"The gym leader Erika's pokemon are unable to battle, Ash Ketchum from Pallet town wins!" Shouted the referee, Ash immediately fist pumped into the air and hugged his worn out but satisfied krabby. Brock only chuckled at Ash's childish antics while Misty gave out a scoff, though she did gave a small smile. Ash broke the hug with krabby and smiled in pride, this gym battle was the first time he ACTUALLY battled the gym leader and won! It felt fantastic that he earned the badge fair and square without the help of external force or interruption. Pikachu nuzzled his trainer and grinned at his teammates who cheered for joy, this was indeed a glorious moment for Ash.

Erika smiled at the warm display as she stared at the trainer from Pallet, she tend to her gloom who seemed happy that her savior won against her. After Ash heroically saved gloom from the flames, Erika decided to have a rematch with Ash seeing that the interior of the gym was still intact. The outside of the gym was surprisingly in good condition, it was just the interior that was damaged. It won't take long to restore the gym to its former beauty.

"You did great gloom, I'm so proud of you." Gloom gave out a tired smile and nodded at her trainer. Spraying a potion on her gloom, Erika slowly patted her and glanced at Ash who was talking to Brock and Misty. The guilt in her heart slowly came back to her as she realized that she treated Ash awfully at the start yet he risked his life just to save her gloom that she loved so much. Swallowing her pride, she walked towards Ash with her hands behind her back.

"Ash...I'm sorry for kicking you out and denying your right for a gym battle, it was very rude and immature of me to do so and, I would like to thank you again for saving gloom, I-" Erika almost felt tears forming in her eyes, her gloom was her most beloved pokemon and she couldn't imagine a world without her gloom by her side. The fact that Ash risked his life just to save her pokemon even though she treated him awfully made her even more guiltier. There were so many unspoken words she wanted to say to him but she couldn't bring herself to say the words out, not in front of some many people anyway.

"It's okay Erika, I'm not angry. I'm sorry for insulting your perfume as well, I was kind of a jerk for saying that. So friends?" Ash gave a genuine and innocent smile that caused Erika to blink her eyes, she was indeed shocked that Ash forgave her so easily and even wanted to be friends with her. Not knowing what to do, Erika accepted Ash's warm and gentle hand and felt her face turning into the shade of red. The tears in her eyes were gone as she felt the warmth of a sweet and kind person in front of her.

"S-Sure friends." Ash beamed a smile and let go of Erika hand, prompting the Celadon gym leader to feel a little disappointed. Erika however smiled back when Ash's pikachu jumped into her arms so suddenly, causing her to squeal in both delight and surprise. Pikachu cheerful smile and cute features were simply too adorable to resist!

"Aren't you the most adorable pikachu I've ever seen!" Tickling pikachu's nose, Erika found herself enjoying hugging the cute electric mouse pokemon. She wasn't sure why pikachu jumped into her arms so suddenly, but she was definitely not complaining. Ash gave a smile of amusement but said nothing. He stared at Erika who was giggling and found the sight to be both adorable and heartwarming. Raising his head up slightly, his eyes met the charcoal roof and it's pieces that cling onto the somewhat unstable roof. It all finally came back to him as Ash thought back to the horrific situation he was in not long ago. Running through intense flames, dodging falling roof tiles and trying his hardest to breath in oxygen. The thought of death never occurred to Ash back then and it certainly didn't shake or scare Ash now but...

"Ash we best get moving, I still need to shop for supplies." Brock spoke in a hasty manner, it was like he was in a rush or something. Ash stared at Brock inquisitively and nodded, not knowing that the perverted breeder wanted to catch a glimpse of pretty girls at the supply store as soon as possible. His attention was caught by pikachu's squeal of delight, he certainly seemed to enjoy Erika spoiling him. Ash did questioned why his normally reserved pikachu would be so affectionate to her, maybe pikachu did that so that Erika won't have to feel bad? Maybe it was a sign of forgiveness? Whatever it is, pikachu seemed happy that Erika was giggling and smiling again. Frowns don't suit her anyway.

