Heyyyy all you wonderful readers!

It took me longer than I'd planned to update, so sorry about that! But the chapter's to the longer side too, so hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!

Battle of the Yard Sale

(Summer before) Grade Two

May (7), Misty (7), Leaf (7), Gary (7), Ash (7), Drew (7), Paul (7)

It was a hot, August day - a bit too hot, some might say, but, regardless, Misty was outside in the sun, heading to Leaf's house.

Misty had just moved to the neighbourhood this summer, and she'd made friends with Ash, Leaf and Gary not so long ago. Today, Leaf was having a yard sale, and she'd invited Misty over to hang out and bring anything she wanted to sell. Misty's family still hadn't unpacked all their boxes, and they'd gotten rid of a lot of things during the move, so she didn't have anything to add to the sale. Up ahead, however, she could see Ash pulling along a wagon filled with old toys. She raced to catch up.

"Hey, Misty!" he said brightly when he saw her. "You going to Leaf's too?"

"Yup," she said. "Don't have anything to sell, though."

"No problem," said Ash. "Leaf invited all our other friends too, so there's going to be a lot of stuff anyways."

"Other friends?"

"Yeah! I think you've already met May, right? You remember May? From the park?"

They'd gone to the park plenty of times this summer, so she wasn't sure what time he was talking about. When she strained her memory, however, she could recall Ash briefly introducing her to a girl named May, though it hadn't been a very good introduction because Misty had been mad at Ash for...

"It was the day you ruined my bike, wasn't it?" Misty said with a glare.

Ash laughed sheepishly and sped up a little. Misty rolled her eyes and quickened her pace to keep up. She was still annoyed about that time, but there wasn't much she could do about it now. Besides, she still wanted to know who else was coming.

"So that May," she said. "Anyone else?"

"Let's see, you've met me, Leaf, Gary, May... I guess that leaves Drew and Paul."

"What are they like?"

"They're cool! Well, Drew's nice, and Paul's a little... Paul, sometimes, you know?"

She didn't know, but she decided she would find out for herself because they were finally there. Leaf's front yard was cluttered with boxes and toys and all sorts of stuff. She and May were happily chatting away, organizing everything on long tables. A green-haired boy she didn't recognize was making price tags, and a boy with purple hair was sitting on one of the empty tables off to the side, trying to solve a Rubik's Cube. Gary was nowhere to be seen, though, which Misty thought was surprising, considering he lived right next door.

"Hey, everyone!" Ash called, waving.

A chorus of hellos came from Leaf, May and the green-haired boy. When Leaf's gaze landed on Misty, her eyes brightened.

"Misty!" she said. "You made it!"

"Yeah, but I didn't bring anything."

Leaf waved dismissively. "Don't worry about that. We have lots of stuff. Did you meet our friends?" She gestured to May. "This is May..."

"Actually, we already met at the park once," said May. "You probably don't remember me."

"I remember you," said Misty, laughing awkwardly. "I was sort of mad at the time, so... Let's start over. I'm Misty, and I don't actually yell all the time."

"You sort of do," Ash muttered.

"No one asked you," Misty snapped at him, then turned back to May with a sweet smile. "Nice to meet you!"

May giggled. "Nice to meet you too!"

"What about Drew?" said Leaf, gesturing to the green-haired boy. "Have you met Drew?"

"No, we haven't," said Drew, giving her a friendly smile and flipping his hair. "Nice to meet you."

"Same," said Misty. "By the way" - she turned back to Leaf - "I don't see Gary anywhere around here."

"He's scouting," said Leaf, as if Misty was supposed to know what she meant. "And that guy," she said, gesturing to the purple-haired boy with the Rubik's Cube, "is Paul. Pretty sure you haven't met him."

"Hey, nice to meet you," said Misty.

"Yeah, yeah," said Paul absentmindedly without looking up, his focus locked on the puzzle. Misty frowned, but decided to let it slide.

