It was a bright, sunny day. Ash, Laura, and Brock were simply walking to Cerulean city with Charmeleon and Pikachu, when Ash stretched his arms in the air.
"Oh, it's a great day just to enjoy the sunshine!" Ash said, smiling.
"Indeed!" Laura said with a bright smile on as well.
"And while you two are joining the sunshine, Gary is catching more Pokemon." Brock interrupted.
Ash groaned.
"The moment is ruined." Laura said with a sweat drop.
"But I guess a Pokemon trainer can catch more Pokemon and enjoy the sun." Brock added.
Pikachu and Charmander looked behind the group, but Laura wasn't paying what was behind them much mind.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Misty shouted, running to them.
Pikachu and Charmander let out a joyful cry as they saw Misty catch up and turn the trainers around.
"Where do you think you're going?!" Misty asked them, a worried expression on her face.
"Oh, I know where we're going. We're going to Cerulean City." Ash said.
"Yeah, we need our second gym badge." Laura said, nodding to approve of Ash's statement.
Misty took a step back, sweating like crazy.
"Gah! Cerulean City?! What're you going there for?!" Misty shrieked.
"Laura just said we're getting more badges, even though it's none of your business." Ash said, putting his hands on his waist.
"Um, guys? You don't want Pokemon from there, trust me." Misty said, stuttering.
"Why not?" Ash and Laura asked.
"Because they're all-" Misty pointed an index finger to the sky.
"All what?!" Ash asked impatiently.
"Very scary ghost Pokemon that look like this." Misty said, before giving a demonstration.
She peeled her mouth open and stuck out her tongue, pulling her eyelids out as well. Her eyebrows were furrowed as well.
"Like monsters." she said a bit strangely, her tongue out of her mouth.
Ash just started laughing, and Laura giggled a bit.
"Nice face Misty! C'mon Laura, Brock." Ash said, turning around and starting to walk with them.
Misty just sweat dropped.
"Hey, hey!" Misty said. "Wait a second!"
She jumped in front of the three Pokemon trainers.
"W-What about Vermillion City? It's right on the water and there are lots of neat Pokemon, and you can watch all of the giant yachts pulling into the harbor." Misty described, before clasping her hands together. "And there's a little park way up on a hill where you can sit and watch the sunset that's so romantic!"
"Uh huh..." Ash said, listening.
"It's much nicer than that old Cerulean City, so let's get going!" Misty said, pumping a fist.
"Okay!" Ash said, and Laura became shocked. "Let's go!"
"Really?" Misty asked, happily.
"To Cerulean City!" Ash said, sticking his chin in the air triumphantly.
Misty just fell to the ground.
"Sorry Misty, but we need gym badges. Maybe next time." Laura said, shrugging.
"Yeah, we need more gym badges. And since there's a gym in Cerulean City-" Ash said.
"Yeah! Makes sense to me!" Brock said simply.
Behind the three, Misty got up, furious.
"Ah! I never wanted to wind up back here!" Misty groaned.
She scratched her head lightly as she silently followed the three trainers.
...
"So, this is Cerulean City, 'ay Brock?" Ash asked the older boy as they walked into town.
"Pretty nice place, isn't it." Brock said.
"Indeed." Laura said with a nod and a smile.
"Yeah, pretty cool!" Ash said, looking around. "Hey look, that's weird, Misty's not following us anymore."
Ash turned around as he noticed this, and so did Laura and Brock. Pikachu and Charmander looked upset, and Laura looked a little disappointed.
"Oh." she said.
"She really didn't want to come to Cerulean City, did she?" Brock said, looking to Ash and Laura.
"I wonder why she hates this place so much." Ash said, turning to Brock.
"Hm..." Brock simply thought.
"Ah, we'll never figure out most girls." Ash said with a shrug.
"Hey!" Laura said, a bit angry.
"What, I said most girls." Ash said, stepping back a bit.
As Ash, Brock, and Laura walked further into town, they heard sirens. They came from two cop cars in front of a building which had many people in front of it.
"Police." Ash gasped. "I wonder what happened."
"Yeah." Brock said, intrigued.
"Let's check it out." Laura said, as she and her friends ran up to the crowd.
They shoved through the many people to find themselves in the front, examining the scene. Police officers were everywhere behind special poles and ropes that prohibited anyone from entering. Ash looked up to a man beside them, Laura and Brock looking up seconds after he did.
"Excuse me, do you know what happened here?" Ash asked the man.
"Some burglars broke into that store last night." the man said, his arms crossed over his blue shirt.
"Burglars, huh?" Ash asked.
"What do you know about burglars?" said an angry voice that sounded a lot like officer Jenny.
The three friends turned to see officer Jenny standing right in front of them, holding a hand to her chin.
"You three look very suspicious to me..." Jenny said, keeping her pose.
"Hey, you're that motorcycle officer from Viridian!" Ash said, pointing to her.
"Yeah, thanks for driving us to the Pokemon Center!" Laura said as Charmander climbed to her shoulder.
"Huh?" Jenny seemed confused. "Ah, you must have met my sister-in-law! If you know my sister-in-law that means you probably have some dealings with the police in Viridian!"
As the officer through accusations at the three, Laura couldn't do much but stutter.
"We- it was- but-" Laura jumped between words like hopscotch.
"Now maybe you just stopped to ask her for directions, or maybe you found a wallet on the street and turned it into her..." Jenny started simply. "Or maybe you're burglars who broke out of jail!"
Jenny pulled out her handcuffs as she finished the last sentence.
"No, we're trainers!" Laura shouted.
"We've never been to jail!" Ash panicked.
"Neither have I, ma'am!" Brock said, sweating.
"That's what they all say!" Jenny accused.
"We just got into town and we saw the crowd so we came over to see what was going on!" Brock explained.
Jenny smirked.
"The criminal always returns to the scene of the crime..." she said slyly.
"We're not-" Brock started.
"Maybe this'll help." Ash said with a sheepish grin.
He held up his Pokedex, and flipped it open. Laura quickly grabbed hers as well, and did the same. The voices together sounded a bit muffled, but they sounded a bit apart like so;
"I am Dexter, a Pokedex programmed by Professor Oak for Pokemon Trainer Laura Winnet." Laura's Pokedex sounded.
"Yeah, and I was the leader of the Pewter City Gym." Brock said, holding up a boulder badge.
"Well, that's evidence enough for me." she still seemed stern, until she looked at them guiltily. "I'm sorry I was suspicious!"
The three sighed happily, as Jenny put away her handcuffs.
"Now I'm suspicious of my sister-in-law, she sure does have weird taste in friends." Jenny said, looking to the side.
"Um, miss?" Brock started, causing Jenny to look at him. "I was wondering, since I'm new in town, maybe we could get together tonight and you could show me around?"
Brock seemed to have a devilish grin on his face as he said this. Jenny simply smirked.
"Well, I'm not off duty 'till past your bedtime." Jenny said, making Brock sigh. "And I may even have to work 'round the clock to catch these burglars!"
"Well, what exactly did they steal?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, was it diamonds, or gold?!" Laura asked, her eyes shining brightly with curiosity.
"That's the strange thing about it. They didn't take any money, just a massive vacuum and a giant hose." jenny said, folding her arms.
"Oh." Laura said simply. "Do they need to drain a pool or something?"
"Yeah, what would anybody want that stuff for?" Ash asked.
"I'm sure I don't know kids, but I do know I don't have time to play guessing games with you two because I've got a job to do and it's time for you three to move along." Jenny said, as she started to push the three back through the crowd. "Come on let's go!"
As soon as they were out of the crowd, she zoomed back inside the circle, going over to everyone and shooing them away.
"Alright everybody, the shows over, nothing to see here, break it up, break it up!" she shouted, as the crowd began to disperse.
...
The three trainers and their Pokemon were sitting on a bench on a walkway, by a garbage bin and street lamp. Bushes and trees were planted behind them as they conversed.
"Good thing we had Dexter." Ash said looking at Laura. "And you had your badge."
He looked at Brock.
"Yeah." Brock said in agreement. "Shouldn't you two head for Cerulean City Gym?"
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Laura said, nodding.
"Hey Brock, you got any inside info on the gym trainer there?" Ash asked.
Brock raised an eyebrow, and Ash laughed.
"I just want to find out as much as I can about him before our match." Ash said, scratching the back of his head. "Know yourself, know your adversary, and you hold the key to victory!"
"You sure know some pretty deep stuff." Brock said.
"Yeah, that was a good one!" Laura encouraged.
"I learned that pone from Dexter!" Ash said, giving a sheepish smile as he held up his Pokedex.
"Well, I never actually met the trainer here. But I know his Pokemon Special Move." Brock said, looking into the distance with his arms crossed.
"Yeah, what is it?" Ash asked enthusiastically.
Laura also waited in agony, excited to find out.
"I'm sorry, guys, but I can't give you that information." Brock stated.
Ash and Laura's faces sank a bit, disappointed.
"Why not?" they asked.
Brock then looked at them.
"I'm a gym leader too, after all. I can't tell you out of respect. You understand?" Brock said, his last question sounding more like a statement.
Laura and Ash simply smiled.
"That's cool." Ash said.
"Yeah, we get it." Laura shrugged.
They finally got up and walked over to a crossroad.
"Well, I have some stuff I need to check out." Brock said, turning to the two younger trainers.
"What stuff?" Ash asked.
"Just stuff." Brock said a bit sternly. "See you later."
He waved goodbye, and headed off down the path on the left of them.
"Bye." Ash said, with a small wave.
"See you later, Brock!" Laura yelled, waving a hand in the air frantically.
"Well, let's get going, guys!" Ash said, smiling at Laura and the Pokemon.
After that, Ash and Laura walked around town, trying to find the Cerulean City Gym on a map Ash had found neatly placed in a holder.
"Cerulean City Gym. Cerulean City Gym." Ash said, looking around. "Should be around here someplace."
"Yeah." Laura said, leaning over to look further past shrubs and trees.
And that's when they found it. The gym was in front of them, and it had decoration as well. By the giant Dewgong on the sign, Laura could tell it was a water type gym, which wasn't great for her Charmander. Fake plastic waves were under the Dewgong, and made up the roof, with an orange and pick dome to completely cover the building. Pillars surrounded the outer walls of the building, two different shades of blue on them. They had three main entry doors, which was nice.
"Right there!" Laura said, excitedly.
"Yeah, there it is!" Ash said with a smile.
...
As soon as Ash and Laura had stepped in, they found a door that led to a large opening, a room filled with people sitting in stands. A large pool in the center of the room, with a diving board, had a spotlight on it. The room was fairly dark. Some slight music played, before an announcer had started to speak.
"Ladies and gentleman, and please welcome the stars of our show, The Sensational Cerulean City Synchronized Swimming Sisters!" the announcer had yelled, enthusiastically.
"Who?" Laura asked quietly.
"Huh?" Ash asked quietly as well.
