Ash Ketchum: Type Specialist One Shots

Ash's upbringing wasn't what one would consider 'traditional'.

His parents were the gym leaders of Cerulean City Gym, and trained him and his sisters for the mantle from the moment they could release a Pokeball. They were performers in their early years, and crafted the Cerulean Gym to meet their love for water sports. The water was their home, and because of that, it became a children's home as well. They were amazing performers, and amazing Gym Leaders, but that became a drawback when it came to their children.

Daisy, Violet, and Lily were born five years before Ash. They were beautiful and took to the water like Goldeen, and their parents made sure they wished for nothing. They started performing alongside them when they were five, and became an instant hit with the populace, being dubbed the Sensational sisters.

Around the time of his birth is when the Sensational Sisters took off in popularity, and his parents were a bit distracted with their career, leaving him with his aunt for his early years, until he was old enough to swim. He learned to swim before he could walk, and loved the water as much as he loved Pokemon, but unlike the rest of his family he cared little for performing and showed more interest in battling.

This caused something of a divide to form between himself and his sisters. In all honesty the girls were only mildly aware that they had a brother for the first few years, and the only way they knew he was actually related to them was due to his dark blue hair, the same shade at Violet's, the beauty mark on his cheek that he shared with Daisy, and the face and nose shape he shared with Lily. Being so young themselves, they didn't really understand how he couldn't enjoy performing and being showered with praise and attention like they did.

Him being male didn't exactly help either, as he didn't want to be dressed up by them, or have tea parties, he wanted to run around outside and play with bug Pokemon, or sneak into the gym to watch his parents battle.

They did love their brother, and he loved them, they were family and sometimes they found common ground. For one Ash loved watching them perform, and helping them prepare the Pokemon for shows, and they actually enjoyed teaching him everything they knew about Pokemon battling. The girls were actually the ones that presented him with his seventh birthday present, his own newly hatched Azurill, and Ash protected his sisters from the girls in their school if they ever got mean, seeing as Ash had no qualms getting in trouble for retaliating. So really, while they didn't get along 100% of the time, and had many fights and squabbles, they did care, if begrudgingly, for each other.

When Ash was nine his parents went on a trip. They would be traveling the world, performing in shows in every region, and leaving their children the Gym with their manager placed in charge of finances.

While his sisters were upset with their parents leaving, Ash was indifferent. He loved his parents, sure, but the time he had spent with them was minimum due to their work and he didn't see much of a difference with their leaving. A thought that did not go over well with the girls, as they were extremely close with their parents and missed them a great deal, and drove an even deeper wedge between himself and his older siblings.

Despite all four children being marked at the Gym Leaders of Cerulean Gym, Ash only had a single Pokemon, Marill, so while he had the most drive and enthusiasm about the sport, his sisters took on the Gym Leader roll together. Even when he turned ten and started building his team, the three girls never gave him a chance to conduct gym battles, even as their careers as performers became more demanding.

Animosity and a bit of resentment festered between the siblings, going unchecked as neither side wanted to give in. Until, like most things, someone exploded.

—------

"And why can't I take on the challenger?" Ash glared, watching as his sisters bustled around their dressing room, fixing their hair, and make-up as they moved swiftly, and easily around each other. Marill was sat on his shoulder, his tail swishing with frustration that bled into him from his trainer. "You guys have a show, are you seriously going to cancel, again."

"You know why." Lily huffed, readjusting her eyelashes.

"We know you have no knowledge of performance," Daisy glared back at him, halting her adjustment of hair to do so, "But unlike a Gym Battle, show business stops for no one."

"The show must go on!" Violet declared dramatically, draping herself across her seat.

The eleven year old rolled his eyes at their dramatics. "Yeah well, the season just started, and if you keep canceling challengers this early into the season we might as well just hand the gym over." He grumbled snidely.

Daisy slammed her hands on the table. "As if a pathetic little boy like you could take on challengers!" She snapped. "If you took over we might as well just be giving the badges away!"

Ash grit his teeth and straightened his poster. "Is that what you think?! Well then I'll just leave! I'll show you that I'll be the best Water Pokemon Master the world has ever seen!" He snapped back, and rounded on his heels, storming from the dressing room.

"Do you think he'll actually leave?" Lily asked hesitantly, glancing at her blonde triplet.

"As if we'd ever be that lucky!" Daisy scoffed, turning back around to fuss with her hair again. Behind her, Lily and Violet shared an uneasy glance.

