74Please enjoy,
When Misty woke she felt well rested and was fairly excited for the rest of the day, all thoughts of Ash had been banished. She was going to enjoy this if it killed her. Only a few moments after she'd showered and pulled on some nice, but casual clothes there was a knock at the door. She was halfway done brushing her hair, but she stopped to open the door despite not being completely ready for the day. Thankfully it was Delia's calm face she saw when she opened the door.
"Hello dear, did you sleep well?" Delia asked in a kind voice and Misty nodded in return, "Are you ready to face another day after the excitement of last night?" She smiled remembering the fiasco that last night had resulted in.
"Almost, I just need to finish getting ready," Misty indicated her hair and Delia perked up.
"Oh, can I help you get ready?" she seemed excited which surprised Misty, "I only had Ash so I never got to help take care of a daughter. So please humor an old woman," Delia smiled somewhat ruefully at her own jab at her age.
Misty for her own part felt almost choked up, she'd lost her parents long ago and her sisters never really provided the support a mother could. Even if it was something simple like getting made up and preparing for a day with people she respected, it meant a lot. She just nodded mutely and stepped aside for let Delia in.
Delia quickly busied herself moving around and after seating Misty she began brushing her hair. "Now I did actually have an ulterior motive for coming here," Delia admitted, "I'm wondering if Ash did anything to upset you." Misty tensed and Delia continued, "He's a bit of a block-head when it comes to women so when I noticed you didn't bring him I thought he might have done something because I know otherwise he'd love to be surrounded by strong trainers and friends."
Misty sighed, so much for not thinking about Ash, though it might be good to get everything out there, not just the story of why Ash wasn't here. "Alright," Misty said and launched into an abridged version of her story starting quite a bit back to when they first met and how she slowly developed a crush on Ash. Delia for the most part was quiet adding things only occasionally.
When it was finally done Misty actually felt like she had let a weight off her shoulders, she had finally told someone everything. Brock already knew most of what was happening between Ash and herself, but it felt good to talk to Delia. She just hoped she wasn't upset with her because Ash was her son.
"Ash can be so blind," Delia stepped away from Misty, "I knew you two liked each other years ago and If I wanted him to date anyone it'd be you so don't worry about that. I support you two completely, but this isn't going to be easy for either of you. I know my son and despite what it might seem he can be a bit of a coward when it comes to certain things, it seems love is one of them."
Misty knew she was becoming red, but Delia just continued on, "Ash probably got confused by something, I know he would never willing choose not to come to an event like this especially with you and Brock here. I think your anger is justified, but he probably didn't mean to upset you. Do you want to know what I think you should do?" Delia asked finally giving Misty a turn to talk.
"Yes," Misty responded firmly.
"For now just enjoy yourself and don't worry about Ash. I'm sure you two will make up when you next see each other so there's no use in wasting energy being upset over the situation. I'm not saying try to ignore it or bury it because if you're still angry it'll just keep bugging you for the rest of the trip no matter how well you think you're containing it, you'll eventually lash out," as Delia spoke Misty knew she was right, she felt good earlier because she was ignoring it, but it'd come back up, "for now just reconcile yourself with the situation and accept that there's nothing to do about it until you get back so don't bother yourself."
As similar as her advice seemed to ignoring the situation Misty knew there was a distinct difference between acceptance and bottling it up so she decided to do what Delia wanted and chose not to expend any more energy being angry. It was time to have fun and as a smile finally slipped onto her face she knew she was finally ready to completely focus. "Thanks a lot Delia," Misty hugged the older woman and after a quick squeeze pulled herself back.
"Now you're all ready for the day, you look beautiful and you're feeling good. So let's have some fun," Delia stood up looking pretty energetic and it was contagious. Misty followed her out the door, briefly reminding herself she should probably grab breakfast.
After managing to eat, Misty left Delia to attend a meeting held for the gym leaders, elite four, and Pokemon officials. There wasn't much to discuss so it'd be a general review of what was happening and what would be happening in the future. After everyone was seated in the large room an older man stood up and coughed before speaking, "Hello all, I hope everyone enjoyed last evening," a smattering of applause and agreements accompanied the statement after it tapered off he continued, "Now we need to discuss the regulations for this upcoming year."
Misty listened fairly attentively to the speeches given by the various officials and the suggestions made by the elite four. Although only current gym leaders were included any former champions or elite four members were also welcome. The champions sat together watching the affair some more interested than others. She recognized most of them, Lance the dragon master a former champion from the Indigo/Johto league, Steven the steel type former champion of Hoenn was happily chatting to Wallace a water Pokemon master and current Hoenn champion, despite Sinnoh not being involved in the event Cynthia actually showed up, and the older former champions she knew less about. However the current and most recent champion from Kanto wasn't present nor was his direct predecessor, it was rumored the champion was a total recluse and nobody had seen him in years.
