Misty the mermaid (4)

"Are you ready, Meowth?"

"Ready! We can start right here!"

"Hehehahaha! All the Pokémon will be ours!"

This is Team Rocket—more precisely, James, Jessie, and Meowth.

They were on the roof of the gym, trying to break in.

"Go through this vent!" Meowth pointed to a very narrow air vent, but the three didn't think much and went in right away.

"Ugh! Who touched my butt?!"

"SORRY!"

"Shut up, or the people inside will hear us!"

As they reached a section, they saw the entrance.

Of course, there were lots of kids inside.

"They're here?!" James panicked, seeing many trainers discussing something.

"Even better, we can capture all of their Pokémon! Two birds with one stone!" Jessie said excitedly.

"If that's the case, we'll—"

"Hey everyone, do you hear a strange noise from the vent?" Zero2hero pointed at the air vent, causing everyone to look.

...

"Damn! What do we do now?!" James became more and more nervous.

"Meowth, think of something!!" Jessie urgently told Meowth, who was also at a loss.

"Ah, right! James, do that thing!"

"That thing? You mean?!"

"Yes! That thing!!"

Hearing that, James swallowed and shouted loudly,

"Googong."

...?

"Googong-Chewwww."

...

"Sounds like a Pokémon," one player said, and everyone agreed.

"Phew!" Team Rocket wiped their sweat.

"But I'm curious what kind of Pokémon it is. Should we open the vent to see?"

"Good idea!"

"?!?!" Team Rocket started sweating profusely.

As the players were about to reach for the vent, suddenly the referee's voice echoed,

"Trainer Red will challenge Gym Leader Misty!"

"What?! Someone's already challenging?!"

"What the heck?! I haven't even had my turn yet!"

"That NPC is too fast!!!"

The players complained, completely forgetting about the vent.

"Phew! Now do it!"

While Team Rocket was up to something, let's return to Red and Misty.

Misty, who was thinking about which Pokémon to use against Red, noticed him staring at her.

...I feel a bit shy, after all, I'm in a swimsuit (why are you only feeling shy around Red?).

So Misty paused the referee to retrieve the jacket she had tossed away and put it back on.

"aww..."

"...dude, she's 10."

"I know, but..."

"She's 10."

After putting the jacket back on, Misty looked at Red with determination.

...Why do I still feel shy? Should I change into my regular clothes?

"Both of you are only allowed to use two Pokémon. The one who runs out of Pokémon first will be declared the loser! Are you ready?"

"..."

"Umm... are you ready?"

"..."

"I'll take that as ready! Now... let the match begin!"

Red took out a Pokéball and threw it.

When the ball opened, it summoned a Pokémon with red skin, beautiful eyes, and a... uh, what's that thing kings wear on their heads?

Anyway, it looked cool!

It was Magikarp!

...

...Magikarp?

"W-WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING, RED????" A voice came from the stands, of course from Red's boyfriend—I mean best friend—Blue.

Blue nearly fainted when he saw Red bring out the weakest, most pathetic, and most useless Pokémon in the world to battle!

Even though it can evolve into Gyarados, it takes a long time to gain enough experience to evolve!

"What is Red thinking?" Brock put his hand to his chin, pondering.

Leaf was worried but still believed in Red; she trusted that he would win.

"Red, not to be rude, but... bringing Magikarp to battle is a really bad idea, you know?" Misty frowned at Red.

"..."

"...how about this, I'll allow you to use a third Pokémon."

"Gym Leader! That's against the rules!" the referee reminded her!

"I am the rules!" Misty retorted!

Well, her reasoning is understandable. A level 5 Magikarp can barely do anything, practically useless, so even allowing a third Pokémon wouldn't change the outcome of the match.

However, Red raised his hand to stop her, his eyes still filled with determination.

Seeing this, Misty understood what Red meant.

"Do you really not need a third Pokémon?"

"..."

"Are you sure?"

"..."

"Alright then, but don't blame me if you lose!"

Misty pulled out a Pokéball and summoned Staryu.

And just as she was about to issue a command, Red recalled Magikarp.

...What?

Everyone fell silent, utterly confused, until Blue suddenly realized:

"He's... trying to share experience for Magikarp..."

...Seriously?

Brock was left with a headache upon hearing that. He knew this tactic all too well, as he had encountered a few trainers who used this method before.

They would throw out their weakest Pokémon, only to immediately switch to their strongest one, allowing the weaker one to gain experience.

However, this also revealed one thing...

They were underestimating their opponent, treating them like nothing more than an experience machine...

Misty stood silently, her face completely frozen by what had just happened.

Then, a wave of heat more intense than fire began to radiate from around her.

Yes, that was pure anger. Misty knew exactly what Red had just done.

A hot-headed tomboy like her would certainly not tolerate such disrespect. Even that jerk Blue, who insulted her plenty, was easier to deal with than seeing Red pull this kind of stunt.

'No, no, no, calm down... it's Red, he's doing this for Magikarp's benefit... but it's still so annoying!'

Misty tried to calm herself down, though her arms were practically bulging with muscles in her frustration.

Red then took out another Pokéball and summoned a new Pokémon.

It had yellow skin, a lightning bolt-shaped tail, and red cheeks.

Yes, that was just a description of Pikachu sleeping inside Red's jacket. The actual Pokémon he summoned was Charmander!

...What?

This time, the silence was even more intense.

Blue fainted on the spot, Leaf smiled in despair, and Brock stood frozen.

The players' eyes were wide as they stared at the single flame in an all-water environment.

Misty stood there, smiling.

"I'm going to kill you."

*****

Bro, when I realized that in my country, 16-year-olds are allowed to marry, it blew my mind.

Then I remembered that someone in my class dropped out at the beginning of the year to get married.

But fortunately, cases of marriage at 16 are considered rare.

And even luckier, my country isn't the U.S. (Okay, im just kidding, pls dont take it too seriously).