Chapter 18: Water Drop

Gary looked closely into Misty's eyes. He looked into her for the first time. It was simply amazing. No stupid Elite Four, no Lorelei, no interfering Ash. No nothing. Just Misty. Gary flashed a determined smile at her. His smile locked up every joint in her body, freezing her in place. "Can we not worry about that? After this long chase and now I've finally got you with me. I just… I just want a moment alone with no worries, distractions, or thoughts about work or other annoying people. You worry too much. I've got something planned."

Gary had no idea what he was going to do.

Misty absorbed his words and clinched herself to Gary. She loved the feeling of having Gary's chin rest upon her head. "Okay… let's just stand here… together…" Bits of snow fell all around the two. She never figured in a million years she'd use the word "together" and it being Gary.

Gary let go and wiped away the snow from her hair. He put his hand on her cheek.

"What kind of cologne do you use?" Misty asked.

"You like it?"

Misty shook her head and looked at him with a sly smile. "I think you should change it. You smell like a Vileplume."

They went home together. "I guess we should get everything straightened in the morning. We'll see how I can get here and how you can reinstate yourself. And quit running away. I took a lot of time off work just to find you at some old hag's house. Plus grandpa is not going to be happy with me if he finds out I took leave from work when I barely started."

"She's not some old hag! She's a friend! And her name is Miya."

Normally, Gary had a hoard of cheerleaders in his car and a chauffer to match. This time, Misty was his only passenger and the presence of this fiery redhead outmatched all the cheerleaders who had ever accompanied him. He drove off. He wasn't sure where to take her. Every time he asked, Misty didn't reply. They ended up near her ex-gym. He parked a few hundred feet away. Misty looked down, dreading having to go back after letting it go. She let down the family's legacy at the expense of her feelings. She just felt so awful. She stepped out and waited for the trunk to open.

"What's the matter?" Gary asked, handing her luggage and trying to get her to stop sulking.

"It's just…" Misty couldn't articulate her feelings. "I just feel so bad. I was entrusted to take care of this gym but I throw it away and resign! I don't blame my sisters for being mad at me. I mean my sisters misplaced the deed somewhere a long time ago… they're probably losing to trainers right now…ugh! How am I gonna get control of the gym? I don't even have proper ownership of it and it's not like my sisters care about it as much as I do!" She couldn't help it. A tear let out of her eyes.

Gary just stared at her. He could barely understand through her sniffling and crying. "Just wait for me here. I'll be back by tonight. And here." He handed his cell phone to her. "This is my other phone. Call if you need something. It's in the phone book."

Gary drove off and didn't even kiss Misty good-bye.

"He's still a jerk," Misty whimpered. And what kind of guy has two phones, she thought. But yet, she couldn't help but think how darn attractive Gary looked.

Where did he go? "He just leaves me here…" Misty muttered and carried her bags around town. She remembered she was not a gym leader anymore. She looked at her Cerulean Gym and saw a sign indicating performance times. She so wished she did not turn in that resignation.

"I should probably think about the long-run and stop being such a spontaneous idiot," Misty brooded, staring longingly at her gym.

She could just walk in and stay in her room but it would be agonizing for her to watch her sisters just do whatever they pleased and not care about any of the pokémon she put all her time and effort into. She did nothing else but wander around town.

Gary, unable to think of any other option but confronting Lorelei, drove to the Elite Four. He couldn't get the image of Misty's tears out of his head. He sat in his car waiting for Lorelei to show up. After an hour he saw her heading up the stairs.

Lorelei immediately gave him icy indifference the moment Gary stepped out of his car.

"C'mon Lorelei, I'm not going to badger you for very long."

She stopped. "I don't have time for—"

"You're awfully dressed up just for a day at work," Gary interrupted. "I was going to be civil today and ask for a generous favor. You know, I used to constantly smash my success in people's faces. Amusing as it is, I learned when to use ego like a tool. And it gets tiresome after awhile if not used properly. I've grown since then but I thought I would never have to use this to refer to a trainer like you. What a loser."

And with that, Gary walked back to his car, hands in his pocket and sped off. There were a million other alternatives to solve problems and he wasn't going to give up that easily.

Lorelei couldn't believe she just got called an elementary schoolyard label.

