Pokémon 1. Matters of Shoes

**A/N: **Don't own Pokemon, sadly. This is my first Pokemon story and I am an old school Pokemon girl. To me, Ash, Misty, Brock and Gary will be the best characters ever. OLD POKEMON 4EVA! Anyway, this first chapter will be written in first person [Misty's POV but the rest of the story will be in third person. This story is rated M because I don't write mushy stuff. What you will see here will make you gasp, cry, shake, and cuss me out. Probably hate me too…but you will be coming back for more.

_**Warning:** AshXMistyxGary triangle_

**Summary: **Ash and Misty's relationship was doing great until one faithful night in Pallet Town changes everything. Left with nothing but her own lonely self, Misty decides it is time to move on and change. Yet, an old and unknown rival appears and is ready to make the youngest Waterflower sister suffer until her last breath.

Enjoy!

**Chapter 1 – Matters of Shoes**

We arrived to Pallet Town a week before the special day. We were supposed to leave, all together, the day after the party. I guess things don't always go as planned; at least for me they don't. I knew we were staying longer than what Ash had planned, since his mom had asked me to lure him to his hometown for a very specific reason. Ten years had passed since Ash left his home and began his Pokemon journey. Ten years had passed since we met that faithful day and never, in all my years of knowing and traveling with him, did I ever think he would change so much. The past months had been rather different than the wonderful ones we spent before. Ash rarely smiled or laughed; except when he won a Pokemon battle, that is. But it wasn't a smile of happiness, but a smile of superiority. Come to think about it, it wasn't really a smile; it was more of a mischievous and _prideful_ grin.

Brock and I spent sleepless nights, talking about the sudden changes in Ash's attitude. We thought it was only a phase he was going through, knowing he was reaching maturity and was becoming of age. We blamed the hormones, the long traveling, the lost battles and even the weather. We never blamed ourselves, and I certainly never thought of blaming myself. However, with each passing day, Ash grew quieter and spoke only when addressed to or when necessary. It was as if he was caught up in his own little world where nothing else existed but his battles and himself. Even Pikachu felt the difference between the _old_ Ash and the _new_A sh. Pikachu didn't need to tell us he hated the new Ash; and how much he missed the old one. We _all_ did.

I mistakenly took things for granted when we started dating. Ash and I have been dating for three years now, isn't it wonderful? Or…we _were_ dating, until last night. I was so sure that being around his family and old friends would bring the old Ash back to us, but it didn't. I can't forget the hurt look on Mrs. Ketchum's eyes to Ash's reaction to his surprise party. "I can't believe you made me stay for a party! It's just a birthday…there is nothing to celebrate!" We stayed, nonetheless.

Professor Oak talked to Ash, trying to find out what was wrong with him but he was not successful. He gave short answers and evaded questions saying he had to feed his Pokemon. He knew Brock took care of our Pokemon; he just needed an excuse to leave the interrogation site. Ash hated to talk about his plans, he wouldn't tell us what he felt, even if we begged him for it.

I tried to cheer him up. I dressed up the best I could and let my now long hair down. Ash once told me he liked it this way; he liked to play with it. Yet, that night, he hardly looked at me, yet alone touched me at all. There I was trying to look my best for the boy I liked, plotting with his mother to get him to come to his own birthday party, dealing with his friend/enemy Gary to find his birthday present, and saving up money to get him a bicycle voucher from Cerulean City's best bicycle store; and for what? He didn't even remember it was our three-year anniversary that night. Perhaps, he didn't even care.

The party continued until the wee hours of the morning. Everyone left, even Ash who claimed to have a headache had left to get some sleep. Brock, Mrs. Ketchum, Professor Oak and even Gary helped to clean up the place. For such a small house, we sure did take long to clean it up. Ash didn't even talk to me. It was as if I wasn't even there. It hurt very much. Not only because his attitude was cold but because he had not always been like that.

The first couple of years after we started dating, he had been nothing but a gentleman to me. I saw a side of Ash I never even knew it existed. I can still feel his arm around me those cold nights we had to spend camping outside in some forsaken forest because Brock had gotten us lost for the twenty –seemed more like ten thousand, time. Those were the good old days; and they were now gone. There was that other time when we traveled on the S.S. Anne. I remember that night as if it had been yesterday. That night we shared our first kiss; not only as a couple but our first kiss ever as well.

When we finally finished cleaning up, I saw Ash standing at the entrance door of his house. Brock had gone to sleep while Mrs. Ketchum and Professor Oak prepared coffee to drink during their long after-party chat. It was only me and him, and I was scared. I held my left arm with my right hand and managed to give him a small smile. He looked at me up and down, as if just realizing that I existed. His eyes then locked with mine and for a mere second, I saw the spark of the old Ash in his eyes. It happened so fast that had I blinked, I would have most certainly missed it. At that moment, that old spark gave me comfort, but I now wish I had not ever seen it and had not fallen victim of a false sense of security and hope.

I began to shift uncomfortably where I was standing until he cleared his throat and began walking my way. I felt my heart beating fast and my hands sweat. Ash had finally noticed me again and I was so nervous; so nervous that I almost didn't hear him when he spoke to me. "Mist, I think it's time we had a long talk, care to go with me for a walk?" I nodded and he began walking in front of me. It took me a few seconds to order my legs to move and follow him. I finally moved and walked next to Ash as he had his eyes fixed upon an invisible object to me. I walked, hands crossed, eyes staring at the high and uncomfortable shoes I had bought for the night. My mind was racing with the thoughts of possible topics he wanted to discuss with me until his voice broke my concentration. "You look very nice tonight, Misty."

I couldn't help to smile.

"I'm sure you could find a _nice_ boyfriend if you dress like that more often."

I panicked.

What was he talking about? _He_ was my boyfriend! He wasn't always nice but he still was _my_ boyfriend. I stopped walking and he did too. We had arrived to his favorite hill in Pallet Town. He sat on the grass and patted the place next to him, inviting me to sit down. I didn't move and he just shrugged and continued talking.

"Look, Misty…I don't…I don't think this is working…us, y'know?"

My heart fell to my feet and the shoes became slightly more uncomfortable. How dared he tell me I looked nice, make me walk all the way over here, to tell me that what we had wasn't working? I clenched my fists and took small breaths to relax myself. I wasn't going to let him talk me out of it, I wasn't ready to let go. I felt my eyes begin to fill with tears but I blinked them away. I swallowed hard to ease the lump that was forming in my throat before I spoke to him, trying to sound as calmed as I could. "What do you mean?"

Ash sighed while he lowered his cap to cover his eyes. He always did that when he had to talk about something serious; something he wanted to avoid. I cursed under my breath for knowing him so well. Something bad was coming my way; something I myself had tried to _escape_ from for a long time now. "I thought I felt something more for you; something more than just a good friendship, but I was wrong. I don't think us dating is a good idea. I think we should take a break…give ourselves some time to think…"

I swallowed again. The lump in my throat was getting bigger by the minute and all I could do was attempt to get rid of it by taking deep breaths. I was failing miserably, but I didn't know what else to do. "Are you upset because I made you stay?"

Ash sighed again, almost sounding…_aggravated_…maybe even irritated. Without looking at me he responded, this time in an angrier tone. "Not anymore. I was upset because staying here meant having to spend time with you, and I couldn't avoid you like I could while traveling. I didn't want to hurt you but I had to tell you the truth. I'm leaving again…and I don't want you to follow me anymore."

My heart broke that instant. My sight was clouded by the tears that I now allowed to run freely down my cheeks. I couldn't believe he had been so honest…so direct…so…blunt! Didn't I at least deserve an explanation? A reason why he thought he didn't even have to bother to try to work things out before just throwing everything out the window? I deserved an explanation; I had the right to know, didn't I?

"Why now, Ash? Why not before? What made you change your mind? It took you three years to figure out you didn't _like_ me that way?"

He didn't reply.

I stomped the floor with my foot and my heel sank in the damp grass. I didn't care. The person I had cared for the most these past ten years of my life was saying goodbye with no apparent good reason at all! I was not ready to let go! "Ask Ketchum, I asked you a question? What is it? Am I not worthy of an answer from you all of sudden?"

"It's not like that, ok? I just told you why. I just don't feel like that anymore."

I couldn't help but snarl.

"You can't expect me to believe that one day you woke up and your feelings for me were gone. That is impossible!"

"I didn't say that. They slowly went away."

I held a sob.

"Ash…how could you…how can I…it's not fair!"

"Misty, I am twenty years old and still haven't become a Pokemon Master! Look at you! You are almost 22 and still nothing more than a trainer! I feel like I wasted the last years of my life on other things that weren't as important as the reason why I left home!"

"These last three years weren't a waste of time for me, Ash."

"Having you around distracts me, a lot. I will never achieve my dream of beating the Elite Four if I stay with you, and you will never be the best Water Pokemon Gym Leader if you stick with me. It's time we move on." Ash stood up and walked a few feet away from me, towards the road to his home. "You can pick up your stuff tomorrow morning."

I shook my head. "No, Ash! Please don't do this."

"Brock and I are leaving as soon as I get back home right now."

"What? Brock agrees with this?"

Ash remained quiet.

"He doesn't know, does he?"

"No. It's none of his business either. If he doesn't want to come with me, then that is fine by me."

That was harsh. I knew Brock will go with him anyway, and I somewhat preferred that over not having anyone to talk to me about how Ash was doing without me. We had been breaking our heads trying to figure out what was wrong with him. We both knew our chances of helping Ash –even if he didn't want to be helped, would be better if one of us stuck with him. I now knew it wasn't going to be me as I had secretly hoped.

"Will you keep in touch?"

Ash started walking without saying a word. I took a few steps and repeated my question, this time louder and more _demanding_ than the first time. "Are _we_ staying in touch?"

Ash stopped but did not look back.

"Goodbye, Misty."

And he was gone. I could have run after him and stopped him but I didn't; I couldn't. What difference would have it made? He was obviously consciously taking this decision and he did not seem to have second thoughts about throwing down the drain what I had cherished the most for the past ten years of years. This was not a 'see you later.' This was a definite 'goodbye.'

I stared at my shoes that were now covered by mud and dew as the first rays of sun began to light the horizon. My hair was damp and had lost its shine. I could feel the grass flies feeding on the flesh of my legs and arms. I felt lonely and miserable; too tired to even cry.

I saw Ash's figure disappear in the forest as he began increasing his pace from a light jog to full run. Knowing him he would run nonstop until he made it home, grab his belongings and tell Brock it was time to leave. Brock would look around searching for me and quickly figure out what had transpired.

Brock might be quite of a playboy but he is no fool.

Neither am I.

I reached for my necklace which I had never removed before. I held the star locket in my closed hand for a second; reminiscing about the time I got it as a gift from the boy that had just dumped me like a rock just now.

"_Oh, Ash! It's beautiful!" Misty said as she held the gift on her hand._

"_I knew you would love it!" Ash said while looking at the picture of him and Misty inside the locket he had just given her. "Now you can say that you have me, Ash Ketchum, __**the**__ future__ Pokemon Master, in the palm of your hands."_

"_I knew I did already. A long time ago."_

"_And you always will, whether you have that locket or not."_

The memory hurt. I had the necklace, but I didn't have the guy. I held tightly onto it and before my mind realized what my hand was about to do, the pressure of the pull I was putting on the chain was too much and the necklace snapped. The chain split in half and dangled from my hand while the locket remained –unmoved, in the palm of my hand. Ten years gone down the drain. _I_ was broken.

"Happy anniversary, Misty," I told myself.

I looked at the picture one last time before I closed it and threw it away behind me. I didn't care where it landed; I wasn't going to come back to this place to search for it. In fact, I was not returning to Pallet Town ever again. I had no reason to come back, and for this I was grateful. I looked at my shoes again and realized they were going to be hard to clean. I sighed, not truly wanting the task of cleaning the uncomfortable shoes and thought of a better idea: I didn't need the shoes anymore.

I carefully slipped my feet out of the high heels and growled at the sight of seeing them still sunk in the mud. The only reason I had began wearing heels was to look nice for…him. "I definitely don't need you anymore," I told my shoes. I stared at them, and they looked back as if they were pleading to go with me. Pleading in the same way my eyes pleaded to Ash not to leave me behind. Here I was, reduced to a comparison of some filthy pair of shoes left behind because the thought of cleaning them up was just _unbearable_. I took a few steps downhill towards the road to Ash's home and stopped when I saw him and Brock run down the path to leave Pallet Town. Ash didn't look back but Brock did. I waved at him and he gave me a quick nod.

At least Ash wouldn't be alone, getting himself into trouble.

At least I wouldn't be left in the dark about his whereabouts. Brock would keep me informed; I was sure of this.

At least I would be able to cling onto that last piece of hope of someday seeing him again. At least I could still _hope_.

"_Take care of him for me, Brock."_

I saw the two most important men in my life disappear on the curved and downhill path of old Pallet Town-Pewter City road. I would take my time; I had nothing to lose, and –more realistically, nowhere to go. "This is where we part ways…shoes…"

The grass underneath my feet was damp and cold but I did not care much about it at the moment. There was mud accumulating in between my toes and leaves stuck to my heels. As I took another step I sighed deeply, knowing this would be the last time I would breathe this air, and walk this road ever again. "I found more comfy and reliable footwear…I am sorry."

I walked on the road to his house without even thinking. I knew these roads and pathways like the back of my hand. I didn't even bother to look up as I knew where I was heading, and what to watch for as I did. My head hung in shame and pain as my slow and short steps took me closer and closer to my destination. What was I supposed to tell his mom? What was I supposed to say at all? I secretly hoped Delia would be tired enough from the party to be awake so early, but in the back of my mind I knew she had seen the boys leave quickly and without me.

I finally arrived to the front door and turned the knob. I slowly walked inside and saw Delia and Professor Oak sitting on the table, drinking coffee and talking. I wanted to turn back and leave all of my belongings here just to avoid the questioning. I took a step back but the door betrayed me and slammed shut. Both adults turned to face me in my sad state.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to slam your door, Mrs. Ketchum."

She just smiled. "Want some coffee Misty? Did you ever get in touch with your sisters?"

"My sisters?" That was unexpected.

Delia nodded. "Ash took a message from your sisters saying they needed you back home. Isn't that why they left without you, sweetie?"

I was speechless. Was this why Ash had broken up with me? Did he know something that I didn't know? Or did he use whatever piece of information he had as an excuse to end our relationship? I looked at Delia and then at Professor Oak, waiting on any of them to tell me the news I had been kept in dark about. "I packed all of your things, Misty. You may use the phone to call your sisters. It seemed to be a very important situation for them."

"Thanks, Mrs. Ketchum."

"Misty, call me Delia."

_Delia_. She had asked me several times to call her by her first name. I always forgot and when I remembered and used it, it made me feel uncomfortable. "If you excuse me, I will get in touch with my sisters." I walked out from the kitchen and headed to the living room. As soon as I was out of sight, I heard Professor Oak make a comment that stung what was left of my pride. "I sure wish Ash knows what he has done."

"_So they know,"_ I thought. I closed my eyes to stop the tears that suddenly had made their way back to my eyes. I could not breakdown in front of his mom and his mentor. I could not show weakness in his own home. I pulled a chair and sat down comfortably in front of the phone. I picked up the phone and dialed my home's phone number. After the third ring, Lily answered my call. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Lily, it's me."

"Oh, my God! Misty? Like, _where_ have you been, girl? We've been looking for you for, like, AGES!"

"Well…here I am."

"DAISY! VIOLET! LIKE, MISTY'S ALIVE!"

The yelling hurt my ears but at the same time, I was glad to hear from them. Anything they had to tell me could not be worse than what Ash had told me the night before. I was ready for anything and everything coming from them. In a matter of seconds, my other two sisters appeared in small screen on the phone, all crammed together in an attempt to look at me. They hadn't changed a bit!

"Misty, like, why are you wearing a fancy dress at 8 in the morning? Where is your sense of fashion?"

"I…had a big night."

"Oh, did your boyfriend ask you to _marry_ him?"

_Boyfriend_. That word hurt.

"I want to be maid of honor!"

"Why do you get to be maid of honor? Like, I am Misty's favorite sister!"

"You are _so_ out of luck! It is obvious _I_ am her favorite sister!"

"Girls, you all are but he didn't ask me to marry him."

That line made the pointless argument stop, for now at least. I wasn't ready to tell them what had really happened so I would let it slide at the moment. It was too soon for the wound. "So, what is so important that you are all awake so bright and early during a weekend?"

"Oh. My. God, Misty, we are in deep, _deep_ trouble!"

"Trouble? Why? Is Team Rocket at it again?"

"Psh, no! This is much, much more serious and real!"

I started fidgeting in my seat. I knew my sisters could be very well be exaggerating a broken nail or a fashion disaster but for some reason, this time it didn't seem like a case of an exaggeration to me.

"Just tell me! What is wrong?"

"Misty, we might have to close the gym…permanently."

I didn't say a word.

"Misty?"

I took a deep breath and stared at my sisters for a sign of joke. There was absolutely none. "It's the curse of the shoes, isn't it?"

"W-what?"

"Never mind. What do you mean we have to close?"

All three of them began crying and sobbing in unison. "You see, there was this audit of all Pokemon Gyms, like, worldwide, and our gym was the worst rated one. We were called the 'easiest Pokemon Gym to defeat.'"

"Oh."

"Yeah, like, total bummer, right? Anyway, our license to be Gym Leaders was revoked and if we want it back, we have to go through this 6-month training on how to become better leaders and trainers and such."

"Well, that is good that you are given a chance to remain leaders, isn't it?"

"NO! You don't understand our tragedy! So, the Gym can't be closed for 6 months, so they told us we would get sent a temporary Gym Leader and a full-time Auditor/Researcher to observe how the Gym is run."

"Someone else will live in our home?"

"Ding! Ding! Ding! Girl, you now see the predicament?"

I could see it alright. Our parents had been Gym Leaders and when they passed away, we inherited the Gym and the leadership positions as our family right. We never got officially trained or had to go through the paperwork, we just did it by what he had seen from our parents and what we learned at Gym Leader conventions. We knew we were risking it but we had no other option. The Gym was not only our job, but our home as well.

The only place we could call home!

"But, I am not an official Gym Leader anymore. Do you want me to go with you to get trained?"

"Of course not! We can't have you give up your adventures as a Pokemon trainer for us! After this training has ended, we will be on probation for 5 years. We can't leave the Gym, and our defeats have to be decreased by 55 or our license will be revoked forever!"

"I don't mind switching gears for 5 years."

"Nonsense! Like, we just need you to cover for us for 6 months while we train."

"Yeah, we don't want a creepy stranger living in our house, probably going through our _undies_ drawers!

"EWWWW!"

"So, will you come home for 6 months, please?"

"But, I am not certified to be a Gym Leader."

"You will be, we asked if we could choose our own replacement, and even though it is against their policy, they said they would let us because of mom and dad. God bless their souls! You will get a temporary Gym Leader permit for those 6 months. It is all fixed; we just need you to agree! Please?"

How could I say no? I had nothing else to do or lose. Ash and Brock had left hours ago, and I had no one to travel with. All I had now was to go home, and if I didn't help my sisters, I would lose my home too.

"I see. I will do it. I am on my way to Cerulean right now, ok?"

"Thank you so much, Misty! Oh, just one thing! Please don't wear that outfit when battling other trainers."

I smiled. "I won't. I promise."

"Ok, we love you, Misty! We won't be here when you arrive but the Auditor will be here, ok? Bye!"

And the screen went black.

I sighed deeply, not really knowing what I had gotten myself into. However, I knew that at least for the next six months, my life would have meaning and purpose. I had plenty of time to think about what I wanted to do after that. I was almost 22 years old and had no definite plan for my life.

"Bummer, indeed."

I went back to the kitchen and saw Delia and Professor Oak hadn't really moved an inch. I asked Delia if I could use her bathroom to take a quick shower and get ready for my trip to Cerulean. "I will be there for six months," I told her.

She smiled and said I should feel at home. I bowed and quickly left to gather my belongings and take a nice, warm shower. "Cerulean, here I come."

And my own journey began. Perhaps not a Pokemon journey, perhaps not a trainer journey, but _my_ own journey at last. Ash Ketchum had left Pallet Town for the twentieth time in his life, and this time he had left without me but with my heart.

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**A/N:** Like? Dislike? Review? Not Review? For those who know and like my writing style, welcome back! For those who have never read one of my stories, get ready to be confused:D


	2. Unwell

**Summary of previous chapter:** Misty tricks Ash to return to Pallet Town for his birthday as a favor to Delia. Hoping that Ash's attitude would change towards her, Misty tries to recover Ash's trust and care by dressing up as pretty as she can. However, tired of being with her, Ash breaks up with Misty at the top of his favorite hill in his hometown. Brock and Ash leave without the Misty and she returns to Ash's home alone by herself. Delia tells Misty her sisters called and left a message with Ash, message that she never received. Misty calls the Cerulean Gym Leaders to find out they are not Leaders anymore. Misty is asked to cover for them for six months to be able to recover the Gym and their Leader status. Misty agrees and parts to Cerulean City.

**Chapter 2 – Unwell**

The Gym was a complete mess. The Waterflower sisters were right: the Cerulean Gym was complete and absolute chaos. Misty was utterly surprised they were given so many opportunities to remain as Gym Leaders, as she had never seen their job –their home, in such an awful condition. The walls needed major repairing and repainting, if at the least. There were some holes on the floor, cracks in the walls and ceilings, and the pool needed cleaning. There were leaks on the tanks used to keep their Pokemon, and some windows were boarded shut because they were broken or were just not there anymore. The training room smelled bad and the carpet was stained and completely missing on some spots. The glass around the Gym was dirty and had fingerprints all over, as well as scratches and duct tape on some of the less broken spots. The Gym looked like a joke of what it had been 10 years ago when she left. _"I have lots to do, I guess,"_ Misty thought.

Misty kept walking and feeling more and more regret of coming back to her home. It was not that she hated the fact she would had to be one to fix it, but the thought of how similar the appearance of her home matched her current life situation: on the outside she looked ok, on the inside she was a mess. She had not left Pallet as quickly as she had wanted. After her shower and after getting herself ready to leave, Delia informed her that she had made breakfast just for Misty. Honestly, Misty just wanted to leave the place that reeked of her former boyfriend, as she had been spending the past hour trying to avoid any thoughts of how _it used to be_.

She could not refuse to eat what Delia had prepared for her so she reluctantly accepted and ate as fast as she possibly could. Delia had made conversation by talking about how much time had passed since Ash was that little boy when he left Pallet, to how much Gary had changed and how much they had all grown. Misty would nod and smile occasionally, attempting to ignore every time Ash's name was said. Selective hearing was not a quality she had developed throughout the years that she now wished she had. "So, Misty, what are your plans?" Delia had asked her. "Plans?" Misty asked in return. What were her plans, anyway? She wanted to reply that she would mop around and cry herself to sleep because her sorry excuse for a son had broken up with her after everything they had been through, not only as lovers but as friends as well. "I am gonna baby-sit the Gym for my sisters. I will get tons of training," Misty said attempting to hide her sorrow and fake a smile.

Delia smiled back and looked at her watch. "Misty, if you wish to be at Cerulean before tomorrow night, you should leave now. I am sorry I kept you here longer that necessary, I just enjoy talking to you very much." Misty smiled, this time genuinely. "Thank you, Delia"

"I am sure going to miss you around here."

Misty held a gasp.

"I don't mean to excuse him but he is only a child, despite his age. He made a big mistake and he won't see it until it is too late. I am sorry for what he did to you, Misty."

Misty fell tears coming back to her eyes but took a deep breath to calm down. "I will be fine but thanks. You know you can still call me if you need me, right?"

Delia nodded. "Likewise, Misty! You are always welcomed in this home."

Misty sighed at the memory. So much had happened to her in the past 48 hours she was exhausted and only wanted a nice bed and comfy clothes to pass out for the night. She carried her belongings to what used to be her room, only to find it now as a storage place for anything her sisters did not want to clean or repair. She pushed the door to make her way into the room and she swore something on the back of the room moved. She tried to go in a few more times but she was not able to succeed in her task. She sighed and decided to give it a rest until she knew the extent of the damage to her home. "I won't be able to use my room for a while, that's for sure."

She pulled the door to close it but it would not budge. "_Great!_ Just great!" Somewhere along the way of getting it open, it had gotten stuck with something she could not see nor reach. For all she knew, the Gym could be infested with bugs and rats for the lack of maintenance, and she did not want to risk her stay by letting a rat-infested room door open. She annoyingly dropped her luggage to the side of the door and pulled it as hard as she could. "Damn door, close!" She tried again, this time putting more force but the door did not move an inch. She mumbled something about stupid doors that do not know when to be open or close and made some quick exercise movements to warm up for the next try. She placed her left foot on the wall to gain strength and pull harder. She could have left the door open but with more noise coming from the back she did not want to let whatever was inside her room loose to invade the rest of place. "I am sure those ain't no Rattatas playing!"

She was getting tired of pulling as her efforts seemed useless but decided to give it one last try. She raised her other foot and rested it on the wall so that she was now standing on the wall and grabbed a hold of the doorknob. She took a deep breath and began giving it one last pull. She felt the door slowly budge and beginning to close when suddenly Misty found herself falling back with a very rusty doorknob in her hands. She squeaked as loud as the door in front of her while she let lose of the doorknob that did not have much use now. Regardless of her efforts, her fall seemed a sure thing and she prepared for it. She closed her eyes and held her breath for the hit that she knew was coming her way and would knock the sense out of her. Her fists trembled at the idea of getting hurt five minutes after she had made it home but she could not stop it anymore.

Her back finally reached and hit a soft, flexible floor. In fact, the floor had grown strong but gentle arms that surrounded her and cushioned her fall. The arms carefully embraced her, allowing her to regain her balance and relax her back against the warm _wall_ behind her. Misty's head was spinning and took a few seconds to return to her normal self. She realized she was not on the floor and had never truly hit it after all or any wall for that matter. She looked up and saw the door almost but not completely closed, and the obsolete doorknob a few feet away from her. She sighed deeply.

"That was a close call wasn't it, Misty? Good thing you weren't this clumsy near the stairs."

Misty held her breath. She did not recognize the voice right away, but she knew it did not belong to a stranger to her. She slowly turned around and her face found his chest. Her eyes looked up; a movement soon followed by her head, and saw his face smirking down at her. That same smirk he made when he knew he had saved the day. "How is it going down there? Be careful, Mist! You don't want to go around breaking a leg on me. This place has lots of work to get done."

Misty blinked several times in a rapid motion. She raised her arm and used her index finger to poke him on his chest, making sure he was truly there.

"How…did you…get in?"

"A thank you would suffice."

Misty blushed and scratched her head, giving him an apologetic big smile. She had been so confused by his sudden appearance she had forgotten to thank him for not allowing her rear end to hit the cold, hard ground. "Thanks, Gary."

"Oh, it was nothing for a strong, handsome man like me," he said while polishing his nails against his chest on his shirt.

Misty jokingly growled. "Haven't changed, have we?"

Gary smiled, winking at her. "Why should I? The girls like me the way I am."

"What girls? Last time we met, your cheerleaders had abandoned you."

Gary scratched his nose. "On the contrary, Gym Leader in need, I abandoned them."

"Gym Leader in need? I am not a Gym Leader."

"I know, that is why I am here for."

Misty's mouth fell open. Her sisters never mentioned Gary was there to visit, or that he was the actual auditor she was waiting for. "You are the Pokemon League Representative?!"

"In the flesh."

Misty took a step back and looked at Gary up and down. Since Ash had defeated Gary and Gary had left Pokemon training to become a researcher like his grandfather, they had stayed in close contact with the young Oak. They had gone out to eat when they were in Pallet Town, and had seen each other in Pokemon Tournaments and Trainers' get-togethers. He had never mentioned his new job as a League Representative. It was a great deal to be left untold. "Since when did you become part of the League?"

"A month after I lost touch with you and Ash before his party two days ago."

The last time he and Misty had crossed paths before getting together for Ash's party was when Ash had again attempted to win the Pokemon League to gain the chance to battle against the Elite Four a year ago. Unfortunately, Ash had gotten 6th place and was not considered to fight Lance and his gang. He had missed the opportunity by one place. "Perhaps he will do better this time that I am not there to distract him," Misty whispered.

"Excuse me?"

Misty shook her head. "Nothing. So, what do you have for me, Oak?"

"The key to keeping this deteriorated Gym for years to come."

Misty sighed. He was absolutely right. It was painful to see how her home –her world, was crumbling down, literally and figuratively. She had to fix that door, among other things, before she could even think about fixing up her life. Even though Ash and Gary had become friends again, and she and him had become good acquaintances, that was pretty much all she could expect to be with him; not that she wanted anything else with him or anything. She had not talked to him enough to consider him her friend, and now he had been sent to act as her _supervisor_. She was hoping she would walk this painful path alone, but she now had someone that knew her very little watching every move. "It's the curse of the shoes, isn't?"

"What?"

"Nothing. Where do we start, Mr. Oak?"

Gary smiled. "Please, call me Gary."

"_Gary_, where do we start?"

"First, we must close that door to the past, right there."

"Door to the past?" Misty asked, obviously confused by his choice of words. "Yeah, the past lives of god-knows-what lives inside that storage room! I am staying here for the next 6 months and don't want to sleep where new Pokemon are mutated."

"Wait, what? You are staying here?"

"That is my end of the bargain, yes."

"Bargain?"

"Indeed. How and why do you think you guys got a chance to keep your Gym?"

Misty was speechless. "The League did not want to deal with the bad reputation your easy badge was giving them, but I talked to Maya and she allowed the extension and probation to take place."

"Who is Maya?"

"Maya is the new appointed President of the Pokemon League."

"New? Appointed? What about Lance?"

Gary sighed. "Look, Misty, you make lots of questions to a guy who just got here five minutes ago. Let's get to work and I will answer those questions in time, ok?"

Misty apologized and nodded. Before she could react, she jumped towards Gary and gave him a big hug. It was Gary's time to blush. "Misty, you…are…hugging…me…"

She hugged him harder, mumbling on his shirt. "I know."

"W-why?"

Gary felt the warmth of her breath and arms around him. It was a nice feeling, especially coming from a girl who did not do this as often or just _because, _making him feel that whatever the reason was she was doing this to him, it was a genuine, if not honest, reason. "Misty?"

"Thank you, Gary. Thank you so very much."

Misty let go of Gary and looked up to him, her eyes filled with tears. Gary's face saddened at the scene. "Why are you crying?"

Misty held a sob and used the back of her hand to dry her tears. "It's a long story, Gary. But all you need to know is that this is the best thing that anyone has done for me in a very, very, very long time. This is my home. Thank you for saving it."

Gary smiled and nodded. "It's nothing. The only thing you need to do is be my slave for ten years." Gary joked and Misty bowed to him in a mocking matter. "As you wish, master."

Gary stuck out his chest, placed his hands on his waist and lifted her chin up into the air. "Misty, better yet, call me Master."

Misty rolled her eyes. "Where to Master?"

"Do you have an office around here? We need to talk about this place."

"We had one downstairs last time I was here. Follow me."

Misty carried her luggage and looked at the door in front of her. "Gary, can you close that door?"

Gary nodded and proceeded to do so. "Done! We will probably need a Gyrados to protect us when cleaning that room!"

Misty chuckled. "I don't have one, if you don't have one, we are out of luck."

"You will get one…soon."

"What?!"

"Nothing, let's get this started ok? We have much to do and six months is not enough time."

"Ok."

Gary followed Misty downstairs to the Waterflowers' office. She opened the door and dropped her luggage next to the door, then made her way to the desk. She sat on the back side of the desk while Gary sat on the front side of it, pulling out some papers from his backpack as he did. "Look, Misty, there are lots of things that need to get done, please don't shoot the messenger; my job is to enforce them as ridiculous as some may sound." Misty nodded and feared what he meant by the word _ridiculous_. She understood his fear of informing her, a person he knew, of what needed to be done in her own place. However, Misty was ready to take on anything he was about to ask for both of their sakes. Her sisters were counting on her to keep their home. He had his word on the line for her and her sisters. She was not going to let him down. "Alright."

Gary looked at the papers and sighed. The new President of the League was very strict and had wanted to close the Gym in Cerulean definitely. Gary had pulled some strings and had managed to make an arrangement with her that allowed Misty and her sisters to keep the Gym. Even when young, he knew the Gym was in violations of several League rules but he had kept quiet. It would have been a slap to the Waterflower sisters if he had not even attempted to help them out. _"I owe them that much, at least."_

Gary placed the papers in order and began skimming through it quickly, knowing exactly what to look for on it. "Ha! Found it!"

"Shoot me, Gary."

"Alright. First of all, it is obvious that the Gym is no condition to remain open to the public. The new regulations allow and force the Gyms to be closed for an entire week every year for maintenance. The Gym has to be closed this week for you to make the battle ground presentable and adequate for Pokemon battles."

"I can do that, yes."

"There is a catch, though."

"What is it?"

"Well, your Gym badge is very…uhm…you sisters were very…lenient when it came to giving badges. The new rules have changed the training process. Every Gym Leader in the world has been in the need to adjust their battling styles to a more difficult one, and to a style that resembles their element of choosing. In your case, you are a Water Pokemon Trainer, which means you must fight your battles…in water."

"We do! We have the pool for that reason!"

Gary shook his head. "No, Misty, IN water."

Misty furrowed showing her lack of understanding in his words. "What do you mean IN water?"

"Inside water, as in inside the pool."

"Do you mean we will have to guide our Pokemon while they are underwater?"

"No, the trainers have to be underwater with them."

"Oh."

Ridiculous, indeed.

"I must look stupid for pointing this out but, how are we to survive an entire battle underwater?"

"Maya was informed that when you performed in that show where you were a mermaid, you used some sort of devices that helped you breathe underwater. You are to provide sterilized underwater breathers for yourself and the trainers that challenge you."

"Ok, but, doesn't this limit the trainers to have water Pokemon?"

"Not necessarily, but it forces the trainers to have very strong water Pokemon, or teach a Pikachu to swim and hope for it to develop gills at some point in its life."

"Wow!"

"Yes, I know. Also, you have 3 months to repair the Gym: walls, floors, rooms, windows, doors, everything. Gyms now have a set schedule. You may be open from Monday to Friday from 8 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon, and your fights must be scheduled a week in advance. No person may battle you without an appointment. You are to close the Gym during the weekend, which means no more shows."

"My sisters won't like that."

"Your sisters don't have an option. You are also to have a wide variety of water Pokemon at your hands. You must have at least 25 different Pokemon and must include a Seadra, Starmie, Golduck, Gyrados, Seaking, Dewgong, Blastoise, Lapras and Cloyster. You must rotate your Pokemon and not use the same exact team for each battle."

"I don't have most of those Pokemon! I will have to capture them and intensely train them all!"

"I am afraid so. The worst hasn't been said yet, though."

"There is worse than that?"

"Usually, you must win 80-87 of your battles with first-time challengers to your Gym, 70 of second-time challengers, and 50 of your third-time challengers per year. However, since you are on probation, you must win 95 of your battles, regardless of their challenging status in the following six months. If you win less than that, your probation will be worth nothing and you will be shut down forever."

Misty covered her face with her hands and rubbed her head with her fingers. Gary knew how difficult this was going to be to her, and how much was at stake. She had worried her life would be boring and pointless when she was given the boot from Ash's team, and now she had preferred to be bored and depressed as opposed to having all these responsibilities on her shoulders.

"Misty, I am sorry about all this, but it has to be done."

"I know; I just wished I didn't have to do this alone."

Gary raised his arm and placed it on Misty's shoulder. She uncovered her face and looked at him pleadingly, asking for any good news that would set the rest of the bad news to shame. Gary smile sadly at the realization that he had nothing else to offer to her. "For what is worth, I will be here with you. You won't be alone."

"As my auditor."

"And as your friend. I might not know you as much as I know Ash, and we didn't exactly began our relationship with the right foot but I want to help you get over this. I owe it to this Gym, to your sisters, to Daisy."

Daisy?

Misty tilted her head at the sound of her sister's name coming from Gary. What connection could he have with Daisy? What could had Daisy possibly done that Gary Oak thought he had a favor to repay?

"I don't know why you do it, but thank you for this, all of it. At the moment, I have no one else."

Gary smiled. "I don't either. I guess it's just you and me, ain't it?"

Liar! He had Professor Oak, and his sister May.

"I guess so!" They both smiled.

"So, my suggestion is that we begin an estimate of what needs to be done first and when. This Gym needs to be reopened for business in 7 days."

"Let's go look at the battle ground then. I know that pool has to be fixed for sure if we are to have the battles in it."

"Yeah, and…forgot to tell you this but, you are allowed and it's encouraged to have an audience in the Gym when battles take place. You are to have a list of battles taking place on each week and update it weekly for people to know when and who you are battling. Apparently, having an audience brings more fame to the Gym and more people get encouraged to become trainers."

"Alright, so the place needs to be ready for trainers and an audience. Checked!"

"And a wall must be dedicated to trainers who have earned the badge beginning on next week."

"Hall of fame, checked!"

"And you must get up early and make your auditor breakfast everyday."

"And I must get up early every day to make…what?"

Gary chuckled. "Just kidding, Misty."

"I thought so."

"Only every other day or so."

"Gary!"

"Just kidding, Misty. Just kidding."

**MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

A penny for your thoughts! See you soon and thanks for reading, especially you skatoula for being my first review, and you and sportiegrl for adding the story to your favs. Thanks bunch!


	3. Handyman

**A/N: **There was an omission made by the document manager of FF on the part where Gary tells Misty she has to win 95 of her battles. All of the numbers in that paragraph should read PERCENT. Misty has to win 95 percent of her battles in six months. Apparently, all the percent signs were erased somewhere. I have corrected this, and apologize for the inconvenience and/or confusion.

**Summary of previous chapter:** Misty arrived home only to find the situation was worse than described. Gary, her auditor, tells her all the major changes she has to make for the probation to take place. Misty learns she has been given another chance to keep the Gym thanks to Gary's influence on the League. Gary mentions he owes it to Daisy, to which Misty pays not much heed. Gary tells Misty he will help her out on what she needs.

