After going through the remainder of Route 4, Ash and Pikachu were able to make it into Cerulean City safely without any further incidents or getting lost. Finally, the raven-haired boy stood before the Cerulean City Gym doors as he looked over at his electric starter with a grin.
"Ready, Pikachu?" The Pallet Town native asked his electric mouse as he cupped the Pokeballs that were currently attached against his belt.
"I mean, sure. I can't battle for this gym, but I guess we're about as ready as we can possibly be." Pikachu shrugged, though it was clear that he was still disappointed that he couldn't participate in the gym battle against Misty.
"I'll make sure that you get to battle at some point.," Ash reassured his electric starter as he ruffled his head gently before heading into the building. In the lobby of the gym, he found that Misty was waiting for him.
"Ready for the gym battle, Ketchum?" The red-haired girl smirked as she crossed her arms. "I took the time to carefully select my Pokemon team that I'll be using for this battle."
"Of course you would." The raven-haired boy laughed softly, shaking his head. "I've figured out my own plan, but why don't we go over to the battlefield so we can see what we got planned?" he suggested with a grin.
"Not a bad idea." Misty grinned in response before turning away from Ash as she started to head towards the battlefield room. "I also convinced Violet to referee the battle, she wasn't happy about the show being interrupted." She giggled at this.
"She'll be fine, it should be a quick battle. At least I hope." The raven-haired boy chuckled as he scratched the back of his head.
"A quick battle?" Pikachu sniggered at Ash's comment as he rested onto his trainer's shoulder.
"Hush." Ash rolled his eyes as he followed Misty into the battlefield room. He was slightly nervous to see what Misty had planned, but he knew to be careful. It did not take long for Ash and Misty to get to their positions on the battlefield as Violet got into the referee stand.
"Are you two about ready?" The blue-haired woman asked as she tapped her foot.
"We're ready." Misty grinned. "We'll try to be quick, so you can get onto your stupid show."
Violet rolled her eyes at her sister's comment before letting out a deep breath then speaking. "This gym battle is between Cerulean City Gym Leader Misty Waterflower and the challenger, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town! This is a 3 vs 3 battle, and there will be no substitutions allowed for the gym leader but the challenger is allowed to substitute at any time. This battle will not end until one side is out of Pokemon. If these rules are acceptable, then please go ahead and send out your first Pokemon!"
"Misty calls Starmie to the battlefield!" the red-haired girl shouted as she retrieved her next Pokeball. She then tossed it which opened and revealed the purple starfish Pokemon. Its red light just blinked as it stretched out for battle.
"Alright, Pidgeotto, girl… I choose you!" Ash called as he sized up and threw his own Pokeball, which opened and revealed the Bird Pokemon. Pidgeotto gave a happy cawl as she adjusted her wings, ready for the battle ahead.
"And you may begin!" Violet called out as she threw down both flags, signaling for Ash and Misty to start battling.
"Let's start out with a Quick Attack!" the raven-haired boy spoke, watching to see what Misty ended up doing.
"Starmie, go ahead and use Harden to boost up your defense so you can take on her Quick Attack!" Misty commanded, surprising Ash as the Bird Pokemon started flying towards Misty and Starmie.
"At least Riolu is in his Pokeball, he doesn't seem to like Harden as a move," Pikachu sniggered with a smirk as he watched over the battle.
"We'll have to switch to a different method then…" Ash muttered before calling out. "Pull away from Starmie then use Gust!" He watched as Pidgeotto pulled back from Starmie before flapping her wings to create a Gust which blew the starfish Pokemon backwards slightly.
"Use Water Pulse to get yourself up!" the red-haired girl called as Starmie pointed towards the ground before using a Water Pulse to push itself off of the ground as Misty continued. "Now use Swift to hit the bird!" It then began to spin around as stars started firing off - heading towards Pidgeotto.
"Use Agility to avoid them!" The raven-haired boy called out, but it was in vain as the Bird Pokemon was hit with several Swifts. She cried out in pain. "Get away from there and use Aerial Ace!" Ash cried.
She started to speed up towards Starmie as she moved away from any additional shooting stars to avoid being hit any further. She ends up landing an Aerial Ace, knocking the starfish Pokemon into the water before landing onto the battlefield to see what Misty would do next.
