Disclaimers: I do NOT own Pokémon! This is just fanmade.
WARNING: This will be an Egoshipping (GaryxMisty) story. If you don't like this pairing I suggest you stop reading right now.
Shattered
Chapter three: What to do?
A few minutes earlier at Misty's Room: (Misty's POV)
Small rays of sunshine started to shine through Misty's window and she wrinked her nose as she could feel the warm light hitting her face. Too tired to do anything, she hadn't closed her curtains last night and she welcomed the warmth that greeted her. She turned around, taking the blanket with her and put the bowl of soup onto her nightstand. She felt refreshed and decided to bring both the cup and bowl back to the kitchen. Kai should be asleep by now, so there was no chance they'd encounter each other again.
Part of her felt as if something was wrong with him and she wanted to know more about him. All she could do was wonder who he really was. He had gotten the opportunity to grow up near a water Pokémon gym and a little stab at her heart made her frown. All the fuzzy thoughts disappeared from her mind and she got out, letting the baby blue blanket fall to the ground.
While rubbing the sleep out of her eyes she walked into the bathroom. The yellow cabinets glowing brightly because of the sunlight and she smiled again. Spring was coming. No more guarding HQ during those cold winter nights. From now one she'd have fun again and she'd prove everyone how good she really was. That she was better than him. She knew she was better than Kai. All she had to do was prove it.
It had been a long time since she last felt the kind of rivalry she felt when encountering him. Sometimes she felt twelve years old again, being a competitive gym leader. But those days were long gone and she had to put the past behind her. Some days she failed in doing so but she had managed the last couple of years. It was all she had to do in order to stay alive. To finish what she'd come for.
Her thoughts didn't make her happiness disappear and she let her weight shift from her left foot to her right one while she was brushing her teeth. She remembered a dance she had learned at the Orange Islands and once again that little stab at her heart made her thinking come to halt. There was no time to waste by thinking of the past. She had to think about the future, how to defeat Kai. He couldn't ruin her plans.
She walked back into her bedroom and opened the window. A slight breeze played with her hair and she closed her eyes contently. There was nothing better than waking up and hearing the sound of waves of the ocean. She wished she had lived closer to it a lot sooner. Although she had been surrounded by water all her life there was nothing better than the ocean. It was the reason why she liked the Orange Islands so much. There was nothing but the sea, everywhere you looked. One day, when she was an old woman, she'd probably move there and live a quiet life with her Pokémon. Well, knowing her, that life wouldn't be quiet at all.
The room needed some clean air and she let the window open, swinging her jeans over her shoulder to get dressed. Before she walked into the bathroom she glanced at the cup on her nightstand one more time and smirked. No way she was thanking him.
After readying herself to go downstairs, she took the bowl and the cup in her hands, making her way towards the kitchen. Some of the grunts bowed their heads as she passed them in the hallways but she held her head straight and didn't return their greetings.
Once she was in the elevator she let out a deep sigh. She was feeling better, but it'd still take some time to get back to her old self. Maybe she should go and see the doc later today, ask for some medicines.
When the elevator door opened, she could see Alexis running past her and both women eyed each other for a second. It was then that Misty heard a hard thud to the ground. She rounded the corner, not expecting the view in front of her. She quickly hid herself, and the blonde girl stopped as well. Both of them watched the scene in front of them unfold.
Kai was crouched down next to Clint, nudging is arm with his hand. "Stay away from her," he said.
A shiver ran down Misty's spine. The anger that was hidden in that voice. She'd never expected such a sound to leave those lips. She'd thought he wasn't like that at all.
He got up silently and wanted to walk back into his room. As if on cue, Alexis started running again, stopping him from doing so.
"Kai!" she shouted at him, trying to catch her breath when she reached him. "What happened? I heard some noise and then I saw you and Clint fight and-"
"Shut up, woman," Clint grunted as he got up again. "This fight isn't over pretty boy. I-"
She had to something before this got out of hand even more. Determined she turned the corner and shouted at them, anger filling her voice now. "What is this nonsense?!"
