Sato stood hunched over his knees gasping for air. His right hand had a very loose grip on his sword. His entire body was drenched in sweat.

"Again!"

Sato barely heard the command. He was still fighting the uphill battle to catch his breath.

"Again Sato." Aaron was never an impatient teacher though he did sound somewhat annoyed.

Sato merely continued panting as he heard dozens of beads of sweat hit the ground after falling from his forehead. He was surprised he was even standing.

Aaron sighed lightly. "Sato we've been training for a while now. You haven't even landed a single hit on me yet. You really need to kick it up a notch if you ever want to win."

Sato was barely able to take in the amount of air his lungs demanded of him. He didn't have any to spare on talking so he spoke with telepathy as he always did in this situation. "I'm totally exhausted. I've used up all of my strength already."

Aaron never listened when Sato made claims like that. "If you're able to stand you obviously haven't used everything you've got. You can't give up whenever you get tired. You'll be tired or hurt in most of the battles you fight. Death won't wait for you to catch your breath. You have to be able to fight even if you have less than one percent of your strength left."

Sato still didn't get up. "100 percent of my strength is still way less than one percent of most people's."

Now Aaron sounded a bit angry. "Stop that. Self-doubt is the ultimate handicap in battle. It stops you from putting your heart and soul into fighting. There will be some opponents that you can only defeat if you use literally all of your power but you will always be incapable of doing that if you hold yourself back. Your opponent will already be trying to defeat you; he doesn't need you to give him any help."

Sato still felt too tired to move. "Ok then can't you restore my strength back to normal so I can put 100 percent into this?"

Aaron was adamant. "No. In real life you won't be able to hit the reset button whenever you start losing. That's why I never restore your strength until after I've 'killed' you. You can't rely on the fact that there are no real consequences in here. There will be real consequences out there! You can't give up! You have to keep fighting no matter how hard it is!"

"Why? So I can just keep losing? I haven't gotten any better since we started." Sato couldn't even remember how much time had passed since his training began.

"I'm a lot older and more experienced than you!" Aaron objected. "Losing to me doesn't make you weak. It would be astounding if you could actually beat me! But you're not doing as well as you could. You need to try harder. Where's your competitive spirit?"

"If I ever had one it was beaten out of me by a lifetime of being a loser."

Aaron was even angrier now. "The only thing that makes you a loser is that you accept defeat before you even start fighting. You don't believe you can win and that means you never will. You have to honestly try to have any hope. Now attack me!" He flipped his hand up and used telekinesis to force Sato to stand up straight.

Sato rose and looked at Sir Aaron. The sparing match had left no mark on the ancient Guardian. He had not broken a sweat, his breathing was normal, and there was not a single cut on his body. What's more he stood much taller and was a great deal bigger than Sato. Sato did not see it as at all possible that he could win against him. But he figured if he at least landed a hit or two then maybe Aaron would let him take a break.

He gripped his sword with both hands. At the very least he had gotten so used to holding it that at this point its weight felt like nothing in his hands, not that it did him much good. He knew he would have to run at Aaron to get enough momentum to possibly land a successful hit. His chest tightened in anticipation. This did not help his already restricted breathing. He took a deep breath and charged forward with his sword held up. As he reached Aaron he swung his blade diagonally. Aaron stood as stern and unmoving as a statue. His arms were hanging limply to his side. Anticipating a powerful block, parry or counterstrike, Sato's arms faltered and his sword slid to the slide.

"What was that?" asked Aaron. "Your opponent was wide open. He didn't avoid, stop or counter your attack. Why is he still alive?"

Sato looked away from Sir Aaron in guilt. He had clearly disappointed him.

Aaron answered his own question. "You weren't expecting the attack to hit were you? You started it believing you would fail."

Sato realized every word Aaron was saying was true. Sato expected every single one of his attacks to fail because all of them had failed in the past. Every time he swung his sword he fully believed it would not touch Aaron. He stared at his feet in shame. "I'm sorry" he said.

"Don't be sorry, just change it!" Aaron insisted. "If you don't like it do something about it! Don't just sulk, that doesn't get anything done!"

Sato bowed his head lower.

Aaron sighed heavily and turned around. He raised his left hand to his chin in thought as he held his sword in his right hand. "You need more motivation. Every time I try to talk you up it just brings you down more. You're so resigned to defeat that the allure of winning isn't enough to rouse you. And you have no reason to fight harder because there are no real consequences to losing." He took a deep breath. "I guess I know what I have to do. Sorry about this Sato. Remember that everything I'm doing I'm doing for your own good."

He turned around suddenly. His left hand was balled into a tight fist. His expression was uncharacteristically serious. "Defend yourself!" Without warning he slammed his fist into Sato's face. Sato was completely flabbergasted. He flew back at least a dozen feet and landed hard on his face. As he pushed up on his knees he felt a deep throbbing in his right cheek. He placed his hand on his cheek and felt a strange looseness. Without warning he spat up the glowing blue liquid that had replaced his blood along with three of his teeth. The teeth quickly disintegrated into light. He felt a pounding ache in his mouth deeper than any physical pain he had ever known.

"What the HELL are you doing?!" he shouted. This was the first time Aaron had ever attacked him with anything besides his sword and he had never put this much force into his attacks before.

