Part 16

"This is bad; this is really, really bad." Ash said as he pulled out a Pokeball from his pocket.

"Ash, are you positive he's going after Misty next?" Holly asked as she grabbed his arm to prevent him from rushing off.

"Gary doesn't have any reason to go after you." Ash assured her. "If you remember, he hated Brock when we were in high school. And Misty double crossed him. It can only be her."

"Then hurry Ash! It's bad enough he got to Brock, don't let him get to anyone else." Holly said, receiving a nod from Ash before he went over to the window of the room. Opening it up, Ash began to climb out the window, getting shouts of disapproval from both Pikachu who was on his shoulder and Anabel.

"We're on the seventh floor Ash!" Anabel added.

"There's no time to waste." Ash said as he leapt out the window, hurling the Pokeball he held beneath him to release Charizard. Immediately realizing that it was falling, Charizard spread its wings to bring its decent to an immediate stop. From there Ash and Pikachu landed on its back, getting a grunt from the Pokemon as it glanced back at them.

"Head back up to the open window Charizard!" Ash ordered as he pointed to the room he had jumped out of. Charizard obeyed, rising to the window where both Anabel and Holly where waiting for them.

"Ash, are you out of your mind!" Holly shrieked from the window.

"Only when my friends are in danger." Ash replied as he extended a hand toward Anabel. "Come on Anabel, we've got to get to get to Cerulean City as soon as possible."

"Rah?" Charizard interjected, shocked that Ash wanted to go back to Cerulean City after spending a day rushing to Pewter City.

"I know your tired Charizard. Just take me to the Pokemon Center and I'll get Pidgeot." Ash replied before looking at Anabel who still hadn't taken his hand. She was looking down at the long drop that could lead to her death at the slightest mistake. "Don't worry Anabel, I won't let anything happen to you. Trust me."

Anabel looked back up at Ash, giving him a slow, tentative nod before reaching out toward him. Once their hands interlocked, Ash hoisted her out of the room and on Charizard's back where she quickly grabbed onto Ash's torso to ensure that she remained on Charizard.

"Holly, make sure you call me and give me updates on Brock." Ash said, receiving a nod from Holly. "Charizard, let's go!"

Route 3

Resting on Pidgeot's back, Ash, Pikachu and Anabel had been flying in silence for the past half an hour.

There were so many things that Anabel wanted to know right now. Who was Gary Oak? Why did he attack Brock? Why is he going after Misty? She had so many questions for Ash and yet she found herself having a difficult time trying to talk to him.

He had a dark red aura surrounding that proved he was incredibly angry deep down inside, even though he was trying to hide it on the outside. Anabel could tell that if she was going to talk about this with him, she would have to do her best to be delicate. That last thing she wanted to do was add to Ash's frustrations.

"Um Ash?" Anabel began, gaining his attention.

"I take it you want to know who Gary is." Ash said.

"Yeah…" Anabel said, receiving a deep sigh in reply from Ash as he tried to think about where to begin.

"Gary Oak. He's Professor Oak's grandson. He's from Pallet Town like me, and we grew up together. From the moment we met each other when we were six, it was like we were destined to be rivals. We were always competing against each other, in Pokemon battles, races, even over girls." Ash explained as he recalled how much he had enjoyed those times. "But when we both were accepted into the Tsugi Academy, Gary lost interest in our rivalry, and it just sort of faded away. His grades started to slip, and he became more reserved. It turns out that Gary had been developing a crazy plan to ruin Brock's career as a Pokemon trainer."

"But, why would he want to do something like that? How would he do something like?" Anabel asked curiously as the story thickened.

"Gary has a bit of a twisted past. When he was young, his mother passed away, and his father committed suicide not too long after. Gary blamed Brock's family, and decided to exact his revenge against Brock by trashing the reputation of Brock's graduating class." Ash explained. "But it was even worse than we had imagined. He was doing everything possible to try and stop anyone from beating him. He was willing to do anything, even trying to use our friends against us."

Ash's red aura became a shade darker as he closed his hand into a fist and opened it repeatedly.

"I'll never forgive him for what he put Misty through." Ash said softly, pausing for a moment. "He did everything in his power to destroy my relationship with Misty while we were in high school. I still can't believe that after he had done nothing but use her; he just dumped her once she was of no use to him. That just sickens me. And if Gary does anything else to her, I don't know what I'll do to him."

"How did you guys stop him?" Anabel asked after a few moments, allowing Ash to calm down a bit.

"It still blows my mind how crazy Gary seemed in the end. He had stolen Legendary Pokemon just to make sure that no one would be able to stop him. But thanks to the help of…an acquaintance, and a quick switch from Misty, we managed to beat Gary."

"Wait, how did he get Legendary Pokemon?"

"We don't really know. None of our counselors in at the Academy would tell us where he got them. The most they would tell us was that Gary was arrested and thrown in prison. None of us have seen him since…until today that is." Ash replied allowing another period of silence to set in.

