Ash worked up his strategy for taking on Misty at the Pokemon Center while Gary met his grandfather at the airport.

He remembered the time he'd asked Pikachu to battle Misty, despite his friend's unwavering loyalty... Pikachu refused to battle a friend in heated battle. So, he opted to battle with Pokemon that wouldn't have met Misty.

Torterra arrived immediately upon request, completing his party of six. Although, Torterra would be immediately transported back to Professor Oak's house if the egg were to hatch while his party was full.

That left him two openings for the battle, unless Misty deviates from the traditional three on three chosen battle style of most Pokemon gyms.

Ash sighed, eager to see his longtime friend again.

He made his way to the Cerulean City gym, standing at its entrance. He didn't feel like waiting for Gary and Professor Oak, in case Misty manages to beat him.

He took a deep breath and pushed the door open, walking down the halls until he reached the pool.

He could see two Starmie spinning around in the pool, with Goldeen trailing right behind.

Then there was Golduck, fully evolved at last.

And Gyrados and Politoed... all of Misty's Pokemon.

"Who goes there?" An announcer with a cold voice asked.

"I'm here to challenge Misty the gym leader of Cerulean City!" Ash exclaimed, forgetting to mention his name.

"No one has won the Cascade badge in fourteen months. The gym leader has near a hundred fifty wins... do you still challenge her?"

Ash gulped, "Yeah."

"What is your name trainer?"

"I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town."

"The battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet and Misty Waterflower, the gym leader of Cerulean City will begin now!"

Misty's water Pokemon were simultaneously returned to their Pokeballs, which were brought out on a cart for Misty to choose from, but the gym leader herself had not yet made an appearance.

Ash stepped up the platform, looking across the pool for an emerging redhead.

And then there she was, rising out of the center of the pool on a small shaft.

She opened her eyes and recognized a guy she traveled with for years...

"Hey Ash."

"Misty..." Ash said, at a loss for words.

""It's good to see you. I thought it would only be a matter of time until you came around here to battle for the Indigo league again. I wondered if you'd make time to visit."

"Always for a friend." Ash replied.

Misty smiled, walking backwards on an extending ramp that led to her side of the battlefield.

"Now don't think cause we're friends I'm going to take it easy on you."

"Likewise." Ash said cockily.

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu said, having run over to Misty without Ash's notice.

"Hello Pikachu!"

"Traitor." Ash muttered to Pikachu, who was enjoying a tail rub from Misty.

"What do you say? Three on three?"

"Normally, I'd do a two on two. But for you, I wanna see what you've got. How many Pokemon do you have?"

"On me? Six. But I'm not allowed to use Pikachu for another couple of badges."

"Oh right, I forgot about those crazy rules." Misty remembered, thinking up her strategy. "Then five on five."

Ash's eyes went wide... Growlithe would have a hard time battling even one of Misty's water types. But he'd have to try.

"You're on!"

"The challenger has the first move." The announcer said, revealing himself in the middle as the referee.

Ash observed the way the referee looked at Misty... were the two...? No... please no...

Ash shook it from his brain... there was a battle to win.

"This will be a five on five Pokemon battle, only the challenger from Pallet Town will be entitled to make any substitutions. Let the battle begin!"

"Pidgeot, let's go!" Ash decided, figuring that one of his strongest Pokemon should get the first shot at Misty.

"Politoed, I choose you!"

"Politoed!" Politoed cheered, landing in the water comfortably.

Pidgeot cawed at Ash.

"You'll be fine Pidgeot."

"Is this your old Pidgeotto?"

Pidgeot cawed again.

"It's good to see you too." Misty agreed.

"Enough talk." Ash decided, "Whirlwind!"

"Dive."

Politoed went under the water, out of Pidgeot's range.

"Wait for it to come up Pidgeot, then use Steel Wing!"

"Attack!" Misty yelled.

Politoed emerged at blidning speeds,, striking Pidgeot before it could even get in place.

Pidgeot fell to the ground around the pool, groaning and getting up slowly.

"Use gust quick!" Ash commanded, watching Politoed moving towards his injured friend.

"Pidgeot!" Pidgeot agreed, blasting Politoed across the pool like a skipping stone.

"Poli...toed." Politoed moaned, getting up and lookingto Misty for further orders.

"Ice Beam!" Politoed obeyed, unleashing a devastatingly powerful Ice Beam that would have frozen Pidgeot solid had Pidgeot not sped off at super speed.

"Use fly!"

Pidgeot flew up high and used fly, striking Politoed for the second time.

"Hynosis!" Pidgeot couldn't resist looking into Politoed's eyes, forcing it to fall asleep and into the water.

"Caw caw!" Pidgeot exclaimed, waking up upon impact of the cold water.

"Pidgeot return! Go Torterra!"

