Cerulean City, A.J and School

After exploring Mt. Moon, Ash, Brock and Misty made to Cerulean City.

"This is where I can get gym badge number two." Ash said, getting excited.

"Have you decided what pokemon you are using?" Brock asked.

"Well I know that Cerulean Gym uses water Pokemon." Ash said. "So I'll definitely use Pikachu, but the others I'm not sure yet."

Misty wasn't saying anything.

"Hey Misty, what's wrong?" Ash asked. "I mean you've been quiet ever since we got here." Misty didn't want to say anything, but she had to tell her friends what her problem was.

"Well the truth is I didn't really want to come back to Cerulean City."

"Why? Did something bad happen to you here?" Brock asked.

"No, nothing like that." Misty said. "The truth is I'm one of the leaders of this gym."

"What you're a gym leader of Cerulean Gym?" Ash gasped.

Misty took out a photo from her backpack. It was a photo of her and three beautiful girls behind her.

"Those three girls are my elder sisters Daisy, Violet and Lily." Misty explained. "Since they are so beautiful I'm like a runt to them."

"Wait, are you saying that they bully you?" Ash asked.

"Not exactly bully me." Misty said. "But they like to tease me."

"So you left them to not catch more water Pokemon, but to get away from your sisters as well?" Ash asked.

"Yes." Misty said. Ash felt sorry for Misty, being picked on was not nice.

"Well if you don't want to come to the gym with us I don't mind." Ash said trying to cheer her up. Misty smiled and accepted the offer.

"I'm going to do something if it's all right." She said and walked off.

So Ash and Brock set off for Cerulean Gym by themselves, while Misty did her business. While on the way they noticed some police in front of a machine shop.

"What's going on?" Ash asked. He and Brock went to find out; they asked Officer Jenny what happened. Officer Jenny explained that someone stole a lot of machine parts from the shop.

"I wonder why the thieves did that." Ash said.

"I don't know." Brock said. "But when it comes to thieves they steal anything for all sorts of reasons."

Soon they reached Cerulean Gym; the building was a pink and yellow dome, with a big picture of a Dewgong. Brock then said he had to leave to pick up more supplies for the journey. So Ash was left alone. He and Pikachu entered the building.

"Hello anyone here?" He said. The gym lobby was empty. "Hmm where is everyone?" Just then he heard cheering coming from outside the lobby. He went through the doors from the lobby and saw what was happening. Three beautiful girls were performing a water ballet in a giant swimming pool. Ash recognized them from Misty's photo.

"Those are Misty's sisters." Ash said.

"Pika" agreed Pikachu. Ash wasn't exactly amused by the performance.

*'If I didn't know better.'* He thought. *'I think that they prefer doing water ballets than being gym leaders.'*

When the water ballet was over, Ash went to talk to the gym leaders. Daisy, Violet and Lily were talking to each other by the pool, about their show.

"Daisy your dive was perfect." Lily said, the pink haired one.

"Practice does make perfect." Daisy replied, who was blond haired.

"I think that show was our best one yet." Violet said, the blue haired one.

"Uh excuse me." Ash said.

"If you're here for autographs, we don't do them." Daisy said.

"Oh I'm not here for an autograph." Ash said. "I'm here to battle you for a badge." The three sisters looked at each other.

"Sorry, but we are not into battles anymore." Violet said.

"What?" Ash gasped.

"You see we were beaten three times in a row from these kids from Pallet Town." Daisy said. Ash realized that Gary must have been here.

"And this is the only pokemon we have left." Lily said, throwing a Poke Ball. It was a Goldeen. "This Goldeen is only a baby and is not ready for battling."

"So now we pay more attention to our water shows." Daisy said. "But don't worry we know what you want. Come out Seel." A little white sea lion popped out of the pool.

"Seel." Ash said.

He opened his Pokedex: Seel, the Sea Lion Pokemon. A Pokémon that lives on icebergs. It swims in the sea using the point on its head to break up ice.

The seel pulled out its tongue and showed something blue.

"Since all you want is the Cascade Badge." Lily said, taking the badge off Seel's tongue, "you can just take it." The Cascade Badge was a blue badge in the shape of a rain drop.

Ash was not happy; he wanted to earn the badges by battling not, earn them for free. He was just about to have a word with them when a voice said; "Don't even think about that!" It was Misty.

"For goodness sake Daisy." Misty said. "Are you trying to ruin the gym's reputation?"

"Why hello Misty." Daisy said. "Have you become a great water pokemon trainer yet."

