S.R: I feel the need to give our readers a heads up.

M.R: You mean about how we kinda skipped Mt. Moon?

S.R: Yeah.

M.R: But we didn't skip so much as fast forward past, and mention it in passing.

S.R: I want to warn the readers about that, but only because we'll be doing that a few times.

M.R: But we're also making our own filler to replace some of things we skip.

S.R: Still… I feel like they should know. Besides we had Ash catch a few things during the Mt. Moon escapade but we're not even showing that. Also Misty is the actual gym leader in this, just like the games. Namely because her sisters pissed me off.

M.R: Feel better now that you've warned them?

S.R: Yes. Now shall we get to the story?

ASH'S POV

It has been about 3 days since Brock joined me in traveling. We've made our way through route 3, Mt. Moon, and are currently traveling through route 4. While traveling I managed to catch a Nidorino, and a Zubat. Both of them had made a home in my team rather easily. Brock also managed to catch a Zubat.

"Hey Ash I just thought of something… Did you use the Pokedex on your Nidorino and Zubat?" Brock asked shortly after we stopped for a water break. Tilting my head I thought about it for a second before realizing he was partially right.

"I did for Nidorino, but not for Zubat. Thanks for reminding me though" I told him as I remembered that I haven't taken the time to train the team since before Zubat joined. I then told Brock I'd play Nidorino's Pokedex entry for him.

"Nidorino, the poison pin Pokémon. They are aggressive Pokémon and are quick to attack. The horn on it's head secrets a powerful venom." The Pokedex informed Brock. Once it was done I mentioned how my Nidorino is like all Nidorinos a male. I went on explaining Nidorino's ability is poison point, and that he knows Double Kick, Poison Sting, Fury Attack, Helping Hand, and surprisingly Iron Tail, which was also his egg move.

"Hey Ash would you mind scanning my Zubat too? I would like to know what moves it knows" Brock asked when I moved to let Zubat out of its Pokeball. Nodding my head I spoke to Zubat getting it's permission, before scanning.

"Zubat, the bat Pokémon. This Pokémon does not have a nose or eyes, instead having large ears. Thanks to it's large ears and the ultrasonic cries it releases while flying it can fly around safely. This Zubat is Male. It's ability is is Inner Focus. It knows the moves Supersonic, Astonish, Bite, Wing Attack, and Air Cutter. It's egg move Pursuit hasn't been activated yet." the Pokedex told us for my Zubat.

"Zubat, the bat Pokémon. This Pokémon does not have a nose or eyes, instead having large ears. Thanks to it's large ears and the ultrasonic cries it releases while flying it can fly around safely. This Zubat is Female. It's ability is is Inner Focus. It knows the moves Supersonic, Astonish, Bite, Wing Attack, and Confuse Ray. This Zubat does not have an egg move" was the information we got for scanning Brock's Zubat.

Brock and I just sat for a moment after hearing our Zubat's moves. I began thinking how best to train Zubat, especially since I knew that if we bonded well enough he could evolve into a Crobat, which with the right moves can an absolute monster in battle. After thinking a while I decided to take a few days training after getting to Cerulean before challenging the gym, so I could spend some time getting Zubat caught up with the others in terms of training.

After we had sat for a few moments Brock and I decided our water break was up and began moving again. We had walked quite a ways and Cerulean city was in view when we began hearing my name being called out by what was to me, a familiar voice. It was Daisy, Gary's older sister.

"Oh hey Daisy what's up?" I asked when she had. After a listening to her for a few minutes I learned that once Gary and I had left Pallet town, professor Oak needed another hand at the ranch and asked his granddaughter to join him as an assistant.

"Anyway your Pokedex backs up its data by sending it to the lab as well. Grandpa saw that you had already caught six Pokémon and asked me to get it to you as fast as I could. Since you called him before leaving Pewter he knew this was your next stop so I decided to met you here." Daisy explained handing me this weird looking device.

She explained it was an upgraded form of the National Pokedex I was carrying. Not only would it scan the Pokémon like it has been, I could use it to take pictures and or video's of things that I come across. It also has a built in phone, so that I would be able to make calls while on the road. Plus the main feature the professor wanted her to tell me about which is a built in Pokeball transporter.

"With this Pokedex, you can swap Pokémon in and out with with whoever is at the ranch just about whenever you want. Grandpa did tell me to make sure you get someone on the phone when you want a Pokémon sent to you though" Daisy finished her explanation.

