A/N: I live! Yer, sorry about my recent disappearance but I'm back and with a vengeance!
This chapter introduces some very important characters for me, Jack and Mike, the Gym Leaders of Shadow City. They are, I admit, based on a good friend of mine and myself so I'm affectively putting myself in the story but oh well, (I'm Jack) I own them and the characteristics of their Pokémon (The team we use in the games) but nothing else.
The gym leader Pokémon are how we imagine our own Pokémon to be (Yes we are sad enough to imagine our Pokémon as living things....) The Mime JR and Riolu are the ones that we have become most attached to and thus they are the ones that we have christened our partner Pokémon, I never really felt a bond with my Piplup....As for the layout for the Gym, we decided to make it more of a club for different trainers with each section run by one of our Pokémon. Our gym is much more open than others and is more like a social meeting area then an actual gym.
As for the Pokémon that Ash uses in this chapter, I found a website that gave me a list of the Pokémon that he uses but this has changed since I started writing so I decided to just use my favourites out of his Pokémon. If I've given him a Pokémon that he doesn't have anymore and can't get back if he wanted then just PM me and let me know.
I'm not happy with this chapter but I wanted to get it out of the way because next chapter is the appearance of the villains and then the fun begins so stay tuned.
Hopefully there won't be another long wait for the next chapter because I know have everything planned out for the story but knowing me, no promises...
Chapter 3
Shadow City Gym
"Wow" Ash cried as he looked up at the giant building that loomed over the group. It was the biggest gym he had ever seen, a single wall spanned the length of the entire town square and the roof peaked at the average height of a flying Combee. Long gardens of grass surrounded the different paths that lead up to the Gyms main entrance, home to small groups of Pokémon and other trainers that were playing or resting on the benches or blankets. Ash blinked as he examined the Gym walls. Each of the long brick walls was covered with a painting of a different Pokémon, each Pokémon standing in powerful poses of victory or strength. Finally above the main entrance hung a Pokéball symbol which seemed to glow a deep red with a white centre orb, the light glowing despite it being the middle of the day. Above the symbol, the images of a Mime JR and Riolu smiled out over the grassy planes, almost welcoming the trainers and Pokémon with open arms.
"I take it this is your first time here son" Ash turned to find a smartly dressed man standing behind him. He wore a black bowler's suit and had a small wooden cane held firmly in his white gloved hand. The man smiled before continuing without even waiting for Ash to give a reply to his question. "Yes I see it all the time, this Gym tends to do that to people on their first time, it does catch you of guard. Ha Ha. But anyway, would you be intending to take that Gym on? Do you think you have what it takes to beat our Leaders?"
"You bet I do!" Ash yelled in reply, smiling as Pikachu jumped on to his head, its small feet pushing his cap over his eyes. "Me and Pikachu are going to have those Gym leaders begging for mercy when were finished. And with the rest of my Pokémon they don't stand a chance, and I'll have one more badge to add to my collection"
The old man began to laugh at Ash's declaration and nodded. "Yes I can tell there's something about you son, you have…."
"If you're going to say a big ego then I agree with you completely"
Ash turned and frowned as he saw Brock, Dawn and Janise come up to them. He opened his mouth to protest but decided to let it go as a joke and turned back to the man, who was now beaming back at Janise.
"By Arceus' holy sight!" he said, stretching his arms out and embracing Janise "I haven't seen you in years my girl. Where have you been? I hope the boss has been treating you all right, especially after that incident at lake…"
"I've been fine Grandpa" Janise suddenly shouted a little too load, stopping the old man in mid sentence and seeming to kick him slightly in the shin. "I've gotten quiet a lot of work since then and, as a matter of fact I'm on a job right now"
The man stared in confusion for a second before something seemed to click in his mind and he looked over to the group of trainers that stood next to them, watching their conversation. "Oh, I get you kid. So long as he's not making you do anything undesirable I'm happy for ya. So are these kids' friends of yours then?"
"Yep. Their trainers who are travailing across the world, just to see things that others haven't and to make new friends. They're living the dream many would say"
"Well I wish you the best of luck in wherever that journey takes you my friends" The man smiled and gave a polite bow, holding his hat in his hand, before straitening and checking his watch "As much as I'm enjoying this conversation my friends I really must be going. Places to go, people to see, employers to keep happy and all that. I know that I will be seeing you round some time and look forward to finding out what you make of my work once it is reviled to the public. But I'll leave that to my dear granddaughter to tell you about whenever she gets round to it. So until then my friends, I bid you, farewell"
With that the strange, yet kind, man turned and began to make his way back down the path towards the main city, swaying his cane gently back and forth. He stopped once, to give a baby Hippiny a gently prod back towards its parents, before giving a gentle laugh and continuing back on his stroll.
