Lily and Ash made there way out of Viridian the next day with Willow and Charmander following their trainers closely. They seemed to be getting along very well, no hard feelings after their battle. Rattata was in his pokeball for once, while Ash's Pidgey soared above them. Pidgey had been timid and unwilling to engage with the other pokemon until she saw Miles. She tried to attack him but Lily had returned him quickly when she realized this.
"Next time we stop, you need to keep Pidgey under control." Lily states and Ash completely agreed with her. He didn't like Pigey attacking pokemon outside battle, especially not his friends pokemon.
"We should be in Viridian Forest soon. Are you gonna catch something?" Ash asks casually, watching the Pidgey circle above them.
"Nah. I don't want anything from the forest." It was true. Viridian forest was home to many bug pokemon, along with some odd bird pokemon and some pikachu. Lily wasn't interested in any of the forest dwellers, though she wouldn't mind a flying type on the team.
"I want a pikachu. I saw a Raichu at the conference once, it was pretty powerful." Lily nodded, she could agree with that. There had been a girl with an exceptionally strong team at the latest conference. They made it to the top ten with Raichu as her biggest player but they got taken out by a teen with a Dragonair.
They walked in silence for a while, their starters running around them chasing each other. Viridian Forest was dense but several paths to Pewter City were cleared.
There were several bug catchers who wanted to battle. A lot insisted on battling Ash, who decided to let Pidgey battle. She was definitely fast and dealt out decent damage on her opponents. She seemed more at ease battling unlike when they were simply traveling.
Viridian Forest wasn't that hard to move though on the first day. They set up a camp on the side of the dirt road. Ash had to call Pidgey down to eat. Rattata was let out of his pokeball cautious as he stared at the bird. Pidgey simply clicked her beak and started eating. The two trainers guessed it was a start.
/
The next morning, they set off early from the camp. There were less trainers so Lily wanted to start teaching Willow Sleep powder. She lets the sparkling blue dust flow gently, some of it lingering around going into the trees. Lily goes to encourage Willow but there was a rustling in the bushes. They wait until a small furry yellow pokemon falls out, obviously asleep from Willow.
"It's a Pikachu!" Ash picks a pokeball off of his belt and touches it to the pikachu head. It disappears into the ball which shakes wildly with pikachu's struggles but clicks when it is captured.
"If you release it I could give it a chesto berry we found back at the camp." She takes the berry out of her pack and hands it to Ash.
He releases the yellow rodent, which was thoroughly asleep, and picked it up. He made it eat the dry berry and it blearily opened its eyes, electricity sparking off of its cheeks before he shocked Ash weakly.
"Hey, come on now." Lily says gently picking up the pokemon. It almost decided to shock her too, but she pet it's tail and ears making calm it down. "That's better, right? Now let us scan you real quick."
She pulled out her pokedex and scanned the pikachu quickly. Ash listened to the device.
'Pikachu, The mouse pokemon. It can generate electric attacks from the electric pouches located in both of its cheeks.
This pokemon knows the moves: Volt Tackle, Thundershock, Charm, and Quick Attack. Its ability is static, which can cause paralysis on contact.'
"Pikachu." The pokemon in question looked at him with a small glare. "I caught you, so I'm your trainer now and you can get stronger."
The pikachu stared at him before looking at Willow sharply. Lily caught the gaze and made a guess as to what it wanted. It was obvious he would be mad at Willow, the one who attacked him in the first place.
"You want to battle Willow?" Pikachu nodded fervently, and Lily kneels down to pet pikachu's ear and asks, "If I let you two battle will you accept Ash as your trainer?"
The pokemon hesitated before nodding, sparks flying off of its cheeks. Willow released her vines from her bulb weary of the angry electric type.
"Okay pikachu," she says, standing up and moving out of the way of the two pokemon. "I will be commanding Willow in this battle, you do what you feel is right."
Pikachu gave an excited cry, making the first move, It moved blur-like toward Willow.
"Vine Whip, keep it still." Lily was glad she had practiced with Willow's efficiency of Vine Whip. The Bulbasaur snatched it up before it could connect with her, and held it up in the air where it struggles against the sturdy vines.
