Part CV: The Sixth Rival

"So, when did this become a thing?" Miette asked interrupting Ash and Misty hands on her hips causing the pair to break about and flush with embarrassment. "Because I have been with you two all day and seen no indication that you two were a couple."

"Huh?" Ash asked looked at a rather angry Miette in utter confusion at what was going on. "I don't…"

"Ash, go and see if Serena needs any help." Misty said looking over Miette's shoulder and locking gazes with Serena who gave her a small nod to her suspicion while pointedly ignoring her Malamar who was out and likely about to slap her before Miette interrupted them. "I think it's me that Miette wants to talk to, alone I presume."

"You're damn right." Miette said with a nod. "This is something we need to hash out woman to woman."

"Ok, I'll go help Serena." Ash said still clueless by doing just that and heading over to Serena to get away from the strange situation between his girlfriend and the latest friend they'd made.

"Ash, let's get this back to the Pokémon Center." Serena said resisting the urge to grab his arm and drag him away, this was not the time for any physical contact with Ash. "I want to see if May's back and let her know what happened today."

"Um ok but what about Misty and Miette?" Ash asked still confused. "Are they going to be ok?"

"Yes, they just need to talk about some girl issues." Serena said and Ash decided that that was good enough for him. "Nothing to concern yourself with."

"Ok sounds good." Ash said helping Serena with her things and leaving trusting Misty and Miette to handle whatever it is that they had to handle. "I do want to hear how May's day was, so I hope she's back."

As Ash and Serena were leaving Misty folded her arms across her chest, Malamar doing the same with her tentacles but Misty had no idea who it was for, and gave Miette a cool look. The moment the girl had interrupted them Misty had a feeling that she knew what it would be about. Add in her glance at Serena and the girl had all but confirmed it.

Misty had to admit, she was a little startled by the sudden challenge pretty much right off the bat. Miette had barely known Ash and already she had set her eyes on him. She had to give it to the Kalos girl, she was confident and direct in her approach, something that Misty hadn't encountered in all her rivals to date. Honestly, it was a breath of fresh air to get this done right at the start and coming from the other girl so as to cut all the Tauros and get straight to it.

However, at the same time Miette seemed respectful enough to deal with Misty alone just between the two girls, something Misty respected. This wasn't a positive rival like the last few, but Misty didn't necessarily see her as a negative one the way Dawn had been at the start. This was something different entirely and she was about to find out what it was.

"To answer your questions, about 14 or so months ago but I have kinda lost track of time since getting to Kalos." Misty said which really surprised Miette causing Misty to have a grim smile. "Yeah we've been together a long time despite appearances. If you thought you ever had a chance you never did."

"I would have pegged Ash as too dense to realize long enough to get a girl given how obvious Serena's crush is." Miette replied. "That long is a surprise, you hide it well."

"If there hadn't have been the bake off today you may have seen us holding hands and known." Misty said with a shrug. "But other than that, we seldom engage in public displays of affection unless one of us wins something and we want to celebrate."

"Malamar." Malamar said with a hint of a threat in her voice.

"Alright we used to but these days Malamar will slap me even when we have reason to do so." Misty said with a sigh. "Regardless of my Pokémon's antics, it is the respectful thing to do, especially traveling with two girls who also have crushes on Ash."

"I see, I get that." Miette said deciding to ignore the Malamar thing, and Malamar itself, for the time being and ask about that if it became relevant. "And I respect that you are considerate of others, despite our rivalry I do consider Serena to be a dear friend and am glad that you aren't rubbing it in her face, even if it was confusing for me. Shame I didn't even stand a chance, Ash already seems like a great guy and I am sure that the more I get to know him the deeper these feelings will become."

"I'll admit, I am surprised you fell that quick but if they are that quick then yes, over time they will deepen considerably." Misty said. "Out of curiosity, what was it? I don't think anyone else has fallen that fast except maybe Serena but that was because she was so young and that was before any of us so I can't speak to it."

"I'll get Serena's full story from her, but she is part of why I fell fast." Miette explained. "We are such intense rivals because we are so similar, so it isn't a surprise that I'd have a similar taste in men as she does. Other than that, well the way Ash commanded us earlier and handled Team Rocket was hot. It showed how confident and in command he is and frankly I find that really sexy in a man."

"True it was hot." Misty agreed, there was no point in denying that fact to Miette seeing as she'd seen it as well. "But even that is normally not enough, usually it takes a major event where Ash does something stupid and almost dies, or in once case might have actually died briefly, for it to set in. The only other rival I know who wasn't like that was Anabel and her empathetic abilities give her an understanding of emotions on a level I can't even fathom, so it is understandable with her. How is it that you are different as well?"

