Hey, you. You're finally awake-
Ash and Karen found Misty at the Pokemon Center the following day.
Although 'found' implies they didn't know to look for her there. She had texted them both on their Pokegears and Daisy had told them Misty left the previous night.
Misty was sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, not quite alone but she was the only human there at the moment. Given what was going on with the gym, this Pokemon Center might be seeing less foot traffic.
She was holding tightly onto Staryu, while Squirtle and Starmie were on cushions made for Pokemon to sit with their trainers. No sign of Goldeen and Psyduck, probably still in their balls.
Pikachu switched from Ash's shoulder to hers as they arrived and he sat down next to her, the rest of his team disembarking. "Hey."
"Hi, guys." Misty's voice came out hoarsely. Her eyes were red but there was no sign of tears for the moment. "How'd you sleep?"
"None of that tough girl act right now." Karen wagged her finger at the other girl. "Have you had breakfast yet? What do you want?"
As Karen went to gather breakfast with the help of Squirtle, Sunny, and Murkrow, Ash and Misty started talking.
"I really thought I could win." She started and clutched Staryu just a bit harder.
"I'm sorry." Staryu had no embellishments to add today. "I'm sorry I failed."
"I told you you didn't fail," Misty responded and Ash jumped in.
"You did amazing Misty." He asserted. "Better than I think we could have done. Latias looked super strong. And you almost had her! If-" He stopped himself, it probably wouldn't help Misty to hear how she could have won.
"Not good enough though." She sighed. "I… I don't know what to do now you know? I wanted to be the best water-type trainer in the world and be a great Gym Leader. I'm not a Gym Leader anymore which makes me think I won't have much luck with the other thing either."
"Don't think like that!" Ash insisted. "That's not how it works!"
"I know that logically," Misty stressed. "But that's not how my brain works."
"Brains are stupid!" Pikachu tried his own pep talk, willing Misty to understand him for once. "Don't listen to it!"
No such luck, "That sounded encouraging, was it?" She checked.
He grimaced, "Arguably."
"Sounds about right." She shook her head. "When are we leaving?"
"I was planning on asking you that. I wasn't sure what you wanted to do before we left."
"Nothing," Misty answered. "I want to get going as soon as possible. I have nothing left to do here and no one to see."
"I hate to bring it up," Karen sat down bringing plates and bowls full of breakfast foods for everyone. "But there is someone you need to see. Joy wanted you to find her when you got the chance. Also, I'd argue there are a few things you need before leaving. Like a change of clothes, some hair ties, your travel bag…"
"Ugh, why do you have to be reasonable like that?" Misty complained.
Karen held her chin high, "One of us has to be the responsible one."
Ash and Misty shared a look and started snickering. "Oi! Knock it off you brats!"
They still didn't have a direction but started working out a plan. They needed to get supplies for their trip, like food and water. Misty needed to make sure she had everything she needed from home, and there was one other stop they had to make.
"I guess the Squirtle Squad is out of the job." Squirtle was put out. "It's a shame, when I talked to them a couple of days ago they seemed like they were pretty happy here. That deal we made was going good."
"We'll make sure your friends have somewhere to go! In fact, I have an idea!" Selene announced. "I'll have to ask them about it though."
"Make sure her idea is sane please," Ash whispered to Eevee.
"Of course."
As they finished breakfast, a familiar face approached them. Misty tensed and looked down at her plate.
"Would it be alright if I sat down with you for a bit?" Joy, the Joy asked.
She wasn't wearing a Nurse uniform, instead, she was wearing something fairly casual, just a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. It was a little strange seeing the familiar face in regular street wear.
Karen and Ash both looked at Misty. "Fine, we needed to talk anyway I'm told."
"For two reasons." Joy agreed and sat down with her plate of breakfast. "Let's get the hard part out of the way. I need to take your Gym Leader card."
It was a physical effort for Misty to hand over the simple piece of plastic. She pulled it out easily enough but held onto it, staring at it for a good thirty seconds. Suddenly her hand shot forward and she dropped the thing as if it had stung her. "There."
Joy looked at the card herself and sighed. "And that leads to the second thing. I'm sorry."
All of them, Pokemon and humans alike, stared at her with bewildered looks.
"Sorry?" Misty whispered. "Sorry that you beat me? That you didn't go easy on me? That you-" Ash gripped her hand tightly and she squeezed back, it stopped her from going on another tangent though. She took a few deep breaths.
"Yes, I'm sorry but I need to explain a bit." Joy started. "This inspection is different than it should be. I should be going from gym to gym with Latias and challenging the leaders, but not like this. If they put up a good enough fight that should have been enough. That's how I did it when I went through Johto."
"But the League is worried about Kanto. They got a call about Sabrina and did some digging, she was just the tip of the iceberg. The main eight, and the others, they're a mess. I started in Viridian City and the Gym Leader wasn't even there and no one could get in contact with him." Joy continued.
The friends listened with wrapt attention. "So yes I'm sorry because if it were up to me you would still be a Gym Leader. You deserve it. You put up a better showing than your sisters and the younger Pewter City leader, and better than two of the three minor gyms I've been to."
"You're a good trainer Misty, and you have the potential to be a great one. Never forget that."
Misty said nothing for a moment, but her eyes started watering. "Thank you." She murmured and sniffed. "Thank you." She said more solidly.
They finished eating, and Joy had a parting comment for Ash.
"I'll be here the rest of the day if you're still interested in getting a closer look at Latias. You left her rather flustered, most people aren't so vocal about their curiosity." Ash blushed, remembering his outburst at the gym.
"I didn't mean to embarrass her." He'd just wanted to make sure he had all the details right.
Joy laughed. "No, don't worry about it. But the offer stands if you're interested."
They decided to start with the Squirtle Squad since their situation might take the longest to sort out.