"Now, poison powder." A seed emerged from the bulb on her back and shot at the trapped pikachu. It breathed in the noxious powder spluttering in disgust "Let it go."
The vines retract and pikachu falls heavily on the ground. It stand as quickly as it can, growling in displeasure. It body starts sparking wildly as it charges, faster than it should be able to from the poison effecting it.
The pikachu slams into Willow, making her fly back into one of the forest's numerous trees. Pikachu pants as yellow sparks of electricity jumps off of its fur before it collapses. Willow staggers to her feet, bruised but still capable.
"That was pretty bold for a pikachu, I'd say he's a keeper." Ash smiles as he returned the pokemon to his pokeball hopeful but unsure of the new addition.
When the duo is deep in the forest they decide to take a break. Their pokemon were all pretty eager to battle since there weren't many trainers hanging around, but there were more wild pokemon. They wanted to avoid the beedrill that are known to nest there.
"So do you want to challenge Brock first?" Lily asked Ash while they ate by the small fire. She asked out of courtesy but she honestly wanted first dibs. She was glad when he shook his head.
"I want to see you battle. I don't think my pokemon are ready." He was petting the pikachu in his lap. He was more inclined to let Ash pet him as long as he got food, which he was munching on right now.
Miles, who always finished his meal first, was eyeing Pigey's food. Lily wanted to warn him away from the temperamental bird but it was too late. The rodent lunged, and to his misfortune he gets knocked away by the Pigey's wings. He growled and goes to bite the Pidgey. He only snagged a few of Pidgey's feathers.
"Enough, Miles." Lily calls the rodent, who is only slightly disappointed. She heard a high pitched laugh from beside her and it took a moment for her to realize it was pikachu. "You know that pikachu may be a bit evil?"
Ash shrugs and chuckles along with his pokemon. Miles resigns to curling up in his favorite spot in Lily's lap, where she strokes his fur gently.
The rest of the group finishes their meals as the trainers set down their pack. They had a few hours of daylight to kill, so they would make use of it.
"Should we leave everything here? We will be staying but if we leave it something might take our stuff." Ash takes a moment to think about before replying.
"We could leave one or two of our pokemon for the time being." Lily nodded, looking at her two pokemon. She didn't entirely enjoy the idea of leaving either one alone for even a moment.
"I could leave Willow. She could put everything asleep it they try anything. And maybe Pikachu, he's got a mean streak with strangers." The pokemon in question nod in agreement, though Pikachu was giving Willow a side look. Maybe he didn't forgive her for the sleep powder or the beat down.
"Alright, be nice." Ash says to pikachu noticing the animosity towards Lily's pokemon. Pikachu just blinks at Ash, and turns away.
The trainers left with their remaining pokemon, leaving the two pokemon alone. Pikachu and Willow sit in the camp with just the distant sound of their teams before Willow stands and latches her vines onto the trees to swing around. Pikachu glares before running up one of the trees to reach the bulbasaur.
/
"You think they'll be okay?" Lily asks slightly concerned. She knows Willow can handle a threat but Ash's Pikachu was an unknown to her.
"Yeah. I don't think Pikachu means any real harm. He's probably just mad about losing." Rattata was chattering happily alongside Charmander and Pidgey was flying lower to the ground than usual.
"Maybe we can find something to fight. I hear beedrill are really fun to battle." Lily says this sarcastically and Ash laughs. She was getting better with talking to Ash. He never pushed anything since he does remembers how she was when Gary wasn't a complete jerk.
"Hey Lily?" She hums, letting him know she was listening, "I know you don't like talking with a lot of people since that incident."
"Your point is?" Lily shrugs it off, and keeps walking. Rattata jumps up on her shoulder and squeaks in her ear like usual.
"Why did you come with me on this journey?" Lily stops for a moment, thinking about the question.
"Cause someone could go mad without interacting with people." She says honestly, petting Miles gently. She loved pokemon more than anything, but she learned that without people you'd have nothing.
