Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!

Pokemon Legends: Kanto Saga

Chapter Seven

Rematch With Misty

"Sorry, we can't take any of these..." The Kanto Times employee tossed the handful of pictures onto his desk. Ashley felt as if she had been stabbed through the heart.

"Not even the Clefairy one?" Ashley asked, hoping he might change his mind. The man gave a sigh.

"Look, kid, its not enough to just have the picture." He explained to her, leaning over the desk. "We need a story to go with it. Pictures ain't much use to us without the story. You're better off trying to get them in a magazine of some kind..."

"I...I guess you have a point..." Ashley sighed in defeat. She grabbed up her pictures from the man's desk and left the office, meeting up with Rina, Pippi, and Bulbasaur outside.

"So how did it go?" Rina asked her. She realized the answer, though, when she saw the solemn expression on her face.

"They won't take pictures without news articles to go with them..." Ashley mumbled in response. "Said to try a magazine or something..."

"Well I guess that makes sense..." Rina said to herself quietly. "Anyway! Why don't you just hold on to them until you find a place to try to sell them? There would definitely be someone out there interested in those pictures I'm sure!" Rina smiled brightly, trying to cheer up Ashley.

"Well, I guess I could get an envelope to put them in and just hold on to them." Ashley thought it over for a moment, tapping her finger against her chin. "And, you know, maybe I should try to get more pictures too? And not just of pokemon in the wild, I could try taking pictures of battles too!" Ashley nodded and smiled to herself. "Yeah! I can take pictures of my own gym battles!"

"Thats the spirit!" Rina said to her, giving an enthusiastic nod. "You'll definitely find someone interested that way!"

"-Speaking of battles...-" Bulbasaur interrupted the two. Ashley and Rina looked down at him, and Bulbasaur continued once he had gotten their attention. "-Weren't we supposed to be challenging Misty again? Cause if we were, then I'm pretty sure we're running out of time here!-" Ashley looked to Rina once Bulbasaur was done talking, expecting a translation.

"He's just trying to remind you about the gym match." Rina informed Ashley. "You've only got an hour left before the gym closes for the day. I still think you should wait until tomorrow though..."

"Well what difference does it make anyway?" Ashley asked Rina, but didn't wait for a response before heading off towards the gym.

"But...shouldn't you at least rest first?" Rina asked no one in particular, since Ashley didn't seem to be paying attention to her at that point. Rina sighed and started off after her with Pippi in tow.

"-I don't get it...didn't Ashley only challenge gyms because of Bulbasaur?-" Pippi asked Rina, sounding mildly confused.

"I think Ashley decided she likes gym battles..." Rina replied, scratching the back of her head lightly as she looked ahead towards Ashley. "I guess now she may have even found her own reason for wanting to battle gym leaders..."


From the Kanto Times office, it was only a short trip through the city for the trainers to reach the gym and only took roughly five to ten minutes for them to arrive. Just like when she arrived at the gym earlier that day, Ashley threw open the gym's double doors and stepped inside.

"I'm here to challenge the gym leader...again!" Ashley announced as she barged through the doors.

"You're going to break those doors one of these days..." Rina mumbled quietly, looking embarassed by Ashley's actions.

"You couldn't even wait another day, could you?!" Misty growled angrily at Ashley's intrusion. She was wet and standing near the edge of the pool, looking like she was ready to dive in.

"I tried telling her that already..." Rina thought, folding her arms over her chest and rolling her eyes.

"You were going to be here for another 50 minutes anyway regardless of whether or not I showed up!" Ashley shot back. "I'm ready to battle you again now anyway."

"10 minutes...I haven't even been able to get 10 minutes to myself!" Misty cried out in frustration. "Just where are all you trainers coming from all of a sudden, anyway?!"

"Thats right, all the Pallet Town trainers would have been through here at about the same time..." Ashley thought. A slight smile crossed her lips as she got an idea.

"You want time to yourself?" Ashley asked Misty rhetorically. "Well then, if you battle me, I'll tell you a secret when we're done." She then offered. The smile on her lips went almost unnoticed by Misty. Ashley knew Misty would have to battle her anyway, but she was hoping to at least get Misty interested in battling her.

