MISTY - A FRIEND
Erika travels a lot with Misty and Brock, because they are three of the closest in the Kanto Gym Leader League. They are often seen all joking around with each other, and gossiping among each other. This is seen when Erika tells Red she has heard a lot about him from Misty. The three of them are seen traveling to the Pokemon League together in Golden Rod City. On the journey, Misty is very spacey, unable to focus much. Erika becomes concerned of her friend, asking her to snap out of it because they are walking on a dangerous bridge. Misty apologizes for zoning out so much, and says she is sure that she is needed somewhere. Erika laughs and says of course, "you're one of us, a Kanto Gym leader. We need you!"During the journey, Erika tells Misty who the opposing sides captain will be, aka who will be fighting Erika because she is the captain, and Misty gets very excited! The two girls gossip and smile the rest of the way. Once there, they stand together until they battle. When Misty wins her round, Erika smiles and congratulates her. Right when Erika starts to battle, Team Rocket invades. There are so many of them. Erika notices that Misty all of a sudden has this intense drive to fight. Erika and Misty fight back to back, where she tells Misty after the fight she would "love to hear all about [her] feelings after the battle," because she can tell Misty is doing it for a boy. Misty gets embarrassed, but doesn't say no about the talk afterwards.
The two are best friends, and often chat through out the manga. It is clear that Erika loves to be around Misty, and is interested in Misty's life by the way she speaks to her. The two are great friends, along with Brock. This is great because it shows the bonds between the gym leaders.
Although they have an actual relationship in the manga, in the anime Misty and Erika are also very friendly towards on another. Misty sticks up for Erika about her perfume when Ash starts to attack it. Misty also feels very comfortable asking Erika about her Bloom and all of her knowledge. This kind of gives a hint that the two easily get along. I am not sure if this is because they are both strong female characters in the series, or if its because there personalities are similar. Regardless, the two connect in both the anime and the manga versions.