Even past Nugget Bridge, the road to Bill's house was littered with Trainers. Youngsters, Jr. Trainers, Hikers, and the like, all more than willing to show off their Pokémon's skills. And in every single case, Axel and his Pokémon emerged victorious over them all. At long last, they made it to the house at the end of Route 25. Axel knocked on the door, but heard nothing. After waiting a few minutes, he knocked again... and the door creaked open, propelled by Axel's knocking.
Slowly, Axel opened the door, and ventured inside. There were two large machines in the back, connected by a number of tubes. There was a PC on the left side of the room, and on the right side... a Clefairy? Battery ran up to the Clefairy curously. "Pika pika, Pikachu?" he said inquisitively.
The Clefairy turned around and looked up at Axel. "Hiya! I'm a Pokémon... no, I'm not!" he said.
"WAH!" exclaimed Axel. "What- what the-"
"Call me Bill, said the "Clefairy" (for lack of a better word). "I'm a true-blue Pokémaniac! Hey, what's with that skeptical look?" he added, for indeed, Axel raised an eyebrow in disbelief. He had heard that Bill was a Pokémaniac, all right, but this seemed a bit much! "Look, I'm not joshing you- I screwed up an experiment and got combined with a Pokémon!" he said. "So, how about helping me out here?"
"I... guess so," Axel said skeptically. "But how-"
"It's easy," replied Bill. "I go in this teleportation chamber here, and you activate the Cell Separation System on my computer. That should do it. OK? It's very simple, I have it set up so all you gotta do is click that one button."
"...OK, then," nodded Axel. Bill walked in through the door to the chamber on the right of the room (Battery followed Bill curiously, trying to see through the door as Bill closed it behind him), as Axel approached the computer. He didn't understand half of what was on the screen, but what he did understand was a button marked "Activate Cell Separation System". He clicked that, and the machine roared to life. Beeping sounds were heard, whooshing sounds came from the tubes connecting the chambers, and the other chamber door opened up, allowing a young man with curly brown hair to step out.
"Pi Pikachu!?" Battery exclaimed, shocked at this- whatever he had expected to happen, this certainly wasn't it.
"Yeehaw!" Bill exclaimed happily as he stretched his arms and walked over to Axel. "Thanks, bud! I owe you one! So, did you come to see my Pokémon collection?"
"Not so much," admitted Axel. "More to just thank you for the PC storage system, I'm making good use of it."
"Heh, appreciate that," grinned Bill. "Still, kind of a bummer you didn't come to see my Pokémon... There's gotta be some way I can thank you- oh! Here, maybe this'll do," he added, producing a strip of cardboard from his shirt pocket and handing it to Axel. "It's a ticket for the cruise ship, the S.S. Anne, in Vermilion City. Its passengers are all Trainers. I was invited to their party, but I can't stand fancy do's. So you go on, go and have a good time!"
"Heh, thanks, Bill," smiled Axel. "C'mon, Battery," he added.
Battery was still looking back and forth between the teleportation chambers, still trying to process what had happened. "Pika pika, Pikachu?" he muttered.
"Battery, c'mon!" called Axel. This got the Pikachu's attention, and together they exited Bill's house. The S.S. Anne sounded like fun, but right now, Axel's next stop? The Cerulean City Gym!
Thanks to a side path Bill pointed out, they were able to get back to Cerulean with little trouble, and one Pokémon Center stay later, Axel pushed open the door and entered the Cerulean Gym.
The floor was hardwood... at least what little floor was above water. The majority of the Gym was composed of an indoor pool. A narrow tiled path ran around the perimeter of the Gym, but walking across the hardwood platforms seemed to be the way to get to Misty. Seeing an opportunity to let one of his Pokémon get some exercise, Axel opened up one of his Poké Balls, unleashing his Magikarp into the water. "Alright, Kraken, get some exercise, OK?" he said.
"Karp karp!" Kraken replied before starting to slowly and leisurely swim around the pool.
As Axel started forward, a Swimmer swam up to him. "I'm first up! Let's do it! Horsea!" he declared. While treading water, he managed to unleash a small blue Pokémon from a Poké Ball.
"Go! Itchy!" called Axel, throwing his Rattata's Poké Ball. The Rattata landed on the wood platform, though jumped into the pool and started to swim with remarkable adeptness. "Use Hyper Fang!"
"Bubble!" ordered the Swimmer. The Rattata swam towards Horsea and took a big bite, but Horsea recovered, and sprayed a powerful jet of foam out of its snout. Itchy hissed, but took the attack well.
"Now! Quick Attack!" ordered Axel. Swimming at high speeds, Itchy swam right into Horsea, who started to bob on the surface of the water, showing a distinct disinclination to continue fighting.
"Come back, Horsea! Go, Shellder!" said the Swimmer as he withdrew his Horsea and sent out something concealed within a small purple shell, who landed on the wood platform. Only its eyes and tongue were visible.
"Itchy, come back!" said Axel, withdrawing his Rattata before throwing another ball. "Needles! Horn Attack!" he added, his Nidorino materializing on the platform.
"Riiinoooh!" roared Needles, charging forward and jabbing at Shellder with his horn.
"Shellder! Tackle!" called the Swimmer.
"Shelldeeeeer!" squealed Shellder. Though the Horn Attack sent it flying into the wall, Shellder closed its shell tight just before impact, then opened it wide to bounce off the wall and fly back at the Nidorino, striking it hard. The battle continued on, with Needles's Horn Attack constantly going up against Shellder's Tackle, until the latter finally gave up and fell into the water.
"Wha- that can't be!" the Swimmer exclaimed. "Y'know, Misty, our Gym Leader, she's just gonna keep on improving. She won't lose to someone like you!"
"Uh-huh," nodded Axel, rolling his eyes. He continued to navigate the platforms, until he was almost near the back, where there stood a cute redheaded teenage girl in a swimsuit. He supposed this was Misty, but before he could get to her, a Jr. Trainer barred his way.
"I'm more than good enough for you!" she declared. "Misty can wait! Go, Goldeen!" she shouted, throwing a Poké Ball.
"Needles!" exclaimed Axel, and the Nidorino, who was still out of his Poké Ball, charged forward to meet the Goldeen head-on with his horn. Goldeen was sent flying into a wall as the Horn Attack hit a weak spot, and slumped into the water.
"Riinoooh!" Needles grunted triumphantly.
"Aah! Goldeen!" whined the Jr. Trainer as she withdrew her Water-type. "You overwhelmed me!" She stepped back, however, allowing Misty to come face to face with Axel.
"Hi, you're a new face around here," smiled Misty. "What's your policy when it comes to Pokémon, your approach to training?"
"Well, I, uh..." Axel responded- he never really thought about having a policy on Pokémon training before.
Misty's smile grew. "Well, you'll work that out eventually. In the meantime, Misty, the world-famous beauty, is your host. And my policy... is an all-out offensive with Water-type Pokémon!" she exclaimed, throwing a Poké Ball into the air.