Cerulean City, eight years ago…

Being the youngest child of the family is never easy. Especially when you have three older sisters who are more beautiful, more talented, and in general better at everything than you. And no matter how hard you try, your achievements will always be compared to how your older sisters did before you.

At least, that was how Misty felt. The youngest of the Waterflower sisters, and the only one who was not named after a flower. To their parents, she was but a little mist, an unplanned child who ruined her mother's landing of an important role in a soap opera because they learned she was pregnant. The only reason she didn't abort on the spot was because of the bad press it would bring them if they did.

While growing up, Misty always knew that she was different. Not in the sense of being "special", simply that she didn't want to be like her mother or her older sisters. Acting, singing, those were not her things. Even so, she did manage to find a role model for herself, albeit someone who was already long gone. One day, while she was doing some cleaning at the attic, she found a box containing an old TV set, a VCR and some tapes. Some of them had the name "Ondine Waterflower" written, which she knew was the name of her paternal grandmother. Seeing that she was already done, she decided to plug them in and check the videos. Surprisingly, they were all still fully functional.

What she saw was amazing. The Cerulean Gym, currently ran by her father, and only because it helped in giving her sisters all the toys, clothes and foods they wanted whenever they wanted, was but a shadow of its former self. He just didn't have it in him to be a true Gym Leader. But these videos, in black and white, showed displays of her grandmother's greatest battles in her prime. Misty couldn't help but imagine herself in the future like that. If only she could grow a little faster, and take over the gym from her father.

But no, that wouldn't come to pass. She was still the youngest, the little runt at the end, behind her sisters in line to inherit everything, including the Gym. Not even if they died first and she was the only survivor her parents would allow it. They'd commit suicide and sell it to donate everything to charity before doing that.

"I thought I told you to clean up the attic." That was her mother's voice speaking. Misty turned around slowly.

"Well, everything is clean here, I just thought I could rest for a little bit," she replied, trying not to sound disrespectful. Misty might not be very fond of her mother (and the feeling was mutual), but she was smart enough to know who was the one with leverage. Sense of self-preservation.

"If you have time to watch those videos, then you have time to help in cleaning the pool. You do remember we're going to need it soon, right?"

"Alright, I'm coming." Misty slowly got up, turning off the TV and VCR.

When the gym's pool wasn't used for battling, her sisters loved to use it to perform underwater ballet shows, or otherwise, for pool parties to have a good time with half the city. Of course, Misty was never invited; she had to stay locked in her room and pretend she didn't exist, and help with the cleaning before and after said parties. Fun.

Nevertheless, even she had her limits. She could only put up so much with this. After about half an hour of cleaning around the pool's edge, she finally exploded, throwing the brush to the floor and kicking in a rage, as well as the bucket, spilling over the cleaning water.

Her family clearly didn't care for her. They treated her more like a servant than one of their own. The worst part, she didn't even know why. What had she done to them? What did she do to deserve that treatment? She never asked to be born in their family. Hell, she never asked to be BORN at all.

And in her frustration and kicking, she lost sight at how close she was to the pool's edge, and ended up slipping and falling backwards into it. The good news, there was water in it. The bad news… her parents never took her to swimming classes, unlike her sisters.

"HELP!" she cried out trying to splash with her arms to get someone's attention. "HELP ME!"

Unfortunately, it was unlikely someone would hear her. Her father had taken her sisters for another shopping spree, and if her mother was still in the house area, it was unlikely that she would hear her. And knowing her, she might even actively ignore it and later pretend it was a "terrible accident". Normally the Gym's Pokémon would gladly save her, but they were either in their Pokéballs or in outer tanks. When she couldn't float anymore, she started to sink to the bottom of the pool, trying futilely to reach out for the surface.

'I can't breathe… I'm going to die…'

Her lungs were full of water, her strength was slowly abandoning her, and she felt her eyelids going heavy. Everything was blacking out. And then, some thoughts filled her mind. Her family despised her, and she had no friends. Nobody would miss her if she died right then and there…

'Maybe it's better this way… nobody wants me anyway… maybe it's not so bad that I drown…'

And then, without warning, she felt life coming back into her. Blinking a couple of times, suddenly everything around her became clear. In fact, it seemed a little too clear, and it took her a few more seconds to realize that she was breathing without problems. But that couldn't be; she was still in the water, she could feel it. Unless…

The pool was pretty big, so she had no choice but to walk across the bottom and find the ladder to get out. She could hear the voices of her parents and sisters screaming around, so she finally got out to confront them. Maybe this experience could get them to appreciate her a little more…

"Misty… how long were you down there?" her mother asked.

