Pokemon Loud Version - Kanto

by SilverNugget

No Such Luck AU. After being accused by Lynn of ruining her championship softball game, Lincoln's family plans to send him away to live with his Aunt Ruth until the whole 'bad luck' mess blows over. However, a suggestion by Lisa leads to a different destination that will change Lincoln's life forever. New 'M' Rating due to language & content within the story. Cover by JaviSuzumiya.

21. Chapter 21 - The Sisters Of Cerulean

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or the Loud House. Those properties belong to Nintendo/Game Freak and (regardless of what happened to him) Chris Savino/Nickelodeon respectively.

Note: This story will be based primarily on the anime with aspects of the games, the Adventures manga and the Electric Tales manga mixed in. Also, for the sake of convenience, I will be using the following fonts for these particular parts of the story:

Translated Pokemon Speech

Pokedex Entries/Computerized Voices/Flashbacks

-=O=-

-Western Entrance To Cerulean City (10:20 AM)-

"I gotta say, Misty - your hometown seems like a nice place to live, especially now that I'm getting the chance to see it up close." admitted Lincoln as he looked around Cerulean City with an impressed look on his face. "You must be pretty proud of it."

"Thanks, squ...Lincoln." replied Misty with a smile before giving the white-haired boy and Brock a questioning look. "So, what's the plan? Are you two going to head straight to the gym or do you plan on doing a little sight-seeing first?"

"Well...I think I might stop by the PokeMart and do some shopping, then head to the gym after that." answered Lincoln with a shrug. "What about you?"

"I'm going to go visit my sisters and see how they're doing. Hopefully they've been looking after the place during my absence." said Misty before walking away. "I'll see you two at the gym!"

"See you there, Misty!" called back Lincoln in response before turning his attention to Brock and asking "...She's the gym leader, isn't she?"

After staring at the younger male for a few seconds, Brock replies "...Misty's going to be pissed when she finds out you already know she's the gym leader - she was hoping to drop something like that on you before your battle with her today. When did you figure it out?"

"Ever since we left Pewter City, though my suspicions started when she mentioned how unprofessional you are outside of battle - I kinda figured that only a gym leader would know something like that about another one and put the pieces together from there."

"...She called me unprofessional?"

"To be fair, you were trying to woo the Pewter City Nurse Joy like some kind of wannabe Casanova at the time. If that's not unprofessional behavior, then I don't know what is." said Lincoln, shrugging. "You kinda reminded me of how my sisters acted around a tutor I had once, actually."

With a look of interest on his face, Brock asks "Sisters, huh? How many do you have? And uh...are any of them single, by any chance?"

"To answer your questions in order - yes and ten of them."

"...Well, what about my last question? Are any of them single and looking for a boyfriend?"

Giving Brock an annoyed look, Lincoln replies "Dude, those are my sisters you're talking about here - I'm not going to dignify a question like that with a response." before walking away to head to the Pokemon Center, causing the fifteen year-old to start sulking.

"...Damn it, I should've been more subtle about asking him something like that...I must look like some kind of desperate creep now..."

-=O=-

-Outside Of The Cerulean City Gym (10:25 AM)-

"Man, it's good to be back..." said Misty as she stood in front of the Cerulean City gym with a smile on her face. However, it quickly faded upon seeing a flyer that was taped to the entrance. "Huh? Let's see here...'The Sensation Cerulean City Synchronized Swimming Sisters'? Must be one of those water shows of theirs."

After looking at the flyer for a few more seconds, she rolls her eyes before opening the door and stepping inside. As she entered the lobby of the gym, she heard three females voices that sounded like they were getting closer.

"Violet, that dive you did was totally awesome! I think you really wowed the crowd with that one!"

"Thanks, Lily. Your dive was, like, amazing too, Daisy."

"You know it. Our practice really paid off, didn't it, Lily?"

"Like, totally!"

Recognizing the voices immediately, Misty sighs in annoyance and mutters "Well, I had to meet them again eventually. Might as well get it out of the way now." as a nearby door opened up with her sisters stepping through it, only to stop upon seeing who was waiting for them in the lobby.

Blinking in surprise, Lily asked "Like, is that Misty? What's she doing here?"

"I dunno. Maybe she stopped by to see us." replied Violet with a shrug while their older sister approached Misty with a warm smile on her face.

"Misty, welcome home! You're, like, looking good." said Daisy before a mock thoughtful look appeared on her face. "Well...not as good as us, but still, it's good to have you back home. Although...I thought you said you weren't going to come back until you were a Water-Type Pokemon Master."

Smirking with amusement, Violet added "Yeah, you totally said that. What happened? Did you, like, decide to back out?"

"No! I just came to see if you three are taking proper care of the gym while I'm away!" snapped Misty irritably. Once she had calmed down slightly, she asked "So how are things with the gym anyway? You three get any challengers while I was gone?"

Holding up three fingers, Lily replied "Well...we, like, took on three trainers from this nowhere place called Pallet Town over the past couple of days, but they completely stomped us flat."

"They were strong, Misty. Really strong." added Daisy, nodding her head. "They must've set a record on how fast they managed to beat us."

After pinching the bridge of her nose, Misty mutters "...You three really need to work more on your skills as a Trainer instead of primping and swimming all the time. Maybe then you three would suck less at battling."

"Well, it's, like, not our fault we inherited the good looks in the family while you got...everything else." retorted Lily, causing the redhead to stomp over towards her in anger, causing the pink-haired teen to back away. "Like, chill out..."

Hoping to ease the tension of the situation, Daisy says "I think what Lily's trying to say is that you're the one with the most skill in battling out of all of us, Misty."

"Sounds like she was trying to imply something else on top of that..." grumbled Misty as she crossed her arms. "Well in any case, there's going to be another Trainer coming here to challenge for the Cascade Badge and I'm going to be the one to face him, since apparently if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself..."

"And how do you know that this challenger's a 'him', hmm?" asked Violet with a teasing smile starting to appear on her face.

"I just know, okay? Now drop it!" snaps Misty irritably, only for the other two to start smiling as well.

Her smile widening, Lily says "Ooh...looks like Misty's found a boy she likes..." in a teasing tone of voice, causing Misty to blush slightly in embarrassment and anger.

"Absolutely not! There's no way I'd ever consider dating that little white-haired runt!" snarled the redhead, only to realize that she had slipped up. "Crap..."

At this, all three sisters squeal excitedly before asking her a flurry of questions, causing their voices to jumble together in an incomprehensible mess.

After a few seconds, Misty shouts "Alright, enough! I don't have time to play twenty questions right now - I've got a gym battle to prepare for and you three are distracting me!"

Stepping forward, Daisy says "Well, if you're in a hurry to get the gym ready for your battle, we can help you with that."

"Yeah. We've, like, got nothing better to do since we just finished a show a few minutes ago." added Lily with a shrug while Violet nodded in agreement.

"Great. Let's get to it, then." answered Misty before heading towards a nearby door, only to stop upon reaching it. "One more thing, Violet - do we happen to have any Water Stones lying around?"

Tapping her chin thoughtfully, Violet answers "Yeah, I think we've, like, got a spare one somewhere. Why?"

Pointing at a set of double doors, Misty answers "I want you to bring it to me so I can put it to use later. Can you do that?"

Giving Misty a confused look, the blue-haired teen replied "Um...sure. I can do that.", prompting the redhead to give her a nod before going through the door. Once she was gone, Violet says "...Wow...never thought Misty would find a boy, to be honest. I hope he's, like, cute."

"Violet, be nice." replied Daisy chidingly. "Despite the fact she's not as good-looking as the three of us, she's still our sister."

"I know, but that, like, doesn't mean we can't totally tease her about it later, yeah?"

"Of course not. That's what older sisters are meant to do with their younger siblings, right?"

-=O=-

-Cerulean City Pokemon Center - PokeMart (10:30 AM)-

While Brock was trying (and failing) to serenade the Nurse Joy at the front counter, Lincoln and Pikachu were at the PokeMart, looking over the numerous TMs that were on display.

"Let's see here...which ones do I want to buy...?"

"Hey, not that I'm complaining or anything, but why are we looking for some new moves to use? Our current ones should be good enough to get the job done, right?" asked Pikachu curiously.

"We both know that Misty's the Cerulean City gym leader, right?" replied Lincoln, causing the Electric-Type to give him a nod. "Well, she's also been hanging around with us ever since we left Viridian City, so it's likely that she knows what you and the others are capable of, which means that she probably has plenty of ways to counter anything we can throw at her."

Pointing at the TMs, he adds "But if we pick up a couple of these before taking her on..."

"...We'll have moves that she won't know about until we use them during the battle. Smart thinking."

"Exactly. Now which ones should I go with?" mused Lincoln as he continued to look over the TMs, occasionally wincing at the more expensive ones on display. "I don't want to spend too much money, yet at the same time I want to make sure that the moves we buy are worth using..."

After looking over the case himself, Pikachu spots two TMs that catch his attention - a yellow-green one and a dark silver-colored one. "Well, how about those? They look like they'd be pretty useful."

"Those? Let's see here..." replied Lincoln before taking a closer look at the two TMs in question. After a few seconds, he gives the clerk manning the counter a glance and asks "Excuse me, sir? Can you tell me about these particular TMs, please?" while pointing at them.

"Certainly, young man." replied the clerk with a nod before starting his explanation on what moves were coded on the two USB sticks. Once the clerk had finished, a smirk formed on Lincoln's face as he handed over his Trainer Card.

"...Yeah, I think those are the kind of moves I'm looking for. I'll take them."

-=O=-

-Outside Of The Cerulean City Gym (10:40 AM)-

After a ten-minute walk through town, Lincoln, Pikachu and Brock finally manage to arrive at a large building with a multicolored roof that reminded the white-haired boy of a circus tent.

The most noticeable thing however was the large sign above the entrance that resembled a white-colored seal-like Pokemon. Below it was a wave-like ridge that circled the entire roof of the gym with the words 'Cerulean Gym' displayed directly underneath the sign.

"This place certainly looks like it screams 'Water-Type gym'." commented Pikachu as he stared at the building.

"Yeah, it does. This has got to be the right place." replied Lincoln before giving Brock a questioning glance. "Right?"

"That's right." replied Brock before noticing the flyer on the entrance doors. "Huh...looks like the gym also does water shows as well. Must be something they've started doing recently..."

Upon seeing the three women displayed on it, a lovestruck smile appears on his face as he mumbles "Oh wow...these three are absolute knockouts..."

Noticing the three women and recognizing them from the picture Misty had showed him, Lincoln answers "Hey, I know those three...", only to yelp in surprise when Brock quickly grabs his shoulders and starts shaking him wildly.

"You know those three!? What are their names!? Can you introduce me to them!? Are any of them single!?"

"Dang it, Brock - let go!" snaps Lincoln irritably before shoving Brock's arms away. After dusting himself off, he adds "I don't know them personally, Brock. If you want to know more about them, ask Misty - they're her older sisters. I just know about them because she told me."

"...Oh. Well, uh...sorry about shaking you like that..." muttered Brock as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I just...kinda lost control of myself there for a moment."

Turning his attention back to the flyer, he adds "Still...these three are absolutely gorgeous...maybe if I ask, Misty'll introduce them to me..." before removing the flyer from the door. After looking up and down at it for a few seconds, he chuckles before folding it up and placing it into his pocket. "I'll just save this for later when I have some time alone..."

At this, both Pikachu and Lincoln stared at the fifteen year-old with awkward looks on their faces.

"...Uh-huh...well, have fun with...whatever it is you're planning on doing with that flyer, Brock. I've got a badge to win."

"...I was sounding like some kind of weirdo again, wasn't I?"

"...Yeah...yeah, you were. I'm just gonna head inside now before things become even more awkward." replied Lincoln before heading towards the entrance and stepping inside. "Man, I hope that I don't start acting like that when I get older..."

"Same here. The last thing I need is for my Trainer to become a drooling, lovesick idiot."

-=O=-

"Wow...this place reminds me of an aquarium..." mused Lincoln, taking notice of the numerous fish tanks built into the walls of the gym as he stepped into the lobby. "The water bill here must be a nightmare to deal with, though."

Admiring the scenery as well, Brock comments "I see what you mean - there's got to be hundreds of tanks here."

"Like, hi! Welcome to the Cerulean City gym!" greeted a female voice from nearby, catching their attention. Turning to see who had spoken to them, they saw the three women from the flyer standing behind a nearby counter. "The name's Lily - it's like, totally nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you, Lily." greeted Lincoln in response before giving the other two a glance. "And these two must be Daisy and Violet, right? Misty's told me a lot about you three."

"Is that so? And how do you know our baby sister, hmm?" asked Daisy with a raised eyebrow.

"We met each other in Viridian City and have been traveling together with each other ever since." replied Lincoln with a shrug, only to let out shout of surprise as Brock shoved him aside before kneeling in front of the three girls, who stared at him with bewildered looks on their faces.

"It's a pleasure to meet the Sensation Sisters of Cerulean City! Is there a chance you can sign this for me?" asked Brock as he held out the flyer towards them.

"Um...sure?" replied Daisy before she and her siblings signed the flyer, causing Brock to smile widely before re-pocketing it.

Once it was put away, he asks "So uh...any chance we could get together later on and you can show me around town?" with a charming-looking smile, hoping that the three would accept the offer.

With a weirded-out look on her face, Daisy answers "Uh...no thanks. I'm, like, totally booked for the rest of the day."

"Yeah...like, me too." added Violet, backing away slightly.

