Ash's Adventure: Girls' Hunter Edition!

by SedaCassie

In a world where PokeGirls are caught alongside Pokemon, and where collecting harems is just sort of the thing to do, young Ash Ketchum begins his journey in...complicated fashion. Now faced with new challenges and triumphs, he adventures forth to finally prove his worth, making many new friends along the way. Many, many lovely friends. Look, it's a PokeGirl harem story.

7. Ash (Finally) Catches a Pokemon!

Ash (Finally) Catches a Pokemon!

Despite being a raging, out-of-control disaster, Ash at least had ended his first day on his Pokemon adventure with a really good sleep.

No dreams had troubled his rest. No monsters and no bad guys had shown up to disturb him. He had slept deep and long through the night, his sore and exhausted body enjoying several hours of uninterrupted peace.

It was perhaps the best sleep he had ever had, and as such, when he finally began to rouse the next morning, he found himself very reluctant to do so.

He was just so comfortable. The simple sleeping bag at once felt more soft and more warm than the finest featherbed topped with layers of satin blankets and pillows of silk. It wrapped him up in its comforting embrace, keeping him safe from the troubles of the world, and he saw no reason to leave its sanctuary.

But today's the day! said a small yet insistent part of his mind. Today you catch your first Pokemon!

Yeah, that's great, came the sleepy reply. But that can wait. I like it here.

…mmm, okay. Fine. This is nice.

Sighing contently, Ash moved his shoulders to snuggle deeper into the sleeping bag and let himself continue to drift long the peaceful river that separate sleep from wakefulness, happy to hover between the two states, lulled along by the gentle breeze and the warm embrace wrapped around him.

There's a hand on my stomach.

Ash's eyes slowly opened. The sudden glare of the morning sun made him wince, so he blinked and squinted until his eyes adjusted. Then he glanced around.

He was still wrapped up in his sleeping bag, snuggled up on his side and facing the spent ash of the campfire. The girls' sleeping bag was gone, as were they, presumably having started their morning earlier than he. The sun was fully in the sky but still not near its zenith, so there still was a lot of morning left.

And there was definitely a hand on his stomach, a hand that had reached up under his shirt to lay itself on his bellybutton, one attached to the arm draped over his waist.

Ash blinked again. Now that the haze of sleep was leaving, he slowly came to realize that he was not alone in the sleeping bag. There was someone cuddled up against his back, leaving things quite cramped. He could feel their slow, easy breathing against the back of his neck, their hair brushing against his own.

Also, they were warm. Not in the way that sharing a small sleeping bag with anyone would make things warm, but much more warm than anyone would be.

Huh.

Careful to not move too suddenly, Ash shifted his arm around to touch the hand that was still under his shirt. It was small and slender, as was the arm attached to it.

The bare arm.

Gulping, Ash moved his hand along the arm to the body that it belonged to, the body that was spooned up against his.

He brushed his fingers along the soft skin of their waist, and down to the curve of their hip, and found no clothes to interrupt his progress. Wincing, he brought his hand back and found himself staring at the horizon, wondering how he had ended up in this position. He no longer wondered who though; that much was obvious. He was mostly concerned with how, and what their intentions were from here.

Then he heard a soft giggle near his neck. "Good morning, Ash," May murmured.

"Uh, good morning!" he said. "I, uh, I didn't expect…"

He felt movement. May's other hand was snaking beneath him, coming in below his waist and slipping up beneath the hem of his shirt to clasp the hand that was already there.

"…er, May?"

"Hmmm?"

"What are, uh, what are you doing?"

May giggled again. "Um, duh."

Ash was already starting to sweat from the extra heat that came from being crammed into a small sleeping bag with a naked fire-type PokeGirl, but now he had added reason as one of May's hands started to slide up his belly toward his chest.

"Uh…uh…uh…how'd. How'd you even get, uh, in, uh, in here?"

May's hand moved back and forth over his pec, caressing it, her finger dancing playfully over his nipple. "Oh, it wasn't hard. You were so completely out of it that all I had to do was slip right in."

"Oh, uh, really?" Ash laughed nervously.

"Mmmm-hmmm. It was nice, you know? And I like having someone else in bed with me. To share warmth with."

"Um, okay." Ash swallowed loudly. Wow, his throat was suddenly very dry! "Well, you certainly, uh, have a lot of, you know, warmth to share. Uh, where's Misty?"

"Already up. She's an early riser, and I'm not. And you looked so comfortable that I figured you wouldn't mind sharing. Of course, your sleeping bag is a little smaller than hers, so I had to, ah, throw some things off in order to fit."

"Oh, did'ja? Hehehe. Um…" Then Ash stiffened. While one of May's hands continued to massage his chest, the other had started to move as well.

To move down, to be exact.

"Uh, wait a minute!" he said in alarm. "I don't know-"

May laughed. "Relax. Misty's already called dibs. I'm just checking to see if the rest of you is awake too."

"Oh. Uh, that's good, I guess, and-Wait, what you mean she's called dibs?"

May just laughed again but didn't answer. And true to her word, her hand did not slide into his jeans, but instead glided over their surface.

That didn't stop her from rubbing though. And oh, it felt good!

"Ah, there he is," she said when she felt the expected bump rise up. "Thought he'd be up before you were. You must've had one heck of a JO session last night."

"Uh, JO what?" Ash said as he anxiously rubbed his thighs together. Then he got it, even if the specific definition eluded him. He sank down lower, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. "Oh, uh, you…knew about that, huh?"

"Duh."

Suddenly May tossed the top of the sleeping bag aside. Apparently she had unzipped it to get in and hadn't bothered zipping it back up, making more like a fold-over blanket.

Despite the two of them seemingly being alone, Ash still squeaked in surprise at the sudden exposure and instinctively covered his crotch, but then May sat up, grabbed him by the edge of his shirt, and yanked him onto his back.

And then she rolled over on top of him.

Ash momentarily forgot how to breathe. He was now staring directly at a pair of lovely blue eyes, mere centimeters away from his face. May was lying right over him, smiling mischievously, the weight of her warm body covering him like a blanket.

"You know, we weren't just teasing you earlier," she said as she crossed her arms over Ash's collarbone and rested her chin on them. "I mean, we definitely were teasing you, but I wasn't lying when I said that you are super cute!"

"Oh, uh, am I?" Ash was fully aware of how dumb he sounded, but it was really hard to concentrate on any sort of conversation, even one as complimentary as this, mainly because of how May's small boobs were squishing into his chest. He could feel the hard little nubs of her nipples poking at him through his shirt.

"Yup! Misty is a lucky one." Still grinning salaciously, May reached up with one hand to tap Ash lightly on the nose. "I mean, so am I, but there's a lot of luck to go around."

"…thanks? Um, well, you're pretty cute, too!"

"Aw, thank you! Glad to see both of you are in agreement!"

"Both of me? What does…oh."

His penis was now fully erect and throbbing, pushing up through the opening of his boxers to rub the tip against the inside of his jeans. It was almost like it was a living being, one desperate to escape and frustrated that it couldn't.

Not helping matters was that May had laid her hips directly on top of Ash's, and her childish mound was lying directly on top of Ash's erection. Only a couple of centimeters of denim and a metal zipper separated her sex from his, and all either one of them had to do was reach over to slide that zipper down, and he would slide right into her.

Almost as if she knew what he was thinking, May glanced back, smirked, and then shook her head. "Sorry, champ. Not today. Rules are rules, after all!"

"Rules? What rules?"

"You'll find out. But until then, I can at least give you a, heh, little preview."

Still lying across him, May started to move her hips, slowly sliding them up and down over the slope of Ash's hardness. A low, throaty groan rumbled out of his chest, and he closed his eyes as that sweet sensation swept through him.

"Hey, don't make me do all the work here," May said. "You can participate a little."

"What?" Ash's eyes snapped open. "What do you-"

May suddenly reached out to both sides and seized Ash's hands by the wrists. Paralyzed by sudden realization, Ash let her draw his arms down to his hips.

Maintaining eye contact, May led Ash's hands up over her own hips and placed them over the curve of her butt. "Now, just hold on there," she said, pressing his palms into a firm cheek each. "And let's get started."

She again slid her hips up and down, grinding her pussy into his bulge. Then she paused for a second, and started swaying her butt back and forth, making sure to get maximum coverage.

Ash could hardly believe that this was happening. Just yesterday morning the only thing that had been on his mind had been making it in time to get his Pokemon starter, and that had led to a whole lot of pain and misery. But now a beautiful naked girl was literally throwing herself on top of him. Was this the result of all the good karma he had built up by everything he had done to save Misty? If so, he had to get more wild Pokemon to chase him!

"Mmmmm," she hummed in pleasure as her hips rotated around and around in a slow circle. "Okay. Okay. Let's…take this up a notch."

Now May was using her legs to separate his. Pushing herself up on her elbows, she scooted back a little bit before again sliding back and forth. Only now she was putting her whole body into it, aggressively pushing forward and back with her forearms, thrusting her groin into his.

Biting his lip to keep from moaning too loudly, Ash closed his eyes in ecstasy. This was probably the greatest thing he had ever felt. If he had known that having a PokeGirl would be this great, he would looked forward to it with greater anticipation!

Also, didn't May say something about Misty having first dibs? Did that mean…

Oh man!

But then, just as things were really reaching a crescendo and his second orgasm was starting to build up, May just…stopped. His eyes still closed, Ash lay still and waited for whatever she was going to do next.

But instead of continuing, May just climbed up on top of him, sitting back on his hips.

Still grasping her butt, Ash opened his eyes, and what he saw made him inhale sharply. May was sitting back on his lap, eyes half-lidded and sensual smile partially open, letting her tiny pink tongue slide out over her lips. And below, her deliciously naked torso was on full display for him. His gaze traveled down from her eyes to her slender shoulders, lingered a bit on the soft mounds and pink tips of her breasts, and then down the glistening muscles of her abdomen, to where her soft pink lips and cute little slit were resting right below his navel.

Though the friction had stopped, Ash almost came right then and there.

"Well, that was fun," May said. She reached back and gave Ash's twitching bulge an affectionate pat. "But let's not push it too far the first time."

And then she slid his hands off of her buttocks and stood up to walk away.

Ash lay still, fingers still cupped at where her butt had been, eyes bulging out in shock as he stared after her. "W-Wait," he said. "That was it? Why'd you stop?"

"Hmmm? Oh, I just wanted to give you a nice little pick-me-up," May said as she picked up her bike shorts and stepped into the legs. She slid up over her hips and adjusted the waistband. "Like I said: Misty's already got first dibs, so I don't want to go too far before she's had the chance."

She stepped into the hoop of her skirt and pulled it up as well. Then she shook out her shirt and slipped her arms into the sleeve-holes.

"First dibs?" Ash scampered up to his feet. "Wait, what does that mean?"

"What do you think, genius?" May snorted as she zipped her shirt up. "She's your PokeGirl! You caught her, and she chose to stay with you? You do know what that means, right?"

Ash slowly breathed out. "So, uh, that's really going to happen?" he said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Well, let me put it this way: if Misty ever suddenly has a very urgent need to talk to you alone, then drop whatever you're doing and go with her. Heck, let me know! I'll keep watch so nobody interrupts!"

Ash sat down very suddenly on one of the logs that ringed the campsite. "Are you guys, uh, going to be like this the whole time we're together?" he said.

May shrugged and sat down on one of the other logs. "Ask me to stop and I'll stop."

"No!" he said hastily. When that got her grinning, he quickly amended, "Um, I mean, it's just, um, I'm not really used to…to all this."

"If you were, then I'd really be worried," May said. "I mean, I know I'm a freak, and I got Misty in touch with her inner freak, but if every kid setting off to be League Champion was as much of a freak as we are, then I'd say something went really wrong."

"Eh, hehehe," Ash said, laughing nervously. Well, at least May was honest about it. "Hey, where is Misty, anyway?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" May said, looking up at the sky while tapping her lower lip in thought. "I guess I didn't! She went to Viridian City."

Ash leapt right to her feet. "Wait, she did what?"

May looked surprised by his reaction. "Whoa, calm down there, lover-boy!"

Ash in fact did not calm down. Calmness had become quite an alien state to him as of late, and news of this new problem was doing nothing to change that. "She went back to Viridian City? Already? But what if Team Rocket is still there? We don't know what happened to Nurse Joy! What if whatever happened to her happens to Misty? What if-"

"Easy, easy," May said. She came over and grabbed Ash by the shoulders. "Ash? Look at me. Look at me, okay?"

Ash did, locking eyes with her for the second time that morning, albeit under much less sensual circumstances. Still, it did help take the edge off his panic, though not by much.

"Misty will be okay," May said. "She's probably the smartest person I know, and she knows how to take care of herself."

Ash believed her, but still couldn't shake his worry. "She got hit by lightning yesterday!"

"And that was like a gazillion-to-one freak accident! Besides, she knows that there's probably danger, so she's going to be super-careful, and she has her own crew of Pokemon with her, and she knows how to use them! Trust me, I've known her a lot longer than you have, and I say that she'll be fine."

"Well, if you say so," Ash said, though he still didn't all that relieved. If anything bad happened to Misty, then he would never forgive himself.

"Cheer up, champ!" May said, sitting down next to him and laying an arm across his shoulder. "If I didn't think she was safe, do you really think I would spend so much time messing with you this morning? No! I'd be there, watching her back, ready to deep-fry the first thing that looked at her wrong."

"I guess you have a point," Ash admitted. "I just, you know, can't help but worry. She's already been through so much because of me."

"Wow, you really are a total sweetheart, aren't you?" May then drew him in and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Misty really is lucky."

His face flushing pink, Ash turned away and laid a hand on the spot she had kissed him. He couldn't help but smile a little though. "You really think so?"

"Sure! I mean, she's had to deal with so many jerks that her first impulse is to just assume any new guy is a jerk, so anyone she actually likes enough to tease has to be something special."

"Um, thanks! She, uh, really is that experienced, is she? I mean as a trainer."

May laughed. "Oh, you have no idea! Honestly, she should've caught you!" Then she frowned, and scratched her head. "Hey, you ever wonder why PokeBoys aren't a thing? I mean, I've never really thought about it before, but you'd think that, with how many girls you have as trainers, at least some would want a few boytoys of their own."

Ash shrugged. Truthfully, like her he had never really thought about it before.

"Well, whatever. Don't sweat it. Misty'll be back before you know it. Hopefully with more food. We still have a little left for breakfast, but it ain't much." She held up a couple ramen cups.

Ash agreed. Now that his excitement by being woken up by a naked May and then subsequently panicked by Misty going off on her own had subsided, he realized that said bowl of chili had really been the only thing he had eaten yesterday. He had rushed out of the house too quickly for breakfast when he realized that he had overslept, hadn't stopped for anything his entire run all the way to Viridian City, and only had time for a cup of tea with Nurse Joy before Team Rocket attacked. And now, after all that excitement with very little sustenance, he was famished.

"Yeah, I didn't think being a Pokemon trainer would be such hungry work," he said as he rubbed his own stomach.

"Oh, it is, it definitely is. That's like the one good thing about human balls. You get to skip all that endless walking."

"What's it like in there, anyway?" Ash said curiously.

"Nothing! It's basically like going to sleep." Then she frowned. "Well, mostly. I keep having these weird flashes of…something whenever I get brought out. Like dreams, you know? And getting put in the Healing Machine is super weird. Like, you're not really awake, but you're not really asleep either, but there's not enough of you to really notice that anything's weird, but just enough to notice that maybe you should be noticing that something's weird. Does that make any sense?"

"No," Ash admitted.

"Yeah, not to me either. Well, it doesn't suck, so there's that." May then leaned back looked up at the sky, her legs stretched out in front of her. "Anyway, I'll boil some water. I mean, better than nothing is still better than nothing."

"Okay. I'll be right back then."

At this, May's sly smile returned. "Oh yeah? And where are you off to then? Gotta work off a little frustration before you start your day?"

Ash shifted his weight in discomfort. "Er, uh, actually, I just really need to pee."

"Oh, right. Well, don't be long. Oh, and…"

She pulled something out of Misty's pack and tossed it to him. Startled, he almost dropped it. "What's this?" he said. In his hands was a ziplocked bag, in which were a couple of grey packages and…a small shovel?