"Torr!" Torterra roared, causing Politoed to take special interest in it's own two feet.

"Holy crap, I've never seen one before." Misty whispered to herself, trying to analyze it by its look. "It look slike a grass type, be careful Politoed."

"Poli..." Politoed gulped, starting to cheer itself on by clapping.

"Leaf storm!"

The barrage of leaves was simply too much for Politoed to fight off, even after attempting to get into the water.

"Politoed is unable to battle, Torterra is the winner!"

"Beat that Mist." Ash gloated.

"Sounds like a good idea." Misty admitted, hurling her next Pokeball into the pool.

"Golduck." Golduck called out, swimming around like a showoff.

"Leafstorm!"

"Blizzard!"

The storm was unable to catch Golduck, who'd suddenly turned the temperature down to a below zero.

"Use protect!" Ash called, to which Torterra protected itself. "Now use Solarbeam!"

Torterra gathered sunlight.

"Goldcuk use Psychic attack!"

The two attacks collided in the air, creating a major wave that washed up both the trainers and their respective Pokemon.

Torterra was breathing heavily, but not ready to give up. Neither was Golduck.

"Use Toxic!" Before Ash could call for another protective move, Torterra was poisoned.

"Tor..." Torterra complained.

"Earthquake!" Ash ordered, watching the ground shake so much that Golduck, who'd gotten onto land to use Toxic, fell over and bumped it's head... slipping into the pool in the process.

"Golduck is unable to battle, Torterra wins!" The referee announced, raising his hand towards Ash.

But just then Torterra fell over, unable to handle the extreme poisoning.

"Torterra is unable to battle."

"Return Torterra. Thanks buddy." Ash said, smiling to his Pokeball.

"Not bad so far Ash. But you're gonna need better to handle... Gyrados!" Misty announced, releasing a large dragon Pokemon from its ball.

"Pidgeot, come back out!"

"Pidgeot!" Pidgeot agreed, thankful that its time in the Pokeball dried it's wings.

"Use Thunderbolt!"

"What?" Ash asked, watching Pidgeot get struck with a bolt of lightning.

Pidgeot crashed to the ground, able to get up after a few seconds.

"Come on Pidgeot, are you okay?"

"Pidgeot!" Pidgeot challenged the mighty Gyrados.

A bolt of lightning struck Gyrados, shocking it and the entire pool as well.

Ash pulled out Dexter and discovered that Pidgeot had just learned Mirror Move.

Gyrados couldn't get up... but it wasn't out.

"Hyper Beam!"

The powerful move crashed into Pidgeot, who was sent hurdling towards the wall... sliding down it as Starmie had the last time Ash's Pidgeotto battled here.

"Pidgeot is unable to battle the victory goes to Gyrados!"

"You did your best, you deserve a rest." Pidgeot returned to the Pokeball, ashamed of its performance.

But Gyrados still hadn't gotten up.

"Elekid, let's do it!"

Elekid emerged, having no problem with landing in the water.

"Kid!" Elekid stated, sparking between its ears.

"Elekid... hmmm." Misty pondered.

"Thunder Shock!" Ash called.

"Gyrados is unable to battle, Elekid is the winner!"

"You've gotten good Ash, but so have I!" Misty released her next Pokemon... but it wasn't a water type.

"Eevee."

"Eevee?" Ash asked, remembering that Misty was a devout water type trainer. Why hadn't she evolved it into Vaporeon yet?

"Remember when Surge evolved his Pikachu to Raichu right away?"

Ash thought about it, "Yeah, it was too slow. That's why my Pikachu was able to beat it, even though Raichu knew all the electrical attacks."

"Exactly. So I figured, the same should go for Eevee."

"Okay Elekid. Thunderpunch!"

"Tackle attack!"

The two exchanged blows, missing each other by inches due to evasive dodges.

"Thunder bolt!"

"Sand attack!"

The thunder bolt went wide, striking the water instead of Eevee who had partially blinded Elekid.

"Oh no..." Elekid released dozens of bolts of electricity, but none of them landed near Eevee. "Elekid, you've gotta listen to me! Trust me!"

"Kid kid." Elekid agreed, calming down.

"Take down attack!"

Eevee moved towards Elekid quickly and quietly... ready to knock it down.

"Jump high!"

Elekid leapt into the air,

"Use thunder directly below!"

"KID!" Elekid screamed, unleashing a powerful wave of thunder, striking Eevee perfectly.

Elekid landed next to Eevee, using the water from the pool to wipe its eyes off.

"Eevee!"

Eevee tackled Elekid into the pool. Elekid was enraged and shocked the entire pool.

And there was one other problem...

"Elekid please help Eevee!" Misty called out to save her drowning Pokemon.

But Ash had already dived over the side and swam towards Eevee.