Back in Cerulean City, Misty wasn't sure what to do. She strolled around the dock four times already. Her arms started to hurt carrying luggage around. She ended up back at the front of the gym. Figuring she might as well go in, she came in through the back and put her bags in the storage shed in the backyard. She grabbed her bike and peddled off to the Elite Four, Gary's necklace wavering to and fro around her neck and swinging in mid-air. She held in it in her hand while cycling. "This is the only thing I can do for you… I guess," thinking of Gary and all the effort he took to find her in the middle of nowhere.

She busted through the doors, ignoring the secretary who was pointlessly trying to restrain her. She stomped over to Lorelei's desk.

She stood over Lorelei's desk, panting and gasping for air.

Lorelei raised an eyebrow, looking at her assistant clinging to Misty's arm and repeatedly telling her to leave.

"You turned in your resignation so now I'm hiring someone else." Lorelei was getting irritated. First Gary calling her a loser now this. She turned to her assistant. "I'll deal with this. Lock the door on your way out and don't let anyone in," she said in a muted anger manner. She faced Misty. "I have a lot of work today, so I'd appreciated it if you'd quietly leave the premise," said Lorelei, emphasizing "quietly" and pointing at the door.

"Ugh forget it!" Misty screeched. She looked to the side and noticed Lorelei had no pending paperwork whatsoever. "I came here to ask for my position back!" she demanded, putting both her hands over Lorelei's desk.

Lorelei unhurriedly put her pen down. "Well I think you should give your sisters a chance. You've been the appointed leader for quite a long time now. I think it's time you gracefully step down and let other people in your family, who are also gym leaders, have their chance," she retorted in a slow, patronizing manner. She looked to the side as if she were day dreaming. She clearly pretended Misty was not there.

"You know damn well that I do a wonderful job! More than the three of my sisters combined! And for that stupid handbook you delivered me, I recall the regulations saying there is no exact time limit for a gym leader. Only under dire circumstances."

Lorelei pulled open a desk drawer. "We regret losing you. But you handed in your resignation. It's valid and your signature is on it." Lorelei pointed at the letter.

Misty glared. "Why do you not want me as gym leader? Do you have a grudge against me or something?" She paused a bit. Was she being a bit irrational? She didn't feel that she was. She was just simply asking for a reason, and it better be a good reason.

"Misty, I'm not going to let your stupid boyfriend jeopardize my job by blackmailing me then ask me for favors. Besides, what's the point of rules if you only follow part of them?"

"Gary is not stupid," Misty gritted through her teeth, thinking that was the most unfitting adjective to place next to him. She frowned, thinking hard about the last few sentences that were just said. "What do you mean by blackmail? You're hiding something, aren't you?" Favors…? Misty pondered.

"No I'm not. I just want to keep my job. Something you foolishly threw away. I am appointing your sisters first thing tomorrow morning," Lorelei concluded, hoping to end to conversation right then and there.

Suddenly, the door knob twisted, followed by a few knocks. "Lorelei! Open the door!" a distinct voice demanded.

"Come back later!" Lorelei barked, biting her lip.

"Look, Lorelei, I'm sorry I forgot your birthday, we're going to dinner tonight, right?" Lance chirped loudly on the other side.

Game over. Lorelei trudged to the door and unlocked it. It was no use anymore. Lance walked in, merrily presenting an expensive-looking bouquet of roses, ribbons and all. Lance stopped midway the moment he noticed Misty, arms proudly crossed.

"Oh… crappers…" Lance grunted. He turned the same color as his hair, dropped the flowers and ran out the door.

Lorelei shook her head and tried to keep a straight face. Her hand partially covered her eyes, trying to shade the brimming embarrassment forming on her cheeks. She picked up the bouquet and set it aside on her desk.

Misty couldn't help but sarcastically smile. "So colleagues give each other flowers when they forget a birthday? So what's your excuse this time? Lance is gay? You just take out your anger on Gary and me because by the rules, you can't have a relationship! So instead you just hide it and break up all the other gym leaders in this region! What's wrong with you? When I first met you, I admired you as a great trainer and especially as my idol. Well, my mind's been changed." Misty headed for the door.

"Wait," Lorelei called out in desperation.

"What?" Misty said, infuriated.

"I'll make you a deal. You keep my secret and I'll keep yours."

