Kanto - Pewter City

The next day Ash and Misty returned to the gym, and Misty went to the audience box with Lucario, Metapod and Pikachu. Misty wished him best of luck for his battle before joining the siblings who had come to watch out of curiosity. They had watched Ash's performance on TV and they were curious how he will fare in a gym match.

Forest, "This is an official battle between challenger Ash from Pallet town and Gym leader Brock for the boulder badge. Please choose your Pokemon."

Brock, "Let's go Graveller!"

Ash, "Let's do this Mankey."

Forest, "Let the battle begin!"

Ash, "Focus energy!"

Brock, "Rock throw!"

Ash, "Dodge and use iron tail!"

Mankey rushed forward dodging the rocks being thrown towards him and hit the rock type with a powerful iron tail, making him grunt in pain.

Brock, "Are you okay Graveller?"

Graveller stood up wincing and nodded.

Brock, "Alright earthquake!"

Ash, "Mankey use your tail to jump high and come down really hard!"

Brock, "Defense curl!"

Mankey's tail glowed as he used it as a spring to push himself high in the sky before coming down right above Graveller hitting him once again. The speed of coming down fast plus a steel type attack affected Graveller who shook in pain after receiving the steel type attack from the little monkey Pokemon a second time. Despite the defense curl which lessened the affect of the attack, he was still hurt which surprised him but respected the power the young Pokemon had. Mankey started to glow and change getting surprised gasps from the audience.

Ash, "Mankey congratulations, you are a Primeape. Now let's do a drain punch!"

Brock, "Dig, do not let him touch you!"

Graveller escaped by going underground, as Ash scanned his Pokemon and learned his Primeape learned a very interesting attack after evolving.

Ash, "Primeape keep the drain punch ready, for now earthquake!"

Brock, "Oh no Graveller, be careful!"

Primeape released a powerful earthquake forcing Graveller out of his hiding place. Even though the ground type attack did not affect him much, the drain punch he received took away most of his strength.

Ash, "Ice punch!"

Brock, "Self destruct!"

Primeape followed the drain punch with ice punch while Graveller self destructed and both Pokemon were knocked out of the match.

Forest, "Graveller and Primeape are unable to battle, the first match is a draw! Challengers pick your next Pokemon!"

Ash hugged Primeape, "That was amazing, and congratulations on evolving. You did really well."

Primeape stood proud as Ash and the others praised him, despite not winning and ending in a draw.

Ash, "I'll need to get Red and his Primeape a gift for teaching you the basics of such powerful attacks. Now return big guy, get some rest!"

Brock, "Not bad Ash, you gave us a run for our money! Let's go Onix!"

Ash, "You are pretty tough yourself. Feebas, I choose you!"

Onix roared as he came out and Feebas created a half bowl of water using hypnosis and looked at the female rock snake. The two females sized each other up and knew they would be a strong opponent.

Brock, "Onix, dragon breath."

Ash, "Feebas counter with your own dragon breath."

The green smoke hit each other before disappearing from the arena. Misty was watching surprised the fish Pokemon could use such a powerful dragon type attack and wondered if Magikarp could learn too.

Brock, "Onix, sand storm!"

Ash, "Feebas, raise the water with confusion."

Feebas used confusion to manipulate the water and form a wall causing the sand to mix with it and make a muddy puddle. Feebas grinned and jumped into the mud puddle, relieved she did not have to worry about not having a place to move around. Onix on the the other hand was irritated, her trainer's battle field had become a mud field.

Brock, "Onix, dig, try to get below her!"

Ash, "Feebas, relax and focus, like you trained with Lucario."

Feebas closed her eyes and tried to see where her opponent was. After a while she felt Onix coming up behind her. As Onix came out ready to attack she shot a hydro pump straight to her face getting a roar of pain from the rock type.

Ash, "Tackle Feebas!"

Feebas tackled Onix and knocked her out of the battle. She started to glow after that and become longer and bigger, she was almost half the size of Onix much to Ash's pleasant surprise. Misty was meanwhile looking at Milotic with hearts on her eyes.

Forest, "Onix is unable to battle, Ash wins the second round!"

