Through the Mountain to Cerulean City

"I'm simply a recruiter for a special organization," the man said with a grin. "These five didn't have what was needed to join, but you could go far there, and get rewards just like that Nugget. It may be valuable to you, but its a mere trinket to me. So why don't you use your power to get whatever it is you want in this world. Join Team Rocket and you could have anything!"

At that instant, Bulbasaur's vines shot out and wrapped the man, making it so that his arms were unable to reach his pokeballs so easily.

"It's only the second town...and I've seen you bastards quite enough..." Zeiro grunted, grabbing the man and glaring him down. "DO YOU THINK I'M THAT SIMPLE MINDED TO FALL FOR SOME RECRUITMENT PLOY FOR AN ORGANIZATION BENT ON TORMENTING POKEMON AND HUMANS ALIKE?! YOU MAKE ME SICK! ALL OF YOU!!!"

".... Team Rocket promised we'd be the world's strongest trainers if we joined them," one girl said. "Seeing how they were ready to throw us away so soon, they can keep their empty promises!" another exclaimed. "I hope you give that guy what he deserves!" one of the boys said. With that, they all walked off of the bridge and back into town, most likely heading to their homes.

The man was angry to say the least. He struggled to free himself and yelled out, "You damn kid! Now I don't even have them because of you! Why don't you let me go so I can show you how to treat elders?"

"So what?! You're just going to use your pokemon to fight me!" He shouted, tightening his grip. "Pokemon are not weapons nor are they tools!" Bulbasaur's vines loosened up as Zeiro picked up the man and tossed him over the bridge. Dusting hismelf off, he glared down. "Tell your leader...that he'll regret making an enemy out of me and all Pokemon."

Brooke chuckled and shook her head when she saw what Akio had decided to do. He could have gone over it, he could have gone under (the wall hadn't gone ALL the way to the bottom after all; just almost), heck if the kid had asked the Pokemon might have parted for him. They usually gave each trainer one freebie. But no, he went through it. Just like her brother would...

The Gym Leader sighed. She missed him.

The Pokemon cringed as the electricity hit them, their movements slowing almost immediately. One of them, a Horsea, created a Smokescreen out of reflex, blackening the water and making it hard to see.

Brooke shook her head again. Whether or not it had been an attack meant to harm, it had been an attack aimed at them. The challenger was going to have it tough now.

Akio's eyes widened as the smokescreen made his vision go black. He couldn't see anything, but he still had to carry on. Diving deeper down, his Pikachu used its tail and placed it on his nose. Pikachu had a strong ability to sense danger. It was a natural defense that allowed it to detect when other Pokemon were nearby. Akio was relying on it to fine the one blind spot in the wall. Of course, this also meant that the time was short, as Pikachu wasn't a Water type Pokemon, and thereby needed air eventually. If he couldn't see, then the Pokemon couldn't either. That was Akio's thought process as he went in between two Pokemon that created a hole by the way the swam together, just small enough to fit him through.

The man glared as the child walked past. Everything he'd been planning was all for nothing. He would remember this day...

Across the bridge, a man with orange, curly hair and casual looking clothing was looking inside a device. It was a large machine, a tube like contraption. As he did so, the machine door closed on its own. He lifted his head and started to yell as a bright flash emitted out of the machine.

After passing the bridge, Zeiro and his pokemon friends come across a house nearby. He hopes that whoever lives here has some sort of poison heal or anything to heal up his Pidgey. He starts knocking on the door. "Hello? Is anyone in herE?"

Though they couldn't actually see, many of the Pokemon had better hearing underwater than sight, and the ones that were closest to Akio as he swam by them. One of them gave a cry, and they all moved. He had gotten past, so there was no need for the wall any longer.

They all backed off for a while, figuring the challengers would need air soon. But they'd bug them again after that.

