Hey readers - Not only are we here with another new chapter, but this time it's also the beginning of a new episode : D

Yep, we are finally getting to Cerulean City which, fun-fact, happens to be my favourite town of the games set in the Kanto region, along with Celadon City. Needless to say, I'm quite excited to be posting this chapter because of that fact, but rather than waffle on about that, let's just get straight down to business. I'm actually rather surprised to say that the winner of the last voting topic was... Tentacool! Honestly, I fully expected you guys to pick either Vulpix or Scyther to evolve, but I'm cool with a Tentacruel. That's what's so much fun about you guys voting for my Pokemon. I'm made to use ones I wouldn't normally choose to play with. Plus, I think this'll add some fun elements to the story later on : D

Beyond that though, I just want to say an ENORMOUS thank you to everyone that has reviewed, favourited, and followed this story. The support that has been shown to the story is amazing, and it means so much to me, so thank you : )

Please remember that Pokemon is not mine, only my OC's are : )

I hope you enjoy this chapter : )

The Waterflowers of Cerulean City

The Waterflowers of Cerulean City - Part 1

Summer was definitely on its way.

That was the thought that kept breaking its way back into Nolan's mind as he and the others all continued on their journey. There was no way it could escape his attention after all. The fields were a vibrant wash of colour as the flowers were starting to bloom, and the leaves on the trees were all a lush and healthy green. The sky was utterly spotless, not a cloud to be seen, just beautiful blue as far as the eye could see. The rainy days were drying up as they left Spring behind, and the sun... the sun was the biggest indicator of all. Nolan couldn't help but grin as he felt its gentle warmth caress his face, just the right side of comfortable. It was a simply glorious day, the first proper one of the year, and so the golden haired Pokemon trainer couldn't help but feel happy and invigorated just by being outside in it.

It also couldn't have come at a better time.

For Nolan and his friends weren't just wandering aimlessly in the hopes of getting lucky and finding a random town. No, they had a specific destination in mind, and that was Cerulean City, famously known throughout the Kanto region and indeed the entire world as 'The Floral Lagoon City'. The blonde haired boy was very excited to be visiting this city. He had never been there before, but it was supposed to be a very beautiful place, adorned with gorgeous flowers, and with crystal-clear canals running all throughout the city. Some even called Cerulean City a modern day paradise, so naturally Nolan was keen to see it for himself. The pleasant weather was only going to enhance the city's natural charm and beauty, which was certainly a nice bonus.

But it wasn't just the sights that Nolan was eager to experience when they arrived in Cerulean City. Oh no. The golden haired Pokemon trainer had much bigger fish to fry than something as simple as an enjoyable day sightseeing.

After all, his next gym battle was waiting for him.

Nolan had to admit that he was particularly looking forward to this gym battle, rather than feeling overly anxious about it, as he had done back before he had challenged Brock in Pewter City. Perhaps it was his victory against the former gym leader which had bolstered his confidence, or perhaps it was the fact that the Gym Leaders, plural, as there was supposedly three of them, in Cerulean City were so famous, that the golden haired boy already felt as though he had somewhat of an advantage over them. Knowledge was power after all, and it allowed Nolan to put together a plan that would hopefully prepare him for another victory. But the Gym Leaders' fame and thus the general knowledge amongst trainers of their battle style wasn't the only thing tipping the scales in Nolan's favour. He knew after all that the Gym Leaders in Cerulean City specialised in the use of Water Type Pokemon, much like Misty did, and thus Meadow would hold a terrific advantage in this match. That wasn't to say that the golden haired boy wasn't still strategizing and carefully planning out the match though. He knew that despite the advantages that he did have, underestimating a Gym Leader was the quickest way to be defeated by them. Either way, the boy was eagerly anticipating his next big battle, and therefore couldn't keep the huge grin off his face as they all walked along the winding country road.

He wasn't the only member of their party to be in such an overwhelmingly good mood either.

"Ah!" Ash let out a contented sigh, happily stretching his arms out above his head as he enjoyed the gentle warmth of the sun on his face, "It's a great day to just enjoy the sunshine".

Nolan was tempted to agree with him, and probably would have, if he wasn't so eager to get to Cerulean City for his gym battle as quickly as possible. Fortunately, he was saved from bursting his best friend's bubble. Instead... Brock did it for him.

"And while you're enjoying the sunshine..." the aspiring Pokemon breeder drawled in a slightly sarcastic voice, "All the other trainers hoping to complete in the Indigo League are out catching more Pokemon".

That brought Ash back down to earth with a bump.