**Chapter 3 – Handyman**

The day was extremely bright, darn sunny and awfully hot in Cerulean City. The Cerulean Pokemon Gym had been closed for three days now, and the trainers who needed the Cascade Badge to continue their Pokemon journey were becoming _very_ impatient. Some of them had left to other cities to earn other badges and later return to Cerulean to _win_ the Cascade Badge. Many trainers were upset that they would have to wait two weeks to battle the Waterflower sister, especially when they believed they "would get the badge given to anyway," and they saw it as a complete waste of time. Most of them knew about the new battling regulations imposed by the League, but blamed the Cerulean Gym Leaders for the League having to create them. Maya, the mysterious new Pokemon League President and current Pokemon Master had begun her reign with a blast, raising the bar for all trainers and Gym Leaders around the world, and not allowing children under the age of fifteen to become trainers, crushing the dream of thousands of children who had signed up early to become trainers as soon as they turned 10 years of age. She had also raised the number of minimum badges required to enroll and attend the Pokemon Tournament in Indigo Plateau to sixteen. She was very quiet and spoke rarely, but her iron fist was felt by everyone in the League, even the Dragon Master had to answer to her as well as soon as she took over. Things had surely changed for everyone who was involved with Pokemon in any way, and Maya was just getting started.

Gary Oak had been in research for the longest time, and had helped Professor Oak in making new discoveries in the evolution department. The recent discoveries of what researchers called "pre-evolutions" had shocked the Pokemon world. Gary had been particularly interested in learning how these so-called _pre-evolutions_ had remained hidden for so many years until recently, and the reason why had these _old-new_ Pokemon had shown themselves to the world after all these years. Although he missed his training and long journey days, researching had quickly proven to be more rewarding than his former job. He and Ash had become some sort of unofficial research partners throughout the years. Whenever Ash found a new species of Pokemon, he would make sure Gary knew about it as well. However, the more he learned about Pokemon, the more he wanted to go back to the training world and apply what he had learned in all this theory.

He had strongly believed he was not meant to be a Pokemon trainer, but as soon as some unique piece of information made way to his research, he would bang himself on the head for switching careers. It was absolutely true that research had brought him closer to his family, particularly Professor Oak, and that it had earned him fame and credibility among other older researchers, but there was always a part of him that screamed to drop the test tubes and lab experiments and return to what he truly loved: training. The more he wished he could return to his journey, the harder he worked in his lab. Outsiders saw this behavior as pure and uncanny devotion, but he knew deep inside this was just an easy way to concentrate on other matters, and forget what he believed he had lost for the rest of his professional career: his trainer life. There were some sleepless and hurtful nights when Gary had tried to quit his research job for a while and go back to his training days, but whenever he had gathered the courage to do so something remarkable had occurred in the research area that he could not allow to pass by. He held on to his research as hard as he could but the more he learned, the more he became obsessed with the idea he had to go back. He had spent sleepless nights trying to devise a plan that would surely place him back in the good ol' training days, but nothing seemed to be plausible enough to him. Above everything else, Gary Oak's major concern was to find a way to not look like a quitter to the rest of the world. He wanted to leave the research field as a great scientist who had no other choice but to move on to better things. He waited, and waited. Days became weeks; weeks became months; and months became years. He prayed. He hoped. He _begged_. He reached official adulthood and began to lose all hope.

Yet, one day, when any traits of faith seemed to have vanished, his wish finally came true. It was not until that day he received a phone call that placed him in his current job that he saw a light at the end of long, pitch dark tunnel. He had been helping Professor Oak in his most current task of figuring out why were Kabutops and Omastar able to be water- and rock type Pokemon at the same time, giving them a resistance to water and a resistance to electricity as well, even though these types were complete opposites. More important as this task was, it belonged more to Professor Oak than to Gary, making him sit in the back for most of the time, boring himself to death. The phone had ringed several times that day, but locked up in the basement, neither of the Oaks had heard it. May had been out who-knew-where and who-knew-how-long, meaning there was no one close enough to the telephone to respond to the call until Gary decided it was long pass chow time.

He left the basement to the little notice of his grandfather and lazily dragged himself up the stairs to and around his home until he arrived to the kitchen. He opened the door to his fridge and moved things here and there, looking for something quick to eat. He could not find anything that would not require much effort to cook, so he opted to attack the pantry in search for noodle soup. He smiled when he found the can and in a matter of minutes he was stirring the warm soup with a spoon, licking his lips in craving. He took a quick second to search for a bowl and turned around to return to the stove when the phone rang in the Oak mansion for perhaps the millionth time that day_. "Gary Oak here, what do you want?"_

"_Oh my, how lucky I am to find you!"_

"_Who's this?"_

"_Forgive me for being so rude. I am current Pokemon Master and President of the Pokemon League, Maya Amherst."_

_Gary was speechless for a second or two._

"_May is that you? This isn't funny at all! I am in the middle of lunch –dinner time!"_

"_I am confused. I am not this May person; I am Maya, from Indigo Plateau."_

"_Are…you…sure?"_

"_Last time I checked, yes. We Pokemon Masters have very little sense of humor, Mr. Oak."_

_Gary winced._

"_I'm sorry, but it's not common for the current Pokemon Master to casually pick up the phone and call my house, asking for me nonetheless."_

_Maya chuckled._

"_I understand. However, this is not exactly a social call. I am calling you to offer you an opportunity to work for the League."_

"_Come again?"_

"_We are making major changes in the way things are done in the Pokemon League and the Association of Trainers and Gym Leaders. We need new blood in our team, and you have been recommended several times by many different people to join our new cause."_

"_But, I am not a trainer anymore; haven't been on the road for almost 7 years."_

"_We understand that, but you had the trainer expertise and now you possess research expertise as well. You are truly valuable asset to increase the credibility of our association."_

_Gary was speechless again. _

"_I…how…what kind of job would this be?"_

"_We require young people to become Pokemon League representatives in the Gyms. With so many changes being made with such short notice, we need trained representatives to assist and support the Gyms in their transition, as it will not be as easy of a task as they might think it will. We also require a loyal pair of eyes in each Gym, to assure the new regulations are enforced as trainers and Leaders become accustomed to them, and become part of their battling lives. As you can see, it is a very important task for the prosperity of our job, and for this reason this position is not open to the public. We reserve the right to invite who we believe can follow through with the job, and we are inviting you, Gary Oak."_

Gary had accepted right there and then, no more questions asked, knowing there was nothing he hated to lose if he even did. And even if at first he thought he had made the wrong decision, his current task was something he enjoyed. _"It only cost me a burnt soup,"_ he recalled as the memory of hanging up the phone and running back to the kitchen only to find the soup was not edible anymore returned to him. He chuckled. _"It was worth the starving that night."_ Back to reality, a year after his career change took place, he was wearing his favorite pair of torn jeans, along with a white undershirt and blue tennis shoes. His sleeves were rolled up to his shoulders and he was wearing a red apron and a dark brown tool belt underneath it. Growing up in a wealthy home, Gary never had to go around and play handyman, or ever fix anything in his home or his own life for that matter. He had been brought up with the idea that there was always someone else that could fix things for him; someone who could make his life easier; someone who would do anything and everything for him, without him having to move a finger. This time, he felt the need to be that someone to help someone in need.

Truth be told, he had not been highly acquainted with the former girlfriend of his childhood friend, but the few days he had spent living with her under the same roof had taught him she was not the annoying brat he thought her to be. He knew, in the back of his mind, that at some point she thought the same about him and he did not blame her for it. He had been spoiled as a child, and he had been spoiled until the day Ash Ketchum beat him in battle. He had not understood many of the things he had been missing out until he lost to his former rival and now best friend. When he realized that Ash and Misty had officially become a couple, he was taken aback a little because he did not believe they had liked each other at all that much. It was true that he had teased them several times, but he did it mostly out of spite that he did not have as close friends as Ash did when he traveled. Even though a car full of cheerleaders followed him everywhere he went, the feeling of loneliness sometimes caught up with him. Ash had only Brock and Misty while Gary had ten cheerleaders rooting for him, and deep inside Gary knew Ash would not trade his two friends for all the cheerleaders in the world.

So, here he was. Helping this girl he hardly knew and almost never talked to, and with which any connection that existed between them had been reduced to becoming his supervisor by mistake. _"Well, not by mistake but by choice," _Gary thought with a smile. Here he was, replacing broken windows around the Cerulean Pokemon Gym with no other help but the tools around his waist and the strength of his own bare hands while the Gym Leader painted the walls of her home a navy blue color. Misty had wanted to give the Gym a more serious tone and had decided to change the bright, chirpy, girly-looking colors of the Gym for more official-like, mature, serious darker blue tones. _"It reflects the water-type Pokemon Gym,"_ she had told Gary when she chose the colors at the store. He did not know what he had signed up for when he accepted this job but all of the paperwork, all the work orders, all the business-to-business issues, all the replacing, all the remodeling, all the changes, all the sweat, all the tears, and the whole 'bringing the gym back from the ashes' felt as rewarding –or perhaps even much more rewarding, as his research career had felt at the beginning of it all. He was taking part in the remaking of a lost job, a creation of a new dream, and the feeling of making such a positive impact in the future life of one sole person was overwhelming. He had provided more moral and physical support to Misty in just three days than he had provided _anything_ to _anyone_ in his entire life.

"_And it feels damn good."_

Gary carefully placed the last new glass, and perhaps the most important one, on its place. He had been replacing every window and glass door the Gym had with new, thicker and slightly tinted glass. He was now replacing the front doors' glass that had been especially made to have the Gym hours printed on them, as well as the name and type of Gym. The right door had the words: _"Cerulean City Pokemon Gymnasium"_ printed on white letters in a semicircle way. Right below the name of the gym, a huge replica of the Cascade badge was printed on it, this one with the original colors of the real badge on it. Right below the printing of the badge was a horizontal printed sentence that said: _"Official Kanto Pokemon League Water Gym." _ Misty was highly proud about that and she intended on keeping it that way. On the door of the left the new working hours of the gym were printed, encircled by a curved-corner rectangle. The announcement read:

"_We happily take challengers on the following days and times:_

_Monday to Friday  
8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  
1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.  
_

_Saturday and Sunday_

_Closed_

_Battles are by appointment only. Please call a week in advance to reserve."_

Misty could not begin taking any new appointments until Monday of next week, and trainers could not begin battling her until after the Monday after that. On the positive side, both Misty and Gary had worked extremely hard day-in and day-out to make all the necessary adjustments to the Gym before it opened for business next week. They hoped to finish up on Saturday to take care of minor details on Sunday, and begin scheduling battles and training Misty's Pokemon all next week. Both the Pokemon and Misty had to get used to the new battling requirements, and they had to inform the incoming trainers about the new battling regulations of the Gym as well. Misty had ordered brochures to hand out to the trainers as they signed up for battle that explained what was expected of them, and what they could expect from the Gym. She had also placed an urgent order on underwater breathing devices, and the equipment to sterilize them after each battle at the end of the day. She was not going to let a health issue close down her gym, and kick her out of her childhood home. She was taking every single precaution needed to not allow the League to push her out of her only home.

Both trainers had made arrangements to take care of the outside of the building first. They had hired people to repaint the entire outside structure of the gym, and had also replaced the sign that had had been, for almost twenty years, above the building's doors. Misty had been saddened to see the big Dewgong sign her parents had placed when she was only two years old been taken down and replaced with plain letters that said: _"Cerulean Pokemon Gym."_ Yet, she knew that times had changed, and that her parents were no longer around to see this. She only wished they were still alive to see the Gym being revamped like this._ "I could really use your help now." _ Misty thought as she saw the sign being taken down in parts and driven away back to the Pokemon League in Indigo Plateau. Needless to say, the outside changes made to the Gym attracted people and made them wonder about the changes going on inside. The gym's temporal closure had been announced in the news, so it was no surprise that people had become aware of the gym's remodeling in no time. Misty had to ask Cerulean's police to keep an eye on the gym while they worked to prevent an overly curious civilian to become injured by the construction while trying to take a peek of the new inside looks of the gym. A part of her believed the League was out to get her, and they would take away her permit for the slightest mishap. She knew she was just being paranoid with the tons of paperwork she had to deal with, but that feeling of _betrayal_ from the League creep up to her once in a while.

_"If Ash betrayed me, there is no one else I can really trust now, can I?"_ Misty asked herself as she poured a last cube of ice in the lemonade she had just made. She picked up the plastic pitcher and a pair of plastic glasses from the table as she walked out from the kitchen and began walking towards the glass door that divided the Gym side of the building from the home side of it. "I can only trust myself," she whispered. _"What about Gary?" _The little voice in her head asked. Misty stopped on her tracks, inches before reaching the door's handle. Gary was just outside. She could see him from where she was standing, but the tinted glass would not allow him to see her there. Misty furrowed at remembering the last thought.

_"What about him?"_ She replied.

_"Look at the guy, on his knees, putting the finishing touches to the door of your Gym. YOUR gym, not his, yours! He has done nothing but help you since he got here, and you know more than anyone that without his help, you would still be swamped in confusing paperwork back at your office…or worse."_

Misty could not help to eye Gary with a condescending look. He was down on all fours, trying to perfectly align the bottom door stop to the actual door. He was dripping in sweat, his jeans and shirt dirty and almost transparent from the constant work of his pores. He pulled whatever fabric he could from his shirt and tried to dry his face, but there was not much of his shirt that was not dirty already. Misty saw his frustration and without thinking grabbed a towel before pushing the door and walking his way. The piston Gary had installed on the door was working perfectly as the door slowly and almost quietly returned to its original position, allowing Misty to continue to be unnoticed by the boy. Gary sat on the floor, taking a deep breath to vent his annoyance with the pity task he was performing and how poorly he was performing it. He stretched his right leg and bent the other one to rest his left arm on it while he held his weight with his right hand slightly behind him. He held the door stopper in his hand and studied it carefully. "You stupid piece of crap."

Misty stood a few feet behind him. She was holding the pitcher on one hand, and the glasses and towel on the other. From where she stood, Gary's muscles seem more pronounced, and his back seemed larger than she had felt when she hugged him several days ago. She had seen a pose like that before on someone else; someone she missed almost _too_ much. For a few seconds, Misty saw Ash instead of Gary in front of her, wishing he was the one supporting her through this entire voyage, but she quickly realized it was not Ash but Gary who had chosen to stay behind and help her. _"Did he really choose to stay behind? Or was he left behind like I was?"_

_"Does it really matter? He is here, and he is real." _The voice said.

_"This is…his job." _Misty argued.

_"Are you sure this is all it is to him?" _The voiced asked.

_"He owes something to Daisy. He is doing this to clear his conscious."_ Misty said, not very convinced about the statement herself.

_"Is he?" _The voice asked.

_"I hope not."_

While Misty was arguing against her inner voice, Gary sighed deeply to the sight of the door stopper still in his hand and not attached to the wall as it is supposed to be. He ran his fingers through his hair in desperation, and looked outside to see the sun disappearing in the horizon. _"Is all this trouble really worth it for a badge?"_

_"Are you really doing it for a badge?" The voice inside his mind asked._

_"What else could I be doing it for?" Gary replied._

_"You are more selfless than you thought yourself to be." The voice stated._

_"It's my job. I owe it to her."_

_"All this trouble, just for a badge?" The voice insisted._

_"I hope not."_

Misty realized she had been standing there for a few minutes without saying anything and began to felt awkward thanks to the voice inside her head. She shook her mind of any thought that had made way to her head in the last five minutes and decided to clear her throat to gain Gary's attention. He quickly turned around and saw her give him a big smile. She was wearing blue jean shorts, a stripped pink blouse, white and pink tennis shoes, and her hair was held in a ponytail. She liked the way her hair looked long, but all this working had made her regret having long hair. She had let her hair grow for many years, and a week of hair on her face when she really did not need it was not going to be the cause for her making the mistake on cutting it short again. Gary returned the smile.

"I see you were having a deep conversation with that door stopper. I hope I am not interrupting anything important." Misty teased.

"I was just telling her it is not meant to be. She is a door stopper, I am a playboy. It would have never worked out."

"Is that your night job, a playboy?"

"Please don't tell anyone!"

Misty giggled. "I thought you might be thirsty. Want some lemonade?"

Gary's eyes sparkled and his lips turned up in a big smile. He had to admit that as a researcher he had become slightly addicted to coffee and its wondrous keeping-one-awake effects, but at this moment the least he needed was something hot traveling down his throat. "Lemonade sounds great!"

Misty sat behind him and he turned around to face her. She placed the pitcher on the floor, as well as the glasses and began pouring the yellow drink in them. Gary looked at his hands and saw how dirty they were, and began looking around for something to clean them up. Misty saw this from the corner of her eye and remembered she had brought a towel for him. She handed him the towel and he gratefully accepted it, cleaning his face first and then patting sweat from his neck and hands. "You think of everything, don't you?"

"I have a gift, some might say," Misty said as she handed him the glass with lemonade. Gary held it and took a big drink out of it before speaking again. "Does that gift include knowing how to put a door stopper on a wall?"

Misty could not help to laugh but then felt bad about it all. She took a sip of her lemonade and then held the glass with both her hands resting on her lap. "Gary, I am so sorry you have to deal with this, if only the League would let us hire people to do this for me I wouldn't have to share the annoying responsibility with you. If I knew you would get in trouble for me hiring those people to paint the outside walls I would have not done it."

As soon as the job outside was done, the League called Gary and reprimand him from allowing Misty to use other people to help her do her job. The League believed that if the Gym Leader himself went through all the trouble of maintaining his Gym, he would appreciate it more and take ownership of his job. Gary had told them he had forgotten about this rule, and he truly had forgotten about it. The League had told him that they would overlook it this time around, but that any other mistake on either his or her part would cost them the opportunity he had worked so hard to get for her. _"Part of the reason the Waterflower leaders failed to comply with the rules of the League was that they did not take care of their Gym on their own. They did not work hard for what they had and therefore did not take any pride in what they did."_ Maya had told Gary over the phone. _"You know that first hand, Mr. Oak."_

Gary took another sip of his lemonade, forgetting about the memory that had been brought back to his mind, and looked outside to see the sun was finally gone. "This Cerulean summer is horrible, you know? Back in Pallet Town we don't have summers like these. It's hot as hell out there."

Misty frowned. "Gary, I am trying to apologize for what is happening, you almost lost our job. You should not be suffering with all this handyman work for no one."

"We should really close those metal panels now. People will try and see what we are doing in here. This is a work in progress and no outsider should take a sneak peek."

"Gary…please,"

Gary reached up and pressed the password on the keypad attached to the wall. The combination activated the automatic metal door and began a downward motion until the front doors and big windows around the gym were covered by them. A loud thud around the place announced that the gym was secured and protected by the metal coverings. Gary had suggested installing metal doors to cover the Gym at night to prevent people from breaking the newly installed glass walls, doors and windows. The idea had expanded to install security around the building and around the outside perimeter of the gym. A robotic female voice in the intercom said: "Building is secure. Have a great night, young, hot Mr. Oak." Gary looked back at Misty with a smile on his face. "Works like a charm, eh?" Misty just eyed him, sadness still lurking in her eyes. "Ok, I promise I will change that before I leave. It's just to boost my ego a little bit." She nodded and stood, up, leaving the pitcher and glasses on the floor. "I will leave them here in case you get thirsty. I am going to finish painting the training room and I will be done for the night."

She turned around and began walking until Gary's hand on her arm stopped her. "Misty, please wait." Misty looked at his hand and slowly turned around to face him. He did not say anything right away but kept staring deeply into her eyes. Misty realized she was doing the same thing to him and immediately broke eye contact with him. She looked away and asked Gary what he needed from her. "Misty, I am sorry, ok. I didn't mean to be rude just now and ignore your concern. I just think it's stupid to think about things you can't change. I didn't get fired, and you still have your gym, that is all that matters, isn't it?"

"Yes, but…"

"No buts, I don't mind doing all of this, really. It's actually kinda fun. I feel useful 'round here."

"I will repay you, somehow. I promise I will repay you for all of your help."

"Puh-lease! I don't need anything in return! It's my job, ok? Don't feel bad about me doing my job."

"You are my auditor, not my slave."

"But I am also your friend. Or so I will tell the League when they find out I have been helping you out."

"What?! Is that against the rules too?"

Gary chuckled. "Chill out, red. I am just kidding."

"Gary, if helping me is against the rules you better tell me right now!"

Gary lifted his arms in an innocent stance. "It's not! It's not! I swear!"

Misty sighed. "Alright. I am almost done with all the painting. I'll finish that up, take a shower and prepare us some dinner. Is that ok with you?"

Gary smiled and nodded. "Dinner sounds perfect. I'll install this door stopper and take a shower as well. I'll meet you in the kitchen should you need me, ok?"

"Ok. See you in a few."

Gary smiled and stared at her, waiting for her to move but she just stood there, looking at him with a wide smile. "Misty, is everything ok?"

"Yes, but I need both of my hands to paint."

Gary looked down and realized he was holding both of Misty's hands in his. He let go of them and turned around, robotically picking up the door stopper and getting to work. _"When did I grab them in the first place?"_

Misty smiled at his action and reaction and then turned around to make her way to the training room to finish her job. Tomorrow they would pick up on different tasks than today; tasks that required less tedious jobs. The gym was done from the outside. The walls inside were almost a 100 percent completely repainted. All the glass doors and windows were replaced. The carpets had been replaced as well, and the home part of the gym was remodeled and sparkling clean. The tasks for the next three days were mostly decorating and making adjustments to the battling arena, setting up the electronic appointments system, ordering more official badges, setting up the winners' wall, installing the machines in the training room, and finally releasing the Pokemon into their new water tanks. They planned to leave Friday and Saturday to prepare, complete and send any paperwork required for the Gym to be ready to open starting on Monday, and use Sunday to rest, if possible.

Misty arrived to the training room and sighed knowing she still had half a wall to paint. She hurried up and in about half an hour finished painting the remaining of the wall. She picked up after herself, turned off the light of the training room, and closed the door. She then took a shower and struggled to scrape all the paint off her skin and hair before drying up herself and jumping into her pajamas. She held a towel in her hands and begun drying her hair in front of her bathroom mirror. She stared at herself and wondered what was so wrong with her to make Ash want to leave her at all. It was true she was not very pretty, at least not compared to her sisters, but she knew she was not ugly either. She was smart and caring about everyone, including her Pokemon, and she always looked up for everyone she cared about. _"Why did he leave me? Why wasn't I good enough for him?"_

The more she looked at herself, the more she realized how tired she looked. She had been working day and night for the past three days. This was the first night where she could say she was able to go to bed as early as ten at night. _"I wonder if Ash had stayed with me through all of this." _She knew that the old Ash would have stayed with her for the next six months without even thinking about it and without any regrets but the old Ash was long gone. He had gotten lost in the transition to adulthood and the new Ash would have not dared to even consider leaving his Pokemon training for a day for anyone on this Earth. _"Why didn't you stay with me, Ash? I need you so much right now."_

Then it dawned on her. She gasped and let go of her towel when she realized a very important piece of information she had been ignoring all along. Had her sisters not said they told Ash about this? How much did he know about it when he dumped her? Was he told she had to take over the Gym for them? Was he told if she did not take over it, her sisters would lose it? Or was he simply told to tell her to call them back? How much of the current situation did he really know? _"Did he know I would have to choose between him and the gym? Did he make that decision for me? Does he still love me?"_

Misty felt hope coming back to her heart at the realization of the fact Ash could have planned their breakup for her own good. She wanted to believe he would come back at the end of this hell she was living, and that he would come back as the Ash she met and fell in love with. _"Will he come back for me? Will he take me back with him?"_ Misty felt tears forming in her eyes at remembering all the bad things she said and thought about him. _"He was protecting me, this has to be it! He still loves me, he must still love me!" _Misty took deep breaths to calm down and dried whatever tears were left on her face with a towel. She could not let Gary see her like this. He would surely worry about her._ "Gary doesn't need more worries than the worry of losing his job over me. Just like Ash didn't need the burden of me losing my home over him."_

Misty cleared her throat and smiled at the striking possibility that this was all an act from Ash. In her heart she believed this was just another obstacle in their life, and that as soon as those six months were over, he would walk right in, and that she would leave with him. "Gary and he are friends! He must know about this! This was why he came here! To help me through with it!" She told herself. _"Gary is an angel. I will owe this to him for the rest of my life."_ Misty finally composed herself after having such encouraging thoughts in her mind and gave herself one final look in the mirror before heading downstairs to make dinner. She was wearing purple pajama pants, and a lighter purple shirt. Her hair was down and still damp when she arrived to the kitchen only to find dinner was ready and served.

"I hope you like Chinese," Gary said while handing a bowl of soup to her. He was also in his night outfit that consisted of plain blue pajama pants, and a clean white shirt. "I do; thanks! You didn't have to do this."

Gary scratched his nose. "I know, but I guessed you were as tired as I am, and didn't think it was fair for you to work some more and make dinner for the both of us."

Misty smelled the soup in her hands and it smelled delicious. She took a sip of it and then sat down on the table where Gary was already down to business with his food. "This is so tasty, Gary! Thank you so much!"

Gary gave her a thumbs-up as his mouth was filled with food. Seeing Gary eating like that reminded her of Ash and their traveling together. She sure missed Brock's cooking as well. They both ate in silence until they were stuffed. Gary rested his back on the chair and stretched his leg under the table. Misty took a last bite of her food and took a deep breath. "I am exhausted," she said while resting her chin over her folder arms on the table.

Gary sighed as well and rested his head on his left hand. "Tell me about it! This has to be the best workout I have ever had. I don't think walking everywhere while I was trainer compares to this."

"I know! Speaking of which, if I may ask, why did you quit research? I thought you liked it too much?"

Gary smirked. "I thought I did too. But then again, who would pass out an opportunity to work for the Pokemon League. I feel like some sort of ambassador for them."

"I would pass out on working for the League any day."

"Sure, you've been working for the League since you were born!"

"I was not! My parents did."

"And then you became the leader of this gym."

"Not by choice, mind you."

Gary raised an eyebrow. "Really? So you are saying that you would pass out on being the best water Pokemon gym leader? The efforts I have seen you put into this project doesn't quiet add up to that story of yours."

Misty placed her cheek on the table to avoid his I-got-you look. "There are some things you think you really want in life. You work hard to get them and then something else comes along; something unexpected that ends up being better than what you thought you truly wanted. You don't realize when, but while you were working hard on achieving your first goal…you…you fall in love with something you didn't know it even existed at all."

"…or something you didn't know you wanted all along." Gary added.

Misty nodded, still on the table. "Then you know what I am talking about when I say I pass on staying as the leader of this gym for the rest of my life."

"And then you also understand why I am not in research anymore."

Misty didn't say anything back and Gary remained quiet as well for a while. It was amusing to him how the both of them, having very different lives, had wound up working together to achieve a common goal neither of them had ever thought they would have to achieve. Both of them had ended up here without even realizing, and without having a true saying in the matter. She had ended up here to help save whatever was left of her family, and he had been sent here to make sure it was done. As much as either of them wanted to deny it, their lives were very similar in eerie ways, and it was bound to happen for their lives to collide the way they did.

"Look Misty. I know we are not the best of friends but you are not as evil as I thought you were. Whenever I saw you, you were screaming at Ash and I always wondered why he ever loved you like he did. After you guys got together, he would tell me wonders about you, but to be honest I thought love had blinded him to the point of no return."

Misty did not reply.

"What I am trying to say is that I am sorry I ever thought or felt bitter of you. If we are going to be working together as we are, you need to know that I will leave all those negative thoughts behind and help you as much as I can. As I said, I am here as a friend, and I hope you see me as your friend as well."

He stayed quiet for a minute, waiting for her to say anything at all. Five minutes passed and he began feeling regretful of what he had said. _"Maybe the thought of Ash not being here made her feel uncomfortable? Shit, I blew it already!"_

"Misty?"

No respond.

He slowly stood up from the chair and went around searching for her face only to realize she was asleep. Gary smacked his forehead and sighed. "Jeez, you could at least told me you were gonna pass out on me, red."

Gary squatted in front of her and smiled. Her hair was partially covering her face, and her lips were slightly parted. He extended his arms and reached out for her, slowly and carefully picked her up from the chair and carried her in his arms. "You'll be sore tomorrow if I don't get ya to bed." He turned around and went up the stairs and down the hall until he arrived to her room. He opened the door and turned on the light before walking to her bed and laying her down on it. He grabbed the blanket that rested at her feet and covered her up to her stomach with it. "Good night, Misty."

He walked back and after turning off the light, he closed the door and made his way to his room. He lay on his bed and thought about the girl he had just carried to her bed a few minutes ago. The girl that he would be calling his friend soon.

The girl he will live with for six months.

The girl who he will watch out for, for the rest of his life.

The girl that was wishing him a good night sleep from underneath her covers in the confines of her heart.

**MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

**A/N: **Sorry for the 3 week delay but here it is! Thank you the 497 people that have clicked to read this story so far. Thank you skatoula, egoluv4ever, patrickdron, hart, and Cat-Archer for reviewing! Also, thank you Darkurai for adding this story to your favorites as well as Cat-Archer, egoluv4ever, and patrickdron. I promise to you Cat-Archer, and to all of my readers, to make this story as interesting and original as I can. It's a difficult task seeing the amount of Pokemon fictions out there, but I will try my very best. Until we see each other again, buh-bye!


	4. Guardian

**Summary of previous chapter:** Gary and Misty are working really hard in the repairing of the Gym. After a long painting and glass installing session on Misty and Gary's part respectively; they take a break on which Misty makes lemonade and takes the opportunity to apologize for whatever troubles Gary is going through. Gary does not want to talk about the matter as he is afraid it would lead to a conversation of why is he truly there. Eventually, Misty gives up on attempting talking about the matter and Gary decides to tell her it is no problem for him and that he is just doing his job and is happy to do it as well. After the day is over, Misty thinks about Ash and wonders if he knew about what she had to do for the gym and if this is the reason why he broke up with her. Misty goes to sleep with renewed hope that Ash still loves her and is only trying to help her with her current situation from afar.

**Chapter 4 – Guardian**

Gary intensively stared at the white walls of the waiting room of Cerulean's hospital; his heart clenched in despair at the thought of why he was here in the first place. He had been looking to these bitter walls for more than he could bear, and so far there had been no news of the person he had brought to this restless, sterilized-smelling, cursed place several hours ago. He had to confess that since he was very young, he had developed loathe and some sort of phobia for hospitals. In his eyes, doctors and nurses were as useful as an eye under your foot, and they spent countless years studying for something they could never truly achieve: understanding and saving the human body from certain death. He knew, deep inside, that the main reason why he despised hospitals and everything in them was because none of the individuals in the hospital he was taken to when the Oak family had that car accident, a long time ago, were able to save his parents from Death's grip. Even at the tender age of four, he clearly remembered the feeling of wanting to be _him _who was as wounded as his parents had been. That faithful day he sturdily believed he would have taken the hits better than them as he was younger and stronger than his parents were. As absurd as this thought was for him now that he was much older, in the back of his mind he still believed it to be true.

Here he was again, years later, waiting and not being able to do anything about the current situation but to remember how he had lost his parents, and how he could have prevented this particular visit to Cerulean's hospital had he been more cautious about what he had done. Gary violently rubbed his face with his open hands, trying to erase the thoughts of death that clouded his distressed mind. He knew the injuries were not as serious as a car accident would have been, but he could not help to fear for her current condition or any future long term effects of the fall. How could he have been so careless? How could he have let her out of his sight for so long? Even though he had been on a business-related situation, taking a phone call from Maya as she wanted to know about the progress of the gym's repairing, he now believed he could have answered the call around Misty's presence. It was his trepidation and own personal shame that forced him to pick up the cellular phone as far away as he could from her. Misty believed it had been only a business issue, but he and Maya knew very well this was far from the true reasons why Gary had not wanted Misty to listen to their conversation. _"She can never learn the truth. She will hate me for it. I know she will."_

Taking hatred for him from her was something he could not afford.

But now, as Gary paced the hospital waiting room back and forth, he thought that he would have taken Misty's resentment any day above her lying on a lonely hospital bed at the moment. He would sporadically stop only to peek outside and see if any of the nurses would come in and tell him how Misty was doing, but he would soon resume his nervous pacing again. Even though the doctors had assured him she was fine and that they just needed to wait for the x-ray's to confirm this, Gary was annoyed by the fact that they would not let him see her.

"_If she is fine, they should let me in to be with her!"_

Gary sat on one chair and then another, and then another, and then one more as none of the chairs in the waiting room seemed to be comfortable enough for him to sit still for more than five seconds. Not only was he losing his temper and patience, but the feeling of remorse was eating him inside by the second. _"I should have carried those boxes! It should have been me, not her!"_

Last night after he had made sure Misty was sound asleep on her comfortable bed, he had gone to his room and had passed out as quickly as she had as well. He had been woken up by the smell of breakfast ready, and by Misty knocking on his door to corroborate his suspicions that it was time for his day to begin. Today's tasks included cleaning that room that had the broken door he closed the first day he arrived to the gym, and find out what was really living inside it; as well as planning and ordering the necessary equipment for the establishment of grandstands and adjustments of the battle arena for the presence of an audience. Just the thought of having an audience made Misty's stomach tighten as she was not very comfortable around vast crowds. Gary had assured her the audience would not suddenly appear out of nowhere and that it would gradually increase, so she would not have to worry about having 200 people inside the Gym on the very first day, staring at her and making bets of how many badges she was going to give away this time around. "These trainers have to learn to respect the Gym and its Leader. You were not the one who gave away those badges, so you should not carry the burden of the mistakes your sisters made."

Even though Gary had told her to be careful with the contents of the room, he had heard her scream several times, scaring the living heck out of him. Every time he would run to the stairs, fearing to see her hurt or severely injured at the bottom of the stairs, but only found her jumping around like a scared Butterfree around a hungry Ekans. "Misty, what was it this time? You need to stop screaming like that! You are worrying me for nothing!" Gary had said with a hint of reprimand in his tone of voice. Misty had easily picked it up and apologized to him, but the truth was that something had been moving in that room and she was afraid of whatever it could be. She knew her sisters were not the most organized women in the world, and that if something had gotten in that room they surely just closed the door and let it grow and perhaps even reproduce inside it. Besides, the room had smelled pretty bad and she feared some really dead animal was lying around somewhere inside. _"Ugh, I hate them so much right now!"_

Misty had walked inside the room and kicked each box before she attempted to lift it up. A box in particular had 'kicked back' to her so she had decided to leave it there where it was until Gary came around to help her after his call was over. Gary himself thought Maya's call would not take as long as it did, but before he realized it he had been on the phone for two hours. With this time in her hands, Misty had finally finished cleaning up the room and the only thing that was the left to do was taking out the box that moved around. She had found boxes of unused badges, and that made her happy because she did not have to order more from the League. She also found boxes of scrapbook materials she could use to decorate the winner's wall of fame of the gym. She knew her sisters would hate the gym when they returned because it was turning out to be more like a serious, tough guy gym style than a girly girl gym style. It was definitely not her fault she had been raised as a tomboy. "If they had let me play with her dolls when I was three, I would have turned out differently. It's their damn fault."

Misty had been waiting on Gary for about half an hour, and the more time passed the more regret she felt of waiting for him for just one box. It was true that Gary had told her he would help her clean the room, but it was not his fault he got called by his boss when he did. She did not want to risk Gary's job again, and she surely did not feel like she could ask him to finish the job they had started. It occurred to her that as soon as Gary left the gym for good in a few months, she would be on her own again, and she could not afford to become dependent on his help or she would surely fail to keep the gym. Besides, the poor guy had been nothing but a kind gentleman since he had arrived, and doing something for him this time around would ease the job for him.

_"I can do this, I am a big girl,"_ She had told herself as she stomped the floor as a sign of determination and had walked to the _living_ box, slowly grabbing it from underneath. She held it firmly from the sides but did not move it at first. She knew for a fact that it was not very heavy, but the idea of a bug jumping out of the box as soon as she attempted to pick it up would surely scar her for life"I can do this, just be quick like a Meowth," Misty thought. "Ok, maybe not Team Rocket's Meowth but quick, nonetheless!" Misty slowly and shaking picked up the box and it did not move. The more steps she took toward the door the more she had convinced herself it had all been a fidget of her overactive imagination. The closer she got to the door and to the stairs made her feel more confident and proud of her work. She had reached the top of the stairs and she stopped to watch her step. She knew the weight of the box was not an issue but the width had made it difficult to see her next step. She had decided to take the easy approach and take one step at a time. Gary now knew she should have taken the _selfish_ approach and should have waited for him to pick it up for her.

Gary turned around to see Misty carrying a box in her hands with a big, bright smile on her face. Gary smiled at the scene and kept trying to pay attention to his conversation with Maya but he could not help to get distracted by Misty's determination to clean up the place. He had looked at her every now and then, and she seemed to be fine as she had reached the middle of the stairwell. He had kept a close eye on her and had watched her climb all the way down if it had not been for a question that Maya had posed that had caught his full and immediate attention: "Has she found out about the badge issue?"

Gary despised talking about this issue. If he had known that working for the League would have meant for his dirty little secret to be in the risk of coming out from the darkness, he would have never picked up his damned phone in Pallet Town. "Obviously not, Ms. Amherst."

"I am happy for you, Mr. Oak. Your reputation is at stake, you are aware of this, yes?"

"Every single passing day."

This was the last coherent statement Gary told Maya as he cut off the conversation when he heard Misty's cry for help. He looked up and saw her trying to keep the box from moving, but somehow the box shook around violently. Misty tried keeping the box in place and maintaining balance at the same time but her attempts were in vain. Gary's eyes opened widely as he saw a gold Magikarp jump out of the box, and then seeing the box fall to Misty's feet. _"That is a shiny Pokemon!"_

His excitement of witnessing a shiny Magikarp instantaneously disappeared when he observed the quick but painful scene developing in front of him. He saw the Pokemon jump out of the box and toward Misty, obviously scared and confused, and in her attempt to avoid being hit she lost her balance and tripped over the box. Gary dropped his phone as he saw Misty unavoidably rolling down the stairs until she stopped at the bottom of the stairwell. He could not believe his eyes. One moment she was smiling while coming down the stairs, and the next second she was lying on the floor with an empty box on top. Gary opened the glass door and ran as fast as he could to her, skidding on his knees as he reached her, stopping right next to her. "Misty, are you ok?"

Misty did not reply and the Magikarp stopped flapping behind him when the box covered him up again as Gary removed it from Misty's motionless body. Gary eyed her from head to toes as he tried to see if she was bleeding anywhere, or if any major injury could be seen. He had tried to touch her neck to see if she still had a pulse but his hands had stopped even before getting near her as he had been afraid of injuring her any further. "God, Misty, this is no funny! Please, say something to me! Anything!" Gary pleaded to her, but Misty did not move one inch or made any sound in response. Gary heart was racing and his body trembled at the thought of realizing he had could have just seen the death of his newly found friend.

"Misty, I beg of you…talk to me!"