"Okay." Ash smiles, he really does want to be friends with her. Ash had never considered her growing up since she was more caught up with studying or playing in the Oak's corral with the pokemon "When should we head back?"
"Not now." She looks up when they a clearing to see the the sun high up in the sky. She looks away when she can't see properly with the sun as bright as it is.
"You might want to get yourself a hat." Ash takes his hat off and puts it on her head. She grins taking it off and handing it back.
"Keep your hat to yourself. It looks better on you, kid." Ash snorts, and they continue their walk. They find random items and berries as they go, but soon they couldn't see anything.
They agreed it was time to return soon after and found their camp like they left it but the two pokemon were playing in the trees.
"What happened to protecting the camp?" Lily kept her tone playful and Willow gave her a rumbling laugh and returns to the ground. Pikachu was in good spirits when he sprinted to his new trainer.
"I guess we can call it a day." Ash suggest when Lily laid down. She brushed her hair from her face, mumbling something. "How are you that tired?"
"Well, I get exhausted easily. I guess I never really was good with physical activities." She mutters, not upset but peeved at that fact. Ash just shrugs, lying back and relaxing.
/
"We're close!" It was Lily's turn to be excited as they see the city on the horizon. They had been traveling since they woke up with only brief stops and it was nearly the evening. They were planning on setting up one more camp before making it to the city.
"Wow you're excited." Ash grins as she walking slightly faster. They had returned all of their pokemon so they could move faster. Pidgey was the only one out, circling above them to keep watch for anything.
"Well yeah! The first gym leader Brock. I really want to crush him in the battle." She chuckles when he looks slightly concerned with her declaration.
"Wow, sounds like it's personal." He rubs his neck nervously.
"I used to run errands for Professor Oak, you know? I had to deliver something to Brock once. He was more interested in flirting with Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny. I had to stay for 2 day!" He raises an eyebrow at that, but doesn't question it further. He had never known about her traveling anywhere before, but he does remember her being gone for hours with no word to anyone.
They were enjoying their walk until Lily feels like someone is watching them. She stops to look around and Ash has to stop as well.
"What's wrong?" Lily surveys the trees, and shakes her head. It was creeping her out thinking about what could be watching them.
"Felt like someone was watching us in the forest. Probably nothing." It seems like she spoke too soon as a kid dressed like a samurai jumped out. His outfit looked completely ridiculous but the sword he held looked real enough.
"Are you trainers from Pallet Town?" The samurai kid asks after digging his sword into the dirt. He leaned on it as he waited for an answer, glaring at the duo.
"Why would you want to know that, kid?" Lily glares back, hand twitching to grab one of her pokeballs.
The kid grins suddenly, grabbing a pokeball of of his belt. He released the pokemon, which happened to be a large Pinsir. The pokemon looked ready to battle, snapping its pincher at Lily.
"I was defeated by a trainer of Pallet!" He shouts at the trainers "I will regain my honor by defeating you!"
"You want to do this?" Ash asks Lily, irritated by the kid. His Pidgey was tired from all the flying and Charmander needed a potion or two.
"I'll do it. Rattata has been itching for a fight." Lily was reluctant as she released her pokemon. She also released Willow so she could watch the battle. The Bulbasaur moved off to sit next to Ash, Watching the giant bug anxiously.
"Your puny rodent is nothing to my Pinsir!" He cried, "Pinsir, Hyper Beam."
Lily was shocked by the command, but when the orange energy began collecting in front of Pinsir she started to give Miles a command.
"Dodge it and run." Rattata followed the order, just as the Pinsir let the Hyper beam loose. Miles was able to escape the beam just in time, though it manages to catch part of his tail.
The Pinsir obviously wasn't trained to use it properly as it only held it for a short burst. He looked like he was ready to collapse right there.
"Hyper Fang." Lily gave a short command which Miles followed well. He had be learning the move slowly on his own and had finally learned it the other day. She had also moved on to teaching Willow razor leaf, although she need a little more practice.
Miles charges the large bug and bites down on the hard shell of the pokemon and crushed it, leaving it unconscious.