"Nice guy" Brock observed as he slowly slipped next to Janise again "You didn't tell me…I mean us, that you had relatives living here"
"Well I don't think that it's any of your business is it Brock?" Janise said, a trace of irritation appearing in her voice before she replaced it with her usual smile and turning to face the Gym again "Anyway, back to business Ash. I believe there are a couple of Gym leaders waiting for you in there. And as I'm sure you know, it's rude to keep a leader waiting"
Ash grinned, gave a nod to the group before turning and running straight towards the Gym, Pikachu desperately trying to keep up with him. Dawn and Brock exchanged a glance before slowly following with a distracted looking Janise.
…………………………
The inside of the Gym was nothing like any other he had seen. Paintings covered the walls, showing images of different Pokémon and trainers. On the wall to the far side of the room hung a half a dozen photos of different trainers holding up badges, a team of Pokémon stood triumphantly behind each one. Ash gulped as he saw the strength and level of the Pokémon. It took that much power to beat these Gym Leaders?
"Espe?"
Ash jumped at the cry and spun to see an Espeon walking up to him. It tilted its head as it starred at him, its eyes never blinking or leaving his. Ash backed off a bit as its eyes began to glow purple, the small crystal on its head reflecting his face in an eerie purple glow. They stood like that for a couple of minutes before the small Pokémon seemed to nod and turned to leave, swaying its split tail and seeming to sing slightly.
"What was that all about?" Ash asked as Janise began to laugh.
"That was one of the leader's Espeon. She goes around the building and scans the visitors for any… negative thoughts. It's a good way to help the leaders prevent any members of Team Rocket or Galactic from getting into the building. Apparently it views you as being good and true of heart so you now have complete access to the buildings facilities"
"And what happens if you have got negative thoughts?" Dawn suddenly spoke, her eyes scanning around the room.
"Well, then Umbrion would come and 'keep you out'" As Janise spoke she pointed up to a small ledge that emitted from the wall. On it, a small black Pokémon lay, the yellow rings covering its body glowing slightly in the shadow. It opened one of its yellow eyes slightly as the Espeon jumped up and lay down next to it. Then the two became motionless, as if in a deep sleep, their gentle breathing the only sign of life. Janise smiled slightly before turning and gesturing for the group to follow her.
They entered a long corridor which ran the length of the entire building. Large doors entered into several different areas of the gym, shops, a PokéCentre and several club like areas.
"Hey Dawn" Janise grinned as they reached a large door were a small crowd had begun to gather. "If you join that crowd and head through the main door you'll come across the Gardevoir beauty contest. Should keep you busy while Ash tries his luck. Oh and Brock, I'm not sure what you want to do but I'm sure you can find something. Why don't you take that Croagunk down to Gallade's fighting workshop, it might be able to learn of few tricks there. As for you Ash, head straight down this corridor and you'll come to the Gym. I don't know if you want to, but many trainers go to Kazza's meditation spot to prepare themselves before going in, but its you're choice. I've got I couple of errands I need to run but I'll probably be back in a couple of hours. If I'm not back before you're done, why don't you check out the Butterfree garden?" With that she bid them farewell and left them, he long hair swaying the breeze as the door opened and she disappeared from view.
"Well I don't know about you two" Ash turned suddenly and began making his way down the corridor "but Pikachu and I are going to go get ourselves a new badge. We'll see you later and I can tell you all about the battle"
"Oh great" Dawn sighed as she turned to join the small crowd that Janise had pointed out "Another night of Ash's boasting, what fun"
Brock chuckled before heading in a completely random direction.
…………………………….
It took Ash all of two minutes to get hopelessly lost in the network of corridors that ran through the gym. Pikachu clinking tightly to the top of his head in an attempt to prevent itself from falling and being crushed amongst the crowd of people that moved to and fro within the slightly confined space. Somehow he found that he had managed to miss every single sign and now the only door he could find that lead out of the corridor was a large one that said 'Jack's Research Area'. Ignoring the restricted sign, Ash pushed the door open and stumbled in.