"-What the heck could you possibly know?-" Bulbasaur wondered aloud. "-Well whatever it is, I don't care. As long as I get to battle her again.-"

"Well I guess I have nothing to lose." Misty muttered in response. She bent over to scoop up a belt lying on the floor, the belt which contained her pokeballs, and strapped it around her waist. She then took one of her pokeballs from the belt.

"You already know the rules, so lets skip the introductions." Misty said to Ashley. Ashley nodded in agreement and took a pokeball from her belt as well. "Alright, Staryu! You're up first then!" Misty held out the pokeball towards the pool, releasing her Staryu out into the water. The starfish pokemon appeared floating vertically in the water, with half its body submerged.

"Pidgeotto, you can start us off this time too! Go!" Ashley called out, releasing her recently evolved Pidgeotto. The pokeball in her hand opened up and Pidgeotto emerged from within, flapping his wings to hover over the pool. As Ashley and Misty released their first pokemon, Rina and Pippi moved over to the side of the pool and sat down on the benches there to watch from the sidelines. Bulbasaur followed as well and sat on the floor next to them.

"I wonder if Ashley really has a chance this time?" Rina said to Bulbasaur and Pippi, looking between the two pokemon on the battlefield. "Even if Pidgey evolved, he couldn't have gotten that much stronger, could he?"

"-Probably not, but there's more to it than that.-" Bulbasaur replied with a slight smirk. "-Since Ashley's taken notice of my powder attacks I can beat down both those water pokemon for sure!-"

"-I bet I could beat them both two if I had the chance...-" Pippi mumbled, turning away and pouting.

"Its a Pidgeotto now? Is that why she's rechallenging me?" Misty wondered, looking mildly annoyed. "Just having one pokemon evolve won't make much of a difference. For her sake, I hope she has something else up her sleeve. Otherwise this will be a short battle..."

"Pidgeotto, start by attacking Staryu with a Gust attack!" Pidgeotto began flapping his wings rapidly, kicking up strong gusts of wind. The water in the pool became quite turbulant as the wind kicked up small waves and pushed Staryu back through the water. Though Staryu struggled against the attack, it was being pushed back further and further towards the edge of the pool.

"Staryu, lie flat and use Rapid Spin!" Staryu flipped its body horizontally so it was floating on top of the water now instead of partially submerged, reducing its surface area to better resist the wind. Staryu then began spinning rapidly and moved towards Pidgeotto, spinning like a sawblade and cutting through the waves Pidgeotto was churning up.

"Pidgeotto, now! Quick Attack!" Pidgeotto stopped flapping his wings and dove down towards Staryu as it hovered closer. Pidgeotto then shot forward and became a blur of movement. He angled his attack to bounce off the top of Staryu as he tackled into it, jolting Staryu down slightly while avoiding being struck by its spinning body.

"Looks like she's using a different strategy than she used during our earlier match..." Misty thought, appraising the situation. "Looks like I'll have to make sure she stays on her toes then..."

"Staryu, quick! Into the water!" Continuing to spin, Staryu cut into the water and dove down. Once underwater, Staryu quickly disappeared from sight.

"Pidgeotto, land on one of the platforms!" Pidgeotto nodded and dove down towards the platform nearest Ashley, landing in the middle of it.

"So she's preventing me from attacking from below..." Misty noted with a nod. "Lets see what good it does her."

"Staryu, Pidgeotto's on the southwest platform! Attack with Water Pulse!"

"Pidgeotto, get ready with an Air Cutter!"

Pidgeotto brought his wings together, forcing air between them in preparation for its attack. Staryu, meanwhile, quickly moved through the water towards the platform. Staryu shot straight up out of the water behind the platform, putting itself behind Pidgeotto as well, and fired three blue rings from its core at the unsuspecting bird pokemon.

"Now! Turn and fire!" Ashley called out quickly as Staryu launched the attack. Pidgeotto quickly turned around and almost blindly fired the blade of air it had ready. Despite having little chance to aim, the blade cut through the oncoming pulse and effectively blocked it. The blade then continued on to strike Staryu in midair, pushing it back into the edge of the pool next to Ashley.

"Staryu! Are you ok?" Staryu shook off the impact and then bowed the upper half of its body as if nodding. Misty breathed a sigh of relief. The power of Pidgeotto's Air Cutter surprised her a bit.

