Whirl Islands, twenty months later…
The Whirl Cup was the most important tournament for Water-type Pokémon trainers. Maybe it was too specialized compared to the traditional Pokémon League, but it wasn't any less exciting, especially since unlike the latter, it would only take place every three years. For any trainer who aspired to become a Water Pokémon Master, winning it was a very important step and practically an implicit requirement.
However, the finals of that year's tournament had bigger stakes for Misty. Something much more important than the winner's trophy (a crystal cup added as an additional prize in later years), the Mystic Water pendant, or the title of Pokémon Alpha-Omega and everything it meant. Considering who her final opponent was, her reasons to defeat him were far, far beyond mere competitiveness.
Chris looked rather different to the way she remembered him. His nose had healed since Ash's knee strike, although it still looked somewhat twisted, marring his once perfect image when looked from the side. He no longer smiled as before, when he hid underneath his nice pretty boy mask, instead showing his true face full of smugness and superiority.
To his credit, Misty had to admit that, skill-wise, Chris had notably improved since their last encounter. She hadn't faced him directly in the previous tournament, but the fact he made it to the semifinals was a testament to his abilities. It was clear he hadn't rested on his laurels for the past two years, and the result of that match so far was proof of it.
On the first bout, despite type disadvantage, Starmie managed to defeat Chris' Crawdaunt with difficulty, and then went down in almost one single blow from his Seismitoad, who spent the round practically tanking Starmie's hits until he tackled her with a Knock Off so hard it cracked her gem, doing critical damage. This foe's adversary forced Misty to bring out the big guns earlier than expected, having to call Gyarados and even Mega Evolve him just to compete on equal level to inflict damage.
But now, after a lot of difficulty, she was about to finish him off.
"Gyarados, use Hurricane now!"
"ROAAAAAAAAARRR!" the marine serpent bellowed loudly, summoning a powerful wind around himself, sucking up part of the water and Seismitoad, lifting him up in the air.
"Finish with Hyper Beam!" she shouted pointing at Seismitoad.
Said and done, with Seismitoad still spinning around helplessly inside Gyarados' Hurricane, he charged up orange energy between his jaws, firing his powerful beam at his opponent. There was a huge blast of fireworks in the air, and seconds later Seismitoad plummeted back to the arena, falling into the water with a loud splash.
Seconds later, he floated back to the surface belly up, motionless. He was out cold.
"Seismitoad is unable to battle!" the referee declared. "Gyarados is the winner!"
"This is awesome, ladies and gentlemen!" the MC announced out loud in the middle of the crowd's cheering, as Seismitoad's icon on the scoreboard turned off. "With this, Misty is only one victory away from crowning as our champion for the second consecutive time! So far her Mega Gyarados has never been beaten in her matches! Will Chris have something to counter it?"
From his side of the field, Chris returned his Seismitoad without sparing a word, and smiled to himself. Misty recognized the look: it meant he was about to pull a secret weapon. Well, whatever it was, she'd be ready for it.
"Nicely done, Misty. But the next one will guarantee my victory. Go!" He then threw a Dive Ball towards the arena.
"Quanid!"
Misty flinched slightly. The Pokémon that came out looked like a long-legged spider, with a water bubble looking like a diving helmet from cartoons. An Araquanid, a species native to the Alola region, dual Water/Bug-type. A Pokémon whose mere existence gave her conflicted feelings, as it represented the duality of the Pokémon he loved and feared the most at the same time.
The fact that it was about four times bigger than she remembered seeing one of them (she recalled Lana owned one barely big enough to ride on its back) didn't help either.
"Do you like it?" she heard Chris calling out sarcastically. "This is my secret weapon. It wasn't easy to catch this Totem Araquanid, but it was well worth it. I'd say goodbye to the title if I were you."
"It'll take more than that to scare me, Chris," she replied, refusing to be intimidated once she recovered from the initial shock.
Although it technically had a type advantage against Mega Gyarados, that wouldn't be worth it if its power level didn't back it up. Gyarados had kept a perfect winning streak during the tournament, and she wouldn't let it end so easily.
"Gyarados versus Araquanid! Start!" the referee said raising his flags.
"Gyarados, send him flying using Hurricane!"
"Araquanid, Protect!"
Gyarados tried to send the spider blasting through the air as he did with his previous foe. However, Araquanid stood firm on one of the platforms and surrounded himself with a green transparent energy dome. Thus, not even the ensuing Hurricane nor the whirlpool it caused did a thing to him, and once they calmed down, he was still in the same place.
"Fine, that didn't work," Misty said. "How about another Hyper Beam, Gyarados?"
The Water/Dark Pokémon was happy to oblige, and readied his most powerful attack. Chris for his part, grinned evilly and pointed at Araquanid what he had to do in turn.
"Sticky Web, right to the head!"
"Quad, quad, quad!" The spider raised his head and from his mouth he fired in quick succession three sticky globs at the marine serpent.
