The kids were finally back to Viridian City. "I can't believe that it's been almost a year since we were last here," Ash said. Emma looked toward the Pokémon center where she first met Ash and Misty, "Hey, the Pokémon center is up and running again," she said as they walked past it. "That's great!" Ash said.

Soon enough they found the Gym building. "Look Ash, the Viridian Gym, and inside there's an Earth Badge with your name on it," Brock said. "Oh yeah," Ash said with a smile.

They slowed to a stop in front of the building, seeing two guards in front of the doors. "I already have seven badges, I just need one more to get in the Pokémon League," Ash said, "I've got to win it here."

"Pika," his Pikachu said with a nod. "So, what are we waiting for?" Emma asked with a smile. Ash opened his mouth to speak but another voice cut in.

"For me of course."

They turned around in surprise to see Gary and his cheerleaders standing next to their car. "Gary?" Emma and Ash asked. Gary smirked and looked at Emma, "Your Dad told me Ryan and Jane are getting married soon. I bet you're excited for it."

"Yeah," Emma said with a smile, "Are you going to be there?" Gary nodded, "Yeah, I wouldn't miss it in the world." He looked at Ash with a smirk as he spoke to the brunette girl, "So what are you and the loser doing here?"

Ash glared at him, "I'm not a loser! I'm here to win my eight and final badge!" he said. Gary chuckled, "You have some catching up to do," he said as he pulled out his badge case and opened it, showing ten badges.

"Wow, ten badges," Emma said. "That's right," Gary said and looked at Ash with a smirk, "Still thinks you got what it takes to become a Pokémon Master?" He looked at Emma, "Honestly Em, I don't get why you're friends with this loser."

Ash and his Pikachu glared at him while Emma frowned sadly. "If you already have more than eight badges, then why are you here?" she asked. "One of the reasons is your Dad said you'll be here," Gary said before glancing at Ash, "But also I wanted to stop by on my way to Pallet Town to see if the leader of this Gym wants to battle a real Pokémon trainer."

Ash glared at him while Emma looked between them. Gary looked toward the guards, "I'm Gary Oak from Pallet, and I'm hereby request for a battle with the leader of this Gym," he said. The doors slid open and Gary looked at Emma as he took her hand, "Come on, then."

"Huh?" Emma asked as she blushed slightly. Ash glared angrily at Gary's hand and watched as Gary pulled Emma toward the building, followed by the cheerleaders. Ash glared, "That Gary. Let's go Pikachu."

"Pika," his Pikachu agreed, and they ran after them. The guards held Ash back, "Only one trainer at a time kid," one of them said. "But I got to get inside," Ash said. "Gym's Rules," they both said as Emma turned to them.

"Togy, Togy," Togepi said as it waved its hands around as if wanting Ash to come with them too. But as Gary was pulling Emma inside, and Ash was getting far away, Togepi started to cry, which 'caused Gary and Emma to stop walking.

Emma looked at Gary, "I think I should stay outside. I don't Togepi likes the inside of this building," she said as she slowly let go of Gary's hand. Gary gave a small nod, "Yeah, guess so."

"Good luck," Emma said, giving him a small smile. "Thanks," Gary said and she stepped outside. Togepi didn't stop crying until it heard Ash's voice, "What's wrong Togepi?"

"Togy," it said as Ash petted its head. "I think we could have a problem when it will be your turn to challenge the Gym Leader in this place," Emma said, "I don't think Togepi likes the inside as much as the outside."

"Or it was crying because it didn't want to be away from Ash like it doesn't want to be away from you," Misty said as she smiled and shrugged, "Maybe Togepi was getting nervous when it's getting separated from both of its parents."

"Togy," Togepi said as it waved its hands around, smiling again. "See?" Misty asked. Ash smiled as he took Togepi into his arms, "Nah, don't worry Togepi, it wasn't like I was gonna leave you and Emma, you stuck with us."

"Togy, Togepry!" the Egg Pokémon said with a smile, waving its hands around and its feet back and forth. Brock smiled as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Well, Ash is back on a good mood," he muttered.

...................

The kids were sitting outside a restaurant to eat lunch. "I wonder if Gary finished with his battle," Emma said. Ash frowned, "Why? You want to see him before he leaves?" he asked. Emma blinked and raised an eyebrow, "I was wondering if he was done, so you could go and have your Gym battle."

Misty smirked and leaned over to whisper to Ash, "Careful Ash, your jealousy is showing up again," she teased. Ash froze and blushed slightly before glaring at his redhead friend, but Emma and Brock didn't notice as they were talking to each other.