Anabel wasn't really sure if she wanted to know much more. The first two weeks of her Pokemon journey had left in her awe, to the point where she was beginning to believe that this world was actually as good as it appeared to be. But now she was just beginning to remember that everything wasn't perfect. Even the easygoing Ash Ketchum had gotten a glimpse at the darker side of the Pokemon world.

"I know we planned to take a few days off Anabel, but we have to make sure that Misty is okay first." Ash said as he turned to face Anabel.

"No, don't worry about it Ash. I understand." Anabel replied.

"Thanks Anabel." Ash said as he looked out at the horizon. He could only hope that Gary hadn't gotten to Cerulean City already. "Go Pidgeot!"

June 16th

Cerulean City Gym

The Waterflower sisters were all located in the kitchen of the Gym, putting together their breakfast to start what would be a very long day.

"How many routines will we be doing for our next water show?" Misty asked as she sat on the counter, waiting for the toaster to complete it only task.

"Well we're aiming to have five in this one. But only two of them are new." Daisy replied as she rummaged through the refrigerator.

"Who designed them?" Misty asked, looking toward the table where Violet and Lily were seated, already eating.

"I did." Violet said as she raised a hand. "With some help from the Pokemon of course. I think its one of our best so far."

"You said the same thing last time. And that one ended in disaster." Lily pointed out.

"Freezing the pool was a great idea. I just didn't think it would take that long for it to melt." Violet shot back with a huff.

"Daisy, can you pass the butter?" Misty asked after the toaster had popped up, giving allowing her to take the bread.

"You got it." Daisy said as she pulled out Misty's desired item and walked it over to her.

"Thanks."

"So Misty, how's Gyarados doing?" Daisy asked, receiving a deep sigh from her youngest sister. A few weeks ago a Gyarados had been rampaging around the Nugget Bridge. In order to protect the bridge, Misty and a few of the local authorities intervened and captured Misty, but she was left with the task of trying to tame the beast.

Misty accepted, viewing this as one of the many challenges she would have to overcome in order to become a Water Pokemon Master.

"I honestly don't know. It's so aggressive that I don't know if it'll be tame enough to be used in our next show." Misty explained.

"Don't force it. It takes time for wild Pokemon to adjust to their new lifestyle." Daisy said, receiving a nod from Misty.

"I'll try bonding with Gyarados again later tonight." Misty said. Hopefully this time she would be able to get to understand Gyarados better after spending some more time alone with it.

All four young women looked up with curiosity at the sudden amount of commotion that was coming from the lobby. Heading toward the exit of the kitchen, Misty crashed headfirst into Ash Ketchum. Unlike Ash though, Misty found herself seated on the floor, holding her head.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Misty asked as she looked up, realizing that she bumped into Ash. "Oh, hey Ash. What are you doing back here?"

"We have to talk." Ash stated as he extended a hand to help her return to her feet.

"What's going on Ash? I thought you and Anabel were going to Pewter City." Misty said as the two of them sat alone in one of the changing rooms.

"This may sound unbelievable Misty, but when we got to Pewter City, Brock was in the hospital." Ash began, receiving a moment of silence from Misty as thought settled in.

"What? What happened to him?" She exclaimed as she jumped to her feet.

"He was attacked while he was out in the night and nearly killed." Ash continued.

"By who?"

"Gary."

Misty became deathly silent, blinking a few times as she looked at Ash.

"But how?" Misty asked. "He should be in prison."

"I can't explain it." Ash replied as he shook his head. "He's loose, and he attacked Brock. And I have the feeling that he might be coming after you next."

Misty leaned back against the wall, feeling a shiver run up her spine at the thought of meeting with Gary after nearly three years.

"Don't worry; I won't let him do anything to you." Ash declared, causing Misty's heart to flutter. Glancing at Ash for a moment though, Misty had to shake off this feeling as she realized that Ash was more focused on Gary than her.

"Thanks Ash."

Ash and Anabel stood together at the edge of the pool, watching as the four Sensational Sisters practiced their newest routine for them. In truth, only Anabel was paying attention to the routine, admiring how the four women worked so well with their Pokemon to highlight how majestic water type Pokemon could be.

She was focusing on Misty in particular. Even though Misty's sisters were older than her, Anabel felt as though Misty shined the brightest between the four of them, even though Misty appeared to be pretty distracted at the moment.

Ash on the other hand, was thinking about all of the possibilities of when Gary might strike. The only thing he could think of right now was to place his own Pokemon on guard duty around the Gym. He had to make sure that someone was watching over the Gym at all times.

"That's so unlike you Misty." Lily commented as the group approached the edge of the pool on the backs of their Pokemon. "Usually you're so focused when we practice, are you feeling alright."

"…I'm not really sure." Misty replied after a moment of thought. Gary was thing only thing on her mind, and it was clearly beginning to reflect on her level of focus. "Can you guys practice without me?"

"We can, but you have to practice with us tomorrow for us to be ready in time for the next show." Daisy said.

"Alright." Misty said as she gave them a nod before jumping off the back of her Kingdra to the poolside where she called her Pokemon back to its Pokeball. With a sigh, Misty watched as her sisters returned to the center of the pool to begin a different routine. She had to get her head on straight. Missing a day of practice was unacceptable.