—-----

Ash stared at the entrance of Cerulean City with growing apathy. When he had stormed out of the gym three months prior on his bike, Pokemon on his hip, and all his belongings jammed into a bag, he hadn't imagined returning to the gym so soon. A part of him wanted to blame the red haired girl that blew up his bike, but he was mostly to blame as he had been the one to decide to follow her on her journey,(and a small part of himself wanted to check on his sisters).

"You really hate Cerulean City that much?" Brock asked, noticing the grimace on the younger boy's face. "I thought you would love Cerulean City, especially the gym."

"Why's that Brock?" Misty broke in, glancing between the bluenette and the city before them.

"Well, Ash's specialty is water types, and the Cerulean City Gym is a Water Type Gym." Brock shrugged at his own explanation.

"Marill?" Marill cooed from Ash's shoulder, nuzzling his cheek in comfort without drawing attention to the action, as the only one who noticed was Misty's Pikachu, who simply twitched his ear in acknowledgement.

"I don't hate Cerulean City," Ash rolled his eyes and started walking further into the city. "I just remembered that there was something I had to do. I'll meet up with you guys a bit later." He waved back at them before vanishing into the crowd, leaving his two friends to stare after him worriedly.

—------

Ash stared up at the Gym that was his home. The Circus-like orange and pink dome top glinted due to the sun, and the large cut out Dewgong smiled down at him. A rush of familiarity and melancholy hit Ash in a rush, and Marill rubbed the bulb on his tail against his neck in comfort, getting a chin scratch in appreciation. With a deep breath, he entered the Gym.

All along the walls were large tanks, brimming with various water types that swam in schools, or alone, some sitting at the bottom of the tank, while others swam towards the top. Along with being an official gym, and the stage for the Sensational Sisters, the Cerulean Gym was also used as a water type rehabilitation center/aquarium. They would often take in wounded water types and add them to the aquarium after they healed if they couldn't be released.

Just looking at the water made Ash's skin ache. He hadn't been able to Properly swim in a while, as they only really came upon rivers, and few times if ever did they stop to rest. Grinning, he ran down the familiar hallways until he came upon his room. He set his bag down on his bed, unmade and seemingly untouched since he had last been there, and pulled on his swim trunks, a simple white pair with dark blue lines along the sides, and his white, blue cuffed jacket before putting his Pokeballs into the jacket pockets and making his way towards the pool.

The smell of chlorine greeted him like an old friend, inviting him deeper into the vacant pool area. Grinning wildly, Ash threw his Pokeballs into the air while Marill jumped off his shoulder and into the pool. "Come on out you guys!"

"Marill Mar!"

"Horsea!"

"Wag!"

All three water Pokemon squealed in laughter as they took to the water. Immediately Poliwag, and Horsea dove deep into the water while Marill was floating on his back, near purring as water rippled around him. Tossing his jacket to the side, Ash jumped into the water, dunking his head in before allowing himself to break the surface. Lying on his back, the bluenette floated beside his Pokemon, letting the water hug around him in greeting.

The youngest Waterflower swam undisturbed for a number of minutes, besides Seel having joined them after hearing the commotion, racing his Pokemon from one end to the other while in backstroke, before that devolved into a splash game between himself and them, leading to them eventually just floating leisurely, relishing in the water as much as they could as they didn't know when they would get to next.

"Hey! This pool is private property!" A familiar voice suddenly called, breaking up the peaceful atmosphere.

"How did you even get in here?" Another voice asked, tone lit with indignation.

Sighing, Ash flipped back onto his stomach and swam over to the pool's edge where his jacket lay. He easily heaved himself from the pool side and pulled his jacket on, cutting off the cold chill before it could set in. "I do know the rules of my own home." He grumbled, turning towards his sisters.

Ash watched with a bit of smugness as emotions filtered over his sisters' faces in a flurry. Shock, relief, anger, worry, joy. It was all rather fascinating, until Violet bolted forward and hugged him.

"You dummy! Where have you been? You didn't leave a note or anything?!" She scolded gently, gripping his face in her hands and searching for any injuries. Ash blinked slowly, emotions reeling as he was fussed over. Lily was always the softest of the three, she worries the most, while Daisy was more headstrong, and Violet was the middle ground, she cared but usually just followed the lead of one of the other two, however, with Ash she had always been a bit more opinionated and, on occasion, doting, something Ash assumed was because they shared the same hair color, and therefore looked more obviously related.

Lily pouted at him next, hand on her hip and finger pointing at him in a scolding manner. "You haven't even called in three months! Were you trying to give us heart attacks?! I had three grey hairs because of you!"

