young were allowed to be gym leaders. This one was probably a relative of the last, and being in a gym family, had likely been training since before having a license. Was there really no one else the family in Cerulean could have picked? Well, it didn't matter. It was annoying to have to placate even loud children, but Giovanni would do so. "Of course," he said. "My mistake. I will have it corrected for next time."
With that, Misty sat down. Giovanni nodded to the man in the corner, who started passing out papers. "Here's the latest win ratios. Those of you at the bottom should reevaluate your strategies. I'll save any discussion of any gyms that need to be taken off the circuit for next time. Would anyone like to go observe the bottom two?"
No one volunteered, which was annoying. Giovanni decided to take responsibility anyway to prevent too much discussion. "I'll have one of my people take care of it. Any problems with that?" The rest of the group was silent and nonreactive, likely because they weren't the target this time. But then the little girl raised her hand. "What is it?" Giovanni asked, glaring at her.
Misty stood up again, staring at him confidently. "Cerulean is at the bottom," she noted.
"Yes, you'll have to be observed. Maybe we'll have to take Cerulean out of the game if it can't put up enough of a challenge."
"Well, your information's dated. That's Daisy's win ratio. You have to consider the current gym leader's, don't you?"
How annoying, though of course this girl was here to prevent troubles of her own. "Fine. What's your ratio? I'll confirm it later, just give it to us." Giovanni took out a pen to write it down quickly.
"It's .89," Misty said.
Giovanni looked up, raising an eyebrow.
"It's amazing, huh?" Misty gushed as attention turned her way. "I'm just getting started, you know. Maybe one day I'll be tops like Sabrina. In the meantime, I'm right above Viridian according to this." She waved around the paper.
Giovanni couldn't help but scowl at the boast. He controlled himself as he continued to speak to the child. "Such a ratio is high," he admitted. "Too high for someone so new. Perhaps someone here can explain to her how to properly calculate a win ratio."
Misty folded her arms and scowled right back. "I know that already. It's easy, even without a calculator. Try calculating it yourself. Nineteen matches, seventeen wins. It's .89, isn't it? It'll go up to .9 if I win the next. You said you'd confirm it. I'm not worried. You'll see that's what it is."
"Fine," Giovanni barked, writing Cerulean in pen right above his own gym and putting in the given win ratio. The purpose wasn't to get into petty arguments, but to finish this meeting as quickly as possible so he could get onto things that really interested him. Not to mention letting anyone talk too long might bring up uncomfortable topics. "So, that makes for someone else at the bottom." Giovanni noted the leader of the gym in the now second-to-last spot clench his fists and sit up. "I recommend observation and no current action at this time. Do you agree?" It wasn't a formal vote, but the noises of apathetic agreement were enough. "We'll discuss it next time. Let's move on."
Next was budgeting. They voted to keep the current budget the same. Giovanni hadn't wanted any changes, anyway. The less they expanded their activities, the better. Giovanni mentioned they had no new applicants before moving on to the last item on the agenda, complaints. There were several obviously from sore losers. There was also one against Vermilion for rudeness from a non-trainer, but of course Surge wasn't there. "Let's throw this one away. It's a cultural difference, or he was having a bad day." Making excuses for his fellow gym leader was the fastest way to move on, Giovanni considered. No one objected. He'd already thrown out any complaints against himself beforehand. "I believe we're finished," Giovanni said, standing up. "Unless there's any business to bring up, let's get back to our other responsibilities."
"I have some."
Of course, it was that girl again. Even if she was the current gym leader, and 'adult' enough to be a trainer according to the law, couldn't she have some kind of supervision when coming here? "Make it quick," Giovanni snapped, not caring how it looked. They'd almost been done and she felt the need to interrupt them.
Misty didn't even start talking right away, just looked around from person to person that was there. "Do I really need to be the one to talk about this?" she said. "Why haven't any of you brought it up?"
"We're finished with the agenda," Giovanni snapped. "Anyone could have voiced additions beforehand."
"Well, there's one thing that really should have been first before any of that other stuff. I noticed it right when I walked into this gym. Haven't any of you noticed it too?" Misty paused, but still no one answered. "Fine, pretend you don't. I'll say it so you start paying attention. This gym is a criminal's den."
That woke up everyone there. Their eyes widened and they wrung their hands, but still stared at the table top and didn't speak. All of them backed away from Misty, a few clearing their throat and coughing. The boy Oak had sent clenched his notepad tightly, looking away as Misty peered in his direction. A similar reaction was noted from everyone else, some briefly glancing toward Giovanni for what he might say.