Suddenly, three women were standing on the diving board, waving out to fans whom were cheering wildly. The woman to the left had blond hair and a red dress, the one in the middle had blue hair and a green dress, and the last one, to the right, had pink hair, and an orange dress with a blue bow on it. Each dress was short and tight, and had cuts on the bottom that left parts of the dress to hang like leaves. And all three of them pulled it off perfectly. Laura and Ash just stared in awe, many people cheering in the bleachers. They did a front flip off, their arms and legs moving in perfect synch, and they dove into the water. As the water splashed, the crowd roared. They swam to the top of the water, and put their arms out, moving them at the same pace and synch.
"It's synchronized swimming!" Laura said, staring at it.
They dove back in the water, their legs popping through this time, making the exact same movements to strike different poses.
"What? I thought this was the Pokemon Gym." Ash said, scratching the back of his head.
Pikachu had its eyes fixed on the swimmers, while Charmander was scowling at them, obviously not a fan of the water. The divers came out again, their torso's and upper body above water, going through the same motions as last time. Pikachu's eyes shined. As they finished, they burst through the water a last time, striking a pose as the crowd went wild. As they got out of the pool, a spotlight had showed on them, as they waved to their fans once more. Ash was dumbfounded, while Laura watched simply, a bit delighted by the performance.
...
Ash and Laura were walking around the building, confused by what they had just seen.
"I can't understand it." Ash said, crossing his arms.
As they walked down two flights of stairs, Laura nodded.
"Yeah, the sign said it was a Pokemon Gym." she said, shrugging.
They reached the bottom of the stairs, and gasped at what they had seen. They were at the start of a large hallway, lights dotting the ceiling, and large panes of glass stretching throughout the hallway. Behind the glass was water, filling up the tanks, which held fish, coral, seaweed, and other objects relating to the sea. There were slabs of granite with a sign plastered to it, and a railing, up against the walls corresponding with the tanks.
"It's like an aquarium!" Ash said.
"Why an aquarium?" Laura asked, running up to one of the tanks.
"I'm not sure. How can this be a Pokemon gym?" Ash asked in reply.
"Beats me." Laura said whilst pressing her palms on the glass.
In the coming distance were three similar voices.
"That crowd was totally awesome!" said one voice.
"I know that was so great!" said a second voice.
"Daisy, the dive you did was super." said a third voice.
"The practice really payed off." the first voice went again.
"Totally!" the second voice again.
Then they just laughed like maniacs. At least in Laura's opinion.
"Uh, excuse us." Ash said, as he and Laura walked up to the three ladies from the stage; each had a towel, drying themselves off.
"I'm sorry, but if you, like, want an interview, you have to like, call our manager." said the girl with the pink hair and orange dress.
"No, it's not that." Ash said, taking a small step back.
"We don't autographs." she said again.
"We don't want any, trust me." Laura said with a sheepish smile. "We just want to know if this is a Pokemon gym, you know, so we can earn the next gym badge."
"It sure is." the blue haired lady said, as she fluffed her green dress.
"Well we're looking for the gym trainer!" Ash said, pumping a fist.
"You're looking at them!" said the blue haired teenager again.
"Huh?" Ash asked.
"Three of you?" Laura asked, dumbfounded.
"The three of us are the gym trainers here." the blond haired girl said, folding her arms across her red dress.
"We're the Sensational Sisters!" said the pink haired lady, bringing her hand to her chin.
"We're world famous!" said the blue haired teen, putting a confident hand on her hip.
"Huh?" Ash gasped.
"Wha-?! How have I never heard of you?!" Laura asked.
"Wait, but what's with all that swimming?!" Ash asked them, taking a step back.
"It's like, our hobby, and our fans love to watch us perform!" the pink haired one has said.
"We pool our talents to make a big splash!" said the blue haired one, shrugging.
Then they all laughed like maniacs for the second time, Ash and Laura becoming a little scared and inching away.
...
Laura and Ash were standing in front of the pool, the stand snow empty as everyone who had came to watch had exited the area. After a short argument, Laura agreed to let Ash battle the gym first, due to her battling Brock first in Pewter City. So Ash was facing the girls with determination in his face, while the three girls were standing lazily, as if this moment wasn't of importance.
"I challenge all of you!" Ash shouted, pikachu giving a chirrup in reply.
All of the three girls took a nervous pose, rubbing there arm, putting their hands on their hips, throwing their hands behind their head. One of them giggled, and gave a small 'um'. Ash was shocked, and his determined pose weakened.
"What?" he asked.
"We don't feel much like battling anymore." One of the females said with a shrug.
"What?!" Ash and Laura gasped in unison.
"But you have to! How will we get to the league! We need all eight badges!" Laura said, giving her foot a little stomp.
"We just got beaten two times in a row by kid from this 'nowhere' place called Pallet Town." The blue haired girl said, offering some support.
Laura could hear Ash whisper a bit under his breath, saying something like 'not again', or along those lines.
"But that isn't respecting your duties as Gym Leaders! You're supposed to battle trainers so they can beat you! That's how they get to the League! You can't just give up!" Laura complained.
"But it was just one defeat after another! More than just those two trainers defeated us, and my eyes are spinning from all the losses!" the blue haired lady returned.
"We had to, like, practically rush all of our Pokemon to the Pokemon Center." The blonde said casually.
"This is the only one left." the one with pink hair announced, pulling a Pokeball from a dress pocket.
Pressing the button to supersize the Pokeball, she dropped it on the ground carelessly, and it bounced a bit before a flash of blue escaped to reveal a Pokemon. It was the silhouette of a fish, and when it appeared, Laura got a better look at it. It was a white, fish-like Pokémon with orange markings on its tail, back, and fins. It had a thin dorsal fin and long pectoral fins. Its dorsal and pectoral fins looked quite strong, possibly allowing it to maintain a steady speed of around five knots while swimming upstream. It's caudal fin was very beautiful due to it billowing very much like a ballroom dress. Its circular eyes were blue, and it had pink lips. On its forehead was a large horn. It kept repeating the name 'Goldeen' over and over, so Laura could only assume it was the name of the Pokemon. On the ground it didn't do much, simply flopped about, which Laura had to admit, didn't look very affective.
"You mean all you have is a Goldeen?" Ash asked, obviously disappointed.
But the pink haired lady returned the Pokemon quickly to avoid further embarrassment.
"If it would evolve into Seaking we could use it, but all it can do now is its horn attack." The blue haired feminine figure said, giving a sheepish grin.
"So, like, there's no point in battling." the blonde said, her sentence sounding more like a question than a statement.
"Now, instead of having matches, we have time to make ourselves look more beautiful than ever!" the pink haired lady said, putting a hand to her cheek.
Laura simply rolled her eyes, folding her arms angrily. Ash looked just as disappointed, and the blonde definitely noticed.
"I know what you two want." she said.
She clapped her hands twice, looking down at the water.
"Seel!" she shouted.
A small spike emerged from the water, swimming towards the edge of the pool, before hopping out. The Pokemon, Seel, was a pinniped Pokémon with a thick hide covered in bluish white fur. It had a pale tan maw with a large red tongue and a pair of tusks on its lower jaw. It had circular eyes and a black nose that seemed capable of closing while Seel swam. There was a small horn on its forehead, which it probably used in combination with its tusks to bore through ice floes. It had two flippers on its chest, and two more on the end of its tail. When the tail was raised, it resembled a waterspout. It stuck out its tongue to reveal a water droplet, looking solid and metal-like. The blond took it from the tongue of Seel and held it out in her hand to Ash.
"A Cascade Badge. This is what you two want, right? You can both just have it. And there are plenty more." the blonde said, turning to Laura at the last sentence.
"Thanks, I-I'd rather earn my badges." Ash said, and Laura stopped in her tracks.
Before Ash had said anything she was walking up to the gym leader, happy to accept the badge without work, but she stopped when she heard him. She was truly happy Ash wanted to work for his badges because he was handed his last one, but it made Laura feel bad because she didn't care if she worked for her badges, like she was cheating. So she stopped, hand in midair, ready to accept the badge, but frozen. Maybe she needed to work on that.
"Come on you two, take it! A badge is a badge. Seel? Get another badge please!" the blonde said, before handing the badge to Laura.
Seel came up with another badge, but as soon as the blonde grabbed it and tried to give it to Ash, there was a shout.
"Hold it right there!" shouted a familiar angry voice.
Laura was first to see the red head standing in the bleachers, hands over her chest.
"Misty?" Ash and Laura asked in unison.
Pikachu and Charmander were happy to see Misty, and gave chirrups of happiness upon her presence. She jumped from her position on the bleachers to where they were with extreme agility.
"Alright Daisy, if you don't want to battle them, I will!" she shouted, a hand on her hip.
Ash and Laura gaped, surprised.
"Do you know them? Isn't it against the rules to battle for a gym leader?" Laura asked.
"What do you mean?" Ash asked.
Misty looked down, smirking.
"I'm a Cerulean City Trainer too." Misty said, proudly.
Laura gasped, and her eyes sparkled.
"That's so cool!" she shouted, her cries echoing throughout the room.
Ash, Pikachu, and Charmander gasped as well.
"I'm the fourth sensational sister!" Misty said, looking proudly at them all.
Suddenly, the pink haired lady cut in.
"There are only three sensational sisters and one runt." she said, wagging a finger as Misty sent a glare and growl her way.
"So, little sister, I'm surprised to see you back here so soon." the blonde said.
"The little girl with the big mouth who said she wouldn't come back until she was a great Pokémon trainer, wasn't that you?" the blue haired girl mocked.
Laura glared at her.
"I guess I did say something like that when I left..." Misty said, glancing at the floor.
"She is a great Pokémon Trainer, and she doesn't need your comments!" Laura snipped at the blue haired girl.
"Yeah!" Misty smirked, looking at her sisters.
"So that's why misty was so dead-set against coming here." Ash said, looking at Pikachu.
"Misty, you left here pretending you wanted to become a Pokémon Trainer because you couldn't compare with us." the pink haired girl shrugged, Misty deadpanning. "Because we're obviously much more talented and beautiful than you are!"
"Uh oh." Ash said.
"Shut up!" Laura yelled at the sisters out of anger.
Laura always hated having eight siblings, but they were never this rude. With good parents there to keep her and her siblings in line, nothing like this ever really happened, and it angered Laura to see Misty treated this way.
"Yeah, shut up! That wasn't the reason!" Misty shouted in her sisters faces.
"Well then, I guess you came back because you couldn't make it as a Pokémon trainer." the blonde said, pretending to be sad.
Misty got up in her face, looking desperate.
"It wasn't my idea to come back here! The only reason I'm here is because they wanted to come!" Misty said, pointing an accusing finger in the direction of Laura and Ash.
"Hey, we have goals too!" Laura said angrily.
"Well, the boy is totally someone I wouldn't choose for a boyfriend, but you're no prize yourself." the blonde said, pointing at Laura.
"Boyfriend?" Ash said, deadpanning and looking at Laura.
"No way in all of Kanto." Laura contributed, doing exactly as Ash did.
"Those two a couple?! No way!" Misty shouted. "If I battle them I'll prove I'm not a quitter and I'm just as good a trainer as you three!" Misty challenged.
"Well, you are the only one of us with a Pokémon that can actually battle." the blonde said with a shrug.