But Misty did not move. Gary felt his heart beating too fast for its own good. He stood up and ran back to the room he had been in before. He picked up his phone and found that Maya was still on the other line. "Ms Amherst, I need to go now. There has been an emergency with Misty. I will call you back as soon as I can, ok? Bye."

"Mr. Oak? What are you talking–"

It was too late. Gary had hung up their call before she had the time to finish her question. She had tried calling back but the phone only gave her a busy signal. He had just hung up on the President of the Pokemon League but he did not care one bit. Misty's well-being was his major concern at the moment. He clumsily ran back to Misty at the same time he dialed the emergency phone number. He returned to his position on the floor, hoping and praying that she was alright and had just hit her head a little bit too hard to wake up soon. The phone shook in his hand and his breathing became labored. Finally, someone had answered the phone on the other end. "Cerulean's emergency response unit, please state your name, location and reason for calling."

"My name is Gary, Gary Oak. I am in the Pokemon gym. Please, you have to help me. The Gym leader just fell down the stairs. She…she is not responding. I don't want to move her…please…send someone here fast!"

"Please stay on the line with me. I have dispatched an ambulance to your location as we speak."

Gary stayed on the line with the lady, explaining the details of the accident. The lady on the other end of the line had tried to calm down the shaken boy by asking him how he was doing, and how his research had gone by. Even at his young age, his name was famous and many people knew about his research. Gary, however, did not care about talking about his personal life.

"Is she going to be ok?"

"We cannot assure that at the moment, Mr. Oak. But it is great that you called so fast. The faster we get to Miss Waterflower, the sooner we can do something to help her out."

"Is there anything I can do for her?"

"Just be patient and wait for EMS to arrive."

That was the last thing Gary clearly remembered about the accident. After that the EMS had gone inside the gym and had taken her away. He had followed after them and had gotten in the ambulance with her. His head spun around and he was having trouble keeping his balance. He felt like he was going to throw up. The paramedics keep talking to each other with terms Gary did not understand but he was too shocked to even ask for a translation of what they said. He just wanted for any of them to say she was fine and that she would wake up any moment now. _"She is gonna be fine, she is gonna be fine."_

Fast forwarding to the present time, Gary realized he had finally sat down after all these hours standing and walking around. The memories of earlier today had allowed him to rest his tired feet that had been holding him up all day. He sighed deeply and rested his hung head in his hands. He looked down at his feet and realized he was not wearing any shoes. He had been so concentrated on getting help for Misty he had forgotten to put any shoes on. He was surprised he was allowed in the hospital like this. As he eyed his dirty feet, he saw a new pair of shoes appear right in front of his bare feet. The shoes were white and ugly but he his eyes followed them up until he was sitting completely straight on the chair. He looked an older lady who was dressed all in white with a sad look upon her face. "I am sorry we have kept you waiting, but I don't have great news about your girlfriend."

_"Girlfriend?"_ He thought but quickly dismissed the idea from his head. "What do you mean?"

The nurse placed a comforting hand on Gary's shoulder and pressed firmly but not with enough strength to hurt him. "She didn't make it. We tried what we could but she didn't make it. I am so sorry."

"W-what?"

Gary was a loss for words. His headache became more pronounced and the nurse's words kept echoing in his mind. He slipped from his chair and got down on his knees, his sight getting lost in space. _"She…she is gone…Misty…how am I going to explain this to Ash? To your sisters? To the League?"_

Gary was down on all fours while the nurse patted his back, not knowing what else to do to calm down the boy. He began shaking and sobbing uncontrollably, hitting the floor with his closed fist. "No! There must be a mistake! This cannot be real! She has to be alright…she…has to be…oh God." Gary closed his eyes when he felt hot tears running down his cheeks. He could not begin to understand how all this had happened, so suddenly and out of nowhere. All for that call, that stupid phone call! He had been sent to help her, to protect her, and he had failed miserably. He could have done much better than that but he did not. He had failed her. He had failed Ash. He had failed himself. _"Please don't leave me, Misty."_

"I am so sorry Mr. Dane. We tried, we really did, but her internal bleeding was too fast for us to control."

"The fall could have not been so hard…you didn't try enough! You didn't try to…" Gary stopped. He looked up at the nurse and then looked around the room. There was no one else but him and the lady in front of him. He stood up. "Who is Mr. Dane?"

The nurse was taken aback.

"Aren't you William Dane?"

"No. I am Gary Oak. I brought Misty Waterflower from the Cerulean Pokemon Gym. She fell from the stairs."

The nurse opened her mouth to say something but no sound came out. Gary felt hope and relief returning to him. He saw the nurse bow to him and apologize for the mistake. Gary nodded and sat down. He could still feel his heart jumping up and down, and the tears would not stop coming. He had been given the scare of his life. "Your friend, Miss Waterflower, is perfectly fine. You may see her now. She has been asking for you for the past hour. I am sorry, I got confused."

_"Damned stupid, useless nurses."_

Gary nodded again and asked the nurse where Misty was. "Room 550. Take the stairs to the fifth floor and turn to your right."

"Thanks."

Never in all his life had Gary been so glad to no have the last name Dane. As Gary got inside the elevator, he heard the distant cry of a man he believed to be William Dane getting the news he had just mistakenly gotten. "I feel for you, man. I really do."

The elevator doors closed.

Gary eyed the elevator's screen as it slowly took him to the fifth floor. The elevator arrived to its destination with a loud message that said: "Fifth floor, going up," and Gary was quick to exit. He turned to his right as instructed and began walking down a long, lonely white hall. He eyed the labels on the doors looking for the room number he had been given. Some of the doors were open and he could not help to take a look inside. He saw either empty beds, little kids on beds, old people on beds, or a doctor giving family bad news as they clung to what he believed to be the lifeless body of their loved one. _"I really, really, really hate hospitals."_

After several doors and much walking, he finally arrived to the door labeled with the number 550. He saw the door was closed and hoped Misty had not gotten tired of waiting for him and had fallen asleep again. He felt the urge to see her and listen to her voice. He would not feel sure that she was fine until he saw her look at him and heard her talk. He softly knocked on the door only to see it was unlocked and open. He pushed the door inside and saw her, lying on her side, facing the window on the back of the room. Gary skimmed though the room and saw how clean and neat it was. Misty's bed was the only one in there, and the room looked different than the others he had seen. The curtains looked more expensive than the ones he had seen downstairs, and the walls had a little bit of a brighter color on them. There also was some sort of vanity stand and a wooden chair in front of it. A white door stood up in the left corner of the room, and he thought to be a restroom or a complete bathroom perhaps. To him, this room seemed like the suite of a hotel with a hospital look. "Misty, are you awake?"

Misty slowly turned around and faced him. He shyly looked at her, wondering if his eyes were still red and puffy from the sudden outburst he have had minutes ago. He pushed the door close behind him and walked towards her, sitting on the side of her bed. Misty rested her back on the mattress that at the touch of a button bent upwards to give her more support in her sitting position. "What took you so long?"

Gary smiled at her and without even thinking about it grabbed her hand but still could not look at her directly in the eye. "They didn't tell me you were ok until just now. I guess they tried to teach me a lesson for asking for your status every five minutes."

Misty giggled. "Have you talked to any of the doctors at all?" Gary shook his head. "No. How are you feeling? Are you gonna be alright?" Misty nodded.

"I got a little scared when I woke up and saw I was here all alone. I couldn't remember right away what had happened and thought you were hurt somewhere else."

"Don't be silly. Nothing can hurt me. I am Gary Oak, superman extraordinaire."

Misty smiled again. "You must be banging yourself against wall for taking this job. It is proving to be more than what you had bargained for."

Gary shook his head again. This time, he gained the courage to look up and face her, only to see a big bruise already forming on her left cheek. He frowned at the sight. "Did you get that from the fall or did these stupid ass doctors do that to you?"

Misty raised her hand to touch her cheek as she winced in pain. "Don't do that, red!" Gary said as he raised his own hand and held hers to pull it away from her face. Gary was now holding both of her hands in his and as uncomfortable it made him feel, he was not about to let go for now. "I am sorry I wasn't here sooner. I tried to get here but no one would tell me where they had taken you. Are you sure you are alright?"

"I am, don't worry about me."

"How can I not? Don't you ever go falling down the stairs at me ever again, you hear me?"

Misty nodded and hung her head in shame. She had made a careless and stupid mistake and now Gary was suffering along with her. All of those years traveling, sleeping outdoors, fighting countless battles against Team Rocket, and facing so much danger had taught her nothing about safety. Here she was on a hospital bed because a Magikarp had scared the heck out of her. "Gary, I…" she began as she looked up only to see Gary's face closing in to her. Misty froze at his reaction until she felt his warmth all around and on over her. His right arm was holding her neck while his left arm was resting around her waist. His face was buried on her right shoulder and she could feel him breathe deeply on her the side of her neck. His chest kept rapidly rising up and down on her chest. He was trembling in her arms. "Gary, what is wrong?"

Gary's grip on her just tightened at her question and obvious confusion. When he finally spoke in her ear, the reply sent a chill down her spine, not only because he was whispering it out, but because what his actual response was.

"I thought I had lost you. I thought you had left me alone."

Misty felt tears forming in her eyes. His words had reminded her of the night Ash had broken up with her and how those same feelings had crossed her heart. She returned Gary's embrace with as much strength as he did and rested her head on his shoulder as well. "I am sorry I scared you. I didn't mean to."

"I know."

Their embrace lasted longer than any of them had even thought about, and when it was over they had big smiles on their faces. They remained looking into the other's eyes intensively, as if nothing else matter to them at the moment. There had been words that had not been spoken between them, but the look in their eyes told a thousand words. Words that were broken by a knock on the door. Both trainers looked at the door being opened by one of the doctors. He was holding a pad in his hand and tablet on the other. "Miss Waterflower, you are free to go when you feel like it."

"Is everything ok with her?" Gary jumped to ask before Misty could utter a word.

"Everything is fine, Mr. Oak. I assure you your girlfriend is good to go."

"I am not…" Misty had begun but Gary held her hand to stop her. "Thank you so much. Please add whatever expenses this might cost to my check. I will give you the required information before we leave the premises."

"Gary…"

He held her hand even tighter. "Of course Mr. Oak. Just one thing before I leave."

"What is it?"

"My daughter loves water Pokemon…she would be very excited to get an autograph from the water Pokemon Gym Leader of the city. Would it be possible…miss Waterflower?"

"Of…course…"

Misty had never given any autograph to anyone before. She felt awkward doing it, but the look in the doctor's face had left her no choice but to accept the request. She grabbed the paper and signed it without further a due. "Thank you, miss. And don't worry about the expenses. How could we charge the representative of our Pokemon quality in this city? We are just glad you are ok, and we look forward to the improved Gym."

"Thank you. We'll be open in about a week. Audiences will be allowed in the Gym if you wish to stop by to watch this lady battle. Let me tell you something, she is great at what she does!"

Misty eyed him again but was unable to say anything at all. The doctor thanked Misty again for her signature and quickly made his way out of the room. Gary looked back at Misty who had a shocked face but was still unable to utter a simple word. "Ok, red. Let's go home."

Gary turned around and pointed at his back, inviting Misty to climb on it. After much debate she finally accepted and he carried her on his back all the way back home.

**MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

**A/N: **Thank you skatoula for becoming a faithful reader and reviewer! To be honest, I have never written a lemon in my life, but I think I might be able to do something to please ya, and you too Karen! Lola, I don't know how this fic will end, but all I know is that it could go either way  And welcome to my newest reviewer: Super-special-awesome Pirate. I am too a fan of POTC, and I am loving your avatar. For all other 627 people who have read this story, please take a second to tell me what you think about the story. It doesn't have to be a long review, just drop me line to see if you like what you read. Thank you so very much to all. Happy reading and will see you soon!


	5. Unlocked

**Summary of previous chapter:** Misty has an accident as a scared Magikarp jumps out of a box and scares her, making her fall down the stairs. Gary immediately calls the paramedics and Misty is taken to Cerulean's hospital. After a long wait, and for a brief moment, Gary loses his calm when he is mistakenly told that Misty is dead. After clearing up the misunderstanding, Gary goes to see Misty to her room. After a small conversation, Gary takes Misty on his back and they both go back home.

**A/N:** May is the name for Gary's sister. Daisy is the name for Misty's sister.

**Chapter 5 - Unlocked**

"_Ok, red. Let's go home."_

This was what Gary had said three days ago before he carried Misty on his back and had done just that: bring the both of them back _home_. Even though the young Oak had been living with the youngest Waterflower sister for only a week now, all the hard work he was putting into rebuilding the gym was making him feel like this was _his_ home as well. _"I guess Maya was right. Building the place you call home gives the word __**home**__ a whole new meaning."_

Tomorrow was the big day when the Gym would finally reopen its doors to incoming trainers. Even though the first week would only be for taking appointments and advertise the battles to the public, the effort and work they would put to the events of the coming week would set up the path of the future of the Gym. It did not matter how great the gym looked, or how powerful the Pokemon were, or how awesome Misty battled. If the trainers and the future audience did not feel a good vibe from the new Gym itself, all their hard work would go quickly down the drain. Their plans had not gone as they had expected after Misty's fall as they had lost precious time they did not have, but they had learned to manage. They had not been able to do many things the day she fell as they spent most of it in the hospital until the doctors had made sure she was good to go. After they had returned to the gym that same night, Gary did not allow Misty to do anything, ignoring Misty's reassurances that she was feeling perfectly fine. _"Fine is a word women use to say they are not fine at all,"_ he had told her only to make Misty upset and have her smack him up the head for it.

"_I know I am right,"_ Gary had thought while rubbing the back of his head.

They spent the rest of the day rearranging their planning in Misty's room while she rested on her bed. Gary made Misty go to bed early, and without Misty's knowledge, spent the night on the floor of her room every night. It was not until last night when Misty felt thirsty in the middle of the night and stood from bed to head to the kitchen to grab a drink that she realized she had stepped on someone's stomach instead of the carpet on her floor. Misty had placed a foot on what she thought was a very fluffy carpet only to realize there was someone in her room.She had tried lifting up her foot but it had been grabbed by two strong hands and for a moment she panicked.She had not been able to let go of the grip. She had felt she was going nowhere fast, and for a split second felt unsafe in her own house until she heard his voice._ "Where the __**hell **__do you think you are going? If something happens to you, I am out of a job. Get your butt back on bed." _

And that was the end of that conversation, even before it started. She was forced to stay there and wait for Gary to get her the glass of water she had woken up for. Misty had made sure he acknowledged her annoyance toward his bossy attitude, but deep inside she felt grateful for what he did. She tried not to get used to having someone look up for her because she knew that in a few months he would leave, and she would be back to being alone with herself. However, could someone blame her for feeling special once again?

As the night set in Cerulean, Gary worked on the last details of the almost completely rebuilt Gym while Misty got bored to her wits in the same room she had been _locked_ in for the past three days.Misty banged herself against the desk and sighed at the ridiculous pile of paperwork on it and around the small office. She had been working on the _red-tape_ part of the job after Gary had practically ordered her to not do anything else but breathe, eat and sort the Gym's paperwork after the accident she have had. She was literally drowned in paperwork around her office and the printer had not stopped printing those reports she still needed to read. Even though the gym was not entirely up to the League's standards, it was ready enough to open for business tomorrow, Monday. However, the system needed to be updated, and she needed to organize the names of every trainer that had set foot in her gym since it opened to transfer this information to the new database that was not compatible with the older one they had. Meaning, she had to manually enter the names of all the trainers that had battled in this gym, who they had battled, and whether they had won, lost, tied and how many times it had taken them to earn the badge. This was more than twenty years of names, even before her parents had taken over the gym, and she dreaded the task. She had to dig up old binders covered by dust from the time before computers were used to keep records of battles in gyms, and she had to call the League to input the names of the old leaders of the gym, as they were too old to have been included in the new database.

"Why did I have to go and fall down the stairs?"

Even though Misty had proved to be _fine_ after her little mishap on the stairs –or down the stairs, Gary had refused to let her do anything he considered too strenuous for her. She felt overprotected, underproductive, and wanted to jump off the stairs just so she could show how healthy she really was. On the other hand, she had to admit she was excited about the new Pokemon she now owned. Knowing her sisters, they probably found the shiny Magikarp and thought for it to be sick and just threw him inside the box. Her sisters were not the best trainers in the world, and it was thanks to them she had to be here for six months, after all. She was to train all of their Pokemon, make them worthy and strong, and then her sisters would probably come back and mess it all up again. She hoped that whatever intense training they were going through will make them better trainers and better leaders; more for their sake than hers. "I also hope I get to keep the shiny Gyrados when it evolves."

Gary had promised Misty they would begin intensive training at night when the Gym closed for the day starting tomorrow. She knew the Pokemon she carried with her were strong, but she did not want to have to leave them at the Gym when her sisters returned. She had to train her sisters' Pokemon as well so they would not ask her to leave them behind again. Misty sighed at her rapidly growing boredom and decided to switch gears and read through the most recent battle archives. _"Maybe I can find my battle with Ash."_

She winced.

Ash's name always brought a knot down her throat. Before they….he, broke up with her it was because it was the name of the boy –man, she loved the most. Now, it was because it was the name of the man –boy, who broke her heart. Every time she thought about him she wondered how he was, and where he was. She had tried contacting Brock but her attempts had been futile. She wanted to believe that they had gotten lost in some place thanks to Brock's map reading skills, and that they were not trying to avoid her contact. She knew Brock would not purposively avoid her, but she was not sure about Ash. She had his cell phone but she had been too scared to call him, even if it was just to ask how he was. She had chosen to wait until he felt like calling her, which she hoped he would at some point. _"Ten years aren't forgotten in a week, right?"_

"_No, but a week can change what you felt for ten years,"_ Misty's inner voice told her. _"Would have Ash done as much as Gary has done for you in the past week?"_

"_Gary's getting paid to do it."_

"_Ash is not even here."_

Misty clenched her jaw and stood up from the chair to sit down next to a cabinet where the paperwork for given badges was kept, trying to clear her mind of these _ridiculous_ thoughts. She opened the last drawer that was in front of her and was annoyed to see her sisters did not bother to organize the files and had just thrown them inside as if they were unwanted pieces of paper with no order whatsoever. _"Great, I will have to organize these too!" _ Misty had to transfer all the data to the electronic database, then organize, file, pack and send the hard copies to the League for storage. The League did not want the Gym's to be packed with papers they did not need. The Gym Leaders would still be required to file a claim for each battle they had in the Gym, but at the end of the month they were also required to send a binder with all the claims straight to the League. _"Thank God I am doing this for only six months!"_

Misty took out all of the papers from inside the drawer and began organizing them by dates. She had hoped that they were at least organized by year but she found claims of recent battles along with claims of battles as old as ten years. _"This is all Ash' fault; if he hadn't broken up with me I would have not accepted this temporary job." _

She was amazed of how many names she recognized from the papers, making her realize she had met plenty of trainers when she traveled with Ash. Ten years of travel did not do justice to all the things she had gone through for him. _"And he still dumped me like a rock."_

Trying to keep her mind busy to not think about Ash did not seem to be working. The memory of that night came back to Misty, making her eyes water before she could force her mind to think about anything else. She clung to the papers as if they were the cause of her current misery, and in the back of her mind a small portion of her brain believed this to be true. She still hoped that Ash had broken up with her because he knew about this situation, and because he knew how much she loved her sisters. Even though sometimes they were a pain, they were still her only family and the only ones that would look after her until the day she died. _"That is…sad."_

She also knew that she could never really forget about Ash, and doing what her job was for the next six months would not make it easier for her to move on. She knew that the only way she could begin to heal her heart was to do something that had nothing to do with Pokemon. _"Maybe I should go to college,"_ she thought.

Her life was getting too complicated for a Sunday afternoon.

Misty tried to forget about the whole situation and began searching for weird names on the papers to laugh at, just as she did when she was little. She remembered sneaking inside this office, which belonged to her parents, and practicing her reading skills by making fun of people's name. _"I miss being a kid."_

She skimmed through the papers and giggled every time she found a worthy name and feeling secretly glad to have a normal name. Her eyes sparkled at the names people would get from their parents. What were these parents thinking? What kind of name is Blue?

"_What kind of last name is Ketchum?"_

Misty sighed. Did Ash really have to come back to her with every single thing she did or said? At this point it seemed inevitable. _"Ash Ketchum…Misty Waterflower…Brock Slate…Gary Oak…"_ Maybe they all had weird names. Misty shrugged and kept looking for other non-common names until her eyes caught a particular last name, worthy of an Elite Four leader. _"How does one get a last name of Dragon?" _Misty joked.

"_Wow! This girl tried really hard to get our badge. With a name like that you would think she would have a Dratini or something."_

Misty shuffled the papers, forgetting what her real job was and was surprised to find another extremely familiar name: Gary Oak. She giggled at the realization of the years of teasing she could earn with the information on this paper. She smiled at the possibility of using any information she found here as blackmailing material to make Gary allow her to leave this boring room. She grinned mischievously while she carefully read every single detail on the claim and rolled her eyes at sticky notes made by whoever had battled him and had posted on his file, particularly at one that read: _"Hot kid who if were, like, 10 years older I would totally date."_

"He is ten years older now, sis. I would go for it if…"

She stopped, just realizing what she was saying. _"If what? If you didn't like Ash, still? Or if you knew Gary liked you that way?"_

Misty shook her head. In her mind, her heart still belonged to Ash regardless of how nice Gary was to her. Even though she enjoyed the attention he placed on her, and the devotion with which he helped her rebuild the Gym, she knew she only felt confused because she had been seeking those feelings from Ash himself for the last years now without any kind of luck.

Misty kept looking for the name of the leader he had battled but her eyes struggled to read the papers as her sisters had made many mistakes on the claims and there were words scratched out and then arrows pointing to where the correct answers were written. She finally found the name of the battling Leader and was surprised to see who it was. _"Gary battled Daisy?"_

Suddenly, a memory invaded Misty's mind.

"_And as your friend. I might not know you as much as I know Ash, and we didn't exactly began our relationship with the right foot but I want to help you get over this. I owe it to this Gym, to your sisters, to Daisy."_

"Did…Gary…and Daisy…?"

Misty's thought was interrupted by a loud bang on the door. It was Gary; he was standing at the doorway, his clothes and face covered in dirt, his weight on his hand on the door frame. "Red, are you hungry?"

"What happened to _you_?"

Gary looked down at himself, realizing how awful he must have looked at first sight.

"Don't ask," he said as he walked towards her and stood next to where she was sitting on the floor.

"Ok."

"So, are you hungry?"

"Uhm, yeah. Want me to make something to eat?"

"As if! I am asking because I am gonna make lasagna. Do you want some?"

"Sure. Since when do you know how to cook?"

"I have my hidden charms."

Misty giggled. "Sure you do; extremely hidden I can see."

"You can find them if you for them look _hard _enough."

"I think I'll pass."

"Too bad, I was going to give you special treatment."

Misty rolled her eyes at him. "Gary, you are a playboy, you know that?"

"Playboy is my _name_; flirting is my _game_," He proudly said with a wide smile.

Misty rolled her eyes at him again as he walked inside and saw her holding the papers in her hand. "Wow! You have a lot to read! What are those for?"

Misty's eyes widened at the realization of what she was holding and became noticeably nervous, shuffling the papers so he would not be able to see his name on the first page.

"Oh, just old names of trainers…way before my parents took over the gym."

"Oh. Must be interesting stuff, then."

"_Hardly_. Want to save me?"

Gary offered her his hand to help Misty stand up. "I thought I was doing that already."

Misty blushed.

"Don't sweat it, Misty. I am just here for the show."

Misty tried to smile and somehow swallow her blushing but all she could do was take his hand and look at the floor. She mumbled something about playboys and how obnoxious they were before dropping the papers on her desk and walking outside the room. Gary smiled and walked behind her only stopping to see his name on one of the claims and wince. _"Please don't let her find out the truth."_

He walked out of the office and closed the door behind him.

* * *

Gary Oak opened the oven and carefully pulled out the lasagna he had prepared an hour ago. Misty sat on a chair right next to the kitchen table, as far away as possible from the stove as Gary had mandated her. He had taken a quick shower while the lasagna was cooking as he had called the repairing task done for the day, and he felt as good as new. After making sure Gary was in the shower, Misty had returned to the office to reread the paper she was reading before Gary walked in on her. Gary had battled Daisy with a Squirtle and had beaten Daisy's Seel. They had settled for one battle only and Gary had won rather quickly, as every other trainer that had battled her sisters had won. 

"_If my sisters even felt like battling."_

Misty had read the claim paper as fast but as careful as she could with the little time she had before he returned to the kitchen. She did not know why she was so intrigued about a battle that had happened way before either one knew of each other's existence and back when he was just a jerk as opposed to a human being. Perhaps, it was just the idea of knowing him personally, and wanting to know more about his life than he had allowed her to learn made her so fond of that old piece of paper she had found. Perhaps it was just the hope that when both of their duties were done in the Gym, she could become his new travel partner. Or, for all she knew, maybe she was just looking for a way to blackmail him to let her do whatever she wanted around the Gym. However, the travel partner idea did not seem so bad after all.

"Travel partner?" she whispered to herself.

"_What am I thinking? I don't even know if I want to return to Pokemon Training, I don't even know if he would even want me to join him. I don't even know what I want to do!"_

Misty read the paper one last time before rushing back to the kitchen just a few seconds before Gary walked in. He was only wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and his hair was still noticeable damp. "Forgot something?" Mist asked.

"I need to do laundry. I have no clean shirts."

"I can do that for you. Just give me your dirty clothes."

"Don't you wish? I know all you want is to look at my underwear."

"What?"

"But hey! I will show you mine if you show me yours."

"What?!"

"I am…kidding?"

"Thought so."

"Maybe not."

"Gary…"

Gary gave her one of his signature smiles before taking two plates out of the cabinet and placing them on the table. He grabbed a spatula and a fork to serve them both and after he was done he returned to the fridge and asked Misty what she wanted to drink. "Water, please."

Gary grabbed two bottled waters and a pair of forks before sitting on the table with her. Misty looked at her plate and she had to admit that the lasagna looked good. Gary stared at her looking at her plate and furrowed. "It's good, I promise."

Misty looked up and embarrassingly stared at him. "I am sorry; I just haven't had homemade lasagna in a long time."

"S'okay. Try it?"

Misty nodded while grabbing the fork and taking a bite from her food. She had to confess that it was too good to be true. If she had not seen him cook it from scratch, she would have never believed he had made this all on his own. "This is really good, Gary."

"You know the way one cooks is the way one is in…"

"Gary…"

"…life?"

Misty giggled. "Think we are ready for tomorrow?"

"Yup! We are set. Tomorrow morning we just set up a table in the battling arena and wait for trainers to come in."

"Sounds about right. Anything special the League requires?"

"Just document the appointments. If people fail to show up they have to wait another month to attempt to make another appointment."

Misty nodded. Gary served himself another piece of lasagna while Misty served herself another piece as well. "So, how is the paper sorting going, Misty?"

Misty sighed overdramatically. "I won't miss it when I am gone. If you want we can trade."

"Hardly. I am happy tearing my shirts, eating dust, sweating like a pig…"

"You would like sorting papers. I have found it to be quite educational."

"How so?"

Misty flinched. All the trouble she had gone through to hide the fact she knew about his battle with Daisy was about to be worthless. She took another bite of her lasagna, thinking as fast as she could for a way to change the subject. Quick thinking was not really her thing. Truth be told, she kind of wanted to know about his relationship (or lack thereof) with Daisy. Now that she had had time to think about their current situation, it seemed too coincidental that Gary had ended in her Gym when she had ended up here too. If she did not know better, she could have bet a couple of bucks that this whole scheme was planned. Maybe, Gary had arranged to be here thinking that Daisy would be the one left behind, and continue wherever they had left of. "Left of? How do I even know they were anything at all?"

"Excuse me?"

Misty held her breath and hit herself mentally for not knowing the difference between thinking to yourself and thinking out loud. _"I guess there is only one way to find out."_

"Gary, why did you say you were doing this for Daisy?"

It was Gary's turn to flinch.

"What?"

Misty's confidence, that had been moping the floors a few seconds ago, had now reached the top of the table with his reaction. He was hiding something, and she knew he knew she knew about it.

"When you first got here, you said you owed this to Daisy, remember?"

Gary cleared his throat. He crossed his arms as if ready to defend himself from an invisible threat and rested his back on the chair.

"I don't know what you are talking about. I never said that."

"Yes, you did."

"You are delirious, Misty."

"Am not! You said it!"

"Nope, you are wrong. What did you get in the hospital? Morphine?"

"Gary, I am _not_ wrong! _You_ are wrong!"

"Misty, you forget that I am never wrong. I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken."

"Gary, stop playing with me. Was there something between you and Daisy?"

"Misty, I was 10 years old! Besides…What if there was?"

Misty felt her heart skip a beat. The slight idea about the possibility of him and her sister being involved in any way that was not pure friendship had made her upset in an instant. "Misty?"

"I found the record of your battle with Daisy. You won your badge to her."

Gary sighed, staring at his feet. Misty did not say a word, staring at him intensively, hoping he had a reason why he felt in debt to her sister that did not involve him becoming his brother-in-law.

"Look, Misty. If I had really said anything like that, I would have told you, ok? I have nothing to hide from you."

Misty sighed. She wanted to believe him but something inside her told her he was not being entirely honest with her. She did not even know what bugged her the most: the idea of him involved with another girl, or the idea of him involved with her own sister.

"Anyway, what I did have forgotten to tell you was that the League is having a convention in about three months. We _have_ to go. They want to make their changes official by having some sort of massive meeting with everyone in the League."

"Is there going to be sucking up?"

"Major sucking up."

"Is there going to be food?"

"All meals provided."

"Do we have to stay in bunk beds?"

"That…I don't know."

"Sounds like fun."

"It won't be but we have no option."

"I love your positivism."

"I am full of it, Misty."

"_That_ you are."

Misty laughed at how easy he had fallen on that, and his reaction to the realization that he had been framed. "You are so easy, Gary."

"That I am too."

_Damn!_

Misty laughed again before stretching her entire body to show her exhaustion. "I don't want to go back to the office. I am tired of looking at old papers for three days."

"You don't have to. I will do that while you start training tomorrow, ok?"

Misty panicked.

"What? Wait! You promised me you would help me train."

"And I will. I will train you for about two hours, and then you go to bed and I organize those papers for you."

"No. Way."

"Why not? You said you are tired of them!"

"But they are my job, not yours."

"Well, I want to help my friend."

"Gary, you are not spending the night sorting papers."

"Neither are you."

"Fine."

"Fine."

Misty tapped the table while Gary whistled. This was an argument that would continue tomorrow night.

"Gary?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you…"

"Do I?"

"Do you think…"

"Not all the time but I try."

"No, silly. What I meant to ask was if you think the League would want me?"

"The League? The Pokemon League?"

"Yes."

"Want you for what?"

"Want me to work there, for them."

Gary remained silent, staring at the redheaded girl.

"Why would you want to work for the League?"

Misty's eyes wandered, avoiding his eyes. What was she supposed to tell him? That she had no other option but to try to get a job at the League? That she did not know who she was or what she could do and felt like a total failure in life?

"Well, if they hired you…"

Gary pretended to be insulted. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Misty smiled. "Well, if they hired a snobbish jerk like you, I have a big chance to work for them too."

"You need connections, Mist. I am your only connection to the League so you better keep me happy."

"As if! I am a Pokemon Gym Leader. I don't need your connections."

"Why do you want to work there anyway?"

"Don't ask."

"No, tell me."

"Stop it."

"Tell me."

"No!"

"DO IT!"

"NO!"

"MISTY!"

"GARY!"

"WHY?"

Misty sighed and stood up from the table. "Look, forget I even asked you, ok?"

"No."

"Yes. You wouldn't understand." Misty began walking to the door, hoping her tears would not come out before she was out of sight.

"No, I don't."

"Then please stop asking."

"Misty, wait."

And against her own will she did.

He stood up from the chair and walked to her lifting his hand wanting to turn her around and look at her when he said this but he did not. He was lucky enough she had stopped when he asked her to and he would not take any more chances with her tonight. He sighed deeply before speaking again as he felt nervousness invade his body for the twentieth time today.

"The reason I ask is because I cannot imagine why you would want to work for them. You don't belong at the League. There is no place for you there."

Misty clenched her fists and he heard her hold a sob.

"Misty?"

"Why do you say I don't belong there?"

"Because you don't."

"Why not? I am not good enough for them? Do you think I am not as good as you?"

"I never said that."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I said you don't belong there."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"No."

"It is!"

"No. What I meant to say was that you don't belong there because…"

"Because I don't have any badges?"

"No!"

"Because I didn't start training at age 10?"

"Misty, let me finish!"

"Because the future Pokemon Master dumped me on his birthday?"

"Dammit, Misty! You don't belong there because you can do better off with me than with those losers at the League!"

"W-what?"

Gary closed his eyes and turned around. "Forget it, ok? Just, forget it."

"Gary I am sorry I snapped at you…I didn't mean to…"

"Nevermind, ok? It's nothing."

"Gary, please…"

Gary avoided her eyes and kept walking until he left the kitchen, stopping for a brief second in the dark hall. "See you tomorrow, Misty."

"See you tomorrow, Gary."

That night Gary slept in his room, leaving Misty to feel more lonely and incomplete than she had ever felt in her very own room.

**MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

**A/N:** Thank you for your encouraging reviews! If it wasn't for them, I would have not come back to continue this story :)


	6. Beginner's Luck

**Summary of previous chapter:** Misty finds an old battle claim where it is shown that Gary had battled Daisy. Misty wonders what kind of connection Daisy and Gary had [have and when she asks him, he denies any relationship existed between them.

**Chapter 5 – Beginner's Luck**

Misty flirtatiously winked at the trainer in front of her. She slowly looked at him up and down and he looked back at her with the same arrogant look she was giving him. Even though she was smiling and keeping her comments to herself, she had learned that one way to intimidate her opponent was to look overconfident and seem condescending at the same time. She had never done this before, but her personal trainer had made sure she understood the power of overconfidence and arrogance. He had told her he had plenty years of experience and she believed him. The boy in front of her was a young trainer, possibly 17 years old. He was wearing a pair of torn blue jeans, a red shirt with a black stripe across his chest, and black-and-white checkered tennis shoes. He had long blonde hair he held in a ponytail, and a pair of deep blue eyes that were sending daggers to the redhead in front of him for being so close to beating him. His Pokemon belt only had three pokeballs on it when he walked to this match, and two of those had already been defeated by Misty's Pokemon. The new Cerulean City's Pokemon Gym Leader was wearing a navy blue mini skirt with three white-colored pleats on her left leg, a white sleeveless t-shirt that stuck to her body like glue and went up and all around her neck, and a pair of white and blue tennis shoes. Her long red hair was in a ponytail and her left eye was covered by her long left-sided bang.

She did not know what was more angering: the annoying brat that had barged into the Gym demanding the badge without the battle he had scheduled, or the silly and outdated outfit she was currently wearing. Either way she was pissed. She could not believe the League had asked trainers to wear a uniform at least one day of the week. She had chosen Wednesdays because it had been the days they had have less crowd but the rumors of an 17-year old trainer who had swore to take away the badge from the younger Waterflower sister had spread like a disease. The Pokemon battles had become a family-oriented activity and the citizens of Cerulean made plans to attend the Gym. Gary's intense night trainings had paid off as Misty had not lost one battle since the first official battle she had a month ago. Defeating the Cerulean Gym Leader had become a great and almost unachievable challenge for all local and transient trainers.

Misty observed her opponent and if they had not been underwater, she knew sweat would have been staining his shirt. She had to admit she had an unfair advantage over the trainers because this was her 135th battle this month. The lack of normal gravity, the water pressure, and the crowd was not such an issue for her anymore, but the new trainers were not used to depending on underwater breathers to stay alive, to be watched by hundreds of people, and feeling their ears about to pop because of the depth of the pool. Misty remembered the first battle she had and how the crowd that had attended the grand opening gasped as both trainer and leader jumped in to the swimming pool only for it to raise to ground level. After the initial shock, the crowd had cheered and the word had spread that the new Gym had a raising pool as the battle arena and that the new Leader had great battling skills. The Pokemon League knew exactly what they were doing and they were doing it quite well.

Gary Oak was watching the battle from outside and was the one keeping track of fainted and winning Pokemon. He had become the official _unofficial_ score keeper, and every time he checked the box "Victory" under Misty's name he was filled with pride. So far, the Gym –or rather Misty, had won every single battle she had fought. If she could keep it up for the next five months, he was sure she could save the Gym. If her sisters' training had done diddly-squat to change them, then that would be their own darn fault. Misty would leave the Gym as an undefeated Leader, an extraordinaire trainer, and a women with more doors open than Gary had ever have.

He knew the League was meticulously watching over her and analyzed her every single move, but so far the Leader had not done anything worth penalizing or even bringing up any kind of concern. She was a role model for all the other Gym Leaders who had been complaining to the masses about the League's new battling approach. She had spent countless nights training her Pokemon until the wee hours of the morning only to be awake by 7:00 a.m. to get ready to face the next 7 or 8 trainers who had signed up to try and defeat her. She would clean and maintain the recently renovated and finally completed Gym every weekend, and would file and send every inch of paperwork she was required to fill. She had job to do and by darn it she was going to do it well!

As her fame in Cerulean had increased, her attempts to contact Ash or Brock had decreased. After the first hundred failed phone calls to either cell phone, or the never replied letters, the fact that she was being completely alienated from her former friends' lives began to slowly dawn on her. She would do everything she had been expected to do, and then she would do more just to keep herself from thinking about Ash and Brock. She had no idea where they were and she did not even know with absolute certainty if any of them had made an honest effort to contact her but her hopes were slowly dieing a painful death.

She hated moments like this. Moments where she would think about Ash and Brock, and their now lost time together. About realizing she did not know what she wanted to do still. About not knowing who she really was. Here she was, standing in front of a new young trainer, in the verge of defeating him with her Dewgong with the need of a single aurora beam, and all she could think was about Ash. The wound was still open and still pretty deep.

"What are you waiting for, Josh? If you do not release your Pokemon in the next five seconds, you will lose the battle by default."

Gary's voice brought her back to reality. The trainer had been taking too long to release his last Pokemon, perfectly knowing he was done for. The tough Cerulean Pokemon Leader was about to add her 135th victory to her file, and she could smell the stink of sore defeat emanating from the trainer in front of her. "Three seconds!"