Doing the same, Lily comments "Same here. I totally won't have the time to show you around. Sorry."

While Brock started to sulk upon hearing the three refuse his advances, Lincoln sighs and mutters "Yep, definitely unprofessional." before giving Pikachu a glance. "Pikachu, if you wouldn't mind?"

His cheeks sparking with electricity, the Electric-Type replies "On it." before blasting Brock with a half-powered Thundershock, causing the fifteen year-old to collapse onto the floor, electricity waltzing on his body.

"...Was that, like, really necessary?" asked Violet with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" countered Lincoln before pointing at the downed Brock, who was groaning in discomfort. "Besides, he's still alive and well. See?"

"Why does love have to hurt so much...?"

"Well, in any case...I guess you're here to challenge for the Cascade Badge?" asked Daisy, crossing her arms.

'She must be trying to mask the fact that Misty's the gym leader here by acting like she's the one running the place. I'll play along for now and see where this goes...' thought Lincoln before answering "That's right. And I take it that you're the gym leader?"

"All three of us are, actually." replied Violet with a smile. "We are the famous sisters of Cerulean City, after all."

"Okay, so which one do I need to face to get my badge?" asked Lincoln, causing the three sisters to give each other a subtle, yet knowing glance before Lily stepped forward.

"Um...there might, like, be a problem with that. You see...we kinda don't have any Pokemon available at the moment to accept your challenge."

Nodding, Daisy adds "Yeah, we had a couple of battles against some really strong trainers over the past couple of days - they totally wiped out the rest of our Pokemon." before taking out a Pokeball from her pocket and throwing it. "This is the only one we have left."

Upon opening up, the Pokeball releases its contents - a white, fish-like Pokémon with orange markings on its tail, back, and fins and a large horn on its head. Upon landing on the ground, it started to flop around aimlessly.

Eyebrow raised, Lincoln takes out his Pokedex in order to find out more about it.

'Goldeen, the Goldfish Pokemon. Goldeen is a very beautiful Pokémon with fins that billow elegantly in water. However, don't let your guard down around this Pokémon—it could ram you powerfully with its horn.'

"This Goldeen is the only Pokemon that's still able to battle. If it could just evolve into a Seaking, one of us would be able to take you on with that." stated Daisy with a sigh before recalling the Goldeen. "But as things stand right now, it only knows Horn Attack, Peck and Flail - your Pokemon would probably make quick work of it."

After taking a sniff of the air and noticing that something seemed off, Pikachu whispers "They're lying about only having that Goldeen available, Lincoln - I can smell other Pokemon somewhere else in the gym."

"Really? Why would they do that, though?"

"Who knows? Maybe they're just trying to get you to go away."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere until I get my badge. I'll play along for now and see where this goes." replied Lincoln in a low voice before turning his attention back to the three sisters, placing a look of disappointment on his face. "So...I'm not going to get a battle today after all, huh?"

"Nope, sorry. But I think I know how we can make it up to you." replied Daisy before reaching into her pocket and taking out a blue-colored badge that was in the shape of a teardrop. "This is the Cascade Badge - you were after this, right? Go ahead and take it."

-=O=-

"So that's the Cerulean City badge..." mused Lincoln before giving the blonde a suspicious look. "...Alright, there's no way you're giving me this freely - there's gotta be a catch."

"Nope. The badge is all yours - you just need to reach out and take it."

As he stared at the badge in Daisy's hand, Lincoln had to admit that idea of a free badge was tempting...but at the same time, he felt that something still seemed off about the offer.

The fact that Brock, who had managed to get back to his feet, was eyeing him carefully instead of trying to hit on the sisters again only reaffirmed his belief that there was something suspicious about what was going on.

After a few seconds, Lincoln replies "Sorry, but I can't accept your offer - I'd rather earn my badges instead of having them handed to me."

"But...this is, like, totally a free badge. Just take it." insisted Lily, which only made him more suspicious.

"Look, I appreciate the offer - I really do. But I want to earn the Cascade Badge the right way. If it means having to wait until your Pokemon are healthy again before we can have a proper battle, then so be it."

"That won't be necessary, Lincoln - I'll be your opponent." replied a familiar-sounding voice from nearby, catching the white-haired boy's attention. Turning to face the direction it was coming from, he saw Misty leaning against a nearby wall with her arms crossed.

Giving her sisters a glance, the redhead states "You three had gotten sloppy, you know that? That Pikachu of his could smell the other Pokemon in the gym."

"...Damn it, I knew that we were forgetting something..." muttered Daisy under her breath before giving Lincoln a nod of approval. "In any case, congratulations - you managed to pass the gym's test of character and can now challenge for the Cascade Badge."

"Test of character?" asked Lincoln with a raised eyebrow.

"It's something that each gym leader does in order to see if a Trainer is worthy of challenging for a badge or not." answered Brock, nodding sagely. "We developed these in order to prevent less-than-honorable Trainers from entering the League. After all, would you want a cheating scumbag to be your regional champion?"

"The test of character for the Cerulean gym is being willing to earn your victories instead of just having them handed to you. And based on what you just said earlier, you passed the test." added Misty before giving Lincoln a smug smirk. "Bet you're surprised to see me here, huh?"

"...No, not really. In fact, I'd actually be surprised if you weren't here, to be honest."

After staring at Lincoln for a few seconds, Misty glares at Brock and says "...Damn it, Brock - I wanted to be the one to tell him that I was the gym leader here! Why'd you have to go and spoil it?"

"I didn't! He managed to figure it out on his own!" protested Brock, pointing at Lincoln accusingly. "If you want to get mad at someone, get mad at him!"

Shrugging, Lincoln says "It was pretty easy to figure out, actually - you're from Cerulean City, specialize in Water-Type Pokemon and even seem to know Brock, a fellow gym leader, well enough to know how he acts when he meets a pretty girl."

Glaring at Misty, Brock adds "I'm going to get you back for that 'unprofessional' comment, by the way."

"Anyway, once I managed to put the pieces together, I came to the conclusion that you were the gym leader." said Lincoln before tapping his head with one of his index fingers. "Anyone with a brain could've figured that one out."

"Well, you managed to prove that you've got a brain in that white-haired head of yours, now let's see if you really know how to use it during our battle today - we'll be using the same rules you used when you battled Samurai, except we'll be using three Pokemon instead of two." stated Misty, hands on her hips.

"Which means no substitutions until one of us scores a knockout, right? I can work with that."

"Glad to hear it." replied Misty before giving Violet a glance. "Show him where we'll be having our battle - I need to finish getting ready."

"Okay, Misty." said Violet with a nod before pointing at a set of double doors at the other end of the lobby. "Alright, short stuff - go through there and you'll find the arena we use for gym battles. It's like, totally awesome."

"I'll give it a look. Thanks." replied Lincoln before heading towards the doors and going through them.

Once the white-haired boy was gone, Misty asked "Hey, by the way...do any of you have any swimwear I can borrow? I don't want to get my clothes wet."

"Sorry, Misty. We..." started Daisy before snapping her fingers. "Wait...hold on, we do have something you can use. It's a bit showy, though..."

"Showy...?" repeated the redhead before realizing what that meant, causing a blush to form on her face. "No, absolutely not! You've got to have something else for me to use, right?"

"Nope. So unless you want to battle in your current clothes and risk getting them wet, you've got no other option."

"Like, look at it this way, Misty - you get to totally show that cute boyfriend of yours what kind of figure you're sporting behind those clothes of yours." added Lily as a teasing grin appeared on her face.

"He's not my boyfriend, damn it!"

-=O=-

-Cerulean City Gym - Battle Area (11:05 AM)-

As he stepped into the room past the double doors, Lincoln let out a low whistle upon seeing the sight before him - a gigantic pool of water that had two floating platforms and several rock formations placed within it.

"Wow...this place certainly knows how to impress, huh Pikachu? Look at the size of that pool - it's huge!"

Staring at the pool in awe, Pikachu asked "By Arceus...how much water is in that thing!? That's got to be enough water to fill up a small lake!"

"Who knows? But right now, we can't spend time gawking at how impressive the gym's swimming pool is - we've got only a few minutes to put our new TMs to use."

"You're right. So who's going to be learning them?"

After taking the two TMs and the Move Tutor out of his bag, Lincoln answers "I think that you and Beedrill will be the ones to learn how to use these two moves." before releasing Beedrill from his Pokeball.

Looking around, the Poison Bee Pokemon asked "...We're at the next gym, I take it?"

Nodding, Lincoln answers "Yep, and you're going to be taking part in today's battle. Are you cool with that?"

"Sure, I'm game." replied Beedrill with a nod. "So...uh, what did you send me out for?"

"I picked up a couple of TMs earlier and want to put them to use. Feel like learning a new move?"

"Definitely. I'm kinda getting tired of relying on Poison Sting, to be honest. What is it?" asked Beedrill, prompting Lincoln to show him the yellow-green TM he had picked up before. "...Nice. Yeah, I think I'll want to learn that one."

"Cool." replied Lincoln with a grin before giving Pikachu a glance. "And this one in particular, I'll be teaching to you."

With a grin of his own as he stared at the silver-colored TM, Pikachu replies "Fun. I can't wait to give that move a try."

"Then let's get to it then - we only have a few minutes to do this before Misty gets here." said Lincoln as he plugged one of the TMs into the Move Tutor.

"Hey, who's going to be the third Pokemon you're going to use? Misty said that it'll be three apiece, right?"

After thinking it over, Lincoln answers "Probably Zubat - I want to see what he's capable of in battle firsthand." before turning on the Move Tutor. "Alright, now hold still..."

-=O=-

Five minutes later, the double doors open up with Daisy, Lily, Violet and Brock stepping into the room.

Seeing them, Lincoln says "Hey, about time you showed up." before noticing that Misty wasn't with them. "Where'd Misty go?"

"She's still getting ready, short stuff." replied Violet with a shrug before pointing at one of the two platforms in the water. "If you want, you can, like, go ahead and get into position down in the pool. We'll call you when she gets here."

"Thanks. I'll go ahead and do that." answered Lincoln before walking over to the pool's edge and hopping onto the platform below. Once he was in place, he started to hear what sounded like Misty and Daisy arguing with each other nearby.

"...I can't believe you're having me wear something like...this! He's going to stare at me, I just know it!" whined Misty's voice, causing Daisy's voice to let out a sigh.

"Oh, quit whining - you look fine. Besides, we wear stuff like that too and don't have any problems with it."

"That's easy for you to say - you want to catch peoples' attention! I don't! Especially not his!"

"Just shut up and go get on the other platform already so we can get this battle over with."

Upon seeing Misty hop onto the other platform with a small bag in hand, a heavy blush formed on Lincoln's face as he yelled "What in the hell are you wearing!?" while pointing at her - the redhead was wearing a rather...unique swimsuit that left very little to his imagination.

With a blush of her own, Misty snaps "It's the only swimwear we had available and I didn't want to get my clothes wet during our battle! Now stop staring at me, you little pervert!"

"That's bullcrap! You're just trying to distract me so I won't be able to focus on the battle, aren't you!?"

As the two continued to bicker with each other, Lily says "Hey Daisy, isn't there, like, a saying or something about opposites attracting? Do you think it applies to those two as well?"

"Looks like it - those two certainly seem like total opposites to me." replied Daisy with a shrug. "Still, I better go break those two up, otherwise we're going to be here all day."

Letting out a whistle to catch the quarreling pair's attention, the blonde says "Alright, knock it off - we've got a battle to start. You two lovebirds can flirt with each other later."

"WE DON'T LIKE EACH OTHER THAT WAY, DAMN IT!" yelled the two in unison before turning to glare at each other again.

"Sure you don't..." said Daisy as she rolled her eyes before getting into the referee's position at the side of the pool. Raising her arm into the air, she adds "This battle is between Lincoln Loud of Royal Woods, Michigan and Misty Waterflower of Cerulean City! This will be a three-on-three battle with no substitutions permitted until one Trainer scores a knockout! Trainers, send out your first Pokemon!"

Taking Zubat's Pokeball off of his belt, Lincoln replies "On it! Zubat, you're up!" before throwing it.

"Get out there, Poliwhirl!" calls out Misty, following suit and doing the same.

(AN: Misty's attire for this battle is essentially what she wore during the Cerulean gym battle in the Japanese Electric Tales manga. It's...uh, something that has to be seen for itself.)

-=O=-

Upon seeing Poliwhirl take form on Misty's side of the field, Lincoln thought 'That's the Pokemon Misty used against that wild Onix back in Mount Moon...' before taking out his Pokedex and pointing it at the Water-Type Pokemon.

'Poliwhirl, the Tadpole Pokemon. The evolved form of Poliwag, the surface of Poliwhirl's body is always wet and slick with an oily fluid. Because of this greasy covering, it can easily slip and slide out of the clutches of any enemy in battle.'

'So that's what Poliwag will end up evolving into, huh...' mused Lincoln as he put his Pokedex away. 'Well, no matter - I'm certain that Zubat will be able to take it down.'

"Ready to lose, Lincoln?" taunted Misty with a cocky smirk on her face.

"I should be asking you that, Misty - that Cascade Badge will be mine by the time this is over!"

"We'll see about that! Poliwhirl, Body Slam!"

Obeying his Trainer's orders, Poliwhirl jumps into the air before diving down towards Zubat belly-first, intending on landing on the Bat Pokemon.