As Ash entered the room, the first thing he saw was a small Totodile playing with a Cyndaquil. They seemed to be playing a game of chaise as they ran around the legs of tables and computers before charging at him and slipping through the gap between his legs, cheering and yelling as they ran. As they vanished down the corridor, they could be seen to climb over legs as other Pokémon in their game, but no-one seemed to care as if they were all used to it.
"Sorry about that, those two don't seem to really have much sense of avoiding people"
Ash turned round to see a boy about his age coming out of the small office in the corner of the room. He wore a long white lab coat and black jeans, the logo of a Pokéball was just visible printed on his shirt through the gap in his coat and a pair of glasses hung loosely across his face, which he quickly tried to fix. When he finished he looked up at Ash and grinned.
"Don't tell me. You're here to battle the Gym leaders, hmmm? Well you're in the wrong place for that. But anyway, my names Jack, pleased to meet you"
"Err...I'm Ash"
Ash smiled his goofy grin as he accepted Jack's outstretched hand and shuck it in acknowledgment. Then Jack nodded and turned to a large piece of rock that lay across the main table that stood in the centre of the table, covered in notes, books, an Nintendo DS and a pile of fast food box's. Picking it up, he placed a label upon it which claimed that it was a moon rock from the Kanto region before looking back at Ash with a raised eyebrow.
"I'll be done here in a couple of minutes" He said "Once I'm done I'll go and announce a Gym battle and then we'll see what you have. Until then go and wait in the Meditation area down the corridor. Do what you want there, read a book, play a game, groom your Pokémon and we will send someone to show you the way once we have everything set up"
With that said, he gave the strange rock to a Kabotops that had emerged from the shadow before heading out through a door that stood at the back of the room. The Kabotops gave a growl before placing the rock in a container and seeming to fall asleep stood up in the corner. Ash shared a glance with Pikachu before heading out of the room and towards the door that had an Alakazam meditating inside. As they entered it they found a group of people and Pokémon talking or sitting in silence, seeming in deep meditation. An Alakazam breathed heavily and muttered as it sat in its place by the door, seeming to be completely unaware of the rooms other occupants.
There they stayed for what felt like half an hour, waiting and watching the people and Pokémon as they meditated, Ash tried to do it himself but the thought of the battle to come kept him from relaxing, he was ready for a battle and was beginning to get annoyed at being kept waiting.
Then he felt a small hand tap his shoulder and turned to find a Riolu starring at him, its red eyes borrowing into his as it starred. It only looked away when a Mime Jr. gave it a little push and grinned at Ash before beckoning him to follow. Ash looked at Pikachu, who simply shrugged before following the Mime Jr. As he stood up and followed, he nervously noted the fact that the Riolu had stepped behind him, as if to block his escape from something. Then the two small Pokémon lead them out of the room and back towards the main Gym door, Pikachu beginning a heated conversation with the Mime Jr. about who knows what while the Riolu remained silent.
"So…are you one of the Gym Leader's Pokémon then?" Ash asked the small dog like Pokémon. The only reply that he got however was a brief glance and a single nod before the Riolu looked forward again, seeming to keep an eye on Pikachu as it talked with the Mime Jr.
(A/N: he is very protective over JR)
As they entered the main Gym area a crowd gave a cheer and Ash saw that the seats in the viewing platform at the top had now filled up with people who must have heard of the battle from around the building. Looking up he saw Dawn and Brock up in the crowd, waving at him and wishing him good luck.
Then he turned to view the Gym leaders and frowned as he saw Jack stood next to another trainer dressed in black, whom he could only assume was the other Gym leader Mike. The Riolu and Mime Jr. then ran over to join them, the Riolu taking its place standing next to Mike and the Mime Jr. climbing up to sit Jack's shoulder, much the same way as Pikachu was on Ash's.
"Well" Mike called out suddenly, bringing a wave a silence upon the crowd as they waited for the battle to begin "It's been a while since we've had a good battle so I hope that you can take us because we're going to let get things started. If you don't know the rules of our Gym I'm going to quickly go over them. First you have to defeat two of my Pokémon in a double battle, then two of Jack's and then you have to defeat our two partner Pokémon, Dante the Riolu and JR the Mime Jr. If you beat them then you will have the badge"
"We wish you the best of luck" Jack grinned before turning and taking a seat with JR and Dante behind Mike. Crossing his legs and folding his arms, he allowed JR. to climb onto his knees whist Dante sat in the chair next to him.
