Chapter 11: Cerulean Gym Leaders Ash and Misty
Two days soon passed; Emily and Kiai spent the time training their pokemon, while heading closer and closer to Cerulean City. Finally, the city was in view, and Emily smiled. "Just down this hill, and we'll be there," she spoke. "It looks so pretty."
Kiai looked out over Cerulean City. It sure lived up to its name, even at this distance. There seemed to be lakes and rivers everywhere, and most buildings and roofs were blue, making the entire city look like a small ocean. At the heart of the city, standing out amongst everything else, stood the high dome of Cerulean Gym. Kiai smiled as he breathed in deep; even the air had a hint of sea salt to it. He shot a glance at Emily. "Last one down's a rotten Executor!" he spoke, and ran wildly down the hill.
Emily giggled, then rushed forward. The two rushed down into the city below. Cerulean City was even bigger now that they were inside of the city. Emily looked around, smiling. "It's so big!" she spoke. "Third biggest in all of Kanto," a voice spoke. Emily looked forward, and her eyes shifted to an angry look. "Alex..." she spoke.
Kiai looked at him, then quickly looked away. "Oh.. is he still alive?" he spoke. He took out his pokedex and started punching away at the keys, bringing up some info on the Cerulean Gym and water pokemon.
For a moment, Alex's eye twitched in anger before he regained his cocksure composure. "So, come to earn a Cascade Badge? There's no way. You don't have any pokemon strong against water types, and this girl has nothing but water types." Alex placed the emphasis on "But". "You're both out of your league, and frankly I'm surprised you made it past Slate, being how weak you are." he spoke. This time, it was Kiai's turn to restrain a twitch.
Emily growled. "You...you bastard!" She brought her hand up to strike Alex, but he quickly blocked.
"Feh, pathetic," Alex spoke. "Weak as always, Emily. I remember when we used to fight when we were younger…I always started it, and you always lost." He pushed her hand away, then turned away from them. "Well, anyway, you won't be getting a badge here, even if you did have pokemon strong against water types."
Emily growled again. "And why is that? Because we're weak?" she asked.
Alex chuckled. "That, too, but the main reason is, the gym is closed. Haven't you heard? Ash Ketchum is here. As long as he's around, Misty, the Gym Leader, won't be battling." Alex laughed. "It's true love!" he spoke mockingly. With that, Alex felt a bolt of electricity strike him. When he turned around to see whose electric type had hit him, he saw nothing. "Err...what was that?"
Kiai threw a cautionary glance at Emily. She caught it, and Kiai shook his head very slightly. She understood that she should be careful with her powers. Kiai then turned to Alex and spoke, "Well, I'm sure they won't mind if we drop in and check things out for ourselves. I'm sure you just kicked the door down, then stormed off when you heard there was nothing to win. I better get down there and fix their door. I'm always cleaning up after you, Alex."
Enraged, Alex threw a punch at Kiai, who sidestepped and pressed his palm into Alex's chest; the result of which being that Alex fell to the ground in a heap, and Kiai was barely phased. Before he could get up, they heard Officer Jenny shouting from down the street a ways, "Hey! Break it up you two, no rough-housing!"
Alex stood up, spit at Kiai's feet, then leaned close and hissed, "You'll get yours, Kiai. I promise," then turned and stormed out of the city.
Officer Jenny stopped next to Kiai and Emily. "All right, now, what's going on here?" she asked.
"Nothing, now," Emily spoke. "It was just Alex...he's a jerk from Pallet Town...he's always caused us trouble..." she shrugged. "Oh well..." she then got an idea. "Hey, is it true that Ash Ketchum is here?"
Officer Jenny blinked. "Yeah, why?"
Emily's eyes went wide and she grabbed Kiai's arm. "Let's go!" she shouted, rushing off, pulling Kiai with her. At the speed she was running, it only took the two of them only a few minutes to get there. Emily pushed the doors open to the gym and looked around. It was dark, looking like no one was around. "Hello?" she called, but got no response.
