Holy. Crap. How long have I been away? That's shameful. I'm so sorry to everyone who's been following this story. If anyone's given up on it, I'm sorry I've disappointed you. Before reading this chapter, please take time to read Clefair and the dance of the Moon Stone again, it's been altered.

I'm not making excuses, but I have had some complications. For those of you who care, I'm going to university in September, so I'm getting ready for that, and it's causing me a lot of stress. I'm also now fighting depression, which sucks to Hell, and my health's been yo-yoing up and down frantically. I'll try getting back into rhythm as soon as I can, I promise. I hope you enjoy this story with each update that comes up in future.

Cerulean's Water Maidens

In a darkened showroom of the Cerulean City machine store, a trio of figures climbed into the room of water cleaning equipment through the air conditioner vents. The first figure to enter the room was a young man with violet hair. The second, a young woman with pink magenta hair. And the last was a Meowth. The trio strode quietly across the room to a large machine that looked like an industrial sized vacuum cleaner, used to hoover out muck from a large swimming pool.

"Here it is." The man said, smirking.

"Just what we need to get what we want." The woman agreed.

Ash, Brock, Pikachu and Riolu walked along the country road towards Cerulean City, enjoying the relaxing heat of the spring climate.

"What a wonderful day for a walk in the Sun." Ash sighed contentedly, giving a stretch.

"It's lovely." Riolu agreed, mimicking his trainer's stretch.

"HEY!" The group turned to see Misty, who'd seemed to have fallen behind, charging up the path in a frenzy. "Where do you think you're going?" She directed at Ash, leaning on her knees as she caught her breath.

"I know where I'm going, Misty. Cerulean City." He replied. Misty gasped in horror.

"Ash, please don't drag me back home." She begged, confusing the boy.

"Huh? Why not? Did something happen between you and those sisters you wrote to me about?" Misty nodded, embarrassedly. "What happened?" the redhead sighed, took in a deep breath, and looked Ash in the eye.

"I had a falling out with them. They're so concentrated on doing water ballet shows instead of training their Pokémon for battles that they just weren't putting up any resistance against challengers. I demanded that they let me take the challenges, as I'd be more competent in battle than them. But they just mocked me, and told me I was just the little sister who couldn't do anything right. So I got mad, and ran away from home." She confessed, small pearl shaped tears forming in her eyes.

Ash took pity on his sister figure, and pulled her into a comforting hug, which she gratefully accepted.

"You must feel like Cinderella sometimes, then." He cooed, softly. The girl nodded into his jacket. After a minute or so of the hug, they let go, Misty's eyes being dry now. "But don't forget." Ash told her, reassuringly gripping her shoulders. "I owe you a gym battle with Riolu." They looked to the fox Pokémon, who gave a cocky grin and a 'thumbs up'. This got Misty rather perky quite quickly.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" She exclaimed, punching the air with enthusiasm before striding off back home. Ash smiled, proud at the fact he was able to make Misty feel more secure, and the rest of the group followed after her.

Ash, Brock, Misty, Pikachu and Riolu wondered the streets of Cerulean City, taking in the sights of the town. Their leisurely walkabout was interrupted, however, as they saw a large crowd gathered around a storefront which was sealed off by police tape and cars. The group made their way to the front of the crowd, stopping at the black and yellow border. Ash turned to a young man next to them.

"Excuse me? What happened here?" The young man glanced down at Ash before responding.

"Burglars got into that store last night."

"Burglars, huh?" Ash growled behind gritted teeth.

"What do you know about burglars?" Came a voice. The kids looked up to see Officer Jenny looking at them rather suspiciously.

"Well, I know that they're petty crooks who deserve a severe beating." Ash responded, biting back bitterness.

"Is that so?" The officer bit back. "You and your gang look very suspicious to me." This comment made Ash sigh in frustration.

