Ash found himself in a predicament when he woke up this morning.

He could either have pancakes or waffles.

Hmmmm..... Pancakes or waffles.

Pancakes?

Or waffles?

He felt someone snuggle closer to his body and looked down.

His eight year old sister was latched onto him, asleep.

Ash sighed. " Wisty.... Get up Wisty..."

Wisty groaned. " I'm coming mom. Just two more minutes."

Ash pondered on this for a moment.

Then he shrugged. " Okay."

He lay down and closed his eyes again, drifting off to sleep again.

" WAKE UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!"

Ash turned in bed. " Five more minutes mom."

" Yeah." Wisty's mumbly voice said. " It's five in the morning. Sleep, mom."

" One, I am not your mom. Two it's not five. Three you're keeping everyone waiting."

" Piiiikaaaaaaaaaaaa." The sleepy pokemon mumbled, curled up next to Ash.

" Eveve...." The fox added.

The person groaned. " Oh, come ON!"

" Mom, take a-"

The person grabbed Ash and shook him. " Ash Ketchum wake up this instant!"

Ash opened an eye. " Gary? What're you doing here? You were doing research in Sinnoh."

" Ash we ARE in Sinnoh!"

Ash's eyes snapped open. " Oh no!"

Wisty yawned. " Go Ash. I need to-"

" Professor Rowan wants you too, Wisty." Gary cut in.

Wisty turned. " Nope."

Gary opened his mouth to argue but Ash shook his head. " Don't."

Ash burst out of the lab and let out a huge sigh. " Morning everyone! Sorry I'm late."

Gary walked behind, arms behind his back. " It took a while but he finally woke up."

Rowan turned. " Good morning Ash. Where's your sister."

" She refused to come."

Rowan blinked. " Why?"

Ash raised a brow. " Do I even need to answer that?"

Dawn blinked. " Uh... Yeah? To us and the campers? We don't know everything about your sister, Ash."

Ash rolled his eyes and turned to Gary. " You wanna tell them?"

" You're her sister!"

" You're Professor Rowan's assistant!"

" Yeah, we-"

" ENOUGH!" Rowan yelled. " You will both tell together why Wisty and I are rivals. Apparently."

Ash and Gary both froze mid-argument, looking sheepishly at Professor Rowan, who stared at them with a pointed, stern expression. Dawn and the campers exchanged curious glances, clearly intrigued.

"Wait, wait, rivals? I have to hear this!" Dawn said, leaning forward with excitement.

"Yeah, what's the deal?" a camper piped up, pulling their notebook out, clearly ready for gossip.

Gary sighed, folding his arms with a grumble. "Fine. If you must know..."

Ash grinned. "It's simple-Wisty is Rowan's version of Tracey. She's super smart, adventurous, and kind of stubborn, but instead of just being a normal lab assistant-"

"-she treats everything like it's a personal competition," Gary interrupted, rolling his eyes. "Even the Professor's approval. It's ridiculous."

"It's not ridiculous! She's dedicated!" Ash argued defensively.

"Oh, she's dedicated all right," Gary shot back. "Dedicated to making me look bad!"

Professor Rowan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Neither of you are explaining this properly. Allow me." He turned to the group, who were now fully invested. "The reason Wisty and I, as Gary so... eloquently put it, are 'rivals,' stems from her habit of over-enthusiasm."

"That's an understatement," Gary muttered under his breath.

Rowan ignored him. "Wisty often goes above and beyond-far beyond-what is required of her tasks. I once asked her to catalog berries in a nearby meadow, and she somehow returned with a living, breathing berry tree transplanted into a wagon she built herself."

The campers gasped. "She what?"

Dawn blinked in disbelief. "Wait, she dug up a whole tree?"

Ash nodded proudly. "Yup. She said it was faster than taking notes."

Rowan sighed again. "Exactly. And the problem with Wisty's approach is that her enthusiasm sometimes causes... complications."

Gary crossed his arms smugly. "Like the time she tried to bring an 'active sample' of a Beedrill hive back to the lab."

"Hey!" Ash snapped. "She didn't know the hive was still occupied!"

"Occupied? Ash, she had to outrun thirty angry Beedrill! She tripped, fell, and still held onto the sample like it was some kind of prize!"

Dawn's jaw dropped. "Okay, she's insane."