Kiai tried his luck, and belted out a "HELLO?!!" at the top of his lungs.
Just after, there came a very, very annoyed "Pikachuuu!" Kiai had only a splintered second to turn his head to face the horror that was already arcing toward him. Moments later, he was a lump of charred flesh on the cold gym floor, twitching violently, and regretting ever being born.
Emily blinked at how Kiai had been shocked. She turned to the source of the electric attack, and from the shadows came Ash Ketchum, his Pikachu on his shoulder. Ash looked different then Emily remembered him. He was wearing a simple white shirt, along with a red jacket over it. He also wore a red hat that had a white pokeball symbol on it, along with a pair of blue jeans. His hands were in his pockets as he looked at Kiai and Emily. "Who are you?" he asked.
Emily rubbed the back of her head. "You probably don't remember...it's been three years, after all. My name is Emily Yamaki, and this is my boyfriend, Kiai." She waved to Kiai.
Ash blinked. "Oh! I remember you two, now!" he said, smiling, then blinked as he looked at Kiai. "Oops, sorry about that." He rubbed the back of his neck.
"Ash, who is it?" a female voice spoke.
"My friends, Emily and Kiai," Ash responded. From the shadows came a stunningly beautiful woman. She was at least seventeen now, and was fairly tall. She had orange hair that was tied up in a small Ponytail on the corner of her head, and she wore a simple black tube top and a pair of rather short, blue jeans. This was Misty, the Gym Leader.
"Oh? You've never told me about them," Misty spoke.
"Yeah...after not being home for so long, and having met so many people on my journey, I kind of forgot..." Ash spoke, rubbing the back of his neck again.
Kiai stood up and looked at Ash. He was older now, and his voice was deeper. Kiai had always respected him as a pokemon trainer, and now, more than ever. "We just heard from Alex that you guys weren't in business anymore. We were kind of hoping to pick up a Cascade Badge. Is it true that the gym is closed now?" Kiai spoke. In truth, he didn't care about the badge. It was enough just to see Ash again.
"Yeah, I closed down the gym since Ash is here," Misty spoke. "Since he usually arrived for a couple of days, then leaves, I didn't figure it would be a problem. Though Professor Oak wants to vote Ash in as secondary Gym Leader." She walked over and leaned against him.
Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I don't know if I want to run a gym, but if they want me to, I always could." Ash then put his arm around Misty. "Since you guys are my friends, though, we'll give you a battle. Is that okay, Misty?"
Misty thought for a moment. "You two interested in a duel battle?" she asked. "You and Emily against me and Ash."
Emily's eyes went wide. "Oh, can we?" Emily asked, acting almost child-like as she tugged on Kiai's arm. "That would be so much fun!"
Kiai wobbled back and forth as Emily tugged on him. He stood dumbfounded. "Really..?" he managed to mutter, "A battle against.. Ash Ketchum? That's..." Kiai gritted his teeth with excitement, then burst forth, "You're on!"
Misty grinned. "All right, follow me." Misty turned and walked off. Ash turned and followed, and Kiai and Emily followed close behind that. They walked until they reached the large battle pool, and Misty turned for a moment. "I'd recommend putting on any swim suits you have," Misty spoke. "This is our battlefield. Ash and I will change and be back out in a moment." Ash and Misty headed off into a nearby room, leaving Kiai and Emily alone.
"This is going to be awesome!" Emily spoke and dropped her backpack. She opened it and looked inside, searching for her bathing suit. Kiai blushed, wondering what Emily would look like in a bathing suit. He, on the other hand, simply took of his shirt and kicked off his sandals. Emily pulled out a bikini from her bathing suit. She proceeded to strip down to nothing, then grabbing her bikini and put it on. She turned to Kiai and smiled as she stood there. "What do you think?"
