Chapter 10: The Biggest Croagunk Festival Ever!
As our heroes enter Pastoria City, they see a lot of Croagunk hanging around. They were all over as people had kept one for themselves and let the wild Croagunks walk around the city without even a care about that.
"What's with all of the Croagunks?" asked Ash as he was curious about all of the Croagunk.
"You don't know about the Croagunk Festival, do you?" asked Dawn as she was making a question of her own.
"No, Dawn. I don't." replied Ash which earned him a giggle from Misty as she thought that it was funny.
"Let me explain. Every year at this time, the people who live here celebrate the Croagunk around here by seeing who the strongest Croagunk of the Marsh." explained Dawn as she was looking at all of the Croagunks.
It didn't take too long to sink in for everybody, especially Brock, who had an idea.
"Well, that's for me! Let's go Croagunk!" said Brock as he was releasing Croagunk from its pokeball.
Brock and Croagunk, who was clueless to what Brock was up to, were starting to walk away until Misty stopped them in their tracks.
"What are you gonna do, Brock?" asked Misty as she made them spin on their heels to look at her and the rest of the gang and Brock had big smile when he did that.
"I'm gonna find Nurse Joy and see if she would like to go out on a date. Let's go Croagunk!" replied Brock as he finally gave Croagunk the idea of what was going on and as he was starting to walk away.
Croagunk finally couldn't stand it anymore so it gave Brock a Poison Jab like always so that he could stop while he was ahead.
"Aaaahh! What… was… that…for?!" asked Brock as he was falling onto the ground from the Poison Jab.
"Does that happen a lot?" asked Max and Misty in unison as Brock was pulled away by Croagunk.
Ash and Dawn looked at each other before responding as they had to figure it out.
"At least we don't have to do it." replied Ash and Dawn in unison.
"Well, shouldn't we go and watch the battles?" asked Cynthia as she was trying to get them off of the subject, but it didn't work.
"Anything you want, Cynthia." said Brock as he was getting right back on his feet.
"How does he do it?" asked Max as he was surprised at how fast Brock could recover.
"There's still no answer for that question." replied Ash as he was half-smiling as he was thinking about all of the times that Croagunk did that to Brock.
(At The Croagunk Festival Battlefield)
When they got there, Brock signed up to battle with Croagunk for the prize of a crown that was gold with a pearl on it.
Brock and Croagunk won all of their matches and made it all of the way into finals, which the others were surprised at since all of the Croagunk were strong.
Brock and Croagunk were going up against Nurse Joy and her Croagunk for the Croagunk Festival winner's crown.
Let's check on Team Rocket to see what their doing.
(With Team Rocket)
"I can't believe that the biggest twerp is in the finals for this stupid Croagunk Festival." said Jessie in disbelief as they were watching the battles from the other side of the battlefield so that the gang wouldn't see them.
"I wish that we could enter that Festival's contest." said James in a sad tone as he was thinking about how they could win the crown for the boss.
"Well, let's see what the biggest twerp is made of." said Meowth as it was enjoying itself with a box of popcorn.
Let's check back in with the gang.
(Back With The Gang)
The question that stands on everyone's mind is this: Who will win the Croagunk Festival?
Last time, Brock entered Croagunk in the Croagunk Festival Competition and made it all of the way to the finals to face Nurse Joy's Croagunk for the crown.
Which Croagunk will win the crown?
Let's find out!
(On The Battlefield)
"This final match between Brock and Nurse Joy is about to begin. Trainers, let out your Croagunks and begin!" announced the judge, who was a guy, to start the battle.
"Let's Go Croagunk!" said Brock.
"Go Croagunk!" said Nurse Joy.
"Croagunk, Poison Sting!"
"Croagunk, Poison Sting too!"
The Poison Stings cancelled each other out on the middle of the battlefield.
"Croagunk, Poison Jab!"
"Crogunk, Poison Jab as well!"
Again, the attacks cancelled each other out, but Brock's Croagunk received some damage from it.
"Croagunk, Brick-Break!"
"Croagunk, Cross Chop!"
Nurse Joy's Croagunk hit first, sending Brock's Croagunk flying back, almost hitting the wall. It received a lot of damage, but it wasn't out just yet.
"Croagunk, Brick-Break again!"
"Croagunk, Sludge Bomb!"
The Sludge Bomb hit first, knocking Brock's Croagunk out.
"Brock's Croagunk is unable to battle. Burse Joy's Croagunk's the winner and Nurse Joy wins the Croagunk Festival Competition!" said the judge.
The crowd applauded wildly for Nurse Joy's great performance.
"And here to present the trophy is our very own gym leader, Crasher Wake!" said the judge as a man that was about 7 foot with a lot of muscles and only pants on came out of the crowd to present the crown to Nurse Joy.
