Disclaimer: As always, I have yet to receive the ownership of the Pokemon franchise.
Chapter 4: Cerulean City
Over half a day had passed since Brock joined me in this journey. We were currently at Route3 and were nearing Mt Moon when we decided to take a break. The addition of Brock meant that I no longer had to cook which could be allotted to training. The Pokemon and trainers in this Route were nothing special but ended being a good source of exp. Charmeleon had reached Level 22 and both Beedrill and Pidgeotto were now at Level 21. Pidgeotto had learned Whirlwind and Beedrill learned Twin Needle, which meant that I could now use it in Cerulean Gym. It wasn't long before Brock informed us that lunch was ready. We ate our lunch at peace before deciding to start going through Mt Moon.
Now a fact that most trainers needed to understand about Mt Moon is that day and night was none existent inside there. The only source of light available was torches erected by the League which showed the correct Route. This measure was done after a lot of Rookie trainers lost themselves wandering around the caves inside the Mountain.
We reached the foot of the mountain by late afternoon but unlike last time, Seimor was not around this time. One of the most significant changes in my life this time around was the lack of Team Rocket. According to the system, Team Rocket had already disbanded two decades ago when their leader lost to a Rookie trainer. But given the fact that their absence was not hurting anyone, I decided to leave it at that. But without Team Rocket sabotaging the cave's ecosystem, there was no need for Seimor to be around. Brock still ended up catching a Zubat tho.
On a side note, I must say that Mt Moon sucked real bad this time. The sheer number of Zubats that we encountered was unbelievable. I have no idea where these things are coming from. All my Pokemon ended up gaining 2 Levels by the time we got out and I am glad that we are out. One more Zubat encounter and I am pretty sure Charmeleon would have lost it. We were out of the mountain by night and decided to set up camp before midnight.
"That was exhausting wasn't it Brock?" I said to Brock who was starting to cook as I setup the tent.
"It sure was. I had heard that the Zubat infestation in Mt Moon was bad but I didn't know that it was that bad." Brock said as we both gave a small chuckle. The rest of dinner was spent with us talking about random stuff and soon it was time to sleep. We were exhausted, so it didn't take us too long to fall asleep.
Since the day of my rebirth, today was the first day that I overslept. But that just goes to show how exhausted we were. It took us some time to get ready but we were soon on the road. After walking for around an hour, we could see the entrance to the City.
Cerulean City was just as I remembered it to be. The building were not as close together as the bigger ones like Celadon yet it was still bigger than a town. I could see the dome of the Gym/ pool of the City as we walked into the City.
"So Ash. I assume that you are going to the Gym?" Brock asked.
"Nope. I need to train some more before challenging the gym. I plan on going to the outskirts to train." I explained. While as I was, I had a good shot at beating Misty, but I didn't want to risk it. I just need Charmeleon and the others to gain Two more levels before I can be perfectly sure.
"You are going for more Training?" Brock said exasperatedly. "I suppose that beats not training at all and charging headfirst into the Gym." If only you knew buddy.
"Then I have a few errands to run. Do you plan on challenging the gym today?" Brock asked.
"No. I will do it tomorrow." I replied.
"Gotcha. Then I'll accompany you to the gym tomorrow. Good luck on the training Ash." Brock said before going towards the East of the city.
Route 24 outside Cerulean City was somewhere that I had completely neglected in my previous life. In hindsight, it was a wasted opportunity as there was plenty of good level pokemon here. I reached the grasslands near Cerulean Cave when I heard a familiar sound
*Ding*
Quest Activated: Abra, Kadabra, Alakazam.
Quest Details: Capture a wild Abra from Route 24
Quest Rewards: A Twisted Spoon.
I was not expecting that but it was a welcome addition. As far as I am concerned, an Alakazam would be a fantastic addition to the team. But Abra were hard to encounter so I had to capture one quick before it fled. I decided to put this tidbit of information in the back of my mind and focus on training my pokemon for now.