"It's.. beautiful." he muttered, rudely gawking at Emily's body barely concealed in a few straps of cloth. He swallowed hard, thinking about all the things he would like to do with her. Suddenly, all the lights in the gym clicked on. Kiai and Emily both gasped as they saw the size of the gym. The pool itself was enormous, but there were seats lining the walls and great flat areas all around the pool. In the pool itself floated several multi-colored mats, buoyant enough for most pokemon to stand on. Ash, wearing simple red swim trunks, and Misty, wearing an elegant, sky blue, strapless bikini, emerged from the room and started walking down to the far end.
Misty, being the leader, called out to Kiai and Emily, saying "This will be a three-on-three battle, and we aren't going to hold back!"
"Three pokemon each, huh?" Emily smirked. "This should be very interesting, then." She looked to Shellshocker, who nodded. "Go, Shellshocker!" Shellshocker jumped into the pool and Misty and Ash both hopped onto a platform. Emily and Kiai did the same.
"Go, Staryu!" Misty shouted, tossing a pokeball out, releasing the star-like pokemon.
"Since this is an official gym battle, I'll use my water pokemon, too," Ash spoke. "Go, Poliwhirl!" he tossed a pokeball forth, releasing the blue pokemon. "Now, what will you bring out, Kiai?"
Kiai grinned. He had picked up some slack in the few days before they got to Cerulean, and knew exactly who he would start with. He drew a pokeball from his belt and tossed it, "I choose you, Butterfree!" A shiny blue Butterfree emerged from his pokeball. It was still somewhat small, having only evolved that very day. Ash looked at it, and his face softened, remembering his own first days as a pokemon trainer.
"Butterfree and Squirtle...I remember when I had both of those," Ash spoke, then grinned. "And that will make this all the more interesting. Poliwhirl, use Water Gun on Butterfree!"
"Staryu, use Tackle on that Squritle!" Misty shouted. Poliwhirl and Staryu both rushed forward. Staryu began to spin quickly shooting across the water at Shellshocker.
"Dodge it!" Emily shouted, and Shellshocker quickly dived under the water. Staryu missed, but quickly turned around, shooting back down at Shellshocker, who quickly swam off, and the two began an underwater battle.
"Butterfree! Dodge!" shouted Kiai, but the young Butterfree got hit full on. Kiai bit his lip, then had an idea. He leaned over to Emily and whispered, "Call Shellshocker out of the pool, now!"
Emily called out, "Shellshocker, out of the water, quick!" Shellshocker quickly leapt out of the pool onto a mat.
Kiai shouted, "Now Butterfree, use Supersonic on Poliwhirl!"
Butterfree spoke a high-pitched trill, "Freeee!" and the water in the pool seemed to shiver. Poliwhirl leapt up and started rushing at Staryu, which easily leapt out of the way.
Ash gasped, as his eyes went wide. "Using the water to spread the vibration and increase the intensity.. brilliant!"
"Awesome, Kiai!" Emily shouted.
"Poliwhirl, stop attacking Staryu and use Double Slap on that Squirtle!" Poliwhirl hopped down onto a platform and shook its head a moment. Once its confusion was gone, it rushed forward at Shellshocker, striking it hard with a Double Slap attack. The attack knocked Squirtle into the water.
"Staryu, Rapid Spin the Butterfree!" Staryu quickly began to spin again, this time faster then before. It dashed out of the water, flying straight at Butterfree, striking it hard. It wasn't enough to knock it out, though, as Staryu came down, landing on a platform.
"Quick Butterfree, use Sleep Powder on Staryu!" Butterfree swooped over Staryu, spreading small sprinklings of blue powder. Staryu doubled over, nearly falling asleep. Ash and Misty exchanged smiles, recollecting when Ash tried the same trick.
Kiai hissed to Emily, "Nows your chance!"
Emily shouted, "Shellshocker, Headbutt!"
Shellshocker flew out of the water head-first, with a fierce "Squiirrrrrrttle!!" and hit Staryu dead-center, sending it flying across the gym and into the rear wall.
