Chapter 10 – A Celebrity in Cerulean! Fight for the Cascadebadge!

Note: I have changed Dartagnan's name to Dartanian. Well, it is the same name, but spelled differently. And I know Dartanian is not a real name. I know the real way to spell it is D'Artagnan, but I started making this when I was much younger and I had not known that. And now, just for the hell of it, I am keeping it Dartanian.

"W-w-what? Are you kidding me? He wanted me to join the military? Hahahaha!" Zac laughs.

Chris joins in. "Yeah, I know. I mean, we're just kids! How could he possibly see that you would be a 'great asset to the Kanto Militia'? I mean, honestly!"

Zac and Chris laugh some more. They are in the waiting room of the Cerulean ER. When Dartanian and the paramedics led Zac and Chris to the end of Mt. Moon, they found ambulances waiting to for them. Andrew was rushed to the ER, and Pikachu was rushed to intensive care in the Cerulean Pokémon Center.

It is getting dark outside. Zac suddenly remembers what town they are in... (Cerulean City!) he thinks excitedly. (This is where I'm gonna get my second Badge!) He frowns. (We're gonna have to wait for tomorrow... Damn those fuckin' crooks. If they hadn't hurt Pikachu and Andrew... Well, then again, if we didn't get a ride in the ambulance, we would still be walking here.) He gives a silent, sheepish chuckle. (I'm glad they're okay, though. I don't know what I would've done if Andrew died...)

The doctor walks into the waiting room and smiles warmly at Zac and Chris who are both holding their sleeping Pokémon. "You can come and see him now."

When they walk into Andrew's room, he is not in his bed. The doctor looks around, question marks popping up over his head, as Zac and Chris sweat-drop in exasperation.

"Oi, what's with this TV?"

They look up to see Andrew crouching down on top of the TV up on the shelf in front of the bed. He's hanging upside down off the top of the TV now, feet hooked onto the back of it, staring directly into the screen and tapping it. The doctor jumps five feet in the air and yells in shock. He sprints over and drags the laughing Andrew back to his bed. Zac and Chris exchange sad smiles; Andrew is perfectly fine.

They get a closer look at him. He has a bandage around his head. His face is spotted with numerous cuts and bruises. The doctor looks at him and shakes his head. "It's a miracle that none of his bones broke... His shoulder somehow got dislocated, though, so watch that. And he definitely seems to have hurt his left knee cap; he can't walk on it without limping." Zac nods, but quickly stops as this hurts his head very much. The doctor raises an eyebrow at him. "And you, boy... I let you sit out there with Chris. Now it is time for you to get some bed rest, too. Concussions should always be taken seriously, no matter how minor they are." Zac grumbles his consent. He walks over to the bed next to Andrew's and flings the curtain around him so he can get dressed. Chris and the doctor walk out.

After about a minute, Zac flings the curtain open again and heavily sits down on his bed. He turns on his TV. Andrew stops jumping on his bed and pouts heavily at him. "Hey, no fair! My TV doesn't work!" "Yeah, I noticed," Zac mutters, switching through the TV stations. He stops when he sees Professor Oak. His eyes widen as he realizes that he's talking about him and Chris.

"...and they told me how strange this world was to them. They said it's like a... a cartoon. I can't possibly imagine what they mean when they describe this other world they come from..."

"Well," his interviewer says, "as we all know, scientists are doing extensive research about this alleged Real World, as they like to call it now. Merlo and Mattice aren't the only ones. Two boys and a girl appeared in Pewter, and a bunch of other kids appeared in a bunch of different cities. About 35 of them appeared in Goldenrod City. How crazy is that, eh, folks?" He chuckles. "Yes, well," Oak says sternly, "I think this is very sad. All these people are trying to find a way back home. Think of how distressed their families and friends must be! I believe it is our duty as scientists to put all our work into finding these poor people a way back home. Now, the scientists in Cinnabar are doing the most work, of course, and they already have a general idea as to what to do. They figure that they were all flung into this World, the Pokémon World, by means of a natural-"

At that moment, Zac's viewing is interrupted by a brick going through the poor, unsuspecting TV screen.

"WHAT THE HELL?" he yells. Andrew grins. "Sorry. I like throwing bricks." "Wh-where the hell did you get one?" Zac splutters in fury. "I dunno," Andrew replies with a shrug. He then lies down in his bed and promptly falls asleep. Muttering various curse words under his breath, Zac follows his lead, and after a while, he finally falls asleep, too.

After a lot of arguing, Zac convinces the doctor that the brick was purely an accident. After that, Zac is discharged from the hospital. As he, Chris, and their Pokémon walk out, blinking heavily in the bright morning sun, Zac suddenly stops.

