Several days had passed since that night at the restaurant. Things had slowly begun to return to normal at Kanto High. May was talking to everyone again, although still obvious that she was hiding something. Ash and Dawn hadn't spoken about what they saw since that night. They were the only ones that knew that Drew and May were dating again, trying to figure out why she would date him again, or why they would both be so secretive of it. Not even Drew had said a word about it, which was odd, considering he used to talk about May all the time when they first dated. At this point Ash and Dawn weren't sure if they should just ask May about it or wait and see what happens, so they just decided to stay silent for the time being.
Late one night Ash, not having to work that night, went straight home after school, finally having to time to do something he'd hadn't had time for the past week and a half, Pokémon training. Ash, trying to get as much training in as possible, worked with each of his Pokémon all afternoon, even late into the night. It was nearly midnight before they all collapsed, realizing just how out of shape they'd become.
"Man, this is tougher than I remember!" Ash said as he rested on the grass, as darkness of the night sky covered his surroundings. He knew that he needed to get back into training more often and more intensely, and what better way to do so than with a gym battle. It was decided, Ash would go to Cerulean City and take on the gym leader there, and hoping that it would jumpstart is motivation again. As the Cerulean City gym was a water type gym, it would be nice to have Pikachu who was now starting to slowly recover from his injury, however Ash knew that he could do well enough with the other members of his team.
The next morning before school Ash mentioned to his mom that he was planning to go Cerulean City the next weekend, which Delia was happy to hear. She had wanted to get some shopping done anyways, and the new Cerulean Mall had just opened, so she'd been dying to check it out, so they'd both go together.
The seconds felt like minutes to Ash as the rest of the school day went along. Now that he'd hyped himself up for the gym battle, he'd have to wait till the end of the week for it. At least he had Gary's next soccer match to look forward to that night. In fact the whole school was excited for the game, it was just the second time Kanto High had made it to a semi-final match, so it was a pretty big deal.
Later that night
The stands were packed as usual for the soccer match, despite the heavy downpour of rain, which would last the entire night, making both watching and playing the game much more difficult. Ash, May, and Dawn were covered in layers of hoodies and jackets, in a futile attempt to stay dry.
"I can barely see the field!" Dawn said, as the level of visibility was low, as the rain was blowing right towards them.
Despite barely anyone being able to him due to the rain and wind, the announcer gave his usual pregame speech.
"Welcome to the semi-final round matchup between the number one seed, your own Kanto High Dragons! They will face the fourth ranked Pewter City Gravelers. The winner of this match will go to the championship match, so we are in for one exciting duel!"
The whistle was blown and the Gravelers started out with the ball. A couple successful passes later and they were already in position for a shot, only for to slip on the wet grass, giving the Dragons a lucky break they normally wouldn't get. The disadvantage went both ways however, as both teams struggled to go anywhere with the ball.
As the 20th minute approached, Gary saw his chance. The defender challenging him slipped, letting Gary run right by him. Gary saw Brock Harrison across the field, in great position. Gary kicked a near perfect cross over everyone's heads except Brock's. Unfortunately the rain struck again, the field was basically a mud field at this point, and Brock whiped out before even attempting to jump for the ball. Both teams were beginning to become extremely frustrated as the game only continued to get tougher as time went on. After some more time of meaningless kicking back and forth around midfield, the first half ended, with both team covered in rain and mud, both frustrated and disappointed.
"What the heck are we supposed to do, no one can even make a pass without getting hit by a mud slide!" Gary complained in the huddle. Neither coach of either team had much of an answer either, they'd never seen a field this bad In their coaching and playing careers, frankly they were surprised the game hadn't been cancelled.
Meanwhile on the stands, it seemed like everyone was asleep. The crowd hadn't made a peep since the beginning of the game; in fact some had gone back to their cars to get out of the rain, seeing no point in watching this boring of a game.