Aaron ran over to him quickly. "Too slow to stand up!" He swung his right foot back and then kicked Sato very hard in the stomach. Sato roller over several times and landed on his back.

He coughed and more of the artificial blood sprayed from his mouth. The kick had completely knocked the wind out of him. "Stop!" he shouted.

"Your opponent won't stop when you ask!" Aaron said. He leapt 20 feet into the air. "If you have a problem with the pain then do something about it! You're the only one who can!" He lifted his leg above his head. Sato recognized this as the beginning of an ax kick. Aaron had went over many basic strikes with him and he had a basic understanding of them. Aaron flung his heel downwards, preparing to strike Sato's head. Sato gasped. He knew he couldn't ask Aaron to stop. He rolled over onto his front, quickly got to his feet and jumped forward. Aaron's kicked missed him by inches.

"Better" Aaron praised. "You're at least acting. But it's not enough! I'm still uninjured and I'm still coming!" He still held his sword in his right hand so he used his left again. He threw his fist forward. Sato jumped back fearfully and wind from the punch grazed his face.

"Good reflexes" Aaron said with a sinister smile. He brought his right foot up and kicked Sato in the chin. Sato was flung upward and landed very hard on his back. Now his body gasped for breath with desperation, not mere tiredness. It was clinging to anything that could help it survive. "This is what a real fight feels like, the exhaustion, the pain. The only way to stop it is to stop me. You must take away my strength. If you want the pain to stop, if you want to be able to rest, then WIN! FIGHT!"

Sato was desperate. His entire head was aching. The taste of blood filled his mouth; the glowing substance may have been less messy but it tasted the same when it touched his tongue. He could barely breathe. He needed relief. He knew Aaron wasn't going to give it to him with a fatal blow that would reset his strength back to normal; he was intentionally trying to not do that. He knew Aaron wouldn't stop out of mercy; he wasn't doing any damage to his real body. He was causing pain and nothing else. There was truly only one way he could stop the pain.

He turned to his side then leapt to his feet. He grasped his sword firmly in his hands. If Aaron was going to continue using hand to hand combat then it was his only advantage.

Aaron approached him and pulled his left fist back. He seemed aware of Sato's new determination. "I wonder if I can punch hard enough to crack your skull. Let's find out."

Sato's fear intensified. He knew the next blow would be the most terrible. If he tried to dodge then Aaron would simply hit him with a consecutive strike. He had to land a hit before Aaron's attack landed. It was the only way.

Sato let out a yell and charged forward. With every ounce of strength he had left Sato thrust his katana at Aaron's exposed left side. As Aaron threw his fist forward he turned right into the sword. The thrust pierced through the left side of his chest.

Complete shock was Sato's first reaction; firstly, because his attack landed so well, and secondly because no counterstrike came from Aaron.

Aaron's breathing was labored now. He strained to speak. "Excellent; you pierced right through my heart…I should be dead in a matter of…" As if on cue his body vanished in flashes of light. It immediately reappeared, completely healed.

Aaron smiled happily. His lightheartedness had returned. "Much better! You finally attacked me for real! You had an opportunity to win and you took it! I knew there was a fighter inside of you. We just had to bring him out."

Sato breathed much heavier than before. His previous fatigue and injury were now completely insignificant by comparison. He wiped some sweat from his forehead. "Well I'm glad you were gentle while bringing him out."

"Hey nothing else was getting through to you" Aaron said with humorous defensiveness. "I had to motivate you somehow. And there are some things that make every creature fight; fear and pain. I said I was sorry after all. And it's not like it was child abuse anyway; you agreed to the training and your physical body is still completely undamaged. But hey, I'll make you a deal."

Sato was intrigued, "A deal?"

Aaron nodded. "If you promise to fight as hard as you did back there, then I promise not to fight as hard as I was until you're good enough to handle it. Deal?"

Sato had to admit this situation sounded better than what just happened. "All right deal."

Aaron smiled. "Here, a peace offering." He snapped his fingers and light briefly surrounded Sato. All of his pain and exhaustion instantly vanished. Sato felt his right cheek. The missing teeth were pushing against his skin. He felt them with his tongue; they had definitely reformed exactly as they were before. "I'm sorry I had to play rough. It did help you though. You did much better. Your best is much better than you think it is. In the future it won't be that easy to defeat me though, after all I wasn't using my sword. Next time you'll have to work much harder for your victory but that'll make it even more satisfying.."

Sato shrugged. "Fair enough; I have to admit landing that hit on you and stopping that beating did feel pretty good. It made me feel like I actually had some control over what was happening, like I wasn't helpless."

Aaron smiled proudly. "You do have control. You control your destiny. You have the power to choose between being a loser or something stronger. That's why you need to work hard and do your best; otherwise you're cheating yourself by wasting your potential."

Sato nodded. He spoke quietly, "I guess I've gotten so used to being picked on I never thought of there being anything I could do about it. I never even considered beating Gary up as a solution. I always thought even if I could it wouldn't help. I would still be the loser and he would be the one above me."

Aaron seemed happy that Sato was talking about the source of his insecurity. "That's because you still believed that what he said about you was true. If in your heart you believed that you were a loser then you were. But if you have the confidence and strength of spirit to know that he is wrong then nothing he can say can hurt you, his words become nothing more than noise." Aaron chuckled. "Just like with your little friend Elita. She reinforced all of your insecurities so you never got mad at anything she said. As a result she knew she had complete power over you, a fact she reveled in. When you defied her you broke the hold she had over you."