"Toilet kit! Toilet paper, sanitizer wipes, and shovel."

"But-"

"You had chili for dinner, Ash. You're gonna need that."

Making a face, Ash opened the bag and took out the shovel. "What's this for?"

"What do you think? Dig a hole, do you business, cover it up!"

Ash blinked.

"Oh, and the toilet paper and wipes are biodegradable, so just throw them in there with your doody."

"Uh…"

May threw her hands into the air. "For Arceus's sake, did you think there would be public restrooms out in the wild? This is part of being a trainer! Now hurry up!"

Ash might have argued further, but upon brief reflection, he realized that he had no legitimate arguments. Furthermore, May was actually right. He did need to go, and go bad.

Hurrying away from the campsite, he looked around until he found a relatively secluded area in which the ground was mostly dry and free from foliage.

This is, he thought as he hastily dug, so very weird, and so very gross.

But then, May did have a very good point. It was a part of the Pokemon trainer experience. He had signed up for this.

Moments later he had finished up and was wiping his hands with the sanitizer wipes. Sighing, he crumpled them up into a ball and tossed them into the hole with the rest of the waste. Then he used the edge of his shoe to push dirt back into the hole.

"Okay," he muttered under his breath as he worked. "That was…new. Guess I just got to get used to-"

And then he heard the sound of leaves rustling.

Ash froze. It was the same sound from last night, back when he had to, well, take care of a different kind of business entirely.

He scanned his surroundings. Now that it was day, the woods were much less creepy, and the shadows barely concealed anything at all. Still, he once again had the distinct feeling that something was watching him, something nearby.

"Hello?" he said apprehensively.

No answer.

Shaken, he hastily snatched up the remains of the toilet kit and return to camp.

There, May had gotten the fire going again, and was holding a steel kettle to the flames as she hummed to herself. Or, to be more specific, into the flames.

"Uh, doesn't that hurt?" Ash said.

Pausing her song, May shot him quite the look.

"Uh, yeah, I realized it was stupid as soon as I said it," Ash sighed.

"Being fireproof has its perks! Anyway, this is just about done."

The two took a ramen cup each and pulled off the paper lids, and May poured the steaming water into each. From there she provided Ash with a metal fork with a plastic handle and got one for herself. And from there they dug in.

Even with the water being boiling hot, it did not take long to drain the cup, and it took May even less.

"Hopfe Missy comfe backs wit' shum weal food," May mumbled as she slurped up noodles.

Ash agreed, but as hungry as he was, even something so humble as a ramen cup tasted heavenly, though it was not at all adequate, and was finished all too soon.

"Ah, still tasty though," May said, wiping her mouth. She let out a small, dainty burp, and opened the plastic bag they were using for their trash.

Once everything had been cleared up, May reached her arms back behind her head and stretched.

"Oh, that feels good. Anyway, we still have a while before Misty gets back. What'cha wanna do?"

"Me?" Ash was taken back by the question. Since Misty and May were clearly so much more experienced with the whole Pokemon training thing, on both sides, he had expected them to be setting most of the schedule. "Well, uh, I'm not sure."

"Yeah, me neither. Huh." Then May looked at him out of the corner of her eye and grinned.

Ash was coming to know that grin. "Er, what?"

"You know, if I really did get you worked up earlier and you need to blow off some steam, you can."

Ash swallowed. Oh boy, here they went again. "Wh-What do you mean?"

"I mean jack off! Rub one out! Squeeze the one-eyed Ekans! Wring out the Miltank! Choke the Combustken! Mas! Tur! Bate!"

Ash actually had figured out what she meant before she had gone through all of her euphemisms, but it was still extremely weird. Despite the existence of PokeGirls meaning that people had a generally cavilear attitude toward nudity and sexuality, he had still sort of felt that masturbation was, well, kind of dirty, something to be done in secret and spoken of out loud. He had certainly never expected a pretty girl to casually suggest it to him.

But then again, it was May.

"Y-You mean go back into the forest and-"

May snorted. "Oh please. I think we're way past being weird about that. I mean do it here!"

Ash's jaw dropped. "Right here?" he squeaked. "Right now? In fr-front of you?"

"Why not? You've already seen me naked and played with my butt. Heck, I'll even join you!"

At this, all ability to form coherent thought shut down, and Ash could do nothing but sit still and stare.

Clearly enjoying herself, May stood up and pointed down at him. "How about this? You sit there, drop your pants, and get to work milking your boy. And as for me…" She swung her finger over to the log on the opposite end of the campsite, past the remains of the campfire. "I'll sit over there, drop my shorts, and we jack off to each other? That way, we still get to cum, and I keep my promise of not spoiling you!"

"Sp-Sp-Sp-" Ash stuttered, and then violently shook his head. "Uh, no! No thank you! No thank you!"

"Not ready for that yet?"

"No," Ash said, relieved that she understood. "I'm s-sorry, I'm just. Not."

"Hey, don't worry about it! We only just met, after all. No need to rush that much." Then May frowned, one hand on her hip while the other rubbed her chin. "That still leaves us with the problem of what to do until Misty gets back." Then her eyes widened, and she snapped her fingers. "I got it! Let's go get you a Pokemon!"

Ash leapt to his feet in excitement. All right, this sort of activity he could get behind. "You mean it?"

"Of course I do! And there's bound to be plenty around here. That way, we'll have one all ready for Misty to show you the ropes!"

Finally! Ash quickly made sure that he had all of the pokeballs that Nurse Joy had given him at the ready. As for the human balls given to him by Alexander, he had slipped those into a pocket on his backpack, so they wouldn't get in the way again. "All right! Let's-" Then he frowned. Something had just occurred to him. "Wait, the reason kids get starters is that you need to weaken a Pokemon before you catch it. I mean, I guess we can try for a Pidgey, but that didn't turn out so well last time."

May just laughed at that. "Ash, you don't need a starter to help you catch anything!" Striking a pose, she stuck up one hand, index finger and thumb extended like a gunslinger's pistol, and shot him a wink. A little puff of flame shot out of her finger's tip.

"Really?" Ash said, his eyes beaming. "You'd do that?"

"Oh, heck yeah! I've fought plenty of wild Pokemon! It actually almost got me caught once, what with all those singed unconscious Pokemon that kept popping up in the same place. But yes, I will be more than happy to beat the snot out of your first Pokemon!"

"Oh, uh…" Well, when she put it like that, it made her sound…kind of deranged, actually.

Then she grabbed him by the bicep. "What are you just standing there for?" she said as she yanked him off. "Let's go set something on fire!"

…

Misty had never really cared for Viridian City.

Oh, it was a nice enough place. As one of the large cities in Kanto and the last stop before Victory Road, it was specially geared toward serving the needs of competitive Pokemon trainers, from its many hotels to its several well-stocked PokeMarts to having one of the larger PokeCenters in the region, it was a natural draw for people in her business.

But even so, the whole city just had a weird vibe around it, one that Misty never could really explain. Part of it was the notorious elusiveness of its Gym Leader. Granted, the Gym Leaders weren't exactly required to keep correspondence with their colleagues, but a simple introductory message when she had taken over the Cerulean Gym like she had gotten from most of the others would have been nice. But no, in the year and a half since, she still didn't even know his name, or why he kept such erratic hours.

But even beyond that, there was just something off about Viridian City. Every time she passed through, it gave her the most uncomfortable feeling, like she was being constantly watched. It made her skin crawl, and she always opted for camping in the nearby forests instead of availing herself of the many hotels like she would in one of the other towns.

But now she was returning, in part because someone had to replenish their supplies, but also because she had promised to do a little fact-finding. Neither Ash nor May could safely return, so it was up to her to find out what was going on.

She just wished that she had an inkling of what to look out for.

Well, the ideal place to start would be the PokeCenter. After all, it had been where everything had gone down.

Sure enough, when the large building came into view, it was clearly not open for business. The front entrance was barricaded by police, and there were uniformed workmen bustling about it, clearing away debris. Ash hadn't been kidding about the attack. Team Rocket were definitely growing bolder.

Misty considered getting closer, but decided against it. No doubt Team Rocket would have their own people keeping the scene under surveillance, so it was better not to risk getting spotted. Fortunately, the PokeCenter was located near the southernmost border, with the wild grasslands and forests that separated it and Pallet Town just beyond.

Misty scouted about until she found a hill with a suitably tall tree that had climbable branches and hoisted herself up. Pulling a small pair of binoculars out of her pack, she scoped out the scene.

From the look of things, most of the damage was to the glass roof. There was also a shattered window, probably courtesy of that Meowth May had punted. She had been quite insistent on pointing that out, during her own retelling of the night's events. Beyond that, even with her vantage point it was difficult to actually see anything inside. She could make out the front desk, where a couple of inspectors were, well, inspecting. And there did be what looked like, uh…big…scorched…pokeballs? Four of them, pushed into a small pile? No, wait, those were Voltorbs, apparently ones that had fainted from their weird impulse to self-destruct at the first sign of trouble. Well, at least she knew how Team Rocket had blown the roof, for all the good it did her.

All that was very interesting, but didn't tell her anything she didn't already know, so she turned her attention to what was going on outside. Standing right in front of the sliding glass doors in the middle of the barricade was Viridian City's Officer Jenny. That made sense, as every town had a member of the Jenny family serving on its police force, just as every PokeCenter had a Nurse Joy.

Misty considered going down to talk to Officer Jenny, maybe ask a few questions, but then ruled that idea out. If she was able to spy on the PokeCenter, then it stood to reason that Team Rocket probably had their people watching it too, and while she didn't know how much they knew about her connection to Ash and May, she didn't want to take chances.

And then Misty saw something very interesting.

A young woman with bright pink hair was walking toward the PokeCenter, one wearing green sweatpants and an Indigo League tee-shirt. She seemed to be out of sorts, judging by how heavy her steps were, and her shoulders were slumped pretty far too. She was rubbing her head as if it pained her, and every few steps she would let out a wide yawn.

Still, as disheveled as she was, and despite her lack of a uniform, Misty recognized her immediately, or at least recognized who she was. Nurse Joy, probably the same one that had helped May and Ash the night before disappearing.

Hmmm, interesting!

Then, as Misty watched, Nurse Joy walked right past the police barricade, giving Officer Jenny a rather distracted wave. Officer Jenny nodded at her, but quickly turned away.

Misty focused on the green-haired police officer's face. Was it her imagination, or did Officer Jenny look…kind of guilty?

Nurse Joy continued on her way, heading right to the front door. It slid open, letting her in, and though her position prevented her from seeing the whole of the PokeCenter's interior, she did get a good look of what lay right beyond the front door.

Standing within was a man, and as soon as Misty saw his face she just about fell out of the tree.

She knew that man! She had met him! During one of Team Rocket's many attempts to buy out a controlling interest of the Cerulean Gym he had come to talk to her in person, him and two of Team Rocket's criminal thugs, appropriately titled "Grunts." The meeting had been quick, nothing more than an intimidation attempt. He hadn't even given her his name.

But she did know his face. He wasn't dressed in the same outfit as before, but it was him all right: the same aquamarine hair, the same cold eyes, the same look of total disdain for everything around him.

As the doors slid shut, Misty wrinkled her nose and dropped down from the tree. There was no question about it. Something was rotten in Viridian City.

…

Creeping along on tiptoes, Ash and May snuck their way through the field closest to their campsite. It was wide and grassy, with plenty of shallow hills, rocks, and wildflower beds. Closer to the forest was a large lake, full of crystal-clear water.

It was lovely, it was serene, and, due to Kanto law, largely unspoiled by human presence.

In other words, the perfect place to find wild Pokemon.

It was difficult for Ash to keep calm and contain his excitement. It was finally time! He was going to catch his first Pokemon, and for real this time! Okay, so he had showed up too late to pick out a starter? Fine, he would just go find one on his own.

When he had been younger, Ash and Gary would often wander the fields, looking for wild Pokemon as practice for when they could do the real thing, though Gary's grandpa had put a stop to that after Gary started throwing rocks at Pokemon, pretending that they were pokeballs.

Well, Gary wasn't here like he had promised, but May was! And as far as Ash was concerned, he had traded up in every possible way. May was nicer than Gary. May was prettier than Gary. May was…okay, she was far, far crazier than Gary, but nobody was perfect. And most importantly, May could shoot fireballs from her feet and fists! That was the big difference-maker. If any were too strong to be caught, then well, she would certainly take care of that! And if they encountered anything as cankerous as those Spearows, then they would have a spinning inferno to contend with!

And Ash could already see her first target. Further down the field was a spot fairly clear of grass, where the ground was mostly dirt and rocks. And treading morosely over that patch was a small creature with a brown body; a short, stubby tail; and a cracked skull pulled down over its head like a helmet. Tearstains darkened the skull around the eye-sockets, and it was dragging a bleached femur behind it as it plodded along, weeping to itself.

"There!" Ash said, pointing. "A Cubone. Let's go for that."

"A Cubone, huh?" May said, peering over his shoulder. "You sure? Because I hear they get really annoying after a few days, what with all that crying."

Ash shrugged. "Well, I mean, wouldn't you if you lost your mom?"

"I ran away from home, Ash. So…no."

Ash winced. Family drama, whoops.

"And I definitely wouldn't stick her skull over my head. Why do they do that, anyway?"

"Uh, don't know." Ash pulled out a pokeball and expanded it into his palm. "But this is where we start, so I need you to-"

"Beat the tears outta him, got it! Be right back!"

"No, May, wait!" Ash cried, but May had already bounded right over him and was racing over to the Cubone. Ash watched in despair as her red aura became visible.

"Hey, BONEHEAD!" May called.

The Cubone stopped its wandering and weeping and looked up in confusion.

"Eat this!"

Ash slapped a hand over his face as May leapt into the air, flipped her body around, and came at the Cubone feet-first, her legs bursting into flames.

May's aim was perfect. The soles of her blazing feet struck the now very confused Pokemon right in the chest and launched it sailing, out of the bare patch, out of the field, and far into the forest while it wailed, "CuuuuuuuuuBOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNE!"

And then it was gone.

Sighing, Ash shook his head and jogged over to where May was standing and staring in surprise at where the Cubone had disappeared.

"Uh…" she said. She glanced at him and winced. "Oops."

"May, come on!" Ash complained. "I'm the trainer here, and you're supposed to do what I say! If you keep blaze kicking every Pokemon we come across into orbit, then I'll never catch anything!"

"Right, right." May held up her palms with a sheepish grin. "Sorry, champ. Won't happen again."

"Well, it's okay," Ash said after a bit. "I guess it's not that big of a deal. Except for that Cubone, I guess."

"Ah, it'll be fine," May said with a dismissive wave. "You wouldn't believe how resilient Pokemon are. Seriously, you can barbeque one with the heat of the sun and it'll just walk it off in a few minutes."

Ash wondered how much of that was true. Certainly, Pokemon were capable of taking punishment that would kill a human, but there had to be limits.

Then again, PokeGirls gained the same resiliency as Pokemon, so maybe May knew what she was talking about. He had watched in awe and horror as PokeGirls on televised battles were set on fire, electrocuted, buried in rocks, and pummeled with fists capable of leveling mountains, and came out of it little worse for the wear. Of course, all of that still hurt; May's agony after being bitten by that Sableye was proof of that. But it wouldn't be nearly as debilitating as it would be for anyone else.

Ash considered inquiring about the subject further, but then decided against it. They were there to find Pokemon, and since his own PokeGirl had made it clear that she wasn't going to be participating in any battles, he supposed that it wasn't really all that relevant to his career choice.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go see if we can find something else."

May saluted. "Aye, aye, cap'n!"

…

All in all, Misty prided herself on being a smart girl, but there were times in which she wondered if that was true.

For example: how could a ten year old girl maintain control of a major gym, successfully take on several challengers, all the while staving off the efforts of an insidious criminal organization to take over her enterprise? The answer: by being smart. By approaching each battle, whether it be from trainers seeking her badge or the persistent efforts of Team Rocket, with a battle plan in mind and sticking too it, all the while not letting herself be intimidated.

