A Winkle in Reality

[HankPankylol]

So I just found this and binge read it. This has been great. I don't know why it's not more popular looking at the likes. Maybe the timing of posting ? Please keep it up. I am looking forward to more.

Edit : Looks like it got way more traction in fanfiction . net looking at the reviews.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I don't know. Maybe it's the day of uploading or just the genre. It is darker than most Pokémon, but I knew that it'd turn some prople off.

Not that I'm complaining, seems most people enjoy it.

 

[HankPankylol]

Thank you for reading. Hopefully you enjoy. If you REALLY like it, I have a P-a-t-r-e-o-n, under the same name, where you can read 3 chapters ahead.

Misty POV, and getting to Cerulean.

---

Misty sighed contentedly and leaned back on her palms, letting the warm Cerulean sun wash over her, the scent of fresh water and pollen tickling her nostrils. She'd never admit it, at least not to anyone from the Clan, but she did miss it. Just hanging out by the lakes she grew up with, a rod in the water and her Pokémon to keep her company. Well, hers and Peri's.

Even as the thought passed through her mind, a commotion occurred in the pond. Furious splashing announced a Tentacool bursting through the surface, tentacles spinning like a propeller as it fled for its life. Behind it, like the deep-sea monster Pokémon her dad used to tell her stories about, a blue fin breached the turbulent waves, Siren the Feebas piercing through the liquid with eyes narrowed in focus and anger. Following behind her, Staryu did its best to keep up, despite the natural advantages the fish had. Staryu weren't meant for high-speed chases. They were bottom feeders and ambush predators. They could be startlingly quick in short bursts, but not sustained, and Siren was quite fast for a Feebas.

Misty really needed to ask what kind of training Peri had put her through. A Feebas learning hydrokinetic levitation in three years was very impressive. Then again, Siren was more… with it than her species usually was.

She was a cutie, and Misty was very jealous. If she thought there was a chance Peri'd go for it, she'd have tried to trade for Siren, but the boy was fiercely protective of his team, which was good to see even if slightly inconvenient for Misty. Hell, the only time the horny brat had seemed annoyed with Misty was when he thought she was insulting Siren.

Starmie followed behind the two young Water-Types serenely, calming the choppy ripples in her wake. She wasn't built for speed either, but she was more than strong enough that it didn't matter. Starmie was Misty's first Pokémon, and even if Misty hadn't been training it for nearly 10 years, just growing up in a Gym would have done the trick. Yet, her starter was content with letting the kids play. It was Tentacool's own fault. He should've known not to try and eat everything that came close.

Closing her eyes, she tuned out the desperate gurgles and the small crowd forming. It was good to relax. She'd been getting tense as they closed in on Cerulean, and she feared her attempts at distracting the others had become a little transparent towards the end. Not that it had really mattered. As it turned out, Ash was the only one who didn't already know about her family, and the things Ash knew could be counted on one hand. Her eye twitched as she remembered her bike, and the fact that the fucking dumbass, dweeb, loser still hadn't gotten her a new one despite being sponsored by Samuel-fucking-Oak!

Not that it was about the money, she was a Waterflower, she could have a brand new prototype for free before the day was out, but still!

Growling to herself, she put the pint-sized, thieving, toddler-brained, mouth breathing, dipshit out of her mind. Picking up Brock had been great for her mental well-being. Having the other former Gym Leader around was probably the only thing that would save Ash from 'disappearing' in the wilderness.

Peri… she didn't really know what to think of the other boy. He was cute. No, actually, he was hot. Very hot. Those muscles did not belong on a boy younger than her, and those piercing purple eyes did things to her.

But on the other hand, he was abrasive, rude, and kind of arrogant. Misty was self-aware enough to know that most of that could be applied to her as well, but she didn't run around crippling people with a sword! She overheard the officers talking about one of the Team Rocket members needing a cane to walk for the rest of his life.

And sure, they were terrorists that nobody would shed a tear for if they died in a battle, and her parents would likely have done worse themselves, but it was the principle of the matter!

Beyond that, he was also a little too forward for her taste. Sure, confidence was attractive and all, but there were limits, and Peri was walking a fine line between creepy and flattering.

She also wasn't sure where it was coming from. In Mt. Moon, she'd thought he was just attracted to her, not realizing that he knew who she was, and that was… cool. Nothing to get excited about, obviously, Misty was a beautiful young woman with absolutely no self-esteem issues, no ma'am, but it was nice to see someone acknowledge it.

Not that she needed the approval of some thug, no matter how handsome. She wasn't flattered.

Nope.

Collapsing into the soft, tall grass with a grunt, she decided she had thought about it enough. It was too nice a day to ruin with thoughts of dumbasses. Maybe she'd take a little nap and hopefully wake up for a bit of socializing before Peri came back. He seemed confident it wouldn't take him long, but it wasn't Misty's first time.

She'd be surprised if he was back before nightfall, which suited her just fine. With any luck, Ash would've kicked her sisters annoyingly perfect rears and they could wait on the outskirts for Peri to get his Badge. The less interaction she could have with her family, the better.

Spoiled, air-headed, cowardly, bimbo cunts the whole lot of them. Hopefully, the sluts caught the clap somehow.

Feeling a sudden chill fall over her and the light dimming, she cracked open an eye to make sure it wasn't about to start raining. She jumped up in shock, cracking her forehead against Peri's, where he was leaning over her.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING SNEAKING UP ON ME LIKE THAT!?" Her head ached a little, but it wasn't anything serious. Though with the way the oddly Blackthorn-looking boy was stumbling around, you'd think he was dying.

What a fucking baby. That's what he got, creeping around like that!

"I thought it would be funny! I was wrong, awwwww! Your head's harder than a boulder, and that's not an exaggeration!"

"SHUT UP, IT IS NOT!" If he said anything about her forehead, she'd throw his corpses in the lake.

"Alright, alright, calm down. I'm just fucking around. Hi Misty." He padded the air like it was supposed to calm her down, and then ignored her to go greet Siren as the Feebas abandoned her vendetta against the Tentacool and sped over to her Trainer.

It didn't calm her. If anything, it made her blood boil even more. She wasn't a fucking Growlithe. Though speaking of Growlithes, Peri's monster of a specimen was panting happily by his side. That in and of itself wasn't unusual; the absurdly rare, hulking beast was Peri's most common companion to be out and about. What wasn't the same old, same old was the small humanoid Pokémon perched on Sol's back, oversized yellow hands almost disappearing into the thick coat, if not for the red smears.

So he did get the Elekid. That was fast. But why was it bleeding?

Turning to ask, she paused when she saw Peri washing his own hands before touching Siren, crimson liquid twirling around in the clear aqua before dissolving and vanishing.

The hell happened!?

"Why are you bleeding!? Did you get attacked!?" She hurried over, accidentally kicking her fishing pole on the way. It didn't matter; she didn't expect a second catch anyway. Fumbling through her bag, she ripped his hands out of the water and started bandaging them, barely keeping a gasp back at his absolutely ruined knuckles.

Did he punch a Steelix!?