"I know what I want, and I am willing to take it or go after it if it is within reach." Miette said with a shrug. "I am confident in my skills and abilities so when I knew what I was feeling early on was an attraction to Ash on more than a physical level but a personal level, so I opened myself to it and embraced my budding feelings. I don't see any point in denying reality. That is something Serena and I differ on; she is more likely to deny or avoid something than I am."

"Admiral." Misty said with a nod and she meant it, Miette clearly had confidence to spare, and she could learn from that in some regard as it had taken Misty a while to build up her own confidence, something that Ash had helped a lot with. "And you came right up to me directly the moment you realized I was your rival; I respect that a lot. No one, other than maybe Dawn, has taken the fight to me so directly."

"It's clear you're the alpha bitch here, you're the one who is actually with Ash." Miette said simply. "I know how this stuff works so I went straight for the alpha once it was clear who she was. At first I thought I'd just be competing with Serena and gave her a challenge to admit to Ash how she felt before me as a way to confirm that I could beat her but clearly she has failed at that, so I came to size up the girl that beat her and likely many others. I don't doubt that this isn't your first rodeo Misty."

"Oh, I am the alpha bitch and don't you forget that." Misty said with grin. "And Serena hasn't admitted them to Ash yet, he's still clueless on that but all others who I have faced have either done so or at least Ash knows about them, so you still have that with her, I won't interfere in that battle you will undertake with her. You are astute, this is far from my first rodeo dealing with a rival, even if this one came up to me and was unexpected."

"Thank you, I will let her know that we still have that much to compete over." Miette said before voicing a question to what Misty had just said. "How many rivals have you face then? You have mentioned at least 4 and if Ash is who I heard about last year from May when we all met at a Showcase and she mentioned him in passing and blushed at it then that doesn't surprise me but who else is there?"

"You make 7 though you are the 6th I've had the pleasure of talking to and sorting this out with." Misty said. "Though this is different from the others I've had to deal with."

"How so?" Miette asked. "You've said I'm different but just how different am I?"

"You are direct and to the point, it's refreshing in a sense." Misty said. "The others I've had to find out myself, or blew up in my face in one case, so this is different for sure and much less awkward when I have to call them out on their feelings for Ash as I did with May and Serena. It's something I respect that you have the confidence to do this. Course it doesn't change a thing in the long run, I will still put you in your place like I did with the others only this time it's a straight challenge from you to me so that I may prove myself to you."

"I figured that you would understand that." Miette said with a grin, Misty certainly knew what was up making this a lot easier for both of them. "You are right, I have come to challenge you and you need to prove to me that you are the alpha. To do so, you must beat me in battle and put me in my place or else I will know that you are weak. If I lose then I will know you're the dominant female and while I won't relinquish my feelings, things like that don't work rationally, I will respect you claim and not interfere when our paths next cross."

"Well, that's new." Misty said her eyes a little wide at Miette's bluntness but smiling all the same, Malamar being completely ignored by this point. "Most of the time I have to suggest the battle and often it is more tradition or therapeutic except the first time, as with you now, I had to put Dawn in her place then. This is the first time a rival has been the one to lay down the gauntlet knowing what is meant by it and naturally I accept. I should warn you; I am not the alpha for no reason, I have barely lost since getting with Ash and never to a love rival."

"How many battles have you won in that time then?" Miette asked curious, it would give her a sense of just how good someone known as the Prodigy of Sinnoh really was. "Not just the love ones."

"Excluding tag battles because that isn't just me and therefore don't count, I've engaged in 31 battles." Misty said after a moment's thought to count them up as she had to use the number of Contests she'd been in, factoring in the Wallace Cup and Grand Festival, to calculate the number. "26 of them have been pure Contest battles, one was a mock Contest battle with Serena that served as my rival battle with her after confronting her over her feelings for Ash, and 4 normal battles. I have only lost three of those battles."

"Ok that's impressive." Miette said a little surprised by the number and winning percentage as she suddenly realized just how much of a threat Misty was going to be in battle, this was a girl who didn't look it but clearly knew how to win. "What were the losses? With a record like that they'd have to be really skilled to beat you."

"Two Contest battles, both finals on the Kanto circuit last year, and one normal one." Misty said. "One of the Contest battles I lost was to Ash due to his Dratini evolving before securing a Battle Off and the other to my friend Mollie where she beat me with pure skill alone."