But there were times in which she wondered if she was letting her smarts allow her to do some really dumb things. For example: while she had been successful in holding off Team Rocket so far, some could argue that the actual smart thing would be to not fight them at all, to just let them have the darned gym and walk away before she ended up on the PokeGirl black market. After all, they had overcome Gym Leaders that were older and more experienced than her. It was said that when they had approached the Saffron City Gym Leader with a threat and an offer, she had rolled over immediately and given them everything they wanted, and she was rumored to have psychic powers! There were those who mocked the Saffron City Gym Leader for being a pushover and a coward, but others pointed out that as a psychic, she would know things that other people wouldn't, so wasn't that an indication that Team Rocket was even more dangerous than they appeared.

This was one of those moments. On the one hand, she was pretty sure that she was approaching her one-girl investigation of Ash's harrowing experiences the night before smartly: staying out of sight, moving with caution, and quickly connecting the dots. On the other hand, it could also be argued that the real smart thing to do would be to not investigate it at all, to stay well away from Viridian City. She had already confirmed that Team Rocket was in fact in town, and had some kind of hold on the cops. Pushing things further only increased her chances of being disappeared.

And above all, she almost definitely should not be following Nurse Joy home. She had seen Nurse Joy walk right past those crooked cops and enter the same room as someone she knew was with Team Rocket. And she had seen that same Nurse Joy walk right out again. That meant that she was either with Team Rocket (sort of unlikely, given what Ash and May had told her), or they had some means of controlling her. If she had really disappeared last night while waiting for the crooked cops to show up but was walking around the next morning, then it stood to reason that they had done something to her to make sure she wasn't a threat. So shadowing her was probably a very, very bad idea.

And yet, here Misty was, following Nurse Joy as she headed home. She was doing it smartly: keeping a sizeable distance between them, hiding behind things like telephone poles and mailboxes, and keeping an eye out for anyone that might be following her, but the actual smart thing was probably to not follow her at all. But she was. And it was probably a bad idea.

As it turned out, Nurse Joy lived pretty close to the PokeCenter, which was probably why she had walked to work instead of drove. Misty followed her into a nice, quiet suburban neighborhood and watched from the far end of the street as she entered a pretty little house with white walls and a bed of pink roses.

Misty stood where she was, considering her next move. Should she walk up to Nurse Joy's house and knock? Was Team Rocket watching her house? Was Team Rocket watching her entire neighborhood? Had Misty already been spotted? Should she just leave now? But if she left, what had been the point of trailing Nurse Joy in the first place? Was she wasting her time? Should she just-

"Hey, girlie!"

Oh, right. And then there was this guy.

Sighing, Misty turned to find herself confronted with the infuriated visage of one Gary Oak.

It seemed that young master Gary's fortunes hadn't improved much since she had last seen him (was it really just yesterday? It felt like weeks ago!), and he was putting the bulk of the blame on her shoulders. His face was beet-red, and he was hunched over with his fist clenched and shaking. Behind him was his troupe of cheerleaders, all of them with their arms folded, all of them shooting Misty identical hateful glowers. The chauffer stood off to one side, her hand on her hip and her expression dispassionate, but Misty still felt the malice radiating off of her.

All taken together, their collective hatred of her quite frankly filled her heart with cheer.

"Oh, hey!" she said in an obnoxiously bubbly voice. "It's…you! Hello, you!"

"Don't talk smart with me, you know darn well who I am!" Gary cried, thrusting a finger at her finger. "And you wrecked my car! You'll pay for that!"

"Uh-huh," Misty said, entirely unmoved by his wrath. She shrugged. "Well, you cost me my bike, so I guess the only thing to do is call it even." She moved his finger aside with her and started to walk past him. "So if you'll excuse me…"

Gary snapped his finger back into place. "Oh, no! You're not walking away from me! When I said you'll pay, I meant literally! That car was brand new! Do you have any idea how much it costs?"

As if on cue, all the cheerleaders pulled out their pom-poms and started angrily shaking them, all the while chanting, "You ruined our day, flipped it like a switch! So now you'll pay, you stupid little bi-"

"Like I care!" Misty planted a hand onto Gary's shoulder and gave him a hard shove. Not expecting this sudden show of aggression, he actually stumbled half-a-step back before recovering his balance.

"You were trying to catch me!" Misty went on. "Which is against pretty much every single rule, when number one, you're not supposed to be catching PokeGirls at your age! Number two, I'm not supposed to be caught at my age! Number three, the laws specifically state that a girl can only be caught after being defeated fair and square in a Pokemon battle!"

"Ha!" Gary folded his arms and scoffed. "Like anyone would believe a little shrimp like you!"

Misty felt a persistent twitch start to develop in her right eye. "What. Did. You. Call. Me?"

"Do you even know who I am?" Gary went on, pointing a boastful thumb at himself. "Do you have any idea?"

"Does it look like I care?" Misty retorted as she took an angry step forward. "You could be the head of the League for all it mattered!"

"Well, I'm close enough!" Gary snapped back. "I'm-"

"The grandson of Professor Oak! Yeah! I know! Wasn't hard to figure out!"

"Ha, so you do know who I am!" Gary crowed. "So if I were you, I'd be talking to me just a little more respectfully, or my Gramps will-"

Then he seemed to lose his train of thought, courtesy of the ornate license Misty was thrusting into his face, the one that held her name, her official title, her credentials, and had one of her Cascade Badges pinned to one end.

"Well, I'm Misty Waterflower, the Cerulean City Gym Leader!" she shot back. "That means I'm actually someone important, instead of just being related to someone important!"

Now, Gary had put Misty through a lot of pain. It was because of him that she had had to flee downriver, losing her bike and several other personal items in the process. It was because of him that she had ended up trapped in the storm without an umbrella. It was because of him that she had wound up getting attacked by the Spearow flock along with Ash. It was because of him that she had almost died from getting struck by lightning. It was because of him that she had wound up as a PokeGirl, which meant that her life's path had radically changed. It was because of him that she was quite possibly in very real danger from Team Rocket.

But all of that was almost made worth it just by seeing the blood drain from his face as he slowly came to process who she was.

"You're…You're a Gym Leader?" Gary gawked.

"That's right! And if you don't want me calling up League Headquarters to report some loudmouthed idiot illegally hunting underage girls while being underage himself, I'd shut up right now!" Misty snapped her license case shut and stuffed it back into her pocket. "And if you want half a chance of even challenging for the Cascade Badge, then you should walk away right now! Otherwise, the second you show your face in my town, I'm kicking you right out!"

The cheerleaders all gasped in unison. "Holy crap! What a twist! We were not expecting this!"

As for Gary, he was turning so red and shaking so much that Misty half-expected to see actual steam start shooting out of his ears. "You…a Gym Leader…how…is that…" Then he made a sound like an overheating tea kettle and then stomped past her. "Come on, girls! Let's go get a new car!"

Misty couldn't help but smirk as she watched the lot of them retreat. Gary might be Ash's personal rival, but she was taking a real vested interest in humiliating him as well. She was still pretty salty about the loss of her bike, to say nothing of the whirlwind of events Gary had kicked off by going after her.

The water-type cheerleader, the one that had almost swam after her before, looked over her shoulder to glower as Misty. In response, Misty waggled her fingers at her and blew her a kiss. The cheerleader scowled and turned away in a huff.

Then Misty frowned. Maaaaayyyyybe it hadn't been such a great idea to tell Gary who she was, especially since she was trying to keep it from Ash. It had been a sort of spur of the moment thing, and it had done the trick of shutting Gary up, but now that he knew, he could probably use that knowledge to cause trouble.

Well, she would have to deal with that when it happened. Misty turned to leave.

And nearly ran straight into a young man coming from the other direction.

"Hey!" Misty snapped in indignation. She had been standing still! Why hadn't he seen her? "Watch where you're-"

And then she recognized him, and her voice trailed off.

He was of medium height and had a slight build, with poofy green hair and intelligent dark eyes. He was dressed a little too finely for the neighborhood, wearing a silken brown suit with gold and scarlet trim, complete with a pale green cravat, but he wore it well. Over one shoulder was an expensive traveler's back, and he was walking with the assistance of a black hiking stick.

Then the young man tiled his head and frowned. "Misty? Is that you?"

Misty sighed. Then, plastering what she hoped looked like an authentically friendly smile on her face, she waved and said, "Oh, hi there, Professor Conifer!" A pause, and then, "So…fancy seeing you here!"

"Well, the same," the young man said dubiously. "And…again. Please call me Bill. I'm still not really used to the whole 'Professor' thing."

Bill Conifer was considered Kanto's "other" Pokemon professor, even if he did actually come from Sinnoh. A former apprentice of Samuel Oak, he was famed for both his research into Pokemon physiology and psychology as well as his genius as an inventor, which had led to him becoming one of the youngest Pokemon Professors in the world, beating even Professor Kukui of Alola's record. Misty had been introduced to him the previous year at the League Summit, and honestly liked him more than most of her colleagues, mainly because he was closer to her age than most, even if that did come out to being around twice and a half again as old as her. At least he didn't treat her like a kid, which even the ones that were younger than him did.

Still, while Bill was a lot more tolerable than most, that didn't mean Misty was pleased to see him. Drawing League attention was something she could do without at the moment.

"Sure! Sure. Bill." Another pause, and then Misty put her hands on her hips and clicked her tongue. "Welp! Nice seeing yah, but I've got to run!" She started to stroll off, humming loudly.

Bill waited until she had almost walked all the way past him before remarking, "So, why were you stalking the local Nurse Joy?"

Misty froze in mid-step. Wincing, she casually scratched the back of her head and said with a nervous laugh, "Ah, wh-whaddya mean, ha ha ha? I'm just…out for a walk, you know? It's such a lovely day!"

Bill clearly wasn't buying it. "Was that Sam's grandson I just saw you arguing with?"

"Oh, so you've met him!" Yet another pause. "Kind of a jerk, isn't he?"

Bill shot her a knowing look. "Does this have anything to do with the attack on the PokeCenter last night?"

Oh, crap, crap, crap. Out of all the people she could have run into, it had to be one of the Professors, one renowned for his eye for detail.

"It…uh…" Misty stammered, knowing full well how suspicious she sounded but not knowing how else to respond. "Maybe?"

Bill sighed. Then he shook his head and smiled. "Can I buy you lunch?"

…

"May!" Ash jostled May's shoulder and pointed to the sky. "Look!"

After their failure to acquire the Cubone, Ash and May had started poking around near the borders to Viridian Forest. May had cautioned against going in until Misty came back, and given what he had heard about the place, Ash had agreed. One did not enter Viridian Forest intending to take a light stroll, and there were plenty of wild Pokemon outside of its dark paths.

And he had just spotted a prime contender for his first catch.

It was a bug-type, one with a fat black-and-yellow striped abdomen that ended in a wicked stinger. It had four spindly limbs, two of which were topped by razor-sharp cones, and a sleek yellow head with two dangling antennae and two large red eyes.

"A Beedrill?" May said, shielding her eyes from the sun.

Ash nodded. He had heard of Beedrills living in Viridian Forest, so this one must have just wandered out. What was more, it was a fully evolved Pokemon, one that had already progressed two whole stages, gaining strength, experience, and ability to do so! Starting off with one of those would be fantastic.

"Yeah, and it's bug-type, so it'll be weak to your fire attacks!" Ash said. "You'll be able to take it out easily!" He started to run after it. "Come on, let's go-"

May snagged him by the sleeve. "Uh, you might want to rethink that."

"Huh? Why?"

"A couple of reasons," May said. She started ticking off points on her fingers. "First, like you said, it's a bug-type. And Misty has this thing about bug-types."

"Thing?" Ash stared blankly at her. "What kind of thing?"

"I mean they scare the jibblies out of her."

Ash couldn't help but snicker a little at that. "Really? Misty's afraid of bugs?"

"Uh-huh, she is. So she's probably not going to appreciate you bringing back a really big bug. Especially since you want her to teach you how to train it!"

Ash frowned. "But it's my journey, isn't it? Can't I catch the Pokemon I want to catch?"

"Sure, you can, but I'm just saying that if you want my main girl to show you the ropes, then freaking her out on day one probably isn't the greatest idea. Especially seeing how you almost got her killed on day zero."

"Oh, uh, huh." Ash awkwardly toed a rock. "Right, I guess I didn't think of that…"

"Also, wild Beedrills are never far from the rest of their hive, right? My dad has this friend that comes over a lot, and he's majorly into bug-types, won't shut up about them! And he says that if you see a wild Beedrill out by itself, then it's probably either a sentry or a scout, and attacking it will just bring the rest of the swarm down on you. I don't really feel like getting stung to death, do you?"

Ash thought back to the Spearow flock from the day before. They had been bad enough, but if it were angry Beedrills after him…

"Ugh," he said with a shiver. "Okay. Your point is taken."

May sympathetically patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll find something soon. I guarantee it!"

"Right," Ash breathed. He nodded. "Right! Just got to be positive! It's only a matter of time!"

"That's the spirit! Now, let's go!"

The two moved away from Viridian Forest and back to the smaller groves. "By the way, May," Ash said as he scanned the underbrush while May focused on the treetops. "How'd you know that you were a fire-type after Misty caught you? Is it something you just know, or…"

"Nope!" May said as she stood with one hand on her hip, the other shielding her eyes as she surveyed the skies. "Had to find that out the old-fashioned way!"

Ash paused. Though they had kind of just met, he felt that he had learned enough about May to know where this was going. "You burned something down, didn't you?"

"Torched my dad's garage! Last thing I did before I took off! I mean, I didn't mean to, but I wasn't going to stop it once it started happening. The fires were just so pretty, you know? Plus, he had that ugly project car that he was always-"

Ash abruptly stuck up his hand, calling for silence. "Shhh!"

May paused, and then hurried over to his side. "What is it?" she whispered. "Did you hear something?"

Ash nodded. He pointed toward a particularly thick cluster of trees not far off.

From there, the sound of rhythmic smacking could be heard, like something was getting hit over and over. This was punctuated by strained growls and grunts.

Something was fighting. And since Ash could hear no trainer yelling commands, that probably meant that it was a battle between two wild Pokemon.

Which meant if he proceeded with caution and played his cards right, he might be able to catch them both.

"C'mon," he whispered, and he and May hunched over and crept over to the copse.

The thumping and soft moans didn't stop even as they grew closer. Good. That meant that they hadn't been detected. Though come to think of it, those sounds did sound weirdly familiar, and the memory they were jogging didn't have anything to do with Pokemon. Actually, it sounded a lot like those videos Gary had shown him when-

Then the trees opened up, and Ash froze in place.

There were no Pokemon in the copse. Rather, there was a woman, one who was…well, dressed is probably the wrong word, but she was clad from the top of her head down to her feet in a restricting outfit that was black, shiny, and almost impossibly skintight, accentuating every curve, all save for her long teal hair, which stuck out of a hole in the top of the suit's head; her nose; her mouth, which was covered with the same kind of red ball and strap May had been wearing the day before; and her breasts, which were hanging free. Her arms were bound behind her back, her legs seemingly strapped together, making it impossible for her to move on her own, and she didn't even have eye-holes, rendering her sightless.

An open slit was in the suit right over her groin, and it was into that slit that a young man with no pants on was thrusting his hips, hence the smacking sound. And as it turned out, he was the one growling while she was the one grunting.

Oops.

His face now bright pink and burning, Ash glanced over to May, who glanced back at him and sighed. Then she tilted her head back the direction from which they came, and Ash nodded.

The two crept back as quietly as they could. Fortunately the older trainer was so wrapped up with playtime with his PokeGirl that he had yet to notice that their privacy had been disturbed.

And then Ash's foot came down on an acorn, which crunched loudly beneath his sole.

Uh-oh.

Both the trainer and his PokeGirl ceased copulating and turned around. Predictably, the trainer looked none too pleased when he saw the pair of kids crouching nearby. Even the PokeGirl looked pissed, and her entire face was covered, including her eyes, so Ash didn't know how she was able to see them.

"Er, hi!" May said, waving awkwardly. "Don't mind us! We'll be on our-"

"Get out of here, you little brats!" the trainer roared. At the same time, the PokeGirl started to glow yellow.

They didn't need to be told twice. May seized Ash's hand and practically yanked him off his feet and dragged him away.

As they fled, they heard a sound like a generator powering on. A moment later the irate trainer cried in alarm, "Michelle, wait! I'm still inside-"

A moment later there was a thunderclap, and a tree exploded right behind them.

In the silence that followed, they could hear the trainer moaning in pain while the PokeGirl made sounds of distress and remorse.