"Huh? Oh, nah. Hercules and I just did some training, didn't we, bro?" The slightly small Elekid gave a whirring cry of agreement and held his arms up, flexing to make his biceps pop. Seeing his reaction, Misty huffed and let go of his hands with a hard squeeze that got a yelp from him.

If he didn't care, why should she? Though he deserved to be punished for being such an asshat.

"Oh, training, huh? Well," she walked a small distance before spinning around, one hand pointed at Peri, the other grasping her newest Pokéball, a cocky grin on her lips. She'd teach him. "If you wanna train that bad, I'll show you. Someone needs to teach you some manners, anyway, and who better than me? Your Elekid against my Pokémon, let's go!"

"A battle, eh?" He pretended to scratch his chin in thought, but she could see the smirk. The guy barely did anything other than train and flirt with her; of course, he was going to agree. "I guess Hercules could whip you real quick. If you win, I might even have a reward for you."

"Ewww." Misty wrinkled her nose. Like she said, too strong.

"Not my dick! Though you're of course always welcome to help yourself in that regard. No, I caught a second Pokémon while out there, and I thought you might be interested."

She perked up. A Pokémon? She hadn't been shy about her dream to be a Water-Type Master, so hopefully it would be that. Though if it was a Bug-Type, he'd truly have ruined any chance with her. She shivered at just the thought of all the skittering legs, the way too many blank eyes.

"Alright, you're on!" She shook it off, unclipping and enlarging her Pokéball as Elekid hopped off Sol and walked over to stand in front of Peri, the Electric-Type taking a martial arts stance that made her raise an eyebrow. "But you might regret that!" A confident toss had the capture device spinning through the air, impacting and dispensing its content, before perfectly returning to her hand.

The light dimmed to reveal a small, blue Pokémon with six stubby legs. It had large eyes and a wide, yellow mouth like a Psyduck's bill. A large green leaf that resembled a lily pad covered its back.

Peri pulled out his PokéDex and scanned her Lotad, while she watched on proudly. Okay, so maybe she didn't exactly fish it up herself, and it had just popped up next to her to escape Siren's rampage, but she still caught it, and she was proud of it! Lotad was a great Pokémon and hell of a catch in the wilds of Kanto, though Cerulean would be the place to find them. Hell, maybe it was one of Uncle Walter's Ludicolo's offspring.

"Lotad, The Water Weed Pokémon. Lotad live in ponds and lakes, where they float on the surface. It grows weak if its broad leaf dies. On rare occasions, this Pokémon travels on land in search of clean water. Lotad is said to have dwelled on land before. However, this Pokémon is thought to have returned to water because the leaf on its head grew large and heavy. It now lives by floating atop the water."

"Lotad is native to Hoenn. This Lotad has the ability: Rain Dish, and knows the moves: Astonish, Growl, Bubble, Natural Gift, Mist."

"Did you catch this while I was gone?"

"Sure did!" She kept smirking, loving the recognition of her awesomeness.

"A Lotad, not bad. Not good enough, but not bad."

Misty huffed. "We'll see about that! Lotad, Bubble!"

She should've paid more attention to the dumb grin on his dumb face.

"Herc, straight through! Quick Attack!"

"Wait, what!?" Misty's mouth fell open as the Elekid, apparently as nuts as its Trainer, crossed its bulky arms in front of itself like a shield and became surrounded in an aura of white. The Trainer in her acknowledged the swiftness Elekid pulled off the move with, and realised that Peri had gotten a good one, despite being somewhat short. Though on closer inspection, 'Herc', or whatever, was quite the bulky boy, and mass-wise wasn't that far behind the standard.

The rest of her was too busy internally screaming at the BULLSHIT on display as Elekid let out a scratchy cry and charged into the Bubble. The big blob of Water-Type energy crashed over the protective limbs, wetting the dried blood and spreading it further through the fur, turning the arms a rusty orange, and even managed to stop Elekid in his tracks for a moment. The Electric-Type strained against the attack, veins and muscles bulging, before he threw his arms out wide, dispersing the last of the move, and came barreling towards Lotad.

Lugia, why was it so fucking fast!?

"Fucking punch it!"

What!? That wasn't a move!

It also didn't matter. In a flash, Elekid appeared in front of her Water/Grass-Type, right foot digging a trench into the ground, sending grass and soil flying as the other leg slid behind it, arms coming up in a fighting stance.

Misty cried out commands, orders to counterattack, pleas to move, but it was useless. Lotad was not a physical fighter by any means, and the weirdo Elekid was clearly not as limited.

She also literally caught him an hour ago!

BAM!

BA-BAM! BAM!

BA-BA-BAM-BA-BAM-BA-BA-BAM.

Left hook, right jab, right jab, uppercut. Residual Normal-Type energy from the Quick Attack drifted like smoke from the blurring hands, creating the illusion that the fists were catching fire from the speed. Lotad rocked with every blow, barely able to groan before another hit knocked the air out of it.

And it wasn't fucking slowing down!

If anything, despite the Quick Attack fading, Elekid was speeding up. The small humanoid was panting from the several dozen attacks, but the whirring hum only grew louder and louder. Jab, hook, hook, feint, ja-no, hook, anoth-upercu-ja-, what the fuck!?

Who the fuck got stronger from exhaustion!?

"Hercules, enough!" Instantly, faster than some Pokémon that had been trained for years, 'Hercules' leapt back, landing still with his hands up. Sweat leaked through the thick fur coat, and each breath was obviously a struggle to regulate, but the glint in his eyes was nothing but enjoyment and anticipation.

Lotad, on the other hand, stayed on his feet for a moment, eyes blank and whole body covered in bruises.

Then, he tipped over, still completely stiff, eyes swirling around in his head, before Misty recalled him.

Silence.

Then-

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?"

"That's the power of hard work and muscles, baby, hell yeah! Come on, Herc, flex on the losers, yeeeeeaaah!" Both Trainer and Pokémon looked like fucking idiots, standing in the field and showing their biceps to each other.

Taking one look at the nonsense, Misty spun on her heel and started back towards Cerulean, barely bothering to pick up her bag and fishing rod on the way.

Fuck it. Her family was way better than that shit.

"Misty? Hey, Misty!? Wait, Misty, hold on, I don't know the way! Don't you want the Pokémon!? Come on, don't be mad!"

She wasn't mad.

She was murderous. There was a difference.

Fucking Lugia-damned, bitch-ass, dumb fuck Pallet Trainers. They could kiss the entirety of her cute, pale ass. Except Peri, because he'd like that.

He could just eat shit. Fucking freak would probably get off on it, too.

Still, a Pokémon was a Pokémon.

Her voice barely recognizable beneath the growl and gritted teeth, she peeked over her shoulder with twitching eyes. "What Pokémon." It wasn't a question.

A flash of red, and she found herself gazing into the eyes of a brown rodent, large nose twitching being the only sign it wasn't a stuffed toy as it stared through her blankly.

"It's a Bidoof!"

…

"OOOOWWWWWWWW! FUCK! WHAT THE HELL, MISTY?"

"FUCK YOU!"