Looking over at Ash and Anabel, Misty decided that maybe she would be better off trying something to help her clear her mind.

"The water show is going to be so cool." Anabel exclaimed once Misty was close enough to speak with her.

"Thank you Anabel. I have to admit this is one of the better routines that Violet designed." Misty said as she glanced back at her sisters. "Hey Anabel, how is Psyduck?"

"Actually, I haven't had any time to really speak with it since we left." Anabel said as she reached for its Pokeball, but the device opened up before she could touch it, releasing the small yellow Pokemon that looked up at her curiously. Anabel looked down at Psyduck, confused as to how it got out of his Pokeball without her command. "Is that supposed to happen?"

"Not with all Pokemon. Certain Pokemon just release themselves when they have a reason to be outside their Pokeballs." Misty explained as she recalled that her own Psyduck, before it had evolved, used to do that all the time.

"Wow, that's pretty cool." Anabel said. "So what did you come out for Psyduck?"

"Duck…Psy-duck!" It replied.

"Really?"

"Is something wrong?" Misty asked.

"Psyduck said that it heard a familiar voice so it came out. Apparently that's you." Anabel explained as she motioned to Misty.

"Oh yeah, that's probably because I brought it in for a few checkups after it hatched. I guess the little fella has a good memory." Misty said as she gave Psyduck a small smile. "Oh, I know. Why don't you do a little swimming with Psyduck to get to know it."

"I'm not a very…strong swimmer." Anabel admitted with pink cheeks.

"Oh don't worry, we have smaller pools that are shallow." Misty replied.

"And I don't have a swimsuit." Anabel added, getting a chuckle from Misty.

"Anabel, this is a water type Gym. We have dozens of swimsuits." Misty replied, motioning for Anabel to follow her before noticing that Ash was coming with them. "Would you like to join us Ash?"

"Nah. I have few things to take care of first." He replied quietly.

Anabel sat comfortably on the edge of the pool, allowing only her legs to rest in the cool pool water. Beside her was Psyduck who was playfully kicking the water, swaying back and forth. Even though she had changed into a swimsuit with the intention of swimming with Psyduck, she soon discovered that oddly enough, Psyduck couldn't swim either. They were two peas in a pod.

Misty had agreed to give both of them swimming lessons, but that ended in disaster as Psyduck continued to panic whenever its head went below the water. So Anabel decided that it would be best if she and Psyduck remain on the poolside watching Misty as she played with a few of her Pokemon that had been in the pool. A Dewgong, two Poliwags and a Golduck.

Anabel had released both Espeon and Growlithe to see if they wanted to play in the pool as well. Espeon was delighted to play in the pool along with Misty and her Pokemon, but Growlithe seemed appalled at the thought of playing in water, leading to Anabel calling it back to its Pokeball. She was well aware of the fact that fire type Pokemon weren't fans of water type attacks, but it never occurred to her that they might just hate water in general. How would she get Growlithe to take a bath then?

Anabel had three Pokemon of her own now. Her trusty partner Espeon.

Then she received Growlithe from Silph Co, and the small pup was making quick progress during their training sessions and it was very obedient.

But Psyduck seemed rather odd compared to Espeon and Growlithe. Psyduck seemed generally unmotivated. Espeon and Growlithe wanted to get stronger, but Psyduck didn't seem to have any interest in that. She had to think of a way to light a fire inside of Psyduck.

Looking out at Misty once again, Anabel couldn't help but find herself wondering what it would be like if she was strong or as beautiful as Misty.

'That's it.' Anabel exclaimed as she looked at the Golduck before glancing at Psyduck with a small smile. "Hey Psyduck, don't ever imagine yourself growing up to be as strong as Misty's Golduck?"

"Psy…" It mumbled in reply.

"No? But you can't even swim. Do you want to be like this forever?"

"Psy-duck."

"But isn't this pretty boring?"

"Psy." It stated.

"Hmm…okay then." Anabel said as she slid off the poolside into the water, making her way over to Misty and the Pokemon.

Psyduck only watched as Anabel explained the situation to Misty for a few moments, then they called over Golduck. They continued to nod to each other, the Golduck made its way over to Psyduck with a large smirk.

"Duck?" Golduck asked slowly.

"Psy…" Psyduck replied, getting raised eyebrows from Golduck before it burst into a fit of laughter.

"Gooolduck!" It bellowed with laughter before pointing at Psyduck who glared at its evolved form.

"Psy! Psyduck!" Psyduck declared as it jumped to its feet, hitting its chest repeatedly.

"Golduck." It said, causing Psyduck to lunge at it recklessly. Golduck simply leaned out of the way, leaving Psyduck to sailing into the pool where it the surface of the water with a splat before sinking underneath the water.

"Psy! Psy, psy! Duck!" It shouted once it resurfaced, wildly flailing its arms as it struggled to remain afloat.

Anabel quickly removed Psyduck from the water, placing it at the edge of the pool where it continued to glare at Golduck who was still laughing at Psyduck.

