It took a while for them to find a suitable clearing after the ordeal. 

Anira and Leaf set up their camp as Aizen put Ash and the girl that they saved on sleeping bags by the campfire. 

He was quite surprised to see the overwhelming amount of Aura that the boy held inside of him. It was locked for now. And he prayed that the boy would not be influenced by it now or in the future.

The girl that they had saved looked to be around 15-years-old. She was tall for her age, and had long athletic legs with a little tan on them. She wore a black Tank-Top and a cream crop top over it, exposing some of her midriff. She was wearing compression knee-length shorts, and ankle-high traveling boots. However, her most striking feature were her Orange hair. 

He was quite surprised to see a set of Water Balls on her belt. And he could guess that the girl was fond of Water Pokemon. 

Taking off one of her Pokeball, he scanned her fingerprint on it before tossing it in the air. 

"Gol.." 

The blue bi-pedal duck pokemon looked confused at being called out. But it soon understood the situation and calmly sat by its trainer's side. 

"Aren't you a smart fellow." Aizen smiled at it and caressed its head. 

"Gol" The Pokemon nodded its head rather smugly.

He was impressed at how well-trained the Golduck was. The red crystal on its forehead was shining and not dull, meaning that the Pokemon was in perfect physiological and mental health. 

"It's my first time seeing a Golduck." Leaf curiously looked at the blue Pokemon and fished out her Pokedex. 

"Golduck, the Water Pokemon. Golduck is a blue-colored duck Pokémon. Its hands and feet are webbed, which result in Golduck's superior swimming skills. Golduck has red eyes and a red gem on its head. Its head has four spikes on top. It has a long tail and its hands and feet have three long claws."

"Golduck can use Psychic Powers, but they have low reserves, and do not qualify as Psychic Pokemon." 

"This Golduck is Male and has a Trainer."

Leaf then looked at the known moveset of Golduck and she was highly impressed. 

"They are quite useful, and they can feel their Trainer's emotions for them. Psyduck can do that too, and it could aggravate its headaches if the Trainer's mood is not bright." Aizen informed her. 

The two of them then joined Anira and started preparing for the dinner. 

Blissey healed the injuries Pikachu was suffering, and it woke up first. Now it was playing along with Eevee and Flabebe. 

"You don't seem happy to see the boy." Anira teased Leaf about Ash. 

"Why should I be?" She huffed and glared at Anira. 

"Well, you two are 'acquaintances', who have known each other for years." 

Leaf frowned at her words. 

"What upsets you?" Anira did not play around and asked frankly. 

"I don't hate him, but I dislike him." She said. 

Aizen raised a brow at that. He was quite curious why Leaf behaved in such a manner. 

"We were four when we first met. And Ash right of the bat declared that he would become the best Trainer ever. It got him on a bad start with Gary, who shared the same dream. And then one day, after Ash failed a Test, Gary made fun of him. Ash in turn accused our Teacher Daisy that she told the Test to Gary beforehand because he was her little brother. It escalated quickly after that, they were at each other throats, but Ritchie somehow managed to calm down Gary ." She sighed when she recalled that day. "For someone who wants to be the best, Ash never worked hard for anything. He never concentrated on his studies, and loved to drag kids out to play with him all the time. Whenever he did poor on Test, he would make excuses, and after a while, he just stopped even caring about his poor grades."

Aizen and Anira calmly listened to her words and did not interrupt her as she gathered her thoughts. 

"Gary, Ritchie, and I worked the hardest of everyone. We always got results, but it was always Gary and Ash who got more attention of Proffesor Oak." She sighed. "I can't hold it against Gary since he is his grandson and always worked hard, but why Ash? He never even learned anything from Professor and only bragged about all the Pokémon he met in the coral. All he wanted to do was play with Pokemon. And he did not do well on his Trainer's License Test either." She informed them. "He was not even in the top 100 in Kanto. Whereas Gary got first, Ritchie got fourth, and I got fifth position. I was sad that I missed on 4th Position, as that meant that Ritchie would be getting Sponsored by Professor Oak. But I know how hard he worked for it, and I just can't bring myself to hold anything against him. However, it makes me mad that Ash always had a place on the Sponsorship Roster of Oak Lab. And quite frankly, I don't think he even appreciates it." 

Both the siblings understood her train of thoughts and sighed. 

"He's just an ungrateful boy who got everything served to him. It is funny that a C-Class Trainer got a Sponsorship and an A-Class Trainer did not get it." She bitterly said.

Realizing that she had bared all her thoughts before the two of them, she now felt a little embarrassed. 

"I am not saying that I am a better person than him. But I always worked harder and..."

"We understand, Leaf." Anira wrapped her arms around her. "Now that you have said it all out, don't hold it in your heart again. Life is like that." She spoke wisely. "Time changes people, and you never know how someone might turn out to be in the future. And look at the bright side. If you had gotten sponsored by Proffesor Oak, you wouldn't have met us." She teased her. 

