Well, the results are in and it seems that the answer to my question was an almost resounding "yes" therefore, starting with this chapter, Battle Clubs are officially introduced to the Kanto region in this rewrite. This actually works out pretty great, as it not only gives me opportunities to not only allow Ash and the others to train, but also allow them to use their future reserves more efficiently as well as compete in tournaments. On that note, I have decided to bring in a tournament for both Ash and Misty to take part in before Ash returns to the Pewter Gym for a rematch. This should allow both trainers to develop a bit. It also gives me an excuse to bring in someone else a little earlier than planned. I'll not say who it is here, but you'll find out soon enough.
This chapter is mostly about watching another pair of trainers have a battle, with Ash and Misty getting introduced to the Battle Club and using its facilities. Some other faces are there as well, and one of them has a bit of a surprise on her team as well. Enjoy!
Pokémon Indigo League
Episode 9: Don George and the Battle Club
The early morning sun shone in the sky, the rainstorm that had swept in the previous day having dispersed sometime during the night.
The light of that sun shone through the large double glass doors that were located at the front of the Pokémon centre building and cast a bright gleam over the blue tiled floor.
Misty, who was standing by the reception desk and talking with Nurse Joy looked up as Ash wandered around the corner, doing up the zip on his green back pack.
"Got everything?" asked Misty.
"Yeah," replied Ash as he swung the back pack onto his shoulders "Guess we'd better be heading back to Viridian Forest in order to train some more."
"Ash," said Nurse Joy "Before you do that, I'd recommend that you make use of the Battle Club. It's a new facility located on the eastern edge of the town where trainers can train with their Pokémon and take part in battles."
"Wow, that sounds great!" said Ash enthusiastically. He grabbed Misty by the arm and dragged her towards the doors of the Pokémon centre "Come on, Misty, let's go!"
Pikachu hurried off after them.
The Battle Club Building was a huge one. Largely square in shape, it stood six storeys high and dominated over the buildings that stood nearby. Around the building there were several grassy lawns, each of them divided from the others by winding pathways. In the middle of each lawn there were either flower beds or a couple of trees. In these trees several Pidgey had made their nests.
Ash and Misty hurried eagerly along one of the winding paths that led to the front door of the building, but game to a sudden stop when the door opened and a familiar face stepped out.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Ash Ketchum the loser of Pallet Town. Finally made it this far did ya? Took ya long enough."
Ash clenched his fists and bit back "For your information, Gary, I've been in Pewter City for several days."
Gary Oak smirked back at him and replied "Is that so? Well I've been here for over a week making use of this place." he gestured over his shoulder with his thumb "I guess seeing as you're only just now coming here that you've been challenging the gym. Got your first badge yet?"
"Er," Ash replied awkwardly.
Gary began laughing and exclaimed "You haven't? What a looser. Smell ya later, Ashy boy."
Still laughing he walked away.
"That jerk," growled Ash, watching Gary go with his fists clenched.
Misty put a comforting hand on his shoulder "Cool it, Ash."
"I thought I heard your voice, Ash Ketchum" said someone behind them.
Both of them turned around and saw that another familiar face had just stepped out through the doors of the Battle Club.
"Oh, hi Robyn," muttered Ash.
Robyn looked to Misty and asked "What's with him?"
"He just had a run in with Gary," explained Misty.
"Gotcha," said Robyn "Well, Ash you just ignore everything that knucklehead says to you. Now both of you come in, and I'll show you around."
The inside of the Battle Club was even more impressive than the exterior.
At least twenty different trainers and their Pokémon were milling about making use of the facilities. There was a large gymnasium which contained everything from treadmills and rowing machines to punching bags and weights. There were two large swimming pools in one room. There were numerous rooms containing battlefields for practice battles. There was a library and a computer room where trainers could study Pokémon and battle strategy. And there was a large cafeteria containing many tables, as well as several large television screens were trainers could watch any battles taking place throughout the building.
"This is so cool," said Ash excitedly.
"It certainly is," agreed Robyn "I've been training here for three days already."
