HEY EVERYBODY! Wow, two chapters released two weeks in a row? Crazy stuff, right? Looking back, the last time I did that was in 2009! Since I'm a numbers nerd, here's another funny metric: it's only January 20, and I've already posted half as much content as I did in all of 2018 or 2014, and more than I posted in 2012, so I'd say we're off to a good start! Honestly, a big reason for this push was all the reviews I received for last chapter. The response to chapter 67 was overwhelming. Seriously guys, thank you so much. I keep saying it, but regardless of reviews or views, I'm going to finish this story since I made that obligation. However, my motivation to get chapters out faster is certainly increased by the encouragement and criticism you give in the reviews. Good or bad, I always want to know what you think, so continue to REVIEW PLEASE!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of its affiliated companies including, but not limited to, 4Kids, The Pokémon Company, Game Freaks, or Cartoon Network. The characters written within this story are solely based upon the fictional characters created by these companies, and the story is not meant to, nor will it, receive any monetary funding.

Characters' Ages:

Ash: 18

Brock: 23

Misty: 19

Fiery hair shone brightly in the early morning sun as Misty walked up to the campus Pokémon Center, as she had the last time she was here. Entering, she glanced about and fidgeted nervously with a pokéball at her waist. In the corner she eyed a large screen surrounded by various trainers. At its base, she knew, were 128 photos.

"This'll take forever," someone in the crowd moaned.

"How can we find our opponents on this?"

"If you're having difficulty identifying your battle, simply check your phones. A message will notify you of your opponent, battlefield, and time," Nurse Joy announced over the intercom.

Moments later, a buzz in her pocket did indeed inform her that she was facing a trainer named Lucille at battlefield number three in twenty minutes.

Huh. That's an improvement.

Turning on her heels, Misty strode out of the center and to the assigned area. She was happy to have arrived early in order to scout the campus. She'd been here eight months earlier, but so much had happened in that time. Besides that, the campus was huge, and the battling center had recently undergone major renovations.

Walking up to the fenced-in field, the pokéball began to twirl between her fingers once more. Spanning the field's length to one side were four rows of bleachers that were sparsely populated.

There he is.

Near the center of the bleachers she could make out the raven hair of her boyfriend along with the yellow fur of his best friend. Relieved, she moved to say "hi" when a tap on the shoulder caught her by surprise.

"You Misty?" It was a tall, blonde girl. Misty estimated she couldn't be older than the gym leader herself.

"Um, yeah."

"Hiya, I'm Lucy!" An eager hand was thrust out. "Are you ready?"

Misty accepted the shake with a smile, a little thrown by the girl's overwhelming energy. "Uh-huh. You?"

"Always. I'll admit I'm a little nervous battling the famous Waterflower sister, but that doesn't mean I'm a pushover."

Misty snickered, feeling a little more at ease thanks to her opponent's charm. "I'd hope not if you qualified to compete today. Good luck!"

Both women stepped onto the hard clay of the battlefield. Misty took the far end and waved to Ash, Delia, and Oak as she passed. She blushed at the loud whistle that followed her.

"This will be a one-versus-one battle," a referee in a yellow shirt and black shorts announced. "The first Pokémon that is unable to battle will be declared the loser. This is the first round of seven prospective rounds, elimination style. Release your Pokémon now."

Unexpectedly, she felt a slight tremble run through her hand as it reached for her first Pokémon. As she tossed the pokéball, she tried calling Politoed's name, but her suddenly-dry throat caught the words too quickly.

In a flash, her green frog Pokémon was facing down a Granbull almost twice his size.

"Let's see what you got, Waterflower! Woo!" came from the bleachers.

Rolling her eyes, but smiling nonetheless, a thought crossed her mind. Would Ash freeze in this situation?

Suddenly, a desire to prove herself overwhelmed her nerves. Clinching her still-shaking fists, she stepped forward to the trainer's box, ready to start.

With dramatic flourish, the referee raised both his flags. "Begin!"

"Bite!"

"Jump!"

With little room to spare, Politoed hopped over his opponent and landed behind the bulldog.

"Water Gun!"

The pink Pokémon fell forward as the attack hit the back of his head. Lucille audibly gasped and Misty smiled.

"Mega Punch!"

"Thunder Fang!"

Politoed cried as his fist was clamped in the dog Pokémon's powerful, crackling jaw.

He's faster than he looks.

"Hold tight and shake him around!"

"Politoed, Hydro Pump!"

"Toad!" Puffing his chest out, Politoed shot a blast of water directly into Granbull's face. The force of the attack was powerful enough to loosen the dog's grip and launch Politoed into the air. As he fell, Misty took her shot.