Ash gave a chuckle. "Sleep Powder," he spoke. "It didn't work for me, but then, I didn't attack directly after either."
Misty hopped over to her Staryu, whose center gym was now flashing, meaning it was low on energy. "You did good, Staryu," she spoke. "Return." She zapped the Staryu back into its pokeball, then hopped over to the platform again. She pulled out another pokeball and tossed it forward. "You may have beaten Staryu, but you won't beat Starmie! Go!" The pokeball opened revealing the star-pokemon inside. This one looked like two purple stars put together. "This is the evolved form of Staryu."
"And I know when to call it quits." He held up a pokeball and shouted, "Nice job Butterfree, now return!" A red beam shot out as the pokeball absorbed Butterfree. Kiai hesitated as he grasped his next pokeball. He was really training it hard, but he couldn't seem to get it to evolve. Regardless, it had become stronger. "Spearow, show them what you can do!" Spearow emerged from its pokeball and took flight, immediately flying up into the highest parts of the gym.
"Spearow, huh? That reminds me of when I met Pikachu," Ash spoke. "It was about...30 of them that attacked me, I'm sure..." Ash shrugged. "Either way, this should be fun."
"Let's have fun," Misty spoke. "Thunder Wave, Starmie!" Starmie pulled itself back, then released a jolt of electricity out in a wave-like fashion, aimed for Shellshocker. The attack struck him, and he collapsed, paralyzed from the attack.
"Shellshocker!" Emily shouted. She jumped forward, grabbing him, then jumping back. She set him down, then held out another pokeball. "Go, Magi!" she shouted, tossing a pokeball forward. It struck the water and released the Magikarp.
"Magikarp?" Misty asked. "Must have some kind of strategy."
Ash looked up at Spearow. "Too high to attack..." Kiai whispered to Emily out of the corner of his lips, "Do you have a strategy?"
"Not really...I'd just rather not use Goldy if I can avoid it..." Emily whispered back to Kiai.
Misty thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Starmie, use Rapid Spin on that Magikarp!" Starmie hopped into the water and began to spin. It flew directly at Magikarp, and Emily bit her lip.
"Splash!" Emily shouted, giving out any thought she possibly could. Magikarp turned, waving its tail at Starmie to cause a splash of water, but it moved too late, causing its tail to hit Starmie. Luckily, the power of its tail managed to knock the star pokemon away and out of the water.
"Hya!" Starmie shouted.
"That...was kind of cool..." Emily spoke.
Kiai just stared, raising a brow as he watched. He was utterly confused by the situation. "That.. what?" Kiai stammered, then held his face in the palm of his hand. "Whatever! I don't care, it happened, that's that, moving along. Spearow, use Drill Peck on Poliwhirl!" Spearow divebombed Poliwhirl at a great speed, faster even than most evolved forms, and hit Poliwhirl hard; not enough to knock it out, but enough to injure it severely. Spearow immediately resumed a position high in the gym, a technique it learned after long hours training with Kiai.
Ash and Misty quickly gained their composure and got ready to battle again. "This should be interesting," Ash spoke. "Poliwhirl, use Double Slap on that Magikarp!"
"Starmie, you should be able to reach that Spearow with Rapid Spin!" Poliwhirl rushed into the water once again, diving down to where Magi was. It rushed over and began to slap it. Starmie flew into the air, spinning even faster then Staryu did. Using this attack, it was just barely able to get up where Spearow was, managing to barely graze against Spearow, not doing much damage, but it did do some. "Try a Water Gun!" Misty shouted, and Starmie turned to fire a Water Gun, but it had dropped too far down, and the attack missed. "Dang..." Misty spoke.
"Spearow, quick, Aerial Ace!" shouted Kiai, and Spearow darted down faster than the eye could see, hitting Starmie point-blank in mid-air, as it was falling. Starmie hit the surface of the water hard, causing a large splash. Spearow delayed a moment, then flew back up high.