Misty paused and glanced back at her. "On the condition that you revise that rule about gym leaders can't have relationships. It's a dumb rule that I don't think ANY of us follow anyway. What exactly are you trying to hide? Everyone knows about you and Lance. Just that no one really mentions it to your face. Besides the fact that you enforce the rules, you break it everyday! So just fix up that little rule so that everyone, including you, will be happy. We all know you guys have the power to do it."

Lorelei slowly stood up.

Misty felt uneasy, not knowing whether or not she was going to be slapped or yelled at even more. She was, after all, sharply talking back to her superior.

Lorelei reached into a drawer, pulled out Misty's resignation envelope and held it before her. She remained silent for a few seconds and outstretched her arm towards her. Misty gulped. Lorelei looked like she was going to throw the envelope in her face and act indignant.

For a minute, Lorelei's frown looked like it held all her anger and was about to be released upon Misty, who of course, was going to hold her ground and not let Gary be a silly reason not to keep a job.

Lorelei chucked the envelope through the paper shredder.

"You've got a lot of guts, Waterflower," Lorelei said, watching the papers tear up to bits.

Misty stared long and hard as she watched the shredder eat up the paper into vertical fragments.

"A lot more than I do, in fact. That's what makes a good gym leader," Lorelei continued. "Well not the impulsive quitting, but everything else. You go by instinct. You do your job well, work hard, and follow your heart. A person can't always follow the rules... a person is like the flow of water, constantly changing and going. You know how I am… simple as the flow of water but hard as ice when it comes down to business and things that matter. Besides, we couldn't find an actual good replacement for you. No one can match the quality of your training and expertise." She gave a long and dragged sigh, admitting her rare defeat. "Go ahead, be with the one you want. I'm giving you back your job. If you hand me another resignation, I'm not letting you back in. Try to keep those flailing emotions of yours in check."

Misty smiled and clasped her hands together.

"Thank you," she breathed out, feeling the adrenaline rush of winning the most difficult problem she ever encountered. She dashed out the door. "You're still my idol," she reaffirmed, waving back at her. She finally felt whole, a satisfaction of what she deserved. She proudly biked back home, remembering how Miya told her about "loopholes" in the Elite Four. She busted through the doors of her gym.

"Hey Lily, Violet, Daisy. I'm the appointed gym leader now. Get out, get going, and get packing," she ordered.

"Psh, who died and made you queen on the world?" Lily mocked, unpacking all her clothes.

"Go talk to Lorelei if you don't believe me," Misty gloated. "So save yourself the trouble and pack your stuff. You can go back on your tour if you want. I'm not stopping you."

"Misty, we just got here and now you're telling us to leave?"

"Yeah I am. This is my gym, so vamoose!" Misty insisted, gathering her sisters' luggage and shoving it into their arms.

"Don't talk to us like that. What do you mean your gym? We just handed it to you! Much like all the hand-me-down's you have," Violet gnarled, dropping her luggage bags on the floor.

Misty's blood started to boil. Calm down… she thought.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened but this gym means a lot to me. And you guys seem more interested in performing for the audience, so why don't we make a deal? You guys perform in the pool while I conduct gym matches?"

"We're not going to compromise with a runt like you."

Misty looked down. Her sisters would not look her way and continued settling in. Yes, it was their gym but Misty didn't want to see her accomplishments vanish into thin air. She couldn't see any other way but to ask them kindly. "…Please," she begged. "Please give me back the gym. It's all I've got."

Meanwhile, Gary was still driving around. He finally had a plan in mind and didn't intend to unravel it until way later. Every now and then he had the urge to call Misty but he restrained himself. He made a few phone calls and whipped out his skills… he called Lorelei with a planned argument he hoped would change her mind.

"You win," she said in a simple manner and hung up. Gary's eyes lit ups. What? She agreed?

Change of plans. He flipped through his phone book, looking at the list of his colleagues. Maybe he could ask for a favor.

Back at the gym, Misty was sulking in a chair watching her sisters settle in. What stubborn mules, she thought, watching them take over her space. None of her sisters replied to her request and continued ravaging the place.

Daisy sat down next to Misty. Even if she was called the runt of the family, she couldn't stand seeing her little sister mope.

"Misty, you do have to consider our feelings too. This gym is our home. Letting it go… just like that… it's not like you at all. It was really rude when you made us come back here on short notice and then all of a sudden you resign."

Misty kept quiet. She knew better than to argue against something she knew she did something wrong. She only nodded, accepting the error she made.