I thanked her for bringing it to me, and asked her to thank the professor for me when she got home. She said she would but wasn't planing to head back right away. She had seen Gary's battle at the Cerulean gym while waiting for me to get there, and wanted to watch mine as well so she could report to professor Oak on how we handled ourselves in battle.

"I don't mind if you want to watch, but I was going to take a day or two to train my entire team before challenging the gym. Especially since Pigeotto is eager to prove herself. Not to mention I feel bad for Zubat. We've been traveling so I haven't really gotten to train him yet" I commented to Daisy. She nodded, telling me she was glad that I cared so much about my Pokémon. With that said we began walking again, hoping to check into the Pokémon Center before I went off to train my Pokémon.

A few days later

It's dark out now, and I'm sitting on the bed in my room at the Pokémon Center. My Pokémon and I had just finished a rough training session fifteen minutes ago, and I began debating if I felt ready to face the gym. As I told Daisy, Pigeotto was really eager to battle and pushed herself really hard during the training.

She had finally learned Agility, pushing herself to become even faster. Pigeotto is now easily the fastest Pokémon on the team, and by far too. The next fastest is Pikachu, but he can't even go half as fast as Pigeotto's top speed anymore.

Speaking of Pikachu, he's improved in both speed and strength, to the point that I don't have anyone on the team that can train with him. Especially since he learned Dig, Electro Ball, Spark, and Double Team. Thinking back, I decided that I had made the right call in choosing him over a regular stater Pokémon.

Gyarados on the other hand, had made the least amount of progress in training as she didn't couldn't join Pikachu and Pigeotto in training as they're speed oriented and she isn't. She didn't learn any new moves but in terms of raw strength she trained enough to keep her spot as the most powerful.

Beedrill kept up with Pikachu and Pigeotto for a bit during their training but after a while I had to find something else for him to do as he just couldn't keep up. Though he found a sparing partner in Nidorino.

Zubat, was the one who made the most progress in training, learning Quick Attack, Double Team, Leech Life, Poison Fang and Toxic. I couldn't help but be proud of Zubat. He had been with me for around a week now and was from our talks using the aura bond I learned he felt like he just needed a little more time and he'd be ready to evolve.

Based off what I knew of my Pokémon we should be more than ready for this gym battle, but the only one with a type advantage would be Pikachu. While that's not too big of a deal, I didn't want to push our luck. After thinking on it I rolled over and decided we'd just have to see what happens, and drifted off to sleep.

The next day at the gym

My challenge had been accepted and now I was standing on opposite sides of the battlefield from the gym leader Misty. The official gym referee was getting into place. While Brock and Daisy sat in the stands eager to watch what was sure to be interesting.

"This will be a three on three battle. Only the challenger is allowed to make substitutions. The gym leader will unleash her Pokémon first, and the challenger has the first move" The referee explained the rules. I watched calmly as Misty sent out a Horsea as her first Pokémon. I reached to my belt and un-clipped Pigeotto's Pokeball.

"Alright Pigeotto you wanted to do this, so let's show them what you're made of! Start with a Twister!" I commented and watched as the twister hit Horsea before Misty could even give an order to dodge.

It may have done a decent amount of damage to the Horsea but it was still standing strong. Misty looked at Horsea for a moment before decided to play it safe by sending it into the water to hide and launch Water Guns at Pigeotto.

"Dodge them with Agility Then when Horsea pops up for another attack hit it with an Aerial Ace" The attack hit.

"Quickly point Blank use Bubble-beam"

"Dod-" was all I got before the bubble attack hit. Thankfully it didn't do much.

"Quickly use Aerial Ace before it gets back in the water! Aim for the platform in front of you!"

"Horsea use Smokescreen to hide yourself while you fall into the water!"

At that I began laughing, because of Pigeotto's ability being Keen Eye, the smokescreen didn't matter. The Aerial Ace hit.

"Now use another Aerial Ace" I watched with pride as Pigeotto finished off the Horsea. She may have taken a bit of damage but she could still fight. In the back of my mind though I decided even if Pigeotto finished this second fight with a win, I'd let her get a good rest as that Bubble-beam did more damage than I would have preferred.

"Horsea is unable to battle. Pigeotto wins. Gym leader Misty please send out your next Pokémon" The referee called. In response Misty ushered her Staryu into the battle.

"Staryu use Water Pulse as a distraction and quickly dive into the water!" Misty stated hoping to catch Pigeotto off guard.

