Well, I'm back. Apologies for the delay, there's a full explanation on my profile page. Thank you for all the reviews, favourites, and alerts, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

"Oh, Ash, isn't she adorable!"

Ash cringed, even as Budew beamed at the screen. "Mom…"

He was really regretting doing this in the middle of the Pokémon Centre. Yeah, he'd promised to call as soon as he could, but did moms have to be so loud? He ignored the grins he could see out the corner of his eye, and focused on his mom's smiling face.

"She's doing well," he told her. "She's getting really strong."

Budew preened under the attention and Ash rubbed her head. She deserved it. It had taken the whole of the journey to Cerulean, but they had Absorb and Poison Sting down. Neither were strong moves, but when combined with her array of powders they had been enough to take down most of the wild Pokémon they had encountered.

"I'm glad to hear it," said Delia, with a smile. "She certainly looks very happy. And how is Abra getting on?"

Abra released himself from his Pokéball long enough to wave a claw at the screen, then returned to his nap. Ash scratched his head. "He's okay, I guess."

"Ash?"

Ash glanced down at the Pokéball on his belt and sighed. "He's been getting kinda frustrated."

Ash thought his partner had been doing great. He could do loads more Teleporting before getting tired, and he was gaining power and accuracy with telekinesis as well. It was just the pure Psychic-attacks that were the problem, but it was a problem that Ash just didn't know how to handle.

Delia listened with a sympathetic frown, and when Ash finished she sighed. "It sounds like you're already doing what you can, Ash. You're building up his stamina, and I'm sure that will make it easier for him to develop his techniques. You'll both just have to be patient."

Ash pulled a face, and they both laughed. Patience had never been one of Ash's strong points. For Abra, though, he would try.

"Are you planning to challenge the Gym now, Ash?" Delia asked, once she'd stopped laughing. "I thought you wanted to catch all the Pokémon you could."

Ash frowned as he tried to think how to explain himself. "I was going to," he said slowly. "But then I had that battle with Paul."

He couldn't help scowling at the memory of his defeat. He had done his best, but it hadn't been good enough. Delia's eyes softened, but she let him gather his thoughts without interrupting.

"I lost because I hadn't spent enough time with my Pokémon," Ash said finally. "I shouldn't have let Abra battle when I know he couldn't attack properly, and I should have had more than one strategy to use with Budew." It didn't matter that he had only been a trainer for two days at that point. His Pokémon were his partners, and they needed him to be better. Ash nodded to himself and looked back at his mom. "I'm not going to let any of them get hurt because I was too busy trying to catch lots of different Pokémon."

Delia gave him a warm smile. "That sounds like a very good way of thinking, Ash. Oh, my baby boy is growing up!"

"Mom," Ash groaned.

Delia laughed. "So, are you sure you're ready for the Gym?"

Budew let out an indignant chirp. Ash grinned. "We won't know until we try, but I think so. We've worked really hard."

"I can tell," said Delia fondly. "I'm so proud of you, Ash."

Ash felt his cheeks heat up, and he ducked his head. "Thanks, Mom," he mumbled.

He ended the call a few minutes later feeling much better. The Pokémon Centre was fairly empty now, and so Ash had space to set Budew on the sofa next to him and send Abra out. His Starter shot him an annoyed look.

'Am I going to get any sleep today?'

Ash eyed him. "The last fifteen hours weren't enough?"

He was only half teasing. He wasn't going to fight a Gym Battle if his partner wasn't on top form. Abra tilted his head to one side, then shrugged.

'Fine. Are we ready?'

Budew nodded vigorously, almost falling off the seat in her excitement. Ash looked at the two, and his heart swelled with pride. He'd anticipated catching a lot more Pokémon before tackling a Gym, but that was before he'd battled Paul and realised just how hard he would have to work to be a good trainer. He was definitely going to catch more Pokémon in the future, but for now Abra and Budew needed all the attention he could give them.

'Ash?'

Ash shook himself and grinned. "Yeah. Let's do this."

The Cerulean Gym was easy to find. Ash had checked with Nurse Joy while he registered for the Indigo League, and was glad he had when she told him that the Gym had not one, but four certified Leaders. They all specialised in Water-types, and they would all scale their challenge appropriately for a first badge challenge. Abra and Budew knew what they were doing, and Ash was ready to earn his first badge.