"Headbutt, now!"

Reorienting himself, Politoed dove headfirst into his now-groggy opponent's skull, and a thunderous crack followed. The water type immediately rebounded and began dancing around as Granbull groggily wavered from side to side.

"Thunder Fang!"

The pink Pokémon was unresponsive and continued to lumber as Misty's partner hopped happily.

Here's my chance!

"Finish it with a Water Gun!" Without missing a beat, Politoed turned and unleashed another salvo, sending the bulldog hurtling to the ground in a daze.

At that, the referee lifted his right flag. "Granbull is unable to battle. Politoed is the winner! Trainers, please exit the battlefield and await further instruction."

As Granbull was called back to his pokéball, a wave of relief washed over Misty. She broke into a run as a huge smile spread across her face. "I can't believe how well you did! You're awesome, Politoed!" She grabbed the water type's paws and spun him around happily as he croaked his name in excitement.

After dancing and then returning him to his pokéball, she met Lucille at the gate's entrance. "That was a good match! Thunder Fang made me nervous."

"So I don't actually have any electric or grass types," the blond replied sheepishly. "When I saw who I was facing, I knew I'd need to have some type of advantage, and Granbull is my only counter to water types."

"I can't really judge. You obviously know I specialize in water types. I think it's smart you've found a way to compete using the Pokémon you like."

Lucille's contagious smile broke out again. "Thank you so much! That means a lot coming from you! Hopefully I'll see you on the team in a couple years?"

"Bet on it! I want a rematch!"

The two shook hands and went their separate ways. Ash, Delia, and Oak were all standing to the side waiting for her.

"That was pretty fast!" Ash noted as he gave her a high-five. "What happened to all that nervousness from last night?"

She shrugged. "I guess it disappeared once the battle started."

"Told ya it would! Didn't you use Politoed first last time you were here?"

"Mm-hm. We barely survived last time, though."

"Really? All our training must've paid off, then, because it looked like you barely broke a sweat."

She nodded eagerly. "With the sunlight as strong as it is today, I was hoping I could keep him around for another battle, so that works out."

"Mm? Why would you want to use him in sunlight, specifically?" Professor Oak interjected.

"Oh! Well, you see Professor, Politoed has the Damp ability, so it helps keep him cool on sunny days."

"Fascinating! You can use Damp to hamper sunlight?" Oak pulled out a notebook and began scribbling.

"Sure. Me and Ash thought of it when we were on the road. The slime keeps his skin hydrated and allows his water attacks to keep their original power. It saves me the trouble of having to teach him Rain Dance."

"Don't wear him out too fast," Ash advised. "With this heat you may need that ability in the later rounds."

She rolled her eyes. "That's why I used him first. Now he has plenty of time to heal before his next match…dummy."

"So who do you have next, Misty?" Delia chimed as Ash scoffed.

"Oh! Right!" She pulled out her phone again. "I'm at battlefield eight."

As they walked past other trainers completing their first round, the group stayed quiet. The heat was growing more intense, and seemed to be sapping even Ash and Misty of their usual ability to bicker.

"You must be Misty." A purple-haired girl approached with her hand out. "I'm Janeen, your next opponent."

"Are they ready for us?" Misty asked as they shook.

"Not yet. The last battle just finished, so they're clearing the field first. The ref told me to wait out here."

"Why don't we get some water from that vendor before it starts?" Delia suggested. "Misty I know you must be thirsty after that first battle."

"Yeah, that sounds good."

As she chugged the ice cold bottle, Misty eyed her opponent. Janeen certainly appeared calm, but there was no way to tell by the way she dressed what kind of Pokémon she favored.

Purple hair could mean psychic or ghost…or it could just be a statement. Something Lucille mentioned earlier was gnawing at her: she knew who Misty was before they battled.

"I'm a little nervous battling the famous Waterflower sister."

Being a gym leader had a perk in that she was automatically qualified to compete, but apparently it also came with drawbacks.

What if Janeen is the same? She could have me figured out already.

Her hand began playing with the pokéball on her hip once again. Maybe I should…

She shook her head. If Dragonaire was going to be her surprise ace-in-the-hole, she couldn't use her this early in the tournament.

"If she knows who I am, I'll just have to live up to the hype."

Ash gave her a quizzical look. "Uh, what?"

"It's nothing. Just thinking out loud. Wish me luck!" With a peck on his cheek, she ran back to the field, following her opponent through the high chain-link fence.

"This is round two for each of you. The match will consist of one Pokémon per trainer. If either Pokémon is unable to continue battling, they will be declared the loser. Are you ready?"