This place was a treasure trove for training pokemon.A lot of pokemon here were over level 10 so mine were able to level up rather quickly. In fact, I had achieved the target level of 26 by noon. Charmeleon went a level beyond and ended up learning Scary Face. Everything was going smooth when the target of my quest showed up.
Under most circumstances, a Pokemon as weak as an Abra are easy to capture but Abra was a special case. The only move they used in the wild was Teleport, which meant that it was hard to catch one unless you have a pokemon that can use Mean Look or the like. The best option for rookies was to capture a Diglett which had Arena Trap as an Ability but in my case, that was not possible as of now so I decided to go with the hit em before they can flee tactic.
"Beedrill use Poison Sting." Beedrill was quick in following the given orders and I was wuick in throwing the ball after the attack connected. Abra was sucked into the ball and after a few shakes, the ball gave a small ding signifying the capture. I was sure that Abra was poisoned so I called him out before giving him the Antidote that I had bought from Viridian.
"Welcome to the Team buddy." I said to my new capture who was looking rather drowsy. As always I took Dexter out for scanning him.
Abra, The Psy Pokemon.
Abra needs to sleep for eighteen hours a day. If it doesn't, this Pokemon loses its ability to use Telekinetic powers. If it is attacked, Abra escapes using Teleport while it is still sleeping.
This Abra is a Male and has the ability Magic Coat.
This Abra is currently Level 10 and knows the moves Teleport and Thunder Punch.
While him knowing Thunder Punch was definitely a good thing, training him was going to be a hassle until he became a Kadabra. And given that he could not directly participate in battle, it was going to be tough to level him. But I had almost half a day until sunset so I decided to start on training after eating lunch. I had purchased food from the city, so i could save time taken for cooking.
Quest Completed: Abra, Kadabra, Alakazam.
Quest Reward has been granted and deposited in the Items pocket of the host's bag.
We went directly back to training but it was agonisingly slow in Abra's case. Both Pidgeotto and Beedrill ended up gaining one more level by the evening but Abra only gained three levels. But it was a good start in any case. I decided to call it a day by 5 PM and returned to the city's Pokemon Centre to heal up the party. I met Brock on the way who had also finished his errand.
"So how did the training go Ash?" Brock was the one who started the conversation.
"It was good. I am all ready to challenge the gym." I said.
"That is good. Between us, with how hard you train your Pokemon, I got my money on you." Brock said in a jovial tone.
"Thanks Brock. So what was this errand of yours?" I decided to ask.
"Oh it's nothing much. Dad asked me to deliver a stone to one of his friends living here in the city. It took a while to find him." He said.
"Well then, let's get my Pokemon healed up and have dinner. What do you say Brock?" I said.
"Let's do that then. I know a perfect place here. I heard they serve some mighty fine Ramen noodles there." Brock was fired up now.
It didn't take much time for me to get my Pokemon healed up. We went searching for the place that Brock mentioned and found it in the eastern part of the city. The place was called Ichiraku Ramen and the chef was a tall, blonde man named Naruto Uzumaki. It was the best ramen I had ever had in my life, both of them. We ended up overeating and it was a struggle to reach the Pokemon Centre before calling it a night.
' Hey system?' I called in my mind as I was laying on top of my bed.
''Yes Host?' The reply was immediate.
'Why are you silent all the time? I mean haven't talked to me nearly as much as you did when we arrived her.' It was something I wanted to know.
'To answer the Host's question, I must say it is because I am a Passive System. My mission is to help augment the host's life without making the host too dependent on me. Also, as of now the host has a good knowledge on all of my available abilities. When I unlock new abilities, I shall inform the host.' The system was quite thorough in its explanation.
'Doesn't it get lonely when you are quiet all of the time?'
'The concept of loneliness is a human one and as a mechanical system, that concept is foreign to the System. But the system thanks the host for worrying about it.' I decided o leave it at that and went to sleep.
The next morning found me and Brock at the entrance of the Cerulean Gym. Today was an off-day for the water show, so it was easier to get a gym battle. Oddly enough, Brock restrained himself from flirting with Misty's sisters whom informed us that Misty was back in the Gym and had taken over the position temporarily. But that worked in my favour as I knew a lot of strategies to counter her. We were led by the sisters to the main pool where Misty was playing with her Horsea.
