“I don’t know if I can go on without Ryu…”

Nina tightened her embrace on Beverly who was crying into her arms. The two girls were currently in the waiting room of Indigo Village’s Pokemon hospital where Beverly’s Gyarados was sent.

“Come on, don’t be like that,” responded Nina. “The nurses said that Ryu will be fine. Besides, he wouldn’t want to see you give up like this. Surely you must have caught other Pokemon as well right?”

Ryu would indeed be fine, but the nurses gave a one month estimated recovery period. Which meant that the Gyarados would not be able to compete in the rest of the Indigo Conference.

Beverly sniffled. “I’ve got an Azumarill, but she’s not strong enough. The rest aren’t really trained up either.”

Nina nodded in understanding, Ryu’s withdrawal was a huge blow to Beverly’s fighting strength. The Gyarados was Beverly’s bruiser, the one Pokemon that she took out when she needed to deal with a tricky situation or make a turnaround through sheer brute force alone, much like how it was when she was faced with that Garchomp.

“There you are.” The one who called out to them was Misty, whose heels clacked rhythmically on the sterile floor before sitting down next to the girls and joined in on the cuddle. “How’s things?” The Gym leader asked Nina.

“Ryu will be fine, but out of action for a month. Bev’s worried that she’s not gonna make it with her spares.”

Misty sighed. “Can’t be helped. These things happen,” she said in a somewhat dejected tone. “You’ll be happy to know that asshole will be banned from both Kanto and Johto circuits, which he had plans of going to after this. I personally petitioned for it myself. Though the League stopped short of outright banning him from our borders.”

However, she did add that there would be a black mark on the Dragon Tamer’s record. So wherever he goes after this, he would be tracked and faced with intense scrutiny. To ensure this doesn’t happen again.

“I’m surprised that this hasn’t happened before. I mean surely there must have been a better move than Guillotine to use at that moment, right?” Asked Nina. That bloodthirsty Haxorus was clearly a little deranged in Nina’s mind

Misty scoffed. “To my knowledge, that Pokemon isn’t even his. It’s a hand-me-down. That fool called it his family’s sacred axe. It was well behaved in all the Star battles — that’s how he got all his Star badges by the way, he pulled out the Haxorus whenever things looked bad. My guess is that Pokemon used to be a soldier, probably had some sort of Gyarados related trauma. Which was why he was so heavy handed.

“All things considered, it really was a blessing that Bev’s Gyarados didn’t have his head chopped off.”

Beverly’s crying intensified at Misty’s final thought, earning the woman a glare from Nina.

“So the guy relied on his family’s ringer to make it this far then? Fucking nepo baby!” The younger girl swore in a very uncharacteristic moment. Usually, Nina would try to keep her inner Miles suppressed and play the good girl. But the sight of Ryu’s bloodied and limp figure was still very fresh in her mind.

“Fucking nepo baby indeed…” Echoed Misty. “Anyways, you shouldn’t give up, Bev. I doubt your Gyarados would like that. I’ve seen first hand how hard he’s worked to get you this far after all. You shouldn’t let his efforts go to waste so long as there’s still hope.”

Beverly nodded feebly, though Nina could tell that her heart wasn’t in it.

In the end, Beverly’s Indigo Conference ended at the top four. Her Azumarill couldn’t fill the massive hole that Ryu left behind despite Beverly’s best efforts. And the girl did indeed try her best. After receiving a ton of encouragement from the people around her, Beverly managed to snap herself out of her grief and hold together long enough to push through that last battle.

***

Nina was reluctant to leave Beverly who stayed behind in Indigo Village to be with her Gyarados, but Tini still had to take part in this year’s Cerulean on Ice, and Nina had to help out and attend her graduation as well. A couple of the Gym staff did opt to stay behind though, and Chelsea even flew in from Cerulean City to look after her daughter.

“Nina, would you be willing to be the ring bearer in my wedding?” Asked Ali.

Nina’s look at her uncle with her mouth agape. “Wait, you’re getting married? When did this happen? Why haven’t I heard about this? And to whom?”