The Squirtle were still technically wild Pokemon, so they didn't belong to the gym or Misty's sisters. They were just kind of there helping out. But with the gym closing they wouldn't be able to stick around.
"What do we do now boss?" One asked Misty's Squirtle when they arrived. "I can't go back to living in a cave after this. This is the life o' luxury!"
"Calm down Numbah Four!" Squirtle asserted himself. "No one's going to be living in a cave again." He paused. "Unless they want to, does anyone want to live in a cave again?"
"I have an idea!" Selene jumped into the conversation. "Does anyone want to come with us?"
"...what?" One of the Squirtle asked as everyone stared at her.
"Well, I was just thinking, we recently decided to be the best of the best! And I think we need more teammates to do that right?" She looked at her team.
"I mean… yeah but…" She was right. Ash hadn't sought out any new teammates in a long time. When he and Pikachu had first started he had asked plenty of Pokemon if they wanted to come with them but after Selene joined he started relying on Pokemon to volunteer.
Maybe it was time to start being more assertive.
"No, you're right." Ash nodded. "My name is Ash Ketchum, and my friends and I are going to be the best! We're gonna win the League and be champions! Do any of you want to come with us to the top?"
The Squirtle stared at him for a moment, processing his words. Then one spoke up. "What the hay, sure. I'll join."
"Numbah Five!" One of the others gasped.
"What?" she shrugged. "Look, I know, I know. 'Trainers bad' and all that. But hey! Look at how great the boss is doing! And remember? This one's a Pokemon, not a human. I'll never forgive that jerk for what he did to me, but I think it's worth giving this one a chance."
"I feel compelled to mention not all humans are bad," Pikachu spoke up and Ash felt like his heart might burst with pride. "But regardless, Ash is probably the best trainer you could ever ask for."
"I heartily disagree!" Staryu interjected, "But if you wish to travel with the illusionist you could do worse for companionship!"
"New friend!" Sunny jumped down from Ash and shook Squirtle's hand. "Nice to meet you! Properly this time!"
"It's a pleasure."
Misty's Squirtle scratched his head. "Well, that's one down, what about the rest? Misty only has one spot left on her team and I'm not sure any of you would want it anyhow."
A sudden thought struck Ash. "I have an idea, but I need to make a call."
Before he made that call though, Squirtle joined the team properly with a Pokeball, a blue and red one that Ash had obtained in Saffron. It felt so long ago but it had only been a couple of weeks.
"Been a while since I've been in one of those." She stretched after reemerging. "So part of the team now, anything I need to know?"
Ash was making his call so Sunny took the reigns. "I'll introduce everyone!" He started leading Squirtle to everyone.
"This is Selene. She's a Clefairy, and super nice and strong! She wants to be a hero and she's already done some heroic stuff! She's my favorite teammate!" Sunny introduced her.
Next came Pidgeotto. "This is Pidgeotto! She's really fast and strong! And she's smart and always has good ideas! She's my favorite teammate!"
"Uhh…" Squirtle picked up on a trend starting.
"And this is Eevee! She's really, really smart! I can hit harder than her but she's better at fighting than me! She's also my favorite teammate!"
"I see." The new member seemed to figure out she needed to just roll with it.
"And Pikachu!" Sunny presented the electric-type. "He's really strong and fast! He looks out for us and is good at cooking! He's my favorite teammate too!"
Last came Ash, talking on the phone now. "And this is Ash! He's a Zorua and also a trainer! He's the best! He's nice and strong and fast and smart and cool and, and-" Sunny waved his arms at Ash, emphasizing how great he thought his trainer was. "He's my most favorite teammate."
"Who's your second most favorite?" Pikachu asked, just a hint of teasing in his voice.
Sunny put some real thought into it. "I can't decide!" He declared. "Cause if I pick a second most favorite then I have to pick a third and fourth and…" The Charmander stopped. "If I keep going someone will have to be my least favorite and no one should be my least favorite!"
Ash finished his call and grinned. "Mom says hi everyone."
"Is his mom a trainer too?" Squirtle asked her new team.
"No, his mom is his trainer," Pidgeotto answered then blinked. "So I guess the answer is yes, she is a trainer too. But she's not a Pokemon."
Squirtle had some questions but Ash explained why he'd made the phone call. "So I was thinking about where the Squirtle Squad could stay and I remember that Shelldon was doing some landscaping stuff and I remembered that you guys like digging holes. So I thought that maybe the Squad could stay in Pallet Town at Professor Oak's ranch or home!"
"Who's Shelldon?" One of the three uncaught Squirtle asked.
"Shelldon is my Mom's starter. He's a Blastoise now." That got their attention.
There were some tearful goodbyes as the three Squirtle got transferred to Pallet Town. They'd still be able to keep communicating like they had been, just from a different spot now.
After how well things had gone between Misty and her Squirtle though, there was no question of whether anyone would be treated poorly. There was a new level of trust that while unspoken felt good.
"I can't help but notice some of you have nicknames." Ash's new teammate pointed out.
"Yeah," Selene nodded, "I liked the name Selene and Sunny wanted to be Sunny, do you want one too?"
"Well, the squad called me Numbah Five, but that's more a title than a name." She tapped her chin. "I always wanted to be called Storm, never got a chance though and the old jerk didn't care enough to be bothered."
"Storm?" Pidgeotto nodded, "That was one of the ones I thought of too. It's pretty good."
"Oh right, I forgot you were thinking about picking a name for yourself," Pikachu remembered. "Any luck yet?"
"I think I might have one, but I thought that a few times. I'm gonna give it a bit. But I need the right moment to introduce it." She spread her wings. "It needs to be properly grandiose!"
"You want to be Storm then?" Ash focused on the Squirtle, wanting to make sure.
