Welcome to chapter nine of The Nomad! As I said, there will be Ash and Gary's second rival battle. Who'll win? I guess you guys will have to read and see for yourselves! I worked hard on Ash's rival battle so let me know what you guys think!

Just as a note, the Cerulean City arc will take almost as long as the Pewter City arc. Ash will have his second battle with Brock, but I won't say in what case. Ash will also have his gym battle in the next chapter.

Enjoy the chapter!


The group was now staring at the beautiful city laid in front of them.

Cerulean City was, by no means, a large city, nor was it a sprawling urban area. There were plenty buildings, but unlike Pewter, which had a dull feel to it, this city was something else. Even though there were several buildings there was more room for nature. Even from their vantage point, they could make out trees, parks and lawns.

But something about this place was different. It had a calm and soothing aura around it. Maybe it was the breeze, or maybe it was the gentle flowing rivers, but they simply couldn't tell.

"Wow…" Ash muttered. "This place is beautiful…" Brock slowly nodded in agreement, not taking his eyes off the beautiful sight.

"Hey guys," Misty said, her voice breaking through their trance. "I was thinking…maybe we should just skip this place."

Ash and Brock turned to look at her with a questioning look. "What're you saying? There's a gym here!" Ash exclaimed.

Misty shifted nervously in her spot. "Oh, I don't know…Something about this place just seems…wrong." She continued to look at the ground.

"Wrong?" Brock asked this time, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, everything goes wrong at this time of the year in this old, dusty city," Misty said. "Hey! Why don't we go to Vermillion city? It has sparkling waters, amazing beaches and it even has a gym!" Misty exclaimed, hoping that Ash would agree to her at the sound of 'gym'. "So can we go there, please?" Misty almost begged.

"Okay, let's go there," Ash said, making Misty's heart beat rapidly, "but only after we get the badge here, in Cerulean City!"

"You can get a badge at Vermillion city too!" Misty said, pleading.

Brock frowned. "Misty, it seems like you're trying to avoid this place. What, do you have a bad experience with Cerulean City?" he asked.

"No, it's just…" She couldn't get herself to answer the question.

"Okay then; off to Cerulean City!" Ash shouted as he walked ahead, making Misty groan and Brock rub his chin in thought.


"Raticate, Quick Attack!" Leaf ordered, her Raticate speeding towards the wild Clefairy and crashing into her.

The little creature winced before pounding Raticate with her foreleg. Raticate bared his fangs and dug them into her body, making her screech in pain.

She didn't want to be captured by a trainer. She was just wandering, trying to explore the cavern herself until she stumbled upon that trainer. The trainer first did something to her with a weird device before suddenly attacking her!

Oh, if only her parents were here…but she now had to take the matter in her own hands. She couldn't just cry like she used to!

Leaf took out a pokeball and threw it towards her. "Go, pokeball!" she exclaimed.

This was it. She had to do her best to break free from the sphere soaring towards her, just like her parents had when they faced the same problem. This was it…

A few seconds later, the pokeball dinged and so did the trainer's pokedex.

"Miss Leaf Rose, Cleffa has been added to your pokedex database," the pokedex said in its monotone voice.

Leaf simply smiled.


"So, where do you think we should head first?" Ash asked as he browsed through the various displays in the Pokémart.

"Um, excuse me, but I have a certain things to take care of, so I'm out," Brock said immediately.

Ash smirked and knowingly raised his eyebrows again and again. "What things, Brock? Is it a girl?" He chuckled.

Brock's cheeks heated up. "No, it isn't."

"Not that you would have any luck with them…" Misty murmured loud enough for Brock and Ash to hear it.

Brock gave a short, barking laugh. "Ha, ha, very funny," he said with sarcasm while Ash sniggered. He then turned to the watch on his wrist. "Oh, I'm late. Bye guys!" Brock hurried out of the Pokémart.

"Well, anyway, Mist—Misty?" Ash looked around the Pokémart – the redhead was nowhere to be seen. "She was here just a second ago, where did she go?"

Ash then sighed and looked at Amethyst, who was hanging onto his shoulder. "Guess it's just you and me, huh, Amethyst?" Amethyst yawned in response, making Ash chuckle. Muttering to himself, he said, "Well, I guess exploring this city won't hurt…"

Ash sighed once again as he left the Pokémart, leaving the shopkeeper in an annoyed state since he didn't buy anything. There wasn't much to explore in Cerulean City except for the Nugget Bridge, which was made out of pure gold, or so said the pamphlet.

Well, it's better to check it out than do nothing, he thought as he made his way to the marvelous bridge. It wasn't far away from the Pokémart, but he took around ten minutes to get there. The Nugget Bridge sure was a marvelous sight. The bridge blinded Ash for a second once he first saw it, but he then noticed a poster.

"A poster?" he muttered. "Let's see what it says…"

THE NUGGET BRIDGE CHALLENGE!

Compete in the Nugget Bridge Challenge, where you have to beat five trainers to receive an amazing prize – the gold nugget itself!

Rules: You have to defeat all five trainers to win the challenge. Forfeiting or losing a battle will make you start your challenge all the way from the beginning.

Price for a Nugget: 5,000 pokédollars

Ash gaped at the poster in surprise. "Five…Five thousand pokédollars for beating five trainers?!" he exclaimed in utter shock. "Man, I can't wait to get rich! My pokémon will get the experience for the gym challenge, too. Going to see the Nugget Bridge wasn't such a bad idea after all!" He grinned and started to walk up the bridge to register him, but a voice interrupted his stroll.