The three grunts turned around and looked at her. She stared into Kai's eyes and when she noticed him looking to her hands, she immediately realized what he saw. He smiled at her, and her cheeks flushed which made him chuckle. Stupid, stupid Misty.
Alexis had seen their exchange and looked up at him questioningly. He'd tell her later. Misty was sure of that. Ever since Alexis came, she'd tried to befriend the brunette. But Misty couldn't help but feel a tad of jealousy. Cause they couldn't be friends. Not real friends at least.
"Clint, go back to your duties," she said sternly while walking closer to them. "And I don't want anything like this, to happen again." Her finger pointed from one grunt to the other and Clint grunted once before running off, leaving the three of them standing there in an awkward silence. "Alexis, bring these to the kitchen, will you? And Kai, you come with me. We gotta get your face cleaned up."
She hadn't noticed at first but his cheek was swollen and red. It didn't fit him. She was so used to see his perfectly shaven, pale face. The bruise made him look unnatural.
"I can go with him to the infirmary if you want me to," Alexis said, her eyes almost burning into Misty's. The red-haired woman felt that Kai was feeling uncomfortable. That he somehow knew they were having a silent conversation. But Misty didn't want to give in to the other woman. She just shook her head and put out the cup and bowl, waiting for the younger girl to take them.
The petite girl hesitated for a second but she obliged and ran off towards the kitchen, still eyeing Misty as she walked away from both of them. All Misty could hope was that the grunt in front of her hadn't noticed the silent conversation going on between them.
Gary's POV:
"I wondered how long it'd take you," Misty murmured more to herself than to him. "You got into your first fight after about a month."
"You probably never got into one," he answered and she smiled a little. It was a sad smile and she was clearly remembering something. But before he could catch anything else the smile had disappeared, her serious side taking over once more.
"I got beaten up the first day I got here," she said. Her words were barely a whisper but he thought of how it would've been for her to come here. Maybe they'd known who she was and didn't really appreciate the friend of a champion being a part of their organization. "But it seems to me you didn't lose, now did you? You should clean that face of yours though. You don't want to be seen like this, trust me. They'll laugh at you or hurl themselves at you."
She took his elbow and started guiding him towards the direction of the bathrooms. At least he thought she was. He had no clue where else she could be going. "Why did you fight?" she eventually asked.
"Clint," he sighed, "is the most annoying roommate I've ever had. He asked for it." As he said this he noticed that she wasn't wearing her usual outfit. She wore the team aqua dark blue jeans but she was wearing a red top. The colour of the competing organization, Team Magma. What was she trying to do?
She snorted. "I wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine but it seems as if you beat me to it."
They both kept silent and she kept pulling him by his elbow. She wanted to hurry up, so no one would see them together. He knew how much Misty wanted her honor back and hanging around with him certainly wouldn't do it any good. He pitied her for counting on that feeling so much, for making sure people were scared of her. On the other hand, hadn't he beaten up Clint for the exact same reason? To make him scared and to get him off his back? To get him off Misty's back?
When they turned around another corner he realized they were at the part where the admin's quarters were. He'd been here a few times before, earlier this morning including, but he never thought she'd bring him here of all places.
She let go of his elbow as she pushed the buttons near her door and stood in front of it so Gary couldn't even glance at the little machine. At the same time she managed not to face Gary with her back and she eyed him a bit from the corner of her eye. She was still very, very suspicious, he thought.
He felt a little breeze on his skin when he entered her room and he noticed that everything was perfectly cleaned. Her bed was made, there were no clothes lying around and her desk was cleaned.
She walked into the bathroom and he silently followed, watching every move she made. When she walked back into her room his eyes followed her but as soon as she turned he acted as if he had been staring at his reflection in the mirror all along.
"Sit," she ordered him after she had taken a little stool and placed it in front of her bathroom mirror. He could see the cut in his face and a little bit of blood near the edges. It was no big deal so why exactly was she helping him?
He kept watching her as she took out a towel and a first aid kit. She was standing onto her tiptoes to reach the upper cabinet and he could see her grit her teeth. Why were girls so small again?