"Getting a bit of last minute preparation in before challenging the gym?" asked Misty.
"No, I've already got a badge from the Pewter Gym," replied Robyn brightly.
"You have?" asked Ash, dejectedly.
"Sure thing," said Robyn "Brock's Pokémon were all rock and ground types. It was an easy win for Bulbasaur. Right Bulbasaur?"
"Bulba!" her starter Pokémon called back from where it was running on a treadmill next to Robyn's Nidoran. The treadmill was set at a slight uphill climb.
"Don't look so glum, Ash," said Robyn "Ritchie hasn't got his badge from the Pewter Gym yet either?"
Ash perked up at this "He hasn't?"
"No, I haven't," said Ritchie, walking into the room.
"Hey, Ritchie." said Ash "So you're here as well?"
"Yep," replied the other trainer "Turns out that all of my Pokémon were at a major disadvantage against everything Brock might throw at us, so I went out and caught another one. I've been training it up here, along with the rest."
He gestured over his shoulder to where his Charmander and Pikachu were running on another treadmill.
"So where is this new Pokémon?" asked Misty.
"I'll show you," said Ritchie, and he led them over to the pool room.
Inside he called out "Poliwag!" and the surface of one of the pools rippled, and a splash of water went up as a small, round, blue coloured Pokémon burst into the air. It landed confidently on the tiled floor in front of them.
"Oh, hey, you've got a Poliwag as well!" exclaimed Misty. She opened her red bag and took out a pokéball, which she opened to let the Pokémon contained within out into the open.
Her Poliwag appeared next to Ritchie's and the two Tadpole Pokémon greeted each other happily, jumping up and down excitedly.
"Well, well. Who do we have here?"
They turned around to see that a man had entered the room. He was a tall and muscular man, with short grey hair and a large moustache.
"Hello, Don George," said Robyn politely "These are Ash and Misty. They're friends of ours."
The man laughed heartily and said "Well in that case, welcome to the Battle Club. My name is Don George, and I own and run this facility."
"So what gave you the idea to open this place?" asked Misty.
"To tell you the truth it wasn't my idea," replied Don George "Places like this one have been operating in the Unova region for years. My brothers and I decided to bring the idea to all the other regions."
"Unova region?" asked Ash.
Don George nodded and explained "The Unova region is a land located many miles away from Kanto. And the Pokémon there are completely different to what you find in Kanto. My family owns and runs a Battle Club in every town and city there. We've been looking into expanding into other regions for quite some time, and the Kanto region was the first to allow us to begin constructing the facilities. We haven't expanded into the towns yet, but every major city in Kanto now has a Battle Club facility, all of which have just opened up in the last few months. Except, of course, for Viridian City, on the other side of the forest to the south of here."
"Why isn't there one in Viridian City?" questioned Ash.
Don George gave a shrug and replied "We keep on submitting applications to build one there, but for some reason approval is always being blocked. From what we've seen people want the facility there, but we just can't seem to get permission from the local authority."
"That seems kind of silly." observed Ritchie.
"Yeah," agreed Robyn "If there is a demand for the service, then surely it makes sense for the city to provide it."
Don George gave another shrug and replied "I'm sure it'll all sort itself out in the end. Anyway, enough about that. I just came to let you know that there will be a battle taking place down on Battlefield Three in a few minutes if you wanted to go and watch it in the cafeteria."
"That sounds great," said Ritchie enthusiastically. He turned to the others "You guys coming?"
The other three all agreed and they left the pool room after Misty and Ritchie had both recalled their individual Poliwag to their respective pokéballs. They made a stop in the gymnasium where Ritchie recalled his Charmander and Pikachu to their pokéballs and Robyn recalled her Bulbasaur and Nidoran to theirs.
By the time they got there, the cafeteria was already bustling with other trainers, all of whom were eager to watch the battle that was about to begin. Ash and Ritchie managed to make their way over to the food counter as Misty and Robyn headed off to find some seats for them all.
After managing to get some snacks for themselves and the rest of the group, Ash and Ritchie pushed their way through the crowd to where Misty and Robyn had located a table right near the front.