"How did you defeat Pinsir?" The kid angrily shout, "Your Rattata shouldn't have been able to run from the Hyper Beam."
"Shut up!" Lily was getting tired of the samurai kid's arrogance. She let Rattata climb on her shoulder, "You should have trained that Pinsir before using such a powerful move."
The kid's fave flushed with anger. "How dare you! I have another pokemon. Put the rodent back out."
"I don't have-" Lily was interrupted by a loud echoing buzz. Ash stands quickly, releasing Charmander and Pidgey. Charmander was a bit hurt but he was ready and willing to battle.
He was more reluctant to release Pikachu, since he still remembered all the trouble it had given them, but he unclipped it's pokeball and presses the button. The mouse could hear the buzzing and prepared itself for a fight.
Willow was ready as always as soon as the beedrill burst out of the forest, their drills dripping with potent poison. Samurai kid was long gone by now.
Some of the Beedrill go straight for Willow, but Pidgey's gust from above was able to throw them to the ground, while Rattata and Charmander quickly take them out.
The beedrill decide then to go after Pidgey. The bird continues to beat its wing to keep them away. When they realized they couldn't get close they start shooting poisonous barbs from their stingers.
"Ember!" Ash shouts, and Charmander fires off several embers. Most of the barbs are burned up but She was able to narrowly dodge the last. Pidgey lets out a screech and speeds her way towards the group of beedrill, a white trail behind it. She started glowing brightly before she slammed into the bug type. Lily and Ash looked away from the battle for a moment.
"Willow, Vine Whip." Lily says, some of the shock wearing off. The Bulbasaur, who had so far just watched the battle, lashes its vine out at the beedrill. When they fall to the ground Pikachu shots off short thundershocks to make sure they were down.
The two trainers let out deep sighs of relief. They both hear a sharp screech from over head. The magnificent bird soaring above them before diving to reach her trainer.
She was much bigger than she was as a Pidgey and she sported a short crest of red feathers. The plumage of her tail had grow to a red and yellow pattern.
"You did great, girl." He praised her and she gave a pleased chirped. She clicks her large beak at Miles, though her eyes held no threats. Miles didn't seem to notice as he gave a nervous squak and ran behind Lily.
"Okay, let's get out of here." Lily rubs her face, returning her pokemon. It was now dark out but she didn't feel like wasting time in the forest too long.
/
"What kind of moron shoots off a hyper beam in a forest with aggressive beedrill?" Lily grumbles when they reach the Pewter City Pokemon center. She was looking at Rattata's tail with a bitter feeling toward the pinsir that had used the move. The hair on the curled end of his tail was burned off from Hyper Beam and Miles was gloomier than usual.
"I don't know. I guess he was desperate." They enter the pokemon center, going right to the counter where nurse joy was sitting.
"My, My you're out late. How can I help you?" The nurse asked kindly.
"We need a room for the night and a quick healing for our pokemon." The nurse nodded, taking their pokeball and handing them a key. They thank her and go to sit while they wait for their pokemon.
"Hey, we can get some sleep and food before fighting Brock. We could use it." He was right of course. They had been walking for a straight 2 hours longer than they intended. Lily let out a small yawn that she tried to hide. "Why don't you go up with the packs and I'll bring your pokemon up for you?"
She glared at him for a moment before resigning. Ash looked a bit smug when she rose from the table, grabbing both packs.
Ash watched her leave, before he heard Nurse Joy called him over. The cheerful nurse smiles and hands him the pokeballs.
"I would like to keep your Pidgeotto overnight. I need to make sure the evolution went though properly. " He simply nods, taking the pokeballs with him up to the room.
When he enters the room he can tell Lily was already asleep. She was sprawled on top of the bed. He shakes his head and releases one pokemon at a time. He decided to keep Charmander in his pokeball, placing it on the nightstand. Pikachu looks around the room before squeezing himself under one of the beds and Rattata goes straight to Lily, curling up on her chest. Willow picks the armchair to rest in for the night.
Ash flops onto the open bed and closes his eyes. He was excited for the next day, to watch Lily battle and for his own battle.