"Hey, Ashy-Boy," a voice sneered behind him. "Still stuck here, eh?"

Ash froze in his spot and slowly turned around to see a familiar person with a very arrogant look on his face.

"Gary…?" Ash said in disbelief.

"Yep," he confirmed. "So how's your little adventure going?"

"It's going fine," Ash replied coldly.

Gary snorted. "Sure it is. I've been busy catching plenty of strong pokémon. How about I show that to you in a battle, huh?"

Ash balled his fists. Why did Gary make him feel so…angry?! "You're on!" Ash yelled, unclipping a pokeball from his belt.

Gary mockingly laughed. "Alright…How many pokémon can we use?"

"All of them," Ash immediately replied. He was going to show his complete strength to Gary. He was going to show how much better he was than the cocky boy!

"Okay, then. I'm up first." Gary held up a pokeball and tossed it in the air. "Fearow, go!" Out came a bird pokémon with abnormally large wings and a long neck. His long beak was sharp and he didn't even have to flap his wings to stay in the air.

"Fearow, the beak pokémon, is a normal and flying type pokémon," the pokedex described. "With its huge and magnificent wings, it can keep aloft without ever having to land to rest. This Fearow is a male."

"Let's have an air battle. Pidgeotto, go!" Ash called out, the avian pokémon bursting forth and showing of her plumage. She then got a sterner and determined expression as she looked at the Fearow in front of her.

"Let's do it, Pidgeotto! Let's show them who the better flying type is!" Ash exclaimed, and Pidgeotto chirruped loudly.

"Fearow, use Aerial Ace," Gary commanded. Fearow tucked in his wings and flew towards Pidgeotto with incredible speed, slamming into her before flying back into his position. It almost seemed like Fearow had become invisible for a moment!

"Whoa! Fearow is fast. Watch out, Pidgeotto," Ash warned, the Pidgeotto nodding while she winced in pain. "Let's increase our speed with Agility!"

Pidgeotto nodded. A pink glow surrounded her as she seemed to disappear from place to place, flying with such incredible speed that even Fearow could not match.

"Now use Quick Attack!" Ash ordered. With the combined speed of Agility and Quick Attack, it seemed that Fearow had been hit by an invisible force as he was pushed back in the air by Pidgeotto's brute force.

"Fearow, Leer them," Gary commanded. Fearow's eyes momentarily glowed a bright red, Pidgeotto shivering in fear.

"Pidgeotto, use Air Cutter!" Ash said. He was sure that Pidgeotto would be able to knock Fearow down with that attack!

Gary simply smirked. "Fearow, dodge it and then use Mirror Move."

Pidgeotto blinked in confusion as Fearow spun in the air, completely avoiding the sharp blade of wind that was sure to knock him out. Fearow then twitched before mimicking Pidgeotto's movements – he slashed his wing in the air, creating a large blade of wind that struck Pidgeotto across her torso, making a mark.

"What?" Ash asked in surprise. "How did—"

"Mirror Move is a very handful technique. The user counters by mimicking the target's last used move," Gary explained.

Ash gritted his teeth. Of course Gary would have a dirty yet effective trick up his sleeve! "Pidgeotto, use Quick Attack!"

"Take it and then counter with Fury Attack!" Gary ordered.

Ash looked tensely at Pidgeotto crashed into Fearow with incredible speed, knocking the wind out of him and making the beak pokémon gasp for breath. A second later Fearow shrieked before jabbing furiously at Pidgeotto with his long beak, making her cry out in agony.

"Finish this with Pluck!" Gary commanded.

Fearow's beak glowed white as he gave Pidgeotto a final peck, much stronger than the other ones. Pidgeotto's eyes were wide open as she dealt the pain and the plummeted to the ground.

"What? Pidgeotto, return," Ash recalled. "You did great, Pidgeotto. You managed to stay in the air even though Fearow hurt you a lot. I'm proud of you," he said. Ash then glared at Gary, who was looking at him with a cocky grin. "Go, Pikachu!" Ash called out. The yellow rodent burst on the ground and looked at his surroundings before he rolled his eyes. He was in another battle.

"Hey, Pikachu." Pikachu turned behind and looked at Ash, who was smiling at him. "I really want to be friends with you, so could you please start listening to me?"

Pikachu snorted. As if he was going to listen to that puny human's' commands! Pikachu turned to look at Fearow, who was glaring at him.

"Let's finish this, Fearow. Aerial Ace!" he called out. Fearow immediately sped towards Pikachu and slashed him with his wings, making the mouse pokémon cringe in pain.

Pikachu winced. Who did this bird think he was? "Pika…" Pikachu growled as his cheeks sparked before letting loose a powerful bolt of electricity, catching Fearow off-guard. Once the electricity subsided Fearow plummeted to the ground and didn't move again.

Ash looked at Pikachu in awe. "Whoa, that was awesome, Pikachu! You're so strong!" he remarked. Pikachu smirked. No pokémon could hurt him!

Pikachu then looked to the ground. Maybe this kid wasn't as bad as he thought. He figured he could accept him as his trainer for now on, even though he still despised Ash by a minute amount.

"Return, Fearow!" Gary pressed a button on the pokeball which recalled the knocked out Fearow. "You managed to beat my Fearow, but I bet you can't beat this one. Raticate, go!"

Ash frowned. He knew that a Raticate was not that good of an attacker, but they had strangely hot tempers that even rivalled a Primeape's. Gary could use this temper against Ash and probably win this match.

"Pikachu, let's slow them down with Thunder Wave!" Ash called out.