Her thoughts were interrupted by voices on the other side of the large doors they entered through. "Yeah I'm pretty sure this is it," a male voice said after a pause he continued as if responding to someone, "Well its not like we had a guide and you weren't any help."
A female voice interrupted, "I don't care how long it took, what I'm more concerned about is why I'm here. I never bothered taking on the league."
"Yeah, but they're pretty weak if you wanted to I'm sure you could beat the elite four, though you couldn't beat either of us," he paused again before asking, "right?" Once again it seemed like he was talking to someone speaking too quietly to be heard.
"Excuse me are you calling me weak?" The female sounded indignant.
"Uh, anyway we should go in," the male now sounding slightly worried. Before anyone could say anything the door was kicked in and three teenagers stood in the doorway: A young man who looked vaguely like Gary Oak was grinning confidently, a red eyed teenager who whose blank face didn't alter in the slightest at the scrutiny of the entire room, and a pretty brunette who had the decency to look vaguely embarrassed.
"Did we interrupt?" The confident one asked though it was clear he didn't really care and it was apparent that he had interrupted.
Karen the newest edition to the Indigo elite four stood up glaring at the group furiously, "Who do you think you are waltzing in here and where do you get off calling the elite four weak?"
"Well," he dragged the word out, "You're looking at a former champion, I beat the elite four and the champion when I was ten years old so I have a pretty good grip on how strong they were."
"What?" She looked disbelievingly at him before glancing at some of her colleagues who were giving him various looks from recognition to anger.
"Yeah, and this," he pointed with his thumb to the dark haired male by his side, "is the current champion, but if I have my way I'll be taking that title back one day."
"What are you doing here Green?" Lance asked a bit of annoyance seeping into his tone.
"Red and I came because we want to do what is our right and take part in this event, we are allowed correct?" He asked deceptively sweet.
"I'm still not," the unidentified girl huffed.
"Yeah, I just dragged Blue along because I needed her help in forcing Red to come with us," he shrugged ignoring the girls anger.
Misty noticed Red hadn't spoken a word he just watched his friends bicker and didn't really acknowledge anyone else. He just allowed himself to be pulled along when Green brought him to where the rest of the champions and elite four were sitting. Blue trailed behind them calling them idiots.
Thankfully the meeting was almost done and despite the interruption the group was mostly quiet Green and Blue chatted while Red stayed almost unnervingly silent just watching everyone with gauging eyes. The champions had essentially checked out and were openly watching Green and Red probably considering facing them. Misty knew every few years the champions gathered to decide which region could call itself the strongest, but they occasionally battled without stakes. It would be incredible to watch two champions face off in person and she was more than a little curious about the new arrivals. If they were truly strong enough to become Pokemon champions at age 10 how strong were they now years later? She guessed they were somewhere between 18 and 21 meaning they had plenty of time to improve.
Most of the people in the room had already mentally checked out so when they declared the meeting was over it took a few moment for people to start reacting. "Finally," Green stood and stretched his arms over his head, "it's over."
"You were only there for the very end, stop complaining brat," Lance bit out clearly he didn't like the younger male, but the grin on Green's face probably wasn't helping.
"Wanna battle then?" Green goaded him and Misty got the impression that everything he did, including acting high and mighty, was just to incite someone to challenge him.
"I won't be goaded into a fight by a child," Lance replied doing a good job at keeping himself under control despite his clear annoyance.
"There's got to be someone around here willing to face me," Green glanced around letting his eyes rest on Karen who was still glaring, "how about you? You were talking big a minute ago."
"Fine. The elite four has changed since a few years ago so don't think it'll be so easy," Karen approached him without faltering, but Green simply smirked and sent his two friends an amused look.
"Pick the field and the amount of Pokemon, though it won't really matter," Green followed her as she stormed past. Both trainers already had a full six and neither felt the need to make any switches so they quickly found themselves standing on a rocky indoor field being watched by everyone attending the event.
"I specialize in dark Pokemon, do you have a specific type you prefer?" Karen asked casually having shaken off her anger in favor of focusing on how to deal with her opponent. Misty got the distinct impression that Green was extremely skilled it was simply a feeling, but she was sure he earned his place as a champion.
"No, I tend to be an all-rounder. Due to the fact that I was basically forced to complete the original version of the Pokedex so Oak could produce newer versions using the data as a base. Thanks to us," Green gestured at his friends, "the Pokedex has data on every Pokemon, but each time one is caught the data is updated and improved so each generation is a bit better than the last."
Misty realized it made sense that someone had completed the Pokedex before Ash started because the device knew facts about the Pokemon on sight, though it revealed more about that particular Pokemon after it was caught.
Karen seemed shocked at his statement, "you caught all the Pokemon in Kanto?"
"Of course and plenty others in the years to follow. Now are we going to battle or what?" Green pulled a Pokeball out and tossed it up and down in his hand.
Karen seemed less confident knowing that her opponent had access to every Pokemon in Kanto and apparently ones from other regions, but she quickly pulled herself together and released her first Pokemon, "Go Weavile."