"Quiet, everyone!" shouted a voice "It's starting!"
All eyes turned to the large television screen on which the battle was being shown via a live feed.
Don George was standing on a small podium located on the side of the battlefield, in line with the half way line. It seemed that he would be acting as the referee for this battle.
He raised both arms into the air to call everyone's attention and announced "The following battle will be a three-on-three bout between Damian and Assunta. The battle will end when all three of one trainer's Pokémon are unable to battle. A coin toss will occur to determine who acts first. If it lands on heads Damian goes first and if it lands on tails Assunta goes first."
The screen changed to show a golden coin with an engraving of a Magikarp on the front, and a pokéball on the back. The coin flipped over rapidly several times before coming to a halt, showing the pokéball side.
"And it's tails," announced Don George "and that means that Assunta gets the first move."
Assunta was a blue haired girl in a red, sleeveless top that had a collar that was turned upwards. She appeared to be about a year or two older than Misty who, at eleven, was the oldest of the four friends. With determination in her eyes, Assunta took what looked like an ordinary pokéball from her pocket and held it up.
"Why is it in green camouflage?" asked Ash.
"I think that it must be a special kind of pokéball," said Ritchie "I think that the Safari Zone near Fuchsia City has pokéballs like that."
On the television screen, Assunta announced "Let's see how you like this powerhouse. Go, Rhyhorn."
She threw the ball and it snapped open. The Pokémon that came out was very large and covered in rugged armour plating. The weight of its bulky, grey coloured body was supported by four short yet powerful legs, and the large triangular head was adorned with a large horn situated above its nose.
"What's that?" asked Ash as Robyn took out her Pokédex and held it up.
Rhyhorn, the Spikes Pokémon. With its hard shell protection, as well as its great strength, Rhyhorn is known for its considerable physical offensive and defensive strengths. Its massive bones are one thousand times harder than the bones of a human, and it is easily capable of knocking a trailer flying. However this Pokémon is also both quick to anger and not very intelligent.
"Sounds like a tough opponent," observed Robyn "I wonder how that Damian guy will counter it."
Damian, a boy of about sixteen, had a pair of white framed sunglasses perched on his blue hair. He wore a pink shirt over a red polo neck, and a brown waistcoat. Like Assunta he too had a look of determination on his face, but there was a touch of arrogance there as well.
He too took a pokéball, an ordinary red and white one this time and there it with a shout of "Weepinbell, go!"
Weepinbell was a strange looking Pokémon. Its yellow bell shaped body was actually a flower that opened to reveal a large round mouth. There were two large, round eyes, and two large green leaves which served as strange limb like structures.
Robyn again used her Pokédex in order to find out more.
Weepinbell, the Flycatcher Pokémon, and the evolved form of Bellsprout. Weepinbell spits out poisonous pollen which immobilise its enemies. It then attacks by spraying acid. Its leaves are razor sharp and if its prey is too big for it to swallow whole, Weepinbell will use those leaves to cut the victim apart before swallowing down every last morsel.
"That sounds pleasant," said Ritchie with a deadpan expression.
"It's a grass type Pokémon," commented Misty "That means Damian has the advantage here."
Don George called out "Begin!"
Assunta held up the strangely coloured pokéball again and called out "Rhyhorn, return!"
A beam of red light shot from the button on the front of the pokéball and hit Rhyhorn. The rock and ground type Pokémon was enveloped by the red light and disappeared into it. The red light drew back into the pokéball, taking Rhyhorn with it.
"Wow," said Ash "She's changing Pokémon."
Robyn nodded and said "It makes sense. A Rhyhorn stands little chance against the grass type moves of a Weepinbell."
Assunta had taken another pokéball, this one in the same unusual design as the one that held her Rhyhorn.
She threw it and called out "Venomoth, you're up!"
The ball snapped open and a bug type Pokémon that looked a lot like a purple coloured cousin of Butterfree appeared.
This time Ash was the one to examine this new Pokémon with his Pokédex.