"Did you really not know?" Misty continued. "This Viridian gym leader - He's the leader of Team Rocket. They're a criminal group. They bully trainers and pokemon, steal from them. So why are we letting him lead us too? Let's get Viridian Gym out of the circuit, or just get someone new in it. Why don't we-"
"Young lady," Giovanni interrupted. His words were polite, though his tone was warning. Misty turned his way, having just been talking to the other gym leaders before. "You're making some outrageous accusations," he said.
"So you're not the leader of Team Rocket?" Misty inquired.
"Hmph. Perhaps you're free to just run your gym without other worries, but some of the rest of us have other responsibilities. Yes, Team Rocket is my organization."
"You see? He admits it," Misty said with a smile, turning back to the others.
"That's enough," Giovanni said. "If you have criminal complaints, take them to the police. My win ratio more than qualifies me to continue as a gym leader. It would be difficult to find someone to replace me."
"Oh? But I just started, and I'm higher than you," Misty pointed out.
"Nineteen battles in a semester? That's far lower than typical. I had about twice that, and even that's lower than the average. If you'd had more, you'd have trouble maintaining that ratio. There is something called beginner's luck."
"So, you think you can beat me?" The girl still refused to back down from her hubris, staring over her shoulder at Giovanni with a calm expression. "Should we battle then? I don't have anything to prove, but maybe these people will stop quaking around if they realize how easy it is to stand up to you."
"We'll battle," Giovanni said, glaring at the girl. She had a lot to learn. Hopefully a swift loss would shut her up. He didn't have much to prove either. All those present were subservient to him.
The plainclothes rocket agents glared at Misty as they exited the room and went into the gym's main battle arena. The gym leaders and observers that had been present at the meeting didn't dare leave, getting in the stands by the columns in the protected spectator's area. They looked more nervous than either of the competitors, paying close attention to the field even before the battle began.
"One pokemon each," Giovanni declared as they both took their places on opposite sides of the field.
"That's fine with me," Misty said casually, taking out a single pokeball.
If it was or wasn't, Giovanni planned to finish this quickly. "Come out, Rhydon!" Giovanni said, throwing out his single pokeball.
Misty kissed the pokeball before smiling at it. "Let's go, my steady, the mysterious hero pokemon of Celadon City, Starmie!" she said, throwing out her own pokeball. As it flung back to her, she caught it, then posed as her named pokemon spun, its gem briefly flashing.
How overdramatic. Of course, Giovanni recalled that over in Cerulean they made more money from putting on performances with their pokemon than their salary as part of the gym circuit. And this pokemon? It was a water type, which Giovanni remembered now was Cerulean's theme. How annoying that there was a type advantage, but even so, this should be able to be quickly completed. "Rhydon, fissure."
The ground in front of them split open. This took time to fix, but the staff was used to it, so it should be no problem. Giovanni carefully watched the attack, then noted as Misty's pokemon spun, getting out of the way quickly, bouncing in the air as it did. "Tch." He bit his lip. He looked over at his nonplussed opponent as she spoke.
"Starmie, bubble beam!" The pokemon let out a call as it released a stream of bubbles, and then shot its attack toward Rhydon. The pokemon was too large to be able to dodge well, and cried as it was hit. "Alright! You did it! Once more, that beautiful bubble beam!" Misty exclaimed, a wide smile on her face.
"Rhydon, tail whip," Giovanni ordered. As he'd hoped, the technique hit Starmie just as it was preparing the next attack, catching it off guard and causing the pokemon to spin to the ground. Misty's pokemon still expelled a stream of bubbles anyway, though its attempt mostly missed this time. "Stomp!" Giovanni said, and his pokemon landed its foot on its opponent. "Again!" he said.
"Starmie!" Misty exclaimed. The star-shaped pokemon's red jewel started to flash as Rhydon stomped several times before the other pokemon could attack. "Starmie, it's okay. I know you can do it. Once more, try that bubble beam attack." Misty's pokemon had already been trying, and formed that attack, firing it before Rhydon could land another attack. Rhydon stepped back, waving its arms as it roared again while Starmie floated back up. "Alright!" Misty exclaimed, pointed forward. "Now, Starmie, water gun!"
"Rhydon, horn drill," Giovanni said. Though fissure had failed, since Rhydon was closer now, this one ought to work. Giovanni smiled as he saw his pokemon charging toward the other.
Just before the attack could hit, Starmie fired its water gun attack, spraying Giovanni's pokemon right in the face. Hit for the third time at such a close range, Rhydon fell forward, paws to its eyes.