"Zubat, counter with Astonish!" ordered Lincoln, causing Zubat to start flying towards the oncoming Poilwhirl. Once he was close enough, the Bat Pokemon released a loud, startling screech that caused the Water-Type to flinch back slightly, breaking his Body Slam attack.

Satisfied with what he was seeing, the white-haired boy shouts "Now use Absorb!", causing Zubat to smile upon hearing the command.

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this..." commented the Flying-Type before quickly latching onto Poliwhirl's arm and sinking his fangs into the blue-colored flesh, causing the Tadpole Pokemon to let out a groan of pain as Zubat started to absorb energy from him.

"Get that Zubat off of you now, Poliwhirl! Mega Punch!"

Acting quickly on Misty's orders, Poliwhirl rears back his other hand and punches Zubat in the face, knocking him away from his arm. While Zubat attempted to regain his bearings, Poliwhirl returned back to Misty's platform, holding his damaged arm.

Looking over the bite wounds, Misty asks "Are you going to be alright, Poliwhirl?", only to receive no reply from the Tadpole Pokemon as he gave Zubat a slightly disgusted look, who was waiting for the next move to be made.

"...You just bit me. Do you have any idea on how unsanitary that is?"

"Why should I care about being unsanitary? I'm a Poison-Type, remember?" retorted Zubat before another smile appeared on his face. "By the way, I have to say that your energy tasted pretty good. I want more of it."

"Well, you better enjoy that one bite you managed to get in, because it's the last one you're going to get!"

Giving Lincoln a look, Zubat asks "Hey boss, I want to have another go at that energy of his - can I?"

"Hey, if it'll take down that Poliwhirl, go nuts." replied Lincoln with a shrug. "But be careful - he'll be watching for you since you're aiming to snack on him again."

"Poliwhirl, let's take things up a notch in order to take that sucker down - Water Pulse!" ordered Misty, causing Poliwhirl to create a sphere of water in his hands before hurling it at Zubat.

Recalling what kind of damage Water Pulse did to the wild Onix, Lincoln orders "Dodge it!", causing Zubat to narrowly bank around the Water Pulse attack as it hits one of the pool's walls before exploding into several gallons of water that ended up joining the rest of the water in the pool.

"Don't let up, Poliwrath - keep using Water Pulse until you hit him!"

While the Water-Type continued to sling rapid-fire Water Pulses at Zubat, Lincoln orders "Get in close and use Absorb again!", prompting the Bat Pokemon to fly towards Poliwhirl while dodging the attacks hurled at him.

"He's coming in to feed on you again! Get ready to use Mega Punch, Poliwhirl!"

Once he saw that Zubat was close enough, Lincoln orders "Change it to a Supersonic, now!", causing Zubat to release disorienting soundwaves at Poliwhirl, causing a dazed look to form on the Water-Type's face as he starts swaying around slightly. "Now go for another Absorb!"

"Poliwhirl, Mega Punch! Keep that Zubat away!"

Poliwhirl, still dazed somewhat, rears back his fist to comply with the order...only to swing his fist back and slug himself in the face, causing him to go flying into the water.

"Grr...I hate confusion so much..." growled Misty as Poliwhirl dazedly tried to climb onto a nearby rock formation, only for Zubat to fly over and comply with Lincoln's earlier order by sinking his fangs into the Tadpole Pokemon's back and draining his health once more. "Damn it, not again!"

Upon feeling the fangs piercing into his back, the dazed expression on Poliwhirl's face immediately vanished as he starts his arms around wildly, trying to dislodge Zubat from his back.

"Pesky bat! Get off of me right now!"

After taking his mouth away from Poliwhirl's back long enough to reply "No.", Zubat re-sinks his fangs back in and starts feeding once again.

"Poliwhirl, into the water! He can't follow you down there!" commanded Misty, causing the Water-Type to nod before diving into the water below with Zubat removing himself from his back just before reaching the water. "Now use Water Pulse!"

With the force of a cannonball, another sphere of water shoots out of the pool and towards Zubat, clipping his wing and knocking him off-balance.

"Zubat, back over here!" commanded Lincoln, prompting the Bat Pokemon to start flying back over to his side of the field.

Pointing at the Flying-Type, Misty shouts "Oh no, you don't! Poliwhirl, Mega Punch! Knock that bat out of the sky!"

In a surprising show of speed, Poliwhirl pops out of the water and into the air next to Zubat. After rearing his fist back, the Water-Type slugs Zubat in the face with immense force, sending him crashing into one of the rock formations nearby, damaging it.

"Zubat, are you alright? Speak to me!"

Groaning in pain as he floated backfirst on the water, Zubat answers "Ugh...that really hurt...I'm done, boss. I'm done." before losing consciousness.

Once she was certain that Zubat wasn't going to get up to continue the fight, Daisy raises her arm and say "Zubat is unable to battle! The first round goes to Misty Waterflower and her Poliwhirl!"

"Aw man, Zubat..." muttered Lincoln as he looked over the defeated Bat Pokemon before recalling it. "We'll make sure to avenge your loss, pal - I promise."

"Alright Poliwhirl, nice going! Take a rest, you've earned it!" complimented Misty as she recalled Poliwhirl, then sent out Staryu to replace him on the field. Once the Star Shape Pokemon had fully taken form, she gives Lincoln a smug smirk and states "Looks like I'm up by one, Lincoln. And soon it's going to be two once Staryu knocks out your next Pokemon."

"We'll see if you'll still be just as smug in a few minutes." retorted Lincoln with a sneer before throwing another Pokeball out onto the field. "Go, Beedrill!"

-=O=-

Upon seeing the Poison Bee Pokemon take form, Misty shudders and says "Ugh...I should've expected that you'd send something as disgusting as that Beedrill of yours out next.", angering both Beedrill and his Trainer.

"Hey, up yours - I like my Beedrill! How would you like it if I talked crap about your Staryu, huh?"

To his surprise though, instead of getting angry at his retort, Misty simply smirked in response before glancing at the water in the pool.

"Well, good thing I won't have to worry about something like that for long, now will I?"

"What do you mean by that?" asked Lincoln before noticing that she was giving the bag beside her a glance. "...You're planning something, aren't you?"

"You'll see soon enough." replied Misty before opening the bag in order to reveal its contents - a Water Stone. "I was going to use this on Poliwhirl later, but considering the circumstances, I think using it on Staryu instead will work just as well."

Giving the Water-Type a smirk, she asks "You ready for this, Staryu?" before holding out the stone towards it.

"Oh, I've been looking forward to this..." answered the Star Shape Pokemon before touching the Water Stone with one of its arms. As soon as the two had made contact, the Water-Type was immediately engulfed in a flash of dazzling white light.

"...What's going on? Is her Staryu...evolving?" asked Lincoln as he eyed the bright light warily. After it had faded away and he saw that Staryu did in fact evolve thanks to the Water Stone, he added "Crap..."

The new Pokemon that was standing in Staryu's place resembled it's old form somewhat, but with very noticeable changes - the gem on its front resembled a cut gemstone instead of a spherical one, it's color had changed from orange to purple and there was a second set of arms on its back, making it look it like a ten-pointed star.

After staring at it for a few seconds, Lincoln took out his Pokedex to get more information on it.

'Starmie, the Mysterious Pokemon. The evolved form of Staryu, Starmie's center section - the core - glows brightly in seven colors. Because of its luminous nature, this Pokémon has been given the nickname "the gem of the sea."'

"Okay...but how in the world did Misty manage to get her hands on a Water Stone? That's what I want to know." mused Lincoln, causing the redhead to smirk in response.

"Turns out that we had a spare one lying around, so I decided that I'd be the one to put it to good use."

"Wow...to think that you were, like, willing to make sure Staryu evolved for your battle against him..." started Violet before a smirk formed on her face. "You must really want to impress this boy, huh Misty?"

"Hey, that's not the case at all! The reason I did that was purely for the sake of strategy and nothing more!" protested Misty as she glared at her older sister.

"More like blatant cheating, if you ask me..." grumbled Lincoln under his breath before glaring at Starmie. "Well, that's fine - that'll just my victory all the more satisfying in the end! Beedrill, Poison Sting!"

As Beedrill fired a volley of poisonous needles at her Pokemon, Misty orders "Starmie, Water Gun!" as she pointed at Beedrill, causing Starmie to point its top-most arm at the Bug-Type before firing a jet of water at him that easily punched through the Poison-Type attack and continued towards its target.

"Beedrill, take to the air and dodge it!" replied Lincoln in turn, hoping that the Poison Bee Pokemon would be able to get out of the way in time. In response, Beedrill quickly moves to the side in order to get out of the oncoming attack.

However, even though it missed him, the attack did end up hitting someone else - one Lincoln Loud, who looked completely drenched from the Water Gun attack.

"What the heck, Misty!?" asked Lincoln, sounding absolutely furious as he pointed at his soaked clothing. "My clothes are completely soaked thanks to that overgrown starfish of yours!"

"Sorry about that...I didn't mean to hit you..." said the Water-Type sheepishly.

"Hey, don't get mad at me just because you couldn't get out of the way in time!" countered Misty indignantly.

"Calm down, short stuff - you can, like, totally use our dryer after the battle is over." commented Lily, calming Lincoln down somewhat.

"I'll hold you to that." said Lincoln before pointing at Starmie. "Beedrill, get in close and use Twineedle! Make it pay!"

"I said I was sorry!" shouted Starmie before trying to dodge Beedrill's fore-stingers as he tried to skewer it with them. Upon seeing an opening, the Bug-Type jabbed Starmie hard in its gem, causing it to let out a shrill cry of pain as it was sent flying into a nearby wall.

Wincing upon realizing why the Bug-Type attack had hurt the Water-Type so much, Misty muttered "Right...Starmie's part Psychic-Type now - I gotta watch out for something like that next time."

Looking satisfied at the damage Twineedle had did to Starmie, Lincoln orders "Looks like that did a lot of damage, Beedrill - let's capitalize on it! Poison Sting!"

"Starmie, into the water!" commanded Misty, causing the Mysterious Pokemon to dive into the water just as the Poison Sting attack hit the surface, nullifying it. "Now use Swift!"

From within the depths of the pool, a volley of yellow stars shot out of the water and into the air, hitting Beedrill and knocking him off-balance.

"Great...that thing can attack from beneath the surface. I need to find a way to draw it out somehow..." muttered Lincoln as he watched Misty for any sign on where Starmie might be hiding, only for an idea to form in his mind. "Alright Misty, you want to cheat by using a Water Stone during our fight? Well, two can play at that game..."

Giving Beedrill a glance, he asks "Hey Beedrill, ready for your next order?"

"Lay it on me."

"Go give Misty a hug - she looks pretty lonely over there."

"...Why do you want me to do something like that?" asked the Poison Bee Pokemon, wondering what his Trainer had in mind.

Pointing at Misty, Lincoln answers "Just go over there and do it - you'll see what I'm planning soon enough.", causing Beedrill to shrug before flying over to Misty, who backed away as the Bug-Type got closer.

"L-Lincoln, what is your B-beedrill doing?" asked Misty in a trembling voice as Beedrill got closer...before embracing her with his fore-stingers, causing her eyes to widen in horror.

"...You smell nice, you know that?" buzzed Beedrill in content as he pulled the terrified redhead closer.

"Aw, isn't that sweet? He totally likes you, Misty!" chimed Lily with a grin.

Giving Daisy a look, Violet asks "That's, like, gotta be against the rules, right?", causing the blonde to shrug in response.

"Don't forget that Misty, like, cheated first by using that Water Stone earlier."

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that."

Letting out a scream of terror, Misty cries out "KYAAAH! Icky, disgusting, gross...bug! Get it off, Starmie!", causing the Water-Type to shoot out of the pool before charging towards Beedrill, using Rapid Spin.

Upon seeing that his plan had worked, Lincoln says "Thanks for luring that Starmie of yours out for me, Misty - now it's our turn to strike back!" before giving Beedrill a knowing smile. "Alright, Beedrill - it's time to give our new move a try! You ready?"

"Oh, definitely! Let's do this!"

"New move!?" asked Misty, eyes widening in alarm. "You actually taught your Beedrill a new attack!?"

"Yep. And he's not the only one." replied Lincoln, giving Pikachu a subtle glance, which the Electric-Type returned. "Now then, let's see what this new move can do - Beedrill, U-Turn!"

Before Misty could get the chance to order a counterattack, Beedrill slams full force into Starmie's body while cloaked in a yellowish-green aura, sending it crashing into one of the nearby rock formations.

Then, much to her surprise, one of the Pokeballs on Lincoln's belt automatically activated and recalled the Poison Bee Pokemon back while Pikachu hopped down from his spot on Lincoln's shoulder to take his place. As soon as he was in position, the Electric-Type blasts Starmie with a full-powered Thundershock, knocking it unconscious and causing it to fall into the pool.

-=O=-

"Starmie is unable to battle! The second round goes to Lincoln Loud and his Pikachu!" called out Daisy as she raised her arm, much to Misty's ire.

"What the hell!? got to be cheating somehow!" protested Misty as she pointed at Lincoln accusingly. "Daisy, disqualify that Pikachu of his - he changed Pokemon without scoring a knockout!"

"Sorry Misty, but what he did isn't exactly against the rules." replied Daisy with a shrug.

"What!? But he switched out his Pokemon outside of the rules we agreed on! That's not fair!"

Nodding in agreement, Brock comments "She's right - remember what happened when his Pidgeotto used Whirlwind against my Onix back in Pewter City? He wasn't disqualified from the battle because the move had forced him to switch out. The same rule applies here for moves like U-Turn as well."