He sighed and got onto his feet, easily opening the cabinet and she frowned at him. He glanced at the cabinet and saw some disinfectant. She was probably looking for it so he placed it in her hand.
He sat down again and she kept throwing daggers at him as she crouched down, using a wet corner of the towel to clean his cut. The silence between them wasn't uncomfortable but he couldn't quite say it was relaxing either. They were just two people, looking out for each other. He had guessed she was doing this because he had brought her the hot beverage and her eyes told him she wouldn't help him again in the future. This was her way of calling a truce, for now.
"This might sting a little," she warned him as she took out the red disinfectant.
He hissed a little as the fluid touched his skin and she gently blew on it. He stopped hissing immediately. Not because it stopped hurting but because she was actually being nice. She didn't want to hurt him; she was just keeping her distance from him. From everyone. It was then that it hit him. Although she did seem to have friends she was still alone. Still shielding herself from the world in that mind of hers. Maybe a friend, was all she needed after all.
She got up onto her feet and took a plaster. Her finger gently pushed it to his skin to make sure it'd stick there and she seemed content after he was cleaned up.
"You can take a shower here if you want to," she said. "I know what it's like in the grunt's quarters. But don't consider this to be on a daily basis. We're not friends, understood."
He got up and nodded. Her emerald eyes were piercing right through him. Any other person would think she was angry at them but he could see through that mask of hers. He knew her way of thinking. He knew her. He'd read her diary at least a dozen times.
"This is your way of thanking me," he simply stated and she smirked.
"You're too smart to be a grunt. Don't show off too much. They may ambush you. Just take that shower and get out after you're done."
"Don't you need to change?" he asked, eyeing her red blouse.
"Oh this?" she asked, pointing at it. "I have to go on a mission in an hour or so. Don't you know that it brings bad luck if you don't wear your rivals color?"
She didn't wait for his answer and closed the door behind her, Gary staring at it. He remembered the last time he'd seen her and Ash together. They were fighting each other in an important match that day and Gary had always wondered why Ash had suddenly changed the color of his shirt to a purple one. Now he knew why. It was because of her, because she thought it'd bring him luck.
A few hours later at Mossdeep City:
"They're here," Misty whispered to Matt. They were both hanging onto one of the many cliffs that were on the sides of the island. Shelly was still at HQ, making preparations for the afternoon training sessions and probably waiting for them to return.
Matt now raised himself and looked over the edge carefully. He knew the dangers of being caught by team Magma. They both knew. He watched them walk into the Space Center and lowered himself again, signing something at the boat that was waiting for them.
"Can we confirm that they're here for the stone?" he asked Misty and she nodded once.
She'd had enough of waiting here. They'd been waiting on the cliffs for a sign of their enemies and now they'd finally seen them. Their leader carrying a package into the building. However, they also knew that they were still safe. Creating the stone would take about eight months but today they could be sure the progress was starting. Team Magma was going to make a red orb once more. But this time they were going to make it stronger. A lot stronger than it had been before. That's why it'd take them so long. But before the process was completed they'd infiltrate the building and make changes to the orb so that Kyogre would come back once again.
"We should head back to HQ now," she said to her partner before lowering herself a bit. They couldn't risk anything and certainly not to be caught.
"I agree. Archie will ask for conformation about our little exhibition. It has been years since we were able to call Kyogre back. It will work this time. Our plan is flawless," he answered.
She looked up once again and watched Maxie's back before he walked inside the building. They'd encountered before, when she first arrived at Slateport. Back then she was walking around in the local museum and suddenly found herself surrounded by people dressed in red. Soon after another group of people ran inside, some of the other visitors screaming. She knew what was going to happen when she saw the Pokémon, the guns. Yet she wasn't scared, she wasn't scared at all.
She knew who they were, she'd heard of them before. They were the two top criminal organizations. They were the ones who had power over whole of Hoenn. And one of them, she needed to get in. She wasn't scared of anything or anyone. Often she'd wondered why they had infiltrated the building at that day, right at the moment she was visiting. Maybe it was just her luck.
