*Hums the Pokemon theme song*

They left Celadon City that day.

There hadn't been any plans made yet about when they would leave and where they would go, so the only thing disrupted was some rest. Which was a shame, they really could have used a proper break after their short but exciting stay.

Instead, they stocked up on everything they needed and were on the road by mid-afternoon.

Misty might have felt a little bad about uprooting them so quickly but her mind was hyper-fixated.

After the initial shock had passed she demanded information, and as much of it as she could get. The inspector sent by the Pokemon League was a Nurse Joy, or possibly not a nurse and instead just a Joy. She certainly knew how to battle, at least according to her sisters.

Violet had taken the phone from Daisy and she seemed a bit calmer. She'd been running the gym when Joy first showed up and was the first to battle her. That had been two days ago now, the same day Misty and her friends had fought Team Rocket.

She was able to get some details. This was not an "impress the inspector" type challenge. This was a 'prove you can do your job' type of challenge.

Violet claimed she put up a decent fight but Misty would have to see it to believe it. Also, they could only use their personal Pokemon, none of the gyms. That made things a lot harder and had Misty much more worried.

Her challenge to become a Gym Leader had been the most brutal battle she'd ever had, and she'd been lent powerful Pokemon for that battle. This would be on her and her team. No one else.

Joy only had one Pokemon they had to beat. But it was strong. Violet had done some research after her fight and instead of useful information, she had found a bunch of articles about whether or not the Pokemon even existed.

The picture she'd been sent didn't help much but she showed it to Ash and Karen to see if they recognized it.

Karen didn't but Ash did and he spent about a minute babbling excitedly to himself in Poke-speech.

"Latias!" He'd finally announced. "One half of the Eon Duo! Latias and Latios! They're super rare! Most people never even see one! I remember Professor Oak talking to Mom and Spencer about them once! I never saw a picture though, just sketches!" The Zorua had taken Misty's new Pokegear and was staring at it intently, probably trying to memorize details. "Are there more pictures?"

"Ash I need you to focus." Misty snapped, "Latias, what can she do? What do you know?"

He seemed momentarily hurt but then remembered the gravity of the situation. "Latias is a dragon and psychic-type. They can fly, but I'm not sure if it's proper flying or levitation." He paused and sighed. "That's all I know, sorry."

"More than I had before at least." She knew about the dragon-type, not the psychic-type. "We'll be following the main roads, it'll be faster that way."

Karen grimaced. "Fine, I'd rather not but time is of the essence and all that, how long do you have?"

"Three days, not counting today." Violet had made that clear. Joy was willing to give them that long before Misty had her position revoked automatically. Since she had only been one of four Gym Leaders she had a bit of leniency for not being there. But now that she was the only one left she was on a timetable. "That gives us about two days to get there and train."

"That's not a lot of time." Ash worried, likely thinking about how often they got lost. "We'll need to pick up the pace a lot."

"The main roads are a lot more direct than the normal routes." Misty reminded him. "I'm not worried about getting there in time, I'm worried about being ready for the challenge."

She'd be training every chance she got for the entire trip, this meant that she'd be forgoing doing any cooking. For herself and Karen at least, Pikachu would make sure her Pokemon were well-fed. Assuming he didn't experiment anymore…

In her first training session, she started running her team through ice-type attacks. Considering they were fighting a dragon-type, that would be their best bet, although some dark-type moves could be useful too, she'd need to get Ash's and Karen's help for those though.

That would be tomorrow's focus.

Ash and Karen were doing their own, slightly less intense, training. While their teams were working the two trainers were brainstorming what could be done for auditory illusions. Ash still hadn't made any headway (but with how busy the past few days had been this was forgivable).

It wasn't hard to tell that Ash was distracted though, he kept shooting glances at Misty.

"Having trouble focusing?" Karen guessed after he failed to respond to one of her questions.

"Yeah, sorry." He shook his head, he was in his true form at the moment.

"You seem worried, not as much as she is but still." The older trainer guessed.

