Chapter 2: A Gym Divided
"Well, here we are." It had taken a while but Misty finally arrived back home. Staring at the large building in front of her Misty couldn't help but let an annoyed sigh escape her lips. She recalled a time when the sight of the facility with the large Dewgong structure over the entranceway would fill her with pride. Nowadays it was a reminder of the turmoil that resided within.
"Might as well get this over with," she said. She walked up to the front door and pushed it open. Immediately the cold air from inside the Gym washed over her, giving her goosebumps. Once the feeling passed misty stepped inside. Looking around she noticed the waiting area was empty.
"Daisy must have been able to handle all the challengers that came through while I was gone," she assumed. She continued further in and soon found herself standing in front of the massive pool that served as the Gym's battlefield as well as the storage area for the Gym's Pokémon. She then grabbed Marill's Poké Ball and called out the Aqua Mouse Pokémon.
"Go on and join the other Pokémon," Misty said. Marill let out a happy squeak before jumping into the pool and vanishing beneath the water. Misty smiled as she watched her Pokémon vanish underwater.
"Well it's about time you got your ass back here!" Unfortunately for Misty she didn't have the same luxury that her Pokémon did.
"And here I thought I'd be able to avoid those two," she groaned. Turning around Misty was met with the unwelcome sight of Lily and Violet.
"And just how long did you plan on making us wait for you to get back?!" Lily scolded. "This job isn't easy, you know!"
"Really, I never would have guessed," Misty mockingly replied. "I thought any idiot could walk in and be a Gym Leader, but I guess you two proved that theory wrong."
"Hey! We are Gym Leaders!" Violet argued. "We do our part around here!" That one comment made Misty's blood boil.
"Don't give me that shit! If it weren't for me and Daisy the League would have shut down this Gym years ago! In fact it's because you two won't get off your collective asses and actually be Gym Leaders that the Gym has been struggling lately!" Misty chastised. Now it was Lily and Violet's turns to be furious.
"You'd better watch your damn mouth!" Lily warned.
"You know she can't help herself," Violet stated. "All that time she spent traveling with Ash… some of his bad influence must have rubbed off on her." At that moment Misty's anger almost became uncontrollable. There was one thing that set her off more than anything else in the entire world, and that was when someone talked down on Ash in her presence. Unfortunately it was something Lily and Violet were quite good at. They knew it was the one thing they could say that would really get to Misty and they used every opportunity they had to do so.
"Don't you ever… EVER… speak about Ash like that again," Misty seethed. The two sisters smirked. This was just the reaction they were hoping for.
"You know it's true. He's nothing but trouble. I mean, look at what happened in Pallet Town," Lily stated.
"You know damn well that wasn't his fault!" Misty roared.
"Really? They tell us, why did Team Rocket go to Pallet Town and ask for him by name, huh? Can you answer that for us, Misty?" Violet challenged.
"You know damn well I don't know that!" Misty yelled.
"Come on, Misty. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. They did it because he's been fighting against them for years," Lily said. "Ever since he became a Pokémon trainer he's been fighting against Team Rocket. It was only a matter of time before they got tired of his constant meddling and did something about it."
"Yeah. If he had just left them alone then his mother may still be alive today," Violet added. It took ever fiber in Misty's being to not walk over to her sisters and beat them within an inch of their lives at that moment.
"I'm only going to say this once… you had better be careful with the next words that come out of your damn mouths if you know what's good for you" Misty warned.
"You know, we don't like being threatened," Lily said.
"No we don't. And besides, what are you going to do about it?" Violet taunted.
"She won't have to do anything." Both Lily and Violet froze while Misty let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh shit," Violet swore. She and Lily turned around and saw that Daisy, the eldest of the four sisters, had entered the room, and she looked none too happy.
"H-Hey Daisy," Lily stuttered.
"Don't you 'Hey Daisy' me!" she yelled, causing Lily and Violet to flinch. "I leave you two to look after the Gym while I'm gone and instead I come back and find you tormenting Misty again!"
"But Daisy…"
"Shut up! You two have said enough!" the eldest Waterflower scolded. "I swear if you two would put half as much effort into learning how to be actual trainers as you do into tormenting Misty then maybe I wouldn't have to keep chewing your asses out constantly!" Before continuing with Lily and Violet Daisy turned to Misty.
"Sorry I wasn't around to warn you ahead of time," she apologized. "Thanks to these two good-for-nothings I had to rush my Pokémon to the Center to get them checked up."
"Were they okay?" Misty inquired, concern in her voice.