"Ah!" the raven haired boy exclaimed, flailing his arms about anxiously, as Brock's excessively blunt but honest words snapped him out of the happy reverie the nice weather had put him in.

"But I guess a good Pokemon trainer can capture Pokemon and enjoy the sun" Brock continued before Ash had a chance to react further.

"And not just capture new Pokemon either" Nolan chimed in happily, prompting the others to glance over at him, "A proper trainer can enjoy the nice weather whilst also working on improving their existing team. Right guys?"

Those last few words were aimed at the two members of Nolan's Pokemon team that were currently outside of their pokeballs. Meadow was of course one of them, whilst Welkin was the other.

"Bulba!" Meadow looked up at him and nodded, before quickly returning her attention to her current objective.

"Pidgey!" Welkin twittered in excitement, before he, likewise, hurriedly went back to his task.

Nolan smiled warmly at them both. He had meant what he had said to his human friends after all. About how trainers could work with their existing teams whilst out on the open road. He was doing it now. Their group still had another full day's worth of walking ahead of them before they would reach Cerulean City, and Nolan planned to use that time to his fullest advantage, so that when it came time for him to challenge the Gym Leaders, he would be ready.

To that end, he currently had Meadow and Welkin working on the new moves that they had each been trying to master for some time now, Bullet Seed and Quick Attack respectively. Welkin was currently soaring through the air above his trainer's head, and judging by the dazzlingly white streaks of light he kept leaving behind him after almost every attempt, Nolan guessed that the Tiny Bird Pokemon was exceedingly close to having the technique perfected. It helped that Ash's Pidgeotto had also given him a few pointers. A couple more hours' worth of hard work, and the boy reasoned that his beloved Pidgey would be able to use Quick Attack on command. Or at least, he certainly hoped that Welkin would be able to. It would come in very handy in tomorrow's big battle after all.

Meadow's attempts on the other hand, weren't looking quite as promising. Whilst the small green creature could produce the necessary amount of seeds in her bulb on every single attempt now, an effort which had been somewhat sporadic up until this point, Meadow still lacked the necessary build-up of energy to be able to fire the seeds at an opponent with enough velocity to actually cause them any harm. As such, Nolan already had her working on resolving this problem. Ever since they had left Mount Moon behind them, the golden haired boy had had his beloved partner working on building up and storing her own internal natural energy within her bulb, having used a detailed explanation from the TM pamphlet his Dad had given him to help explain the process of doing so to her. Thankfully, this was an exercise that Meadow could do as they walked along, so her attempts to master the Bullet Seed technique were not hindering their process to the next city in any way. Still, Nolan highly doubted that she would have made enough progress by the next day to feasibly consider using the technique during his big gym battle. He wouldn't be pinning his hopes on that move in any case.

Still, the blonde boy felt it was only fair to at least help his beloved partner to master her new move as quickly as possible. If Nolan was honest with himself, he knew that he had allowed Meadow's and Welkin's training to fall by the wayside recently. It was just... so much had happened since he had first tried to teach them both their new moves, back in the Viridian Forest. Many of those events were outside of his control admittedly, but that was still no excuse. Nolan wanted to be the very best after all, he was determined to make it, and to be the very best, he knew that he needed to overcome obstacles, including those put into his path by sheer random chance. He just hoped that he was doing a good job of managing to rectify that now. Still, he wasn't expecting any miracles as far as Bullet Seed went.

As for Iris and Xanthite, Nolan had decided to hold back on their training for the time being, in order to allow Meadow and Welkin the chance to catch up. Some might find that counterproductive, but the golden haired boy didn't really see it like that. Instead, he thought of it more as levelling the playing field, as opposed to holding two members of his team back. After all, Iris and Xanthite both had more moves at their disposal than Nolan's first two Pokemon already. He felt that once Meadow and Welkin had mastered their new moves, all four of them would be on a more equal footing, and thus he would be in a better position to determine how best to progress from there. Then they could all work together to help each other grow stronger, just like a proper team should. The thought warmed Nolan all the way through. They really were becoming a proper team now, weren't they.

"Saur!" a sudden grunt of concentration from his beloved partner pulled the golden haired boy out of his internal musings.

Glancing over his shoulder at the small green creature that was trailing along behind him, Nolan was just in time to see her fire a couple of seeds out of the bulb on her back. Unfortunately it still wasn't anywhere near being powerful enough to be called a proper Bullet Seed attack, but it was a fairly good attempt at one at any rate. Never let it be said that Meadow wasn't putting all of her efforts into trying to master this new technique, and to that effect, Nolan paused in his walking, waited for her to catch up to him, before he knelt down and patted her head affectionately.