"Yes- no- kind of," Ash admitted after a moment and sat down. "I just, I don't know if Misty has realized it yet but I thought of it earlier. She's the only Gym Leader for Cerulean City now, and when she wins… well, she'd have to stick around and do her job wouldn't she?"

"Yes, she would," Karen replied, keeping her tone even. The thought had occurred to her. She'd been reluctant to bring it up though, they didn't always get along but she didn't want to make Misty worry even more than she already was.

The Zorua was quiet. "I don't want her to go. I like traveling with her. She's my friend." He spoke simple sentences like he was making a list.

Wasn't that fitting? Karen mused to herself, remembering her revelation in Saffron. Misty may have been really attached to Ash because he was her 'first' friend. But it seemed he had similar feelings.

But she wasn't about to try and sort out this mess. Frankly, she wasn't sure she should try and figure it out for them. Misty wanted to save her gym of course, and Ash probably wanted her too as well, but he also didn't want her to have to part ways.

This was something the two younger trainers would have to talk about, but she should still weigh in just a little bit at least.

"It would be kind of selfish to keep Misty from doing her job just because you want to keep traveling with her on your journey." Karen pointed out.

"I know." Ash's stubby tail did a sort of drooping lash. "I know it's selfish but I still don't want her to go. I know that we could still talk over the phone and stuff." Especially now that they all had Pokegears. "But it wouldn't be the same."

Karen glanced toward the Gym Leader. She was a bit further away working through teaching ice-type moves to her Pokemon. It seemed like Starmie already knew a few and they were using that as a base for the others. She didn't seem able to hear any of their conversation.

"You two should talk about it." Better to get those emotions out than bottle them up. No, she wasn't being hypocritical. Just because she didn't let her feelings out verbally to certain people didn't mean she bottled them up. She had found healthy, constructive outlets for her feelings.

Like screaming in the woods at night.

"I don't want to distract her though," Ash whined. "This sucks, I don't want to bother her but I do want to talk to her!"

"Wait until tomorrow then." Karen shrugged. "Let her get plenty of training in before you bring it up, cause if she hasn't thought of it yet, then it'll get stuck in her head too. Speaking of training, let's get back to it."

Ash still seemed a bit out of it for their training session, but he was definitely trying to focus. She did catch him shooting worried glances toward Misty though.

Ice-type moves? Check.

Dodging fast-moving attacks? Check. Also thanks Pikachu.

Switching from one attack to another on the fly? Check.

Dark-type moves? …still a work in progress.

The stress was starting to get to Misty as she nibbled her granola bar. She didn't feel hungry but Ash had pointed out she hadn't eaten anything since they left Celadon. The fact she had never noticed only stressed her out more.

Karen told her it was anxiety. It could twist your stomach up in knots and completely kill your appetite. It didn't mean you could skip eating though, your body still needs nutrition. Misty's saving grace was she had been staying hydrated, and drinking water during the training (both intentionally and unintentionally).

To be fair, it did make sense. Misty had a lot to be anxious about.

She only had one more day to train and get ready for a battle that would decide the fate of the gym her grandparents and parents had cared for.

Her sisters had proven that they were utterly unfit to be Gym Leaders. And if it weren't for the sheer amount of pressure that was put on her she'd be a bit smugger about it.

And lastly, the fact this entire mess was her fault.

Misty hadn't realized it immediately, focusing on what they needed to focus on to get ready first. But as training began and Starmie began explaining ice-type moves to her other Pokemon, Misty had a moment to think.

Gym Inspection, barely two weeks after she had made a call to the league about Saffron City and heard with her own ears, that they would be sending someone to check up on the Kanto Gym Circuit.

She had more pressing concerns at the time but she vaguely recalled the mention of a dragon.

Yeah, the gym that had been in her family for three generations was now at risk and it was all her fault. Fortunately, she also had the opportunity to save it and she was going to do everything in her power to make sure she came out on top.