"Ash gets to go first this time because I went first last time." Laura said with a yawn, as Charmander sighed happily.
"Alright, Ash, are you ready to rumble?" Misty growled, getting up in his face.
…
Laura had taken off her shoes and socks and set them on the bleachers with her bag. Charmander was watching the battle from afar, due to his slight fear of water, and was sitting with Weedle, who was growing much in experience, close to evolution. Laura sat over the edge of the pool, feet resting in the water. The battlefield was indeed that; a pool, with different platforms made to hold heavier weight. The thing Laura couldn't understand was that they were made of foam. Misty looked absolutely ready to battle Ash, pure determination on her face.
"I didn't plan on challenging either of you until you payed me back for my bike but this is as good a time as any. If you two want that Cascade badge, you're gonna have to beat me!" Misty shouted, her words echoing through the room.
"It'll be my pleasure!" Ash said, smirking.
Ash turned to Pikachu, who looked worried.
"Pikachu, this one's gonna be a piece of cake." Ash said with a slight snarl.
Pikachu immediately felt uneasy, concern filling his expression.
"Chu..." it murmured.
Ash simply let it slip by, and turned his head back to Misty.
"So, how many Pokémon?" Ash asked.
"Two against two works for me!" Misty smirked.
"You got it!" Ash said, picking up Pikachu. "Alright, Pikachu, I choose you!"
As Ash said this, he was about to throw Pikachu out onto the battlefield, but was surprised to see Pikachu hanging onto his fist, refusing to let go.
"Huh?" Ash asked, confused by Pikachu's actions.
Pikachu dropped to the ground, looking full of guilt and regret.
"Pikachu, what are you doing?" Ash yelled at the little mouse.
Laura, at this point, started to feel bad for it. Immediately, Pikachu pointed in Misty's direction, shaking his head sadly.
"Oh, what? Are you saying you don't want to battle with Misty?" Ash asked, Pikachu nodding his head.
To this, Ash put his hands on his hips, but not in a menacing way. He did it kindly, giving Pikachu a warm smile.
"Well, I guess it's okay if you don't want to battle a friend." Ash said, understandably.
To this, Laura's heart lit up at Ash's compassion for Pikachu, and Pikachu's compassion to Misty. Misty was also moved, for she smiled at him and shouted, while waving an arm,
"Pikachu! You're a Pikapal!"
Pikachu's ears perked up, really happy to what Misty had said, and Laura even cooed at the sweetness that Misty didn't show often.
"Thanks a lot, Pikachu." Ash said, grabbing a Pokeball and supersizing it.
Happy moment gone.
Ash did his average pose, flipping his hat around, and winding the Pokeball up, before throwing it out, calling the name of his Pokémon.
"Butterfree, I choose you!" Ash called.
As Butterfree appeared, he let out a chirp, flying in place.
"Well in that case, Misty calls Staryu!" Misty yelled, referring to herself in the third person as she tossed a Pokeball.
As the Pokeball landed and opened, a blue outline appeared and out came a starfish-looking Pokémon. Staryu, as Misty announced it, was a golden-brown sea star-like Pokémon with five appendages. These appendages surrounded an exterior organ called the core, which was held in place by a golden ring looped around Staryu's left "leg". Ash, of course, reached into his pocket and whipped out the Pokedex, scanning the Staryu.
"Staryu. The core of this water Pokémon shines in a rainbow of seven colors, a core that is valued by some as a type of jewelry." Dexter announced.
Ash looked disgusted and confused at the same time, looking up from Dexter and at the Pokémon.
"Wow. Leave it to a girl to show off her jewelry." Ash said. "Except Laura. She said she isn't a fan."
Ash smirked at Laura as he said that last part, knowing it would get to Misty. And he was right, as the girl started to wave her arms around in anger.
"Quit stalling and let's get this show on the road!" Misty yelled, still waving her arms.
"Do you think Misty could really win?" the blue haired girl asked to her other siblings.
"Like, in her dreams, maybe." said the pink haired sister.
"Butterfree! You can blow that thing away with one blast! Tackle it!" Ash commanded.
At his words, Butterfree flew upward, and came hurdling down on Staryu, who was pushed over, struggling to get up as Butterfree flew back.
"Staryu, counter attack!" Misty shouted confidently.
Staryu immediately boosted itself to its feet, shaking off the attack as if it was nothing. The star jumped in the air, spinning at a rapid pace as it aimed itself at Butterfree.
"Butterfree, dodge!" Ash shouted.
Butterfree did just that, flying out of the way as Staryu went tumbling towards the foam platform. Once hitting the platform, it tried ever so carefully to balance itself, almost tripping over into the water. While Staryu was caught off guard, Butterfree came down from the sky, hurtling himself towards the star-like Pokémon, hitting him twice. Ash chuckled in satisfaction.
"I'm gonna win this!" Ash smiled, looking determined.
"Go Ash!" Laura shouted, giving a whoop.
"Hey!" Misty shouted.
"Sorry!" Laura exclaimed apologetically.
"Staryu, water gun!" Misty commanded her Pokémon.
Staryu jumped from the yellow foam platform into the pool, before swimming to the surface. It pointed its top limb at Butterfree, and from a small hole, shot a ray of water. Butterfree, not expecting the sudden spray, garbled in surprise, but soon escaped the ray. Staryu hopped himself back on the platform, shooting countless blasts of water at Butterfree, all of which the Pokémon was dodging expertly.
"In that case, Stunspore, now!" Ash instructed.
As Butterfree dodged the last of the water gun, he sprayed a yellow dust over the pool, coating Staryu in the process. At this, Staryu started swaying back and forth uneasily, quickly catching Misty's attention.
"Oh no! Staryu looks like it's in real pain!" Misty worriedly said.
"It doesn't even have a face! How can you tell?" Ash asked, confused.
"Because I'm sensitive to others feelings, that's how!" Misty retorted.
"Oh yeah, like I'm not?" Ash snorted back.
Laura turned to her side to see Seel, clapping for somebody.
"Which side are you clapping for?!" the blue haired sister growled at the Pokémon.
"Staryu! Wash it off!" Misty demanded.
At the command, the Staryu collapsed into the water, as if fainted, slowly sinking to the bottom. However, in the blink of an eye, it shot straight up, as its his energy had been regained. It hopped back upon the spongey platform, proving to feel better than ever.
"Yay! Too bad you didn't know Stunspore doesn't work if you wash it off with water!" Misty said, giving a triumphant fist pump.
"She thinks she knows everything..." Ash growled angrily.
"Nice thinking, Misty!" Laura shouted, happily.
"Thank you!" Misty cooed.
"I thought you were cheering for me!" Ash asked, turning to Laura.
"I still am, don't worry!" Laura said.
"Butterfree, Sleep Powder!" Ash commanded.
Butterfree, this time instead of sprinkling yellow dust over the pool, sprinkled a midnight blue dust, which Laura thought was very pretty. In fact, it reminded her of the Beedrill attack in the Viridian Forest, and Laura smiled at the memory of Samurai. Staryu, before making contact with the powder, immediately jumped into the pool to avoid the exhaustion, which Laura was surprised Ash didn't figure would happen. It continued to sink the bottom, before Misty chimed in.
"Tackle it from underwater!" Misty commanded.
Staryu arose from the water, hurling itself at Butterfree, who was too late to react. He got hit directly by one of Staryu's limbs, sending Butterfree back a little ways. But as Staryu hopped back into the water, continuing to try and attack Butterfree, the flying Pokémon learned to dodge much more frequently. However, Misty looked unfazed from Butterfree's dodging.
"If Staryu can get Butterfree from underwater, I win!" Misty cheered to herself. "Water Pokémon always have the edge in the water!"
Misty then cackled evilly to herself, and Ash growled angrily.
"You can beat her Ash! I know you can!" Laura shouted encouragingly.
Ash turned to Laura and smiled, nodding. Misty, however, turned tp Laura and gave out an angry growl as she glared.
"Misty's totally awesome." the blonde sister cooed from beside Laura.
"Well we three got the good looks in the family, so I guess she had to get some talent." the pink haired sibling chimed in.
Laura just glowered at the three sisters at how self-centered they all were. That's when she totally lost it.
"Misty has more talent than all three of you combined, and she looks great! Now stop looking at yourselves and try making your little sister feel good for once!" Laura barked.
The three sisters turned to Laura in shock and horror. Only to break out laughing.
"Oh look, a little ten-year-old is yelling at us! What are you gonna do, tell your mommy on us?" the blonde laughed.
Laura growled at them, clenching her fists together. However, Misty saw the whole thing, and smiled softly at how Laura had tried to stand up for her. It was something nobody had ever done before. As Laura turned back to watch the battle, she saw Butterfree flailing around in the water, and gasped, cupping her hands to her mouth. Ash quickly returned the bug Pokémon, and grasped a new Pokeball is hand.
"Pidgeotto, I choose you!" Ash yelled, throwing a shiny new Pokeball onto the battlefield.
From it appeared a fierce, ready to battle bird Pokémon, chanting its name continuously. Misty frowned and took out a Pokeball of her own.
"Oh yeah? Staryu, return!" Misty commanded.
At this, Staryu retreated back into its Pokeball, before Misty shrunk it down and pulled out a new one. She supersized it, and threw it onto one of the floating platforms.
"Misty calls Starmie!" Misty shouted, as a purple Pokémon appeared from the Pokeball.
Starmie was a violet sea star-like Pokémon with a gold formation on its front. Starmie's jewel core, which could glow in seven colors, had developed to resemble a cut precious stone. There was second set of semi-attached arms on its back, which were able to spin 360°.
"Pidgeotto, whirlwind it away!" Ash commanded the bird Pokémon.
Pidgeotto flew up a little higher into the air, and flapped its wings rapidly. The wind started to pick up, that even Laura's hair started to swing a little. Starmie continued to try to hold on, gripping to the foamlike platform for its life.
"Dive under, than up!" Misty commanded to Starmie.
The starfish Pokémon disappeared into the water for a split second before rocketing outward towards Pidgeotto. Soaring at the speed of light, Starmie hit Pidgeotto straight in the chest, sending it back a little ways.
"Strike back with wing attack!" Ash ordered.
Starmie then hurtled towards Pidgeotto again, only to be struck down towards the pool by its wing. Starmie splashed through the pool and threw itself upward again, hitting Pidgeotto once more, sending it backwards.
"Give it a Gust to blow it away!" Ash commanded.
Once again, Starmie threw itself at Pidgeotto, only to be thrown away by its gust. Due to the power of the gust, it smacked against a set of closed doors harshly, and slid to the floor, slumped and hurt.
"Starmie!" Misty called out, worried.
The gem in Starmie's center was blinking red, the violet colored Pokémon all beat up and bruised.
"Oh no! Starmie's energy is just about to run out!" Misty yelled worriedly.
"Alright Pidgeotto, let's get that trainer badge!" Ash yelled happily.
