Part L: The Doctor's Back

"Ash, Misty, there you are." Brock called out as Ash and Misty entered the lobby of the Fuchsia City Pokémon Center having just left the dining room. "It's so good to see you two."

The young couple smiled at their friend and fellow Sinnoh traveling companion as they made their way across the room towards him. It was the day after they had arrived in the southern Kanto city and they were looking forward to spending the day seeing it with Brock just like old times.

Their flight from Hoenn had gotten in late last night so they hadn't been able to see Brock right away. After the events of their week at May's and the conversations they'd each had before they left all they wanted to do was get to the Pokémon Center and go to bed.

However, before they had left Hoenn, they'd called Brock and confirmed that he couldn't meet them until the morning as he had some work to finish up for his mentor and didn't actually live in the city, just within walking distance of it. It had worked out best this way and they made plans accordingly.

As such, Ash and Misty had headed straight to the Pokémon Center where they'd sorted out a few last-minute things while checking in. Ash had sent back 3 of his Pokémon to Professor Oak, but that had not including Porygon2 who the Professor wanted to study right away after seeing Ash use it and its Conversion2 move in the Wallace Cup but would have to wait as Ash wanted to use it against Janine. Ash had then received the other 3 pre-selected Pokémon for his upcoming battle with Janine before they'd gone to bed.

It had been hard to send Gengar back but Ash had promised it that when he was done and they left Fuchsia he'd Gengar both back to continue training with all his Kanto catches in between stops. This way Ash got to bond with the 3 them as much as possible while also getting practice in with as many of his Pokémon as possible in preparation for the Indigo Conference.

Plus there was likely going to be a gap between his battles with Janine and Blaine while Ash and Misty hit either the islands or the area around Fuchsia City for Contests so that Misty could get her remaining 2 ribbons for the Grand Festival. Ash intended to have all his new Pokémon by his side for that journey.

Dragonair and Porygon2 would be used against Janine but not Blaine as Ash had a different plan for the fire type leader but between the cities they would all be together. However, the focus of the next few days before that battle was all about getting ready for it and catching up with Brock of course.

Misty too had had to make a few transfers when they'd arrived. She'd started off with a touching goodbye to Ambipom and a promise to watch her in the World Pokémon Ping Pong championships when they were aired later in the year as well as promising to win the Grand Festival this time. After that Ambipom had been sent back to O to continue her training under him as she pursued her other dream.

Then Misty had sent Togekiss back to Professor Oak to continue his research and further her role as the mother of the ranch as she helped Bulbasaur a lot in keeping the peace there between the many Pokémon that Ash had caught, as well as the other 3 of Misty's that lived there now. in return Buneary, who instantly went to Pikachu after being away from him for so long, and Mamoswine, who had to be bribed with a lot of Poffins to appease him, came back.

All in all it had been easier this way for them this way. It gave them a full day with Brock, who had a couple days off to spend with them unless an emergency arose and allowed them to sort out their Pokémon before crashing for the night. Now they were well rested, fed, and ready to spend the day with their old friend, who for some odd reason wasn't flirting with Nurse Joy though they presumed it was because he already had and been put in his place by Croagunk before they arrived.

"Brock." Ash said as they reached him, shaking his hand before he hugged Misty in greeting. "Good to see you again too."

"It feels like ages." Misty said with a smile as they broke apart. "How've you been?"

"Only a few months so shorter than between Sinnoh and learning you two are now a couple but it's been good." Brock said, it killed him that he couldn't tell them about his relationship with Lucy but she'd been right, it was going to be better this way and she had a right to be present when Ash and Misty learned of her because their reaction would be priceless. "I'm learning a lot, especially regarding how to treat poisoned Pokémon, and will easily pass the year. Been busy but I had the time to watch most of the Wallace Cup and catch up on the highlights."

"What did you think?" Misty asked as they left the Pokémon Center, the plan being to wander Fuchsia City for a bit to show it to Misty while doing some light shopping and then get some lunch at an outdoor café that Brock knew and liked. "It must have been pretty entertaining seeing how much fun it was to be in it."