Sato nodded and smiled. "That did feel good, believing she was wrong, not feeling like she could make me feel three inches tall just by opening her mouth." He then snickered. "And the look on her face when I stood up to her was priceless. I sure surprised her!"

Aaron laughed mischievously. "It sounds like you have a crush on her."

Sato blushed and it felt like he swallowed his stomach. "What?! Why would you say that?!"

Aaron seemed very amused. "Oh it's quite simple. First of all it seems like you still care what she thinks about you even though you aren't letting her crush your self-esteem every time she speaks anymore, like you wanted her to be impressed with you standing up to her. And second of all, probably the more obvious piece of evidence, you were incredibly embarrassed when I accused you of having a crush on her."

Sato's face couldn't have been redder even if he had spent the entire day in the desert with no sun screen on. He hid his face behind is hand and looked away nervously. "Did Growlithe tell you to say that?"

Aaron seemed honestly surprised. "Oh Growlithe picked up on it too? Now I'm even surer I'm right. He knows you better than anyone after all."

Sato groaned. "I shouldn't have said that." He was certain that Aaron and Growlithe singing 'Sato and Elita Sitting in a Tree' was in his near future.

What Aaron said next was much more surprising though. "I'm glad. I think you two could be good for each other." He sounded sincere.

Sato's shock overpowered his embarrassment. He looked up from his hand and his eyes met Aaron's. "R…really?" Aaron nodded with an encouraging smile. "But…she's our enemy isn't she?"

Aaron seemed completely undeterred by Sato's assessment. "There will always be more to someone than what you can see with your two eyes."

Suddenly a blast of flames crashed between the two of them and exploded. A second later Lucario leapt over both of their heads and threw an Aura Sphere in the direction the Flamethrower had come from.

"Watch it Lucario!" Aaron said.

Sato was happy for the distraction. "Yeah guys. There's plenty of room. Spar in your own space!"

"Sorry lover-boy!" Lucario shouted with a sly smirk as he jumped back towards Growlithe.

Sato buried his face in his hand and moaned. Aaron looked at him and chortled, "Ha! He's definitely lightened up a lot since he died. He never cracked jokes like that before."

"Lucky me" Sato mumbled.

Lucario's feet met that ground and he sped towards Growlithe. Growlithe opened his mouth and shot a wave of fire to intercept him.

"Predictable strategy Growlithe; I've seen your Flamethrower a million times which means I've figured out a million ways around it" Lucario criticized. He used his ExtremeSpeed and quickly ran to the side of the flames. Growlithe turned his head and redirected the attack to hit him. Lucario simply jumped over the Flamethrower and kept running forward as he landed. Now the gap between him and Growlithe was only a few feet. Growlithe whipped his head to the side again. Lucario did a front flip. Now he was too close for Flamethrower to possibly be effective. Growlithe closed his mouth and incased his body in flames. He had learned Flame Wheel during his training. He pounced at Lucario, intending to turn the momentum of his ExtremeSpeed against him by making him crash into a Fire type attack. Lucario easily saw this coming and quickly conjured a large, glowing, blue bone that he wielded like a staff. Using Bone Rush he slammed the edge of the bone down on Growlithe's head. With his focus broken Growlithe couldn't maintain the Flame Wheel and the fire dissipated from his body. Lucario then crashed directly into him, using the full force of his ExtremeSpeed. Growlithe was flung back several feet. Lucario quickly caught up to him while he was still soaring through the air. Using Close Combat he unleashed a barrage of powerful kicks and punches that ended the fight. When Growlithe landed his body vanished and then reformed a few feet away.

Growlithe snarled in frustration. "Damn! Why can't I hit you?"

Lucario did not appear tired at all. He sounded like a scolding teacher. "You're definitely much stronger than when we first started but you're approach is too simplistic. It's true; you have access to a lot more raw power than most Pokémon at your level since you are able to control how much of your energy you put into an attack. You can either add much more power to an attack than it normally would have or you can use much less so that it wastes less energy. But that still isn't enough. I am a Steel type Pokémon which means I am vulnerable to Fire type attacks so you are smart for using them against me. However, the problem is that I am smart enough to realize that's what you are going to do. You use Flamethrower when we are separated and when I close the gap you either use Fire Fang or Flame Wheel. Because that is what you always do I always am able to anticipate your moves and counter them. It doesn't matter that you have the type advantage; you never hit me because I make sure of it. I know to prepare to doge your Flamethrower at long range and to prepare for you to pounce at close range. It's childishly simple and routine."

"So what am I supposed to do?" Growlithe asked. "Not use my fire?"

"I didn't say that" Lucario responded. "But your approach to fighting can't be nothing more than throwing fire at me and hoping some of it sticks. You have to find a way around my defenses, finding some way to make me leave myself open. You need to develop a strategy that lets you use your power to its maximum potential.

"Strategy?" Growlithe repeated. "Like Pokémon trainers have their Pokémon do?"