As the Hyper Beam took a couple seconds to charge, the globs hit him and completely enveloped his face. Due to the stored up power, he had no choice but to unleash it, but not being able to see his target, the Hyper Beam went wide past Araquanid, hitting one of the pillars on his side of the field. The bright side was that the energy blast managed to shred off the sticky glob covering his face, allowing him to see again.
Misty could see from afar that Chris was smirking with satisfaction. But she couldn't let him get on her nerves. She was really close to win and there was no way she could lose to him.
"Araquanid, use Scald!" Chris called.
The spider fired a high-pressure boiling water stream at Gyarados, who swiveled aside to dodge. Misty immediately replied calling for Gyarados to use Hydro Pump. The attack landed true, but once the stream ceased, she saw to her horror that Araquanid glowed with a blue halo, and shook off the excess water as if it was nothing.
"No, don't tell me…?" Misty asked as she pointed at Araquanid.
"Surprised?" Chris grinned as he folded his arms. "Most Araquanid have the ability Water Bubble, but this big guy has Water Absorb. He's pretty handy in these tournaments, where Water-type attacks are a given. And of course, the field itself.
Misty clenched her fists. So far they hadn't been able to land any solid hits, but there was no need to become alarmed. Gyarados had more moves in his arsenal after all.
"Sticky Web again!" Chris called.
"Fire Blast!" Misty countered.
Araquanid fired the sticky globs once more, this time much bigger. Gyarados countered with a fireball that spread out to form a five-tipped kanji, quickly incinerating them and hitting Araquanid for some decent damage. That was encouraging, although the spider didn't daze that much at the fire for obvious reasons.
From what she knew, Totem Pokémon in Alola were not only bigger in size, but also proportionally stronger compared to their normal congeners. Gyarados still had strength to keep going, though victory was uncertain knowing he wasn't at full capacity. She wasn't sure what else Araquanid could do, so she had no other choice but try and learn it on the go.
Misty weighed her options: Hydro Pump and Rain Dance would do little to help her, and he evidently had countermeasures for Hyper Beam, Fire Blast and Hurricane. Should she take the chance with a physical attack?
"Gyarados, Headbutt!"
Gyarados roared as he coiled backwards before charging head on. Neither Araquanid nor Chris seemed concerned about this, and the spider simply leapt out of the way so Gyarados would hit the platform instead, landing on his back.
Chris immediately snapped his fingers and gave his command. "Leech Life."
"Quad!" Araquanid clasped his mandibles and sank them behind Gyarados' neck. Both Pokémon glowed with a greenish light as the marine serpent's life was sucked out by the spider, and the latter's burn marks from the Fire Blast started to vanish.
"Gyarados, shake that thing off, quick!" the redhead cried out almost desperate.
Gyarados flailed around violently, trying to shake Araquanid off his back, but he wouldn't let go. The spider continued to suck his energy, and the serpent tried to crash backwards against one of the pillars to force him to let go or hurt him. Araquanid anticipated and finally released him, but the attack had done its job.
"Use your Spider Web and Sticky Web combo all over the arena!"
"Ara!"
Araquanid fired a stream of sticky threads at the sky over Gyarados, materializing in the form of a giant spider net set up for capture. Then he fired more threads mixed with sticky globs to tangle them between Gyarados and the pillars, until he made a huge mess of thread all over the place, with Gyarados barely visible among them.
"What are you exactly trying to do with this?" Misty wondered. "Gyarados, burn all that stuff with Flamethrower!"
Gyarados obliged, but he and Misty didn't notice Chris' smirk when they did. Gyarados shot out the fire, but it caused something they didn't anticipate: the fire torrent spread out across all the threads rather fast, not only the ones who were hanging between the pillars and Gyarados, but also the ones stuck to him with the Spider Web Araquanid launched at the start of his maneuver.
And then, Misty realized what the true purpose of said maneuver was. "Gyarados, dive into the water."
Not being tangled between the pillars anymore, Gyarados quickly dove into the water, causing some steam to rise when the flames were put out. Anticipating their attempt, Chris called for Araquanid to do the same and give chase, attacking him with Scald while underwater. The water in the arena started to boil, forcing Gyarados to come back up, and shake violently as Araquanid jumped back to one of the platforms.
"Gyarados!" Misty cried out.
"Wrap him in Sticky Web once more, but stronger!" Chris ordered.
Araquanid spat out more sticky globs, covering Gyarados' entire body, slowly rising up to his head. He then focused there until he made such a giant sticky mass that looked like an astronaut's helmet made for him.
Misty clenched her fists; Gyarados was in a serious pinch, but there was only one way to break free. "Use Fire Blast to burn that stuff!"
Gyarados roared and blew the flames to shake off the sticky glob, seeing how Chris and Araquanid made fun of them. That enraged the marine serpent, who was shaking with an evident desire to eat both the spider and his trainer.
"Is that the best you've got?" Chris said. "We expected a lot more from you."