"Alright, we'll let you do the pokémon battles while we do performances if you promise to never drop the gym again, deal?"

"I can live with that."

Misty hugged Daisy. She missed her sisters after being alone in the gym for so long. Even if she didn't get along with them most of the time, they were her family and that mattered most to her.

The day was very unusual. Misty was so accustomed to being alone that the presence of people in her gym was actually bizarre. The gym had a light feeling, the way Misty felt before having to take over.

Misty did her chores, picking up after her siblings. She felt a bit relieved cooking dinner for someone other than herself. She was almost done putting dishes away when Violet ran out of the hall holding her expensive turquoise dress.

"Misty! When did you buy this? It's so pretty," Violet held out, admiring the beauty of the outfit and dancing around with it. "Can I wear it since you never wear pretty clothes anyway?" she chimed.

"Why are you raiding my closet? Don't touch it!" Misty yelped in an extremely high-pitched voice. She remembered how much money she had to shell out for that dress just for Gary's book signing. It upset her that Violet thought she was so frumpy.

"Oh my god Misty! What is this?" Lily cried out, emerging from the hallway with the old newspaper article from days back. "Professor Gary Oak? I can't believe you snagged a guy like that! Not only that but managed to be with him in a newspaper article with him? How about setting me on a date with him?"

"NO!" screeched Misty. She snatched the dress and newspaper from her sisters and stormed off to her room. She was NOT going to let her sisters have an opportunity to snag Gary. Not one chance. She wasn't going to let Gary know about this. It would only nourish his massive ego. But she got a little joy out of noticing some jealousy out of her sisters after envying them for years and somewhat wanting to be like them.

She sat at her desk. Having her siblings around was good. It gave a warm feeling she hadn't had for a long time, even if they were clueless dolts sometimes. Time passed. Misty glanced at the clock more than a hundred times.

She picked up the cell phone Gary lent her. "I am not going to call first!" Her hand hesitated but she quickly put it down. Why hadn't he called yet? He couldn't have forgotten his own number, had he?

Misty tapped her fingers on the table. "Well, it isn't even 'tonight' anymore! It's the next damn day!" she blustered, watching the clock move a quarter past midnight. She trudged to bed unhappy and very, very pissed.

She could not sleep and ferociously threw her covers aside. Still no missed phone calls from Gary. She pulled out a turquoise coat from the closet and stormed off to the backyard of her gym. She could see winter was ending soon. The backyard pond was thawing and she could see a smidge of grass peeking from the edges of the patio.

She stared off into the sky, hoping that all her efforts were not in vain. She dangled her arms, growing tired of waiting. She was beginning to think Gary wasn't going to show up at all. He said he would be back tonight. That was already yesterday. Misty could not handle waiting indefinitely. She glanced at her watch. Six o'clock in the morning. Misty could see the sunrise and made smoke puffs with her breath. Becoming more irritable, she pulled out Gary's cell and called Miya, forgetting how early it was.

"Don't worry, he'll come. No matter what bad quality someone possesses, they keep their promises," Miya yawned into the receiver, trying to reassure her even though she had no clue whether or not Gary would show.

Miya, being how old she already was, was too sleepy to care but knew the boy would somehow show up and not disappoint Misty. Misty kept belching out her worries to her.

"Anyway, just keep your head up high and he will—" Miya stopped mid-sentence. She heard a huge thud. She wasn't sure if Misty shut the lid to her phone or if she dropped it on the ground. Miya smiled serenely and went back to sleep.

A piece of paper flapped in Misty's face.

Thinking that it was just a piece of stray paper caught in the wind, she snatched it and heatedly tossed it aside.

"Maybe you should read that before throwing it away," a mocking voice suggested.

Misty twirled around. It was him. He finally turned up.

Misty picked the paper off the ground. Her eyes widened and her eyebrows shot halfway up her forehead. She was absolutely ecstatic.

It was the deed to Cerulean Gym.

"You never threw the gym away. It was always yours," he quietly said.

This surprise took Misty awhile to process. She just kept blinking at the piece of paper in her hands.

"You think I just drove off and twiddled my thumbs at home? I've got friends in different industries, ya know? Called up some old friends in law and they helped me out… oh and the royalties from my book can be used to send off certain siblings on another cruise," Gary hinted, winking his eye as if it was all nothing.