Instead, Pikachu let loose another lightning bolt that struck Raticate and made him flinch. Raticate bared his fangs in a show of his rising temper, something that Ash did not want to deal with.

"What? I told you to use Thunder Wave, not Thunderbolt!" Ash said anxiously.

"Pika Pikachu," Pikachu muttered with a smirk. If he was going to fight for this human, he was going to do it his way.

"Okay then," Ash agreed, although disappointed. "Let's do it your way!"

Pikachu was impressed. Ash was letting him do whatever he wanted to, without having to listen to his commands. This boy was surely better than the other humans that once trained him.

"Making you pokémon do what they want, huh?" Gary asked in a mocking tone. "Raticate, use Ice Beam!"

"Pikachu, counter it!" Ash said. TMs are a pain.

You don't have to tell me to, Pikachu said with a roll of his eyes. Raticate shot an icy-cold beam of energy while Pikachu, instead, was willing his electricity to collect in his tail and form a glowing ball of electricity. Pikachu then did a front flip and hurled the orb of electricity, colliding with the beam of frost. A huge explosion occurred which kicked up a lot of dust.

"What move was that?" Ash asked, astounded by what Pikachu had just done.

"Electro Ball: The user hurls an electric orb at the target. The faster the user, the greater the damage," Ash's pokedex explained.

"Whoa," Ash muttered. "Pikachu, use another Electro Ball!"

"Raticate, use Hyper Fang!" Gary ordered.

Pikachu smirked as Raticate ran towards him, only to be struck by another jolt of electricity shot from Pikachu. Raticate shuddered as the electricity took effect before he was knocked out.

"…Raticate, return," Gary said with a deadpan look. "I must say, Ash, that I'm impressed by your Pikachu. But you can't beat this one!" Gary laughed as he took out a pokeball that was different than the others. Instead of the standard red and white coloration it was blue and white, with two red ridges on the top half.

Gary tossed the great-ball in the air, which snapped open to send forth the pokémon that was contained within it.

The pokémon that came out was a little over four feet and had a humanoid appearance, save for that fact that the pokémon was primarily yellow. The pokémon had two, large pointed ears on top of the head, a red star on the forehead and wide cheeks that led to a thin snout. Extending from the snout were two mustache-like tufts of fur, making Ash think that the pokémon was a male. His torso was segmented with bulky shoulders, a thick brown chest and a small abdomen marked by three, red wavy lines. Attached to the pokémon's abdomen was a large, thick tail encircled with a brown band near his base. His arms and legs were thin. His legs had prominent knees and large, three-toed feet. In his right hand was a silver spoon that occasionally seemed to bend to either side, but Ash knew that it was impossible…right?

"Who's that pokémon?" Ash asked; he had never seen this pokémon before, and so he consulted his pokedex.

"Kadabra, the psi pokémon, is a psychic type pokémon," the pokedex stated. "If it uses its abilities, it emits special alpha waves that cause machines to malfunction. This Kadabra is a male."

"You still wanna battle, Ashy-Boy?" Gary sneered.

Ash gritted his teeth. "I'm not giving up, Gare-Bear." Gary frowned at his nickname. "Pikachu – attack!"

Kadabra turned behind to look at his trainer. "You know what to do." Gary spoke with a glare. Then, Kadabra disappeared, completely evading the bolt of thunder headed straight towards him. Kadabra then appeared right in front of Pikachu, startling him. Kadabra's eyes glowed red before shooting multicolored circles of energy that struck Pikachu and threw him back.

"Pika…" Pikachu groaned as he struggled to get up.

"Don't give up, Pikachu! Fire a Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded.

"Wrap this up, Kadabra," Gary said casually.

Before Pikachu could release the electricity within him, Kadabra teleported behind Pikachu and fired another Psybeam. Pikachu soared in the air before crashing to the ground, kicking up dirt that went in Gary's direction.

Ash, knowing that Pikachu was defeated, recalled him. "You did a great job, Pikachu. It's time you take a rest." He then turned and looked at Amethyst. "You're up, buddy!"

"Leyeeeee…" Amethyst yawned before teleporting to the ground. She then saw Kadabra, which made her smirk at him and exposed her claws. "Ha. What'cha going to do, Foxy? Scare me with your psychic powers?"

Kadabra snarled. "Wait and watch, peasant."

"Okay, Amethyst, use Sucker Punch!" Ash called out.

"Kadabra, Teleport away!" Gary ordered.

Amethyst ran up to Kadabra with incredible speed, but Kadabra simply disappeared by using Teleport. Amethyst's eyes widened as she hit nothing but thin air.

"Kadabra, use Shadow Ball!" Gary called out.

Ash smiled. If Gary could use the same tactic, then so could he. "Amethyst – Teleport and then use Night Shade!"

Gary frowned as the shadowy blob of alien energy simply flew in the air before it vanished, just like Amethyst. The Sableye appeared directly behind Kadabra, throwing him across the field as the dark matter that shot out of the Sableye's eyes struck the psi pokémon.

"Kadabra, keep using Teleport to evade the attacks," Gary commanded, clearly frustrated as his pokémon tiredly got up from the ground. "After every Teleport, use Shadow Ball!"

"Amethyst, you too use Teleport! Keep firing Night Shades at Kadabra!" Ash shouted.

A teleportation battle ensued once Gary and Ash yelled out their commands. The trainers could see blurs of yellow and amethyst across the battlefield, along with black streaks of alien energy hitting the yellow blur occasionally and dark-purple spheres frequently hitting the disappearing Sableye. Ash couldn't figure out where his friend was in all this chaos, and the same could be said for Gary.