There was just one slight problem.

"How can they all be doing dance shows?"

The teenager on the desk rolled her eyes. "Come back tomorrow and you can ask them."

"But this is a Gym!" Ash exploded. "They're supposed to be battling, not dancing!"

"They can do what they want," the girl said, with a shrug. "Don't like it, go somewhere else."

Ash opened his mouth, but a mental nudge checked him. 'What?'

'Yelling at her isn't going to help,' Abra pointed out. 'Now are we going to wait for them to finish, go and train, or go somewhere else?' He paused. 'And go and sit down before she decides you're even weirder than she thought.'

Ash blinked and realised that the receptionist was eyeing him with open wariness. He had probably looked like an idiot just standing there. Blushing, he slumped over to the seats against the wall and released his Pokémon. Abra settled on the chair next to him while Budew hopped onto his lap, and Ash forced a smile.

"You heard all that?" he asked her. She nodded, and he rubbed a hand over his face. "So what do we do now?"

There wasn't much point in going anywhere else now that they were here, but Ash chafed at the thought of having to spend however many hours just waiting around. He wanted to get his first badge! The automatic doors hissed open behind him as someone hurried in, probably to see the stupid show, but Ash was more preoccupied in digging his PokéDex out of his pocket. If he had to sit around, he might as well go over his strategy again.

"Hey, you!"

Ash glanced round, and suddenly found himself face to face with a very angry girl. Not being an idiot, he promptly stepped back. "What?"

The girl folded her arms. "You're here for a Gym Battle?"

"Yeah, I am," said Ash warily. "But all the leaders are doing some show, so..."

He trailed off as the girl threw her hands in the air with an explosive snort. "They told me one of them was going to be available for challenges! Of all the stupid, irresponsible..."

Ash glanced at Abra, and was relieved when his starter looked as lost as he felt. Clearly realising that they knew nothing, the girl turned her glare on the receptionist.

"Why didn't you call and tell me there was a challenger?"

"I forgot," the teenager protested. "What? You've only been back, like, a day."

The girl pinched the bridge of her nose, grumbling something under her breath that Ash didn't catch, before spinning back to face him. "You, what's your name?"

"I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town," said Ash quickly. He waved a hand at Abra and Budew. "These are my partners."

"Great. So, Ash, do you still want a Gym battle?"

"Of course I do!" Ash exclaimed. "But there's no one for me to have a battle with!"

'Ash, I think-' Abra began, but the girl's snort cut him off.

"Weren't you listening? My name is Misty, and I'm the fourth Cerulean Gym Leader!"

Ash gaped at her. "You?"

Her rather cocky smirk vanished, and she glared at him. "Yes, me. What's so strange about that?"

"But you can't be a Gym Leader," Ash argued. "You're really young." She couldn't be more than a year older than he was, and he was only just starting his journey.

Misty's eyes narrowed, and she folded her arms. "I might be young, but I'm just as qualified to run this Gym as my sisters. And that should tell you something about how good I am." She shrugged, and started to turn away. "But if you don't want to have a battle after all..."

"No, wait, I do!" Ash yelped. "I'm sorry. I really want to get first badge."

For a long moment, Misty didn't move. Ash's heart sank. When Misty did turn back, though, she was grinning. "Well, you can have your battle," she said. "But there's no way you're going to win."

Ash blinked, then felt the flicker of Abra's amusement and grinned back. "Yeah? We'll see about that!"

Budew bounced into his arms with a delighted squeal, and Ash couldn't resist throwing her up into the air. Abra caught her in a psionic grasp with a tolerant sigh and set her back down, and Ash laughed. There was no way they were gonna lose!

Misty led them through the Gym to one of the smaller pools at the rear of the building, muttering all the while about stupid sisters and their stupid shows.

"If we have to go in here, its probably just as well it's your first badge," she said, as she pushed open the door. "Some people trying for their last badges have really strong Pokémon that could cause too much damage to a small pool like this."

"I have powerful Pokémon," said Ash indignantly.

Misty raised an eyebrow at him. "Powerful enough to bring down the roof?"

'Don't even think about it,' said Abra shortly.

