In the middle of the ocean...

Juan was still surprised by Misty's forwardness but smiled nonetheless.

He replied, "You have a battle, Miss Waterflower."

"Misty," she corrected.

Juan nodded as Erika asked, "So, shall I referee?"

"Please," Misty asked.

Erika nodded and went the middle of the pool. Misty went over to the other side as did her Gyarados. Unknown to any of them, Silver was behind them and saw the older version of Erika Jones. Silver started to have a nose bleed, time really helped Erika grow. 'Focus on the mission, not on getting the girl,' Silver thought, scolding himself mentally. With that, he went downstairs and out of sight.

Erika stated, "This battle between Juan and Misty will now begin! Each trainer will use one Pokémon a piece and the battle will be over with when either's side's Pokémon can not continue. In addition, there will be no exchanges. Begin!"

Misty went first as she commanded, "Gyarados, use Ice Fang!"

Gyarados roared as its mouth opened with the chilling aura. Gyarados bit down on Milotic's tail. Juan was impressed with Gyarados speed.

He commanded, "Use Iron Tail!"

"Milo," said the Tender Pokémon.

Milotic's tail started to glow white and hit the Atrocious Pokémon. Gyarados was dazed but it could still battle. Misty was impressed with Juan and Milotic's power. 'I can see why he's a gym leader, he's rather tough,' Misty thought. Juan thought, 'She is a great gym leader, this battle is going to be interesting.'

Misty commanded, "Gyarados, use Twister!"

Gyarados fired the dragon type move, making a water tornado in the pool, like Milotic did before.

Juan commanded, "Milotic, use your Twister!"

Milotic did the same thing as Gyarados did as the two attacks collided in the middle, making a powerful water spout come up, making rain and a rainbow. But Juan was looking around for the Atrocious Pokémon, who had disappeared.

"Where'd Gyarados go," Juan asked.

"Milo," asked the Tender Pokémon.

Misty smiled and commanded, "Use Ice Fang!"

Gyarados came up from underneath the water and bit down on Milotic, freezing it.

"Milotic," Juan cried out, worried.

Milotic was frozen over and knocked out.

Erika called, "Milotic is unable to battle, Gyarados wins! The victor of this match is Misty!"

Misty was in shock but then cried out, "We did it, Gyarados!"

Gyarados roared happily as Juan recalled Milotic, not in the least disappointed. He was rather pleased on how the battle turned out. Juan went over to Misty as did Erika, smiling.

"That was an awesome match, Misty," Erika stated.

"Thanks," Misty replied.

Juan added, "And your battle style was interesting and new. I rather liked it."

"Wow, that means a lot," Misty responded.

Erika asked, "How did you think of Gyarados diving into the water?"

Misty explained, "Well, I knew that Juan was probably going to do a close range attack after the water decreased so I told Gyarados to go underwater to hide."

Juan commented, "That battle was amazing and it gave me a great idea for the Water Festival."

Before either girl could ask, the whistle blew, indicating that they had arrived in Sinnoh.


Sinnoh Region...

Ash, Pikachu, Dawn, Piplup, Brock, Ranee, and Crasher Wake were waiting at the docks. Ash was getting really excited about seeing Misty and Erika again. But he was more excited about seeing Misty. Dawn was getting really psyched.

"Wow, I can't believe we finally get to meet Lure Girl," Dawn stated.

Piplup nodded and replied, "Pip lup!"

Brock chuckled as he corrected, "Her name is Misty, Dawn."

"I haven't seen the Waterflower sisters since I left the Kanto region," Ranee responded.

Crasher Wake commented, "Well, I am just excited to meet Juan and Misty."

Just then, the boat arrived at the dock. A mysterious shadow went passed everyone, fast and swift.

"What was with that," Ranee questioned.

"Ash," a voice yelled, excited.

Ash spun around and saw Misty running up towards him.

"Mist," Ash breathed, running towards her.

The two embraced but quickly pulled apart due to their blushing.

"G-good to see you again, Ash," Misty commented.

"Y-you too, Mist," Ash stated.

Juan and Erika were right behind as Misty hugged Brock next.

Brock stated, "Wow, Misty, you really have grown as pretty as your sisters."

"Thanks," Misty replied, smiling. She looked over at Dawn and stated, "You must be Dawn!"

Dawn nodded and replied, "Yeah, it is nice to finally meet you, Misty!"

Juan went over to Crasher Wake and commented, "You must be Crasher Wake then."

"That I am and you must be Juan," Wake stated.

