Ash walked into the Pewter Gym through the automatic door which he had to open with his hands… Pikachu was looking up at the dim lights like they owed him money.
The League-appointed stand-in, still looked as disinterested as ever.
"Huh. Another one?" Agito muttered. "Didn't we just have a challenger?"
Ash smirked, stepping up to the designated challenger's box. "That was someone else. I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. I'm here for my first Gym Badge."
At the mention of Pallet Town, Agito's expression shifted ever so slightly—an almost imperceptible change, but Ash caught it.
"Pallet, huh? Again." He exhaled through his nose. "Alright, kid. Standard Indigo League Gym Rules—three-on-three battle, first to knock out all three opponent Pokémon wins. That work for you?"
Ash nodded. "Sounds perfect."
"Great. Brock is just ahead." Agito gestured toward the massive stone doors at the other end of the arena. "You better be quick with the challenge, though. Brock has a special match coming up—some trainer is going for a Star Badge, and this'll be his first time officiating one."
Before Ash could process what that meant, the automatic doors whooshed open, revealing the battlefield beyond.
"ASH KETCHUM!"
A familiar voice rang through the gym, filled with exasperation and frustration. Ash winced. He knew that tone all too well, from the anime that was… This Misty was an adult and extreemly upset.
Spinning around, he found Misty standing at the entrance, arms crossed and glaring daggers at him.
"You ditched me!" she accused, storming up to him."
Ash gave her a sheepish grin, scratching the back of his head. "I, got to excited this is my first gym battle afterall."
"... You are lying to me about something, and I will find out eventually." Misty states " Now I hear something about a Star Badge? Which trainer is going around challenging gyms to those? Its basically taking a league gym challenge with an all eight badge difficulty level." Misty states
"Who are you?" Agito asks
"You don't recognize Gym Leader Misty? The tomboyish mermaid?" Ash asks only to be lightly shoved from behind by the redhead.
"Say pikachu can you hear me?" Ash asks mentally while focusing on Pikachu
"Pika?" Pikachu states looking at Ash confused.
"Great, Ill give other commands like this to add on to what you are doing. Its gonna give us an advantage." Ash says both physically before switching to speaking mentally.
"Pika! Pi!" Pikachu nods with a response.
Ash took a deep breath as he stepped forward onto the platform looking over the rocky battlefield. The ground was uneven, with jagged stone pillars jutting out at various angles—a clear advantage for Rock-type Pokémon.
On the opposite end, Brock stood, arms crossed, his expression serious.
"So, you're my next challenger?" Brock asked. His voice was steady, evaluating.
Ash nodded, grinning with confidence. "That's right! Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, here for my first Gym Badge!"
Brock studied him for a moment before nodding. "Alright. Standard Indigo League."
Ash's eyes flicked to the side as Misty took a seat in the stands, watching intently.
"Trainers, send out your first Pokémon!" Agito announced from the referee's box.
Brock grabbed a Poké Ball from his belt. "I'll start with Geodude!" He threw the ball, and in a flash of white light, the small but sturdy Rock/Ground-type materialized on the field, floating slightly above the rocky terrain.
Ash smirked. "Alright, then… Pikachu, you're up!"
Pikachu leaped off Ash's shoulder, landing on the battlefield with a confident flick of his tail.
Brock blinked in mild surprise. "Starting with an Electric-type? You do know that Electric moves don't work on Ground-types, right?"
Ash's smirk widened. "Oh, I know."
Brock narrowed his eyes slightly. "We'll see about that. Geodude, Tackle!"
Geodude rushed forward, fists clenched, barreling straight toward Pikachu with surprising speed.
"Dodge and use Quick Attack! Hit him with an IRON Tail." Ash commanded.
Pikachu flipped backward, his tail glowing silver, before swinging it down with incredible force.
CRACK!
The attack slammed into Geodude's head, sending spiderweb-like cracks through the rock beneath it. This time, the force was too much—Geodude lurched backward, eyes wide, before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.
Agito lifted his hand. "Geodude is unable to battle! Pikachu wins!"
Ash grinned. "That's one down!"
Brock returned Geodude to its Poké Ball, giving Ash a small nod. "Not bad. But let's see how you handle my next Pokémon."
He grabbed another Poké Ball and threw it high into the air.
"Go, Onix!"
"If Riachu Managed to teach you Surf USE IT" Ash commands
Then, before anyone could react, Pikachu leaped into the air, his body glowing blue as water suddenly materialized beneath him.
A wave surged forward, forming from seemingly nowhere, rushing toward Onix like a crashing tide.
Misty gasped. "He knows SURF?!"
The water engulfed Onix in an instant, slamming into the massive rock snake with the full force of an ocean's wrath. The ground shook violently as Onix let out a pained roar, thrashing desperately against the attack—only for the move to prove too much.
As the water receded, Onix collapsed with a thunderous crash, its eyes swirling in defeat.
The entire gym fell silent.
Agito slowly raised his hand. His voice, when it came, was flat with disbelief.
"Onix is unable to battle… Pikachu wins."
Brock just stared at the battlefield, his arms slack at his sides. "What… just happened?"
"I just soloed your gym with an electric type… I'll take the badge now and I wish you luck with your next challenger… shes a rather creepy stalker." Ash states walking over to Brock who numbly hands him the badge.
=================
Ash barely made it three steps out of the battlefield before Misty appeared out of nowhere, grabbing him by the sleeve with a grip strong enough to stop a rampaging Tauros.
"What the hell was that?!" she demanded, eyes blazing with frustration.
Ash sighed. He'd known this was coming.
"What was what?" he asked, playing dumb.
Misty scoffed, yanking him around to face her properly. "Don't you 'what was what' me! You just humiliated Brock in front of his own gym! And that was not some normal battle—what was that move Pikachu pulled at the end?!"
Ash raised an eyebrow. "You mean Surf?"
Misty threw her arms up. "Yes! Pikachu shouldn't be able to use Surf! That's a move for Water-types, Ash! Water-types!"
Ash smirked. "Pikachu trained with a Raichu that knew it. Turns out, Pikachu can learn Surf too—if you know where to look."
Misty stared at him like he'd just spoken in an alien language. "That's—That's not how move learning works! There's no way Pikachu just picked up Surf like it was nothing!"
Ash shrugged. "Guess we'll have to agree to disagree."
Misty pinched the bridge of her nose, clearly trying to suppress an incoming headache. "This isn't normal, Ash. You're acting weird. You battle like someone who's been doing this for years—not like some fresh rookie who just left Pallet Town!"
Ash's smirk faltered for a fraction of a second.
She was sharp—sharper than he remembered.
But before she could dig any deeper, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, heavy object, pressing it into her palm.
Misty blinked, looking down. The moment she saw the gleam of gold, her breath hitched.
A Zapdos was engraved on the surface, its form surrounded by arcs of lightning.
She went completely still.
Misty stares at Ash blankly as she is handed a solid gold coin with a zaptos engraved in it…
"I'll explain later… stay and watch the star badge you'll be fighting her next and meet me at the Pokemon Center that is the entrance of Mt. Moon?" Ash asks
"Ash, do you know how much this coin is worth? Do you know how much trouble you could get for having it? Where did you get it?" Misty asks mumbling out the last part.
"I'll explain if you agree to the meetup at Mt. Moon… I have business that needs to be taken care of." Ash explains
"Of course I agree! Do you not fear anything?" Misty states mumbling the last part.
"Red's Charizard, and Cynthia's Garchomp," Ash answers without missing a beat, leaving the Gym, Misty stood there left behind there utterly confused.