Ash opened his mouth, then saw the way Abra's tail was twitching and caught himself. He reached up to rub his partner's head. 'Don't worry,' he thought. 'You're gonna do great.'

'Like the last time?'

'That was a week ago,' Ash pointed out. 'We've done loads of training since.' He smiled. 'We can do this. I know it.'

Abra didn't reply, but some of the niggling anxiety at the back of Ash's mind faded and that was answer enough.

The moment was broken by a whistle from across the pool.

"Hey! Are we having a battle or not?"

Ash winced, and ran to the platform opposite Misty's. The Gym Leader was bouncing a Pokéball in her hand, and looked like she was completely in control. "This battle will consist of two Pokémon each. You can switch whenever you want, but I can't. Any questions?"

"No," Ash called. "Let's do this!"

Misty grinned. She threw the 'ball, and Ash caught a split-second glimpse of a sleek Goldeen before it vanished under the water. Ash grabbed Budew's 'ball from his belt, then hesitated as he took a proper look at the battlefield. Abra cocked his head to one side.

'Those are very small platforms.'

Ash scratched his head. "Yeah," he muttered. Another thought struck him, and he frowned. "Hey, can Budew swim? Can you swim?"

Abra gave him an incredulous look. 'It's a bit late to be worrying about that now, isn't it?'

"Ash, get on with it!"

Ash shrugged. "Guess we'll just have to improvise."

'Oh, joy.'

Ash ignored him. He took careful aim, and Budew materialised on the platform nearest them. She squeaked happily at him, unfazed by the fact that they were fighting for their first badge, until Ash had to smile. "You can do this!"

Misty shook her head. "If you're finally ready, then let's go!"

Adrenaline flooded Ash's body. "All right! Budew, use Absorb!"

Green energy gathered around Budew's leaves, but she suddenly paused and shot him a questioning look.

'What is she supposed to use Absorb on?' Abra supplied dryly.

Goldeen was nowhere to be seen. Ash opened his mouth, then closed it again. This might be more tricky than he had expected. Opposite him, Misty rolled her eyes.

"Did you think about what a Gym specialising in Water-types would involve at all?"

"Yes!" Ash shot back, stung. "And we'll prove it."

Misty didn't look convinced. Nor did she look worried. "Sure. Okay, Goldeen, Horn Attack!"

A plume of water erupted to Ash's left, and Goldeen shot towards Budew, horn blazing white.

"Budew, dodge and powders!" Ash yelped.

He had been expecting the attack, but he was still only just in time. Budew sprang sideways, dodging the horn by a breath, and launched a glistening cloud of powders into the air right in front of Goldeen. The Water-type hit the water with an ungainly splash, and Misty pursed her lips.

"Not bad," she said. "But not good enough!"

Goldeen broke the surface just long enough to demonstrate that all the powder had been washed from her scales, and Ash scowled. He had hoped they'd would take effect fast enough for that not to be an issue.

"We're not out of tricks yet. Poison Sting, Budew, as much as you can!"

Budew obeyed immediately, jumping into the air and launching a storm of stings into the water.

"More!" Ash urged. Goldeen was fast, but if they could get it at least once it would make things a lot easier. Misty was starting to look worried, which could only mean he was on the right track.

Abra suddenly twitched. 'You got her.'

Ash blinked. "I did? Wait, is you telling me that cheating?"

'I don't see how,' Abra huffed, but a second later Goldeen resurfaced, and the sight of the stings embedded in her side made the question redundant. Ash didn't waste the opportunity.

"Now use Absorb!"

Budew gathered the energy faster now that she had something to target, but even poisoned as she was, Goldeen was still faster and she vanished back under the water. Budew's attack fizzled out against the surface. Ash groaned. "Come on!"

Misty grinned at him. "Type advantage isn't everything, Ash," she called. "You sure you prepared enough?"

Ash gritted his teeth. "Poison Sting again, Budew," he said. "We need to drive her out of the water."

Budew nodded, and jumped into the air to spray the water's surface with stings, but there was no sign of the Goldeen. Misty shook her head.

"That won't work a second time," she said. "Haven't you got anything else?"

Ash scowled. How was he supposed to attack when Goldeen wouldn't come out? Sure, she was poisoned, but that would still give her too much time to fight back. If only there was a way of getting her out of the water...