She thought for another moment. "Yeah, I'm sure. Call me Storm!"
"Welcome to the team Storm, we're happy to have you!"
With the Squirtle situation solved they had to run the rest of the errands. Misty went up and down the aisles at the supermarket. Choosing the ingredients that most spoke to her. Pikachu helped out a bit, picking some for himself.
Once they were loaded up on food, Ash dragged Misty to another shopping stop.
"Where are we-" She cut off when she saw the building. "Oh!"
"We're here aren't we?" Ash reminded her. "Time to get that bike!"
The Bike Shop was right there, waiting for them, and Misty's bike voucher.
So why was she hesitating?
"I mean." She pulled out the piece of paper. "I could get it but, where would I keep it? You and Karen don't have bikes and we go over some pretty rough terrain sometimes."
"You could just keep it at home for when you come back?" Ash suggested.
Misty winced, "I could. It's just… I don't know if I'm coming back home."
That brought Ash's brain grinding to a halt.
The pair sat down at a nearby bench. Karen had separated after the Super Market. She said she wanted to make a stop or two of her own.
"What do you mean you're not going to go back home?" Ash demanded, not too harshly.
"Ash you've seen how I am with my sisters. I don't have a lot of fond memories at home. I don't have any friends here. The gym is gone now. I don't have a reason to come back." Misty explained.
He didn't know how to respond. She had a point but something about it just felt wrong to him.
"What about getting the Gym back or something? Don't you have some reason to come back someday?" Ash felt like he was grasping for some point that was just out of reach.
"Getting the Gym back?" Misty repeated like she'd never conceived of the idea. "I definitely want to. But I don't think that's happening any time soon."
"But you did so well!" Ash protested. "If you trained a bit more, just got a little bit stronger you could easily win!"
"It doesn't work like that Ash." She answered. "I wouldn't be able to become a Gym Leader this season and even then, our gym is gone. Maybe someday I can buy the building and challenge the League again but I never even looked into how to start one from scratch. I'd need to find some other Gym that was willing to accept a failed Gym Leader as a new up-and-coming."
"Don't talk about yourself that way!" The Zorua insisted. "You heard Joy! If you found another Gym or started from scratch anyone would be stupid to think you were a failure."
"Thanks, Ash, really, but… but I think I need some time. I need to think about a lot of things, and I won't be doing it here. Not for a long time at least." They sat in silence for a little bit.
"I still think you should get your bike," Ash said.
She snorted. "What, why? Am I gonna be riding while you and Karen jog alongside me?"
"Could she carry it?" Sunny asked. "Ask her if she's strong enough to carry it."
"Of course, Misty is strong enough to carry it!" Squirtle insisted.
"Wait, I thought we had to leave the old one behind because she couldn't carry it?" Pikachu remembered.
"No that, was because of the cut on her leg," Ash recalled. "She would have been able to carry it otherwise I think."
"Tell them I'm not carrying a bike around Kanto for the next four months." Misty deadpanned.
"Tell them yourself!" Ash stuck his tongue out at her. "They can hear you!"
"Look, let's just go in and get the bike. We can have it shipped somewhere right?" Eevee finally suggested.
"That could work." Storm realized. "But where would it be sent to, maybe that lab place in Pallet Town?"
"Just slap a name tag on there, Misty's Bike, Do not Electrocute," Pidgeotto concluded.
"It was one bike!" Pikachu protested.
Selene prodded him. "One bike so far. But every addiction starts with just one."
Pikachu gasped at the fairy-type, "No! You're supposed to be the nice one! How could you join the teasing?"
She smiled kindly. "Was I teasing? We're your friends and we're here for you."
Ash translated the idea of having the bike shipped to Pallet Town and Misty relented. She figured she was more likely to end up going back there than she was to come home for a while.
The Bike Store had plenty of options but Misty went for something simple. A blue-painted bike with a black seat, wheels, and handlebars. A few silvery decals decorated it in places but other than that it was fairly basic.
Once she handed over the voucher and made the delivery arrangements they went back to the Pokemon Center and found Karen waiting for them with a couple of bags.
"Those look familiar," Misty noted when they approached.
"They should, they are yours after all." Karen handed the travel bag to the other girl. "The rest are suitcases. Have we decided whether you're running away or being kidnapped yet?"
Ash choked on his breath while Misty got a funny look on her face.
"That is far from a polite line of inquiry dark lady." Staryu protested.
"Don't know what he said, but I mean, you are running away from home right?" Karen checked.
"How did-" Misty's funny look changed to bewilderment. "Ash and I literally just talked about the fact I didn't think I was coming home any time soon."
"I saw the signs. I've been down this route before." Karen shrugged. "Not quite the same circumstances but they're similar enough. Although I suppose I did technically get the trainer license first so maybe not 'running away' so much as 'moving on.'"
"What happened between you and your family?" Ash asked. "You mentioned something about it last night."
The older trainer sighed. "I don't want to get into it right now. I've been drawing parallels since we got here and I need to step back a bit for my own sake first, okay? Give me a few days at least."
As the girls and some of the Pokemon sorted out the situation with Misty's belongings, Ash went looking for Joy.
He still wanted to see Latias. Also, he had a couple of other questions.
"Good timing." Joy was back in uniform and apparently packing up. "I was starting to get ready to head out. We can stop at the training yard before I go."
As they walked down, Ash parsed a few of his questions. The most disconnected to Latias first. "You mentioned you'd done some of the other gyms? Which ones?"
"Are you doing the Gym Challenge?" She checked and he nodded. "Honestly, I argued that we wait until the season was over to do this but I got vetoed. The situation with Sabrina has everyone a bit on edge. If we missed that what else have we missed? I feel bad for the trainers who got caught up in that mess."