"NO, FUCK YOU!"

Annoyingly, it turned out that Peri's muscles weren't just for show, and she couldn't outrun him.

---

"They're probably at the PokéCenter, right? Hasn't been that long, but they should've made an appointment by now."

"Hmph!"

"What the fuck is your problem?" Seriously, she'd just lost her shit after Hercules proved to be an absolute badass even before I'd started training him. Even Bidoof didn't get her to calm down, though she did end up snatching the ball from me without as much as a thank you.

I was starting to wonder if her hotness was worth the bitchiness? I sighed.

Who the fuck was I kidding? Her temper only made her more attractive. Like just being given a Badge, it wasn't fun if there wasn't some push back. I was an asshole most of the time, and it would suck if she couldn't handle that. Equal shit flinging was the optimal outcome.

I needed more therapy. Random bouts of screaming at each other shouldn't be a positive in my, currently nonexistent, love life.

It seemed my honest puzzlement finally did what a hundred questions couldn't as Misty deflated like the air being let out of a balloon. She hesitated for a moment, but spoke anyway.

"Yeah… sorry. You're right, I'm being a bitch and a sore loser." She sighed again before looking at me with a genuine smile. "Thank you for the Bidoof, Peri. That was very sweet of you. Sorry for losing my temper, I just expected more from myself."

"It's fine, just, you know, don't take it out on me."

"Sorry."

"... also, I didn't call you a bitch."

"Yes, you did. Multiple times, actually, usually combined with 'psychotic', 'crazy', or 'bipolar'."

"Oh, right… sorry."

She waved it off, continuing in through the gates of Cerulean. "Let's just put it behind us, yeah? We both said shit. Besides, you're right, they're most likely at the PokéCenter."

Making up with Misty allowed me to take in the city as we entered it. I'd seen it as we approached, but it was different seeing it up close.

The other two major Kantonian cities I'd seen, Viridian and Pewter, had been ancient fortresses, if a decayed and repurposed one in Pewter's case. They'd been designed and expanded to protect their citizens more than anything, to provide a haven against the wilderness that surrounded them.

Cerulean wasn't that. Or, at least, it had been a long-ass time since then.

There were traces here and there, like the 100-foot wide moat that encircled the entire city, placing it on its own little artificial Island. Rivers broke off, leading into the actual city, streams crisscrossing between the streets and houses, ornate wooden bridges leading across them everywhere. Water Pokémon frolicked through the liquid, Goldeen, Staryu, and loads of others poking their heads up and down between the gondola-style boats that drifted through, more amphibious Pokémon chilling on the bright, cream colored bricks that shone in the reflected sunlight.

Yet, compared to the monstrosity that was the Wall of Viridian, the five-foot-tall barrier around Cerulean could barely be called a fence. The buildings were wide and open, with more clean marble, or whatever white stone they used, and sloping roofs held up by pillars that somewhat reminded me of Sevii, clearly designed more for comfort and style than practicality. Flowers were everywhere, large bushes and parks cutting the city into pieces, requiring navigating around them. Stalls and shops were peddling their wares in a dozen different marketplaces, jugglers and street performers on every corner, hair salons cutting humans and Pokémon alike in the open air, the scent of a hundred different cuisines mixing with the smell of water, and without the underlying stink of a big city.

It was far and away the most beautiful city I'd ever seen, in either world, like a fantasy version of Venice. Yet, even without having any true experience with military matters, I could tell that Cerulean had placed a lot more emphasis on tourism than on defense.

I wondered how that had turned out during the war.

Luckily, I had an expert on hand.

"Beautiful city," I said, dodging around a pair of Machokes as they carried three giant boxes on either shoulder through the streets, "but I can't help but notice that it's a little… open."

"What do you mean?" Misty responded. Her shoulders were tense, and a strained smile pulled her lips as she gave small nods to people who recognized her with enthusiastic waves and shouts. She seemed popular, yet uncomfortable with that fact.

"Just compared to Pewter and Viridian. How did you guys do during the war?"

"Oh! Fine, actually. You're right, it's been decades since Cerulean placed much importance on our military, beyond what we need to keep the area under control, but we have the benefit of geography on our side, unlike the south." She led us down a cramped side alley, in between two houses, and directly through someone's shop, throwing a quick wave at the old woman behind the counter. "The plains are wide open, and we have an agreement with the local Water-Type Pokémon in the lakes. We give them food, and in case of war, they help us out. Cerulean hasn't been directly attacked in over a hundred years." Despite her mixed feelings about her family, she seemed very proud of that fact. "Our fleet took a pounding during the rebellion, mainly from the air force, but my granddad held them off. He even killed Clan Leader Swiftfeather!"

I had no idea who that was, but it sounded cool. Maybe I had judged Cerulean too quickly.

Misty deflated slightly as we continued through the city, seemingly getting closer to the downtown area, the already large and pretty buildings becoming intricate near mansions. "But you have a point. My mom focused a lot more on expanding our tourism, which, to be fair has made us a lot of money, while my dad handled the Gym. We're slightly ahead of Celadon now, though that would've been more impressive before the Rebellion. Yet, our military has shrunk by almost half from what it was back then, never mind our peak, and my sisters show no sign of slowing down. We're at peace right now, but with Lance… whatever! That shit's boring and we're here!"

While I very much disagreed with it being boring, we did indeed finish walking through someone's backyard and emerged right in front of the Cerulean PokéCenter, with its red domed roof. It looked like every other PokéCenter, as was intended.

Heading inside, I found myself shoved aside as Misty quickly got swamped by people rushing to shake her hand. She looked uncomfortable, yet also resigned, with a practiced smile on her face and greetings flowing from her lips. I snorted to myself at her polite tone, getting a side-eye from her, and left her to it.

Better her than me. If I got swarmed like that, I'd probably start swinging.

If she needed me, she could call.

Besides, I quickly spotted Brock over to the side, waving at me, the teen's tan skin sticking out among the oddly pale Ceruleans. You'd think people who spent so much time outside would be a little darker. Maybe they just understood the importance of sunscreen.

"Yo." I gave Brock an upwards nod and another to Ash as he sprang up from his chair.

"PERI! Finally, you're back! Come on, if we hurry, we can make it a long way towards Vermillion before night!"

I blinked in confusion. The fuck did he mean?

"First off, Vermillion is, like, two weeks away, what the fuck are you talking about? Also, you've already had your battle?"

Fishing around in his pocket with a cocky grin, Ash shoved something in my face, forcing me to lean back to see it. A large teardrop-shaped piece of what appeared to be, fittingly, cerulean colored stone rested between the boy's fingers, a white streak making it seem like it was constantly catching the light.

The Cascade Badge.

"Yeah, it was super easy! I didn't even have to battle for it, the Gym Leaders just gave it to me!"

"WHAAAAAAAT!?"

The noisy foyer, people speaking into the public PC's, speaking to the dual nurse Joy's, which I hadn't seen before, or mobbing Misty, instantly quieted down as everyone grabbed their ears at the shout, the windows rattling like a fucking cartoon. Through the silence, like a t-rex on the prowl, stomps rang out while the crowd parted like the Red Sea in front of the short figure, forcing its way towards us.