"Well, what about that disgusting Beedrill of his hugging me like that to draw Starmie out? That's got to be cheating, right?"

"You're one to talk, Miss 'Using-A-Water-Stone-During-Our-Battle'!" accused Lincoln as he pointed at the redhead.

"He's right - you, like, cheated first by using that Water Stone during the battle. If you want me to disqualify him for doing that, I'd have to disqualify you first." answered Daisy with a nod before giving Lincoln a warning look. "As for you, I'll let that earlier incident with your Beedrill and my sister slide, but try it again and I will disqualify you."

"But...but..." stammered Misty before realizing that she wasn't going to win this argument. After grumbling something foul under her breath, she grabs Poliwhirl's Pokeball and tosses it, sending him back out onto the field.

"So, using that Poliwhirl of yours again, huh?" asked Lincoln upon seeing the Tadpole Pokemon, ready to start the battle. "Don't want to send out your last Pokemon just yet, I take it?"

"I want it to be a surprise." replied Misty, her smirk returning to her face. "Though I doubt you'll get the chance to see it since Poliwhirl will be making short work of your remaining two Pokemon."

Giving the Water-Type a commanding look, she orders "Poliwhirl, head into the water and wait for my mark!", causing Poliwhirl to give her a salute before diving into the pool and disappearing beneath the surface.

"Great. He's probably going to pull that crap that he did with Zubat earlier. And I can't risk pulling the same trick twice, otherwise I'll end up getting disqualified." muttered Lincoln as he started looking over the pool, trying to find where the Water-Type was hiding. "If only we knew where he was hiding...then we'd be able to get him."

"I've got a way we can find out where it is, but you might want to stand back..." replied Pikachu before walking over to the edge of the platform. Once he felt he was close enough, a grin started to form on his face as his cheeks started to spark with electricity.

"...Pikachu, what are you planning?" asked Lincoln warily, only to go unanswered as the Mouse Pokemon got ready to use Thundershock.

Quickly realizing what Pikachu was planning to do, Misty calls out "Poliwhirl, get out of there now! That Pikachu is about to...", only to be cut off when the Electric-Type discharges another full-power Thundershock, this time into the pool itself. "...electrify the pool..."

While everyone else was wincing at the sight of Poliwhirl getting heavily electrocuted by Pikachu's unorthodox strategy, Lincoln simply looked at Pikachu and asked "...Was something like this really necessary? Or better yet, is that legal?"

"Hey, you wanted to find out where he was hiding." replied Pikachu with a nonchalant shrug as he finally cut off the Thundershock attack. "I just decided to cut the knot here and zap his hiding place instead."

After a few seconds, Poliwhirl's unconscious body floated up to the surface, causing Misty to scream out "Oh, come on! Seriously!?" in dismay.

"Poliwhirl is unable to battle! The third round goes to Lincoln Loud and his Pikachu!" called out Daisy as she raised her arm before giving Misty a glance. "Send out your final Pokemon, sis."

-=O=-

"This isn't right...first my Starmie and now Poliwhirl..." grumbled Misty as she recalled the unconscious Water-Type before glowering at Lincoln, who had bumped fists with Pikachu upon hearing Daisy's announcement. "This battle isn't going as smoothly as I had hoped it would..."

Initially, she had hoped to use this battle in order to humble the white-haired boy and maybe teach him something about dealing with unexpected factors during a battle in the long run. As she was the more experienced Trainer of the two and had better-trained Pokemon as a result, defeating him should've been a cakewalk.

But now? Now she wasn't too sure of her chances of winning this fight.

And yet...she couldn't bring herself to be completely mad at him about the fight so far. Sure, she was still ticked about Beedrill hugging her in order to draw Starmie out of hiding and Pikachu's unorthodox method of dealing with her Poliwhirl, but she had to admit that Lincoln was definitely giving her a fight during their battle together.

Clapping her hands slowly, Misty says "I have to hand it to you, Lincoln - despite the unconventional tactics you and your Pokemon have used against me in our battle, I have to admit that you're giving me more trouble than I thought you would. You might, just might, be able to walk away with the Cascade Badge today after all."

"Might? You mean 'will', right?" replied Lincoln with a grin, only for it to falter when one appeared on the redhead's face.

"Don't get your hopes up - I've still got one more Pokemon left and it's one you won't be able to take down so easily." stated Misty as she grabbed the final Pokeball off of her belt and threw it. "Gyarados, you're up!"

Upon opening up, the Pokeball released a burst of light that started to take form into something big...really big.

Once the light cleared away and the full form of the Pokemon was seen, Lincoln gasped "That Pokemon...I've seen it before..." as he stared at Pikachu's next opponent - a massive blue-colored Pokemon that bore a close resemblance to a sea serpent with a three pointed crest on its head, long whiskers on its face and a gaping mouth with four sharp fangs inside.

As the newly-arrived Pokemon let out a mighty roar, Pikachu points at the Pokemon and shouts "OH SWEET ARCEUS, WHAT IS THAT THING!? IT'S HUGE!" before giving Lincoln a slightly fearful look. "Please tell me you're not going to have me fight that thing..."

When he received no answer, the Electric-Type asked "Hey, didn't you hear me?", only to notice that Lincoln was staring at the massive Water-Type Pokemon, completely silent.

Oddly enough, he didn't look frightened at all. Rather...he looked like he was deep in thought about something.

'...I've seen this Pokemon before...from that dream I had back home. Granted, it's not the same one, but it's definitely the same species.' thought the white-haired boy before taking out his Pokedex one more time to find out more about Misty's final Pokemon.

'Gyarados, the Atrocious Pokemon. The evolved form of Magikarp, when Gyarados goes on a rampage, its ferociously violent blood doesn't calm until it has burned everything down. There are records of this Pokémon's rampages lasting a whole month.'

'Sounds dangerous...but dangerous or not, I'm not going to let it stand in the way of me winning the Cascade Badge.' added Lincoln before noticing the terrified look on Pikachu's face. "...You okay, buddy?"

"I'm having to face off against that monstrosity over there and you're asking me if I'm okay?" asked Pikachu before waving his arms frantically. "Of course I'm not okay! That thing looks like it could eat me in a single bite!"

'What's going on? I've never seen Pikachu this terrified before...' thought Lincoln as he eyed the trembling Mouse Pokemon suspiciously. 'That Gyarados must've did something to him when it came out of its Pokeball - I know that Pikachu wouldn't be acting like this otherwise.'

"I see you noticed that something seemed off about your Pikachu's behavior, Lincoln - allow me to explain what happened." commented Misty, catching both his and Pikachu's attention. "Gyarados has the Ability Intimidate, which lowers the attack power of the opposing Pokemon once it enters the battle."

As a smirk appeared on her face, she added "Though based on your Pikachu's reaction upon seeing him, I'd say that it did much more than that. Never thought it'd be that easy to scare, to be honest."

"...Did she just imply that I'm a coward?" asked Pikachu before his frightened look changed to one of anger. "Oh, that does it...I'm gonna make that overgrown fish pay for making me look like a yellow-bellied chicken, then I'm gonna give that redhead a piece of my mind after that..."

Deciding that it would be best not to point out that the Electric-Type's belly was already yellow, Lincoln says "So I take it you're changing your mind about not wanting to fight that Gyarados then?"

"I'm gonna light that thing up like a Christmas tree."

"Then let's get a head start on that - get close and use Thundershock!" replied Lincoln, causing the Mouse Pokemon to hop onto one of the nearby rock formations before preparing to launch the Electric-Type attack.

Before he could however, Misty points at him and orders "Gyarados, catch that Pikachu! Do whatever it takes!"

With a roar, the massive Water-Type charges towards Pikachu at high speed, catching him off-guard and causing him to cancel the Thundershock attack in order to move out of its way

It was most fortunate for him that he did as the Atrocious Pokemon easily smashed through the rock he was standing on before, reducing it to nothing more than rubble.

"Okay, looks like that thing's got a lot more punch behind it than I thought it did. Looks like we might have some trouble with this one..." muttered Lincoln, wincing as he watched Gyarados smash through the rock. Giving Pikachu a glance, he adds "Alright, since we're not going to get the chance to use Thundershock with that thing constantly chasing after you, let's try something more physical!"

"Physical, huh? And what do you have in mind?"

"I'm thinking we should give our other new move a try. Don't you agree?"

In response, a wicked smile appeared on Pikachu's face as he replied "About time you asked me to use that - I've been dying to try it out ever since the battle started!" before focusing intently on channeling energy into his tail, covering it with a metallic-looking sheen.

Seeing this, Misty asked "Another new move!? Seriously?", surprised that Lincoln had not one, but two new moves to show off.

"That's right. And you're about to see what it can do first-hand. Pikachu, Iron Tail!"

"You got it!" answered Pikachu before leaping across the numerous rocks on the field in order to reach where Gyarados was located. Once he was close enough, he swung the metallic-looking tail and smashed the Atrocious Pokemon in the face, causing it to let out a roar of pain as a metallic-sounding clang echoed through the room, causing everyone to wince at the sound.

As Gyarados was sent crashing backfirst into a nearby rock, smashing it into pieces, Pikachu landed back on Lincoln's platform. After a few seconds, he winced before starting to rub his tail in order to ease the dull pain that was running through it.

"Ugh...never thought that using Iron Tail would hurt this much. I guess I still need to get used to using it first..."

"Gyarados, are you alright?" asked Misty worriedly, only to feel relieved when the Atrocious Pokemon managed to get back to a vertical base before roaring to assure her that it was able to continue fighting. "Alright then, now it's our turn to make a move - use Thrash!"

With another roar, Gyarados started to swing his around body wildly at Pikachu, managing to hit the Electric-Type with enough force to send him crashing onto one of the nearby rocks.

Satisfied with the successful attack, the redhead gets ready to issue her next order, only for the large Water-Type to let out a roar of discomfort as small jolts of electricity started to waltz on his body, rendering him immobile.

Realizing what was going on, Misty asks "...Paralysis? But how did that happen? Pikachu didn't hit him with any Electric-Type moves..."

With a hint of smugness in his voice despite the pain going through his body, Pikachu said "Now you get to see what it's like to have an Ability turn things around on you. Sucks, doesn't it?" before flipping Gyarados what appeared to be the bird with one of his paws.

"You mean to tell me that your Ability managed to paralyze Gyarados?" asked Lincoln, bewildered.

"That's right. My Ability's Static - that means that even the slightest bit of contact with me can possibly inflict paralysis."

"...Then how come you've never managed to paralyze me with it? I've been in contact with you plenty of times."

"I can turn it off when I don't need its effect - that's why I haven't paralyzed you with it yet." answered Pikachu as he managed to get back onto his feet. "Anyway, it looks like we've got the advantage now, so we should see about finishing this fight."

"Agreed, and I don't think that a Thundershock will do the trick this time." said Lincoln in agreement before a smirk appeared on his face. "I'm thinking Electroball. What do you say?"

With a smirk of his own, Pikachu answers "I thought you'd never ask." before crouching down and channeling electricity into the ball of energy forming at the tip of his tail.

Feeling a sensation of dread as she saw the ball of electricity growing larger and larger, Misty muttered "Oh no...if Gyarados gets hit with that, he's done for..." before giving the large Water-Type a pleading look. "Gyarados, you need to stop that Pikachu from firing that thing at you - if he does, it's all over!"

In response, Gyarados lets out a mighty roar before, much to the astonishment of both Lincoln and Pikachu, managing to muster enough willpower to push through its paralysis in order to charge at the Mouse Pokemon, aiming to take him down in a single, decisive blow.

With a look of absolute panic on his face, Lincoln shouts "Pikachu, change to Iron Tail - that thing's coming your way and fast!", causing Pikachu's tail to take on a metallic sheen once more. However, as he changed attacks, he remained unaware that he was subconsciously charging Electroball at the same time.

As he got ready to use the Steel-Type attack again, Pikachu felt a burning pain roaring through his tail, causing him to look at it in order to see what was causing it.

Upon seeing his tail for himself, his eyes widened in surprise and disbelief - instead of the metallic-looking tail he was expecting to see, he saw that it was instead completely covered in a thick coat of electrical energy. Not only that, but it was incredibly hot as well, managing to turn the nearby water into steam.

While everyone else was trying to figure out what was going on with the Electric-Type's tail, Lincoln muttered "...What in the world is that? I've never seen something like that before..."

"Ugh...why does this burn so much...?" groaned Pikachu as he tried to ignore the burning sensation, only for it to gradually grow stronger and more painful. "Lincoln, I can't hold this kind of voltage in my tail much longer - we need to find an outlet for me to release all of it into, pronto!"

"Then let's knock out two birds with one stone then! Pikachu, use...whatever that is on Gyarados! Go for it!"

Before Misty could command Gyarados to move out of the way, Pikachu launches into the air and with every ounce of strength he had in him, swung his tail down onto Gyarados' head, spiking it into the pool. However, the attack was nowhere near done as Pikachu finally released all of the pent-up voltage he had been holding in his tail into the Atrocious Pokemon's body, creating a massive blast of electricity that rivaled the first Electroball he used in size.

Once the electricity had finally dispelled, Pikachu hopped off of the unconscious (and heavily smoking) Gyarados and onto Lincoln's platform. Once he was on it, he started clutching his tail tightly, screaming "OH BY ARCEUS, WHY THE HELL DOES THAT HURT SO FUCKING MUCH!? I'D RATHER HAVE MY TAIL CUT OFF THAN EXPERIENCE SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN!" with a look of absolute agony on his face.