Ash looked at May and winced. "Oops," he said.

May returned the expression. "Ouch."

…

The place Bill took her two was a retro café several blocks away from the PokeCenter. He ordered for the two of them (a turkey sub with chips and a diet soda for her, and just a black coffee for him), and took their food to an isolated booth.

Misty sat down first. She was as stiff as a board, her back ramrod straight, her knees bents at a ninety-degree angle, her legs pressed together, and her hands on her thighs. Though she didn't move her head, she couldn't keep her eyes from flitting this way and that, wary for any signs of attack.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Bill…Well, no, it was exactly that. She liked Bill just fine, probably more than she liked other members of the Indigo League. But she still barely knew him. There had been rumors that Team Rocket had already infiltrated the League at the highest levels, and considering their persistence in trying to acquire her gym, she could believe it. Maybe Bill was one of them. Maybe she was in very real danger now.

Bill didn't sit down right away. Instead, he removed a pokeball from his pocket, expanded it, and opened it, letting the Pokemon inside materialize on the floor beneath the table. Misty glanced down. It was a little yellow biped with a pointy head, pointy tail, and eyes shut tight, one who was leaning back against the table leg. It appeared to be fast asleep.

"There," Bill said as he sat down across from Misty. "Abra will foul up any recording devices and muddle any psychics in the area, as well as garble our voices to anyone not within the immediate area. We can speak freely."

Misty started. "Wait, huh?"

Bill smiled proudly. "The very first Pokemon I ever caught was an Abra. People often underestimate them because they spend so much time sleeping, but they are actually far more aware of their surroundings than most wide awake humans! And their capabilities are really quite fascinating. They will unconsciously seek out any sort of disturbance that might interrupt their rest, whether it be cognitive, electrical, or audible, and produce a psychic field that not only muffles the disturbances, but also causes any other possible disturbances to instinctively steer clear! Some have even theorized that the reason that they spend so much time sleeping is that generating this field takes up so much energy that…"

His voice trailed off when he saw the blank look on Misty's face.

"My apologies," Bill said. "When you love something you just want to talk about it all the time."

"Uh-huh," Misty said. "But, um, about why you wanted to buy me lunch…"

"Right, of course!" Bill removed the lid from his cup of coffee, carefully tore open a sugar packet, and slowly poured it into the steaming dark brown liquid, giving it a few shakes at the end to dislodge as many sugar crystals as possible. And then he did it again. And again. "As it so happens, I am on my way to the Indigo League Headquarters to discuss the design and implementation of a new Pokemon storage system. Perhaps you've heard of it? It made the cover of PokeTech Weekly last month! Essentially what it does it-"

"Bill," Misty sighed.

"Er, right." Now that six packets of sugar had gone into his coffee, Bill then opened the first of the small cups of cream with as much precision and care as he had the sugar, and when he poured it into his coffee, he did so in a clockwise motion, dribbling the white liquid out a little at a time. "Anyway, I thought that I'd stop by the local PokeCenter on my way to see if I had any messages, but when I did, the place was closed. It was really quite surprising, as PokeCenters never close unless something terrible has happened. And when I learned that it was due to an attack by Team Rocket agents, I was quite a bit taken back."

"Really?" Misty tilt her head to one side and frowned. To her, attacking a PokeCenter sounded completely in character with what she knew of Team Rocket. "Why?"

Bill seemed ill at ease. He cupped his coffee with both hands, staring down into it as his thumbs beat against the cup's sides. "Well, to be honest, there is a reason why I chose a public venue for us to talk," he said at last. "And why I'm employing Abra in this manner. And that is…there have been, oh, shall we say, some very dark rumors about Team Rocket's activities here in Viridian City."

Well, that didn't sound good at all. "Wait, what kind of rumors, exactly? Because no one told me anything."

"Well, I suspect that's because you're still a child."

Misty blinked.

Moments later Bill had jerked as far back in his seat as he could go as thirty-two kilograms of pure redheaded rage was practically throwing herself across the table to snap in his face.

"Hey, what do you mean, I'm still a child?" Misty demanded, thrusting a finger into Bill's chest. "I'm an official Gym Leader! I worked hard to become one, and I think I deserve the same respect all the other Gym Leaders get!"

Sweating visibly, Bill held up his hands and said, "No offense intended, but-"

Intended or not, Misty had taken quite a lot of offense. "Well, this child has been holding them off from getting into Cerulean City all by myself, and nobody in the League ever offered to help!" She jabbed her finger into his chest in time with each word. "So if they're going to keep secrets from me just because I'm a kid, then they've got another thing coming!"

"Misty, I do not disagree with you!" Bill looked around nervously. "And please, sit down."

Though she was still quite indignant, Misty glanced at the rest of the dining area as well. Most of the other patrons hadn't noticed her outburst, probably thanks to Abra's constant interference, but one or two were looking their way in curiosity.

Sitting back down, Misty sulkily folded her arms. "Still a child. Psh. As if any of those old codgers ever did half the stuff I've done when they were my age."

Sighing, Bill settled back down as well. "Well, to hear some of the stories surrounding Agatha…"

Misty shivered. Agatha was a senior member of the Indigo League's governing body and was, to put it mildly, extremely creepy. Every League meeting was spent in part trying to avoid the old woman's attention.

"Let me attempt to rephrase my earlier comment," Bill said. "It is entirely possible that you were not told of Team Rocket's suspected activities in Viridian City out of fear that doing so would only attract more attention to yourself. Given that Team Rocket has already expressed interest in your gym, perhaps it was best that they not consider you more of a threat than they already did."

Misty was less than impressed with that explanation. "Oh, that right?" she said, propping her elbow on the table and leaning her cheek against her palm. "Okay. So…where was this concern when Team Rocket sent their thugs right into my office to try to intimidate me, huh?"

At this, Bill sat up straight in shock. "They did what?"

Despite everything, Misty was enjoying being the one to drop truth-bombs on a senior member of the League. "Yeah. And you want to know what else? The man leading them, the one that did all the talking? I saw him standing right inside that busted PokeCenter earlier, right in there with the police and everything. So, uh, any secrets that those wise grown-ups might be keeping from me to protect me? Kind of too late!"

"I had no idea," Bill said, slowly breathing out.

"And neither do I, apparently." Misty rolled her wrist at him, indicating for him to continue. "So please, Bill. Catch me up on the rumors about what Team Rocket's been up to here in Viridian City." She then glanced to her yet untouched food, shrugged, and peeled the wrapping away from the sandwich and began to eat.

Looking quite uncomfortable, Bill took several sips of his coffee, probably to help steady his nerves. "You're right, you ought to know," he said at last. "I just wish I knew more to tell you." He set the cup down and nudged it off to the side. "You see, while there's been talk floating around about the degree to which Team Rocket has established control in various cities here in Kanto…you know, you hear talk of Saffron City and Fuchsia City and a bit about Celadon City, it's said that they exercise more control here in Viridian City than any other town. Obviously I don't know to what extent, but I've been warned that, should I ever need to stop by that I ought not linger."

Misty blinked. She of course knew about what had happened in Saffron City, about how Team Rocket had made the same aggressive efforts to gain control over that gym and the local Gym Leader had just rolled over for them, but this was new. "You're kidding. Viridian City?" To her, owing to its close proximity to Victory Road, she had assumed that Viridian City would be something of a save haven.

"I know!" Bill said. "Given it's abnormally low crime rate it seems like nonsense, But I have to admit, there always has been something off about this place, something I've never really been able to put my finger on." Frowning, he rubbed his chin as he thought. "I asked Sam about it once, and all he would tell me that there was a reason why he never made the journey up here, despite it being so close to his hometown."

"Wow," Misty said. She pulled the bag of chips open and started munching. "So, uh, is that why the local Gym Leader is never in town, or never shows up for League meetings?"

Bill's mouth set in a straight line. "If a criminal organization known for stealing powerful Pokemon and kidnapping PokeGirls had an inordinate amount of influence in your town, and you were in possession of large numbers of both, would you want to stick around any longer than you had to?"

"Jeez, and here I thought that he was just lazy," Misty muttered. She had always held her reclusive, unnamed colleague in some level of contempt. Gym Leaders were supposed to be public figures in her opinion, so if a kid like her could do the job of a Gym Leader, then there was no excuse for a veteran Gym Leader to shirk his duties like that. But in light of this new information, she kind of felt sorry for him. Maybe Team Rocket had gotten to him somehow, kidnapping a beloved PokeGirl and torturing her as a means of leverage. Maybe his reclusiveness was a way to prevent it from happening again.

"Well, never actually having met the man, I cannot say," Bill said with a shrug. "But all that having been said, I have to bring things back to the original point. After arriving at the PokeCenter and learning about the attack, I was about to simply be on my way, but then I so happened to notice the local Nurse Joy passing by." He raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think much of it, until I saw what had to be the Cerulean City Gym Leader shadowing her, and making, um, an effort to not be seen."

Misty scowled. "Why'd you say 'effort' all weird like that?"

"You aren't very good at it," Bill said bluntly.

Despite knowing that he was kind of right, she still felt insulted. "She didn't see me though!"

Bill sighed. One shoulder lifted in a half-shrug. "Misty, why are you here? Why were you following her?"

Well, he was finally cutting straight to the point. Fortunately, Misty could tell him enough of the truth without spilling the more, well, sensitive details. "All right, all right. Look, some friends of mine were in that PokeCenter when it got hit, and the Nurse Joy helped them get away, but she up and disappeared right after they escaped. So they were worried about her, and we didn't think it was safe for them to go back to the PokeCenter so soon, so I volunteered to check things out."

Bill thoughtfully pursed his lips. "And that's when you noticed something you recognized from Team Rocket inside of the PokeCenter."

"Yes."

"And you saw Nurse Joy, the same one that was supposedly in danger, go into the PokeCenter and come out again, and felt that something was up."

Good, he was buying her explanation. True, she wasn't lying, but there were details that she'd rather he not pick up on. "Exactly."

Then Bill sighed. "Oh dear."

Misty's ears pricked up. There was something very troubling in how he said that. "'Oh dear' what?"

Before answering, Bill once again glanced around the room and, though he probably didn't need to, lowered his voice. "Misty, I think it's within your best interests to leave immediately."

"Why?"

"While you were tailing Nurse Joy, did you by any chance notice anything off about her? That she seemed a little…addled?"

Misty thought back. Yes, Nurse Joy did seem to be pretty out of it, like she had just woken up. Except it had been late in the morning at the time, plenty of time to get some coffee and ready one's self for the day. Besides, Misty had visited many PokeCenters early in the morning, and the Nurse Joy on duty was always bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

"Yeah, come to think of it, she did seem kind of out of it," she said.

"Not something one would expect by a member of a family specifically trained to be quick-thinking and observant," Bill pointed out.

Misty shrugged. "Maybe she's just not a morning person."

Bill sighed. "What you saw is known as Cognitive Interference-Induced Confusion, more commonly known as a psychic hangover, a telltale sign of psychic manipulation."

Misty felt shards of ice shiver down her back. "Hold on, what?"

"Psychic manipulation is something of a messy process. Most psychics, be they Pokemon, PokeGirls, or just someone with enhanced cognitive abilities, can form some level of an empathetic link, but it rarely accomplishes more than getting a general reading of the target's emotions, maybe a stray thought or two. Those with more advanced abilities are capable of a deeper connection, such as causing the target to enter a temporary hypnotic state, inducing sleep, or even consciously taking control of another's body. Mental suggestions require great amounts of power and training before they can be done effectively, lest they end up accidentally doing cerebral damage to the victim." Bill spread his hands. "And when it comes to things like memory erasure and replacing them with false memories, well, it can be done, and done effectively, but it leaves the victim groggy and listless for quite some time afterward."

Misty swallowed. "So, what you're saying is…"

"If the local Nurse Joy did indeed help your friends escape a Team Rocket attack only to mysteriously disappear but then show up alive and well this morning and entered a damaged PokeCenter that contained a ranking member of Team Rocket and walked out again, then that suggests a couple of possibilities." Bill held up a single finger. "One, that she was working with Team Rocket and was in on the attack, and simply wished to limit casualties, and thus hustled any nearby children out as quickly as she could."

"No," Misty said, shaking her head. "Nuh-uh. Nope. They told me that Team Rocket was trying to get her as much as they were trying to get my friends, and that she was actually calling the police when she vanished."

"Then that brings us to the second possibility," Bill said, holding up a second finger. "That she was captured, but rather than catching her as a PokeGirl and vanishing her into the black market network, they sought to cover their tracks by psychically erasing her memories of last night and sending her home, thereby avoiding any suspicion that might arise if the local Nurse Joy were to simply vanish without a trace."

"That's, uh…" Misty ran a shaking hand through her carrot-orange hair. "That's even scarier, actually. But wait, if Team Rocket is so powerful in this city, why attack the PokeCenter?"

Bill spread his hands and shrugged. "I haven't the foggiest idea. This is merely speculation, after all."

"Wow. Um, huh."

"Which is why I feel that it's best if you just leave. We do not know the extent of Team Rocket's operations, and you are already known to them. If they catch you meddling in their affairs…"

He left the rest of the sentence unspoken, but that was okay. Misty didn't need to know the details of what they would do to her. She had already heard plenty of stories already.

"You're probably right," she sighed. "Crap. I guess I should've done my shopping before I started checking things out."

Bill made a face. "Really? Misty, I know that young girls value having a diversity of fashionable outfits, but is this really the-"

Misty slapped a palm across her own face in exasperation. "No, Bill! I mean for supplies! You do remember that most trainers get from place to place by walking, right? And you need things like food and toilet paper and potions and a dozen other things, right?"

At least Bill had the good graces to look abashed. "Ah, of course," he said sheepishly. "That was presumptuous of me. I apologize."

Misty shrugged and sighed.

"Well, all right. In for a Wailmer, in for a Wailord. Allow me to accompany you for the rest of your errands. Abra should be able to keep prying eyes off of you, at least while you're in Viridian City."

"You're too gracious, gallant sir," Misty smirked. "But if you insist."

Bill nodded. "Now, shall we talk about the part you're not telling me?"

Misty's smirk froze in place. "Uh, excuse me?"

Bill folded his hands in front of his face as he gazed at her with calm but unwavering eyes. "I noticed that in the story you told me, there was one significant detail that you left out. Is there any particular reason why you're a PokeGirl now?"

…

Ash couldn't believe his luck.

After wandering around a bit, Ash and May had found a large lake, not far from where they were camping. May hadn't been thrilled about the water, but Ash insisted that they give it a look anyway. After all, lakes were known to attract a wide variety of Pokemon, both within and without.

And then they had seen it.

It couldn't be.

But it was.

There, poking around some rocks on the shore of the lake, was a Squirtle.

An actual Squirtle, the most coveted Pokemon of the three choices he could have gotten from Professor Oak. The one Gary had taken and rubbed Ash's face in.

And now here one was, out in the wild, his for the taking. It was almost too good to be true.

After scoping the scene out, Ash and May both ducked back behind the boulder they had been hiding behind. "Okay," Ash whispered. "Are you down for this."

"Yup!"

Despite his excitement, there was one order of business they needed to straighten out first. "Are you sure? It is a water type, after all."

May pounded her fist into her palm. "Sneak attack, then? Element of surprise! Overwhelm it before it has a chance to squirt me!"

"Great! Okay, let's review what you got." Ash started ticking off points on his fingers. "You know blaze kick."

"Yup!"

"Ember."

"Indeed I do!"

"Firespin."

"That one's always fun!"

"And smokescreen."

"I didn't even know about that one, but it looks like!"

"Right. Okay, how about flamethrower?"

May shrugged. "Sure. I mean, it's basically just ember, but, you know, more."

Ash nodded. "Okay, that's great! How about, um, non-fire attacks?"

"How about what now?"

"Well, you know, fighting type attacks, for example!"

"Hmmm." May rubbed her chin in thought. "Well, I mean, I guess I could punch and kick the guy, but I don't think that counts."

"No, there's definitely a technique to it that I guess you got to learn first," Ash agreed. "Okay, how about anything that'll affect its stats?"

"Uh, yes? Smokescreen? Which we already covered."

"And that's great! But what about, um, growl?"

May quirked an eyebrow. Then she bared her teeth. "Grrr," she said, playfully swiping her fingers at him.