Ali chuckled at his niece’s surprised reaction. “That’s cause I haven’t proposed yet, silly. And to Misty of course, who else? I reached out to some of the ladies from the Gym and I’m thinking of skating out at the end of her performance to pop the question.” The man flashed a cocky grin at Nina. “Whaddya think? Super romantic right?”

Nina shook her head vigorously. “No! That’s a terrible idea! What if she says no, Uncle Ali. Have you considered that? There’ll be hundreds of people in the audience, not to mention the thousands watching online. You’ll become a meme!”

This was a train wreck waiting to happen. Nina’s uncle was finally in a better state, mentally. He finally got a job, even though he often complained about it. And most importantly, he was happy. If Misty breaks his heart in public, it would be devastating. Even the boisterous and thick skinned Alias Jones would struggle to recover from a trauma like that.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Ali simply brushed off Nina’s concerns and gave the girl a reassuring smile. “It’ll be fine. I know what I’m doing,” he said nonchalantly.

“No you don’t!” Yelled Nina in her head. This was the Misty Mizuhana they were talking about — the most notorious slut and femme fatale of Cerulean City. Sure, Ali’s relationship with the woman had been uncharacteristically stable, but Nina attributed that to her Uncle’s persistent charm and novelty as opposed to Misty’s faithfulness.

In fact, the girl wouldn’t have been surprised at all to learn that her boss had been cheating on Ali behind his back. Not that she had seen or heard any indication of such infidelity.

Ali grabbed the frozen Nina and sat the girl on his lap for some reassuring headpats. “It’ll be fine,” he reiterated. The man seemed oddly confident about his prospects.

“Surely he would have seen through Misty’s true colors by now right?” Thought Nina. They’ve been together for over a year at this point, there was no way that Misty was able to maintain a demure and classy facade for so long. “Heck! That woman passed out from drinking too much while we were under siege by Team Rocket. He should at least know about her alcoholic tendencies.”

Despite Nina’s best efforts, her uncle was undeterred. And in the end, she did agree to be his ringbearer, because who else was he gonna ask if not her. But if and only if he managed to secure the proposal. She also tried to convince him to wear a mask during his audacious stunt to avoid being recognised by the public, only to be laughed at by Ali.

***

Nina gnawed on her fingers so much that they might as well be stumps by now.

This year’s Cerulean on Ice is about to reach its climax. The theme being the Pokemon world’s creation Myth, with each of the Cerulean Sisters taking on the role of a Pokemon of Myth; Violet was Dialga, Lily was Palkia, Daisy Giratina, and Misty was Arceus, the Original One.

They were entering a scene where Arceus battled Giratina to banish the latter into the Distortion World so it was only Misty and Daisy on the ice. Tini was just playing a supporting role this time, so he had long exited the stage and was watching alongside Nina in the logistics room, still in full costume and body paint.

As the music reached its crescendo, a single concentrated spotlight shone on ‘Giratina’, causing Daisy to wail in agony and dramatically curse all of Arceus’s creations. And at the end, a hole opened up in the ice to swallow the dark clad actress in its freezing depths, before sealing up again with a Aurora Beam from beneath.

The music settled as Misty’s Arceus was lowered to the ground, doing an elegant flourish and bow all the while, eliciting heated applause from the audience.

At this point, the script called for all the cast members to congregate and do a final curtain call for the audience. Even Tini had disappeared at some point when Nina wasn’t looking.

However, that did not happen. Instead, Misty just stood alone on the ice until the audience settled down, thinking that there might be an encore in store. All the while, the Gym Leader dressed in her white and golden attire wore a light smirk and merely focused her gaze at a certain direction of the arena as if waiting for something to occur.

Nina was on the verge of pulling her hair out from anxiety at this point, knowing what sort of tragedy was going to unfold.