Rowan cleared his throat, bringing back everyone's focus. "And then there's her unfortunate tendency to turn everything into a race. If I ask Gary to complete a task, Wisty insists on doing it first, faster, and-sometimes-unnecessarily."

"Like when she sprinted three miles into a mountain range to find an Onix scale when Gary already had one in his pocket," Ash added with a grin.

Gary groaned. "She called me a 'cheater' because I wasn't 'adventurous enough.'"

The campers burst into laughter. Dawn shook her head, unable to keep a straight face. "I don't know if I'm impressed or terrified of your sister, Ash."

"She's got spirit, I'll give her that," Rowan admitted grudgingly. "But her antics are why she and I have this... 'rivalry,' as you call it. Though, to be honest, it's more of a one-sided competition on her part."

Ash shrugged with a smirk. "That's Wisty for you. When she sets her mind on something, you can't stop her."

"Which reminds me," Gary said, his tone suddenly exasperated again. "Where is she, Ash? You can't just let her off the hook forever."

"Oh, she's probably-"

Suddenly, the lab door swung open with a loud bang, and there stood Wisty, grinning from ear to ear with a large sample bag slung over her shoulder. "Hey, Professor Rowan! I found the midnight zone dirt sample, but I also grabbed a bit of magma just in case! You're welcome!"

The room went dead silent for a moment.

Gary blinked. "You didn't."

Wisty shot him a look that could only be described as smug. "Oh, I did. I'm that good."

Rowan, on the other hand, was not impressed. His face turned a shade of red as his hand rubbed his temples. "Wisty... You're supposed to-"

"Just the dirt and nothing else?" Wisty interrupted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "You honestly think I'd do just that? What do I look like to you, Rowan? A dull assistant?"

Ash sighed, knowing full well that this was not going to end well. "Wisty, we talked about this... You can't just throw yourself into every dangerous situation for the sake of being the 'best.'"

"Ha!" Wisty retorted, holding up the sample bag. "I'm not trying to be the best. I'm trying to prove a point. That I don't need anyone else to do a job right!"

"Which is exactly why you and Rowan always butt heads," Gary muttered, crossing his arms.

"I do not like him." Wisty's voice was cold as she turned to glare at Rowan, the disdain practically radiating from her. "He's a control freak who thinks he knows everything about everything. It's pathetic."

Dawn, still trying to make sense of everything, blinked at Ash. "So... your sister and Professor Rowan are rivals because of her way of doing things and his way of doing things?"

Ash nodded wearily. "Pretty much. But it's more like a personal vendetta at this point." He turned to Rowan, who was now staring at Wisty as if he were trying to figure out how to handle this situation.

Rowan cleared his throat. "Wisty, as much as I appreciate your... enthusiasm, you're going to get yourself hurt. I'm not having that on my watch."

"Not like you'd be able to stop me," she shot back, her voice sharp. "I'm not here for your approval, Rowan. I'm here because professor Oak sent me to gather real data. Not sit around analyzing theoretical stuff like you do all day."

Rowan's eye twitched, but before he could retort, Wisty spun around, still holding the sample. "I'm heading back to my lab now. I've got real work to do."

Gary sighed. "There's no way we're getting through to her."

Ash looked at Rowan with an apologetic expression. "She's really stubborn."

Rowan rubbed his face again, muttering to himself. "Just when I thought she couldn't get any more impossible..."

"Professor," Dawn interrupted, trying to ease the tension. "Maybe... maybe just let her do her thing? At least for today?"

Rowan stared at her for a moment, his brows furrowing. He seemed torn between frustration and resignation. Finally, he sighed. "Fine. But if she comes back with another magma sample, I'm locking her in the lab for the next week."

"Good luck with that," Gary muttered under his breath.

"Hey, where'd she go?" Ash asked, looking around.

"She's gone already," Gary replied with a wry smile. "By now, she's probably halfway to Oak's lab, rubbing it in his face about how she outdid us again."

"I swear, she's impossible," Ash groaned.

"Tell me about it."

Two hours later, Rowan was sitting in his office, still rubbing his temples from the encounter with Wisty. He'd been trying to move past the conversation and focus on his research when his phone suddenly rang.

He picked it up and immediately recognized the voice on the other end.

"Ah, Rowan, my old friend! How's everything going over there in Sinnoh?"