"Is every Officer Jenny so quick to accuse kids of committing crimes?" He huffed. "First the Viridian Jenny accuses me of stealing my own Pokémon, now this." This comment didn't go unnoticed by the cop, seeing as she was only mere inches away.

"Viridian? So you know my sister-in-law." She concluded. "What sort of heinous crime did you commit to have a run-in with my sister-in-law‽" She demanded, invading Ash's personal space so ferociously he narrowly avoided pushing her back.

"Officer, don't you have better things to do with your time on the job than accusing ten year olds of crimes they'd never commit?" Ash seethed in retaliation. "Like catching the bandits who did steal from this store‽"

The officer backed off rather sharpish at this kid's exclamation.

"Kid. If there's one thing I've learned in this line of work, it's never trust anyone who's been pulled over by my sister-in-law." Ash grunted, exasperatedly, and pulled Dexter from his pocket.

"Maybe this can clear things up." He said, flipping the pokédex open and powering it up. A picture of Ash lit up on the screen.

"I'm Dexter." The device said in its electronic voice. "A pokédex programmed by Professor Oak for Pokémon trainer Ashton R. Ketchum-Oak." Brock and Misty then pulled out their gym badges; Boulder and Cascade respectively.

"And we're two of the Pokémon League's official gym leaders." They chorused to the officer.

"Well, that's proof enough for me." The officer said, dropping the tough cop act altogether. "I'm so sorry I suspected you kids." She apologised humbly. "I've just been a bit on edge lately. There hasn't been much crime in this town for a bit, so the adrenaline of getting out of the office must be getting to my head rather quickly."

"Excuse me, Miss?" Brock said, getting the cop's attention. "My friends and I have only just got into town, and I wondered, since I'm new in town, you and I could meet up sometime, and you can show me round."

"Well, I'm sorry. But I'm not off duty til past your bedtime." The policewoman said, shooting Brock down like a shotgun to a Pidgey. "And I may be working round the clock to catch these thieves."

"So… what did they steal?" Ash quizzed.

"Well, that's the strange thing. All they took was a giant vacuum and a massive hose." The officer told him, looking rather puzzled. Ash contemplated the components. Quietly, inside his head, he theorised why these thieves may have taken these two, very specific, items. It was a long shot, but his theory seemed plausible.

"Well, I think we may have taken too much of your time, Jenny." He politely excused himself and his friends. "Come on, guys. I've got a badge to cream Misty for." He chuckled, making Misty chase after him, ready for an argument.

Ash and the gang walked through the street away from the crime scene, making their way towards the gym. Brock stopped, falling half a dozen steps behind the others.

"Hey, guys." He called to them. "There's some stuff I need to check out in town. Mind if I break off for a while?" Ash nodded.

"That's fine, Brock. See ya later." Everyone waved a temporary goodbye, and Ash, Misty and the Pokémon continued to the gym.

Eventually, they turned a corner in the local park, where the Cerulean City gym became visible. It was a rather girly looking gym. A large dome shaped building decorated like a circus big top with alternating strips of orange and pink. On the front of the gym was a large statue of a Dewgong with a wave like décor around the rim of the dome.

"Cerulean gym." Ash mused. Misty shifted uncomfortably. "Don't worry, Mist." Ash assured her. "How about you go round back, and get ready for our battle?" She nodded, and headed off to the gym's back door. When she was out of sight, Ash turned to Pikachu and Riolu with a determined look in his eyes. "Ready, you two?"

"Let's do this." They cried.

Ash and the two Pokémon got to the battle stadium just in time to hear the announcer welcome the amassed audience to a show.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Cerulean City gym water show. Please put your hands together for the Cerulean's Sensational Synchronised Swimming Sisters!" A spotlight illuminated three teenage girls stood on top of a very high diving board. One sister had blonde hair, one pink, and the other blue. They waved to their audience, blowing kisses at some of the teenage boys, and dove into the pool in perfect sync. They hit the water all at once, earning an uproar of applause from the crowds. When they surfaced, they started to dance in a water ballet style, each keeping perfect time with her sisters. The crowd watched in silenced awe. But Ash, Pikachu and Riolu were less than impressed.