"He may have ten badges, but not all of them are from the Gyms Ash was," Brock said. "Yeah, I didn't see the Thunder Badge, so he wasn't at Lt. Surge's Gym," Emma said. "And besides, you only need eight badges, not ten."

"He won the two others probably 'cause he was bored or something," Brock said. Emma frowned, "Yeah..." she muttered. "Gary sure have a soft spot for you, doesn't he Emma?" Misty asked suddenly as she smirked at her friend.

Emma blinked, "Uhh... well, we've been best friends since we were younger," she said as Ash looked annoyed. Misty looked from Ash and then quickly away as she smirked, "Nooo," she teased, "I don't know, he looks at you a bit different."

Emma tilted her head, frowning, "What do you mean?" she asked. "Oh, you know, Gary is most likely wants you to be his... how to call it? His--" Misty started on teasing, but Ash suddenly stood up, slamming his hands on the table, startling the girls slightly. "All right! Let's go back to the Gym!" he said.

He grabbed his backpack and walked away quickly. Emma stood up, "Hey Ash! We haven't finished lunch yet!" she called but he didn't stop or say anything.

Brock quickly paid for the food, and the three kids and Pokémon quickly ran to follow Ash. "Why he's so angry?" Emma muttered. Misty smiled, "You know, you really smart, but there are some things you don't understand when it's happening around you," she said.

Emma blinked and frowned, "Huh? Like what?" she asked. "You'll know what I've meant when you'll grow older a bit," Misty said with a chuckle. Emma raised an eyebrow and looked from her to Brock, "Did I miss something here?"

"Oh yeah, but don't worry, I didn't realize it either until Misty pointed it out for me," Brock whispered. "Realized what?" Emma muttered as she looked at her Pikachu. The female mouse tilted her head, "Pika-Chu."

The kids got back to the Gym, the guards weren't around, so Ash ran closer and banged on the door, "Hey! I came for a Gym battle! Let me in." The kids opened the doors and looked inside in surprise to see Gary and his cheerleaders were on the floor, unconscious.

"Gary!" Emma and Ash called and the kids ran inside. Emma and Ash ran toward Gary while Brock turned to the girls. Emma placed Togepi on the floor and she and Ash held up Gary. "Gary!" Emma said and Gary opened his eyes.

"It's here," he said. "What happened? What's here?" Ash asked. "A Pokémon that we've never seen, did this," Gary said, "There's something different about this one. This Pokémon not just powerful, it's evil."

"Evil?" Ash and Emma repeated. "There can't be an evil Pokémon," Ash muttered. "I can't believe Gary lost," one of the girls said and then the cheerleaders started crying. Emma gave them a look, "Hey! Cut it out, would ya?"

The girls stopped crying and looked at her. "One things for sure, no one can ever beat that Pokémon," Gary said. Right then, there was a laugh as Ash and Emma helped Gary up to his feet. The lights turned on from the other side of the battlefield.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"Make it double!"

Team Rocket appeared from the other side on a red platform.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all people's within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extended our reaches to the stars above."

"It's them," Ash said in annoyance as Emma took Togepi into her arms. "Again," Brock said. Jessie and James looked insulted. "Why are you always interrupting us before we get to finish?" Jessie asked.

"Because we know what you going to say," Emma said. "Yeah, it's never any different," Misty agreed. Jessie smirked, "But today it's very different," she said. "Something happened that it's going to make you very jealous," James said.

Meowth appeared, "Let's celebrate. We just got a big promotion! Now we're gonna get the respect we deserve," he said. "That's right Meowth, 'cause the new Gym Leaders of this Gym are..." James trailed off. "The three of us," Jessie finished.

"Huh?" Misty, Emma, Ash and Brock asked together in shock, while Gary and the cheerleaders looked at Team Rocket in confusion. "You guys are Gym leaders?!" Ash asked. "Pika?" the Pikachu asked. Jessie smirked, "That's right, just moments ago we were put in charge on this Gym." She held out the Earth Badge, "And the Earth Badge."

"Hey, that's the Earth Badge," Emma said. "The Earth Badge," Ash muttered. "You mean this Gym is controlled by Team Rocket?" Misty asked. "Why would they want a Gym?" Brock asked. Jessie laughed, "Oh you little children wouldn't understand the plans for an organization like Team Rocket."