"Nice try Meadow" the boy told his partner earnestly, his warm smile very encouraging, "Just keep trying and I'm sure you'll get the hang of it soon"

"Bulba" Meadow nodded, giving her beloved human a rather strained smile back. She really had thought that maybe that attempt would be the one, but clearly it wasn't meant to be. She tried not too feel to dejected by that.

Sensing that the little Grass Type Pokemon might be losing spirit over this whole affair, Nolan was about to offer her some more kind words of encouragement. Before he had a chance to do so however, he heard a soft sigh that couldn't be mistaken for anything but one of utter sadness come from somewhere off to the right. Unable to help himself, the golden haired boy curiously looked in that direction.

Whatever he had been expecting to see, it wasn't the sight that met his eyes.

The source of the despairing sigh was none other than Misty, and she did not look to be in a good way. Her shoulders were hunched tightly, her head ducked low, so that her entire posture practically screamed of pure and unadulterated unhappiness. But the worst part was most definitely the expression on her face. It was one that spoke of indescribable misery. Clearly something was very wrong, and Nolan immediately felt the sharp sting of concern beginning to blossom in the pit of his stomach.

"You're pretty quiet over there, Misty" Nolan said cautiously, trying to be delicate as he broached the subject, "Is everything okay?"

It took Misty a couple of moments to realise that her friend was addressing her. Once she did, she wearily looked up at him.

"Y-Yeah" the orange haired girl stammered out, but the smile she gave her friend looked incredibly forced, and was therefore not very convincing, "I'm fine".

Nolan just gave her a flat look. He wasn't the only member of the group that didn't look like he believed a word she'd just said either.

"You sure?" Ash chimed into their conversation, scepticism clear in both his tone and expression, "Because you really don't look fine at all Misty".

Misty was half-tempted to snap at the boys to leave her alone, but it was the concern on their faces which stopped her from doing so. Knowing that their worry for her was coming from a good place, the young girl let out another forlorn sigh, before she reluctantly began to explain what was bothering her so badly.

"It's just..." the young girl trailed off, unsure where to begin, "I'm not... I'm not exactly looking forward to going to Cerulean City".

Surprised bloomed across her three travelling companions' faces at what she had just admitted.

"You're not?" Nolan was very puzzled to hear that. Cerulean City was supposed to be incredibly beautiful after all, with a rich history full of traditions pertaining to the ocean and water in general. He'd have thought that visiting a place stemmed in such aquatic-based history would be right up Misty's alley.

"No..." the orange haired girl swallowed hard, "I'm not".

"Why not?" Ash asked her, genuinely curious as to such an adverse reaction from his friend. Misty looked almost... pained by the question, but regardless, she answered it anyway.

"I just... well, let's just say that it doesn't hold many happy memories for me" Misty informed them, but her words only served to confuse the boys even further.

"So you've been there before then" Nolan quickly deduced, and again, Misty found herself begrudgingly nodding in confirmation at the question.

"It's my home town, Nolan. I'm from there" the Water Type Pokemon Specialist confessed, "And I'm not exactly in a hurry to go back".

Nolan's confusion was growing by the minute.

"You don't want to go home?" the golden haired boy seemed incredulous at the concept. After all, in spite of how much he loved travelling and being on his Pokemon journey, Nolan still longed to see Pallet Town again. It was strange to him to know that his friend did not feel the same about her own birthplace.

Misty let out a harsh scoff, and an ugly expression made its way on to her pretty face.

"If I had my way..." the orange haired girl started, her voice little more than a dark growl, "I'd never go back there again".

Something akin to concern immediately flashed across Ash's features, though this time it wasn't reserved exclusively for his friend. Nolan could tell where his best friend's mind had jumped to, and he'd be lying if he said that his thoughts hadn't gone to the same place as well.

"But... me and Nolan... we have to go to Cerulean City so we can try to earn our next gym badge each!" the raven haired boy exclaimed. He was worried that this had the potential to escalate into a full-blown argument. Their group had yet to experience having a difference of opinion in where they are ought to go after all. He wasn't entirely sure how to deal with it as a result.

Fortunately, things weren't going to progress to that point.

"I understand that Ash, and I'm not suggesting that we don't go there. I know that it's important that we do" the orange girl begrudgingly admitted, and Ash and Nolan both felt relieved to know that their friend wasn't going to try and stop them, "Just... don't expect me to hang around afterwards, okay? Once you've both got your badges, I want to hit the road again, straight away".