"Psy. Psy-duck." It grumbled to Anabel, causing the lavender haired girl to smile.

"So do you want to learn how to swim now?" Anabel asked.

"Psyduck!" It said angrily as it pointed at Golduck. "Psy-duck! Duck!"

"Well to do that, you might want to learn how to swim first." Anabel commented, receiving a nod from Psyduck. From that point, Psyduck was in the water listening to Misty's instructions with Anabel to improve as swimmers.

"Anabel, how did you know that Psyduck would respond so well to Golduck's taunting?" Misty asked as they watched Psyduck fought to remain calm in order to float.

"When I was a freshman in the Battle Academy, the seniors did something like that to me because I wasn't the most motivated student either." Anabel explained. "They told me, 'a little humiliation can go a long way.' I was determined to beat all of them to say the least. Psyduck and I are more a like than I thought."

"Wow." Misty exclaimed. Even though Anabel was an inexperienced trainer, she was already learning to think on her feet. "That was impressive Anabel."

Anabel blushed at the compliment. She was improving.

June 17th

It had been a day and a half since Ash and Anabel had returned to the Cerulean Gym, but Gary still didn't show up yet. Ash had stationed his own Pokemon around the Gym to act as look outs, but there had been no activity.

Ash had sacrificed nearly an entire night of sleep expecting Gary to strike on the first night, so now he found himself laying down on one of the sofas in the lobby, nodding in and out of sleep.

The moon was already out and the girls had gone to sleep as Ash challenged himself to go another night without sleep, although he was failing miserably.

"Ugh." Ash replied as he slapped his cheek, hoping that the stinging pain would help him stay awake. Unfortunately this was useless as he felt his heavy eyelids shut for good.

Across the street from the Gym, a lone silhouette stood on a rooftop, his true appearance being completely concealed by the darkness of the night. Raising a pair of binoculars to his eyes, he peered into the gym in search of his target. In the lobby he could see Ash out cold one of the chairs.

"Figures you'd fall asleep Ashy-boy." The figure said with a chuckle before checking another entrance to the Gym where he could see Ash's Wartortle standing guard at the door. Even though Ash had fallen asleep, his Pokemon were still acting as lookouts all over the Gym. It would be so easy to enter with six Pokemon scanning the area.

But six Pokemon could only cover so much ground.

Pulling out a Pokeball, the figure called out his Pidgeot which he quickly mounted, ordering it to take him to the aquarium section of the Cerulean City. This was the only area of the Gym where he could enter through the roof using the skylight.

Landing on the roof, the figure jumped off the back of his Pokemon, motioning for it to join him by the skylight. Taking a moment to observe the object that stood between him and entering the Gym, he found that only a pair of hatches held down the glass. Pointing at the hinges, Pidgeot gave its trainer a nod before using its large talons to tear off the hinges.

"Good." He said as he jumped off the back of his Pidgeot, kneeling down beside the skylight to grab the edges of the object. Lifting slowly, the glass proved to much heavier than he had imagined, but this wouldn't stop him from completing his task.

Placing the glass beside the opening in the roof, the figure gave a sigh of relief as he looked down into the gym. In the large room below there was a number of water tanks that contained numerous water type Pokemon as an exhibit for the citizens of Cerulean City to visit. The figure motioned for Pidgeot to remain on the roof before he called out his second Pokemon, and Umbreon.

"Umbreon, I need you to use Psychic and take us down into the Gym." He whispered to his dark furred Pokemon who had practically disappeared in the night. The two of them gained a blue outline that raised them into the air for a few moments, then the two of them began to move down the skylight and into the water Pokemon exhibit, remaining as quiet as possible.

Umbreon dropped itself and its trainer on the floor without so much as a sound so as not to awaken any the Pokemon that were sleeping inside of the tanks.

"Good work, let's move." He said, motioning for Umbreon to follow him toward the exit of the exhibit.

Similar to Ash, Misty had been struggling to sleep with the thought of Gary being out and about. She hadn't slept much the night before, but tonight she had crashed due to the lack of sleep early in the afternoon.

The door to Misty's room creaked open, allowing an Umbreon to enter her room and look around before giving the 'all clear' signal to its trainer who quickly joined it. Entering her room, the figure took a moment to look around the room in a deadpan before his eyes settled on the red head that was resting on her bed.

"Misty, it's been far too long since I've last seen you." He said softly as he approached her bed. He took a seat on the edge of her bed, continuing to observe her sleeping her appearance. Then he placed a hand on her shoulder, gently nudging her awake.

"What do you want Daisy?" Misty grumbled as she looked up groggily at the person seated beside her. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dark, but when they did Misty could only gasp at what she saw.

It was the same brown haired young man that she had dated in high school. Gary Oak! But he was different. He had grown up more, possessing not only the facial features of a man, but the body to match.

"Ga-" Misty began to speak, but before she could get a word out she found a hand around her throat.

"Before you speak, I just want to let you know one thing." Gary whispered to her as he yanked her up from her bed to her feet as he rose up. Misty began to swing her arms at Gary, but she soon found herself pinned against the wall of her room. "You're in for a world of pain after that stunt you pulled at the Tsugi Academy."