"Anyways," said Leaf, grinning. "Wanna help out? We're trying to cover all these tables with our stuff so we could sell them!"

"Yeah, come on, Misty," said Ash excitedly. He pointed to one of the empty tables. "Help me put my stuff on there."

She joined them getting everything set, organizing everything on the tables, marking them with price tags. Soon, nearly all the tables were covered with their merchandise. There was still the table Paul was on, though; he was now lying on his back on it now, holding the Rubik's Cube above him as he tried to figure it out.

"Paul," Leaf whined. "Get off. We still have stuff to set up."

"In a sec," he murmured. "I almost got it."

"No you don't."

Misty was wondering whether she should back Leaf up, but before she could decide, Gary came zooming down the road on his bike. He stopped in front of Leaf's house, dropped his bike on her lawn, and waved his arms frantically. "Guys, we have a problem!"

"What is it?" May asked worriedly.

"Remember yesterday? He meant what he said!"

Misty had no idea what was going on, but it looked like she wasn't the only one: Ash, May and Drew were also confused (Paul still didn't seem to be paying attention).

Leaf, on the other hand, groaned loudly. "Don't tell me."

"Yes," said Gary, nodding.

"Damian," they both said in unison.

Now, May, Drew and Ash groaned too.

"Damian?" said Misty, frowning. "Who's he?"

"He goes to our school," said Ash. "He's not really... nice."

"Me, Paul, Drew and May have been in the same class as him since kindergarten," said Gary. "We have history."

"And he doesn't live far from here," said Leaf. "His house is only a few blocks away, and we usually only see him at the park sometimes—"

"And at school," Gary interjected.

"—but yesterday, me and Gary ran into him. He and Gary got in a fight, and then Gary told him we were having a yard sale today and we were gonna make lotsa money." She glared at Gary. "And Damian said he would have an even better sale and take all our customers!"

"I didn't think he was gonna really," said Gary, scowling. "Where was he supposed to get enough stuff? But today, we saw a sign for ice cream. So I went to see. Damian's sale isn't that good, but he's selling ice cream to get people to come! And now, people think the signs we put up for our yard sale are his!"

"Ugh!" Leaf stomped her foot and crossed her arms. "Why did you have to get in a fight with him, Gary? Now no one's gonna come here."

"What! Why're you blaming me?"

"Yeah, it's not Gary's fault," said Drew. "You don't really know him, Leaf, but we've known him for a long time, and he picks fight with people a lot. The only reason he usually doesn't bug us at the park is because Paul's around."

Misty glanced at Paul, who was still engrossed in the Rubik's Cube. He didn't seem that threatening to her.

"Actually, it was Gary's fault," said Leaf. "He started the fight this time."

Drew blinked. "Oh." He turned to Gary, frowning. "Why'd you start it? You know the kind of things he does when he gets angry at someone."

Gary's scowl deepened. "It doesn't matter! He's having his sale now, and we gotta stop him. Maybe we can sell ice cream too."

"I don't have any ice cream today," said Leaf. "And if we put up ice cream signs, people are gonna think they're signs for Damian's sale."

"Then what about lemonade?" Ash suggested. "People always drink lemonade on hot days like today."

"Hm," said Leaf thoughtfully. "That's actually a good idea, Ash."

"Okay, we gotta make lemonade, and lots of it," Gary proclaimed. "May, go to my house. Tell my sister to make lots of lemonade!"

"On it!" May said, punching the air as she ran to Gary's house.

"I can ask my mom to make some too," Ash exclaimed. "I'll go do that!"

"Yes," said Gary approvingly, and Ash hurried off. Gary then turned to Drew. "Drew, when the lemonade comes, you gotta sell it all."

Drew flipped his hair. "I can do that."

"Misty, you help Leaf sell stuff for the yard sale."

"Sure." She'd thought he'd forgotten about her since he hadn't been paying her any attention.

"And Paul, you be my right-hand man! Let's go make Damian stop doing his sale!"

