Updated as of 2 April, 2016

"He who surrenders hope surrenders life." – Star Wars: The Clone Wars, episode 3.16

"Staryu, finish it off with a water gun!" In the center of a sizable pool sitting on some floating platforms, a yellow star Pokémon fires a stream of water as commanded. The target, a mankey, has little room to counter as it does not yet know how to swim (its trainer is relatively new having just started his journey three weeks ago). The boy with brown hair and shorts clenches his fists as he watches a strong stream of water drench his Pokémon friend. The monkey-like creature flounders and falls into the water, prompting its trainer to recall him in panic. Without another word, he runs away from the pool and towards the exit, likely heading to the Pokémon Center. He has two other Pokémon to heal, each one taken out by Staryu.

The gym leader, a young woman with hair as fiery as her temper, sighs and holds out a pokéball.

"Great job, Staryu. Now return." The normal red beam appears, and Staryu disappears back into its ball. Pikachu cheers on his friend from the side of the pool and rushes over to greet her. She leans down to scratch his ears with a small smile that is somewhat forced. That boy was the fourth one today to suffer an easy victory on her part, and she knows the rest of her team would benefit from the center she has sent four kids to in less than three hours. The sad part (for them) is she didn't even have to bring out her most powerful Pokémon, the same type that frightened her as a child. Gyarados is this gym's pride and joy, which has given Cerulean quite the reputation for being one of the most challenging in Kanto. It took the Sensational Sisters giving up control to their 'runt' of a sister, but Misty has managed to make a name for herself and her hometown in the last four years.

It has now been five and a half years since Ash went missing along with Liz and Mew. The gang searched furiously for weeks. Tracey went to the Orange Islands, Brock went into Johto, and Gary searched Hoenn. As for Misty, she looked all over Kanto for longer than the other three. There was a feeling that he was still somewhere in his home region that she could not explain. Even Richie looked when he went to Unova, the region farthest away. (He was going out to visit relatives on his father's side as well as compete in the league there.) The regional professors all got involved, including Professor Krane in the regions of Almia, Fiorre, and Oblivia. Prima, who was back in her hometown on the Sevii Islands, also helped search for the young man she met on that island only a few months prior.

No matter how hard and how much they all searched, though, no trace was found of any of them. The rangers, looking out thanks to Krane's request, moved on to normal ranger duties. Gary, Brock, and Tracey came back. Richie started focusing on traveling through the new region. Prima took back her Elite Four duties. Even Misty, who was (in her opinion) more adamant in searching, was called home due to a crisis at the gym. Jessie, James, and Meowth gave up on Pikachu and went back to headquarters, where they were reassigned to Hoenn while their rivals Butch and Cassidy were sent to Johto. Professor Oak used any connections he had, and even Delia did the unthinkable. Giovanni turned her away on three separate occasions before he finally relented and met with the woman from his past. As before, he refused any resources and proclaimed that he did not care about the child she kept hidden from him. The fourth time she left the Viridian Gym was the last time she did so, and since then, she has not seen him again.

Everyone held onto the hope that Ash would come back or turn up somewhere, but time went on. Pikachu went to live with Misty while the rest of his Pokémon stayed with Professor Oak at his lab. Brock went home to Pewter City, where he discovered his mother Lola had returned and changed the gym into a water type. After some fighting and strategizing, Brock got the gym back to normal. Flint and Lola then set off on a second honeymoon, and Brock mentored his brother Forrest, who was set to take over the gym next, at least in Flint's absence.

Upon the return of his parents, Brock set out for Johto to further his goal of becoming a breeder, knowing Ash would want him to keep going. There he met up with Suzy again and decided to travel with her and her friend Zane. Those three traveled for a while before Brock returned to Pewter after finding out he had a knack for healing Pokémon and not just raising them. Apparently he was in luck as the Nurse Joy of Pewter was the highest rated in her class at the time of graduation and took on Brock as a student since he wanted to see if that career path was more for him. The last time he and Misty checked in, he was loving it.