Even I felt like taking a step back when I saw the look on Misty's face. She'd been angry earlier, for whatever reason, but it was only now that I realised that it hadn't been full throttle. Despite the insults and even punches, she'd still held back and hadn't actually been as mad as she pretended.

But she was then. The gritting of her teeth was like nails on a chalkboard, one hand clenched so hard I heard her knuckles pop on their own, while the other seemingly unconsciously grasped one of her Pokéballs, the signs of age, yet care, leading me to think it was her Starmie.

And her eyes. Wide open, pupils so blown out they nearly erased the blue irises. She leaned in close to Ash, almost intimately, as their noses brushed, not blinking a single time.

"What did you say."

Her voice was quiet, gentle if not for the slight warble, and the unmistakable air of a command, not a question.

It was the first time I'd genuinely seen Ash look uncomfortable as he was forced to bend backwards, holding up his hands in a futile attempt at warding off the demon in his face.

"I-I, uh, I got the Badge?"

"And how," Misty took a step forward, making Ash trip backwards into the chair he'd been sitting in when he got there. The seated position offered him no reprieve, white fingered hands clasping the armrests on either side of him, not a millimeter of distance gained.

"How. How did you get the Badge."

I almost felt sorry for the kid, but only almost. I didn't watch the anime religiously or anything, and a big part of that was Ash's bum-ass Gym battles. I was pretty sure over half his Badges had been acquired outside of the actual Gym, by doing completely unrelated shit. It was incredibly frustrating for a boy who screamed about wanting to be a Master.

Even before arriving in the Pokémon world, I knew that it couldn't be easy to get that title, as evidenced by the 15-ish years it took Ash to get there. Knowing now that Masters were walking, talking armies on their own, capable of threatening whole cities by themselves, and there was usually only a handful per generation in a region?

It made it even worse. For all the talk and themes about hard work overcoming natural advantages, Ash was a cheating bitch who tried to cut corners everywhere he could.

How the fuck were you going to be the best if you didn't battle anyone strong?

So watching him get chewed out for it was immensely satisfying.

"They… gave it… to me."

I swore I heard something snap.

"They…" Misty took a deep breath. It didn't seem to help. "They… gave it to you. Just like that."

"Y-yeah!" Ash regained some confidence, seeing as he wasn't getting his ass kicked. "They said their Pokémon were tired, or something! Isn't that aweso-"

CRACK!

"AWWWW!" Curling up in his chair, Ash moaned while rubbing his forehead, trying to shake off the headbutt when he felt the Cascade Badge being ripped from his fingers. "Wai-wait! Misty, that's my Badge!" Steadying himself against the dizziness for a second, the black haired protagonist rushed out after the orange-haired girl as she stormed out of the PokéCenter.

I sighed. "For fucks sake, I just got done with this shit."

Brock remained silent, arms still crossed as he brooded. Brock could be a silly guy, but he'd taken his Gym duties seriously, and I bet it grated to see people older than him, and with two more to share the burden, fuck up like that.

There was no way the League was okay with that shit.

"Are Misty's sisters in trouble for this? You know, on a governmental level?" I asked to make sure. Getting no reply, I curled an eyebrow and turned to look at him. Man, he was really affected by-

I stopped, staring deadpan at the former Gym Leader, one of the pillars of Kanto, the upholder of the Ancient Pebble Clan traditions.

Brock's eyes were wide open and dilated even further than Misty's, completely dark as he stared ahead. His mouth hung open slightly in a truly dumb expression while he leaned forward, totally unaware of his surroundings.

It didn't take more than a glance to see that he was focused on the twin nurses, Joy's. Fucker hadn't heard a word.

"Are you drooling?"

Nothing.

THUD!

"AWW! Peri, what the fu-heck!" Brock hopped on one leg, nursing the point of his shin that my foot had impacted, while I followed Misty's example and stormed off. No fucking way I was hanging around with 'Rock-Hard Brock' while he was on the prowl, the fucking degenerate, virgin, loser.

How was I the most normal of the group!? Why couldn't I have been reborn in Game of Thrones, or something, with fucking serious people?

---

Herc's got hands. And Misty is not happy with Ash, no, sir.

Thank you for reading. Hopefully you enjoyed. If you REALLY liked it, I have a P-a-t-r-e-o-n, under the same name, where you can read 3 chapters ahead.

 

[HankPankylol]

Thank you for reading. Hopefully you enjoy. If you REALLY like it, I have a P-a-t-r-e-o-n, under the same name, where you can read 3 chapters ahead.

In which we meet the other Waterflower sisters, leaders of Cerulean Gym and heads of the Waterflower Clan. Very serious positions, for equally serious and dutiful women.

---

In contrast to the sprint, Misty, with Ash hot on her heels, set I preferred a more sedated pace, hands in my pockets as I perambulated down the streets of Cerulean while quietly fuming. Not only were we all headed to the same place, but I could honestly use the break. A little too many anime shenanigans for my taste. Besides, there were signs much like in Pewter that led towards the Gym, so it wasn't like I needed a guide.

I hadn't actually thought Misty's sisters would just give Ash the fucking Badge without a fight. I knew that's what they did in the anime, but surely real Gym Leaders would be more responsible than that.

Apparently not. Things would probably play out much like they did in the show, with Misty stepping up and challenging Ash herself-

I stopped, ignoring the panting Brock who slid to a stop behind me.

If… if Misty fought Ash, because her sisters didn't have any Pokémon ready to fight, or were painting their nails, or whatever…

Then who the fuck was I going to battle?

How was I going to get my Badge!?

Ignoring whatever the horndog was trying to say, I took off, hauling ass down the stone-paved path, dodging people and Pokémon like a champ. Brock was shouting, trying to figure out what the hurry was, but he could either keep up or get left behind.

A group of old ladies, dressed in flowing light blue and white dresses, had apparently decided that the middle of the road was a great spot for a chat, and they squawked angrily as I jostled them on my way past, a man and his Hitmonlee jumping aside for me as well. Buildings, parks, streams, and lakes blurred as I ran past, ignoring them all as my destination became visible, the massive building peeking over the rooftops.

Cerulean Gym was… odd. Pewter had gone out of their way to make theirs resemble the Typing of the Gym, being a massive hollowed-out boulder. Viridian leaned into its history, an ancient structure older than most cities, carefully maintained through the ages.

Cerulean had a giant cutout of a huge white sea lion-esque Pokémon lying atop their Gym, smiling goofily down at visitors. Its face had two black eyes, a black nose, and two tusks extending from its upper jaw. Its body was streamlined, with two front flippers and a long, flowing tail, a sharp horn protruding from the top of its head.

The building itself was somehow even worse, a high-domed roof painted alternatingly red and yellow, like a fucking circus bouncy ball, and the pillars holding up the wave-patterened overhang had candy-cane stripes running up and down their lengths.

It looked like a fucking clown attraction, and I was not a fan, even as I burst in through the door shoulder-first, cartwheeling with my arms to keep my balance as they slid open automatically while the soles of my shoes screeched across the polished floor.

