"Sparky!" Richie shouted as his Pikachu was sent tumbling from the rocks that Aerodactyl had thrown.
"Supersonic!" Flint said, and in an instant Sparky was totally confused.
"Now use Hyper Beam!" said Flint as Aerodactyl began charging power for its attack.
"Snap out of it Sparky, quick!" Richie shouted in desperation, but it was to late.
"Now Aerodactyl!"
The blast sent Sparky flying past Richie into the wall, knocking it out.
"Pikachu is unable to battle. The challenger Richie has two Pokémon left!" The referee said as Richie stared in disbelief, he knew the gym leader would be strong, but not this strong. He spent a few seconds thinking before choosing his next Pokémon.
"Larvitar go!" Richie said as he called out his Larvitar.
"Richie attack quick!" Ash called from the bleachers, causing Richie to look over in confusion, until Ash pointed at Aerodactyl. Aerodactyl couldn't move for a little while after using Hyper Beam.
"Dark Pulse Larvitar!" Richie said as he realized what Ash had been trying to tell him. Larvitar launched the attack just in the knick of time, as it made contact with Aerodactyl as it regained its movement.
"Now use Sandstorm!"
Larvitar kicked up dust and began to spin it, eventually causing the entire battlefield being covered by flying sand and dust.
"Use your wings to stop the sandstorm!" Flint said, hoping that it would help him see his opponent.
"Rock slide Larvitar."
Before Aerodactyl could react it was hit directly by Larvitar's attack, sending it to the ground.
"Aerodactyl is unable to battle! Flint has two Pokémon remaining!"
"Impressive Richie! Time for my next Pokémon!"
Flint revealed his next Pokémon to be a fossil Pokémon, Kabuto.
"Aqua Jet Kabuto!"
Kabuto surrounded itself with water and launched towards Larvitar. Since Larvitar was a slower Pokémon, it was unable to avoid the attack, taking a super effective hit.
"Now use Mega Drain!" Flint said. Kabuto then took advantage of Larvitar still being down and drained its health.
"Finish with Scratch Kabuto"
Richie, realizing that he needed to do something, decided to go all or nothing.
"Hyper Beam Larvitar!" Richie had been trying to teach Larvitar how to use Hyper Beam in the weeks before the battle, but was having very little luck. Maybe it was the intensity of a real gym battle, but Larvitar was able to muster the strength to pull it off. Larvitar launched the attack as Kabuto made contact with its Scratch attack. Both Pokémon we're sent flying away from each other, before fainting.
"Both Kabuto and Larvitar are unable to battle! Both Flint and Richie have just one Pokémon left!"
"Zippo your up." Richie said as he called out his last Pokémon, a Charmeleon.
"You've proven yourself to be a respectable trainer Richie, let's make this a good last battle!" Flint said as he threw his final pokeball, revealing a Shieldon.
"Iron defense!" Flint said, as Shieldon began raising its defense power.
"Quick stop it Zippo, use Flamethrower!" Richie called, hoping to stop Shieldon from raising its defenses anymore. Shieldon took the attack but didn't seem to have taken much damage.
"Take Down!" Flint shouted as Shieldon began a charge towards Charmeleon.
"Stop it with Dragon Rage!"
Charmeleon gathered its energy and shot the attack, which stopped Shieldon in its tracks.
"Hmm…" Flint thought to himself.
"Shieldon. Use Swagger!" Swagger was an attack that raises a Pokémon's attack power greatly, but caused it to become confused, making it a very risky strategy.
"Quick while its confused you scratch!" Richie said, realizing now was the time to strike. Zippo landed multiple Scratch attacks before Shieldon snapped out of its confusion.
"Take Down one more time!" Shieldon lowered its head and charged once again at Charmeleon. Richie called for Zippo to use Dragon Rage again, and the attacks collided, causing an explosion of dust and dirt.
The smoke cleared seconds later, revealing Charmeleon to be heavily damaged, but still standing. Shieldon on the other hand had not faired so well, and was down for the count.