Lucario nodded. "Yes. Through strategy trainers are able to help their Pokémon defeat Pokémon that they are very disadvantaged against. It's a combination of the superior human brain and the power of a Pokémon. But that combination now exists inside of you. You have a brain that's as intelligent as a human's now. You need to use it. Don't fight based on animal instinct alone. The reason that Pokémon raised by trainers are always more powerful than wild Pokémon is because they win more battles and that is because they fight smart. You need to fight smart."

"Huh I never thought of it like that" Growlithe replied. "But then again I have been an animal my whole life"

"Well now you're something more" Lucario said. "Never forget that. You're a Guardian of Aura now. But also don't forget that you still aren't a human. You are unique; not human but as intelligent as one. You must think like a human and like a Pokémon at the same time."

"That sure doesn't sound simple or easy" Growlithe observed.

"It's not" Lucario agreed. "That's why we train. Training is nothing more than doing something wrong over and over again until you finally figure out how to do it right. Be patient with yourself you'll get it eventually." Growlithe nodded in acknowledgement. "And don't worry there's no rush. We have plenty of time."

Meanwhile Misty stood in her old home, the Cerulean City Pokémon Gym. Her oldest sister Daisy was standing in front of her. Whenever she was with one of her sisters Misty couldn't help but marvel at how horrible the years had been to them, but she figured that fate was inevitable to anyone with their carefree, party-girl lifestyles. After all that type of relentless self-indulgence would wear on anyone eventually. Their efforts to conceal this wear only made it worse. So Daisy stood before Misty with hair that had been treated with so much blonde dye that it did not resemble human hair, a face that had been paralyzed with Botox injections and painted with so much make-up that Misty wondered if a single inch of her actual skin was visible. Her clothes were a true testament to her attempt to cling to as much of her youthful beauty as possible; they were much too revealing and modern to be becoming of someone of her age. She was a rather poor specimen of a middle-age woman. Misty had always been jealous of the fact that her older sisters were more attractive than her. Now she had no trouble pegging herself as easily the most beautiful of her siblings. After all she only needed to be completely average-looking to surpass them at this point.

"So Ash's mother died" Daisy said after Misty finished explaining. "That's too bad. Poor little bro." Misty's siblings had gotten into the habit of addressing their brother-in-law as 'little bro' on occasion since Ash and Misty's marriage. "When's the funeral?"

"We don't know yet" Misty answered. "After all, we have a lot of other things to deal with right now. We haven't even started planning it yet."

Daisy simply tilted her head in acknowledgement. "How are the kids holding up?"

Misty was surprised her sister had the presence of mind to even consider the various people affected by this death. "They're doing ok. They were very shocked when it happened but right now they're more worried about their father than anything. Well Kenny pretends he isn't, he throws himself fully into taking care of his little sister so that makes it easy for him to not think about it. Sue's really frightened though, after all she's too young to have to deal with any of this."

"Right" Daisy replied, with a slight tone of accusation. Finally she said what she had been thinking since her younger sister had showed up. "Misty how could you not tell us that Ash is a Guardian of Aura? When we saw him and Pikachu fight Rayquaza on the news we flipped out. How could you hide that from your family?"

Misty was incredibly offended. "Excuse me? You knew all along that an evil Guardian of Aura killed our parents and you never told me anything about it! When I was a kid every single time I asked you about our parents you just said you would tell me when I was older and not even just about their deaths, but anything about them! What right do you have to expect me to tell you anything?"

Daisy was very defensive. "Misty like come on! We wanted to tell you but you would have like totally not believed us."

Misty grunted in annoyance. "Daisy will you drop the 'likes' and the 'totally's' already? You're 47 years old for God's sake!"

Daisy gasped in unspeakable horror. "Misty! You know you are forbidden from ever speaking that number!"

Misty put her hands on her hips. "I'm 40 and I don't have a problem with it."

Daisy sighed in annoyance. "Right I forgot, you're the superior one. You're the hard worker, the good Gym Leader, the one who is aging gracefully, the one who's only gotten married once so far and hasn't even gotten divorced yet."

"Yet?" Misty repeated. "Ash and I have been married for 15 years. We have three kids. You're still betting that it isn't going to last?"

Daisy sounded as if the answer was obvious. "Oh come on Misty does it honestly sounds realistic that you could hold onto a man for longer than that? I'm surprised it lasted half this long."

In her childhood this remark would have sent Misty through the roof. However this time she simply smiled and asked, "How's Mike by the way?"

Daisy's expression turned sour. "That so isn't funny Misty."

Misty said with mischievous reminiscence, "It isn't funny that while you were drunk in Las Vegas you married a guy you met at the blackjack table after only knowing him for an hour and then after you were married for a week he left you for Lily and then it turned out that he had been having an affair with Violet the entire time? I think that's very funny."

"Stop talking about that!" Daisy shouted. Her voice became more high-pitched than a dolphin's.

Kenny and Sue were sitting at the other side of the gym at the edge of the giant pool that housed much of the Water Pokémon. They were watching Feebas, who now had her wound stitched up with a fresh, water-proof bandage to cover it, swimming slowly across the water. Nurse Joy said she would be fully-healed in about a week. That was a relatively slow recovery time for a Pokémon but Feebas was at a really low level. Blitzle was lying by the pool, bobbing his nose in and out of the water.

