Ash had risen even earlier than Brock, which was understandable. Brock had served the last five years as a gym leader, making his own schedule and plans. Ash, meanwhile, had been living in a cave on an untouched, wild island fifty miles north of the Alola region. Even so, the past few days' trip had worn even him out, so he couldn't imagine how tired Brock must have been. Shrugging noncommittally, Ash grabbed the luxury ball Arceus had given him and clipped it to his belt. He had already donned his signature outfit, along with his gloves. He held out his arm and Pikachu climbed up onto his right shoulder. The two of them walked out the pokemon center they had stayed at last night, before turning and walking down the well lit streets of Cerulean City. The sun hadn't risen quite yet, and so there were no pokemon out and about, save for a lone rattata scampering down the road, and only a couple of people. Kagetomo and Saizo had left after they exited the near end of Mount Moon. Saizo had claimed that they would see him again. "Pi?" the electric type asked Ash, tilting his head inquisitively. "Yeah, buddy, we're in Cerulean. Brock and I made it through the last leg of the cave last night while you were asleep. I kinda want get some training in before we head to the gym." Ash replied, rubbing his neck and pointedly avoiding looking Pikachu in the face. Pikachu crossed his chubby arms. "Pika!" Ash blanched. " I am NOT avoiding it! I just wanted to do some training with everyone before we head to the gym. We can always say hi then!" Ash defended. Pikachu gave him a smug look. "Chu." Ash groaned. Today was going to be a long day.
Ash and Pikachu walked through the city, passing a still closed Pokemart and a quaint fountain that spewed crystal clear water into the air as they passed. Ash took a deep breathe, enjoying the clean smell of the coastal city. Of course, the real reason he had wanted to do some training was that he was avoiding the inevitable confrontation that would have to take place sooner or later, but even he wouldn't admit that. Sure, he had missed Misty. As a matter of fact, he had missed her a lot. But he knew how the hot headed water type specialist would react when she saw him. And he wasn't sure he was ready for it. They left town, heading north before climbing along the ridges of Cerulean Cave. Ash wanted to train within the cave, as he had been told by a trainer they met in Mount Moon that the pokemon that dwelled within were very strong. It took them almost an hour, but they found the entrance eventually. The two of them slipped in the cave and immediately stopped. The cave was pitch black. It wasn't dark, it wasn't hard to see. It was impossibly dark; pitch black. Ash raised his hand in front of his face and realized that he couldn't even see it. "Sceptile, I need your help!" Ash called out, throwing the luxury ball out in front of him. He heard, rather than saw, the ball open and the pokemon materialize. "Sceptile! Scep…tile?" he heard. "Sceptile, use flash!" His surroundings were suddenly lit by a pure white light. The difference was as stark as night and day. Now, Ash could see that the cave went on in many directions, with sprawling stalagmites and stalactites in every direction. There was even a small stream running through the cave, though he could see neither where it came from nor where it went. Ash grinned. This would be perfect. "All right. Torterra, Serperior, Meganium, Venusaur, Decidueye. Come on out, guys!" he said, once more throwing the luxury ball. Out popped the five grass types. Decidueye ruffled it's feathers, Torterra roared, Meganium cuddled up against Ash, Serperior sent Sceptile an alluring gaze (which Sceptile pretended to ignore). And Venusaur sauntered over to Ash, before nodding at him. "All right everyone. Today we'll be taking on the Cerulean Gym Leader. She uses water types, so for now we'll be training within this cave. I've been told two of the pokemon species she uses can be found here, so lets get to it!" Most of the assembled pokemon nodded, but Venusaur gave Ash a look. He knew exactly who Ash had been referring to, and was curious why he hadn't mentioned her name. Had he talked to her already? Or was he putting it off out of fear? Knowing his trainer, Venusaur thought it might be the later.
Ash and his pokemon walked steadily through the cave, looking for a fight. Sceptile and Serperior took point, with Sceptile trying hard to avoid his still flirting teammate. Torterra and Venusaur lumbered on either side of Ash, and Meganium walked a few paces behind him. Ash couldn't see or hear Decidueye anywhere, but he figured it was nearby. Suddenly, the ground before them erupted, and a long, snake-like pokemon burst from the earth. It was easily over twenty feet in length, and it's body appeared to have been shaped from rock. It had a single rocky horn on it's head. It stopped before the group for a moment, then roared so loud that the entire chamber shook. "Venusaur, solar beam! Sceptile, Serperior, keep it occupied until Venusaur gets the attack off!" Ash commanded. Serperior slithered forward, quickly grabbing the Onix's attention. Sceptile leaped onto the rightmost wall, pushing off and slashing at the wild pokemon's head with leaf blade. He struck true, sailing just past the pokemon's head and causing it to rear back. Onix roared in pain, shaking dust from the ceiling, before swinging it's long tail around at Sceptile. Serperior leaped forward, bringing it's own tail up to intercept with dragon tail. It stopped the larger pokemon's tail only briefly, but it was just enough time for Sceptile to beat a hasty retreat. The rock snake turned to Serperior, intent on removing the pesky pokemon, before getting struck by a tornado of leaves. It looked between Serperior and Sceptile for a moment, then dove headfirst into the hole it had come from. "Good work you two! Sorry, Venusaur. Looks like we didn't need solar beam after all." "Venusaur!" the starter cried, obviously frustrated. Venusaur was charging up solar beam for a minute or two. Maybe it would be best if it released the attack somewhere. "Venusaur, find a discrete spot nearby and let it rip. I don't know if it holding in a solar beam is healthy for ya and I don't want to find out." Venusaur nodded, turning and surveying the part of the cave they were in. Lines of light purple stalagmites crossed the floor, forming a kind of maze. They were closer to the back wall of the cave than the entrance at this point. Venusaur almost nodded, bracing it's legs and leveling the huge flower on it's back. FWOOOOM! A beam of pure green light shot from Venusaur's flower straight into the wall at the back of the cave, causing dust and fragments to go flying. A sizable shard flew right at Ash's head, and he ducked instinctually, waiting for it to hit him. When he hadn't felt anything after a few moments, he looked up to find numerous vines holding the fragment. He followed them to their source and smiled, seeing that Meganium had possibly saved his life. Seconds later, the beam of light shut off, and Venusaur tramped back to his side. "Feeling better?" Venusaur nodded. "Saur!"