The trainer closed his eyes and released his Pokemon in a way that denoted his compliance to the Auditor's warning more than his will to fight the inevitable. Misty could taste victory again.

The pokeball released a recently evolved Seaking. Even though the Pokemon had the advantage being underwater, the trainer had not taken the time to better the Pokemon's skills. He had caught the Goldeen by mere accident and was not fond of water Pokemon. He had trained his Pikachu to defeat the Pokemon of the Cerulean Gym only to find out the battles were underwater. Misty knew the trainer was wishing Gary's joke about Pikachu suddenly growing gills was not too far from reality and hoped it would happen soon; as soon as in the next three seconds.

"It was a pleasure battling you, Josh. But the battle ends here," Misty said.

She commanded her Dewgong to fire an aurora beam toward the Seaking. Seaking did not even attempt to move and had fainted in a matter of seconds. The Pokemon had been covered by a block of thick ice and was now floating to the top part of the pool. "Seaking is unable to battle! Misty wins!"

The crowd cheered at the new triumph of their Gym Leader. Deep inside they were somewhat disappointed the rumors that Misty would finally lose were untrue, but they were also proud of their Leader. They could have not chosen a better person to represent them in the Pokemon League. The citizens were proud of their Leader and they made sure it showed.

The platform was returned to its original state and both trainers swam out the water to the floor. Misty offered the trainer her hand as a gesture of good sportsmanship but Josh refused to shake it. He was not taking this defeat well. Misty looked at Gary who shrugged and then checked the "Victory" box on the battle claim. His work for the day was done. "You may attempt the battle again as soon as you return to this Gym with a prescheduled appointment. Thank you for visiting the Cerulean Gym," Gary had said as the trainer left the building, dripping water. "Are you sure you don't want to dry yourself? The service is run and paid by the Gym for all challenging trainers," He asked the defeated trainer.

The trainer had just waved his hand without even looking back and had disappeared behind the doors of the battle arena. Misty sighed when he was completely gone.

"That was some bratty kid, if you ask me."

"I was bratty when I was his age, but he needs to learn he can't always win."

Misty nodded. "Though I can understand where his anger comes from. So many people were given the Cascade badge without any effort and now new trainers have to earn it with their very last breath."

Gary winced. "It's not your fault. You keep forgetting that."

Misty nodded. She knew Gary was right but she could not help feeling responsible for what was happening with the League. Maybe if her sisters had not been the ridicule of the association all of these rules had not taken place. Then again, if these rules had not taken place she would have never trained as intense as she was training now, and she and Gary would have not become as close friends as they were now.

"Go take a shower and dry, Misty. I will close the Gym for you."

Misty nodded and headed for her room. She was surprised she had not caught a cold with all the drying and soaking every hour or so. She couldn't wait to get the probation removed so she could have a 30-minute break in between battles to really dry, and get Fridays off. _"But I won't be here when the probation ends; my sisters will."_

The things one does for family.

Misty walked upstairs to her room and went straight to the shower. She undressed and let her clothes hit the floor with very little care of where they fell. She would not have to wear that girly uniform until next week; she really did not care of the clothes dried up or not._ "That is one thing I am not going to miss!"_

Misty walked into the bathtub and allowed her body to be drenched in the hot water. She was tired from jumping in and out of the pool, swimming back and forth, and the daily night trainings Gary put her through. She knew they had proved to be useful but she could not blame her body from asking for a break. There had not been one day since the Gym opened that she had been able to take a nap after a long day of battling. Every day she would be battling trainers, battling Gary, or training her Pokemon and teaching them new moves. During the weekend she would do paperwork for the League and ship boxes to Indigo Plateau. She wanted to finish the paperwork she was behind at before she and Gary attended the conference in Indigo Plateau in two months. She wanted to give the League nothing to annoy her about, and very much to brag about herself.

Even though she had attended other League's conventions, she felt for this one to be different than the rest she had gone to before. This time she would be on the other side of table. She would go as a Gym Leader instead of a trainer or someone's personal counselor/trainer. As much as she enjoyed being there to oversee Ash's performance in the Pokemon Tournament, she did not really feel part of it. Yes, she had been there, she had slept on the trainers' rooms, and she had being close to the trainer's battling section, but she had done it all for Ash. Now she was doing it for her and for her sisters, and this time she was going with someone she never thought she would ever like.

She had to admit she was also excited about seeing her sisters again. She had not made it back home on time to see them part, and she had not seen them in the longest time ever. She would also meet with all the other Pokemon Gym Leaders in Kanto, and for a split second she felt upset Rudy was a Gym Leader in the Orange Islands. _"Maybe he will make a guest appearance?"_

Misty giggled. She had not realized how desperate she felt until she wished Rudy was around. She did not know if she should take this a sign that she was ready to date other guys, or a sign that she was in desperate need of attention. So far she had none. She lathered her hair and noticed how long it was. She had not cut it in years, and she had to hold it in a ponytail to be able to battle inside the pool. Cleaning it up after a battle was so difficult, making her remember why she use to have it short in the first place. She had let it grow for Ash, but now that he was not around anymore, she had no need for long hair. _"Perhaps I should cut it again," _she thought as she untangled it, pouring ridiculous amounts of conditioner on it.

She allowed the conditioner to naturally untangle her hair while she soaped her body. She was sore and the different pressures and gravities of being in the pool and being out of it too fast were finally sinking in. She felt her arms and legs heavier than they really were, and doing simple movements to be able to clean her body were a difficult task. She needed to work more on her swimming skills and give her training a break. _"I am sure Gary will understand."_

Misty sighed. After that night when Misty had finally confronted Gary about his true feelings for her sister, she had begun developing a soft spot for the all-time playboy Gary Oak. She knew very well that Gary was developing one for her too, and his statement that she was better off with him than with the League had made it perfectly clear. Neither of them had brought it up since then though, and she believed it was for the best. If, for any reason, Gary decided to ask to her to tag alone when their probation was over, she would not give it a second thought. She knew the chance of him asking her to travel with him was from very slight to inexistent, but she knew that if the time came, she would grab her things and walk to the other side of the world with him if she had.

"Misty, are you almost done?"

Gary had knocked on Misty's bathroom door making her jump off her skin. She turned the knob to shut down the running water and grabbed a towel, wrapping herself around it. She carefully stepped out of the tub and half opened the door to see Gary all dressed up and ready to go. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to know how much more time you needed. You've been there for an hour. I was getting worried."

"I am sorry; I didn't realize I had taken too long. I will meet you at the arena to train in about 15 minutes."

Gary shook his head. "Not tonight, Misty. No training tonight, Im'ma 'fraid."

Misty looked confused. She stared at Gary and realized he was wearing a pair of light brown linen pants, a light blue shirt with horizontal white stripes, and blue tennis shoes. His hair was as groomed as possible for its natural unruliness, and he smelled like cologne. His hands on his pockets and his signature smile made Misty slightly blush for a mere second before she realized she was gawking at him. "I guess _you_ are going out tonight. Mind if I take my time in the shower? I had a long day –life."

Gary smiled. "No, Red. _We_ are going out. Get ready and let's ditch this place for a while."

"But, we need to do the paperwork for today."

"Done, I did it while you battled those unskilled trainers today."

"But, tomorrow we have to be up by 7:00."

"Yes, and it's just 6:30. We can be back before 10 if you hurry up."

"But, I have nothing to wear!"

Gary rolled his eyes. "I've seen your closet. You've got plenty of clothes to wear. I will you see downstairs in 10," he said while he walked out of her room.

"You said 15! And, hey! _When_ have you seen my closet?"

"See you in 5," he said and closed her room door.

Misty slammed the door of her bathroom to make him believe she was mad at him, but the truth was that she was excited to leave the confinements of the Gym and walk around her own city for a change. She could not recall the last time she had opportunity to have a night out, and she was as sure as heck she was not going to let this opportunity pass by. She dried her body and ran from her bathroom to her closet. She cursed under her breath for having very few dresses and more shorts and jeans than any guy in the world. She knew Gary would not leave without her, but the more time she took to get ready, the less time she would have to enjoy the city at night.

She searched through her closet twice and did not find anything that would be appropriate for the occasion. She did not know why she had wasted 10 minutes searching her closet if she knew there was nothing there worthy of a date.

"_A…date?"_

Misty held her breath.

"_Is this really a date?"_

Misty's nervousness quadrupled in a matter of seconds. _"No, it's not a date. It's just two friends who are tired of working their asses off taking a break. Not a date. Just a break."_

But, wasn't a break what Ash asked from Misty?

"_Dammit."_

Back to square one.

She sighed and decided she had to raid her sisters' closets if she wanted to find something that did not belong to a tomboy. She wrapped a towel tightly around herself again and quickly ran to Daisy's room. Daisy was the only one who would allow her to borrow her clothes, and the only who matched Misty's size anyway. She barged into her closet and after a few minutes of picking and choosing, she found something she would wear from all the clothes around her. She got dressed inside the closet and then ran back to her room to put some make-up on. She would usually not wear make-up but she knew people were bound to recognize on the street, and the least thing she needed at the moment was for the League to take away her probation for looking half-dead in public.

She brushed her hair and held it up in a ponytail again because the dampness was wetting her sister's clothes. She did not want to deal with Daisy coming back to see Misty had borrowed her clothes to go on a _date_ with a guy Daisy probably liked.

"_It is __**not**__ a date!"_

She looked at herself on the mirror to make sure everything was on place. She then grabbed a pair of white flat shoes and headed for the stairs. From there she saw Gary sitting on the couch of the living room, flipping the channels of the T.V. He had one leg on the coffee table in front of him, and one arm resting on the top of couch. Misty cursed him for looking so relaxed and casual while she was churning inside, and was not even sure why. She walked down the stairs taking one step at a time, still holding her shoes in her hands. The closer she got to the first floor, the more nervous she felt. Her skirt brushed her legs and the tickling feeling combined with the ants that already made way on her body. She kept walking at the same pace until she had reached the living room and sat right next to him on the same couch. She casually dropped the shoes on the floor and took her time putting them on.

Gary acknowledged her presence by slightly pulling on her hair only to make it drip water on the couch and wet his hands. "You didn't even dry this. You are gonna get sick."

"It will dry, leave me alone. It's not like you gave me time to get ready anyway."

Gary chuckled before taking a moment to look at her. She was wearing a pink skirt, and a short-sleeved polo-styled shirt with horizontal lines that alternated the colors white, light pink and dark pink. "I don't remember seeing this outfit in your closet."

"I don't remember giving you permission to raid my closet."

"I guess we are even, then."

"I guess we are."

Gary continued watching T.V. while Misty made sure her shoes were tight enough she did not trip on them. It had been a while since she had been seen in public wearing a skirt, and she was worried about making a scene, especially in front of Gary. Not only would it be embarrassing for her, but she knew with uncanny certainty that if something embarrassing happened to her, Gary would not let it go ever in his life. Misty smiled at the image of her and Gary at a very old age still teasing each other about silly situations they had encountered so far. _"Remember the time you stepped on me…?" _Misty imagined Gary saying in an old and tired voice, and it made her smile even more.

"Aren't we happy tonight?"

"Of course I am! Won my 135th battle. Is this why you are giving me a break?"

Gary shook his head. "Not really. We've been working our asses off for a month, we deserve a break; time to enjoy ourselves and not worry about this Gym."

Misty nodded. "I hear you. Do you have anything in mind?"

"Actually, I _do_. There is this carnival going on downtown. Thought you might be interested in checking it out. We can walk around, have some drinks, and play some games…beat the crap out of some novice trainers…"

"Sounds like a plan to me. Are you ready?"

"Baby, I was born ready."

"I was ready before I was born," Misty said and winked at him.

Gary smiled as he grabbed the remote again and turned off the television. They both stood up and made their way downtown for a night they would never forget.

* * *

Gary's eyes narrowed as he tried to sharpen his aim. His ears tried his best to tune out all the distractions that surrounded him, and he forced his eyes to not wander around and stare at the redhead standing next to him. She was holding a bag of popcorn with one hand while eating it as if she was being timed. Her eyes were wide open as she stared at the red target sign in front of her. Gary took a deep breath and closed one eye to make sure he was not going to miss this shot. He could not miss it. His pride was on the line. 

"Miss it already, Gary. I want to play something else."

"I am not going to miss it. Stop cheating! You are trying to distract me!"

"Am not!"

"Be quiet!"

"Fine!"

Gary took a few more seconds before placing his index finger on the trigger. Misty pretended to be sleepy and yawned in exaggerating proportions to purposely make Gary nervous. The clerk of the shooting target game sighed at the realization that they had spent almost half an hour in the same game, and after seeing the redhead win every single game, the game was becoming old pretty darn fast. Misty had mentioned her parents used to bring her and her sisters to this annual carnival every year, and that the last time they were all here as a family, they had played this exact game. She had said she was the best player there was for this game, and Gary had been quick to differ. After a few taunts the game had began, and this was Gary's last chance to prove the Cerulean Gym Leader could not beat the League's Supervisor in a measly game of target.

"Anytime this century will suffice. Though we do have to go back soon. Think you can finish this game before we turn 30?" Misty taunted.

"Just watch me."

Misty reached inside her bag of popcorn only to realize she was out. She sighed and moaned at her luck. She had not even been able to truly enjoy her popcorn as Gary kept interrupting her eating with his whining about how she was cheating her way to the end of the game. _"Silly boys."_

Misty stared at Gary and realized he was not going to take his final shot any time soon. The idea of standing there and watching the Oak boy fight for his pride was not one that amused her. She decided she needed one more bag of popcorn before they could call it quit for the night's entertainment. She tapped Gary's shoulder to tell him she was going to be right back but Gary snapped with the word "cheater," in a funny high-pitched voice. She replied with a" sore loser," and began heading to the popcorn stand on the other side of the row the game was.

She walked slowly and began to remember the first carnival she and Ash had attended. She remembered it was the Maiden's festival and how after a night of ghosts and Team Rocket they had been able to end the day with a dance in the night party. She would never forget the look on Ash's face when she appeared in front of him in that lovely kimono. She still remembered pulling him to dance next to her and how he willingly allowed her to guide him. She had sighed and giggled at the thought of that night before they had officially established how they felt for one another. She could not believe it had really been that long ago.

_"I miss you, Ash."_

Misty reached the end of the row and after paying for her popcorn she headed back through the same path she had taken to get to the popcorn stand. Her mind played tricks on her and replaced the real world around her with memories of the past. She began walking slower as she saw an image of her and Ash holding hands and enjoying the music and just having a good time. Misty's steps became shorter and shorter until she came to a complete stop.

Completely still and staring at the memories she wanted to see she began walking to the young version of Ash standing in front of her, staring intensively at her. There he was, ten years old again, with that blue kimono and without his signature cap. There she was, in the pink kimono, and without her signature side ponytail.

She began walking towards the image of Ash Ketchum who was now extending his arm, inviting her to join him. She smiled and felt her heart beating faster and faster as she became closer to him. Her short steps became quick paced steps when she saw him disappear in the alley in front of her. She called his name and began running towards her, fighting against the crowd that was now beginning to head for the exit as the carnival was coming to an end for the night.

She extended her arm while asking him to wait for her. The distance between them was becoming greater by the second, and she felt her lungs burn as a result of the deep breaths she was taking to keep her body running. "Ash, please, wait for me!"

In the blink of an eye he was gone and not trace of where he had possibly left for seemed to show. Misty held a sob as her running became slower and slower until she reached the alley and allowed her body to rest on the cold wall. She closed her eyes and cursed under breath for allowing her mind to play tricks on her. Ash was not ten years old. She was not wearing a pink kimono, and her signature hairstyle was gone.

Misty rested her head on the wall and allowed herself to regain composure before she could go back to Gary. If he saw her like this he would not stop asking questions about what had happened to her until she either told him or they returned home and she locked herself in her room. He could be as stubborn as she was, and she did not feel like arguing with him tonight. She just wanted to go home and go to bed.

Misty sighed and took an exhaled deeply before turning around to head back to the lights of the carnival. She took one step towards the light but her second step was abruptly interrupted by an arm around her waist and another arm around her throat. Misty startled.

"Good evening, Ms. Waterflower."

Misty felt the man behind her pull her back to the darkness of the alley, taking her farther and farther away from the safe lights of the carnival. She hit herself mentally for willingly walking into a dark alley alone and without telling anyone where she had gone to. Gary was probably still aiming at his last target and completely unaware of her absence. She hoped this was all a joke and that whoever was holding her so tightly would soon stop and then laugh hysterically at her face.

"Who are you?"

The man held her tighter and Misty's heartbeat became faster. She felt his right arm move to the left so her throat was locked behind his arm while his hand was free to roam down and grope her breasts. Misty tried to cry for help but his hand quickly went to her mouth and covered it. Misty felt tears forming in her eyes. The man pulled her back until they reached the back of a dumpster and hide the both of them in between the dumpster and wall.

He grabbed her as he walked backwards until his back was resting on the wall and she was resting on his body. He wrapped his legs around hers so that she could not move them, making sure their legs were tangled enough so that even if she broke lose, she would have trouble standing up and running back to safety. He licked the back of her ear and bit her earlobe before whispering in her ear.

"I am gonna uncover your mouth now. If you scream, I kill you."

Misty felt her heart was going to beat out of her chest. What was he planning to do to her? How did he know who she was? What did he want from her?

He uncovered her mouth and she did not attempt to say a word but the tears running down freely on her cheeks spoke thousands of words. She was afraid; so very afraid.

He held her hands and pulled them so that they were on her back. He did not seem to have anything with him to tie her hands, but she believed he did not need anything. He held both of her hands with his left one while his right hand began fiercely groping her chest again. Misty could not help the whimper that escaped her and he did not like it. "Shut up, bitch. If someone hears you I will kill you before they can find you here."

Misty tried her best to keep it down.

He had his way with her chest before slowly moving down to her skirt. He pulled it up until it covered only the essentials and allowed him to stroke her bare legs. He slowly stroked her right leg from her knee to her crotch and then repeated the process on her left leg. Misty could not believe what was happening to her. She only wanted popcorn, not be raped in a dark alley!

He continued touching her as he pleased and as he became more comfortable with what he was doing he began kissing and biting her neck. Misty felt so hopeless and wanted to fight back but she knew that she only had one chance and if she did not think this through before attempting to escape, she would probably not live to tell the story for years to come.

"What happened to the strong fearless leader? You seemed much more confident and fierce in the arena today."

Misty gasped. "Why are you gasping, are you enjoy this too much?"

Until now he had only touched on top of her clothes but feeling her squirm and feeling her chest rise faster and faster he wanted more. She felt his grip become stronger and before she could realize what he was about to do he slid his hand under clothes and underwear, repeating the same movements he had been doing so far but now on her bare skin and crotch. Misty began sobbing at her shitty luck.

"Do you really think I was going to stand there and watch you win? You have not done anything to deserve what you have. Everything was always given to you. You don't know what it is like to _earn_ the things you have."

"What are you talking about?"

"I told you to shut up!" He growled and pressed on her breast so hard Misty thought she was going to pass out. The more he touched the more he wanted to feel from her. She knew her time was quickly running out and that if she did not act fast she would be having the most horrible experience any women can have. _"Think, Misty, think!"_

While Misty worried about how to escape his grip he decided he was not comfortable with the position they were in anymore. With a swift movement he pulled her legs back and pushed her upper body to the front so that she was on her knees and her face hit the floor. He was still holding her arms and had not made any effort on preventing her face to hit the ground and she was now covered in dirt. She felt her nose heat up at what she could only imagine was the feeling of blood draining from her nostrils, and she felt disgusted. _"God, please help me."_

She then felt in more trouble than she had even been before. He pulled up her skirt and then heard him undoing his zipper. She knew what was coming and she panicked. He pushed her lower body to the ground and held her legs with his knees. He pulled down his pants and trousers before he rested all his weight on her body. Misty felt the air being knocked out of her, giving her the last warning to tell her she _had_ to do something, _anything_, and quick.

He leaned over to whisper on her ear again, this time sounding like a nauseating horny drunkard. "I can assure you Misty, _I_ am going to enjoy this…"

He chuckled and slowly began licking the back of her neck before he realized what hit him. Misty closed her eyes and with all her strength and trying not to think about the pain she was about to inflict on herself she threw her head back so hard she heard the man's nose break on impact. He cussed her out and cussed out the pain as both of his hands went to this face. Misty did not hesitate one second and pushed him to the side to free her from him.

She crawled away from him and began calling for help as she clumsily picked herself from the floor. She took only a couple of steps before the man pulled her foot and sent her back to the ground. Misty hit the floor and quickly turned around to face her attacker, throwing punches and kicks randomly in the air. The man tried to pin her down again but it was more difficult now that he had one hand on his bleeding nose.

Misty began screaming louder as she realized her voice was coming back to her. They both struggled to win the fight as she tried to push him off her and he tried to shut her up. Misty tried to hit him on his crotch and assure her escape but he kept avoiding her. Her attempts seemed futile and distracted her from the movements of his arms until she felt his heavy hand slap her face. "I told you to SHUT the FUCK up!"

Misty felt her energies begin to die and her efforts to escape become a useless employ of her strength. Her eyes were tricking her and man in front of her was slowly fading away yet she could still feel his weight on her. He had won and she had lost terribly. She could not fight anymore. There was no where to run or hide.

She closed her eyes prepared for what was sure to come. She tried to delay the inevitable but her strength was quickly disappearing. She felt her body was shutting down and her mind was about to give up and allow her to pass out through this horrible episode and she welcomed the possibility. She knew she had no other choice but to pretend this was not happening even though her heart screamed at her to no give up.

She let her body go.

She heard nothing but the beat of her heart.

She felt a cold breeze embrace her body; a breeze that passed by so quick that if he had not been so concentrated on thinking of something else she would have most surely missed. She took a deep breath, locked her eyes, waited for the hit and…

Nothing.

"_What is happening to me? Is it over?"_

There was no response.

She felt her breathing become stable again. The weight was off her body and she could not help to wonder what had happened to her. She wanted to open her eyes and see but she was afraid her mind was again playing tricks on her and that as soon as she opened them again she would see her attacker enjoying himself with her body. _"No, I can't…I don't want to know…"_

"Let me go!"

"_What was that?" _ She heard a loud bang followed by a small growl of pain.

"What the fuck do you think you were doing?"

"I wasn't doing anything!"

"Bullshit!"

She recognized that voice. _"Gary?"_

She panicked again. Was it Gary who was trying to hurt her? Was he?

"Your pants are down, fucker. You better have not hurt her! If you did something to her I am going to kill you here and now."

Misty clenched her fists.

"Mind your own business, and let me go before I hurt you for real."

Another loud bang was heard and another whimper followed it.

"You are not leaving this alley until the police come."

"_Police? Am I saved?"_

Misty could not remain where she was. She had to move. She had to act fast.

"That's it, I am tired of you!"

Misty opened her eyes to see two men fighting on the back of the alley. She could have sworn one of them was Gary but she did not know if it was the one who had attacked her or the one who was trying to save her. She lifted her body and began walking away from the scene. She did not want to stay to see who won the fight but something inside of her told her she had to stay.

She patted her clothes and began looking for her shoes. Whoever people were fighting in the dark have not realized she was up. She began patting the floor looking for her shoes but the carnival lights were now off and all she could see were the shadows of two men struggling to win a fight. She stared at the dark until she heard the fight stop for a few seconds. What did it mean?

She began taking deep breaths as she patted the floor, trying to find her left shoe. She blinked rapidly, trying to force her eyes to adjust to the dark. She had to get out of there and fast. She began walking backwards, paying attention to any kind of movement she could pick up. She began moving to her right to try and find the wall to safely guide her out of the alley but she could not find it.

Suddenly she stopped as an eerie silence surrounded her.

She was trapped…

And then she heard a scream.

"MISTY! GET OUT OF HERE!"

"Gary?"

"GO! NOW! HE HAS A GUN!"

"_A…gun?" _Misty's brain could not process this information as fast as the situation required. Time seemed to slow down and everything went in slow motion around her. There were two men, a gun and an utterly confused girl in a dark and lonely alley.

What could be worse?

Then she realized what was going on. Gary was fighting a guy, a guy with a gun.

"Gary, let him go! Let him go and let's get out of here!"

"Misty, leave now! I'll be fine."

"No, Gary, now! Follow my voice; I am not leaving you here!"

"Misty listen to…AHHH!"

Misty heard Gary's scream followed by loud struggle. She bent down to pick up anything she could to help Gary free himself from the attacker. Her hands frantically patted the ground as she heard the fight becoming more and more intense. She began sobbing and her hands began to shake until they finally found an old piece of wood.

"_It's not the best but this has to do."_

She lifted the 2 by 4 and began walking to where she thought the fight was taking place. She could not tell who Gary was and who the attacker was. She stood there for a few seconds until both of the men stopped and stared back at her. What followed would remain on Misty's memory until the day she died.

The attacker told her not to go anywhere as he began walking towards her. Gary ran towards him and tackled him to the floor. Misty tried to hit the attacker with her newly found weapon but before she could even attempt to get close she let the 2 by 4 fall on the floor to allow her hands to cover her ears from the loud sound she heard.

Two gun shoots had been fired.

One body had hit the floor.

Misty was in shock.

She stared at the man who was still standing and saw how he looked at the body and then back at her. After the initial shock he let the gun he was holding in his hand fall on the floor and began walking to her. She could only stare and sob.

"Freeze! CCPD!"

Both the man and Misty froze. "Hands in the air, now!"

They both complied.

A dozen of police officers appeared as if from nowhere, using their flashlights to light up the place. Misty heard the officers load their guns and call for backup. She just stood there, with her hands on the air, not truly knowing what was happening anymore.

"Misty Waterflower, are you ok?"

Misty did not reply and just stared at the officer Jenny in front of her.

More and more officers began appearing and a police car parked in front of the alley. It had drove over the popcorn stand and was now brightening the entire area. Misty's eyes began taking in everything around her. She saw her shoe on the other side of alley, as well as Gary's cell phone right next to her foot. She followed the officers' trails and saw a man on the floor surrounded by a puddle of blood.

"_What is going on?"_

She had just come here to buy popcorn and how she was surrounded by the police, a dead man, and a man staring intensively at her.

She stared back.

His clothes were ripped and blood was coming out from his side. His brown unruly hair was unrulier than ever, and his usual flirting smile was replaced by a face of relief.

She was Misty Waterflower staring at a very much alive Gary Oak, right next to a very much dead Josh Weston.


	7. On The Road to Viridian City

Summary of previous chapter: After Misty wins her 135th battle, she and Gary spend some time at the city's annual carnival

**Summary of previous chapter:** After Misty wins her 135th battle, she and Gary spend some time at the city's annual carnival. A visit to the popcorn stand becomes a fight between Misty and Josh Weston (the trainer she had defeated earlier that day) as he tries to assault her. Gary arrives to save her and the day ends with a scared Misty, a bleeding Gary, a dead Josh, and Cerulean's City Police Department at the scene.

**Chapter 7 – On the Road to Viridian City**

Ash Ketchum arrived to the trainers' living room area and allowed his tired body to carelessly fall on the couch. Although he felt honored the current Pokemon Master was privately training him, his body pleaded for a much needed break. Four months had passed since he had given up his travel with his friends and had become an apprentice from Maya. After months of sending him invitations he had finally decided he had to take the risk and leave everything he felt comfortable with and move on to better things, even if it meant to be separated from the closest thing he ever become to feeling complete.

He closed his eyes and covered them with his cap as he felt his heart breaking when his mind brought back the memory of the look on Misty's face the day he said goodbye to her. He had battled Team Rocket countless times, saved the world a few others, and had accomplished goals that seemed unachievable to others, but breaking up with her long-term friend and first love was the most difficult thing he had gotten to do so far in his life. Sometimes he could still hear her trembling voice asking him to stay in touch.

_"I wish we could."_

He would definitely win the award for the most outrageous liar in the world if he said he did not miss her or think about her everyday. He missed her as soon as he walked out on her that night and left her standing alone on that hill. His favorite place in the world, and one of his favorite celebrations had combined to produce a horrible outcome. What kind of man, in his right mind, breaks up with the only girl that had stood by him the whole time on his birthday party?

No one had ever blamed him for being smart.

He knew the decision he had to make was not easy, and the sacrifice that entailed becoming Maya's apprentice was far too great. However, seeing how everyone improved and took about on more perilous challenges to fulfill their dreams while he just sat back and comfortably relied on his friends for unconditional support began to create discomfort with his way of life. He felt he had fallen behind and was being deviated from what his original goal was. He could not put it off any longer. He had to act fast.

And so he did.

After almost a year of tempting offers from Maya, and after finding out Misty's future role in her Gym, he decided this was the perfect opportunity to move forward on his road to achieve his vision. He had not found it in him to just break it up with his girl and his best friend to move on to clearer horizons, but the situation that had just presented to him was almost too perfect to pass by. Even now he hit himself on the head for not handling the situation better and for taking the easy approach. Misty did not deserve to suffer, and he hated himself every day for putting her in that awful situation.

_"But Misty would have never left to save her Gym if she was with me."_

Or had she?

Even now, unanswered questions about how things could have been if he had not left, and what would have happened if she had stayed roamed in his mind. He wanted to believe his decision had been the best and only option for the both of them. Even though Brock had not spoken a blaming word to him, he knew that Brock did not approve of his decision of breaking up their group. He also knew that what he had done could have very well been the worse thing he could have done to his friends, and that whatever damage he had caused them with his shortcomings and indecisions could later on become the reason for their possible future hatred towards him.

Ash had not seen or heard from Misty or Brock for a few months now. After they had left Pallet Town and had arrived to Pewter City, Brock had been called in for Gym duty as the League's new implementations were getting the best of his father and siblings. Ash could not help himself feeling bad for his friends for being pulled back to what they had chosen to leave. Brock wanted to be a breeder; Misty wanted to be a Pokemon Trainer, not a leader. Yet, they were both attached to a responsibility that had been given to them with no other option than to take it. Ash could not imagine the feeling of being made to do something you do not want to do.

Or maybe he could.

Truth was he did not want to break up with Misty, or have Brock stay in Pewter City either. However, not only did he feel he was staying behind, but he was also setting his friends to failure by making them live their life based on where he wanted to go, or what he wanted to do. Deep inside he felt an immense guilt of those 10 years they had spent by his side, always supporting him and adjusting their way of living to fit his needs. When he had made the decision of moving on without them, he had strongly believed it was the best thing that could ever happen to them. They would have been able to do what they always truly wanted to do, and go to places they truly wanted to visit without having the burden of adjusting their schedule for his. However, now that he experienced the cold feeling of loneliness and success without purpose it was that he realized how great of a mistake he had made.

_"Will they ever forgive me? Will __**she**__ forgive me?"_

Ash could only pray that she would.

He lifted his cap and allowed his eyes to wander around the room. He saw the same faces that had been his companions for the past four months, and even though they had the same goals and dreams, he had not been able to connect with them to the same level he had connected with his long lost friends. If Maya had not been so persuasive and had not been so supportive of his work, he would have given up by now and had gone back to Cerulean to look for Misty.

There were days where he would wake up and believed all to be a dream. He would wake up expecting to be surrounded by trees and two other sleeping bags around him, but he would only see four walls. Those days were the days he wanted to thank Maya for all her help in training him to be the next Pokemon Master and make his way back to her. There were days when the pain of not having her near and hearing her voice was just too great to bear alone. There were days his weakness had led him to kissing other trainers, hoping to find what his heart ached for. The trainers were smart. The trainers were beautiful. The trainers were perfect.

But they were not Misty.

Ash sighed at the realization this was one of those days. Damn his luck!

In about a month or so, he would be joining Maya and the top representatives of the League in leading the greatest convention the Pokemon League had ever hosted. He knew Misty would be one of the attendees, and so would be Brock. However, he did not know if he would have the time or even the permission to talk to them. He did not know if they would want to talk to him at all. Ash felt a shiver go down his spine when he contemplated the possibility of his friends, the friends he had stupidly pushed away, walk right next to him with no intention of speaking to him, as if they had never really even met before.

_"Serves me right if they do."_

But that did not mean he wanted this to be the case.

Ash shook his head and was brought back to reality. He needed to be distracted. He needed to think about something else. He turned to the next best thing: television.

He extended his arm and lazily grabbed the remote of the big screen TV in front of him while he yawned his way to distraction land. He turned it on and flipped the channels as nothing caught his interest. He flipped over the 250 channels three times before he finally stopped at a news station. Maya was on TV.

_"It is an honor to have you here, Ms. Amherst."_

_"Please call me Maya."_

_"Will do. So, Maya, we've heard great things about the League and its improvements. Trainers and the general population alike seemed to be extremely pleased with your work at the League. What are your thoughts about this?"_

_"I have to say I am flattered. It is an honor to have accomplished my life goal, even at this old age. Any and every change made to the League is strictly based off my experience as a trainer and also thinking about the needs of trainers and leaders alike. I am delighted the trainers and fans are fond of what we do at the League."_

_"Excellent. Even though the changes seemed too radical for some old school folks, the respect of the League's representatives has seen a spike since you took over the lead. How are you handling the criticisms of former representatives and opposing members?"_

_"Criticism is always welcomed. It is because of these flaws that had so strategically been pointed out that we are rethinking the mission and purpose of the existence of the League. We are rather thankful of critics for pointing out our mistakes and making us a better and more credible association."_

_"Indeed. Now tell me, you speak of the League and its members…who are these members exactly?"_

_"Where do I start? It would be impossible to list and thank every single member of the League in such short amount of time, but rest assure that every single member of the League plays an decisive role in what our new mission is. Our members are prestigious Pokemon trainers, breeders, analysts, scientists, leaders, doctors and researchers. We chose these members carefully."_

_"I am sure you did. We are aware of great names that now work for the League. Professor Gary Oak is one of the top names around. How is he influencing the League?"_

Ash blinked several times. "Don't they mean _Samuel_ Oak? Did _Gary_ join the League?" Ash asked himself out loud.

_"Professor Oak is a respectable bearer of his family name. He has proven to be a great addition to our team and is currently working as a personal supervisor for one of our Gyms. He is a remarkable young man with high hopes and the means to succeed in this business."_

"Hey, sweetie! What are you watching?"

Ash looked up at the sound of his girlfriend's voice. Dawn looked down and winked before sitting right next to him, placing a big kiss on his cheek. "You look like if you had seen a ghost. What is wrong?" Dawn was another trainer who Maya had recruited to train to succeed her after she retired. Maya was a great trainer and a very independent woman, but she also liked to have fun; sometimes too much fun. She was wearing a white and blue sleeveless shirt with a skirt. Her blue hair was covered by her favorite hat that allowed her bangs to show over the sides her face. She and Ash had been fooling around for almost three months now.

Ash shook his head at her question and placed his index finger on his mouth to tell Dawn to be quiet. He increased the volume of the television to continue listening to Maya's interview. Dawn frowned but his angry face disappeared as soon as her eyes looked at the television and saw her trainer in the news. "Hey! It's Maya!"

"Shhh!"

"Whatever."

Both trainers stared at the screen.

_"We are aware of the situation. We are glad to know Misty Waterflower was not permanently hurt in this incident, and that Gary Oak received only a few minor bruises and a flesh wound caused by the gun shot he received from Josh Weston. I have to admit it was quiet scary to get a call at 2 in the morning to inform me two members of the League were at the police station. I am relieved they are perfectly fine now."_

_"What?" _Ash thought.

_"I agree; it was quiet the scare I must say. Cerulean citizens were shocked to hear the trainer they had just seen battle Misty Waterflower that day had tried to rape her later on. Misty has earned their respect with nothing more than hard work and they seem to be proud of their Gym Leader. The Gym has come a long way, hasn't it?"_

_"It really has. Misty Waterflower is doing an excellent job thanks to her remarkable efforts and the guidance and experience of her immediate supervisor: Professor Gary Oak."_

Maya's last comment made Dawn snort.

"It is _so_ obvious that Misty and Gary are sleeping together. It's pathetic," Dawn said while rolling her eyes. "It's not fair we have to train our butts off and she only has to hump this dude to be known. Though, I have to tell you, if I didn't have you, I wouldn't mind jumping him too. He is hot."

Ash ignored her and paid attention only to the television until an upset Dawn grabbed the remote and turned it off.

"Hey, what are you doing? I was watching that!" Ash growled while trying to get the remote back from her.

"It's over and there is nothing there we don't know. The League is the best, Maya owns, and Gary and Misty fuck. What else is new?"

Ash's eyes opened wide. Since when was it known that Gary and Misty…humped?

"What are you talking about? Who said Gary and Misty are in love?"

Dawn laughed out loud and hit the couch with her hands at Ash's question, making him even more confused, and slightly upset. "Who said anything about being in love?"

"Then why would they be doing it?"

"Come on! They are old, they live under the same roof…neither has a partner…they work together, train together, live together…might as well sleep together while they are at it, don't you think?"

Ash felt his jaw grow stiff.

"It's just like us. I am sure they are enjoying it more than we are, though. They live alone, and we don't."

"Shut up, Dawn. You don't know what you are saying. Misty is not that kind of girl."

Dawn frowned again. "How would _you_ know? Have you met her before?"

Ash shut his mouth. He looked down, avoiding Dawn's questioning look as he lowered his cap again. What was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to say? _"Yeah, she is my former girlfriend. The girl I think about when I kiss you. The one I am trying to get over by being with you?"_

Probably not the best answer at the moment, regardless of how honest it was.

"I know her through Brock of Pewter City."

Dawn scoffed.

"Brock? Psh! Just another loser who inherited the Gym and didn't earn it. Who chooses these people, anyway? Rock-type Pokemon are so pathetic! What kind of respectable trainer –Gym Leader, chooses rock-type Pokemon to use in a battle? Go fish yourself the most pathetic Magikarp and you get his badge."

Ash felt his fists curl up and shake in anger.

"Dawn, just be quiet. You have no clue what you are saying."

Dawn rolled her eyes at him and dismissed him with her hand as she stood up and left the room. She had never seen Ash so worked out about people he did not even know. She was there to have fun and at the moment he was no fun at all. She knew he would get lonely and look for her company later on. He always came back, no matter what she did to him.

"_Poor, needy guy."_

She made her way out of the building to Ash's relief. He knew she would take him back as soon as he looked for her in a while and gave her a kiss. She was easy like that and Ash liked it that way. _"Poor, lonely girl."_

He grabbed the remote again, hoping Maya was still talking about Misty and Gary but she had just said her goodbyes. Ash cussed out the television and turned it off, yet he could not just let it go. He had to learn more about Misty and her new life. He stood up and ran back to his room where Pikachu was still resting. Ash's starter Pokemon had been sick lately and Nurse Joy had recommended long naps throughout the day. Maya's training was intense and Ash had been reluctant to train his other Pokemon more than he trained Pikachu, but it was costing his friend his health.