Then, unexpectedly, Amethyst stopped in her tracks and took in a Shadow Ball, surprising Ash.

"Amethyst, what happened?" Ash asked, alarmed that something had happened to his friend.

Looking at Ash's expression, Gary snorted. "There's nothing to worry about, Ash. It's just that your dear Amethyst can't teleport anymore because she's simply out of the required energy to do so. It's something that gramps and his buddies call 'PP'."

Ash couldn't help but roar in laughter at the terminology. The way Gary said it sounded like something very different.

At that, Gary's cheeks flushed. "It stands for Power Points, okay!" he bellowed. "Anyway, it seems like Amethyst can't teleport anymore. Kadabra, use Shadow Ball!"

Kadabra brought his hands together and formed a hovering, shadowy sphere in between them. He then pushed his hands forward and shot it towards Amethyst, who took the full brunt of the attack.

Kadabra, however, was not doing too good either. The amount of Night Shades from Amethyst had slowed him down and tired him. It looked like he was going to be out very quickly.

"Yes!" Gary exclaimed. "Another Shadow Ball, Kadabra!"

"Amethyst, try to use a Sucker Punch!" directed Ash.

Before Kadabra could even develop the blob of alien matter, Amethyst ran forward with a purple aura surrounding her fist. He then punched Kadabra between his eyes, making him flinch. However, Kadabra regained his senses and then launched a powerful Shadow Ball which struck Amethyst on her face.

"Kadabra, Teleport!" Gary shouted. Kadabra smirked at Amethyst as he saw her panting for breath from the damage she had dealt. However, the smirk was soon wiped off of the psi pokémon's face as he blurred for a second before remaining in the same spot.

Ash grinned. "Looks like Kadabra's out of PP too!" he shouted out loud. "Amethyst, use Night Shade!"

Kadabra sighed in defeat as the beams of black energy struck him on his body. He yelled out in agony as the dark energy disturbed his psychic powers for a moment and then fell face-first on the ground.

"Return, Kadabra!" Gary gritted his teeth. How could Ash still be better than him? He had bought TMs for almost all of his pokémon and trained for so many days in the Battle Club! If he lost now, he could never show his face to his rival. Something had to be done. "Try my ace, then. Wartortle, come on out!"

Ash scowled once he heard Gary call out a Wartortle – this meant that his Squirtle had evolved and become stronger, too. However, he wasn't planning on losing and quickly recalled Amethyst as he saw the indigo-blue turtle appear on the grassy terrain.

Gary raised an eyebrow as Amethyst ran towards Ash and jumped on his shoulder, but he quickly regained a cocky and arrogant composure. "Who's your next pokémon, Ashy-boy?"

Ash grinned. His Butterfree wouldn't lose so easily against the turtle, who was now stroking his white tail fur. "Butterfree, I choose you!"

"Phreeee, Butterfree!" Butterfree exclaimed in his high-pitched and soothing voice as he quickly took to the air.

"Wartortle, use Water Gun!" Gary ordered.

"Butterfree, dodge it!" Ash said.

Mineral water collected in Wartortle's mouth before he shot out a forceful jet of water. Butterfree, however, simply flapped his wings and flew to a higher position, avoiding the blast from Wartortle.

"Butterfree, now use Energy Ball!" Ash shouted.

Gary frowned as a green orb of energy formed between Butterfree's hands. Butterfree then shot the sphere at Wartortle, who instinctively tucked inside his shell to lower the damage from the Energy Ball.

"Wartortle, use Ice Beam!" Gary exclaimed.

"Butterfree, get out of the way!" warned Ash.

The inside of Wartortle's mouth glowed white before he shot out an icy beam of energy. Butterfree cried out as he flapped his wings to evade the Ice Beam. However, Butterfree couldn't avoid the full brunt of the attack, and the tips of his wings were frozen, dragging him down and making flying harder for the bug type.

Gary smiled. "It's an easy target now, Wartortle. Fire another Ice Beam!"

"Butterfree, use Supersonic!" Ash commanded. He knew that Butterfree was going to be out of the match and wanted to make the most out of it.

Wartortle successfully froze Butterfree's body with an Ice Beam. Due to the increased weight, Butterfree fell to the ground and crashed against it, making the ice break apart which freed Butterfree. However, Butterfree himself knew that he wouldn't last long and screeched in a high pitched voice that no human could hear.

Although Ash and Gary couldn't hear anything (which saved them from being confused) they could see feeble rings of energy flowing towards Wartortle. The rings of energy disappeared inside his body and made him twitch, disrupting his mind and confusing him. Butterfree then gave a mocking smirk before his head hit the ground.

"Return, Butterfree!" Ash recalled. "Butterfree, you did great." He then turned to Amethyst, who was looking at the match intently. She nodded, even though Ash didn't say anything, and jumped onto the ground and faced Wartortle.

Gary gritted his teeth. He knew Ash sent out Amethyst because she was already weakened and could be taken out easily. However, with Wartortle's confused state the Sableye and Ash could use that as an advantage and make the most out of it. That would leave Gary and Ash to their last pokémon. He didn't want to admit it, but Ash was getting smarter. "Wartortle, snap out of it!" he yelled out.

Wartortle, however, wasn't doing so well. He could barely hear anything except for some weird noises and his vision was blurry. All he could hear was a muffled voice and all he could see was a dark-purple object. Wartortle screwed his eyes shut and tried his best to focus on everything, but to no avail.

"Wartortle, use Mega Punch!" Gary commanded desperately.