"Shieldon is unable to battle! This means that the challenger Richie is the winner of the match!" The referee said. It took awhile for those words to really sink into Richie's head; he had actually won a gym battle. A smile quickly overcame his face as he hugged his Charmeleon.
"Congratulations!" Flint said, as he reached out and shook hands with Richie.
"Using a move like swagger is risky business, I guess the odds weren't in my favor today." Flint said as he reached into his pocket, before pulling out a badge.
"This is the boulder badge, and you've definitely earned it. It's easy to see that the bond that you have with your Pokémon is powerful, and can help you through the toughest of situations."
"Thank you Flint, and thanks for the battle, I learned so much!" Richie said as he accepted the badge, before holding it up to his eyes and admiring it.
"I knew you could do it Richie!" Ash said as he walked over.
"That battle was so cool! Where did you get an Aerodactyl?" Max asked.
"I got that Aerodactyl years ago while exploring a cave." Flint explained, with Max being amazed at every word.
"I expect to see you two at the Indigo League, you've definitely got the skills to make it that far." Flint said to Ash and Richie, and wished them the best of luck before saying goodbye.
"We actually did it!" Richie yelled once they had exited the gym, who was still in disbelief.
"Don't get too excited Richie, remember we've still got 7 more gym battles left to go." Ash reminded him.
"Don't worry Ash, I'm going to train like crazy, and soon we'll be ready to take down any gym leader!" Richie said, who was full of motivation.
"Speaking of gym leaders, where is the next gym?" Richie asked.
"It's in Cerulean City, and it's a water type gym." Ash explained.
"It's a shame, Pikachu would have been the perfect Pokémon for you in that battle Ash." May said, interrupting the two boys.
"Yeah, I can't wait to start training with Pikachu again!" Ash said.
"Speaking of training, I need to start doing a lot more of it." Richie said, realizing that he would need to step up his game if he wanted to continue winning gym battles.
As they arrived back at May's house, Richie bid them farewell, as he was heading back to his house. After saying goodbye, May, Ash, and Max entered the Maple's home, already exhausted from the day's events.
"So May, I didn't forget about you and Torchic, what did you think about battling together?" Ash asked as he remembered the reason May came along in the first place.
May had nearly forgotten about this herself, as she had been so focused on the boy's battles. Now that she had time to think about, she was able to weigh her options better.
"Like battling is cool and all, I just don't think I can do it. It seems way to intense for me." May explained, trying not accidently offend Ash.
"That's understandable, battling can be overwhelming a lot, even for me sometimes." Ash replied, causing May to relax as she hoped he didn't that she was dissing his profession.
"There are always contests and other things too though, so sometime we'll have to check those out!" Ash said, trying to think of what he could see May doing. The three of them continued chatting for the next half hour before Ash decided to go home. Both Delia and Pikachu were elated to hear about Ash's battle when he returned to Pallet Town, and each spent some time admiring his newly acquired boulder badge.
ONE WEEK LATER:
It had been a week since Ash's first gym battle, and things had continued to be much of the same for the raven-haired trainer. His nights now consisted of hanging out with May, Dawn, and occasionally Gary, which pushed his Pokémon training till later at night, and his homework till the next morning. The four of them all sat at the same lunch table, with Gary chatting away about his upcoming soccer game that would be played later that night. It was now late October, meaning that the soccer season was coming quickly to an end, as the team got ready to play its last regular season game.
"The Kanto Dragons with an astonishing 15-2 Record will play their final game against the Cerulean City Seadra's who's record currently stands at 7-10." The announcer said as the game was about to begin.
As usual Ash, May, and Dawn were in the stands, and had gone to every home game this season. They had picked the right year to watch too, as Gary was having the best soccer season of his life, breaking the school record for assists, and currently was tied with Drew as the leading soccer on the team.
"Again the Dragons are of to the races, 1-0 Kanto High with a quick goal by Brock Harrison, with the assist of course coming from the new record holder Gary Oak!" The announcer said as the crowd went wild. Cerulean City, who was still fighting for a playoff spot, made a valiant comeback in the second half, taking a 3-1 lead.