"Yes you did say that you wouldn't return home until you've become one." Lily added.

"I did say that." Misty said. "But since you are planning to give out badges for free, I've got no choice." She turned to Ash. "Ash you will have to battle me to earn the Cascade Badge."

"Fine with me Misty." Ash said. He was glad to be able to battle for the Cascade Badge.

Misty explained that that the battlefield is the pool and that they would use two Pokemon each. Ash asked Misty if he could let Magikarp swim in the pool while they battle. Misty allowed him to do so. Ash released Magikarp. He told her that she could swim around in the pool, while he battled the gym leader. Magikarp understood and went for a good swim in the pool.

Ash stood on a red platform, while Misty stood on a blue one. The battle was ready.

"Misty calls Staryu." Misty said. Her brown starfish was ready to battle. Ash asked Pikachu if it wanted to battle, but since Misty was a friend; it didn't have the heart to. So Ash called out Butterfree instead.

"Staryu use Water Gun!" Misty shouted.

"Counter with Signal Beam." Ash said. The signal beam stopped the water gun attack. "Now use Silver Wind." A wind with silver crescents flew out of Butterfree's wings and hit Staryu head on.

*'Oh dear Staryu is hurt.'* Misty thought. She was amazed that Ash's Pokemon was strong; but then again he had trained all his Pokemon really well, especially his Butterfree and Beedrill.

"Staryu use Swift." Misty said. The stars from Staryu hit Butterfree.

Misty's sisters were watching the battle from aside.

"Misty's good with this." Violet said.

"Yeah." Daisy said. "She may not have our looks, but she has better battling skills than us." Seel was enjoying the match and was clapping its fins.

"Butterfree use psychic." Ash said. Butterfree's eyes turned blue and fired a blue energy at Staryu. That hit Staryu dead on and Staryu fainted on Misty's platform.

"Oh no Staryu return." Misty said, returning Staryu to its Poke Ball. "Well Ash you battle really well. But this battle isn't over yet. Misty calls Starmie." A big purple starfish came out of the Poke Ball.

"Starmie?" Ash said, taking out the Pokedex. Starmie, the Mysterious Pokemon. The evolved form of Staryu. Its central core glows with the seven colors of the rainbow. Some people value the core as a gem.

"Butterfree return." Ash said. "Pidgeotto I choose you." Magikarp was watching the battle happening, underwater, and was happy that her trainer won the first match.

Ash and Misty were just about to have Pidgeotto and Starmie fight each other, when a large machine crashed into the gym.

"Where did that come from?!" Misty shouted.

"Haa! Haa! Haa!" Two voices said.

"Prepare for trouble." Jessie said.

"Make it double." James said.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all people within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie."

"James."

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light."

"Surrender now or prepare to fight."

"Meowth that's right." Meowth said.

"Since you're curious about our machine." James said. "We made it ourselves. And we're very proud of it." Ash realized that they were the thieves who stole those machine parts.

"Now to show you how this machine works." Meowth said pressing a button. A giant hose came out of the machine and started sucking up the water from the pool.

"This is our giant vacuum and hose machine." Jessie explained.

"Hey that's our water!" Daisy shouted.

"Give it back!" Lily shouted.

"All right." Meowth said, with a smirk. Meowth pressed another button and the hose sucked out the water, hitting Ash, Misty and her sisters. Pidgeotto took cover in the air and Starmie dived into the water.

"Now it's time to suck up the water Pokemon." Meowth said. The hose sucked up Starmie, Seel and Ash, who was also in the water.

"Oh no!" Misty said.

"Come back Seel!" Daisy said.

Magikarp saw the commotion and saw her trainer being sucked by the hose. Magikarp became angry.

*'No one sucks up my trainer and gets away with it.'* She thought. Magikarp growled then started to glow. Misty and her sisters saw the glow and watched Magikarp evolve into Gyarados.

"Wow that's amazing." Misty said, although she was a bit creeped about the Gyarados. Gyarados hit the hose with her tail and brought Ash, Seel and Starmie to the surface. Ash coughed and panting, knowing that he nearly drowned. When he realized he was sitting on a Gyarados' head, he was surprised.

"Gyarados, where did that come from?" Ash gasped. Gyarados gave a gentle roar to her trainer.

"Magikarp is that you?" Ash asked. Gyarados roared her head with happiness. Ash was amazed that his Magikarp evolved. Then he looked at Team Rocket.