He went inside his room and patted Pikachu on his head. The rodent opened one eye to acknowledge his master's presence and went right back to sleep. Ash covered him up with his jacket before grabbing his laptop and sitting on the floor to not disturb the Pokemon on the bed. "Let's see that is up with those two."

Deep inside Ash felt a little bit betrayed by Misty and Gary. Gary was his childhood friend and he had never told him about his huge promotion to the League. He could have also told him he was now working with his former girlfriend and maybe give him a heads up of how she was. He could not blame Misty for not telling him how she was as he had not provided her with his new phone number, and she had nowhere to write him. He knew it was better this way; at least until she was done with her job and he was done with his.

Ash began searching the internet for news about an attack on Misty and was surprised to find several articles talking about her and her success with the Gym. He read every single article that had her name on it, and he was surprised to see Gary's name mentioned in these articles as well. He found an article related to the grand reopening of the Gym a few months ago and was sad to see her and Gary in the main picture of the article. Misty looked happy.

Gary looked happy.

Could have it been the pose that was required of them?

Or were they really having a good time?

When did he stop connecting to the world to the degree where he did not know about this and Dawn did?

Ash awed himself at the pictures of the renovated Cerulean Gym. Gary and Misty had surely put lots of time and effort on bringing the Gym back from the ashes of its shameful past, as well as improving their own personal fame. There were several articles about Misty's amazing battling skills and how she had not lost one battle since the Gym reopened. Acknowledging this fact brought a smile to Ash's face. She seemed happy.

And he felt happy for her.

He kept scrolling down and found an article describing the battling requirements for the Cerulean Gym. Ash knew the new requirements for all gyms but the title of the article _"Battling Underwater inside a Floating Pool,"_ caught his attention. He clicked on the title and the picture that appeared made the hair on the back of his neck stand. It was a picture of the gym's battle arena. The back of the picture showed the stands full of people with signs supporting Misty. In the front part of the picture he saw what the article described as "Cerulean's rising arena." Misty and the opposing trainer were both inside the swimming pool which was at ground level. The trainer was using a Goldeen. Misty was using a Dewgong.

Ash could not help but smile when he saw her again. Her long red hair floating around her head, and her green eyes that showed how serious she was in battle made him long for her presence even more. She seemed so secure and confident of herself. She had always believed in herself, but there was something different he could see even on a mere online picture. He stared at her to try and pinpoint what it was, and after a few minutes of getting lost in her eyes he found what he was looking for.

Her smile.

It was not her usual happy smiling face nor was it her accomplished feeling face. It was actually a mischievous smirk he had never seen on _her_ before, but he had _definitely_ seen on _someone_ before. He continued to examine every single little detail on the picture on his screen: the colors, the poses, the people, the trainers, the scores…the scorekeeper.

"_Scorekeeper?"_

Ash leaned over closer to the screen. On the right side of the picture, right behind Misty, was a lifelong friend of his. He was standing outside the pool with paper and pen in hand, with his usual overly important pose and his mischievous smile.

"_Mischievous smile?"_

Ash blinked several times in a row for the second time that day at the realization that dawned on him. That smile, that mischievous smile Misty had on her face belonged to no one else but the _great _Gary Oak.

At that same instant, Ash's fingers quickly slid on the touchpad of his laptop until they reached the big X on the top right corner of his screen. He clicked on it and the picture he had intensively looking at was gone. Ash felt a cold hand press on his chest; he had been looking for news of her wellbeing and found out more than he had wanted to know. He did not know why, but that picture had revealed more things that needed to be said or done. Now, more than ever, he felt the urge to blow the training and run without stopping until he reached Cerulean City. He was close to Viridian City anyway. Cerulean was not too far away, and Pewter City was on the road to Misty's home.

Ash sighed. Here he was, alone in Indigo Plateau, with his Pikachu on the edge of over exhaustion, with a girl he did not even care about counting the seconds for him to look for her and make out, away from his only two friends in the world, and now finding out Gary and Misty were becoming _good_ friends. Ash cracked his knuckles before opening another browsing window and searching more thoroughly for that incident in Cerulean article.

After a few more minutes he was able to find an article that related to what Maya had pointed out in the interview. He wondered why something so important had been kept in the dark from him. Maya knew how close he had been to Misty, and he believed she would have realized he would have wanted to know something like this. He did not understand the reason why he was not informed, but the reasons were not important at the moment. At the moment, all he wanted to know was what had really happened and how true was it that they were both alright.

Ash clicked on the title and began reading the article.

_Cerulean's Gym Leader is Almost Assaulted at City Carnival_

_Cerulean City's Post_

_By Jennifer Waltham  
_

_The Cerulean City's Police Department was called for backup when an anonymous call informed them of a fight in an alley of the city's annual carnival grounds. Little the police know the magnitude of the situation until they arrived just in time to prevent a great loss for the city and the Pokemon League._

_Josh Weston, a young Pokemon trainer who had just battled Gym Leader Misty Waterflower earlier today was shot and killed by an officer of CCPD at around 11:13 p.m. last night. Officials say Weston had battled Waterflower yesterday afternoon and had lost 3 to 1. The battle had been quite unofficially advertised as he had a known reputation of not losing one battle until then. The attendance to the battle broke the record that had been placed when the Gym reopened its doors for business three months ago. Waterflower had not lost one battle since the Gym reopened, and having two undefeated trainers battling against each other proved to be a show worth seeing yesterday._

_After the battle was over and the Gym had closed, Pokemon League representative Gary Oak and the Gym Leader visited Cerulean's annual carnival located in a popular downtown area. Less than a couple of hours before the carnival was to close for the day, Gary Oak contacted the security guards in the carnival reporting a missing person. Apparently, Waterflower had left Oak's side to run an errand and had not returned. After an hour of searching and asking, Oak decided to contact the authorities and a major search began._

"_We usually wait 24 hours to search for a missing person," Officer Jenny said, "but we were worried about the leader's wellbeing. It is not like her to run off and not tell anyone about it."_

_While the search took place, Waterflower was experiencing the worst battle of her life: a battle to survive. Weston had kidnapped Waterflower and had hidden in a dark alley in the carnival grounds while the visitors left. Weston tried to assault Waterflower._

_Waterflower tried to escape the premises but Weston had a gun with him. Waterflower had no comment for the media at the time of this interview._

_Oak found Waterflower just before Weston committed a second crime, and a fight between the trainer and the League member ended with two gun shots. Weston tried to shoot Oak but failed, causing only but a minor flesh wound from which Oak is recovering now, and a second shot from a police officer that went through Weston's head._

"_It was a tricky shot but we had heard a first gun shot and we had to act fast. We took the risk and cannot be more relieved that no innocent civilian was seriously hurt," A spokesperson for CCPD stated._

_Waterflower and Oak were taken to a hospital last night, and are expected to be released tomorrow afternoon. Even though specifics were not given, doctors assured that it was safe to say both young League members would recover. _

_Josh Weston was 17._

Ash stared at the screen and read the title several times, trying to make complete sense of what it said. He could not begin to comprehend the magnitude of the situation and how much worse it would have been had Josh Weston succeeded. Ash felt guilty for everything he had said and done until now. He owed Misty and Gary a big apology.

"_If Gary hadn't been there…"_ he did not even want to complete that sentence, afraid it would change the situation and make his worst fears come true.

Ash closed his laptop and placed it back on his desk. He sat on the floor again and rested his entire back and head on the wall. He banged his head against several times until he realized the noise he was making had woken up Pikachu.

Ash extended his arm and patted Pikachu on the head. "I am sorry, buddy. Go back to sleep. I'll be quiet, I promise."

Pikachu closed his eyes and went back to sleep again. Ash sighed and then rubbed his face with his hands. There were too many things to think about, but one thing was for obvious to him: he was a complete and absolute asshole.

Here he was, enjoying the good life while he trained to accomplish his childhood dream. He had no worries, no needs or wants that were not being met; he was truly having the time of his life while his friends were having the worst time of all.

"_And all because I decided to leave and ditch them…"_

Although he was grateful that Gary had been there to save Misty, he knew that it should not have been up to Gary to save her: it should had been him, Ash Ketchum, who saved his girl. Misty had saved him in so many unthinkable ways before, and the one time she really needed his help, he is off making out with another girl in another city, far away from her, claiming it to be part of achieving his dream.

He had broken up with the only girl he loved. Left his best friend who cooked so many meals for him in a Gym he had left for a reason. Had not even talked to his mother since the night he left. Had not even known about Gary moving on up in his life even though he claimed they were childhood friends. He was goofing around with a girl he did not even like that much, and his Pikachu was suffering from a major depression, all because he decided to screw everyone's feelings and leave them behind because…

"_It seemed like a good idea at the time."_

Ash growled.

He stood up and after carrying Pikachu in his arms he left the room. He exited the building, got on his bike and rode until he arrived at Indigo Plateau's Pokemon Center. He had been there just a few days before to treat Pikachu after a lost battle against Maya but he did not want to leave Pikachu alone. He needed time to think about what he truly wanted to do, and needed to leave the League's grounds for that. He wanted to leave Pikachu in good hands and could not think of any other better person to take care of him than Nurse Joy.

As he walked inside the building he realized how huge it really was. He had been to a Pokemon Center plenty of times, and he had certainly been to this one plenty of times too, but it had always been a very busy place. Tonight the center was almost empty with the exception of a couple of trainers who were getting ready to spend the night there, allowing him to see just how much space the Center really had. Nurse Joy greeted him as he approached the counter with Pikachu in his arms.

"Ash, I told you not to let him battle again. He hasn't recovered from the last battle and should be on bed for several weeks."

Ash smiled at the nurse and even though she was making false assumptions, there was no way he could be mad at her for doing so. She only said that because she was honestly concerned about Pokemon and concerned about Ash as a trainer too. She knew he had been pushing himself to the limit the past months and her statement about being on bed for several weeks had also been directed at him too. _"No wonder Brock had such a crush on this Joy above all the other Joy's in the world."_

"We haven't battled anyone, Nurse Joy. I am leaving town for a few hours and was wondering if I could leave him with you. I don't think it's safe for him to ride with me, and I don't want him to stay alone in my room while I am gone."

"Oh, I am sorry I misjudged you too quickly," she said with an apologetic smile. "I will be more than happy to watch over Pikachu for you. Where are you going? Going to visit your mom in Pallet Town?"

Ash did not answer. Again, Nurse Joy was pointing out something he should have done in a long time. It amazed him how this woman was able to reprimand him in a way it did not sound like she was scolding him. She made it sound like if it was part of a casual conversation, and he secretly felt thankful that she did. "I really should, right? I haven't seen her since I started living here. Looks like a good day to ride a bike, doesn't it?"

"It surely does! And I am sure your mom would love the surprise visit as well. If you leave now you will be in Pallet Town before the night really sets."

"Sounds like a plan! Thank you, Joy," Ash said as he handed Pikachu to the nurse. "I will be back tomorrow to pick him up."

"Don't worry. Pikachu is always welcomed here. Be careful and have safe trip."

"I will! Goodbye!"

Ash bowed to Joy and then made his way out of the center. He got on his bike again and rode as fast as he could until he left the Pokemon League Village. He needed to go away and think what he was going to do. He had to make a conscious decision about what was the best thing to do with his life. He could not leave it to an impulse again. Even though he had told Nurse Joy he was visiting his mom, he did not felt going home was the best thing to do. He did not feel worthy of returning home still empty handed, and he did no believe being at home would allow him to make the right choice.

"_Last time I was home, I lost my friends," _he thought as he rode his bike with no clear destination in mind. He enjoyed the way the wind blew on his face, and how free he felt from the confines of the League. Riding his bike and seeing and being in places he had been at ten years ago brought him memories of the good times he spent with his friends. He allowed his legs and feet to take him wherever they wanted to be that was not Indigo Plateau. Indigo Plateau was not a bad place to live, but he sure missed the good times where he spent no more than 3 or 4 days in one place and then left to meet new Pokemon, new places and make new friends.

As he rode his bike, his mind kindly offered images of his old travels and saw himself and his friends walking the same path he was riding at the moment. The feeling of remembering great times made his feet pedal faster and his heart pump at a rate of a thousand beats per second. He saw himself as a child, leaving home at a young age. He saw himself arriving at Professor Oak's mansion and seeing Gary leave promptly on schedule to begin his Pokemon journey. He saw himself getting Pikachu and the initial _shock_ that experience had been, literally.

He smiled at remembering how excited he had been when he faced the world, and how hard it had been to reach the place he now was. _"Took a long time but here I am."_

He undoubtedly knew where he had started, and where he was now. The real question now was: how bad he wanted to accomplish his dream anymore? It had truly taken him a long time, and much effort and strength to get where he was, but now that he was this close to his dream he had began to realize that perhaps being Maya's successor was not really what he wanted anymore.

He had made that decision when he was still a kid, and many things had happened in the last ten years. Before he wanted to become a Pokemon Master he did not have any real friends. Before he wanted to be the best in the Pokemon world he did not know there were other things out there besides training. Before he had made that decision, he had not been mature enough to think about his future and the consequences of devoting his life to Pokemon.

"_People involved with Pokemon have always ended up alone."_

Did he want to be alone?

Not anymore.

As his mind wandered with memories of the past and possible ideas for his future, he watched several Pokemon fly over him while some others hurried back to the depth of the trees around him. It was then he realized he had reached Viridian forest.

"_This bicycle is fast! We should have gotten some when we traveled by foot back in the day."_

Truth was that one of his friends _had_ one until _he_ broke it.

"Misty,"Ash whispered as he kept pedaling down the road to Viridian city.

As he rode by the forest he realized that this had been the place he had met Misty. It had also been the place he had caught his first Pokemon, and the place where his Pidgeot was let free to lead other Pokemon to keep their home safe.

The more he rode, the more memories appeared in his mind, and the more memories that appeared in his mind, the less he could take them. He had left Indigo Plateau to analyze his future, and he was now facing his past.

He did the only thing he could do at the moment: ride faster and as far away from Viridian as possible. He kept his eyes on the road and at the road only, avoiding the screaming memories that stood behind. He heard the voices of his friends asking him to go back and relive the good old days with them. He did not allow himself to go back. He could not go back. Those days were long gone and dead. He rode as fast as he could for two hours nonstop until a sudden change in the weather made him stop.

Ash felt a cool breeze surround him, and the cold wind on his face dried the tears that had made their way out. He noticed the sky was getting darker and wondered if he had miscalculated the time he had to be outside while the sun was still up. He looked at his watch and realized it was just five in the afternoon. The darkness surrounding him did not belong to the night; a storm was heading his way.

"Why am I always on a bike when it rains?"

Ash took out his Pokedex's GPS locator and realized he was too far away from Viridian City to go back. His only chance for shelter was his own home in Pallet Town.

"I guess I _will_ visit my mom after all."

The sprinkles pushed him to keep riding before the storm got worse.

Pallet Town was about half an hour away from where he was, and the storm seemed to be heading to his hometown. He was relieved to have chosen to leave Pikachu in Joy's care. If he had left him alone and it had stormed in Pokemon Village he would have felt as guilty as when he almost killed him ten years ago down this same road.

Fifteen minutes later, and half way home, the storm began pouring down on him. Every time a bolt of lightning illuminated the dark sky, he felt it was going to struck him dead. He had made terrible decisions in his life, but none of them seemed as bad as this one.

"Riding a bike seemed like a good idea at the time. I need to stop thinking short-term."

He felt his bike shake as a thunderbolt shook the ground. This only made him pedal faster.

Fifteen minutes later he was soaking wet, pressing the doorbell of his home.

A few seconds later, his mom appeared on the door, tears running down her face. Ash felt guilty seeing his mom's reaction. He did not blame her. He had neglected her for months.

"Mom…I…"

Delia pulled her son inside the house and hugged him for dear life. Ash felt his clothes dripping water all over the living room floor. "Mom, I'm ruining your floors."

"It doesn't matter, Ash. I'm so sorry for what happened. I'm truly sorry."

"_What is she sorry for? Does she know about Misty?"_

"Mom, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me. Are you ok? I haven't seen you in a long time. How you've been?"

Delia let go of his son and stared at him with a big frown on her face. Ash looked down at the floor, ashamed of not showing his face until now. "Ash…I am ok, but…you…you don't know what just happened…?"

Ash looked at her, realizing she was not talking about him being a terrible son for such a long time. "What are you talking about, Mom?"

His mother began crying again, this time alternating between moans and sobs. She stared at his son, tired, pouring water and unbeknownst of such horrible news. "Didn't Nurse Joy call you?"

Ash shook his head and reached for his cell phone, water dripping from it as well.

"My cell phone is dead. Did Joy call you?"

Delia nodded. "She said you were heading this way and that she had tried to reach you but you weren't answering. She thought you were not paying attention to your phone."

"What did she say?"

Delia's heart broke. She did not want to be the one to break the news to him.

"Mom, what did she say?"

She placed her arms around her son again and held him tight as she knew what was coming. She stood on her toes to reach his ear and whisper the most terrible sentence she would ever tell her son.

"Pikachu is dead. I'm sorry, son."


	8. Indigo Plateau: Day 1

**Summary of previous chapter:** Ash watched Maya on the TV and learns about Misty's incident in Cerulean's carnival. After seeing this, he decides to think about what he wants to do and after dropping off a sick Pikachu with Nurse Joy, he rides his bike to Viridian city. A storm drives him to Pallet Town where he sees his mom, only to tell him that Nurse Joy called to inform her that Pikachu died at the Pokemon Center.

**Chapter 8 – Indigo Plateau: Day 1**

The windows and doors of Cerulean's Gym were securely locked, followed by the sound of the metal covers being shut to place. The lights went off in the building and the only source of light in the entire place came from the living area of the home wing of the gym. A few other sounds were heard before the automated voice of the security system informed the two residents who were getting ready to leave that the building was _theft free_. An hour had passed since Misty had her last battle of the week, and no battles had been scheduled for Friday. The gym was to close Thursday night for the weekend on the basis that the Leader and her League Supervisor were to attend professional development in Indigo Plateau.

_"Just a fancy way to say we are attending boring meetings we can't get out of," _Gary thought as he made the last round around the gym to check that everything was secured, closed, in place, off and unplugged. He had earlier dropped off some Pokemon at the center while Misty kept her own Pokemon in her pokeballs for this weekend, following the rules that Pokemon shall never be left unattended for extended periods of time. He turned off the last surviving light in the living room before heading upstairs to gather his belongings from his room and heading to Misty's bedroom.

He was wearing a pair of blue jeans, a black t-shirt with a white shirt underneath that could be seen on the neckline and around his arms, and black tennis shoes. He had run to his room, picked up his backpack and then stood in front of Misty's door without knocking. That had been five minutes ago. He was still standing in front of it. He was not ready to see her yet.

Even though he knew the true reason why they were leaving the gym was to attend a business meeting, in the back of his mind the idea of going on a trip with her made him feel exceptionally excited about the whole ordeal. He had not gone on a trip of any kind in years, especially during his researching days. While it was true that he had attended several scientific conferences to share his findings, they were definitely not the same as picking up a bag and traveling along with friends. Even as a Pokemon trainer, he only traveled with his cheerleaders and he did it mostly on his convertible car. Even though he used to make fun of Ash for having to walk to be able to get to places, on a deep level he always felt jealous of him for being able to travel at the pace of his legs and in the company of such great friends. If he could go back in time and relive his trainer years, he would have made sure he had a friend or two to share his experiences with.

As he stared at her door, he could not help to think about the same thought that had woken him up today, three hours before he had to be awake, and had not allowed him to chill throughout the day. The more the thought about it, the more he wanted to hit himself against a desk for it. The only reason Ash had met Misty was because he had woken up late, had no other means of transportation but his own two legs, and had no experience in becoming a trainer to the point that he pissed off a spearrow on his first training day.

"_Being an idiot does pay off sometimes, I guess."_

If the great Gary Oak had died this exact same instant and had been asked for the _one_ thing he regretted about his life, he knew _exactly_ what he would say: _"Had not been the one who met her first."_

The reasons why he accepted this job were completely different from the reasons he wanted to stay now. He hated himself for being so selfish at first, but he could not change the fact that he had made a mistake; a truly _honest_ and young-people like mistake. He knew he should have never deviated from what his purpose to be here was. He knew he should have _not_ allowed anything to distract him, and that he should have not fallen prey to the wonders life was placing in front of him now. He knew he could not have what he wanted, and the thought of his secret being revealed had haunted him since he saw her falling down the stairs. He did not know exactly when, but sometime between seeing her pull an old and rusty door and seeing her standing in front of him with car lights lightning-up her figure only to show her torn clothes and her scared face as she stared at his blood-stained, ripped shirt and his clenched fists, had unquestionably changed something inside of him.

Something he had never felt before.

Something he had avoided ever since preschool when Nancy Thompson did not share her lunch with him.

Something he should have never developed for his best friend's girl.

Something he did not think he would ever feel for _her_, and something he knew she will never feel for him because he did not meet her first.

Gary sighed, cursing his luck and looking down at the floor. He took a few deep breaths to calm down. Thinking about all these things always made him clearly upset and he knew she had some sort of radar that allowed her to read his feelings like an open book. They were about to spend the weekend together; he could not afford to made this even more awkward than _he_ felt it already was.

After regaining his mind he knocked on the door and after a couple of seconds, a very tired Misty wearing a pair of orange capri shorts, white shirt, and orange flip flops opened the door with a worried look plastered on her face. She allowed him to walk inside as she returned to her desk and he closed the door behind him, dropping his luggage on the floor before jumping on her bed while she gathered the last pieces of her clothes and placed them inside her bag. She looked at Gary from the corner of her eye and felt amused at his childish attitude. "Aren't you're a little _too_ excited about this trip, Oak?"

Gary kept jumping on her bed as he smiled widely before he answered her question. "Why shouldn't I? We're ditching this place for three days. We're getting fed and entertained and I'm gonna be seen with one of the hottest Gym Leaders around. What's _not_ to like?"

Misty gave him a weak smile while folding her clothes and shrugging. "I'm only hoping I get to see my sisters and Brock too but…"

Gary raised his eyebrows at her. "But?"

"…H-he…he might be there too."

Gary's smile faded and his heart went out to her.

This was one of the reasons he hated his life.

He stopped jumping on her bed for his energy and excitement had suddenly disappeared. It had been five months since Ash had broken up with Misty and the sound of his name still made her cringe noticeably. He was secretly glad he had been there for her every single time she felt down like this but in less than a month his job at the Gym would be over and he did not know what he would be asked to do next. He did not want to think about it, but seeing Misty like this reminded him that in a few weeks she would be alone again…and so would he.

_"Maybe we can be alone together,"_ he thought.

He combed his spiky hair with his fingers and stood up from her bed, placing his right arm around her, softly pulling her head to his shoulder and allowing his right hand to playfully stroke her cheek. "Cheer up, Red. Even if he _is_ there and you see him, it doesn't mean he will be rude to you. Maybe you can talk about what happened that night. Make you can make up and at least be friends again."

"Maybe."

But being friends was the last thing she wanted from Ash Ketchum right now. She did not believe she would be pleased to take his friendship over his love this soon. Part of her still loved him; part of her wanted to move on. She had heard her sisters said once, a long time ago, that it took half of the time you dated a guy to be able to get over him. He and Misty had dated for three years. She still had good over a year to go. Then again, neither of her sisters had ever been in love.

Misty stared at her bag of clothes, thinking about what Gary had just said. She took a deep breath and exhaled in a cut-like, shaky way, feeling tears forming in her eyes. Gary tighten his hug on her as a response after hearing her nervous sigh. "It's gonna be alright. I'll be there for you, ok?"

Misty closed her eyes as she recalled the last time she had heard those exact same words being said to her. They had come from Ash himself a long time ago, and she had believed every single one of them and had taken them to heart. Yet, here she was years later, and the one comforting her broken heart was not Ash, but someone who had been a stranger to her for the longest time until recently: Gary "Playboy" Oak. She sighed again but this time she turned around and embraced Gary, enjoying the soothing feeling of his warm body. She placed her arms underneath his arms and rested her hands on his back while she pressed her own body against him. Her face found a perfect spot on his chest and rested there. He smelled unbelievable good and she took a deep breath to inhale the best scent of his cologne. Gary was motionless for a moment as his mind understood what was happening and then quickly regained his wits before placing his arms around her too while resting his chin on her head. Her hair smelled as good to him as his cologne smelled to her.

"Promise me the moment he starts getting on my nerves you'll take me away from him," she said before pressing her face on his chest.

"I promise. Though I really think you should talk to him anyway."

Misty growled. She knew Gary was right.

"Ei wod fry," she said while her face still rested on his chest.

"What?"

"Ei fer, ei wod fry."

"Misty, I can't understand you."

Misty reluctantly pulled away her face from his chest and looked up to face him. She stood on her toes and pulled herself up by placing her hands on his shoulders and lifting herself up. She continued to lift herself up until her face was so close to his that he was able to feel the warmth of her breath when she whispered her statement a third time. "I_ said_ I will try," she said before smiling up at him.

Gary could only nod at her sentence as the realization of the closeness between them had just dawned on him. He stared at her deep, green eyes and she stared back with the same intensity his brown eyes stared down at her. Even though they had not said another word, their bodies spoke thousands for them. He allowed his right arm to rest on the back of her neck while his left arm explored her back until it rested on her lower back, pulling her closer to him. She welcomed the gesture by slowly sliding her hands from his shoulders to his chest while keeping contact with his eyes. They both felt their bodies tingle and their lungs being emptied from any amount of air.

Gary, still looking down at her, alternated between staring at her eyes and her lips. They both looked so tempting and screamed his name. She then in turn alternated from staring at the same parts he was looking at, being able to faintly hear her name coming from them as well. He began to slowly tilt and lower his head to his right while Misty followed the same movement as his. Their eyes began to slowly close until they were completely shut and their lips just inches apart.

Gary opened his eyes one last time and attentively stared at her face, absorbing every inch of it. She looked so peaceful and relaxed, ready for what was to come. She wanted it. He wanted it. They had both wanted it for so long. This was their chance, and for hell's sake they were not going to let the opportunity pass them by.

He closed his eyes and finally closed the distance between them.

His lips were on hers for one split second...

And then the taxi cab honked from the outside.

Gary growled as his lips detached from Misty's and rested his left cheek on her right cheek, whispering an heart filled apology to her ear. She stroked his right cheek with her hand and his left cheek with her right one. "Don't be, Gary," she whispered back. "We should have not done this anyway. It's my fault," Misty said.

Gary felt taken aback. _"Shouldn't have done __**this**__? Did she really just say she __**didn't**__ want it?"_

Gary felt his heart skip a beat the same way it skipped one when he saw Josh Weston about to take out his anger on her that night at the carnival. "It's ok," he lied. "We should get going. We are gonna miss our flight."

Misty nodded and turned around to close and zip her bag. His body begged for her warmth to return to where it had been a second ago, but there was now way to going back to it now. She carried both of her bags while a hurt Gary carried his and opened the door for her. She thanked him for being such a gentleman and both of them were outside the Gym and on the taxi cab before they spoke again. Maybe it was _not_ a good idea to be away from the Gym for three _long_ days.

The ride to the airport was mostly uneventful except when the driver told Misty he was glad to see she was fine, and that he was taking his wife and kids to her gym on Monday to see her battle again. _"My little one wants to be a trainer now. She says she wants to be like you."_ He had told them and had made her feel special. She looked at Gary with a bright and thankful smile. _"I told you. Hottest Gym Leader in the League,"_ he had said, earning him a laugh from her.

The Convention started promptly at 8a.m. tomorrow, Friday. They had scheduled their flight on Thursday night, and they would leave in about two hours. They planned to attend the welcome banquet at 8 tonight and had dressed casually as indicated. They did not want to take any chances with the League. Their nationwide broadcast of the carnival incident had left them on a very vulnerable place, especially the gold-diggers who published that Misty and Gary were dating and that Josh was Misty's lover, seeking revenge for his unrequited love.

Four hours and three cities later, Gary and Misty had made it to the entrance of Indigo Plateau. They were greeted by the security guards at the doors and after identifying themselves as League members, they were allowed to walk inside to the receptionist's table. The reception lobby was filled with other trainers and so many familiar faces it felt like a high school reunion to Gary, even though he had never been to high school and had been home-schooled. He looked around and saw Erika playing with her Vileplume on a corner of the room. Misty saw Sabrina meditating at another corner of the room while Bruno was doing the same sitting on the floor, Indian style, right next to her with his eyes closed.

Misty and Gary waved at people they knew while trying make it in between the crowd to reach the front counter to check-in. A few minutes later they had finally made it to the counter where a white-haired, old lady with big, thick glasses asked for their names.

"Gary Oak and Misty Waterflower from Cerulean City, ma'am."

The old lady cooed and smiled. "Oh! Cerulean's star gym leader is here! It's a pleasure to finally meet you, child!" she said as she pulled on Misty's cheek. Misty could not recall the last time she had been called a child while she twitched inside and Gary humored her with his quick elbowing.

"Thank you! I am…flattered that you know me."

"Don't be silly, sweetheart! _Everybody_ knows you and admires you. You have done so many wonderful things to that Gym of yours. You must be tired, though. Here, let me set you kids up, ok?" Misty nodded, thankful that the cheek-pinching would soon be over, and upset at the fact that Gary was not getting the same kind of _love_ the lady was giving her. The lady looked up something in the computer that was in front of her with what could only be described as the patience of a saint. She narrowed her eyes behind her thick glasses so much that her wrinkles were overly exposed, making Misty shiver at the thought of being_ that_ old. Gary was surprised to see a lady this old been able to use a computer at all, so he did not blame her for her lack of speed while using it. He had to admit two-finger typists were a rare breed these days. Twenty minutes later the lady handed each one of them a card key.

"Here you go, sweeties. Misty, you are staying in room 347. You are sharing rooms with Daisy Waterflower, isn't it strange she shares your last name?"

Misty's eyebrow twitched. "She's my sister."

"Oh! Of course! Silly me. Gary Oak, you'll be in room 512 and will share rooms with Brock Slate."

"Oh wow! Brock is gonna be in my room! Misty, you could talk to him now!"

Misty felt excited at the idea of seeing Brock again, but also feared Brock would avoid her as he had been avoiding her before. She had nothing to lose if she tried, but she decided she would ask Gary to talk to him first and weigh up the territory before she even attempted to talk to him again.

"The banquet will start in about half an hour. You kids should go drop off your luggage and then come right back downstairs. The banquet will be in the room over there," she said while she pointed to her right. "Elevators are over there," she said as she pointed to her left. "Have fun!"

"Thank you, ma'am."

Gary and Misty picked up their luggage from the floor and headed for the elevators. They pushed the up button and waited for any of the doors to open up. Misty stared at her card key and felt excited to be able to see at least one of her sisters right away. She had missed them all so much, and wanted to tell them all the great things they had both accomplished back home. "Sucks we'll be two floors away, doesn't it?"

Misty looked up at Gary and nodded. Truth was both of them had gotten used to living under the same roof, and even though technically they would be living under the same roof again for three days, two floors were _too_ far apart for their taste, especially since they had slept in the same room for several nights.

"We probably won't see much of each other either unless we have the same meetings, which we probably won't."

"Relax, babe. I'll visit you at night if you miss me _that_ much."

"Visit _me_ or visit _Daisy_?"

"What?"

"Don't play fool with me! You know Daisy's my roommate."

"Hey, the more the merrier, I say."

Misty chuckled. Truth was that he just wanted to see her, Misty, and not exactly see Daisy. He felt he was missing her already even though she was standing right there next to him, and he knew this was not a good sign. This was probably the only night he would get to be with her for the next three days, and he did not like the idea at all. _"How do I expect to continue my life without talking to her if I am mad at not seeing her as I please for three fucking days?"_

Gary looked away while he cracked his knuckles.

"Hey, maybe you'll get lucky here and score some hot chick!"

Gary turned back to face her, wondering if she had really meant what she had just said. However, a very poorly disguised smile on her face told him what was really going on. He kicked his bag and snapped his fingers in the air.

"Dammit! I forgot my condoms!"

"I'm sure Brock can lend you some."

Gary scoffed.

"By the things you've told me about him, his condoms must be _very_ old and unused."

Misty laughed again, making Gary laugh at her moment of happiness provided by him. "What are you laughing at? You don't have condoms either. How are you ever gonna be able to score?"

Misty laughed even harder. She knew what he had said had not been that funny, but the laughter made her feel good and made her forget the situation she was in. If she could focus on him, her sisters, and Brock for the rest of the weekend she knew she had a big possibility of surviving the task.

The continued giggling, mostly at the people that walked by and made faces at them until the ring of an elevator being opened made them stop. The doors in front of them opened to reveal Maya Amherst herself joined by Dawn Hall and the one and only Ash Ketchum. Misty began to feel a distinct coldness take over her body.

All three occupants left the elevator and stopped right in front of the Cerulean representatives. Misty stared at Maya, trying to avoid looking at Ash while Ash stared at Gary with an accusing and curious eye. Dawn and Maya were unaware of the tension between the three old friends. "Misty, Gary! I am so glad you are here!" Maya said while shaking hands with both of them.

Gary and Misty smiled politely at her trying to hide their initial shock of seeing Ash again after five months. They never thought their reunion was going to be so quick and sudden; they were not ready for such a reunion. "Allow me to introduce my apprentice trainers. This is Dawn Hall, and this is Ash Ketchum."

Gary and Misty had no option but to act as if they had never seen Ash in their life to avoid any confrontations. They shook both trainers' hands as calmly as they could. Misty's hand was trembling when she shook Ash's hand, and Ash applied a little bit too much force on his hand exchange with Gary. Dawn, oblivious to the situation, jumped of excitement and stood right in front of Gary, her hands resting on his chest. "Oh, wow! You are so much cuter in person than on TV."

Maya rolled her eyes at her and pulled her back to them before Dawn could make a fool of herself even further. Gary smiled and took a step back and away from Dawn, and somewhat stood slightly behind Misty thinking of her as a human shield. "Aw, but it is _true_ Maya. Don't you think so too Ash? Don't they both look cuter in person than on TV?"

Ash slowly looked at Misty up and down like he had never seen her before in his life and nodded with a shy smile on his face. "Absolutely, Dawn," he said while he stared at her eyes with the same sparkle he had in his eyes when he was a child.

"See, Maya?"

Maya chuckled and apologized to the Cerulean representatives for Dawn's childish behavior. "I shall see you in the banquet. I am looking forward to hearing your experiences as a Gym Leader, Misty."

"Will do, ma'am."

Gary and Misty excused themselves and entered the elevator, exhaling deeply as the doors closed behind them. Misty felt like the ground was shaking even though it was only her legs, and rested her back against the elevator wall. Gary placed a hand on her shoulder and asked her if she was alright.

"I am. It was just so…unexpected."

"Tell me about it, but you held great. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, but I don't know who scared me most: Ash or Maya."

"I know! She looks so intimidating in person."

"You shouldn't be intimidated. You _work_ for her!"

"I do but…this is the first time I've see her in person in my life."

"What?"

Gary nodded. "All the conversations I had with her had always been on the phone. This is the first time we are in the same room at the same time."

"Are you serious?"

"Positive. Though she reminds me of someone; maybe I met her before and didn't know who she was."

Misty remained quiet for a second as the elevator stopped on the third floor and she began walking out. "Now that you mention it, she does seem familiar to me too."

Gary stepped out of the elevator and joined Misty's on her walk to her room. "This isn't your floor Gary Oak."

"I know. I just want to see where your room is."

"And see if my sister is there?"

"Stop it! I'm not here to see your sister!"

"Sure you are not."

"Whatever, I give up. Think whatever the heck you want," he said, looking away from her.

Misty loved teasing him like that. She loved seeing him pout and cross his arms like a little boy who did not get the toy truck he wanted for his birthday. She loved the face he made when she teased him like this. She loved the fact that she could tease him one second, and then be like nothing ever happened between them the next second after that. They kept walking down the hall and arrived to her room. Misty took out her card key but before she could use it, the door opened from the inside to reveal three familiar faces on the other side of the door.

"MISTY!"

Suddenly, Misty was surrounded by three girls who hugged her and carried her inside the room. "Oh, my God! We are so relieved to see you! Are you ok? We heard what _almost_ happened to you. We were worried sick, sis. Are you ok, Misty? Tell us the truth!"

Misty looked apologetically at her sisters and assured them she was fine while holding up her hands on the air. "Gary saved me just in time. I am in good hands, you know."

The three sisters looked back at him with pleading eyes before hugging him with the same intensity they had hugged their sister. "You are such a cute little boy. Thank you so much for watching over our clumsy sister!"

"HEY, I AM NOT CLUMSY!"

"AND I AM NOT LITTLE…ANYWHERE!"

"You both know what we mean," the older Waterflower sisters said. "We're just glad you are alright."

"We are, but we're also starving. We should go downstairs before that receptionist comes looking for us."

"Yes, please. I don't think my cheeks can take one more pinch." Misty said.

"And Im'ma go drop this off. See you guys downstairs?" Gary asked.

"Yup."

Misty left her bags on what she assumed her bed was going to be and followed her sisters and Gary outside the room. Gary took the stairs to his floor while the reunited sisters took the elevator downstairs and made their way to the main conference room.

Misty was in awe at the sight. She knew a conference of this magnitude would have many attendees, but she never realized exactly how many people were members of the Pokemon League until now. The conference room was nicely decorated and round tables and fancy chairs decorated the place. At the very back of the room she saw a podium on an elevated surface, and a big screen mounted on the back wall. There were two huge speakers on either side of the room, and waiters and waitresses serving food and drinks to the people that were already seated. She looked around and saw signs on the tables showing that seating had been previously assigned.

Her sisters had been there before her, and knew where their seats were. She said goodbye to them and walked to the nearest table to find her seat. She picked up the list taped to the table and did not find her name on it. She excused herself from the people at the table and repeated the process until she reached the last table on the row and found her name.

To her saddening surprise, she was seating with people she did not know at all. She had read Brock's name about three tables before, and Gary's name was nowhere to be seen, telling her he was sitting on the opposite side of the room. She took on her seat and waited for the banquet to start.

Misty stared around the room, looking for something to do or stare at it to ease up her boredom. She was alone on her table and the waiters had not stopped by to bring her food. Her eyes wandered around the room and she smiled at familiar faces she had not seen in the lobby. She saw her sisters table on the other side of the room and saw Gary was sitting with them. She felt isolated and jealous that her sisters got to hang around with him instead of her.