"What?" Misty asked back. Seriously, she almost drowned down there and that was all she asked? But come to think about it… she was a few minutes down there, trying to find her way out.

"No… it can't be… you're one of them, aren't you?" said her father.

"One of who? What are you talking about?" Misty insisted. Upon looking at her sisters, the three of them quickly hugged amongst each other tightly, looking at her with fear in their eyes.

"She's one of those freaks!" said Daisy.

"The bloodliners, she's one of them!" added Violet.

"No way, that can't be true!" concluded Lily.

A bloodliner? She had heard that in passing over the news once, but she didn't even know what the word meant, or what the big deal about them was. That day, marked the beginning of a very, very rude awakening for Misty. There was one reason why she felt different from her family. It was because she WAS different, in a very, very special way.

Four years after that…

Misty never had the best relationship with her family, but with the revelation of her being a bloodliner, things just took a turn from bad to worse. At first, they were at most neglectful and ignored her. After that day, however, her parents resolved to always keep an eye on her, while her sisters avoided her like she was some sort of living plague. Her parents always repeated to her "Don't even think about revealing your freakiness out there!" It wasn't because they cared for her, it was because if they got rid of her, people would know, and would start talking about it.

The fact that she could breathe underwater did have its perks. Thanks to that, she was able to learn how to swim by herself, sparing her parents from having to spend money in swimming classes for her. Misty was a natural at it, though her sisters never ceased to remind her that she was "cheating", and her parents even forbade her from entering the swimming club at her school. She didn't actually care; for once, she was happy to have found something she could do potentially better than them. In fact, other than swimming, there was another area where she felt she could surpass her sisters: Pokémon battling.

Strangely enough, or maybe not so, she had always felt an affinity for Water-type Pokémon. It all started when she was five years old. At one point, she was sitting in front of a water tank, with no other company than her loneliness and her tears. The Water-types inside swam towards her, and she felt as if they could understand her, as if they could feel her pain and wanted to comfort her. She wasn't sure why, but it did make her feel better. And watching her grandmother's old videos actually made her feel even closer to them. Like she wanted to become a great Water-type specialist, just like her.

She had spent the entire morning in the Battle Club, beating up as many opponents as she could. She had overheard the local Don George and Nurse Joy talking about her. They said she could become a great Gym Leader. She didn't say anything at the time, but it meant a lot to know there was someone who believed in her. Of course, her chances of actually becoming Gym Leader were pretty slim, given that the current leader (AKA her "daddy dearest") was the one with the final say about it.

After trashing her opponents one after the other using her two Staryu (the only Pokémon she could legitimately use by herself), she went around town for a walk. Once she was old enough to look after herself, she tried to spend as much time outside as she could. She knew she wasn't welcome in that house, and they scolded her no matter if she made it back before or after the curfew. Right now, she was walking along the river's edge, a river so wide that the only way to access Cerulean by the North was across the Nugget Bridge (she wondered who came up with that name).

"That hurts! Help me! Someone help me!"

"Hmm?" Misty looked around. Did she hear someone crying for help?

"Hey, Mike! There it goes!"

"Right back at ya!"

"Whoops, too far!"

A few yards ahead, she spotted three boys she knew in passing from her school. She didn't remember their names, but they were regular bullies in the playground. Normally, she would refrain from doing anything to avoid getting herself into trouble (she had enough at home already), but what they were doing right now, using a helpless Magikarp as a plaything, kicking it around like a living soccer ball… she couldn't allow that.

"Hey, you three!" she yelled.

The three kids turned around to see the approaching redhead, leaving the poor Magikarp flailing on the ground and trying to breathe. Misty quickly scooped the red fish in her arms, and glared at the trio.

"That's enough! Can't you see you're hurting Magikarp?"

"What's it to you? With those hard scales it can't feel a thing!"

"Oh yeah? Would you like being kicked around like a soccer ball?" Misty grabbed one of her Pokéballs. The three kids cringed at that. "Get lost now, or do you want to deal with me?"