Ash's mouth opened and closed a few times and he slowly hugged Violet back. "I-Sorry." He murmured.

Daisy finally seemed to snap out of her stupor and lightly bonked him on the head. "Idiot, what were you thinking running off like that? No matter how mad you are, leave a note at least." The blonde grumbled, grinding her knuckles lightly into his head in a noogie with a huff.

Ash responded with a huff of his own and pushed her hand away gently. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"Obviously!" The three older girls said at once.

Violet finally pulled away from him. "Where have you been all this time?" She asked, pulling him to sit on the bench, which he complied as Daisy and Lily moved to sit with them.

"Yeah, you said you were going to become a Water Pokemon Master, how's that going?" Daisy taunted lightly.

"Did you make any friends?" Lily added hopefully.

"One question at a time!" Ash insisted, feeling a tad bit overwhelmed. "I've honestly just been traveling around, fishing when I can," He pointed at his Poliwag as proof. "Made it past Viridian City before coming back here."

Lily asked the question all three girls were wondering. "Why did you come back?"

Ash's face contorted into an apathetic grimace. "Honestly, I didn't want to." He admitted, running his hand through his long hair. "A friend I started traveling with came here to get the Cascade badge, I tried to talk her out of it but, you know." He shrugged.

"Well, I'm glad you came back." Lily admitted first, soon followed by Violet.

"We really were worried Ash, so I'm glad you came back." Violet reached up to ruffle his still soaked hair.

Even Daisy nodded. "Never run out like that again you little runt." She chidded.

Ash opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the pool doors opening and a familiar red haired girl walking in. Ash watched as green eyes took in the pool before falling onto him. Misty's eyes widened before dancing between him, and his sisters, pieces falling into place like a jigsaw puzzle.

Daisy stood up to address her. "Sorry but we're closed at the mom-"

"Ash, are these your sisters?" Misty asked bluntly.

"Pika pi?" Pikachu tilted his head in question.

"You know her?" Daisy turned around to ask.

Ash nodded and stood. "She's the friend I told you about." He wandered over to her. "Yeah these are my sisters, Daisy, Lily, and Violet." He pointed to each older girl in turn before introducing Misty. "This is Misty."

"Nice to meet you." Misty greeted with uncertainty, glancing between them and her friend as his subtle beauty then made a lot more sense.

"I'm sorry to say, but if you came for a Gym Battle we can't have one." Daisy said bluntly, getting agreeing nods from the other two, older, gym leaders.

Despair descended upon Misty. "What?!"

Ash turned on his sisters. "You're canceling again?" He sighed bitterly.

Violet shook her head. "Even if we wanted to battle, we couldn't." The blue haired sister explained. "All of our Pokemon are at the Pokemon center after some tough battle with three trainers from some nowhere place called Pallet Town."

Lily chimed in next. "The only Pokemon we have left that aren't in the aquarium is Seel." She clapped her hands and the white seal Pokemon slid towards them from the water. "But Seel only knows Water Gun, and Cerulean rules are two against two. Sorry kid." She turned to Misty, looking genuinely sorry.

"Seriously? Awe." Misty's head dipped in disappointment.

"I can battle her." Ash offered, and Misty's head shot up.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

Ash pointed to himself with pride and a self assertive smirk. "You're looking at the fourth Gym Leader of Cerulean City!"

"There's only three Sensational Sisters, and one runt." Daisy frowned at him.

"But I am marked down as one of the Gym Leaders. I can battle and give out badges just as much as you can." Ash huffed, a familiar feeling of frustration building in his chest. "Just this once?"

"He has a point." Lily lamented. "Plus, she is his friend."

"Not like we can do anything, might as well let him." Violet agreed.

"Fine." Daisy huffed but caved nonetheless.

"Alright!" Misty cheered excitedly.

Ash walked to his side of the gym as his sister added the platforms for non water types into the pool, and took his spot on the other side while Misty took hers. Marill sat off to the side with Pikachu, neither mouse Pokemon, no matter how competitive to each other, wanting to get involved in that particular battle. "I wasn't going to challenge you until my bike was paid off, but this is as good a time as any!" Ash taunted pulling one of his Pokeballs from his jacket pocket.

"You're still going on about that?" Misty groaned. "Just send out your Pokemon!"

"I Choose You Poliwag!" The tadpole Pokemon landed on the platform, bouncing happily as he took in his surroundings.

"Misty calls: Rattata!" Misty sent out the purple and cream rat Pokemon, who tilted slightly on the unusual platform that was underpaw.