"I get the feeling we're forgetting something..."

Chris chuckles. "I know; Andrew. The doctor says he needs to stay in the hospital for one more day." "Great," Zac grumbles. "Well, do you think we should wait for him to go challenge Misty?" "Nah," Chris replies. "We can take him to the Gym tomorrow so he can get his Badge, too." "You're talking as if all three of us are gonna win..." "Well, we will, won't we?" Chris says. It's more of a matter-of-fact statement than a question. Zac inwardly shrugs; Chris does have a point. They aren't going to lose.

"So," says Chris after a bit of walking in silence, "should we head over to the Gym now?" "No way, food time!" Zac says eagerly. "I haven't had anything to eat in ages! Breakfast time!" He runs to a diner. Chris admits that he's pretty hungry, too. He struggles to catch up with Zac. "Wait up!"

Zac, Chris, and their Pokémon walk out of the diner. Zac rubs his stomach blissfully. "Aaaah, much better." He burps loudly. Chris cringes but keeps his mouth shut. There's no point in telling Zac off for poor manners; he just doesn't care. Well, he doesn't care most of the time.

They walk around Cerulean City for a bit. Despite the fact it is close to February, the weather is pretty nice. Zac stretches and yawns happily. He looks around with a confident smile on his face.

"You ready for that Gym match now, Chris?" "I've been ready for some time now," Chris points out. "Shut up!" Zac replies cheerfully. "And let's go!"

With the help of a few signs, they find the Cerulean Gym. It is much bigger than the Pewter Gym. When Zac and Chris walk in, they immediately see why. The entrance hall is lined with mini indoor swimming pools. There are a few swimmers doing laps. Some are having Water Pokémon battles. Some of the Trainers wave to Zac and Chris, and a whole lot of girls squeal "Oh, kawaii!" when they see Zac's Squirtle. Squirtle turns a little red in embarrassment and gives the girls a sheepish grin. As a result, Zac, Chris, and their Pokémon make a mad dash toward the big doors that open up into the next room so the girls giving chase won't suffocate Squirtle with their affection. And I mean literally suffocate.

They fling the doors open and close them behind them to make sure the girls don't follow. Zac then looks around the well-lit room they just ran into.

It has one gigantic pool in the middle with two small yellow platforms on each end and one big red one in the center. There's a high-dive board as well. The huge room has bleachers on one side. It seems that entertainment is sometimes provided for the public here.

There is only one person in the entire room. A little man with graying hair seems to be tending to the pool with a very large net. He's grumbling about an automated filtering system. It looks to Zac like the pool's cleaning system is broken and this man is now manually removing extra dirt and debris from the pool. "Uh, hi," says Zac.

The man jumps about 5 feet into the air. He wildly turns his head and stares at the visitors with huge eyes. "What the hell! Misty didn't say anything about Trainers coming!"

At that moment, Misty walks into the room. She smiles. "Sorry, Joe, I didn't get up here to tell you in time. I was taking a shower." The man grumbled. "I'm not even in my referee clothes..." "Oh, who cares?" Misty says dismissively.

At this point she turns to look at Zac and Chris. She places a hand on her hip and smiles. Zac can't help but see how much more... grown up she is than he remembers her from the anime in the Real World. She's wearing a small, red belly shirt and short blue jean shorts. These clothes do much to show off her very well developed body, and Zac admits it's a big improvement. Also, around her neck hangs a beautiful sapphire necklace. Her hair is different, too. It's not tied up at all and it's much longer. It reaches the middle of her back.

"Uh," Zac says, "how old are you?"

Chris hits him in the head as she yells, "YOU NEVER ASK A LADY THAT QUESTION!"

"Aw, come on, Misty, he wants to know! You want me to tell him?"

Misty's face freezes in shock. Her eyes go wide in disbelief. She slowly turns her head to look at the speaker who just walked in from the same door she did.

"What are you doing here?" she yells at Ash Ketchum in disbelief.

Zac gapes at him. He, too, is older. He's wearing nothing but blue swimming trunks with Pokéball patterns on it and a white beach towel draped over his shoulders. His body is more well built than Zac would have thought. Then again, Ash was just a somewhat scrawny kid in the anime. It makes sense that, after all his traveling, his body would become more muscular. Zac suppresses a laugh as he imagines Ash trying to lift weights and having no idea what he's doing. Zac notices his Pikachu standing at his heel.

Ash frowns slightly at Misty and tilts his head to the side. "I live here with you now, remember?"