"Ash was in a Contest?" Miette asked confused. "He doesn't seem the type."

"He's not but he has done them before, either for his Pokémon's sake or for training purposes." Misty said. "Last year he wasn't doing his usual new region thing, he was traveling Kanto with me so that I could compete on a new circuit, and while he was facing gym leaders in full battles he didn't need badges. He did need practice with all his Pokémon for the Indigo Conference though and used four Contests for that purpose."

"I see." Miette said. "I guess when you look at it, a Contest battle can be a training scenario for a normal battle in some sense."

"That's how Ash viewed them." Misty said with a nod. "He used them to deepen his bonds with his Pokémon, especially new ones, and to test himself against different styles. The first of those Contests was the HopHopHop Town one that had a double battle feature. Ash had recently caught a Dratini and a Gengar so used the double battle to build their teamwork. Dratini evolved into Dragonair during it and learned a new move. The whole sequence took me by surprise and next thing I know my Pinsir and Gloom were knocked out and I lost."

"That would do it." Miette said understanding now. "Clearly it worked."

"Without a doubt." Misty agreed. "Ash would actually use both Dragonair and Gengar in the Indigo Conference final where Dragonair evolved into Dragonite. Alas he lost which is why we are here, but you get the picture and why I lost that battle. I beat him in a rematch in the Wallace Cup and under normal conditions, I'd lose to Ash in a regular battle, and he'd lose to me in a Contest one."

"I get that." Miette said. "So, what was the normal battle you lost? That is more understandable at least."

"That was a great battle, but I was out muscled in it." Misty said with a smile. "And the most recent one in fact. The normal battle was to Pike Queen Lucy, one of the Kanto Battle Frontier Brains. She challenged me within minutes of meeting me at Ash's party before we came to Kalos. She did so because she realized that I had beaten one of her colleagues who was considered better than her and wanted to test herself against me and my Spiritomb, so we had a two-on-two battle that she won. As you can see, I didn't lose to a love rival."

"I see then I will have to try my best to beat you as well." Miette said looking forward to the challenge. "You are clearly good, but I will rise to this and make sure you earn a win."

"I hope you do." Misty said. "I enjoy a good battle, my one with Lucy pushed me more than I ever expected, to date she's the only trainer to knock out my Spiritomb by forcing me to use his fourth move, but that's a story for another day. I will show my dominance over you. The only annoying thing is that I will have nothing to remind me of this battle, it is different from the others because of how you have challenged me, and I'd like a memento of beating you."

"You have trophies from your rival?" Miette asked surprised. "I wasn't expecting that."

"Three out of five have allowed for it yes." Misty said with a grin. "Do you want to see them?"

"Sure, show me what you won from those like me." Miette said deciding to see what kinda people Misty had beaten in the past to get even more of a sense from her. "I may not join them in giving you a trophy, but I may as well know what kind of competition I have."

"You have no idea on that front." Misty said as she reached up to her chest and took hold of her locket that always hung around her neck. "I'll go in order from earliest to latest and this one is my favorite as it is the first and means more to me than anything else I've won other than my Ribbon Cup."

As Misty spoke she pressed the button on the side of her locket, and it swung open. Miette was surprised that it was a locket, she just thought it was a large pendant with an odd design on it that looked like a Pokémon she couldn't identify, but it was clearly more. She was even more surprised when she saw that inside it was not a picture but a blue badge in the shape of a drop of water.

"Is that a gym badge?" Miette asked as it was the only thing she thought that it could be. "It looks like one but I haven't seen many so I wouldn't know and given its appearance I'd say it is from a water type gym which I know for a fact that Kalos doesn't have."

"You are right in that it is a gym badge from a water type gym." Misty said closing the locket so that it was safe, it was as precious to her as the locket itself in its own way. "This is my Cascade Badge; it is given to winners at the Cerulean Gym out in Kanto. The leader there is a girl called Dawn who was Ash's first female traveling companion and my first rival. She's deeply in love with him and probably the only rival I have that I would say for certain that Ash at least once reciprocated her feelings without knowing it, but I'd never admit that to her."

"I can understand why you wouldn't." Miette said. "So, you faced her in a gym battle because of Ash and your shared feelings for him."

"Correct." Misty confirmed. "Our first meeting was not good, in fact pretty much everything that could go wrong did. We met after Ash and I had just gotten together and were heading to his home in Pallet Town when we passed through Cerulean City and he wanted to say hi to her. Dawn is known for her temper and her jealousy and this was our first meeting."

