The sun was justing starting to make its appearance on the horizon in Cerulean City. Its rays reflected off the vast amounts of water surrounding and within the city, creating a beautiful sparkling effect.

Ash, Brock, and Pikachu rushed through the entrance of Cerulean City, not taking time to admire the city aesthetics. The reason for their hurry was the injured Starmie they rescued from Team Rocket back at Mt. Moon. They had run throughout the night, not catching any sleep. Brock continued to hold onto and monitor the Pokemon, even treating it with potions, but it did no good. Starmie's condition continued to deteriorate. That Dark Ball is a true menace if it can cause this kind of pain to an innocent Pokemon, thought Ash.

Mercifully, the Pokemon Center was pretty close to the town entrance, and the group burst through the doors in no time at all.

"NURSE JOY!" yelled Brock running up to the counter with Ash and Pikachu rushing behind. "This Starmie is in critical condition, and is resisting treatment to any potions I give it. Please you have it help it!" cried out Brock.

Joy took a quick look over the twitching Water Type and was appalled at the condition. "I'm going to have serious questions later on, but there's not much time," said Joy. "Chansey, get the stretcher stat!" called out the Nurse. A big and round pink Pokemon with an egg in a pouch appeared from double doors, rushing in with the requested stretcher. Brock gently set the Pokemon down, and the Nurse and her Chansey quickly disappeared with Starmie behind the double doors.

With nothing else to do, the tension finally left the group as their exhaustion hit them head on. Unfortunately, Nurse Joy was already operating on Starmie, so they wouldn't be getting any room keys for sleep. Instead, they wandered over to the waiting area and sat down, succumbing to sleep soon after.

"Chansey!" yelled the big happy pink Pokemon, startling Ash, Brock, and Pikachu for a rude awakening.

Looking around and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Ash caught site of a clock and noticed that it was now early in the afternoon.

"What's up Chansey?" asked Brock.

"Chansey! Chansey! Chansey!" responded the Pokemon, grabbing both humans and dragging them through the double doors, while Pikachu followed. The group ended up in an office where Nurse Joy and an Officer Jenny were waiting for them.

"Thank you Chansey. Please mind the counter for me a while if you can?" asked Nurse Joy. The bubbly Pokemon responded with an affirmative action and left the room.

"Take a seat boys," ordered Officer Jenny with steel in her voice. Both did so without hesitation, nervous at the officer's demeanor.

"Before we go any further, you may be happy to know that Starmie is now out of any immediate danger, and should make a full recovery," started Nurse Joy. "However, that Pokemon should never have been in that deplorable condition in the first place. If you came to me just a few hours later, we would be having a very different conversation," said the nurse in a grave tone.

Both boys sighed in relief at the good news.

"Naturally, when a Pokemon comes to me looking like Starmie did, I am obligated to inform the police," said Joy, handing over the conversation to the officer.

"Explain how you came to bring Starmie to the Pokemon Center in such poor condition. NOW!" order the stern officer.

Ash gulped at the glare he was receiving, but Brock stood up for his companion and spoke in his stead. "Officer, I assume you heard about the Viridian City Pokemon robbery?" asked Brock.

"Yes," said the Jenny not changing her expression.

Brock continued. "Then you might be interested to know that Starmie was one of the Pokemon stolen."

"Are you admitting to having a part in the robbery?" asked the Jenny with a raised eyebrow.

"Not at all. When we were traveling through Mt. Moon, we encountered the thieves inside. They were members of team Rocket. One was a man with short blue hair, another a women with long red hair, and the third a talking Meowth. This should match eye witness accounts given about the thieves in Viridian City. Isn't that right Ash?"

Startled at being addressed, Ash nervously answered. "Uh yeah. That's what the Officer Jenny in Viridian City told me anyway," muttered Ash with his eyes downcast.

"Those do match the descriptions we received from Viridian City, but how do I know you two aren't undercover Rockets who were handed the Pokemon at a later time, and what were those criminals doing in Mt. Moon anyway?" questioned Jenny with skepticism.

"WE WOULD NEVER HURT A POKEMON OR WORK FOR TEAM ROCKET! WE RAN ALL NIGHT AND BROUGHT IT TO BE HELPED!" Ash yelled, angry at being accused of being associated with the villains.

"Calm down Ash," Brock said putting a hand on his shoulder. "Officer Jenny, the rocket members were attempting to steal the fabled Moon Stone in Mt. Moon. We stopped them and have an eyewitness by the name of Seymour, who stayed back at Mt. Moon if you wish to investigate further. As for Starmie's condition, it was being controlled by the Rockets with some kind of weird Pokeball. The Rockets called it a Dark Ball, and claimed it would bend a Pokemon to its master's will, while increasing its power and making it darker." Brock calmly explained as he pulled out the two broken halves of the Dark Ball.