Nolan, Ash and Brock all exchanged anxious looks with one another. It was clear that there was something deeply troubling behind this, but it was also obvious that Misty wasn't about to back down either.

"Fair enough" Nolan was the one that eventually broke the somewhat tense silence that had fallen over the group after Misty's declaration, "If you feel that strongly about it, we can leave once me and Ash both have the badges we need. You can even pick our next destination if you like. It seems only fair if you're willing to suffer through this for us".

Ash and Brock both nodded as well, finding the idea a good one if it helped to raise their friend's spirits.

"I..." surprise briefly flashed across Misty's face, before it was quickly replaced by a smile, and this one was much more genuine, "Thanks Nolan. How about after we're done in Cerulean City, we make our way to Vermilion City. It's right by the ocean, and they have apparently have a harbour filled with yachts and luxury cruise ships. I'm dying to see it!"

It was nice to see the girl back to her normal cheerful self, so the boys quickly swallowed any complaints they may have had about using their time to go sightseeing.

"But that's not all!" Misty continued happily, "There's supposed to be a really tough Pokemon Gym in Vermilion City too, so it's perfect! I can see the ships and swim in the ocean, and you two can try to earn more badges".

That certainly helped to perk Nolan and Ash up again.

"Sound good to me" Ash cheered happily, pumping his fist in the air enthusiastically.

"Pika! Pikachu!" Pikachu mimicked his trainer's action.

"Let's just focus on winning in Cerulean City first before we get too carried away" Nolan was much more reserved than his best friend, "But it sounds like a plan to me".

"Well..." Brock intoned slowly, bringing the focus of them all back to the matter at hand, "We still have at least another day's hike ahead of us until we reach Cerulean City, so I suggest you guys use this time wisely to prepare for your battles, whilst we also get moving. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave again if that's what we've decided we're going to do".

Nolan, Ash and Misty all smiled and nodded up at him.

So with that little issue resolved with a solution that they all felt comfortable with, the small group of travellers set off towards Cerulean City again. Nolan couldn't help but feel more and more excited with every step he took. He was getting closer and closer to earning the second of his eight required gym badges. By this time tomorrow, he'd have another victory in the bag.

He could feel it.

Several hours had passed since that conversation had finished and the decision between the group had been unanimously made, and darkness had long since swept across the Kanto region as night had firmly set in. Shrouded by an inky blackness, Cerulean City was almost completely silent as the world slept on. Emphasis on 'almost'.

At a thoroughly normal industrial shop on the corner of a thoroughly normal civilian street, in a thoroughly normal ventilation shaft - something thoroughly abnormal... was currently taking place.

CLANG!

The sound of the metal grating that covered the ventilation shaft being forced away from the wall from within seemed even louder than one could possibly expect. Perhaps it was because the shop was completely devoid of life, no doubt because closing time had been several hours earlier. Now though, the shop was no longer empty, and a head full of cyan coloured hair popped out of the now exposed ventilation shaft. A cruel smirk graced the man's handsome face.

"The coast is clear" none other than James from Team Rocket sneered, his eyes practically aglow with a malignant gleam.

"Nothing to fear" Jessie cackled in dark amusement as she also stuck her head out of the ventilation shaft, curiously glancing around at the empty shop that they had just broken into.

"Nobody here!" Meowth added gleefully as he also pushed himself through the shaft and revealed himself.

The three members of the infamous criminal organisation all leapt down from the hole in the wall, and landed gracefully on their feet upon the smooth tiled flooring. Jessie and James both immediately produced a flashlight apiece from the pockets of their uniforms, and turning them on, two beams of bright light suddenly cut through the darkness that hung about the shop.

Now that the aisle was illuminated enough for the trio of criminals to be able to navigate and seek out what they had come here for, Team Rocket quickly set to work. They moved quickly but quietly, always on the lookout for any alarms in order to avoid tripping them. They saw that the shop housed many strange and varied appliances; some were tiny, some were massive, but none of the bizarre contraptions were the target of this particular heist.

Realising that what they sought must be in a different aisle; Jessie, James and Meowth all wandered into the neighbouring one. Quite by coincidence, their two flashlights just so happened to fall upon one object in particular. The perpetual grins that always seemed to line the wicked trio's faces grew wider and even more nasty than ever before.

They had located what they'd come here for.

"Well, looks like we found it" James remarked, with no small amount of pure and unadulterated smugness in his tone.