"And meeting her love's girlfriend wouldn't be good." Miette said. "Especially when you're someone she's never met before."

"Not in the slightest, especially after literally running into us when we reached the gym." Misty said remembering that incident well. "It was a bad start and when I told her who I was because I saw her feelings for Ash plain as day, she's only slightly better than Serena in that regard, it went downhill fast. I ended up challenging her to a battle. It, er, was pretty destructive."

"Piplup." Piplup protested from beside her, Malamar listened intently as she had heard this story and felt for her friend and teammate who had long suffered from their trainer's stupidity at times. "Pip, Piplup pip."

"And Piplup was almost put through a wall by a Hyper Beam from Dawn's Gyarados." Misty said causing Miette to gasp and Malamar to glare at Misty for her utter stupidity at putting poor Piplup in such a situation though Misty didn't notice her slap happy Pokémon's glare. "Yeah that happened. I got my revenge by throwing her Gyarados into the ceiling with my Togekiss to win but it was volatile the entire time. Only Ash's battles with Mylene when we were in Sinnoh and recently with Kenny where we were all injured were more destructive I'd say."

"I can't picture that." Miette said realizing how intense a battle with Misty was going to be but there was no way she was backing out now. "Like I literally can't imagine the power it would take to do that to a Gyarados."

"It's something you have to see to believe." Misty said. "I won though, and Dawn accepted her place though her jealousy kept rearing its ugly green head for a while and led to some, let's say interesting, encounters between the two of us. Thankfully, we sorted everything out in Hoenn a few months after that and are now good friends. I do hope we can be friends after this as well."

"Beat me and I will know my place." Miette said. "Show me you aren't weak Misty but regardless I do want to be friends. I know I have an intense and direct personality but that doesn't mean I don't like you; it was the same with me and Serena last year."

"Oh, I am far from weak." Misty said with a smile as she reached into her vest and pulled out a special case she kept in a pocket there, glad that Miette was just challenging her and not letting anything ruin their budding friendship. "I haven't finished showing off my trophies and one of them really shows my strength. This isn't it though and the case something I picked up last time I was in Lumiose City for this trophy."

"What is it?" Miette asked unsure what to expect after a gym badge.

Misty just held it up and the case opened. Inside was a Contest ribbon that Miette recognized, who couldn't as it was an Aqua Ribbon that was given to the winner of the Wallace Cup, the most prestigious Contest that wasn't a Grand Festival. This year it was in Kalos, that was why Miette knew about it and what one looked like.

"That's an Aqua Ribbon." Miette said amazed. "You've won the Wallace Cup? I'm impressed but you are a Top Coordinator so you could easily do so."

"Thrice actually." Misty said with a grin at Miette's surprise as she closed the case and put it away in her vest. "My biggest claim to fame on the Contest circuit before becoming a Top Coordinator was that I won the Wallace Cup not once but three times all in a row. Each time I beat May in the final as well."

"That doesn't strike me as something that will happen again." Miette said amazed at the consistency of Misty's wins. "I am surprised it even happened once."

"Yeah I don't think it will happen again in my lifetime." Misty agreed. "The circumstances need to be right, and I doubt they will be. This Aqua Ribbon in particular is my third of the three I have won. I won it in Petalburg City, May's hometown out in Hoenn, in the most recent Wallace Cup. It was also when I realized that May had feelings for Ash and confronted her about them before the final. This ribbon means more to me all the others I have won except my very first one because, well, it was the first."

"I bet." Miette still reeling from everything she was hearing. "I am still processing that you've won that Contest three times. I am entering it this year because it is here in Kalos and I want to win it but that alone will be tough, let alone 3 times."

"I heard; I am looking forward to it as well though I don't think they'll let me compete so my streak will end." Misty said with a sigh. "But yeah this is the only ribbon I still have on me; my others are with my Ribbon Cup. I keep because of the deeper meaning of my third final against May."

"You keep impressing me Misty." Miette said not sure what there was left to expect but deciding that it could be anything. "Go on, what is your third trophy and why do I feel like it will be even more impressive than the other two."

"That because it is and is the one that I shouldn't have." Misty said turning and showing the leather holder on her upper right arm that Miette had noticed but didn't know what it was, nor did she know what the odd coin thing in the center of it was. "And it is the one you likely won't know at all."

"No, I can't say that I know it." Miette admitted. "It looks like a coin of sorts, but I don't know any competition or battle that gives those out, at least there isn't any like that here in Kalos."