Meanwhile, Poliwhirl swam in violent circles around Magikarp, slapping it everywhere, to which Magikarp responded, "Karp."
"Starmie, return!" Misty shouted, returning her knocked out Starmie to its pokeball. "Time for the last one. Go, Gyarados!" she shouted, tossing it out. It roared loudly.
"Try using Splash again!" Emily shouted at Magikarp, but the attack did nothing. "Dang...I was hoping for the same reaction as last time..." she pulled out her pokeball. "Magi, return!" she shouted, zapping Magi back into its pokeball. She sighed and pulled out her blue pokeball. "It's up to you now. Go, Goldy!" she shouted and tossed the pokeball forward. Goldy appeared fromt he pokeball and moved his hands into position, looking ready to fight.
"Wow! A golduck!" Misty shouted.
"Yeah, too bad your Psyduck never evolved, Misty," Ash spoke. Misty gave him an angry look.
"It doesn't matter, I'm perfectly happy with a Psyduck," Misty spoke, folding her arms below her chest and looking away.
"Better focus on the battle, though, Misty," Ash spoke
"Huh?" Misty turned back to the battle, just in time to watch as Gyarados was struck by a Hyper Beam attack from Goldy. It roared and turned back to look at the battle. "All right, no playing around. Gyarados, Use Hyper Beam on that Spearow!" Gyarados looked up and unleashed a powerful Hyper Beam up at Spearow. Spearow dodged easily.
"Aerial Ace!" Kiai shouted and Spearow quickly flew down, it flew directly next to Gyarados and Misty blinked.
"It missed?" Misty asked. Spearow then dived straight for Poliwhirl, striking it out quickly. "Oh!" she shouted. "Oh..." she then spoke. "Well, that means we're all down by one Pokemon."
Ash nodded. "Yeah, return Poliwhirl," he shouted. Ash returned his Poliwhirl, then tossed out another pokeball. "Go, Kingler!" Ash shouted, releasing the crab-like Pokemon. Kiai stood still and silent, analyzing the situation. Gyarados and Kingler both had very strong defenses and offenses, and were both in their element. There wasn't much a Spearow or Raticate could do to either of them. Before he had time to come up with a plan, Ash called out, "Kingler, use Bubble on that Spearow!" Kiai tilted his head, wondering how such a weak attack could harm Spearow, until he saw it; the ceiling filled with bubbles, and Spearow was forced to slow its flight and take dangerous evasive manuvers to avoid the randomly floating bubbles. In mere seconds, it began to get hit repeatedly.
"No! Spearow, blow them away with Gust!" Spearow cawed, and blew up a strong wind to blow away the bubbles. Kiai grit his teeth; attacks like that were the reason the name Ash Ketchum was so respected.
Ash smirked. "Very smart, Kiai, but there hasn't been a trainer here in Kanto that has beaten me since the Johto Leagues."
"Gyarados, use Dragon Rage on that Golduck!" Misty shouted. Gyarados inhaled, then launched out a blast of blue fire that shot off towards Goldy.
"Dodge it, Goldy!" Emily shouted, and Goldy jumped back quickly, just barely avoiding the attack. "Now, Goldy, Hyper Beam that Kingler!"
"Golduck!" Goldy shouted and put his hands to its forehead. It unleashed another Hyper Beam, this time aimed at Kingler.
"Kingler, Protect!" Ash shouted, and a barrier shot up around Kingler, just in time to completely block the attack. "Now, Kingler, respond back with your own Hyper Beam!" Kingler raised its claw and launched a Hyper Beam straight towards Golduck. Goldy couldn't move, after using so much energy on the Hyper Beam, and was struck by the attack, getting knocked back into the water.
"No, Goldy!" Emily shouted. "Goldy, re-" but before she could finish, something happened. Golduck jumped back up from the water, it's eyes red once more.
"Golduck!" it shouted.