"Earlier Staryu was able to block that with Water Gun..." Misty thought, as if trying to solve a difficult puzzle. "Its more powerful now that Pidgey evolved, not I wouldn't think that much powerful. Maybe, then, its because Water Pulse would hit with less surface area to stop it?"

"Staryu, retalliate with Rapid Spin!" Staryu churned up the water like a water wheel as it began spinning in a vertical position. Staryu quickly leveled off and then flew up on a collision course with Pidgeotto.

"Pidgeotto, hit it from above with Quick Attack again!" Pidgeotto flew forward slightly and then dove down towards Staryu. In a flash of movement, Pidgeotto struck Staryu's core and knocked it off course. Staryu was suddenly shot downward at a 45 degree angle and struck the platform Pidgeotto had been on previously. Staryu shook off the light impact and stood up on two of its limbs.

"Staryu is taking a lot of heavy hits out there..." Misty thought with a fierce look of determination on her face. "Need to Recover and then get back in there! Staryu beat Pidgey easily enough already today, so it shouldn't be much tougher now!"

"Staryu, use Recover!" Staryu's core began to glow as Misty called out the attack. The glow soon faded and was replaced by a light shimmering throughout Staryu's body as it restored its own strength.

"We've got it this time, just need to keep up a strong offensive!" Ashley thought to herself with a smirk. "Pidgeotto, don't let up! Attack with Air Cutter, now!"

"-Its almost too easy this time around...-" Pidgeotto commented to himself as he prepared to attack, bringing his wings together and firing a blade of air at Staryu. This time the starfish pokemon was ready for it and braced against the platform as it was struck. The blade sliced into Staryu and disipated, but not before pushing Staryu back towards the end of the platform.

"Ok, its time to start really fighting back now." Misty thought, ready to try and gain some ground back now that Staryu had recovered. "Staryu, attack Pidgeotto with Water Pulse!" Staryu quickly angled its body to take aim at Pidgeotto and fired a watery blue pulse at the bird pokemon.

"Pidgeotto, dodge it with Quick Attack!" Pidgeotto quickly shot forward, putting itself past Staryu and avoiding the Water Pulse attack by a large margin. Misty gritted her teeth as yet another of her Staryu's attacks was easily evaded by Pidgeotto.

"Well lets see your Pidgeotto dodge this! Staryu, attack with Swift!" Staryu didn't even bother to turn towards Pidgeotto's new position as it fired its attack. A star-shaped burst fired out from the tips of each of its five limbs, then shot straight up and circled around towards Pidgeotto.

"Pidgeotto doesn't have to dodge it!" Ashley replied smugly. "Pidgeotto, now! Counter with your own Swift attack!" Rina, Pippi, and Misty were all shocked when they heard Ashley call out the Swift attack. Pidgeotto turned towards the oncoming stars and brought his wings together, as if using Air Cutter, then parted them again to fire out five of its own bursts. Each star collided with an opposing star exploded in a flash of light. Both attacks were effectively negated.

"Swift? When did Pidgeotto learn Swift?" Rina wondered aloud. "Ashley could have put that technique to good use earlier...does Pidgeotto learn it naturally?"

"-He probably unlocked that technique when he evolved.-" Bulbasaur informed Rina with a light shrug. "-I don't think its too unusual for that to happen anyway, but you're better off asking Professor Oak anyway. He knows all about that stuff...-"

"Oh..." Rina blinked, still perplexed. "I wonder if there's more to it though...?"

"-I wonder if I'll learn new techniques when I evolve...-" Pippi mumbled to herself.

"You really think the outcome of this battle will be all that different after only a few hours training?" Misty asked rhetorically. "Even evolution and learning a new technique won't be enough to change the outcome on its own. Whether or not you win now depends solely on your own ability to work with strategies and adapt to changes in the battle."

"So after all that you don't think I have what it takes?" Ashley asked in a miffed tone.

"You think you do? Then lets see you handle this! Staryu, into the water!" Staryu dove down into the water again, disappearing from view. Ashley didn't seem to be impressed by this maneuver though.