"I'll show you what we've got!" Misty yelled. "Hyper Beam at full power!"
Gyarados began charging again for his strongest attack. Chris and Araquanid remained still, waiting for it. The marine serpent fired the orange energy stream at his foe, who seemed ready to take it head on.
However, two words from Chris at the last second sealed Gyarados' fate. "Mirror Coat!"
Misty was left paralyzed upon hearing that, but it was too late to call the attack off. Araquanid held ground and a reflective coat covered him from head to toe to receive the damage. The Hyper Beam's energy build up in front of him, before being redirected back where it came from. The redhead barely registered Gyarados' horrified face before his own attack hit him with double power.
The impact knocked Gyarados against one of the pillars, even cracking it slightly, and a second later he slumped on the water with a huge splash. He floated there for a bit, and a few seconds later, his Mega Evolution dispelled, returning to his base form.
"Gyarados is unable to battle! Araquanid wins!" the referee declared.
"Incredible, ladies and gentlemen!" the MC exclaimed. "Misty and Gyarados' undefeated streak has come to an end! That leaves the current champion and the challenger are on even ground, each with only one Pokémon left! What a great battle!"
"Return, Gyarados," Misty said as she recalled Gyarados back to his Pokéball. "Thanks for your effort, now take a rest."
Misty contemplated her foe, who still had that arrogant smirk in his face. She hated him, she really detested every single thing of him: his attitude, and obviously and especially that superiority complex he had. She didn't need to read minds to know what he was thinking: he already assumed himself the winner only because he had beaten Gyarados, her strongest Pokémon. In fact, considering how that bout had gone, that Araquanid had obviously been caught and trained to counter Gyarados, even with his Mega Evolution.
"Well played, Chris. Pretty smart in your choice of a secret weapon to face me," the redhead said.
"Thank you, I'm flattered," he sarcastically replied as he rubbed his finger across his nose. "Why don't you just give up now and spare yourself the humiliation? I'd hate it if there were any hard feelings between us."
"No thanks very much." Misty put Gyarados' ball away and pulled out the next. "I admit your Araquanid is tough, but you're not the only one who brought a secret weapon. Let's see how you like this! Go!"
Without further words, she threw the Pokéball towards the field, opening it in the air. The flash materialized into a Water Pokémon she hadn't used during the tournament, and most of her acquaintances didn't even know she had.
"Gre… NINJA!"
The crowd's collective reaction was similar to the one they had to Chris' Araquanid. After all, while not unknown, it was weird to see species non-native to Kanto and Johto, and to a lesser extent Hoenn or Sinnoh. Unova, Kalos and Alola were much further away, so a Pokémon from those regions was quite the show.
The blue frog made a three-point landing over one of the pillars, and then stood proudly adopting the standard ninja stance.
"A Greninja?" Chris exclaimed. "Where the heck did you get it?"
"Friends who traveled to Kalos," Misty said, taking a quick glance at the stands' VIP box. Fortunately Chris didn't notice. "Let's see if you can handle him now."
"Greninja versus Araquanid, the final round begins!" the referee declared. "START!"
"Araquanid, fire your Sticky Web!" Chris shouted.
"Double Team!" Misty countered.
Contrasting completely with Gyarados, who was a super strong and large-in-size opponent, Greninja was small and speedy. As soon as the bout started, the frog leaped off the pillar and summoned a multitude of clones of himself all over the arena. The Sticky Web shots managed to hit some of them, but the real one moved so fast he was almost impossible to follow.
Misty smiled pleasantly upon noticing Chris' frown as Araquanid's attacks missed their intended target. "Now, Aerial Ace!"
The clones instantly dissipated, and the real Greninja appeared above Araquanid, charging with a double kick to his back. Araquanid let out a gasp and he practically sank into the platform he was standing on. With the same momentum Greninja leapt up again, and with an acrobatic spin he landed on another platform.
"What do you think?" Misty asked. "Use Double Team again!"
"Tch, just a lucky blow," Chris replied. "Araquanid, cover the field with Spider Web!"
Clasping his mandibles once more, the spider fired a spread stream of thread towards the sky to create a huge net in a dome-like formation all over the field. Obviously by covering the entire area, as much as he tried to hide between clones, once the net fell it would catch the real one as well.
Assuming, of course, that the net would fall on top of him to begin with. And Misty wouldn't let that happen. "Greninja, use Cut and shred that Spider Web to bits!"
"Ninja!"
Greninja extended his arm and projected a large while light blade out of it. Next, he jumped towards the net falling on the field and with a series of quick slashes, it was cut to shreds in just a few seconds. Capitalizing on the shock in both Araquanid's and Chris' faces, Misty decided to press on with the attack.
"Charge!" she yelled pointing forward.
Greninja landed on a nearby platform and began running (yes, running) on the water at full speed, charging head on at Araquanid, still with the Cut blade in his hand. Araquanid was so shocked he couldn't even react and by the time he realized what happened, a white flash cut through him and knocked him backwards into the water.