"Starmie isn't done yet." Misty smirked as she crossed her arms. "Starmie, get out of the water and use Psybeam!" she commanded.
"Use Agility to get out of the way!" The raven-haired boy called in alarm. His flying-type Pokemon quickly obeyed, glowing as she flew to avoid the Psybeam as fast as possible.
"Use Rapid Spin to get her!" the red-haired girl called out as Starmie began to spin around in an attempt to get Pidgeotto with more Psybeams. This whipped up some of the water Starmie was in.
Seeing this, Ash had a sudden idea. "Pidgeotto, get away from Starmie then fly around in circles and see if you can make some sort of Hurricane or something this way! Use your Agility if you need to!" Misty raised her eyebrow in curiosity.
"You got it, Ketchum!" The Bird Pokemon smirked as she started to spin around in circles to boost her speeds before flying around in circles. Misty's eyes widened as she realized Pidgeotto was creating a Hurricane that was slowly lifting Starmie along with some of the pool water.
"Dammit!" Misty hissed. "Try to freeze that Hurricane with your Psybeam, use your Rapid Spin to keep up!"
"Keep going!" Ash commanded as Pidgeotto continued flying in circles. Starmie spun in circles in order to keep up with the Bird Pokemon. This caused the starfish Pokemon to get gradually dizzy. In order to combat the dizziness, it had to stop spinning around as its Psybeam died down.
"Use Quick Attack!" The dark-haired boy pointed out, realizing that there was an opening as Starmie was dizzy. Pidgeotto was quick to tackle Starmie into the Hurricane which sent the water-type Pokemon flying before it crashed into the wall.
The makeshift Hurricane died down as Violet uncovered her eyes to look at the crater that Starmie created in the wall before calling out. "Starmie is unable to battle, this round goes to Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"
"Fucking hell…" Misty cursed under her breath as she returned Starmie, glaring over at the raven-haired boy. "You might have gotten lucky this time…" She then took a deep breath before retrieving another Pokeball as she threw it. "Misty calls for Goldeen!"
"Alright, Pidgeotto, I'm gonna pull you out for a break." Ash spoke as he recalled Pidgeotto before sizing up another Pokeball as he grinned. "Hope you're ready for the next one. Zubat, I choose you!" He called over to Misty who gave a confused look before the raven-haired boy threw out the Pokeball which opened and revealed a Zubat.
"You're using Zubat?" Misty called in surprise, blinking before smirking. "Alright, give me your worst."
"Gladly." Ash chuckled as Violet declared that they could begin the next round.
"Goldeen, start out with a Peck!" the red-haired girl called. Goldeen quickly swam towards Zubat who was flying above the water.
"Take it," the raven-haired boy ordered, surprising Misty as Goldeen pecked the blind bat, sending it reeling back slightly. Ash grinned and called out. "Use Absorb!"
"Absorb..?" Misty mumbled as she thought to herself before her eyes widened. "GOLDEEN, GET AWAY FROM ZUBAT THIS INSTANT!" she called out in panic as Zubat used Absorb against Goldeen, causing the goldfish Pokemon to cry out in pain as she was hit by a super-effective move.
"Nicely done, Zubat." Ash praised the blind bat, smirking as he had caught Misty by surprise. "While Goldeen tries to recover from your attack, use Supersonic!"
"You got it, Ash." Zubat chuckled as he began firing the supersonic beams towards the Goldfish Pokemon before Misty had a chance to command anything. This caused the water-type Pokemon to be confused.
Misty grimaced as she noticed that her Goldeen was now confused. "This isn't going to bring us down!" She growled, clearly frustrated at where the battle was currently heading. "Use Water Pulse until you hit Zubat!"
"I..I'll try, miss…" The Goldfish Pokemon muttered, even if her trainer couldn't understand her as she began using Water Pulse.
"Get away from there!" The raven-haired boy called out in alarm as Zubat flew away from the Water Pulses that were getting too close for comfort. "Alright, Absorb once again!"
"Get into the water!" Misty called out as Goldeen jumped into the water to avoid the incoming Absorb attack. "See if you can snap yourself out of the confusion!"
"Try to use Absorb before she manages to snap out of confusion!" Ash tried but Goldeen was fast and had managed to get into water before Zubat was able to use Absorb.
Ash watched as Zubat stopped what he was doing, no longer able to detect Goldeen.
