บท 44: Misty

Viridian Forest

A young girl that had short, red hair tied into a side ponytail with a blue elastic rubber band can be seen sitting below a tree. She had green eyes and fair skin.

She wore a yellow tank top that revealed her midriff, red suspenders, denim shorts that stop at her thighs and red high top sneakers with yellow lining and white laces. In front of her is a clear river with Horsea, Starmie, and Goldeen who appeared to be just playing on the river.

"Alright, that's enough playing for now. Let's go for some training!" Misty said with enthusiasm as she recalled her pokemon back to their pokeballs and walked away.

...

Somewhere in the forest, a young man can be seen walking with the blue canine pokemon, Riolu.

"Well, it's just us once again huh" Folker said with a sigh as he walked somewhere in Viridian Forest with Riolu. Two week had passed since the competition.

Folker, Corin, and Chelsea bid farewells to each other as they separated ways. Corin went to go for missions somewhere in Cinnabar Island while Chelsea decided to stay at Pallet Town to assist the Professor on his research. Folker, on the other hand, decided to go back to Vermilion City to see his aunt.

Folker left Pallet Town about a week earlier but he's not particularly in a hurry to go back to Vermilion City. The journey is also part of training.

There's still plenty of time before the Kanto Rookie Tournament but Folker will seize every opportunity to train. After all, it doesn't hurt to be stronger, considering that he had strong rivals like Corin and Chelsea. There's also those ranked in the Viridian Academy.

Folker is not the only one madly training to be stronger, every single one of them are. However, Folker wasn't particularly feeling pressured, at least for the moment. Albeit only for a little bit, his training has shown some results. That's the source of Folker's confidence, not to mention that his pokemon are reliable and strong.

"Maybe I'll challenge Pewter City gym on my way back to Vermilion City" Folker said as he rubbed his chin while walking.

"Riolu!"

Suddenly, Riolu let out a silent cry that only Folker could hear. Folker looked at Riolu's figure and nodded. He then closed his eyes and tried to sense the approaching figure. From what he can sense, the figure didn't have any dangerous aura.

He decided to just continue walking with Riolu since the approaching figure didn't appear to be dangerous for them.

The girl then spotted Folker's figure as her eyelids narrowed and looked at him closely but she didn't stop walking.

"Hello, I'm Folker. How about you?" Folker awkwardly said as he looked at the young girl in front of her.

'My, my, what a handsome young man. Unfortunately, he's a bit too young for me' Misty thought to herself as she admired the looks of the young man.

"I'm Misty of Cerulean City" Misty said with a smile.

"That seems to be the place I'm coming for. You're heading there, right? Wanna come along? Walking beside a beauty such as yourself, that would be fun" Folker said with a flirty tone as he looked at Misty with a smile.

"Oh you. You flatter me. But unfortunately, I'm staying here to train" Misty said as she shook her head.

"Hmmmmm, your name sounds kinda familiar. Where have I heard it again?" Folker said as he rubbed his chin, trying to recall where he heard this name before.

"I'm sure this is the first time we've met" Misty replied with a smile. She knew where Folker heard her name but she wouldn't tell him anyway. However, Folker's eyes lit up.

"That's it! The Academy Ranking! You're that Misty, the top 1 of the Academy Ranking, right?" Folker said as he eyed her with sparkles on his eyes. He witnessed the strength of the top rankers of the academy ranking back in the competition in Pallet Town.

Among them, there were a few trainers that he deemed as strong and he wanted to have a battle with them someday. But the top 1 didn't seem to make an appearance on the academy ranking. Although he didn't see her, he heard some rumors that Misty is a really strong trainer, no one among the top 10 has beaten her yet.

He got really curious about the top ranker of the Academy Ranking and wanted to see her in action.

"That's me, alright" Misty replied with a cheerful smile.

"Awesome! Not only are you beautiful but also strong" Folker shamelessly praised her. Misty just let out a chuckle at Folker's praise but deep inside, she's feeling really good right now. After all, who wouldn't feel good when people compliment one's looks and capability?

He wasn't this friendly and flirty with Chelsea because she's just too young for him, at least in comparison to Folker's twisted sense of attraction.

He prefers older and more mature girls. Although 16 years old girls are not that much older, it's at least passable on Folker's book of preference.

A figure of a fat young man suddenly flashed on Folker's mind.

'It's that damn fatty's fault' Folker cursed that fatty figure in his mind. Folker had a friend who likes older girls back in Vermilion City. It was this friend who corrupted Folker and made him stray away from the right path.

'I wonder what that fatty is up to. I bet it's nothing good as usual' Folker thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Misty closely looked at Riolu's figure. She couldn't help but find this pokemon rather familiar but she just can't seem to figure out which pokemon this was.

Folker noticed Misty's expression and figured out what's on her mind.

"If you're wondering, that's Riolu. It's a pokemon usually found in Sinnoh. It's the child of my Dad's pokemon and somehow, it ended up with me" Folker said.

Misty then looked at Riolu with amazement on her face but only for a while. Water types are always number one in Misty's opinion.

"If you're so curious about me, then how about a battle before you go?" Misty said as her lips curled up.