.

The War

"An idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little before it will explain itself."

–Charles Dickens

Fortunately, as that girl, Molly, had first shown her, the police station wasn't far from the Pokémon Center. So Misty hadn't needed to ignore Ash for long before the clean air of the Pokémon Center poured over her, canceling out the various smells of food and garbage from the city streets. With record speed, she'd managed to retrieve Staryu—and a room key—while dropping off Frillish in its place.

"Alright, new ground rule," Misty hissed once the door clicked shut behind her. She grabbed Ash by the ear and yanked him further into the Pokémon Center room, careless of whether she hurled Pikachu as well. She had a bone to pick with the both of them.

"What's that?" Ash asked, rubbing his ear whilst looking quite clueless.

"No talking to me in front of other people unless it's an emergency. I'm trying to appear normal, which is much harder to do when I have an apparition talking to me. Got it?"

"Pika chu," Pikachu stated with his ears flopped against his cheeks, looking properly chastised.

Misty tossed Pikachu a magnanimous smile that lasted only until she turned to Ash.

"Oh, I guess I hadn't realized that would be a problem," Ash said sheepishly. "Er, sorry about that."

Misty continued to eye him for a moment before giving a slight nod. "…It's okay."

Then it was dropping her bag on the bottom mattress of a plain, wooden bunk bed, sitting down, and reaching back to massage the base of her neck. She winced at the bruising on her shoulder blades from the fighting she'd done on her back two days prior. At least her head wasn't giving her too much trouble. Though it was definitely a good idea to turn in early.

Misty's impulse was to get up and get ready to take a shower—she was sure that she still had specks of dirt on her from being beaten into it. It would be nice to get that fight off of her once and for all. And perhaps it would sooth her body as well. However…

Ash and Pikachu were still floating right there, looking as though they were naughty students waiting to be dismissed. Misty was preparing to do just that when Daisy's words came echoing annoyingly in her mind. She desperately looked to the clock on the wall, hoping it would tell her it was too late for those games. But, to her dismay, it was still early in the evening. If she did manage to go to sleep, she'd probably wake up ungodly early, and that would do her no good.

She was out of excuses.

"Maybe we both need practice at this."

The admission came with no eye contact. In fact, Misty was looking straight at the shuttered blinds covering the room's single window. Her hands had made it up to her hair, pulling out her ponytail as though she were getting ready for the shower she'd postponed.

"Huh?" Ash asked.

Misty shifted her body towards him, but still looked at the floor, brushing through her stiff, chlorine-damaged hair with her fingers. "I'm not the best at, erhm, talking to people either. I mean, I know I'm clearly the only person you can practice with, but maybe…"

Ash was staring at her and one glance up told her that he was not grasping what she was saying.

"Ugh, let's just talk!" Misty finally exclaimed on a groan.

"Oh," Ash said, looking as though the idea hadn't at all crossed his mind. "Uh, sure!"

Misty was still sitting squarely on the bed, hunched over so she wouldn't hit her head on the upper bunk, and fiddling with her hair tie. Ash shifted over to her and awkwardly scuffed the ground with the toe of his shoe. Well, he was really just scuffing air.

It was becoming abundantly clear that Misty was going to have to take the first step.

Daisy's advice had been to ask him about himself. Misty was groaning internally now, wishing she'd asked her sister to expound upon that. She hardly knew enough about Ash to know where to start. Misty glanced at Pikachu who was looking between the two of them, almost looking amused at their awkwardness. She narrowed her eyes at the little rodent, a hint of a smile pulling on her face.

"You said that you had never met anyone like me," Misty said, while still looking at Pikachu. She heard Ash give a little grunt of agreement. "Well, I've never met anyone like Pikachu before."

"You haven't?" Ash asked, suddenly more interested. Misty quickly remembered that Ash seemed to be more at ease when Pokémon were being discussed.

Misty shook her head. "Nope. He's a first. You guys must have been pretty close."

Pikachu scampered over to Ash, who instinctively scratched his head. "He was my first Pokémon."

That wasn't much of a surprise. Trainers almost always had an exceptionally strong bond with their starters.