Misty wasn't older than them, but they knew she had Pokémon of her own and had seen her a couple times at the Battle Club beating aspiring trainers one or two years older, so they knew better not to anger her. Quickly, they turned around and left the vicinity. As soon as they were out of sight, the redhead's expression softened, and she gently took Magikarp to the edge of the river to put him back into the water.

"It's OK. Those three won't bother you anymore. I promise."

"Thank you," the fish replied.

"You're welcome," said Misty. "Just in case, you better go now. They might be gone already, but they'll come back with friends."

That was something else she had discovered she could do. Many people wished they could understand Pokémon speech, and she was able to do so, perfectly. Unfortunately, it was only limited to Water-types, but that was more than enough for her. To think her two Staryu had so many things to say: one of them wanted to evolve, while the other didn't, and while they looked so similar to the common observer, they were completely different. It was… fascinating.

The red fish thanked her one last time and swam off against the river current. Misty wished she had brought some additional Pokéballs, but she couldn't buy them without a trainer license. Otherwise she would have loved to bring him along.

Little she did know, that small fish would never forget that fateful encounter. Many years would pass, but he would train hard to go from a small fish to a big and strong marine serpent, and he would always remember the face of the human who helped him. He would return the favor one day.

Three years after…

If there was something sadder than missing your parents after they died, that would be not missing them. That hurt a lot more, not being sad at all for their passing. And things were just getting even worse for Misty, since with their parents gone, there was no legal leverage preventing the elder sisters from getting rid of the "little runt at the end".

Those who knew the elder sisters usually thought of them as "all looks and no brains", which was true at least to an extent, but they could be surprisingly bright when it came to deal with things that annoyed them, like their younger, freaky, and decidedly-less-beautiful-than-them sister, and found a way to get rid of her without getting themselves into legal troubles that would ruin their idol image. Plus, it would eliminate another looming threat she represented for them; namely, the possibility of taking the gym, at least for a while.

Misty had turned fourteen a couple months ago, which meant she wasn't allowed to have a trainer license yet. However, one of the perks of being a Gym Leader was that you could pass a request for a special permit, which served as a provisional trainer license if the person in question had proved competent enough in the handling of Pokémon, no matter if they were underage. Generally, this was done to allow trainers under the legal age to get an early start, and once they turned fifteen, the actual license would be approved.

Of course, the implications of this were not lost to Misty. It was a not-so-subtle way for her sisters to tell her they wanted her out of their house, and the Gym. She couldn't believe they'd go that far; did they really hate her that much? Plus, there was the fact that once she turned eighteen, she'd be legal to challenge them for the Gym's ownership, something they sought to avoid at any cost. Maybe they were expecting her to get lost in the forest and get stung to death by wild Beedrill swarms or something. Misty cringed at the thought, but it was a possibility she couldn't rule out, unfortunately.

Looking around, Misty came to a realization. She had never felt welcome in that place, that was not a home to her, and as far as she was concerned, if they didn't want her around, she wasn't part of that family. She practically snatched the paper sheet from Daisy's hand when she presented it with her little proposal. The way things were going, it would be just a matter of time before they'd find another way to kick her out, so why bother to delay the inevitable?

"Let's see how long you last without me! One day I'll return, and I'll bring back this Gym to its former glory!"

Those had been her parting words before exiting, taking along as much as she could with her. It was a shame the only Pokémon she was able to take with her were her two Staryu, the only ones legitimately hers. If she could, she would have gladly taken every single Pokémon at the Gym, so they wouldn't have to put up with her sisters anymore.

Still, the questions now were: where would she go, and what would she do? Aside from the Battle Club, the only place she was always welcome at was the Pokémon Center. The local Nurse Joy was always willing to lend her an ear to her troubles, and give good advice whenever she needed it. With nothing to lose, the redhead made her way to the Pokémon Center.

As always, the pink-haired nurse listened to Misty's woes from beginning to end. Joy didn't get any words in, but having known Misty for years, she knew that just by hearing her out and letting her vent every frustration would help her feel better. Then she could do her part.

"… really, if they don't want me around, what's the point in staying there?" Misty finished her ranting. "Still… what am I going to do now? I have nowhere else to go."

"We can always use some volunteer work around here," Nurse Joy suggested. Misty frowned at that. "I was just kidding, sorry. You can always get started on a Pokémon journey. You may not be fifteen yet, but you're one of the best trainers in town. I think you can do fine on your own. But, just in case, I've got some things here that might help you."

