A/N:
I´m stressed right now, a bit furious really, so I do apologize if what I write takes on certain characteristics I don´t usually let influence my writing. I will try to keep them out, but I make no promises.
I´ve found that writing this fanfic helps me calm down, funnily enough.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any associated product, and receive no profit for writing this.
Let´s move on to the chapter!
The battle for the Badge!
The following morning Ash woke up late, his entire body aching as he slowly and groggily got up. The events of yesterday had taken a lot out of him, a few bruises making their appearance here and there on his body. As he reached for his clothes his own body odor slammed into his nose with the force of a knockout punch, causing him to grimace. -Shower first, he immediately decided for himself. Swiftly leaving his bed behind and walking into the bathroom, he rid himself of his clothes laying them carefully on the bathroom counter. Turning the water on he quickly stepped into the shower, letting the ice-cold water hit him. Slowly a bit of his aching started to disappear, becoming bearable before he stepped out of the shower. He grabbed a towel, which he tied around his waist, picked up his worn clothes and stepped into his room.
Finding the space in his bag he had reserved for worn clothing until it could be cleaned, he carefully packed the clothes into it. As he finished finding his new clothes and had just pulled his boxers into place, Dawn came into the room, forgetting to knock. The two of them stared at each other, both frozen in shock. Finally, Dawn blushed immensely, let out a whine and retreated from the room in a sprint. Getting over his shock upon hearing Dawn run down the corridor, Ash shrugged his shoulders and pulled his pants onto his legs, followed shortly by his socks. Just before he pulled his new top over his head, Brock came up to check on him. "I heard Dawn got an eyeful?" he teased good-naturedly. Ash chuckled a little, "She forgot to knock. I consider us lucky, had she been a moment earlier I wouldn´t have even my boxers on."
Brock laughed at that, before stepping closer. "Let´s take a look on those ribs, shall we?" he commented before he carefully checked on the bruises on Ash´s upper body. Where the bandages had been it was apparent that the bruising on Ash´s ribs were better, though it was still a light blue color to the area. "I think we can let this breath, so no bandages," Brock stated, but continued upon seeing Ash´s smile, "But you will still need to take it easy." Ash nodded, before grabbing his top and dragging it over his head. "By the way, where did you get those scars?" Brock asked him, having noticed the scars and not being able to figure where they came from. Ash looked into his eyes and smiled, "I got them all during my training."
"What does that mean?" Brock asked curiously as the two of them moved into the common areas of the Pokécenter. "The ones on my stomach and right arm came from an Ursaring, who didn´t appreciate my presence in his territory. This one," Ash gestured to the nick on his cheek, "came from an overzealous Sneasel. Oh, and I have a scar from a Donphan tusk on my left thigh." The new information seemed to only make Brock even more curious, "And how did you manage to acquire these scars?" Ash grinned at him, "As I said, training. I trained on Mt. Silver for a couple of months before coming here." In the lobby of the Pokécenter, a still embarrassed Dawn was waiting for them, a fierce blush present on her face as she looked at Ash. "I…I´m sorry," she managed to squeak out before she once again had to avert her gaze with a red face.
Ash just laughed, not at all embarrassed. "It doesn´t matter too much to me, I was just taken by surprise," he commented cheekily, teasing the already flushed girl. "Did you ever find Cera yesterday?" he changed the subject, knowing not to push the girl too far less he wanted her to get angry. Dawn perked up at that but shook her head. The day before, after the whole rampaging ancient Pokémon scenario, Dawn had decided to look for Cera while Ash and Brock got some rest. "No, the museum director said she had already moved on. Something about a lead toward another ancient tome," she answered, a slight chuckle accompanying her statement.
"Oh, that´s too bad. Well, we might see her again later in our journey," Ash stated, knowing Dawn had looked forward to talking some more with Cera. "Right now, though I´m looking forward to my Gym Battle," he continued, visibly eager to get started. "First things to do today is getting some food," Brock cut in, his voice stern. As if to say it agreed with him, Ash´s stomach chose that exact moment to rumble. A nervous chuckle escaped Ash´s throat, "Well, I haven´t eaten since breakfast yesterday. I´m definitely up for some grub."