"Yeah? Try us," Ash said. "That's for us to know, and for you to figure it out," James said before he frowned and whispered to Jessie. Jessie's smug look faded away before reappearing, "Those plans are classified information," she said. Meowth shrugged, "She doesn't know them either."

Jessie kicked Meowth away before turning to the kids. "But if you want that Earth Badge, you'll have to defeat us," James said. "That's just what I'm gonna do!" Ash said. "Well, step right into the ring we properad just for you," Jessie said as a green platform appeared from behind Emma and her friends.

James stepped out from the red platform and stood next to Meowth. Jessie laughed, "Now, get into the trainer's box, little boy," she said. "Don't do it Ash, it could be a trap," Emma whispered. "If you'll run away now, you won't get that Earth Badge," James taunted.

Ash glared, "I'm not running anywhere!" he said. Emma watched worriedly as the boy stepped into the green platform, while Gary was looking at her with a frowned, not liking what he was seeing at all.

When Professor Oak first told Gary that Emma was traveling with Ash, he felt--for the first time--jealousy. She was supposed to be traveling with him, not with Ash. He didn't hate the guy, but he sure didn't like him, especially when he was taking Emma away from him.

"We'll use three Pokémon each, no time limits," Jessie said, pulling Gary from his thoughts. "Fine, let's battle!" Ash said. Jessie threw three Poké balls, "All three Pokémon, go!" A Machamp, a Rhydon and another Pokémon that looked like Krabby were released.

It was a crustacean Pokémon resembling a crab. Its strong shell covers the outside of its body, featuring a red upper half and a light tan lower half. Its upper half is topped with six tall, thin spikes that resemble a crown. Its light tan arms are also connected to its upper body. Its lower half doubles as its jaw with six fangs overlapping its upper body. Its two outer fangs are much larger than the inner four and are roughly half as tall as its entire body. Its hips visibly protrude from its lower body and connect to its four long, thin legs. Each leg has a single, claw-like foot. Its main feature is its red pincers. Its left claw is roughly twice as large as the other and hard as steel.

Emma pulled out her Dexter, "It looks like a Krabby."

Kingler, the Pincer Pokémon. The evolved form of Krabby. Its crushing claws make it a powerful opponent.

"Not helping so much," Emma muttered as she put her Dexter back into her pocket. Ash threw a Poké ball, "Squirtle, I choose you!" The Tiny Turtle Pokémon was released, "Squirtle!"

"Squirtle? Is that the best you can do?" Jessie taunted, "Go Machamp, Karate Chop!" Machamp ran forward, striking Squirtle many times. When that happened, Ash was given a shock, making him yell in pain. "Ash!" Emma, Misty and Brock called. "Pika-Pi!" the male mouse called.

James smirked, "On the platform, every trainer feels what the Pokémon feels," he said. "That's not how a battle should go!" Emma said, "Stop it right now!"

"Sorry, but we can't," Meowth said and laughed. "He can't win, Machamp is too powerful," Gary said as the shock stopped. Ash breathed heavily and pulled out another Poké ball, "Bulbasaur... go." The Seed Pokémon was released, "Bulbasaur!"

"Then I choose Kingler!" Jessie said and the Pincer Pokémon forward. "Bulbasaur, Vine Whip!" Ash ordered. Bulbasaur let his vines appear from his bulb and headed toward Kingler. "Kingler, Harden!" Jessie said. Kingler did as was told, and Bulbasaur's Vine Whip attack didn't work.

"Kingler, Bubble attack!" Jessie called. Kingler released multiple clear bubbles from its mouth, which hit Bulbasaur. Another wave of shock hit Ash, making him yell in pain again. "Ash!" Emma called.

"Ash, you can't win! Their Pokémon is too strong!" Gary called. "I won't give up... I've come too far to just quit now," Ash said and the shock stopped. He panted, "I trust my Pokémon." He looked forward, "We can do it!"

Gary looked at him in surprise, "Maybe... he can," he said. Emma glanced at Gary, smiling a small smile before looking back at Ash. The boy pulled out another Poke ball and threw it, "Go Pidgeotto!" The Bird Pokémon was released. "Pidgeotto, Quick Attack!"

Pidgeotto slammed into Rhydon, inflicting damage. "Come on Ash! You can do it!" Brock called. "Go Ash!" Emma called. "Pidgeotto, Double-Edge!" Ash ordered. The Bird Pokémon slammed into Rhydon again, causing more damage to it, and suddenly a wave of shock hit Jessie.