Wartortle seemed to hear the words 'Mega Punch' and nodded. His left fist glowed brightly and he walked forward, only to stumble. Then, he surprisingly punched his own face, making him cringe in pain!

Ash snorted. "This'll be easy," he muttered. "Amethyst, use Night Shade."

Amethyst nodded and her eyes shined. She then discharged a black beam of dark energy from each eye. They beams hit Wartortle on his torso, completely passing through the shell and hitting his body.

"Wartortle, snap out of it! You can do it, Wartortle!" Gary yelled out at the top of his voice. His voice pierced through Wartortle's hallucinations and his vision focused. Yes…he could see things clearly now…Wartortle growled and shook his head, snapping out of his confused state.

"Yes!" Gary exclaimed. "Now use Water Pulse!"

"Amethyst, use Sucker Punch!" Ash commanded.

Wartortle raised his hands in the air and a blue orb of water started to form between them. However, Amethyst snuck up towards Wartortle in an instant and swept him off his feet, making him fall on his back. Amethyst chuckled as she saw Wartortle struggling to get back on his feet.

Then, Wartortle spun halfway and the top half of his body faced towards Amethyst. The blue orb of water then grew to a fairly large size before hurling it at Amethyst and crashing into her. The Sableye fell on the ground and didn't move later on.

"Amethyst, return!" said Ash, holding up a pokeball that absorbed her in a flash of red light. "Take a good rest, buddy." Ash then glared at Gary and Wartortle. The turtle pokémon was very tired and seemed like he wasn't going to last any longer. "Lateralus, you're up!" The Porygon materialized and started to float a few inches off the ground.

"Wartortle, use—"

"Lateralus, Psybeam!" Ash interjected.

Lateralus' eyes glowed red before it fired a multicolored beam of psychic energy from them. The beam of energy then hit Wartortle, sending him flying in the air before he crashed on the ground, sending mud flying in all directions. Gary growled as he recalled his ace and took out another pokeball.

Gary sighed. He knew this battle was lost. The next pokémon he was going to send out stood absolutely no chance against Ash and his Porygon. He hung his head low in defeat. "Machop, go."

Gary desperately sent out the fighting type pokémon, who sneered at the Porygon once he burst out from his confinement. Since he had lost all of his hope from winning, he simply did not command Machop. Ash, however, ordered Lateralus to fire a Psybeam which struck Machop square on his chest and pinned the superpower pokémon to the ground, defeated.

"Return, Machop." Gary glared at Ash as he walked to him. The boy then stopped an inch away from Ash. "I'll see you next time, Ashy-boy. By that time, get your pokémon ready." Gary 'hmph'-ed and then walked away from Ash.

Ash couldn't help but grin. He had just proven Gary wrong for the second time. If they would meet again, Ash would surely be ready.

Battling against Gary had surely excited him, and he was more than ready to compete in the Nugget Bridge Challenge. However, his pokémon were tired and exhausted to the limit. Ash decided to go to the Pokémon Centre and heal his pokémon before he came back to the Nugget Bridge.


"Hey! Der it is!" shouted a very excited Meowth.

Behind him were a very weary Jessie and James, whose eyes gleamed in excitement as they looked at the panorama while crawling along the ground.

"We've made it!" Jessie exclaimed in delight.

"Cerulean City, at last!" James cried.

"We can get food!" Jessie announced.

"And water!" James added while grinning.

"And clean clothes!"

"And proper beds too!"

"Hey!" Meowth interrupted as he kicked each of their shins. Jessie and James cringed in pain as they rubbed their hurting shins and glared at Meowth.

"Ow!" Jessie and James yelled in agony. "What's the big idea?"

"Are youse crazy?" Meowth cried out. "All dem things ya want are lovely an' all, but dey takes dough to get da last time I checked we ain't got any."

The two Rockets frowned. How were they going to get any money? Right then, something clicked in Jessie's mind.

"Hey," she said, "why don't we call the boss and ask him for some money?"

"The boss?" James repeated in bemusement.

"Yes."

"But he ain't got anything to be happy about," Meowth said while crossing his arms.

Jessie smiled devilishly. "Oh, he does…" she said as she removed three grey wrecks that were glittering like stars.

"Hey! Ya got da Moon Stone!" Meowth exclaimed.

"How about we call the boss now, huh?" James and Meowth nodded at Jessie's suggestion and the lady Rocket pulled out a black, circular device from her pocket. Jessie then placed the device on the floor, pressing a protrusion in the middle which created a hologram. The hologram showed a man in a bright-orange, striped suit. His face, however, was in the shadows and could not be visible to the trio.

"Who is—oh, it's you. Finally made out of Mount Moon?" he asked in a deep and serious voice.

"Yes sir," Jessie replied with a quick nod.

The man tapped the arms of his chair with his fingers. "Good. I'll have my secretary change your statuses from 'Missing in action' to 'Active service'. Was there anything else you three needed to tell me?"

"Um, yes boss." It was James who spoke up now. "We managed to salvage a few shards from the legendary Moon Stone."

A smile split his face apart before his face grew serious again. "I take it that you didn't manage to successfully steal the Pewter Museum's fossils?" he asked. The group nervously shook their heads. "Good enough. Agent 009 is operating in the north of Cerulean City. Give the stones to her," he directed.

"Of course," Jessie said. The boss nodded and was about to terminate the conversation before Jessie spoke up once again. "Excuse me, sir, but there is this one thing…"

"Yes?" the man demanded.