"I…don't think that counts. What about leer?"

"Leer? Oh yeah, I can do leer!" May hopped up, backed up a few feet, and then looked Ash up and now. An increasingly familiar appreciative smirk spread across her face. "Nice," she said, her voice a throaty growl.

Ash swallowed. Okay, he knew she was just messing with him again, but the way she had said that was really hot. "That's, uh, that's not what…"

"Fine, fine," May sighed. "All right, how about this?" She closed her eyes, cleared her throat, and inhaled deeply.

When she opened her eyes again, they were glowing a flickering yellow, and there was a shrill whine.

Ash felt a sudden jolt. His legs went weak, and his skin began to flush. "Uh, o-okay," he said, opening his collar with his fingers and fanning himself. "Good, uh, good job. You c-can turn it off now." It felt like a high-powered lamp was being shone directly onto him.

May did no such thing. She just continued to, well, leer at him with those glowing eyes, her smirk returning. And Ash couldn't help but once again notice just how, well, hot May was, how cute her face was, how alluring the way she was staring at him was, and just how great her figure was under those form-fitting clothes. What was more, he knew what she looked like without those clothes, and he wanted to see her without them again.

Ash felt like there were Butterfrees fluttering around in his stomach. His abdominal muscles began to tighten. "Uh, May?"

She didn't respond. Licking her lips, she reached up with one hand and slowly drew down her shirt's zipper, stopping just beneath her sternum.

Now Ash's little cock was standing straight up, pitching a tent in his pants. "May," he said, his voice sounding much lower than he expected.

Still maintaining eye contact, May reached into her shirt. Ash saw the impressions of her fingers squeeze the swell of her breast while her other hand slipped down into her shorts.

This was getting out of hand. If it kept up, then Ash would be putting his own hand down his pants, and he and May would do just as she had suggested that morning. Which, okay, wouldn't be so bad (actually, it sounded pretty fantastic), but even so…

"May!"

Finally May blinked. She jerked once in surprise and looked down at herself. "Wait, uh…Oops!" She hastily withdrew her hands and squeezed her eye shut. Immediately Ash felt the pressure of her gaze ease, though his crotch was still tingling.

When May opened her eyes again, they were their normal shade of blue. "Sorry about that," she said, zipping her shirt back up. "Guess I got a little carried away. But yes, I know leer!"

"Er, good to hear," Ash said as he stood up, hoping it would make the bulge of his crotch less conspicuous. It did not. "So…back to the Squirtle…"

"Right!" May laughed sheepishly as she scratched the back of her neck. "The Squirtle! Um, that."

Ash frowned. "You're not going to…Um, if you used leer on the Squirtle, it's not going to…"

May sighed. "No, Ash. I'm not that big of a freak. Um, yet."

Yet.

"Okay, so, here's what we'll do!" Ash said. Hopefully returning his attention to the task at hand would quell the flutters in his belly. "You jump out at it, and then smokescreen! Leer! Flamethrower! Roll out of the way, and-"

May's hand shot up. "Um, problem!"

"Oh? What is it?"

"Leer affects the target's defense, right? But flamethrower is a special attack, so…"

"Oh! Right! Uh, blaze kick then!"

"Got it!"

"Only this time, don't-"

"-kick it into next week! Don't worry, I'll make sure it stays put!"

"Great!" Ash flipped his cap around and pulled out a pokeball.

"All right, let's-"

Then he paused, and double-checked the sphere in his hands. Yup, it was definitely a pokeball.

"-let's do this!"

The two tiptoed their way out from behind the boulder. Down by the shore, the Squirtle was sunbathing on a rock, somehow balanced on the back of its shell as it soaked up the sun's rays. It even had on a pair of round-lensed sunglasses, gotten from who knows where.

"Okay," Ash said. "Get ready."

May nodded and hunkered down.

"One. Two."

Sensing that something was up, the Squirtle turned its head toward them. "Squirt?" it said in puzzlement.

"Three!" Ash thrust a finger at the aquatic reptile. "May, use smokescreen!"

"YAAAAAAHHHHH!" May screamed as she leapt into the air, her fiery aura appearing around her. Sparks flashed around her shoes, and she thrust her foot into the ground, gouging up the grass. A column of black smoke shot out of her toes right into the stunned Squirtle's face.

"Ack! Squirtle!" it coughed as it tried to wave the smoke away. It inhaled and blasted out a pillar of water from its mouth, but the smokescreen had its intended effect, and its shot went wide.

"Now, leer!" Ash cried.

Taking up a fighter's stance, May's eyes flashed bright, right into the Squirtle's face.

It didn't seem to even notice. Instead, it continued to flail blindly about, waving its stubby little hands in front of itself.

"Uh…" May said, her eyes still glowing.

"Uh…oh!" Ash realized what was wrong. "The sunglasses! Get rid of its sunglasses!"

"Right!" May sprinted in, one hand extended. She seized the sunglasses off the Squirtle's face and tossed them away. The Squirtle rubbed its eyes and stared up at her in bafflement.

"Perfect! Now-"

The Squirtle blasted off another water gun. Right into her face.

"Ah!" May cried, staggering back.

Oh, this was going so badly already. "May, get out of there!" Ash cried. A point-blank hit from water gun had to have taken a significant chunk off of her HP.

May didn't obey. In fact, she didn't seem to have heard him at all. "Why you…" she growled, fists shaking. Her scarlet aura redoubled, and the water dripping down her face evaporated.

The Squirtle inhaled, preparing another water gun.

"May!" Ash screamed.

Then May's eyes flashed red again, and that shrill whine came back. This time, hit with the full force of May's leer, the Squirtle choked, and the remnants of the failed water gun squirted out of its nostrils.

May drew her foot back. "I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR SCALY BUTT ALL THE WAY TO-"

Then another geyser of water shot right past her face, separating her from the Squirtle.

"Huh?"

Both she and Ash turned to look.

There, standing together in the shallows of the lake, were several more Squirtles. They all looked angry. They all were glaring at May. And they all were wearing dark sunglasses.

"Uh-oh," May said. "Um, Ash? The Squirtle's squad just showed up!"

"I saw!" Ash said, just as alarmed as she was. "I don't suppose you can handle this many water-types?"

"Oh, nooooooo."

"That's what I thought. Uh, run!"

The two of them fled away from the lake, and all the while the Squirtles angrily clamored after them, shooting jets of water and bubbles in their wake.

…

Letting out a low groan, Misty slumped forward, her face buried in her palms. "How'd you tell?" she mumbled, her voice muffled by her hands.

"It's just something you learn to pick up on," Bill said. He sounded almost proud of his deduction skills. "A sort of shine about the eyes, and a tingle in the air around them. I, of course, have studied dozens of PokeGirls, and can judge whether or not a woman is one just by passing by, even if she is fully clothed."

Yeah, I bet you have, Misty thought bitterly.

"I'm just surprised to see that you've become one. After all-"

"I know!" May snapped, slapping her palms down on the table.

A moment later she felt something smack against her shin.

"Did you just kick me?" she demanded.

"No," Bill sighed. "That was Abra."

"Huh?" Misty leaned over to look under the table. Bill's Abra was still in the same position, snoozing away.

"He gets annoyed at sudden sounds," Bill explained. "You almost woke him up, hence the kick."

"In his sleep?"

Bill just shrugged.

"Well, whatever," Misty sighed. "And I know! I know I'm too young to be a PokeGirl! I know Gym Leaders aren't supposed to be caught unless they really, really want to! But it was an emergency!"

Bill's face softened with concern. "Misty, was it Team Rocket? Are you in trouble?"

"Team Rocket?" Misty laughed. "Nope! Actually, it was another kid, one of the friends I told you about."

There was a long pause, and then Bill said, "Ah, okay."

"But it was an accident!" Misty insisted. "I mean, he did it on purpose, but he didn't want to, and it was only because…"

Realizing that she was speaking too fast and too loudly, Misty cut herself off in mid-sentence. She then took a deep breath and started over, more slowly and concise this time.

She told Bill of the events from the day before, from being chased by Gary (and with special emphasis on how he actually was trying to catch her, and that he had a whole squad of PokeGirls when he wasn't supposed to), to running into Ash in the forest and the ensuing Spearow attack, to trying to save Ash only to be repaid by getting struck by lightning, and to everything Ash told her after she had been let out of her human ball. Well, most of it anyway.

"Ah," Bill said when she had finished. "Well, that's much less awful than I was expecting. Actually, it was quite noble."

"Noble." Misty snickered. "Yeah, I guess he kind of it."

"I assume that's why you were headed for the PokeCenter? To have yourself released?"

"Uh…no. He offered, but I told him I'd rather stay this way for a while."

Another pause. And then Bill said, "Oh. Ah, may I ask why?"

Misty shrugged.

"You…are aware of the, um…" Now Bill was growing visibly uncomfortable. "Well, of course you know, being a Gym Leader and everything, but there is a certain aspect of being a PokeGirl that-"

"The sex stuff?" Misty shot him a look. "Oh, gee Bill. You mean PokeGirls walks around with nothing on and have sex with their trainers a lot? I never noticed!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Bill said with a wince. "Of course you would know. But while I'm not going to assume that this new friend of yours is of that type, it's still an environment you are going to be exposed to. Ah, I mean even more than you already are!"

"So?"

Yet another pause. Then Bill sighed. "You really have been spending a lot of time with Norman Maple's daughter."

Misty couldn't help but smile. "Oh, so it's May's fault now?"

"She cornered me during the same League Summit you and I met at," Bill said, a rather miserable look on his face. "And she wouldn't stop asking me questions about PokeGirls. About their capabilities and their physiology. Of course I was happy to answer them, but then she kept pressing me about their increased libidos, and, well, that was when I pointed out that it sounded like she wanted to become a PokeGirl, and she told me that she did. With, ah, great enthusiasm."

"Yeah, that sounds like her."

"Yes, I heard that you two had been, ah…" Bill faltered.

"What?" Misty pressed, her smile turning into a smirk. "We've been what, Bill?"

"Caught," Bill said at last. "That you two had been caught together. Frequently."

"Caught doing what, Bill?"

Bill's fingers drummed an irritated tattoo on the tabletop. "Do I really have to answer that?"

Misty laughed.

Then Bill frowned. "You do know that she's gone missing, right?"

The laughter stopped. "Huh?"

"Norman's daughter. She's missing."

Oh crap. Oh crap, crap, crap, crap! "Oh, uh, hehe, is she?"

"Hoenn League called Indigo League, and they told Sam, and Sam told me. They were worried that Team Rocket had taken her, either to use as leverage or to sell on the Black Market." Bill's brow knitted together. "I'm surprised that you didn't know, as you are a prominent member of Indigo League, as well as being a close personal friend of hers."

To this, Misty had nothing to say.

"Hmmm." Bill folded his hands together on the tabletop and leaned forward ever so slightly. "Misty, I try to stay out of all the politics and gossip that plagues the Gym Leader scene. It's just so distracting, and not worth the headache. And whatever strange shenanigans you might have gotten yourself into are really none of my business, so long as it's consensual. But this business with Norman's daughter…" He tilted his head, his dark eyes burrowing into Misty's own.

Though she knew that it only made her look more guilty, Misty couldn't help but look away.

This time the silence that lay between them was lengthier, and much more heavy.

"Hmmm," Bill said. He blinked and leaned back. "Well then."

Misty breathed out. "Please don't tell anyone," she said in a small voice.

"You do realize that you just admitted to kidnapping," Bill said. "A crime that, I'll admit, has a very loose definition these days, but given May's age and the status of her father-"

"I didn't kidnap her!" Misty insisted. At Bill's raised eyebrow, she turned indignant. "I didn't! It was her idea! She asked me to!"

"Ah. Well, that I have no trouble believing." Bill shook his head. "Well, a child running away from home with a friend due to family drama is much less worrying than her being kidnapped by a powerful criminal syndicate, and after spending some time with both her and Norman I can understand why, but-"

"Please, please, please, please!" Misty begged, her hands clasped pleadingly in front of her. "May hates it at home! And she's safe now, I promise! And telling on me would only get Ash in trouble, and none of this was his fault, so please-"

"All right, all right," Bill said, holding out a hand to get her to stop. "Family drama is no concern of mine, and like I said, so long as it was consensual-"

"It was, I swear. I double-swear. I triple-dipple-fudge-ripple swear."

At this, the corner of Bill's mouth curved up. "Well, far be it from me to besmirch the honor of triple-dipple-fudge-ripple."

Misty sighed with relief. "Thank you, Bill."

"Don't mention. And I mean that literally. I don't want to get in trouble either."

"I won't," Misty promised.

Bill leaned back and sighed. "You really have found yourself in a whirlwind of trouble, haven't you?"

Misty returned the sigh. "Yeah, I kind of have."

"I don't envy you."

"If you did, it'd be really weird." And then Misty got an idea.

"Say, Bill? I know I'm already asking a lot from you, but…can you help me with a huge favor?"

Bill's eyes narrowed. "It's something I'll probably come to regret, isn't it?"

"Probably."

"Well, that doesn't surprise me at all. Go on."

…

"Okay," Ash panted as he and May regrouped back at their camp. "We need to rethink this." He slumped down on one of the logs and put his head in his hands.

"Yeah, that could have gone better," May muttered as she unscrewed a potion's lid and sprayed it into her face. "Ash, you have just the worst luck."

Ash wasn't arguing. It did seem liked everything that would be so simple and mundane to anyone else ended up going horribly wrong for him.

"Right, let's set some ground rules," he said. "First, no more water-types."

"Probably a smart idea."

"No bug types."

"Also smart."

"Nothing that hunts in packs, swarms, or flocks."

"Learned your lesson with that one."

"We avoid launching any Pokemon into the stratosphere."

May sighed. "You're just not going to let that go, are you?"

"And if we hear any weird noises coming from the shadows, we leave them alone."

"Check, check, check!" May leaned forward. "So, ready to take another shot."

Ash held up a hand to signal for her to wait as he unscrewed the lid of a metal water bottle and gulped it down. Once it had been drained dry, he sighed in satisfaction, wiped his mouth, and screwed the lid back on. "All right," he said, pumping his fist. "Let's go!"

The two of them headed out once again, this time staying away from the trees and lake and sticking to the open grasslands. Ash once again kept his eyes peeled and his ears opened. Sooner or later they would find something worth trying for, a worthy candidate for his first Pokemon, something that would form the foundation of his team and become his lifelong companion, just as soon as May beat it senseless.

There! Movement! Rustling in the grass, it was…it was a Pidgey…no two Pidgeys. No, three. Okay, it was a whole flock. While Pidgeys were much less aggressive than Spearows, Ash decided not to chance his luck and let them be.

Moving on, they headed down the hill. Before them the grassy field got even wider. Okay, there had to be something here, something he could-

Wait.

Wait, wait, wait.

Ash held up his arm, signaling for them to stop. May crept up beside him and looked that Ash was pointing to.

There, nuzzling around in a bed of wildflowers, was a Pokemon. Its body was too obscured to really make it out, but it was small, it seemed to be hopping around on four legs, and it was purple.

A Ratata? After all their issues with that Raticate the night before, Ash wasn't in much a hurry to acquire one of his own, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

Then the creature emerged fully, its tiny mouth chewing and its cheeks full of clover, and Ash's heart leapt.

It was not a Ratata, but instead was a Pokemon half again as big as one, with long, backswept ears; a hunched back; and a loose collection of spines.

It was a Nidoran, a young male member of the Nido family! Ash immediately mentally reviewed everything he remembered learning about their species. Poison-typed, with a three-stage evolutionary line that resulted in double-typing into ground. A fairly deep movepool, a good balance of strength and defense, and decent bulk.

Yes.

Yes, this would do nicely.

"May, I think we've found the perfect Pokemon," Ash said.

"Nice," she said, licking her lips in a very distracting way. Ash blinked, and then shook his head. No, not even that would get in the way now.

"So, you know what that is, right?" he asked.

"Uh, I think so." May rubbed her chin and frowned. "Nido…Nido…rina?"

"Nidoran," Ash corrected. "Nidorina is the second-tier evolution for females. That's a first-tier male."