"Alright, use Water Pulse!" Misty declared as Goldeen, clearly no longer confused, shot a Water Pulse towards Zubat, sending the blind bat into the water.
"Zubat, you okay!?" The raven-haired boy called out in concern, which Zubat got his head out of the water as his wings were too wet to fly properly.
"Y..Yeah, I'm okay…" Zubat managed as he shifted his wings to stay up floating in the water.
"Alright, if you go straight ahead, get an Absorb on the Goldeen! I'll let you know if she moves." Ash called out as Zubat started to swim over to Goldeen.
"Dodge it!" the red-haired girl called out as her Goldeen moved away from the incoming Absorb.
"On your left!" the raven-haired boy cried to Misty's surprise. Zubat twisted and hit Goldeen with an Absorb, causing the Goldfish Pokemon to cry out in pain.
"Get away from there!" Misty tried, but Zubat was able to get in another Absorb before Goldeen was able to move away. Her Goldfish Pokemon collapsed, clearly exhausted from all of the Absorbs that Zubat had done.
"Goldeen is no longer able to battle, this round goes to Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and his Zubat!" Violet called out after seeing that Goldeen was no longer able to battle.
"Thanks so much, Zubat. Please return for now." Ash grinned as he returned the wet blind bat Pokemon before sizing up the final Pokeball that he was going to use as Misty returned her Goldeen.
"You might have gotten lucky with this one, but this last Pokemon will beat all three Pokemon of yours!" Misty smirked as she retrieved her last Pokeball before calling out. "Misty calls for Seel!" She tossed the Pokeball which opened and revealed the Sea Lion Pokemon.
"One of your gym Pokemon?" The raven-haired boy asked with a chuckle as he tossed his Pokeball. "Butterfree, I choose you!" he said as Butterfree came out of his Pokeball.
"You gotta call for the big guns sometimes." The red-haired girl smirked as Violet gave Ash and Misty a green light to begin battling for the next round.
"Alright, Butterfree." Ash grinned as he pulled his cap backwards. "Start out with a Bug Bite!" He instructed Butterfree to fly over to Seel to land a Bug Bite into the sea lion Pokemon. Misty remained quiet as she allowed for the Butterfly Pokemon to get close to her water-type Pokemon, which worried the raven-haired boy.
"Ice Beam." Misty smirked in response as Seel shot an Ice Beam towards Butterfree, causing the bug-type Pokemon to cry out in pain as the single-super effective move hit him. He did manage to fly back, but part of his wings were frozen.
"Butterfree, are you okay?!" Ash asked in alarm, looking over at his Butterfree in concern.
"I..I think so…" The butterfly Pokemon muttered as he groaned from pain. "I can still fight."
"Alright, let's try Confusion from a distance to get some damage in." The raven-haired boy instructed as Butterfree's eyes began to glow as the sea lion Pokemon was surrounded in pink. The bug-type Pokemon threw Seel against the wall, causing him to cry out in pain.
"Seel, you good?" Misty asked her gym Pokemon, who recovered after a few seconds before giving a firm nod. "Good. Headbutt that bug!"
"Try to dodge!" Ash called out in response as Seel swam as fast as he could, jumping out at Butterfree, who with his half-frozen wings barely avoided the attack.. "That was close…" Ash muttered. "Use Gust!"
"On it!" Butterfree nodded as he flapped his wings in an attempt to create a Gust, but it was a weakened version due to the parts of his wings being covered in ice. It did hit Seel, but the sea lion Pokemon seemed unfazed by it.
"Finish him off with your Ice Beam!" The red-haired girl shouted as Seel began firing another Ice Beam towards Butterfree, which he was not able to dodge in time and was frozen.
"Dammit.." The raven-haired boy groaned as his Butterfree was frozen in ice. "Return, Butterfree, you did well," he said as he recalled his Butterfly Pokemon.
"Butterfree is no longer able to battle, this round goes to Cerulean City Gym Leader Misty and Seel! Challenger, please send out another Pokemon!" Violet declared, seeing that the bug-type Pokemon was out.
Ash debated for a minute as he thought about the choices that he had. He then moved his hand to cup a Pokeball before sizing it up as he nodded to himself.
"Let's give this a try then…" The raven-haired boy muttered before tossing the Pokeball. "Pidgeotto, you're up again!" He called out as the Pokeball opened to reveal his Bird Pokemon, Pidgeotto.