"What's it doing?" Emily asked Kiai. Before Kiai responded, Goldy rose its hand into the air, then punched the water. As its hand came down, electricity shot through its hand, and struck the water. The attack quickly spread through the water electrifying all of the pokemon in the water. After a moment, Goldy collapsed, along with both Gyrados and Kingler.
"Impressive move...but Golducks can't learn Thunderpunch..." Ash spoke.
"Look at it, Ash," Misty spoke. "I think it has the pokerus."
Ash looked hard, then nodded. "I think so, too," Ash responded.
"Return!" Emily, Misty, and Ash all shouted, returning their pokemon.
"Just you and me now, Kiai," Ash spoke, looking to Kiai. "What do you say? Spearow looks weak. Want to end this with a one-on-one battle?"
Kiai looked up at Spearow. Having trained with it so much recently, he could tell it could go another few rounds. He looked back down at Ash, and saw him smiling. "Spearow.. return." Spearow returned to its pokeball, and Raticate, sitting eagerly on the sidelines, hopped onto the mat beside Kiai. "Yeah, get on in there, Raticate." Raticate lept in, landing on one of the mats near the center of the pool; quite a long jump.
Ash grinned, and shouted, "Pikachu.. Go!" Pikachu hopped from mat to mat, landing on one just in front of Raticate. Excited sparks flew from its red cheeks.
"Wow! You're fighting Ash's Pikachu!" Emily squeeled. "This is so cool!"
Misty gave a chuckle, then sat down on the platform. "Not much to do now but watch, I guess," she spoke. "Ash, don't lose to this guy."
"Who? Me? I never lose with Pikachu," Ash spoke.
Misty rolled her eyes. "Sure...that's the same thing you said when you battled that Graveler last year and got wiped out..."
"That was a rock pokemon, Misty, I had no chance against it," Ash quickly retorted.
"Oh, and there was the time with that Ninetales...that was a one shot lose for you, if I remember...and then there was-"
"Ok, ok, I get it," Ash quickly interrupted. Emily just giggled. "All right, Pikachu, let's do this."
"Pikachu!" Pikachu responded.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded.
"Pi...ka...CHU!" Pikachu shouted as it charged, then unleashed a large bolt of lightning out at Raticate.
Raticate didn't even try dodging. At this distance, it wouldn't have been possible. He took it full on, and stood tall and proud, haven taken one of the infamous Pikachu's thunderbolts. "Nicely done Raticate, now, hit back with Hyper Fang!" Raticate lept hard at Pikachu, pushing the mat into the water with a large splash. It clamped its jaws down hard on Pikachu, tackling it into the mat, then releasing it and bouncing off onto another. Raticate and Pikachu stared at each other, both impressed with each other's power. Kiai and Ash stared at each other, for the same reason.
"Amazing, Kiai, that Raticate is trained very well," Ash spoke. "Usually Raticate are weak, but the truth is, Rattata and Raticate are only as weak as they are trained. Being considered a runt of all pokemon by trainers, Raticate and Rattata rarely get trained well, and thus are weaklings. You, however, you must understand that. If you didn't, your Raticate surely wouldn't be as strong as it is."
Emily smiled. "Yeah, and it beat a Kabutops!" she blurted out.
Ash blinked. "It beat a Kabutops?" he asked. Now he was even more impressed. "Not even I have beaten a Kabutops. That means yours is extra special, Kiai." Ash looked down at Pikachu. "Let's give this everything we've got. Pikachu, charge 100,000 volts and use Thunder!" Pikachu closed its eyes as it began to charge an amount of energy few had ever seen a small pokemon charge before.
"Pi...ka...CHU!" it shouted as it launched off a large bolt of lightning up into the sky, then forward, aimed directly at Raticate.
"Raticate, Hyper Fang and don't let go!" Raticate lept at Pikachu for another bite, but this time grabbed on. Just as the attack landed, the Thunder hit them both, knocking them both off of the mat and into the water. Kiai grew afraid, and nearly jumped into the pool. "Raticate.." he spoke, softly.