After the splash, Greninja began doing triangle jumps between both pillars surrounding the platform until he reached the top awaiting his next order, his eyes wide open as he waited for Araquanid to come back up.
The spider emerged like half a minute later, and didn't look happy in the least.
"Just a couple of lucky blows," Chris said. "That skinny frog won't be a match for us! Araquanid, use your thread and climb up the other pillar!"
The spider obliged, firing a thread at the nearby pillar and then retracting it to pull himself up. Once they were on the same level, both glared at each other as they awaited for their next orders.
"Let's try something new. Greninja, just as we practiced, Water Shuriken!" Misty called.
Greninja instantly raised a hand and created a four-tipped star out of water, enlarging it until it reached a more or less considerable size.
"What's that?" Chris exclaimed. "How foolish, did you forget Araquanid's ability or what?"
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"Oh, I didn't forget," Misty said, once the shuriken was almost as big as Greninja himself. The girl snapped his fingers and the frog leapt into the air, spinning around to throw the projectile.
Chris smirked, thinking they had gone mad, until halfway through, Misty gave her next command.
"Now, Ice Beam!"
Much to Chris' surprise, Greninja lowered his tongue/muffler and opening his mouth he fired a freezing ray at the shuriken. The effect was gradual visually: the star turned from deep blue to a more whiteish-blue tone, and also more rigid as it turned from liquid to solid.
Chris' eyes widened upon understanding what it meant. Araquanid himself was shocked too, and only reacted when Chris managed to snap out of his stupor and told him what to do, albeit in a burst of desperation. "Protect!"
At the last second, Araquanid raised his energy dome. The (now) Ice Shuriken crashed against it breaking into pieces, but it made it clear that, had it hit its mark, that attack would have done a number on them.
And then, Chris finally understood the real intent behind it. "I see… that way you bypass Araquanid's ability," he muttered, sounding genuinely impressed.
After all it was called Water Absorb, not Ice Absorb. And even taking into account types and abilities, a hit from a solid spinning projectile at that speed would definitely hurt a lot more than a liquid one. Plus he couldn't reflect it back using Mirror Coat as it wasn't an energy attack. He had to admit the 'skinny frog' was turning out to be a truly formidable foe, though he should have expected it from Misty.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Misty was starting to smile again. Indeed, Chris' Araquanid was pretty strong, and was well-trained to defeat Gyarados, both in tanking his attacks and having countermeasures for them.
But that came to a prize: as he was trained to fight an opponent much stronger and bigger in size, evidently he wouldn't have the same edge against a smaller and nimbler one who could use hit-and-run tactics so effectively.
What Greninja lacked in Gyarados' durability, he made it up with his great evasive capacity to avoid damage instead of taking it, and his attacks were capable of dishing out a lot of punishments on his foes. Furthermore, Araquanid was evidently better trained to catch and use long-ranged attacks, barring Leech Life, rendering him vulnerable against a foe who specialized in close-quarters combat.
"Araquanid, jump over the field and fire Sticky Web to everything in sight!" Chris shouted.
"Quad, quad, quad, quad!"
The spider leapt from platform to platform and between the pillars all across the arena, trying to cover them all in sticky globs. Misty at first didn't get what they were up to, but they remained on alert, until Araquanid started firing at Greninja himself, trying to catch him off-guard.
"Dodge!"
Greninja nimbly jumped and avoided the initial barrage. Chris then ordered Araquanid to keep firing, although he still missed. Greninja was too agile and a much smaller target than Gyarados, so getting a lock on him was much harder.
Or so it was, until his attempt to dodge a barrage of sticky projectiles accidentally made him step on one of the platforms covered in glob, getting his foot stuck on it.
"Greninja, no!" Misty welled.
"We got them!" Chris exclaimed triumphantly. "Burn him with Scald!"
Araquanid, who landed on another sticky platform, but unlike Greninja had no problem with stepping on his own sticky fluid, fired the boiling water stream at the helpless frog, still trying to pull his foot out.
"Protect with Water Shuriken!" Misty exclaimed.
Once again Greninja summoned a shuriken, but instead of throwing or freezing it, he just placed it forward and spun it as fast as he could, trying to repel the hot water. Some droplets splashed onto him, but beyond that he didn't get hurt, much to Chris' chagrin.
"Damn it, where did they learn those things?" he muttered behind his teeth. "Alright, if that's how you want to play. Araquanid, use Leech Life and finish them!"
The spider clasped his mandibles and jumped to bite the frog, who still tried to unstick his foot. There was no way to dodge: that attack would be devastating against Greninja's secondary Dark-type, and all that was left was to suck the life out of him until he couldn't get back up.
"Greninja, you know what to do!" Misty cried out.