The weather only continued to rage even harder as the second half began after a seemingly eternally long halftime. As hard as both team tried, the result was always the same, with very little action happening until there was about 15 minutes left to play.
Realizing that trying to advance the ball with passes was pointless, one of Pewter City's forwards straight up launched the ball from just past mid field towards Kanto High's goal. With such low visibility due to the rain, and the fact that neither goalie had even touched the ball to this point, the Dragons goalie was caught off guard as the ball soared right past him and into the back of the net.
1-0 Gravelers lead.
Everyone in the stands sighed, they didn't think this game could get any worse. Aside from the horrible weather it was looking like Kanto High was going lose the game as well.
Gary pulled the forwards into a huddle, trying to regroup and try to tie the game up.
"Look guys, I'm not exactly sure how we're supposed to put that ball in the net, but its possible. All those games we won in the regular season won't mean a thing if we can't win this game. We got fifteen minutes left, let's win this sucker!" Gary said as he slapped everyone on the back.
Play resumed as a newly motivated Dragons team pushed the ball down the field with more intensity. It was still sloppy play, which was impossible to avoid at this point, but they were staying on the offensive for a good while.
Gary sent a pass in towards the goal, placing it perfectly for Brock. Brock's shot looked good, until skimming the crossbar and sailing out of bounds. Despite the miss it made them realize they could actually score a goal. However, time was starting to run low.
5 Minutes left.
A few plays later and the ball had rolled out of bounds off of the Graveler's, giving Kanto High a corner kick.
Despite being the best passer in school history, Gary passed on taking the corner kick. He wanted to make a play on the ball, so Brock elected to take the kick. He sent the ball dropping in just feet from the goal, giving Gary a perfect opportunity to head it in. However Drew had the same idea, and the goalie was in hot pursuit as well. The three all collided and fell to the ground.
It wasn't until the cheers came from the crowd that they realized what had happened, the ball had bounced off them and rolled into the corner of the goal
1-1 Tie Game.
With a few minutes left in the game, neither team seemed to want to take any chances and try to score another goal, and just wait for extra minutes. As the final minute counted down, they Graveler's just passed the ball back and forth, waiting for the referee's to blow the whistle.
Gary Oak had other plans.
Realizing that they could stop the game at any second, Gary sprinted in towards the ball, catching the other team off guard. He successfully stole the ball at midfield, and sent it sailing with the hardest kick he could muster. The shot was almost like a laser, considering how fast it went. While it was tough for everyone to see what happened, it was nothing short of a miracle.
The goalie jumped into the air to swat it down, only missing by a few inches. The ball bounced off the top crossbar, right into the airborne goalie's back, and back into the net of the goal.
Everyone went wild; Gary had just hit the shot of his life, giving Kanto High a 2-1 lead. However, the Graveler's would have one last chance to answer.
Play resumed as the Graveler's struggled to get the ball moving anywhere, ultimately resorting to a hail mary kick like Gary had just done. Gary saw this coming and simply dove in front of the ball, blocking the shot.
The sound of the referee's whistle sounded, ending the game. Gary sat up, only to be knocked back down as the rest of the team piled on top of him in celebration.
"That's it! Unbelievably the Dragons have come back to win the game 2-1! They will play for the championship title next week!" The announcer said as the celebrations continued.
Ash watched from the bleachers with a smile on his face. Eventually the ruckus died down and he was able to meet up with the girls in the parking lot, as Gary had gone off to celebrate with his teammates.
As the rest of the week went by Ash made sure that he would be ready for his next gym battle, making sure to train for a couple hours each night with his Pokémon.
"Hmm, if the Cerulean gym is a water type, then Staraptor, Aipom, Froakie, and Bulbasaur would be the best options. You guys feel ready?" Ash asked his Pokémon, who cheerfully responded, ready for another battle.
"Don't worry Charizard, I'll get you in a battle soon enough." Ash said, who had wanted to battle with Charizard, but his first two gym battles had the type advantage over Charizard unfortunately.
