Misty stared up into the orange sky as the sun was setting behind her.

"Tomorrow I face off in my first gym battle..."

She sighed, picking up Togepi and cradling it in her arms. "I may have been delayed a couple years, but better late than never, right?"

Her little Pokemon giggled its name melodically.

"I've been training hard!" she pulled out one of her pokeballs. "Even though I couldn't get a starter, I grew up surrounded by Pokemon. Starmie... you've helped me get this far, will you help me win my first badge?"

Suddenly, one of her pokeballs opened on its own – not the one in her hand, but from her backpack. "Psyduck!"

Misty growled. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU?! DO NOT COME OUT UNLESS I SAY SO!"

Psyduck trembled, looking hurt.

"I—" Misty paused, feeling bad, but at the same time like she was coming down with a headache. Psyduck was a mistake, she didn't even try capturing it, and yet...

She sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little nervous right now."

"Psyduck?"

"Masaru Gym..." she whispered under her breath. "...is where my journey either begins or ends."

Morning arrived. It was time.

Misty yawned and stretched in her hotel room, sliding out of bed and quickly getting ready for the match of her life. And hopefully, it would be one of many matches in her life.

"I don't know why I'm so nervous..." she said to herself, combing her hair as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. "My sisters are gym leaders. My whole life I've witnessed matches. This should be second nature to me...hm?"

Misty's eyes gazed downward only to be horrified to see Psyduck brushing its teeth with her toothbrush.

"YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TEETH TO BRUSH!"

"Psyayayayaya!"

"Whoa..."

Misty looked up at the huge building. "It's a lot... grander than I imagined."

"Psy..." Psyduck was mesmerized as well. Misty gave up trying to get Psyduck to stay in in its pokeball.

"Well, I guess we go in."

With Togepi in her arms and a disobedient duck following behind her, before she could reach the handle of the glass door-

"I don't get it! There's no way he could've beaten me..."

The door swung open, revealing a perplexed trainer holding an injured Pokemon in his arms.

"He had no plan, no strategy, it's obvious he has no idea what he's doing or what attacks are most effective, and yet... how could he win?!"

"Uhh..." Misty blinked as she watched the poor, defeated trainer walk away. Psyduck tilted its head.

"Are you the next challenger, Miss?"

"H-Huh?" Misty's attention was brought back to earth by a referee standing at the door. "O-Oh, y-yes I am."

"I see." he waved her over. "Come with me."

"Right!" Misty followed behind the referee with her psychic duck tailing behind her. She could feel her stomach tie into knots with every step she took. The sight of the defeated trainer had her a little shaken up. What did he mean by he had no idea what he was doing, yet how could he have won?

It suddenly occurred to Misty she hardly knew anything about this gym. She had no idea what she was getting herself into.

"Hey Mister..." Misty began. "What kind of a gym is this, by the way?"

"What kind?" the referee seemed a little confused by her question.

"You know... like what does the gym leader specialize in? Is it water, rock type, or-"

"Heh."

"Huh?" Did the referee... chuckle?

He stopped in his tracks to take a glance at her. "If there's anything this gym specializes in, its chance."

"Chance...?"

Those words hung in the air, leaving Misty's knees locked in place. There wasn't anything chilling about the word, and yet, shivers ran up her spine.

"You have no idea what you're up against, that's always the trainer's first mistake coming here. Should've read the pamphlet."

"There's a pamphlet?"

"Here." The referee casually tossed her one before going over to his side.

"Hmm.." Misty blinked, staring at the picture before folding it open. "Masaru Gym is famous for having..."

"So, another challenger has come to face me, huh?"

The lights dramatically shut off, flipping on a spotlight on the sides the challenger and the gym leader stood.

"I hadn't even got to finish breakfast yet."

A silhouetted figure stood there, holding the tip of his cap, his pose exuding the same amount of confidence heard in his voice.

Misty couldn't put her finger on it, but the gym leader sounded a bit too... young. And was that a Pikachu on his shoulder?

But she couldn't worry about oddities like that right now. That's not what she came for. Shaking away such needless thoughts, she struck up a confidence of her own. "My name's Misty of Cerulean City and I challenge YOU to a match!"

"Heh heh."

The gym leader stepped into the light, revealing himself with a cocky grin. "I, Ash Ketchum, accept your challenge!"

"HAAAAAA?!"

"Psyayayaya?"

