Sorry for being missing; I just lost motivation for a while. You can see that the chapters have been getting shorter; hopefully they will get back to their 5k length again.

"Normal speech"

'Thoughts'

"Flashback Talk"

'FlashBack thought'

For Flashback speech or thought to be enabled, there must be a line that says Flashback; otherwise, 'Filler Word' is Auraspeak/Psychic Speak.

Telepath/Aura in Flashback "Aura Speak"

Ash and his friends walked upon the old trail. Ash gazed at the clouds; he wondered what would happen next. In front of him, he sees a sign on the side of the road. Thinking he is near a city, he runs toward it. "Wait for me!" Brock yells. Misty doesn't say anything but makes an effort to keep up.

"What does this say?" Ash mumbled mostly to himself. Most of the sign was useless junk, at least to Ash. However, one thing on the board caught his eye. It said "Gary was here. Ash is a loser!"

Ash fumed "That Gary!" He starts sprinting down the road. Misty and Brock sigh before catching up to him. He had finally stopped and was at walking pace again. Misty and Brock ended up catching up to him shortly.

The bright, yellow, sun was a beautiful sight. Ash stretched out his arms. "Ahhh, it's a great day to just enjoy the sunshine!" Towards the end of the word sunshine, Brock cut in. "And while you're enjoying the sun, Gary is catching more pokemon."

"Ughu." Ash fell down on the side but quickly picked himself back up. "But I guess a pokemon trainer can capture pokemon and enjoy the sun." Brock finished. "Where are we even going!?" Misty half yelled. "Well I know where we are going." Ash answered. Misty gave him a look that asked 'Where?' "Cerulean City!" Ash said.

Misty turned away partially and looked panicked. "Cerulean City?! What're you going there for?" "I'm going for the Cascade badge!" Ash responded enthusiastically. He started thinking of all the pokemon he might use, the ways he would battle them. He wondered what type of pokemon they had. Before he could continue his musings, Misty said "Uh-h-h Ash you do not want pokemon from there, trust me.!" "Why not?" Ash asked curiously. "Because they're all… very scary ghost pokemon that look like this!" Misty tried to make her face look as scary as possible. It wasn't that scary.

Ash stared at her intently. Then, he chuckled heartily. "Well that's great! I always wanted to have ghost pokemon; their scary appearance may mean they have the ability intimidate!" Brock nodded approvingly at the last bit. Misty looked nervous as her statement backfired on her. "C'mon Misty." Brock said as he and Ash started walking.

Misty lunged in front of the other two and started gushing about Vermillion City. Unfortunately for her, Ash decided to go to Cerulean city regardless. Misty begrudgingly followed the two. "Hey, Brock, I should probably get some training done." Ash chuckled.

The middle of the night– the perfect time to strike. Team Rocket could be seen crawling through the ventilation system. They crashed into a room and found exactly what they were looking for. "Well, looks like we found it." James says smugly, flashing the flashlight on the machine they wanted. "Just what we need to get just what we want!" Jessie agreed. "Pokemon!" Meowth added.

Another sparkling day is what Ash thought it would be. The city looked so nice. "So this is Cerulean City eh, Brock?" "Pretty nice place isn't it?" Brock answered. "Yeah, pretty cool." Ash agreed. He was walking through the streets with Brock when he suddenly realized something quite strange. "Hey, look! Misty isn't following us anymore; that's weird." "She probably had something else to do. After all, her life isn't centered around following us around." Brock reassured. Ash nodded his head.

They rounded the corner and saw an eye-catching scene. Police cars were around a building and there was a small crowd of people. They were all surrounding a building called "Machine Shop". "The police? Wonder what happened." Ash said to Brock. "Yeah"

The duo ran to the site; they slipped through the crowd. They made it to the very front. Ash turned to a bystander "Excuse me, but do you know what happened here?" The man responded, "Oh, some burglars broke into that store last night."

"Burglars…" Ash said to himself. "What do you know about burglars!?" Officer Jenny questioned. "You two look very suspicious to me!" From there, Officer Jenny had a small speech about how they were possibly criminals. "This could clear things up." Ash held up his pokedex. "Yeah." Brock showed his gym badge and explained he used to be the gym leader.

"What did they even steal?" Ash inquired. "Well, that's the weirdest part; they didn't take any money. They just took a massive vacuum and a giant hose." Officer Jenny said. Ash and Brock decided to leave. Around that same time, Officer Jenny broke apart the crowd and told everyone to leave.

Ash and Brock were resting on a bench. After some time talking, Brock told Ash he had some things to do. Ash decided to search for the gym. Ash picked up a map and started looking. "Finally!" He yelled. He stormed forward towards the stadium. He was stopped by a man who was at the gate. "How many tickets?" the man asked. "Huh? Isn't this a pokemon gym?" Ash tilted his head in confusion.

"You are right, but the Sensational Sisters are doing an aquatic show right now." The man stated. "Oh, okay! Two tickets then. One for me and one for Pikachu." Ash said. He paid the man the money for the tickets and went inside.

The show was quite entertaining. Ash still wanted his gym badge though. He ran up to the Sensational Sisters. They quickly said "Oh, a fan! Would you like an autograph?" Ash refused. "Actually, I'm here for a gym battle." "Sorry, but we just lost three times in a row and all of our pokemon except one fainted. This Goldeen can't really do much." they replied.

"I know what you want." Daisy said. She got a Cascade Badge from Seel and handed it to Ash. "Here!" Ash looked disappointed. He wanted to earn his badges; Ash was about to reluctantly agree and take the badge when he heard a booming voice.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Misty jumped down from the stands. "Misty!?" Ash said dumbfounded. Ash remembered their first encounter and remembered Misty said she was a gym leader. "If you don't wanna battle him I will!" she shouted. The Sensational Sisters and Misty had a small argument before the battle.