"Yeah…" Ash was reluctant to admit that he was one of the trainers caught up in that mess.
"But I've done Pewter City, Brock wasn't able to win but from what I learned that boy has been running himself ragged. His father only recently came home and before that, he was raising his siblings, running the gym, and going out of his way to act as the community figure that's expected of Gym Leaders." Joy elaborated and Ash felt downtrodden by her words. He'd liked Brock, he'd been a good Gym Leader.
"So Pewter City doesn't have a gym now either?" Ash asked.
"Not quite. As I said, his father returned home and he managed to just eke out a win. I feel like Brock losing his position might do him some good and lighten his load. He's young and should be allowed to live his life a bit."
"Cremini Town had a steel-type gym. It's not very well known though, its leader Ferric only had a few Pokemon on hand and he lost. I wasn't very impressed with him. He was a bit like the three sisters here, doing the bare minimum, but somehow even less considering he wasn't doing anything community-focused at all." Ash nodded, he'd not heard of that gym at all.
"Then there was Sable City, although it wasn't much of a city. The Gym there was fairly new and I feel bad about that one. Kouda tried his best but it wasn't enough, he needed a lot more training and work. Especially when working with bug-types, their reputation for being weak isn't entirely deserved but it takes a skilled trainer to bring out their true potential."
"Then there was Rota," Joy recalled. "Gepetto was an older gentleman and he'd been running the Gym for a long time. But Rota is out of the way enough that they don't have many people head up there for the gym challenge. But fairy-type advantage is pretty useful against a dragon-type."
"Rota…" Ash traced the name in his mind. "I don't think I've heard of that. Is it a town? A city?"
"Small kingdom more like." Joy shrugged as they arrived at the training field. "I suggest you look into it more if you're interested. It's North East of Pewter City."
Latias was as impressive as Ash remembered and he took care not to overwhelm her with questions and badgering.
"They are feathers!" Ash realized with a bit of closer inspection.
"Not like a lot of flying-types though." Latias shifted and her feathers glistened as the sun caught them. "Mine are a bit like glass."
"Glass, huh…" Ash whispered and got a strange look.
"Did you..?"
"Don't think about it." Selene waved her arms in a vague gesture.
Her wings could move, but she didn't need to do it to fly. The protrusions on her head were fins as opposed to ears or horns. And she didn't have legs. That was a little odd.
But Ash was suitably impressed and thanked her for her time. He got to snap a few pictures too! He sent them to Professor Oak and Delia. The Pokegear was really useful for long-distance communication. Heck, he sent one to Leaf too because he figured she'd be excited by the new Pokemon.
"It's been a while since I've seen you that curious about a Pokemon," Pikachu noted.
"That's not normal then?" Storm checked, still getting used to the new team. "I mean, considering the whole illusion and disguises thing I figured he would do that with every new Pokemon."
"I don't remember seeing him do it before," Pidgeotto added.
Pikachu shook his head. "That's because he hasn't done it in years. He went through every Pokemon he could find information about. Pictures, videos, real-life versions if he could manage it. This is the first time he's seen a brand new Pokemon since you've met him."
"Huh." Eevee blinked. "That makes sense. He does seem to know just about every Pokemon you could think of."
"Time, patience, and lots of late-night lectures about Pokemon I'd never heard of before." Pikachu nodded sagely. "Did you know Cyclizar can run at 70mph while carrying a human, and uses the human's body heat to warm itself up since it's cold-blooded? Because I didn't ask either."
There was a discussion that night about where they would head the next morning, and Ash brought up Rota.
"It is a bit out of our way." Karen looked over the map. "But we could make it work. Head through Mount Moon, and north out of Pewter. But then we'd need to backtrack all the way down south."
"We have time." Ash pointed out. "There's still four months until I need to have all eight badges and I'm at five. We have time to make a trip up there. Besides, did you look at the pictures online?" He nodded toward Misty scrolling through the computer.
"It looks like an ancient Galarian Kingdom." She expressed, "It technically is one actually. It was an outpost left here over a thousand years ago. It almost got wiped off the map by a huge war, but it says here a man named Sir Aaron did something to cause the Miracle of Peace." She squinted at the text. "It's a little vague about what that means."
"I'll admit that does sound interesting." Karen allowed. "Anything else?"
"Hmm, there's that fairy-type Gym Ash mentioned. Lots of handmade goods, it has some Pokemon in that area that aren't seen in the rest of Kanto, likely brought there by people years ago." Misty kept reading and stopped. "There's a tournament."
That their attention. "When?" Karen burst Misty's personal space bubble.
"Eight days." She checked. "We could probably make that. We're going to Rota then?"
"Yes!" Karen declared. "I've been getting so bored! I need a proper battle to light a fire under me!"
"Does that mean we get to battle you?" Ash grinned at the challenge.
"You're welcome to try fox," Karen smirked back. "You want to take a stab and try to dethrone the queen shorty?" She looked at Misty.
The water-type trainer seemed to struggle with herself for a minute but a small smile came to her face. "Yeah, I think your crown will look good on me."
"That's the spirit!"
They decided to leave tomorrow morning and turned in for the night not too long after dinner. Ash stayed up the latest. It had been a few days and he wanted to run his team and new member through some training.
Storm knew a lot of the moves Misty's Squirtle had started with. But observing her Ash realized that compared to most of his team, she wasn't nearly as fast. They could probably try and find a workaround like Selene did with Defense Curl, but it did make Ash think that maybe he should branch out to different styles and strategies.
But it was a light session and they didn't go too deep into new moves or strategies yet. Most of the team was just practicing what they already knew and Storm was showing off her moveset for Ash.
If nothing else it helped them fall asleep a bit quicker and the morning came all the faster because of it. Storm added her spot to the bed easily enough, she just tucked herself into her shell and slept like that, no pillows or blankets required.