But Paul didn't budge. Gary frowned. "Paul!"

"Leave him," said Leaf, rolling her eyes. "We've been trying to make him do stuff the whole time. He just wants to do that Rubik's Cube."

"Oh come on! Really?" said Gary, thoroughly annoyed. "Who gave him a Rubik's Cube?"

"He found it in the stuff I brought," said Drew.

"Your stuff? I didn't know you liked stuff like that."

"It was a gift from someone. I didn't really play with it much, though."

"Great," Gary muttered. "Now he's never gonna help out." He shook his head. "I guess I'll make the lemonade signs. Drew, come help me."

The two boys went into Gary's house, and then, Misty was left with Leaf (and Paul, she supposed, but considering his lack of responsiveness, he didn't really count).

"So, do we just try selling stuff for now?" she asked.

"I guess." Leaf huffed. "Dumb Damian. Dumb Gary."

Hardly anyone stopped to buy anything, and it was a while before the lemonade was ready.

Gary's sister and Ash's mom came with jugs of lemonade and helped them set up a small table near the sidewalk. After they left, Drew stood ready at the lemonade stand while Gary went off on his bike to find strategic spots to set up the lemonade signs.

"I kind of want some lemonade myself now," said Ash after a while of waiting.

"I can give you some if you have money," said Drew.

"I have a couple of coins," said Ash brightly. He rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a few dimes. They'd made each cup of lemonade twenty-five cents, but since they didn't have change, Ash ended up paying thirty. Drew grinned at Leaf.

"See? I made a sale."

But Leaf wasn't impressed. She sat on a chair, her arms crossed, staring down the sidewalk. Misty hadn't known her for long, but she'd always seen Leaf being bright and happy; she'd never seen her so grouchy before.

Soon, Gary came cycling back, dropped his bike on Leaf's lawn, and fell on back in the grass. "I saw some people following Damian's sign," he said. "I told them there was a sale here too, but they wanted ice cream."

"Stop complaining," Leaf snapped. "It's your fault anyways."

"Stop blaming me," Gary said angrily. "This is only happening because Damian's dumb."

"Hmph!"

It didn't look like anyone was coming, and it was getting late. At one point, May asked if they should pack up and try again tomorrow, when Damian wasn't holding his own sale, but Misty didn't want to give up, and, it seemed, Leaf was just as stubborn as she was.

Finally, they heard someone biking down the road. No, it wasn't just one person: they could see a group of kids their age coming towards them.

"Everyone, get ready," said Leaf, perking up. "Looks like we're getting customers."

Everyone (except Paul) got into position, standing by tables, putting grins on their faces. Leaf looked like she was about to call out, but then she froze. The group of bikers stopped in the middle of the road in front of them, and, from their smirks and her friends' darkened expressions, Misty knew they weren't here to be customers.

The biker at the front stepped off his bicycle, the plastic bag that hung from his bike's swinging as he did. "Huh," he said, smirking. "Doesn't look like your sale's going really good, is it, Gary?"

"Damian," Gary growled.

So this is Damian, Misty thought, looking him up and down.

"What are you doing here, Damian?" said Leaf, crossing her arms. "Don't you have your own sale?"

"We're out of ice cream, so my mom's getting some more," he said. "Me and my friends are taking a break. We brought a surprise for you."

Misty knew immediately that he was plotting something. They needed to get rid of them, and fast. She stepped forward. "Go away. We don't want you here."

Damian tilted his head curiously. "Who're you? I never saw you before."

"I'm Misty, and you better leave my friends alone, you hear?"

"Yeah," said May, stepping up beside her. "Get away from here, Damian." Misty glanced at May from the corner of her eye. She hadn't had the impression May could be this bold.

Damian's smirk became meaner. "You're here too, May? That's good. You can have the surprise too."

Before anyone could say anything, he reached into the bag hanging from his bike and pulled out a brightly coloured water balloon. His group of friends had bags like his too, and they brought out bulging water balloons as well.