The nurse pulled out a drawer, bringing out two objects. A Pokéball, and a small bluish stone with bubbles inside: a Water Stone. But the nurse didn't stop there; she also pulled out a small bag of money. Before Misty could ask any questions, Joy activated the Pokéball and released its occupant. A small, white bird with blue strips on the wings, a fan-like tail, an orange beak with a black tip and small orange feet.

"Wingull!" it said.

"This is a Wingull, a Water/Flying-type native to Hoenn," Nurse Joy explained.

"Looks very nice. Hey there." Misty smiled as she rubbed under the bird's beak. He seemed to enjoy her touch, as he chirped happily.

"We've been looking all over for a trainer for him, but nobody seems to want take him in. I know you have your two Staryu, but another additional Pokémon never hurts. And I know how much you dislike Bug-types, so…"

Misty nodded. Bug-types were her big no-no, so having one of their natural weaknesses on her side seemed quite a good deal. Plus, this Wingull seemed to have taken a shine to her rather easily.

"I'm sorry I could only get you one Water Stone, though," Nurse Joy apologized. "It might be hard having to choose which of those two will evolve into Starmie."

"That's not a problem for me," said Misty. "I'd like to have one day at least one of each Water-type in the world, and one of my Staryu doesn't want to evolve anyway."

"Really? How do you know that?" Nurse Joy asked with interest. Misty didn't reply, she only smiled in a way that clearly said 'I just know', so Joy didn't press any harder. "Anyway, in this bag there's some money that might help you get by. It should be enough for at least three months if you spend it wisely."

"Thanks. My sisters would never spare a dime on me," said Misty. "I promise, I'll pay it back in full one day."

"You don't have to. That money is all yours, you need it more than me anyway."

"I will pay it. Maybe in five, or ten years, when I finally become a great Gym Leader, but, I promise, I will."

Nurse Joy didn't say anything else; once Misty had set on something there was no changing her mind. In that case, she looked forward to the day to see her standing proud as the new leader of the Cerulean Gym. Finally a worthy successor to her grandmother.

Thanking Nurse Joy again for her kind gifts, Misty finally left the Pokémon Center, ready to get to the road. For many, it would be hard to leave their hometown. For her… considering that her happy memories of Cerulean were virtually non-existent, it felt more like she was leaving behind a dead weight. She was leaving now, but not forever. One day she would return. When she was stronger, strong enough to challenge her sisters for the Gym. People wouldn't look down on it anymore, she would make it one of the strongest, if not THE strongest of the Kanto region.

One day, but not today. For now, it was time to move forward and not to look back. A long and hard road awaited her.

A few months later…

Except for the usual hazards in the wild, travelling on her own wasn't as bad as Misty expected. It was a good change of pace, being away from her sisters and their 'lovable' personalities. She had it easier to fit in at places where nobody knew who she was, and being a Pokémon trainer, she could easily get by in doing some odd jobs her Pokémon could help with, or taking part in small time tournaments to get the prize money. Even though it was a rather steady income, half of it would easily go towards food for herself, given that, as far she could remember, she could eat more than her three sisters together in a single meal and still not feel sated.

Another of the advantages of being by herself was that, at long last, she could finally try and get an understanding of her abilities. She didn't know much about bloodliners in general, just some things she had managed to put together from newspaper articles and other stuff. Through trial and error, she more or less determined her own capacities. Aside from being able to understand Water-types and breathe underwater, Misty discovered that she had (somewhat limited) hydrokinetic abilities; she was capable of conjuring water either using the moisture in the air, or her bodily fluids (which seemed to have greater reserves than an average human, judging by the amount she could produce before reaching her limits), though it was much better when she was close to a water source like a river or lake. That was the basis to discover that she was capable of imitating Water-type Pokémon moves. All she had to do was focus and imagine herself doing them in the same way her Pokémon did. An amazing experience, as it were. She did discover some limits in this, though; she wasn't capable of imitating Staryu's Rapid Spin (she ended up dizzy after trying to pull it off) or Starmie's Psychic (all that concentration just gave her a headache). Whatever it was, maybe it was that bloodliners could only stick to a specific type, and it was Water in her case.

