Misty was in heaven as she and Gary walked along the sands of the Cerulean Cape. The setting sun painted the normally blue waters of the bay a beautiful orange hue, a pleasant sea breeze warming the evening air as it rolled off the waves. It was just like she'd always imagined it.

That included the man she was currently walking hand in hand with. That Gary had thought to take a walk along the cape had already won him major brownie points, but the fact that he seemed to really appreciate the beautiful scene around them meant even more. He wasn't just there to impress her, he was enjoying their walk himself as well.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Misty asked, turning her head to look out over the water.

"It's definitely a step up from Pallet Town," Gary agreed, his awed tone undermining the bitter sarcasm of his words.

"I'm sorry," Misty said, giving Gary's hand a gentle squeeze. She almost complimented him on how much she respected him for putting things on hold to take care of his grandfather, but thought better of it. She knew firsthand how irritating that kind of sentiment could be, no matter how well intentioned.

"Thanks," he replied simply, returning the squeeze.

They walked in companionable silence for a while, the warm sea air and the gentle lapping of the waves providing the perfect ambiance. Just as Misty was shifting her weight to lean against Gary, that ambiance was broken by a shout from behind them and the sound of someone kicking up sand as they ran across the beach.

"Are you the Cerulean gym leader?" a boy's voice called, slightly out of breath. "I'm Jacob from Fuchsia City and I'm here to challenge you to a gym battle!"

Misty was ready to keep walking and ignore the intrusion on her perfect evening. Gary, however, stopped, letting go of her hand as he turned to face the person interrupting their date. Frustrated, Misty joined him and turned to find a scrawny purple-haired boy of twelve or so staring at her with a determined gleam in his eyes, offset somewhat by the fact that he was bent over with his hands on his knees and panting.

Gary didn't wait for him to recover. Running a hand through his hair, he asked, "You really can't read a mood can you kid?" Misty wasn't sure if he was amused or annoyed, his tone seeming to convey a bit of each.

Straightening himself, the boy looked between Misty and Gary cluelessly and asked, "Oh, were you challenging her? I guess I can wait."

Misty's face began to twist up in irritation, memories of the years she spent traveling with a certain oblivious battle-obsessed trainer flooding unbidden into her mind. Fortunately for her would-be challenger, before she could completely lose her cool, a girl around the same age as him jogged up next to the boy and slapped him on the back of the head.

"He's not challenging her, you numbskull; they're on a date," the blonde-haired girl sternly chastised. Turning to Misty and Gary, she bowed and said, "I am so sorry to interrupt your date. My friend is so obsessed with battles that he has a tendency to fail to notice anything else."

"Hey, you need to battle her too, Emily," the boy, Jacob, said combatively, turning to face his friend. "We both need to get a Cascade Badge so we can hurry to Celadon City and challenge Erica. Besides, you're the one who said we should come out here and look for her."

Shaking her head, the blonde, Emily, shot back, "No, Jacob, I suggested we take a walk down the cape because it would be ro–" The girl stopped mid-sentence, a faint blush coloring her cheeks as she hastily corrected, "Nice. I thought it would be nice. I only mentioned that I'd heard she liked it to explain that to you."

"Hold on," Gary interjected, holding up a hand to silence the two young trainers. "You two still need two badges? This late in the season?"

"We got a late start," Jacob said defensively.

"If by late start you mean you had to challenge Blaine three times," Emily added with a smirk.

Ignoring the pair, Gary turned to Misty with an amused smile and asked, "What do you say we do these kids a favor and give them a chance? League rules allow for a double battle, don't they?"

Misty hesitated to answer. He wasn't wrong; League rules did allow double battles if the gym leader judged their partner could provide an adequate challenge, and she had no doubt Gary could. He had a strong water-type in his blastoise too.

Even so, she found herself conflicted. She was still irritated with the boy for interrupting her date and didn't exactly feel like rewarding him for it. Gary's unexpected empathy for the pair was surprisingly touching though, and she'd wanted to see his blastoise in action since they'd met in Pallet Town. What finally tipped the scales was the girl. Misty couldn't help seeing herself in Emily, and knew all too well the headache she'd have to deal with if her friend had to wait for a match.

Turning to face the two young challengers, she planted her hands on her hips and said, "Fine, but we're doing this quickly. A double battle, one pokémon each, and you'll default to my rulings since we don't have a referee. That's my only offer."