"There's nothing quite like getting your first Pokémon," Misty said. "Staryu was mine."

"Really? Not Noir?"

Misty almost laughed. "No, Noir isn't my Pokémon. I've never captured her. Although we did meet about the same time that my mom gave me Staryu."

"Oh, I thought you just let her roam outside her PokéBall," Ash said, looking a little sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck. "That's what I did with Pikachu."

"Is that how you ended up dying together?"

The words came out quicker than Misty could control and she instantly wished she had the power to turn back time and take them back. The openness—almost eagerness—that had appeared on Ash's face as they were talking about Pokémon closed off immediately.

"I'm—I'm sorry," Misty babbled, trying to bring Ash's eyes back out from under his hat, where they had disappeared.

"No, it's okay," he said, though his voice sounded clipped. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"Oh."

Misty wasn't sure what more to say. Ash was still facing her, but his eyes were at the ground and Pikachu was crouched on his shoulder, trying to catch his eyes. Misty would have been afraid of Pikachu falling off if she didn't know that gravity wasn't a concern for either of them.

"Um, was it bad?"

She could have kicked herself. If that wasn't a stupid question, what was? Ash couldn't have been more than a teenager when he'd died—what kind of a child has anything other than a horrifying death?

Nevertheless, Ash nodded his head. "It was in the battle," he mumbled.

Now Misty was just confused. "In a Pokémon Battle?"

"No." Ash shook his head. "During the war."

There were beats of pounding silence as the words left Ash and landed on Misty with their full weight.

"Oh," Misty said again, words continuing to fail her. "I'm so sorry. Really, I…I shouldn't have asked."

"No, no, it's okay," Ash said hurriedly, looking up and trying to look at all happy. "I just, um, don't feel like talking about it, if that's okay."

"Of course!"

They both looked at each other, eyes wide, lips pursed, both failing in their attempts to seem nonchalant. The air now felt more awkward than it had before they started talking. Even Pikachu was affected this time.

"Um, so I have to go to the Viridian Gym tomorrow morning…" Misty began slowly, after many minutes of wracking her brain for a safe subject to land on. "Would you want to come?"

To her surprise, Ash's eyes did manage to brighten—and it didn't even seem like he was faking it for her benefit—and he said, "Sure! Gyms are always fun."

Misty nodded, internally letting out a gust of relief. "Okay. Well, I'm going to get ready for bed, so I'll see you then."

She grabbed her brush from her bag and headed to the adjoining bathroom, hoping that it was safe to assume that he and Pikachu would be gone by the time she stepped out.

And she hoped Daisy was freaking happy.

When Misty stepped out of the bathroom, she clutched her towel close to her body, in case her two ghost boys were still hanging around. To her luck, though, they seemed to have left for the evening. So, exhausted as she was, she quickly finished her nighttime routine and lay down to sleep.

But sleep didn't come.

It wasn't even nine o'clock, but she knew that it wasn't the early hour that was keeping her awake. She'd always slept on an odd schedule anyhow. Basically, if she was tired, she could sleep. And she was certainly tired. So it wasn't that.

It was her conversation with Ash. Not only was she feeling guilty over how she'd handled it, but it was the information itself. Ash had died in the war.

And now, despite herself, her mind was swimming with questions. It felt sick to have a curiosity about the way he'd died—a war that families were still grieving from—but she wanted to know. She wanted to know how a person like Ash, who seemed almost too innocent to have ever been in a war, could have ended up there.

Unfortunately, Misty wasn't well-versed in Kanto's not-so-distant history. But she knew someone who would be plenty eager to tell her all he knew.

Misty glanced at the clock again, despite already knowing that it was still a couple hours until curfew. And right on the other side of her wall, there happened to be a row video phones lined up. And in her bag, she had the phone number that Forrest had given her earlier that day.

Without another thought, Misty twisted out of her blankets and rolled out of bed, rifling through her bag for the number and then grabbing the key to the room before she padded into the hallway.