However, all the energy of the battle was interrupted by the ground shaking violently. Laura was hopping around, as Charmander got up and ran to his trainer, hugging her for safety. Laura latched onto the Pokémon, edging away from the pool towards her backpack and shoes. She shoved the shoes and socks into the back quickly, returning Weedle to his Pokeball for safety. She quickly zipped his now tiny Pokeball into her shorts pocket and threw her backpack onto her back, holding Charmander to her chest as she sat huddled near the bleachers in fear. All three sisters screamed, and Laura turned back towards the pool, the big glass window on the other side grabbing her attention. It started to crack very quickly, before bursting into tiny pieces. Through the window came a large machine on four wheels. It looked similar to a boat, with an engine on top of a red platform that rested on the wheels. Gray smoke was hurdling from a pipe that led to within the engine, and dust was being thrown everywhere from the wheels. Laura was so frightened that she almost forgot that Ash and Misty never finished their battle.
"Check out that hair!" the blue haired sister mentioned as Misty ran towards them.
Ash, on the other hand, ran towards Laura, grabbing her arms and hoisting her off the ground, quickly leading her to the others. Laura stayed close to the slightly taller male, scared to death.
"Like, who invited the party crashers?" the blonde sibling asked.
"Sorry to break in on you, ladies." said an eerily familiar voice, as a hidden door from the red platform opened, causing two people and a cat to jump out.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves." said a masculine voice.
Laura gasped as she recognized these voices. It was Team rocket, and their hair definitely gave it away.
"To protect the world from devastation." Jessie started, eyes closed and arms folded across her chest.
"To unite all peoples within our nation." James followed up, a hand on his hip, and the other holding a blue rose near his face.
"To denounce the evils of truth and love." Jessie continued, opening her eyes.
"To extend our reach to the stars above." James added, turning his head to face the six trainers.
"Jessie!" the pink haired woman announced.
"James." the blue haired male went along.
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!" Jessie shouted.
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" James continued.
Meowth then jumped in front of the two.
"Meowth, that's right!" he yelled.
"The water Pokémon have the advantage." James mentioned.
"But if we steal that water away..." Jessie foreshadowed.
"...The Pokémon are ours for the taking!" James continued.
"And Meowth knows just how to do it!" the cat Pokémon added, pointing towards the trainers.
"What are they trying to prove?" one of the sisters asked.
Suddenly, a giant hose appeared from the back of the engine, protruding itself into the pool, making a splash. The sisters shrieked. Just suddenly, the engine started up and began to vibrate. Laura looked at the hose in the water and noticed it was sucking up all the water in the pool! The foam platforms followed and entered the hose, followed by lots of pool water.
"A massive vacuum and a giant hose!" Ash suddenly announced, causing Laura to recall the robbery the night before.
"It was Team Rocket! "Laura announced.
"They were the ones who broke into the store back there! I should've know it was them!" Ash followed up.
"Our swimming pool!" the blonde sister shrieked.
"They're sucking it dry!" Misty yelled.
"That's our water!" the blue haired sibling shouted.
"Right! I should give it back!" Meowth yelled evilly.
He flipped a red switch, and suddenly the hose rose from the water, no longer sucking in anything. Charmander immediately stuck its tail in its mouth as the hose shot water from itself, spraying all the trainers and sweeping them away. Ash quickly grabbed onto Laura's waist, trying to keep her safe as she trembled in fear. Laura saw Charmander shaking and closing its eyes, it's tail still in its mouth as small flames of fire escaped its nose.
"We've gotta protect the Pokémon!" Misty shrieked.
"Like, what about my hair!" the blue haired sister cried.
"Alright, now's the time to suck 'em up!" Meowth smirked.
He flipped the red switch back, and the hose once again shot itself into the water, sucking up all the water. All the trainers were now safe on the ground as the water went back into the pool, Charmander opening it's mouth and setting it's bright burning tail free. Laura was so happy Charmander used this ability, or it would've been done for. However, the other Pokémon were still in the water, and Seel cried out as it was sucked through the water.
"Come back, Seel!" the pink haired girl shrieked.
"Stay here!" Laura said to Charmander, setting him down next to Ash and throwing her backpack off.
She ran towards the pool, still sopping wet, and she dove into it, swimming towards the flailing water Pokémon. When she reached him, she grasped on tight and started to swim away from the hose as fast as she could, but the water was sucking her in so fast that it was like being on a treadmill. She wasn't going anywhere. Ash cried out to Laura and gasped as Pikachu was also swept into the water by a raging wave. Laura's adrenaline suddenly began to pump faster than before as she quickly swam towards the electric mouse and grabbed on. However, with no more arms to swim with, and all her energy draining, Laura was quickly sucked into the hose, taking a large breath of air before going under the water. The last thing she heard from Ash was a single sentence;
"Don't take her away from me!"
Laura held her breath tight, and looked to Pikachu, before Poking it's cheek. She got zapped a bit before he understood what to do. Pikachu then let out a might electricity attack, and all the water they were surfing through seemed to stop it's motion, as it turned a bright yellow. Laura let out a shriek, unable to keep her mouth closed as she gargled the water. She held onto Seel tight, as he seemed to have been hurt by the electric attack. The water continued to move quickly as Pikachu stopped its attack, but Laura found hope that what Pikachu did had worked when she saw natural light from above her in the tube. She was then rocketed out of the tube, and due to the extra Pokémon's weight she fell out of the vortex that seemingly shot into the sky. She landed in the grass with both Pokémon in hand, and she took in a big breath, before coughing roughly, spitting up quite a bit of water. She looked to both Pikachu and Seel, who looked better now that they were out of the vortex. Laura looked up from where she lay on the grass due to a loud shriek, and she looked to see a burnt Jessie and James, followed by Meowth as they flew upwards into the sky.
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" they shouted, and despite being in pain, Laura let out a small chuckle.
Laura, despite feeling very sore, got up with both Pokémon in her arms, and ran towards the entrance, pushing the doors open and running towards the battle room. She burst through the doors, causing everyone to turn to her, and she dropped to her knees tired of running. She let out a little cough, before letting both Pokémon go. They ran to their owners, and Ash hugged Pikachu tight, before both he and Misty rushed towards Laura. They both tackled her in a hug while shoving her to the ground by accident, happy she was okay, and she hugged them back with a smile on her face. As they let go, Laura noticed most of the water was back in the pool.
"When did that happen?" she asked between coughs.
"When you went through the hose, and after the big electric shock, Ash pulled the lever on the engine and shot water back into the pool. When you and the Pokémon didn't come out, though, he cried like a big baby!" Misty teased, smirking at Ash.
"I did not! She's lying! I only cried a little..." Ash whined, folding his arms.
Laura was moved by this, feeling very happy that Ash cared for her so much. She then sat up and hugged Ash tightly.
"I'm not going away that easily." Laura smirked, covering her mouth as she coughed a bit.
After Laura broke away from the hug, she saw Charmander running to her on all fours, tears in his eyes as he held her bag in his mouth. When he reached her, he dropped the bag at her feet and jumped into her arms. She and the little Pokémon hugged for the longest time, and when they separated, Charmander gave Laura's cheek a little lick. They all laughed at his actions, and the sisters even spared a few chuckles.
…
"Hey, we never got to finish our match. And we never got to start yours." Misty mentioned to both Ash and Laura.
"Yeah, and I was just about to win it too." Ash chimed in.
"What?" Misty asked.
"I was looking forward to our match, too..." Laura interrupted.
Laura was now feeling better, and she was no longer wet due to using the bathroom to wring out her clothes and blow dry them with a blow dryer borrowed from the sisters. Her hair was still slightly damp, but her body was dry, and she was now grasping the ends of a towel that was draped around her shoulders, and her shoes and socks were now on.
"You could say that your matches had to be postponed, like, due to drain?" the blue haired sibling joked, raising a finger in the air.
"Like, at least nobody lost." the pink haired sister chimed in.
"I wanted to win..." Misty said dejectedly.
"I guess we won't be getting that Cascade Badge." Ash said, turning his head a bit to Laura.
"Wrong!" the blonde haired sibling chimed in. "We're giving these badges to you two."
Then she held up to badges, both looking the same. They were a light blue color, and made of metal, making them shine in the artificial light. They were also shaped like a water droplet, giving the vibe of a Water Type Gym.
"Huh?" Ash asked.
"How come they get the badge? They didn't win!" Misty pouted, raising two fists near her face.
"Pikachu was the one who, like, totally saved all the water, and Laura saved Seel and Pikachu while risking her life. Without them, all our water would be gone, and Seel wouldn't be here. Plus, if Ash used Pikachu from the start, there's no way your water Pokémon would've stood a chance." the blonde continued.
Laura's face lit up in an embarrassed blush as she held her cheeks.
"Aw man..." Misty grumbled.
"Take the badge, you two. You both deserve it." the blonde said quite nicely.
She took a few steps toward the two and lowered her hands in front of them so they could take it.
"Gee, thanks!" Ash said, as he gently plucked one of the badges from her fingers.
"Wow, thanks so much!" Laura marveled, as she too gently took the other badge.
She marveled at it's cool touch, and took out her badge case, gently sticking the Cascade
badge next to the Boulder badge.
"We'll take 'em!" Ash chuckled.
Pikachu and Charmander let out happy chirrups to celebrate with their trainers.
…
Ash, Misty, and Laura were all standing outside, Misty's sisters in front of them.
"Misty, you just go right on trying to be a Pokémon trainer. You might as well be good at something, because you'll never be stars like us." the pink haired sister said with a shrug.
Laura huffed and Misty blushed angrily.
"If you keep that up, then you'll be seeing stars!" Misty yelled.
"Chill out!" the blue haired sibling chuckled, raising her hands innocently.
"Misty, be careful. You know we love you." the blonde sister smiled sweetly.
"Yeah." Misty nodded with a smile.
"Ash, Laura, hey guys!" Laura turned to the voice of a familiar friend, seeing Brock running up to them.
"Yo Brock-o!" Ash chirped.
"Where were you all day?" Laura asked.
"I had to take care of some things. How'd it go guys?" Brock questioned.
Laura took out her badge case and opened it up, revealing both of the badges she had, and Ash held his up.
"See for yourself!" They said in unison.
"Cool, let's go!" Brock said with a nod, before hurrying off.
Laura quickly put her badge case away, but quickly after zipping it up, Ash grabbed her forearm gently and quickly pulled her after him.
"Hey! You're not leaving without me!" Misty yelled, quickly running after them.
"Misty, you're not gonna be a sore loser, are you?" Ash grumbled.
"I didn't lose anything, it was a draw!" Misty seethed.
"Well I'm the one who got the badge." Ash remarked.
"What?! You know you lost with Butterfree!" Misty growled.
"That was just round one, I made a great comeback!" Ash fought.
"Thanks for everything!" Laura turned and shouted with a large wave, trying to yell over Ash and Misty's argument.
The sisters waved to her as Ash and Misty continued to argue, and Laura turned back around and rolled her eyes as the two trainers continued to feud.
"Lose?! I was just getting started!" Misty shrieked.
"Oh yeah?" Ash retorted.
"Oh yeah!" Misty continued.
"Oh brother..." Laura and Brock sighed in unison.