Misty's eyes widened. "Wait a sec—!"

Splash!

Damian threw the balloon, and it hit May. She stood there, blinking, her shirt dripping with water. "H-hey!" she sputtered. Damian and his friends laughed.

"That was not funny!" Misty said, stepping forward. "Apologize!"

"Look out, Mist!" Ash yelled. But it was too late: one of Damian's friends threw a water balloon directly at her as well. It would have been refreshing... if Misty hadn't been burning up with fury.

"Why you—!"

"Watch out!" Drew shouted.

Damian and his little gang started throwing water balloons at them - and at their tables as well. Leaf tried desperately to block them, but was unsuccessful. Gary and Misty charged at their attackers, snatching at the water balloons and the bags they were contained in; in the end, they did manage to destroy some of Damian's ammunition, but not nearly enough, especially since they were outnumbered.

And then, one of the water balloons went flying.

And hit Paul in the face.

This whole time, Paul had been lying on his table, oblivious to everything going on around him because he'd been engrossed in the Rubik's Cube. However, the sudden burst of water on his face startled him. He bolted upright, blinking, and stared at what was going on all around, dazed.

And then, the situation clicked, and he was on his feet, stomping to the front lines.

"Damian!" he yelled.

Damian's attention jolted to him, his face a look of shock. "Y-you're here too?" Before Paul could come closer, he hopped onto his bike, calling out to his friends. "Shoot! I'm not ready to face him today - let's get out of here!"

They sped off, Paul calling to them, "That's right, keep going, Damian!"

Soon, Damian's gang had disappeared, and Paul huffed, crossing his arms. "Good riddance," he muttered.

But no one seemed to be relieved. Leaf looked around in horror, taking in all her wet merchandise. "It's ruined," she wailed. "The whole sale is ruined!"

"That dumb Damian," Gary growled. But Leaf's eyes flashed as she rounded on her spiky-haired friend.

"It's your fault!"

Gary blinked. Then, his expression became as angry as Leaf's. "My fault? Damian did this, not me!"

"You're the one who told him about the sale!"

"But Damian's the one who messed it up!"

"But you started it! You ruined my sale! You, and Damian, and... and..." She rounded on Paul. "And Paul!"

Paul's brows creased. "Me? What did I do?"

"Nothing!" Leaf shrieked.

"Then why is it my fault!" Paul yelled back.

"You were supposed to help set up, but you didn't help at all! You could've stopped Damian before he did anything, but you didn't even try!"

"It's not my job to stop Damian all the time! It's your sale, so you should've protected it!"

"You came over to help, but you didn't! Everyone else pitched in, and even tried to stop Damian, but you. Didn't. Do. Anything!"

Leaf came up to Paul and pushed him hard. He stumbled back a few steps, but his face became even more furious, and he took what Misty felt was a threatening step toward her. Misty had never seen Leaf lashing out like this, and she looked like she could hold her ground, but from the way Paul looked now, Misty felt he might fight her. And she would not stand for someone who might hurt her friend.

"Hey, hold it," Misty said boldly, stepping towards them. Around her, the rest of her friends looked at one another nervously.

"Leave it, Misty," Ash tried to murmur to her, but she ignored him and looked Paul straight in the eye.

"You are part of the reason Leaf's sale got ruined," she said, crossing her arms. "She gets to be angry at you, so stop being a lousy friend and say sorry!"

Paul stared at her, but, strangely, rather than lashing out at her too like she'd expected, he didn't respond, his anger mingling with confusion.

"Well?" she said. "You gonna do as I say?"

"Who are you?" Paul asked.

Misty stared at him in disbelief. "I've been here the whole time, you dumby!"

The crease between Paul's brows deepened, and he turned to the others. "Who is she?"

"Misty, remember?" Ash said sheepishly. "Leaf introduced you guys."

"Don't remember."

That only made Misty angrier. "Listen you dumb-dumb eggplant!"

Gary snorted. "Dumb-dumb eggplant?"