Professor Oak's voice sounded cheerful, but there was a noticeable undertone of concern.

Rowan sighed deeply, already bracing himself. "You could've warned me, Oak."

"Warned you about what?" Oak's voice was innocent, but Rowan could already hear the faint sound of commotion in the background.

"About her," Rowan said, trying to keep his voice level. "Wisty. She's here, causing chaos and complaining about everything that breathes. She's already gone off on me twice in the span of an hour."

Oak let out a nervous chuckle. "Ah, yes, well, you know how she is. I do appreciate you handling her, but, uh... I believe she's been venting for a while now."

Rowan blinked. "Venting? You mean, she's been talking about me? For two hours?!"

From the background, Oak's voice raised slightly. "Well, you know Wisty... She's rather, um, passionate about things."

Meanwhile, in Oak's lab, Wisty was pacing back and forth, her face flushed with frustration. "Ugh! He's so irritating! Does he honestly think I need to be lectured like a child? Like I'm some kind of incompetent assistant?"

Tracey, who had been quietly sketching nearby, winced as Wisty's voice echoed through the lab. He looked up at her, trying his best to offer a calming smile. "Hey, Wisty... Maybe you should take a breather. You're sounding a little worked up."

"No!" Wisty snapped, her hands on her hips. "He doesn't get it, Tracey! Rowan is so annoying! I can't stand how he tries to tell me what I should or shouldn't do. I don't need him looking over my shoulder all the time!"

"I understand," Tracey said, lowering his notebook and standing up. "But maybe we should cool off a bit. Yelling about it isn't going to help."

Wisty threw her hands up in frustration. "I don't care! He just had to act all high and mighty, didn't he? And don't even get me started on that ridiculous 'magma' comment. It's like he has no faith in me at all!"

At that moment, Oak's voice came through again on the phone, and Rowan immediately lifted the receiver to his ear.

"So, Rowan," Oak began, his voice quieter, "about Wisty... She, uh, she said some things. Some things about... well, you."

Rowan's eyes widened. "What did she say about me?"

"Oh, you know. Typical Wisty stuff," Oak replied, clearly trying to laugh it off. "Something about how you're a 'control freak' and 'have no clue what you're doing'?"

"WHAT?!" Rowan's voice rose higher than he intended. Dawn, Brock, Ash, and Gary, who had been standing in the lab quietly, looked at each other nervously.

Ash, blinking in disbelief, turned to the others. "She said that about Rowan?"

Gary raised an eyebrow. "I think it's safe to say we don't have the full story about her rivalry with Rowan."

Brock, trying to diffuse the situation, stepped forward. "Maybe we should just leave them to it? It's obvious Wisty and Rowan need to... work through some things."

"I'm starting to get that impression," Ash said with a sigh, watching as Rowan's face turned an even deeper shade of red.

Meanwhile, back at Oak's lab, Tracey was carefully attempting to calm Wisty down again. "Okay, I get it. Rowan isn't the easiest person to work with, but maybe you should let him have his space for now, okay?"

"No," Wisty snapped. "I can't just let it go. He makes everything so difficult. He always makes everything so difficult, no matter what I do."

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "Maybe I'm just a little... frustrated. But it's still his fault. And his attitude. Ugh!"

Tracey hesitated but gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Wisty, you've got to trust that things will work out. I'm sure Rowan's just doing his job. Maybe he doesn't know how to deal with your... enthusiasm."

"I'll show him enthusiasm when I decide to!" she snapped, but there was less fire in her voice. She slumped down on a nearby chair. "It's just... so annoying."

Back on the phone, Oak let out a small chuckle. "Oh, Rowan, I'm sorry. She's quite... strong-willed."

Rowan, his face now the color of a ripe tomato, sighed deeply. "I can tell. Please tell me she's not planning on taking more dangerous samples anytime soon."

"Oh, she's fine. She's only been venting for an hour now," Oak said nonchalantly. "But maybe don't poke the bear for a while."

Rowan pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the weight of the conversation. "I can't believe this. It's like dealing with a force of nature. What did you expect me to do, Oak?"

Ash, listening to the conversation, turned to Gary with a raised eyebrow. "Does this happen a lot?"

Gary smirked. "More often than you'd think."

"Great," Ash muttered. "I'm going to need a vacation after all this."