It took Brock less than 20 minutes to have something thrown together, which he delivered to their table from the kitchen. When the meal was finished about 15 minutes later, Ash smiled widely in appreciation. "A fantastic meal as always, Brock!" he commented, the smile proving contagious as both Dawn and Brock soon sported their own smiles. Ash seemed to take a second to think, before he finally stated calmly, "We should go check if Roark and the others need a hand in the rebuilding." While Brock rose his eyebrows at the sudden comment, both he and Dawn nodded their agreement. "Alright, but give me about 10 minutes first. I need to clean this," he gestured to the plates and cooking utensils.
They arrived at the Ancient Preserve about 20 minutes later, having walked quite calmly and not rushing in the slightest to get to there. In front of the still mostly collapsed wall Roark stood assessing the damage, with a man in a suit standing beside him taking pictures with a very expensive looking camera. "So, what do you think?" the trio heard Roark ask, while they were still a short bit away. "I think that the insurance does cover it, but I doubt the company ever thought they would cash out on 'Explosion Insurance' for a museum," the man in the suit answered, a huge grin on his face.
The comment caused Roark to laugh loudly, "I did tell them why I needed the insurance, I just always thought the explosion would happen from the inside and out." The photographer shrugged his shoulders, before moving on to take a couple of pictures of the other side. "Morning Roark!" Ash greeted the young Gym Leader, walking up to him calmly. Roark turned around to gaze upon the three of them with an eyebrow already raised, "Morning? It´s two o´clock, so it should really be afternoon," he commented, with a teasing smirk on his face. Blinking slightly at the joke Ash checked his X-Transceiver for the time and found that it was indeed two in the afternoon. "Huh, guess you´re right. Afternoon, then," he smiled widely at the Gym Leader.
The wall of the Ancient Preserve had sustained more than a little damage the day before, a hole blown into it almost 10 meters in width and twice that in height. The rubble laid scattered across the plateau the group was currently standing on, a few of the pieces as big as the humans standing next to them. "Any idea how long it will take to rebuild?" Brock asked, staring at the size of the hole. "A few weeks, maybe a month," Roark stated calmly, "It depends really. The more pressing thing is keeping the plants and prehistoric climate intact."
Ash and the others could see a bit of the vegetation through the hole, but not overly much of as it seemed the builders and scientists had taken to draw down something akin to shutters. The husky smell of the prehistoric fruits came easily to the noses of the assembled people, completely overpowering the other smells that would otherwise be present on the rocky plateau. "Did I have to wait until the rebuild was complete?" Ash asked, not fully understanding if their agreement from the day before was still on the table. That seemed to take Roark a bit by surprise, but he recovered quickly and answered sincerely, "Oh no. You get your battle today, I just have to secure the vegetation and Pokémon in our second site. We have a sort of backup facility, you see. It should only take another hour or two before we can battle it out."
Ash nodded his head in understanding, and a fair bit of relief. "Need a hand, or should we just find something to occupy us for a couple of hours?" Ash asked, fully ready to lend them a hand if they wanted it. Roark smiled at him, "No, we got this. You helped us enough as it is yesterday, thank you. I´ll have one of the Gym assistants find you when everything is ready for our battle." Ash shrugged his shoulders, "Alright, guess I´ll see you later then." Turning to his companions he asked, "What do you want to do? Seems like we have a couple of hours to kill."
"I want to go shopping," Dawn answered immediately, much to the boys´ horror. "I am not going shopping again. No way," Ash stated terrified at the very prospect. Brock was calmer, but still firm in his refusal as well. Dawn pouted but decided not to press the boys to come with her. "Alright, but I will be shopping. Meet you by the coffee shop in an hour?" she asked, nearly skipping towards the shops. "Alright see you then," Ash answered, a bit absentmindedly. "So, what are we doing?" he turned to Brock, having not a clue himself. "I want to hear about this training trip of yours. We can just get something to drink at this coffee shop and wait for Dawn there," Brock said while walking away, causing Ash to silently shrug his shoulders and follow.
Several people living in Oreburgh, including a couple of police officers, came up to Ash and Brock while they sat in the coffee shop, thanking the two for lending their help the day prior. "… and then the territorial Ursaring I told you about burst out from the trees and made a beeline towards Totodile and Cyndaquil. Tauros was on his feet within seconds, ready to charge," Ash sat in his chair, eagerly telling Brock stories from his training camp on Mt. Silver. "Ursaring got a nasty shock when Totodile and Cyndaquil both evolved though, he didn´t stand a chance then." "Hey, guys!" Dawn greeted the two warmly, as she made her way into the shop and sat down beside Ash. "Finished shopping already?" Ash asked, a bit shocked. Dawn blinked, and then started giggling, "I´m actually late, Ash."