"Hmph. What do they think they're doing?" Ash huffed. "A Pokémon gym is no place for water ballet." The show ended in about half an hour, with the same swimming tricks being performed at least a dozen times over. Nevertheless, besides the sameness of the show, the audience applauded wildly, apart from Ash and company.

When the audience was gone, Ash made his way down to the pool, where the three girls were towelling off, complimenting each other about the show. "Excuse me?" He said, drawing their attention. The pink haired girl looked at him as if he were a pesky fanboy.

"We don't do autographs, and we're, like, far too busy with our routine practice to go on dates." She said, as if she'd rehearsed the line a million times. Ash scoffed at the comment.

"Please. You flatter yourselves." He retorted. "I'm here for a gym badge. I didn't come here to find a gym being used for repetitive nonsense."

"Well, sorry, kid. But we're, like, so totally wiped from our performance." The blue haired girl said, swiping a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Plus, we don't have any Pokémon in any fit condition to battle." The blonde added. "They were completely totalled, like, last week by three Pallet Town trainers." Ash smiled at this.

"So Gary's doing rather well." He mused. "Well, don't worry." He shrugged. "I guess I'll just battle the fourth Sensational Sister." The girls blinked at him.

"Fourth?" The pink haired girl questioned.

As soon as she spoke, the lights blazed into life again, and the pool had been redecorated with floating stepping stones. Stood on the, now lowered, diving board was Misty. Ash smiled at her, as the sisters glared.

"Yes." Misty announced with grandeur. "The fourth of the Sensational Sisters. Me! Misty Waterflower!"

"Like, in your dreams, runt." Blondie retorted. "There are only three Sensational Sisters, and one runt wannabe."

"Now, hold it, bimbo!" Ash snarled. "Many years ago Misty and I were penfriends. And I promised her I'd battle her for the Cascade badge with my Riolu. And I'll bet she knows how to battle way better than the three of you put together." He said. Point made, he strode to the arena, positioning himself opposite Misty. "How about a two one two match?" He asked.

"Sounds good." Misty agreed. She unclipped one of her pokéballs, and threw it into the pool. "I choose you, Staryu!" In the water, a large starfish Pokémon materialised, spinning readily for battle. Ash flipped out Dexter to get an understanding of his foe.

"Staryu. The core of this Water Pokémon shines in a rainbow of seven colours, a core that is valued by some as a type of jewellery." The device reported. Ash rolled his eyes.

"Trust a girl to flash her jewellery." He joked, making Pikachu, Riolu and Misty giggle.

"Enough of the silly jokes and send Riolu in, Ash." She chuckled.

"Alright, Riolu. Prepare for combat." Ash said. Riolu leapt onto one of the floating stepping pads, landing skilfully in the centre.

"Ready to help, friend." He barked.

The two Pokémon stared each other down, as the three older sisters watched from the side-lines.

"Do you think Misty could win?" The blue haired girl asked.

"Like, maybe in her dreams." Pinkie retorted.

"Ladies first." Ash offered, being a gentleman.

"Off you go, then." Misty teased, causing Riolu to snicker.

"Oi. Riolu, who's side are you on?" Ash chuckled, lightheartedly. The group recomposed themselves, and got ready for battle.

"Alright, Staryu, use water gun!" The starfish pointed its top point of t=its body towards Riolu, and fired a jet of water towards him.

"Block it." Ash said, calmly. Riolu extended his arms out, stopping the water cold, not even flinching. Misty gasped at the skilful block as Staryu ceased his failed onslaught. "Now use aura sphere." The fox unleashed a barrage of blue spheres towards his opponent.

"Spin to evade." Misty ordered. Staryu complied, only just escaping the balls of energy.