"Ash here managed to free Starmie by having Pikachu use an Iron Tail on the Pokeball, cutting it in half. You are welcome to take it is evidence," said Brock handing over the fragments to the Officer.

"Your story seems reasonable," muttered the Officer as she looked at the broken Dark Ball. "Do you have a form of identification on you?" asked Jenny.

Ash pulled out his Pokedex, while Brock showed his Gym Badge to assert their identities as a trainer and Gym Leader.

"Those seem to be in order," said the Officer handing back the items to their respective owners. "I will be following up with this witness you mentioned, but before I let you go, I have one final test," Jenny stated. She pulled out a Pokeball and called out an orange dog with black stripes. A Growlithe, which is a typical partner to most members of the police force.

"Growlithe here is going to chat with your Pikachu to confirm the story. He is a good judge of character and will know if you have been telling me the truth," warned the Officer.

"Wait! I caught a Pokemon inside Mt. Moon that was with us throughout the whole ordeal. Can I send her out to talk with Growlithe as well?" pleaded Ash.

"Go ahead," responded Jenny with intrigue. Ash called out his Clefairy and the 3 Pokemon got down to business, conversing with one another. This went on for a few minutes, with Clefairy dramatically recalling some events through pantomime and swooning at Pikachu's past heroics," to everyone's amusement but Ash, who failed to understand what was so funny.

"Growlithe!" barked the trusted dog, giving his trainer a firm nod.

Officer Jenny's face finally softened as she recalled her Pokemon and Ash recalled Clefairy. "Growlithe verified the story, which is all I needed to hear. Sorry for the trouble you two, but I have to be thorough in all of my investigations. You are now free to go," the officer said with a smile.

"And Starmie?" asked Ash.

"Starmie will remain here under Nurse Joy's supervision until its trainer can be found," replied Officer Jenny in a voice that left no room for argument. "Now unless you boys have anything else to offer for the investigation, I must head back to HQ to write up a report," said Jenny as she began to walk towards the door.

Ash followed her out, leaving Brock and Nurse Joy behind, as he remembered one important fact he overheard. "Officer Jenny! One of the Rockets said she got the Pokemon off an orange haired brat who was at the Viridian City Pokemon Center when the crime took place. I know it is not much, but hopefully it can help a little," offered Ash.

Officer Jenny turned to the boy, thanking him for the additional information, and telling him that it would indeed be a big help.

Watching the officer leave, Ash's stomach gave a huge growl as he winced in pain at his hunger. Pikachu echoed the sentiment. They didn't really get a chance for dinner last night, and missed breakfast and lunch today. No wonder they were starving. Ash looked around and noticed that Brock was nowhere to be found. Must still be talking with Nurse Joy, Ash thought.

Heading back to the room he had just left, he was surprised to see Brock on his knees holding the hand of a throughly embarrassed Nurse Joy, as Brock proclaimed his love for the woman. Hoping he wouldn't end up like that around girls when he was older, Ash ordered Pikachu to give Brock a light Thundershock. Brock was zapped to the floor and Nurse Joy was rescued from the unwanted advances. Ash continued to grumble as he and his Pikachu dragged the twitching Brock to the cafeteria for a well deserved lunch.

After Ash, Brock, and the Pokemon, were fed and watered, Brock insisted that he had a few errands to run and took off, leaving Ash alone. Figuring that he might as well check out the Pokemon Gym, Ash headed out to the town. Cerulean City's Gym specialized in water Pokemon. He hadn't exactly been able to do any special training for the upcoming match, but he was confident enough in his team's overall training that he could overlook it. He also had an idea of the Pokemon he wanted to use.

As Ash got closer, he noticed a huge line of front of the Gym. Surely all these people weren't here for a Gym Battle... right?

"U'm, excuse me miss," Ash said to the person at the back of the line, who was an older woman with a child at her side. "Is everyone here for a Gym Battle?" asked Ash.

"Gym Battle? No young man. This is a line for the water show. The Gym Leaders have a show almost every day, in addition to their other duties," replied the kind lady.

"Thanks ma'am," responded Ash. Water show huh? Guess I can't get that Gym Battle right now after all. That lady also said Leaders. Must mean that more than one person runs this Gym. Might as well see the show since I have nothing better to do," thought Ash.

Mind made up, Ash waited in line and bought himself a ticket. Entering the Gym, Ash was directed to a large room with rows and rows of chairs, surrounding a giant tank of water. Ash took his seat and the lights began to dim, while a voice from the PA system sounded.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and people of all ages, welcome to the Cerulean City Gym! For today's entertainment, please give a big round of applause to the synchronized swimming of our beloved Gym Leaders, THE SENSATIONAL SISTERS!"