"You could say that, much better than the one in Sinnoh if for no reason that I knew more people competing in it." Brock agreed. "And congrats Misty, another win in the Wallace Cup, it's really become your competition."

"Yeah it was great, my third straight Aqua Ribbon and third one of the year so only 2 more to qualify for the Kanto Grand Festival." Misty said with a smile. "Plus I got to beat Dawn, Ash and May on the way to winning it. That was some sweet revenge on Ash for beating me in HopHopHop Town."

"I heard of that; I still can't believe that Ash won a Contest over you but it happened somehow." Brock said shaking his head. "You got Ash back though and the way your Espeon, who's gorgeous by the way I'd love to look over it at some point, beat Ash's Gengar was, well frankly, very Ash-like."

"What can I say, I learn from the best when it comes to thinking out of the box." Misty said giving Ash a loving look and squeezing his hand as they walked. "I didn't want another surprise, you can't trust Ash not to have one or two up his sleeve, so I had to be the one to surprise him."

"It was definitely a surprise to me." Ash admitted. "Misty came at me with my own tactics and exploited both weaknesses and surprises to beat me, using Quick Attack like that was pure genius. Shame we couldn't' confirm Gengar's gender but Attract doesn't work on ghost types."

"Still, you did really well Ash." Brock said as Misty blushed furiously at Ash's complement. "Making it all the way to the semifinals and beating Zoey in the process was no small feat. That Porygon2 was a real shock to everyone including me. No one has ever seen it before though I am one of the few who has seen a Porygon at least but I didn't know that it could evolve though. No wonder you upset Zoey with it, it was unique and you utilized the environment perfectly to beat her. How did you get it?"

"Long story there." Ash said with a chuckle at the memory. "But you remember Porygon so I take it you remember Dr. Akihabara."

"That whack job?" Brock asked his eyebrow raised and a slight shudder at the memory. "How can I forget him. I still occasionally have nightmares from that ordeal he put us through. Why?"

"Well he's the one who gave me Porygon2." Ash said shocking Brock. "How else would I get one, they aren't exactly common."

"What?" Brock asked in amazement at Ash's revelation. "You met him again?"

"Yeah we ran into him outside the Celadon Gym." Ash confirmed. "Literally, he was entering as we were leaving and we fell down the stairs together. He remembered me so after telling Misty of our adventure together in the Computer World."

"Something that Ash neglected to mention." Misty pointed out. "Hopefully there are more adventures that you can tell me Brock about you're first journey in Kanto with Ash so that I'm not surprised again."

"Well we are in Fuchsia City so near the Safari Zone." Brock said with a shrug. "That was an ordeal itself and Kaiser is still there if you want to see him again as well."

"That maniac is still around!" Ash exclaimed. "Right we aren't going there again, not while he's there. Well that and I have enough Tauros already, I don't need more."

"Kaiser?" Misty asked curiously. "Who's he?"

"He was the dude who pointed a gun at me when we visited the Safari Zone." Ash said as if it was nothing. "One of my more memorable adventures that I actively try to forget."

"Oh ok, you mentioned that." Misty said remembering Ash saying something about that when they met Dr. Akihabara but there had been so much going on then that Misty hadn't questioned it fully. "The Safari Zone was where you caught your 30 Taurus, right? How did that happen?"

"Correct." Ash said with a nod. "And how is pretty simple. Due to the habitat in the Safari Zone, in order to protect it, you get 30 special balls called Safari Balls when you enter the zone to catch Pokémon. You can't battle them and once the 30 balls are used up you have to return to Kaiser. Team Rocket was there and we got into a competition to catch the most Pokémon. They caught nothing, I caught all Tauros, some even seemed to throw themselves in front of my Safari Balls when I tried to catch other Pokémon and Brock caught at least one for me. There was more to that adventure as there was a Dragonair there but that was about it."

"Ok and I take it we aren't going to spend any time there then." Misty said and Ash shook his head. "Shame, it does sound fun."