Nevertheless, while she was doing fine on her own, sometimes she did feel… lonely. One of the perks of being able to understand her Pokémon was that she always had them whenever she needed to talk about something, and while they made good company, sometimes she wished to have something else, as in, human company.

"Human… why am I saying that?" she said as she gazed at her reflection in the river. "I'm not even human, I am… something else."

Of course. Her parents and sisters never saw her as a human. If it didn't start when she was born, it certainly did when they found her at the pool that day. She could see it in their eyes: they thought she was something unnatural, a monster, a freak… was it really that all bloodliners were? General consensus seemed to lead that way. People were afraid of them, of what they could do, and she had seen on the news a few incidents involving them either abusing their powers, or getting lynched after being outed as bloodliners. It looked like people hated them just for… existing.

Misty sighed. There was so much she wanted to know, but she had never met another who was like her. Someone who knew how it was, what it felt to be… different. Someone who might be able to understand her.

"Hor… sea…"

A sad cry and a sniffing sound quickly got the redhead's attention. She walked in that direction and tried to look around for the source. The sniffing became louder as she approached a small creek, and saw a small blue Pokémon floating in the water, crying sadly. A Horsea, in Misty's opinion one of the cutest Water Pokémon in Kanto, even though this one had clearly taken a beating so harsh that it had a black eye. Seeing the little guy so beaten up and sad made the redhead's heart melt.

"Hey…" she called out softly. "What's the matter?"

"Horsea…" 'My… trainer… *sniff*… he said… *sniff*… I'm useless…'

Horsea's voice cracked with each word. To anyone else, it would seem that Horsea had just said his name. Misty, however, understood perfectly as if he had said it in human words. He didn't need to say anything more; the poor little one had been abandoned by his trainer. That in itself was cruel, but leaving him beaten up like that? Misty quickly opened her bag and took out some Pokémon food, extending her hand towards Horsea.

"Here, eat this."

Horsea looked at the food in Misty's hand. The small dragon Pokémon seemed hesitant, but he wasn't just beaten up; he was hungry. When his stomach rumbled loudly, and looking into Misty's eyes, he finally couldn't resist anymore and ate it all.

"Horsea!" 'Delicious, I haven't eaten anything like this before!'

"I have more here if you want," said Misty as she pulled him out of the water to check on him. She noticed he had plenty of small cuts and bruises everywhere. "My God, just what did they do to you?"

"He left me because I lost a battle." Horsea seemed ready to cry again. "He said I was weak, and that I wasn't of any use to him. He left me here, all alone…"

"Oh, poor little one." Misty hugged him. "You know, we have something in common. I've been alone for a long time. At my home, my sisters didn't want me either. I know how that feels."

"Really?"

Misty nodded. "But if he didn't want you, that's his loss. I can't leave alone a Pokémon as cute and adorable as you. Would you like to come with me?"

Horsea couldn't believe it. He started crying again, but this time in joy. He had found a new trainer, one who would definitely take care of him. Misty always had a soft spot for Water Pokémon, but small, cute and vulnerable ones like this Horsea awakened her motherly instincts, like a child who needed protection. Was it because she always felt neglected and unprotected by her own family? If she had a say, she wouldn't let him suffer that.

A couple weeks after that…

After finding Horsea, Misty didn't have any more luck finding new Pokémon for herself. She frowned as she checked her supplies; apparently, that boy with the Farfetch'd she encountered did manage to make off with a few of her things, including some of her spare Pokéballs and her fishing bait, so she'd have to restock on the next town. In his hurry, though, the boy had dropped a half-emptied doughnut box. They got covered in dirt so there was no way to eat them now, but perhaps…

"Well, might as well check out if these work."

She pulled out one of her special lures, a Mini-Misty, as she called it, a miniature replica of herself. A little pretentious, perhaps, but she thought it was kind of cute. Not too bad for something she had fashioned herself. She attached a doughnut to the lure, prepared to cast… and suddenly, the lure got snagged into something, which flew along with it into the water, falling with a splash.

"PSY-AYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!" "SAVE ME! SAVE ME! I CAN'T SWIM!"

Misty couldn't believe what she was seeing. The Pokémon in question was a Psyduck, a Water-type… and it was flailing and splashing around in the river, yelling that it couldn't swim. Was that even possible? Nevertheless, she dove in and quickly got him out.

"Hmm… that was tasty, can I have more? I'm kind of hungry."

"Hey, I just saved you, can't you at least say thank you or something?"