A spotlight illuminated the darkness and shined down on three beautiful girls with blonde, blue, and pink hair, who looked to be young adults or older teenagers. The three were standing on a platform with a single diving board above the giant water tank. What followed was a wondrous display of coordinated swimming, which the audience got a kick out of. Ash on the other hand was clearly bored and had a pout on his face. When the show ended, Ash headed down several stair cases and through some corridors to try and find the beautiful Gym Leaders.

Eventually, he found himself in a room with a large pool and several platforms scattered in the water. Now this looks like a proper water Gym battlefield, thought Ash.

"Hey Kid. Like what are you doing here?" asked a voice, which turned out to be one of the three girls from earlier, as Ash turned to see the three of them approaching him.

"My name is Ash Red Ketchum from Pallet Town, and I have come here to challenge you three to a battle for your Gym Badge!" said Ash with intensity.

"Ugh. Another kid from that nowhere town?" frowned the blue haired woman.

"What do you mean nowhere town?" Ash said clearly irritated.

"Look Kid. We aren't trying to talk down to you or anything, but like we just got crushed by two others trainers from Pallet. Frankly, we're getting pretty tired of it," muttered the red haired beauty.

Still behind of Gary, thought Ash with a frown. "Well forget them. I'm here and would like to battle! From everything I've read, no Gym can turn away a challenger unless they have a badge requirement, which this Gym does not have," fired back Ash.

"We couldn't battle you even if we wanted to. All of our Pokemon are in the Pokemon Center from the beatings they suffered," replied the blonde haired woman.

"Man..." Ash sighed in disappointed with his head hung down, causing the girls to chuckle.

"Don't look too down kid," smirked blondie. "I know what you want. Seel!" she called out with a clap. A white Pokemon with a horn, two large teeth from its lower jaw, and a twin tail emerged from the pool, swimming up towards the land and jumping up to the girls. Blondie reached inside its mouth revealing the Cascade Badge, before turning back to Ash.

"This is what you want right? Take it," she said holding it out to him.

Ash was tempted to take the easy path and accept the badge. However, he knew that doing that would not bring him closer to being a Pokemon Master. He shook his head. "Forget it. I will be back in three days to give your Pokemon some time to rest. I expect an actual battle when I return."

Ash left the building, ignoring the frowning Gym Leaders. Looks like he would have some time to get some special training in after all.

Back at the Pokemon Center

A young girl walked into the Pokemon Center after being called by the local Officer Jenny. She wasn't told why, but simply that she was needed there. She had orange hair, pulled up on the left side of her head, and was wearing a yellow tank top with blue short overalls. The girl's name was Misty Waterflower. She had been wallowing in misery these past few weeks, ever since her precious Pokemon had been stolen from her by thieves back in Viridian City. Losing Starmie caused Misty to lose faith in herself and her dream to be a Water Pokemon Master, which is why she had returned to Cerulean City.

Her sisters had avoided mocking her, and tried to be supportive for once, but it didn't matter. Her Starmie was out there suffering and it was all her fault. She couldn't let another Water Pokemon suffer for her mistakes.

Walking up to the counter, she caught Nurse Joy's attention. "Hi Nurse Joy. My name is Misty and I was told to come to the Pokemon Center?"

"Yes! I was told you would be coming," smiled the nurse. "I think I may have something of yours." Nurse Joy motioned for Misty to follow her, and the confused young girl did so through some double doors and into a treatment room. What she saw, almost made her fall to her knees. There in the room was her precious Starmie, resting in a tank of Water. She ran to it, grabbing Starmie out of the tank, and holding the Pokemon tight to her chest in a hug. After some tears and lots of hugging, she turned to Joy and profusely thanked her.

"I'm very happy to see you and Starmie reunited Misty, but besides treating your Pokemon, I didn't do much," said the Nurse.

"Then who did?" questioned Misty.

"Starmie was brought to the Pokemon center by a teenager, and a young boy with his Pikachu," early this morning.

"Do you know where they went," asked Misty, wanting to personally thank these people.

"Sorry Misty, but I have no idea," responded the Nurse.

Thanking Nurse Joy for treating her Pokemon and keeping it safe, Misty left the Pokemon Center and headed home. All along the way she thought of the heroes who saved her Pokemon, and her desire to meet them.

END CHAPTER

For those of you who read the earlier version of this chapter, I simply forgot to add my little ending note in this newer version. Anyway, we had a bit of a filler chapter here, but Misty is officially in the story! Check back next time for some last minute training and a Gym Battle!

AnimeGameFanatic - Thank you for the review! Maybe it was a bit cheap for Ash to use the sprinklers in Brock's Gym, but it was part of the Gym environment, which he will take advantage of. Glad you think the story is "wicked" so far :)

Dragon Emperor999 - Thank you for your reviews once again. Misty is now reunited with Starmie, but Ash will not be using Clefairy in this battle. Stay tuned to see who he does use.

Remember to review with your thoughts/critique!

Smell ya later!