"No, not a place high on my revisit list after looking down the barrel of a gun multiple times." Ash said with a slight shudder. "Though the model I believe has been reused both in the Sinnoh Great Marsh and the Hoenn Safari Zone so one day we could visit those and try our hands there."

"True and the last time we were at the Great Marsh we ended up in that Croagunk Festival so didn't see much of it at all." Misty said thinking back on their visit to the unique area in her home region. "Alright, we can leave the Kanto one alone for personal reasons but the others we should visit when we have the time."

"Agreed." Ash said.

"They are worth the trip at least once." Brock added. "Just for the experience and there are some rare Pokémon in them that are hard to find elsewhere. But Ash, we got sidetracked, you were mentioning how you got Porygon2 and how it had something to do with Akihabara."

"Oh yeah well you remember the Porygon that Dr. Akihabara lent us to enter the Computer World." Ash said. "The one that helped us foil Team Rocket's plan there."

"How can I forget." Brock replied. "That event is seared into my memory."

"Well it turns out that my Porygon2 is that very same Porygon." Ash said shocking Brock. "Yeah the doctor invented something called Upgrade that evolved it into a Porygon2. There is also something called a Dubious Disk created by a scientist in Sinnoh that was working for Team Galactic that can evolve Porygon2 into Porygon-Z and I have one just in case but I don't want to evolve it just yet."

"I see and is Porygon2 on you?" Brock asked. "I'd love to see it."

"Yes it is, I am planning on using it against Janine." Ash said with a grin that Brock matched at the thought of meeting such a unique Pokémon. "After lunch you can meet it and Dragonair who I am also using against her, Gengar is back with Professor Oak so you will have to wait until after the battle to meet it. Porygon2 remembered me, that was why Dr. Akihabara gave it to me, so I am sure it will remember you as well."

"Looking forward to meeting them as well as all of Misty's new Pokémon." Brock said. "I saw Gloom and Espeon in the Wallace Cup so I can't wait to meet them later. Sounds like you two have had a few adventures since you started out in Kanto."

"Don't you know it." Ash said with a grin. "Nothing too wild, yet, but plenty of interesting experiences for sure."

"Well, why don't you both regale me with an update while we show Misty the city." Brock said eager to hear what crazy shenanigans Ash had gotten himself and Misty into this time around. "I expect them to be as good as they usually are, odd things always happen to you Ash."

"Where to begin." Ash said as Misty smiled at the memories, old and new, of adventuring with Ash. "Well I think Misty getting assaulted by an Oddish on our first day is a good start, really set the tone for our journey."

"What?" Brock asked looking at Misty. "Is that how you got the Gloom you used in the Wallace Cup?"

"Sorta, as well as my Pinsir who you haven't seen yet." Misty said with a grin at Brock's confused look at Misty's Pokémon revelation, she hadn't used the Stag Beetle Pokémon in the Wallace Cup so Brock didn't know she had one. "Basically, it went down like this. I was…."


"Wow." Brock said when Ash and Misty had finished recounting their story to him not sparing any details of the various adventures they had had and the reconnections they had made. "That does sound interesting and yet a little tame for you Ash. Where's the tussles with legendary Pokémon? Where's the near-death experiences? Those are staples of an Ash Ketchum adventure."

"Yeah but at the same time tame is nice for a change." Misty said as they sat down at the outdoor table for lunch. "It's a nice break just focusing on Contest, Ash's challenges, and having a good time without having to worry about multiple deities battling each other with us in the middle or Ash trying to get himself killed and annoying me in the process. I'm sure that we will have one of those adventures at some point but until then I am going to enjoy this relative peaceful journey."

It was a few hours later, that was how long it had taken to catch Brock up on all their activities since Ash's party. It might have been quicker but Ash had insisted on a blow by blow account of each of his 5 full battles so far so that he could understand what they had been like.

Brock had been impressed with all of them, though he'd already heard of Ash's battle with Forrest from his brother, and surprised at Ash's choice of Pokémon at times, including the surprise return of Primeape, but he should have seen it coming with Ash around. He'd asked Ash what his Pokémon, other than Pikachu, Dragonair, and Porygon2 would be for his battle with Janine were but Ash was tight lipped on that so as to surprise Brock.