"Lucky bitches," she joked.

She looked to the table in front of her and saw the girl she had just met a few minutes before. She was sitting on the table right across from her…and Ash was sitting next to her.

Misty felt her body freeze.

She was looking at him, and he was looking at her.

"_Oh, God! What do I do?"_

Misty shifted uncomfortable on her seat and tried to look away from him but his eyes were set on her. She felt her jaw and fists clench like they had the first time he had seen him coming out of the elevator. However, this time it was worse. This time she was alone…and he was heading for her.

"_Shit."_

Ash stood up and began walking towards her. She tried to pretend she had not seen him but her eyes would not look away, and her legs refused to move. She could tell he was as nervous as she was but that did not make her feel better at all. She could only stare and he could only continue to walk to her.

He was now halfway there.

Misty began shaking and looked away for one second to where Gary was sitting. He was looking at them; both of them, and the look on his face pained her to no end. _"I am sorry, Gary. I am so sorry."_

Ash wondered who she was looking at, but he did not make any attempt to find out. His eyes were fixed on her and with every step he took she looked more beautiful to him.

Ten more feet and he would be standing next to her; only ten more feet.

"Welcome, League members. This is Lance speaking. Please take your seats; we are beginning our program right now."

In a matter of seconds, people began walking around from one side of the room to the other, and before Misty knew what was going on, the crowd had covered Ash and gotten on his way. When the crowd was gone, so was he. This could have been her only chance to talk to him, and it was now long gone.

"Good evening, members. I hope you are finding the accommodations quite comfortable. We are very excited to have you all here for the first time ever. Please take a moment to greet and meet the people in your table. More likely than none, you have never seen them in your life. Please introduce yourself now."

A split second after Lance had given us the command, the conference room was filled with voices of hundreds of people speaking at the same time. Misty turned to her right and saw a young blonde girl with short hair smiling at her. She was wearing a pink blouse and a denim mini-skirt. She extended her hand to introduce herself to Misty.

"Hi! My name is Becca Gall. Nice to meet you, Misty"

Misty smiled and shook her hands. "I am…Misty Waterflower…but it seems you know me."

"Everyone in this room does, but they didn't get to sit right next to you."

Misty giggled. "Where are you from, Becca?"

"I am from Celadon City."

"Oh! Do you belong to Erika's Gym?"

"Actually, I supervise Erika. I got second place in the last Pokemon Tournament and Maya asked me to join the League because of that. I love the job, though. Doesn't Gary Oak supervise your Gym?"

"Yes, he does. He has helped me so much. What you guys do is so awesome."

"Thank you. Gary is a great person. I am sure he has done more amazing things than I have."

"He is. He is a very hard-working person, that silly boy."

"I know. I know Gary well…_very_ well."

"Oh…"

Misty did not know what to say to that, and did not want to look into it too much either, but the way she had said it had made her feel uncomfortable. "However," Becca continued, "If I had to choose a supervisor, I would choose Ash Ketchum. He is so cute and his Pikachu was adorable."

"I've seen it. He fought me to get his badge when he was little. Pikachu is amazing."

"Was."

"I am sorry?"

"Pikachu _was _amazing. Poor thing died last month."

Misty's hand went to her chest and she could not help the sob that escaped her mouth. She felt tears forming in her eyes as she covered her mouth with both of her hands. "Pikachu…died?"

Becca frowned. "I am sorry. I thought you knew…I didn't mean to upset you."

"Don't…don't worry. But…what happened to him?"

"Well, Maya's training is intense, and Pikachu was old for a Pokemon so after a few months of training he got very sick. Ash did not allow him to fight anymore but as soon as Pikachu felt better he fought anyway. The last time he did that he passed out in the battle arena when one of Maya's Pokemon beat him."

"Did he die during the battle?"

"No. Little thing survived but he could not even stay awake. Ash took care of him and he seemed to be getting better. Ash visited his mom about a month ago but left Pikachu at the Pokemon Center here in Indigo Plateau so he could rest but even before Ash made it to his home, a storm killed the electricity in this side of town. Pikachu went against Nurse Joy's pleads to not help and even after she sedated him he kept the emergency generators going."

"Why…why did he do that?"

"Well, after Ash had dropped him off Maya went in with a very injured Pokemon and was sent directly to the surgery room. Pikachu was trying to help the injured Pokemon and pushed himself too much. He died at the Center that night."

Misty could not control the tears coming from her eyes. She could not imagine how much Ash was hurting and she wanted to stand up, run to his table and comfort him. Nothing that had happened to her so far, not even the night at the carnival, compared to the suffering Ash was going through right now.

"I didn't know. Poor Ash. Poor Pikachu."

"He is not over it yet. He hasn't battled since. Rumor has it that he wants to retire."

"Retire? From the training Maya is providing?"

"Retire from battling at all. If he does that, the League will suffer the loss of such a great trainer. I really hope he doesn't."

Misty was shock speechless. Now, more than ever, she felt the need to talk to him, even if it was just to comfort him for his loss, even if it was for just a minute. She could not let him suffer alone, regardless of what he had done to her. Their old friendship did not allow her to just walk away and let him face this alone.

"Alright, members," Lance said. "Let me introduce our Pokemon Master and President of the Pokemon League, Maya Amherst."

And with a pained look at Ash from Misty, and a pained look at Misty from Gary, the League's first member conference began.


	9. Indigo Plateau: Day 2

**Summary of previous chapter:** Misty and Gary arrive at Indigo Plateau for the League's convention. Daisy is in the same room as Misty, and Gary is in the same room as Brock. Misty and Ash have to opportunities to talk but are interrupted before they can really speak out the minds. A trainer Misty meets in the convention tells her Pikachu died last month.

**Chapter 9 – Indigo Plateau: Day 2**

A knock on Misty's door forced the redhead to open her eyes for a brief second before pulling the covers and covering her head with them. She could not believe how comfortable her bed was, and how anyone could possibly purposely want to interrupt her sleep. The knocking got louder and faster but Misty did not budge, rolling to the side of the bed and tightening her grip on the blankets. A third knock on the door made her growl and mumble something along the lines of _"Gary, go away,"_ before closing her eyes again.

"Darling, Gary is_ not_ here," a female voice said.

Misty opened her eyes and in a quick motion removed the covers from her head, sitting on her bed with eyes wide open. She stared at her sister as she stood up from the bed and went to the door to open it. "Good morning, leaders. I was sent to inform you that breakfast will be ready in five minutes. Please join us there."

Daisy smiled at the man outside her door and thanked him for letting them know about breakfast before closing the door and heading to the bathroom. Misty blushed at the thought of her sister hearing her call Gary's name so early in the morning, but she had forgotten where she was. Yesterday's evening seemed like a dream but she quickly realized that she truly was in Indigo Plateau, she was starting at her sister, and that she had seen and spoken for a brief second at the elevator with Ash last night.

Daisy walked out of the restroom and headed to her luggage to choose the clothes she was wearing today. "So, tell me Misty. Gary wakes you up with a banging on the door or by banging your head on a headboard?"

Misty fell her face turn red as she got out from bed and headed to the restroom, not uttering a word. She heard her sister chuckle and she growled for the lack of quick wit to come up with a response. After fixing up herself she too headed to her bag and chose what to wear for the day. Daisy sat on her bed and began reading a magazine while she waited for Misty to be ready to leave. Looking at her set of new clothes, Misty realized there was something she had to tell her sister before she returned home. With a trembling voice she spoke. "Daisy, I need to apologize to you."

"What for sis?" Daisy asked without shifting her eyes away from the magazine.

"The night…the night at the carnival, I was…I was wearing your clothes…and…"

Daisy looked up and faced her sister. She could not believe her little sister was apologizing for something so stupid. She could be 70 years old and she would still apologize to her for the dumbest things. "Misty, like, there's no need to apologize. We're just so happy you're alright and safe."

Misty nodded and after a quick second of meditation she hurried up to get dressed. In a matter of minutes, Daisy and Misty were downstairs in the room they had dinner the night before, only that today there were buffet tables with plenty of breakfast food. The two other sisters ran to the entrance as soon as Misty and Daisy had gone inside and they all made it to the buffet together. It had been a long time since the four sisters sat down and ate together, and they felt this was a special occasion to them. Misty grabbed a small plate and put some eggs and bacon on it, as well as toast. The rest of the sisters filled their plates with portions of all the food there was and after fighting the crowd, they headed to older sisters' table. Gary was already there and eating.

"Morning, Gary!"

"Morning girls…and Misty."

Misty scoffed. "What's that supposed to mean?" Her sisters giggled as they sat and began eating and enjoying the scene. Misty remained standing up, holding her plate on one hand and not truly wanting to sit down at the same table with him anymore after his comment. "I just meant you're a woman. Your sisters are still girls."

"Are you calling me old?" Misty asked tapping the floor with her foot, plate still on one hand and her other hand on her hip.

"That's not what I meant." Gary said, focusing on a piece of bacon that was trying to escape his plate and his fork. "Sit down, Misty. We've got a long day ahead of us."

Misty shook her head. She knew Gary was kidding around, and his sarcastic comments had never truly annoyed her until today. She did not know why it had hurt her so much, but it had and that was all that mattered to her at the moment. "No, thanks. I'm gonna go to my table. See you _girls_ later."

Gary dropped his fork and stared at her with an annoyed face. "Misty, stop acting like a child and sit down with us. If you don't hang out with us now, you won't be able to do it until lunch."

Misty frowned. "I don't want to talk to you. It's a little bit too early to insult me, don't you think?"

Gary grabbed his napkin and cleaned his mouth before standing up and throwing the napkin on his plate. "I'm full. I'll see you girls later."

Gary went around the table and walked right next to Misty without saying a word or even looking at her for a second. She had not ever seen Gary so upset and he had most certainly never given her the cold shoulder like this before. Misty stared at him until he disappeared behind the exit of the room. She placed her plate on the table and sat, but suddenly she was not very hungry anymore. She just stared at the plate of perfectly edible food that looked like perfectly inedible crap to her.

"That was harsh Misty. Like, why'd you do that?"

"Me? He was the one who started it!"

Her sisters looked at her with a condescending face before speaking to her again.

"Mist, that is, like, no way to treat your boyfriend."

"Boyfriend? He's not my boyfriend!"

"Where have we heard this before?"

"He's not!"

"As if! We've seen the news. You guys are, like, the hottest couple in the Pokemon World."

"We're not! There's nothing between Gary and me!"

"If you say so, but we think there should be. Isn't Ash dating that girl Dawn? Like, you should totally move on too."

"Ash is dating Dawn?"

"You…didn't know?"

"Does this seem like the face of a person who knows?!"

"Misty, chill out. We're your sisters and just want the best for you. Gary's, like, a really sweet guy."

"Wouldn't_you_ know, Daisy?"

"Like, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't act innocent, Daisy. You and Gary…"

"Me and Gary what?"

Misty could not bring herself to say it. All three of her sisters were staring at her, waiting for her to finish her sentence but she could not. How was she supposed to ask her sister about her hidden relationship with Gary without sounding like she was jealous? She could not prove her point of she did.

Misty rapidly tapped the table with her fingers while her eyes wandered around the room avoiding the mocking looks of her sisters. She stood up and left without saying another word. Her sisters saw her leave and disappear behind the closing doors of the conference room.

"Like, what's her problem?"

"I don't know but I'm gonna find out."

The three older sisters finished their breakfast while the younger sister made her way down the halls looking for Gary. She had gone up to his room but nobody had been there, and part of her felt thankful that Brock was not there either. She still did not know if Brock still considered her a friend and did not want to spoil whatever effort Gary had made to reconcile their friendship.

She had checked her room and the main lobby as well, but with so many people around Gary was nowhere to be seen. After twenty minutes of searching for him, Misty finally gave up and stepped out of the building, sitting on a bench in front of the door. She allowed her legs to stretch and covered her face with her hands, taking deep breaths to calm herself. She felt horrible inside. She truly did, and she wanted nothing more than to apologize to him. "It was stupid. _I_ was stupid."

She kept her hands on her face, slowly feeling better for now. With her eyes closed and with everything she had done so far she felt her body relax to the point of feeling drowsy. She still had 45 more minutes until the first session and she really felt like taking a quick nap. She uncovered her face and yawned before opening her eyes again.

And there he was, standing in front of her and lit a _cigarette_.

He had a face full of grief, and his posture denoted how tired he really was. When she had seen him yesterday at the elevator she had avoided eye contact with him as much as possible. However, at this moment there was no way she could avoid him. He was standing two feet away from her, and she was positive she had not developed the power of invisibility in the past three seconds. He took the cigarette to his mouth and exhaled the smoke in such a fashion a bystander would think he had been doing it all his life.

He removed the cigarette from his mouth and tapped it in between his fingers, making some of the ash fall to the ground. He looked up and stared directly at her eyes and without saying a word he walked towards her and sat right next to her on the same bench. He rested his elbows on his thighs and allowed his head to hang down while he repeated his smoking motion before he spoke. "How're ya feeling, Mist?"

She turned around and faced him, not believing he was really sitting next to her and had just asked her how she was, or the fact that he was smoking. Yet, the best part of all for her was that his eyes showed the old Ash, the one she had met and fallen in love with. Whatever happened between them this moment, it would happen between the old Ash, and the old Misty.

She clenched her fists to avoid the need to place her hands on his face or from smacking his hand and making him drop the cigarette, and all she did was nod to answer his question. She turned around and stared at the floor. Ash could not stop staring at her. She was really there, and he was really there, and they were alone. For both of them, the time they had spent apart had been too long, and many things had happened to them. There were so many questions to ask and many stories to tell, but all she could do now was staring at her interesting feet. She had to say something, anything, to get the conversation started.

She sighed and sadly recalled the news she had been given last night by Becca Gall and felt it was a good time to let her feelings known about the situation. "Heard 'bout Pikachu. I'm truly sorry."

Ash lowered his cap like he always did when he was avoiding eye contact or a particular conversation. The last time he had done that to her they had broken up. However, there was nothing to break anymore. Misty knew it was just too early to talk about it with him but she did not want Ash to feel he had to face this loss alone.

"Thanks. Still can't believe he's gone."

"I can't believe it either. I'd never thought he would…y'know, not in a long time."

"Yeah. He was old for a Pokemon but he was a great friend."

Misty sighed again while she nervously played with her hands. Ash smoked some more.

"Did you…?"

"Yeah…he's at my mom's house."

"Couldn't have chosen a better place myself. How's your mom?"

"She's alright. She asked me about ya."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. She found out about…that night…I told her you were in good hands."

Misty chuckled. "I am."

They remained quiet for a while and stared at the trees and birds around them. Misty stared at her watch to make sure she was not late to her first session but only two minutes had passed since she sat on that bench. She sighed for the tenth time in a span of two minutes. Ash cleared his throat. It was amazing to see how two people who had experienced moments of great intimacy in the past were not able to have a civil conversation anymore. Ash opened up his mouth to speak several times but nothing he could think of was good enough to talk about. He knew she was coming to the convention and even though he had been expecting to talk to her and see her again, now that he was sitting next to her he had absolutely nothing to say. Ash cursed his luck and said the first thing that came to his mind, just for the sake of breaking the awkward silence between them.

"About the carnival…I'm glad nothing bad happened to you."

Misty nodded. "It was a close call, but Gary rescued me just in time."

_"Gary!"_they both thought.

"Gary's a pretty stand up guy. Is he annoying as a supervisor?"

Misty smiled. "Not at all! He's very sweet, and kind and caring. He's saved my ass more than one time."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Guy's pretty amazing."

"Sounds like you guys are getting along pretty well."

"We are. I really trust him."

"That's good."

"Yup."

"But you shouldn't."

Misty turned around and faced Ash, frowning at him for a quick second. She did not want to jump into conclusions and took the innocent approach to clarify what he had just said. "What?"

"I said you shouldn't trust him."

Misty crossed her arms, feeling offended that Ash had just said that about him…twice. Sure, he was a flirt sometimes, and sometimes he could really get on her nerves, but he had not done anything intentional to hurt her.

"Why are you saying that?"

"_Because_ I know him, and I know you, and I know why he's there. Just, don't trust him."

Misty could not believe her ears.

"I'm sorry but I don't understand why I shouldn't trust him. I thought he was your friend. How can you talk about him like that?"

"I thought that too, but he's not. It's not like he doesn't talk shit about me too."

"What?!"

Ash took off his cap and scratched his head then placed his cap back on. Misty eyed him not being able to believe Ash was telling her that Gary was not to be trusted. How dare he say that about Gary when the one that had been breaking his back to bring the Gym to its current level all along with her had been Gary and not Ash?

"Look, I can't tell ya much, but he's not what he seems to be."

"How is he _not_ what he seems to be? Is he a fairy? A Caterpie in disguise? What?" Misty asked as she threw her arms in the air.

Ash growled as his desperation rose. He regretted bringing up the conversation but he knew things about Gary that Misty did not know. He had promised himself he would not get involved in Gary's games but he had not known he would play them with Misty's feelings as well.

"Ash?"

"Just trust me, ok? Don't trust him. He's not being honest with you."

Misty scoffed. "Don't _you_ have the balls to tell me something like that? Why should I trust _you_over him?"

"Just do as I say. Don't question my motives."

"What? No! If anyone has given me _any_ reasons not to trust him is you. Gary has done nothing more than take care of me and help me keep my home; my home that I almost lost! How would you feel if someone kicked out your mom from her house?"

Ash dropped the cigarette on the floor and stomp on it several times as he responded.

"Are you blind? He's not doing this for you! He's doing this for himself!"

Misty stood up from the bench resting her left hand on her hip and using her right hand to point at Ash. "Shut up! You're just mad that I have someone I can trust and you don't. Aren't you and Dawn getting along? Are you gonna dump her on your next birthday too?"

"What?"

"Don't play stupid with me! I know you and Dawn are dating. My sisters told me."

"Your sisters?"

"Yes!"

"Your sisters told you I was dating Dawn but they didn't tell you about Gary?"

"What_about_ Gary?"

"About Gary…and Daisy?"

"What about Gary _and_ Daisy?"

"Yes, what about me and Daisy, Ash?"

Misty and Ash turned around to see a visibly upset Gary Oak. He was standing near the door with his hands inside his pockets, and an angry face. "Gary, I've been looking all over for you."

"Yes, I can see that. But I don't think that guy sitting there is me."

Misty exhaled desperately. "I came here to take a break. I couldn't find you anywhere."

"You don't need to explain anything to me, Misty. I just came here 'cause your sisters asked me if I had seen you. I thought you were in trouble but it seems to me you're perfectly fine."

"Gary, don't do this. We need to talk."

"Right now? You seemed pretty busy to me."

Misty turned around and faced Ash, torn that on one side she had Ash in front of her but could not patch things up, while on the other side she had Gary who was obviously and rightfully upset. She had to choose one person to please at a time.

She stared back and forth between Ash and Gary until she turned to Ash and walked to him. He stood up and looked at her while she approached him. He looked down at her as she gave him the most honestly concerned face he had ever seen on her. She opened her arms and gave him a big hug he did not return. "I'm really sorry about Pikachu. That's all I have to say."

Ash reacted too late to be able to hold her in his arms again. She pulled away from him and then walked towards Gary, grabbed his arm and took him back inside the building. Ash saw them disappear behind the doors. He sat on the bench again and lit another cigarette as he recalled the feeling of seeing her face in front of his again. _"You ain't taking her away from me."_

Misty did not let go of Gary's arm until they were in her room. She locked the door and turned around, clasping her hands together, still shaking from her encounter with Ash. "Gary, are you hiding something from me?" she asked him straight out with hurting, pleading eyes.

Gary was taken aback. "What are you talking about?"

"Ash…Ash told me you were toying with me. That there was something I should know about you and Daisy. Please, please tell what is it?"

Gary walked towards her and cupped her face in his hands. The gesture made Misty break down in tears and lose balance. Gary held her and carefully guided her to the floor so she did not hurt herself and just lay there, both of them on their knees, for a moment without uttering a word.

Gary's heart was pained to hear her sob uncontrollably as her fingers dug into his skin as if she was holding onto him for dear life. She slid her hands from his arms to his shoulders and pulled him towards her. He welcomed the embrace and followed it up by placing his arms around her and massaging her back while whispering words of comfort and support.

They remained like that for quite some time until Misty's sobs became inexistent and her body had stopped shaking. Her encounter with Ash had been more difficult than she had thought it would be. Seeing him again, listening to his voice and seeing his pain had brought back throbbing memories she thought she had locked in the back of her mind. She had been awfully wrong. She sniffed a few times and then pulled herself away from him, looking up at him.

"Gary, what's going on?"

"I honestly don't know what you're talking about."

"Please don't say that. I need to know."

"The only thing I know is that I'm sorry about this morning. I was upset at something that happened last night. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."  
Misty shook her head. "No, you don't have to apologize. It was me. I was the one who snapped at you for no reason. I'm very sorry."

Gary nodded and stood up. He then helped Misty stand up and sat her on her bed before sitting right next to her. He grabbed her right hand with his left before he spoke again. "Misty, the reason why I was so mad this morning is because I talked to Brock last night."

"You did?"

"Yes."

"What'd he say?"

Gary opened his mouth but nothing came out. He was not sure how he could say what he was about to say. Bottom line was that she needed the truth, and if he could not tell him the truth about him, he was at least going to tell her the truth about Brock. "He doesn't want to talk you anymore. I'm sorry."

Misty felt a bucket filled with cold water being down poured at her. She looked down at the floor as she felt the tears trying to make their way back up but she could not afford to cry again. They had to be in their first session in about 15 minutes and she could not look like she had been crying herself to sleep. She took deep breaths to calm herself and Gary patted her back, having nothing else he could say or do to cheer her up. He had to change the conversation before the situation got worse." What happened to Pikachu?"

Misty sighed, feeling the need to cry and mourn for him too but she did not. She had to be strong, and she had to regain her mind right now. "It's a long story but he died in a Pokemon Center about a month ago while Ash was away visiting his mom."

"Oh…poor Ash," he said and really meant it while thinking of his Squirtle dying. He could not imagine the pain Ash was going through, but he could feel the same fear Ash probably felt when he found out Pikachu had died. Gary still had his starter Pokemon, and did not even want to conceive the thought of having to bury him without even getting the chance of saying goodbye.

"Did he tell you that?"

"No, this other supervisor told me. She was in my table last night. Her name is Becca something."

Gary raised an eyebrow. "Becca Gall?"

"Yes, that's her. She said she knew you…very well."

"Yeah, a little. We oughta go downstairs. You gonna be ok?"

Misty nodded and confirmed it with a big smile. She did not care what Ash had to say about Gary. In her eyes he was an honest guy and nothing Ash ever said would change that about him. Both trainers stood up from her bed and in a matter of seconds entered the conference room where Lance was asking for trainers to take their seat. Gary and Misty parted ways and sat in the same place they had been seating last night.

Lance relinquished the microphone to Maya who greeted everyone and thanked them for being up bright and early. "It feels great to be surrounded by wonderful people this morning. Allow me to introduce some them. Please stand up when I call your name."

Maya went about to introduce all of the supervisors and the gym leaders they were advising. Every set of partners would get applauded after Maya mentioned something remarkable about them and their work. The more Maya talked, the more nervous Misty got. She had mentioned seven leaders, Brock included, and she knew she was next.

"And last, but most certainly not least, Gary Oak and Misty Waterflower please stand up and come to the stand."

Misty gulped. She knew she had to stand up and had made her peace with it, but now she had to walk and stand in front of all these people? She forced her legs to move and after a matter of seconds she was joining Gary who was already on the stand. "These two remarkable young people deserve special recognition today. Mr. Oak is a widely known and highly trusted Pokemon researcher who graced us with his presence when he accepted to join the League. Misty Waterflower is the youngest sister of four who had left home to travel and returned to bring back the Cerulean Gym to the prestige it stood upon when her parents took over years ago. These two people have worked so hard, and had devoted days and nights to make Cerulean's Water Pokemon Gym what it is today: the only undefeated Gym since the new implementations were set with the most visitors and with the most sophisticated technology both in the arena and out of it."

Misty felt a blush creeping up to her face. Gary felt at home in front of crowds, but he felt he did not deserve as much credit as Misty did. Yet, he smiled and allowed Maya to play her games.

"Please join me in presenting the award for best Pokemon Gym of the year, to Cerulean's City's Gym Leader and Supervisor, Misty Waterflower and Gary Oak."

Maya handed them a certificate, and a plaque while shaking hands with them. The crowd got up from their seats to give the partners a standing ovation. Gary held Misty's hand and raised it above her head with his before letting it go and placing his left arm around her, pulling her ear close to this lips. "Enjoy it, Red. You earned every fucking bit of it."

Misty chuckled at his choice of words before hugging him too and thanking Maya for the award. After the crowd sat back down, Gary and Misty parted ways and returned to their assigned tables.

It was a _great_ day in Indigo Plateau.

"Thank you. Now if you please direct your attention to the folders places on your tables you will find the necessary materials for today's session."

The members picked up a folder and began following the schedule for today's sessions."

"We will begin with two sessions, each two hours long. After this you will come back here and join us for lunch for about an hour and a half. Then you will return to your conference rooms and have two other two-hour sessions and return here for a lottery."

Misty scanned her paper and realized supervisors had one set of trainings, researchers had another set of trainings, and gym leaders had their own sessions. _"I guess this is really what I'm here for."_

"Enjoy your sessions and I will see you in four."

* * *

Misty felt her head spin at the amount of information she had been given throughout the day. Even though most of the information had been passed on to her by Gary previous to the meeting, hearing it being explained so detailed had made her thankful that she was leaving the Gym in no more than four weeks. She did not think she could do all of the new requirements for a living. 

She sat on her table and waited for the rest of the trainers to fill the room. She was starving and felt happy to see the waiters starting to bring dinner to the tables. As she waited for her plate, she stared at the entrance of the room, hoping to get to talk to Gary before the lottery began. She had been meaning to talk to him about things she wanted to do before they left the Gym for good, and deep inside she felt excited of being part of the League. She continued to stare at the entrance and saw Brock come in, as well as her sisters, and Ash and Dawn. A couple of minutes after Ash's entrance she saw Becca Gall coming inside the room with Gary.

She had her arms around his arm, and Misty did not like it.

She saw him wave at her and she waved back only to cover up the unprecedented amount of jealousy she was feeling. She took a sip of her drink before turning away and focusing on the wrinkles of her tablecloth.

"Members, please take your seat. The lottery is about to begin."

Misty looked up to see Lance carry a box with many papers inside. She looked around but could not see any presents or prizes, making her wonder what the lottery was really about. She could only hope it was not to take the stand and give a speech because she was not ready to get back on it again today. A few moments later, Lance was pulling out papers from the box and reading the names on them out loud.

"Dawn Hall, Gary Oak, Becca Gall, Brock Slate, Ash Ketchum, Misty Waterflower, and Daisy Waterflower; congratulations! You are battling tonight and tomorrow night!"

Misty's eyes opened wide at Lance's statement.

"Trainers, you have 15 minutes to gather your Pokemon. We begin the first half of the rounds tonight! For the rest of you, we will see all of you in 20 minutes in the official Pokemon stadium on the back of the building. Let's get going!"

Misty stayed there, not truly understanding what had happened. Somewhere between getting dinner and getting ready to sleep she had been called to battle six other people including her ex-boyfriend, her sister, and her ex-best friend. She did not worry about Dawn, Becca or even Gary, but battling the first three was something she was not expecting to do in this convention. She was never told she had to fight.

She did not think she had any option and slowly stood up and went to the room to gather her Pokemon belt before arriving to the battling arena. The entire Pokemon League was present and the other trainers were already seated and ready to go. She walked to the stage and sat on the only open seat. Two seconds later the first battle had begun.

"Battle between Dawn Hall and Gary Oak. They will battle with one Pokemon per battle, using a maximum of three Pokemon. Best two out of three wins."

And with the sound of the crowd cheering for both of the trainers, Misty's nerves rising, and Gary Oak prepared to show off, the second day of sessions ended for the members of the Pokemon League in Indigo Plateau.

**MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

Only 3 more chapters to go! Stay tuned!


	10. Indigo Plateau: Day 3

**Summary of previous chapter:** Gary and Misty have a small argument that sets her on the same path as Ash. Ash and Misty shortly talk about their lives, and he asks her to not trust Gary. Ash claims Gary is hiding something from Misty, and that he is playing games with her and Daisy. Misty refuses to believe it but later on asks Gary about it and he tells her there is nothing he is hiding from her. Gary tells Misty that Brock does not want to see her or talk to her again. After a long day of sessions, seven trainers are called to the stand to perform battles for the Pokemon League.

** EDIT:** I forgot to add a major thank you for Linda Forever. You are so right about the dialogue, I forget to switch from writing to "talking." Thank you for your feedback, and thank you all for reviewing! Only two more chapters to go!

**Chapter 10 – Indigo Plateau: Day 3**

Regardless of her childish attitude, her _live-life-by-the-edge_ credo, and the amount of influence she had on Ash, even to the point of _making_ him smoke, Dawn was not a bad trainer; at _all_. She had given Gary a run for his money, and for a moment it seemed the young Pokemon professor was going to lose to one of Maya's apprentices, but a twist of fate and a surf attack from his Blastoise turned the tables to his favor at the very last minute. Even though Gary had covered up his nervousness pretty well, Misty had been able to read him like an open book. She knew he was as nervous as she was, and that he if he did not plan on winning this entire tournament, he surely planned on _not_ losing to Dawn Hall.

Gary had won the first battle, and Dawn had won the second battle. Both trainers had been left with only one Pokemon, and Dawn's Arcanine had been quite the challenge for Gary's Blastoise. He chuckled when she first called the Pokemon out, recalling that he too owned a Pokemon like this and knew all its strengths and weaknesses. However, the advantage he had believed he had over the fire-type Pokemon proved to actually be a great disadvantage for his water-type Pokemon. After several moments of uncertainty, Arcanine had finally fallen victim to a surf attack that flooded the entire battle arena and the nearby audience. The Pokemon League was very pleased.

After the waters had receded, the crowd had found a knocked out Arcanine, an almost fainted but still standing Blastoise, and a soaked Gary and Dawn. The entire stadium had cheered and given both trainers a standing ovation as the referee announced victory belonged to Blastoise. Dawn had recalled her Arcanine and had given it to Nurse Joy for reviving before sitting on her chair next to the other trainers. Gary had returned to his seat after taking care of his Pokemon while Lance had announced the next battle would be between Becca and Ash.

Becca had also proven to be a worthy trainer, but her Jolteon had been defeated by Ash's Venasaur and his sun beam attack. Becca had heard of Ash from Erika, and Ash had heard of Becca from Maya, but the rumors they had both heard were nothing compared to the reality of the situation. They were both extremely talented trainers in their own field, and Becca had defeated Ash's first Pokemon rather quickly. Ash had not battled since Pikachu had died, and was not in agreement with today's battles. Yet, he knew he had very little saying in this and that this probably was Maya's way of pushing him back to the battle field. He had not known if he could ever stand on a Pokemon arena ever again without his departed friend, but here he was, defeating a Pokemon Gym Supervisor nonetheless. Even though his heart ached and his battling was lousy and forced at the beginning, he had moved along with it in the name of Pikachu.

The night he had returned to Pallet Town for the second time around after picking up Pikachu's cold body from the Pokemon Center, he had made himself a promise that he would not battle in a long time unless he had to, and that he would not push the rest of his Pokemon the same way he had pushed him. He could not help to feel responsible for the rodent's death regardless of how many times his mom and Professor Oak said it was not. During Pikachu's burial he promised him that if he had to battle again, he would dedicate every single victory to him. While he was battling Becca, he was almost certain he could hear his friend cheer for him in the background. The crowd had joined him in mourning when Becca had chosen her Vaporeon as a second Pokemon and Ash had called out Pikachu to battle. It had taken him a moment to react and realize Pikachu was no longer part of his party, earning him a moment of silence from the crowd.

Misty had no other option but to battle Brock and had won with her Starmie defeating Brock's Onyx even though inside she felt she had lost. She had felt awful when they had announced her rival would be no other than Brock, her former friend. She had not battled Brock in many, many years, and had not seen him in several months. She definitely did not want to bump into him like this, especially when she knew her water-type Pokemon would defeat his rock-type Pokemon as fast as they did. She hoped he had brought any of his non-rock-type Pokemon to at least fake her defeat, but a simple squirt of her water-type Pokemon was enough to stop his Geodude. Perhaps if she had brought Psyduck the defeat would have been easier for her. In a battle between rock-type and water-type Pokemon, there is not much that can be done. Water-type will always win, no matter what. Brock battled her with all he had but his battling seemed monotonous and cold. He probably opposed this _impromptu_ tournament as much as she did.

The fourth battle had brought quite a surprise to the spectators. Daisy had lost terribly to the hidden 8th challenger, the Pokemon Master Maya. Daisy had been called to the arena and when Maya's name had been announced as her rival, the crowd had gasped. From all the other possible trainers, Daisy Waterflower gets to battle the best trainer on the first round. Misty prayed that a miracle occurred and that Maya would lose to Daisy but she knew there was no way for this to happen. Daisy lost all three of her Pokemon in the first round.

Becca easily defeated Dawn with plenty of style on the fifth battle to Dawn's misfortune. Becca had been asked to be Maya's apprentice but she had declined the invitation many times. After months of attempting to recruit her as an apprentice, Maya finally gave up and offered her to be become a League Supervisor instead. Becca had accepted the invitation, but the spot that had been reserved for her was still open. Dawn knew she had not been the first or second option to become Maya's apprentice, but she pretended she did not care. Yet, having her rival being the person who should have taken her place made her feel angry and very upset. She had met Becca back in high school in Celadon City and they used to be very good friends until Becca was accepted to the Pokemon School and Dawn was not. They had lost touch until they met again when they both began working for the League, and this battle was more than just a show.

Gary and Ash's battle had been quite long and extremely close until Ash finally defeated Gary's Arcanine with his Snorlax. Both childhood friends had not battled since Ash visited Pallet Town a year after he had left the first time around. Many things had happened to them in the past ten years, and even though they thought they had matured and had gotten over their childhood competitiveness, being here in front of each other and in front of a very special crowd brought back those feelings of rivalry back to them. If someone had told these trainers five months that they would be battling in front of the members of the Pokemon League and that their friendship would have been effectively ruined by their dirty secrets, they would have never believed it to be true.

The last battle of the night took place between the two Waterflower sisters. Even though Daisy had gotten much better than when she was when she ran the Gym, she was no match for Misty and Gary's intense day and night trainings. Truth be told, the seminars she had been attending for the past months had focused more on leadership and time management skills rather than actual battling techniques. Neither of the older sisters had begun training for battle until last week, and it showed in this battle. Regardless of her awful loss, Daisy felt extremely proud of her sister and how much she had grown. If there was a way for Misty to run the Gym instead of her that did not involve Misty losing her trainer life, she would definitely leave the Gym in Misty's hands. However, she also knew that Misty had things to straighten out before she could even consider settling down in Cerulean again.

After the first seven battles, the League had given the trainers and the audience a break. Lance had stated that seven more rounds would take place this night, and that seven more would take place in the morning during the first two hours of the sessions. The top six trainers would battle during lunch, and the last three would battle at the closing ceremony tomorrow night right before the last battle between the last two standing trainers. Misty was not looking forward to any of these battles. She knew neither of them, with the exception of Maya, expected these battles, and could see the pressure on every trainer's eyes when they battled. If she did not trust the Pokemon League better, she would have turned into a citizen of Paranoid City and claim the lottery had been fixed long before they had arrived.

She was now sitting on the grass behind the platform and right next to Daisy and Gary who kept teasing the older sister about her younger sister defeating her. They had spent the last twenty minutes there, not making any contact with the rest of trainers even though Ash had not stopped staring at them –Misty, for one second. Gary would occasionally check on him from the corner of his eye as he could feel the tension in the atmosphere in the backside of the show. Becca and Brock were becoming acquainted while Maya lectured Dawn and Ash pretended to listen to the reprimand. Gary made another comment about Daisy's poor performance but this time it was Misty's turn to defend her own flesh and blood.

"Let it go, Gary. Daisy hasn't been training as much as you've been_forcing_ it on me. Leave her alone, you dork."

"Yeah, like, it's over, k?"

"Fine! But remember who taught you those moves, Red. Don't ya forget 'bout the little people who got you where you are."

Both sisters giggled.

"So, did _you_ know about this, Gary?"

"About what?"

"These battles?"

"Nu-uh. I was as surprised as the rest of you. I thought we only came here for food."

"Do you think we're actually competing for something?"

"Who knows? After this, I don't know what to expect from Maya."

Misty sighed hoping she was not secretly battling to keep her home or Gary's job.

After a couple of more minutes, the second round of seven battles began.

Brock was easily defeated by Maya in a very quick match right before Ash defeated Dawn in a very close one. Ash and Dawn, or mostly Dawn, had been flirting back and forth throughout the battle. Ash had not been as close to Dawn as they had been before his visit to Pallet Town, but after the argument he and Misty had he welcomed the attention. Gary and Becca battled as well, giving Gary the victory and earning him a hug and a kiss from Gall that he did not expect.

Misty encountered Maya and allowed her nervousness to get the better of her, causing the mistake that cost Misty the battle. However, she recovered in a back-to-back battle against Dawn and won graciously to Dawn's distaste and despite's Maya's previous lecture to her. Misty had to admit that beating Dawn felt much better than defeating anyone else in this Tournament. She had seen how Dawn was flirting with Ash and could not stand it for the life of her. She had also recalled how Dawn had flirted with Gary and felt even angrier at the girl. Dawn had been quite aggressive with her comments but at the end Misty had proved to be a better sport when she offered a freeze-potion to Dawn after her Cloyster had frozen up Dawn's Squirtle.

Finally, Brock encountered Becca and then Gary but was not able to win any battle, setting him even more far behind in the ranking than he already was, and putting an ending to the second round. Misty and Ash knew it was not like Brock to battle without any care for winning, but he had isolated himself from both of them, and there was nothing they could do for him from a distance. Brock had not won one single battle in fourteen rounds, but the worse part of it all was that he did not seem to care at all.

After the last battle was fought, Lance announced the closing of the battles for tonight. He thanked everyone for watching and wished them a good night's sleep. Everyone said their goodnights, returned to their rooms and quickly fell asleep, tired of the exciting and long day they had all have, not knowing that tomorrow, their last day in Indigo Plateau, was one to be remembered for years to come.

