It didn't take Jen's group much longer to find the exit to Mt. Moon thanks to Gastly. Peddling as fast as her bike could take her, Jen and her Pokemon arrived at Cerulean City.
"Phew…let's go to the Center and heal you guys, then hit the gym." She said huffing and puffing a little. "The sun is setting and I want to be able to leave as soon as possible." She thought as she watched the sun setting in the horizon.
Gastly and Vulpix looked at each other and shook their heads in disagreement.
"Why not? Vulpix, you're still paralyzed, and Gastly, you took quite a beating back at Mt. Moon." Jen exclaimed.
"I feel fine, master. I can keep fighting. What about you, Vulpix?"
"I'm good. I'll just keep using ember during battle."
Jen pouted for a moment before remember Ash's gifts. She quickly rummaged through her bag and pulled out a paralyze heal and a couple potions and berries. She used the heal on Vulpix and potions on both of her Pokemon, but when she tried to feed them, they turned away.
"What's wrong now?"
"We're not eating anything until you eat." Vulpix replied, looking at Jen's bag and then at Jen.
Slightly irked and amused by her Pokémons' stubbornness and thoughtfulness she decided to play ignorant trainer. "Do you want PokeChow or poffins instead?"
Vulpix stared at her with unblinking eyes.
"We can go by the store real quick to see if—Umph!"
Vulpix had leapt from her basket and tackled Jen to the ground. "Eat first, then we'll eat. Deal?"
"You were being serious when you said that you would continue to do that, huh?" Gastly chuckled.
"Hopefully master will catch on quickly." Vulpix said as she walked on Jen's stomach towards her bag. She grabbed another bagged sandwich and dropped in onto Jen's face.
"Vulpix." Gastly scolded, with a hint of humor in his tone.
"Vulpix, thanks, but I'm not hungry." Jen said as she tried to sit up, but Vulpix would not budge from her spot on Jen. "Vulpix, come on. I'll eat later. I promise." Vulpix's eyes narrowed. "After the gym battle I'll eat, but you guys have to eat too."
"Let her up, Vulpix. She promised."
Vulpix hesitated before jumping off of Jen.
"To the gym then?"
Jen just about walked out of the gym when she first saw the inside of it. For a moment she thought she had accidentally walked into a human gym due to the large swimming pool in the center.
"Cool gym." She said aloud as she took in the site.
"Glad you like it." An orange-headed girl said as she walked up to Jen. She was dressed in a white and blue swimsuit with three Pokeballs attached to her water belt. "Are you looking to battle the gym leader?"
Jen nodded eagerly.
The girl chose one of her Pokeballs and grinned. "Then allow me to welcome you to my gym. I am Misty, the Cerulean gym leader, and I accept your challenge. Lets begin, Staryu, go!"
The starfish Pokemon shot out of its Pokeball and landed in the pool behind them. "Yeah! Let's get this battle started!" It shouted.
Staryu: The starfish Pokémon. The core of this pokemon shines with all seven colors of the rainbow. The core is valued by many as a type of jewelry.
"Ash has spoken a lot about you." Jen said as she put her Pokedex away.
"You know Ash?"
"Yeah, he's my second cousin. He says hi too."
Misty chuckled. "It's been a while since I've seen him. He still owes me a bike…perhaps we can talk more after our battle?"
"Sure. Gastly, you ready?"
The ghost Pokemon nodded. "Tell me what to do, master."
Misty jumped onto a Lotad floaty and paddled her way to the center of the pool. "If you want, you can stay on the side."
Jen jumped onto a nearby Poliwhirl floaty and shook as the floaty threatened to capsize. She glanced up at Misty who was standing on her floaty. Determined to face Misty on equal terms, she struggled onto her feet, desperately trying to stay right side up.
"WWHEEE!" Vulpix cried.
Jen cautiously peeked over her shoulder and saw Vulpix bouncing up and down on a Squirtle floaty.
"Show off." Jen thought with a giggle. "Alright. I'm ready." Jen said once she stopped shaking. "Gastly, lets start this battle off with shadow ball!"
"Staryu, before it attacks, dive!"
The starfish Pokemon dove into the water before the shadow ball could hit it.
"Dang it. Gastly, get ready with a confusion ray when it comes out of the water."