Back on the platform, Mike grinned and pulled out two Pokéballs "Let's get things started" He grinned before throwing them into the arena. From the beams of bright red came the forms of a large Toxicroak and a Butterfree, each giving out a loud cry as they took up battle positions before Ash. The Butterfree did a brief summersault in the air and made a lap through the air, flying over each of the crowd stands in a elegant dance that sent the gathered people into a frenzy of cheering and clapping.
"Great" Ash muttered as he pulled open the left of his jacket and removed two Pokéballs "The battles not even begun and the crowds completely against me already" He sighed as he exchanged a glance at Pikachu before hurling his Pokéballs into the arena.
The crowd cheered again as they saw the forms of a Staraptor and Infernape break out of their Pokéballs and land against the hard metal ground of the arena. They both let loose their own deafening battle cries as took in the environment and hundreds of cheering people that seemed to swarm around them before registering the two Pokémon that stood before them.
"And Ash has sent out a Staraptor and an Infernape to face against Mike's classic Butterfree and Toxicroak combination" A loud voice suddenly called out over the cheering crowd, slightly distorted by the loud speakers that hung across the corners of the arenas. "This is setting up to be a very interesting battle and that's just the way we like it here in at the Shadow City Pokémon Gym. So let's get this battle underway and according to Gym rules, as the challenger, Ash is permitted to make the first move. What will he do?"
Ash blinked as he looked around as the now suddenly silent crowd. He wasn't really surprised to found out that such a massive Gym had it own battle commentator but it had still managed to make him slightly nervous. None of the other Gyms he had been to had had such a large and open battle arena, most of them had just been a closed room for the gym leader and him to fight with no one except his friends to watch, now however, there were hundreds of people watching him fight. Not that he was complaining or anything...
"All right then" He called out as he swung his hand out and pointed it towards the Gym Pokémon "Staraptor, use Fly against that Toxicroak and Infernape use flamethrower on that Butterfree!" His Pokémon gave cries of acknowledgment as they burst into motion, Staraptor flying high into the air so that its body rubbed gently across the smooth roof and its large talon like feet opening up so that the claws glinted in the light, whilst Infernape begun running on all fours towards the two Gym Pokémon, the flame atop its head burning hot as it geared up for its attack. The two Gym Pokémon didn't even attempt to move as they watched the oncoming attacks.
"Butterfree use stun spore and Poison Jab"
Mike didn't even need to designate a target for his two Pokémon on they split up and attacked individual Pokémon. The air was filled with a powerfully rhythmic beat as the Butterfree flew high into the air and soared towards the Staraptor whilst the Toxicroak let lose a loud cry and ran forward towards Infernape, its left hand beginning to glow a dull purple as every ounce of poison in its body was pumped into the single needle like outgrowth that emitted from its fist.
"Staraptor Dodge! Infernape use your flamethrower now!" Ash yelled out as the two sets of Pokémon drew closer to each other, forgetting about the huge crowd as he emerged himself in the feel of the battle. He only existed in the battle and only thought of the orders for him to give to his Pokémon as they fought. His eyes narrowed as he watched to see how the Butterfree would react to Staraptor suddenly break from its charge or how the Toxicroak would defend itself as Infernape skidded to a halt before it got within and range for its attack and instead turned its flamethrower into a sort of makeshift wall between in and the frog like Pokémon.
He barely registered the crowd as they howled in excitement as the battle begun, their voices all merging into a single loud roar that passed over him as he saw the Toxicroak stopped just beyond the range of the flamethrower and seemed to crouch down on the spot, its leathery mouth curling back into a grin as, with an almighty push, it launched itself high into the air and soared over the wall of flame in a large jump. It seemed to chuckle as it landed behind Infernape and swung it's still glowing fist around before the fire type could react, slamming the poison jab deep into the base of its spine. The monkey like Pokémon screamed out as it's back arched under the force of the poison jab and it stumbled forward, its eyes closing as it fought with the wave of pain that ran through it.
"Now Toxicroak" Mike could be heard shouting from the far end of the arena "Use Faint Attack"
The crowd howled their approval as the Toxicroak seemed to vanish in thin air and appear inches in front of the still bent over Infernape. The fire type barely had time to look up before another glowing fist was smashed into its face in a viscous upper cut and it was sent flying backwards, slamming its back against the hard ground with a heavy thud. The Infernape gave a futile attempt to pull itself back to its feet before its strength gave in and it collapsed to the ground.