"This battle will be two on two!" Misty exclaimed. "That works for me." Ash responded. "Pikachu, to the battlefront!" Ash picked up Pikachu and was about to throw him onto the field. Pikachu clung onto Ash's hand. Then, Pikachu jumped down. "Pikachu!? What are you doing?" Ash turned. "Chu chu." Pikachu's ears flattened slightly as he pointed towards Misty and shook his head.

"What? Are you saying that you don't want to battle with Misty?" "Pikachu…" "Well, I guess it's okay if you don't want to battle a friend." Ash put his hands on his hips. "Pikachu, you're a pika pal!" Misty cupped her hands around her mouth with a grand grin. At the praise, Pikachu's ears perked up. "Pikachu."

Ash glanced at Pikachu. "Thanks a lot Pikachu." Ash understood Pikachu's decision. Still, he was a little salty about it. Ash readied another pokeball. "Anorith, to the battlefront!" In a flash of light, Anorith was released from his pokeball. "Ano Anorith!"

"In that case, Misty calls Staryu!" Misty pulled her arm back, then slung the pokeball onto the field. Staryu was released on the platform. Ash pointed Dexter at Staryu. "Staryu, the core of this water pokemon shines in a rainbow of seven colors, a core that is valued by some by a type of jewelry." Ash raised his eyes in surprise. "Wow."

"Do you think Misty could really win?" Violet asked. "Like, in her dreams maybe." responded Lily.

"Anorith, use Cross Poison!" Anorith built up large amounts of poison in both claws and released them in an X figure. The devastating attack swiftly moved towards Staryu. "Quick, Staryu, counter it!" Misty yelled out.

Staryu let out a blast of water from its core. The two attacks collided and struggled with each other. Unfortunately for Staryu, Cross Poison was too strong and struck true. Staryu was sent flying into the pool.

"Staryu, no!" Misty cried out. Staryu hopped back up, roughed up but still able to fight. "Great job, Anorith." Ash said. "Staryu, Swift!" Yellow stars flew from Staryu's tips. "Anorith, use Metal Claw to break the stars apart!" Anorith's claw glowed a silver color. Anorith destroyed some of the stars from Swift, but there were simply too many for Anorith to break them all.

"Anorith, tough it out buddy!" Ash encouraged. Anorith got up with little trouble. He was a rock type meaning an attack like swift that was not from a pokemon stronger than him would not do too much.

"Anorith, one more time, Cross Poison!" Anorith built up poison once more; however, this time, instead of releasing his poison, Anorith launched himself at Staryu. The attack hit and Staryu was sent flying into the wall, knocked out. "Let's go, Anorith!"

"Come back for now." Ash ordered, returning Anorith. "Starmie I choose you!" Misty released Starmie. "Butterfree, to the battlefront!" "Butterfree, start this battle off with Poison Powder." Misty gasped at the attack. "No, Starmie!"

"Starmie, use Psybeam!" Misty ordered. From Starmie's center jewel, a purple beam of psychic energy shot out. "Quick, Butterfree, move to the right!" Ash commanded. Butterfly barely evaded the attack. "Hit it with a Sleep Powder." Surprisingly, Misty started smirking. "Starmie, jump in the water!"

Starmie obeyed and leaped into the pool. Ash's eyes widened. 'Spores get washed away by water!' Ash quickly got back to the battle. Thinking to himself, he realized this was actually quite advantageous. "Butterfree, use Electroweb on top of the pool!"

"What is he doing?" Daisy asked. "I don't know, but Misty's been battling better than we thought." Violet responded.

"Get out of there!" Misty ordered. It was too late though. Butterfree had already casted an electric net over the entire pool. Starmie kept on taking damage and getting shocked. "That's right! Since Starmie is in water, an Electroweb over the field not only traps Starmie, it also constantly shocks Starmie since water conducts electricity!"

Misty could not bear to watch her pokemon suffer like this. "I forfeit Starmie!" "The winner of the battle is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!" Daisy exclaimed. Seel hopped out of the water with a badge in his mouth, giving it to Ash.

"I just got the Cascade badge!" Ash yelled out while doing his signature pose.

Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling and a wall in the gym broke with a large machine cruising its way in. "Check out that hair." Violet said. "Like, who invited the party crashers?" Daisy said. "Sorry to break in on you ladies!" Jessie yelled. "Allow us to introduce ourselves." James said calmly.

Prepare for trouble!

Make it double!

To protect the world from devastation!

To unite all peoples within our nation!

To denounce the evils of truth and love!

To extend our reach to the stars above!

Jessie!

James!

Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!
Surrender now or prepare to fight!

Meowth! That's right!.

"In the water, your water pokemon may have an advantage, but if we take the water away, they become ours for the taking." James said. "Meowth knows just how to do it!" Meowth yelled out. "What are they trying to prove?" Lily asked in an exasperated tone.

Team Rocket extended a massive vacuum from their machine. Ash thought to himself. "A massive vacuum and a giant hose… Team Rocket stole from the store! I should have known!"

"Once we take the water away, your pokemon won't have no where to fight!" Meowth yelled out. "Don't let that hose suck up all the water; Pikachu, use Electro Ball!" Pikachu jumped into the air, swirling around. He charged up electricity on the tip of his tail before releasing it at Team Rocket's machine.

The attack struck true and Team Rocket was sent flying into the air. "Looks like Team Rockets blasting off again!"

After the sisters thanked them, the squad left Cerulean City.

I hope to be back now! I also may have another break because I need to get rid of some pokemon. At the start, I planned for Ash to catch too many pokemon. Thanks to everyone who stayed with me.

Au revoir~~