Soon enough the weekend had come, and it was time for Ash and Delia to head over to Cerulean City. Despite it being just an hour away, Ash hadn't been there in over a year, and a lot had changed in that time. The city had nearly doubled in size with a lot more tourists, thanks to the new mall that they were going to visit.
After navigating through the unexpected waves of traffic, they were finally able to find the mall, and take in the sheer size of the building.
"There has to be nearly a hundred stores in there!" Ash said.
"I know, this is going to be so much fun! So many places to shop and look at!" Delia replied, causing Ash to sigh, not sure if he'd be able to get his mom out of the mall in time to make it to his gym battle later.
The two entered the mall, but it looked more like a maze, with multiple floors and stores along every wall. Ash had been dreading going here but his attitude quickly changed when he spotted several stores that catered to Pokémon trainers. So Ash decided to go check all of them out while Delia went to look at clothing stores mostly.
Ash walked into the shop closest to him, and began browsing the endless aisles of training gear and equipment. In front of him were many things, from different kinds of pokeball's, too attachment accessories for backpacks and pokeball belts. Ash grabbed a few small gadgets off the shelves as he went, and purchased them before heading onto the next store.
This continued until Ash realized that he had run out of money, making for one awkward scene at the checkout line, as he had to do the walk of shame back to each aisle and return his items. He was at least happy with everything he had already bought; now beginning to understand why girls liked shopping so much.
Meanwhile Delia was having the time of her life, trying on different outfits at a record pace. She even entered several raffle ticket drawings for the fun of it; it sure had been a long time since she went on a shopping spree like this.
After several hours, the two ended up running into each other in-between stores, both exhausted from how much walking they each had done. By now it was already late in the afternoon, and they were both starving. They found a restaurant in the mall that served seafood, which is what Cerulean City is famous for.
As they finished their meals and began to get up from their chairs a voice came over the speakers in the mall.
"The raffle ticket lottery for the all inclusive Alolan vacation has ended, and a winner has been chosen! The winning ticket is 5-4-7-2-8. If you are the owner of this tickets please return it the information desk to claim the prize! Congratulations!"
Delia instantly grabbed her tickets from her purse. She always got a thrill from buying lottery tickets and entering contests, the idea of winning one always makes her excited. She pulled out her three tickets and started reading their numbers aloud.
"Ok,
5
4
7
2
9…. Oh come on!" Delia said, disappointed that she was just one number off, but the realization that she still had two more tickets brought her spirits right back up.
"Um…
5
4
6…. Nope!" She said as she tossed the ticket into the trash, and reading her final ticket.
"5
4
7
2
8.
5-4-7-2-8." Delia said, noticing something peculiar about the ticket but having trouble figuring it out what is was.
"Wait what was the number it was supposed to be?" Delia asked.
"It was 5-4-7-2 um… 8 I think? Ya it was 8." Ash said, looking at his mother.
Ash watched as his mother turned as white as a ghost, who sat down, looking like she was about to pass out. Ash stepped over and grabbed the ticket out of her hand.
5-4-7-2-8.
"Mom! You did it! That's the winning ticket!" Ash shouted, having to nearly drag Delia out of her seat and get her to walk with him to the information desk.
Eventually they found there way over to the desk, Delia still speechless. Ash handed the lady behind the counter the ticket. After getting Delia to sign several things, they were told that they would be contacted soon for more information. But the vacation would we over Christmas for 2 whole weeks.
After all this excitement, Ash realized that he wouldn't have time to have his gym battle today, and decided to put it off till tomorrow. They then found a hotel to stay in for the night. Delia and Ash each laid on their beds daydreaming, Delia thinking about lying in the sun relaxing, and having fancy alolan drinks. Ash on the other hand, was thinking about all the different Pokémon that he'd be able to see in Alola, remembering the Litten that Gary owned and had battled against him with.
The Next Day
After a good nights sleep, Ash was up early the next morning excited for his gym battle, but even more still excited for the free vacation they'd just one, but that was still some time away so Ash tried to keep his mind on Pokémon battles.