Not too surprisingly, all the videophones were free, so Misty just chose the nearest one and began typing in the unfamiliar number. Fortunately she knew that it wasn't as late in Johto as it was in Kanto, but still late enough that Brock was bound to be out of class.

It only took a few rings for him to prove her right.

"Hello? This is Brock Slate, doctor in training!"

"Oh, Brock, that's the lamest thing I've ever heard. You've gotta lose that greeting."

The screen instantly flickered on and Misty saw Brock looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "You don't think it'd be a turn on for the ladies."

"Certainly wasn't for me," Misty said dryly.

Brock shook off the quasi-rejection in stride and looked at Misty fondly. "So. You really survived the Viridian Forest?"

"Glad to hear your confidence in me, Brock," Misty joked, a laugh lilting her voice. "I survived and now I want to talk to you about something."

"What's that?"

"The War. I know that you're a Civil War buff and I want to know what really happened, what it was really about, and what it must have been like for people in it."

Brock was obviously caught off-guard, leaving nothing but the buzz of a long-distance connection for a couple of seconds. "Well, I'm not sure about that last one, but I'll do the best that I can. Why the sudden interest, though?"

Misty wanted to beat around the bush because the truth sounded crazy. But her truth always sounded crazy and Brock was the only person to whom she could tell it. So, might as well dive in head first. "Because I met a ghost that died in it and I want to understand what he went through."

"Hmm," Brock hummed as though scrutinizing her—Misty just couldn't tell which part of her he was thinking about. "Well, why don't you just ask him?"

"I, uh, did," Misty admitted. "Inadvertently. And he kind of clammed up. So I wanted to just figure it out on my own."

"So basically," Brock surmised, "you're nosing into business that you're probably not supposed to."

"Well, sure, that too."

"Well, you're in luck that I'm prepared to just let that one slide," Brock said, a smile creeping onto his face. "Because I like imparting my wisdom, even if it's for a questionable cause."

"Good to know I'm a questionable cause," Misty said wryly.

"Good. So the Civil War, like any other war, is tough because perspectives twist what happened to make one guy sound like the bad guy and one guy sound like the good guy," Brock began, eagerness filling his voice. "In this case, neither claim is true. Neither side was bad. Prior to the war, Kanto was in a progressive era, becoming very urban, technology-based, and basically moving with the times and flourishing financially because of that. Johto was very traditional and suffering fiscally because most other regions were growing similarly to Kanto. Kanto, as you know, had Indigo as its singular, oligarchic form of government. Johto, however, was a little more broken up, and this is also part of the reason why the region was suffering. Indigo was a dual government for both Kanto and Johto, but Johto also had an independent legislative branch centered in Goldenrod City. The League in Indigo decided that Kanto should annex Johto, make The League the sole form of government in Johto, and thusly benefit them both."

"And Johto wasn't a fan of that idea." Misty completed, piecing together bits of what Brock was saying with what little she already knew.

"To say the least. Johtan rebels started the war with a surprise attack on Indigo that didn't go well for either party. Indigo managed to push the war out of the main city and into the rural western edge of Kanto, off the fringes of Pewter, Viridian, and Pallet, trying to force it south to contain the war with minimal damage to Kanto's important cities. Even though it was a Johtan civil war more than anything, the war took place in Kanto, definitely damaging those three cities.

"Neither region was prepared for war and had to start a draft—mostly Kanto, though, because Johto had a number of eager rebels, while Kanto didn't see it as their fight. Lots of young men were brought into the war that way, perhaps like your ghost?"

"That's what it's starting to sound like," Misty mused. "Anyway, Kanto won, and…?"

"Well, Kanto just had better resources. Plus, it was on their turf and everyone from Johto had to cross a whole mountain range or sail south of the continent to get there, which was a huge disadvantage just regarding supplies and preparation. Kanto won, annexed Johto, and since has been a pretty generous ruler, I think. The League is perfectly split between Johtan and Kantonian representatives, save for the Champion, of course, and Johto is now thriving almost as much as Kanto, despite both being brought many steps backwards because of The War. Goldenrod is now the lovechild of Kanto and Johto, bringing industry to Johto. All is well save for bitter feelings and a lost generation of boys who died at war."