Inside, a pair of purple ears perched upward as the sound of a person was heard. A head lifted and a small purple rat Pokemon with the face of a person was looking at Zeiro from below. "Hey, down here! Oh, thanks so much for showing up. I really need a pair of human hands."

Akio placed his hand on his mouth as he started to rush to the surface. When he reached it, he took a deep gasp for air as did his Pikachu. He looked back at the Pokemon, seeing that they weren't in the wall formation anymore. It could only mean they weren't finished just yet. With as much strength as he could muster, he continued to swim at full speed forward.

Zeiro blinked....and blinked....and blinked as he stared at what he at first assumed is a Rattata and human mixed up. Bulbasaur walked up to it, tilting its head as it grabs its tail with its vine and lift it up, observing the strange creature.

Suddenly, a Dewgong appeared under Akio, making it so that he was riding it. The Sea Lion Pokemon almost seemed to grin at him before beginning to swim with the challenger back towards Brooke and away from his goal.

Brooke giggled at the sight. Doug always liked to do that.

The figure waved its arms as it was upside down from Bulbasaur's pulling of the tail. "Put me down! I'm not a Pokemon, I'm a guy! My name's Max and I was working on a Pokemon Transporter. It got a short and went off while I was inside. I had a Rattata in the other booth in a Pokeball to test if it would go to the other tube, but... when it went off this happened..."

Akio looked down to see the Pokemon, then noticed that he was going the wrong way. He turned and immediately jumped off of its back, diving for the goal. "I won't stop that easily!" he called out as he lifted his hand and returned Pikachu to its ball. He knew this was a test for him and his Pokemon alike, but he also realized that if he relied too much on the Pokemon, they wouldn't be able to help him in the battle, so he would do what he could on his own.

Some of the Water Pokemon appeared around Akio. They swam in a circle around him, creating a sort of whirlpool effect. It was not the kind that would drag him under the water, however, but the kind that would spin him in circles and make him dizzy and make it difficult to swim straight.

Brooke shook her head, grinning. They were having a bit too much fun with this.

Akio started to spin in the water from the whirlpool. His body sank under and into the water, but not because of the whirlpool. He'd actually went down himself with a Pokeball in hand. He called out his Squirtle from there. The tiny turtle may have been to small to surf Akio to safety (nor did it know how) but it could definitely guide the young trainer away from the water Pokemon while under water. It was a risk because he was still a little farther away from the end than he should have been, but he knew he had to get to that other side. To him, it wasn't a matter of winning a match. He had to become stronger. As strong as Brooke and Zeiro. If he one day had to face Team Rocket himself, he knew he'd need to be ready for it.

As they went under, a Dewgong (possibly the one from before) followed them. It grinned again before swiping its tail out in the water, creating a sort of wave with the intention of pushing them back.

Akio pointed outward as Squirtle started to blow bubbles behind them. It was the Bubblebeam it learned during the battle with Reye. It was propelling them forward, allowing passage on and through the wave as Akio held on. He grinned as he could see the goal was now close at hand.

The Dewgong grinned again and got out of the way.

None of the other Pokemon tried to hinder the challengers anymore. They'd had their fun, now they knew it was time for the play to end and for the battle to begin.

"Woo! Go on, home stretch!" Cheered Brooke.

Akio and Squirtle surfaced as they approached the other end. Squirtle jumped up as Akio hit the ground on his butt. Squirtle ran to Akio to be sure he was alright. Akio stood up with a grin as he wiped the water from his forehead. Sweat was mixed in as well. "That's... sure wasn't easy..." he said, panting but also with a tone of victory. "I passed your test though... So now we can battle."

"Yep!" Brooke called from across the room, her voice echoing. "You take a quick breather while I set some stuff up and explain how the battle works."

With that, Brooke pulled herself out of the water. She walked over to the one of the walls, where there were a number of buttons and switches. She fiddled with them a bit, and under the water two doors opened up. All the Pokemon that were in the pool went into them, and soon after they closed again. After that the girl pushed another button. The sides of the walls next to pool suddenly seemed to part, revealing aquariums where all the Pokemon were. They wanted to watch too, after all.