"I can take anything you say to me, but you're being really rude to all of us, so how about you either apologize for being such a bad friend to Leaf, or go home so you don't get in our way!"

Paul turned to her, his eyes furious. "Who're you to tell me what to do? I don't even know you!"

"Ugh!"

"Guys, be quiet, all of you," Leaf screamed. "You all messed up my sale, and now you're making me madder, so just go home!" She stomped her foot. "All of you! Just go home!"

Paul stuck his chin in the air. "Fine! I'm gonna go call Reggie." He started walking towards Leaf's house, paused, and redirected to Gary's instead. Before he could reach the door, however, it burst open, Gary's sister, Daisy, on the other side.

"What is going on here?" she said, looking over the group in bewilderment. "What's all this screaming about?"

"They're all this screaming about!" Leaf said, gesturing wildly to her friends.

"Oh boy," Daisy muttered.

Eventually, Daisy managed to calm Leaf down. Leaf could leave the sale items outside to dry, she said, and since it was so hot out, it wouldn't take long. And her friends didn't have to take everything home; they could have another sale tomorrow, and leave everything at Leaf's house - or the Oaks', if there wasn't enough space - and come back then. Drew, May and Paul called home for someone to pick them up, while Gary went to his house next to Leaf's. Misty joined Ash on his walk home.

"Wow," said Misty. "I didn't know Leaf could get that angry."

"She doesn't really," Ash admitted. "I don't remember ever seeing her like that myself. Gary did mention how angry she can get once, though, so he probably already knew."

Misty crossed her arms. "I'd get angry too, if all that happened to me. I mean, did Gary have to go telling someone who didn't like them about the sale? And Damian - ugh! I just wanted to beat him up! And that guy, Paul? What a jerk!"

"He's not so bad, once you get to know him," said Ash. "He's our friend too."

"Come on, Ash, the way he got angry at Leaf, I thought he was gonna start pushing her back!"

"Nah, he'd never do anything to Leaf. It's really weird - she could do anything to him, and he'd never stop her."

"Whatever. I hate him too."

But, hopefully, tomorrow's sale wouldn't be so bad. After all, Damian didn't know they were having a sale again; he couldn't come ruin it a second time.

Right?

The next day, Misty found herself walking back to Leaf's house with Ash. To her surprise, she found Leaf looking bouncy and cheerful as usual as she organized everything with May and Drew.

Guess she doesn't hold grudges, thought Misty. But maybe Paul did, since she couldn't see him anywhere. She wondered if Gary was nearby as well, when Gary himself came zooming down the road on his bike. Probably back from "scouting".

"Guys," he said, dropping his bike on Leaf's lawn. "Damian doesn't have a sale today, but I saw him and his friends looking at one of our yard sale signs and laughing. I think they're planning on coming over here and bothering us again."

Instead of darkening, Leaf's eyes glinted mischievously. "Perfect. We're the one with the surprises today." She turned to her house and called, "Paul, you ready?"

"Someone help me carry these," Paul called from inside the house.

Misty glanced at Leaf curiously. Were they planning to retaliate with water balloons too?

But when Drew ran to the house and came back, it wasn't water balloons he was helping Paul carry. They had water guns - all sorts of types and sizes. They placed them on the empty table Paul had been lying on yesterday. There was, Misty noticed, a solved Rubik's Cube on it too.

"Hey, you figured it out," Ash said, noticing the Rubik's Cube as well.

Paul shrugged. "I looked it up on the computer. Everyone, take a water gun."

Gary had a muffler tied around his waste like a belt; he took a water gun as long as his arm and tucked it in. Drew settled for a small one, but May picked one that could hold more water than Gary's. Ash picked a small water gun that Misty knew could shoot far at high pressure (she'd seen it on commercials plenty of times), and Leaf chose one that looked like a newer version of Gary's. Paul didn't seem to be picking any, but then Misty noticed he already had a water gun strapped to his back - a massive one longer than half his height.