"Oh yeah, thank you. Now, do you have more of those?"

Misty sighed. Well, at the very least she did fish something, though not exactly the way she expected, and for some reason, she had the feeling this yellow duck was going to give her plenty of headaches in the near future.

Over the course of several more months…

At this point in time, Misty had already gotten used to be travelling by herself. There wasn't much worth telling about what happened during this timeframe, save for two brief yet important events.

The first was when Misty accidentally learned of another bloodliner ability she didn't know she had. She was happily minding her own business with her Pokémon, when her Horsea suddenly spotted something, or rather, someone, coming their way. A blue-haired trainer wearing sunshades over his head, a pink shirt, black pants and a cowboy vest and boots (a pretty ridiculous fashion-choice, in her opinion). The small aquatic dragon told her that guy was named Damian, and he was his former trainer, the one who had left him all beaten up after losing a battle. Knowing this, Misty couldn't pass up the chance to stop him and challenge him to give him a lesson. Up to that point, everything was well and good, but she wasn't prepared for what came next…

…

Wingull made short work of his Charmander, and was following suit with his Weepinbell. Damian, however, quickly got angry that he was losing, and even in the middle of the fight called for another of his Pokémon, specifically a Tentacruel who wrapped around its tentacles around Wingull.

"What are you doing?! This isn't a double battle!" Misty yelled.

"Who cares?! All what matters is winning!" Damian replied. "Weepinbell, use Vine Whip!"

With Tentacruel restricting Wingull's movements, Weepinbell quickly took its chance to lash on the bird as payback for the previous beating. Misty clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. Glaring into Tentacruel's eyes, there was only one thought in her mind.

"Stop it! Let go of my Wingull!"

Suddenly, Tentacruel froze, its eyes becoming dull, and without hesitation, unwrapped its tentacles and freed Wingull, who quickly flew back to his trainer's hand, escaping from Weepinbell's lashing. Misty was relieved, but also confused; what was that? She wasn't the only one, Damian and his Weepinbell were also shocked to what had happened.

"What the heck are you doing?! You're supposed to obey ME, not her!"

"Turn around," said Misty. Tentacruel complied immediately. "Wrap your tentacles around Weepinbell and smash it around."

Said and done, much to Misty's surprise and to Damian's shock, Tentacruel wrapped Weepinbell and began mashing it all over the place. In the middle of Damian's ranting about not obeying him like it was supposed to, Misty then added one last order to prove her hunch.

"Throw Weepinbell at his face!"

And just like before, Tentacruel complied, smashing the flycatcher Pokémon into its trainer's face. The boy fell on his rear after that, and having no other choice he returned both Pokémon, before running off with the tail between his legs and yelling something about freaks Misty didn't pay any mind to.

…

That was how she discovered she could mind-control Water-type Pokémon. She hadn't tried to use that ability again since then, until she caught her Goldeen, since she wasn't sure how it worked.

The second, and more important event, was a fateful encounter with a young trainer who had a Pikachu partner. It all started when she had just fished her aforementioned Goldeen, and saw the boy being chased by the infamous Spearow and Fearow flock that roamed around Route 1 between Viridian and Pallet Town, chasing and if possible killing anybody who so much dared to breathe in the same area as them. They were actually doing fairly well against the murderous birds, managing to knock out quite a few of them with a combination electric shocks and backpack strikes, but eventually their sheer numbers overwhelmed them. And when one of the leading Fearow attempted a Drill Run against the downed Pikachu, the boy just jumped between them, ready to take the fatal blow for his partner. And then, it happened.

The boy used what she recognized as the move Counter, with enough force to knock out the Fearow and everything else in its vicinity. She then knew it. He was like her, a bloodliner. However, that thought was left on the back of her mind for the time being, since the effort of the Counter rendered him unable to keep standing, plus, despite having survived the Fearow onslaught, and he had a very nasty wound on his chest, the aftermath of that Drill Run.

At first, she decided that she would just do the sensible thing and give the boy first aid, then take him to Viridian City to get him proper treatment. But as soon as she made physical contact with him, something strange happened. It was like a feeling had just woken up in her, one that had been asleep for years. Suddenly, her thoughts changed from simply "he needs help" to "I have to save him because he's important to me", or something to that extent. But that couldn't be. She had never seen this boy in her whole life, so that made no sense.