Tracey, as everyone suspected, stayed with Professor Oak and became his lab assistant. He and Gary had the chance to get close after the latter returned from a loss in the Silver Conference. It was partially Tracey that influenced him to become a researcher, and Gary changed his goals and began doing work at the lab before heading out to Hoenn. During this same time, Tracey, who had been spending plenty of time in Cerulean City, began to casually see Misty's oldest sister Daisy. They were on again-off again for a while before deciding to permanently be off. Unfortunately, this was around the same time that Gary stayed at the gym while he investigated the sudden decline in water Pokémon off of Cerulean Cape. It resulted in the inevitable clash of the egos that led to some awkward situations for the pair. When he left, it was on odd terms, and he rarely called from Sinnoh. This wasn't all that strange as he also rarely called his grandfather since he was usually wrapped up in his research. At least, that's what the redhead tells herself.

After this incident, Misty focused more intensely on her training, reminding herself that that was the reason she stuck around and became the gym leader. Of course, this only started after they faced that crisis and passed the league inspection. For a year after she came home, she trained nonstop to both try to forget Ash and to pursue her goal. She knew Ash wouldn't want her or any of his friends to mourn and be zombies over him, and so she took her anger and sadness out by training hard.

After the first year, her sisters won a cruise around the world, leaving the gym to her. Once they came back, Lily and Violet continued to focus on their acting careers while Daisy took an odd interest in running things. Under Misty's tutelage, she became a decent trainer in her own right. She stopped handing out badges and watched the gym when Misty would visit Pallet Town to spend time with Tracey, Professor Oak, and Delia. Misty could actually say she was proud of Daisy.

It was only six months ago that Tracey and Daisy broke up and Gary left for Sinnoh, and she has been feeling down. Aside from that, the anniversary of the day she and Togepi, who became a togetic, parted ways. It isn't those things alone making her in a sad (and often bad) mood. The challengers lately have been pathetic in her opinion. Every time she has one, she looks for that spark that Ash had, that stubbornness and hope and belief in his or her Pokémon. So far, no one has lived up to that memory. Worse yet, they haven't even been good practice. The last time someone earned a badge from her or Daisy was two weeks ago. The next batch of new trainers left Pallet this past week so hopefully when they finally reach here, they will actually be some competition and make her and her Pokémon sweat. For now, though, she decides to just heal her team and grab some lunch. If nothing else, that last battle did work up an appetite.

"How about some lunch, Pikachu?" she asks.

"Pika!" This time an actual smile appears on her face, and they head out for a break.

The young man with nightmare trouble looks out over the cafeteria, trying to see if he can spot his friend. The rectangle tables are filled with grunts. Over in the corner at the special table, the only round one here, he spies some of the admins although he could hear Petrel before even entering the room. Luckily no one takes much notice of him as he stands there scanning the crowd. This is the only thing he hates about having a meal during normal hours. Most of the people who work for his father treat him with kid gloves, even though he is about to turn eighteen.

When it becomes apparent that the one he is looking for isn't here, he resigns himself to standing in line and getting some grub. Because of his status, he is pushed to the front, making him remember the perks of having a meal during normal hours. Unlike other such places of eating provided by other companies, the food here is the best around. Everyday there are two choices for each meal, and both are usually hard to pick between. It may not seem like it to an outsider, but Giovanni makes sure to take care of his employees, unlike his mother before him. If they are happy, they are productive, which means he gets more of what he wants. Of course, they also have to be somewhat competent, unlike a certain trio was until they finally stopped trying for Pikachu.

"Max!" He hears his name and turns around to see the one he was looking for. "There you are. I was wondering when you'd make it down here." The young woman in a typical grunt uniform pushes past everyone with ease as they all recognize her as the friend of the boss's kid. He cannot help but smile as she joins him. He was beginning to feel lonely. She smiles up at him, her brown eyes shining with the happiness her smile betrays. "I thought you'd still be sleeping after last night, but I'm glad I caught you."