Misty's mouth dropped in time with her Psyduck's when the gym leader was revealed to be...

"No way, you're just a kid!"

"Hey, I'm not just a kid!" he shouted, offended.

Misty's gaze quickly fell back down on the pamphlet. "Masaru Gym is famous for having... THE WORLD'S YOUNGEST GYM LEADER?!"

"That's right! You're looking at the world's only 10 year old gym leader, son of the man who became Champion of the Pokemon League by stealing the throne from his rival whom previously sat there only for a mere moment!" he pointed at himself with his thumb, brimming with confidence. "And I, Ash Ketchum, with his blood running through my veins, will be the next greatest Pokemon master!"

"Pika!" his shoulder Pokemon nodded.

"And he's really arrogant..." Misty sighed. "...great."

This was absurd. Misty's sisters kept telling her she was too young to be a gym leader, and yet...

Ash quickly held up 3 fingers. "This'll be a 3 on 3 match. Alright with you?"

"That's alright with me."

"So, is that the Pokemon you want to start with?" he was referring to Psyduck.

"Huh?" she nearly panicked, quickly waving her hands. "Oh nononono, he just likes to watch... uhhh..." she quickly pulled out her star Pokemon. "Starmie, I choose you!"

"Then I choose..." Ash twisted his cap backwards. "Butterfree!"

'Butterfree?!'

Misty stared at the butterfly Pokemon flapping its delicate wings across the stadium. 'I don't get it... I'm using a water type. He clearly has a strong electric type he could use against me... but why is he...?'

The bell tolled as the referee shouted. "Begin!"

"Butterfree, sleep powder!"

"Free, free~"

"No!"

It happened so quickly. Ash's Butterfree swooped in with sleep powder. Neither Misty nor Starmie had time to react.

"Hang in there, Starmie!" Misty shouted. "Try to shake it off!"

Starmie did its best to try and shake off the dust, only to succumb to sleep.

"No..."

"Now tackle it!" Ash shouted.

Butterfree swooped down, knocking Starmie out of the ring.

"Starmie!" Misty quickly ran over to it, seeing its shiny gem blinking. "Ooooh... that was a dirty trick!"

The referee raised up an arm. "Starmie is unable to battle. Butterfree is the winner!"

Ash grinned, crossing his arms. "Giving up now?"

Misty groaned. "Not in your life!"

"Alright then..." Ash prepared his next choice. "Squirtle, I choose you!"

"Squirtle, squirt!"

The blue turtle emerged, holding up a pair of sunglasses before putting them on.

'Wow, that squirtle looks as arrogant as he does...'

"Toge, toge... driiiii!"

"No, Togepi, get back here!"

Her little egg jumped out of her arms, happily strolling along onto the battlefield. The chilling sound of the bell tolled. "Begin!"

"What's that?" Ash blinked, suddenly getting out his pokedex.

"TOGEPI!" Misty shouted.

It wouldn't listen to her.

Ash, shrugging his shoulders, got right down to business. "Squirtle, bubble beam!"

Squirtle did just as commanded.

Togepi just rolled around as the bubbles began spreading out, become less lethal. The little egg just started popping the bubbles, giggling.

"Huh?" Ash was getting confused, and honestly, so was Misty. Shaking his head, Ash shouted out the next command. "Skull bash it!"

"Squirtle!"

The command was like a gut punch to Misty's stomach. "No, please don't!"

But it was too late.

The little egg was thrown out of the ring, luckily landing inside Misty arms as she jumped through the air to grab it.

"Togepi is unable to battle. Squirtle is the winner!"

"Yes! We did it!"

Misty was shaking. "You're sick, you know that?"

"Huh?"

"Taking advantage of a mistake like that..." her eyes began watering with tears, she couldn't even look at him. "...it's nothing but a dirty trick."

Ash blinked, a little confused. "You act like I was cheating."

"Well, you might as well have!"

"Uh—"

"Togepi didn't know any better. I didn't send it into battle. Togepi's hardly trained... and you just..."

"I-I didn't know—"

"ASH KETCHUM, HAVE YOU BEEN EATING PROPERLY?!"

"Ahhh! Mom, what are you doing? I'm in the middle of a match!"

A woman with brownish red hair tied in a ponytail stood there, arms crossed with a sweeping Mr. Mime behind her. "That may be the case, but don't you know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

She grabbed him by the collar, proceeding to drag him away. "You can finish your match later. I'm not having you collapse from hunger, young man!"

