Guilt over eating a shrinkee was new to Misty. Never before had she felt even an ounce of pity for the tiny people. They were just around for her amusement and fun; if a few died then there was a hundred more to replace them. To understand Misty further you must know that although she feels little if anything for shrinkees, she has never thought of Ash as a shrinkee. Even though he had been shrunken like thousands before him and there was no perceived difference between him and any other shrinkee, Misty never made a connection. Shrinkees were tiny little people that scurried around like the bugs that Misty hated so much, but in Misty’s eyes, Ash had none of the similarities. Maybe it was love that blinded her from the obvious, but she had never really considered Ash a shrinkee. Ash had remained as the only shrinkee to ever be deemed human, but now Misty’s ideals were being threatened by the touching sentiments of Gary Oak’s elder sister. If she had been a jerk like her brother, Misty wouldn’t of been feeling so much guilt, but surprisingly, Daisy was nothing like her brother. She was so sweet that Misty worried about tooth decay whenever she spoke. It was hard to dislike someone whose only crime was a past relationship with Ash. Misty was losing it and before she knew what she was doing, she started to spill the truth.

“I lied, I saw Gary a few days ago,” She confessed abruptly, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. Daisy’s eyes lit up with joy, while Ash went rigid. He looked up at Misty like she was crazy, what in Gods name was she doing?

“But you said you hadn’t seen him?”

“I lied because…” Misty had to pause there to work up her courage. What she was going to say would lift some of the guilt off her shoulders, but also potentially cause a disaster. For a moment, she thought about blurting out she was kidding, it would be mortifying, but better then telling Daisy her brother was dead and she was her executioner. But in the end, she just couldn’t lie.

“He’s dead Daisy.”

The room went dead silent and Daisy paled. It seemed like she was going to cry, but then scrunched her face and looked down at her feet miserably. Forgetting about her son since he arrived, Delia rushed to the side of the girl that was rapidly becoming like a surrogate daughter to her. With her parents gone and only her brother and grandfather alive, Daisy’s mall family of three had been reduced to one. Misty felt overwhelmingly bad, but somewhere deep inside her a small cry of excitement was going out at making a potential rival for Ash’s heart so miserable. Disgust filled Misty when she felt this and she felt even worse. Maybe she was the kin of monster that Delia had accused her of. Only a monster would feel good about making an innocent girl so sad.

“How did he die?” Daisy asked after a moment to collect herself.

“Do you really want to know?” Misty asked, knowing that the next part could land her in a lot of trouble with the older girl. She had no idea how she would of reacted to learning that one of her sisters had died, but if that ever happened and she met the killer, nothing short of a miracle would stop her from throttling the murders neck.

“Yes.” Daisy said without pause. She needed to know how her younger brother had died so she could get a bit of peace from this entire affair. She had no doubts that she would not sleep well tonight knowing that she was the youngest Oak alive in the world, but as long as she knew how he died, she’d get a little peace of mind.

“If you say so,” Misty said before gulping. Her mouth felt incredibly dry and she nervously shuffled for a moment to collect her thoughts. It was now or never. “Me and Ash were in this shrinkee fast food restaurant and I ordered a helping of shrinkees for the road ahead. I was about to dig in when…”

“…. Misty saw a patron walk by with Gary Oak on her plate.” Ash interrupted Misty. Almost shaking, Misty turned to Ash with a look of utter shock. “She saw someone buy Gary and take him to a table in the back. Before ether of us could do anything, the customer ate Gary and left. Misty didn’t tell you because she felt bad about not helping Gary when she had the chance. I’m sorry Daisy.” Ash finished and looked down at him with a sad heartwarming smile. Picking him gently off the table, she held him against her chest and blubbered softly.

“It’s alright Ash, protecting Gary was nether yours nor Misty’s responsibility. If you had rescued him at the restaurant he would of probably would of gotten himself killed some other way. My brother was could be a very rude person and only got away with it because of Grandpa’s influence and his own Pokemon talents. At least he didn’t suffer.” Misty nodded slowly to Daisy’s every word, while trying to ignore the resentment she was feeling towards Daisy for holding Ash.

“I can tell you from experience that Shrinkees go quick and painlessly when they are digested,” Misty pointed out. Delia looked away from Daisy and turned her eyes on Misty. Delia knew that Shrinkees go anything but fast and digestion is a lot of this but painless is not one of them. Instead of being angry at the lie, she looked thankful; it was the first time that she had looked at Misty with any form of thanks since arriving.

“I’ve got to go see grandpa, will you come Mrs. Ketchum?” Daisy asked hopefully. Looking into those sad blue eyes, Delia nodded solemnly. Her son would be safe with Misty for one day, after that, they could discus what was to be done with her baby. After hearing about the tragic passing of Gary, Delia was even more convinced that Ash need to stay with her to remain safe.