While the Electric-Type kept swearing, Daisy checks on Gyarados. After making sure that it wasn't going to get back up to fight, she calls out "Gyarados is unable to battle - the winner of the final round is Lincoln Loud and his Pikachu!"

'Looks like that move did just as much damage to Pikachu as it did to Gyarados...' thought Lincoln before carefully picking up Pikachu and climbing a nearby ladder to get out of the pool. 'I may want to have Nurse Joy check on Pikachu to see if he ended up damaging something in his tail.'

As soon as he was out of the pool, Misty stomped over and asked "What the hell was that!? Did you two come up with that simply to use against me!?" while pointing at him.

"No. In fact, I'm still trying to figure out what just happened." replied Lincoln before tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Whatever that was did look pretty powerful, I have to admit."

Still holding his tail, Pikachu snaps "We are never using something like that unless it's absolutely necessary, got it!?"

"Absolutely necessary? So you'd be willing to use it again if the situation called for it?" asked Lincoln, eyebrow raised.

"I'm not an idiot - even I could see how powerful that strange technique was. To completely ban it would be stupid." replied the Electric-Type as he rubbed his aching tail. "But unless we face something potentially life-threatening or dangerous, we're not going to use it again."

After a moment, Lincoln nods and replies "Fair enough. We'll save it as our trump card against the really strong opponents." before tapping his chin again. "Now then, what can we call that move...?"

Raising her hand, Daisy suggested "Well, since that Pikachu of yours had a lot of electricity running through his tail...how about Volt Tail?"

After mulling over the suggestion for a bit, Lincoln smiles and replies "...Volt Tail...yeah, that'll work. Thanks, Daisy."

"You're welcome." answered the blonde with a smile of her own before snapping her fingers, prompting Lily to step forward with a blue-colored box. "By the way, since you are the official winner of the battle, I believe that these belong to you."

As if on cue, the pink-haired girl opened the box, revealing two items that were sitting inside of it: a blue-colored TM and the prize he had been after ever since arriving in Cerulean City - the Cascade Badge.

(AN: There's a reason why Beedrill was able to use U-Turn without difficulty - U-Turn is a Bug-Type move and Beedrill is a Bug/Poison-Type Pokemon. As such, he would be able to quickly adapt to the move since they share the same typing. The same can't be said for Pikachu and Iron Tail, though.)

-=O=-

Grinning as he took the two objects, Lincoln said "Sweet. Thanks, you two." before looking both of them over with pride. After putting his new badge into his badge case, he took a closer look at the TM he had just received. "...Water Pulse, huh?"

Giving Misty a glance, he asks "Isn't that the same TM you got back in Viridian City, Misty?" only to notice that the redhead was sulking slightly, no doubt very unhappy that she had lost the battle. "...Misty, you alright?"

Snapping out of her depressed funk, Misty replied "Oh...yeah, I'm fine. Just a little bummed out about losing, that's all."

"...You know, if it makes you feel any better, I had a lot of fun facing off against you." said Lincoln, causing Misty to give him a surprised look as he offered her a handshake. "You really made me work to win this badge."

"I know, but losing is never an easy pill to swallow." answered Misty before she smiled and accepted the gesture. "Although, I will admit that you were a lot of fun to battle, too."

Suddenly, her grip tightened on his hand as she added "However, know that when we battle again one day, things won't go the same way next time - I was going easy on you and you got really lucky with accidentally creating that Volt Tail move of yours. I'll find a way to counter it one of these days, mark my words."

Tightening his own grip, Lincoln answered "I'll be looking forward to that day too, Misty - after all, I plan on going two-for-two when we face off again." with a challenging gleam in his eyes.

"We'll see about that." retorted the redhead before giving Pikachu a concerned look. "So is he going to be alright? That Volt Tail move looked like it really hurt to use..."

Giving her a dismissive wave, Pikachu answered "I'll be fine - a little rest and an icepack for my tail and I should be alright in the morning." before giving her a narrow-eyed glare. "You better consider yourself lucky that last attack shorted out my electricity, by the way - if it hadn't, I'd be paying you back for that comment you made about me earlier."

"...I think I'll take that as a yes." commented Misty before turning her attention back to Lincoln. "In any case, you've won the Cascade Badge. Congratulations."

"Thanks, Misty." replied Lincoln with a smile before giving Lily a questioning glance. "Now then, you said I could use your dryer, right?"

"Sure thing, just follow me and I'll totally take you there."

As Lily led Lincoln out of the room, Daisy gave Misty a knowing smile and said "I have to admit, Misty - you really picked an interesting one to go after."

With a blush starting to form on her face, Misty snarls "I told you before that I don't like him in that way! There's no way I would ever consider the possibility of dating that little squirt!"

Shrugging, Violet says "Okay, we get it - you don't want to date him." before a playful smirk formed on her face. "In that case, do you mind if I decide to stake a claim on him instead? That white hair of his is pretty cute-looking..."

At this, Misty stared at her in disbelief while Brock started sulking.

"...He's only eleven and already he has a beautiful woman wanting to date him..."

"Now Violet, as the oldest of all of us, I think I should totally get the first crack at him." said Daisy with a smirk of her own as she crossed her arms.

"...And now he has two of them after him now...it's not fair..." mumbled Brock, growing even more depressed as the scene continued to unfold.

"Aw, c'mon Daisy - let me have this one for myself, please?"

Finally having enough, Misty yells "No, absolutely not! It's bad enough that the two of you have implying that I like the little squirt, but there's no way in hell I'm letting you snap him up like that!"

"Oh? So you want Lily to have him for herself, then?" asked Daisy, enjoying the irritated look on her younger sister's face.

"I said no! None of you can have him - not Lily, not Violet and definitely not you!" snarled Misty, eyes blazing with fury as she pointed at herself. "He's my squirt, not yours! I saw him first!"

Blinking in surprise at the furious outburst, Daisy replied "...Like, okay Misty...calm down. If he means that much to you, you can have him."

"That's what I thought!" stated Misty with satisfaction...only to realize what she had just said. Lowering her head with a blush starting to form on her cheeks, she mutters "...I hate you two sometimes, you know that?"

"We, like, love you too, Misty." replied Violet cheekily before giving her a teasing smirk. "So...baby sister Misty has a thing for younger boys, huh?"

"It's not that at all!" blurted Misty before lowering her voice as her blush deepened in color. "...He doesn't care about my reputation as a gym leader or the fact I'm the youngest of the four Cerulean Sisters - he sees me as Misty Waterflower, the first non-Pokemon friend he's gained since he got here."

As she, Brock and Violet blinked in surprise at her answer, Daisy said "Wow...that's deep, Misty. You must really care for him a lot, huh?", receiving a nod from her youngest sister in return. "Well...despite the fact we've been teasing you about it all afternoon, I truly hope that things work out between you and him."

"Yeah. It'll be nice to have a cute little brother-in-law living with us."

Hands on her hips, Misty said "Hey, let's not get carried away here - I may like the little squirt, but it's way too early to be thinking about something like that." before looking herself over. "In any case, now that the battle's over, I'm going to change out of this thing - you have no idea how exposed I felt while wearing it during the battle."

"You know where the changing room is, Misty." replied Daisy before she started to leave the room.

Giving Misty a wave, Violet added "Make sure to stop later on so we can, like, catch up, okay?" before following after her older sister.

Once the two were gone, Misty glared at Brock and said "...You mention one word of what I said to the squirt and I'll personally castrate you with a rusty spoon. Got that?" in a threatening tone, causing the fifteen year-old to pale while cupping his groin. "If I want him to know how I feel about him, I'll tell him myself."

"C-crystal..."

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go change out of this stupid swimsuit."

-=O=-

-Cerulean City Pokemon Center - Lobby (12:15 PM)-

As they waited for Nurse Joy to finish treating their Pokemon, Misty and Lincoln (who was wearing his original outfit as his travelling clothes were still drying off back at the Cerulean gym) sat together on one of the lobby's couches in silence, both of them looking to be distracted by their thoughts.

"Hey Misty...remember what you said back in Viridian City? About how you said that you would only come along with us until we arrived here?" asked Lincoln in an attempt to break the silence.

Giving him a glance, Misty replied "Yeah, I remember. Why do you ask?" before a smirk appeared on her face. "Eager to get rid of me already?"

"No, it's not that. I was just going to ask if there some way I could change your mind about staying here." answered Lincoln, causing the redhead to look at him, surprised.

"...You actually want me to stick around? I thought you couldn't wait to be rid of me back in the Viridian Forest."

"Even though we may bicker almost all of the time, it doesn't change the fact that we're friends, Misty." said Lincoln before letting out a sigh. "...And things just won't be the same without you around anymore."

"Do you really mean that? Would you miss me if I decided to stay here?" asked Misty, receiving a nod from Lincoln in return. "Well...I guess I can stick around for a little while longer if you really want me to..."

Hope evident in his voice, Lincoln asks "You would? Really?"

"...Yeah, I think I will. After all, someone needs to keep you and Brock out of trouble and if I'm not around to do it, then who will?" answered Misty with a knowing grin.

With a sincere smile on his face, Lincoln says "...Thanks, Misty. I appreciate it."

"No problem, squirt." replied Misty before realizing her slip-up. "Crap. I forgot about that. Sorry."

"It's alright. I'll let it slide just this once."

"Think you can let it slide more often? I miss being able to call you that."

His smile dropping a bit, Lincoln says "...Don't push your luck." before giving the front counter a quick glance. "Man, our Pokemon must've taken a real beating if they're taking this long to heal up..."

Rolling her eyes, Misty snarks "Well, we did just get back from a battle where the pool itself was electrified and your Pikachu ended up really hurting himself and my Gyarados with that Volt Tail move of yours - of course they're going to take a while to get back to peak condition."

"Jeez...no need to be sarcastic..." muttered Lincoln before turning his attention to the VideoPhone booths nearby "Well, since it's going to take a while for our Pokemon to heal, I might as well go ahead and make a quick phone call."

"By all means, go ahead. So who are you going to talk to?"

"Professor Oak - I want to let him know about how things went back at the Cerulean gym and to show him that I won the Cascade Badge. Might see about sending a couple of my Pokemon over his way in exchange for Sandshrew and Clefable, while I'm at it." replied the white-haired boy with a shrug. "I'll also be making a call later on this evening to my sister Lisa and let her know as well."

"Lisa, huh? That's the one who made the translator in your ear, right?" asked Misty, pointing at the device in question. "Well while you're talking to her, don't forget to ask about having her send over a couple of those translator things for me and Brock to use. After all, it's not fair that you get to use something like that and we don't."

Pointing at the VideoPhone with his thumb, Lincoln replied "...How about you ask her about it when I make the call later? That way you'll get to meet her for yourself, too."

"You want me to meet your little sister? Really?" questioned Misty with a raised eyebrow. "Well...alright. I guess it couldn't hurt to meet the brilliant mind that created something like that for you."

"Glad to hear it." said Lincoln as he got up and started walking over to the VideoPhone booths only to stop midway. Turning to face her, he scratched the back of his head and added "By the way...I didn't want to say anything before, but...I really liked the way you looked during our battle earlier."

"Oh? And just what do you mean by that?" asked Misty, eyebrow arched in slight annoyance...though inwardly she felt incredibly flattered at the possibility that he liked the way she looked.

"Strong. Confident. Like you knew exactly what you were doing." replied Lincoln, surprising the redhead with his answer. "That's what I saw when I looked at you during our battle."

With a slight blush starting to form on her face, Misty smiles and says ""Oh. Well...uh, thanks, Lincoln. That means a lot coming from you."

"You're welcome, Misty. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a phone call to Professor Oak's lab to make."

After watching him walk away, Misty turns to the Nurse Joy at the front counter and asks "Hey, I'm going to be out for a while - can you keep my Pokemon safe for me until I get back?"

"Of course, Miss Waterflower. I'll take good care of them for you." replied Joy with a nod.

"Thanks." said Misty with a grateful nod before getting to her feet in order to leave the Pokemon Center. "Guess I'll make good on that offer to catch up with my sisters. I just hope that they don't start teasing me about what I said earlier..."

-=O=-

Lincoln's Pokemon (Current)

Pikachu Lv.20 (Male)
Ability: Static
Nature: Mild
Moves Known: Thundershock, Growl, Quick Attack, Electroball, Thunder Wave, Iron Tail, Volt Tail (Custom Move)

Fearow Lv.23 (Female)
Ability: Sniper
Nature: Calm
Moves Known: Fury Attack, Leer, Aerial Ace, Mirror Move, Pursuit, Assurance, Steel Wing

Poliwag Lv.17 (Male)
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Jolly
Moves Known: Hypnosis, Water Gun, Water Sport, Double-Slap

Beedrill Lv.17 (Male)
Ability: Swarm
Nature: Lax
Moves Known: Poison Sting, String Shot, Bug Bite, Harden, Twineedle, Fury Attack, U-Turn, ?

Pidgeotto Lv.22 (Female)
Ability: Tangled Feet
Nature: Rash
Moves Known: Gust, Twister, Tackle, Sand Attack, Quick Attack, Whirlwind, Steel Wing

Zubat Lv.14 (Male)
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Quirky
Moves Known: Bite, Absorb, Wing Attack, Astonish, Supersonic

Sandshrew Lv.15 (Female)
Ability: Sand Veil
Nature: Calm
Moves Known: Magnitude, Defense Curl, Rollout, Fury Cutter, Rapid Spin

Clefable Lv.? (?)
Ability: ?
Nature: ?
Moves Known: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?

