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A Winkle in Reality: Chapter 26.
🕑 Added 2025-09-08 15:00:23 +0000 UTCIn 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.
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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.
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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.
Comments
GluteGobbler
Honestly, I kinda agree. Peri's in a bad mood and deliberately trying to provoke them, but I might have overdone it. But we'll see more of them in the next couple of chapters, and I'll tone it down.
Noctus Tagaris
YESSSSSSSSSS, date with Misty is a goooo The thing with the sisters was a bit too mean IMO. The insults were kinda funny but like their reactions weren't exactly.... Like you've made this world slightly more serious which is fine. And seeing the goofiness with Ash and crew is also great. BUT I think the insults went a BIT too far? The anime shenanigans with Ash are great and funny, but you could have toned things down a little bit with the sisters.
wretched Cat
Jeez, peri needed an entire gallon of soap, not just a bar.