She sighs exasperatedly. "Yes, I know you live here, but the press doesn't! At least not yet, and I would like to keep it that way for as long as possible!" He pouts. "What? These kids don't look like members of the press to me." "Yeah, but they'll go talking about how they met the famous Ash, you know that! Grrrr!"

Zac and Chris just watch the argument. When it stops with Misty seething with anger and Ash smiling a somewhat cocky smile, Zac clears his throat.

"So, uh, when can we battle, Misty?"

She turns on her heel and points a quivering finger at the two boys. "And you," she says in a dangerous tone of voice," you better not breathe a word about this, understand? I don't want the press and the paparazzi swarming my Gym!" Ash scratches his head with an uncomfortable expression on his face. "I think you're overreacting a bit, babe... These two won't say anything. Right?" He turns his smiling face towards Zac and Chris. Chris immediately responds. "Of course we won't say anything! It must be tough being the Pokémon Master, huh?"

Ash sighs and sits down on the edge of the pool, idly kicking his feet in the water. Pikachu jumps onto his shoulder. "Yeah, and I'm not even the World Pokémon Master yet. I still have to win the Johto League. Imagine how my life would be if I was that famous! I would be the second Master in history to be the Champion of every League in the world!" He grins. "But it's all worth it! Dealing with the press is such a small price to pay for living out your dream!"

Misty sighs in defeat and walks over to Ash. "Well... good morning, sleepy head," she says in a completely calm voice. She bends down and kisses him on the lips. "You looking to go for a swim?" "Yep," he replies happily. "Okay," she says warmly. "When I'm done with these two, I'll go down and meet you, get changed, and we can swim. Joe just finished cleaning the pool." Joe grumbles again. "So, I'll see you later?" she says sweetly.

Ash looks at his girlfriend incredulously. "What are you, nuts? I'm staying and watching this! I haven't seen one of your Gym battles in a long time, babe! Now that they know I'm here, what's the harm in me staying and watching?" "Fine," she sighs. "Go watch." She points to the bleachers. Ash nods and he and Pikachu sit in the back row of the bleachers. "Good luck!" he calls out to Zac and Chris. "Pika, pika!" Pikachu calls out encouragingly.

Zac and Chris look at each other. "I didn't know they were going out," Zac whispers. "Me neither," replies Chris. "This World is very different from the Pokémon World we got to know back home." "I guess it's just the future," Zac whispers. "Makes sense, huh?"

"Ahem," Misty interrupts them. She smiles sweetly as they turn to look at her. "Which one of you is first?" "I am!" Zac says in a challenging tone of voice. "Very good," she says happily. "Shall we?"

Zac and Squirtle walk over to a yellow platform with much determination in their stride. Misty stations herself on the platform opposite her opponent. "Okay, you ready to hear the rules?" she calls across the pool. Zac nods. "All right, here they are," she says. "They're very simple. Since you two are beginners..." She pauses. "Um... you are beginners, right?" Zac nods again. "Okay, good," she says happily. "Anyway, since you're a beginner, I can only use two Pokémon and you can use all of your Pokémon. Got it? Also, we're both allowed to switch out in the middle of battle." "All right!" Zac replies. "Let's go!"

Misty takes out a Pokéball and with a little twirl, she throws it into the water. "Come on out, Staryu!" Staryu appears in the water and the Pokéball flies back into Misty's hand. "Go, Beedrill!" Zac yells in response. It comes out and hovers over the water, the buzzing sound of its wings very loud.

Misty turns blue. "EEEP! Bug, Bug, Bug! Icky Bug! I hate yucky, creepy Bug Pokémon! I'm going to have to finish this quickly! Staryu, Water Pulse!" Staryu jumps up into the air. A strange wave of water shoots out of its top point, the same way it uses Water Gun. Beedrill dodges the attack. "Use Focus Energy, Beedrill!" Zac calls out as Staryu drops back into the water. Beedrill visibly tenses up, its buzzing becoming louder and angrier. "Now use Fury Attack!" It charges at the Staryu. It starts making rapid stabs at Staryu, but Staryu sways from side to side in the water, dodging Beedrill's arms. "Use Water Gun to knock Beedrill away!" Staryu points the tip of its top edge at Beedrill and shoots a stream of water at it. The Water Gun hits Beedrill, causing it to go flying back a little. It stays in the air, however. The Water Gun didn't hurt it that much. "Use Poison Sting!" Beedrill charges once more. It thrusts its rear end at Staryu, trying to sting it, but Staryu simply goes underwater. "Now use Rapid Spin!" Misty cries. There's no response. Beedrill looks around, confused. Then, suddenly, Staryu leaps out of the water behind Beedrill, spinning so fast it just looks like a yellowish blur. It hits Beedrill in the back. It injures one of its wings. It falls into the water and flails helplessly. Staryu then proceeds to Tackle it in the water a few times. Beedrill manages to hit Staryu once with Poison Sting before fainting. Zac notices this, but Misty does not.