Geodude Lv.? (?) (Will Be Used For Wonder Trade Only)
Ability: ?
Nature: ?
Moves Known: ?

Paras Lv.? (?) (Will Be Used For Wonder Trade Only)
Ability: ?
Nature: ?
Moves Known: ?

Misty's Pokemon (Current)

Starmie Lv.17 (No Gender)
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Mild
Moves Known: Rapid Spin, Water Gun, Swift, ?

Poliwhirl Lv.26 (Male)
Ability: Damp
Nature: Bold
Moves Known: Water Pulse, Mega Punch, ?, ?, ?

Gyarados Lv.22 (Male)
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Rash
Moves Known: Thrash, Bite, Tackle, Leer, ?, ?

? Lv.? (?)
Ability: ?
Nature: ?
Moves Known: ?, ?, ?, ?

Brock's Pokemon (Current)

Geodude Lv.15 (Male)
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Hardy
Moves Known: Defense Curl, Rollout, Tackle, Rock Polish, Rock Tomb

Onix Lv.17 (Male)
Ability: Rock Head
Nature: Adamant
Moves Known: Bind, Harden, Tackle, Rock Tomb, Rage, Stealth Rock

-=O=-

-Omake 41: The Squirrels Meet Pidgeotto (SilverNugget)-

-Royal Woods Softball Park - Field (Sometime In The Future)-

It was a beautiful, bright, sunny afternoon at the Royal Woods Softball Park - the sun was shining, the birds were singing and the Squirrels were going through a practice game in order to prepare for their upcoming game against the Hazeltucky Lions - the very team that cost them the championship just a few months ago.

However, things weren't as sunny for one Lynn Loud Jr. as she sat on the bench, wondering how in the world she and her family were going to deal with the streak of bad luck they had been facing as of late.

She had no idea on when it started happening, but bad luck had suddenly struck her and her family one day, completely out of nowhere, causing them a great deal of misfortune. Things had gotten bad enough to the point where her father ordered Lincoln's room to be sealed off again in hopes that doing so would end their unlucky streak.

It didn't. If anything, doing so had actually made their luck worse - much worse.

"I just don't get it...we got rid of that no-good jinx and sealed his room up again to keep his bad luck contained inside, so why is it still affecting us?" muttered the thirteen year-old as she tried to come up with any possible excuse for what was happening.

As she started to dwell further on the subject, the sound of her teammates chattering excitedly about something caught her attention. Turning to see what was going on, she spotted the rest of the Squirrels peering over a nearby fence, looking at something.

"Probably some boy or something..." muttered Lynn as she got to her feet and walked over in order to see what they were looking at. Upon reaching the fence, she taps Margo's shoulder and asks "What's going on here? I thought you girls were supposed to be practicing for our upcoming game!"

"We were, but then we saw this really big bird-like creature fly by, so we went to go see what it was." replied the light brown-haired girl as she pointed over the fence. "I think I saw that geeky sister of yours riding on its back - y'know, the one wearing the glasses?"

"Lisa riding on a the back of a big bird-like creature?" questioned Lynn, only to come to a conclusion on what the creature could possibly be only a few seconds later. "...Damn it, not another one."

"...Another one? Lynn, what are you..." started Margo, only to spot something flying through the sky. Pointing at it, she adds "Look, there it is again!"

Turning her attention to the skies, Lynn saw what Margo had claimed just a few seconds ago - her sister Lisa riding on the back of a bird-like creature. Watching as it flew over the field before coming into a landing near the outfield, the thirteen year-old growled as the rest of the Squirrels ran over to get a closer look at it.

"Great. She brought another one of those stupid things here...as if that bee from last time wasn't bad enough, she just had to bring one here for the team to see..."

-=O=-

"One at a time, folks! One at a time!" chirped Pidgeotto smugly as the Squirrels started lavishing her with attention while Margo was asking Lisa questions about the new arrival and what it was. "There's enough of me here for all of you to admire!"

"So that's what this big bird thing is - a Pokemon? Can't say that I've heard of something like that before." said Margo before giving the Bird Pokemon a glance. "So why'd you bring it here?"

"She insisted on going for a flight before I studied her and since she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, I had no choice but to comply with her wishes." answered Lisa with a shrug. "However, I will admit that the experience of soaring through the air was an enjoyable one."

"And you sald that your brother is her owner? How the heck does that work? Did he buy her from a store or something?"

Before Lisa could give Margo an answer, the sound of Lynn's voice shouting "Hey Lisa, get that stupid bird out of here - we're trying to practice for our next game here!"

Scoffing, one of the Squirrels crossed her arms and muttered "You mean we were practicing while you were moping like a little brat on the bench..."

After staring at Lynn for a few more seconds, Pidgeotto turned to Lisa and asked "...Who's the loudmouthed midget?", almost causing the little genius to start cracking up at the comment.

"That...he he...would be one of my sisters, Pidgeotto. Her name's Lynn." replied Lisa, chortling slightly.

At this, Pidgeotto's expression turned to something more stern as she asked "So this is the girl that called my Trainer 'bad luck' and tried to attack one of my teammates with a baseball bat, huh?" before stepping close to Lynn and looming over her, causing the brunette to back away slightly. "Well, listen up midget - luck is just an excuse for being untalented. And if you're relying on it that much to see you through to victory, then maybe you're not as great of an athlete as you think you are."

Knowing that Lisa was able to translate what the Bird Pokemon had said, Lynn asks "...Lisa, what did that thing just say to me?"

"To quote her verbatim, she said that luck is just an excuse for being untalented and if you're relying on luck that much to see you through to victory, then maybe you're not as great of an athlete as you think you are."

While the other Squirrels gasped at the insult, Lynn snarls "Hey, I don't know who you think you are, but nobody calls Lynn Loud Jr. untalented! Especially not some overgrown chicken like you!"

"Overgrown chicken? At least I'm not a sore loser who blames her losses on other people!" snapped Pidgeotto in return. "I'll admit that I used to be like that in the past, but ever since I started travelling with Lincoln, I've learn to accept that I can't win all of the time."

As if on cue, Lisa states "She called you a sore loser who blames her losses on other people instead of accepting the fact that you can't win all of the time."

"And now you're calling me a loser!? How dare you!" bellows Lynn in outrage as she raised her fist in order to strike Pidgeotto...only to stop upon remembering what happened between herself and Beedrill. After a few seconds (and noticing that Pidgeotto was much larger than the Poison Bee Pokemon), she decided that trying to attack the Flying-Type wasn't the best option available to her at the moment.

After giving the Bird Pokemon one last glare, she says "...Just get that stupid bird out of here before Lincoln's bad luck taints the field - I have no doubt that his overgrown chicken's contaminated with it."

Rolling her eyes, Lisa says "Fine, if you really want us to leave, we will." before giving Margo a glance. "If you want to find out more about Pokemon or have anything you want to ask me about them, you know where to find me."

Nodding, Margo answers "I'll keep that in mind."

Climbing aboard Pidgeotto's back, Lisa says "Alright Pidgeotto, back to the house please. After all, I'd rather not deal with Lynn's stupidity any longer than I need to."

"Sure thing, glasses. Let's go." replied Pidgeotto before flapping her wings and taking off into the air with the four year-old. However, instead of flying off right away, she turned her attention back to Lynn and said "By the way, midget - since apparently your luck is so important to you, allow me to leave you a 'parting gift' before I go." before flying over the brunette's head and raising her tail.

A few seconds later, a glob of white goo landed on the brunette's head, causing a mortified look to appear on her face before she started screaming while trying to wipe the goo off of her head. Not too long after that, some of the other Squirrels ran over to try to help her.

"Lynn, stop! You're going to spread it if you keep trying to wipe it off like that!"

"Oh my..." muttered Lisa as she tried her hardest not to laugh at what had just happened.

"I frankly don't know why humans would consider something like that lucky, but hey - maybe the smell will prevent the other team from showing up?" added Pidgeotto before giving the screaming Lynn a mocking look. "By the way, good luck with your next game - NOT!"

Giving Lisa a glance, she asked "You ready to head back to your house? Since I've gotten the flight I wanted, I'm ready to help you out with whatever it is you want me to do."

"If you are. Let's go home."

As the two started to fly away back to the Loud residence, the rest of the Squirrels, save for two of them, joined their teammates in order to help Lynn with dealing with the mess in her hair.

The first one was a girl who was holding up a smartphone with a grin on her face as she was recording everything that had just occurred.

"Oh, I am definitely putting this on the internet - maybe that'll knock Loudmouth down a few pegs."

The other was Margo, who was watching Pidgeotto and Lisa fly off into the distance with a slightly interested look on her face.

"So Lynn's little brother owns and raises cool-looking animals like that bird, huh? Never thought I'd ever hear something like that before..." mused the thirteen year-old thoughtfully. "Maybe I should see about getting one for myself someday."

-=O=-

-Omake 42: An Alternate Beginning (Making The Case) Part 2 (SilverNugget)-

(AN: Here's Part 2 of the 'Alternate Beginning' omake. Enjoy.)

-The Loud Residence - Lincoln's Room (3:45 PM)-

As soon as Lisa had finished her explanation about Trainers and what they did, Lincoln says "...So let me see if I've got this right - people catch these Pokerman things..."

"Pokemon." clarified Lisa, raising an eyebrow.

"Right. So people catch these Pokemon things, train them and have them battle each other - am I correct so far?"

In response, the four year-old nodded, prompting him to continue. "And you're suggesting that I give this Trainer thing a try so I can finally win a trophy for the case - one that, according to you, will put everything else in there to shame."

"That would be correct." affirmed Lisa with another nod.

"And you happen to have a friend living in this Kanto place who can help me with becoming a Trainer myself. Am I correct?" asked Lincoln, receiving another nod. "Alright, so now that we've got that cleared up, I have to ask you this - what's in it for you? I doubt that you're doing this without getting something out of the deal."

"Well, I wasn't going to ask for anything at first, but now that you mention it..."

"...Alright, what do you want? Money? Me to be your guinea pig for your experiments for the next couple of months? A stool sample for you to study?"

"All very tempting offers, but they're not what I had in mind." commented Lisa before a smirk formed on her face. "...If Professor Oak decides to accept your request to bring you to Kanto so you can become a Trainer, I want to come with you."

Confused, Lincoln asked "...You want to come with me to Kanto? That's what you want?"

"Indeed. While most of my research can easily be confined to the vicinity of the room belonging to Lily and myself, there are some things that can't be studied inside of a place like this - Pokemon being one of them." answered Lisa, adjusting her glasses. "And since I would like to see and examine such wonderful creatures in person, the only option I can think of that would allow me to do that would be to come along with you."

After thinking things over for a second, Lincoln nods and answers "Well, if that's all you want, I guess I can agree to something like that."

"Thank you, Lincoln. I promise that you won't regret this decision."

"So...uh, how are we going to speak to speak to Professor Oak, if I might ask? Or better yet, how are we going to break this to Mom and Dad?"

"We'll worry about that after we talk to Professor Oak and see if he's okay with the idea first - after all, even if our parents may be fine with us going to Kanto, he may not be alright with the idea."

"Fair enough. Let's go talk to him."

-=O=-

-The Loud Residence - Lisa & Lily's Room (3:50 PM)-

"So how are we going to talk with Professor Oak?" asked Lincoln as he and Lisa stepped into the room. "Are we going to use a webcam or something like that?"

"Of course not. We're going to be using my VideoPhone in order to speak to him." said Lisa as she led him over to a large terminal-like computer with a phone attached to it.

Lincoln stared at the odd machine in interest - he hadn't heard of something like that before. "Videophone? What the heck is that?"

Adjusting her glasses, Lisa replies "It's a communications device that combines the aspects of-" before stopping herself upon seeing Lincoln's confused look. "...It's a telephone with video features so you can see who you're talking to."

Nodding in understanding, Lincoln replied "Neat. I know that Lori would kill to have one of these in her room. Did you make this thing yourself?"

"Yes, and I would request that you don't mention it to her. I don't want her pestering me about it." replied Lisa with a frown.

"Fair enough. So are you going to call this Oak guy or what?"

"Hold on a moment - I'll have him on the line in a few minutes." Lisa says as she starts pressing several keys on the videophone's keyboard. After a few minutes, the videophone lets out a beeping noise as the screen displays an older man dressed in a lab coat...who was facing the wrong way.

"Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?"

"...You're facing the wrong way again, Professor." muttered Lisa, facepalming as Lincoln let out a couple of snickers.

"Darn it, this always happens..." grumbled the man before turning his chair around to face the other way. Upon seeing Lisa on his own videophone, his look of annoyance quickly changed to one of joy. "Oh! Hello again, Miss Loud - it's good to hear from you again!"

With a smile of her own, Lisa says "It's good to see you too, Professor Oak." before turning towards Lincoln while gesturing towards the screen. "Lincoln, this is Professor Samuel Oak - the friend I was telling you about earlier." With a friendly wave, Lincoln says "Nice to meet you, Professor."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, young man." said Oak before turning his attention back to Lisa. "So why did you call me? Did you want to have another discussion about Pokemon biology?"

"Not exactly - I'm calling for a different reason. You mentioned that you were looking for Trainers to assist you with your Pokedex project, correct?"

"That's right, but I don't think I can help you with the League's age restriction - even someone like me has to follow the rules." said Oak as he crossed his arms with a stern look on his face.