"Come on, Misty," said Ash, gesturing to the remaining couple of water guns. "Pick one."

Ignoring the Who are you? look Paul was giving her, Misty chose a long, sleek one. "What's all this for?"

"A little revenge," said Gary, smirking. "When Damian gets here, he won't know what hit him!"

Misty grinned. "I like the sound of that. Where'd you get so many, anyways?"

"Paul brought them," Leaf said. "They're his brother's."

Misty turned to Paul, raising an eyebrow. "Why does your brother have so many water guns?"

He shrugged. "He likes having water gun parties sometimes." He tapped the one he had on his back. "This one's mine, though."

"That's the new edition ultra-soaker," said Misty a little jealously. It had come out earlier this year, and she'd wanted one for her birthday, but her sisters had bought her makeup instead.

Paul tilted his head. "If you have one too, go bring it. It's better than all of these ones." He gestured to the other water guns.

"I don't," said Misty. "Someone lent me theirs, once, before I moved here. It's kinda tricky to use properly if you don't know how to."

"I know," said Paul, sounding a little arrogantly pleased.

Misty rolled her eyes and was about to retort, when Gary, who'd been looking down the street, spoke up.

"Heads up," he said, narrowing his eyes. "Looks like someone decided to show up today too."

Coming down the road on their bikes, just like yesterday, were Damian and his friends. And, just like yesterday, they'd brought their bags of water balloons.

But unlike yesterday, today, the seven friends were ready.

"Hey Leaf!" Damian called, stopping in front of her house. "Did you like our surprise yesterday? We have more!"

"Oh yeah," said Leaf, strutting towards him. She flashed her water gun at him. "And this time, we have a surprise too."

Damian blinked. Then he smirked. "Bring. It On."

Misty, like her friends around her, readied her water gun, while Damian and his gang brought out their water balloons. These balloons were different from last time, Misty noted, and she recognized the logo on the stretched rubber - she'd seen them in stores quite a lot, and they always claimed to hold a lot more water than the average water balloon.

"Weather forecast for today," said Leaf, taking aim. "Rainstorm."

And rainstorm it was.

Water balloons and blasts and squirts from water guns sailed shot through the sky. Misty and her friends did their best to shoot at Damian and his gang while blocking the yard sale items from the water balloons, but they soon realized there was no way to avoid getting the sale or themselves wet. So, instead, they charged at their opponents, blasting them with water.

But Damian wasn't letting up either. He directed his friends on how to dodge, take aim, throw. And they were all very good throwers.

"Darn it," said Gary. "I'm out!"

"Same," said Drew, his water gun letting out hardly a squirt of water.

"I think mine has a leak," said Ash, frowning.

"All right, guys, everyone who needs a refill, retreat!" Leaf commanded. "Everyone else, hold them back until we switch!"

Leaf ran back to the house, Gary, Drew and Ash in tow, leaving Misty, May and Paul to defend the sale.

"How many do you have?" Misty said through gritted teeth, dodging a water balloon.

"Enough to make you surrender," Damian declared, smirking.

"You're gonna be the surrendering one!" May shouted, managing to blast him in the face. He wiped the water from his eyes with his hand, and threw a balloon at her. Paul intercepted, hitting the balloon away.

Damian glared at them. "I'm gonna get you two this time!" he yelled. "You hear me? I'm gonna beat you two so bad, you're never gonna be able to beat me back!"

"Sheesh," Misty muttered. She blasted a nearby opponent, but she could feel her water gun running out of water. She moved back until she was next to May. "He really seems to hate you two especially," she said to her.

"That's 'cause they beat him up once," said Gary, appearing at her side, smirking.

"Well," said May hesitantly. "I didn't really beat him up..."

"I did," said Paul, his eyes glinting. "It was great. Gary, switch with me."

"Got it," said Gary, taking his place as Paul ran back to the house to refill. Misty and May ran back with him, while Leaf, Drew and Ash (who had a different water gun - presumably one without a leak) ran to take their place.