This was the first time that I saw my oldest female friend in over two decades. She had achieved her dream of becoming a water master and had married Tracy. They had three kids but I only ever saw the first one.
"Hey Misty. You got a challenger here." Daisy called out to her sister.
"I'll be right there." She retuned Horsea before walking in our direction. It didn't take her long to reach here.
"So I assume you are the challenger?" She asked me.
"Yes. The name's Ash Ketchum and I'm from Pallet Town. This will be my second Gym battle." I informed her.
"Fine then, be prepared to lose. Daisy, Can you please be the referee?" She said to me before asking her eldest sister.
"Sure Mist. Both of you, please take positions." Daisy said as Brock and the remaining two moved towards the spectators stand.
"The following match is a Two on Two match between Misty Waterflower of Cerulean City and Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and it is for the Cascade Badge. No substitutions are allowed and the match will be over when both Pokemon of a trainer are unable to battle. Now both sides, Please release your first Pokemon.
"Misty calls Staryu." Just as I expected, Misty decided to go with Staryu.
"Beedrill, I choose you." I decided to give my Bug Pokemon a chance. While the water type gym was a massive advantage for Staryu, I had a few tricks of my own.
"Staryu, enter the water." Misty decided to do it the same way she did last time.
"Beedrill, don't do anything and keep a look out for Staryu." I gave my order.
"Staryu, attack with Rapid Spin." Misty was the first to make a move.
"Beedrill, move out of the way and connect with Twin Needle." Beedrill did just as it was told, dodging the incoming star pokemon and hitting it with a good Twin Needle. While I was planning on doing this until it fainted, what made it easy was that Staryu got poisoned fro that attck. I knew that Twin Needle had a 20 percent chance of poisoning the target, but I had forgotten to take it into consideration. But honestly, it worked in my favour so I decided to overlook it a bit. Although Misty tried her best to salvage the situation, she was soon forced to retire the pokemon in order to not deal further damage to it.
"Leader Misty has withdrawn Staryu. The winner of this round is Beedrill and Ash Ketchum. Leader Misty, please choose your second pokemon." The voice of Daisy rng in the gym.
"That was a good match but you won't get lucky again. Misty Chooses Seel." Misty called out.
I was shocked for a moment there because I had never thought of the possibility that Misty would go with a Pokemon other than Starmie. This kind of destroyed all my plans. I had planned on Beedrill dealing some massive damage to Starmie using Twin needle before finishing it off with Charmeleon but that was impossible now. Honestly speaking, Beedrill was massively unequipped to fight Seel but I decided to try and salvage the situation. After all, I had the level advantage over Seel who was level 21 according to Dexter.
"Beedrill use Poison Sting." I tried to get lucky with poisoning but that was not going to work again.
"Seel, jump into the water and use Aurora Beam at Beedrill." Seel jumped into the water and soon a Aurora Beam hit Beedrill from the water.
"Beedrill return." There was nothing I could do so I decided to return him.
"Challenger Ash has withdrawn his pokemon. This Round goes to Leader Misty." Daisy called.
"Sorry about that girl." I told Beedrill before calling my second Pokemon. "Pidgeotto, I choose you."
"Seel, once again go into the water." Misty ordered See who had returned to the surface after winning the round.
"Pidgeotto, take flight." I ordered.
"Seel use Aurora Beam again."
"Pideotto, whenever Seel comes up, whack him with a Wing Attack." I calmly called out. Soon enough, the strategy showed its results as whenever Seel reached near the surface, Pidgeotto was there to greet it with a powerful Wing Attack. It only took four half powered hits before Seel was down.
"Seel is unable to battle. The Winner of this round and match is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town." Daisy looked just as confused as the rest at what just happened, but I couldn't blame them.