"Well, you see…" James squirmed nervously in his spot. "…We've run out of money…"

"Once the stones are delivered to me we will discuss your…bonuses," the voice immediately replied.

Jessie nodded. "Okay, sir." The figure nodded, the hologram disappeared and Jessie then pocketed the device.

"I can't believe it. We're broke until we deliver dem stones," Meowth complained.

"Then we better get moving," James replied.

"Wait a minute…Look at dis, guys!" Meowth exclaimed as he pointed to a poster on a lamppost.

"What's written there?" James demanded. He walked closer and took a peek at the poster. "Compete in the Nugget Bridge Challenge…beat five trainers to receive… gold nugget itself…price for a Nugget…5,000 pokédollars!"

"What?!" Jessie and Meowth remarked in unison.

"We can get rich wid dat nugget!" Meowth said.

"But I don't think our pokémon can handle such a challenge," James argued.

Meowth smirked. "Who said anything about battling, eh?"


"Hello, I'm here for the Nugget Bridge Challenge."

After his battle with Gary, Ash had immediately run off to the Pokémon Centre. It took half an hour to heal off their injuries, and since it had already passed one o'clock in the afternoon, Ash decided to have lunch. He and his pokémon ate as much as he could while Lateralus simply hovered over them and looked with unblinking eyes.

As soon as Ash said those words, a fairly tall woman walked to him. She had blonde hair that was tied up into a bun and was wearing long, denim pants. She wore a hat on her head and wore a pink top. She smiled at the raven-haired boy before speaking to him.

"Why, hello there!" she said in a sweet voice. "I'm Dominie and I'm the head of the Nugget Bridge Challenge." She held out a hand and smiled at him.

Ash beamed back at her. "Hi, I'm Ash. Do I have to do something to register myself or…?"

Dominie shook her head. "No, you don't have to do anything like that. All you had to do was speak to me – which you already did – and I would take you in! Now, I'm sure you've read the rules, haven't you?" Ash nodded. "Good. Just think of it as getting 1,000 pokédollars for battling each trainer; the only difference is that you have to defeat all five trainers to get your prize."

"Superb!" Dominie exclaimed. "Now, if you'll follow me, I'll show you the trainers you will have to face."


"Hey, hey, hey!" Meowth exclaimed as he looked through his binoculars. "Isn't dat da twoip?"

Jessie snatched the binoculars from the scratch-cat pokémon and looked through it. "Why, it is!" She then grinned. "That's brilliant! Now all we have to do is wait for him to get the gold and then we'll snatch it from him!"

"Now that's what I call a plan!" James remarked.


Further up the bridge, Dominie led them to a group of several trainers of different ages.

"…And here we are!" Dominie said while she clapped her hands. "Now, the rules for the battles are that it will be a one-on-one. You, however –" she looked at Ash, "– can change your pokémon after each battle if you wish to. Are we clear?"

"You bet we are!" Ash nodded as he punched a fist in the air.

Dominie smiled. "Now, let's see…Alright, I need Cale, Ali, Timmy, Reli and Ethan. You five will be Ash's opponents," she instructed.

Five trainers stepped out of the group. The first one seemed to be a little older than his brother Red and wore a string vest and a straw hat. Ash immediately recognized him as a Bug Catcher. The two girls, Ali and Reli were dressed in skirts and a shirt. Ash identified Ethan to be one of those Campers that always travelled together in large groups simply because of his camping outfit. Timmy simply wore a blue tee and beige shorts.

"Now, if you're ready, Ash, we'll begin your battle with Cale," Dominie said.

"Alright!" exclaimed Ash, unclipping a pokeball. He knew which pokémon he needed to use against a Bug Catcher such as Cale. "Pidgeotto, go!"

Cale scowled but nevertheless sent out his pokémon. "Beedrill, I need your assistance!"

Ash looked at the familiar stingers he had seen in Viridian Forest. However, this Beedrill seemed to be newly evolved due to his smaller stingers.

"Begin!" Dominie declared.

"Beedrill, use Fury Attack!" Cale ordered.

"Pidgeotto, use Gust!" Ash retorted.

Beedrill flew towards Pidgeotto while showing his stingers, but Pidgeotto harshly flapped her wings. Gusts of wind immediately hit Beedrill and sent him reeling back before he fell over the bridge and into the water.

"…Well, that was quick," Ash commented as he smirked at Cale.

Cale pulled out his pokeball and pressed the button on it, the sphere shooting a beam that passed through the water and hit Beedrill. The pokeball absorbed Beedrill back into his pokeball while Cale walked away, hanging his head low in shame.

"Next up is Ali!" Dominie announced. The girl stepped up and took her position, which was a couple of metres away from Ash.

"I hope you're more of a challenge!" Ash taunted.

The girl tossed the pokeball in the air. "You bet I am! Gloom, go!"

Ali proved to be stronger than her predecessor. She constantly commanded her Gloom to release Acid relentlessly, something that poisoned Pidgeotto. Pidgeotto seemed to be in a pinch, but her brutal volleys of Gust seemed to overpower the frail Gloom and knocked him out a few seconds later.

Next up was Timmy. Ash had decided to give Pidgeotto a rest, and instead sent out Lateralus. Lateralus, who knew Psybeam, could quickly take out Timmy and his Ekans.

However, the Ekans seemed to be strong. Without a moment to lose, Ekans lunged at Lateralus and wrapped it with her long body. Ekans then constantly bit the Porygon's digital body and made it twitch in pain. Lateralus then suddenly started to float a few metres above the ground and took Ekans with it! Ekans' eyes widened in surprise as she could no longer touch the ground and instead hung upside down.