Leaf smiled at that. She was truly happy that things turned out the way they were. Her mother was happy that her little girl got sponsored, and she found a great friend in Anira. 

She sneaked a glance at Aizen and lowered her eyes. Her cheeks warmed up a little at his handsomeness. 'Yup! Everything turned out better than I ever imagined.' She thought inwardly. 

Aizen could have said a lot to correct her thoughts against Ash. But he didn't. Time changes people, and he knew that Leaf would only laugh at herself in future when she would recall having such thoughts at such a young age. 

"I am going to make a call to Grandma and inform her of our day." He got up and stretched a little. 

"I am coming..." Anira tried to get up but was cut off. 

"No, you are not getting up." He sternly looked at her. "Do your duty and prepare our dinner, Assistant Anira." He flashed a grin at her before walking off. 

"Hmph..." Anira pouted and crossed her arms on her chest as she glared at his back. 

Leaf could not control herself and burst out laughing at her reaction. 

Embarrassed at seeing her friend laughing at her, Anira lowered her head and got back to preparing their dinner. But in her mind, she was coming up with plans to get back at Aizen in the near future. 

"Hi!" 

The two of them looked back and found the orange-haired girl standing there with her Golduck. 

"Thank you for saving us!" She embarrassedly said, but she was truly grateful to them. "I am Misty, and I believe you already know Golduck."

"Hi! I am Anira, and this is my friend Leaf." She introduced them. "Come, help us prepare dinner." 

Misty felt a little less embarrassed when she was asked to help them in dinner. It made her feel grateful for getting a chance to return the favor. 

The three girls chatted for a while, sharing their interests, dreams, and their experince with Pokemon. 

Both the girls were impressed at how well-informed Misty was on Water-Type Pokemon. And they were surprised to learn that she was a Waterflower. 

Her full name was Misty Williams, daughter of Edric Williams, who was a former Water-Type Elite Four of Kanto, and who now served as a Gym-Leader in Cerulean City.

Williams Family were also know as Waterflower Family since that was the name of their famous Aquarium, Breeding Farm, and Theater. It was in their genes that every William found it easy to interact with Water Type Pokemon. Just like how there were some Draconic Clans who were quite close to Dragon Types. 

"So now your Older Sisters also serve as Gym Leaders?" Leaf asked. 

"Yes." Misty nodded. "Dad only takes challenges from Veterans who have already participated in the Indigo Conference or other Leagues, or some potential Trainers who have gathered Eight Badges and come to challenge him thinking they can take the Cascade Badge from him." She held a pride in her voice when she talked about her father. "My sisters take turn in accepting challenges, and they also take care of our Theater and Aquarium."

"You do seem quite a capable Trainer youself. Howcome you ended up in such a pinch?" Leaf had heard of the Waterflower Sisters of Cerulean City.

Misty embarrassedly scratched the back of her head. Her face turned a little red and she tried to laugh it off, but under Leaf's curious gaze, she revealed the reason to them. 

"I am actually scared of Bug Type Pokemon..." She whispered. "They just creep me out, and well... I was just caught off guard by a weedle..."

"Entomophobia" Anira smiled at her. 

"You could say that. It is not like I can't stand any of them. I am fine around some, but most of them, specially spider-like and caterpillar-like, as well as creepy-eyed Bugs scare the life out of me." 

"It's okay." 

Both girls giggled at her reactions but did not make fun of her. 

"How did you end up with Ash?" Leaf curiously asked. 

"You know him?" Misty curiously asked back.

"We are from the same Town and batch. Just acquaintances." 

Misty nodded to her. 

"Well, the stupid boy stole my bicycle, and destroyed it. It couldn't be helped since his Pikachu was injured back then and they were being chased by a flock of angry Spearow." She sighed. "Well, I asked him to pay me back and he promised he would after earning some cash from challenging other Trainers. So far, we did not come across any. And I just tagged along with him since we were headed the same way." 

"I feel sorry for you." Leaf giggled and Misty only sighed in understanding. 

"How did you guys save us?" Misty then remembered what happened. "There were so many Beedrill there..." 

"Aizen.." Leaf was about to tell her, but Anira cut her off. 

"My Brother saved you guys. He went off to make a call back home." She said. 

Leaf understood that Anira did not want her to speak about Aizen using his Psychic Powers and she nodded to Misty. 

"See... he's back!" Anira gestured to the back of Misty. 

The orange-haired girl turned around and her eyes widened before blush adorned her cheeks. 

'Damn... He's handsome.' She couldn't even take her eyes off him, and when he smiled at her, her heart skipped a beat. 'I think I am in love...' That was the only thought on her mind now.