The four continued to walk out of town, unknowing as to what would be their next adventure as the sun set in front of them.
"Oh, it's a great day just to enjoy the sunshine!" Ash said, smiling.
"Indeed!" Laura said with a bright smile on as well.
"And while you two are joining the sunshine, Gary is catching more Pokemon." Brock interrupted.
Ash groaned.
"The moment is ruined." Laura said with a sweat drop.
"But I guess a Pokemon trainer can catch more Pokemon and enjoy the sun." Brock added.
Pikachu and Charmander looked behind the group, but Laura wasn't paying what was behind them much mind.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Misty shouted, running to them.
Pikachu and Charmander let out a joyful cry as they saw Misty catch up and turn the trainers around.
"Where do you think you're going?!" Misty asked them, a worried expression on her face.
"Oh, I know where we're going. We're going to Cerulean City." Ash said.
"Yeah, we need our second gym badge." Laura said, nodding to approve of Ash's statement.
Misty took a step back, sweating like crazy.
"Gah! Cerulean City?! What're you going there for?!" Misty shrieked.
"Laura just said we're getting more badges, even though it's none of your business." Ash said, putting his hands on his waist.
"Um, guys? You don't want Pokemon from there, trust me." Misty said, stuttering.
"Why not?" Ash and Laura asked.
"Because they're all-" Misty pointed an index finger to the sky.
"All what?!" Ash asked impatiently.
"Very scary ghost Pokemon that look like this." Misty said, before giving a demonstration.
She peeled her mouth open and stuck out her tongue, pulling her eyelids out as well. Her eyebrows were furrowed as well.
"Like monsters." she said a bit strangely, her tongue out of her mouth.
Ash just started laughing, and Laura giggled a bit.
"Nice face Misty! C'mon Laura, Brock." Ash said, turning around and starting to walk with them.
Misty just sweat dropped.
"Hey, hey!" Misty said. "Wait a second!"
She jumped in front of the three Pokemon trainers.
"W-What about Vermillion City? It's right on the water and there are lots of neat Pokemon, and you can watch all of the giant yachts pulling into the harbor." Misty described, before clasping her hands together. "And there's a little park way up on a hill where you can sit and watch the sunset that's so romantic!"
"Uh huh..." Ash said, listening.
"It's much nicer than that old Cerulean City, so let's get going!" Misty said, pumping a fist.
"Okay!" Ash said, and Laura became shocked. "Let's go!"
"Really?" Misty asked, happily.
"To Cerulean City!" Ash said, sticking his chin in the air triumphantly.
Misty just fell to the ground.
"Sorry Misty, but we need gym badges. Maybe next time." Laura said, shrugging.
"Yeah, we need more gym badges. And since there's a gym in Cerulean City-" Ash said.
"Yeah! Makes sense to me!" Brock said simply.
Behind the three, Misty got up, furious.
"Ah! I never wanted to wind up back here!" Misty groaned.
She scratched her head lightly as she silently followed the three trainers.
...
"So, this is Cerulean City, 'ay Brock?" Ash asked the older boy as they walked into town.
"Pretty nice place, isn't it." Brock said.
"Indeed." Laura said with a nod and a smile.
"Yeah, pretty cool!" Ash said, looking around. "Hey look, that's weird, Misty's not following us anymore."
Ash turned around as he noticed this, and so did Laura and Brock. Pikachu and Charmander looked upset, and Laura looked a little disappointed.
"Oh." she said.
"She really didn't want to come to Cerulean City, did she?" Brock said, looking to Ash and Laura.
"I wonder why she hates this place so much." Ash said, turning to Brock.
"Hm..." Brock simply thought.
"Ah, we'll never figure out most girls." Ash said with a shrug.
"Hey!" Laura said, a bit angry.
"What, I said most girls." Ash said, stepping back a bit.
As Ash, Brock, and Laura walked further into town, they heard sirens. They came from two cop cars in front of a building which had many people in front of it.
"Police." Ash gasped. "I wonder what happened."
"Yeah." Brock said, intrigued.
"Let's check it out." Laura said, as she and her friends ran up to the crowd.
They shoved through the many people to find themselves in the front, examining the scene. Police officers were everywhere behind special poles and ropes that prohibited anyone from entering. Ash looked up to a man beside them, Laura and Brock looking up seconds after he did.
"Excuse me, do you know what happened here?" Ash asked the man.
"Some burglars broke into that store last night." the man said, his arms crossed over his blue shirt.
"Burglars, huh?" Ash asked.
"What do you know about burglars?" said an angry voice that sounded a lot like officer Jenny.
The three friends turned to see officer Jenny standing right in front of them, holding a hand to her chin.
"You three look very suspicious to me..." Jenny said, keeping her pose.
"Hey, you're that motorcycle officer from Viridian!" Ash said, pointing to her.
"Yeah, thanks for driving us to the Pokemon Center!" Laura said as Charmander climbed to her shoulder.
"Huh?" Jenny seemed confused. "Ah, you must have met my sister-in-law! If you know my sister-in-law that means you probably have some dealings with the police in Viridian!"
As the officer through accusations at the three, Laura couldn't do much but stutter.
"We- it was- but-" Laura jumped between words like hopscotch.
"Now maybe you just stopped to ask her for directions, or maybe you found a wallet on the street and turned it into her..." Jenny started simply. "Or maybe you're burglars who broke out of jail!"
Jenny pulled out her handcuffs as she finished the last sentence.
"No, we're trainers!" Laura shouted.
"We've never been to jail!" Ash panicked.
"Neither have I, ma'am!" Brock said, sweating.
"That's what they all say!" Jenny accused.
"We just got into town and we saw the crowd so we came over to see what was going on!" Brock explained.
Jenny smirked.
"The criminal always returns to the scene of the crime..." she said slyly.
"We're not-" Brock started.
"Maybe this'll help." Ash said with a sheepish grin.
He held up his Pokedex, and flipped it open. Laura quickly grabbed hers as well, and did the same. The voices together sounded a bit muffled, but they sounded a bit apart like so;
"I am Dexter, a Pokedex programmed by Professor Oak for Pokemon Trainer Laura Winnet." Laura's Pokedex sounded.
"Yeah, and I was the leader of the Pewter City Gym." Brock said, holding up a boulder badge.
"Well, that's evidence enough for me." she still seemed stern, until she looked at them guiltily. "I'm sorry I was suspicious!"
The three sighed happily, as Jenny put away her handcuffs.
"Now I'm suspicious of my sister-in-law, she sure does have weird taste in friends." Jenny said, looking to the side.
"Um, miss?" Brock started, causing Jenny to look at him. "I was wondering, since I'm new in town, maybe we could get together tonight and you could show me around?"
Brock seemed to have a devilish grin on his face as he said this. Jenny simply smirked.
"Well, I'm not off duty 'till past your bedtime." Jenny said, making Brock sigh. "And I may even have to work 'round the clock to catch these burglars!"
"Well, what exactly did they steal?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, was it diamonds, or gold?!" Laura asked, her eyes shining brightly with curiosity.
"That's the strange thing about it. They didn't take any money, just a massive vacuum and a giant hose." jenny said, folding her arms.
"Oh." Laura said simply. "Do they need to drain a pool or something?"
"Yeah, what would anybody want that stuff for?" Ash asked.
"I'm sure I don't know kids, but I do know I don't have time to play guessing games with you two because I've got a job to do and it's time for you three to move along." Jenny said, as she started to push the three back through the crowd. "Come on let's go!"
As soon as they were out of the crowd, she zoomed back inside the circle, going over to everyone and shooing them away.
"Alright everybody, the shows over, nothing to see here, break it up, break it up!" she shouted, as the crowd began to disperse.
...
The three trainers and their Pokemon were sitting on a bench on a walkway, by a garbage bin and street lamp. Bushes and trees were planted behind them as they conversed.
"Good thing we had Dexter." Ash said looking at Laura. "And you had your badge."
He looked at Brock.
"Yeah." Brock said in agreement. "Shouldn't you two head for Cerulean City Gym?"
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Laura said, nodding.
"Hey Brock, you got any inside info on the gym trainer there?" Ash asked.
Brock raised an eyebrow, and Ash laughed.
"I just want to find out as much as I can about him before our match." Ash said, scratching the back of his head. "Know yourself, know your adversary, and you hold the key to victory!"
"You sure know some pretty deep stuff." Brock said.
"Yeah, that was a good one!" Laura encouraged.
"I learned that pone from Dexter!" Ash said, giving a sheepish smile as he held up his Pokedex.
"Well, I never actually met the trainer here. But I know his Pokemon Special Move." Brock said, looking into the distance with his arms crossed.
"Yeah, what is it?" Ash asked enthusiastically.
Laura also waited in agony, excited to find out.
"I'm sorry, guys, but I can't give you that information." Brock stated.
Ash and Laura's faces sank a bit, disappointed.
"Why not?" they asked.
Brock then looked at them.
"I'm a gym leader too, after all. I can't tell you out of respect. You understand?" Brock said, his last question sounding more like a statement.
Laura and Ash simply smiled.
"That's cool." Ash said.
"Yeah, we get it." Laura shrugged.
They finally got up and walked over to a crossroad.
"Well, I have some stuff I need to check out." Brock said, turning to the two younger trainers.
"What stuff?" Ash asked.
"Just stuff." Brock said a bit sternly. "See you later."
He waved goodbye, and headed off down the path on the left of them.
"Bye." Ash said, with a small wave.
"See you later, Brock!" Laura yelled, waving a hand in the air frantically.
"Well, let's get going, guys!" Ash said, smiling at Laura and the Pokemon.
After that, Ash and Laura walked around town, trying to find the Cerulean City Gym on a map Ash had found neatly placed in a holder.
"Cerulean City Gym. Cerulean City Gym." Ash said, looking around. "Should be around here someplace."
"Yeah." Laura said, leaning over to look further past shrubs and trees.
And that's when they found it. The gym was in front of them, and it had decoration as well. By the giant Dewgong on the sign, Laura could tell it was a water type gym, which wasn't great for her Charmander. Fake plastic waves were under the Dewgong, and made up the roof, with an orange and pick dome to completely cover the building. Pillars surrounded the outer walls of the building, two different shades of blue on them. They had three main entry doors, which was nice.
"Right there!" Laura said, excitedly.
"Yeah, there it is!" Ash said with a smile.
...
As soon as Ash and Laura had stepped in, they found a door that led to a large opening, a room filled with people sitting in stands. A large pool in the center of the room, with a diving board, had a spotlight on it. The room was fairly dark. Some slight music played, before an announcer had started to speak.
"Ladies and gentleman, and please welcome the stars of our show, The Sensational Cerulean City Synchronized Swimming Sisters!" the announcer had yelled, enthusiastically.
"Who?" Laura asked quietly.
"Huh?" Ash asked quietly as well.