Venomoth, the Poison Moth Pokémon. It is the evolved form of Venonat. The tiny scales on its wings disperse various spores when they are flapped. In the wild they are usually nocturnal, coming out only at night. They can sometimes be seen in towns and cities feeding on small insects that are attracted to the light of street lamps.
"These are really strong Pokémon that they are using," observed Ritchie "They must have been training for quite a while."
Damian seemed fine with this match up, because he called out "Weepinbell, use Vine Whip!"
At the tip of Weepinbell's bell shaped body there was a brown, hook like appendage that was kind of like a plant stem. On its trainers command, this appendage rapidly grew in length and with one twist of its body, Weepinbell sent it flying across the battlefield, ready to strike Assunta's Venomoth like a whip.
"Dodge it Venomoth!" ordered Assunta.
Venomoth beat its wings hard and it soared upwards, narrowly avoiding the attack from Weepinbell.
The attack might have missed, but Damian was far from put off. Instead he called out "Use Wrap."
Controlled by Weepinbell through much practice, the vine turned in the air and launched upwards. Quickly it coiled around Venomoth's body once, twice, three times. The bug type Pokémon's wings were pinned to its sides, making it unable to move. Worse for Assunta, the vine was constricting Venomoth, squeezing the Pokémon's strength out of it.
She knew how to make the most of this situation however and called out "Venomoth, it's time for Psybeam!"
Venomoth's eyes, which had previously been closed in pain as it struggled against Weepinbell's attack snapped open. From each eye there came a strange looking multi-coloured beam. Just in front of Venomoth's face the two beams joined together as one before rocketing towards Weepinbell and landing a powerful blow that sent the grass and poison type Pokémon reeling backwards.
"That's a psychic type move," observed Robyn "That turns the tables in Assunta's favour."
"So it knows Psybeam, huh?" asked Damian through gritted teeth "Fine then. Weepinbell use Slam!"
The vine tightened and swung downwards, throwing Venomoth down hard against the stadium floor.
The vine let go of Venomoth and began to retract towards Weepinbell's body as Damian took Weepinbell's pokéball and called out "Weepinbell, return!"
The Flycatcher Pokémon vanished inside the pokéball.
"A sensible choice." said Misty.
"Yeah, but he made sure to get in one final move before calling his Pokémon back." said Ash.
By now Damian had taken another pokéball from his pocket. This one was different to normal as well, being blue and white in colour, with two red ridges on the top.
"That's a great ball," said Ritchie, knowledgably "They're used to obtain stronger Pokémon that ordinary pokéballs struggle to capture."
The great ball was thrown onto the battlefield, accompanied by a shout of "Let's go, Drowzee."
Drowzee was a strange looking Pokémon that stood on two legs, and was about half the height of a fully grown man. It looked somewhat like a tapir, being pig-like with a small trunk for a nose. The top half of Drowzee's pot-bellied body was yellow, while the bottom half was brown in colour. The toes on its stubby feet were yellow as well.
"It's kind of creepy." said Misty with a grimace on her face.
Ash consulted his Pokédex.
Drowzee, the Hypnosis Pokémon. Drowzee puts its enemies to sleep, and then eats its dreams. It prefers the dreams of children to those of adults as they are far tastier. If it eats a bad dream, it might get sick. It can sometimes show people the dreams it has eaten in the past.
"I take it back." said Misty "That Pokémon isn't kind of creepy. It is creepy."
"I bet that its ability to put opponents to sleep could come in handy though." said Ash.
By now Venomoth had managed to recover enough from Weepinbell's final blow the get airborne again. Assunta wasted no time.
"Venomoth, use a Double-Edge attack."
A greenish energy appeared around Venomoth's body. The bug type Pokémon tucked its wings against its body and it flew at Drowzee, ramming it with its full force.
Drowzee was knocked backwards but remained standing.
Now it was Damian's turn "Drowzee, use 'ipnosis."
Drowzee began waving its arms around in a strange way, almost like a poorly coordinated dance. Then a series of strange, multi-coloured rings emerged from its face and drifted over to Venomoth.
The bug Pokémon's eyes drooped and it fell to the ground, sound asleep.