There was a bit of hesitation the next morning.
"I don't want to say goodbye," Misty admitted. "Not in the, I don't want to leave way. I don't want to say goodbye to them specifically. But I also feel like I should."
Ash was going to say maybe she should say goodbye but Karen beat him to an answer. "I'd say it's up to you. You've done more than enough on your end and they let you down. If they want to build any bridges, it's up to them to reach out, not for you."
Something about that didn't sit right with him, but it was Misty's decision and she accepted Karen's words.
"How are you feeling?" Ash asked Misty as they left the borders of the city.
She thought about it. "Not great, but I think I'll feel better." She took a deep breath and a smile began to dance across her face. "I'm leaving a lot behind but I feel freer, in a way. I don't know where I'll end up but the options are open to me."
"That's a good way to look at it." Ash agreed. "I felt a little like that setting off at the start of the journey like the whole world was open to me."
"Hmm." A sly grin twisted her smile. "Hey, I bet I can beat you to Mount Moon." She started jogging.
"Wha-?" Ash was taken aback by the unexpected challenge. "That's not fair! I have more weight than you!"
"That sounds like a you problem!" Misty jogged backward for a moment to look back at him.
"I just got comfy." Storm lamented as Ash's team departed their places. She had slipped in next to Selene so Ash now was carrying two Pokemon in his arms instead of one. It was beginning to get a bit complicated making sure everyone fit but they had hit the maximum of six so that should make things a bit easier.
Ash started forward at a jog and then grinned as an idea occurred.
Karen did a double-take when she saw a duplicate of herself run passed her. "Hey! That's mine!"
"I'm just borrowing it!" Ash shot back. "Besides you have longer legs!"
"Darn right I do!" Karen agreed and took off after him. "And I know how to use them! Get back here you sneak!"
"See you Slowpoke at the finish line!" Pidgeotto cawed and took off.
Storm grinned and laughed. "Is this what traveling with good trainers is like? I should have joined you guys sooner!"
"Welcome aboard!" Eevee chuckled and then made a point of trying to outpace Pikachu.
The race took a good few hours, during which it waxed and waned. Great alliances were forged and broken over the kilometers between Cerulean and the mountain.
Many of the conflicts that broke out had songs made to commemorate the grand occasions, that were remembered for about three minutes before someone else tried a trick or move to gain a passing advantage, and such battles were swept away in the winds of time.
It was mid-afternoon by the time they made it to the foot of the mountain. A good couple hours from the cave entrance still, but the race was to the mountain not to the cave.
Also, everyone collectively decided to collapse and catch their breath.
"I think Pidgeotto wins," Ash announced as he dropped his illusion. He'd tried switching a few times for leg length or more footing. But it hadn't been enough in the end and he'd been outpaced by Umbreon during the Great Battle of That One Funny Looking Oak Tree.
At least he had been avenged by Selene during the Conflict at the Slight Hill. He'd never seen an Umbreon turn into a bowling pin before.
"You're just too slow." The flying-type stood victorious over the others.
Squirtle, who had been second to last, just barely beating Storm, sat up. "I demand a rematch! In the water! Then we'll see who's fastest!"
"She'd be flying over the water though, wouldn't she boss?" Storm checked.
The other shell Pokemon blinked. "That's not fair."
"Wouldn't it be Goldeen then though?" Staryu considered. "Assuming that she was able to cast her spells to unleash her true potential."
"You're right!" Squirtle pointed at Pidgeotto. "Score one for Team Misty!"
"Yes, congratulations on winning your theoretical race which never happened." Absol congratulated him. "Truly you have shown your quality."
"Ha ha!" Squirtle failed to read the sarcasm.
"That was completely silly and random." Karen declared, lying on her back and panting. She started laughing. "We should do it again sometime."
"Anyone have the strength left to make lunch?" Sunny asked. "I worked up an appetite."
"Yeah just… just give me a minute. Or ten." Pikachu requested. "I'd ask if someone could start boiling water but I'm worried they'd accidentally burn it."
"Your concern is valid." Absol asserted.
During lunch, a question was posed to Absol. A fairly obvious one that she'd been ready for.
"Did you know Misty was going to lose?" Staryu had dropped his persona for this.
"I thought it was likely," Absol admitted. "But I wasn't one hundred percent sure and I didn't want to accidentally make it a sure thing by saying something."
"What did you sense exactly?" Ash switched out of human speech for this conversation.
"I sensed all of Misty's team being hurt and a lot of strong negative emotions afterward," Absol admitted. "But after I helped out Psyduck the amount of disaster I sensed coming to him lessened. So I did think maybe the negative emotions might have been everyone sad about saying goodbye."
"And you didn't want to say anything in case it became a sure thing by putting the idea in her head that she was destined to lose." Eevee filled in the gaps. "That bites. Don't take this the wrong way but I'm really glad I don't have your ability."
"You ever have anxiety?" Absol asked. "It's a little like that, but all the time. I don't blame you for not wanting it."
After cooling down and filling their bellies the troop climbed to the cave entrance. "I've never been this way before myself," Karen admitted as they reached the ledge with the yawning chasm. "I'm a little excited."
"It's pretty neat." Ash agreed. "A lot of the caves are natural but the Clefairy have been adding to it for years. Anything we might have missed last time Selene?"
"Assuming they got rid of all the lights Team Rocket set up we might be able to see some of the paintings." She theorized.
"Wait, wouldn't we have been able to see them better with the light?" Pikachu asked.
"Nope!" She popped the 'p,' "They were made from a special mushroom that grows in some of the deeper caves. We call it Mystico Luna. It glows but is only visible when there are no other light sources."
"That sounds pretty wild," Storm added. "This should be pretty interesting."