Misty rolled her eyes. "Aw, you just make the story burst with sunshine and sparkles, don't you?"

"It was a war, Misty," Brock deadpanned. "Hard to make it sound like My Little Ponyta."

"I know, I know," Misty waved him off. "Thanks for the history lesson. Now, is there any chance that you know anything about what things must have been like for the draftees? Assuming that's what Ash was."

"Ah, so Ash is his name. Noted," Brock confirmed. "And I don't know, Misty, I can speculate for you, but that's really something you'd have to hear from the Horsea's mouth."

"Speculate away," Misty insisted.

Brock sighed. "Alright, well, I can only assume that it must have been terrible. War is always awful, but being forced into one is even worse. And the draft went as young as fifteen as it went on, so some of these boys were younger than us. It was probably worse as it went later, because Kantonians were quick to start hating the war, especially those further east and more detached. Frontiersmen on the west, though, seemed more, I don't know, patriotic. They had more cause in all of it. I don't know, Misty, every person is different. There's no way to know for sure how this Ash felt about all of it. But it probably wasn't great, otherwise he would probably tell you."

Misty nodded. "I guess you're right. Thanks for your help."

"Thanks for checking in and telling me you got to Viridian okay. Even if it was only because you needed something from me."

Misty grinned. "What are friends for?"

"Apparently acting as a sentient history textbook."

"Yes, but a very appreciated sentient history textbook," Misty jested, laughing at the image of Brock as a walking, talking book.

"Okay, Misty. You should probably be going to sleep soon. Isn't it late there?"

"Yeah," Misty agreed, finally assessing how tired she really was. "You have no idea what I've been through to get here."

"Really? Do tell."

"I thought you wanted me to go to sleep?"

"Story time helps with sleep.

Misty laughed. "Okay. Well, there were these two ghosts…"

Giovanni's Gym was far different from Misty's. The Cerulean Gym was lit like an aquarium through and through, whether the room in question housed any aquatic creatures or not. But the Viridian Gym's inside was somewhat dark and dank, like an unpleasant hybrid between a house and a cave. Misty had had to push aside a heavy door to come in, which was now blocking all of the morning's bright rays from the windowless room. The only light now came from sconces evenly spaced along the dark wall. It was very similar to the picture that Jenny had showed her the day before, only now there were no indents hiding a secret passageway to a gang hideout.

It was cold too, making Misty grateful that she had slipped on a sweater—partially to hide her almost healed bruises, but also to protect her against the cool morning air. Now she was rubbing the wool against her arms to fight her newly acquired goosebumps.

Also, unlike what was frequently the case at her Gym, there was a man working the front desk. She was about to ask him about Giovanni's whereabouts—get right down to business—but he spoke up first. "There is only one challenger allowed in the Viridian Gym at one time. We already have one scheduled for a few minutes from now, so you'll have to return afterwards."

Misty, who had stepped up to the front desk as the man spoke at her, smiled as passively as she could and replied, "I'm actually not a challenger. I came here to speak to Giovanni."

"On what grounds?"

"Official police business," Misty stated, taking care to stretch her posture and look as authoritative as possible. However, that did not keep the man from giving her a good once over and frowning skeptically.

"You?"

"Yes, me. I happen to be," she swept her bag off her shoulder and fished around in the bottom of it, "the Cerulean Gym Leader," she finished, presenting a Cascade Badge for him to see.

"Oh, you must be, uh, Misty, eh?" the man surmised, recognition sparkling faintly behind his deep-set eyes.

"That's right," Misty answered, dropping the Badge back into her bag.

"Okay. You have a few minutes to talk to him, but as soon as the scheduled challenger appears, you'll have to step aside, got it?"

"Got it."

The front desk registrar pointed Misty to the main arena, where he stated Giovanni would be.

Even without it being pointed out, it was pretty easy to tell which was the way to the arena. From this main lobby, there was one door off to the side, but just past the registrar desk was a formidable pair of iron double doors, mirroring the ones Misty knew to lead back to the sunshine of the outside world. Misty had to throw her weight onto one for it to creak open, the sound casting a deep echo through what opened up to be a huge arena.