"Now try bone rush." Riolu formed a large blue bone of energy, and leapt towards the star Pokémon, swinging wildly. The brown starfish ducked and dived every swing.

"Get into the water." The star flew through the air like a shuriken, diving deep into the pool.

"That's not gonna protect you, Mist." Ash smirked. "After it, Riolu." And Riolu dove into the water in hot pursuit. Once underwater, Riolu's eyes began glowing a pale blue colour, and he settled comfortably in his new aquatic environment, as if he had gills. "Aura sphere." Another barrage of spheres came Staryu's way, knocking the Pokémon out of the water and into the ceiling. The star fell like a stone flat on its front, knocked out stone cold.

"Staryu, no! return." Misty cried, as she returned the fallen starfish into its pokéball.

"Riolu. Retreat." Ash said. Riolu nodded, and leapt to his side. "I don't wanna make this too easy for me."

Misty pulled another ball from her pocket, and released it into the pool.

"Go! Starmie!" The larger starfish materialised, stood on one of the platforms. Ash drew his own pokéball, and tossed it into the air.

"Let's go, Pidgeotto." The bird Pokémon took form from the ball, hovering in mid-air. "Your move, Misty."

"Fine. Starmie, psychic attack." The purple star's inner core began to glow a pale blue. Soon, Pidgeotto, too was bordered by this blue energy. The bird stopped flapping its wings, and started to struggle against the paranormal force holding it. Ash gritted his teeth, but knew there was nothing he could do. The bird Pokémon found itself getting tossed across the arena and into a wall. The bird slid down the wall in a heap.

"Come on, Pidgeotto. One psychic attack is nothing. You can take that, and dish it back tenfold." Ash encouraged the weakened bird, who staggered to its feet. The Pokémon preened his feathers, and flew back to the arena. "Alright. Now use wing attack!" Pidgeotto's wings glowed white as it swooped down on Starmie.

"Starmie, block it." The starfish extended two of its arms and grabbed Pidgeotto's wing, holding it away from itself.

From the side-lines, Misty's sisters watched on.

"Wow. Misty's battling technique's, like, pretty good." The blue haired girl complimented.

"Well, we got all the looks, so I guess Misty needed to get some talent." The pink girl replied, in a backhanded complimentary way. Ash and Misty stared each other down, waiting to see if either Pokémon would give.

"Try a peck attack!" Ash called. Pidgeotto started pecking at Starmie's central core ferociously, making the star Pokémon lose its grip of Pidgeotto's wing, allowing the Pokémon to uppercut its foe into a wall. As Starmie fell, roughly to the floor, its central core began flashing dimly, showing it was low on health.

"Starmie's energy's nearly gone!" Misty exclaimed.

"Now let's get that badge, Pidgeotto!" Ash called, determinedly. Before any attack could be called, though, there was an almighty rumble as a machine broke down a wall in the arena room. When the dust cleared up, Ash snarled as he saw that it was a giant vacuum device with a large hose attachment. On the side of the machine was a trademarked red R.

"Check out that massive hair dryer." Blue hair said.

"Like, who invited the party crashers?" Blondie added.

A panel on the front of the machine opened, and a platform rose from within. Upon which were two figures.

"Sorry to burst in on you, ladies." Said a feminine voice.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves." Added a masculine one.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie."

"James."

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light."

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight."

"Meowth, that's right."

"You three again!" Ash snarled.

"That's right, twerp." James snorted back. "And don't think we've forgotten to finish the job on you. But for now… we have work to do."

"And what's that‽" Misty demanded.

"Water type Pokémon have an advantage in water itself." James answered.

"But if we take away the water…" Jessie added.

"Those Pokémon are ours for the taking." As James finished his explanation, Meowth pulled a lever on the top of the vacuum, extending the hose into the gym's pool and commencing extraction of the water. Ash growled as he watched the machine do Team Rocket's dirty work.