Even though she could shout with the grip Gary had around her neck, Misty continued to fight back, pounding him with her fists, but this didn't seem to bother him at all. So she turned to the only option she had left. Raising her right knee, Misty slammed her knee into Gary's groin, getting a pained gasp from him as he stumbled back a bit, releasing her.

Without any hesitation, Misty made a dash for the door of her room to make a quick escape, but she was pounced by Gary's Umbreon who knocked her to the floor. As Umbreon landed on top of her torso, Misty could see that it was prepared to sink its teeth into her. Raising her arm, Misty blocked its attack with her forearm although the sharp pain from her skin breaking in multiple places gained shout of pain from her.

"Trying to run away?" Gary asked as he straightened up, shaking off the pain he had been feeling a few moments before. "Well this time Ash isn't here to protect you."

Misty then threw Umbreon off of her torso and jumped to her feet as Gary blocked the exit to her room.

"Who said I needed Ash to protect me?" Misty asked in return as she ran toward her dresser. Inside she had a Pokeball just in case of emergencies such as this one.

"Umbreon, get her!" Gary ordered.

After nearly tearing out the draw that contained the Pokeball, Misty snatched the device out of the draw and spun around the hurl device a Umbreon who had jumped on to her bed. Umbreon hissed as it was hit the Pokeball before it opened it, releasing Misty's Golduck on the bed.

"Golduck, use Hydro Pump!" Misty ordered as she pointed at Umbreon and Gar.

"Duck!" It shouted before blasting both of them with a huge surge of water that slammed them against the wall of the room.

"Now let's go!" Misty said as she jumped onto to its back. "Use Aqua Jet and get us out of here!"

Allowing a torrent of water to envelop its body, Golduck dove at the window of the Misty's room, shattering the glass as the two of them focused on escaping Gary.

'This should buy us some time.' Misty said to herself as she looked down at the scratches she had received from the broken shards of glass. But before she could even consider relax, Golduck came screeching to a halt as a blue outline formed around them. "Oh no."

Glancing back at the window they had just exited through, Misty could see Umbreon with a pair of bright blue eyes that stood out in the dark. They hadn't gotten very far from the window, but now it was clear to Misty that escaping Gary wouldn't be so easy. She could only hope that Ash would arrive soon, or at least one of his Pokemon.

Walking through the halls of the Cerulean Gym had become a rather fun task for Pikachu. The actual corridors could be boring, but the aquarium was also in the section Ash had given it to watch over, so Pikachu spent a large portion of its time there talking with Misty's Pokemon.

But right now, Pikachu found itself peeking into Misty's room to make sure everything was alright. Unfortunately it was greeted with a sight that greatly alarmed the Pokemon. The window had been broken and the carpet, bed and walls had been soaked with water. Something was definitely going on.

"Pikaaa!" Pikachu shouted as it took off in a sprint for the lobby where it knew Ash was keeping watch.

'We have to think of a way to attract attention to ourselves.' Misty said to herself as Gary and Umbreon slowly approached them. They couldn't run as long as Gary's Umbreon was active, but they would also have difficulty fighting back as well. They needed help right now!

"I must admit Misty, I never thought you'd be the one to turn again back at the Tusgi Academy." Gary commented.

"What are you doing here Gary?" Misty asked.

"I can't reveal that right now. Lawrence wouldn't like." Gary replied.

"Lawrence? As in the maniac who tried to capture the Legendary Birds?!" Misty exclaimed. "What are you doing with a guy like him?"

"I can't tell you anything else. None of this concerns you." Gary stated.

"Then why are you attacking me?"

"To get to Ashy-boy."

"So why me?"

"The easiest way to get to Ash, it to take out his friends."

"Gary, you better leave him alone." Misty warned him.

"Or what?" Gary snapped at her. "What are you going to do?"

"Golduck, send a Water Pulse straight into the air!" Misty commanded. Golduck quickly followed her order, firing the attack into the sky where it exploded, creating a brief rainfall of the roof of the Gym.

There was a moment of silence before a deep growl gained everyone's attention. Ash's Charizard came rush up to the roof, quickly spotting Misty and her Golduck in a Psychic choke hold. With a second roar it dove down at Gary who glared at the fire type.

"Umbreon, keep it away with Shadow Ball!" Gary commanded.

"Umbre!" It said as it fired the sphere shaped attack, but Charizard simply slapped the attack away with the back side of its wing before continuing its approach toward Umbreon.

Igniting a Dragon Claw attack, Charizard came crashing down onto Umbreon, blowing away its trainer as Charizard attack the dark type Pokemon relentlessly to free Misty and Golduck.

"Damn it." Gary muttered once Misty and Golduck were free. He was aiming to finish this without drawing the attention of Ash's Pokemon. But now he had no choice but to start battling.

Charzard stepped away from Umbreon who had fainted from the fury of attacks, glaring at Gary along with Misty and Golduck who were ready to battle him.

