AUTHOR'S NOTE

This story takes place after the events of the original series episode 'Johto Photo Finish', and is based on the episodes 'Cerulean Blues', 'Gotta Catch Ya Later', 'Hoenn Alone' and 'Get The Show On The Road'.

The events in this tale divert from the original continuity in two ways. Firstly Ash, Brock and Misty take a different route back to Pallet Town, stopping by Cerulean City, instead of Viridian City. Secondly, Magikarp's evolution into Gyarados occurs while Misty's sisters are still at the gym, thus preventing them from taking the cruise that would have necessitated Misty becoming the Cerulean Gym leader.

I take no credit for the original episode material used here. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes, with no copyright infringement intended.

Many thanks to jettmanas, who kindly proofread this story before publication.


With the Johto League Silver Conference behind them, Ash Ketchum and his friends, Brock and Misty, had decided to visit Misty's sisters at the Gym in Cerulean City, before they would continue with their long journey back to Pallet Town. The sun shone brightly upon them as they reached the top of one of the hills, and found a spot where they had a perfect bird's-eye view of the whole city below them.

"Wow, the city sure looks small up here," remarked Ash, as they all appreciated the view before them.

"Pi-ka!" agreed Pikachu, the yellow-furred electric mouse Pokémon, who was currently sitting on Ash's shoulder.

"Yeah, and you can see the gym from here too," smiled Misty, who as usual, was clutching Togepi, the little baby Pokémon, in her arms.

"Well, come on then, what are we waiting for?! Daisy, Violet and Lily, here I come!" exclaimed Brock excitedly, as immense thoughts of romance once again dominated his mind.

"Gotta admit, you are persistent," sighed Misty as she gave Brock a weary look.

It took the three friends and their Pokémon just under an hour to reach the city, whereupon they headed straight for the Cerulean Gym. But as they arrived at the large dome-shaped building and walked in through the front doors, Ash, Misty and Brock were a little surprised to find there was no-one to greet them.

"Hey Misty, I thought you said you called your sisters to let them know we were coming?" said a puzzled Ash.

"I did," replied an equally baffled Misty, before she then called out, "Daisy! Lily! Violet! It's me, Misty! Is anybody here? Hello!"

But instead of getting a friendly greeting in response, the three Pokémon trainers were startled when they heard Misty's sisters calling out from behind the doors of the indoor swimming pool.

"Oh no! What do we do?" came the faint cry of Lily, Misty's pink-haired sister.

"It's out of control!" added the voice of Violet, the attractive indigo-haired member of the Sensational Sisters.

"Huh? What's going on?" said Misty in alarm.

"Sounds like your sisters are in trouble!" answered Brock seriously.

"We better go and help them!" exclaimed Ash, who was already racing to the pool doors, with Pikachu running by his side.

With Misty and Brock following close behind, Ash burst through the double doors, only to immediately grind to a halt in surprise, as he took in what was happening. In the centre of the pool, Misty's blonde sister, Daisy, had seemingly fallen into the water, and was swimming for her very life as a huge blue Pokémon with scales and fangs was furiously chasing her!

"A Gyarados!" Ash spluttered as the others joined him by the side of the pool. "I didn't know there was one here at the gym!"

"It must have evolved from one of the Magikarp that live here," realised Brock, as Misty ran over to join Violet and Lily, who were standing on the other side of the pool.

"Misty, thank goodness you're here," greeted Lily. "We have like a total disaster on our hands!"

"I can see that!" said Misty, trying her best not to sound panicked, as Ash and Brock dashed over to join them. "What's the matter with Gyarados?"

"We don't know," replied Violet. "It just recently evolved from one of our Magikarp a few days ago, and has been on a total rampage ever since. We've tried calming it down, but nothing seems to work."

"Sounds like it's stuck in some kind of agitation loop," remarked Brock. "We better think of something, before someone gets hurt!"