There were a few hiccups during training. Mostly for Psyduck and Goldeen. They had only passed a few bodies of water big enough to support Goldeen for training purposes. Misty had stopped them early or had them keep going past normal lunch or dinner time to find them.

Goldeen had the least amount of experience of her Pokemon, just because of the lack of opportunities for her to battle or contribute. Misty was doing her best to make up for it now but there was only so much she could do in such a short time.

As for Pysduck…

"You can't swim." Misty checked, ticking off marks on her fingers. "You're in constant pain, you struggle to use any moves, and it's hard for you to focus or follow directions."

"Psy." The water-type bobbed his head.

Misty held her hands under her nose before pointing them at her newest teammate. "Alright, can you spray water out of your mouth?"

Psyduck scratched his head, then dunked his head under the water, struggled for a moment to pull himself out, and stood back up. A jet of water proceeded to soak Misty's face and shirt.

She dripped silently for a moment. "We can work with this."

Psyduck was a work in progress.

Still, despite setbacks they had made some good strides. Staryu knew Ice Beam now, and both he and Starmie were trying to work out the trick to using Blizzard. If it weren't for the time crunch she'd have them working on Thunder Wave too. Pikachu didn't know the move itself but he understood the theory. Supposedly.

She was still stuck playing a game of telephone with a lot of Pokemon.

Goldeen and Squirtle had both picked up Ice Beam as well. But while Squirtle was trying to learn Bite from Ash (she was grateful for the help) Goldeen was taking a different direction.

Aqua Ring, it was a tricky move, both in water and out of it. The benefits made it worth it. It would heal the user and as long as the ring lasted, a Pokemon who normally had to be underwater could function outside of it. For a brief time at least.

Psyudck was also trying to learn some dark-type moves. Taunt and Nasty Plot. He wasn't having much luck yet, but Absol seemed like she was being patient with him.

Misty forced down the rest of her granola bar and stared blankly, just thinking. Her mind was conjuring all sorts of possibilities for the battle. Latias was going to be strong, she knew that much, and she wasn't thrilled with her chances of winning with any one of her teammates.

But together… Together they might have a shot at this.

With her 'lunch' finished she cycled through her teammates, checking on them and making sure everyone was progressing nicely. When she got to Squirtle she found he had been integrated into the rest of Ash's team training.

Ash and Eevee were talking directly to Squirtle, Pikachu was nearby and seemed to be dancing? Why..?

Whatever Pikachu was up to could wait, instead, she checked up with her teammate and friend. "Everything going well?"

The dark-type spared her a glance. "Yeah, I figured since Eevee just learned Bite, she could help teach it to Squirtle." Misty was about to nod and move on but paused. Something sounded off, just a bit. Ash's voice was dull and muted, not how he normally sounded at all, especially when figuring out a new move.

"Are you feeling okay?" She asked.

"What?" He seemed surprised by the question. "Yeah, I'm fine! Don't worry about it!"

Ash seemed to pep up, but the speed and shake in his voice made Misty think he was nervous. About what? She had a lot more reason to be nervous than he did. Was he hiding something?

"Alright spill it." She decided to call his bluff.

"Spill what?" Ash looked away from her, unwilling to meet her gaze. "I said nothing's wrong, just go back to training your team, I'll make sure Squirtle gets Bite down by tomorrow!"

Eevee rolled her eyes and aimed a jab at her trainer's side. Ash yelped and barely dodged out of the way. "What was that for?"

The normal-type just leveled a glare at him and tilted her head toward Misty. "Eeeve."

"Grr," Ash growled lightly and sighed. "Fine, alright yes I'm worried about something and it's bugging me but I don't want it to bug you when you're working hard and distract you."

She quirked an eyebrow. Not quite what she was expecting to hear, but then she hadn't known what to expect. "Well, what is it?"

He struggled with himself for a moment. "When you win, that means you'll be the Gym Leader for Cerulean City."

"Right." She nodded.

"The only Gym Leader for Cerulean City." Ash pressed and it clicked into place.