"Huh mom and her sisters still fight just like little kids" Kenny calmly observed as his mother and his aunt continued arguing. They were too far away to be clearly heard. "I wonder if siblings ever outgrow that."

Sue was sitting at the direct edge of the pool, lightly kicking the water with her feet and watching Feebas swim. "Well that depends" she said with a bit less shyness than normal. "With us it depends on if you ever stop being such a reckless, stubborn idiot." Her voice sounded as kind and quiet as it always did and yet she spoke with complete frankness.

Complete astonishment registered on Kenny's face. Blitzle looked at him and laughed with many happy neighs. Kenny smiled and joined him. "Since when do you call people idiots?"

"Oh I think it a lot more than I say" she said calmly. "For some reason when I look at Feebas I'm not afraid to say it."

"Is that right?" Kenny chuckled. "Do you think that about me a lot?"

"Not always" she said. "But when you do things like trying to fight three Sharpedo by yourself the word 'idiot' does pop into my head a lot."

"Well I guess that's gratitude for you" Kenny said with another laugh.

"Oh don't worry I was very grateful" Sue answered in the same tone of voice. "I was also worried. Please be more careful next time." She looked at his injured arm. He had been given stiches too and would have to wear his bandage for about ten days. Luckily his wound wouldn't scar or impair his arm's function at all.

Kenny sounded as if he considered the sentence ridiculous. "Careful? Come on I was protecting you. I'm your big brother; it's my job to be ready to die for you if you need it."

Sue had been expecting this response. She stayed calm but her voice was more serious than before. She sounded more assertive than Kenny had ever heard her be. "I don't want you to die. Be more careful." It clearly wasn't optional.

Kenny was incredibly surprised by her directness and her insistence. He felt almost like he was being lectured at by his mother. He looked over at Feebas.

Ever since she protected that fish she's…different. Not only is she not as scared but she seems…stronger somehow. She's never told me what to do before. I guess…

He remembered the moment when blood spat out of his arm. Upon reflection, he realized it must have been very scary for a little girl to see.

…I never realized how much it scared her to see me in danger.

"So that's the other half a man's duty huh?" he said with resignation. "Not only protecting, but also not making the people we're protecting sad by dying."

Sue nodded with a proud smile. "Yes. It is."

This was nothing more than another challenge for Kenny, which he reveled in. It would only prove how much of a man he was if he managed to perform both these tasks. "All right Sue. I promise that I will always protect you and that I won't die or get hurt too badly so that I won't make you sad."

Sue smiled. "Perfect."

Meanwhile Misty and Daisy had continued shouting at each other for several minutes.

"Ok enough!" Daisy shouted. "Let's just drop the marriage thing. Misty I'm sorry we never told you about our parents but what were we supposed to do? If we told you the truth you would have never believed us. We didn't want you to think you big sisters were liars."

"How was this any better?!" Misty retorted. "Instead of thinking my big sisters were lying to me about how our parents died I knew nothing about my parents my whole life. I mean at the very least you could have told me what they were like but you never spoke about them even that much!"

"Do you think it was easy for us?" Daisy asked defensively. "They were our parents. Do you think it was easy for us to think about them, to remember them dying?! Do you think it was easy for us getting called down to the police station being asked to identify their bodies and then seeing what was left of them after they were hacked apart by that evil bastard's sword?!" She clasped her head in her hands and tears started flowing down her face.

Misty was shocked by the outburst but did not relent. "Sorry but it's a little hard to feel bad for you. You miss them? You were bothered by their deaths? I wish I knew what that was like. When they died I was barely more than a newborn. I didn't remember their faces, voices, or anything. If it wasn't for memories of them stored in Time Flowers I would have no idea what they were like. I can't even feel like an orphan because I don't even know what it was like to lose them. It was like I never had parents like I just came out of nowhere. You may have had to deal with them dying but at least you knew what it felt like to have a mother and a father."

Daisy looked like she had been struck in the heart. "Wow Misty…I didn't know you felt this way."

"Of course you didn't" said Misty. "Everything is always about you. My feelings never matter. It's not important how much I wanted to know about my parents or for that matter how much I wanted to keep traveling with Ash and Brock. What is important is that you didn't want to deal with your grief or the responsibility of running this gym so you decided to make that my problem."

Daisy looked extremely surprised. "That's really how you felt?"

Misty felt like she was being asked to explain what two plus two was. "Of course it was! I loved traveling with Ash and Brock and you three just decided that I had to come home and be the gym leader even though I was just a kid and it was your damn job!"

"Misty I had no idea" Daisy said. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I did!" Misty shouted. "You just brushed me off! Eventually I stopped trying because I knew you weren't ever going to listen! There was nothing else I could do because I couldn't leave this place without a leader or for that matter with irresponsible ones like you! The trainers who come by here to earn their Cascade Badge deserve better than what you'll give them. That's why even though I'm married and have kids now whenever you call and tell me there are challengers here I drop whatever I'm doing to come and take care of it." She turned around and folded her arms. "Ash was right it would have been easier if we just lived here. It definitely would have been simpler than getting the money together to buy a house in Pallet Town when we got married. I was sick and tired of feeling like I was trapped in this gym though. I love the Water Pokémon and even being the gym leader but I hated feeling like this place was a prison. I hated feeling like I was forced to be here. Whenever I'm in my house in Pallet Town with my family I finally feel free. And whenever I go to the Pallet Town Gym I feel happy to help."