"Gyarados we need to get rid of Team Rocket and their machine" he said. Team Rocket freaked from the look of the angry Gyarados.

"Use Hyper Beam!" Ash shouted. An orange beam shot out of Gyarados' mouth and sent Team Rocket and their machine flying through the ceiling.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" Team Rocket shouted, as they disappeared.

After Team Rocket disappeared, Ash was rubbing the cheek of his Gyarados.

"Gyarados you evolved to save my life, thank you." He said, with a smile. Gyarados enjoyed being stroked by her trainer. Then Ash returned her for a good rest. Misty and her sisters smiled at Ash; they all thought he looked cool with the Gyarados.

"Hey Misty what are we going to do about our match?" He asked Misty.

"There's no need to continue it." Misty said. "Your Butterfree defeated my Staryu fair and square. Then your Gyarados stopped Team Rocket from taking our Pokemon. So I present you with the Cascade Badge." Ash was happy to receive the badge.

"Thank you." He said.

"I have to say Misty." Daisy said. "You have proven to us that you are a good battler." Violet and Lily agreed to that. Misty was happy and thanked her sisters.

Just then seel came up to Misty.

"What's wrong Seel?" She asked. "I think Seel wants to go with you." Ash said. Misty asked Seel if that was true and Seel nodded.

"Okay." Misty said. "And I have some Pokemon I wish to leave here." She took out six Poke Balls from her rucksack. "In these six Poke Balls are Poliwags. I caught eight Poliwags a while after I left. Since the gym doesn't have any Poliwags yet; I figured I should leave six here for the gym, while I keep two for myself." So Misty kept Seel while her sisters kept six Poliwags. They bid farewell to Daisy, Violet and Lily and left the gym.

They met up with Brock sometime after exiting the gym. Ash told him about his Magikarp evolving and Misty told Brock about obtaining Seel.

"Wow, so a lot has happened then." Brock said.

"Yes." Ash said. "Now it's time to head for Vermilion City." So they left Cerulean City for Vermilion City.

The gang were now walking down the road to search for Vermilion City. Ash was thinking about his next gym battle.

*'Since Vermilion Gym uses electric types I'll use Sandshrew.'* He thought. Right now Ash had transferred his Spearow, Butterfree and Beedrill to Prof Oak for Clefable and Sandshrew; they needed training. A chance for Ash to train his Pokemon came to him very soon.

He ended up battling five trainers along the way and Clefable was enjoying the chance to battle. Right how Ash was battling another trainer's Ratatta.

"Clefable use mega punch." He said. Clefable's Mega Punch knocked out Ratatta in a second.

"Wow you're good." The Ratatta's trainer said. "You should battle A.J."

"Who's that?" Ash asked. The trainer explained that A.J. was a savage trainer and owned his own gym just down the path. Ash suggested the group should investigate.

They found A.J.'s gym shortly.

"Wow, nice gym." Ash exclaimed.

"Yeah and it's not even official." Brock said.

"Who goes there?" A voice demanded behind them. It was a boy, with dark green hair and a Sandshrew behind him.

"Are you A.J.?" Ash asked.

"Yes that is me." A.J said. "Are you here to challenge me?"

"Yes I am." Ash replied.

"Great this will become my 100th win." A.J said., pointing to his gum sign. It had the number 99 on it, to show that he had beaten trainers 99 times.

A.J. brought Ash to the battlefield.

"This will be a one on one match." A.J said. "Go Sandshrew!" His Sandshrew went onto the battlefield.

"Pikachu I choose you!" Ash said. Pikachu hopped onto the battlefield.

"What's Ash thinking?" Misty asked, knowing full well that Pikachu had the type disadvantage.

"I wouldn't worry Misty." Brock said. "Remember he defeated my Onix with Pikachu." Misty knew Brock was right with that.

"Sandshrew use Dig." A.J commanded. "Pikachu use Agility to run around the battlefield." Pikachu said. Pikachu ran in circles, so that Sandshrew may miss him.

"Get out of the ground." A.J. said. Sandshrew came out of the ground, but thanks to Pikachu's agility Sandshrew missed.

"Now Pikachu Iron Tail." Ash said. Pikachu's Iron Tail hit Sandshrew head on. A.J. gasped; he had never seen anything like that. Sandshrew was getting worn out from the iron tail.

"Quick use Tackle." A.J said.

"Iron Tail again." Ash said. Tackle and Iron Tail collided with each other, but Pikachu proved too strong for Sandshrew, so Sandshrew fainted. Ash had won.