Ash, "Feebas you are a Milotic now, congratulations. Man three of my Pokemon evolved thus week. It must be my lucky day! Return big girl."

Milotic shook her head, she wanted to battle more making Ash blink before giggling, "I understand you are curious about what you can do and I promise we will figure it out. Now however it's someone else's turn, we promised Fearrow a chance remember?"

Milotic trilled in agreement a little reluctantly but agreed to watch instead of battling again. Brock smiled seeing how close Ash was with his Pokemon as he comforted and returned Onix to her pokeball.

Brock, "I must say Ash, you impress me a lot."

Ash, "Huh? Really?"

Brock nodded, "Not only did you train your Pokemon well but love them as much too. It can be seen by how much they still listen to you even after evolving."

Ash made an understanding sound, "Ah, I think Pokemon will listen to the trainers even after evolving. It just depends on how they were treated before they evolve."

Feebas trilled in agreement.

Brock, "I would advise you to get your Milotic tested for the King gene. She looks like she may have it. Now then, let's go Golbat!"

Ash's eyes twinkled, "I will! You have both Zubat and Golbat? Cool!"

Brock, "Thanks!"

Ash, "Let's go Fearrow!"

Forest, "Let the match begin!"

Ash, "Fearrow, quick attack!"

Brock, "Golbat agility!"

The two flying types flew around each other at high speed trying to take the other down.

Ash, "Agility!"

Fearrow sped up and hit Golbat making him wince.

Brock, "You okay Golbat, use poison fang!"

Ash, "Steel ace!"

Brock, "Huh?"

Fearrow meanwhile combined steel wing and aerial ace causing Golbat a lot of damage. Ash however noticed Fearrow got hit by poison as well, he would have to finish it quickly.

Brock, "Hyper beam!"

Ash, "Mirror move!"

Two hyperbeams collided against each other over head and both flying types were breathing hard.

Ash, "Steel wing!"

Brock, "Counter with your steel wing!"

The two collided and fell to the ground, once the smoke cleared both Pokemon were knocked out.

Forest, "We have a second double knock out, however since Ash still have one Pokemon standing, he wins the match."

It was quite before people started to cheer, even the trio who had sneaked in half way through the battle. Jessie had to admit, the kid gave her an idea of what to do for her own battle in the evening. Lucario, Pikachu, Metapod, Misty, Cindy and the rest of the siblings joined Ash, as he hugged Fearrow and thanked him for the awesome match.

Brock, "That was actually a fun battle, Ash. I really enjoyed it. As proof of your victory I present to you, your boulder badge and 1000 pokedollars."

Ash grinned, "Thanks Brock. Look guys, we won! We won the first badge!"

Milotic trilled and Lucario, Metapod and Pikachu cheered. They left for the centre together and Ash wondered where the trio could be after leaving the forest. He realized, he had not actually seen them face to face yet and wondered if he ever would. It would be really cool to meet Jessie, James and Meowth without having to worry about them trying to steal his Pokemon. They had quite a large fan following too.

Lucario nudged him and he shook his head, 'Maybe in the future, I might meet them. At least they have a better life.'

Nurse Joy returned their pokeballs soon enough and Ash had decided to send Feebas, now Milotic back to the lab, but now decided to do that before leaving the city. Metapod had agreed to wait to be caught just a bit longer if it meant more time with his friends now family. They spent the day relaxing while Misty took off like a bullet, when Ash mentioned the fossilized Omanyte shells he saw in the museum, much to his and everyone's amusement.

Ash, "She really loves water Pokemon, huh?"

Lucario nodded, -Indeed, I pity her future mate. They'll have to rival with water type Pokemon.-

Ash laughed, "Or he/she may be a water type fanatic as well. Now come on Primeape, Milotic and Fearrow, you guys worked really hard today and won the badge. Let me give you guys a treat first. Then the others will follow."

The Pokemon brightened up at the word treat, as treats from Ash usually meant extra massages or special bath time with their favorite soaps and oils. It seems they would get both this time and promptly went to the bathroom adjacent to their room in the centre.

Lucario, -I'll help in drying them after you finish cleaning them up.-

Ash, "Thanks Lucario! Alright Primeape first, then Milotic, then Fearrow, followed by Metapod, Kakuna, Pikachu and finally Lucario."