With the note about Mystico Luna paintings, the group entered Mount Moon.
A day later, the group exited Mount Moon.
"See!" Ash felt vindicated. "Weird stuff happens when I'm not around too!"
"This does not count!" Karen insisted, chopping her palm. "You are directly responsible for Seymour being there, thus, you are responsible for what they're doing now!"
"Is it really that weird?" Misty rubbed her chin.
"Not really, but Karen thinks it is." Ash shrugged.
"Writing!" She exclaimed. "A civilization of moon-worshipping fairy-types that has existed for millennia, suddenly develop a writing system, not two months after you were last here. Specifically to help out a guy that you left with them!"
"When she puts it like that…" Eevee hummed.
"It's been on the back burner for centuries." Selene mused as she looked over her notes.
Seymour had been thrilled to see them again. He had taken up residence in a smaller cave about the size of an apartment. He'd integrated with the residents of the mountain rather well. And in their efforts to communicate with each other, he and the Clefairy had developed a primitive, if beautiful, system of writing.
The researcher had been happy to give them a copy of his notes on the Clefairy writing system. It had been used to explain the history of the Moon Stone to him and he now understood that it was not a spaceship, but he was still delighted about all the things he had learned.
Selene was pleased to have a new piece of home to take with her. Just as her kin had been happy to see one of their travelers come home, even if it was only briefly.
"I think it's a good thing." Misty shrugged. "Writing's pretty useful, both for telling stories and remembering things."
"I didn't say it was a bad thing!" Karen protested. "I said it was a weird thing and it is!"
It had been a while since they had a normal lunch, and today was the day. Complete with training!
Karen and Ash got to work with their teams but Misty, notably, did not.
"I'm just not feeling it right now." She answered when Ash had asked her about it. "Maybe later."
He wanted to press the issue but after all the work she put in leading up to the battle with Joy and Latias, and everything after that. He decided to cut her some slack and not push it.
"So Storm, how would you describe your fighting style?" Ash got to work with his newest friend.
"Defensive." She slapped her shell with pride. "I'm a brick wall made of shell and gusto."
"Hm." He figured that's what she was going with. "You could probably work with Selene a bit, she has a lot of defensive moves too. But we've managed to use some of them to help her become more mobile. How do you feel about that?"
"How does that work?" Storm scratched her head. "I mean, don't you need to have two feet on the ground to form a proper defense?"
"Sometimes." Ash acknowledged. "But she's managed to use Defense Curl to turn herself into, well, a bowling ball. Her body is tougher so she can crash through things with more force and fewer drawbacks."
"Huh, neat." Storm regarded her body shape and tried sucking her limbs inside her shell. "I can't do much like this though. Maybe I can…" She started rocking back and forth.
"We might need to go with a different approach for your training style." Her trainer accepted. "But let's get started on more defensive moves at least, do you know Protect yet?"
Not much happened for the rest of the day, no emergencies or sudden discoveries. But they did run into a pleasant surprise the next day.
Eevee's ears twitched, "I hear something."
Ash stopped and listened, the girls, noticing his halt, gave him a moment. "Yeah, I think I hear it too. What is that?"
"Music I think?" Pikachu guessed. "I think it's that way?" He pointed a bit off the beaten path. "Want to check it out?"
Of course, they did. In a field, a little way through the woods that lined the route was a curious sight.
"Is that a boat or truck?" Karen asked out loud.
"It's a truck pretending to be a boat." Ash, the resident expert on things disguised as other things, explained.
"I'm more interested in whatever going on with the water!" Misty pointed at the floating bubbles of water. "It looks like what Staryu and Starmie do, let's check it out!"
A small caravan was parked in the field, a few trailers pulled by a truck that had been reshaped to look like a boat. Some people and Pokemon were in the field, working with huge floating globes of water. As Misty said, it was a similar effect to what her own Pokemon did with Psychic.
"Ahoy there!" One of the humans greeted them as they approached. He was an older-looking short man with rich caramel-colored skin and a beard. "What brings you here travelers?"
"We heard music on the path!" Ash explained. "What is all this?" He looked up in wonder as a bubble filled with Goldeen floated over his head.
"You did?" he seemed momentarily surprised. "Sorry about that, I thought we parked far enough away not to disturb anyone."
"It's no worry at all." Karen waved off his apology and inspected one of the lower hanging bubbles. "Is that a Gorebyss in there?" A pink water-type poked its way out of the bubble and Karen stepped back to avoid being skewered by the long nose.
"Ah! Careful Gorebyss!" A younger voice called. The other human came over, a tanned girl wearing pink and blue. Her hair was done up in a strange bow-like manner and she had a notable resemblance to the old man. She looked to be somewhere between Misty's and Karen's ages.
"Well, I suppose we should introduce ourselves. My name is Shep, and this is my granddaughter, Lizabeth."
"Ahoy!" She greeted them in a similar manner to her grandfather.
The trainers introduced themselves in turn and got some explanations.
"We're The Marina Group," Lizabeth explained enthusiastically. She led them around, showing off the Pokemon participating. "We travel around putting on performances and shows! We're a little like a traveling circus, but with more Pokemon and water."
"Just the two of you and your Pokemon?" Misty wondered.
"Well, my parents too. But they're in Pewter City right now. We're heading there next but due to some old laws we need a permit to do a show there." Liz waved her hand. "Boring paperwork stuff."
"Paperwork sucks." Ash agreed, remembering the trouble he and Pikachu had gone through trying to get him registered as a trainer.
"I see a lot of Pokemon from other regions here." Karen pointed out, looking at a pair, Medicham and Meditite, the glowing implied they were the ones controlling the water bubbles. "You guys travel around a lot?"
"Loads!" She grinned, apparently eager at the chance to talk about her journeys. "We've been to Johto, Hoenn, even Sinnoh!"