Both trainers nodded.

"Begin!"

Before Corsola stood an Arcanine of immense size.

"Bubblebeam!"

"Flare Blitz!"

Flames licked his upper-body as Arcanine charged through the bubbles and crashed into Misty's Pokémon with considerable force, sending the small Pokémon flying backward.

The sun's too strong.

As she continued flying, Corsola heard Misty shout "Rain Dance!"

"Corsola!" Inhaling, the pink Pokémon spewed out a white haze that began to cover the battlefield.

"Oh, no you don't. Sunny Day!"

Arcanine responded by shooting a powerful fireball into the air that immediately absorbed the surrounding moisture and only increased the heat of the battlefield.

As Corsola rolled back to the center of the field, the two trainers stared each other down.

The weather advantage has only gotten worse. Corsola can't overcome that even with type advantage.

"Recover!" Corsola's body glowed bright.

"Scared? You should be! Now give that rock another Flare Blitz!"

Misty grit her teeth. I need a special attack.

"Corsola, give him another Bubblebeam! Aim for the paws!"

Her water type followed the command without hesitation. Arcanine still managed to get a hit off, but it was weaker than the first.

Bubblebeam slows him down, but this heat is weakening Corsola's water attacks. We need to use his increased strength against him, instead.

"Recover again!" she ordered, before channeling her best Gary Oak impression. "You gonna keep trying that? Corsola doesn't have a scratch on her, but Arcanine looks tired! You know Flare Blitz hurts him, too, right?"

"You think I don't know my own Pokémon?!" Janeen sounded angry.

Good.

"I was just softening you guys up! Arcanine, Solarbeam!"

There it is.

"Corsola, you know what to do!"

"Cor!"

A moment later, the entire field was illuminated by blinding green light as the Pokémon faced each other down. Misty covered her eyes, but forced herself to peek as Corsola glowed orange.

As the dust settled, even the referee released an audible gasp at the sight. Corsola still stood – barely – but Arcanine lay on his side, completely unconscious.

"What?!"

"Um, Arcanine is unable to battle. Corsola is the winner!"

Misty ran across the field and picked her tired Pokémon up as the Sunny Day's light weaned from the battlefield. "I knew you had it in you! You were perfect and deserve a long rest!" She cradled the small Pokémon and recalled her to her pokéball.

"How did you do that?" Janeen demanded, storming across the field. "I had you!"

"Corsola knows Mirror Coat," Misty explained putting away the pokéball. "I'll admit, I was worried for a second, since she takes damage as well and I didn't expect your Arcanine would know a grass move, but it was our best chance."

"Best chance? You said Flare Blitz wasn't working."

"I just said Arcanine looked tired. Recover takes a while to fully work. If you had kept it up, you might have won…but it would have been close. I didn't wanna risk that, though, so I was trying to force a Flamethrower or Fire Blast that I could shoot back."

"How much training has that Corsola had? Solarbeam is double super effective!"

"We've been together a looooong time, honestly."

Janeen huffed before putting out a reluctant hand. "Well, good match, anyways. I don't appreciate the mind games, but I guess there's nothing about them that's technically against the rules."

Misty felt a sudden rush of anger at the implication. "Learn what your Pokémon are capable of and you won't lose to mind games in the future, Jan."

Janeen gave a snort of derision and walked off, returning Arcanine on her way out.

"What a tool."

Author's Notes: I mentioned last week my matured belief in a "show, don't tell" philosophy of writing, and how it varies wildly from the style of writing I practiced when this story was first published. Though I was hesitant to change narrative structures this far into a story, I read many reviews encouraging me to write in a way that felt comfortable, rather than continue in a style I've outgrown. Thanks to y'all, I did just that, and really enjoyed writing this installment as a result. There's obviously still some "tell" here, but overall I felt it was a lot smoother than my old chapters. Little things, like fidgeting with the pokéball, or trembling, told a lot more than paragraphs of inner dialogue and exposition could, which is what I would have written five years ago. So thank you guys for the help!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed part one of Misty's tournament! It took a while to get back in the groove of writing battle scenes, but with the help of Bulbapedia (I don't know how many years it's been since I last visited that site) it started to flow much more naturally. As with last chapter, this installment was originally longer, but I decided to cut it off here in the interest of getting another chapter out faster.

I hope you enjoyed what you read, but even if you didn't I would still love to read your thoughts. All of which is a clumsy way for me to segue and ask that you REVIEW PLEASE! Be it one word or a thousand, every review counts and is read by me. Thank you so much for your continued devotion to this fic, and I'll see you again soon!