"Sorry Erika but we have to go now." Erika gave out a small pout and (reluctantly) let pikachu go. He jumped onto Ash's shoulders and waved goodbye to Erika and gloom who stood next to him. Nodding at her, Ash felt gloom hugging his legs and nuzzling them as a sign of thanks.

"Thank you for everything Ash!" Gloom hugged her savior tightly and affectionately. Chuckling to himself, Ash patted gloom and smiled at her.

"Well we really have to go now, good bye Erika, good bye gloom." With that, Ash and co left the gym with Brock running ahead and shouting the group to move faster. As they walked (ran), Ash reflected on today's events. He certainly didn't expect today to turn out so "interesting". Cross-dressing, saving pokemon from fire and getting his first actual gym badge. It was a hectic day but overall it turned out fantastic, it was one of those days that Ash thought he was actually doing something right.

"Hello Ash?! Are you even listening!?" Misty shouted at Ash who got lost in his thoughts, he snapped out of it and stared at an agitated Misty who raised her eyebrow while tapping her foot. He better respond fast or else he is gonna get it!

"Huh what? sorry I zoned out." Scratching the back of his head sheepishly, Ash look at Misty who gave out a sigh.

"I said! That Brock needs to buy some supplies for our journey and I need to go to the perfume shop to buy some perfume." Ash blinked his eyes, what about him!?

"So what do I do?" Misty pointed to the local game corner and smiled at Ash.

"You could go to the game corner and have some fun Ash, I think that we could leave you alone for a few minutes without causing any trouble?" Ash snorted internally, he doubt that it would be a "few minutes". It would most likely be an hour or at least half of it. He stared at the game corner again, he doesn't have anything against it but he didn't exactly want to go in and play slot machines. However he rather endure an hours time of playing slot machines then to receive a mallet or arguing with Misty that's for sure.

"Well okay then." Nodding at Ash with a satisfied smile, Misty and Brock waved goodbye to Ash as they split up. Seeing the two disappearing in the distance, Ash and pikachu reluctantly head towards the game corner. Might as well kill some time right?

As Ash entered the building, he was overwhelmed by the sounds of the slot machines dinging and whatnot. Looking around his surroundings in awe, Ash felt lost in the sea of people that were too engrossed in the slot machines. He swore he could get lost in here. Walking aimlessly, Ash found himself reaching the counter of said game corner and found a cheerful looking cashier manning his station. That's when Ash noticed something strange, the game corner cashier was talking to a shady looking man with a big red R logo on his shirt. The alarm bells in Ash started to go off, danger was not far.

'Isn't that Team Rocket's logo? Why is Team Rocket doing here?' Feeling a horrible churn in his stomach, Ash observed the conversation as they shook hands. Pikachu took noticed of his trainer's worried demeanor and poked his cheeks, prompting Ash to chuckle slightly as he rubbed his cheek before returning back to his serious expression, which was rare for the happy-go-lucky trainer from Pallet.

"Ash is something wrong?" Pikachu's cries caused Ash to nod slowly.

"I don't know buddy, that man standing there seems a bit shady. Not to mention he is wearing the team Rocket's uniform." Pikachu followed his trainer's gaze and finally lay his eyes on the man Ash was staring so intently at. His stare turned into a glare at the team rocket member for obvious reasons. It did raise the question though, why didn't anyone do anything about it? Pikachu turned and saw his answer. The people were too busy in their slot machines to notice the presence of an evil organization.

'Or they are all part of it.' Hoping that the latter isn't true, pikachu felt sweat on his forehead at the thought of everyone turning at them at the same time.. creepy I know.

"Pikachu I think we should confront him." Now Ash is the type of person to act before he thinks, but he definitely knows that this team rocket grunt who looked like he has anger-management issues is very different than the usual stupid team rocket trio. The very last thing he wants is to endanger his friends and family. He could never handle it, the guilt and the pain he caused. Collecting his thoughts between doing what's right and doing what's best, Ash finally came to a solution. Gathering his courage, Ash bravely walked towards the team rocket grunt who was leaning onto a wall. Was he really going to do this? This seems so different than the times he fought Jessie and James...

