Naturally, Ash was about ready to do a backflip the day he finally decided to challenge Misty once again for the Cascade Badge.

He'd been so patient, it'd been a week since they got out of Cerulean Cave... and honestly, he was exhausted. But he was excited too. Riolu and Dewgong he hoped would prove invaluable to his team in his battle against his old friend.

Professor Oak had gone back to Pallet Town a short two days after leaving the cave. Gary would leave once the battle for the Cascade Badge was over. And then it would be just Ash and his Pokemon.

Ash didn't mind being alone, but he'd never been alone for a whole journey before. The very idea seemed alien to him. Misty had followed him through just about all of Kanto and Johto... May and Max through the Hoenn. Dawn through Sinnoh... and Brock had been there every step of the way.

What would it be like to have not have a cheering section when he made it to the Pokemon league?

He decided to spend the extra time training, as Misty suggested of course. Not that he wouldn't have done it anyway.

"Riolu... scratch attack!"

"Rio!" Riolu's speed was exceptional considering it was days old. But his attacks barely tickled Elekid.

"Elekid, thunder bolt. Riolu dodge!"

Riolu spun out of the way of several bolts without a problem. But the fourth one hit it's mark and paralyzed the young Pokemon.

"Riolu..." Ash ran and grabbed a paralyz heal from his bag and went to fix up Riolu. "Good job bud, you deserve a rest." Ash said, returning it to his Pokeball. Ash turned to Elekid, "Wanna go a couple more rounds?"

"Kid!" Elekid agreed, sparking at its antennae.

"Dewgong, come on out!"

The water Pokemon appeared and stared down.

"Let's do this." Ash stated, ready to work as hard as he had too to beat Misty.

...

Misty had just had a talk with her parents.

Ugh... gross. I know.

But it wasn't as bad as she expected. They told her that they were proud of her for taking care of the gym in their long absence due to their travels in several distant regions call Kalos, Unova, and Alola, regions even Ash hadn't visited yet. They also expressed their disappointment that her sisters nearly let the gym close by giving out badges to anyone who stopped by.

They also told her more news... news that would impact her future as a gym leader.

A bell rang, warning her that a challenger had come to battle for a Cascade Badge.

'It's Ash... no doubt.' She thought to herself, having gone over these next few minutes several times.

Misty rose from her stand and looked out at the young man across the water, ready to battle for a badge.

"This will be a three on party," Misty announced, facing the referee, "Challenger favor."

The referee's face dropped.

"No way. I want this match fair and square." Ash demanded, "Three on three. Or six on six."

Misty crossed her arms like she wasn't willing to negotiate. (she wasn't, big surprise)

"The battle between Misty Waterflower, the gym leader, and Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, the challenger, will be a three on party, challenger favor." The referee announced, clearly not happy with this underhanded undermining of the rules. Although, if she wanted she could just give him a badge and avoid the battle altogether.

Ash resolved to beat her in three Pokemon or less. Anymore and he decided he'd have to forfeit. He wasn't going to win by cheating.

"GYrados, come on out!" Misty called, releasing the powerful Water Pokemon.

"Elekid, round two!"

"Kid!" Elekid agreed, sparking daringly.

"Begin!"

"Thunderbolt!" Ash and Misty shouted together, their two respective attacks colliding mid air.

"Dragon rage!"

"Elekid, thunder wave!"

BUt Gyrados was too fast, Dragon rage hit it's mark. Square on Elekid.

Elekid fell into the water.

"Gyrados, get out of there!" Misty tried to warn her Pokemon.

"Thunder!" Ash shouted, capitalizing on the opportunity.

The entire pool was electrocuted once again, and once again Gyrados fell.

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

"Kid kid!"

"Great job Elekid!"

"You deserve a nice rest." Misty said, throwing her next Pokemon. "Starmie, start off with a Psychic attack!"

"Psychic?" Ash muttered, "Watch out..."

But Elekid was already being tossed around like a rag doll.

"Thunderbolt!"

But Elekid couldn't focus... he crashed onto a block of ice that floated in the middle of the pool.

"Elekid is unable to battle. Starmie wins!"

"Return Elekid. You did your best. Don't think I'm gonna take it easy on you Mist."

"I wouldn't want you too."

"Well, get ready!" Ash said, releasing his next Pokemon.

"Sceptile!"

"Crap..." Misty muttered, studying the Pokemon. "I don't even know what Pokemon this is."

"Starmie... use Rain Dance."

"Sceptile, bullet seed!"

The grass attack was obviously more damaging than the little rain spell.

"Water gun!"

"Razor leaf."

The attacks deflected off each other and went sideways.

"Get in close, use your speed!" Ash encouraged.

Sceptile took off, dodging every attack Starmie dared to try.

"Use Leaf Blade!"

"Sceptile!" Sceptile called out, striking Starmie without mercy.

Starmie fell over, greatly weakened but not out yet.

"Leech seed!" Ash ordered.

Sceptile began stealing energy.