The rays of the rising sun peaked through the window curtains, giving Ash some energy after the long day yesterday.
"Ready for your battle Ash?" Delia asked, stepping out of the bathroom.
"As ready as I can be, I think that…" Ash said as a low growling sound cut him off, which he realized was his stomach.
"Uh, maybe we should get some breakfast first." Ash said, making Delia laugh.
After some bacon and eggs, Ash was finally ready to go, and they got in the car and headed towards the gym. They spotted the gym, which was a huge building in the center of the city.
The two entered the gym, which seemed rather busy for a normal gym, as people seemed to be flowing in by the dozens. It wasn't till Ash asked someone what was going on did he know what was happening.
"Oh, haven't you heard? They're doing water shows here on the weekends, everyone loves them!" A woman told them, before she went off to buy her tickets.
"Well if I can't have my battle now, might as well check out this show thing?" Ash suggested.
"That's a wonderful idea Ash, I'll go buy us two tickets." Delia said as she tried to find a way into the ticket line. She emerged several minutes later with two tickets in her hand. They handed over their tickets and were ushered into the arena, which was much larger than Ash was expecting. There was a large pool of water in the center of the arena, with stands surrounding it on all sides. The place was nearly packed full by the time they arrived, so they hurried to find a seat. Just a few minutes later every seat had been filled and the show began. From somewhere beneath the pool of water was a small door, from which the performers and Pokémon emerged as they swam to the surface of the water. As the cheers of the crowd died down music started to play from the speakers placed in various spots around the arena.
In a flash there was splashes of water, with Pokémon and people moving all around the water, in sync with the music. Soon the performers were being tossed around in the air with several of the Pokémon's water gun attacks. This and other acrobatic stunts and dives were performed for the next hour, before the show finally finished. At the end of the show, the gym leader, also one of the main performers, thanked the audience for coming.
"Hmm, so that's the gym leader." Ash said, hoping to find a way to ask her to battle after the show.
Eventually the audience began to leave after giving a well-deserved standing ovation. Ash waited till everyone had left before walking back towards the entrance area. After waiting for some time he began to realize that the gym leader might not even exit this way, so he just decided to talk to the lady who had been selling the tickets earlier.
"Oh, the gym leader doesn't accept challengers on the weekends, she puts all her focus on her shows during this time. Just come back anytime during the week if you want to battle her." She told Ash, noticing the disappointment on his face.
"Well that was a waste of a weekend." Ash said as him and Delia walked out the front doors.
"A waste? You can have your gym battle anytime, but its not everyday you win a free vacation in Alola!" Delia reminded him, slightly boosting his spirits.
The two spent the rest of the evening walking around town looking for things to do. They didn't have much success, until Ash notice someone in the distance. It was Richie.
"Richie!" Ash shouted. Richie turned around and waved back.
"What are you doing here Ash?" Richie asked him.
"Well I was going to have a gym battle today but…"
"No gym battles on the weekends. Found that out yesterday as well." Richie said, cutting Ash off.
"You too huh." Ash replied, the two laughing together.
"Ya, I was looking forward too a good battle, its been a while." Richie told him, an idea forming in his mind.
"Hey Ash! You want to battle? Just to get warmed up like we did before our first gym battle." He asked.
"Of course, a trainer can never turn down a battle!" Ash replied, excited by the idea.
Richie rode with Ash and Delia over to a nearby park, deciding that it was a suitable spot for a quick battle. They found a small opening, and took their places.
"One on one sound good to you?" Ash asked.
"Sounds good to me!" Richie replied, ready to go.
"Charizard your up!" Ash said, fulfilling his promise of getting Charizard in a battle soon.
"Ok then, I choose you Larvitar!" Richie said, brining out his Pokémon.
"Let's do this Ash!"
"You bet Richie! You can take the first move!"
"Larvitar, start with sandstorm!"