"Huh, that's right. They're the ones where the males and females have separate evolutionary lines, right? And they're…uh…"

"Poison-typed," Ash said. "They're actually kind of unique in that they're not cross-typed into bug or grass, nor are they toxic to the touch like Koffing or Grimer. The closest equivalent in Kanto is Ekans, and those are cold-blooded reptiles, while Nidoran is warm-blooded, so it kind of stands alone." His hands were starting to shake with excitement.

"Wow," May said, blinking. "You really like Pokemon facts."

"Well, yeah? Don't you?" Then, without waiting for an answer, Ash turned his attention back to the Nidoran, which was still contently munching on clover. "Okay, no type disadvantage here, but watch the spines, they're poisonous. And watch the legs too! I know they don't look like much, but Nidoran are really agile for their size, and can pack a mean kick!"

"Got it!" May clenched both fists, and her blazing aura flared up. Ash could feel the heat radiating off of her. "Well? Care to have the honors?"

Grinning, Ash flicked the brim of his cap back. "May!" he called, sweeping his arm out. "I choose you!"

…

When Misty had been appointed Cerulean City's official Gym Leader, she had considered it the highest of honors, an accolade that only an elite few ever achieve, something that trainers work their whole lives to attain but very few ever do.

Time had whittled away at her pride, and she had come to understand that while yes, she was in a very lofty position, it did prevent her from having the full Pokemon trainer experience, which in turn denied her certain thrills that most trainers got to enjoy regularly.

Flying was one of the biggest.

"WHOOOOOOOOOOO!" she whooped as Bill's Dragonite sailed into the air. It was a rush unlike any she had ever experienced, not from rollercoasters, not from surfing, not even that one time May had strong-armed her into bungee-jumping. Her stomach was now in her throat and full of shivers, and she was simultaneously terrified and ecstatic and loved it!

"It's fun, isn't it?" Bill called back to her. Misty was seated directly behind him with her arms around her waist, but with the wind rushing past their ears he still needed to raise his voice to be heard.

"It's the best!"

"You know, I'm honestly surprised you don't have any flying Pokemon of your own, if for no other reason than to get around."

"Never had time! Even when I'm on vacation I always had to focus on finding more water-types for the gym!"

"You know, there are water-types who are dual-typed into flying. Gyrados, for example, is capable of-"

"Oh, no," Misty said. "Oh no! I'm not going anywhere near a Gyrados. That is not happening!"

Bill shot her an odd look over his shoulder, but then he just shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said, and gave his Dragonite's reins a flick.

Immediately Misty's stomach dropped as the Dragonite soared higher, past the clouds, and into the sunny sky. "YEEEEEAAAAAAHHHH!" she screamed in joy.

There were few clouds in the sky that day, so Misty got to enjoy the view of the countryside passing beneath her. Everything looked so small! From the tiny little houses to the trees like blades of grass to the people who were little more than scurrying dots!

Oh, I should have checked that my shoelaces are tight, she found herself thinking. She angled her toes upward, just in case.

Then she saw something pass beneath them. "Oh, look! It's the gym!"

Despite everything she had learned, it was a pretty pleasant building, with a wide marble porch decorate with white columns, a pale orange façade with an asymmetrical roof, and a tinkling fountain sandwiched between two staircases leading down to the sidewalk. Shame it saw so little use.

"That's it, all right," Bill said. "The most elusive badge of the set!"

Sure enough, there was a small number of trainers gathered outside the door, reading the sign and looking kind of ticked out. Misty supposed that they hadn't bothered to find out about the local Gym Leader's eccentric availability. She made a mental note that, in the case of a return trip, to make sure Ash had a space booked.

And then they were gone, passing outside of Viridian City and into the wilds, or as wild as the area around a major city could be. Still, the surrounding forests and fields were left mostly undeveloped. That was one of the great things about living in Kanto: training was such a big part of the cultural that the wild country was fiercely protected. Woe be upon the hapless land developer who tries to build up an apartment building only to discover that they had bulldozed an Oddish nest.

They passed over grassy fields and green forests. Occasionally Misty saw tiny people wandering aimlessly below, no doubt rookie trainers looking to bolster their teams. And, to her amusement, she also caught a glimpse of what was assuredly a more veteran trainer spending, well, "quality time" with his PokeGirls. It really did astound her how bold so many of them got once they had some experience under their belts.

Then again, she was friends with May. And she supposed that in time, she might be doing the same with Ash.

The very thought sent even more nervous thrills through her stomach that had nothing to do with vertigo.

The Dragonite lighted down on the outskirts of the field where Misty and her friends had set up camp. Bill easily hopped off, as if he hadn't just been swooping at nearly terminal velocity. He reached up and took Misty by the waist to help her down.

As soon as Misty's feet touched grass her knees buckled, and she fell back against the Dragonite's side. "Whoa," she said as she struggled to reorient her sense of balance, which was currently going absolutely haywire. "How do trainers do this every day?"

"You just get used to it," Bill said as he brought down the supplies he helped her buy. "My first time I couldn't stop throwing up for about half an hour afterward. Now I barely even notice."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to this." Feeling that she had recovered enough, Misty took a few practice steps. She wobbled a bit but was able to stay upright. "Hey, thanks again for everything."

"Please do not mention it. And I'm not being polite. This could land me in a lot of trouble."

"Understood. Hey, you want to stop by for a bit? Say hi to the crew?"

A pained look passed across Bill's face. "Ah. The offer is appreciated, but I must decline."

Misty grinned. "Don't want to deal with May again, huh?"

"That girl is not sane." Bill stuck out his hand. "Best of luck to you and your friends, Miss Waterflower."

Ignoring the hand, Misty stood up on tiptoes to kiss Bill's smooth cheek. "Thank you, Bill."

Bill blinked in surprise. Then he smiled. "Well then." He then grabbed onto the Dragonite's saddled and pulled himself up. "Remember, when you reach Pewter city-"

"I remember!"

"Okay, but the email is-"

Misty waved a scrap of paper. "Got it all right here! Don't worry."

"A little too late for that, I'm afraid. I'll also let you know if I learn anything about Nurse Joy's situation." He nodded at her one last time and nudged the Dragonite with his heels. It…wumped, for lack of a better word and took off.

Misty waved as Bill circled around once, twice, and then three times overhead before heading off to the horizon. Then, humming to herself, she busied herself with getting everything put away while she waited for her friends to return.

She didn't have to wait long. Soon she heard them laughing and talking excitedly as they approached the camp. Well, it looked like they had made fast friends, which was good.

Then Misty frowned. Oh, May better not have taken Ash's virginity already.

"Hey, she's back!" she heard May call. Moments later her friend came running up to her, so Misty rose to greet her.

"Misty!" May greeted her in her customary fashion, which was to hurl her entire body at Misty and wrap all four limbs around her. Expecting it, Misty was able to brace herself and catch her without being knocked over.

"Mwah!" May gave Misty a big, fat, wet kiss on the lips. "There you are! What took you so long?"

"Sorry, I had a lot of errands to run. Hope you guys didn't get bored without me." Then Misty lowered her voice down an octave. "And I hope you haven't forgotten our deal."

"Aw, don't worry!" May hopped out of Misty's hands and slapped her shoulder. "I just humped him a little."

"I…you did what?"

"To wake him up! Don't worry, nothing went into anything, you still have dibs."

Misty scowled. "You were naked at the time, weren't you?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Anyway! Guess what we did after?"

By then Ash had caught up to them. Sure enough, he seemed as excited as May, so clearly something had happened.

"Hey! Hey, Misty!" he called, waving his hand around. "You'll never guess what happened!"

Well, that ruled out sexy stuff. If May had indeed taken what wasn't hers, Ash would probably be comatose.

"Uh, you got attacked by Team Rocket and drove them off?"

May giggled. "Nope! But that would be fun."

"You…ran into…no, it wouldn't be Gary."

"I wish," Ash sighed.

Misty rolled her wrist. "Well, go ahead. What happened?"

In answer, Ash tossed a shrunk-down pokeball into the air. He spun around, caught in, expanded it in mid-spin, and thrust it out to her. "Ha!"

Misty grinned. "Oh, you caught a Pokemon!" She held up her hand for a high five. "Great job!"

Ash gleefully clapped Misty's hand with her own. "Thanks! It was a lot harder than I thought it would be!"

"Why, you didn't set another Spearow flock after you, did you?"

"No, but first May kicked a Cubone into next week, we almost got a Beedrill swarm coming after us, we surprised this guy having sex with his PokeGirl and he didn't like that, and we tried to catch a Squirtle but it had a lot of angry friends, so we ran away."

Misty blinked. "Uh, so, you've…been busy."

"I'm telling you, this guy has such bad luck, it's almost impressive." May suddenly wrapped her arm around Ash's neck and yanked him in. Flicking his cap off, she rubbed her knuckles into his skull. "But it worked out in the end!"

"Hey, get off me!" Ash shoved her away and winced as he touched the spot where May's knuckles had gone.

"Um, okay," Misty said. She really hoped this supposed "bad luck" wasn't going to be a regular thing while traveling with him. "So…what kind of Pokemon did you catch?" Then, in a smaller voice, she added, "Please tell me it's not a bug type."

"Nope!" Ash drew his hand back like a baseball pitcher and hurled the pokeball. "Nidoran, I choose you!"

The pokeball popped open, and out came the red energies of his new Pokemon. They collected into a small, four-legged created with a purple body, large ears, and spines up and down its back. "Nidoran!" he called.

Misty was ecstatic. "Oh, hey!" she gushed. "That's a great catch! And it's so cute!" She knelt down in front of the little critter and held out her hand. He apprehensively sniffed her palm and, judging her to be trustworthy, stuck his head beneath her hand, demanding to be pet.

"Oh, you are just adorable," Misty cooed as she gently ran her hand over his ears while she scratched under his chin. Nidoran rumbled with pleasure.

May nudged Ash with her elbow. "I think she likes him."

"How can I not?" Misty said, now moving to scratch its belly. "Such a sweet little-"

Right then, in response to her scratching, Nidoran arched his back. Unfortunately, this caused one of his many spines to jab into Misty's hand, and she immediately felt severe chills sweep through her body.

"Misty!" May cried as Misty curled into a ball and started shaking.

"Anti…" Misty coughed.

"Oh no, she's been poisoned!" Ash added, and quite unnecessarily at that. Nidoran froze, and then darted over behind Ash's legs.

"Anti…" Misty gargled.

"Misty, speak to me!" May lifted Misty's upper body into her lap and cradled her head. "You can't let this beat you! Stay strong, stay brave, and if you see a long dark tunnel, stay away from the light!"

Then she noticed that, despite her face turning a very unhealthy shade of purple, Misty was looking quite disgruntled.

Thrusting a shaking finger at one of the bags of supplies, Misty forced out, "Antidote!"

"Uh…right!" Ash hurried over to the bag. "Just sit tight, I'll get it."

"Uh, sorry," May said, sheepishly opening her shirt collar. "I guess you would think to stock up on those."

Misty sighed.

"Oh, hey, she got us burgers!" Ash exclaimed.

…

Later, after Misty had been thoroughly cleansed of the poisons that had swept through her veins, everyone gathered around the campsite so they could eat dinner and compare notes.

"Wow," May said between bites of French Fries. "They brainwashed her? Just like that?"

"That's what it looked like," Misty sighed. "Bill says it's common whenever Team Rocket don't want people to talk."

"That's awful!" Ash exclaimed.

"Yeah," May said. "But honestly, considering what could have happened to her, it's a lot better than what I was expecting."

Ash looked stricken. "How can you say that? After everything we went through together."

May sighed. "Ash, I get it, I'm worried about her too. But look: she could have been caught and sold on the black market. And that's way worse than just having your memory wiped and being set loose."

"It's still awful! We can't just leave her there!"

Misty shook her head. "Ash. Look, you want to help her, I get that. But if we go after her, then that'll mean Team Rocket will just take her again, maybe this time for good. Besides, it's probably us that they want, not her. The best thing we can do for her is get as far away from her as possible."

Ash blinked. "You mean they'll probably still come after us?"

"We did kind of embarrass them," May pointed out. "Which was awesome, by the way!"

"But…But we're just kids!"

"You think that'll stop them?" Misty shook her head. "Ash, this is Team Rocket. They're dangerous!"

"Well, I'm not scared! And I don't want to just leave Nurse Joy to those jerks!"

Misty couldn't help but smile a little. Sure, his stubbornness was a little annoying, but she completely understood how he felt. After all, plenty of people would have told her to just fold up and abandon her gym the first time Team Rocket had come calling, and instead she had knuckled down and refused to budge.

But this situation was sort of different. For one, it wasn't just him and his pride; it was all three of them, four counting Nidoran. For another, sticking around might actually endanger the person they were trying to help.

"I hear you," Misty said. "But think of it like this: Bill's on his way to the Indigo League headquarters right now, and he promised to do whatever he could to save her. But if Team Rocket is looking for us, going back to her will just make them go after her again. At least right now they're letting her go."

Ash frowned. It was clear that though he did see the truth of her words, he still hated the thought of leaving Nurse Joy behind. And honestly, Misty liked that about him. It was clear that while Ash was many things, a coward was not one of them.

"You think we can trust Bill though?" May asked. "I mean, if those Rocket punks are so well-connected, who's to say he's not one of them?"

Misty shot her a look. "I think the fact that he helped me buy supplies and got me out of there before anyone saw me is a point in his favor."

"Yeah, but what if they vanish him too?" Ash wanted to know.

"Ah, he'll be fine," Misty said with a dismissive wave. "Bill's a smart guy. If anyone can figure out what to do, it's him."

Ash's frown only deepened. "How do you know this guy anyway? I mean, I've never even heard of him!"

Misty opened her mouth to answer, only to freeze in place when she realized that there was no explanation that wouldn't give away her status as a Gym Leader. Oops!

"Uh, Misty?" Ash said. "Are you okay?"

Oh, crap, crap, crap! Misty tried to come up with an acceptable response, but unfortunately her mind had suddenly locked up with the biggest of brainfarts. She shot a pleading looking to May, silently begging her to cover for her.

Fortunately, while May might be a horny lunatic most of the time, she wasn't an idiot. "Through my dad!" she chimed in.

"Your dad?" Ash said, scratching his head. "You mean, the one you ran away from?"

"Yeah, he works as a coordinator for Hoenn League, and would drag me along to these boring cross-promotional fundraiser events all the time. Fortunately, he let me bring Misty along, so that's where we met Bill!"

"Um…yeah!" Misty said with what she hoped was a disarming laugh. "The fundraisers. Y-Yeah, they were super boring, and Bill was the only grown-up that was fun to talk to. So that's how we met!"

"Oh. Uh, okay." Ash shrugged and went back to his French fries. "Well, if you trust him…"

Sighing, Misty glanced at May and nodded her thanks. May winked back at her in return.

The three of them ate in silence for a bit, Misty a little shaken by her own carelessness. Ash was looking at her a little oddly, but fortunately did not press the matter.

"So…what's the plan now?" May said at last.

"Pretty much the same," Misty said with a shrug. "Head to Pewter City. Work on getting Ash his first badge."

"Really?" Ash perked up at that.

"Really, really!" Grinning, Misty leaned over with one hand balled up on her hip and the other draped over her bare leg. "It's like I told you: I'm going to make sure that you take Indigo League this year, and to do that, you're going to need badges! The Gym in Viridian City isn't even open right now, so Pewter City's the logical next step!"

"Yeah," Ash said, nodding. He grinned in return. "Yeah! And besides, if Team Rocket does start looking for us, then I'd like to see them try to find us in Viridian Forest!"

Misty's smile wavered a little. Oh, right. Viridian Forest. They had to go through that.

As part of her shopping trip, Misty had stocked up on a lot of bug repellant. Hopefully it would last.

"Uh, right. Sure." Misty coughed. "Anyway! On the way there I'll show you the ins and outs of Pokemon training, and we'll work on growing your team!" So long as you don't go catching any bugs, she thought. She motioned to Nidoran. "You're off to a great start with that cute little guy, but you're going to need variety in order to win!"

At being mentioned, Nidoran's ears pricked up. He looked from Misty's smiling face to Ash's, and sighed, likely relieved that Misty wasn't holding a grudge.

"Sounds great! In fact…" Ash scratched Nidoran behind the ears. "There's still plenty of day left, so you and I ought to get to know one another! Whaddya say?"

Ash's new Pokemon happily hopped up and down. "Nidoran!"