"Give it up, Ash." Misty smirked as she teased the Pallet Town native. "Seel is going to make sure that I claim my victory. It has Ice Beam and you know it's super effective against your remaining Pokemon."
"I wouldn't count on it." Ash smirked as he continued. "Pidgeotto, use Agility to boost your speed so you can avoid the Ice Beams!" He instructed his flying-type Pokemon before continuing. "Then use Aerial Ace!"
"Ice Beam as soon as you can get a good range on that bird!" The red-haired girl called out towards her sea lion Pokemon as his mouth began to glow with the Ice Beam before it fired off towards Pidgeotto as she flew around in circles in order to boost her speed.
"Not so fast!" Pidgeotto declared as she dodged yet another Ice Beam in time before smacking Seel with her Aerial Ace which sent him back slightly. Seel seemed to be damaged, but he was still conscious.
"Seel! Are you okay?" Misty asked in concern before grinning as the sea lion nodded in response. "Now use Ice Beam to try to get that damn bird!" She commanded as Seel swam towards Pidgeotto.
"Dodge it" Ash declared with a smirk as Pidgeotto flew back to avoid the incoming Ice Beam. "Now, Gust!" He declared as his Bird Pokemon flapped her wings sent a Gust towards Seel, throwing him through the wall which rendered the sea lion Pokemon unconscious.
Violet blinked at this before clearing her throat as she announced. "Seel is no longer able to battle, the victory goes to Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"
"Hell yeah!" The raven-haired boy cheered in response as he high-fived Pikachu who had been watching the battle intensely. "We got the Cascade Badge!" He then turned towards Pidgeotto with a grin. "You did a great job, Pidgeotto!"
"Thank you." Pidgeotto chuckled as she flew over to Ash before landing by him. She then turned around to see Misty approaching Ash.
"I have to admit…" Misty mumbled as she looked towards the raven-haired boy. "I wasn't expecting you to use Zubat. I just thought that you'd use your Pidgeotto, Butterfree, and maybe your Riolu." She just sighed as she let out a soft laugh. "I guess you do deserve the Cascade badge after all." The red-haired girl then handed Ash the Cascade badge, which the raven-haired boy was happy to accept.
"Now, can you guys go so we can get ready for the show?" Violet approached Misty and Ash, her arms crossed.
"Sure, sure. We're done here." Ash laughed softly as he recalled Pidgeotto before he and Misty left the gym to head towards the Pokemon Center so their Pokemon could get healed up.
Some time later…
With Ash and Misty's Pokemon all healed up, the duo was standing outside of the Pokecenter as they discussed their future action. Pikachu was currently on Ash's shoulder while Riolu was out of his Pokeball and stood by his trainer as he listened to the conversation.
"So, Ash… what Pokémon are we going after next?" the aura Pokemon asked in curiosity as he crossed his arms slightly.
Ash scratched his chin in thought before beginning to speak. "Well, our next destination is the Hidden Village… That was where we found Bulbasaur last time," he explained before looking over at Pikachu for confirmation.
"Yeah. We got Bulbasaur from the Hidden Village, then we bumped into a shitty trainer that abandoned Charmander who we ended up getting, then we ended up helping out Officer Jenny with the Squirtle Squad that was causing issues and got Squirtle in the end." Pikachu explained as he recounted the memories of when Ash had caught his three Kanto starter friends.
"A shitty trainer?" Riolu scoffed. "Like the situation with Gengar?"
"Yeah, but it was worse because Damian was leaving Charmander to die in the rain." The electric mouse scoffed at the thought. "Thankfully, Ash and Brock saved him even if he became arrogant for a while."
"I see," the fighting-type Pokemon muttered before nodding. "I'd like to meet the Damian person so I can kick his ass."
Ash just shook his head as he laughed softly over Riolu's response, however he was interrupted by someone shoving into him. "Hey, what gives?!" the dark-haired boy yelled out as he turned to the individual.
The individual was none other than his rival Gary Oak, who was smirking at the raven-haired boy as he had his hand on his hip.
"Well, well. Look what we have here, a loser and his silly little evolved rat." The brunette boy smirked, clearly aiming to get onto Ash's nerves.
'Damn… I forgot how arrogant Gary was back then…' The raven-haired boy had to take a deep breath to calm down; there was no point in getting angry when he knew it wouldn't help anything. Instead, he had an idea of what he could do.