"Go back to HQ as fast as you can," she said to the grunt that was guarding the ship. "Tell the captain we need to be there in time. We've already missed lunch and we can't miss the training sessions."
"Yes admin Emerald!" the young female grunt said before running to the captain.
Misty and Matt stayed upon the deck, both watching the sea. It was calm today, unlike most days, and they gazed at the darkness beneath them.
"Were you there?" Misty suddenly asked. "Where you there last time we called upon Kyogre?"
Matt sighed once and turned her way, a sad smile plastered on his face. "I was there," he answered. "I lost some friends that day. Nothing went according to plan. But this time it'll be different. There will be no one interfering. It will be just us, fighting team Magma. And we will win and finally take over the seas of Hoenn, of the world."
"Archie never told me why it didn't work," she continued. "No one in HQ talks about it, most of them don't even know. Tell me what truly happened that day," Misty said, wanting to know more. She'd heard the rumors, got informed by people about the whole affair. But no one who wasn't there had ever known the real truth.
"There was a boy," Matt said as he faced the sea again, their base coming nearer by the minute. "Somehow he'd managed to obtain the green orb, the one that brought Rayquaza back. He stopped the fighting between Kyogre and Groundon. You see, when both beings are called upon at the same time, sea and land will fight each other. Their powers are matching, none of them will ever win. Their fights will only lead to destruction. But the dragon of the sky is the strongest out of the three legendries. He's the one that made them separate again. But the boy… I can still remember him. Deep brown eyes, raven hair and a strong little Pikachu. You've probably heard of him before. The Pokémon master. He and his friends interfered with our plans. Because of him we had to stop fighting team Magma. It was then they called upon Groundon. Luckily for us the boy had the green orb. The world would've ended in chaos if he didn't. We got our second chance because of him but we also lost our chance to take over the world all those years ago."
"The Pokémon master," Misty replied. "Ash Ketchum."
Her voice trembled a bit, a shiver running down her spine. Ash had wanted to stop team Aqua's plans and now she was doing everything in her power to make that old dream come true again. To get power over the ocean. Was she betraying her friend? No. This was what she had to do. This was her job.
Matt seemed to feel her distress and he put his hand upon her shoulder. "Everything will be fine Misty. Back then that boy knew nothing about us, he's nothing more than a fool who only cares for his Pokémon while he doesn't see their true power. He doesn't see the power of the ocean. You do Misty, don't you?"
She nodded once and smiled. "I do."
That afternoon at the pool:
Misty let her feet play with the water and she stared out in front of her. The happy feeling she'd had earlier that day had disappeared and slowly all kind of memories found their way into her mind. She remembered leaving home, taking several boats to finally reach Slateport and joining team AQUA. She reminded the lonely and awful first weeks at HQ, living in a dark and cold cell… How her mind had been tortured day by day.
"You've been looking at him for almost ten minutes now." She frowned and looked up at Shelly. The red haired woman sat down next to her and let her head rest onto her knees. "Interested in Kai?"
She raised her eyebrows and turned her head again. Aha. Three of the grunts had been training, her three good ones. She didn't even know they were, she was just thinking and not really paying attention.
"No," she said. "You know me."
Shelly smiled and both women looked at the battle in front of them. Somehow the full-grown Blastoise managed to avoid every attack from the two other Pokémon. He had the agility of a little Pikachu.
"I have no idea how he does it," Misty sighed and she now looked at the trainer who was in perfect control of his water type. He didn't flinch once and wasn't worried about losing. He had a lot of self-confidence. She envied him sometimes. After all these years in the organization, it was still hard for her.
"Well we'll see how he does it in the next training session. The room is ready, I just came to get you. You should put on your suit and tell the grunts to go to training room 3. Matt's grunts are there too, mine are sleeping. It's their turn to guard HQ tonight."
Misty nodded once and both women got up, taking a last glance at the training grunts. The Blastoise hit a Ludicolo down to the ground and she could see a satisfactory smile on Kai's face.
"You know," Shelly began. "Archie is thinking of going back to his old mansion. He told Matt after he informed him about team Magma."