"Beedrill is unable to battle!" cries Joes the ref. "Staryu wins!"

Zac returns his Beedrill. He takes out another Pokéball and throws it. "Go, Spearow!" Spearow comes out, flies over to the red platform in the center of the pool, and sits on it, cleaning its wings. Misty sweat-drops. "Uh, lazy bird you've got there." Zac shrugs. "Yeah, I guess." Misty smirks. "Use Water Pulse, Staryu!" Spearow jumps up into the air to avoid the wave of water. It then resumes cleaning its wings with a bored expression on its face. Zac suppresses a grin. (I love the attitude that Bird has...) "Fine," says Misty. "Let's see you dodge this! Swift attack!" Staryu points its top edge at Spearow and numerous yellow starts shoot out of it. "Use Fly!" Spearow flies into the air, causing the Swift attack to miss. "Now, attack!" Zac yells. Spearow comes hurtling down at Staryu. The attack is successful; however, Spearow dives right into the water in the process. Its head breaks the surface, but it cannot get out. Spearow still seems bored. Misty grins somewhat wickedly. "It's over now! Use Tackle, Staryu!" Staryu comes hurtling thorough the water straight at Spearow. Spearow turns its head to face it... "Use Leer!" Spearow squawks and glares at Staryu with red, gleaming eyes. Staryu stops dead in its tracks. "Hya!" Staryu gives its strange call. The voice sounds nervous. "Now use Fury Attack!" Spearow struggles in the water to get close to Staryu, and then unleashes a large number of rapid, painful pecks on it. "Staryu, jump out of the water onto the center platform!" This is what Zac has been waiting for. "Quick, Spearow, grab on!" Staryu jumps out of the water with Spearow clinging tightly to it with its long, sharp claws. It lets go of Staryu in midair and takes flight once more. It lands on Zac's platform and starts shaking and nibbling at its wings to get the water off. "Staryu, Water Pulse! ... Staryu?" Staryu doesn't move. It looks shaky standing on the platform. It collapses and doesn't get back up. "Ha!" says Zac. "It's about time! The poison finally got to it!" "No!" Misty shouts. "Jump into the water, Staryu, quick!" But it's too late; Staryu has fainted.

"Staryu is unable to battle! Spearow wins!"

Spearow squawks arrogantly before Zac returns it. Misty sadly returns her Starmie.

"That's it!" she says. "Time for Starmie to come out! Go, Starmie!" She throws a Pokéball into the water and Starmie appears. Zac looks down at his faithful Squirtle. "You ready?" Squirtle curtly nods. He steps forward, scowling at Starmie.

"Nice Squirtle you got there!" Ash calls from the bleachers admiringly. Zac and Squirtle both smile.

"It won't win!" Misty declares defiantly. "Starmie, use Swift!" The stars hit Squirtle. He stumbles a bit on the platform, but he takes the pain. "Jump into the water, Squirtle, and lets start this battle!" says Zac. Squirtle jumps in with a small splash. Misty laughs. "Not a good move! Starmie, Tackle!" Starmie charges at Squirtle at a much faster speed than Staryu. Squirtle dodges just in time. "Use Tackle, Squirtle!" Before Starmie can respond, Squirtle Tackles it from behind. "Starmie, Recover." Starmie glows briefly as it heals itself. Zac growls. "Great..." he mutters. "Starmie, use Water Pulse!" Squirtle goes under to dodge it. "Use Tail Whip!" Zac shouts. Squirtle comes out of the water directly in front of Starmie and hits it with his tail. The force pushes Starmie away from Squirtle, but the attack doesn't really do any damage. However, it does weaken Starmie's defenses... "Use Tail Whip again!" "Use Tackle!" Misty cries. Before Squirtle can finish swinging his tail, Starmie hits him with a solid and powerful Tackle attack. Squirtle goes flying back quite a bit in the water. "Again!" Misty cries gleefully. "Use Bubble, Squirtle!" The barrage of bubbles slows Starmie down so Squirtle can dodge and retaliate. He does so by going underwater and using Tail Whip twice. "Now use Tackle, Squirtle!" As expected, Starmie dodges, but this time Squirtle grabs onto him from under the water. Suddenly, Starmie disappears as Squirtle pulls it down beneath the water. Misty laughs again. "Does your Squirtle have a death wish? It has no chance against a Starmie underwater!"