Misty nearly gaped in awe. Even arenas at the League weren't this wide. It had to be at least thrice the size of her pool, with towering platforms for the trainers to stand at on each end. The reason why became evident as Misty soon cast her eyes on three enormous Pokémon. A Kangaskhan, a Rhydon, and a Nidoqueen, all larger than she'd ever seen them.

As Misty began the far walk across the dusty field, she saw a man—Giovanni, she had to presume, though it was hard to tell from the distance—kneeling by the Nidoqueen's side, and scraping what appeared to be a toothbrush up her back. As Giovanni moved up her back, he pushed himself up to standing, leaving Misty floundering at how large these Pokémon really were.

Nidoqueen were rarely larger than five feet, making them small but dense tanks. But this one was easily taller than Giovanni by a few inches; and Misty knew from experience that Giovanni, the imposing figure that he was, was about six feet. Then there were the Kangaskhan and the Rhydon. The Rhydon was a bit taller than the Nidoqueen, the various protrusions sticking out of its head adding a few inches. But the Kangaskhan was without a doubt over seven feet.

Misty knew that these Pokémon probably weren't very fast; she couldn't imagine they'd roam the whole field in one match, but she would bet that the field didn't look big to them at all. This was a small field in comparison to the open plains these Pokémon inhabited in the wild.

When she finally made her way over to the three behemoths, Giovanni was getting up and dusting the fine dirt off of his well-worn slacks.

"Miss Waterflower," Giovanni stated, sticking out his hand to shake after brushing off all of the excess dust that he could. "A pleasure. What are you doing in my neck of the woods?"

"The pleasure's all mine, sir," Misty said, imitating Giovanni's clipped manner of speaking as she met his hand for a firm shake. "I'm actually here to speak with you about the current missing persons cases in Viridian."

Had Giovanni been a teenager, Misty knew that she would have seen a sassy eye-roll accompanied by an exasperated sigh. But Giovanni, a man in his fifties, simply let out a heavy breath, the wind seemingly having been taking out of his sails. "I am not involved," he said, the words sounded heavy with use, like they've made this a common phrase in his vocabulary. "And, frankly, Miss Waterflower, I don't know why you are."

"I became involved involuntarily and now I'm on the case. I don't believe that you are involved, but you must know that this is the only lead that Jenny currently has."

"I realize that," Giovanni huffed. "But that must mean that I'm being framed or that the Gym is being involved from the outside, because it's been decades since any criminal activity has been inside this Gym."

"Perhaps," Misty agreed. "But you won't mind if I ask a few questions anyway, do you?"

Giovanni shook his head. "Fire away."

"Have you noticed anything strange about your challengers in the past month or so?"

"No."

Misty faltered. "Could you explain that a little further?"

Giovanni stared at her. The lines and the scars on his face, his dark, dark eyes, and his buzzed-short hair made him very intimidating. No wonder he had been so feared in his youth. Fortunately, she had seen him smile on occasion, so she knew that he could also fall into the look of a father or even grandfather, but that certainly wasn't what he looked like in this moment.

"You're a Gym Leader. You know the routine," Giovanni stated assuredly as he stared her down. "Some Trainers are good, some are bad, you win some, you lose some. You mostly win because otherwise you wouldn't have a job and some kids take that better than others. That's it. I don't make friends with my challengers, and I'm sure neither do you."

Misty frowned. He was definitely right about that. "Sure. Have you had any new employees in the past two months or so?"

"None."

"Have you had just as many challengers as usual?"

"Same as usual for the off-season."

Now that piqued Misty's interest. Numbers for her own Gym were lower than she'd seen them as long as she'd been Gym Leader, and Brock had said pretty much the same. So why weren't Giovanni's? Surely his Gym wasn't more popular than hers or Brock's.

Before she could ask him to specify those number so that she could draw a closer comparison, all three of Giovanni's Pokémon turned towards the door through which Misty had come.