"She's obviously trying to lure me into using the same tactic again, so I'll stay over the water this time." Ashley thought. "Pidgeotto, get ready to attack with Air Cutter when it comes back up!" Pidgeotto nodded and became more focused, flapping its wings slower and almost using the attack with each flap. He kept his gaze focused intently on the water, keeping watch for Staryu.

"Now, Staryu! Attack Pidgeotto with Rapid Spin, straight up!" After taking a few seconds to get started with Rapid Spin, Staryu burst from the surface of the water and shot straight up in a vertical position. Pidgeotto quickly fired an Air Cutter at Staryu, but Staryu had already anticipated the attack and moved to the side to evade.

After evading Pidgeotto's attack, Staryu quickly moved back on course and struck a glancing blow to Pidgeotto's side as it passed by. Pidgeotto was knocked to the side and lost a bit of altitude as it took a light hit to its wing as well, but not enough that Pidgeotto couldn't recover. As per Misty's instructions, Staryu continued up with its remaining momentum.

"Now, turn back and use Water Pulse!" Staryu suddenly stopped spinning and turned to face its core down towards Pidgeotto, who was still shaking off Staryu's Rapid Spin. Staryu's core glowed and three blue rings fired out from it. Pidgeotto looked up but had no time to react as the Water Pulse came down on top of it. Each ring burst in a splash on Pidgeotto and, after the third ring, Pidgeotto was sent plummeting towards the water.

"Pidgeotto, go into a shallow dive and use Quick Attack!" Ashley quickly called out, maintaining her relatively calm composure in spite of the situation. Pidgeotto struggled to perform the maneuver, but managed to turn itself in the air and began to pull up. Pidgeotto was still going to go straight into the water, but as he did he used his Quick Attack technique. The sudden burst of speed allowed him to maintain momentum while skimming through the water and then pull up again.

"She pulled out of that fairly easily." Misty thought. "Ok, Staryu! Lets hit it with another Water Pulse now!" Staryu caught itself with a Rapid Spin, keeping it in the air while it took aim at Pidgeotto below it. Staryu's core then glowed briefly as Staryu fired off another Water Pulse attack.

"Pidgeotto, counter it with Air Cutter!" Pidgeotto brought its wings together, while seemingly hopping back onto the platform in front of Ashley, and then opened them up again to fire its counter attack. The blade of air sliced through each ring perfectly, breaking the attack, and then continued on to strike Staryu. Staryu was knocked out of its spin as Pidgeotto's attack struck it and began to plummet towards the pool.

"Now use Air Cutter again while Staryu's disabled!" Pidgeotto nodded and brought his wings together, then fired another Air Cutter attack. The v-shaped blade moved forward over the surface of the water and then curved up slightly, coming up to strike the falling Staryu from below. The attack knocked Staryu onto the platform behind it, flat on its back when it landed. Staryu made no attempt to get back up after landing, clearly signalling its defeat.

"So you managed to beat Staryu this time after all..." Misty commented as she recalled Staryu into its pokeball. "Your Pidgeotto looks pretty exhausted there, though." She then noted. Pidgeotto was indeed exhausted, even as he stood resting on the platform he was breathing a bit heavily.

"Oh wow! I think this is the first time Ashley won against the gym leader's first pokemon with her own first pokemon!" Rina noted excitedly.

"-Geez, she's only had three gym battles so far and she lost one of them completely.-" Bulbasaur muttered in response, rolling his eyes. "-Not that big a deal, and it was obviously a close call anyway...-"

"-You're just upset you only get to fight Starmie!-" Pippi pointed out accusingly.

"-Not only that, Pidgeotto still gets the first shot.-" Bulbasaur grumbled in response. "-This sucks, I should be out there fighting!-"

"Well you managed to beat my Staryu, but lets see how you hold up against Starmie this time!" Misty held up Starmie's pokeball in her hand. "Starmie, come on out and finish this one off!" Misty opened the pokeball up in her hand, releasing Starmie out into the pool to start the next match.

"Well maybe Ashley will let Pidgeotto rest and you can battle Starmie yourself?" Rina suggested hopefully. Ashley wasn't showing any sign of recalling Pidgeotto, however.

"Starmie, start off with a Swift attack!"

"Pidgeotto, counter with your own Swift!"