"Yeah, they were fine. Just a bit exhausted," Daisy replied. "Of course they wouldn't be that way if a certain two should-be Gym Leaders weren't so lazy!"
"Come on, Daisy. Give us a break," Lily whined.
"Yeah Daisy. After all they do so much for the Gym I wouldn't want them to overexert themselves," Misty stated mockingly.
"Goodness me, you are so right, Misty. I am so sorry. You two must be exhausted with all the work you've been doing. Please, take the rest of the day off," Daisy mocked. Their responses angered Lily and Violet.
"Hey! That's not funny!" Violet griped.
"And yet you two find some kind of humor and enjoyment out of doing things like this to Misty every chance you get!" Daisy replied, her demeanor becoming serious once again. This was an argument Misty had seen play itself out time after time. She had hoped they would eventually cease, but as time passed they only grew in frequency and intensity. Before it could continue, though, a loud beeping noise echoed throughout the Gym. Lilly looked at her watch and gasped.
"Shit! We need to get to the salon before it closes," she stated.
"Oh damn, I completely forgot about that," Violet said. The two of them ran by their sisters and headed for the front door.
"Get your asses back here!" Daisy demanded.
"Just let them go, Daisy. The less I have to see of them the better," Misty spat. Daisy wanted to go after them and give them a piece of her mind, but decided against it for Misty's sake. Instead she, like Misty had before her, called her Pokémon out of their Poké Balls. One by one Seaking, Dewgong and Luverin, her Luvdisc all appeared.
"Take the rest of the day off. I'll make sure there won't be any more challengers," she told them. A chorus of happy cries followed as the Pokémon dove into the pool.
"They look well," Misty commented.
"Yeah, especially considering the lack of help I get," Daisy responded. "I swear those two get more and more useless every damn day."
"I'm sorry, Daisy. I don't mean to put all the pressure of ruining the Gym on you every time I leave," Misty apologized. The eldest Waterflower shook her head in response.
"You don't have anything to apologize for," she said. "If anything this is showing me what it was like for you when we left you to run the Gym while we went off on that year-long cruise, so if anything I should be apologizing to you."
"Even so I feel bad that the so-called 'help' I leave you with is really no help at all," Misty said.
"That's not your fault. If anything I should have been stricter with them about their Gym Leader duties, but I made the mistake of turning a blind eye to what they were doing, and now that's coming back to bite me in the ass," Daisy explained. "You know, I've actually considered kicking them out of the Gym. I mean, if they're not going to help then why have them around."
"Do you really think that's the right thing to do? I mean, they may be pains in the ass but they're still our sisters," Misty commented.
"I know, and believe me when I say I don't want thing to come to that, but at this rate they're not going to leave me with much choice," Daisy replied. Misty didn't reply. Instead she sighed and walked towards one of the Gym walls. Daisy watched as she stopped in front of a group of pictures mounted on the wall. Many of them were of the four Waterflower sisters during better times, but there were a few of Misty, Ash and their other friends while they were on their travels.
"What happened to us?" Misty wondered out loud. "We used to be so close but now… it's like I don't even know them anymore." Daisy walked over and stood next to Misty.
"I don't know. It seems like ever since Team Rocket launched that attack on Pallet Town some people have just gone crazy," Daisy commented. "They're doing what they can to find some reason why, or someone to blame for the state of things."
"And Ash is bearing the brunt of it," Misty said.
"Yeah," Daisy agreed. The two stood there in silence for a bit.
"It's not fair." Suddenly hearing Misty speak Daisy turned to her younger sister and saw a familiar sight, though unlike normal Misty wasn't even trying to fight the tears back.
"Oh, Misty…"
"It wasn't his fault, why should he have to bear all the blame?" Misty questioned. Daisy could tell Misty needed her support right then, so she put her arm around her weeping sister and pulled her close. Misty just placed her head on Daisy's shoulder and let the tears fall.
"It wasn't his fault! He didn't cause any of this!" Misty cried. Daisy said nothing. She just held Misty and let her cry on her shoulder.
"Oh Misty… you've been holding all this in for long enough. It's time to let it all out…" Daisy was glad there were no more Gym battles scheduled for the day. It would give her the time she needed to help her heart-broken sister get through the rest of the day.
The events of the Pallet Town attack have affected more than just those in the town itself, as shown by the state of affairs in the Cerulean Gym. Will the four sisters ever be close again? Or will the Gym continue to be split down the middle? Find out in the next chapter of Regrets & Redemption!
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