Still, Ash and Misty had had a few fun adventures with old acquaintances from Ash's first journey here, as well as one from their Sinnoh journey, and the new Pokémon both of them had caught were interesting for sure. Brock was looking forward to meeting Dragonair, Porygon2, Gloom, Pinsir, and Espeon later and looking over them. He was especially looking forward to seeing Misty's shiny Espeon in person, that was a truly rare Pokémon before Misty confirmed it was an even rarer female Espeon and Brock had to examine her.

"Though you have run into a few old faces from the over the years." Brock pointed out. "Like Giselle, Dr. Akihabara, Anthony and O."

"Yeah those were surprises for sure." Ash agreed as he looked over the menu trying to decide what to get for lunch. "But it has been fun and it's great showing Misty as much of Kanto as possible."

"I agree, I've had a lot of fun and the Contests here have been great." Misty said with a smile as she looked over her own menu. "Not dressing up and not using ball seals still feel a little odd to me though. I blitzed my way through Johto and didn't really pay attention back then but now that I am pacing myself it is still an adjustment, even if it's the norm for all regular Contests outside of Sinnoh. I heard that Kalos is adopting a similar dressing up trend which is cool but that's it."

"I'm sure you will get used to it by the time you enter the Grand Festival." Brock said, he already knew what he was having, he'd been here on enough dates with Lucy to have a usual order. "Plus the Wallace Cup was a good return to what you like so a good reset of sorts."

"That it was." Misty said with a smile. "It felt so natural being able to dress up and use seals again but I understand that Kanto is different and adapting as best I can."

"No way!" Ash suddenly exclaimed surprising both Brock and Misty as he looked at an item on the menu. "Brock, they have jelly filled donuts here!"

"Yeah but they aren't as good as mine were." Brock replied with a grin. "Been a while since I made them though so I may be rusty at it but I still have the recipe for them just in case."

"I doubt that." Ash said shaking his head, Brock's cooking never got worse, only better. "They were great back in the day."

"Um what?" Misty asked confused at the apparent inside joke between Ash and Brock. "Jelly filled donuts? You used to make them Brock?"

"Oh yeah you never had them have you." Ash said sheepishly forgetting that the delicacy has ended sometime during Hoenn if not before. "You see back in Kanto and Johto, Brock would often make jelly filled donuts as a stable of our trips, we had them often whenever we made camp. I think I threw one at Mankey instead of a Poke Ball, well that or a rice ball as Brock made those as well and they were just as good as the donuts, and that was why it got pissed at me."

"Yeah you said something about a rice ball when you were explaining how you caught a Primeape to me and Erika." Misty said recalling it. "Why'd you stop making them Brock?"

"Dunno I guess I just didn't see the need to make them." Brock said with a shrug. "After Dawn left it was a different group in a new region so I changed it up and never went back and Ash never asked about them so I kinda forgot about them. It's like Ash with his outfits; new region, new style."

"I see, that makes sense I guess." Misty said thoughtfully. "Can you still make them though? I would like to try them, both the donuts and the rice balls, while we are all together in Kanto. It will give me a sense for how your first adventure together and Ash's first ever as a trainer."

"Sure I can make them when we get back to the Pokémon Center or back at my place later, whichever we end up at." Brock said and Ash's stomach decided to rumble in agreement at that causing them all to laugh. "Though I think first Ash needs to eat here, don't want to keep that legendary appetite waiting now do we."

"True, it has been hours since I last ate." Ash said causing them all to laugh. "So time to feast."

They were just about to call over a waiter when there was the unmistakable sound of a Poke Ball opening and a Pokémon materializing next to them. A second later Croagunk appeared confusing Ash and Misty as there wasn't a woman around for Brock to hit on and be denied, something Misty had actually noticed hadn't happened since arriving and there were plenty of attractive women in Fuchsia which was odd.

Brocks sudden odd behavior was replaced by Croagunk's own odd behaver when he suddenly activating his Poison Jab and lunging at the thin air just in front of the table where a 4th person would have been. It made no sense which Misty didn't understand because of all of Brock's Pokémon, Croagunk was for the most part the most sensible one so long as that Toxicroak wasn't near it.