Starmie fired off a star-shaped ray from every point on its body above the water, firing six in total. Pidgeotto, using its own Swift technique again, opened its wings to send out a burst of stars to counter it. All but one of Starmie's rays were blocked by Pidgeotto's, with the remaining one continuing on to strike Pidgeotto in the face. Pidgeotto staggered back and had to hold its wings out to keep itself from falling onto its back.

"-You were saying?-" Bulbasaur replied to Rina, rolling his eyes. "-At least bird brain probably won't last much longer out there...-"

"Bulbasaur...thats a terrible thing to say..." Rina said quietly, giving Bulbasaur a disapproving look even though he wasn't looking at her.

"Pidgeotto can't counter Starmie's Swift attack?" Ashley thought in dismay, having forgotten that the stronger pokemon's attacks wouldn't be blocked as easily. Luckily, Pidgeotto still seemed to have some fight left in him.

"You know...I wouldn't have minded letting Bulbasaur have this one, I really wouldn't..." Pidgeotto thought. He took several deep breaths, fighting to hold on just a little bit longer.

"Now, Starmie, lets finish it with a Rapid Spin!" Both halves of Starmie's body began to spin, slowly lifting it out of the water. It then leveled off horizontally and took off across the surface of the water towards Pidgeotto like a pair of saw blades.

"Pidgeotto, Quick Attack and take off into the air!" Pidgeotto began flapping its wings weakly, but then suddenly took off up on an angle just in time to avoid Starmie's attack. Pidgeotto managed to put several feet between itself and the platform in nearly an instant using Quick Attack and had enough strength to keep flapping its wings and stay in the air, despite practically running on fumes.

"Alright! We're still in this yet!" Ashley thought, smiling to herself. Starmie, meanwhile, stopped once it had cleared the platform and hovered in place while it waited for further instructions since its attack had missed.

"Starmie, into the water now!" Starmie turned its body until it was angled towards the water and shot down, its spinning body seemingly cutting into the water and disappearing below the surface.

"This technique again?" Ashley thought, rolling her eyes. She wasn't going to fall for the same trick twice. "Pidgeotto, land on the platform and get ready with Air Cutter!" Pidgeotto dove back down towards the platform, landing in the middle. He then brought its wings together, forcing air between them and getting ready to launch his attack.

"Thats not going to work this time." Misty thought with a smirk. "Starmie, attack from under the platform with Swift!" Ashley gasped in surprise when she finally realized what Misty's plan was, but there was little she or Pidgeotto could do now. Several stars suddenly rose from the water in front of the platform and curved back towards Pidgeotto in a split-s.

Pidgeotto tried to fire its Air Cutter in an effort to counter the attack, but the rays came up so close to the platform that Pidgeotto had little time to react. Several stars struck Pidgeotto simultaneously as he tried to attack, knocking Pidgeotto flat onto the platform. Pidgeotto was knocked unconcious almost immediately, having had little strength left to begin with.

"Pidgeotto, you did great out there. Take a rest!" Ashley held up Pidgeotto's pokeball and recalled her pokemon. Though she was a bit upset with herself for letting Pidgeotto go down without landing a hit, she wasn't upset at all with Pidgeotto's performance. He had gone from losing to Staryu as Pidgey, to defeating Staryu and engaging with Starmie in a brief battle.

"Ok!" Ashley shot a quick glance over to Bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur, get in there!"

"-About time too!-" Bulbasaur ran towards the edge of the pool and jumped, clearing the water and landing on a nearby platform. Starmie rose halfway out of the water on the other side of the pool to face its next opponent.

"Bulbasaur, I want you to get a Sleep Powder ready but don't use it until I say so." Ashley said just loud enough so only Bulbasaur would hear her. Bulbasaur gave a very slight nod in response.

"Ok, Bulbasaur! Charge Starmie and attack with Tackle!" Bulbasaur charged towards the edge of the platform to gain speed, then jumped towards Starmie in an attempt to Tackle it.

"This again?" Misty thought, blinking in disbelief. "Even if this is some kind of trick, it can't be a very good one. Bulbasaur will be left helpless once he lands in the water either way."

"Starmie, just dodge it." Misty commanded Starmie in a seemingly bored tone. Starmie swam over to the side, leaving Bulbasaur heading towards open water.