When the battle was over A.J. picked up Sandshrew and asked if it was all right. Sandshrew nodded.

"I must say Ash that was amazing." A.J said. "I never thought an electric type would ever beat my Sandshrew."

"I'm just sorry that this didn't become your 100th win." Ash said.

"Ah don't worry about that." A.J said. "Besides I can just battle another trainer to earn it." Ash asked A.J. if he could see his other Pokemon. A.J. agreed and led the group to a big tent. Inside the tent there were some pokemon and what looked to be some sort of training gear. Sandshrew climbed up a ladder and dived into the pool.

"This is where I train my Pokemon." A.J explained. He saw Sandshrew get out of the pool. He whacked a whip onto the floor. "Get back into the water." Ash saw three Ratatta jumping through three hoops of fire and a Butterfree and Beedrill carrying some heavy gear.

"Wow A.J." Ash said. "You train your Pokemon well."

"Thank you Ash." A.J said. "Although I thought you were going to say that my training is harsh. Most trainers do."

"Actually I understand this sort of training." Ash said. "Since this does bring out the strength of Pokemon. But I must admit I find the whip a little bit too much." A.J. was happy with Ash and butted fists with him to show that he had found a friend in Ash. Just then an alarm clock went off in A.J.'s tent and A.J. told all his Pokemon to take a break.

While Sandshrew was having a breather, a bag from out of nowhere grabbed Sandshrew. It was Meowth; Team Rocket had watched Sandshrew's battling and wanted it to give to their boss. Meanwhile A.J. and Ash were discussing about battle strategies when A.J. notice that Sandshrew was gone.

"Where's sandshrew?" He asked.

"Maybe it went outside for a breather." Brock suggested. They were about to go have a check, when they heard screams from outside. They ran out immediately and saw Sandshrew escaping from Team Rocket. Sandshrew had used Scratch to get out of the bag and had tackled Team Rocket to get away from them.

"Hey what's the big idea?!" A.J shouted.

"It's Team Rocket!" Ash exclaimed. "They steal other people's Pokemon."

"Oh yeah?" said A.J. "well they aren't taking my pokemon. Come on Sandshrew let's battle these guys."

"If it's a fight you want." Jessie said. "We'll give you one." Jessie and James sent out Ekans and Koffing and Meowth joined in too. Jessie told Ekans to bite it and James told Koffing to sludge it and meowth planned to use Fury Swipes. But with Sandshrew rolled up into a ball it dodged Ekans and Koffing easily and became like a toy to Meowth.

"Meowth this is not the time to play!" Jessie shouted. Meowth snapped out of it and tried to bite down on Sandshrew, but sandshrew's hard body broke Meowth's teeth.

"Use Fissure!" A.J shouted. Sandshrew made the ground shake and hit Ekans, Koffing and Meowth really hard. Meowth was terrified; "I forfeit the match!" He, Ekans and Koffing ran away together.

"Come back here!" Jessie and James shouted together, running after him. A.J. had won the match and the 99 on the sign changed to 100, which meant A.J. had finally beaten 100 trainers.

A.J. thanked the group for all of their help.

"What will you do now?" Ash asked.

"Well now I am going to collect gym badges." A.J replied. "I hope to battle you again one day Ash." He and Ash shook hands.

"I cannot wait for that." Ash replied. Ash, Misty and Brock bid farewell to A.J. and went on their way.

Ash, Misty and Brock were still on their way, but they were having trouble with the mist that surrounded them.

"Hmm I don't think we should continue for a while." Misty said.

"I agree." Ash added. "This mist is so thick it's hard to see where you're going." Brock suggested they stop and have a break until the mist cleared up. Ash and Misty agreed to that plan. Brock set out some cerulean coffee, some tea and prune juice. Ash and Misty gladly accepted the tea, but they were too young for the coffee and none of them liked prune juice. Brock also said we would make some french crepes, but he needed water and firewood for a fire. Misty offered to fetch the water and Ash offered to fetch some firewood.

While Ash and Pikachu gathered some firewood, they saw two Pokemon in their way. "They are a couple of Nidoran." Ash said. He checked them on his pokedex: Nidoran, the Poison Pin Pokemon. Its horn is larger than the female's and it's poison is for protection. Nidoran, the Poison Pin Pokemon. Even though it's horn is smaller than the male's it's poison can still be fatal.