The Toxicroak gave a grin of satisfaction as it wrapped its hand around the injured Infernape's ankle and pulled to towards Ash, dumping it next to the platform where he stood and giving a slight gesture for him to retract the Pokémon before turning and making its way back towards Mike.
With the brief battle on the ground over, every eye in the stadium turned upwards towards the roof of the arena where the Butterfree and Staraptor as they flew around in a vicious dogfight that sent them shooting around in irregular patterns, they could be flying in large circles one second and the next zigzagging around each other before shooting towards the ground and flying mere inches from the ground. The only thing that did remain the same as they flew however was the fact that it was Ash's Staraptor that seemed to be dominating the fight and Mike's Butterfree that was on the run, flying in its irregular patterns in an attempt to lose the flying type Pokémon.
"And Ash has Mike's Butterfree on the run with his Staraptor" Called out the commentator, the mere sound of his voice seeming to send the crowd howling in another fit of excitement "This is understandable seeing as Butterfree is a bug type and thus one strong hit from a flying type like Staraptor will knock him out of the fight for good. What does Mike intend to do to counter this?"
Ash was forced to cover his head with his arm as the two Pokémon flew past him, the displaced wind threatening to throw Pikachu and him from their platform. Looking up, he grinned as he saw the Butterfree begin to falter in its flight and loss altitude, slowly falling towards the ground as Staraptor appeared above it, casting the bug type Pokémon's body into its shadow. Ash could see the crowd whisper to each other in confusion as the gym leaders Pokémon seemed to give into fatigue after only a couple of minutes of its dogfight, falling towards the ground with Staraptor following, now mere inches from getting a hit on the bug type...
"Staraptor break off now!" Ash screamed out as, seemingly out of nowhere, Mike's Toxicroak appeared just to the left of where Butterfree was about to fall, its leathery mouth curled back into a grin as it steadied itself.
"Fire" was the only order that came from its trainer as it reared its head backwards and, with a loud yell, vomited out a hail of spikes that seemed to glow with a sickly purple. The crowd howled out again as the Poison Sting struck the Staraptor head on before it could react, the constant hail of poison encrusted spikes embedding themselves into the Pokémon's chest.
Ash cried out as he watched his Pokémon seem to freeze in the air and plummet to the floor, it gave a cry as the Butterfree spun in the air and slammed it with a tackle and slashing it with glowing wings, the variety of Sliver Wind, Tackle and other attacks rendering the Staraptor unconscious as it slammed into the air. The crowd cheered again as the Toxicroak picked it up and placed it down next Ash the same way that he had for his Infernape.
"Well done guys...you rest now" Ash gave a heavy sigh as he pulled out his Pokéball and retracted the Pokémon before looking up to see Mike do the same for his own. He had been defeated so quickly, even when he had had a favourable type match up...
"Why do you look so surprised?" Mike called over as he retracted his own Pokémon "Butterfree and Infernape have been through a lot and gotten more experience than most of their species. But they never lost sight of the feelings of other Pokémon; never let battles get to far out of hand for Pokémon to get badly hurt, that's why they returned your Pokémon to you before things got too far. The same goes for every Pokémon in this Gym, we believe in battling to be a fun event, not so competitive that Pokémon are forced to fight beyond their limit. So long as you agree with these views I'm sure that you will enjoy it here. I look forward to see how you do against Jack"
With that Mike grinned and turned and made his way to where Jack was walking to meet him, exchanging a grin with him as he took Jacks place in the chair that sat behind them. Jack's Mime Jr. waved as it sat on the small table that stood beside him and began to juggle a toy Pokéball, copying Jack's movements as he threw his own two Pokéballs into the arena, releasing two explosions of light that filled the entire arena, much bigger then they had with Mike's Pokémon and the forms of a couple of giant Pokémon appeared. From one a huge orange dragon formed, an explosion of pure fire shooting upwards from its mouth as it roared, grinning at Ash. From the other Pokéball came a huge, rounded bulk, blue arms and legs stomped and clapped as it let out its own roar, the two cannons on its back rolling and clicking into place. The arena seemed to shake as they emitted deafening howls that roared like thunder.
"Blastoise!"
"Charizard!"