"James! Why did you made it shock on both sides?! Turn it off! Turn it off!" Jessie called. "I didn't thought it will do that," James said. Meowth held up a device, "Lucky, I made this little remote control in case we would lose, all I do is hit the button and it's 'goodbye competition'."

Emma pulled out a Poke ball when she saw the Cat Pokémon was about to press the button, "Oh no, you don't!" She threw the Poke ball, "Poliwhirl, use Double Slap on Meowth!"

The Tadpole Pokémon was released and immediately slapped Meowth with both his hands, making him drop the remote. "All Pokémon, attack at once!" Jessie said and threw two more Poke balls, "Go Arbok and Weezing!"

"You can't use new Pokémon now! It's against the rules!" Misty said as Togepi jumped from Emma's arms. Jessie smirked, "I make the rules for this Gym!" Ash glared, "Well, if those are the rules." He looked toward his Pikachu, "Let's go Pikachu."

"Pika!" the male mouse said with a nod, and run to jump on Arbok. He used Thunderbolt to attack all of the opposing Pokémon at once, including Rhydon when its horn got hit by the attack. Another wave of shock hit Jessie, and it soon after stopped. Machamp, Rhydon and Kingler ran away, and Weezing and Arbok crashed into Jessie.

Ash's Pokémon all cheered, and Ash stepped off from the green platform, "We did it! We won the match!" he said, and he kneeled next to his Pokémon. He hugged his Pikachu and petted Pidgeotto on the head, "You were all just great!"

"He's our winner, he's our Ash! Let's all have a victory bash! He's our winner, he's our man! No one wins like Ketchum can!"

Emma looked toward the cheerleaders in surprise as they cheered for him. She smiled with her friends as she looked back at Ash. Gary smiled a small smile, "Ha," he muttered, "I hate to admit it but he's pretty good trainer."

Emma leaned closer as she smiled, "What was that?" she asked, clearly heard what he said. Gary glanced at her and then away, scoffing as he smiled, "Nothing." He then frowned as his smile faded away, "But still... nobody will be able to defeat the Pokémon that I saw."

Emma blinked as her smile faded away. She then turned to Ash when he called out to Team Rocket, "Hey! Jessie! I won the match fair and square, so now I want the Earth Badge I earned."

"Well, you not getting it!" Jessie said. "Hey! That's cheating!" Ash said as they all glared at her. "Well I'm a cheater," Jessie said as Meowth spotted Togepi standing next to the remote control.

Meowth gasped, "Togepi! Get away from there!" he said. Togepi didn't listen and pressed on both red and green buttons, making an explosion on both platforms. Team Rocket were thrown up to a hole on the ceiling, and into the sky as Jessie accidentally dropped the Earth Badge.

"We're blasting off again!"

The Earth Badge was dropped into Ash's hand as he smiled. "I finally got my Earth Badge!" he said. "Pi-Pika-Chu!" his Pikachu cheered. The building suddenly shook, and Poliwhirl grabbed Togepi and ran toward their trainer.

Emma took Togepi into her arms aseveryone looked around. "The building's collapsing, let's run forit!" Gary said as he grabbed Emma's hand. He pulled her outside aseveryone quickly followed. They all watched the building fell down.

...................

After saying goodbye to Gary for now, Emma and her friends were walking on a different path to head back to Pallet Town. "I wonder if we'll ever get to see the Pokémon Gary was talking about," Brock said, "I would like to take a look at that."

"Same," Emma agreed. "Right now, all I want to look at, are my eight badges," Ash said with a grin and looked at his friends, "'Cause now I can finally get into the Pokémon League. I'm on my way to become a Pokémon Master."

"Pika-Chu," the male mouse agreed on Ash's shoulder. "Pika," Emma's Pikachu said. "First things first, we're on our way to my brother's wedding!" Emma said with a smile. "Togy!" the Egg Pokémon said with a smile. "Pika-Chu," Emma's Pikachu said with a smile.

Ash chuckled, "That's right. First stop is back home to Ryan's wedding, and then to the Pokémon League," he said. Misty frowned, "But where is the Pokémon League?" Ash blinked, "Uhhh..."

"Ash, don't you know?" Misty asked. "We could ask Professor Oak when we'll get back to Pallet," Emma said. "Yeah," Brock said with a nod. "Well, let's go then," Ash said.

Emma smiled and looked at her Pikachu on her shoulder, "Let's go home," she said. "Pika-Chu!" the female mouse said excitedly. Emma chuckled as she and her friends continued on the path.