Suddenly, three women were standing on the diving board, waving out to fans whom were cheering wildly. The woman to the left had blond hair and a red dress, the one in the middle had blue hair and a green dress, and the last one, to the right, had pink hair, and an orange dress with a blue bow on it. Each dress was short and tight, and had cuts on the bottom that left parts of the dress to hang like leaves. And all three of them pulled it off perfectly. Laura and Ash just stared in awe, many people cheering in the bleachers. They did a front flip off, their arms and legs moving in perfect synch, and they dove into the water. As the water splashed, the crowd roared. They swam to the top of the water, and put their arms out, moving them at the same pace and synch.
"It's synchronized swimming!" Laura said, staring at it.
They dove back in the water, their legs popping through this time, making the exact same movements to strike different poses.
"What? I thought this was the Pokemon Gym." Ash said, scratching the back of his head.
Pikachu had its eyes fixed on the swimmers, while Charmander was scowling at them, obviously not a fan of the water. The divers came out again, their torso's and upper body above water, going through the same motions as last time. Pikachu's eyes shined. As they finished, they burst through the water a last time, striking a pose as the crowd went wild. As they got out of the pool, a spotlight had showed on them, as they waved to their fans once more. Ash was dumbfounded, while Laura watched simply, a bit delighted by the performance.
...
Ash and Laura were walking around the building, confused by what they had just seen.
"I can't understand it." Ash said, crossing his arms.
As they walked down two flights of stairs, Laura nodded.
"Yeah, the sign said it was a Pokemon Gym." she said, shrugging.
They reached the bottom of the stairs, and gasped at what they had seen. They were at the start of a large hallway, lights dotting the ceiling, and large panes of glass stretching throughout the hallway. Behind the glass was water, filling up the tanks, which held fish, coral, seaweed, and other objects relating to the sea. There were slabs of granite with a sign plastered to it, and a railing, up against the walls corresponding with the tanks.
"It's like an aquarium!" Ash said.
"Why an aquarium?" Laura asked, running up to one of the tanks.
"I'm not sure. How can this be a Pokemon gym?" Ash asked in reply.
"Beats me." Laura said whilst pressing her palms on the glass.
In the coming distance were three similar voices.
"That crowd was totally awesome!" said one voice.
"I know that was so great!" said a second voice.
"Daisy, the dive you did was super." said a third voice.
"The practice really payed off." the first voice went again.
"Totally!" the second voice again.
Then they just laughed like maniacs. At least in Laura's opinion.
"Uh, excuse us." Ash said, as he and Laura walked up to the three ladies from the stage; each had a towel, drying themselves off.
"I'm sorry, but if you, like, want an interview, you have to like, call our manager." said the girl with the pink hair and orange dress.
"No, it's not that." Ash said, taking a small step back.
"We don't autographs." she said again.
"We don't want any, trust me." Laura said with a sheepish smile. "We just want to know if this is a Pokemon gym, you know, so we can earn the next gym badge."
"It sure is." the blue haired lady said, as she fluffed her green dress.
"Well we're looking for the gym trainer!" Ash said, pumping a fist.
"You're looking at them!" said the blue haired teenager again.
"Huh?" Ash asked.
"Three of you?" Laura asked, dumbfounded.
"The three of us are the gym trainers here." the blond haired girl said, folding her arms across her red dress.
"We're the Sensational Sisters!" said the pink haired lady, bringing her hand to her chin.
"We're world famous!" said the blue haired teen, putting a confident hand on her hip.
"Huh?" Ash gasped.
"Wha-?! How have I never heard of you?!" Laura asked.
"Wait, but what's with all that swimming?!" Ash asked them, taking a step back.
"It's like, our hobby, and our fans love to watch us perform!" the pink haired one has said.
"We pool our talents to make a big splash!" said the blue haired one, shrugging.
Then they all laughed like maniacs for the second time, Ash and Laura becoming a little scared and inching away.
...
Laura and Ash were standing in front of the pool, the stand snow empty as everyone who had came to watch had exited the area. After a short argument, Laura agreed to let Ash battle the gym first, due to her battling Brock first in Pewter City. So Ash was facing the girls with determination in his face, while the three girls were standing lazily, as if this moment wasn't of importance.
"I challenge all of you!" Ash shouted, pikachu giving a chirrup in reply.
All of the three girls took a nervous pose, rubbing there arm, putting their hands on their hips, throwing their hands behind their head. One of them giggled, and gave a small 'um'. Ash was shocked, and his determined pose weakened.
"What?" he asked.
"We don't feel much like battling anymore." One of the females said with a shrug.
"What?!" Ash and Laura gasped in unison.
"But you have to! How will we get to the league! We need all eight badges!" Laura said, giving her foot a little stomp.
"We just got beaten two times in a row by kid from this 'nowhere' place called Pallet Town." The blue haired girl said, offering some support.
Laura could hear Ash whisper a bit under his breath, saying something like 'not again', or along those lines.
"But that isn't respecting your duties as Gym Leaders! You're supposed to battle trainers so they can beat you! That's how they get to the League! You can't just give up!" Laura complained.
"But it was just one defeat after another! More than just those two trainers defeated us, and my eyes are spinning from all the losses!" the blue haired lady returned.
"We had to, like, practically rush all of our Pokemon to the Pokemon Center." The blonde said casually.
"This is the only one left." the one with pink hair announced, pulling a Pokeball from a dress pocket.
Pressing the button to supersize the Pokeball, she dropped it on the ground carelessly, and it bounced a bit before a flash of blue escaped to reveal a Pokemon. It was the silhouette of a fish, and when it appeared, Laura got a better look at it. It was a white, fish-like Pokémon with orange markings on its tail, back, and fins. It had a thin dorsal fin and long pectoral fins. Its dorsal and pectoral fins looked quite strong, possibly allowing it to maintain a steady speed of around five knots while swimming upstream. It's caudal fin was very beautiful due to it billowing very much like a ballroom dress. Its circular eyes were blue, and it had pink lips. On its forehead was a large horn. It kept repeating the name 'Goldeen' over and over, so Laura could only assume it was the name of the Pokemon. On the ground it didn't do much, simply flopped about, which Laura had to admit, didn't look very affective.
"You mean all you have is a Goldeen?" Ash asked, obviously disappointed.
But the pink haired lady returned the Pokemon quickly to avoid further embarrassment.
"If it would evolve into Seaking we could use it, but all it can do now is its horn attack." The blue haired feminine figure said, giving a sheepish grin.
"So, like, there's no point in battling." the blonde said, her sentence sounding more like a question than a statement.
"Now, instead of having matches, we have time to make ourselves look more beautiful than ever!" the pink haired lady said, putting a hand to her cheek.
Laura simply rolled her eyes, folding her arms angrily. Ash looked just as disappointed, and the blonde definitely noticed.
"I know what you two want." she said.
She clapped her hands twice, looking down at the water.
"Seel!" she shouted.
A small spike emerged from the water, swimming towards the edge of the pool, before hopping out. The Pokemon, Seel, was a pinniped Pokémon with a thick hide covered in bluish white fur. It had a pale tan maw with a large red tongue and a pair of tusks on its lower jaw. It had circular eyes and a black nose that seemed capable of closing while Seel swam. There was a small horn on its forehead, which it probably used in combination with its tusks to bore through ice floes. It had two flippers on its chest, and two more on the end of its tail. When the tail was raised, it resembled a waterspout. It stuck out its tongue to reveal a water droplet, looking solid and metal-like. The blond took it from the tongue of Seel and held it out in her hand to Ash.
"A Cascade Badge. This is what you two want, right? You can both just have it. And there are plenty more." the blonde said, turning to Laura at the last sentence.
"Thanks, I-I'd rather earn my badges." Ash said, and Laura stopped in her tracks.
Before Ash had said anything she was walking up to the gym leader, happy to accept the badge without work, but she stopped when she heard him. She was truly happy Ash wanted to work for his badges because he was handed his last one, but it made Laura feel bad because she didn't care if she worked for her badges, like she was cheating. So she stopped, hand in midair, ready to accept the badge, but frozen. Maybe she needed to work on that.
"Come on you two, take it! A badge is a badge. Seel? Get another badge please!" the blonde said, before handing the badge to Laura.
Seel came up with another badge, but as soon as the blonde grabbed it and tried to give it to Ash, there was a shout.
"Hold it right there!" shouted a familiar angry voice.
Laura was first to see the red head standing in the bleachers, hands over her chest.
"Misty?" Ash and Laura asked in unison.
Pikachu and Charmander were happy to see Misty, and gave chirrups of happiness upon her presence. She jumped from her position on the bleachers to where they were with extreme agility.
"Alright Daisy, if you don't want to battle them, I will!" she shouted, a hand on her hip.
Ash and Laura gaped, surprised.
"Do you know them? Isn't it against the rules to battle for a gym leader?" Laura asked.
"What do you mean?" Ash asked.
Misty looked down, smirking.
"I'm a Cerulean City Trainer too." Misty said, proudly.
Laura gasped, and her eyes sparkled.
"That's so cool!" she shouted, her cries echoing throughout the room.
Ash, Pikachu, and Charmander gasped as well.
"I'm the fourth sensational sister!" Misty said, looking proudly at them all.
Suddenly, the pink haired lady cut in.
"There are only three sensational sisters and one runt." she said, wagging a finger as Misty sent a glare and growl her way.
"So, little sister, I'm surprised to see you back here so soon." the blonde said.
"The little girl with the big mouth who said she wouldn't come back until she was a great Pokémon trainer, wasn't that you?" the blue haired girl mocked.
Laura glared at her.
"I guess I did say something like that when I left..." Misty said, glancing at the floor.
"She is a great Pokémon Trainer, and she doesn't need your comments!" Laura snipped at the blue haired girl.
"Yeah!" Misty smirked, looking at her sisters.
"So that's why misty was so dead-set against coming here." Ash said, looking at Pikachu.
"Misty, you left here pretending you wanted to become a Pokémon Trainer because you couldn't compare with us." the pink haired girl shrugged, Misty deadpanning. "Because we're obviously much more talented and beautiful than you are!"
"Uh oh." Ash said.
"Shut up!" Laura yelled at the sisters out of anger.
Laura always hated having eight siblings, but they were never this rude. With good parents there to keep her and her siblings in line, nothing like this ever really happened, and it angered Laura to see Misty treated this way.
"Yeah, shut up! That wasn't the reason!" Misty shouted in her sisters faces.
"Well then, I guess you came back because you couldn't make it as a Pokémon trainer." the blonde said, pretending to be sad.
Misty got up in her face, looking desperate.
"It wasn't my idea to come back here! The only reason I'm here is because they wanted to come!" Misty said, pointing an accusing finger in the direction of Laura and Ash.
"Hey, we have goals too!" Laura said angrily.
"Well, the boy is totally someone I wouldn't choose for a boyfriend, but you're no prize yourself." the blonde said, pointing at Laura.
"Boyfriend?" Ash said, deadpanning and looking at Laura.
"No way in all of Kanto." Laura contributed, doing exactly as Ash did.
"Those two a couple?! No way!" Misty shouted. "If I battle them I'll prove I'm not a quitter and I'm just as good a trainer as you three!" Misty challenged.
"Well, you are the only one of us with a Pokémon that can actually battle." the blonde said with a shrug.