"Oh." Her eyes went wide as she realized.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Karen and I realized it yesterday after we left Celadon. I don't want you to go but it's not fair to you. I don't want you to feel guilty or conflicted about saving your gym."

It hadn't even been in her head, but he was right. If she won she'd be the only Gym Leader for Cerulean City. Meaning that she'd need to stay there and run the gym, and Ash and Karen would move on and keep doing the Gym Challenge.

"I… I don't know how I feel about that." She admitted after a moment.

"What do you mean you don't know how you feel?" The Zorua sounded a little bit upset.

"Exactly that. I don't know. I like traveling with you but I like being a Gym Leader too. I want to save the gym and be a great trainer." She explained. "I don't want to choose between them, and I didn't have to before since my sisters could run things."

"But they can't now. You'll have to."

"Yeah." They were silent.

Misty didn't want to stop traveling with Ash. But she also felt like this was a chance to prove herself. She was going to be the Gym Leader of Cerulean City. She'd keep getting stronger and better, which was what she wanted.

Even thinking about it put a little thrill in her despite her worry about success. One of the main eight gyms of the Kanto region, and she'd be in charge. Heck, she could even boss her sisters around for real now! She'd outrank them.

It wasn't, 'best water-type trainer in the world.' But it was a start.

Despite this, she couldn't deny how much fun she'd had traveling around the region. How much better in tune she was with her Pokemon. Not to mention, she liked having friends to talk to, Staryu counted even more now that she could understand him.

This was complicated. "I… I'm glad you mentioned it now. I'll need to think about it."

He groaned. "This is why I didn't want to bring it up! It'll distract you and stuff! It's been distracting me!"

"Look we can…" She struggled with the words. "We'll talk about it tomorrow after we get to Cerulean City okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Ash agreed, still sounding a bit sullen.

She was about to walk away to check on Goldeen but paused. "Ash, you're my friend okay? And I'm glad you are."

"You're my friend too Misty." She wasn't quite sure what emotion he responded with, but he was right about one thing. She needed to focus.

Ash's friends noticed how distracted and out of it he was. It was hard not to, so of course they brought it up and talked to him about it.

They stepped back a bit from the rest of the group, following a bit more behind to have their conversation as they traveled. The Zorua began to explain himself and what was bugging him.

"It's something I've been thinking about," Ash admitted. "Leaving someone behind. I was mostly thinking about what happens after getting a full team of six though. I don't like the idea of sending anyone to Professor Oak to stay, even if it was just for a little while."

"Why not?" Selene asked.

"Because I don't want to separate!" Ash said. "I want us all to stay together and keep going on adventures and traveling together but if I send someone back then more might get sent back later and yeah we'll make more friends but-"

"But things are still changing." Eevee surmised. "Is that it?"

"I don't know!" Ash would have thrown up his hands if he had them right now. "I don't know what to think! Because it's stupid! Whoever goes back to Professor Oak can come back whenever we want! But I don't want anyone to go! I want everyone to stay with me!"

"Huh." Pikachu scratched his head. "That's not something I expected from you but I guess it makes sense."

"What does?" Ash looked at him.

"Ash, I mean this in the nicest possible way." Pikachu paused. "But that's kind of selfish of you."

"I… yeah it is." He knew it was, Karen had told him the same thing yesterday. "I know it's not fair for me to force anyone to stay with me but it's not just because I don't want to go. I want to know you're okay too. Ever since Sabrina I've been worried about you guys and whether you're okay or not. I want to know that you're safe and happy."

"I get it." Sunny spoke up. "I wouldn't want any of you to leave, and I wouldn't want to be left at Professor Oak's. I've never even met him. Even if it was nice I'd be worried about what you guys were getting up to while I was there."

"It's tricky," Pidgeotto admitted scraping her talons on the ground. "Would it be better to cycle through everyone? One week I'm at Professor Oak's then the next week it's Selene. Would something like that work?"