The interior was better, I quickly decided while frantically looking for the others. Though to be fair, it was hard to be worse than the eyesore outside. The walls were glass, or more accurately, aquariums, smaller Water-Types swimming around joyfully in the thick enclosures between aquatic plants that swayed in the light stream. Artificial lights, much like the ones Oak had for sick Pokémon that imitated sunlight, illuminated the water and the intermingled baby-blue and white bricks on the floor, making the whole room sparkle. White couches and tables lined the aquariums, with seating for dozens upon dozens of people, large TV screens hanging from the ceiling. Taking a glance at one of them, I attracted the attention of the 20-ish people that were hanging around, watching as an orange-haired girl stood across a large pool from a black-haired boy, who was looking confusedly at a small, yellow Pokémon.

"Fucking bullshit garbage, fuuuuck! Fuck! Cunts, cunts!"

"Peri, what the hell is wrong with you!?" Brock finally had enough of my bullshit and grabbed me by the shoulder, though I quickly shook him off.

Who knew what he just did with that hand.

"Do you not see this fucking shit!" I gestured violently at the screen. "I fucking missed it!"

An older man turned in his seat and looked at me in a way I was sure he thought was stern. "Young man, watch your langua-"

"FUCK OFF, BITCH, I'M NOT IN THE MOOD! I'll fucking shove my foot up your wrinkly, saggy ass, you geriatric, senile, dingleberry, fucktar-" A hand clamped over my mouth, and I suddenly found myself dragged over to a large open archway in the aquatic displays that I hadn't noticed before.

"Aaaannd, you're done." Brock gave a nod and smile to the receptionist, who waved back awkwardly, glancing at me struggling to escape and give the old man a completely undeserved ass-whooping.

The noise of the welcoming area had all but faded before Brock let me go. Not having calmed down, I turned to give him a piece of my mind as well, only to find a large pink bar of soap shoved into my mouth when I opened it.

"RRRAAAGGHHH! WHA-RAAGH!"

"That's what you get, talking to strangers like that." Brock had his arms crossed in his signature pose, a smug smirk on his face. "I warned you. Someone needs to teach you some manners, and you're far from the first brat I've turned arou-ARRGHH! FUCK, PERI!"

Pulling my foot back from where it had firmly connected with his nutsack while the older teen sank to his knees, I tried to spit, gag, and laugh at the same time, to very little success. If anybody had come by, I was sure we would've made for quite the sight, but thankfully for our dignity, nobody saw. I was painfully aware that I had just complained about anime tropes and then engaged in literal slapstick comedy.

Once we were both recovered, we looked at each other for a moment before Brock held out a hand.

"Truce?"

Exhaling explosively, I accepted it.

"Truce."

"The hell got into you, anyway?" He asked, lightly limping as we continued down the hallway, a large blue stingray Pokémon swimming over our heads, while a bunch of white and pink coral-looking things with eyes stared at us from in between actual corals.

"If the sisters don't want to fight, or don't have any fresh Pokémon or whatever, and Misty is fighting Ash… then who am I going to fight?" I replied as we reached the end of the corridor, the exit hidden by the bright lights on the other side.

"Oh. Right. Hadn't thought about that. Suppose I've been taking my Gym Leader privileges for granite." That incredibly thoughtful comment was the end of the conversation, for the moment, as we emerged into the Cerulean Gym arena.

Instantly, I was way more impressed. Almost the entirety of the football field-sized room was taken up by a gigantic swimming pool, so deep that, despite the crystal clear waters, I couldn't see the bottom. Floating platforms drifted along the surface, with a couple of larger ones being attached to be floor for extra stability, presumably to accommodate larger and heavier Pokémon. Lining the sides, stair-like seating arrangements made of blue plastic rose almost to the ceiling, like in a coliseum, and a pair of podiums flanked the battlefield, much like in Pewter.

Said podiums were already occupied, Misty on one side directing a Goldeen as the Water-Type ducked in and out of the water, dodging a large butterfly as it swooped down. Unlike a real butterfly, though, it only had two body segments and four light blue legs. The upper pair of its legs resembled small, three-fingered hands, while the lower pair looked like long, digit-less feet. Two black antennae rose from its head, a light blue snout with two fangs underneath, and large, red compound eyes glared down at its opponent as the Butterfree did its best to avoid the retaliatory Water Guns while Ash screamed directions at them.

I groaned. "Ahhh, they already started. Why'd you have to slow us down, you idiot?" Getting no response, I turned to look at Brock, only to find him gone. Scanning the arena, it didn't take long to find him; however, the tall teen was hovering over a trio of women watching the battle from the stands.

I hesitated, wondering if I really wanted to be a part of what was undoubtedly Brock humiliating himself once again, but I was pretty sure I knew who the women were, and I needed to talk to them now that Misty and Ash were already going at it.

Approaching, I managed to catch the tail end of Brock's sentence, fighting the urge to facepalm.

"-about we get out of here and find somewhere more comfortable?"

Hitting on three sisters at the same time was a ballsy move, I'd give him that.

Amusingly, none of the women even looked at Brock as they shot him down.

"No, Brock, we're good-"

"-as we said the last time you asked-"

"-and the time before that."

"Besides, weren't you, like, hitting on Jenny an hour ago?"

"Yeah, dude, calm down."

"So not attractive."

Ignoring Brock acting like every sentence was a physical blow, shrinking deeper and deeper into himself, I pushed him down into one of the seats so I could face the Sensationally Silly Sisters, or whatever.

"You three, fight me."

As they turned to look at me, I could see how Misty had developed an inferiority complex, despite being hot herself.

Because her sisters were fucking gorgeous.

Tall and slender, yet with curves for days, the sisters had clearly hit the genetic jackpot. Their faces were angular, yet soft, with high cheekbones, sculpted eyebrows, and blemish-free skin, something that extended to their entire bodies, based on the revealing bikinis they were wearing, each matching their hair colors. There were minor differences between them, yet Misty was clearly the odd duck of the group. Sure, all four of them had the same crystal-blue eyes and weird hair, with the Sensational Sisters having more vibrant orange than Misty, red, and fucking blue, but fuck, even I was starting to doubt if I'd picked the right one.

Until they opened their mouths.

"Ummmm, who the fuck are you?" The orange-haired one asked. Looking closer, she might've been the oldest, based on her being the tallest and the abundance of breast meat she was packing.

"And why are you talking to us?" The bluenette spoke next. She was the second tallest, landing in between the others, but with the longest legs, something she seemed quite proud of, based on the way she slowly crossed them, and smirked when they drew my eyes.

"How'd you even get in here? Where's the security?" The redhead was last. She was the shortest, and going by the voices, the softest spoken of the group.

"We're not doing autographs right now, kid, so scram." Orange.

"He said something about fighting us-" Red.

"-Oh god, he's one of those weirdos that want us to step on him!" Blue.

"Ewwwww!" All of them.