"Now's your chance! Sleep Powder!" Bulbasaur turned his body slightly in the air, aiming his bulb towards Starmie, and released a puff of green powder. The powder blasted Starmie straight in what would be considered its face and, as Bulbasaur splashed down into the water, Starmie fell floating on its back and was fast asleep.

"Sleep Powder? If your Bulbasaur knew that technique then why didn't you use it before?" Misty asked Ashley, both annoyed and a little confused.

"I don't know!" Ashley shot back. "Bulbasaur, use Poison Powder now and start swimming towards that platform!" Ashley then called out to Bulbasaur while pointing to the northwest platform. She didn't want to lose out on whatever time she'd have to attack Starmie.

Following her instructions, Bulbasaur started swimming forward, keeping its bulb above the water. He released a cloud of purple powder into the air, which fell on top of and around Starmie. The powder was absorbed into Starmie's body through its skin, poisoning it while it continued to sleep. Bulbasaur soon reached the indicated platform as well, pulling himself out of the water and onto the platform then turning to face Starmie.

"Good! Now lets try to land a Leech Seed on it as well!" Bulbasaur nodded and tilted his body forward, releasing a seed from his bulb. The seed was launched through the air in an arc that landed it near the center of Starmie's body. The seed then sprouted small vines and latched onto Starmie, starting to drain its energy and feeding it back to Bulbasaur. At that exact moment, Starmie's body flipped back up vertically and then turned to face Bulbasaur.

"Good, Starmie's awake again. I think thats the first time in a while a Bulbasaur managed to land its powder attacks on Starmie." Misty thought to herself. "Can't do anything about the poison unfortunately, but I can shed that seed."

"Starmie, attack Bulbasaur with Rapid Spin and get rid of that seed!"

"Bulbasaur, get ready and hit Starmie with Sleep Powder!"

Starmie began spinning rapidly, starting with the back end of its body and quickly getting both sides of its body spinning. The spinning threw off the seed Bulbasaur had managed to plant on it, and Starmie soon lifted out of the water and took off towards Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur fired a cloud of powder into Starmie's path, and Starmie flew through it as it sliced across Bulbasaur's side. Bulbasaur grunted in pain and was knocked aside, but Starmie was sent crashing into the water as it fell asleep again.

"Not again!" Misty cried out in disbelief. "Well, whatever! Enjoy it while you can because thats the last time its going to work!"

"We'll see about that..." Ashley quietly said to herself, smirking lightly. She was already coming up with a plan to use it again. "Ok, Bulbasaur! Lets get a Leech Seed on it again!"

"-You know, I would prefer a straight fight!-" Bulbasaur called out in an annoyed tone. He followed through with Ashley's command anyway, however. He angled his bulb, crouching down slightly as he turned around, and fired another seed at Starmie. Again, the seed landed near the center of Starmie's body and sprouted vines to latch on. Starmie's body then shot up and it turned to face Bulbasaur, already waking up again.

"-No way!-" Bulbasaur cried out in disbelief. "-Do you have your alarm set to 'Leech Seed' or what?!-"

"Starmie, use Rapid Spin and dive deep into the water!" Starmie's body began spinning around on both sides again, shedding the seed Bulbasaur planted on it. Starmie then dove straight down into the water, disappearing below the surface.

"Now, Starmie, use Recover while you're down there!" A dim glow could be seen at the bottom of the pool as Starmie's core lit up briefly. Starmie's body began to shimmer under the water, its body recovering from the damage inflicted on it by poison.

"Bulbasaur's doing a lot better this time." Rina noted to Pippi, smiling widely as she watched the match. "He has Starmie completely on the defensive!"

"-Yeah! Bulbasaur's going to win for sure!-" Pippi replied, nodding quickly in agreement.

"Starmie, out of the water now and attack with Swift!" Misty called out loudly enough for Starmie to hear her from under the water. "Lets see her Bulbasaur hit Starmie with Sleep Powder now!"

Starmie rose to the surface of the water so that half its body was visible above the surface. It then focused its gaze on Bulbasaur and fired several star-shaped rays, each homing in on Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur braced himself, and each ray converged on him and struck him simultaneously. Bulbasaur cried out in pain but didn't seem much worse for wear.