"Challenger coming, Miss Waterflower. You'll have to save the rest of your questions until after the match. You're free to watch."

Giovanni turned away from Misty without waiting for a reply or even to see if she was staying or not. He headed right up to his platform and took his stance, legs wide, arms crossed. Powerful.

Misty turned towards the door in time to hear the echo of the loud creak it gave as the challenger pushed it open. Giovanni's Pokémon must have heard him or her from the other room. She didn't know how that could be possible through the heavy iron doors, but Giovanni's Pokémon seemed as though they were capable of anything.

The challenger appeared as a speck in the distance to Misty as they approached the platform opposite Giovanni's. Misty retreated to the side bleachers, noticing how large Giovanni's Pokémon still appeared, even from her now considerable distance away from them. He had left them all out on the stadium floor, probably to intimidate challengers.

"Three on three, no substitutions," Giovanni boomed. Misty looked up and noticed that the ceiling had irregular paneling. She wondered if that was just so that sound carried without microphones in the enormous room. Hopefully hearing wouldn't be an added disablement for the challenger's Pokémon in this room. Challengers would have to catch on quick that they need to speak up for their Pokémon to hear any kind of command.

"Sure thing!" Misty heard echoing in a feminine voice from across the room. "Hitmonlee, go!"

Despite the echo, the voice sounded familiar in Misty's head. Also, a Hitmonlee was interesting. Not a particularly common Pokémon. Misty squinted towards the challenger, trying to make out details. She couldn't see much, but she did see a long red braid swinging at the girl's side.

Misty grinned. It was Molly! Suddenly, the match was a lot more exciting. She quickly dropped her questions toward Giovanni. They were only her own curiosity talking. Those questions weren't about the case, and frankly, she didn't have any more about the case. So she didn't bother trying to split her focus.

Giovanni sent forward his Rhydon. It was weak against Fighting, so that was good for Molly. Hopefully she'd bear in mind the advice Misty had given her yesterday and steer into that skid. And while this Rhydon was assuredly stalwart to say the least, Misty knew she could count on a Pokémon of Molly's to be quick. With any luck, that would be enough to keep from being absolutely mowed down by this tank of a Pokémon.

"Hi Jump Kick!"

Misty cringed. That was a daring call. If it missed, Misty doubted that Molly would be able to recover in this round. And there was so much distance to cover before the Attack would hit that Giovanni's Rhydon would have to time to dodge.

Nevertheless, Molly's Hitmonlee charged forward before soaring through the air and ultimately making contact on the Rhydon's shoulder. It threw the Rhydon off-balance, but as it dug its feet into the ground, Misty knew that it wasn't going anywhere.

Misty waited for Giovanni to call out a command, but he didn't. He stood like a statue, his face neutral as only his eyes followed the match. Apparently he didn't have to call out a move, though, because as the Hitmonlee rebounded off of it, the Rhydon grabbed the Hitmonlee by its leg and threw it back into the air.

Misty's jaw dropped. That was almost vicious. Not out of line by any means, but it made it very clear that there was no fooling around in this Gym.

"Shift your weight! Land in plié and recover!"

Somehow the Hitmonlee unfolded itself and managed to land gracefully, not appearing to have taken any damage from the hit as it straightened its knees and stood tall.

Misty was very impressed. Most Fighting Pokémon were hopeless even an inch off of the ground. The floor on which they fought was as much a part of their game as their fists were. But Molly's were so trained in leaps and jumps that they showed a familiarity with how their bodies handled in the air that it only enhanced their skill.

"Great! Now Close Combat!"

The Hitmonlee again approached Giovanni's Rhydon. Both Pokémon and Trainer looked almost disinterested, even as the Hitmonlee began striking the Rhydon in rapid succession. When an opening appeared, the Rhydon grabbed the Hitmonlee's leg and again tossed it, repeating the cycle.

Both Pokémon had to be taking damage. Fighting moves were super-effective against a Rock-Type like Rhydon, but its bulk and its tough, plated skin were doing it well. And Molly's Hitmonlee seemed to be tiring itself out more than anything else.