At that moment, Gyarados leapt into the air and dived back into the pool, with such force that it sent a huge wave of water that splashed out of the pool and drenched everyone in the process!

"This is some welcome home," groaned Misty.

Meanwhile, Daisy was still trying desperately to swim away from Gyarados, which was still chasing her.

"Hey! I could do with some rescuing here!" Daisy called out in fright.

"Oh no, Daisy!" cried Misty as she realised just how much trouble her older sister was in.

"Hang on, Daisy! We'll save you!" called out Ash, as he turned to Violet and Lily. "Have you guys tried recalling Gyarados back into it's Poké Ball?"

"We've already tried that, but it doesn't seem to want to go back in," said Violet glumly.

"Ash, we can't just expect Gyarados to willingly go back into it's Poké Ball, while it's in such a distressed state," pointed out Brock. "We'll have to try something else."

"Guess you're right, Brock," conceded Ash. "I know! Let's try weakening Gyarados in a Pokémon battle first! That should make it easier to get it to calm down."

"Great idea, Ash," chimed in Misty, who was especially keen for Gyarados to be sorted out fast, since it was the one water Pokémon she was not keen on.

Ash turned to Pikachu, who was as determined to help as its trainer. "Okay Pikachu, try a thunder shock attack!"

"Pi-ka!" replied Pikachu as sparks of electricity began to emanate from its cheeks, as it prepared to attack.

But before Pikachu could proceed with its attack, a beam of light shot out of one of the Poké Balls in Misty's backpack, which quickly solidified into the familiar form of Misty's Psyduck.

"Oh no! Psyduck, what are you doing? You know you can't swim!" exclaimed Misty in annoyance as the duck-like Pokémon fell into the pool, landing right between Daisy and Gyarados.

Realising that it was stuck in the water, Psyduck immediately began to flap its arms in panic, just as Gyarados caught up with it. Furious at having this yellow bird blocking its path, Gyarados promptly headbutted Psyduck, sending it flying forwards and crashing into Daisy, causing them to both fly right out of the pool. With a yelp, Daisy landed in an undignified heap on the poolside, her fall broken by Psyduck, who had landed right beneath her.

"Oh, that was a total nightmare," groaned Daisy as the others came over and helped her to her feet.

"Are you okay, Daisy?" asked Brock in concern.

"No, my hairdo is ruined and my clothes are like completely wet!" complained Daisy.

"Yeah, she's fine," muttered Misty.

"That's great, but we still need to work out what to do about Gyarados," pointed out Ash. "I'll get Pikachu to try attacking again!"

"I don't think a thunder shock attack is such a great idea, Ash," pointed out Brock. "You could accidentally injure some of the other water Pokémon in the process!"

"Oh yeah, that's right," sighed Ash, who had forgotten that the pool connected to the Gym's aquarium, where all the other water Pokémon dwelled. "Guess we'll have to think of some other plan."


Unfortunately, there was more trouble on the way for Ash and his friends. Peering discreetly through one of the windows from outside, the trio of Pokémon thieves, from the criminal organisation known as Team Rocket, had observed the drama with Gyarados with some interest.

"So, the twerps are having trouble with a Gyarados, are they?" remarked Jessie. "Perhaps for once, they would not mind if we stole it from them!"

"I don't know, Jessie," said James doubtfully as he recalled previous scrapes they have had with Gyarados, including one that James once had in his possession. "A Gyarados is a troublesome Pokémon at the best of times, and that one seems particularly mean!"

"All the more reason why we should swipe it!" said Meowth. "It would make a perfect gift for the boss! With such a formidable Pokémon under his command, he's bound to give us a raise!"

"Wobbuffet!" agreed Jessie's Wobbuffet, which as usual, popped out of its Poké Ball without warning, much in the same way as Misty's Psyduck did.

"Then it's settled!" said Jessie with a wicked smile. "We're going to snatch ourselves a Gyarados!"