Ashley and May set off early the next morning for Route 110, hoping to get to Mauville within 2 days, so that they could travel quickly, but still be able to train for their badge and next ribbon.
They were two hours from Slateport, when a tall man in his early twenties yelled at them to stop. He was tall, about 6'4", with short blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a leather jacket with a Nidoking on the back of it, underneath his jacket was a plain white shirt. Dark blue jeans and black combat boots completed his outfit. He had a group of 5 people dressed similarly to him, at his back.
"You're the girl who won the contest right?" he asked looking at Ashley.
"Yes. Can I help you?" she asked, confused why he was looking for her.
"I want to challenge you to a battle. To be more specific, I want to battle your Gyarados." He said while smirking at her.
"Um, we have a lot of traveling to do today, maybe later when we are closer to a Pokémon Center." Ashley said trying to turn him down nicely. She didn't want any of her Pokémon hurt so bad they needed a center right away. It would take time out of their way for the next contest.
"Hear that boys? Little Bitch is afraid to battle. I bet her uncle is the same way when I face him next week. A family of cowards." He then started laughing with his friends at Ashley.
"Don't say that about my uncle!" she screeched. "Why the hell would you want to battle a newbie if you are a champion caliber trainer? Is it because you know my uncle is going to destroy you and you need the confidence boost beating his niece to make you feel good?"
"What did you say?" he asked with a snarl.
"You heard me. If we battle you will destroy me. Do I care? No. Will my uncle when he finds out you were messing with me? Yes. He will humiliate you in front of the world if you don't back off and go away. Say you destroyed me in a battle I don't care. Let's go May." She said and started to walk down the path with May following behind.
"Nidoking, Sludge Bomb!"
Ashley and May jumped apart and missed the poisoned bombs.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" shouted Ashley.
"Battle me, or I will attack you again." He said in a cold dark voice.
"Hey man, don't you think that is a bit much? She's just a kid." Said one of the guys behind him.
"The bitch insulted me. She will battle, or she will get hurt."
"You do realize that you are going to be in some deep shit after this right?" May asked.
"Shut up slut! I know what the fuck I'm doing. This bitch is going to pay for what she said to me!" he screamed.
"Fine. Gyarados go." She said. She knew her Pokémon was going to be hurt. She knew Gyarados would forgive her for this battle with the asshole. Her uncle would take care of this guy later.
"Good. You can have the first attack." He said with a smirk.
"Dragon Rage!" she shouted.
Gyarados complies and sent out a huge blue beam at the Nidoking who was just standing in front of her looking bored. The beam struck and caused a huge explosion. When the smoke cleared, Nidoking was standing tall with only a few scuff marks on him from the attack.
"I see this thing has some power looking at Nidoking. How about you had it over after this battle so a real trainer can teach it."
"Never! She was the first Pokémon I ever caught! I would never ever let her go!" she screamed.
"I wasn't asking you to. I was telling you what is going to happen. That Gyarados will be mine shortly."
"Not going to happen asshole! Water Pulse!"
Nidoking was sent back a couple feet after the attack hit. He barely looked affected by the attack.
"Doesn't even know Hydro Pump yet. What the hell have you been teaching it?"
"May, I need you to call the police on the Pokenav. Don't let them see you do it. Tell them we are being forced to battle or we will be attacked, also say they want to take my Pokémon." She whispered to May
May nodded and slowly pulled out the Pokenav and hid it in her hands, hiding it from view. She put it up to her mouth like she was afraid for her friend, all the while she was telling the dispatcher what was happening. She was told it would be 10 minutes before they could be there. She was told to stall for time so they could be arrested.
"Nidoking, show them Rock Tomb!"
Nidoking stomped his foot and rocks started shooting out of the ground at high speed around Gyarados. Gyarados what hit and roared in pain as she was hit by all the rocks.
"Thunder it now!"
"Stop I forfeit! This isn't worth hurting my Pokémon!" she screamed as Nidoking was charging the attack.
"Do it anyways. Make it last. Show her not to mess with us anymore." He said with an evil smirk.
"Gyarados return!" she yelled as she retrieved her Pokémon could be hurt.
The explosion when the massive thunderbolt hit knocked May and Ashley of their feet and left them stunned.
"I guess they want to be attacked then. Nidoking use Sludge" before he could finish police cars pulled up and surrounded them.
"You called the cops!" he screamed.
"Return you Pokémon and put your pokeballs and weapons on the ground. We have you surrounded. If you do not comply, you will be fired upon." Said the police captain into the megaphone. His officers had them surrounded and all had service weapons trained on them, waiting for the order to fire.
"You'll pay for this bitch!" he screamed as he did as the officers stated. His buddies followed suit.