"What? No, like in a battle! For the Badge, I, I want the Badge! I'm not a weirdo, you're the weirdos, wei-weirdos…" Not my best, but they caught me off guard.

"Uhu, sure, dude-"

"-keep telling yourself that-"

"-but no amount of 'roids is gonna make up for a bad personality, so-"

"-uh, bye. Besides-"

"-we don't battle anymore."

It was like keeping track of a three-way ping-pong match, with no set order of rotation. It was fucking awful. And the fuck did they mean 'don't battle anymore'!? I just thought their Pokémon were too beaten up to fight!

Even Brock was confused enough to snap out of his hormone-induced daze, frowning at the girls while sneakily doing the introductions.

"Wait, what do you mean by that, Daisy, Violet, Lily?" He nodded to orange, then blue, and finally red as he said their names. "I get that you're out of Pokémon right now, though even that is a problem, and your roster should be larger than that, but why can't Peri here wait until they've recovered to battle you?"

Daisy flipped her hair with a dismissive attitude that was starting to piss me off. "Nah, we're done with battling. Some brats from Pallet came by and totally destroyed us-"

"-yeah, one of them had a Wartortle and an Alpha Pidgey, even if he couldn't control it very well-"

"-still kicked our perfect asses, though. So we decided-"

"-that we're done. From now on, we're only doing shows-"

"-and nothing else."

IT WAS FUCKING GARY'S FAULT?! AND HE HAD AN ALPHA PIDGEY?!

I'd never had as fluctuating an opinion of someone as I had of Gary Oak.

"You… you can't do that! You're Gym Leaders!" At least, I was pretty sure they couldn't just do that. They were working for the Indigo League; surely Lance or someone would have something to say.

"Yeah, WE'RE the Gym Leaders-

"-and the heads of the Waterflower Clan-"

"-so we can do whatever the fuck we want with our Gym, dude-"

"-so please stop whining, it's so not hot."

Brock was outright frowning at that point, ignoring the commotion down below as Butterfree managed to land a Stun Spore on Goldeen, the yellow pollen blowing from the flapping wings and sticking to the Water-Type's skin and causing seizure-like spasms, until Misty recalled her Pokémon and replaced it with Staryu.

"Have you informed the League about this!? There's no way Lance, or Goodshow for that matter, signed off on this."

Daisy and Violet threw their heads back and groaned at that, though Lily bit her lip and looked uncertain.

"Who cares? It's our Gym! We can do what we want-"

"-though if Lance wants to stop by, he's more than welcome-"

"-I'm sure he could punish us real good."

Lily actually answered the question. "Cerulean is still being patrolled by the other Clan members and Pokémon; it's just the Gym we're tired of. There's way more than just the Old Eight nowadays. Does it matter if we don't do it?"

I wasn't the type to tell someone that they couldn't do what they wanted to do, but there had to be regulations about this shit. At least put up an 'out of business' sign or something.

Brock wasn't satisfied either and went to go on, when Daisy cut him off again. She was definitely the oldest, with the way she kept taking the lead.

"If you guys can't shut up, go somewhere else. I want to watch the runt get her ass kicked."

"Yeah!" Violet chimes in. "Did you hear how she was talking earlier? She leaves for a couple of months, and all of a sudden, she's the boss? It would almost be cute if it wasn't so sad."

"Hey, don't talk about her like that. She's way better than Ash." I scowled.

"And what's it to you, guy?"

"Oooh, Daisy, I think someone has a crush!" Lily apparently wasn't that much nicer than the other bitches. It was incredible how quickly someone could go from smoking hot to losing all my interest. I learned something about myself that day.

Physical appearance apparently wasn't the end-all, be-all.

"Is that right, muscle boy, you got a thing for little Misty?"

"Suppose even the least of the Waterflowers is better than anything else you'll get-"

"-though you're wrong, she's definitely going to lose."

"The fuck she is." I growled, standing up and cupping my mouth with my hands. "KICK HIS ASS MISTY, HE AIN'T SHIT!" I flopped back into my chair, ignoring the distant shout of 'hey, what about me!?' from Ash.

"Aww, how cute-"

"-and a little sad-"

"-and useless. We know our sister-"

"-and she doesn't have the first clue about what to do with a guy."

The switching was really annoying, and I was in a bad mood before I started talking to the bitches. I wanted to make a good impression on Misty's family, but fuck it.

"Yeah, I bet you know a lot about guys, air-headed bimbos like you. Don't you have to get ready for your night shift at the strip club?" I saw Brock burrow his head in his hands, but fuck him. His friend, or whatever Misty and he were, was getting insulted, and he just sat there.

There had to be limits to the horniness, and I found mine.

"Ex-"

"-fucking-"

"-cuse you!?"

"Did you just call us whores!?"

I shrugged. "Hey, you said it, not me. I think I finally get why you shit on Misty so much. You're jealous."

"JEALOUS!?"

"OF THE RUNT!?"

"YEAH RIGHT!"

Continuing to feign nonchalance, I kicked my feet up on the seat ahead of me. "She's driven, young, already a good Trainer, and beautiful with plenty of room to grow. You're… well, let's be honest, it's all downhill for you. You peaked. Soon, you'll be old. Your skin's gonna wrinkle, people will stop coming to your shows, and you'll be irrelevant. Not her, though. She's only gonna get better with age. So yeah, jealous."

I seemed to have hit a sore spot as all three of them, plus Brock, gaped at me, but I'd lost interest. If I didn't need to battle them for the Cascade Badge, I'd have been fine not meeting them until I convinced Misty to go out with me, and she introduced us.

And if they weren't going to battle, they were fucking useless.

So I put them out of my mind and focused on the battle. It was heating up, Pidgeotto launching a wind attack that I think was Whirlwind at Staryu, sending the starfish flying into the air, though Misty stole one of my tricks and had it adjust with a Water Gun. Another Water attack caught Pidgeotto in the face and forced it to power through it to land another Tackle on the Water-Type.

It wasn't the most creative or high-octane battle, as most of it was pretty basic attacks, but it wasn't bad. Ash even pulled a pretty sweet feint, pretending to swoop down for another Tackle, only to dive deeper and land another Whirlwind, though Misty wasn't caught off guard a second time, Staryu spinning like a wheel to displace most of the force and clip the Flying-Type.

It was kind of fun. I didn't often get the chance to just sit back and watch others battle.

But where were Jessie and James? Weren't they supposed to interrupt the fight with a giant vacuum or some dumb shit like that? The battle down below was coming to a halt, both Pidgeotto and Staryu looking to be on their last leg, so where were they?

Unless… unless they weren't coming.

Because of course they weren't. It was Cerulean Gym, one of the bastions of the League. Team Rocket was trying to lay low for the most part, Mt. Moon notwithstanding. Attacking Cerulean in full force was a major risk, never mind a pair of fucking brain-damaged morons and their cat.

So much for my plan to intercept them. It was always a long shot, but also the last thing I had to cling to. No Gym battle, and no Rockets. If it weren't for Hercules, I'd have been throwing hands.

"ALRIGHT PIDGEOTTO, THIS IS IT!" Ash bellowed down below. Well, more like squeaked, but I was being nice. "ONE LAST ATTACK! LET'S END THIS!"