Noticing Ash's serious expression and his movements, the Team Rocket grunt stood up straight and stared at Ash with a cold gaze that screamed danger to Ash.

"Leave kid, this place of off limits." Unfazed by the older man's cold and rough voice, Ash double down his courage and shout at him. He noticed that he was covering something behind his back...

"What's behind you?" The team Rocket grunt narrowed his eyes and took out his pokeball.

"Nothing now leave! Or else..." The pokeball in his hands became enlarge, Ash knew that he would have to fight his way out of this one. He was confident that he could take him on, he stood his ground and shook his head. Pikachu was ever so ready for a battle, his cheeks sparkled and his gaze were dead set on the pokeball.

"That's it kid! If you want a battle I'll give you a battle." The team Rocket grunt roared and called out his raticate, it's teeth looked sharp and deadly and the terrifying look it's face was nothing to scoff at. However Ash's courage won over his fear of running, within a second of seeing raticate out, Ash called out his attack.

"Pikachu use thunderbolt!" Pikachu without hesitation shot a powerful thunderbolt attack onto the raticate, paralyzing it and weakening it greatly.

"Raticate use hyper fang!" Raticate ignored the pain through and rushed towards pikachu with his sharp fangs ready to deliver. However pikachu dodged he attack with ease and slammed his tail on the raticate, sending him flying to the wall with an audible "crack" being heard.

Seeing his defeat, the Rocket grunt felt the cold shiver up his spine as he stood there defenseless.

"Raticate you good for nothing piece of-" Pikachu shocked the grunt with his electrical powers and knocked him out, he gave a glare before jumping onto Ash's shoulder. The unconscious grunt laid there with electric sparks flickering around his body.

"We did it pikachu!" Ash high five with his starter and looked at raticate, he seemed okay. Ash sighed a breath of relief and spray a potion onto the injured raticate. Giving it a pat on the head, Ash stared at the poster that the Team Rocket grunt tried so hard to hidden it. Curiously, Ash used his hands to feel the poster, his hands ran over it until he felt something that felt uneven.

"I'm pretty sure that this is a button" Whispering to himself, Ash pushed the button and the floor beneath him started to open and reveal a large staircase that leads to a base of some sort. Could this be the infamous Team Rocket hideout that the police tried so hard to find it? Ignoring the urge to run out of the game corner, Ash slowly descend into the hideout which was bright and cold. There was no sign of it being abandoned and the fear of running into the Team Rocket's grunts cling onto Ash's mind.

"This is Team Rocket's hide out!" The logo's were everywhere, from the banners to the equipment. Ash quickly took out primape's pokeball and called him out. Primeape stared at his trainer with an intrigued look as he finally took noticed of his surroundings, this cannot be good.

"Primape we are dealing something dangerous here, don't hold back." Primape was surprised of the maturity and the seriousness of his trainer's voice, he nonetheless nodded and balled his fist together. Ready to protect Ash at all cost. Breathing in much needed air to release his stress and panic, Ash slowly walked inside into one of the rooms, poking his head out to see if any grunts were hiding at the corner. Did they know that he was here? Or did they set up a trap for him? Realizing the horrible situation he could be in, Ash quickly walked backwards and stared at his concerned pokemon.

"We need to get help, we can't deal with Team Rocket alone." Primeape and pikachu both nodded in symphony, they knew that even with all of Ash's forces combined they stood little to no chance of taking them down.

"Good idea Ash." Primape nodded, for once his trainer is not as reckless as he thinks. The lust for battle and the anticipation of bringing swift justice to Team Rocket ignited a flame in primeape's heart. His blood boiled and for once in his life, it wasn't of anger.

"Yeah let's get help!" Pikachu nodded, Ash immediately ran back up to the game corner, with primape and pikachu running next to him. Ash ran to the one person he could think of that can help with the situation at hand, and that is the Celadon gym leader, Erika.

A revamp of blooming chance just to smooth the reading experience and add more stuff to the story.