"Ash gets to go first this time because I went first last time." Laura said with a yawn, as Charmander sighed happily.
"Alright, Ash, are you ready to rumble?" Misty growled, getting up in his face.
…
Laura had taken off her shoes and socks and set them on the bleachers with her bag. Charmander was watching the battle from afar, due to his slight fear of water, and was sitting with Weedle, who was growing much in experience, close to evolution. Laura sat over the edge of the pool, feet resting in the water. The battlefield was indeed that; a pool, with different platforms made to hold heavier weight. The thing Laura couldn't understand was that they were made of foam. Misty looked absolutely ready to battle Ash, pure determination on her face.
"I didn't plan on challenging either of you until you payed me back for my bike but this is as good a time as any. If you two want that Cascade badge, you're gonna have to beat me!" Misty shouted, her words echoing through the room.
"It'll be my pleasure!" Ash said, smirking.
Ash turned to Pikachu, who looked worried.
"Pikachu, this one's gonna be a piece of cake." Ash said with a slight snarl.
Pikachu immediately felt uneasy, concern filling his expression.
"Chu..." it murmured.
Ash simply let it slip by, and turned his head back to Misty.
"So, how many Pokémon?" Ash asked.
"Two against two works for me!" Misty smirked.
"You got it!" Ash said, picking up Pikachu. "Alright, Pikachu, I choose you!"
As Ash said this, he was about to throw Pikachu out onto the battlefield, but was surprised to see Pikachu hanging onto his fist, refusing to let go.
"Huh?" Ash asked, confused by Pikachu's actions.
Pikachu dropped to the ground, looking full of guilt and regret.
"Pikachu, what are you doing?" Ash yelled at the little mouse.
Laura, at this point, started to feel bad for it. Immediately, Pikachu pointed in Misty's direction, shaking his head sadly.
"Oh, what? Are you saying you don't want to battle with Misty?" Ash asked, Pikachu nodding his head.
To this, Ash put his hands on his hips, but not in a menacing way. He did it kindly, giving Pikachu a warm smile.
"Well, I guess it's okay if you don't want to battle a friend." Ash said, understandably.
To this, Laura's heart lit up at Ash's compassion for Pikachu, and Pikachu's compassion to Misty. Misty was also moved, for she smiled at him and shouted, while waving an arm,
"Pikachu! You're a Pikapal!"
Pikachu's ears perked up, really happy to what Misty had said, and Laura even cooed at the sweetness that Misty didn't show often.
"Thanks a lot, Pikachu." Ash said, grabbing a Pokeball and supersizing it.
Happy moment gone.
Ash did his average pose, flipping his hat around, and winding the Pokeball up, before throwing it out, calling the name of his Pokémon.
"Butterfree, I choose you!" Ash called.
As Butterfree appeared, he let out a chirp, flying in place.
"Well in that case, Misty calls Staryu!" Misty yelled, referring to herself in the third person as she tossed a Pokeball.
As the Pokeball landed and opened, a blue outline appeared and out came a starfish-looking Pokémon. Staryu, as Misty announced it, was a golden-brown sea star-like Pokémon with five appendages. These appendages surrounded an exterior organ called the core, which was held in place by a golden ring looped around Staryu's left "leg". Ash, of course, reached into his pocket and whipped out the Pokedex, scanning the Staryu.
"Staryu. The core of this water Pokémon shines in a rainbow of seven colors, a core that is valued by some as a type of jewelry." Dexter announced.
Ash looked disgusted and confused at the same time, looking up from Dexter and at the Pokémon.
"Wow. Leave it to a girl to show off her jewelry." Ash said. "Except Laura. She said she isn't a fan."
Ash smirked at Laura as he said that last part, knowing it would get to Misty. And he was right, as the girl started to wave her arms around in anger.
"Quit stalling and let's get this show on the road!" Misty yelled, still waving her arms.
"Do you think Misty could really win?" the blue haired girl asked to her other siblings.
"Like, in her dreams, maybe." said the pink haired sister.
"Butterfree! You can blow that thing away with one blast! Tackle it!" Ash commanded.
At his words, Butterfree flew upward, and came hurdling down on Staryu, who was pushed over, struggling to get up as Butterfree flew back.
"Staryu, counter attack!" Misty shouted confidently.
Staryu immediately boosted itself to its feet, shaking off the attack as if it was nothing. The star jumped in the air, spinning at a rapid pace as it aimed itself at Butterfree.
"Butterfree, dodge!" Ash shouted.
Butterfree did just that, flying out of the way as Staryu went tumbling towards the foam platform. Once hitting the platform, it tried ever so carefully to balance itself, almost tripping over into the water. While Staryu was caught off guard, Butterfree came down from the sky, hurtling himself towards the star-like Pokémon, hitting him twice. Ash chuckled in satisfaction.
"I'm gonna win this!" Ash smiled, looking determined.
"Go Ash!" Laura shouted, giving a whoop.
"Hey!" Misty shouted.
"Sorry!" Laura exclaimed apologetically.
"Staryu, water gun!" Misty commanded her Pokémon.
Staryu jumped from the yellow foam platform into the pool, before swimming to the surface. It pointed its top limb at Butterfree, and from a small hole, shot a ray of water. Butterfree, not expecting the sudden spray, garbled in surprise, but soon escaped the ray. Staryu hopped himself back on the platform, shooting countless blasts of water at Butterfree, all of which the Pokémon was dodging expertly.
"In that case, Stunspore, now!" Ash instructed.
As Butterfree dodged the last of the water gun, he sprayed a yellow dust over the pool, coating Staryu in the process. At this, Staryu started swaying back and forth uneasily, quickly catching Misty's attention.
"Oh no! Staryu looks like it's in real pain!" Misty worriedly said.
"It doesn't even have a face! How can you tell?" Ash asked, confused.
"Because I'm sensitive to others feelings, that's how!" Misty retorted.
"Oh yeah, like I'm not?" Ash snorted back.
Laura turned to her side to see Seel, clapping for somebody.
"Which side are you clapping for?!" the blue haired sister growled at the Pokémon.
"Staryu! Wash it off!" Misty demanded.
At the command, the Staryu collapsed into the water, as if fainted, slowly sinking to the bottom. However, in the blink of an eye, it shot straight up, as its his energy had been regained. It hopped back upon the spongey platform, proving to feel better than ever.
"Yay! Too bad you didn't know Stunspore doesn't work if you wash it off with water!" Misty said, giving a triumphant fist pump.
"She thinks she knows everything..." Ash growled angrily.
"Nice thinking, Misty!" Laura shouted, happily.
"Thank you!" Misty cooed.
"I thought you were cheering for me!" Ash asked, turning to Laura.
"I still am, don't worry!" Laura said.
"Butterfree, Sleep Powder!" Ash commanded.
Butterfree, this time instead of sprinkling yellow dust over the pool, sprinkled a midnight blue dust, which Laura thought was very pretty. In fact, it reminded her of the Beedrill attack in the Viridian Forest, and Laura smiled at the memory of Samurai. Staryu, before making contact with the powder, immediately jumped into the pool to avoid the exhaustion, which Laura was surprised Ash didn't figure would happen. It continued to sink the bottom, before Misty chimed in.
"Tackle it from underwater!" Misty commanded.
Staryu arose from the water, hurling itself at Butterfree, who was too late to react. He got hit directly by one of Staryu's limbs, sending Butterfree back a little ways. But as Staryu hopped back into the water, continuing to try and attack Butterfree, the flying Pokémon learned to dodge much more frequently. However, Misty looked unfazed from Butterfree's dodging.
"If Staryu can get Butterfree from underwater, I win!" Misty cheered to herself. "Water Pokémon always have the edge in the water!"
Misty then cackled evilly to herself, and Ash growled angrily.
"You can beat her Ash! I know you can!" Laura shouted encouragingly.
Ash turned to Laura and smiled, nodding. Misty, however, turned tp Laura and gave out an angry growl as she glared.
"Misty's totally awesome." the blonde sister cooed from beside Laura.
"Well we three got the good looks in the family, so I guess she had to get some talent." the pink haired sibling chimed in.
Laura just glowered at the three sisters at how self-centered they all were. That's when she totally lost it.
"Misty has more talent than all three of you combined, and she looks great! Now stop looking at yourselves and try making your little sister feel good for once!" Laura barked.
The three sisters turned to Laura in shock and horror. Only to break out laughing.
"Oh look, a little ten-year-old is yelling at us! What are you gonna do, tell your mommy on us?" the blonde laughed.
Laura growled at them, clenching her fists together. However, Misty saw the whole thing, and smiled softly at how Laura had tried to stand up for her. It was something nobody had ever done before. As Laura turned back to watch the battle, she saw Butterfree flailing around in the water, and gasped, cupping her hands to her mouth. Ash quickly returned the bug Pokémon, and grasped a new Pokeball is hand.
"Pidgeotto, I choose you!" Ash yelled, throwing a shiny new Pokeball onto the battlefield.
From it appeared a fierce, ready to battle bird Pokémon, chanting its name continuously. Misty frowned and took out a Pokeball of her own.
"Oh yeah? Staryu, return!" Misty commanded.
At this, Staryu retreated back into its Pokeball, before Misty shrunk it down and pulled out a new one. She supersized it, and threw it onto one of the floating platforms.
"Misty calls Starmie!" Misty shouted, as a purple Pokémon appeared from the Pokeball.
Starmie was a violet sea star-like Pokémon with a gold formation on its front. Starmie's jewel core, which could glow in seven colors, had developed to resemble a cut precious stone. There was second set of semi-attached arms on its back, which were able to spin 360°.
"Pidgeotto, whirlwind it away!" Ash commanded the bird Pokémon.
Pidgeotto flew up a little higher into the air, and flapped its wings rapidly. The wind started to pick up, that even Laura's hair started to swing a little. Starmie continued to try to hold on, gripping to the foamlike platform for its life.
"Dive under, than up!" Misty commanded to Starmie.
The starfish Pokémon disappeared into the water for a split second before rocketing outward towards Pidgeotto. Soaring at the speed of light, Starmie hit Pidgeotto straight in the chest, sending it back a little ways.
"Strike back with wing attack!" Ash ordered.
Starmie then hurtled towards Pidgeotto again, only to be struck down towards the pool by its wing. Starmie splashed through the pool and threw itself upward again, hitting Pidgeotto once more, sending it backwards.
"Give it a Gust to blow it away!" Ash commanded.
Once again, Starmie threw itself at Pidgeotto, only to be thrown away by its gust. Due to the power of the gust, it smacked against a set of closed doors harshly, and slid to the floor, slumped and hurt.
"Starmie!" Misty called out, worried.
The gem in Starmie's center was blinking red, the violet colored Pokémon all beat up and bruised.
"Oh no! Starmie's energy is just about to run out!" Misty yelled worriedly.
"Alright Pidgeotto, let's get that trainer badge!" Ash yelled happily.