As they refilled their water guns, Misty eyed Paul's. "I thought the ultra-soaker could hold more water than that," she said.

"It's broken," said Paul, pointing out a crack. "It leaks. I think my brother switched his with mine."

"Can't you tape it close?" asked May. "You think Leaf has tape around here?"

"No time. Let's go."

The three headed back to the front yard. As they approached the battle, Misty could hear Drew trying to yell something over all the shouting. Misty ran closer so she could hear better.

"The water balloons," he was saying. "Don't hit them, hit the bags with the water balloons!"

It didn't seem anyone else could hear him, but it was a great idea. If they could destroy Damian's supply of water balloons, all this would be over.

"Guys!" she yelled over all the noise, and this time, several of her friends turned towards her. She was good at yelling to get people's attention, after all. "Listen to Drew's idea! Go for the bags with the water balloons!"

The others responded quickly: the ones who had water guns that could shoot at high pressure aimed for the bags. The blasts didn't seem to do much, however, and it was especially hard with Damian's friends getting in the way.

And then, Damian threw a water balloon that hit Paul in the face. Damian whooped, but Paul's expression turned furious.

"That's it," Paul muttered. He shoved his ultra-soaker at Misty.

"Hey! What are you—"

"You know how to use it, right?"

"Um, yeah but—"

His eyes scanned their friends. "Gary's a little busy, so... Ash, get over here!"

Ash jogged over, blasting Damian's friends as he did. "Yeah?"

"Follow me: we're crushing those balloons by hand."

"Um, excuse me!" Misty snapped, waving his water gun. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

Paul looked back at her, rolling his eyes. "I already told you: you know how to use it, so cover me!"

"You did not say that!"

"Well, I'm saying it now!" He started running towards the bikes and the bags that hung from them.

"Why you—!"

But he'd already made it too far ahead. Ash gave her an apologetic look and ran after his purple-haired friend. Misty huffed. A part of her wanted to ignore the order just to spite him. But...

She looked at the ultra-soaker. She wanted to use it. And being given a chance like this...

Misty pinpointed Ash and Paul in the crowd, and took aim at the people getting in their way. And, with perfect accuracy, she blasted each of them in the face, blinding them with water so Ash and Paul could pass them effortlessly.

"Yes!" Misty cheered, punching the air. Soon, she was blasting Damian's gang left and right, clearing a path for the two as they made their way to the water balloon supply. At one point, she missed one of the kids blocking their way, but Drew unexpectedly took care of him for her.

Finally, Ash and Paul got a hold of the water balloon bags. At that moment, Damian noticed what they were doing. "No!" he shouted, but it was too late: Ash and Paul had turned their bags of ammunition into wet piles of popped balloons.

"It's over, Damian," Leaf said, aiming at him with her water gun. "You're out of balloons, and we can keep refilling these water guns all day."

"Yeah," said May, waving her water gun. "Clear out! Let us have our yard sale!"

"Oh yeah," muttered Gary. "All this was for the yard sale."

Damian's friends looked at him for instructions, and Damian looked around, as if trying to find any way her could make a comeback. Finally, he scowled.

"Fine, we'll go back. But next time, you'll be sorry!"

With that, he and his friends got onto their bikes and sped off, back from where they'd come.

"Yes!" Leaf crowed, raising her water gun in the air. "Victory!" The rest of the friends followed suit, and Misty cheered too, feeling that, even though she hadn't known them for long, she was really part of the group.

"So," said May. "Do we just... continue the yard sale?"

They all looked at one another: they were soaked, and some of the stuff they'd been planning to sell was very wet too now. In all honesty, Misty was a little disappointed the battle ended; despite Damian's ruining their sale, it had been a lot of fun, not to mention a great way to cool down in the heat.

"I guess so," said Leaf, looking a little disappointed as well. "But first we should dry off. I think I have some extra towels."