"Just what we need to get just what we want" Jessie beamed. Now that the first stage of this operation was complete, the female criminal was practically itching to put the next phase of their ingenious plan into action.

"Pokemon!" Meowth cheered, happily wagging his tail.

Patting themselves on the back for a job well done, the gang of criminals quickly set about relieving this shop of this really remarkable invention. It would take a lot of work to move this contraption considering that it was so bulky, but Jessie, James and Meowth were nothing if not determined. This time they had a fool-proof plan.

Failure was not an option.

Cerulean City was everything that Nolan expected it to be and more. The travelling quartet had set off early in the morning after having camped out the previous night, and thus had arrived at the city by midday. And what a city it was. It truly was utterly beautiful, made up of a strange blend of the modern day commercial industrialism of the metropolis like Pewter City, but also with the naturalism that embodied the charm of smaller settlements like Pallet Town mixed in. It was practically unique in comparison to the other cities that Nolan had visited so far, and he immediately fell in love with the place because of it. Just as the rumours all said, gorgeous channels of crystal-clear water ran throughout every street, and many communal areas were adorned with terrific fountains and ponds, which in turn were decorated with astonishing floral arrangements and bouquets. Everywhere you looked, the sheer scope of the devotion and love that the people felt for the water was evident. Truly, Cerulean City lived up to its name of being the Floral Lagoon City.

"So this is Cerulean City, eh?" Ash smiled brightly as he looked around at the vibrant street they were all strolling down, "Pretty nice place, isn't it?"

"Pretty nice?" Nolan repeated incredulously, "I'd say it's a lot more than 'pretty nice' Ash! It's beautiful!"

Completely enchanted by the artistic beauty that every inch of the city he had viewed so far seemed to embody, the golden haired boy walked over to the edge of the nearest canal and looked down. Much to his joy, he saw dozens of Water Type Pokemon swimming around, predominantly Goldeen, which a couple of others mixed in. When a humongous Seaking gracefully leapt out of the water and lightly splashed him, Nolan couldn't help but laugh in delight.

"A city where Water Type Pokemon are free to swim up the street" the blonde boy remarked in an awestruck voice, "Incredible!"

"Yeah" Brock nodded in agreement as he walked over to join Nolan by the water's edge, "It is pretty cool".

"Bulba!" Meadow smiled as she made her way over to a nearby fountain and happily sniffed at some of the colourful flowers that were tied to it.

"Pika!" Pikachu seemed more interested in the Goldeen swimming about in the river. He cheerfully waved at some of them that were bobbing about on the surface.

It came as no surprise that the only member of their group that didn't seem to be in-any-way enthralled by the city's beauty was Misty. The girl looked thoroughly miserable. Her shoulders were slumped dejectedly, her expression incredibly glum.

"Still not feeling it, huh Misty?" Nolan asked his friend, a note of sympathy creeping into his tone when he noticed just how down the girl seemed.

Misty allowed a forlorn sigh to slip her lips as she was pulled out of her rather morose memories, and back to the here and now.

"I'm sorry you guys" the orange haired girl said earnestly, "I know I'm not very good company today. I'm not trying to put a downer on things, it's just... being back here..."

The Water Type Pokemon Specialist trailed off miserably.

"What did happen to you here?" Nolan asked her carefully, genuinely curious on the subject. After all, the idea of not wanting to go home, not even for a visit, was simply a foreign notion to him. One that he was seriously struggling to understand.

"Yeah" Ash chimed in, "It must have been pretty bad to have put you off such a nice place".

Misty sighed again for what felt like the millionth time since she had first opened her eyes that morning. To say that she felt very uncomfortable about where this conversation was going would be a gross understatement. Still, she figured that her friends deserved a more detailed explanation for her recent behaviour, and she was honestly about to offer one up, when quite suddenly and without any kind of warning whatsoever, their entire conversation was interrupted in the most unexpected manner.

NEE-NAW... NEE-NAW... NEE-NAW!

All of the young Pokemon trainers jolted in surprise as the tell-tale sounds of an emergency siren reached their ears. In the street around them, many of the other civilians looked up at the loud piercing noise as well, which had thoroughly disrupted the peaceful day that they had all been enjoying. Nolan shared a worried look with all of his friends.

"The police" Ash murmured softly, giving voice to the thought that had immediately crossed everyone else's minds, "I wonder what happened".

"Do you think we should go take a look?" Nolan asked nervously as the sirens seemed to get louder, "Maybe there's something going on that visitors like us ought to know about".

"Well I don't know about you three, but I'm going" Misty said with steely determination, and without so much as a backwards glance at the boys, she set off running in the direction that the sirens were coming from.