…

On the whole, the day had been far and above a much better day than the one previous, as evidenced not only by nobody being assaulted or even hurt beyond a handful of Pokemon mishaps, but also they managed to have a proper dinner at a respectable time, before the sun had even gone down.

After dinner had been finished up and everything cleaned up, Ash took Nidoran to the nearby field to play, and Misty sat down on a boulder to watch the two of them as they raced around through the grass, pausing to mock-wrestle one another.

It was incredibly adorable. Gone was all of the timidity, awkwardness, and bashfulness that Misty had come to associate with Ash. Now all she saw was pure joy, a young boy spending time with his new friend. It reminded her when she had first gotten her first Pokemon, the Staryu that was now her Starmie, and all she ever wanted to do was spend as much time possible cuddling and admiring it.

However, it seemed to Misty's experienced eyes that there was a method to Ash's actions. Sure, he was chasing Nidoran around and being chased in return, and the two of them would roll around at times, but she noted how closely Ash was watching Nidoran while running, or that Nidoran never "attacked" the same way twice when they were wrestling. In fact, it seemed that Ash was instructing him to try different things, such as knocking him off his feet or trying to bite his ear.

Clever, Misty thought in admiration. Not only was Ash establishing a rapport, but he was also learning what his new Pokemon was capable of, taking note of what moves it was proficient in and studying the areas that it needed to improve in.

It seemed that May had been correct in her assessment. Sure, Ash might be totally helpless around girls, but he did have a real knack for Pokemon training. She felt much better about their arrangement.

She felt May's presence before she heard her, just a slight pleasurable shiver down her back that told her that her best friend and only PokeGirl was coming. Moments later May was sitting on her knees behind Misty, draping her arms around Misty's shoulders and resting her head next to Misty's cheek.

"They're so cute, aren't they?" May said, pressing her warm cheek to Misty's.

"They sure are," Misty agree as she reached up to cradle May's head. "You were right. That boy was born to be a Pokemon trainer."

"Of course I was. For a rookie, he's actually really good at putting together strategies and thinking on the fly. Even if his luck is the worst and he forgets important things sometimes." May leaned in, nuzzling their cheeks together. "But that's why he has you to teach him now!"

"Darn right. He better be grateful."

The pair watched Ash and Nidoran for a bit longer. Then Misty sighed. "You know, I'm going to do it."

"Hmmm? Do what?"

"Screw him."

May let out a bark of surprised laughter. "What, already?"

"Already," Misty said with a nod. "Tonight, actually. Right after you teach me how to use my powers."

"Wow, you're really moving super-fast there. I mean, you just met him yesterday."

Misty rolled her eyes. "You woke him up this morning by humping him," she said as her fingers idly kneaded the muscles of May's neck. "While naked!"

"Yeah, but that's me," May murmured, planting small kisses where Misty's neck met her shoulder. "Besides, I thought you were all weird and nervous about this?"

"Yeah, but…" Misty sighed. "I mean, I am his PokeGirl, and we all know what that means. This is going to happen sooner or later. Why not make it sooner? You know, get it out of the way."

"Mmmm-hmmm." May reached down to grab Misty's smooth chest. "Sure. You make it sound so unpleasant."

"Well, I didn't say it was!"

May pinched Misty's nipple through the fabric of her yellow tanktop. "Admit it. You got a thing for him, and you really want to see Ash naked."

A hint of color touched Misty's cheeks, partially because of the sensual thrills that May's fondling was sending through her, but mostly because of how May had said the words "Ash" and naked" in sequence.

"What? No!" Misty said with a painfully fake laugh. "I mean, sure, he's really cute, and he's got a good heart, and okay, his awkwardness is really charming, but…" Realizing that she wasn't helping her case at all, Misty just stopped and sighed.

"Do it," May murmured in a throaty voice, slipping her other hand down to run her fingers over Misty's bare midriff. She nuzzled her face into Misty's neck and shoulder, kissing her way down. "Picture him naked. Right now."

This time, the flurry in Misty's stomach had little to do with May's administrations. "Um, n-now?"

"Now."

Though it was very hard to concentrate on anything whenever May was running her hands over Misty's body, Misty tried to comply. She looked over to Ash, who was trying to teach Nidoran how to roll forward, though the lesson wasn't going well, as Ash's own somersaults to demonstrate were awkward, clumsy things that were sending Nidoran into hysterics.

Okay. Just picture the guy naked. That should be easy. Misty had seen lots of naked guys before. Granted, she had never really wanted to and each and every time always filled her with indignation and disgust, but she at least had a good idea of the anatomy.

Closing her eyes and doing her best to block out the feel of May's fingers as they groped and caressed, Misty called up a picture of Ash in her mental space, that shy, grinning dork that was equal parts flustered earnestness and confident enthusiasm. She picture him as she knew him, from his cap pulled down over his spiky black hair, to his big bright brown eyes, which were always shining with excitement, and his little button nose, to his crooked smile and friendly demeanor. She picture him in his outfit, with the blue-and-white jacket, pale blue jeans, red-and-white cap, green fingerless gloves, and black-and-white sneakers.

Despite how weird the experiment made her feel, Misty couldn't help but smile a little at the mental picture. There was no getting around it; Ash was cute.

Okay, time to the next step, though the thought of it was really making her insides squirm, but in a very good way. Holding onto that mental image, Misty removed the clothes.

It…wasn't pleasant. In fact it was a real turnoff.

In her mind's eye, Ash was still standing there, but now his smile was more of an aggressive, almost leering grin. His physique was impressive, from rippling abs to bulging pecs to strong muscle definition in his arms, and his cock was long and hard. He had his fists bunched up on his hips, which were thrust forward, almost daring her touch.

Her eyes still closed, Misty made a face. Yeah, that wasn't appealing at all.

May sighed and sat back, removing her hands. "Okay, no. Not like that," she said.

"Not like what?" Misty replied. "Are you reading my mind now?"

"No, but I know you, and you're pretty much sticking Ash's head onto one of those douchebag trainers that always give you a hard time at your Gym, aren't you?"

Well, she wasn't wrong. It was true that Misty had trainers more than twice her age often dropping their pants and waggling their erections around in an attempt to intimidate her, to say nothing of those she had walked in on her sisters screwing. And okay, even when she was hanging out with male swimmers who were actually nice and respectful just by course of her job, they still tended to be pretty cut and athletic, so it was just the body type she was used to seeing.

"Thought so," May said. She placed her hands on Misty's shoulders and slowly started massaging the muscles, digging her fingers in where she knew Misty liked to be touched. "Do it right. Think of what he'd really look like."

Okay then. Misty looked back to Ash to reform her mental image of his. Then she closed her eyes and tried again.

This time, instead of stripping him down all at once, she tried removing one article of clothing at a time. First to go was the hat. She had seen him without it a few times already, so it was an easy thing to imagine.

Next was the jacket. Okay, he usually wore it open, so she knew what his shirt looked like at least. As for the gloves, well, hands were hands, so that also gave her no trouble.

But before she continued, May turned her attention back to his face. Right about now, Ash would be blushing like crazy, probably averting his eyes in embarrassment while she stripped him, so she put in those little touches.

She liked them. She liked them a lot.

Licking her lips, Misty went on to the next part, the hard part: removing his shirt. This time, instead of simply mentally erasing it, she had her imaginary Ash take it off himself, pulling it up over his head, exposing his torso little by little while he did so.

Okay, so he's my age, so he probably isn't really ripped or anything, she thought. Sure, he looked like he spent a lot of time outside, but he still probably had some baby fat, making him, well, not chubby, but a little on the soft side, maybe with just a little bit of a belly, and his chest was probably still just as smooth as hers was.

The image she came up with was a lot less traditionally attractive than it had been, and not in the least bit sexy, but to her it was ever so much more appealing.

"Well, I'm hearing your breath stutter a bit," May teased. "And I'm not even touching anything naughty. You like what you see, yes?"

"Sh-Shut up," Misty muttered. "You're distracting me."

May fell silent, and Misty renewed her focus. She was going to need it for the next part.

Her imaginary Ash slowly undid his belt buckle with trembling hands, his pink face looking down as he swallowed nervously. Once the belt was undone, he struggled to undo the button of his pants and hastily lowered the zipper.

As her imaginary Ash stuck his hands into his pants' waist to lower them, Misty suddenly stopped. "Wait," she said, her eyes still closed so as to keep the image. "Do you think he goes with briefs or boxers?"

There was a pause, and then May said, "Who knows? But make it briefs."

"R-Right," Misty said. She took in a deep, trembling breath. "Okay. Here goes."

Down came the pants, leaving Ash with nothing but a small pair of simple white briefs to cover his groin. And while Misty had not actually seen him naked yet, she did know the shape of his bulge, and it was on full display here, straining against the thin material.

Her little perverted fantasy was really starting to work Misty up, so just to make it a little bit silly, she added herself, picturing herself wearing a bikini and reclining on a lawn chair beneath an umbrella, sipping an expensive, colorful drink while enjoying her own private little striptease. Her imaginary self dipped the sunglasses she was wearing so as to fully appreciate the sight of Ash's nearly naked body. Then she indicated for him to continue.

Ash winced, but he nodded. His thumbs went into the elastic waistband, and down came his underwear. He immediately covered his crotch with both hands, but when the imaginary Misty shook her head in disapproval, he winced and reluctantly removed his hands.

Misty had to actually pause here to get the penis right. It probably was not the long, veiny rod that her imagination made it out to be. Sure, it would be erect, but he was, like herself, still a kid, so it would be smaller than what she was used to seeing, his genitals just as pink and hairless as hers and May's. His sex was that of a child's, after all, as smooth and inexperienced as the rest of him.

Now fully nude, her imaginary Ash fidgeted nervously, unsure of what to do with his hands. He instinctively moved to again cover his erection twice, remembered that he wasn't supposed to do that, and settled for putting them behind his back as he anxiously rose up and down on his toes. Then, just for added effect, Misty gave him his hat, gloves, shoes, and socks back, and took in the whole sight.

Oh.

Woof.

The imaginary Misty was openly leering, but the real one was getting as flustered as Ash would be in that situation. Her heart was thumping in her chest, her skin trilling with the need to touch and be touched in turn. A familiar fire was smoldering away in her sex, only now with the added fuel of this new, exciting path she was about to blaze, and she found her hand creeping over her thighs, towards the waistline of her shorts.

Then May caught her by the wrist. "Uh-uh," she said. "Save it for the main event."

"You're a jerk sometimes, you know that?" Misty said crossly.

May laughed. "Still, it looks like you got it right. Like what you see?"

Sweat trickling down her brow, Misty gulped and nodded.

"So you still want to pull it off tonight?"

"Yes," Misty breathed. "Oh, heck yes."

"Good! Okay, here's what we'll do. We'll take him down to the lake, say that it's going to be your first time using your new PokeGirl powers."

Misty nodded. Okay, using water-type abilities in a lake made perfect sense.

"And once we're all there, we'll both get naked."

"What?" Misty's back went stiff. "Why both of us?"

"To get him into the mood, silly!"

Misty sighed. "May, he could be looking at us with clothes on and he'll get into the mood. He could be looking at a tree and he'll be in the mood."

"So it'll be a special treat. Come on, after all the teasing we've put him through, he deserves a little something."

"Uh-huh," Misty said. "And me literally sleeping with him doesn't count?"

"Consider it the warmup act, then!"

"You just want to get naked for any reason, don't you?"

Giggling, May scooched around on her knees to dramatically lay herself across Misty's lap. "And this is a great reason!"

Folding her arms, Misty shot her a look.

"Oh, don't give me that." May reached up to nudge Misty's cheek with her fingers. "Come on, it'll be great! We'll get him all worked up with our striptease, then I'll show you how to use your PokeGirl powers, shoot off a water gun or two, get you all nice and wet, and then you can take Ash and rock him until his legs stop working, what do you say?"

Still glowering in suspicion, Misty said, "You're going to be watching us, aren't you?"

"Well…"

"No, May!"

"Oh, why not? You know I'm going to be in on that action sooner or later anyway."

"Yeah, but I also know that you're going to be making your dumb jokes and comments the whole time. Besides, this'll be my first time with a boy, and his first time, period! It's going to be weird and awkward enough without you making things worst!"

"Fine, fine," May sighed, holding up her palms. "I'll go spend the night by myself, then."

"Yes, you will."

"Alone."

"Uh-huh."

"All alone. Separated from my friends. Vulnerable. Defenseless." May dramatically pressed her wrist to her forehead as she went limp over Misty's knees. "Who knows what dangers lurk out in these wilds? Why, anything can creep up on me and carry me off, just so my best friend can-"

Misty flicked May's nose. "Knock it off. You can literally breathe fire. You'll be fine."

"Ah!" May thrust up a finger. "Correction! While I can, I don't, because the one time I tried, I was coughing for the rest of the day and had just the worst sore throat."

"Hands, then. Feet. My point is, you'll be fine."

May thoughtfully tapped her lower lip. "Can I listen?"

"Why, so you can masturbate to it?"

"Um, duh? Why else would I? To lull myself to sleep with all of Ash's nervous squeaking?"

Misty giggled. She had to admit, what she had just decided was going to be weird, awkward, and probably incredibly embarrassing, May just had a way of taking awkward situations and making them funny. "Okay, but keep your distance, and please, please, please don't make any noise!"

"Bleh." May grimaced and stuck out her tongue. "That just takes all the fun out of it."

"I mean don't say anything, because I know you'll be wanting to run color commentary over everything! You can moan, but, you know, just keep it down!"

May saluted. "Aye, aye, captain!" Then, before Misty realized what she was doing, May had kipped up right off of Misty's knees to her feet.

Cupping her hands around her mouth, May called, "Hey, Ash! Come here, okay?"

Misty froze. "Wait, we're doing this now?"

May shot her a sidelong smirk. "No point in putting it off, remember."

Misty blinked. Then she gulped. Okay, this was happening then.

Ash and Nidoran came jogging up to the pair of PokeGirls. "What happened?" he said, looking a little nervous. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" May reassured him. "But Misty and I were going down to the lake so I could show her how to use her new PokeGirl powers, and we wanted to know if you two wanted to come watch!"

Though it obviously flew over Ash's head, Misty noted the particular salacious way May had said the word "come."

"Really! Sure, that sounds great!" Ash said enthusiastically. He glanced down at Misty and shot her a wink and a thumb's up. "I'm sure you'll do great!"

Wow, this is really happening, Misty thought numbly. I'm really about to have sex with this dork.

"Uh, thanks!" she said with a nervous laugh. "I hope it goes well too!"

Then May grabbed Misty by the bicep and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, let's go, let's go!" she said, shoving both Misty and Ash along. "This is a really big moment for Misty, so let's not waste it!"

"Got it!" Ash looked over his shoulder at Nidoran, who was watching his new human companions interact with a look of mild puzzlement. "Come on, Nidoran! Misty's going to use her first water gun!"

Oh, why did he have to say it like that? Misty thought as the three of them made their way down the hill towards the lake. Why did he have to say it like that?

…

Returning to the lake didn't take long, and fortunately there was no sign of the Squirtles.

"Here we are!" May declared, sticking her hands on her hips. "Time to get down to business!"

"Business," Misty said as she nervously scratched the back of her neck. "Yeah. Sure."

"Aw, cheer up!" Ash said, patting her on the back. "I told you, you got this!"

Misty rolled her eyes. "Uh, thanks. I think." She then walked away from them to the shores of the lake.

Frowning, Ash leaned in closer to May. "What's with her?" he muttered. "Why is she so nervous?"

May smirked. "Because of you, silly! She's nervous about, ah, performing in front of you!"

"Me? Why?"

"Well, you're her trainer for one. So naturally, she's going to be a great big ball of nerves when it comes to showing off what she can do for the first time."

Really? Well, she didn't have to be scared for him. "Don't worry, Misty!" he called. "I believe in you!"

Misty, who had reached the shore, visibly sighed.

"Anyway, I need to coach her along." May gave Ash a slight push. "Go sit over there, and…enjoy the show!"

"Okay," Ash did as he was told and sat down, with Nidoran hunkered down next to him. He glanced back to May. "That sounds fair, and…" Then his eyes bugged out. "Uh…May? Wh-What are you doing?"