"Now finish this wiv Dream Eater!" ordered Damian.
Drowzee threw its arms wide apart and cried out loudly. An eerie, shadow-like version of itself left Drowzee's body and raced across the battlefield towards Venomoth. It passed through the other Pokémon, throwing it backwards through the air before returning to Drowzee and disappearing into it. All traces of injury from the earlier Double Edge from Venomoth were erased, and Drowzee seemed to get stronger.
Venomoth crashed to the ground on its back. It was out cold.
Don George held up a flag and announced "Assunta's Venomoth is unable to battle. Damian and his Drowzee win this round.
Clearly disappointed, Assunta recalled her Venomoth and threw Rhyhorn's ball out onto the battlefield.
The Spikes Pokémon appeared and gave a loud bellow.
Wasting no time she called out "Rhyhorn, use Take Down."
Rhyhorn bellowed again and began charging forwards with a speed that was surprising when compared to its large size.
It was a frightening sight.
Damian called for his Drowzee to use Hypnosis on this Pokémon as well, but the psychic type Pokémon had barely begun to start the hypnotic waving of its arms when Rhyhorn's full force ploughed into it.
Drowzee was sent crashing across the battlefield as Rhyhorn gave a triumphant roar.
Drowzee was not out for the count yet, but Damian was not going to be taking any chances.
He recalled it to its great ball before sending Weepinbell back out.
"Damian has the advantage again," said Ash.
"Yeah, but don't forget Weepinbell took a lot of damage from Venomoth's Psybeam attack," said Robyn "Rhyhorn on the other hand is completely unharmed."
"Let's finish Weepinbell before it can attack," shouted Assunta "Use Body Slam!"
Rhyhorn charged before jumping as high as it could, which was a lot higher than one might expect.
"Razor Leaf," ordered Damian.
Weepinbell spun its body around rapidly, and a shower of razor sharp leaves appeared in the air around it. These then raced towards the incoming Rhyhorn at great speed, tearing at its armour plated body.
Rhyhorn however was a heavy Pokémon and super effective hit or not, there was nothing that Weepinbell could do that would stop the Spikes Pokémon from plummeting to the ground. Its full weight landed on the grass type Pokémon, squashing the opponent beneath its massive bulk.
Rhyhorn heaved itself up onto its legs again and took a couple of steps backwards.
Weepinbell did manage to get up, but as a shudder wracked through its body, Damian and everybody watching realised one thing.
"Its paralysed." exclaimed Robyn in surprise "That certainly robs Damian of all hope of winning with Weepinbell."
On the battlefield, Damian clearly realised this as well. He held up Weepinbell's pokéball and called it back.
Then he took another pokéball and threw it "Charminder, you're up."
"Charminder?" asked Ritchie, incredulously.
"I guess it must be his accent." said Robyn with a shrug.
The familiar shape of an orange, bipedal lizard with a flame on its tail appeared out of its pokéball.
Ash was well acquainted with a Charmander, having encountered Ritchie's several times now, but he had never looked it up on his Pokédex.
Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon. A flame burns at the tip of its tail from birth. It is said that this Pokémon will die if the flame ever goes out. Steam spouts from the tip of the tail when it is rain, and this Pokémon naturally prefers hot and dry places. Baby Charmander who are unfamiliar with the dangers of fire occasionally burn themselves by accident.
"This should be interesting to watch," said Ritchie "I'll bet that his Charmander is more powerful than mine. It'll be fun to see what mine will be capable of in the future."
"But a fire type like Charmander is at a real disadvantage against a rock and ground type like Rhyhorn," said Robyn "I wonder what Damian had planned.
Damian as his Charmander did not disappoint. Without giving Assunta the chance to call out an attack from Rhyhorn, Damian shouted out "Alright, Charminder, use Dragin Rage."
The flame spouting from the tip of Charmander's tail suddenly grew to a great size. With a cry Charmander opened its mouth and a yellow ball of flame quickly appeared there. The ball grew and turned white, with bursts of orange flame crackling across the outer layer.
Charmander launched the orb towards Rhyhorn and slammed into the other Pokémon's face causing an explosion.