The thought struck trainer and Pokémon at the same instant, and Ash looked back at Misty. "Wait, I can switch, right?"

Misty's eyes flickered between him and Abra, and she sighed. "I did say so."

"Awesome," said Ash with a grin. "Time to take a rest, Budew!" His Grass-type disappeared back into her Pokéball, and Ash glanced at Abra. "You ready, buddy?"

Abra's tail was flicking from side to side again, but he nodded and floated forwards. He remained motionless for a moment as he concentrated, then abruptly waved a claw. The furthest platform suddenly flipped upside down, sending a stunned and startled fish flying into the air.

"That was awesome, Abra!" Ash yelled. "Now don't let it back in the water!"

Goldeen came to a halt in midair, and Abra spared Ash a look. 'That was the plan, yes.'

Ash laughed. Now all they had to do was Before he could say as much though, Goldeen gave one final shudder and fell still.

Silence fell. Abra looked at Goldeen, then at Ash, and shrugged. 'Well, I'm not complaining.'

Ash rolled his eyes, but he was in too good a mood to mind his partner's laziness. He was halfway to his first badge!

Misty pulled a face as she returned her Pokémon. "Nice work on the poisoning," she said begrudgingly. "I guess having to keep out of the way of your attacks made it spread faster. And you know your types too." Her eyes gleamed. "But you're not the only one with Psychic-types."

She grabbed a Pokéball, then paused. "Wait, first badge. Oops." She switched the Pokéball for another, and tossed it. "Well, let's see how you deal with this. Come on out, Staryu!"

Ash squinted at the brown, star-shaped Pokémon that materialised. 'Okay. You know anything about Staryu?'

'Why would I?'

'You act like you know everything,' Ash grumbled, as he dug his PokéDex out of his pocket. He scanned the entry and frowned. 'Huh? It's not a Psychic-type? Never mind, it's not a Dark or Ghost-type either, you'll be fine.'

'Thanks for the vote of confidence.'

Unlike Goldeen, Staryu remained on the platform opposite the one Abra was hovering five feet above. Ash shivered. The gleaming red jewel was strangely unsettling.

"All right, Ash," Misty called. "If you can beat Staryu, you'll have won your first badge."

"All right!" Ash cheered. "There's no way we're gonna lose, right, Abra?"

"We'll see about that," said Misty. "Staryu is one of my strongest Pokémon. Right, Staryu, let's start things off with Bubblebeam!"

Abra promptly blinked out of existence. He reappeared behind Staryu, and unleashed a burst of energy that sent the Water-type staggering.

"Behind you!" Misty warned belatedly, but Abra had already Teleported away. Ash glanced round for him, until a mental sigh filled his mind.

'Above you. Way above. No, don't look!'

Ash blushed, and forced himself to keep his eyes on Staryu. 'You got a plan?'

'Keep doing this? I keep trying to pick it up so I can throw it, but it's fighting me. It must have some Psychic power of its own.'

'That's not good,' said Ash, frowning. 'How long can you keep this up?' They had tried to work on Abra's stamina issues, but a week wasn't long enough to have made much of a difference. Then he groaned as Staryu avoided the next Psychic blast by diving into the water. "Not again!"

Abra flickered back to hover in front of him. 'Do you want to switch back to Budew?'

Ash chewed on his lip. It wasn't an option he liked, but he didn't really have many others. He opened his mouth, then paused as the floor shuddered. Water splashed out of the pool, soaking his retainers, and he glanced at Misty. "Woah. Your Staryu is strong."

Another tremor sent both of them stumbling, and Misty shook her head. "That's not us." Her eyes widened, but before she could say anything, the wall exploded.

There was no time to think. Ash grabbed Abra and threw himself to the floor. Concrete and plaster rained down around them; a lump the size of his fist cracked Ash on the leg, and he twisted to keep his partner out of the way of the falling debris. His mind was spinning with shock and fear, and it was all he could do to hold on to Abra and pray to whatever might be listening that they would be okay.

It seemed like an age but could only have been a few seconds before the chaos subsided. Ash tentatively raised his head.

"What-" he broke off as the dust made him cough, but could still feel Abra's concern blazing painfully bright in his mind.

'Ash?'

'I'm fine. You?'