After taking him to the Viridian Pokémon Center, she pondered on this as she waited for him to wake up. She didn't believe in "love at first sight", so she quickly discarded that, though she couldn't deny that, wounds and dirt aside, the boy wasn't bad looking. Was it because he was a bloodliner like her? Maybe it was because she had finally found someone whom she could relate to, someone who could possibly understand her. Something was for sure, that boy had something special about him, and she wanted to find out what it could be.

And boy, was she right. After an encounter with some Pokémon thieves calling themselves "Team Rocket", and over a few slices of pizza, they could finally properly introduce themselves. The boy's name was Ash Ketchum, and he was a trainer from Pallet Town who had just gotten himself his license, and was a Pokédex holder chosen by Professor Oak. That led some credence on how he somehow managed to make what she saw as very huge leaps for a rookie trainer. He had a lot of natural talent, and for the first time she had a very good regular sparring partner.

But that wasn't the only thing about him. Even though Ash seemed quite open to talk about himself when asked, sometimes Misty felt there was more to him than met the eye. For instance, when she revealed herself as a bloodliner, he didn't know the meaning of that word, never mind that he himself was one. She was also surprised to learn that his abilities worked different from hers, but then again, she had never met others, so her knowledge was fairly scant. In any case, sometimes she did feel that there were things Ash kept to himself. Rather than making her wary, though, it only made her more interested in knowing more about him. For some strange reason she couldn't explain, she felt like she could trust him with her life.

Before she realized, the days became weeks, but she felt as if though she had travelled with him for years. Over time, she decided not to pay any mind to that feeling anymore, because it made her head hurt to think about it. Instead, she just chose to embrace it. All that mattered was that she had found a good friend, someone whose company she enjoyed, and made her feel A LOT better than when she traveled by herself.

The two were currently sitting in front of a campfire. They had quite an eventful day, having somehow gotten themselves into that trainer school for rich kids. It all started because a student challenged them to a battle, and after they easily wiped the floor with him, somehow they ended up dragged into battle after battle with the other students. The last one they faced (whose name was Giselle), supposedly the strongest of all of them, was easily defeated by Ash and Pikachu, even though Misty wanted to face her. She wasn't sure if it was her idea, but somehow, Ash seemed rather… protective of her at that moment. Plus, there was also what Giselle said to her while they were enjoying their prize for winning:

"You've got quite an interesting boyfriend."

Since then, she hadn't been able to get those words out of her mind. She had said so, he was a boy, and he was her friend, but not her boyfriend. Still, why didn't she find the thought of Ash being her boyfriend unpleasant? Well, for starters, he was pretty good-looking, nice, friendly, and had a lot of natural talent as a trainer. But that wasn't all. There was something else, something Misty couldn't quite put her finger onto.

"Something on your mind?" Ash's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"Eh? No, nothing." She was lying, of course.

"If you say so." Ash just shrugged, and gazed at the fire. "Are you sure you don't want to pass through Cerulean? That would still be faster."

"I'm sure," she said firmly. She wouldn't change her stance.

"Hmm… if you don't mind me asking… did something happen over there?"

Misty gazed into his eyes. If she had to describe Ash's eyes in a few words, her first choices would be "big, warm and gentle". There was a genuine concern in them, one she hadn't seen in anyone else before. Even though the Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys were always nice and willing to help her, part of her felt that was more out of duty and concern for people in general, rather than concern for her as an individual person. In this case, though, it was more that Ash cared for her wellbeing, and she really appreciated that. Still… she didn't quite feel comfortable talking about that. Not yet.

"Many things," she said. "And that's all I'm going to say. For now at least."

"Alright," Ash replied. "But if you ever want to talk about it, I'm always here, OK?"

"Of course, and I appreciate it." She smiled. "Say, why don't we just go to sleep? It's been a long day."

She felt a little bad for cutting it off like that, but she wasn't ready to open up about it, not even with him. Cerulean City had left her with many wounds, and going back to that place would open them again. She wanted to come back when she was a great trainer, ready to take what was rightfully hers. Until then, it was better to stay as far away from there as possible. Until she was strong enough.

The night after the Cerulean Gym Battle…

Even after having left the boundaries of her 'beloved' hometown, Misty couldn't bring herself to sleep. Too many things had happened: her being poisoned by that Vileplume, waking up in a hospital to find Ash had gone against her wishes to save her life, defeating her sisters and getting them arrested… but none of that was what kept her awake.