"I thought so. You're the crooks who broke into that electrical store!"

"The swimming pool." The blonde wailed.

"They're sucking it dry." Misty observed.

"That's our water." The pink girl moaned.

"You're right. I'm sorry." Meowth said. "I should give it back." And he switch the vacuum from suck to blow, spraying Ash, Misty, her sisters, Pikachu and Riolu with water. In the commotion, Pikachu and Riolu got swept into the pool.

"Now it's time to suck 'em up." Meowth cawed, and he set the vacuum back to suck, sucking up pool water and the gym's Pokémon with it, including Pikachu and Riolu. Ash watched helplessly as he watched Riolu and Pikachu spin round and round in the water as the vacuum swallowed it up.

Just as things looked bleak, Ash got an idea.

"Wait. Water conducts electricity. Pikachu! Thunderbolt attack!"

"TAKE THIS!" Pikachu shouted, discharging several volts of electrical energy into whatever water was left in the pool. The water conducted the power right through the vacuum cleaner, shocking Team Rocket in the process. The vacuum sparked and spazzed with the electrical overdose, and erupted in a cloud of smoke, blowing Team Rocket sky high, and flooding the gym pool with water and Pokémon again.

"You know? It's times like this that make me want to go straight." James said, as he tried to smooth out his now frizzy afro.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" The trio screamed as they flew off into the distance.

The group counted up the Pokémon. All of them were returned safe and sound.

"You know, Ash. We never finished our match." Misty reminded her.

"Yeah. Round two?"

"Mm-mm." She replied, shaking her head. Ash's face faltered, confusedly. Misty put two fingers in her mouth and whistled. On cue, a Seel flopped into the arena room, and opened its mouth, sticking its tongue out to reveal a Cascade badge. Misty picked the badge off the Seel's tongue, and handed it to Ash. "You've earned this, for saving the gym's Pokémon. And, besides. You were beating me, anyway. Starmie was a goner if Team Rocket hadn't stepped in." She said, placing her hands behind her head. Ash looked down at the badge, a little disappointed.

"But… this is the second badge I haven't officially won a match for."

"Don't worry, Ash." The blonde haired girl said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You did very well to earn that badge. Misty's right. You would've totally won that badge if it weren't for those bozos." She said, kissing the boy on the cheek. "Thank you." She whispered into his ear.

"Yes. We, like, total y owe you, dude." The other two sisters admitted, also kissing him on the cheek.

"If ever you want something, call us." The blue haired sister offered.

"We've got some good celebrity contacts." The pink girl added. "We can, like, call in some favours, and pull some strings."

"Thanks, girls." Ash said, and left for the Pokémon Centre.

"Hey, Mist." The blonde girl pulled Misty aside to talk to her and the other sisters. "Your boyfriend's, like, totally talented."

"Daisy. He's not my boyfriend." Misty moaned. "He's more like a brother to me."
"Whatever he means to you," The blue haired girl waved off her sister's whine. "Be sure to take good care of him."

"I will, Violet."

"And, lil sis…?" The pink girl piped up, pulling Misty into a hug. "We're, like, so totally sorry for all the mean stuff we said to you. you really mean the total world to us." All of the sisters stood together in a hug, making Misty tear up a little.

"Thanks, girls." She said. When they broke the hug, they bid their farewells, and Misty set off after Ash.

From behind a bleacher, a large fox smiled to herself. 'Well done, baby boy.' She thought. 'Well done.' And she crept out, silently, of the gym.

Well... it's been too long, and I've finally got an update. I wanna do something to make up for it. I'm thinking of doing some short chapters where Gary earns some of the unknown badges. So, competition time. Sen in your OC ideas for gym leaders, and I'll use the best. I'll need names, appearances, type specialty, Pokémon the leader uses, and any other data you care to add. The ones I use will be notified, and I'll offer you a reward, like a shout out or a story reccommendation if you wish. Until next time.

Salvador Rider