A week after the tag battle against Luana, Misty and Daisy saw the stadium of Pummelo Island from some distance. "Finally, we're almost there," the redhead said. After passing Rind Island and another unknown island, the destination was getting closer and closer.
"I hope I get to battle against Prima too, I haven't gotten a nice battle in quite some time," Gyarados thought. "But I understand, Misty wanted to test out her new Feraligatr against Luana, and of course she wants to give me some rest after swimming. But after staying at that deserted island for a day, this was just a short trip to Pummelo, and I'm fully ready to battle!"
"But first, you have one phonecall to do before the battle, right?" Tracey asked Daisy.
"Yeah, and Misty won't be allowed to hear it!" Daisy teased.
"Why not?" Misty snapped, while the trio reached the shore. She returned her Water-type to his Poke Ball after thanking him for the ride.
"Because it's private!" Tracey said. "Only Daisy and I can talk to this person now, sorry!"
And so, after a visit to the Pokemon Center, where Misty got her Pokemon checked while Tracey and Daisy were doing their secret phonecall, the group walked up to Pummelo Stadium. "Misty, do you realize that you have a serious chance against Prima now? Compared to last time, your team has more sheer strength now you have Feraligatr," the Pokemon Watcher pointed out.
"I hope Prima uses some of her weaker Pokemon, that makes it easier for you to win," Daisy hoped.
"No, that wouldn't be right," Misty said. "I want to beat her with her best team, then a victory has more value."
"That's very noble, but also stubborn," Tracey complained. "But I also understand how you feel." Then, the group reached the stadium, where Prima was ready to battle. There might not be an audience for a simple, friendly battle without any materialistic stakes, but the atmosphere still impressed our heroes. While Tracey and Daisy took place on the coaching bench behind Misty, Prima stood on the other side of the stadium. "It's nice to see you again, Misty! But let's battle now, I'd rather battle than talk."
"If Misty would win this battle, her self-esteem would get a much-needed boost," Daisy said.
"And I think she can stand a serious chance. Vaporeon and Gyarados grew a lot lately, and Feraligatr is really strong!" Tracey stated.
"Let's both use three Pokemon," Prima suggested.
"Fine," Misty agreed. Then, she hurled a Poke Ball. On the rocky battlefield, there was a small pool for Water Pokemon, where her Vaporeon jumped in after coming out of her ball. "Vaporeon!" she squealed, ready to battle whatever opponent that might come her way.
"Slowbro, I choose you!" Prima shouted, starting the battle. Her Pokemon stood on the land, in between two rocks. "Start with your Ice Punch!" The slow Pokemon tried to run at Vaporeon, but the Water-type was simply too fast for Slowbro to land a proper hit.
"Vaporeon, Bite!" Misty tried. Her Pokemon gnawed the opponent on his forehead, but that didn't work out like it should.
"Slowbro, fling her away with Psychic!" And so, Vaporeon got smashed against a wall with a harsh blow, causing a great deal of damage.
"Ouch, that must hurt..." Tracey moaned. However, Vaporeon stood up with ease and still had plenty of energy left to battle.
"Vaporeon, let's try a Shadow Ball!" Misty commanded. However, even though Slowbro was weak against Ghost-type attacks and too slow to avoid any attack, the Pokemon barely suffered any damage. "Wow, this sucks... What can I do now?" Misty thought.
"Slowbro, Hyper Beam and finish it!" Prima tried. However, Vaporeon was able to jump away from the yellow, powerful ray of energy.
"If we can't win with power, we're going to abuse Slowbro's lack of speed," Misty thought. "Vaporeon, use your Agility!" The Water-type started running in circles around Slowbro, who was gasping for air and tried to keep the opponent in sight.
"Slowbro, Ice Punch!" Prima tried. However, after some turning around, Slowbro was even dizzier than he already was. And he didn't even hit his opponent!
"Vaporeon, this is your chance! Strike him with an Aurora Beam!" Misty shouted. And so, a colourful beam smacked down the pink Psychic-type, getting Misty a perfect start of the battle.
"That was amazing!" Tracey said, while he saw Prima returning her Pokemon to the red and white Poke Ball.
"Yeah, she took advantage of Slowbro's slowness really nicely!" Daisy agreed.
Then, Prima sent out another Pokemon. "Jynx Jynx!" the Psychic-type screamed.