Misty was taken aback, jaw dropped. Gary narrowed his eyes to her. "I called in a few favors. The professor here did not seem to mind trading places with me out in Orange Islands."

"You-you-y-you got the deed?" she stuttered in a high-pitched fashion.

She could only imagine how much money Gary spent on this. She just couldn't believe how much work and time this guy put into just wanting to be with her. She finally knew what she was feeling. She fell for someone like no other. A guy definitely full of himself but owned in practically every pokémon subject matter and not hesitant to show it off to anyone. But she didn't care. Gary was by far, the best choice she'd ever made. She loved everything about him, the way he tousled his hair, the way he came just in the nick of time, just the way he carried himself… she loved it all. Misty was stupefied and at an absolute loss for words. Too stupefied to even notice Gary slipped his arm around her and wrapped his other arm and around her neck. He took a few steps forward and backed her against the exterior wall of the gym.

"And you know why I did all this, right?" he whispered into her ear.

As the sun rose, the roof's icicles gradually started to melt and drop. It greatly resembled the aura of rain. A few water drops splashed against the bottom of Misty's eye lids. She felt the small cold droplets as Gary leaned in and lightly grazed against her lips. She listened with her whole body, feeling the melted ice drops delicately travel down her cheeks as Gary tenderly kissed her lips with every part of gratitude he'd ever felt for her. Misty responded, grabbing his neck and tie, kissing back his remarkably soft lips, progressing into one major make-out session…

Gary wondered why he wasted so much time taunting Ash when this gem was right next to him this whole time! Ash hogged her for way too long. He thought he should have just kidnapped Misty and drove off with her in his fabulous old red convertible back then. He gently put his arms around her waist and held her close and tight as they could not resist each other. She could feel the solidity of his chest and his new cologne fragrance entangling her sense of smell.

Misty leaned against the smooth fabric of Gary's business suit. She had every intention of giving him a piece of her mind for being extremely late and not even as much as a courtesy call, but just feeling of being held by him changed the course of her emotions. She calmed down and finally felt cheery for the first time in a long time, feeling safe in his arms as she thought she would not feel after the whole Ash fiasco. If she thought Ash was quite the hugger and trainer, Gary certainly blew him to last place.

"By the way, who won that match? We never got to settle that argument because a certain someone's pokémon attack hit me," Misty questioned softly into Gary's ear, her warm breath warming the nape of his neck.

"Considering I knocked out your Vaporeon while you beat out hmm…" he pondered, pretending as if he actually had to thinking about it, "NONE of mine… I think I won," Gary boasted with his nose high up in the air, still feeling the tingle from Misty's irresistible yet enjoyable kiss. An ever-growing sneer emerged from the corner of his lips. He fixated into her clear teal eyes and knew she couldn't possibly argue against that.

Misty was put out about this comment and was going to mention she almost defeat his Arkanine. Instead, she swiftly grabbed a handful of snow off the ground.

A snowball splattered against Gary's face, the last thing he ever expected to happen at that very moment.

"Now we're even," she announced, giggling as she tried to escape his grasp. Gary wiped his face and ran after her. He voraciously captured her, twirling her back to him and kissed her once again. He reminisced how he found this beautiful gym leader in the first place— in the mountains and with a snowball pelted to the head.

A few warmer weeks later, the paperboy started his daily morning route at the break of dawn. He sloppily threw each newspaper to every house on the block. The last stop on his route was Cerulean Gym.

There was a huge picture of the Elite Four members on today's newspaper. The headline focused on the reform of a few regulations and mainly Lorelei and Lance. Of course the paperboy saw that, it was displayed in huge letters and he had several copies in his knapsack. Before he tossed the last paper to the front of his final destination, a smaller headline caught his eye. It had a distinct picture of two people smiling.

"Gary Oak, new official professor of Cerulean City along side his girlfriend, Misty Waterflower of Cerulean Gym," it said.

End.

My sincere apologies for a prolonged hiatus! I want to thank everyone who took the time to drop comments, suggestions, and constructive criticism, it truly helped me grow as a writer. Thank you all so much.

To the lovely Maia's Pen, thanks a million for being my beta-reader. Also to ChaseVoid (and in response to your comment, yes I think I am a cliffhanger-shipper) for correcting a few location continuity errors for me, they really helped.

Sayonara… for now…