"Alright!" Jacob said, leaping into the air and pumping his fist.

Rolling her eyes at her friend, Emily bowed again and said, "Thank you."

Misty nodded back at the girl, before turning and walking away from the pair to make room for the match. When she judged there was enough space between them, she turned and announced, "Alright, the official gym battle of challengers Jacob and Emily from Fuchsia City against Cerulean City gym leader Misty Waterflower and Gary Oak begins now."

As she spoke her last word, Misty pulled one of the pokéballs from her belt and pressed the button to release her partner. The other three trainers on the beach did the same, four beams of light shooting out and resolving into the forms of their pokémon.

The imposing figures of Gyarados and Gary's blastoise kicked up small clouds of sand as they materialized in front of the gym leader and her date, the atrocious pokémon letting out a threatening roar as it exited its pokéball. Across the beach, a jolteon appeared before Emily and an exeggutor in front of Jacob, both visibly shaken by Gyarados' intimidating display.

"Emily, hold them off while Exeggutor charges up," Jacob shouted, his grass-type already gathering energy from the setting sun for what had to be a solar beam attack.

Emily nodded her agreement, pointing at Misty's pokémon and ordering, "Jolteon, use thunderbolt on Gyarados!"

Being a gym leader, Misty was well prepared for attacks targeting her pokémon's weak points. As Emily's jolteon crouched down and let a powerful thunderbolt loose toward her pokémon, she countered, "Gyarados, hydro pump!"

Gyarados reared back and let loose a tremendous blast of water at its foe. The sheer volume of the torrent erupting from the serpent's mouth overwhelmed the oncoming electric attack and shorted it out before it could reach its target. Barely slowed by absorbing the attack, the blast continued forward and slammed into Emily's jolteon, knocking it back toward its trainer.

Unfortunately, while the electric attack had been thwarted, the exchange had bought Jacob's exeggutor enough time to charge its attack. The coconut pokémon leaned forward, angling its leafy top toward Gary's blastoise and releasing a bright beam of gathered energy.

Ready for the attack, Gary calmly ordered, "Blastoise, use rapid spin to kick up the sand and refract the sunlight."

The shellfish pokémon complied, retracting its head, limbs, and cannons into its shell and spinning into the beach at an angle. The movement blasted a veil of sand into the air, the crystalline grains colliding with the incoming solar attack and scattering its light across the battlefield. Despite losing much of its force, however, some of the powerful beam's energy managed to pass through the barrier and send the spinning pokémon skidding back across the sand.

While the challengers reeled at the unexpected counter, Misty made sure it wouldn't be necessary again. Raising her hand to the sky, she shouted, "Gyarados, cut off the source of its power. Use rain dance!"

Gyarados reared back and roared fiercely into the evening sky. At its command, the wispy clouds above the beach darkened and expanded, casting a shadow over the battlefield as droplets of rain began to fall.

Before Misty or Gary could take advantage of the weather, Emily seized the initiative and shouted an order to her pokémon. "Jolteon, use pin missile to trap Blastoise in its shell!"

The spiky yellow pokémon growled its assent and launched a flurry of spines from its fur toward Blastoise just as the larger pokémon's rotation came to a halt. They found their target, wedging themselves into the openings in Blastoise's shell and restraining its limbs. The spines shook as the powerful water-type struggled to break free, but ultimately held fast.

Taking advantage of Blastoise's predicament, Jacob ordered, "Exeggutor, follow up with extrasensory!"

Exeggutor's three heads hummed, an iridescent light spreading from them to engulf its entire body before shooting across the beach towards Gary's immobilized pokémon. The light slammed into Blastoise's prone form, the already injured pokémon letting out a pained grunt as it was driven into the wet sand.

Backed into a corner, Gary subtly raised his hand and shook his wrist, the glinting of his keystone in the dim light catching Misty's attention. He quirked his eyebrows and grinned at her, his eyes full of excitement as they silently asked if he could bring out Blastoise's full potential.

After a moment's hesitation, Misty nodded her assent. These kids were definitely up to the challenge, plus she really wanted to see Blastoise's mega evolution. Bringing her hand to her new pendant, she faced the challengers with a smirk and said, "I have to admit, you two are better than I expected. I'd say it's time we get serious. Gyarados, my steady, show them the power of our bond! Mega evolve!"

Gary turned to the young duo as well, echoing, "Blastoise, you too. Push past the boundaries of evolution and mega evolve!"