"Vaporeon, Hydro Pump!" Misty said. Her Pokemon opened her mouth and spit water at Jynx, who got smashed against the stadium wall. "Awesome!" Tracey and Daisy complimented.
"Jynx, can you get up?" Prima asked. Luckily for her, that's what her Pokemon was still able to. "Use your Lovely Kiss!" And so, the poor Vaporeon got struck with an unwanted kiss, putting her to sleep.
"Vaporeon, wake up!" Misty screamed as loud as she could. However, she was unable to reach the Pokemon who was off to dreamland.
"Jynx, Psychic!" Prima commanded. And so, the sleeping Pokemon was smashed against the wall, lifted up and smacked down on the ground multiple times, but remained in a deep slumber. However, she was strongly damaged.
"Come on, Vaporeon! Are you gonna take this?" Misty screamed. And then, she slowly opened her eyes and awoke. "Vapo... Vaporeon?" she muttered.
"Awesome! Now let's show Jynx that she can't get away with this! Shadow Ball!" Misty shouted. A black, spooky blob struck the Ice-typed opponent, leaving severe damage. However, Jynx wasn't defeated yet.
"Jynx Jynx!" the kissing Pokemon screamed. "Now finish it with Psychic!" Prima commanded. And so, the psychic powers put an end to Vaporeon's contribution to the battle by defeating her with a final smash against the wall.
"Vaporeon, you did an amazing job there! You deserve some good rest!" Misty complimented, as she returned Vaporeon to her Poke Ball. Then, she threw another Poke Ball. "Feraligatr, I choose you!"
"FERALIGATR!" the Pokemon roared. He was ready for battle. "I didn't know you had a Feraligatr, Misty!" Prima noticed.
"Well, I only got him recently. I met him as a wild Croconaw, and then he evolved and decided to stay with me. And he's Vaporeon's new boyfriend," Misty explained. Then, resuming the battle, she looked at her Pokemon. "Feraligatr, that Jynx just kissed your girlfriend! What is a man like you gonna do about it?"
"GATR!" the Pokemon snapped. "I'm not gonna take that, you b*tch! How dare you to kiss MY girlfriend?" he thought. He ran at Jynx at high speed and gave her an Ice Punch, gnawed her face with a super effective Crunch and then held up the opponent in one hand. With the fist of his other hand, he kept giving Jynx Mega Punches until the Pokemon was defeated. Unfortunately for Prima, Jynx was so exhausted after taking attacks from Vaporeon, that she was unable to do anything back to the crocodile.
"Wow, your Feraligatr is impressive!" Prima complimented, while returning her defeated Jynx to her Poke Ball. "But you aren't going to win this battle! Cloyster, I choose you!" A bivalve Pokemon with a rock-hard shell was ready to battle on the rocky field.
"Feraligatr's strength is amazing!" Tracey said. "And Feraligatr didn't even get any damage yet!"
"Yeah, that's pure sheer power, just like Prima's Pokemon have!" Daisy said. "Aside from Jynx, who wasn't expecting this."
"Feraligatr, let's win this! Focus Punch!" Misty said. The Water-type ran at the opponent, raising his fist and getting ready for a strong attack. However, he wasn't going to succeed.
"Cloyster, Withdraw!" Prima commanded. And so, Feraligatr wasn't able to break through Cloyster's rock-hard defense.
"Keep attacking him with Brick Break!" Misty commanded. "He's bound to give in sometime..."
"Cloyster, lay still and keep hiding in your shell!" Prima commanded. "Feraligatr must get tired at some point, and Cloyster can take it all," she thought. And so, after punching for ten minutes, Cloyster still felt fine. He received some damage, but not that much. Meanwhile, Feraligatr was exhausted, almost ready to fall down on the ground.
"Why didn't Misty make Feraligatr try something else?" Daisy asked.
"I think Misty wanted to get Cloyster so damaged, that Gyarados could finish the job if Feraligatr gets defeated... She probably expected Feraligatr to deal some more damage," Tracey explained.
"This isn't good... Not even a scratch or crack in the shell, what can I do?" Misty thought.
"Cloyster, Clamp!" Prima commanded. Because Feraligatr still stood close to the bivalve Pokemon, he was unable to avoid the attack. The Ice-type was able to clamp Feraligatr's right arm in his shell. Then, the Pokemon was unable to avoid any attack and got struck by Cloyster's Hyper Beam, causing the strong Water-type to collapse. "Feraligatr, no!" Misty moaned, realizing that Cloyster was less damaged than he was supposed to be. "Come back, you deserve some rest and did a nice job."