Misty was very confused and that was when everything got odder. The air shimmered as Croagunk approached it and suddenly his attack was deflected harmlessly away. Croagunk seemed to accept this and sat back on his haunches and croaked respectfully at the person who was standing right where he had attacked.

An attractive woman with short, spikey, purple hair tied back into some bun thing and matching purple eyes who looked to be around Brock's age was standing before them. She was standing on one foot, her other resting against her calf with her knee cocked showing that she'd used it to deflect Croagunk's attack away from her. Her fingers were together in front of her and she gave Croagunk a nod of respect.

"Not bad young one, almost got me there but appearing out of your ball and attacking gave me more than enough time to deflect it." She said to Croagunk. "At least you noticed me, something few can do."

As she was talking, Misty studied the woman while Ash recovered from his sudden shock at her appearance. The woman wore a simple black sleeveless vest over a long-sleeved brown shirt, baggy black pants and white socks with no shoes that were somehow not dirty. On her forearms and calves were purple sleeves with pink edging, the latter ones having her pants tucked into them. She accented her look with a pink belt and matching pink cape the billowed lightly in the sea breeze as it fell to just past her knees.

"Was any of that necessary my niece." A second female voice said and an older woman appeared from behind the purple haired one, again seeming to appear out of thin air. "You could have just gone up to them and said hello, no need for the dramatics."

"But auntie, how am I to stay atop of my training if I don't use concealment as you and dad taught me." The younger woman said with a slight irritation to her voice. "Plus I wanted to see if Croagunk here could get a hit on me without needed to overwhelm my defense like last time."

"Ah so this is the one who took 7 jabs to knock you out the other day." The older woman said studying Croagunk with a keen eye as Misty just gaped at that fact. "Yes it is a fine specimen for sure, even your father's wasn't this good before it evolved though I think his Toxicroak could take it in battle."

As she spoke, Misty studied the older woman who looked to be around 30 but that was hard to gage and Misty knew better than to ask her how old she was. The woman had long green hair was tied back in a high pony tail with a gold holder and a wavey fringe of sorts. Her matching green eyes had an intense, determined edge to them though she was clearly not thrilled with her niece's antics but at the same time she didn't look disapproving of them. Then there was her rather bright outfit.

She wore a bright pink vest and skirt combo thing that fell down to just past her ass with a blood red edging on the V of the top part and was tied with a black belt that Misty had a feeling meant to be more than just an accessory. She wore a grey mesh top under the vest. Her forearms were covered in red sleeves leaving her upper arms bare and she wore a pair of red socks that came to just below her knees. The last thing Misty noted was that unlike her niece, the woman wore shoes, in her case a pair of gold sandals that had an ankle tie.

"Yeah it took some good shots to bring me down." The other woman said proudly. "And you always said keep practicing both of my passions."

"Yes but unlike me who can focus exclusively on becoming a ninja master." The older woman said confirming Misty's suspicions that they were both ninjas, something that really confused her. "You have other responsibilities to attend to as well."

"Aya?" Ash asked finally recovering and recognizing the pink clad woman before them. "What are you doing here?"

"My niece here saw Croagunk's trainer in town a few minutes ago and wanted to test Croagunk but she neglected to tell me that it was Brock's." Aya said with a nod to Ash before glaring briefly at the younger woman and then returning to look Ash in the eyes. "Or that you would be here as well Ash. It is good to see both of you again."

"Aya, it is a plea…" Brock began but before he could finish Croagunk slammed a Poison Jab into his ribs faster than Misty had ever seen Croagunk move before and Brock faceplanted on the table in pain. "I didn't do anything."

Croagunk just croaked while Ash and Misty laughed and Aya shook her head at the strange sight. It appeared that Croagunk was going for a preemptive strategy today as Misty had a feeling Brock was about to get mushy with Aya. Given the familiarity between them, Misty guessed that he'd tried before and not learned his lesson then so Croagunk was being extra cautious this time.