And sure enough, a well-built man in a flamboyant looking white tuxedo, fully matching Misty’s dress, skated out onto the ice with a poise full of confidence. That was, until Misty held up her hand and a bunch of Florges descended out of nowhere to begin circling the interloper, stopping him in his tracks. Ali actually looked bewildered, as if this wasn’t part of the plan, though he schooled his expression back to his usual radiant smile soon enough.

“Well, well, well… Do you honestly think you can pull a fast one on me? In my gym?” Asked the haughty looking Misty.

Ali gave an awkward laugh and resisted the urge to scratch the back of his laugh. “No, I suppose not. Nina did tell me this was going to be a bad idea,” he replied.

Nina groaned into her palms. “They mic’d him up? Seriously?! Who’s freaking idea was that?!”

Misty grinned, and shifted her expression to the arrogant facade which she normally used to face her Gym Challengers. “Indeed. Do you have any idea who I am, Alias Jones?

“I am Misty Mizuhana; Leader of the Cerulean Gym, Water Type Master and head of the Mizuhana clan. And I will NOT allow anyone to hold my reins.”

Ali seemed to wilt at his paramour’s decisive words, smile faltering and shoulders visibly drooping.

Meanwhile, Nina’s veins were bulging from anger. “Is this really freaking necessary? Fucking bitch! If you knew he was going to do this then you should have stopped him before he went ahead with it. Not humiliate him live in front of a regional audience!”

But then, with a snap of her fingers, the orchestra restarted, playing a slow romantic tune in concert with all the reappearing cast members who began an elegant ballet sequence.

“Alias Jones,” continued Misty, whose face had visibly softened to that of a maiden in love. “Ever since you came into my life, you have brought me nothing but smiles and sunshine…”

The music slowly began picking up in volume.

“Despite all of my flaws and the poisoned words of others, you have never once attempted to change me, simply accepting my broken self for who I am, and showering me with endless love and affection.”

Misty sensually skated towards the subject of her affection, the ring of Florges parting ways for her with a spin into a beautifully synchronized Petal Dance, causing flower petals to rain all over the frozen arena.

“Seeing you battle your own demons and working hard to better yourself for the sake of those you love inspires in me the desire to do the same.”

Misty took a knee and glided to her frozen lover’s side. “Alias Jones, you are a ray of sunshine in the dark stormy seas that is my soul…

“I wish dearly to welcome you into my life so that you may illuminate it further, and in doing so, I hope to provide you solace and a home in return.”

The orange haired Goddess of Light reached into her cleavage and pulled out a box which opened up to reveal a titanium ring adorned with a brilliant blue gemstone that was approximately the size of an adult’s thumb.

How in the world Misty managed to secure such a heavy package in her breasts while dancing and flying around was beyond Nina. But she could hear gasps of awe from the female audience when the cameras zoomed in on the ring.

“Alias Jones, my love, my light… Will you marry me?”

Ali gawked in disbelief at the words that just entered his ears, and before he knew it, a single stream of tears flowed down from his eye. “Yes…” He muttered instinctively, brain still too overwhelmed to process any rational thought.

“Yes… Yes, yes!” Ali repeated, louder and louder each time as the realization of Misty’s proposal slowly dawned on him.

The audacious Gym Leader let out a brilliant smile and gracefully stood up to secure her ring onto Ali’s finger. The two then fell into each other’s embrace and melded together in a passionate kiss.

At the sight of the heartwarming scene, the audience and cast members exploded into rapturous applause, some even crying in tears from how touched they were, including Nina, whose face had turned into a snot filled mess at some point, prompting a motherly staff member to kneel down and wipe the girl with a handkerchief.

After they were done kissing, Misty pulled Ali into the center of the arena for a final waltz. The performers surrounding the couple, humans and Pokemon alike, all broke out into a joyous celebratory number to cap off the evening’s dramatic show. Among them was Nina’s Dratini, who was crying out in joyful laughter at the successful proposal.

“That sneaky little bastard!” Nina thought, when she caught sight of Tini. “He knew about this all along and never told me about it!”

Nina swore to cut down on the number of Bluk Berries she fed to the conniving Dragon for the next month out of pure spite.