Misty and Gary's keystones shone with an opalescent light, mirrored by the mega stone mounted on Gyarados's crest. Blastoise's own stone was on a bracelet currently retracted into its shell, its shimmering light shining out from within. As the glow of mega evolution grew brighter, it engulfed the pokémon and they began to change.

Gyarados let out another chilling roar as its body bulged out, growing in both length and bulk. Large fins sprouted from its back and its crest extended, producing an imposing profile. The effect was further enhanced as the light receded, revealing the menacing black, deep blue, and red coloration of the pokémon's mega form.

At the same time, Blastoise underwent its own transformation. Jolteon's pins strained against the pressure of the mega evolution, ultimately failing to hold back the growth and sent flying across the beach. Blastoise extended its limbs and cannons from its shell, now one titanic weapon on its back and a smaller one mounted on a shell on each arm. As the light of mega evolution faded, the heavily armed pokémon let out a roar of its own and stomped its feet on the sand as it stood and found its footing.

Taking advantage of the challengers' awe at the rare–and almost certainly unexpected–transformation, Gary shouted a quick command to his mega blastoise, "Take advantage of the rain and use hydro pump on Jolteon!"

Mega Blastoise complied, leaning forward and extending its arms as it took aim at the electric-type. A thunderous rumble roared over the sound of the rain as the pokémon launched three high pressure streams toward its opponent. Unable to withstand the powered-up assault, Emily's jolteon was knocked off its feet and sent flying across the beach, tumbling roughly across the sand when it finally landed.

As she took in Mega Blastoise's impressive display, Misty was glad she had gone along with her date's request to mega evolve–not just for the advantage in the battle, but also for the opportunity to witness it. Still, her competitive side refused to let her be shown up. Grinning widely, she said, "Mega Gyarados, follow up and show them what we can do. Use hurricane!"

The serpentine pokémon reared up and roared at the sky like it had when it used rain dance, its larger form making the action all the more imposing. Almost immediately, violent winds began to whip through the rain falling across the battlefield. The powerful move built up into a cyclone, strong enough to lift both Exeggutor and Jolteon into the air as it sucked them into a growing wall of wind and water.

Jacob was the first to recover and react, calling out to his pokémon over the howling winds. "Exeggutor, use the force of the hurricane to launch leech seed at Blastoise!"

At first it seemed like Exeggutor would be unable to execute the move, tumbling wildly through the air as it was pulled through Gyarados's vortex. On its third pass around, however, the grass-type launched a glowing seed out at Mega Blastoise with the added force of the hurricane behind it.

Unable to move quickly enough to dodge the accelerated attack, the bulky mega-evolved pokémon raised one of the shields on its arms to intercept the blow. It proved unnecessary, however, as the seed went wide and buried itself in the sand behind it.

Not wasting any time, Gary quickly ordered, "Mega Blastoise, don't give it a chance to try that again. Use bite on it the next time it comes around."

The mega-evolved pokémon shared a brief look with its trainer and nodded before stepping to the edge of the whirlwind and sticking its head in. As soon as Exeggutor drew near, Mega Blastoise snapped down on the psychic-type's leg, roughly pulling it out of the hurricane and slamming it into the beach.

Misty spared a quick glance at the fallen pokémon, confirming that the two successive super-effective moves had knocked it out. Raising her voice to be heard across the battlefield, she announced, "Exeggutor is unable to battle."

As Jacob dropped his head and silently recalled his pokémon, Emily shouted, "Jolteon, get it back with a thunder attack!"

The electric-type yowled in compliance, electricity arcing along its fur. The charge surged around Jolteon as it tumbled through the air, quickly building into a blinding white light that surrounded the pokémon. Just as quickly, the attack discharged a tremendous bolt of electrical energy straight at its target.

The rain carried the super-effective attack unerringly toward Mega Blastoise, hitting it dead on. All the bulky water-type could do was brace itself as it was engulfed in the steady stream of electricity. At first it seemed Gary's partner would withstand the attack, but it ultimately fell to the sustained assault. As it collapsed, a glow engulfed the mega-evolved pokémon, and it returned to its normal form before it hit the sand.

As Misty was about to regretfully declare Blastoise unable to continue, the blinding electricity surrounding Jolteon faded away, revealing the pokémon had expended the last of its energy in its attack and was unconscious as well. Raising her hand, she shouted over the storm, "Gyarados, that's enough!" As the wind and rain began to die down and Jolteon's limp form descended, she announced, "Blastoise and Jolteon are unable to continue; Misty and Gary are the winners."