"It's a symbol given to the winner of a formal battle against one of the Kanto Frontier Brains on the Battle Frontier out there." Misty said shifting back to her original position. "They are like gym badges only the battles are often different in some sense and usually harder. This one is known as the Ability Symbol and is given to those who beat Anabel, the Salon Maiden of the Battle Tower, and she's the last of the brains one would face on the Frontier if they were doing it normally."

"Wait so that means she's the hardest." Miette said amazed. "And you beat her, yeah that is more impressive."

"Technically yes but she is only the last because Brandon, the one who was last before her, retired a few years back and moved to Sinnoh." Misty said. "Still, she shouldn't be taken lightly and is a gifted trainer in her own right. She's a psychic specialist with an interesting talent, she's an empath. I mentioned her earlier in fact, she's the one with the deeper emotional understanding."

"An empath?" Miette asked confused. "What's that? I've never heard of one of those."

"Effectively she's a telepath but with emotions rather than thoughts and it works better on Pokémon than humans in her case." Misty said. "She can talk with them through emotions because she's learned to understand them from years of training. It's really cool and it means that she doesn't have to speak to give commands to her Pokémon."

"Oh." Miette said her eyes wide. "How do you counter that?"

"You don't." Misty said simply. "She beat Ash the first time they faced though part of that was Ash's fault as he rushed into it without thinking. He worked hard and showed who he is to her after that loss, and she had fallen for him by the time he beat her in their rematch."

"And she was still harboring those feelings when you met her." Miette said.

"Yup, we had a chance meeting and I noticed right away." Misty said. "Anabel didn't hide them, and we had a great chat that night. Naturally, we ended up battling and Anabel made sure it was official so that I could get the Ability Symbol if I won though neither of us were expecting that. I'll be honest, I shouldn't have won. Anabel outright outclasses me in all regards when it comes to battle and if we had 9 rematches she'd win each time, that's how good she is."

"Then how did you beat her?" Miette asked confused. "You must have done something right."

"A mix of the perfect strategy, Pokémon, Anabel's mistakes, an impulsive catch a month or so prior, and sheer dumb luck." Misty said with a shrug. "As you know, I have two ghost types, one of which is a ghost and dark type, so I had an edge on psychic types with them which just so happens to be Anabel's specialty. I also have an Espeon, the same Pokémon Anabel has so that was my team."

"That is a strong team." Miette said. "And against a psychic specialist you at least even the score some. Add in a dark type and you are covering your bases there."

"It was the only way I had a chance." Misty admitted. "It's why I used them. In the battle we started with our Espeons and I knew that if I could beat Anabel's Espeon with either my Espeon or Shuppet I could get to her third and final Pokémon. I did so with Shuppet who then evolved right after knocking it out. Thanks to his breeding, Banette knows a move called Destiny Bond which takes an enemy with him when he faints so when he lost to her Metagross I got to her last Pokémon as I had planned it."

"And you won that battle." Miette concluded. "With your other ghost type."

"Oh, I didn't win it, I made Anabel forfeit it without using a move." Misty said with a grin at Miette's shocked expression. "Yeah, that's were her mistake came into play and gave me the win."

"How did you manage that?" Miette asked.

"A mix of that rare type combination and a training mistake by Anabel." Misty explained. "A ghost and dark type is only weak to fairy type attacks and we didn't know about fairy types at the time as this was during the discovery period. The mistake was that Anabel's Alakazam only knows psychic and fighting type moves so couldn't attack Spiritomb and thus I won by default. That is how I beat her though I know that I would lose a rematch if we had one, Anabel is too good to not have a counter for a Spiritomb or Sableye."

"I see." Miette said seeing how Misty had won it, and incidentally why that other Frontier Brain she'd mentioned earlier had been so eager to challenge her if she could beat a trainer like this Anabel character. "And you're a Top Coordinator as well which only adds to your impressive record."

"Yup and I won that with a Battle Off using Banette and Spiritomb." Misty said. "I was one of the four favorites entering the Kanto Grand Festival, the top one in fact, and I won with little resistance. The only one there who could beat me for sure was Mollie, though Nando would have had a chance had he not been upset in the quarterfinal, and Mollie lost in the semis to Kenny who I had extra incentive to beat."

"You did?" Miette asked as it all began to hit her who Misty really was and what a battle with her was going to mean. "Why?"