"Well, you know me. If it's time for food, I'm there."

"But you guys didn't get back until five this morning."

"Alright, so I couldn't sleep. Big deal." He turns to the one serving lunch and asks for the chili cheese pizza, of which he gets an extra slice. Surprised at him, she asks for the same and quickly follows him to sit down in the corner.

He, like the admins, gets his own table near the drink machines so he never has to go far to get refills on his favorite orange soda. He skips getting any right now and drops his plate on the square table before sitting down in a huff. She sits with more care than he and watches as he begins to demolish his food. He may be the son of the Rocket Boss, but his table manners lack immensely. She gave up on scolding him a long time ago.

"Are you mad we had to come back from Hoenn so soon to finalize your training?"

"Why would I care? I already lost that conference." He takes another large bite.

"You didn't lose. You came in the top four, which is better than in Johto."

"I still didn't win." She holds herself from commenting on his mouth being full.

"You can't expect to win against trainers that have had way more experience than you. You only started your training three years ago, and you've only been through two regions out of the main six."

"I should've started way before that, but my dad told me I wasn't ready. He won't even let me go through Kanto."

"When was the last time you asked?" He drops the crust and picks up his second slice.

"Before Hoenn."

"That was more than a year ago. Maybe you should try asking him again. You are more experienced. You were great at the Ever Grande Conference." He agrees silently and continues to focus on his food. She decides to give up for now and eat her food, too, before it gets cold. Her friend, if nothing else, is extremely hardheaded sometimes.

After dropping off her Pokémon, Misty decides to stop in at her and Pikachu's favorite place to grab a bite to eat. Normally she would be friendly with the people there and talk about something or other, but this time she decides to sit alone at the booth in the corner. A TV plays the news, and other people's chatter fills the restaurant. Pikachu begins cuddling the ketchup bottle, anxious for when Misty finally takes the bottle cap off for him. Soon, though, he notices his friend is down about something, especially when she orders her usual without another word to her favorite server here.

"Pikachu-pi?" His voice startles her out of her thoughts, and she looks at him holding the bottle.

"Oh, sorry, Pikachu." She takes it from him and open it up. Usually he'll start to chug it down (forcing Misty to buy the bottle as she has yet to learn to bring one for him). This time, though, he stares at her. "What's wrong? Did you want something else?"

"Pika." He shakes his head.

"Then what is it?" Being as dense as her old traveling companion, she doesn't realize that Pikachu is merely concerned for her.

"This just in!" The voice on the TV suddenly gets louder, and when she looks to see why, the man tending to the counter has the remote in his hand. "Strange weather patterns have been observed in the Johto region, seeming to be centered around Mount Quena. Nearby Ecruteak City has experienced flooding that is unusual for the area this time of year. Experts are puzzled as to why this happening. Let's go to Ollie Williams who is on the scene…" The volume gets lower again, but Misty still watches the screen.

"That's weird…"

"Boss, we have news." A man in an orange suit looks up from his desk in his usual office. The grunt before him stands stiff, hands at his side and eyes somewhat hidden under his hat. "We've located the Pokémon we've been searching for. It's been seen multiple times near Mount Quena in the Johto region." Giovanni smirks.

"I guess I'll be taking a little trip then." Persian meows and rubs his master's leg.

TBC...

Technical Note: Mt. Quena, which appeared in Mewtwo Returns, seems to be near Ecruteak since the special aired in between episodes where the gang was traveling there next. I think it was two more episodes before Ash challenged Morty. (Thank goodness for Bulbapedia.)

Also, Ollie Williams=not mine. I borrowed him from Family Guy. Best weatherman ever.

Finally, some events that happened in the anime I incorporate here. I feel they still could have happened, even if it was at different times than the original.

Thanks for reading.