"Arcanine let's wreck her," Green tossed his Pokeball high in the air and a large Arcanine landed on the field staring down the Weavile, "it looks like you have a type disadvantage."
"We'll beat you with speed, good luck trying to land a hit," Karen finally sounded confident and back to herself now that the battle began.
"I don't need luck, I have extreme speed," the moment Green mentioned the attack his Pokemon launched forward surprising Karen and her Weavile who barely got out of the way, but it couldn't dodge the close range flamethrower that followed. The rest of the match didn't go any better for Karen, her Pokemon were taken down one by one.
Misty couldn't help, but cringe as Karen lost her Honchcrow to his Aerodactyl and ending the match without any of Green's Pokemon being knocked out. "You're incredible," she half whispered as Green returned his Pokemon stepping away from the field back to his friends who didn't seem impressed. Blue lectured him about his attitude and Red didn't seem fazed by his beat down of an Elite Four member. They were a scary bunch for sure, but she felt a nagging sensation that she'd seen the two boys before.
Despite her interest in the three three newest additions to the group, Misty wasn't able to get a chance to talk to them. Apparently they actually did have some friends among the Kanto leaders despite their attitudes. What was coming next was what she'd been looking forward to the entire trip, the first trading session. Although the trainers attending could trade at any time the league set some time apart just so leaders could trade and possibly improve their team, as many couldn't go out to catch Pokemon often. Misty was lucky she had back up in the form of her sisters, but many gym leaders had only themselves.
She was most interested in approaching Juan or Wallace, but she wasn't too familiar on a personal basis with either of them and it was slightly intimidating. Still she wasn't the type of person to be frightened off so easily and made her way towards them. Surprisingly she was intercepted by Lance, who waved her over. Being a dragon type master, Misty wasn't entirely sure what he wanted, but she walked to him hiding any confusion.
"Hello Misty," Lance greeted her warmly, "I'm sure you're wondering what I have to discuss with you during a trading session."
"Yeah, I'm a bit confused," Misty didn't bother lying, it didn't seem like he was planning on judging her.
"Well I actually have two gifts for you," Lance smiled taking two things off his belt. One was a pokeball and another was what looked like a scale, "Quite some time ago your parents left me a Seadra which has fathered quite a few Dratini with one of my Dragonairs, I feel its only fair that you are allowed to adopt one. It's quite young and dragon types can be hard to take care of, but I trust you have the skill and the facilities in your gym to take care of it. The scale is from when one of the Dratini evolved, it's a dragonscale and you can use it to evolve a Seadra if you have one."
"Thank you so much and I actually do have a Seadra," Misty was shocked, but retained enough sense to reply.
"If you'd like we could trade Pokemon while your Seadra holds the scale allowing it to evolve and we can trade back afterwards," Lance offered gesturing to one of the balls on his belt. Within a few minutes Misty had evolved Seadra, who seemed more than happy in its evolved state, though she had to return it to its ball.
Lance walked off after a few more pleasantries allowing Misty to get back to her initial mission, to speak to other water specialists or masters. Apparently she had been noticed before Lance had walked away because by the time she turned, Wallace was only a few steps away with his eyes resting on her.
"Hello my dear, I heard you've been making waves so it speak," Wallance began speaking a few hand gestures accompanying his words.
"Hello Wallace," she tried to sound casual in her response, but she was mildly confused, "what waves am I making?"
"I recently heard through the grapevine that you were quite insistent on entering the Indigo league," Wallace answered a peculiar smile on his face.
"I wouldn't say insistent, but I was interested," Misty didn't think she'd made such an impression that Wallace would somehow find out.
Apparently Wallace read the look on her face and waved off her concerns, "Don't worry, you're not exactly a major topic of discussion, I just happen to have my ears to the ground." He paused for a moment before continuing, "Now let's get to what I actually wanted to talk about, I believe its a topic we're both invested in, water pokemon."
A/N
I actually wrote this chapter a while ago, but never got around to finishing or publishing it. I actually thought I already did and when I started writing the next chapter I found this and realized it was never put up.
Why did I bring Red, Blue, and Green in? Because I can and because I find them fascinating, they won't play too huge of a role, but I enjoy the idea of them being in the same universe.
Also I feel the end was abrupt, but I wasn't sure where I was going to end it if I didn't cut it off before the rest of Wallace's conversation, that I'm still working out.
I had a guest reviewer Nick who asked me quite a few questions in a comment on the first chapter. I don't know if you've continued to read, but I think the story itself has probably answered most of your questions and I don't want to dedicate multiple paragraphs answering everything you've asked. If I could respond to you directly I'd be fine with it, but I can't within my story. This paragraph was too large in it of itself. I'm addressing this because you recently tried to post the same review which this time I chose to delete to avoid a repeat. (I generally don't block any guest reviews)
Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think.