Misty eyed Giovanni suspiciously. He wasn't doing anything. And his Pokémon was barely doing anything. What did that say about him? That his Pokémon were so well-trained outside of Battle that his work was done once a Battle commenced? Or that he had no Battle-skill at all and just left it up to his Pokémon to throw his weight around?

Something about it made Misty mad. She put so much work and strategy into every Battle—even ones against hopeless youngsters, just to keep it fair and interesting—but Giovanni wasn't lifting a finger. That wasn't how a Gym Leader was supposed to act.

"What did I miss?"

"Nothing, evidently," Misty replied to Ash's now familiarly throaty voice reflexively. She only took her eyes off the Battle for a second to see him sitting next to her with Pikachu on his shoulder. "When did you get here?"

"Oh, I just floated in a moment ago," Ash said, pointing up. "Sorry I'm late. Where's Noir?"

"She doesn't like cities," Misty answered plainly. "Whenever I have to travel for conferences or the League she usually lays low unless I'm definitely alone."

Ash nodded. "So where are we?" he asked, pointing to the Battle at hand.

"The match is three on three, this is the first round."

"Great! We didn't miss much."

Round one was winding down, though. As Misty turned her attention back to the match, she noticed that Molly's Hitmonlee was right on the brink of falling. The Rhydon still looked tough as nails.

"Wow, we're looking at a real level difference here," Ash said.

"Guess so."

"Rhyhorn hasn't moved from that spot for the whole match, has he?"

Misty looked over at Ash questioningly. "No. How did you know that? And how do you know it's male?"

Ash pointed to the field. "The ground around his feet isn't scattered hardly at all, so I guessed. Also, based on how close he is to the side of the field and the fact that he's not moving now. And he's obviously a boy from the length of his horn."

"Oh."

Ash, Misty, and Pikachu watched as the Rhydon used what appeared to be one hell of a Stomp Attack, knocking the Hitmonlee to the floor once and for all. Misty frowned. She could only guess that it was a Stomp because, yet again, Giovanni hadn't called out the move.

"Stupid," Misty mumbled under her breath as she watched Molly return her Hitmonlee back to its ball.

"What is?"

"Giovanni didn't do a damn thing during that match," Misty exclaimed. "What kind of a Trainer does that?"

"Well, Giovanni's always been the strong and silent type," Ash explained. "If you can even see him at all. He sticks to the background."

"Have you been watching his Gym for a while?" Misty asked. If he had been watching Brock's and even hers back in the day, maybe he'd been watching the Viridian Gym ever since it was young.

"Uh, sure," Ash said, not taking his eyes off of the Battle.

He was lying. Misty was sure of it. She had already started to learn that Ash was just one of the worst liars that she had ever met, and so she had not a doubt in her mind that there was something that he wasn't saying.

But, she had also learned last night that that was the way she had to keep things with him, so she sighed and turned back to the field, watching a Battle between a Machoke—Molly's—and Giovanni's Kangaskhan commence.

This was good. This gave Molly another Type-advantage. Unfortunately, this Kangaskhan looked just as unshakable as the Rhydon, maybe even more so with its extra foot of stature, but a Machoke was strong and sturdy too, so Misty was hopeful.

Again, Molly fired away with the first shot, throwing a fist forward, which Kangaskhan grabbed, again without command from Giovanni.

Misty couldn't help but groan.

"It's an intimidation technique," Ash said quietly. "It freaks out your opponent to see a Trainer that sure and powerful. It also shows a connection between Trainer and Pokémon that is very hard to achieve. Takes years. A Trainer may not know that, but they can feel it, and that rattles them. Giovanni and his Pokémon have been together for decades. They're perfectly in sync. Giovanni would help them if they needed it, but they don't. They already know."

"Then he should be switching out his Pokémon and Training new ones," Misty argued, turning to Ash. He was still looking at the match, though; he had been the whole time. "That way younger Trainers have a chance and you're improving as a Trainer."

"Some people like to switch out," Ash agreed with a nod. "But others invest in a few bonds and that's it for them."