"I don't know. Have you evolved your Squirtle? I gotta ask that considering that I went ahead of you." Ash smirked as he noticed Gary's arrogant smirk to drop.
"Excuse me? Are you calling my Wartortle weak?" Gary hissed in anger. "It's funny because Pichu usually evolves by happiness while Squirtle evolves by battle experience."
"Sure, they do evolve by happiness. But there are some certain requirements that a Pichu has to deal with before it can evolve into a proper Pikachu like I did with my Pikachu here." The raven-haired boy smirked as he ruffled Pikachu's fur. "So you can say that he had to get some battle experience."
The brunette growled before getting out his Pokeball and sizing it up. "My Wartortle can have that damn rat down in five minutes!" he declared arrogantly.
"Then why don't you prove it with a Pokémon battle?" Ash grinned. "I'm happy to let you demonstrate it but I can't promise that you'd win the battle."
"Fine! 1 vs 1 battle behind the Pokecenter." Gary huffed as he walked off towards the back of the Pokecenter.
Ash then turned to Misty, who had been staring in shock before he shrugged. "I had to give Gary a taste of his own medicine," he admitted. "plus I'd rather not deal with his arrogant self for too long." He then took a deep breath before grinning over at Pikachu. "Ready to kick some ass?"
"You betcha!" The electric mouse smirked.
"I… I guess I can referee for you two…" Misty mumbled as she slowly recovered from her surprise.
"Great, I appreciate it. Thanks!" Ash grinned as he ran off with Misty following him from behind as the two went after Gary.
It did not take long before Ash and Gary took their battle stance in the battlefield with Misty standing in the middle as she was the referee.
"This is a 1 v 1 battle between Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak. This battle will end when one of the trainers is out of Pokémon, there will be no substitutions allowed. If you agree to the rules, please send out your Pokemon!" Misty declared.
"Get ready to lose, Ashy-boy." The brunette smirked as he kissed his Pokeball upon sizing it up. "Let's go, Wartortle!" he called out as he tossed his Pokeball, letting out a Wartortle who grinned in response.
"I could say the same to you." Ash chuckled before pointing out towards the battlefield. "I choose you, Pikachu!" he declared as his electric mouse ran down from his shoulders before jumping in front of him onto the battlefield.
"And you may begin!" Misty called out as she nodded towards Ash and Gary who were glaring at each other.
"Start out with a Rapid Spin!" the brunette called out to his starter. Wartortle tucked himself into his shell and started spinning towards Pikachu.
"Stop him with your Iron Tail!" Ash declared. Pikachu jumped towards Gary's Wartortle and slammed his hardened tail against the water-type's shell to stop the spinning. "Good, now give him a Thundershock!"
"Get away from that rat instantly!" Gary called out in an attempt to get Wartortle away from Pikachu's incoming Thundershock. However, Pikachu was quick to shock the water-type Pokemon, causing Wartortle to cry out in pain due to the super-effective attack.
"So you're still calling my buddy a rat, huh." The raven-haired boy chuckled before smirking. "Quick Attack, Pikachu!" he commanded as Pikachu tackled the Wartortle, sending him into the nearby tree.
"Shut up, loser!" the brunette shouted, clearly irritated at Ash's words as he pointed towards Pikachu. "Water gun, full blast right now!" he sternly commanded his starter as Wartortle got up and immediately shot a strong Water Gun at Pikachu.
Ash didn't say anything as he crossed his arms, humming to himself. Pikachu jumped out of the way causing the Water Gun to flatten a nearby bush instead..
"Is that all you got?" Ash grinned as he taunted his rival, seeming to like how he was getting onto Gary's nerves.
"Of course not!" Gary hissed from anger as he pointed towards Pikachu. "Get a Rapid Spin in, and make sure you hit that damned rat!" he called out. Wartortle started to spin rapidly, going towards the electric mouse.
"Catch him," the raven-haired boy stated calmly. Pikachu nodded in response. His starter leaped forwards, taking the hit but managing to grip onto Wartortle. Ash then grinned. "Try a point blank Electro Ball!"
Pikachu smirked evilly as he formed an Electro Ball, which he immediately slammed into Wartortle. This caused the ball to explode, pushing both Pikachu and Wartortle back. However, while Pikachu landed on his feet, Wartortle was sent flying straight into Gary's face.