"Come on guys, just cause we've locked up the number one seed doesn't mean we can slack of here, let's win this one!" Gary said in the huddle trying to keep the team in a championship mindset. Gary's little pep talk worked, as the Dragons started to take control of the game in the closing minutes.
"Drew with the goal with under 5 minutes to go! Kanto high is within one goal of Cerulean City's three!"
The final minutes were spent firing shots left and right at the Seadra's goalkeeper. Every shot was either blocked or bounced off of something, causing close calls left and right for both teams. With the closing seconds ticking down Gary broke through the pack with the ball, with just the goalie standing in his way. Gary slowed down for just a moment, rearing back for a kick, before being slide tackled from behind, as a player from he opposing team had been just able to chase him down. However this did cause a penalty and free kick at the goal for Gary. The time on the scoreboard had just past the usual finishing time, so it was basically now or never for Gary and Kanto High.
The referee placed the ball in front of the goal, as everyone stood watching in anticipation, the crowd dead silent. The referee blew his whistle, and Gary approached the ball, whilst deciding what area of the goal to kick it towards. Gary ran towards the ball and kicked it as hard as he could. The moment the ball left his foot it looked great, the ball flew to the left and goalie had guessed right, diving the opposite way. Everyone in the stands jumped in the air ready to celebrate that is until they hear a loud clank.
The ball had just hit the inner side of the left post, causing it to stop its forward motion, sending it to the right, ultimately stopping on the right side of the goal, just half a foot away from the goal line. The goalie was able to grab the ball and punt it away, causing the game to finally end.
"That's all folks! The Seadra's have won three to two in a close game! The Dragons fall to 15-3, which is still a league best, and the Seadra's record improves to 8-10, which will likely give them the final of the eight available playoff spots. The playoffs will start next week!" The announcer told everyone, as everyone began to file out of the stands. It was Kanto High's first home lose of the year, so it was strange for everyone not to see the typical after game celebrations that they'd become so accustomed too.
Despite the somber mood, the three of them joined up with Gary and still went out to eat afterwards. After a meal filled with lots of silence everyone went off on their separate ways.
Ash returned home and tried to fit in a quick training session with his Pokémon before it got too late. Bulbasaur, Staraptor, and Aipom got most of the attention, considering Froakie and Charizard wouldn't be much help in a water type gym.
"I figured you be out this late." A voice said from behind Ash.
"Gary, what are you doing here?" Ash asked, surprised by his presence.
"Wanna battle?" Gary asked. Ash, one to never turn down a battle, agreed. Gary sent out his Bulbasaur. Ash, not planning on making this battle too serious chose Aipom.
"Ready Ash?" Gary asked, hoping that this battle would get rid of his frustration that had come from the soccer match.
"You bet Gary!" Ash said as he yawned, being tired from the long day. This was one of the rare times that Ash didn't care about a battle. Considering this battle was against Gary, his ultimate rival this pretty uncharacteristic of him.
"Aipom use Swift."
"Counter with Razor Leaf!" Gary called as his the Razor Leaf stopped the Swift attack in its tracks.
"Try using Scratch Aipom." Ash said, only for Aipom to be sent flying by Bulbasaur's Vine Whip. Aipom was able to get up and charged back into the battle, once again being knocked back by a Vine Whip attack. In reality Ash knew several ways to counter this problem, but he kept having Aipom attacking head on, basically handing the match over to Gary as he realized that Gary just needed something to boost his parents.
After a few more hits Aipom was to tired to continue and Ash called him back to his pokeball.
"Geez Ash, I don't think I've ever met a trainer who gets worse over time!" Gary called, teasing Ash's lack of effort in the battle. Ash smirked as the saw the typical cocky smile return to Gary's face.
"I'll see you later Ash, and next time, I want a real battle." Gary said as he turned around and walked away. Ash was so tired it took him a few seconds to realize that Gary had left, and headed inside before collapsing onto his bed.
The Next Night
"Well, here goes nothing!" May said as she brought Torchic out of its pokeball, possibly making a horrible decision. Here she was at the edge of the Viridian forest in the middle of the night. She knew that she needed to bond more with Torchic somehow, and battling with a wild Pokémon would be just the thing to do it. The two of them slowly tiptoed into the forest, pausing whenever they heard a sound or rustling in the bushes, which was every few steps.