Misty's shoulders slumped. She couldn't argue with that, much as she wanted to. But she could practically hear Ash follow up his statement with: surely you know what that feels like? And she did. Her bonds with Noir and even Staryu made for much smoother, but also deeper battling than using a green Pokémon. But she just didn't see that as the only point of being a Gym Leader.

"Oh, look at that," Ash said just as Molly's Machoke landed a swift kick to Kangaskhan's soft under belly. "That was a smart move, hitting below the pouch. One might think that a Kangaskhan's weakest point is right around the baby, but that's not true. If an opponent goes for anywhere around the pouch, Kangaskhan's motherly instincts kick in and make it attack relentlessly. That's probably why Giovanni battles with the baby still in the pouch; to keep that strength, dangerous strategy though it is."

Wow. If Ash were alive, he would make a fortune on commentating on matches. Misty felt this acute focus in her head, like she felt all of the Pokémon knowledge Ash was imparting on her going into her brain and making her a better Trainer. She hoped that it was.

Molly seemed to realize on her own what Ash had just explained to Misty and sent a barrage of Attacks on the Kangaskhan's middle, avoiding the baby Kangaskhan.

And that was that.

The Kangaskhan fell, and Molly's Machoke fell soon after, the exertion obviously having been too much for it to handle.

As the Trainers sent out their last Pokémon, Hitmonchan and Nidoqueen, Pikachu leapt from Ash's shoulder and padded over to Misty's lap, mewling as he snuggled into her. Misty laughed a little, enjoying scratching the spots that she had already discovered to be favorites of Pikachu's. She was glad then that the arena was so huge. There was no way that Giovanni or Molly would be able to see that she was petting what would appear to them to be nothing if they, for some reason, looked away from the match and at her.

Throwing this Battle off from the pattern of the prior two, it started with the Nidoqueen charging with all her might towards the Hitmonchan, knocking it to the ground with a harsh Take Down Attack.

"Ooh, that was a good strategy," Misty couldn't help but saying, ignoring the fact that it had—predictably—gone without order from Giovanni. It must have been a token strategy of theirs. Maybe the reason why Giovanni left all of his Pokémon out for the duration of the Battle was so that they could watch along with him and know better what to do when it was their turn. Misty didn't know if that was an admirable strategy or if that was on the verge of cheating.

The Battle didn't last long. To Molly's credit, Misty did notice slight differences from the way she was commanding her Hitmonchan from yesterday. She was indeed employing its arms more. It was just a shame that Nidoqueen had such thick hides; the punches were being all but absorbed upon impact.

An Ice Beam sealed the deal. Covered in ice, Molly's Hitmonchan fell to the ground with a dull thud, dirt from the field sticking to it before turning to mud.

"That's that. Really awesome match," Ash said, an excited look in his eyes that Misty hadn't seen before. "Those dance-y things were super cool. Maybe you should learn something like that, Pikachu."

Pikachu bristled, clearly not fond of the idea of training in a tutu and began sparking at the cheek.

"Alright, you can have him back now," Misty said, handing Pikachu off to Ash.

"No, I really don't want—"

Misty scooted away before the shock hit, though that didn't keep her from wincing and blocking her face anyway. She quickly looked back to the field to make sure that Giovanni and Molly hadn't seen the rogue electricity, but they were too busy with thawing Molly's Hitmonchan, a task easily accomplished via use of Giovanni's Rhydon's drill.

"See ya later, Mist," Ash said as he and Pikachu continued to playfully roughhouse, floating up and eventually through the ceiling all the while.

Not even getting the chance to say goodbye, Misty started stepping down from the bleachers with a curious smile. No one had ever called her that before.

Mist.

A/N: Okay, it has been almost two months. I'm very sorry about that. But senior year of college is very difficult. But for right now, I'm just happy to have finally buckled down and updated this story! I'm not going to say much else except for Happy Halloween! I'm dressing as an Umbreon. :)

Oh, and many thanks to my lovely beta, C'sMelody for not taking this rough draft and chucking it back at me shouting: "Read your own work and see if it makes any sense before you send it to someone else, dingus!" Which is what I deserved for this one.