"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this." Gary said as he called back his Umbreon and tucked away it's Pokeball in his pocket before pulling out a second Pokeball. "Electivire, use Thunderbolt!"

Releasing his next Pokemon, Misty, Charizard and Golduck were caught off guard by the sudden outburst of electricity. All three of them were sent tumbling backward after being hit by one of the bolts as the black and yellow evolution of Electabuzz stared at them.

"Now focus on Charizard!" Gary ordered, putting all of Electivire's attention of Charizard. Unleashing a second Thunderbolt, Charizard was hit by every bolt which gained a roar of pain from the Pokemon.

'Charizard can't take hits like that for long.' Misty said to herself as she fought to rise to her feet. It was then she felt how tight her muscles were, as if they had locked up with paralysis. She couldn't move. "Golduck, help Charizard with Aqua Jet!"

"Golduck!" It yelled as it rushed off with water surging around it toward Electivire.

"Counter with Thunder Punch." Gary said neutrally.

Raising its right fist, Electivire threw a dangerous right hook into Golduck's Aqua Jet, hitting it square on the nose which sent the water type Pokemon reeling from the hit. The back to back electrical damage rendered Golduck unable to battle, causing Misty to curse mentally. This battle was quickly moving in Gary's favor.

"Come on Electivire, let's finish this." Gary said as he and Pokemon approached Misty who struggled to move after being hit by one of the Thunderbolts. "Break open one of the skylights."

As Electivire followed his command, Gary collected Misty from the roof and threw her over one his shoulders.

"Let go of me Gary!" Misty hollered at him but this didn't slow him down as he walked over to the skylight that Electivire had just opened for him.

"Rah!" Charizard shouted as it spread its wings in one last desperate attempt to rush at Gary and Electivire.

"Don't worry about it. Take us down." Gary said to his Pokemon, motioning for it to go down the skylight into the room below. Lifting its trainer up from the ground, Electivire jumped into the skylight, dropping down into the room that contained yet another pool.

Looking up at the skylight, Electivire chuckled as it realized that Charizard couldn't fit through because of its wingspan. Even with its wings folded, Charizard wouldn't be able to intervene which seemed to enrage the Pokemon as it began to fire Flamethrower attacks down the skylight at Gary and Electivire but the attack couldn't reach its target.

Setting Gary down on the ground, Electivire watched as he approached the pool with Misty on his shoulder. She could only shout and protest as Gary raised her up with the full intention of hurling her into the water, if not for the lone Pokemon that slept in this pool.

Down at the bottom of the pool, the large water snake Pokemon wrinkled its forehead as it struggled to ignore all of the shouting coming from above. Realizing that the commotion wouldn't be ending anytime soon, its eyes snapped open as it rushed up to the surface.

"GRAAAAH!" Gyarados roared as it burst out of the water, glaring at Gary, Misty and Electivire.

"Damn." Gary muttered as he looked up at the Pokemon loomed over him with a murderous stare. He would've felt more threatened by the Pokemon if he didn't have his Electivire beside him. "Electivire, knock it out with Thunderbolt!"

Gyarados gave another roar before opening up its massive mouth, unleashing a powerful jet of water that was aimed at Electivire. The electric type Pokemon quickly dove out of the way to avoid taking the hit before firing off several bolts of electricity at Gyarados who screeched in pain from the attack. Opening its mouth once again to begin preparing its next attack.

Immediately recognizing the bright light that was gathering in Gyarados' mouth as Hyper Beam, Gary quickly called for Electivire to move. Cutting off its attack, Electivire had just enough time to leap to its side to avoid being hit by the enormous white beam that destroyed the floor with a thunderous boom that could be heard throughout the Gym.

Gary looked at the damage caused by the Hyper Beam, realizing that this Gyarados was far stronger than he was giving it credit for. He never would've thought that Misty would have such a powerful Pokemon in her possession.

"Electivire, we need something stronger to knock out this Gyarados!" Gary hollered to his Pokemon that was on the opposite side of the smoke. "Use Wild Charge!"

"Electivire!" It replied as it gained a faint yellow glow that soon became an electrical cloak. As Electivire prepared to use Wild Charge, Gyarados overcame the fatigue from using Hyper Beam and began to prepare a second one, this time planning to make sure that it finished off Electivire.

Electivire was the first to finish preparing its attack, taking off in a mad dash toward Gyarados in order to land an attack before it could use Hyper Beam again. Taking one giant leap toward Gyarados' head, Electivire found itself flying straight toward Gyarados' chin. Hitting the chin of the water snake Pokemon, Gyarados' head was forcefully turned upward from the blow, causing it to fire its Hyper Beam at the ceiling. The energy beam tore apart the roof, causing it to fall to begin to crumble in large chunks that drop down on top of Gyarados who roared with pain as it was buried within the pool.

"Gyarados!" Misty screamed before she noticed that Gary had raised her above his head. Without a second thought, Gary hurled her into the pool as well with Gyarados as large pieces of the roof continued to fall into the pool.

