Hey Guys... long time no see :P So it's been a while, so I present to you a long chapter here! Sorry for the delay, but been busy with uni and the release of X and Y (which caused me to stop writing for a bit to process all the new info!) Enjoy!

The city of water. It was mostly famous for the Sensational Sisters, with their unusual water shows held regularly at the gym. But now they were most forgotten. People began to grow tired of seeing the same old thing regularly, and drifted off to new and more exciting things going on. The PokéCircus had grown strong, with different acts appearing most of time. Ticket sales went down, leading to any income from the water shows going towards nothing.
So it eventually meant that the show was closed, leaving just the gym in its wake instead. The town was normal again, and the only non-Cerulean's to enter the city were trainers going for the gym. The city had become peaceful and quaint like it had been so long ago…

"I WAS FIRST!"

"LIES YOU IDIOT! I GOT HERE FIRST FAIR AND SQUARE. DON'T CHEAT!"

The duo shouting out at each other was certainly out of the blue for the town, leading to many of the locals giving the two strange looks, before shaking their heads, carrying on with their daily lives.

"Josh don't even try this with me! I was here first. Deal with it!" Cindy said, shaking her fist at the boy as her eyes slowly squinted at him.

"Ha-ha nice try. But a girl like you wouldn't be able to beat me! That's why I-"

*CLUMP*

"Hehe magikarp." Josh giggled as he collapsed onto his back, Cindy towering over him with a baseball bat in her right arm, tapping it against her left palm. The poor boy was giggling away to himself as in his eyes; he saw the mighty magikarp going around his vision.
Ash let out a small chuckle as he saw the scene in front of him, it reminded him so much of his youth, and when he was threatened by the magical mallet, which always seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Hey Cindy… Where on earth do you keep that bat?" Ash asked, eyeing it up carefully.

"Oh you know us girls. We can always find a place for stuff." Cindy said casually as she pulled a mirror out of her bag, looking at something in reflection before chucking it back in.

"Definitely the bag. Bigger on the inside compared to how it looks on the outside" Ash thought to himself, just as Josh finally managed to come back. He groaned as he grabbed his head, shakily getting up to his feet, before firing daggers from his eyes towards Cindy.

"Women. Always getting away with murder." He muttered under his breath, before making his way over to his travelling partner, who had stopped outside a building with a massive Dewgong on its front.

"So this is it then I guess?" He said, looking the building up and down, impressed with its size.

"Yep. This is where the map says we are supposed to go. So what are we waiting for then!" Cindy shouted, punching the air before setting off towards the building with Josh at her heel. Ash followed behind slowly, mind focused on the job that was at hand. Pikachu patted his partners head sadly, knowing the pain that he went through.

"You know what Pikachu… it has been too long. Too long being buried away in that cave. I waited and waited, not knowing what to do, or when would be the best time for me to come back. They caused me the pain to do that. The pain of having everything ripped away from me, and not being able to have it. And I think it's time that I give them all something which is similar to that." He said, before placing his hand to his belt and holding up a dusk ball.

"Chaaaa!?" The exclamation came from the electric type as he saw what pokemon his trainer wanted to use. It was one of the few powerhouses that even he struggled against regularly, and for Ash to use him… he definitely meant business.

"Fun time." Ash said with a small smile as he entered the building, the automatic doors hissing as the allowed him entry. He saw the two at the reception, handing in their pokédex's for inspection. Over the years, the checks had become quicker and efficient due to technology changes, allowing for more gym battles to be conducted in a better time. So all was done in about five minutes for the two of them, before they were told to go in when they were ready.

Ash waved them on when they started to head towards him. "I have business to attend to guys. I'll come in later and watch." He said casually, eyes glancing around the place. The teenagers looked at each and shrugged before walking through the swinging doors on the left of the reception towards the battlefield.
Once they had gone, he calmly walked over to the desk; looking at the receptionist dead in the eyes as he leant forward. "Hi there, I've got a little request, and I was wondering if you would be able to help me…"

*Time skip about 1 hour later*

The battles against Misty were definitely the hardest they had faced so far. In fact, it was so hard they had to say that Misty was a tougher Gym leader then Clair! And for that to be said, it certainly was something.

If they hadn't of started training with Ash, they would of certainly of been crushed; yet just the few tips and hints he had given them whilst they were walking and training were seeing to pay off. Josh's Togekiss was more capable of being able to become more threatening with its additional move pool. With Ash's help, whom he called Red, he had managed to teach it shock wave and charge beam, making it a formidable opponent. However, he was told not to just focus on using his flying type, but to train with his other pokemon as well.
And he could see where Red was coming on from that point, as the lack of training he had given the rest of his team was shown; in a simple 3v3 battle, he was reduced to Togekiss as his last pokemon, and he barely even managed to defeat Misty's Dewgong, even with the new moves.

Cindy on the other hand, had a much easier ride as her team already had a more balanced move pool. However for her she lack the raw power that was inside her pokemon; well, that was what Red had told her. He said that she had to embrace it, and not hold back; she was puzzled by this as she didn't know how to really do this. But she had trained harder, and it certainly paid off to some extent, when she managed to beat Misty's last pokemon with the last strength of her 2nd pokemon, who decided to crash out after that.