"Congratulations Ash. Here's the Cascade Badge. You deserve it." Misty, although she looked a little out of it, came to me and handed over the badge. Now let me explain what just happened here. Pidgeotto is a naturally agile Pokemon so Seel could not target it from far deep underwater like it did with Beedrill. So Seel had to come up to target it. Now most bird types wouldn't be able to discern it from that depth but Pidgeotto had Keen Eyes as an ability. This meant that she could easily see Seel when it came up for the attack. Also what helped me the most was Misty not calling Seel off which made the poor Pokemon continue attacking.
"Thank you Misty." I said to her before putting the badge in its case. I was about to go towards Brock when Misty asked me.
"Hey Ash. I heard that you were travelling with Brock. Can I join you guys? I asked Brock yesterday and he told me to ask you." She said.
"Sure. As I always say, the more the merrier. I talked with Brock and we are going to leave for Vermillion as soon as I heal my pokemon. Do you need time to prepare your stuff?" I asked.
"Nope. I already packed my stuff. I'll meet you guys at the Pokemon Centre as soon as possible. Thanks for allowing me to travel with you guys." She said before running off to the backside of the gym.
"What were you guys talking about? By the way, congratulations on the win. I knew you could do it." Brock, who was coming towards me said.
"Thanks Brock. Misty is going to join us now." I informed Brock.
"That's great. It'll be more fun that way." Brock said.
We said our goodbyes to Misty's sisters and went to the Pokemon Centre to heal up my pokemon. Soon enough, Misty joined us and we were ready to go. I had some major training to do and Pokemon to catch in the upcoming days but I was looking forward to it.
[Misty's POV]
Hello, My name is Misty Waterflower and I was the gym leader of Cerulean City. If you are looking for a sob story, then you have come to the wrong place. As far as I am concerned, I have lived an easy life up until this point. Loving parents, caring siblings and financial and emotional stability I had them all.
Growing up around three beautiful sisters are always hard, especially when you are not as good looking as them. Honestly, I used to hate my sisters when I was a child but as I grew up, I started to understand them.
You see, my sisters are extremely good looking and they could make easy money from it but it was not what they wanted. They wanted to become pokemon trainers but were simply too unskilled for it. In fact, I am the dark horse in the family in that regard as I was a talented trainer. So my sisters decided to play the role of the bad guys so that I would not blow my talent as a trainer. So they raised me up as a tomboy and tried to make me hate the entertainment industry as a whole by acting all haughty and arrogant.
I know that it's dumb but they were dumb people after all. I grilled them for pulling that stunt on me after I figured out what they were doing. They were extremely cute, kneeling and begging for my forgiveness. So I decided to go on a journey on my own but that didn't get anywhere. I was attacked by a group of Spearows in Route 1 and lost my Bike so I returned back here when i met Brock, the Pewter City gym leader. I heard from him that his dad was back and that he was now travelling with a rookie trainer.
At first I had my doubts on why Brock was travelling with a Rookie, but that doubt vanished when I met him. Ash Ketchum, the boy who was one year younger than me, carried himself with the poise of a seasoned veteran as he entered the gym. Anyways I battled him and now I coud understand why Brock decided to go with the kid.
People say that I have a talent i training but I now knew that was nothing more than a joke. I mean if I am talented, then what would you call this guy in front of me? I got steamrolled and if it wasn't for the terrain of the gym, I am absolutely sure that I would have lost pretty easily. I still don't know what he did with that Pidgeotto.
So with my doubts getting cleared, I decided to ask him to let me join and he agreed pretty easily. I packed my bag, said goodbye to my parents and sisters and met them at the front of the Pokemon centre, with a hope in my heart that I could achieve my dreams in the near future.
And that folks is the end.
Anyways, there's a guy who said that I was making Ash a little too OP but my dear sir that's the point of hacking. Also, while this story as of now is only having GEN 1 pokemon, the moveset will be from Gen 3 for now. This is because I have never played GBC games, so I am not really big on limiting myself to it.
Alas if I was a more skilled writer, then I might be able to pull it off, but as of now I can't.
Also another shoutout to rockingchampif who is the only consistent reviewer for this story. To everyone else who reviewed, thank you for your support and any criticism is welcomed.
With that said, it's time for me to sleep.
Stay safe out there.