Then the dust settled enough that Ash saw what had caused the explosion, and his jaw dropped. Abra followed his gaze.

'Is...is that a giant mechanical Meowth?'

Ash barely noticed Budew popping out of her 'ball to see what was going on. Two people in their late teens, a girl with long dark red hair and a blue-haired boy, both dressed in white uniforms, were standing on the Meowth's shoulders, chanting some weird motto, and -

"Did that Meowth just talk?" he demanded. "That's so cool!" He glanced at Abra. "How come you can't do that?"

'Ash, focus! They just broke down the wall!' He pointed a claw. 'And what's Misty doing?'

Ash looked, and saw the Gym Leader stalking over to the newcomers. "Dunno, but we'd better help!"

He scooped Budew up into his arms, and sprinted round the pool to join the group. He wasn't entirely surprised to find Misty shouting.

"- told you to stop following me!"

"What's going on?" Ash demanded, but his question went unanswered as the older girl laughed.

"Nice try, but we're not going to stop until we get that precious Starmie of yours."

"You tell her, Jessie," the boy said. "The Boss is the only person who deserves such a powerful Pokémon."

Misty let out a wordless snarl of frustration and turned to Ash. "Ash, meet the most useless Team Rocket cell in the world. They tried to rob a Pokémon Centre while I was there, and since they only have Poison-type Pokémon, my Starmie was able to stop them. And now they want it and won't leave us alone!"

Ash stared at her, then at Team Rocket. "That's crazy! You can't steal her Pokémon! You shouldn't steal any Pokémon!"

"This twerp's even worse than the first one," the Meowth growled. "Seeings as you're here, you can hand over the Abra an' the baby Grass thing too."

"Ooh, I know what the Grass-type is," the boy interrupted. "It's a Budew, I used to see lots of them in my grandparents' garden in Sinnoh-"

"We don't care, James," Jessie snapped. "It's rare, so we're taking it."

Ash would be the first to admit that he wasn't always great at keeping his temper. Everyone had told him about it, from his mom to Professor Oak. He wasn't great at staying mad though, so it didn't usually matter too much.

The anger he felt as he listened to Team Rocket planning to steal his Pokémon, his friends, was different. It bubbled up from deep inside, but instead of making him lose control he found himself focusing better than ever.

He would do whatever it took to protect his friends.

"Hey, Misty," he said. "I think I've had enough of these guys."

Misty caught his eye, and gave him a grim smile. "You and me both. Starmie, let's go!"

A large purple Pokémon with an even more sparkly jewel than Staryu's appeared next to Abra. Staryu hopped up to it's other side, and Ash took a deep breath. "Be careful, guys," he whispered.

Budew glanced back at him and nodded, her usual exuberance quelled for once. Abra said nothing, but warm reassurance filled Ash's mind and it steadied him. "You guys get out of here," he called. "Go bother someone else. You're not getting our Pokémon."

To his surprise, Jessie and James laughed.

"Look at them, all ready to fight," Jessie cooed.

"All ready for something," James agreed, with a snigger.

Ash frowned, but Misty gasped. "Everyone look out!"

She was too late. A panel of the Meowth slid down and a large net shot out. Before Ash could so much as blink, all four Pokémon had been dragged inside the machine. The panel slammed shut.

"No!" Ash screamed. Not his Pokémon. He couldn't lose his Pokémon. "Abra! Budew!"

"Give them back!" Misty demanded, but the Rockets just laughed.

"Finders keepers," Meowth jeered. "What a haul we've got for the boss today!"

Ash saw red. "Give me back my Pokémon!"

He lunged forwards, not knowing what he was going to do but knowing he had to do something, only to nearly trip over his own feet as a deafening crack echoed through the wrecked room. Ash spun round, and stared.

Abra looked nearly as exhausted as he had the day they escaped from the Spearow, but his mind was thrumming with satisfaction.

'What kind of morons think a cage can stop a Teleporter?'

Ash laughed, and it was bordering on hysterical but he didn't care. He caught up Budew and Abra in his arms and hugged them tight. "I thought I'd lost you."

'Not yet,' said Abra quietly. 'Not ever, if I have anything to say about it.'

Ash could only hug him close.