"I guess the final round is postponed." the referee was smart enough not to protest Mrs. Ketchum. "Alright, break. Do whatever you want in the meantime, kid."

Misty didn't say a word. All she felt like doing was crying. Did she really say all those things out of concern for her Pokemon? Or was she so devastated by defeat her only defense was to take the moral high ground? After all, Ash was right... it's not like he cheated.

"Excuse me, Miss?"

"Huh?"

"Would you like to come join us?"

Ash was currently in the kitchen, leaned against the backing of a chair as he chowed down on an apple. His Pikachu was currently occupied with a bottle of ketchup.

"Taking advantage of a mistake like that... it's nothing but a dirty trick."

The girl's words echoed in his mind.

"But... I wasn't cheating." he told himself.

The image of her tears flashed inside his mind as she cradled her injured Pokemon. It was only a baby, after all, barely hatched it looked like. Ash pulled his cap down to cover his eyes.

Pikachu tilted his head. "Pika?"

"Maybe she's right... it was a dirty trick."

"Have a seat! There's plenty of food!"

Ash suddenly sat straight up at the sound of his mother's voice, only to be further startled. "Huuuuh?!"

The challenger, Misty, was standing there.

"Oh sweetie, I hope you don't mind if this nice young girl joins us for breakfast." his mother smiled.

"Mom, she's my current challenger!"

"So? Both of you need to eat if you intend to finish that match with clear heads."

This was beyond awkward.

"Now, I'll go fry up some sausages. Why don't you 2 get to know each other a little better, hm?"

"Mom!"

But she ignored him.

"Pika?"

"Hm? Oh, uh, thank you." Misty took the bottle Pikachu offered her. "You're a cute one, aren't you?"

She began scratching behind the yellow mouse's ear.

"He seems to really like you." Ash commented.

"Huh? Oh, does he usually not like other people?"

"Haha, he didn't even like me very much when we first met!"

"I can see why."

"HEY!"

Misty giggled.

"So... Misty, right?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm... really sorry about hurting your Togepi... as a gym leader, I should've realized..." Ash sighed, feeling disappointed in himself. "...I'm really not cut out for this, huh?"

"Hey, don't say that! Being a gym leader is hard!"

"You act like you know what I'm talking about."

"Hmph!" Misty's cheeks huffed in offensive. "Listen mister, my 3 big sisters are all gym leaders of the Cerulean City gym! I know a little more than just a thing or two about it!"

"Wait, so you're..."

"That's right, the youngest, shut in, nobody cares about little runt of the 3 beautiful sisters..." Misty stuck her tongue out in disgust saying that. "I wanted to show them... that I was capable too, to become a gym leader... so, seeing that the Masaru Gym is led by a kid really..."

Her face began to get all flustered and she hid her face. "Ugh! It really kills what little pride I had left in myself! You're not even that skilled!"

Ash jumped out of his chair. "What did you say?!"

"You heard me! All you have is luck on your side!"

"And a lot of it!"

"Oh, it's so nice to see you two getting along~"

The two bickering children turned to see Ash's mother holding two plates of their steaming hot breakfast.

"I think I'd rather eat outside..." Ash said in a lowered voice, taking his plate in one hand and stuffing the other in his pocket. "Come on, Pikachu."

The door shut closed as Ash and his electric mouse left the room.

"He really doesn't take criticism well, does he?"

"Well, what do you expect?" Ash's mother looked at a shelf full of photos. "He has a lot to live up to. His father entrusted this gym to him. Ash wants to show that he can be a great Pokemon master too." she sighed as she held one of the photo frames. "If only Ash would realize he's already proud of him..."

"Uh... if you don't mind me asking, uh..."

"Where is he?" she smiled at the question. "On another one of his journeys. Ash is... really a lot like him. I'm happy that he's staying here, but I know that one day soon... he'll want to go on a journey of his own. He may have a lot of fun with the gym matches, but I know he'd rather follow in his father's footsteps and enter the Pokemon League."

"I see..."

"Pikachu, am I really not that skilled?"

Tilting its head, his Pokemon partner looked at him curiously.

"Misty's right... I'm just lucky." Ash pulled out the badge of the gym. "Without it, I'm just a loser."

"At least you have luck."

"Huh?" Ash turned his head to see Misty standing there, taking a seat next to him on the porch.

"I've never been very lucky..." she sighed. "It looks like you and me might have a lot in common. We're both trying to prove ourselves to someone, huh?"