"That was the idea I had for it." Ash admitted, "the issue here is though, I thought I still had time to get myself over it. I thought I'd be ready for it whenever it came down to it. We still have another empty spot on the roster and then we'd need to find someone else after!"

"Then this came out of nowhere." Selene realized. "And suddenly you have to say goodbye to Misty, who you weren't expecting to leave at all."

"I don't want to say goodbye." Ash summarized. "But it is selfish of me. I know it's not bad to be selfish sometimes, like having an extra treat."

"Facts right there." Pikachu and Eevee nodded, then realized they agreed on something and looked offended.

"But this is one of the times it would be bad, it's not fair to Misty for me to decide what she does just because it'll make me feel sad." He sighed. "Before the battle, I'm gonna let her know not to worry about it. That I want her to win and I know she will."

"You never doubted did you?" Eevee noticed. "Whenever you talked about it you always say 'when she wins' not 'if.'

"No." Ash nodded. "She's going to win, she's strong and the best Gym Leader in Cerulean City.

"But, I'm gonna miss her."

They got to Cerulean City late that night. Really late actually, past midnight.

There'd been a bit of an argument. Misty wanted to keep going and get home but Karen said it would be better if they waited until morning to finish the trip.

Ash wanted to wait. Getting to the city made things feel closer to the end. But he figured Misty would prefer to sleep in her own bed. The three-day thing meant that there was today, tomorrow, and the day after was the battle.

He'd make sure Squirtle had Bite figured out first, it was the least he could do, he wasn't sure how useful the move would be in the battle, but a dark-type move was a dark-type move, and who knew? Maybe it would be the knock-out blow.

Seeing real Latias would be pretty exciting too, he'd try and get some pictures. Lots of pictures. It would take some time to figure out a new illusion after all…

They slunk into the house pretty late, if her sisters were there (which they probably were) they were already in bed. There was another guest bedroom apart from the one Ash had used last time, it was smaller though. Karen got that one.

Misty's sisters were a bit surprised at her getting back home so fast but glad to see her, in their special sibling way.

"Glad to see Ash followed you to support you!" Lily congratulated her baby sister.

"As a friend." Misty glared at her and got a patronizing head pat in response. "And don't even start!" She snapped at an open-mouthed Daisy. "I am not in the mood! I need to spend the whole day training and getting ready for tomorrow! I can use the gym still, right? You weren't locked out or anything?"

"No, we still have access." Violet came into the conversation. "At least until tomorrow. It's up to you if it lasts longer." She seemed to realize how that sounded. "No pressure!"

"There's plenty of pressure." Misty groaned. "I told you to train harder and work harder!"

"We have been!" Daisy claimed. "But that Latias is a monster. I felt like I barely even scratched it."

"You've got this girl!" Lily gave Misty's shoulders a warm-up massage. "You do have this right?"

"I'm gonna do my best," Misty swore.

Ash was only in the gym long enough to make sure Squirtle had Bite down, after that he let Misty take full control of her team and work on strategies. He was a bit worried about Psyduck, he had Water Gun down at least but he still seemed to be struggling with the dark-type moves.

He spent the rest of the day with his own team, also making a call or two back home to explain what was going on to Professor Oak and Delia, who asked to pass on a wish of good luck to Misty.

She got back pretty late that night, but not as late as their arrival. Ash had stayed up waiting to talk to her.

"The battle's gonna be at eleven tomorrow." She announced as she sat down to eat a very late dinner. "Violet talked to Joy, she offered a later time but I don't think I should put it off anymore. We've trained plenty and if we try and do some extra tomorrow morning we'll just exhaust ourselves."

"This is it then." Ash took a deep breath. "Misty, thanks for being my friend and coming with me."

"Don't act like we're saying goodbye forever!" She pleaded. "We can still call and text! And you can come to visit and I'll come to the League when you get there!"

Misty paused, "besides, I haven't even won yet."

"But you will!" Ash spoke with stone certainty. "Latias may be a strong rare Pokemon but you're strong too! Look at how well you work with your team and how much you've done in just a few days! You're going to win Misty!"