"Woah!" exclaimed Ash, Robyn and Ritchie together.
"So that's what Dragon Rage looks like." said Misty, causing the others to look at her "It's a dragon type attack, and it always does a set amount of damage, regardless of whatever weaknesses and resistances the opponent has. After the damage Rhyhorn took from Weepinbell, Dragon Rage was more than capable of taking it down, despite all apparent differences in size, strength and type."
On the battlefield the smoke was clearing. Just like Venomoth before it, Assunta's Rhyhorn was down and out.
Don George called out in a loud and clear voice "Assunta's Rhyhorn is unable to continue with this battle. Damian and his Charmander win this round."
All around them, other trainers were either cheering or booing this result.
"I guess they brought their friends with them." said Misty.
Out on the battlefield, Assunta had recalled Rhyhorn and was now holding a regular pokéball in her hand. "I didn't want you to face an opponent like this one," she said to it "but with Rhyhorn down, and with me having to use the three Pokémon I registered before the battle began, then I'll trust that you can do this. Go, Ivysaur!"
Ivysaur looked a lot like Robyn's Bulbasaur, except it was larger and instead of having a bulb on its back it had four fern leaves and a flower bud.
"Hey, an Ivysaur," exclaimed Robyn "That's what my Bulbasaur will evolve into one day."
It was Ritchie who examined it with his Pokédex this time.
Ivysaur the Seed Pokémon. Ivysaur is the evolved form of Bulbasaur. The plant on its back absorbs sunlight for nourishment. If the plant grows too large, this Pokémon loses the ability to stand up on its hind legs. The plant gives off a sweet aroma when the flower is about to bloom.
"Damian has the advantage again," said Ash.
"Maybe," said Misty "But don't forget, Ivysaur is an evolved Pokémon, and Charmander is not. That'll even the odds up a bit."
"Ivysaur, use Vine Whip!" called Assunta.
From beneath the plant on its back, two long green vines shot out and raced towards Charmander.
"Counter it with Slash!" ordered Damian.
The four small claws on each of Charmander's hands grew in length and glowed white. Charmander swiped both hands and knocked the two vines out of the air.
"Alright then," said Assunta "We'll just change tactics. Ivysaur, use a Tackle attack."
Ivysaur's vines retreated back beneath the plant on its back, and then the grass type Pokémon charged towards Charmander, its head lowered.
"Charminder, use Ember!" shouted Damian.
Charmander grabbed its tail and waved it about. A shower of fiery embers filled the air and shot towards Ivysaur.
"Dodge it!" shouted Assunta.
Ivysaur stopped charging but instead managed to use the momentum it had built up to throw itself to the side, narrowly avoiding the fire type attack.
Ivysaur came to a stop near a window, through which a beam of sunlight was shining into the room. Assunta grinned and called out "Ivysaur, power up!"
Ivysaur dig its feet into the ground and braced its body. The leaves on its back began to glow as they absorbed the light of the sun.
"Use Dragon Rage, Charminder!" ordered Damian.
Again the flame on Charmander's tail increased in side. The fire type opened its mouth and the now familiar white ball of energy appeared there.
Charmander spat out the ball, just as Assunta called out "Unleash Solar Beam!"
Ivysaur pushed off of the ground with its hind legs, sticking them in the air while balancing its full weight onto its front legs. The flower bud on its back opened slightly and a whitish yellow glow came from within. A beam of light suddenly shot across the battlefield. It passed through Charmander's Dragon Rage attack and rendered it into nothingness. Then the beam hit Charmander with its full force and the small fire type was thrown across the battlefield by the following blast. It sailed by its trainers head and crashed into the wall behind him before dropping to the ground.
"Now finish this with Tackle!" shouted Assunta.
Her Ivysaur charged across the battlefield once again, aiming right for Charmander.
"Charminder, use Dig!" shouted Damian.
Charmander's eyes shot open. The small Pokémon sprang into the air before diving towards the ground. It rapidly dug a hole and vanished from view.