"Jack…" Mike suddenly called over "can I have a private conversation with you?"
"Sure mate, what's up?"
The crowd groaned loudly and shouted out in annoyance as Jack turned away from the battle and made his way towards his partner Gym leader. From behind him, the Blastoise gave an irritated growl and stomped its feet a couple of times, its scaly eyes narrowing as it felt a burst of fire breeze against its arm. Turning it gave a low growl and a nod in indication towards the Charizard that it was calm again. The two giant Pokémon starred at each other for another second before turning back to face Ash, who was still starring back at them in confusion at their standoff and worry about how he was going to defeat the large Pokémon.
A/N: These little events between our Pokémon will have a clearer reason as times goes on...
From atop the platform, the tiny Mime JR gave the crowd a brief wave before hoping into the arena and climbing on Charizard's neck as if he was riding it like a horse, laughing as the dragon Pokémon jumped a bit in a playful manner.
"Whilst the Gym leaders have their discussions," The loud voice of the commentator burst out over the speakers "I would suggest that you all amuse yourselves for the time being or Ash, prepare for your battle. As you can see the gym leader Pokémon have already started killing time"
"Picka...?"
Ash scratched his head as he looked down at his partner Pokémon, shrugging in answer to its questioning look. He wasn't exactly sure why the gym leaders had stopped but, judging by the looks on their faces, there was something wrong with them.
The two Gym Leaders were talking silently and flicking through various files on their Pokétechs, exchanging worried glances with one and other and glancing at their watches. They spoke with one and other for a good few minutes before turning towards Ash again and making his way back towards his platform by the arena. An eerie silence fell over the crowd as they watched him, noticing the look of worry that was clearly falling over him.
"I'm afraid that we are going to have to make this a quick battle Ash. There are some...urgent matters that we need to attend to" As he spoke, Jack gave a slight nod towards his Pokémon in the arena giving them some signal before looking back up to Ash as his Mime JR jumped back up onto the platform and sat on the side of the platform.
Silently, Ash sized up at the two giant powerhouses Pokémon that loomed over him. Janise hadn't been kidding when she said that Jack hit hard, how was he going to beat those Pokémon? Judging from the distracted look on Jack's face and the way that he constantly glanced at his watch, whatever had happened was important and if he didn't get to the battle now then the Gym leader would call the battle off all together. Giving a worried glance to Pikachu, he pulled out two Pokéballs and dropped them into the arena, watching Jack's face closely for any change in his expression as his Torterra stomped into the arena, baring the much smaller form of a Buizel standing on its head with its arms crossed.
The crowd cheered as they realised that they were finally going to get the fight that they had been waiting for all of this time and begun clapping and chanting either Ash's or Jack's name depending on who they wanted to win. Ash could just make out the worried expressions on Dawn's face beside the usually blank face of Brock before he heard a massive roar from the other side of the arena in time to see the massive from of Jack's Blastoise step forward as it levelled its large cannons that stuck out from its back and released a powerful jet of water at his Pokémon whilst the Charizard soared into the air with massive beats of its leather wings.
Ash's Pokémon barely had time to react before the Water cannon struck them head on, causing his Torterra to give a grunt of pain as it slammed against its head, forcing it to turn away under the sheer power of the attack and sending Buizel tumbling from its back, the small Pokémon barely having time to spin and redirect itself before landing gracefully on its feet as Torterra made a series of heavy steps forward against the strangely powerful water type attack. Ash's called out orders were completely drowned out by the roar of the water as the Blastoise gave a massive below and seemed to crank up its attack, allowing the water to come out at an impossible powerful rate.
"Torterra!" Ash yelled to be heard over the roar of the water "you have to hit that thing back now! Buizel, try to get around and hit it from behind!"
Ash breathed a heavy sigh of relief as his Pokémon gave cries of acknowledgement and split up, Torterra give another grunt as it begun to take another series of massive step forwards, its neck bent at a cruel angel as it curved against the constant sea of the water that seemed to eternally pour out of the twin-linked water cannons. Buizel waited for a second before breaking out from behind the giant Pokémon's large rear leg and begun running around the outer perimeter of the arena, keeping down on all fours as it tried to avoid being spotted by the Blastoise, giving thanks to the fact that it seemed so preoccupied with its attack on the grass type, seeming completely unaware of the fact that it was not a favourable match up. It gave a snarl as its eyes locked with the unreadable expression that covered Jack's face as he stared at it, turning away from the competition of strength that was the battle between the two other Pokémon and simply watched Buizel run around to flank his own Pokémon. It tried to shrug the uneasy feeling it got from Jack's stare as it drew closure towards the rear of the Blastoise, giving a grunt as it threw itself into the air and made an elegant cartwheel in the air, snarling again as its twin tales begun to glow a bright white as it geared up an Ion tail, its eyes narrowing as it drew closer to strike...