"dodge it with Agility"

"Now while underwater use Rapid Spin and Water Gun together!" Misty asked her Staryu. I had Pigeotto dodge but with how fast Staryu was spinning it was rather hard and tiring for Pigeotto to do continuously.

"Quickly, now is your chance hit it with Tackle" Staryu moved to do as it was told. Pigeotto being tired out couldn't dodge completely in time getting her wing clipped. Pigeotto started falling as she was off balance, but managed to catch herself in time.

"Hang in there Pigeotto. let's use another Twister and Blow that Staryu into the battlefield wall!"

"Staryu, use Recover before the Twister hits you and then use it again after you hit the wall!"

"Pigeotto use Agility and Aerial Ace together to hit before it uses Recover the for the second time!"

"You fell for it. Staryu Bubble-beam!" The bubble beam hit Pigeotto and pushed her off course enough to crash into the wall. When the dust stirred up was clear, we saw Staryu still standing and Pigeotto was knocked out.

"Pigeotto is unable to battle. Staryu Wins. Challenger Ash, please send out your next Pokémon" the referee called while I returned Pigeotto, whispering praises to the Pokeball as I knew she'd hear them. Deciding to shake things up I grabbed Gyarados's Pokeball off of my belt and let her out.

Misty went wide eyed when she saw that I had Gyarados. I watched her mumbling to herself and smiled, knowing I had the upper hand now.

"Gyarados use Dragon Dance followed by Twister!"

"Staryu into the water now!

"Follow it and use Bite"

"Rapid Spin and get out of there!"

"use Twister again!" The Twister being underwater created a giant whirlpool that pulled Staryu into the center.

"use Ice Beam on the whirlpool you created!"

"Staryu use Recover!"

"Now that you've frozen it solid use Thrash" When the ice shatter Staryu fell, hitting the ground and didn't move.

"Staryu is unable to battle. Gyarados wins. Gym leader Misty please send out your last Pokémon" the referee called out. I watched Misty smile at the Pokeball Staryu was in and heard her whisper good job to it.

"Alright let's do this Starmie!" Misty cried. I smirked at her when I returned Gyarados, and just pointed to the platform in front of me. She watched in confusion before I saw the fear in her eyes as Pikachu took to the battlefield.

"Starmie into the water and hide yourself before using Bubble-beam!"

"Dodge it with Double Team before using Thunderbolt on the water!"

"Get out of the water and clear up the copies with Water Pulse"

"Agility to speed yourself up and use Iron Tail"

"Counter it with Rapid Spin"

"Now use Thunder Wave" The attack hit Paralyzing Starmie.

"Since your still close use Spark!"

"Starmie use Recover" Misty ordered, but the parlyzed Starmie couldn't move and was hit by spark.

"Starmie use Harden"

"Alright if that's how you want to play it. Pikachu use Iron Tail to send it into the air. Then while its falling hit it with Electro Ball"

"Starmie use Endure" Misty commanded as Starmie flew up into the air. Starmie just barely managed to endure the Electro Ball, as it struggled to get back up after slamming into the platform that was below it.

"Let's end this Pikachu. Thunderbolt!" I said watching Starmie collapse from the attack.

"Starmie is unable to battle. Pikachu wins. The winner of this battle is the challenger Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town" the referee called as Pikachu hoped back to me from the platform he was on. I gave Pikachu's a big hug and praised him for how well he did.

After a few moments Misty approached me giving me the Cascade Badge and congratulated me on the win, saying it was the most enjoyable battle she's had in a long time. After talking for a while I made my way back to the Pokémon Center and asked Nurse Joy to take a look at them while I called mom to tell her I had won my second badge.

After ending that call, I collected my Pokémon and went to the clearing we'd been using to train in. I let all of my Pokémon out, and let them see our new badge before I talked to them for a bit. After a while I mentioned to them that I felt Pigeotto needed a break thanks to how hard she'd been working. Gyarados volunteered to go with her so she wouldn't feel alone. Beedrill asked to go as well, saying he wanted to see the place in person. Once I had made sure Beedrill was sure he wanted to go, I called the Professor and told him I was sending a few Pokémon over to the ranch.

ON HAND:

1. Pikachu (m) 2. Nidorino (m) 3. Zubat (m)

AT THE RANCH:

1. Pigeotto (f) 2. Gyarados (f) 3. Beedrill (m)