Nolan couldn't help but raise his eyebrows behind the orange haired girl's back. For someone who claimed that she hated her hometown, she was certainly doing a good impression of someone that was worried about it. There was a nervousness to her as she led the way through the streets, taking them down shortcuts and back alleys that only a resident would know. Not once did the look of anxious concern leave Misty's face. She clearly cared more about Cerulean City than she was willing to let on.

Those thoughts were quickly pushed from the golden haired boy's mind however, as they arrived at the source of the disturbance.

Even with Misty's local knowledge of the area helping to get them there in record-breaking time, Nolan and his friends were still nowhere near the first people to arrive at the scene of the incident. They had emerged into a bustling street, and at the far end of it, a group of concerned citizens were already gathering and forming a crowd. From what the golden haired boy could see from this distance, the focus of the disruption seemed to be a large hardware store. Already police officers had erected a cordon around it, holding back the crowd that were all clamouring about with an intense nervous energy. Clearly Nolan and his friends weren't the only people that wanted to know what was going on. Running down the street as fast as their legs could carry them, the quartet of humans along with their Pokemon all pushed their way through the crowd until they were standing right at the head of it, on the edge of the police cordon. Nolan gasped when he saw a huge gaping hole in the wall of the building, which looked like it had been caused by some sort of explosion.

"Excuse me" Ash's voice said politely to someone, unknowingly pulling Nolan's attention away from the rubble and broken bricks, and back to the people gathering. He realised that his best friend was addressing a man in the crowd standing near to them, "Do you know what happened here?"

"Some burglars broke into that store last night" the man explained, a troubled expression on his face.

"Burglars, huh?" Ash repeated, his eyebrows raised curiously.

Nolan opened his mouth to respond to the raven haired boy, but sadly he never got the opportunity to voice any thoughts or opinions he might have had on the matter. For quite suddenly, and without any kind of warning whatsoever, a new voice suddenly chimed into their conversation, and it was not one that sounded particularly friendly either.

"What do you know about burglars?" a woman's voice asked snidely, the accusation clear from the tone she used alone.

"Huh?" Ash blinked in surprise at the interruption. At his side, Nolan mirrored the action. They, along with the rest of their friends, all looked up to see that there was an Officer Jenny standing directly in front of them on the opposite side of the police tape. She was regarding them with great suspicion.

"You guys look very suspicious to me" the blue haired policewoman remarked, heavily hinting at something.

Nolan tried not to feel too offended by the insinuation. He knew that it was part of the woman's job to regard others with suspicion when a crime had been committed after all. Still, he couldn't help but look down at himself self-consciously, wondering what it was about himself that made him 'look suspicious'. He sincerely hoped that it wasn't just prejudice against younger people. That would be the height of unfairness after all.

"Officer Jenny!" Ash greeted her pleasantly, seemingly not picking up on the woman's less-than-warm manner and tone, "Oh... I guess you not one of the ones that we met before?"

"Met before?" Officer Jenny raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the raven haired boy. He nodded eagerly in response.

"Well yeah... we met an Officer Jenny in Viridian City, and then a different one out in the forest, though she said she was the Officer Jenny from Pewter City" Ash explained to her. The Officer Jenny in front of them nodded her understanding.

"Ah! You must have met two of my cousins!" the blue haired policewoman exclaimed, and her manner could almost be mistaken for conversational. In the blink of an eye however, she was back to confrontational, "If you know two of my cousins, that means you probably had some dealings with the police in Viridian and Pewter!"

"Well, yes... but..." Ash tried to reply to the deduction, but was sharply cut over before he had a chance to do so.

"Now maybe you just stopped to ask her for directions... or maybe you found a wallet on the street and turned it in to her..." Officer Jenny began with a sly smirk, before she outright started yelling at them, "OR MAYBE YOU'RE ALL BURGLARS WHO BROKE OUT OF JAIL!"

And as if to prove her point, she suddenly brandished a pair of handcuffs at Nolan and his friends in a rather alarming manner.

"I've never been to jail!" Ash all but wailed in distress.

"Neither have I, Ma'am!" Brock exclaimed, trying to sound polite despite the woman's rather rude and obnoxious bedside manner.

"Nor me!" Nolan added, slightly incredulous that someone could pluck such random accusations out of thin air. Even his experience with Officer Anthony back in Viridian Forest paled in comparison to this.

"That's what they all say!" the policewoman drawled scathing.

Her tone was enough to snap Nolan out of his incredulous state, and for the first time since this conversation had started, irritation began to settle upon his features.