The statement confused both Ash and Brock until they checked the time and found that they had been sitting in the coffee shop for nearly half an hour past the time they were supposed to meet. "It seems you are," Brock chuckled, "We didn´t really notice. Ash was telling me about his training trip, and I guess we just lost track of time." Both boys shrugged, though none of the three really minded the time. "Excuse me?" a rather young girl asked, catching the trio´s attention. "Are you Ash Ketchum?" she continued upon seeing their attention on her. "Yes, I am," Ash answered, casting a slightly confused glance over at Brock. While the girl was young, she was still somewhere between their ages, which usually meant that Brock would go all crazy for her. To Ash´s immense surprise Brock did nothing of the sort, simply smiling a friendly smile towards the girl.
"Marvelous!" the girl exclaimed, "I´m the Gym assistant supposed to let you know that Roark is ready for you." Having given her message, the girl immediately walked over to a young man sitting by the counter and plopped herself into the guy´s lap, obviously her boyfriend. Glancing at Brock again, Ash saw absolutely no reaction to this. Brock calmly finished his cup of coffee, before getting up. "Time to head to the Gym, then," Brock commented, a wide anticipating smile on his face. Raising his eyebrow, more than a bit confused as to why Brock wasn´t reacting to the girl at all, Ash decided to ask.
Though he waited until they had left the shop behind, so as to not be overheard by the girl. "What´s going on, Brock?" Ash asked, not harshly or anything of the like, but thoroughly confused. "What do you mean, Ash?" Dawn cut in, even more, surprised at the sudden question. Brock, meanwhile, laughed resoundingly, almost falling down and holding his sides as he laughed. "Oh, he´s talking about a previous habit of mine," Brock answered, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. Dawn rose an eyebrow, clearly waiting for an explanation. "He usually nearly flings himself on a girl who´s anywhere near his age and attractive, often getting shut down quite brutally I might add," Ash stated, a bit of a chuckle as he stated the last. "Oh, but he didn´t react at all just now?" Dawn said, still very confused. Ash rolled his eyes, "Which is why I asked what´s going on. Speaking of which, I´m still waiting for an answer."
Gathering himself, as he had started laughing again, Brock finally managed to give his answer, "I did find her attractive, but I can´t fling myself at every girl I meet any longer. Well, I shouldn´t have in the first place, but I really can´t now. It wouldn´t be fair to my girlfriend." The end of the statement left Ash with his mouth gaping, shocked to the core. "Girlfriend!?" he burst out a few minutes later, his brain having rebooted. "Mhm," Brock simply hummed and nodded his head. Dawn giggled at seeing Ash´s shell-shocked expression, before she asked gently, "Who´s your girlfriend, Brock?" Brock looked at her, and then smirked victoriously toward Ash before answering, "Lucy the 'Pike Queen'." Ash nearly slipped as his feet came to a screeching halt, his mouth hanging open even further. "Lucy!?"
Dawn seemed confused again, "Eh, sorry, who is this Lucy? Apparently, you both know her." Ash chuckled quietly to himself, "Lucy Azami, also known as the 'Pike Queen'. She is one of the Frontier Brains of the Kanto Battle Frontier, and I am very certain this bonehead made a fool of himself continuously in her presence." All three started laughing at that, "Yes, I did. Somehow it made her like me. She came to Pewter about a week after we split up, and we ended up hanging out. A week later, we were together." Brock had a content smile on his face as he explained how they ended up with each other, Ash simply shaking his head amusedly. "Why isn´t she with you now then?" Dawn asked, not fully understanding why a Frontier Brain couldn´t travel.
The two boys looked at each other, "I guess we´ll explain how the Battle Frontier works later, but for now…" Ash left his statement to hang, as the three looked up at the giant building with a sign that read 'Oreburgh City Gym'. Entering with a determined and confident spring in his step, Ash came face to face with Roark in the lobby. "I see Marisa found you before she took her break," Roark greeted them, a grin on his face as he spoke. The Gym´s lobby was immaculately clean, with a large horseshoe-shaped couch directly opposite a large screen. A few plants had been placed around the otherwise very much sterile room, perhaps to get some color variation from the brown and white of the wall and floor. The scent of pine saplings had spread throughout the room, the largest and nearest of the plants being some variation of the common tree sort.