"Bulbasaur, lets keep this going! Attack Starmie with Sleep Powder!"

"Starmie, use Rapid Spin and get out of there!"

Bulbasaur took aim at Starmie, who was now near the center of the pool, and released a cloud of powder towards it. The powder came down towards the water, but Starmie was already spinning its body by then and took off into the air to avoid the hit. The powder landed in the water harmlessly, missing its target completely.

"Bulbasaur, try again! Lets knock Starmie out of the air with Sleep Powder!" Bulbasaur aimed his bulb at Starmie again and fired another cloud of green powder.

"Starmie, move to avoid it and fire back with another Swift!" Starmie easily moved a few feet off to the side to avoid the attack. The powder again rained down on the water, missing its target completely. Starmie then countered with a Swift attack, firing six star-shaped rays from its body. The rays converged on Bulbasaur, and the grass pokemon cried out as they all struck it simultaneously.

"Bulbasaur, third time's the charm! Sleep Powder!" Bulbasaur fired another blast of powder from his bulb, but Starmie avoided it again without any orders from Misty to do so. The powder landed harmlessly in the water and Starmie moved back into its initial position over the water.

"She must be depending entirely on those powder attacks to win this match." Misty thought to herself, rolling her eyes. "Like I'm going to let her put Starmie to sleep again so easily..."

"Ashley, what are you doing?!" Rina called out to her from the bench. "You're giving up Bulbasaur's lead! You can't just keep trying to put Starmie to sleep!"

Ashley turned her head towards Rina and gave her a wink, then turned her attention back to the battle as Rina looked on in confusion now. "Ok then, Bulbasaur! Time to end this! Bullet Seed!"

"End this? Poison or not, thats not going to happen!" Misty called back. "Starmie, dive into the water now!" Bulbasaur spat out several green seeds at Starmie now, finally going back on the offensive. Starmie easily avoided even this attack, however, diving straight down into the water as the seeds shot through the air overhead.

"Now, Starmie, use Recover again!" Misty called out. She was shocked to see Starmie suddenly float to the surface of the pool on its back, fast asleep. "What the?! When did you..." Misty's eyes went wide in shock, and Ashley grinned at her from across the pool.

"Come on! You didn't think I was that stupid to try the same attack over and over when it obviously won't work?" Ashley asked Misty. "I knew you would try to escape into the water again to use Recover eventually, the poison ensured that. So I used Bulbasaur's Sleep Powder to turn the pool water under Starmie into a sleep potion!"

"So that was her plan..." Rina mumbled in surprise. "She had Misty against the ropes all along, even when it seemed like Misty was making a comeback..."

"Now its really time to end this, Bulbasaur! Attack Starmie with Vine Whip and then follow it up with Bullet Seed!"

"-With pleasure!-" Bulbasaur called back as he extended his vines. Bulbasaur raised his vines up, bringing both down on top of Starmie simultaneously, striking the water pokemon hard and pushing it underwater briefly. Bulbasaur then grabbed onto the sides of Starmie's body to hold it upright, putting it in the line of fire for his next attack.

"-For your sake, I hope the next grass pokemon that comes along doesn't know Sleep Powder!-" Bulbasaur fired several seeds out of his mouth, firing a full five total. Each seed struck Starmie one after the other. As the last seed struck Starmie, its gem core faded and Bulbasaur finally let go. Starmie had been defeated.

"Well I have to hand it to you...you had me fooled into thinking you were just a rookie trainer at any rate." Misty commented with a sigh as she recalled her Starmie. She then started on her way across the gym to hand Ashley her badge.

"-Oh don't let your defeat fool you.-" Bulbasaur said to Misty, hopping from the platform to the side of the pool where she was walking and following along beside her. "-Ashley is the worst of the worst. She's just lucky to have me.-"

"I didn't think you were going to be able to beat her so soon after losing to her." Rina said to Ashley as she approached the bench. "I'm glad you proved me wrong! You pulled off some really good strategies out there!"

"Thanks, Rina. Its all thanks to that training we did earlier." Ashley replied with a smile.

"Here, the Cascade Badge and Water Pulse TM." Misty said as she approached Ashley and handed her the items in question. "Now whats that secret?"