"Electivire, return!" Gary yelled as he raised its Pokeball to call back the Pokemon to avoid having it get pulled down with the debris. Taking a moment to observe his handy work, Gary felt a chill go down his spine as Ash's Charizard landed behind him with thud. It had gotten in now that the ceiling was broken. "Crap."

"Rah!" It roared, snatching Gary off the floor with its tail.

"Argh!" Gary said as it squeezed him tightly. He could barely move within the confines of its tail, but he didn't let this stop him from managing to press the button at the center of Electivire's Pokemon to release his Pokemon. Dropping the Pokeball, it opened up to release Electivire who socked Charizard in the stomach, forcing it to release its hold on Gary.

Electivire then followed up with a right hook that sent Charizard sliding away on its back with a groan.

"Thanks Electivire." Gary said as he rubbed his shoulders to soothe the pain from almost being broken if half by Charizard.

"It came from in here!" A voice shouted as the doors to this room burst open revealing Ash with his Wartortle and Primeape. Ash had been sleeping soundly for all but twenty minutes before he was awakened by Pikachu. He had groggily moved through the Gym after being awakened, until he felt the entire building tremble. From the point on his heartbeat had picked up at the thought of what could be taking place, to the point where he was wide awake and running on adrenaline alone.

But upon arriving at the location that he thought was the source of the commotion, Ash found a scene of mayhem with none other than Gary Oak standing at the center of it all.

"Gary."

"Ashy-boy." Gary replied as he studied how much Ash had changed since he had last seen him. "As much as I love to stay, I've got run."

Leaping onto the back of his Electivire, his Pokemon then jumped straight through the large whole in the ceiling to get onto the roof in order to find Gary's Pidgeot.

"Gary!" Ash shouted as he motioned for Charizard to help him pursue Gary.

"Rah!" Charizard shouted in reply as it continued to remove debris from the pool, calling for Wartortle and Primeape to help.

"Ash, what's going on?" Daisy exclaimed as she and her sisters entered the room along with Anabel and Pikachu.

"Oh my gosh, what happened in here?!" Violet yelled as she looked around at the damage.

"Misty's not in her room and her room has been torn apart!" Lily added, receiving a shout from Charizard.

"She's in the pool?!" Anabel screamed as she rushed over to assist the Pokemon as they worked to dig out Misty and Gyarados. Ash felt his hands begin to tremble at the thought of Gary's smug expression before he left. That was the last straw.

"Wartortle, go find Mr Mime, it can use Psychic to make this much easier. Daisy, Violet or Lily, go call for an ambulance." Ash ordered before calling for Charizard once again. "Charizard, we're going after him!"

Gary sat comfortably on the back of his Pidgeot as they soared over the Nugget Bridge, heading toward Route 25 in the moonlight night skies. His original plan didn't involve any battles or any damage being caused the Gym, but not only was Misty stubborn, but she put up a decent fight.

Regardless of what happened in the Gym, Gary only had to sit back now and see if his plan had been a success.

"Gary!" Someone roared from behind, causing Gary to glance backward where he could see a Charizard with Ash on its back speeding toward them.

"Get ready Pidgeot." Gary said as his pursuers neared them. Once they were within range, Charizard fired off a Flamethrower attack to bring Pidgeot out of the sky, but the mobile bird Pokemon adeptly avoided the attack before swinging around to attack Charizard.

"Look out Charizard!" Ash called out as Pidgeot came swooping down at them. Charizard rolled out of the path of Pidgeot's attack, but it was then Charizard realized the mistake it had made by rolling unexpectedly. Ash didn't have a proper grip on his Pokemon and was thrown off of it in the air. "Charizard!"

"Rah!" It grumbled as it dove down to rescue Ash, snatching him out of the air with its hands before looking up to search for Gary and Pidgeot.

"Over there!" Ash pointed as he saw their silhouettes going down for a landing in a densely forested area at then end of the NuggetBridge. "Quick Charizard, we can't let them get away!"

Racing off to continue the chase, Ash and Charizard found themselves heading toward something that they would have never expected to find sitting within the trees of Route 25. Thick walls surrounded the perimeter, a lovely courtyard, tall towers, sparkling windows. It was a palace.

'Can this day get any weirder?' Ash asked himself as he motioned for Charizard to land in front of the large entrance in the courtyard. Landing softly, Charizard placed Ash on his feet before letting out a sigh of relief now that it could relax for a bit. Observing Charizard for a moment, Ash noticed that it had taken quite a beating already and all of the fast flying was adding to the fatigue that Charizard was experiencing. "Take a rest Charizard, I'll handle this."

Withdrawing Charizard to its Pokeball, Ash then hit his head a few times with a closed fist. He was in such a rush to pursue Gary that he had left back all of his other Pokemon at the Gym, and he also failed to notice that Charizard was already suffering from the battle it was in earlier. He could only hope that he wouldn't have to call Charizard immediately so that it could rest for a bit.

Looking up at the large entryway to the palace, Ash gulped hard to build up the extra nerve before marching in.

"Gary!" He hollered as entered the lobby of the palace that would have been extremely difficult to see in if not for the moonlight. His voice echoed down the corridors and around the lobby, alerting to the two people that were waiting for him that there guest had arrived.