"We happened to be in the same coffee shop as her boyfriend," Ash responded, shrugging his shoulders. "Pleasant coincidence for her then," Roark said, an amused smile on his face. "Before we start, are you allowed the handicap?" he seemed curious, but his question further confused Dawn. Getting a tad bit annoyed at her constant state of confusion she asked, "What handicap?" The three boys looked at her before Roark looked at the other two. "I´m guessing she´s a newbie or a coordinator?" Ash nodded, "Both actually."
"Ah," Roark acknowledged, "The handicap is a condition we give to any trainer that hasn´t completed three Regional Leagues. Basically, it gives them a somewhat weaker team to fight than the Gym Leaders full might, so newer trainers don´t get overwhelmed from the start." Seeing realization set in on Dawn´s face, Roark turned to Ash with an expectant look on his face. "No, I´m not eligible for the handicap, Sinnoh happens to be my fourth Regional League," Ash answered. Dawn gawked at him, "It is? I thought you had beaten the Battle Frontier and Orange Island Challenge?" Ash laughed slightly at her innocent question, "I have, but they aren´t Regional Leagues. They´re League sanctioned and approved challenges, but not Regional Leagues like the Silver Conference or the Indigo League."
"Let´s get this started then," Roark cut in before Dawn could ask further questions, as eager to get started as Ash was. Ash smiled and nodded, the determined gleam in his eyes settling in once again. "That entrance over there leads to the spectator's gallery," Roark said, pointing to a large double doored entrance on the other side of the clerk´s desk. Brock nodded and headed over with Dawn at his side. Ash and Roark though walked through the large iron sliding door that had been directly behind Roark, arriving directly at the battlefield.
"Alright, my judge here is Oliver," Roark stated gesturing to the long-haired older man standing halfway across the field. The long hair seemed to be somewhere between green and blond, and the guy had some scruffy beard on his chin. "The rules are quite simple. It´s a three on three match, with only the challenger allowed to substitute Pokémon. Any questions?" Ash rose an eyebrow and stared at Roark in a deadpan, causing the auburn-haired teen to chuckle. "Guess not, I´ll choose my Pokémon first," he added before he walked over to his side of the field.
The two trainers stared each other down from across the field, the judge motioned for Roark to let his Pokémon out. "Golem, I choose you!" Roark stated loudly, releasing the Megaton Pokémon. "Alright, you´re up first. Turtwig!" Ash called, the Tiny Leaf Pokémon landing solidly a second later. With narrowed eyes he glared at his opponent, shaking his leaf slightly and taking a few experimental steps on the field. "Alright, the first battle will be between Roark´s Golem and the challenger´s Turtwig! Let the battle…begin!" Oliver yelled, giving them both the signal to start.
"Rock Blast, Golem!" Roark immediately shouted, intent on getting the offensive early on. "Dodge that and use Razor Leaf!" Ash countered, a focused expression resting on his face. The rocks created heavy thuds when they slammed into the ground, not one touching Turtwig as the small Grass-type darted between jagged rocks and small crevices in the field. When he dodged the third rock, he saw a small opening and sent a barrage of leaves forward. The leaves impacted on Golem, creating a small dust cloud. "Shake it off, and use Magnitude!" Ash´s eyes widened, and he quickly ordered, "Jump!" Trusting his trainer, Turtwig sprang up from the ground soaring through the air as the powerful magnitude shook the arena.
"Shoot him with Stone Edge while he is in the air!" Roark ordered, the smirk making it clear that he had planned for this. "Let the first one come to you and use it to spin out of the way! Then fire another Razor Leaf!" the order shocked Roark, who watched as Turtwig managed to execute the brilliant evasive maneuver. "Dodge with Rollout and give it to him!" Roark managed to shout, despite his initial shock. Golem spun from its position, dodging the Razor Leaf attack flawlessly, and impacted heavily on Turtwig with Rollout. Turtwig flew through the air and smashed a stalagmite before rolling to a stop, where he struggled slightly to get up. Determined not to lose his very first Gym Battle, Turtwig pushed himself to his feet just in time to see Golem rolling toward him. "Use Leech Seed!" Ash commanded, knowing full well that he couldn´t let Golem continue the Rollout.