* * *

Gary held his third cup of burning hot coffee in his right hand as his left hand had sought the comfort of his pocket to avoid the numbness the cold weather around him brought to his fingers. His eyes were partially open and he had not spoken a word since he had arrived to the battle arena more than an hour ago. Misty sat very still on a bench while she served as a life-size pillow to a very much asleep Daisy, who in turn used Daisy as a blanket to keep her away from the cold. Ash, who still had his blanket on him and was grateful he had brought it with him even though he had not realized it until he was already in the stadium, was sitting on the floor, his back resting on the wall. Dawn had joined him and had somehow ended up covered by the blanket too and all that could be seen of her were her feet and the hat on top of her head. Brock held a cup of chocolate in between his hands as he sat on the stairs, and Becca could only sit still on a chair because her five jackets and sweaters did not allow her to move very much. Maya was nowhere to be seen as she was making sure the Pokemon Village was adjusted to the sudden change in weather that had hit them last night. 

The weather had considerably cooled down overnight and the Pokemon Stadium had just been closed down five minutes ago. The heater still had a lot of work to do before it could warm up the stadium, the lodging facilities, and the Pokemon Center. The employees had been woken up at four in the morning to set up the stadium and turn on the heaters for the battles and for the guest rooms. They had not expected a cold front this strong this soon and the mountains around Indigo Plateau made the humidity increase worsening the wind chill factor.

The lottery winners had been woken up at five in the morning for an emergency meeting and a recap of last night's battles. They were shown videos of the battles and given advice on their moves and selection of Pokemon to battle. Breakfast was in the making and the trainers would get to eat their food on the backstage in the next half hour. Battling was scheduled to begin at seven sharp. After two hours of battling, the trainers would then return to their regular session. They would have lunch brought in to the stadium to watch the semifinals, and then attend the last two sessions before returning to the stadium and enjoying the closing ceremony along with the final battles of the tournament. Whether the trainers battled or not, the last day in Indigo Plateau was scheduled to be a very busy one for all, and the change in weather made wakening up and the transitions from one building to the other much more difficult to bear.

Gary had proven time and time again that he was _not_ a morning person, and today was no exception. The only words he had spoken so far were "_coffee_" and "_more coffee_." He had had a long night trying to reason with Brock about his decision of cutting off Misty from his life, and he had only worsened the situation. After that he visited had Ash and had had a run down with him as well. However, talking two former friends of Misty had set everything into perspective. Once the probation was over, Misty would have nowhere to go. The reality of losing her friend and her boyfriend would finally kick in, and if he did not do anything about it, he did not believe she could take such a great blow of life. He could stand losing his reputation. He could stand losing his childhood friend. But one thing he was not going to stand was seeing Misty suffer ever again.

He took another sip of his coffee as memories of last night recapped in his head.

_He went to her room but did not knock on the door, afraid he would interrupt her sleep after realizing it was three in the morning. He stood there outside her door as he usually did back in Cerulean before leaving the dormitories and heading outside. He sat on the same bench Ash had been sitting the day before and stared at the nothingness in front of him. His mind replayed the scene with him, Misty and Ash over and over again, and every time it appeared in his mind again, Ash and Misty's faces got closer and closer. Truth was he could not stand her close to him anymore. _

_He could not stand the tricks Ash was playing with her._

_He could not stand being alone anymore._

_He did not want to be without her anymore._

_He covered his forehead with his hands as he focused his eyes on the floor in between his legs. He took deep breaths to calm the anger the entire situation made him feel. He __**had**__ her, but he did not __**have**__ her. Ash had her, but he did not really want her. He wanted her, but she did not want him. What was he supposed to do? What was he expected to do? Was he expected to do anything at all? Or was it his job to return her home to her, wave goodbye and leave like the whole experience meant nothing for him at all?_

"_Fucking decisions," he growled._

"_Fucking decisions, indeed."_

_Gary looked up and saw Becca standing next to him. She did not show signs of sleep and probably had been awake all this time as well. She sat next to him and placed her arms around him. They remained like this until Becca finally spoke up. "What decision are you about thinking of taking?"_

_Gary sighed, knowing that even if he was not ready to tell anyone about it, he could not keep secrets from Becca. He had never been able to, and he probably never would be able to. "I don't know what I will do after my work is done in Cerulean."_

"_What do you mean you don't know? The League will assign you something else."_

_Gary exhaled deeply. "I don't __**want**__ something else."_

_Becca smiled. "Don't you mean you don't want __**anyone**__ else?"_

_Gary scoffed and crossed his arms. "Sure, you know everything, don't you?"_

"_Of course I do! Don't tell anyone about it, though."_

_Gary chuckled. "What do you suggest I do?"_

"_Well, that depends…"_

"_On what?"_

"_What do you want to do?"_

_Gary narrowed his eyes and stared at her as if she had said the worst joke in the world. She tilted her head, trying to read his mind and after a few seconds of staring at his funny looking face she smiled. "Really, Gary. What do you want to do?"_

"_Hello? I don't know!"_

"_Bullshit! You do!"_

"_I don't!"_

"_You do!"_

"_I. Don't."_

"_You. Do."_

"_I…"_

"_You…"_

_They both sighed. The argument was going nowhere fast. _

"_Ok, you say I know. What do you know that I know that apparently I don't really know?"_

"_Do you want to see her leave?"_

"_Who?"_

"_You know who."_

"_No."_

"_Do you want to leave her?"_

"_No."_

"_Do you love her?"_

_Gary looked away. "Do you love her?"_

"_She loves Ash."_

"_That is not what I asked. Do YOU love her?"_

"_Ash still loves her, don't matter how much he denies it."_

"_I thought you were smarter than that. Quit answering questions I ain't asking, boy. Do you love her?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Then there you have it."_

"_There I have what?"_

"_Your answer."_

"_Which is…?"_

"_Take her with you. Show her what kind of life she can have with you. Show her how you feel."_

"_I can't do that!"_

"_Why not?"_

"_Because…"_

"_Yeah?"_

_Gary looked down at the floor again. He cracked his knuckles and shifted uncomfortably on the bench. Becca was not giving up or leaving until she made him change his mind. "Look, Gary. I don't know if she loves you, but you've got to try. That poor girl's been hurt so much. Don't you want her to be happy?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Don't you want to be happy?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Don't you want to make her happy?"_

"_I do."_

"_Then suck it up, grow an extra pair of balls, and do it."_

"_I can't…"_

"_Dammit, Gary Oak! You better say you will because I'm tired and wanna go to sleep but I won't until you said you will run away with her!"_

"_Ok! Ok! I will!"_

"_You better!"_

"_I…promise…."_

"_Finally…"_

"…_I'll try."_

_Becca growled. "Fine, that's a start. I'm going to bed and you should too."_

"_I will."_

"_Try?"_

"_No, I will for real. I'm tired."_

"_Alright, then."_

"_Goodnight, Becca"_

"'_Night, Gary."_

_Becca gave him a hug before smacking him up the head and then smiling as her wave disappeared behind the doors. _

_Gary sighed as the words she had spoken echoed in his mind. The solution was so easy, yet so difficult at the same time. How could he sum up the courage to take the plunge? How could he convince her to do it? How can this idea ever work? It was unreal, impossible, impractical…_

_But he wanted to. He wanted to run away with her, so badly._

_So what if she did not feel for him the same way? All he wanted was her company, her everlasting presence in his life. He could settle for her unconditional friendship. For her always present fate in him. For her unbreakable trust._

"_Fuck it, I'll do it."_

He smiled at the thought of it last night, and he smiled at the thought of it again today as he held his now cold coffee.

Now more than ever he was sure of what he wanted to do with his life after his supervising period ended: He was quitting the League, and he was going to ask Misty to join him in his Pokemon travels, and if she said no, she would tie her up, put her on his shoulder and take her against her will. He _knew_ he could make her happy, and he _wanted_ to make her happy. And happy was what he was going to make her feel.

The idea had been playing around his mind since the night at the Carnival. Sometime and somehow between arriving to Pallet to celebrate Ash's birthday and seeing her talking to Ash yesterday the idea that being together had made perfect sense, but no one else had known or believed it to be true until last night. He had spent five months with her, the longest time than any other relationship, of any kind, had lasted. He had seen her laugh, cry, be happy, be sad, be scared, and smile, and she had seen the same on him.

Gary smiled again at the thought of returning home tomorrow morning as he had decided that tonight he would ask Misty to leave the city with him. Tonight was definitely going to be a big night.

"Welcome League members!" Lance said, bringing Gary back to reality. "Thank you for being here so quickly in such short notice." Gary looked at his watch and realized it was seven and that he was the only one still standing in the middle of the backstage room facing the wrong way. The rest of the trainers were lined up, ready to go up to the stage. He ran to the table and left his coffee mug there and then ran to the line of trainers. Misty was the last one there and could not help to stare at him. "Glad you could join us, Mr. Oak."

"Why didn't you…wake me up?"

"I didn't know you could sleep with your eyes open."

"Me neither!"

"Don't worry, you didn't miss much."

"Ok."

Lance announced the trainers were taking the stand, and after they had all sat and Maya had joined them, the first battle of the day began.

* * *

The talk among the League members had been all about the battles. The session that had taken place after the third round was about analyzing the battles, and now that the members were retuning to the stadium to watch the semifinals the bets had began taking place. During the third round of battles, Becca and Ash had their own long match from which Ash came out victorious. Maya had shown Dawn why she was still just an apprentice, and Gary had shown Daisy he did not need her generosity _twice_. Ash and Misty had reminisced about old times before Misty defeated him, to the shock of every single person in the stands. Brock lost to Dawn, and Gary lost to Maya. Ash defeated Daisy, while Maya defeated Becca, and Misty defeated her own supervisor in a highly amusing battle. Long lost friends Ash and Brock battled against each other, and as before, Ash won the battle by far. Dawn defeated Daisy, and Misty defeated Becca. 

However, the highlight of the day had been the battle between Ash and Maya as, in a surprising turn of events, Ash defeated Maya at the last minute. The fact that Misty had defeated two of Maya's apprentices was great, but the fact that one of Maya's own apprentices defeated her was uncanny. The last battle was between Becca and Daisy and the audience knew Daisy would be defeated again even before the battle began.

The final scores for the three rounds had been highly predictable after this morning's rounds. Ash had led the scoreboard with seven wins. Misty and Maya had followed with six wins each. Gary had four. Becca had three, and Dawn had squeezed in with two wins. Brock and Daisy had no wins whatsoever and were in turn disqualified from the tournament.

The semifinals allowed for only one Pokemon and one Pokemon only. The Pokemon had been chosen by the trainer beforehand, without knowing who their adversary would be. Once the audience was ready and the battle arena was set, the first battle of the semifinals began: Ash against Dawn.

Ash did not like battling against Dawn because when it came to losing to him, she was a very sore loser. He had been avoiding her ever since Pikachu died, and he had been literally stalking him ever since. She had given up on stalking him as much, but for the past two weeks she had been asking him to talk to her, claiming she had something very important to say. Whatever it was, he did not want to hear it.

Dawn reached for her pokeball and called out her Gyrados. Ash called out his Alakazam.

"Seriously, Ash. A psychic Pokemon against a dragon-type? Have you lost your mind? You know psychic Pokemon are weak against brute strength."

"And you know brute strength is weak against intelligence."

Dawn scoffed. "Gyrados, hyperbeam!"

"Alakazam, barrier!"

The hyperbeam attack made some of the nearby spectators cover their ears, and cracked a hole on the ground. Ash did not feel the need to move as Alakazam's barrier protected himself and his trainer. Gyrados growled and put his head down when Dawn scolded him for not producing a more powerful hyperbeam.

Ash knew Gyrados needed to recharge, and without wasting time he ordered his Pokemon to use confuse ray on the dragon. Dawn told Gyrados to avoid it but he was weak from his previous attack. Before Gyrados could know what had hit him, he was tackling himself against a wall to the cries of desperation from Dawn.

"Snap out of it!"

"Alakazam, psychic!"

Alakazam did as told and engulfed Gyrados in a barrier that prevented him from moving and continue harming himself. However, the attack also included a break down of his nervous system, making him fall to the ground, out for the take.

"Gyrados is unable to battle. Alakazam wins!"

The crowd applauded and stood up to cheer for Ash. Dawn recalled her Pokemon and gave it to Nurse Joy. Dawn was disqualified from the tournament.

She joined the crowd and Ash returned to his seat on the platform. Lance took over the microphone. "That was some quick battle, wasn't it? Our trainers want to waste no time. The next battle will be between Misty Waterflower and Becca Gall."

Misty and Becca stood up from their seats and walked down the stairs from the platform to the arena. They shook hands before going opposite directions to take their place before Lance marked the beginning of the battle.

Becca smiled at Misty as she released her Pokemon, Vaporeon.

Misty smiled at Becca as she released her Pokemon, Cloyster.

"This will be the quickest battle of all, Misty."

"Oh, really? I wanna to see that."

Becca smiled again. She pulled out her pokeball and recalled Vaporeon.

The stadium went quiet.

"I forfeit," Becca said before waving at Misty and joining the crowd.

Everyone stared at Becca and then at the referee who was as shocked as the rest of the audience was. Silence invaded the stadium for a few seconds before the referee finally spoke, ending the battle that had not taken place. "Becca…forfeits…Misty is the winner."

Misty recalled her Cloyster before walking back to her seat while the crowd clapped with same confused look she had on her face.

Lance shrugged and then announced the third and last battle: Maya against Gary.

Both trainers walked down to the battle arena and took their place. Lance announced the starting of the battle as both trainers released their Pokemon.

Maya had chosen a Dragonite. Gary had chosen an Electabuzz.

"I knew you were going to choose that Pokemon, Maya."

"I knew you were going to choose Misty over the Pokemon League, Oak."

"W-what?"

"Dragonite, dragon rage!"

Dragonite's speed was worthy of a car race. Electabuzz stood there waiting for a command from his master but Gary was shocked at Maya's comment. Too many questions rose in his mind and did not allow him to focus on the battle he was fighting on time. He was brought back to his senses when Electabuzz ended up near his feet, hurt by Dragonite's attack.

"Dragonite, wrap!"

"Electabuzz, screech!"

Electabuzz's cry made everyone except Gary and Maya cover their ears for the second time around today. Dragonite stopped his attack and growled at the hideous sound that punished his ears. Gary took advantage of this and ordered Electabuzz to use his thunder punch against Dragonite. Dragonite did not see the attack coming and was sent flying backwards, almost hitting Maya in the process.

Gary did not waste time and asked Electabuzz to use his thunder attack. Maya ordered Dragonite to use agility and then counterattacked with slam. Electabuzz was sent to the floor.

"Ready to give up, Mr. Oak?"

"No."

Maya smirked and ordered Dragonite to slam Electabuzz again. This time, Electabuzz avoided the attack and responded with a quick attack, pinning Dragonite to the ground.

"It's over, Maya," Gary said as Electabuzz charged to use his thunder attack. Maya did not ask Electabuzz to let go, allowing Gary's Pokemon to take advantage. Gary knew she was not being generous, and expected an attack any time soon. Electabuzz's charge was almost complete.

"It is over, for you," Maya said as she ordered Dragonite to use the hyper beam he had been gathering while Electabuzz was charging. Electabuzz tried to move away, but Dragonite grabbed his arms, not allowing him to run. Dragonite opened his mouth and aimed the hyper beam to Electabuzz's head and fired it.

The crowd gasped.

Silence dawned on the stadium again.

Dirty and smoke covered the battle arena.

Gary clenched his fists at the idea of his Electabuzz being severely hurt. What Maya had done had been low and had endangered both Pokemon. He did not care she was the official Pokemon League President; she had lost all of his respect now.

The cloud of smoke began dissipating from the outside in. Everyone was standing now, waiting to see the fate of the Pokemon on the ground. Misty covered her mouth with her hand, hoping both Pokemon were alright. Maya had played a tough card, and if someone got hurt, she would be in big trouble.

Gary and Maya were not visible to the audience, and slowly but surely the Pokemon were visible as well. Both Pokemon were on the ground on opposite sides of the arena.

"Who won?" Lance asked.

The referee carefully walked to the arena and eyed both Pokemon from a distance. If they suddenly woke up and began attacking each other, he did not want to be in the middle of it. Both Pokemon were known for becoming blindly enraged when teased, and he did not want to the first victim of their rage.

"_Is it a tie?"_ Misty wondered.

"Electabuzz, you can get up now," Gary said.

The audience stared at Gary, not fully comprehending what he had meant. Yet, a couple of seconds after he had asked his Pokemon to stand up, Electabuzz shakily stood up.

The referee stared at him and then ran to Dragonite. He eyed him carefully before raising his flag.

"Dragonite is unable to battle. Electabuzz is the winner!"

The stadium went wild in the background as the Oak trainer revealed to Maya that his Pokemon had been trained to deflect a hyperbeam at a very close distance.

Maya frowned. "I didn't know you had a Dragonite."

"I don't"

"Then who does?"

Gary did not answer but stared a very happy red head who was cheering for him in the platform. He smiled back as he bowed to Maya and joined the winner circle in the podium next to the stands.

* * *

After the first part of the semifinals had ended, the members had attended two more sessions before returning to the stadium for the closing ceremony. It had all added up to this: a cheap dinner, an even cheaper attendance diploma, and a heated battle to come. 

While the ceremony took place, Misty paced back and forth in one of the backstage hallways with one pokeball on each hand. She would be battling either Gary or Ash and had no idea what Pokemon she should choose. Both trainers had very different styles of battling, and very different Pokemon taste. If she chose the Pokemon that could defeat Ash and ended up battling Gary, she was sure to lose. If she chose the Pokemon that could defeat Gary but ended up battling Ash, she was sure to lose as well. It was all a matter of good guessing, and even better luck.

She growled and stomp her feet on the ground at the desperation of not knowing what Pokemon to choose. She knew she did not have much of a chance of winning the tournament, and it was not one of her life goals, but she did not want to lose because of a wrong choice. She felt she did not deserve to be here, and that the only reason she was in the second part of the semifinals was because Becca had forfeit. If she lost miserably, she would insult Becca and her intelligence.

Misty sighed and sat on the floor, giving her back to the entrance and not noticing Daisy was behind her. "What are ya pouting about, now?"

Misty gasped and almost dropped a pokeball before watching her sister go around her and sit in front of her. "I don't know what Pokemon to choose."

Daisy rolled her eyes. "Like, what's the big deal? You're a great trainer regardless of what Pokemon you get."

"Shut up, and help me choose."

"What are your choices?"

"Gary or Ash."

Daisy blinked several times. "Like, I thought we were talking 'bout Pokemon, not guys."

"We ARE talking about Pokemon. I've had a perfect Pokemon against Ash, and one perfect Pokemon against Gary, but I don't know who I'm battling, and the Pokemon don't work for both!"

"I see. Well, choose the one for Ash, if you battle Gary he'll lose."

"What?"

"Yeah, he totally owes the family a favor. He'll lose to you, girl. Such a nice guy…"

"What favor?"

"You mean he hasn't told you?"

"Apparently not!"

"It's not a big deal anyway."

"Well, then tell me."

"Maybe he doesn't want ya to know."

"I don't care. What favor are you talking about?"

Daisy frowned, knowing Misty would not understand him, and that she would probably hate her sister for it. She could try to lie or change the topic, but she knew Misty would be able to pick it up if she was lying, and would not let the topic go if she changed it. Daisy sighed and crossed her arms. It was now or never.

"Fine, but it's not, like, a big deal anymore, ok?"

"Ok?"

"Ok, so, remember how Gary went to our Gym before Ash did, way back when they first started training?"

"Yeah. Gary was always way ahead of Ash. It annoyed him to no end."

"Well, he didn't really win the badge."

"What?"

"I sorta…gave it to him…"

"What?!"

"He was the last trainer of the day, I was tired and had an appointment to do my nails…I had a date that night…I couldn't, like, go looking all ugly to it."

"So, you gave him the badge?"

"Yeah."

"Without a battle?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, my god."

"Yeah, when we found out he had been assigned to our Gym we thought it was so funny. Poor guy's probably hiding the evidence."

_"By using me?"_

"That can't be true…"

Misty could not believe what she had heard. All this time she had believed Gary to be honestly trying to help her but all he had worried about was keeping his dirty secret away from the light. How could she have been so blind? How could he have been so heartless and selfish? All this time he had lied to her even after she had asked him for the truth so many times. Misty felt tears forming in her eyes.

"Misty, I've got to go. Don't sweat it, ok? That's in the past."

Daisy stood up and left an astonished Misty on the floor. She could not understand why people lied to her. Ash lied to her. Brock lied to her, and now Gary had lied to her as well. Daisy knew about it and never told her. Ash knew about it too. Misty's head began spinning as she stood up and placed both pokeballs in her pockets.

"This is a lie…it can't be…"

"But it is, Misty. I told you not to trust him."

Misty felt a shiver run down her spine. She knew who that voice belonged to and it was one of the last persons she wanted to see right now. "Get away from me," Misty said as she turned away and gave her back to Ash.

"Why are you mad at me for? I wasn't the one who lied to you to keep my career on check."

"There must be an explanation for this."

"There is! You just heard it from your sister."

"No. Something else must have happened."

"No."

"How do you know?"

"Maya told me."

"How does Maya know?

"I don't know, but she didn't do anything wrong so leave her out of it. Gary did. He lied and used you."

"He did not!"

"He did, and you believed his lies. He chose his career over you."

"I didn't, but you did, Ash."

Both Misty and Ash turned around and saw Gary and Dawn standing behind them. "I didn't use you, Misty. I was going to tell you the truth, tonight."

"So, it is true? You…"

"I told you, Mist. Career over love," Ash said.

"You're the one to talk, Ash. You left Misty because you didn't want to let go of the opportunity Maya gave you here."

"Shut up."

"You feel like revealing people's truths, my truth? Let me return the favor, Ash."

"Shut the fuck up! You have nothing against me!"

"You know why he was so distant, Misty? Maya had offered him to join the League and he didn't want to take you or Brock with him. He told Brock he had let you go because Maya had told him about you having to return to the Gym, and he didn't want to be stuck in Cerulean for six months."

"What? Brock knew…?"

"Yes, and he didn't tell you because Ash told him you couldn't stand him. That is why Brock won't talk to you."

Misty turned to face Ash and slapped him on the face. Misty allowed tears to run down her cheeks. She did not care who stared at her, or the fact that Dawn was watching the scene. "What are you slapping me for? I wasn't the one who stole a badge! Gary is one of the trainers why your Gym is in trouble. He used your sister and then he used you!"

"I didn't use her!"

"What were you trying to do? Sleep with her?"

"I'm gonna make you shut up," Gary said and jumped to Ash to try and hit him, but Dawn ran and stood in between him and Ash. "Dawn, get outta the way."

"No."

"Dawn, don't make me _push_ you out of the way."

"I am _not_moving."

"Dawn, this is your last warning."

"You wouldn't hit a pregnant woman, would you, Gary?"

Gary lowered his fist and stared at Dawn the same way Ash and Misty were staring at her. He took a few steps back and looked at Dawn up and down, not believing what she had just said. Misty stared at Ash, fearing the worst from him.

"You're pregnant?"

"Yes, and I kinda need the father, so please don't beat the shit out of him."

Misty and Gary stared at Ash the same way they had been staring at Dawn. Silence surrounded them until Lance called the three finalists to the platform. That night Misty forfeited. Ash and Gary battled, and Gary won.


	11. Jake

**Summary of previous chapter:** Misty finds out Gary's secret from Daisy as well Ash's secret from Gary. Daisy gave the Cascade Badge to Gary without a battle. Ash left Misty because he did not want to spend six months in Cerulean City. Dawn is pregnant, and Ash told Brock that Misty hated him.

**Chapter 11 – Jake**

The environment inside Cerulean's Pokemon Gym had not been the same since the return of the two trainers from Indigo Plateau. Had it not been for their notorious professionalism, the entire city would have found out that Misty Waterflower and Gary Oak did not speak to each other since that night of hurtful revelations three weeks ago in Indigo Plateau. The only news the Cerulean leaders allowed the city to know was that next week was their last week here and that next Saturday the old leaders of the Gym, Misty's sisters, would return to claim what was _now_ rightfully theirs after months of intense training. Misty counted the days for this to be absolutely true as the atmosphere in her home was not as pleasant as she wanted it to be. For the first time ever, she felt unwelcome and out of place in her own home.

For the past three weeks, the tension around the two League members had been so thick that had it been tangible it would have made the building explode from the inside out. After Misty had said goodbye to her sisters, she and Gary had gotten on the taxi cab that took them to the airport. Neither of them had spoken to each other, and had not done so until they had returned to Cerulean and had to talk business in preparations for the next working day. If it was said that ten words had been spoken between them in the past three weeks, this statistic was nothing more than a cruel and unrealistic exaggeration. The primary source of communication was done by notes they would leave on each other's desk as they would not be in the same room unless they were hosting a Pokemon battle in the Gym, and dozens of people were present around them. Being surrounded by silence and loneliness while together in the same room did not serve their purpose very well and they tried to avoid this situation at all costs.

Both of them had been purposely avoiding the other during their breaks or moments like breakfast or lunch. Gary had technically moved out of the Gym and had moved to a hotel where he would spend most the nights at and sometimes almost complete weekends unless his job required his presence at the Gym. Misty had been drowning herself in paperwork, even if it was not necessary or imperative to complete as soon as possible and just for the sake of not allowing herself thinking about_him_, Gary, Brock, or the new woman with child. Gary would spend countless hours at a nearby gym, working out until he began seeing spots from the overexertion and his body finally collapsed to the ever comfortable and ever welcoming portion of the carpeted floor. Even though it seemed to the other that neither of them wanted to talk about what had happened, the truth was that they both did, but neither of them knew or wanted to take the first step. Their ego and pride had taken complete control over their rationality, and accepting that they needed the other was something that was, without doubt, unthinkable and impossible to do. The truths that had been spoken three weeks ago had been too great to casually talk about. New wounds had been created, and old wounds had been reopened. The sense of betrayal was in the air, and no amount of common sense was able to bring the once_ close_ friends back together.

Misty felt betrayed by him.

Gary felt betrayed by her.

They both felt betrayed by the other's feelings, or by the apparent _lack_thereof.

On one hand, Misty felt betrayed because something so pitiful and_ self-centered_ had brought him to her life, and she had believed all this time that he had been brought here by pure luck and that he had helped her by his own personal choice, while what he truly wanted all along was to hide his dirty little secret as much as he possibly could and for as long as he possible could. On the other hand, Gary felt betrayed because he felt she had not given him the chance to explain his situation to her, and had not even considered the possibility that he in fact truly cared for her, more than anyone else had ever cared for, and wanted something more than unreserved friendship from her. Although he knew his intentions had been purely selfish at first, he had realized that he was human after all, and that his lack of confidence in his work and his inability to set the record straight were probably his worst current flaws. However, the sweet knowledge that in eight days he would be leaving the Gym served as a cushion for the pain he felt; unless until the realization that he would never hear from her ever again after this brought undeniable ache to his heart.

Gary's cell phone alarm reminder rang again for the 18th time since its scheduled sounding time about two hours ago. He opened his eyes and stared at the watch on his nightstand; it was 7:55 a.m.

"_Shit."_

He was late for work _again_.

Misty had been hosting battles all alone a handful of times in the weeks following the events in Indigo Plateau. Gary's nightly escapades to places Misty did not want to think about resulted in him returning to the Gym an hour or so after the opening hours of the workplace. Misty had once been asked by some people in the audience for Gary's whereabouts and she had told them he was busy wrapping up for his departure. She knew that part of this statement was absolutely true.

He growled as he stood up from bed and dragged his body to the bathroom with his eyes still closed and his hands leading the way. He began undressing as he walked down the small hall and clumsily hopped into the bathtub, allowing the running water to hit his face with full force. As the hot water relaxed his entire body, the morning routine forced his mind to ponder about the same thoughts he wondered about every single day. His mind remembered the first day he had arrived to the Cerulean Gym, and how battered and pained Misty looked. How his initial task of removing any evidence of his childish mistake slowly switched to removing any evidence of his former friend's own childish mistake and cleansing Misty's heart and soul. How the feelings he had hidden since he had spent that night with her while she still traveled with the old Ash had marked the path of his life forever.

The warmth provided by the water pouring down on him and covering up every inch of his body reminded him of that night. The night he knew he loved her, and the night he knew he had lost her before he could even have her at all.

He remembered it vividly. He had traveled back to Pallet Town three years ago to prepare for a conference he had in Cinnabar Island about his scientific findings of Kabutops and Omastar. His visit had coincided with Ash's return to his hometown to relax for a week before leaving for Viridian City to try and beat the Elite Four in Indigo Plateau, and both situations had also overlapped with the beginnings of his doubts about his career.

The researcher life had been quite fulfilling for the first couple of years as most new career switches tend to be, but the more he researched and discovered, the less satisfied with himself he felt.

He had gone from a schedule based on the availability of earning a new badge to a schedule governed by everyone else's agenda except his. The demands of the life of a fully known and respectable researcher had begun taking a toll in his personal life. He had established a close relationship with his coffeemaker and his personal laptop, and his laboratory coat had served as a blanket for quick naps during countless sleepless nights. He had been forced to mature faster than any of his long lost friends because of the strains of his job and felt he was missing out on the opportunities that are posed during the teenage years of one's life. He had missed out on the late night parties, the confusing hangover mornings, and the joys of bailing your friends out of jail.

Everyone he knew was somehow involved in Pokemon research and/or training, and regardless of how enormous his desire to talk about the weather, the stock market, or the color of his underwear was, every single conversation he had inevitably lead to a discussion or a lecture about Pokemon lifestyles. The people around him were at least twice his age, if not three or four times his age, while the younger crowd wandered around the world living for the moment and enjoying the thrill of trying to _catch'em all_.

He could not begin to understand what had led the members of the scientific community to remain in their field of study for 40 or more years. He had been in research for almost four years and he had not felt the sensation of personal fulfillment that training had given him in just half of the time. The more he thought about his future, the more he saw himself grow old and become a carbon copy of his grandfather, locked up in a basement that posed as a scientific laboratory and sometimes as his dormitory room during long nights of research.

He loved his grandfather, but he did not want to _be_ his grandfather. He had been a great role model and a great surrogate father but he felt he was not the kind of man who would devote his entire life to his career. He needed something more. Something he did not believe his grandfather had ever experienced in his life. Something that if he had ever experienced, he had most likely lost in the name of science. He wanted to feel loved.

As true as it was that scientists older than him worshipped him and looked up to him for professional advice, when those long days of hard work were over and it was time to return home, he was welcomed only by a huge empty mansion who hosted three people: a girl who spent half of the time out, and two who were too tired from work to sit down and talk.

He switched the water knob a little bit higher on the temperature until he felt the hot water slightly scald his back, making him shiver but he did not move. He closed his eyes and placed his left hand on the bathroom tiles as the memory of his night in Pallet Town returned to him.

_Gary went to his room hoping he could lose the researcher title and become just Gary Oak, the teenager, again. He took a cold shower and after changing clothes he left his home without letting anyone know about it, though he believed that if he had told someone he was going out, it would have not made a world of a difference anyway._

_He walked and walked in the middle of the night, no one around and nothing around him. Even the Pokemon were fast asleep by now. The town was too small to have a night life and it was too late for anyone to be hanging around in the streets. He looked at his watch and realized it was around one in the morning. He was positive he was the only crazy citizen of Pallet Town walking around the lonely streets in the dark._

_And he probably was, if he did not consider the crazy Cerulean City citizen walking around the lonely streets of Pallet Town in the dark._

_He saw her walk to the forest and he could not help to wonder what was wrong with her. He had not seen her face, but he would have recognized the walk and the hair anywhere in the world. However, the owner of the walk and the hair would have been usually closely followed by a cap, a spiked brown-haired man, and a tiny yellow rodent, but not tonight._

_He followed her, trying not to scare her and did not allow his presence to be known until she had stopped and sat on the top of Pallet's Town's famous __**thinking**__ hill. This hill meant the world to him, and had replaced his home several times when he was a kid. Before his parents had passed away, he had confessed to this hill his sadness when his parents had grounded him. He had also shared moments of friendship when Ash and he hanged around here, as well as mourning when his parents had moved on without him._

_Once she looked comfortable resting her back on the lonesome tree, he nonchalantly made his way to her. As soon as she saw someone emerging from the shadows she reached for her pokeball belt in case she needed to summon one of her Pokemon for aid. She strained her eyes to try and identify the stranger that had suddenly appeared out of the middle of nowhere and the corner of nothingness, but not even the bright moon could penetrate the darkness created by the thick summer trees. _

_He greeted her and smiled at the face of relief that bathed her eyes._

_"Isn't this way past your bedtime, Red?"_

_"I was about to ask you the same thing. Don't you have some important research to prepare?"_

_He shrugged and sat next to her, folding his left leg and resting his arm on his knee while his right leg was fully extended and his right hand played with the grass. She folded her legs and wrapped her arms around her knees while resting her chin on them as well._

_"Research? I don't __**do**__ research. Research comes to me."_

_"Oh! Forgive my ignorance great Professor Oak."_

_"You're forgiven, inferior person you."_

_Misty chuckled. "Still an ass, aren't you?"_

_"Still a bitch, aren't you?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"Yeah."_

_They remained quiet for a long time, staring at the stars and the bright moon that was slowly gliding on the sky. He pulled out a handful of grass from the ground and then threw it on top of Misty's head._

_"Hey! What the hell did you do that for?"_

_"Bored."_

_"Well, then…touch yourself or something…"_

_"Already did."_

_"GARY!"_

_"Hey! You brought it up!"_

_"FINE! I take it back!"_

_"Fine."_

_"OK."_

_They both sighed._

_"So, what brought you here? Cerulean City is nowhere near."_

_"Ash wanted to come back home before we headed to Indigo Plateau again."_

_"And you're here because…?"_

_"Because I'm his friend."_

_"No. I asked why you're here, on this hill, in the middle of the night."_

_"Oh. Well…I needed time to think."_

_"'Bout what?"_

_Misty blushed._

_"Do you…want to touch yourself?"_

_"Gary…"_

_"Sorry. Don't get mad at me. I came here to think too."_

_"'Bout what?"_

_"I asked first."_

_Misty sighed and stretched her arms and legs before exhaling deeply and allowed her body to completely relax. "Well, your friend sorta asked me to be his girlfriend last night."_

_"Ash?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"And?"_

_"And he wants an answer."_

_"It's expected for a person to answer questions, y'know?"_

_"I know."_

_"And you don't want to?"_

_"I don't know."_

_Gary laughed. "That's the biggest lie I'd heard in the past days."_

_"What? What do __**you**__ know?"_

_"Plenty. Im'ma a researcher, you forget."_

_Misty smiled. "Then analyze this, researcher."_

_"What's it?"_

_"Well, to be honest, I've been waiting for him to feel like this, but it's been so long I don't know if I really want to risk the friendship over this. What if it doesn't work out?"_

_"Why wouldn't work out? He cares for you a lot, Misty."_

_"Does…he?"_

_"Yeah! We don't talk that much anymore me and Ash, but when we do all he talks about is you, and how wonderful you are."_

_"He…does?"_

_Gary nodded. "Yup! He has told me all of the great things you've done for him; makes me wonder if you're a bitch after all."_

_"Well, he sometimes makes me wonder if you're still an asshole too."_

_"Fair enough."_

_Misty sighed again and then elbowed Gary, reminding him that it was his turn to tell his story. He nodded._

_"I want to quit."_

_"Quit? Research?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"Why? You're one of the best researchers I've known!"_

_"I'm not."_

_"You are!"_

_"I don't want to be."_

_"Why?"_

_It was Gary's turn to sigh. "I don't like it as much as I thought I would. And…"_

_"And…?"_

_"And…well, I feel…lonely."_

_"Lonely? Gary, 5000 researchers look up to you and your findings. How do you feel lonely?"_

_"Not__**that**__ kind of lonely."_

_"Oh!"_

_"Yeah…"_

_Misty looked away. Here she was, wondering if she should say yes to a boy she had loved for seven years now, while Gary wanted what she did not really want to take._

_"Anyone you have in mind?"_

_"No."_

_"I see. Anyone that could be the one?"_

_"Nope."_

_"Oh. Well, have you tried looking?"_

_"I did…but here aren't that many girls in research…there are plenty of women…but not girls."_

_"True."_

_"Sadly."_

_"And you want to quit because you can't' find a girlfriend?"_

_"That's part of it."_

_"Don't you think that's dumb?"_

_"Says the person who has loved someone for years and wont say yes to him?"_

_"It's not the same. I don't want to lose him."_

_"You won't. He really, really, cares for you."_

_"Says the person who thinks his career is getting in the way of his personal life?"_

_"It is, Misty. It truly is."_

_"Gary, you're a very young guy and look at what you've accomplished! I'm older than you and look where I am: Following a younger guy and his Pikachu."_

_"For a reason."_

_"Perhaps, but you're so good at what you do. Do you really want to give that up?"_

_"I would give it up for someone like you."_

_Misty faced him and was forced to look away when he did not stop staring intensively at her eyes. "Ash is so lucky. He doesn't know what he has. What I have is good for now…but what he has is great for a better and longer-lasting cause."_

_"Gary…"_

_"If you don't say yes to him, you'd have to say yes to me."_

_"Gary…are you ok?"_

_"Yeah, dead serious. Who do you prefer? The hyperactive kid or the desperate playboy?"_

_Misty smirked. "The playboy seems sweet, but the hyperactive kid is who I want."_

_Gary nodded and then stared at the sky before speaking again. "Problem fixed, right?"_

_"And yours?"_

_Gary did not say anything for a second before facing her, pulling her face to him and kissing her. Once the kiss was over, she stared at him with a blank look and he intensively stared at her eyes again. "It's fixed for now."_

_He stood up and smiled down at her. She stood up after him and patted down her clothes._

_"I…should go back…home. Ash is probably waiting for me."_

_"He might not be the only one."_

_Misty stared at him again. "Gary…if this is a joke…"_

_"…it's not funny."_

_She stood there for a few more seconds before turning around and returning home. Ash was waiting for her and welcomed her with a hug. Gary watched them as they went inside the house and thought about her every day from then on._

For years Gary had mocked himself at the idea of falling for someone you do not really know. He could not digest the possibility that tales of a girl's sacrifices for another guy would make him want to be the one she sacrificed for. This only happened in the movies, never in real life.

Yet, somehow it had happened to him, and he was now paying the price for his disbelief.

Even though he knew his love would always be unrequited, he had conformed himself to be the one she went to for the taste of something different. He had earned her trust and had become her confidant. He had worked hard for her friendship even though he wished for her love. He had worked real hard to become her reason to live; but she had become his reason to live at the end.