"Go around making baseless accusations often then?" the golden haired boy fired back at her, and the policewoman blinked in surprise. It was obvious that she was not used to people answering back, but Nolan wasn't about to let that stop him, "For your information, the Officer Jenny in Viridian City helped us out when there was an emergency involving one of our Pokemon, and we helped the Pewter City Officer Jenny when we stumbled into one of her investigations. Call them. I'm sure they'll remember us and can confirm I'm telling you the truth".

Officer Jenny paused to consider the boy before her.

"Okay... let's say I buy all of that..." she said slowly, and it was obvious that she was no less suspicious of them, "What are you doing here, right where a robbery took place?"

"We just got into town, heard the sirens, and came to see what was going on" Nolan replied honestly, before he gestured around at everybody else in the crowd, "Just like all of these other people probably did".

Officer Jenny snorted loudly. It was clear that she was far from convinced.

"Perhaps my cousins could vouch for you, but my accusation isn't entirely baseless like you said it was" she announced smugly, and seeing the confusion on Nolan's face, she elaborated, "After all... the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime!"

Nolan's jaw actually dropped wide open in sheer disbelief.

"Oh... I see..." the boy drawled sarcastically once he had recovered the use of his voice almost a full minute later, "Yes Officer Jenny, I'm sure plenty of people would think that that's concrete evidence. I'm sure it'll stand up in a court of law!"

The boy's sarcasm did not go unnoticed, nor was it appreciated.

Officer Jenny's face flushed slightly, her calculating eyes narrowing and her lips curling into a frown as her cheeks slowly turned red with anger. She opened her mouth, no doubt to fire off a sharp retort, but thankfully she never got the chance to. For at that exact moment, at long last, someone finally spoke up in defence of Nolan, Ash and Brock. And the voice of reason actually came from the most unexpected of sources.

"Please Officer Jenny" a familiar voice said earnestly, "My friends are telling you the truth. They're not responsible for whatever happened here!"

It was Misty.

The person that was sticking up for the boys was Misty. Nolan couldn't help but feel a swell of affection for the girl. With how rotten she had felt over the last few days, it took a lot of courage for her to stand up to an officer of the law, especially in a place where she felt so uncomfortable.

Officer Jenny huffed, looking distinctly annoyed by this point. She rounded on the new participant of the conversation, no doubt about to tell her to butt out and mind her own business, when she caught sight of the girl in question's face, and suddenly froze. A look of complete surprise flashed across her sharp features.

"Misty?" Officer Jenny blinked, only just now noticing the presence of the orange haired girl for the first time, before a huge friendly grin spread across her face, "Oh my gosh, it is you! Misty Waterflower! Hi! How've you been?"

Well now Nolan was thoroughly taken aback. On either side of him, Ash and Brock both mirrored his shocked expression perfectly.

Misty shifted uncomfortably on the spot, horribly aware of how rapidly a hushed silence had immediately descended across the crowd. She was also painfully aware of just how intently everybody was now listening to their conversation. She she even caught the words 'Misty Waterflower' and 'She's back' being whispered amongst them and spreading like wildfire. Shaking her head at them, the Water Type Pokemon specialist quickly tried her best to block them out, and turned her attention back to the more pressing matter at hand.

"I'm fine, Officer Jenny" the orange haired girl responded politely, before getting back to the more important topic, "But the point is my friends are all innocent! We only just arrived in Cerulean City not even an hour ago. They couldn't possibly have committed a robbery without me knowing about it since I've been traveling with them for weeks now, and I can assure you that it just isn't in their natures to do something like that. They're all good people!"

There was a somewhat tense silence as Misty finished making her declaration.

Chancing a look at Officer Jenny on the off-chance that his friend's passionate defence had actually made an impact on her, Nolan was shocked to see the colour of surprise creeping across the policewoman's face, followed by a look of - dare Nolan think it - acceptance.

"Well if Misty says that you didn't do it, than that's good enough for me" the police officer announced, and just like that, their innocence was assured. Nolan couldn't help but smile in relief as Officer Jenny began reattaching her handcuffs to her police belt, "I'm sorry I was suspicious, although now I'm suspicious of my cousins! They both sure have weird taste in friends!"

Nolan huffed, but chose to just let that comment drop. He wouldn't have had the opportunity to respond to it any way. For no sooner had the words left her lips, did Brock step closer to Officer Jenny.