"HA!" Misty yelled back. I frowned when I saw how red her face was, her hands clenched tight. She was being emotional, which was rich coming from me, but nonetheless true. "YOU'RE AT LEAST RIGHT ABOUT ONE THING! THIS ATTACK WILL END IT!"

"PIDGEOTTO, WING ATTACK!"

"STARYU, CLIP THEIR WINGS!"

Sitting up in my seat, I went to call out to Misty, but it was too late, both Pokémon gathering the last of their energy and soaring towards each other, Pidgeotto from above and Staryu from below.

"Told you she would lose."

Throwing Daisy a side-eye, I gritted my teeth and acknowledged that she was right. Misty was unquestionably a better Trainer than Ash, at least at the moment, but she'd fucked up. She'd gotten too invested. It wasn't just about winning the battle for her anymore; it was about showing up Ash and beating him at his own game. I knew she had temper problems, but I'd hoped she'd be better than me and could keep it together during battle.

No such luck.

The two Pokémon neared each other, Pidgeotto's wings glowing with light blue-ish white energy while Staryu spun like a dreidel, all five arms blurring together until it looked like a solid wheel as Normal-Type energy surged from it. It was a good attack.

But Staryu wasn't a physical fighter, especially outside of water.

Pidgeotto, or Ash's at least, was much more suited for it.

The two attacks collided mid-air, a loud screeching noise echoing off the plain tile walls and amplifying. Staryu's Beyblade-esque Rapid Spin ground against the Wing Attack furiously, sparks of energy exploding off the point of contact like a saw cutting metal. For seconds, in complete defiance of physics, they hung in the air, pitting both bodies and will against their opponent.

Unfortunately, what came up had to come down.

"PIDIIIIIIIIRPP!"

"YEEEES!"

"STARYU!"

One last surge of effort sent Staryu flying back down towards the pool, the force of gravity, weight, and muscle giving Pidgeotto the edge she needed against her more experienced enemy. The starfish Pokémon skidded across the surface once, twice, three times, before starting to sink down into the depths, the red flash of a Pokéball recalling it.

I groaned. The sisters scoffed. Misty stared.

Ash screamed.

"YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! THAT'S THE WAY, PIDGEOTTO! HAHAHAHA, I GOT THE BAAAADGE, I GOT THE BAAAADGE! I BEAT MISTY, I BEAT MISTY!" I fucking swore the brat was being a troll on purpose, especially with the dumbass dance he was doing as Pidgeotto clumsily drifted down to land beside the boy with bone-deep exhaustion and nursing one of its wings. It couldn't be too bad, though, with the way it leaned into Ash's enthusiastic embrace.

Ignoring whatever the Simpleton Strippers were saying, I made my way down the stairs, internally conflicted. I wanted Misty to win, both because I liked her more than Ash, for completely platonic reasons, and because I knew she could use the confidence. She hid it well… okay, that was a fucking lie, her inferiority complex was as apparent as the sun, but that didn't make it any less real.

On the other hand, Ash just straight up won. There were no Team Rocket shenanigans, no interference, no juicing his Pokémon beforehand. Misty made a mistake, and Ash took advantage. At the end of the day, the battle was stacked against Ash, with Pikachu being unwilling to fight, and he still pulled through.

He earned the Badge, and seeing how happy he was, dancing around with his Pokémon, I couldn't help but smile. He could suck at times, but he was a good kid.

"Good match." I greeted Misty as she looked listlessly down at Staryu's Pokéball.

"... I lost." Her voice was quiet.

"Sure did. That last move was a fuck up. If you'd hung back and just sniped, you'd properly have won. Instead, you engaged in a 'thickest skull' competition with Ash Ketchum. Bad move." I wasn't going to sugarcoat it, even if it would've won me more points with her. Misty wanted to be a Pokémon Master. She needed to know when and where she'd fucked up so she could fix it.

Though seeing the despondent expression and complete lack of a response from the normally fiery girl, maybe it wasn't the right approach.

Nah, I just wasn't going hard enough.

"I mean, you lost to Ash. That's embarrassing." A small tick by her eye.

Gooood. Give in to the Dark Side.

"You're a member of one of the Old Eight Clans. You grew up in a Gym, surrounded by strong Trainers who, if they weren't Masters themselves, definitely knew how to get there. And you got your ass whooped by a kid who's only been a Trainer for, like, a month."

Her head slowly turned to look at me. One last step.

"Oh, look, here comes your sisters. They saw the entire match. I'm sure they can give you some tips."

Quickly stepping aside and making my way over towards Ash, I shamelessly left Daisy, Violet, and Lily to take the punishment I'd set up for them. I was sure that screaming at them for a bit would make Misty feel better.

"Congratulations, man. That was decent."

"PERI!" Ash grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me excitedly. "DID YOU SEE IT!? DID YOU!? I WAS AWESOME! AND PIDGEOTTO WAS ALL LIKE, SWISS! AND SWUSS! AND THEN BANG! MISTY NEVER SAW US COMING!"

Grabbing him by the wrists, I stopped the shaking before I barfed. "Yeah, yeah, I saw. Don't let it go to your head, though. If you were to fight again, Misty would beat you eight times out of 10."

"Nuh uh, no way!" Crossing his arms while still vibrating with excitement, Ash ended up looking like a shitty Super Sayian. "I'd beat her any place, any day!"

"The fuck you would!" As I suspected, there was only so much shit talking Misty could stand before she came out of her funk. "You didn't win, I lost, okay!? As soon as Staryu is healed, we're going again, and I'll kick your ass so hard!"

Shaking his head, Ash disagreed.

"Why would I do that? I don't wanna bully you, Misty."

The boy was saved from the screech of rage and flailing fists by Daisy grabbing Misty from behind and putting a hand over her mouth. "Alright, runt, calm down. Nobody thinks a sore loser is attractive. Besides, if the Pikachu had fought, you'd have been toast. Good battle, kid." She smiled at Ash, making the boy blush, while pulling a Cascade Badge out of her bikini top. I did my best not to think about that. "You've definitely earned it this time."

Pushing Ash aside as he restarted his happy dance, I got in Daisy's face. "Now that the loser is out of the way, it's my turn. I don't care about your lame-ass reasons, put 'em up! I'm getting that fucking Badge!"

Leaning out of the way, the oldest Waterflower sister shook her head and scoffed.

"Like I told you, kid, we don't battle anymore. If you're that desperate, though, here, if it'll make you shut up." Rummaging with her swimsuit again, she magicked out another Cascade Badge and held it out for me to take.

My palm impacted her fingers and sent the light blue Badge spinning through the air, glittering like a diamond, before it hit the water and sank under the surface.

"Fuck that pussy shit! Fight me!"

Still not getting the response I wanted, I turned to the only Cerulean Gym Leader that wasn't a fucking bimbo coward.

"Misty! You and me, right now, for the Cascade Badge!"

My heart sank when she hesitated.