(Back With The Rest Of The Gang)
"So that's the gym leader. Great!" said Ash excitedly as he was thinking about his gym battle tomorrow.
"Yeah and he's pretty tough too." said Cynthia as she was looking at Ash.
"Cynthia, what kind of pokemon does Crasher Wake use?" asked Max curiously before Ash could.
"Well, he's a great water-type trainer, so he uses a Gyarados, a Quagsire, and a Floatzel." answered Cynthia as she was looking at Max. Misty was happy to hear that and she was thinking that maybe she could get some battle ideas from him, but she knew that wouldn't happen when Ash was around.
"A Floatzel? Let me check it out." said Ash as he pulled out his Pokedex.
"Floatzel, the water ferret pokemon. It is the evolved form of Buizel. It loves to swim in rivers and lakes." said the Pokedex as it showed a picture of it on the screen.
"Cool. So that's what Buizel evolves into." said Ash happily as he was thinking about his Buizel.
Let's check back in with Team Rocket.
(Back With Team Rocket)
"I can't believe that the biggest twerp lost to Nurse Joy like that." said Meowth as they were leaving the battlefield.
"Well, think about it this way, we have all the time in the world before we try to get Pikachu again." said James happily as he was trying to cheer them up.
"I guess you're right. Let's start planning on how to get Pikachu." said Jessie happily as well.
(Back With The Gang)
After the Croagunk Festival was over, our heroes stay the night at the Pokemon Center and in the morning, Ash will challenge Crasher Wake to a gym battle for the Fen Badge.
With the Croagunk Festival over, our heroes are running over to the Pastoria City gym for Ash's battle.
"Ash, wait up! I can't believe that he's still like this." said Misty as she remembered when she was traveling with him before.
"Hurry up or you'll miss my gym battle with Crasher Wake!" yelled Ash as he was waiting for them at the entrance to the gym.
"Boy, is he psyched or what?" asked Dawn as they were catching up to Ash.
"Or what would be correct for him." answered Max as he thought about what Ash was like while traveling through the Hoenn and Kanto Regions.
(At The Pastoria City Gym)
Once they got into the gym and found Crasher Wake talking to his referee, who was a boy, about the last battle that he had when he saw them and talked to Cynthia for a little while before Ash challenged Crasher Wake to a battle and he accepted it.
(On The Battlefield)
They took their battle positions at each end of the battlefield, which was a giant pool with a few platforms in it for pokemon that weren't water-types.
"This match between Crasher Wake, the gym leader, and the challenger, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, is about to begin. Trainers ready?" asked the referee as he stood in the middle of the battlefield on the side.
"Yeah!" answered both trainers in unison.
"Then let the match begin!" said the referee as he gave the signal to start.
"Go Gyarados!"
"Let's Go Pikachu!"
"Gyarados, Water Gun!"
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
The Water Gun was charged by the Thunderbolt, shocking it, but it wasn't out just yet.
"Gyarados, Hyper Beam!"
"Pikachu, Dodge by using Quick Attack followed by Iron Tail!"
Pikachu hit Gyarados hard enough to knock it out as it dodged the Hyper Beam.
"Gyarados is unable to battle. Pikachu's the winner!"
"Go Quagsire! Quagsire, Earthquake followed by Water Pulse!"
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt followed by Volt Tackle!"
Quagsire's Water Pulse hit first after making the battlefield unstable with the Earthquake, knocking Pikachu out quickly.
"Pikachu's unable to battle. Quagsire's the winner!"
"Good job, Pikachu. Take a good rest. Go Turtwig!"
"Quagsire, Water Gun!"
"Turtwig, Razor Leaf!"
The Razor Leaf sliced through the Water Gun at an amazing speed as it stopped the attack.
"Quagsire, Hydro Pump!"
"Turtwig, Energy Ball!"
The attacks collided in mid-air and it made a smoke cloud to cover the battlefield.
(With The Others)
"We might be looking at a draw." said Cynthia as they were looking at the smoke cloud.
"I agree with you, Cynthia." said Brock with the others waiting to see if they were right.
(Back On The Battlefield)
"Quagsire!" yelled Crasher Wake as the smoke cloud was starting to clear.
"Turtwig, no!" yelled Ash.
Once the smoke cloud cleared, both Quagsire and Turtwig were knocked out.
"Both Quagsire and Turtwig are unable to battle. It's a draw!" said the referee.
"Go Floatzel!"
"Go Buizel!"
After losing two out of three pokemon, it's water versus water, but who will win?
Last time, Ash was battling for the Fen Badge and with Pikachu and Turtwig knocked out, Ash and Buizel will have a tough last round with Crasher Wake and his Floatzel, but will Ash win the Fen Badge?
Let's find out!