The crowd screamed and cheered as a massive shape fell from the sky and swung above Buizel as he slammed against the Blastoise, its long claws wrapping around the small Pokémon, dragging up its iron tail mere centimetres from the turtles head and pulling it skyward. Ash cried out as he saw his Pokémon being pulled upwards like a caught insect by Jack's Charizard, how had he not seen that coming?
"Charizard!" The massive fire type Pokémon screamed out as it suddenly broke from its flight and plummeted to the ground, falling at impossible speed as it spread it arms out and held the struggling Buizel beneath it, its eyes narrowing as it swung all of its body weight on top of the small water type Pokémon in a single might seismic toss whilst the Blastoise gave another howl and broke from its barrage, charging head long at the Torterra as its cannons released a powerful ice storm...
...................................................................................................................................................
"Picka...Picka pi"
Ash sighed as he reached down and stroked Pikachu across the ear, smiling as the small mouse Pokémon giggled slightly.
The two were once again sat in the 'meditation area' that they had been sat in before the battle, having finally managed to escape the large crowd that had surrounded them after their defeat. Here they were alone save for the Alakazam that still seemed to sleep beside the entrance. It had given a slight chuckle as they had first entered but had for the most part remained completely immobile as it absorbed itself in deep meditation.
They were not sure how long they had sat there before Dawn found them with a cheery grin, her Piplup following beside her with a look of boredom on its face.
"Not you're best hour was it Ash?" she grinned as she offered him her hand and pulled him up to his feet, her hand resting on his shoulder for a bit longer than necessary. "Come on, Brocks managed to find Janise again and I'm rather worried about what he's planning on doing while Croagunk is away training with a Sceptile. So if you're quiet finished sleeping lets go"
Muttering something about not sleeping, Ash stood and followed her back into the main corridor, Pikachu running ahead of him and glancing around the door. As the two trainers came round the corner, they found the two Gym leaders talking to Janise, worry clear on their faces. The Mime Jr. was in its normal place on Jack's shoulder, looking down at the Riolu in worry, mimicking its trainer's expression perfectly. As Ash came up to them, he got a brief nod from Jack but nothing else in acknowledgement.
"What's wrong?" Dawn asked as she joined them.
"Those tremors that have recently started at Mt. Crystal are getting worse by the day" Jack sighed as he looked over at them "The local Pokémon are getting more and more anxious and have even started attacking people in their escape from whatever it is their sensing going on inside the mountain. Today alone a group of Electrike attacked a school outing, putting a couple of kids in hospital. It's growing faster them we ever thought possible"
"People all over the city are beginning to panic" Mike added, the small Riolu next to him once again watching Pikachu silently "In the last two weeks alone we've had over a dozen complaints about wild Pokémon fleeing from the mountain, religious people are declaring that it's the revenge of Arceus on the sinners or that the mythical Shadow Crystal has been awoken after its thousand years of slumber"
"Mike, JR, Dante and I have to head over to Mt. Crystal and find out just what in the world truly is going on down there"
"JR and Dante?"
"Oh yer, we never introduced you to our partner Pokémon did we?" Jack laughed "Well, this is my partner JR, the Mime Jr" as he said this the little Pokémon on his shoulder grinned and waved at them, laughing along with Pikachu.
"And this is my partner Pokémon, Dante the Riolu" Mike grinned. The small dog like Pokémon nodded briefly before, after some 'encouraging' from JR, gave a brief wave.
"Nice to meet you all" Ash grinned as the two Gym leaders said goodbye before turning and heading out of the Gym, calling out for Espeon and Umbrion to guard the Gym in their absence, to which the Pokémon gave a nod and a cry of goodbye as they disappeared.
"Well" Janise sighed as she watched them go "Let's go and get something to eat then. I know a good place just down towards the town square. Come on, I'll buy"
That was all the encouragement Ash needed as he cheered and followed he, forgetting all the worry he had from the battle as he went.