"Huh, I wonder if I missed you at all." Karen mused and elaborated when Liz shot her a questioning look. "I've been to all of those regions too for the Gym Challenge, I was born in Johto actually."
"It's possible," Liz admitted. "We're always on the move though, so if you're not in town when we show up there's a good chance you'd miss us."
"You're using Psychic to create the balls of water right?" Misty checked, glancing at the pair of psychic-types.
"That's right." Liz smiled. "Pretty cool, huh?"
"Pretty original too, or at least I thought so when I came up with it," Misty admitted, rubbing her arm.
"Oh? Your Staryu I'm guessing?" She glanced at the star shape Pokemon.
"And Starmie." Misty agreed. "We don't perform but it can be useful in battle. A little too useful sometimes."
"Don't sweat it, originality is dead anyway. I never thought of using it for battles and I bet you never thought of using it to perform right?" Misty nodded. "There you go. Take something and make it your own!"
"What are your shows like?" Ash spoke the question on his mind. He was delighted to see Pokemon he'd never seen in person, but he was curious about the shows they put on. "It seems like it would be pretty spectacular."
"Hmm," She tapped her chin. "Well, we were practicing today anyway, so maybe we can give you a bit of a demonstration. It wouldn't be the full thing since Mom and Dad aren't here and Grampa can't perform like he used to."
"I'll have you know that no one can do a triple backflip like I can!" Shep shouted from the truck.
"Sure thing Grampa!" She rolled her eyes with a fond smile. "He knows he can't do it anymore but he likes to remind everyone he used to be able to."
The visitors sat down to watch the impromptu show. Liz disappeared for a few minutes before reappearing dressed in a full-body costume that seemed at least somewhat inspired by Goldeen.
Ash wondered if he was the one to get the most out of the show.
Not to say the others couldn't be amazed or impressed by it, but he felt in a unique position to appreciate the amount of skill and effort that went into every action.
The performance began with Shep starting up a new tune on whatever loudspeaker was playing music. As the new song began Liz took a pose and jumping off a trampoline, dove into one of the floating globes of water.
The bubbles danced around each other, even merging together and splitting apart. The Pokemon inside jumped from bubble to bubble or rode along smaller ones that orbited some of the larger formations.
New bubbles were created using Water Pulse and connective streams were formed with Water Gun and Bubble Beam. Surf was refashioned into a move used to twist and churn the bubbles, only held together by the diligence of the psychic-types.
Liz was as much an active performer as any of the Pokemon were, more so in some places, she didn't have moves to use but was solely using her body to keep up with Pokemon like Dewgong.
She dove and swam through the globes and did twists and flips through the air which proved her more than just a performer but also a gymnast. Ash had no idea the human body could even bend some of the ways she managed to contort herself.
Ash was lucky in that he was in the unique position to appreciate both Lizabeth's athleticism and control over her own body, as well as the skill required by the Pokemon to use the moves the way they were.
The grand finale saw the bubble all coalesce into a single one that then exploded in a shower of mist just as the music began to crescendo. As the tempo came down and the mist faded Liz slowly came to the ground, as though she was floating down rather than falling, and the water-types began to come down in a similar fashion.
Then Liz surged into motion once more, the music rising once again! Jumping off the trampoline again and spinning through the air with nothing below her! The Pokemon acted together, shooting streams of water together that spun and caught Liz, swallowing her falling form.
The water spiraled like a flying maelstrom and all the Pokemon were caught back up in it. The bubble split apart, each Bubble containing a single Pokemon and one at the center containing Liz. They orbited around this center for a moment as Liz did a fairly impressive water dance within her own.
Finally, the bubble came to the ground and popped into mist again as the music ended. Liz standing at the center of an array of flying water-types. She did a grand pose then took a bow.
There was clapping and exclamations from the viewers, it went without saying they were impressed.
Liz seemed rather pleased by the attention and after she had dried off and changed out of her outfit they all sat down together for lunch.
They talked about their journeys and some of their experiences, as trainers for the travelers and performers for The Marina Group. Some of Liz's eagerness to talk to them gave the impression that she was a girl without many friends her own age. Likely because of how much they traveled around.
Misty picked up on it too and had a few ideas.
"I don't have a Pokegear or phone that can text." She admitted when Misty brought up the possibility of exchanging phone numbers. "But we do have a phone on the truck, I guess we could use that." She seemed to brighten up at the prospect of having friends she could keep in touch with beyond the occasional letter she had with pen pals she'd made from distant regions.
The other idea came as a shock to both Ash and Karen, but they waited to question Misty about it, not wanting to start a scene.
"Nice meeting you! You're welcome to any of our shows!" Lizabeth called as they departed.
"Bye!" They waved and returned to the route, having lost a few hours but gained a new friend.
"Why'd you do that?" Karen finally asked as they started walking. "I get the phone number, Liz seems nice and she sounded like she wanted people to talk to. But pointing them toward Cerulean City? And your sisters?"
Misty had been specific, she'd even called them the Sensational Sisters of Cerulean City and said they could be a bit stuck up but were good performers. Shep said that they'd look into it whenever they got around to visiting Cerulean, which could be their next stop.
"It's… hard to describe," Misty admitted as they walked. "Kind of a feeling I got while watching the show."
"What do you mean?" Ash wondered, his interest peaked.
"The performances my sisters do… are beautiful. They're good performers, I admit it. But I never really thought of it from an outside perspective before. I was always annoyed by it and I stand by the fact that their role as Gym Leaders should have been their priority." Misty asserted.
"But the Gym is gone and they're on their own now. I don't want to see them or talk to them anytime soon. But watching that show made me think about how they view their performances and how much work they put into them. I just… I don't know, I don't want to be around them, but I don't want them to stew in misery." She explained hesitantly. "Is that weird?"