"AAAAHHHHHH"
"TOORRRRR"
The two screamed as something came tumbling out of a nearby bush. The two booked it as fast as they could away from that area of the woods, not realizing that they just been scared off by a Metapod.
"Ok Torchic, it's just a Caterpie, this should be easy right?" May said, realizing she had no clue what she was doing.
"Torchic use Peck, I think? That's an attack right?" May said to herself. Thankfully Peck was an actual move an Torchic had already taken off towards the Caterpie. The Caterpie used String Shot and stopped Torchic from getting any closer. The now irritated Caterpie turned its attention towards May, and in a matter of seconds, had used its string shot again and had May tied around a tree. After deciding that it had exacted its revenge, the Caterpie crawled off back into the bushes. May struggled but couldn't seem to budge an inch. She kept trying to force her way out with out success until she heard a sound from behind her. An Ariados came scrambling from behind May, scooped up Torchic, and took of deeper into the forest.
The Next Morning
Ash woke up to the buzzing of his phone. He blindly slapped it, thinking his alarm was going off. He got up and started getting dressed, before checking his phone and realized that May had been trying to call him. May usually never called him this early in the morning, so Ash could tell that something was up. He decided to call her back and see what she wanted.
"ASH!" May yelled, nearly causing Ash to drop his phone.
"What's going on May?" Ash asked while fighting back a yawn.
"I'm stuck! Uh, Viridian Forest! It's a long story, they took Torchic. Come help me please!" May screamed.
"I'll be there as soon as I can!" Ash told her and ran off to grab his pokeballs and was out the door.
Ash booked it as fast as he could towards Viridian City and then to Viridian Forest. It took him nearly 45 Minutes but he made it there nonetheless. As he entered the main entrance of the forest he had no idea where to look, so he just wandered around aimlessly, looking so some sign of May and Torchic.
It wasn't long before he found May, probably because nearly everything within a mile radius could hear May's screaming as she continued to try and break off of the tree.
Ash ran over to her and got there just in time to see her finally break loose of the Caterpie's web and face plant into the ground.
"May are you alright?" Ash asked as helped her off the ground.
"Thank goodness you're here Ash! An Ariados ran off with Torchic, we have to find it!" May said wasting no time before running off in search of her Pokémon. Ash took off trying to catch up with her. Despite their frantic searching, Torchic was nowhere in sight.
"Staraptor, come help us look!" Ash said as he brought out his Pokémon. Staraptor took to the skies and flew around hoping to catch a glimpse of Torchic.
May and Ash searched and searched, but were simply too tired to keep going, as they collapsed near a small opening. After just a minute of rest, May stood back up, ready to begin searching again. She was determined not to let this end up like the first time she had lost Torchic in this forest. She wouldn't give up and cry, this time she would get Torchic back by any means necessary. The two of them were about to return to the deeper part of the forest and search again when Ash's Staraptor returned, initiating them to follow. They took off as Staraptor lead the way around the forest. They were lead into a dense part of the forest; there were no trails in sight. They climbed through tree branches and shrubs, even Staraptor had to walk through, as it was impossible to fly through it at this point. Finally after a slow trek they entered into a large clearing in the middle of the forest.
Their faces lit up with smiles as they saw Torchic sitting next to a tree, that is, before realizing that they had just entered an Ariados nest, and not just one. Ash guessed that there had to be about twenty of them, and they were certainly not happy about them intruding.
"Staraptor, grab Torchic, quickly." Ash whispered.
Staraptor soared in a grabbed Torchic and returned to Ash and May, having to dodge many String Attacks, as the group of Ariados quickly became agitated.
"Let's get out of here!" Ash yelled. They took off stumbling through the branches and bushes of the forest as the Ariados were gaining ground on them quickly. May broke out back onto a main trail first, followed by Staraptor and Torchic. Ash on the otherhand had tripped over a branch, and quickly became surrounded, by the Ariados. Ash sat there, not moving an inch, trying to find a way out of this situation. Ash assessed his current predicament, and then he made his move.