"Um, Miss?" the aspiring Pokemon breeder stammered out, and to Nolan's surprise, he saw that his friend was blushing, "I was just wondering, since I'm new in town, maybe we could get together tonight and you could show me around".

The golden haired boy's jaw dropped wide open in sheer disbelief. Flirting. Brock was flirting with her! Flirting with the woman that had just accused them all of committing burglary!

"Well, I'm not off duty until past your bedtime" the policewoman casually shot Brock down in flames, as though being hit on by younger guys was something she was thoroughly used to and was not about to entertain the idea of, "And I may even have to work around the clock to catch these burglars".

Nolan chimed back into the conversation before Brock could make an even bigger fool of himself.

"What exactly did they steal anyway?" the golden haired boy asked curiously. The blue haired policewoman frowned down at him.

"That's the strange thing about it" Officer Jenny admitted, scratching her head out of sheer bewilderment, "They didn't take any money. They just took a massive vacuum and a giant hose!"

Nolan blinked in surprise. Whatever answer he had been expecting when he'd asked the question, it most certainly hadn't been that one.

"But what would anybody want that stuff for?" Ash asked from the golden haired boy's side, equally as perplexed.

Officer Jenny let out a short huff of annoyance. It was clear that the policewoman was beginning to get frustrated by being stuck in a conversation which - to her at least - seemed to be going nowhere.

"I'm sure I don't know young man, but I do know I don't have time to play guessing games with you" the blue haired policewoman allowed the first traces of irritation to enter her tone, "I've got a job to do, so I think it's time for you to take your friends and move along now Misty. It was lovely to see you again though".

She began shooing Nolan, Ash and Brock away, before she evidently decided that it would be better if the entire crowd dispersed as well. She began rushing along the edge of the cordon, trying to get the spectators to leave.

"All right, everybody. The show's over" she began calling above the many voices whilst pointedly ignoring any protests, "Nothing to see here. Break it up! Break it up!"

With many grumbles of discontent, the people began to disperse. Nolan found himself buffeted towards his friends as people rudely shoved past him, but instead of letting that bother him, the blonde boy just ignored them. Right now he had bigger fish to fry, and with that thought in mind, he turned towards Misty with an expectant look on his face. It was a look that pretty much demanded an explanation.

"Care to explain what all that was about?" Nolan stared at her incredulously. Ash and Brock both mirrored the action as well.

Misty sighed dejectedly and all-but hung her head in defeat. She knew that after the scene which had just played out around all of them, there was no way that she was getting out of answering their questions now. She looked up at her three male friends with a slightly pained look in her vermillion coloured eyes.

"Okay... I'll tell you everything. Just not here" the orange haired girl cast a fugitive look around at the bustling street uneasily, "Let's go find a bench or something to sit on. This is going to be... quite a long story".

And with that, the Water Type Pokemon specialist turned on her heel and promptly marched away, leaving the boys with little choice but to trail along after her. As they made their way down the busy street in search of a quieter area though, Nolan couldn't help but feel more and more confused with each passing moment.

Just what was it between his friend and the city that she called home?

And there's another chapter done : )

Yay! I finally get to delve into Misty's background a little bit : ) After I examined the family relationships of Brock a couple of episodes back, it feels nice to be about to do the same with Misty. I also wanted to use this chapter in particular to show how different her relationships within the main group are between my story and canon. In canon, she basically ditched Ash and Brock and didn't open up to them until she absolutely had to. In my version however, they're all much better friends, so she's going to open up to them a little earlier than she did in the show : )

But enough about that though. Let's move on to this week's voting topic, and I have to say, I'm rather looking forward to see how you guy's will vote on this one. This time it's another encounter vote, and the options are as follows: -

Pokemon Options: -

Cleopatra Island: - Spearow - Male - Gentle Nature - Keen Eye Ability

Tarroco Island: - Krabby - Male - Lonely Nature - Shell Armor Ability

Kumquat Island: - Lickitung - Male - Modest Nature - Own Tempo Ability

Salveyo Island: - Gloom - Female - Naive Nature - Chlorophyll Ability

Hamlin Island: - Diglett - Female - Serious Nature - Sand Veil Ability

I have to be honest with you guys, there's one of these Pokemon that I'm really hoping you will pick, but truthfully, I doubt I'll get that lucky. The one I want is... kinda odd, to say the least. Either way, it's not up to me, so please go leave a review detailing your vote : )

And I think that's just about everything from me for this time, so thank you so much for reading this chapter and my story in general. I hope you are enjoying it all so far, and please consider leaving a review because I'd love to hear your comments and feedback : )

Until the next time, keep on reading : )