"See, it's a strong jab." The younger woman said excitedly. "If I didn't already have a high tolerance for poison I would have gone down sooner. However, I don't see how not telling you its trainer was called Brock mattered."

"Because I know Brock and Ash here." Aya said to her niece. "They helped me out when I was learning Pokémon Jiujitsu and before that Ash beat me the day he beat your father for the Soul Badge. That being said, I don't know the redhead with them, she's new. The last girl was some angry, mallet wielding dark haired girl."

"That angry mallet wielding dark haired girl would be Dawn." Misty said standing up and holding out her hand to the older woman despite the gesture feeling odd for some reason. "And the redhead is called Misty. Sorry for not introducing myself sooner, this has been a strange introduction. You would think traveling with Ash would get me used to them, especially with people from his past, but apparently not."

"Aya, sorry for my rudeness, and that of my niece." Aya said with a smile shaking Misty's hand formally. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I take it that you are from Sinnoh."

"I am." Misty said with a nod and was about to ask before she noticed that Piplup was at her heel enjoying his Brock made lunch and the woman had no doubt seen him. "I met Ash and Brock when they were in Sinnoh a few years back."

"And now you are traveling with them in Kanto?" Aya asked a little confused. "You're pretty far from home out here, why?"

"Long story but short version is only Ash and I are traveling Kanto, Brock is working in the area, and this is our first full adventure together since Ash left Sinnoh." Misty explained. "As for why, other than because I'm a coordinator competing on the Kanto Circuit, well I am Ash's girlfriend so wherever he goes I go."

"Really?" Aya said arching an eyebrow at that fact. "You must tell me more about how on earth that happened. Last time I saw Ash he couldn't see that there was a girl basically throwing herself on him for the world to see."

"Hey." Ash protested but it was weak at best.

"Ash babe, you and I both know that it's true." Misty said kindly and Ash just had to reluctantly nod in agreement at that. "That would also be Dawn and she still likes him. I just got lucky in that a mutual friend of ours telling Ash he liked me when they were in Unova, that's where I had last seen Ash, before he came for me in Johto. It's a winding story."

"Then we shall have to hear it one day." Aya said with a smile. "As we have training later."

"So why are you here?" Brock said recovering and annoyed at Croagunk's new habit of jabbing him to remind him that he was taken like he would forget his lovely Lucy anytime soon. "This is a few days before I expected to see you again."

"I saw you in town and had to come see you." The younger woman said as if it was normal to come and surprise someone having lunch. "We still have to have a battle between your Croagunk and my Ariados."

"And we will, in a few weeks." Brock said meeting her eyes so that she knew what not to say . "Once things are back in order we will battle."

"Very well." Janine said clearly knowing what Brock meant and going with it, besides she'd heard a different name and focused on the raven-haired man intently. "But I did hear something that made me want to stay longer. Your name is Ash, right?"

"Um yes." Ash said a little confused at the intensity in the purple haired woman's gaze. "And you are?"

"Janine." The woman said surprising Ash, his eyes going wide at the realization. "I assume you know who I am now."

"Yes, the gym leader I am facing in a few days." Ash said with a nod before getting up and bowing to her in the proper ninja fashion he remembered from facing Janine's father. "It is an honor to meet you, sorry for not recognizing you."

"I never gave my name and we have never met so it is understandable." Janine said bowing back and staying at the same level as a sign of respect. "Please, sit, I won't be here long. I just want to get a reading of you before our battle in 2 days' time."

"Oh ok." Ash said a little nervously. "I am grateful you accepted it despite not knowing me. Other than Viridian, all the other gym leaders in Kanto are either the same as when I first faced them or I already knew them prior to our battle."

"Both my father and Aya spoke highly of you when I asked them who you were after receiving your challenge." Janine said while Aya just nodded in agreement. "So I figured it was worth the experience to face you so I accepted your challenge. It's not every day I get a full battle challenge from a trainer with your noted record, and I did look into that as well before accepting, so I figured why not see what you're made of. Course I had to ask around a bit as well to get a feel for who you are as a person and as a trainer."