"It's useless! This'll be your end!" Chris declared, right when Araquanid was about to sink his fangs. The battle and the tournament would be theirs with that attack…
*POOF!*
And then, right when he bit his neck, the frog vanished in a blast of smoke, leaving behind a deflated dummy that disappeared shortly after. Chris and Araquanid barely had a couple seconds to assimilate what had happened, only for another poof to go off. Greninja reappeared on top of him, his foot glowing with the power of an Aerial Ace ready to deliver a brutal axe kick on his head.
"What the hell?!" Chris yelled.
"Substitute," Misty explained simply. "Another trick we practiced: if he's going to take an attack he knows he can't dodge, Substitute and deliver a counterattack immediately."
"Damn it." The blue-haired young man gritted his teeth. A simple yet effective tactic, though you had to be skilled to pull it off well, as it sacrificed a chunk of the Pokémon's health to create the decoy.
"I think this battle has gone way too long," Misty declared firmly. "Greninja, Double Team and Cut, no mercy!"
"Protect!" Chris yelled, already desperate.
While Greninja multiplied all over the field, Araquanid preemptively raised his protective shield. Next, Greninja and his clones all pulled their energy blades and charged in to attack en masse. The Greninja doppelgangers fizzled out after impacting against the barrier, while the real one jumped between them and charged from any angle he could find, striking the Protect repeatedly.
"A bit more, just a little bit more," Misty said, keeping her eyes on Araquanid. All she had to do was wait for the right moment…
And said moment came when a crack appeared on top of the protective dome. Misty knew that was the opening she was waiting for.
"Greninja, attack him from above!"
"Ninja!"
The remaining Greninja clones were reabsorbed by original, who leapt to place himself on top of Araquanid. He immediately reversed his sword grip and aimed it downwards as he let gravity do the rest for him.
The sword embedded itself on the dome's crack, causing it to shatter immediately, much to Chris' and Araquanid's shock. The spider didn't react on time, as being focused on keeping the barrier up he could neither move nor attack, and all he could do was watch with his eyes filled with horror how the frog readied his attack.
"Grenin… JA, JA, JA, JA, JA, JA!"
The next thing was a barrage of Cuts so fast nobody could count them, ending with a brutal diagonal slash from below that knocked the spider off the pillar. He fell on the center platform, rolled out and then into the water. Greninja leapt downwards and landed on one of the secondary platforms.
"Is that it?" Misty asked, although she didn't actually believe it.
And certainly enough, a few seconds later Araquanid resurfaced. He was badly hurt, but not as much as he should have been after such a beating. Misty bit her lower lip with irritation, but she quickly deduced what was going on.
"It's the Water Absorb. In this field he's got an unlimited source for healing, although slower than just absorbing an attack. If it wasn't for that, we'd have won already."
Misty clenched her fists. Should the match turn into an endurance match, Greninja would lose in the long run. The only choice she ha was to connect a blow so hard Araquanid wouldn't get back up again.
The redhead glanced at the VIP box again, looking for somebody specifically. Despite how far it was, she knew exactly where Ash was. Their eyes briefly met with one another's, and there was no need for words to deliver the message.
Ash knew what she was thinking with just one look, and with a single nod, he sent his answer. "Go for it."
"Greninja, this'll be our final attack! You ready?" Misty asked, focusing her stare on the arena and outstretching her hand. "Full power!"
"Ninja!" The frog nodded and assumed the standard ninja stance.
Instantly, a waver veil engulfed him, giving off blue pseudo-electric sparks. Once it dissipated, Greninja's appearance had changed, with a slightly lighter shade of blue, black protuberances with a red streak on either side of his head, and a water shuriken appearing on his back, placed in a way that looked like butterfly wings. Immediately, everyone present, especially Chris and Araquanid, was left shocked to this sight.
"That's…" the blue-haired boy muttered.
"We have only one shot, Greninja! Ice Shuriken with everything you've got!" Misty shouted, taking advantage of everybody's shocked stupor.
Greninja first raised a hand over his head to create a giant Water Shuriken. Once it grew to a large size, he raised his other hand to help keep it stable. With that done, he gave a step forward and brusquely lowering both hands he hurled it.
"NIN… JAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The shuriken flew like a spinning saw. As soon as he let go of it, Greninja puffed up his cheeks and blew another Ice Beam with more power than the previous one to freeze it as fast as he could. The shuriken, now solidified, kept going unstoppable towards the stunned Araquanid, who like his trainer was left in a blank at what just happened to react.
The ninja star hit hard, and the ice shards flew all over the place, ending up floating scattered over the battlefield. But the tension reigned for quite a while, for nobody knew what happened.
Once the smoke cleared, they saw the result: Greninja was kneeling down, gasping and back in his base form, while Araquanid laid belly up over his platform, his legs all spread open, and immobile. Greninja glanced one last time at his foe before standing upright and bowing respectfully to him.
"A-Araquanid can't fight anymore!" the referee declared, also caught in the excitement for a bit. "Greninja is the winner, and the champion of the Whirl Cup's tournament is Misty Waterflower from Cerulean City!"