None of the four seemed particularly happy with the outcome as the remaining pokémon were recalled. The challengers were obviously dejected at their loss, and Misty found herself sympathizing with them—they were strong trainers who might have stood a chance in a traditional challenge. Gary was harder to read; he was clearly frustrated at his own loss, but there was more to his expression.

The young researcher let out a long sigh and scratched the back of his head, before grinning and saying, "Wow, I haven't had a battle like that in years—you kids are really something. Teaming up was the right move, but you picked the wrong target."

"Grass-type moves wouldn't have worked as well on Gyarados though," Jacob countered, coming out of his funk.

"Yeah, that was bad luck; normally an exeggutor would be a good choice against a water-type gym leader," Gary conceded. "You can't just rely on typing though. Battles are just as much about thinking on your feet and getting creative."

"Like Gyarados blocking our thunderbolt with hydro pump or Blastoise using rapid spin to reflect Exeggutor's solar beam," Emily said, her face lighting up in realization.

"Exactly," Gary replied with a nod.

Once again, Misty found herself pleasantly surprised by Gary's kindness toward the young trainers. Not wanting to be left out of the conversation, she added, "If you had used leech seed on Gyarados instead of going after Blastoise, we might have been in trouble. That move works just fine against flying-types." Misty couldn't help but be amused at the dumbfounded look that dawned on the challenger's face.

"Still, you two were pretty impressive," Gary said, surreptitiously catching a glance at Misty. "If it were up to me, I'd give you the badge. You definitely battled harder for it than I did for mine."

Misty couldn't suppress a small giggle at the reference to their earlier conversation. If she were being honest with herself, she might have gone a little hard on them in her frustration at her date being interrupted. They were probably at the level they should be for their seventh badge, and had shown impressive teamwork throughout the fight. They'd also had to face two mega evolved pokémon at once.

Interrupting Misty's thoughts before she could come to a conclusion, Jacob blurted out, "Wait, I thought you weren't here for a badge?"

Gary chuckled and ran a hand through his spiky hair, wistfully replying, "I got my badge a long time ago, kid."

"Not that long ago," Misty corrected with an eye-roll, feeling the need to call out Gary's posturing.

"Almost six years, that's over half a decade," Gary argued stubbornly, turning to face her fully.

As Misty was getting ready to retort, Jacob inadvertently diffused the tension by asking, "If you don't battle, what do you do?"

Before Gary could answer, Emily smacked her friend in the back of his head and said, "That's Gary Oak you numbskull, grandson of Professor Oak. He's a famous pokémon researcher."

"I don't know about famous," Misty said—half trying to keep her date's ego in check, half humble-bragging about him. "More like… up and coming."

Gary smirked at her and said, "I'll take it."

"So, do we get our badges?" Jacob asked bluntly, clearly uninterested in the direction the conversation was headed.

In perfect sync, Misty and Emily both shook their heads and sighed, followed by an amused chuckle from Gary. After a long pause, the young gym leader hesitantly said, "I don't know, you did lose the battle." She actually wanted to give them the badges, but couldn't help remembering her earlier conversation with Gary about how bad the Indigo League used to be in that regard.

"Actually, you only said they had to default to your rulings," Gary countered, managing to only sound a little cocky. "You never said what the condition to earn the badge was."

Misty smirked and said, "I guess I didn't, did I? Alright, for showing exemplary teamwork in a double battle and managing to render a mega evolved pokémon unable to battle, I officially rule that Jacob and Emily of Fuchsia City have earned the Cascade Badge."

Raising his hand up toward the darkening sky, Jacob shouted, "Alright! We did it! One more to go!"

Emily's gaze lingered on her friend for a while, before the girl finally turned and bowed to Misty with a smile on her face. "Thank you. I know you didn't have to do that."

Misty shook her head and smiled back, bittersweet memories playing on the edge of her mind. "You earned it," she told Emily, "both of you. Now, let's get to the gym. It's getting late and, for some reason, I didn't think to bring any badges with me on my date."


Hello again,

Well, at least it didn't take as long as the last update, right? As always, many thanks for reading and comments are always welcome. I'd especially love to hear anyone's thoughts on the battle, as I don't have a lot of experience writing that kind of thing. Thanks again and enjoy (hopefully)!