"This sucks... What Pokemon might break through that rock-hard defense?" Daisy asked.
"Maybe Psyduck with his Psychic, but I don't think Misty would choose him..." Tracey moaned. "I think she's gonna pick Gyarados..."
And Tracey was right. In the pool of water, Gyarados made a splashing entrance, getting Cloyster wet. However, of course the shell-like Pokemon didn't mind. Then, the battle started, with both trainers having only one Pokemon left.
"Gyarados, huh? Shouldn't be impossible to take down," Prima thought. "Cloyster, go closer to the pool and try to grab Gyarados with your Clamp!" And so, Gyarados got chased by the shell that dove into the water. Because there was barely any space left to swim freely, there was no way to properly escape getting hit. The Atrocious Pokemon screamed from pain, not knowing what to do. "I can't do anything now, Cloyster can attack me and I can't defend myself... Misty, come up with something..." he thought.
"Gyarados, use your Hydro Pump!" Misty commanded. And so, because of the power of this attack, Cloyster got smashed away against the pool wall. The attack was strong enough to free Gyarados from the painful Clamp on his tail.
"Awesome, and now use your Hyper Beam!" Misty said. While Cloyster was at the bottom of the small pool, Gyarados drifted above him, not allowing the Ice-type to avoid this blow. However, not much damage was dealt: when Gyarados aimed the beam, Cloyster quickly withdrew in his shell, preventing a big blow and only taking slight damage.
"Cloyster, this is your chance, Gyarados is tired now! Use your Spike Cannon!" Needles were shot at the sea serpent, who got blown out of the pool, taking heavy damage.
"This doesn't look good... Isn't there anything Misty can do?" Daisy asked.
"What can I do? Gyarados can only flop and splash around to get back in the water, or bounce... And a Thunderbolt should take care of Cloyster, but if Gyarados is in the water, he gets damaged himself too..." Then, she got it. "Gyarados, Bounce into the air and use your Thunderbolt!" And so, an electric shock zapped the water, and so, Cloyster, who got hit with an extremely harsh blow. Not only did his Water-typing increase the damage, the water Cloyster was in also conducts electricity. As a result, an explosion followed, throwing Cloyster out of the pool.
"And now finish it with Bounce before he closes his shell!" Misty commanded. Her Water Pokemon quickly landed on Cloyster's face, finishing him off with a final blow.
"Awesome! Gyarados being shot out of the water actually saved him!" Tracey said. "Misty won!"
The redhead already ran over to the pool, giving Gyarados a well-deserved hug. "You did it! This was so awesome!" Meanwhile, Prima complimented Cloyster for putting up a good fight and returned the Pokemon to his Poke Ball.
"Gyahhh! Gyahhh! Dos!" the Atrocious Pokemon kept squealing at his trainer, meaning "I did it, but all thanks to you, your strategy really saved the match! I'm so proud of you!"
"Misty really needed this!" Daisy thought. "She did an awesome job, and so did her Pokemon!"
"Misty, you were amazing! And your Gyarados is amazing too, and so are your other Pokemon! I never thought you'd beat me!" Prima complimented. "I'm so proud of you!"
"Thanks, but you did well too. And I'm so proud of my Pokemon for putting up an amazing fight!"
"Yeah, it's sad that someone with your talents has to waste her life at a Gym where most challengers are rookies and where you're not happy..." Prima complained.
"Well, that's not what happens at all!" Daisy thought. "I'd love to see the look on Misty's face when she hears this!"
"Prima, it's so cool that you battled Misty, and you two both put up a good fight!" Tracey complimented.
"Thank you," Prima said. "I really enjoyed it!"
"We really need to go now, I want to be back in Kanto tomorrow!" Daisy said. "Bye!"
"Bye," Tracey and Misty said as well, just like Gyarados, who went back in his Poke Ball for a short time. After all, he had to swim all the way to Pallet Town in one day. And so, after greeting Prima farewell, they walked to the shore, where Misty released Gyarados from her Poke Ball again, ready for the journey to Pallet Town.
Time kept going, the group came across Tarroco Island and Hamlin Island, hours passed and Misty started to tear up more and more. "This was it... Now I'm only going to miss travelling even more, and now I'm going to have to waste my life at the Gym again... I wish I could just escape at night, or inform the police, but can I really do that to my sisters? I mean... They've done horrible things to me, but doing those things myself wouldn't feel right... Should I lower myself to their level?"