"And that's all, folks! What a grand finale, ladies and gentlemen! With a spectacular comeback and a devastating attack, Misty manages to defeat Chris and remains the Whirl Cup champion for three more years! Let's give her all a big hand!"
Once proclaimed the winner, Greninja raised a fist into the sky, while Misty yelled "Well done!" at him. The cheers immediately exploded across the entire stadium, but Misty didn't pay any attention to them. At the time, she only had eyes for one person. For the boy with the Pikachu in the VIP box, who smiled at her and showed her a V-sign. She replied in kind, adding a wink for good measure.
She then turned to her opponent, who had fallen to his knees, and his jaw now hanged without being able to pronounce a single word. Her smile immediately widened, as a victory sensation mixed with catharsis rushed through her from head to toe. Beating him there, humiliating him in front of so many people had been much better than any punch or slap she or Ash could have given him.
That had been the best retribution for everything he did to her.
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Later at the closure ceremony…
With all participants as witnesses, the Whirl Cup concluded with the award ceremony for the champion. Maya, the priestess who wielded the Great Sea Spirit Sapphire, approached to place the Mystic Water pendant around Misty's neck like a medal, and then handed her the crystal trophy. The redhead already had one at home, but she still had room for one or two more.
"You are a worthy heroine of the seas, Misty," the priestess said. "I hope you will honor us with your presence on our next competition."
"You can count on it," the redhead assured.
Misty looked behind her, where the competitions officers and Ash, who was allowed there as a guest at her request, began clapping, with everyone else quickly joining in the cheering, among the competitors and spectators of this exciting tournament.
"Out of my way!"
"Hey, you can't go through! Stop, security!"
Suddenly they heard a ruckus and screaming, followed by some footsteps upstairs towards the champion's balcony. Everybody stood on alert, and seconds later they saw who was responsible for it. In fact, Misty didn't take less than a second to recognize the voice, even before he showed up.
"Chris? What are you doing here?" she asked in shock.
"This duel doesn't count!" Chris yelled in outrage, pointing at the redhead. "You cheated! The Whirl Cup is rightfully mine!"
"What a sore loser!" she heard Ash screaming. Misty noticed through the corner of her eye that the black-haired trainer was about to jump him, but she stopped him raising a hand. If they were going to start a scene, she couldn't let Ash throw the first punch.
"You cannot be here," Maya said with a stern voice, and then addressed the officers. "Call security immediately."
"Wait up," Misty stopped her. "First, let's hear out what he's got to say to us. I get the feeling this is gonna be fun."
Misty slowly walked towards Chris. Despite the horrible memories it brought back to have him so close, and how disgusted she felt just by breathing the same air as her, defeating him in the tournament helped her bury the last remnants of the pain she suffered due to his deception. All she had left now was to give him the last blow to close that chapter of her life once and for all.
"For starters, what do you mean that I 'cheated'?" the redhead asked, even though part of her already had an idea of what he was about to say.
"The Whirl Cup's rules state you're only allowed to use your own Pokémon for the competition. You can't use somebody else's Pokémon," Chris pointed as if it was the most obvious thing.
"Yeah, everybody knows that," Misty said. "But what does that have to do with me?"
"Don't play smart on me!" he yelled with indignation, then addressing Maya and the competition's officers. "And you guys should know too! The Greninja she used doesn't belong to her!" He pointed towards Ash. "In fact, it belongs to that idiot over there, and may a Gyarados devour me if I'm lying, because you know it to be true! Therefore, the match in the finals shouldn't count and I demand that she be disqualified now!"
There was a wave of collecting screams from everyone present, as they all were shocked at the accusations. The only ones unfazed were Misty and Ash, who had their consciences at ease, and Maya, who kept her relaxed demeanor despite the fact she was no longer smiling.
Misty then let out a giggle in amusement. "You know, Chris, I really thought you couldn't fall any lower, but I have to commend you, you proved me wrong. Points for resorting to this of all things, though."
"Don't take me for a fool, 'little mermaid'," he said, and Misty didn't miss the venom the last two words were loaded of. "You showed me your dear friend's videos, and we both know there's no other Greninja with the ability to transform that way for a power boost."
"Lest you remember I said it was the only known case currently," Misty pointed. "For all we know there could be others in hiding nobody has ever found. But yeah, I admit it, the Greninja you saw in those videos is the same I used against you."
"Hah! You see? She admits it!"
"However," the girl interrupted him before he could keep celebrating, "there's no way I'd take part in this tournament with a Pokémon that broke the rules. This competition is way too important for me to do such a thing, and I think Ash can explain the details better. Ash?"
The black-haired young man, already calmed seeing that she had control of the situation, slowly approached and stood by her side. He still remained on alert in case Christ tried anything funny against either of them, and it made her feel much safer.
"Indeed, that Greninja technically belongs to me," Ash admitted. "But there's a simple explanation for Misty to have him now. You see, Misty told me about his specialized training program for Water Pokémon. In exchange, I could give one of her Pokémon some of my own Battle Coliseum training. It was obviously just a temporary arrangement, but until then…"
"W-what? Chris stammered, as the color completely left his face.