However, they both were extremely happy when they walked up to the Water gym leader to collect their badges, which were being presented from a velvet box.

"Well done you two. Certainly been one of the better matches I've had in a while. I could see you had trained well, especially against my tier 2 team." Misty said with a smile as she took each Cascade Badge out of the box and placed it in the open palms of each trainer.

"Tier 2…?" Josh asked with a puzzled look on his face, before glancing over at Cindy who had the same look on her face as well.

"Well it's not common knowledge, but it's a system that was introduced a few years ago. Apparently there were gym leaders that would put out a weaker team on purpose because they couldn't be asked to actually fight, granting trainers an underserved badge. So a system was introduced that each gym leader had to register their pokemon onto a level scale, which would show officials in a battle if a gym leader was using the best possible team in each match." Misty said as she closed the box and placed it on the floor, before stretching out.

"So, how many pokemon have you got in your highest tier then? And how many people actually face against it?" Cindy asked, genuinely intrigued with this new information. It actually explained why they had to say what pokemon they were going to use in the matches, rather than mentally swearing at the gym leaders for gaining an unfair add vantage.

"So far, I only have two pokemon registered at Tier 1. But they hardly battle unless it's against another gym leader or elite. But sometimes requests also come through for a battle against them, which is quite rare." Misty said with a shrug, before the PokeTech on her wrist went off. She glanced down, before tapping on the screen. "Well, that's quite weird… Someone's requested a Tier 1 battle with me for now. Usually I get warning before this, but it's not the end of the world." Misty reached down onto her waterproof bag that she had next to her feet, and picked out two slightly paler pokeballs. The red was still there, but it was slowly going towards a more pinkish colour.

"If you want, you can sit down on the side to watch this match so you can get an idea of what it's like" Misty said as she turned around, only to see the two trainers already sitting down, starring opened eyed at the battlefield. She just shook her head, before she took her place on the podium, starring at the pool in front of her with the floating boards rocking slightly.

The door creaked open slowly, before a figure dressed in all black stepped out, with the hood up covering the whole of the challenger's face. For a short distance to the opposite podium, the challenger was taking their time, with the click of each foot stepping down echoing around the arena.

"Welcome challenger. I admire your bravo for this battle, but I'm afraid you won't be able to win this. May I have your name please?" Misty said casually as she placed a hand on each hip.

"…"

"Uhhh hello? Anyone there?" Misty said as she cocked up an eyebrow, surprised at the rudeness from the trainer.

"…Red…" Was all that came out of the mouth of the trainer as he took down his hood. Misty was taken aback by the bright blue eyes that seemed to be piercing through her. On the side of the pitch, the two young trainer's mouths were wide opened as they heard the name mentioned. They were going to see their travelling partner battle against a Tier 1 team?! "He must be crazy" Josh muttered under his breath, with Cindy only nodding in response.

"Ah…Ummm…ok then Red. Have a good battle." Misty said slowly as she composed herself, before she grabbed the pokeballs at her waist. "You are about to face the true power of the Cerulean gym, and why I haven't lost a Tier 1 battle yet! Let's go guys!" She shouted as she chucked her pokeballs into the air, for a piercing white light to erupt from them. Cindy and Josh raised an arm over the eyes to shield them from the light, but were amazed to see the pokemon in front of them.

Standing up on one of the pad's had to be one of the most muscular Golducks that had been seen by the two of them for a while. Every muscle seemed to be defined on its bright blue skin, as it waved its arms in the air. But what really took their breath away was the colossal size of the pokemon in the pool that seemed to almost be touching the top of the building. The Gyarados glared down at the puny trainer that was dressed all in black, before letting out an ear-splitting roar, making everyone but Red wince at all. Rather, a small smirk appeared on his face as he just took one pokeball from his belt. Cindy noticed that it wasn't a normal coloured pokeball, but was green and purple all over.

In the complete opposite, rather than a bright light being erupted, black smoke came out of the pokeball. But rather than disappearing, it seemed to be lingering in the air, before a roar that matched Gyarados' was emitted into the air.

"Are you sure you only want one pokemon out?" Misty said cautiously. Normally these types of battles would be two on two or greater. But she had never experienced this, and she didn't even though what pokemon was in the cloud.

"…" Red just simply nodded, before waving a hand in the air.

"Whatever then. Your problem if you get destroyed! Gyarados, fire off a water pulse, and Golduck use Psychic on it to concentrate its power!" Misty shouted out, and instantly the pokemon responded with grace. Gyarados opened its mouth as a blue 'O' was formed in its mouth and fired at a quite rapid speed, before a purple glow appeared over it. The cause of this was from the Golduck, who with the similar colour over its body, placed the circle into an orb as it sped up towards Red pokemon.

However Red's face hadn't changed at all; the smirk was still there, just as the orb crashed into the cloud causing a cloud of grey ash to spread out in front of the cloud. All was silent for a few moments, before two pillars of dark blue went sent spiralling out so fast, Misty just blinked before her pokemon had been sent crashing to the back behind her.