Ash pulled Eevee out of the water and set it on the side.

By this time Misty had signaled to stall the match and went to check on her injured Pokemon.

"Eevee... are you okay?" Misty asked, petting it softly.

"Is that why you didn't evolve it?" Ash asked, taking deep breaths in order to catch his own.

Misty could only nod, "It refuses to learn how to swim, which is normal for non-water type Pokemon. But for an Eevee..."

"It's different."

She nodded, "I wanted to evolve it right away. I kid myself that I want it to learn to be fast on land but..."

"Hey, you don't have to explain yourself to me." Ash said, putting his hand on Misty's shoulder.

"Thanks for saving Eevee, Ash." She said, inching closer.

"Anytime..." Ash said awkwardly, wanting to get closer too.

"The gym leader is the official winner of this match." The referee told them.

"What do you mean? The battle isn't over."

"You left your stage. The gym leader could have simply called back her Pokemon to the Pokeball, rather than you forfeit the match." The referee said snidely.

Misty frowned, "I told you the match was on pause."

"But not until after the challenger vacated his post."

Misty looked at Ash helpless.

The referee continued, "In continuation with the Pokemon League's policy, for trainers and gym leaders alike, that should either battle participant vacate their post without a proper timeout signaled, the match's result will be a forfeiture."

"You're such a jerk sometimes." Misty said.

"Maybe I'd be less inclined if you would agree to go to dinner..."

"Buzz off." Misty said, scooping up Eevee carefully. "I'm taking Eeve, Gyrados, Golduck, and Politoed to the Pokemon center, then we'll finish this the way I see fit."

"Fair enough."

"Come on Ash." Ash followed, returning an apathetic Elekid to its Pokeball. "So... what's the latest?"She asked, not having had contact with Ash for... months? Had it been a year yet? She couldn't remember.

Ash told her how he lost in the Sinnoh League after the toughest match of his life. Then he explained how he decided to go back to Kanto to reenroll in the Indigo League conference, as well as the few... stipulations.

"So you have a new starter?" Misty asked, handing over the Pokeballs to nurse Joy and seeing Ash do the same to Chansey.

Ash nodded, releasing Growlithe who hadn't been out since the Pokemon Center visit earlier.

"Growlithe." Growlithe barked, sniffing Misty and licking her.

"He's a lover." Misty said, petting Growlithe's begging belly.

"He's great. Strong, determined, stubborn."

"Sounds like a certain trainer I know."

"Who that referee guy?"

Misty gave him a look, he could be so dense sometimes.

"Oh... me."

Misty laughed.

"So, you have an aquaphobic Eevee."

Misty nodded, noticing a bulge in Ash's bag.

"What's taking up so much space in there?" Misty asked.

Ash reached in and pulled out the egg.

"I found this while I was fishing."

MIsty looked wide-eyed, "What if it has another new Pokemon like Togepi?"

Ash shrugged, "Team Rocket put it there... you remember Cassidy and Butch?"

Misty nodded, they were only slightly smarter than Jesse and James.

"So you've still had run-ins with Team Rocket?"

Ash nodded, "They followed me throughout Hoenn and the Sinnoh region."

"And that grass thing you had?"

"Torterra." Ash confirmed, "He's the final evolved form of Turtwig, the grass starter in Sinnoh."

"And that's what you started with?"

"No I started with Pikachu and Aipom. But while I was there, I met Turtwig and Chimchar, the fire starter. They were both really strong and evolved to their final stage which helped us get all the way to the semi-finals."

"Growlithe." The fire pup barked, wanting more belly rubs.

"You should probably also meet Seel." Ash said, pulling out another Pokeball and releasing his good friend.

"Seel, Seel, Seel." Seel clapped, squirting water at Growlithe for fun.

"Growlithe!" Growlithe challenged, although it really didn't mind.

"Seel."

"Oh it's so cute."

Ash almost said something like 'Just like you' but he repressed the urge before it slipped.

"You remember the Seel my sisters used to carry around?"

Ash nodded.

"Now it evolved, and they use it to go from town to town to participate in Pokemon Contests... they only have like one ribbon apiece since they're all pretty pathetic trainers..."

"Unlike a certain trainer i know." Ash pointed out before he could stop himself.

"That's sweet."

"There you are Ash." Gary said, approaching the young trainers.

"Hi Gary."

"Hey Misty, how are you?"

"I'm okay. Are you two traveling together?"

"Yeah."

Gary turned to Ash.

"My grandpa wants to talk to you."

"To me?"

Gary nodded.

Ash shrugged and walked out with Misty and their Pokeballs to Professor Oak.

"What's going on Professor?" Ash asked, after Misty and the Professor said their greetings.

"I need you to come with me into the Cerulean Cave."