Giovanni scowled as Misty let out a whoop of joy. "Starmie, you did it! That was hard, but you won! Good job." The girl ran forward laughing and hugged her pokemon. "I'll take care of you when we get home," she said, then returned it to its pokeball just as Giovanni returned his own. "It's over. I beat you," Misty said. She turned to the audience, which still sat without any fanfare, knowing why they shouldn't speak up. "You see? You don't have to sit back and be afraid. Let's have a real meeting. Let's discuss this seriously."
The other guests didn't respond at all to the suggestions, but Giovanni knew he couldn't just discount their reactions. What they witnessed could come back to bite him. He studied the reactions of the low-tier gym leaders. They looked away from Misty, some toward the ground. They appeared nervous, some of them not so subtly trying to watch Giovanni for his own reaction. Oak's stand-in was writing furiously in his notebook. Despite their silence, they'd be sure to talk when they left.
"Hmph." Giovanni smiled as he approached Misty. "Congratulations. It appears I underestimated you," he said. "I shouldn't have chosen a pokemon that would give me a handicap."
Misty looked back at him, staring him up and down, her brow furrowed. "Are you trying to make excuses now?" she asked. "I was seriously battling, and I know you were too. Type isn't everything. Starmie is just powerful."
"Oh, yes, of course. It's your glorious win," Giovanni complimented. "We have a promising new gym leader here, don't we?" As Giovanni turned his attention to the other gym leaders, some of them nodded in agreement.
"I already know without someone like you telling me." The girl spoke haughtily, turning away.
"There is that to consider," Giovanni said. "Yes, that level of rudeness. It's not the kind of professional demeanor that's expected of a gym leader."
"Huh?" Misty's face fell. "That's not right! Ask anyone who's been to my gym. I'm polite. Some even say my suggestions are helpful."
"Is that right? I'm not sure it is, with how you've acted today. I take it you've begun as a gym leader just in the recent months, or is it weeks? Perhaps there's just been some delay in the post." Giovanni's attention turned back to the other gym leaders. "I suggest we give this girl a warning. That would be appropriate. What do you all think?"
One of the other gym leaders, an older man, nodded in agreement. "I agree. Misty, you really need to show some decorum. Not just to your challengers, but also your fellow gym leaders."
"I have been!" Misty insisted. "But I'm telling the truth about him, about Team Rocket! I can't believe he's been in charge this long!"
"As Giovanni said, if you know of any crimes, I hope you've reported them to the police," the man said. Other present gym leaders made various sounds of agreement.
"I have!" Misty almost stomped her foot as she shouted back.
"Calm down," Giovanni said. "I trust our law enforcement officers to investigate anything thoroughly and make an appropriate response. So, we're agreed on her warning, then? That much should be enough, since she is this young. Since she's improved her pokemon's skills with training so fast, I'm sure she'll be able to improve her manners quickly as well."
Misty shook her head as her fellow gym leaders made various sounds of agreement, no one speaking out in her defense.
"I'll put it on the record then," Giovanni said. "We're done for now. I'll look forward to seeing you all in six months." The cowards raced to exit as fast as possible. Noticing her staying in one place, Giovanni approached Misty. "That includes you as well. Don't worry, there's no grudge here. I understand the folly of youth."
The girl's expression was incensed as she turned to him. However, she just turned to leave as well.
Giovanni then turned to his underlings. They'd been standing in the room the whole time, watching the battle. They also showed signs of anger. Perhaps their boss had appeared weak to some of them. "There's no need to overdo it when it comes to a child like that," Giovanni said. They said nothing, apparently wanting him to explain more than that. He hadn't planned to stop there, anyway. "In gym battles, certain rules must be followed. But not elsewhere, hm? We can't have her talking like that about our organization. Go show her our true strength."
Several grunts began to go to the exit wordlessly. "Wait," Giovanni said as about five of them headed toward the door. "Just the men should be enough. As I said, don't overdo it. Perhaps she can succeed in the limited world of gym battles, but her power is negligible. Show her that." As he finished, three men left the room.
Misty walked along morosely, trying not to cry before she heard the happy shouts. She looked up, noticing the Parisian-style café in the distance. "Oh!" she exclaimed, rushing forward to see it closer. Peeking through the windows, the tables and chairs were so cute, the pictures on the wall elegant. Even the customers added to the atmosphere, some women in flowery dresses, men in suits. Misty looked at her own outfit, and then back inside, seeing some of the customers were more casually dressed like her.