Assunta's Ivysaur skidded to a halt as its opponent disappeared. Moments later the ground beneath Ivysaur broke apart and Charmander forced its way out of the ground, knocking Ivysaur back.
"Now use Slash!" ordered Damian.
The claws on Charmander's right hand elongated and it swiped at Ivysaur, landing a nasty blow on its side.
As the grass type staggered backwards, Damian called out "Now finish this with Ember."
Once more Charmander grabbed its tail and waved it about, creating a cloud of fiery embers which quickly enveloped Ivysaur.
The grass type Pokémon cried out in pain before collapsing.
Don George called out "Assunta's Ivysaur is no longer able to continue battling. Therefore this round and the battle as a whole go to Damian and his Charmander."
In the cafeteria, Damian's friends were whooping and cheering loudly.
"He didn't lose a single Pokémon throughout the entire battle." said Ash in disbelief.
"He certainly understood when to call for a move and when to switch his Pokémon out for another." commented Misty.
By now Damian's friends were leaving the room to go and congratulate him. Assunta's friends were leaving as well, presumably to go and offer their condolences.
Ritchie stood up suddenly and announced "Excuse me, but I think I have some serious training to get back to."
"Me too." said Robyn, getting up and leaving.
Watching their two friends leave, Ash and Misty could not help noticing when both Ritchie and Robyn took out the pokéball that contained their respective starter Pokémon.
Misty sighed before getting up and saying "I guess we'd better get down to some training as well."
"You go on ahead," said Ash "I've got some thinking to do."
"Okay," said Misty, sounding a little worried about him "I'll be in the pool with my Pokémon."
Ash watched her leave before he got up and made his way over to a large set of windows that led out onto a balcony which overlooked one of the lawns outside. He leaned up against the railings and took a deep breath of fresh air. Looking down he could see two children playing about with a Rattata as a pair of Caterpie crawled about between the stalks of the flowers.
Pikachu hopped up onto his shoulder and stayed there. Ash reached for his belt and took off the four pokéballs stored there. He held them out before him and thought carefully.
Pikachu, Nidoran, Mankey, Butterfree and Pidgeotto. We sure are a long way off from the skill level shown by those two trainers and their Pokémon…
"So young Ash, did you enjoy the battle?" a voice interrupted his thoughts.
Ash turned and saw that Don George was standing next to him.
"I did," replied Ash "But it's just got me thinking…" he trailed off, unsure of what to say.
"You're wondering about your own strengths as a trainer and how to improve upon them, and well as your weak points." said Don George.
"Yeah," said Ash "It's just… that Damian guy…"
Don George nodded and said "He is a strong one. I'll give him that much. And he trains hard to get there, but don't put him up on a pedestal."
"But he won," said Ash "and Assunta didn't defeat a single one of his Pokémon. So whatever he is doing must be working."
"It is," replied Don George "But I've seen Damian's training style for myself and its rather… well, I suppose that intense is the best way to put it. I'm really not supposed to say this to anyone, but even though she lost today, Assunta is the better trainer of the two."
"How come?" asked Ash.
Don George pointed a group of people who were walking away from the building and said "That's her over there, with her friends. She's taking her Pokémon to the Pokémon centre. Damian on the other hand with brag to his friends for a bit and then set his Pokémon to work in the gymnasium once again."
Ash looked shocked at that "But his Pokémon… Weepinbell especially… It was paralysed!"
Don George gave a simple nod in reply "And now you see what I mean. To some Pokémon are their friends and partners. To others they are just tools to battle with. Which kind do you want to be?"
"The first," answered Ash without preamble "Definitely the first kind."
"Then you and I are going to get on just fine." said the manager of the Battle Club "Now then, why don't you show me what Pokémon you have aside from this Pikachu and we can go about setting them set up on the appropriate equipment, hmm?"
Ash opened the four pokéballs in his hand and out came his Nidoran, Mankey, Butterfree and Pidgeotto.
Don George nodded thoughtfully and said "Quite a varied collection you have already. For now I would suggest a warm up for each of them. Pikachu, Nidoran and Mankey should do some gentle jogging on the treadmills just to start building up some muscle. And we have an aerial agility course that would do wonders for Butterfree and Pidgeotto's flying skills."