With a small grin starting to form, Lisa says "But what if I had someone else in mind - someone who happens to be the right age?", causing the professor's expression to change to one of interest.

"Then that would be a different matter altogether. I'm assuming that you're referring to your brother?"

"That would be correct, Professor." replied Lisa as she nodded in confirmation.

"Hmm...are you sure about this, Miss Loud? It takes a lot of responsibility to become a Pokemon Trainer - are you certain that he can handle it?"

"I'm fairly certain that Lincoln is more than capable of handling himself as a Trainer."

After a few seconds of silence, Professor Oak finally gives his response with a small smile on his face. "...Very well, I suppose I can see about giving him a chance. Now then, have you talked with your parents about this?"

The two siblings look at each other for a moment before Lincoln says "We haven't gotten to that part yet, Professor - we wanted to speak with you first."

"Then you should let them know as soon as possible - I may be fine with the idea of letting you become a Trainer, but they might think otherwise. Call me back after you've spoken with them - then we'll speak about the subject further. Goodbye." said Professor Oak before hanging up.

The two sat there for a couple of seconds as the videophone's screen cut off before Lincoln finally spoke. "Well...that went better than I thought it would."

Nodding in agreement, Lisa says "That it did. Now we just need to talk with our parents about your trip to Kanto - considering how open-minded they tend to be, this should go just as well."

"Let's hope that ends up being the case."

-=O=-

-The Loud Residence - Kitchen (3:50 PM)-

Upon entering the kitchen, Lincoln and Lisa found both of their parents inside, apparently talking with each other about something. Listening closer, they found out that they were talking about their only son.

"I'm starting to worry about him, Lynn - everyone else in our family has managed to win something for the case and yet he hasn't managed to win a thing - not even a participation trophy."

"You're not the only one, honey. To be honest, those cobwebs in his part of the case always depresses me when I see them." replied Lynn Sr. with a sigh. "And I've seen Lincoln sighing on more than one occasion when he sees them, too."

"There's got to be something out there he hasn't tried that we can sign him up for..." mused Rita before snapping her fingers. "...Wait, isn't there a junior football league team here in town?"

"I think there is, actually. And this could end up being good for him, too - I've noticed that he's been getting a lack of exercise as of late."

Eyes widening in horror, Lincoln though 'Football? Oh hell no...' before quickly approaching the two parents, catching them off-guard with his appearance. "That won't be necessary, Mom - I think I may have figured something that I can do in order to finally win something."

Pointing at him, Rita asked "...How long have you been there?"

"The whole time. But that's not important right now - are you interested about hearing about this idea of mine or not?"

"Depends on what it is." answered Lynn Sr., crossing his arms. "You're not just saying this to get out of having to join that football team, are you?"

"Dad, I'm being completely and totally honest with you here. Lisa can back me up here." replied Lincoln before giving his sister a glance. "Right?"

"I can confirm that we have discussed a possible goal for Lincoln to pursue. The only question is whether you two will agree to it or not."

"And what would this 'goal' be, young lady? You're not trying to use him for one of your experiments, are you?" asked Rita, raising an eyebrow.

"As I explained to Lincoln when I brought up the suggestion to him, that's not the case at all." replied Lisa, adjusting her glasses. "Allow me to explain what we have in mind..."

-=O=-

When Lisa had finished her explanation twenty minutes later, the skeptical and suspicious looks on the two parents' faces were replaced with intrigue and curiosity. Even Lincoln, who was aware of some of these facts already, was enthralled with what she was saying.

"So not only will this provide Lincoln with a chance to finally win something, but he can earn money and get plenty of exercise on top of that?" asked Lynn Sr., receiving a nod from his daughter in return. "Well, I like the sound of that idea. How about you, honey?"

With a conflicted look on her face, Rita answered "I don't know, Lynn...while I like the sound of everything I've heard so far, I'm still not sure about letting him and Lisa go out on their own to this Kanto place."

"Then how about we bring some of our other siblings with us? Would that be enough to ease your concerns?"

Looking at his sister as if he had been betrayed, Lincoln asked "Lisa, what about...", only to be cut off when the four year-old raised her hand.

"We'll talk about this later." answered Lisa before turning her attention back to her parents. "So what do you say? Is a condition like that satisfactory?"

"...Well, alright. If you can convince some of your siblings to come along with you, I suppose I can allow you to go through with this idea of yours." replied Rita as she nodded in agreement.

"Quick question, Mom - what if they say no?" asked Lincoln, almost dreading the answer.

"Then I'm afraid that you won't be going to Kanto, in that case." answered Rita, shaking her head. "If that happens, you can always try again next year."

"Your mother raises a good point, son - while I'm sold on this idea of yours, I'm not about to have you two go out on your own." added Lynn Sr. with a nod. "However, I doubt that it'll be difficult to convince the others to come along with you, right?"

"...Yeah, I guess. Can you two see about arranging a meeting with them in the living room, please?" asked Lincoln before giving Lisa a dirty look. "Lisa and I need to talk."

Nodding, Lynn Sr. replied "We'll get right on that for you, son." before he and his wife left the kitchen in order to go find the rest of their children.

Once they were gone, Lincoln snaps "What the heck did you have to go and say that for, Lisa? It could've been just the two of us going, but now we have to deal with bringing the rest of our sisters along! I don't need the extra competition when it comes to winning the championship!"

"The idea wasn't selling when it came to our mother, Lincoln - I had to say something, otherwise she would've said no!" retorted Lisa heatedly.

After the two glare at each other for a few seconds, Lincoln sighs and asks "So what are we going to do about this? If we end up bringing all of our sisters with us, we're going to end up having a miserable time over there in Kanto. Any suggestions?"

"Hmm..." mused Lisa before snapping her fingers as an idea popped into her head. "Okay, how about this - during our meeting, I'll bring up some of the trials and hardships that Trainers usually face during their travels and see if that'll ward some of our siblings away. After that, we'll see who's left and work from there."

Nodding in approval, Lincoln comments "That could work. Hopefully we'll be left with sisters we can actually tolerate being around..."

Poking his head into the room, Lynn Sr. says "Everyone's gathered in the living room, you two. We're waiting for you."

"Thanks, Dad. We'll be there in a bit." replied Lincoln before giving Lisa a resigned look. "...Ready to possibly kill off this journey before it can even start?"

"Whenever you are. Let's go."

-=O=-

-The Loud Residence - Living Room (4:20 PM)-

Upon entering the living room, Lincoln and Lisa found their parents and all of their sisters (save for Lily) there, apparently waiting for them.

As soon as he had seen the two arrive, Lynn Sr. says "There you are, you two." before giving the rest of his children a glance. "Now then, these two have something that they want to say to you - it's important, so I suggest that you listen to what they have to say."

Keeping her biting personality restrained for the time being, Lori asks "Alright, so why did you have us called here, Lincoln? There's got to be some reason behind it, right?"

"Well...I'm taking a trip out of the country this summer break and wanted to know if any of you would like to come with me."

Squealing in excitement, Leni asked "Ooh, where are you going? France? England? Italy? California?", only for the others to roll their eyes in response.

"California isn't a foreign country, Leni." stated Lori before giving Lincoln a suspicious look. "So where are you going, why are you going there and why are you trying to get us involved?"

Knowing that this was now-or-never, Lincoln answered "Okay...the place I'm heading to is called Kanto - it's an island located near Japan. As for why I'm going there...I want to try my hand at being a Pokemon Trainer."

As if to continue Lincoln's explanation, Lisa boots up the laptop and immediately goes to the site she had visited before. After finding the battle she had shown Lincoln earlier, she places the laptop in Lori's lap and plays the video for the eight sisters to see, causing their eyes to widen in surprise at what was displayed on the screen.

Before the eight could get into the battle further however, Lisa picked up the laptop and shut it off, much to their dismay.

After closing the laptop and placing it under her arm, the four year-old said "Now that I've shown you what Pokemon look like and Lincoln has explained on what he's planning on doing in the Kanto region, we would like to know if any of you are interested in joining us. Any takers?"

Before anyone could raise their hands to accept the offer, Lori said "Before we decide whether to go with this or not, I have to ask - what exactly will you be doing on this trip of yours? Because whatever it is, we'll probably have to end up doing it too."

"Well...Pokemon Trainers usually travel through the region they're visiting on foot and through various terrains in search of Pokemon to capture." answered Lisa before she adjusted her glasses. "Of course, considering the fact that most of our time will be spent outdoors, camping outside will definitely be a probability during our trip. And we'll be doing this for the entire summer while travelling through Kanto."

"Well, you can count me out - while I think those Pokemon things look pretty cool, I am not going on what literally sounds like a glorified camping trip." answered Lori as she got to her feet. "Besides, there's no way I'm going to be away from my Bobby Boo-Boo Bear for the entire summer."

Getting to her feet as well, Leni said "Like, me too - camping sounds like it'd be totally grody. Besides, I wouldn't be able to go shopping at the mall if I went with you guys."

"That goes for me, too - I refuse to spend my summer break hiking around some stupid island just because Lincoln wants to catch some dumb-looking animals." added Lola as she got off of the couch to join the two blondes.

Standing up as well, Lynn replied "Sorry Linc, I can't go with you either - if things were different and there wasn't any sports for me to play this summer, I'd be more than happy to come along. I can't leave my sports teams hanging - they need me."

"And I've got several gigs down at the local comedy club that I'm obligated to perform over the summer - I can't do that if I'm going with you two. Sorry." stated Luan as she stood up to join her sisters.

Watching with satisfaction as the five girls headed upstairs, Lincoln thought 'Five sisters down and three left.' before looking to see who was still sitting on the couch. 'So...Luna, Lana and Lucy, huh? At least I'm left with sisters I can probably tolerate throughout my journey...'

Eyebrow raised, Lisa asked "So, based on the fact you three are still here, am I correct to assume that you wish to come with us?"

"Definitely, dude - something like that sounds like one heck of a rockin' time!" replied Luna before a grin appeared on her face as she pointed a thumb at the Loud parents and added "Besides, I doubt Mom and Dad would let you two go alone with just Lucy and Lana, so I'm coming along so you'll have someone older looking after you."

Shrugging, Lucy added "I'm just interested in seeing some of these monsters for myself in person. Maybe I might find one or two that I'd like to capture."

"And I'm going because a summer-long camping trip sounds like a lot of fun!" chirped Lana with a toothy grin before mentally adding 'Not only that, but Mom and Dad won't be around to stop me from eating out of the garbage when we get there...'

"Well, alright then - it'll just be us five going together." stated Lincoln with a nod before giving his parents a glance. "Is this satisfactory enough for you two?"

"More than enough. However, I think you could've done without lying about the camping part." scolded Lynn Sr., only for Lisa to give him an odd look.

"Who said I was lying about that? Everything I mentioned earlier was the complete and absolute truth."

"Oh. Well in that case, we'll see about packing up some camping equipment for you kids to use before you go." replied the patriarch of the Loud family before giving Lincoln a smile. "In any case, you've fulfilled the requirement that we've asked of you, so you and your sisters can go to Kanto this summer."

"Really? We can?" asked Lincoln excitedly, receiving a nod from both parents in return.

"Yes, you can. Just please be careful out there - I couldn't bear to know that my decision to agree to this had placed my children in danger. Can you do that for me?" asked Rita, causing Lincoln to nod while giving her a thumbs-up.

"Don't worry about a thing, Mom - I'll make sure we keep out of trouble. You have my word."

With a mock chastising look, Luna said "Hey, I'm the oldest here, dude - I'll be the one to keep us out of trouble." before she gave her brother a small grin. "In all seriousness bro, I know that this is your trip and we're just the ones tagging along with you - if you're gonna be leading this thing, I'm fine with it."

Giving the stairs a glance, she added "Thank god Lori isn't coming with us - she probably would've called dibs on the leader role as soon as Mom and Dad said we could go. It's bad enough with how she runs things while they're out, but all the way out on our own in Kanto? I don't even want to think about it, dudes."

The other four shudder before nodding in agreement, recalling how their eldest sister tended to act when in charge of the house.

"In any case, now that we've gotten this out of the way, I'll be returning back to my room to speak to Professor Oak - he's probably wondering how things went between us." said Lisa as she headed towards the stairs, only stopping long enough to give Lincoln a stern look. "One more thing, Lincoln - you'll need to take an exam in order to obtain a Trainer's license, so I strongly suggest that instead of playing video games and reading those comics of yours, you use your remaining time wisely by studying for it."

Giving Luna the same look, she adds "Same thing goes for you if you want to obtain a license as well, Luna. That means if you want to pass this exam, you're going to need to cut back on the 'rocking out' so you can study."

While the purple-clad teen groaned in disappointment, Lincoln answered "I'll make sure to get on that, Lisa.", receiving a nod of satisfaction from the four year-old before she headed upstairs. Once she was gone, he muttered "...Well, so much for taking it easy on the last week before summer starts..."

-=O=-

-Omake 43: Moon Stone Boogie (SilverNugget)-

(AN: I know that this one in particular would've been better for Chapter 20, but by the time this omake came to mind, the chapter was already updated.)

-Mount Moon - Evolution Ceremony Grounds (12:15 AM)-

"Our guests of honor have given their blessings to our newly-evolved friends, so now we must commence with the second and final part of the ceremony - we must offer our gratitude to the Moon Stone. Without it, we would not have the means to evolve."

Giving the dull black stone a surprised glance, Lincoln says "Wait a minute...this rock is part of the Moon Stone?"