Smirking at the order Turtwig sent the seed flying, lodging it between to plates of Golem´s rocky body. The vines quickly spread, tangling Golem up and stopping his momentum. "Golem!" Roark shouted, concerned. "Use Razor Leaf, followed by Bite!" Ash yelled, a brilliant grin on his face as he allowed the thrill of battle to overcome him. Turtwig´s initial Razor Leaf found its mark, causing major damage to Golem. The Bite, however, was blocked by Golem´s arm. "Use Stone Edge!" Roark roared. The rocks floating around Golem gave Turtwig ample warning of what was about to happen, but there was little he could do.
The attack sent Turtwig to the ground, hard, and he again struggled massively to get up. "Alright, finish it up with Rock Blast!" Roark commanded, a tone signifying triumph in his voice. "Turtwig, dodge that and use Razor Leaf!" Rolling to his side without getting up properly, Turtwig managed to evade the attack and the following Razor Leaf impacted into Golem´s side. The Megaton Pokémon stood panting, though not nearly as damaged as Turtwig himself. Suddenly a flash of red came over the vine of Leech Seed, accompanied by a scream from Golem, and Turtwig felt himself getting refreshed. "Good, now let´s use Razor Leaf!" Not thinking twice, Turtwig jumped up and flipped forward, releasing a torrent of leaves.
Upon impact the leaves created a large dust cloud, obscuring Golem from view. When the cloud dispersed, Golem seemed to have taken major damage, perhaps as much as Turtwig. Golem wasn´t done yet, roaring in defiance. "Use Ancient Power!" Roark shouted suddenly, a smirk on his face. Ash gritted his teeth, knowing that Ancient Power could prove a real problem. "Turtwig! Dodge that, and use Mega Drain!" They hadn´t gotten Mega Drain down completely yet, but it was the only chance Turtwig had at coming out the victor right now.
Weaving through the oncoming barrage of rocks Turtwig managed to avoid almost every hit, only being slightly grazed by the very last rock. The tendrils of energy that was Mega Drain connected solidly with Golem, and the light show that followed when Leech Seed and Mega Drain sapped Golem of strength was spectacular. When the light died down, Golem tumbled forward but caught itself before crashing down. "Use Rock Blast!" Roark ordered, a bit frustrated. "Razor Leaf!" Even though Turtwig was fresher now than Golem now, the two attacks proved to be fairly equal in power. The two attacks, in the end, didn´t cancel each other out but continued through each other. Both Turtwig and Golem were covered by dust as they were hit by the opposing attack. This time both Pokémon were out cold when the dust settled, causing everyone´s eyes to widen. "Both Pokémon are unable to battle, this round is a draw. The Gym Leader will choose his Pokémon first," Oliver ruled, still a bit surprised.
"I´ll say, Ash, I didn´t expect a first stage Pokémon to be able to tie with my Golem," Roark commented amiably, returning Golem from the field. Ash smiled as he returned Turtwig, "Good work, buddy." Hearing what Roark had said he decided to answer, "I have always had strong Pokémon regardless of which stage in the evolution line they are. It´s one of the reasons I´m classed as an Elite Trainer." Roark and Oliver both smiled at the new information, no doubt having their suspicions of that already.
"Shall we continue?" Roark asked eagerly, palming a Pokéball. "Yeah, if you think you´re up for it?" Ash teased, a confident smile on his face, some might even call it cocky. With a short bark of laughter Roark sent out his next Pokémon, "Omastar, you´re up!" The Spiral Pokémon appeared on the field, its blue tentacles flailing lightly in the air. "Alright, Bayleef! Your turn!" Ash called, releasing the affectionate Leaf Pokémon. The yellow sauropod didn´t Body Slam him, but he knew she would if she won. "The second round will be between Roark´s Omastar and the challenger´s Bayleef! Let the battle…begin!" Oliver shouted.
"Vine Whip!" Ash called instantly, letting Bayleef take the offensive first. "Defend with Wring Out!" Roark yelled. Omastar´s many tentacles rose to battle with the set of vines Bayleef tried hitting it with, deflecting and canceling them out. "Spike Cannon!" Roark followed up, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face. The barbs that shot forward moved so fast that Bayleef had no time to dodge, taking them all straight on. "Use Razor Leaf to retaliate, and then fire Sunny Day!" Ash ordered, following a plan he had laid before the battle. Roark seemed to realize what he was planning on doing because he shouted to Omastar. "Use Spike Cannon to rip through those leaves and fire an Ice Beam to stop that Bayleef!"
