After the tearful reunion between Flint and his children, it was decided that Flint would resume his old position as the Pewter City Gym Leader while Brock would be allowed to go on his own Pokémon Journey. Or rather, to go on Ash's journey.
Brock wasn't really interested in fighting Gyms or entering the Pokémon League. He just wanted to explore and meet new Pokémon. As such, he decided that going with Ash's group would fit better for him than going out on his own. Ash would have objected, but at this point, he figured that people were just going to join up with him no matter what he said and just accepted it.
And so, Ash, Carmine, Misty and Brock set out on their way to Cerulean City, where Ash's next gym battle awaited.
Red and Yellow made their way through the tunnels of Mount Moon until they began to get tired. Red checked his watch and saw that it was getting late, so he decided they should make camp for the night.
"In a cave?" Yellow questioned this decision.
"Why not? It's not like we can do anything else right now." Red pulled out a sleeping bag from his backpack.
"Wait… How did you have that thing in your backpack?"
"What do you mean?"
"It's clearly too big to have fit in your bag."
"Oh yeah, right. It uses a similar technology as Pokéballs, using matter-to-energy transference to store objects in containers smaller than themselves."
"What kind of energy?"
"I don't know, it's just energy."
"There's no such thing as 'just energy'."
"You don't know what rocks look like, but you know about energy?" Red looked at the girl like he didn't know what to make of her, which he didn't.
"I don't know why I know that either." Yellow shrugged.
"Well, hopefully, it's a sign that you're getting your memory back. I've heard the term 'Pokénergy' used for the Pokéball energy stuff, but I pretty sure that's just slang I don't know the proper term for it." He finally put the sleeping bag in the ground and laid it out. "I've only got the one sleeping bag, so I'll let you use it."
Ash's group was able to reach the foot of Mount Moon without any trouble along the way.
"Do we have to go through those tunnels?" Misty wined.
"The tunnels are the best way to get past the mountain," explained Brock, "and we can go up against the wild Pokémon along the way."
"Or we could just walk along the road." Carmine pointed out. "It's faster, easier and we don't have to wander around in the dark. I don't really care much, either way. I'm just supposed to make sure that the kid here doesn't get into trouble."
"Don't call me a kid!" Ash yelled angrily.
"I'm almost three times as old as you and I've known your parents since long before you were born. You'll always be a kid to me. Now, which way are we going?"
Ash looked up at the sky and saw that it was getting dark out. "I guess we'll stay at that Pokémon Center over there and decide in the morning."
"Way to be non-committal. You remind me so much of your dad that it's not even funny."
Red lay awake on the cold cave ground. He couldn't quite fall asleep. In his mind, he was going over all that had happened since he began his journey. He was eventually pulled from his thoughts by the feeling of something crawling over his leg.
Red pulled out his flashlight and saw an orange insect Pokémon with mushrooms sprouting out its back crawling over his legs.
"Well." Red whispered to himself. "Not going to pass this opportunity up."
He pulled an empty Pokéball out of his backpack and tossed it lightly at the Pokémon, which was sucked into it. The ball rattled around a bit and the button flashed red. Red pulled out his Pokédex to check what he caught.
"Let's see… it's a Paras, male, Grass and Bug-type, with the Dry Skin ability. That's lucky. He should be really good against the Cerulean Gym. Wait a minute, wasn't that Misty's Gym?" He reached around in his pockets until he pulled out her card. "Yes, it is. That should be interesting. Wait a minute… I got so caught up in things that I forgot to call her and let her know about Yellow. I guess I know what I'll be doing when we reach the city."
The girls traveling with Gary, or his 'cheerleaders' as he had taken to calling them in his head, had insisted that they drive past Mount Moon rather than exploring it. Gary was disappointed that he didn't get to see what kinds of Pokémon were there that he could add to his team, but at least there was one good thing to come from it. They managed to reach Cerulean long before Gary was expecting.
He walked into Cerulean City's Gym with his cheerleaders following him. The interior was very different than Pewter's had been. The main hall consisted primarily of a large swimming pool as the battlefield, with a spot on each side for the trainers to command their Pokémon from. To each side of the room was a large set of bleachers.
"I used to train here," said Sue, "for swimming, that is. I'm not really into Pokémon."
"So do you know the Gym Leader then?" Gary asked her, mildly intrigued.
"Yes. Well, three of them anyway."
"Three of them? There's more than one?"
"Cerulean has four Gym Leaders, known as the Sensational Sisters. They rotate through their duties and you only need to battle one to earn the badge. I never really got to know the youngest of them, but I'm good friends with the other three."
"That is interesting."
Before their conversation could continue, a blue-haired girl poked her head out from the water in the pool.
"Hey, Sue! Is that you?" She asked. "It's been too long. How have you been?"
"Hi, Violet! I've been good. Right now I'm helping this kid enter the Pokémon League."
Violet turned her attention to Gary.
"So, do you want a Cascade Badge then?" She held out a water drop shaped badge. "Here you go."
"What? You can't just give that to me. I need to fight you for it."
"Oh, fine, if you want to be that way." Violet made no attempt to hide her disappointment as she pushed off the side of the pool and swam a back-stroke to the other side. She flipped up out of the pool with expert skill.
"How many badges do you have already?" She shouted back to Gary.
"One, about to be two."
"Well, at least this will be over fast." She mumbled to herself as she pulled out a Pokéball from seemingly nowhere "Then this will be a one-on-one battle!"
"Where did that Pokéball come from?"
"That is the most closely guarded secret of swimmers everywhere." Sue answered Gary's question, though it wasn't really an answer.
Violet tossed the Pokéball over the pool and a Seel came out from it. Gary sent out his Squirtle in response. Both Pokémon dove into the water and swam around waiting for their orders.
"Seel!" Violet called out. "Use Headbutt!"
The sea lion Pokémon swam over and rammed into Squirtle headfirst. Squirtle was knocked back into the side of the pool, but was able to push itself off and use it to add more momentum into its own Tackle attack.
This was Gary's first underwater battle, but he felt like he was getting the hang of it. He ordered Squirtle to follow up with another Tackle. Violet had Seel retaliate with its Icy Wind attack, freezing the surface of the water and making it harder for Squirtle to maneuver while Seel was still right at home in the icy water. Squirtle tried to catch up to Seel for another Tackle, but Seel was able to outmaneuver Squirtle and went in for another Headbutt. That proved to be a mistake, however, and as soon as the move hit, Squirtle was able to Tackle the Seel into a patch of ice. Seel was knocked out by the impact, meaning that Gary had won the battle.
Violet walked around the pool and handed Gary the badge she tried to give him earlier.
"Here you go, the Cascade Badge." She then turned to the girls. "Nice cheer."
"Thank you," responded Mal, "it's nice to know someone likes it." She glared at Gary.