They were all arrested and taken by officers while they got a statement from Ashley and May.
"My Gyarados got hurt battling him. Is there any way we can get a ride to a Pokémon Center?" Ashley begged the captain.
"Sure." He called over an officer and told him to take them to the Pokémon Center in Mauville City to get her Gyarados looked at.
"Thank you so much sir." Ashley said.
"It's no problem. He is known as a bully who picks on weak trainers around here. Problem is, he is really strong. With this arrest he won't be able to challenge your uncle anymore, the attempted theft will see his Trainer's License revoked as well. We also have to look at if any of his Pokémon were stolen before from other trainer's like he was going to attempt from you."
"Is he going to be able to get out soon? He said he was going to make us pay for calling the cops." May chimed in.
"If convicted of attempted theft of a Pokémon, it is a mandatory 15 year sentence. With your statements, it should be a slam dunk to convict him. You won't have to worry." The captain reassured them.
"Thank you so much!" May and Ashley said as they got in the police cruiser so they could get taken to the Pokémon Center in Mauville to get treatment for Gyarados. 25 minutes later they were in the lobby waiting to hear how Gyarados was doing after her battle.
"Ashley Ketchum. Please report to the nurses station." Came over the loud speakers.
Ashley walked over and said, "Is my Gyarados going to be okay?"
Nurse joy looked at her and said, "Gyarados suffered from a severe internal wound on her abdomen. She is going to need to be inactive for at least a month before she can do anything like training again."
"She was bleeding on the inside?!" Ashley asked horrified about the injury her Pokémon suffered at the hands of that dickhole.
"Just a small bleed that I fixed. It is the heavy bruising around the bleed that is the problem. She is going to need to be in water the whole time she recovers. Do you have a place where that can happen? I can make arrangements to have her treated in Sootopolis City Gym. They have a large area for her to rest and recover in."
"My family has a huge lake on the property where we live. It's more than big enough. She won't be alone as my uncle has Pokémon who live there when he doesn't have them with him." She said. "Plus, my mom has some training taking care of injured Pokémon. She was training to become a nurse before my dad died. She was almost done."
"No problem then. Would you like to see her before she gets sent to your family?" Nurse Joy asked.
"Yes please." She said. She was led into the back in the large shallow pool they had in the back for water types. Ashley saw Gyarados who looked really tired and in some pain. Ashley ran up to her and hugged her and started to cry. "I'm so sorry you got hurt! It's all my fault!"
Gyarados just nudged her trainer very gently, and crooned. Showing her that she was not mad and everything was alright.
Ashley sniffed, and saw that Gyarados wasn't angry with her for getting hurt. "I'm going to have to send you home" she said sadly. "They said a month of taking it easy in plenty of water so you don't aggravate you injuries. My mom in going to make sure you get better. She is also going to spoil you rotten while you are there too." She said with a small smile at the end.
Gyarados just nodded her head and crooned as her trainer pet her. She would take it easy while she was there. That way she could come back as quick as she could to battle with her trainer so she can get stronger.
"Time to go I reckon" said Nurse Joy as she prepared to return Gyarados for transport. With one last wave from Ashley, she was returned to her pokeball. "I will make sure your mom has everything she needs to make sure Gyarados makes a speedy recovery."
Ashley could only nod her head. She was very sad her friend had to leave because she got hurt. She vowed she would get stronger so this would never happen again.
She called her mom to make sure she knew what she had to do to care for her Pokémon. Ashley told her she gave Gyarados one whole chicken every evening as a treat, she needed more protein in her diet than any of her other teammates. Her mother agreed to do this and told her not to worry about a thing. She would make regular trips to see Nurse Joy to make sure everything was going smoothly and would give her updates after every visit.
Her mother also decided to drop a bombshell on her. Her uncle was found by the paparazzi in Lumiose City when he was on a date with Diantha, the champion from the Kalos region. Ashley was surprised. She never thought she would see her uncle date. She remembered his rants about goldigging females when she was younger. Now her uncle was on a date? Although, now his very frequent trips to the Kalos region for "work" made sense. He had been going there regularly on his time off for a little over a year now. She supposed that is when they started dating and she informed her mother of her suspicions. She agreed and would ask him about it when she saw him next.
After she got off the phone with her mother, she went to find May so they could go out and find a place to train for her upcoming gym battle. She knew Wattson used electric and steel type Pokémon in his battles. She knew she would be using Torchic and Aron, both had attacks that would be super-effective on his Pokémon. She would want to use Gyarados as her back up for her Flamethrower, if the other two went down, but Treeko would have to deal with it if it came down to it. Pichu was far too young to battle yet.