The Pokemon trilled, squeaked and sighed in relaxation as they enjoyed the attention they received from their human partner. By the time they had finished, it was late in the afternoon and their stomachs were grumbling because of hunger. Ash decided to try out one of Pewter city's cafe for trainers and Pokemon and after selecting a table and paying a fee he decided to let the Pokemon choose what they want to eat first before picking his own, which was mixed fried rice with spicy wings. As he sat at the table he was approached by two people and a Meowth, Chimecho, Hoppip, Chansey, Wobbuffet and Seviper.

James in a rich male disguise, "Hello~ young man. May we join you?"

Ash blinked and blinked again, "Sure the table is big enough."

Jessie had styled her hair in curls making her look like a rich young woman, "Thank you dear, you are very sweet!"

Ash, "No problem, my name is Ash! What are yours?"

James smiled, "My name is Jameson, nice to meet you!"

Jessie, "I'm Jessilina."

Meowth was looking at them with judgemental looks. Ash noticed but didn't comment on the fact, he knew they were in disguise. How would he explain, how he knew about them anyway? Say, he saw them on TV in an anime, yeah..... He rather not get locked up for being a lunatic.

Ash, "Nice to meet you. Are you new here? Or a local?"

Jessilina grinned, "I'm here to challenge the gym, my battle is later in the evening. I thought I'll eat first before facing the gym leader."

Jameson, "I'm here to support her and help her train."

Ash smiled, "That's really nice of you Jameson, so who belongs to who?"

Jessilina claimed Chansey, Wobbuffet and Seviper as her Pokemon, she hoped to catch either a Beedrill or Butterfree herself some day. Jameson said the other Pokemon were his and he has an Arcanine but he was currently with his parents watching over them. Ash wondered if James's parents were similar to the one in the anime but did not voice his question.

Jameson, "I know what you are thinking, no my parents are not hurt or anything. And no I, we don't exactly have the best family as children. However they are still parents and I worry about them. One of my fiances tried to swindle them of their money and property once so I left my Arcanine to keep them safe."

Ash's eyes sharpened, "What?"

Jessilina, "Don't worry dear I set them straight. It was quiet fun doing so as well."

Ash looked at them dubiously, "If you say so."

Jameson smiled, "You are very sweet kid worrying about this old man, but do not fret, we got it handled."

Jessilina changed the topic, "Say are you going to be here longer?"

Ash nodded, "I was planning on staying today and tomorrow to stock up before leaving for Cerulean city."

Jessilina, "Great! We'll meet you on the day after tomorrow before you leave then."

Ash, "Huh? Why though?"

Jameson, "Well you are a sweet child and by looking at the shiny and healthy coat your Pokemon have, we can tell you truly care about Pokemon too. So if it's not much trouble, we would like to go with you up to Cerulean city."

Ash, "Thank you for the compliment! Let me talk to my traveling partner then, though I don't think she would disagree to it."

Jessilina, "Great, well I'm done eating, I better go get some last minute preparations done."

Ash watched them as they left the diner, "They are not so bad, are they?"

Lucario nodded, -Yes, their auras are kind and excited.-

Ash blinked, "That's good isn't it?"

Lucario nodded and spoke to himself, -Yes! They are trust worthy at least when it comes to you it seems.-

Ash, "Lucario?"

Lucario, -We need to inform the others.-

Ash, "Tonight!"

Jessie in the meantime had her gym battle with Brock and defeated him by using her Chansey and Wobbuffet. Brock wondered if the latest badge of new trainers were simply promising or was it only this three. He congratulated her on winning the badge using Pokemon most would never think of using in a rock gym and flirted with her a bit making Jessie blush while James and Meowth snickered behind her. Golbat put a stop to it by paralysing Brock and giving the badge and money to Jessie. Jessie grinned proud of herself and her Pokemon as she took the badge and the money. Meowth had to admit having extra cash, even if it was a few pokedollars less than their pay was not a bad thing. The boss didn't seem to mind either as it would help them get closer to other powerful trainers if done right and also keep a closer eye on the kid without sneaking around and looking like pedophiles.