"Got it." Gastly said as it scanned the pool for Staryu.
"Behind you!" Staryu cried giddily as it shot out of the water and hit Gastly.
"Hurry! Use confusion ray!"
The white orb darted towards Staryu, nailing its gem before it disappeared into the water.
Misty gasped. "Staryu, use water gun."
Her Staryu surfaced, but only bobbed up and down in the water. "Whaa?" It cried as if suddenly flinched. The Pokemon was confused.
"Gastly, use shadow ball again!"
This time, the shadow ball collided with Staryu, sending it under.
Misty sighed and summoned Staryu back into its Pokeball. "You did a good job, Staryu. Now it time to show Jen what we're really made of. Come on, Lan-"
"MISTY!"
Jen and Misty turned towards the man who had burst into the gym. He looked scared and flustered.
"What's wrong?"
"T-They're attacking the city…Team-"
"Team Rocket, what are you doing in Cerulean City and my gym?" Misty growled as three members pushed their way into the gym.
"We wanted to check in on Suicune's original trainer and to find the brat who attacked Clara and Lacy."
"How did they find out so quickly?" Jen thought.
"Well, I was doing fine until you scumbags showed up. As for your two grunts, something tells me they were asking for a beating. Now, if you don't mind, I was battling against Jen, so would you kindly GET THE HELL OUTTA MAH GYM!" The gym seemed to shake as Misty screamed. Either that, or Misty's sudden shrieking scared Jen into tumbling off of her floaty.
Jen saw her Gastly searching for her on the surface, while Vulpix dove into the water and swam/paddled towards her. Jen grabbed her little Pokemon and began swimming upward.
A low rumbling sounded from above them. The water quickly grew colder as a thick layer of ice spread out across the pool, trapping Jen and Vulpix. Jen's eyes widened and her heart rate quickened.
"No, no, no! Not like this! At least let Vulpix live…Vulpix!" Jen pointed to Vulpix, then to the ice. She prayed that Vulpix understood. She even tried to send mental images of Vulpix burning through the ice with ember to her scared Pokemon.
The little fox Pokemon struggled in Jen's arms as Jen tried to push her up against the ice. Even if Vulpix could not break through the ice, at least she could live a little longer off of the small bubbles that were trapped under the ice with them.
Jen's vision began to tunnel, causing her to go into a full on panic attack. She released Vulpix and began slamming her fists against the ice. Eventually, her limbs grew heavy, and she began to tremble uncontrollably.
Vulpix was still up against the ice, frantically digging her claws into it.
"Vulpix…" Jen thought weakly. "Use…firestorm."
The water suddenly grew warmer. Jen's eyes drifted over to Vulpix to see her burning a hole in the ice. Quickly using the rest of her energy, Jen pushed Vulpix through the opening before she too tried to climb out of the ice. Unfortunately, she was only able to stick her head through the foot-thick sheet of ice, but that was good enough for now.
Jen took in deep gulps of air as Vulpix lay next to her. She was worn-out from the adrenaline rush as well.
"G-Gast…Gastly…w-where are…are you?" Jen coughed.
"Don't worry about your Pokemon. We'll take good care of them."
Someone above her laughed. "Don't kid the child. We're just going to take her Pokemon."
"Master! Help!" Vulpix cried as one of the Rocket grunts picked her up by the nape of her neck.
"Too bad the gym leader didn't have Suicune. She and her Pokemon probably would have lasted a little longer."
"What should we do with this little girl?" One of the sneered, directing the conversation back to Jen.
Jen looked up woozily to see three the three Rocket grunts from before staring down at her evilly.
"What girl? I only see a pool of ice." One of the grunts snickered as he used his foot to push Jen back under.
Jen tried swimming back through the hole, but the Rocket grunt quickly had it resealed. Jen shuddered with fear and anger as she heard the grunts leave with her Pokemon.
"Gastly! Vulpix! Give them back! Damn it! Give me my Pokemon back you cowards!" She cried, sucking in water. The water filled her lungs and her vision slowly faded, but she fought on, violently throwing herself against the ice.
It didn't work. Her attempts were all in vain.
Her energy dwindled and she began to sink to the bottom of the pool. "Help…someone. I've…got to…get…them…back."
She felt something pulling at her being before she completely blacked out.