Admittedly, while she still believed to have good reasons to be upset, once she calmed down, part of her felt guilty for snapping at Ash the way she did. It wasn't fair to direct her rage towards him, especially after the risks he took for her sake. Hell, she hadn't even properly thanked him for saving her life (saying "thank you" in the middle of an angry rant didn't feel right in her opinion), not to mention having caught that Gyarados for her rather than keeping it to himself. Unable to cope with her weight of conscience, she finally opened her sleeping bag and left her base.

"Ash?" she asked. "You still awake? Ash?"

"Hmm… yeah." Ash turned around, rubbing his eyes. "Do you need something?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. I just… wanted to talk for a bit, if you don't mind."

"Sure."

Ash exited his base and sat in front of Misty. As she gazed into his brown eyes, and his warm smile, the redhead suddenly found herself at a blank. She knew what she wanted to say, but she didn't know how to start. Taking a deep breath, she finally let it out.

"About today, I'm really, really sorry I overreacted. Please don't think that I don't appreciate what you did."

"Hey, it's OK." Ash shrugged. "You did the same for me, remember?"

'Did you really have to bring that up?' she thought. Seriously, was he trying to say they were even now? Nevertheless, she had to continue. "Anyway, even if we haven't known each other for that long… I'm really glad I met you. You're one of the first real friends I've had in my life, and that's saying a lot."

The redhead gazed in the direction of the city. Very few lights were on, yet she could still tell exactly where the Gym was. The Gym, her Gym.

"Maybe I wasn't ready to come back yet. But I do want to return one day. I want to restore the Cerulean Gym to its former glory. No, I want to make it greater than before. To wipe out how my father and sisters tarnished it. To make it a place my grandmother would be proud of."

"I hope I get to see that day," Ash said. "You'll make a great Gym Leader when the time comes."

"Do you really think so?" Misty asked.

Ash smiled at her. "No, I don't think so. I know so. And, if there's anything I can do to help you, just let me know, OK?"

Misty was quite surprised at this. The boy's eyes were filled with determination, showing that he was dead serious about it. Why did he want to help her? Their goals and dreams seemed very different from one another, yet he was willing to spare some time to help her attain hers?

"Not that I complain, but… why would you want to do that?" Misty asked. In response, Ash took his jacket and showed her the Cascade Badge.

"Remember what you said before? About what this badge used to represent? No matter how hard it was to win this one, it still feels… kinda empty. Badges are worth as much as the Gym Leader who hands them out, and one day, I want to earn a real Cascade Badge from a real, worthy Gym Leader."

"You mean… from me?"

Misty placed her hand on her chest, feeling that her heart was speeding up just a little bit. Ash didn't say anything, but that big grin on his face was definitely a big "YES" no matter how she looked at it. She couldn't believe it; why was he so supportive of the dreams of someone he had met just one, maybe a couple months ago at most? Still… it meant a lot that he had done all that for her, and was still willing to do more. A Gym Battle with Ash… that was one match she could look forward to. She had to respond in kind.

"I'm not planning on going easy on you," she said with a smile of her own. That competitive spirit of his was contagious, it seemed. And she actually liked it.

"I wouldn't like it any other way," Ash replied. "Until then, let's both do our best to become as strong as we can, shall we?"

Misty nodded, and then she realized something. "Er… I don't like pinky-finger promises or things like that. A high-five is good for you?"

"Sure, no problem."

Of course, they still had to seal that promise. The two trainers raised their hands and high-fived, still smiling at each other. Afterwards, they bid each other goodnight and returned to their respective shelters to get some sleep.

As she got herself into her sleeping bag again, Misty felt like she could sleep much better that night. That little talk with Ash was a little more than she expected, but it did make her feel better, and in more than one way. Not only Ash didn't hold it against her for yelling at him; he actually had given her something to look forward to. When the time came, she had to be ready. Even if he was just a rookie, she could feel it inside: he had the potential to become one of the best trainers in the world. So, in order to honor that promise they had made, she had to become a Gym Leader capable of giving him the battle he deserved. There was one thing she forgot to say, though. But that could wait, until she fulfilled that promise she had made. Nevertheless, one day she would say it out loud, when the right time came.

'Ash… thanks for believing in me.'

FIN.