Only half of that order came into fruition, as Bayleef managed to fire her attacks nearly simultaneously. The Spike Cannon did manage to rip her Razor Leaf to shreds, but the following Ice Beam was easily, nearly casually, dodged. "Alright, use Razor Leaf to hold it down, and then Leaf Storm!" The cascade of razor-sharp leaves did pin Omastar down, making it completely open for the tornado of leaves that slammed into it seconds later. The very effective attack seemed to nearly take Omastar out, but the prehistoric Pokémon rallied and toughed it out. "Blizzard!" Roark commanded, wanting to cause some damage to Bayleef as well. "Use Vine Whip to dodge, and retaliate with Razor Leaf!" Ash countered, grinning when Bayleef used her vines to propel herself upward.
The Ice-type attack passed harmlessly beneath her, and her attack slammed down into Omastar harshly. "Damn it! Omastar use Wring Out to hold her down and fire Blizzard again!" Roark seemed really agitated now, understanding just how skilled a trainer he was battling. The tentacles grabbed hold of the still airborne Leaf Pokémon and kept her in place, not giving her any chance to dodge the incredibly powerful stream of cold wind that blew into her afterward. When Omastar´s tentacles receded, Bayleef crashed hard into the ground. Standing up despite the number of injuries, Bayleef glared at her opponent. "Bayleef! Let her rip!" Ash ordered a moment later, not wanting to give Omastar to much time to recover.
"Let her rip?" Roark repeated, puzzled. That was until Bayleef fired her Solarbeam, enveloping Omastar in a bright beam of Grass-type energy she had gathered from the still active Sunny Day. When the attack ended Omastar coughed a cloud of dust out, and fell to his side, swirls in his eyes. The Sunny Day disappeared slowly, and Bayleef was left to stand panting in exhaustion. "Great work, girl!" Ash praised her, causing her to give him a tired smile. "Omastar is unable to battle! The round goes to the challenger´s Bayleef, Roark choose your final Pokémon!" Oliver called, his decision made. Before Roark could call out his next Pokémon he was cut off by Ash, "Bayleef return, and get some rest."
Roark nodded in acknowledgment, releasing his final Pokémon finally. "Rampardos, it´s you and me!" The giant dark grey Pokémon roared loudly upon being released, its blue parts glowing in an ethereal bluish light. "Is it alright if I scan him before we battle?" Ash asked, not wanting to break any rules. Roark shrugged and gestured for him to continue, a slight smile on his face. The metallic voice of Ash´s Pokédex started speaking shortly after, "Rampardos the Head Butt Pokémon, and the evolved form of Cranidos. These Pokémon ruled the jungles in prehistoric times, knocking down trees in the search for prey. Its head is harder than iron and can break even the most durable material in the world. In ancient civilizations, they would use Rampardos skulls as helmets." With its piece said the Pokédex stopped speaking with an audible click, and Ash placed it back into his pocket.
"Alright, let´s go Croconaw!" Ash called, already having decided on his Pokémon for this battle. Croconaw appeared on the field with a smirk on his face, and his arms crossed. "The third round will be between Roark´s Rampardos and the challenger´s Croconaw! Let the battle…begin!" Oliver shouted. "Rampardos start off with Zen Headbutt!" Roark directed a smile on his face once again. "Jump over it and fire Hydro Pump!"
The Big Jaw Pokémon waited until Rampardos was close enough, before following his trainer´s order and jumping over the hulking Rock-type. The powerful Water-type attacked crashed into Rampardos´ back, sending it staggering forward. "Retaliate with Headbutt!" Faster than Ash thought possible, Rampardos spun around and sent Croconaw flying with a precise and devastating Headbutt. Croconaw destroyed three stalagmites before managing to halt his flight by landing with his feet on the rock and springing towards Rampardos. "Use Ice Punch!" "Meet it with Thunder Punch!"
The two elemental punches met in the middle, creating an explosion of cold wind and electricity. The pressure slammed into Roark and Ash harder than any other pressure way had during their battle, Ash actually feeling the pain as his bruises were tormented. "Croconaw use Ice Fang to latch on and the repeated Iron Tail attacks!" Croconaw wasted no time, latching onto Rampardos´ left hand with the Ice Fang attack. With his tail he slammed the Iron Tail into every part of Rampardos´ body he could reach, causing massive damage. "Rampardos knock it off with Thunder Punch, and follow up with Zen Headbutt!"