"I guess so..."

"Say, why don't we finish up our match? I'm pretty full now."

"Yeah, me too. Let's finish this fair and square!"

"You want this?" Ash held up The Luck Badge.

"If it'd grant me even an ounce of your luck, then of course!" Misty said with determination. "I can't advance without it one way or the other."

"Then let's begin."

The final round commenced.

It took a lot of convincing, pestering, and pleading, but Misty managed to be able to take one Pokemon from the gym with her.

"It's all up to you now..." she whispered. "Go—"

"Psyduck!"

"Ah, Psyduck! Get back here!"

Ash twisted his cap, pointing forward. "Alright, go Pikachu!"

"Pika!"

This was a disaster, a complete and utter disaster.

Despite Misty trying to make due, Psyduck was practically getting clobbered. His headache increased on par with Misty's own, and soon the pathetic duck was running around screaming.

"Thundershock, now!"

Pikachu was charging up.

"Come on, Psyduck! Stop running around like an idiot and face him!"

"Psyayayayayayaya!"

He kept running in a panic.

"...CHUUUUUU!"

Psyduck was shocked and stopped moving.

"No..."

Then something happened.

Psyduck was... focused?

"What's going on?" Misty pulled out her Pokedex for answers.

"When Psyduck's headache becomes unbearable, it releases tremendous psychic powers."

"Huuuuuh?!"

A list of said attacks popped up on screen.

"O-Okay... Psyduck, Confusion now!"

With a glow of the eyes, Pikachu found itself stuck... and dizzily wandering out of control.

"Pikachu, what's wrong?"

A thunderbolt, meant for Psyduck, was aimed at Ash. "Ahhh... Pikachu, watch where you're aiming!"

"Pi... Pika..." the poor electric mouse looked sad and confused, not wanting to hurt its trainer, but was under the spell of Confusion. Trying to focus, Pikachu tried another thunderbolt...

….only to make itself pass out.

"Ah...!"

The referee called the match. "Pikachu is unable to battle. The challenger wins!"

"Yes! I did it!" Misty jumped in the air, wrapping her arms around her Psyduck. "I didn't know you had such power in you."

"Good job, Misty." Ash walked up to her, opening his palm. "You earned this."

Gasping, Misty took the badge, holding it to her chest. "My first badge..."

Maybe this was the good luck charm she needed.

Ash's Mom had invited Misty to stay over for lunch, and she took the invitation.

"Thanks for the meal, Mrs. Ketchum." she told her.

"Oh, you're welcome. Thanks for giving my son a worthy match. He was started to complain that the matches were getting too easy."

"Where is Ash, anyway?"

"Oh, he's..." she looked up the stairs, a knowing look in her eyes.

"I have to be going now." Misty picked up her backpack. "I'm really sorry to eat and run, but I hope to get to the next town before dark."

"I understand. You have a safe journey, OK?"

Misty nodded.

Leaving the Ketchum residence, Misty set out to continue her journey, until...

"Hey, wait for me!"

"Huh?" Misty turned around, only for her eyes to widen in shock. "A-Ash?!"

"Haaa..." Ash bent down, trying to catch his breath. "I'm coming too!"

"You're what?"

"On your journey. I want to enter the Pokemon League too."

"But you don't have a badge."

"I was a gym leader, I automatically have 1."

"No, you don't."

"Uh-huh. It states in the rules, gym leaders automatically count as having 1."

"Ohhh... you made that up!" Misty suddenly realized something. "But then who's running the gym?"

"My mom said she'd take care of it."

"Does your mom even know how to battle?"

"You've never seen Mr. Mime in action."

As he said this, a bewildered trainer passed by, carrying 3 pokeballs in his hands. "I can't believe it... that woman and her Mr. Mime..."

"See? The gym's fine."

"Well, I guess journeying alone would get pretty lonely..."

"Alright!"

Ash took Misty's hand and took off running. "H-Hey, wait a minute!"

"Ahahaha! Come on, let's win another one, together!"

Misty's face lit up. "Yeah!"

And so, her journey began. 1 badge down, 7 to go. It's not going to be easy, but with a new friend in tow, it made the journey feel more worth it.

A/N: Day 3 of Pokeshipping Week 2020! I am using the second of the 3 free days to substitute today's theme. I'll be using one of the alternate suggested prompts, which is; Gym leader Ash/beginner Misty