After getting Pikachu, Nidoran and Mankey running on the treadmills alongside Robyn's Bulbasaur and Nidoran and Ritchie's Charmander and Pikachu, Ash followed Don George over to another room. Inside that room, hanging from the ceiling were a collection of hoops, some large and some small, and they in a variety of colours as well, some red, some blue, some green and the rest yellow.
"The purpose of this room is pretty simple," explained Don George "Your flying type Pokémon go around flying through the hoops in order to increase their aerial agility. Obviously the smaller the hoop the more accurate your Pokémon has to be, though I will point out that only Pokémon smaller than your Pidgeotto and Butterfree will fit through the green hoops."
Ash looked up and saw a trainer's Spearow tuck its wing in and swoop through a green hoop. A pair of Pidgey were also doing the same.
Suddenly Ritchie's Beedrill buzzed by, flying through a blue hoop and a moment later another Pokémon, this one a Butterfree flew through one of the red hoops.
"Whose Butterfree is that?" asked Ash.
"That would be mine," said Robyn stepping forward.
"Why is it pink? I thought that all Butterfree have blue bodies." said Ash.
Robyn gave a shrug and said "I don't know. I thought it might be because mine's a girl, but when I got here I found out that Butterfree are all usually the same colour."
Ash's Butterfree flapped past him and followed after Robyn's one.
Don George chuckled and said "Looks like your Butterfree's got its sights set on getting itself a girlfriend, Ash."
Robyn's cheeks flamed red, but Ash didn't notice. Instead he just said "Maybe. Or maybe it just wants to make a new friend. Boys and girls can be friends, right Robyn?"
"Umm, yes," replied Robyn, though she did not look at him as she answered.
Don George broke out into a full laugh and said "Oh, to be young and innocent again."
"Right," said Ash, sounding unsure. He turned to Pidgeotto "How about you, Pidgeotto? You wanna show the other birds here how it should be done?"
Pidgeotto puffed itself up proudly and took flight. She looped around the room and successfully passed through every single hoop she came across. Except the small green ones of course.
A/N: So how was that? Some people have complained that the battles so far have been too slow paced. My only explanation for this is that it is very hard to write a battle where each Pokémon knows one of maybe two moves each and keep it exciting. I think I made a good job writing a battle between more experienced trainers here however. Also a dialogue between those watching also helps break it up a little, as well as pace it. So far it has been only Misty and Pikachu on the side lines, so the opportunities to include little comments from that quarter have been limited.
Yes, the male trainer who took part in the battle is the same Damian who owned the Charmander eventually got. As part of improving the plot surrounding Ash and Charmander I will be including Damian more, but he will not be a major rival, more a reoccurring opponent, if that makes sense. The choices for his other two Pokémon are based on nothing and were chosen at random. I tried to write his accent, but I don't think it worked to well.
For those of you wondering, yes Assunta did appear in the original anime. She is the trainer who beats Ritchie at the Pokémon league in the battle after he beat Ash. Her Pokémon then were Ivysaur, Rhydon, Venomoth and either Spearow or Tentacool (it's never made clear which.) She too will pop up now and again, and is planned to appear in the league tournament, if we ever get that far, though I will not reveal in what capacity. The unusual pokéballs that she used were indeed Safari Balls, and when Ash goes there and gets his Tauros it will be in a Safari Ball and will remain as such, rather than inexplicably changing.
And yes, Robyn's Butterfree is the Pink Butterfree from the anime that Ash's Butterfree goes off to mate with. I'm not gonna sugar coat it; both will leave in this story as well. However they will return. It is planned to happen during the Orange Islands series, when they arrive at that island containing all the bug Pokémon (you know the one, it's where Ash tried to capture another Caterpie before Misty dragged him off. And I'm also pretty sure that it's where Tracey caught his Scyther.) Anyway, I gave it to Robyn as I thought that it would mean more to have Ash's Butterfree to leave with one belonging to his friend.
Anyway, that's it for now, stay tuned for more!