May was found lounging in their rented room, reading a fashion magazine for coordinators. After asking if she wanted to help her train for her upcoming gym battle she agreed.
They were walking out to the practice field behind the Pokémon Center, when Ashley's name was called by a Surprising person, Wally. The pale sickly boy with green hair now looked much better. He was now slightly tan, and was wearing blue cargo shorts. Last she saw of him he was wearing think pants to keep him warm because he was always cold due to his illness.
"Wally! What are you doing here?" May asked bewildered. She heard her father mention that he might never be able to travel because of his illness. Her father wasn't sure if it was life threatening or not. His family never stated what he was ill with.
"I got better after an experimental medicine, and after I got Ralts. He was the one who made me feel better after the medicine put me in a lot of pain before it started working. I'm not cured yet, but they said I was strong enough to travel as long as I took careful measures not to push myself so hard, and take the medicine on a regular basis."
"That's wonderful. I'm so happy you are feeling better." Said Ashley.
"Thanks. We are in town visiting my aunt when I saw you guys walking back here. Ashley I challenge you to a battle!" he exclaimed with a determined glint in his eye.
"Deal. How many Pokémon you want to use?" she asked
"I only have Ralts right now. I've been working with him as much as I can. I think we will do pretty good against you."
"Since you are using your starter, I'll use mine as well. Torchic, battle time!" she exclaimed.
"Torchic!" she said as she exited her pokeball.
"Ralts, let's go!" Wally said as he released his starter.
"'We'll start this off Wally! Ember now!"
Torchic wasted no time in launching embers at her foe. Ralts dodged them before they hit by twisting and ducking under them.
"Fire back with Hidden Power!" Wally shouted to his Pokémon who was still dodging the embers and who was getting hit occasionally when he couldn't move fast enough.
Ralts channeled his energy and had orbs surrounding him until he had enough and launched them at Torchic.
"Protect!"
Torchic blocked the attack with her green protective dome that took the attack for her.
"Confusion now!"
Torchic was now suspended in the air by the attack and was grimacing in pain.
"Slam it now into the ground! Then Hidden Power!" he commanded.
Torchic was too confounded after hitting the ground that she wasn't able to dodge the attack. When the dust settled Torchic was struggling to stay standing.
"Torchic, you can do this! Just one more attack! Flamethrower! Give it all you got!" Ashley encouraged her Pokémon.
With one loud, "Tor Chic!" a massive wave of fire hit Ralts who was very tired from launching consecutive attacks. When the flames ended, Ralts was barely standing.
"Come on Ralts! I believe in you!" Wally shouted encouragement.
With one look at his trainer, Ralts burst into a bright white light. When it was over, a Kirlia stood in his place. While he looked more powerful now, he still looked very tired.
"We can finish this with one Attack Torchic! We have to make it count. Flame Burst!"
Torchic suddenly exploded in red energy before she launched her oversized fireball attack. Kirlia, being tired from battling and evolving, had no chance to dodge the attack and was knocked out after being hit with the larger than normal fireball.
Wally returned his newly evolved Kirlia and whispered his thanks for a battle well fought. He also told him how proud he was for evolving.
Torchic on seeing her victory, gave a cheerful cry before being engulfed in the same light Ralts was earlier. Combusken stood in her place now.
Pulling out her pokedex, she scanned Combusken and found out she learned Brick Break, and Double Kick after she evolved. Ashley gave her newly evolved Pokémon a hug, and told her how proud she was, and how she looked so pretty as a Combusken now.
Combusken could only return the hug as she was embarrassed about what her trainer said about her being pretty.
"Congratulations Ashley on your win and Torchic evolving." Wally said as he shook her hand.
"You to Wally. I was very surprised on how strong your Ralts was before he evolved. Keep doing what you're doing, and you might be the one to come out on top next time." She told him. She was very impressed with how well he battled. She didn't think he started really training Ralts until recently when his illness was made much better by his new medication.
"I got to go now, my parents are probably wondering where I am. When I get home I'm going to travel and beat the gyms. So you better watch out Ashley, I'm going to get all the badges and win the Ever Grande Conference."
"You'll have to beat me first then." She said with a smile.
"Count on it. Ashley, May, it was wonderful to see you again. I'll catch you later!" he yelled over his shoulder as he ran to find his parents.
"He looks so much better!" exclaimed May. She couldn't believe the changes a few weeks could make.
"I know. If he gets healthier, he'll have all the ladies swooning at his feet" she said with a giggle. Laughing out right when May blushed.
"Come on, I have more training to do before my gym battle let's get to it" as she stepped into her trainer's box.
May sighed, sometimes her friend was too focused on training. Oh well she thought. She could use this time to get her other Pokémon ready for the next contest.