When Ash had finished traveling the world's regions and competing in the various Pokémon Leagues he settled back in Pallet Town but he quickly grew bored of the lack of Pokémon battles. He felt that he had traveled to his heart's content however so instead of going on another journey he founded Pallet Town's first ever Pokémon Gym and made himself its leader. He had no trouble getting the Pokémon League to register him given his impressive reputation as a Pokémon trainer and all of the championships he had competed in. It was the perfect compromise; he was able to call a single place home again, which certainly made marriage and children easier, and fantastic Pokémon trainers would seek him out. His was also one of the most prestigious gyms. One reason was that he often switched around which of his many dear Pokémon he battled with so his battle style was less predictable than other gyms. Another reason was that he had the lowest defeat record of any gym leader; after all he had been good enough to defeat all of the other gym leaders. This was how he made a living and he thought no profession could be more suited to him.

Daisy looked genuinely guilty. "Misty I'm so sorry. I didn't know…I…"

"Of course you didn't" said Misty. "It didn't affect you after all in fact you benefited from it. Thank God none of you ever had any kids. I know how bad you would've been at raising them."

Daisy seemed genuinely hurt by this comment. This time she didn't fight back though. She bowed her head and cried a little. "Misty…" Misty turned around, somewhat intrigues by the gentleness in her voice. "…Our father…" It was easy to hear her fighting back deep pain. "…Our father…was a lot like Ash. He…" Her lip quivered as she fought back sobs. "…was a brave and confident Pokémon trainer. He was the …the best leader this gym ever had. Your Gyarados…the only Pokémon in this gym that was the least bit strong before you showed up…was his first Pokémon. When he took in that little Magikarp people laughed at him and said he would be pathetically weak but it evolved into the strongest Water Pokémon in the Kanto region. He…he…he never…" It was apparent she wouldn't have the strength to keep going for much longer.

"He never gave up, ever. When people told him that training his Magikarp was pointless he took that as a challenge. It only motivated him more" another voice suddenly finished. Misty turned around and saw her other two sisters, Lily and Violet standing in the doorway. She recognized the voice that had finished the sentence as Lily's.

"How long have you two been standing there?" Misty asked.

"A few minutes" Violet answered. "We were going to say hi but then…we started hearing Daisy talk about dad."

"It's been so long since any of us have said anything about him that…it feels good hearing about him again" said Lily.

Daisy wiped some of the tears from her face. "I'm so glad you named your son after him Misty. He looks just like him. Acts just like him too."

Misty smiled and nodded. "Kenshin, a name that means 'heart of sword', a warrior's name; it's perfect for someone with Kenny's confidence."

"Dad usually had people call him Ken" said Lily. "Not that he didn't like the full thing but he thought it sounded too formal. Kenny is a pretty good nickname for it too, especially for a kid."

"Come to think of it" said Violet. "Kenny's exactly like him. Looks just like him and acts just like him.

Misty smiled. She felt as though she had connected herself to her father through her son without even trying to. She had of course named Kenny after her father after she had learned his name but at that point she had known almost nothing else about him other than what he looked like.

"What was mom like?" she asked.

"Like us" said Daisy. Apparently she was starting to have an easier time remembering. "Well the three of us" she added, gesturing to herself, Lily and Violet. "You're a bit more like dad than her. I guess that's why we always made fun of you for being a tomboy."

Misty placed her hands on her hips and let out a 'hmph'. Though the idea of being like the father they described sounded flattering, especially if they're mother was responsible for her sister's shallowness.

Violet explained, "She was probably the most beautiful woman in the world. She was a model like us. She basically lived our exact lives; the fashion, the parties, the boys trailing after her."

Lily interrupted her with a laugh. "Then she met dad." Misty's curiosity must have registered on her face because Lily continued. "He was the only one never impressed by her looks or money or fame. It's almost like he didn't notice them. After all he was a single-minded Pokémon trainer. He was so devoted he didn't really have any brain power leftover for things like girls."

Misty chuckled loudly. "He does sound like Ash!"

Daisy laughed too. She had completely stopped crying. "He was. One day he was chasing after a Caterpie that had wondered into mom's photo-shoot. He accidentally destroyed the entire set and the Caterpie still got away. Mom went through the roof! She knocked him over the head with a light stand like ten times. Of course all he was thinking about was catching that Caterpie. That just made her madder. Then she completely lost it when she found out he didn't even know who she was and went completely insane when he wasn't impressed after she told him."

Lily couldn't stop giggling. "She basically ended up following him around trying to get him to apologize for destroying the set and pretty much to get him to admit he was as charmed by her as any other guy. She wasn't very successful thought. When he saw how shallow she was he didn't feel that bad about destroying her set. So she wouldn't leave him alone until he admitted he thought she was beautiful, and he of course wouldn't out of spite. She basically ended up following him on his Pokémon journey before either of them knew what was happening."

Misty opened her mouth in a wide grin. "That's just like me when Ash destroyed my bike!"

Daisy said, "Believe me all of us noticed the similarity when you told us about it. We knew that was just your excuse for following him around. And just like you with Ash mom fell in love with dad before she even realized why she was really following him. She admired his determined spirit and how much he cared for his Pokémon. He was the first guy who she was ever attracted to for reasons other than money or abs."