"Quick Pikachu let's get them use Thunderbolt." Ash said. The thunderbolt shocked the Nidoran couple well. Ash threw two Poke Balls at them and caught them. The Poke Balls went to Prof Oak.

Ash and Pikachu were just about to head back to Brock and Misty with the firewood, when they heard voices. They saw a boy running on a treadmill, with four older boys surrounding him. The four older boys were asking the younger boy some questions about Pidgey. When the younger boy got one of the questions wrong, the older boys pushed him off the treadmill, called him useless and left him on the ground. Ash and Pikachu saw the commotion and went to see if he was all right.

"Ah it's okay." The boy said. "This happens to me all the time. I'm Joe by the way."

Ash was curious to what Joe was talking about, so he invited Joe to share crepes and tea with him and his friends. Joe accepted the invitation. Ash led Joe back to where Brock and Misty were and they all shared crepes and tea. "So what did you mean about you being tossed onto the ground all the time?" Ash asked Joe. Joe explained that he was a student of Pokemon Tech.

"Pokemon Tech is a boarding school where you learn about Pokemon." Joe said. "And there you can earn badges, without traveling to get them." He then explained that the older boys were trying to help him understand about Pidgey.

"Since I saw them push you onto the ground just because you got an answer wrong." Ash said. "I don't call that helping." Misty asked Joe if he could take them to see this Pokemon Tech. Joe did so. By the time they got to Pokemon Tech the mist had finally cleared. Pokemon Tech was a massive building.

Joe gave them a tour. He explained that the lessons are really difficult and that some students were still behind everyone else.

"What grade are you in?" Misty asked.

"I'm still a novice, but I have two badges." Joe said. He showed them some sort of machine that showed them that he could easily beat the water pokemon of Cerulean Gym with his pokemon Weepinbell. This made Misty cross.

"Look here you." She said. "This machine is nothing compared to real Pokemon battles. As a gym leader of Cerulean Gym I challenge you to a real battle." Joe accepted.

Joe and Misty got ready to fight in one of the training rooms.

"Misty calls Starmie." Misty said.

"Okay and I choose Weepinbell." Joe said. Starmie hit Weepinbell with just one tackle and Weepinbell was knocked out immediately.

"No way!" Joe gasped. "how did my grass type lose to your water type?"

"Because Starmie has been trained more than your Weepinbell." A voice said. It was a beautiful girl with long hair and the four boys from before were with her.

"It's true that grass beats water, but it depends on the experience of your pokemon."

"Who are you?" Misty asked.

"I am Giselle." The girl said. "The top student of Pokemon Tech. And I wish to battle you now."

Misty kept her Starmie out and Giselle sent out a Graveler. Brock was shocked by that choice, water types beat rock types. But Graveler easily defeated Starmie with a tackle attack, and wasn't even dazed by Starmie's water gun attack. Misty couldn't believe her eyes.

"There now you see Joe." Giselle said with a smirk. "My Graveler was more experienced than Starmie, which is the reason it won."

"Hang on a minute!" Ash said. "There is more to Pokemon training than levels." He introduced himself to Giselle.

"How many badges and pokemon do you have?" She asked.

"I have two badges and seven pokemon." Ash answered. Giselle and the four boys laughed and called that weak. Ash got cross and asked Giselle to battle him.

"I accept." She said.

Ash sent out Pikachu, while Giselle sent out a Cubone.

"Cubone hit that mouse with Bone Club." Giselle said. "Quick Pikachu use Quick Attack to dodge" said Ash. Quick Attack dodged Bone Club easily.

"Use Iron Tail." Ash said. When Iron Tail hit Cubone, it hurt a lot.

"Use Bonemerang." Giselle said. Pikachu let the bone follow him, but Pikachu led the bone back to Cubone. Pikachu jumped onto Cubone's helmet and the bone ended up hitting Cubone and made it loose. Giselle was surprised that Pikachu actually beat Cubone. Ash decided to give Giselle, Joe and the four boys a lesson.

"Let me tell you something." He said. "You should never underestimate any type of pokemon. Sure ground types beat electric types. But electric types can learn moves that can defeat rock and ground types. Just like water types can learn moves that defeat grass types." The students were amazed by this; this was something they were never taught at Pokemon Tech.

After Ash's lecture Joe and Giselle decided that they both had a lot to learn about Pokemon training. Joe decided to leave Pokemon Tech and go home to start a real pokemon journey with his Weepinbell. As for Ash, Misty and Brock; they bid farewell to Giselle and Joe and continued their own journey.