Ash watched, then bit his lip. "Pikachu!" he shouted. After a moment, Pikachu floated up to the top. It's eyes were swirling, showing the Hyper Fang and the Thunder had knocked it out. Ash gave a half chuckle. "Well, at least he's okay, but what about Raticate?"
Suddenly, there was a splash of water as Raticate jumped out of the pool. It landed on the platform and smiled. "Raticate!" it spoke, then fell over. Ash laughed a little.
"That was awesome!" Emily spoke. Ash jumped into the pool and swam to his Pikachu, picking it up.
"You okay, buddy?" Pikachu gave a nod, then laid back and relaxed in Ash's arms.
"So, who won?" Misty asked.
"I'll tell you what," Ash spoke as he climbed out of the water and watched Kiai rush to Raticate's side. "It doesn't matter. For a truly amazing battle, I think Kiai and Emily deserve a badge, regardless of whether they won or not."
Misty nodded in agreement. "It sounds fine to me," Misty responded. "Seel!" Misty shouted. A seel slowly made its way to pool, where it jumped in and dashed across to Misty. Misty took two Cascade Badges from its mouth, then hopped over the platforms, handing one to Kiai, then hopping over to Emily, handing her the other one. "A truly amazing battle, you both deserve it," she spoke. She then hopped over to the side of the pool, where Ash was.
Kiai grinned wide, then wrapped his arms around Emily, exclaiming, "We did it!" He was so happy that he accidentally kicked the mat out from under them, and they both fell into the pool.
"Ack!" Emily shouted before hitting the water. The two surfaced and laughed. "Good thing we are wearing our bathing suits..." Emily spoke. She hopped out of the pool and looked at Misty. She went to speak, but closed her mouth when she noticed Ash and Misty moving into an embrace which followed with a deep and passionate kiss. Emily smiled and gave a happy sigh.
Kiai swam back with an exhausted Raticate on his back, and placed it gently at the edge of the pool, then pulled himself out. He looked at Emily to say something, then saw where she was looking. He smiled, and leaned toward her to playfully kiss her neck. Emily giggled and looked to Kiai, then back at Ash and Misty. She put her hands behind her back and leaned against Kiai. "They're so cute together," she spoke in a low voice. "Do we look that good together?"
"Hmm.." Kiai stood still in contemplation, then spoke, "Who cares?" He nudged his shoulder up, pushing Emily away ever so slightly, then slipping out of the way, causing Emily to fall into his arms, where he caught her, then bent down to kiss her lips. Emily giggled and kissed Kiai. After a moment, both groups broke from their kisses and looked to each other.
"I have to say it again, that was a great battle," Misty spoke.
"Yeah, it was really great," Ash spoke, smiling. "I'll be in Kanto for a while, so maybe I'll see both of you again."
Emily smiled. "Yeah, maybe," she spoke, nodding. She turned to walk off, then stopped. "Hey, Ash, you've been adventuring for a while...know anything about the pokerus?" Emily asked as she turned back to look at her.
Ash blinked. "Not a lot...I know about what everyone knows...that they are tiny microscopic creatures that settle in the bloodstream of pokemon and change them."
Emily looked down. "Oh...ok..." she sighed.
Kiai walked up to Ash, and shook his hand. "Thank you, Ash. You're an inspiration. I really have a lot to live up to."
Ash smiled, and spoke, "You aren't so bad yourself. If you stay at this pace, you'll be a pokemon master in no time." Kiai and Emily walked out of the doors of Cerulean Gym, waving to Ash, Misty and Pikachu. The bright mid-day sun reflected off of their new badges, pinned onto their shirts. For both of them, however, it was something more than a pokemon badge. It was a symbol of achievement, having bested the best in a true and fair fight. For Kiai, it was something more; it was a chance to see a really wonderful look on Alex's face next time they met.