/
Lily groans as she wakes up, shooing Rattata from on top of her. She rubs her eyes, and checks her pokenav. It was early but she decided to call Professor Oak for the first time since leaving.
When oak appeared on screen, she grins at him. He looked tired, but he looked happy when he sees her.
"I was wondering when you would call. How is my old Bulbasaur?" Lily looks over to see the content grass type snoring away.
"She's great. Me and Ash are making good progress. We're going to challenge Brock today! I'll use Willow, but I would at least hope Miles gets a chance." He quirked an eyebrow at the nickname.
"Miles? What pokemon did you catch?"
"A Rattata. He has a big appetite. Ash caught two pokemon, a pikachu and a Pidgey. Pidgey evolved in the forest when we got attacked by a swarm of Beedrill." She took a small breathe after that and Oak chuckled at her enthusiasm.
"Good to see your enjoying this assignment. So I assume you'll call sooner next time?" She nodded fervently to the professor. She enjoyed talking with Oak, mostly because he would listen to all of her rants and thoughts.
"Til next time professor." She smiles at the tiny screen to see Oak return it.
"Goodbye, Lily." She closes the pokenav and reaches for her pack, grabbing a fresh T-shirt and denim shorts, heading out of the room for a shower.
Ash woke up soon after, hearing the shower running and Lily's bed empty.
"Hey guys." All of the pokemon look at him, even Pikachu who was working his way from under the bed. "Let's go down and get Pidgeotto."
They all follow him down to the lobby of the center. He goes straight to the counter where Joy is already holding out his pokeball.
"She is perfectly healthy. A fine pokemon she is too." Ash knew the bird would be preening with the praise.
He left the center with all the pokemon in tow. He wanted to let Pidgeotto fly since she had been coupled up all night. When she was released she flew up high, shrieking in delight. She stayed up for a minute before diving to greet the others.
"Nice Pidgeotto, kid." A teen, much older than Lily, commented. He had tanned skin and messy brunette hair. "Have you had it long?"
"I've had her for at least a week, she recently evolved."
"Are you challenging the gym?" The teen inquires, and Ash sees no harm in answering.
"Yeah, but my friend is going first." The teen seemed to be happy about that for some reason. He couldn't quite place the odd teen but he didn't really care.
"You're traveling with someone?"
"Lily, a girl from my town. Here she is." Lily walks out of the pokemon center at that moment and he waves her over. She walks over to him, noticing who he's with and groans.
"Why is he here right now." Ash clocks his head to the side confused. He didn't know how she would know this teen.
"Do you know him?" Lily glares at him and looks back at the other teen.
"Brock." She addresses curtly, "I want to challenge you."
"You know I remember you. You were the brunette with the temper, punched me right in the back of the head she did." He says this mildly to Ash. Lily just stares at Brock, tempted to punch him again.
"Okay... can we go to the gym?" He nodded and the duo were almost relieved until he spoke.
"I want you to join me for breakfast first. I've made some food and I have specialized pokemon food too."
They agreed, Lily was more reluctant but her stomach won this fight. He brought him to his home. When they entered it they were greeted by nine children, some of which were playing with a vulpix. Lily grins as she watches her favorite fire type.
"Oh I love vulpix!" Lily runs over to the pokemon, who let her pet it. The children continue playing while Brock set up plates at food for the 5 pokemon and their trainers.
"You know Lily isn't as mean as you think she is." Ash comments as he helps Brock set up the table. He chuckles, looking over at the girl playing with the fire type along with the kids.
"I never thought she was mean, just that she had a temper." He puts the plates out for the pokemon, "enjoy the meal and meet me at the gym."
/
The trainers leave the house, happily full and eager for a battle. Lily waved goodbye to the children as they go.
"Ready?" Ash asks, looking sideways at Lily. She looks down, unsure for just a moment before pushing her unease away.
"As ready as I'll ever be. I think Willow has got razor leaf down." She shrugs and Willow sprints up to her trainer. She gave a gentle rumble as she walked beside Lily, wrapping one of her vines around her trainers wrist as a sign of affection.