Misty's mouth almost dropped, "Cerulean Cave is one of the most dangerous places in the world. There are scary strong Pokemon in there... they don't even let most normal trainers within a hundred yards of that place."

"I'm going in because an old friend said he might have seen the most rare Pokemon of all in there."

"Mew." Ash muttered, thinking of the times he met the most powerful Pokemon in the world.

"And I seem to remember that you have encountered your fair share of powerful Pokemon?" Professor Oak mentioned, thinking about the stories of Ash meeting Pokemon like Lugia, the three legendary birds, Entei, Suicune... and many more.

"Yeah, but I've never like... gone looking for them."

"Welll, I need you too. Your Charizard fought off Entei tot he best of its abilities. And for a reason I don't know, legendary Pokemon tend to trust you."

"It's because Ash has a good heart, filled with love for Pokemon." Misty pointed out, thinking about the time he'd almost made the ultimate sacrifice in order to stop clone and normal Pokemon from destroying themselves.

"It's certainly possible that that's why legendary Pokemon appear to him on his journeys," Professor Oak agreed, "But I need you to come with me and battle our way to to the center of the Cave."

"You want me to go... there?" Ash asked with a gulp.

"If we can find Mew, we can work our way to changing things we never could on our own. Imagine cloning that kind of power to use as a benefactor to all mankind.'

That didn't exactly encourage Ash, considering Mewtwo was a clone of Mew designed to take over the world.

"If we can unlock and map out it's psychic powers, we can cure diseases, protect people from Team Rocket, and from evil Pokemon."

Then again... maybe Professor Oak had a point.

"Maybe I should change my party around." Ash stated, having little faith that Elekid, Seel, and Growlithe were ready to take on Mew.

"No need." Professor Oak told him, presenting him a bag of Pokeballs. "I had Tracey send these to me. As of right now, your traditional Pokemon trainer status is on hold. So you may carry more than six Pokemon at a time."

"What about me?" Gary asked.

"I wanna go too." Misty said, eager to have the chance to go on another adventure.

"Of course. But it will be dangerous."

"Please, who else will get Ash out of trouble?" Misty pointed out.

"Fair enough."

"Hey that's not fair!" Ash protested, taking the bag of his Pokeballs.

Ash sent back around twenty eight Tauros, and kept the rest of the Pokemon in his backpack.

He handed the egg to Joy, pleading with her to take good care of it.

Ash, Misty, and Gary met the Professor the next day at six in the morning.

"You still have bed head." Misty said, ruffling his hair before he could put his hat on.

Ash shook it back to the way it was and put his cap on.

"All right Ash, release Charizard."

Ash dug for the correct Pokeball and released his fiery friend...

"Infernape!"

"Oops." Ash muttered, grabbing the correct Pokeball and releasing Charizard, who roared in delight. "Long time no see buddy, meet Infernape."

"Char!" Charizard greeted, looking around.

"Hey, we need you to go in there with us. But there are a lot of tough Pokemon in there, so if you're scared, I won't blame..." Charizard blasted Ash with a flamethrower as a challenge for even suggesting that he was a coward. "On second thought, let's roll."

"Charizard." Professor Oak said, throwing a Pokeball.

Another Charizard appeared aside Ash's who gazed into his eyes challengingly.

"Battle later." Professor Oak commanded, "Charizards lead the way."

"Come on you goofball!" Ash said, pushing his Charizard towards the cave.

It was dark at first, until Charizards' and Infernape's respective flames ignited the path.

"CAWW!" Misty ducked behind Ash without thinking, moving back to her place before anyone could notice what had happened.

"Caww!" A giant Aerodactyl came out of nowhere, sunk it's claws into Ash's Charizard and started dragging it away...

"Flamewheel!"

Infernape sped up on command, striking Aerodactyl with a devastating blow.

"Caww!" Aerodactyl protested, unleashing an ancient power that rocked the cave.

"Charizard, Infernape get out of there!"Ash yelled, not loud enough to be heard.

"Seel use Ice Beam on the ceiling!" Ash commanded as he released the Pokemon.

Seel did as it was told, keeping the roof of the cave from collapsing.

"Hit em with a Flamethrower grandpa." Gary encouraged,

"No, don't!" Ash stopped them, poiting at the already melting ice. "Pikachu Thundershock!"

"Pikachu!"

"Ice shard!"

The two Pokemons' attacks collided where they were meant too, sending Aerodactyl off to its hiding place.

"That was a close one." Misty stated.

"Come on, we have to hurry." Ash said, scooping up Seel and dragging Misty through the cave with Gary and the Professor close in tow...

To find the mysterious Pokemon in the Cerulean Cave, Ash must use all of his Pokemon's strengths and overcome their weaknesses... but will they be able too? Stay tuned...