"You can go first." Ash offered with a smirk.

"Quick attack Rattata!" In a flash, Rattata was charging Poliwag, moving so fast it looked like it was walking on water as it hit Poliwag, causing him to stagger back.

"Rain Dance Poliwag!"

"Poli!" Poliwag righted himself quickly, and spun around, as if dancing and causing storm clouds to accumulate inside the building, before rain drops started pelting down in them all.

"Ah my hair!" Lily whined, desperately trying to keep it out of the rain from where they stood in the stands.

"You are so dead!" Daisy hissed while Violet tried opening an umbrella to protect them.

"Before he can counter attack, use Bite!" Rattata's front teeth glowed a bit before it dove toward Poliwag.

"Dodge!" Poliwag swiftly dodged to the side, moving much faster than it should be able to.

"What?" Misty stumbled in shock as Rattata almost slid into the pool after missing Poliwag.

"Poliwag's hidden ability is Swift Swim!" Ash declared proudly. "Now use Mud Shot!" Mounds of mud materialized beside Poliwag, before firing down on Rattata.

"Defend yourself with Iron Tail!" Rattata's tail glowed silver, smacking the shots of mud before they could hit, but one snuck by, sending Rattata into the water.

"Ah! Rattata, return!" Misty quickly recalled the rat Pokemon, eyeing her friend with surprise.

"Ash is actually really good." Lily whistled in surprise, getting stunned nods from her sisters.

Gripping her next Pokeball, Misty forced herself to focus. "Its not over yet, Misty calls: Pidgeotto!"

"Pidgo!" Pidgeotto screeched from her spot in the air.

"Bubble Beam Poliwag!"

"Dodge it with Agility!"

A swirling beam of bubbles shot up towards Pidgeotto, but the bird swiftly dodged to the side, flapping her wings as she did so, and speeding up with Agility.

"Now use Wing Attack!"

"Water Gun!"

Water Gun shot towards Pidgeotto, but the flying type used her Wing Attack to power through, diving down and throwing Poliwag into the water. A few seconds later, Poliwag rose to the surface.

"Return Poliwag!" Ash recalled the tadpole, and threw out his next Pokemon. "I Chose You Horsea!"

"Sea!" Horsea crooned as he took to the water.

"Gust Pidgeotto!"

"Dive!" Pidgeotto flapped her powerful wings, causinging the water to ripple heavily, but Horsea dove deep into the water and out of reach. "Now use Bubble Beam!" From behind, a strong swirling beam of bubbles appeared, slamming into Pidgeotto's back and disrupting Pidgeotto's balance.

"You okay Pidgeotto?" Misty asked, worrying over her Pokemon.

"Pigo."

Sighing in relief, Misty pointed to where she thought she could see Horsea in the water. "Right there, use your Gust again!"

With a hearty flap of her wings, Pidgeotto used Gust, disrupting the water and causing Horsea to swim closer to the surface, before sending him flying in the strong flying attack.

"Quick Horsea use Twister!" Mid-air, Horsea readied Twister, but Pidgeotto was too quick.

"Wing Attack!" In a Flash, Horsea was sent into the side of the pool, knocked out.

"Horsea Return!" Ash quickly recalled the tiny seahorse Pokemon.

"Alright! We did it!" Misty cheered, spinning around with Pikachu in her arms.

Ash walked over from his side of the gym, Seel waiting on the pool side while Misty, Pikachu, and Pidgeotto met them halfway. Ash knelt down and took the water droplet shaped badge from the white seal Pokemon's mouth. He smiled proudly at his friend and held out the Cascade badge. "For defeating the Cerulean City Gym, I present you with the Cascade Badge!"

Smiling shakily back, Misty grasped the badge, staring down at it proudly while she held it up for her Pokemon to get a better look.

A warm hand rested on Ash's shoulder, drawing his attention to his sisters. "Good job." Daisy said softly, and Ash's eyes widened a bit. Violet and Lily smiled proudly towards him. "You did pretty well, maybe after your journey, after you become the so-called 'Best Water Type Master the World Has Ever Seen' you can take over the gym while we take a vacation."

Blinking away a rush of emotion, Ash turned his head away and smiled. "You'd never get the gym back." He teased, and she snorted, giving him a playful shove and making him fall into the pool. "Hey!" Reaching out, he grabbed Lily's ankle, causing her fall into the pool with a scream of her own, as she fell though, she grabbed Violet, who grabbed Dasiy, ending in all four Waterflower siblings submerged in the pool, laughing loudly at each other.