Misty sighed. She knew this was coming. She had known it from the moment she had become an admin. Archie would leave. He was becoming rather old and needed his rest. But he'd never leave the organization for good. It was his life work. Plus, he'd want to see Kyogre. The one and only being he'd dedicated most of his life to.
"Will he appoint someone else then?" she whispered and the older woman nodded once. None of the grunts needed to know that their boss was going to leave. Not now at least. They had to keep quiet about it.
"He probably will. I'll still have my tasks as an admin but I'll be living in another quarter. Matt will be in control of the organization in two months but Archie will still be able to make sure everything's alright. He's getting old but this is still his organization. I don't blame him but Matt does. He feels as if Archie thinks he won't be good enough."
Misty looked to her left and saw the troubled look on the woman's face. She wrapped an arm around her shoulder and Shelly let her head rest onto her shoulder. "Who will take care of you now that I'm going to leave?" she teased.
"I can take care of myself," Misty answered. "I'm better at handling a gun than you are."
Shelly let out a laugh and some grunts turned their way. "You know I'm not talking about that," she whispered. "I'm talking about finding you a man."
"Not again!" Misty shouted and they both ended up falling in the water because of their laughing.
She gasped for air once she got to the surface again and slowly climbed out of the pool. Realization dawned upon her. Her time was coming, soon. There would be no more hiding, she would be free.
About half an hour later in a training room at the other side of the building:
"Right!" the emerald eyed admin shouted. "Left! Damon don't you dare to let that gun fall to the floor again! Ten push-ups, now!"
Gary looked up and watched Misty's face. Moments ago she had been laughing, making fun and he'd seen a part of the old Misty for a minute. But now... She was back to the Team Aqua Admin she'd been when he first set foot into the building. She didn't look at him, not once, but kept her face serious and watched every grunt taking out their guns and aiming with a laser to a target that registered if you hit it or not.
After another ten minutes of aiming, sometimes dodging lasers and 'killing' the target Misty let them all stop. Most of the grunts were sweating like a pig but Gary wasn't. He had enough stamina to continue this training session for another hour if he had to.
"There might be some hope left for you after all," Misty said. "But there's one task you won't be able to complete. Stand in line. And let's start that line with you, Kai. I'd love to see how you will do."
She looked straight at him, a satisfactory smile on her face and Gary wondered what she was up to. Her black outfit contrasted her pale skin and her hair was in a French bun, making her look older than she actually was. When she turned around for a split second he realized that the fabric was some kind of special material.
"Now, remember the order you were standing in and go to the far end of the room. I don't want any of you to intrude us or to stand in our way. Understood?"
They all raised their hands and said "Yes admin!" before walking to the back of the room, all curious as to what was going to happen. Gary wanted to follow but Misty called him back, making him stand only a few feet from her.
Soon the room changed, a field of rocks appearing in the middle and Misty was now sitting on top of one of them. She put up her thumb to one of the corners of the room towards a camera. The other admins were looking at this training session and making sure everything went as planned. Well, they thought everything would go according to their plan. No grunt had ever passed this test. It'd take them hours and hours of training to even hit Misty, they were sure nothing would go wrong.
"Now, for our next test," Misty shouted because she wanted the others to hear her as well, "you'll have to hit me. The black suit I'm wearing will detect every laser that has hit me and where it hit me. I want you to try and kill me, Kai. You have five minutes to shoot at me. This is just the beginning of course. Over the next training sessions you will have less time, have to shoot from a farther distance and you will have to avoid my shots as well. Not to mention the use of Pokémon in the progress."
"So I can do whatever I want to make sure I hit you?" Gary asked. "And you'll be running from me?"
Misty smirked. "You can do whatever you want but I can't promise you that I'll be running."
He raised an eyebrow at her. She wasn't just going to sit there was she? He'd hit her for sure if she did! He'd trained archery with Ash when they were both little so he knew a thing or two about how to aim a weapon but they'd aimed at flying disks, controlled by a psychic Pokémon. Not at something that just stood still. Where was the fun in that?