Ash quickly got to know the move as Magnet Rise. "Lateralus now spin in mid-air!" he commanded.

"Ekans, watch out!" Timmy cried.

The Porygon then started to spin in the air. Second by second it sped up in its act. Ekans seemed to be struggling to hold onto Lateralus' body for dear life. Ekans screeched as her grip loosened and she sailed in the air, finally slamming against the hard gold bridge.

"Now, Lateralus, use Psybeam!" Ash ordered. Lateralus shot a beam of energy from its eyes that struck Ekans from a distance and knocked her out. Timmy grudgingly recalled his fainted pokémon and walked away and re-joined the group of trainers.

"The fourth opponent – Reli!" introduced Dominie.

"Alright, champ, you got this far but it ends here! Go, Nidorina!" she said with a throw of her pokeball.

Out came a quadruped, light-blue pokémon with darker blue patches on her body. She had red eyes, large, spiny ears and two pointed teeth that protruded from her upper jaw. She possessed poison spikes on her body that extended once she looked at Ash. The pokémon's paws had three claws each and she had a stubby tail.

"Nidorina, the poison pin pokémon, is a poison type pokémon," the pokedex stated. "The female has a gentle temper. It emits ultrasonic cries that have the power to befuddle foes. Nidorina is an only-female species."

"Okay, Amethyst! I choose you!" he declared as he hurled the pokeball which snapped open and released the darkness pokémon.

"Nidorina, use Poison Sting!" Reli ordered.

"Amethyst, Teleport and use Night Shade!" Ash said.

Nidorina slowly ran to Amethyst as the stinger on her back extended and started to ooze poison. Nidorina then motioned to stab Amethyst with the stinger, but the Sableye teleported behind her and evaded the attack. Amethyst then began to fire two black beams from her eyes that joined into one before striking Nidorina. Nidorina fell on her face and struggled to get up while Amethyst stood victoriously.

"Nidorina, use Double Kick!" Reli commanded.

Nidorina's feet glowed white before she thrusted them into Amethyst's direction. However, the feet simply went through her body and left Reli in a confused state.

"Huh?" Reli tilted her head in confusion. "Why didn't it do anything?"

Ash simply took advantage of this situation and ordered Amethyst to use Fury Swipes. Instead, the Sableye did something completely different – she held out an arm, which was then surrounded by a black aura. The aura then took a form of what seemed to be a giant claw and Amethyst slashed at Nidorina with it, knocking out the poison pin pokémon.

"Whoa!" Ash exclaimed in awe. "That was Shadow Claw!"

Amethyst simply grinned at Ash while she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Next is Ethan, Ash's final opponent!" Dominie exclaimed.

The kid in the camper outfit stepped up with a pokeball in hand.

"You won't beat me! Go, Slowpoke!" Ethan yelled out.

Ash was not familiar with the new pokémon. It was a pink creature that resembled a cross between a salamander and a hippopotamus. His feet did not seem capable to hold his body upright. He had a vacant look on his face and a dopey grin. Ash scanned the pokémon and soon came to know about him.

"Slowpoke, the dopey pokémon, is a dual water and psychic type pokémon. It is always vacantly lost in thought, but no one knows what it is thinking about. It is good at fishing with its tail. This Slowpoke is a male," the pokedex described.

"Amethyst, come back," Ash said, and Amethyst ran back to stand next to him. "Butterfree, I choose you!"

Butterfree fluttered his wings excitedly as he took Amethyst's place.

"Use Energy Ball, Butterfree!" Ash commanded.

With a high-pitched cry Butterfree unleashed his most powerful Energy Ball yet. This one was no bigger than the butterfly's own body. The orb of energy exploded against Slowpoke's body, resulting in a small explosion.

"Is it over?" Ash asked.

The dust cleared up and he saw the dopey pokémon's eyes closed. His body was coated with dust as he lay there without moving a muscle.

"The winner is Ash and his Butterfree!" Dominie declared happily. "Ash and his pokémon have won the fifth round and so have successfully completed the Nugget Bridge Challenge!"

"Awesome!" Ash cheered as he high-fived the Sableye.

"…And here's your prize!" Dominie said as she pulled out a round lump of golden rock that was no bigger than a golf ball. Ash stared at it incredulously before he spoke up.

"That's it?" Ash asked in disbelief. "It's so small!"

"That's because it's solid gold," Dominie explained. "Gold is very valuable and even a gram of it costs a lot."

"Um, okay," Ash muttered as he motioned to take the prize, only to be snatched away by a mechanical arm along with Dominie's bag.

"Hey, what the—" Ash yelled out as the mechanical arm was drawn back. He looked up to see an air balloon with a Meowth's face as the balloon. Ash glared at them as he saw his prize being snatched away. "Hey, who the heck are you guys?!"

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

Ash raised an eyebrow after a male and female voice shouted out those words.

"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!"

"And James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!"

Ash gasped. "Team Rocket…?"

"You three are a disgrace!" He turned to see Dominie glaring angrily at the hovering balloon. She threw a pokeball in the air and shouted, "Golbat, bring them down with Air Slash!"

Ash stared in awe as the massive bat slashed her wing with incredible speed. A thick and sharp blade of wind soared towards the Meowth air balloon and pierced through it, creating a deep gash. The balloon deflated in a matter of second and plummeted down in the middle of the woods.