It's hard to tell what's going on because they are down so deep. The water keeps rippling, so Zac guesses that they are dealing each other blow after blow underwater. Suddenly, the water starts to glow. A bright white light emanates from the bottom of the pool. When it fades, Starmie suddenly flies out of the water and into the air. Close behind it is an angry Wartortle. "YES!" Zac shouts. "My Squirtle evolved!" "It still doesn't matter," says Misty. "Starmie, use Recover!" Starmie glows and heals itself before it falls back down into the water. Wartortle follows it in. Zac strains to think. (Starmie was weakened by those Tail Whips. I had Squirtle do that before it evolved so Starmie can be finished in one hit... but the only physical move Wartortle knows right now is Tackle, and that's not strong enough to finish a Starmie in one hit. I have to think outside the box here...) And then it hits him.

"Wartortle!" he shouts so Wartortle can hear him underwater. "Swim to one of the pool's walls!" Wartortle rises close to the surface so Zac can see him and he swims to Zac's side of the pool. Starmie follows. "Now face the wall and use Withdraw!" Wartortle goes into its shell and the shell glows a bit to signify that it has become temporarily stronger. Starmie is getting closer... "Starmie, use Tackle!" "Water Gun!" Zac shouts in response.

A stream of water shoots out of the shell's opening for Wartortle's head. The stream hits the underwater wall, causing Wartortle to propel himself like a torpedo straight at the charging Starmie. With a very strange, muffled-sounding cracking noise, they collide underwater. Wartortle pops back out of its shell and jumps out of the water to join Zac on the yellow platform. Starmie, motionless, slowly floats up to the surface, front side facing up. The big, glowing jewel in the middle is cracked.

"Starmie!" Misty cries in anguish. Zac's smile falters.

"Starmie is unable to battle! Wartortle wins! The winner of this Cerulean Gym match is Zac Merlo from...! Uh... Where are you from?" Zac hesitates, and then remembers the interview he saw on TV last night. "The Real World."

Misty returns her Starmie as she looks at Zac in shock. "Y-you're one of them? One of those poor kids who're stranded here?" "Yeah..." says Zac. "My God," she whispers. "I'm sorry you're stuck here. Is there anything we can do for you?" "Nope," Zac declines. "We'll do just fine by ourselves. We're just traveling Pokémon Trainers, nothing more. When Oak and the other scientists figure out a way for us to get back home, then I'll worry about the Real World. For now, I would like to be treated the same as all the other Trainers in this World."

Ash walks down from the bleachers. He shakes Zac's hand. "That was a great battle, Zac. That Withdraw-Water Gun combination... That was amazing! I never would have thought of that." Zac blushes slightly. "Thanks," he mumbles.

"Yeah, speaking of which," Misty says, "I need to get Starmie to a Pokémon Center right away. The faster I get Starmie's jewel fixed, the sooner we can battle, Chris." Chris nods. "Sounds good."

After firmly telling Ash to stay in the Gym, then kissing him, Misty leaves to get her Pokémon healed. Pikachu, Wartortle, and Bulbasaur chase each other around the huge room as Zac and Ash sit next to each other on the edge of the front row of the bleachers. Chris is sitting on the same yellow platform Zac just battled on. He's looking at his Pokédex in silence.

"So, how do you like it here?" Ash asks. "How do you like the Pokémon World?" Zac grins enthusiastically in response. "I love it here! The Real World is soooo boring compared to this place! Traveling the world, having adventures... this is the life!"

Ash laughs. "I wholeheartedly agree with you. There's nothing better than traveling with your Pokémon and your friends, huh?" Zac shakes his head happily. "Nope!"

They end up talking about different kinds of Pokémon. Zac is surprised to hear that there are many, many more than just 150. "There are... 386, I believe," Ash says, "if you include the legendaries."

When Misty walks in, Ash is describing some of his favorite non-Kanto Pokémon. "Okay!" she declares. Everyone stops what they're doing and go quiet as they look at her. Bulbasaur immediately runs to join Chris on the platform. Misty walks to the platform opposite Chris's platform. Chris stands up and pockets his Pokédex.

Misty points at him and Bulbasaur. "You two ready? Let's go!"

w00t! My longest chapter yet! How was it? In the next chapter, I am not going into detail with Chris's and Andrew's battles with Misty. So, yeah... Just so you know, I put up something new on my user profile for this fic; an info section, if you will. It does not have much info yet, but it will soon enough. Well, until we meet again! Oh yeah, and make sure you review if you have read this. It is common courtesy, people! You read, you review. It is pretty simple, if you ask me, and a vast majority of people do not seem to do it. Getting reviews just makes me really happy, that is all. : )