May had already unzipped her shirt and let it fall open, revealing the stretch of skin from her navel all the way up between her breasts to her collarbone. "Oh, just getting ready," she said as she grabbed her shirt's edges and pulled it open. A little shake of the shoulders, and the shirt slid down her arms to land in the grass.

"I mean, since she's a water-type and all, I figured that since this is her first time, things are bound to get wet!" May continued as she stuck her fingers into her skirt's waistline and pushed down, taking both it and her tight little bike shorts down in one swift movement. Now as naked as she had been the first time Ash had produced her from her human ball, her white teeth flashed as her lips parted in a now-familiar sultry smirk. Planting one hand on her hip, she leaned her torso to one side, keeping the emphasis on her boobs. Picking up her skirt with her other hand, she idly twirled it around on one finger.

Though Ash had seen May naked plenty of times over the last couple of days, he still wasn't used to the sight, and to be truthful he kind of hoped that he was never going to get used to it. Certainly not being in a life-or-death situation made it easier to appreciate just how pretty she was, or her lack of shame in showing it off.

"Um, h-hey," he said as he came to a sudden stop. He was already sweaty from running around with Nidoran, but he felt fresh beads form on his forehead, so he tugged at his collar with one finger to get some ventilation going. "Is that, uh, is that really-"

May stretched the elastic waistline of her skirt between two fingers and shot it right at Ash like a rubber band. Her aim was perfect, and he was so transfixed that it bounced right off his nose.

"Whoa!" He hopped back in surprise. "Hey, what was that for?"

May just laughed. "Oh, come on, champ! You were so totally hypnotized that I couldn't help myself!"

Now equally aroused and annoyed, Ash grumbled to himself as he folded his arms and looked away. Okay, so hanging out with a cute girl who liked to get naked had a lot of benefits, but that didn't mean she got to mess with him so much.

Nidoran, who was sitting on his haunches by Ash's feet, tilted his head and frowned, obviously perplexed by the strange behavior of his new human friends. "Nidoran?" he said quizzically.

Ash sighed. "Oh, she's just…she's just like that," he said. "You might as well get used to it."

"You first, champ!" May called to him.

Ash gritted his teeth. "Well, Nidoran can't get turned on by you, so it's different!"

"Aw, are you saying I turn you on?"

"Of course you do!" Ash glanced over to May, found her leaning over with her hands cupping her breasts, and hastily looked away again. "It's…It's a perfectly natural reaction!"

"Hey!" Misty called to them. "Are you two done? This is supposed to be about me, you know!"

"Fine, fine," Ash groused. He turned his attention to her. "Sorry, Misty. I-"

Then he saw that she was standing on the shore of the lake, her back to him, her arms crossed in front of her and her hands resting on the red straps of her suspenders, just as she had done in his fantasies.

Putting two-and-two together, Ash froze up again. "Hey, uh, are you also gonna-"

Misty glanced back at him. She smiled, though he did catch a hint of blush in her cheeks. Then she took a deep breath and, just like she had in his fantasy last night, slid her suspenders off her shoulders.

Her shorts didn't fall immediately, though they did slip a few centimeters, exposing the lacy top of her underwear. As it turned out, her panties were pink.

Ash's mouth suddenly felt very dry. He had come to expect this sort of thing from May, but despite all of Misty's teasing, despite all of her "promises," he had kind of just assumed that they were just that: teasing. A way to work him up. He hadn't really expected for her to go so far as actually make good on any of the stuff she had been hinting at, at least not so soon!

And yet, here she was, stripping down right in front of him.

Great balls of Palkia, what had he gotten himself into with these two?

Then Ash sighed, and he sat down in the grass next to Nidoran. Gently stroking the Pokemon's purple back, he settled back to watch. If they were going to keep this up, then he would at least enjoy the show!

At the very least, Misty didn't seem quite as confident in public nudity as May was. Now that her suspenders were down, she hooked her thumbs into the waistline of her shorts, and…hesitated. She anxiously rose up and down on her toes, but didn't proceed any further.

"Uh, hey, what's the hold-up?" May called. "You're frustrating your audience here!"

"Shut up, May," Misty muttered. She sighed, and pushed down.

Though he would never admit it, Ash had been sneaking peeks at Misty's butt and legs ever since things had been sorted out the night before. Those little shorts she wore did little to conceal it, and he had been drawing up the hypothesis that Misty had an even better butt than May, which was high praise.

This theory was now confirmed as the shorts slid down her smooth, athletic legs to land in a heap around her sneakers with a soft thump. Her panties were pink and lacy, surprisingly girly considering her personality, and did little to hide the fact that Misty had a fantastic bubble butt, with two juicy round cheeks and a tiny dimple above each. She nervously stuck her finger into the waistband and straightened them out.

This time, Ash didn't freak out, start stuttering, or try to look away. But he did feel his stomach tighten and his already rapid heartbeat increase even further. He worked his tongue inside his mouth, trying to drum up some saliva, and ran it over his dry lips.

"Bow-chicka-bow-wow!" May sang, imitating a sleazy saxophone. "Work it, girl!"

Now that her shorts were down, Misty seemed to be gaining in confidence. She stepped out of them and kicked them aside with the heel of her shoe. Then she turned around to face Ash.

Her face was blushing cutely, but she still managed a pretty good imitation of May's sensual grin. Placing one hand on her hip and letting the other hang, she looked right at Ash. "Well?" she said, her voice trembling only slightly. "What do you, um, think? You like?"

The folds of her vagina were visible beneath her panties' material. Blinking, Ash glanced up to Misty's eyes and silently nodded.

"Good. And you'd better! Because, um…" Misty faltered for a bit, and then left the thought hanging. She reached down to grab the hem of her shirt. And, after a moment of brief hesitation, she began to pull it up.

Ash couldn't really tell if it was her nerves or if she wanted to tease him further, but Misty took her sweet time taking her shirt off. That was fine though; it made it feel more special, like an unveiling ceremony. And it let him really appreciate her as she became more and more exposed.

Misty had mentioned a few times that, in addition to specializing in water Pokemon, she was also a regular swimmer. Seeing her now, he had no difficulty believing it. Her body was exceptionally well-toned for a ten year old, from the musculature of her legs to the slight definition of her abs. It honestly made him uncomfortably aware of his own lack of muscle, and he resolved to change that in the course of his journey.

Her milky-white chest was, as expected, as flat as his own, but no less enticing. Her bright pink nipples were a little larger than he had expected, and were standing as stiff and erect as his penis (again!), surrounded by a light dusting of freckles. She had a bit of a tanline where the shirt had been, but not one as pronounced as it could have been, so that meant that she did spend some time outside naked. Probably not as much as May, whose tan was completely unbroken, but some.

Misty gave her shirt one final yank, and her head popped out. The pink in her cheeks was now even more luminescent, but her smile was a lot less forced, so she did seem to be enjoying herself. "Well!" she said, letting the shirt fall. "Here they are! Um, I know they're n-not really much, but-"

"With more confidence, Misty!" May shouted at her. "Flat is justice! Rock what'cha got!"

Ash nearly fell back. May was now sitting cross-legged right next to him, body hunched over as she studied Misty intently. "How long have you been there?" he sputtered.

May ignored him. "Come on! You've got abs for days and killer legs, and one heck of a cute butt! So what if you don't got tits yet? You will in a few years, and your nips are adorable! Own that bod!"

Misty looked more annoyed than encouraged, but she rolled her eyes and adjusted her pose, leaning slightly to one side with one hand on her hip and the other hanging free.

"There you go!" May cheered, pumping one arm. "Now the rest of it."

"Nido," Nidoran yawned. Now bored with his human companions' strange rituals, he curled and closed his eyes for an early-evening nap.

"You know, you're not as helpful as you think you are," Misty muttered. "But okay. Let's do this."

Ash straightened up as Misty stuck her thumbs into the band of her panties much as she had with her shorts and slowly brought them down, bending over as she exposed the rest of her.

When she was done, she straightened up again, panties held in one hand. "W-Well, here yah go!" she said.

"Come on, you almost had it!" May groaned. "Stick those hips out more! You got it, so flaunt it!"

"Bite me, May!"

"Time and place!"

Ash wasn't listening to them bicker. In fact, he barely heard them. He was absolutely entranced by the sight of Misty's sex, from the two bald, rosy lips to the tiny little slit that split her in between. Her mound was a little bit bigger than May's, he noticed that too.

Just the perfect size to fit in my hand, he realized. And if things continued on the way they were, he could probably test that for real!

"All right, we came here for a rest, so let's get you wet!" May leapt to her feet and strutted over to Misty, deliberately swaying her hips back and forth. She laid her hands on Misty's shoulders and turned her around, and Ash was treated to the wondrous sight of two great butts, side-by-side.

"In you go," May said, giving Misty a soft push.

Misty frowned at her. "You're not coming in too?"

"Nah, I don't think so. Water doesn't really agree with me. Fire-type, you know? But you should be right at home." She patted Misty's bare buttcheek. "So go on. Return to your natural habitat!"

Misty scowled. "Then why'd you take off your clothes?" she muttered, but she complied, stepping into the lake.

In one of those odd moments in which the mind goes to the most strangest of places, Ash then realized that he still had yet to call his mom. If she had heard about his embarrassment at the Pokemon lab, then she must be worried sick about him, seeing how he hadn't come home yet. Well, he resolved to call her and let her know that everything was fine at the earliest opportunity.

But, in telling her of his adventures, he was going to have to omit many key details, including this one. Especially this one.

…

As Misty walked into the cool waters of the lake until she was up to her calves, she realized that this was probably the most excited that she had ever been. Even her first battle as an official Gym Leader (which she had won!) didn't really compare.

She had done it. She had taken off her clothes for a boy that she barely knew. True, this wasn't the first time a boy had seen her naked; one wasn't friends with May for any length of time without winding up naked in public at least once. But in all those other cases she had been caught. This was the first time that she did it on purpose.

Misty could feel Ash's hungry eyes on her, taking in every centimeter of her body. It was…well, it was honestly pretty embarrassing, but also unbelievably thrilling! Those instances when she had noticed him checking her out had been both funny and kind of flattering, but now with her completely naked the dynamic was changed. Her heart was pounding away so loudly from both fear and arousal that it was a wonder that it wasn't sending ripples through the lake.

And it's not just him! she realized. Anyone could come by. The woods they were in were pretty well-traveled, so at any moment another trainer, a hiker, a backpacker, or pretty much anyone out for a walk could come by and see her.

As weird as it sounded, the possibility of getting seen by a stranger made it even better. The thrill of it was unlike any other. It felt like electricity was singing through her veins and crackling over her skin. Her nipples and nether areas were tingling, and not just because of the cool, evening breeze.

No wonder May enjoys this so much. Misty laughed a little. Wow, she really has been a bad influence.

"Focus, Misty!" May called. "You're here to learn how to use your PokeGirl powers, remember?"

"Right! Okay." Slowing her breathing, Misty knelt down (Ash was probably really enjoying that part), scooped some lake water into her hands, and splashed it onto herself.

"What are you doing?" May said.

"Getting ready! You know, forming a connection to the water?"

"Um, that's not how it…You know what? Maybe it'll help. Keep right on rubbing yourself."

Misty rolled her eyes. She stood back up, water dripping from her body. "Okay, what do I do?"

"Okay, first you need to concentrate. It'll help to close your eyes for your first time." Then May snickered. "Heh, that's what she said."

Ignoring the double-entendre, Misty did so.

"Now look deep within yourself! There should be a well of energy in your core that wasn't there before, like a ball of fire, burning deep within-"

"May, I'm not a fire-type!"

"Fine! Spring of cool water then! It's in there, go find it!"

Taking a deep breath, Misty turned her focus inward, searching for her new power.

It didn't take long to find it, though it felt more like a humming sphere of energy than a spring of cool water. Well, whatever. May had never been a water-type, so what did she know?

"Okay, I got it!"

"Okay, now focus on that power! Picture yourself sticking your hands in, letting it just seep into you."

Misty did, and she immediately could tell that it was working. She felt like she had just downed ten cups of coffee all at once. Her lips parted in a wide smile.

It felt incredible, even better than sex! It was like every square centimeter of her body was supercharged with power! Her fingers were shaking with energy, just itching to be released.

"Okay, there's a tree directly across the lake from you. Point your hand out. You're going to try to hit it with water gun."

Misty held up her arm, index finger pointing. The buzzing increased.

"Focus on the spot right in front of you!"

Pressure built in her hand. The trembling increased.

"Now, release!"

Misty did. She expected the sound of a high-pressure hose followed by a loud splash the feel of water rushing from her body, cool droplets hitting her in its wake.

Instead there was a sudden crack followed immediately by a crashing boom! Bright light flashed beyond her eyelids, lighting the world up, and all the built-up pressure eased instantaneously.

Misty blinked. The tree May had spoken off was now short one branch, with a smoking stump where it had been, the detached branch now lying at its roots.

What?

Misty turned back to her friends. Nidoran had been startled awake and was now huddling in Ash's arms, who in turn was staring at her, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

As for May, she was wincing. "Oh, uh, well. It looks like you're actually an electric-type." There was a pause, and then she coughed and said, "Um, congratulations?"

…

A/N: Okay, so, it's been a while since the last update, which means I've had some time to think about what I want to do with story, as well as talked to a few of you and bounced some ideas around. So here's a rough approximation of my plans, as well as some general ground rules that I'm setting for myself. Some of this will be stuff I've already stated, others will be new, but I might as well list everything all at once.

1. Despite this being a retelling of the anime, I'm throwing most of the events out and starting fresh. There will be a few callbacks here and there, and I'll redo the occasional episode or story arc, but for the most part this is going to be a fresh start, fresh story.

2. But on the other hand, I'm also going to be mining the whole of the Pokemon franchise for ideas, characters, and concepts. In addition to the anime, this includes the games, the various manga, and the spin-off titles, which is why we had both Archer and Sierra show up. But the overall framework will adhere a little closer to the plot of Pokemon Red and Blue.

3. Due to the new world, new history, and new culture, a lot of characters will also sport new personalities. Some might be nicer, some who were nice might be mean now, and some might be completely bugnuts. Like I said before, if a character who was nice in the show is now suddenly an asshole, it is not intended to be character bashing, and I do not dislike any of the characters. It is simply for narrative purposes.

4. One major change is that Ash actually knows a lot about Pokemon setting out. He was really uninformed at first in the anime, which made sense, since it allowed the show to introduce each new Pokemon and concept to the audience at the same time as the main character, but that was years ago, and we all know the bizz. If Ash really did want to be a trainer his whole life, it stands to reason that he did a lot of studying first.

5. This story will be Kanto only. The other regions will be referenced of course, and occasionally certain scenes will take place in them, but this story is going to be Indigo League and Indigo League only. Pokemon and characters from later seasons will still show up here and there though.

6. Also, I'm scrapping Ash's original Pokemon team in favor of a new lineup. Maybe one or two familiar faces will join the party, but for the most part I'm starting fresh, hence Nidoran. And I'm making a point to not use any of the original starters, Pikachu included. However, they may still show up occasionally with their new trainers.

7. This might be kind of a spoiler, but it literally is in the tags for the Ao3 crosspost, so screw it. Only expect the mainline female companions to be joining the harem. I know a lot of people have their favorite girl that they want to see included, and I get it, but I do want to give each of the girls some measure of focus, and to do that I got to keep things relatively small and manageable. Nothing stopping any heavily requested girl from showing up for a one-off though, if you know what I mean. And other girls might also be included, depending on how I feel, but don't expect Ash to be catching X supporting girl from such-and-such a season. He might still bang her though.

Also, I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with the Alola girls though, as them being a three-for-one deal kind of makes things difficult. I do want to include them in some capacity though.

8. Okay, a lot of people might have an issue with this, but I'm not including any of the male companions. So I'm sorry, but Brock is staying home. Look, I love the B man as much as the next guy, and he certainly would fit right into this new world, but with the harem thing going on, the main cast will be big as it is, so I need to streamline wherever I can. Same goes for the rest, though again, I'm not against the occasional cameo appearance here and there.

9. Only Kanto legendaries. I feel that if you include a legendary, it requires a lot of focus and significance, and like the harem I want to keep things manageable.

Okay, I think that's everything. I guess I'll see you guys-

…

"What?" Misty numbly looked down at her hands, which were still crackling with electricity. "WHAT the FU-"

…

-around!