Yes, chappie 4! Here it is, after 2 badges and 1 adventure; Misty gets shopping fever in Goldenrod City! We meet Whitney again! And some others...

None of which I own, and I don't own Pokémon either. No, but seriously...Penpal's chum does not want to be sued. So here we go, with...

Setting Sales

"Goldenrod City: we're here at last!" exclaimed Brock, sitting on a bench. It had been tiring, Flying from Azalea to here.
"Alright." Ash sighed. "We can get to the next gym now. Come on, Misty...Misty?"
Misty's eyes were sparkling as she looked around at all the shops. She rushed into the city.
"I'll be with you in a minute!"
Ad sighed. "This is going to be a looong day," he said, floating after the others.

Misty looked at all the shops she passed. They all had one thing in common: a sale. There was a particularly nice jewelry shop, called the Jeweler de Rocket. Misty looked for the sale sign; it was hidden behind another sale sign.
"There must be a real rush for competition going on, with all these sales," she thought as she entered the main department store.

"Where on Earth has that girl got to?" thought Ash as he entered the market. He spotted the jewelers, and thought.
"Well, they do say that diamonds are a girl's best friend," he said as he walked in.

Brock was taking the exact same path as Ash until he caught, out of the corner of his eye, a glimpse of a particular Pokémon salon we all know and love...
"Suzie!" he cried as he walked through.
"It's lovely to see you again. I haven't seen you since who knows when."
"Oh Brock! I'm delighted to see you as well. And Vulpix," she said as the fox Pokémon jumped into her hands, "I love you too."

Ad looked around for the Underground Passage. It didn't take long to find it, but-
"Closed for the day," Ad read. "Oh nuts! We have to stay in this city for another day! We must go to the Gym and sleep there." And so he floated off, and looked for the Gym.

"Welcome," said a strange voice as the bell of the jewelers tinkled. Ash looked for the man owning the voice, and for a moment thought it was James when he saw him. But it was just the weird hairdo. He had seen him before though.
"Sit down," said another woman, that sounded like Jessie. Ash knew her from somewhere too.
"This is the Jeweler de Rocket. The jeweler you'll never leave–if we can help it!"
A trapdoor opened underneath Ash's chair, and he found himself in a large room which lots of caged Pokémon. Keeping them all in order was a Raticate.

"Why is everything on sale?" asked Misty to a woman on the top floor as she bought some Fresh Water.
"The shopkeepers are being told to lower their prices so some maniacs can clear them out, and take over Goldenrod City."
"What? Who are they?"
"Some bloke with weird hair, and a woman whose hair is equally weird."
Misty turned. "That sounds like Team Rocket!" she thought.
And she thought about the Jewelers de Rocket.

"Why isn't anybody here?" asked Brock to Suzie, as she stroked her Pokémon.
"Because they've opened another shop that sells Pokémon jewelry. All the Pokémon salon business goes there."
"I think we should check out this salon..." said Brock suspiciously.

Whitney was jogging around her gym, weaving in and out of the stones and plant pots. The doors burst open, and Ad flew in.
"Whitney, can me and my friends stay here the night? The underground tunnel's closed today."
"Sure, Ad–but where are your friends?"
"Wandering around Goldenrod. I'll go round them up." So Ad headed to the jewelers, having seen Ash enter.

The three friends met outside the jewelers. Ad asked the others why they were there.
"Because Suzie here," said Brock, stepping back to reaveal Suzie, "is having people drawn away from her talent by this shop."
"I came here to find Team Rocket, because they're trying to take over Goldenrod City."
Ad stared. "I came here to get Ash," he said, "and if what you say is true, we had better hurry."

Ash himself was wandering around, Pikachu by his side, trying to find an exit. As he squeezed between two cages, he noticed two people talking to a screen. He quietly peered in.
"We have plenty of Pokémon, like you ordered. I'm glad you choose us over Jessie and James. They would never get the job done."
Something in Ash's brain clicked. The Raticate...
"We've got the shopkeepers to put everything on sale too. Our takeover of Goldenrod City is almost complete!"
"Not if I can help it," whispered Ash, sending Pikachu to find Raticate, and he started to open the cages.

It didn't take long for Pikachu to find the rat. He was looking at the cages and making sure the Pokémon didn't try to break out. Pikachu crept up, and used Thunder Wave. Raticate fell over, paralyzed, just as the Pokémon started to rush by.

"Brinnnnnnnnng!" went the bell as Misty rang it.
"Hello? Jewelry people, where are you?" Two people quickly rushed up behind the counter.
"Um, hello there. What would you like?" said the lady.
"We would like you to show who you really are, Jessie and James!" said Brock.
"Jessie and James!" said the man. "H-h-how dare you compare us with those brats! We are..."
"Cassidy!" shouted Suzie.
"And Burch!" followed Brock.
"THE NAME'S BUTCH!" screamed Butch.
"Get ready for a Pokémon battle! Go, Raticate!" cried Cassidy.
"Go, Starmie!" shouted Misty. She turned to Ad and Brock.
"Go find Ash, and bring him up here. Please hurry."

Ad and Brock found the trapdoor soon enough, but there was a problem; it was locked. Brock released Geodude to help, but it didn't work. However, it jiggled the bar in the lock enough for Ash to release Charmander to help from below.
"Charmander, melt the bar to open the trapdoor!" The lizard Pokémon obeyed, and the door was open. Ash slowly pushed upwards. The door creaked up for a second, then jammed. The hinge was rusty, and Ash could not push it open. Ad and Brock walked back to Misty and Team Rocket.
"We've found him," whispered Brock to Misty when they got back. Misty turned. For a split-second, her attention was divided. Cassidy used the opportunity.
"Raticate, use Bite!" Starmie was unable to dodge as Raticate lunged towards it, and it fell, its core flashing. Misty rushed over. Cassidy and Butch stepped forwards.
"Raticate, fin..."
A wave of Pokémon burst out, and flew into Raitcate. They started flapping and biting and kicking at it, and a Pikachu jumped away from the crowd. It glanced at Butch and Cassidy with an evil look. It then called down a huge Thunder attack, which blasted Butch and Cassidy. Starmie had recovered enough to slowly stand up, and use a Water Gun. It hit Butch and Cassidy full on.
"And by the way, we are NOT saying...LOOKS LIKE TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"
There was a flash and a 'ting' noise in the sky.
"And don't come back!" screamed Suzie.

Ash had burst out of the trapdoor along with the Pokémon, and was currently resting on top of the trapdoor. Misty rushed over to him.
"Ash? Are you–alright?" Ash looked up slowly.
"Yeah...I think so."
"Oh Ash!" said Misty, hugging him for a second, and then drawing back.
Ash stared, as Misty slowly stood up.

It didn't take long for them to get to Whitney's gym. As they unfurled the sleeping bags, Ash muttered something to Misty.
"What did you do just then, back at the trapdoor?"
Misty blushed. "Oh, um, nothing." She turned away.
Ash wondered for a while, and then shook his head. What he wondered could not be true.

"Does she love me?"

There we go! It ends on a lovely note, don't you think? Thank you Sailor Evanescence for inspiring me to write this, and I'll see you again in – Chapter 5 is it? See ya!

One Final Note: I am sorry if there is any city-wise discord. I'll try to sort it out as soon as possible. Also, there are two Raticate: one for Butch, one for Cassidy.