"That's right, Chris," Misty said. "We did a Pokémon trade, it's that simple. Of course, nobody but us knew about it, and Ash told me that, just this once, I could have him as a backup for the Whirl Cup if I wanted."
"But what Pokémon did you trade for that?!" Chris asked with indignation and clearly dying to know. "You used all your main team during the competition!"
"Well…" Misty looked at Ash and, as if on cue, one of the Pokéballs on the boy's belt popped open by itself.
Much to everybody's surprise, barring Ash and Misty's, a certain very well known and loved yellow chubby duck came out of it. "Psy… duck?
"Haha, you said it, Psyduck," Ash said before turning to Chris, whose jaw hanged so wide open, Pikachu pulled out of his trainer's pocket his cellphone to take a photo. "So then, I think this clears up any doubts, meaning there's nothing to back up your claims. Now," he cracked his knuckles, "will you leave quietly, or this'll have to get ugly?"
"You're gonna…!" Chris tried to jump on Ash, but fortunately two officers stepped in to hold him back. Ash meanwhile had instinctively placed himself in front of Misty to protect her, and Pikachu gave off sparks in case he had to shock him. "Let go! Let go of me I say!"
"I believe we have heard enough," Maya declared. "Seeing there is no argument invaliding Misty's victory, there is nothing left for you to do here. Escort him outside, that attitude is not worthy of a Whirl Cup competitor."
"Let me go, let me go! Don't you know who I am?! My father will learn about this, I swear you'll regret it!"
Chris' screams continued to be heard even after the officers dragged him to the stairway by force. Ash and Misty just laughed; Chris had only made his humiliation worse, and after that little show, he'd most likely be vetoed from ever taking part in the Whirl Cup in his lifetime.
"Now that this… mishap has been dealt with, I officially declare this edition of the Whirl Cup concluded. Thank you everybody for participating, and may the Sea Spirit protect you all. We shall meet again in three years."
The woman raised her scepter to radiate the gem's power, and the people let out one last grand ovation. No doubt that'd be a Whirl Cup to be remembered in history.
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At sunset, out at sea…
With the Whirl Cup concluded, they could have taken the express ferry to the next island, but Ash insisted they took the 'scenery route'. The reason for that, they met an old friend: the pod led by Ash's Lapras was going through their migration period through Johto, and they kindly offered to give them a ride to the next island, for old times' sake.
"This is the best way to travel by sea." Misty softly rested on Lapras' neck. "Quiet, relaxing, and we don't have to pay a cent."
"And the best part, we get to do it with good friends," Ash said. "By the way, I see you managed to get Greninja to transform without my help. Your training paid off."
"I didn't achieve much, really," Misty said with modesty. "Without your help, he can't transform for more than thirty seconds, so all we can do is channel the power into one or two moves. That was an attack to all or nothing."
"Almost sounds like a Z-Move," Ash said.
"Come to think about it, I wonder if Lana would have lent me her Z-Ring and crystal. Do you think Greninja and I could have used a Hydro Vortex together?"
"No way!" Ash said, causing the redhead to become shocked and glare at him, so he proceeded to explain. "I mean… with all that power, you could have pulled out all the water in the arena, or worse. Everybody would have ended up soaked."
"Is that a compliment or an insult?" she inquired.
Ash simply shrugged and refused to answer, preferring to change the topic. "You know, at the island were going there's a nice fishing spot. I think you're gonna like it there."
"Really? Well, isn't that convenient? That means we can try these."
Misty placed a hand in her jacket pocket, and pulled out a pair of mini-figurines. Ash quickly took notice one was an updated version of the Mini-Misty lure, albeit more stylized than the original yet with the same outfit. The other, to his surprise, was a Mini-Ash, clearly based on him when he first started his journey.
Ash held his mini-version for a bit, and after examining it for a bit, gave Misty a curious stare. "Say, is it me, or mine looks smaller than yours?"
"Back then you were shorter than me," she reminded him. "If you don't like it, give it back."
"No, no, it's fine as is," he said pocketing it. "I'll keep it, thanks."
Both remained silent for a while, and Misty took the chance to enjoy the nice sea breeze. She had missed for quite a while traveling on Lapras' back. Memories of their journeys throughout the Orange Islands and the many adventures they shared together flowed through her mind, although back then they were three: Ash, Tracey and her (and four counting Pikachu). But at the time, being alone with Ash made her appreciate some other details of this way of traveling.
"The sunset over the sea," Misty said. "It's been a while since I last saw it, I had almost forgotten how beautiful it was."
"And romantic too, isn't it?" Ash said. The girl raised a curious and amused eyebrow. "What? Don't go telling me it's not."
"Of course it is, it's just… you talking about romantic stuff?" Misty asked.
"Brock said it would be." Ash looked away, slightly blushing and fiddling with his thumbs.