She decided to go in. Entering, it was obvious that everyone was pleased to be there, their happiness and excitement radiating through the room. After what had just happened, the atmosphere was appreciated. Misty decided to join them, thanking the waitress that led her to a small table. "Are pokemon allowed?" she asked.
"Yes, but we have a height limit," the waitress informed, pointing to the picture on the wall.
"Thank you," Misty said. She'd wanted to take care of Starmie, but it was bigger than the defined size, despite being much smaller than other pokemon. So was Staryu, her smallest pokemon, for that matter. They didn't give much leeway. Well, it could wait. It got some rest in the pokeball, anyway. Misty decided to just enjoy herself for a short while. Daisy also got to visit places she wanted when she came to Viridian, so why not?
Despite not being able to bring out her own pokemon, the fact this café allowed others to have them added to the atmosphere. The ones that fit the lower height limit were so cute - the "starting" pokemon that were often given to new trainers, a sweet oddish, an eevee. Being able to see them relaxing with their trainers helped Misty relax as well. It seemed this café, along with much of Kanto, was starting to recognize that pokemon, in most contexts at least, really weren't dangerous. Lots of mind was paid to the fact humans could be killed by pokemon attacks, little paid to how pokemon were very intelligent and didn't attack out of the blue. Misty hadn't yet met one that wasn't eager to do whatever its trainer said. Even wild pokemon that seemed aggressive at first quickly calmed when they realized she wasn't a threat. Maybe in that situation people needed to be sure to have their own pokemon with them just in case, but there was no reason not to have trained pokemon be able to enjoy places like this alongside humans. They were only as dangerous as their trainers allowed.
Though the thought ought to be comforting, it was only a reminder of the recent battle, and trainers who didn't really have the best intentions in mind. Team Rocket members said things like pokemon were power, or even that all pokemon existed for Team Rocket. Pokemon around them couldn't be trusted, or rather, they couldn't be trusted with pokemon.
Misty had thought the rocket boss might be more of a challenge, and hadn't been sure she would win. It wasn't important to win, it was just important that she be willing to stand up and fight. Or so she'd thought. It turned out her efforts didn't make much of a difference at all. Was she really the only gym leader that heard stories about trainers getting their pokemon stolen? It couldn't be - She'd only been a gym leader for a few weeks and one of her previous challengers had called her in tears to talk about it. She'd warned others, but they'd just said that they knew. The threat of Team Rocket was common knowledge.
So why did they just pretend like it wasn't happening? The specific crimes had to be bad for business. If one accepted the ridiculous idea that 'all' pokemon were for Team Rocket, there would be no more challengers, no more league, no more gyms, period. And while their salaries disappeared, only this untrustworthy group would have the pokemon, and start to terrorize others with the poor loyal creatures following their orders. Game over, basically.
Others had to see that. Maybe they were frightened. In which case, Misty would have shown that it wasn't that difficult to speak up and act after all. How much could that troublesome group do in the face of the collective of gym leaders, anyway? Besides being numerous, they were some of the most talented trainers there were.
"Have you decided?" the waitress interrupted Misty's thoughts.
"Oh." Misty studied the foreign language menu. "I'm not sure. What do you recommend?"
"How about just the daily special?" The waitress explained the option.
"That sounds great. Merci," Misty replied with a smile. "Can you read this?" she asked as she handed back the menu.
"Not really, I've just memorized it," the waitress explained.
"Oh. I'd like to learn. I'd have to learn a lot of languages, because I'd like to travel," Misty explained.
"Oh? Is that why you're here? I haven't seen you before."
"No, I have other things I'm here for. Work comes first."
"No way." The waitress put down her notepad, looking in Misty's eyes. "Your age talking like that? No. Work can wait. You have pokemon, right? Get out there and travel while you can."
Misty laughed, nodding. The waitress appeared satisfied and left. She probably didn't understand that Misty wasn't just any pokemon trainer. How fun it might be, to just leave on a journey with her pokemon like the trainers she'd met who had walked into her gym. But she had other things to think of, like if her family's gym stayed open. Misty turned out to be better at gym battles than her sister Daisy, or even her parents had been. If she just decided to leave, that 'win ratio' could be harped on for whoever replaced her.
But even without living every dream, she had the time here. Misty chatted with others about their pokemon from across the room. She watched the people go by outdoors. When the meal was served, she ate it slowly, closing her eyes and listening to the old record being played. Afterwards, she ordered a small coffee and did more of the same.