"That's correct - why else would they be called 'Moon Stones' by other humans?" answered the leader before pointing at the stone in Lincoln's hand. "You may keep that shard, if you like - once a shard of the Moon Stone has been used for evolution, it cannot be used again."

"I think I'll do that. Thank you." replied Lincoln as he put the stone in his bag. "So uh...is there anything else you need us to do?"

"Your part in the ceremony is finished, Friend Lincoln." stated the shiny Clefable before it gestured towards the Moon Stone. "However, you are more than welcome to join us in our ceremonial dance."

Giving the Fairy-Type a curious glance, Pikachu asks "Ceremonial dance? How does it go?"

"You wish to see it for yourself? Then allow us to show it to you and your friends. Observe." replied the leader before snapping its fingers - causing the area to suddenly become much darker for some reason.

Before Lincoln and the others could ask about what in the world was going on, three of the Clefable had just finished setting up a DJ's turntable and other musical equipment nearby, much to their confusion.

"...Where in the world did that come from?" asked Lincoln, pointing at the turntable. "I don't remember that being there before."

"Shh...the dance is about to start, Friend Lincoln. Just watch and listen." whispered the shiny Clefable as another Clefable walked over to the turntable and got behind it. After putting on a pair of headphones, upbeat-sounding music started to play as the numerous Fairy-Types had started dancing in ways that the five did not expect to see.

One of the Clefairy was even doing some strange variation of The Worm.

To make the scene even more unusual, the Moon Stone itself started glowing in multiple colors, illuminating the area with a multicolored glow.

As the colony continued to dance to the music, the leader explained "We started doing this sometime last year - apparently the Moon Stone itself seems to like it, based on the way it's illuminating our sacred grounds."

"Huh...that's pretty cool, I guess." replied Lincoln, inwardly wondering how a rock was able to enjoy what was going on at the moment.

"It is. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to, as you humans put it, 'get down with my bad self'." answered the shiny Clefable before joining the rest of his colony.

While they continued to dance, Bill comments "...I did not know that the colony had embraced such an unusual form of dance to show gratitude to the Moon Stone." before a smile appeared on his face. "It certainly looks like fun, though - I think I'll join in too."

As Bill walked over to dance with the Fairy-Types, Seymour followed after him, calling "Hey, wait for me - I want to join too!", leaving Lincoln, Brock and Misty behind.

After watching the two run off, Lincoln glances at the two older Trainers and asks "...What do you say, you two? Think we should join 'em, too?"

"Might as well - when are we going to get the chance to cut loose and have fun like this again?" replied Misty with a shrug before leaving in order to go dance with the colony, Bill and Seymour.

Nodding in agreement, Brock adds "Same here - it's been a while since I've been able to enjoy myself without having to worry about the gym or my siblings." before following after her.

Once the two had left, Lincoln and Pikachu look at each other for a moment...before grinning and joining the impromptu dance party as well.

-=O=-

-Omake 44: The Water Flowers Of Cerulean (Lincoln/Daisy/Violet/Lily/Misty) (SilverNugget)-

As Lily led Lincoln out of the room, Daisy gave Misty a knowing smile and said "I have to admit, Misty - you really picked an interesting one to go after."

With a blush starting to form on her face, Misty snarls "I told you before that I don't like him in that way! There's no way I would ever consider the possibility of dating that little squirt!"

Shrugging, Violet says "Okay, we get it - you don't want to date him." before a playful smirk formed on her face. "In that case, do you mind if I decide to stake a claim on him instead? That white hair of his is pretty cute-looking..."

At this, Misty stared at her in disbelief while Brock started sulking.

"...He's only eleven and already he has a beautiful woman wanting to date him..."

"Y-you actually want to date that little runt!? Seriously!?" asked Misty, giving her blue-haired sister a disbelieving look. "This has got to be some kind of sick joke, right? Right?"

"...Who says that I was joking? I was, like, totally being serious there, Misty."

"...WHAT!?"

"Now Violet, as the oldest of all of us, I think I should totally get the first crack at him." said Daisy with a smirk of her own as she crossed her arms. "After all, he needs a girl with experience in dating like myself to show him the ropes on how to treat a lady properly.

"...And now he has two of them after him now...it's not fair..." mumbled Brock, growing even more depressed as the scene continued to unfold while Misty stared at her two sisters, completely slackjawed.

"Aw, c'mon Daisy - let me have that cutie for myself, will ya? It's been so long since I've been with a decent-looking guy!"

Tapping her chin in thought, Daisy asked "Hmm...how about we go on a date with him together? After all, we are sisters and sisters usually do need to share with each other..."

"Good idea, Daisy - I can totally work with that." replied Violet, nodding in agreement.

Letting out another cry of dismay, Brock whined "Oh come on! Now he's getting to date both of you!? This isn't right!"

As if to make the fifteen year-old's situation worse, Lincoln and Lily returned back to the room together only a few seconds later.

"Um...I can't, like, find the detergent anywhere. Do either of you know where it is?"

"It's on the shelf in the laundry room, Lily." stated Daisy before giving her a questioning glance. "By the way, Violet and I are thinking about taking Misty's friend out on the town - you want in?"

While Lincoln blinked in surprise at the question, Lily chirped "Like, totally!" before pulling him close and stroking his cheek with one of her fingers. "I'd love to take this little cutie out for a date."

"All three of them!?" screamed Brock in a high-pitched voice before collapsing onto the floor, sobbing loudly. "Damn it, why can't I have that kind of luck!? It's not fair!"

"Hey, hold on a minute!" barked Misty, catching the three sisters' attention. "Who the hell do you think you are, just deciding that you can take that runt out on a date like that!?"

"...Why should you care? You said that you're not interested in him, so we're going to take advantage of the opportunity handed to us." answered Daisy before walking over to Lincoln and giving him a charming smile. "So...ever been on a date with a trio of sisters before?"

"I...can't say that I have. But I guess there's a first time for everything, right?" replied Lincoln with a shrug, causing the three sisters to squeal with glee while Brock and Misty stared on, completely dumbstruck.

Finally, the youngest of the Cerulean sisters loses her temper and yells "Fine - if you want to date those three airheads, be my guest! Just don't come crying to me when they decide to ditch you for someone better-looking than you, squirt!" before stomping towards the exit, only for Daisy to grab her arm as she passed by. "...Let go of me before I decide to deck you, Daisy."

Giving her younger sister a knowing look, Daisy asked "...You actually do like him, don't you? There's no way that you would be this upset about us dating him if you didn't.", causing the redhead's anger to leave her almost immediately.

After a few seconds, Misty sighs and nods her head before replying "Yeah...I'll admit it - I actually like the little squirt as more than just a friend...I just could never find a good way to show it. And now because of you three, I've lost that chance for good."

Hearing this, the three sisters look at each other for a moment before Daisy says "...Misty, if you like him that much, you're more than welcome to join us."

"...What? You mean all four of us..." said Misty as she held up four fingers, then pointed at Lincoln, who still had a bewildered look on his face from hearing Misty's confession. "...dating him? Seriously?"

"Seriously. As I said before - we're sisters." replied Daisy before giving her a smile. "And sisters need to learn to share with each other. That includes you too, Misty."

After a few seconds, a weak smile appears on Misty's face as she nods in agreement, saying "Well, if it means that I'll get to be with him...I guess I can share with you three."

"Glad to hear it. Now, come on - let's show our date here how the four Cerulean Sisters like to have a good time!"

As the four started to lead him away, Lincoln stammers "W-wait! I need to change into some drier clothes first!", only to go ignored as he was escorted out of the room, leaving Brock and Pikachu behind.

"...Four." murmured Brock before slowly positioning himself onto the floor and getting into the fetal position. "...He's taking all four of the Cerulean sisters out on a date..."

After a few seconds, he started weeping loudly, crying out "Damn it, this isn't fair! The kid's only eleven, for crying out loud - what does he have that I don't!? Is it the white hair!?"

Pikachu, on the other hand, was celebrating the occasion like he had just become the Champion of the Kanto region.

"Whoo-hoo-hoo! He's taking four beautiful girls on a date and they're all sisters on top of that! I've never been prouder of that boy than I am right now!"

-=O=-

-Omake 45: Landing In Royal Woods (Skillet28561)-

(AN: This can be considered a 'what if' situation - what if Lynn's game happened AFTER the events of Mount Moon? Let's find out. Enjoy.)

-Royal Woods Softball Park - Field (12:35 PM)-

"Well, we're at the bottom of the fifth inning, the bases are loaded and the score's 13-0 in favor of the Beavers, who are up to bat. Never thought we see something like that happen, huh Pep?"

Watching on with a surprising look of interest on his usually droll face, Pep replied "Believe it or not, I'm actually interested to see if they can finally pull out a win and break their career-long losing streak."

Trying to ignore the two commentators, Lynn stood on the pitcher's mound, thinking 'Okay Lynn, maybe today just isn't your day when it comes to batting. But pitching on the other hand...that's something you can do. After all, you're the star pitcher of the team - you've got this.'

After Lynn finished giving herself a mental pep talk, she turns her attention to the person up at bat, only to see red upon seeing a familiar face at home plate - the same girl that had hurled the ball at her face and, in her opinion, caused the destruction of her lucky bat.

"Oh great, it's her..." muttered the brunette just loudly enough for the blonde-haired girl at bat to hear what she had to say. In response, the girl narrowed her eyes before getting into a batting position.

As Lynn felt her blood start to boil at the sight of the girl, her vision started to become blurry, causing her to rub her eyes in order to clear her sight. Upon clearing away the visual haze, she turned her attention back to home plate, only to see something that caused her to explode from rage right then and there.

Standing in the girl's place was Lincoln, who gave her a cheeky smirk and wave before getting back into the batting position. Upon seeing what she perceived to be her younger brother, Lynn lets out a frenzied scream of rage before wildly throwing the ball AT 'him', uncaring on whether he was actually there or not.

Seeing the ball coming her way and not wanting to get hit by it, the blonde girl swung her bat, hitting the ball with a satisfying crack that reverberated through the field and sending it flying. The ball was flying right above her head, giving Lynn only a split second opportunity to catch the ball and prevent a potential grand slam.

However this didn't come to be as something else was flying through the air, and that something landed right on top of Lynn. This caused the ball to zip past her and past the fence, giving the Beavers a grand slam. The entire stadium was in silent awe at what happened, partially because of the grand slam and partially because of what caused it.

"Did some figure skaters and animals just land on your sister?" Bobby said in a mixture of shock and confusion, as a gang of familiar Team Rocket grunts fell from orbit and landed right in the middle of the field.

Managing to find his uncharacteristically surprised voice, Pep spoke into his microphone "Well in a truly bizarre turn of events, the Beaverton Beavers seem to have stolen a grand slam!"

Upon hearing this, Lynn tore from the pile of aching Rocket grunts and began raging against them "A grand slam! This is all your faults! I could have caught that ball if it weren't for you!"

"Chill kid, it's just a game." One of the grunts got up and began to call his Pokémon back into their balls. Saying this to the already irate Lynn got him punched in the pair beneath his belt.

While the unfortunate male grunt collapsed to the ground in pain, the only female grunt stood back up and got into Lynn's face, while unbeknownst to her most of the eyes on the field were on her "Listen here you little runt, I won't tolerate any disrespect towards the mighty Team Rocket!"

"Uh Chief?"

"Yeah, well I'm Lynn Loud, the best player on this team!"

"Chief?"

"You're related to that white-haired little shit? I'll make him and those stupid fairies pay for the humiliation he's caused us!"

"Chief?"

"WHAT?!" The female grunt screamed in irritation, only now noticing that things were a little drafty in the area.

"That explosion from earlier...look at your shirt." Her fellow grunt pointed to her shirt, which she now noticed was damaged and exposing her rather large bust, grabbing the attention of everyone in the area.

Especially Luna, who now had a massive nosebleed "This is by far the best game I've ever been to."

Upon realizing that she'd just flashed everybody, the woman screamed before collapsing in embarrassment. It was by this point that the three grunts that were still standing dragged the others off "Sorry about that. Let's just report back to the Boss now."

"So, I'm just gonna call the mercy rule now..." The Umpire declared while wiping away his own nosebleed.

-=O=-

AN: Chapter 21 is finished. Not much to say here about the chapter itself except that I honestly think I did okay with this one...but I honestly feel that it could've been better.

Anyway, congratulations to 'shadowprove97' for answering all three questions from the previous chapter correctly. As a result, his suggestions will be included in the story - the nickname 'Simon' for Beedrill (I was requested in a PM to change the name from 'Lagann' to this), the nickname 'Mesmer' for Poliwag (named after a famed hypnotist) and Giselle will be added to the harem.

Speaking of the harem, I mentioned in Chapter 17 that I would be adding a personal choice aside from Misty - that choice is going to be Lara Laramie (for those that don't remember her, she was in the Ponyta episode). Aside from a poll that will be posted sometime in the future, there will be no more additions.

Now then, on to the quiz questions for this chapter - the prizes will be nickname selections for Zubat and Sandshrew:

The first question (which is for Zubat's nickname) is this: What is the only mainline Pokemon game where wild Zubat cannot be found?

The second question (which is for Sandshrew's nickname) is this: Which Pokemon share the same classification name as Sandshrew (Mouse Pokemon)?

Finally, considering what had just happened during the battle between Pikachu and Gyarados, I want your opinion on the subject: custom attacks - yes or no? What do you think?

As always, I hope you enjoy the chapter and look forward to the next one.