"No need to be so loud Ashy-boy." Gary said as he stepped out of one of the dark corridors, moving toward Ash who only glared at him.

"Gary. And why did you attack Brock and Misty?" Ash demanded as he pointed at Gary.

"A friend of mine wanted to speak to you. The easiest way to get you here was to force you to come looking for me." Gary explained before flashing him a quick smirk. "But I figured a little payback was in order for what happened on the Tsugi Island."

"You bastard!" Ash hissed at him.

"I wouldn't be calling me names Ash considering you have nothing to protect yourself with at the moment." Gary pointed out as he leaned back against the wall. Ash bit his tongue in order to stop himself from continuing. As much as he wanted to get back at Gary right this very second, he didn't have the means to do so. And attempting to battle Gary with only his weakened Charizard would end in disaster.

"That's beside the point! How did you get out prison?"

"I released him." A new voice intervened, drawing Ash and Gary's attention. Gary immediately straightened up at the appearance of the man who stepped out from the center corridor of the lobby.

'Oh, you've got to be kidding me.' Ash said to himself as he stared at Lawrence III.

"Hello Ash, it's good to see you again." Lawrence said as he welcomed Ash with a wave before frowning at the distrustful stare he was receiving from Ash.

"This is so messed up. What the hell is going on here?" Ash asked as he returned his gaze to Gary.

"Allow me to explain." Lawrence said as he approached the two young men. "Can I assume that Riley has informed you about our little…'race.'"

Ash's expression hardened at the mention of the word 'race'. Riley had used to the exact same word, but he didn't mention anything about Lawrence.

"Yeah, he has." Ash stated. "So what does it have to do with you?"

"Well you see Ash, I needed an accomplice to assist me. After witnessing Gary's actions at the Tsugi Academy, I found him to be the perfect partner to join me. There's too much at stake for me to lose this race." Lawrence began.

"How much is at stake?"

"Much more than you could imagine." Lawrence went on. "But unfortunately this race hasn't begun yet. The starting pistol hasn't been fired yet."

"What do you mean?"

"Riley and I, we're pursuing the same thing, but neither of us have the means to find it." Lawrence explained before motioning to Ash. "But you do."

"I do." Ash said as he wrinkled his forehead. "How is that possible?"

"Not you. You're just close to the person that this race is centered around." Lawrence continued, adding to Ash's confusion as he thought about it. Who could that be?

Misty? Brock? Riley?

'She's a very special child…'

"Is it Anabel?" Ash asked.

"Bingo." Lawrence said with a small smile.

"What does she had to do with this?" Ash demanded as he looked at Lawrence.

"As I told you before, she will be the center of attention. The eye of the storm." Lawrence replied. "And once this storm begins, there's no stopping it."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just a warning."

"For what?" Ash asked as he eyed Lawrence suspiciously. Lawrence only smiled in return now that he had Ash's interest. Now all he had to do was drag him in completely.

"If you plan on getting involved, you have to be prepared for any, unfortunate losses." Lawrence replied. "Take your mother for example-"

"What would you know about my mother?!" Ash snapped at him.

"I know for a fact that her killer is still at large." Lawrence responded.

"Are you out of your mind? She wasn't killed, she died because of a rare heart disease." Ash stated. Professor Oak had told him everything about his mother's death. Lawrence was just trying to mess with his head.

"How can you be so sure Ash?" Lawrence asked as he took a step toward Ash who backed away a bit.

"I just, know it."

"Well, what if I could tell you that her murder weapon is still in your house." Lawrence said to Ash who stomped his foot angrily.

"Just shut up!" He shouted at Lawrence. There was no way his mother was…murdered. That was…impossible. Right?

Ash took a few steps back, stumbling a bit before finally turning away to leave the palace in a full sprint. This was just crazy. First Gary shows up, and now he's working with Lawrence.

This 'race' definitely had a lot more going on behind the scenes than he first thought.

And now his mother.

Once he was out in the courtyard, Ash hurled Charizard's Pokeball at the ground to release his Pokemon quickly. Then he jumped onto its back and ordered it into the sky. He couldn't stay here. He had to get away.

Lawrence and Gary watched as Ash raced away on his Charizard before turning to each other.

"So was his mother murdered?" Gary asked, recieving a nod from Lawrence.

"By a third party that will remain nameless." Lawrence replied. "But the death of his mother is small in comparison to what's really going on. This is only the beginning."

A/N

Here you guys go. :) This one took a bit longer than I was planning, so hopefully I can follow up with another one soon. Now the story is really starting to unfold as we get into Anabel's significance, and how I'm going to drag Ash into this huge mess.

For those of you who thought that Anabel fainting had something to do with Mewtwo or Gary, you're all way off! :D It's something even bigger than than that. Just you wait!

I'm starting to get really pumped because everything is finally starting to heat up with Gary finally getting to show up and Lawrence is cooking up a scheme. I can't wait for you guys to see everything I've got planned, but until then I hope you all keep reading because this just the beginning.

I hope you all enjoy your time off from work or school, or whatever you're free from. :D