"You did?" Ash asked confused. "Who'd you ask?"

"The other gym leaders you would have faced before and after me." Janine said simply. "I got a mixed response ranging in usefulness but overall they all told me that you were worth the challenge, especially as they all told me after their battles with you that you had beaten them all, or at least their representatives told me you had won. If you beat them then I have to face you and win as a matter of honor."

"I won't make it easy for you." Ash said with a grin. "I'm here to win so this is just the challenge I want."

"Good because neither will I." Janine replied. "I expect your best so don't disappoint me."

"So what did the other leaders say of Ash?" Misty asked curiously.

"Various things with different levels of helpfulness." Janine said. "Forrest said that Ash would push me to my limits in ways I hadn't thought of but wouldn't give any details. Dawn sent a 20-page diatribe that was basically her declaration of love for Ash with no substance to it at all other than constantly praising him."

"That sounds about right." Misty muttered, her and Dawn might be turning over a new leaf but that wouldn't stop the girl's feelings for Ash leaking out whenever she had the chance to talk about him. "Though she isn't wrong, Ash is worth all that praise and more."

"Yeah it was a little odd but when Aya told me about her crush on Ash so it made sense." Janine said before continuing. "Surge isn't in Kanto at the moment but his temporary replacement, an equally roided out trainer called Visquez, said that the battle was epic and will lore in Vermilion for years to come. She also added that Surge was wrestling with an Elektross in Unova for some reason. Sabrina spoke of how Ash had been the catalyst for her own mental health recovery but said nothing of his actual abilities and Erika said that Ash can act without thinking, both for good and bad depending on what's going on. As I said various degrees of helpfulness."

"I see and nothing from Blaine?" Ash asked, he had long given up hope of hearing back from whoever was in charge of the Viridian Gym at this point. "I'm facing him next."

"He told me that you're determined and skilled but that you hadn't reached him yet so he couldn't evaluate your current skill level." Janine said. "He also sent several riddles which annoyed me but that's just who he is."

"My niece prefers traps to riddles or poetry." Aya said helpfully. "She gets it from my brother."

"Yes well they are a staple in a ninjas arsenal." Janine said defensively. "Anyway, that is all I have to say for now. My aunt is right, I do have training so we will take our leave. See you in 2 days for our battle Ash and bring you're A game because I will be bringing mine."

"Looking forward to it." Ash said before Janine dropped a smoke capsule and vanished with Aya in a cloud of smoke, the latter rolling her eyes as they left clearly not a fan of the overly dramatic exit.

"Well that was different." Misty coughed as the smoke dissipated and Brock returned Croagunk who was still looking at where the women had been. "Usually we have that chat before the nettle on the day off, not in a café a few days before."

"That's my fault." Brock apologized. "Janine somehow heard of Croagunk's skills and decided she wanted to test them out last week. She wants to battle me and Croagunk but I'm busy at the moment. In a few weeks I'll have the time I need for it though and we will battle. She came to see me because of that, and Croagunk. Meeting Ash was a bonus for her."

"Well that and Aya knows us." Ash pointed out. "We've helped her out a couple of times in the past so it was nice to see her again."

"Well there's another story for me to hear, explain again how you know her Ash." Misty said, she knew that there was nothing between the older ninja and Ash but she had to keep him on his toes. "What's her story with you two, we have all lunch to discuss that."

As Misty spoke a waiter came and took their orders and Ash didn't notice her tone at all. Afterwards Ash and Brock told her of their first time in Fuchsia, the Safari Zone, meeting Aya and Koga, Janine's father and former gym leader, and the battles they had had back then.

Then they told her of the other time they had run into Aya and helped her out. By the time lunch was over Misty was fully caught up on that and they could continue their plan for rest of the day which involved going back to the Pokémon Center and Brock making jelly filled donuts before training for Ash's upcoming full battle resumed.

It had certainly been an interesting start to Misty's stay in Fuchsia City and if the battle was anything like their meeting with Janine then she couldn't wait, it was going be epic but then again all of Ash's battles tended to be. Misty would not be wrong.