They made their way quickly to the gym. Miles was sprinting around eagerly. Lily watches him run for a minute, but whistles to get his attention.
"I know you hate your pokeball so I want you to stay with me while I battle." The rodent squeaks excitedly, jumping up to his usual spot.
They enter the gym to be greeted by Brock. He tells Ash to go to the spectator area of the Gym and he walks away from the two.
"We will have a two-on-two battle. You can switch your pokemon. Are you ready?" Lily nods and Brock moves to stand at the end of the rocky battlefield. It was flat in the center but it was surrounded by small mountains.
Lily kneels down next to her starter. She looked excited and ready to go, looking up at the trainer. Lily holds her hand out for Bulbasaur to touch with her head.
"Let's do this, Willow!" The pokemon lets out a growl as she runs out onto the field. Brock considers the pokemon carefully before picking up a pokeball from his belt.
"You chose well. Let's start. Go Geodude!" He tosses the pokeball and a geodude appears on the field. It glares at the grass type across the field. Willow growled softly, listening intently for her trainer to make a move.
"Leech Seed, then razor leaf." She say the command loud enough for Willow to hear properly, but she's sure Brock couldn't hear it. Bulbasaur gave her a slight nod, shooting several seeds from her bulb. They scatter around the Geodude and before it could jump away the vines wrap around it. Its energy was being absorbed as Willow shakes leaves from under her bulb, flying to cut into the prone geodude.
"Rip the vines off and tackle." The geodude grunts using its freed arm to pull the vines away with ease and charges down the field to reach Willow.
"Dodge it and use Vine Whip." Willow quickly sidesteps the rock type and extends her vines, snapping them at the geodude. The rock type was knocked out by the force of her vines and brock returns him.
"That's good, but we're just getting start. Go Onix!" Lily recoils as the giant rock snake enters the battle. Willow looks back at Lily but has a determine expression. Lily gives her a nod and the bulbasuar looks back at the Onix, growling at it with renewed vigor.
"Use vine whip to get above him and use Poison powder." Willow was quick in latching her Vines around the great snake. He thrashed about to detached the thick vines, but she manages to swing up on Onix and hold onto the pokemon. She shoots at the seed at Onix and the poisonous cloud settles around its large head. It lets out a roar when he breathes in the purple powder.
"Use Dig." The Onix forces itself into the air and tears the ground up. The maneuver dislodges Willow's grip on Onix. As it disappears into the hole it created Willow hits the ground hard. She gets up unsteadily with her vines as support.
"Keep moving!" Lily shouts and Willow responds automatically. She runs as fast as she can with her legs being so short. She wasn't fast enough as Onix breaks through the dirt sending her flying. Lily flinches when Willow thuds on the ground, knocked out.
"Your Bulbasaur did well. Will you chose your next pokemon?" She returns Willow to her pokeball and looks at her only other pokemon. Miles stares back with an tenacious look in his eyes she had never seen before.
"Go, Miles." The rodent squeaked and leaped into the battle. His gaze is unwavering on the giant pokemon. He growls deeply at the Onix that had taken down his friend.
"Body slam." Onix roars as it drops its body to land on Miles. He jumps away from the attack and jumps on top of his head. The giant rock type shakes his head to rid himself of the rodent but fails as he digs his claws in.
"Focus Energy, follow it with Hyper Fang!" She yells, not bothering to hide anything. Miles tenses up before he bites down between the rocky segments of the onix's body. It thrashed trying to dislodge Miles, but he held on with his teeth firmly, digging his teeth dig into the rock deeper. It lets out a groan as it falls to the ground.
Brock sighs as he returns Onix but smiles all the same. He walks over to her and Miles, who was chattering excitedly over his victory. Lily kneels down and pets her pokemon affectionately.
"That was unexpected, but congratulations on your victory. Here is your badge" Brock handed her the gray badge. She puts it away to see Ash running over, charmander trying to keep up and Pikachu right beside him.
"That was awesome!" He pumps his fist in the air. Lily brushes her hair back grins wildly, "Your Rattata is pretty good and even Bulbasaur!"