"Peri… I would, you know, I would, but Goldeen and Staryu are going to need at least a couple of days to get into fighting shape, and as you saw, Lotad is not ready. I don't have anyone for you to fight."

Grasping at straws, I made a suggestion that I knew was dumb even before I said it.

"What about Starmie? It's completely fine, right!?"

"Peri, Starmie's at a seventh Badge level. Using it for a second Badge challenge would make me almost as bad as these sluts." I hated the look of almost pity she gave me, even as her sisters reacted to the insult. Misty didn't bother responding. I wasn't as nice.

"Will you shut up, you skanks! If you don't have anything to contribute, then fuck off!" I wasn't in the mood.

"Stop calling us whores!"

"You're the only one who keeps using the word. It stinks of a guilty conscience. I'm not blaming you," I held up my hands in an attempt to appear innocent despite my curling lip, "got to keep the lights on somehow, since you're too incompetent to do your job, and giving 'autographs' in the back room is as good as anything else. Honestly, I respect the hustle. Most people would be too proud, but not you."

Come on, get angry. Fight me!

"YOU-" I almost had Daisy, I know I did, but Lily put a hand on her shoulder before she could commit.

"Daisy, he's trying to provoke you to get a fight." Fuck. Never give up, though.

"Guess there had to be one of you whose brain hadn't leaked down into their tits!" Take it! Take my bait!

Unfortunately, the jig was up, and they just stuck their noses in the air and ignored me. I was out of options. I couldn't fucking believe it. All my shit talking, and I was going to walk out of there with a Badge I didn't earn. Maybe I should just give it up for now and come back later, when Misty is in town and could give me what I needed. But then, where the fuck was I going to get my second Badge? I'd planned on skipping Vermillion and leaving Surge for later, but that meant I had to go all the way to fucking Celadon.

To my incredible fortune, however, I had a guardian angel sent by Arceus himself to guide my path to violence.

"If you don't fight him, I'll tell Grandma." I wouldn't exactly call it a smirk, but there was some satisfaction mixed with the frustration and anger on Misty's face when she made the threat.

"WHAT!?"

"Come on, sis, don't be like that-"

"-yeah, that's just cruel-"

"-besides, Grandma already knows that we're not taking on challengers right now."

That transformed Misty's expression into full-blown pleasure. "Right now? Don't tell me you lied to Grandma and said you're just taking a break?"

All three of her sisters looked very nervous at that.

"NO! No, of course not, hahahaha-

"-y-yeah, she knows, no need to tell her anything-"

"-in fact, shouldn't you be off? You know, with your journey and all that?"

Soaking in getting one up on them, Misty swiftly calmed down and became serious again.

"Look, I can't make you do anything, Lugia knows I've fucking tried. If you wanna goof around and let down the Clan while I'm gone, I can't stop you. But you will fight Peri, because he's my friend and that's that. Beyond that, I don't understand why you haven't asked Grandma herself, or Tommy, or literally anyone else, to take on challengers if you don't want to. You can't just hand out Badges like they're candy. It's the beginning of a new circuit, there's gonna be hundreds of people here in the next couple of weeks."

Both Lily and Daisy seemed embarrassed by that, though Violet shrugged unrepentantly.

"That would be embarrassing."

"... yeah, that's admitting we can't do it-"

"-can you imagine Grandma's face if Tommy, or Lugia forbid, fucking Walter, had to stand in for us?"

Tilting my head, I cut in, confused.

"How's that more embarrassing than giving rando's Badges because you're lazy?"

Silence followed my question before the sisters switched the topic.

"Fine, well, fight your little boyfriend-"

"-though, don't start crying when he loses-"

"-but it's gonna be at least five days before we're ready. Our Pokémon have been run ragged-"

"-we've been making up for the lack of challenges by hosting two, or even three, shows a day."

I didn't even hesitate. "Deal." I could honestly use the extra time to do some training. Not for the sisters, but with Hercules, and bettering our tactics against multiple Pokémon. During the first half of the Mt. Moon fight, I'd gotten too tied up trying to command both Sol and Siren at the same time. Later on, after breaking out of the cell, I'd barely given Siren anything to work with.

There had to be a middle ground.

Plus, I was sure there was someone who could give me some tips for Siren. Other than what we were already working on, I wasn't sure where to take her training.

Speaking off…

"But I'll be training here. At the Gym."

They looked ready to protest, only to glance at Misty and give it up.

"Uuuuhhhh, fine!"

"But you'll be in the back. Can't have your ugly mug scaring the audience."

"The less time I have to spend around you, the better. I can feel my IQ shrinking from your proximity." I shrugged and then proceeded to ignore them, turning to the gang as Brock finally dragged his old ass down to join us.

Ash was immediately on his bullshit, the hype from his victory already gone. "Awwww, but I don't wanna wait five days! I wanna go to Vermillion!"

"Nobody said you should. Go to Vermillion, I'll be fine." It actually worked out for me. I was just about ready to part ways anyway.

Ash frowned. "But what about you?"

Aww, that was almost sweet. "Thanks, bro, but I'm good. I'm not in as much of a hurry as you are. You go on ahead, I'm sure we'll run into each other again."

Still looking unsure, he eventually nodded reluctantly. "Okay, if you say so." Then he perked up and pointed at me dramatically. "But the next time I see you, we're gonna battle! And I'll beat you!"

I laughed and gave him a handshake, and another to Brock. "In your dreams. I'll crush you like a Bug-Type. You have a better chance of beating Gary than you do me."

"I'll kick both of your butts! Come on, Brock, let's go!" Waving to the older teen and the Pikachu when the mouse Pokémon desperately flapped his arm, I watched them head up the stairs and out the way we came in. A small part of me was a little sad. They livened up my day if nothing else; they made it harder to brood.

I was more sad, however, to say goodbye to Misty, I decided. Looking at her, she didn't seem enthused herself.

"... I guess this is goodbye, then."

"For now." I shrugged. "We'll meet again. Hey, I have an idea." Last chance, might as well try to throw a buzzer-beater. "How about I take you out to dinner next time?"

I expected her to blush and stammer, and then probably try to hit me. I got the first one, her face lighting up like an infrared lighthouse, but then she went off script.

"... yeah, okay."

Blinking in shock, I didn't get a chance to respond before she spun around and fled out of the Gym.

… well, at least I had something to look forward to.

"That was so cringe-"

"-can't believe she said yes to that-"

"-even the runt can do better than this pint-sized battle maniac."

Maybe it could even get me through the next week without murdering her sisters. That would probably make the dinner a little awkward.

---

In the anime, Brock just fucks off for this episode, with no explanation. Properly so, he can't spoil the Misty reveal, as it doesn't make sense that he wouldn't know. So, in the fic, he spent his time trying to hit on the twin Joys.

Also, I'm not sure if I was too mean to the Sensational Sisters, though in my defense, this is just our first encounter with them. There's more to them than this chapter showed. Also, it's not that far off from their canon portrayal.

Thank you for reading. Hopefully you enjoyed. If you REALLY liked it, I have a P-a-t-r-e-o-n, under the same name, where you can read 3 chapters ahead.