The time was enjoyed thoroughly, though of course it eventually had to end. After paying, Misty called her thanks to the staff and left. Back in the streets of Viridian, she couldn't mistake she was still in Kanto, and not some far away country with new food, language, and customs. Well, there was an advantage to being at home as well. Misty walked toward the train station, swinging her bag absent-mindedly as she thought of being home swimming in Cerulean Gym's large pool with all of the pokemon that lived there.
As she was about to enter the station, some darkly-dressed men blocked her way. "Excuse me," Misty said. She was about to walk around them before they moved again, certainly purposefully blocking her path. "Excuse me?" Misty repeated, this time unsure. As she looked closer at them, she noticed their uniforms this time. Two of them had a black pageboy hat to match their uniforms, and all three of them had a bright red 'R' on their shirts. "Ah-"
"Misty, right?" one of them said.
"That's right," Misty declared. "I already beat your boss. What else do you want from me?"
"You beat the boss, huh? Then you shouldn't have much trouble with us."
Something about the man's smug tone threw her off. No, she shouldn't have much trouble, based on what he'd just said, but still felt apprehensive. "Maybe next time," she said. "If you have a trainer license, you can come to my gym, though I doubt any of you do."
"You'd be right," the hatless man said. "I guess that'll prevent us from being able to battle." As he spoke, the man threw out a pokeball, a raticate appearing which hissed Misty's way. The other two threw out pokemon at the same time, two of the unevolved rattata appearing.
Misty glared at them. "So you want to team up against me when my pokemon's still tired from a battle and think it means something? Team Rocket really is the worst."
"Real trainers don't make excuses. But here you go." The hatless man gave her a bottled spray medicine.
Misty sent out her Starmie, quickly spraying it with the potion. Since they weren't going to be fair, she wouldn't either, and sent out Staryu as well. "Starmie! Tackle! Staryu! Bubble beam."
The rockets all ordered to tackle, the rodent-like pokemon all swarming poor Staryu. Staryu unleashed its own attack, grazing one of the rattata with the bubble beam. Starmie's tackle didn't appear to faze them, but Staryu's gem was flashing already. "Staryu! Harden, then tackle! Starmie, water gun!" Misty tried to shout above the other trainers' orders. Her pokemon weren't at all used to this kind of battle. Staryu tackled, missing its target. Starmie shot its water gun attack randomly in a circle, not damaging any of its opponents. At the same time, the rattata ascended on Staryu, while Raticate attacked Starmie. Misty quickly returned Staryu to protect it as its gem continued to flash, but that just left Starmie open. Misty shouted out in fright for her pokemon as it was attacked by three others at once.
"That's enough," one of the rockets said. The others followed suit. Misty could see her already weary pokemon was completely knocked out. She returned it before glaring at the instigators who had decided to hurt it.
"You understand now, right?" one of the now cheerful men said, adjusting his hat.
"Understand?" Misty repeated, shaking her head. "I understand Team Rocket is a group of stupid, violent punks! You can only win through bullying like this, isn't that right? Were you too dumb to become real trainers? Is that why you decided to be Giovanni's-"
Misty stopped and winced as one of the men took a step toward her with his fist ready. As she opened her eyes, she saw the one without the hat had stopped the other grunt. "The boss said don't overdo it," he said, still smirking. "Yeah, I think we're done. No reason to get too pissed about a kid that can't stop running her mouth. She's being a dumbass, but I think she gets it. Don't you?"
Misty had a lot to say in response to that, more insults bubbling through her mind, but she didn't speak. The pokemon accompanying her were knocked out, so any pokemon battles were done. Even Team Rocket wasn't low enough to try and order a pokemon to attack a human, but that didn't mean they couldn't beat her up pretty badly. Still clenching her fists, Misty nodded.
"Good. We're done, let's get out of here."
Misty stood a while, at first listening to the jovial casual conversation from the rocket grunts as the noise traveled further and further away, and then the sounds of the city. The people who had witnessed the event and just stared eventually walked away, leaving her alone. Misty eventually took one step, then another. She sped up before eventually reaching the train station, then sat, numbly waiting on the bench for her ride home.
End note:
When originally watching the show, I always thought Misty had to be a year or two older than Ash, but nope, in the original version she says she's ten pretty early on. Of course, since this chapter takes place the year before Ash becomes a trainer, she will be slightly older than him here. Which makes sense to me, if she's an established gym leader upon meeting him and needed to be ten before being a trainer.
Misty will definitely get more focus here than canon. So will Giovanni, actually.
Next chapter: Jessie and James Vs. Cassidy and Butch
(They may not have been here, but of course we're gonna have the rocket trio! The last of the 'pre-series' chapters, look forward to it.)