"Recover!" Misty said, giving Sceptile more energy to steal. "Now use Psychic attack!"

"Get out of there." Ash shouted, but he was too slow.

"Both Pokemon are unable to battle!" The referee announced.

Ash tried to think hard. If Misty chose another water type, the logical choice would be Torterra. Whom he'd temporarily switched out with Pidgeot. But if Misty had a trick up her sleeve, which she probably did, a normal advantage wouldn't cut it. But Growlithe was at such a disadvantage on this field, it was downright foolish to pull him off the bench.

That left Riolu and Dewgong.

"Dewgong! Come out!" Ash and Misty yelled at the same time.

'Freaking plot twist.' Gary thought to himself.

"Use Ice Beam!" Misty yelled.

"Ice Shard!"

The two Ice attacks collided, creating a small flurry of snow.

"Use Surf!" Ash commanded, taking advantage of the still falling rain dance.

"Blizzard, Dewgong!"

Neither attack was particularly effective, but Misty's Dewgong clearly fared slightly worse.

"Ice Beam!" Ash demanded, watching his less trained Dewgong freeze the other one solid. "Yes!"

"Uh uh uh." Misty teased, waving her finger and pointing at the cracking ice beneath Dewgong. "The pool's heated."

The ice was melting fast... Ash had seconds to do something.

"Dewgong! Use Ice Beam on the whole field! Freeze it solid!"

Dewgong complied, unleashing wave upon wave of Ice Beam, similar to that of the first battle when it was still a Seel. But this time, the ice wasn't just coating the surface. It was down to the bottom of the pool.

Misty's Dewgong was frozen, unable to move... and henceforth, unable to battle.

"This battle's over." Ash told the referee, "Call it."

The referee ignored Ash's request.

"It's unable to battle." Ash complained.

"Finish it." He muttered.

"What's the point in hurting the Pokemon even more? Just call it!"

"Dewgong return!" Misty called out, returning her Pokemon to its ball.

The referee groaned, "Gym Leader Misty is out of usable Pokemon, Ash is the winner."

Misty leaped down from her stand and went to the pool thermostat, cranking it up to the highest it would go.

"You know, I could speed things up." The referee offered, showing her a Pokeball.

"Way ahead of you." Ash said, having already told Growlithe to melt the ice.

Misty laughed, and handed Ash the Cascade Badge.

"As a token of your victory in Cerulean City. I present you the Cascade Badge... won fair and square... finally."

Ash was about to celebrate, "I was sooo gonna beat you last time."

"Nuh uh."

"Yeah huh."

The two went on for a while before Gary came over and teased them about being lovebirds.

"We are not lovebirds!" They retorted at the same time.

Gary put his hands up defensively and turned to Ash, "On your way to Vermillion, there's a small town you can go through called Lavender."

"Yeah, I know it." Ash replied.

"There's a new gym that opened there just this summer. It's home of the Ghost badge. I'd say take the long way to Vermillion and get that badge too. Then head up to Saffron and Celadon City. After that, you should probably take the Cycling Road down to Fuschia Cityto check out the Safari Zone. By then, you'll already have eight badges. But you can challenge the Fuschia gym leader just for the heck of it."

"You make it sound like your leaving?" Misty pointed out.

"I'm going back to Pallet Town to do some work with my grandfather. I just wanted to see Ash win another badge before I went back home." Gary confessed, "Keep up the hard work and you'll make it to the Pokemon league in no time."

"Thanks Gary, you're a real pal."

The two old friends shook hands and Gary walked off.

"Well Pikachu, looks like it's just me and you now."

"Got room for one more?" Misty asked.

"I thought you had to stay and look after the gym?" Ash questioned.

"My parents came home last night. They're doing a major renovation during the rest of the Pokemon League season. Afterwards, they're gonna take care of it for a while so I can go back to traveling the world."

"Sounds like old times." Ash said, raising his hand.

Misty clapped and held onto it, looking Ash in his beautiful dark eyes and trying to picture how his lips would feel pressed on hers.

Little did she know, Ash was thinking something similar.

With a fourth badge in his collection, Ash is halfway to the Indigo League. Losing Gary as a companion is rough, but regaining Misty is a blessing. But what other surprises are ins tore for our heroes? Stay tuned...


Yes, yes, yes. I made up another gym. But it's so boring writing gym battles that have already happened basically. I might make up more gyms in the next couple chapters, but who knows? I'm not really into sending Ash back to Cinnabar or Fuschia since he won both badges fair and square. But Celadon, Saffron, Pewter, and Cerulean City badges were all given away (at least sort of). It makes for a more interesting read to see how a more advanced trainer works to beat rivals he never truly triumphed over.

Yes, you guessed it. Caught me red-handed. Misty is a love-interest... the primal love interest for Ash. I haven't decided how far it will go, nor have I decided on a third person to join them in their journeys. When I do, they'll be introduced to the story.

But until then, review, favorite... and whatever else it is that you readers do between updates! I have plenty of stories to choose from if you're bored and would like some reading material!