_"My fucking luck," _he thought as he realized he had been standing under the hot water for thirty minutes and that he was more than late for work. He took a quick shower, dressed up and finished getting ready as he approached the door. He gathered his belongings and headed for work.

* * *

Gary sat on the kitchen table, holding a cup of ramen noodles on one hand and an almost completely bent plastic spoon in the other. He stared at the spoon being a victim of the hot soup before throwing it away attempting to aim to the trashcan and missing it by a mile.

He growled as he saw the spoon continue to slowly crunch together on the floor, and cursed at his declining good luck. He carefully placed the bowl of soup on the table and headed for the silverware drawer. He smiled at the orderly fashion in which the silverware was arranged and grabbed a spoon before heading to the location of plastic spoon to pick it up from the floor. He lazily bent down extending his arm to grab the spoon, but Misty's hand was quicker than his and beat him to it.

The two trainers slowly stood up and stared at each other for one quick second until he returned to his chair as she threw away the useless spoon before joining him at the table by sitting on the chair opposite to his. She watched him as he stared intensively at the noodle soup and pretended to study it as if his career depended on it. She felt a small smile come to her face seeing him so close to her again. She had to admit she had missed these moments when it was just she and him. These moments had been highly scarce since the convention and a great part of her craved for them.

However, memories of the lost good old times reminded her of the reason why there had become extinct. The feelings of anger, frustration and betrayal returned to her and erased the smile that had been forming in her mouth. They both had things to say and feelings to express. If he was not going to be the one to take the first step, she had no option but to be the one who at least _tried_ to clear things up.

"Are you going to make your late arrivals a habit until you leave?"

Gary flinched. As soon as the words had come out of her mouth she regretted them, realizing this was not the best way to _patch things up_. Yet, the question had been asked and all that any of them could do was to hope for the best. He looked down at his food, not knowing what do say. He picked up his cup and blew the soup as he played with the noodles using the spoon. Suddenly his appetite had disappeared as he remained quiet, fearful of the situation he knew was to come, and pushing Misty to speak again.

"Look, I don't care that you don't care about anything else but you. But I'm so close to saving my home and I'm not risking it because of you."

Gary looked up to her as he placed his cup and the spoon on the table with a loud thud, pained that she would believe he was trying to do anything to hurt her.

"If you'd let me explain myself to you, you wouldn't have the wrong impression of me and I wouldn't have to leave this _fucking_ place every night."

Misty scoffed. He had not wanted to curse her home but the anger he had built up in the past weeks was becoming too much for him to bear. He had not thought about how his statement could be interpreted until it had already been said. Misty answered with a scold.

"Don't try and blame this on _me_._You_ leave because you _want_ to leave. And don't call this place that way. This _fucking place_ is my home and everything I've got left."

Gary looked up again as he heard Misty's last words being said in a shaky tone of voice. "I didn't mean to…"

"Didn't mean to use me?"

"That's not what I was going to say…"

"Didn't mean to lie to me?"

"I didn't _lie_ to you."

"You did."

"I didn't. I just didn't tell you the entire truth."

"Why not?"

"Because you don't listen."

"I'm listening now."

Gary sighed, wondering if he should tell her the truth or not and regretting the fact he had not left the gym to eat. The three o'clock battle had been canceled and they were taking a break for the last battle at four o'clock. He had not left the gym because by the time they had realized one of the trainers had forfeited, it was too late to leave and then come back. Perhaps, this was a sign that he had to straightened things up before it was too late, or before they went their separate ways again. Whatever it was, he was not going to be blamed for not trying.

"Are you going to talk or are you going to kill me so I don't talk?" Misty asked.

Gary growled before standing up and faced to the door. He knew he had to walk her through this but he felt that at the moment he could not do what he was supposed to do. He stared at her, opening his mouth to say something hurtful to her but stopped himself just in time. He shook his head before he began to walk to the door. Misty stood up as well and called his name several times, forcing him to stop. She felt she was battling an already defeated battle, but she refused to give up. "Gary, I don't want it to end like this. Tell me why you lied to me, and I promise I won't bring it up ever again."

"You wouldn't understand."

"Bullshit. If you don't have the balls to admit you lied to me then go ahead and leave. I trusted you. I trusted you and you used me worse than Ash did."

The statement had hit a soft spot. Gary turned around and walked towards her, cornering her between the table and him. His reaction had scared her, but she remained calmed and facing him while trying to hide her fear. He was so close to her she felt his own heartbeat alternating with hers. His face was red from anger and she could almost feel his body tremble on hers. "I didn't use you."

"Prove it."

He took a few steps away from her, allowing her to take a breath of relief. He paced the kitchen as he carefully chose his words before he spoke again. "Do you know what that childish mistake would do to my Pokemon trainer career? To my research career? To my entire life of hard work? Do you think it's fair that I lose everything over one stupid badge I didn't earn from a pathetic gym?"

Now Misty's fists began shaking in anger.

"Oh, so this is all about you now? Here you come asking me to trust you and offering to be my friend and all this time you were really just worrying about yourself? And you blame it on the old reputation of _my_ gym?"

"Yes! No! Ok, at first it was! I didn't know I was going to be sent here! This is some kind of sick joke of the League to send me to help the gym that can destroy my career. But the more I talked to you, the more I knew you, the more I realized that my stupid mistake would hurt you more than it would hurt me. I couldn't do that to you, not after everything we've been through."

Misty felt the anger beginning to take all over her. She was about to explode. "You're lying!"

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"No. I. Am. Not! It wasn't supposed to be this way! You weren't supposed to find out that Daisy gave me that badge without a real battle."

Misty threw her arms to the air before clasping them together and speaking with a mocking tone. "Oh, you poor, selfish boy! What a tragedy you got in!"

"Misty, you've got to believe me! It _was_ for me at first," He said before taking a deep breath and knowing that once the next words were spoken, there was no turning back. "But now it's for you. It's all been for you!"

Misty crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "I know Ash sent you here."

Gary blinked rapidly several times. "What?"

"Ash sent you here to help me out. You're doing this as a favor to Ash."

Gary's mouth dropped to the third basement of hell. "Ash didn't send me here. He didn't even know I was here until the conference."

"Stop lying to me!"

"I'm not lying to you! I'm here on my accord. I came for the clean badge and stayed for other reasons. This place was filth! Who would have wanted to stay here as long as I did? Not even _you_ wanted to stay!"

Misty began pacing around the kitchen, looking down at the floor while Gary followed her around. "Gary, shut up! Just, shut up! You want your badge? Well, guess what? You earned it all those times you helped me train and defeated me." Misty reached into her pocket and pulled out a badge and handed it to him. "Here, take it."

"I don't want it."

"Take it and leave."

"I'm not supposed to leave yet."

"Do you do _anything_ you aren't supposed to do? Do you do _anything_ for someone other than yourself? I trusted you! I trusted you and you used me, all these months! I don't want to hear from you! Take the fucking badge you came for and leave!"

"I did NOT…" Gary sighed. "I did not use you. And yes, I do things I'm not supposed to do, and yes, I do things for people other than myself. You should know that better than anyone else."

"Sure, you do."

"You don't believe me?"

"Not one bit."

"You don't, don't you? Well, open your damned ears and listen! I wasn't supposed to take this job! I took it because the League was blackmailing me about the badge. I wasn't supposed to be in this gym, I came here because I heard…"

"What? What did you hear?"

"I heard Ash saying he was breaking up with you for it. He knew you were coming here."

"He did to help me."

"He did it to help himself. Maya offered him special training if he went to the League with her, alone."

"What about Brock? I saw them leave…"

"Together? Nope, Brock is back to his Gym as well. He is in the same shit you are in right now. And Ash told him you couldn't stand him, remember?"

"I can't believe…"

"I know you have been waiting on Ash to come back for you. He won't. He chose his work over you. And now with Dawn…pregnant…"

"Shut up."

"Misty…"

"Shut up and leave me alone. I should've known. You aren't friends with Ash for nothing."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"You are as empty inside as he is."

As soon as the words came out of Misty's mouth and he saw the pain she had caused to him she regretted every single one of them. Gary's eyes were filled with hurt as he waved his hands on the air, showing her he was giving up. He walked away from her and headed for the stairs as her eyes began to fill with tears.

"Gary…I didn't mean to…"

"You should go. You have a battle to deal with in five minutes. I'll get out of your way now."

"No, Gary. I am sorry, please."

Misty walked after him and grabbed his arm. He pulled it away from her and turned around to face her with a look of hate she had never seen on him before; at least not directed at her.

"I wasn't supposed to become your friend either. That was all my doing; my doing and no one else's. I will see you in battle. Go."

Misty tried to hold on to Gary again but he was gone before she could react. She hit herself mentally for not making the situation any better as her hands covered her face. After taking a couple of minutes to calm down she turned around and headed for the Gym. The crowd was already there waiting for her as well as the last trainer of the day: Jake Dragon.

* * *

Jake had proven to be a good trainer in other Gym's but he had been no match for Misty's Dewgong. The crowd was standing up cheering for its leader as the clock ticked waiting for Jake to choose his last Pokemon. Misty could not care less which Pokemon he chose. The battle was hers to win regardless.

"Lose now or lose later, Jake. I've got this battle in the bag," Misty said partially quoting her mentor, Gary Oak.

Jake seemed nervous as he played with a pokeball in his hand. He stared at the clock and he only had five seconds to call out his Pokemon or he would lose the battle by default. He had practiced his act all week long but now that he was here and there was no turning back, he was not as confident as he had been before all the other twenty times he had rehearsed it.

_"I've got a job to do. I can't screw it up now," _he thought.

"Two seconds, Jake," Gary informed the young trainer.

The crowd was standing up, loudly stomping the floor while they whistled and cheered waiting for a decision to be made on Jake's part. They could see the end of the battle approaching a thousand miles per hour and the adrenaline of the previous battles had them pumped up.

Gary looked at his timer as he bent over to pick up the flag that would disqualify Jake from the battle, but he could not find it anywhere.

Misty smiled, knowing the battle was over.

The crowd began cheering even louder as they were ready to go.

Jake eyed Gary and then Misty before finally releasing his Pokemon.

The crowd cheered as the blinding light of the inside of the pokeball appeared in the arena. Misty covered her eyes with her arm as the light coming out of the ball had been brighter than usual, impairing her vision and Gary's for a split second.

When the light was gone and the Pokemon had been released the crowd gasped.

Gary gasped.

Misty gasped.

Silence overcame the Cerulean Gym and a dropping pin could have been heard everywhere in the room.

Gary's eyes opened wide as he shook his head and mouthed the word _"No."_

Misty gulped at the scene unfolding in front of her. Here she was underwater, her Dewgong waiting to be told what to do against the_Pikachu_ that had been just released from Jake's pokeball.

A Pikachu that was using an underwater breather just like she and Jake were. Misty could read Jake's intention like an open book.

"Jake…don't use him."

Jake smiled.

"Jake, please, don't use him." Misty pleaded, knowing fully that the consequences of using his strategy could become deadly.

"What is it Misty? Afraid of losing your first battle?" He mocked her.

"Jake, whatever you do, don't do it."

"And lose to you?" Jake scoffed. "I've got a job to finish, Misty."

"Jake, please…" Misty said as she carefully took a couple of steps back and she recalled her Dewgong. "If you do that…we might not live to…"

"Pikachu…"

"JAKE!" She screamed as her entire body had reached and rested on the glass.

The crowd held its breath and could only watch as the fearless Cerulean Gym Leader held onto the glass walls of the pool for dear life. Gary's chest rose up and down as he collected all of his energy to call out her name. "MISTY!"

Gary's scream seemed so far away to Misty as her eyes were locked into Jake's fearfully.

"Jake…I beg of you…"

"_Misty_…"

"…"

"Thunderbolt."


	12. Ashes

**Summary of previous chapter:** Gary remembers the night he fell in love with Misty three years ago. Gary and Misty argue about their situation, leaving them worse than before. A trainer named Jake Dragon battles Misty and in a futile attempt to win the battle he takes out a Pikachu and orders it to use thunderbolt while still inside the pool.

Last chapter…

**Chapter 12 - Ashes**

The halls of the Cerulean Gym that had once hosted only people were now home for hundreds of flowers and postcards. The moment the doors had been locked, the windows had been closed and the lights went out, a broken Gary Oak fell to his knees on the floor of the battle arena. The sun was setting in the horizon and the weekend life was beginning to crowd the city as it always did every Friday night, but inside the Gym life was gone and darkness had taken over the young trainer within the closed doors.

He had received a call from the hospital regarding Misty's condition right before the last battle he had taken care of today, and had not been able to let his feelings out until now. He was completely alone in a room that had witnessed many battles and the growth of an unbelievable woman who did everything in her power to save what she held most dearly in life. The silence that surrounded him sent shivers down his spine, and the only dim lights that lit the corners of the place belonged to the prayer candles that citizens of Cerulean had left in Misty's name.

He was down on all fours on the floor, sobbing and crying like a little boy. He felt his body slowly shutting down and his mind racing with bits and pieces of the events of last week. Never in his life had he experienced so much pain in such a short amount of time. Never in his life had he battled for someone else's life. Never in his life had he lost before.

"_Why is this happening to us?"_

He stared down at the floor that had been covered by oceans of water a week ago. There were no water marks or stains anywhere on the floor to prove the incident had actually occurred. The League had sent an emergency crew to repair any damage done to the Gym as well as to provide medical attention to the people who had been present during the incident in order for the Gym to be open for business on its last probationary week, hoping lawsuits would not follow. Gary had been appointed to finish his job as an interim Gym Leader on the basis that the League was not to show weakness or lack of preparation in case of an emergency response. Today was Gary's last battling day.

As he angrily pressed his knuckles against the wooden floor, his skin still felt the pain provided by the coldness of the waters that surrounded him as they overwhelmed the battle arena once before. He closed his eyes to stop the tears of desperation the memories brought to him, but instead of calming his fears he saw Misty's face as Jake's Pikachu was released to the stage. She was afraid, so very afraid. He was terrified, _utterly_ terrified.

The pain in her scream as the electric attack infested every inch of her body as a deadly disease had been chilling to the bone. She had broken a couple of nails as she had dug them on the glass wall, in an attempt to find a way to escape from the pain. Jake had passed out from the pain as well, and there had been no one to force the yellow rodent to put an end his attack.

Gary stared at the palm of his right hand and focused on his newly acquired scar as he recalled how it had been made.

_He ran to the machine that controlled the pool, pressing all the buttons and pulling every knob he saw, trying to either put it back down so he could jump after her, or get it drained somehow. He was not able to do either one. The machine begun smoking and shocked him to the point of burning his hand. He pulled out his handkerchief and wrapped around his bleeding hand. _

The doctors had told him the scar would disappear over time, as well as the bruises on his hands and knuckles. He would not mind if the bruises or the scar remained for the rest of his life if he could trade in the horrible memories and make them disappear instead. He stroked his knuckles with his left hand only to remember that his left arm had been hurt as well. The gauzes made it difficult to dress and move around freely.

_The attack was so great that the security alarm was set off. In a matter of seconds the building was secured and in lockdown status, not allowing anyone to enter or leave the place as the alarm and red lights around the building went on and off. Gary saw dozens of civilians trying to run away from danger as the electric attack cracked the glass wall and the pool began leaking. He began punching and kicking the pool as he realized Misty's scream was nowhere to be heard. Her body had become a victim of the waters and floated limply in the middle of the wet arena._

Gary got on this knees and opened his eyes as he stared at the battle arena. The dimensions of the arena were huge, but that night everyone trapped inside it had felt there was not enough room. Innocent people had frantically ran around the room looking for an exit. Parents had carried their children, and helpless but scared elders had remained sitting as they feared for their life.

Gary had not feared for his life once.

He had, however, feared for hers when his eyes locked on the object floating in front of him inside the pool.

_It was Misty's underwater breather. _

_His eyes widened as he saw the single piece of life Misty needed to survive floating away from her. He could not take it anymore._

_And neither did the pool._

_Pikachu's attack finally stopped when the water finally placed enough pressure on the glass walls to break through them. In a matter of seconds, a sea of water and thick glass took over the gym. Bystanders began climbing to the upper stands as they desperately tried to run away from the rising sea. The water pumps had been activated by the attack and the level of water steadily and threateningly rose. _

_Chaos took over the gym. Cries for help echoed in the room only to be muffled by the concrete walls. People begged for help as they were carried by the whirlpool to the middle of the room or were slowly bleeding to death by the act of a piece of thick glass. _

Gary stood up, trying not to think about what happened next. He dried his tears with his sleeves as he approached the exit of the battle arena to head to Misty's room. He opened the door and headed straight to her closet to pick the prettiest outfit he could find. He found matching shoes and underwear before grabbing a bag of clothes and carefully placing them inside. He did not want to wrinkle her clothes. Misty hated wrinkled clothes.

He left the room and eventually the gym and headed for the hospital. He had told the doctors he would be there as soon as he could, and that had been three hours ago.

He kept his head down as he knew people in the streets would look at him condescendingly. He had grown tired of the stares but knew he could not turn around and tell them off. The eyes of the world were on him and the League. The accident at the gym had made world news, and he knew Ash knew about it but had not bothered to call. He continued to walk towards the hospital as the continuation of his now daily nightmares made way to his head again.

_Gary began swimming desperately to try and find her. He did not know how long had she been without air or unconscious, but he needed to find her as soon as possible. He reached for his cell phone to call for help but water was pouring out of it. He began screaming for help._

"_Someone call for help! I need to find Misty. Please, anyone, call for help!"_

_He did not know if anyone had heard him over the commotion taking place in the Gym. Even though he hoped someone did, he knew he did not have time to stop and make sure someone was dialing the emergency number. The only task in mind was to find the redhead before it was too late. He continued to swim against the current until he found Jake's Pikachu trying to keep his master afloat. _

_The Pokemon was obviously losing hope as the weight he was attempting to carry was too much for him. Gary watched him as both Pokemon and master began drowning in spite of the strive of the Pokemon to survive._

_Something deep within the researcher wanted to let the both of them die. They had dared to step into the gym, battle Misty, and destroy the months of hard work they had both done to the gym. And worst of all, they had put the life of innocent people in danger for the sake of a badge. In the back of his mind, Jake and his Pokemon deserved to die a painful and slow death._

_However, Gary was not vengeful and no fool. He knew that if someone was to punish Jake for what he did was someone else and was certainly not him. Jake had done an awful thing but he was not going to let his anger and desperation blind his human side. He knew divine intervention would take care of Jake, and his human side screamed to him to save the stupid boy._

_Gary began swimming towards where he had seen the fallen trainer but he and his Pokemon were out of sight. Gary did the next best thing: he took a deep breath and began swimming towards the bottom of the gym. He opened his eyes but closed them rather quickly when he was reminded that he was surrounded by water __**and**__ glass. Some smaller pieces had already made their way through his skin and he felt the salty water sting the wounds. He swam back up hoping to see Jake or Misty afloat but they were nowhere to be seen. He had no other option but to risk his sight to find them both._

_He took an even deeper breath before sinking and opening his eyes underwater to search the place. His heart was beating a thousand times per second._

He stopped in front of the bus station that would take him to the hospital. He looked around and the bus was nowhere to be seen. He walked to the bus schedule posted on one of the walls of the bus stop and learned that he had just missed the bus by only a couple of minutes. He sighed and sat down on the bench to wait for the next bus to arrive.

The winter had begun to make its way into the city, and he regretted not bringing a jacket. He had never been bothered by cold weather, but given the current circumstances, the coldness forced him to return to his memory trail.

_He finally saw movement of someone underwater. Whoever it was, it was moving fast towards him. Gary stopped and allowed the other person to come closer, hoping it was Misty. He squinted his eyes trying to make out who it was but it was not until it was close to him he realized it was not really a him or a her, but an it._

_Jake's Pikachu grabbed Gary's hand and tried to pull him down. At first Gary took this as a sign of an attack, but quickly realized the Pokemon was asking for help to save his master. Jake had hit the bottom of the room._

_Gary followed the Pokemon and struggled as he tried to grab Jake by his underarms. He was running out of air as the force he was using to save Jake was tiring him and making him use more air than if he was swimming alone. He finally got a hold of Jake and used his feet to push himself up. He took a deep breath as soon as he made it to the surface and quickly began swimming towards the stands. Two men saw him trying to reach the stands and jumped to help him out. In a matter of seconds, Gary and Jake were resting on the stands._

_Gary took deep breaths as the other two men checked up on Jake. One of them yelled Jake was not breathing and called another woman behind him to revive him. "Hurry, he's been unconscious for too long!"_

_The man's words hit Gary like a rock. There was another person who had been unconscious for too long as well, and he did not know where to begin looking for her. He needed to find Misty as soon as possible or she would surely drown._

"_Have you seen Misty?" He asked the people trying to revive Jake._

"_No, but I see the Pikachu over there," one man said as he pointed behind Gary._

_Gary looked back and saw the rodent pulling on his pants again. Gary grabbed him by the tail and placed him on the stands before standing up and looking around trying to find Misty._

_Pikachu ran to him again and pulled his pants even harder this time. Gary was beginning to get annoyed by it. "I saved your master, what else do you want?"_

_Pikachu pulled on his pants even harder before jumping back into the water. Gary bent down to try and get him back on the stands again, but Pikachu sunk. "Fucking rat!"_

_Gary jumped after him but Pikachu increased his speed when he saw Gary following him. Gary knew he could not be dealing with this right now, but he also knew that the Pokemon only did what he was asked to do, and it seemed that he knew he had caused harm to others and wanted to make up for it. He knew there was not such thing as an evil Pokemon, only evil trainers._

_Gary swam faster to reach Pikachu's tail. He knew he run the risk of being electrocuted but he had to get the Pokemon back to the surface as soon as possible. He fixed his eyes on him until the rodent stopped and turned back to face Gary. Gary slowed down as he approached him closer and closer. "Tired of running around?" He thought._

_And then he saw her._

The bus' brakes brought Gary back to present time as he quickly gathered his belongings and got on the bus. He walked to the back of the bus and sat on the very last seat on the corner of the back wall. He then turned around and stared outside the window, recalling the last time he had traveled this same road last week, unconscious, in a police car.

_She was completely lifeless and still on the ground. _

"_Lifeless."_

_Gary lost his mind._

_He began swimming as fast as he could and grabbed her by her waist, pushing himself with his legs and feet as hard as he could until both of them had reached the top. He rested Misty's head on his right arm and used his left hand to check her pulse._

_There was none._

_He repeatedly slapped her cheek and shook her head from her chin with his hand, but she was as cold as the waters around him. "Fuck, Misty. You can't do this!"_

_He grabbed her even tighter in his arm and began swimming to the stands were people watched in shock as Gary carried a very pale-looking Misty. Jake was one of them._

_The two same men who had revived Jake jumped to the water and helped Gary reach the "shore" faster. As soon as they were both out of the water, he lay Misty on the stand and began giving her first aid. _

"_One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand…"_

_He breathed air into her, but she did not respond._

"_Misty, wake the fuck up!"_

_He repeated the motion once, twice…_

_Nothing._

_He tried again even though the people around him tried to pull him off her. He pushed them away._

"_Misty, God, please…don't take her away from me…"_

_Gary's body began shaking at the exhaustion of swimming and his futile attempts at trying to revive her. The people surrounding them began sobbing at the scene. Misty Waterflower was dead._

"_No, Misty. Don't…please…I lo-"_

Gary's face almost hit the seat in front of him courtesy of the stopping bus and his lack of attention at the road. He had arrived at his destination faster than he had thought. He stood up and left the bus that had stopped right in front of the entrance to the hospital. He walked inside and asked for a pass to visit the ICU. No one was allowed in that area without a pass slip from the lady in the front. Relatives of the patients were the only ones allowed in the ICU area. Misty did not have anyone else. To the hospital, and maybe even the city, Gary Oak was the only family she had. Her sisters would not be seen until Sunday night, as the League had not allowed them to leave before, and that was two days away from today.

"Hi, Mr. Oak! Was the last day a good day?"

Gary forced a smile and nodded. "The Cerulean Gym remains undefeated."

She crossed her fingers and wiggled her hand to him. "And here's hoping it stays that way." The status of the Gym had brought plenty of tourism to the city. Everyone was benefiting from the new source of income, and some new citizens or Cerulean relied on its status quo for a job.

"How is she doing?"

"She is stable now. I'm sure she can't wait to see you and go back home."

Gary faked another smile. He had not talked to Misty since their argument before the battle with Jake and their conversation could not be considered nothing more than a fight; a fight he wished they had never had. "Can she go home today, then?"

"Yes, she can! Hurry up! She was very annoyed to be here. She misses her home."

"I don't blame her. Thank you, ma'am."

Gary walked to the elevator and in a matter of minutes arrived to Misty's door. He had walked these halls every single day for a week now, and had spent every night there until the wee hours of the morning, watching over her. He knocked on her door before entering and seeing her standing in front of the window, the moonlight lit her face.

He walked inside and closed the door behind him as he placed the backpack on the bed. She did not need to face him. She knew it was him. "I brought you clean clothes. I want to be back soon. I have paperwork to do."

Misty did not turn around to face him but frowned at his comment. She did not know what to expect from him but she most certainly did not expect him to be so cold. She had just woken up this morning after a week of being unconscious, but had not been allowed to move around until a couple of hours ago. After the doctors had checked up on her, she was told she could leave today as soon as Gary stopped by to pick her up. She did not remember much after Pikachu's attack and had no idea how she had ended in the hospital again the first place.

Gary slowly stared at her up and down, absorbing every inch of her. He could not help to see her laying on the stand, her body limp in his arms. Everything that happened after that had been in slow motion to him. The fire department had broken in and had begun evacuating everyone in the building. The next thing he knew, the paramedics were trying to pull Misty off him but he would not let her go until he was shot by one of the paramedics and passed out. He had woken up later on that day in the hospital and after being assured that Misty was alive but in a delicate condition, he had been forced to return home. He had visited her every night to check up on her, hoping she had woken up but she had not. The doctors called him today to tell her she was awake and after spending an entire week fearing the possibility that he would never see her alive again had finally broken him inside.

He began walking to her but stopped a couple of feet away from her. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and kiss her. He had to reassure himself that she was truly there, standing in front of him, alive, breathing, and ready to tell him off. He had to tell her how he felt before he moved on without her. He had to tell her how much she truly meant to him and how nothing else came before her.

"_But I can't. I won't."_

Seeing her in the verge of death had made something inside of him snap. He had argued against himself on whether or not he should let his feelings for her known, but at the end he decided it was too risky. She still loved Ash even if he was going to be a father soon, and after everything that had been said and done, he could not see them ending up together. He strongly believed their friendship was effectively ruined, and no amount of apologies would ever restore what they once had. She would continue her life without knowing, and he was just happy she could still breathe.

"I was worried about you," Misty said. "Doctors said you saved Jake and me. How's the gym?"

Gary shrugged. "The League fixed it up over the weekend. It's ready for your sisters."

"Have my sisters arrived yet?"

"No. They won't be here until Sunday night."

Misty sighed. She wanted to return this cursed gym to her sisters and leave. Now that the probationary period was over, she had no reason to stay. After six months of intense training and mishaps, she was finally free to do as she pleased.

_"But I don't know what I want to do."_

Misty turned around and looked at Gary up and down. He looked exhausted and his face was filled with concern. He had small cuts all over his arms, and gauzes on his left arm. The doctors had told her the paramedics had to sedate him to get him off her.

Gary looked down as he pointed to the backpack. "That's your clothes. I'll wait for you outside."

Without allowing her to say another word, he left the room and waited for her until she was ready before taking the bus back home.

* * *

Gary had woken up late after spending the entire previous day catching up on the battle claims that had to be sent before the deadline tonight. He had locked Misty inside her room and had made a big deal when she had tried to help him finish faster. He had told her off and forced her to go back to bed. Misty was growing desperate. She needed to talk to him before he left forever.

Misty's sisters would be catching a plane tonight that would take them from Indigo Plateau to Cerulean City. Gary did not want to be here when they arrived. He knew they were oblivious to the tainted relationship that now existed between them both, and had no need for them to try and fix them up. Their friendship was broken beyond repair. All he wanted was to grab his belongings and leave.

He finished the last battle claim and began inputting them in the database. He had avoided filling out Jake Dragon's claim because the memories still came back to him, even though he now knew Misty would live long enough to see her grandchildren run around in her own backyard. Yet, as he had filled out Jake's profile, he had been shaken by the references he had provided. One of them was his sister, Emily Dragon, and the second one was the one and only Dawn Hall.

He knew who Dawn Hall was, but he had no idea how he related to her other than the provided "friend." The other name had also rung a bell and after searching up the name he found that a trainer with that name had attempted to defeat the gym a few days after Daisy had given him the badge. He wondered why her face stood up so much to him, and swore he had seen her before but could not recall exactly where he had met her before. He remembered seeing her face on the Wall of Fame downstairs in the gym, but he knew he had seen her once before that. Her face seemed way too familiar to him to claim he had not met her before in his life. _"Fucked up people share lives."_

He finally input the last claim and smiled. He owned nothing more to this gym or the League. He was free to go tonight.

The door of the office was opened. Gary knew it was Misty and growled. Misty did not budge this time around and locked the door as soon as she came inside. "Gary, we need to talk."

He knew what she wanted to talk about, but if he let his guard down and allowed her to speak freely, he would forget everything and stay with her. He had already decided he was not going to cause her more harm. No matter what she said, he would not _surrender_ to her.

"What's it now, Misty? Are you hungry? Thirsty? In pain? Because if it isn't any of those, you don't need me for hell."

"Gary, please don't talk to me like that. I don't want this to end like this."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Go away."

"Gary, I don't want you to leave just yet; not like this. Please, please stay one more week."

"I'm not supposed to stay here anymore. Good luck to you. I've got to go."

"Gary will you _please_ do something you are not suppose to do?"

"I won't anymore."

"Why? Why not? What else have you _ever_ done that you weren't supposed to do?"

Gary angrily huffed as he walked to his bag. He unzipped it and after digging inside of it, he took out a box. He walked back to Misty and handed it to her. She hesitated for a second but grabbed it anyway.

She stared at it for a split second, realizing it was a shoe box. She opened it up and was shocked to see the contents of it.

They were the shoes she had used when Ash broke up with her, only that they were perfectly clean.

"Gary, where you there when…?"

Gary nodded.

"I thought you looked pretty that night. I kept them just in case you wanted to use them again someday."

"You…you didn't have to do this. You were not supposed to know about that night…"

Gary shrugged as he closed his bag again and zipped it shut. He picked it up and walked pass her without even glancing at her. Misty turned around and began walking to him as he tried to unlock the door as fast as he could.

"Gary, please wait! I'm begging you to stay just one more week. Will you please do something you aren't supposed to do? How hard can it be? You've done it before."

Gary took a deep breath, placing his right hand on the door for support. He was about to have a breakdown. He could not stay. He had to leave before it was too late for them.

"Gary, we weren't supposed to end up hating each other over this."

"And I was not supposed to fall in love with you after it either."

She froze. A quick flashback of the kiss he stole from her back in Pallet Town three years ago appeared in her mind. Here she was again; having a similar conversation with the same person only that this time the feelings were real.

He loved her…

And she had nothing to say.

Gary hit the door with his fist before finally opening the door and slamming it shut. Misty did not move until it was too late. She could not walk too fast or make quick movements. By the time she had managed to reach the door Gary Oak was nowhere to be seen. He was gone.

Misty went back inside, knowing she could not do anything at the moment. She decided to wait for her sisters to arrive and then she would make sure she was not left behind by Gary Oak.

_"I'm going to find you, Gary. I don't care where you go, I'll find you." _She told herself as she began making her own bags. As soon as her sisters arrived, she would begin her search for the playboy.

Outside the gym, a tired, annoyed and heartbroken Gary walked the streets of downtown Cerulean. Truth was that he had not planned for this and had nowhere to go or a place to stay. His heart had secretly hoped that everything worked out with Misty, and that by the time they had to leave the gym, he had no need to work for the League anymore. Yet, here he was, alone, hurt and lost.

_"I should've never met her. Fuck the day I met her! Fuck her!"_

He pretended to hate her and everything about her, but he knew he needed her. He had saved her life countless times until now, and would save her again in a heartbeat if she needed him. However, in all the years she and Ash had traveled together battling other trainers and defeating Team Rocket, she had never been placed in so much danger as she had been placed by being around him. Every time something serious happened to her he blamed himself. He felt responsible for her unlucky fate. He was to blame for all the badness that had happened to her.

_"If I hadn't gotten that badge for free…if I hadn't accepted the job with the League…"_

He mentally kicked himself for being the cause of all her pain. He had wanted to be the one who healed her wounds, when in fact he had been the one who had caused him. It did not matter how he looked at it, he always found a trace leading back to him as the culprit. Whether he wanted to or not, he was the cause of her pain. He was the cause of her hurt; and he could have been the cause of her death.

The feelings of guilt grew bigger with every step he took. He felt his weight become greater and greater to the point that he could not move freely anymore. He was cold, hungry, and in the verge of losing it once and for all. He had to stop. He had to eat. He had to let it all loose.

He stopped on his tracks as the smell of recently brewed coffee made way into his lungs. He closed his eyes as he took an even deeper breath, inhaling the wonderful smell as much as he could. He turned around and began walking inside the coffee shop in front of him. The place could not hold one more soul.

"This is my luck."

Gary sighed as he waited outside for anyone to leave the place before he attempted to walk inside. He stood there for quite some time until someone finally came out.

Gary picked up his bag, ready to run inside until he crossed paths with the leaving customer. He had blue spiked hair, an earring in his left ear, deep green eyes, and a smile that widened the instant he saw Gary standing in front of him.

"Hey, you survived. Did the redhead survive too?"

Gary clenched his jaw as he nodded. "We did just fine. What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Probably the same fucking thing you were about to do. Grab some coffee," he said as he lifted the cup of coffee and took a sip. "It's good. You'll like it."

Gary growled.

"Well, I've got shit to do. See ya, Oak!"

Gary's blood boiled at the thought of seeing him acting so detached after what he had done. The police had taken him into custody but the League had not pressed charges, so he was let go. He had not understood why the League had forgiven such an act from an amateur trainer but he was not going to stand there and watch him leave. He took a few steps towards his direction before Jake stopped and turned around.

"You know, I bet the redhead _tastes_ good, if you know what I mean. I might go taste her one of these nights. Her sisters don't look half bad either…"

Gary lost all self-control. He dropped his bags as he ran to Jake, grabbed him by his neck and pressed him against the glass wall of the coffee shop. He grinded his teeth a he spoke to him in a low tone of voice, making sure his fingers dug deep into Jake's skin.

"I'm gonna kill you, you son of a bitch. Do you know what you did to Misty? She could've been killed."

Jake smiled trying to show Gary he was not afraid of him, but the reality could not be farther from the truth. Jake's gesture only made Gary press even harder on his neck. He did not care if people called the police. He was determined to kill him before the officers arrived.

"I don't know what the _fuck_ you were thinking, but I'm gonna make sure you get nowhere near her."

Jake took his hands to his neck, trying to remove Gary's hands from him. Gary did not flinch and pressed even harder. Jake began to choke.

"I bet this isn't fun, ain't it? Not being able to breathe mustn't be fun. Feel this? This is what _she_ felt."

Jake began turning purple as he desperately tried to push Gary away from him, but he did not let lose until Jake scratched his already hurt arm. Gary growled in pain as he released some of the strength he was placing on Jake. Jake used this opportunity to talk.

"It….it wasn't my idea, I swear! I didn't think the bolt…was gonna do that to her!"

Gary pushed him against the glass wall again, this time allowing enough air to flow for him to speak again.

"What do you mean it wasn't _your_ idea? Who sent you?"

Jake did not respond.

Gary heard sirens approaching and he hoped the police had not arrived yet. He needed more time to straightened things out before he was sent to jail. He looked back and saw it was not the police but the fire department. He felt relieved. He could now return to his task.

"Who the fuck sent you?! Tell me or your balls won't see another day. I swear I'll kill you if you don't."

Jake remained quiet. Gary was beginning to lose his patience.

"Look, Jake, after what you did, no one likes you in this city. I can kill you now and no one would even bother to call for help. Either you tell me now, or you will return home with only one ball."

Jake flinched.

"Fine, ok. I'll tell you," Jake said and continued when Gary did not respond. "This lady sent me. Her name is Emily Dragon. She told me she would give me a lot of money if the Waterflower sister had a freak accident!"

"What? Your sister?"

"She is not really my sister. I couldn't care less what happens to her. She said she would make sure no one did anything to me. But I didn't finish the job so she didn't pay me."

"Well, boo-fucking-hoo. You didn't almost lose your life. That should be payment enough."

"Dude, my Pikachu went blind while swimming. I could've used the money to fix him."

"You owed him that much. He saved your sorry ass."

"I had to kill him. You didn't lose anything. I lost my Pokemon."

Gary punched Jake in his stomach. Jake bent over, gagging and coughing. Gary allowed him a couple of seconds to recover before grabbing his neck again.

"Where is she?"

"Who?"

Jake opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he saw an ambulance and police cars drive by. Gary did not dare to look back and thought they had come for him when Jake followed them with his eyes, hoping they would stop. Jake cursed when he saw them continue to drive down the street.

Gary took a deep breath, knowing his time was about to expire. He closed his fist and placed it on Jake's upper stomach. He pressed on it as he spoke again. "That Emily person. Where is she?"

"I don't know!"

"Bullshit!"

"Seriously, man. I don't fucking know!"

Gary growled. "That's it, say goodbye to your nuts."

"NO! I swear I don't know…but…"

"But what?"

Jake did not immediately respond and Gary pressed on his solar plexus, making it harder for him to breathe. "But. What?"

Jake nodded, showing he was willing to cooperate. It was too late now, and he did not care what happened to Emily at this point. Anyway he looked at it, he was screwed up.

"But dude, by the sound of it, I wouldn't worry too much about where she is right now."

"Why the fuck not?"

"Because you should be worrying about keeping an eye on your girlfriend; she won't make it out of this one alive."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Look."

Gary turned around to look at what Jake was pointing at. He released his grip from Jake as he stared in shock to the scene unfolding in front of him. He could not believe his ears. He could not believe his eyes.

He could not force his body to move.

The Cerulean Pokemon Gym was on fire.

**The End**

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**A/N:**Don't kill me! This is just the end of this story, but not the end of the entire story. I will be MIA for probably a month or so but I will come back with a sequel that you guys will enjoy, whether you are an ego or a pokeshipper. Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you guys again here :)

3 MS


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