Misty liked listening to this story. "So dad fell in love with her too?"

Her sisters all looked at each other knowingly. "Not at first. He hated her. He wondered why she kept following him around and wished she would stop."

Misty bowed her head with embarrassment. "It's really starting to sound like Ash and me."

Daisy brushed her off. "Nah when we first met Ash it was pretty clear the both of you liked each other. But mom was pretty shy just like you when it came to her feelings for dad. She had never met a guy she couldn't get to like her with nothing other than her looks. She knew he didn't like her shallowness so she was too afraid to tell him how she felt."

"Then how'd they end up together?" Misty asked.

Violet chose to answer. "Well it took a long time. Dad was too dense when it came to love to realize how mom felt about him and there was a lot about her he didn't like. But when they started traveling together she…well she changed. One of the reasons she fell for him was that she admired how kind he was to not only his Pokémon but also to everyone. He never hesitated to put himself in danger to help others, like Ash. She eventually realized she admired him more than she admired herself."

Lily added, "And for most of her life there was no one she admired more than herself!"

Violet laughed and continued. "So she wanted to be more like him. So when his Pokémon got hurt she would help take care of them. He could never figure out how to use potions or bandages very effectively but she had a talent for healing. When she found that out it made her feel pretty good; she thought her only gift was her looks. When she started doing that it made it easier for dad to put up with her. He even started warming up to her a little bit. Then one day when he was trying to save a Charmander from falling into a river he broke his arm. Mom took care of him. She bandaged his arm and watched over him while he healed. When he saw how kind and nurturing she really was…well…"

"The rest is history" Daisy finished. "They went to the Indigo Plateau hand in hand. Dad won the Pokémon League but he never ended up defeating the Elite Four. When they got married they opened up this place together. They both always loved Water Pokémon. Dad was the Gym Leader and mom put on shows like us. She loved performing. We learned everything we know about being mermaids from her."

Lily added, "Dad always joked how he loved having three daughters but he wished he had at least one son too. You know one who would be interested in battling. He loved our performances but he always worried about what would happen to the gym part of this place when he was gone."

Misty laughed. "Well given the way you three ran this place I'd say his fear was justified."

Violet was quick with a comeback. "Well lucky for him you turned out to be the son he never had."

Kenny could hear his mother's objections to that statement quite clearly despite how far away he and his sister were. "Our aunts are crazy" he observed calmly. Sue nodded in quiet agreement.

Misty's eye suddenly caught the clock. She had stayed much longer than she had planned to. She had more errands to see to that day. "Wow I got to go!"

"Why?" Daisy asked.

"Well normally I would've just called you on the phone to tell you about Ash's mom. But I was already on my way to Pewter City. I need to get there soon."

"Pewter City?" Why would you need to go there at a time like this?" Daisy asked.

Misty was surprised by her curiosity. She hadn't expected to need to explain her story to them. She thought she would simply deliver the news of Delia's death and leave. She wasn't used to her sisters taking this much of an interest.

She didn't mind it though. She explained, "Last time all of this Guardian of Aura stuff happened, the last time Ash and Pikachu were in charge of saving the world they were on their own. I remember watching them fight Tanaka by themselves and feeling so helpless. Someone I loved was dying to protect me and everyone else he cared about and there was nothing I could do to help him. When I watched Rayquaza defeat him on the news I felt exactly the same way again, well no it was worse because I was thinking of how to explain to our children that their daddy wasn't coming home. I can't just sit back and do nothing this time!"

The faces of her sisters seemed to register the depth of her concern. Daisy sounded as if she was trying to be understanding when she asked, "But how are you planning to help? I mean Ash is a Guardian of Aura and he couldn't beat Rayquaza even with Pikachu's help."

Misty defensively asked, "Are you trying to talk me out of protecting my husband?"

Daisy shook her head and sounded as if she wanted to make sure Misty knew that was the last thing on her mind. "No! No that's not what I meant! It's just…please don't do anything dangerous…" Misty was surprised when she saw how worried her sisters' faces looked.

Misty definitely was not used to seeing her sisters show this much concern for her. It was surprising but felt warming. She smiled and said, "Don't worry I won't. You see my plan is simple. You're right Rayquaza had to be really strong if Ash couldn't beat him. No one is strong enough to beat Rayquaza by themselves if he isn't. That means the only way to beat him is to work together. Ash has made hundreds of friends that would be willing to risk their lives for him at the drop of a hat during his travels. Like you said, he's always been like dad, even before he was a Guardian of Aura he would always protect innocent people and Pokémon. Gary is already recruiting some of the strongest Pokémon trainers in the world to fight Rayquaza but even they might not be enough. To beat Rayquaza we need as many trainers fighting him at the same time as possible. If we overwhelm him with superior numbers we might be able to win. I'm going to rally as many of Ash's friends together as possible starting with Brock, the only one whose been his friend as long as me or Gary. We're going to save him no matter what it takes."

Lily folded her arms with a smile. "Wow Misty I got to say what you lack in looks you make up for in brains…well almost."

Misty let out weary sigh. "Kids it's time to go! I've run out of the patience to put up with your aunts!" she called.