"What the…?" Misty, Josh and Cindy all said at the same time as the saw Misty's pokemon shake off the attack before getting back to the battlefield, albeit a bit slower. The cloud was slowly dispersing, and a shadow could be seen in it, appearing very quickly.

"What on earth is that?" Josh asked, staring in shock at the shadow that was moving slowing in the crowd

"I really have no idea. But from that attack, I really wouldn't want to face it." Cindy said, awestruck at Red. Josh just shook his head at her, before looking at Misty, whose face was a mix of pure shock and madness.

"…Go…" Red said as he pointed at the two pokemon in front of him. With a roar, the cloud was blown apart, revealing a pokemon that could be described as a three-headed beast with six thin, black wings on its back each of which ended in two points, which also had a tail which had a purple stripe running up it, with a black tuft on the end of it.

It was a pokemon none of them had seen before, and the power could be felt radiating from it. With no time to spare launched a yellow beam from both of its smaller heads quickly, striking the Golduck in both of it legs, causing it to fall to its knees with a cry of pain. Gyarados took the imitative to strike, firing out a seemingly endless hydro pump from its mouth, striking the pokemon in the wings. The sudden attack took it by surprise as the pokemon started to fall towards the floor.

"Yes! Good hit Gyarados!" Misty shouted out, feeling slightly a bit more confident now as it seemed that the pokemon could be defeated.

"…Hydreigon, swoop in…" Red ushered in a monotone voice as he cocked his head slightly, staring at Misty. The dragon type started to spin on its descent, before it made a tight angular turn just above the water quickly as its body began to glow in a vibrant purple colour. Before Misty could shout out, the pokemon shot into Gyarados, lifting it into the air before it crashed into the water, creating a wave that crashed into Golduck, sending it into the water as well.

"…Your pokemon are strong, but a lack of training has not helped them..." Red said out calmly, watching the anger building up on Misty's face as his taunt slowly began to get to her.

"Only a cheap shot would be able to do that! Let me show me my Pokémon's true power! Gyarados, Dragon Dance into Giga Impact! Golduck, Calm Mind into Brine then lead it into Blizzard!" Misty shouted, her face slowly turning redder as the seconds ticked by.

Gyarados slowly rose out of the water as its eyes turned a deep red until most of its body was out of the water. With a quick roar, it began to twist its body in one direction into another as light blue spark were emitted from its body.
But it was Golduck that was the quickest off the mark. As soon as the command was said, he had begun to surround itself in pinkish glow as the water around its platform began to rise up from the ground slowly. With a small grunt, he pushed his hands in front of him, with the water following in the same direction. But at the same time a bitter breeze has emerged, and the water was turned into small, sharp pieces of ice.

Hydreigon had no time to react as the water-turned-ice had picked up in speed quickly, and soon enough the wings on its body were encased in ice as it crashed down onto a platform, struggling to get up. This brief moment of time was an opening, and the Gyarados made the most of this as it collided into the dragon type whilst its body was covered in a vibrant purple. The collision was powerful enough to send the Hydreigon into the water with a crash, as the Gyarados made its way back to Misty.

"And that should be game, set and match!" Misty said with a smile, exhausted but happy with what had just happened. But a frown appeared on her face with there was no sign of the dragon pokemon at all. She was certain Red had not re-called it back, so where on earth was it?

"…No need to get cocky now…Always expects the unexpected…" Red said as a small smile began to reach onto his face.

"Guys be on the lookout just in case!" Misty shouted out, eyes darting from side to side as she looked out for the pokemon.

"…Just because you land some very powerful hits doesn't mean you win…Sometimes it can be for the worse…" Red chuckled, before he looked Misty in the eye. "…Showtime…"

There wasn't much hope for Misty after that at all. A shadow appeared underneath her Pokemon's platforms. The Hydreigon came flying out of the water behind the Gyarados, a mouth clinging onto its neck whilst little sparks where flying onto the skin, causing the water type to roar out in pain. But at the same time, a beam of electricity was shot towards the Golduck, sending it flying into the water with singe marks on its chest.

With a bored look ok its face, the dragon type pulled the Gyarados into the water, as a small moan came from its mouth. With a nod from Red, the Hydreigon lifted up both its hand-mouths, before firing a multitude of electric beams into the water. The two water types had no chances as speaks were emitted everywhere.

"It's done. Good battle, but too weak. You need to train more. And this wasn't even my strongest as well." Red said as he recalled his Hydreigon as both of Misty's pokemon floated to the surface of the pool, both knocked out form the super effective charge beam.

"I…I…no…" Misty just whispered; she was so close to winning, and in a flash her victory had been shattered in the space of a minute. It was just impossible.

"Oi Cindy, let's move. I don't think it's wise to be here anymore." Josh said once he had composed himself. The same couldn't be said to his friend, who's mouth was wide open, but she just followed him when he pulled at her arm, dumbstruck at what had happened.

So there's that chapter, and hope you enjoyed the 2nd new pokemon Ash has got! So with X an Y being out, there are a few changes that have been made with the story, so it should make everything a tad bit more interesting thankfully from now. Can't guarantee when the next chapter will be out, but I'll work on it soon though! ~Sheep