"Oh, and Daisy kept the lemonade from yesterday," said Gary. "She kept it in the fridge, so it's nice and cold. If you guys wanna have some, there's lots!"

They went inside to dry off the best they could, and had some lemonade and cookies as a snack. They continued the yard sale afterwards, and even though hardly anyone stopped by to buy anything, no one seemed to be in a bad mood about it. After it became clear no one was coming to buy anything, they decided to start packing up.

"It's too bad we didn't sell much," said Ash.

"Maybe it was the heat," said Drew. "If it wasn't so hot maybe more people would've been out for a walk."

"Yeah, and we could've sold lots of stuff," said May. "Some of these things are really nice."

"It doesn't matter," said Leaf. "We can try again another time."

"Nope," said Paul. "I don't wanna stand around here again. It was really boring."

"Other than the water fight," Drew put in. "You looked like you were having a lot of fun with that."

"And the Rubik's Cube," said Leaf. "You didn't seem so bored yesterday when were doing the cube the whole time. Where'd it go, anyways?"

"Over here," said Gary, raising it from a table and tossing it into the box of stuff Drew'd brought, where Paul had found it. Instead of going back to cleaning up, however, Gary paused, staring into the box. "Hey Drew," he said. "Is that a checker board?"

"What?" Drew went over to his box and looked in. He shook his head. "No. It's chess."

"I didn't know you played chess."

"I don't. It was a gift."

"Huh." Gary took the set out of the box. "It looks kind of like checkers."

"It's harder than that," said Drew. "All the pieces have different things they can do."

"Like what?"

Drew shrugged. "There're too many things to remember for me. I didn't play it, really."

Gary looked at the chess set, then called out to Paul. "Hey Paul! Wanna try playing chess?"

Paul shrugged. "Sure. Checkers is getting kinda boring."

Gary turned back to Drew. "Can I have this?"

Drew was about to respond, but Leaf cut in. "You'll have to buy that! It's from the sale, after all."

"How much is it?"

Drew named his price, and Gary ran to his house and back with the amount. Soon, Gary was carrying his new chess set home.

"Get back here, Gary!" Leaf called when he took too long to come back outside. "You still have to help clean up! Gary!"

Eventually, Daisy arrived to help, and everything was put away in no time, though Leaf decided everyone should take their own stuff back home, since she didn't know when she'd have her next sale. Drew, May and Paul left a little later, and Misty began walking back to her house with Ash.

"You know, I had fun with the water fight," Ash admitted. "I kind of wish it didn't end so quick."

"Me too," said Misty. "Maybe we should have a water gun fight again. Just without Damian being a jerk and messing up our sale."

"Yeah!" said Ash brightly. "We can ask Paul to bring those water guns again, and... oh yeah! Almost forgot!"

Ash turned back to the wagon he'd brought to take his own stuff home. From the clutter, he pulled out a familiar ultra-soaker water gun and held it out to her. Misty blinked. "Wha'...?"

"Paul said you could have this," Ash explained. "He said he's gonna make his brother buy him a new one that's not broken."

Oh right, Misty thought. This one had a crack. No wonder he wanted to get rid of it. Still, it was a ultra-soaker. Her sisters would probably never buy her one, so she wasn't going to refuse this one. She took it from Ash. "Thanks, I guess."

"Also, he said to 'tell Misty she could have it.' He said your name - he's not asking who you are anymore. That's a good thing, I think."

Misty supposed it was, though there'd probably been a better way for him to show he'd accepted her.

But despite that, Misty found herself thinking that today had been a good day. Not just because of the ultra-soaker, but because she felt she'd fully become a part of the friend group.

And that concludes this chapter!

I realized I had a chapter that took place before grade two started with all of them hanging out, but it had nothing about Misty meeting the rest of the friend group for the first time, so I wanted to make a chapter where she meets everyone else. And then, the idea for this chapter popped into my head.

So what did you think? Tell me in your reviews!

Thanks for reading!

Bye bye for now! Have a great day, and smile all the way! :)