"Misty, do you remember that phonecall Tracey and I had, when you weren't allowed to hear anything?" Tracey asked. "Well, we..."
"Tracey, shut up!" Daisy snapped, as she held her hand in front of his mouth. "This is supposed to be a total surprise!" she thought.
"What could this be? Could she... Could I travel? She did become much nicer during this journey... But no, I shouldn't get my hopes up, getting a decent life again sounds too good to be true," Misty thought.
"We're almost there," Gyarados thought. "Now I have to go back battling weak rookies and participate in boring plays... This journey was so awesome, and now the Sensational Sisters are taking it all away from me!"
Then, our heroes put their feet on old ground again. They returned to Kanto, they reached Pallet Town. "We're back," Tracey said, while our heroes hopped off Gyarados's back. At that moment, much to everyone's surprise, two old friends ran at our heroes.
"Misty, it's so awesome to see you again!" Ash said, while shaking her hands. "I missed you so much!"
"Did you have a nice trip, and did you meet any nice ladies who might be interesting girlfriends for me?" Brock asked.
While Misty was catching up with Ash after not seeing him for an extremely long time, Tracey was teasing around a little by constantly mentioning Professor Ivy's name around Brock, much to Daisy's enjoyment. Then, Professor Oak also came at the group. At that moment, Misty burst out in tears when telling Ash about her situation. "This journey was so amazing, and now I have to go back to the Gym and waste my life there!" Tears flew down her cheeks, getting heavier and heavier.
"No, Misty, not at all! At the hotel in Kumquat Island a week ago, I called Lily and Violet if they were okay with it if I gave you permission to leave and appoint Dorian permanently. Because those two are in a threesome with Dorian now, they wanted Dorian to stay. Because it's either you or Dorian at the Gym, they picked Dorian, so you can leave again!" Daisy announced.
Misty was speechless. Her tears didn't dry up yet, but deep depression made place for severe happiness. "It's not unselfish from Lily and Violet, but Daisy, you became so much nicer during the past months! How can I thank you?"
"Becoming a Water Pokemon Master, that's how," Daisy said. "And Violet and Lily are happy too, they can remain together with Dorian! And Dorian loves it at the Gym, so he can stay now."
"Congratulations, Misty! Now you're no longer a Gym Leader, would you like the Pokemon that are yours, but that you don't have with you to stay at my laboratory?"
"That's so awesome, thanks!" Misty said. "But Daisy, you don't know how happy you made me!"
"Misty, now my journey in Kalos is over, would you like to travel together with me again?" Ash offered. "I've travelled with many different girls, but you somehow meant more to me than those other ones, even though I don't really understand this feeling..."
"And I'm gonna join you two as well, if you two want that, of course," Brock suggested.
"Awesome!" Misty said. "Of course!"
"Well, then us three are finally reunited!" Brock shouted.
"Ash, someday, you'll realize what you mean to me," Misty thought. "Someday, you'll understand what feeling that is. Maybe Brock can explain it to you!"
"Well, I'll be off to the Gym now," Daisy said. "Professor Oak, I'll send you Misty's Pokemon that weren't with her on this journey, those are still at the Gym."
"I'm looking forward to it," Professor Oak said.
"Bye, Daisy, and thank you so much for making my life worth living again!" Misty cried from happiness, waving her sister goodbye.
"Well, it's time for me to go back too, I need to work on my research on Bayleef, if she's finally gonna cooperate," Professor Oak said.
"Not anymore," Ash countered. "I'd like to take Bayleef with me on my next journey, you told me how much she misses me!"
"Thanks, Ash! You saved Professor Oak from some more broken bones from the Body Slams he had to suffer!" Tracey said.
"Bye!" our heroes said simultaneously, and so did the professor and his assistant.
And so, one day later, Ash, Misty and Brock sat on Gyarados's back, who was travelling the seas again. Onwards to new adventures, looking for the happiness they had during earlier journeys. "I'm so glad I'm free from the Gym!" Gyarados thought. "But most of all, I'm so glad Misty is happy again! And it's nice to get to know Ash and Brock better as well! Who knows what's awaiting us on this journey? Winning tournaments? Maybe even a girlfriend for me?" Then, the Atrocious Pokemon let out a happy, energetic roar. "GYAHHH! GYARADOS!"