Erika tickled Ash from behind, making him jump and she laughed.

Ash commented, "Oh for Arceus sake, Erika. You scared me!"

"Now don't go using Pokémon's name in vein, Ash Ketchum," Erika teased.

As everyone met and got caught up, Ash turned to Misty.

"So do wanna see the Pokémon here from Sinnoh," Ash asked, smiling.

Misty nodded excitedly and answered, "Sure, that sounds like fun."

Ash turned to Ranee and challenged, "Then do you mind if we have a match to show them off?"

"Not at all," Ranee answered.

In an instant, the two of them tossed their poke balls. Out of Ash's poke ball popped Torterra and out of Ranee's poke ball popped Lucario.

"Terra," said the Continent Pokémon.

The Aura Pokémon grunted.

"Lucario," breathed Ash, impressed.

Erika brought out her Pokedex and scanned Torterra first.

Dexter chirped, "Torterra, the Continent Pokémon. Some Pokémon are born on a Torterra's back and spend their entire life there. Lucario, the Aura Pokémon. A well-trained one can sense auras to identify and take in the feelings of creatures over half a mile away. Also by reading the auras of all things, it can tell how others are feeling from over half a mile away."

"You up for a expo match, Lucario," Ranee asked her Pokémon.

Lucario grunted as Ash turned to Torterra.

He asked his Pokémon, "You up for this?"

"Terra," Torterra answered.

Brock decided to judge the match and yelled out, standing in the middle, "This one-on-one match between Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and Ranee Katina from Veilstone City will now begin!"

Ash went first and commanded, "Torterra, Rock Climb!"

"Terra," the Continent Pokémon yelled as its claws turned white.

Torterra slammed on the ground and made rocks appeared. Torterra then started to climb.

Ranee quickly reacted and commanded, "Lucario stop Torterra, use Aura Sphere!"

Lucario grunted as it fired the blue aura at the Continent Pokémon. Torterra, being slow, couldn't dodge it and got hit by the attack. However, Lucario was hit too.

Ranee sneered a bit as she commanded, "Lucario, Metal Claw!"

Lucario grunted and went charging at Torterra at full speed.

Ash quickly reacted, "Torterra, Energy Ball!"

Torterra prepared to fire the grass ball at Lucario but timing was off as Lucario destroyed the Energy Ball and hit the Continent Pokémon. Misty was impressed that Lucario was that quick. But she knew that Ash wouldn't go down quietly.

Ash commanded, "Leaf Storm and then Energy Ball!"

Everyone exchanged confused looks but the two attacks were launched as the leaves from Leaf Storm surrounded Energy Ball, making it more powerful. Lucario was hit by the double attack as Ranee looked stunned. She wasn't expecting that. 'That...was like from a contest and that was some combination,' she thought.

"Okay, I think that about does it," Brock stated.

Ranee went over to Lucario and said, "That was a great battle, Lucario."

The Aura Pokémon grunted as she recalled it back to its poke ball.

Ash went over to Torterra and stated, "You fought well, Torterra and you deserve a great rest."

"Terra," said the Continent Pokémon as it was called back to its poke ball.

Misty went over to Ash and said, smiling, "You have really improved."

"Yeah but nothing like my dad," Ash stated, lowering his hat over his eyes sadly.

Misty noticed this and knew that Ash was sad whenever he did that. 'His dad,' Misty thought.

Erika went over to Ranee and stated, "I have to say, Lucario certainly was impressive as was Torterra."

Dawn added, "Your Lucario was just as strong as Maylene's!"

Wake stated, "I must admit, you both did a very fine job."

"I happen to agree," Juan replied.

"Thanks so much, both of you," Ranee responded, bowing out of respect.

"We better get to the Pokémon Center," Ash commented, lifting his hat over his eyes again.

Everyone nodded as they headed there. But Misty lagged behind, capturing Dawn and Ranee's attention.

"You coming, Misty," Dawn asked.

"Uh, yeah," Misty said, as she went too.


AK1028: Now, I know that my original character Erika Jones and the gym leader of Celadon City Erika have the same first name. I already have one review asking if I meant the Celadon gym leader, which I don't. I plan to fix this by referring to the Celadon gym leader as Erica. This will help with any further confusion if I do decide to use Erica in this story or not. Haven't made up my mind yet, though. So there you have it, the Celadon gym leader is now Erica to prevent further confusion. Other than that, I apologize for the delay in this chapter. Had writer's block for a bit. Anyways, please read and review! And always think outside of the box!