Her sisters all laughed together. "That's our runt" said Daisy. "Good luck finding Ash's friends."

Misty decided it was better to try and end the conversation on a good note. "Well…thanks for finally telling me about mom and dad. I'm still mad it took you so long but it's better than never. "

"You're welcome" said Daisy. "I'm sorry it took so long. It's been such a long time since we could think about them without crying that we just kind of all ended up never talking about them. It actually felt good today though remembering them. So actually we should be thanking you."

Huh it's funny. Years ago I think Houndour wanted me to have this exact conversation with my sisters. I should've listened to him. Misty thought to herself. She remembered how much of a problem Houndour had with the way her sisters treated her and only held his tongue out of respect for boundaries. He was always very understanding to her problems and feelings though; an excellent confident. Oh I miss you Houndour. I wish you could've lived to see this. You were one of my best friends. He may have been the partner to Ash's grandfather but Houndour still spent as much time at the Cerulean Gym with Misty as possible.

Kenny and Sue walked over to Misty. Blitzle was walking next to Kenny and Sue had recalled Feebas to her Pokéball. "Say goodbye to you aunts kids."

"Bye Aunt Daisy, bye Aunt Lily bye Aunt Violet" Kenny said obediently but not too enthusiastically.

"Bye cutey!" his aunts said at the same time. They pinched his cheeks affectionately. This was part of the reason why Kenny hated visiting his aunts. The only thing he ever liked about it was seeing the Water Pokémon. He cringed with embarrassment as he was forced to put up with it.

"You're getting so handsome!" Lily praised.

"You're turning into quite the little man!" added Violet.

"You're getting to be more and more like your grandpa every day!" said Daisy before she realized she had said it.

The last comment was the only that sounded the slightest bit significant to Kenny. "I am?" he asked suddenly. All three of his aunts pulled away when they realized the impact of what Daisy had said. "I didn't know that." He looked at Misty. "You never told me I was like your dad. In fact you never mention him. I mean dad talks about his dad all the time but…you never talk about your parents."

The simple reason behind that was that Misty had almost nothing to tell about her parents before. She did always feel jealous when the kids were being told stories about their other set of grandparents when she had none of her own. Ash knew that and always tried to avoid flaunting his stories in her face.

Misty could have easily blamed her sisters for this; it would be the truth after all but for some reason she didn't feel that mad anymore. "Oh I guess it just slipped my mind."

Daisy seemed visibly glad that Misty didn't blame them. She took it as an opportunity. "You know…" she said shyly. "…We have some pictures of them…photo albums…and a few things that belonged to them…" She started pressing together her index fingers nervously as Misty caught her meaning. "If you want…we could show them to you...there's a lot of great stories behind them…" She looked up and met Misty's eyes. "After all…the kids should know about their grandparents…right Misty?" she added with a nervous laugh.

Misty smiled as she realized Daisy was also using this as a chance to show her these relics of her parents. "I suppose they should. What do you think kids, would you like to do that?"

Kenny was obviously reluctant. He never looked forward to visiting his aunts. "Well…"

Daisy knelt down and addressed Kenny with a smile. "You're grandpa was a great Pokémon trainer you know, just like your dad."

Kenny's interest was clearly peaked by this. "He was? I thought dad always said grandpa was a terrible trainer."

Misty corrected, "His dad was. Ours wasn't."

Daisy nodded, "Yep your Grandpa Ken was the best Water Pokémon trainer there ever was. He was the leader of this gym for years. I'll tell you something when he was leader this place was known for its low number of losses."

"Really?" Kenny asked. "Wow I guess I come from a lot of great gym leaders."

Daisy nodded with a proud smile. "Yeah your mom was the only one of the four of us who inherited our dad's skills."

That comment really got to Misty. She barely stopped herself from gasping in shock. Her eyes met Daisy's. Her face was filled with more love than she had ever seen. Misty felt tears forming in her eyes.

"Sure!" Kenny declared. "If I'm going to be a good trainer like my parents and grandpa I need to know as much about them as possible!"

Daisy nodded happily. "We'll have to do that soon."

"Sure Aunt Daisy" Kenny said with much more patience than he usually had. He then tolerated his aunts kissing his cheeks without complaint for the first time in his life.

Misty chuckled and wiped away a small stream of tears. Who'd have thought my side of the family would ever be like this? She mused.

Lily was kneeling down in front of Sue and began staring at her with a lot of focus, as if she was pondering the deep meaning of a work of art. Sue looked visibly uncomfortable.

"What are you doing Lily?" Misty asked.

Lily waited a few moments to respond. She turned her head slightly as if to confirm a suspicion. "You still haven't gotten Sue's ears pierced Misty?"

"What?!" Misty blurted. "She's 7!"

"Exactly!" Lily insisted. "It looks like she hasn't even started wearing makeup yet either! What are you waiting for?!"

"What the…" Misty said, censoring herself. "What deadline am I trying to meet?!"

Lily stood up and wagged her finger. "Well boys are gonna start looking her way soon. You don't want her to get a reputation as a prude right off the bat."

And with that Misty's patience had run out. "Ok we are leaving! Come on kids!" She grabbed her children's hands and lead them out the door.

"Mommy, what's a prude?" Sue asked innocently.

"Never mind sweety" Misty answered. "Your aunts are crazy."