(Back With The Rest Of The Gang)
"So it's Floatzel versus Buizel. This should be interesting." said Brock with the others agreeing with him.
(Back On The Battlefield)
"Floatzel, Water Gun!"
"Buizel, Water Gun as well!"
The Water Guns collided in mid-air, but Floatzel's Water Gun pushed Buizel's back and hit Buizel in the face.
"Floatzel, Aqua Jet!"
"Buizel, Aqua Jet!"
Again, they collided in mid-air in the middle of the battlefield.
"Floatzel, Hydro Pump!"
"Buizel, Sonic Boom!"
The Sonic Boom sliced through the Hydro Pump and it hit Floatzel hard, but not hard enough because it was still standing.
"Floatzel, Water Pulse!"
"Buizel, Aqua Jet through the Water Pulse and use Sonic Boom along with Water Gun!"
Just as Floatzel released the Water Pulse, Buizel charged through it, but it was a Water Pulse instead of an Aqua Jet, to get rid of it. This surprised Ash, but he was happy that Buizel learned Water Pulse.
Then, Buizel used Sonic Boom followed by Water Gun to knock out Floatzel.
"Floatzel is unable to battle. Buizel's the winner! The winner of the match is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"
"Alright, Buizel, we did it!" said Ash as he congratulated Buizel.
"Congratulations, Ash, and to prove your win at the Pastoria Gym, I give you the Fen Badge." said Crasher Wake as he gave Ash the Fen Badge.
"Thanks, Crasher Wake. Alright, we got the Fen Badge!" said Ash as he did his usual pose.
"Now onto Hearthome City for the next gym, but first, we'll go to the Ruins for my research tomorrow." said Cynthia as they were leaving the gym.
"Then, let's get going!" said Ash excitedly with the others wondering what it would take to clam him down and then, they shivered a little as they thought about the one person that could do it: the King.
(Over At The Pastoria Ruins)
"We finally have the next piece of the puzzle. Let's move out and start heading towards Hearthome City for the next piece that we need for the puzzle." said Saturn as he was leaving with the piece of the puzzle in his right hand.
"Yes, sir!" said the two grunts as they were following him.
(Back With The Gang)
After beating Crasher Wake for the Fen Badge and Team Galactic took their next piece of the puzzle, our heroes head back to Hearthome City once again for Ash's gym battle after they get done at the Pastoria Ruins.
Before our heroes left Pastoria City for Hearthome City, Cynthia wanted to do some research at the Pastoria Ruins that she mentioned the day before.
"Do you mind if we stop for my research?" asked Cynthia curiously to Ash.
"Sure, Cynthia. Hey, we could help you if you want." replied Ash happily.
"That would be great! Thanks!" said Cynthia gratefully as she left to do her research with the others following her.
"Ash, I thought that she was the Sinnoh Champion?" asked Max curiously.
"She is, but she likes to research when the Sinnoh League isn't going on." answered Ash.
(At The Pastoria Ruins)
Once they got to the Ruins, they started to research with Cynthia about the Unown, but what they don't know is that Team Rocket's in disguise at the Ruins.
(With Team Rocket)
"I can't believe that your disguise idea really works, Meowth." said James as he was a little shocked at how well Meowth's plans worked better than Jessie's.
"Keep it down unless you want the twerps to find us." said Jessie as she shot him a dirty look to shut him up.
"Then, let's get this plan underway." said Meowth as they were walking over to the gang.
(Back With The Gang)
Just as the gang finished helping Cynthia with her research, a disguised Team Rocket appears right in front of them.
"Hello, we are the Ruin Police and we're here to protect the ruins from bad pokemon and criminals. (I hope their talking about themselves with the 'criminals' part!) Oh wait, you can't have that Pikachu here because it might destroy the Ruins." said Jessie as she was putting the plan into action.
"But Pikachu's as harmless as a Caterpie." said Ash as he was defending Pikachu.
"Well, we'll have to take Pikachu anyway." said James as he threw a net over Pikachu and held it up in his right hand.
"Wait, you can't take Pikachu!" yelled Ash as he was surprised that they would do that Pikachu.
"You want to bet, twerp." said Meowth as they removed their disguises.
"Pikachu, use Iron Tail to break through the net!" said Ash as he thought of an idea.
Pikachu cut through the net like it was paper using Iron Tail and it jumped at Ash as it was happy to see him like usual.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" said Ash as he looked at Team Rocket.
Pikachu jumped out of his arms and shocked them away as they were saying the usual: "Team Rocket's blasting off again!"
After that Team Rocket crisis at the Ruins, our heroes continue on their way to Hearthome City.
Here's Chapter 10 for your entertainment. At home with nothing better to do and it's a school day too. Yeah! You don't really want to know what I did. I hope you liked this chapter because the next chapter will be better and hopefully posted soon!