With that, Brooke went back to the edge of the pool. "Alrighty, here's how the battle works!" She told Akio, voice still echoing. "You can choose however many Pokemon you want to battle me, one, two, six, any number. Any style is fine too; you could have six on your side at the same time for all I care. But I'll only have one Pokemon of my choice on my side. The battle takes place in the pool, and the same rules as before apply. As in, your Pokemon starts drowning, we come to help and find it's fake, your rear is out of here."

The girl grinned. "Got it?"

"Only one, huh?" Akio said as he looked at the field. He stood up as he took a Pokeball from his pocket and said, "I said I'd fight fair and that's what I'll do. I'll only use one Pokemon too!" Of course, he was putting himself at a disadvantage with such a claim, basically declaring he would not switch out his Pokemon and stick to only one. With that said, he threw the ball and called out, Let's do it, Pikachu, Squirtle!"

The turtle Pokemon appeared in the pool as the small mouse went atop its shell. "Pikachu's not the best swimmer, so having a moving platform like Squirtle doesn't hurt, right?" he said. "Squirtle, no matter what happens, don't do a single attack! This is Pikachu's battle. Support him, but don't interfere, okay?!" The turtle nodded as Pikachu himself started to spark lightly.

~Electric ontop of a water~ the name identified as Ty thought, placing his hands into his pockets as he walked to the bleachers, climbing to the top and leaning back to watch the fight. ~Either he thinks it's a really greta idea, or doesn't understand that water conducts electricity.~

Brooke raised an eyebrow. "No offense, but is that the smartest move? If your Squirtle is in the water when your Pikachu lets off a shock, it'll get zapped too. But that's your choice really." She grabbed her jacket from off the ground, taking out a Pokeball from it. "And if you change your mind about the one-on-one thing, feel free to tell me."

The teen dropped her jacket and threw the Pokeball. "Go, Nessie!"

A Lapras appeared from the Pokeball, looking around and seeming very excited when she spots opponents.

"Now I know the saying is ladies first, but my policy is challengers first." Brooke said with a grin.

~If I use an electric attack that hits the ground, then Squirtle will take the hit as well,~ Akio thought as he looked at the Lapras he was facing. ~That means Pikachu's gotta aim true and not hit the water. Since it only knows Thundershock, it should be able to aim it.~

Akio pointed outward and called out, "Go Pikachu, Thundershock like we practiced in Mt. Moon!" The Pokemon's cheeks began to spark as it shot out a bolt of Lightning. However, the pattern wasn't random. It was in the air and aimed directly at Lapras. Even if it missed, it would hit the nearby wall instead of the water below.

Nessie took the hit, squealing but otherwise not budging. Brooke sighed. Nessie could be a bit too sweet for her own good sometimes...

"Alrighty, our turn now." Brooke said. "Nessie, Rain Dance!"

The Lapras raised her head towards the ceiling and let out a loud cry. Rain clouds formed above them, and soon rain began to fall.

"Now, Mist!"

Nessie took a deep breath and let it loose, blowing out a great icy mist that settled over the water, making it near impossible to see.

"Sing."

A haunting lullaby filled the air.

Akio looked at her and immediately called out, "Dive under!" With that, Squirtle and Pikachu went under the water. Akio grinned as he knew the sound waves of the Sing wouldn't work as well under water, meaning the Pokemon were safe from being put to sleep. That said, it would still be difficult to see.

Squirtle came up at Lapras's side, Pikachu still on its shell with a grin as it jumped up and aimed to board Nessie. Akio had an idea of what Pikachu would do. It had a mischievous streak and had a feeling he would try to attack from close range. "Now, Thunder Wave!" Akio called out. Pikachu then sent another wave of Electricity outward aimed for Nessie, though it was very close range if he'd been allowed on her back.