"The secret?" Ashley giggled quietly. "Take a vacation day of course." Ashley slid the TM into her backpack, which Rina was still carrying, and then took out her trainer id to add the badge to it.

"Ok, lets go guys!" Rina and Pippi got up off the bench to leave the gym with Ashley, and Bulbasaur followed behind as well. Before finally leaving the gym, Ashley stopped at the entrance and looked back at Misty. She looked as though she was stunned by the simple response Ashley gave her.

"Later, Misty! Thanks for the match!" Ashley called out to her, then finally left the gym.

"I can't believe I didn't think of that already..." Misty mumbled to herself. "Its so obvious...I'll go put in my notice now!"


After Ashley's rematch against Misty, the two girls and their pokemon headed off to the pokecenter so that Ashley's pokemon could be healed. While they sat in the waiting area they decided on a place to grab a bite to eat and spend the night. Ashley made a reservation using her cellphone and Rina grabbed some take out from a fast food chain.

Once Ashley's pokemon were healed, she left the pokecenter and stopped outside for a few minutes to feed her pokemon. Rina did likewise, mixing a few fries she bought in with her pokemon's food, which all but Berry liked. Once their pokemon were fed they met up at the hotel Ashley booked a room at and headed up to their hotel room to enjoy their own meal.

Inside their room, which they were sharing and had a double bed, they dropped their respective backpacks at the foot of the bed and Ashley threw her hat off in the corner. They then spread out a towel on the bed and set up their food on the towel, not wanting to get crumbs on the sheets. Bulbasaur sat down at the foot of the bed and used one of his vines to turn on the tv and flick through the channels, looking for something to watch. Pippi, meanwhile, went off to explore the room.

"We probably shouldn't do this too often, I heard fast food isn't very healthy." Ashley commented before taking a bite of her burger. She chewed it carefully and swallowed. "At least I won't have to clean up the room when I'm done though..."

"You should clean it anyway." Rina replied sternly. "I know I'm going to. My parents would haunt me in my sleep if I didn't..." She took a handful of fries and popped them in her mouth while watching the tv. Bulbasaur wasn't watching anything in particular, just continually flicking through the channels.

"Hey, Ashley, what was with that Red guy anyway?" Rina asked Ashley, turning away from the tv. "You two seemed to know each other."

"We used to hang out when we were kids." Ashley replied with a light shrug. "All he cares about these days, though, are pokemon and battling. I don't think he cares for people anymore at all..."

"Oh..." Rina mumbled in a disappointed tone. Ashley took notice of this and realized that Rina must have gotten a crush on Red.

"I used to like him too..." Ashley thought, looking at her half-eaten burger contemplatively. "But he just became so distant as time went on, completely uninterested in other people." Ashley gave a light shrug and returned to eating her burger. "I'm sure Rina will get over him eventually..."

"He can't be such a bad guy if he likes pokemon so much!" Rina, on the other hand, had an entirely different train of thought. "I bet I can get through to him eventually, I'm sure of it!" Rina smiled to herself as she continued to eat her food.

"Human relationships are weird..." Bulbasaur thought to himself. He finally stopped flicking through the channels as he found something that piqued his interest.

"And here we have rare footage of the mating habits of wild Bulbasaur." A pokemon researcher on the tv explained. Bulbasaur grinned widely and settled down to watch the show.


Author's Notes: Giving pokemon a new technique when they evolve is probably something I'm going to start doing a lot. Pidgeotto was a tough one to decide for, however. I didn't want to give it something that would make Air Cutter entirely useless at this point (later, who knows?) and a lot of attacks I either wasn't too eager to give him or would rather give him if he was evolving into Pidgeot instead. Eventually I decided on Swift, even though it was a tutor technique (I find its more believable if its a TM or breeding technique, since it could be passed off as a latent ability it was born with.)

On a semi-related note, Misty's Starmie is incredibly powerful for that point in the game unless you've been doing a lot of training on the side. Its a strong, evolved pokemon with a good attack in Water Pulse. Even in the RBY days it had Bubblebeam, which seemed to cause a lot of damage even to Ivysaur or Wartortle. Though one time I think I actually had a Blastoise against her. A bit overkill, though it may have been my only pokemon as well...