Lily feels a bit bad remembering her first pokemon's loss against Onix. Lily had almost expected for bulbasaur to win against both rock types
"Hey don't worry, Willow fought really hard. You should be proud!" Ash says after noticing the gloomy look on his friend's face.
"I assume you'll be back tomorrow." Brock speaks, drawing Ash's attention.
"Tomorrow? I was hoping I would be able to battle today." He tries not to be disappointed, but Brock just chuckles.
"Onix and Geodude aren't fit to battle right now and I only have one more pokemon with me. He evolved recently and I haven't used him in any official battles." He holds out a single pokeball, "I will give you that battle now if you wish. One-on-one battle."
"Yeah!" Brock nods starting towards his end of the field. Ash walks to where Lily stood during the battle "Lily, are you going up now?"
"What about Willow?" She stared at the pokeball sadly, when a cough drew their attention. There was a teen standing by the door of the gym.
"I could take her to the pokemon center." He offers and Lily considers it. She hands her pokeball over reluctantly, and he inclines his head to her. "You can pick her up after the battle."
"I'll see you later. Beat him or you'll have something worse to deal with." She threatens him and he raises his hands in mock surrender. She just smirks and runs up to the viewing area, taking Pikachu with her.
"Ready?" Brock shouts across the field and Ash gives an affirmative nod, letting Charmander running to the field to battle "Alright. Go, Sudowoodo!"
The pokemon was tall with long forked branch on its head. Its arms each ended in three green spheres. It had a grin as it waved the branch like arm at his opponent. Charmander tilted his head and waved back.
"Charmander get close and use SmokeScreen, then Metal Claw." Ash commands him and Charmander starts to sprint to the pokemon on the other end. It stood completely still as Charmander makes his way over the rocky ground. Charmander didn't have a problem when he jumps to release the thick smoke in his face.
Charmander is about to clash at the pokemon with his glowing claws, but Sudowoodo starts crying and the fire type isn't sure what to do. His claws stop glowing when he stalls.
"Hammer Arm." Brock commands calmly, and Sudowoodo stops crying and his arm glows brightly as he slams into Charmander's side. He landed heavily, but he stands shakily. He growls softly, swishing his tail in agitation.
"Use Ember to get close, and use Metal Claw." Charmander gave a loud roar and shoots of embers as he runs at the opponent. Sudowoodo manages to dodge a lot of the small fireballs but the few that his him do some damage. As the fire type closes in on sudowoodo both of his claws start glowing with a metallic color.
"Flail." Brock orders with ease as Charmander brought his claws down on the rock type. He got three hits in before Sudowoodo starts hitting him repeatedly with its branch arms. Charmander was force to retreat, breathing heavily and tail flame flaring up as he backed away from the opponent. "Now Double-Edge."
Sudowoodo starts running, leaving behind a gold streak. Charmander's eyes widen and his claws glow as he side steps the pokemon and raked his side as he runs into one of the mini mountains Charmander had backed up to, kicking up dust, making it impossible to see the two pokemon.
When the dust clears it reveals that Sudowoodo had knocked himself out and Brock returns the unconscious rock type. Charmander was breathing shallowly as he stood. Charmander eventually does notice battle was over and he collapses. Ash returns Charmander with words of praise as Brock comes over to give him his badge.
"You did well. Here's your Boulder Badge. I wish you luck on your journey." He hands Ash the boulder badge and walks out of the gym.
"Congratulations, Ash." he turns to see Lily approaching hastily with Rattata behind her and Pikachu climbs up and sits on his head. "Now I won't have to beat you down hard in our next battle."
"Yea- wait what?" His eyes wide in surprise as Lily just chuckles darkly, "You're not serious, right?"
"Maybe..." She shrugs and walks to the exit, while Ash just stands there. She looks back at him with a small smirk "Coming?"
He nods and runs to catch up. They make their way over to the Pokemon Center for some rest after their exciting day of battling.
A/N: I do hope the gym battles came out good, but I like this chapter better than the last.