However, all the energy of the battle was interrupted by the ground shaking violently. Laura was hopping around, as Charmander got up and ran to his trainer, hugging her for safety. Laura latched onto the Pokémon, edging away from the pool towards her backpack and shoes. She shoved the shoes and socks into the back quickly, returning Weedle to his Pokeball for safety. She quickly zipped his now tiny Pokeball into her shorts pocket and threw her backpack onto her back, holding Charmander to her chest as she sat huddled near the bleachers in fear. All three sisters screamed, and Laura turned back towards the pool, the big glass window on the other side grabbing her attention. It started to crack very quickly, before bursting into tiny pieces. Through the window came a large machine on four wheels. It looked similar to a boat, with an engine on top of a red platform that rested on the wheels. Gray smoke was hurdling from a pipe that led to within the engine, and dust was being thrown everywhere from the wheels. Laura was so frightened that she almost forgot that Ash and Misty never finished their battle.
"Check out that hair!" the blue haired sister mentioned as Misty ran towards them.
Ash, on the other hand, ran towards Laura, grabbing her arms and hoisting her off the ground, quickly leading her to the others. Laura stayed close to the slightly taller male, scared to death.
"Like, who invited the party crashers?" the blonde sibling asked.
"Sorry to break in on you, ladies." said an eerily familiar voice, as a hidden door from the red platform opened, causing two people and a cat to jump out.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves." said a masculine voice.
Laura gasped as she recognized these voices. It was Team rocket, and their hair definitely gave it away.
"To protect the world from devastation." Jessie started, eyes closed and arms folded across her chest.
"To unite all peoples within our nation." James followed up, a hand on his hip, and the other holding a blue rose near his face.
"To denounce the evils of truth and love." Jessie continued, opening her eyes.
"To extend our reach to the stars above." James added, turning his head to face the six trainers.
"Jessie!" the pink haired woman announced.
"James." the blue haired male went along.
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!" Jessie shouted.
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" James continued.
Meowth then jumped in front of the two.
"Meowth, that's right!" he yelled.
"The water Pokémon have the advantage." James mentioned.
"But if we steal that water away..." Jessie foreshadowed.
"...The Pokémon are ours for the taking!" James continued.
"And Meowth knows just how to do it!" the cat Pokémon added, pointing towards the trainers.
"What are they trying to prove?" one of the sisters asked.
Suddenly, a giant hose appeared from the back of the engine, protruding itself into the pool, making a splash. The sisters shrieked. Just suddenly, the engine started up and began to vibrate. Laura looked at the hose in the water and noticed it was sucking up all the water in the pool! The foam platforms followed and entered the hose, followed by lots of pool water.
"A massive vacuum and a giant hose!" Ash suddenly announced, causing Laura to recall the robbery the night before.
"It was Team Rocket! "Laura announced.
"They were the ones who broke into the store back there! I should've know it was them!" Ash followed up.
"Our swimming pool!" the blonde sister shrieked.
"They're sucking it dry!" Misty yelled.
"That's our water!" the blue haired sibling shouted.
"Right! I should give it back!" Meowth yelled evilly.
He flipped a red switch, and suddenly the hose rose from the water, no longer sucking in anything. Charmander immediately stuck its tail in its mouth as the hose shot water from itself, spraying all the trainers and sweeping them away. Ash quickly grabbed onto Laura's waist, trying to keep her safe as she trembled in fear. Laura saw Charmander shaking and closing its eyes, it's tail still in its mouth as small flames of fire escaped its nose.
"We've gotta protect the Pokémon!" Misty shrieked.
"Like, what about my hair!" the blue haired sister cried.
"Alright, now's the time to suck 'em up!" Meowth smirked.
He flipped the red switch back, and the hose once again shot itself into the water, sucking up all the water. All the trainers were now safe on the ground as the water went back into the pool, Charmander opening it's mouth and setting it's bright burning tail free. Laura was so happy Charmander used this ability, or it would've been done for. However, the other Pokémon were still in the water, and Seel cried out as it was sucked through the water.
"Come back, Seel!" the pink haired girl shrieked.
"Stay here!" Laura said to Charmander, setting him down next to Ash and throwing her backpack off.
She ran towards the pool, still sopping wet, and she dove into it, swimming towards the flailing water Pokémon. When she reached him, she grasped on tight and started to swim away from the hose as fast as she could, but the water was sucking her in so fast that it was like being on a treadmill. She wasn't going anywhere. Ash cried out to Laura and gasped as Pikachu was also swept into the water by a raging wave. Laura's adrenaline suddenly began to pump faster than before as she quickly swam towards the electric mouse and grabbed on. However, with no more arms to swim with, and all her energy draining, Laura was quickly sucked into the hose, taking a large breath of air before going under the water. The last thing she heard from Ash was a single sentence;
"Don't take her away from me!"
Laura held her breath tight, and looked to Pikachu, before Poking it's cheek. She got zapped a bit before he understood what to do. Pikachu then let out a might electricity attack, and all the water they were surfing through seemed to stop it's motion, as it turned a bright yellow. Laura let out a shriek, unable to keep her mouth closed as she gargled the water. She held onto Seel tight, as he seemed to have been hurt by the electric attack. The water continued to move quickly as Pikachu stopped its attack, but Laura found hope that what Pikachu did had worked when she saw natural light from above her in the tube. She was then rocketed out of the tube, and due to the extra Pokémon's weight she fell out of the vortex that seemingly shot into the sky. She landed in the grass with both Pokémon in hand, and she took in a big breath, before coughing roughly, spitting up quite a bit of water. She looked to both Pikachu and Seel, who looked better now that they were out of the vortex. Laura looked up from where she lay on the grass due to a loud shriek, and she looked to see a burnt Jessie and James, followed by Meowth as they flew upwards into the sky.
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" they shouted, and despite being in pain, Laura let out a small chuckle.
Laura, despite feeling very sore, got up with both Pokémon in her arms, and ran towards the entrance, pushing the doors open and running towards the battle room. She burst through the doors, causing everyone to turn to her, and she dropped to her knees tired of running. She let out a little cough, before letting both Pokémon go. They ran to their owners, and Ash hugged Pikachu tight, before both he and Misty rushed towards Laura. They both tackled her in a hug while shoving her to the ground by accident, happy she was okay, and she hugged them back with a smile on her face. As they let go, Laura noticed most of the water was back in the pool.
"When did that happen?" she asked between coughs.
"When you went through the hose, and after the big electric shock, Ash pulled the lever on the engine and shot water back into the pool. When you and the Pokémon didn't come out, though, he cried like a big baby!" Misty teased, smirking at Ash.
"I did not! She's lying! I only cried a little..." Ash whined, folding his arms.
Laura was moved by this, feeling very happy that Ash cared for her so much. She then sat up and hugged Ash tightly.
"I'm not going away that easily." Laura smirked, covering her mouth as she coughed a bit.
After Laura broke away from the hug, she saw Charmander running to her on all fours, tears in his eyes as he held her bag in his mouth. When he reached her, he dropped the bag at her feet and jumped into her arms. She and the little Pokémon hugged for the longest time, and when they separated, Charmander gave Laura's cheek a little lick. They all laughed at his actions, and the sisters even spared a few chuckles.
…
"Hey, we never got to finish our match. And we never got to start yours." Misty mentioned to both Ash and Laura.
"Yeah, and I was just about to win it too." Ash chimed in.
"What?" Misty asked.
"I was looking forward to our match, too..." Laura interrupted.
Laura was now feeling better, and she was no longer wet due to using the bathroom to wring out her clothes and blow dry them with a blow dryer borrowed from the sisters. Her hair was still slightly damp, but her body was dry, and she was now grasping the ends of a towel that was draped around her shoulders, and her shoes and socks were now on.
"You could say that your matches had to be postponed, like, due to drain?" the blue haired sibling joked, raising a finger in the air.
"Like, at least nobody lost." the pink haired sister chimed in.
"I wanted to win..." Misty said dejectedly.
"I guess we won't be getting that Cascade Badge." Ash said, turning his head a bit to Laura.
"Wrong!" the blonde haired sibling chimed in. "We're giving these badges to you two."
Then she held up to badges, both looking the same. They were a light blue color, and made of metal, making them shine in the artificial light. They were also shaped like a water droplet, giving the vibe of a Water Type Gym.
"Huh?" Ash asked.
"How come they get the badge? They didn't win!" Misty pouted, raising two fists near her face.
"Pikachu was the one who, like, totally saved all the water, and Laura saved Seel and Pikachu while risking her life. Without them, all our water would be gone, and Seel wouldn't be here. Plus, if Ash used Pikachu from the start, there's no way your water Pokémon would've stood a chance." the blonde continued.
Laura's face lit up in an embarrassed blush as she held her cheeks.
"Aw man..." Misty grumbled.
"Take the badge, you two. You both deserve it." the blonde said quite nicely.
She took a few steps toward the two and lowered her hands in front of them so they could take it.
"Gee, thanks!" Ash said, as he gently plucked one of the badges from her fingers.
"Wow, thanks so much!" Laura marveled, as she too gently took the other badge.
She marveled at it's cool touch, and took out her badge case, gently sticking the Cascade
badge next to the Boulder badge.
"We'll take 'em!" Ash chuckled.
Pikachu and Charmander let out happy chirrups to celebrate with their trainers.
…
Ash, Misty, and Laura were all standing outside, Misty's sisters in front of them.
"Misty, you just go right on trying to be a Pokémon trainer. You might as well be good at something, because you'll never be stars like us." the pink haired sister said with a shrug.
Laura huffed and Misty blushed angrily.
"If you keep that up, then you'll be seeing stars!" Misty yelled.
"Chill out!" the blue haired sibling chuckled, raising her hands innocently.
"Misty, be careful. You know we love you." the blonde sister smiled sweetly.
"Yeah." Misty nodded with a smile.
"Ash, Laura, hey guys!" Laura turned to the voice of a familiar friend, seeing Brock running up to them.
"Yo Brock-o!" Ash chirped.
"Where were you all day?" Laura asked.
"I had to take care of some things. How'd it go guys?" Brock questioned.
Laura took out her badge case and opened it up, revealing both of the badges she had, and Ash held his up.
"See for yourself!" They said in unison.
"Cool, let's go!" Brock said with a nod, before hurrying off.
Laura quickly put her badge case away, but quickly after zipping it up, Ash grabbed her forearm gently and quickly pulled her after him.
"Hey! You're not leaving without me!" Misty yelled, quickly running after them.
"Misty, you're not gonna be a sore loser, are you?" Ash grumbled.
"I didn't lose anything, it was a draw!" Misty seethed.
"Well I'm the one who got the badge." Ash remarked.
"What?! You know you lost with Butterfree!" Misty growled.
"That was just round one, I made a great comeback!" Ash fought.
"Thanks for everything!" Laura turned and shouted with a large wave, trying to yell over Ash and Misty's argument.
The sisters waved to her as Ash and Misty continued to argue, and Laura turned back around and rolled her eyes as the two trainers continued to feud.
"Lose?! I was just getting started!" Misty shrieked.
"Oh yeah?" Ash retorted.
"Oh yeah!" Misty continued.
"Oh brother..." Laura and Brock sighed in unison.
The four continued to walk out of town, unknowing as to what would be their next adventure as the sun set in front of them.