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Thanks, Ash, I… I think I needed that. Violet's been more encouraging than I've ever seen her but I needed a pep talk from someone who's seen me grow."

"I think she was the one I got through to with the training and making sure she does her job. Her Pokemon have definitely become stronger than they were. Not strong enough but she was getting there."

"If she still wants to you can help her right?" Ash pointed out. "There's no rule saying you can't become a Gym Leader again if you lose the position right?"

"There's some bylaws about the nature of the removal." Misty admitted, "I checked after Sabrina, but in our case, it would be fine. They didn't do anything illegal after all, just sucked at battling. Which I suppose is a crime in its own way."

Ash snorted. "True." He glanced at the clock. "We should probably get to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Right." She scarfed down the last of her meal. "The day of reckoning."

They went upstairs but Ash had one last remark. "Misty, you don't need it, but good luck tomorrow."

"Thanks, Ash."

This chapter didn't quite go the way I thought.

My original plan was to cover the whole nine yards, with the training and battle in one chapter. But I realized I should have another, shorter chapter to really implement the emotional stakes involved.

If Misty wins she will be the sole Cerulean City Gym Leader, which means she's going to have to stay. Everyone realized this and responses are different.

Karen is fairly neutral, Misty is conflicted, and Ash is just upset.

But yeah, since this is a shorter chapter I'm thinking of doing the next update Wednesday, kind of like I did for Sabrina. Not quite the cliffhanger gut punch that chapter was but still. It will be a fairly battle heavy chapter of course.

So yeah, I'll try and get that done for Wednesday. Review time!

Pokemonever1994: Yeah, I figure Team Rocket use Pokeballs that don't link to their identities, makes sense that way. I think the real issue with Ash leaving is that he's been there so long that leaving seems strange. It's weird to imagine anyone else in his place.

Diatomic Rex: Nothing can last forever sadly, and the characters realize that too even if they don't like it. Wait did Ash and Pikachu make up Volt Tackle? Because we see other Pikachu/Raichu use it. Oh yes Mewtwo, I have plans for that.

LEGOBRICK13: Lot of thoughts on Giovanni I see! I honestly don't know what he's planning or even if he has one in the anime. He just kinda… stuck around. Anyway, we see some of Misty's training this time and getting ready for what's to come.

PenguinBandit523: This is Misty's arc this time. Her time to shine and show how much stronger she is! Also, the official is the Nurse Joy with the Latias. She showed up in the anime and fought Brock at one point.

The One Who Reads and Writes: Gary and Team Rocket's reactions will be something. Assuming they find out of course… I mean Team Rocket is a joke, I've been using them as a joke. They might have some bigger moments going forward though. Why do you think Pikachu would thank Eevee for that? Like, why? Yeah, he wasn't in the right but that's not something he would thank her for. The irony is thick and Misty realizes it, even if she hasn't admitted it out loud to anyone.

Talesfanjmf: Misty's been working hard to get ready for this challenge. A part of me wishes I had done the whole thing this time but it would have been a really big chapter.

FrostGlaive: Honestly I love the relationship I've established with them in this story. I feel like it's fallen to the side in some parts though and wanted to bring it back to the foreground.

Bomslaer: I mean you could write your own version where he does if you want.

Lupercus1994: I'm glad you liked the chapter so much! A lot of your reviews are tempered by what you did and didn't like but you seemed to like just about everything that happened. The nature of kid's shows means that kids normally solve problems, and I respect that. I remember being a kid and enjoying seeing kids save the day. But I also want to explain why the adults aren't fixing things. That Gym Leader status is pretty useful to have, especially when dealing with criminals, or other crazy gym leaders. I used erased as a stand in but it does sound a lot more threatening. Also yeah, I prefer characters who realize they have flaws and try to remedy that to characters who are like, "yeah I'm flawed but who cares?"

All for now folks. See you soon!

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~FriTik