"No!" Ash cried out in despair as he fell to his knees. "My Gold Nugget…"

"I'm sorry, Ash," Dominie said as she put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "But maybe you should head over to the police and inform them about what happened. In the meantime, I'll follow them and get my stuff back. Jumpluff, come out!" she said as the pokeball snapped open. A round, blue pokémon came out with two cotton puffs on each arm and a cotton puff on his head. "Jumpluff, I need you find the people who stole my bag, okay? If they're still awake, put them to sleep till I get there." Jumpluff nodded and flew over the water.

"Well, I guess that's it, Ash," Dominie said with a sigh. "I hope we meet again!" Ash watched as Dominie ran off in Jumpluff's direction.

"My…Gold Nugget…" he wailed.


"Ugh…Where in hell are we?"

When Jessie, James and Meowth woke up, they found themselves in a dark, cold chamber. The chamber was cuboidal and was made of steel, and it occasionally rumbled as time passed.

"I think…I think we're in a trailer," James guessed.

"Y-Yeah," Jessie agreed, a little frightened.

"You three have a lot to answer for," a familiar voice said in a solemn tone.

The three flinched. No, it couldn't be. Why was their boss here? A light above came on and the Rockets saw their boss standing in front of them, a frown on his face. The three shivered as they saw their boss, waiting to hear his voice.

"But, sir, what is it that we've done?" Jessie asked a bit apprehensively.

"You destroyed our plans at the Nugget Bridge," he replied, even sterner.

The Rockets gulped. What had they done on the Nugget Bridge except for the fact that they earned a little money for Team Rocket?

"I want an explanation," he demanded, "and it better be a good one."

Meowth gulped. "Well, ya see…"

"It's like this," Jessie interjected. "We saw a poster advertising for the 'Nugget Bridge Challenge' and decided to steal the nuggets for you, sir. We didn't know that it was one of Team Rocket's operations," she explained. The boss looked hard at them for a moment before finally sighing.

"Very well. I suppose you didn't know that Agent Domino was in charge of it to search for potential recruits. In any case, those nuggets were simply rocks painted in gold to fool trainers.

"In other matters, the Moon Stone shards that you procured are genuine and not fake at all. For that, you win a prize, or should I say prizes – a bonus of 6,000 pokédollars and some new pokémon."

Jessie furrowed her brow. "Pokémon…?"

The boss coughed. "It occurred to me that with your number of pokémon, you are…outnumbered. Although Ekans and Koffing are no doubt fine pokémon, along with Meowth, you do need more of them." The boss snapped his fingers and a lady brought four pokéballs. The Rocket leader tossed two pokéballs to each of the Rockets, who caught it with glee. "Your next assignment will be given to you shortly. I expect much better from you three this time," he said seriously.

Jessie, James and Meowth grinned. "Yes sir, and thank you!"


...And cut!

I think this is a good place to wrap things up. I don't think that the next chapter will be as long as this one or the previous one, but I will try my best to make the battle intense. And where's Brock? You'll see him in the next chapter. The next chapter will be uploaded on Saturday. I guess I'll see you guys then!

Please leave a review, or follow or fav my story if you like it. It's only because of the encouragement and you guys that I'm still doing it, unlike my other fics (cough The Darkness Takes Over, cough). I'm hoping to make it to the end!

I hope you guys agree why I made Ash win. I hated the fact that he always lost to Gary (up until the Silver Conference), and the worst part was that he lost to his Eevee after winning the Orange League. In this fic, he's definitely going to be stronger and hopefully win the Indigo League.

What do you think Jessie's and James' new pokemon are? You're probably going to have to wait for a while to find out.

Next up is chapter 10: The Waterflowers of Cerulean City

And answering your questions!

aww no more Leaf? If so, can you show snippits of whats going on with her now and then?

Yes, I will show snippets of her like I did in this chapter. However, it won't be very prominent since I'm mainly focusing on Ash's journey.

make it ashxleaf please

I've not yet decided what the pairings are going to be.

1) if you go with Gary/leaf, can you do pokeshipping? please? And, if a shy boy gets to Hoenn, can he get a bagon?

For the first question, I surely will insert PokeShipping if there's no AshXLeaf. And to the second one, Hoenn is a long way from now so I've not yet decided everything.

WHEN WILL ASH GET A GROWLITHE.

Ash is not going to get a Growlithe anytime soon. He'll get him/her near Fuschia City.

can ash get a dratini?

...I'm not going to spoil that for you guys!

Try to make Pikachu start obeying Ash sooner rather than later, Charizard in the anime had already hit rock bottom with no way of recovering by the time he started listening to Ash.

Pikachu is going to listen to Ash very soon. But right now, he's just battling for Ash and not listening to his commands.

can ash get a poochiyena on the s.s. ann

I don't think so.

Will ash get aerodactyl because he deserves one will he catch the magnemite also because he deserves one and will ash catch only a few tauros like 6 tauros since he could have traded 5 of them in the trading episode and I say nidorino since he is offered nidoqueen at that episode ps he doesn't deserve 30 tauros because that is weird as lasting a year with ice cream and and a French fry

Ash is not going to get an Aerodactyl or a Magnemite. About the Tauros...Let's see.

Which of the movies do you plan on covering?

Right now, I'm planning to do only the first movie, since I haven't planned on continuing after Kanto. If I do, then I'll most probably do the rest of them.

a male ralts to evolve in gallade with a shieldon both rescued fron Team Rocket migth be not bad additions for ash

The idea of rescuing pokemon from Team Rocket is a good one. However, I can't promise you that I'll include it.

Will Amethyst cause wild pokemon to attack because of a bad timing? Like say waking up a pokemon that would be cranky from being woken up rudely.

...I don't know.