"Kenny was once my best friend growing up." Misty said darkly and almost at once Miette saw where this was going. "And at some point he fell in love with me. I never reciprocated though, and his love turned to hate directed at Ash when he realized that I had feelings for Ash."

"That would do it." Miette said. "Especially if you had been friends for a while and then Ash shows up and steals your heart, few could move on from that."

"And Kenny certainly didn't." Misty said with a sigh. "He is one of three rivals Ash has had to face and the only truly negative one, Conway is creepy but not malicious. Ash crushed Kenny in a full battle a few weeks ago to show his dominance over Kenny at last. It got out of hand with Mega Evolution at the end, but it was beautiful to watch."

"Is that why you have those bandages?" Miette asked, she had wondered why Misty's left forearm and right thigh had bandages on them. "I was curious about them."

"Let's just say a Mega Charizard slamming a Mega Alakazam into the ground from several stories high with a Seismic Toss into Dragon Tail combo creates quite the shockwave." Misty said. "I was blasted into the Pokémon Center in Geosenge Town, all the spectators were, and the broken glass cut me. We were all injured to some extent, other than the combatants and the ref that is, but it was worth it to see Ash put Kenny in his place."

"I don't doubt it." Miette said knowing that she'd have to get that full story sometime as it sounded epic and clearly Misty had the wounds to prove it. "Well thank you for letting me know what I'm getting into Misty, it means that I won't underestimate you."

"Neither I you, I know how an upset can happen seeing as I have caused a few myself." Misty said. "Now all that is left is to decide what kind of battle do you want. You challenged me so I'll let you chose how we do this. We could have a standard battle with up to 6 Pokémon if you want, though I will have to bring in some for a full battle as I'd use my best team and that will include Spiritomb at least, or we could do a mock Contest battle like I did with Serena."

"I like the mock Contest battle idea." Miette said knowing how hard it would be but seeing more to it than just a rival battle. "It will also serve as practice for me, as well as a chance to see what your true talent is as you are a coordinator Misty. I'd rather lose to you on your turf then beat you in a normal battle, I won't get a true understanding of you unless I face you in a Contest battle I feel. However, is there a kind we can have that is different from the one you had with Serena? She is my rival after all, so I have to be different and better if possible."

"There is a way to be different." Misty said with a nod. "We can have a double Contest battle. It will be what you'd get in the battle rounds of the Grand Festival if you make it so a good test and give you a taste of what to aim for as only the Grand Festival here is using that format."

"I will make it to the Grand Festival and the battle stage so that works for me." Miette said sticking out her hand. "When and where shall we do this?"

"Day after tomorrow at the Pokémon Center." Misty said taking Miette's hand and shaking it to seal the deal. "It will give you time to get ready and May can officiate it as she will be back by then, she's the only one who can properly do that. Bring your best Miette because you are facing one of the best around."

"I intend to." Miette said with a grin tightening her grip on Misty's hand slightly, something that Misty reciprocated. "And I look forward to this Misty. Show me all you got."

"I will." Misty said as the broke apart. "I have another rival to put in her place and actually show dominance over. Been a while since this was more than just a tradition to end a talk with a rival, I'm looking forward to it."

"Same." Miette said with a nod. "Now I am going to go and prepare, if I am facing someone like you Misty I need to use all the time I have to get ready for it."

"Go, I'll do the same." Misty said. "And no matter how this ends Miette, I do hope we can be friends afterwards."

"We will be." Miette said. "Nothing creates a lasting friendship like some good competition and beaten each other's Pokémon to shit in the process."

Miette then turned and walked away. Misty just watched her latest rival leave with a slight shake of her head while Malamar nodded in approval of the whole confrontation, her trainer had handled it maturely and correctly.

Misty didn't notice this as she'd forgotten that Malamar was even there. She was focused on the fact that she had once again found a rival and that this one was different from the others. This one was confrontational, direct, and confident in herself. This was defiantly going to be fun.

She smiled at the thought of the upcoming battle as she began to head back to the Pokémon Center. Malamar followed a step behind her and was already planning a slap for clearly forgetting about her as her trainer still needed some training it seemed.

Misty had an idea who she wanted to use against Miette to really test herself as well as Miette, so she had to get to practicing for it. She had to be fully ready for this after all, anything less would be a disservice to her latest rival.

She also needed to tell May about it so that she knew what was going on. Serena would likely already know what was going to go down, and Ash would be clueless as always so neither needed to be bothered right away. Yes, the next battle was going to be enjoyable. In 2 days' time Misty to show her dominance once again and put a rival in her place for the sixth time.