The super-effective elemental punch dislodged Croconaw easily, and the follow up sent Croconaw flying once again. "Thunder!" Roark commanded, a bit harshly. Rampardos roared as he fired the massively powerful Electric-attack, finding his mark easily as Croconaw was still in the air. When the dust cloud that had appeared when Croconaw hit the ground disappeared, Croconaw was kneeling and panting heavily. Ash gritted his teeth, knowing that Rampardos was Roark´s most powerful Pokémon. "Croconaw use Hydro Pump!" The condensed torrent of water slammed into Rampardos, actually lifting the heavy Pokémon from the ground. Rampardos had taken significant damage, but still remained standing. "Thunder Punch!" Roark shouted, intent on taking Croconaw out. "Meet it with Ice Punch!"
Again, both attacks met in the middle, and the explosion that followed covered the field in dust. When the dust cloud dispersed Croconaw and Rampardos were still in place, their fists touching in the middle without the elemental energies. Simultaneously the two exhausted Pokémon fell forward, landing side by side facing their respective trainers. Oliver waited for a few moments, to see if any of them were getting up. When it became clear that wasn´t the case he spoke up, "Both Pokémon are unable to battle, which means this round is a tie. Since the challenger has one Pokémon remaining, the challenger wins the battle!"
Ash cheered shortly, before heading into the field to check on Croconaw. "Hey, buddy. You were great, you tied with his strongest Pokémon!" Ash praised Croconaw, who seemed displeased at the result. He still managed to smile to his trainer though, knowing his trainer didn't feel less of him for tying instead of winning. "Congratulations, Ash. I must say I´m impressed that you could beat me like this," Roark stated, standing over Ash. "Thank you, you were incredibly powerful. I never knew just how much the difference between your true teams and your handicap teams were," Ash stated sincerely, having been taken by surprise by the amount of power the Gym Leader´s Pokémon had displayed. Roark smiled at the compliment, "I need to go get your badge, so I´ll meet you and your friends outside, alright?"
Ash nodded and returned Croconaw, high fiving Pikachu as he made his way out. "That was awesome! That was totally different from your battle with Paul!" Dawn screamed when she saw Ash, a wide smile on her face as she jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly. She blushed upon realizing what she had done but made no attempts to remove herself. "Yeah, Roark was a lot more powerful than I thought. If that´s the level of a Gym Leaders ace team I´m going to have my work cut out for me," Ash stated, half in jest, to Brock, who smiled and nodded.
Five minutes went by before Roark came out of the Gym, carrying a small cloth. Upon the cloth laid a small metal object shaped almost like a Pokéball, mostly brown but with silver details. "This is the Coal Badge, and you´ve truly earned it. Helping out yesterday, and that fantastic battle today," Roark stated with a smile. Ash grinned and took the badge, immediately putting it into his newest case. "Well, then I guess all that´s left for me is to wish you luck on your journey," Roark finally said, a friendly smile playing on his lips. "Thank you, Roark. Hope everything works out with the Preserve," Ash answered him earnestly.
"Now which city should we head to next?" Ash asked, looking at Brock. "I suggest Eterna City," Roark stated his back to the trio. "I think there´s a contest hall on the way, in a small town called Floaroma Town. Don´t know if there will be a contest, but…" He finished the statement with a shrug and casually strolled into his Gym again, whistling happily as he went. "Eterna then? Hopefully with a stop for a contest in Floaroma Town?" Ash asked his companions to clarify. Brock nodded, "That seems alright." Dawn laughed happily, "Yep! I hope there is a contest." The three walked off, the boys explaining about the Battle Frontier as they went. The sky glowing orange as the sun set over the horizon, and a slight breeze blowing into their backs.
A/N:
Hey, I finished another! What is going on with me? This is not normal, just so you know. Don´t get used to this number of updates, I usually don´t have this much motivation. Though I guess I did it mostly for stress relief, which it gave me in spades. If you haven´t figured it out I write these and upload them immediately upon completion (after a spell check, though some errors manage to get through).
So, Ash finally got his first badge and the group is on their way again.
I had planned for two evolutions, but they will both be happening on a later date instead. You´re free to guess which Pokémon I was thinking about evolving and still is.
Think that´s it, any questions, comments or suggestions feel free to leave a review.
Till next time!