"Starmie! Staryu!" Misty looked up from her own Pokémon and beamed at Abra. "Nice work!"

Abra waved weakly, and let his head fall against Ash's neck. Budew, though, jumped out of Ash's arms and glared at Team Rocket, who were still gaping at Abra.

"Not fair!" Jessie squeaked.

"Fair?" Ash repeated incredulously. "You're thieves!"

"So?"

"Don't bother, Ash," said Misty grimly. "Let's just teach these losers a lesson."

The Rockets exchanged a look and started to back up, but Ash was way ahead of them. "Budew, Stun Spore!"

"Oh dear," James moaned, as all three crashed to the floor and started twitching. "I know what's coming now."

"Starmie, use Psychic," Misty ordered. "Staryu, Hydro Pump!"

"Yep," Meowth whimpered. "Here we go."

Ash watched in awe as the combined attacks sent the trio and their crazy robot flying into the air. The robot exploded in midair, and by the time Ash could look back, Team Rocket were nowhere to be seen.

For a minute there was silence. Ash found his head spinning as he tried to work out what had happened. He ehad expected to see strange stuff on his journey, but that...

Budew broke the moment with a satisfied chirp, and Ash came back to his senses. He ran forwards, and caught Budew up again. "That was awesome!"

"Yep," said Misty proudly. She checked her Pokémon over quickly, before glancing at Ash. "I'm really sorry about that. Are you all all right?"

"We're fine," Ash assured her. Budew chirped agreement from his arms, and Ash hugged them both tighter. He had no intention of letting them go any time soon. Abra was already fast asleep, and for once Ash didn't blame him. He owed him big time. Misty's eyes softened.

"I am sorry," she repeated. "And thank you for your help. I've told Officer Jenny about them, but they're surprisingly good at not getting caught."

Ash frowned. "Are you gonna be okay? It sounds like they really want your Starmie."

He shuddered at the thought. He couldn't imagine what he would do if Team Rocket wanted one of his Pokémon so badly. Misty grimaced. "I can handle them, especially when my sisters are around." She gave him a half-hearted smile. "It's good training if nothing else."

Ash shook his head. "It's not right," he insisted. "Why isn't anyone doing anything about them? Or about Team Rocket in general?"

He had never really paid much attention before, but he had heard his mom and Professor Oak talking about how they were always causing trouble. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember a time when there wasn't something going on. Misty sighed.

"People are trying. The Chanpion and Elite Four have been working with Interpol for years, and we Gym Leaders help out too. It's just really hard to get to the people in charge." She shook her head sharply, and straightened up. "But that isn't something you need to worry about."

"But-"

"Ash, it's not your problem to deal with," she said firmly. "At least wait until you've got a few more badges before trying to take on criminal organisations."

It was clear she wasn't going to change her mind. Budew nuzzled into his arm, and Ash had to admit that she had a point. They had barely managed one battle, and that was against a weak team and with a Gym Leader for back up. "I guess," he muttered.

Misty nudged him. "Cheer up. This is a start at least."

Something in her voice made him look up, and his jaw dropped. "A badge?"

"The Cascade Badge," Misty clarified, with a smile. "And it's yours."

She held out the badge, but Ash hesitated. "But we didn't finish our battle."

Misty raised an eyebrow. "You helped me fight off a gang of criminals. That's more important." She shrugged. "Besides, you demonstrated an understanding of the type chart, and some rudimentary tactics. That's enough for a first badge."

"Rudimentary?" Ash protested, but he couldn't help smiling as she placed the badge in his hand. His first badge!

"Rudimentary," Misty confirmed. "You come back when you have eight badges, and I'll show you how good I really am."

Ash pinned the badge to the inside of his jacket, and grinned. "Yeah, well I'll be a lot stronger too!"

No one was ever going to take his Pokémon from him again. Misty smiled. "I know. I think I'll have to keep my eye on you, Ash Ketchum."

She held out her hand, and Ash shifted Abra and Budew around until he could take it. She winked at him. "Stop by if you're ever in Cerulean."

"You bet," Ash agreed. Budew hummed agreement, and he finally let himself relax.

He had won his first badge. He had earned a Gym Leader's respect. His Pokémon were safe.

Ash still had a lot of work to do, but for now that was enough.

Any feedback would be very much appreciated.