"Prepare to die," Gary smirked at her and when Misty lowered her hand he knew the game had begun. The lights dimmed down and it was almost impossible to see anything on the field of large boulders in front of him.
"I wouldn't count on that one," she answered and before he could even notice it she was gone. He'd seen her shadows, disappearing but he had no idea where she'd actually gone to.
He looked from left to right and even turned his head to look at the other grunts who were all looking as stunned as he. Where had she gone too? In the blink of an eye she'd disappeared. But soon he knew what this training was really about. Every good killer was able to adapt to his environment. No kill could be considered an easy kill. He'd have to go and look for her if he wanted to get a clear shot.
"You won't catch me if you keep standing there!" he heard her shout and he immediately turned his head. The sound was coming from behind the rocks. She really thought she was being clever, wasn't she? But his hearing was quite good and he knew where he had to go to. She was making mistakes already.
He tiptoed over to the sound as fast as he could and aimed his gun at the dark figure in front of him, aiming at her back. "Gotcha," he whispered but to his surprise the black figure was nothing more than a shadow of the rock on his left. He was sure that it had moved but it could've been his imagination or even a trick. He wasn't sure about the abilities of the field.
It was then he heard footsteps behind him, quick, almost like a Pokémon running and before he knew what was happening he lay flat on his back. He got tackled and his gun was now in her hands, she aiming the gun at his chest.
"Turn on the lights!" she shouted and soon everyone could see him, pinned to the ground with Misty on top of him.
"How did she do that?" one of the other grunts shouted. "They've been at it for only one minute and she already pinned him to the ground while he's much taller than her! Not to mention stronger!"
"It has nothing to do with strength," Misty said while she climbed of Gary and dusted off her clothes. "It's about technique, knowing your environment. You might think that shooting is only about aiming but it's not. It's about knowing your opponent, knowing exactly what move they're going to use next and knowing how the environment could affect your shooting. Now who was second in line?"
Gary listened to her words as he sat up, one of his hands hanging loosely over his knee. So it was all about knowing the opponent? He'd have her down in a second if he wanted to. He knew what she was like, what the real Misty was like. She couldn't hide forever in that mind of hers, some things just kept coming back. Her temper, her passion for water Pokémon, her impatience…
"I want to try again. If I may," he said. "I understand the task more properly now."
Misty turned around, raising one of her eyebrows at him. "You want to try again? Right after you lost?"
"Yes," he answered. "Please turn off the lights again."
She seemed to hesitate for a second, not knowing if letting him try again was a good idea. But she had to, she wanted to know what he was up to and soon she looked to the corner of the room. She shrugged once and walked back to her beginning stance and raised her thumb.
Soon the lights went off and Gary closed his eyes for a second. Knowing your opponent. He knew what Misty was like, she'd become impatient if he took too long. She'd come to him like she did last time.
"Are you planning on standing there for five whole minutes?" she yelled and he noticed her voice came from the opposite direction this time. So she was smart enough not to run to the same hiding place. Not that he'd thought any different from her. She was after all a killer. A thought Gary didn't really like.
He knew she could see the shadows and the contours of his body and he moved a little to a darker part of the field. His eyes were still closed and when he came closer to where she was he opened them for a split second, making sure she wasn't actually standing right in front of him. He didn't want to lose to her again.
Slowly, he closed his eyes again and this time he could hear her. She was going to sneak up on him again, he was sure of it. Her breath went fast as soon as she leaped and he turned around immediately, trying to locate where the sound was coming from. She was jumping at him, trying to tackle him again but this time he crouched down and aimed at the dark blur that was passing by. He saw his laser lit up the dark black suit for a minute and when he heard her fall to the ground he shot her again.
She didn't give up however and stood up again, disappearing into the dark area once more. "You're not bad," she said. "But you still didn't use a killing shot. Maybe I'd have a hurt arm or leg but nothing more."
"I know," he answered. "But what's the fun of ending this game so soon?"
He was sure he'd heard a snort and he wanted to laugh at her. But he didn't. He knew that she was ready to make a comment about this not being a game at all. This was the distraction she needed, this was how he would be able to use his final shot.