The brunette could only do nothing but to scream out as he was hit by his flying starter. The explosion dust calms down, revealing an unconscious Wartortle along with his trainer.
Misty blinked at this, surprised at how the tables had turned before turning towards Ash. "I don't think that giving Gary a taste of his own medicine means KNOCKING HIM OUT!" she screamed.
"Th…That wasn't my plan, I swear!" Ash held up his hands before giving a look over at Pikachu who was snickering at this. "When I said for you to try to do an Electro Ball… I did not mean for you to send Wartortle flying and knocking both him and Gary out!" he scolded his electric starter.
"Hey, hey," the electric mouse began before continuing. "They were both calling me a rat. I had to show them that you don't just call a Pikachu a rat."
The raven-haired boy sighed deeply before walking over to the unconscious Wartortle and Gary, getting onto his knees as he gently placed a hand on his rival's shoulder before beginning to shake him. "Gary… you okay?" He asked quietly, continuing to shake the brunette in an attempt to get him to regain consciousness.
This took several minutes, but Gary woke up with a loud groan as he held his head. "My head… that hurts like hell…" he mumbled as he opened his eyes before blinking in surprise. "Ashy-boy?" he finally asked, pointing over at his Wartortle. "What happened? Why is my Blastoise a Wartortle?"
"It's a long story…" Ash scratched the back of his head, helping Gary up as the brunette recalled his starter. "To summarize it basically, the world was invaded and attacked by the Paradox Pokémon that was supposedly from Paldea region." He began, watching as Gary nodded in response. "The legendaries' resources were exhausted because of how great the damage was in such a short period of time… so they sent me and Pikachu back into the past."
"Interesting…" The brunette mumbled in thought, scratching the back of his head. "Do we know who was behind this?"
"I haven't found out yet." The raven-haired boy admitted with a long sigh. "I did meet up with Jessie, James, and Meowth after I reminded them. They said that Giovanni had some interest at some point but they couldn't remember if he had any actual plans. So they said that they'd keep an ear open for me."
"So we're not sure that we know the individual behind this mess…" Gary sighed, ruffling his hair. "Well…" he continued as he crossed his arms. "Where's Brock?" he finally asked.
Ash and Misty looked at each other before the raven-haired boy finally spoke up. "We actually don't know where he is. Apparently, there has been some kind of a Butterfree effect where the gym leaders across Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, and Galar have been shuffled to keep things challenging and interesting. Brock was not in Pewter when we went to seek him out, Roark was there in his place."
"Roark?" The brunette raised his eyebrow. "You didn't know that Brock wasn't going to be in Kanto?"
"No, I didn't know." Ash chuckled softly. "I almost lost the gym challenge, but Riolu ended up helping me out there."
"Riolu? I thought you didn't get your Lucario until you were dealing with the World Series Tournament." Gary pointed out in curiosity.
"Yeah. Your grandpa had his egg and was going to send it to Vermillion but he gave it to me when he was reminded," the raven-haired boy explained. "I also got Pikachu as a Pichu, then I caught Pidgeotto as a Pidgey." He counted with his fingers. "Then I caught the wrong Caterpie which turned out to be Richtie's Pokemon, Happy. Then I caught my Butterfree again, and finally I caught Brock's Zubat for him."
"Huh, so there are a lot of Butterfree effects." The brunette boy rubbed his chin in thought before giving a smile towards his rival. "Well, since you're down a companion and you're trying to figure out the situation at hand…" He then held out his hand. "Why don't I join you and Misty, see what I can do to help?"
"What?!" Ash, Misty, and Pikachu exclaimed in shock as they hadn't expected for Gary to offer to join them.
"A…are you sure?" the raven-haired boy asked with a hesitant tone. "What about your gym challenge, or at least your cheerleaders?"
"I'll just continue the gym challenge and join you on that." The brunette chuckled. "Don't worry about those cheerleaders. They're not gonna stick around anyways."
Ash just nodded slowly as he thought about it. He then grinned as he took Gary's hand, shaking it. "I don't see the harm of you joining us. I'd really appreciate your help."
"I'll do my best, Ashy-boy." Gary smirked, shaking Ash's hand as he thought to himself. 'Hopefully I won't be in the shadows too much'