With those words, Misty finally understood the real purpose behind going back on Lapras rather than taking ferry. True, he'd just confessed it was an idea of Brock, but he deserved credit for putting it on practice.
"So, you wanted me to see it with you?" she inquired. The red tone in Ash's face intensified, giving him away. "If that was what you wanted, you could have just told me from the beginning."
"I didn't know if you'd agree. That's why I asked Lapras to help me with this."
Misty rolled her eyes and sighed. He could have matured in the past few years, but he was still a tad slow for some things. That said, at least he was trying harder, and he genuinely wanted to leave behind his condition of "love inexpert". And she really appreciated it; all he needed was some more self-confident, Misty thought.
And speaking of love things…
"Ash… it's been almost two years since… that," Misty said the last word with a disgusted face. "After today, I think it's long enough for me to bury that chapter once and for all. I think it's time we talk about it."
"You read my mind." Ash nodded. "So, what will we do now?"
Misty took a moment to breathe deeply and sort out her thoughts. There was a lot she wanted to say, and despite all the time gone by, she was still unsure of the best way to do so. When it came to her deepest feelings about Ash, she wasn't good at expressing them, or at least, not for what she wanted in their relationship.
"Ash… you've been my best friend for almost my entire life," she said. "But these two years made me realize that even then, there was so much I didn't know about you. I learned a valuable lesson: we all keep secrets, and you never get to know people completely."
"For better or worse." Ash nodded. Obviously it applied both ways: meaning himself and Chris.
"When I met Chris, I thought I could forget my feelings for you. But I realized they never actually left. Maybe I felt so hurt for your rejection that I tried to have a relationship with someone as close to you as possible, without any of your flaws. And that was my mistake."
"I then realized I loved everything of you, even some of your flaws. True, you've left behind some more than others, and they can still be improved upon, but they're still part of you. And it's always been that way."
Misty stopped for a moment to sort her thoughts again. Saying all that had been a relief already, and it was as if a chain wrapped around her chest suddenly broke. It was a really liberating sensation.
"So I'm asking you now. Ash Ketchum… what do you think about me? What do you feel for me?"
Ash smiled and briefly looked away, but quickly gathered courage to say his piece.
"As for what I think… I think you're the most incredible girl I've ever met. A talented trainer, someone who is adventurous and with whom I never get a second of boredom. Believe it or not, I felt really sad when we separated the first time, you know?"
Misty smiled, feeling touched at his confession. She knew it was true; even if he tried to hide it, she could see he was about to cry when she and Brock went their separate ways while he returned to Pallet Town. She didn't want to spoil the moment by mocking him, so she kept quiet.
"As for what I feel for you… to be honest I'm not fully sure either. My feelings are still here, except there's something different and I can't explain what it is. But if there's something I'm sure of, is that I want to figure it out… with you. I want you to show me what it means to love somebody for real. To teach me how I can make you happy."
Ash gently held her hands and stared at her with determination. "Misty… I don't know if this is the same love I felt for you back then, but even if it's not… I want it to be, really."
Silence fell between both of them, who became lost in each other's eyes. The only sound was the noise of the Lapras softly cutting through the waves, and the sun slowly sank on the horizon, with the first stars of the night beginning to appear. Only they knew what happened between them, but they didn't need any more words to express their feelings.
Except maybe…
"Pikapika." Pikachu suddenly tugged both their jacket's sleeves. They both glanced to see the electric mouse, and before they could ask what was going on, he answered himself. "Pikapi, Pikachupi, chuuuuuuuu."
Both trainers and childhood friends stared in shock how Pikachu emphasized the "chuuuuuuuu" burrowing his mouth slightly and placing his forepaws together in a rather obvious gesture.
"Hey, is he saying…?"
"Yeah, he is," Ash replied. "I think he wants us to 'seal the deal' once and for all."
"Pika." The mouse nodded.
The redhead giggled. Well, after everything they'd gone through, it seemed fair enough now. Without further words, Misty closed her eyes and braced herself, making it clear she wanted him to be the one who initiated it.
Ash gathered up courage and slowly drew closer until their lips grazed each other softly. Misty shivered for a moment, but seeing Ash didn't take the step to complete it (he evidently was too nervous and afraid to screw it up) she finally decided to get close herself and hold him gently behind his neck.
After the start, though, the boy quickly relaxed and let himself get carried away by her. For someone so inexperienced, Misty had to admit he wasn't a bad kisser.
The sun was finally setting on the horizon, and the last rays of daylight marked the silhouettes of the young pair of childhood friends now turned lovers, symbolizing the sunset of their stage of friendship. The next sunrise would mark the dawn of a new stage, a stage of love between them.
Misty didn't know what the future had in store for them in that stage, but one thing was for sure. No matter how much time passed, and no matter how much they grew and matured, things didn't have to change that much between them. Their friendship wouldn't disappear; it would only evolve into something different, something they had to discover together.
And discovering these new feelings would be a new and exciting adventure.
FIN.