"No, just makes you a good person." Ash decided.
"Besides, you just pointed The Marina Group in their direction." Karen pointed out. "It's up to them to rise to the occasion. Either they sink or swim, you're not doing any of the heavy lifting for them this time."
"Right." Misty sighed, her shoulders relaxed as though a weight was lifted off them. "Onward to the Rota tournament then?"
"I don't think we can race that far." Ash mused.
Misty laughed. "Not yet at least. But I can't wait to see a real live castle. I hope it's got a bunch of cool secrets and stuff."
This chapter was the light-hearted injection this story needed. Things have been pretty tense.
Misty is recovering, it's gonna be a while and while she wants her Gym back and to be a Gym Leader again she doesn't see the path to it. And she might not for awhile. But for now, she has her friends and is trying to get a new lease on life.
Also I am eternally grateful to the Battle Frontier anime for giving me a bunch of Kanto places I can place the so-called "minor gyms" in. Rota is very convenient.
Note, I am not about to do a complete rehash of Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, I have different ideas for what's gonna be the adventure there. I'd like to get it done in a single chapter but we'll see.
Now, you may have noticed that Ash finally, finally, gets a new teammate. Meet Storm everyone!
This is the first of a few Pokemon I have lined up for the next set of chapters. Also, a late edition as I was considering what to do with the Squirtle Squad now that the gym is gone.
But it has been almost a year since a new Pokemon joined the team and that was Eevee. And when I say a year I mean it. I posted the chapter that had her introduced the day after Easter last year, April 18th. I am posting this chapter on Easter this year, April 9th. That is 356 days since Ash got a new Pokemon.
Also to note, I have posted a total of 21 chapters (divided among multiple stories) in that time. You may note, that despite my weekly update schedule, that number is not 52. So let's do something about it.
I am going to post 52 chapters, between now and April 9th, 2024. I am imposing this challenge on myself, I'm not sure if I can do it, but telling myself I can't from the start is just asking for failure.
Now they won't all be on this story, in fact, next week I'm planning to update Legends of Ash, so look forward to that! The week after I have plans for a chapter on a different story. So it will be a few weeks before the next chapter here, but I think this is a better break point than the last chapter was.
Review Time!
ThePilotArchangel: Yeah you kind of did call it. There's a rule in fiction that I tentatively try to follow. Whichever outcome would be more interesting is the one that will happen. I don't always agree with that, but sometimes it rings true, like here. Also, I am acutely aware of group projects like that.
Deepthoughts42: Exactly, and you got some of the reasoning here. The League is kind of panicking after Sabrina and pulled the trigger just a smidge too hard. And let me say that I have thoughts about Tobias.
Diatomic Rex: Wait she's less experienced in this story compared to her canon self? If anything I thought she was becoming a bit too competent compared to canon. She never seems to win in Indigo that I can remember.
Strike Wyvern: Hope the aftermath lives up to your expectations.
LEGOBRICK13: I'm sure there's a reason but yeah they just kind of suck. Giving away badges, refusing to battle, picking on Misty… oh wait no that last thing is normal sibling stuff. Nah but Misty's explosion was good to write and felt cathartic. That was Misty at her lowest, and now she has nowhere to go but back up.
PenguinBandit523: Mourn what's happened but celebrate what's to come pretty much. This is a rough hurdle for Misty to get over, but she will get over. And Joy did see her potential and honestly feels bad about how things turned out. It's not waiting for her per se, but she'll be back for it one day.
Shaonics6: Hopefully this helped ease your concerns about the nature of the battle a bit. This inspection is an odd mix of genuine concern and bureaucratic incompetence. They're worried about the gyms, but the test they're using as the bar is a bit stronger than it should be, Joy realizes this but doesn't have much choice, the League is signing her paychecks and there are Leaders who can beat her.
Pegasus Sword Master: I'll be honest, I like how I wrote their friendship too :D
Talesfanmj: It's a sad fact, but just because you lose now doesn't mean it's the end of the world. And don't worry Legends of Ash is coming next week.
Pokemonever1994: It was five on one match but your point stands. She came close, so close!
The one who reads and writes: Misty cared about the Gym for being a Gym, but her sisters cared about it too. Their performances were good and had merit, but it wasn't the only thing they should have been focused on. Her sisters can blame whoever they want, Misty's decided she wants to move on. At least that's what she's telling herself and trying to do. Family is tricky sometimes but it drag you back even if you don't want it to, but sometimes there's nothing to recover, and sometimes there is. Misty is a bit lost for the moment, she wants to gym back but sees that as a distant star rather than a short-term achievable goal.
Lupercus1944: I'm glad you like the payoff! And your review certainly cements I made the right decision in posting that chapter leading up to the battle. Those stakes needed to sit a bit more and wedge themselves in before being concluded. And I'm glad the training paid off as well as it did. I tried to include lots of little details and things being worked on that all came to a head in the fight. As well as including things and strategies that didn't work out, no plan survives contact with the enemy after all. It is the more narratively interesting option (and also I don't think I could have brought myself to write Misty out yet) and this is only the first bout of the aftermath. Misty sees reclaiming the gym as a distant goal, but for the moment she's a bit lost and this chapter and the next ones are going to address that, but it won't be the main focus. More of an arc progressing alongside the chapters. Also yeah, gotta love the Snowball effect!
Gamerj14: It's not impossible to win, just very difficult, look how close Misty came. Honestly if she had just one more teammate she would have won and I'd be in a pickle because I'd have no way to justify her losing beyond sheer incompetence, which is not what I wanted to convey at all! Also yes, Ash could disguise himself as Sylveon. The ribbons wouldn't be anywhere near as strong as the real deal though.
Have a good one, everybody!
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~FriTik
R&R