He waited for a sound and soon he found her, standing at the other side of the rock he was standing. Both of them were waiting for the other to move so they could attack. Neither of them did. Not until Gary threw away his gun and Misty got out behind the rock and tried to run to the sound, not expecting Gary to catch her by the waist.
One of his arms was around her neck, her back pressed to his chest. "There are a lot of ways to kill someone. And this time I won't let you choose," he said and he could feel a shiver running down her spine. Was she scared of him? His grip loosened a bit and she kept right where she was. Wrong move.
Before he knew what was happening she was pinning him down to the ground again, a smirk tugging at her lips. Even in the dark he knew she was smirking down at him. "Rule number one," she said. "Never play with your target. Always go straight for the kill."
She stood up and he followed her to the edges of the field again, she raising her thumb at the camera. Soon the lights were on again and someone was running inside, holding out a paper and Misty took it in her hands, examining it very closely.
"You've done well, Kai," she said. By the tone of her voice he knew that part of her was mad because he'd hit her but part of her was also pleasantly surprised. "It takes most people about five training sessions before they can even aim at me. You managed to wound me pretty bad in your second try. Tell me, what made you change your tactics?"
She looked up at him, her eyes filled with wonder and for the first time in a month he wanted to tell her that he knew who she really was. That he was happy to know that the old Misty was still there. That Ash still cared for her, that her friends still cared for her. But he couldn't. If he told her, she'd know who he was. He'd be killed, banished if he was lucky. And he'd never be able to save her.
"Know your opponent," he answered. "You're an impatient person. I've seen it before, when you were training us or when you were waiting for someone. Very, very impatient."
He turned his head when he heard his name being called through the intercom again. It was time to start his evening duties and he had to leave his training. Her mouth was open a bit but it seemed as if she decided to not reply to his comment. She seemed to be at peace with the fact that she'd won their physical match but that she'd lost their vocal one.
As he walked out of the room he could feel one pair of eyes following every step he made and even when the lights turned off again, another grunt now facing Misty, he knew that she was still looking at him in wonder. He looked back once only to see her standing behind a rock, her head turned to the other grunt. Maybe he'd been imagining things after all.
At the same time in the control room:
"Kai," Archie murmured more to himself than to the two other admins by his side. Never before had he watched the grunts' first shooting lesson but today was different. He'd seen the boy before, beating his best admin. Beating the woman that had beaten him years before. As time passed, he got more and more curious and even now he'd managed to get to her. He wasn't disappointed in Misty at all, he knew that she was his best. Sometimes he'd even regretted the fact that Matt was the one to take over his organization, Misty would do a far better job at it. But now this happened. This young man was beating her in every single way. He'd even managed to hit her, twice.
"Do we know anything about him?" he asked Shelly who was sitting at the computer, Matt watching the screen as he saw grunt after grunt fail their task.
"Apparently he grew up in Sinnoh," Shelly answered. "Has always been near water Pokémon and near a gym. He's probably had some training there."
"Near a water Pokémon gym?" he asked. "Trained by Crasher Wake?"
"Yes sir," Shelly answered before looking back at the screen.
"No wonder," Archie murmured again. "Let me know if someone manages to hit her again."
"Yes sir!" both admins replied and soon Archie walked back to his quarters.
Now that he was going to leave, he needed a few more admins. He knew that Misty could lead them, she was a very strong person. The only problem was, no one was as strong as her. Matt and Shelly were both second best but they were first in line to take over the organization…
When he entered his compartment he sat down in a brown, leather chair and let out a deep sigh. He'd been watching the executives for days now, trying to find one or two that could accompany Misty. He needed his admins. They were the ones that kept this whole place running. They trained the grunts, made sure the missions went alright. He needed a new one, and quick too.
"Maybe," he whispered. "Maybe that Kai can be of use. He has proved himself already but still.. There are things like beginners luck and even if he really has the talent, that doesn't mean he has the heart to be cold enough to be an admin… To be a real killer."
Archie closed his eyes and let his head rest against old chair. "What to do, what to do…"